South Africa: Didiza commends agriculture's contribution to job creation

Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development Minister, Thoko Didiza, says she is encouraged by the agricultural sector's overall contribution to the countrys job creation drive.

In the first quarter of 2023, about 888 000 people were employed in primary agriculture, up 3% quarter-to-quarter and 5% year-on-year. This is well above the long-term agricultural employment of 780 000, Didiza said.

Didiza said the resilience shown by KwaZulu-Natal, Gauteng and Western Cape in this annual job improvement is encouraging, and speaks to efforts these regions and stakeholders have made to support the agricultural sector.

She noted that the strong production conditions of various field crops, fruits, forestry and aquaculture were behind the improvement in agricultural jobs in the first quarter, mainly in the three provinces. Other provinces experienced production challenges that weighed on employment at the start of the year.

While crop planting in different areas of the country was delayed due to excessive rains, and farmers facing high input costs and persistent load shedding, the Minister said the outlook for the sector is still positive.

Various government interventions to ease the load shedding burden on farmers, such as the launch of the Agro-Energy Fund with the Land Bank, load curtailment by Eskom and the expansion of the diesel rebate to the food value chain will have a positive impact.

Through governments Crop Estimate Committee, we estimate that the 2022/23 commercial maize harvest will be at about 15.9 million tonnes, 3% higher than the 2021/22 season's harvest and the third-largest harvest on record. In addition, the soybeans harvest is estimated at a record 2.8 million tonnes and the sugar cane crop will likely increase by 3% to 18.5 million tonnes in 2023/24, Didiza said.  SAnews.gov.za

This story has been published on: 2023-05-17. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
China ready to share development opportunities with Singapore: premier

Xinhua) 08:15, May 17, 2023

Chinese Premier Li Qiang meets with Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance of Singapore Lawrence Wong in Beijing, capital of China, May 16, 2023. (Xinhua/Zhang Ling)

BEIJING, May 16 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Premier Li Qiang on Tuesday met with the visiting Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance of Singapore Lawrence Wong in Beijing.

Noting the countries' leaders have upgraded bilateral ties to an all-around high-quality future-oriented partnership, Li said China is ready to work with Singapore to implement the new orientation of bilateral relations to ensure renewed achievements.

Mentioning this year marks the 45th anniversary of China's reform and opening up, Li said Singapore has actively participated in China's reform and opening up, with its interests closely integrated with China. China is willing to share the opportunities for development with Singapore and welcomes Singapore to continue participating in China's reform and opening-up process, Li added.

It is hoped that the bilateral cooperation mechanism at the vice-premier level would get full play and high-quality cooperation in various fields promoted holistically, the premier said.

He also encouraged the two sides to make good use of local cooperation mechanisms, improve the level of regional interconnection, help stabilize the industrial and supply chains and strengthen cooperation in financial services, digital economy, new energy, urban green transformation and social governance, among others.

China is willing to discuss more measures to facilitate personnel exchanges with Singapore to promote the frequent visits between the two peoples, Li added.

Hailing the close cooperation with China that bears fruitful outcomes, Wong said Singapore is willing to work with China to promote mutually beneficial cooperation on all fronts with high quality and push forward Singapore-China relations.

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun)
Photo: The Canadian Press Jury foreman John Patrick speaks with media outside Manhattan federal court following the sentencing of convicted Islamic terrorist Sayfullo Saipov, Wednesday May 17, 2023, in New York. Saipov, 35, was given 10 life sentences and another 260 years in prison on Wednesday for killing eight people with a truck on a bike path in Manhattan and severely injuring 18 others in 2017. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews)

An unrepentant and defiant Islamic extremist received 10 life sentences and another 260 years in prison on Wednesday for killing eight people with a truck on a bike path in Manhattan on Halloween in 2017, as a judge decried his callous and cowardly crimes.

The conduct in this case is among the worst, if not the worst Ive ever seen, said U.S. District Judge Vernon S. Broderick, as he announced a sentence designed to underscore the severity of the terrorist attack Sayfullo Saipov claimed he carried out on behalf of the Islamic State group.

A life sentence was mandatory after a jury rejected the death penalty in March, but prosecutors had asked Broderick to impose eight consecutive life sentences and two concurrent life sentences. They also wanted an extra 260 years to send a stern message to other like-minded terrorists. And that's what the judge did.

Broderick cited the defiance of Saipov, who, given a chance to speak, said the tears of victims and family members in the courtroom over a six-month period would fill a single tissue while the tears and blood of the Islamic population worldwide would fill the courtroom.

In a rambling rant delivered through a translator, Saipov spent most of an hour talking about the creation of religions and how the devil was instrumental in the creation of the human population.

When he finished, a relative of one of his victims stood up and shouted: The only act of the devil here is the act you did! Then she immediately sat down and Broderick announced the sentence.

You did not and you do not care about their pain and their suffering, the judge said of Saipov's victims. He labeled Saipov's attack as callous and cowardly actions and noted that even Saipov's relatives, including his father, were ashamed of his crimes and traumatized and forever changed.

Saipov, 35, an Uzbekistan citizen and onetime New Jersey resident, was expected to serve his sentence at the maximum security prison in Florence, Colorado, for his Oct. 31, 2017 slaughter of tourists and New Yorkers.

Relatives of eight people killed in the terror attack spoke sometimes through tears during the sentencing, describing their lingering pain and sometimes directly addressing the man convicted in the deaths.

Frank Decadt, father of victim Ann-Laure Decadt, told Saipov that he hoped that one day you will understand the extent of horror you have inflicted on so many people.

Marion Van Reeth, who lost her legs in the attack, sat before Saipov in her wheelchair, telling him: I will never be able to walk like you can.

As Saipov kept his head drooped and eyes lowered, listening to a translation of the proceedings through earphones, she said: I have a question for you. After all this time in prison, are you still convinced that your criminal acts against innocent people was the right thing?

Like others, she expressed hope that someday Saipov would see that his terrorist act was wrong.

Gabriela Pabla Pereya, the wife of Ariel Erlij, who was among five men from Argentina killed during a bike ride as they celebrated the 30th anniversary of their high school graduation, delivered the shortest statement during the sentencing hearing. She called Saipov a coward and said if he truly wanted God to accept and love you, go kill yourself.

Monica Missio, whose son, Nicholas Cleves was killed, told Saipov his death has completely destroyed my life.

Five tourists from Argentina, two Americans and a Belgian woman were killed, and 18 others were seriously injured.

Saipov was shot by a police officer and immediately taken into custody after emerging from his truck shouting God is great in Arabic and waving paintball and pellet guns in the air.

Prosecutors said he smiled as he asked FBI agents who questioned him in a hospital room after the attack if they could hang an Islamic State group flag on the walls.

At his trial, his family members urged a life sentence, saying they hoped he would realize what he had done and express remorse. They said they wanted him to return to the passive person they remembered him as before he grew obsessed with online propaganda posted by the Islamic State militant group.

A former long-haul truck driver, Saipov moved legally to the U.S. from Uzbekistan in 2010 and lived in Ohio and Florida before joining his family in Paterson, New Jersey.

Among those who attended the sentencing Wednesday was the trial's jury foreman, John Francis Patrick III. He told reporters that one thing jurors looked at during deliberations was evidence that showed that Saipov wore a seatbelt during his attack even though he claimed he expected to be a martyr. Saipov, he noted, remained in his seat when he slammed into a school bus after his murderous run.

He didn't hit the windshield, Patrick said. And I thought to myself, real martyrs don't wear seatbelts.
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RICHMOND, Va. (AP)  A federal judge in Virginia has ruled that a law banning licensed federal firearms dealers from selling handguns to young adults under 21 violates the Second Amendment and is unconstitutional.

The ruling Wednesday by U.S. District Court Judge Robert Payne in Richmond, if not overturned, would allow dealers to sell handguns to 18- to 20-year-olds.

In his 71-page ruling, Payne wrote that many of the rights and responsibilities of citizenship are granted at the age of 18, including the right to vote, enlist in the military without parental permission and serve on a federal jury.

If the Court were to exclude 18-to-20-year-olds from the Second Amendment's protection, it would impose limitations on the Second Amendment that do not exist with other constitutional guarantees, Payne wrote.

Because the statutes and regulations in question are not consistent with our Nations history and tradition, they, therefore, cannot stand," he wrote.

Payne's ruling is the latest decision striking down gun laws in the wake of a landmark Supreme Court ruling last year that changed the test courts have long used to evaluate challenges to firearm restrictions. The Supreme Court said judges should no longer consider whether the law serves public interests, like enhancing public safety. Governments that want to uphold a gun restriction must look back into history to show it is consistent with the countrys historical tradition of firearm regulation, the Supreme Court said.

Amid upheaval in the months since that ruling, courts have declared unconstitutional laws including federal measures designed to keep guns out of the hands of domestic abusers and defendants under felony indictment, as well as a ban on possessing guns with the serial number removed. A federal judge recently cited the high court decision in ruling against a Minnesota law prohibiting 18- to 20-year-olds from getting permits to carry handguns in public. A judge struck down a similar law last year on gun restrictions for young adults in Texas.

Payne, who cited the 2022 Supreme Court ruling repeatedly in his ruling, wrote that the government failed to present any evidence of age-based restrictions on the purchase or sale of firearms from the colonial era, Founding or Early Republic. The lack of similar regulations from those time periods indicates that the Founders considered age-based regulations on the purchase of firearms to circumscribe the right to keep and bear arms confirmed by the Second Amendment, he wrote.

John Corey Fraser, 20, along with several other plaintiffs, challenged the constitutionality of the Gun Control Act of 1968 and the associated regulations from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives after they were turned down when they tried to buy handguns.

Even though it ensures that future buyers can now purchase these firearms in the federal system  one that includes background checks and other requirements  we expect the defendants will appeal," said Elliott Harding, Fraser's attorney. He said he is optimistic that the ruling will be affirmed.

Harding said the lawsuit was aimed at closing a loophole because 18- to 20-year-olds can already buy handguns from private sellers, a process that is completely unregulated.

This allows them to go in and buy a registered firearm, direct from a manufacturer, but theyll also go through background checks," he said. They have to go through the traditional steps in purchasing a firearm.

Everytown Law, a legal group that advocates for gun violence prevention in the courts and has filed a brief supporting the age restrictions, said the law is constitutional and an essential tool for preventing gun violence.

Not only are guns the leading cause of death for U.S. kids and teens, but research shows us that 18- to 20-year-olds commit gun homicides at triple the rate of adults 21 years and older," said Janet Carter, Everytown Law's senior director of issues and appeals.

The Courts ruling will undoubtedly put lives at risk," she said. It must be reversed.

The Justice Department and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives did not respond to emails seeking comment on the ruling.

AP Legal Affairs Reporter Alanna Durkin Richer contributed to this report from Boston.
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The Republican-led Virginia Department of Elections elected to withdraw from a multi-state election data-sharing partnership over concerns about privacy, costs and the alleged risk of data sharing with outside organizations being leveraged for political purposes.

Democratic lawmakers asserted Monday that the move is an effort to undermine voting access and trust in the electoral process.

The Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC) was created in 2012 with Virginia as one of the seven founding members. Gov. Bob McDonnell, a Republican, promoted it at the time. The partnership allows for states to compare voting data to identify people who have died or moved between states and adjust rolls accordingly  measures that can prevent or catch instances of voter fraud.

ERIC primarily combated the things Republicans claim to care about, said House Minority Leader Don Scott Jr., D-Portsmouth, at a news conference Monday. Why would Republicans want to do away with it? The answer is and has always been clear since Governor (Glenn) Youngkin was elected  because they want to undermine our democracy.

Virginias ERIC pullout follows several other GOP-led states that have withdrawn  Alabama, Florida, Iowa, Louisiana, Missouri, Ohio and West Virginia. Texas has considered a withdrawal that is supported by the Republican Party of Texas, but has not yet left ERIC.

Scott remarked on how the Youngkin administration quietly changed the process for formerly incarcerated people to have their voting rights restored, and also noted the GOP-led push in recent years to walk back the expanded voting access that was implemented when Democrats held the governorship and majorities in the General Assembly.

From quietly changing the restoration of rights progress to this surprising departure from ERIC, everything they do is trying to disrupt our election process, he said Monday. These destructive changes harm voters and undermine faith in our system.

Last week, Department of Elections Commissioner Susan Beals wrote a letter to ERIC, citing reasons for Virginias planned withdrawal. She cited concerns over rising costs to participate following the departure of other states and confidentiality of the data sharing.

The letter noted momentum around the creation of viable alternatives to inter-state data sharing compacts and Virginias ability to replicate favorable ERIC functionality internally and develop true autonomy for all list maintenance and data sharing practices.

To accomplish this, Andrea Gaines, a spokesperson for Beals, said the department will obtain a subscription to the Limited Master Death file from the Social Security Administration and will continue to process records it receives from the Department of Motor Vehicles.

She added that Virginia has been in talks with other states for several months about creating new state-to-state data-sharing relationships for the purpose of identifying double voters.

On the concern over rising costs, Gaines said the fiscal year costs rose from $37,000 to $54,000 from 2022 to 2023. Participating states contribute to the funding for ERIC.

A spokesperson for Youngkin said rising costs were a reason to withdraw, along with concerns over privacy.

Virginia withdrew from ERIC because Virginians data was shared with an ERIC affiliated research organization and, despite its efforts, Virginia was unable to reform ERIC, said Macaulay Porter, a spokesperson for Youngkin.

ERIC has previously shared anonymized data for research purposes with an election organization led by David Becker, ERICs founder. States that participated did so voluntarily, VPM reported.

Democratic lawmakers have accused the Youngkin administration of buying into conspiracy theories. In Mondays news conference, several senators and delegates reflected on the growing national tensions around distrust in elections  spearheaded by former President Donald Trumps false claims that the 2020 election was stolen.

This is wild conspiracy theory stuff, right? said Del. Marcus Simon, D-Fairfax. Its really disturbing that the governor and Susan (Beals) do seem to buy into these debunked conspiracy theories. Theyre willing to believe that kind of information and actually use that kind of conspiracy theory to guide decision making over at the Department of Elections.

Asked if the Youngkin administration had a response to the allegation, Porter did not directly respond, but answered other questions.

During his 2021 campaign, Youngkin initially ducked questions about whether he believed the 2020 election was stolen. After winning the GOP nomination, he said he would have voted to certify the results. Last year, he campaigned for some GOP gubernatorial candidates around the country  like Arizonas Kari Lake  who continued to deny the results of the 2020 election.

As for ERIC, after roughly a decade of operating under the radar as a bipartisan coalition of more than 30 states, it has generated concern from leaders or constituents in the states that have pulled out of it.

In early 2022, it became the subject of far-right blogs framing the partnership as a liberal conspiracy to steal elections. Louisiana became the first state to withdraw from ERIC shortly afterward.

Shane Hamlin, ERICs current executive director, provided a statement to the Richmond Times-Dispatch, stating that the organization will follow its bylaws and membership agreement regarding any members request to resign membership.

That means that, following Beals resignation notice, it will be 91 days before the resignation is effective, according to the bylaws.

We will continue our work on behalf of our remaining member states in improving the accuracy of Americas voter rolls and increasing access to voter registration for all eligible citizens, Hamlin said in the statement.

Top five weekend events: Dominion Energy Riverrock, Lebanese Food Fest & Pauly D Dominion Energy Riverrock Lebanese Food Festival Pauly D Jo Dee Messina at After Hours Flowers After 5
Lynx Legacy Distinguished Alumni Award 2023

The late Dr. Glenn Blodgett Doc graduated from Spearman High School in 1967. At the young age of ten, Blodgett was gifted his first horse, Smokey. That is when he learned that he desired to be a veterinarian. After graduating from Spearman High School, he attended Texas Tech University (TTU) for one year, and then attended Oklahoma State University (OSU) earning his Bachelors Degree in Animal Science. He followed his childhood dream of becoming a veterinarian and attended veterinarian school at Texas A&M University (TAMU).



After graduating from TAMU, he moved to Spur, Texas to work at the Spur Veterinarian Hospital. Two years later he moved back to Spearman where he and Dr. Tom Latta opened the Hansford County Veterinarian Clinic.



In 1982, he was asked by Ms. Anne Marion to work for her as resident veterinarian and manager of the Four Sixes Ranch horse division. Together, they made a great team and enhanced the legacy of Quarter Horse production on the Four Sixes Ranch. They developed a world class operation of elite race, performance, and working ranch horses. With his leadership, the ranch became an industry leader in reproduction and breeding. He set each horse up for success knowing everything there was to know about each horse individually.



His professional contributions were considerable. He was a Texas Director of American Quarter Horse Association (AQHA). From there, he served as chairman of the AQHA Stud Book and Registration Committee, AQHA Hall of Fame Selection Committee, AQHA Executive Committee, and AQHA Executive President. He served on the American Association of Equine Practitioners (AAEP) Board of Directors, Racing Ethics and Ethics Ad Hoc Committees. He was appointed to the first Texas Horse Racing Commission. In addition, he was an active member of the Texas Equine Veterinary Association (TEVA), the Texas Quarter Horse Association (TQHA), the Texas Veterinary Medical Association (TVMA), the American Association of Bovine Practitioners, and the Ranching Heritage Association.



He had awards during his lifetime including the AAEP Distinguished Life Membership Award; TVMA Equine Practitioner of the Year; AQHA Register of Merit Award; Association of Racing Commissioners Internationals Joan Pew Award for racing commissioner of the year; OSU Graduate of Distinction in Animal Science; Outstanding TAMU Alumni; AQHA Racing Council Special Recognition Award; National Ranching Heritage Center Golden Spur Award; and was inducted into the AQHA Hall of Fame, Texas Horse Racing Hall of Fame, and Texas Cowboy Hall of Fame.



He was honored with an adjunct professorship in the Department of Large Animal Clinical Sciences at the Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences and taught at Texas Tech University as an adjunct graduate faculty member. In addition, he mentored hundreds, if not thousands, of senior veterinary students from throughout the country and abroad at the 6666 Ranch.



He was a part of Alpha Gamma Rho at OSU, a fraternity dedicated to upholding high morals and standards while "making better men." This foundation of friends was very important to him.



His commitment to community service and philanthropy were an important role in Dr. Blodgetts life. He served on the Guthrie Common School District as a board member for 24 years, was a member of the advisory board for Tarleton State University in Stephenville, served as chairman of the King County Tax Appraisal Board, Vice President of King County EMS and was an active supporter of the 4-H and FFA.



Dr. Blodgett passed away in late 2022. His legacy will carry on through the many lives he touched. He was passionate about his roots, growing up on the family farm in Spearman is where it started for him.



Dr. Blodgett married his high school sweetheart of 53 years. They have two daughters, Buffie Guynes and Brandie Blodgett Mustain. He was the proud grandparent to five grandchildren.



Yellowstone Season 5 Episode 8 was dedicated in loving memory of Dr. Glenn Blodgett.



Dr. Glenn Blodgetts sister, Marilyn Cline, nominated him for this award. Unfortunately, Cline passed away before the selection of this award.

Credit source: Obituary of Dr. Glenn Blodgett and his sister, Marilyn Cline, nominator of Dr. Glenn Blodgett










COMPANY NEWS: Barracuda Networks, a trusted partner and leading provider of cloud-first security solutions has announced several strategic channel roles to strengthen the partner experience and help drive success within the channel ecosystem. These investments include new channel roles, additional resources for partner enablement, and an expanded global footprint.

As part of this, Barracuda recently hired Maria Martinez as VP of Channels, Americas and promoted Karen Ward to VP, MSP Sales, Americas. Martinez brings more than 20 years of channel experience, including how to accelerate channel sales growth and enhance program development. Ward has been with Barracudas MSP business unit for more than six years, focusing her and the teams efforts on partner success and development.

Additionally, Barracuda is adding new channel roles, to build out its partner experience, enablement, and channel ecosystem teams. These efforts support Barracudas increased emphasis on providing more technical education and training for channel partners. In addition, Barracuda is investing in extended detection and response (XDR) technology to help channel partners strengthen their security practices.

Barracuda is also expanding its global presence with regional channel ecosystem and sales directors in the Asia Pacific region. Earlier this month, Andy Lau joined Barracuda as Director, Partner Ecosystems and Alliance for Asia Pacific & Japan and Makoto Suzuki joined as Regional Sales Director for Japan. In March, Paul Crighton joined Barracuda as Regional Sales Director for Australia, New Zealand & the Pacific Islands. Combined, the new leaders in the region bring more than 50 years of cybersecurity, technology and channel experience to their roles.

We are pleased to share the increasing level of investment in our partner experience and all the ways were helping drive partner success and the expansion of our channel ecosystem," said Jason Beal, VP, Worldwide Partner Ecosystems at Barracuda. With these new hires, and an added emphasis on technical enablement, were giving our partners the tools they need to identify and win more opportunities with prospects and customers. The closer alignment between our reseller and MSP teams is also benefiting our partners.

Barracuda is also adding resources and new tools to help drive stronger relationships with our alliance partners, particularly hyperscalers like AWS and Microsoft Azure. For example, in November Barracuda announced that Barracuda Email Protection now integrates with Amazon Security Lake, which helps customers optimize access to email security data. A broad range of Barracudas network, application, and email protection solutions are available on the AWS and Azure marketplaces.

We value greatly our relationships with our channel partners in Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands, said Paul Crighton, Regional Sales Director for Australia, New Zealand & the Pacific Islands. We are committed to providing partners with more tools and resources to help them sell successfully and protect organisations in the region with enterprise-grade security solutions.

Barracuda combines three essential ingredients to support the growth plans of high-performance MSP partners, said Don Wisdom, President, Datalink Networks. "The first two are a well-known and expanding security portfolio, along with a company growth vision and strong partner programs. The third is the Barracuda team itself. From executive management to channel marketing, to engineering and account managers, all Barracuda employees have a partner-first mindset. Our growth as a cybersecurity integrator and MSP is inextricably tied to the Barracudas strong commitment and belief in us.

Barracudas active and engaged Partner Advisory Board met earlier this year to share insights and best practices. The next CudaCoSell Day is coming up on May 4, and Barracuda Discover23 partner summits are happening in Europe in May and in the U.S. in June. Barracuda partners contact your channel representative for more details.

Resources:

Video: SuperCareHealth stays protected with Barracuda: https://cuda.co/vdschaws

Read the blog post: https://cuda.co/blg04262023

About Barracuda

At Barracuda we strive to make the world a safer place. We believe every business deserves access to cloud-first, enterprise-grade security solutions that are easy to buy, deploy, and use. We protect email, networks, data, and applications with innovative solutions that grow and adapt with our customers journey. More than 200,000 organisations worldwide trust Barracuda to protect them  in ways they may not even know they are at risk  so they can focus on taking their business to the next level. For more information, visit barracuda.com.
COMPANY NEWS: Charities fulfil an important role in society by instilling hope, help, and healing to those who need it most. Companies that value environmental, social, and corporate governance recognise the significance of supporting these critical organisations. While donating money and equipment are vital ways for businesses to give back, contributing their time to support charitable organisations is just as essential.

This year, Blue Connections IT and Dell Technologies teamed up once again to make a difference in the lives of young people in need, with the second annual Backpack Giving Day taking place on Thursday, May 4, and more than 400 children and young people placed in a range of out of home settings including foster care, kinship care, and residential care set to receive a special surprise. The event was held at Blue Connections ITs headquarters in support of Anglicare Victoria, the leading provider of out-of-home care services for children and young people in the state.

Gordon Brownell, chief executive officer, Blue Connections IT, said, "Blue Connections is thrilled to once again support Anglicare Victoria and the children and young people in its care through Backpack Giving Day. This is a cause that is very close to our hearts, and we are honoured to work with such a dedicated organisation.

Anglicare Victorias team works tirelessly to find homes for children and young people who cannot live with their parents. When they transition to a new home or school, it can be daunting and stressful. The backpacks provided through Backpack Giving Day are a valuable tool to support these young people and are filled with essential resources such as lunch boxes, drink bottles, and a teddy bear for comfort.

Sue Sealey, acting chief executive officer, Anglicare Victoria, said, As the states largest provider of foster care and alternative care, Anglicare Victoria is grateful for the support of Blue Connections IT and Dell Technologies in putting together these backpacks, which have already made a real difference to the lives of hundreds of young people.

Nicholas Griffith, senior manager channel sales, Dell Technologies, said, As a company, giving back to the community is an integral part of our culture at Dell Technologies. Working alongside Blue Connections IT and Anglicare Victoria to make a difference in the lives of children, both at home and in their education, is a privilege. Its inspiring to be involved in such a positive initiative, and were honoured to continue playing a role in improving the lives of young people in Anglicare Victorias care.

Last year, the inaugural event saw staff from both companies donate their time to support Anglicare Victoria, resulting in over 200 children in the organisations foster care, residential, and education programs receiving a backpack filled with resources and equipment.

Among these were home transition backpacks that were distributed to children in foster care, kinship care, and residential care throughout Victoria. Furthermore, education transition backpacks were provided to pupils who were part of educational programs, including the Transforming Educational Achievement of Children at Risk (TEACHar) program, which offers additional assistance to children between the ages of four and 18 in their academic pursuits.

The annual Backpack Giving Day event builds on Blue Connections IT and Dell Technologies ongoing partnership with Anglicare Victoria, which started in 2018 when the businesses collaborated to refresh Anglicare Victorias technology through device lifecycle management. The partnership also supported Anglicare Victoria and its staff through COVID-19 and the almost eight months of lockdown, as it continued to provide critical services to the families and children it works with.

Blue Connections IT and Dell Technologies ongoing partnership with Anglicare Victoria is an excellent example of how businesses can work alongside charities to create positive change. Through events such as the Backpack Giving Day, they can make a significant impact and provide valuable support to those who need it the most.
Customer retention specialist Pendula has appointed Lance Callaghan to the role of head of information security.

"Pendula has always followed a philosophy of retaining and utilising the minimum amount of data to provide our services. By bringing on-board security experts like Lance, we're looking to keep that philosophy central to what we do as we build and improve the Pendula platform for our clients," said Pendula CEO and founder Alex Colvin.

"A key focus for us, particularly as we prepare for global expansion, is to ensure we remain compliant with regulatory frameworks like the European Union's GDPR or the US HIPAA regulations. We'll be working with Lance and a team of external auditors to make sure the infrastructure we build is the best and most secure in our industry."

Callaghan joins Pendula from GitLab, where he served as security engineering manager.

He previously worked as senior director of security architecture at Collibra, director of security engineering and operations at ServiceNow, and as a security architect at Commonwealth Bank.

Earlier in his career, Callaghan spent almost 12 years at Novell, most recently in the cloud presales team.

He holds a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from the University of Technology Sydney, and a master's in networking and system administration from Charles Sturt University.

"I am thrilled to be joining an Australian software company that has the ambition to grow and become a true international brand," said Callaghan.

"From my years of experience working with international software companies, I understand that international growth requires infrastructure. As we grow we will meet the demands of multiple markets and regulatory requirements. I'm looking forward to building a team of talented security engineers to make this happen at Pendula."
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Happy Wednesday.

For several valid reasons, the initial ask didnt feel optional.

The boss had a table for the Winston-Salem Foundations annual community meeting and wanted some company. It was being held on a Monday afternoon in the Benton Convention Center and would feature a social hour and a keynote speaker.

Can you go?

Hm. Itd mean wearing a coat and tie; I dont even like wearing pants. But the boss, wed been informed, was going. Itd be bad form to leave him hanging.

And to my eternal amazement, mostly because my mugshot has appeared atop a column in these pages for nearly 20 years, there comes some responsibility to act like an adult and chat with people who get things done in the community. Fly the colors, as it were, since the Journal was the title sponsor.

Plus, free beer.

As it turned out, there were no tables per se. Just open seating laid out in rows across an enormous (and nicely appointed, thanks to city  bond money) meeting room.

The Foundations community meeting, its first since COVID shut the world down three years ago, went off extremely well.

For those who dont know - or had forgotten - the meeting served as a timely reminder of the good things benefitting the entire community that flow through the foundations stewardship.

A few numbers to chew on:

*Total assets worth $770.6 million, a remarkable number considering the Foundation began in 1919 with a single $1,000 contribution;

*$78.8 million in grants;

*In 2022, more than 1,400 donors contributed with $44.2 million in gifts;

*1,659 charitable funds were supported;

And every nickel is local.

Community philanthropy, by design, mobilizes people for a common purpose, said LaTida Smith, the president of the foundation.

The nights speaker, Heather McGhee, the author of New York Times best seller The Sum of Us/Why Racism Costs Everyone and How We Can Prosper Together, served food for thought as well in sharing some of her observations from traveling the country

Understanding our history and seeing our present with clarity  is the only way to thrive, McGhee said.

Community philanthropic foundations help and re-learning something about how they do that was more than worthwhile.

Even if it meant wearing pants on a Monday.

A towering symbol

GREENSBORO - A photo, its been said, is worth 1,000 words.

Those who write for a living might say that the words add context, a hand in glove situation as it were, but a good photograph can make a statement.

A photo of the enormous Liberty Road water tower being constructed to serve the Greensboro-Randolph megasite - specifically Toyotas electric vehicle battery plant - is one such example.

Toyota, recall, committed in 2021 to building an EV battery plant at the site, pledging a total $3.8 billion capital investment. That will beget 2 million square feet of space across three buildings. Most importantly, the whole shebang is expected to employ at least 2,100 people.

Yes, thats good news.

But seeing a photo of that water structure with the Toyota logo towering over raw, red earth where it's all being built is a powerful sign of whats to come.

Changing tires and oil among the stacks

WINSTON-SALEM - Sometimes an email just catches your attention.

So it was with an email with a photo attached that landed earlier this week. I cant remember who sent it or why, but the subject matter did leap out.

No, it wasnt that kind of photo.

Instead, it featured a wheel and a quart of motor oil and the heading Basic Car Care & Maintenance for Teens.

The Forsyth County Public Library is hosting a hand-on instructional session at the Central Library from noon to 2 p.m. for teens interested in learning something about how that machine operates and how to take care of it.

Practical skills for a generation sometimes maligned for not knowing how to change a tire.
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The Daily Minute is the Journal Star's morning news briefing where you can get the latest news in about a minute each weekday. Previous Daily Minute videos are archived here.

Good morning, Lincoln. Here are today's top stories.

Pillen strikes basic-skills testing

Gov. Jim Pillen signed off Tuesday on eliminating basic-skills testing for new teachers, which many say is an unnecessary and burdensome requirement keeping educators out of the classroom.

Pillen said he would approve the repeal of Rule 23, which requires new teachers to take a basic-skills test before they can get their teaching certificate. The Nebraska State Board of Education already repealed the rule in March but was waiting on the governor's signature.

Pillen described repealing the requirement as an example of government getting out of the way.

Little-Atwood House

A piece of Lincolns history has a new owner  and a new purpose.

The grand mansion at 17th and G streets with big white pillars and a hint of mystery as to its architectural origins is now the home of a rehabilitation and counseling practice called Connecting Links.

The practice, which offers diagnosis, evaluation and treatment for people with mental health and substance abuse issues, was outgrowing its suite in the Haymarket. Its owner and therapist had admired the 7,000-square-foot neoclassical revival when it showed up for sale on Zillow.

And so she applied for a special permit to offer her services there and bought the home  and carriage house  for $675,000.

State track

And, the top athletes in the state will be at Burke Stadium in Omaha this week for the state track and field meet, which begins today.

There are plenty of names to follow from Lincoln, such as East's Sam Cappos in the shot put and Pius X's Kate Campos in the hurdles.

Thats it for Wednesday, May 17. Stay in the know with Lincolns longest-standing news source at JournalStar.com and well see you back here tomorrow.

Top Journal Star photos for May 2023
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Lincoln-based nonprofit Cedars announced plans Wednesday for a first-of-its-kind housing facility for pregnant and parenting teens.

The 6,800-square-foot-facility  named "Carriage House"  will serve as an expansion to Cedars' south Lincoln campus at 6601 Pioneers Blvd.

The nonprofit, which serves vulnerable Nebraska children and families without stable housing, will allow pregnant and parenting teens to stay at the facility for three to four months in one of the Carriage House's apartments, Cedars CEO Jim Blue said in a news release Wednesday afternoon.

The housing facility  which will cost around $3 million and will be funded via a public-private partnership  will have four one-bedroom apartments and two two-bedroom units, Blue said. There will also be common space for youths and office space for staff to provide supervision and support to residents.

Lancaster County is appropriating $250,000 for the project, and the state is tacking on another $1 million as the organization launches a fundraising campaign for an additional $800,000 in private donations to pay for the project in full.

Cedars has already secured nearly $1 million in private funds for the facility, Blue said.

The facility will help fill the gaps for an underserved population in Lincoln, according to the 75-year-old nonprofit's news release.

Cedars estimates that there are more than 350 youths experiencing homelessness each day in the Lincoln area  nearly 100 of whom are pregnant or parenting their own young children.

In addition to housing, residents at the Carriage House will also receive life skills training such as prenatal care, parenting, nutrition, budgeting, household maintenance, continued education or employment, and instruction on how to access health care and other resources.

Residents will also have access to mental health services.

Top Journal Star photos for May 2023
Photo: The Canadian Press FILE - Former Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes leaves federal court in San Jose, Calif., March 17, 2023. Holmes has asked a federal judge, Wednesday, May 17, 2023, to allow her to remain free through the Memorial Day weekend before surrendering to authorities on May 30, to begin her more than 11-year prison sentence for defrauding investors in a blood-testing scam. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu, File)

Disgraced Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes will remain free through the Memorial Day weekend before surrendering to authorities on May 30 to begin her more than 11-year prison sentence for defrauding investors in a blood-testing scam.

U.S. District Judge Edward Davila set Holmes' revised prison-reporting date after her lawyers proposed it in a Wednesday filing. It came after a federal appeals court late Tuesday rejected Holmes' bid to remain out of prison while she attempts to overturn her January 2022 conviction on four felony counts of fraud and conspiracy.

The punishment also includes a $452 million restitution bill that Davila ordered Holmes to pay in a separate ruling issued late Tuesday.

Holmes' lawyers asked Davila to approve the May 30 prison reporting time to her two weeks to sort out several issues, including child care for her 1-year-old son William and 3-month-old daughter Invicta. Holmes had originally been ordered to begin her prison sentence on April 27, but won a reprieve with a last-minute legal maneuver that gave her more time with her children.

Holmes, 39, became pregnant with William shortly before the start of her high-profile trial in September 2021 and became pregnant with Invicta shortly after she was convicted of crimes that could have resulted in a prison sentence of up to 20 years.

The father of both children is William Billy Evans, whom she met after breaking up with her former romantic and business partner, Ramesh Sunny, Balwani, who began serving a nearly 13-year prison sentence last month in Southern California. Balwani, 57, was convicted for 12 felony counts of fraud and conspiracy committed while he was Theranos' chief operating officer and living with Holmes.

In Wednesdays filing, Holmes' lawyers didn't disclose the location of the prison that she has been assigned to serve her sentence. But they noted she has to prepare to travel outside of California, where she has been living in the San Diego area while free on bail. Davila has recommended that Holmes be imprisoned in Bryan, Texas.

When Holmes is finally incarcerated, it will bring down the curtain on a saga that cast a bright light on a dark chapter in Silicon Valley that brought her fame and fortune before her scandalous downfall.

After dropping out of Stanford University in 2003 to found Theranos while still a teenager, Holmes promised to revolutionize healthcare with a technology that she promised would be able to scan for hundreds of diseases and other potential problems with just a few drops of blood. The idea helped her raising nearly $1 billion from sophisticated investors that included Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison and media mogul Rupert Murdoch, who is owed $125 million under the restitution order.

But Theranos' blood tests never came close to working the way Holmes had boasted with the support of Balwani, resulting in the company's collapse and a tale that has been the subject of a book, Bad Blood, an HBO documentary, The Inventor," and a Hulu mini-series, The Dropout," which won Amanda Seyfried an Emmy in the starring role.
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NEW YORK  For decades, a giant, inflatable rat with beady eyes, sharp teeth and a pustule-covered belly has loomed over union protests, drawing attention to various labor disputes.

As New York City deals with an influx of actual rats, Scabby the Rat has become that rare thing, like Pizza Rat or Buddy the Rat  a rodent New Yorkers can rally behind.

In the era of TikTok and influencer culture, middle-aged Scabby faces a new challenge: staying relevant.

"It's kind of unfortunate, changing times, older members of the public know exactly what the rat is for," said James Smith, union activity administrator for the NYC District Council of Carpenters. "The newer generation sometimes doesn't  one person thought that we were protesting a building that needed an exterminator."

The rodent is not collecting hard-won retirement benefits just yet.

Scabby has been making the rounds at various picket lines in New York for the Hollywood writers strike organized by the Writers Guild of America East and other unions.

At the picket line near HBO and Amazon's New York offices last week, screenwriter Lisa Kron, 61, said she was "thrilled to see that we were being chaperoned by Scabby the Rat."

She's seen Scabby out and about during her four decades living in New York, but this was her first time picketing with the rat.

"It's one of those great enduring symbols, it's a great piece of visual protest," she said. "It's got humor and it's got a shaming kind of message. And it's very New York."

"It's an attention grabber," said Benjamin Serby, a professor at Adelphi University who has written about Scabby's history. "It's something that just is very effective, for whatever reason, at making people walking by or driving by, stop and ask: 'What's going on here?'"

Scabby the Rat was invented by a union in Chicago in the late 1980s, though several claim credit. Other unions around the country quickly adopted inflatables  pigs, roaches and cats are popular, though they lack a catchy nickname  to draw attention to actions.

Most unions have several Scabbys, or borrow from unions that do.

At a union action in March at a Petco, Marty Flash sat in the cab of his truck used to ferry one of the NYC District Council of Carpenters' eight rats around. Most of the rats, along with a generator and gas can, stay in a locker at union headquarters or in organizers' trucks so they can be quickly deployed.

Flash, a carpenter for 35 years, has seen many reactions to the 10-foot-tall rat in the truck's bed.

"In midtown Manhattan, it's a tourist attraction. Little children get a real kick out of it. They come over, they want to touch it. Dogs are petrified of it," he said. Scabby can inflate in about a minute and a half with a generator, he said, and deflate in about 30 seconds. Bigger rats  they range from 8 to more than 20 feet tall  can take 15 minutes to fill up.

Scabby's name is a play on "scabs," a derogatory term from the 1800s for strikebreakers who cross picket lines to work. The sores on his belly are a visual reference to the term. Flash said workers shouldn't take offense, since Scabby is protesting against contractors and companies, not workers themselves.

"Some workers think that we are against them. We're actually fighting to get them more money, better pay and better benefits," he said. "But it's perceived as the rat is calling them a rat or implying that they're 'less than.' Which is not our intention.  It's to imply that a rat contractor is not paying their workers the fair pay."

The rats are made of PVC vinyl and cost between $8,000 to $20,000, Flash said. Blue Sky Balloons outside of Chicago is responsible for most of the rats found in NYC. That company seems to be distancing itself from the inflatables, The Guardian reported earlier this year. Blue Sky Balloons told The Associated Press its new owners weren't associated with the rat and didn't respond to follow-up queries.

Flash says his union still sends its rats to Big Sky for repairs, which can cost up to $2,000. Repairs are needed often as most rats are years or decades old, so the unions try to take good care of them.

Sometimes the inflatable rat gets slashed or attacked by anyone from random passersby to disgruntled workers. If it blocks the sidewalk or street, police can boot it.

Scabby also has faced legal challenges by the companies it targets, though the National Labor Relations Board ruled in 2021 that it was a protected form of expression.

These days, Scabby has to contend with new technology and social media. Its Facebook page, run by a retired union organizer, lets various unions post photos of Scabby at protests around the country, and some rats feature QR codes that give people information about campaigns.

However, Mike Piccirillo, president of Local 20 Carpenters Union, said a more recent addition to the union's arsenal might overshadow Scabby.

"Our LED sign truck is a lot more effective than the rat," he said. "I've been in construction for 25 years, and most New Yorkers are numb to the rat. They just walk by it. Now the LED sign with its flashing lights actually gets their attention."

These industries provide the most jobs in every state These industries provide the most jobs in every state The trade, transportation, and utilities industry leads in US employment Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington Washington DC West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming
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State lawmakers on Tuesday successfully combined two of the most controversial measures introduced this legislative session into a single bill.

As chants from opponents of a bill (LB574) from Omaha Sen. Kathleen Kauth echoed in the legislative chamber, the Legislature amended a 12-week abortion ban into the measure and advanced it to final reading.

The bill will now get two more hours of debate before it is likely to be sent to Gov. Jim Pillen for his signature.

Tuesday's vote, which came on Day 78 of the 90-day session, marked a successful gamble by supporters of both measures after a six-week abortion ban (LB626) failed earlier this year and support for LB574 appeared to be wavering.

How they voted Senators advanced 33-14 a bill (LB574) to final reading that would limit health care procedures for transgender youths and ban abortion after 12 weeks. Voting yes (33) Aguilar, Albrecht, Arch, Armendariz, Ballard, Bosn, Bostelman, Brandt, Brewer, Briese, Clements, DeKay, Dorn, Dover, Erdman, Halloran, Hansen, Hardin, Holdcroft, Hughes, Ibach, Jacobson, Kauth, Linehan, Lippincott, Lowe, McDonnell, Moser, Murman, Riepe, Sanders, Slama, von Gillern Voting no (14) Blood, Bostar, Cavanaugh, J., Cavanaugh, M., Conrad, Day, DeBoer, Dungan, Fredrickson, Hunt, McKinney, Raybould, Vargas, Wayne Not voting (1) Walz Excused, not voting (1) Wishart

Sen. Ben Hansen of Blair, who brought the amendment, said the amendment marked "an agreeable compromise" on both measures where no one was getting exactly what they wanted.

The abortion ban didn't go as far as many in the Legislature wanted, and several provisions in Kauth's ban on gender-affirming care were removed and instead put under the purview of the state's chief medical officer.

But opponents of the bill accused supporters of bending and breaking the Legislature's rules in order to achieve the political win.

"In every possible way you are cheating and it looks bad," said Omaha Sen. Machaela Cavanaugh, who has held up progress of the Legislature this year in response to the bill being introduced. "What you are attempting to do today is the lowest of the absolute lows."

Still, Kauth was able to muster 33 votes to invoke cloture after a long and winding and often emotional debate that was marked by confusion and accusations that the majority was using its raw political power to achieve its goal.

Under the legislative procedures outlined by Speaker John Arch at the beginning of the session, cloture can be invoked after two hours of debate on final reading.

Tuesdays debate lasted longer than six hours, however, as opponents of the bill, in an attempt to run out the clock and keep Hansens amendment from coming to the floor, raised several points of order that were rejected by the presiding officer, Lt. Gov. Joe Kelly.

Senators then introduced motions to overrule Kelly as a further delay tactic. On the first round of debate for LB574, the time spent debating those procedural motions counted toward the eight-hour limit, but that practice was later deemed incorrect.

So, for hours on Tuesday, as senators debated the bill, the amendment, and the rules of the Legislature, the clock was not running. With everyone allowed to speak once, supporters of LB574 and the amendment joined the speaking queue but waived their turn, while opponents took their full time.

Meanwhile, in the Rotunda, supporters of the bill gathered in prayer for what they described as a spiritual battle being waged in the Nebraskas one-house Legislature.

They want to make it about issues and people, said Stephanie Johnson of Rise Stronger Ministry for Women, who led the prayer. Right now its a battle between good and evil.

Eventually, opponents of the bill began to fill the space, chanting kill this bill and trans rights are human rights that reverberated inside the chamber and led leaders to briefly consider closing the doors in order to muffle the sound.

Luke Anschutz, who came in support of the protesters with his family, said lawmakers who favored further restrictions on gender-affirming care and abortion lacked empathy for the people who would be most affected.

They need to meet more people that are affected by this, Anschutz said. I wish they could sit in on a visit in a doctors office and see what (trans people) go through.

Inside the chamber, as opponents availability to keep the filibuster going and prevent the amendment from coming up was running low, tensions began to rise.

Lincoln Sen. Danielle Conrad pleaded with her colleagues to think broader than the bill before them and to what their actions could mean for a polarized country.

If you read the headlines, if you scroll social media, if you talk to your friends and neighbors, they are sick of the toxic politics, Conrad said, the only way to stop it is to stop it.

Omaha Sen. John Cavanaugh, who brought his own amendment that was not considered, asked those on the fence to not rely on potential lawsuits to correct the Legislature.

We should do what is right right now, he said.

And Omaha Sen. Megan Hunt, whose 12-year-old son is transgender, said through tears that protesters were asking for one vote to save our lives.

The way government is coming down in this body between a parent and their child and a health care professional  is unreal, Hunt said.

Only a handful of backers spoke in support of the bill on Tuesday before senators voted to shut off debate, attach the amendment and advance it once more.

LB574 and its newly minted restrictions on abortion have followed a long and winding road full of controversy to get one round of consideration away from being signed into law.

Earlier, Kauths bill survived a blistering first-round debate that went for eight hours across three days in March. She ultimately secured the votes needed to invoke cloture on the promise of an amendment that would remove puberty blockers and hormone therapy treatments from the bill.

Over the next month, as hundreds of businesses raised concerns about the passage of the bill, Kauth held what she described as a listening exercise to a handful of opponents of LB574, which ultimately resulted in the relatively minor changes to her original bill that went to the floor on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, a bill (LB626) from Sen. Joni Albrecht of Thurston that would have banned abortion after about six weeks fell one vote short of passing a second-round test in late April after a co-signer of the bill pulled his support in a dramatic moment on the legislative floor.

Sen. Merv Riepe of Ralston, who raised concerns that a six-week ban would not give women enough time to find out they were pregnant before making a decision about how to proceed, was unsuccessful in attaching an amendment moving Nebraskas current 20-week ban down to 12 weeks.

While Arch said Albrechts bill would not come back before lawmakers this session, Sen. Ben Hansen of Blair, the chairman of the Health and Human Services Committee, revived the abortion ban on May 8 by proposing an amendment to LB574.

Hansens amendment bans abortion after 12 weeks gestation, which is marked from a womans last menstrual period, or about 10 weeks after fertilization.

Riepes amendment would have banned abortion 12-weeks post-fertilization, which opponents pointed out was calculated differently than Hansen's amendment.

The amendment considered on Tuesday also does not include an exception for fetal anomalies, as Riepes did, and does not remove criminal penalties for abortion from Nebraskas state statutes  provisions opponents of the bill raised as concerns.

Still, Riepe voted in support of the amendment on Tuesday, saying he had secured an agreement from Hansen that they would bring a bill to remove those criminal penalties next year.

Regarding LB574, Hansens amendment maintains the provision banning gender-affirming surgeries for Nebraskans under the age of 19, but removes the prohibition of on puberty blockers and hormone therapy for minors, unless they have already started such treatments.

Instead, the bill would require the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services to develop rules and regulations for those medications. States like Florida have opted for a similar path, which ultimately led to the state agency effectively banning those treatments.

The advancement of LB574 won praise from Gov. Jim Pillen on Tuesday, who called it an important step to protecting the future as well as Marion Miner, associate director of pro-life and family policy at the Nebraska Catholic Conference

Nebraskas children, born and preborn, deserve our unwavering commitment to their well-being, Miner said in a statement. Todays vote is a good step in that direction.

Andi Curry-Grubb, executive director of Planned Parenthood Advocates of Nebraska, said she was saddened by but not deterred by todays vote by lawmakers who want to take away the rights of the people who they represent.

But this fight is far from over, Curry-Grubb added. For now, abortion and gender-affirming care remain safe and legal in Nebraska and our residents have the right to control their bodies, families and futures.

And Mindy Rush Chipman, interim executive director of the ACLU of Nebraska, blasted senators for trying to impose their personal beliefs on everyone else.

They are disregarding what constituents want, ignoring medical experts and jeopardizing Nebraskans health, Rush Chipman said.

LB574, in its amended form, will need to lay over for at least 24 hours before it can be put back on the agenda. The earliest it could return to the Legislatures agenda would be Thursday.

Photos: Nebraska Legislature considers bill on transgender health care and abortion
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Authorities have found an 11-year-old girl who disappeared from her home in York last week.

Mercedes American Horse was found safe shortly before 5 p.m. Wednesday  nine days after she disappeared, the York Police Department said in a social media post.

She disappeared on May 8 from the town 50 miles west of Lincoln.

The York Police Department said Tuesday in a Facebook post the the girl left her legal guardian and was last seen with her mother, who does not have legal custody.

In a separate post Wednesday evening, after the girl was found, the department thanked "the various law enforcement agencies and individuals who assisted in this investigation."

Getting away with murder: Nebraska cold cases Patricia Webb Tina McMenamin Ali Saleh Al-Saidi Gina Bos Ann Marie Kelley Carl Bittner K.K. Kody Christi Nichols Donald Bennett Ernestine Ruschy Eugene McGuire Jay Durnil Mary Heese Gregory Moore Irvin Settje Jason Remsen Jason Vesper Brian Walker Arthur Morley Jay Blockson Jeanne Kassebaum William, Bernice and Barbara Peak Jeffrey Snoddy Joy Blanchard Demetrius Simpson Julie Derrick Leah Rowlands Letha Harley Mary Cabral Mary Cronin Merlin Mosel Mitchell Simon Patrick Vostades Rebecca Williams Richard Chadek Richard Lessley Robert Beaudoin Robert Heelan Rudolfo Flores Russell McKnight Sandy Green Sarah Neal Tyrone Banister Waddell Robinson Charles Hanks
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WASHINGTON  Two New York Police Department officers ambushed and killed after responding to a 911 call and the rookie cop who took down the gunman were honored Wednesday, along with six others, by President Joe Biden with the Medal of Valor, the nation's highest honor for bravery by a public safety officer.

The three NYPD officers, a Houston police officer, a Colorado police official, an Ohio sheriff's deputy and three FDNY firefighters all received medals in a White House ceremony before Biden departed for Japan and the Group of Seven summit.

"I don't know all of you, but I do know you," Biden said. "From small towns to big cities, you're cut from the same cloth. You run into danger when everyone else runs away from danger."

Biden told the crowd the award was given for "actions above and beyond the call of duty," singling out the families of the officers to thank them.

NYPD officer Wilbert Mora and his partner Jason Rivera were shot Jan. 21, 2022, while responding to a call about a family dispute in a Harlem apartment. Officer Sumit Sulan shot and killed the gunman, ending the deadly encounter moments after it began and keeping the civilians safe. Rivera died that night; Mora was pronounced dead four days later. The families of the two officers accepted their awards.

"I think one of the hardest jobs in America, what you signed up for," the president said Wednesday as he presented the medals. "You represent the best of who we are as Americans."

Attorney General Merrick Garland said the recipients showed "extraordinary valor" above and beyond the call of duty.

"At the end of every shift, you are there," he said to the families. "It is your care and encouragement that makes it possible for our public safety officers to do their jobs. We are so grateful to you."

Biden also honored three New York City firefighters for the bravery, including Lt. Justin Hespeler, who rescued a newborn baby from a burning house. "That's true heroism," Biden said.

He also honored firefighter Patrick Thornton who, aboard an FDNY boat, saved a man trapped under a capsized vessel in the waters off the coast of Staten Island, along with retired Lt. Jason Hickey, who was on the FDNY's marine training unit when he got a distress call of a man in the Harlem River. Hickey jumped in and saved the man from drowning.

The other recipients are:

Corporal Jeffrey Farmer of the Littleton, Colorado Police Department. Farmer was responding to a call of shots fired and chased the suspect to the door of an apartment where the man opened fire, hitting Farmer's partner. Farmer worked to fend off the shooter, then, realizing an ambulance was too far away, dragged his partner into his police car and drove him to the hospital himself, saving his life.

Deputy Bobby Hau Pham of the Clermont County, Ohio Sheriff's Office. Pham saved a drowning woman who drove her car into a lake, though he could not swim.

Sergeant Kendrick Simpo of the Houston, Texas Police Department. Simpo was working a second job at the Houston area Galleria mall when he heard on the radio a heavily armed man wearing a mask was roaming the mall, near where a group of children were gathered for a dance competition. Simpo tackled the suspect, who was carrying an AR-15 rifle, a Bible, a handgun and 120 rounds of ammunition. No one was injured.

Photos: Biden honors 9 with Medal of Valor
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Researchers working to unlock the secrets of Alzheimer's disease say they've been given a major clue that could help protect people at risk for this type of dementia.

A man who seemed fated to develop memory loss in his 40s or 50s, based on family history, kept normal function for decades longer than he should have. He seems to have been protected by a rare gene change that enhanced the function of a protein that helps nerve cells communicate.

Scientists say that understanding how this gene change defended his brain may help prevent Alzheimer's in other people.

The man is part of a large family in Antioquia, Colombia, with many members who have inherited a mutated gene called presenilin-1, or PSEN1. Carriers of PSEN1 are almost certain to develop Alzheimer's disease at a relatively young age.

The man, who had the PSEN1 mutation, did eventually develop memory and thinking problems. He was diagnosed with mild dementia at the age of 72, then experienced more memory decline and an infection. He died of pneumonia at age 74.

But by all indications, he should have had memory and thinking problems decades earlier. When doctors examined his brain after death, they found it loaded with beta amyloid and tau, two proteins that accumulate in the brains of people with Alzheimer's.

However, he had something working in his favor, too. A genetic analysis revealed that the man had a rare change in a gene that codes for a protein called reelin, which helps nerve cells communicate.

"In this case, it was very clear that this reelin variant makes reelin work better," said Dr. Joseph Arboleda-Velasquez, an associate professor of ophthalmology at Harvard University and lead author of a new study on the man.

"That gives us a huge insight," he said. "It makes it very obvious that just putting more reelin in the brain may actually help patients."

The study was published Monday in the journal Nature Medicine.

The enhanced reelin protein seemed to be protecting a very specific part of the man's brain, an area that sits behind the nose at the base of the brain called the entorhinal cortex.

"Another big insight from this case is, it seems like maybe you don't need this everywhere in the brain," Arboleda-Velasquez said.

The entorhinal cortex is particularly sensitive to aging and to Alzheimer's. It's an area of the brain that also sends and receives signals related to the sense of smell. Loss of smell is often a harbinger of brain changes that lead to memory and thinking difficulties.

"So when people have Alzheimer's, it starts in the entorhinal cortex, and then it spreads," Arboleda-Velasquez said.

This is the second time Arboleda-Velasquez and the team studying this extended family have found someone who defied their genetic odds.

In 2019, the scientists reported the case of a woman who should have developed early Alzheimer's but instead maintained her memory and thinking abilities until her 70s.

She carried two copies of a change in her APOE3 gene that was nicknamed the Christchurch mutation. It seems to have decreased the activity of the APOE3 protein. Like reelin, APOE is a signaling molecule that is known to play a role in shaping a person's risk for Alzheimer's.

And it turns out that there is a link between these two cases: The receptors on cells for reelin are the same receptors for APOE.

"So these two patients are pointing with like big arrows. They're telling us, 'Hey, these is the pathway. This is the pathway that is important for extreme protection against Alzheimer's,' " Arboleda-Velasquez said.

But the pathway may not be as protective for everyone. The sister of the man in the new study also shared the rare protective gene change, and it helped her, but not as much. According to her family, she began experiencing cognitive decline at age 58.

Arboleda-Velasquez said that may be because in women, the activity of the gene seems to drop off with age, so it doesn't make as much reelin protein. "They can have the variant, but they don't express it as much as men," he said.

The Harvard team says they're already working toward develop a therapy based on these findings.

Dr. Richard Isaacson, a preventive neurologist at Florida Atlantic University, says studies like this show us something important: "In certain cases, we can win a tug of war against our genes."

Does this mean a cure is around the corner? That remains to be seen.

"Can we use a study like this to transform care and improve care? I hope so. I wouldn't say that we're there just yet," said Isaacson, who was not involved with this research. "But I think this is this is an important study."

10 potential early signs of dementia Intro Memory loss that disrupts daily life Challenges in planning or solving problems Difficulty completing familiar tasks at home, at work, or at leisure Confusion with time or place Trouble understanding visual images and spatial relations New problems with words in speaking or writing Misplacing things and losing the ability to retrace steps Decreased or poor judgment Withdrawal from work or social activities Changes in mood and personality
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CALEDONIA  A year after a residential chicken ordinance was approved in the Village of Caledonia, only two people have taken advantage of it.

Caledonia village officials have mixed feelings about the subject.

Some are happy to give residents the option, while others are questioning whether the effort to approve the ordinance was worth the work.

Residents arent expressing the degree of interest in keeping chickens that they once were.

The ordinance, approved by the Caledonia Village Board in March 2022, allows anyone living on a zoned residential property of four acres or less to keep up to five hens.

The approval came after much discussion between residents and the village throughout the past two decades. An effort to get Caledonia to change its previous code failed in 2016.

I am surprised by the low number of applicants, given the significant attendance and support received during the adoption of this ordinance, Village Clerk Joslyn Hoeffert said.

I wanted people to have that individual option to fit their individual lifestyle, Trustee Holly McManus said. I have not heard any issues or anybody saying, Why did you bring this? No ones ever been like, Thanks a lot, Holly, for your chickens.

Past vs. present

The former code required five acres or more to keep chickens on residential property, and the birds had to be housed more than 150 feet from every residence not on that parcel.

For properties zoned agriculture, residents were required to have two or more acres to keep chickens.

Now, the village allows hens, or female chickens, by permit on property zoned single-family residential that also contains an occupied single-family dwelling.

Roosters, or male chickens, are prohibited on property permitted for hens.

Slaughtering the birds is prohibited, except on properties properly zoned and approved for such use.

Coops are required to house the hens, and an accessory building permit is required for all hen coops.

There additionally must be at least two nesting boxes per five hens.

Sales of eggs, chicks or chickens also are prohibited on any residential property.

McManus and Trustee Fran Martin got the chicken discussion rolling again in 2021.

The Village Board at the time was split.

But those opposed to the idea eventually came around after more restrictions were proposed.

The ordinance has been updated a few times with minor wording changes.

At its meeting last week, the Village Board unanimously approved a change to the site review section of the ordinance.

The section now states that prior to the initial permit, the intended site for keeping of hens must be reviewed by the zoning administrator or designee.

Renewal applications do not require a site review if there have been no complaints and the plan has not changed.

The word inspect was changed to review so that the zoning administrator or designee could review the site virtually rather than in-person, if needed.

Hoeffert told the board members during the meeting that only two people have applied for residential chicken permits since the inception of the new ordinance.

Wow, thats amazing, Trustee Dale Stillman said sarcastically. It was well-worth the effort.

It certainly was, Hoeffert replied, also sarcastically.

However, she said the two applicants who obtained the permit were enthusiastic about it based on social media posts.

Complaints

Hoeffert said shes uncertain about the number of unpermitted chickens but is aware that it may occur.

She said that typically instances of skirting permits only come to light through residential complaints.

Past Village Board members had worried about complaints of chicken nuisance or other issues such as vermin.

Since the ordinance was approved, Hoeffert has not received any chicken complaints at the village, but Lt. Gary Larsen said the Caledonia Police Department has received four complaints about chicken keeping since March 2022.

One was about a man who had a rooster, a violation of the ordinance. The man said he would get rid of the rooster.

One was a complaint about chickens that were loose and pecking at doors. The CPD officer was unable to locate the chickens.

Two were for loose chickens, although the owner was in an area that previously would have allowed them. The owner was cited after the second incident.

Larsen said he is unaware of people keeping unpermitted chickens, other than the rooster complaint.

A total of four complaints would suggest that we are not having a significant problem with the ordinance, Larsen said.

McManus said its possible residents are keeping chickens without the proper permits, because theyre trying to avoid paying fees or dont know how the application process works.

The residential chicken keeping application is available on the village website or can be picked up at the Village Hall during business hours.

McManus said that when she pushed for the chicken ordinance to be approved, she wanted residents to have options, to be able to own chickens if they want to do so.

She said that a year might not be long enough to judge the effectiveness of the ordinance.

People might want chickens three or four years from now when their kids are older or when theyre retired, McManus said. I didnt expect a huge uptick in chickens. I just wanted people to be able to say, My village allows chickens, and I can have them when I want them.

Resident response

Caledonia resident Bridget Nimz said shes not interested in keeping chickens, but was fully in support of those that wanted to.

Resident Amber Krome was interested in having a residential chicken keeping ordinance because she wanted chickens of her own.

However, the costs turned her away once it was actually approved.

To have chickens on residential property, residents must have proof of registration with the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection. This is free.

Then, residents must pay a one-time new application fee of $100 and an annual application fee of $50.

The zoning cost is $100, the engineering cost is $33, the building cost is $57 and the neighborhood planning cost is $7.41  all paid once.

So, the total cost for new chicken keeping in the village is $347.41, and its $50 every year to renew.

Im not sure why they made it difficult and costly to the citizens, with all the benefits they offer, Krome said.

In photos and video: First day of the 100th Racine County Fair Ethan Reinersman Patrick Bjerning Camel ride Audra and Lauren Terry Vearrier Cooling off Ain't I pretty Hi, I'm Dora! Let me show you how it 's done What a day High up Madison and Mason Almost done! Holding some chicks Jillian Confident Winning smile A shoulder to roost on. Damian Dapra Singing a song
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RACINE  Fabian Fabi Maldonado has resigned from his post as District 2 supervisor.

District 2 covers a southwest portion of the City of Racine.

Maldonado, first elected in 2018, is believed to have been only the second Latino male to serve on the board. April 14 was his last day.

District 7 Supervisor Jessica Lee Malacara and District 10 Supervisor Olga White, who are believed to be the Racine County Boards first female Latinas, remain on the board.

Maldonado is leaving behind an unfulfilled term that expires April 15, 2024.

County Board Chairman and District 18 Supervisor Thomas Roanhouse, Vice Chairman and District 13 Supervisor Tom Kramer, County Clerk Wendy Christensen, a representative of the countys Corporation Counsel and possibly someone from the Finance and Human Resource Committee are scheduled to interview candidates starting Monday.

You cant have enough good people, Roanhouse said. The County Board is like a chain of 21 links, and you have to link. The new link is undetermined yet. We view each other as one team, and Im kind of proud of that. From that perspective, we have to start over.

Maldonado cited personal reasons for his decision to leave the board, but declined to share details.

He said he has to attend to something pressing, and that serving on the board was the greatest honor of my life.

Maldonado said he plans to stay in Racine and will continue to work with local government, but will not serve on any committees or boards.

A better political landscape

Maldonado, 34, works for the Milwaukee Teachers Education Association, a union based at 5130 W. Vliet St. in Milwaukee.

He is a Green Party activist and unsuccessfully ran to be Racine mayor.

Maldonado served on the boards Health and Human Development Committee, Government Services Committee and Executive Committee.

Roanhouse said Maldonado had great attendance record, provided good input, conducted himself well and did his homework.

If you were going to look up County Board supervisor responsibility in the dictionary, his name would be there, Roanhouse said. He took his job very seriously, and he did it very seriously. He will be missed.

Maldonado comes from a family of immigrants and is bilingual, which helped him connect with residents who speak Spanish.

To have someone who is much closer to the problem that understands them (immigrants) is transformative for a community that has members that are living those challenges every day, District 1 Supervisor Nick Demske said. We can learn to have a conversation. Hopefully the whole political landscape is better at the end of the day.

Maldonado also chaired the Racine County Green Party to encourage young people to vote, focusing on environmental issues, protection for undocumented workers and the decriminalization of marijuana.

He also encouraged the Hispanic community to be vaccinated against COVID-19.

Maldonado was appointed in 2020 to Wisconsins statewide Census Complete Count Committee to help ensure the U.S. census was as accurate as possible.

Demske said one of Maldonados strengths was that he is very intentionally inclusive and focused on bringing people into the political process and civic literacy.

Maldonado was instrumental in bringing the first Latinas to the County Board and the Racine Unified School District Board, Demske said.

Its one thing to hold a leadership role, and its another thing to be a community leader, Demske said. Hell still be doing transformative things for this community and beyond, no matter what roles hes holding or not holding.

In 2020, Maldonado was named one of the 39 most influential Latinos in Wisconsin by Madison365s Si Se Puede list.

When Maldonado worked as political director for Voces de la Frontera, some of the systems he created for relational organizing became the gold standard nationally, and organizations across the country adopted them prior to the 2020 presidential election, Demske said.

He added it was a real honor to serve with Maldonado.

As much as I will miss him, I think its a good thing when people cycle out, Demske said. I definitely respect that hes making the space for somebody else to have that experience and gain that knowledge.

Happy during the entire process

Maldonado thanked his constituents for voting for him and believing in him. He also thanked his County Board colleagues, County Executive Jonathan Delagrave and other county staffers.

He said he enjoyed working with the countys Youth in Governance program, with the countys Human Services Department and with county parks.

And he hasnt ruled out returning one day to the County Board or a committee.

Right now I just gotta take care of personal stuff, Maldonado said. Im leaving everything open for now.

Racine County Communications Center dispatchers at work during National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week, in photos Jacqueline Bratz and Jody Howell Amanda Kopatich and David Kettinger Amanda Kopatich David Kettinger Wendi Hood-Madsen Chris Morin
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A ballot question for a constitutional amendment that sought to enhance the rights of crime victims was properly worded and legally adopted after Wisconsin voters overwhelmingly approved it two years ago, the Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled Tuesday.

The state's high court ruled 6-1, with liberal Justice Ann Walsh Bradley dissenting, that the contested measure known as "Marsy's Law" will stand as law, despite arguments raised that the original ballot question before voters in 2020 was vague or misleading.

The majority concluded Wisconsin's constitutional requirement is that amendments to the document must be submitted to voters but does not contain "any explicit obligations regarding form or substance." The ruling could have a lasting impact on future amendments to the Wisconsin Constitution at a time when some conservative groups have called on state Republicans to ramp up their use of such ballot questions as a way to enact or preserve legislation with liberals holding the governor's office and poised to take control of the state Supreme Court in August.

"The legislature is granted substantial discretion and freedom in how amendments can be submitted to the people," conservative Justice Brian Hagedorn wrote for the majority. "The text simply requires that the people must have the opportunity to ratify or reject a proposed amendment."

The constitutional amendment, which was approved by about 75% of Wisconsin voters, was challenged by the Wisconsin Justice Initiative, along with a group of defense attorneys and now-retired Democratic state Sen. Fred Risser, who disputed the validity of the question put to voters. They said the ballot question didn't sufficiently describe the potential negative repercussions for people accused of crimes.

In the ruling, the majority note that only once, in 1953, has the state Supreme Court reversed a proposed amendment to the state constitution. In that instance, the court concluded the question submitted before voters described the amendment in a fundamentally counterfactual way, according to Tuesdays ruling.

While (Wisconsin Justice Initiative) takes issue with the wording, completeness, and implications of the ballot question, we conclude the question was not fundamentally counterfactual such that voters were not afforded the opportunity to approve the actual amendment, Hagedorn wrote Tuesday.

Bradley dissents

Bradley, in her dissent, wrote the ballot question was improperly worded, as it did not mention provisions in Marsy's Law that provide greater rights for victims and the diminishment of the rights of the accused. In part, the law gives victims the right to refuse an interview, deposition or other discovery request made by the accused or any person acting on behalf of the accused.

Margo Kirchner, executive director with Wisconsin Justice Initiative, said she was disappointed with the court's decision and supported Bradley's sentiments, but also expressed concern with the potential long-reaching impact of the court's decision.

"The court, in its decision, ended up giving the Legislature really unfettered power regarding constitutional amendment referendum questions in the future," Kirchner said.

Constitutional amendments must pass two successive legislative sessions before going before voters. They cannot be vetoed by the governor.

Rights of the accused

Supporters of the amendment said it gives alleged victims the same rights as the accused. Lawyers representing the Wisconsin Elections Commission and groups that support the amendment cautioned the Wisconsin Supreme Court against interfering with legislative proposals.

The question voters saw on their ballot stated: "Shall section 9m of article I of the constitution, which gives certain rights to crime victims, be amended to give crime victims additional rights, to require that the rights of crime victims be protected with equal force to the protections afforded the accused while leaving the federal constitutional rights of the accused intact, and to allow crime victims to enforce their rights in court?"

A Dane County judge ruled in late 2020 that the statewide ballot question inadequately spelled out the effect the amendment would have on the rights of people accused of crimes. He said voters would have been better informed had the question been broken into two parts  one addressing greater rights for victims and another on the diminishment of the rights of the accused.

Dane County Circuit Court Judge Frank Remington also noted that while the ballot question said victims' rights will be protected "with equal force" as those accused of crimes, the amendment altered the constitution to say the rights of crime victims should be protected by law in a manner "no less vigorous" than the protections given to those accused of crimes. He called the discrepancy "misleading."

To the high court

About a year after Remington's ruling against the amendment, a three-judge panel of the state District 3 Court of Appeals asked that the state Supreme Court bypass the appeals court and decide the case, citing its statewide importance and the novelty of some of the questions the appeal asks and the lack of significant legal authority on other questions.

Before the Wisconsin Supreme Court, lawyers for the Wisconsin Justice Initiative, along with the ACLU of Wisconsin and liberal legal group Law Forward, said that ballot questions must reference "every essential element" of the proposed measure.

But attorneys for the state Department of Justice, representing the Wisconsin Elections Commission, say the question communicated the amendment's essential purpose. Unless the ballot question presented "an entirely different question" from the amendment, then the question wasn't misleading, they said in court files. They added that the Legislature has broad discretion over wording and exercised it properly in this instance.

The state Supreme Court concluded the question was proper as all provisions in Marsys Law relate to expanding and defining victims rights.

Nationwide effort

The law was named after Marsalee (Marsy) Ann Nicholas, a University of California-Santa Barbara student who was stalked and killed by her ex-boyfriend in 1983. Just a week after the murder, Marsys mother, Marcella, was confronted by her daughters murderer at a local market. She hadnt been told he had been released on bail just days after Marsys murder. Henry Nicholas III is Marsys brother, and the billionaire founder of the Marsys Law national campaign.

Ultimately, Marsy's Law added 16 new rights for victims while eliminating a reference in the constitution to a fair trial for the defendant.

In a separate decision Tuesday, the Wisconsin Supreme Court cited Marsys Law in overturning 30 years of precedent that gave a criminal defendant the ability to have a judge review the victims privately held, otherwise privileged health records.

The court, in a 5-2 decision, determined that the 1993 Wisconsin Court of Appeals ruling granting those rights was wrongly decided and unworkable, and that its rationale has been undermined by the adoption of Marsys Law and other laws protecting the rights of victims.

The court reached its conclusion in a case in which a Waupaca County man charged with several felonies for allegedly sexually assaulting his son and daughter had wanted the judge to review his sons mental health and counseling records. The Supreme Court ruled that the circuit court must deny the defendants motion to have the judge review the records.

Justice Rebecca Dallet wrote the majority opinion, joined by justices Patience Roggensack, Hagedorn, Jill Karofsky and Rebecca Bradley. Ann Walsh Bradley and Chief Justice Annette Ziegler dissented.

State Journal reporter Alexander Shur and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Congresswoman Lauren Boebert introduced the Shall Not Be Infringed Act to repeal the 'gun control' provisions and every Second Amendment infringement passed by the 117th Congress and signed into law.

Congresswoman Lauren Boebert said, "I unapologetically support the Second Amendment. No amount of 'gun control' will ever eliminate evil in our society, and unsurprisingly, the data has shown time and again that 'gun control' does not decrease gun violence. Just look at Chicago or New York, where 'gun control' has created criminal safe havens since evildoers know their victims will be unarmed. It is ironic that the same people who are calling to defund the police also want to leave everyday Americans defenseless. I will always stand against this nonsense and stand for law-abiding Americans and the Constitution."

Congressman Byron Donalds said, "Last Congress, Pelosi chose to make restricting our Second Amendment rights a staple of her legislative agenda, but her unconstitutional edicts will not stand. Our Second Amendment rights 'shall not be infringed.' I'm proud to stand alongside Rep. Boebert in this legislative fight for American freedom by repealing Pelosi's tyrannical 'gun control' platform."

Congressman Eric Burlison said, "Congress should preserve our rights, not infringe them. I applaud Congresswoman Boebert for leading on this bill to protect Americans' God-given, constitutionally protected Second Amendment rights."

Congressman Andy Ogles stated, "Last Congress, Biden and his Democrat cohorts in the House went after Americans' basic right to bear arms. From significantly increasing the ATF's budget to going after lawful gun owners to designating over $700 million taxpayer dollars to bribe states to pass red flag laws." .....
1. Yes. The charter calls for an appointment process, and the council will pick wisely.

2. Yes. Why spend money on an election? Let the city council do its job, as mandated.

3. No. Voters chose Wilkerson in the first place; they should be able to pick his successor.

4. No. Since theres nearly a year left on Wilkersons council term, the voters should have a say.

5. Unsure. An appointment would follow the charter, but an election seems fairer.

Vote

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Photo: The Canadian Press The forensic pathologist who performed the autopsy on the body of a 13-year-old found dead in a Burnaby, B.C., park nearly six years ago says he took swabs of the girl's neck to preserve any DNA that may have been left from her alleged attacker. Media wait outside B.C. Supreme Court, in Vancouver, B.C., on Tuesday, June 2, 2015. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

The forensic pathologist who performed the autopsy on the body of a 13-year-old found dead in a Burnaby, B.C., park nearly six years ago says he took swabs of the girl's neck to preserve any DNA that may have been left by her alleged attacker.

Dr. Jason Morin said under cross-examination by Ibrahim Ali's defence lawyer that he took the swabs because the girl appeared to have been strangled.

The body of the girl, who cannot be identified under the terms of a publication ban, was found in Burnaby's Central Park in July 2017, just hours after her mother reported her missing.

Morin previously told the jury that the autopsy determined the girl died after being strangled, which had caused blood vessels in her eyes and face to burst.

The Crown questioned Morin about the steps he took in his autopsy, including where he had taken swabs, but Ali's lawyer Ben Lynskey homed in on the swabs to her neck.

Ali last month pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder in the trial in British Columbia Supreme Court.

The circumstances of the case inform where swabs are taken, Morin told the jury.

"We do the swabs because there's a chance that the evidence transfer happened," he said when asked about the neck swabs during cross-examination Wednesday.

"We're essentially looking for transfer of DNA from someone else on the body to be able to place that person somehow involved (with) that body. How they were involved with that body just depends on the rest of the investigation," he said.

Content warning: material that some may find disturbing follows.

Morin also conducted DNA swabs of the girl's genitals, mouth and breasts as police had informed him that she may have been the victim of a sexual assault, he said.

He told the jury during direct examination by the Crown this week that sperm was found in the girl's body.

He also identified a number of injuries, including bruising, scraping and tearing on the back of her head, as well as to her face, arms and legs, Morin said.

Crown attorney Isobel Keeley said in an opening statement that the court would hear evidence showing the murder was random, but DNA results would prove Ali sexually assaulted her.

She said the evidence would show the girl was passing through a neighbourhood park when she was dragged off a pathway into the forest by Ali, sexually assaulted and strangled.

The defense has not yet told the jury its theory of events.
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KEARNEY  The city of Kearney Public Works Department announces that the city will be updating the infrastructure of street lights along Avenue N between 27th and 39th streets.

Delays and closures of the outside lane of Avenue N should be expected beginning at 9 a.m. Wednesday. The work is expected be completed by the end of the day on Thursday.

Citizens are asked to use caution when driving around the work zone during this time.
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KEARNEY  A Kearney man was arrested Monday for an alleged sexual assault.

Ray Deroulet, 25, of Kearney, has been charged in Buffalo County Court with two felony counts of first-degree sexual assault. The sexual penetration allegedly occurred on or about May 7, 2023.

Deroulet is currently lodged at Buffalo County Jail. Bond is set at $100,000 cash or surety.

There is no statute of limitations on sexual assault in Nebraska. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for June 7, 2023.

Records detailing the case are sealed.

Deroulet has previously been convicted of sexual assault.

In 2020, Deroulet was convicted in Buffalo County District Court of two counts of felony first-degree sexual assault of a minor at least 12 years old but less than 16. As part of a plea deal, Buffalo County Deputy Attorney Melanie Young dropped three counts of felony first-degree sexual assault of a minor. The alleged sexual penetration occurred between July 4, 2019, and September 24, 2019.

On March 3, 2020, Deroulet was given concurrent sentences of 3-8 years in prison for each count of first-degree sexual assault of a minor. He was given 131 days credit for time already served.

According to Nebraska Department of Correctional Services, Deroulet was released from Community Corrections Center in Omaha on Nov. 28, 2022, for discretionary parole.
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Funds are being raised to help with funeral expenses for a 34-year-old man being hailed as a hero for protecting his sister from a gunman in Blair on Friday.

Blair Police said Jordan Ely, 34, was fatally shot inside his family's residence near 10th and Park streets about 6:30 a.m. His sister, Samantha Ely, 22, was shot in both legs and taken to an Omaha hospital for treatment.

Officers were called to the home near Blair High School for a report of a shooting. Jordan Ely was pronounced dead at the scene.

Elijah E. Logan, 22, of Council Bluffs, who was identified by witnesses as the shooter, turned himself into authorities "without incident" on Monday afternoon, a statement from the Blair Police Department said. He was arrested on a warrant for suspicion of first-degree assault and use of a deadly weapon to commit a felony. The Washington County Attorney's Office will review and possibly amend the charges in the coming days, the statement said.

Logan is the father of Samantha Ely's 7-month-old son, who was also in the house but was not injured. Logan has been charged in an arrest warrant with suspicion of first-degree assault and use of a weapon to commit a felony.

Alexis Ely said Jordan Ely was sleeping but woke upon hearing his sister's "cry for help." He ran upstairs to his sister's bedroom where he confronted Logan, who had broken into the house.

"Most people would run away or hide from the sound of an intruder, but not Jordan," Alexis Ely said. "He lost his life saving our sister and our nephew and I know for a fact he would choose the same path if given the opportunity to do it again. My brother died a hero."

Alexis Ely said her brother did not have life insurance and funeral expenses "are adding up." She asked anyone who is able to donate toward the funeral costs.

"Any money left over will go to help my sister with her medical expenses," she said. "She has a long road to go. We don't even know if she will even be able to walk again."

The U.S. marshals and metro area law enforcement agencies are assisting in the search for Logan. Any witnesses or neighbors with surveillance video of the nearby area are encouraged to call the Blair Police Department at 402-426-4747.

Logan is described as being 5-feet, 9-inches tall and weighing 175 pounds. He was seen leaving the area in a green 1988 Jeep Cherokee with Iowa plates NAM 032.

Getting away with murder: Nebraska cold cases Ann Marie Kelley Carl Bittner K.K. Kody Christi Nichols Donald Bennett Ernestine Ruschy Eugene McGuire Jay Durnil Mary Heese Gregory Moore Irvin Settje Jason Remsen Jason Vesper Brian Walker Arthur Morley Jay Blockson Jeanne Kassebaum William, Bernice and Barbara Peak Jeffrey Snoddy Joy Blanchard Demetrius Simpson Julie Derrick Leah Rowlands Letha Harley Mary Cabral Mary Cronin Merlin Mosel Mitchell Simon Patrick Vostades Rebecca Williams Richard Chadek Richard Lessley Robert Beaudoin Robert Heelan Rudolfo Flores Russell McKnight Sandy Green Sarah Neal Tyrone Banister Waddell Robinson Charles Hanks
Daniel Perry, who is charged in the chokehold killing of Jordan Neely, is escorted by police after he turned himself in at the New York Police Departments 5th Precinct in Manhattan on May 12, 2023. Penny, the Marine veteran who choked and killed Neely, a homeless man, on the subway, surrendered Friday to face a charge of second-degree manslaughter. (Hilary Swift/The New York Times)

On his way to see whether his expected presidential bid can play in Peoria, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis upstaged himself with a newsmaking tweet.

We stand with Good Samaritans like Daniel Penny, he tweeted Friday about the former Marine accused in the May 1 killing of Jordan Neely, a homeless man who had been shouting in the faces of other passengers on a New York City subway.

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Lets show this Marine ...  DeSantis tweeted, Americas got his back.

At least DeSantis does  and hes not alone.

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When I last visited the sad case of the subway vigilante, as some are calling Penny, he was not yet arrested or charged, despite a groundswell of people calling for it after the video was broadcast. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., among others, wanted Penny charged with murder.

[ Editorial: In the New York subway death, we must force ourselves to wait for the facts ]

But I agreed with Mayor Eric Adams that simple justice requires that we wait for police to investigate before jumping to conclusions. Penny deserved to be presumed innocent until proven guilty, I felt. Im kind of old-fashioned that way.

But, by the time the Manhattan district attorneys office charged him with second-degree manslaughter, Penny found a bigger groundswell of financial and online support from high-profile Republicans such as DeSantis, Fox News personalities and other conservatives.

Many hailed Penny as a hero and good Samaritan and raised nearly $2 million from Kid Rock and others for his legal defense through an online fund.

DeSantis similarly joined many others on the right who sought to turn Penny into a martyr being punished by the deep state for supposedly defending public order. DeSantis in this fashion joined former President Donald Trump as a leading contender for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination celebrating vigilante justice in the fashion of Charles Bronson in Death Wish.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis before speaking at an event hosted by Peoria County Republicans in Peoria on May 12, 2023. (Haiyun Jiang/The New York Times)

Did we, as a country, ask for this? Like it or not, thats what we have in todays political world as tough on crime has taken on a particularly ruthless odor.

Think of Kyle Rittenhouse, who claimed self defense after he fatally shot two men and wounded a third during a chaotic night of unrest in Kenosha in August 2020. He was acquitted of all charges, including homicide, and has become a folk hero in conservative mediaand fundraising circles.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R.-Ga., even offered a bill to give Rittenhouse the congressional Gold Medal, the institutions highest honor  which she opposed granting to the Capitol police for their actions on Jan. 6, 2021.

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And there are other cases, such as Edward Gallagher, the Navy SEAL accused by members of his own unit of killing multiple unarmed civilians. Trump pardoned him.

[ Clarence Page: Dont jump to judgment in NYC subway chokehold death ]

More recently, Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott promised to pardon a man convicted of the 2020 murder of a Black Lives Matter protester.

It would be easy to cast these episodes of trial-by-media as election year excesses, except this isnt an election year. Not quite, although for some people it seems the election year never ends.

So far, there is no evidence that Neely assaulted anyone on the subway, but Penny acted to restrain him in a chokehold anyway, and at least one other passenger acted to assist him by grabbing Neelys arms. Neely may also have been turned on his side in an effort to prevent him from choking on his saliva. But when he was taken to the hospital, he was pronounced dead.

To prove guilt of second-degree manslaughter, prosecutors will have to demonstrate beyond a reasonable doubt that Penny recklessly caused Neelys death. Under New York state law, The New York Times reports, a person is deemed to have acted recklessly when he engages in conduct which creates or contributes to a substantial or unjustifiable risk that another persons death will occur.

Considering the circumstances, theres a good chance that the outcome wont satisfy very many of us, regardless of which side were on. As a lawyer friend of mine put it, Justice? Youre not going to have any real justice as long as theres no way to bring that dead man back to life.

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Indeed, theres no way around the simple truth in these instances that the system has failed, especially for Neely, a homeless street performer who had a long sheet of arrests and treatments in a social service system that wasnt there when he needed it most.

Now the states justice system must decide whether Penny was criminally reckless or just trying to help. The system needs to seek justice, not just revenge.

cpage@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @cptime
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HARTINGTON  A woman charged in connection with the shooting death of a Laurel man has pleaded not guilty to a murder charge.

Carrie Jones on Wednesday waived her right to appear in person for a May 22 arraignment and entered written pleas of not guilty to first-degree murder, tampering with physical evidence and being an accessory to a felony.

A pretrial conference was scheduled for July 24 in Cedar County District Court.

Jones, 44, of Laurel, is accused of aiding and abetting her husband, Jason Jones, in the death of Gene Twiford, whom she told investigators had verbally harassed her for several years. During a previous hearing, an investigator testified that the day before the Aug. 4 shooting, Carrie Jones threatened her husband with a handgun and a knife, telling him he needed to stand up for her to 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. in Laurel.

Jason Jones, 43, is charged with their deaths in addition to the shooting death of Michele Ebeling, 53, whose body was found in her burning home across the street from the Jones' home.

Jones has pleaded not guilty of four counts each of first-degree murder and use of a firearm to commit a felony and two counts of first-degree arson. His pretrial conference also is set for July 24.

Carrie Jones told investigators she arrived home from work minutes before seeing her badly burned husband emerge from Ebelings home after the fire was spotted. She helped him into their home and administered first aid after he refused to go to the hospital. He was arrested without incident at his home about 24 hours later.

Carrie Jones was arrested Dec. 16. She remains in custody on a $1 million bond.

Jason Jones is being held without bond at the Nebraska Department of Corrections Reception and Treatment Center in Lincoln, where he continues to receive medical treatment.
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Therell be a hot time in the old town next year.

Were still a year away from the GOP National Convention when it comes to Milwaukee next July 15-18.

Much can happen in a year, but it could be a sizzler judging by some of the recent comments from Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, and the follow-up a week later from former President Donald Trump at a CNN-hosted Town Hall meeting in New Hampshire.

Vos kicked things off at a Milwaukee Press Club appearance in which he issued a mea culpa to state residents for hiring former Supreme Court Justice Michael Gableman to investigate the results of the 2020 election in Wisconsin, which Trump lost to President Joe Biden by 21,000 votes.

Vos said Gableman became a rogue agent.

Sometimes elected officials have to look the taxpayer in the eye and say I screwed up, and that is why I should have never hired Michael Gableman, Vos said. The Gableman probe was widely lampooned, triggered multiple lawsuits and cost state taxpayers about $2.5 million before Vos finally pulled the plug and fired Gableman last August.

That was only three days after Vos survived  by 300 votesa Republican primary challenge from a little-known candidate who earned endorsements from both Trump and Gableman. Vos had landed on the ex-presidents bad side after he refused to decertify the 2020 election results.

If that wasnt rolling out the unwelcome mat for another Trump run, Vos made it clear in an interview with WISNs Upfront, saying, I dont want to nominate people who cant win; I do not want to nominate losers.

The Assembly Speaker said he believes Trump is the one Republican who Democratic President Joe Biden could beat in 2024.

Trump, within a week, took center stage at the controversial CNN Town Hall session in Manchester, N.H., as unrepentant and bombastic as ever. He repeated his false claims that the 2020 election had been stolen, waved away charges of sexual misconduct, steam-rolled attempts by CNN moderator Kaitlan Collin to fact check a series of his statements  and at one point labeled her a nasty person.

He did this before a TV crowd that was hugely supportive  some said it had the look and feel of a MAGA rally  even though CNN said it had curated the audience through community, student politics and government, faith groups and agricultural and education organizations.

That audience support is also reflected in Trumps huge edge in surveys of Republican voters and in endorsements from elected officials. Trump is polling, on average, more than 50% in national polls of likely GOP primary voters  compared to still undeclared Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis 20%. The ex-president also has endorsements from more than 60 GOP governors and members of Congress.

The Milwaukee GOP National Convention may be a year off, but the fireworks are already starting, judging by the first rounds fired by Vos and Trump in the last couple of weeks.
Taiwan's Parliament Speaker You Si-kun speaks during a news conference with Michael McCaul, Chairman of the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee, who is leading a delegation of US lawmakers visiting Taiwan, at the parliament in Taipei, Taiwan, April 7. Reuters-Yonhap



The speaker of Taiwan's parliament praised Japan, Korea and the Philippines on Tuesday for helping to create a "crescent of defense" with Taiwan and the U.S. against China's ambitions in the Indo-Pacific region.



Speaking in Washington, You Si-kun told the Hudson Institute think tank that China's ruling Communist Party (CCP) and leader Xi Jinping saw Taiwan as just a "stepping stone" to global hegemony.



"The CCP wants to see the East rise and the West to decline," You said. "We can say that protecting Taiwan equates to defending both Europe and the United States."



You belongs to Taiwan's ruling Democratic Progressive Party, but does not speak for President Tsai Ing-wen.



You praised Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol for calling Taiwan a global issue and opposing a change to the status quo by force. He said this had "offset" remarks by French President Emmanuel Macron that a conflict in the Taiwan Strait had nothing to do with Europe.



You said Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr had also said that granting the U.S. access to Philippine military bases was a defensive measure that would be useful if China were to attack Taiwan.



"The crescent of defense formed by Korea, Japan, Taiwan and the Philippines will, with American support, be a key stabilizer of peace and security in the Indo-Pacific region," he added.



The staunch support democracies have provided Ukraine should act as a deterrent to Xi "to prevent him from taking any reckless action so that he will not become a second Putin," You said.



"To ensure Taiwan's security is to ensure the global public interest," he added. "If we do not take China's threats seriously, a dark future awaits all of mankind."



China has been stepping up its military activities around Taiwan to try and force the democratically governed island to accept Beijing's sovereignty. It has never renounced the use of force to bring Taiwan under its control. (Reuters)


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NEW YORK  Top executives at Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank largely avoided taking responsibility for their banks' dramatic failures at a Senate hearing Tuesday, instead using their time to assign blame to events they said were largely out of their control.

The arguments got little traction with senators on both sides of the aisle. Democrats and Republicans on the Senate Banking Committee criticized the executives for taking risky actions or missing obvious problems that directly led to the demise of their banks while accepting lucrative pay packages and bonuses. "You were paying out bonuses

until literally hours before regulators seized your assets," said Sen. Sherrod Brown, the Democratic chair of the Senate Banking Committee. "To most Americans, a lack of Wall Street accountability tracks with their entire experience with our economy. Workers face consequences; executives ride off into the sunset."

Senators asked if the executives would consider returning part of their compensation, since bank failures are shouldered by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and other banks in the system. Each of the three executives testifying demurred.

"You say you took risk management seriously. I find it hard to believe that comment," said Sen. Tim Scott, the ranking Republican
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The head of the artificial intelligence company that makes ChatGPT told Congress on Tuesday that government intervention will be critical to mitigating the risks of increasingly powerful AI systems.

"As this technology advances, we understand that people are anxious about how it could change the way we live. We are too," OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said at a Senate hearing.

Altman proposed the formation of a U.S. or global agency that would license the most powerful AI systems and have the authority to "take that license away and ensure compliance with safety standards."

His San Francisco-based startup rocketed to public attention after it released ChatGPT, a free chatbot tool that answers questions with convincingly humanlike responses, late last year.

What started out as a panic among educators about ChatGPT being used to cheat on homework assignments has expanded to broader concerns about the ability of the latest crop of "generative AI" tools to mislead people, spread falsehoods, violate copyright protections and upend some jobs.

Pressed on his own worst fear about AI, Altman mostly avoided specifics, except to say that the industry could cause "significant harm to the world" and that "if this technology goes wrong, it 00 can go quite wrong."
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Monroe County Republicans attended the 3rd Congressional District Caucus at Cedar Creek in Onalaska on Saturday, April 15. This is the local partys annual business meeting used to prepare for our annual Republican State Convention that will be held on June 16-18 at the La Crosse Center.

Business conducted included voting on resolutions that represent Republican values and ideals, voting for 3rd District leadership and representation to state convention committees and the presentation of awards.

Recently elected Congressman Derrick Van Orden presented the awards and spoke to nearly 200 party activists about his first 101 days in office.

Republican Party of Wisconsin Chairman Brian Schimming spoke about Wisconsin being one of five states that will elect the next president of the United States, the 2024 National Convention being held in Milwaukee and the first Republican presidential debate to be held in August 2023 also in Milwaukee. Schimming also talked about recent successes including the re-election of Sen. Ron Johnson, the election of 3rd District Congressman Derrick Van Orden, and the Republican majorities in the state Senate and Assembly.

State Sen. Patrick Testin and Rep. Nancy VanderMeer joined county representatives at the caucus.

Chairman Bill Feehan and Vice Chair Hannah Testin were re-elected as our 3rd Congressional District leaders. Representative Nancy VanderMeer (70th Assembly District) was recognized as the 2022 3rd District Legislator of the Year. Bob Janovick from Monroe County received the 2022 Truth Squad Award in recognition of his ability and drive to set the record straight by writing letters to the editors and publicly speaking the truth in support of the GOP.
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Youll see lots of children at the old one-room Foreaker School, 606 W. Broadway St. in Viroqua, this week and next. Viroqua third-graders will be visiting on several days to experience school life as it was lived many years ago.

The Foreaker School building was constructed on Pea Vine Hill in the town of Liberty in 1888, replacing an earlier log structure. The school closed in 1960, and then was purchased by Vernon County and was moved to its current location in Viroqua. The county still owns the building, and the Vernon County Historical Society operates it as a country schools museum. If you would like to bring your class or other group to the school, contact us at 608-637-7396.

The Syttende Mai festival will be held in Westby this weekend, May 20-21. Syttende Mai," or May 17," refers to Norways Constitution Day, which is similar to our own July 4 Independence Day. Nowadays Syttende Mai is celebrated as a festival of all things Norwegian. The Vernon County Historical Society will have a booth at the arts and crafts fair on Market Street (behind Subway) in Westby on both Saturday and Sunday. Stop by to see our Norwegian Vocabulary exhibit, and to shop from our selection of local history books.

The historic Sherry-Butt House at 795 N. Main St. in Viroqua will open for the summer season on Saturday, May 27. The house is open on weekends in June, July and August, plus Memorial Day weekend in May and Labor Day weekend in September. Hours are 1 to 5 p.m. Admission is $5, and free for children under age 9. The house is also open by appointment  call us at 608-637-7396 to schedule a time.

The Cyrus and Margaret Butt family built the house in 1870. Today it is a showcase of what life was like in the 1890s, when the Butt family lived there. In addition there are more modern touches from the Orbec and Hilda Sherry family, who bought the house and furnishings and moved in in the 1940s. Special topics explored in exhibits include the Civil War, which Cyrus Butt fought in, and Brown Swiss cattle, which the Sherrys bred.

Save the date! On Monday, June 19, the public is invited to the Viroqua Cemetery at 6 p.m. to help dedicate the recently-erected gravestone of the Craft family. The Crafts were a Black family who lived and died in Viroqua in the late 19th century. We hope that Juneteenth will be a fitting occasion for this dedication. More details to come.
The Arlington Heights Village Board had now given the OK to all special use requests from Arlington Heights School District 25 to do addition work at six schools.


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WAR IN UKRAINE

KYIV, Ukraine  Ukrainian air defenses, bolstered by sophisticated Western-supplied systems, thwarted an intense Russian air attack on Kyiv early Tuesday, shooting down all missiles aimed at the capital, officials said.

The bombardment, which targeted locations across Ukraine, included six Russian Kinzhal aero-ballistic hypersonic missiles, the most fired in a single attack in the war so far, according to Ukrainian air force spokesman Yurii Ihnat. Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly touted the Kinzhals as providing a key strategic competitive advantage and among the most advanced weapons in his country's arsenal. The missiles are difficult to detect and intercept because of their hypersonic speed and maneuverability.

If Ukraine's claim of having shot down six fired Tuesday is confirmed, it would mark another blow to Putin's war efforts and show the increasing effectiveness of the country's air defenses.

Air force spokesman Ihnat, who said in March that Ukraine lacked the equipment to intercept the Kinzhals, didn't explain Tuesday what systems were used to knock them down. Since March, Western countries have supplied Ukraine with various air defense systems.

Russia fired the Kinzhals from MiG-31K warplanes, along with nine cruise missiles from ships in the Black Sea and three S-400 cruise missiles launched from the ground, Ihnat said. In all, Ukraine's military said later, Russia targeted Ukraine with 27 missiles in a day and launched 37 airstrikes.

Loud explosions boomed over Kyiv in the major nighttime attack apparently aimed at overwhelming Ukraine's air defenses. Kyiv's mayor reported three people were wounded.

The barrage came as European leaders sought new ways to punish Russia for the war and a Chinese envoy sought traction for Beijing's peace proposal, which appears to have made little impression on the warring sides. It also came as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy returned home from a whirlwind European tour to seek more military aid.

The overnight attack on Kyiv was "exceptional in its density  the maximum number of attacking missiles in the shortest period of time," said Serhii Popko, the head of the Kyiv military administration.

It was the eighth time this month that Russian air raids targeted the capital, a clear escalation after weeks of lull and ahead of an anticipated Ukrainian counteroffensive using newly supplied advanced Western weapons.
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WHITING (AP)  A 40-year-old man died after he became stuck in machinery at a central Wisconsin paper mill, authorities said.

The Portage County Sheriff's Office said deputies and first responders were called Sunday afternoon to the Mativ Inc. Paper Mill in Whiting, about 65 miles west of Green Bay. The man, who was a plant employee, died as a result of his injuries despite lifesaving measures.

Officials said the man died after he became stuck in a paper machine at the mill, WSAW-TV reported. His name has not been released.

Jason Free, the executive vice president of operations at Mativ, said Monday in a statement that "we are deeply saddened by yesterday's death of one of our team members at our Whiting facility."

The company is fully cooperating with authorities and is "actively investigating" what caused the fatal incident at the plant, Free said.

The sheriff's office has also launched an investigation into the man's death.
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A man convicted of murdering four people and leaving their bodies in a Dunn County cornfield was sentenced Monday, May 15, to more than 100 years behind bars after a jury found him guilty of fatally shooting the victims.

Antoine D. Suggs, 39, of Scottsdale, Arizona, will serve 103 years in prison on four consecutive counts of second-degree murder  intentional, but not premeditated for the deaths of Jasmine Christine Sturm, 30, Matthew Isiah Pettus, 26, and Loyace Foreman III, 35, all of St. Paul; and Nitosha Lee Flug-Presley, 30, of Stillwater, Minn. The bodies were discovered in Dunn County on Sept. 12, 2021.

The defendant faced the possibility of 160 years in prison on the convictions, according to state sentencing recommendations. The four second-degree murder counts will be served consecutively.

According to the Ramsey County medical examiners autopsy reports: Flug-Presley had a gunshot wound that entered her mouth and went out the back of her head. Pettus had two gunshot wounds to the back of his head and a third gunshot wound to his left arm. Foreman had a gunshot wound to his face and the top of his head. Sturm had a gunshot wound that went through her left palm and into her face.

Judge JaPaul J. Harris listened as nine people talked about their losses. Those who delivered victim impact statements in court Monday were universal in their call for consecutive sentences so Suggs would be imprisoned for the rest of his life.

The parents of victim Loyace Foreman III spoke of his talent for art and the love he felt for his children as well as the life events he will now miss out on.

"Lives were taken  many of them  and Mr. Suggs still has his life, Loyace Foreman Jr. said.

Angela Sturm, mother of victims Jasmine Christine Sturm and Matthew Isiah Pettus, described trying to fill the hole in her life left behind by the loss of her two children.

Not a day goes by that I dont cry. Being alone with my thoughts is very hard," Sturm said. "I miss their voices.

When given his chance to speak before sentencing, Suggs described himself as the victim in the encounter, claiming the four were trying to rob him and he had no choice but to defend himself.

I had no beef, no quarrel, no animosity with any one of them, Suggs said. Their actions were the cause of their untimely demise.

Judge Harris told the victims families that they are "never going to get an answer as to why Mr. Suggs did what he did.

Harris told Suggs during sentencing, Each one of these individuals deserves that you serve time for each one of them.

In the criminal complaint against him, prosecutors said Suggs told his biological father Darren Osborne he "snapped and shot a couple of people" in a vehicle on Seventh Street in St. Paul. After Suggs told him what had occurred, authorities say Osborne followed Suggs to Wisconsin in a separate vehicle, leaving a Mercedes SUV with the bodies inside behind. Osborne and Suggs then returned to Minnesota.

After returning to Minnesota from Wisconsin, Suggs flew back to his residence in Arizona. He turned himself in to authorities five days later.

Osborne denied knowing there were bodies in the vehicle that was left in the cornfield. He is serving a four-year sentence after pleading guilty for his role in the case.
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A 43-year-old New Albin, Iowa, man faces a felony charge after he allegedly embezzled over $20,000 from an area business.

Chad M. Ravens was charged in La Crosse County Circuit Court with a single count of theft from a business setting.

According to the criminal complaint, Ravens was employed by Moka Coffee, which operates a kiosk inside Gundersen Clinic in Onalaska. An employee of Moka contacted police March 14 and reported that Ravens stole roughly $1,000 a month from the business over a period of several years.

The employee told police that Ravens took cash transactions from customers, set the money aside and then deleted the transactions on the point-of-sale system.

The complaint says Ravens worked for Moka for five years. He was employed at the business drive-thru location in Onalaska before moving to the clinic kiosk.

Police contacted Ravens April 13. He reportedly told police he anticipated the call and expressed remorse for his actions. He told police he put a little money in his pocket once in a great, great while and then it just kind of moved up from there.

Ravens reportedly told police he stole money at the drive-thru four or five times but escalated the thefts after he moved to the kiosk, where he normally worked alone. He told police he has no way to pay the money back and hasnt attempted to make restitution.

Ravens is free on a $1,000 signature bond. He waived his preliminary hearing and has a pre-trial conference set for June 2. He faces a maximum of 10 years in prison if convicted.
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Assembly Republicans on Wednesday passed an updated local aid bill that boosts state funding to communities but keeps many local restrictions opposed by Democrats, after Assembly Speaker Robin Vos said his caucus was done negotiating on the measure that has yet to receive backing from Senate Republicans or Democratic Gov. Tony Evers.

Republicans unveiled the amended bill, which now boosts state funding by at least 15% for all cities and counties besides Milwaukee, hours before the Assembly was to vote on the measure Wednesday. Vos, R-Rochester, said the updates are the result of good faith negotiations with state lawmakers, local stakeholders and Evers, who expressed optimism earlier in the day that both sides could find bipartisan compromise to provide much-needed funding to local governments.

Everybody has to take their own position, but we are done negotiating, Vos told reporters outside the Capitol. What we have before us is the deal that we are going to send to our colleagues in the state Senate and hopefully Gov. Evers agrees that this historic investment is worth signing.

The bill passed 56-36, with three Republicans  Reps. Scott Allen, of Waukesha, Janel Brandtjen, of Menomonee Falls, and Chuck Wichgers, of Muskego  joining Democrats in opposing the measure.

Earlier in the day, Evers said he was optimistic that conversations with Vos and Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu, R-Oostburg, would lead to bipartisan compromise. He also indicated negotiations could last for weeks.

Nothing has changed since the governors statement this morning, Evers spokesperson Britt Cudaback said Wednesday afternoon. The governor hasnt signed off on any amendment, but he looks forward to continuing negotiations with Republican leaders in the weeks ahead.

The Democratic governor earlier this month promised to veto the bill as written, arguing the proposal didnt spend enough and imposed unnecessary restrictions on counties and cities.

LeMahieus spokesperson, Michael Pyritz, said Tuesday discussions on the bill were ongoing.

Assembly Bill 245 would would divert a penny of every nickel collected under the states 5-cent sales tax to counties, towns, villages and cities to pay for services such as law enforcement, fire protection, responding to emergencies, public works and transportation.

While the original bill would have increased local aid by $227 million, the updated version boosts the increase to $260 million, according to an analysis from the Legislative Fiscal Bureau.

Republicans say the increase means cities and counties will see a minimum 15% increase in state funding, as opposed to the 10% increase in the original bill.

In Milwaukee

Milwaukee, however, will be kept at a 10% increase. Vos said that is because the bill maintains provisions allowing Milwaukee County to increase its 0.5% sales tax by 0.375 percentage points and allow Milwaukee to impose a 2% sales tax to fund pension debt.

In a public hearing earlier this month, Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson and Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley largely praised the bill as a major step forward to help stave off impending cuts to city and county staffing, including for police and fire services. However, they also raised concern over language in the bill requiring those tax increases to be approved by voters, as opposed to a decision made by local elected officials.

LeMahieu told WTMJ Tuesday he doesnt think a referendum vote is the best way to accomplish this, because the fear is that its going to fail. LeMahieus office did not respond to a request for comment Wednesday.

While lawmakers on both sides of the aisle largely support increased state funding for local governments, Democrats and some local officials have derided the GOP-authored bill for including several local restrictions, despite changes offered by Republicans.

Our work is not complete, Assembly Minority Leader Greta Neubauer, D-Racine, said. It is not ready for prime time.

After an hours long closed door Republican caucus, Speaker Robin Vos announced at a press conference that he was done negotiating and would bring to a vote a half baked plan rife with politically motivated policy measures that have nothing to do with ensuring our local communities have the resources they need, Rep. Lisa Subeck, D-Madison, said in a statement.

Bill details

Under the bill, local health officials would be barred from closing a business for more than 30 days to help control an outbreak or epidemic. Local elected officials could vote to extend the closure for an additional 30 days.

Another component in the bill would provide local governments in the northern portion of the state the ability to essentially kill any proposed land acquisitions by passing a resolution opposing the measure. State Republicans have pushed back against several proposed land conservation projects, particularly in northern Wisconsin, over concerns they take too much private land off the tax rolls.

While the original bill prohibited local cities and counties from placing any advisory referendums on local ballots, the amended version would allow ballot items only if they propose using property taxes to fund projects.

Critics of the bill called for removing a section of the original proposal mandating law enforcement officers in Milwaukee schools. The amended version maintains that requirement but clarifies those officers must complete a 40-hour training course.

The measure also would allow for $300 million in spending on a three-year pilot program to encourage local governments to share more services.

Created in 1911 alongside the state income tax, Wisconsins shared revenue program initially provided local municipalities 70% of state income tax collections, while counties and the state received the remaining 20% and 10%, respectively, according to the Wisconsin Historical Society.

But the percentage of income tax revenue allocated to local entities has plummeted over the years and has remained essentially unchanged for nearly three decades despite overall growth in tax revenues, according to a February report by the nonpartisan Wisconsin Policy Forum.

State Journal reporter Alexander Shur contributed to this report.
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Minneapolis Star Tribune. May 13, 2023.

Editorial: Public safety bill brings gun reform to Minnesota at last

Red flag law and expanded background checks will make the state safer.

As it struggles to continue turning the corner on crime, Minnesota desperately needs a substantial infusion to its public safety efforts on all fronts, from crime prevention to enforcement of laws to the judiciary and corrections.

This years public safety bill answers many of those needs. Well-balanced among prevention, enforcement and accountability, it features, most notably, sensible gun reforms that focus on expanding background checks  critical to determining those who should not have access to firearms  and a red-flag law that would give hope at last to those who want to keep firearms out of the hands of loved ones struggling with mental illness.

These two provisions have a long, contentious history in this state and have been debated fruitlessly for years, all while gun violence here and across the country has continued to mount. Neither will fully solve this societys gun violence problem, but both are needed responses.

For too long the Legislature has been out of step with Minnesotans, who have shown overwhelming and consistent support for extending background checks to private gun sales. In a recent KSTP-TV poll, 74% of Minnesotans supported such background checks, with only 21% disapproving.

Red-flag laws, known also as extreme risk protection orders, also have majority support, and other states have preceded Minnesota in adopting such laws. Sen. Ron Latz, DFL-St. Louis Park and chairman of the judiciary committee, said the law holds exceptional potential to reduce the rate of suicide by firearm in this state. I have been working on these (provisions) for 20 years, he said in a news conference held before Fridays vote. We have extensive and wide-ranging discussions, an extensive process and the final product is better for that.

The red-flag law, he said, will provide a path forward for someone exhibiting signs of crisis and danger and provide lawful tools to separate those individuals from the firearms around them. Such a path has not existed before now, he said, and that has been frustrating for law enforcement and for families. Latz noted the bill requires full due process for those under such orders, which must be approved by a judge.

The overall bill, he said, invests in far-reaching efforts to prevent crime and follows through all the way to the end. It includes overdue improvements to the state crime lab, victim support, help for those seeking to switch to a career in law enforcement, and more money for a starved judicial system still catching up from the pandemic.

Included is an innovative program called the Minnesota Rehabilitation and Reinvestment Act, which would offer prisoners a chance to earn their way toward a reduction in sentences. Obtaining a GED, successfully completing chemical dependency treatment, and gaining needed workforce skills would make them eligible for reduced sentences.

The program drew heavy GOP criticism, with Sen. Warren Limmer calling it a get-out-of-jail-free card. But it is far from that. Latz, a former assistant attorney general, noted accurately that 95% of inmates will, at some point, be released from prison. If they do nothing during their sentence but dont get in further trouble in prison, he said, they will serve about two-thirds of their sentences.

In this program, inmates will go through a thorough assessment that develops concrete rehabilitation goals tailored to them. Early release would be conditional on achieving those goals, and the money saved from those who gain early release would be earmarked for a Justice Reinvestment Fund invested in victim support, crime prevention, intervention programs and community-based correctional programs.

The innovation is a welcome one that seems to provide incentives and accountability, while providing participants with the tools they need for a successful re-entry into society.

The bill also includes serious restrictions on the use of no-knock warrants, while preserving a narrow path for their use in certain circumstances. Efforts to restrain the use of no-knocks are rooted in the tragic death of Amir Locke, who had been sleeping on a couch in a relatives apartment in February 2022 when he became the unintended target of gunfire as Minneapolis police executed a no-knock warrant.

Theres more in the bill. Ramsey County will get $5 million toward a new juvenile detention facility, long needed since the demise of Totem Town. New categories of crime will be created for carjacking and organized retail theft that Latz said will rely on an approach similar to the federal racketeering law that U.S. Attorney Andrew Luger recently employed to charge 45 Minneapolis gang members. State and local governments will be prohibited from contracting with private prisons, which Latz said are obliged to shareholders to cut costs and improve profits.

The Senate passed its joint conference committee report on a strict, 34-33 party-line vote. Passage is also expected in the House, after which the bill heads to Gov. Tim Walz for his signature.

There will always be differences on how best to deal with crime and criminals. This bill appears to walk a fine line, balancing prevention with enforcement, accountability with intervention, and innovation. That is a solid approach.

Mankato Free Press. May 14, 2023.

Editorial: Judging the DFL progressive agenda

If Gov. Tim Walzs One Minnesota campaign theme is analyzed through the actions of a DFL-controlled Legislature, more than a few interest groups might reject the whole unity idea.

Mayo Clinic spoke the loudest when it threatened to disinvest $4 billion in Minnesota projects if legislation requiring nurses on staffing committees at hospitals became law. Some 40 to 50 hospital and health care CEOs wrote in opposition to the nursing committees and price oversight committees.

You would be hard-pressed to find another similar labor-management piece of legislation akin to the nursing committee bill. But it by no means takes away ultimate management power for those who run hospitals. Pricing oversight of medical costs, in our view, is long past overdue. But again, theres no real radical leverage here.

The Minnesota Chamber of Commerce objected to almost every change in tax policy, calling the DFL agenda the most anti-business in years. Nursing home and long-term care groups were also fighting for funding as facilities close across the state.

But the DFL has marched on quickly and efficiently, passing legislation that had been stalled for years by a Republican Senate. Very few GOP ideas dodged the path of the DFL steamroller.

The Senate taxes committee did remove a provision in the tax bill to try to capture foreign-based income for Minnesota companies. That would have been one of the first such corporate taxes in the U.S.

But game-changing DFL policies were in no short supply. Free college tuition for families making less than $80,000 a year strikes us as the most dramatic example of a major change. A tuition freeze for two years at Minnesota state colleges has also been a rare occurrence with either party in control.

Paid family leave will certainly go in the books as a massive infusion of investment into Minnesota families with some help for employers. Provisions codified into Minnesota law protecting abortion access and protecting transgender rights make Minnesota a leading safe haven state for civil rights.

But it certainly wasnt all or nothing for some of the interest groups. Business leaders favored providing drivers licenses for even non-citizens, going back to policy favored by Minnesota Republicans years ago. Business groups supported investments in homeless shelters and housing, and some provisions of public safety bills.

All of this comes at a time of unprecedented labor shortages, putting any and all businesses in an economic squeeze not seen in decades.

So how does One Minnesota measure up?

Reports that some DFLers declined even meeting with those businesses and others who oppose their policies are, of course, troubling. Republicans should hear out unions, and DFLers should hear out business. There does not appear to be any such shutout of listening from the Walz administration, which has met regularly with business or any other group that will be affected by new policies.

But elections do have consequences, and Democrats won big, despite what Republicans will say about only a one-vote majority in the Senate held by the winner who got the seat by a very narrow margin. Walz won by 200,000 votes alone. Democrats winning statewide had tens of thousands more votes than Republicans.

Ultimately, One Minnesota will be judged by how many voters stay one with the governor and the DFL.

END
A federal grand jury has indicted a man who is suspected of stealing a pair of famous ruby red slippers worn by Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz. Federal prosecutors said Terry Martin was indicted Tuesday on one count of theft of major artwork. The Indictment alleges that in 2005, Martin stole an authentic pair of ruby slippers. The slippers were worn by Judy Garland in the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz. They were stolen from the Judy Garland Museum in Minnesota. The FBI recovered the slippers in 2018. The pair is one of four remaining pairs of red slippers Garland wore in the movie. Online records do not list an attorney for Martin.
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MADISON, Wis. (AP)  Wisconsin Assembly Speaker Robin Vos said Wednesday that Republicans were done negotiating on a bill that would increase state aid to local governments, unveiling a new proposal that Democratic Gov. Tony Evers and the GOP-controlled Senate have yet to agree to.

The Assembly passed the latest version hours after Evers expressed optimism that a bipartisan agreement could be reached. But he was not included in the discussion that led to the latest proposal, which boosts the increase in aid for local governments from at least 10% to 15% but retains provisions that Milwaukee and Evers had objected to.

We are done negotiating, Vos said. We have negotiated in good faith literally for months."

The Assembly passed it 56-36, with all Republicans in support except for three who joined all Democrats in opposing it. The measure now goes to the Senate, where its future is uncertain. Republican Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu did not immediately return a message seeking comment. Vos did not say if the Senate agreed to the latest version of the bill.

Is this bill perfect? Hell no it's not perfect, said Republican Rep. Tony Kurtz, the measure's sponsor. But he emphasized that Milwaukee officials, Democratic lawmakers, Evers and those representing cities, counties, towns and villages have all been involved with crafting the proposal.

Wisconsin's local governments have clamored for years for more state aid to help cover basic services, including police and fire protection, after decades of frozen funding and cuts.

Under the bill, $1.5 billion in aid to municipalities  known as shared revenue  would be paid for by tapping 20% of the states 5-cent sales tax, an idea Evers has supported. Aid would then grow along with sales tax revenue.

The bill would increase funding to counties, cities, towns and villages by $261 million  at least a 15% increase for everyone  over the next two years, but that could only be spent on police and fire protection, emergency medical services, emergency response communications, public works and transportation. The city and county of Milwaukee would see a 10% increase, but could ask voters for more.

Evers' spokesperson Britt Cudaback said the governor had not signed off on any changes and he looked forward to continuing negotiations, which he previously said he expected to take weeks more. Evers promised to veto the original bill.

Democratic Assembly Minority Leader Greta Neubauer, during Assembly debate, said the bill was not ready for prime time.

We need to go back to the negotiating table and get it right," Neubauer said. "We can and must do better.

Under the bill, Milwaukee could levy a 2% sales tax and Milwaukee County could add 0.375% sales tax to its current 0.5% sales tax. One of the biggest sticking points has been whether Milwaukee taxpayers would have to approve that tax increase before it could be enacted. Milwaukee city and county officials don't want to have to take it to a vote.

Under the Republican amendment, that requirement for taxpayer approval would remain.

Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson warned lawmakers last week that the city faces bankruptcy by 2025 without help. He, along with groups representing municipalities, police and firefighters, as well as numerous mayors and other local officials, all testified in support of reaching a deal that increases funding.

Milwaukee, the states largest city and a Democratic stronghold, faces an underfunded pension system. Milwaukee has increasingly become reliant on federal pandemic aid to fund its essential services, which city leaders have said cost $150 million more per year to maintain.

Evers, and many of the local officials who testified last week, had complained that the proposal came with too many strings attached. Those include cutting aid to communities that reduce the number of police officers and firefighters and banning public health officials from ordering businesses closed for more than two weeks,

The Assembly amendment would allow health officials to close businesses for up to 30 days, with the local governing body able to extend that once for another 30 days.

The amendment also still bans local advisory referenda questions on everything except those for certain projects that would be funded with property tax money. The bill would not allow questions on hot-button issues like whether voters support abortion rights or legalizing marijuana.

It would also mandate that local governments approve projects under the states land stewardship program that are north of U.S. Highway 8, which runs across roughly the northernmost quarter of the state. Republicans have long raised concerns about such projects that protect the land from future development.

The shared revenue program to fund local governments, created in 1911, has remained nearly unchanged for almost 30 years, despite overall growth in tax revenues. Shared revenue for counties and municipalities was cut in 2004, 2010 and 2012 and since then has been relatively flat.
NEW ORLEANS  Three conservative appeals court judges, each with a history of supporting restrictions on abortion, will hear arguments Wednesday on whether a widely used abortion drug should remain available.

The case involves a regulatory issue  whether the Food and Drug Administration's approval of mifepristone, and subsequent actions making it easier to obtain, must be rolled back. The hearing follows an April ruling by a federal judge in Texas, who overruled decades of scientific precedent by ordering a hold on federal approval of the drug. His ruling was stayed pending appeal. The case was allotted to a New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel made up of Jennifer Walker Elrod, James Ho and Cory Wilson.
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Just a few short weeks ago, Brad Parker, owner of Parker Hospitality, shut down Nisos Mediterranean, after being open for less than a year. In a statement, he wrote he had mutually agreed to part ways with the original chef, Avgeria Stapaki, and that he wanted to reevaluate the Nisos brand.

A couple weeks later, Parker is ready to announce Nisos Prime, a Mediterranean steakhouse.

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We want to be a place where you come all the time, Parker said. Some of the stuff at Nisos had gotten very high-end. But along with carrying the best prime steak in the country, well have a burger on the menu. The new menu will also feature several types of pasta and fresh seafood, as it hopes to be known less as a Greek restaurant and more as a Mediterranean one.

Rick Tramonto, who was just hired by the restaurant group, will help oversee the new food and beverage program. But Parker said Nisos Prime shouldnt be considered a Tramonto steak project. Hes our food and beverage director, Parker said. But we are going to hire an executive chef soon. We really pride ourselves on a team mentality. It takes a lot of people to make a great restaurant.

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[ Review: Expensive and perplexing, Nisos Mediterranean struggles where it counts  the food ]

Parker said the space will be divided into three areas. The main dining room will be on the second floor. Downstairs will be the Prime Bar at Nisos, which will have walk-in seating and happy hour specials. Also on the second floor will be Nisos Lounge, where DJs will perform until late Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays. The rest of the week, it will be available as a private event space.

Though he said the original Nisos didnt go as planned, Parker had kind words for Stapaki. Chef Stapaki is a visionary, Parker said. But I think our visions didnt line up. So we decided it was best to go on our different ways.

Parker said the decor will mostly stay the same, though theyll add some leather to make it feel more like a steakhouse. Our whole team is pumped, Parker said. Were excited to offer it to the neighborhood in July.

Nisos Prime is set to open at 802 W. Randolph St. in July.

nkindelsperger@chicagotribune.com
LA CROSSE Timothy "Tim" Mathew Hickman, 68, of La Crosse, passed away peacefully on May 14, 2023 at Gundersen Health System in La Crosse. His Celebration of Life will begin at Noon at the American Legion Post 417, 700 Fisherman's Rd., La Crosse with military honors on May 21, 2023. His full obituary is online at couleecremation.com.
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Today's Highlight

On May 17, 1954, a unanimous U.S. supreme court handed down its brown v. board of education of Topeka decision which held that racially segregated public schools were inherently unequal, and therefore unconstitutional.

On this date

In 1536, Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas Cranmer declared the marriage of England's King Henry Viii to Anne Boleyn invalid after she failed to produce a male heir; Boleyn, already condemned for high treason, was executed two days later.

In 1940, the Nazis occupied Brussels, Belgium, during World War II.

In 1946, President Harry S. Truman seized control of the nation's railroads, delaying  but not preventing  a threatened strike by engineers and trainmen.

In 1973, a special committee convened by the U.S. senate began its televised hearings into the Watergate scandal.

In 1980, rioting that claimed 18 lives erupted in Miami's Liberty City after an all-white jury in Tampa acquitted four former Miami police officers of fatally beating black insurance executive Arthur Mcduffie.

In 1996, President Bill Clinton signed a measure requiring neighborhood notification when sex offenders move in. ("Megan's Law," as it's known, was named for Megan Kanka, a 7-year-old new Jersey girl who was raped and murdered in 1994.)

In 2004, Massachusetts became the first state to allow same-sex marriages.

In 2010, the Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that young people serving life prison terms should have "a meaningful opportunity to obtain release" provided they didn't kill their victims.

In 2015, a shootout erupted between bikers and police outside a restaurant in Waco, Texas, leaving nine of the bikers dead and 20 people injured. In 2017, the Justice department appointed former FBI director Robert Mueller as a special counsel to oversee a federal investigation into potential coordination between Russia and the 2016 Donald Trump campaign.

In 2020, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo was tested for the coronavirus on live TV as he announced that all people in the state who were experiencing flu-like symptoms were eligible for tests.

Ten years ago:the ousted head of the internal revenue service, Steven Miller, faced hours of intense grilling before congress; both defiant and apologetic, Miller acknowledged agency mistakes in targeting tea party groups for special scrutiny when they applied for tax-exempt status, but insisted that agents broke no laws and that there was no effort to cover up their actions.
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Local higher education leaders see a higher education bill before Gov. Tim Walz as an opportunity to make college more accessible, especially for adults who did not immediately pursue or complete a bachelors degree.

A provision of the bill called the North Star Promise would provide free tuition and fees for Minnesota residents attending public postsecondary institutions whose families make less than $80,000 a year. The bill also freezes tuition for two years for the Minnesota State system, which includes Minnesota State College Southeast and Winona State University.

State legislators designed the bill with an aim to reverse declining enrollment at public universities across the state. Enrollment at Winona State University dipped during COVID-19 pandemic and incoming class sizes are lower than they were before 2010.

It has the potential, yes, to increase our enrollment, particularly in that group where we lost some ground, and that was the families that were Pell eligible. In the past 3 to 5 years, weve been losing ground with attracting those students and retaining them because of the affordability, said Denise McDowell, Winona State University vice president for enrollment management and student life.

The legislations impact goes further than recent high school graduates with plans to attend college, said McDowell. As birth rates decline, the four-year residential university is looking to expand opportunities for adults who did not immediately pursue college due to high cost and rising hourly pay in certain industries.

What we have is students who graduated from high school, who may have taken two or three years off, who are now coming in as a 22-, 23-year-old, who may look by age like a traditional student, but their life experience is going to be more like a non-traditional or adult. So we need to respond to that difference, said McDowell.

The North Star Promise would compliment two other free tuition programs announced earlier this year by Minnesota State College Southeast. The college will waive tuition and fees at the start of the 2024-25 academic year for high school graduates who live in the Winona Area Public Schools and Red Wing Public School district boundaries.

The North Star Promise, the Winona College Opportunity and the Red Wing College Promise all make higher education more accessible and will reduce the burden of student loan debt for students going forward. These programs are an investment in the future success of Minnesotas workforce talent and vital for our economy, said Minnesota State College Southeast President Marsha Danielson in a statement.

Over $290 million is allocated to the Minnesota State system, including $75 million to cover the tuition freeze. Other items in the allotment include one-time campus support, funding for equipment and learning environments, and industry sector programming.

The legislature passed the higher education bill earlier in May and is awaiting Walz approval.

Its all an opportunity to think about whats possible. Whats possible, not only for our personnel, our students but also our community, said McDowell.
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The Minnesota Department of Human Services is now offering text message reminders for Minnesotans who have Medical Assistance or MinnesotaCare about renewing their health insurance.

Prompted by when its time to renew health insurance, the department of human services will now be texting important updates and announcements.

We want people to stay covered, Human Services Commissioner Jodi Harpstead said. Text messaging is a commonsense way to reach them with important information.

These text reminders are not interactive for recipients and no one should respond to the messages with personal information.

All texts about insurance from the Department of Human Services will come from the number 28343.

Additionally, individuals enrolled will receive renewal forms by mail along with text messages notifying them when to watch their mail along with deadline reminders.

Over the month of April, the Department of Human Services has sent out about 100,000 renewal notices to people with Medical Assistance via text message.

One in four Minnesotans have insurance through Medical Assistance or MinnesotaCare.

By May 2024, state, county, and Tribal workers will check eligibility for over 1.5 million people with those programs.

The Minnesota Department of Human Services is also developing user-friendly ways to complete the renewal process online or over the phone.

For more information about renewals and to update contact information and get text messages visit mn.gov/dhs/renewmycoverage.
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Offering earnest and heartfelt if playful and light-hearted cries of no and denied, the Fontana Village Board on May 1 later turned serious and with regrets accepted a retirement notice tendered by Fontana Fire & Rescue Department Chief Wolfgang Nitsch regarding his intent to retire from his emergency services career calling by the end of the year, as a successor sought, named and appointed.

Nitschs retirement notification had been approved by the boards Human Resources Committee on April 20.

A 45-year department veteran, Nitsch has served as Fontanas fire chief for the past 13 years, since taking the post in 2008.

My goal when taking the Chiefs position was to leave it a little better than I found it and Im confident that my mission has been accomplished..., Nitsch wrote in his intent-to-retire letter to the Fontana Village Board and the boards Human Resources Committee. With the modern equipment and highly trained men and women recently advanced to career firefighter/paramedic level, this community is staged to receive excellent and efficient emergency services well into the future. It will, of course, take continued support from the entire community, future boards, as well as immense dedication, training and continued forward-looking change, from future leadership and personnel ... I thank you for allowing me to serve in a variety of capacities in the Fontana community. I also thank the community and department for a lifetime of memories that I will cherish for many years to come. I hope and pray for all the best in the future for this year department.

In his letter, Nitsch credited community members, past and present village boards, and others for laying the groundwork for the departments success.

With the terrific support of village boards and residents, the Fontana Fire Department continues to be a precedent-setter in Walworth County as this organization historically has, Nitch wrote. With the foresight of prior Chiefs and a variety of leadership from around the community, todays fire and emergency medical services in Fontana are second to none.

 A high school kid looking to be a firefighter

The department has evolved greatly since Nitsch joined the Fontana Fire & Rescue Department in 1978. The department was founded in 1930.

Interviewed following the board meeting, Nitsch reflected on his career.

I joined as a high school kid looking to be a firefighter, he recalled. I started here with a rubber coat and rubber gloves and rubber boots, standing on the back of a 1955 FWD. Now everythings computerized, blue toothed and Wifi accessible and nothing like it was back when I joined. It was an all-volunteer department at that time, and weve always been a great precedent-setter here in Fontana ... with some of the first EMTSs and some of the first EMT Intermediates for this area ... and weve slowly progressed into a full-time department now in the last couple of years with full-time staffing. Its been a real interesting venture, a lot of changes, and I think a lot of changes for the good.

The Fontana Fire-Rescue Department rosters 13 full-time staff and another eight paid-on-call staff members, with 90-95% of department staff cross-trained for both fire and emergency medical services.

After logging 45 years with the department and turning 65 later this year, Nitsch said he felt it was time to retire.

Its just time to hand the reigns over, he said. I came in with a couple of goals in mind, I achieved those goals and, actually, I think we reached some goals even I hadnt even planned on achieving. The idea is you always want to walk into something like this with the idea you make it a little bit better before you leave and I think Ive done that to a good extent. The missions accomplished and its time to go relax a little bit.

Goals achieved, Nitsch said, included bringing the equipment up to speed  updating the departments ladder truck and adding a new water rescue airboat  and bringing the department into more of a staffing model with the implementation of a career full-time paid professional fire-rescue-EMS crew.

I think the departments in really good shape to move on for the next several years, efficiently, with probably some of the best pre-hospital medical care that youre gonna find in Wisconsin, Nitsch said. I just hope and pray the department moves forward and hopefully gets new, forward-looking leadership to keep things moving forward.

Plans for his retirement include traveling with his wife Kathy, spending more time relaxing at his northern Wisconsin cabin, and dabbling more in his laser engraving side business, Town of Walworth-based Laser Works Unlimited LLC, established in 2007.

11 photos from the 38th Annual Big Foot Lions Club Lobster Boil-Steak Fry 38th Annual Big Foot Lions Club Lobster Boil-Steak Fry 38th Annual Big Foot Lions Club Lobster Boil-Steak Fry 38th Annual Big Foot Lions Club Lobster Boil-Steak Fry 38th Annual Big Foot Lions Club Lobster Boil-Steak Fry 38th Annual Big Foot Lions Club Lobster Boil-Steak Fry 38th Annual Big Foot Lions Club Lobster Boil-Steak Fry 38th Annual Big Foot Lions Club Lobster Boil-Steak Fry 38th Annual Big Foot Lions Club Lobster Boil-Steak Fry 38th Annual Big Foot Lions Club Lobster Boil-Steak Fry 38th Annual Big Foot Lions Club Lobster Boil-Steak Fry 38th Annual Big Foot Lions Club Lobster Boil-Steak Fry
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Democratic Gov. Tony Evers said he's optimistic ongoing conversations with GOP legislative leaders can result in bipartisan compromise as Republicans prepare to vote on the proposal to boost state funding to local communities.

Assembly Republicans have said they plan to amend the proposal before holding a vote Wednesday, but it remains to be seen if the changes offered will be enough to move the needle for Evers, who earlier this month promised to veto the bill as written. Evers has said the GOP-authored proposal  which would provide $227 million in new funding for local governments but also impose limits on how the money can be spent  doesn't spend enough and imposes unnecessary restrictions on counties and cities.

Evers said in a statement recent conversations with legislative leaders Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, and Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu, R-Oostburg, have been productive and focused on increased spending on local communities, providing more flexibility for local governments on how those funds are spent and "ensuring the City of Milwaukee and Milwaukee County have the tools they need to be financially secure and successful." He said negotiations may continue for weeks.

Today, we are in a much better place than we were just two weeks ago," Evers said. "All parties have been willing to set differences aside, all parties have worked to operate in good faith, and all parties have come to the table committed to finding common ground  and for that, I am very grateful."

Evers did not offer specifics on what compromises have been discussed. Assembly Republicans plan to unveil proposed amendments to Assembly Bill 245 leading up to a floor vote Wednesday afternoon.

Yet another unknown is where the proposal stands in the other chamber. LeMahieu's spokesperson Michael Pyritz said Tuesday discussions on the bill were ongoing.

As written, the bill would would divert a penny of every nickel collected under the state's 5-cent sales tax to counties, towns, villages and cities to pay for services like law enforcement, fire protection, responding to emergencies, public works and transportation.

While lawmakers on both sides of the aisle largely support increased state funding for local governments, Democrats and some local officials have derided the GOP-authored bill for including several local restrictions, including one that would bar local health officials from closing a business for more than two weeks to help control an outbreak or epidemic and another that would allow local governments in the northern portion of the state the ability to essentially kill any proposed land acquisitions by passing a resolution opposing the measure.

Yet another measure in the bill would prohibit counties and cities from holding public votes on advisory referendums.

Municipalities would receive $176 million in increased aid under the proposal, with the distribution broken down into three categories, according to the nonpartisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau:

Municipalities with populations under 5,000 would receive a total of $82.8 million.

Those with populations between 5,000 and 30,000 would split $47.2 million.

Those with populations above 30,000 would receive $46.4 million.

Counties, meanwhile, would receive about $50 million.

The measure also would allow for $300 million in spending on a three-year pilot program to encourage local governments to share more services.

Another potential hurdle to bipartisan support for the bill relates to provisions that would allow Milwaukee County to increase its 0.5% sales tax by 0.375 percentage points and allow Milwaukee to impose a 2% sales tax to fund pension debt.

While Vos has expressed support for requiring a public vote on the local sales tax increases, LeMahieu told WTMJ Tuesday he doesn't think a referendum vote "is the best way to accomplish this, because the fear is that its going to fail."

"Who is going to vote to increase their own sales tax in the city of Milwaukee by 2 percent?," he said, adding that he thinks that decision should be made by the Milwaukee Common Council and Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors.

In a public hearing earlier this month, Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson and Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley largely praised the bill as a major step forward to help stave off impending cuts to city and county staffing, including for police and fire services. However, they also raised concern over language in the bill requiring those tax increases to be approved by voters, as opposed to a decision made by local elected officials.

Created in 1911 alongside the state income tax, Wisconsin's shared revenue program initially provided local municipalities 70% of state income tax collections, while counties and the state received the remaining 20% and 10%, respectively, according to the Wisconsin Historical Society.

But the percentage of income tax revenue allocated to local entities has plummeted over the years and has remained essentially unchanged for nearly three decades despite overall growth in tax revenues, according to a February report by the nonpartisan Wisconsin Policy Forum.
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Pallbearers carry out the casket following the funeral services of Chicago police Officer Areanah Preston on May 17, 2023, at Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago. (Antonio Perez/Chicago Tribune)

Family, friends and fellow officers gathered to remember slain Chicago police Officer Areanah Preston at her funeral Wednesday, praising her commitment to the city and her job, which ended in the ultimate sacrifice.

Preston, 24, was shot and killed as she returned to her Avalon Park home from a late-night shift in early May. As her loved ones celebrated her life, they recalled her enormous personality and warm smile. She was loving, engaging and eager to make the world a better place, they said.

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[ Chicago police officer, 24, killed just after her shift ends. I wanted to be an officer ... a person to fight for justice, she said in a 2021 interview. ]

Mourners sobbed as the black hearse carrying Preston arrived. Loved ones held one another up, Prestons sister crying out as bagpipers played.

Police officers salute as the hearse arrives for the funeral of Chicago police Officer Areanah Preston on May 17, 2023, at Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago. (Antonio Perez/Chicago Tribune)

The police ranks saluted as officers lifted Prestons white casket from the hearse. It was draped in Chicagos four-star flag. Prestons fellow 5th District officers wore yellow ribbons on their badges. It was her favorite color, police said.

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As Prestons casket was carried past city leaders, including new Mayor Brandon Johnson, former Mayor Lori Lightfoot and interim Chicago Police Department Superintendent Fred Waller, a hush fell over the crowd. The only sounds came from overhead helicopters and rustling leaves.

Inside the service at Trinity United Church of Christ, Prestons mother, Dionne Mhoon, first thanked God for loaning us this angel.

I gave my baby everything I had, and then some. I was determined to invest in her, so in return she could invest in the world. And Areanah did just that, Mhoon said. Death is only a tragic thing if you have not lived. My baby lived. I am because of her. I pray for peace in our homes. I pray for peace in our communities. And I pray for peace in my heart.

Chicago police interim Superintendent Fred Waller, Mayor Brandon Johnson and others gather for the funeral of Chicago police Officer Areanah Preston. (Antonio Perez/Chicago Tribune)

Lightfoot recalled the many police funerals she attended while in office.

We have wept and prayed together and tried to make sense of the senseless. It never gets easier. Today, though, feels particularly painful, the former mayor said.

Preston loved to learn, Lightfoot said, citing the masters degree Preston had just finished at Loyola University of Chicago. The young woman had sought to understand what underlies crime, the former mayor added, calling on the city to coalesce around her death to fight violence.

Johnson, speaking at the first police funeral during his tenure as mayor, called Prestons death an unspeakable tragedy. She devoted her life to justice and peace, Johnson said.

The righteous perish, said Johnson, citing Scripture. But those who walk uprightly, they enter in their peace, and they find rest even in death.

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As a city we have so much to do to restore hope and promise, Johnson said. Although we have much to do, Im confident that Areanahs example is how we get at the root causes of violence in this city.

Prestons life shows the importance of doing the right thing, even when its hard, he added. Though her watch has ended, her dedication to justice and her commitment to this city will live forever.

Fifth District police officers speak at the funeral of Chicago police Officer Areanah Preston, May 17, 2023, at Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago. (Eileen T. Meslar/Chicago Tribune)

Chicago police officers react during the funeral of Officer Areanah Preston. (Eileen T. Meslar/Chicago Tribune)

Jashaya Turnage, a civilian who worked at the 5th District station with Preston, said the fallen officer was known as Princess P at the 5th because she would give everyone a hug as she arrived at the station. She was witty, funny and quick to jab with a smart comeback or say I love you, she said.

5th District Officer Jessica Scott recalled Prestons huge personality. She was a bright light, more a friend than a co-worker, she said. It still dont even feel free, the officer added.

As the service ended, officers stood at attention during a 21-gun salute and as a bugler played taps. Pallbearers folded the city flag draped over Prestons casket. Johnson, Waller and former CPD interim Superintendent Eric Carter presented Prestons mother with the flag.

Early May 6, three assailants jumped out of a sedan and ran toward Preston as she walked from her car to her home, according to Cook County prosecutors. Video footage cited by prosecutors shows a muzzle flash and Preston fall to the ground.

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Four teens arrested two days after the fatal shooting are being held without bond. Prosecutors charged them with murder and several other felonies, including robbery and arson, alleging the group had earlier gone on a violent crime spree.

Chicago police Officer Areanah Preston (Chicago Police Department)

Preston was wearing her police uniform when she was attacked. The Chicago Police Department ruled her killing was a line-of-duty death, a decision that will entitle her family to greater financial support.

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After the service, Carter said he knew Preston not just as an officer, but as a cheerleader on the team his daughter participated in and his wife coached who he helped mentor. Preston had recently been all but accepted to the Federal Bureau of Investigationss academy, he said.

We lost a light. We lost somebody very special, said Carter, who resigned as interim police superintendent Monday.

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Preston, fellow Officer Lesley Butler and three other officers spent much of their time together, FaceTiming everyday, planning trips and going out together often. They called their friend group the Fab 5, Butler said. The friends joked Preston would someday become Chicagos first female police superintendent, she said.

Even though she was little, she was big. And she had dreams, Butler said.

jsheridan@chicagotribune.com

scharles@chicagotribune.com
China, Central Asian Nations Gather for Summit in Historic Silk Road City, Xian

May 16, 2023, 2022 (EIRNS)China and the leaders of five Central Asia nations will convene a major conference, the first in-person China-Central Asia Summit, on May 18-19 in Xian, the capital of Shaanxi Province. Xian is the city from which the Han Dynastys Zhang Qian launched the Silk Road 2,100 years ago. The Presidents from Central Asia are: Kassym-Jomart Tokayev of Kazakhstan; Sadyr Japarov of Kyrgyzstan; Emomali Rahmon of Tajikistan; Serdar Berdimuhamedov of Turkmenistan; and Shavkat Mirziyoyev of Uzbekistan. Chinas Xi Jinping will chair the meeting.

Four of the Central Asian leaders arrived in China today, making state visits, which involve one-on-one meetings with host Xi Jinping. Turkmenistans Berdimuhamedov made a state visit to China on Jan. 6. At the summit on May 18, President Xi will present a grand development plan for this critical region.

At todays press conference Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin, gave an overview of what China and Central Asian nations have accomplished through the Belt and Road Initiative:

Over the past decade, we have jointly implemented a number of major projects which have benefited the region and its people in various ways. The China-Kazakhstan Horgos International Border Cooperation Center and the China-Kazakhstan Logistics Base in Lianyungang have been completed, providing a gateway to the Pacific for Central Asian countries. The Chinese-built tunnel of the Angren-Pap railway line, the longest tunnel in Central Asia, saved local residents the trouble of climbing through the mountains or taking a detour via neighboring countries. The China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan (CKU) highway has become an important international transportation route that runs smoothly through the regions mountainous terrain. Four-fifths of the China-Europe Railway Express trains run through Central Asia. They are a steel caravan for the Eurasian continent. Last year, the total trade volume between China and Central Asian countries hit a record high of $70 billion. These tangible outcomes lay a solid foundation for the two sides continued commitment to mutual respect, good neighborliness and friendship, mutual support in times of difficulties and win-win cooperation.

The revitalization of Afghanistan will be another theme taken up at the summit, as, after 20 years of war, the U.S. suddenly walked out on Afghanistan in August 2021, leaving the country severely impoverished, with millions of Afghans on the edge of starvation. China supports two major rail projects involving Afghanistan: construction of the Uzbekistan-Pakistan railway through Afghanistan, and the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan-Afghanistan Corridor Agreement. The method for creating a healthy, growing Afghanistan involves both its direct rebuilding and development of the regions infrastructure as a whole.

China-Central Asia trade, after growing in 2022 to $70 billion, has also surged by 23% in the first quarter of 2023, compared to the first quarter of last year.

China appears to be coordinating on Central Asias development with Russia. The Central Asian leaders had travelled to Moscow on May 9 to attend ceremonies for Victory Day of the Great Patriotic War. All had discussions with Russian President Vladimir Putin, with some very specific discussions on economic development in their country. Russias bilateral trade with the Central Asian nations grew to $42 billion in 2022.
EIR LEAD EDITORIAL FOR WEDNESDAY MAY 17, 2023

Making America Good Again

May 16, 2023, 2022 (EIRNS)Before making fun of President Zelenskyys meltdown the other day, put yourself in his shoes for a moment. Youve hitched your wagon to a Western world that has a systemic financial breakdown on its hands. Your Western allies are so post-industrialized that they have trouble being the war machine they fantasize about, leaving you way short of ammunition. Worse, they will have Ukraine fight to the last Ukrainian, bleeding itself to death in a proxy war, designed to sap as much strength from Russia as possible. And what regime change in the last many decades, engineered by London and Washington, has resulted in the country getting stronger going forward (or going forward at all)?

Zelenskyy ends up as a talented dancing puppet who, as he gets all used up, as his show gets repetitive, has to worry about being thrown on the junk heap. Hes tried every trick in the book, attempting to turn the proxy war into a direct confrontation between Russia and the U.S. So, when the Washington Post asked whether he and his head of Ukraines Military Directorate Kyrylo Budanov had actually discussed a scheme to destroy the head of Russias Wagner military grouping, Yevgeny Prigozhinas the leaked Pentagon documents indicateZelenskyy simply lost it. Wild verbal gyrations reflected paranoia, possible traitors in Ukraine, the Washington establishment throwing him to the wolves, Russia controlling the Pentagon, etc.

The last 24 hours in Ukraine saw the head of Ukraines Supreme Court detained, and the leading judges of Ukraine in an emergency session paying obeisance to Zelenskyys administration. And Kievs citizenry heard a massive explosion, which was a Russian hypersonic Kinzhal missile knocking out Kievs Patriot air defense systemwhile the Zelenskyy administration bragged about having shot down six Kinzhals!

But once one turns off the reality show, there actually is reality. The Presidents of five Central Asian nations gathered today in China for a week of summit meetings with President Xi Jinping on rebuilding the vast region, beginning with core infrastructure development. The Arab League gathered in Cairo, with a new-found unity, featuring the welcoming back of Syria. The question of oil profits going into regional development and outside of dollar-denominated trade is now a very practical question.

In the United States, a full-page ad in the New York Times, signed by a group of national security experts, stated the obvious: Permanent war is designed for a military-industrial-congressional greed party, but the U.S. should be a force for peace in the world. It explains how diplomacy works and how neo-cons have deliberately sabotaged diplomacy. And it quotes from the June 10, 1963 speech of John Kennedy:

Above all, while defending our own vital interests, nuclear powers must avert those confrontations which bring an adversary to a choice of either a humiliating retreat or a nuclear war. To adopt that kind of course in the nuclear age would be evidence only of the bankruptcy of our policyor of a collective death-wish for the world.

The U.S. can stop sabotaging itself and actually negotiate a peace.

And two days ago, a U.S. Presidential candidate, JFKs nephew, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., dared to call out the assassination machine that has taken up residence in Kiev, putting the ugly reality of the present-day military-industrial-congressional apparatus on the table.

Reality is a lot more interesting, and healthy, than reality showsor Zelenskyys living hell. The U.S. can be a force for peace in the world. Make America good again.
The risk of misinformation influencing voters has long existed during elections around the world. But political experts warn that new artificial intelligence (AI) tools may create even more problems during the 2024 American presidential election.

Newly released AI tools are widely available at no cost to the public. Such tools can be used to present voters with false, or fake, information in an effort to help candidates, experts say.

Misinformation can take many forms, including fake news stories that seem real. Voters can also be targeted with high-quality video or audio that appear to show real candidates, but which were actually created by machines.

Today, AI systems can quickly produce fake voices, images and videos in seconds. And they can be created for little or no cost to the users. The tools, described as generative AI, have received wide attention since the launch of ChatGPT late last year.

Technology experts say these kinds of AI tools can be used to invent false messages in a series of different forms. The material can then be published to social media services or fake online news websites. Such material can be effective because it can target specific groups of people.

Were not prepared for this, said A.J. Nash, vice president of intelligence at the internet security company ZeroFox. "To me, the big leap forward is the audio and video capabilities that have emerged, Nash told The Associated Press.

AI experts have identified possible situations in which AI could be used to trick the voting public. Among these are AI generated phone messages that seem to be in a candidates own voice. Such messages could misinform voters about the correct voting date.

Fake voice recordings could also be created to show a candidate admitting to a crime or expressing racist opinions. Video could also appear to show candidates giving a speech or comments they never gave. False images could be designed to look like local news reports that claim a candidate dropped out of the race.

Former President Donald Trump, who is running for president in 2024, has shared AI-generated content with his followers. Recently, Trump shared a manipulated video of CNN news presenter Anderson Cooper on his Truth Social service.

Another example of what AI tools can do is a campaign advertisement released last month by the Republican National Committee (RNC). The online ad came after Democratic President Joe Biden officially announced his reelection campaign.

The ad began with an image of Biden and the words, What if the weakest president weve ever had was re-elected? The ad then showed a series of AI-created images. These included Taiwan under attack, closed businesses in the U.S. and soldiers and military vehicles driving down streets.

RNC officials confirmed the use of AI in the ad. But other individuals or groups will likely develop and release such material in secret, said Petko Stoyanov. He is chief technology officer at Forcepoint, an internet security company in Austin, Texas. Stoyanov predicted groups aiming to interfere with U.S. democracy will employ AI tools and fake media material to reduce the publics trust.

He gave the example of international organizations, overseas criminals or states using AI tools to impersonate an American politician. In such cases, Stoyanov said, he is unsure U.S. officials or law enforcement could do anything about it.

Legislation has been introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives to require candidates to identify campaign ads created with AI. Some states have offered their own proposals aimed at reducing the use of fake AI-generated content.

AI is not necessarily needed, however, to create false or misleading audio, video or written materials.

However, New York Representative Yvette Clarke said her biggest fear is that AI tools could be used before the 2024 election to create material that incites violence and turns Americans against each other.

Its important that we keep up with the technology," Clarke told the AP. People are busy with their lives, and they dont have the time to check every piece of information. AI being weaponized, in a political season, it could be extremely disruptive, she said.

Im Bryan Lynn.

Bryan Lynn wrote this story for VOA Learning English, based on reports from The Associated Press.

Quiz - AI Tools Present New Risks in 2024 US Election Start the Quiz to find out Start Quiz

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Words in This Story

leap  n. a big jump

emerge  v. to become known

manipulate  v. to control someone in a way that makes them do what you want to do

impersonate  v. to copy the way someone looks and behave

disrupt  v. to block something and stop it from continuing as it should

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Offutt Air Force Base just doubled its fleet of radiation-monitoring planes.

The 55th Wing took delivery Wednesday of the second of three refurbished WC-135R surveillance aircraft, known informally as nuke-sniffers. The first arrived last July; the third is slated for delivery in the fall.

The new plane boosts the Wings ability to take air samples and detect atmospheric radiation from, say, North Korean weapons tests or nuclear submarine bases in the Russian Arctic in support of the 1963 Limited Nuclear Test Ban Treaty. The Air Force calls the mission Constant Phoenix.

When we had one jet, if something happened in the Pacific and something happened in Europe, we had to choose, said Lt. Col. Chris Crouch, commander of the 45th Reconnaissance Squadron, which operates the Constant Phoenix jets. Now ... at least we have the option to respond to both.

The former Arizona Air National Guard refueling tanker (tail number 64-14831) arrived with little fanfare after a delivery flight from Greenville, Texas, where it was converted by the defense contractor L3Harris under the supervision of the Air Forces Big Safari program. Big Safari manages and supports special weapons systems aboard surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft.

The plane had been scheduled for delivery last winter. The 55th Wing declined to comment on the delay.

The total cost of converting the three aircraft is $218 million, appropriated by Congress in 2018 and 2019 at the urging of Nebraskas congressional delegation.

They are replacements for two 60-year-old WC-135s with outdated engines and avionics that had among the worst maintenance records in an Air Force filled with aged aircraft. Both are now retired. One was so notoriously cranky and prone to breakdowns that 45th Squadron crew members called it Lucifers Chariot at a mock retirement ceremony in November 2020.

Compared to the older jets, its a huge change, said Lt. Col. Sean Orme, commander of the 21st Surveillance Squadrons Offutt-based Detachment 1, which operates the radiation-detection gear.

The new Constant Phoenix planes arent really so new. All three rolled off Boeings assembly line in Renton, Washington, in August and September 1964, said Robert Hopkins III, a 55th Wing veteran and historian of Air Force reconnaissance flights. Each has about 25,000 to 27,500 flight hours, compared with between 29,500 and 36,000 for the now-retired WC-135s.

Though only two to three years newer than the aircraft they replace, all three were upgraded with new, quieter, turbofan engines in the early 1990s, and are equipped with newer avionics and flight controls.

That means most any 55th Wing pilot will be able to fly them.

Its brand-new on the inside, new equipment, new avionics, Crouch said. The mission-capable rates of these jets is just awesome.

Hopkins said their prior service in the Air National Guard means they are in better shape than the 55th Wing workhorses. He said Guard tankers typically rack up fewer flight hours and are maintained by National Guard mechanics who care for the same aircraft for years, unlike in the active-duty Air Force.

Offutt flies their jets hard, he told The World-Herald in 2020. Airplanes that come out of the Guard and Reserve have been pampered.

During the conversion, the long aerial refueling booms have been removed from the former tankers, and the flight controls and avionics modernized to match the other 24 C-135 variant aircraft in the 55th Wing fleet.

In the back end, they have been equipped with sensing pods on each side of the fuselage, over the wing. Filters inside the pods can capture tiny particles from a nuclear blast, giving analysts critical information about the composition of the bomb or other radiation source.

The planes also have been equipped with compressors that channel air samples into tanks for further study.

Crouch and Orme said their crews have learned a lot since the delivery 10 months ago of the first updated WC-135R, tail number 64-14836.

The first shift was more of the heavy lift, Orme said. We want to be sure the lessons learned on Eight-Three-Six will be applied on Eight-Three-One.

The first WC-135R deployed for the first time in January, to Puerto Rico  an unusual place for 55th Wing jets to operate.

Orme declined to discuss the types of missions flown from the U.S. territory in the Caribbean but hinted that it could see more reconnaissance deployments.

Puerto Rico is an option that could be exercised in the future, he said. We were able to hit some new ground.

For the past month, the jet has been operating in Europe and the Middle East, according to information gathered from flight-tracking websites by a 55th Wing veteran who goes by the Twitter handle MeNMyRC.

On Friday, for example, it flew from a deployed base at RAF Mildenhall, England, over the western Mediterranean, off the coast of Algeria and Tunisia. Other recent sorties overflew the Barents Sea on April 17, the Black Sea on April 21, the Persian Gulf on April 26, and the eastern Mediterranean on May 5.

From what Ive been seeing, shes been doing great over there, Orme said.

Photos: Offutt Air Force Base through the years Offutt Air Force Base is named for Lt. Jarvis Offutt  the first airman from Omaha killed in World War I. 1891 1952 1956 1957 1959 1961 1962 1962 1967 1970 1989 1992 1997 2000 2000 2003 2006 2012 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2019 2019
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A police officer works at the scene where a 12-year-old boy and 16-year-old boy were shot in the 100 block of South Pulaski on May 16, 2023 in Chicago. According to the Chicago police, after the 12-year-old was shot he was carried into the Legler Regional Library by a security officer. (Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune)

Two boys, ages 12 and 16, were shot Tuesday afternoon in the Garfield Park neighborhood on the citys West Side, according to police.

Officers responded to reports of a person shot in the 100 block of South Pulaski Road shortly after 5:30 p.m. and discovered the two boys.

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Police said a security officer carried the 12-year-old who had been shot into a library, where he tried to render aid. The Legler Regional Branch of the Chicago Public Library is at 115 S. Pulaski Road

The 12-year-old boy was transported to Stroger Hospital, where he is listed in fair condition.

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Chicago police officers work outside the Legler Regional Library where a 12-year-old boy and 16-year-old boy were shot in the Garfield Park neighborhood on May 16, 2023. (Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune)

The 16-year-old suffered two gunshot wounds to the leg and was transported to Mount Sinai Hospital, where he is listed in good condition.

Police arrested a male and a female suspect in the 3900 block of West Madison Street. Charges were pending as of Tuesday night.

Officers recovered a weapon and Area 4 detectives are investigating.

adperez@chicagotribune.com
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An audacious RAF bombing raid into the industrial heartland of Germany last night has wrecked three dams serving the Ruhr valley.

The attack disrupted water and electricity supplies in a key area for the manufacture of Germanys war munitions.

The Secretary of State for Air, Sir Archibald Sinclair, called the raid a trenchant blow for victory.The mission, known as Operation Chastise, has been planned for months.

The crews were specially selected for the job, and have been training in absolute secrecy.

The bombs themselves were invented specifically for the task by the aircraft engineer Dr Barnes Wallis, the designer of the Wellington bomber.

They were barrel-shaped, and used the principle of a ducks and drakes stone bouncing on the water to bypass the defences around the dams.

The Lancaster bombers flown by 617 Squadron were extensively modified, and the crews trained to fly at less than 100ft (30.48m) above the water, the height required to drop the bombs successfully.

The mission began yesterday evening, under the command of Wing Commander Guy Gibson.

The targets were three huge water barrage dams  two on the rivers Mohne and Sorpe, and a third on the River Eder.

The Mohne and Sorpe dams control about 70% of the water supplied to the Ruhr basin, and were built to prevent water shortages during the summer.

Wing Commander Gibson led the attack on the Mohne dam personally.

A flight lieutenant who watched what happened at the Mohne dam described the scene:

The wing commanders load was placed just right and a spout of water went up 300 feet (91.44m) into the air, he said.

A second Lancaster attacked with equal accuracy, and there was still no sign of a breach.

Then I went in and we caused a huge explosion up against the dam. It was not until another load had been dropped that the dam at last broke.

I saw the first jet very clear in the moonlight. I should say that the breach was about 50 yards (45.72m) wide.

The Eder dam  the largest in Europe  was also breached in two places.

Reconnaissance flights showed flood waters sweeping through the Ruhr valley, damaging factories, houses and power stations.

The power station at the Mohne dam has been swept away, rivers are in full flood, and railway and road bridges have disappeared.

Courtesy BBC News

In context

The mission became popularly known as the Dambusters raid, and was immortalised in a 1954 war film.

It was one of the most famous air operations of World War II.

Casualties for the raid were high.

Eight of the original 19 Lancaster bombers were damaged or shot down, and of the 133 aircrew, 53 were killed and three captured.

On the ground, too, almost 1,300 people were killed, including 749 Ukrainian prisoners of war based in a camp just below the Eder dam. []

The spectacular, daring nature of the raid was a significant boost to British morale.

But militarily, it was a failure. []

The aircrew, however, became famous as war heroes, and the leader of the raid, Wing Commander Guy Gibson, was awarded the Victoria Cross.

He died less than 18 months later, shot down at the age of 26 in September 1944.
The Philippine Consulate General in Macau has moved out of its former premises, its home for the past 15 years, and is now occupying an office that is 80% larger than the old premises in a bid to provide better quality services to the Filipino people.

Macau is home to some 25,000 non-resident Filipinos, the second largest number of migrant workers in the city, next to the mainland.

Having arranged a total of 33 repatriation flights while coming out of the pandemic and returning home over 6,000 Filipino nationals, the Consulate, which employs 25 staff, is now focusing on looking out for the needs of the community.

In an interview with the Times, Consul General Porfirio Mayo, Jr. spoke of the resilience of the Filipino people in Macau  particularly those who survived living through the pandemic.

In a city where a significant number of Filipino domestic workers live in the absence of a minimum wage law, Mayo said that they have ridden out the storm. The Consulate is now focused on implementing a standard employment contract for such workers, where there is a specified minimum wage for those working in domestic services, which cannot be lower than what domestic workers are receiving in Hong Kong.

Since October 2021, the Hong Kong government has maintained a minimum wage of HKD4,630 per month.

Mayo, who was the Consul General of the Philippine Consulate in Ottawa, Canada prior coming to Macau, has been a diplomat since 1986, having served in Athens, Hong Kong, Stockholm and Norway.

Meanwhile, the official also disclosed that the hotel sector is hoping to recruit 10,000 workers from the Philippines as it suffers a severe shortage of labor.

Macau Daily Times (MDT)  Consul, you were appointed to lead the Consulate in 2021 during the pandemic. With several restrictions in place, and several hundreds of Filipinos being let go, it was a challenging period for everyone in general. Tell us about the transitioning period at a time when a significant number of Filipinos were calling for flights and financial assistance.

Porfirio Mayo Jr. (PM)  It was personally challenging for me and my team. I arrived here with a fresh team of people who were replacing staff who were due to be recalled to the home office. They were stuck here for [a few years] before a replacement could come because of the pandemic. As far as our workers here are concerned, it was more challenging for them because a lot of them were losing their jobs. Employers were letting go of their trusted workers here because of hard times during the pandemic.

A major challenge was the absence of direct flights particularly when coming into Macau and going out of Macau. [] When I arrived, there was a lull of six months where we didnt have any flights. When I was in quarantine, I requested my team here to immediately commence the flights, even if we had to charter a special flight. We had thousands of people lining up, waiting for flights back home.

When I was released from quarantine in June, we commenced the 22nd special flight after a lull of six months.

We managed to organize 12 additional flights, with the 33rd special flight departing in September. All in all, we brought home over 6,000 Filipino nationals back home.

MDT-And in terms of assistance to distressed workers?

PM  The number [of recipients] would have stood in the thousands, particularly during the period when the government allowed employers to impose a no-pay leave. Those were hard times: when the 6.18 outbreak hit Macau. During the two-month period from June to August, people were lining up in our old office seeking financial assistance for the misfortunes that befell them.

MDT- Post-pandemic, with several hurdles that the community has overcome, and with this new office of the Consulate being 80% larger than the former one, what else is new?

PM  We continued to provide services when we were in transition while relocating, but we had to suspend some of them. Now were back to our full potential. In addition to that, we are resuming our quarterly meetings with the leaders of the Filipino community. The next one will be this coming Sunday.

MDT  What are the main concerns of these Filipino associations?

PM  We always set an agenda. We speak about timely developments in Macau  in particular, new regulations from the Philippines that would affect them coming home. We have timely discussions with them. For this forthcoming meeting with Filipino leaders, we will be discussing our programs for June as we celebrate the 125th Proclamation of the Philippine Independence  thats a milestone. Aside from that, we will start meetings with a simple blessing of the new office.

MDT  What will the event comprise and where will it be held?

PM  We will have a celebration this time. A diplomatic reception will be held with government officials of Macau and the consular core accredited to the Macau and Hong Kong government. We are making arrangements with Clube Militar.

MDT  With Filipinos comprising the second largest population of non-residents here in Macau, is the Consulate in any talks with the Labour Affairs Bureau (DSAL) or other offices on how to better safeguard workers?

PM  We are always in touch with the relevant offices here in Macau. For example, our labor section is in close communication with DSAL as far as the rights and benefits of our workers are concerned. We hold a yearly seminar on the labor and immigration law of Macau. We are also closely coordinating with Macau immigration department on individual cases that are concerned.

We have been trying for the longest time to set a minimum wage because we have that in Hong Kong. But I think the Macau government is in a difficult situation. In my meetings with senior officials of the host government, they were emphasizing the difficulties that prevent them from being selective. If they were to implement a minimum wage, they would also have to discuss this with other communities of non-Chinese workers here. Thats the position that they had taken. Because of that, we made some adjustments.

Instead of depending on a negotiated minimum wage agreement with the host government, we focused on having a standard employment contract for our own workers, where we could specify the minimum wage for those working in domestic services. So, it cannot be lower than what our workers are receiving in Hong Kong.

In terms of benefits such as insurance and airfare, those are non-negotiables as far as our standardized employment contract is concerned.

MDT  These applies to those going through the right channels?

PM  Yes. But sadly, there are newcomers coming in via tourist visas, who are trying their luck to find opportunities to work here as directly hired employees. But of course, the regulation in Macau has changed since November 2021, where tourists are no longer allowed to be employed directly. They have to go back to their home country to arrange their [working visas in these circumstances].

MDT  Can you say that is better option?

PM  It is. Those coming through the right channels will be well protected by the contract. These are contracts that are verified through the Philippine governments labor office, and will ensure that they are being paid the right amount. That includes, of course, insurance, guaranteed protection of return airfare and stipends.

MDT  The hotel sector is suffering from a severe shortage of staff as they had to let go thousands of workers during the outbreak. The Philippines has an employment agency, Ikon, that has been actively recruiting for local hotels. Are you aware of how many we can expect to come in?

PM  They [Ikon] are working double time, bringing in Filipino workers for the industry. Thats the specific target: hotel workers. They mentioned a number in the high thousands, and I think they are looking for 10,000 to fill in the gaps. But sadly, the contract approvals are taking time.

MDT  In relation to post-pandemic hurdles, what has been the most challenging?

PM  I dont see any hard issue because the community is very cooperative with the programs and supportive of them. And its also working both ways. We are looking out for the needs of the community. As much as possible, I attend all their invitations to the events they are organizing. Its a matter of building trust and goodwill between the Consulate and the community.

MDT  Going back to the minimum wage, migrantsi associations in the city have long been calling for such a policy, even meeting with DSAL officials to express their concerns. What is the Consulateis stand on this?

PM  The local government hasnt budged an inch. That is why we came up with the standardized contract that will apply if workers go through the right channels, because that we can control. There are the things we cannot control [] so we find ways to go around these hurdles. We want quality employers [for our nationals]; thats what were after.

MDT  What is the average number of people seeking for assistance in each day?

PM  In the labor section, it does not go below 100. I think its more realistic to say 200, but on Sundays that would easily be double. And with other forms of consular assistance, I think were seeing some 30 to 40 people.
The annual International Fireworks Display Contest will return in September after three years of suspension, head of the local tourism board confirmed yesterday.

Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes, director of the Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTO), revealed on the sidelines of a tourism event that the contest  one of the major annual showcases  will return with an international line-up.

In the past three years, with Covid-19 restrictions, it was virtually impossible for teams to visit Macau for the contest.

Senna Fernandes disclosed that so far, invitations have been extended to 10 teams, including Portugal, Japan and mainland China. For the time being, the tourism official expects there will be five show nights spanning September and October.

Traditionally, show nights fall on Saturdays as well as Oct. 1 (a Sunday), which is the National Day of the Peoples Republic of China.

Senna Fernandes made a special note on the absence of a fireworks show in the evening of the Mid-autumn Festival. She explained that because the Festival and the National Day will be close together this year, the bureau decided to skip the festival evening and stage a show on National Day.

Meanwhile, at the same event, deputy director Cheng Wai Tong of the MGTO disclosed that earlier he had visited three islands in Zhuhai, being Wailingding Island, Guishan Island and Dongao Island, all of which are relatively well-established in tourism.

Among them, Guishan Island already has sufficient boundary-crossing facilities. It also has ferry services running to and from Hong Kong. If similar services between Guishan Island and Macau can be established, island-hopping travel opportunities can be explored.

The tourism industry of Macau has expressed interest in offering related services. For the time being, further work with relevant departments in Zhuhai is needed to develop these routes, Cheng added.
The life sentence imposed by China on a 78-year-old U.S. citizen, who was also a Hong Kong permanent resident, on spying charges shows the city should stay vigilant to security risks, its leader said yesterday.

Chief Executive John Lee answered none of the lingering questions about why John Shing-Wan Leung was prosecuted. The sentence was announced Monday but neither the Hong Kong government nor the court in the eastern Chinese city of Suzhou that tried Leung have released details of the charges.

This incident showed us that national security risks could be hidden in society. Thats why we repeatedly stressed that, although Hong Kongs situation appears to be largely stabilized, we cant let down our guard over national security risks and have to stay vigilant, Lee said.

The government said mainland Chinese authorities had informed Hong Kong of his arrest in 2021. Hong Kongs government was prepared to provide assistance to anyone arrested by mainland authorities upon request but had not yet received any in Leungs case, authorities said.

Lee, a former police officer and ex-head of security in the city, was effectively appointed to lead Hong Kong last year after running unopposed in a collegial election. In his previous posts, he oversaw a campaign that crushed the pro-democracy camp.

In an echo of party propaganda, Lee referred to the 2019 pro-democracy protests that triggered the crackdown as black violence and Hong Kongs version of color revolution, a phrase used by China and Russia to describe political movements seeking to overturn authoritarian regimes. Lee said the protest movement was an alarm bell that reminds the city to keep monitoring such risks.

Leungs sentencing threatens to further exacerbate already strained ties between Beijing and Washington.

Leung was detained April 15, 2021, by the local bureau of Chinas counterintelligence agency in Suzhou, according to a statement posted by the citys intermediate court on its social media site. His detention came after China had closed its borders and imposed tight domestic travel restrictions and lockdowns affecting tens of millions to fight the spread of COVID-19.

Such investigations and trials are held behind closed doors and little information is generally released.

The harsh sentence given Leung was especially notable because of his previous affiliations with pro-Communist Party organizations, including one seeking overseas support for Beijings goal of unification with self-governing Taiwan.

Relations between Washington and Beijing are at their lowest in decades amid disputes over trade, technology, human rights and Chinas increasingly aggressive territorial claims toward Taiwan, the South China Sea and elsewhere.

High-level government exchanges between the sides have been placed on hold and U.S. companies are delaying major investments amid mixed messaging from Beijing. Many Chinese firms, most notably telecoms giant Huawei, have been effectively shut out of the U.S. market due to legal bans and high tariffs.

While the Suzhou court offered no indication of a link between Leungs case and overall China-U.S. relations, spying charges in China often appear highly selective and evidence backing them up is held in secret. The partys rigid control over courts, civil society and the media effectively blocks efforts to gain further information or mount legal appeals.

The U.S. Embassy in Beijing said Monday it was aware of Leungs case, but could not comment further due to privacy concerns. The Department of State has no greater priority than the safety and security of U.S. citizens overseas, the embassy said.

It wasnt clear who represented Leung at his trial and his family has not commented on the sentence. Friends and former colleagues declined The Associated Press requests for comment.

Long pretrial detentions are not unusual in China and prosecutors have broad powers to hold people charged in national security cases, regardless of their citizenship status.

Two Chinese-Australians, Cheng Lei, who formerly worked for Chinas state broadcaster, and writer Yang Jun, have been held since 2020 and 2019 respectively, without word on their sentencing.

Government suspicion is particularly focused on Chinese-born foreign citizens and people from Taiwan and Hong Kong, especially if they have political contacts or work in academia or publishing.

KANIS LEUNG, HONG KONG, MDT/AP
As Israel celebrates the 75th anniversary of its founding, and nearly a century and a half after the first Zionists came to Palestine from Europe, the core tension behind the countrys establishment  whether a Jewish state could be a democratic state, whether Zionism could accommodate pluralism  is more obvious than ever.

Israel today is a military powerhouse and one of 38 members of the influential Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, formed in 1961 to promote cooperation among democratic, free-market-oriented governments.

Such strength and economic viability would be unfamiliar to the Jews whose identity was forged in the European diaspora. There, Judaism and its practitioners shunned political and military power. They saw themselves as a minority facing discrimination, persecution and violence. Power was the domain of gentiles.

Jews, often separated from the non-Jewish world, focused instead on developing social institutions to help the poor and weak, not asserting their will as a political community.

This attitude toward the state and politics began to change for Europes Jews in the aftermath of the French Revolution, when the majority of Jews lived in Europe, especially central and Eastern Europe. As some of the traditional legal and political barriers that kept Jews outside of mainstream society began to crumble, Jews began to integrate into broader society and culture.

Expert analysis of the birth of the state of Israel and the plight of the Palestinian people. This process also brought about, for some Jews, new attitudes toward their Jewish identity.

Many no longer defined themselves as members of a religious community. As many other groups had begun to do in Europe, they saw themselves as belonging to a national community. For some, nationalism also offered a way out of the predicament that Jews faced in Europe: hatred and discrimination, which came to be known as antisemitism.

This nationalism was called Zionism. And the thinking went that if the Jews are a nation, then they should have their own nation-state, preferably in Palestine, the Jews ancestral homeland. There they could assume control of their historical destiny, not to be at the mercy of non-Jewish nations and rulers.

Zionism sought to solve a particular Jewish problem, gathering Jews dispersed around the world, ending the unique Jewish historical experience of centuries of life under the rule of often hostile governments, and universalizing the Jewish experience by creating a Jewish state and society like all other nations. It was the natural right of the Jewish people to be masters of their own fate, like all other nations, in their own sovereign State, said Israels declaration of independence.

But just how universal would a Jewish state be? Could such a nation be both Jewish and democratic?

That is the central question that, more than a century later, has yet to be answered clearly and affirmatively.

Reconciling universal and particular

Theodor Herzl, an Austro-Hungarian Jew acknowledged as the father of modern Zionism, considered this tension in his 1902 utopian novel Altneuland, or The Old New Land. Herzl tried to envision what a future Jewish society in Palestine would look like.

One of the novels key plot lines involves a political campaign pitting a xenophobic rabbi who preaches the Jewish character of the community against a secular candidate who advocates inclusivity and cooperation between Jews and Arabs in this imagined Jewish society.

Herzls choice: the pluralist candidate prevailed.

But throughout the history of the Zionist movement and the state of Israel, what Herzl described has been a core source of tension. This duality was on full display in Israels declaration of independence, in many ways the quintessential manifestation of political Zionism.

On the one hand, the document offers a version of Jewish history that emphasizes the uniqueness of the Jewish experience and offers historical justification for the creation of a safe haven for the Jews.

After establishing the attachment of the Jews to their ancestral homeland, the authors of the declaration address the Holocaust, writing that, the massacre of millions of Jews in Europe  was another clear demonstration of the urgency of solving the problem of Jewish homelessness by re-establishing the Jewish state, which would open the gates of the homeland wide to every Jew.

At the same time, the document pledges that the state of Israel would be faithful to the U.N. charter, protecting the rights of all minorities: The State  will be based on freedom, justice and peace as envisaged by the prophets of Israel; it will ensure complete equality of social and political rights to all its inhabitants irrespective of religion, race or sex.

David Ben-Gurion, Israels first prime minister, suggested that once the country was created, Zionism would wither away. The nation, as a Jewish state with laws that protect minorities, would resolve the contradictions inherent in Zionist ideology.

But as long as the majority of Israelis felt a sense of existential threat  both from neighboring Arab states and dire economic conditions  Zionism continued to provide a unifying ideological umbrella to most Israelis.

After 1967, a transformation

In the aftermath of the 1967 Six-Day War, when Israel conquered the Sinai Peninsula from Egypt, the West Bank from Jordan and the Golan Heights from Syria, the country emerged as a regional military and economic power.

It was a time of significant social, political and economic change.

A growing number of Israelis  especially those from the more secular, upper classes  began to question the countrys particularism, which conceived of the country as a shelter for Jews that would protect them from external threats. For these upwardly mobile Israelis, known as the post-Zionists, the founding myths of a vulnerable young state no longer seemed relevant.

They wanted Israel to become a fully normal part of the American-led global order. They believed the country should integrate into the region by resolving the conflict between Jews and Arabs. And they wanted to participate in the global economic market as the country transitioned from a state-run economy to the free market.

At the same time, religious Jews and poorer Israelis, mostly descended from Jewish communities of the Arab Middle East and North Africa, resisted this cosmopolitan liberal shift. They held tightly to their Jewish identity, rejecting what they saw as compromises driven by alien ideals like democracy and pluralism. To this group, known as neo-Zionists, the ideal was a Jewish state as protection from the rapid changes engulfing the country.

Palestinian question disappears

From the 1970s through 2000, much of the post-or-neo-Zionist divide was over the occupation of the West Bank, where 3 million Palestinians live. Could there be peace between Israelis and Palestinians?

Post-Zionists wanted peace, seeking a two-state solution that would see a Palestinian state next to Israel. Neo-Zionists rejected any territorial compromise with the Palestinians.

In the 21st century, in the aftermath of the peace process collapse and the second intifada, or Palestinian uprising, the Palestinian issue has virtually disappeared from Israels political landscape.

Instead, the countrys attention has returned to the old divisions between those advocating policies that would enhance the Jewish character of the country and those who champion universal policies more favorable to excluded minorities.

The Israeli government that came into power in late 2022 represents the nationalistic, particular camp most forcefully. Its main agenda has been a plan to diminish and restrict the Israeli Supreme Courts powers. To the ruling coalition, the court has been a hindrance in pursuing policies advancing the countrys Jewish nature.

This so-called reform has driven hundreds of thousands of protesters to the streets. Their demand is a simple one: democracy.

Israel may no longer be a fledgling state  but it has yet to overcome the basic contradiction that has defined it from the very beginning: Can it be Jewish and democratic? Eran Kaplan, San Francisco State University, MDT/The Conversation
Macau ID holders will be able to undertake border crossings using a QR code generated as an auxiliary to the identification card in the future, a parliamentary committee has announced.

The First Standing Committee of the parliament is currently debating the bill for the Macau SAR Resident ID Card Legal System.

President of the committee Ella Lei told a press conference after a recent meeting that future Macau identification holders may generate a QR code on the government One Account app as a replacement for physical identification cards to facilitate border crossings.

The QR code can be used for both automatic and manual channels, with the exception of juxtaposed control points such as the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge.

Lei disclosed that the digital identifier for the identification card has already been designed. The government is largely ready to roll out the service, although it is still undergoing testing.

The committee was further informed that the test results to date reveal that border clearances using QR codes are slightly faster than traditional border clearance methods.

It is proposed in the Bill that each phone can only be used for one identifier. The committee expressed concerns over parents accompanying their children for border crossing. The government made assurances that each adult will be allowed to generate QR codes for their children for border crossings.

Lei said that the committee was assured that physical identification will prevail even with the digital identifier, which consists of the bearers name, identification number, sex, date of birth, validity period, picture and identification type, among other information.

It was also recommended that no entity should decline the physical identification card and residents should carry their physical card with them at all times.

Certain factors, such as constantly changing time and relocating identification number, will be introduced to the identifier for verification purposes.
Ukrainian air defenses thwarted an intense Russian air attack on Kyiv early yesterday, shooting down all 18 missiles aimed at the capital, officials said.

Loud explosions boomed over Kyiv as the nighttime attack combined Russian missiles launched from the air, sea and land in an apparent attempt to overwhelm Ukraines air defenses. No casualties were reported as Western-supplied weapons helped fend off the assault.

The barrage came as European leaders sought new ways to punish Russia for the war and a Chinese envoy sought traction for Beijings peace proposal.

Russias latest attack on Kyiv was exceptional in its density  the maximum number of attacking missiles in the shortest period of time, said Serhii Popko, the head of the Kyiv military administration.

Valentyna Myronets, a 64-year-old Kyiv resident, said she felt pain, fear, nervousness, restlessness amid the assaults. God, we are waiting for victory and when all this is over, she said.

U.K. Ambassador Melinda Simmons tweeted that the barrage was pretty intense.

Bangs and shaking walls are not an easy night, she wrote.

It was the eighth time this month that Russian air raids had targeted the capital, a clear escalation after weeks of lull and ahead of a much-anticipated Ukrainian counteroffensive. It also came as President Volodymyr Zelenskyy concluded a whirlwind European tour to greet Ukraines key wartime allies, which spurred an additional tranche of pledged military aid.

Six Kinzhal aero-ballistic missiles were launched from MiG-31K aircraft, nine cruise missiles from ships in the Black Sea and three land-based S-400 cruise missiles targeted the capital, air force spokesman Yurii Ihnat said in a statement on Telegram.

After the first onslaught, Russia also launched Iranian-made Shahed attack drones and conducted aerial reconnaissance, Ihnat said.

Debris fell across several districts in the capital, starting fires, but no losses were reported, Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said.

Sophisticated air defense systems provided by Ukraines Western allies, including American-made Patriot missiles, have helped spare Kyiv from the kind of destruction witnessed elsewhere in the country as Russian forces press on with their tactic of long-range bombardment.

A Russian defense official said that yesterdayss attack destroyed a Patriot missile battery in Kyiv. Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said the system was destroyed by a Kinzhal.

He didnt provide evidence, and the statement couldnt be independently verified.

The bolstered air defenses have deterred Russian aircraft from going deep into Ukraine and helped shape the course of the war, military experts say.

Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov cheered the display of defensive prowess, calling it in a tweet another unbelievable success.

The barrage came as European leaders were due to attend a rare summit of the 46-nation Council of Europe, the continents main human rights body.

The two-day meeting in Iceland seeks to set up a way of logging damage in Ukraine caused by the Kremlins forces so compensation claims can be lodged against Moscow.

Meanwhile, a Chinese envoy is preparing to visit Ukraine and Russia in coming days as Beijing presses the peace plan it released in February.

Li Hui, a former ambassador to Moscow, also will visit Poland, France and Germany, according to the Chinese foreign ministry. SAMYA KULLAB, KYIV, MDT/AP
The Fang Lijun Ceramic Works Exhibition began yesterday at Sands Gallery and will be open to the public daily, with free admission until June 24. The exhibition features about 60 works of art from Fang Lijun, an internationally sought-after artist, and one of the four giants of Chinese contemporary art.

Themed Bone of the Bone, Flesh of the Flesh, the exhibition will showcase skin-like ceramics, reflecting the essence of ceramics: delicate and fragile.

We want to make Sands Gallery a high-standard artistic exchange and showcasing platform to stimulate the passion of local artists by introducing Fangs artworks, said Grant Chum, chief operating officer and executive director of Sands China, in the opening ceremony for the exhibition held yesterday at Four Seasons.

This is the first ceramic works exhibition of Fang in Macau, said Luo Yi, curator of this exhibition. She would like to extend her new understanding and perspective of art and the world through this exhibition.

It is admirable that Sands Gallery supports such a cutting-edge, experimental type of work and exhibits it to a global audience, Luo said.

Fang explores the notion that flesh and bones are the origin of life and looks at their connection to creation in this exhibition, which is inspired by the legend of God constructing Eve with one of Adams ribs.

The exhibition opens from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily on the sixth floor of the Grand Suites at Four Seasons.

Staff Reporter
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The white casket carrying Ricky Barcenas, 17, of Arlington Heights, passes in front of the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe following his funeral mass on May 22, 2023, in Des Plaines. Barcenas was one of four teens from Buffalo Grove High School who died in a car crash last week. (Stacey Wescott/Chicago Tribune)

A three-car crash killed four Buffalo Grove High School students in Wheeling on Tuesday night, a cataclysm that sounded to neighbors like an explosion that plunged the neighborhood into darkness when a light pole fell on electric lines.

By Wednesday afternoon, the damage was cleared, replaced by white candles and bouquets of flowers as grieving friends, neighbors and Buffalo Grove High School students paid respects at the scene, reckoning with the devastating loss just before graduation.

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[ Amid the pain, a community comes together to remember 4 Buffalo Grove HS students killed in crash ]

Those killed were Richard De-Ita, 18, Kevin Hernandez-Teran, 17, and Jesus Rodriguez, 16, from Wheeling, and Ricky Barcenas, 17, of Arlington Heights, authorities said.

They were sweet guys. They loved everyone, said Ellie Estrada, 17, who went to middle school with Jesus and Kevin.

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Estrada left a bouquet of red, yellow and white flowers at the growing memorial at the crash scene, among many who remembered the teens at the crash site throughout the day. Several teachers also came to the site to make students aware of counseling services available at Buffalo Grove and Wheeling high schools.

I didnt believe it at first, Estrada said of learning about the crash. It was like a nightmare.

First responders at the scene of a three-vehicle crash that killed four teens on May 16, 2023, at Dundee and Schoenbeck roads in Wheeling. The teens attended Buffalo Grove High School. (Network Video Productions)

The teens were occupants of the primary vehicle in the three-car accident that occurred at about 10:19 p.m. Tuesday at Dundee and Schoenbeck roads, according to the Wheeling Police Department.

In a statement, police said speed and a disregarded traffic signal appeared to be the primary factors in causing the crash.

Fire departments from Northbrook, Prospect Heights, Buffalo Grove, Long Grove,and Arlington Heights responded to the crash, officials said, extracting six of the seven people involved. All were rushed to area hospitals.

The teenagers were described by friends as funny, energetic and innocent. Hernandez-Teran wanted to become a fashion designer, according to a GoFundMe account to raise money for his funeral services. Barcenas was a varsity soccer player at Buffalo Grove High School.

Barcenas mother wrote that her son meant so much to me and everyone else in his life in a GoFundMe to cover his funeral expenses in lieu of flowers. Ricky was a wonderful son who helped everyone and was a very hard worker. I couldnt have asked for a better child.

Cousins of Barcenas left a heart-shaped balloon at the crash scene Wednesday.

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He had a life ahead of him, Jose Garcia, 21, said. Were all grieving right now.

Stephanie Nava, 17, a Buffalo Grove High School junior, came with friends to display photos of Barcenas on a poster at the scene. They showed him playing soccer and attending prom just last week.

He was really nice to a lot of people, he had a big heart, he cared a lot about his family and his future, Nava said.

Rodriguez was described as a loving brother and son, who worked hard to help his parents, according to a GoFundMe set up for his services.

Mithzy Ramirez brought a poster of photos honoring her cousin, Richard De-Ita. The teen smiled widely in an array of pictures, many featuring him in suits and ties. Hanging from the poster was a rosary; she said he used to carry one with him at all times, and attended church every Sunday.

She said De-Ita was scheduled to graduate next week and the family was planning a big party to celebrate.

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Now he wont get to, she said, tears welling in her eyes.

Though De-Ita was younger, he was the one checking up on everyone else, she said.

His parents are not doing OK at all, she said. They havent slept at all since last night.

Sohair Ibrahim, a 77-year-old woman who lives near the crash site, said she was frightened Tuesday when she heard a loud noise. The power in her home then suddenly went out.

It sounded like an explosion, said her husband, 78-year-old Mac Ibrahim.

We were scared, Sohair Ibrahim added. We didnt know what happened.

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They called the utility company and were told a car accident caused the power outage; early Wednesday, they learned four people had died in the crash.

When another neighborhood resident, Mariola Jaworska, heard the sirens, her thoughts went to her own teenage son.

She immediately panicked, she said, and feared something might have happened to her 17-year-old son, who drives along that route home from work.

This is something really bad, she had thought to herself, as the sirens continued to blare for about 40 minutes.

Although she didnt know any of the victims, she said any parent with a child with a drivers license can relate to this.

I gave my son an extra hug this morning and said please drive safe,  she said, standing a few feet from a light pole that lay horizontal in the grass near the memorial.

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At the site, she left a memorial candle encased in glass decorated with a cross.

nsalzman@chicagotribune.com
Taipa Village Destination is unveiled the Taipa Village Slogan Challenge, an inclusive contest engaging the whole community in showcasing the essence of Taipa Village as Macaus non-gaming destination.

This initiative aims to highlight the villages rich heritage, culinary offerings and vibrant lifestyle attractions, inviting visitors from home and abroad to fully immerse themselves in the timeless charm that defines Taipa Village, according to a statement issued by the organizer. The contest will run until June 15.

The four-week campaign seeks to inspire the general public to unleash their innovative spirit by crafting captivating slogans that embody the three pillars of the Taipa Village experience: heritage, cuisine and lifestyle.

Participants will win cash prizes and dining rewards worth a total of more than MOP 30,000, with a grand prize of MOP 10,000 awarded to the winner.
Russias top army general and his South African counterpart discussed military cooperation while meeting yesterday [Macau time] in Moscow, the Russian Defense Ministry said.

The announcement came hours after South African President Cyril Ramaphosa denied accusations by the United States that his country was siding with Russia in the war in Ukraine and had sent weapons to help it.

Gen. Oleg Salyukov, the commander of Russias ground forces, met the chief of South Africas army, Lt. Gen. Lawrence Mbatha, at Russias general command headquarters in Moscow, the Russian ministry said.

The sides discussed issues of military cooperation and the implementation of projects geared to enhance the combat readiness of the two countries armies, the ministry said in a statement. The meeting between the military commanders yielded agreements on the further expansion of cooperation between the land forces in various areas.

The Defense Ministry said a South African delegation would visit a number of Russian army educational and training facilities.

The South African army said the trip was planned well in advance of the U.S. ambassador to South Africa alleging last week that the country had provided weapons to Russia when a ship under U.S. sanctions made a secret stop at a South African naval base in December.

The South African government has denied the Russian cargo ships stop involved an official sale of weapons, although it has not categorically ruled out an arms transaction took place.

Ramaphosa has said an investigation was underway to determine if anyone loaded weapons onto the Russian-flagged Lady R cargo ship at the Simons Town naval base near Cape Town.

Ramaphosa used his weekly message to the nation to reaffirm South Africas non-aligned stance with regard to Russias invasion of Ukraine. The presidents statement was seen as a response to U.S. Ambassador to South Africa Reuben Brigety, who questioned South Africas neutrality in the Ukraine war while making the allegations about a weapons shipment.

Brigety was subsequently summoned to a meeting with South Africas foreign minister.

We do not accept that our non-aligned position favors Russia above other countries, Ramaphosa wrote in his weekly message. Nor do we accept that it should imperil our relations with other countries.

Ramaphosa added: We have been firm on this point: South Africa has not been, and will not be, drawn into a contest between global powers.

He also hinted that Russian President Vladimir Putin would visit South Africa for a meeting of leaders of the BRICS economic bloc in August. The Kremlin has not confirmed that Putin plans to attend the BRICS summit.

Such a trip would entangle South Africa in another diplomatic mess because the country is a signatory to the treaty that created the International Criminal Court, which issued an arrest warrant for Putin in March for alleged war crimes involving the abductions of children from Ukraine.

Since the indictment, Putin has traveled rarely, and only to countries that are close allies of Russia. Countries that are parties to the treaty would be obliged to arrest the Russian leader.

While Russia and South Africa both described yesterdays meeting of the countries top army generals as part of a normal bilateral trip, its bound to increase scrutiny of Africas most developed economy, which is seen as an influential nation in the developing world.

South Africa is the only African nation in the BRICS bloc, which also includes Brazil, Russia, India and China.

Aside from the weapons allegations, South Africa also hosted Russian and Chinese warships and took part in naval exercises off its east coast in February that coincided with the one-year anniversary of Russias invasion of Ukraine.

Brigety, the American ambassador, said last week that U.S. officials have respect for South Africas policy of neutrality and non-alignment in international affairs but had noted a series of issues which suggest that in practice the government of South Africa is in fact not non-aligned.

The Associated Press independently verified that the Lady R cargo ship stopped at the South African naval base for at least three days in December, as Brigety claimed. A review of records by the AP also shows that the Lady R is tied to a company that was sanctioned by the U.S. for transporting weapons for the Russian government and aiding its war effort in Ukraine. GERALD IMRAY & MOGOMOTSI MAGOME, CAPE TOWN, MDT/AP
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau arrived in South Korea yesterday for a meeting with South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol at which they are expected to discuss expansion of trade and challenges posed by North Korea.

Trudeau, the first Canadian leader to visit South Korea in nine years, will meet with Yoon today, hours after he delivers a speech at the National Assembly in Seoul.

Yoons office said they will discuss North Koreas dismal human rights record and cooperation over security and critical minerals. It was apparently referring to Canadian materials used by South Korean companies to manufacture electric car batteries or semiconductors, which are major products in South Koreas export-driven economy.

Yesterday, South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin and Minister for Trade Ahn Duk-geun met with Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly and Minster of Innovation, Science and Industry Francois-Philippe Champagne to discuss economic security, Parks ministry said.

Yoon has been trying to increase international pressure on North Korea, which has been expanding its arsenal of nuclear-capable missiles, and strengthen Seouls voice in supply chain issues. He has also met this year with U.S. President Joe Biden and twice with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.

Yoon and Trudeau will travel later this week to Japan to attend the summit of the Group of Seven industrialized nations, where North Koreas nuclear threat is expected to be a key agenda item along with Russias war with Ukraine and Chinas increasingly assertive foreign policy. KIM TONG-HYUNG, SEOUL, MDT/AP
Vong Hin Fai, the new head of the lawyers association, has provided assurance that interactions with both Portuguese and mainland legal circles will co-exist.

Vong assumed presidency of the executive council of the Macau Lawyers Association on Jan. 1 this year. His predecessor, veteran lawyer Jorge Neto Valente, has held the position for the past 20 years.

In contrast to the numerous occasions where Valente has spoken out against the government, Vong is a lawmaker from the indirect election constituency, regularly perceived by the public as pro-establishment.

Considering that the city still enjoys a dual official language system, when questioned by the press on whether the importance of Portuguese lawyers will decline in the future, the new head disagreed, according to report by local media outlet Macao Daily News.

Whether the position is held by a Portuguese, a Lusophone or a Chinese person, equality between the Chinese and the Portuguese languages will be ensured, Vong said.

In addition, he said that the association is currently engaged in dialogue with both the Portuguese world and the mainland.

He added that certain association members plan to visit Beijing and hope to meet with the national lawyers association or other relevant entities. Both Chinese and Portuguese lawyers hope to simultaneously consolidate their professions in Macau and explore new businesses during their visits, said Vong.

Vong also disclosed that the ratio between Portuguese and Chinese lawyers has remained virtually unchanged, at 45% to 55%. Hinting that Portuguese lawyers have not faced challenges, the new association head pointed out that many Chinese lawyers had changed paths to work in government or private entities.

He disclosed that a new hire had expanded the team at the association to 14 people. The new hire focuses on investigations for the Lawyers High Committee. The association website will also be updated accordingly.
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NEW YORK (AP)  Elon Musk cannot back out of a settlement with securities regulators that was reached after his 2018 tweets claiming he had secured funding to take Tesla private caused the electric vehicle maker's share price to jump and led to a temporary halt in trading, an appeals court ruled Monday.

The summary order by the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan was released just days after a three-judge panel heard lawyers' arguments in the case.

Musk had challenged a lower court judges ruling last year requiring him to abide by the deal on the grounds that circumstances have changed and because the decree contains a prior restraint that Musk contends violates the First Amendment.

The settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission required that his tweets be approved first by a Tesla attorney. It also called for Musk and Tesla to pay civil fines over the tweets in which Musk said he had funding secured to take Tesla private at $420 per share.

The funding wasnt secured, and Tesla remains public.

In its ruling, the 2nd Circuit said it saw no evidence to support Musks contention that the SEC has used the consent decree to conduct bad-faith, harassing investigations of his protected speech.

Instead, it said, the SEC had opened just three inquiries into Musk's tweets since 2018 and each challenged tweet plausibly violated the terms of the consent decree.

The appeals court also rejected Musk's prior restraint argument, saying parties entering consent decrees may voluntarily waive their First Amendment and other rights.

Alex Spiro, an attorney for Musk, said in a statement: We will seek further review and continue to bring attention to the important issue of the government constraint on speech.

Musk can appeal to the full 2nd Circuit or to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Lawyers for the government did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment.

The SEC was investigating whether the Tesla CEO's November 2021 tweets asking Twitter followers if he should sell 10% of his Tesla stock violated an October 2018 settlement that Musk signed after the SEC brought an enforcement action against him alleging that his tweets about going private violated antifraud provisions of securities laws.

In a written ruling in April 2022, Judge Lewis Liman said Musk sent the tweets without getting pre-approval.

Musk's deal with the SEC called for Musk and Tesla to each pay $20 million in fines over Musks tweets about having secured funding to take Tesla private. The funding was not secured, but Tesla's stock price jumped in response to the tweets. Trading in the shares was subsequently halted.

Associated Press Auto Writer Tom Krisher in Ann Arbor, Michigan, contributed to this report.
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The Madison School Board intends to take the summer to plan for a superintendent search that will begin "shortly after" school starts next fall.

The School Board met with the Chicago-based search firm Alma Advisory Group on Monday.

"After discussing two hiring timelines, the Board decided to use the summer months to begin planning a thoughtful community engagement process" that will begin soon after the 2023-24 school year starts, School Board President Nichelle Nichols wrote in an email to students, staff and community members Tuesday morning.

"This way, our staff, students and families can enjoy a summer break while we work on the details to make this process inclusive and accessible for everyone," Nichols wrote. "We appreciate your patience and understanding."

Superintendent Carlton Jenkins announced in February that he would retire July 28 after about three years with the district.

He since has been named a finalist for superintendent of the Memphis, Tennessee, school district.

Longtime educator Lisa Kvistad, who retired from the Madison School District in 2020 after 19 years, will serve as interim superintendent until a permanent superintendent is hired.

Nichols also said the district soon will have a webpage that will share updates on the search.
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TOWN OF BURKE  An Illinois man was arrested Saturday in connection with a shots-fired incident outside a town of Burke bar on April 7, the Dane County Sheriff's Office reported.

The 37-year-old from Glenwood was booked into the Dane County Jail on a parole hold and tentative charges of second-degree recklessly endangering safety with a dangerous weapon and being a felon in possession of a firearm, Lt. Krista Ewers-Hayes said in a statement.

A 43-year-old Madison man was previously arrested in the incident on a tentative charge of second-degree recklessly endangering safety with a dangerous weapon.

"We believe all involved have now been identified," Ewers-Hayes said.

The Sheriff's Office previously reported that at about 2 a.m. on April 7, deputies responded to the parking lot of the Keg, 6295 Portage Road, after gunshots were reported, and found numerous shell casings in the road. No injuries were reported.
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A federal grand jury in Madison has indicted a Texas woman on multiple counts of wire fraud and tax evasion for a scheme that defrauded a Wisconsin business out of more than $3.4 million between 2016 and 2020, the U.S. Attorneys Office said Wednesday.

The indictment against Sarah Doherty, also known as Sarah McKibbin, 33, of Azle, Texas, charges her with 11 counts of wire fraud and four counts of tax evasion.

The indictment does not state the name or location of the business that was allegedly defrauded, but a news release from the U.S. Attorneys Office indicates the matter was investigated by federal authorities, the Columbia County Sheriffs Office and the Fall River Police Department.

According to the indictment, Doherty was hired by the owner of the business to provide services for the business. The indictment doesnt state what those services were. It states she and the owner had met in about 2009, bonded over a love of hunting and became close personal friends.

In 2015, the indictment states, Doherty formed an S-corporation called Faith Outdoor Consulting LLC to facilitate the relationship with the business.

Doherty ingratiated herself with the business owner and gained access to his personal finances, the indictment states, and used her access to the financial information of the business and its owners to defraud the business out of about $3.43 million. She told bookkeepers for the business and its outside accountant that the money was spent on business expenses, when she really used the money for personal expenses, according to the indictment.

Doherty also created fictitious identities that she used to manipulate the man into sending money to her, the indictment states.

As evidence of wire fraud, the indictment includes redacted summaries of some email messages between the man and Doherty between 2018 and 2020, including some in which she used a fictitious email account to communicate with him. In one, the man promised to pay money to Doherty, who was using a fictitious name. In other messages, she claims money she stole from the business was a business expense, according to the indictment.

In an email in September 2020, the victim of the scheme tells Doherty how his business desperately needed the money he had invested with a fictitious person.

The indictment also alleges Doherty submitted federal tax returns for 2017 through 2020 that substantially underestimated her income for each of those years.

According to federal court records, Doherty has filed for bankruptcy multiple times, including twice in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Wisconsin as Sarah Burkeland and Sarah Gill, and also more recently in Colorado and Texas. Court records indicate she formerly lived in Wisconsin, including in Rio, Sun Prairie and Fall River.

If convicted, each count of wire fraud carries up to 20 years in prison, and each tax evasion count carries up to five years, though maximum sentences would be unlikely under advisory federal sentencing guidelines.

The 10 most dangerous cars in the US Vehicles that are the most involved in fatal crashes Trucks lead for most dangerous vehicles in the US Here's the rest of the top 10 most dangerous vehicles
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A wanted felon surrendered on Friday after SWAT units arrived at the scene, Janesville police reported.

Shortly before 5 p.m. Friday, officers were sent to the 300 block of East Memorial Drive for a wanted man and as they arrived they saw the man, Marquayl Shields, retreat into an apartment, Lt. Jennifer Seeger said in a statement.

Officers set up a perimeter around the apartment and tried to negotiate over the phone with Shields, but he refused to speak to officers and declined to leave the apartment. Witnesses had reported seeing Shields with a gun the day before and he is prohibited from possessing firearms, Seeger said.

A search warrant was drafted for the apartment and the Janesville and Beloit police SWAT teams were activated for the execution of the search warrants. After the SWAT units arrived, Shields surrendered without incident, Seeger said.

While searching the apartment, officers found a stolen handgun, Seeger said.

Shields, 27, was out on a signature bond on a Rock County charge of fleeing an officer, and is on probation/parole through the Wisconsin Department of Corrections for felony theft. He was jailed on a probation violation and tentative charges of battery/domestic violence, strangulation/suffocation/domestic violence, intimidation of a victim, disorderly conduct/domestic violence, felony bail jumping, and felon in possession of a firearm, Seeger said.
Fave 5: Education reporter Olivia Herken shares her favorites stories from 2022

Being back at the Wisconsin State Journal and in Madison has been a joy for me so far. And though I've only been back for a few months, that time has been filled with important stories in K-12 education.

From a busy school referendum cycle to fired principals, here are my top five stories from the year.
Thank you for supporting our journalism. This article is available exclusively for our subscribers, who help fund our work at the Chicago Tribune.

More than 70 vehicles were reportedly involved in numerous crashes on Interstate 55 from milepost 76 to 78 on May 1, 2023, Illinois State Police said. Officials updated the death toll for the multi-vehicle pileup to eight. The crashes happened during a dust storm described as similar to whiteout conditions. (Illinois State Police)

An eighth person has died from injuries suffered when a May 1 dust storm led to a massive multi-vehicle crash on Interstate 55 in central Illinois.

Ruth Rau, 81, of Sorento, Illinois, died Tuesday at HSHS St. Johns Hospital in Springfield from multiple blunt force injuries, according to a release from Sangamon County Coroner Jim Allmons office.

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Rau had been a passenger in one of the 72 vehicles involved in the series of crashes that killed seven others and injured 37.

Authorities previously identified the victims as: Joseph Bates, 73, and Donna Bates, 71, of Crystal Lake; Michael Zinchuk, 55, and Amy Zinchuk, 54, of Champaign: Shirley Harper, 88, of Franklin, Wisconsin; Otto Medina-Salazar, 58, of Carthage, Missouri; and Earl LeGrand, 64, of Florissant, Missouri.

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The crashes happened shortly before 11 a.m. in both the northbound and southbound lanes of I-55, about 20 miles south of Springfield. Police believe they were triggered by a blinding dust storm caused by high winds that picked up soil from newly planted farm fields. Witnesses and first responders described visibility similar to whiteout conditions typically encountered in snow storms.

Multiple vehicles were involved in a crash on I-55 in Montgomery County, south of Springfield, on May 1, 2023. (Nathan J. Cormier)

Police shut down the interstate for hours as firefighters and paramedics battled the dust storm to reach injured and frightened motorists along the roughly 2-mile-long crash site. At least two tractor-trailers caught fire in the northbound lanes, leaving a patch of charred pavement and grass still visible days later.
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The Madison School Board intends to take the summer to plan for a superintendent search that will begin shortly after school starts next fall.

The School Board met with the Chicago-based search firm Alma Advisory Group on Monday.

After discussing two hiring timelines, the Board decided to use the summer months to begin planning a thoughtful community engagement process that will begin soon after the 2023-24 school year starts, School Board President Nichelle Nichols wrote in an email to students, staff and community members Tuesday morning.

This way, our staff, students and families can enjoy a summer break while we work on the details to make this process inclusive and accessible for everyone, Nichols wrote. We appreciate your patience and understanding.

Superintendent Carlton Jenkins announced in February that he would retire July 28 after about three years with the district.

He since has been named a finalist for superintendent of the Memphis, Tennessee, school district.

Longtime educator Lisa Kvistad, who retired from the Madison School District in 2020 after 19 years, will serve as interim superintendent until a permanent superintendent is hired.

Nichols also said the district soon will have a webpage that will share updates on the search.
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The Sun Prairie School District is asking for more than $11,000 from a conservative Wisconsin law firm before launching a public records search related to an incident in March in which a transgender female student allegedly disrobed in front of four girls in the shower area of a high school locker room.

In a statement Wednesday, the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty said the districts May 10 estimate was based on what it said was the staff time needed to find the records. The Milwaukee-based law firm did not immediately respond to an email asking whether it would pay the amount or take the district to court in an attempt to get it reduced.

The districts attorney, Lori Lubinsky, said WILL has so far not paid the amount nor given any sign that it intends to sue the district.

WILL on April 19 sent the Sun Prairie School Board a letter in which it requested six weeks worth of communications to and from staff and board members and other records about the March 3 incident, as well as district policies that were in effect at the time.

In its May 10 letter in response, Lubinsky estimates that fulfilling one major portion of the request for district communications will take some 81 hours and involve more than 100 staff, with those doing the searching paid at hourly rates of between $45.88 and $131.27. The total amount of work she estimates as worth $6,320.48.

She does not provide an amount of time it is expected to take to complete the search for other records but estimates it will cost the district $5,000 to do so.

Until the bill is paid, she said, the District will not proceed to locate any responsive records to this request.

While schools may charge some small fees known as location costs (and many schools waive these fees), the district is illegally charging exorbitant fees as a way to hide public records, WILL said in the Wednesday statement.

The law demands more, and the districts embrace of secrecy is an embarrassment, WILL deputy counsel Dan Lennington said in the statement. Students, parents and taxpayers deserve transparency and accountability.

WILL said last month said that four Sun Prairie East High School freshman girls had just finished swimming during a physical education class and were rinsing off while still in their bathing suits when the 18-year-old came in and said, Im trans, by the way.

The student then fully undressed, WILL said. While the four freshmen were surprised to see the other student in the locker room, they had a general idea that this student identifies as transgender and has used girls bathrooms before.

The Sun Prairie School District in an email to parents after the incident became public said that allegations as reported then by Fox News were neither an accurate nor complete account of the incident. It has not explained what it means by that and has said student privacy laws prohibit it from getting into the details of the incident.

It said the district had previously addressed the incident and steps have been taken to ensure that it does not recur.

A screenshot provided by WILL of an April 10 email from Sun Prairie East Principal Renee Coleman to a parent appears to reference the March 3 incident and reportedly included a district policy on the use of bathrooms and locker rooms by transgender students.

Let me reiterate that the situation your daughter was in should not have happened, and we will continue to work to ensure no one has a similar experience, Coleman said in the email.

Lubinsky said Wednesday that the district had no further comment.

Here's how legislation in every state affects trans youth Ranking states from most restrictive to the most protective for trans youth #51. Tennessee #50. Arkansas #49. South Dakota #48. Alabama #47. Mississippi #46. Oklahoma #45. Louisiana #43. Georgia (tie) #43. South Carolina (tie) #42. Texas #41. Missouri #40. Wyoming #39. Arizona #38. Idaho #35. Montana (tie) #35. Nebraska (tie) #35. West Virginia (tie) #33. Florida (tie) #33. North Carolina (tie) #32. Indiana #31. Kansas #30. Ohio #29. Kentucky #28. North Dakota #27. Utah #26. Pennsylvania #25. Iowa #24. Alaska #23. Wisconsin #22. Michigan #21. Delaware #20. Virginia #19. New Hampshire #18. New Mexico #17. Maryland #16. Hawaii #15. Rhode Island #13. Massachusetts (tie) #13. Minnesota (tie) #12. Illinois #10. Washington D.C. (tie) #10. Vermont (tie) #9. Oregon #8. Washington #6. Maine (tie) #6. New Jersey (tie) #5. Connecticut #4. Nevada #3. New York #2. California #1. Colorado Here's how legislation in every state affects trans youth #51. Tennessee #50. Alabama #49. South Dakota #48. Arkansas #47. Oklahoma #46. Mississippi #45. Louisiana #44. South Carolina #43. Texas #42. Georgia #41. Missouri #40. Arizona #39. Wyoming #38. Florida #37. Nebraska #36. Montana #35. Idaho #34. Indiana #33. West Virginia #32. Kansas #31. Kentucky #30. Alaska #29. Ohio #28. North Carolina #27. Utah #26. North Dakota #25. Pennsylvania #24. Iowa #23. Wisconsin #22. Michigan #21. Virginia #20. New Mexico #19. Delaware #18. New Hampshire #17. Maryland #16. Rhode Island #15. Hawaii #14. Minnesota #13. Massachusetts #12. Illinois #11. Washington #10. Oregon #8. Vermont (tie) #8. Washington D.C. (tie) #7. Connecticut #6. New Jersey #5. New York #3. Maine (tie) #3. Nevada (tie) #2. Colorado #1. California
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The Kenosha City Council voted overwhelmingly in favor of the massive Downtown development plan Monday night.

Council members passed the development agreement between the city and Kenosha Downtown Partners, LLC 15-to-1. Ald. David Mau was the sole vote against it and Ald. Holly Kangas was absent from the meeting.

The vote paves the way for phased development on the multi-year plan that would fundamentally change Kenoshas Downtown if completed.

The master plan covers nine blocks bordered by Sheridan Road on the west, 52nd Street on the north, 56th Street on the south and Lake Michigan on the east.

It would include approximately 1,000 units of multi-family dwellings including condominiums adjacent to Harbor Park, a large corporate office space, a hotel, retail space, new parks and a public market and a new city hall, among other things.

Each new structure and outdoor development would still face approvals from city regulatory committees and commissions, as is the case with all new projects in the city limits.

City officials and Wisconsin-based developers Cobalt Partners, LLC and C. D. Smith estimate it will take about a decade to fully complete. The projected aggregate assessed valuation of the fully developed project is estimated to exceed $450 million.

The plan utilizes the existing Tax Increment District No. 27 to assist in funding needed public improvements, parking and the central park space, according to Mayor John Antaramian. Construction on the mixed-use district could begin this fall. The plan was unveiled last week with enthusiastic support from Antaramian.

Before the vote lifelong Kenoshan Tobin Boyle, a delegate to the Building-Construction Trades Council of Wisconsin, spoke in support of the project.

We wholeheartedly agree to the proposed Downtown expansion, Boyle said. Weve lost so much industry over the years and were looking for new revenue sources and I believe that this is right on spot to be what were looking for going into the next generation for future generations.

In general the TIF funding will be $62 million. Fifty-two million (will go) toward this project in general through the developers and then $11 million for the parking structure at the new City Hall, City Administrator John Morrissey said.

Council reactions

Ald. Daniel Prozanski spoke in favor of the project.

The icing on the cake as far as this project is concerned is the fact that in the developers agreement, in this plan, is the commitment to employ Kenosha residents, Prozanski said. It also puts forward a sense of pride because not only is it a project thats being developed long-in-coming, which every Kenoshan can take pride in, but its also something that those people that work on these projects can say we had a hand in making these and building this.

Its part of who we are. Its a fabric our city. I think that goes very far in any sort of project  to have ownership. he said.

Prozanski said he believes the Downtown will benefit from the development plan.

The Downtown is much better today than when I came into office in 2008 but what it lacked was this comprehensive plan, Prozanski said. Here we have a plan and its a really good one. Its a plan thats going to take Kenosha into the future. Thats where we need to be.

Ald. Dominic Ruffalo expressed similar sentiments.

Youve got to look into the future, Ruffalo said before listing closed manufacturing companies in the area including Chrysler and American Motors. In front of you tonight ladies and gentlemen is the future of Kenosha to be enjoyed by future generations. Its probably a 10-year build-out completely. Ill be pretty old by then but we have to get the wheels moving on it. ... I think it looks phenomenal.

Mau said he has deep concerns about the project and the nature of its funding.

I may hear from you guys all of the reasons why this is important and why the city should be doing this. And I agree with you that these are important things. The development of Downtown ... I can agree these are all very good things for the city. I care about the same things that you guys care about. I just dont think that the government should be doing them. I dont think that we need the government to be dishing out millions of dollars of taxpayers money, Mau said. If this isnt special interests I dont know what is.

Mau also said he believes the matter has been pushed through really, really quickly. Mau unsuccessfully motioned to defer the vote to give the public more time to look over the plans.

Marijuana ordinance

The City Council also voted to take up a proposed ordinance change regarding marijuana at its next meeting June 5.

Monday was the first reading of the proposed ordinance change that reduces the fine for first-time offenders in possession of a small amount of marijuana. It is sponsored by Mau and co-sponsored by Alds. Anthony Kennedy, Rollin Pizzala, Kelly MacKay, Jan Michalski and Brandi Ferree.

Last week the Public Safety and Welfare Committee narrowly voted in favor of the ordinance change.
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The arrest of three people in La Crosse has led to the recovery of three of the 41 firearms that were stolen during an April 25 burglary of The Smoking Gun in Rockland.

Domani Banks, 20, La Crosse, was taken into custody April 27. He is charged in La Crosse County Circuit Court with two felony counts of receiving a stolen firearm, two felony counts of felon in possession of a firearm and one misdemeanor count of resisting an officer. He is being held in the La Crosse County Jail on a $2,000 cash bond. His next court date is a May 19 calendar call.

Sherina L. Drake, 19, La Crosse, was taken into custody May 1. She is charged with a felony count of concealing a stolen firearm and a misdemeanor count of obstructing an officer. She is being held on a $2,500 cash bond and has a calendar call scheduled for May 23.

Briante C. Banks, 31, La Crosse, was taken into custody May 2. He is charged in La Crosse County Circuit Court with felony counts of receiving a stolen firearm and felon in possession of a firearm and a misdemeanor count of resisting an officer. He is being held on a $10,000 cash bond and has a calendar call scheduled for May 17.

La Crosse County Sheriff John Siegel said Monday that 21 of the 41 stolen firearms have been recovered. The sheriffs office is asking for the publics help to recover the remaining weapons.

According to the criminal complaint filed against Domani Banks, police received information April 27 that Drake had given several firearms to Domani Banks. Police went to Banks La Crosse residence, which is also the residence of Mackey K. Drake, 22, one of the three suspects in the gun store burglary.

The complaint says police located Sherina Drake in an upstairs bedroom. She told police she didnt have any of the firearms and agreed to a search of her bedroom. Police located no firearms.

Sherina Drake reportedly told police she found two handguns  later identified as a Taurus G2c 9mm and a Glock G23 9mm  under a rock located underneath a bag of trash. She said she gave them to Domani Banks and asked him to dispose of them.

The complaint says Sherina Banks agreed to call Domani Banks and ask him to give the firearms back. Police drove her to a location in downtown La Crosse, where she had arranged to meet with him. She retrieved the two weapons from him and turned them over to police.

Domani Banks was taken into custody a short time later. The complaint says he denied knowing anything about the stolen firearms.

According to the criminal complaint filed against Briante Banks, he was a passenger in a vehicle pulled over by police May 2 shortly before 5 p.m. on Liberty Street in La Crosse. Police were aware that Briante Banks had an outstanding warrant and asked him to exit the vehicle. He allegedly tried to flee, but an officer grabbed him by his shirt and took him to the ground. The complaint says he continued to resist as police applied handcuffs.

Police searched the vehicle and located a zip pouch containing a firearm from the burglary.

All three suspects in the burglary are in custody. Nehemiah Sample, 26, Trempealeau, was arrested April 27 in Arkansas and is being held in the Chicot County Jail. An extradition hearing has yet to be scheduled.

Robert E. Benson Jr., 18, Onalaska, was arrested May 2 and is being held in the La Crosse County Jail on a $5,000 cash bond. His next court date is a May 19 calendar call.

Mackey Drake was taken into custody April 25 on a probation violation and charged in the burglary May 9. He faces three felony counts of theft of movable property and one felony count of burglary while armed. He is being held in the La Crosse County Jail on a $10,000 cash bond. His next court date is a May 23 calendar call.
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WISCONSIN BATTLING SUBSTANCE ABUSE

With people in Wisconsin dying from opioid overdoses at a record pace, the growing misuse of meth, cocaine and the tranquilizer xylazine  often with opioids  is making it harder to fight the epidemic, a federal health official said Tuesday.

"What we see is illicitly manufactured fentanyl really continuing to dominate the overdose crisis, but that most overdose deaths also involve other substances," Dr. Yngvild Olsen, director of the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment at the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, said at an opioids, stimulants and trauma summit in Wisconsin Dells.

Olsen urged expanded use of fentanyl test strips, the overdose-reversal drug naloxone and medication-assisted treatment for addiction. She said most people who die from overdoses interact with providers in the months beforehand, but the vast majority of people with substance use disorder don't seek treatment.

"Missed opportunities happen all the time," Olsen said at the event, organized by the state Department of Health Services.

Democratic Gov. Tony Evers, who appeared by video, and Democratic Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez, who spoke at the event, criticized the Republican-controlled Legislature's budget committee for stripping some addiction prevention, treatment and recovery programs from Evers' proposed budget this month.

Evers and Rodriguez also blasted the committee for objecting last month to the state health department's plan for spending $8 million in opioid settlement funds the state expects to receive this year.

"We could be using these funds right now to help save lives," Evers said. "This is a crisis that deserves bold and urgent action."

The addiction programs were among more than 500 items the budget committee removed from the nearly $104 billion proposal Evers unveiled in February. GOP lawmakers plan to build their own two-year spending plan to send back to the governor before the end of June, as they have done with Evers' previous two budgets. They retained other addiction programs.

Committee co-chairs Rep. Mark Born, R-Beaver Dam, and Sen. Howard Marklein, R-Spring Green, said "an objection was raised" to the settlement funds spending plan, without saying who was against it or why. They said a meeting would be scheduled to take up the matter.

On Tuesday, a spokesperson for Born declined to say when a meeting might be held, referring to an earlier statement from Born and Marklein that the "proposal for the new round of funding appears to invest in initiatives from the last round that have not yet proven effective. The committee will continue conversations with stakeholders to ensure these funds, which won't arrive in the state until July, are put to the most effective use."

The committee similarly rejected a $31 million spending plan last year before approving an adjusted plan. Of that money, some $10 million is being spent on upgrading or building new addiction treatment facilities, with $6 million going to tribal nations for prevention and treatment and $3 million going to law enforcement grants. Another $3 million is expanding availability of naloxone and $2 million is boosting distribution of fentanyl test strips.

Other efforts include $2.5 million to help pay for residential addiction treatment and $2 million to increase medication-assisted treatment, such as with buprenorphine, or Suboxone.

Record numbers

Wisconsin had a record 1,427 opioid overdose deaths in 2021, 16.3% more than the previous record in 2020 and more than double the toll from just six and seven years earlier, with fentanyl fueling much of the increase, officials said.

In Dane County, 139 people died from opioid overdoses in 2021, 13% higher than the previous record the year before. Final numbers for 2022 won't be available until fall, as it takes months for some reports to be processed. As of last week, a preliminary count of 1,318 opioid overdose deaths had been reported for last year, more than the preliminary total for 2021 as of early May last year.

In Dane County, the preliminary total for 2022 as of last week was 110, fewer than the preliminary total for 2021 at roughly the same time last year.

Olsen said the increasing misuse of stimulants such as methamphetamine, cocaine, Adderall and Ritalin, along with opioids, is complicating efforts to curb overdose deaths.

In March, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration issued an alert about a sharp increase in the trafficking of fentanyl mixed with xylazine, a tranquilizer used in veterinary medicine. "Xylazine is making the deadliest drug threat our country has ever faced, fentanyl, even deadlier," DEA Administrator Anne Milgram said.

Olsen said methadone clinics are expanding, including one opening in Madison this month. It has become easier for doctors to prescribe Suboxone, and a form of naloxone, or Narcan, is expected to be available over the counter this summer.
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The College of Southern Idaho Board of Trustees has a full house again.

The four-person board on Monday night unanimously voted to appoint Dr. Joshua Kern to fill a seat that had been vacant since Jack Nelsen resigned in December following his election to the Idaho Legislature. Kern will serve the remainder of Nelsens term, which runs through November 2024.

Kerns seat represents the majority of Jerome County, where he lives with his wife and three children. Kern has worked for St. Lukes Health System since 2008, plus he partnered with Will Ritter in 2017 to refurbish a downtown Jerome building that is now home to the Christian-inspired Renew coffee shop.

I have been on the Foundation board for about a year and have become committed to the efforts of CSI to transform lives through education, Kern said in a statement for the Times-News. CSI is a critical partner to the Magic Valley broadly, and their building of the new campus in Jerome illustrates what a great partner CSI is to my home district of Jerome.

Kern also noted CSIs work to boost the demographics of the communities in the Magic Valley through its status as the states first Hispanic Serving Institution.

Im honored to support that work, he said.

A primary care physician, Kern has served since 2017 as chief medical officer for St. Lukes Magic Valley, Jerome and Wood River, plus as program director of the Magic Valley Rural Program and supervisor of the hospitals residency clinic.

Dr. Kern is a well-respected member of the Jerome community and we look forward to serving with him on the board, Laird Stone, chair of the trustees, said in a CSI news release.

Kern joins Stone and trustees Anna Scholes, Jan Mittleider and Scott McClure on the colleges governing board. Stone and Mittleider have expiring terms in 2024, as well; Scholes and McClure wont face election again until 2026.

Kern earned his undergraduate and graduate degrees from the University of Washington School of Medicine. He completed residency in Boise at Family Medicine Residency of Idaho.
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An armed man was shot Monday afternoon when deputies attempted to serve a protection order in Kimberly, police say.

A standoff ensued between 5 and 6 p.m. on Fafnir Drive in Kimberly, resulting in the shooting, a press release by the Idaho State Police said. The man was flown to St. Lukes Magic Valley Regional Medical Center in Twin Falls, where he remains in critical condition.

Information released Tuesday by the Twin Falls Sheriffs Office does not go into detail, as law enforcement officers say they dont want to have the investigation compromised.

The Magic Valley Critical Incident Task Force, composed of law enforcement officers from multiple agencies in the region, is activated after officer-involved shootings, with the aim of providing an impartial investigation.

The Idaho State Police has been named the lead investigator, and the Ada County Prosecutors Office will review the investigation once its complete to determine whether deputies acted within the law.
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A Montana man was found with stolen bank checks and threw a stolen handgun out a window of his vehicle Sunday after a short pursuit in Twin Falls, police say.

Adam Russell Freeman, 38, of Helena, Montana, faces nine charges, among them grand theft, unlawful possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, drug possession and attempting to flee officers. Plus, he was tased when police said he was uncooperative, police say.

Freemans GMC pickup, seen traveling at a high rate of speed, was first pulled over by a police officer at a gas station near Washington Street and Addison Avenue. When the officer told him to move his vehicle forward 100 feet so it wouldnt interfere with customers, Freeman drove down an alleyway and kept going, records say.

A pursuit began, ending a short distance later on the 200 block of Richardson Drive, where the officer saw Freeman throw a dark object out the window which landed in a canal, police reports say. A gun that had been reported stolen was later recovered.

Bank checks belonging to a pair of Montana residents were located in the vehicle, reports say, and when they were contacted, they said they had ordered them through the mail and hadnt received them.

In addition, drugs were found in the pickup, reports say, as well as an open can of beer.

A police officer used a Taser when Freeman repeatedly acted as though he was going to push himself off the ground and flee, reports say.

Freeman is being held on $200,000 bond and a preliminary hearing has been set for May 26.

Twin Falls man arrested after high-speed pursuit Man faces eluding and drug charges, as well as having several outstanding warrants against him, police say
U.S. not allowed to turn back wheel of history on Taiwan question: Chinese defense spokesperson

Xinhua) 08:18, May 17, 2023

BEIJING, May 16 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese defense spokesperson Tuesday said that attempts of the U.S. side to turn back the wheel of history on the Taiwan question are intolerable.

Tan Kefei, a spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of National Defense, made the remarks in response to media reports that the U.S. government plans to provide weapons aid to Taiwan through the Presidential Drawdown Authority and that the U.S. military has recently sent its service members to Taiwan to help train local troops.

Commenting on the U.S. moves, Tan said that for some time, the United States has stepped up its military collusion with the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) authorities by strengthening military contacts and upgrading substantive relations between the two sides, which has shaken the foundation of China-U.S. relations and undermined the peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait.

"China is strongly dissatisfied with and firmly opposed to these wrong and dangerous moves and has lodged solemn representations with the U.S. side," he added.

The Taiwan question is at the very core of China's core interests and remains the first red line that must not be crossed in China-U.S. relations, Tan noted.

The "Three Principles," namely, severing so-called "diplomatic relations," abrogating the "mutual defense treaty" with the Taiwan authorities, and withdrawing U.S. military forces from Taiwan, are the preconditions for the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the United States, he said.

"We sternly warn the U.S. side to earnestly abide by the one-China principle and the provisions of the three China-U.S. joint communiques, fulfill its commitment of not supporting 'Taiwan independence,' and stop any forms of military collusion with Taiwan," the spokesperson said.

"We sternly warn the DPP authorities and the 'Taiwan independence' separatist forces that any attempt to seek independence by soliciting U.S. support or by force would lead nowhere," he added.

The Chinese People's Liberation Army will continue to strengthen military training and combat readiness, decisively crush "Taiwan independence" attempts and external interference in any form, and resolutely safeguard national sovereignty and territorial integrity, Tan said.

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun)
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Arne Duncan, center, appears outside an outreach center near where a man was fatally shot on May 17, 2023, at 1050 E. 95th St., in Chicago's Roseland neighborhood on the Far South Side. (Terrence Antonio James/Chicago Tribune)

A man who was involved with an anti-violence organization co-founded by Arne Duncan was fatally shot Wednesday afternoon outside the groups office on the South Side.

The 28-year-old was walking through the parking lot of Chicago CREDs office at 1050 E. 95th St. about 12:10 p.m. when he was confronted by two men, according to Chicago police. One of them drew a gun and fatally shot the man. He died at the scene, according to Chicago Fire Department officials, but his identity was not been released by the Cook County medical examiners office.

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Chicago CREDs Duncan, the former CPS CEO and U.S. secretary of education under President Barack Obama, and Laurene Powell Jobs, a billionaire businesswoman, said the victim was involved with the group for the last nine months.

He came to us because he wanted a way out of his life on the streets and had made great progress toward that goal, Duncan said in a statement issued after Wednesdays shooting. Because Chicago CRED targets the individuals at highest risk of shooting or being shot, we live with this possibility every day.

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Our thoughts go to his family and friends as well our staff that has been traumatized by the loss. In his honor, we redouble our efforts to give young people at risk the chance for a safe, rewarding life, the statement continued.

Chicago CRED works with a holistic approach and proven models  street outreach, life coaching, and counseling, violence prevention, workforce development, advocacy and prevention  to create transformative change in the South and West Side communities of Chicago.

About 50 people, many wearing Chicago CRED shirts, were gathered outside the building on 95th Street Wednesday afternoon as CPD detectives and evidence technicians processed the crime scene in the parking lot directly east of the building.

Afternoon Briefing Daily Chicago Tribune editors' top story picks, delivered to your inbox each afternoon. By submitting your email to receive this newsletter, you agree to our Subscriber Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy >

Among them was Duncan, Chicago CREDs managing director.

As police personnel worked in the taped-off parking lot, a woman arrived at the scene, saying she was the mother of the deceased.

I did everything humanly possible, she told another woman at the scene. He always said he was the first one who made me a momma.

On the south side of 95th, longtime neighborhood resident Nori McCoy stopped for a few minutes before continuing on his way to a friends nearby music studio, The Ice Palace.

McCoy, who said his brother was killed in a shooting in south suburban Markham in 2021, noted that the funeral for slain CPD Officer Areanah Preston was being held less than two miles away when Wednesdays shooting occurred.

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Its just like life dont mean (expletive) in Chicago, man, McCoy said.

No one was arrested and detectives are investigating, police said.
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The Region IV Development Association wants to get your input when it comes to economic development.

South-central Idaho community members, business leaders, public officials and nonprofits are among those asked to give their thoughts on the regions comprehensive economic development strategy at a community meeting at 6 p.m. Wednesday at the Twin Falls Chamber of Commerce Office, 215 Nielsen Point Place.

Input gathered at the meeting will be used to update the associations Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy, an outline to foster regional economic development and guide the decision-making process. People can access the 2020-25 CEDS at rivda.org/ceds.

Its similar to a countys strategic plan, but is highly focused on economic development, said Dr. Michele McFarlane, RIVDA community development planner.

This is the first time Region IV Development has used a community meeting to gain input.

We are trying to gather a lot of feedback and learn what is important for people, McFarlane said, as well as ways to improve the economy and lives of those living in Magic Valley.

I think there is always ways to improve, whether it be workforce training, housing or infrastructure, she said.

Those unable to attend the meeting can make comments by emailing McFarlane at michele@rivda.org.

The mission of the Region IV Development Association is to make sustainable community development happen in south-central Idaho.
Trade Secretary Alfredo Pascual commended the renewal of partnership between Chevron Philippines Inc. and Batangas Land Company Inc. that aims to extend energy firms lease of BLIs land until 2050.

We are delighted to know that there is this intent on the part of Chevron Philippines and Batangas Land, as documented in this MOU to renew the lease on Batangas Lands assets. This is a testament to continued investor confidence in the Philippines. And it signifies the countrys ability to provide a long-term enabling environment for growth of global companies that choose to do business in the country, said Pascual.

BLCI, a government-owned and controlled corporation, is a subsidiary of the National Development Company.

Pascual, as chairman of NDC, said the agreement would strengthen the Philippines-United States economic relations, while fulfilling one of the countrys most important objectivespursuing energy security.

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KYIVUkraine said Tuesday it had pushed Russian forces from the flanks of Bakhmut but conceded that Moscows forces were pushing deeper inside the embattled town.

The announcement came as European leaders meeting in Iceland agreed to create a register of damages to record the wartime harm and destruction wrought by Russia in Ukraine, French President Emmanuel Macron said. It would be an initial step towards prosecution of Russian leaders in the future.

A year after kicking Russia out of the Council of Europe (CoE) over its war in Ukraine, the leaders of the 46-nation pan-continental rights body gathered in Reykjavik, with the Ukraine conflict topping the agenda.

In Kyiv, authorities were due to host a Chinese special envoy to discuss Beijings proposals for ending the conflict.

Deputy Defence Minister Ganna Malyar said Ukraine had wrested back about 20 square kilometres (7.7 square miles) of a Russian pincer movement around Bakhmut, the epicentre of fighting in Russias invasion.

At the same time, the enemy is advancing in some measure inside Bakhmut itself and is completely destroying the town with artillery, she added on social media.

The commander of Ukraines ground forces, Oleksandr Syrskyi, had earlier said he visited forces near Bakhmut to hand out awards to Kyivs troops fighting in the longest battle of the invasion.

Wagners men went into Bakhmut like rats into a mousetrap, he said, referring to the Russian paramilitary group.

The British defence ministry said that over the last four days, Ukrainian forces have made tactical progress, stabilising the flanks of Bakhmut to their advantage.

Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin said in a video shared by Russian military bloggers Tuesday that a US volunteer had died fighting alongside Ukrainian troops in the east.

He came to meet us. Citizen of the United States of America, he says, showing what he claims is the body of an American. It was not clear where or when the video was filmed.

Unbelievable success

The wave of Russian strikes overnight came just over a week after Kyiv announced it had shot down a Kinzhal nuclear-capable hypersonic missile for the first time, using US-supplied Patriot systems.

Russia denied Kyivs latest claim to have shot down six of the hypersonic missiles during an overnight barrage.

Ukraines mounting success in taking out dozens of Russian drones and missiles illustrates its bolstered air defences, after a winter in which Moscow pummelled key infrastructure.

Another unbelievable success for the Ukrainian air forces! Defence Minister Oleksiy Reznikov said on Twitter.

The defence ministry said Ukrainian air-defence systems had knocked out a total of 18 missiles, including types the Kremlin had touted as ideal, as well as nine drones.

Reznikov later tweeted that Ukraine has officially joined the NATO Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence (CCDCOE). He called it another step towards common security space in Europe, which is impossible without Ukraines membership in the Alliance.

Three people were injured in Kyiv and some rocket fragments fell on the capitals zoo but neither staff nor animals were hurt, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said.

Russia, meanwhile, said all its targets had been hit.

Chinas special envoy, Li Hui, was expected to arrive in Kyiv for a two-day visit as part of a European tour to promote Beijing-led negotiations to end the war in Ukraine.

A senior Ukrainian official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Ukrainian authorities planned to further discuss Kyivs stance on the conflict and Chinas peace mission.

He told AFP Ukrainian officials would make clear to Beijing that ending the war with a compromise at the expense of Ukraine will not work.

Graft crackdown

Li will be the highest-ranking Chinese diplomat to visit the war-torn country since Moscows invasion last year, three weeks after Zelensky spoke by telephone to Chinese leader Xi Jinping.

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BUDGET Secretary Amenah Pangandaman has approved the release of P15.1 billion for the construction of 4,912 classrooms in 1,194 sites in the country.

In a statement, Pangandaman said the timely release of the fund showed that the Marcos administration does not hold back on investing in education.

The fund was a joint request of the Department of Public Works and Highway and the Department of Education.

Pangandaman said the government needs to build and repair classrooms to cope with increasing enrollment in public schools nationwide.

Early on, Vice President and Education Secretary Sara Duterte cited classroom shortage as the most urgent education issue and has committed to addressing the backlog in school infrastructure.

Pangandaman underscored that schoolchildren need to be in an environment conducive to fun and learning.

They need safe and clean classrooms so that they can study very well. They are our best investment, the secretary said, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., in his budget message earlier, vowed to prioritize the construction of new classrooms under DepEds Basic Education Facilities (BEF) as face-to-face classes resumed.

The allocation included the construction, replacement and completion of kindergarten, elementary and secondary schools, as well as technical vocational laboratories, installation or replacement of disability access facilities, construction of water and sanitation facilities; and site improvement.

On the other hand, P131.4 million will be used for engineering and administrative overhead expenses.

This includes the hiring of workers, conduct of preliminary and detailed engineering activities, pre-construction preparations, construction management; testing and quality control; acquisition, rehabilitation and repair of related equipment and parts; training, communication, per diem, and transportation expenses; and contingencies related to pre-construction activities.

Earlier, DepEd Undersecretary Epimaco Densing III said the country needed an annual budget of P100 billion to resolve the classroom shortage by 2030.

Toward this end, Densing said the DepEd was looking for fund sources other than the national treasury.

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The high-level team dispatched by the government to Kuwait will hold exploratory talks with their counterparts from the Gulf state, but this does not guarantee that the entry ban for new Filipino workers will be lifted immediately.

We have to explore our options. The meetings will be exploratory talks first, DFA Undersecretary Eduardo De Vega said in a radio interview.

I hope our countrymen will understand that we cannot guarantee the return of normal deployment of our skilled workers right away. We have to prioritize attaining justice and the protection of our fellow Filipinos working as househelps, he added.

The team left Monday for the Middle Eastern country.

Among its members are DFA Assistant Secretary for Middle East and African Affairs Mardomel Melicor and Ariel Javier; Department of Migrant Workers Assistant Secretary for Migrant Workers Welfare Services Felicitas Bay and Assistant Secretary for Public Policy and International Cooperation Mario Zinampan; and Overseas Workers Welfare Administration head Arnell Ignacio.

We can always resolve things through diplomacy but not at the expense of national pride and honor. After all, the safety and welfare of our kababayans are at stake, De Vega said.

In a House hearing Monday, De Vega and Department of Migrant Workers Undersecretary Hans Cacdac said keeping shelters for runaway and abused Filipino workers in Kuwait is a non-negotiable for the Philippines.

Our shelters have to remain as it is in the law passed by Congress. Lets make other compromises but not close down the shelter, De Vega said.

Cacdac said no OFW should be hurt, raped, physically assaulted, or killed at the hands of their employers in Kuwait.

The repatriation [of OFWs] should also be facilitated promptly, and justice in terms of labor and criminal law should also be delivered more swiftly, Cacdac said.

Meanwhile, the chair of the House committee on overseas workers affairs, Kabayan party-list Rep. Ron Salo, on Tuesday expressed confidence that the Philippine delegation will diligently pursue the best interests of Filipino workers in Kuwait.

Salo urged the delegation to prioritize the adoption of proactive measures that will safeguard the welfare and rights of OFWs, including ensuring passports are safely kept in the Philippine Embassy or the Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO) instead of being held by employers.

OFWs will just be carrying copies of their passports. This measure will provide an added layer of protection for OFWs and prevent unauthorized access to their personal identification documents, he said.

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The Philippines and Vietnam have agreed to strengthen coordination in dealing with maritime issues, particularly in working on a code of conduct in the South China Sea, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said Wednesday.

This as Armed Forces of the Philippines Chief General Andres Centino inspected the facilities at the new Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) site in Balabac, Palawan.

Facilities like the runways within the 300-hectare island airbase can be used by both the military and civilians in Balabac. Meanwhile, Balabacs Narciso del Rosario Naval Station is also being eyed for an EDCA site once a larger pier is built for use by American and Filipino warships.

Philippine diplomats traveled to Ha Long, Vietnam on Monday and Tuesday to hold talks with their Vietnamese counterparts during the 10th Philippines-Vietnam Joint Permanent Working Group on Maritime and Ocean Concerns.

In a statement, DFA said the two countries also agreed to explore a broad range of potential maritime cooperation activities to enhance their strategic partnership.

The two countries expressed serious concern over unilateral activities that undermine peace and stability in the region. They committed to work together to protect their rights and legitimate interests under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), and enhance confidence-building measures between relevant agencies, the DFA also said.

DFA Assistant Secretary for Maritime and Ocean Affairs Maria Angela Ponce, who headed the Philippine delegation to the meeting, said discussions with their Vietnamese counterparts were critical in strengthening ties between the two Southeast Asian countries.

Meanwhile, Australia urged members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) not to compromise their rights over the South China Sea in crafting the Code of Conduct in the contested waters.

We would urge states not to agree to anything that lessened their rights, said Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong, in an interview with CNN Philippines as she began her four-day visit to the Philippines.

This is a matter ultimately for ASEAN to consider, she added.

Saying Canberra respects the principle of ASEAN centrality, Wong said her call only stemmed from the standpoint of a nation that also has an interest in the disputed waterway, particularly with regards to peace and stability in the region.

US Ambassador MaryKay Carlson also said she was willing to meet with governors who have expressed concern about the opening of four additional sites that the US military would have access to under the EDCA.

Carlson made the statement after Cagayan Gov. Manuel Mamba expressed apprehension over his province being the site of one of the new EDCA sites. Last month, 5,000 Cagayanos joined a prayer vigil against EDCA.

At the same time, Carlson declared that Washingtons commitment to support the Philippines is not about any other country as the ties between them stand on their own.

The Mutual Defense Treaty dates back to 1951. Our commitment to the Philippines stands on its own. Our relationship stands on its own, its not about a third country, its not about a single challenge. But we certainly have global challenges when it comes to climate change, when it comes to cybersecurity, when it comes to environmental degradation of our surrounding seas and climate, Carlson said in an interview with the ABS-CBN News Channel.

Carlson was asked to comment on Chinas previous statement that the increased presence of the US in the Philippines through the EDCA sites affect regional stability.

Theres so much that were working together. Its not about China. It certainly is not about China alone, its about what we do together It dates back decades. I understand that that argument is out there but thats not why were committed to the Philippines, she said.

Carlson also said the EDCA sites can be used for whatever the Philippine government invites the United States to do.

Five countries from the 10-member ASEAN have their own respective claims over the South China Sea, which all overlap with Chinas. They are Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam.

Wong said Australia backs the Philippines in its fight for the West Philippine Sea, a part of the bigger South China Sea that China also claims. The Philippines right over the West Philippine Sea is based on the internationally recognized United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and 2016 Arbitral Ruling, Wong said.

We all want a region in which rules ameliorate the exercise of power. And it is through that that countries can maintain their sovereignty and their capacity to make their own decisions. So, we were very supportive of that tribunal ruling, she said. We dont want a region which is dominated to an extent where other countries cannot make their own decisions.

The new EDCA sites earlier identified by the Philippine government are in Balabac Island in Palawan and in Naval Base Camilo Osias in Sta Ana, Cagayan; Lal-lo Airport in Lal-lo, Cagayan; and Camp Melchor Dela Cruz in Gamu, Isabela.

The sites in Isabela and Cagayan in the northernmost tip of the country, however, have alarmed Beijing because of its proximity to Taiwan, whose independence is being threatened by China.

These are not our sites. We do not have any rights to these sites. Its not as if somehow somebody snaps a finger and all of a sudden everything is open to the United States, the US ambassador said.

Earlier, President Ferdinand Bongbong Marcos Jr. already said the additional sites under the countrys EDCA with the US would not be used for offensive actions.

While on his way to Washington early this month for an official visit, the President also said the Philippines would not be used as a staging post for any kind of military action.

Also on Wednesday, the Japanese Embassy in Manila said Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo and Japanese Foreign Minister Hayashi Yoshimasa met in Tokyo and exchanged views on the situation in the East and South China Seas and economic coercion.

Manalo and Hayashi also talked about the Russian aggression against Ukraine and the nuclear and missile launches initiated by North Korea, the embassy statement added.

Both sides reaffirmed the importance of the ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific, and preserving the rules-based order and good governance, it said.

They also discussed ASEAN centrality, and the need to support institutions and mechanisms like the East Asia Summit and ASEAN Regional Forum, it added.

In an earlier speech at the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies (GRIPS), Manalo said maritime cooperation will always be a key feature of the ties between Manila and Tokyo.

Being island states binds us in the common objective of keeping the seas of the Indo-Pacific safe, secure and peaceful, he said.

The ministers welcomed progress in Japans defense equipment transfer to the Philippines, according to the ministry.

In April, Japan decided to provide equipment to the armed forces of like-minded countries that share its values to improve their defense capabilities in a framework called official security assistance, or OSA.

According to the Japanese Embassy in Manila, Manalo also expressed appreciation for Toykos efforts to include the perspective of the Indo-Pacific and areas of concern for non-G7 countries in its preparation for the G7 Hiroshima Summit.

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NBI files raps at DOJ, solon still abroad

The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) has filed criminal complaints against Negros Oriental Rep. Arnolfo Teves Jr. for his alleged involvement in the killing of 10 persons, including Negros Oriental Gov. Roel R. Degamo on March 4, 2023.

The complaints were filed before the Department of Justice (DOJ), which is expected to summon Teves and require him to file his counter-affidavit.

Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin C. Remulla said Teves was charged with multiple counts of murder, multiple counts of frustrated murder, and multiple counts of attempted murder.

Remulla said there were no other respondents in the complaints.

CASE FILES. National Bureau of Investigation Director Medardo G. de Lemos walks after NBI officers carrying boxes of evidence on the murder case of Negros Oriental Gov. Roel Degamo as they filed ten counts of murder and frustrated murder against Rep. Arnie Teves at the Department of Justice in Manila on Wednesday. Danny Pata

What I know is Teves is the only respondent in the complaint that was filed because the investigation is still ongoing for other cases and other suspects and other roles and crimes, he said.

Remulla said once the summons are issued to Teves last known address, the suspended legislator has to personally appear to swear by the contents of his counter-affidavit.

He has to come home or they will file the case in court and a warrant will be issued in absentia, Remulla said.

If a warrant of arrest is issued and Teves is not arrested or refuses to surrender, then he becomes a fugitive from justice.

He will lose a lot of things if he becomes a fugitive. Cancellation of passport is one. So, he will have a hard time moving around, Remulla said.

Remulla also stood pat on his disclosure that Teves was to return to the Philippines on Wednesday, May 17.

He said Teves is ticketed or has secured a ticket for a flight to the Philippines, noting that the Department of Foreign Affairs cannot cancel the lawmakers passport unless there are legal grounds.

The three grounds for the cancellation of a passport are 1) if a person is a fugitive from justice, 2) has been convicted by final judgment, or 3) the passport was tampered with or fraudulently secured.

Teves is not yet a fugitive from justice since no warrant of arrest has been issued against him so far, and no final judgment rendered by a court yet, Remulla said.

No complaint has been filed about Teves using a tampered passport either, he added.

The filing of criminal raps by NBI is for the purpose of preliminary investigation where DOJ will still determine probable cause, or there is sufficient basis to indict in court for committing the crime charged, the Justice chief said.

Teves has denied Remullas claim.

That is fake news, Teves said in a radio interview. They should have asked me first before they talked, he added in Filipino.

Citing a reliable source who may have access to flight data into the country, Remula said on Tuesday that Teves was likely to return to the country from Timor Leste, where he applied for political asylum but was rejected.

What we know is that Teves secured tickets. We have sources who tell us his movements, Remulla said.

Nonetheless, the DOJ chief said Teves has to return to the country to face the charges against him.

Flight is an indication of guilt by any language, by any jurisdiction, in any legal system. It is an indication of guilt, he emphasized.

Teves has been tagged as one of the masterminds in the Degamo slaying.

The suspended lawmaker has not returned to the country despite the expiration of his travel authority on March 9. He has denied all the allegations against him.

The House of Representatives Committee on Ethics is set to investigate next week Teves reported application o for political asylum in Timor Leste.

Rep. Felipe Espares of COOP-NATCCO, the panels chairperson, at the same time, rejected Pamplona Mayor Janice Degamos letter, which sought Tevess expulsion from the chamber.

Espares said the committee will hold a meeting on May 23, a day after the expiration of Teves 60-day suspension for his continued absence without travel authority.

The committee vice chairperson, Rep. Rossana Vergara of Nueva Ecija said the committee deliberation next week will assess Tevess application for political asylum in Timor Leste.

Espares added the House ethics committee has to come up with a decision and possibly impose further sanctions on Teves should he maintain the apparent neglect of his legislative functions.

We cannot afford a situation wherein someone can say the House did not do anything about this, especially involving disorderly behavior, Espares said.

In the Senate, Senator Ronald dela Rosa said Tefves would be invited to the ongoing Senate hearings into the killing of Degamo.

Dela Rosa guaranteed that Teves will be treated fairly if he appears for a hearing.

Also on Wednesday, the Philippine National Police (PNP) said it has arrested an alleged gunman of the Teveses who has been linked to two assassination plots in Negros Oriental.

The police nabbed Police Staff Sgt. Noel Santa Ana Alabata alias, Alfonso Edena Tan, in front of the PDEG Building on Tuesday.

Alabata was served two arrest warrants for cases of attempted murder and attempted homicide issued by two courts in Dumaguete City.

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Kyiv, Ukraine  Ukraine said Tuesday that it had pushed Russian forces from the flanks of Bakhmut but conceded that Moscows forces were pushing deeper inside the embattled town.

The announcement came as European leaders meeting in Iceland agreed to create a register of damages to record the wartime harm and destruction wrought by Russia in Ukraine, French President Emmanuel Macron said. It would be an initial step towards prosecution of Russian leaders in the future.

A year after kicking Russia out of the Council of Europe (CoE) over its war in Ukraine, the leaders of the 46-nation pan-continental rights body gathered in Reykjavik with the Ukraine conflict topping the agenda.

In Kyiv, authorities were due to host a Chinese special envoy to discuss Beijings proposals for ending the conflict.

Deputy Defence Minister Ganna Malyar said Ukraine had wrested back about 20 square kilometres (7.7 square miles) of a Russian pincer movement around Bakhmut, the epicentre of fighting in Russias invasion.

At the same time, the enemy is advancing in some measure inside Bakhmut itself and is completely destroying the town with artillery, she added on social media.

The commander of Ukraines ground forces, Oleksandr Syrskyi, had earlier said he visited forces near Bakhmut to hand out awards to Kyivs troops fighting in the longest battle of the invasion.

Wagners men went into Bakhmut like rats into a mousetrap, he said, referring to the Russian paramilitary group.

The British defence ministry said that over the last four days, Ukrainian forces have made tactical progress, stabilising the flanks of Bakhmut to their advantage.

Unbelievable success

The wave of Russian strikes overnight came just over a week after Kyiv announced it had shot down a Kinzhal nuclear-capable hypersonic missile for the first time, using US-supplied Patriot systems.

Russia denied Kyivs latest claim, to have shot down six of the hypersonic missiles during an overnight barrage.

Ukraines mounting success in taking out dozens of Russian drones and missiles illustrates its bolstered air defences, after a winter in which Moscows pummelled key infrastructure.

Another unbelievable success for the Ukrainian air forces! Defence Minister Oleksiy Reznikov said on Twitter.

The defence ministry said Ukrainian air-defence systems had knocked out a total of 18 missiles, including types the Kremlin had touted as ideal, as well as nine drones.

Reznikov later tweeted that Ukraine has officially joined the NATO Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence (CCDCOE). He called it yet another step towards common security space in Europe, which is impossible without Ukraines membership in the Alliance.

Three people were injured in Kyiv and some rocket fragments fell on the capitals zoo but neither staff nor animals were hurt, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said.

Russia meanwhile said all the targets assigned by its military had been hit.

Chinas special envoy, Li Hui, was expected to arrive in Kyiv for a two-day visit as part of a European tour to promote Beijing-led negotiations to end the war in Ukraine.

A senior Ukrainian official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Ukrainian authorities planned to further discuss Kyivs stance on the conflict and Chinas peace mission.

The president already said at the Vatican that we dont need mediation for the sake of mediation, the official told AFP, referring to President Volodymyr Zelenskys recent talks with Pope Francis.

He said the same message would be relayed to Beijings envoy, insisting that Ending the war with a compromise at the expense of Ukraine will not work.

Graft crackdown

Li will become the highest-ranking Chinese diplomat to visit the war-torn country since Moscows invasion last year, three weeks after Zelensky spoke by telephone to Chinese leader Xi Jinping.

Xi, who has aimed to position China as a neutral mediator, and visited Moscow in March, has been criticised for refusing to condemn the Kremlins attack on its neighbour.

Lis visit follows hot on the heels of Zelenskys whirlwind tour of major European capitals to urge allies to increase military support.

His tour to shore up military assistance to help make his troops more battle-ready began in Italy, with weekend visits to France and Germany, followed by a stop in the UK.

But Zelensky has yet to succeed in his goal of securing Western fighter jets to seize control of the skies, though UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced preparations to open a flight school to train Ukrainian pilots.

Sunak and Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, attending the CoE meeting in Iceland on Tuesday, pledged to build an international coalition to provide fighter jet support for Ukraine.

The Prime Minister and Prime Minister Rutte agreed they would work to build (an) international coalition to provide Ukraine with combat air capabilities, supporting with everything from training to procuring F16 jets, a spokesman for Sunaks Downing Street office said in a statement.

France has also offered to train Ukrainian fighter pilots, though President Emmanuel Macron ruled out sending warplanes to Kyiv.

Nevertheless, Zelensky said late on Monday that he was returning home with new defence packages.

Ukraine also announced Tuesday that it had detained the head of the countrys supreme court in a $2.7 million bribery inquiry, part of anti-graft measures required for closer integration with the European Union.

Since Ukraine was officially granted candidate status by the EU last year following Russias invasion, it has undertaken steps to clean up endemic corruption, including dismissing senior officials.

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Seoul, South Korea  Leader Kim Jong Un has inspected North Koreas first military spy satellite and gave the go-ahead for its future action plan, state media said Wednesday.

Kim met with the Non-permanent Satellite Launch Preparatory Committee on Tuesday before viewing the satellite, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported.

A month ago, Kim said construction of the satellite was completed and gave the green light for its launch.

That report on April 18 came about a week after Pyongyang launched what it said was a new solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile, marking a major breakthrough in its banned weapons programs.

Analysts have said there is significant technological overlap between the development of ICBMs and space launch capabilities.

On Tuesday, after acquainting himself in detail with the work of the committee, (Kim) inspected the military reconnaissance satellite No. 1, which is ready for loading after undergoing the final general assembly check and space environment test, KCNA said.

Kim accused the United States and South Korea of escalating what he called confrontational moves against the North and said his country will exercise its right to self-defence.

Kim then approved the future action plan of the preparatory committee, KCNA added.

The development of a military reconnaissance satellite was one of the key defence projects outlined by Kim in 2021.

In December 2022, North Korea said it had carried out an important final-stage test for the development of a spy satellite, which it said it would complete by April this year.

At the time, experts in South Korea quickly raised doubts about the results, saying the quality of black-and-white images released by North Korea  purportedly taken from a satellite  was poor.

Pyongyang has not provided a launch date, though last month Kim said the satellite would be sent up at the planned date.

North Korea declared itself an irreversible nuclear power last year, effectively ending the possibility of denuclearisation talks.

Pyongyang would struggle to do satellite reconnaissance with its own technology and without high tech help from Russia or China, analysts say.

Still, since North Koreas reconnaissance satellites are an important factor in the event of a nuclear pre-emptive strike, they pose a significant threat to the South, Yang Moo-jin, president of the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul, told AFP last month.

Washington and Seoul have ramped up defense cooperation in response, staging joint military exercises with advanced stealth jets and high-profile US strategic assets.

North Korea views such exercises as rehearsals for invasion and described them as frantic drills simulating an all-out war against Pyongyang.

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People-centered leadership, strategic thinking, and creative storytelling are the backbone of great agencies. For more than two decades, these have made Strategic Works, Inc. (Stratworks) an industry leader in PR and marketing communications.

Stratworks reaffirms their calling to utilize its peoples limitless talents to help brands build deeper connections with their consumers. In line with this mission, the agency has recently reorganized its executive suite, appointing a new managing director and key executives to lead the company.

Directors who have been in the companys executive committee for the past 15 years, now hold new positions effective April 2, 2023. Mark Christian Parlade, previously the agencys Public Relations Director is now the Managing Director.

Mark Christian Parlade, the new Managing Director of Stratworks

Marks humility and willingness to learn, and putting people and relationships first have proven instrumental not only in his own growth, but the growth of people he works with as well. His hands-on leadership and collaborative approach have helped establish Stratworks as a leading, award-winning PR agency with an excellent reputation for being instrumental in building a strong brand reputation for their clients, said Donna Nievera Conda, Stratworks president and co-CEO, about Parlade.

Stratworks president co- CEO, Donna Nievera Conda & co-CEO, Oliver Conda.

As Managing Director, Parlade will be responsible for the leadership and development of Stratworks business. He will play a vital role in leading its high-performance team to meet the companys growth goals and deliver client delight.

The times have changed but our mission from when we founded the company 24 years ago hasnt: for us to help brands play relevant roles in peoples lives, said Nievera Conda. Weve done this by having an ear to the ground on what people want, need and love.

Stratworks leads the industry with memorable campaigns and close partnerships with clients. We couldnt have done this without the dedication of our team, added Stratworks co-CEO Oliver Conda. In this light, we are proud to announce the promotion of our passionate and experienced executives to key positions in the company.

In addition to Parlade, top long-serving executives were also promoted. From previous director positions, Liezl Rustia is now Senior Vice President for Activations and Digital Marketing; Rey Ganayo, has been promoted to Vice President for Strategic Planning and Data Analytics; and Robbie David, is now Vice President for Client Service.

Key executives steering Stratworks: (clockwise from right, seated) Mark Christian Parlade, Managing Director; Rey Ganayo, Vice President for Strategic Planning and Data Analysis; Robbie David, vice president for Client Service and Liezl Rustia Senior Vice President for Activations and Digital Marketing.

Ronald Cabanilla, who had been heading the finance department was bumped up to Finance Director; while Strategic Business Unit Head Cathy Albaniel has been named Human Resources, Admin and IT director, a move that welcomes her into the agencys executive committee.

Finance Director Ronald Cabanilla and Human Resource, Admin & IT Director Cathy Albaniel round out the executive committee of Stratworks.

Storytelling with heart and soul

At the heart of Stratworks success is effective storytelling, a strength that allows its client brands numerous campaigns to resonate with their customers and develop brand love and loyalty. This strength is constantly fueled by the agencys deep roster of talented creatives who never fail to apply insightful knowledge, experience, and heart in their work.

Most notably, this has resulted in the agency cultivating deep and fruitful long-running relationships with some of the biggest brands both in the Philippines and around the world, such as Jollibee, PLDT Home, The Walt Disney Company, Cebuana Lhuillier, Universal Robina Corporation, and HP, to name a few.

These successful partnerships have also produced prestigious industry awards and recognitions for its various campaigns, such as its recent Grand Anvil Award at the 2023 Anvil Awards for top client PLDT Home.

Parlade reflected on the companys leadership in the industry, saying, At Stratworks, we are all creative storytellers. In this digital age, when the demand for compelling stories on a diverse range of platforms is great, we will continue to create unique and meaningful campaigns in media and social platforms that build value and brand love. Im very excited to head a passionate team as Stratworks continues to forge ahead.

For more on what agency is on fire about, visit https://www.facebook.com/Stratworks.

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Thank you for supporting our journalism. This article is available exclusively for our subscribers, who help fund our work at the Chicago Tribune.

Minnesota prosecutors have dropped sex abuse charges against disgraced R&B superstar R. Kelly that alleged he invited a 17-year-old girl to his hotel room in 2001 and paid her $200 to dance naked with him.

The Hennepin County Attorneys Office said in a statement Tuesday that it believes her and that Kelly would likely be convicted if tried, but prosecuting him on charges that had been dormant since being filed in 2019 wouldnt make a difference now that Kellys federal convictions could keep him in prison for the rest of his life.

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[ R. Kelly timeline: Chicago upbringing, rise to stardom, years of sexual abuse charges, trials and convictions ]

The overwhelming impact of proceeding to trial in this case on the survivor victim, the community, and the Hennepin County legal system would be enormous while a conviction would not add any additional time in prison, the statement said.

The woman Kelly allegedly abused in Minnesota wanted to testify at a trial anyway, her lawyer said.

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Attorney Gloria Allred issued a statement on behalf of the woman, identified only as Jane Doe. It said what Kelly did to her has been weighing heavily on her for more than 20 years and would continue to hurt her for the rest of her life.

As a surviving victim of R. Kelly, I feel sad about the fact that Hennepin County Attorneys Office in Minnesota decided not to hold him accountable for what he did to me when I was a minor, the statement said. If there had been a criminal trial, I would have been willing to testify against R. Kelly. Even though it wouldnt have brought any extra prison time for him, it would have given me closure.

[ Secret grand jury proceedings in R. Kellys Chicago case were briefly made public. Here are 5 things revealed in the filings ]

Federal juries in Chicago and New York convicted Kelly, now 56, of crimes including child pornography, enticement, racketeering and sex trafficking related to allegations that he victimized women and girls. Born Robert Sylvester Kelly, he was sentenced to 30 years in the New York case last year and a mostly concurrent 20 years in February in the Chicago case.

The woman in Minnesota sued Kelly in 2021, but that case remans dormant, too, because Kelly is in prison and is unable to defend himself, cord records show. He was transferred to a federal prison in North Carolina last month.

The Grammy-winning Kelly rose from poverty in Chicago to become one of the worlds biggest R&B stars. Known for his smash hit I Believe I Can Fly and for sex-infused songs such as Bump n Grind, he sold millions of albums even after allegations about his abuse of girls began circulating publicly in the 1990s.

When he announced the Minnesota charges in 2019, then-County Attorney Mike Freeman said Kelly met the young woman before a concert in Minneapolis when she tried to get his autograph. Freeman said the performer gave her his signature and a phone number, and when she called it, she was invited to Kellys hotel room. She was offered $200 to take off her clothes and dance, and Kelly took his clothes off as well and they danced together, Freeman said.

The criminal complaint said she told investigators that Kelly lay on his bed and she climbed on top of him body to body. He allegedly touched her all over her body and fondled himself.

Cook County prosecutors in Chicago dropped state sex abuse charges there in January, citing his lengthy federal prison sentences.

[ My case matters: R. Kelly accuser opens up about waiting for justice and pain over charges being dropped ]
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TODAYS WORD is fresco. Example: Nancys neck was strained after a day of touring the cathedrals and admiring the frescos, but the experience left her in awe and happy.

TUESDAYS WORD was laudable. It means (of an action, idea or goal) deserving praise and commendation. Example: Jeremy was doing poorly in social studies throughout the year, but thanks to his laudable last-minute efforts at learning and studying, he pulled his final grade up to a B.

Madeas advice

The Stroller has been on a Madea kick lately. Madea is a character created and performed by Tyler Perry.

Heres some advice Madea gave in a video called Let Them Go: I dont understand all these people out here praying about, Lord, where is my man? Where is my woman? That is crazy as hell. If you dont know how to be by yourself, what you going to do with somebody else? Stop praying about it. Shut up and wait. Go work on you here. Thats what that time is for. Go get yourself together. Id rather be in a corner by myself with a puppy and a goldfish and be happy than to be sitting around with somebody in my house and Im wondering what the hell theyre there for. You would be surprised the things people put up with just to have somebody say they love them.

Only two places on this earth youre going to have peace: The grave and your house. Now if you cant walk up in your house and aint got no peace, somethings wrong.

And here she is on a 2006 interview with Oprah Winfrey, answering a question from the audience about dating:

When you go on a date, dont give up nothing. I got this thing called Clink, clink: Lockdown, which means you are a soldier in the army of not giving up nothing. Because dating and having sex will get you dinner and a movie, but holding out will get you diamonds and furs and Cadillacs and proposals and everything else.

Meal

The folks at Smith Memorial United Methodist Church have been cooking a regular community meal for as long as the Stroller can remember. And another one is being prepared today. See what its all about: Call 276-647-8150 by 3:30 to reserve a meal for yourself, then go get it, between 5 and 6 p.m.

Todays chuckle

Sherman complained to Morris: I cant take it anymore.

Whats wrong? Morris asked.

Its my wife. Every time we have an argument, she gets historical.

You mean hysterical, replied Morris, chuckling.

No, said Sherman, Historical. Every argument we have, shell go, I still remember the time when you .

MONDAYS TRIVIA ANSWER: The archaeological site known as the Toltec Mounds in Arkansas with 18 mounds were mistakenly named for a group of indigenous North American residents who lived in Mexico.

TODAYS TRIVIA QUESTION: Famous pirate Jean Lafitte of the Gulf of Mexico offered what to be used as a hospital when a deadly hurricane struck Galveston in 1818?
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A Snapchat threat deemed non-credible by police and school officials reached Henry County Public Schools Wednesday morning.

Schools in neighboring Rockingham County, North Carolina, dealt with the same bogus threat on Tuesday.

"In regards to the school threat that was posted on social media, we have determined there is no credible threat to the Henry County schools," said Col. Wayne Davis, chief deputy with the Henry County Sheriff's Department, Wednesday morning. "Sheriff's Office investigators determined the threat originated in North Carolina yesterday and was shared through social media."

Davis assured everyone that "all Henry County schools are safe."

Snapchat is an instant messaging app that allows pictures and messages to be available for a short time before they become inaccessible to their recipients.

The Bulletin obtained a screenshot of the threat being circulated: It is typed in all capital letters and laden with profanity. The threat indicated three people would be involved in harming others and advised the recipient of the message to refrain from attending school.

Bassett High School Principal Tiffiny Gravely sent out an email alert at 8:53 a.m. notifying families of the matter.

"Bassett administration is aware of the threat going around social media this morning," wrote Gravely. "Please be assured that we are taking every precaution to ensure the safety of the BHS community."

Gravely said the school was working with the Henry County Sheriff's Office and anyone with questions or concerns was encouraged to contact the school office.

"All of our schools sent emails to the parents talking about that there was a rumor on social media that was on one of those TikTok challenges and that it's been investigated," said Henry County Schools Superintendent Sandy Strayer. "This morning we were made aware that there was a potential threat we we take all information that come in about safety very seriously and we fully investigate."

Laurel Park Middle School Principal Katrina Perry notified families of her students that an investigation revealed the threat was not related to any schools in Henry County, but originated from an out-of-state TikTok challenge.

TikTok is a short-form video hosting service owned by ByteDance, a Chinese company. It hosts user-submitted videos that range in duration from three seconds to 10 minutes.

"Recent tragedies at schools around the country have heightened everyone's concern for the safety of students," wrote Perry. "I want to assure you that we always take any type of threat seriously and have the full cooperation of the Sheriff's Department."

Perry also encouraged anyone with questions or concerns to contact her office by phone or use the feedback forum on the school website.

Rockingham County Sheriff Sam Page on Tuesday committed resources to investigating the same threat in his county in neighboring North Carolina.

"Snapchat threats of violence at an unnamed school campus circulating overnight were determined to be non-credible and were the same threats that circulated in other states and North Carolina counties earlier this week," a release from the RCSO stated.

"Earlier this morning, the Rockingham County Sheriff's Office and Rockingham County School System were alerted of two threatening Snapchat messages that were circulating ... these threats were not directed at any specific school," the release stated.

Page said officers within his department maintained a heightened presence at all school campuses throughout the day as an additional precaution.

In a HCSO release later in the day on Wednesday, Davis said the threat that originated on Snapchat made its way to Facebook and was then saved and shared through multiple social media sites.

"Through the course of the investigation, it was determined that a Henry County high school student posted the message after seeing it on another social media site. Investigators spoke to the student and obtained information that led deputies to Eden, North Carolina," the release stated.

Authorities in North Carolina have been able to track down the original Snapchat post and are currently following leads, the release stated.

While the circulated threats arrived on Wednesday to Henry County, an internet search indicates the same threat using the same platform has apparently been going around since 2019.

On Sept. 30, 2019, the Tulare County Sheriff's Office in California responded to the same threat on Snapchat that did not specifically target a school, but was shared by two students who were not suspects.

"At this point, it is not known where the original Snapchat post came from, but detectives have determined it is a hoax and there was never a direct or credible threat to the safety of any school," a release from the TCSO stated.

Reports this week of the same hoax have come from Traverse City, Michigan; Alamogordo, New Mexico; and Ponca City, Oklahoma, among others.

On Tuesday, two 14-year-old middle school students at Hillsborough County, Florida, were reportedly arrested and charged with making threatening posts on social media by sharing the threatening message.

Although schools in Martinsville were not involved, Martinsville Police Chief Rob Fincher was keeping tabs on the hoax in Henry County.

"I've got a copy and it's the same threat that comes out at the end of every school year. Of course we always take security seriously and we've got extra patrols, but this looks to be a copy and paste of last year's threat," said Fincher. "This stuff always circulates on social media."

Fincher said the screen capture he received of the threat didn't give any specifics.

"We are looking into it, but it's one of those things that's just circulating on Facebook and always at the end of the school year we have extra patrols because it always seems at this time of year people tend to act out."

"I encourage you to talk with your children about the importance of reporting suspicious activities or disturbing information to a trusted adult," wrote Perry. "Please remind them that if they become award of a concern, their first response should not be to spread rumors, but rather to alert school administration and/or the school resource officer so that it can be dealt with quickly."

Said Strayer: "Truly what happened today is the way we want it to happen. Someone saw something, someone said something and that's how we can hopefully never have an incident like we see across the country."
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Multiple agencies responded to two shootings early Sunday morning, both stemming from parties attended mostly by juveniles.

Deputy Chief Chad Rhoads told the Bulletin on Monday that Martinsville police officers were summoned to two unrelated shootings, but under similar circumstances at nearly the same time.

Officers responded first to the 1200 block of Mountain Road after the 911 Communications Center received a call of shots fired. Soon after that, another call came regarding shots fired in the vicinity of Sunset Avenue and Red Oak Street.

These were two different shootings at two different parties, said Rhoads. After the shots were fired, everyone scattered but we discovered property damage from the gunfire at both locations.

Rhoads said the investigation is ongoing at this time, but they have arrested Christopher Wade, 18, of Danville on a single charge of concealing a weapon.

Weve checked with all of the local hospitals and determined that it appears no one was injured in either incident, Rhoads said. Both incidents happened after midnight and before 2 a.m.

The investigation led officers to Martinsville City Schools on Monday to follow up with anyone who may have witnessed either incident or could provide additional information.

School officials are aware of the ongoing police investigation, Communications and Community Outreach Coordinator Callie Hietala said by email. Per MCPS (Martinsville City Public Schools) policy, we do not comment on student disciplinary matters.

Henry County Chief Deputy Wayne Davis said he had looked into the incident and confirmed that deputies from his office responded to assist, but because the incident occurred within the city limits, he would defer any comments to the Martinsville Police Department.

Rhoads would not speculate on whether any additional arrests might occur, but did say the investigation was continuing and encouraged anyone with information to contact the Martinsville Police Department.
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ROCKY MOUNT  Franklin County Public Schools were closed Monday following a ransomware attack that is still impacting the school division.

According to a statement from schools Superintendent Bernice Cobbs, the decision was made to cancel classes Monday in the interest of on-campus security as the impact of the cyberattack was being reviewed. Proactive measures taken by the school system included taking certain systems offline.

Like many other organizations across the country, Franklin County Public Schools became the victim of a ransomware incident, Cobbs said in a statement. Immediately upon detection, we began an internal investigation and engaged third-party experts to assist in our remediation efforts. Fortunately, through this teams quick response, we were able to stop the progress of the attack.

Students and teachers returned to classes on Tuesday.

Cobbs said Franklin County Public Schools is currently working with local and national law enforcement in the process, including the FBI and Virginia State Police.

The FBIs Internet Crime Complaints Center defines ransomware as a type of malicious software, also known as malware, that encrypts data on a computer, making it inaccessible to its owner until a ransom is paid. Cyber-criminals also sometimes steal data off a system and hold it hostage for payment.

This is not the first cyberattack on a local government in the Roanoke and New River valleys. In fall 2017, a malware attack halted email, phone and computer networks in Roanoke City Public Schools for several days. In fall 2018, a phishing attack compromised email accounts in the town of Christiansburg, resulting in the town to offer free credit monitoring to more than 900 people.

Nationally, the FBI reported in March in its 2022 Internet Crime Report that more than 2,300 ransomware attacks were reported in 2022, with adjusted losses of $34.3 million. Among critical infrastructure sectors hit by ransomware attacks, health care and public health agencies were the most frequent targets, followed by the critical manufacturing sector, with government agencies, such as the Franklin County Public Schools, third.

Over the weekend The Philadelphia Inquirer was unable to publish its Sunday newspaper after a cyberattack compromised its content management system, the Associated Press reported. It was the biggest disruption to the newspapers operations since a massive snowstorm 27 years ago.
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McDowell Technical Community College proudly announced highlights on Tuesday from the colleges annual graduation held Friday, May 12, at Nebo Crossing in Marion. For the second year in a row, student success set new records for the Class of 2023.

Recording-breaking student success

Approximately 293 graduates completed degrees and other credentials in 2023 for a total 363 degrees, diplomas and certificates. Around 68 students will complete credentials by the end of the summer 2023 semester for a total of at least 361 graduates.

These numbers topped last years record-breaking numbers by more than 20 students. Over the previous decade, the highest total before last year was 246 graduates during the 2018-19 academic year. From 2012 through 2021, the average class size was 227.

We are defying the odds at McDowell Tech, and students are graduating at a record pace. We are making great strides to prepare students to enter the workforce or continue at a senior institution, said Dr. Brian S. Merritt, MTCC president. Our efforts to proactively recruit and retain students are reaping great rewards for student success. With such low unemployment rates locally, regionally and nationally, we would expect to see our numbers declining significantly. However, that is just the opposite  students are excelling.

The colleges Adult High School saw 29 students receiving adult high school diplomas and another 18 students receiving their high school equivalency certificate. These numbers represent an increase of more than 15 students over last years record-breaking totals as well. Some of these students will continue their education at the college level while others will enter the workforce in jobs they might previously have not qualified for due to not having one of these credentials.

Across the North Carolina Community College System, it is a common trend that students working toward degrees stop-out before completing an associate degree and do not realize they have the credits to be awarded a certificate or diploma. Finish First NC, a program pioneered by Wake Tech in Raleigh, provides a data tool that is helping MTCCs faculty and staff recognize and contact these students and work with them to receive their certificate or diploma.

Inspiring commencement addresses

Dr. Susan Mims, CEO of Dogwood Health Trust, delivered this years keynote address to the Class of 2023. Mims has two sons who attended North Carolina community colleges, and she expressed support and admiration for the mission of the N.C. Community College System, as well as the value it brings to both students and local communities.

Mims focused her remarks on curiosity. Curiosity, she said, is at the heart of learning and motivation to learn. She recounted curious questions her children asked as youngsters, and during her career as a pediatrician, and how those questions and others like them were the beginning of their desire to see, know and experience more about life.

She encouraged graduates to maintain their sense of wonder and curiosity as they begin their post-graduation journeys, whether in furtherance of their career goals or additional higher education.

Student Government President Jose Rico Martinez, himself a member of the graduating class, also delivered special remarks to his fellow classmates, encouraging them to follow their dreams. He delivered his remarks in both English and Spanish, another first for the college. His leadership style this year as SGA president was described as very inclusive, and he encouraged his classmates to share these values as they ventured out in the world.

Special tributes

During the commencement ceremony, Valerie Dobson, chief academic officer, recognized two longtime MTCC instructors who will be retiring before the start of the fall semester: Andy Morgan, who taught a variety of courses over the years, ranging from physical education and nutrition to academic success classes, will retire later this summer, and Blake Madden, longtime photography instructor, is retiring this month. Dobson thanked each of them for their service and dedication to providing quality instruction to students and graduates.

A few things are certain, said Merritt. McDowell Tech will continue to promote workforce development in all that we do; we will continue to provide equitable access to higher education; and, we will always find innovative approaches to put students into the workforce to find good careers that earn a good wage. Our trustees and administration are proud of our students, faculty, and staff, for their unprecedented efforts in the face of adversity. We have learned a lot about ourselves this year and will continue to evolve and grow.

To see more photos from the graduation ceremony, visit https://mcdowelltech.edu/graduation-ceremony-2023/.
The US has once again reaffirmed its position regarding Moroccos sovereignty over the Sahara remains unchanged, three years after outgoing President Donald Trump issued a presidential proclamation recognizing Moroccos rule over the territory and supporting its autonomy plan as a political solution.

There is no change in the U.S. position on this matter. We continue to view Moroccos autonomy plan as serious, as credible, as realistic, Vedant Patel, principal deputy spokesperson for the US department of State told reporters.

we also fully support UN Personal Envoy of the Secretary-General Staffan de Mistura as he intensifies the UN process on Western Sahara toward an enduring and dignified political solution, he said.

Patel was answering a question on the issue after US state secretary Anthony Blenkens talks with Moroccos foreign minister Nasser Bourita.

The US has with Morocco its longest unbroken treaty. Morocco has a free trade agreement with the US and has been a major non-Nato ally for Washington as the two countries are bound by a strategic military cooperation running until 2030.
The Central African Republic (CAR) and Chad are conducting joint military campaign in north of CAR to weed out bandits sowing insecurity, reports say.

The campaign which kicked off on May 14 is conducted in Paoua sub-prefecture, Chadian Defense minister General Daoud Yaya Brahima was quoted by the media as saying.

A dozen of bandits have been killed and 23 others have been arrested as part of the campaign.

Yaya Brahima indicated that joint military action has been launched after several attacks by the bandits in the province of Eastern Logone, in southern Chad, where they caused numerous civilian casualties and looted livestock.

The Chadian official indicated that the campaign will head on till the elimination of all bandits.
The Forum of Mozambican Associations of People with Disabilities complains of exclusion in the voter registration process because of the placement of registration posts in places of difficult access.

We cannot say that people with disabilities have the same right to participate in the political life of the country if we continue to place registration posts in places like these, said the executive director of the Forum of Mozambican Associations of People with Disabilities (FAMOD), Clodoaldo Castiano, during a visit to some locations in Maputo.

The installation of registration posts in places with several stairs or physical obstacles is one of the most frequent examples. As long as we do not look at people with disabilities, this process will continue to be quite discriminatory, he added, quoted by the Mozambique Information Agency (AIM). In the face of complaints, the National Elections Commission (CNE) has called on the Technical Secretariat for Electoral Administration (STAE) to correct the problems, so that everyone is able to reach the voter registration posts.

The voter registration began on April 20 and ends on June 3, with the expectation of registering about 10 million voters out of an estimated total population of about 32 million. Mozambique begins a new electoral cycle this year, with the holding of municipal elections on October 11, followed by general elections in 2024 (presidential, legislative, and provincial).
The Angolan National Teachers Union (Sinprof) is threatening to go back on strike over the governments failure to apply a 12.5% subsidy, which should have been implemented in March, but so far has not taken effect.

According to the secretary-general of Sinprof, Admar Jinguma, the provincial secretaries will meet in the next few days to decide the course of action in June, if by the payment of the May salary the subsidy is not effective.

Because we certainly wont wait any longer, Admar Jinguma said. The union leader stressed that the parties met in December of last year and January of this year, with the Governments commitment to implement the new pedagogical innovation allowance of 12.5%, with immediate effectiveness in March.

the leader of Sinprof referred that, at the time, the executive team constituted by the Ministries of Education, Labor and Finance, said that the subsidy would be implemented immediately, dispensing with the bureaucratic formalities, which would only be seen a posteriori, when the alteration of the remuneration statute for education agents was being dealt with.

Admar Jinguma stressed that after the decree was approved by the Council of Ministers in April, it has yet to be published in the Official Journal, almost a month later.

We dont understand how the decree that refers to the materialization of a commitment, assumed above in the negotiation table for implementation in March, a commitment assumed five months ago and until now there is no light for its implementation, he added. According to Admar Jinguma, the teachers have already noticed that in the correction sheets, May salary sheets, the new subsidy hastily arranged by the executive still doesnt appear.

Jinguma noted that the teachers claimed a 22% pedagogical innovation allowance, but the executive arguing that it cannot afford it, made a fix by inventing a new allowance that it decided to call an attendance premium, he said 12.5%, which is taking forever to implement. The teacher pointed out that they have been waiting for five months, remembering that a moratorium was granted on December 24, 2022, leading to the non-effectuation of the third phase of the strike, scheduled for January 3rd of this year.
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For families of children with disabilities, collaboration with a physical therapist can be a lifelong partnership in which the therapist helps families advocate for what their child needs. Credit: Kristina Igumnova26 / Shutterstock

Pediatric physical therapists are movement experts spanning development from infant to adulthood, but how do parents know if physical therapy can help their child?

There are many reasons why a child may need to see a physical therapist, but the most common settings include early intervention to promote development, school-based therapy, in-patient services in a hospital or rehabilitation center, and outpatient services in a home.

"Often, we see children who have been given a medical diagnosis known to present challenges in overall development, specifically gross motor skills, and have been referred to a pediatric physical therapist," says Tawna Wilkinson, clinical associate professor and director of curriculum and assessment for Tufts University School of Medicine's Doctor of Physical Therapy program in Phoenix, Arizona. "Or, a child may not have a diagnosis, but the parents are concerned that development may not be typical, so they'll come to us for screenings."

Pediatric physical therapists participate in interdisciplinary teams, collaborating with pediatricians, other health care providers, and families, to provide family-centered care. In many cases, health insurance allows individuals to go to a physical therapist without a referral from their primary care physician.

If physical therapy is new territory for a family, they may not know what to expect from appointments, home exercises, or the setting of goals. Three pediatric physical therapists from the Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) Programs at Tufts University School of Medicine shared with Tufts Now the things they most want parents, caregivers, and children to know.

1. Physical therapists are movement experts, but parents are experts on their kids.

"Caregivers and parents have an intimate understanding of their child's development, and physical therapists take seriously the concerns that people caring for children have," says Jennifer Parent-Nichols, clinical associate professor, associate program director, and director of student affairs in the DPT-Boston program. "A simple screening or conversation with a pediatric physical therapist may be helpful to understand if there's reason to be concerned."

Early intervention from birth to age 3 has the greatest impact to help correct movement that could be refined or more efficient for the child, Parent-Nichols says, and waiting longer could make recovery more challenging.

"Kids are motivated to move," says Parent-Nichols. "If we wait to intervene, kids will find a way to move that may interfere with future movement, because they want to explore their environment. Exploring their environment is how they learn."

In the DPT program, students learn that pediatric physical therapy is family-centered care and an example of a therapeutic alliance, which means listening to parents or guardians (and the child, if they're old enough to participate) and other caregivers to understand what the challenges are and what success looks like for them. Families are typically present during pediatric PT appointments, which helps them understand the homework or care assignments that a child receives. They are encouraged to be hands-on and mimic what the physical therapist does to try it out and understand what works best.

"We aim to create a significant partnership between physical therapists, families, and children," says Parent-Nichols. "I could be the best therapist in the whole world, but the few times I see a patient each week isn't what makes the difference. It's what happens between those appointments with the family interacting with their child that makes the difference."

2. With young children, PT sessions look like play, but they are goal oriented.

"The pure joyfulness that comes from being a pediatric physical therapist is the creativity and avenues you can take in order to make it play while still focusing on and harnessing goal-oriented behaviors," says Wilkinson.

Pediatric physical therapists spend a lot of time thinking about the setup of the physical therapy environment, such as how to keep children engaged, what toys to use, and how to pivot if something isn't workingsomething Wilkinson says is both a challenge and an art form.

"We have to develop a sense of how much we can encourage and push a child before we lose their engagement in the session, which can be different week to week with the same child," Wilkinson says.

Parent-Nichols says it can be hard to prepare for such unpredictability, and that's why she talks to her students about flexibility and preparing not only plan B but also plans C, D, and E. It's their responsibility as therapists to meet a child where they are, even if that changes within or between sessions.

Goal writing is a big focus for DPT students. Goals for a patient should be understandable, meaningful, and relatable to everyone at the table. Therapists understand that families have busy lives and therapy needs to fit into that as seamlessly as possible, the Tufts experts agree. They try to leverage what's already happening in a patient's day so that therapy feels like a natural occurrence rather than another thing to do.

"We develop strategies with the students around motivational interviewing, which is trying to understand where a person is and what a person needs and how the therapist can be helpful in taking the next step forward," says Parent-Nichols. "We consistently question ourselves, 'Am I getting what I want from each intervention?' And if not, we need to adjust what we're doing."

3. Pediatric physical therapists are part of school communities.



Physical therapy at school typically falls under the umbrella of an Individualized Education Program, or IEP, which are created collaboratively by educators and parents. Children with disabilities and special needs can qualify to receive school-based services, such as physical therapy, which are provided by the school district.

"School is being with your peers, learning, having fun, and participating. These services level the playing field," says Amy Schlessman, assistant professor for the DPT-Phoenix program, who has focused her career on school-based physical therapy. "My goal is to make sure children can play and learn with their friends, and determine what adaptations need to be made in their environment for that to happen."

For instance, perhaps a child has trouble sitting upright, which prevents them from participating in their educational environment. That child's IEP may include physical therapy goals that aim to help them achieve their educational goals.

Physical therapists also are proponents of movement for all students, Schlessman says, and they often advocate for physical activity to be embedded in the school day, citing an ever-growing body of research that shows benefits for health and academic aptitude.

"We can combine movement with the academic curriculum," she says. "For example, in math, roll two dice and have students do addition, subtraction, or multiplication to come up with an answer and do an action that number of times. For language arts, 'Everybody Wins Musical Chairs' is great. Give every child a word and write the definitions on cards. When the music stops, the kids have to find the chair with the word's definition and sit in the seat."

4. Treating children also means treating the family.

Development is an overlay that doesn't exist for adults, explains Parent-Nichols. Pediatric physical therapists must understand not only gross motor development, but also cognitive and social emotional development from childhood to adulthood.

As children grow and mature, therapy sessions tend to change in different ways. There may not be as much play, there may be more verbal instructions, and there may be more choices.

"I enjoy giving choices, which allow the child and the parents to maintain some control when they otherwise might feel they have none," says Wilkinson. "Especially if families are navigating a new norm, such as an incident that caused a dramatic change in their child's development."

Another overlay that pediatric physical therapists encounter with patients is grief.

"When a child isn't developing in the way a family was expecting, there's a level of grief that comes with that," says Parent-Nichols. "Parents may think their baby's life is going to be certain way, but instead, they're dealing with significant challenges. It's not just about providing therapy to the child, but also providing support to the family."

5. They advocate for children and help parents do the same.

For some families, collaboration with a physical therapist can be a lifelong partnership in which the therapist helps families advocate for what their child needs and for who they want to be.

"That's incredibly important, because sometimes children and families feel like they have no voice. They have so many things done to them and told to them," says Parent-Nichols. "It can be empowering for parents and eventually the children to say, 'I have a choice in this. Here's what I need, and here's how we're going to go about it.'"

"Advocacy goes hand in hand with empowering families," says Wilkinson, who spent much of her career in hospital-based and home health-based environments. "There's a lot to navigate but directing them to available resources can help. I've even attended a physician appointment with a family to demonstrate a higher level of advocacy that could be built upon by the family."
Law enforcement personnel hold candles during a vigil to honor the law enforcement officers who lost their lives in 2022, during National Police Week at the National Mall in Washington on May 13, 2023. (Jose Luis Magana/AP)

This week, tens of thousands of police officers, deputies, troopers and agents are gathering in our nations capital to commemorate Police Week and honor those who have made the ultimate sacrifice. This year, 556 names have been etched into the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Wall, a solemn reminder of the real dangers our nations law enforcement officers face every day.

Violent crime in our communities affects all of us, and the danger lands heavily on the shoulders of law enforcement officers who bravely run toward gunfire. Over the last decade, many police departments, sheriffs offices and federal law enforcement agencies have faced a sharp decline in recruitment and retention, all while the destructive capacity of weapons in the hands of violent criminals has grown. Fewer officers are facing greater gunfire.

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The Officer Down Memorial Page reports that last year, 64 officers were killed by gunfire. So far this year, 19 officers have died. These brave men and women risk their lives every day. And they are increasingly outgunned by the weaponry they face.

Look at just a few examples. In Houston in September 2021, one officer was killed and another injured while executing a search warrant. The suspect opened fire with a pistol that had been illegally converted to a machine gun.

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[ Laura Washington: Illinois assault weapons ban is a huge win  but it wont fix Chicagos violence ]

In January, a police chief in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, was fatally shot in the head during the pursuit of a suspect wanted on a probation violation. Law enforcement officers recovered five firearms from the deceased suspect, including one illegally modified to fire as a machine gun. In January 2022, three Houston police officers were injured in a shootout with a man whose pistol had also been illegally converted to fire as a fully automatic.

Owning new machine guns has been illegal for decades in the United States. Conversion devices, which go by many names, including glock switches or auto sears, and items sometimes known as forced reset triggers, can turn a legal firearm into an illegal fully automatic weapon capable of firing as many as 800 or more bullets per minute.

Yet, every law enforcement leader with whom I speak warns that machine gun conversion devices are everywhere. The numbers back that up: A recent report by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives shows that the number of conversion devices that law enforcement reported recovering increased by 570% between 2017 and 2021.

When conversion devices are attached to a pistol or a rifle, they also become difficult to control when firing, potentially resulting in more random loss of life for civilians as well. And when these devices are combined with high-capacity magazines  which most states do not restrict  a conversion device can help someone create a massive killing machine in moments.

For the ATF, addressing this issue is a priority. Together with other components of the Department of Justice, we are enforcing current laws to take illegal machine guns off the street, where they are a threat to law enforcement personnel and civilians.

Recently, a federal judge temporarily enjoined a seller of machine gun conversion devices from selling products that the ATF had told the manufacturer were illegal. Following apprehensions of illegal machine guns, prosecutors are bringing cases and seeking stiff penalties for illegally making and possessing machine guns, including in a Mississippi case in which a federal judge just imposed a 14-year prison sentence on a man who was 3D-printing conversion devices.

The current proliferation of conversions devices to circumvent the law not only endangers the public but also jeopardizes the lives of our nations law enforcement officers who are risking their lives for us.

[ Editorial: The slaying of Chicago police Officer Areanah Preston is getting far too little attention ]

While we pay our respects to the fallen this week, lets also honor their colleagues, who continue to risk their lives even after losing their friends and partners. And lets recognize all those in law enforcement who bear witness to the horrors of gun violence. Remember the officers, deputies, troopers and agents who respond to a movie theater, mall or church where multiple people have been gunned down; the cops who run into an elementary school, while taking gunfire, to find children brutally killed. The police risk their lives every day on the streets of this nation  mostly out of the spotlight. They deserve our constant thanks.

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Better yet, lets not just honor and recognize them  lets also do better at protecting them. By honoring them, we encourage more young people to join this honorable profession. By protecting them from machine-gun fire, we make sure that they will have long and safer careers doing good for the benefit of our communities and our nation.

Steven Dettelbach is director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

Submit a letter, of no more than 400 words, to the editor here or email letters@chicagotribune.com.
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Phenotypic effect () of the number of sexual partners on the number of children in OSB individuals in each of the eight 5-y cohorts. Error bar represents the SE. Credit: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2023). DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2303418120

Evolution depends on genes being passed down through the generations via reproduction, and same-sex sexual behavior does not result in offspring.

So why haven't the many genes associated with same-sex sexual behavior, known as SSB-associated genes, been purged from the human genome over time? It's a question that has perplexed scientists for decades, one that's explored anew in a Brief Report published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences by two University of Michigan biologists.

One possible explanation for the persistence of SSB-associated genes is that they have more than one function, a concept called pleiotropy. Perhaps SSB-associated genes are advantageous to heterosexuals in some way, helping them to have more children.

Support for this idea includes a 2021 Nature Human Behaviour study by University of Queensland biologist Brendan Zietsch and colleagues. They presented evidence that heterosexuals carrying SSB-associated genes have more sexual partners than those not carrying the genes. This could confer an evolutionary advantage, because more sexual partners could translate into more children, according to the Zietsch et al study.

"We were very intrigued by Zietsch et al's paper and immediately thought that the mechanism they proposed is unlikely to work in modern societies due to contraception," said Jianzhi Zhang, a professor in the U-M Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology.

In the Brief Report published online May 15 in PNAS, Zhang and U-M graduate student Siliang Song conclude that the mechanism for SSB's genetic maintenance proposed by Zietsch and others has been lost in modern societies.

Since the widespread availability of oral contraceptives in the 1960s, having more sexual partners no longer predicts that an individual will have more offspring, according to the analysis by Zhang and Song.

In fact, the U-M researchersusing data from more than 300,000 individuals of European ancestry in the United Kingdom's Biobank database of genetic and health informationfound the opposite to be true.

Since the 1960s, the correlation between the number of sexual partners and the number of children in heterosexuals switched from positive to negative. That means same sex-associated genes, formally known as SSB-associated alleles, are now linked to fewer children rather than more children, according to the study.

"If the primary mechanism responsible for the past evolutionary maintenance of human SSB-associated alleles was their offering of reproductive benefits to OSB [opposite-sex sexual behavior] individuals via boosting their number of sexual partners, this mechanism is no longer at work in modern societies and probably has been gone for at least a half century due to the widespread use of contraception," the authors wrote.

"We were awed by the drastic impact of technological advancement on human evolution itself," Zhang said. "We were surprised by the clear reversion in the sign of the correlation before and after the wide availability of oral contraceptives in the U.K."

Zhang and Song suggest that SSB-associated genespast studies showed that the behavior is influenced by many genes, each with a small effectwill gradually decline in frequency, unless a new mechanism arises to maintain them in the human genome.

But the authors stress that they're talking exclusively about the genetic variants associated with same-sex sexual behavior and not the behavior itself, which is affected by both genetic and environmental factors.

In fact, the proportion of U.K. Biobank participants reporting same-sex sexual behavior has been on the rise in recent decades, likely due to growing societal openness toward it, according to the authors.

The scientific and statistical techniques used in the study by Song and Zhang include genome-wide association analysis, genetic correlation and phenotypic regression.

A substantial increase in contraception took place in the U.K. after oral contraceptives became available to married and unmarried women in 1961 and 1967, respectively. To more specifically evaluate the potential role of contraception in their findings, U-M researchers divided the Biobank data into subgroups based on the self-reported year in which each participant first had sex.

They found a positive correlation between SSB-associated genes and the number of children in the sub-group from 1950 to 1959, supporting the previously proposed mechanism for the maintenance of those genes prior to the widespread use of oral contraceptives. But the genetic correlation between SSB-associated genes and the number of children turned negative in the 1960s, according to the authors.

"SSB-associated alleles are overall reproductively detrimental in the contemporary British population and have a combined effect of lowering the number of children," Song said.

The authors caution that their results are based on British people of European ancestry and may not represent a general pattern across populations with diverse cultural, social, economic and/or political environments.
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Credit: Radiology (2023). DOI: 10.1148/radiol.222786

Researchers at National Jewish Health evaluating computerized tomography (CT) scans of emphysema progression in the COPDGene study showed that, during a span of 10 years, participants with pre-existing emphysema who continued smoking had the largest decline in adjusted lung density (ALD). The lung density decline was notably worse in current smokers compared with former smokers.

The study is significant because reliably measuring changes in emphysema over time has always been challenging, due in part to differences in CT equipment technology and imaging parameters across institutions. The study, which was published in April in the journal Radiology, accounts for many of the sources of variability.

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) affects an estimated 5% of the population and is the fourth most common cause of death in the United States. COPDGene is one of the largest studies ever to investigate the underlying genetic factors of COPD. With the use of CT scans, COPDGene has been seeking to better classify COPD and increase understanding of how the disease may differ from person to person. Emphysema is one of the diseases that comprises COPD.

"Using CT, we were able to show that emphysema progresses significantly faster in patients with existing emphysema and who continue to smoke," said David Lynch, MB, radiologist and senior author on the research. "This is also impactful in that we were able to use CT scans to identify the progression of emphysema over time, while adjusting for multiple sources of variation."

Between 2008 and 2011, over 10,000 cigarette smokers with and without COPD were enrolled in the study at 21 centers across the U.S. Participants underwent baseline evaluation and returned for a 5-year and 10-year follow-up. Emphysema progression was modeled using ALD based on quantitative CT. Emphysema progression was greatest in current smokers who had more than trace emphysema at the beginning baseline.

"Among patients with pre-existing emphysema, the difference in the rate of emphysema progression between current and former smokers shows the need for smoking cessation," said David Baraghoshi, MSTAT, research assistant in the Division of Biostatistics and Bioinformatics at National Jewish Health, and first author on the research.

More information: David Baraghoshi et al, Quantitative CT Evaluation of Emphysema Progression over 10 Years in the COPDGene Study, Radiology (2023). DOI: 10.1148/radiol.222786 Journal information: Radiology
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Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain

First-generation bioresorbable vascular scaffolds (BVS) may be just as effective as drug-eluting metallic stents, which are currently the standard treatment for heart disease patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI).

These are significant findings from a global clinical trial led by a researcher from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. The work could lead to advancements and improvements in new BVS technology and future clinical use among interventional cardiologists across the United States.

This multi-center trial is the largest trial to examine the long-term safety and effectiveness of PCI using Abbott's "Absorb BVS," a novel stent made of absorbable polymer (plastic-like material).. It shows this treatment option, when properly implanted, may lead to long-term outcomes for heart disease patients that are similar to conventional treatment with metallic drug-eluting stents.

The five-year results from the "ABSORB IV" trial were announced Wednesday, May 17, in a Late Breaking Clinical Trials/Hotline session at the EuroPCR meeting in Paris, the official annual meeting of the European Association of Percutaneous Cardiovascular Interventions (EAPCI), and simultaneously published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

"In this study, the largest ever of BVS in patients with coronary artery disease, the absorbable scaffold, when implanted with optimal technique, resulted in similar five-year rates of patient-oriented adverse events, quality of life, and recurrent angina as the standard metallic drug-eluting stent," says lead author Gregg W. Stone, MD, Director of Academic Affairs for the Mount Sinai Health System and Professor of Medicine (Cardiology), and Population Health Science and Policy, at Icahn Mount Sinai.

"Some adverse events with this thick strut first-generation scaffold were more common within the first three years, prior to its complete bioresorption. Thereafter, event rates were nearly identical with BVS and metallic stents. The early excess risk could likely be eliminated with an improved thinner next-generation scaffold and its implantation with intravascular imaging guidance, affording long-term restoration of the coronary artery to its original native state without a permanent implant."

Dr. Stone adds, "There is a real desire among patients and their doctors for an absorbable stent which is present early while it is needed and then completely disappears. The favorable long-term results from this study emphasize the fact that this novel technology, which was voluntarily withdrawn from the market by the manufacturer due to lower than expected market adoption, should not be abandoned."

Patients with coronary artery diseaseplaque buildup inside the arteries that leads to chest pain, shortness of breath, and heart attackoften undergo PCI, a non-surgical procedure in which interventional cardiologists use a catheter to place stents in the blocked coronary arteries to restore blood flow.

The standard treatment uses a metallic drug-eluting stent, and the permanent metallic implant effectively opens the artery. However, the permanent metallic cage may be responsible for the roughly 2 percent per year rate of adverse events that arise from the lesion every year for the life of the patient. Some of these events, known as stent thrombosis events, can cause a fatal heart attack in about 20 percent of cases.

For decades, manufacturers have been working on BVS made of a polymer (a type of plastic) as an alternative. These scaffolds open the blocked artery and then over a three-year period are safely absorbed into the bloodstream, where they are metabolized into carbon dioxide and water. The Food and Drug Administration approved Abbott's "Absorb BVS" in 2016the most widely used device of its kindbut the company voluntarily stopped manufacturing and sales.

The ABSORB IV clinical trial compared Abbott's polymeric everolimus-eluting BVS, implanted with improved technique compared to prior studies, with Abbott's cobalt chromium everolimus-eluting stents (CoCr-EES) to compare safety and outcomes over the course of five years following the procedure. Researchers randomized 2,604 patients at 147 sites with stable or acute coronary syndromes to receive either BVS with improved technique or CoCr-EES. Patients did not know which stent they received.

At the five-year mark, 17.5 percent of patients with BVS had target lesion failure (cardiac death, heart attack, or repeat intervention linked to the treated device or vessel), compared with 14.5 percent of patients treated with metallic stentsa 3 percent difference. Twenty-one BVS patients had thrombosis (blood clot) linked to the device, compared with 13 metallic stent patients, a 62 percent difference.

The risk period for increased cardiac events was within the first three years, before the complete scaffold was absorbed into the bloodstream, but the rates of these cardiac events were similar between both groups from three to five years after implantation.

At five years, there was no significant difference between the two groups in death or overall cardiac events, both groups had a similar quality of life (which was measured continually through the five year study period with the Seattle Angina Questionnaire (SAQ)-7 and the EuroQOL-5D Visual Analog Scale (EQ-5D VAS)) and there was no difference in chest pain symptoms.

A unique aspect of the study involved an in-depth look at recurring anginachest painthat is often the reason that patients undergo stent implantation. Around 5 to 8 percent of PCI patients typically report this symptom to their cardiologist at any given follow-up time. However, in this trial, researchers had patients in both groups answer detailed questions to characterize their chest pain symptoms continuously for up for five years post-PCI.

The descriptions of these symptoms were reviewed by an independent committee to determine whether they were truly angina. This analysis showed 53 percent of patients in both groups (BVS and metallic stent) had recurring angina at some point within five years. This rate, much higher than previously appreciated, may give new insights into the burden of angina on patients and raises questions about the causes of angina.

"The fact than angina recurred so frequently was unexpected, and much higher than we would have anticipated given the fact that the patients and lesions treated in this study were not overly complex. This suggests that there may be causes of angina other than obstructive epicardial coronary artery disease, such as microvascular disease and vasospasm, that require different treatments than stents if we are to further improve patient's symptoms," says Dr. Stone.

More information: Gregg W. Stone et al, Five-Year Clinical Outcomes After Coronary Bioresorbable Scaffolds and Drug-Eluting Stents: The ABSORB IV Randomized Trial, Journal of the American College of Cardiology (2023). DOI: 10.1016/j.jacc.2023.05.003 Journal information: Journal of the American College of Cardiology
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Credit: Monash University

Sexual and gender minority (SGM) is an umbrella term for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, queer, and other sexually (LGBTIQ+) and gender-diverse people. The two examples above depict the struggle faced by the SGM people in Asia.

Besides criminalization and erasure in their daily lives, SGM people also have limited access to basic rights such as education and health.

To reflect on these life challenges and the diversity of sexual orientations, gender identities or expressions, and sex characteristics, the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia, and Biphobia (IDAHOBIT) was established in 2004, and is celebrated on 17 May.

It's consistently found that the SGM populations face more challenges when it comes to mental health than their cisgender and heterosexual peers.

Stigma, discrimination, and marginalization experienced by SGM individuals can lead to increased rates of depression, anxiety, and suicide. These experiences are called minority stresses, and ethnicity could play a role in exacerbating them, with Asian SGM people reporting higher depressive symptoms compared with white SGM people.

One psychotherapy does not fit for all

While various interventions exist to address emotional problems, few have been tailored to meet the unique cultural stressors experienced by SGM individuals, particularly in the global south like Asia, as they can also face oppression from government and society.

They have to live with systemic barriers on a daily basis, which endangers their lives. Therefore, a cultural adaptation of psychological interventions is needed to make these interventions effectively serve diverse cultural groups.

Dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) is one approach that holds promise for adapting to the unique stressors of the SGM populations. DBT emphasizes the teaching of skills to manage emotions, improve relationships, and reduce emotional reactivity.

The approach has shown promise in addressing a range of mental health concerns in the general population, including depression, anxiety, and borderline personality disorder.

This therapy has also been reported to decrease emotion dysregulation and symptoms of depression among sexual-minority veterans in the US. However, as far as we know, the DBT has not been adapted for SGM populations in Asia.

Our research group, the Mindfulness and Health Lab@Monash led by Associate Professor Shian-Ling Keng, recently piloted a trial in Malaysia to examine the effectiveness of a six-session LGBT-affirmative online DBT skills group.

Seventeen LGBT adults with elevated depressive symptoms were recruited through social media and local advocacy organizations.

This adaptation therapy was culturally designed to reduce depressive symptoms and emotion dysregulation in LGBT adults. Our culturally-adapted online DBT intervention, which incorporated LGBT-specific stressors based on Minority Stress Theory, taught the participants mindfulness, emotion regulation, and distress tolerance skills.

Promising results of the adapted psychological therapy

Participants reported significant decreases in depressive symptoms, stress, borderline personality disorder symptoms, emotion dysregulation, and distress due to heterosexist experiences following the DBT skills training.

Additionally, there were significant increases in self-compassion and subjective well-being following the intervention.

These findings demonstrate the potential benefits of LGBT-affirmative DBT skills training in improving psychological health among LGBT individuals in the Malaysian context.

The importance of adapting evidence-based interventions to address the unique needs of marginalized communities cannot be overstated.

The results of this pilot trial suggest that incorporating LGBT-specific stressors into traditional interventions such as DBT may be an effective approach to improving mental health outcomes among SGM individuals. This is especially critical in regions such as the global south where SGM individuals may face greater stigma and discrimination.

Beyond Malaysia, and additional challenges

While our study is the first to evaluate the potential benefits of LGBT-affirmative DBT skills training in the Malaysian context, the approach could also be adapted to other countries in Asia.

For instance, in countries where homosexuality is still illegal, SGM individuals face significant stigma and discrimination every day. The development of LGBTIQ-affirmative DBT skills training could provide a much-needed source of support for this community.

However, adapting DBT for SGM individuals in Asia would require consideration of local cultural and social factors.

In many Asian cultures, family plays a central role in mental health, and traditional approaches to therapy may involve the family in treatment, to improve family support and acceptance.

Another challenge to providing mental health services to SGM individuals in Asia is a lack of training and awareness among mental health professionals.

Many health providers may not have experience working with SGM individuals, or may hold stigmatizing attitudes towards this population.

Training mental health professionals in LGBTIQ-affirmative care and adapting existing interventions such as DBT to address the unique needs of this community can help to overcome these challenges.
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Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain

Scientists say tonsil removal is both cost- and clinically effective for adults who get recurrent severe sore throats.

The biggest study of its kind, carried out by Newcastle University, has revealed that patients who had a tonsillectomy had 50% fewer sore throats over two years, compared to patients who did not undergo tonsillectomy. The work is published in The Lancet.

Experts also found that a tonsillectomy for those aged 16 years and over was cost-effective in comparison to treatment with painkillers and ad hoc antibiotics.

Tonsillectomy assurance

A tonsillectomy, cutting out the two lumps of lymphoid tissue found at either side of the back of the throat, is an operation that has been widely used to improve the quality of life for patients. However, in recent years, fewer adult tonsillectomies have been reportedly carried out on NHS patients.

Dr. James O'Hara, Clinical Senior Lecturer at Newcastle University and Consultant Ear, Nose and Throat surgeon at Newcastle Upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, said, "Tonsillectomy has been branded as an 'intervention of limited clinical value' due to a lack of studies to support the operation.

"Over the last 20 years, the number of tonsillectomies being performed in the UK has halved whilst hospital admissions for complicated tonsillitis have more than doubled. There has been variation across the UK in referrals from primary care for tonsillitis, with some patients having to experience three times the recommended number of episodes before being referred for a tonsillectomy.

"Our research should level the threshold for referral for this problem, and clinicians can now be assured that tonsillectomy is effective for those who suffer with recurrent tonsillitis."

In the study, commissioned by the NIHR, almost 500 patients were randomized to either early tonsillectomy or given treatment such as painkillers and antibiotics.

Participants were only recruited if they met the current national guidance for offering tonsillectomyseven episodes of tonsillitis in a year, five per year for two years, or three episodes for three years.

Those in the clinical trial who underwent the operation suffered half the number of days with sore throats over the following two years, including the two weeks of sore throats following the procedure.

Cost-effective procedure

The Newcastle-led research also showed that it is more cost-effective for the NHS to offer tonsillectomy to eligible patients than to treat them by other conventional methods.

Dr. O'Hara said, "Whilst we now know that tonsillectomy is effective, patients still need to weigh up the potential benefits in reducing longer-term sore throats with 14 days of pain following the operation. There is also a risk of one in five patients bleeding following the operation, with some having to return to hospital. Further research is needed to improve the tonsillectomy operation to make it less painful and reduce the risk of bleeding."

Professor Andrew Farmer, Director of NIHR's Health Technology Assessment Programme, said, "These new results provide important findings suggesting that tonsillectomy benefits this group of patients compared to repeated courses of antibiotics and painkillers.

"Once again, high-quality, independently-funded research is providing evidence which could improve health and social care practice and treatments."

Patient case study

Secondary school teacher Elinor Barwick was the first patient recruited to the Newcastle-led trial as her recurrent acute tonsillitis was impacting her life.

Elinor had suffered terrible sore throats for many years; however, things got significantly worse when she became a teacher as she needed to speak all the time, leaving her in a lot of pain and discomfort.

Elinor's tonsillitis often meant it was hard to swallow both liquids and food. In addition, her tonsillitis would leave her unable to speak as her throat would become extremely tight and swollen, and she would develop flu-like symptomsall of which would impact her job and quality of life.

Elinor, of Gosforth, Newcastle, was recruited to trial and was one of the participants given the tonsillectomy procedure. The mother of one said, "Recurrent tonsillitis would impact my life as it would leave me in a lot of pain, and at times, made day-to-day life very difficult. When I was asked to be part of the trial I didn't hesitate to say 'yes' because it was being led by Newcastle University and would benefit patients like myself.

"Since I have had my tonsils removed, I've not had a day off work due to tonsillitis and my quality of life has very much improved as I no longer suffer from severe sore throats. It is great that research into the importance of tonsillectomies in adults with recurrent acute tonsillitis has taken place in Newcastle to help patients like myself in the future."

More information: Janet Wilson et al, Conservative management versus tonsillectomy in adults with recurrent acute tonsillitis in the UK (NATTINA): a multicentre, open-label, randomised controlled trial, The Lancet (2023).
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Soil-transmitted helminth infections are caused by different species of parasitic worms, including whipworms, hookworms and roundworms. Worldwide, more than 1.5 billion people are infected with at least one soil-transmitted helminth, with most of the infected population living in low- and middle-income countries.

Infected people can experience symptoms like stomach pain, diarrhea and anemia, while heavy infections can lead to malnutrition, impaired growth and physical development. In severe cases, it can even cause blockages in the intestine that may require surgery.

To treat soil-transmitted helminth infections, safe drugs are available but the efficacy varies widely. The current treatments recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) are albendazole and mebendazole. However, in the case of the whipworm Trichuris trichiura, a single dose of these drugs can only cure 17% of the infected people as shown in this study. Moreover, as drug resistance is on the rise, new alternative treatments are urgently needed.

All patients cured

To fill the anthelminthic drug pipeline, Swiss TPH researchers have now tested the drug emodepside for the first time in humans infected with soil-transmitted helminths in a phase IIa study.

"In this study, Emodepside showed high cure rates for all three soil-transmitted helminths," said Emmanuel Mrimi, Ph.D. candidate and first author of the study. The lowest dose tested, 5 mg of emodepside, cured 83% of people infected with whipworm. "An increase of emodepside to 15 mg resulted in complete cure of all people. Curing people infected with whipworm has never been achieved with the current anthelminthic treatments." In addition, high efficacy was also observed against roundworm and hookworm.

"The drug has also other important characteristics. It is well tolerated and most adverse events in the trial were mild," said Mrimi. The results have been published today in the New England Journal of Medicine.

From innovation to application

Emodepside is an anthelminthic treatment used to date in veterinary medicine. "Drug repurposing is a key strategy in research for anthelminthic drug discovery and development that is neglected and underfunded," said Jennifer Keiser, Head of the Helminth Drug Development unit, "most repurposed drugs come from veterinary medicine."

Swiss TPH already tested the drug in laboratory studies. "Based on the promising results in the laboratory, we saw the potential for treating patients infected with soil-transmitted helminths," said Jennifer Keiser. That is why the drug was taken forward. "The recent results of the clinical trials are important and good news in the field of neglected tropical diseases. No new anthelminthic has been developed in the past decades. So this is a huge milestone towards controlling and eliminating soil-transmitted helminthiases."

Swiss TPH will now join forces with the life science company Bayer on the further development of the drug. "The aim is to have it approved for use in humans and to make it available to patients in need in the future," said Keiser.

Provided by Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute
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TUESDAY, May 16, 2023 (HealthDay News) -- Public health officials are urging people at risk for contracting mpox to get vaccinated, as they are concerned that a slowdown in infections since last summer may not continue.

In an official update posted Monday on its Health Alert Network, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned: "Spring and summer season in 2023 could lead to a resurgence of mpox as people gather for festivals and other events."

The CDC is investigating a cluster of mpox cases in the Chicago area. It included 12 confirmed cases and one probable case. All involved men between the ages of 24 and 46 years. Among the 13 cases, nine had received the two-dose Jynneos vaccine. Four had traveled recently to New York City, New Orleans, and Mexico.

Previous outbreaks were mostly related to international travel, but the virus spread rapidly across the world last spring through person-to-person contact. Cases disproportionately affected gay and bisexual men and transgender people, according to the CDC. The outbreak prompted a campaign for people at risk to get vaccinated. Despite breakthrough cases, vaccination can reduce infection severity, the CDC said.

Symptoms of the virus include a blister-like rash, fever, chills, swollen lymph nodes, aches, and fatigue. It can be fatal for those with weakened immune systems.

The World Health Organization last week declared that mpox was no longer a global health emergency, but that does not mean the work is over, said WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. The disease continues to affect communities in all regions, he said.
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Gov. Greg Gianforte on Wednesday signed four zoning reform bills that he said "encourage responsible, proactive housing development and protect rural areas and ag land from sprawl."

One of the bills was Senate Bill 407, sponsored by Sen. Shane Morigeau, D-Missoula.

The new law streamlines permitting for commercial and residential development by eliminating local design review by volunteer boards, reducing costs associated with permitting delays, Gianforte noted.

Morigeaus bill requires that the determination of compliance with local design review standards must be conducted by employees of the municipality and the municipality may not require review by an external board. It does not apply to historic preservation boards.

The purpose was to streamline the construction process and the design review process, which had morphed into something more burdensome, Morigeau said. This (previous design review) approval process bogs down builders. Ive been told it can increase costs on a project by 25%. This was a commonsense piece of legislation.

He also said that the bill protects the First Amendment rights of people to design their projects how they see fit. Concerns over the safety of buildings will still be upheld, he said, but aesthetic decisions will no longer require the approval of an external, volunteer board.

Morigeau said that he and other Democrats in the Legislature have been disappointed that their Republican colleagues didnt agree to proposals to provide immediate relief to renters struggling with high housing costs across Montana.

He said that many of the bills passed by the GOP-controlled Legislature will allow more housing to be built over the long-term by reducing requirements, but it will take years.

Still, Morigeau is hopeful that his bill and other zoning reform bills will make a difference eventually by increasing the number of homes available, thus driving down prices for renters and buyers.

Gianforte has said that affordable housing is the top issue in Montana.

"Zoning regulations constrict housing supply and make affordable housing less accessible, Gov. Gianforte said. Were removing these roadblocks so Montanans can better afford to live in the communities where they work while protecting our treasured wide-open spaces."

He touted the other bills he signed in a press release.

Senate Bill 382 requires local governments to reform zoning regulations to meet future housing needs. Called the Montana Land Use Planning Act, it will ostensibly provide a quicker review process for planning reviews of development proposals. The bill requires local governments to establish planning commissions, provide continuous public participation and adopt land use plans and land use maps. It also requires local governments to analyze expected population trends, take action to meet current and future housing needs and plan for environmental hazards.

After years of doing the same thing over and over, its critical we do something different, Gianforte said. Were changing our approach with the Montana Land Use Planning Act.

Senate Bill 528, carried by Sen. Greg Hertz, R-Polson, restores landowners rights to build affordable starter homes by allowing accessory dwelling units, Gianforte said.

Senate Bill 245, sponsored by Sen. Daniel Zolnikov, R-Billings, will revise Montanas zoning laws to allow multifamily housing and mixed-used development in urban areas zoned for office, retail and parking with existing sewer and water systems. It would only apply to towns and cities with a population over 7,000.

Earlier this month, the governor signed Senate Bill 323, sponsored by Sen. Jeremy Trebas, R-Great Falls, to allow duplex housing in city zoning.

Ending exclusionary zoning will increase access to starter homes, like duplexes. We got it done, Gianforte said. Montanans in every corner of our state tell me theyre concerned about the rising cost of housing. Coming together, weve delivered the most meaningful pro-housing reforms in state history, and our work for hardworking Montanans wont stop.
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Despite broad support from both sides of the aisle, a proposal by a Missoula-area lawmaker to increase the rights of mobile home park tenants was vetoed by Gov. Greg Gianforte on Tuesday.

House Bill 889, from Rep. Jonathan Karlen (D-Frenchtown/Huson), was labeled as a "mobile home tenant bill of rights."

The bill passed the GOP-controlled Legislature with a 30-20 vote in the Senate and a 68-31 vote in the House.

The governors veto made it clear that, when its time to act rather than talk, he stands with a minority of bad landlords and out-of-state corporations rather than with the tens of thousands of hardworking Montanans and senior citizens suffering from unfair and predatory practices, Karlen said in a statement. HB 889 was a compromise that I crafted with legislators of both parties and with stakeholders, who all recognize that Montanans living in mobile home parks are on the frontline of our housing crisis and deserve the same rights as other homeowners.

In his veto letter, Gianforte said he's committed to increasing Montanans' access to affordable, attainable housing, including measures that ensure the availability of rental lots for owners of mobile homes.

"House Bill 889, however, unduly increases regulation of mobile home parks, disincentivizes landlords from maintaining or increasing the inventory of mobile home rental lots, and, in general, compromises the property rights of mobile home park owners."

The bill had been opposed by the Montana Landlords Association.

Officially titled Revise the Residential Mobile Home Lot Rental Act, the bill would have banned mobile home park owners from instituting month-to-month lease agreements and instead would require year-long leases unless a month-to-month lease agreement is mutually agreed upon.

The bill would have codified that if a landlord terminates a rental agreement due to nonpayment, the tenant has 45 days to correct the issue instead of the current seven-day period. It also would have meant a landlord cannot require a resident or a resident association to obtain liability insurance in order to use common areas or facilities unless alcohol is being served. And it stipulates that a landlord may not retaliate by altering or refusing to renew an existing rental agreement, by imposing any fee, by changing park rules, by enforcing park rules in an unreasonable or non-uniform manner or by bringing or threatening to bring an action for eviction.

Cindy Newman, a resident of a trailer park in Great Falls, had testified in support of the bill. She's concerned because an out-of-state private equity firm bought her trailer court, something that's happening across Montana.

She said she was disappointed on Tuesday.

"HB 889 had been revised to the point that any fair landlord would not have a problem with it," she said. "Of the 150 legislators who debated, considered and revised this bill, 98 voted yes and 51 voted no. I did not think the governor would veto his/our Legislature's efforts. In spite of this meager attempt at fair treatment Gov. Gianforte vetoed HB 889 today. Another win for the largest, wealthiest, and most powerful economic actors, be they billionaires, corporations or both."

Gianforte said that the Montana Residential Mobile Home Lot Rental Act, which HB 889 would have revised, provides a balance between responsibilities and duties of landlords and mobile home owners. The bill, he said, would alter that balance and impose numerous additional regulations on landlords that would deter investment in new or expanded mobile home parks.

"For example, HB 889 prohibits landlords from the long-standing and currently lawful practice of considering the age of a mobile home in determining whether to allow a transfer of a lease to a new buyer to whom and existing tenant has sold the mobile home," Gianforte wrote. "If a landlord and tenant do not specifically agree upon a term of lease, HB 889 provides for a one-year lease instead of the current month-to-month lease and imposes extended notice periods before being able to terminate or modify longer leases without imposing similar notice requirements on tenants."

Gianforte also said the bill unreasonably limits a landlord's ability to change the use of a mobile home park by imposing a moratorium on termination of existing leases for a period of at lease 12 months after receiving local government approval of a proposed change of use.

"This provision encumbers the property rights of the landlord and his or her ability to use the land as he or she sees fit within the rule of law," Gianforte said.

He also said the bill unnecessarily inserts the Montana Board of Housing into mobile home parks by requiring landlords to notify the board at least one year in advance of any proposed change of use.

Hannah VanHoose, the chief of staff for the Montana House Democrats, decried the veto in a press release.

"(Gianforte's) decision lets mobile park landlords give little to no notice when they let a homeowners lot lease expire, interfere with the homeowners right to sell their home, change park rules without notice, and engage in retaliation against homeowners and resident associations, such as increasing rent or decreasing services in the mobile park," she wrote.
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Creatives Indigenous by Native Max, an organization that aims to empower Indigenous entrepreneurs, is hosting a six-week business accelerator program for Salish and Kootenai artists who want to start or expand their businesses.

In the program, entrepreneurs will learn about business opportunity analysis, model development, leadership, team building and cash flow, among other things.

James Bible of Salish and Kootenai Business Services said the organization is excited to partner with the program. He said small businesses "create employment, drive innovation, contribute to community development, provide economic stability and foster diversity."

The class will kick off at Salish Kootenai College on June 3, and the following classes will be taught online. The program also finishes with in-person business presentations and a pitch contest on July 22, according to a news release.

The course is limited to 30 students, and those interested should register at bit.ly/cskt-program. Registration is open with a $60 fee and closes on May 29. For more information, email brenna.ortiz@nativemax.com or jamesb@slfcorp.com.
Cartoonist Scott Stantis on the job description for the deputy mayor of labor relations put out by Mayor Brandon Johnson. (Scott Stantis / For the Chicago Tribune)

As Mayor Brandon Johnson was celebrating the soul of Chicago in his inaugural speech, his office was churning out a batch of deeply radical executive orders that signal trouble ahead for anyone worried about tax increases or concerned with the fiscal stability of Americas third largest city.

The one that most immediately caught our attention was Johnsons executive order creating a new deputy mayor for labor relations.

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Once through the usual array of whereases and therefores, you get down to the nitty-gritty of the job description for this new post. Its a stunner.

[ Opinion series: What Brandon Johnson must do as the new mayor of Chicago ]

But before we get to that, first consider what any reasonable adult, be they Democrat or Republican, would expect a deputy mayor for labor relations to actually do in a big city. Surely, that would be to balance the demands and expectations of a unionized workforce with the need to hold the line on costs and to ensure that the most management power remains with elected officials, not unelected bureaucrats.

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In the private sector, management does this all the time. Like us, decent public corporations (which is not all of them) respect the role of unions in giving workers a collective voice. They strive to negotiate fair contracts that balance the needs of workers with those of shareholders and other stakeholders, and ensure that the business itself can stay afloat. If the business fails, after all, everyone will be out of a job.

Unions have their representatives in these negotiations, and their leverage, and so does management. Most agreements are born of good faith and compromise.

[ Photos: The inauguration of Brandon Johnson as Chicago's 57th mayor ]

Things are more complex in the public sector because management does not have the same motivation to hold the line on costs. In fact, as many scholars have pointed out over the years, the situation is often the opposite. Public servants are incentivized more toward popularity.

In the case of the citys new mayor, this danger is compounded because everyone knows that Johnson was hand-picked by the Chicago Teachers Union, with the help of other public sector unions, and their superb ground game got out the Johnson vote and put their man in City Hall.

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson signs executive orders regarding labor relations, immigration, youth employment and public safety on his first afternoon in office at City Hall on May 15, 2023. (Terrence Antonio James/Chicago Tribune)

Even Johnsons most fervent supporters should hope that the new mayor will make some effort to stress his independence from his union paymasters. After all, he applied for, and was elected to, the position of Chicagos chief executive officer. His first responsibility is to Chicagoans who are trusting him to be a steward of the hard-earned money they pay in taxes and deliver them functional services. This is not a political observation, its common sense.

Which brings us to the job description for the Deputy Mayor of Labor Relations, as released Monday, inauguration day. Read it for yourself:

The Deputy Mayor for Labor Relations is responsible for working with all City agencies and departments to foster, promote and develop the welfare of the wage earners, job seekers and retirees of Chicago; improve working conditions; advance opportunities for profitable employment; and assure work-related benefits and rights, including working with relevant authorities to help enforce workers statutory rights.

[ Brandon Johnsons rise from union organizer to Chicagos new progressive mayor, and the challenges he inherits ]

Thats a gift-wrapped present for the CTU, which probably had a big hand in its composition. It says nothing whatsoever about any obligation to protect taxpayers, homeowners, businesses or, frankly, even the democratic process. It basically says: Do what unionized workers want, find more ways to give them more of what they want, and your annual review will be just dandy. Any private sector manager, or even a private sector union leader, closely reading that language, would be shaking their head in amazement.

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In fact, if you take that job description at face value, any deputy mayor pushing back on any union demand whatsoever would, in fact, be contravening what their boss says is the requirement of the job. If a union asks for something that it says advances opportunities for profitable employment, then the deputy mayors job is to immediately give it to them and think up more stuff, too. If the deputy mayor were to say, for example, we can handle a 5% raise but not 25%, such a statement would contravene their very job description.

In short, this job description is a disaster and it needs to be immediately rewritten so as to reflect the dual responsibilities of the job, which is to navigate and mediate between legitimate union demands and the ability of the city to meet them without casting citizens from their homes or sending off Chicago businesses to Florida.

Mr. Mayor, we have to let you know that decent unions do sometimes ask for unreasonable things of their employers. You could argue thats part of their job, given that they also have to anchor their negotiating positions. And then the deputy mayor has to actually negotiate, which is the whole point of the need for labor relations to function well if any company, let alone a huge city, is to do its business.

Youre the boss, now. You have to be a steward of the citys resources. And that means, along with reaching for a citys soul, you also have to sometimes say, No, Chicago cannot afford that much.

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PORTLAND  Pedro Sanchez had been living homeless for 30 years when he got connected with a nonprofit called Cultivate Initiatives in Portland, Oregon. The organization has a beautification team composed of homeless individuals who are working toward permanent housing and formerly homeless people.

The team goes around town picking up trash and supplying garbage bags at homeless encampments. Sanchez was living in a church when he saw a sign about the team looking for new members.

What it said was help clean up Portland and man I said yes, Sanchez explained, taking a break from filling a huge trailer full of litter. Because everybodys talking so bad about this town and Im tired of it. They gave me the initiative to just go and do something. And at the end of the day, or at the end of every little project we do, I mean, thats so gratifying. Its kinda like were taking Portland back."

In May of 2020, voters in the greater Portland area approved a new regional supportive housing services fund thats paid for by a 10-year, 1% marginal personal income tax on taxable income above $125,000 for individuals and $200,000 for those filing jointly. Its also funded by a 1% business income tax on net income for businesses with gross receipts above $5 million.

It raised $240 million the first year to try and address homelessness in greater Portland, said Nick Christensen, the media relations lead with Portland Metro. The main focus is trying to get people off the streets into what we call supportive housing. Not just a home, but also services that go with it, whether thats job training or benefits youre legally entitled to, access to mental health care, addiction treatment, all the services that are required for people to stay housed.

In the first year, he said, the fund helped get 2,100 people off the streets.

We also did a real big push to prevent homelessness by doing a local version of Section 8, which pays the difference between what rent is and what people can pay, he said.

The supportive services fund has also been paired with two other huge affordable housing bonds passed by Portland voters: A 2016 bond that will raise $258.4 million to build roughly 1,300 low-income apartments and a 2018 Portland Metro bond that will raise $652.8 million to create homes for approximately 12,000 people. (Editor's note: Look for more information on those two measures in future editions of the Missoulian).

Christensen said voters in Portland chose to take on the tax burden because the homelessness issue was a community-wide crisis.

It takes trust and time to get those relationships built and get people into housing, he said. Collectively, its close to $3 billion Portland Metro is planning on spending this decade to address housing, because you dont have a choice. The market isnt solving this. You cant just let people sit on the streets."

Part of the solution

The supportive services fund pays the wages of the beautification team, and Cultivate Initiatives has been able to hire dozens of people of all backgrounds as interns who go and clean up the citys streets.

So our beautification team, theyll go through sidewalks, alleyways and then camps and clean up and provide garbage bags, explained Caleb Coder, the executive director of Cultivate Initiatives. And also just relationships.

When the beautification team cleans a camp, that makes the camp less likely to get swept by authorities for unsanitary conditions or other reasons.

So something weve seen is sweeping people, sweeping camps is just a vicious cycle of people not being able to move toward that next step, Coder said. Theyre constantly being moved from one place to the next. And so a large thing that we see is just complaints of garbage or how it looks, and so we really work with our houseless neighbors to know, nope, no houseless neighbor likes a dirty junky place to live. So to be able to provide garbage bags and just help them keep their space clean, maybe that means they wont get swept that week.

The program is inspirational to people whod like to be a part of the solution as well.

And also, our interns are out there and theyre a part of cleaning up this camp and the neighbors are there, Coder explained. And they ask, What are you doing? and the intern says, Im part of the intern program. And the next day they show up to be a part of the intern program. And so the opportunity for growth is just huge.

For people like Sanchez, the program has been a life-changing experience.

I got depressed because I seen what was going on, and I just wanted to find something to get involved, you know? he explained. The program gave him a steady wage, gave him purpose in life, cleaned up his neighborhood and connected him to friends and other services. Now, hes been in stable housing for a year, the first time in three decades he hasnt been crashing somewhere temporary or living outdoors.

Lessons for Missoula

Portland and Missoula have very obvious differences. With a population of 641,000 in the city limits and a metro area population of around 2.2 million, Portland is vastly larger and more diverse than Missoula, which has a population of roughly 75,000. There are of course many more differences, but the two places also share some similarities, and every big city starts out as a small city.

Portland, like Missoula, is a liberal urban center surrounded by a much more conservative-voting state. Both have faced a severe shortage of affordable housing and both have experienced influxes of remote workers who are attracted to amenities.

Both also have a large number of unhoused people living in makeshift encampments in visible public areas, in blankets on sidewalks and in numerous homeless shelters.

Whether you agree with it or not, Portland has been vilified by the national right-wing media, especially after large demonstrations were held in 2020 in the wake of the police murder of George Floyd. A few recent Fox News headlines blared, Dystopian Portland homeless community boasts makeshift cabins with chimneys, solar panels or Portlands population drops amid crime, homelessness, other woes or Furious Portland residents say Democrat-backed bill would allow homeless camps to terrorize communities.

But politics and hyperbole aside, Missoula might be able to take a few lessons from a large neighbor that is decades further along in its attempts to address the homeless crisis.

Portland certainly has not solved the crisis, but Coder, with Cultivate Initiatives, said the supportive services fund in Portland has been a rousing success story. Especially, he said, because it gives people jobs that help the entire city. He acknowledges he's biased because hes seen first-hand the transformation of peoples lives.

"The employment piece is a critical thing to help our community thrive," he said. "That's been a huge boost for this group of people to do what we're doing."

The funding is especially important because it helps nonprofits that are on the ground expand their existing programming.

"So, especially as a small community-based organization, that historically there's not been avenues of resources, this (funding) really allows for that," Coder explained.

The beautification team, he said, is a win-win-win because it puts people to work, cleans up the streets and puts people on a path toward long-term, stable housing where theyre not relying at all or as much on taxpayer-funded services.

He noted that the fund has helped offset the cost of rent for people getting off the streets and into housing, which has helped countless people in Portland while also paying landlords who have a mortgage. Paired with the funds ability to put people to work in jobs that would otherwise have no funding source, its been a powerful tool to alleviate the housing crisis.

Dan Booth, another Portland resident who has experienced long stretches of homelessness in his life, is a member of the beautification team.

What Ive made a commitment to is to give an example, Booth said. Because people say, Oh Im homeless, I cant work, I dont have an ID, I dont have this and that.' But I did. Cultivate has helped me. And second and third chances helped me. We all need that.

Booth now has stable housing.

You know, most of us want to pay our own way and you know, they got me housing, they helped me out," he said.

Cultivate Initiatives runs the Menlo Park Safe Rest Village comprised of small shelter homes, and many of the people who take care of the village are also paid by the supportive services fund. To get neighborhood buy-in and acceptance, the place is spotlessly clean and a local nonprofit painted the surrounding fence with artwork.

In fact, there are many such Safe Rest Villages in Portland. All of them are funded through American Rescue Plan Act funds, but the supportive services fund pays for many services that people can access outside the villages.

Matthew McCarl, the community action and engagement director for Cultivate Initiatives, said seven people have moved into housing from the Menlo Park Safe Rest Village. The supportive services fund is crucial because it pays for so many services, he noted.

Coder said there is one important lesson he would say he's learned from Portland's experience with an income tax for supportive services. That lesson is that the people who are on the ground doing the work need to get paid a livable wage.

"None of us are getting rich doing the work that we do," he explained. "We are ready and willing to hire people that are doing critical, important work. They need a sustainable wage. The burnout is so real. So to make it really, really sustainable, that requires like literal investing in people."

If there's too much staff turnover because of low wages and too much stress, important personal connections can't be made with homeless neighbors.

"Because, I mean, it's a constant thing for us being a supportive workplace and our people give so much and we have little margin to be able to support them," he said.
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Republican Gov. Greg Gianforte on Tuesday signed into law more bills to limit access to abortions in Montana, including one policy opponents renewed a previously filed lawsuit against.

The governor also vetoed a bill that sits squarely in the middle of a decade-long legal battle over parental involvement in a minor childs abortion decision, saying he thought it improperly limited parental rights.

Additionally, Gianforte signed a bill to create an adoption tax credit of $5,000, or $7,500 if the child is adopted within the state.

The Republican governor signed a ban on the most commonly used abortion procedure in the second trimester, known as dilation and evacuation or curettage. The policy was contained in House Bill 721 from Speaker of the House Matt Regier. Opponents say the procedure is the only way to terminate a pregnancy in Montana after 15 weeks gestational age, meaning the new law is in effect a 15-week abortion ban.

In the bills language and in a written statement Tuesday from Gianforte, the procedure is referred to as dismemberment. The bill also calls a fetus a "living child."

Medical providers have sharply disputed the characterization of the abortion procedure, saying the language is shaming and that the procedure is the safest option for pregnant people in the second trimester. Just 5.8% of abortions happen between 14-20 weeks gestational age and less than 1% happen after that point, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and legislators heard testimony from doctors and those who lost pregnancies about how procedures at that point are almost always for wanted pregnancies that have tragic outcomes.

Dismemberment abortion for non-therapeutic or elective reasons is a barbaric practice, dangerous for the mother and demeaning to the medical profession. House Bill 721 makes clear that it has no place in Montana, Gianforte said earlier this month during a bill-signing ceremony for other bills limiting access to abortions.

Planned Parenthood of Montana, which had previously filed a lawsuit deemed premature to challenge the bill when it passed, on Tuesday renewed its filing challenging the law as unconstitutional. The law became effective once Gianforte signed it.

HB 721 is a grave threat to Montanans health and safety and must be blocked. Given the laws immediate effective date, patients across the state can already be denied access to care that was legally available moments before the governors signature today, President and CEO Marther Fuller said in an emailed statement. We hope the court will block this dangerous abortion ban. Despite these ongoing attacks, Planned Parenthood of Montanas doors remain open and we will continue doing everything possible to provide essential abortion care to our patients.

The lawsuit said that abortions are now essentially banned after 15 weeks in Montana because dilatation and evacuation is the only abortion method available in the state after that point.

By banning the safest, most common, and most accessible abortion procedure after approximately 15 weeks of pregnancy, the law effectively operates as a ban on abortions after approximately 15 weeks (after the last menstrual period), the lawsuit reads.

The law has an exception if the procedure is necessary to preserve the life of a pregnant woman, though other states with similar laws have seen physicians fearful of performing procedures until a woman is critically ill.

The lawsuit re-upped Tuesday argues the right to access an abortion is upheld in the state Constitution's right to privacy, as initially held by the Montana Supreme Courts 1999 Armstrong decision.

A unanimous decision issued Friday by the Montana Supreme Court in a different case, where lawmakers sought to limit which medical providers can perform abortions in Montana, reaffirmed that right, stating the Montana Constitution guarantees a woman a fundamental right of privacy to seek abortion care from a qualified health care provider of her choosing, absent a clear demonstration of a medically acknowledged, bona fide health risk.

Planned Parenthood of Montana and two other Montana abortion providers, All Families Healthcare and Blue Mountain Clinic, have already blocked on a temporary basis another new abortion law from the recently adjourned session. That law seeks to ban abortions after a presumed viability date of 24 weeks gestational age.

Gianforte also signed two bills Tuesday aimed at abortions covered by Medicaid. House Bill 544, from Bozeman Republican Rep. Jane Gillette, would require pre-authorizations for abortions covered by Medicaid and change the definitions for abortions that are deemed medically necessary, as well as increase reporting requirements.

An administrative rule from the state Department of Public Health and Human Services that essentially is the same as Gillettes bill is also under a temporary block by the courts.

Gianforte also signed House Bill 862 from Rep. Mike Hopkins, a Missoula Republican, that would block Medicaid from covering abortions except in cases of rape, incest or if the life of the mother is at risk.

Montanans sent us to Helena to boldly defend life, not send their tax dollars to abortion clinics, Gianforte said in a press release.

Opponents to those bills have said they would serve as a de facto ban on abortions for lower-income Montanans.

Gianforte also signed a bill Tuesday that would increase the licensure requirements for clinics that provide abortion care.

Earlier this month he signed five other bills aimed at abortion, including one that seeks to work around the Armstrong decision by saying in state law the constitutional right to privacy does not extend to abortion. That bill came with a potential constitutional flag on it from the Legislature's legal staff. Another new law gives health care providers the ability to deny providing care they morally disagree with, though that protection for abortions already existed in state law. Gianforte also previously signed the 24-week ban and a bill to require reporting any adverse effects from medication abortions, which studies have shown are extremely safe.

Finally, Gianforte has also signed a so-called born alive act similar to one defeated by voters in 2022. It requires that an infant born alive following an attempted abortion in an abortion clinic, medical facility, or other facility is entitled to the same protections under the law that would arise for any newborn infant or for any person who comes to a medical facility or other facility for screening or treatment. Opponents to that law have pointed out that its already illegal to harm or kill an infant.

The question of if parents or guardians should either consent to or be notified if their minors seek an abortion has been in legal limbo in Montana for a decade. In 2012 voters approved a legislatively passed referendum to require parental notification. Then in 2013 the Legislature passed a consent law.

Planned Parenthood of Montana then sued over both the notification and consent policies and a temporary injunction left the notification part in place, but blocked the consent requirement. Since then the case moved through several judges and even different jurisdictions before Lewis and Clark County District Court Judge Chris Abbott in February issued an order declaring the consent requirement unconstitutional given the contours of the right to individual privacy established by the (state) Constitution and prior decisions.

Instead of consent, House Bill 868 from Rep. Amy Regier, R-Kalispell and the Speakers sister, would have said a minor under the age of 16 and not emancipated may not receive an abortion until a physician consults their parent or legal guardian. The bill would also have required a parent or guardian to be provided sufficient information to "consult with the minor as to the risk and complications associated with abortion and pregnancy." The bill would also require proof of relationship to the minor.

Though the state Attorney General has said he will appeal the block on the consent law and the notification law is set for trial in 2024, Regier said her bill would be a faster route to clarity.

But Gianforte did not agree. In addition to voicing frustration over lowering the age of a minor as defined in the bill from 18 to 16, he wrote that he felt the policy would diminish parental rights.

  A medical professional, no matter how well-intending, is no substitute for a parent, Gianforte wrote in his veto.

The governor then pointed squarely at the Montana Supreme Court, which in 2020 saw its ruling on a tax credit program that let money flow to private religious school scholarships as unconstitutional overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court.

  Whatever state constitutional rights may or may not exist, they must and always will yield to individual constitutional rights established under the federal constitution. Parental rights supersede whatever abortion rights exist in this state, Gianforte argued.

The Armstrong decision, however, has upheld the right to access an abortion in Montana even as the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the federal right with their Dobbs decision last year.

All the abortion bills were passed with only Republican support and opposed by Democrats and a handful of GOP legislators.

The adoption tax credit that became law Tuesday was sponsored by Rep. Courtenay Sprunger, R-Kalispell.

Its not enough just to stand for life. We must also do all we can to make Montana families stronger and help them prosper, Gianforte said in a press release. Through adoption, parents provide children with the gift of family, and with an adoption tax credit, were making it easier for Montanans to open their happy, healthy, loving homes to children.

Montana about five years ago saw the number of children in foster care spike, but removals of children from their parents has lowered since then. In 2021 there were about 680 children on adoption waitlists, according to a press release from Gianfortes office, and roughly 20% of children exit the foster care system through adoption.

The adoption tax credit was part of Gianfortes initial budget proposal. Another policy he asked lawmakers to approve, a child tax credit, did not advance out of the session.
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A Canadian cold front flowing south into Montana on Tuesday brought more than cooler temperatures.

Smoke from Canadian wildfires settled into central and eastern Montana overnight and will continue through Wednesday, according to the National Weather Service forecast office in Great Falls.

Air quality is expected to improve by Friday as wind flow across the state turns to the west.

Over the last 24 hours air quality readings in the Helena area have fluctuated between moderate and unhealthy.

Monitoring stations as of 11:30 a.m. Wednesday reported hazardous air in Malta and Sidney; very unhealthy air in Miles City; unhealthy air in Broadus and the Flathead Valley; unhealthy air for sensitive groups in Bozeman, Dillon, Havre, Seeley Lake and Thompson Falls; and moderate air in Billings, Butte, Cut Bank, Great Falls, Helena, Lewistown, Libby and Sleeping Giant outside Helena.

The Montana Department of Environmental Quality has issued an air quality alert for Lewis and Clark, Big Horn, Blaine, Broadwater, Carbon, Carter, Cascade, Chouteau, Custer, Daniels, Dawson, Fallon, Fergus, Flathead, Gallatin, Garfield, Glacier, Golden Valley, Hill, Judith Basin, Liberty, McCone, Meagher, Musselshell, Park, Petroleum, Phillips, Pondera, Powder River, Prairie, Richland, Roosevelt, Rosebud, Sheridan, Stillwater, Sweet Grass, Teton, Toole, Treasure, Valley, Wheatland, Wibaux, and Yellowstone counties in effect until 9 a.m. Thursday.

An air quality alert means that particulates have been trending upwards and that an exceedance of the 24-hour national ambient air quality standard has occurred or may occur in the near future.

To track current air quality levels visit the Montana Department of Environmental Quality's monitoring website.
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HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP)  Democrats maintained their narrow Pennsylvania House majority Tuesday by winning a special election and along with it continued control over how the chamber will handle abortion, gun rights and election law legislation.

Heather Boyd won a seat in the Philadelphia suburbs, beating Republican Katie Ford for a vacancy created by the resignation of Democratic Rep. Mike Zabel. Zabel quit the Legislature in March, shortly after a lobbyist accused him of sexually harassing her.

Boyd is a former congressional and state legislative aide. Her district was once Republican but has given solid margins to Democratic candidates in recent elections. Her win gives Democrats 102 seats, the minimum needed to control the agenda in the 203-member House. The state Senate has a Republican majority.

The Democrats victory in the Delaware County district means first-term Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro will have at least one chamber to aid his agenda going into the final month of budget negotiations. The result could also affect a proposed constitutional amendment limiting abortion rights that legislative Republicans are one House floor vote away from putting before voters as a referendum.

Reflecting the stakes, President Joe Biden endorsed fellow Democrat Boyd on Monday, calling her an experienced public servant who will protect a womans right to make her own health care decisions, stand up for common sense gun safety laws and expand access to voting rights.

Shapiro cut an ad focusing on the abortion issue for Boyd, who reported raising more than $1.3 million, including more than $1 million in in-kind advertising from the House Democrats campaign arm and the Democratic Party. Ford reported raising about $146,000, more than half of which came from the House Republicans campaign arm.

Boyd emphasized protection of abortion rights, drawing a contrast with Ford, who is personally against abortion but says she did not want to change existing state law. Republicans had hoped to regain the majority, in part, to advance the proposed constitutional amendment that says the Pennsylvania Constitution does not guarantee any rights relating to abortion or public funding of abortions.

Ford criticized Boyd, who has been a leading Democratic Party official in Delaware County, for not doing more in response when she learned about the allegations against Zabel. Boyd said she respected the lobbyists request for confidentiality about her claim that Zabel caressed her leg while they discussed legislation outside the Capitol in 2018 and did not stop when she moved away from him.

Common sense says that if someone comes to you and says that theyre being sexually harassed, you do something about it, Ford said during a televised debate. You dont just let it go. Boyd responded that she did not endorse or support Zabel after hearing of the lobbyists account, and says she tried unsuccessfully to find someone to run against Zabel.

Republicans entered the 2022 election with a 113-90 advantage in the state House, but Democrats flipped a net of 12 seats in November, barely enough to claim majority status after 12 years and elect one of their own as speaker.

In a second House special election on Tuesday, Republican Michael Stender kept the central Pennsylvania seat in his party's hands.

Stender, a Shikellamy school board member, firefighter and former EMT, was endorsed by former Rep. Lynda Schlegel Culver, the Republican who represented the district before winning a state Senate special election earlier this year. Stender beat Democrat Trevor Finn, a Montour County commissioner. The district also includes part of Northumberland County.
Charlie Daniels family on new Mt. Juliet plaque, mural: 'It brings tears to my eyes:'

Charlie Daniels Jr., talks in front of a mural completed by Michael Cooper in Mt. Juliet.

Charlie Daniels saved my life, Vietnam War veteran Dennis Buchanan said, one of many tributes to the late music icon on Wednesday in Mt. Juliet.

Daniels Wilson County legacy was immortalized with a bronze plaque unveiled on one of the buildings in a new commercial center named Charlies Place.

The building is located in the center of town. The shrine includes a plaque on the west side of North Mt. Juliet Road near the West and East Division street intersection, as well as a mural that highlights Daniels  completed in December by Michael Cooper.

It brings tears to my eyes, said Hazel Daniels, Charlies wife. "I love Mt. Juliet. It's been our home, our son has gone to school here. We bought our first piece of property 55 years ago. It was country and everybody accepted Charlie and we loved all the people. It's just been a nice place to call home."

Daniels died in July 2020 at age 83.

Charlie Daniels Jr. left and Hazel Daniels, right in front of a plaque that pays tribute to Charlie Daniels in Mt. Juliet.

Dad would be incredibly honored and deeply humbled, Charlie Daniels Jr., said at the dedication. He would just be completely overwhelmed.

Daniels was known for his support of the military, including the Charlie Daniels Journey Home Project, a nonprofit that raises money for nonprofits that assist veterans.

Buchanan relayed his story about suffering with post traumatic stress and nightmares that lingered from his wartime experience. He remembers receiving a call from Daniels.

The two prayed. Daniels directed Buchanan to Operation Song, an organization that pairs military service members with professional songwriters. Together, they create songs that are personal to veterans' experiences.

If he hadnt asked me to go I wouldnt have went, Buchanan said.

Judd Sellars is the property owner of Charlies Place. The plaque has Daniels' portrait, holding a fiddle, and includes the artist's quote:

Judd Sellars speaks with Charlie Daniels Jr., sitting.

Only two things protect America. The grace of Almighty God and the United States Military.

Sellars is kickstarting efforts to open a country music museum that would be part of Charlies Place.

Sellars has purchased an adjoining property and is raising funds.

We want to do something that honors our local guys such as Charlie, such as Tracy Lawrence, Darryl Worley, some of those guys who have done a lot for the Mt. Juliet, Wilson County community, Sellars said.

Businesses that are open or plan to launch at Charlies Place include The Incredible Christmas Place, Dunkin Donuts, Jeremiahs Italian Ice, Truleigh Scrumptious Sweet Cafe, Maniacs Leons Famous Deli and The Peach Cobbler Factory.

Reach Andy Humbles at ahumbles@tennessean.com or 615-726-5939 and on Twitter @ AndyHumbles.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Charlie Daniels family react to Mt. Juliet dedication; museum may be next
Throughout Islamic countries, governments have a history of hijacking beliefs found in the Quran around womens rights and independence, reimagining them into something oppressive and, quite frankly, scary.

As the Muslim world embraces this weekend's special period of reflection during Eid al-Fitr, which ends the holy fasting month of Ramadan, we have a responsibility to critically examine how womens rights have advanced and receded around the world. Turkey, which is holding a high-stakes presidential election next month, used to be regarded as a model of tolerance and secularism to be emulated by other countries. Not so much today.

After 20 years of creeping authoritarianism under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, womens rights are again under attack, and the upcoming election could represent a last chance to change course before its too late.

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Why do Muslims fast during Ramadan?: To learn what we can do without  and what we can share

Founding of Turkish Republic held birth of gender equality

This is a great pity, considering the gains that have been lost. Turkey has a long tradition of promoting gender equality and womens rights, dating back a century to the foundation of the Turkish Republic. Women have been able to vote and hold political office since the 1930s, while the secularist tradition has allowed millions to obtain access to higher education and professional employment.

But the arrows arent pointing up anymore. In 2006, Turkey was ranked 105th in the World Economic Forum Global Gender Gap survey.

By last year, Turkey had fallen to 124th, closing in on Saudi Arabia, ranked 127th out of 146 nations.

Women's rights supporters protest in Istanbul, Turkey, on April 5, 2023. In 2006, Turkey was ranked 105th in the World Economic Forum's Global Gender Gap survey. By 2022, Turkey had fallen to 124th.

In 2010, at a conference of womens organizations, then-Prime Minister Erdogan said in a speech that he did not believe in the equality of men and women, and that womens destinies were divinely ordained. This was followed by a change in the name of the Ministry for Women and Families to the Ministry of Family and Social Policy, de-emphasizing the rights of women and limiting the special attention they had, as a group.

Furthermore, the language that Erdogans party and government have used when talking about womens issues has only increasingly served to reinforce the idea that they believe women have a specific role to play in society and this role is secondary to that of men. Erdogan has emphasized the duty women have as procreators, offensively calling on every woman to have "at least" three children, and insisting that this is more important than any other role women can play in Turkish society.

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Though he has condemned violence against women, Erdogan has done so by saying that men are the custodians of women and should be their protectors, implying that women could not come to their own defense.

Then, he seemed to make an about-face.

In May 2011, the Council of Europe met in Istanbul to start the signing of the convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence, commonly known as the Istanbul Convention.

Erdogan took advantage of this momentous event and was the first government representative to sign and ratify the document. But now we know he was just playing politics.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara on April 11, 2023. Presidential and parliamentary elections are set for May 14.

A decade on, Turkey is the only country to have withdrawn from the Istanbul Convention, claiming it was hijacked by groups attempting to normalize values that were against Turkish society and tradition, and arguing that domestic laws were sufficient in protecting the rights of women in Turkey.

This position could not be further from the truth.

In the years that Erdogan's Justice and Development Party, or AKP, has been in power, the increase in violence against women has been notable and dramatic. Femicides, honor killings, sexual assault, child marriages  across every category, violence against women statistics have shown a marked increase.

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And unfortunately, prosecutions and arrests for these crimes is an increasingly rare event, with numerous watchdog organizations blaming the AKP for failing to do enough to protect women.

It is clear that Erdogan's government no longer values Turkish women, and that new leadership is critical to not just womens rights but civil rights of all.

Meral Aksener, the head of Turkey's Iyi Party, arrives for a meeting between opposition party leaders in Ankara on March 6, 2023.

Meral Aksener, the head of the Iyi Party and one of the longest serving women in government in Turkish history, has been calling for such change. Last December, she received a standing ovation by a stadium of women as she denounced femicide and toxic patriarchy, and promised to ensure that Erdogan and his government will have to get used to women as political actors.

Long urging a return to a parliamentary system, Aksener is the lone female in a male-dominated political landscape. She wields significant influence across a broad base of voters and is referred to as a kingmaker among the opposition alliance.

Her symbolism as a force for womens rights could be an important driver for voters to come out on May 14 and end more than two decades of Erdogan and AKP rule.

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If the Turkish people wish to secure a government that is truly representative, the opposition must prevail against Erdogan and restore the Istanbul Convention. This would represent a clear signal that Turkey values and will protect the lives of women and girls throughout the country, and will uphold the republic's founding principles that endorsed and encouraged gender parity.

If not, inaction will lead to the further whittling away of womens rights and send Turkish women back to the dark ages.

Zamira Sydykova is a journalist, democracy activist and former diplomat who served as the ambassador of Kyrgyzstan to the United States and Canada, 2005-10.

Zamira Sydykova is a journalist, democracy activist and former diplomat who served as the ambassador of Kyrgyzstan to the United States and Canada, 2005-10.

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: As Ramadan ends, Muslims have duty to keep fighting for women's rights
An olive oil startup founder apologized after accusing a rival brand on LinkedIn of copying his squeeze bottle. It's not his first public apology.

An olive oil startup founder apologized after accusing a rival brand on LinkedIn of copying his squeeze bottle. It's not his first public apology.

Graza CEO Andrew Benin recently accused another olive oil company, Brightland, of copying his company's squeeze bottle design, and later apologized. Brightland (Left), Graza (Right)

The CEO of olive oil startup Graza issued a public apology after a recent LinkedIn post garnered criticism.

Andrew Benin accused Brightland, another food startup, of copying Graza's squeeze bottle design on Tuesday.

Many commenters criticized his claim, saying squeeze bottles have existed long before Graza started using them.

A spat between two olive oil startups has gone viral on social media, after one founder took to LinkedIn to accuse the other of copying his squeeze bottle design.

Andrew Benin, founder and CEO of olive oil startup Graza, wrote in a LinkedIn post on Tuesday that rival oil and vinegar brand Brightland copied his design, after the company announced its own squeeze bottle olive oil product designed to be drizzled on pizzas.

In the post, Benin calls out Brightland CEO Aishwarya Iyer on claims her company participated in "copycat culture," which he wrote is "an incessant part of our entrepreneurial landscape."

"Brightland and Aishwarya Iyer, while friendly competition was always welcome, I do view this as a blatant disrespect and am choosing to voice my discontent," Benin said, who in the post also accused squeeze bottle brand Goldi and an unnamed "fine foods" brand in New Jersey of copying Graza's design.

The post, which was edited to include a subsequent apology later that same day, stirred up debate on LinkedIn and beyond over use of the squeeze bottle.

The more than 120 comments on Benin's post and across social media were divided, with some users supporting his accusation and expressing support for Graza, while others said it was silly to lay claim to the concept of a squeeze bottle, which has long been used in the food industry.

"Andrew, with all due respect, you did not create the squeeze bottle," Alison Kayne, founder of Haven's Kitchen, commented on Benin's post. "Chefs and home cooks have been using it for decades."

"It's frustrating for an entrepreneur to see this happen, but it always does," John Foraker, CEO and founder at Once Upon a Farm, commented. "Been there many, many, times."

In an updated version of the post, Benin apologized to Iyer for the accusation, and called the post "out of character."

"I want to apologize for letting my emotions get the best of me," Benin wrote in the updated post. "I was heated, and reacted poorly, and have learned from the variety of comments that everyone has left today. Thank you to everyone for your candor, and for showing me that there was clearly a better way to address all of this."

Benin did not immediately respond to Insider's request to comment, and a spokesperson for Brightland declined to comment.

The Brightland incident is not the first time Benin has issued a public apology in recent months. The Graza CEO emailed thousands of customers during the company's first holiday season to apologize for issues like shipping delays and dented bottles.

Benin told the Wall Street Journal that apology  which was reportedly written by him within a few hours without proofreaders before it was sent to more than 35,000 people  was well received by Graza's customers, adding he believes people respond well when an executive apologizes like a person, and not like a business.

Read the original article on Business Insider
With teacher pay raises on the way, how does Oklahoma compare to other states?

A major education funding package announced Monday would narrow the gap between Oklahoma and average teacher salaries in other states.

However, Oklahoma isn't likely to leapfrog any of its neighbors, based on initial projections. Unless Arkansas passes the Sooner State with its own teacher pay raise package, Oklahoma is expected to remain fourth in teacher compensation in its seven-state region.

Oklahoma lawmakers announced a $625 million recurring investment in the state's K-12 education system, and $286 million of that package will raise salaries by $3,000 to $6,000, depending on years of experience, for all certified staff working in public schools.

Oklahoma House Speaker Charles McCall shakes hands with Senate President Pro Tem Greg Treat on Monday as they announce a significant education funding agreement in the Blue Room of the state Capitol.

That averages out to a $4,766 raise for the 50,000 certified educators working in Oklahoma schools, according to the Oklahoma State School Boards Association.

That includes not only teachers, but all certified employees, such as school counselors and librarians, but the $4,766 raise is comparable to the increase for classroom teachers alone, said Shawn Hime, OSSBA executive director.

With that figure in mind, Oklahoma's average teacher compensation would grow to $60,307.

More: Oklahoma Legislature reaches deal on school funding, teacher pay and tax credits

How do other states compare to Oklahoma's teacher pay?

Last year, New Mexico took the No. 1 spot among all Oklahoma's bordering states when it passed a significant teacher pay raise package. The average teacher salary in the Land of Enchantment is now $63,580, according to the OSSBA.

Colorado is in second with an average teacher pay of $61,907.

With an average of $60,716, Texas would maintain a narrow edge over Oklahoma's $60,307.

Even without surpassing its neighbors, Oklahoma would increase the distance to the states already behind it.

Third-grade teacher, Susan Hastings, finishes up student packets as she packs up her classroom Tuesday, May 19, 2020, at Hawthorne Elementary in Oklahoma City.

Kansas and Missouri trail at $54,810 and $54,029, respectively.

Arkansas, though, is a wild card.

Its previous average was last in the region, $53,317, but the state agreed this year to raise its minimum teacher salary from $36,000 to $50,000. Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders also signed into law a $2,000 raise for teachers already above the $50,000 minimum.

The new legislation marked a significant reset for Arkansas' teacher pay schedule, and the resulting average salary is still unclear, as school districts grapple with the payroll implications before next school year.

Bonuses for Oklahoma teacher pay: New plan offers up to $50,000 signing bonuses to teach in Oklahoma schools

How will Oklahoma's teacher pay raises work?

Rather than a flat, across-the-board raise, Oklahoma lawmakers chose a set of increases that become higher with longer tenure.

$3,000 for educators with zero to four years of experience

$4,000 for educators with five to nine years of experience

$5,000 for educators with 10 to 15 years of experience

$6,000 for educators with 15 years or more of experience

State Sen. Adam Pugh, R-Edmond, was the first to suggest this structure.

"We hear you teachers," Pugh said in a Monday news conference announcing the education deal. "We need you to stay in the classroom. Moms and dads, we want you to find the right education experience, so that your children can thrive. And we hope that this great investment in education will allow that to happen."

More: What is the highest-paying job? Spoiler: It's in medicine.

State Sen. Adam Pugh, R-Edmond, speaks at a news conference Monday announcing an education funding deal between House and Senate lawmakers in the Blue Room of the state Capitol. The agreement would add $625 million in new recurring funding for public schools.

The package also includes $12 million for six weeks of paid maternity leave for teachers.

The state's largest teacher union, the Oklahoma Education Association, celebrated the new investment in public schools and urged school districts to use extra funds to raise for support staff, as well.

"To keep and attract our best educators, it is imperative we not only compensate them as professionals, but also treat them with dignity and respect," the union said in a statement. "That same principle applies to the education support professionals who are the glue of our schools."

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: How does Oklahoma teacher pay compare to other states?
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Editors note: Calendar items must be submitted at least five days before an event. Email all items to news@morganton.com. TODAY

Art Crawl

The first Third Thursday Art Crawl of the year will be held from 5-8 p.m. on the streets of downtown Morganton. Visitors will have the opportunity to visit seven venues throughout downtown Morganton that will be open late and will offer immersive art experiences to those stopping by. In addition to these venues, art happenings will be seen throughout downtown including new banners created by Burke County students hanging in the West Union Street Art Alley, life-sized dandelions and butterflies fluttering through the streets and even an artist or two creating masterpieces for people to take home.

Sons of the American Revolution meeting

The Col. Alexander Erwin Chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution will meet at 6 p.m. at the Morganton Community House, 120 N. King St., Morganton. William Caldwell will present a program titled Rogues, Banditti & Crackers: The Southern Backcountry by the time of the American Revolution. The chapter also will recognize its youth middle school brochure and elementary school poster contest winners. The meeting is open to the public, but those who wish to attend must RSVP by contacting Robert Patton at 828-443-3720 or robert.patton1@icloud.com. Dinner is $13 per person.

Fundraiser

Carolina Caring will host the fundraiser Flights & Bites at the Morganton Community House, 120 S. King St., from 5:30-8:30 p.m. Cost is $75 per person and will include wine by Silver Fork Winery paired with food by chef Nathan Cromwell. Tickets should be purchased by May 8 by calling 828-466-0466.

Board meeting

New Dimensions will hold its monthly board meeting at 4 p.m. in person on campus as well as via Zoom. Contact ckinard@ndschool.org for link information.

FRIDAY, MAY 19

Free Bingo

Free bingo will be held at the Lake James Community Center, which is one mile away from the Lake James fire station on N.C. 126, from 6-9 p.m. A variety of foods, including fish, hot dogs and fries, will be available for purchase. Door prize drawings also will be held. Face masks are required. The public is invited.

Ribbon cutting

A ribbon-cutting ceremony and grand opening of Morganton Esthetics & Spa, 137 West Parker Road Suite B, Morganton, will be held Friday, May 19 from 2-6 p.m., with the ribbon cutting taking place at 3 p.m.

SATURDAY, MAY 20

Burke County Parkinsons Support Group meeting

The Burke County Parkinsons Support Group will meet at 10 a.m. on Saturday, May 20, at the Valdese branch of the Burke County Public Library. Lala Kozischek, corporate wellness director for YMCA of Catawba Valley, will share available fitness opportunities for members with Parkinsons at the Phifer Family YMCA in Morganton. Anyone with Parkinsons and their caregivers, friends and family are invited to attend. For information, call 828-879-1093 or 828-413-0479.

Wilson Creek Cleanup

The Wilson Creek Faithful will be organizing a cleanup on Wilson Creek on Saturday, May 20, from 8:30 a.m. to noon. Trash bags and beverages will be provided. For more information, call David Benner at 828-433-7932 or Leonard Baker at 252-289-0211.

Cow patty bingo

The bands of Draughn and East Burke high schools will host a cow patty bingo event at 10 a.m. at Draughn High School. The prize is up to $5,000 with donations of $20 per section or $100 per square. The event also will include concessions, face painting, music, raffle prizes and the Chick-fil-A Cow. Call 828-334-1756 for more information.

The Art of Chocolate

The Art of Chocolate, an annual fundraiser for Options, will be held at 7 p.m. at the Morganton Community House, 120 N. King St., Morganton. Tickets, which are $75 each, must be purchased in advance. The event will include an art auction and live music. Call Options at 828-438-9444 for more information.

Support group

The Survivors of Loss to Suicide Hickory NC Support Group will meet from 9-10 a.m. at St Stephens Library 3225 Springs Road NE, Hickory. The group offers support for the families and friends who have lost a loved one to suicide. Each session will focus on a different topic on the complicated grief that comes from losing someone to suicide. The group is open to teens and adults. For more information, contact Leisa Bentley at leisabentley@charter.net or call 828-234-5822.

Community day

Coldwell Banker Newton Real Estate Inc. will host its sixth annual community appreciation day at Catawba Meadows Park from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. with free food and bounce houses.

MONDAY, MAY 22

Business marketing class

The Morganton Downtown Development Association, in collaboration with the Small Business Center at Western Piedmont Community College, will offer a business marketing training session on Finding Your Customers and Creating a Marketing Plan from 4-6 p.m. at the Morganton Community House at 120 N. King St. in Morganton. A second session will take place from 8-10 a.m. Tuesday, May 23, at the Community House called Dynamite Marketing for Small Businesses. The sessions are free to attend, but those interested must register in advance. To register for the first session, visit https://bit.ly/3ZTIPml. To register for the second session, visit https://bit.ly/3Fw3Hbb.

Remembering Our Parents event

Carolina Caring will hold a Remembering our Parents event from 6-7:30 p.m. at the organizations Newton campus, located at 3975 Robinson Road in Newton, to honor the memory of our parents. Participants are asked to bring a picture that can be used in an activity. Registration is required. To register, visit CarolinaCaring.org/support, contact wspurling@carolinacaring.org or call 828-466-0466, ext. 3201.

THURSDAY, MAY 25

Disabled American Veterans meeting

Chapter 43 of the Disabled American Veterans, 2779 DAV Ave., Morganton, will gather at 5 p.m. for the social hour, 6 p.m. for dinner and 7 p.m. for its meeting. Officer installation and pins will be provided to anyone who missed last months meeting. Anyone with questions should call Dave at 828-437-0177.

MONDAY, MAY 29

Memorial Day service

The American Legion Post 234 Valdese Veterans will be hosting a Memorial Day Service at 9 a.m. The service will happen upstairs in the ballroom area. There will be a brief introduction followed by a video presentation and then a flag ceremony outside. Breakfast will be provided for free by the auxiliary including biscuits, fruit, juice and coffee from local sponsors.

TUESDAY, MAY 30JUNE 1

Bus driver class

Burke County Public Schools will host a bus driver class from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Tuesday, May 30, Wednesday, May 31, and June 1 at Central Office at 700 E. Parker Road. Call the transportation department at 828-437-4770 for more information.

THURSDAY, JUNE 1

Ladies Bible study

Gateway Bible Church, 222 Believers Way, Morganton, is hosting a free ladies Bible study from 9-11 a.m. It will be taught by Marlene Houk, a local speaker and author, and the group will be studying her book, Hidden in a List: Secrets from Bible women. Books are available at Gateway or on Amazon. Email gatewaybiblemorganton@gmail.com with any questions.

FRIDAY, JUNE 2

2023 Legislative Breakfast

The Burke County Chamber of Commerce will host the 2023 Legislative Breakfast from 7:30-9:30 a.m. at the Morganton Community House, 120 N. King St., Morganton. Visit www.burkecountychamber.org for more information.

MONDAY, JUNE 5

American Legion meeting

American Legion Post 21, Post 322 and Post 506 as well as the new members of the Sons of the American Legion will meet Monday, June 5, at 5:30 p.m. at the Mountainview Recreation Center located at 645 1st St., Morganton. We are looking for new members to join as well as young men for the Sons of the American Legion. Contact stosh@burkecountypost21.com for further information.

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 7

AARP meeting

AARP Chapter 3262 will host retired FBI Special Agent Andy Nazworth, who will be speaking on the topic, Dont Be a Victim: 20 Ways to Protect Yourself. The group will meet in the lower level of the Collett Street Recreation Center with refreshments at 9:30 a.m. and the program starting at 10 a.m. New members are welcome. Annual dues are $5.

THURSDAY, JUNE 8

Business 4 Breakfast

Burke County Chamber of Commerce will host Business 4 Breakfast- Protecting Your Business from Financial Fraud from 7:30-9 a.m. at First Citizens Bank downstairs conference room, 217 N. Sterling St., Morganton. Visit www.burkecountychamber.org for more information

SATURDAY, JUNE 17

Summer Pop-Up Shop

The Burke County Chamber of Commerce, 110 E. Meeting St., will host its Summer Pop-Up Shop from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Visit www.burkecountychamber.org for more information.

MONDAY, JUNE 19

Fire department meeting

The Lake James Fire and Rescue Department will hold its annual meeting at 6 p.m. at the fire department. Prior to the meeting, elections for vacancies on the board of directors will be held from 4-6 p.m. The results of the election as well as a financial report and any necessary business will be discussed during the meeting. Anyone living in the Lake James Fire District and interested in serving on the board of directors should notify the president of the board no later than June 1. Two board vacancies will be filled at this election. All residents 18 years or older residing in the Lake James Fire District are encouraged to vote in the election of board members between 4-6 p.m. and attend the annual meeting at 6 p.m. Board President Jim Powers can be reached by email at jimpowers5137@gmail.com.

ABC Board meeting

The Valdese ABC Board will meet at 5:30 p.m. at the Valdese ABC Store at 1018 W. Main St. in Valdese.

MONDAY, JULY 17

ABC Board meeting

The Valdese ABC Board will meet at 5:30 p.m. at the Valdese ABC Store at 1018 W. Main St. in Valdese.

MONDAY, AUG. 21

ABC Board meeting

The Valdese ABC Board will meet at 5:30 p.m. at the Valdese ABC Store at 1018 W. Main St. in Valdese.

MONDAY, SEPT. 18

ABC Board meeting

The Valdese ABC Board will meet at 5:30 p.m. at the Valdese ABC Store at 1018 W. Main St. in Valdese.

TUESDAY, OCT. 10

ABC Board meeting

The Valdese ABC Board will meet at 5:30 p.m. at the Valdese ABC Store at 1018 W. Main St. in Valdese.

TUESDAY, NOV. 21

ABC Board meeting

The Valdese ABC Board will meet at 5:30 p.m. at the Valdese ABC Store at 1018 W. Main St. in Valdese.

MONDAY, DEC. 18

ABC Board meeting

The Valdese ABC Board will meet at 5:30 p.m. at the Valdese ABC Store at 1018 W. Main St. in Valdese.
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A special class project gave voices to a group of individuals nearly lost to history.

Dr. Leslie McKesson, Morganton resident and adjunct instructor at Appalachian State University, was asked by university officials to envision and design an interdisciplinary course that would use an innovative approach to addressing a problem that has been hard/impossible to solve for students in its Honors College.

McKesson created a course called Antebellum Slavery in Appalachia, which researched the lives of enslaved people who worked at the historic Capt. Charles McDowell House in Morganton before the Civil War.

Its designed to deepen students understanding of the regional impact of American chattel slavery through research, collaboration, critical and comparative analysis and creative interpretation, McKesson said.

The project culminated in the students presenting a program of dramatic narratives that portrayed some of the slaves and what their lives may have been like. The program took place Monday, May 1, on the grounds of the McDowell House, in partnership with the Historic Burke Foundation, which assisted the students in researching their characters.

McKesson said she focused the course material on Burke County specifically because the area was known for its high number of slaves in the Antebellum period.

It had the highest rate of enslavement in western North Carolina and one of the highest percentages of enslaved people across all of Appalachia, with as much as 30% of the recorded population being enslaved in 1850, McKesson said. We also wanted to investigate the popular belief that mountain people were not involved in slavery to the same extent or in the same manner as Piedmont and Eastern slaveowners, or slaveowners in other parts of the South.

The seminar-style, interdisciplinary course encompassed the study of history, sociology, archaeology, anthropology, philosophy and more. The students heard from expert speakers and explored the lives of the McDowell House slaves through a variety of sources.

Our research was based on a scholarly study of primary and secondary documents regarding slavery in Appalachia, McKesson said. We studied the works of noted academic experts in Appalachian slavery, including Wilma Dunaway and Morganton native John Inscoe. In addition, we studied primary documents that still exist regarding transactions related to owning and disposing of human chattel in Burke and surrounding counties during the pre-Civil War era.

The students coordinated with HBF members and visited the historic home to learn more.

For several years, the Historic Burke Foundation has wanted to tell a more comprehensive story of the Charles McDowell Jr. House, McKesson said. They have also made efforts to identify and reach out to descendants of people who were enslaved there. To date, no descendants have been specifically identified, but existing records tell us some things about what the lives of their enslaved ancestors may have been like.

Each student then created a deeply informed imagining of the life of an enslaved person in the form of a dramatic story, literary narratives that tell the history of slavery at the McDowell house and in Burke County through a mixture of historical records and creative writing/storytelling.

Our methodology combined elements of history and literature, much in the same way that current scholars Annette Gordon-Reed and Tiya Miles have done in their acclaimed and award-winning works around Sally Hemings: The Hemingses of Monticello and All That She Carried: The Story of Ashleys Sack, respectively.

These are names of real people who had lives. We have made our best effort to give life to people who literally lived here on this plantation.

Following the presentation, the students shared how the project impacted them:

Ive learned a whole bunch from doing this, and its really changed my viewpoint on a lot of things,  Jae Hollingsworth.

Something particularly interesting that I learned in this course was that mining was one of the major outlets that slavery was utilized for in this area,  Celia Merrifield

Its been a really powerful class. Its been amazing and really horrible to learn just how deeply rooted slavery was everywhere.  Scout Green

McKesson reflected on the course as well.

Most people dont want to talk about slavery, and for that reason, many myths about the lives of the enslaved in this area have been accepted as truth, she said. Our goal was to take a scholarly view of slavery, based on existing documentation, to better understand its impact on the region and its people.

She envisions the greater community benefitting from learning about the lives of the slaves as well.

We hope we will see these people come to life within the walls of this house (the McDowell House), she said. We hope we will see them come to life at the courthouse in some way or another, because they are a very critical part of Burke County history that hasnt been taught and hasnt been told.

Linda Lindsey, HBF president, expressed appreciation to the students for helping preserve the history of the enslaved people of the McDowell House.

One of the things thats always bothered me about a big part of our history is that weve got blank pages, because the voices were not honored, and they were not recorded, Lindsey said. For you all to help us get some insight into how we can acknowledge those voices and bring them to life is invaluable to us.
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Butte veterans monthly dinner tonight

The American Legion Post No. 1 and its Auxiliary will have their monthly dinner Wednesday at the American Legion Hall, 3201 Wynne. The hall opens at 5:30 p.m., and dinner will be served at 6.

There will be a taco bar, and the auxiliary will provide salads and desserts. The cost is $10. The public is invited to attend.

Following the dinner, members of Post No. 1 will have a short meeting.

Butte CPR salvage sale at two locations

Butte Citizens for Preservation and Revitalization will be holding a sale of salvaged building materials from 4 to 6 p.m. Thursday in two locations  the rear basement of the Piccadilly Museum of Transportation, 20 W. Broadway St., with access from the alley, and the basement of the Metals Bank building, with side access from the parking lot on Galena Street.

Doors, windows, wood trim, vintage bathroom fixtures and many more reusable building materials will be available at very reasonable prices. Gloves and a measuring tape are recommended. Purchases can be made by cash or check only.

Local students chosen for Rotary Club camp

Six Butte students have been chosen by the Rotary Club of Butte to attend the Rotary Youth Leadership Award camp from July 11-15 at Luccock Park, south of Livingston.

To be eligible to attend this camp, students must have completed their sophomore year of high school.

The students are Roscoe Mack Williams, Aubreigh Stone, Blair Hamry, Sadria Sadie Steilman, Vanessa West and Nathan Stodden. They will join approximately 100 students sponsored by Rotary clubs across Montana Rotary District 5390 to learn important leadership skills.

Dog Blessing to be held in Butte Saturday

The Rev. Patrick Beretta, in partnership with Butte Historical Memorials, will hold a Dog Blessing at 1:30 p.m. Saturday in front of the dog sculpture at the memorial site for the Butte Warehouse Explosion of 1895 in front of the Butte-Silver Bow Fire Station on Mercury Street.

Butte Historical Memorials is a local organization dedicated to interpreting and honoring Buttes history through memorials, sculptures and events. It created the Warehouse Explosion Memorial, that among other things features a sculpture of a Newfoundland dog that belonged to a firefighter killed in the explosion aftermath.

Many of our board members love dogs, as does Father Patrick Beretta, which is why he offered to hold a Dog Blessing, the group says on its Facebook page. Anyone is welcome but dogs must be leashed.
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Like most Montanans, I am a relentless advocate for the public lands in our state. Some of my favorite memories come from hunting and fly-fishing with my husband and two sons in southwest Montana in the valleys of the Big Hole and Beaverhead rivers and dozens of other spectacular landscapes managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). Over the years, though, Ive grown alarmed as Ive seen more and more of my favorite hunting and fishing spots become degraded from too many people, along with impacts from drought, fires and the changing climate. Degraded habitat is the leading cause of the wildlife crisis that we face, with nearly one-third of all species at an elevated risk of extinction.

Thats why I am supporting a proposed public lands rule put forth by the BLM. Although the mission of the agency has always been to sustain the health, diversity and productivity of public lands, too often the focus has been on productivity and not on health. The new proposal aims to rectify that by elevating conservation as one of the multiple uses it oversees on public lands  alongside energy development, livestock grazing, timber harvest and recreation.

The goal of the proposed rule is to restore lands and waters, improve ecosystem resilience and conserve landscapes that are necessary for wildlife to survive and thrive. In the face of impacts from our changing weather patterns, unfettered migration pathways are more important than ever so wildlife can move and adapt to changing conditions.

The new rule will direct BLM employees to identify and prioritize landscapes in need of restoration by working with tribal partners, state and local agencies, and conservation groups. The agency will be required to regularly monitor and assess the projects to ensure the new management practices are improving the health of the landscapes and watershed.

The agency is also proposing a new tool to restore lands by issuing conservation leases. This would allow private organizations to enter into an agreement with the BLM to restore wildlife habitat. Conservation leasing could also be used as an important tool for mitigation of projects. If an energy company needed to compensate for development in one area, it could restore land in another area by obtaining a conservation lease.

In addition to being avid hunters and anglers, my husband and I ranched for 25 years. I know how important it is to maintain the health of the land so that livestock can thrive. For years, ranchers have had to follow certain terms and conditions to maintain grazing permits on public lands. As ranchers, weve always wanted terms and conditions applied to other users of public lands. This proposed BLM conservation rule will do just that.

From my perspective, all of us in Montana who enjoy the benefits of public lands should be called upon to help steward them, whether we are hunters, anglers, ranchers, recreationists, foresters or energy producers. The proposed rule doesnt get rid of the multiple use mission of the BLM  it merely adds land conservation as another multiple use. If adopted, it will encourage more responsible management of our public lands and it will provide new opportunities for tribal and local communities to have more input into the way public lands are managed.

The benefits of rebalancing how lands are managed seem obvious. Wildlife habitat will be restored, risks of wildfire reduced, the spread of invasive species will be controlled, forage for livestock and wildlife will be improved and opportunities for hunting, fishing and other outdoor recreation will be expanded. In addition, healthier lands make rural communities more resilient to impacts from climate change.

The Bureau of Land Management is currently seeking feedback from the public about this proposed rule. I hope my fellow hunters, anglers, ranchers and public lands advocates will all speak up in support of this innovative plan that will put a greater premium on landscape and watershed health so our cherished lands and waters prosper and thrive.
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In the past few years, 10,000 to 20,000 apps have stampeded into the mental health space, offering to disrupt traditional therapy. With the frenzy around AI innovations like ChatGPT, the claim that chatbots can provide mental health care is on the horizon.

The numbers explain why: Pandemic stresses led to millions more Americans seeking treatment. At the same time, there has long been a shortage of mental health professionals in the United States; more than half of all counties lack psychiatrists. Given the Affordable Care Acts mandate that insurers offer parity between mental and physical health coverage, there is a gaping chasm between demand and supply.

For entrepreneurs, that presents a market bonanza. At the South by Southwest conference in March, where health startups displayed their products, there was a near-religious conviction that AI could rebuild health care, offering apps and machines that could diagnose and treat all kinds of illnesses, replacing doctors and nurses.

Unfortunately, in the mental health space, evidence of effectiveness is lacking. Few of the many apps on the market have independent outcomes research showing they help; most havent been scrutinized at all by the FDA. Though marketed to treat conditions such as anxiety, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, and depression, or to predict suicidal tendencies, many warn users (in small print) that they are not intended to be medical, behavioral health or other healthcare service or not an FDA cleared product.

There are good reasons to be cautious in the face of this marketing juggernaut.

Decades ago, Joseph Weizenbaum, a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and considered one of the fathers of artificial intelligence, predicted AI would never make a good therapist, though it could be made to sound like one. In fact, his original AI program, created in the 1960s, was a psychotherapist named ELIZA, which used word and pattern recognition combined with natural language programming to sound like a therapist:

Woman: Well, my boyfriend made me come here.ELIZA: Your boyfriend made you come here?Woman: He says Im depressed much of the time.ELIZA: I am sorry to hear that you are depressed.Woman: Its true. I am unhappy.ELIZA: Do you think coming here will help you not to be unhappy?

Though hailed as an AI triumph, ELIZAs success terrified Weizenbaum, whom I once interviewed. He said students would interact with the machine as if Eliza were an actual therapist, when what hed created was a party trick, he said.

He foresaw the evolution of far more sophisticated programs like ChatGPT. But the experiences a computer might gain under such circumstances are not human experiences, he told me. The computer will not, for example, experience loneliness in any sense that we understand it.

The same goes for anxiety or ecstasy, emotions so neurologically complex that scientists have not been able pinpoint their neural origins. Can a chatbot achieve transference, the empathic flow between patient and doctor that is central to many types of therapy?

The core tenet of medicine is that its a relationship between human and human  and AI cant love, said Bon Ku, director of the Health Design Lab at Thomas Jefferson University and a pioneer in medical innovation. I have a human therapist, and that will never be replaced by AI.

Ku said hed like to see AI used instead to reduce practitioners tasks like record-keeping and data entry to free up more time for humans to connect.

While some mental health apps may ultimately prove worthy, there is evidence that some can do harm. One researcher noted that some users faulted these apps for their scripted nature and lack of adaptability beyond textbook cases of mild anxiety and depression.

It may prove tempting for insurers to offer up apps and chatbots to meet the mental health parity requirement. After all, that would be a cheap and simple solution, compared with the difficulty of offering a panel of human therapists, especially since many take no insurance because they consider insurers payments too low.

Perhaps seeing the flood of AI hitting the market, the Department of Labor announced last year it was ramping up efforts to ensure better insurer compliance with the mental health parity requirement.

The FDA likewise said late last year it intends to exercise enforcement discretion over a range of mental health apps, which it will vet as medical devices. So far, not one has been approved. And only a very few have gotten the agencys breakthrough device designation, which fast-tracks reviews and studies on devices that show potential.

These apps mostly offer what therapists call structured therapy  in which patients have specific problems and the app can respond with a workbook-like approach. For example, Woebot combines exercises for mindfulness and self-care (with answers written by teams of therapists) for postpartum depression. Wysa, another app that has received a breakthrough device designation, delivers cognitive behavioral therapy for anxiety, depression, and chronic pain.

But gathering reliable scientific data about how well app-based treatments function will take time. The problem is that there is very little evidence now for the agency to reach any conclusions, said Kedar Mate, head of the Boston-based Institute for Healthcare Improvement.

Until we have that research, we dont know whether app-based mental health care does better than Weizenbaums ELIZA. AI may certainly improve as the years go by, but at this point, for insurers to claim that providing access to an app is anything close to meeting the mental health parity requirement is woefully premature.

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David and Adair Keller started their married life together in 1977 at Camp Lejeune, a military training base on the Atlantic Coast in Jacksonville, North Carolina. David was a Marine Corps field artillery officer then, and they lived together on the base for about six months.

But that sojourn had an outsize impact on their lives.

Forty years later, in January 2018, Adair was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia. She died six months later at age 68. Theres a chance her illness was caused by toxic chemicals that seeped into the water military families at the base drank, cooked with, and washed with for decades.

When the PACT Act passed last August, David asked a neighbor who worked at a personal injury law firm in Greenville, South Carolina, if he thought he might have a case. Now Keller is filing a wrongful death claim against the federal government under a section of that measure that allows veterans, their family members, and others who spent at least 30 days at Camp Lejeune between Aug. 1, 1953, and the end of 1987 to seek damages against the government for harm caused by exposure to the toxic water.

The Camp Lejeune Justice Act didnt attract the spotlight as the aspects of PACT that deal with the harms soldiers experienced from burn pit fumes overseas did. But for veterans who served at this North Carolina post, it is the realization of a decades-long effort to hold the government accountable.

As cases begin to proceed through the legal system, some veterans advocates worry that families who have already suffered from toxic exposure may get shortchanged by a process thats supposed to provide them with a measure of closure and financial relief. They support limiting lawyers fees, some of which may exceed half of a veterans award.

The government estimates as many as a million people were exposed to Camp Lejeunes contaminated water during the 34-year period covered by the law. Personal injury lawyers have taken notice. In recent months, TV ads trying to drum up business have been impossible to ignore: If you or a loved one were stationed at Camp Lejeune between 1953 and 1987 and developed cancer, call now. You may be entitled to significant compensation.

During the year that ended in March, TV ads soliciting Camp Lejeune claims reached an estimated $123 million, according to X Ante, a company that tracks mass tort litigation advertising. Camp Lejeune TV ads currently rank third among the top targets for mass tort claims since 2012, behind only asbestos and mesothelioma ($619 million) and Roundup weed killer ($132 million).

The attorneys have calculated out that they stand to make a pot of money, said Autrey James, chairman of the American Legions Veterans Affairs & Rehabilitation Commission. We need Congress to put caps on how much these attorneys can charge.

For Keller, a 73-year-old former workers compensation lawyer, its a matter of accountability. Because of his experience, he came out of retirement last year to represent Camp Lejeune victims. He is now working part time at the Greenville law firm he spoke with originally and that now represents his late wife. It currently has roughly 65 Camp Lejeune cases.

Under the law, veterans must first file an administrative claim with the Judge Advocate General of the Navys Tort Claims Unit. If, after six months, the Navy hasnt settled the claim, or if it denies the claim, veterans can file suit in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina.

So far, approximately 23,000 claims have been filed with the Navy, none of which have been fully adjudicated, said Patricia Babb, a spokesperson for the Judge Advocate Generals office.

This legal remedy has been a long time coming. In the early 1980s, the Marine Corps learned that three of Camp Lejeunes water distribution systems were contaminated with industrial chemicals that had seeped into the water from leaking underground storage tanks, industrial spills, and waste disposal sites. The Corps shut them down in the mid-1980s and the area was declared a hazardous waste site in 1989 under the Environmental Protection Agencys Superfund law.

Federal studies later showed that toxic chemicals in the water  benzene, vinyl chloride, and TCE, among others  were present at levels that could have caused a range of cancers and other serious illnesses. In 2012, after an intense lobbying campaign by veterans, Congress passed a law that gave veterans and their families free medical care if they got sick with any of more than a dozen diseases associated with the toxic water.

But thousands of veterans who felt the Navy had stonewalled and delayed addressing the contamination filed civil suits seeking damages. In 2019, the federal government denied all the claims, citing state and federal statutes that shielded the government.

The Camp Lejeune Justice Act opened a two-year window for veterans and their families to pursue cases against the federal government.

And Liz Hartman, commander of American Legion Post 539 in nearby New Bern, now sees new reason for alarm. Some veterans are signing contingency fee contracts in which they agree to pay lawyers representing them 40% to 60% of any money they receive, Hartman said.

Many of these people are elderly and very vulnerable, and theyre being preyed upon, she said.

Personal injury lawyers generally work on a contingency basis. If they win the case, they receive a portion of the award, often one-third. If they lose, they get nothing. The firm Keller is working with charges 40% for Camp Lejeune cases.

If anything, fees for the Camp Lejeune cases should be lower than usual, not higher, said Matt Webb, senior vice president for legal reform policy at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Institute for Legal Reform.

The PACT Act changed the burden of proof and made it so much easier for claimants to win their cases, he said. Under the law, the evidence must show that the exposure was as likely as not to have caused the harm, rather than having to prove that theres a greater than 50% chance that the claim is true, called a preponderance standard.

In addition, the law requires that any award a veteran receives be offset by any amount they received in a disability payment or health benefit related to their condition. This could substantially reduce the amount of their award.

Veterans could end up owing money, Webb said. Im not saying its going to happen, but particularly if a lawyer is taking a huge chunk in fees, it could happen.

Trial lawyers say a marginally lower burden of proof doesnt mean the cases will be easy to win.

Its a new law with no case law or judicial opinions to refer to, said Mike Cox, a Livonia, Michigan, lawyer and former Marine infantryman who was stationed at Camp Lejeune in the early 1980s. Hes now representing more than 200 veterans in such cases.

Many of the diseases and conditions people developed are not among those the government acknowledges may be linked to the contaminated water, Cox said. Even for veterans whose illnesses are recognized by the government, lawyers will have to show where they were based, what kind of cancer they have, and their level of toxic exposure, he said. His fee for representing these veterans is 33% of any award they receive.

In addition to proving they were stationed at Camp Lejeune during the years covered by the law, the claimant also must demonstrate to the Navy he/she is suffering from an injury that is related to the exposure to (or ingestion of) contaminated water, said Babb, the Judge Advocate General spokesperson.

With stories circulating of attorney contingency fees that could potentially eat up more than half of veterans awards, some lawmakers have stepped in.

Under a bill proposed by Reps. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) and Mark Takano (D-Calif.), Camp Lejeune attorney fees would be capped at 20% in cases settled as administrative claims and 33.3% in those filed as civil lawsuits in court.

Another House proposal, introduced by Reps. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) and Mike Bost (R-Ill.), is identical to one introduced in the Senate by Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), which would cap fees at 12% and 17% under similar circumstances.

According to David Keller, based on his conversations with other lawyers, nobody is objecting to something that is reasonable, such as caps at 20% and 33%.

Many of Kellers clients are older men who are really sick and probably wont live long, he said. Some tell him theyre reluctant to sue the government.

What I say to them is, When we signed the contract with Uncle Sam, we gave Uncle Sam a blank check for our arms, our legs, and maybe even our lives. But we didnt sign a blank check to get a serious disease from contaminated water, either them or their spouses or children.

KFF Health News is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFFan independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism. Learn more about KFF.

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Missouri officials terminated the Republican attorney generals emergency rule that would have placed limits on transgender care for minors and some adults. The move was announced Tuesday without explanation on the Missouri Secretary of States website. The website says: This emergency rule terminated effective May 16, 2023. The rule would have required adults and children to undergo more than a year of therapy and fulfill other requirements before they could receive gender-affirming treatments such as puberty blockers, hormones and surgery. Attorney General Andrew Bailey said his office withdrew the rule because the Missouri Legislature passed a law last week restricting transgender care for minors.
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Bullets do not discriminate. They care not for names.

In Davenport, those bullets have killed teenagers. Testimony given Tuesday in the trial of John Eddie Hanes III  one of three arrested for the 2021 fatal shooting of 14-year-old Jamon Winfrey  proves it.

Friends and family say Winfrey died alone, on the side of an abandoned house on Farnam Street, simply because he was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Multiple people connected to Hanes' case claim Winfrey's killing was triggered by the 2018 murder of another teenager.

The bullets fired in the late afternoon of Feb. 24, 2021, carried a tragic legacy. It's a legacy that destroyed the lives of four men who weren't even 20 years old.

Bullets, it seems, have the power to travel through time.

'There go the opp'



Winfrey was shot down Feb. 24, 2021, in the area of 13th and Farnam streets. Hanes, Javon Combs and Chrystian Z. Smith  all in their late teens at the time  were arrested and initially charged with first-degree murder and intimidation with a weapon.

Hanes is the only defendant to go to trial.

Smith, 19, pleaded guilty in February to a single count of attempted murder. His plea was part of an agreement with the Scott County Attorneys Office, and District Court Judge Henry Latham sentenced him to up to 25 years in prison.

Just before the start of Hanes' trial, Combs turned state's witness with a plea deal that will put him in prison for a minimum of 20 years on three felony counts of intimidation with a deadly weapon and one felony count of willful injury. He testified Tuesday.

Combs knew Hanes from as far back as grade school, and he said it was not unusual for the pair to cruise around Davenport with Smith and other friends.

In response to questions by Scott County Assistant Prosecutor Elizabeth O'Donnell, Combs testified that on the afternoon of Feb. 24, 2021, he joined Hanes, Smith and two other people in a car. He had a handgun loaded with .40-caliber bullets, and Hanes had a Glock handgun.

While "riding around," Combs said, they were near the intersection of LeClaire and 13th streets when they spotted a car and a van on Farnam and, "... someone in the car said, 'There go the opp.' "

Combs said the "the opp" referred to the Savage Life street gang. Combs said he and Hanes and Smith were part of a group known as MMG  the initials for Mad Max Gang. He testified that Savage Life was "the opp," meaning the opposition, the enemy.

In a matter of moments, Smith wheeled the vehicle out of the intersection, and Combs emptied his handgun at the car. Smith stopped in the entrance to the alley between LeClaire and Farnam streets. It was then, Combs testified, that Hanes began firing the Glock.

He saw someone run from the car, but he was out of bullets. He did not say he saw Hanes shoot Winfrey. Moments later, Combs was hit by gunfire from the van. He went home after, he testified, then to the hospital.

'Under his momma's wing'

At some point in the hail of gunfire, Winfrey was hit. He tried fleeing, but he managed to get just four houses down Farnam before collapsing on the side of an abandoned house.

The next day, neighbors spotted the 14-year-old's body in a yard.

During Combs' first court appearance in May 2022, police accused him, Smith and Hanes of being members of the Mad Max Gang, or MMG, and said Winfrey was a member of the Savage Life gang.

At the time of the shooting, the gangs had shoot-on-sight orders for each others members, according Davenport police Detective Jordan Sander, who testified during a preliminary hearing in Combs' case.

Sander had worked as a member of the Davenport Police Department's major crimes unit for six years at the time of the March 2022 hearing. The unit investigates crimes, such as homicide and burglary, but "gang-related shootings take up a fairly decent amount" of the unit's time, Sander testified.

Sylvia Abbey is Winfrey's aunt. She knew him his entire life and said he never was a member of Savage Life.

"Jamon was under his momma's wing," she said. "He was a momma's boy, still. He had cousins, friends, who were Savage Life.

"But Jamon was not in that gang. His favorite thing to do was be at home playing video games. That's what he loved, being up all night playing those video games."

Tanyah Shelton is 16 and was Winfrey's girlfriend at the time of his murder. She agreed with Abbey.

"He was a momma's boy, and he loved the girls," Shelton said. "He was a bad boy, that way. He was all about girls.

"He had a lot of energy. He liked to play. And like I said, as he got older, he wanted to be around the girls. He loved that attention. He was not in a gang."

'A revenge gang'

During Tuesday's testimony, Combs testified that the Mad Max Gang was formed in the wake of the murder of a teenager called "Jovi".

Jovontia Jones, 16, Davenport, was killed on May 19, 2018, in the 1200 or 1300 block of Harrison Street, outside the Hilltop Liquor Store. Police described the incident as a "drive-by shooting" and said Jones was "targeted."

What the police did not say publicly was that Jones was a member of Savage Life.

Following the murder, then-Davenport Mayor Frank Klipsch led what would become a yearlong effort to curb what was called "youth violence and crime."

Klipsch led months of meetings with hundreds of community leaders to get to the root of what he called "a criminal subculture with no regard for human life."

While city leaders were meeting, young men and women formed the Mad Max Gang.

"MMG was basically a revenge gang; that's true," Abbey said. "Jovi was Savage Life. So were some of MMG.

"You have to understand that we are not talking about gangs like the Gangster Disciples. These are neighborhood gangs. They are not out there selling big amounts of drugs or guns. MMG was all about getting revenge for Jovi."

Winfrey would have been 11 years old when Jones was killed.

'Bullets don't have names on them'

Combs' mother, Miranda Combs, and his sister, Shebra Waters, heard his testimony Tuesday.

"Javon grew up loved," his mother said. "He was a good boy. He loves his family. That's why he is testifying. I pray that he will be able to come home to us some day."

Miranda Combs said she also prayed for Hanes and Smith.

"So young. This violence is destroying lives. It's killing children and destroying young lives before they ever really get started. John (Hanes) could go away for life."

Waters said she and her mother thought of Winfrey often.

"The trauma never goes away for anyone," she said. "We want his family to know how sorry we are. I think about how young he was. I think of all the things he'll never get to experience. He'll never finish school, never be able to raise a family.

"This violence, it kills kids and then it destroys the families. It just goes on. Those bullets don't have names on them, not really. Those bullets don't care who you are, so when you shoot them you never know whose life you're gonna destroy."
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WASHINGTON (AP)  President Joe Biden said Tuesday he's curtailing his upcoming trip to the Indo-Pacific, scrapping what was to be a historic stop in Papua New Guinea as well as a visit to Australia for a gathering with fellow leaders of the so-called Quad partnership so he can focus on debt limit talks in Washington.

The scuttling of two of the three legs of the overseas trip is a foreign policy setback for an administration that has made putting a greater focus on the Pacific region central to its global outreach.

Biden said he still plans to depart on Wednesday for Hiroshima, Japan, for a Group of Seven summit with leaders from some of the world's major economies. He will return to the U.S. on Sunday.

Im postponing the Australia portion of the trip and my stop in Papua New Guinea in order to be back for the final negotiations with congressional leaders," Biden said at the start of a Jewish American Heritage Month event at the White House. He added, The nature of the presidency is addressing many of the critical matters all at once. So Im confident were going to continue to make progress toward avoiding the default and fulfilling Americas responsibility as a leader on the world stage.

Biden said he spoke to Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese earlier on Tuesday to inform him he was postponing a visit to Australia and invited him to Washington for an official state visit at a yet-to-be determined date. White House staff broke the news to Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape.

White House officials did not offer an immediate response to questions about when Biden might reschedule visits to the two countries.

Revitalizing and reinvigorating our alliances and advancing partnerships like the Quad remains a key priority for the President, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said. This is vital to our ability to advance our foreign policy goals and better promote global stability and prosperity. We look forward to finding other ways to engage with Australia, the Quad, Papua New Guinea and the leaders of the Pacific Islands Forum in the coming year.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has invited Albanese, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi as well as Pacific Island leaders to come to Hiroshima during the G-7. Albanese in an Australian Broadcasting Corp. interview said that the Quad leaders are now hoping to hold a meeting in Hiroshima.

Well also hopefully be able to find a time when the four of us can sit down, Albanese said. We will have to organize the logistics of the Quad meeting now in Sydney and well be discussing with our partners in the U.S., but also Japan and India over the next day or so.

Biden had been scheduled to travel on to Papua New Guinea to meet with Pacific Island leaders and then to Australia for a meeting of the leaders of the Quad partnership, made up of the U.S., Australia, India and Japan. The Papua New Guinea stop would have been the first visit by a sitting U.S. president to the island country of more than 9 million people.

The Quad partnership first formed during the response to the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami that killed some 230,000 people. Since coming into office, Biden has tried to reinvigorate the Quad as part of his broader effort to put greater U.S. focus on the Pacific and counter increasing economic and military assertiveness by China in the region.

Biden announced his decision soon after he wrapped up a meeting on Tuesday afternoon with Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jefferies, D-N.Y., for talks on the debt limit standoff.

Earlier Tuesday, White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby expressed administration officials' frustration that the debt talks are having an impact on the president's dealings on the international stage.

We wouldnt have to have this conversation. I wouldnt have to answer these questions if Congress just did the right thing, Kirby said.

Some Republican lawmakers questioned Biden's decision to travel overseas considering the consequences of the debt limit talks.

I think he should not leave and he should focus on the debt limit here at home, Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla.

With the brief stop in Papua New Guinea to meet with Pacific Island leaders, Biden had hoped to demonstrate that the United States is committed to remaining engaged for the long term in the Pacific Islands.

The area has received diminished attention from the U.S. in the aftermath of the Cold War and China has increasingly filled the vacuum  through increased aid, development and security cooperation. Biden has said that hes committed to changing that dynamic.

Last September, Biden hosted leaders from more than a dozen Pacific Island countries at the White House, announcing a new strategy to help to assist the region on climate change and maritime security. His administration also recently opened embassies in the Solomon Islands and Tonga, and has plans to open one in Kiribati.

As vice president, Biden saw up close how domestic politics can complicate foreign policy during the 2013 government shutdown. President Barack Obama was forced to bail on attending the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit and the East Asia Summit in Brunei as well as a visit to Malaysia and the Philippines in the midst of a government shutdown as he negotiated with GOP leaders.

President Bill Clinton opted to skip his scheduled participation in the APEC summit in Japan in the midst of the 1995 government shutdown. He opted to send Vice President Al Gore in his place.
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LINCOLN, Neb. (AP)  Conservatives in the Nebraska Legislature got just enough votes Tuesday to fold a proposed 12-week abortion ban into a bill that would ban gender-affirming health for minors.

As expected, the debate over the plan was raucous, with lawmakers opposed to the plan sparring angrily with Republican Lt. Gov. Joe Kelly, who presided over the Legislature, and accusing him of trashing legislative rules to help push through the plan. Multiple motions, calls for points of order and motions to overrule the chair stretched what was supposed to be a two-hour process to six hours.

The plan won the 33 votes it needed in Nebraska's one-chamber, officially nonpartisan legislature to end debate and set up other votes to advance it. It must now survive a final round, which could happen as soon as Thursday, to pass.

Throughout, hundreds of protesters filled the Capitol rotunda just outside the chamber doors, nearly drowning out debate at times with chants, shouts and foot stomping. Several protesters also stood in the balcony inside the chamber chanting, One more vote to save our lives; you can't defeat our human rights! before the balconies were cleared. Lawmakers who voted for the merged bill fled the building immediately after through a back tunnel with state police escorts to avoid facing angry protesters  leading Omaha Sen. Megan Hunt to berate them as cowards.

Shame on you who are devising escape routes out of here, she said on the microphone. If you can't go out there and face the people you are hurting, then you are not worthy of this job.

Sen. Machaela Cavanaugh, who has led an epic effort to filibuster nearly every bill this session to protest the trans health bill, chastised conservative lawmakers for pushing measures that are unpopular with most health care providers, businesses and Nebraska voters.

You are willing to drive this state into the ground. You look ridiculous," Cavanaugh said. Women will die, children are dying, and you are responsible."

"You will have buckets and buckets of blood on your hands, she added angrily, ratcheting up a phrase that saw Montana state Rep. Zooey Zephyr  the first openly transgender female lawmaker to serve in the Montana Legislature  banned from the House floor for the final days of the 2023 session by Republicans who dominate that body.

Conservative lawmakers took a risk proposing the plan to merge two issues. If they had gotten one less vote to end debate, it would have shelved both the abortion and trans health measures for the year.

Conservatives were stung last month when their bill to ban abortion after cardiac activity can be detected  which happens around six weeks of pregnancy, before most women even know they are pregnant  failed to break a filibuster by a single vote.

Normally, the issue would be considered tabled for the remainder of the session. But last week, anti-abortion lawmakers sought to resurrect it by crafting a proposal to ban abortion at 12 weeks and attaching it to the trans bill.

Conservatives see the 12-week ban as a compromise. Opposing lawmakers say it's an unprecedented attempt to take another bite at the apple after they were promised by the Legislatures speaker that an abortion ban would not be revived this year.

Adding to the tumult is the underlying trans health bill, which has been the most contentious of the session. Introduced by freshman Sen. Kathleen Kauth, the bill would ban hormone treatments, puberty blockers and gender reassignment surgery for anyone 18 and younger.

An amended version would make exceptions for minors who were already on hormone treatments before the ban takes effect, but it also would give the states chief medical officer wide-ranging authority to set rules for use of hormone treatments for transgender minors. But the chief medical officer is a political appointee of a Republican governor and has already gone on record supporting a full ban on gender-affirming treatments for minors. Opponents say the amended bill would give him the power to block such treatments, even for those minors grandfathered in.

Both restrictions on abortion and transgender people have been consistent targets amid a national push by conservatives in state legislatures this year.
A city woman has been charged in court for allegedly locking her parents out of their home forcing them to spend a night at their neighbours house.

Faith Mokeira, 24, is said to have thrown a tantrum on May 8 at their house in the Marurui area of Kasarani within Nairobi.

The court heard that her father, David Nyambane, returned home at around 8 pm and found his wife locked outside the house.

Nyambane reportedly pleaded with Mokeira to open the house but she declined. She allegedly hurled expletives at him while throwing household items outside the house.

The parents went to the Marurui police post to report the matter before seeking shelter at the neighbours house.

The following morning, the parents returned to the police station and made another report. This time, the officers accompanied them to the house.

Mr Nyambane borrowed a ladder from the neighbours which police used to scale the perimeter wall. They found Mokeira has destroyed window panes and other items, and arrested her.

During interrogations, the accused claimed her father had intruded on her privacy by hiring an electrician to make repairs in her room without informing her in advance.

When she appeared before Senior Principal Magistrate Agnes Mwangi at the Makadara Law courts, Faith Mokeira was charged with creating a disturbance in a manner likely to cause a breach of peace.

She denied the charges and was released on a cash bail of Sh4,000.
Kenya is on the brink of fulfilling one of its commitments to regional and international treaties on arms control as the country nears the completion of its ambitious marking of firearms and ammunition.

The National Police Service (NPS) has already marked 98 per cent of its firearms stock while the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) is at 70 per cent in the process.

The Principal Administrative Secretary, of Security, Wilson Njega has termed this progress as a huge milestone that sets Kenya on the path to the elite league of nations that have taken concrete steps to combat the illegal arms trade.

Njega noted that the ultimate goal is to build a foolproof framework for the control and regulation of licit arms flows, and prevent diversion of such weapons into the illegal and criminal networks without disrupting legitimate transfers.

This undertaking will help us identify the source and movement of such weapons, and inform our decisions and responses in dismantling the criminal network involved in this trade, he said, before adding that this will reduce the incidence of gun violence in line with various international agreements, including the Nairobi Protocol and the United Nations Programme of Action on Small Arms.

Considering that small arms and light weapons are responsible for many deaths and injuries in armed conflicts, it is imperative that we enhance the traceability of our firearms and ammunition.

The marking exercise was prescribed by the Regional Centre on Small Arms (RECSA) to its member states as part of the efforts to combat the illicit proliferation of small arms and light weapons and promote peace and security in East and Central Africa.

This intergovernmental agency has organized a three-day workshop to validate the findings from the latest review on the progress of the exercise.

Njega, who represented Internal Security PS Dr Raymond Omollo during the opening of the forum in Nairobi, attributed Kenyas remaining unmarked percentages to new stocks and the weapons designated for areas where the marking exercise is yet to reach, including Wajir and Mandera.

Meanwhile, the exercise is currently underway for the KDF firearms in Nakuru. He further highlighted some logistical challenges experienced by the responsible teams, key among them the breakdown of some of the marking machines, but affirmed that Kenya appreciates the decision to assign us the most marking machines, and it is part of the reason why we have recorded such impressive numbers so far.

The government has also submitted a request for four additional new machines and spare parts to expedite the exercise.

On his part, Dr Ivor Richard Fung, Deputy Chief of the Conventional Arms Branch, UN Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA), lauded RECSA member states for the steady progress in transitioning from manual to electronic recordkeeping in the management of weapons, and relayed a commitment for sustained support in this regard.

RECSA has already deployed its Software Tracing System to its members issued for electronic record keeping.

He stated, This is a very important aspect of controlling small arms and light weapons, and beyond marking is the issue of recordkeeping. RECSA has been able to carry out commendable work in this area and we applaud that, but a lot still needs to be done.

The three-day workshop is also intended to review and adopt a new gender policy for RECSA as part of the efforts to align its operations with global efforts to promote gender equality and womens empowerment across the scope of its mandate.

By Ministry of Interior
Pastor Ezekiel Odero has petitioned a Nairobi court to allow him to withdraw Sh50 million from his frozen bank accounts.

In an urgent application filed at the Milimani law courts, the leader of the New Life Prayer Centre and Church says the funds will enable him to run the operations of his school and church.

Through his advocate Danstan Omari, pastor Ezekiel argues that the frozen bank accounts play an indispensable role in providing assistance to children, the underprivileged, and facilitating the smooth functioning of the church.

According to the preacher, the seizure of his bank accounts has a huge negative impact on the church and schools operation as the over 2000 students daily upkeep will present a logistical nightmare.

NCBA, Equity, Co-operative, and KCB banks, as well as the Housing Finance Cooperation and Safaricom have been listed as respondents.

THAT this honorable court reviews its orders granted on the 8th May 2023 to allow and limit transactions made from said accounts for the operation of the school, church and ministry namely New Life Prayer Centre & church and Kilifi International School up to an amount of Kshs. 50 Million only, pastor Ezekiel appeals.

Imposing a thirty-day closure on these accounts is highly impractical, as it would leave a multitude of dependents destitute and without necessary support his lawyer adds.

This comes a day after the High Court in Mombasa declined to unfreeze his 28 bank accounts and seven M-Pesa accounts to allow for investigations into money laundering allegations.
By PCS

President William Ruto has emphasized integrity and vigilance within Government ministries and departments.

He cautioned against corruption and wastage in the provision of services to the people.

The President asked the Cabinet to honour their responsibility to the Constitution and the people.

The President spoke at the 5th Cabinet meeting at State House, Nairobi.

The meeting agreed to ensure the prudent utilization of public resources.

Meanwhile, the Cabinet has approved the restructuring of Kenya Powers balance sheet in an attempt to restore profitability. The new plan will focus on enhancing the companys financial sustainability by addressing loan balances and the liquidity gap.

In line with the Kenya Kwanza Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda, the composition of Kenya Powers Board will be adjusted to reflect its shareholding.

The Cabinet has also endorsed proposed amendments to the Water Act of 2016, which introduces Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) in the water sector.

This will facilitate the construction of 100 mega dams through PPP and another 1,000 medium and 3,000 small dams to alleviate water challenges.

The changes to the Water Act clarify the roles of Water Works Development Agencies as bulk water service providers. They also establish a licensing framework for the agencies and align the Water Act 2016 with the Public Private Partnership Act 2021.

While the ongoing rains have provided relief to drought-affected areas of Kenya, the Cabinet recognized the need for locally-driven strategies and sustained resource mobilization to support long-term resilience building. The meeting also agreed to continue supporting the restocking of livestock to aid recovery among impoverished households in arid regions.

Additionally, the Cabinet acknowledged the importance of strengthening the implementation of drought risk reduction strategies to ensure sustainable natural resource management.

The Cabinet further approved the Kenya policy on Public Participation, which establishes the overarching standard for effective citizen engagement in development and governance, in compliance with the Constitution.

To expand Kenyas international presence, the Cabinet reviewed and approved a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the Government of Kenya and the World Health Organization regarding the establishment of a regional emergency hub in Nairobi. The hub will create employment opportunities and markets for medical supplies.

To fulfill its international obligations, the nations apex body has approved the Meteorological Bill and Meteorological Policy. These approvals will transform the Kenya Meteorological Department into Kenya Meteorological Services, in compliance with international instruments such as the Chicago Convention of 1944 and the African Ministerial Conference on Meteorology (AMCOMET) of 2015.
President William Ruto has nominated Noordin Haji as the next Director General of the National Intelligence Service.

If considered by Parliament, Mr Haji will succeed Philip Kameru who is due for retirement.

Mr Kameru has been at the helm of the intelligence agency since September 2014.

President Ruto described his performance at NIS as outstanding, having helped the country confront terrorism, transnational crimes and major threats to our security.

At the same time, the President has made portfolio re-assignments within the ranks of Principal Secretaries.

Esther Ngero, who has been serving as the PS for Performance Management, is the new PS for Correctional Services.

She replaces Mary Muriuki who takes charge of Public Health and Professional Standards.

Dr Peter Tum has shifted from Medical Services to Sports. He will be succeeded by Harry Kimtai who leaves the Livestock seat to Jonathan Mueke.

In the changes that will enhance service delivery to Kenyans, President Ruto also transferred Gitonga Mugambi from Irrigation to Forestry and nominated Faith Njeri as PS for Performance Management.

-PCS
Former Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko continued to be a menace on social media amid mixed reactions for showing off his wealth.

Sonko stunned Kenyans on social media when he went on a rant in response to claims that he was broke. In his video rant, the flamboyant politician showed off bundles of cash in dollars and shillings stacked in a gold-plated aluminum case.

In the video, Sonko says,Ati sina pesa sababu hatusaidii watoto. Nani ameakuambia above 18 ni watoto? mtu amezaa. Amesomeshwa akamaliza. Niko na pesa ya kuharibu na bibi zangu Wacha nikuoneshe pesa. Unajua maana ya pesa wewe?

Sonko mentioned that his wealth is for spoiling his wives as he hurled unprintable insults at an unknown individual.

The video also drew backlash from a section of Kenyans, along them Kileleshwa Member of County Assembly (MCA) Robert Alai.

The former blogger blasted Sonko, tweeting: The fact that you can operate a camera and display a wad of cash doesnt make you rich. You can be having some wads of cash while upstairs, wewe ni maskini wa ki akili . Jamani, tafuteni knowledge and wisdom. Gig piny bura oloyo (nothing cant be solved with a meeting). Never seek validation from netizens.

Sonko wrote back: Maisha ni yangu. Wewe nyamaza mknd wewe. Yako ya Mca umesaidia nayo nani? Na bado ujue (My life is mine. You keep quiet. Yours where you are an MCA, who have you helped? And you should know) I can still go out of my way for anyone including yourself since you were once my buddy. God forbid akikuchukua mbele yangu (he takes you before me), I will ensure you are buried like a king. Together with your funeral committee, we shall preserve your body in the morgue for additional 3weeks as I construct a modern house for you in your shags where you will be laid to rest.

As the back and forth was going on on Twitter, Sonkos daughter Sandra Mbuvi joined the fray and told off her dads attackers.

Guys please stop attacking my father. Everyone gets upset and if it were you in that position you would have flipped even worse yall dont see things from his point of view but then so quick to jump to conclusions. Hes human to a beg, she wrote.

Then on Tuesday, Sonko went a step further and shared a video talking about his love for diamonds.

Check him out below.
Eliud Wekesa, the self-stayed Jesus of Tongaren, is a free man after the State failed to provide evidence in an indoctrination case.

After spending five days in police cells, Bungoma Principal Magistrate Tom Orlando on Tuesday released the leader of New Jerusalem Church.

Yesu wa Tongaren had been accused of running a religious cult purporting to be Jesus Christ, teaching radical ideologies to his followers, as well as practising and promoting money laundering.

He was also accused of unlawful operation of an unregistered society.

Roots Party Leader George Wajackoyah represented Yesu wa Tongaren in court.

It is very wrong to incriminate a religious leader based on the Shakahola incident. This man is very innocent and his arrest was purely political. A lot of Bungoma leaders, including the governor, were on the forefront pushing for his arrest, Wajackoyah told the court.

The 2022 presidential aspirant added every religious leader has a right to preach the word of God and is protected by the Constitution.

The court ruled that Wekesa had no case to answer and set him free.

The suspect has not been found with any offence following investigations that were done by police and therefore is set him free, ruled Magistrate Orlando.

Yesu wa Tongaren attributed his release to God.

It is Gods doing. I had earlier on said my lawyers would be the sun and the moon but God came through and placed a rainbow on my side in the form of lawyer Simiyu Wamalwa who has stood with me since the beginning, and Prof Wajackoyah who has come today to stand with me. I dont take it for granted, he said.

Wekesa also mentioned to the court that his only wealth is his beard and his hair.

On Saturday, I went with some police officers to my home during their investigations, and I was glad, being a sabbath day, they got a chance to witness and count the offerings that were collected; Sh250, six tomatoes and four onions, he said.
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Talk about overdue  last week a man returned a book to the St. Helena Public Library that was due Feb. 21, 1927.

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Benson Lossings A History of the United States is a weighty tome with the crumbling binding one would expect from a book published in 1881. It's stamped Property of the St. Helena Library Association, and library staff suspect it was one of the original 540 volumes available when the Free Public Library opened in the Kettlewell building  also known as the Vasconi's building  in 1892.

The man returned the book to the front desk but didnt leave his name. Library staff hope he comes forward. Library Director Chris Kreiden said the library went fine-free in 2019, so the man wont owe a cent for keeping the book longer than two weeks.

"Nobody on the staff recognized the gentleman who brought it in," Kreiden said. "The library (staff) would definitely love to know" the story of how he came across the book.

In case youre wondering, the librarys old nickel-a-day fine would have added up to roughly $1,756 from the 1927 due date through last week.

The book offers a glimpse into the librarys history. Before the Free Public Library opened in 1892, it cost 25 cents a month to borrow books  including possibly this one  from the St. Helena Library Association in the Odd Fellows building.

Local readers looking to establish a permanent home for the library contacted philanthropist Andrew Carnegie, who in 1906 donated $7,500 to build the Carnegie Building at the corner of Oak and Adams.

Whoever borrowed the Lossing book must have checked it out from the Carnegie Building, 52 years before the current library was built with support from George and Elsie Wood. Kreiden said there's no indication the library ever removed it from its collection and sold it.

According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, Lossing (1813-1891) was a prolific and respected American historian. He was known for traveling widely to seek out primary sources and visit historic buildings and battlefields, a practice that was unusual at the time but is considered standard for todays historians. His massive Pictorial Field-Book of the Revolution was the result of 9,000 miles of travel over two years.

The 754-page volume returned to the library contains 400 engravings and a full account of the then-recent national centennial celebration of 1876.

Kreiden said the library staff haven't decided what to do with the book, but their top priority is to protect it from further deterioration.

"It would be cool to put it on display someday but we haven't figured out how to do that," she said.

These were the top 10 books people wanted removed from schools and libraries in 2021 1. 'Gender Queer' by Maia Kobabe 2. 'Lawn Boy' by Jonathan Evison 3. 'All Boys Arent Blue' by George M. Johnson 4. 'Out of Darkness' by Ashley Hope Perez 5. 'The Hate U Give' by Angie Thomas 6. 'The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian' by Sherman Alexie 7. 'Me and Earl and the Dying Girl' by Jesse Andrews 8. 'The Bluest Eye' by Toni Morrison 9. 'This Book is Gay' by Juno Dawson 10. 'Beyond Magenta' by Susan Kuklin
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The city of St. Helena and Napa County are inviting the public to an Emergency Preparedness Resource Fair from 4 to 7 p.m. Friday, May 19, outside the new City Hall at the Napa Valley College Upper Valley Campus.

The family-friendly event is designed to give residents the knowledge and resources they need to prepare for emergencies and natural disasters such as fires and other unforeseen events.

City staff will offer information about a recently completed draft of a fire fuels assessment and treatment plan. The city developed the plan after receiving Phase I of a grant from the California Department of Emergency Services and the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Vegetation removal and defensible space work will begin in Phase II after the draft report is finalized and approved. The public is invited to view the draft plan and provide comments at the event and online at cityofsthelena.org/hot-topics.

The St. Helena Fire Department will debut a residential defensible space inspection program at the event. The program offers free site inspections to any property in the city limits to provide guidance on defensible space and city code requirements. After a property has passed inspection, the property owner will receive a certificate of completion from the city and the fire department stating that the property complies with local and county defensible space requirements, which can be helpful in acquiring fire insurance. Residents can also learn more about the program by calling 707-967-2880 or by emailing SHFDfire@cityofsthelena.org.

We are excited to provide this innovative inspection program to residents and property owners in the city of St. Helena, said Fire Chief John Sorensen. One of the best ways for residents to keep their homes safe from fire is proper fire prevention, and we hope that this will encourage compliance with all local and county defensible space requirements by residents and property owners.

The St. Helena Police Department will also be present at the event, which is happening during National Police Week May 14-20. Police will provide information and evacuation tags and answer questions.

We are excited for members of the community to attend this event and get information on emergency preparedness, said Police Chief Chris Hartley. We will also have a patrol vehicle at the event with other emergency vehicles from across Napa County so it will be a great opportunity for the entire family.

The event will also feature giveaways, raffles, a scavenger hunt, a kids coloring table, police and fire vehicles, and food and drinks available for purchase from local food trucks. City and county staff and members of partnering organizations will also be on hand. In addition to the city fire and police departments, there will be representatives from the Napa County Agricultural Commissioners Office, Health and Human Services Agency, County Executive Office, Office of Emergency Services, Sheriffs Office, Napa County Fire, Community Emergency Response Team, Napa Valley Community Organizations Active in Disaster and the Center for Volunteer & Nonprofit Leadership.

"This is an excellent opportunity for residents to learn about emergency preparedness and to meet the local organizations and agencies that are dedicated to keeping our community safe," said City Manager Anil Comelo. "We encourage everyone to attend this family-friendly event and take advantage of the resources and information available."

The Office of Emergency Services will promote emergency preparedness, including the new Alert Napa County. Staff will be on hand to help members of the community sign up for the new emergency notification system.

This event is free to the public and no RSVP is required. For more information, email emergencyservices@countyofnapa.org.

PHOTOS: Rebuilding Flying Lady Winery in St. Helena Flying Lady 1 Flying Lady 2 Flying Lady 3 Flying Lady 4 Flying Lady 5 Flying Lady 6 Flying Lady 7 Flying Lady 8 Flying Lady 9 Flying Lady 10
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An overhaul of St. Helenas zoning code is reviving an old debate over small winery regulations.

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The city requires the owner or operator of a small winery to live on-site, since small wineries are intended to be family affairs that are secondary to a propertys residential use. At least 85% of the grapes processed at a small winery must be grown on the premises or contiguous parcels.

The City Council adopted an ordinance in 2014 eliminating the residency requirement and allowing limited public events, but repealed it after an outcry from members of the public who said the regulatory rollback would commercialize residential neighborhoods.

Steve and Linda Goldfarb, who own Anomaly Vineyards near Vallejo Street, asked the council last November to eliminate the residency requirement and loosen the sourcing mandate.

The latest draft of the new zoning code proposes eliminating the residency rule and requiring the grapes to come from within the St. Helena city limits  not necessarily from the winery property and adjacent parcels.

Last week St. Helena resident Mark Smithers emailed the council defending the current requirements and warning against piecemeal changes that would water down the painstakingly vetted small winery ordinance, which was intended to preserve our neighborhoods where they exist.

I remind you there are some 120 sites within St. Helena that could allow development of a small winery, Smithers wrote. If the city loosens the requirements intended to support small family wineries, many of the sites will be developed by speculators and corporations resulting in dramatic changes to St. Helena and its wonderful neighborhoods.

Steve Goldfarb defended his suggestions during a May 10 joint meeting of the City Council and Planning Commission.

All the other properties on my street dont have wineries, so they can rent their properties, Goldfarb said. Why restrict one property because it happens to have something thats primary to what the A-20 district is, which is agriculture?

As for the sourcing requirement, he said the size of the parcel dictates the production capacity of a small winery (1,000 gallons per acre of vineyard). So why should it matter where he gets his grapes, he asked, as long as he stays within that production limit?

Councilmember Lester Hardy agreed that small wineries need flexibility in case they lose their on-site crop to a disaster like a fire.

Hardy said he was sensitive to the potential for blowback on removing the residency requirement, but it certainly doesnt make sense everywhere in the A-20 zoning district.

Mayor Paul Dohring was more skeptical. He said the small winery restrictions were intended to protect residential neighborhoods adjacent to ag-zoned wineries, although Hardys point about providing flexibility in case of disaster resonated with him.

Im pretty much neutral on this issue, but there are impacts that happen when youre getting grapes from other parts of the city, he said.

Vice Mayor Eric Hall supported eliminating the residency requirement and allowing a small winerys grapes to come from anywhere in St. Helena. Councilmember Anna Chouteau favored loosening the sourcing requirement but keeping the residency requirement.

We could look at that in the future, she said.

City staff will incorporate the councils latest comments into another draft of the zoning code that will come before the Planning Commission as soon as July, followed by possible council adoption in August.

PHOTOS: Sheep graze on the NVC vineyard Grazing sheep 2 Grazing among the vineyards Grazing sheep 3 Grazing sheep 4 Grazing sheep 5 Grazing sheep 6 Grazing sheep 7 Grazing sheep 8 Grazing sheep 9 Grazing sheep 10 Grazing sheep 11 Grazing sheep 12 Grazing sheep 13 Grazing sheep 14
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The Glass Fire obliterated Flying Lady Winery so thoroughly that it looked like a missile hit it, recalls owner Zach Nassar.

Looking down on the valley from the top of Langtry Road on Spring Mountain, Zach Nasser recalled how his familys dream of owning a Napa Valley winery was crushed by the Glass Fire of September 2020.

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But as he recalled those dismal memories, the sounds of construction all around him signaled the propertys rebirth.

This Glass Fire story, unlike so many others, has a happy ending.

Nassars family, who operate a Colorado-based construction and development company, had bought the 13-acre property in 2018. Located near the Sonoma County line and previously home to Paul Smiths OnThEdge Winery, the property had fallen into disrepair and needed the sort of major renovations the Nassar family specializes in.

We like projects that need a little bit of love, so we bought it, Nassar said.

Renovations took two and a half years. After spending a day raking the new landscaping, Nassar woke up the next morning to an unusual lightning storm. When he saw a plume of smoke in the direction of Howell Mountain, he thought, Thats not good.

The Glass Fire seemed to wreak fingers of destruction, Nassar said, destroying Flying Ladys neighbor, Cain Vineyard & Winery, but leaving other structures in the area unscathed. After two anxious weeks, they confirmed the bad news: All that was left of Flying Lady was the steel deck theyd built surrounding the main building.

It was tough because were a family company, Nassar said. Wed poured our heart and soul into the renovation of the property. To be honest, we didnt know if we had it in us to rebuild it.

But businessman Ted Bryce gave them an offer they couldnt turn down: He agreed to buy the property, live in the rebuilt house, and let Flying Lady lease the rebuilt winery in exchange for a stake in the business. All they had to do was rebuild.

The Nassars, who after the Glass Fire had decided not to move to the Napa Valley anyway, saw a win-win opportunity. Bryce would get his house and they would get their winery.

The new winery, now under construction, will have a production capacity of 3,000 cases annually. Nassar hopes to open the winery and tasting room next spring.

Were trying to create a cool, relaxed spot where people can hang out, he said.

The new house is built to be as fire-resistant as possible, with a stone exterior, metal roofs and railings, steel decks, and drywall under all of the soffits.

Nassar said building to that higher standard and avoiding ordinary materials like wood siding and asphalt roofs adds a 20% to 30% premium onto construction costs, but after the Glass Fire he's not taking any chances.

The Nassars have a contract to buy grapes from Fritz Maytags nearby York Creek Vineyard, which is visible from the Flying Lady property. Flying Lady produces a Cabernet Sauvignon with grapes from Spring Mountain and Oak Knoll, a single-vineyard Reserve Cabernet with 100% Spring Mountain fruit, a Pinot Noir, a red blend, a rose and a Brut Sparkling from Pinot Blanc.

Flying Lady used a custom-crush facility for their 2021 and 2022 vintages, and 2020 was a complete loss except for some Pinot Blanc harvested just before the Glass Fire for Flying Ladys sparkling wine.

With the house almost done and the winery well underway, Nassar said it "gives us a lot of closure to see it back vertical again."

"It's been a real blessing to rebuild it and see it come back to life," he said.

PHOTOS: Rebuilding Flying Lady Winery in St. Helena Flying Lady 1 Flying Lady 2 Flying Lady 3 Flying Lady 4 Flying Lady 5 Flying Lady 6 Flying Lady 7 Flying Lady 8 Flying Lady 9 Flying Lady 10
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Aisha Rivera selected Napa County poet laureate

The Napa County Board of Supervisors has named Aisha Rivera as the new poet laureate for the 2023-2025 term.

Tasked with serving as an ambassador for poetry, the county stated in a release, Rivera's mission will be to further infuse poetry into the community and make it more accessible in everyday life.

"I believe in the impact of diverse poetry that addresses intersectional issues," Rivera stated during their application process. "My aim is to serve our community as a poet laureate, advocating for diversity and fostering positive social change."

Rivera, a graduate of California State University, Fullerton with a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and Theater Art, also holds an Associate of Arts in Psychology and an Associate of Science in Natural Science and Mathematics from Napa Valley College.

Rivera's professional experience includes heading the Equity and Inclusion Committee at Arts Council Napa Valley and working as a Social Justice Educator at the LGBTQ Resource Center. They currently sit on the board of the Arts Council Napa Valley.

Rivera succeeds Marianne Lyon, who served as the Napa County Poet Laureate from 2021 to 2023.

The role is an honorary, volunteer position, the release stated, signifying an ongoing commitment to the promotion and appreciation of poetry within the county.

Serge Sorokko Gallery + Martin Ray Tasting Room to open

The Serge Sorokko Gallery + Martin Ray Tasting Room, which will exhibit a rotating collection of contemporary American and European art while offering single vineyard wines from Martin Ray Vineyards, is set to open mid-May, according to a press release from the company.

The gallery is co-owned by art gallerist Serge Sorokko and Martin Ray Vineyards' proprietor, Courtney Benham. It will be open to the public year-round and offer a salon for private gatherings of up to 40 people. The salon will feature a curated selection of artwork and provide a sensory food experience from Martin Ray's food program.

The gallery will showcase works from internationally recognized artists, including New York-based Donald Sultan, Ross Bleckner, and Hunt Slonem, as well as Belgian artist Isabelle de Borchgrave, known for her intricate paper sculptures.

The nearly 4,500 square-foot space, designed by award-winning architect Craig Steely, features retractable glass walls, reflective gloss white epoxy floors, and oversized dynamic circular power shapes. The steel wine bar in the center of the building will offer various wines, including Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, Estate Russian Valley Pinot Noir, and Brut Rose sparkling wine.

"We both had been wanting to create a space that merged fine art and fine wine in a new way," said Sorokko.

Martin Ray winemakers Leslie Renaud, Raemy Paterson, and consulting winemaker Keith Emerson, will be producing the wines.

"I'm thrilled that Martin Ray's first-ever standalone tasting room will offer something conceptually and architecturally unlike anything else that exists here," said Benham.

The gallery is located at 1500 First St., Napa, and will be open Tuesday - Sunday from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.

di Rosa Center exhibition opening June 3

The di Rosa Center for Contemporary Art will showcase "Figure Telling: Contemporary Bay Area Figuration," an exhibition focusing on the narrative potential of the human figure, from June 3 to Sept. 17, according to a press release.

The exhibition features six local artists  Sydney Cain, Craig Calderwood, John Goodman, Afsoon Razavi, and Heather Wilcoxon  who employ a variety of media, including graphite, paint, textile, pen and ink. Their work reflects personal and honest stories, stemming from individual, family and community histories.

"Figure Telling" aims to explore the progression of the Bay Area Figurative movement, a significant North American art movement based on the West Coast that started in the mid-20th century as a counterpoint to the dominant Abstract Expressionist style.

"This exhibition examines the legacy of the movement," stated curator Kate Eilertsen. "It questions how contemporary works borrow from our rich regional tradition of figurative painting and how they differ."

Artists of the Bay Area Figurative movement, such as David Park, Elmer Bischoff, Manuel Neri, Joan Brown, and Nathan Oliviera, have significant representation within the di Rosa collection.

The center will host an opening reception on Saturday, June 3, from 5:30 to 7 p.m. The event, featuring an intimate performance by UPside Dance Company, is free for members and $10 for the general public. Tickets are available at dirosaart.org.
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Perhaps more than any other expression of our changing climate, Californians are acquainted with wildfires. Thats whether they have lost a home, evacuated one, witnessed the apocalyptic day in 2020 when the sun never came out, or simply had to cancel plans.

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Who is to blame? Worsening wildfires in the Western U.S. have been definitively linked to climate change for years, and now scientists are drawing a measurable connection between acres burned and carbon emissions released by the worlds largest fossil fuel companies.

A new study released Tuesday by the Union of Concerned Scientists, a national science advocacy organization, linked emissions from the worlds major fossil fuel producers to 37% of acres burned by wildfire in the North American West between 1986 and 2021.

Those emissions, researchers say, are also responsible for nearly half the atmospheric conditions drying out California forests. They hope these findings translate into corporate accountability for damages wrought by past and future disasters.

This is the first study that we know of in the world that attributes wildfire impacts from climate change to specific fossil fuel producers and cement manufacturers, said Kristina Dahl, Union of Concerned Scientists researcher and the studys leading author.

I hope that this helps to shift the narrative for the general public and for our policymakers in California toward one in which we broaden out our view of corporate responsibility for wildfires.

Between 2017 and 2021, Californians experienced more than 45,000 wildfires that burned a total of more than 9.5 million acres  including the states eight largest wildfires on record  and cost $25 billion in suppression response and economic damage.

The 2018 fire season alone destroyed more than 22,000 structures and caused damages exceeding $140 billion, not to mention worsened air quality and particulate matter that disproportionately harmed the health of low-income communities.

While the state is making progress addressing wildfire risk, the studies authors said, more resilience is needed. And to date, the general public has been left footing the bill for these disasters.

Fuels behind fires

To conduct the study titled The Fossil Fuels behind Forest Fires, scientists used a measure of airs thirst for plant and soil moisture, called vapor pressure deficit, to connect fossil fuel emissions to increasing wildfire intensity.

Studies have shown that a rapid jump in vapor pressure deficit in the western U.S. contributed to increases in the frequency and severity of wildfires, as well as the type of prolonged megadrought California experienced over the last decade.

Researchers asked what role fossil fuel companies played in this trend by looking at regional and global temperatures with and, hypothetically, without emissions of the worlds 88 top fossil fuel producers  a list of coal, oil, natural gas and cement companies.

Those companies range from household names such as Chevron, Exxon and BP to state-owned and government-run firms. The study was published in the Environmental Research Letters journal this week.

Using observed data and statistical models, they found that the influence of these companies emissions accounted for 48% of the increase in vapor pressure deficit since 1901 and 37% of the cumulative burned area from California to New Mexico and up to southwestern Canada since 1986.

In a statement, Kevin Slagle, vice president of strategic communications at the Western States Petroleum Organization, downplayed the scientists findings and called for collaboration toward a common cause.

We all want the same thing: affordable, reliable and ever-cleaner energy and fuels, he said. A press release from a well-funded activist group with a long history of attacking energy industries is unhelpful to the serious and realistic climate and energy policy discussions needed to get us there.

Measuring uncertainty

At the root of the study, Dahl said, is the question of who should be held responsible for the impacts of our intensifying climate. She said individuals often wrongly bear the burden despite never having been offered alternatives to gasoline cars and gas stoves.

Oil giants such as Exxon predicted global warming with scientific accuracy internally since the 1970s, Dahl said, and then spent decades publicly smearing the same science. She said people might understand they are living in a reality influenced by fossil fuel companies, but havent connected it to their lived experience of wildfire.

Pacific Gas & Electric Co. has borne the brunt of California's pursuit of accountability, having been found guilty for sparking some of the states largest wildfires and neglecting to maintain its equipment for decades. But Dahl said responsibility should extend beyond the utility.

There is this much bigger set of corporate actors that have shaped our climate, such that a spark from PG&ES equipment can turn into a nearly million-acre wildfire, she said. So I hope that people in California start to see that we need to be demanding broader accountability.

Comprehensive or not, advocates hope this type of research leads public officials and individuals to demand accountability from fossil fuel companies as questions arise about who will pay for efforts to decarbonize the economy and respond to climate disasters.

But like any scientific research, the study has limitations. Its authors noted that the analysis does not account for the legacy of fire suppression, prohibition of indigenous burning and increased likelihood of humans starting remote fires.

Anthony LeRoy Westerling, a professor of applied climatology at UC Merced, said a more comprehensive model that included factors such as drastic changes in precipitation would find that fossil fuel emissions are connected to a vastly higher percentage of wildfire damage.

Id say 100% ... They are ignoring parts that they dont have enough data to quantify properly, he said. Its difficult to create these models. But if I was a betting man, nobodys going to be saying, Oh yeah, 48% of that increase was from greenhouse gas emissions effecting vapor pressure deficit 50 years from now.

How climate change is affecting America's national parks Historic flooding, extreme temperatures and more Rising temperatures Glacial retreat Sea level rise Animal life Wildfires
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Erdogan accuses Germany of violating press freedom

Explosion in Russias Pskov damages oil pipeline building

Nikkei Asia: Japan and NATO increase cooperation to counter China, Russia

RA MOD: Car operated by 2 servicemen delivering provisions found on inter-positional roa

Car overturned in Shirak Province

The President of The Artsakh Republic convened a session of the Security Council

Cavusoglu: Turkey's EU membership still a goal, though process unlikely to revive

Turkish interior minister sued for use of facial recognition app

Belgium releases Iranian diplomat Asadollah Asadi

Ukraine asks Germany for Taurus cruise missiles

Clashes between Iran border guards and Taliban forces

Communication with 2 servicemen of the RA Armed Forces supplying food to combat positions was interrupted

Pashinyan received American Co-Chair of OSCE Minsk Group

Dollar, euro gain value

New presidential decrees prohibit assemblies, curtail freedom of expression in Karabakh

Cavusoglu: Turkey ready to take positive steps with Armenia if it signs peace agreement with Azerbaijan

MFA of Armenia: Signing of the peace treaty is not included in the agenda of the Chisinau meeting

Ararat Mirzoyan, Louis Bono confer about Armenia-Azerbaijan relations normalization process (PHOTOS)

Azerbaijan pursues policy of energy suffocation of Karabakh but says it provides electricity

Karabakh medical patients transfer to Armenia by Red Cross resumes

Azerbaijan deputy PM speaks about Zangezur corridor at Kazan forum

Armenia opposition MP: Russia response to Azerbaijan should have been more decisive

Ruling power lawmaker:Armenian side hears for first time that Russia supports Azerbaijan position on Zangezur corridor

Armenia ruling force MP: There is clear position on unblocking of regional communications

Azerbaijan ambassador to France sees chance for signing peace treaty with Armenia at European summit

Armenia deputy FM briefs UN Secretary General special adviser on the growing humanitarian crisis in Karabakh

Karabakh's bilaterally surrounded Lisagor village head: Youth want to leave the community, go to university

Russia presidential spox: Azerbaijan-Armenia peace agreement signing possible in foreseeable future

Armen Grigoryan, Louis Bono discuss Armenia-US relations agenda

NATO special representative holds meetings in Azerbaijan

Armenia President: War of 2020 was predictable back in 1990-1991 but we didn't want to face the truth

Azerbaijan defense minister visits Georgia

Armenia ombudswoman briefs Netherlands envoy on problems due to Lachin corridor blockade by Azerbaijan

Armenia PM: Deepening of neighborly relations with Georgia is among priorities of our foreign policy

Parliament speaker to Armenia graduating schoolchildren: Try to become your best version, not to be lazy

US State Department: We believe that an agreement is in reach between Armenia, Azerbaijan

Philip Reeker: Armenia-Azerbaijan peace agreement must include various concepts

Newspaper: Armenia authorities prominent figures involved in illegal drugs import

Russia deputy PM: Azerbaijan, Armenia equally understand how transport corridors must be unblocked

Full speech of Pashinyan and Putin at bilateral meeting

Overchuk: We will discuss many important details with Armenia, Azerbaijan deputy PMs in one week

Trilateral meeting of the leaders of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Russia ended

Trilateral meeting of Aliyev, Putin and Pashinyan begins

Putin: Azerbaijan recognizes full sovereignty of Armenia

Putin: Russia trade with Armenia reached $5 billion in 2022

Putin: Russia has never changed its position on Lachin corridor

Putin: Trilateral meeting will discuss unblocking of transport links

Pashinyan and Putin meet in Moscow

Pashinyan, Aliyev have war of words over Zangezur corridor term interpretation

Russias Putin thanks Armenias Pashinyan for not opposing Azerbaijans Aliyev visit to EAEU meeting

Putin: There are principled agreements between Armenia, Azerbaijan regarding territorial integrity

Peskov: No predictions regarding Putin, Aliyev, Pashinyan meeting yet

Russia defense minister signs documents on deployment of nuclear weapons on Belarus territory

Georgian Airways to launch transit flights to Europe for Russians

Aliyev announces possibility of signing peace agreement with Armenia

Overchuk: 89% of goods transactions within EAEU are carried out in our national currencies

Czech Republic embassy in Armenia temporarily suspends Schengen visa applicants registration

Armenia premier: EAEU-Iran free trade agreement entry into force is paramount to us

Karabakh FM sends official letters to heads of foreign diplomatic missions accredited to Armenia

Armenia Investigative Committee: Detention chosen as preventive measure against Vardan Ghukasyan

Putin: It will be difficult for other Eurasian Economic Union countries to reach Armenia

Pashinyan: Armenia ready for dialogue to create single natural gas market within EAEU

Armenia to hold several tourism festivals this year

Armenia economic activity index up 12.2% in January-April

Tourism Committee head: 630,000 tourists visited Armenia in 1st four months of 2023

Baku plans to relocate 1,500 Azerbaijanis to occupied Armenian Shushi city of Karabakh in 1st phase

CSTO countries approve 2024 plan for collective security forces joint training

Putin: Armenia is main beneficiary at EAEU because its economy growth rate is the highest

Georgia arrests Iran citizen transporting 80kg of heroin via Armenia

Eurasian Economic Union summit kicks off in Kremlin

Sergei Shoigu: West attempts to intervene in situation around Karabakh

Russia deputy FM: Armenia-Azerbaijan peace treaty should be based on long-term, stable decision

Arizona State Legislature affirms Karabakh right to self-determination

Armenia government gives compensation for construction equipment that came under Azerbaijan control last September

Russia defense minister underscores importance of Armenia participation in CSTO joint military exercises

Economy minister: Armenia pharmaceutical sector production is expected to increase to AMD 40 billion by 2027

Armenia deputy FM, Red Cross president confer about humanitarian crisis in Karabakh

Russias Putin to meet with Armenias Pashinyan, Azerbaijans Aliyev in Moscow

Deputy FM: Azerbaijan will not allow Israel to attack Iran from its territory

Armenia premier sends congratulatory messages to King, PM of Jordan

Armenia minister of defense to not attend CSTO defense ministers council meeting

Eurasian Economic Commission: Number of labor migrants from Russia to Armenia increased by 272% in 2022

Armenia ombudswoman briefs Sweden ambassador on situation due to Lachin corridor blockade by Azerbaijan

CSTO countries defense ministers to meet in Minsk, to discuss coalition security
Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan met with Latvian foreign minister Edgars Rinkevics in Reykjavik on Tuesday, the foreign ministry of Armenia informs Armenian News-NEWS.am.

During the meeting, issues related to the development of bilateral cooperation were discussed, highlighting mutual high-level visits and regular consultations between the foreign political departments of the two countries.

Thoughts were exchanged on the priorities of Latvia's presidency in the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe. In this connection, FM Mirzoyan expressed hope that they will also address today's challenges, emphasizing the readiness for continuous close cooperation in matters of ensuring human rights and fundamental freedoms.

Agenda matters of Armenia-EU partnership were also addressed.

Issues of regional stability and security were discussed, too. In this regard, FM Mirzoyan presented to his Latvian colleague the latest developments in the process of normalization of relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan. In this context, it was emphasized that provocative and aggressive actions by Azerbaijan do not contribute to efforts to establish lasting peace in the region. The importance of addressing the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh due to the illegal blocking of the Lachin corridor by Azerbaijan, the return of Armenian prisoners of war in Azerbaijan, and some other humanitarian issues was emphasized.

Also Ararat Mirzoyan reaffirmed the political will of the Armenian side to achieve peace and stability in the South Caucasus.
The Fix Price chain of fixed price stores is in Armenia now, the company told RIA Novosti.

"Fix Price announces its entry into Armenias market and the opening of the first outlet in the capital, Yerevan... The stores in Armenia have become part of the Fix Price franchise network," the company said.

The assortment of the Yerevan store includes 1,700 products in 11 price categories, and delivery to this store is carried out by vehicle from the Fix Price headquarters in Krasnodar, Russia.

"In addition to the already opened store, it is planned to develop the network and open a second store in Yerevan already in the coming month," said Vladimir Pogonin, director of the management department at Fix Price stores.
The US "advises" Armenia to give up the Russian military base and border guards in the country, promising instead to "ensure security," Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov said, RIA Novosti reported.

"I know that we have such information to the Armenians. They [i.e., the US and its allies] say [to Armenia], as if come to us, drive the Russians out of your territory, and the border guards too, remove the [Russian] military base [in Armenia], the Americans will help ensure security [of Armenia]. Open provocation! This is not diplomacy either... There is no such diplomacy anymore. There is direct bribery," Lavrov said in an interview on a Russian television.

Also, claimed that the US often "swindles" its allies.

The 102nd Russian military base is located in Gyumri, Armenia. And the air component of this military base is at Erebuni military airport in Yerevan.
At the moment, the halting of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) humanitarian movement is mainly due to the fact that the organization is in dialogue with all decision-makers regarding the need for some clarification of procedures. Zara Amatuni, the Communication and Prevention Program Manager of the ICRC Armenia office, told Armenian News-NEWS.am about this.

"We hope that as a result of reaching an agreement, the organization will be able to resume its humanitarian work," added Amatuni.

The last time a medical patient was transferred to Armenia from Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) through the mediation of the ICRC was on April 29.
Russia expects that preparations for an agreement with Iran and Azerbaijan on collaboration in the development of railway infrastructure and cargo transportation will be completed as soon as possible, Russian President Vladimir Putin said, RIA Novosti reports.

The Russian leader attended, via video link, the signing ceremonywith Iranian President Ebrahim Raisiof the agreement on the construction of the Rasht-Astara railway.

"Collaboration in the context of the creation of this corridor, which we are talking about today, is carried out in close partnership with Azerbaijan. And we expect that the preparations for the cooperation agreement on the development of railway infrastructure and cargo transportation on the North-South route in a trilateral format, with the participation of the Azerbaijani side, will be completed as soon as possible," said Putin.

In this way, the necessary legal basis for the further successful coordination of the three countries will be formed, the Russian president added.
By signing the document on the deployment of a Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) monitoring mission, Armenia would have had a more stable situation. This was stated by the Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sergey Lavrov, in an interview on a Russian television, which was posted Wednesday on the website of the Russian foreign ministry.

"At the CSTO summit in Yerevan in the fall of 2022, a document was prepared on deploying a mission of observers of the Collective Security Treaty Organization in Armenian territory, in accordance with the request of our Armenian allies," Lavrov said. "If Yerevan had confirmed what was already agreed upon and ready for signing and coming into force, I am convinced that Armenia would have benefited and had a more stable situation."

The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Russia emphasized that the aforesaid document was fully agreed at the level of foreign ministers of the CSTO countries.

"Then, at the last moment, at the summit itself, the Armenian friends asked to postpone its adoption. Until now, it remains on paper and cannot be implemented," Lavrov added.
The Armenian government has an idea about what model should be used in order to oversee the railway from Nakhichevan to Azerbaijan, if it is opened. Minister of economy Vahan Kerobyan stated about this while speaking with reporters Wednesday in the National Assembly of Armenia.

After the talks in Brussels on May 14, President of the European Council Charles Michel announced that Armenia and Azerbaijan agreed to ask the assistance of the World Customs Organization regarding the resumption of the railway through Nakhichevan.

"The same type of regulation was planned in that part of Georgia and Abkhazia, and one of the famous companies in the world was supposed to oversee it. It was a Swiss company, but there are also French and a number of other companies, the documents issued to which are highly trusted all over the world," said Kerobyan.

He noted that according to that overseeing model, inspection points of that company shall be placed at the exit and entry areas of Abkhazia, and they shall replace the functions of customs offices.

The Armenian official noted that although this measure did not work in the case of Abkhazia, it gives an idea as to the model that railway can be overseen with.

"To generalize, we must say that, of course, we are in favor of the development of any type of infrastructure because Armenia has quite a large potential in terms of infrastructure. Although we are making large-scale investments in infrastructure, taking into account that adequate investments in infrastructure were not made and our infrastructure was not developed in general in the previous 30 years, we now need large investments, and the [Armenian] government is in a hurry to make large investments in all these directions and is doing so, emphasized Kerobyan, assuring that there are many successful working models in the world.
Dunja Mijatovic, the Council of Europe (CoE) Commissioner for Human Rights, expressed concern about the human rights situation in Azerbaijan, in an interview with VOA. She called the ongoing pressures and persecutions against journalists, human rights advocates, and civil society representatives in Azerbaijan unacceptable.

Mijatovic, who previously held the position of OSCE representative on media freedom, has visited Azerbaijan many times. She noted that since then there have been no positive changes in the country regarding freedom of speech and media, the respective restrictive environment is maintained, and the new law on media introduces more censorship and restrictions.

The CoE Commissioner added that she continues to follow the situation related to human rights in Azerbaijan and raise issues related to the arrests of human rights advocates and journalists in the country.

Mijatovic said she has repeatedly expressed her concerns very openly to the government of Azerbaijan, hoping that there will be some solutions. Unfortunately, this did not happen, added the commissioner.

The CoE Commissioner said that another matter she is following closely is the tripartite statement signed in November 2020 by the leaders of Armenia, Russia, and Azerbaijan. Mijatovic said that at that time, she immediately contacted Baku and Yerevan to help with human rights issues.

Mijatovic added that since then, she has worked hard to visit Nagorno-Karabakh, she proposed to draw the attention of the Azerbaijani authorities and even go together. The CoE Commissioner said she knows that this is a very sensitive issue from a political point of view, she recognize the sovereignty of Azerbaijan, she has always said about this, but, nonetheless, her visit to Nagorno-Karabakh has not yet taken place.

Mijatovic said she does not see any real political will on the part of the Azerbaijani authorities to improve the state of media freedom in the country.

If the Azerbaijani government wants to be part of the international community, it should value democracy, human rights, and the rule of law, concluded Dunja Mijatovic.
Armenia recognizes the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, with an area of 86,600 square kilometers, and Azerbaijan, in turn, announced that it recognizes the territorial integrity of Armenia, with an area of 29,800 square kilometers. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan announced this during his address Wednesday at the Fourth Council of Europe summit in Reykjavik, the capital of Iceland.

For many years, the existence of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict was an excuse for the lack of democracy in Armenia. But the velvet revolution in Armenia in 2018 provided conditions for democratic developments, but in September 2020, Azerbaijan attacked Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia had to get involved in the war, Pashinyan noted.

On November 9, 2020, he signed a tripartite statement, which caused attacks on state institutions in Armenia, but they were able to preserve the democratic order, PM noted.

He added that before the 2021 snap parliamentary election, on May 12, Azerbaijan invaded the territory of Armenia. Pashinyan noted that in the aforesaid election, they promoted the peace agenda and succeeded, but that peace agenda was also attacked, and Azerbaijan once again invaded the territory of Armenia in November 2021 and September 2022.

As per Pashinyan, an agreement was reached between the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan in Prague on October 6, 2022, according to which the two parties shall normalize their relations based on the Alma Ata Declaration of 1991, by which the administrative borders of Soviet Armenia and Soviet Azerbaijan shall become state borders.

He added that three days ago in Brussels they went further, and it was noted that Armenia recognizes the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, with an area of 86,600 square kilometers, and Azerbaijan, in turn, recognizes the territorial integrity of Armenia, with an area of 29,800 square kilometers.

The Armenian premier recalled that as a result of the illegal blockade of the Lachin corridor by Azerbaijan, the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh have been cut off from the world for the past five months, a humanitarian crisis has matured there, and therefore sending an international mission to Nagorno-Karabakh and the Lachin corridor is a dire necessity.

Pashinyan emphasized that it is necessary to start negotiations between Karabakh and Azerbaijan under international mechanismsand with the aim of ensuring the safety and human rights of the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh.
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan cannot sign by his sole decision any document on the recognition of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) as part of Azerbaijan. Alvina Gyulumyan, a former judge of the Constitutional Court of Armenia and the European Court of Human Rights, told Armenian News-NEWS.am about this on Wednesday.

"Article 6 of the Constitution [of Armenia] says about the principle of legality that state officials are authorized to perform only those actions for which they are authorized by the Constitution and the law. We need to find out whether anyone is authorized to make such a decision by law. It can be an opinion, but it has no legal force until it is signed by any interstate agreement. Such agreements shall be ratified by the National Assembly [of Armenia]after the Constitutional Court makes a decision on its constitutionality," Gyulumyan said.

According to her, statements cannot be the subject of investigation by those bodies.

If any international agreement contradicts Armenia's constitution, it can be ratified only when the relevant provision or the constitution is changed, Gyulumyan said.

"However, even in the case of a changed constitution, those preambles should be taken into account before taking such a step," she added.
Story Highlights Clinical depression in lifetime and current depression both hit new highs

Women and young adults have experienced the greatest increases

Black and Hispanic adults rising at about twice the rate of White adults

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The percentage of U.S. adults who report having been diagnosed with depression at some point in their lifetime has reached 29.0%, nearly 10 percentage points higher than in 2015. The percentage of Americans who currently have or are being treated for depression has also increased, to 17.8%, up about seven points over the same period. Both rates are the highest recorded by Gallup since it began measuring depression using the current form of data collection in 2015.

Line chart: Rising trends in lifetime and current depression rates. In 2023, 29.0% of Americans report having been diagnosed with depression in their lifetime, while 17.8% reporting currently having depression.

The most recent results, obtained Feb. 21-28, 2023, are based on 5,167 U.S. adults surveyed by web as part of the Gallup Panel, a probability-based panel of about 100,000 adults across all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Respondents were asked, Has a doctor or nurse ever told you that you have depression? and Do you currently have or are you currently being treated for depression? Both metrics are part of the ongoing Gallup National Health and Well-Being Index.

Rates Among Women, Young Adults, Black and Hispanic Adults Rising Fastest

Over one-third of women (36.7%) now report having been diagnosed with depression at some point in their lifetime, compared with 20.4% of men, and their rate has risen at nearly twice the rate of men since 2017. Those aged 18 to 29 (34.3%) and 30 to 44 (34.9%) have significantly greater depression diagnosis rates in their lifetime than those older than 44.

Women (23.8%) and adults aged 18 to 29 (24.6%) also have the highest rates of current depression or treatment for depression. These two groups (up 6.2 and 11.6 percentage points, respectively), as well as adults aged 30 to 44, have the fastest-rising rates compared with 2017 estimates.

Lifetime depression rates are also climbing fast among Black and Hispanic adults and have now surpassed those of White respondents. (Historically, White adults have reported marginally higher rates of both lifetime and current depression.)

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Implications

Alarming rates of depression are not unique to the U.S. Globally, nearly four in 10 adults aged 15 and older either endure significant depression or anxiety themselves or have a close friend or family member who suffers from it. Other Gallup research has estimated that 22% of Northern American adults have experienced depression or anxiety so extreme that they could not continue regular daily activities for two weeks or longer, similar to a global rate of 19% and matching estimates found in Western Europe, the Middle East and North Africa, and South Asia.

Clinical depression had been slowly rising in the U.S. prior to the COVID-19 pandemic but has jumped notably in its wake. Social isolation, loneliness, fear of infection, psychological exhaustion (particularly among front-line responders such as healthcare workers), elevated substance abuse and disruptions in mental health services have all likely played a role. While experiences of significant daily loneliness have subsided in the past two years amid widespread vaccinations and a slow return to normalcy, elevated loneliness experiences during the pandemic likely played a substantive role in increasing the rates of the longer-term, chronic nature of depression. Currently, 17% of U.S. adults report experiencing significant loneliness yesterday, projecting to an estimated 44 million people.

Among subgroups, women have historically reported substantially higher levels of depression than men. That this gap has notably widened further since 2017 is likely explained by several COVID-related factors, including the fact that women were disproportionately likely to lose their jobs or to exit the workforce altogether due in part to the pandemic driving children home from school or day care. Women also made up 78% of workers in all healthcare occupations in 2019, exposing them to enhanced emotional and psychological risk associated with the pandemic.

Young adults, in turn, are more likely to be single and to report loneliness, particularly so during the pandemic. They also need more social time to boost their mood than older adults, something directly impacted by COVID-19. Daily experiences of sadness, worry and anger -- all of which are closely related to depression -- are highest for those under 30 and those with lower income levels. And, like women, young adults and people of color were disproportionately likely to lose their jobs altogether due to the pandemic.

To stay up to date with the latest Gallup News insights and updates, follow us on Twitter.

Learn more about how the Gallup National Health and Well-Being Index works.

Learn more about how Gallup Panel works.

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Chinese fishing boat capsizes in Indian Ocean

Broadcaster CCTV says the distant-water fishing vessel "Lupeng Yuanyu 028" capsized early on Tuesday. Photo courtesy of the NPFC
Panaji (Goa) [India], May 17 (ANI/BusinessWire India): Minister of Tourism, Goa, Rohan Khaunte is scheduled to board the first direct flight between Goa and Uttarakhand on 23 May 2023, to mark the beginning of a collaboration between the two states that is set to benefit the tourism industries in both states. The new direct flight route is set to provide an easy and convenient way for tourists to travel between Goa and Uttarakhand and explore the unique cultural and natural attractions of both states. Speaking on the occasion, Rohan Khaunte said, "I am delighted about the commencement of direct flights between Goa and Uttarakhand, which will help in promoting spiritual tourism in Goa under the vision of Dakshin Kashi. Goa has several archaeologically important temples that tourists will now be able to easily access, by travelling through these direct flights. Similarly, this will also benefit tourists from Goa visiting Uttarakhand for the state's splendid natural beauty. The launch of this new direct flight will enhance the connectivity between the two states, allowing tourists to explore the diverse cultural heritage, natural beauty, and adventure tourism opportunities that both Goa and Uttarakhand have to offer." This collaboration is aligned with the 'Dekho Apna Desh' initiative that was launched as an appeal by the honourable Prime Minister Narendra Modi to people to prefer domestic tourism over international tourism. The initiative aims to encourage people to witness and experience the rich heritage and vivid culture of India. According to the statistics published by India Tourism Statistics 2022, Goa witnessed as many as 33 lakh domestic visitors, while 1.9 cr domestic tourists visited Uttarakhand in 2021. With the commencement of direct flights between Goa and Uttarakhand, the numbers of domestic tourists visiting both states is set to see a significant jump. The new direct flight between Manohar International Airport (Mopa) in Goa and Jolly Grant Airport (Dehradun) in Uttarakhand will be operated by Indigo Airlines, providing travellers with a comfortable and hassle-free experience. The flight schedule is as follows: This story is provided by BusinessWire India. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article. (ANI/BusinessWire India)
The Supreme Court on Wednesday granted an extension of time for three months to the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) to conduct a probe into the Hindenburg report against Adani Group. A bench led by the Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud and also comprising Justices PS Narsimha and JB Pardiwala granted an extension of time for three months to SEBI. The court said that SEBI is granted time till 14th August 2023 to conduct the probe. The court also said that the matter will be listed in July and requested the expert committee to continue to assist the court. The court also said that the expert committee may hold further deliberations in the meantime. The court also said that the copies of the report of the expert committee shall be made available to the parties and their counsels to assist the court. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta has informed SC, SEBI is seeking an extension of time for conducting the probe and needs six months to reach any conclusion. In a rejoinder filed recently, The Securities and Exchange Board of India apprised the Supreme Court on Monday that the market regulator is already investigating Adani Group companies since 2016 is factually baseless. SEBI has filed a rejoinder affidavit in response to a petition relating to Hindenburg Research's report on Adani Group. SEBI had sought an extension to conclude the investigation in the report by US short-seller Hindenburg Research by a period of six months. The top court on Friday orally remarked that they will extend the time for the probe to SEBI, but not for six months and they can extend the time for the probe by three months. SEBI told the SC that the investigation done earlier by SEBI pertains to the issuance of Global Depository Receipts ("GDRs") by 51 Indian listed companies, in respect of which investigation was conducted. SEBI submitted before the Supreme Court that no listed company of Adani Group was part of those 51 companies it was investigating. "Pursuant to completion of investigation, appropriate enforcement actions were taken in this matter. Hence, the allegation that Securities and Exchange Board of India ("SEBI") is investigating Adani since 2016 is factually baseless. I, therefore, say and submit that reliance sought to be placed on the investigation pertaining to GDRs is wholly misplaced," SEBI said in a rejoinder affidavit. SEBI submitted before Supreme Court that in the context of investigation into Minimum Public Shareholding ("MPS") norms, SEBI has already approached eleven overseas Regulators under the Multilateral Memorandum of Understanding ("MMOU") with International Organization of Securities Commissions ("IOSCO"). Various requests for information were made to these Regulators. The first request to overseas Regulators was made as early as on October 6, 2020, SEBI apprised the court. SEBI submitted before the Supreme Court that the application for extension of time filed by SEBI is meant to ensure carriage of justice keeping in mind the interest of investors and the securities market since any incorrect or premature conclusion of the case arrived at without full facts material on record would not serve the ends of justice and hence would be legally untenable. SEBI has informed Supreme Court that in respect of the investigation and examination relating to 12 transactions referred to in the Hindenburg Report, prima facie it is noted that these transactions are highly complex and have many sub transactions across numerous jurisdictions and a rigorous investigation of these transactions would require collation of data/information from various sources including bank statements from multiple domestic as well as international banks, financial statements of onshore and offshore entities involved in the transactions and contracts and agreements, if any, entered between the entities along with other supporting documents. On March 2, the apex court directed the capital market regulator SEBI to investigate any violations of securities law by the Adani Group in the wake of the Hindenburg report, which led to a massive wipeout of more than USD140 billion of the Adani Group's market value. Supreme Court, on March 2, set up an expert committee on the issue arising from the Hindenburg Research report on Adani Group companies. The committee will consist of six members, headed by former apex court judge Justice AM Sapre. The top court had then asked SEBI to file a status report within two months. The apex court was then hearing petitions pertaining to the Hindenburg report, including on the constitution of a committee relating to regulatory mechanisms to protect investors' interests. The January 24 Hindenburg report alleged stock manipulation and fraud by the conglomerate. The Adani Group has attacked Hindenburg as "an unethical short seller", stating that the report by the New York-based entity was "nothing but a lie". A short-seller in the securities market books gains from the subsequent reduction in the prices of shares. (ANI)
Pune (Maharashtra) [India], May 17 (ANI/BusinessWire India): Bajaj Markets, a subsidiary of Bajaj Finserv, offers travel credit cards that can be great for one's vacation plans. Regardless of when one's holidays are planned; these credit cards offer unique benefits to enhance every traveller's experience. Here are the top travel credit cards that users can avail of, to fund last-minute purchases. - IRCTC SBI Card (on Rupay Platform) * Annual Fee: Rs. 500+GST * Renewal Fee: Rs. 300+GST * Best for railway ticket bookings - Bajaj Finserv RBL Bank Travel Easy SuperCard * Joining Fee: Rs. 999+GST * Annual Fee: Rs. 999+GST * Best deals on cab bookings from Ola and Uber - ICICI Bank MMT Platinum Credit Card * Joining Fee: Rs. 500+GST * Annual Fee: NIL * Best for hotel bookings for vacations - ICICI MMT Signature Credit Card * Joining Fee: Rs. 2,500+GST * Annual Fee: NIL * Exclusive deals on holiday bookings - SBI ELITE Credit Card * Joining Fee: Rs. 4,999+GST * Annual Fee: Rs. 4,999+GST * Offers the lowest Forex markup From discounts on airfare to cashback at dining partners, travel credit cards can help one save easily. One can also get free travel insurance, complimentary lounge access, travel vouchers, and more. In addition, such cards help with secure digital payments, which can be a boon while holidaying. Here's why applying for such credit cards on Bajaj Markets is ideal: - Choose from multiple travel credit cards - Compare the features and benefits of top travel credit cards easily - 100% online application process Getting these travel credit cards is both quick and hassle-free on the Bajaj Markets' website or app. This one-stop financial marketplace also offers a wide range of other credit cards and financial services, allowing one to access customised credit for all needs seamlessly. This story is provided by BusinessWire India. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article. (ANI/BusinessWire India)
New Delhi [India], May 17 (ANI/NewsVoir): Bevzilla, the leading beverage company, announces a unique and unconventional partnership with local Tea Stalls, widely known as Tapris. They will be launching 100 Tapris by the end of May 2023 and a thousand in 3 months in Delhi NCR. The intention is to support small businesses, empower the Chai sellers in those Tapris, and promote overall community growth. Bevzilla is known for its innovative instant coffee and milkshake cubes along with other products like ice tea powder, and has earned popularity amongst many customers in the recent past. Their new idea of giving back to the community by partnering with the Tapri Walas is driven by an emotional connection and nostalgia for childhood memories. The objective is to ensure that small businesses do not lose their relevance in the midst of the growing popularity of branded coffee and cafe culture. The traditional tea or coffee shops known as 'Tapris' have begun to lose their appeal to the younger generation who tend to prefer international coffee brands for their coffee, socialising and work breaks. Moreover, small businesses were severely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, with Tapris being among the worst affected due to reduced footfall and plummeting sales. In light of these challenges, Bevzilla has recognized the significance of supporting these enterprises and has launched an initiative to assist them in sustaining their operations now and in the future. As a part of this initiative, Bevzilla aims to help these small businesses boost their profit margin by 50%. The brand believes that it's not just about making great beverages, but also about making a positive impact on society. This partnership is a natural extension of their corporate social responsibility efforts. The company is committed to creating emotional connections with its customers and communities. They are eager to apply their skills and knowledge to help businesses in need. They also believe that small businesses are the backbone of the economy and the heart of our communities. By supporting them, Bevzilla will also be supporting emotional well-being and a sense of connection. Bevzilla will also support cart owners through this initiative by providing them with a range of resources including Bevzilla T-shirts, coffee, cups, marketing support, and training. The aim is to help these small businesses attract more customers and increase their visibility in the community, with a goal of reaching 10,000 cart owners in the near future. By providing affordable support, Bevzilla hopes to bring attention to local enterprises and make a positive impact on the community. The initiative also includes assistance in making and selling delicious and energising hot and cold beverages, and the provision of free marketing materials to help promote the cart owners' businesses. Anurag Chhabra, Co-founder, Bevzilla, "This is an initiative that has never been done before in India, and we have taken such a step to do our bit for society, and give back to these Tapri Walas who have been serving us for a long time since we were kids. Improving the quality of beverages offered by Tapris to attract the new generation and compete with international brands is our primary motive. By helping Tapri Walas gain better margins and thrive, Bevzilla intends to contribute to community growth, preserve tradition, and foster a sense of nostalgia and appreciation for local businesses, which were becoming irrelevant amidst the growth of the branded coffee & cafe culture. Hence, this is for those memories, and our beloved Tapri Wale bhaiya and aunties." Divisha Chaudhry, Co-founder, Bevzilla, "We at Bevzilla are vigilant towards society, and understand the challenges that small businesses are facing. Therefore, we want to do our part to help them thrive, said Divisha, Co-founder. The social consequences Bevzilla aims for through this initiative include community growth, driving economic development, and creating new opportunities. We believe that by partnering with these local Tapris, we can make a real difference and help them succeed." Bevzilla's partnership is just one of many initiatives the company has launched, and they plan to see a domino effect when it comes to the support and growth of these local or small businesses. Co-founders of Bevzilla-Divisha Chaudhry and Anurag Chhabra, promise a delicious and healthy beverage experience to their customers. A coffee that can be enjoyed anywhere and at any time. Their idea of carrying your beverage in a cube has earned itself an appellation of one-of-a-kind innovation in the Indian beverage landscape. They aim to revolutionise the affair of drinking coffee, giving it a user-friendly approach while keeping the health aspect in mind. The products are lightweight, portable, flavoursome and are made using pure ingredients. The cubes are packed with nutrients like Iron, Calcium, Potassium and Vitamins. It is a unique initiative towards making healthier choices for happier lives. Blended with sustainably sourced Date Palm Jaggery, there are just 27 stored calories per cube. Bevzilla coffee is made up of 100% Arabica beans. It is easy to make and gets ready within seconds after being added to milk or water. For more information, please visit: www.bevzilla.co. This story has been provided by NewsVoir. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article. (ANI/NewsVoir)
Mangalore (Karnataka) [India], May 17 (ANI/SRV): Nitte (Deemed to be University) is proud to announce that two of its eminent scientists, Dr Indrani Karunasagar and Dr Iddya Karunasagar, have been ranked #11 and #13 respectively by Research.com. They are among the top scientists in India, in the field of microbiology. This ranking is based on their research publications, citations, h-index, and i10-index. Dr Indrani Karunasagar is the Director (Projects & NuTEC) and Coordinator for M.Sc. Marine Biotechnology (sponsored by DBT) at Nitte University Centre for Science Education and Research (NUCSER). She has over 35 years of experience in teaching and research in microbiology, especially aquatic microbiology and biotechnology. She has published more than 200 research papers in peer-reviewed journals and has guided 25 PhD students. She is also the recipient of several national and international awards, including the prestigious Sir C.V. Raman Award for Young Scientists. Dr Iddya Karunasagar is a Professor Emeritus at NUCSER and a former Assistant Director General of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations. With over 40 years of experience in research and development in microbiology, food safety, and aquatic animal health, he has published more than 150 research papers in reputed journals and has mentored 20 PhD students. He has also served as a consultant for several national and international organizations, including WHO, World Bank, ADB, and ICAR. Nitte University is one of the best universities in Karnataka, India with colleges and schools spread over three campuses offering courses in health sciences, engineering, architecture, management, communication, and humanities. It is recognized by the University Grants Commission (UGC), Govt. of India and accredited with 'A+' grade by the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC). Additionally, the University has also been ranked among the Top 100 universities in India by the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) 2022. Nitte University offers a two-year M.Sc program in Microbiology at NUCSER, which is designed for students preparing for a career in microbiology by providing them with knowledge and skill enhancement in basic and applied principles. The program includes core courses such as genetics, biochemistry, immunology, and biotechnology, as well as specialized courses such as medical microbiology, industrial microbiology, environmental microbiology, bioinformatics, and biostatistics. The program also includes a one-year research project with full-time research in the final semester which will enable students to gain hands-on experience in applying up-to-date scientific knowledge and develop skills in cutting-edge technologies. Nitte University congratulates Dr Indrani Karunasagar and Dr Iddya Karunasagar for their outstanding achievements and contributions to the field of microbiology and hopes that their success will inspire students and researchers to pursue excellence in this domain. For more information about Nitte University and its programs, please visit https://nitte.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], May 17 (ANI/GPRC): Bella Contact Lens Ind, a global leading color lens brand, recently organized a grand event to honor the winners of their worldwide contest held during the month of Ramadan. The event, aptly named #Night is Bella, brought together 16 winners from India and showcased the brand's commitment to celebrating diversity and beauty. The event was masterfully organized by Ashish Chabra and Neel Kataria, both successful entrepreneurs from the makeup industry. They meticulously crafted an evening that blended glamour, creativity, and recognition. In attendance were numerous makeup artists, influencers, and celebrities, all excited to be part of this grand celebration. Among the esteemed guests was Atul Chuhan, a renowned celebrity makeup artist, who graced the event as the guest of honor. His expertise and experience in the industry added a touch of elegance to the evening. Alongside him was Sonam C Chhabra, a leading celebrity and TV anchor, who captivated the audience with her charm and wit. Adding to the grandeur of the occasion, Syed Irshad, the Regional Head of Bella Global from Emirates, was present as a special guest. His presence demonstrated the global reach and impact of Bella Contact Lens, further solidifying the brand's position as a leader in the industry. The event also witnessed the presence of many other celebrities from the television industry, including Manya Aman, a popular TV actress and entrepreneur and Naseem Salmani , a celebrated Hairstylist and entrepreneur. Their participation showcased their appreciation for Bella Contact Lens and the brand's dedication to enhancing beauty and self-expression. Throughout the evening, the winners of the contest were honored for their creativity and individuality. Their outstanding achievements in the field of makeup artistry, combined with their passion for Bella Contact Lens, made them deserving recipients of the contest's winnings. As the night unfolded, guests were treated to breathtaking performances, dazzling fashion displays, and immersive experiences. The ambiance exuded glamour and excitement, providing an unforgettable experience for everyone in attendance. The #Night is Bella event not only celebrated the winners but also served as a testament to Bella Contact Lens's commitment to embracing beauty in all its forms. By bringing together talented individuals from diverse backgrounds, the event showcased the brand's dedication to inclusivity and creativity. Bella Contact Lens continues to inspire individuals worldwide to explore their unique styles and express themselves confidently. Through their products and initiatives like the #Night is Bella event, the brand encourages people to embrace their individuality, enhance their natural beauty, and celebrate their creativity. In conclusion, the #Night is Bella event organized by Bella Contact Lens Ind was a remarkable celebration of talent, diversity, and beauty. With the presence of influential personalities, notable celebrities, and the deserving winners, the event created a captivating experience that will be cherished by all who attended. Bella Contact Lens once again proved its commitment to empowering individuals and promoting self-expression, leaving a lasting impression on the world of makeup and beauty. This story is provided by GPRC. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article. (ANI/GPRC)
Hyderabad (Telangana) [India], May 17 (ANI/NewsVoir): Oakridge International School Bachupally has once again proven its commitment to academic excellence with the outstanding performance of its students in the CBSE Grade 10 & 12 examinations for the academic year 2022-23. All 158 students who took the exams have passed with excellent results, achieving an average score of 79% for Grade 12 and 84% for Grade 10. The top performer for Grade 12 was Ananya Jain with a score of 97%, while Shreya Puri was the top scorer for Grade 10 with a score of 98.8%. In addition, Kanishka Jain from Grade 12 and Ashvik Reddy from Grade 10 secured the second-highest score with 95.6% and 98.6%, respectively. The school's commitment to creating a learning environment that fosters growth and success is evident in the remarkable achievements of its students. The achievement of the students is a testament to the hard work, dedication, and commitment of the teachers and staff at Oakridge International School Bachupally. Ananya Jain expressed her excitement about her achievement, saying, "I am thrilled to have secured the top position in the school. The constant support and guidance of my teachers and parents have been instrumental in helping me achieve this success." Kanishka Jain shared similar sentiments, saying, "I am grateful to my teachers and parents for their constant support and encouragement. Their guidance and motivation have helped me perform to the best of my abilities." Baljeet Oberoi, Principal of Oakridge International School Bachupally, congratulated the students and staff on their exceptional performance. She said, "Oakridge International School Bachupally upholds the tradition of academic excellence, and our students' remarkable performance in the AISSE examinations is a testament to this fact. I am extremely proud of our students, and I congratulate them on their outstanding achievement." Navneet Bedi, Head of CBSE, also congratulated the students and staff on their exceptional performance. She said, "Oakridge International School Bachupally has set a new standard for academic excellence with their remarkable results in the AISSE examinations. The students' dedication, hard work, and commitment have paid off, and I congratulate them on their success." Oakridge International School Bachupally continues to provide an exceptional learning environment that fosters growth, learning, and success. The school's commitment to creating well-rounded individuals who are not only academically strong but also possess life skills essential for their future is evident in the remarkable achievements of its students. To know more about Oakridge International School Bachupally, reach out to www.oakridge.in/bachupally. This story has been provided by NewsVoir. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article. (ANI/NewsVoir)
Meta's Director and Head of Partnerships in India Manish Chopra has announced his resignation from the company in a LinkedIn post. Chopra joined Meta in 2019 and has been serving as its director and head of partnerships in India. The Director and Head of Partnerships posted a message of his resignation on Tuesday. He also said he would assist with the transition over the next few weeks. Chopra posted on LinkedIn: "I am grateful to the company for trusting me with building out our efforts to drive growth and engagement across Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp. I am super proud of the work the team and I have done to become an ally for creators and businesses around the country. My heartfelt thanks to each and every one of you!" Manish Chopra, Meta's Director and Head of Partnerships in India, had joined the company in January 2019. He posted on the social media site, "It's been 4.5 years of an incredible journey leading Meta Partnerships in India! I am stepping down from my role at Meta and will help with the transition over the next few weeks." The executive said, "I am grateful to the company for trusting me with building out our efforts to drive growth & engagement across Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp. I am super proud of the work the team and I have done to become an ally for creators and businesses around the country. My heartfelt thanks to each and everyone one of you!" On the lines of ongoing layoffs in the tech world and in the company itself, he said, "The recent months have been trying times for everyone in so many ways. I know this team has shown so much care and has helped each other selflessly. At so many moments in doing one's very best, I have seen folks embody 'what would you do, if you were not afraid', and surpass our wildest dreams." On his new venture, he said, "I will share more in due course." (ANI)
China-Central Asia cooperation in numbers

Xinhua) 08:22, May 17, 2023

This photo taken on May 15, 2023 shows a view of the Bell Tower in Xi'an, northwest China's Shaanxi Province. The China-Central Asia Summit is set to take place in Xi'an, the capital city of China's Shaanxi Province, on May 18 and 19. (Xinhua/Zhang Bowen)

XI'AN, May 16 (Xinhua) -- The China-Central Asia Summit will be held from May 18 to 19 in the historic Chinese city of Xi'an. It is of milestone significance in the history of the relations between China and Central Asian countries.

Over the years, the countries have been growing their relations following the principles of mutual respect, good-neighborly friendship, solidarity in trying times and win-win cooperation, yielding fruitful cooperation results.

Below are some key figures that illustrate the cooperation and exchanges between China and Central Asian countries in various fields.

-- 5 Central Asian countries

In 2013, China proposed the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) to foster new drivers for global development. The five Central Asian countries have all signed documents under the BRI framework.

-- 70 billion dollars

China has been the largest or main trading partner of Central Asian countries for many years. In 2022, the trade volume between China and Central Asian countries registered a record of over 70 billion U.S. dollars.

Central Asian quality agricultural products, such as wheat, soybeans, fruits, dried fruits, beef and mutton, have been exported to China, making the trade between them more balanced and healthier.

-- 80 percent

As of the end of 2022, over 65,000 China-Europe freight trains had transported more than 6 million twenty-foot equivalent units of cargo worth 300 billion dollars.

Nearly 80 percent of the total trips passed through Central Asia.

-- 57.1 million doses

At the beginning of 2020, China was struck by the COVID-19 epidemic. Central Asian countries extended a helping hand when anti-epidemic materials were in short supply in China.

Later when COVID-19 hit Central Asia, China offered 57.1 million doses of vaccines to help the five countries battle the virus.

-- 62 pairs

There are 62 pairs of sister provinces, regions and cities between China and Central Asia.

In 2022, China proposed holding a China-Central Asia people-to-people friendship forum and vowed to bring the number of sister cities with the five countries to 100 pairs in five to 10 years.

-- 13 Confucius Institutes

Since 2004, China has established 13 Confucius Institutes and 24 Confucius Classrooms in Central Asia, with over 18,000 students now studying at these learning institutions.

-- 29,885 students

From 2010 to 2018, the number of Central Asian students studying in China increased from 11,930 to 29,885, with an average annual growth rate of 12.33 percent.

China has become one of the main destinations and preferred countries for students in Central Asian countries to study abroad. The number of Central Asian students studying in China has rapidly increased after the COVID-19 pandemic.

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun)
New Delhi [India], May 17 (ANI/NewsVoir): This Mother's Day, Ed-tech Startup RISE's Social Media was taken over by 'A-AI' based MomGPT, in a social media campaign. Just like everyone goes to their mothers with endless questions, MomGPT offered advice and answers to the questions from the audiences. MoMGPT was Live on the brand's Social media platforms Linkedin and Instagram from 12th May 2023 till Mother's Day on 14th May 2023. The campaign had an impressive 64.1% reach with over 1000 people engaged during the three days on both platforms. Conceptualised by Schbang, the campaign created a MomGPT identity with a logo resonating with the brand visuals and colours, and came up with a host of interesting creatives to prompt questions by the audience and give them a ChatGPT like UI experience on both the social media platforms. Commenting on the campaign, Kirtiga Iyer, Assistant Vice President for Brand stated, "Our thought behind this campaign was simple. Today we have the internet, ChatGPT & generative AI taking over the world, but still it's our Mothers we all go to for life's most pressing problems. On this Mother's Day, we wanted to pay a tribute to all the mothers who are loving, caring but also very insightful and sassy. We are happy with the outcomes of the campaign which is unique and saw a very high interaction with our audience with people asking all types of questions, from how to avoid the Rishta talks with relatives to upskilling & general life issues. MomGPT rose to the occasion & helped people answer their pressing questions, in the most sassy mom style ever." During the campaign, many students and members in the audience came up with very genuine and interesting questions which MomGPT answered in a quintessential mother's tone through a series of stories and posts. To one question - "I'm thinking of taking up Hotel Management as a career, what do you think MomGPTI?", MomGPT replied "Helping out at home seems to be the end of the world for you, but Hotel Management seems like a good prospect?". It was a fun time on the Social Media platforms of RISE as questions kept pouring in while MomGPT answered all questions with a bit of scoffing. Since mothers always have an answer to their children's questions and problems, similarly MomGPT too welcomed all genres of questions aimed at her throughout the campaign and came up with quirky and unconventional responses to them like typical Indian mothers. From lighthearted sarcastic taunts on being lazy to caring advice on staying upskilled, MomGPT showcased the essence of the campaign that no matter however intelligent the AI might be, it can never compete with 'AAI'. Founded in April 2021, RISE has been set up with a mission to encourage and empower students across cities, strata, and societies to be socially and culturally aware leaders of the world. The start-up offers PG Programs in Business Analytics, Data Science, and AIML in collaboration with KPMG in India; PG Programs in FinTech and Finance & Accounting with Grant Thornton; PG Program in Marketing Research with Aeon Research, endorsed by MRSI; and PG Program in Cybersecurity with Thrive DX SaaS. RISE also offers a course in Public Policy with Analytics and a Global MBA program in collaboration with SRH Mobile University (Germany). Besides, and more significantly, RISE also provides scholarships for women in tech and discounted courses for the underprivileged. Each course is affordable and, crucially, is curated and taught by industry experts, thus increasing the chances of employability. RISE is also globally expanding and has set its footprints in the Indonesian market and has collaborated with Indonesian universities aiming to connect higher education by providing industry-driven, skill-based courses to cover the existing skill gaps. Based out of Pune, with offices in Bengaluru as well, RISE is targeting a fourfold growth both in the number of courses and students in the coming financial year. This story has been provided by NewsVoir. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article. (ANI/NewsVoir)
New Delhi [India], May 17 (ANI/NewsVoir): Barco, a major global visualization and collaboration technology company, has come in at the sixth place in Randstad's Employer Brand Research 2023. The annual study, and the accompanying Randstad Award, examine the attractiveness of employers in Belgium and are recognized as a valuable reference on the labour market. With 183 companies included in the research, Barco's highest-ever score in the ranking is also the best performance by a technology company, since the inception of the study in 2001. The research focuses on what criteria make these companies attractive, and Barco scored first place for providing a pleasant work atmosphere. Anthony Huyghebaert, Chief HR Officer at Barco, said, "As the report mentions, developing a strong employer brand is a long-term process. Entering the top 20 for the first time, it's rewarding to see that the efforts from the past years are being recognized by the market. The results substantiate our commitment towards nurturing a great work environment and a culture of innovation." Barco's outstanding performance in the Randstad Employer Brand Research 2023 reinforces its position as an employer of choice. The company's continued focus on creating a supportive and innovative workplace culture ensures its attractiveness to top talent. This story has been provided by NewsVoir. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article. (ANI/NewsVoir)
Kapoor also tweeted about a codeshare agreement signed between Saudi Arabian Airlines and Kuwait Airways. According to the agreement, it provides enhanced connections and convenience to guests of both airlines, in a signing ceremony that took place in SAUDIA's headquarters in Jeddah.

As part of its codeshare cooperation, each airline will place the other airline's marketing code on its flights operated between Saudi Arabia and Kuwait and other routes with the alliance; the agreement will come into effect after obtaining all approvals. Both airlines agreed to expand all kinds of Interline Cooperation and the implementation is expected during the Summer Season 2023.

Kapoor will be joining at a time when the airline is looking forward for major expansion ahead. In March, it announced it would buy 39 wide-bodied 787 Dreamliner planes from Boeing.

On April 23, 2023, Jet Airways CEO-Designate Sanjiv Kapoor quit the grounded airline. He joined the airline as the Chief Executive Officer in April of last year.

Jet Airways shuttered operations in April 2019 and later went into insolvency proceedings.

Kapoor was appointed CEO-designate of Jet by the Kalrock Jalan Consortium that won the bid to run the airline after two years of insolvency proceedings at India's bankruptcy court. (ANI)
Marvel fans have received one of the most awaited announcements of the year. The series revolving time-voyage of 'Loki' led by actor Tom Hiddleston will continue sooner as makers have disclosed the date for the worldwide premiere. According to Variety, a US-based media house, the Marvel studio chief Kevin Feige has announced official dates for the sequel at Disney upfront on Tuesday. The show will debut on October 6, 2023, to mark the first-ever second season for a show by the studio. The forthcoming season will follow the story of 'Loki's timeline cobwebs from Season 1. The series will feature the return of Tom's co-stars Owen Wilson and Sophia DiMartino. The appearance of Oscar-winning "Everything Everywhere All at Once" star Ke Huy Quan is also expected. Feige did not mention whether actor Jonathan Majors will be reprising his role of 'Kang' in Season 2 or not. Majors was arrested on March 25 on domestic violence charges and is currently awaiting a court hearing in June; he has denied the allegations, as per a report by Variety. The sequel is written by writer Eric Martin and the direction comes from directors Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead. The announcement concretes that Marvel is majorly slowing the pace of its Disney+ releases after unfurling 11 titles on the streamer in 2021 and 2022. Marvel had initially slated five live-action shows to debut in 2023. Parallel to "Loki" Season 2, "Echo" and the Samuel L. Jackson series "Secret Invasion" (which premieres June 21), the 'Black Panther: Wakanda Forever' spinoff 'Ironheart' and the 'WandaVision' spinoff 'Agatha: Coven of Chaos' were also earlier announced for the on-going year. 'Ironheart' and "Agatha" are now expected to debut in 2024. (ANI)
Producer Vipul Amrutlal Shah hailed the audience for showering love on 'The Kerala Story' and he felt that the audience gave the answer against the alleged 'propaganda' tag that has been thrust upon the movie by a certain section of people. Vipul spoke at length at the press conference of 'The Kerala Story' in Mumbai, which was attended by the director Sudipto Sen and the lead cast of the movie Adah Sharma, Yogita Bihani, Siddhi Idnani and Sonia Balani. Vipul said, "The way the journey started and the point it reached, it's a long one. But the journey is still not over. The audience watched the movie and I feel, they have given answers to all those tags labelled against the movie. Our commitment didn't end with the making of the movie. We are also committed toward the girls, who were trapped in this vicious net." At the press conference, the 'victims', on whose plight, the movie is based, also spoke about their lived experiences. Vipul also urged every citizen of the country to watch this movie with their families. The producer said, "It's not the story of these three Kerala girls. This thing is going on in the entire country. It's our responsibility to watch this movie and be a voice of these women." Vipul said it was his 'duty' to make this film. "When Sudiptoda came to me with the script, I felt compelled towards the subject. We knew all the challenges coming our way. We knew it would be labelled as a 'propaganda' movie. But that did not deter us from making a movie, which is so humane and right." Vipul added the fact that he and Sudipto (Sen) got emotional as the nation has to be woken up with such a film. "We all knew what we were getting into. These girls knew what troubles would come their way. But at least, the nation has started to talk about it. Forget 'The Kerala Story', it may come, it may go. But this topic should not go. This topic should remain at the centre of the nation's conversation. That's important." Vipul also addressed the issue of portraying people from a particular community as 'villains' in the movie. He cited the examples of 'Sholay' and 'Singham 2' to drive his point home. "Sholay mein Gabbar Singh villain tha. Toh Rameshji (Sippy) toh Singh community ke against nehi the. (Gabbar Singh was the villain in Sholay. So Rameshji was not against the Singh community. In 'Singham 2', a priest was a villain. Then we did not raise the question of whether all Hindu saints were portrayed in a bad light. In each movie, the villain belongs to a particular community or religion. But we did not ask questions about it. Then why we are raising questions here? In this movie, few characters are shown as terrorists only." About the movie's screening in Britain, Vipul said, "Britain's censor certification agency had to give the certificate yesterday. There was a lot of public pressure there. Some political elements were trying to stop the film illegally...Whatever was happening was political. The British censor board had to give in before the public pressure...The film is being screened in the UK from today" Helmed by Sudipto Sen and produced by Vipul Amrutlal Shah, the film which was released last week in theatres has triggered a massive political row with various leaders reacting to the upcoming movie. The controversy surrounding the film started when its trailer claimed that 32,000 women from Kerala had gone missing and joined the terrorist group ISIS. This statement triggered a heated political debate and many leaders questioned the veracity of the claim. Faced with backlash the makers then withdrew the figure and called the movie the story of three women from Kerala, in its trailer description. (ANI)
Actor Adah Sharma is being lauded for her performance in 'The Kerala Story'. However, she is quite sad as her film got banned in West Bengal. Earlier this month, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee ordered an immediate ban on the screening of the film in the state to avoid "any incident of hatred and violence and to maintain peace in the state". 'The Kerala Story' film depicts how thousands of young women were allegedly brainwashed into joining the Islamic State (IS) and heading off to countries like Syria and Afghanistan. Reacting to it, Adah told ANI, "...Film is still banned in West Bengal. I hope it's freely shown everywhere in India so that people can watch and decide if they like it or not." On Wednesday, the makers organised a press conference in Mumbai where they answered several questions related to the film. Producer Vipul Shah urged every citizen of the country to watch this movie with their families. The producer said, "It's not the story of these three Kerala girls. This thing is going on in the entire country. It's our responsibility to watch this movie and be a voice of these women." Vipul said it was his 'duty' to make this film. "When Sudiptoda came to me with the script, I felt compelled towards the subject. We knew all the challenges coming our way. We knew it would be labelled as a 'propaganda' movie. But that did not deter us from making a movie, which is so humane and right." Vipul added the fact that he and director Sudipto (Sen) got emotional as the nation has to be woken up with such a film. "We all knew what we were getting into. These girls knew what troubles would come their way. But at least, the nation has started to talk about it. Forget 'The Kerala Story', it may come, it may go. But this topic should not go. This topic should remain at the centre of the nation's conversation. That's important."(ANI)
The 'Brahmastra' actor was snapped at the airport donning casual outfits. She wore a white upper and paired it with black pants. She accessorized her look with a black handbag and opted for no makeup.

Soon after the 'Raazi' actor arrived in India, several pictures and videos of the actor surfaced on social media.

Alia Bhatt recently attended the Gucci Cruise Show 2024 as the global brand ambassador in Seoul, South Korea.

The 'Gangubai Kathiawadi' actor donned a mini black dress with polka dotted cutout. She completed her look with black platform heels and a Gucci Jackie 1961 transparent bag.

Last week, Alia was announced as the first Indian global ambassador of the luxury fashion brand, Gucci. Taking to Instagram, the fashion brand shared the news and captioned it, "Alia Bhatt is the House's newest Global Brand Ambassador. To mark the occasion, the actress, producer, and entrepreneur were captured with the Gucci Bamboo 1947 bag."

Alia also took to Insta to share her excitement and feelings with her fans.

Sharing the pictures, she wrote, "I'm honoured to represent the house of Gucci not only in India but at a global stage. Gucci's legacy has always inspired and intrigued me and I'm looking forward to the many sartorial milestones we create together @gucci."

Meanwhile, on the film front, Alia will be next seen in Karan Johar's upcoming 'Rocky aur Rani Ki Prem Kahani' opposite Ranveer Singh. The film is all set to hit the theatres on July 28. Apart from that, she also has Farhan Akhtar's next directorial 'Jee Le Zaraa' alongside Katrina Kaif and Priyanka Chopra Jonas in her kitty. (ANI)
According to the officials, "The accused identified as Kashim Khan alias Firoj Khan has been booked under sections 307/34 (Attempt to Murder) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the 25/27 of Arms Act at the Ranhola Police Station in Delhi."

"Specific information received by the team revealed that a criminal identified as Kashim Khan alias Firoj Khan, previously involved in 5 different cases of robbery, attempt to murder and Arms Act could be arrested near Uttam Nagar East Metro Station, Delhi," said the officials.

They added that on the basis of the above tip-off, a raiding team was constituted to nab the absconding criminal. The team laid a trap near Uttam Nagar East Metro Station. Following a short scuffle with the accused, the team succeeded in overpowering and arresting the desperate criminal Kashim Khan alias Firoj Khan.

On sustained interrogation, the accused confessed his involvement and disclosed that a week before the incident, his friend's uncle named Guddu was beaten by Neeraj alias Abhishek and his associates.

The police further added that in an attempt to take revenge, the accused along with his associates identified as Deepak alias Kaana, Firoz Khan, Fardeen, Aashif alias KD and Aatish alias Lala, fired on Neeraj alias Abhishek.

"The accused confessed his involvement in cases of robbery, attempt to murder and Arms Act. We have registered a case against the accused at the Ranhola Police Station in Delhi," said the Police. (ANI)
Locals in West Bengal's West Medinipur district have accused the State administration of not taking timely action against the firecracker factory where nine workers were killed and several others injured in a massive blast. The locals have alleged that the unit was used to manufacture lethal explosives and guns. A massive blast took at the factory in Khadikul village under the Egra police station at 11 am on Tuesday (May 16). "In this factory, crackers were only made for the show. Lethal explosives were made and supplied outside," said Jalhosa, a local said adding that no arrests were made so far in connection with the blast. "No one has been arrested. Had anybody been arrested public would not have been made police run away yesterday. This factory has been running for the last twenty-five years," he said. After the explosion when police reached the site, they were attacked by locals. Another local identified as Ashok Jana, accused the police of turning a blind eye to the illegal activities of the factory. "The owner of the factory has the police and all other concerned authorities on his payroll. If anybody here raises their voice against him he threatens them," the villager said and alleged that guns were being manufactured in the factory. "If you raid the godown of the factory you will find it," he said. Mirthi Rani, whose nephew died in the blast said that people were compelled to work in the unit due to lack of other opportunities. When asked the factory about what are they making in the factory she said "Some highly lethal explosive substance." According to the police the factory was operating illegally and the owner had been arrested last year and a chargesheet was filed. They said that efforts are underway to arrest the accused, identified as Krishnapada Bagh alias Bhanu Bagh The West Bengal police Criminal Investigation Department (CID) has initiated a probe into the incident and investigation with the help of forensic experts after the State government handed over the case to it. East Medinipur Superintendent of Police, Amarnath K said, "Till now, 9 bodies have been recovered and efforts are being made to find out if there was any other killed in the incident. Two people seriously injured in this incident have been referred to Kolkata's SSKM from Egra Super Specialty Hospital." "It was an illegal factory. There have been three to four cases against this factory in the past as well. It was raided many times, but the accused kept operating it. Efforts are underway to arrest the accused, identified as Krishnapada Bagh alias Bhanu Bagh," the SP said. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee announced an ex-gratia of Rs 2.5 lakh for the kin of the deceased and Rs 1 lakh for those injured. West Bengal BJP president Sukanta Majumdar wrote to Union Home Minister Amit Shah demanding a "comprehensive probe" into the incident. He also said that the probe should be handed over to the National Investigation Agency (NIA). "Wrote to Union Home Minister Amit Shah to request a comprehensive investigation into the bomb blast incident in Egra, West Bengal. The blast has raised serious concern about the safety of the residents of the area and this matter needs serious attention," Majumdar said in a tweet. (ANI)
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Wednesday conducted searches at Haryana's Bahadurgarh in Jhajjar district in connection with terror-narcotics smugglers-gangsters nexus cases. NIA is conducting searches at more than 100 locations in six states including Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, and Madhya Pradesh. According to the sources, a joint team of NIA and Special Task Force (STF) searched the house of Bhupendra alias Khali of the Neeraj Bawana gang. "Bhupendra has been involved in various cases including robbery and snatching. Cases have also been registered against him in the same matter," sources said. The sources said that NIA also conducted a search at Bhupendra's village Dighal in Haryana around seven months ago. The anti-terror agency in close coordination with state police forces conducted these raids at the premises and other places linked to suspects. The raids are still going on. Earlier on January 25 this year, the agency arrested one Deepak Ranga, the main shooter in the RPG attack on Punjab Police Intelligence Headquarters in Mohali in May 2022 in its case RC-37/2022/NIA/DLI, from Uttar Pradesh's Gorakhpur as he was a close associate of Canada based gangster-turned-terrorist Lakhbir Singh Sandhu alias Landa and Pakistan based gangster-turned-terrorist Harvinder Singh Sandhu alias Rinda. Apart from his involvement in the May RPG attack, Deepak has been involved in a number of other violent terrorist and criminal offences, including violent killings. He has been actively receiving terror funds and logistical support from Rinda and Landa. Since the registration of three criminal cases against the above terror-gangster-drug smuggler network, NIA has already arrested 19 leaders and members of various Organised criminal gangs, two Arms suppliers and one big financier connected with the network under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. Canada-based Arsh Dalla has been designated as an 'individual terrorist' by the Ministry of Home Affairs on January 9, this year. (ANI)
The party said that Krishnamoorthy has tendered an apology for his remark.

"Shivaji Krishnamoorthy's suspension from the party has been cancelled," a DMK statement said.

DMK General Secretary Duraimurugan said, "Shivaji Krishnamoorthy has apologized for his acts. Following this, his suspension is cancelled."

In January this year, Krishnamoorthy was 'temporarily suspended' for his controversial remarks against Tamil Nadu Governor RN Ravi. According to DMK, Krishnamoorthy was suspended over "party unlawful activities".

Krishnamoorthy had said, "If the Governor refuses to utter the name of Ambedkar in his Assembly speech, do I not have the right to assault him?"

"If you (Governor) do not read out the speech given by the Tamil Nadu government, then go to Kashmir, and we will send terrorists so that they'll gun you down," Krishnamoorthy had said. (ANI)
The two persons apprehended were identified as Laltanpui (42) of Vairengte Kawngthar veng in Kolasib district and Lallungmuana (40) of N. Vanlaiphai Rawlkhang veng in Serchhip district at Vairengte.

Acting on a tip-off, late last night, a team of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) Special Branch (SB) of Mizoram police seized counterfeit currency notes of Rs 25,20,000 from the joint possession of the two accused.

The seized FICN consisted of 1007 notes of Rs 2000 denomination and 1012 notes of Rs 500 denomination.

"Further investigation into the matter is underway for forward and backward linkages," stated the Vairengte Police Station. (ANI)
Manipur Congress leader and former Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh along with other party leaders on Wednesday met the party's national president Mallikarjun Kharge in Delhi and apprised him of the situation in the northeastern state. After meeting the delegation, Kharge said that the Congress will send a team of observers to Manipur to ascertain the situation. Taking to Twitter, Kharge said, "A delegation of @INCManipur leaders apprised me of the tremendous difficulties which the people of Manipur had to go through during these troubling times. A team of observers are being sent shortly to ascertain the ground realities." "The situation in Manipur remains tense and is deeply distressing. The Union Government should do everything possible to see normalcy returns to the state. Every community has a stake in ensuring peace. Let us take everyone in confidence," he added. Meanwhile, the Centre and State government on Wednesday told Supreme Court that a status report has been filed and the situation has improved in the state. There were some issues at the state border and maintaining peace and tranquillity is important. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta tells Supreme Court that the intention is to restore peace in the state. He says a total of 315 relief camps manned by district police and CAPF have been established. The state government has sanctioned a contingency fund of Rs 3 crore for relief measures. Close to 46,000 people have received help so far, SG Mehta added. Earlier on Sunday, Union Home Minister Amit Shah held a series of meetings with Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh and representatives of Meitei and Kuki communities as well as other stakeholders to review the measures taken for restoring peace in the state. Later, the Home Minister also met representatives of the Meitei community. Shah also held a meeting with the representatives of the Kuki Community from Manipur and a group of CSOs from Mizoram on Monday. During the meetings, the Home Minister reviewed the measures taken to restore peace in Manipur which has witnessed violent clashes between two ethnic communities. He directed strict action against the perpetrators of violence and assured complete support and help of the central government for ensuring lasting peace. Shah assured that the government would take all measures to protect various communities in the state and urged discussion with all factions and spread the message of peace and assured that justice would be done. Shah also stressed expediting the process of relief and rehabilitation so as to minimise the suffering of the people. On May 5, the Home Minister also reviewed the situation in Manipur through a video conference meeting with the state Chief Minister and top officials in the state as well as the Centre. On May 4, Shah also held two meetings via video-conferencing and spoke with the CMs of Manipur and neighbouring states including that of Nagaland, Mizoram and Assam in view of the situation in Manipur. Manipur faced violence on May 3 during a rally organized by the All Tribals Students Union (ATSU) to protest the demand for the inclusion of Meitei/Meetei in the Scheduled Tribe (ST) category. The march was organised in protest against the demand for inclusion of the state's Meitei community in the ST category, following an April 19 Manipur High Court directive. This prompted the state government to issue prohibitory order and suspend internet services across the state for five days. Along with a ban on large gatherings, a night curfew too has been imposed in several districts of the state. As per Home Ministry and Indian Army the situation in Manipur has been brought under control through coordinated actions by all stakeholders. (ANI)
With deliberations continuing on the next Karnataka Chief Minister, Congress general secretary KC Venugopal arrived at the 10 Janpath residence of party MP and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi here in the national capital to hold discussions. Besides this, Karnataka Congress working president Eshwar Khandare and other MLAs arrived at the party president Mallikarjun Kharge's residence in the national capital for meetings in connection with picking the next chief minister of the State. According to party sources the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) chief DK Shivakumar and Siddaramaiah, a former CM and leader of Opposition, the two main contenders for the chief minister's post will meet with Rahul Gandhi at 10 Janpath. According to sources, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge will take the final decision after consulting Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi. Earlier on Tuesday, Kharge held meetings with Shivakumar and Siddaramaiah who both are in the national capital New Delhi. Siddaramaiah arrived at Kharge's residence yesterday accompanied by his son Yatindra, MLAs Zameer Ahmad, Bhyrati Suresh, and senior leader KJ George. The Congress had emerged as the single largest party in Karnataka after winning the May 10 assembly election. It won 135 seats in 224-member Karnataka assembly. Despite Congress' clear mandate in the Karnataka assembly polls, suspense over the chief minister continues as senior leaders DK Shivakumar, who is the Karnataka Congress' president, and Siddaramaiah, former chief minister and leader of the opposition are in the race. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday met with party president Mallikarjun Kharge who is set to make his decision after going through the report submitted by Congress central observers' report. Shivakumar who had previously cancelled his visit to the national capital on Monday evening citing health issues, arrived in Delhi on Tuesday. Earlier yesterday, Shivakumar, in an exclusive interview with ANI made it clear that he would not resort to "backstabbing or blackmail" regardless of the party's decision. "If the party wants they can give me the responsibility....... Ours is a united house, our number is 135. I don't want to divide anyone here. Whether they like me or not, I am a responsible man. I will not backstab and I will not blackmail," he said. "The Party is my god...We have built this party, I am a part of it and I am not alone in this," he said before his departure from Bengaluru. "We have built this party (Congress), we have built this house. I am a part of it...A mother will give everything to her child," he said. Asked about his expectations as the state party president, Shivakumar said," I don't want to comment on what has happened earlier. How it happened. That is a closed chapter we formed the government we lost the government, we lost a coalition government. Who is responsible for the victory and loss there is no use of talking about it now. Let us not sell this story... let us sell the future." (ANI)
According to the sources, BJP national president will begin his visit today.

Nadda will visit Mumbai and Pune from May 17-18 and will attend a 'Labharthi Sammelan' at 1:10 pm in RBK Hall, Ghatkopar Mankhurd Link Road today.

He will then hold a meeting of the party's 'Panna Pramukhs' at 5:15 pm and Mumbai Morcha Aghadi in Mumbai at 8:15 pm in Mumbai.

During his visit, Nadda will attend the BJP Maharashtra State Working Committee meeting in Pune on May 18 and will also hold a meeting with corporators in Mumbai.

According to sources, Nadda will also visit and offer prayers at Shri Siddhivinayak Temple on May 18, Thursday.

Moreover, BJP national president will also interact with prominent personalities of the society and also participate in a skill development programme during his visit.

This is Nadda's first visit to a state after the BJP lost the only southern state that it ruled, Karnataka. Congress won an absolute majority in Karnataka Assembly elections on May 13 with the party crossing the halfway mark of 113 seats in the 224-member assembly.

Nadda also thanked karyakartas of the party for their efforts and support and accepted the mandate of the people of Karnataka with humility. (ANI)
Sunak Bali was Satyapal's press secretary during his tenure as the Governor of Jammu and Kashmir and VS Rana and KS Rana were his CA and PA respectively.

On Wednesday, the CBI team conducted a search at 10 places in delhi and two in Rajasthan.

The CBI team reached Bali's residence in Defense Colony in Delhi for a search concerning a case of an alleged Kiru hydroelectric power project scam in Jammu and Kashmir.

However, talking to ANI, Satyapal Mallik said, "It is unfortunate that the CBI is harassing the complainant in this case. He (Sunak Bali) was my press advisor/secretary without any government salary." (ANI)
The Supreme Court on Wednesday directed the State of Manipur to file a fresh status report on all the security, relief and rehabilitation efforts made for the people affected by the violence between Meitei and Kuki communities. A bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud and Justices PS Narasimha and JB Pardiwala that maintaining law and order is a State subject and as the Supreme Court, it will ensure that the political executive does not turn a blind eye to the matter. "We can't say who is responsible for this... law and order is a State subject. We as the apex court can ensure they don't turn a blind eye. We must as a court also understand that some matters are entrusted to the political arm," said the CJI. Centre and the State government told the top court that a status report has been filed and the situation had improved in the State. In its status report, the government said a total of 318 relief camps have been opened where more than 47,914 persons have been given relief. A total of 626 FIRs have been registered so far. "The provision for ration, food, water and medical care & medicines are being arranged by the District Magistrates with Sub-Divisional Magistrates, Executive Magistrates and District level Officers of concerned line Departments by deputing responsible Officers. The state government had also sanctioned a contingent fund of Rs. 3 crore for meeting exigencies in providing relief measures, it added. The State government had taken the decision to earmark 25 per cent of the MLA Local Area Development Fund for relief measures in respective Assembly Constituencies, the affidavit further stated. The affidavit said, "State Home Department had issued instructions to DGP and all District SSP to register FIRS of all reported cases irrespective of jurisdiction and also to take up action on suo motu basis for incidents within its jurisdiction. A total of 626 FIRs have been registered so far. The administration has also taken away fire arms from a large number of persons 1,070 arms, 27,110 ammunition and further recovered a large number of firearms 456 arms, 6,819 ammunition." The bench also said it will not deal with the legal issues arising out of the Manipur High Court's decision, directing the State government to recommend to the Centre the inclusion of the Meitei community in the Scheduled Tribe list, as the pleas challenging the order were pending in the larger division bench there. The top court took into account the security apprehensions of Meitei and Kuki communities and ordered that the Chief Secretary and his Security Advisor will assess and take steps to ensure "peace and tranquillity" in the State. It said that tribals could move the division bench of the Manipur High Court with their grievances on the quota issue. The bench further questioned Manipur High Court for its order asking the State government to recommend to the Centre the inclusion of Meitei in the ST list. The CJI remarked, "We have to stay the order of the Manipur High Court. It is completely factually wrong and we gave time to Justice Muralidharan to remedy his error and he did not. We have to take a strong view against it now. It is clear if the High Court judges do not follow Constitution bench judgments then what should we do... it is very clear." The bench did not impose any stay and took into note that an appeal has been filed before the division bench of the High Court against the judgment of the single judge and the next date of hearing is June 6 there. It said aggrieved parties can present their case before the division bench. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta appearing for the Centre and Manipur government said an application was filed before the single judge to grant an extension of time and the judge has granted time for considering a direction to send a recommendation by one year. He said considering the position on the ground, the government chose not to seek a stay of the order and only seek an extension, because it would have an impact on the situation on the ground. "In all fairness, it was the decision of the government to only ask for extension, because it's one tribe versus another," Solicitor General added. Senior advocate Ranjit Kumar appearing for one of the petitioners for the Meitei community said the illegal immigrants are coming from Myanmar and they are wanting to settle in Manipur. They are involved in poppy cultivation and that is how these militant camps are growing therein. This is the larger problem leading to the situation and militant camps are coming out of Myanmar, he added. Solicitor General agreed with Kumar and said "concern about illegal immigrants from Myanmar is correct". The bench now posted the matter for hearing in July first week. Earlier, the top court expressed concern over the loss of lives and properties in Manipur during the violence between the Meitei and Kuki communities and stressed taking adequate measures to restore normalcy there. The apex court was hearing a batch of pleas relating to the violence in Manipur. On March 27, the High Court directed the State to consider the inclusion of the Meitei community in the Scheduled Tribes list. The violence in Manipur between the Hindu Meiteis and the tribal Kuki, who are Christians, erupted after a rally by the All Tribal Students Union of Manipur (ATSUM) on May 3. Violence has gripped the entire state for several days and the Central government had to deploy paramilitary forces to bring the situation under control. (ANI)
After suffering a defeat in Uttar Pradesh local body polls, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo Mayawati has called for a meeting on Thursday with office bearers to strategise for the Lok Sabha general elections "All the big and small office bearers, divisional and district presidents etc. of the UP state have been invited to Lucknow in order to make a concrete strategy to face these fierce anti-people challenges and to start preparing for the Lok Sabha general elections from now onwards. Special meeting tomorrow," the BSP supremo tweeted. The BSP which had bagged two mayoral seats in 2017, failed to even open its account this time. Its councillors were reduced from 147 to 85 and Municipal Council Chairpersons went from 29 to 16. The number of Palika Parishad members also fell from 262 to 191. While the Nagar Panchayat Chairpersons got reduced from 45 to 37 and members from 218 to 215. Meanwhile, Mayawati slammed the ruling party of Uttar Pradesh and said, the ruling party of Uttar Pradesh misused its power in the elections. "Misuse of government machinery by the ruling party in UP to reduce the effect of anti-people policies, wrong activities, etc. shortcomings on the election, their malicious, repressive behaviour and use of religion for political interests is very serious and very worrying, for democracy," BSP supremo tweeted. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath led-Bharatiya Janata Party was able to break its own record and create history by getting its mayors elected in all 17 municipal corporations. On the other hand, the major parties of their time, Samajwadi Party (SP) and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) failed to even retain the seats they had won last time. In 2017, the BJP won 60 municipal council chairperson's seats out of 199 seats. This time the seats of the BJP have increased to 88. The 'bicycle' of the Samajwadi Party got a flat tire in the municipal corporations, panchayats, and municipalities, and the elephant of the Bahujan Samaj Party also fell down. Compared to 2017, the SP and the BSP performed poorly in this election. In the municipal corporation, the SP remained at zero in the mayoral race. Its councillors were reduced from 202 to 191 and the number of Municipal Council Chairpersons also decreased from 45 to 35. In 2017, the number of SP members was 477, and now in 2023, it has come down to 423. Earlier, it had won 83 seats on the post of Nagar Panchayat Chairperson, whereas, in 2023 it was reduced to 78. (ANI)
The Supreme Court on Wednesday granted anticipatory to Indian Youth Congress president Srinivas BV in an FIR registered against him by expelled woman party member for allegedly causing her mental agony. A bench of Justices BR Gavai and Sanjay Karol granted anticipatory bail to Srinivas to cooperate with the probe and asked him to appear before the police on May 22. It also issued notice to the state of Assam and others and posted the matter for hearing on July 10. Taking into account the one-month delay in lodging the FIR, the apex court determined that Srinivas was entitled to interim protection. Srinivas challenged the Gauhati High Court order rejecting his anticipatory bail plea. On May 5, the Gauhati High Court rejected the anticipatory bail plea of Srinivas in a case lodged by a former colleague and the ex-president of Assam Youth Congress accusing him of causing mental agony to her. High Court had also refused to quash the FIR. In her complaint, the woman alleged that Srinivas persistently harassed her mentally by way of sexist remarks and slang words. On her complaint, an FIR was registered to book Srinivas under Sections 352 (assault or criminal force), 354 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty) and 354A (1)(iv) (sexual harassment) of the Indian Penal Code. The woman had claimed that Srinivas had heckled her, held her arm, pushed and pulled her and used slang words during the party's recent plenary session in Raipur. He had also threatened to ruin her career in the party if she complained against him, she alleged. The alleged offence had occurred in Raipur in Chhattisgarh which was beyond the territorial jurisdiction of the Dispur police station, where the case was filed and Assam police had no jurisdiction to investigate or register an FIR for an offence which allegedly took place in Chhattisgarh, Srinivas said. The Congress had issued show cause notice to the woman and later expelled her from the primary membership of the party for six years for anti-party activities. (ANI)
According to the police the gangster was identified as Aman Srivastava who hailed from Jharkhand and was wanted in cases of extortion and murder.

Giving details, the police said the gangster was operative in several districts of Jharkhand and was mainly involved in extortion from coal traders.

"Based on a tip-off from relevant sources, the Jharkhand and Mumbai ATS nabbed the accused gangster from Navi Mumbai on Tuesday evening", the police said.

The Jharkhand police further said that Aman's arrest is a big success and a breakthrough in dealing with crime.

"This is a big success in dealing with the organised crime in the state," informed Jharkhand DGP Ajay Kumar Singh while addressing a press conference at police headquarters in Ranchi.

Further investigation into the matter is underway. (ANI)
Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) arrested freelance journalist Vivek Raghuvanshi and a former Navy commander in an espionage case under the Official Secrets Act for the illegal collection of sensitive information, officials stated on Wednesday. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Tuesday had booked Vivek Raghuvanshi, a freelance journalist for allegedly collecting sensitive information about the Defence Research Development Organisation (DRDO) and the army and sharing them with intelligence agencies of foreign countries, officials said. The CBI also alleged Raghuvanshi collected "sensitive" and "minute" details of DRDO and army projects. "The CBI had registered a case on December 9 last year against Raghuvanshi on the allegations that he was involved in the illegal collection of sensitive information including the minute details of the DRDO defence projects and their progress, sensitive details about the future procurement of Indian armed forces which reveal the strategic preparedness of country's classified communications and information relating to national security, details of the strategic and diplomatic talks of India with our friendly countries and sharing such classified information with intelligence agencies of foreign countries," the agency said in a statement. (ANI)
In 2009, Mir Hasan filed a case of attempt to murder against Ansari under 120B.

A case under section 307 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) was registered against Ansari at Mohammadabad police station in Ghazipur.

Earlier on May 8, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and former Ghazipur MP Afzal Ansari appealed to the Allahabad High Court against the sentence given by the special court of Ghazipur in a 16-year-old gangster act case.

Ansari has also given notice to the UP government to appeal against this sentence, and the appeal can be filed soon.

The Ghazipur MP/MLA Court convicted the BSP leader in a kidnapping and murder case pertaining to the killing of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Krishnanand Rai and sentenced him to four years imprisonment. A fine of Rs 1 lakh was also imposed on Afzal.

Pertaining to this, the gangster-turned-politician also lost his Lok Sabha membership. (ANI)
Taking a potshot at Congress over the delay in declaring the Chief Ministerial candidate, former Karnataka Home Minister Araga Jnanendra on Wednesday said, the fight for the Chief Minister post in Congress will continue. "Congress party is a leisure party, for five years the fight for the post of chief minister will continue in the party. People of all caste communities are demanding the post of Chief Minister in the Congress party, this is the culture of the Congress party," Jnanendra said. "The fight for the post of Chief Minister will go and they will do nothing for the public for the next five years. Their fight will continue even after going to Delhi," he said. Meanwhile, veteran leader Siddaramaiah visited at 10, Janpath and meet party leader Rahul Gandhi as the suspense continues over the Karnataka CM post. Rahul Gandhi will also meet with Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee DK Shivakumar later in the day. The Congress is continuing its deliberations to choose the Karnataka Chief Minister with both Siddaramaiah and DK Shivakumar persisting with their claims and another round of meetings slated to take place today to reach a conclusion. Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge has held talks with all stakeholders in Karnataka. Party leader Rahul Gandhi met Kharge on Tuesday to discuss government formation in the southern state. Earlier on Tuesday, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge held meetings with both the potential candidates DK Shivakumar and Siddaramaiah in New Delhi. Siddaramaiah arrived at Kharge's residence on Tuesday accompanied by his son Yatindra, MLAs Zameer Ahmad, Bhyrati Suresh, and senior leader KJ George. The Congress had emerged as the single largest party in Karnataka after winning the May 10 assembly election. It won 135 seats in the 224-member Karnataka assembly. Despite Congress' clear mandate in the Karnataka assembly polls, suspense over the chief minister continues as senior leaders DK Shivakumar, who is the Karnataka Congress' president, and Siddaramaiah, former chief minister and leader of the opposition are in the race. (ANI)
The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme for IT Hardware with the aim to attract investments and promote the capacity and capability of Indian companies. The budgetary outlay of the PLI scheme is Rs 17,000 crores for a period of six years. "Under the focussed leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, electronic manufacturing, which was only 20-29 billion dollars, has crossed 100 billion dollars in nine years. Now, to keep the momentum, Production Linked Incentive Scheme (PLI) for IT hardware has been approved by Cabinet today for the new types of computing devices," Union Minister for Communications, Electronics and Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw said told the media after a meeting of union cabinet. "It covers laptops, PCs, all-in-one computers, servers and ultra-small form factor devices. There was an earlier version of the scheme too, and now after taking feedback and revisions, a modified version has been passed by the cabinet today," he added. The Union Minister said that the investments attracted by India in the telecom sector were more than the target. "Improvement has also been witnessed in telecom manufacturing. Rs 1600 crore of investment took place in the field when the target was only Rs 900 crores. Out of the Indian companies, two have become very important exporters of complex radio equipment. In this respect, we have to look at the IT hardware," Vaishnaw said. Elaborating on the PLI scheme, the Union Minister said that the expected direct employment is 75,000. "A comprehensive plan has been approved today. The IT hardware has a very complex atmosphere...So to bring IT firms to India, localise and incentivise them, work for the growth of the Indian companies to increase their capacities and capabilities so that in future Indian brands can be developed by a combination of design and manufacturing," he said. "The budgetary outlay of the IT PLI is Rs 17000 crore. The period is six years. Expected incremental production is Rs 3.35 lakh crore, expected incremental investment is Rs 2,430 crores and expected direct employment is 75,000. But as we saw, the investment in telecom was more than what we were expecting. So, the way things are moving, tn this also, the investment will be more than our target". (ANI)
Following the loss of lives in an explosion in an illegal firecracker factory in East Medinipur, Bharatiya Janata Party leader Suvendu Adhikari on Wednesday slammed West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee describing her as a "failed home minister", and demanded her resignation. Adhikari visited the spot of the explosion today which claimed nine lives on Tuesday in the Egra town of Purba Medinipur district of West Bengal. Speaking to ANI, West Bengal Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari alleged that the ruling TMC and the owner of the factory are "colluding". "Bombs were manufactured in this illegal factory. Panchayat elections are near. TMC and the factory owner are colluding. One Bhanu Bagh is a local TMC leader and was Panchayat Member from 2013-18. He has received protection from Mamata Banerjee," he said. He further added that CM Mamata Banerjee has failed in her position as a home minister and that she should step down from her position as the Chief Minister of West Bengal. "The Chief Minister should resign from her position. I have filed a petition for an NIA investigation into this matter," LoP Adhikari said. Adhikari also alleged that the police and the state government were responsible for the incident and that they should provide Rs 10 lakh to each one affected by the firecracker factory explosion. "Police and state government are responsible for this incident. We demand that the state government gives Rs 10 lakh to each affected in the Egra firecracker factory explosion," he said. Earlier today, a bomb squad team conducted an investigation at the spot in West Bengal's East Midnapore district where nine people were killed and several others injured in an explosion at an illegal firecracker factory on Tuesday. A massive blast took place at the factory in Khadikul village under the Egra police station at around 11 am on Tuesday. According to the police, the factory was operating illegally and the owner had been arrested last year and a chargesheet was filed. They said that efforts are underway to arrest the accused, identified as Krishnapada Bagh alias Bhanu Bagh. The West Bengal Police Criminal Investigation Department (CID) has initiated a probe into the incident and investigation with the help of forensic experts after the State government handed over the case to it. East Medinipur Superintendent of Police, Amarnath K said, "Till now, 9 bodies have been recovered and efforts are being made to find out if there was any other killed in the incident. Two people seriously injured in this incident have been referred to Kolkata's SSKM from Egra Super Specialty Hospital." "It was an illegal factory. There have been three to four cases against this factory in the past as well. It was raided many times, but the accused kept operating it. Efforts are underway to arrest the accused, identified as Krishnapada Bagh alias Bhanu Bagh," the SP said. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee announced an ex-gratia of Rs 2.5 lakh for the kin of the deceased and Rs 1 lakh for those injured. West Bengal BJP president Sukanta Majumdar wrote to Union Home Minister Amit Shah demanding a "comprehensive probe" into the incident. He also said that the probe should be handed over to the National Investigation Agency (NIA). The locals have alleged that the unit was used to manufacture lethal explosives."In this factory, crackers were only made for the show. Lethal explosives were made and supplied outside," said Jalhosa, a local resident. (ANI)
The Supreme Court on Wednesday reserved its order on the plea of the Delhi government challenging the nomination of 10 'aldermen' by the Lieutenant Governor to the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD). A bench of Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud and Justices PS Narasimha and JB Pardiwala hearing the case orally remarked that LG, with the power to nominate members to the MCD, can effectively destabilise the democratically elected MCD. "There is another way to look at it. Is the nomination of people who have specialised knowledge in a local body such great concern to Union of India? By giving this power to the LG, he can effectively destabilise the democratically elected MCD. They will have voting power. They can be placed anywhere, these ten members by the LG," the bench observed. Senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, appearing for the AAP government, told the apex court that the nominations had been made in the ward committees of the MCD where the BJP was weak. Additional Solicitor General Sanjay Jain, appearing for the LG, said that "aid and advice" of the Delhi Government was not necessary while exercising a statutory power which was specifically conferred on the Administrator. Yesterday, the apex court asked the Lieutenant Governor about his "source of power" under the Constitution and the law to nominate 10 'aldermen' to the MCD without the aid and advice of the elected government. Recently a five-judge Constitution bench held that control over services, with some exceptions, comes under the Delhi government in the national capital. After Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) won the municipal elections, the LG appointed 10 'aldermen' that were opposed by Delhi government. The petition of the Delhi government sought the quashing of order dated January 3 and 4 whereby the LG nominated 10 persons as nominated members of the MCD. Lieutenant Governor has "illegally" appointed 10 nominated members to the Municipal Corporation of Delhi on his own initiative, and not on the aid and advice of the Council of Ministers, the plea stated. This plea also said that is the first time since Article 239AA came into effect in 1991 that such a nomination has been made by the Lieutenant Governor completely by-passing the elected government, thereby arrogating to an unelected office a power that belongs to the duly elected government. It sought direction "to nominate members to the Municipal Corporation of Delhi under Section 3(3)(b)(i) of the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act, 1957, in accordance with the aid and advice of the Council of Ministers." "It is pertinent to note that neither the section nor any other provision of law says anywhere that such nomination is to be made by the Administrator in his discretion. As such, under the scheme of Article 239AA of the Constitution, the word "Administrator" must necessarily be read as Administrator / Lieutenant Governor, acting on the aid and advice of the Council of Ministers, and the Lieutenant Governor was bound to make the nominations on the aid and advice of the Council of Ministers," the plea added. In the present case, the Lieutenant Governor has not been vested with any discretionary authority to make nominations to the MCD under either a constitutional provision, or any statutory provision, the Aam Aadmi Party said. "Accordingly, the only two courses of action open to him were to either accept the proposed names duly recommended to him for nomination to MCD by the elected government, or to differ with the proposal, and refer the same to the President. It was not open to him at all to make nominations on his own initiative, completely circumventing the elected government. As such, the nominations made by the Lieutenant Governor are ultra vires and illegal, and are consequently liable to be quashed," the plea added. (ANI)
To mark World Hypertension Day, Union Health Ministry on Wednesday launched an ambitious initiative of screening and putting 75 million people with hypertension and diabetes on Standard Care by 2025. The '75/25' initiative was announced by Dr VK Paul, Member (Health), NITI Aayog at the G20 co-branded event titled "Accelerating the Prevention and Management of Hypertension and Diabetes", organized by Union Health Ministry and World Health Organization (WHO) as part of World Hypertension Day. According to an official release, the Outcome Budget document of Union Budget 2023-2024 has for the first time introduced hypertension and diabetes treatment as output indicators reflecting the government's commitment to scale-up hypertension and diabetes coverage services. Highlighting the innovative '75/25' scheme, Dr V K Paul stated that this will be the largest expansion of Non-Communicable Diseases (NCD) in primary healthcare programs in the world with a community-based approach starting at the primary healthcare level. "This indicates clear resolve of the government to address NCDs by allocating resources, capacity enhancement, mobilisation and multi-sectoral collaboration", he said. "Under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, India is determined to become a developed nation in the next 25 years in the Amrit Kaal. Towards this goal, India is making efforts to achieve results in social indicators like life expectancy, maternal mortality rate, and NCDs at par with developed nations", he stressed. Dr Paul mentioned that the battle against NCDs has to be fought through the primary healthcare level and pointed out that India has created a platform to fight the menace through the creation of more than 1.5 lakh Health and Welfare Centres (HWC) and operationalization of telemedicine and digital health services. To accelerate the prevention and management of Hypertension, Dr V K Paul urged State teams to adhere to all SOPs especially the screening SOPs correctly at the grassroots since screening is the bedrock of successful management of any disease. However, he noted that only screening is not enough. Detection should lead to outcomes. He, therefore, urged all stakeholders to ensure that at least 80% of the diagnosed people are under treatment. During his speech, the need for private sector engagement in this effort and the contribution of the academic and research sectors in creating models and different building blocks for achieving the ambitious targets were also emphasized. Dr Paul also emphasized that greater effort should be put into prevention which includes lifestyle changes through eating good food, exercising and other wellness practices. He highlighted the need for Jan Andolan to make this effort more visible through community participation and the need for countries to work together and share each other's successes in the spirit of "One Earth, One Health". Congratulating India on this stupendous initiative, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director General, WHO said, "Indian Government's ambitious target of reaching 75 million people with Hypertension under standard care in primary healthcare by 2025 is the largest cover of NCDs in the world for primary healthcare". In her virtual address, Dr Poonam Khetrapal Singh, Director, WHO-SEARO also congratulated the Govt of India for launching ambitious healthcare initiatives. She applauded India's commitment to primary healthcare and highlighted the operationalization of more than 1.5 lakh Ayushman Bharat Health and Wellness Centres as a significant achievement. She also urged countries in the Southeast Asia region to create a new and effective regional roadmap to accelerate NCD control. While, Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan highlighted the interplay between economy, societal forces and epidemiological forces. He stated that with over 7% economic growth in the last two decades, the average life expectancy of people in India has risen significantly to around 70 today. "Lifestyle of a large section of the population has become more sedentary than before", he said. The Union Health Secretary noted that the solution to the problem of NCDs lies in a societal approach where awareness, prevention, health promotion and wellness are looked at in an integrated manner. He also stressed "on the need for inter-sectoral efforts and collaboration of public and private sectors to address the growing burden of NCDs in the country". According to an official release, in addition to the 75/25 initiative, the Shashakt Portal was launched for the training of 40,000 Primary Health Care Medical Officers on Standard Treatment Workflow for NCDs initiated to realize healthcare services closer to the community. The statement further said that the revised operational guidelines of the National Programme for Prevention and Control of Non-Communicable Diseases (NP-NCD) were also released with the aim of much wider coverage. "The programme is now providing services for Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) and Asthma, Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) and Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Diseases NAFLD), ST Elevation of Myocardial Infarction (STEMI) apart from Hypertension, Diabetes and three common Cancers including Oral, Breast and Cervical", the statement read. Vishal Chauhan, Joint Secretary, Health Ministry, Dr Roderico H. Ofrin, WHO Representative to India, G-20 representatives, participants from WHO-SEARO countries, international partners working on hypertension and diabetes from WHO, UN and other organizations, senior state officials from states, national NCD partners and senior officials from the Union Government were present in the event. (ANI)
The court remarked that let the publicity be avoided in the matter against D K Shivakumar for two to three day.

A bench of Justices B R Gavai and Sanjay Karol deferred the matter for further hearing on July 14.

The court was hearing a CBI appeal against the Karnataka High Court order dated February 10. The High Court of Karnataka stayed the CBI's proceedings in a corruption case against Shivakumar, which was later extended on other different dates.

Shivakumar's lawyer told the Supreme Court that the matter will be heard by the Karnataka High Court again next Tuesday. CBI lawyer submitted that he will not have remedies as the top court will be closed for summer break.

The top court said that the court is not closed completely and there will be a vacation bench. It added that the parties can move the vacation bench if they are aggrieved by any decision of the Karnataka High Court.

CBI is probing a case against Shivakumar for allegedly possessing Rs 74.93 crore assets disproportionate to his known sources of income for the period between 2013 and 2018 when he was serving as a cabinet minister. (ANI)
Delhi High Court on Wednesday issued notice on appeals moved by two Kashmiri youth accused in National Investigation Agency (NIA) case under Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA). The two men have challenged the trial court order denying them bail. The Division bench comprising justices Sidharth Mridul and Talwant Singh issued notice on appeals moved by Advocate Tara Narula on behalf of Haris Nisar Langoo and Zamin Adil accused in the NIA case. The bench has also issued notice on the applications seeking condonation of delay in filing the appeals. The court has listed the matter for further hearing on July 18 on these appeals. The appeals were filed under Section 21(4) of the National Investigation Agency Act, 2008 read with Section 43-D (5) of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, 1967 (UAPA). These appeals challenged the order dated March 3, 2023, passed by Special Court (NIA), Patiala House Courts dismissing the bail applications filed on behalf of the Appellant seeking his release on regular bail under Section 43-D (5) of the UAPA. It has been submitted on behalf of Haris Nisar Langoo that the Special Court's decision to dismiss the Appellant's bail application is flawed for the reason that the respondent agency has failed to put forth any reliable material, which substantiates the allegations made against the Appellant. The Appellant Haris is a 23-year-old student from Khneyar, Srinagar, who also worked as a part-time delivery boy at a local restaurant in order to support his family. He was arbitrarily arrested by the NIA on October 22, 2021, after being illegally detained by the Kashmir Police during the raid conducted on the night of October 21, 2021, in connection with an NIA case, the plea said. It further said that the Appellant Zamin Adil is a 25-year-old student from Munawarabad, Srinagar, who also worked as a part-time delivery boy at a local restaurant in order to support his family. "He too was arbitrarily arrested by the Respondent Agency on October 22, 2021, after being illegally detained by the Kashmir Police during the raid conducted on the night of October 21, 2021, in connection with a case registered at P.S. National Investigation Agency, New Delhi on October 10, 2021, under Sections 120B, 121A, 122 & 123 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Sections 18, 18A, 18B, 20, 38 & 39 of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA)", the appeal stated. The FIR is vague in nature and does not name any of the accused persons including the Appellant, it added. It is submitted that there is absolutely no incriminating material recovered from the Appellant which suggests that he was in fact, a member of any of the proscribed terrorist organizations or their frontal organizations or such evidence which indicates that the Appellant was actively working in furtherance of the ideology of such organization or such other terror outfits. It is also said that the Sessions Court has proceeded to deny bail to the Appellant mechanically by relying on the bar contained in Section 43D (5) of the UAPA and taking an erroneous and excessively restrictive interpretation of the decision in NIA vs. Zahoor Ahmad Shah Watali, qua the existence of a prime facie case against the accused. The investigation qua the appellant is complete and a charge sheet has already been filed by the investigating agency qua the appellant, the plea submitted. The matter involves over 200 witnesses, over 5000 pages of documents and several accused persons sp there is no likelihood of a speedy trial, it pointed out. In the above backdrop, no useful purpose would be served by keeping the appellant in custody in the meantime, particularly in a case where the appellant has been baselessly roped in on the strength of prima facie wholly admissible and unreliable evidence and the same amounts to a complete travesty of justice. (ANI)
The evaluation of the proposals from both sides is going on. The key factors for these proposals would be the extent of transfer of technology and pricing, government officials told ANI.

The American side is offering the GE-414 engines which have been finalised for the LCA Mark-2 programme and given a conditional clearance by the government.

The proposal would depend on the level of transfer of technology to be done by the American firm.

The two sides are already discussing the programme and the issue may be finalised before the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the US, sources said.

India wants that it should have the most critical technologies from the project which will allow it to manufacture power plants for its future projects in long term.

The Safran engine proposal is for the most advanced version of the planned AMCA aircraft with fifth and sixth generation technologies

This project would be a co-development one where India and France would be required to develop a totally new engine with 100 percent transfer of technology.

India and France have been discussing this project for quite some time now. (ANI)
Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has arrested accused journalist Vivek Raghuvanshi and his associate ex-Navy Commander Ashish Pathak for allegedly sharing information sensitive to national security with foreign countries. The arrests have been made in an ongoing investigation of a case registered under Section 3 of the Official Secrets Act r/w Section 120-B of the Indian Penal Code, the CBI stated in a statement. The CBI had registered the said case on December 9, 2022, against a person for alleged involvement in the "illegal collection of sensitive information including the minute details of the DRDO defence projects and their progress, sensitive details about the future procurement of Indian armed forces which reveal the strategic preparedness of country's classified communications/ information relating to national security, details of the strategic and diplomatic talks of India with our friendly countries and sharing such classified information with intelligence agencies of foreign countries". Searches were conducted around 15 locations, in NCR and at Jaipur. CBI has seized 48 electronic devices including laptops, tablets, mobile phones hard disks and pen drive etc. belonging to the FIR named accused and others associated with the said accused, during searches. Besides, a number of incriminating documents relating to Indian defence establishments, have also been seized. The data stored in cloud-based accounts/emails/social media accounts belonging to the accused /others have also been recovered by digital forensic experts of CBI. It was also alleged that the accused and his associate (Ex-Navy Commander, presently working with a private firm), were in possession of classified secret documents related to Indian defence establishments. The scrutiny of devices recovered so far also revealed the accused's involvement in collecting confidential information related to India's Defence procurement from different sources and was in contact with several foreign Entities/Agents/Persons, and that he had entered into contracts/agreements with several foreign entities for sharing of confidential information. It was also alleged that the accused and his family members had received substantial amounts from foreign sources, the CBI stated. Both the arrested accused will be produced before the competent court in Delhi. (ANI)
Delhi High Court on Wednesday granted protection from arrest (No coercive action) till May 22 to Sameer Wankhede with liberty to approach the Bombay High Court for further relief. Wankhede has moved Delhi High Court and sought cross FIR claiming that the allegations by NCB against him are "false and misleading". The plea before the Delhi HC sought cross FIR against deputy DG NCB Gyaneshwar Singh. Counsel for the state of Delhi argued that this relief should be raised before the High Court of Bombay. The bench of Justice Vikas Mahajan has granted protection from arrest for five days and granted liberty to move the Bombay HC for relief. Meanwhile, Wankhede has been summoned by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Thursday. Earlier on Tuesday, CBI which had booked Wankhede for allegedly demanding Rs 25 crore as a bribe for not framing Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan's son Aryan Khan in the drugs-on-cruise case, said that the deal was closed for Rs 18 crore adding that assets to Wankhade were not proportionate to his known sources of income. According to the CBI FIR copy, the NCB team headed by Sameer Wankhede allowed people who were actually in possession of drugs and the supplier as well to go. The FIR copy said Arbaaz Merchant had confessed of possession Charas to NCB but he was allowed to go. Siddarth Shah who had allegedly supplied charas to Arbaaz Merchant was also allowed to walk free, the CBI FIR said adding that incriminating chats between the two were ignored. The federal agency said the accused were brought in a private vehicle. The private vehicle belonged to KP Gosavi (independent witness). This was done to show the accused that Gosavi was an NCB employee, though he was not. CBI claimed that Gosavi was allowed close proximity to the accused against the rules. An effort was made to extort Rs 25 crore, but the deal was closed for Rs 18 crore. Out of this Rs 50 lakh was paid in advance. Other corruption charges against Sameer Wamkhede and other NCB Officials were also in the process. The investigating agency said the assets to Wankhede were not proportionate to his known sources of income. The FIR copy said he was not able to justify expenses made during his foreign visit. Wankhede has been selling and purchasing expensive wristwatches with a private entity, said CBI.CBI registered a case against former Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) officer, Sameer Wankhede and three others for allegedly demanding Rs 25 crore as a bribe for not framing Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan's son Aryan Khan in the drugs-on-cruise case. Wankhede on Saturday alleged that he was being punished for being a patriot. Wankhede's statement came in response to the CBI raids at his residence and other premises on Friday. CBI recently conducted searches at 29 locations across the country following the alleged corruption case against him and three others linked to the Aryan Khan drugs-on-cruise case. Wankhede had raided Cordelia Cruise and arrested Actor Shah Rukh Khan's son Aryan Khan in an alleged drug case. (ANI)
The matter of Eknath Shinde faction MLAs' breach of privilege motion notice against Sanjay Raut will be placed before the Rajya Sabha Chairman for due consideration, enquiry, action and decision. The notice has been issued over Sanjay Raut's statement, "This is not Vidhan Mandal (Legislature) but Chor Mandal (House of Thieves)". Earlier on Tuesday, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde camp Shiv Sena MLA Sanjay Shirsat proposed a breach of privilege motion against Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut to Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar. Shirsat had alleged that Raut has been putting pressure on Legislative Assembly Speaker and calling the government "unconstitutional". Shiv Sena Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut said that the Eknath Shinde government in Maharashtra "is illegal and formed against the Constitution". "Supreme Court has said that the Shiv Sena Shinde group's Whip is illegal...The current government is illegal and formed against the Constitution," he said on Thursday. Maharashtra Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar on Tuesday said that he will decide on the disqualification of 16 Shiv Sena MLAs of Chief Minister Eknath Shinde's camp on the basis of law and no decision will be taken under pressure. "I welcome the decision of the Supreme Court, which has given special powers to the Assembly Speaker while giving its verdict in the case of disqualification of 16 MLAs of Maharashtra government," Narwekar said. He further said, "As far as decision-making is concerned, I will take this decision as soon as possible. But I will not be in a hurry to take this decision, if I take any decision in haste then it will not be correct." Narwekar said that he would not take a decision under anyone's pressure. "I will take as much time as it takes to take a decision, I will not take a decision under anyone's pressure. I will take a decision according to the law. It took more than 10 months for the court to take a decision," he said. Last week, the Supreme Court held that former Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari was "not justified" to call for a floor test based on the request of the Eknath Shinde faction since he did not have enough objective material before him to conclude that the then Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray had lost the confidence of the House. A five-judge Constitution bench of Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud and Justices MR Shah, Justice Krishna Murari, Justice Hima Kohli and PS Narasimha said it could not disqualify the Eknath Shinde-led Maharashtra government and reinstate Uddhav Thackeray as Chief Minster because the latter had chosen to resign instead of facing a test of strength in the Assembly. The Whip has to be appointed by a political party, the top court said. The apex court held that the Speaker's decision to appoint Bharat Gogawale (Eknath Shinde) as the whip of the Shiv Sena party was "illegal". The apex court further said that the Speaker must decide on disqualification petitions within a reasonable time. It also said that MLA has the right to participate in the proceedings of the House regardless of the pendency of any petitions for their disqualification. In August last year, the top court's three-judge bench had referred to a five-judge Constitution bench the issues involved in the petition filed by rival groups of Shiv Sena in relation to the Maharashtra political crisis. On June 29, 2022, the top court gave a go-ahead to the floor test in the Maharashtra Assembly on June 30. It had refused to stay the Maharashtra Governor's direction to the then Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray to prove his majority support on the floor of the House on June 30. After the apex court's order, Uddhav Thackeray announced his resignation as the Chief Minister and Eknath Shinde was later sworn in as the Chief Minister. (ANI)
Delhi's Rohini court has awarded a compensation of Rs 1.54 crore to the parents of a doctor who died in a road accident which occurred after a speeding truck suddenly applied brakes. Motor Accident Claim Tribunal (MACT) Judge Ekta Gauba Mann awarded the compensation after hearing submissions of the parents of Dr Ghufran Alam, the driver of the truck, the owner and the Insurance company with which the truck was insured. The incident took place in Bawana Area in the year 2017. The deceased doctor was around 31 years of age. Nouman Alam and Musarrat Jehan, the parents of Ghufran Alam had moved the petition in 2018 seeking compensation. They originally belong to Bihar's Araria. The court considered the petition and awarded a compensation of Rs 1,54,09,000 to the parents of the deceased. After considering the facts and evidence, the court directed the insurance company to pay compensation to the petitioners. The court also considered the testimonies of the driver and owner of the truck. "Accordingly, nothing material has come on record to disbelieve the testimony of the driver and owner and hence, the insurance company has failed to prove any statutory defence in its favour on record, " the court observed in the judgement passed on May 15. Hence, it is liable to indemnify the owner/insured and to pay compensation to the petitioners, the court said. Accordingly, the insurance company is directed to pay Rs 1,54,09,000 to the mother as compensation in this case, within 30 days from today. The court said that failure to which, it would be liable to pay further interest at the rate of 9 per cent per annum on the amount of Rs. 1,13,21,425.92 from the date of award till its realization. It was stated that on September 14, 2017, the victim (Dr Ghufran Alam) along with his friend Dr Rajesh Rajpoot was travelling on a two-wheeler scooty, being driven by Dr Rajesh Rajpoot and the victim was sitting as a pillion rider in the back. When they reached Bangali Chowk, in front of Lal Flat, Sector-3, DSIIDC, Bawana, Delhi at around 9:30 pm, a truck plying ahead driven by its driver Balmiki Yadav at high speed and in a rash and negligent manner applied sudden brakes due to which their scooty collided with the said truck from the back side. Following this, the victim and Dr Rajesh Rajpoot fell down and suffered injuries. They both were taken to Maharishi Valmiki Hospital for treatment. However, they both could not survive and succumbed to their injuries. At the time of the accident, the salary of the deceased was more than Rs 92,000. Driver Balmiki Yadav in his written statement denied the accident and stated that no accident had been caused by him and even otherwise, his vehicle was duly insured with National Insurance Company and liability to pay compensation if any is of the insurance company. Owner Jag Mohan Yadav filed no reply / written statement. The National Ins. Co. in its written statement has not disputed the fact that the offending vehicle was insured with it on the date of the accident. However, it had taken the plea that the driver was not holding a valid and effective driving licence at the time of the accident as he was driving a heavy goods vehicle (truck) whereas he was holding an LMV driving licence. Ins. Co. had further denied its liability on certain technical grounds. However, it was proved that the driver was having a licence valid for driving HGV as of the date of the incident on September 14, 2017, whereas his driving licence was renewed on October 16, 2017. (ANI)
Trinamool Congress (TMC) Rajya Sabha MP Dola Sen on Wednesday said that there is no need to politicize the West Bengal factory blast incident in which nine people lost their lives. Speaking to ANI, Dola Sen said, "Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said yesterday itself that she has no objection to a National Investigation Agency (NIA) investigation. Today we met the members of the affected families. We assured them that the families will be looked after. This is not a small matter which should be politicised. It is a sensitive matter as nine people died in this incident." Following the loss of lives in an explosion in an illegal firecracker factory in Purba Medinipur, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Suvendu Adhikari on Wednesday slammed Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee describing her as a "failed home minister", and demanded her resignation. Leader of Opposition in West Bengal Assembly Suvendu Adhikari also alleged that the incident is a result of the collusion between the ruling TMC and the owner of the factory. "Bombs were manufactured in this illegal factory. Panchayat elections are near. TMC and the factory owner are colluding. One Bhanu Bagh is a local TMC leader and was Panchayat Member from 2013-18. He has received protection from Mamata Banerjee," Adhikari said. "The Chief Minister should resign from her position. I have filed a petition for an NIA investigation into this matter," the LoP added. Earlier the locals accused the State government of not taking timely action against the firecracker factory where nine workers were killed and several others injured in a massive blast. The locals have alleged that the unit was used to manufacture lethal explosives and guns. A massive blast took place at a factory in Khadikul village under the Egra police station on Tuesday. In the aftermath of the incident, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee announced an ex-gratia of Rs 2.5 lakh for the kin of the deceased and Rs 1 lakh for those injured. (ANI)
On May 16, a PCR call was received at the New Ashok Nagar police station where it was alleged that a girl has killed herself by hanging in D-Block, New Ashok Nagar.

A police team reached the spot and started investigating. During the inspection, a girl was found hanging from a ceiling fan through her dupatta in her rented room. The room was locked from inside but no suicide note was found.

A crime team with forensic experts reached the spot and the body was shifted to Lal Bahadur Shastri Hospital Mortuary for post-mortem.

As per the police, the deceased was 19 years old. She had studied upto 12th standard and was working in a company in Sector-2 Noida. She was living with her roommate.

The family members of the deceased have alleged that one person named Amit Tyagi had sent some incriminating messages and photos of the girl along with him, after which the deceased girl got disturbed and died by suicide.

The police have registered a case under section 306 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and started investigating the matter. (ANI)
The deep ties between Sri Lanka and Ayodhya, which date back to Tretayuga, are set to reach the pinnacle of glory in the Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath Government in Uttar Pradesh. Sri Lankan High Commissioner Ashok Milinda Moragoda on Wednesday met Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath in this regard at his official residence on Wednesday and presented the 'Shila' of Ashok Vatika located in Sri Lanka to him. He also presented two paintings to the CM to be installed at Varanasi airport, informed a press release. Cultural relations and the promotion of tourism between the two countries were particularly discussed during the long talks between the Chief Minister and the Sri Lankan High Commissioner. They also held a detailed discussion on developing various places related to the Ramayana period in Sri Lanka, so that the citizens of India, especially Uttar Pradesh, get an opportunity to visit the Ramayana sites present in Sri Lanka. The Sri Lankan High Commissioner also urged the Chief Minister to plant 'Sanjivani Booti' (a herbal medicine that Lord Hanuman brought by lifting the mountain on which it was planted to cure Lord Ram's brother Lakshman) plants from Sri Lanka on a large scale in UP, which CM Yogi gladly accepted. "Ashok Milinda Moragoda appreciated the efforts of CM Yogi to bring about unprecedented development in Uttar Pradesh in recent years. He said that there have been cordial relations between Sri Lanka and UP since the Ramayana period and that the dialogue will prove to be very important in the direction of greater cooperation in the field of culture and tourism between the two countries," the release added. Ashok Milinda Moragoda is the High Commissioner of Sri Lanka to India since 2020. (ANI)
Parliamentary Standing Committee for Home Affairs called a meeting on Tuesday in connection with the reform in the jails system. The condition of jails in Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi and the issue of improvement in them were discussed in the meeting. Senior officials of Tihar Jail were also summoned to attend the meeting. Committee members asked several questions about the lack of safety and security in the Tihar and other jails. According to the member who attended the meeting, a Congress member asked a direct question to the top officials of Tihar Jail who were called to the meeting. He asked how it could happen that all facilities were being provided to a high-profile prisoner lodged in jail. In the meeting, many members raised serious questions regarding the murder of gangster Tillu Tajpuria and some other matters. Regarding the Tillu Tajpuria murder case, a member asked the Tihar Jail authorities what steps were being taken in this matter. The jail officer said, "Apart from taking action against the policemen on duty in this incident, steps will be taken to prevent the recurrence of such incidents in the future." However, the issue of Delhi's former minister and AAP leader Satyendra Jain's massage was also raised in the parliamentary committee, and concern was also expressed over the murders in Tihar. According to sources in the meeting, "The members asked many questions regarding the news that had come from Tihar Jail in the past. It also includes the photographs of former Delhi minister Satyendra Jain, who was seen getting a body massage in Tihar Jail recently." A Committee member said that "Such incidents tarnish India's international image and raise questions about security in prisons. Apparently an allusion to fugitives from India like Vijay Mallya who are trying to block their extradition in UK courts citing lack of security in Indian jails." Senior jail officers of the four states along with other top officials were also called to the meeting. BJP's Rajya Sabha MP from Uttar Pradesh and former police officer Brijlal is the chairman of this committee. (ANI)
A team of researchers developed a technology that may detect symptoms of Parkinson's disease in urine samples. The approach allows researchers to assess if LRRK2 (leucine-rich repeat kinase 2) proteins and their downstream pathways, which have been related to Parkinson's disease, are changed in Parkinson's patients' samples. The technology might potentially lead to widespread noninvasive testing for other neurological diseases, in addition to cancer. "We believe this is a logical and rational approach to move forward for diagnosing Parkinson's disease," said W. Andy Tao, professor of biochemistry at Purdue. "Diagnosis for this type of neurodegenerative disease is difficult." Cognitive and movement testing can take a year or more to confirm the diagnosis, so molecular tests for early diagnosis and intervention can help people with Parkinson's faster, he explained. Tao and eight co-authors from Purdue, Tymora, The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research, and Columbia University published their findings in the Communications Medicine journal. "It's going to be a big new area in diagnostic development," predicted co-author Anton Iliuk, Tymora's president and chief technology officer, "especially for neurodegenerative diseases and cancer." Parkinson's disease alone affects an estimated 1% of the over-60 population. Up to a million Americans live with the disease, while 90,000 new cases are diagnosed each year. The paper's co-authors include Marco Hadisurya, a doctoral student in biochemistry; Kananart Kuwaranancharoen, a doctoral student in electrical and computer engineering; Xiaofeng Wu, who received his doctorate in chemistry at Purdue in 2022; Li Li, Tymora Analytical Operations; Zheng-Chi Lee, West Lafayette Junior/Senior High School; Roy Alcalay, MD, Columbia University; and Shalini Padmanabhan from The Michael J. Fox Foundation, which funded the work. The project began several years ago after Padmanabhan read some of Iliuk and Tao's work on the EVtrap (Extracellular Vesicles total recovery and purification) method for urinary analysis and proposed a collaboration. "When I reviewed the data from their previous publication," Padmanabhan said, "it was interesting to note the expression of an important Parkinson's disease-linked protein, LRRK2. This piqued my interest since this approach provided us with an opportunity to determine if LRRK2 proteins or the downstream pathways they impact are actually altered in urinary samples from Parkinson's patients who harbor a mutation in the gene." In 2017, Tao led a team that developed a blood test that could feasibly detect breast cancer. In that work, Tao and his colleagues compared samples taken from breast cancer patients and a healthy control group. "We identified phosphorylated proteins, which are a typical hallmark of cancers," Tao said. And within those proteins, the team found extracellular vesicles, small packages that cells use as their molecular delivery system. The finding demonstrated that a blood sample yielding phosphoproteins could serve as a potential marker for early cancer diagnosis or for monitoring disease progression. The team was able to rapidly isolate the vesicles from urine samples, using the EVtrap method developed by Tymora. "We have used the method for a number of indications, primarily focusing on different cancers for biomarker discovery and validation," said Iliuk, who received his doctorate in biochemistry at Purdue in 2011. Iliuk and Tao co-founded Tymora Analytical, which specializes in technology and services for detecting disease biomarkers in biofluids. "This kind of analysis opens a new frontier in noninvasive diagnostics development. It's showing that biomarkers previously thought to be undetectable have become uncovered and do a really good job of differentiating disease from non-disease state," Iliuk said. "It's not obvious that urine would be a source of brain-based chemicals or signatures, but it is. These EVs can penetrate the blood-brain barrier quite easily." After export from the brain into the bloodstream, they become concentrated or filtered into urine. But sampling such biomarkers from the brain via spinal tap is a highly invasive procedure. "Especially for early diagnosis that is not the preferred sampling method," Tao said. Urine samples contain proteins that could be disease markers, but many perform housekeeping functions that are unrelated to disease. "Extracellular vesicles provide a way to focus on disease markers because they are released by certain types of cells," he said. Among the many ways to study the impact of LRRK2 is to track its biological pathway, which can be done by analyzing urine, blood and cerebrospinal fluid. The EVtrap method provided an easy way to track changes in urine, which is collected for many clinical studies. The LRRK2 Biobanking Study at Columbia University has a large bank of urine samples available for meaningful Parkinson's disease research. Columbia University co-author Alcalay, who provided many of the samples, also helped correlate EVtrap data with the clinical data. For the Communication Medicine study, the team studied samples from people with and without the LRRK2 gene mutation, and patients with and without the disease. Padmanabhan noted, "This study also highlighted that changes in urinary proteins could serve as a proxy for changes in protein signatures that occur in brain diseases like Parkinson's disease." (ANI)
Pakistan's former Prime Minister Imran Khan on Tuesday again called on the public to hold a peaceful protest for "freedom". In a video message shared by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf's official Twitter handle, Khan said, "This is the time for Haqeeqi Azadi and you can't let this moment go in vain." Khan has said that fear was being spread among the public to oppress them as he likened the situation in the country today to the atrocities during the rule of Chengiz Khan. He further claimed that his supporters, including women, were being tormented in a manner never seen before. The PTI Chief was arrested on May 9 but after two days of violence across Pakistan, he was released on bail. "All this fear is being spread only to tell the public that those who stand against them will be treated this way," Khan said in a video message. He called on his supporters to break the idols of fear and not be scared by a handful of policemen. "When the nation decides that it won't tolerate this oppression ... when it decides that it won't allow the violation of the Constitution and that it wants elections ... then no one will be able to stop them." "When Genghis Khan used to kill and kill, he used to leave a few people alive and told them to tell the world how cruel I am, how much terror I have. The same is happening here, people's houses are being broken, women have never been oppressed like this, and stories of atrocities are being played on TV and social media, but my Pakistanis, this is the time for your freedom. to take," PTI tweeted while sharing the video of Imran Khan. Meanwhile, Lahore High Court (LHC) on Tuesday reserved its verdict on the petition filed by Khan -- the day after his arrest in the Al-Qadir Trust case -- seeking pre-arrest bail in every case filed against him since then, Geo News reported. In the backdrop of protests sparked following Khan's arrest in the infamous land corruption case, other cases were also filed against the former prime minister. Meanwhile, the court enquired about the PTI chief's absence at the beginning of the session to which Khan's attorney responded that his client would show up in court by 11 am. The interim government of Punjab's lawyer had opposed the bail request of Imran Khan, claiming it was inadmissible. The lawyer said, "Imran Khan hasn't even appeared in the court and seeking protective bail," as per Geo News. (ANI)
Nepal's Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal's Maoist party has been accused of misusing funds meant for combatants resulting in calls to probe Maoist cantonment scam, reported Kathmandu Post. The case dates back to 2007 when the then government had decided to provide Rs 5,000 a month to as many as 19,602 former Maoist combatants camped in seven cantonments and 21 satellite camps set up across the country. However, in 2010, 4,008 combatants were disqualified for being either underage or late recruits and the distribution of money to former rebels courted controversy as Maoist leaders allegedly pocketed a big chunk of the fund, reported Kathmandu Post. As per the provision, the payment was to be continued until the time the combatants were either integrated into security agencies or chose volunteer retirement. In 2013, of the total 19,602 combatants registered by the United Nations Mission to Nepal (UNMIN), 1,460 were integrated into Nepal Army while some others chose a rehabilitation package offered by the government, reported Kathmandu Post. Even within the Maoist Centre's rank and file, dissatisfaction is palpable over the alleged corruption, in which the party leadership had allegedly misused a large amount of money collected from the combatants. The complaint also charged the leaders with embezzling the amount meant to procure rations for the combatants. In the complaint, the Youth Association Nepal, UML's youth wing, had accused the Maoist leadership of misusing at least Rs 4 billion. Notably, the Office of the Auditor General had cleared the budget allocated for cantonment operation and management including the salary and allowances of former Maoist combatants. Meanwhile, other parties have been accusing the then Maoist leadership and top commanders of profiteering from the funds that should have gone to the combatants. They were also accused of accepting salaries and allowances on behalf of thousands of combatants who had already left the cantonments, reported Kathmandu Post. Leaders from rival parties claimed that the Dahal-led government will not undertake the probe as that would put him in a difficult situation. "Both the prime minister and Congress chief Sher Bahadur Deuba could be indicted in the cantonment case," said Raghuji Pant, a standing committee member of CPN-UML. "I don't think this government will probe it." The main opposition party UML, through its three-day central committee meeting that concluded Saturday, demanded that the government investigate all corruption cases, including the one related to cantonment funds. However, the Maoist-led government and leaders of the Maoist Centre have so far been tight-lipped on the issue, reported Kathmandu Post. In a recent Facebook post, Subodh Serpali, the chair of the Young Communist League (YCL), the youth wing of the Maoist Centre, said that as the party keeps facing accusations every now and then, the party leadership should settle the issue. He added that if any of the commanders are found guilty, the YCL will hand them over to the government and help the authorities take necessary action, reported Kathmandu Post. (ANI)
The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Rawalpindi on Tuesday summoned Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan in a personal capacity in the Al-Qadir Trust case on Thursday (May 18), reported Geo News. The NAB also retitled the Al-Qadir Trust reference to "National Crime Agency 190m Pounds Scandal," and ordered the former premier to ensure a physical appearance on the given date. On Monday, a division bench of the Lahore High Court (LHC) granted protective bail to former first lady Bushra Bibi till May 23 in the case. Imran Khan was also arrested in the same case on May 9 but later his arrest was declared unlawful by the apex court after which he was granted bail in the case till May 17 by the Islamabad High Court (IHC). In a notice on Tuesday, the anti-graft body sought details of the United Kingdom's National Crime Agency (NCA) 2019 probe into assets worth Pound 190 million from Imran Khan, reported Geo News. Moreover, NAB has directed Khan to bring along details regarding the NCA investigation and all documents related to the Al-Qadir University including land papers, trust deeds and bank statements. The anti-corruption watchdog also warned the PTI chief of legal action in case of non-compliance with the summon, reported Geo News. The case subsequently made its way to Pakistan's federal cabinet on December 3, 2019, where it was presented by then special assistant to the prime minister (SAPM), Mirza Shahzad Akbar, in a sealed envelope. The purpose of the presentation was to discuss the return of the funds, which would be channelled into an account overseen by the registrar of the Supreme Court of Pakistan. This particular account was associated with the recovery of a staggering Rs 460 billion from the same property tycoon, in connection with fines imposed on a housing scheme in Karachi, reported Geo News. Investigations have revealed that as part of an agreement to return the laundered money, the property tycoon offered a substantial compensation package. This included the transfer of 458 Kanal, 4 Marla and 58 square feet of land in Jhelum, alongside cash amounting to Rs285 million, which was destined for the Al-Qadir Trust. The trustees of Al-Qadir Trust included then-prime minister Khan, his wife Bushra Bibi and his senior advisers Zulfiqar Bukhari and Babar Awan. However, it is worth noting that Awan and Bukhari's positions were subsequently revoked on April 22, 2020. (ANI)
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Wednesday said that the Quad leaders meeting in Sydney next week will not go ahead after US President Joe Biden cancelled his visit to Australia while adding that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Sydney next week. Albanese said the leaders of Australia, the US, India and Japan -the Quad grouping- would now likely meet on the sidelines of the G7 in Japan this weekend Australian media network ABC News reported. Albanese said Biden had told him that he was "disappointed" as he was unable to visit Australia and that the Quad leaders would instead try to gather on the sidelines of the G7 leaders meeting in Hiroshima. "All four leaders President Biden, Prime Minister Kishida, Prime Minister Modi and myself will be at the G7, held in Hiroshima on Saturday and Sunday. We are attempting to get together over that period of time [and] I'll have a bilateral discussion with President Biden," he said in a press conference. "At this stage, we haven't got a time locked in for that arrangement," he added. Albanese said that it was still possible that PM Modi and his Japanese counterpart Fumio Kishida will visit Australia next week. "We are in discussions with the Quad leaders over today. We'll make further announcements about that, but Prime Minister Modi would certainly be a very welcome guest here next week," he said. "Prime Minister Kishida, of course, we had bilateral meetings at the end of last year, just a few months ago, in Perth that was very successful," he added. Albanese termed the relationship with Japan "very important". He also recalled receiving the "warmest of welcomes by Prime Minister Modi in India in March." A Ministry of External Affairs release earlier said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will embark on a three-nation tour during which he will take part in G-7 Summit in Japan and the Quad Leaders' Summit in Australia. The Prime Minister will visit Hiroshima in Japan from May 19 to 21 for the G-7 Summit under the Japanese Presidency. He is visiting Japan at the invitation of Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida. Prime Minister Modi will have bilateral engagements in Papua New Guinea, including meetings with Governor-General Sir Bob Dadae and Prime Minister James Marape. PM Modi will then visit Sydney from May 22 to 24 to participate in the Quad Leaders' Summit, the external affairs ministry said. From Japan, the Prime Minister will travel to Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, where he will host the third Summit of the Forum for India-Pacific Islands Cooperation (FIPIC III Summit) jointly with Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea James Marape on May 22. Meanwhile, earlier in an interview with ABC News responding to a question regarding the Quad meeting Australian PM Albanese said, "No, just the US President's visit is postponed. So that will occur at some time in the future. We will be talking with our partners about the Quad meeting over the next day." In the interview on ABC Sydney Breakfast with James Valentine, Albanese said that the meeting with a US representative at a senior level could take place. He said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will travel to Australia and he has a bilateral program. Quad meeting is scheduled to take place on May 24. Responding to the question whether the meeting could still occur in Sydney with India and Japan, Albanese said, "Yes that's right, and with a representative of the United States at a senior level, as well, could occur. Prime Minister Modi has a bilateral program that is organised so I'm certain that he will be here. And, of course, we have a very large growing diaspora here in Australia and there are events including a large event at Kudos Arena to be held next Tuesday night." In response to a question about a meeting between four Quad leaders in Japan, Anthony Albanese said, "Yes, there, he will try to convene a meeting given that all four leaders will be in Japan over the weekend, as well. So we will have a bilateral discussion. But we'll also hopefully be able to find a time when the four of us can can sit down. We will have to organise the logistics of the Quad meeting now in in Sydney and we'll be discussing with our partners in the US, but also Japan and India over the over the next day or so." Asked about when he heard about Biden's postponing his visit to Australia, Albanese said that he spoke to Biden before 6 am this morning. He said that they have an issue regarding the potential hold-up of the budget in their parliamentary process that the US will have in the Congress and the Senate. Albanese said that the deadline for resolving the impasse regarding the debt ceiling is June 1 and Biden told him that the week before June 1 will be "critical" and that he will be postponing his trip to Australia. He said that Biden has confirmed his invitation to the US for a state visit later this year. Australian PM said that he and Biden will have a bilateral meeting in Hiroshima. White House earlier today announced that President Joe Biden had cancelled his planned trip to Australia and Papua New Guinea. However, Biden will attend the Group of Seven (G7) Summit in Hiroshima, Japan this week. "President Biden will return to the United States on Sunday, following the completion of the G7 summit, in order to be back for meetings with Congressional leaders to ensure that Congress takes action by the deadline to avert default. The President spoke to Prime Minister Albanese earlier today to inform him that he will be postponing his trip to Australia. He also invited the Prime Minister for an official state visit at a time to be agreed by the teams. The President's team engaged with the Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea's team to inform them as well," a statement by White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, read. "We look forward to finding other ways to engage with Australia, the Quad, Papua New Guinea and the leaders of the Pacific Islands Forum in the coming year," the statement added. (ANI)
Young people are struggling to find jobs in China. Many people have said that they are now at their breaking point, according to a report by New York based television network NTD. The job market struggles in China come months after authorities lifted the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions and reopened its borders. Data released by China's National Bureau of Statistics in April showed the situation was getting worse, ABC News reported. According to the statistics, the national unemployment rate for 16-24-year-olds was at 19.5 per cent, nearly 3 per cent higher than in December. The rise comes despite China lifting the COVID-19 restrictions. Tony Bie graduated from a university in China with graduation degree two years ago. However, he is still unemployed, as per the ABC News report. He said, "Sometimes I wonder why I went to university." Tony Bie is one of about 30 million unemployed young people in China. Tony Bie further said, "If I had got a job straight out of high school, I would be a manager now." The 23-year-old man said that he wanted to study further as it would increase his chances of getting a job. However, he said that the competition for university places is fierce and he has thrice failed the entrance test for the course. The University of Western Australia senior lecturer in Chinese studies Tao Yu said young people in China generally believed that a good education would lead to a well-paid job, as per the news report. However, the reality is that China's economic struggles driven by COVID-19 restrictions implied that there were fewer jobs for university graduates. As per the news report, some young Chinese people are opting to set up stalls in night markets to avoid the "996" work culture and solve their income issues. Many other young people depend on family support to make ends meet as China has no welfare payments for unemployed youth. A large number of young people working in the technology, education and property sectors have lost their jobs due to the Chinese government's crackdown on the technology, education and property sectors has left a large number of young people in these industries out of a job. Many technology giants have laid off thousands of workers, as per the ABC News report. The unemployment problem in China has prompted young people to raise their concerns on social media. Young people on social media accused state media of shirking their responsibilities and making them the main culprits of China's economic situation, as per the ABC News report. Their statements on social media were quickly censored. (ANI)
Kami Rita Sherpa, a record-holding Nepali Sherpa guide has ascended the world's highest peak Mount Everest for record 27th time setting a new record. The Seven Summit Treks, expedition organizing company of Nepal on Wednesday announced the new record set earlier this morning on Twitter. "This morning at 8:30 am, Kami Rita Sherpa successfully summited Mount Everest for an incredible 27th time as a part of the Seven Summit Treks Everest Expedition 2023," the company tweeted. Sherpa, a native of Thame village in Solukhumbu, Nepal has been working as Senior Guide at Seven Summit Treks. The company while announcing his success said that he has "dedicated his life to mountaineering and has become synonymous with the world's highest peak." The 53-year-old Sherpa climber has been scaling the mountains for over two decades. His mountaineering journey began in 1992 when he joined an expedition to Everest as a support staff member. Since then, Kami Rita has fearlessly embarked on numerous expeditions, summiting Everest multiple times. His achievements extend beyond Everest, as he has also conquered other formidable peaks, including K2, Cho Oyu, Lhotse, and Manaslu. This year also Nepal has issued record high permits of 43 teams for Mount Everest which invites about 400 Sherpa guides to make the summit successful. Although Kami Rita cancelled his 26th attempt this year, he announced that he would again return back to mountains next year to achieve his dream. Kami Rita took the traditional southeast ridge route to reach atop the 8,848.86 meter high mountain which also became the first ascent after height of Everest increased by 0.86 meters after it got measured lately in 2020. On May 14, another Sherpa Climber Pasang Dawa Sherpa had ascended the Mount Everest for 26th time matching the record of Kami Rita. This year, Nepal is seeing a high influx of climbing aspirants as the Department of Tourism has issued permits to 478 individuals, the highest number on record. Earlier in 2021, Nepal had issued a record 409 permits which had overcrowded the summit which often is blamed for the high fatalities that year. A year later, the number dropped to 325 taken as an impact of ongoing Russia-Ukraine war and recession that is coming forth this year. Nepal charges 11,000 USD to foreign climbers to take permits for Mount Everest. However, the expenses ranges between 40,000 to 90,000 USD to climb the mountain. The cost for expedition rises further when the weather is not favourable as it normally lasts for only two weeks in a year. Close to 7,000 mountaineers have climbed Everest from the Nepal side since Tenzing Norgay Sherpa and New Zealander Edmund Percival Hillary first set foot atop the world's highest peak in May 1953. (ANI)
Bhutan has received more than 52,000 tourists in the past eight months, The Bhutan Live reported. The Bhutanese Tourism Department has described the statistics as a positive trend in the tourism industry's resurgence. Among the international tourists, a large number of visitors were those who paid the new sustainable development fee (SDF) exceeding those who paid the previous rate, as per the news report. Among international tourists, over 32,500 are Indian tourists who paid Nu 1,200 per night. Of over 19,000 international tourists, a little more than half of them visited Bhutan under the new SDF, according to The Bhutan Live report. However, Tourism Department has said that this data does not include the visitors who came for official purposes. Dorji Dhradhul, Director General of Department of Tourism, said, "In terms of the new SDF, we feel that it is now slowly picking up because when we started on September 23rd because of the enhanced SDF rate, our arrivals could be really impacted but now what we are seeing in the figures is that it's picking up and as of today the total number of tourist paying the new SDF seems to be a little bit higher than the old SDF rate." Dhradhul said that the revision of the SDF to USD 200 per cent per night had initially raised concerns among service providers. However, considering the current trend, the Tourism Department said that the tourist arrivals are beyond the department's forecast, as per The Bhutan Live report. "As of today, we seriously believe that our tourism recovery is doing very well especially when compared to other countries in the region. For instance, the arrivals in April were about 45 per cent more than what we have forecasted," Dorji Dhradhul said. The Guide Association of Bhutan has noted an increase in the number of tourists travelling to Bhutan. Garab Dorji, Chairperson of the Guide Association of Bhutan said that the number of tourists arriving in Bhutan has witnessed a rise and called it a "good trend," as per the news report. "As the Tourism Department has rightly said that the number of tourist arrival is more than the forecast that they had and the number of arrival of tourists especially from India has also shot up. We are having sometimes difficulty in allocating guides. This is a good trend," Garab Dorji said as The Bhutan Live reported. The top ten tourist arrivals in Bhutan in the past eight months were from nations like India, America, Malaysia, the United Kingdom, Vietnam and others. More than 13,700 tourists arrived in Bhutan in April, which shows a rise of around 87 per cent in comparison to March which saw over 7000 arrivals. The Department has projected that Bhutan will receive around 98,000 tourists in 2023 and expressed hope that the target will be achieved. (ANI)
The event on Wednesday reached its culmination with His Holiness administering a Tsepaa Mey Wang, a sacred blessing ceremony, at Autsho Central School in Lhuentse. A colossal gathering of more than 10,000 devoted followers eagerly converged to receive the divine benediction.

The atmosphere was charged with reverence and anticipation as His Holiness imparted the wisdom contained within his Kabum, a spiritual treasure he personally compiled.

Over the past two weeks, devotees from far and wide flocked to Lhuentse, immersing themselves in the profound teachings, rituals, and practices transmitted by Je Khenpo himself, according to The Bhutan Live.

Not only did the spiritual leader conclude the oral transmission of his Kabum, but he also undertook another momentous task.

His Holiness inaugurated the revered Moelam Chenmo books in the districts of Trashigang and Trashi Yangtse. These sacred texts hold immense religious significance and are considered vital sources of wisdom for the Bhutanese people.

His Holiness Je Khenpo now prepares to preside over a grand three-day Moenlam Chenmo, a prayer gathering, set to commence tomorrow at Autsho Central School. Devotees from various corners of the country are expected to attend this auspicious event to seek blessings, offer prayers, and engage in collective spiritual practices.

Je Khenpo's spiritual leadership has long been a source of inspiration and guidance for Bhutanese citizens, fostering a deep sense of devotion and reverence. His teachings and practices continue to shape the religious fabric of the nation, enriching the lives of countless individuals, according to The Bhutan Live. (ANI)
An Afghan national was arrested while trying to enter the US illegally, Khaama Press reported. As per the US Customs and Border Protection authorities, Fox News reported that the suspect, who has not been publicly identified, was apprehended on Wednesday while attempting to cross the southern border at Otay Mesa in San Diego, California. An investigation was launched by the FBI after a fingerprint scan on the Afghan national revealed that he was included in the Terrorist Screening Database. "The FBI has no comment on your specific inquiry. We are vigilant in our efforts to detect and assess possible threats, and we work closely with our federal, state, and local law enforcement partners to keep our communities safe," a statement from the FBI said, as quoted by CBS 8. The suspect terrorists' names and the nature of their alleged crimes are unknown. The incident occurred amid thousands of refugees' asylum requests at the border. "The lack of having a comprehensive good immigration program, we are creating those masses on the other side of the border by not having an understandable process," Supervisor Desmond said, as quoted by CBS 8, Khaama Press reported. With more than 70 non-US citizens on the FBI's terror watch list already detained during CBP's most recent fiscal year, 2023 will probably see more arrests than the 98 made in the previous year. According to Khaama Press, during the Trump administration, the emergency measure made it easier for border officials to deport people from specific countries, while after Title 42 expired, thousands of migrants flocked to the border to request asylum in the US. According to Department of Homeland Security data, less than 5,000 of the 77,000 Afghans resettled in the U.S. through a unique legal process have obtained permanent legal status for themselves and their families, and efforts to make them permanent residents are failing in Congress. (ANI)
A Taliban delegation on Wednesday left Kabul to attend the Russia-Islamic World Economic Forum which will take place in Kazan, the Republic of Tatarstan, Khaama Press reported. The Russia-Islamic World: Kazan Forum is a platform for economic cooperation between the Russian Federation and members of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), to be held from May 18-19. The Afghan delegation includes the Taliban's Acting Minister of Industry and Commerce, Nooruddin Azizi, advisor of the Afghan Prime Minister to Economic Affairs and others. It is said that the Afghan delegation will meet with representatives from Russia and OIC member states on the sidelines of the meeting to discuss potential business and economic opportunities in Afghanistan. According to Yeni Safak News, the summit aims to enhance trade, economy, science and technology cooperation and promote social and cultural ties between Russia and the Islamic world. Representatives from some 85 countries including Azerbaijan, Iran, Malaysia, Tajikistan, Turkey, Uzbekistan, the UAE, Bahrain, Uganda, Qatar and Pakistan and other countries will participate in this meeting, Interfax news agency reported, according to Khaama Press. The economic forum, last year, brought nearly 6,400 delegates from 64 countries and 59 regions of Russia. Since the return of the Taliban to power in August 2021, this is the first time the Taliban delegation is officially invited to attend an international meeting where they will meet with representatives of dozens of countries. Taliban officials were not invited to the Doha Conference held on May 1 and 2, hosted by the United Nations in the capital city of Qatar, which was described as "one-sided and ineffective" by the Taliban authorities. (ANI)
Russia has agreed to extend the Ukraine Black Sea grain deal for another two months, Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced Wednesday, The Moscow Times reported. This announcement came just a day before a 60-day extension, agreed back in March, was set to expire. "Our Russian friends said they will not interfere with Turkish ships leaving [Ukraine's] ports. We thank them for this," The Moscow Times quoted Erdogan as saying. The latest extension comes a week after talks in Istanbul between senior officials from Russia, Ukraine, Turkey and the United Nations. Earlier in March, Erdogan announced an extension of the Black Sea grain deal, CNN reported. However, he did not reveal details regarding the expiration date of the deal. The deal was brokered by the United Nations and Turkey last July to ensure safe passage for ships carrying grain exports from Ukraine. The deal was set to expire today. In July last year, Ukraine and Russia signed the agreement following months of negotiations brokered by the UN and Turkey. The agreement allowed the resumption of exports of Ukrainian grain via the Black Sea. Earlier, on November 2, Russia resumed its participation in the Black Sea grain deal, after securing guarantees from Ukraine on the non-use of the humanitarian corridor and ports designated for the export of agricultural products for military operations. "With the help of an international organisation and Turkey, the necessary written guarantees from Ukraine on the non-use of the humanitarian corridor and Ukrainian ports designated for the export of agricultural products for military operations against the Russian Federation were obtained and submitted to the Joint Coordination Centre (JCC) on November 1," the Russian defence ministry said in a statement. "The Russian Federation believes that the guarantees received at this time are adequate and resumes implementation of the agreement - the Initiative for the Safe Transportation of Grain and Food from Ukrainian Ports (the Black Sea Initiative) - which had been halted following the terrorist attack in Sevastopol," the statement added. According to the statement released by United Nations, the Black Sea grain initiative allowed commercial food and fertilizer (including ammonia) exports from three key Ukrainian ports in the Black Sea - Odesa, Chornomorsk, Yuzhny/Pivdennyi. The Joint Coordination Centre (JCC) was established to monitor the implementation of the initiative. (ANI)
India and Nepal signed a memorandum of understanding for undertaking two High Impact Community Development Projects with the assistance of the Indian government. Taking to Twitter, the Indian embassy in Nepal said, "#IndiaNepal: Partners in #Development Today, @IndiainNepal & @mofaganepal signed MoUs for 2 HICDPs in #Nepal under GoI grant, in #healthcare & #education sectors in Ramechhap & Doti Districts, at a total cost of approx NRs 80.33 million." According to a press statement released by Indian Embassy, the two projects, namely, the construction of Malagiri Shanti Yogashram, Ramechhap District and Kedar Jyotipunja Multiple Campus, Doti District of Nepal shall be implemented through Ramechhap Municipality and Badikedar Rural Municipality, respectively. "The construction of the above projects will provide better health care and education facilities for the local community and improve the quality of life for people in Nepal," the statement read. India and Nepal share a great friendship. India has always stood with Nepal. Earlier, also, a MoU was signed between the Embassy of India and Sushila Thakur Memorial Health Foundation (STMHF), for the distribution of LPG gas stoves and cylinders in Mahottari District, Nepal with the Indian grant assistance of Rs 50 million (approx) under India-Nepal Development Cooperation. This project will benefit nearly 8,000 underprivileged and marginalised families of five municipalities in Mahottari District, Madhesh Pradesh of Nepal. The project is inspired by the Government of India's Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana which is a flagship scheme with an objective to make clean cooking fuel such as LPG available to rural and deprived households which were otherwise using traditional cooking fuels such as firewood, coal, cow-dung cakes. Since 2003, India has taken up over 535 High Impact Community Development Projects in Nepal and has completed 478 projects. Amongst these, 81 projects are in Mahdesh Pradesh including 6 projects in Mahottari District. In addition to these, the Government of India has gifted 23 ambulances to various hospitals and health posts in Mahottari District. (ANI)
India's Defence Secretary Giridhar Aramane, US Under Secretary of Defence for Policy Colin Kahl on Wednesday reviewed the progress made in furthering India-US defence industrial cooperation and operationalising the India-US Major Defence Partnership. The two on Wednesday co-chaired the 17th meeting of the India-US Defence Policy Group (DPG) in Washington, DC Important aspects such as military-to-military cooperation, implementation of foundational defence agreements, exercises and the ongoing and future cooperative activities in the Indian Ocean Region were discussed during the meeting, according to a release issued by the Ministry of Defence. During the meeting, considerable focus was given to ways and means to enhance defence-industrial cooperation, including technology partnership, long-term research and development and improving supply chain security. The meeting also discussed promoting co-development and co-production in India including potential areas and projects where Indian and US defence companies could work together. They agreed to encourage both the private and government stakeholders to utilise the innovation ecosystems and promote defence start-ups. The DPG is the apex official-level mechanism between the Ministry of Defence, India and US Department of Defence. It comprehensively reviews and guides all aspects of bilateral defence cooperation, focusing on policy. Meanwhile, Vedant Patel, Principal Deputy Spokesperson for the US Department of State, recently highlighted the deepening partnership between Washington and New Delhi ahead of the upcoming visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. "Our partnership with India is one of our most consequential relations and we were close with India on a number of vital priorities. The state visit is an opportunity to deepen some of these partnerships," said Vedant Patel on the question of PM Modi's Official State Visit to the United States on June 22, 2023. He said that State Department and Secretary Antony Blinken are critically involved in the upcoming state visit for PM Modi. Speaking about India's role in ensuring a free and open Indo-Pacific, Patel said, "The state visit is an opportunity to deepen some of these partnerships, whether it has been ensuring a free and open Indo-Pacific and ensuring that it is a region that is more connected, more prosperous, more secure and more resilient. Obviously, between India and the United States, there exists an opportunity to deepen trade issues, deepen security partnerships." (ANI)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will co-chair the third Summit of the Forum for India-Pacific Islands Cooperation (FIPIC III Summit) jointly with Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea James Marape next week. The Prime Minister will visit Papua New Guinea on May 22, which will be the first visit by an Indian PM. PM Modi is all set for his three-nation visit, which will start with Japan attending the G7 Summit and then he will go to Papua New Guinea and lastly, he will visit Australia. The last Summit of the FIPIC took place in Jaipur, India, on 21 August 2015 with all 14 Pacific Island Countries (PICs). During the two FIPIC Summits, India announced initiatives across a wide array of areas to assist the PICs in facing challenges and achieving aspirations for the well-being and development of its people. A landmark initiative launched under the rubric of the Act East Policy for the PICs is the FIPIC. PM Modi hosted the First FIPIC Summit in Suva on 19 November 2014 during his historic visit to Fiji, with the participation of all 14 PICs - Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Tonga, Tuvalu, Kiribati, Samoa, Vanuatu, Niue, Federated States of Micronesia, Republic of the Marshall Islands, Cook Islands, Palau, Nauru and the Solomon Islands. A major part of India's engagement with PICs is through development assistance under South-South Cooperation that is mainly in the form of capacity building (training, scholarships, grant-in-aid and loan assistance) and community development projects. Development partnership has been extended to PICs for socio-economic progress, through community development projects such as solar electrification, supply of agricultural equipment, computers and LED bulbs for schools, sewing machines, dialysis machines, portable sawmills, boats and pick-up trucks, vehicles, construction of sea wall, and coral farms, etc. PICs have been appreciative of developmental cooperation with India. Initiatives in the region have included the setting up of Information Technology Labs in the PICs. Centres for Excellence in IT (CEITs) have been established in various PICs. All the PICs countries are vulnerable to climate change and to the effects of rising sea levels. Initiatives like International Solar Alliance (ISA) and Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI) complement our relationship with PICs. Under the CDRI framework, India, along with Australia, the UK and small island developing states (SIDS) launched the 'Infrastructure for Resilient Island States' (IRIS) on the sidelines of the COP26 at Glasgow on 2 November 2021 to assist the SIDS from disasters and to mobilize technology, finance, and necessary information for Pacific islands and CARICOM nations in the Indo-Pacific region. Initiatives have been taken in meeting the challenges of climate change that threaten all the PICs. A project for solar electrification of 2,800 houses in 14 PICs has been undertaken under which 70 women solar engineers (called Solar Mamas) have been trained and the electrification process is underway. This project, while addressing climate change and goals of sustainable development, also aims to provide livelihoods to women Development partnership with PICs has included support to infrastructure development, with a focus on sectors of education, health and culture. Other community development projects have included revamping libraries and school buildings, renovating of colleges and provision of IT infrastructure to educational institutes, apart from setting up digital libraries. India has also supplied indelible ink to Fiji and Papua New Guinea for use in their general elections. A landmark programme in the health sector has been the Jaipur Foot Camp fully funded by the Government of India organized in Fiji in collaboration with the Fijian Ministry of Health and Medical Services. Customized prosthetic limbs were provided to around 600 Fijians during the Camp. India has been providing Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) to the PICs from time to time. India has assisted various PICs with the supply of Covid-19 Vaccines and Medical supplies during the pandemic. Apart from bilateral engagements, the India-UN Development Partnership Fund was created in 2017. It aims to support demand-driven sustainable development projects in developing countries, focusing on LDCs and small island developing states. PICs have been beneficiaries of this fund. (ANI)
1 of 2 tortoises returned to St. Augustine Alligator farm after being kidnapped in baby stroller

A rare tortoise is back home, while the death of the other tortoise is being investigated by health officials.

Two of the Galapagos tortoises were taken from the St. Augustine Alligator Farm Zoological Park back in November of 2022.

They came in with a baby stroller, and they hopped over the enclosure and put the tortoises in the stroller, Officer Dee Brown with the St. Augustine Police Department said. Walked right out of the Alligator Farm.

46-year-old Joshua McCarty-Thomas and another man took the tortoises down to St. Petersburg, Florida.

READ: St. Augustine Alligator farm rare tortoises thief arrested in St. Petersburg: One dead, one alive

St. Petersburg Police Department received a tip on an unrelated theft, Officer Brown said. Tortoises were in the yard on the property that they were investigating.

We found one of the tortoises wandering around in a little pen in the front yard, Yolanda Fernandez with St. Petersburg Police said. Then, we found the other one. The carcass was in the freezer.

The dead tortoise belonged to the alligator farm. Investigators were able to recover the other missing turtle and bring it back home on Wednesday.

Theres been heartache and theres been concern, John Brueggen said. Hes the Director of the St. Augustine Farm Zoological Park. Action News Jax told you back in December about the grand theft of the two tortoises.

>>> STREAM ACTION NEWS JAX LIVE <<<

St. Augustine police determined the two were taken on November 27, 2022. Of course, wed like to have them both back but just having some resolution to this.

Brueggen said the tortoises are worth about $10,000 each. Since the theft, the farm has tripled its security.

The other suspect, in this case, is in custody, but his name is not being released yet because the investigation is ongoing. Officer Brown said these men are wanted in other counties and have been accused of stealing valuable books, as well.

A veterinarian with the University of Florida will come to examine the deceased tortoise to learn how it died. The other Galapagos must remain quarantined for 90 days.

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1 dead, 1 critical after employees get into shootout at Forsyth County office furniture store

Forsyth County deputies are investigating a shooting that left one person dead and another critically injured Wednesday.

The shooting happened at Ernie Morris Enterprises Inc, which sells office furniture and supplies, off Ivy Street around 8 a.m.

The Forsyth County Sheriffs Office told Channel 2s Steve Gehlbach that both people shot were temporary workers.

[DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]

Deputies say the two employees got into an argument, went and got their guns, then shot at each other.

Its unclear what sparked the argument.

One of the men was killed and the other was taken to a hospital in critical condition.

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Several of the other employees were not in the line of fire but did witness the shooting.

So the witnesses were not in any danger. We did interview the witnesses so hopefully well have some type of motive, Stacie Miller with the Forsyth County Sheriffs Office said.

The names of the two employees involved in the shooting have not been released. None of the other employees were injured.

Investigators were at the scene Wednesday afternoon speaking with witnesses.

Theyre going and getting all the evidence that they can and hopefully be able to put all of the pieces of the puzzle together, Miller said. If the other individual gets out of surgery and were able to interview that person, then that will help as well.

The surviving shooter could face charges pending the outcome of the investigation.

IN OTHER NEWS
$1 million bond set for man charged with sex crime, Columbia police say

A man who was charged with committing a sex crime involving a minor remains behind bars after his bond was set at $1 million, the Columbia Police Department said.

Ambrocio Apolinar sexually assaulted a minor in 2022, according to police.

The 35-year-old was charged with third-degree criminal sexual conduct with a minor, jail records show.

Apolinar was arrested Monday by members of the Columbia police Special Victims Unit who were assisted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

During a court appearance, Apolinar was issued a $1,000,000 surety bond, and he remains behind bars at the Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center, according to jail records.

Apolinar is also being held on a $20,000 bond on a second-degree domestic violence charge, jail records show. That stems from a 2021 arrest and the Columbia resident failed to appear in court on that charge, according to Richland County judicial records.

If convicted on the felony sex crime charge, Apolinar faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, according to South Carolina law.

A conviction on the misdemeanor domestic violence charge is punishable up to 3 years in prison, South Carolina law says.
1 taken to hospital after crash involving bicyclist in Dayton

Police and medics are on scene of a crash involving a bicyclist in Dayton.

Montgomery County Regional dispatch confirmed emergency crews are responding to the crash in the area of Riverside Drive and Ridge Avenue. The crash was reported around 10:30 a.m.

>> Police looking for 2 people, including 1 who drove through crime scene tape after Dayton shooting

News Center 7 crew on scene reported seeing a bicyclist was involved in the crash.

Dispatch says one person was taken to Miami Valley Hospital. Details on their condition were not immediately available.

We will continue updating this story as we learn more.
Police: Person in stable condition after being shot multiple times in Dayton

One person was taken to the hospital after being shot multiple times in Dayton Tuesday.

>>PHOTOS: 1 hospitalized after shooting on Philadelphia Drive in Dayton

Around 8:50 p.m. Dayton police were called to the 1,000 block of Philadelphia Drive for reports of a shooting, according to Montgomery County regional dispatch.

One person was taken from the scene to the hospital.

>> WATCH: Officers render life-saving aid to motorcyclist in Miami Twp.

The victim was shot multiple times, according to Sgt. Jeffery Spires with Dayton Police Department.

Spires said the victim was in stable condition.

Information about any possible suspects was not available.

Police reminded the public to avoid areas blocked off for crime scene tape and said they are actively searching for a driver who went through the scene.

We had an individual in a vehicle drive through our scene tape and drive up on the officers putting their lives in grave danger. We are actively looking for that vehicle right now but when you see the scene tape and the police lights do not try to drive through that scene, Spires said.

We will update this story as new information becomes available.
The 1 Thing IT Experts Would Never Do On A Work Laptop

It's convenient to use your work laptop for everything, but it can get you in big trouble.

It's convenient to use your work laptop for everything, but it can get you in big trouble.

Many of us get computers when we join a company, and when we work from home or in hybrid environments, its all too easy to use it like its actually ours.

Laptops are great productivity tools in life, and the lines between personal and work productivity sometimes blur due to convenience, said Jacqueline Pitter, a senior strategic consultant for Vantage Technology Consulting Group who has experience in corporate IT departments.

But its important to remember those work/life boundaries. Take it from these IT experts who shared the top actions they would never take on a work laptop, as lessons for us all to learn from.

They never treat the work laptop like its their own.

The IT experts we spoke to said, above all, they never forget that a work laptop is owned by the employer, and act accordingly with that in mind.

However much you use and keep your work laptop in your possession, it never is actually your personal property, and yet it still is your responsibility to properly take care of, Pitter said.

As part of that responsibility, employees should never disable security features like turning off the inactivity lock-out or deactivating your anti-virus features, she said.

They dont leave a laptop unlocked when theyre not around it.

IT experts also understand that work laptops carry sensitive information and do not leave their devices unattended without security precautions.

As a cybersecurity professional, I make sure to never forget to lock my workstation when I walk away from my desk, even when I really, really have to pee, said Aviv Levi, cybersecurity specialist at Atera, a remote monitoring and management platform for IT professionals. By leaving your computer unlocked, youre giving others the option to gain access to your confidential information, login information, credit cards, or even just a good old-fashioned prank.

They dont have private conversations on a work laptop.

Part of knowing that the laptop is not yours means understanding that your conversations on it are not private. Employers can remotely surveil what you type through work messenger services like Slack that grant employer accounts access to see what their employees type.

My number one rule is to never gossip using company property.IT consultant Alex Ramirez

Your employer can legally take [the laptop] back at any time for any reason and review the contents of the hard drive and/or activity logs, although that usually is only necessary when they are investigating an event that impacts the institution in some way, Pitter said.

And this behavior is not an outlier. A large number of companies use employee monitoring software to keep tabs on what employees are doing online. In a March survey from Resumebuilder.com of 1,000 U.S. business leaders, a majority said they do so to track employees web browsing and app use, but more than one in three employers  37%  even admitted to using live camera feeds to monitor remote workers.

Work computers are generally heavily tracked for cybersecurity purposes. My number one rule is to never gossip using company property because someone in IT/executive-level role can see what youre saying, said Alex Ramirez, an Austin-based IT independent consultant.

They dont do personal Google searches or send personal emails.

You want to watch not only what you type on instant-messenger conversations, but also in Goggle searches for anything that could be embarrassing if exposed like health conditions, said Safia Kazi, privacy professional practices principal at the IT professional organization ISACA.

I would avoid saying/searching for anything on a company-provided device that would be embarrassing if shared at the next all-staff meeting, she said. While many employees may understand the risk of using work-related software for private conversations, not everyone understands that this goes beyond just employer-provided programs  it extends to any service utilized on a work laptop, e.g., personal email.

Kazi said that employee surveillance tools can track keystrokes, so an employer may know the contents of an email sent from an employees personal account like their email.

They dont look up inappropriate content.

This one is more of a given but still worth mentioning. Oren Elimelech, the chief information security officer of Atera, said that employees should avoid accessing inappropriate or offensive content on their employer-owned work laptops like websites or content related to gambling, pornography or illegal activities.

While this may seem like an obvious answer, youd be surprised what Ive witnessed throughout my cybersecurity career, Elimelech said. Accessing such content can not only put the individual at risk of disciplinary action, but it can also put the company at risk of legal repercussions not to mention make you look unprofessional.

They dont keep personal documents saved on their desktops.

Many employers immediately remotely block an employees access to their work laptop after layoffs. Once you understand that the laptop is not yours, you also must accept the hard truth that you could lose whatever is on your work laptop at a moments notice.

I would never keep any document that I require for my personal life as only a local copy on my work laptop, Pitter said. If I had a stand-alone password manager application  i.e., not cloud-synced  and I kept all my personal passwords in this application and then lost access to it, I would be devastated.

And if its allowed by your employee handbook, cybersecurity experts advise deleting personal files, tax documents, contacts and personal photos off of your laptop before you quit.

I would be crushed if my only copies of some digital family vacation photos or home movies were on this laptop, Pitter said. Make sure anything personal you access on your work laptop is at least backed up in a personal cloud storage space like Google Drive or the like.

Even though it can be an inconvenient pain to not do or keep personal activities on your work laptop, its a necessary boundary if you want to limit what your employer has access to seeing.

It is wise to remember at all times that a work laptop is never actually yours. Youre just borrowing it, Pitter said.

Related...
10 maternity wards have closed in Ohio in the last year. Here's where and why

Savannah Gilliland, 27, of Albany, Ohio, holds on to her 11-month-old daughter, Sarah, during the monthly gathering of the Vinton County Health Departments Help Me Grow program in Hamden, Ohio on April 13, 2023.

Access to maternity care continues to decline in the United States and in Ohio, with multiple maternity wards closing in the past year.

Since June 2022, the Ohio Hospital Association has counted 10 maternity wards closing across the state, according to spokesman John Palmer. Some merged or moved to a partner hospital, but Palmer said the reasons given for the closures centered around workforce issues, operational costs and a decline in use due to fewer births in Ohio.

In Ohio, 13 of the 88 counties have little to no maternity care, and the state had the most women, approximately 97,000, impacted by overall reductions in access to care in the past two years, according to March of Dimes data.

More: Babies delivered in cars: Rural Ohio's lack of maternity care affects nearly 100,000 women

Meanwhile, approximately 2 million women of childbearing age live at least 25 miles away from a labor and delivery unit, a 2022 USA TODAY analysis found.

There are around 90 Ohio hospitals that offer maternity services, with 49 in rural areas and 42 in urban areas. Eight of Ohios 88 counties, mostly in eastern Ohio, dont have a hospital.

Here is a list of the 10 Ohio hospitals that have ceased labor and delivery services since June 2022:

This location stopped offering labor and delivery services in mid-April 2023 and began routing patients to its TriPoint Family Birthing Center about 15 miles away.

The closure is "in order to offer the highest level of care to mothers and babies," according to a University Hospitals release.

This hospital, in North Central Ohio in Shelby, stopped offering delivery services in February 2023.

OhioHealth said women can now deliver at its Mansfield Hospital, 13 miles away.

Moms are dying: The rate of women dying in childbirth surged by 40%. These deaths are preventable.

"A change such as this is never an easy decision to make," according to a statement from OhioHealth. "We want to make sure the highest quality resources and support are available for our obstetric and newborn patients."

This hospital, South of Cleveland, stopped delivery services in December 2022 and merged them with University Hospitals' Geauga Medical Center in Chardon, about 24 miles away.

The September announcement said the change would create a regional hub. The hospital system cited workforce shortages and declining patient volume as making it hard for them to continue providing quality services.

Summa Health System's Barberton Campus stopped offering delivery services in November 2022 and merged with the system's Akron City campus. The other campus is about 9.6 miles away.

Summa Health said the change will allow it to better serve mothers-to-be, newborns and families as it has seen declining use of labor and delivery services at Barberton.

Pregnant but unequal: In rural America, maternal health care is vanishing. These moms are most at risk.

"Summa Health remains committed to the Barberton community and we have no plans to eliminate inpatient services or to make wide ranging cuts across the campus," according to a statement from the health system.

This hospital, near Toledo, closed its delivery services in December 2022, with patients being referred to St. Vincent Medical Center, six miles away.

The health system expanded maternity services at St. Vincent and brought doctors from the two hospitals together to offer a higher level of care, according to a statement from Mercy Health.

McLaren St. Luke's hospital, in Maumee, announced in May 2022 that its labor and delivery services were shutting down in September due to staffing, a decline in births and exclusion from an insurance company's plan.

We made every effort to avoid eliminating the program," said Jennifer Montgomery, McLaren St. Lukes president and CEO, in a statement at the time. "It is simply not financially feasible to continue operating our birthing unit with such steeply declining volume."

'Staggering' and 'sobering': More than 80% of US maternal deaths are preventable, CDC study shows

Montgomery noted that there are several other local options for labor and delivery services.

In March 2023, the hospital announced it is closing its doors and discontinuing all operations after years of declining use, revenues and the "lingering impact of COVID-19," according to the hospital's website.

Mercy Health bought the facility for planned outpatient services. The transition took place this month.

Community Memorial Hospital, in Hicksville, in Northwest Ohio, announced its labor and delivery services would cease in September, according to Palmer.

The hospital did not respond to emailed requests for comment.

Highland District Hospital, in Southwest, Ohio, announced the closure of its labor and delivery services and a partnership with other health systems in August.

The partnership, with Physicians for Women, CMH Regional Health System, and TriHealth, will keep women's health services within Highland County, according to the announcement.

'Mommies matter': Columbus diocese hopes to support mothers, build strong families with new program

The announcement said women can deliver at Clinton Memorial Hospital, which is 25 miles from Highland District Hospital, or Bethesda North Hospital, about 46 miles away.

In June, Miami Valley Hospital announced that labor and delivery services at its Miami Valley Hospital South location, in Centerville, near Dayton, would cease and be merged into the main hospital location, in downtown Dayton.

It is a 13-mile drive between the two locations.

Physician shortage: Decline of rural doctors may leave parts of Ohio with too few physicians

In a statement, owners of the hospitals, Premier Health, said that Miami Valley Hospital South has experienced growth in other health services, creating more demand for inpatient beds.

"To respond to this rapidly increasing need, we will be repurposing beds on the campus for medical/surgical care that are currently used for obstetrics," according to the statement.

This Northwest Ohio hospital announced that its labor and delivery services closed on April 28.

We made every effort to keep the department open but given the stresses on healthcare systems locally and nationally, including workforce shortages, physician recruitment, ongoing reimbursement challenges, and a declining birth rate we must pursue a more sustainable path forward," said Kristi Barnd, CEO, in a statement.

The announcement said several area hospitals within 20 miles of Henry County Hospital can offer delivery services.

dking@dispatch.com

@DanaeKing

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: 10 Ohio hospitals closed labor and delivery services since June 2022
10 not prepared hikers lost in rugged canyon text for help, California rescuers say

Ten hikers who were not prepared contacted rescuers by text after becoming lost in Santa Paula Canyon, California sheriffs officials reported.

The 10 hikers used an Apple emergency SOS feature to notify authorities they needed help at 8 p.m. Friday, May 12, the Ventura County Sheriffs Office said in a news release.

People waiting for the hikers at the trailhead also notified authorities they were overdue, the release said.

A sheriffs rescue team based near Ojai found the hikers near the Last Chance area of the canyon in the Los Padres National Forest at 11:15 p.m., officials said.

Rescuers, who hiked four miles, faced low visibility, multiple stream crossings and trails that had been previously damaged from the heavy rains, the release said.

The hikers, who were not prepared, were provided with food, water and lights for the trip out, which took more than three hours, sheriffs officials said.

None of the hikers required medical care after returning to the trailhead at 2:40 a.m. Saturday, May 13, the release said.

Ojai is a city of 7,600 people about 85 miles northwest of Los Angeles.

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 dont forget to 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 a 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.

Helicopter rushes to save hiker bitten by rattlesnake, California rescuers say

Bees sting man dozens of times as he flees, then collapses, California video shows

Watch terrifying moment as fisherman kicks tiger shark attacking his kayak in Hawaii
A student at an Indiana high school drowned at school, officials say.

The Whiteland Community High School student, who has not officially been identified, drowned in a pool during her physical education class, according to a letter sent to families from Clark-Pleasant Community Schools.

The specific cause and circumstances surrounding this tragedy are not yet known, and a thorough investigation will take place, school district officials said.

WTHR and WRTV reported the victim was a 15-year-old girl named Alaina. The school district informed parents about the death with great sadness, the stations reported.

Whiteland Community High School canceled classes Wednesday after the profoundly upsetting incident, the district said.

Whiteland is about 20 miles south of Indianapolis.

Our deepest sympathies and thoughts are with the family and friends during this incredibly difficult time, the letter to families said. We understand that this news is profoundly upsetting for our entire school community, and we are here to support our students, staff, and families as we grieve together.

19-year-old drowns on family vacation after jumping from pontoon boat, New York cops say

Kind and thoughtful high schooler vanishes after wading along Oregon coastline

Gruesome freak accident in P.E. class kills 16-year-old, Washington school says
After 17 Months As A Nurse, I Had To Walk Away. You Need To Know The Real Reason Why.

As a child, I practiced brain surgery on my Cabbage Patch doll, Sally. Because I wasnt allowed to use knives, I used a red pen as a scalpel, drawing my incisions on her head. I already knew then that I would one day be a nurse, as I would inform the ones who gave me my vaccines at the doctors office.

In college, I watched Greys Anatomy in between studying for anatomy and physiology exams and decided I had a future in ER nursing. Once I started clinicals for my nursing program, however, I quickly lost my romanticized view of medicine.

As a new nurse, my only option was rotating shifts. I worked days, evenings and nights, chugging coffee hoping it would keep me awake. Instead, it gave me an elevated heart rate. Id return home from a shift at 8 a.m., exhausted, yet unable to fall asleep. I quickly developed back pain from repositioning patients.

After a shift from hell, I sat on the cold locker room floor of the inner city hospital where I worked, sobbing. One of my patients was being coded, another had returned from a test unresponsive, and my third patient was on the call light every five minutes with uncontrolled pain. Nurses are always depicted as having it together, and being able to solve any problem they encounter. Yetcaring for these critically ill patients while also addressing patient and family concerns felt like a nearly impossible feat.

(Theyre also depicted as sexy, but I sure as hell didnt feel that way at 3 a.m. in the middle of my shift, when I was covered in poop from cleaning up a patients explosive accident entirely by myself.)

At the end of my shift each day, I still had a long list of unaccomplished tasks, and it felt like patients were dying due to my incompetence. I was too exhausted and too close to the situation to understand the problem wasnt me: It was the system.

I left the hospital a few weeks after that shift from hell, forfeiting my vacation pay and pivoting to research nursing in a calmer clinic environment. I didnt care about the financial loss; I simply could not handle one more shift. I had only lasted 17 months.

Then, in 2019, I left nursing altogether to spend time as a stay-at-home mom before my daughters were old enough to start school. About five months after my last day at work, COVID-19 arrived in the United States, changing the health care industry permanently. Headlines told of shortages of vital equipment and understaffing, and of course, the illness and deaths of health care workers for whom doing their jobs now meant risking their lives. I felt guilty that I wasnt using my license, but profound relief that I was avoiding the chaos.

Now that my youngest child is about to head off to kindergarten, people are beginning to ask if I will return to my career in nursing. I generally say something like, I miss the patients, but not the politics. But the truth is more complex.

Last week was National Nurses Week, intended to support and honor the contributions of nurses. Just before that, staffing company AMN Healthcare released their 2023 Survey of Registered Nurses, in which only 15% of nurses employed by hospitals said they planned to continue working as I am in one year. And a scary 94% of respondents agreed that there is a moderate or severe shortage of nurses in their area.

The shortage isnt new news: It loomed long before COVID hit. In 2015, almost 40% of nurses were baby boomers over the age of 50, according to Montana State University health care economists. When I left floor nursing in 2014, things were already bad. As hospitals tried to save money, they reduced the number of aides and assigned nurses heavier loads. Our patients were sicker than ever, and we had less staff to help.

Switching to research nursing took me out of the chaos and gave me time to drink my coffee each morning without struggling to get the 8 a.m. med pass completed.

More excitingly, as I gushed to my husband, I actually have time to sit with patients and answer all of their questions! The doctors were engaged, taking me seriously when I pointed out a potentially dangerous issue with a patient, unlike the hospitalists who tried to shrug off (or gaslight) my concerns.

Sure, there were thousands of data points to log, thick protocols to follow, and the intricate dance of communicating between drug and device companies, institutional review boards, patients and doctors. But most patients in research trials wanted to be there, unlike the hospital patients, who were often having the worst days of their lives.

That meant a reprieve from the unquantifiable amount of verbal, emotional, sexual and physical abuse I tolerated as a floor nurse. This isnt something nurses talk about often, but it was a huge factor in driving me out of floor nursing. Because patients are often experiencing altered levels of consciousness, or taking medications that affect their mental state, nurses are expected to tolerate abusive behaviors that would never be acceptable outside of a hospital.

I was regularly yelled at by patients or family members. There were inappropriate sexual references  the time a patient kissed me without my permission, and the man who undressed in front of me and followed me into the hall. Once, a patient pushed me into a wall and tried to slap me. After he was restrained, he looked me in the eye and said, I wish you were treated like a Chinese baby girl, put in a paper bag on the highway, and run over by a car.

I polled some of my nurse friends, asking whether they had ever been physically abused on the job. Their responses not only highlighted the frequency of abuse, but also, how it has been normalized:

I had an old guy pinch my ass.

I was definitely kicked a few times when I took care of adults. Nothing significant.

Yes, more times than I can count. Ive also pressed charges more than once.

I have been hit in the knees with a cane I had a prisoner in my ER one time who pulled a razor out on me and then turned it on himself. Ive also had a psych patient chase me down the hallway while I was six months pregnant with my twins. Not to mention the verbal abuse received constantly from patients and their family members. Needless to say, Im now working in hospice.

And then theres this: If its not patients and families, its co-workers!

Nurses eat their young is a concept that is well-known in the industry. My co-workers often downplayed the abusive behavior I experienced, or responded with arched eyebrows and snarky responses when I asked for help. Maybe I would have lasted longer as a floor nurse if I had a supportive group of co-workers and managers who called abuse what it was, recognized the impossibility of what we were being asked to do, and listened to what we needed.

Sometimes nursing is described as a vocation. And I agree that it takes a special type of person to do the job. But we need you isnt a good enough reason to return.

I genuinely loved piecing together medical and personal histories, caring for patients, and meeting their family members. But when I consider going back to nursing, I ask myself, Do I really want to subject myself to abuse? Do I want to tank my mental health? Do I want back pain and insomnia? Do I want to be so exhausted when I return home from work that I have nothing left for my daughters? No.

People often put nurses on a pedestal for the selfless and noble work they do. But when you are a nurse, you see how that selflessness can be and is exploited. Instead of paying lip service to those in the nursing profession, I wish people would consider how they are actually being treated. We shouldnt have to choose between the job and our mental and physical well-being.

Do you have a compelling personal story youd like to see published on HuffPost? Find out what were looking for here and send us a pitch.

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$2 billion a year to solve homelessness? Thats what California mayors now say they need

How much money will it take to get enough unhoused residents into stable housing before Californians start seeing a visible improvement in the states intractable homeless crisis?

More than a dozen mayors from Californias largest cities came to Sacramento Wednesday with their answer. They told Gov. Gavin Newsom it will take $2 billion in annual, ongoing funding to ease homelessness on their streets.

The ask is $1 billion less than the lobbying group League of California Cities called for last week. It is double the $1 billion in one-time funding currently proposed by the governor.

All of the numbers come as the state faces a budget deficit projected to top $31.5 billion in the fiscal year that begins July 1.

The mayors acknowledged the difficult fiscal position but argued that Californias biggest humanitarian crisis deserves an immediate influx of consistent funding.

Homelessness is solvable but we need the resources to scale the projects and programs, said San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria.

... We acknowledge that its hard for many Californians to see the results and thats because were simply not keeping pace with the number of people who are becoming newly homeless, he continued.

Gavin Newsom opposes ongoing homeless funding

Daniel Lopez, a spokesperson for the governor, said Newsom met with Californias Big City Mayors coalition on Wednesday to discuss local initiatives to address the crisis and the governors plan to dramatically expand the number of mental health treatment beds for those living on the streets.

Lopez would not say whether the governor planned to agree to their request for more funding. Newsom in the past has been outspoken about his opposition to ongoing homeless funding.

The governor, who has taken much heat for the growing homeless population, has publicly questioned whether the state has seen an adequate return on its investment. He has demanded ambitious plans from local officials to tackle the problem.

Since 2019, Californias Homeless Housing, Assistance and Prevention Program (HHAP) has awarded local governments with nearly $3 billion to run shelters, build affordable housing and provide services to unhoused residents. Newsom, whose proposed 2023-24 budget allotted another $1 billion, said that he was not backing away from the issue.

In an effort to hold local officials accountable for results, Newsom in 2022 required them to submit action plans as a condition of receiving funding through the program. Those who meet their targets will be rewarded with additional money.

California mayors push for more money despite budget deficit

During Wednesdays press conference, the mayors commended the governor for launching the program and shared stories about people in their communities who have benefited. They also agreed that the state should continue measuring their success and hold them accountable for reducing their homeless populations.

But in order to get more people off the streets than the number entering homelessness each day, the mayors argued,more resources were required.

We need to all take it to the next level and we cannot do it alone, said Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg.

As part of their request, the mayors are also asking the state to guarantee approval and funding for 2,300 units proposed under the Homekey program, which provides funding for agencies to convert hotels, motels and other residential and commercial properties into permanent or interim housing for unhoused residents.

Senate Minority Leader Brian W. Jones, R-San Diego, criticized the ask, saying that throwing more money at the problem would not fix it.

Under the leadership of the current San Diego and Sacramento mayors, homelessness has skyrocketed while spending to tackle the crisis has also shot up simultaneously, Jones said in a statement. Homelessness has spiraled out of control under their watch and they simply dont have credibility to be the spokesmen of solving homelessness.
Student who overdosed charged with murder after 2 fatal overdoses at school

After two teenage girls were found dead from overdoses at a high school in Fayette County, Tennessee, a third teenage girl who survived an overdose is facing criminal charges.

The teen faces two charges of second-degree murder and one charge of possession of a controlled substance, District Attorney Mark Davidson told CBS News.

The girl who is facing charges was hospitalized in critical condition, police said on Facebook. She was later upgraded to stable condition, according to CBS affiliate WREG, and recovered enough to appear in juvenile court on Thursday to be charged.

WREG reported Thursday that the judge described the incident as a "horrible sad, sad situation."

Police told WREG that the incident occurred at Fayette-Ware High School around 4:40 p.m., just hours before the school's graduation ceremony. Chief Deputy Ray Garcia told WREG that the office was notified that there were "two individuals that were found that appeared not to be breathing."

In a statement shared on social media, the school said that the students were outside the school when the incident occurred.

All three girls were juniors at the school, Davidson said. None of the girls' identities have been released because they are minors.

Davidson told CBS News that there have been "preliminary indications" that fentanyl, a powerful synthetic opioid, was involved in the overdoses, but investigators are still awaiting a full lab report. According to WREG, fentanyl was found at the school and at the charged teen's home. Texts and social media were also used as evidence.

According to the station, the girl was released into the custody of her grandmother. Davidson told CBS News that she will next appear in court on June 7.

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation is assisting the sheriff's office with the investigation, according to WREG.

Fayette-Ware High School is about 48 miles from Memphis.

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2 US consulate staffers, 2 policemen in Nigeria shot, killed in attack on convoy

Two staff members of the U.S. Embassy in Nigeria were shot and killed along with two police operatives traveling in a convoy, and three others were kidnapped, police in the volatile West Africa nation said Tuesday.

The group was on a humanitarian mission when they were attacked in the Ogbaru Local Government Area of the country's Anambra State, one of the epicenters of separatist violence in the region, said Tochukwu Ikenga, a police spokesman in Anambra.

Ikenga said no U.S. citizen was on the trip.

"We confirm there was an incident May 16 in Anambra state. Mission Nigeria personnel are working with Nigerian security services to investigate," a U.S. State Department spokesperson said. "The security of our personnel is always paramount, and we take extensive precautions when organizing trips to the field. We have no further comment at this time."

Details of the attack were not disclosed.

A joint team of security forces was deployed to the scene, but arrived only after the assailants escaped with two other police officers and one of the drivers, Ikenga added.

READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP

CHILDREN AMONG 15 DEAD IN NORTH NIGERIA BOAT ACCIDENT

An attack on a US convoy killed consulate staffers and two policemen in Nigeria, authorities said Tuesday.

"The hoodlums murdered two of the Police Mobile Force operatives and two staff of the Consulate, and set their bodies ablaze and their vehicles," Ikenga said.

It is not immediately clear the nature of the trip embarked upon by the U.S. Embassy staffers in Anambra, nor how many there were in the convoy.

Ikenga said it was regrettable that "a convoy of such or any related will enter the state without recourse to the police in the area or any security agency."

The attack in Atani Town, located 37 miles from the state capital, further raised concerns about the safety of residents and travelers amid the separatist violence that has become rampant in Nigerias southeastern region in recent years.

Nigeria has seen a rash of deadly attacks against remote communities in recent months.

On Tuesday, gunmen attacked villages in the troubled north-central region, killing 29 people and razing houses, and survivors.

The gunmen targeted three villages in Plateau states Mangu local government area late Monday night, and killed several people either with gunfire or after setting their houses ablaze, one resident said.

In April, 50 people were killed in two separate attacks authorities believe are linked.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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When Oprah talks, we listen. Oprahs Book Club, helmed by the one-and-only Oprah Winfrey herself, has put countless titles on the map since its inception over two decades ago. Shes been instrumental in giving numerous authors a voice and a platform to spread the message of their books. She typically picks thought-provoking titles and cultural masterpieces that already were or have become classics since their debut on the Oprahs Book Club list.

Oprahs picks range from powerhouse autobiographies from inspiring public figures like Michelle Obama and Viola Davis to thought-provoking fictional novels from some of the iconic authors of our time, like John Steinbeck, Toni Morrison, Joyce Carol Oates, and many more. Many of these books have also been adapted into film and television shows, so you might recognize a title (or ten) if you are not already familiar with the literary version.

Oprahs Book Club boasts over 100 titles total, but weve carefully selected the top 20 Oprah-recommended books that deserve a spot on your bookshelf.

'Becoming' by Michelle Obama

Michelle Obamas Becoming is loved not only by Oprah but also by nearly 200,000 reviewers on Amazon. The book also happens to be the #1 Bestseller in Biographies of Politicians. This intimate memoir from the former first lady details her accomplished life in her own words and is full of incredible inspiration.

Shop Now 'Becoming' by Michelle Obama $18.43 amazon.com

'The Bluest Eye' by Toni Morrison

The Bluest Eye is Nobel Prize winner Toni Morrisons first acclaimed novel. This classic book from Oprahs Book Club is a powerful examination of societal expectations surrounding beauty and conformity. It tells the story of an 11-year-old girl who longs for blue eyes. The book poses important questions about race, class, and gender with grace.

Shop Now 'The Bluest Eye' by Toni Morrison $14.00 amazon.com

'A Lesson Before Dying' by Ernest J. Gaines

This important work from Ernest J. Gaines tells the tale of a man who returns to 1940s Cajun country to visit a young Black man on death row for a crime he didnt commit.

Selected for Oprahs Book Club back in 1997, this timeless book presents important themes that are still relevant to this day.

Shop Now 'A Lesson Before Dying' by Ernest J. Gaines $9.49 amazon.com

'House of Sand and Fog' by Andre Dubus

This pick from Oprah is also an Oscar-nominated film by the same name. The story revolves around a former colonel in the Iranian Air Force who is on a mission to restore his family's dignity. It also details the struggle of an alcoholic and her lover, a married cop, who is driven to extremes. It shows different flawed people in a snapshot of American life.

Shop Now 'House of Sand and Fog' by Andre Dubus $30.02 amazon.com

'The Heart of a Woman' by Maya Angelou

Maya Angelous The Heart of a Woman is filled with vignettes of icons like Billie Holiday and Malcolm X. It also tells the important tale of Maya Angelou herself, what she went through when she moved across the country with her son, and the burdens of being a Black mother in America.

Shop Now 'The Heart of a Woman' by Maya Angelou $15.99 amazon.com

'East of Eden' by John Steinbeck

Another classic on the Oprahs Book Club list, East of Eden was written by the iconic John Steinbeck. Set in the the farmland of Salinas Valley, California, this intense novel describes the tale of two families, the Trasks and the Hamiltons, who unfortunately reenact the rivalry of Cain and Abel.

Shop Now 'East of Eden' by John Steinbeck $15.99 amazon.com

'Here on Earth' by Alice Hoffman

From Practical Magic author Alice Hoffman, Here on Earth describes the plight of March Murray who returns home to Massachusetts after living in California. There, she encounters her old love named Hollis, and their reckless love is reunited. Its equal parts romance and darkness that mix for a truly unique tale.

Shop Now 'Here on Earth' by Alice Hoffman $8.09 amazon.com

'We Were the Mulvaneys' by Joyce Carol Oates

Classic author Joyce Carol Oates brings We Were the Mulvaneys to life. This is the story of the Mulvaneys and the never-spoken-about incident that shakes the family to its core. The book explores this tragic tale of the familys downfall and how the power of love can prevail over suffering.

Shop Now 'We Were the Mulvaneys' by Joyce Carol Oates $14.99 amazon.com

'White Oleander' by Janet Fitch

Another highly-acclaimed novel loved by Oprah, White Oleander is the story of a brilliant poet who goes away to prison for murder. Her daughter is forced into the foster system and ends up bouncing from home to home. Through their intense trials, both learn hard lessons about love and redemption.

Shop Now 'White Oleander' by Janet Fitch $9.98 amazon.com

'Finding Me' by Viola Davis

Aside from being one of Oprahs favorites, Viola Davis bestselling book Finding Me is another Editors Pick in the Best Biographies & Memoirs category.

Davis herself described the book like this: In my book, you will meet a little girl named Viola who ran from her past until she made a life-changing decision to stop running forever.

Shop Now 'Finding Me' by Viola Davis $18.48 amazon.com

'I Know This Much Is True' by Wally Lamb

Another iconic title on Oprahs Book Club list, I Know This Much Is True, written by Wally Lamb, tells the story of a housepainter who finds life greatly disrupted when his twin brother commits an act of self-mutilation. Hes then forced to care for his brother and ultimately come to terms with the trauma of his lineage.

Shop Now 'I Know This Much Is True' by Wally Lamb $10.69 amazon.com

'Where the Heart Is' by Billie Letts

If youre familiar with the Natalie Portman film by the same name, this is the book that started it all. Billie Letts Where The Heart Is is about 17-year-old, seven-month-pregnant Novalee Nation who finds herself stranded at a Walmart in Oklahoma. This small southwestern town soon surprises her as they come together to care for her while she secretly lives in the store.

Shop Now 'Where the Heart Is' by Billie Letts $6.16 amazon.com

'She's Come Undone' by Wally Lamb

Shes Come Undone brings yet another Wally Lamb classic to Oprahs Book Club picks. This coming-of-age odyssey details the life of 13-year-old Delores Price. At the mercy of her anxious mother, she nourishes herself with unhealthy food and emerges as an adult at 257 pounds. Life is not kind to her, so she must fight to live the life she deserves.

Shop Now 'She's Come Undone' by Wally Lamb $8.82 amazon.com

'The Corrections' by Jonathan Franzen

Bestselling author Jonathan Franzen created The Corrections, an epic tale equal parts comedy and tragedy. In it, a mother is on a mission to have some fun after her husband starts suffering from Parkinsons Disease. It features intense themes, from do-it-yourself mental health care to globalized greed.

Shop Now 'The Corrections' by Jonathan Franzen $15.96 amazon.com

'The Pilot's Wife' by Anita Shreve

This novel tells the story of a pilots widow who discovers she didnt know her husband as well as she thought. After her husband dies, she struggles with grief as shes simultaneously thrust into the public eye and forced to relive this traumatic event over and over again. Its painful, mysterious, and heartfelt at the same time.

Shop Now 'The Pilot's Wife' by Anita Shreve $17.00 amazon.com

'One Hundred Years of Solitude' by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

One of the most highly regarded novels that are Oprah-approved, One Hundred Years of Solitude was written by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature. It tells the story of the rise and fall of a mythical town along with tales of a prominent family who lives there.

Shop Now 'One Hundred Years of Solitude' by Gabriel Garcia Marquez $14.33 amazon.com

'The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter' by Carson McCullers

This hit novel turned author Carson McCullers into an overnight sensation. It takes place in a Georgia mill in the 1930s and follows several different people, like a doctor, a cafe owner, and a young girl, with each character yearning for an escape from the town where they live. The book gives a voice to these people and showcases a beautifully personal search for happiness.

Shop Now 'The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter' by Carson McCullers $10.39 amazon.com

'A Million Little Pieces' by James Frey

James Freys A Million Little Pieces tells his own true story of his six weeks in rehab following a drastic fall to rock bottom. When he was 23 years old, he woke up on a plane to discover his teeth had been knocked out and his nose had been broken. He could not remember anything from the last two weeks or where the plane was going. Shortly after, he checked into rehab and this is his account of what happened.

Shop Now 'A Million Little Pieces' by James Frey $10.60 amazon.com

'As I Lay Dying' by William Faulkner

Oprahs Book Club continues its iconic picks with William Faulkners As I Lay Dying. This book tells a harrowing tale of the Bundren family and is narrated by each of the family members as the story unfolds. Its a true literary classic that definitely deserves a spot on your bookshelf.

Shop Now 'As I Lay Dying' by William Faulkner $10.89 amazon.com

'The Measure of a Man: A Spiritual Autobiography' by Sidney Poitier

An incredible memoir, this one is written by award-winning actor Sidney Poitier. In it, the celebrated icon looks back at his life, both personal and professional. He recounts his upbringing in the Bahamas to his adulthood which led him to become one of the most beloved actors of our time.

Shop Now 'The Measure of a Man: A Spiritual Autobiography' by Sidney Poitier $9.39 amazon.com

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The battle lines are drawn in what could be the hardest-fought election of 2023: Kentucky Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear will run for a second term against Republican state Attorney General Daniel Cameron.

Cameron started the GOP primary as the front-runner, but before he won the nomination Tuesday, he had to fend off a challenge from opponents including Kelly Craft, the former ambassador to the United Nations, who sank millions of her own dollars into an unsuccessful bid. Now Republicans turn to the general election, where they face a new fight: dethroning the popular Beshear, no easy task even with the states rightward lean.

A January poll found Beshear with a 61% approval rating, and April polling from Morning Consult found his approval rating at 63%, higher than for all but four governors in the firms cross-country surveys.

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear. (Jon Cherry / Getty Images for Concordia file)

Jesse Hunt, the former communications director at the Republican Governors Association, praised Cameron as a perfect contrast for a political scion like Andy Beshear, arguing Cameron's statewide platform gives him credibility with voters. But Hunt added that Beshears positive image makes it imperative that Republicans leave no stone unturned in trying to dent his image among voters.

To have any success against him, you need to start eroding several years of goodwill hes built up among his constituency, Hunt said. Thats a task that should begin as soon as humanly possible.

At just 37 years old, Cameron has been seen as a rising star in the Kentucky GOP for years, going from a federal judicial clerkship to a role as Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnells legal counsel before becoming the states first Black attorney general in 2019. He won more votes than Beshear that year, as Beshear won his first term as governor by a razor-thin margin.

But even though Camerons political career has been tied to McConnell, whom he praised as a mentor when he won in 2019, McConnell has taken more of a public back seat in Camerons bid for governor. Instead, Cameron  who would be Kentucky's first Black governor if he wins this fall  has touted support from former President Donald Trump, using his backing to counter arguments from Craft that he wasnt sufficiently conservative.

Hes got the best of both worlds: the McConnell skill set and the Trump endorsement, said Al Cross, a longtime political journalist and columnist in the state who is also a journalism professor at the University of Kentucky.

Cameron is certain of every word he speaks, just like McConnell. He isnt afraid to let a question go unanswered or let something go uncommented on, Cross added. Its served him well.

Republicans also have an improved political environment from 2019, when then-Gov. Matt Bevin lost to Beshear. Bevin sported a dismal approval rating, having worn out his welcome with many on both sides of the aisle. Democrats 6-percentage-point voter registration advantage in 2019 has evaporated, and Republicans had a 1.5-percentage-point edge as of April. And Trump won Kentucky in 2020 by 26 percentage points.

Still, toppling Beshear wont be easy, because he starts from a position of strength.

Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron during the Kentucky Gubernatorial GOP Primary Debate in Louisville, Ky., on March 7, 2023. (Timothy D. Easley / AP Pool file)

While many in Kentucky have long been familiar with his father, former Gov. Steve Beshear, Andy Beshear, 45, heads into his own re-election bid popular in his own right.

Beshear has framed himself as a governor focused on kitchen table issues, from trumpeting new infrastructure funding to repair a crucial bridge between Kentucky and Ohio to touting the states lowest-ever unemployment figures.

Re-election, Cross said, would be a welcome example for Democrats of how their party can still win in states with large rural populations and a Republican voting history.

Beshear has also been forced into the role of consoler-in-chief, after a massive tornado hit Kentucky in 2021  devastating parts of the state, including his fathers hometown  and after horrible flooding killed at least 25 people in eastern Kentucky last year.

Early fault lines in the general election have already emerged, including differences over Covid and social issues like transgender rights and abortion.

Camerons and Beshears offices clashed repeatedly over executive authority during the pandemic, with Cameron suing the administration on multiple occasions. The cases included one about a temporary halt to in-person learning (which Cameron lost), as well as his successful defense of the General Assemblys attempts to limit Beshears executive authority.

But while Republicans see an opening to accuse Beshear of overreaching, the pandemic presents a strength for him, too. His high approval rating developed, in part, as he took center stage in Kentuckys response to the fight against Covid-19, including in countless emergency news conferences televised across the state.

Then there are the culture war issues.

Republicans have attacked Beshear for vetoing a bill that included a host of restrictions on transgender youths, which Cameron said he would have signed. Cameron added that his administration will protect our youth from dangerous ideologies and defend Kentuckys values, while Beshear wrote in a veto message that my faith teaches me that all children are children of God and Senate Bill 150 will endanger the children of Kentucky. (The Republican Legislature overrode Beshears veto.)

And Democrats point to the issue of abortion rights in a red state where voters nevertheless rejected an anti-abortion ballot measure last year, one year after a similar playbook  attacking a Democratic governor on abortion and transgender issues  failed in Kansas.

Sam Newton, the communications director for the Democratic Governors Association, said the Democrats welcome a contrast, even in a state Trump won by double digits just a few years ago.

Theyre going to try to paint him as some kind of boogeyman, but Kentuckians are going to say: No, thats not who Andy Beshear is, because hes been in my community. He shows up and fights for me, Newton said. I may not agree with him on every single issue, but I know he shows up, does his job and is always trying to do the right thing.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
2bn to be invested in sustainable West Midlands warehousing

The partnership between warehouse developer SEGRO and West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) aims to create 14,000 jobs

A total of 2bn is to be invested into sustainable warehouse facilities across the West Midlands.

Up to 14,000 jobs may be created through the development of the 13.5 million sq ft (1.25 million sq m) of climate net-zero warehouse space.

Set up in partnership between warehouse developer SEGRO and West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA), it is hoped the project will be delivered by 2033.

The West Midlands' mayor said it was a "welcome vote of confidence".

Andy Street added: "It is exactly this kind of private sector investment - combined with the public sector creating the right conditions - that will ultimately drive our prosperity in the months and years ahead."

Training opportunities

The 10-year programme has also been set up to offer training opportunities for up to 5,000 young people and create 1,000 construction apprenticeships.

The investment includes the development of a 450-acre site in Coventry that already has planning permission.

SEGRO chief executive David Sleath said the project would address the long-term shortage of modern, sustainable industrial employment space in the region.

"By working closely with the West Midlands Combined Authority we can identify and unlock brownfield sites for development and deliver critical infrastructure that serves the whole of the UK," Mr Sleath said.

The development is designed to take advantage of existing key haulage routes alongside the M5, M6 and M1 motorways.

Up to 2,700 electric vehicle charging points will also be developed, helping the region meet its ambition to be climate net-zero by 2041.

Follow BBC West Midlands on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Send your story ideas to: newsonline.westmidlands@bbc.co.uk
Damage to a Tustin jewelry store after smash-and-grab robbers made off with merchandise on Tuesday. (KTLA)

Three men were arrested Tuesday after authorities say they carried out a smash-and-grab robbery at a Tustin jewelry store, then led police on a car chase that ended in a crash.

The Tustin Police Department responded around 2:30 p.m. to a report of multiple suspects smashing display cases inside a jewelry store at The District at Tustin Legacy, a large outdoor shopping center.

When officers arrived, the suspects fled the scene in a white SUV  heading onto the 405 Freeway before exiting in Westminster, police said.

The vehicle then struck a fire hydrant, prompting the driver and two other male suspects to flee on foot, according to authorities.

Following a search involving officers from Tustin and Westminster, police arrested Kristen Tytrell Woods, 20, of Los Angeles, and two unnamed minors. No injuries were reported.

Police say they recovered stolen jewelry and are working with the store owner to confirm all items have been accounted for.

Thieves with hammers and tire irons smashed through glass counters and took $87,000 worth of jewelry at another Tustin jewelry store last year. Following a six-month investigation, authorities arrested six suspects.

Tuesday afternoon's robbery comes on the eve of a press conference Orange County Dist. Atty. Todd Spitzer has scheduled to discuss smash-and-grab crimes.

O.C. supervisors and local police chiefs will also join Spitzer at his office in Santa Ana to discuss efforts to combat residential and commercial burglaries across the county.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
3 scientists behind Putin's 'unstoppable' missiles were jailed on charges of treason. Russian researchers say they are now living in fear.

Russian President Vladimir Putin (5L) visits the national defence control centre to oversee the test launch of the Avangard missile, Moscow, December 26, 2018. MIKHAIL KLIMENTYEV/SPUTNIK/AFP via Getty Images

Three Russian scientists involved in missile development have been arrested, according to reports.

The scientists are accused of treason, a charge that carries up to 20 years in prison.

The missiles they helped create are among the most prized weapons in the Russian military's arsenal.

Three scientists involved in the development of Russia's "unstoppable" Kinzhal missiles have been jailed on charges of treason, in a case that has spread alarm among Russian researchers.

In an open letter Monday, members of Institute of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics of the Russian Academy of Sciences' Siberian Branch, which is based in Novosibirsk, said the arrests were having a chilling effect on research.

The cases showed that "any article or report can lead to accusations of high treason", the open letter said.

"In this situation, we are not only afraid for the fate of our colleagues. We just do not understand how to continue to do our job."

They said that that the three scientists  Anatoly Maslov, Alexander Shiplyuk and Valery Zvegintsev  were arrested on false charges.

The scientists had coordinated research to develop Russia's Kinzhal missile systems, Reuters reported.

The weapons, often falsely described as hypersonic, are a type of advanced air-launched ballistic missile capable of carrying over a 1,000 pounds of explosives.

Russia has long described the Kinzhal as an unstoppable hypersonic weapon that it claims is capable of overcoming all known air defense systems.

But Ukraine said it was able to shoot down six of the weapons when they were fired at Kyiv as part of a wave of air attacks on the Ukrainian capital early Tuesday.

The arrest of Shiplyuk, director of the institute's Siberian branch, was reported by Russian state media last August, and Maslov, its chief researcher, last July.

An investigative source told TASS that Maslov was suspected of revealing state secrets on missile technology.

Monday's letter is the first time the arrest of Zvegintsev, who is described as an expert of aerodynamics, has been made public.

In the letter, they say that Zvengintsev was arrested after publishing an article on gas kinetics in an Iranian journal that had been screened before publication to ensure it didn't contain classified information.

According to independent Russian media outlet Meduza, Zvengintsev is being held under house arrest after his detention in April.

Under Russian law, those found guilty of divulging state secrets face up to 20 years in prison.

In the letter, the scientists also referenced the arrest last year of Dmitry Kolker, another researcher at Novosibirsk's Institute of Laser Physics, who had pancreatic cancer at the time of his arrest and died days after being detained.

The colleagues of the men say they were arrested despite the material they are accused of illegally releasing having passed extensive security checks.

"The work we're awarded for and lauded as examples for today becomes grounds for criminal prosecution tomorrow. In these circumstances, it's simply impossible for our institute to work," according to the open letter.

They say younger scientists are being deterred by the arrests from pursuing similar research.

"We think these issues require an urgent solution, otherwise it will be impossible to prevent a catastrophe hanging over domestic aerodynamics," the letter says.

Read the original article on Business Insider
4 more Tri-Cities massage shops closed for human trafficking allegations. 3rd raid this year

Authorities shut down six more Tri-Cities massage parlors following a series of searches Wednesday.

Women in four of the businesses were being trafficked, and two more were violating license requirements, Kennewick police said in a release.

Police had been receiving complaints about the businesses since the beginning of the year, said Commander Christian Walters. Working with the Department of Health, officers and state inspectors visited the businesses on Wednesday.

The businesses raided included Joy Spa, Shangri La Massage, Dream Spa, VIP Massage, Fragrant Oil Spa and Royal Massage.

Investigators did not find evidence of Joy Spa or Dream Spa selling sexual services, Walters said.

The businesses are mostly located along Clearwater Avenue, with another one on Kennewick Avenue and another on Union Place.

No arrests were made, and police said they are continuing to investigate.

Officers had help from Mirror Ministries, a faith-based nonprofit which helps sex trafficking survivors find help.

In all, they found nine women working at the businesses, and four of them received help through Mirror Ministries, said Executive Director Tricia MacFarlan.

In many of the cases, the women appeared to be living at the storefronts and had nowhere to go when the businesses were shut down, she said.

Its heartbreaking that they didnt feel like there were any other options in the world, MacFarlan said. We want to make sure there are always other options available.

Police did not say if the women were from the U.S. or from other countries.

MacFarlan was not surprised by the raids and said the operations tarnish legitimate massage businesses.

Its disheartening that there isnt more uproar for these women from our community, she said.

To find legitimate massage therapy centers, go to the Department of Health license search, bit.ly/DOHSearch.

Latest Search

This is the third search in recent months to turn up a suspected human trafficking operation in Tri-Cities.

Richland police announced on May 3 that they had executed a search warrant at Eastern Silk Spa at 1207 George Washington Way. They were investigating reports of possible prostitution.

The search linked the business to large-scale investigation in King County.

Two suspects who owned the business were arrested in Bellevue and Burien, police said.

In March, the owner of another Tri-Cities massage parlor was implicated in a similar raid in Washington state.

A Tacoma man suspected of sex trafficking was listed as the owner of as many as 13 massage parlors across the state, including four in Kennewick.

It was part of a 7-month investigation led by the Wenatchee-based Columbia River Drug Task Force.
A 1-year-old boy in Texas underwent surgery after his 4-year-old brother shot him unintentionally in the leg after finding an unsecured pistol in their home in Houston on Tuesday night, authorities said.

Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said on Twitter that the 1-year-old was taken to the hospital with a gunshot wound after the incident but was expected to survive.

The childrens father told KPRC 2 News that he was not home at the time of the shooting, but the childrens mother was. He told the outlet that the 4-year-old likes to play with toy guns and was likely unaware that he had found a real one, which belonged to a relative staying at the home.

Harris County Sheriffs Deputy Thomas Gilliland told KPRC that the Crimes Against Children Unit is investigating the circumstances leading to the shooting.

A Harris County district attorneys office spokesperson told HuffPost that law enforcement is still conducting their investigation, and any case would go to a grand jury to determine whether charges are appropriate to file.

Major Saul Suarez briefing media on the accidental shooting of a 1 year old boy by his 4 year old sibling. Occurred in the 17100 block of Sunshine Street. Investigators interviewing family. The 1 year old is expected to survive.#HouNewspic.twitter.com/XRktKCHjFt  HCSOTexas (@HCSOTexas) May 16, 2023

Harris County Sheriffs Major Saul Suarez urged gun owners to properly secure their firearms away from their children during a Tuesday press briefing.

I want to take this time to remind the community to be responsible when it comes to weapons, Suarez said. Make sure that youre securing them, especially when theres children in the house.

According to data from the advocacy group Everytown for Gun Safety, there have been at least 113 unintentional shootings by children in the U.S. so far this year, resulting in 47 deaths and 68 injuries. This incident comes only two months after a similar accidental shooting in Harris County, where a 3-year-old killed her 4-year-old sister after finding her parents gun.

Firearms are the leading cause of death among children in the U.S., topping car accidents and cancer. A Pew Research Center analysis found that gun deaths increased by 50% among children and teens between 2019 and 2021.

Related...
5 New England towns have the best small towns in America, according to new report

Five New England towns have been ranked amongst the best small towns in America, according to U.S. News & World Report.

For travelers craving a small town over a big city, the publication recently named Bar Harbor, Maine, along the Frenchman Bay the best small town in America during its 2023-2024 Best Vacations Rankings.

U.S. News & World Report wrote the following about Bar Harbor:

Famously known as the gateway to Acadia National Park, Bar Harbor, Maine, has enjoyed a centuries-long reputation as a scenic respite that combines all the best qualities of the state. Its placement along Frenchman Bay means that travelers are spoiled with soothing water views left and right, as well as craggy coastlines that look straight out of a landscape painting.

Four other New England towns, including two in Massachusetts, made the top 25 list.

Nantucket was ranked 4th best small town in America being described as a refined vacation destination.

Located about 30 miles south of Cape Cod, Massachusetts, this tiny island relishes its isolation, beckoning to the upper-crust prepsters and Northeastern bluebloods looking for a summer escape, the publication wrote.

Most expensive home in Massachusetts listed in Nantucket for $48 million

Marthas Vineyard ranked the 18th best small town, sitting about 8 miles off the coast of Cape Cod.

The Vineyards Hollywood East reputation is going strong thanks to frequent visitors like former President Barack Obama, David Letterman and Bill Murray, among many others. But despite the all-star summer lineup, a laid-back lifestyle rules the island, according to the publication.

Now if youre looking for a more affordable, mountain-style small town, consider the quaint Vermont village of Stowe ranked 19th.

Tucked between the Green Mountains and CC Putnam State Forest, this classic New England town is filled with sweets shops and general stores, as well as charming churches and working farms, wrote U.S. News & World Report.

Some might say save the best for last as Kennebunkport, Maine ranked the 21st best small town in America.

Kennebunkport is simple, sea-centric bliss: a natural beach destination with miles of rugged shoreline dotted with summer homes and sailboats, the publication wrote.

The 25 towns on the list have a population less than 50,000, plenty of restaurants, attractions, and picture-perfect natural beauty.

9 New England hotels named Top 100 Places to Stay in 2023

Check out the list of the best small towns in America.

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
Think twice about snapping photos of produce that you don't intend to buy.

Think twice about snapping photos of produce that you don't intend to buy.

Farmers markets are a wonderful place to buy in-season fruits and vegetables, eggs, bakery items, honey and more. They also provide an opportunity to meet the people who grow or make your food  and a chance for you to accidentally annoy or offend them.

Some customers may act differently at a farmers market than they would at a grocery store. Others might bring an attitude that can irritate vendors, or generally behave in a rude way.

HuffPost spoke to market managers, farmers and vendors about some frustrating things that customers do. Here are the five biggest offenses they encounter.

Haggling Over Prices

Shopping at the farmers markets lets you purchase directly from the people responsible for your food. This unique experience makes some customers feel like they can ask for discounts or negotiate the price  something you wouldnt consider doing at the grocery store.

All of the vendors at the markets either grow or handmake what they are selling; time, effort and money go into that. It is not a flea market, said Erin Mann, the owner of Erins Elderberries and a board member of the Virginia Farmers Market Association. By haggling a vendor on pricing for something they made with their bare hands, you are not only devaluing the item itself, but the person who spent their time doing it.

Its upsetting when a customer, usually a tourist from another state, insists on negotiating a price for a wedge of cheese, said Angela Miller, the founder and co-owner of Consider Bardwell Farm in Vermont. Our cheeses are artisanal, handmade, cave-aged and very labor intensive. We try to price them fairly, commensurate with the quality and costs.

Farmers markets arent a place to haggle or ask for discounts. Would someone argue the price of a $20 bottle of wine from a small vineyard? Miller said.

At busy farmers markets, the visitor who blocks a pretty display just to take multiple selfies is costing that farmer sales.Catt Fields White, the director of San Diego Markets in California

Sometimes customers dont haggle or ask for discounts but simply grumble about costs.

When a customer gets out of their high-dollar car, walks up with a demeaning attitude and complains about the cost of the goods we are selling, this is irritating, said Craig Schmidt, the owner of Shaded Grove Farm Market in Mississippi. We try to overcome this by sharing about our production methods and explaining that the actual cost of cheap, commodity food is much, much higher than what you pay upfront.

Thats not the only reason why buying directly from these farmers may seem more expensive. Our food system often hides the true cost of food by subsidizing commodity producers with your tax dollars, said Catt Fields White, the director of San Diego Markets in California. Those benefits rarely extend to small farmers.

Letting Children Run Wild

Farmers markets are a place for the whole family, but parents still need to keep an eye on their kids, just like they would anywhere else.

We love seeing families with children at farmers markets, but please keep your children in order, Schmidt said. He recalled an incident in which one child was touching eggs at his stall and soon the whole carton of eggs was scrambled on the sidewalk.

We had to clean it up, Schmidt said. They didnt pay for it, either.

Jodie Kieliszewski, the founder of Bee Lovely Botanicals, also remembered times when parents lost track of their kids and items were damaged.

There was a small girl who was opening multiple lip balms, which are safety-sealed, she said. In a matter of a few moments, she ruined about $40 to $50 worth of product, as well as wiping colored lip balm all over our display.

Hold off on the samples if you don't plan to purchase something.

Hold off on the samples if you don't plan to purchase something.

Breaking Sampling Etiquette

Having the chance to sample foods before you purchase is one of the perks of shopping at a market. But if you know you have no interest in buying something or its not going to be part of your shopping budget that week, you may want to reconsider before enjoying all the samples on offer.

People [are sometimes] trying multiple cheese samples and then either walking away ... or saying that they would have to locate their spouse to get money, or also responding Will you be here next week? Miller said. These comments are disingenuous.

There are also certain items that you should generally not sample, such as handmade soaps that shoppers may want to touch and smell.

People bring multiple bars of soaps to their faces, said Erin Link, the owner of EB Ranch Farmstead in Wisconsin. She suggested that shoppers first ask permission to pick things up and touch them.

Snapping Photos Of Products Without Buying Them

In the quest for a great Instagram photo, many people take pictures or videos of booths while others are trying to shop, which can interrupt sales. Some markets have created social media rules to thwart this.

We have a saying: You tweet it, you eat it! White said.

At busy farmers markets, the visitor who blocks a pretty display just to take multiple selfies is costing that farmer sales, she added. Farmers need to sell what theyve harvested for the day.

By haggling a vendor on pricing for something they made with their bare hands, you are not only devaluing the item itself, but the person who spent their time doing it.Erin Mann, the owner of Erins Elderberries in Virginia

Still want to snap a photo or make a reel? Ask permission from the seller to record their stall or display. If they say yes, be sure not to block other patrons from shopping.

The considerate influencer is one that loads up a shopping bag after they use that lovely background to create an eye-catching post, White said.

Arriving Before Opening Or After Closing

Farmers markets have set hours, just like any retail store. The difference is, there isnt a door that locks and unlocks.

When someone shows up early and asks to be sold to, that vendor has to stop what they are doing, find whatever that person is looking for or answer questions, and then also figure out how to promptly take payment, Mann said. This can disrupt the setup process, which in turn may prevent vendors from attending to customers in a timely fashion once the market opens.

The same is true for coming to the market late or at closing.

Vendors have to be off the premises by a certain time, Mann said. When everything is packed up and youre asking someone to undo 30 minutes of work, it can be construed as rude.

Your local grocer, clothing store or restaurant isnt going to just let you come in whenever you want. So have the same respect for your vendors and allow them to put their best foot forward each week by giving them time to set up.

Related...
A new poll found that about 6 in 10 Americans view artificial intelligence (AI) as a threat to human civilization.

The Reuters/Ipsos poll published Wednesday found that 61 percent of Americans believed AI is a threat to humanitys future, while about 22 percent reported they disagreed and 17 percent said they were not sure.

Those who voted for former President Trump in 2020 were more likely to be concerned about the threat of AI, with about 70 percent of his voters agreeing that AI could threaten humanity, compared to 60 percent of President Bidens voters agreeing.

Evangelical Christians were also more likely than non-Evangelical Christians to report higher concerns about AI, with 32 percent of Evangelical Christians saying they strongly agree with humankind being threatened by AI. Non-Evangelical Christians who reported they strongly agree stood at 24 percent.

The rise of AI programs, like ChatGPT, has prompted concerns among lawmakers and experts about the potential negative effects of the emerging technology. Tesla CEO Elon Musk and a group of technology experts called for a six-month pause in advanced AI development earlier this year, warning that the technology could pose risks to society.

Musk also told CNBCs David Faber in a new interview Tuesday there was a chance AI goes wrong and destroys humanity. He called AI a double-edged sword, noting it is difficult to predict where the technology could go next.

The Reuters/Ipsos poll included 4,415 U.S. adults and was conducted between May 9-15. It has a credibility interval of plus or minus 2 percentage points.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Galapagos cruises are the best way to experience the collection of remote, mostly uninhabited islands about 600 miles off the coast of Ecuador. But cruises in the Galapagos Islands arent like cruises anyplace else. The ships here are smaller, with some carrying as few as 16 passengers. There are no water slides, elaborate Broadway shows, casinos, or wild nightclubs. And dont expect big bus tours in port either.

Galapagos cruises are about experiencing nature and wildlife while limiting environmental impact as much as possible. Ships are built for sustainability and toting items like kayaks, paddleboards, and scuba gear. Itineraries may feature two active excursions a day, limiting downtime on board the ship. Instead of museums and historic sights, youll visit uninhabited islands to encounter marine iguanas, sea lions, unspoiled beaches, and the adventures of a lifetime.

Trips to the Galapagos Islands are logistically complicated, making cruises an especially good way to experience the area. Travelers to the Galapagos Islands must first fly to Quito or Guayaquil, Ecuador, for a night before flying to the Galapagos to board their ships. All travelers must also be accompanied by National Parks Guides who can help them navigate these largely undeveloped islands.

Galapagos cruise itineraries are typically a week long and cover a portion of the islands, sometimes more. Here's everything to know about cruising in the Galapagos, from frequently asked questions to the best itineraries to book now.

Best luxury Galapagos cruise

Best Galapagos cruise for stargazing

Best Galapagos cruise for adventure seekers

Best Galapagos cruises for solo travelers

Best small ship Galapagos cruise

Best Galapagos cruises for families

When is the best time to cruise the Galapagos Islands?

With pleasant temperatures all year long, the best time to visit the Galapagos Islands is whenever youre ready to go. Several cruise lines sail to the Galapagos Islands all year long. While you can see wildlife all year, December is hatching season for the giant tortoises, and July is mating season for blue-footed boobies and short-eared owls. Sea turtles lay their eggs early in the year and fully formed marine iguanas typically hatch in April and May.

Are Galapagos cruises expensive?

The Galapagos Islands arent a bargain destination. Expect to pay somewhere between $5,000 and $12,000 per traveler depending on the ship, itinerary, and length of the voyage.

One things for sure: Whatever your preference, theres a Galapagos Islands cruise for you. These are six of the best Galapagos cruises for every type of traveler.

All listings featured on Conde Nast Traveler are independently selected by our editors. If you book something through our links, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Courtesy Silversea

Best luxury Galapagos cruise

Theres no more luxurious way to sail the Galapagos Islands than on Silversea's Silver Origin, a ship custom-built for cruising these islands. Silver Origin is Silverseas first destination-specific ship and includes several features meant to minimize its environmental impact. The all-suite ship can carry up to 100 passengers, is all-inclusive down to the premium spirits in your stateroom's minibar, and includes the luxury cruise lines signature butler service. Theres also a salon and fitness center on board, a rarity for ships sailing in this region. Most itineraries on the Silver Origin are seven nights, but longer cruises are typically scheduled around winter holidays. The Silver Origin sails the north, central, and western loops of the Galapagos Islands.

Book now with Silversea

Best Galapagos cruise for stargazing

This region may be better known for its landscapes and wildlife, but the Galapagos Islands are also an excellent place for stargazing. And theres no better Galapagos cruise ship for stargazing than the Celebrity Flora. The 100-passenger vessel feels more like a luxury yacht than an expedition ship. It has a stargazing platform on its top deck and provides binoculars to help guests spot constellations as the ship cruises along the equator. The modern expedition ship also offers a glamping experience that includes a naturalist-guided stargazing session and a luxurious night of glamping under the stars. Prefer to sleep in your bed on board? Have dinner under the stars at the ships restaurant before heading back to your suite. The Celebrity Floras Galapagos itineraries range from seven to 16 nights.

Book now with Celebrity

Best Galapagos cruise for adventure seekers

Lindblad Expeditions has been cruising the Galapagos Islands for more than 50 years. It now sails to the Galapagos year-round in partnership with National Geographic, giving guests the chance to encounter giant tortoises, blue-footed boobies, penguins, sea lions, marine iguanas, and more. A staff of expert guides is on board to help travelers spot wildlife and better understand the volcanic landscapes, mangrove thickets, and seagrasses they encounter. Activities include unforgettable snorkeling adventures, hikes through pristine wilderness, and walks along remote beaches. Lindblads newest Galapagos Islands cruise ship, the National Geographic Islander II, feels more like a boutique hotel than an expedition ship and carries just 48 passengers in 26 suites. Some itineraries offer advanced divers the chance to commune with a variety of marine life. And while rugged adventures may await travelers off the ship, each suite offers travelers plenty of comfort: They come equipped with flat-screen TVs, in-room espresso machines, and bathrooms with double sinks.

Book now with Lindblad

Best Galapagos cruises for solo travelers

Galapagos cruises arent cheap, especially if youre sailing solo. Hurtigruten makes cruising the Galapagos Islands more affordable by waiving the single supplement on several of its Galapagos cruises. Hurtigruten Galapagos cruises range from seven to 14 days in length and take place on the MS Santa Cruz II, a ship that comes equipped with panga boats, kayaks, snorkeling gear, paddleboards, and a glass-bottom boat for viewing marine life. The ship carries a maximum of 90 passengers, and its operations are carbon-neutral. Theres a small gym and a hot tub on board. Regular prices start around $8,500 for a one-week cruise. Look for sales to bring your price down even further.

Book now with Hurtigruten

Best small ship Galapagos cruise

Avalon Waterways may be better known for its European river cruises, but it also sails the Galapagos Islands. Avalon sails this region on two ships, the Treasure of the Galapagos and the Delfin III. The Delfin III, which also sails the Amazon in Peru, is its newest and most luxurious Galapagos cruise ship. The ship has just 22 suites, almost guaranteeing youll make new friends along the journey. The Treasure of the Galapagos is even smaller, carrying a maximum of 16 guests. And while theres no long list of restaurants on board either ship, there are creative, locally inspired menus featuring seasonal ingredients and lots of vegetarian options. On board both ships, youll find daily natural history lectures, a team of multilingual naturalists, floor-to-ceiling panoramic windows, and plunge pools.

Book now with Avalon Waterways

Best Galapagos cruises for families

For an adventure your kids will never forget, hop on board an Adventures by Disney cruise of the Galapagos Islands. Just be sure to wait until your kids are at least seven years old. This is the minimum age for most Galapagos cruises, though Disney recommends this itinerary for children eight and older. This isnt your typical Disney cruise. Its a small ship expedition itinerary with a hint of Disney magic in a setting fit for a fairy tale. Adventures by Disney's Galapagos itineraries span nine days and visit about 15 sites.

Book now with Adventures by Disney

Originally Appeared on Conde Nast Traveler
7 items to help you take a more 'design-forward' approach to your late-spring drip

(neonhoney/Los Angeles Times; Louis Vuitton, JC Vincent/Givenchy, Montblanc, Prisma, Dior, Saint Laurent, Houseplant, Getty Images)

This story is part of Clearance, a design issue that peels back the layers of aspirational architecture in L.A., and envisions a more beautiful future that lives a little less on the nose. Read the whole issue here.

If you buy a product linked on our site, The Times may earn a commission.

Givenchy Plage Bathing Suit, $690

Were in there like swimwear. Be the telenovela villain at the next pool or beach party with this tantalizing black one-piece with a cheeky side cut-out. Purchase  here.

Curvy Ashtray, $122.50

Made from hand-poured concrete by Concrete Cat, this curvaceous houseplant ashtray is a must for your next solo or group smoke sesh. High or not, the patina finish over the alluring mineral green and lavender pigments will definitely keep your attention. Purchase  here.

YSL Le 37 Bucket, $2,990

This is for the person who always thinks they dont need a bag and ends up with a pack of tissues, phone and charger intertwined in their fingers as they dance the night away. Grab this chic bucket on your way out. Purchase  here.

Louis Vuitton Pacific Chill, $300 for 100ml, $430 for 200ml

If City of Stars is the dreamy, hopeful smell of the Hollywood Hills, let Louis Vuittons Pacific Chill be the purifying waves of Point Dume that wash over you, bringing you back to sea level. Its fruity and woodsy notes of blackcurrant, carrot seed, cedar and lemon evoke a Californian devotion to wellness. Available May 18 on louisvuitton.com.

Prisma Zig Zag Bench, starting at $2,000

This versatile and subtle piece makes an elegant and minimal display for any household item  from shoes to books to your film camera collection  or extra seating for the homies. Prismas Zig Zag Bench, crafted in Altadena, is a must for your home. Purchase  here.

Montblanc 1858 Unveiled Secret Minerva Monopusher Chronograph LE 88, $36,500

Montblanc releases another limited-edition timepiece highlighting the mesmerizing inner-workings and craftsmanship of the historic watchmaker. Made with a distressed steel case, a 18-karat white gold bezel and nubuck alligator strap, this exquisite watch invites you to marvel at the intricacy of seconds without distraction. Purchase  here.

Dior Lily Sauvage Decorative Plate, $280

Like the stem and leaves of a flower, this plate is an ardent shade of green and a powerful foundation to a dining set. Its also part of a collection inspired by one of the houses lucky charms: the lily of the valley. Purchase  here.

More stories from Image

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Photo: J. David Ake (AP)

Americans concern over AIs influence on humanity is growing, with an large majority saying that the technologys rapid growth will negatively impact the future, a new poll finds. The survey, conducted by Reuters and Ipsos and released Wednesday, revealed that of those contacted, 70% of people who voted for Donald Trump in the 2020 presidential election believe AI threatens humanity, while just 60% of those who voted for Joe Biden felt the same way. The online poll was conducted between May 9 and May 15 and consisted of 4,415 U.S. adults.

Its telling that such a broad swath of Americans worry about the negative effects of AI, Landon Klein, director of U.S. policy at the Future of Life Institute, told Reuters. We view the current moment as similar to the beginning of the nuclear era, and we have the benefit of public perception that is consistent with the need to take action.

Read more

The survey found that more than two-thirds of Americans are worried that AI will affect the future of humanity, while 61% said they believe it could threaten civilization as we know it. The technology is spreading rapidly, with some 100 million people signing up to use ChatGPT since its debut in November.

A Fox News poll found earlier this month that a similar percentage of Trump voters said that the federal government should step in to regulate AI70%in comparison to 82% of Biden voters. But when asked if they believed the federal government is up to the task, Foxs poll reported that 59% of Republicans said they were not confident in the governments ability to regulate AI.

Overall, voters are skeptical elected leaders are up to the task of placing appropriate limits on this new tech, which probably says something about opinion on the tech and opinion on our leaders, Republican Daron Shaw, who conducts the Fox News poll alongside Democrat Chris Anderson, told Fox.

The poll comes a day after a meeting in Congress to address the need for AI regulations in the U.S. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, the creator of ChatGPT, testified before the Senate panel, asking for regulation in the face of the potential misuse of AI.

My worst fears are that wethe field, the technology, the industrycause significant harm to the world. I think that can happen in a lot of different ways, Altman said during the meeting. He continued, I think if this technology goes wrong, it can go quite wrong, and we want to be vocal about that. We want to work with the government to prevent that from happening.

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Warning: this article contains graphic images and descriptions of torture

On 29 April 2003, 25-year-old Ammar al-Baluchi was snatched off the streets of Karachi by Pakistani authorities and handed over to the CIA.

While in CIA custody, he endured extreme forms of cruelty. He was denied sleep for days and became a human experiment for interrogators who practiced brutal methods on him to gain official certification in using enhanced interrogation techniques. Over the next three years, he was secretly shuttled between six different black sites around the world. Then, in September 2006, he was transferred to Guantanamo Bay, where he still sits in a cell. Though never convicted of a crime, he hasnt seen a day of freedom since he was first disappeared.

According to the US government, Baluchi is one of five co-conspirators responsible for the 9/11 attacks, which killed close to 3,000 people, and he is facing charges that carry the death penalty.

Though his name and horrific experiences of torture provided the basis for a character in the 2012 film Zero Dark Thirty, no journalist has been able to talk directly to Baluchi for the last 20 years. The US government imposes strict rules on communications between him and the outside world. Journalists may not ask him questions via his lawyers, for example. But by talking to his defense team and legal experts, digging deep into the trial record, examining legions of declassified documents and partially redacted transcripts, and comparing his own written accounts of his ordeal with recently declassified CIA documents of his treatment, it is possible to assemble what might be the fullest picture yet of who Ammar al-Baluchi is, how his captors saw him, and what he has endured.

The control tower of Camp VI detention facility at Guantanamo Bay naval base. Photograph: Alex Brandon/AP

Understanding Baluchi and his torture is crucial beyond mere human interest or political curiosity. The torture he and his co-defendants endured and the long-term consequences of that abuse, including the possibility of post-torture therapy treatments, have all become part of plea negotiations, which began after the prosecution approached the defense teams in March 2022.

These talks could fail and, if they do, the 9/11 case will probably continue without any resolution for many years to come. But if the talks succeed and a plea agreement is reached, a judgment will finally be entered in one of the biggest legal cases in American history. And the United States will also be one step closer to closing the most infamous site of indefinite detention amid the war on terror.

But why has the prosecution even proposed a plea deal? And how likely is it to happen?

Twenty years of detention

Baluchi, who also goes by the name Ali Abdul Aziz Ali, is facing capital charges but, after 20 years of detention, the United States has yet to bring him to trial. Charges against him and his four co-defendants were filed for the second time in 2012, but since then the case has been stuck in endless pre-trial hearings.

Over a decade of hearings with no sign of a trial doesnt seem like normal jurisprudence, but nothing is normal at Guantanamo. The case is being heard by military commission, a new and separate legal system established by the Military Commissions Act of 2006 and modified in 2009. Its taking place in a courtroom far from the US mainland, behind soundproof glass, and on a 40-second audio delay for those  press, family and NGO observers  allowed to watch its public proceedings.

Most of the charges Baluchi faces in his military tribunal concern conspiracy, but conspiracy is generally not recognized by international law as a war crime and its status as such under US law remains unsettled.

Related: The forever prisoner: Abu Zubaydahs drawings expose the USs depraved torture policy

The specter of torture, a crime under both international law and US statute, has haunted these proceedings from the beginning. That this torture was state policy is a dangerous fact for the US government, and from the beginning prosecutors have tried to suppress any mention of it (hence the 40-second delay) while seeking to admit statements made under torture into the record. It hasnt been that simple.

Administration after administration has assumed the 9/11 case is open and shut, that a jury will convict these guys, give them death sentences, and well be good, explained Lisa Hajjar, author of The War in Court: Inside the Long Fight Against Torture, a book about torture and the American judicial system in the war on terror. But you cannot have anything that passes the sniff test for justice when people were tortured and disappeared for years.

From the 2014 Senate select committee on intelligences Torture Report (which references Baluchi over 100 times) to years of litigation from lawyers, journalists and activists, the gruesome details of torture have been emerging, sometimes in drips, other times in waves. Also emerging has been the degree of coordination between the CIA and FBI in holding and questioning men.

Prosecutors have long relied on the idea of separation between the CIA and FBI, arguing that statements made to the FBI were not coerced and are therefore admissible in court. Yet court transcripts in 2021 revealed that at least nine FBI agents were temporarily assigned as CIA agents at black sites, complicating the picture.

We cant ask Baluchi what happened to him and, like the rest of his co-defendants, he hasnt had the opportunity to testify about it in open court. Until December 2013, in Guantanamos military commissions, a defendants own memories of his torture were considered classified, and, to this day, any statement a defendant makes about the CIA still undergoes classification review.

In 2021, Majid Khan recounted the torture he endured at US hands. Photograph: AP

But in 2021, another man, Majid Khan, openly recounted for the first time the torture he endured at the hands of the United States. This statement was part of Khans plea deal from years earlier. Khan, who was a courier for al-Qaida, described to a military jury the harrowing treatment he received in CIA custody. In grisly detail, he explained how he was shackled, hooded, and kept naked for days on end. He talked about being force-fed with a plunger to force the food quickly into his stomach and how a puree of hummus, pasta with sauce, nuts and raisins was shoved up his rectum.

His eyeglasses were broken early in his confinement, and he was not given a new pair for three years, he said. He was repeatedly beaten and waterboarded. He was sexually assaulted and forcibly submerged in ice water, and much more. All this happened before he arrived at Guantanamo Bay, a place he described as death by a thousand cuts. During his statement, he also spoke of his remorse for his actions with al-Qaida. There is not a day that goes by that I am not sorry for what I have done, Khan said.

Seven of eight senior officers on his military jury were moved enough by his words to recommend clemency for the 41-year-old. The treatment of Mr Khan in the hands of US personnel should be a source of shame for the US government, they wrote. Khan completed his 10-year sentence at Guantanamo, which started with his guilty plea in 2012, and he has since been resettled in Belize.

While observing developments in the Khan case, the 9/11 trial prosecutors began to see more details about questionable CIA and FBI activity emerge. According to Hajjar, who follows the military commissions closely, the prosecutors soon realized that they [could not] achieve what they had sought to achieve. Unanimous death sentences that would withstand appeal seemed ever more unlikely, so plea bargaining, from the governments point of view, became necessary, she said.

In March 2022, the government approached defense teams in the 9/11 trial for plea negotiations. While details havent been made public, the broad outlines have been reported. The men would plead guilty and the government, in exchange, would no longer seek the death penalty. Since Congress passed a law forbidding the transfer of any Guantanamo detainee to the US mainland, sentences would probably be served at Guantanamo Bay. The length of sentence would be worked out individually for each of the five.

Parts of the deal proposed by the defense must be decided by policymakers, so they have been labeled policy principles, according to court filings. Whats known about these policy principles is that they concern conditions of confinement, rehabilitation from torture, and adequate medical care. The policy principles have been sent to Caroline Krass, general counsel of the Department of Defense, who, perhaps problematically, also served as general counsel for the CIA between 2014 and 2017. And since these plea negotiations began, the military commission on the 9/11 case has been sitting in limbo, waiting for over a year for a response.

Enhanced measures on Ammar

Ammar al-Baluchi is the nephew of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the man often called the mastermind of 9/11. (Alongside Mohammed and Baluchi, the three other men facing charges for the 9/11 attacks are Mustafa al-Hawsawi, Ramzi bin al-Shibh and Walid bin Attash.) Baluchi was born in Kuwait, but his roots are from Baluchistan, an area that covers parts of Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan, and Baluchi spent most of his teenage years in Iran and Pakistan. He then moved to Dubai, where he worked in computers before relocating to Pakistan in September 2001, after his Dubai visa expired. He speaks Arabic, Farsi, Urdu, Baluchi and English.

The government alleges that, at his uncles behest, Baluchi wired over $100,000 in several transactions to some of the 9/11 hijackers. Its said he kept the money in a laundry bag. Hes also alleged to have helped some of the hijackers in the United Arab Emirates before they traveled to the US. According to trial transcripts of government witnesses, Baluchi says he didnt know for certain what the men he had wired money to were planning.

Detainees from Afghanistan sit in their cells at Camp X-Ray at Guantanamo, 2002. Photograph: Lynne Sladky/AP

In April 2003, he was arrested with Walid bin Attash in Pakistan because of an unrelated criminal lead, according to the CIA. Reports at the time of his arrest say the men were seized with 300lb of explosives with them. First questioned by the Pakistanis (with the CIA watching a live video feed), Baluchi was described as forthcoming, even chatty. But the CIA wanted him, and days after his arrest he entered their custody.

Before the Pakistanis turned Baluchi over to the US, the decision had probably been made to use enhanced measures on Ammar, according to CIA documents. The US was convinced he held perishable information on an imminent attack on the US consulate and a residential compound in Karachi. Taken to Black Site Cobalt in Afghanistan, Baluchi immediately had his beard and head shaved and a medical professional performed the intake. Deemed healthy, he had no apparent medical contraindications for enhanced measures. When the US took him in mid-2003, Baluchi weighed 141lb.

By late 2003, his weight had dropped to 119lb. Initially starved of food for four days, Baluchi was given two cans of Ensure. Meanwhile, CIA headquarters sent his interrogators a list of approved techniques to be used on him: the facial slap, the abdominal slap, walling, the stress position of standing with his forehead against the wall, the stress position of kneeling with his back inclined toward his feet, water dousing, cramped confinement, and sleep deprivation in excess of 72 hours.

Related: I survived Guantanamo. Why is it still open 21 years later? | Mansoor Adayfi

Those were the enhanced techniques, but other techniques, considered standard, didnt need headquarters approval. Among them were isolation, sleep deprivation not to exceed 72 hours, reduced caloric intake (as long as the amount is calculated to maintain the general health of the detainee), deprivation of reading material, use of loud music or white noise (at a decibel level calculated to avoid damage to the detainees hearing), and the use of diapers for limited periods (generally not to exceed 72 hours or during transportation where appropriate).

Baluchi underwent all of it, often at the same time. The lead interrogator explained that his way of using sleep deprivation was to keep Baluchi naked and standing in total darkness while blasting music by Eminem to humiliate the detainee and make him uncomfortable in the cold. Baluchi also described the use of music as an instrument of his torture. I [was] suspended from the ceiling, my hands above my head. I was completely naked. It was very cold. Even that was not enough for them, he wrote. So they added the element of blasting music 24/7, nonstop, for months and months.

He identified one song in particular, My Plague, by the American heavy metal band Slipknot (Kill you, fuck you, I will never be you is one refrain). Going through his mind was the conviction that I was about to be killed. It was just a matter of when. I was counting every second, every minute, and on many occasions I thought I was already dead.

He was also repeatedly doused with cold water, a procedure separate from waterboarding, yet still outside the bounds of what we were supposed to be doing, as one interrogator notes. The water the interrogators used was excessively cold and some of it had ice in it, a CIA report states.

Baluchi described the procedure as being pushed down on a tarpaulin, after which one man poured ice water on my face and four men at the corners of the sheet would raise and lower the corners to move the ice water to different parts of my body, eventually forcing the water on his chest so that I would try to suck in air but breathe in water instead. The effect was traumatizing. I was sure they were going to finally kill me and wrap me up in the sheet, he wrote.

Perhaps the most shocking element of his treatment is how Baluchi became a training prop for interrogators for multiple techniques but especially for walling. This is when a detainee is placed in front of a wall designed to have some flexibility to it. A rolled-up towel is put around his neck, and the interrogator holds the towel and then shoves the detainee backward into the wall, never letting go of the towel. The technique is meant to produce a great noise and frighten the detainee. The goal was to bounce the detainee off the wall, one interrogator notes.

To gain certification as interrogators, student interrogators lined up to wall Baluchi, who was kept naked during the process. The trainees would take turns walling Baluchi but sessions typically did not last for more than two hours at a time, because fatigue would set in for the interrogator doing the walling.

They smashed my head against the wall repeatedly, Baluchi wrote in court filings. As my head was being hit each time, I would see sparks of lights in my eyes. As the intensity of these sparks were increasing as a result of repeated hitting, then all of [the] sudden I felt a strong jolt of electricity in my head. Then I couldnt see anything. Everything went dark and I passed out. He notes that after this particular head injury I lost my ability to sleep ever since.

He is a different person now

The first 25 minutes of the 2012 film Zero Dark Thirty enacts a similarly gruesome interrogation of a suspect named Ammar, a character who shares the biographical details of Baluchi. The film-makers worked closely with the CIA on the film, and the character of Ammar is modelled after Ammar Baluchi, states a declassified CIA draft memorandum. In fact, the CIA provided the film-makers with the very details of Baluchis treatment that the government was withholding from his defense team at the time on the grounds that the details were classified.

In the film, Ammar is shown as either a brooding monster or a pathetic bag of pain. Then, after 96 hours of sleep deprivation and a clever little CIA bluff (along with a meal of hummus, tabouli and I dont know what that is, to quote his interrogator), Ammar begins talking and reliable information floods out of mouth. A CIA report, on the other hand, tells us something else about how things really happened. While he was labeled as hard corps [sic] and defiant by some interrogators, it was clear to many others that Baluchi simply told his handlers what they wanted to hear.

Interrogators expressed concern that Baluchi was blurting out information and making it up because he wanted Agency officers to stop water dousing him. Baluchi was afraid to tell a lie and was afraid to tell the truth because he did not know how either would be received, according to the CIA. He was also petrified that he would be killed once he stopped providing information. Agency officers, a CIA report notes, focused more on whether Ammar was compliant than on the quality of information he was providing.

Baluchis real-life interrogators also held many opinions about his character. What emerges is a picture of a sensitive, animated, and intelligent young man. While he is twice called a hypochondriac and once histrionic, he is also labeled as bookish, a philosopher, thoughtful, rational and logical, and one of the more cooperative, likable, and even gentle detainees. One interrogator who describes her circumstances as very odd says she found herself sitting across from a terrorist who was responding to her as though he could be a graduate school student in the United States.

In mid-2004 and at a different black site, Baluchi fainted in his cell. At one point, he told his captors of his difficulties reading texts. At another, he described how, after being walled by interrogators, he could not recall complete memories because he tended to daydream. By early 2006, a medical assessment noted his attention difficulties while concluding that there is no evidence of any significant or prolonged mental harm.

But later assessments tell a different story. Between 2015 and 2020, four different medical professionals, sent by his defense team, determined that Baluchis torture has had long-term consequences, including brain damage from the walling. The damage inflicted by torture has seriously diminished Baluchis psychological functioning and has left him with mild to moderate Traumatic Brain Injury and moderate to severe anxiety, depression, and Post-traumatic Stress Disorder, notes one neuropsychologist.

I feel like my body and mind are deteriorating, Baluchi wrote in 2014. I am well educated and speak several different languages, but I can no longer read or concentrate. It is difficult for me to write letters, and at times I cant even track a conversation. I am always exhausted, yet I cant sleep.

When you sit with him and talk to him, you can see there was a person who existed before he was tortured, Alka Pradhan, one of the lawyers on Baluchis defense team, told me. He can sort of access that person. He knows that person. He has memories of that life as that person. But he is a different person now, and this is very difficult to explain to people who have not sat in a room with a torture victim.

Calls for a rapid conclusion

In December 2021, Brig Gen John Baker, who headed the Military Commission Defense Organization for more than five years, testified before the Senate judiciary committee. The only path to ending injustice in the military commissions  for the accused detainees, for the country, and above all for the victims of 9/11 and the other crimes currently on trial at Guantanamo  is to bring these military commissions to as rapid a conclusion as possible, which for Baker means a negotiated resolution of the cases, he said.

A protest calling for Guantanamos closure in April. Photograph: Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

James Connell III, the lead defense counsel for Baluchi, agrees. Right now, the only option on the table that will bring judicial finality is some kind of negotiated resolution, he told me, stating that the defendants in the 9/11 trial are so damaged that they can barely participate in their court.

Ted Olson was the solicitor general of the United States in 2001. His wife, Barbara, was killed on 9/11 when her plane was hijacked and flown into the Pentagon. Olson, too, believes a negotiated settlement is the best path forward. The US must bring these legal proceedings to as rapid and just a conclusion as possible, he wrote in the Wall Street Journal in February 2023. True justice seems unattainable. The best the US government can do at this point is negotiate resolutions of the remaining Guantanamo cases.

Yet, Guantanamo has remained open through four presidencies, and during that time, prisoners who have been convicted of no crimes have continued to age, their bodies and minds spiraling downward in post-torture deterioration. If opening Guantanamo was a politically brazen act in the months following 9/11, bringing the military commissions to an end would be the politically courageous one. Stakeholders from all sides of the case appear united in the view that the military commission has failed and that plea agreements must follow. All thats needed is the political will.

But does the will exist? Thats the question looming, for more than a year, over this quiet courtroom on a remote corner of a far-away island. Meanwhile, the Biden administration continues to offer only silence on what ultimately is its decision as a presidential election approaches. This lack of political resolve means defense attorneys, prosecutors, judges and legal advocates are all learning the very skill that the defendants and the victims families have honed over the last 20 years. Theyre all waiting.
Abcarian: Ozempic for weight loss is all the rage, but so is fighting fatphobia

Fat and thin gingerbread men  are you sure you know which one represents good health? (Science Photo Library / Getty Images)

On Tuesday morning, I sat down at my desk to fill out a couple of online questionnaires that would determine whether I harbor negative feelings about fat people and obesity in general.

Would these tests reflect my belief that fat people are subjected to many forms of irrational discrimination? That they are routinely mistreated, disrespected and misdiagnosed by medical professionals? Humiliated on airplanes and in other public places? Regularly subjected to casual cruelty and unbidden advice?

Or would they catch me out, and reveal that I am one of those people who fervently does not want to be fat, who is always hoping to lose a few pounds? That I am endlessly intrigued by stories about magic weight loss drugs such as Ozempic and its rebranded version, Wegovy, first developed to help lower the blood sugar of people with diabetes and then discovered, as a side effect, to cause weight loss? The drug has become so widespread in Hollywood that Jimmy Kimmel even joked about it during his Oscars monologue in March: Everybody looks so great. When I look around this room, I cant help but wonder, Is Ozempic right for me? 

We live in a contradictory culture that increasingly tells us to value and appreciate people of all sizes, while valorizing thinness in innumerable, harmful ways. And so, like many women, I have a dysfunctional relationship with my weight. Ive gained and lost the same 20 pounds countless times. Im happy when Im thin, and I'm sad  even slightly depressed on some level  when I'm not. I remain appalled that I pin my self-worth on my appearance.

So, about those questionnaires:

I first sampled Project Implicit, a nonprofit collaborative of researchers whose mission is to educate the public about bias and to provide a virtual laboratory for collecting data online. It measured my reaction time as I assigned good and bad qualities to fat and thin people. The conclusion: I exhibited a moderate preference for thin people.

The Fat Phobia Scale asked 14 questions to determine my beliefs and feelings about people who are, as the scale puts it, fat or obese. Turns out, according to the scale, I am fat positive. It praised me as an all bodies are good bodies warrior.

The Project Implicit questionnaire conclusion was probably more accurate. I want to be a warrior in the fat liberation movement, but I struggle to be. I silently judge the size of others all the time, a quality I find really distasteful in myself.

I came across both of these questionnaires as I was reading podcaster and cultural activist Aubrey Gordons new book," 'You Just Need to Lose Weight and 19 Other Myths About Fat People. Gordon used to write for Self magazine under the pseudonym Your Fat Friend until, as she confessed in 2020, the simple shield of anonymity grew heavy, became too much to bear.

Since October 2020, Gordon has co-hosted the popular podcast Maintenance Phase with the journalist Michael Hobbes. They take on what they call the wellness industrial complex and the many ways in which the conventional wisdom about health and weight spring more from wishful thinking and bias than reality.

My daughter, Chloe, introduced me to the podcast, recommending the episode on the dubious origins of BMI, or body mass index, and the way it has been misapplied to individuals over the years. As Gordon explains in her book, BMI, which measures the ratio of weight to height, was developed 200 years ago based on data gathered from French and Scottish men.

It was, she writes, never intended as a measure of individual body fat, build or health. To its inventor, the BMI was a way of measuring populations, not individuals, designed for the purposes of statistics, not individual health.

Yet, here we are in a world where BMI has become a proxy for health, a determiner of medical treatments. It has also, writes Gordon, paved the way for a new public health panic: the Obesity Epidemic. 

Being fat, she and many others have noted, does not automatically mean one is unhealthy. Sure, there are medical problems associated with obesity. But you dont have to be overweight to experience high blood pressure, stroke, high cholesterol or joint pain. Medical professionals, she says, are often surprised by her normal blood pressure readings because she weighs 350 pounds.

In fact, she writes, researchers have come up with the phrase the obesity paradox to describe the conflict between research findings and popular expectations about fat peoples health.

She highlights a review of numerous studies published in the medical journal Diabetes Care that its authors say proves the existence of the paradox. Among the studies cited in the review is one from 2011 that concludes, Overweight and obese patients have significantly better survival rates after stroke than their normal-weight counterparts. (Other experts using other studies, it must be said, have discounted the existence of the paradox altogether.)

Anyway, despite advances in research, there are more questions than answers about obesity, and the relationship between weight and health.

We simply do not know why some people are fat and others are thin, writes Gordon. And the closer we get to an answer, the more complex the picture becomes.

What we do know is this: Being fat is not a moral failing. There is no contradiction in being fat, happy and healthy.

@robinkabcarian





This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Arguments about the future availability of a widely used abortion pill will be back in court Wednesday, when the Biden administration attempts to reverse a decision that would take mifepristone off the market.

The case is now before the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, widely considered to be the most conservative federal appeals court in the country.

Oral argument is slated to begin at 2 p.m. EDT in a New Orleans courtroom before a panel of three judges with hostile views on abortion. A decision wont be expected for weeks or months.

It marks the highest-stakes legal battle on abortion since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last summer.

The Biden administration will argue mifepristone is safe and that a lower court overstepped its authority by ruling that the Food and Drug Administrations (FDA) decades-old approval was invalid. More than half of Congress and dozens of advocacy groups have signed briefs on both sides of the case.

Should the administration lose, access to a common abortion medication would be limited, and the entire U.S. drug approval system could be upended.

FDAs approval process is rigorous and thorough, and pharmaceutical companies invest billions of dollars in research and development to meet scientific standards. Under the courts reasoning, any healthcare provider could bring suit to challenge any drug approval at any time, said powerhouse lobbying group PhRMA in a joint brief with other drug industry groups.

Mifepristone is widely used across the U.S. to end a pregnancy in the first 10 weeks of gestation. About half of all abortions nationwide are performed using mifepristone as the first of a two-pill regimen. It is also used to help manage miscarriages.

In a brief filed ahead of the hearing, the Department of Justice (DOJ) contended the FDAs approval and subsequent actions expanding access to mifepristone were lawful and that the plaintiffs, a group of anti-abortion physicians and physician groups, shouldnt be able to sue in the first place.

First, the DOJ said the groups waited too long to sue over mifepristones original approval in 2000. The FDA denied the groups citizen petition challenge in 2016.

Allowing plaintiffs to challenge mifepristones approval at this late date, after the drug has been on the market for over two decades, would be profoundly disruptive, DOJ wrote.

The plaintiffs also are challenging more recent changes the FDA made to how the drug can be dispensed  like through the mail.

But the Biden administration argued the challengers havent shown any of the FDAs actions injure them enough to have legal standing. Any harms they could show were in the past, and there is no proof they will be harmed in the future.

Mifepristone has been widely available for over two decades and used by millions of women. Plaintiffs allege only sporadic incidents of treating anyone for complications from mifepristone, despite claiming to have thousands of members practicing around the country, the DOJ said.

Such infrequent and scattered past events do not demonstrate  impending future harm to any particular plaintiff doctor, the administration wrote.

Conservative legal group Alliance Defending Freedom, representing the challengers, urged the appeals panel to affirm that the FDAs actions were unlawful.

These actions do not reflect scientific judgment but politically driven decisions to unlawfully push a dangerous regimen, they wrote in their brief.

The path leading up to this point has been complicated.

Last month, U.S. District Court Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk suspended the FDAs 23-year-old approval of mifepristone, ruling the agencys approval process was improperly rushed and resulted in an unsafe drug regimen getting on the market.

The administration appealed to a separate 5th Circuit panel, which paused part of Kacsmaryks ruling, temporarily preserving the FDAs original approval of mifepristone.

The administration then appealed. A separate panel of 5th Circuit judges agreed to pause portions of Kacsmaryks ruling as the court considered the appeal, temporarily preserving the FDAs original approval of mifepristone.

But it left in place another part of the ruling that blocked steps the FDA has taken since 2016 to ease access to mifepristone. The Supreme Court then stepped in and paused the remaining portions.

The pause will be in effect at least until the appeals panel issues its decision, though the pause would be automatically extended if and when the case is appealed to the Supreme Court.

Meanwhile, the administration will attempt to convince three Republican-nominated judges to keep an abortion drug on the market.

Abortion rights advocates said they think its an uphill fight.

This is one of the worst panels of judges that could have been assembled for those who believe that mifepristone should remain on the market, said Jennifer Dalven, director of the ACLUs Reproductive Freedom Project.

The appeal will be heard by James Ho, Cory Wilson, and Jennifer Elrod. Ho and Wilson were appointed by former President Trump, and Elrod was appointed by former President George W. Bush.

In a 2018 case involving a Texas law that required the burial or cremation of any fetal remains, Ho in a concurring opinion called abortion a moral tragedy.

The next year, he ruled on a challenge to Mississippis 15-week abortion ban that became the vehicle for the Supreme Court to overturn Roe.

Ho wrote he was duty bound to strike down Mississippis law because of Roe, but he scolded a lower courts opinion for its alarming disrespect of anti-abortion advocates.

I find it deeply disquieting that a federal court would disparage the millions of Americans who believe in the sanctity of life as nothing more than bent on controlling women and minorities and disregarding their rights as citizens, Ho wrote.

Just ahead of the 2020 election, Trump listed Ho as a potential nominee to the Supreme Court.

Wilson, meanwhile, voted for Mississippis 15-week abortion ban while serving as an elected Republican in the Mississippi Legislature. On a 2007 questionnaire, Wilson indicated he supported overturning Roe and banning the use of taxpayer funds for abortion, except to protect the mothers life.

Elrod, who has served on the 5th Circuit since 2007, has also upheld several abortion restrictions.

All those disputes, however, largely focused on how abortion could be regulated under the Constitution.

The mifepristone case at its core is a question of administrative law: whether the FDA acted lawfully in approving the drug and then later changing prescription requirements.

People are going to find that its not a traditional abortion case in the way we think of it, said Katie Glenn Daniel, state policy director at Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, the countrys largest anti-abortion group.

Its much more about agency rules and whether the FDA followed its own guidelines.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Photo Illustration by Kelly Caminero / The Daily Beast / IRMCT

An accused Bosnian war criminal lived a largely anonymous life in the Boston suburbs for some 25 years without noticeuntil Wednesday morning.

Kemal Kemo Mrndzic, 51, was arrested May 17 by special agents from the Department of Homeland Security, who showed up shortly after sunrise at his Swampscott home. The feds say Mrndzic was a security official at the notorious Celebici prison camp in central Bosnia, where Serbian detainees were systematically starved, tortured, and abused by their captors.

Mrndzic, who is facing four fraud-related charges for lying to U.S. immigration authorities about his past so he could gain refugee status in America, was assigned to Celebici in June 1992, according to a newly unsealed criminal complaint.

A neighbor at the condo complex where Mrndzic has been living, described it as essentially a retirement home. He said he had no idea the man on his floor had allegedly carried out a slew of wartime atrocities, and saw Wednesdays raid on Mrndzics home but didnt know what it was all about until being contacted by a reporter.

They had a warrant, an armored truck, I knew it was a big deal, the neighbor told The Daily Beast. I was woken up at 6 a.m. by a loudspeaker going, Apartment 1N, come outwe have a warrant. They stayed for about two hours, searching the unit and sticking around.

Another resident, who also lives on the same floor as Mrndzic, said the property is filled with older Eastern Europeans and that Mrndzic would have had little problem fitting in. The details of Mrndzics dark past came as a complete surprise to her, she said.

Yeah, thats crazy, the woman told The Daily Beast. Fucking crazy.

He mustve thought, 30 years later, Im all set, she said. But nope.

UN Peace keepers collecting bodies from Ahmici, Bosnia and Herzegovina in April 1993. IRMCT

The United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and others documented the systematic persecution, beating, torture, and starvation of Serb detainees by guards at Celebici, along with murders, rapes, and other sexual abuse of Serb men and women being held there, the complaint states. Survivors have described violence meted out by camp guards while shouting, Auschwitz, Auschwitz, telling prisoners they would never leave the camp alive and, at times, hailing each other with the Nazi Sieg Heil salute, it goes on.

One survivor recently recounted that the screams from prisoners at the camp caused by the beatings were loud enough to carry for kilometers, the complaint states. ... Dozens of survivors have recounted hearing beatings and other violent abuse, as well as screams of those prisoners selected to be beaten and abused at night. Persecution of Serbs at Celebici was pervasive and obvious to every prisoner and every guard at the camp.

At Celebici, Mrndzic supervised three soldiers who in 1996 were tried and convicted by the ICTY for numerous wartime atrocities, according to the complaint. The guards withheld food from the inmates for days on end, occasionally letting them have a single spoonful of soup, the feds say. Many later reported losing up to one-third of their body weight while imprisoned there. During the ICTY trial, former POWs testified about having their tongues burned with red-hot pieces of metal, having their arms and legs set on fire, and in at least one instance, having a lit fuse cord tied to his genitals.

More than a dozen people who made it out of Celebici alive identified Mrndzic to the ICTY as one of their most brutal persecutors. Three others separately recounted Mrndzics use of karate to beat prisoners, and to practice his martial arts strikes, the complaint alleges. One of those targeted by Mrndzic for karate strikes described Mrndzic as a particularly vicious guard because he selected and beat prisoners on his own initiative rather than being ordered to do so.

Through it all, Mrndzic denied everything. He told ICTY investigators that he had never witnessed any mistreatment of detainees and that everyone was provided three full meals a day. But before Mrndzic could be charged with war crimes, including the murder of a prisoner at Celebici, he applied for refugee status in the U.S. On his official immigration application form, Mrndzic fabricated his personal history, falsely claiming to have been captured and imprisoned by Serbian forces due to his Muslim background, the complaint states. He lied about his family ties, saying he had a half-brother in Lynn, Massachusetts, whom he wanted to join, it says.

Bodies of people killed in April 1993 around Vitez, Bosnia and Herzegovina. IRMCT

Mrndzic falsely claimed that he feared a return to his home in Nevesinje where he said he would be mistreated, persecuted, and imprisoned by the Serbs in that area, in part because of his alleged escape from their captivity and also because he was a Muslim, the complaint continues. In sum, Mrndzic falsely claimed to have been the target of the type of persecution which he perpetrated on others.

Having duped U.S. immigration authorities, Mrndzic and his wife arrived in the United States on March 4, 1999, according to the complaint. He took up residence in Massachusetts and received a Social Security card a short time later. Mrndzic was granted permanent resident status in October 2008, was naturalized as a U.S. citizen the following April, and got his U.S. passport two months later.

But Mrndzics alleged lies would eventually catch up with him. In March 2022, DHS agents confronted him with written statements he had previously given to ICTY investigators, prompting an admission from Mrndzic that he had indeed been a guard at Celebici and that portions of his refugee application were false, the complaint states. However, he denied ever participating in, or even witnessing, any violence against detainees. At a second interview a week later, Mrndzic again insisted he had never harmed anyone as a Celebici guard.

On Monday, DHS agents met with Mrndzic at his home in Swampscott. This time, according to the complaint, he said he was ashamed of the manner in which he came to the United States. He also identified himself in two video recordings taken at Celebici in 1992, in which he appeared in uniform holding a rifle.

Mrndzic further identified by name photographs of many other guards who worked at the camp in 1992, the complaint states.

However, he continued to deny being involved in either the direct or indirect persecution of prisoners at Celebici, it concludes.

The Manhunt for the Butchers of the Balkans

It is unclear how Mrndzic was supporting himself in the U.S., though public records show him having worked as a supermarket manager in New England.

Earlier this year, a Serb who in 1998 was convicted in absentia for his own wartime atrocities was discovered living in Ohio, working as a sausage maker.

Mrndzic appeared in court Wednesday afternoon, and was released on $30,000 bond. If convicted on all four counts, Mrndzic faces a maximum combined total of more than 40 years in prison and up to $500,000 in fines. His court-appointed lawyer, Brendan Kelly, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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Here are the actions Utah lawmakers may take to deal with coming floods

Water levels are high from snowmelt in Emigration Canyon on Tuesday, May 2, 2023. | Kristin Murphy, Deseret News

Utah lawmakers are set to pour millions of dollars into dealing with the effects of last winters record snowfall during Wednesdays special legislative session called by Gov. Spencer Cox.

Bills that will be considered include extending the state of emergency Cox declared last month and shifting more than $30 million in state funds to cover budget-busting snowplowing costs as well as some of the damage being done as the snow melts.

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The worst flooding is yet to come, with peak flows not expected until late May into June, Glenn Merrill, a senior hydrologist with the National Weather Service told members of the Legislatures Executive Appropriations Committee on Tuesday.

So far, most of the flooding seen in the state has been from low- to mid-level snowpack, he said. Many of our significant watersheds are high-elevation watersheds that havent even really seen their snow start melting yet.

But thats about to change thanks to more moisture and hotter than normal temperatures.

Those areas are likely to see rapidly changing conditions this week and then starting to flirt with flood potential by about the 22nd, he said, which will cause many of the significant waterways across the state to soon near or exceed flood stage.

Were talking the Cottonwood creeks here in the Salt Lake Valley, were talking Logan River, were talking the Provo River, potentially the upper Weber, Merrill said. Were talking increased flows for the Green River and the Colorado as well.

After hearing that forecast, the legislative leaders who serve on the committee unanimously backed HB1001, which moves $20 million from the Utah Department of Transportations highway construction budget into maintenance.

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The department spent $41 million on snowplowing over the winter, about 70% more than budgeted. Runoff is already affecting state roads, washing away a chunk of state Route 39 in Ogden Canyon and causing mudslides in Little Cottonwood Canyon.

The bill, sponsored by House Budget Chairman Val Peterson, R-Orem, would also use $10 million set aside for wildfire suppression for infrastructure repairs, along with $6 million for emergency response.

The committee also gave the Utah Department of Public Safety the authority to spend up to $5 million in the current budget year ending June 30 and $5 million in the following budget year in connection to response efforts for the historic snowpack and flooding events.

Later Tuesday, Department of Natural Resources Executive Director Joel Ferry told the Legislative Water Development Commission that even after all of the runoff so far, theres still more snow in the states mountains than all of last year or the year before.

Weve never seen so much moisture, so much snowpack, since measuring began, Ferry said. The water year is so good that 37% of the state is not in any sort of drought at all at this point.

Its crazy how much water is coming down, he said, noting statewide, an average of 60% of the water equivalent in the snowpack has melted so far. But theres still almost 70 inches of water at Snowbird, Ferry said.

More than 100 active sites are being monitored in the state because of whats already record soil saturation, Ferry said, warning runoff could make some areas prone to landslides.

These are enormous amounts and volumes of water that still have to come down and thats why we still need to be prepared. Thats why the governor has asked the Legislature to extend the emergency order, he told the committee.

Having the emergency order in place helps us in mobilization, in utilizing resources that we have set aside, Ferry said. Weve got a long way to go. Flood risk is still a significant concern.

HJR1 would extend Coxs emergency order through mid-August, acknowledging that the risks of flooding and other dangerous conditions and effects will likely persist for several months.

Because the governor called the special session, he set the agenda for lawmakers. HB1002 would tweak a gun bill from last session to make sure people in Utah on a non-immigrant work visa can own a firearm.

Late Monday, Cox added two items just before the final deadline, a list of appointees he wants the Senate to approve and a modification to firefighter death benefits thats in HB1003.

The special session is scheduled to begin at 4 p.m. Wednesday.
A GoFundMe photo shows the late-Lisette Villasenor, 36, her husband Humberto and their three children Ashley, 12, Daniel, 6, and Julian. The San Bernardino County District Attorney's Office has charged Jose Luis Vargas, 41, of Adelanto with murder after he was suspected of killing Villasenor and injuring two children in a collision in Hesperia.

A 41-year old Adelanto man is charged with killing a mother and injuring her two children in a Hesperia DUI wreck, San Bernardino County District Attorney's Office announced this week.

Police believe that Jose Luis Vargas was drunk on May 11, when his 2003 Chevrolet Tahoe slammed into a 2018 Toyota Prius driven by Lisette Villasenor, 36, of Victorville. Inside the Prius were Villasenor's 6-year-old son and her 12-year-old daughter, according to investigators.

Deputies said Vargas was driving north on Highway 395, while Villasenor was driving south on Highway 395. He drove his Tahoe into oncoming lanes of traffic and collided head-on with Villasenors vehicle, deputies said.

Villasenor and her children were rushed to a regional trauma center by helicopter and ambulances. Villasenor suffered major injuries and died at the hospital.

Vargas wasn't injured in the collision, deputies said.

Vargas is charged with homicide, DUI causing bodily injury and DUI with a blood alcohol of .08% or greater causing bodily injury. He is being held at the West Valley Detention Center in Rancho Cucamonga. His bail is set at $2.5 million.

Cheer family steps up

Lynette Bowen of Ontario set up the Family expenses for the untimely loss of Lisette GoFundMe page on behalf of the California Allstars cheer family, which includes Lisette and her daughter, Ashley.

The funds will go toward Lisette's family expenses, and medical bills for Ashley's 6 year-old little brother, Daniel, who is in ICU fighting for his life, Bowen said.

Lisette, Daniel and Ashley drove to the final day of cheer tryouts at Cali Ontario, when the collision occurred, Bowen said.

Lisette and Daniel were airlifted, while Ashley was taken by ambulance, Bowen said. During this time, our sweet Ash reached out to a trusted Cheer mom, Nicole Zambrano, who immediately went to the hospital to be with her.

Bowen also said the suspected drunken driver stole Lisette's future with her husband Humberto and three children Ashley, Julian and Daniel.

Anyone with information or anyone who may have witnessed the collision is asked to Deputy Jesus Duenas, Deputy Isaac Sanchez, or Sgt. Brendan Motley at the Hesperia Sheriffs Station at 760- 947-1500.Callers wishing to remain anonymous can contact the We-Tip Hotline at 800-78CRIME (27463) or wetip.com.

This article originally appeared on Victorville Daily Press: Adelanto man charged in deadly DUI collision that killed mother
Refugee high school students in Maryland allegedly assaulted, told to 'go back' to Afghanistan

[Source]

A group of Afghan refugee students at a Maryland high school has allegedly suffered from racist bullying and physical assault, with at least two seeking medical attention for injuries they reportedly sustained following an attack.

The Maryland office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) detailed the allegations it had received in a letter to Parkdale High School Principal Dr. Tasha Graves on Tuesday.

According to the complaint, a group of Latino students approached the Afghan students in a threatening manner and told them to go back where they came from on May 8.

CAIR said it was told that the teacher who was at the scene had fled. The school counselor and/or the school officer then allegedly advised the Afghan students to not return to school until the matter was handled.

More from NextShark: Man Caught on Camera Blowtorching Chinese Restaurant in NorCal

However, all but one of the Afghan students returned to school the next day. This time, some of them were allegedly physically assaulted and choked, and at least two of them had to seek medical attention for their injuries.

The Afghan students did not return to school the following day, May 10. But their absence did not deter their attackers, who allegedly stormed into their neighborhood and assaulted them once again.

The students have reportedly not returned to school since. CAIR said it has urged them to file a police report, but it is unknown whether one has been made.

More from NextShark: New York passes historic bill that breaks down Asian American data by ethnic group

CAIR has called on Graves and the Prince Georges County Public School System to investigate the allegations, as well as the schools safety climate for other refugee students.

The advocacy group also demands to be made aware of steps that the school will take against the offending students, as well as measures to ensure a safe environment for all refugee students.

This is not the first time Afghan students were reported to have faced discrimination in U.S. schools. Last year, CAIR filed a civil rights complaint against Baltimores Academy for College and Career Exploration for the alleged assault and bullying of Afghan students by other students and its own staff.

More from NextShark: Police Seek to Arrest MIT Grad in Yale Student Murder, May Be Hiding in Atlanta Area

NextShark has reached out to Graves office for comment.

More from NextShark: Hawaiian Chinese Surfing Champion Derek Ho Passes Away at 55
(Bloomberg) -- Six African heads of state seeking to broker a cease-fire in Russias war with Ukraine intend to meet the two nations presidents early next month, a South African official said.

Most Read from Bloomberg

Details of the trip are being finalized, with plans to visit Moscow and the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv in early June, Department of International Relations and Cooperation Director-General Zane Dangor told lawmakers in a virtual meeting on Wednesday.

Read More: Six African Nations Propose Peace Mission for Ukraine

The six heads of state will be shuffling between the two capitals to engage in the facilitating of peace talks to at least get toward a cease-fire, Dangor said. The initiative has been shared with the UN secretary-general, who has also expressed support, and we have also engaged with other actors including the US. There is general support for this initiative that President Ramaphosa announced.

South Africa is scheduled to host a meeting of Brics foreign ministers at the start of June, as it prepares to host a summit of leaders of the five-nation economic bloc in August. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is expected to attend the June gathering.

Naledi Pandor, South Africas foreign minister, will meet her Ukrainian counterpart in Portugal in the coming days to discuss the African initiative, Dangor said.

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

2023 Bloomberg L.P.
By Anna Tong

(Reuters) - The swift growth of artificial intelligence technology could put the future of humanity at risk, according to most Americans surveyed in a Reuters/Ipsos poll published on Wednesday.

More than two-thirds of Americans are concerned about the negative effects of AI and 61% believe it could threaten civilization.

Since OpenAI's ChatGPT chatbot became the fastest growing application of all time, the widespread integration of AI into everyday life has catapulted AI to the forefront of public discourse. ChatGPT has kicked off an AI arms race, with tech heavyweights like Microsoft and Google vying to outdo each other's AI accomplishments.

Lawmakers and AI companies are also concerned: OpenAI CEO Sam Altman on Tuesday testified before U.S. Congress, voicing concerns about potential misuse of the technology and asking for regulation.

"There's no way to put this genie in the bottle. Globally, this is exploding," said Senator Cory Booker, one of many lawmakers with questions about how best to regulate AI during a Senate panel on the uses of AI Tuesday.

The Reuters/Ipsos poll found that the number of Americans who foresee adverse outcomes from AI is triple the number of those who don't.

According to the data, 61% of respondents believe that AI poses risks to humanity, while only 22% disagreed, and 17% remained unsure.

Those who voted for Donald Trump in 2020 expressed higher levels of concern; 70% of Trump voters compared to 60% of Joe Biden voters agreed that AI could threaten humankind.

When it came to religious beliefs, Evangelical Christians were more likely to "strongly agree" that AI presents risks to humanity, standing at 32% compared to 24% of non-Evangelical Christians.

"It's telling such a broad swath of Americans worry about the negative effects of AI," said Landon Klein, director of U.S. policy of the Future of Life Institute, the organization behind an open letter, co-signed by Tesla CEO Elon Musk, demanding a six-month pause in AI research. "We view the current moment similar to the beginning of the nuclear era, and we have the benefit of public perception that is consistent with the need to take action."

While Americans are concerned about AI, crime and the economy rank higher in the list of kitchen table issues: 77% support increasing police funding to fight crime and 82% are worried about the risk of a recession.

Those in the industry said the public should understand AI's benefits more.

The concerns are very legitimate, but I think whats missing in the dialogue in general is why are we doing this in the first place? said Sebastian Thrun, a computer science professor at Stanford who founded Google X. AI will raise peoples quality of life, and help people be more competent and more efficient.

The positive applications of AI, such as revolutionizing drug discovery, are not as visible as ChatGPT, said Ion Stoica, a UC Berkeley professor who also co-founded AI company Anyscale.

"Americans may not realize how pervasive AI already is in their daily lives, both at home and at work," he said.

The online poll of 4,415 U.S. adults was conducted between May 9 and May 15. It has a credibility interval, a measure of accuracy, of plus or minus 2 percentage points.

(This story has been refiled to correct a typographical error in paragraph 10)

(Reporting by Anna Tong in San Francisco; Editing by Ken Li and Lisa Shumaker)
An airline founder is facing a fine after he let an influencer take a selfie in the cockpit

The founder of Starlux Airlines may be fined for inviting influencer to take a selfie in the cockpit. SAM YEH/Getty Images

An airline founder faces a fine after allowing an influencer into the cockpit.

Influencer Sam Chui posted a selfie with Starlux Airlines founder Chang Kuo-wei on Instagram.

Kuo-wei may have violated flight operation regulations.

The founder of a Taiwanese airline is facing a $2,000 fine after letting an influencer take a selfie in the cockpit, according to various reports including the Independent and local news outlets Liberty Times Net and Taiwan News.

Chang Kuo-wei, the chairman of luxury airline Starlux Airlines who is also a pilot, flew the company's first flight from Taipei to Los Angeles on April 26, Liberty Times Net reported. Kuo-wei invited internet influencer Sam Chui into the cockpit for a photo without first getting approval from the Civil Aviation Administration (CAA).

Chui, who operates an aviation experience YouTube channel with over three million subscribers, posted the photo with Kuo-wei on Instagram saying: "What a great inaugural flight of @starluxairlines from Taipei to Los Angeles. Not everyday the chairman of an airline flies his passengers personally!"

The post currently has over 20,000 likes. Chui was among other influencers and members of the press invited on board to experience the flight, per the Independent.

Regulators deemed Kuo-wei's actions as violating Taiwan's Aircraft Flight Operation Regulations, which say: "No person may be admitted into the flight crew compartment of an aircraft except for the authorized personnel and Flight Dispatchers of the operator."

The CAA is now investigating the situation and Kuo-wei was summoned for questioning, per Taiwan News.

Starlux Airlines told Insider in an email that it will comply with the CAA's investigation and final decision.

Insider reached out to the CAA but did not immediately hear back.

Kuo-wei could be issued with a warning or fined the equivalent of around US $2,000 if he is found in breach of violations, per Liberty Times Net.

Kuo-wei recently flew to Tokyo Narita Airport in Japan to personally apologize to passengers the morning after a Starlux flight was canceled. The flight, which was supposed to depart on May 6 at 3:45 p.m. was delayed for hours then cancelled and passengers had to sleep at the airport overnight.

Read the original article on Business Insider
He previously underwent a knee surgery in April 2022.

Al Roker is on the mend after having a total knee replacement over a week ago.

The beloved meteorologist checked in with TODAY on May 15 updating fans and his co-hosts on his progress since the May 9 procedure, NBC News reports.

Al Roker on stage as Keith Urban performs on NBCs Today at Rockefeller Plaza on June 30, 2022, in New York City. (Photo by Roy Rochlin/Getty Images)

This one is a little more complicated because it was what they call a revision, Roker said in the video call.

The surgery was a replacement of a replacement, said Roker, so his doctors at New York Citys Hospital for Special Surgery had to take stuff out and put new stuff in, so it was a bit of a bear, he explained on TODAY.

Roker previously underwent a knee replacement in April 2022, theGrio reported. He is currently home with his wife, Deborah Roberts, where he is chilling and kind of hanging out, Roker said on TODAY. His post-op treatment includes physical rehabilitation three days per week for a few months, he shared.

Roker was back on his feet and walking a day after surgery earlier this month, today.com reports. A video posted to his Instagram on May 10 shows Roker walking down the hospital hallway with a walker and a bandaged knee.

Up and walking this morning on the #newknee, he captioned the clip. Wearing a negative pressure pump to help facilitate wound healing.

Several of his Instagram followers congratulated him on the successful operation. Many users cited Roker as an inspiration for those in a similar situation but reluctant to undergo surgery.

IG user @elaine_thompson01 wrote, perhaps you can tell my mom its ok to have her knee surgery done.

Another commenter, @ladybarton, added, So proud of you. I have to get a new knee and Im so afraid. You have helped me to get it done. Thank you so much.

A third person, @thedivaskitchen, shared, Been there TWICEkeep on walking, its painful, [but] it will help in the long run..you got this!!!.

Roker announced on Instagram earlier this month that he will take a short break from TODAY while recovering.

Im hoping maybe sometime in the next two weeks to be back, he said, NBC News reports. And yes, I know, Im not going to rush back before I have to.

TheGrio is FREE on your TV via Apple TV, Amazon Fire, Roku and Android TV. Also, please download theGrio mobile apps today!

The post Al Roker calls knee replacement a bit of a bear appeared first on TheGrio.
Ministry of Justice

Up to 200 of Albanias most dangerous criminals are to be deported from the UK to serve the rest of their jail sentences in Albanian prisons under a multi-million pound deal paid for by the UK.

Seventeen lifers including the murderer of schoolteacher Sabina Nessa are expected to be the first of the 200 convicted killers, gangsters and drug warlords who will be removed to serve the remaining decades of their sentences in Albanian jails.

Koci Selamaj was jailed for life with a minimum sentence of 36 years for beating and strangling Sabina to death in a park in south east London. He has so far served only two years, which would mean the UK paying the Albanians to imprison him for the remaining 34 years of his sentence.

Albanian Koci Selamaj, who is one of the prisoners set to be deported, murdered Sabina Nessa - Metropolitan Police/PA

The move follows months of secret negotiations between Ministry of Justice (MoJ) officials in both countries after Rishi Sunak first discussed the plan with Albanias Prime Minister Edi Rama in talks in Downing Street in March.

It is understood the two Governments are close to agreement after Albania pushed for the UK to fund their incarceration for their full jail terms and Britain sought assurances that the countrys prisons were up to standard to avoid any human rights claims and that they had enough places in their jails to hold them.

The move is part of a wider drive by the Government to expel Albanians jailed for crimes in the UK.

Under a separate agreement, Albanian criminals are also being released up to a year early from their jail sentences and given 1,500 resettlement grants if they agree to be deported and never return to the UK.

Albanians account for the largest number of foreign inmates in prisons in England and Wales, with 1,336 held behind bars in the UK at the end of last year.

Only Albanians jailed for more than four years will be eligible for the prison transfer scheme which builds on an agreement that came into force last May. It stipulated deported criminals must serve the full sentence handed down by British judges and bars them from returning to the UK.

Money-saving measure

UK officials believe the new deal will save the UK money as costs of imprisonment in Albania are a fraction of those in the UK. The cost of holding Selamaj for another 34 years would be 57,000 a year in a high security UK jail, totalling 1.9 million. It can be as little as 10,000 a year in Albania.

Their removal will help ease the crisis over prison overcrowding which has forced the MoJ to hold offenders in police cells. Albania has made clear it will not receive any prisoners from the UK unless a sum has been agreed in advance for the full term of their sentence - although all the money will not be paid up front.

It is understood the MoJ has identified all the Albanians serving life sentences who are intended to be the first transferred. They are thought to include two Albanian burglars who murdered a 21-year-old in an attempt to steal drugs, a Albanian conman who murdered an elderly couple and an Albanian who killed a drug dealer.

An MoJ spokesman said: The Government continues to work closely with the Albanian Government, including on the removal of Albanian offenders through the Prisoner Transfer Agreement.

Under the resettlement scheme, Albanians are released early and given a grant of up to 1,500 if they agree not to appeal their deportation. They are warned that if they return to the UK without permission, they will be immediately sent back to jail to serve the remaining time on their sentence in a British prison.

A 30 year old Albanian who was allowed to return to his homeland after serving just two years of a six year jail for drug offences told the BBC: I decided to come back [to Albania] and I am not going back to the UK. Many people decided to come back because of [the offer]. They take off one year. One year is too much in prison.

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Rishi Sunak and Edi Rama, the Albanian prime minister, at this week's Council of Europe summit in Iceland - Alastair Grant/WPA Pool/Getty Images

Albanian criminals are being released from jail a year early and given 1,500 if they agree to be deported under a new deal negotiated with the Balkan state.

The early release and resettlement grant is on condition that the criminals agree not to appeal their deportation back to Albania.

They are warned that if they return to the UK without permission, they will be immediately returned to jail to serve the remaining time of their sentence in a British prison.

The deal is part of an agreement negotiated last year between the two governments to fast-track and increase the deportation of Albanian offenders and illegal migrants.

At the end of last year, there were 1,336 Albanians in prisons in England and Wales, the largest nationality of foreign inmates in British jails.

Last year, there was also a record number of Albanians cross the Channel in small boats, accounting for a third of the 45,755 migrants who reached the UK.

Rishi Sunak, the Prime Minister, revealed on Tuesday that 8,000 Albanians, including both illegal migrants and foreign offenders, had been deported since he announced a new agreement with the Edi Rama, the country's prime minister, in November last year.

One 30-year-old Albanian criminal told the BBC how he had accepted the offer to return to his homeland after serving two years of a six-year jail sentence for drug offences.

He would normally have been released half-way through his sentence after three years, but was allowed to return to Albania as a free man with one year still to go.

Asking for anonymity and described only as Mark, he told the BBC: "The immigration officer came to see us. They ask if you want to go back [to Albania] or stay in UK. They explained that if you go back, they take one year off from your sentence."

Mark was also offered 1,500 in financial support to return home, under a separate programme called the Facilitated Return Scheme.

A UK government document stated that the scheme is "a financial incentive" offered to foreign prisoners "on the proviso that they cooperate with deportation and waive their right to appeal against it".

Early Release Scheme

Mark was deported under the UK's Early Release Scheme, used for foreign prisoners of all nationalities.

The scheme does not require the consent of prisoners, but Albanian deportees including Mark said their removal and sentence reduction were presented as voluntary.

He added: I decided to come back [to Albania] and I am not going back to the UK. Many people decided to come back because of that. They take off one year. One year is too much in prison.

The BBC said several of the 50 deported Albanians that they spoke to on their arrival in Tirana had said they would return to the UK despite the threat of being returned to jail.

The Home Office declined to say how many Albanians had been deported under the scheme or how many had received financial incentives.

A spokesman said: "The UK and Albanian governments work together to take every opportunity to intercept the work of people smugglers and speed up the removal of Albanians with no legal right to be in the UK."

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Alcohol sales were on the ballot in 6 Kentucky counties. Heres how the measures fared

Primary elections for governor and other down-ballot candidates hogged the spotlight Tuesday, but in six counties across Kentucky, voters weighed in on several alcohol-related questions.

Local bans on alcohol sales have been the norm for decades in Kentucky until only recently. As of 2011, more than a third of the states 120 counties remained legally dry.

But alcohol is big business in Kentucky, where the states signature bourbon industry is a $9 billion economic boon responsible for 22,500 jobs and $1.23 billion in payroll, according to the state cabinet for economic development.

Debates over prohibition have fallen along familiar lines over the years. While supporters contend sales will lead to more jobs, tourism and tax revenue, opponents reject alcohol on religious grounds or worry expanding sales will also boost alcohol abuse and drunk driving.

Tuesday, voters in Allen, Casey, Madison, Garrard, Henderson and Taylor counties took up several wet/dry ballot questions, concerning either countywide or more localized alcohol sales.

Heres a look at the results in each county, along with the unique ballot questions posed to voters.

Wet/dry vote in Allen County, KY

Voters in Allen County were asked to choose either yes or no to the following ballot question: Are you in favor of the sale of alcoholic beverages in Allen County, Kentucky?

The ballot measure succeeded there Tuesday night, with 3,053 voting yes and 2,290 voting no.

Prior to Tuesdays election, the wet/dry issue stirred debate in the community, where green and red signs urging residents to vote sprouted readily.

Alcohol sales in Casey County, KY

Casey County voters were asked to select either yes or no to the ballot question: Are you in favor of the sale of alcoholic beverages in the territory of A103 Casey 3 Creston precinct in Casey County, Kentucky?

Voters there rejected that ballot measure. In Casey County, 123 people voted no and 107 voted yes.

Casey County voters previously took up a similar ballot measure in 2016, which also failed, according to reporting from the Associated Press.

Alcohol questions in Garrard County, KY

Voters in Garrard County weighed in on two alcohol-related ballot questions. They are as follows:

Are you in favor of the sale of alcoholic beverages by the drink at qualified historic sites in the E101/Paint Lick Precinct? Are you in favor of the sale of alcoholic beverages at a microbrewery located in the E101/Paint Lick Precinct?

On both questions, Garrard County residents voted yes.

The first ballot question got 191 yes votes and 164 no votes. The second received 188 yes votes and 167 no votes.

Garrard County is a moist county with alcohol sales only authorized within Lancaster city limits.

Historically, the county is known as the birthplace of Prohibition, given one of the movements champions, Carrie Nation, was born in the northern part of the county.

Alcohol sales in Henderson County, KY

Henderson County voters were asked whether they support the following ballot measure: Are you in favor of the sale of alcoholic beverages in the South Corydon precinct (C104) of Henderson County, KY?

Voters OKd that ballot measure, with 87 voting yes and 36 voting no.

The approval means sales can now proceed in the community of Corydon.

Wet/dry in Madison County, KY

Madison County voters were also posed with the question of prohibition Tuesday: Are you in favor of the sale of alcoholic beverages within Madison County, Kentucky?

Voters in Madison County overwhelmingly approved that measure, with 9,883 voting yes and 4,792 voting no.

According to WKYT, voters havent seen a similar ballot question since the early 20th century. Prior to the vote, only Richmond was entirely wet, while Berea was moist, with alcohol sales only allowed at restaurants.

Alcohol question in Taylor County, KY

Taylor County voters were asked: Are you in favor of the sale of alcoholic beverages in the Mannsville-Merrimac precinct in Taylor County, Kentucky?

Voter there rejected that ballot measure. According to unofficial results, 113 voted no, while 71 voted yes.

Taylor County is also moist, with alcohol sales only allowed in Campbellsville.

This story will be updated.

Do you have a question about the 2023 election in Kentucky for our service journalism team? Wed like to hear from you. Fill out our Know Your Kentucky form or email ask@herald-leader.com.
Attorneys for twice-convicted family murderer and accused fraudster Alex Murdaugh are now seeking to have a multi-million confession of judgement in the Gloria Satterfield civil case thrown out.

The attorneys cite Murdaugh's own lies as well as alleged misconduct by one of the Satterfield attorneys.

The filing has sparked a heated debate.

Bland Richter LLP, attorneys for the Satterfield estate and heirs, publicly responded to a motion, Tuesday, May 16, that was filed by Murdaugh's attorneys in the Satterfield civil suit.

The Satterfield Estate filed a September 2021 lawsuit against Murdaugh, claiming he conspired with others to steal an insurance settlement from her heirs after their mother died as a result of a fall at Murdaugh's home in 2018. Murdaugh later admitted liability in the case and apologized to his victims.

The motion asks the court to vacate a May 31, 2021, confession of judgement signed by Murdaugh to the Satterfield estate in the amount of $4.3 million.

Murdaugh's attorneys say that Murdaugh has nothing to lose or gain in the Satterfield case, but the confession of judgement could limit how much money other alleged victims get. The Satterfield attorneys say Murdaugh is seeking to further harass his victims and his lawyers are engaging in a "personal" attack on opposing counsel.

Ruling soon on boat crash: SC Judge says Murdaugh attorneys can't use 401k for appeal.

Dick Harpootlian and Eric Bland talk in Alex Murdaughs trial for murder at the Colleton County Courthouse on Thursday, February 9, 2023. Andrew J. Whitaker/The Post and Courier/Pool

Why is Alex Murdaugh walking back on his desire to confess judgement?

In the motion, Murdaugh's attorneys, Richard Harpootlian and Jim Griffin, who also defended him in his recent double-murder trial, alleged misconduct on the part of the Satterfield attorneys. They claim the confession should be voided because it was based on "inaccurate facts" and does not meet certain standards of the South Carolina Code of Laws.

The claims of misconduct, the motion contends, began on Oct. 15, 2021, when Satterfield attorney Eric Bland "begins a campaign of extrajudicial statements to news media deriding the character and credibility of Mr. Murdaugh. Mr. Bland tells the news media, 'its a stark reality that this is a really bad person. Alex Murdaugh is a really, really, really bad person. Thats the bottom line. Thats the tough pill to swallow ... Theres no bottom to him'."

Bland also made numerous other extrajudicial statements to the media about Murdaugh, the motion claims, and made similar statements during Murdaugh's Oct. 19, 2021, bond hearing, and other court hearings. On Nov. 22, 2021, Murdaugh's attorneys moved for a gag order on Bland, but were denied.

Ironically, Murdaugh's grounds for dismissal hinge on his own purported lies. In order to make his alleged insurance scheme work and pay off, Murdaugh told insurance adjusters that Satterfield tripped and fell over his dogs, resulting in the injury leading to her death. But there were no witnesses and no evidence of the dogs being around, and Murdaugh recently filed a federal court document admitting that the dog story was a false statement.

If the claims were false, contend Murdaugh, then the Satterfields are not entitled to any money, and therefore should be added as codefendants in other lawsuits against Murdaugh  where they may have to pay back this money.

Murdaugh's attorneys claim that under the "symbolic" confession of judgement agreement with the Satterfields, Murdaugh was never actually going to have to pay the $4.3 million, as long as he admitted responsibility and apologized, and that this confession of judgement "acts only to obstruct the recovery of other victims of Mr. Murdaughs financial crimes, which is a plain due process violation."

"The confessed judgment only harms Mr. Murdaughs other victims," states the motion. "The Satterfield family alleges Mr. Murdaugh stole approximately $4.3 million from them. The truth is that he stole it from [insurance companies] Lloyds of London and Nautilus."

In this case, the Satterfield estate received more that $7.5 million in settlements and restitution from other parties associated with Murdaugh's schemes, and now Murdaugh says they weren't entitled to this money.

"Banks and others paid restitution for the money Mr. Murdaugh stole because they realized they might share some liability with Mr. Murdaugh for his thefts. They paid the restitution to the Satterfield family and their lawyers not as a gift or expression of sympathy, but because they thought Mr. Murdaugh stole their money. Had they known the money was stolen from someone else, they would have paid that someone else."

Michael Tony Satterfield talks with his attorney Eric Bland in Alex Murdaughs trial for murder at the Colleton County Courthouse on Thursday, February 9, 2023. Andrew J. Whitaker/The Post and Courier/Pool

Eric Bland calls Murdaugh's attorneys, 'sore losing lawyers'

Bland responded to the motion in an emotionally charged, emailed news release late Tuesday, calling opposing counsel "paper bullies" and "sore losing lawyers."

"Alex Murdaughs May 16th motion is yet another filing in a long line of rolls of legal toilet paper that Dick Harpootlian and Jim Griffin have filed in the multitude of civil and criminal actions on behalf of their client who is a liar, a thief and a twice convicted murderer," the press statement began.

Bland alleged that in the motion Harpootlian and Griffin reveal "confidential settlement discussions in violation of the South Carolina Court Rules," which should be investigated immediately, he claims.

As of 6:30 p.m., Murdaugh's attorneys have not responded for comment.

Bland contends that Murdaugh's lawyers are "factually wrong about the timing of the settlements that the Satterfields obtained from other parties," adding "This motion is nothing more than the endless and non-stop prattle of sore losing lawyers. We welcome addressing these arguments in court. They have lost almost all of the meaningful motions they have filed on behalf of their miscreant client Alex Murdaugh over the past two years."

Bland Richter is confident that they will defeat this "frivilous" motion, the statement added, then accused Murdaugh's counsel of harassment.

"This is personal. Dick Harpootlian and Jim Griffin are improperly utilizing the judicial process for ulterior motives that are meant to harass and victimize the Satterfields again and constitutes vexatious conduct. I dont mind these attorneys taking shots at us. Comes with the territory. They are upset that they do not get $160,000 for Murdaughs appeal as a result of arguments that Bland Richter recently made. They are nothing but paper bullies. We will continue to fight them in every courtroom in the land to obtain justice for our Clients and stop their gaming of the system."

It is yet unclear when a judge will hear this motion.

Hampton County Guardian Editor Michael DeWitt, the Greenville News and USA TODAY Network will continue to follow the ongoing criminal and civil cases surrounding the Murdaugh crime saga. Follow DeWitt on Twitter at @mmdewittjr and support his local and national journalism with a digital subscription.

This article originally appeared on Greenville News: Alex Murdaugh's attorneys want Satterfield confession vacated
(Bloomberg) -- Foreign ambassadors to Lithuania called on lawmakers to guarantee equal rights for LGBTQ people and approve bills recognizing legal partnerships.

Most Read from Bloomberg

Lithuania, a Baltic nation of 2.8 million, doesnt recognize civil partnerships, either for same-sex or opposite-sex couples. The constitution defines marriage as a union exclusively between a man and a woman.

We recognize that despite the hard work the LGBTQI+ community in Lithuania, as in our own and many other countries continues to face significant barriers to full inclusion and acceptance in society, a joint statement by 22 ambassadors to Lithuania said on Wednesday. We look forward to the passage of legislation that will establish civil unions.

Lithuanias Freedom Party, a junior coalition ally that campaigned on introducing same-sex civil partnerships, has seen its efforts stymied by legislators inside and outside the ruling coalition.

Lawmakers last year rejected a bill that would have given more rights to same-sex partners. A new version is now being discussed by parliamentary committees.

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Johnny Depp has made his red carpet return at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival, less than one year since his highly publicised defamation trial against ex-wife Amber Heard reached a verdict. While he was met with uproarious applause from fans on the red carpet, it appears some have not yet forgotten about his allegations of abuse.

On Tuesday 16 May, the 59-year-old actor walked the red carpet ahead of the Cannes Film Festival premiere of Jeanne du Barry. The film, which opened the 76th annual event, marked Depps first lead role since he won last years defamation case against Heard.

In videos shared to social media, Depp was seen arriving at the French film festival with his co-star and the films director, Maiwenn. He stopped to take photos and sign autographs for fans, as festival-goers were reportedly heard shouting Johnny! at the actor. Its so good to see him back!!! said one person on Twitter, while another fan tweeted: So deserved.

Following the premiere of the French-language film, Depp was seen getting visibly emotional as he received a seven-minute standing ovation.

While Depp has made his so-called comeback, legions of Amber Heard supporters took to social media to protest the Pirates of the Caribbean stars slow return to the spotlight  and the festival thats supporting him.

Prior to the Cannes Film Festival opening, fans of Heard launched an online campaign with the hashtag #CannesYouNot to call out both the festival and Depp, whom Heard accused of verbally and physically abusing her throughout their marriage.

Eve Barlow, journalist and friend of Heard, initially shared the #CannesYouNot hashtag to Instagram earlier this week, with a post condemning the film festival for supporting Depps film, Jeanne du Barry.

The #CannesYouNot campaign has also spread throughout Twitter, as Heard supporter and owner of the @LeaveHeardAlone Twitter account told Variety: The Depp v Heard trial became the vehicle through which the backlash against the #MeToo movement went viral. Hollywood industries seem to be riding that backlash to return to the status quo.

To open your festival with Johnny Depp? To be frank, it feels like a slap in the face.

Johnny Depp walks the red carpet at the #Cannes premiere of "Jeanne du Barry." https://t.co/hZsWnjmlEQ pic.twitter.com/iLmaXfi6Wc  Variety (@Variety) May 16, 2023

In response to the growing outrage from #CannesYouNot, film festival chief Thierry Fremaux heavily rejected claims made by Barlow  and French actor Adele Haenel, who recently denounced the festival for its alleged complacency toward sexual aggressors  and defended the decision to have Depps movie Jeanne Du Barry open the festival.

If you thought that its a festival for rapists, you wouldnt be here listening to me, you would not be complaining that you cant get tickets to get into screenings, he said during a press conference on Monday.

I dont know about the image of Johnny Depp in the US. To tell you the truth, in my life, I only have one rule, its the freedom of thinking, and the freedom of speech and acting within a legal framework, Fremaux added. If Johnny Depp had been banned from acting in a film, or the film was banned we wouldnt be here talking about it. So we saw Maiwenn film and it could have been in competition. She would have been the eighth female director.

Hi um, Depp isnt the first rapist or abuser that has been celebrated at the Cannes film festival.



Also maybe celebrities and the press should start boycotting it. I know they wont, but that doesnt mean the festival isnt a mess. #CannesYouNot https://t.co/TOxl9TbLeh pic.twitter.com/RUoERxDoiq  Brie Wants You to Stop Supporting Terrible Men (@WendyTsRevenge) May 15, 2023

Also on Tuesday, actor Brie Larson was singled out by a member of the press to share her thoughts on Depps film opening the 2023 Cannes Film Festival. When the Captain Marvel star  who is a juror for this years festival in France  was asked how she felt about Depps film opening the festival and if she planned on seeing it, she hinted towards her conflicted feelings about the film.

Taken aback, the Marvel actor responded: Youre asking me that? Im sorry, I dont understand the correlation or why me specifically.

The journalist acknowledged Larsons support for the Times Up movement, a non-profit organisation formed to support victims of sexual harassment and amplify female voices in the film and TV industry.

Understood, Larson said. Well, youll see, I guess, if I see it, and I dont know how Ill feel about it if I do.

Johnny Depp and Amber Heard were married from 2015 to 2017. Last June, the Edward Scissorhands actor sued his ex-wife for $50 million over a 2018 op-ed she wrote in the Washington Post that implied she was a victim of domestic abuse. Though she did not name Depp, he claimed her allegations have made it difficult for the actor to land movie roles.

The jury ultimately determined Heard defamed Depp on all three counts and awarded him $10m (8.2m) in compensatory damages and $5m (4.1m) in punitive damages. The Aquaman star was awarded $2m (1.6m) in compensatory damages. Throughout the six-week trial, Heard was subjected to intense social media scrutiny from Depp fans.

Heard then filed a notice of appeal one month after the initial verdict, with her attorney citing errors made by the court. However, she decided to withdraw the appeal last December, calling the decision to settle with Depp very difficult, and something that had required a great deal of deliberation.

The Independent has contacted Cannes Film Festival for comment.
A US Patriot missile is fired from a mobile launcher during the Han Kuang 22 exercise in Ilan, eastern Taiwan - Sam Yeh/AFP

Theres much excitement around the world following the events of Monday night, in which Ukrainian air defences armed with US-made weapons reportedly neutralised a heavy Russian missile attack against Kyiv.

In particular the attack apparently included six KH-47M2 Kinzhal (Dagger) air-launched missiles, which are often described as hypersonic, frequently with the added assertion that there is no defence against such weapons. All six were reportedly stopped by US-made Patriot air defence interceptors, though a Patriot installation was apparently damaged  perhaps by debris from a downed Russian weapon.

Another Kinzhal (referred to by Nato organisations, including the British defence ministry, using the reporting code name Killjoy) was also shot down by a Patriot earlier this month. Mondays interceptions would seem to have confirmed that this was not simply a lucky shot, and the Patriot does indeed offer a strong defence against the Kinzhal and similar weapons.

So, is the world different today? Can any nation in possession of Patriots or similar interceptors rest easy, unworried by the thought of hypersonic weapons  perhaps even, hypersonic nuclear weapons  in enemy hands?

The answer is yes and no: yes, the world is a little different today; and no, even if you have Patriot or similar you are not safe from enemy nukes or true hypersonics.

First lets take a look at the Kinzhal. Its really not much more than a modified air-launched version of the ground-launched Iskander short-range ballistic missile, which was developed in the 1980s and 1990s. The Iskanders rocket propulsion boosts it to speeds of around Mach 6 or 2,000 metres per second. Its been suggested that the Kinzhal is faster still at Mach 10 or 3,400 m/s.

Hypersonic speed is generally said to begin from Mach 5 upwards so yes, technically these are indeed hypersonic weapons. Its very difficult to intercept and knock down an object travelling at this kind of speed, so the Patriot has indeed shown itself to be very capable.

However when people in recent times speak of hypersonic weapons they generally mean ones which do not just travel at hypersonic speeds, but which can swerve and jink about while doing so, making themselves still harder to intercept. This class of weapon is often referred to as a boost-glide system, as it is often fired atop a booster rocket, possibly out of the atmosphere altogether, before making its manoeuvrable hypersonic descent to the target.

Again, theres nothing all that new about hypersonic boost-glide. The Nazis had drawing-board plans to use related ideas to bomb the USA during WWII, and various boost-glide projects were set up during the early Cold War. The now-retired Space Shuttle, and subsequent unmanned spaceplanes now in operation by the US and China, are all examples of successful hypersonic boost-glide systems.

Boost-glide for delivering nukes fell out of favour, however, in the mid Cold War with the arrival of Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs), whose warheads fall into the atmosphere to reach their targets travelling at Mach 20, perhaps 7,000 m/s. This was deemed to be so fast that nothing could possibly stop such a weapon. Once ICBMs began to be put on nuclear powered submarines, meaning that it would be impossible to locate them in order to knock them out in a sudden pre-emptive strike, the balance of terror seemed to be assured. The world could rest safe in the knowledge that no nation would launch a nuclear first strike, as the enemys ICBMs would respond and nothing could stop them.

This balance began to be somewhat upset, however, as long ago as the 1980s. The US in particular began making somewhat serious efforts at defence against inbound ICBMs. This had various effects, one of which was to stimulate the Soviets and then the Russians into looking at ways of making their ICBMs harder to stop. In particular they began working to replace the warheads with manoeuvrable hypersonic glide versions which would be harder to intercept.

This work took a very long time due to the financial and political troubles that beset Russia through the 1990s and 2000s, but at last in 2018 Vladimir Putin (at the same time he introduced the Kinzhal and other supposedly new Cold War era weapons) announced that the Avangard hypersonic glide vehicle was in production and ready to go into service atop Russian ICBMs. Avangards reportedly descend at Mach 20, swerving and jinking as they come, which should mean they can beat any interceptors they might face. China has also carried out work and flight tests aimed at deployment of such weapons.

Another effect of the US missile-defence aspirations of the 1980s and 1990s was to greatly alarm the kind of people who would really like to ban all nuclear weapons but have reluctantly accepted that isnt going to happen. People like that were very worried that missile-defence would upset the safe balance of terror: they thought that an America with working defences might be tempted to eliminate Russia, or that the prospect of such defences might push Russia into making a first strike while it still could.

Missile defence technology had its first trial as early Patriots were used to defend against Scud ballistic missiles launched by Saddam Hussein in 1991. This led to a massive disagreement about the Patriots effectiveness in which then US President George H W Bush claimed it was 97 per cent effective, the US Army claimed rates between 40 and 80 per cent, and the famous anti-missile-defence activist Theodore Postol claimed it had not worked at all.

Postol and members of his school of thought have since then been very effective in limiting how much money and effort the US has put into missile defences, helped by the fact that various missile-defence projects and programmes have indeed been prone to exaggerate the effectiveness of their equipment. Today the US National Missile Defence effort is explicitly limited to defence against the sort of attack that might be mounted by a rogue state such as North Korea: it is specifically forbidden to work on things which might be able to stop Russias vast ICBM force, to avoid panicking Vladimir Putin.

This has meant that to be quite honest, Putin doesnt really need the Avangard or its like: he can blow up America and its allies whenever he wants, as long as hes willing to accept Russia becoming a lake of molten glass in its turn.

Putin will still be unpleasantly surprised to find, however, that todays Patriots can knock down Kinzhals. The Kinzhal may not be a true swerving-and-jinking Mach 20 Avangard, but it is Mach 10 and it is claimed to have some manoeuvrability: it would need at least a bit to make precise strikes, of course.

One of the things which might turn the Ukraine war around for Putin would be the ability to suppress Ukrainian air defences, so permitting his powerful air force to dominate Ukrainian skies as it has so far completely failed to do. It now seems clear that even Russias best standoff weapons have little chance of achieving this.

And it wont just be Vladimir finding Monday nights events upsetting. Taiwan has the Patriot too. It seems likely that Xi Jinping will be setting up a talk with the head of the Peoples Liberation Army Rocket Forces to find out just which of his weapons now seem likely to be effective in any future invasion attempt.

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A fresco from Herculaneum shows prayers to Isis in a temple of the cult, while a priest dressed as the Egyptian god Bes performs a ritual dance. What seem to be two ibises  sacred Egyptian birds  can be seen near the foot of a burner in the temple.

Archaeologists excavating the Temple of Isis in Pompeii have discovered the remains of a ritual banquet where dozens of birds were eaten, possibly to placate the goddess after her temple was downsized.

The find shows the importance of birds to worshippers of Isis, an Egyptian cult that had become established in Roman society by the first century A.D., according to a study published April 27 in the International Journal of Osteoarchaeology .

"The ritual  was likely performed by three priests of Isis in a single day," possibly to atone for renovations that had made the temple slightly smaller, study first author Chiara Corbino , an archaeologist at Italy's Institute of Heritage Science, told Live Science in an email.

Pompeii was a wealthy Roman resort city that was destroyed when Mount Vesuvius erupted in A.D. 79. It was buried beneath a layer of volcanic ash up to 20 feet (6 meters) thick and has been progressively excavated to provide a snapshot of life in the early Roman Empire .

Corbino said the renovations seem to have been made after an earthquake damaged the temple in A.D. 62, which meant the banquet took place between that time and the eruption in 79.

Related: Ancient mummy portraits and rare Isis-Aphrodite idol discovered in Egypt

A wall painting or fresco in the town of Herculaneum, about 10 miles from Pompeii and destroyed in A.D. 79 by the same eruption of Vesuvius, portrays a ceremony in a temple of the cult of Isis, which otherwise would be kept secret from those not initiated into its mysteries. What seem to be two ibises can be seen near the altar.

The excavations revealed the charred remains of at least eight chickens, a goose, a turtle dove, a pig and two clams; part of the meat would be cooked and eaten by the priests, while the rest would have been set out on the floor as an offering to Isis, she said.

Isis  the Greek name for the "great mother" of the ancient Egyptians, known as Aset or Eset  was often portrayed with bird wings, and some archaeologists think she may have once been a bird deity, like the falcon-headed Egyptian god Horus.

The new finding adds more evidence that birds were central to the Isis cult. "This work confirms that bird sacrifice was an important part of the Isis rituals," the authors wrote in the study.

Cult of Isis

The Isis cult spread from Egypt to Greece and became part of the Roman world by the first century B.C.

Sabine Deschler-Erb , a historian and archaeologist at the University of Basel in Switzerland who was not involved in the study, said the mobility of soldiers, administrators and traders in the Roman Empire promoted the spread of Eastern religions such as the Isis cult.

The cult rituals were secret and not allowed to be written down, so archaeology is the only way of finding out about them, she said. Until now, in the case of the Isis cult, sacrificial remains had been found only in Greece, Spain and Germany.

"The study of Pompeii is the first archaeozoological investigation of an Isis sanctuary in Italy," she said.

Here we see the ruins of the Temple of Isis mostly destroyed during the eruption of the volcano Vesuvius. There are stairs leading to a platform with several pillars and walls.

Animal sacrifices

Isabel Koster , a historian at the University of Colorado Boulder who didn't take part in the study, noted that the finds at Pompeii are similar to the remains of bird sacrifices found at Isis temples in Roman territories, such as the Sanctuary of Isis and Magna Mater in Mainz, Germany .

However, Jan Bremmer , a historian and professor emeritus at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands who wasn't involved in the study, said the chickens and geese offered at Pompeii suggest Isis was not an important god in Roman worship at the time. "Those usually received more important animals," like cattle, he said.

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Sacred chickens, witches and animal entrails: 7 unusual ancient Roman superstitions

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The real way ancient priests sacrificed animals at the Roman 'gate to hell'

Regardless of their species, sacrificial animals would usually be ceremonially killed while appropriate prayers were recited or sung. The meat was often then charred, and part of it was offered to the god; the rest would typically be cooked and eaten by the priests and whoever had paid for the sacrifice.

Erica Rowan , an archaeologist at Royal Holloway, University of London who wasn't involved with the study, noted both similarities and differences between the bird offerings at Pompeii and those made to Isis elsewhere. For example, the animal sacrifices to Isis at Mainz and at Delos in Greece were almost completely consumed by fire, rather than leaving significant remains; while the remains of cattle and fish were found with those of birds at the Baelo Claudia site in Spain.

"They are similar enough to show that there was clearly communication between the various congregations or cult members," she said.
Andrew Yang, a former Democratic presidential candidate and now a co-chairman of the Forward Party, is offering guidance to conservative entrepreneur and Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy as 2024 approaches.

I dont agree with Vivek on a lot of things. I also dont know him and havent spoken to him. But I vastly prefer him to, lets say, the big orange frontrunner in the Republican field, Yang wrote in Politico.

Many have compared Yang and Ramaswamy, he said, because were both young (in political years in particular) with new ideas, tech-savvy, Asian and really, really good-looking, and he offered Ramaswamy advice in the spirit of helping a fellow techie beat Trump in the primary.

Yang laid out nine bullet points of counsel, ranging from stay positive to emphasize electability.

Former President Trump dominates memes. A lot of people see them. You are Internet-friendly, but most of the social media you put out are slick videos or snippets from media appearances, Yang said, writing to Ramaswamy and urging him to lean into #Ramaswamaniacs as he leaned into #YangGang during his presidential campaign.

Trump owns the Internet. If you change that you become a real threat, he said.

Ramaswamy should say yes to every media request that comes in, Yang said. This is a great contrast to what other candidates will do with their careful and deliberate press strategies. Youre 37 years old. You can out-energy other candidates. Yang also urged the Republican to position himself in contrast to GOP competitors who seem miserable and share messages of anger, grievance and despair.

Among the other bullet points of advice, Yang suggested Ramaswamy take a break leading up to the first GOP debate, talk more about artificial intelligence on the campaign trail and use his reported $600 million net worth to buy advertising early, staff up, donate to local candidates and non-profits and make friends.

Yang ran for president as a Democrat in 2020. He said he was leaving the party in 2021 and announced plans for his new third party.

When I ran for president, I won the Iowa youth straw poll and was named Candidate Id most want to get a beer with. So why didnt I break through? Everyone likes to win. The threshold question for Democrats was, Who can beat Trump? They chose Biden. This time for Republicans, its, Who can beat Biden? Yang wrote.

Ramaswamy has polled well behind former Trump in recent 2024 surveys, though Trump has said hes pleased to see his fellow GOP candidate doing so well.

The thing I like about Vivek is that he only has good things to say about President Trump and all that the Trump Administration has so successfully done. This is the reason he is doing so well, he said.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
May 16, 2023; Columbus, Ohio, USA; Interim Superintendent for Columbus City Schools Angela Chapman listens to board of education members discuss their choice of candidate for the Columbus City Schools superintendent position at Mifflin High School on May 16, 2023.

Columbus City Schools has a new superintendent  and it's a familiar face.

That's after the Columbus City Schools Board of Education selected Angela Chapman, the district's current interim superintendent during its meeting Tuesday.

The state's largest district of more than 45,000 students was searching for a new district leader after outgoing Superintendent Talisa Dixon announced in December that she would be retiring at the end of the current academic year.

Board President Jennifer Adair said Chapman was the candidate for the job, including her vision and engagement with the community."She's one of us and she gets it," Adair said. "And for me that's what always had me."

Columbus City Schools: 'The right choice': Board, community leaders support Angela Chapman as new superintendent

Chapman said she was "grateful and humbled for the opportunity to serve our district as the next permanent superintendent."

"I have considered every day on the job as an interview," Chapman said in an interview after the meeting. "And so I have given all that I have to make sure that our community knows how important it is and how important I take this role and the opportunity to serve."

Who is Angela Chapman?

May 16, 2023; Columbus, Ohio, USA; Angela Chapman is named as superintendent for Columbus City Schools during a Columbus City Schools board of education meeting at Mifflin High School on May 16, 2023.

Angela Chapman is the district's current interim superintendent, who took over the helm of Ohio's largest district, with about 45,000 students, on Jan. 1.

Dixon brought her into the administration in 2019, and until recently she served as chief transformation and leadership officer.

In her former role, Chapman oversaw many of the district's administrators and academic leaders, such as principals and regional area superintendents. That office also oversees school improvement and school leader recruitment, selection and development.

Read more: Chapman wants long-term job, but says priorities first

Chapman previously told The Dispatch that as interim superintendent she is focused on fully developing the district's strategic plans, including its "Portrait of a Graduate." The plan was developed under Dixon's leadership with input from the community, and Chapman said the district was just beginning to implement some of it.

Angela Chapman, interim superintendent of Columbus City Schools, left, recently met with U.S. Department of Education Secretary Miguel Cardona, who visited Avondale Elementary and learned about Columbus' early literacy initiatives.

Chapman is also prioritizing the three other areas the Board of Education identified as academic goals that the district should improve on in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic: early literacy, graduation and attendance.

She also recently met with U.S. Department of Education Secretary Miguel Cardona, who visited Avondale Elementary and learned about Columbus' early literacy initiatives, including the "science of reading," which emphasizes phonetic reading skills.

Chapman began her career as a teacher and administrator in Ohio, Tennessee and Washington, D.C.

Who else was considered?

Brian McDonald, Pasadena Unified School District superintendent and Minneapolis Public Schools Associate Superintendent Eric Thomas were also considered for the position of finalists. They, alongside Chapman, participated in several rounds of interviews including with stakeholders and during a moderated public forum.

In total 31 people applied for the position and six people were selected as semi-finalists. The full list of candidates was not made public.

Columbus City Schools: Five takeaways from public forum with CCS superintendent finalists: What they said

What did board members say?

While every board member was in favor of Chapman as next superintendent, several others said they also liked McDonald's style of leadership. Member Tina Pierce said she was between the two, but Chapman's passion for the community won out.

"While Dr. McDonald has all the accolades and experience of being a well-versed superintendent, Dr. Chapman has the passion and fire for our community," Pierce said.

Board Member Eric Brown said Chapman has not been merely acting as a caretaker and demonstrated real leadership as an interim superintendent.

"She knows our system and has demonstrated to me during this past four or five months that she can lead," Brown said. "She is willing to take risks."

What are community stakeholders saying?

Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther also congratulated Chapman, and urged "the community to embrace her leadership as we seek to move the district forward."

I offer my congratulations and support for Dr. Angela Chapman and urge the community to embrace her leadership as we seek to move @ColsCitySchools forward. https://t.co/5JS25pmaF8  Mayor Andrew Ginther (@MayorGinther) May 17, 2023

Our children, our teachers have endured so much these last few years, and we must unite in support to protect their future," Ginther said in a statement. "I know Dr. Chapman is ready for the challenge, and with our support, collective engagement, and investment our kids can thrive.

Columbus NAACP President Nana Watson, an outspoken critic of the school board and the superintendent search process, said she she wanted to focus on supporting Chapman in her new role as permanent superintendent.

"We are pleased to support her and we encourage everyone to get on her wagon," Watson said. "We need to support her right now, and we will get back to the board of education."

Who conducted the search?

Board members have previously praised the national search conducted to find the next chief executive.

The Columbus City school board approved paying a total of $250,000 to be handled by the Taft Stettinius & Hollister law firm, which has offices in Columbus.

The board also contracted with Ray & Associates, a Cedar Rapids, Iowa-based firm that specializes in school executive leadership searches, and Fahlgren Mortine, a Columbus-based marketing firm, to assist in the search. All applications were submitted directly to Ray & Associates and the firm had prescreened applicants before presenting them to the board.

Each application was screened based on their administrative experience, academic backgrounds, and input from the community and the board, according to a release.

@Colebehr_report

Cbehrens@dispatch.com

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Angela Chapman to become next Columbus City Schools superintendent
China strives to boost crop production on saline-alkali land

Xinhua) 08:34, May 17, 2023

People watch samples of saline-alkali tolerant rice at the 13th China-Northeast Asia Expo in Changchun, northeast China's Jilin Province, on Sept. 24, 2021. (Xinhua/Xu Chang)

BEIJING, May 16 (Xinhua) -- In May, the west of northeast China's Jilin Province ushered in the spring ploughing season, and the once-barren saline-alkali farmland is now alive with the rumble of agricultural machinery.

Saline and alkaline soil is notoriously difficult to farm, producing low crop yields. However, farmers in the area are now benefitting from efforts to improve the land, using water to wash away the salt, thus making it suitable for agricultural production.

A number of major water conservancy projects have been carried out in western Jilin, channeling water sources such as the Nenjiang and Songhua rivers into major rivers and lakes in the region, forming a water network system to treat the soil.

Shen Qiang, a "post-90s" employee at a local agricultural enterprise, came to Haituo Township in the city of Da'an in 2019. He has witnessed the gradual transformation of the saline-alkali land into paddy fields.

When it is time to plant rice, Shen, who graduated from college with a computer science degree, sits in his office and remotely controls the valve on a canal, allowing water to flow into the field.

"We need to irrigate and drain the land several times to reduce the salinity and alkalinity of the soil so that the rice seedlings can grow better," he said.

China has about 1.5 billion mu (100 million hectares) of saline-alkali land, of which about 500 million mu is available for utilization. As China focuses on promoting agricultural modernization, localities across the country have been making great efforts to utilize saline-alkali land to increase the yield and boost farmers' incomes.

In recent years, Da'an has introduced more than 10 enterprises and research institutes to harness saline-alkali land through science and technology, with the rice yield reaching more than 5,000 kg per hectare.

"We will turn 2,000 hectares of saline-alkali land into high-standard farmland in Da'an this year," said Meng Xiandong, CEO of BIOGREEN AGRO, a Da'an-based company working on the ecological restoration of saline-alkali land and the comprehensive development of modern agriculture.

Saline-alkali land is becoming a new growth point for the grain supply in western Jilin. In 2023, the city of Baicheng, which administers Da'an, plans to sow 16.2 million mu of grain crops, including 3.79 million mu of rice, an increase of 40,000 mu over last year.

North China's Hebei Province has also seen great success in improving the productivity of its saline-alkali soil. The Xianzhuang area of Jiucheng Town, Huanghua City, has been cultivating wheat varieties that are able to tolerate high salinity and alkalinity, as well as improving its production and cultivation technology, gradually making the place a "big granary".

Local villager Yang Dongjin planted more than 20 mu of saline-alkali wheat, with a net income of 6,000 yuan (863 U.S. dollars)last year. He said it is expected that the yield of wheat could be about 200 to 250 kg per mu this year due to the good climate.

In the city of Dongying, east China's Shandong Province, a state-level technological innovation center for the comprehensive utilization of saline-alkali land has been set up in the Agricultural High-tech Industrial Demonstration Area of the Yellow River Delta, according to the provincial government.

Mei Xurong, vice president of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, said the center will focus on three key areas: biological breeding, productivity improvement and the ecological utilization of saline-alkali land. It will strive to explore new paths for ecological protection of saline-alkali land and high-quality agricultural development.

An agricultural experiment and demonstration base has been built on 15,000 mu of high-standard saline-alkali land in the Agricultural High-tech Industrial Demonstration Area of the Yellow River Delta.

From 2023 to 2025, the center aims to make breakthroughs on several critical core issues in biological breeding on saline-alkali land. The promotion area for new varieties of the saline-alkali resistant crops is expected to reach 30 million mu.

Data reveals that China has kept its annual grain output steady at over 650 million tonnes for consecutive years, thanks to the vigorous development of agricultural science and technology.

Over the past decade, the contribution level of agricultural sci-tech progress in China had increased 7 percentage points to over 61 percent.

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun)
Netflix

Hollywood has never not been eager to explore the lives of sad, glamorous women. But the past few years in television and film especially have seen a boom in charitable retellingswhat Vulture writer Kathyrn VanArendonk calls empathy tourismaiming to humanize mistreated starlets and re-contextualize their sexist portrayals by the media. It was only a matter of time before one of pop cultures biggest cautionary tales was given an opportunity for reappraisalagain.

A new Netflix documentary titled Anna Nicole Smith: You Dont Know Me, out this week, attempts to shed new light on Smiths iconic downfall from one of the most desired women in the world to a depressed, financially needy drug addict. The film is less an indictment of 90s and early 2000s tabloid culture and more of a cliched character study of a Marilyn Monroe-esque figure. After years of documentaries, news specials, and even an opera anatomizing her larger-than-life persona since she died of an accidental drug overdose in 2007, this film cant help but feel extremely redundant.

However, You Dont Know Me manages to expose two shocking revelations about the former Playboy Playmate, both involving Smiths now-deceased parents. The debunking of a claim about her mother, specifically, is a confusing effort to offer Smith more complexity. But its placement in the film only calls into question the intent of the films director, Ursula MacFarlane, and how she wants the audience to remember Smith.

Smiths impoverished upbringing in Houston and later Mexia, Texas before she dropped high school and married at age 17was a crucial part of the rag-to-riches story she often professed to the media. Its a highly regurgitated factoid that Smiths family was so poor that she would have to steal toilet paper from gas stations and wore extra layers of clothes in her house during the winter. Her backstory was also defined by an absentee father and alleged child abuse at the hands of her mother.

In the documentary, though, her relatives and a former close friend argue that her childhood wasnt nearly as rough as she made it out to be.

Early in the film, Smiths former friend and lover named Missy, who she met while they were both strippers in Houston, mentions the stories she and Smith exchanged about their childhoods.

She told me about Virgie, her mother, Missy says. She was in law enforcement, and she was kind of a tyrant. She would handcuff her to the bed for days and just beat her mercilessly. And Im buying a lot of what shes telling me. You know, I dont have any reason to disbelieve her.

Missys suggestion that Smith fabricated her claims is left untouched until the very end of the chronological film. In fact, you almost forget about the remark until we see a televised interview, saved for the end of the documentary, where shes asked about her mother.

You want to hear all the things [my mother] did to me? Smith replies, visibly aggravated. All the things she let my [stepfather] do to me or let my brother do to me or my sister? All the beatings and the whippings and rape? Thats my mother.

The film then cuts back to Missy, who claims Smith was appropriating facts from her tumultuous childhood and that Virgie [came] to her rescue over and over throughout her life. After her death in 2007, Arthur claimed that she and her daughter had a fractured relationship due to her drug addiction. One of Smiths brothers, Donald Hart, also says in an interview that their mother did not abuse Smith. My mother was a very sweet, loving person, he asserts.

We then see a never-before-heard interview from Arthur claiming that their family lived a moderate life in a house with three bedrooms and two carports. She also says that Smith told her rather bluntly that she made up her claims of abuse for her own financial gain.

I make more money telling sad stories than I make telling good stories, she claims Smith said to her. If its bad, something really bad, I make 50 times the amount of money I make if its good. When Arthur asked Smith why she didnt want people to know good things about her, she says Smith responded, not if bad pays better.

Admittedly, this conclusion puts viewers in an uncomfortable position after sympathizing with Smith for two hours. Presumably, this revelation is meant to highlight her underappreciated, possibly dangerous level of savviness. The documentary seems to imply that she was complicit in her own mythology and not solely a victim of the publics imagination. Primarily though, the teasing of this information early on in the filmand the circling back to it at the endfeels like a trick to keep people engaged in a movie that has nothing new or insightful to say.

Anna Nicole Smith and Donald Hogan. Courtesy of Netflix

Along with Smiths allegedly false claims, the documentary drops another bombshell involving her father Donald Hogan, who died in 2009, maybe to offer some balance after discrediting her other claims.

The doc shows exclusive footage of Smith meeting Hogan and one of her other brothers, Donnie, for the first time around 1993 after hiring a private investigator to seek them out. The clips portray a quiet, friendly man whos proud of his daughters accomplishments, but their reunion apparently ended on a stomach-churning note.

When we were alone, [Smith] told me her father had tried to have sex with her, Missy says in the film. It was really sad because I know how happy she was when she met him. She had all of these ideas in her head of what he was like, and what it was going to be like. And then she was just so, so disappointed.

Donnie learns this information on-camera during his talking head and initially denies the allegation before changing his tune. That would be like him, he says, hesitantly. I wouldnt put it past him. It could be true. Later, he admits that his father was not the type of guy you want to be alone with, recounting the time he admitted to him that he raped his wifes sister. By now, though, Hogans record of sexual abuse is well-known.

Hogans attempted assault of Smith is hardly surprising in a documentary thats only interested in retelling the saddest parts of Smiths life, with the occasional side note that she was smarter than the public perceived her.

The biggest issue with this film, though, is that it lacks a unique point of view. Its almost as if the subtitle You Dont Know Me is less of an entry point into uncovering the hidden parts of her personality and more of an assertion that shell always remain an enigma, one we cant stop trying to solve out of our unhealthy obsession with tragic women like herself.

TMZs Britney Spears: The Price of Freedom Is Extremely Toxic

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The actor said his late half-brother, who struggled with mental illness, inspired his interest in the subject.

Anthony Anderson spoke about advocating for mental health issues during a charity event in Washington, D.C., over the weekend, People reports.

The Black-ish actor hosted the ROLL WITH THE PUNCHES Its Okay Knot To Be Okay Black Tie & Sneaker Gala at The Anthem on May 13. NFL Pro Lamar Jackson developed the inaugural Edutainment experience to promote the publics awareness of mental health illnesses and disorders along with providing available resources while changing the narrative surrounding mental health and the stigma associated with it, per a news release.

Anthony Anderson attends ABCs BLACK-ISH Los Angeles special screening event at El Capitan Theatre on June 6, 2022, in Los Angeles. (Photo by Amy Sussman/Getty Images)

In an interview with People, Anderson said his late half-brother, who struggled with mental illness, inspired his interest in the subject. Now the actor is on a mission to spread awareness about mental health, especially within the Black community.

I had a half-brother that I really didnt have a relationship with  because we didnt know one another  who had mental issues, Anderson told People.

And now that hes gone, I was like, Well, you know, maybe I should have stepped in a little sooner than today, he added, noting that he should have been more proactive when his relative was alive.

African American households rarely discuss mental health, Anderson suggested, since it is a touchy subject.

Im here to say its okay to not be okay. We are here for you, he said.

According to researchers at Columbia University, Black adults are 20% more likely to suffer from serious mental health problems like Major Depressive Disorder and Generalized Anxiety Disorder.

Research consistently shows that the Black community is significantly more likely to develop mental health issues because of systemic racism in economics, housing, health care, criminal justice, employment, and political factors, which are proven to negatively impact psychological and physical health.

During the DC gala, Anderson was asked if Hollywood should do more to bring this conversation to the forefront.

All things are needed for this, but more importantly, conversation, dialogue, you know, within our community, he said at the event, according to People.

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Antiques Roadshow taped in Raleigh and we were there. Some of the treasures we saw

Americas favorite game of Show & Tell came to Raleigh Tuesday as the popular PBS program Antiques Roadshow turned the grounds of the N.C. Museum of Art into a traveling treasure trove.

Well, somebody treasured all that stuff  timeless clocks, brass sculptures, mahogany chairs, whimsical paintings, bulbous lamps  enough to buy it, keep it, dust it, pass it down or store it. Then they hauled it to the art museum to find out that the greatest value of any item may be in the story it tells.

Its been sitting in a box, a lady named Macon from Winston-Salem said when appraiser Ken Gloss asked her where she had been keeping the yellowed contract from 1796 she had brought for him to consider. (Roadshow guests can only give their first names.)

Gloss, owner of The Brattle Book Shop in the shows hometown of Boston, made small talk with Macon while a camera crew set up to film a segment in which he would tell her what her item was worth and why he found it interesting.

How Antiques Roadshow works

Anyone whos scrolled to the single-digit TV channels on a Monday between 8 and 9 p.m. knows the premise:

 Each season, Roadshow selects an itinerary of about five U.S. cities (there was one trip to Canada) and spends a day in each.

 Guests apply online for free tickets.

 About 3,000 people get to come to each location, and theyre allowed to bring two items, or closely related collections of items, which get evaluated by one of about 70 appraisers in 23 categories.

 Appraisers pay their own way to attend and give their time and opinions for free.

Of the 6,000 or so items that get evaluated at each city stop on the Roadshow tour, only about 150 will get filmed, and about 90 of those will make the cut to be included in any of the three shows made from each town.

Shows made from the visit to Raleigh will air in 2024.

A visitor to the Raleigh, NC taping of Antiques Roadshow shows off a vintage sewing machine.

Every item offers a chance to learn

Throughout the day, appraisers are constantly looking for items that will make good TV, and a high appraisal value is just one factor. Its public television, so the shows 6 million weekly viewers expect to be smarter at the end of the hour than at the beginning.

Every item that gets pulled out of a Trader Joes tote bag or a red Radio Flyer wagon is a story, a potential lesson in history, music, art, manufacturing, pop culture, or how to know the difference between real and fake.

Nicholas Lowry, president of Swann Auction Galleries in New York and a longtime Roadshow appraiser, showed a Goldsboro father and son, Bill and Matt, how to tell that a pair of Bull Durham Tobacco posters were reproductions from the late 1950s or early 1960s rather than original advertisements from the North Carolina company that began operations in the 1850s.

Bill said his wife had purchased the pair of posters, featuring racist images of Black people, at a thrift store, and he was curious to know their age and value. Lowry had Bill look at one of the posters through a magnifying loop, where he could see the dot matrix from the printing process, which hadnt been invented in the 1800s.

The posters, still being printed and sold on the internet even now, were worth less than $20, Lowry told the men. Unfazed, they brought out some other, more notable artwork for one of Lowrys colleagues to evaluate.

Do people sell their valuable items?

Roadshow Executive Producer Marsha Bemko said that while people love to hear their possessions are valuable, the appraisal usually just becomes part of the story that passes down through the generations with the item itself. She knows, she said, because she tried to launch a show about how much people sold their Roadshow treasures for.

Theyre not going to part with it, she said. Even if we tell them its worth a ton of money99.9% of our people keep their stuff, no matter what we tell them.

They may insure it, or find a better way to display it, or lock it up in a safe-deposit box, but they dont go looking for an auction where they can capitalize on it, Bemko said.

A visitor to the Raleigh, NC taping of Antiques Roadshow with a concert poster from The Smiths show in London.

A rarity discovered at Raleigh taping

Macon, the lady from Winston-Salem, might be on air next year.

The contract she brought that caught Glosss eye was drawn up by two men in her great aunts husbands family.

I dont claim them, she said immediately, because she had read the document in which these distant relatives had secured the services of two members of the Catawba Nation to travel with them to the British Isles.

The job they were to perform? To dress in Native American garb and put on a show.

Macons relatives promised in the contract to pay the two tribal members travel expenses in both directions, including room and board, and to pay them $100 each  about $2,300 today  when the group returned to the U.S.

After pitching Macons item to producers and getting the go-ahead to film a segment with her, Gloss did a bit of digging and learned that the Indian show was a big hit when the group landed in Edinburgh, but later, the two entrepreneurs ditched their Catawba cohorts, leaving them stranded and looking for way to get home.

With the cameras rolling, Gloss told Macon, You just dont see contracts like this, and said it could bring about $3,000 at auction.

While she seemed impressed by the estimate, Macon told him her hope would be to put the document into the hands of historians for the Catawba Nation, which is based in Rock Hill, S.C., near Charlotte.
A panel of three federal court judges heard arguments Wednesday in a case that could force a major abortion pill off the market nationwide, including in states where abortion is legal.

The case hinges on whether the Food and Drug Administration's approval of mifepristone, as well as subsequent actions making the drug easier to obtain, should be rolled back.

Abortion rights advocates have said the lawsuit has the potential to decimate nationwide access to medication abortion, which makes up over half of all abortions in the United States.

The panel of judges on the New Orleans-based 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals, considered among the most conservative in the country, is the latest federal court to weigh in on the case after a federal judge in Texas ordered a hold on FDA approval of mifepristone in April. The ruling was stayed pending appeal.

The Supreme Court last month decided mifepristone would remain available as the case made its way through the court system.

Boxes of the drug mifepristone sit on a shelf at the West Alabama Women's Center in Tuscaloosa, Ala., on March 16, 2022.

OTHER LAWSUITS With eyes on Texas mifepristone case, 2 other abortion pill lawsuits 'flying under the radar'

What happens now in mifepristone case?

The three-judge panel won't issue a ruling on the case immediately. Once a decision is made, it is likely to be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Justice Department attorneys defend FDA approval

U.S. Department of Justice attorneys representing the FDA urged the panel to overturn last month's ruling by U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk in Amarillo, Texas, that sought to suspend mifepristone's FDA approval.

During an opening statement by Justice Department attorney Sarah Harrington, judges were quick to push back, including at Harrington's description of the case as "unprecedented." Judge James Ho said challenging the FDA's expertise in court was not unprecedented, to which Harrington said, "But I dont think theres ever been any court that has vacated FDAs determination that a drug is safe to be on the market."

Harrington also argued that the doctors bringing the lawsuit have not shown they've been directly harmed by others prescribing mifepristone or forced to provide care that violates their beliefs. The judges also pushed back on this assertion and raised concerns about the safety of mifepristone, citing a study widely denounced by medical experts.

Justice Department attorneys and lawyers representing drugmaker Danco Laboratories argued in support of the safety and effectiveness of mifepristone and said the plaintiffs "used false math" in their case. The defendants also said withdrawing FDA approval will have ripple effects on dozens of other FDA-approved drugs.

On Friday, April 21, 2023, the Supreme Court halted restrictions that would have limited access to the abortion pill mifepristone, resolving a massive and fast moving conflict over access to the drug while the underlying lawsuit is decided.

Anti-abortion groups push to reverse FDA approval of mifepristone

Meanwhile, attorneys representing the Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine, a coalition of anti-abortion groups led by the Alliance Defending Freedom, claimed mifepristone is unsafe and its approval should be reversed.

"This case is not about ending abortion, its about ending a particularly dangerous type of abortion," said Erin Hawley, senior counsel for Alliance for Defending Freedom.

Hawley said doctors have "been forced to participate in and complete elective abortions, contrary to their consciences."

The defendants have argued that mifepristone rarely results in complications and that doctors can refuse to participate in procedures they believe are contrary to their consciences.

MIFEPRISTONE 'SAFER THAN TYLENOL' Experts say amid court battle over major abortion pill

Federal court judges have history of supporting abortion restrictions

The three judges that make up the panel  Ho, Jennifer Walker Elrod, and Cory Wilson  each have a history of supporting abortion restrictions.

Elrod was among 5th Circuit judges who allowed Texas to temporarily ban abortions as the COVID-19 pandemic took hold. She co-authored an opinion that upheld a 2021 Texas law outlawing an abortion method commonly used in the second trimester. And she was part of a panel that refused to require Louisiana to issue a license for a Planned Parenthood abortion clinic in New Orleans.

Ho, a former clerk for Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, was nominated to the 5th Circuit by President Donald Trump in 2017. In a 2018 opinion, he called abortion a "moral tragedy." In the Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization case, which went on to lead to the overturning of Roe v. Wade, Ho criticized a lower court for displaying "an alarming disrespect for the millions of Americans who believe  that abortion is the immoral, tragic, and violent taking of innocent human life.."

'NO DRUG IS SAFE' Mifepristone court battle could threaten access to other FDA-approved drugs

Wilson, nominated to the court by Trump in 2020, supported anti-abortion measures while serving in the Mississippi House from 2016 to 2019, including voting to stop Medicaid funding to Planned Parenthood facilities in the state and to prohibit most abortions after 15 weeks.

"This is one of the worst panels of judges that could have been assembled for those who believe that mifepristone should remain on the market," said Jennifer Dalven, director of the ACLU Reproductive Freedom Project, adding that "we have to be prepared for all possible outcomes."

"If the plaintiffs were to succeed in this case, the effects would be extraordinarily dangerous and far-ranging," Dalven said. "It would be devastating for patients seeking abortion and miscarriage care and would be catastrophic for Americans in terms of their access to a wide range of critical medications."

STATES RESPOND Some states stockpile abortion pills after Texas judge's ruling on mifepristone

Is mifepristone safe?

As the case has ricocheted through the court system, leading medical associations and health experts have pointed to mifepristone's decades-long safety record and studies showing it to be safer than common drugs such as Tylenol and Viagra.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the American Medical Association and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists call mifepristone safe and effective for abortion and miscarriage care.

The drug has been discussed in more than 780 medical reviews and used in more than 630 published clinical trials, according to the AMA. It has also long been approved for use in 19 countries. In France and China, mifepristone was approved for abortion care in 1988, years before the FDA approved the drug in 2000.

"This medication has been used safely and effectively in the United States by over 5 million pregnant people for the past 23 years and today accounts for more than half of all abortions in the United States," said Ushma Upadhyay, a professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of California, San Francisco, who studies contraception and abortion care. "Study after study demonstrates the strong safety rating of over 99%."

'CHAOS AND CONFUSION' Abortion rights advocates across US speak out after latest setback

Contributing: The Associated Press

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Abortion pill case: Judges hear arguments in mifepristone lawsuit
Murder in Alliance

The 5th District Court of Appeals has upheld a Stark County judge's dismissal of a former Alliance Police chief's lawsuit relating to a podcast about the 1999 murder of a city resident.

Stark County Common Pleas Judge Natalie R. Haupt last fall dismissed Larry Dordea's lawsuit accusing Maggie Freleng, host of the Murder in Alliance podcast; the Obsessed Network; Sue Gless Thorne; and John Hardin and Jason Baldwin of Proclaim Justice of defamation per se, civil conspiracy and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

In the lawsuit, Dordea alleged that several involved with Murder in Alliance made defamatory statements about him on the podcast by claiming that he brought a date to the crime scene, compromising the investigation. Murder in Alliance is a podcast that centered around the killing of Alliance resident Yvonne Layne.

Layne was found with her throat slashed on April 1, 1999. David Thorne, the father of one of Layne's children, was accused of hiring someone to kill her and convicted of complicity to aggravated murder in 2000. He was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Dordea, who was the city's police chief at the time, was one of the first to respond to the scene when Layne's body was discovered. He said he brought with him a civilian who was participating in a ride-along program and observing him conduct police work, according to court documents.

While Freleng was doing research for the podcast, she came across a report by private practice criminal profiler Brent Turvey that claimed Dordea brought a date to the scene, court documents say. Police reports from the time refer to the woman as a civilian observer.

The court ruled that while it believed the claim about the civilian being Dordea's date was false, it was not enough to prove that those involved with the podcast acted with actual malice. To prove actual malice, one must show the defendant knew a statement was false or demonstrated reckless disregard to its falsity.

Court documents say Dordea had the burden of establishing that Freleng published claims about the civilian being Dordea's date while having serious doubts about the truth. The appeals court ruled April 27 that it found no evidence to show that a reasonable jury could find actual malice with convincing clarity.

Dordea's attorney, Julie Jakmides, said they were very disappointed by the results and that the standard for proving defamation against a public official is incredibly high.

"The court determined our burden could not be met by the false statements made on the Murder in Alliance podcast," she said. "We are confident though that Chief Dordea's reputation will speak for itself, and this will not be how his legacy is remembered by our community."

Obsessed Network, which produced the Murder in Alliance podcast, did not respond to a request for comment.

This article originally appeared on The Repository: Larry Dordea loses appeal in Murder in Alliance podcast lawsuit
Apple engineer steals secrets on self-driving cars and flees to China, feds say

A former Apple engineer accused of absconding from the company with trade secrets on self-driving cars fled to China, federal officials reported.

The 35-year-old Mountain View, California, resident joined Apple in 2016 as a software engineer to work on autonomous systems, such as those used in self-driving vehicles, the U.S. Attorneys Office for Northern California said in a May 16 news release.

In 2017, he agreed to move to a U.S. subsidiary of a company based in China that also was working on self-driving vehicles, prosecutors said. But he waited four months to tell Apple he was leaving.

After he departed Apple in spring 2018, the company discovered he had accessed large amounts of sensitive proprietary and confidential information in the days leading up to his departure, the release said.

FBI agents searched his home in connection with a probe into the stolen secrets in June 2018, prosecutors said.

Despite telling agents he had no plans to travel, the man booked a one-way flight to China from San Francisco International Airport and left the United States that night, the release said.

A subsequent investigation revealed he had stolen the entire autonomy source code, tracking and behavior software, hardware plans and other documents, prosecutors said.

A federal grand jury has now indicted him on charges of theft and attempted theft of trade secrets, the release said.

Innovation is alive and well in Silicon Valley  indeed, throughout the Northern District of California, said U.S. Attorney Ismail J. Ramsey in the release. Unfortunately, there will always be some who cheat the system by stealing and profiting from the fruits of others labor.

Apple did not immediately respond to McClatchy News request for comment on the case.

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Arab foreign ministers welcome Syria's return to the Arab League ahead of Jeddah summit

This is a locator map for Saudi Arabia with its capital, Riyadh. (AP Photo) (ASSOCIATED PRESS)

BEIRUT (AP)  Arab foreign ministers Wednesday in Saudi Arabia welcomed back Syria to the Arab League and called for a cease-fire in conflict-hit Sudan ahead of the organization's annual summit taking place in the kingdom.

This year's summit, starting Friday in the city of Jeddah, will mark the readmittance of war-torn Syria into the 22-member league, after a 12-year suspension.

Syria's membership was frozen following Syrian President Bashar Assad's brutal crackdown on the 2011 mass protests against his rule. The country quickly descended into a civil war that has killed nearly half a million people and displaced half of the countrys pre-war population of 23 million.

Saudi Arabias Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan said Wednesday that the region is at a crossroads, facing a host of challenges. He called for cooperation between Arab countries to achieve security, stability and economic prosperity.

Bin Farhan also welcomed Syrias return, as did the league's Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit and Algerian Foreign Minister Ahmed Attaf.

Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad held bilateral meetings this week in the kingdom with several of his counterparts as Damascus continues to appeal for much-needed investment in the war-torn country  crippled by the conflict and Western sanctions  and has moved to restore ties with Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt, and Iraq.

Mekdad after the meeting told reporters that he hopes Arab governments will help with reconstruction and Syrian refugee returns. He hinted that Assad will attend the summit Friday. Per usual, Syria cannot be absent from any summit, he said.

Syrias return to the Arab fold comes as Damascus is also trying to amend ties with Turkey, a key backer of the armed Syrian opposition groups in the countrys northwest.

But a few Arab countries remain skeptical of Syria's return to the league, primarily Qatar.

Qatar's top diplomat, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, said Wednesday that his country opposes Syria's return but that it doesn't want to stand against the Arab consensus. Each Arab country, however, can unilaterally normalize relations with Syria, he said.

For that to happen from Qatar's perspective, Syria needs to go through a just and comprehensive solution" to its conflict, Sheikh Mohammed added.

The summit also comes as Arab governments are scrambling to resolve the conflict in Sudan between the military, led by Gen. Abdel Fattah Burhan, and the rival paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, commanded by Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo. The fighting in the East African country, which broke out in mid-April, has left over 600 people dead and displaced tens of thousands.

In Wednesday's meeting, top diplomats from Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Algeria called for a cease-fire in Sudan and an end to the escalating violence in Israel and the Palestinian territories.

___

Associated Press reporters Nick El Hajj and Lujain Jo in Dubai, United Arab Emirates contributed to this story.
Senator JD Vance

WASHINGTON - Here's a look at how area members of Congress voted May 5 through May 11:

In addition to the week's roll call votes, the Senate also passed, by unanimous consent, a resolution (S. Res. 23), demanding that China's government immediately release U.S. citizen Mark Swidan from custody.

House

House Vote 1:OCEAN ACIDIFICATION: The House has passed the Coastal Communities Ocean Acidification Act (H.R. 676), sponsored by Rep. Chellie Pingree, D-Maine. The bill would require the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to work with state and local governments to assess the acidification of oceans and other waterways and develop responses to acidification. The vote, on May 9, was 351 yeas to 58 nays.NAYS: Jim Jordan R-OH (4th)YEAS: Bob Latta R-OH (5th)

House Vote 2:WEATHER PREDICTION COMPUTING: The House has passed the Advanced Weather Model Computing Development Act (H.R. 1715), sponsored by Rep. Max Miller, R-Ohio. The bill would direct the Energy Department and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to do research on using machine learning and computing to improve prediction of the weather and climate. The vote, on May 9, was 356 yeas to 50 nays.NAYS: Jordan R-OH (4th)YEAS: Latta R-OH (5th)

U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown.

House Vote 3:BORDER SECURITY: The House has passed the Secure the Border Act (H.R. 2), sponsored by Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, R-Fla. The bill would require the resumption of construction of a wall at the border with Mexico, limit asylum claims by persons seeking U.S. residency, increase penalties for overstaying a residency visa, and bar the Homeland Security Department from processing the entry of foreigners who arrive in the U.S. other than at a port of entry. Diaz-Balart said the bill "provides real solutions to restore order to the southern border, strengthen our national security, enhance our broken immigration system, and protect innocent minors while enforcing the rule of law." An opponent, Rep. Sylvia Garcia, D-Texas, said: "This bill will separate families, put human lives at risk, lead to more unlawful migration by blocking off lawful pathways to protection, and waste taxpayer dollars on an ineffective wall that can't even withstand wind much less criminal smuggling cartels." The vote, on May 11, was 219 yeas to 213 nays.YEAS: Jordan R-OH (4th), Latta R-OH (5th)

House Vote 4:UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS: The House has passed the Protecting Taxpayers and Victims of Unemployment Fraud Act (H.R. 1163), sponsored by Rep. Jason Smith, R-Mo., to provide various financial incentives for states to recover excessive unemployment insurance benefits issued during COVID lockdowns and expand to 10 years the period for recovering erroneously paid benefits. The vote, on May 11, was 230 yeas to 200 nays.YEAS: Jordan R-OH (4th), Latta R-OH (5th)

House Vote 5:IDENTIFYING ILLICIT DRUGS: The House has passed the Testing, Rapid Analysis, and Narcotic Quality Research Act (H.R. 1734), sponsored by Rep. Mike Collins, R-Ga., to require the National Institute of Standards and Technology to fund research into the potential use of methods to identify xylazine, a veterinary tranquilizer drug also known as tranq, novel synthetic opioids and other illicit drugs that pose health concerns. The vote, on May 11, was unanimous with 425 yeas.YEAS: Jordan R-OH (4th), Latta R-OH (5th)

U.S. Rep. Marcy Kaptur, D-Toledo.

Senate

Senate Vote 1:INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT: The Senate has confirmed the nomination of L. Felice Gorordo to be the U.S. alternate executive director of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development for a two-year term. Gorordo has been a CEO of multiple technology companies involved in immigration and entrepreneurship, as well as a government official during the George W. Bush and Obama administrations. The vote, on May 10, was 52 yeas to 45 nays.YEAS: Sherrod Brown D-OHNAYS: J.D. Vance R-OH

Senate Vote 2:SPECIAL EDUCATION: The Senate has confirmed the nomination of Glenna Laureen Wright-Gallo to be the Education Department's assistant secretary for Special Education and Rehabilitative Services. Gallo has been a senior special education official for public schools in Washington and Utah. The vote, on May 10, was 52 yeas to 44 nays.YEAS: Brown D-OHNAYS: Vance R-OH

Senate Vote 3:NATIONAL ARCHIVIST: The Senate has confirmed the nomination of Colleen Shogan to the archivist of the United States. The archivist manages the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), which stores federal government documents considered to be of permanent importance. Shogan is a senior official at the White House Historical Association; previously, she worked at the Library of Congress, Congressional Research Service, and the Senate. The vote, on May 10, was 52 yeas to 45 nays.YEAS: Brown D-OHNAYS: Vance R-OH

Senate Vote 4:WOMEN'S ISSUES DIPLOMAT: The Senate has confirmed the nomination of Geeta Rao Gupta to be the U.S. ambassador at large for global women's issues. Gupta, currently a senior fellow at the U.N. Foundation, is also co-chair of a World Health Organization advisory committee on health emergencies. The vote, on May 10, was 51 yeas to 47 nays.YEAS: Brown D-OHNAYS: Vance R-OH

Senate Vote 5:ENDANGERED SPECIES REGULATION: The Senate has passed a resolution (S.J. Res. 23), sponsored by Sen. Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo., to disapprove of and void a 2022 National Marine Fisheries Service rule regulating the listing of endangered and threatened species and critical habitat for those species. Lummis said the rule has created "an ad hoc system that creates decreased property values and predatory legal challenges for American families and businesses. In fact, it incentivizes landowners to make sure that their land could never be habitat for threatened or endangered species." The vote, on May 11, was 51 yeas to 49 nays.NAYS: Brown D-OHYEAS: Vance R-OH

Senate Vote 6:LONG-EARED BAT: The Senate has passed a resolution (S.J. Res. 24), sponsored by Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., to disapprove of and void a Fish and Wildlife Service rule listing the northern long-eared bat as an endangered species. An opponent, Sen. Tom Carper, D-Del., cited the bat's beneficial role in controlling farm pest populations. The vote, on May 11, was 51 yeas to 49 nays.NAYS: Brown D-OHYEAS: Vance R-OH

This article originally appeared on Fremont News-Messenger: Votes cast by members of Congress May 5 to May 11
Area police to start Click it or Ticket campaign in Butler County this week

The Safety Council of Southwestern Ohio and area law enforcement motorists will begin the annual Click It or Ticket campaign this week in Butler County.

>>RELATED: Area police to hold Click it or Ticket campaign later this month

The Safety Council of Southwestern Ohio and Butler County Safe Communities will launch the 2023 campaign Thursday morning at Talawanda High School in Oxford at 10 a.m., according to a Safety Council spokesperson.

In 2022, we lost 14 community members in Butler County because they did not buckle their seat belts, said Aubrey Woods of the Safety Council of Southwestern Ohio.

The Safety Council said about 50% of all crashes involve motorists who dont wear their seatbelt and that number increases to 65% when it comes to deadly crashes.

Talawanda High School had the highest percentage of buckled drivers during the Battle of the Belts seat belt challenge this spring. They will be presented with a banner and law enforcement will speak on the importance of seatbelts.

The national seatbelt campaign will take place from May 22 through June 4, concurrent with the busy travel season.
Arnold Schwarzenegger thinks he and Maria Shriver deserve an Oscar for how they handled their divorce after it was discovered that he had fathered a child with their housekeeper

Arnold Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver, pictured at the 2003 Cannes Film Festival, announced their divorce in 2011. Jean Baptiste Lacroix/WireImage/Getty Images

Arnold Schwarzenegger feels proud of how he and Maria Shriver kept their divorce amicable.

Shriver filed for divorce in 2011 after discovering her husband had a son with their housekeeper.

The exes are still "really good friends and very close," Schwarzenegger told The Hollywood Reporter.

Arnold Schwarzenegger is pretty proud of how he and his former wife Maria Shriver handled their 2011 separation, which came following the news that the former bodybuilder had fathered a love child with their housekeeper.

In a new interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the "Terminator" star reflected on his separation from Shriver, who he was married to for 25 years before the news of his infidelity rocked their marriage.

Schwarzenegger, 75, said that the divorce was "was very, very difficult in the beginning," but said that "eventually, you move on."

Although Shriver filed for divorce soon after she confronted her then-husband in a marriage counseling session the day after Schwarzenegger left office as Governor of California, the pair did not finalize their divorce until December 2021.

Schwarzenegger actually thinks he and Shriver deserve recognition for the way they handled the derailment of their marriage while raising four children together.

He said: "If there's Oscars for how to handle divorce, Maria and I should get it for having the least amount of impact on the kids."

Arnold Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver at Studio 54 in New York City, four years before they married. Walter McBride/Corbis via Getty Images

The "Total Recall" actor said that he and Shriver are "really good friends and very close, and we are very proud of the way we raised our kids."

Schwarzenegger added that even though he has a "wonderful" and "successful" girlfriend, Heather Milligan, he still cares for his ex-wife.

"Even though we had this drama, we did Easter together, Mother's Day together, the Christmases together, all birthdays  everything together."

The former Mr. Universe and the niece of John F. Kennedy share daughters Katherine, 33, and Christina, 31, and sons Patrick, 29, and Christopher, 25, together.

Christina Schwarzenegger, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Patrick Schwarzenegger, Maria Shriver and Katherine Schwarzenegger together 2017. Phillip Faraone/Getty Images

On his kids, he added: "The sweetness and kindness you see in them, that's from my wife. The discipline and work ethic is from me."

Schwarzenegger is also father to 25-year-old Joseph Baena, whom he shares with his former housekeeper, Mildred Patricia Baena, who has followed in his footsteps and become a professional bodybuilder.

In his 2012 autobiography, "Total Recall: My Unbelievably True Life Story," Schwarzenegger said that he was initially in denial that Baena was his son, but as the years went by, their resemblance could not be denied.

Elsewhere in the interview, Schwarzenegger said that the irony that his character in his upcoming Netflix series "FUBAR" is a divorced man whose marriage partly failed because he cheated is not lost on him or Shriver.

"We were laughing about it  it feels like it's a documentary," he said but added that there were several differences between his on-screen character's divorce and his own.

"But in [my real-life marriage to Shriver], it was my fuckup. It was my failure."

Read the original article on Insider
At 81 years old, Dong Renwei, a prominent figure in China's sci-fi and popular science scenes, remains tireless in his efforts to promote Chinese science literature globally.

A photograph of Dong Renwei. [Photo provided to China.org.cn]

Dong has led a storied life and made many significant achievements. Born in April 1942 in Chongqing, he studied biology at Sichuan University before going on to become a senior engineer in the field. In his spare time, he was a prolific author, writing over 100 books in the genres of popular science, science fiction and literature. After retiring, Dong continued to dedicate himself to popular science and sci-fi causes, co-founding various important organizations and events, including the Chinese Nebula Awards, which is China's top sci-fi prize.

During the recently concluded 14th Chinese Nebula Awards and Children's Science Fiction Nebula Awards, along with their respective affiliated conventions and summit forums over the weekend, the mogul delivered numerous speeches, acted as a host, promoted new projects and presented awards. Immediately after the awards ceremony, he traveled to Chengdu in Sichuan province with several other sci-fi writers to inspect the construction of venues for the 81st Worldcon and participate in an industry conference. "I'm 81, but I feel as if I'm just 18," he remarked.

In his vision, the Chinese Nebula Awards brand, which he, his peers and followers have spent 14 years and a significant amount of private capital building, should be elevated to another level. He aims to transform it from a sci-fi literature awards ceremony into a sci-fi festival that encompasses related industries such as movies, games, cartoons and merchandise.

In addition, he and his co-founders originally envisioned the award as a global recognition of all Chinese sci-fi professionals, whether domestic or overseas. As the awards ceremony tours different cities every year, Dong has proposed hosting the awards in Hong Kong, Macao and even foreign territories such as Australia, the United States and the United Kingdom, to attract participation from foreigners.

The book cover art of Dong Renwei's sci-fi story "Mystery Case of Sanxingdui." [Image courtesy of Beijing Children's Publishing House]

Currently, Dong is working on two books about life science and biology, aiming to contribute to China's popular science library by exploring cutting-edge scientific topics. Additionally, his children's sci-fi story, "Mystery Case of Sanxingdui," which was published last year, received high praise and was awarded at this year's Children's Science Fiction Nebula Awards, which just so happened to take place in Guanghan, the home city of the mysterious Sanxingdui Ruins site in Sichuan.

The inspiration for the book came during an expedition tour that began in 2007, when Dong and his colleagues embarked on a quest to uncover clues about the origins of the legendary Chinese hero Yu the Great. At the same time, they also aimed to unravel the mysteries surrounding the ancient Shu Kingdom, which was connected to the Sanxingdui Ruins site, he revealed.

However, their research was abruptly interrupted by the devastating Wenchuan Earthquake in 2008, which claimed the lives of nearly 70,000 people and left around 18,000 missing. Dong emotionally recalled that many of his friends perished during the disaster 15 years ago. Fortunately, he had completed his part of the research and returned to Chengdu on May 11, 2008, just one day before the massive earthquake struck. This harrowing experience is also documented in his book.

After the expedition tour resumed, he continued gathering materials in Sichuan. However, in the end, his evidence fell short of what he deemed necessary to produce academic papers that could definitively determine the historical truth. As a result, Dong decided to convey his perspective on the lost history through the guise of a sci-fi narrative and pave roads for future generations. "This book is not just for children; anyone can read it and be inspired," he said. "In the future, I hope to see many more individuals carry on with my expeditions and research, and become renowned scholars."

Dong Renwei (C) poses for a photo with Gan Weikang (L), his partner and president of Eternal Vision Science Fiction Media Co. Hainan (EV/SFM), and Liu Cixin (R), renowned sci-fi writer, on stage at the 14th Chinese Nebula Awards gala held in Guanghan, Sichuan province, May 13, 2023. [Photo provided to China.org.cn]

Despite his advanced age, Dong Renwei tries to keep moving forward and make each day count. He explained his personal motto: "As long as I'm alive, I'll keep working. If I die, so be it. Whatever the case, when it comes to an end, it is the end." Furthermore, he actively keeps up with the times by keeping abreast of the latest technologies, including the much-discussed ChatGPT. "I just want to say, artificial intelligence (AI) is powerful, but the human race needs to remain in control and take the initiative."

In his vision of sci-fi, humanity should invest significant time and energy into transforming into superhumans or posthumans, utilizing technologies such as gene editing. "Then we will never be surpassed by AI," he stated. "The entire human race should unite. Must we wait for an AI crisis or an alien invasion to bring us together? If we continue to harm and kill one another, how can we progress and advance?"
A mother told Channel 2s Courtney Francisco that detectives gave her life-changing information about her sons homicide on the same day she planned to celebrate his birthday.

Jaden George was shot and killed at the Shell Gas and Food Mart on Old National Highway and Godby Road on February 1. He would have been 24 years old Saturday, May 13.

His mother, Vanessa George, planned a birthday balloon release at the spot he died to draw attention to his homicide case.

24 years ago, I gave my birth to my son the day before Mothers Day, said George. So, it just so happened to be today is his birthday, and today is the day before Mothers Day. So, this is hard to digest. This is hard to process.

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She said her son, a father of a 3-year-old himself, drove to the gas station with people he knew. He went inside. When he returned to the car, she said someone inside of it shot him. He died at pump 10.

College Park Police Department would only confirm they found the car at a nearby hotel and questioned the man inside of it and others who could have been involved.

More than three months passed with no arrests.

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Then, hours before the scheduled birthday event, George said a detective called her and said they made an arrest in her sons case.

The fact that the person who killed him was caught is just amazing, just amazing, you know, how God would be so gracious and so considerate to give us this gift on my sons birthday, said George.

Police identified the suspect as Zaibrian Minter.

The College Park Police Department told Channel 2 Action News Minter was arrested and charged with murder in connection to the incident.

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IN OTHER NEWS:
Sylvain Gaboury/Patrick McMullan via Getty

Art adviser to the stars Lisa Schiff suffered a massive reputational blow last week after a pair of wealthy clients accused her of running a Ponzi scheme. But her legal exposure got even worse on Wednesday, when a related group of plaintiffs filed a second lawsuit accusing her of many more instances of fraud, claiming they were bilked out of millions of dollars.

Schiffwho once served as an art adviser to Leonardo DiCapriohas not commented on the allegations, but her company, Schiff Fine Art in Tribeca, filed a notice in New York Supreme Court on Wednesday that it has gone belly-up and will be liquidating any assets to pay off debts.

According to the new lawsuit, heiress Candace and her husband Michael Barasch (and a trust set up for their children) gave Schiff wide latitude over their art purchases. As their exclusive adviser, she had access to their credit card information and managed all aspects of their collection, from purchases and sales to installation and storage, they said.

The Barasches would pay Schiff in advance for art purchases, and she often encouraged them to sell certain works and then re-allocate the proceeds into other acquisitions, the suit said. Schiff or one of her businesses allegedly received a commission on each transaction.

Heiress Accuses Art Adviser to the Stars of Ponzi Scheme

Candace Baraschwho is also a plaintiff in the earlier Ponzi scheme suitwould speak to Schiff several times per day, and at times the two traveled together, the lawsuit said. During these trips, Barasch witnessed her advisers alleged penchant for luxury. On one visit to Paris in 2022, the lawsuit recounted, Schiff splurged on more than $32,000 in goods at a single store, including a pair of leggings for roughly $573, a $4,800 dress, and a $953 pair of jeans.

Their relationship degenerated earlier this year after Schiff allegedly failed to pay Barasch and another couple $1.8 million from the sale of an oil painting, The Uncle 3 by Adrian Ghenie. Following months of delays, Schiff allegedly admitted on May 8 that she didnt have the money. That dispute formed the basis of the Ponzi scheme lawsuit.

Since The Daily Beast first reported on that suit, many other parties in the art world have come forward and accused Schiff of other financial irregularities, the Barasches claimed this week. Several galleries, they said, told Candace Barasch that they were never fully paid for works that Schiff purported to purchase for the Barasches.

As one example, in early 2020 Schiff advised Candace Barasch on a sculpture by Wangechi Mutu that was available for purchase for $650,000, according to the lawsuit. In the filing, Barasch claimed she wrote Schiffs firm a check to pay for the deal. But, the suit continued, the gallery never got all the money, and a senior partner at the gallery recently told Barasch that she had an outstanding balance of $252,000.

Artist Tavares Strachan, Lisa Schiff and writer Neville Wakefield at a 2019 event. Sylvain Gaboury/Patrick McMullan via Getty

In a second case representative of the alleged scheme, Schiff advised Barasch on a different sculpture, by Sarah Lucas, that was listed for $390,000. Once again, Barasch wrote a check, the lawsuit claimed, but the money did not find its way to the gallery.

In total, the Barasches asserted, they transferred over $6.6 million to Schiff and her businesses to buy art on their behalf over the past 18 months. They now believe that much of the fundswas used instead to fund Schiffs lavish lifestyle, cover debts [she] owed to other clients, or to consummate art purchases for other clients.

The Barasches said theyve had trouble figuring out exactly how many times they may have been defrauded, since Schiff was the custodian of [their] inventory and records.

Furthermore, they declared in the suit, Schiff tried to squeeze money out of them until the very end, even as she seemed to know her scheme was about to implode. According to the complaint, she pushed them to wire funds every day of the week before she finally confessed that she didnt have their money.

Candace Barasch said in the lawsuit that she transferred $190,531 to Schiff earlier this month. Yet, Barasch added, when she confronted Schiff on May 8 and asked where this money went, Schiff said she did not know.

Neither Schiff, her lawyer, nor the attorney designated to steer the bankruptcy process immediately responded to requests for comment. Schiffs LinkedIn account was also taken offline, and no one picked up the phone when The Daily Beast called her gallery. As ARTnews previously reported, on Saturday the artist Richelle Richwho was supposed to have a solo exhibition at Schiffs gallery next monthwrote in an Instagram post that unexpectedly the gallery has closed.

We will no doubt learn the whole story as things play out in the press, but for now I am left pretty devastated that 5 months of planning this show may come to nothing, Rich continued.

According to the Barasches complaint, Schiff has spent the past eight days trying to conduct damage control. She apparently emailed at least seven of her other clients (but not Plaintiffs), saying that she has fallen on incredibly hard financial times, adding that her current situation is very complicated from a legal perspective and to direct questions to her lawyer. The lawsuit also alleged that Schiff has contacted jewelers to try to sell back thousands of dollars in jewelry.

On May 8, Schiff told Barasch that she had considered filing for bankruptcy prior to the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the suit, but did not do so because she was afraid of a criminal investigation. Supposedly, Schiff had hoped to brainstorm a way to get her and her companies out of this financial hole during her stay in a rehabilitation center in San Francisco in January 2020. (That rehab stint allegedly cost over $100,000.)

The Barasches are pursuing an injunction to freeze Schiffs accounts. Otherwise, they claimed, they will have little to no chance of clawing back their millions.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

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Aryan Khan case: Sameer Wankhede accused of asking for bribe from Shah Rukh Khan

A year after Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan's son was cleared of all charges of possession and consumption of drugs, the case is once again making headlines in India.

An officer in charge of investigating the case against Aryan Khan - who was arrested in November 2021 - has been charged for corruption and extortion.

Sameer Wankhede has been accused of asking for a bribe of 250m rupees ($3.04m, 2.4m) from the actor's family.

On Monday, he was among the five people named in a complaint filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), India's leading investigation agency.

The CBI said that Mr Wankhede had allegedly allowed his aides to threaten Aryan Khan's family, saying he would be framed in a drugs case unless they paid the amount.

Mr Wankhede has denied the allegations and said he is being "rewarded for being a patriot".

There was no immediate comment from Aryan Khan or his family.

The case so far

Mr Wankhede was one of the three officers who led the October 2021 raid on a cruise in which the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) claimed to have seized drugs from Aryan Khan and 19 others, and arrested them.

Aryan Khan was taken off a cruise ship that was on its way from Mumbai - the city where his family live - to Goa.

The NCB said Aryan Khan and the others were detained under laws "related to possession, consumption and sale of illegal substances".

The case made headlines in India and globally. The Bollywood actor's son spent nearly three weeks in jail and was later released on bail.

A twist came in November when Mr Wankhede was criticised for mishandling the case and was transferred from his position as the chief of NCB's Mumbai zone.

Aryan Khan was arrested in a drugs case and spent nearly three weeks in jail in 2021

Nawab Malik, a politician belonging to the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) which was part of the ruling alliance in Maharashtra at that time, accused Mr Wankhede of several irregularities, including extortion.

Shortly after, the case against Aryan Khan - along with six other pending investigations - was taken away from Mr Wankhede and handed over to a special investigation team.

Mr Wankhede's tenure with the NCB ended in December and five months later, he was moved to a tax department in the southern city of Chennai. Reports, however, said that he continued to spend most of his time in Mumbai on leave.

In the meantime, the drugs agency cleared Aryan Khan of all charges in May 2022.

In August, the case was back in the news after Mr Wankhede filed a police complaint, alleging that he was receiving death threats on social media.

In another complaint the same month, Mr Wankhede alleged that he was being harassed by a top NCB official, who was investigating the irregularities in the drugs case.

What are the charges against Wankhede ?

The CBI says it began investigating Mr Wankhede and four others after an NCB official accused them of impropriety under Mr Wankhede's supervision.

It said that a special enquiry team of the NCB found several irregularities in the manner in which Mr Wankhede conducted the investigation.

The names of 17 suspects had been dropped from the official documents filed in connection with the case, the agency said in its complaint.

It added that Mr Wankhede allowed two civilians - KP Gosavi and his aide Sanvile D'Souza - to accompany the team of NCB officials on the raid as "independent witnesses", but gave the suspects the impression that they were NCB officials.

Mr Gosavi is accused of demanding 250m rupees from Aryan Khan's family

"Gosavi was even allowed to come to the NCB office after the raid, which is against the norms for an independent witness," the complaint registered by the CBI said. "He also clicked selfies and recorded the voice note of an accused."

According to the enquiry team, this allowed Mr Gosavi to demand 250m rupees from Aryan Khan's family as he threatened them with accusations of drug possession against their son.

The amount was brought down to 180m rupees and a token amount of 5m rupees was taken as bribe by Mr Gosavi and Mr D'Souza. A part of this was later returned by them, the CBI said. Aryan Khan's family has not commented on the allegation.

The CBI complaint also alleged that during the investigation, Mr Wankhede had failed to provide "satisfactory proof" of his assets against his declared income.

What's happening now?

On Monday, CBI officials raided Mr Wankhede's home along with 28 other locations in Mumbai city in connection with the case.

Mr Wankhede denied the allegations against him and said he was being "rewarded for being a patriot".

"They found 23,000 rupees and four property papers in my house," he told reporters after the raid . "These assets were acquired before I joined the service."

On Tuesday, his wife said the allegations against him were wrong.

"We are fully cooperating in the CBI proceedings. We have faith in law and order, and we are ready to cooperate with the investigating agency as a responsible citizen," Kranti Redkar Wankhede told news agency ANI.

BBC News India is now on YouTube. Click here to subscribe and watch our documentaries, explainers and features.

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Actor Ashley Park has been honored with the IMDb "Breakout Star" Starmeter Award.

The award is determined by IMDbPro data, analyzing the page views of over 200 million monthly visitors worldwide.

Parks popularity has increased on the sites Starmeter due to her role as Mindy in Netflixs Emily in Paris and as the lead of Adele Lims upcoming directorial debut feature Joy Ride.

Park expressed her gratitude for the honor and encouraged other actors to continue to pursue their ambitions.

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My early experiences on camera I first fell in love with all aspects of storytelling. I never even imagined a place for myself on screen until then. My best advice for emerging actors is to use IMDb and IMDbPro to explore how other actors you respect began their careers and which professionals helped them navigate the industry when they got started.



Park also acknowledged the Asian actors and filmmakers who inspire her, including Sandra Oh, Steven Yeun, Lucy Liu, Michelle Yeoh, Julie Oh, Bong Joon Ho, Daniel Dae Kim and Jon M. Chu. She mentioned recent titles that have resonated with her, such as "Parasite," "Minari" and "Everything Everywhere All at Once."

Previous recipients of the IMDb "Breakout Star" Starmeter Award include Ayo Edebiri, Emma D'Arcy, Rege-Jean Page, Simone Ashley and Nicholas Braun.

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Aside from Emily in Paris and Joy Ride, Park has added a few other notable roles to her filmography. She stars in the Ali Wong- and Steven Yeun-led Netflix series Beef, is in the English voice cast for Star Wars: Visions Season 2 and will appear in Season 3 of Hulus Only Murders in the Building.

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Indian police officers often work long, irregular hours without proper rest or breaks

Police officers in the Indian state of Assam are being asked to lose weight in a few months or leave the force.

A top state police official said that the body mass index (BMI) of all officers will be "professionally recorded" starting mid-August.

Officers in the "obese" category will then be given time until November to reduce weight or voluntarily retire.

People with medical conditions will be exempted, said GP Singh, Assam's director general of police.

Mr Singh said in a tweet that he would be the first in the force to get his BMI recorded.

In line with directions of the Hon @CMOfficeAssam , @assampolice Hq has decided to go in for professional recording of Body Mass Index (BMI) of all Assam Police personnel including IPS/APS officers and all DEF/Bn/Organisations.

We plan to give three months time to all Assam  GP Singh (@gpsinghips) May 16, 2023

A few weeks ago, Assam's chief minister had said that around 300 police personnel in the state would be asked to retire early because they were "habitual drinkers" and "physically unfit".

He said it was part of an exercise to "cut the deadwood out of the police force".

Studies have found that Indian police officers often work long, irregular hours without proper rest or breaks.

In 2018, reserve police officers in Karnataka state were also asked to lose weight or face suspension. A top official had told the BBC at the time that the decision was taken because several officers had died due to "lifestyle-related diseases" such as cardiac problems and diabetes in the past 18 months.

BMI is calculated by dividing a person's weight by the square of their height, and is used by many doctors, health service providers and insurers around the world to decide whether an individual is healthy, overweight or obese.

But its is also highly controversial - several experts have argued that using BMI as a measure of health is flawed as it is inaccurate, unscientific and and designed for white, European men.

BBC News India is now on YouTube. Click here to subscribe and watch our documentaries, explainers and features.

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Artists depiction of Boyajians Star surrounded by a swarm of dusty comets.

As the famous X-Files poster declares, I want to believe. This wanting, however, often leads us astray. When confronted with shocking and inexplicable celestial phenomena, we tend to see intelligent design. This jumping to conclusions is a sin for which we can be forgivenwe have an insatiable need to know if someones out there. When we say, I want to believe, what were actually saying is, I hope were not alone.



From the moment the first members of our species took the time to look up and ponder existence, weve been misinterpreting the stars. Someone once told me that ancient peoples probably mistook the tiny twinkling dots above for distant campfires, in what was probably the first example of humans seeing aliens that arent actually there. Were still doing this, as these historical examples demonstrate.

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This story was originally published on December 16, 2020.

Public works on Mars

Martian canals depicted by astronomer Percival Lowell.

Peering through his telescope at Mars, American astronomer Percival Lowell was certain he spotted signs of intelligent life.

That Mars is inhabited by beings of some sort or other we may consider as certain as it is uncertain what those beings may be, as he famously wrote in 1906.

Lowell interpreted the strange patterns seen on the surface as a complex network of canals, which intelligent Martians used to irrigate their crops. Italian astronomer Giovanni Schiaparelli had reached a similar conclusion 30 years earlier. A bold interpretation, but Lowell, Schiaparelli, and others were fooled by an apparent optical illusion (or wishful thinking), as the dark markings on Mars were forged by natural geological processes.

Little green men and their freaky beacons

The Vela Pulsar.

When astronomer Jocelyn Bell Burnell discovered a pulsar in 1967, she didnt quite know what to make of the objects eerie rhythm. Heres how she described the moment in her 1977 essay, Little Green Men, White Dwarfs or Pulsars?:



We did not really believe that we had picked up signals from another civilization, but obviously the idea had crossed our minds and we had no proof that it was an entirely natural radio emission. It is an interesting problemif one thinks one may have detected life elsewhere in the universe how does one announce the results responsibly? Who does one tell first? We did not solve the problem that afternoon, and I went home that evening very cross [as] here was I trying to get a Ph.D. out of a new technique, and some silly lot of little green men had to choose my aerial and my frequency to communicate with us.

Funnily enough, Burnell and her team named the pulsar LGM-1, which stands for little green men. Pulsars are not celestial lighthouses built by communicative aliens, but rather periodic flashes of electromagnetic radiation produced by magnetic, rotating neutron stars.



Correction: A previous version of this article claimed that Jocelyn Bell Burnell won the Nobel Prize. This is incorrect, but to be fair, she deserves it.

The signal that made scientists say WOW!

Ehmans handwritten notes on the computer printout.

On August 15, 1977, astronomer Jerry Ehman detected a strange signal while working on a SETI project at Ohio State Universitys Big Ear radio telescope. The 72-second sequence featured an unusual intensity, prompting Ehman to circle the letter code 6EQUJ5 in a printout and write WOW! in the margins. This code, which describes the intensity variation of the narrow radio signal, appeared to come from a globular cluster in the constellation Sagittarius. The source of the signal was never determined, leading to speculation that it came from aliens. Research from 2016 suggested the signal was produced not by aliens, but a hydrogen cloud caused by comets.

The SETI signal that wasnt

The 140-foot telescope at the Green Bank Observatory.

During the summer of 1997, scientists with the SETI Institute detected an exceptionally narrow radio signal from space that bore the hallmarks of an alien transmission.



The signal, collected by the National Radio Astronomy Observatorys 140-foot antenna, was millions of times more spectrally compact than a TV broadcast, according to Seth Shostak, a team member at the time and the current senior astronomer at the SETI Institute. The scientists were super excited, because they confirmed the signal as coming from space (and not from a local source). In years of trying, we had found no other signal that had been so promising, he wrote in a 2016 article for Air & Space. Could this be the real deal?



Disappointingly, it turned out to be a telemetry signal from the SOHO solar research satellite operated by NASA and ESA.



Peculiar radio bursts from deep space

Artists impression of a magnetar outburst.

Since 2007, astronomers have detected hundreds of powerful, millisecond-long pulses known as Fast Radio Bursts (FRBs). Until very recently, all of these pulses originated from outside our galaxy, making it exceptionally difficult for astronomers to pinpoint a source. Various natural phenomena were ascribed, along with the inevitable its aliens explanation. The stunning recent detection of an FRB inside our Milky Way galaxy suggests magnetarshighly magnetic neutron starsare responsible for these signals, or at least some of them.



Peculiar radio bursts from the cafeteria

Behold, my microwave oven, and not the microwave oven responsible for the so-called perytons.

In what is one of my all-time favorite Gizmodo headlines, our former science reporter Maddie Stone wrote: Mysterious Radio Signals Came From Microwave Oven, Not Outer Space. Oof.



For years, astronomers at the Parkes Observatory in Australia had been flummoxed by a series of quick radio pulses that appeared to originate from deep space. At the same time, these pulses, dubbed perytons, seemed to come from somewhere nearby. As subsequent tests revealed, a peryton can be generated at 1.4 GHz when a microwave oven door is opened prematurely and the telescope is at an appropriate relative angle, according to research led by astronomer Emily Petroff from the Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy.

The time 234 stars tried to get our attention

The SDSS 2.5 meter telescope.

In 2016, astronomer Ermanno Borra from Laval University in Quebec, along with graduate student Eric Trottier, were exploring the possibility that advanced aliens might want to contact us with powerful directed lasers. To that end, the duo searched through 2.5 million stars recorded by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey in hopes of finding distinct periodic spectral signatures consistent with such a technological feat. Of these, Borra and Trottier found 234 candidates, all emanating from very Sun-like stars. After ruling out several possibilities, the authors settled on two possible outcomes: Either these signals are an artifact from the Sloan instrument, or, ahem, aliens.



A follow-up letter written by researchers from the Breakthrough Listen initiative said the one in 10,000 objects with unusual spectra seen by Borra and Trottier are certainly worthy of additional study, but extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. It is too early to unequivocally attribute these purported signals to the activities of extraterrestrial civilizations.

Boyajians Star and the supposed alien megastructure

Artists depiction of a dusty ring around Boyajians Star.

Astronomers have known about KIC 8462852 for nearly 130 years, but this star, informally known as Boyajians Star, has been acting strangely of late. In 2015, Louisiana State University astrophysicist Tabetha Boyajian began to notice some intermittent dimming, sometimes by as much as 22%. These changes in luminosity lasted for a few days or weeks, and no patterns to the dimming could be detected.

News of Boyajians Star prompted all sorts of explanations, from a swarm of comets and an irregular band of dust through to a newly destroyed planet and a distorted star. Penn State astronomer Jason Wright shook the science community by proposing the presence of an alien megastructure, like a Dyson sphere. Research from 2019 suggests a disintegrating moon is the most likely cause of the strange dimming.



Vanishing stars

A celestial object appears in an old telescopic plate (left) but is strangely missing in a later plate (right).

Research from last year identified around 100 vanishing stars, which, as the name suggests, are, uh, vanishing stars. More technically known as red transients, these stars initially appear as dim red dots that get progressively brighter and then disappear from view, in an unexplained process that lasts less than an hour.



Unless a star collapses directly into a black hole, there is no known physical process by which it could physically vanish, wrote the researchers, led by Beatriz Villarroel from Stockholm University, in their paper. If such examples exist this makes it interesting for searches for new exotic phenomena or even signs of technologically advanced civilizations.

These exotic phenomena could include failed supernovae or massive solar flares emanating from red dwarfs, but we dont actually know. Vanishing stars remain a question in need of an answer, affording us the opportunity to blame aliensat least for now.

Stay open-minded

The giant red nebula (NGC 2014) and its smaller blue neighbor (NGC 2020).

It may seem like Im poking fun, but I have all the time in the world for the types of speculations described in this piece. In virtually every case, the scientists listed as many natural phenomenaboth known and speculativeas possible to explain the inexplicable, prior to invoking alien involvement.

Scientists should be allowed to posit these types of speculations, and possibilities must remain possibilities until scientists can rule them out. Because one day, that strange thing we detect might actually be aliens.



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(Bloomberg) -- The US is helping Nigerian security agencies investigate an attack on an American convoy in the West African nation in which at least four people were reportedly killed.

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The attack took place in Nigerias southeastern Anambra state on Tuesday, a US Mission Nigeria spokesperson said in response to questions, without giving further details. US Mission Nigeria personnel are working with Nigerian security services to investigate.

At least four people died and three others were abducted in the incident, Agence France-Presse reported. Among the dead were two members of Nigerias Police Mobile Force and two US consulate staff, it said, citing police spokesman Ikenga Tochukwu.

No US citizens were involved, and therefore there were no US citizens hurt, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said in a briefing at the White House on Tuesday. The US State Department is looking into the matter, he said.

A separatist group in southeastern Nigeria, the Indigenous People of Biafra, has waged an increasingly violent campaign to create an independent state of Biafra. A thriving kidnapping-for-ransom industry has also emerged in recent years. Security agencies and individuals have been targeted in the violence.

President-elect Bola Tinubu, who will be inaugurated on May 29, has pledged to beef up the military to tackle insecurity in the country, which has also been struggling to contain an Islamist insurgency and terror attacks in northern Nigeria. US Secretary of State held talks with Tinubu on Tuesday and promised the USs continued comprehensive security cooperation, and reforms to support economic growth.

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'Affinity' graduations for certain groups take place on campuses throughout the U.S. Jose Luis Pelaez Inc / Getty Images

For most college students, graduation is a one-time event. But for a growing number of students from various groups, such as students of color or LGTBQ students, there might be multiple graduation ceremonies to attend.

These special graduation ceremonies for certain groups are known as affinity graduations. These ceremonies are drawing the ire of conservatives, who dismiss them as segregated graduations.

As scholars who focus on issues of equity and student development, we have a different take. We see such celebrations as not only relevant but critical to fostering a sense of belonging for students of color. This sense of belonging is particularly important among students from what we refer to in our 2021 book as minoritized groups  that is, groups that are not the dominant group and are seen as minorities even when numerically they are not.

Special programs to support students of color  both academically and socially  can also bring about a better sense of self, persistence and ultimately success in college.

A history of exclusion

As we state in our 2021 book, students of color formed their own fraternities and sororities in response to larger societal oppression and other forms of discrimination. More specifically, they formed these groups in response to discriminatory practices within historically white sororities and fraternities. These culturally based sororities and fraternities, some of which were founded in the early 1900s during the era of Jim Crow, emerged to serve and lift up minoritized communities.

Affinity graduations  in our view  are an extension of these efforts by students of color. Much like different student organizations, such as as LGBTQ+ groups, Black Student Unions or Mexican American Student Associations, they are not meant to segregate students. Rather, they are meant to create a supportive community on campus for students of color and other marginalized groups. The organizations also serve as ways for students from different groups to organize and advocate for changes in the curriculum and higher education systems in general to better serve their interests.

These kinds of efforts create spaces where students can feel seen and wholly affirmed for who they are. They also provide a refuge from discrimination students may experience elsewhere on campus. This discrimination can adversely affect student mental health. Further, these spaces serve as a venue for students to discover themselves and develop their identities.

Special graduations

When students from historically disadvantaged backgrounds graduate, many want to celebrate the joy they feel after having done what it takes to get through college. Affinity graduations are meant to recognize and celebrate the accomplishments of particular communities that have overcome barriers to graduate from college. These barriers may include racial discrimination or anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric and legislation.

Affinity graduations are optional ceremonies. They take place at colleges and universities throughout the country. For instance, in addition to its main graduation ceremony, Penn State offers a Lavender Graduation for queer and transgender students. It also offers celebrations for Latinx, Black, Indigenous and Asian Pacific Islander Desi American students.

Harvard offers similar race- and ethnicity-based ceremonies. The school also offers a graduation ceremony for students with disabilities. So does California State University, Monterey Bay, which also has one for undocumented students.

Criticism and attacks

Affinity graduations go back at least to the 1970s. Their formation undoubtedly parallels broader social movements at the time led by minoritized groups in the United States.

As of late, affinity graduations have drawn attacks from conservative thinkers and news outlets. Some have gone so far as to say that affinity graduations serve only as a form of self-segregation.

Based on our research, we think the critics miss the fact that affinity graduations are not designed to segregate students, but rather to bring them together in community with others who share similar identities and potentially similar experiences.

Too often, we believe, affinity graduations are the targets of people who are trying to reduce the complex histories of U.S. higher education into overly simplistic narratives. We also see the attacks on affinity graduations as part of a larger attack on diversity, equity and inclusion efforts on college campuses.

Many conservatives argue that American schools should not teach about the history of racism in the United States. The creation of affinity graduations is rooted in a response to racism. Given that there are those who dont even want students to learn about racism, it comes as little surprise that there are also those who would want these affinity graduations to go away.

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: Crystal Garcia, University of Nebraska-Lincoln and Antonio Duran, Arizona State University.

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The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Attorneys for an Internal Revenue Service whistleblower said their client, who has claimed the ongoing investigation into Hunter Bidens taxes was mishandled, has been removed from the probe.

Today the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Criminal Supervisory Special Agent we represent was informed that he and his entire investigative team are being removed from the ongoing and sensitive investigation of the high-profile, controversial subject about which our client sought to make whistleblower disclosures to Congress, the attorneys wrote in a letter to Congress obtained by The Hill.

The attorneys said the whistleblower was notified he was being removed from the probe at the Justice Departments request. The agent alleged earlier this year that the IRS investigation into Bidens taxes was being mishandled and asked for whistleblower protection in exchange for his information into the investigation.

The attorneys said the move to remove the whistleblower is clearly retaliatory and may also constitute obstruction of a congressional inquiry. The attorneys also pointed to IRS Commissioner Daniel Werfels testimony last month, in which he said those making a whistleblower claim will face no retaliation.

We respectfully request that you give this matter your prompt attention, the attorneys wrote in their letter to the chairs and ranking members of relevant House and Senate committees.

Removing the experienced investigators who have worked this case for years and are now the subject-matter experts is exactly the sort of issue our client intended to blow the whistle on to begin with.

When reached for comment, the Justice Department referred The Hill to U.S. Attorney David Weiss, who is overseeing the investigation.

The Department cannot comment on the matter, a department spokesperson said in a statement to The Hill. As to any investigation of Hunter Biden, as the Attorney General has said, that investigation is being handled by U.S. Attorney David Weiss, who has full authority to make investigative decisions and to bring charges in any jurisdiction as he deems appropriate.

A spokesperson for Weisss office declined to comment on the letter. The Hill has reached out to the IRS for comment.

It comes as House Republicans have launched multiple investigations into Biden, including his ties with foreign entities, his taxes and other financial records. President Biden has denied he has any knowledge of his familys financial dealings amid the ongoing probes.

 Updated May 18 at 2:11 p.m.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
To the editor:

In his article Combating US cyber adversaries calls for whole-of-government approach, which appeared in C4ISRNET on 17 May 2023, U.S. Rep. Mark E. Green highlights that cyber criminals take advantage of gaps in our visibility over domestic infrastructure and the need for a strong, cross-sector, and whole-of-government approach.

He also points out that interagency cooperation can be improved through the State Departments new Bureau of Cyberspace and Digital Policy, and that efforts are needed to improve collective cybersecurity.

His observation that over 80% of critical infrastructure is privately owned and operated indicates that a whole-of-nation effort is needed, not simply a whole-of-government effort. Furthermore, close partnerships within the private sector are needed, as is the ability to share timely, actionable, and contextualized information to stop cyber-attacks in their tracks.

These important aspects canvassed by Rep. Mark Green apply equally to Australia, where several government initiatives and legislation that address cyber assurance, reporting, and security have been introduced. However, with Australias critical infrastructure entities increasingly being targeted by sophisticated cyber-attacks, we must ask the question - is that enough?

Defensive strategies cannot be formulated in isolation by individual critical infrastructure entities; a collective security posture is needed. In addition, a community-based approach is needed to support government efforts in materially uplifting cyber resilience across the critical infrastructure ecosystem.

The challenges for directors and boards of critical infrastructure operators have increased and additional obligations have now been placed on them and their entities. The onus is on them to act to mitigate risks, which involves balancing risk mitigation measures, and the associated costs within the entitys operational context.

The extent to which the government can share information across the entire critical infrastructure community must be questioned in light of the high classification of much of that information. It can provide assessments of the threats and will need to increase that effort; however, that is likely to be of a highly technical nature, which many critical infrastructure businesses will not be able to process or understand.

Existing sharing initiatives, led by government, are heavily focused on the sharing of technical threat information and due to low maturity of most small-to-medium enterprises, galvanizing community engagement across the public and private sectors has not been as smooth as anticipated.

Australias critical infrastructure providers now span 11 sectors and 22 asset classes, as well as their embedded supply chains; most of these organisations dont have the capability to share machine-to-machine intelligence. Nor has the capability existed in industry to share cyber threat intelligence and build collective cyber defence.

Industry needs an internal trusted facilitator for the intelligence exchange and to ensure the overall quality of information flowing out to the critical infrastructure community.

Existing Information Sharing and Analysis Centres, or ISACs, do not address the breadth of critical infrastructure sectors, only supporting a few of the eleven sectors. Cyber threats span all sectors and a more holistic approach to sharing information on cyber threats and attacks is required. Furthermore, as mentioned above, many public and private sector organisations lack the knowledge, resources or capabilities to effectively participate and gain value from threat-sharing initiatives.

What is needed for the critical infrastructure community over and above the good work already done by government? First, trusted cyber threat intelligence sharing that ensures an industry-led trusted environment to securely and independently gather and disseminate cyber threat intelligence across all critical infrastructure sectors. Second, a commercially safe environment where Intellectual Property and liability protections exist. Third, operational processes and technical capabilities that enable sharing of contextualised cyber threat intelligence and the turn-key capabilities that address member needs. And fourth, a transparent and open culture that encourages behaviours of participation, collaboration, and cooperation between members.

The Critical Infrastructure - Information Sharing and Analysis Centre was launched on 6 February this year to address those four aspects, and is establishing a cyber-intelligence sharing community to help boost the cyber resilience of all critical infrastructure providers in Australia, from the largest to the smallest. CI-ISAC offers a mechanism for national collective cyber defence for the critical infrastructure community - a cyber-intelligence sharing community focused on industry owners and operators of Australias critical infrastructure to deliver collective cyber defence.

CI-ISAC intends to augment existing initiatives and not detract from the excellent work already underway. CI-ISAC is not introducing any new frameworks or assurance initiatives; rather, it is putting in place an industry-led vehicle and capabilities around operational cyber threat sharing to drive cyber defence outcomes. This enables members to manage their risk more effectively by getting insights across all critical infrastructure sectors.

ISACs represent an opportunity for Industry to self-organise and manage their own challenges  engaging with Government on their own terms  to improve Australias overall cyber defences. The strength and utility of an ISAC is directly related to the number of members it brings together and the diversity of insights and knowledge that these members bring to the ISACs intelligence-sharing platform. A single Australian ISAC offers a cross-sectoral perspective and a united ability to interact with Government initiatives.

Furthermore, a single CI-ISAC facilitates resource pooling, expanded access to support, and improved overall cyber posture. Above all, it improves the quality of analysis and contextual information sharing. The network effects of a large, cross-sectoral ISAC benefit members by leveraging mature players to build turn-key capabilities which can be used to assist less mature, financially constrained industry members and accelerate their cyber maturity. This, coupled with central supporting functions, consolidates expertise, and maximises utilisation of highly skilled and low-density cyber professionals. CI-ISAC Australia offers economies of scale and efficient utilisation of central expertise.

This contextual information sharing is vital as technical indicators in isolation do not inform risk-based decisions to enable a proactive response. CI-ISAC builds context around threat information shared by members, validating and enriching insights from members and supporting decision-making for all members. Additionally, CI-ISAC is bore-sighted on the operational requirements of its members with reporting and analysis aimed to match the operational cadence of businesses.

These approaches will materially raise the level of collective defence of CI-ISAC members. Uplift is by industry, for industry, with a focus on threats targeting Australia, but informed and augmented with strategic global partnerships.

Signed,

David Sandell, CEO and Managing Director, CI-ISAC

CI-ISAC is a not-for-profit entity that connects companies and governments, allowing them to share information on cyber-attacks and strengthen their collective responses.

Have an opinion?

This article is an letter to the editor and the opinions expressed are those of the author. If you would like to respond, or have a letter or editorial of your own you would like to submit, please email C4ISRNET and Federal Times Senior Managing Editor Cary OReilly.
You are here: Business

People experience a BYD Tang electric car during a media preview of the 100th Brussels Motor Show in Brussels, Belgium, Jan. 13, 2023. [Photo/Xinhua]



China's automobile exports maintained the trend of strong growth in the first four months of this year, industry data shows.

A total of 1.37 million vehicles were exported during the period, surging 89.2 percent from the same period last year, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.

Passenger vehicle exports jumped 110 percent year on year to top 1.14 million units, while exports of commercial vehicles climbed 31.5 percent from the same period of last year to 228,000 units.

In the January-April period, exports of new-energy vehicles also soared 170 percent year on year to 348,000 units, the data also reveals.
Aviator seeks to become first Black female pilot to fly around the world solo

Earthrounders, a website that keeps track of the accomplishment, reported 142 solo flights around the globe to date. That includes 11 female pilots but none of them were Black women.

Leona Serao is looking to cement her place in history as she embarks on a journey to become the first Black woman to fly solo around the globe.

Early August will see the 23-year-old set out on a three-month worldwide flight, traveling through 33 countries on four continents before she returns home, according to Yahoo News.

Earthrounders, a website that keeps track of the accomplishment, reported 142 solo flights around the globe to date. Female pilots, none of whom were Black, completed 11 of them.

Leona Serao has her pilots license, a rarity for a Black woman. Making a solo flight around the world would be rarer still. (Photo Credit: Adobe Stock)

Assuming she successfully makes the journey, Serao understands how significant it would be as the first Black woman to accomplish such an impressive feat. Im going to be able to inspire other Black and other African people who want to join the aviation field, Serao told Yahoo News.

After six months of intense study and almost $70,000 spent on flight school, Serao, whose pilot father inspired her career journey, earned her pilots license at the end of 2020.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates a little over 158,000 licensed pilots in the U.S. Less than 1%, or around 150, of those pilots are Black women, a sliver of the 2.6%, or about 4,100, of the total of African American pilots.

There is 100% a void of young women seeing other young women who look like them in the field of aviation that they can aspire to, Jamaican-American pilot Barrington Irving told Yahoo News.

Irving made aviation history in 2007 as the first Black person to fly solo around the globe. He recalled having only $30 in his pocket when he left Miami 16 years ago, unable to swim or afford a life jacket or a survival suit. Still, he was adamant about succeeding  especially after observing a couple of thousand people cheering him on at the airport.

I just told myself, I need to get from point A to point B and see how far it could go,' Irving recalled, noting that crowdfunding wasnt as popular back then.

Irving said the flight itself may have been the easiest part of his journey despite the lengthy periods of alone time. He admits that looking back, he doesnt know what he was thinking given his limited resources, but ultimately, when his story inspired others, money began to pour in.

He has since established a school to train a new generation of aviators. As someone who has mentored at least six young pilots who have successfully flown alone around the globe, Irving is well aware of the long-lasting significance Seraos endeavor will have.

She will inspire so many women, not just Black girls, but so many women, Irving contended, Yahoo reported. And theres nothing like being the first.

Serao, born in the United States and reared in the Democratic Republic of the Congo  the second-largest African nation, where only three women hold commercial pilot licenses  admits that she had trouble adjusting to American culture when she returned seven years ago before starting college.

While her journey around the world wont be easy, she is ready for the challenge. She started an online fundraising effort to help pay for her travel expenses, including food, fuel and housing.

Searo noted women historically had few opportunities to become pilots in the male-dominated aviation field. We couldnt even drive before [the 20th century]. And in the aviation industry, it stayed like that, Sears said, per Yahoo.

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Ax-2 private astronauts can't wait for their May 21 SpaceX launch to the space station

The crewof Axiom Space's Ax-2 mission on SpaceX's crew access arm at Launch Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. From left: Saudi astronaut Ali Alqarni, Axiom Space's Peggy Whitson, paying customer John Shoffner and Saudi astronaut Rayyanah Barnawi.

The four crewmembers of the second-ever private astronaut mission to the International Space Station (ISS) are eager to leave their home planet behind, at least for a little while.

That mission, known as Ax-2, is scheduled to launch toward the ISS atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on Sunday afternoon (May 21)  and the four astronauts who will fly it are counting down the days.

"To say I'm excited to be here would be a gross understatement," Ax-2 pilot John Shoffner said during a press conference on Tuesday (May 16).

"I feel like I've been preparing for this my entire life," Shoffner added. "I've been a fan of space since I was a child  I grew up in the age of the early space race  so getting here now and having a chance to fulfill that excitement is very, very powerful to me."

Related: SpaceX to launch 1st Saudi woman to space on private Ax-2 mission

Shoffner is a paying customer on Ax-2, which will be the second flight to the orbiting lab organized by Houston-based company Axiom Space. The first, the pioneering Ax-1, launched and landed in April 2022.

Ax-2 will be commanded by Peggy Whitson, a record-breaking former NASA astronaut who now flies for Axiom Space. The other two crewmates are Ali Alqarni and Rayyanah Barnawi, mission specialists who are members of Saudi Arabia's first astronaut class.

Alqarni and Barnawi will become the first Saudis ever to visit the ISS, and Barnawi will be the first woman from the kingdom to reach space. (The first, and so far only, Saudi to make it to the final frontier was Sultan bin Salman Al Saud, who flew on the STS-51-G mission of the space shuttle Discovery in 1985.)

"We are really honored and privileged to have you guys and to be part of this amazing mission," Alqarni said during Tuesday's press conference.

He and Barnawi, Alqarni added, "are really thrilled and excited for our mission and to represent Saudi Arabia on this journey."

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 SpaceX launch of Ax-2 private astronaut mission now targeted for May 21

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 SpaceX gearing up to launch 2 private astronaut missions

If all goes according to plan, that journey will take the Ax-2 quartet to the ISS in a SpaceX Dragon capsule. The Dragon will dock on Monday morning (May 22) and spend eight days attached to the orbiting lab before returning home for an ocean splashdown.

The four Ax-2 crewmembers will spend their time in orbit conducting more than 20 different scientific experiments, including one that will grow stem cells in microgravity.

They'll also do a variety of educational and outreach work, especially activities designed to spark a love of science, technology, engineering and math in students around the world.

"We're very excited for the part that will be engaging with kids from all over Saudi Arabia and all over the world, talking about our experiments, talking about space and having them trigger their curiosity towards space," Barnawi said.

"I'm sure that we're gonna enjoy this mission," she added. "We're almost five days away, so our excitement is above the limits!"
Babys death was from heart defect, not murder. Kansas should have known it all along | Opinion

Since January, weve known that 48-year-old Carrody Buchhorn, an Army wife, mom of two sons and former day care worker in Eudora, Kansas, spent 3  years behind bars and another 2  years on house arrest for a murder that never happened.

Let no one ever say that Douglas County District Attorney Suzanne Valdez, who inherited the case from her predecessor, Charles Branson, gave up on retrying Buchhorn without a fight. Only, she never found an expert who would get on the stand and say that Buchhorn or anyone else had killed 9-month-old Oliver Ortiz, who never woke up from his nap at the Sunshine Kids Daycare on Sept. 29, 2016.

In January, Dr. Jane Turner, the forensic pathologist Valdez had hired to review the case, reported back that Ortiz had died of natural causes  a congenital heart defect. The child had a hole in his heart.

As it happens, though, this was information that prosecutors could and should have had in their possession all along.

And yet, the state is fighting it still.

Turner based her conclusions in large part on an Oct. 4, 2016, report written by Dr. Shannon Mackey-Bojack, a cardiac pathologist in St. Paul, Minnesota, where the boys heart had been shipped immediately after his death, because his heart valves were being donated.

The states star witness at Buchhorns 2018 trial, longtime Kansas coroner Erik K. Mitchell, testified that he had indeed received the heart pathology report from the transplant team in Minnesota. But when Mitchell then said under oath that Ollies heart was perfectly normal, that was false. In fact, the report said just the opposite.

A member of the prosecution team said they never saw the heart pathology report that Mitchell suggested on the stand that he had read and taken into account: We absolutely did not have some report that said there was a problem with the heart.

Under oath, Mitchell explained that I get a report from them  the Midwest Transplant Network  along with slides and heart tissue, and that is all available for review. Then, he testified that his conclusion, based on all of the information available to him, was this: This child has a normal heart. Oliver Ortiz, he told the court, just does not have any disease process to explain death. This child dies of trauma.

The member of the prosecution team said no one on his side concluded from Mitchells testimony that there even was a formal report from doctors in Minnesota, which is why the report was never shared with the defense team. We thought he had talked to them and everything was fine. We thought he had followed up on it.

But he hadnt. Or did, and then nonetheless ignored what Dr. Mackey-Bojack had found. Prosecutors also believed that Mitchell was basing his testimony that the childs heart was perfectly normal on his own observation, but he wasnt and couldnt have.

This isnt all on Mitchell, either; with a womans freedom on the line, prosecutors should have asked to see some documentation that their most important witness really had followed up instead of making it up.

A postmortem report concluded that Oliver Ortizs heart had a hole in it.

Baby had a hole in his heart

Dr. Turners report about postmortem lab tests and Dr. Mackey-Bojacks examination is both clear and crucial to understanding what did and did not cause the babys death: The examination found a patent foramen ovale. The foramen ovale (a hole between the two atrial chambers of the heart) is a normal part of fetal anatomy; the hole closes soon after birth. Persistence of the hole (known as patent foramen ovale, or PFO) beyond the newborn age is considered a congenital heart defect.

The cardiac examination also significantly found an area of acute ischemia (myocardial infarct) of the anterior wall of the left ventricle. This is evidence of heart damage caused by a lack of oxygen because of a heart attack or stroke. In other words, the pathology of the heart indicates that Oliver had pathophysiologic processes taking place 12-24 hours prior to his death. The most common cause of myocardial infarction in infants is paradoxical embolism resulting in occlusion of a coronary vessel; the most common cause of paradoxical embolism is patent foramen ovale.

The autopsy finding of a patent foramen ovale is significant in that this congenital heart defect put Oliver at risk for a lethal arterial stroke.  The findings of myocardial infarction and hemorrhage of the carotid artery sheath are evidence of paradoxical embolization from the PFO; involvement of the carotid artery indicates embolization of blood clots from the heart to the head and brain.

Mitchells autopsy, conducted on Sept. 30, 2016, when most of the childs heart was no longer in his possession, goes into great detail about the ordinariness of the organ. But then, from Mitchells lab in Kansas City, Kansas, he couldnt see Ollies heart in St. Paul, Minnesota very clearly, could he?

The member of the prosecution team said they thought that Mitchell, in overseeing the removal of the childs heart immediately after his death, must have seen that it was fine. But there was no autopsy done on the heart that day. Whatever he was able to see was extremely incomplete, and he never revised what he wrote on Sept. 30 after receiving the Oct. 4 report.

Whether Mitchell gave false testimony to help prosecutors or to cover up the fact that he hadnt bothered to read the pathology report from Minnesota, I have no idea. Once again, he did not respond to my detailed messages.

In August 2021, the Kansas Court of Appeals overturned Buchhorns conviction, ruling that she might not have been convicted if her original defense team had challenged Mitchells equally made-up theory about how Ollie did die.

Its not hard to imagine that there would in that case have been no trial at all, since Judge Sally Pokorny said in open court that she was holding Buchhorn over for trial squarely on the basis of Mitchells testimony at Buchhorns probable cause hearing.

Based much upon Dr. Mitchells testimony of what is the most reasonable explanation for what happened, Pokorny said, there is absolutely no evidence that there was anybody else who, in the very short time period that this child, from the time he was injured until he would have died, all that evidence at this point points to Ms. Buchhorn, so I do bind her over for a jury trial on Count 1, which is murder in the first degree.

The defense does seem to have slept through the trial.

But prosecutors failed to do their job, too, ignoring not just available medical information but Mitchells long and well documented history of getting it wrong, always in the states favor.

Removed organs from corpses

Mitchells problems with the truth have extended from the very beginning of his career to the current case of Chris Lyman, who was convicted of killing his infant nephew after Mitchell said hed clearly beaten him, causing a massive subdural hematoma that is actually smaller than a dime. Three other experts have since testified that the child died of acute pneumonia and lung disease.

For the 10 years before Mitchell arrived in Kansas in 1994, he was the chief medical examiner for Onondaga County, New York, where the DA agreed not to pursue criminal charges against him after Mitchell agreed to resign rather than be fired. An Associated Press story at the time said Mitchell had routinely removed organs from corpses without the consent of the victims families and improperly stored skeletons and body parts in his office.

The investigation started after officials learned that a man convicted on child porn charges had a photo taken of himself with a corpse in Mitchells custody. Morgue employees had also taken pictures of themselves in playful poses over the corpse of a female suicide victim. And while the DA was investigating Mitchell, the coroner helpfully changed his mind about his findings in a murder case against a man named Hector Rivas.

Initially, Mitchell had said that the victim, Rivas ex-girlfriend, Valerie Hill, had been killed on a Saturday night or Sunday morning of the weekend she died in March of 1987. Only, Rivas had an alibi for that time period. When the DA reopened what had been a cold case, however, Mitchell reconsidered, and said that Hill might actually have been killed as early as Friday evening, when Rivas had no alibi.

It was as a result, an appellate court later found, that Rivas was convicted in 1993 and spent the rest of his life behind bars. He died there, in 2016, still waiting for the new trial that hed been owed since his conviction was reversed by the federal Second Circuit Court of Appeals the previous year.

When I first wrote about Buchhorn, in August and again in September of 2021, shortly after her second-degree murder conviction was overturned, I said DA Valdez would be wrong to retry someone whod only been found guilty of murder because Mitchell had gotten away with murder on the witness stand.

Mitchell invented a cause of death for Oliver Ortiz, the depolarization of neurons, that no one else had ever heard of. And with considerable dramatic flair, he demonstrated for the jury how Buchhorn must have stomped on the babys head, though the child had no brain injury.

He testified that the most likely  and I am going on statistics here  the most likely mechanism here is that we have a direct effect on depolarization of neurons in the base of the brain, upper spinal cord medulla interferes with the ability to breathe, and that leads to death.

The defense team, led by former Johnson County District Attorney and former Kansas Attorney General Paul Morrison, failed to counter this novel view.

But on appeal, experts said Mitchells theory was gibberish. Dr. Yu-Tze Ng, former chief of pediatric neurology at the Childrens Hospital of San Antonio and former professor of pediatric neurology at Baylor College of Medicine, called it unknown to medical science. A pediatric neurologist from University of Pennsylvania Childrens Hospital, Sudha Kessler, said it was just fantastical.

Its not consistent with the medical literature because there is no literature on magical disruption of the brain that causes death and that doesnt exist, Kessler testified. The statistics Mitchell mentioned do not exist, either, as he himself later acknowledged.

Morrison didnt even object when Mitchell hopped on that CPR doll, and he should have. But at least in theory, prosecutors also have a duty not to win a conviction, but to win the right outcome.

It was 16 months later  months Buchhorn spent on house arrest, just as she had spent the months before her trial  that Valdez finally announced, with deep regret, that she would cease prosecution of Buchhorn because her own expert, Dr. Turner, had found that Ortiz had died from natural disease and pathophysiological processes unrelated to child abuse.

Skull fracture a preexisting injury

In her news release announcing this, Valdez suggested, without spelling out why, that she still believed Buchhorn guilty. And she congratulated herself at some length for holding her office to such a superior standard that she would not pursue a case she couldnt win.

While there are conflicting findings between the states two retained experts, as well as other evidence to support prosecution, we do not believe the evidence is likely to meet our burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, Valdez said in that news release.

Last week, the DAs office did answer my message asking whether the only such evidence was Childrens Mercy Hospitals child abuse specialist Dr. Terra Fraziers opinion, offered in December of 2022, that Buchhorn must have abused the boy, and caused his hairline skull fracture. But the DAs office answered by sending me another copy of the January news release.

I know of no other finding that would support prosecution, and believe that if there is any, Valdez should make it public. Otherwise, she should stop implying that Buchhorn is guilty.

Two other doctors  Turner, the pathologist Valdez hired, and Dr. Carl Wigren, the forensic pathologist from Seattle who testified for the defense at Buchhorns trial  both said Olivers skull fracture showed signs of healing. They said this was a preexisting injury that had occurred anywhere from a few days to a week earlier, and they did not see it as evidence of abuse.

So after all of the falsehoods and failures that resulted in Carrody Buchhorns conviction, is the state trying to make up for the wrong done to this woman, whose life, health, family and finances will never be the same? No, just the opposite.

She is seeking $65,000 for each year of wrongful conviction and imprisonment, as allowed under Kansas law. But the Kansas AGs office said recently that it does not consider Buchhorn wrongly convicted at all, and will oppose her compensation by the state. Shon Qualseth, the assistant attorney general who responded to Buchhorn in court, did not answer my messages asking why the state is fighting her formal exoneration.

This week, Qualseth asked for time to find new experts to further review the cause of death, and Chief Judge James McCabria gave the state until Sept. 1 to find these experts. They wont find a different cause of death, but will succeed in extending Buchhorns nightmare, and in delaying any acknowledgment that prosecutors were wrong.

Testing by Marilyn Hutchinson, the Kansas City psychologist hired by the original defense team, found Buchhorn highly unlikely ever to intentionally harm a child. And common sense says that a mom in her 40s with no history of criminal behavior or mental illness is not, as the prosecutions theory had it, going to jump up and down on a childs head out of nowhere one day because she was mad at her boss, found Ollie fussy  pissy, she once told a friend  and thought she should be better paid.

But even more to the point, since Buchhorn was convicted of murder, and there was no murder, how was she not wrongly convicted?

It was on Buchhorns way home from Ollies funeral, when she stopped by the Eudora Police Department to pick up her phone, as requested, that detectives started treating her like a criminal, she told me two years ago.

Suddenly, police investigators with whom the Buchhorns had always been friendly in their small town were calling me terrible names and saying I was fake crying. Id say, Oh, my God, and theyd say, He isnt going to help you now. 

They also spoke to her with great reverence about a Dr. Mitchell, who they said had found the death suspicious and believed her responsible. They told me Dr. Mitchell was on this and he was the best person we know. When she told them she hadnt and would never have hurt the child, their angry response, as she remembers it, was, Are you calling Dr. Mitchell a liar? 

Someone should have.

Erik Mitchells testimony about depolarization of neurons in the base of the brain is nonsense, according to medical experts.

State compared Erik Mitchell to Galileo

When Valdez announced that she wouldnt retry the case, she wrote, As I campaigned for this office, my core message was Setting a Higher Standard. That applies to myself, everyone in my office, law enforcement partners, and any expert witnesses we may call to testify. For reasons fully chronicled in both local and national media, Dr. Erik Mitchell does not meet that standard.  I chose not to use Dr. Mitchell as a witness of any sort due to his questionable professional reputation.

It wasnt until October of last year that Valdez told the court she would not call him.

Even then, she continued to rely on his theory of the cause of Ollies death in her court filings; there was never any other finding that this was a homicide.

Last April, at a hearing before the Kansas Supreme Court, Deputy Solicitor General Kristafer Ailslieger began his oral argument by saying that he felt like a relief pitcher asked to come in in the ninth inning by the Douglas County district attorneys office, whod asked our office to take over, for various reasons.

I just do not recall, Kansas Supreme Court Justice Eric Rosen told Ailslieger that day, where theres been a coroners determination of a cause of death that is testified to and that is the basis for the cause of death in a homicide case that isnt right. That is just bunk. I dont recall that ever happening. What do you have to say about that, as a representative of the state?

Im not sure that its bunk, said Valdezs relief pitcher.

Even Dr. Mitchell says theres no support for the theory, Rosen told him.

Theres always no support for a theory initially, answered Ailslieger, You know, Galileo had a theory that everybody thought was nonsense at one point in time. So maybe Dr. Mitchell knows what hes talking about.

Even when Valdez said she was dropping the case, she still seemed to see the only just outcome as Buchhorns conviction and imprisonment, facts be damned.

In the interest of justice, she wrote, my administration aggressively litigated this matter to the extent of our abilities despite unfavorable rulings in the district court, the Court of Appeals, and the Kansas Supreme Court. I dont doubt her commitment, but did she never consider that there was a reason for all of those rulings?

Until we received the report from our retained forensic pathologist, she continued, we had no reason to doubt that we had sufficient evidence to proceed with the retrial of Ms. Buchhorn. After all, she was convicted by a jury of her peers in 2018 and none of the evidence produced at that trial had been ruled inadmissible at her retrial.

Inadmissible, no. Demonstrably incorrect, yes.

A man who sat on that jury of Buchhorns peers and now thinks they reached the wrong conclusion told me that what convinced most people was the old man who was a medical expert, who turned out to be a fraud, according to what he read later.

Juror: Would have been a different verdict

I wish more of us had questioned the old man, and it would have been a different verdict, said the juror, who spoke to me on the condition that I not use his name because I dont want the headaches of being asked about it by everyone he knows. It was a horrible two weeks.

If wed heard about any of the funny stuff about Mitchell, now 72, the juror said, it would have been a different result. But he just seemed like this wise old father, knowledgeable about his area. Her attorneys did a really poor job of defending her, and two or three personalities on the jury  all women, he noted  convinced everybody that she was the only one there at the time. We cant give her the time back, but I feel sorry for her.

In Valdezs January announcement that she wouldnt prosecute Buchhorn, she wrote that the decision to cease prosecution of this matter is not one that I have made lightly, and no one can doubt that. Nor, she said, does it in any way reflect negatively upon the law enforcement agencies involved. First responders did their best to resuscitate Ollie, and their efforts are admirable.

They were, though this ignores the fact that it was Buchhorn who gave Ollie CPR for the first 30-something of the 52 minutes spent trying to save him.

The dedicated law enforcement officers of the Eudora Police Department investigated the matter with assistance from the Lawrence Police Department, the Douglas County Sheriffs Office, and the Kansas Bureau of Investigation, Valdez wrote.

Dedicated, but in this case devoted to a mistaken snap judgment, based on information that turned out to have been not just wrong but fabricated.

If there is any consolation to be had by those who mourn the loss of Ollie, Valdez said in the news release, it can be found in the fact that many trained professionals worked tirelessly to pursue justice, and Ollie will never be forgotten.

If justice is what they were pursuing, why did they for years ignore all evidence that ran counter to the theory theyd locked in on almost immediately?

That the death of this child is an unalloyed tragedy has never been in dispute. But is encouraging an already grieving family to incorrectly believe that they left their child with a murderer really what consolation looks like?

The only good news here is that because the state is fighting Buchhorns legal exoneration, all of the questions about prosecutorial decisions will have to be answered in court.

Meanwhile, Carrody Buchhorn is fighting the PTSD she never had before her incarceration. And shes trying to get back some of what life was like before the horrible afternoon that she put Ollie Ortiz down for a nap and later found him limp and cold.

When the case got dismissed, she told me in an interview in Lawrence the other day, I assumed I was going to start feeling better and wanting to leave the house now that she finally could. Instead, my depression got worse and worse, and my anxiety is terrible.

Even a recent solo trip to Target turned into an ordeal. After I got my drivers license, I wanted to go to the store by myself, and I was so excited. Target has fun stuff, and Tims like, Buy whatever you want. But I got in there and I was so overwhelmed I didnt even know what to do. I tried looking for stuff, and thought, What did I even want to buy? Im feeling all this anxiety, so I got what I needed and got out.

Absolutely, she is owed compensation from the state; the just under $400,000 that shes asking for doesnt even cover what her family has had to come up with in legal fees. And because what happened to Carrody Buchhorn could happen to anybody, Kansas is owed prosecutors more interested in justice than in winning no matter what.
Randi Williams and President Barack Obama in <i>Working: What We Do All Day</i> Credit - Netflix

In 1974, the author and broadcaster Studs Terkel published a best-selling doorstopper with an equally unwieldy title. Working: People Talk About What They Do All Day and How They Feel About What They Do, an instant classic of labor studies, collects the oral histories of more than 100 workers at all levels of industries that range from farming, manufacturing, and health care to the arts and professional sports. While the interviews are lively, Terkel sensed what he describes as more than a slight ache in the way subjects spoke about their experiences on the job. Ought not there be an increment, earned though not yet received, from ones daily workan acknowledgement of mans being? he asked in the introduction.

An admirer of Terkels book since college, Barack Obama set out to update the project with Working: What We Do All Day, a 4-part documentary that arrives on Netflix May 17. Each episode profiles three workers at the same level of the contemporary workforce, scaling the pyramid of wealth and power from service jobs to middle-class office work to dream jobs before reaching the bosses. Obama, an executive producer as well as the shows narrator and a sporadic presence on screen, frames these stories within the context of an American economy that has undergone drastic changes since Terkels time. Its all pretty illuminatinguntil the bizarre finale, whose sunny portrait of the C-suite comes off as anything but representative.

The premiere, Service Jobs, is reminiscent of a more recent labor classic: the late author and activist Barbara Ehrenreichs Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America. Published in 2001, the book chronicles Ehrenreichs grueling experiences working undercover as a diner waitress, a house cleaner, and at Walmartjobs that test her patience and punish her body but do not pay her bills. Workings subjects represent the service sector a generation later: a newly hired home health aide for At Home Care Mississippi, a longtime housekeeper at the Pierre hotel in Manhattan, and an Uber Eats driver with a list of side hustles and dreams of making it as a makeup artist. It probably isnt a coincidence that they are all women of color and mothers.

Echoing Ehrenreich, Obama notes that what these women do are sometimes called low-skill jobs. But only someone whos never actually done the work would ever believe that. That comes through as we watch Randi, who chose to become an aide instead of taking a higher-paid job at an auto factory because she wanted to do something meaningful, listen to and bond with an elderly patient. Then we learn that she had to quit because the demands of the job prove to be incompatible with the responsibilities of a single parent. As maddening as Randis predicament is, director Caroline Suh (Salt Fat Acid Heat) is careful not to frame all service jobs as interchangeable. Elba, the housekeeper, earns a living wage thanks to her union and enjoys spending time with co-workers in what looks to be a relatively positive workplace.

Elba Guzman, right, with a co-worker, in Working: What We Do All Day

Obamas narration situates the subjects of each episode within a broader economic and sociopolitical context. We learn about how FDRs New Deal helped organized laborand also how those reforms rarely extended to farm and domestic workers, a largely nonwhite cohort. In The Middle, which follows a switchboard operator at the Pierre, an At Home Care supervisor, an hourly employee at self-driving vehicle tech company Aurora Innovation, Obama chronicles the shrinking of the middle class. An experimental musician when hes off the clock, Luke likes his job, but around the dinner table with his parents, the conversation turns to why hes having a tougher time than they did achieving such American dream milestones as buying his first home. The knowledge workers in Dream Jobsa robotics engineer at Aurora, a lobbyist for At Home Care, the Pierres general managertalk about wanting to find meaning through their careers. When you have it all, Obama asks, what responsibility do you have to other people?

The people Working follows are observant and reflective; they articulate eloquent visions for bridging the gap between the jobs they have now and what would ultimately make them happy. Suh is wise to take us beyond their daily grinds and into their homes and the family lives that are shaped, for better or worse, by their work. And Obama is a more active participant in the series than you might expect. Equally at ease touring the Pierre and delivering lunch to starstruck office workers, listening to Luke improvise music in his basement and grocery shopping with Randi, helike Terkelgets subjects to talk candidly about their experiences. They are comfortable enough to pose candid questions of their own. Are you at peace now? Randi asks the former President. Yes, he says, but I worry about the next generation.

If only Obama and the rest of the team behind this project worried enough to be clearer about the causesand particularly the culpritsof the inequality Working documents. As a society, we do get to decide what life looks like for working people, he says in the premiere. But who is we? The American voter, maybe, to a certain extent. More often, those decisions, to offer a mere $9 an hour for backbreaking physical labor or to pay what are for all intents and purposes full-time employees as contractors, get made at the very top of the corporate hierarchy. So youd think an episode titled The Boss would involve some form of accountability.

President Barack Obama, left, and President Barack Obama and Natarajan Chandrasekaran in Working: What We Do All Day Netflix

Instead, the series finale follows three pretty atypical bigwigs. Natarajan Chandrasekaran, known as Chandra, is the affable chairman of Tata Group Mumbai, the India-based multinational conglomerate that owns the Pierre; Tata emphasizes philanthropy and has a reputation as an ethical corporation. Auroras co-founder and CEO, Chris Urmson, is the dynamic visionary leading his company through an IPO. Jeanette Felton, the deeply committed founder and CEO of At Home Care Mississippi, has been struggling with cuts in Medicaid payments. She prioritizes key employees salaries over her own, which she says is well under six figures. While the service workers are all open about their financesand Obama mentions that CEO pay has skyrocketed in recent decadesneither of the other leaders talk about their salaries or wealth.

Nor do many of the problems their employees raise seem to filter up into these interviews. The closest The Boss comes to holding its subjects feet to the fire is a scene in which Urmson explains what Auroras self-driving trucks will mean for human truck drivers. My expectation is that if you are a truck driver and you would like to drive a truck until you retire, then you will be able to do that, because we just have so much of a need for them, he says. But do I think you should probably go and start becoming a truck driver today? Maybe not. If anyone posed a follow-up question about what happens to the people who would have taken those jobs under different circumstances, it didnt make it into the episode. Mostly, these atypical executives are treated like heroes and thought leaders. And aside from touring facilities, running meetings, and making public appearances, what they actually do all day remains opaque.

Some of this sugarcoating probably comes with the territory, especially considering that almost all of the subjects represent the same three companies. What CEO in their right mind would invite camera crews into their offices if they werent convinced theyd be portrayed in a flattering light? Perhaps its not a surprise, either, given the heavy-hitting team of executive producers that also includes Laurene Powell Jobs, that Working goes so easy on the bosses. At best, you could say the episode is a vision of what corporate leadership should look like in 2023, rather than a representative sample of how things really are. The tone is reminiscent of Democratic Party stump speeches that note the suffering of the poor, working, and middle classes but rarely get around to holding anyone responsible for creating these conditions or effecting change.

As the series is wrapping up, Chandra, who grew up on a farm and believes that you are never so much better than anyone else, asks Obama if he worries about the polarization of society. Its my biggest worry, the President replies. Weve got some work to do, both in strengthening democratic institutions, but I also think the economic and cultural and social ecosystems need to be strengthened. Insightful as alwaysbut theres that exasperating we again.
(Bloomberg) -- The leader of the British Chambers of Commerce said that business needed a fresh relationship with government, as she launched a national campaign encouraging firms to join her lobby group.

Most Read from Bloomberg

Shevaun Haviland, director general of the BCC, said companies that need a voice should join their local chamber. The pitch came weeks after Britains biggest business group, the Confederation of British Industry, was hit with a sexual harassment scandal that drove employers to cancel their memberships.

Today, we are launching a national campaign  Where Business Belongs  to invite businesses that need a voice to join their chamber, said Haviland, addressing the BCCs annual conference Wednesday.

Haviland said the BCC had helped set the national agenda on issues such as childcare reform, energy support for businesses and the reversal of the governments proposed National Insurance Contribution increase last year.

The event also featured Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey, Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt and leader of the opposition Labour party Keir Starmer.

The BCC wants new members to tackle areas such as AI, skills, green innovation and the future of the high street. Post-Brexit, the UK is figuring out its economic role in the world, said Haviland. Both exports and inward investment are facing growing competition.

She added: But its a problem we are well placed to solve.

The CBI, which lobbies government on behalf of businesses, has been left without a voice after ministers paused engagement with the group in light of more than one allegation that members of its staff were raped by colleagues.

Read More: Rape Claims Shake UK Political Titan in Warning to All Business

Immigration

Separately Wednesday, Martha Lane Fox, the president of the BCC, called on the UK to do more to train its workforce during an interview on Bloomberg TV.

Asked about splits in the Conservative party over immigration, Lane Fox dismissed the toxic political issue and said Britain should focus on recruiting, retaining and retraining people as well as opening up to workers from overseas.

This is a perilous moment for the UK, said Lane Fox. We also need to focus on training the workforce that we have.

Home Secretary Suella Braverman argued this week that high levels of immigration threaten the national character and said more should be done to train existing workers in the UK.

Read More: Sunaks Challenge Laid Bare as Braverman Shoots for Top Job

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The Beaver County District Attorneys Office is investigating after a dog was shot and killed by an Ambridge police officer Friday.

PREVIOUS COVERAGE >>> Lost dog shot, killed by Ambridge police officer

The dog was shot and killed just hours after being found by a good Samaritan.

I just cant even fathom what I saw today. Theres no words to describe it. Im going to see that probably for the rest of my life, said a witness who spoke with 11 News after the incident.

On Tuesday, the Ambridge Borough Police Department said they have obtained video evidence, witness statements and officers reports that were directly involved in the incident.

The department posted the following message on social media:

As of today, the Ambridge Police have obtained video evidence, witness statements and officers reports that were directly involved in this incident. At this time all of the information obtained will be turned over to the Beaver County District Attorneys Office for investigation. There will be no further comments or statements released while the District Attorneys Office investigates this incident.

The information obtained will be turned over to the Beaver County District Attorneys Office for investigation.

The department said there will be no further comments or statements released while the district attorneys office investigates.

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TIPPERARY, Ireland  Europe has been rife with rumors of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenkos ill health. Speculation began after the 68-year-old autocrat was reportedly rushed to a hospital last week, after attending a Victory Day parade in Moscow.

Lukashenkos health is significant, since he is one of the only allies Vladimir Putin has left in Eastern Europe since the Russian president launched his brutal invasion of Ukraine last year. Putin used Belarusian territory as a staging point for a failed attack on Kyiv, and Ukraines allies worry that Lukashenko could officially join the war.

In a bid to tamp down speculation about Lukashenkos poor health, Belarusian state TV published footage on Monday showing him visiting an army command center. His hoarse voice and heavily bandaged arm, however, further fueled the rumors.

Why you should care about Belarus >>>

Lukashenko is sometimes called Europes last dictator, and he has ruthlessly suppressed his political opposition since becoming his countrys first and only president in 1994. As questions arise about what is next for Belarus, Yahoo News spoke with its exiled opposition leader, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, about what the future looks like for her country. (Some responses have been edited for length and clarity.)

Tsikhanouskaya was awarded the Tipperary International Peace Award on May 2 for her work in bringing democracy to Belarus after the imprisonment of her husband, Sergei. In 2020, he was arrested by the Belarusian secret police and was sentenced in 2021 to 18 years in prison for organizing mass unrest.

President Alexander Lukashenko of Belarus speaks to foreign media at his residence, the Independence Palace, in the capital, Minsk, on Feb. 16. (Natalia Kolesnikova /AFP via Getty Images)

Is there any truth to the rumors of Lukashenkos ill health?

There are many rumors about Lukashenkos health. He just disappeared from public space, and even the propaganda doesn't know how to comment. Lukashenko, like every dictator, likes to control everything and to make the impression that he is invincible or almost immortal, and now, suddenly  silence. These rumors have sparked discussions in society: What if he dies? We feel that many people around him are also waiting for the moment of change.

What is a realistic route to democracy for Belarus? Is it something you could see happening in the next five years?

I actually don't think about the timeframe for this. It's difficult when you have lived under a dictatorship for almost 30 years to become immediately democratic. We have wonderful, hardworking people who really can change our country. We see how our neighbors live and we want to live in the same way. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, all countries were at the same initial point of development. But now we see that Belarus is stuck in time like its frozen, and this is because of poor management of our country. For example, Poland developed correctly.

In March, a court in Belarus sentenced you in absentia to 15 years in prison. Along with the jail term, you were banned from running for election again. Will this stop you?

There cannot be free and fair elections while Lukashenko is in power. That's why no so-called parliamentary elections or present presidential elections can be considered legitimate. This next election, I'm not going to run, because there are wonderful political leaders who are in prison at the moment who can take responsibility for the future, but I'm going to stay with people as much as people need me. Back in 2020, I promised the voters and the people that my role would be only a transitional one. My task together with others is to bring our country free and fair elections which can happen without Lukashenko.

Revealed: Leaked document shows how Russia plans to take over Belarus >>>

Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, leader of the Democratic Forces of Belarus, addresses a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing in Washington, D.C., on March 28. (Ting Shen/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

What does it feel like to be in opposition to two very powerful leaders?

My life didn't prepare me for this position to be in opposition to dictators. But I made my choice in 2020, when I, instead of my husband, decided to become a presidential candidate. Of course, it's scary, because they are  especially Putin powerful dictators. But I feel that the Belarusian people are with me and that I have support from powerful democratic countries. I'm full of assurance that our fight will win, that we will return Belarus to democratic ways, and that we will be a reliable partner for European countries.

Do you think, with the power you have as opposition leader, your life is ever at risk?

I don't have time to think about this. I'm under protection, and everything is taken care of by my security. But I understand how long the regime's hands are. We all remember the hijacking of a Ryanair flight when Roman Protasevich was detained. [The Belarusian journalist and activist, who had been living in exile, is now serving an eight-year sentence in Belarus.] We know what methods the regime is using to threaten people. But I cant just care about my own personal security; all the people who are in Belarus and those who fled because of repression are also in huge danger. So we have to mobilize people to fight for them. Freedom needs sacrifice, and now people are sacrificing their normal lives and their freedom to bring our country the changes we all want.

President Vladimir Putin chairs a meeting via video link at the Kremlin in Moscow on May 17. (Mikhail Klimentyev /Sputnik/AFP via Getty Images)

How do you tackle the constant wave of propaganda by both Belarus and Russia?

The media plays a role in promoting our message, which, of course, goes against Russian propaganda. We have to counter this with the means we have. We don't have access to state TV or state newspapers, and the alternative media in Belarus has been ruined. People who are subscribed to media outlets, who, I don't know, comment or put likes on Instagram or TikTok  they can be detained and have their phone searched, and you know police see that they're subscribed to this. They can be detained for years.

God bless the internet, we have the possibility to spread honest news about the situation in Belarus about the war in Ukraine, through YouTube, Instagram and TikTok. People in Belarus know how to use VPNs, they delete the history of their searches, because it's really dangerous.

Our task is to reach not only those who are politically active but also those who are just living their lives. That's why we have a network of volunteers inside the country who make self-made leaflets and newspapers and spread them in small villages to the older generation of people who don't know how to use the internet. It's also a huge danger for those people, because they could get years and years in prison.

Do you see yourself being able to return home?

The task of the Belarusian people is to keep Lukashenkos regime under constant stress, because there will be more opportunities to get rid of the regime. They will have to be prepared to not just sit and wait until Ukraine wins the war and Lukashenko becomes weak. Our task is also to contribute constant pressure on the regime. And yes, I will be able to return home. It's just a question of time.

Cover thumbnail photo: (Photo illustration: Jack Forbes/Yahoo News; Photos: Natalia Kolesnikova/AFP via Getty Images, Ting Shen/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
BELGIUM F-16

Belgium has become the latest country to indicate that it could train Ukrainian pilots to fly the F-16 fighters that Kyiv says it so desperately needs to help turn the tide of the Russian invasion, but which have so far yet to materialize. The announcement from Belgium is tempered by the fact that Brussels says its unable to transfer any F-16s to Ukraine. However, following the news that the United Kingdom is about to start providing Ukraine with F-16-focused training, it seems momentum is now also building for the emergence of a coalition of nations that can provide the required instruction.

The announcement from the cabinet of Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo was published in the countrys De Morgen newspaper. During the summit in The Hague earlier this month, the issue of the F-16s was also discussed during the meeting between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and the Prime Minister, the statement explains. We have said that we cannot supply aircraft, but we can train pilots.

Prime Minister of Belgium Alexander De Croo speaking in Brussels. Photo by Nicolas Economou/NurPhoto via Getty Images

Andriy Yermak, the head of the Ukrainian presidents office, took to Telegram to provide the following statement: We need fighter jets, and we thank our allies for their decision to work in this direction. In particular, Belgium has also confirmed its readiness to train pilots.

There were no details provided about the kind of training that Belgium is able to offer Ukraine, but the clear suggestion is that it would involve converting Ukrainian Air Force pilots to fly the F-16. The Viper remains the Belgian Air Forces primary combat jet, although deliveries of the F-35A stealth fighter that will replace it are due to begin before the end of the year.

The Chooz Nuclear Power Plant in Chooz, France, can be seen in the background as a Belgian F-16 flies as part of the preparations for the Belgian National Day in 2012. BRUNO FAHY/AFP/GettyImages

Belgiums situation is in contrast to the United Kingdom, which does not operate F-16s, although its own training program for the Ukrainian Air Force is also aimed at getting pilots into the cockpits of these same jets.

This summer we will commence an elementary flying phase for cohorts of Ukrainian pilots to learn basic training, the U.K. government said earlier this week. This will adapt the program used by U.K. pilots to provide Ukrainians with piloting skills they can apply to different kinds of aircraft. This training goes hand in hand with UK efforts to work with other countries on providing F-16 jets  Ukraines fighter jets of choice.

https://twitter.com/haynesdeborah/status/1658838747553714177?s=20

On his return from his recent trip to different Western European nations, President Zelensky also highlighted the prospect of what he described as a coalition to train pilots on modern Western aircraft. Zelensky said that the United Kingdom and Poland agreed to this proposal, and he expects France to follow suit. Belgium was not mentioned, but would now seem an obvious candidate to slot into a training partnership of that kind.

https://twitter.com/ZelenskyyUa/status/1658183072301342757?s=20

Currently, the Belgian Air Force still flies around 50 F-16s, which have been upgraded to F-16AM/BM standard, making them broadly equivalent to the more advanced F-16C/D Block 50/52. Having flown the Viper since 1979, the Belgian Air Force has accumulated vast experience with the type and has long run its own in-country training to convert its pilots onto the jets. With the requirement for new Belgian F-16 pilots rapidly reducing, the potential capacity to train Ukrainian aviators has increased, although this is set off against a dwindling number of Viper airframes.

Two Belgian Air Force F-16s perform for the camera during a flight from Florennes Air Base. GERARD GAUDIN/AFP via Getty Images

The Belgian Air Force, however, looks like it would be well placed to convert Ukrainian pilots onto the F-16, provided they have already received basic and advanced flight training. As The War Zone has explored in depth in the past, a full F-16 Basic Course, also known as the B-Course, for an aviator fresh out of pilot training, would typically take nine months. That could almost certainly be truncated to meet the very particular, urgent demands of the Ukrainian Air Force. Moreover, if Belgium were to provide training to Ukrainian pilots already familiar with frontline fast jets, the conversion course would be much quicker.

As one experienced F-16 instructor told The War Zone, a pilot with around 500 hours of experience in a Western fighter would need 69 days to learn everything to safely employ the Viper in air-to-air and air-to-ground roles. Ukrainian pilots dont have experience in Western jets but, again, a special syllabus could be provided that focuses on the specific skills they will require in theater, as well as the key fundamentals of switching from a Soviet-era fighter to an F-16.

The United States could train Ukrainian pilots to fly F-16s in a matter of months and Belgium might now be poised to offer similar to the Ukrainian Air Force Jamie Hunter

As to Ukraine actually getting its hands on F-16s, Belgium says it cant help  yet.

With a reduced F-16 fleet and no F-35s yet delivered, the Belgian Air Force is hard-pressed to meet its own requirements, which include air defense of the airspace of Belgium and the Netherlands, as well as periodic rotations to the Baltic States for air policing on behalf of NATO in that region.

A Belgian F-16 deployed to Amari Air Base in Estonia as part of the Baltic Air Policing mission. Photo by Philip Reynaers / Photonews via Getty Images

Not surprisingly, the cabinet of Prime Minister De Croo has said that these are assignments that Belgium cannot or does not want to stop just like that, according to De Morgen. The situation is only going to become more critical as aging F-16s continue to be removed from service. By the end of 2023, two Belgian F-16s will be withdrawn from circulation due to having achieved 8,000 flight hours, the office of the Minister of Defense Ludivine Dedonder has confirmed. Those jets will then be broken down for spares or used as ground training assets.

The fact that the Belgian F-16s are rapidly aging out is something that we have reported on previously including the decision in 2021 to temporarily ground the entire fleet after one of the Vipers experienced problems with its Pratt & Whitney F100 engine.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5yH-2a1OGRg

Potentially, still-airworthy Belgian F-16s could become available to Ukraine, although only after sufficient numbers of F-35s have been received. However, the timeline involved is almost certainly far too stretched for Ukraine.

While the first Belgian F-35 is due to be delivered this year, the first eight aircraft will remain in the United States to be used for international Joint Strike Fighter training at Luke Air Force Base in Arizona. Only in 2025 will F-35s begin to arrive at Florennes Air Base in Belgium and initial operating capability is not expected until mid-2027.

https://twitter.com/BelgiumDefence/status/1640398593700904985?s=20

Ukraine may have better luck in sourcing F-16s elsewhere in Europe, however.

In the neighboring Netherlands, the process of replacing F-16s with F-35s is much further advanced than in Belgium. Currently, the remaining Dutch F-16s are all located at Volkel Air Base, where the local frontline fleet was reportedly reduced to just 24 aircraft last summer.

In January this year, the Dutch Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Wopke Hoekstra said that his government would look at any request to transfer its F-16s to Ukraine with an open mind. However, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte then significantly walked back Hoekstras comments. Though he did not necessarily rule out the possibility of such a transfer entirely, Rutte did say that were no plans to do so currently, and that it seemed unlikely to happen in the near term.

A Royal Netherlands Air Force F-16AM drops flares. Royal Netherlands Air Force

Since then, the prospect of the Dutch making those F-16s available has come up again, with Prime Minister Rutte stating that there are no taboos and that work is being done intensively to get Vipers (from whatever source) into Ukrainian hands.

Another possibility is Denmark, also poised to introduce the F-35. During a visit to Ukraine in April, Troels Lund Poulsen, Denmarks acting defense minister, confirmed that his country, together with its allies, would decide before the summer as to whether they will provide Ukraine with F-16s. Poulsen said the matter was under discussion but that the process was taking a long time due to the requirement for different countries to cooperate on any such transfer of aircraft.

A Royal Danish Air Force F-16AM takes off from Monte Real Air Force Base in Portugal during the Real Thaw 2018 exercise. Photo by Horacio Villalobos  Corbis/Corbis via Getty Images

Denmark will not do it alone, Poulsen said, adding that a decision was still achievable in the near future. He said: We need to do this together with several countries. We will also have a dialogue with the Americans about this.

https://twitter.com/OAlexanderDK/status/1645699547207811073?s=20

According to figures from Flight Global, the Royal Danish Air Force currently operates around 43 F-16s.

Whatever happens next in terms of F-16 transfers, any such plan will need to be approved by the United States. The U.S. government has so far not approved any transfers of F-16s and President Joe Biden issued a firm no when questioned on the topic in January.

https://twitter.com/Reuters/status/1620414220528484352?s=20

Despite this, it seems that there is an increasing will, among the wider international community, to supply Kyiv with F-16s  or other fourth-generation Western fighter equipment.

As well as the statement from Belgium today, and the announcement that the U.K. training program will start soon, French President Emmanuel Macron this week said that he has opened the door to training Ukrainian pilots, without providing any more details.

As we first argued more than a year ago, the process of Ukraine introducing F-16s needs to start sooner rather than later, with training getting underway in advance of when the actual hardware might arrive. That aspiration now seems to be yielding more tangible results.

Contact the author: thomas@thedrive.com
'A better process' but not much progress: Where debt talks stand after Tuesday's meeting

Congress and the White House are racing against the clock, and the House and Senate schedules, to find a path to avoiding default on the nations debt. President Joe Biden has truncated his international trip. Could late-May recesses also be on the chopping block?

Tuesdays talks yielded a set of official proxies for Biden and Speaker Kevin McCarthy voiced optimism about the new structure of discussions. But as the key players keep talking, time is ticking. And each chamber is scheduled to be in Washington just a handful of days before the potential June 1 X-date (and not at the same time, either).

A handful of House Democrats will resume a long-shot end run on Wednesday to bypass the sticky debt ceiling and spending negotiations, as a discharge petition ripens on the vine today. Theyve waited the mandatory seven days and can now start gathering the 218 signatures needed to force the speaker to bring it up. But Democrats securing a handful of GOP votes is improbable and the procedural timeline  another seven-day wait and then two legislative days before consideration  makes getting this done before the earliest projected X-date a fantasy.



Heading into this new phase, here is where things stand on Capitol Hill:

House GOP:

House Republicans maintain that their job is done. They passed a bill. And now they are waiting for Biden to make a move toward agreeing to the spending restrictions outlined in their bill.

McCarthy signaled Tuesday that he sees Bidens appointment of Louisa Terrell, Steve Ricchetti and OMB Director Shalanda Young, a Hill and appropriations veteran, to continue negotiations as a positive step. Though he said there's now a better process on debt ceiling negotiations, "that doesnt mean were going to get to an agreement."



On the idea of a discharge petition from Democrats, Majority Leader Steve Scalise dismissed the idea that any in his conference would support it.

"No way. Ain't gonna happen," Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.), a centrist in the GOP caucus, said Tuesday on the discharge petition idea.

"No, no, no. We've been clear  they need to negotiate," said freshman Rep. Juan Ciscomani (R-Ariz.).



House Dems:

Though Democrats are making the move on the discharge petition, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries was noncommittal on proceeding with that when he returned to the Capitol Tuesday afternoon. The New York Democrat said he hadnt made a decision yet and was going to consult the White House and other Democrats on the strategy. But, Democratic leaders are expected to tee up the move as soon as Wednesday morning, when they can start collecting signatures.

Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.) said that in addition to trying to hold the line against GOP proposals, Democrats also need to do a better job of explaining to the American people what these cuts will mean. He sees a messaging problem. Im very concerned because I dont like the perception of credibility for what the Republicans are doing. What theyre doing is not credible. Its a hostage situation, he said Tuesday.

The White House attempted to quell progressive angst late Tuesday night with a statement saying that Biden will fight to keep GOP proposals on expanding work requirements for food security programs out of any final deal. The president had flirted with the idea over the weekend, to the dismay of progressives.



Senate GOP:

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell remains in the backseat, unwilling to lay a finger on the steering wheel.

This shouldnt be this hard, McConnell said Tuesday. We know were not going to default.

Sen. Mike Braun also isnt sweating, calling it the same old song and dance. The Indiana Republican is confident theyll get something worked out.

Meanwhile, Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) is confident of something else: Ive got confidence that Kevin McCarthy cant really negotiate a bad deal, and get it passed in the House and retain his speakership, he told POLITICO.

Senate Dems:

Theyre eyeing both the clock and the speaker.

I trust President Biden. Im just very skeptical that theres going to be an agreement in time, said Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.). Were gonna get to a point where McCarthy has to decide whether hes willing to proceed to default.

And an eight-term House member now in the Senate, Sen. Peter Welch (D-Vt.), has thoughts on his former colleague: Its about the House. Kevins in shackles. Hes in leg irons and handcuffs. And frankly I dont think hes got much capacity to negotiate. And very little capacity to advance a deal, Welch said in an interview.
President Joe Biden boards Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, on Wednesday, May 17, 2023. (Tom Brenner/The New York Times)

SYDNEY  It was meant to be a moment for the history books  the first time a U.S. president visited a Pacific Island country. Papua New Guinea, the host nation, scrambled to mobilize 1,000 security officers; the leaders of 17 other countries agreed to make the trip for just a few hours with President Joe Biden, who was scheduled to go on to a meeting in Australia with allies known as the Quad.

Now all those plans have been scrapped. The White House announced on Tuesday that Biden would cut short an Asia-Pacific trip and return to Washington on Sunday after the Group of 7 summit in Japan for debt ceiling negotiations to ensure the United States does not run out of cash and default.

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What the cancellation means, in the broadest of terms, is that Americas domestic politics is undermining U.S. foreign policy at a crucial time, in a critical region. Analysts and diplomats warn that fears of an unreliable and dysfunctional America will now be revived in Asia and the Pacific, where the United States has only recently started to build momentum in its efforts to counter Chinese influence.

It will reinforce lingering doubts about U.S. staying power, said Hal Brands, a professor of global affairs at Johns Hopkins University. And you can bet China will make hay of this  its message to countries in the region will be, You cant count on a country that cant even perform basic functions of governance.

American officials have framed the cancellation as a postponement, arguing that the last-minute change does not reflect a flagging commitment.

We look forward to finding other ways to engage with Australia, the Quad, Papua New Guinea and the leaders of the Pacific Islands Forum in the coming year, said a statement from the U.S. Embassy in Australia. The leaders of the Quad nations  the United States, Japan, India and Australia  had planned to meet in Sydney, and Pacific Island leaders in Papua New Guinea.

But for many, the American assurances carried a whiff of deja vu. President Barack Obama skipped a planned appearance at an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting in 2013 to deal with a government shutdown instigated by Republicans. Xi Jinping, the Chinese leader, went on to dominate the event, declaring that the Asia-Pacific cannot prosper without China.

Doubts about American resolve  and Obamas promise of a pivot to Asia  have been in the air ever since, even as the Biden administration has offered tangible evidence of a shift in priorities. Along with more high-profile visits to the region, the United States has reopened an embassy in the Solomon Islands, added an embassy in Tonga and tilted its foreign policy heavily toward countering China, both militarily and in contested technologies like microchips.

But Washington is still playing catch-up. Beijings diplomatic corps worldwide is now bigger than that of the United States, and heavily concentrated in Asia. China has the worlds largest navy and coast guard, and its state-owned companies have surged into the construction and mining industries of many developing countries, including Fiji and Papua New Guinea, which sits just north of Australia.

For much of the region, especially the South Pacific, the United States has yet to prove that it can be as reliably present and productive as China.

Theres still a sense that this is early days, said Anna Powles, a senior lecturer in security studies at Massey University in New Zealand. Trust is the currency of the Pacific, and building trust takes consistency, it takes being reliable, being there, being present.

Abandoning a meeting of the Quad  which aims to foster collaboration on everything from health care to the environment  may be mostly a logistical irritant. Australias prime minister, Anthony Albanese, said on Wednesday that the four Quad leaders would try to meet on the sidelines of the G-7 summit in Hiroshima.

Bidens aborted stop in Port Moresby, the capital of Papua New Guinea, may carry greater consequences. It is likely to delay or halt efforts to finalize a security agreement that, in early negotiations, involved the possibility of granting the U.S. military unfettered access to the lands and seas around a country that played a strategic role in World War II.

Biden knows that history intimately: Two of his uncles fought there in the war, and one was killed.

Papua New Guineas prime minister, James Marape, said this week that U.S. officials had also promised to deliver billions of dollars in infrastructure investments, and that a group of American executives had planned to join the presidents entourage. It is not clear if or when those pledges will be fulfilled, a costly slight in a poor nation of nine million people desperate for development, where China has already invested heavily in construction and mining.

Theres no way to deny that this is a big missed opportunity, said Derek Grossman, a senior defense analyst at the RAND Corp.

You can actually argue that going to Papua New Guinea for three hours is more important than going to the G-7 or maybe even going to the Quad because it is a new opportunity opening the door to all kinds of possibilities  and now that may be closing because of our own domestic situation.

For the Pacific Island leaders who had been summoned to Port Moresby to meet with Biden, there will be additional frustrations. The meeting was billed as a follow-up to their summit at the White House last year, and many had specific requests to address, particularly on climate change, an existential threat to the region.

They had prepared to leave their own domestic politics behind for the gathering, in some cases taking connecting flights to get there. Some, like Fijis new prime minister, Sitiveni Rabuka, have said in strong terms that they will work closely only with countries that share their values, distancing themselves from Chinas embrace. But many leaders have also expressed annoyance with Americas lack of focus  when, for instance, Secretary of State Antony Blinken went to Fiji and talked at length about Ukraine, or when other senior American officials were late for important regional meetings.

Now their attention will shift, back to China, and to another rising power: India.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who had planned a visit to Papua New Guinea before Biden committed and then canceled, will now be the focal point in Port Moresby and in Sydney. Around 20,000 people are expected to gather in Sydneys Olympic Park for a bilateral celebration on Tuesday.

Modi is still going to have a state visit in Australia, said Bates Gill, director of the Center for China Analysis at the Asia Society. He will be warmly welcomed.

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A China-Europe freight train loaded with raw materials of liquorice, a Chinese medicinal herb, which departed from Turkmenistan, arrives at Xi'an international port in Xi'an, northwest China's Shaanxi Province, Aug. 31, 2022. [Photo/Xinhua]



A China-Central Asia business council will be established to strengthen economic cooperation between the two sides, an official said Tuesday.

The inauguration ceremony of the business council will be held in Xi'an Friday during the China-Central Asia Summit running from Thursday to Friday, Yang Xiaojun, an official of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, told a press conference.

The event is expected to gather more than 400 representatives from industry associations and businesses, covering major cooperation areas including energy, construction, logistics, food, information and communications.
President Biden on Wednesday awarded the Medal of Valor to nine Americans, granting them the highest honor for public safety officers.

Theres no greater responsibility of government than to ensure the safety of the American people and those who serve and protect us all. Were incredibly proud of all of you, Biden said in remarks at the White House. And were going to have your back as long as we need to, as long as youre engaged.

Seeing your courage gives me so much hope for this country, Biden added before giving out the medals.

Two New York Police Department detectives, Wilbert Mora and Jason Rivera, were honored posthumously. They died protecting a mother and son from an armed man in their home. Detective Sumit Sulan, who saved civilians during the incident and took down the gunman, was also honored.

They are the who and the what of law enforcement in this country should be, Biden said on Wednesday, noting Rivera died at 22 and is one of the youngest fallen officers ever.

The other honorees included Cpl. Jeffrey Farmer of the Littleton Police Department in Colorado, who saved the life of a fellow officer who was wounded; Lt. Justin Hespeler of the New York City Fire Department, who rushed into a burning house and rescued a newborn baby; and retired Lt. Jason Hickey of the New York City Fire Department, who rescued a man from the Harlem River.

Additionally, the honorees included deputy Bobby Hau Pham of the Clermont County Sheriffs Office in Ohio, who saved a drowning woman who had driven her car into a lake; Sgt. Kendrick Simpo of the Houston Police Department, who confronted a man carrying an assault-style rifle in a shopping mall; and firefighter Patrick Thornton of the New York City Fire Department, who saved a man trapped beneath a capsized boat.

Biden awarded the medals in a ceremony on Wednesday morning, ahead of when he is set to leave for his trip to Japan for the Group of Seven summit.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
President Biden on Wednesday honored nine public safety officers with the Medal of Valor in recognition of extraordinary acts of heroism and bravery, including officers who died in the line of duty.

Recipients of the award include five police officers, one sheriff's deputy and three firefighters. Congress created the medal in 2001, intending the award to go to public safety officers who exhibit exceptional courage and swiftness of action and assume personal risk in an attempt to save or protect human life.

"All of you who have lost someone know that no matter how much you take pride in the recognition of what they did when they were lost, it still brings back everything like it happened that moment," Mr. Biden said, telling the families of the fallen officers that it took courage to be there.

The president, who met recipients and their families before the ceremony, took time to tell their stories of heroism.

"You represent the best of who we are as Americans," Mr. Biden told the recipients.

After the ceremony, Mr. Biden is leaving for Japan on a trip he will be cutting short to return to the U.S. to work on the debt ceiling crisis. The U.S. may be unable to pay its bills and could default on its debt as soon as June 1 if Congress doesn't pass and the president doesn't sign legislation to raise the debt ceiling by then, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has warned.

These are the officers the president honored:

Fallen Detective Wilbert Mora, Fallen Detective Jason Rivera, and Detective Sumit Sulan of the New York Police Department, who sought to protect a mother and son from an armed man threatening violence, placing themselves between the assailant and occupants of the home. They were ambushed and died from their injuries.

Corporal Jeffrey Farmer of the Littleton, Colorado Police Department, who saved the life of a fellow officer who had been wounded. Farmer suffered injuries during the incident.

Lieutenant Justin Hespeler of the New York City Fire Department, who rushed into a burning house to rescue a newborn baby.

Lieutenant Jason Hickey of the New York City Fire Department (Retired), who rescued a man from the Harlem River.

Deputy Bobby Hau Pham of the Clermont County, Ohio Sheriff's Office, who saved a drowning woman who had driven her car into a lake.

Sergeant Kendrick Simpo of the Houston, Texas, Police Department, who confronted an armed man in a shopping mall.

Firefighter Patrick Thornton of the New York City Fire Department, who dove to save a man trapped beneath a capsized boat.

White House introduces debt ceiling negotiations team

Piglet on his way to be fattened for slaughter gets a new chance at life

North Carolina enacts 12-week abortion ban as abortion pill gets another day in court
Joe Biden has cancelled a planned visit to Australia and Papua New Guinea to focus on debt limit talks as Washington stares into the abyss of a potentially catastrophic default.

Biden still plans to head to Hiroshima, Japan, on Wednesday for the Group of Seven (G7) summit with leaders from some of the worlds leading economies. But he called off what was to be the first visit by a sitting US president to Papua New Guinea and a stop in Australia, where he was to meet with other leaders of the so-called Quad.

The move came as Biden hosted a fresh round of talks with congressional leaders at the White House in an effort to break the deadlock  and faced criticism from his left flank over rumored concessions to Republicans.

Although the meeting ended in less than an hour, there were expressions of cautious optimism from both sides.

Republican Kevin McCarthy, speaker of the House of Representatives, told reporters: I think we set the stage to carry on further conversations  Weve got a lot of work to do in a short amount of time.

McCarthy acknowledged the two sides were still far apart but added: It is possible to get a deal by the end of the week. Its not that difficult to get to an agreement.

Chuck Schumer, the Democratic majority leader in the Senate, said: It was a good and productive meeting. Everyone agreed that default would be the worst outcome  a horrible situation for America and Americas families.

The leaders have just 15 days to strike a deal to raise the US governments $31.4tn debt ceiling and avert the first default in the countrys history.

The treasury department on Monday reiterated its warning that it could run short of money to pay all its bills as soon as 1 June, which would trigger a default that economists say would be likely to cause a calamity while delighting geopolitical rivals such as China and Russia.

Related: What is the US debt ceiling and what will happen if it is not raised?

More than 8 million people could lose their jobs, officials estimate. Millions of social security beneficiaries, veterans and military families could lose their monthly payments. Vital federal services including border and air traffic control could be disrupted if workers cannot get their government wages.

Ilhan Omar, a Democratic congresswoman from Minnesota, told the Guardian: It would plunge a lot of American families into economic depression. It would create an economic crisis not just in the United States but globally.

We have to be able to keep our promise and pay our bills and then we can come back and obviously negotiate a budget that can be agreed upon by both parties. But to hold our economy hostage on a wishlist that creates economic devastation for so many of the people that we represent is just unthinkable, cruel and dangerously stupid.

Republicans, who control the House of Representatives by a 222-213 majority, have for months demanded that any increase in the governments self-imposed borrowing cap be linked to spending cuts. Last month they narrowly passed a bill to raise the debt ceiling while cutting spending by nearly 14% over a decade.

In the past week Biden and McCarthys aides have reportedly discussed issues including spending caps, tightening work requirements for food and other benefit programs for low-income Americans and changes to energy permitting in exchange for votes to lift the limit. This worries some Democrats, particularly on the left.

Pramila Jayapal, chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, tweeted on Tuesday: Democrats cannot give ground on work requirements in the debt ceiling talks. All work requirements do is limit the availability of food aid for families and hurt poor, marginalized communities  the very people we were elected to defend.

John Fetterman, a Democratic senator for Pennsylvania, said in a statement: I sure didnt come to Washington to take vital assistance away from working people at the same time big bank CEOs nearly crash the economy and get to jet off to Hawaii scot-free.

Officially, the White House has repeatedly insisted that Republicans must rule out default and consider budget issues separate from the need to raise the nations debt limit, which it describes as Congresss constitutional duty.

But some observers suspect its real position is less clear cut.

Bill Galston, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution thinktank in Washington, said: If this crisis is to be resolved, it will be resolved through a spending deal that will be linked in some way to the debt ceiling and I have sense  I cant prove it  that Rubicon has already been crossed.

A similar standoff in 2011 between Barack Obama and a new generation of Tea Party House Republicans led to a historic downgrade of the USs credit rating, which sparked a selloff in stocks and pushed its borrowing costs higher. Some Democrats argue that Obama made compromises he later regretted and Biden, vice-president at the time, should avoid a repeat.

The current impasse has rattled investors, sending the cost of insuring exposure to US government debt to record highs.



Adding to the challenge of striking a deal, McCarthy agreed to a change in House rules that allows for just one member to call for his ouster as speaker, which gives greater power to hardliners, including the roughly three dozen members of the House Freedom Caucus.

William Howell, a political scientist at the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy, said: The Republicans consist of a lot of different factions. There are some who are fiscal conservatives who are generally concerned about the debt and excessive spending and there are some, particularly the populist wing of the party, thats interested in just blowing things up. For them, the disruption and the defiance and is politically advantageous.

For Biden to find a productive way forward, he doesnt have to get all the Republicans. Hes going to have to get some of them. The question is, to the extent that he needs Republican support, who can he win over?
By Susan Heavey, Doina Chiacu, Andrea Shalal

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -President Joe Biden and top U.S. congressional Republican Kevin McCarthy on Wednesday underscored their determination to reach a deal soon to raise the federal government's $31.4 trillion debt ceiling and avoid an economically catastrophic default.

After a monthslong standoff, the Democratic president and the speaker of the House of Representatives on Tuesday agreed to negotiate directly on a deal. An agreement needs to be reached and passed by both chambers of Congress before the federal government runs out of money to pay its bills, as soon as June 1.

"We're going to come together because there's no alternative," Biden told reporters at the White House, saying he would cut short his trip to Asia and return to Washington on Sunday, but staff-level discussions would continue in Washington.

"To be clear, this negotiation is about the outlines of the budget, not about the whether or not we're going to (pay our debts)," Biden said. "The leaders (of Congress) have all agreed: We will not default. Every leader has said that."

Republicans, who control the House by a 222-213 majority, for months had been insisting that Democrats agree to spending cuts in exchange for a deal to raise Congress's self-imposed debt limit. The limit needs to be lifted regularly because the government spends more than it takes in taxes.

Asked by reporters at the Capitol whether it's possible to reach a debt ceiling deal by the time Biden returns from Asia on Sunday, McCarthy replied, "It's doable."

"We're on such a short timeline," McCarthy said. "It makes it almost harder. But there's one thing you know, for me, I never give up. I have the grit, the perseverance and we're gonna get it done."

The two-way conversation streamlines the prior five-way format of the past week that included the three other top congressional leaders.

Biden left on Wednesday for the Group of Seven summit of world leaders Friday through Sunday in Hiroshima, Japan.

On Tuesday, Biden and McCarthy met for about an hour at the White House with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell and House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries.

Biden plans a news conference in Hiroshima on Sunday before leaving to return to Washington, a White House official said.

Financial markets appeared to be buoyed by those discussions, with U.S. stocks higher on Wednesday, partly due to cautious optimism among investors as talks continued.

The U.S. Treasury has said it could start running out of funds as early as June 1 to pay the government's bills -- a develop economists say would trigger a recession.

Negotiators are aiming to hammer out an agreement before Biden's scheduled return to Washington on Sunday. Congress would then have to act swiftly before the June 1 deadline hits.

McCarthy said the House would vote first on any deal before sending it on the Senate, which Biden's Democrats control by a 51-49 margin, for approval. Senate rules would require at least nine Republicans to go along with any deal.

WORK REQUIREMENTS

Negotiations are continuing over the longevity of any deal, work requirements for aid programs for the poor, including food subsidies, and spending caps.

The work requirement discussions focus on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), previously known as food stamps, and the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program, according to sources briefed on the negotiations, who spoke on condition of anonymity to reveal details about closed-door negotiations. Biden has previously said that he would not be open to discussions of work requirements for the Medicaid health insurance program for low-income Americans.

He told reporters on Wednesday that he would not accept any work requirement changes that would affect recipients' health needs.

"It's possible there could be a few ... but not anything of consequence," he said.

McCarthy in a CNBC interview defended conservatives' call for work requirements, saying they would help the economy and boost the workforce, and vowed to exclude any discussion of taxes.

Raising taxes on the wealthy and companies to help pay for programs for other Americans is a key part of Biden's 2024 budget, and the president on Tuesday said he was disappointed that Republicans will not consider ways to raise revenue.

In a statement, Jeffries said he was hopeful a bipartisan deal would be reached but that House Democrats would file a "discharge petition" in case it was needed to bypass regular chamber procedures to act on the debt limit and avoid a default.

(Reporting by Susan Heavey, Doina Chiacu and Andrea Shalal, additional reporting by Andrea Shalal, Jarrett Renshaw and Richard Cowan; Editing by Scott Malone, Andrew Heavens and Jonathan Oatis)
President Joe Biden on Wednesday left the door open to expanding some work requirements as part of a debt ceiling deal, committing only to opposing new restrictions that affect health care programs.

Im not going to accept any work requirements thats going to impact on medical health needs of people, he said, before adding that its possible a deal could expand work rules for other federal programs.

Biden downplayed the significance of adding more work requirements, insisting that any new measures would not be anything of consequence. But it prompted immediate backlash within his own party, where Democrats bristled at the prospect of backing harsher restrictions for low-income Americans.

"It was confusing because he said that he wasn't open to much more than what we had, which seemed to leave a little door open," said Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), who chairs the Congressional Progressive Caucus. "But look, I have been clear: That is a nonstarter with us."

Biden's willingness to speak openly about support for modest measures that Democrats traditionally oppose signals that negotiations are narrowing in on specific policies and that the White House is comfortable with some concessions.

The White House has consistently dismissed the prospect of new restrictions on Medicaid, and it warned it would fight against any ideas that pushed people into poverty. Still, Biden has been coy about expanding work requirements for other safety net programs like food aid and cash assistance. Democrats in recent days also internally floated the potential for new restrictions to the emergency aid program known as Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, POLITICO first reported earlier this week.

Biden's posture further heightened concerns among Democratic lawmakers and progressives groups that Biden will give in to GOP demands for stricter work rules  an area that many House Republicans had privately indicated was a red line for them.

Earlier on Wednesday morning, top House Democrat Hakeem Jeffries dismissed Republicans work requirement proposals as entirely unreasonable.



The Congressional Black Caucus also planned to discuss Biden's remarks during a meeting Wednesday, as it weighs taking a stronger public stance against the prospect of additional work requirements, a caucus official said.

"We have made clear to House leadership that work requirements are not something the CBC would support," said the official, who was granted anonymity to characterize private conversations. "That is not a new position."

Biden first suggested he'd be willing to consider GOP work requirement proposals Sunday, in remarks that two people familiar with the matter described as off-the-cuff and which prompted a scramble to tamp down backlash among Democratic allies.

The White House subsequently put out statements indicating Biden would oppose any measures that had the potential to increase poverty, and on Monday night said Republicans' ideas did just that.

"Republicans couldn't pass them into law when they had unified control of government  and the president is fighting to ensure they will not be in a bipartisan budget agreement," White House spokesperson Michael Kikukawa said.

But Biden has now appeared to soften his stance. His vague indication that any concessions would not "go much beyond" the current law did little to reassure progressive groups tracking the talks.

"We do not believe the president should be considering any sort of work requirements as part of a deal to lift the debt ceiling, and we will oppose any deal that includes them," said Maurice Mitchell, national director for the progressive Working Families Party.

Bidens remarks came ahead of his departure for the G-7 summit in Japan, where hell spend the rest of the week before coming back Sunday. The president in the meantime designated three top aides to continue debt ceiling negotiations, saying he would keep in constant contact with them throughout the trip and plans to hold a press conference upon his return.

Im confident that well get the agreement on the budget and America will not default, Biden said, later emphasizing that he still considers this a negotiation over the budget, and not the debt ceiling. Were going to come together because theres no alternative.

Office of Management and Budget director Shalanda Young, top Biden adviser Steve Ricchetti and Office of Legislative Affairs chief Louisa Terrell will take up the negotiations on behalf of the White House.

"We narrowed the group to meet and hammer out our differences," Biden said, adding that the three have the authority to make agreements on his behalf.

Biden originally planned to travel to Papua New Guinea and Australia after the G-7, but cut the trip short so that he could resume in-person meetings on the debt ceiling. The Treasury Department has warned that the U.S. will be unable to pay its bills as soon as June 1 without an increase to the borrowing limit. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy previously suggested that the two sides needed to clinch a deal by the end of this week to ensure Congress could pass the legislation before the deadline.

Meredith Lee Hill contributed to this report.
(Bloomberg) -- Debt-ceiling talks between White House and congressional aides are set to intensify as negotiators seek a framework agreement for Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy to review upon the presidents return from a truncated trip to Asia.

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The latest round of talks, launched Tuesday night, before Bidens departure Wednesday for a Group of Seven meeting in Hiroshima, Japan, features a narrower group of negotiators in hopes of yielding a deal to avert an unprecedented US default.

Meantime, top Democratic officials plan meetings with banking executives, part of a broader effort to showcase the danger to the economic and financial outlook of any failure to address the debt limit. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer will gather Wednesday at 11 a.m. with the heads of JPMorgan Chase & Co., Citigroup Inc. and other banks, according to a person familiar, while Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen is also set to meet with members of a top banking lobby this week.

Biden said he would call lawmakers and staff to remain apprised of the negotiations during his time abroad, and hopes to gather with congressional leaders once he is back in the country next week. The president intended to visit Australia and Papua New Guinea, but scrapped those stops in hopes of brokering an agreement.

The president and lawmakers struck a cautiously optimistic tone following a meeting Tuesday, saying that while the two sides remained far apart, they were hopeful the new negotiating teams could find bipartisan middle ground. The Treasury Department is warning that the nation faces the disastrous prospect of default as soon as June 1.

McCarthy on Wednesday said that, at the end of the day, we do not have a debt default. He also said on CNBC that narrowing the number of negotiators was helpful.

Financial markets on Wednesday showed hints of optimism as the talks continue, with US stock futures higher and the dollar  seen as a haven at times of stress  lower.

Read More: Debt Deadlock Spurs Late-Day Slide in US Stocks: Markets Wrap

The hope on competing ends of Pennsylvania Avenue is that the two sides can avoid calamity by delegating responsibility to a smaller group  many of whom are known as negotiators able to strike deals. Senior White House adviser Steve Ricchetti, legislative affairs director Louisa Terrell and budget director Shalanda Young are representing Democrats in staff-level negotiations, with Representative Garret Graves of Louisiana as well as aides to the speaker joining from the Republican side.

The Three White House aides met with McCarthys team late Tuesday, according to a person familiar with the session.

There was an overwhelming consensus, I think, among the congressional leaders that defaulting on the debt is simply not an option, Biden said in remarks following the meeting. But the president cautioned, theres still work to do.

McCarthy has agitated for narrower talks in recent days, and said Tuesday a deal could come together quickly.

Weve got a lot of work to do, McCarthy told reporters. It is possible to get a deal by the end of the week. Its not that difficult to get to an agreement.

Schumer said he was more optimistic than he had been last week, while House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries praised an open, honest, and cordial discussion.

The bottom line is that we all came to agreement that we were going to continue discussions, Schumer said.

Sizable obstacles remain for the two sides to raise the federal spending limit. Failure to reach a deal will likely push the US over its debt ceiling as soon as next month, triggering a default that could rock global financial markets, raise borrowing costs for the government, companies and consumers and imperil an economic expansion thats already begun to show signs of weakening.

Read More: Biden Drops Australia, Papua New Guinea Visit for Debt Talks

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who Biden called Tuesday to cancel his visit, said the American president expressed frustration with Republican lawmakers.

Hes very disappointed at some of the actions of lawmakers in the US House and Senate,  Albanese told an Australian radio station.

An eventual agreement would likely rely on votes from Democrats and Republicans, White House Communications Director Ben LaBolt said in an interview with MSNBC on Tuesday night.

We think the path forward is really finding a budget framework that can pass both chambers, that members of both parties are going to happen to  going to need to vote for, and we need a majority of those votes, LaBolt said.

McCarthy earlier Tuesday held a closed-door meeting with fellow House Republicans, urging them to stick together on their demands, according to a person familiar with their discussion. McCarthy has said he hopes to have a deal in hand by the weekend, an acknowledgment of the difficult legislative path in the House, where Republicans have a razor-thin majority.

Before the White House meeting, the House speaker publicly dug in on demands for spending cuts and other priorities such as expanding work requirements for federal aid to the poor. Republicans are seeking to add new work requirements for Medicaid for able-bodied adults without children as well as apply existing work requirements to older individuals who receive food stamps.

Biden has rejected work requirements on Medicaid but otherwise avoided a definitive response.

He will not accept proposals that take away peoples health care, health coverage, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters Tuesday.

--With assistance from Jordan Fabian, Billy House, Erik Wasson and Josh Wingrove.

(Updates to note negotiators met Tuesday evening.)

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Biden said he was confident a deal can be reached with Republicans to avert a US debt default.

President Joe Biden said Wednesday he was confident about reaching a deal with Republican leaders to avert a potentially catastrophic US debt default as early as June 1.

"Im confident that well get the agreement that we need on the budget and that America will not default," Biden said in brief remarks at the White House, shortly before departing for the G7 meeting of world leaders in Japan.

Biden and congressional leaders including House Speaker Kevin McCarthy have held two rounds of face-to-face talks to try and reach agreement on a deal to raise the US borrowing limit and allow the country to pay for its existing obligations.

The United States could begin defaulting on its debts "potentially as early as June 1," Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said Monday, while the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office has forecast June 15.

- McCarthy 'optimistic' -

Speaking on Wednesday, McCarthy said time was running out to find a deal.

"Our timeline is short," he told reporters on Capitol Hill, adding that Biden and Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer had "finally backed off the insane, irrational, unsensible idea that you just raise the debt ceiling.

"I'm optimistic about our ability to work together," he said, adding: "the only question of whether we have a Biden default is the president himself."

Republicans continue to insist Biden must agree to significant spending cuts in exchange for their support to raise the ceiling, ignoring repeated Democratic calls for a "clean" increase of the borrowing limit with no strings attached.

Democrats have accused Republicans of using extreme tactics to push their political agenda ahead of the so-called "X-date" at which the United States starts defaulting on its debts because the government has run out of money.

In a sign of growing nervousness over wthe prospect of default, more than 140 top US chief executives sent a letter to Biden and congressional leaders on Tuesday stressing the need for an agreement.

"We strongly urge that an accord be reached quickly so that the country can avert this potentially devastating scenario," the letter signed by the CEOs from Pfizer and Morgan Stanley, among others, said.

- 'We will not default' -

Biden confirmed Wednesday that he was cutting short a wider tour to the Asia-Pacific region which included a meeting with the Australian premier and a stop in Papua New Guinea, and planned to return to Washington Sunday for "final" debt ceiling negotiations.

But he insisted once more that failing to raise the debt ceiling was not an option.

"It would be catastrophic for the American economy and the American people if we didn't pay our bills," he said.

"The leaders have all agreed we will not default," he added.

da/dw
President Joe Biden speaks during a Medal of Valor ceremony in the East Room of the White House, Wednesday, May 17, 2023, in Washington. The Medal of Valor is the nation's highest honor for bravery by a public safety officer. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci) (AP)

President Joe Biden on Wednesday said he believes he and Congressional leaders can reach an agreement that will prevent the US government from defaulting on its sovereign debt and throwing the world economy into chaos.

Speaking from the Roosevelt Room of the White House just before he departed Washington for the G7 leaders summit in Hiroshima, Japan, Mr Biden said the meeting he conducted Tuesday with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell had been productive as well as civil and respectful.

I'm confident that we'll get the agreement on the budget ... America will not default. And every leader in the room understands the consequences if we fail to pay our bills  it would be catastrophic for the American economy and the American people if we didn't pay our bills, and I'm confident everyone in the room agreed, he said.

Mr Biden said the substance of negotiations that will continue between senior White House aides and the Republican-led House of Representatives are over budget details  not whether Congress will avert a default by lifting the statutory debt ceiling.

This negotiation is about the outlines of what the budget will look like, not about whether or not we're going to in fact, pay our debts. The leaders all agree: We will not default, he said.

While Mr Biden is in Japan to meet with other Group of Seven leaders, the budget talks will continue between representatives of the White House and House Republicans.

Mr Biden has tasked a trio of longtime advisers  Counselor to the President Steve Ricchetti, Office of Management and Budget Director Shalanda Young and White House legislative affairs director Louisa Terrell with representing him, while Mr McCarthy has deputised Louisiana Representative Garrett Graves to speak for the House GOP majority.

The president said the negotiators had met last night and will meet again today, and he will be in constant contact with the group as well as with Mr McCarthy and other leaders during his trip.

The president confirmed he is nixing two legs of his trip by postponing planned travel to Austrailia and Papua New Guinea in order to return to the White House following the G7 confab.

At that point, he said he will participate in final negotiations over the deal.

I made clear ... and I'll say it again: America is not a deadbeat nation. We pay our bills ... and we're going to continue these discussions with congressional leaders in the coming days until we reach an agreement, he said.

Mr Biden added that he would have more to say on the negotiations at a press conference on Sunday.
WASHINGTON  President Joe Biden on Wednesday signaled a willingness to accept changes to welfare work requirements to win Republican approval of a debt limit increase.

I voted years ago for the work requirements that exist. But its possible that there could be a few others, he said during a brief, hastily arranged news conference just before his departure to Japan for the G-7 summit.

He added, though, that he would reject any work requirement thats going to impact on medical health needs of people, and said the changes could not be anything of any consequence.

Biden has stated for months that he would not negotiate with Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (Calif.) and his caucus over the debt ceiling, and he made the point Wednesday that he is still not negotiating over the debt ceiling, even as he implicitly negotiated over the debt ceiling.

To be clear, this negotiation is about the outlines of what the budget will look like, not about whether or not we are going to, in fact, pay our debts, he said.

President Joe Biden arrives to speak about the debt limit talks in the Roosevelt Room of the White House on Wednesday.

President Joe Biden arrives to speak about the debt limit talks in the Roosevelt Room of the White House on Wednesday.

Biden again warned of the catastrophic consequences for the economy should the country actually default on the national debt, and said it was the reason he was shortening his trip abroad, forgoing planned stops in Papua New Guinea and Australia.

What I have done, in anticipation that we wont get it all done till I get back, is Ive cut my trip short in order to be in the final negotiation and to sign the deal, he said.

At his own news conference a little later, McCarthy and a group of House and Senate Republicans surrounding him broke into laughter when told of Bidens remarks, with one unidentified lawmaker saying, Loser!

Anything that has consequence? This is a senator who voted for work requirements, McCarthy said.

The United States will run out of statutory borrowing authority to pay its obligations as early as June 1, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned early this month, meaning the nation could default on interest payments on outstanding bonds. Even the risk of this occurring is likely to result in the downgrade of U.S. creditworthiness, which would lead to higher borrowing costs in the future.

House Republicans, as they did in 2011 under the last Democratic president, Barack Obama, are making their support for legislation to increase the debt limit contingent on cutting spending and other goals.

They made no such demands during the presidency of Republican Donald Trump, and in fact supported increasing the debt limit three times during his four years in office without any attempts to cut spending  including twice in years when they controlled both chambers of Congress. During Trumps single term, Republicans ushered in the era of trillion-dollar annual deficits, thanks to a massive tax cut in 2017 combined with an end to Obama-era spending caps in 2018.

Trump, who is running for the White House again despite having attempted a coup to remain in power, is now encouraging Republicans to default on the debt if they do not get the spending cuts they want.

Jonathan Nicholson contributed reporting.

Related...
Biden tries to win back working class voters through jobs as he looks to 2024

Construction workers install roofing on a high-rise in Manhattans financial district on Tuesday, April 11, 2023, in New York. | Bebeto Matthews, Associated Press

The Biden administration says it wants to help Americans find good jobs whether or not they have a college degree. This comes as the Democratic Party tries to connect with working class voters ahead of the 2024 presidential race.

President Joe Biden touted his work to increase spending on infrastructure and manufacturing in a White House press release on Tuesday. The purpose of this collaborative vision is to build our workforce by ensuring every American  whether they go to college or not  will have equitable access to high-quality training, education and services that provide a path to a good career without leaving their community, the press release said.

The administration laid out priorities tied to the initiative, including increasing access to apprenticeship programs, making investments in clean-energy jobs, and increasing the number of union jobs.

This isnt the first time that Biden has voiced his desire for more union workers.

In February of last year, the White House released a plan that included 70 ideas on how to increase union membership, whose numbers have been declining for decades, according to CBS News.

Some view Bidens tactics as a way to increase his votes in the working class  a demographic that has been trending toward Republicans.

The Democratic Party has become a cosmopolitan, college-educated party even though its a party that considers itself a party of working people, said David Axelrod, one of former President Barack Obamas top advisers, per The New York Times.

Axelrod continued, Theres a sense among working-class voters, and not just white working-class voters, that the party doesnt relate to them or looks down on people who work with their hands or work with their backs or do things that dont require college education.

Related

Following Bidens reelection announcement, he spoke to a crowd of union workers at the North Americas Building Trades Unions Legislative Conference on April 25.

I ran for president to rebuild the backbone of America, the middle class; to grow the economy from the middle out and bottom up, not the top down. Because when the middle class does well, the poor have a ladder up and the wealthy still do very well. You dont have to worry about them. We all do well, he said to the crowd.

Biden is working to win back middle and working class voters by promising better jobs and economic growth, even as they remain frustrated about the cost of living.

Tyler Wissman who was at the conference told the Times that he has never heard a politician talk about not needing a college degree in order to be successful. As someone who was in his apprenticeship at the Finishing Trades Institute in Philadelphia and identifies as an independent, Wissman said he has never voted in a presidential election before, but said that might change  especially has he is about to have his second child with his girlfriend.

I want in office whoever is going to help me put food on my table, Wissman told the Times. At the end of the day, thats all its going to come down to.
A Chinese defense spokesperson Tuesday said that attempts of the U.S. side to turn back the wheel of history on the Taiwan question are intolerable.

Tan Kefei, a spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of National Defense, made the remarks in response to media reports that the U.S. government plans to provide weapons aid to Taiwan through the Presidential Drawdown Authority and that the U.S. military has recently sent its service members to Taiwan to help train local troops.

Commenting on the U.S. moves, Tan said that for some time, the United States has stepped up its military collusion with the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) authorities by strengthening military contacts and upgrading substantive relations between the two sides, which has shaken the foundation of China-U.S. relations and undermined the peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait.

"China is strongly dissatisfied with and firmly opposed to these wrong and dangerous moves and has lodged solemn representations with the U.S. side," he added.

The Taiwan question is at the very core of China's core interests and remains the first red line that must not be crossed in China-U.S. relations, Tan noted.

The "Three Principles," namely, severing so-called "diplomatic relations," abrogating the "mutual defense treaty" with the Taiwan authorities, and withdrawing U.S. military forces from Taiwan, are the preconditions for the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the United States, he said.

"We sternly warn the U.S. side to earnestly abide by the one-China principle and the provisions of the three China-U.S. joint communiques, fulfill its commitment of not supporting 'Taiwan independence,' and stop any forms of military collusion with Taiwan," the spokesperson said.

"We sternly warn the DPP authorities and the 'Taiwan independence' separatist forces that any attempt to seek independence by soliciting U.S. support or by force would lead nowhere," he added.

The Chinese People's Liberation Army will continue to strengthen military training and combat readiness, decisively crush "Taiwan independence" attempts and external interference in any form, and resolutely safeguard national sovereignty and territorial integrity, Tan said.
By Jeff Mason and Kirsty Needham

ABOARD AIR FORCE ONE/SYDNEY (Reuters) -U.S. President Joe Biden will arrange another summit of Pacific island leaders this year after the disappointment caused by his cancellation of a visit to Papua New Guinea due to the domestic debt ceiling crisis, his national security adviser said on Wednesday.

Political analysts said Biden's cancellation of the short visit to Port Moresby planned for next Monday after a G7 summit in Japan had dealt a blow to U.S. credibility in the Pacific island region, where Washington is competing with China for influence.

Asked en route with Biden to Japan whether the decision to cancel gave Beijing an advantage, Jake Sullivan, the president's senior security adviser, said the U.S. saw the "demand signal for the United States only growing for the Pacific islands."

"Within this calendar year, you will see the president convening the leaders of the Pacific islands for a major summit, which will be the second time in 12 months he has done that," Sullivan told reporters aboard Air Force One.

Sullivan said the summit had yet to scheduled, "but we will get it on the books, so that we continue the progress with the Pacific Islands."

Biden hosted an unprecedented summit of Pacific island leaders last year.

His three-hour stop in Port Moresby next Monday would have been a first there by a sitting U.S. president, and the island nation had declared a public holiday in his honor. Biden had been scheduled to meet 18 Pacific island leaders there.

"They're obviously disappointed that the President will not be the first ever President of the United States to go to Papua New Guinea," Sullivan said.

"But they are also very mindful of the fact that this President has done more in terms of his personal engagement with the Pacific islands than any previous president."

DEBT CEILING

The crisis over the U.S. debt ceiling - an issue with the potential to damage the global economy - prompted Biden to postpone visits to both Papua New Guinea and Australia to allow him to return earlier to Washington.

He had been due to meet in Sydney with leaders of the other countries of the Quad grouping - Australia, Japan and India - but they will now talk in Japan.

The stop in Papua New Guinea, a nation of 9 million north of Australia, had been viewed as a major step to build trust in a region where China has sought a greater security presence.

"For Papua New Guinea this was a very big deal and they will be disappointed," said Mihai Sora, a Pacific islands analyst with Sydney's Lowy Institute think tank, calling it a "blow to U.S. credibility in the region as a consistent partner."

"Up until now Pacific islands leaders have been giving the U.S. the benefit of the doubt over its ability to re-engage."

Biden's decision recalled President Barack Obama's cancellation of a trip to attend two summits in Asia in 2013 because of a U.S. government shutdown.

Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape said this week his government was preparing to sign a major defense pact with the United States and a security agreement allowing U.S. Coast Guard vessels to patrol its waters. He made no public comment about Biden's cancellation.

Some opposition party politicians have criticized the pact as potentially upsetting China, a major infrastructure donor.

THREE VISITS BY XI

Richard Maude, a former Australian intelligence chief now with the Asia Society Policy Institute said the cancellation could be a setback for relations.

"The mantra in the region is all about turning up. Turning up is half the battle. China turns up all the time, and so the optics aren't great," he said.

Chinese President Xi Jinping has visited the region three times, including a 2018 visit to Papua New Guinea.

The Pacific islands span 40 million square km of ocean, where vital sea lanes and submarine cables link the United States to its allies Australia and Japan. But leaders there had complained to the U.S. of being seen as "fly over" countries.

China last year struck a security pact with the Solomon Islands, where a Chinese state company will rebuild the international port. Beijing has continued to lobby for a bigger role in the region, after failing to sign 10 nations to a security and trade deal.

Washington has made progress in renewing strategic pacts with two Pacific island states - Micronesia and Palau - under which it retains responsibility for their defense and provides economic assistance while gaining exclusive access to large strategic areas of the Pacific in return.

It expects those to be formally signed at a ceremony in Papua New Guinea on Monday. A third pact with the Marshall Islands has yet to be finalized and is due to expire this year.

(Reporting by Kirsty Needham in Sydney, Jeff Mason on Air Force One and David Brunnstrom, and Andrea Shalal and Rami Ayyub in Washington; additional reporting by Lucy Craymer in Wellington; editing by Nick Macfie, Don Durfee and Grant McCool)
In the recent death of Earl L. Moore, Jr., a 35-year-old Springfield man who died following an altercation with two emergency medical services workers, the family could not seek punitive damages in its wrongful death lawsuit.

As previously reported by The State Journal-Register, no specific requested amount has been announced by the family in their suit filed against two EMS workers - Peter J. Cadigan, 50, and Peggy J. Finley, 44, and LifeStar Ambulance Services, Inc. The family is seeking compensatory damages to make up for financial losses after Moore's death, not punitive damages which seek to punish bad actors, since it is not permitted by state law currently.

More: Attorneys seek new bond for EMT accused in Moore death and family's lawyer remarks removed

Under a bill advancing in the Illinois General Assembly that could change.

House Bill 219 passed in the House on Tuesday 75-40 and now heads to the Senate and would grant the decedent's heirs the right to pursue these damages. The shell bill moved quickly through committee earlier that day after amendments were introduced on Friday.

Rep. Jay Hoffman, D-Swansea, said his bill would give heirs the same right as families of an injured person, who can presently seek punitive damages. Suits against government officials, state and local, would still be exempt from damages if the legislation passes.

"This type of legislation is in 34 other states," he said during floor debate. "I believe it's a victims' rights legislation and I believe it's important that punitive damages for bad actors be available in wrongful death cases."

Earl Moore Jr.

Hoffman further explained the burden of proof for punitive damages to be awarded include showing the specific action or actions that led to an individual's wrongful death and whether there was any attempt of a cover-up.

Republicans voted against the legislation with concerns that it could lead to business disinvestment and further economic hinderance in the state. Other groups opposed include the Illinois Insurance Association, Illinois Chamber of Commerce, the Illinois Manufacturers Association and the Illinois Retail Merchants Association.

Their primary objection and one Rep. Dan Ugaste, R-Geneva noted on the House floor is the bill makes no limit as to how much these damages could be. The reason for this is the Illinois Supreme Court has ruled caps on damages to be unconstitutional, Hoffman countered, while also citing only 18 cases in the past decade where compensatory damages awarded exceeding $10,000.

While a cap does not exist in Illinois, the U.S. Supreme Court found in a 2003 ruling that punitive damages exceeding ten times the amount of compensatory damages would be in most cases in violation of due process. Ugaste asked the legislature to not move forward with the legislation over the remaining days of session.

"We could end up shutting down a business because one or two bad actors and I'm not defending the bad actors at all," he said. "I'm just saying there are other people to consider here."

House Minority Leader Tony McCombie was also opposed to the exemptions, saying that all bad actors including those in government should face punitive damages if the bill is signed into law. She and all members of the minority party voted against HB 219.

Rep. Martin McLaughlin, R-Barrington Hills, noted the proponents of the bill were primarily lawyers - the Illinois State Bar Association and Illinois Trial Lawyers Association namely.

"I think it's pretty evident that what we got here is a bunch of trial lawyers looking to pass legislation to fill their pockets against businesses in Illinois," he said.

Another opponent to the bill is Johnson and Johnson, who recently announced it would be paying $8.9 billion to thousands of individuals who claim the pharmaceutical company's talcum powder gave them ovarian cancer as reported by The New York Times. Their opposition was not unexpected by Hoffman.

"What surprises me is that we can't be honest with ourselves and say if they are conducting these types of behaviors that their behavior has to stop," he said.

Whether further voting action is taken before the scheduled adjournment on Friday is unknown at this point. Attempts in prior general assemblies, most recently legislation from Rep. La Shawn K. Ford, D-Chicago, last year, have failed to make it to a vote or through a committee.

Contact Patrick Keck: 312-549-9340, pkeck@gannett.com, twitter.com/@pkeckreporter.

This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: Bill allowing punitive damages in wrongful death suits advances House
Gov. Jared Polis vetoed a bill that would have postponed Colorado's wolf reintroduction, slated for December, until after a federal rule is in place for protected wolves to be legally killed in certain situations.

Senate Bill 23-256 passed the Colorado House and Senate after being heavily amended, but Polis, a Democrat who favors wolf reintroduction, refused to sign the bill Tuesday.

Polis wrote in his veto letter of the bill he is supportive of the work of the Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission and the Department of Natural Resources towards the state's preferred approach of reintroducing gray wolves under a 10(j) rule.

His veto letter included: "SB23-256, however, is unnecessary and undermines the voters intent and the hard work of the Parks and Wildlife Commission, the expertise of the Colorado Parks and Wildlife staff, the extensive stakeholding undertaken by the Technical Working Group and the Stakeholder Advisory Group, and the ongoing collaborative work with our Federal partners, and could actually interfere with successfully receiving experimental population designation, which is the purported purpose of the bill."

Wolf advocates argued the bill would delay wolf reintroduction in the state by six years or more by inviting "frivolous lawsuits" as part of final approval of the 10(j) rule under the Endangered Species Act. That rule, which Colorado Parks and Wildlife asked the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to pursue, designates reintroduced wolves in Colorado as "experimental" and allows killing of those wolves in certain situations involving wolves killing livestock.

"We are grateful to Governor Polis for vetoing SB-256, and ensuring that wolves will be reintroduced to Colorado by the end of the year,'' Lindsay Larris, wildlife program director for WildEarth Guardians, said in a new release. "For the past six weeks, the conservation community has been aggressively fighting this harmful legislation which would have thwarted the will of Colorado voters.''

Ranchers pushed for passage of the bipartisan bill, backed mostly by Western Slope legislators, as assurance they could protect their livestock from the expected 10 to 15 wolves reintroduced into the state annually over the next three years or more. Without the rule, wolves can only be killed to protect human life.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has said it will have a decision on the 10(j) rule in place by Dec. 15. Colorado Parks and Wildlife has said it has a goal of reintroducing wolves by the end of this year to fulfill the wishes of voters who narrowly approved ballot initiative Proposition 114 in 2020.

More: Colorado's final wolf reintroduction plan has been approved. Here are the highlights.

However, the 10(j) rule was used in wolf reintroduction efforts in Idaho and Wyoming in the mid-1990s and both rulings were delayed through litigation.

In Colorado, who might pursue litigation  livestock organizations and outfitters or wolf advocates  is unclear.

One of the bill's sponsors, Democrat Rep. Meghan Lukens, who represents Western Slope counties Eagle, Moffat, Rio Blanco and Routt, said she was "extremely disappointed" in the governor's action.

"I have heard from ranchers and farmers consistently that it is absolutely imperative we have the 10(j) rule in place prior to state-orchestrated wolf reintroduction, and this bill was a direct request from Western Slope constituents who will be impacted most by wolf reintroduction," Lukens said in a release. "This legislation would have provided the time necessary to ensure that the reintroduction of wolves into Colorado happens under a 10(j) rule, which is essential for the state to have co-management authority of the reintroduced population to protect our agricultural producers across the state.''

Jackson County rancher Don Gittleson, who has lost several cows to the state's North Park wolfpack (the parents of that pack naturally migrated into Colorado), told the Coloradoan he is not surprised by the governor's veto because he thinks the governor has not been supportive of agriculture. He said the governor's veto will anger many ranchers.

"If we end up with an established population before the 10(j) rule gets out of court, we are probably in big trouble," Gittleson said. "The governor's decision is not going to create a friendly environment between ranchers and CPW and other people. Let's just say I don't have a lot of faith in our governor.''

Recent coverage: North Park wolfpack member confirmed to have wandered into Grand County

Governor signs bills funding ranchers' livestock losses to wolves and license plates to fund nonlethal wolf deterrence

Senate Bill 23-255 allocates $350,000 from the state's general fund to compensate ranchers who have livestock killed or injured by wolves starting in fiscal year 2023-24. Funds in excess of those needs will go to the Colorado Parks and Wildlife's wildlife cash fund.

House Bill 23-1265 allows a portion of special "Born to be Wild" license plates to fund ranchers' nonlethal means to defend livestock from wolves. The plates will cost $100.

This article originally appeared on Fort Collins Coloradoan: Polis vetoes bill that would have delayed Colorado's wolf releases
Billie Eilish And Rocker Jesse Rutherford Split After Less Than A Year

Billie Eilishs monthslong relationship with the Neighbourhood vocalist Jesse Rutherford has reportedly reached a dead end.

On Wednesday, a representative for the Bad Guy singer confirmed the breakup to Page Six, saying that Billie and Jesse did split amicably and remain good friends.

First linked in October, the pair were most recently spotted together in mid-April during the Coachella music festival in California. Earlier this month, Eilish attended New Yorks Met Gala alone.

From the start of their romance, Eilish, now 21, and Rutherford, 31, faced criticism over their 10-year age difference.

Billie Eilish and Jesse Rutherford arrive at an Oscar party in Beverly Hills, California, on March 12.

Billie Eilish and Jesse Rutherford arrive at an Oscar party in Beverly Hills, California, on March 12.

Instead of ignoring the topic, the couple decided to poke fun at the controversy. On Halloween, they goaded detractors by dressing like a baby and an old man in an Instagram photo together.

Eilish swooned over the relationship in a November interview with Vanity Fair, saying, Its really cool, and Im really excited and Im really happy about it.

Explaining how she considered the romance an accomplishment, she said, I managed to get  to a point in my life  where I not only was known by a person that I thought was the hottest fucking fucker alive, but pulled his ass! Are you kidding me? Can we just [get a] round of applause for me?

The pop stars brother and recording partner, Finneas OConnell, remarked on the relationship in December.

I want my sister to be happy and safe, he wrote to a critic on TikTok. And she is a 21 year old adult perfectly entitled to make her own life decisions.

Related...
NASA astronaut Victor Glover Jr. will travel farther into space than any Black person before him when he pilots the Artemis II lunar mission in 2024.

But he's already embarked on a personal mission that hits closer to home on Earth.

He wants to take his fellow Americans to school and guide them deep into the nation's psyche, to help them reflect on the paradox of a nation that has a track record of oppressing Black people sending him on a trailblazing trip around the moon.

Because of that legacy of racism, Glover says it's his duty to impress upon people that his voyage will represent more than a scientific triumph.

During a conversation over Zoom about the beauty of space flight and the contradictions of American life, the 47-year-old Pomona native says he recommends to audiences at his public speeches and his co-workers at NASA a choice set of reading, listening and viewing materials.

He starts with the U.S. Constitution, whose words resound with the false promise of equality that has led to so much racial upheaval.

Victor Glover Jr. speaks in Houston after he was announced as the mission pilot for the Artemis II lunar program. (Associated Press)

"I like to highlight Article 1, Section 2, Clause 3, the part that says all people are accounted for the purposes of taxation and representation but everybody else is considered 3/5 of the person  remember, that's still in there," Glover says of the language referring to enslaved Africans.

"I encourage them to read the 'Letter from a Birmingham Jail' by Martin Luther King, the 'Paranoid Style in American Politics' by Richard Hofstadter," he says.

"And then there are movies and music: '13th,' about the 13th Amendment by Ava DuVernay, the Lupe Fiasco song 'Shoes' that's about Ahmaud Arbery, who was murdered because he was out jogging and getting some exercise."

Glover advises Americans to watch the documentary "13th" by filmmaker Ava DuVernay, shown on the ARRAY Creative Campus collective in Los Angeles. (Al Seib/Los Angeles Times)

Glover flashes a broad smile while discussing his work. He looks every bit the proud national hero with his smooth-shaven face and royal blue NASA jumpsuit. The Artemis II program will set the stage for humans to venture to Mars  a feat for the ages.

But he turns introspective when speaking about his own existence. Here he is preparing to pilot a spaceship that will also carry the first woman  Christina Hammock Koch  to the moon, feeling tugged by the pull of American history.

He understands that to be Black in America  especially in an esteemed position like his  requires constantly holding yourself up as a positive example to give hope to your people.

During his time as the first Black astronaut to live long-term aboard the International Space Station in 2021, he celebrated Black history month with a phone call from Vice President Kamala Harris, a transformative figure in her own right as the first woman of color to hold that office.

I spoke with @NASA Astronaut and @USNavy Commander Victor J. Glover aboard the International Space Station. @AstroVicGlover is making history as the first African American on a long-duration space mission. He is a reminder of what's possible when we dream big and think big. pic.twitter.com/DV9OXyivbD  Vice President Kamala Harris (@VP) February 27, 2021

"The exciting thing about being a first is that there is a prospect of there being a second, a third and a fourth, and it actually becoming normal," Glover says. "I really look forward to the point where it's not remarkable that a Black man is exploring the solar system  or running this country."

When celebrating Black excellence, Glover knows his joys are never his own, though. Neither are his sorrows.

With every act of injustice, he thinks: "It could've been me." That's what he wanted his white friends and colleagues to take to heart after a white police officer killed George Floyd in 2020, and they asked him: "What can I do?"

Only a few months earlier, a white father and son gunned down Arbery in a racially motivated shooting.

"I think about him every time I'm out running," Glover says.

Every instance of anti-Blackness strikes a chord deep within the whole community. That's why Glover believes it's essential for him to act as a kind of truth teller of the Black experience. It's fundamentally different for someone who looks like him  who has both that promise of equality and America's frequent failure to deliver on it in his DNA  to journey into space.

Astronaut Victor Glover Jr., second from the left, with his crew mates after returning to Earth from their stay on the International Space Station in 2021. Glover was the first Black astronaut to live long-term on the ISS. (Bill Ingalls / Associated Press)

"It's important for us to live up to the words in some of our foundational documents  of the people, by the people," Glover says. "We're exploring for all people, and now we can say we're exploring with, or by, all people."

Glover realizes that not everyone will share in the excitement over his lunar mission or revel in its symbolism. Black Americans have had a complicated outlook on space exploration. It has been seen as a source of inspiration and a distraction.

Black people were still fighting for the right to freely vote, eat and sleep wherever they wanted and attend integrated schools when President Kennedy vowed in 1962 to land the first human on the moon.

Many Black activists decried the massive spending dedicated to an Apollo lunar program that in the end would send only white men to Earth's sole natural satellite. Poverty, racial strife and police violence were crippling Black communities.

That resentment cuts through Gil Scott-Heron's 1970 spoken-word piece, "Whitey on the Moon," a favorite work that Glover recommends to his NASA colleagues: "The man jus' upped my rent las' night. ('cause Whitey's on the moon) No hot water, no toilets, no lights. (but Whitey's on the moon)."

"One of my first speeches was to my colleagues to tell them, 'Hey, remember who you're talking to  little me, when I was a kid, I didn't feel connected to this,'" Glover says. He got personal with his peers, he says, "to help them broaden their understanding of what America is."

"We need to understand that perspective."

At the same time, Black Americans have long embraced the power of the cosmos to liberate the spirit  transforming the empty expanse of space into fertile territory brimming with new possibilities and luminous futures.

"You're a shining star/ No matter who you are/ Shining bright to see/ What you could truly be," sang Earth, Wind & Fire.

Jimi Hendrix daydreamed about space while growing up in the Seattle area and took on the persona of a righteous alien in the prelude to his 1967 song "Up From the Skies."

Some civil rights leaders of the 1960s understood the power of space to unlock the potential of the Black community, Glover says.

"I'm not sure if many people know, but Nichelle Nichols, Lt. Uhura from 'Star Trek,' there's a story that she was considering leaving the show," he says of the pioneering Black actor, who died in 2022 and whose ashes will be sent into space on United Launch Alliance's privately owned Vulcan rocket.

"Martin Luther King convinced her to stay because of what she represented and who she represented."

Pioneering 'Star Trek' actress Nichelle Nichols, seen here on the set of "Unbelievable!!!!" in Malibu, died in July 2022. (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)

"She became one of biggest advocates for racial and gender diversity in NASA," Glover says.

Realizing that so many since that era have sacrificed and shattered racial barriers  including 14 other Black astronauts  Glover says it's even more gratifying to pilot the first crewed U.S. lunar mission in half a century.

"I'm the fruit of the labor  and the seed for the next generation as well," he says.

As Glover shoots past Earth's atmosphere and sails 238,900 miles to the moon, his body will become weightless. But he knows his soul will be heavy.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Grain deal extended for two months

Read also: Ankara rejected US proposal to transfer Russian S-400 air defense system from Turkey to Ukraine

"With the efforts of our country, the support of our Russian friends, and the contribution of our Ukrainian friends, a decision has been made to extend the Black Sea Grain Corridor Agreement for another 2 months," the message reads.

According to Erdogan, the Russian side promised not to obstruct the departure of Turkish vessels from Ukrainian ports of Mykolaiv and Olvia.

"I wish for this decision, which has vital importance for the uninterrupted operation of global food supply chains and especially for facilitating access to grain for countries in need, to be beneficial for all parties," the president added.

Erdogan also thanked Ukrainian President Zelenskyy for "constructive cooperation" and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres for "efforts in this process."

According to the Ukrainian Infrastructure Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov, the agreement will remain in force until July 18.

"It should be noted that the Grain Initiative was and remains valid, as its term was extended by 120 days until July 18; as of today, 30.4 million tons of agricultural products have already been delivered to meet the worlds needs," Kubrakov said.

Read also: Black Sea grain initiative talks end in Istanbul, no decision on extension reached

He emphasized that since mid-April, Russia was obstructing and ultimately stalling the grain corridors operation, refusing to register new fleets and inspect ships bound for Ukrainian ports.

Around 70 vessels are currently waiting in the territorial waters of Turkey, 90% of which are ready to deliver the products from our farmers to the world, the minister adds.

We welcome the extension of the initiative but emphasize that it must work effectively. To do this, we need to eliminate problems that Russia has been creating for several months through sabotaging inspections and registering new fleets.

Read also: Black Sea grain initiative talks end in Istanbul, no decision on extension reached

Recently, tensions have been rising between Russia and Ukraine over the grain agreement. On April 24, Russian Defense Ministry accused Ukraine of violating the agreement by attacking Sevastopol (in occupied Crimea) with naval drones, allegedly launched from the port of Odesa. Russia, which has routinely sought to undermine the agreement in the past, has warned of a potential threat to the deals extension beyond May 18.

In response, Ukrainian Military Intelligence spokesperson Andriy Yusov denied the accusations, saying that any Ukrainian operations in Crimea are focused on exclusively military targets.

Read also: Why Russia is blocking the grain corridor  Ukraines Agriculture Ministry comments

The Black Sea Grain Initiative, mediated by the UN and Turkey in July 2022, unblocked three Ukrainian Black Sea ports for food exports, relieving the pressure on global food supply.

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Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
Black taxpayers more likely to be audited, IRS admits

Black taxpayers in the US are more likely to be audited by the IRS, a new study from Stanford University shows

Black Americans are significantly more likely to be subjected to tax investigations, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has admitted.

IRS Commissioner Daniel Werfel said in a letter to the US Senate that recent research indicates black taxpayers are between three and five times more likely to be audited.

Mr Werfel said he was "deeply concerned" by the disparity.

Lawmakers have called on the IRS to review its auditing processes.

A recent study from economists at Stanford University found that black taxpayers were more likely to be singled out for audit than non-black taxpayers.

Although the IRS does not collect information about race on tax documents, Daniel Ho, the paper's co-author, told BBC News the disparity still exists.

This is partially because the agency currently focuses more resources on auditing those who claim refundable tax credits, rather than going after high-income taxpayers with more complicated returns.

Mr Werfel told lawmakers the agency was looking into whether changing its approach to audits would reduce the disproportionate impact on low-income black families.

Mr Ho suggested funding and staffing shortages over the last decade may be to blame for the IRS prioritising audits that are viewed as "simple".

"For the price of a postage stamp, if the taxpayer doesn't respond, it is an audit that results in an adjustment that recovers money for the IRS," he said.

Mr Ho along with researchers at Stanford collaborated with the Treasury Department to examine more than 145 million tax returns and 780,000 audits.

Researchers were proactively trying to prevent bias and inequality in new algorithms used by the IRS. But their work revealed the bias already existed in the IRS current systems.

Taxpayers who claim the Earned Income Tax Credit, which is for lower-income Americans, were more likely to be audited.

But the research found black families were "between 2.9 and 4.4 times as likely to be audited" when compared with the overall population of low- to-moderate-income families who claim the same tax credit.

"It's a disturbing disparity," said Mr Ho.
Search group Black Tulip

Read also: Ukrainian suicide drone operator outsmarts Russian soldier - video

They find the remains of Soviet, Ukrainian and Russian soldiers in Ukrainian soil, dig them up, and transfer them to morgues. It is not an easy mission, but a necessary one. Oleksiy Yukov, the head of the group, spoke to NV about their work.

Victory parades in Moscow continue while the soldiers who fought for this victory lie forgotten in the ground, Yukov explains.

These Soviet soldiers have no identification marks or documents.

The Russians, however, have identification marks. Oleksiy showed the uniform and documents of a Russian national guardsman and even took a tea bag out of his pocket. He had been found on a mission in which Black Tulip had actually been intending to recover the bones of the Soviet soldier which sappers had found while clearing a local field. Russian units had been deployed not far from the location in the summer of 2022. Black Tulip headed there as soon as they had received information about the probable remains of a Soviet soldier.

Read also: Deciphering Vladimir Putins unspoken Victory Day message

The Russians were deployed there along with the equipment, and had since been destroyed by Ukraines 95th Brigade. Black Tulip volunteers  all of them work without pay  found the remains of three Russian soldiers. Some parts of their bodies had already been removed by wild animals.

War chews you up and spits you out. Only bones remain. From the very beginning, the Russians should have said no to the war instead of we can do it again (jingoistic threat to repeat their conquests of WWII), Yukov says. We can see the price of this another go."

Read also: Ukraine recovers bodies of 80 more killed soldiers

The search group exhumes remains and transfers them to morgues. There, the bodies are examined and recorded by experts, and DNA samples are taken. Russian bodies are offered to the other side. If this is the body of a Ukrainian soldier, Black Tulip volunteers get in touch with the soldiers relatives and help close the case of their loved ones death. In total, the search group has found the bodies of 325 Russians and over 100 Ukrainians. There have even been instances when volunteers came under Russian shelling and helped evacuate Ukrainian wounded.

Oleksiy himself has been looking for bodies for 24 years. When asked why he does this, he replies:

For me, this is a matter of someone's fate. It was someone's son, someone's father. But even though it may be the remains of the enemy, we still need to take them. We are Ukrainians, and we are built different: if a person dies, their body must be returned home.

Oleksiy is from Slovyansk in Donetsk Oblast. The desire to enter this line of work came from his childhood, when as a little boy, he saw an old cemetery getting demolished in order to build a children's hospital. The Soviet authorities dug up graves with tractors and threw out the bones along with the coffins.

Read also: Belarusian battalion recaptures trenches from Russians on Donbas 'road of life'

We should have been building Ukraine here, and not leave everything to chance, Yukov says of how Donbas developed after 1991.

Russia used to do whatever it wanted here: under the Soviet regime, and even today. There is no time to cry. If we only cry, we will get what we had a hundred years ago: first they destroyed us as a nation during the time of the Ukrainian Peoples Republic, and then we had to eat our own children. I don't want that to happen again.

Black Tulips volunteers work throughout the year, answering phone calls day and night, as there are many dead on both sides, and theres not enough volunteers to handle very case.

Read also: Ukrainian soldiers in Bakhmut withstand Russian phosphorus attack

Victory is still far away, but we will win, Oleksiy says. Because we have humanity.

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Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
tony awards

Award season is really year round. While some of the most prestigious awards shows have passed, fans still have several awards shows to look forward to in the coming months. That includes the 2023 Tony Awards.

The Tony Awards are known as the Oscars of the Theater. A Tony is one of the most prestigious honors in the world of live stage performances. Since 1947, the awards have recognized achievements in Broadway productions, honoring outstanding performances, plays, musicals, and creative talents in the theater world.

This years Tony Awards will look a bit different than usual, however. The ongoing WGA Writers Strike has affected almost every scripted program and the Tonys are not exempt. Awards shows are also scripted, but during a strike, options are limited. In order to produce this years show, organizers have agreed to run the entire broadcast unscripted. The organizers of the strike did turn down the Tonys attempt at hiring writers for the show only, but agreed to not picket the broadcast and ceremony.

This year, many Black women in the theater space are being recognized for their work. Here are a few to look out for.

Black Women Up For A Tony

Actress, Audra McDonald received a nomination for best performance by an actress in a leading role in a play. Broadway critics have applauded her work in the play Ohio State Murders. When speaking to Deadline about the nomination, she shared how honored she was to work with the team.

Having the opportunity to work with Kenny Leon, and to be a part of Adrienne Kennedys long-overdue Broadway debut of her extraordinary, relevant, and powerful work, was one of the most important artistic experiences of my life, McDonald told Deadline.

Some Like it Hot co-writer, Amber Ruffin, is one to look out for at this years Tony Awards. The play received 13 nominations this year.

We are thrilled to be nominated alongside so many from our Some Like It Hot family. Our show has always been to us about the power of the community to uplift individuals, Ruffin told Deadline. That it has been received by audiences and by the Tony nominators with that same spirit makes this all feel full circle.

Nikki Crawford is another Black woman to keep an eye out for at this years ceremony. She received a nomination for best featured actress for her performance in Fat Ham. The play received several nominations for best play, best direction of a play, and best costume design of a play.

The 2023 Tony Awards will air Sunday, June 11 on CBS.

The post Black Women To Watch At The 2023 Tony Awards appeared first on 21Ninety.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken will allow lawmakers access to a dissent cable centered around the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, caving to pressure from House Republicans who had threatened Blinken in contempt of Congress.

Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas) has been in pursuit of a July 2021 dissent cable from State Department officials that reportedly expressed grave concerns about the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan and warned about the fall of the U.S.-backed government.

Earlier this month, McCaul, the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, threatened to hold Blinken in contempt if he did not provide him access to the diplomatic cable.

In our letter to the committee today, we will invite Chairman McCaul and ranking member (Rep. Gregory) Meeks (D-N.Y.) to view the dissent channel cable here at the State Department  with appropriate personal information redacted, State Department spokesperson Vedant Patel said at a press conference Wednesday. It is our sincere hope that our offer here will sufficiently satisfy their request for information.

The reported cable came from a confidential dissent channel that allows State Department officials to communicate views that are contrary to administration policy and issue warnings. The cable sought by McCaul and House Republicans reportedly included warnings about the fragility of the government in Kabul in the event of an American withdrawal.

It is part of House Republicans oversight of the Biden administrations August 2021 decision to withdraw from Afghanistan, which garnered much criticism from the presidents detractors on the right.

Blinken had rejected previous attempts to view the cable, citing a need to maintain the integrity of the confidential channel. The department offered to give lawmakers a briefing on the contents of the cable.

The dissent channel cable is something that is really integral and sacred to this department, Patel said. It is an avenue for personnel across the world to engage with the senior leadership on very important issues and for senior leadership to engage back. Its not an avenue to inform or convey policy to Congress.

The Hill has reached out to McCaul for comment.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Chinese President Xi Jinping on Wednesday held talks in Xi'an with President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev of Kazakhstan, who is in China for the China-Central Asia Summit and a state visit.

Xi warmly welcomed Tokayev to China for the summit and the state visit. Xi expressed his pleasure at hosting Tokayev in Xi'an and once again wished him a happy birthday as he turned 70 on this very day.

Xi pointed out that Tokayev's state visit to China on this special occasion speaks volumes about the strength of the bilateral ties and once again attests to his unique bond with China.

Xi stressed that China-Kazakhstan relations have entered the next three golden decades.

The two sides should vigorously carry forward the traditional friendship, firmly support each other, deepen mutually beneficial cooperation, pursue development and rejuvenation, and build a China-Kazakhstan community with a shared future featuring everlasting friendship, strong mutual trust and solidarity, Xi said.
Mekhi Franklin was critically injured by a Baltimore police officer during a foot chase. A gun was recovered from the scene, but footage does not clearly depict Franklin as a threat.

Mekhi Franklin was critically injured by a Baltimore police officer during a foot chase. A gun was recovered from the scene, but footage does not clearly depict Franklin as a threat.

Baltimore police released body camera footage on Tuesday showing an officer shooting a Black teenager in the back as he fled. The officer shouted a demand for the teen to drop a gun, and then quickly fired. The teenager was badly wounded and lost several organs, and police said they discovered a gun with him following the shooting on Thursday.

Mekhi Franklin, 17, can be seen on camera walking on the sidewalk with someone. Witnesses told local media outlet The Baltimore Banner that police officer Cedric Elleby was sitting on a stoop with Franklin before the shooting. Franklin gets up and begins to walk away; Elleby follows him.

It is unclear what the officer said to Franklin and the other individual when he approached them, but the two stop and they briefly talk.

Audio then comes on. Come here, Elleby says to Franklin, to which the teenager replies: What bro? Elleby then lunges at Franklin, trying to grab him, but Franklin pulls away and begins to sprint in the opposite direction.

Warning: The video below contains graphic footage.

Elleby chases Franklin through a grassy area, a back alley, and then nearby the sidewalk in broad daylight. The chase lasted for about 30 seconds.

Elleby shouts at Franklin to stop and put the gun down, after he pulls what appears to be a firearm out of his pants. The gun appears to still be in Franklins hand, but the footage does not show Franklin turning toward Elleby or pointing the gun at him during the foot chase.

Elleby then fires four shots, and Franklin collapses in an alley in front of a rowhome. The gun can be seen laying on the ground away from his body.

An emotional and chaotic scene followed the shooting, with residents arriving at the shooting scene as Elleby and another officer attempted to render aid to Franklin. Voices are heard shouting in the background.

You just shot him for nothing, one civilian is heard saying in the background.

Baltimore Police Deputy Commissioner Richard Worley told the media in a press conference the day of the shooting that Elleby was on patrol in the area and saw Franklin displaying characteristics of an armed person.

Police said Elleby is part of the departments district action team, which are plainclothes units tasked with proactive policing that focus on armed people, making traffic stops and foot chases.

The Maryland Attorney Generals Office said they are not investigating the shooting at this time, but Mayor Brandon Scott has promised a thorough investigation. Keira Franklin, the mother of the teenager, said this is not the first time police harassed her son.

This happened previously with the same police officer, she said.

Related...
This is a locator map for Iran with its capital, Tehran. (AP Photo) (ASSOCIATED PRESS)

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP)  Oman Air said Tuesday that one of its Boeing 737s had been grounded in Iran after sustaining damage caused by debris on the runway at Shiraz International Airport.

The Muscat-based flag carrier for the sultanate did not elaborate on what debris the plane struck on landing Monday in Shiraz. Iranian officials did not immediately acknowledge the incident involving the aircraft.

Our engineering team is undertaking the necessary measures to safely bring the aircraft back to Muscat, the airline said in an online statement. It described the route as operating as a chartered flight and that those stuck had been provided accommodation in Shiraz, some 680 kilometers (420 miles) southeast of Tehran.

However, other airlines have faced challenges in bringing back damaged aircraft. U.S. sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program have barred spare aviation parts from being on hand in the Islamic Republic. That complicates repairs on aircraft from both Boeing Co. and Airbus, which have American-made parts.

In December 2018, a brand-new Boeing 737 Max flown by Norwegian Air Shuttle landed in Shiraz after a fault in one of its engines while flying from Dubai in the United Arab Emirates. The aircraft remained stuck on the ground there for several months before finally leaving.

The airport in Shiraz, like many others in the Mideast, is used by both commercial and military flights.

Iran and Oman have maintained close relations through the decades, even amid Tehran's tensions with its Gulf Arab neighbors and the U.S. Oman frequently has served as an interlocutor for the West with Iran.
A three-month independent investigation into potential racism at the Boise Police Department did not find that racist ideologies were widespread, but identified wide-ranging problems with the departments hiring practices, policies and promotions.

The investigators collected testimony from some minority officers of discrimination they had experienced, and laid out a picture of a police department that has long had lax training requirements and protected its own.

Michael Bromwich, an attorney with Washington, D.C. law firm Steptoe & Johnson, was hired by the city in December, after Mayor Lauren McLean was spurred to probe revelations that a veteran and recently retired commander at the Boise Police Department held white supremacist views.

In November, a Twitter account identified Matt Bryngelson, a 23-year Boise Police veteran, as having been booked as a speaker at a conference put on by an organization, called the American Renaissance, that is known for white supremacist views. In racist posts written pseudonymously as well as a video interview taped before his retirement, Bryngelson made several racist comments about Black people and other groups.

Bromwich on Tuesday detailed the work that he and his team of six other lawyers completed over the course of two trips to Boise and a number of remote interviews.

At the same time, Bromwich made clear that his firm had been expecting to receive more funds from City Hall and was unable to conduct much of its planned investigation, which would have included reviews of documents and further interviews.

Investigation criticizes how BPD promotes officers

Bromwichs team focused on interviewing the leaders at Boise police and more than a dozen minority rank-and-file officers. In total, Bromwich said, he interviewed 18 current and former minority staffers at Boise police.

While about six current and former employees said they had experienced racism or discrimination, Bromwich said he did not find any evidence that there are a large number of racists in the department.

Some of those minority officers said they had experienced racism from the public numerous times, including being called the N-word, Bromwich said. He also noted that his firm is aware of two former officers who experienced racism internally, and that some officers felt their complaints about how they were treated were not taken seriously by leadership.

Had he had the resources, he said, he doubted that even an exhaustive review of the documents that we obtained would have determined otherwise.

Bromwich listed several key findings, including that Boise police should reform the way it investigates critical incidents, keep better training records, ensure officers record audio on their body cameras, and scrutinize its promotional practices.

Bromwich detailed numerous complaints from within the department about Bryngelson that officers had anonymously written in surveys when he was promoted as sergeant in 2009 and as lieutenant in 2019. Some officers called him lazy, described him as rude to the public, and said he was unable to keep personal dislike for other officers out of his professional decisions. He was also accused of being liked but not respected by his peers.

Bromwich criticized Ada Countys Critical Incident Task Force, which reviews events like officer-involved shootings and typically has a separate local police department lead the interview. Bromwich said that setup primes the investigations to take longer, because they are a lower priority for the outside department than its own business.

He also said internal investigations into such incidents should happen concurrently with criminal investigations, rather than afterward. Otherwise, internal investigations must wait until after the critical incident team and the Ada County prosecutor complete their work, which can take months or years. Bromwich said its a mistake to wait that long if there is internal justice and discipline that needs to happen.

Investigation identified improvements under Lee

Bromwich noted multiple instances when he said department policy improved under former Chief Ryan Lee, who resigned at McLeans request in September after several officers complained about him.

Bromwich said that Lee and Capt. Spencer Fomby, who directed the departments training and also departed recently, made the academys training more difficult after a decade during which no officers failed out of the program.

Lee is a very knowledgeable guy about policing, Bromwich said. He noted that Lee had also improved the departments body camera policy by requiring officers to record audio on their cameras.

Bromwich said Lee gave the department a gift by bringing in outsiders who are now on the command staff. Bromwich said those new leaders have had a tonic effect on the department, gaining the respect of the rank-and-file by showing that they know what theyre talking about.

Lee, who is Chinese American, came to the department from Portland in 2020 and brought into the fold Capts. Jeff Niiya and Jim Quackenbush  both of whom had worked in Portland  during his tenure. The deputy chief, Tammany Brooks, was also hired in 2021 from Antioch, California.

Complaints from within the department surfaced prominently last fall, notably in a KTVB article that described accusations lodged by nine officers against Lee. The specifics of all of the complaints have not been made public, but a prominent character in the article  who claimed he left because of Lee  was Bryngelson, the officer whose racist posts led to Bromwichs investigation.

Another officer, Kirk Rush, had previously accused Lee of injuring his neck during a training exercise, which resulted in a criminal investigation that narrowly rejected recommending criminal charges against Lee.

Within days of the complaints becoming public, McLean asked Lee to resign.

In describing the clubby atmosphere within the department, Bromwich said the former chief had been pushed out.

In the interviews that we conducted, I discerned a respect for Chief Lee and his background, and that he had a lot to teach, Bromwich said. I think there were some issues related to his leadership style  but its quite clear to me in light of all the complaints that were filed, seemingly in a very orchestrated way, that they wanted him gone and they achieved their goal.

Investigation lacked funds to complete work

Despite its findings, Bromwichs team was unable to review any department documents or complete its planned interviews because it ran out of funds.

Despite asking for and receiving 105,000 documents, the firm was unable to review any of them. It also couldnt review body camera footage of Bryngelsons interactions with the public, his correspondence or his file with the Office of Internal Affairs, which included a large number of complaints. That included 11 complaints that had been sustained, meaning that internal reviewers found sufficient evidence to prove the allegations.

Bromwich said he delivered his findings without a high level of confidence. He called documentary evidence a cornerstone of any complete investigation.

The firm also did not have a chance to reach out to some community groups, look into concerns Lee had raised about racial discrimination in hiring, or talk to white officers about their attitudes toward efforts to diversify the department. The firm did not come even close to asking Lee all of the questions it had.

Of the two former officers who the firm learned had experienced racism, Bromwich said they were unable to find one of them, while another was found but could not be interviewed before the work stopped.

We had hoped and believed that the funding we were originally afforded would be augmented later on, he said. Bromwich said the firm canceled a third trip in early March, out of concern that it was approaching the limit of its allocated funds.

The investigation went on hold in early March because of the funding limitations. It was not until April 21 that McLean notified Bromwich that she did not want to authorize more work, Bromwich said.

Bromwich said he was very upfront with the city about his estimate of the costs, which he said vastly exceeded the $500,000 figure.

Frankly, I would have been happier if I was told at the outset, We cant afford that, and we would have gone our separate ways, he said.

Under the terms of the contract, the Steptoe lawyers agreed to be paid a combined rate of $825 per hour, which Bromwich noted is less than half his normal rate.

Bromwich responded to criticisms of the investigations cost, including an Idaho Statesman editorial, and listed examples of recent national independent investigations  as well as those he has conducted into other departments  that cost millions of dollars.

The idea that we were hiding the ball, or we were inflating the cost, or we were taking advantage of the city of Boise is not only wrong, its offensive, he said.

Later on Tuesday, the council approved an additional $150,000 to cover the remaining costs of the investigation, bringing the total amount expended to $650,000.

Council members, mayor respond

After the presentation, McLean said she felt the department deserves to have its name cleared, and that she is confident Bromwichs recommendations can be addressed with existing resources and the teams in place.

In an interview with the Statesman, Chief Ron Winegar said he plans to quickly review the recommendations and discuss how to make any necessary changes.

What is the number you put on knowing whether an avowed and self-proclaiming white supremacist is the only one? Council Member Patrick Bageant said. We got far more than $500,000 worth of benefit out of this.

Council Member Luci Willits, the councils only Republican member, voted against authorizing the extra funds and said the city should have put out a bid for the investigation to see if other firms could have done it for less.

Council Member Colin Nash said Bromwichs skills and expertise are probably unmatched.

I think we hired the right guy, and I think we got the information that we need to take action going forward, he said.
Former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro leaves the federal police headquarters in Brasilia after testifying in an investigation into an alleged scheme to forge Covid-19 vaccination certificates, on May 16, 2023

Former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro spoke to police for several hours Tuesday as part of an investigation into the alleged forgery of Covid-19 vaccination certificates for himself and his inner circle.

Bolsonaro, whose house was raided as part of the same investigation earlier this month, arrived at the federal police headquarters in Brasilia around 1:40 pm (1640 GMT) in a car with tinted windows, and left four hours later without speaking to the press, an AFP photographer said.

In his "approximately three hours" of testimony to police, the far-right, vaccine-skeptical former president denied involvement in the alleged plot, Bolsonaro adviser Fabio Wajngarten said on Twitter.

Bolsonaro "answered all the questions," according to Wajngarten, and "reiterated that he had never been vaccinated, that he was unaware of any and all initiatives for eventual forgery, insertion, or adulteration in his vaccination card as well as that of his daughter."

Federal police say they uncovered a scheme in which a top Bolsonaro aide, army colonel Mauro Cid, allegedly tapped a network of contacts in the health system and government to obtain fraudulent vaccination certificates for Bolsonaro, the president's daughter, himself, his wife and daughters, and two other presidential aides.

Police have said there was evidence Bolsonaro was "fully aware" of the fraudulent entries in the health ministry's electronic vaccination records system, which they said aimed to enable his anti-vaccine inner circle to dodge international travel requirements and other pandemic restrictions.

mel/rsr/ll/nro/des
(Bloomberg) -- Brazils Jair Bolsonaro testified to federal authorities Tuesday as part an investigation into falsified vaccination records, the latest in a series of probes bearing down on the former president and his inner circle.

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Bolsonaro has faced mounting legal troubles since his October election defeat, and has now appeared before Brazils Federal Police three times since his March return home from an extended vacation in the US.

During his testimony, the right-wing former leader denied any involvement in what police have described as a plot to produce fake Covid-19 vaccination documents for international travel purposes, according to local news reports. The case led to the arrest of one of Bolsonaros top aides earlier this month, and the ensuing legal storm may suggest that Judge Alexandre de Moraes, the Supreme Court justice overseeing several of the probes, is moving closer to Bolsonaros banishment from public office or even his arrest.

Moraes is closing in on Bolsonaro, said Mario Braga, a Sao Paulo-based political analyst for Control Risks, a consulting firm. And he will likely have a lot of elements to chase.

The 68-year-old former army captain met with investigators in early April over allegations that he failed to declare millions of dollars worth of gifts he received while serving as president. Later that month, he gave testimony in response to accusations that he played a role in inciting the Jan. 8 riots that that ransacked major government buildings in the nations capital, Brasilia.

Read more: Bolsonaro Denies Wrongdoing After Police Raid in Covid Probe

Bolsonaro, who never explicitly conceded his defeat to President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, denies wrongdoing on all fronts. Neither Bolsonaros spokesman nor his attorney immediately responded to requests for comment about Tuesdays testimony, which lasted almost three hours, according to the newspaper Folha de S.Paulo.

The testimony followed a multi-state police raid earlier this month that included the search of Bolsonaros home in Brasilia and the arrest of Lt. Col. Mauro Cid, who acted as Bolsonaros personal secretary during his presidency. Police alleged that data had been falsified to produce vaccine cards that would comply with US entry requirements.

Bolsonaro, a vocal immunization skeptic, told reporters after the search that he had not been vaccinated and had not tampered with official data to show otherwise.

I didnt take the vaccine, period. I never denied that, he said.

The legal peril facing the former president is largely the result of a broad investigation, overseen by Moraes, into online threats and attacks against Brazilian institutions. The probe commonly known as the Fake News Inquiry was launched in 2019 to combat disinformation. Bolsonaro and many of his allies became a central focus after they sought to sow doubt about Covid-19, vaccines and the 2022 election results.

Read more: Bolsonaros Brawl With a Top Justice Tests Brazils Democracy

Moraes, 54, is also the head of Brazils top electoral court. His efforts to crack down on vitriol flooding the internet and defend Brazils institutions initially won widespread praise. But they have also generated concerns about judicial overreach, and his attempt to connect the fake news inquiry and ongoing probe into vaccine cards has drawn criticism that he is seeking to concentrate power.

Moraes is not just using the powers that had already been shaped in the Bolsonaro era, but is deploying them in expansive ways, said Diego Arguelhes, a constitutional law professor at Insper University in Sao Paulo.

Last week, Moraes ordered investigations into executives from Google and Telegram over their roles in an abusive campaign to turn public opinion against proposed legislation to regulate internet content. Tech companies claim the bill tramples free speech and imposes unrealistic requirements on them to police disinformation.

Moraes still has many defenders among Bolsonaro critics who see the former leader and the proliferation of misinformation as threats to Brazils democracy. A slim majority of Brazilians, meanwhile, believe Bolsonaro should be ruled ineligible to run for office in the future because of the cases against him, according to an April poll from Datafolha.

(Recasts lede and adds details on latest testimony)

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Bored husky escapes kennel and chaos follows at Alabama shelter. See the destruction

UPDATE: Titan has been adopted. He is going to a home with an experienced owner for his breed, the Colbert County Animal Shelter reported May 17.

The original story is below.

A bored husky got loose after hours at an Alabama animal shelter and went on an all-night vandalism spree that included ransacking files and pushing costly computer equipment off desks.

The aftermath was discovered early Tuesday, May 16, when staff arrived at the Colbert County Animal Shelter in Tuscumbia, about 110 miles northwest of Birmingham.

A photo shows they were eagerly greeted by the suspect, named Titan, as he sat atop a mound of debris.

We will have a slight delay this morning due to a Husky throwing a party last night in the lobby, the shelter posted on Facebook.

Front desk computer is destroyed along with files and paperwork. He somehow let 2 dogs out in the back also. So we have a big mess to clean up.

Surveillance video shows Titan spent the night walking atop desks and counter tops and nosing through paperwork. He pushed equipment to the floor, pulled things out of boxes and even yanked blinds off the windows.

Its estimated more than $2,000 in damage was done to the front office, and a fundraising campaign is underway to raise money for a new computer and replacement supplies.

How Titan got free was not revealed, but it didnt take him long. He had been surrendered by his owner just one hour before the shelter closed that day, officials said.

He is now in the equivalent of doggy jail at the shelter, which is practically begging someone to take Titan off their hands. However, its recommend the new home have metal furnishings and deadbolt locks.

He is such a sweet dog, unless you are paper products, the shelter wrote.

Experts say nothing about the destructive spree was out of character for Siberian huskies. The breed is notorious for being escape artists and they seem to enjoy tearing things apart, Dogtime.com reports.

They can jump fences, break tie-out chains, slip collars and find any other way to escape, the site reports.

Huskies can be very destructive both inside and out. If they are left uncrated inside, the breed can destroy a house and cause a wide variety of damage.

The shelters predicament has gotten thousands of reactions and comments on social media, many from husky owners who note thats just a normal evening at their home.

They are demons I tell you. Demons! Ashley Albritton Harrell joked.

Owning a husky is not for the faint of heart! Hes totally unrepentant! Lori Varnell posted.

Love that people who already love the breed find this endearing and funny because I look at this and think I could never own a husky, Mary Cammisano said.

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A Brewster police officer accused of falsifying the arrest of an irate motorist who went to police headquarters to file a complaint against him was acquitted of all charges Wednesday.

A screenshot from a cellphone video taken by Alexander King shows Brewster police Officer Fernando Quinones with his right hand at King's neck during an arrest in the parking lot at police headquarters on Oct. 28, 2021.

A cell phone video by the motorist, Alexander King, showing Officer Fernando Quinones grabbing him by the throat and taking him to the ground was seemingly outweighed by King's multiple lies in sworn testimony about Quinones' behavior during a pair of traffic stops and a confrontation in police headquarters in October 2021.

Putnam Judge Joseph Spofford found Quinones not guilty of filing a false instrument, falsifying business records and official misconduct on the third day of the non-jury trial after the defense called no witnesses.

Brewster police Officer Fernando Quinones in screengrab from cell phone video taken by Alexander King during their confrontation in parking lot of police headquarters Oct. 28, 2021.

The heart of the prosecution's case was the cell phone video and how it did not show several of the things that Quinones later included in the criminal complaint charging King with attempted assault, resisting arrest and disorderly conduct.

But the defense countered that just because details were not captured on the 16-second video didn't mean they didn't happen. Quinones' lawyer Andrew Quinn said that prosecutors had failed to prove that anything Quinones put in his complaint was false.

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"The Putnam DA made the mistake of believing that the video told the whole story. It did not," said Quinn's co-counsel John D'Alessandro in a statement. "When all of the evidence surrounding the arrest was introduced in the courtroom it was apparent that the video was not the smoking gun the DA thought it was."

The two men didn't know each other when Quinones first pulled King over on Oct. 4, 2021, for speeding. King made a snarky remark about Brewster cops only being there to issue traffic tickets, but body-cam footage showed no other animosity between the two.

Quinones claimed that King sped off from the stop, fishtailed and ran a red light, and he went to his home to issue additional tickets. King wasn't there, but went to police headquarters later and launched a verbal tirade against the officer, cursing him out and accusing him of lying.

Quinones pulled King over again on Oct. 28, this time for talking on his cell phone, which King denied. He picked up where he left off, cursing Quinones repeatedly even as he pulled away after getting the ticket.

King then went to police headquarters to file a complaint against Quinones. He claimed that Quinones followed him there, but testimony from a highway department employee revealed that Quinones got there first, which was not surprising since he would frequently monitor traffic from the police station's parking lot.

King accused Quinones of coming over to his car, demanding that he get out and threatening to "bash his face." Although he claimed to be afraid of the cop at that point, King got out to go to headquarters to make the complaint and began recording with his cell phone. Quinones walked up to him and asked him what he was doing and when King told him he was going to talk to his supervisor Quinones told him to go ahead.

But the video then showed him grabbing King around the throat and taking him to the ground. The criminal charges accused him of making up that King had approached him, called him an expletive and raised his fist at him.

The defense maintained that Quinones was not attempting to stop King from making a complaint against him and grabbed King only because he saw him make a fist as he approached.

King denied Quinn's accusations that he had recorded much more than the 16 seconds but erased all the parts that did not boost his narrative of an abusive cop.

The Putnam District Attorney's Office eventually dropped all charges against King from both days that October.

King has a pending federal lawsuit against Quinones and the village alleging false arrest and other claims, which Quinn argued motivated King to rile up Quinones that day.

Quinones joined the part-time department in 2016 and has been on medical disability for the past year. He previously worked in Yonkers for 23 years after serving in the U.S. Marines.

D'Alessandro, a retired Yonkers cop who had worked with Quinones, said his client has served with "honor and distinction".

"He should not have been arrested and forced to endure a criminal prosecution based solely on that video," D'Alessandro said in the statement.

Putnam District Attorney Robert Tendy said his office respected the judge's decision. He had no immediate response to D'Alessandro's comments.

This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Brewster NY officer found not guilty of false arrest
Britain baffled by shocking surge in death rates last year with no clear cause

Tens of thousands of British residents died last year without a clear cause of death, raising alarms for health professionals in the country.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) released figures on excess deaths, which are deaths of people who died above the five-year average, which excluded COVID in 2020 as a spiked death figure year.

The excess deaths number for 2022 was 32,441 in England and Wales from May to December, the Express reported. Earlier in the year, the number for excess deaths had dipped much lower than the average level.

Dr. Marc Siegel, professor of medicine at NYU-Langone Medical Center and a Fox News contributor, told Fox News Digital that the U.K. health authorities should recognize that even excluding direct deaths due to COVID-19 from the data does not exclude the indirect effects which are substantial.

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Ambulances sit parked at St Thomas' Hospital on Jan. 7, 2022 in London, England. By the New Year, nearly one in 10 NHS staff were off work with 50,000 at home either sick or self-isolating.

"To say that you could analyze death rates in Britain in 2022 without considering the impact of COVID is not meaningful because COVID had so many indirect effects on weight, lifestyle, stress, mental health, blood pressure, etc., that this led at least in part to the increased death rate," Siegel explained.

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The Guardian in January similarly highlighted the excess death rate, noting it was "a fifth higher than the average from 2016 to 2019."

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Staff working on a Covid Intensive Care Unit at Kings College Hospital in south London. Picture date: Friday Jan. 7, 2022.

The Guardian also pointed to issues with the National Health Service itself, noting 2,200 additional deaths associated with ambulance delays in Dec. 2022 alone. The NHS had about 50,000 vacancies in England in January this year alone.

Professor David Coleman, Emeritus Professor of Demography at Oxford University, told the Mirror similarly that the U.K.s population has been changed by COVID-19, especially through the deaths of "a significant portion" of the elderly.

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Ambulances at St Thomas' Hospital on Jan. 7, 2022 in London, England. By the New Year, nearly one in 10 NHS staff were off work with 50,000 at home either sick or self-isolating.

"Once those poor people have been packed off, the remaining population should be healthier, there should be a period afterward where deaths are lower than usual, but that hasnt happened," Coleman said.

Coleman acknowledged that the population is growing older and British population is "the fattest in Europe," which makes it "rather vulnerable to diseases, notably heart disease and diabetes."

"Some people have been forecasting separately from COVID that death rates would continue to get worse because the country is so unhealthy," he added.

The Daily Express noted that ischemic heart disease and mental illness such as dementia and Alzheimer's, which it argued would align with theories related to an aging, fatter population.
Canadian hip-hop drama Brother, starring Lamar Johnson, Aaron Pierre and more, is finally coming to US theaters.

The Clement Virgo-directed film, which debuted at the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival, will come to theaters this summer. The film also stars Kiana Madeira, Lovell Adams-Gray and Marsha Stephanie Blake. Virgo directs from a script based on David Chariandys novel of the same name.

Brother takes place in Toronto in the early 90s, at the height of the hip hop scene. Like the title suggests, the film focuses on two brothers whose life paths alter their relationship. According to the description:

Propelled by the pulsing beats of Torontos early hip hop scene, Brother is the story of Francis (Pierre) and Michael (Johnson), sons of Caribbean immigrants maturing into young men. A mystery unfolds during the sweltering summer of 1991, and escalating tensions set off a series of events that change the course of the brothers lives forever. Brother crafts a timely story about the profound bond between siblings, the resilience of community and the irrepressible power of music.

Clement has created one of the very best coming of age films in recent memory masterfully capturing two brothers complicated journey over the course of three time periods, said Vertical partner Peter Jarowey. The film is textured and seamless, with powerful performances from the actors that produce a provocative portrait of love, loss, regret and grief that is mesmerizing.

Were excited to work with Vertical on the US release of Brother. They have a proven track record of connecting innovative films with audiences who crave original, thought-provoking stories, said Virgo and Chariandy. We cant wait to share Brother with the US this summer through Verticals expert curation and marketing.

Brother is produced by Virgo, Damon DOliveira, Sonya Di Rienzo and Aeschylus Poulos. Aaron L. Gilbert, Laurie May, Noah Segal and Steven Thibault executive produce.
Photo: Ted S. Warren (AP)

On Wednesday afternoon, Bryan Kohberger, the man charged in the gruesome homicides of four University of Idaho students last November, was indicted on all five charges against him by a grand jury. Kohberger faced four counts of murder and one count of burglary.



A new hearing has been set for Monday, and Kohberger is expected to enter a plea at this hearing. A previously scheduled preliminary hearing for Kohbergers trial has now been canceled. KREM reports that this move suggests the grand jury is confident theres sufficient evidence for the case to move to trial. (State law in Idaho requires prosecution to prove theres enough evidence to go to trial, as determined by either a grand jury ruling or preliminary hearing.)

Read more

In March, a former FBI agent argued theres a strong case for the death penalty to be pursued against Kohberger.

Early in the morning on November 13, Kohberger reportedly broke into the off-campus house of students Kaylee Goncalves, 21; Madison Mogen, 21; Xana Kernodle, 20; and Ethan Chapin, 20. Cell phone data shows Kohberger previously visited the area around the home and returned after the killing. He also appears to have repeatedly messaged one of the victims on Instagram before the killings.

Shortly after the quadruple homicide, police embarked on a weeks-long search for the killer, ultimately leading to Kohbergers arrest at his parents home in December. In the immediate aftermath of the killings, Kohberger resumed his work as a teaching assistant at Washington State University. His students claimed Kohberger began acting differently after the murders: Definitely around then, he started grading everybody just 100s. Pretty much if you turned something in, you were getting high marks, one student recalled to the New York Post earlier this year. He stopped leaving notes. He seemed preoccupied.

Prior to the killings, Kohberger shared a survey on Reddit seeking to learn how emotions and psychological traits influence decision-making when committing a crime. The survey also asked how individuals prepared for their crimes, how they would approach a target before making a move, and their thoughts and feelings throughout [the] experience.

The Idaho killings, and Kohberger in particular, have become the subject of significant cultural fascination in recent months following his arrest at the end of last year. Harmful and unfounded conspiracy theories have run rampant about the surviving roommates of the four slain college students. Women Kohberger allegedly went on dates with as well as current and former students have shared their stories and misgivings about him, while at least one woman on the internet said she has fallen in love with him.

And all of this unfolds as the victims families continue to grieve.

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Bryan Kohberger, seated, who is accused of killing four University of Idaho students on Nov. 13, looks on as his attorney, public defender Anne Taylor speaks during a hearing.

Bryan Kohberger, the man accused of stabbing four University of Idaho students to death in their Moscow home, has been indicted by a grand jury.

Idaho Judicial Branch spokesperson Nate Poppino told the Idaho Statesman that Kohberger was indicted, and an arraignment now has been set for 9 a.m. Pacific time Monday at the Latah County Courthouse.

Kohberger was indicted on four counts of murder in the first degree and one count of felony burglary.

The preliminary hearing set for June 26 has been canceled. That hearing, scheduled to last a week, likely would have provided previously unreleased information about the case to the public.

A prosecutor can seek an indictment in Idaho through the grand jury without relying on a judges decision at a preliminary hearing.

A grand jury is a panel of citizens who hear evidence and determine whether criminal charges should be initiated, according to the Fourth Judicial Court website. The jury has investigative powers and can compel witnesses and request documents.

Grand jury proceedings are private and secret, prospective defendants are not entitled to be present at the proceedings, and no one is allowed to cross-examine witnesses on the defendants behalf, the Fourth Judicial Court states. Information presented to the grand jury is presented by prosecuting attorneys.

Duncan Levin, a criminal defense attorney who has represented high-profile clients such as Harvey Weinstein and con artist Anna Delvey, said there are a number of reasons a prosecutor may choose to use a grand jury instead of waiting for a preliminary hearing. In addition to being a more streamlined process that potentially saves time and resources, grand juries provide prosecutors with privacy and time, according to Levin.

Grand jury proceedings offer greater secrecy, allowing prosecutors to present sensitive evidence and witness testimonies without compromising ongoing investigations or witnesses safety, Levin told the Statesman by email. Additionally, grand juries can be impaneled for an extended period, giving prosecutors more time to gather evidence and testimony, especially if some witnesses may be uncooperative or require subpoenaing.

At the request of Latah County Prosecutor Bill Thompson, Magistrate Judge John Judge in Idahos 2nd District ordered the names of all witnesses called during the grand jury proceedings to be sealed. Thompson said the court had received numerous complaints from potential witnesses and family members about harassment both on social media and in person.

Releasing the names of the witnesses who appeared before the grand jury would invite additional harassment, intimidation and possible threats, and undermine not only the integrity of this case, but the parties prospective rights to fair trial with an impartial jury, Thompson wrote in a motion.

Kohberger, 28, a Pennsylvania native who was studying criminal justice and criminology at Washington State University, was arrested in December on suspicion of four counts of first-degree murder and one count of felony burglary in the Nov. 13 homicides. The attack took the lives of seniors Madison Mogen, 21, of Coeur dAlene, and Kaylee Goncalves, 21, of Rathdrum; junior Xana Kernodle, 20, of Post Falls; and freshman Ethan Chapin, 20, of Mount Vernon, Washington.

With the indictment and the arraignment hearing, the case is now bound over to district court. A new court conduct order will allow up to three cameras in the courtroom during the arraignment for video, audio and photographs.

Additional hearings in the Kohberger case regarding the medias motion against a judges broad gag order and the defenses motion to compel discovery have been set for 10 a.m. and 11 a.m. Pacific time on Monday, after Kohbergers arraignment.

Reporter Kevin Fixler contributed to this story.
Bryan Kohberger, the 28-year-old suspect in the stabbing murders of four Idaho college students in November last year, has been indicted by a grand jury.

He faces the same charges  four counts of first-degree murder and felony burglary for his alleged involvement in the killings  in the indictment, a spokesperson for the State of Idaho Judicial Branch confirmed to CBS News.

Kohberger was arrested at his parents' home in Albrightsville, Pennsylvania six weeks after the stabbing deaths of Madison Mogen and her friend Kaylee Goncalves, both 21, and Xana Kernodle and her boyfriend Ethan Chapin, both 20, at their King Road residence.

He was extradited to Idaho and is currently being held in the Latah County Jail without bond, according to jail records. Kohberger has yet to enter a plea and he is waiting to learn whether prosecutors in the high-profile case will pursue the death penalty.

The indictment allows prosecutors to bypass a week-long preliminary hearing that was scheduled to start on June 26.

An attorney for one of the surviving roommates, Bethany Funke, 21, had argued in a motion to quash a request for her appearance that the preliminary hearing was set to establish probable cause and should not become a "mini-trial."

Funke later agreed to meet with Kohberger's attorneys in Reno, Nevada, in lieu of appearing in court in Idaho for a preliminary hearing, a motion filed in district court in Washoe County, Nevada said.

A district court arraignment hearing for Kohberger is set for Monday morning, the Idaho court spokesperson said.

Emily Mae Czachor contributed to reporting.

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Kyrylo Budanov

The majority of the radical pro-Russian population, upon the arrival of Ukrainian units in Crimea through any form of advancement, be it offensive or otherwise, will promptly depart for the Russian Federation via the ferry crossing, Budanov believes.

Read also: Russias offensive potential is exhausted, Ukrainian intelligence chief says

No one will remain here.

In response to inquiries regarding the crossing, Budanov dismissed the necessity of the Crimean Bridge.

Read also: Ukraines spy chief says his words about killing Russians anywhere in the world were misinterpreted

They will vacate this territory  they are not suicidal, believe me, he said.

This is evident from all the previously liberated areas: where are those who once clamored, Russia, come? They are now in Russia. There will be no exceptions here.

Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov had previously asserted that Ukraine intends to reclaim Crimea without engaging in armed conflict, emphasizing that a purely military counteroffensive is not being considered.

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Budget gets a bipartisan vote, but Cooper says it slaps teachers in the face

The North Carolina Senate passed its two-year spending plan with raises, tax cuts, new regulations and projects.

The passage of Medicaid expansion also depends on the budget becoming law. With veto-proof Republican supermajorities in both the Senate and House, the final budget will hinge on negotiations between the two chambers.

The Senate passed its budget 37-12 on Thursday with bipartisan support, after a preliminary 36-13 vote a day earlier when seven Democrats voted with Republicans.

Here are eight things to know about what the Senate wants and what happens next.

Raises

Raises proposed by the Senate for most state employees and teachers are much lower than the Houses plan. But 10 statewide elected officials would receive raises well beyond what rank-and-file receive. The Senate budget calls for a 5% raise over two years for most state employees and an average 4.5% raise for teachers over two years, including step increases, across the state. Other public education staff would receive 5% over two years.

Retired state employees would get 1% bonuses each of the next two years. Starting teacher pay would be increased to $39,000. However, the governor would get a 22.5% raise, and the rest of the Council of State would also get significant pay hikes, The News & Observer previously reported.

The Senates raises for state employees and teachers are well below what the Houses budget calls for, or what the State Employees Association of North Carolina, North Carolina Association of Educators, rank-and-file state workers and Democrats have proposed.

Taxes

Traditionally, the Senate wants more tax cuts than the House, and this session is no different. The Senate budget would accelerate the tax cuts that Republicans put in previous budgets. The personal income tax rate would be reduced, starting in 2024 with a 4.5% tax rate, then dropping to 3.99% in 2025 and on down until it drops to 2.49% in 2030.

Sen. Brent Jackson, an Autryville Republican and head budget writer, said during the floor debate that speeding up the tax cuts would ease inflationary pains.

Urban hospitals targeted

Hospitals in the states 12 largest counties could be shut down if they dont meet a savings target set by lawmakers to cut costs to the State Health Plan, which serves state employees and teachers. It would require urban hospitals to reduce healthcare costs to the citizens of this State as a requirement for hospital licensure, the budget proposal states. The counties include Wake, Mecklenburg, Durham, Buncombe and New Hanover. Hospitals affected also include the UNC Medical Center in Chapel Hill, The N&O previously reported.

Cynthia Charles, a spokesperson for the North Carolina Healthcare Association, which represents hospitals and opposes the proposal, said it would put health care at risk for more than 10 million North Carolinians. Charles also said the proposal looks like government intrusion into private business, which we believe is bad for North Carolina and a dangerous precedent.

Family planning funds blocked

A provision in the Senate budget would block funding of some family planning services to prevent pregnancies. If a health provider also performs abortions, no state money would be allowed to be used to renew or extend existing contracts or enter into new contracts for the provision of family planning services, pregnancy prevention activities, or adolescent parenting programs.

Funding cut, added at UNC

The UNC School of Law, School of Government and School of Business would take funding hits if the Senate budget becomes law.

The budget would redirect the money. It would also create a new School for Civic Life and Leadership that would house the universitys Program for Public Discourse, which was criticized in its planning stages over alleged conservative leanings, influences and funding sources, The N&O previously reported.

African American monument at state Capitol revived

The long-stalled African American monument on the Capitol grounds would receive $3 million. Put off for years, the project could now come to fruition.

There is no monument at the historic Capitol in the center of downtown Raleigh that recognizes the contributions of African American people in North Carolina. Schoolchildren are the most frequent visitors to the Capitol. The money was also in Coopers proposed budget, but not the Houses budget.

Medicaid expansion will kick in

Earlier this legislative session, the governor and leaders of both chambers from both parties celebrated the end to a decades-long impasse over expanding Medicaid. The past year had seen negotiations between the House and Senate.

A final budget bill would trigger the implementation of expanding health insurance to hundreds of thousands more North Carolinians. There will also be a federal bonus for the state.

After this budget becomes law, Medicaid expansion will go live, said Sen. Ralph Hise, chair of the powerful Appropriations Committee and a Spruce Pine Republican.

Sen. Michael Lee, Hanover County Republican and one of the three Senate Appropriations Committee chairs, right, outlines parts of the Senate Republicans budget proposal during a press conference on Monday, May 15, 2023 at the Legislative Building in Raleigh.

Private school scholarships

The Senate took the budget vote the same day the House passed a bill expanding the Opportunity Scholarship Program, which uses state funds for private school vouchers. The budget would lift the cap on vouchers, making them available to all North Carolina families, with lower-income families receiving larger scholarships. Currently needs-based, the program is part of what supporters call the school choice movement, which lets public money follow the student beyond traditional public schools.

Gov. Cooper calls it a disaster and slap in the face to teachers

Senate Republicans have a supermajority of 30; Democrats have 20 senators. Unlike in previous years, Republicans do not need a Democrat to vote with them  though seven did. Democrats tried to run several amendments ranging from higher raises to military veterans benefits to child-care subsidies  but those failed, were withdrawn or replaced by a Republican amendment.

Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper called the Senate budget a historic disaster for public education. He addressed the private school scholarships and raises in the budget for elected officials and teachers.

It fails to fund basic needs and will force school leaders to cut everything from bus routes to courses even though North Carolina can afford to do much more, Cooper said in a statement Wednesday.

Despite thousands of teacher vacancies, the Senate budget slaps veteran teachers with 15+ years in the classroom in the face with only a $250 raise spread over two years. But it rewards statewide politicians with big raises of more than 15-20%. Thats insulting, and its wrong, Cooper said.

He is among those statewide politicians who would receive a big raise.

Public schools educate 8 in 10 of our states school-age children but the Senate budget starves them, instead offering billions of dollars in private school vouchers that millionaires can use to send their children to private academies.

Whats next

The Senate plans to take its final vote on the budget on Thursday morning, sending it into into the conference process, in which the Senate and House work out a compromise budget. That will likely take a few weeks, followed by a vote to pass the final budget to send to the governor. That could happen by mid-June, Senate leader Phil Berger told reporters after the session Wednesday. The fiscal year begins July 1.
Photograph: Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

Police in Riverside, California, reportedly thought the detached hand residents had reported seeing on the sidewalk was a movie prop. Then they learned that someone was being treated for a severed hand.

Related: Video shows Walgreens guard killing trans organizer Banko Brown as he left store

The man in the hospital said that he had been injured by someone wielding a sword on Saturday night, officer Ryan Railsback, a spokesperson for the Riverside police, said in a statement to the Guardian.

Investigators with the police departments robbery-homicide unit have yet to arrest anyone in the incident in Riverside, a city about 50 miles south-east of Los Angeles, but say it appears that the victim and assailant were both homeless and may have known one another.

The victim, who Railsback says is in his 60s, came into a local hospital on Saturday with a missing hand. Later that evening police responded to calls about a severed hand lying near an overturned shopping cart on a downtown street.

The victim is expected to survive, officials said. The perpetrator of the attack is still at large.

The man injured in the Riverside attack is well-known in the community and liked by those who live and work in the downtown area, according to a GoFundMe set up to raise funds for the victims recovery.

We fear he will not have a safe and clean place to recover after being released, the page reads.

Though the specifics of the victim and assailants relationship remain unclear, the attack comes amid growing concerns about violence against unhoused people in US cities. A former San Francisco fire commissioner has also been accused of spraying several homeless people with bear mace.

In nearby Los Angeles, violence against homeless residents has increased in recent years, unhoused people accounting for 24% of the citys homicide victims despite making up just 1% of the population, NBC Los Angeles reported in January of this year.
California State Senator Dave Min drove at nearly twice the legal limit, CHP report says

State Sen. Dave Min, a candidate for Rep. Katie Porters U.S. House seat, had a blood alcohol level nearly twice the legal limit when he was stopped and arrested by CHP troopers May 2 for suspicion of driving under the influence, records show.

Sitting handcuffed in the back of the CHP cruiser, Min, D-Irvine, expressed disbelief at the test result, according to video from inside the cruiser.

0.15 man, I couldnt even believe that s---, man. How many drinks is that usually?

According to the arrest report, Min told officers that he consumed two beers  a Coors and an IPA  while dining on wild duck and egg rolls at the Kimpton Sawyer Hotel in downtown Sacramento, the site of a social event for firefighters and the construction industry.

When he was stopped by CHP after running a red light intersection of Ninth Street and Broadway  in a car owned by the Senate Rules Committee  Min told the officer that on a scale of one to ten, the effects of the drinks he consumed were a three.

The officer noted that Mins eyes were red and watery, he had slurred speech and there was a strong odor of an alcoholic beverage emitting from within the vehicle, according to the arrest report.

Two preliminary alcohol screenings both registered a 0.15% blood alcohol content. The legal limit to drive is 0.08%. Later breath tests revealed that Min had a 0.13% or 0.14%.

While sitting in the back of the cruiser, Min expressed concern about his colleagues learning of the arrest.

And I assume this is all going to the Senate leadership and all that, too? Min asked.

Reached for comment shortly after Mins arrest, Senate President pro Tem Toni Atkins, D-San Diego, said in a statement, Like Senator Min, were disappointed in his actions, but pleased that hes taken responsibility and apologized.

After his arrest, Min was taken to Sacramento County Jail, where he was booked and later released. The CHP has recommended misdemeanor charges of driving under the influence of an alcoholic beverage and driving with a 0.08% or greater.

Shelly Orio, spokeswoman for the Sacramento County District Attorneys Office, said the report is currently under review and no filing decision has been made.

He is set to appear in court July 24.

Min was viewed as the frontrunner in the closely watched and hotly contested race to replace Porter in the U.S. House of Representatives, and Min had Porters endorsement. But on Monday, former Orange County Democratic Congressman Harley Rouda urged Min to drop out of the race.

The morning after his arrest, Min took to Facebook to issue an apology for driving under the influence, but vowed that he would not let that distract him from his work in either Sacramento or Washington, D.C.

When asked for comment, Mins campaign referred The Bee to his previous statement on the arrest.

Min has not lost any endorsements since his arrest. In fact, hes added to the list. Last week, Min was endorsed by the Los Angeles Police Protective League, the largest law enforcement association in California.

Video of Mins arrest and details from his arrest report were first published by The Washington Free Beacon.
A burnt landscape caused by wildfires in Alberta, Canada

Canada called for foreign help Wednesday to combat wildfires burning out of control and spreading across vast swathes of the western half of the country.

The fires that have devastated the oil-producing Alberta province have in recent days spread to neighboring British Columbia and Saskatchewan as well as the Northwest Territories.

Some 2,500 firefighters from across Canada backed by 400 military personnel have been deployed across Alberta to try to tame the wildfires, which have already burned more than half a million hectares of forests and grasslands and destroyed many homes and businesses.

But they aren't enough, officials said.

"It's still a very significant and dangerous situation in Alberta," federal Public Safety Minister Bill Blair told reporters in Ottawa.

Blair said the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Center "is reaching out to foreign countries -- the United States, Mexico, Australia and New Zealand... We're asking them to come and help us."

Smoke from the wildfires has blanketed western Canada, leading to warnings about poor air quality posing risks to health.

In Calgary, the sky had an orange hue to it as the smoke grew thicker throughout the day.

Hundreds of kilometers (miles) to the east, residents of Regina and Saskatoon in neighboring Saskatchewan province said they woke up to a thick haze and a strong smell of smoke in the air.

Across the region, almost 180 wildfires were burning -- including 48 out of control -- forcing tens of thousands to flee over the past two weeks.

Evacuation orders and alerts were lifted in some parts on Tuesday and Wednesday, including hard-hit Drayton Valley west of Edmonton in Alberta and Fort St. John in British Columbia, as those fires were subdued.

Air quality indexes in several cities, however, indicated wildfire smoke that spread from the Pacific Coast to Manitoba province still poses a "very high risk" to health.

In recent years, western Canada has been hit repeatedly by extreme weather, the intensity and frequency of which have increased due to global warming.

This has brought floods and mudslides, forest fires that destroyed an entire town, and record-high summer temperatures that killed more than 500 people in 2021.

This spring's mostly hot, dry weather has resulted in what Alberta leader Danielle Smith described as an "unprecedented" crisis.

As evacuees trickled back to Drayton Valley, local fire Chief Tom Thomson urged caution.

"There are still extremely hazardous areas... There are concerns about falling trees. There are concerns about ash pits," he told a news conference.

"We do still have fire crews actively working on the fire," he added, warning people to remain vigilant.

amc/md
Bryan Miller, who killed, mutilated and sexually assaulted two young women in Phoenix 30 years ago, was a "wonderful and dedicated father," a relative testified in court Tuesday.

Miller's relationship with his daughter, who was 15 when he was arrested and charged with murder in 2015, loomed large in testimony this week as his defense attorneys seek to spare him from the death penalty.

Barbara James, Miller's maternal aunt, testified Tuesday that Miller had a "very loving, very connected" relationship with his daughter.

"(She) was everything to Bryan," James said. "Everything he did was for her."

Miller was 20 when he killed Angela Brosso in November 1992 and Melanie Bernas in September 1993. He stabbed each young woman in the back and went on to mutilate and sexually assault them as or after they died.

The random, brutal murders of two young women who had been out riding along the canal when they were attacked shocked the city. Because their bodies were found in or near the canal, the case became known as the "canal killings."

Despite DNA evidence connecting the two murders, detectives were unable to land on a suspect and the case ran cold for more than 20 years. Miller was arrested in 2015 after new forensic techniques finally led detectives to obtain and test his DNA against that found on Brosso and Bernas, finding it was a match.

He pleaded an insanity defense. His attorneys said that at the time of the murders he was dissociating and stuck in a "trauma state" caused by childhood abuse from his mother, Ellen, who died in 2010.

But after a six-month bench trial, Judge Suzanne Cohen found him guilty of murdering Angela Brosso and Melanie Bernas.

The trial is now in the sentencing phase. The state is seeking the death penalty, while Miller's attorneys have urged Cohen to impose a sentence of life in prison.

'Canal killings': 'Immeasurable' pain: Family of victims describe impact as judge mulls penalty

'I was very moved'

Over the past month, a number of relatives, friends and people from Miller's past have testified in support of a life sentence.

Some explicitly stated their continued support for Miller, even in the wake of his convictions. Others simply told of times he had been a loyal friend, or demonstrated love for his daughter, or that they had observed him struggling with his mental health.

James said Miller, who gained custody of his daughter after he and his ex-wife divorced in 2006, was a "dedicated father."

She recalled a time when Miller had verbally disciplined his daughter after she disobeyed him. She got upset and retreated to the couch, James said, and Miller had gone over and explained why he had said what he said, and reiterated that he loved her.

"I was very moved by that," she said. "He dealt with it in a very calm, very mature manner, and a loving manner.

Under cross-examination, James said it hadn't been possible for her to spend time with Miller and his daughter for long stretches while she was living elsewhere.

She agreed it was possible there were negative aspects to his parenting she didn't know about.

James said she would "always" support Miller and wanted to continue a relationship with him while he is incarcerated in "any way that I'm allowed to."

I made the decision to sell my home in Newport and Ive purchased a home in Phoenix so that I can see him," James said, beginning to cry. "And spend time with him."

Miller also teared up from his usual seat between his defense attorneys, removing his glasses to dab at his eye with a tissue.

'He's her dad'

Deena McGlade testified that Miller was "like a little brother" to her and had essentially become part of the McGlade clan after Miller befriended her brother Randy in the early 1990s.

She said Miller's daughter, whom she took care of for a period after his arrest, was too emotionally fragile to testify in court, but they had spoken about her feelings toward her father and she had written a letter.

Shes told me regardless of everything, hes her dad," McGlade said. "He did raise her. Shes always lived with him, and they were very close."

Her father's arrest, McGlade said, had been "very damaging and traumatizing to her."

Under cross-examination, she agreed she had told an expert witness that Miller's daughter found chores like sweeping and doing the dishes traumatizing because her father had yelled at her about how she did them in the past.

Asked if it was possible some "unhealthy experiences" were going on between Miller and his daughter, she replied: "Yes, it's always a possibility."

But McGlade was certain he loved her. "She was who he lived for," she said. "He absolutely loves her."

The state is expected to start presenting its rebuttal case this week.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Canal killings: Bryan Patrick Miller loved daughter, trial told
In Cannes, 'Rust' is looking for buyers and Alec Baldwin has a new project

FILE - This aerial photo shows the Bonanza Creek Ranch in Santa Fe, N.M., on Oct. 23, 2021. A New Mexico judge has approved a $1.15 million settlement Monday, May 8, 2023, between a medic who worked on the Rust film set and one of several defendants she accused of negligence in the fatal 2021 shooting of a cinematographer by Alec Baldwin during a rehearsal. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File) (ASSOCIATED PRESS)

A year and a half after the fatal shooting of its cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, the Alec Baldwin Western Rust is back on the market at the Cannes Film Festival, shopping for international buyers.

Last month, Rust resumed shooting in Montana to finish the independently financed production that shut down following Hutchins' death in October 2021. Matthew Hutchins, her widower, is serving as an executive producer on the film as part of a settlement over a wrongful death lawsuit.

The Cannes film market, which is in centered in the Palais des Festivals but has no relation to the official festival lineup, is where Rust was first formed as a production in 2000. Goodfellas, a sales company formerly known as Wild Bunch International, is handling sales.

Rust still lacks North American distribution.

New Mexico prosecutors dropped criminal charges against Baldwin in April. Involuntary manslaughter charges against Baldwin were abandoned three weeks after a new prosecutor team took over the case, though the same charge currently remains for weapons supervisor Hannah Gutierrez-Reed. Assistant director David Halls has pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor charge of negligent use of a deadly weapon.

Now, producers are seeking buyers for a film synonymous with Hutchins' on-set death. Director Joel Souza was also wounded.

This is an unprecedented film in regards to the circumstances," producer Ryan Donnell Smith told The Hollywood Reporter. "Were trying to keep realistic expectations but shepherd this in the best way we can.

Baldwin, though, has booked another film circulating the Cannes market. The actor is to join the cast of Kent State," a dramatization of the 1970 killing of four students by the National Guard protesting the Vietnam War on the Ohio college campus. In the film, written and to be directed by Karen Slade, Baldwin is to play Robert I. White, Kent State's then president.
A physician assistant prepares a dose of mpox vaccine for a patient at a vaccination clinic. (Mary Altaffer / Associated Press)

A new cluster of mpox cases in the United States  following nearly seven months of steady decline  is leading health officials to warn of a possible rebound outbreak this summer.

Chicago health officials recently reported 20 new cases and are urging people there to get vaccinated.

Major cities including Los Angeles, San Francisco and New York are ramping up public awareness campaigns and vaccination programs, especially targeting men who have sex with men and transgender people.

They warn that cases of mpox, formerly called monkeypox, could easily spread as upcoming LGBTQ+ pride parades get underway.

Spring and summer season in 2023 could lead to a resurgence of mpox as people gather for festivals and other events, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in a health alert on Monday.

The CDC warned that without additional vaccination and other virus-mitigating measures, a rebound outbreak could be as large or larger than in 2022.

While anyone can get mpox, the virus has so far largely affected gay and bisexual men in the U.S. It is not a sexually transmitted virus, but close physical contact is the primary mode of infection.

On May 11, the World Health Organization declared the mpox global health emergency over, a year after the virus spread beyond its endemic regions.

The decline in cases over the last year has led to a sharp drop in vaccinations. In Los Angeles County, for example, weekly vaccinations dropped from 8,000 last year to about 100-150 in recent months, officials said.

But Biden administration officials said Tuesday they were not letting down their guard, particularly amid the recent uptick in cases in some places.

Definitely what we are seeing in Chicago is a reminder that ... we are not out of the woods. We have a vaccine mission that is not complete yet, said Dr. Demetre Daskalakis, deputy coordinator for the national mpox response at the White House.

Among other things, his office is moving quickly to ensure that local health departments have the resources to deal with new cases.

We are in that place where we are going to expect seeing clusters, but we have our mission, which is to vaccinate people so we can make sure that we prevent them, Daskalakis told The Times.

The current outbreak of mpox is the largest and most geographically widespread since the virus was discovered in 1958. There have been more than 87,000 global cases in 111 countries with 140 deaths reported to the WHO in the last year.

The United States has recorded nearly 31,000 cases and 42 deaths over the last year. The current U.S. outbreak was first recorded in Boston. California leads with 5,759 cases, according to the latest available data from the CDC.

Despite the worries of a rebound, the dramatic decline in cases  from 600 cases nationwide on Aug. 1 to a weekly average of one in April  represents somewhat of a success story in suppressing the virus, at least for now.

It also offers lessons for future outbreaks.

Some health experts credit President Biden for moving aggressively to address the mpox health crisis.

Days after the Boston case was confirmed, Biden said the virus was something that everybody should be concerned about.

His Department of Health and Human Services contracted with a Danish vaccine maker the same day. He assembled a widely respected coordinating team to lead the response and had previously reversed President Trumps decision to withdraw the United States from the WHO.

Even so, the current mpox outbreak became far larger and more widespread than previous ones have been. Previous outbreaks were limited to a few cases that could be traced to recent travelers to mpox endemic regions in Africa, and were quickly contained.

The current outbreak has seen widespread community transmission and been detected in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.

Stretched thin by the COVID-19 pandemic, health systems struggled to get a handle on mpox in the beginning.

Initially, testing for mpox was limited to select labs and medical professionals, who had to weave through a mesh of red tape to order them and to prescribe Tpoxx, an investigational drug used to treat the virus.

There was a lot of paperwork that you need to fill out with an antiquated public health system, where you had to go through the local health department, the CDC to get authorization, said Dr. Peter Chin-Hong, professor of medicine and an infectious disease specialist at UC San Francisco.

The standard time to fill out the form for Tpoxx took doctors two hours, Daskalakis said, before efforts were made to shorten it to 15 minutes.

Then there were squabbles with the Danish vaccine maker. When some vaccines were in stock, local health officials struggled to manage distribution with websites that often crashed as worried men and trans people sought appointments.

Some delays were caused as officials debated how to best communicate with the LGBTQ+ community and what advice to give concerning sexual behavior.

That was very challenging given the fact that people wanted to be as sex-positive as possible, Chin-Hong said. There was a lot of hesitancy because you didnt want to seem to be shaming people.

These early challenges may have helped the virus gain a foothold across the country.

The concern is the delay allowed the virus to become more established within the United States, said Dr. Bruce Y. Lee, professor of health policy and management at the School of Public Health, City University of New York. And if that is the case, then we are going to continue to pay the costs of not responding quicker and more effectively [for] many years to come.

One thing aiding in the fight against mpox was the LGBTQ+ community itself.

That community has already lived through an HIV/AIDS epidemic that took the lives of many. It has also seen how public health interventions and scientific breakthroughs especially with pharmaceutical developments can not only allow those living with HIV to live long, fulfilling lives, but also prevent new infections with the medications PrEP and PEP.

So when a new virus threatened that community, compliance with public health messaging was strong and  in stark contrast to COVID-19  there was little resistance to vaccinations.

I cant think of anybody who didnt want it. In fact, it was the opposite; it became a very hot-ticket item, said Chin-Hong, referring to the vaccine. The legacy of HIV, I think, informed a lot of the way in which the community rallied not just for acceptance of interventions like vaccines or seeking help, but into activism.

A survey by researchers at Emory University found that aside from embracing the vaccine, many gay and bisexual men also modified their sexual behavior in response to the mpox outbreak. It found that 48% of respondents reduced their sexual partners and 50% of respondents reduced sex with partners found on dating apps like Grindr and at sex parties.

That change in behavior, I think, surprised even people who know the community well like me, Chin-Hong said, and contributed to the decline.

But there is still work to be done. The CDC estimates that only 23% of people in the at-risk groups have gotten the vaccine. This is perhaps a symptom of pandemic fatigue after many unsuccessful attempts to get the vaccine combined with a perceived reduction of risk as cases waned.

The administration hopes that trusted community voices like Daskalakis, who is gay, would deliver the message of mpox vaccination alongside other sexual health practices. I would tell people that its really good to be proactive with your summer planning ... check your oil and kick the tires as you approach the pride season.

A final lesson, experts say, is the importance of working globally to identify and combat deadly viruses.

Unlike COVID-19, mpox was not novel. For decades, countries in West and Central Africa battled smaller outbreaks. Had wealthier nations like the U.S. done more to share treatments and vaccines with these African countries, they might have prevented mpox from spreading globally, experts say.

As long as something is a threat in one part of the world, it could very easily spread to other parts, Lee said. If more efforts are made to control infectious diseases in countries with lower resources, that will actually end up protecting the U.S.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Police in Richmond are investigating a threat that was made against a Madison Middle School student, and its the latest in a string of school-related threats, the police department says.

The most recent threat was sent anonymously over Snapchat. Police Chief Rodney Richardson said investigators were still working to identify the sender Wednesday morning.

Police have talked to the student who the threat was made towards, according to Richardson.

The schools principal and district administrators were made aware of the threat Tuesday evening when a couple parents forwarded the screenshot, according to Erin Stewart, a spokesperson for the Madison County School District.

In the last two weeks, Richmond police have investigated two other instances of threats made toward schools. In those instances, it turned out the threats originated in other counties or states but were circulated in Madison County on social media, causing concern from the school community.

On May 5, a screenshot of a message threatening a shooting circulated in Madison County after it had been shared in other counties and another state. Police said the post was not validated and it wasnt believed to have been related to any Madison County School.

Two days later another post featuring an image of a gun was shared in Richmond. Police said in a Facebook post they believed the threat originated in another county and no Madison County schools were actually at risk.

Richardson said school threats typically increase as the school year winds down. When a threat is received, protocol is to notify the school resource officer, Stewart said. The resource officer at Madison Middle School is a Richmond police officer, and they initiate the investigation.

We have a great relationship with our law enforcement here in Madison County, Stewart said. We follow their lead and their recommendations as far as what we need to do to ensure safety.

Richardson said theres a protocol in place that automatically activates investigators when a threat is made towards a school. If police receive the information before the school does, they notify the school.

Those investigators work to resolve the issue, find out who posted it, take them into custody if possible or investigate to find out where it came from, Richardson said.

Why have threats been common in recent weeks?

Stewart said one thing that could attribute to the rise of threats made during the end of the school year is kids wanting additional days off after state testing and other activities.

This year, for some reason, it just seems to be in excess more than it ever has been, Richardson said. We cant take any of those kinds of things for granted, so we must treat each of those as if they are actual threats and do what we can to resolve them as quickly as possible.

There were extra officers set to patrol Madison Middle School Wednesday, Richardson said. Eastern Kentucky University police, which patrol near Madison Middle Schools campus, also increased their patrol near the school, according to Stewart.
Farmer, surveyor, Founding Father, first American commander in chief. These are just a few of the ways President George Washington is remembered.

And though books abound, there have been a surprisingly limited number of attempts to tackle the mythic Virginians story in film  at least beyond the documentary space. As such, its difficult to discern which actor played the best Washington.

I dont know that Mount Vernon could fairly rank but we certainly have some modern day favorites, Matt Briney, vice president of media and communications for Mount Vernon, told Military Times.

Those, Briney said, include portrayals by Barry Bostwick from the 1984 miniseries George Washington, Jeff Daniels in The Crossing, and Ian Kahn from TURN: Washingtons Spies.

Two major motion pictures about the life or military career of Washington  The General and The Virginian  were rumored during the mid-to-late 2010s, but their status remains unclear.

Briney notes, however, that in the experience of the historians, the life of George Washington  or the other Founding Fathers, for that matter  does not need the Hollywood treatment to be compelling.

I think some directors want to [view] them in a more superhuman, mythical [lens]  unrealistic portrayals of one-liner action heroes, but a good director with proper consultation from historians can create a story of their lives that would be very relatable to most people today.

A treatment such as HBOs John Adams, starring Paul Giamatti as the title character, would be a particularly good way to tackle the life of Americas most influential man, Briney adds.

Its my opinion, having produced several short films about Washington, that his life is a complicated and very full story to tell. Thats difficult to do in a 90- to 120-minute film, he said. Washington would likely be better served as a mini-series.

Whether something of that nature is in store remains to be seen. For now, though its not historically accurate, theres at least something to be said for the Dodge commercial in which Washington advances on the Redcoats behind the wheel of a Challenger. Talk about legendary.
From afar, Alassane Kones portraits appear composed of coarse brush strokes: Move a little closer, and you could swear its meticulously arranged straw.

In fact, like most of the artworks on display at La Galerie du 19M, housed in the Paris hub for Chanel-owned specialty workshops that opened last year, Kones are made with textiles.

More from WWD

Ditto the spooky, moss-green figures by artist Cheikha Sigil lording over the entrance of the exhibition On the Thread: From Dakar to Paris, which elaborates on Chanels cultural exchange with Senegal and affirms the gallerys ambition to exalt weaving and embroidery on a global scale.

Giant textile figures by artist Cheikha Sigil.

Last December, Chanel made history as the first European luxury brand to stage a fashion show in sub-Saharan Africa, unveiling its Metiers dArt collection amid a three-day program of cultural events in the capital of Senegal.

The French brand invited a host of local creatives to cooperate on the event, established long-term initiatives to promote craftsmanship and sustainable farming, and mounted 19Ms first overseas exhibition.

That display, which ran from Jan. 12 to March 31 at the Musee Theodore-Monod dArt Africain, attracted more than 10,000 visitors, giving unprecedented exposure to local textile artisans and generating prominent international media coverage, including a menton in Time magazine.

The Paris exhibition, tweaked and expanded for its stint at the mothership, coincides with heightened interest in textile art and rare craft skills, according to Bruno Pavlovsky, chairman of Chanel SAS and president of Le 19M.

The whole Paris art world wants to come, Pavlovsky marveled in an interview on Monday as curators put finishing touches on displays and a panel discussion unfurled, moderated by French newspaper Le Monde and dedicated to traditional know-how and fashions role in preserving it.

The executive stressed that the exhibition, which opens to the public Wednesday and runs through July 30, has no link to the Paris-Dakar Metiers dArt collection, which lands in Chanel boutiques later this month. I think the collection will fly by itself, he remarked.

While the handiwork of some of the embroidery houses that made that collection is on display, the main goal of the showcase is to spotlight Senegals rich textile traditions, which go back centuries, and its vibrant art scene, Pavlovsky said.

Chanel has been the enabler. But Chanel is not the subject of what you see here. The focus is more about the techniques around threads, weaving and embroidery. Its about the craft and the artistry, he explained.

Some 30 artists are showcased in the Paris exhibition, spanning paintings, photography, sculptures, installation and design objects.

Pavlovsky said Le 19M has received an outpouring of interest from community organizations in the 19th arrondissement, which boasts a high concentration of Senegalese immigrants, and it plans to invite Chanels ready-to-wear and couture clients, journalists, educational institutions and 19Ms various commercial partners to discover the showcase.

Mali artist Alassane Kone with two of his textile works.

Since the inauguration of the 19M building, home to Chanel-owned specialty ateliers including Maison Lemarie, Lesage and Atelier Montex, its gallery has hosted two exhibitions and welcomed 27,000 visitors. It expects a greater influx once a streetcar provides a closer public transportation link to the site near Porte dAubervilliers, a working-class area north of Paris.

Pavlovsky noted that visitors to the Dakar museum included about 2,500 students who could participate in workshops and be exposed to artisanship as a possible career path. Were recruiting more than 100 people per year, he noted.

Both exhibitions were designed to educate people, foster connections and spark artistic expressions between Senegalese and Western artisans, he explained.

Consider the pairing of French artist Julian Farade and the women of Ngaye Mekhe, north of Dakar, who embroider the lengths of off-white Malikane cotton women use to carry children on their backs, known as pagnes. Farade painted the pagnes with abstract landscapes and animal figures, to which the embroiderers added geometric designs, and conjured surprising interpretations.

Touring the exhbition with a visitor, Olivia Marsaud, one of the curators, noted that a blue figure Farade painted represented a bird, however, the embroiderers spied a frog and stitched motifs of that creature instead  to poetic effect.

Marsaud paused in front of works by Alioune Diouf, who portrays fashionable figures by sewing fabric scraps directly onto his canvases. Pointing to the delicately coiling decorations on the clothes depicted, Marsaud noted that Diouf uses a hand-guided embroidery device known as the Cornely, which has fallen out of favor in the West since it was invented in the mid-1800s, though Montex still possesses two of the antique tools.

One of the most charming installations was realized by Senegalese fashion designer Marie-Madeleine Diouf, who displays photos of her stylish family, heirloom clothes, and the tools employed to create indigo fabrics, her speciality.

Some visitors will also have the opportunity to help embroider work in progress maps of Dakar and 19M with help from the artisans of Montex and Lesage.

Our specialty ateliers are quite mysterious for the public in general, Pavlovsky said, noting it is well nigh impossible to let visitors stream through its busy workrooms. But with our gallery, we can create exhibitions of our savoir-faire.

He noted that most of the showcases involve artists collaborating with 19M artisans, who find it very inspiring, and who are very motivated to demonstrate their know-how, especially to young people.

Its good way to create a connection between inside and outside, he said. Visitors can learn, discover  and perhaps find their future career.

Launch Gallery: 'On the Thread: From Dakar to Paris' Exhibition at La Galerie du 19M

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Charleston Police Chief Luther Reynolds announced news of his cancer diagnosis in a memo to the mayor and in a straight-to-camera video address shared with the Charleston Police Department. (Screenshot/Charleston Police Department)

Less than two years after going public with a cancer diagnosis and entering treatment that would claim his right leg, the Charleston chief of police has announced that he is entering hospice care.

After speaking with my doctors and praying for Gods guidance and grace, (my wife) Caroline and I have decided that the time has come for me to end my cancer treatments and enter hospice care, Chief Luther Reynolds wrote in a statement released Wednesday.

In consultation with Reynolds, Charleston Mayor John Tecklenburg has asked the departments three deputy chiefs to lead the department for the immediate future, said Jack OToole, a city spokesman. They will be assuming a role that they held during Reynolds periods of absence since his diagnosis.

Luther Reynolds may well be the finest, bravest man Ive ever known, and I love him like a brother, Tecklenburg said. I ask our citizens to join me in keeping him and his beautiful family in our hearts and prayers throughout this difficult time.

Reynolds was named chief of one of South Carolinas largest police departments in 2018. Prior to arriving in Charleston, Reynolds had a 30-year career in law enforcement and was the assistant chief for Montgomery County Police Department, covering an area just outside of Washington, D.C.

In his message, Reynolds thanked the citizens of Charleston. Five years ago, you welcomed me and my family into this remarkable city, and with your support, we have built an even better, even stronger police department. I cannot tell you how proud I am of the men and women of CPD, and how honored I am to have led them.

Reynolds first announced his cancer diagnosis in November 2021, almost four weeks to the day after he had gone to the doctor due to a sore back.

At the time he announced he was entering a rigorous treatment program to address the sarcoma, a malignant tumor, growing in his pelvis. In February, 2022, Reynolds underwent a two-day surgery at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota to remove his right leg, hip and part of his pelvis, the Post and Courier.

Following the surgery, Reynolds learned to walk with an advanced prosthetic and re-learned how to drive a converted police cruiser. The department and Charleston community rallied around Reynolds  his SWAT team shaved their heads in solidarity with their chiefs diagnosis.

Since announcing his diagnosis Reynolds had become an advocate for those battling cancer and urged people not to suffer in silence.

I cant begin to tell you how many people have told me privately their battles, Reynolds said in a March 2022 interview with ABC. I would tell everybody, look to your neighbors, listen, open your ears and be mindful that theres a lot of people that really need help.

In his his statement Wednesday, Reynolds wrote that he hoped that by sharing his news publicly, we can also share with these other families some small measure of the love and support weve received over the past two years.

We want them to know that in these difficult moments, they are not alone, and that our larger Charleston family prays for them as well.

A devout Christian, Reynolds regularly spoke about cultivating an attitude of gratitude and faith throughout his treatment.

As I set out on the final journey that God has planned for me, Im thankful that I will be able to spend these days in the city Ive come to love, surrounded by family and friends. It is the last great gift in a life thats been full of them.
ChatGPT creator OpenAI is getting ready to release an open-source AI model, report says

Sam Altman. Drew Angerer/Getty Images

OpenAI is preparing to release an open-source AI model, according to The Information.

The outlet did not specify a timeline for the model's release.

The move comes amid mounting pressure from open-source alternatives.

OpenAI is preparing to release an open-source AI model, The Information reported, citing a source with knowledge of the plan.

The company led by Sam Altman has been the subject of intense scrutiny since the release of its popular AI-powered chatbot ChatGPT in November.

The large language models behind the bot, GPT-4 and GPT-3.5, are both closed source. Although the first two versions of GPT were open source, little is known about the newest iteration.

In a report accompanying the release of GPT-4, OpenAI researchers said: "Given both the competitive landscape and the safety implications of large-scale models like GPT-4, this report contains no further details about the architecture (including model size), hardware, training compute, dataset construction, training method."

The company's decision to release another open-source AI model comes amid mounting pressure from free alternatives to mainstream models. No timeline was given for the new release, however.

Earlier this month, a Googler said in a leaked document the company would likely lose the AI arms race to open-source engineers.

The Googler suggested that while Google had "done a lot of looking over" its shoulders at Microsoft-backed OpenAI, open-source engineers had been surpassing them both.

"The uncomfortable truth is, we aren't positioned to win this arms race and neither is OpenAI," they added.

The recent boom of open-source development was partly spurred on by Meta allowing academics access to sophisticated machine-learning models that are able to understand conversational language, according to The Information.

Representatives for OpenAI did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment, made outside normal working hours.

Read the original article on Business Insider
OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman was candid on Capitol Hill (AP)

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has sounded his fears about AI-powered election interference, telling a congressional hearing on Tuesday that the technology needs to be regulated to protect voting integrity.

Artificial intelligence chatbots like his companys ChatGPT were a significant area of concern, Mr Altman told the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Privacy, Technology and the Law

I am nervous about it, he said about elections and AI, adding rules and guidelines are needed.

For months, companies large and small have raced to bring increasingly versatile AI to market, throwing endless data and billions of dollars at the challenge. Some critics fear the technology will exacerbate societal harms, among them prejudice and misinformation, while others warn AI could end humanity itself.

Theres no way to put this genie in the bottle. Globally, this is exploding, said Senator Cory Booker, one of many lawmakers with questions about how best to regulate AI.

Senator Mazie Hirono noted the danger of misinformation as the 2024 election nears. In the election context, for example, I saw a picture of former President Trump being arrested by NYPD and that went viral, she said, pressing Altman on whether he would consider the faked image harmful.

Mr Altman responded that creators should make clear when an image is generated rather than factual.

Speaking before Congress for the first time, Mr Altman suggested that, in general, the US should consider licensing and testing requirements for development of AI models.

Mr Altman, asked to opine on which AI should be subject to licensing, said a model that can persuade or manipulate a persons beliefs would be an example of a great threshold.

He also said companies should have the right to say they do not want their data used for AI training, which is one idea being discussed on Capitol Hill. Mr Altman said, however, that material on the public web would be fair game.

(Getty Images)

Mr Altman also said he wouldnt say never to the idea of advertising but preferred a subscription-based model.

The White House has convened top technology CEOs including Mr Altman to address AI. US lawmakers likewise are seeking action to further the technologys benefits and national security while limiting its misuse. Consensus is far from certain.

An OpenAI staffer recently proposed the creation of a U.S. licensing agency for AI, which could be called the Office for AI Safety and Infrastructure Security (OASIS).

OpenAI is backed by Microsoft. Mr Altman is also calling for global cooperation on AI and incentives for safety compliance.

Christina Montgomery, International Business Machines Corp chief privacy and trust officer, urged Congress to focus regulation on areas with the potential to do the greatest societal harm.

Gary Marcus, a Professor Emeritus at New York University, was also on the panel, and expressed his concerns about the rapid development of artificial intelligence.

We have built machines that are like bulls in a china shop: Powerful, wreckless and difficult to control, he said.

Senator Blumenthal responded by saying it was more like a bomb in a china shop.

Additional reporting from agencies.
This commentary was written by Shalena Cook Jones, the Chatham County District Attorney in the Eastern Judicial Circuit in Georgia.

Over the past few days, several people have reached out to ask how I feel about the governors recent visit to Savannah to sign Georgia SB 92 into law and create a Prosecuting Attorneys Qualifications Committee. This law, more widely known by its original name, The Prosecutorial Oversight Bill, is designed to keep reform-minded prosecutors in line by constraining their prosecutorial discretion.

Moreover, it is another tool certain politicians use to silence voters, keep them out of decisions about our criminal legal system, and undermine our democracy.

Gov. Brian Kemp signs S.B. 92, which establishes a Prosecuting Attorneys Oversight Commission, at the Chatham County Detention Center on Friday.

Since 1789, prosecutors in Georgia have had great latitude in determining who they would prosecute, how they would be charged, and how long their sentences should be. Because the District Attorney is an elected position, voters determine whether a prosecutor was doing their job effectively.

For centuries now, more than 97% of the prosecutors in this nation were white males, while more than 90% of those incarcerated in jails and prisons were people of color. Oddly, no one found this strange, even though studies have consistently shown that institutional racism, systemic bias, and economic disparities are primary drivers of mass incarceration.

More on Chatham DA: Chatham County District Attorney staff shortage puts defendants, victims, prosecutors in jeopardy

'We have factors to balance': Chatham County District Attorney on low rate of prosecutions

Georgia has had the highest rate of incarceration in the nation for many years. Of all 159 counties, Chatham County has the single highest rate of recidivism. Before the 2020 elections, and despite these abysmal statistics, no one batted an eye. Prosecutors were free to run their districts however they wanted.

But now that reform-minded prosecutors, who also happen to be people of color, are leading the largest and most profitable regions of the State, Georgia lawmakers have suddenly decided that a qualifications committee is necessary.

Chatham County District Attorney Shalena Cook Jones speaks during an abortion rights rally at Johnson Square in Savannah.

The situation seems absurd, considering there are already a host of agencies and protocols in place to hold prosecutors accountable. Still, proponents of this bill believe that these so-called progressive prosecutors are dangerous "rogues" and "radicals" to be feared rather than the credentialed, experienced professionals they are. Professionals, mind you, who are feared because they offer smarter, more effective strategies for addressing the ills of the American criminal legal system and threaten the existing power structure.

S.B. 92 ignores public opinion on reform and silences the voices of voters. Public opinion polls confirm that attitudes in Georgia and nationwide have evolved on criminal justice. A recent national bipartisan poll conducted ahead of the 2022 elections found that 8 in 10 Americans support criminal justice reform, including 74% of Republicans, 80% of independents, and 85% of Democrats.

Moreover, two-thirds of voters (66%) believe the criminal justice system needs a complete overhaul or significant reform. Here in Georgia, 86% percent of small business owners agree that criminal justice reform, such as Clean Slate policies, will open a pool of job applicants and help boost labor recruitment. The governor and his party in the state legislature are woefully out of step with Georgians and most Americans, who want innovation in the criminal legal system. Laws like S.B. 92 are anti-democratic and feed into a nationally coordinated effort to undo the will of voters.

What we are witnessing in this law is not a coincidence but another page torn from the partisan politics playing out across this nation. In Missouri, the legislature forced the resignation of District Attorney Kim Gardner by threatening to change her office to an appointed position rather than an elected one. Iowa just passed a law giving the Attorney General sweeping authority to prosecute criminal cases bypassing Kimberly Graham, the newly elected Polk County District Attorney. In Florida, States Attorney Aramis Ayala had all murder cases stripped from her office after expressing her opinion on the death penalty. Most recently, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis removed States Attorney Andrew Warren from office for simply sharing his prosecutorial priorities.

More on DA: Former ADA claims discrimination, retaliation by Chatham County District Attorney

Shalena Cook Jones

Good laws target problems, not people. The more effective way to preserve public safety and prevent mass shootings is to enact smart gun laws that make it hard for certain people to access weapons, another public safety approach that Georgians support. A better way to break cycles of crime and intergenerational incarceration is to invest in the actual lives, education, and upbringing of the children who were legislated into this world by pro-life politicians.

The way to reduce recidivism is to establish re-entry programs that help returning citizens transition back into society. I welcome and look forward to future conversations with our Head of State and local reps to explore these ideas because we are "better together" in the pursuit of justice for all.

This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Chatham District Attorney Shalena Cook Jones prosecutorial oversight
Cherelle Parker will win the Philadelphia Democratic mayoral primary Tuesday, The Associated Press has projected, a victory that propels her to the general election and slows recent progressive momentum in big cities.

Parker, a former City Council member, beat out several competitive rivals in what turned out to be a very tight race among Democrats.

In the quest to become the City of Brotherly Loves 100th mayor, Parker defeated nearly a half dozen serious candidates, including Helen Gym, a high-profile progressive, and Allan Domb, who also previously served on the City Council; Rebecca Rhynhart, who worked as controller; and businessman Jeff Brown.

Parker will go on to compete against the Republican nominee in November, but Philadelphias Democrat-heavy landscape strongly tilts the chances of winning in her favor.

Independent estimates also tallied the total spending in the tens of millions of dollars, creating national visibility.

The race was close for quite a while, and the little polling available showed a contest largely within the margin of error, making it hard to predict the outcome before Parker  a former elected official and a moderate  was ultimately announced the winner.

Parker won endorsements from top trade unions, community leaders and the group Philadelphians For Our Future PA. Shes also backed by Democratic Reps. Dwight Evans and Brendan Boyle.

She also highlighted her identity as a Black woman as a way to distinguish herself from the male mayors who previously served in the position.

99 mayors. Not one looks like you or me, she said in a 30-second ad titled, Not One.

The results are an indication of centrisms enduring power, even in some cities considered traditionally liberal. It also gives fuel to the argument that the party needs to move towards the middle to appeal to the most undecided voters.

While the race indeed showed multiple candidates in close contention, Parker ultimately carved out a lane on the intersection of crime and education. She proposed that students remain in school for the entire calendar year, hopeful that an extended schedule would better prepare them to enter the workforce and become more well-rounded through extracurricular activities.

She also pledged to take a harder-line approach to public safety, telling voters that if elected, she would promote a constitutional stop-and-frisk policy to deter crime.

The posturing won over Philadelphians, interrupting a series of wins her more progressive counterparts have scored in Los Angeles, Chicago and Boston to be the cities top executives.

While many moderates and undecided voters liked Parkers policies, progressives wanted to take the city in a different direction, a contrast that could become clearer as Democrats look to address how best to win the swing state next year.

A fall victory would also likely draw more attention to Parkers agenda in 2024, when Pennsylvania becomes critical to both parties map.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Cherelle Parker, Philadelphia's Democratic mayoral nominee, ran on a plan to restore a

Cherelle Parker, Philadelphia's Democratic mayoral nominee, ran on a plan to restore a "sense of order" to a city gripped by violent crime.

Former City Council Majority Leader Cherelle Parker, who ran as a law-and-order candidate, won the Democratic nomination for mayor of Philadelphia on Tuesday, all but officially ensuring her the citys top leadership post.

Parker, a Black woman from a working-class background in North Philadelphia, promised first and foremost to restore a sense of order to a city reeling from record-breaking gun violence. She has said she would hire 300 more police officers to be dispersed evenly throughout the city, and would reinstitute a constitutional stop-and-frisk policy that she calls Terry stops. Among other measures, she has also spoken about expanding the hours of city public schools to provide more safe spaces for kids to spend their free time.

We deserve  and quite frankly, Philadelphians are demanding  a proactive community policing presence in their neighborhoods, when they see law enforcement walking their streets, riding bikes, not there just because somebody called 911 and the communitys in the midst of a crisis, Parker told HuffPost earlier this month.

At the same time, Parker vowed to oversee a police force that acts as guardians and not warriors, and that does not engage in racism or misconduct with impunity.

Parkers victory speaks to the stronger hand that moderate Democrats have sometimes enjoyed over progressives in American cities in the past few years, where rising crime and an uncertain economic environment have increased the appeal of a more conservative style of policymaking.

Parker, who is also a former state lawmaker, sometimes calls to mind the rhetoric of New York City Mayor Eric Adams (D), a former police captain who relishes the chance to push back against progressives whom he sees as being out of touch with the actual views of working-class and low-income people of all races.

I am Black and a woman. I have had to operate at the intersection of race and gender all my life. I was progressive before being progressive was a thing, Parker said. But Ive also worked extremely hard to not let anyone put me in a box and label me.

I wont allow anyone to engage in I know whats best for youse people policymaking, she added. This is my lived life experience. When you hear me advocating and developing that neighborhood community policing and development plan, guess what? It comes from the ground up. It is not a policy solution that Cherelle Parker, very specifically, developed alone in my own silo.

If elected, Parker would be the citys first female mayor and its first Black female mayor.

Parker is due to face former City Council member David Oh, a Republican, in the general election in November. But in a city as overwhelmingly Democratic as Philadelphia, that contest is widely considered a formality.

In Tuesdays closed-party primary, Parker triumphed over eight other Democratic contenders, including four rivals credibly competing for the nomination: former City Controller Rebecca Rhynhart, former City Council members Helen Gym and Allan Domb, and supermarket owner Jeff Brown.

Election analysts and limited public polls suggested that in the final weeks of the race, Parker was locked in a neck-and-neck battle with Rhynhart and Gym.

I wont allow anyone to engage in I know whats best for youse people policymaking ... This is my lived life experience.Cherelle Parker, Democratic mayoral nominee

Each of the women represented different urban coalitions and accompanying approaches to the problems plaguing the countrys sixth largest city.

The most common criticism of Parker  that she is a machine politician who would represent a continuation of her ally, outgoing Mayor Jim Kenney, and his administration  also spoke to her fundamental strengths as a candidate.

Thanks to the departure of a strong Black rival and the consolidation of support for Parker among Black clergy and elected officials, Parker developed the advantage she needed with Black voters, who make up 40% of the citys population and more than half of the Democratic primary electorate.

One clergy member who endorsed Parker, Rev. Mark Tyler, pastor of Mother Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church, is more progressive than Parker on some questions of criminal justice policy. But based on his experience working with Parker in the aftermath of George Floyds murder in May 2020, he trusts her to strike the right balance between enforcement and reform.

When it comes to public safety ... she fully gets the feeling that many people in our community have, Tyler told HuffPost, noting that Black Philadelphians make up a disproportionate number of the victims of violent crime.

Endorsements from the citys moderate building trades unions likely helped Parker reach a segment of the citys white working class. Those unions funded a super PAC in support of her bid, offsetting Rhynhart and Gyms fundraising advantages.

Parker also locked up the support of many Latino elected officials. The withdrawal of former City Council member Maria Quinones Sanchez, the fields main Hispanic candidate, accelerated that process.

All the while, Parker signaled to the citys population of moderate and mainstream liberal voters that her package of incremental reforms  skills training programs, a greater emphasis on vocational trades in schools, an openness to public charter schools and an expansion of the street cleaning and greening program she pioneered on the City Council  presented more opportunities than risks.

In todays atmosphere in Harrisburg and Washington, thats an extremely important quality that public officials should have: to be able to bring things back to the middle and deliver for our communities, said state Rep. Danilo Burgos (D) of North Philadelphia, who endorsed Parker after Quinones Sanchezs withdrawal. And Cherelle has that.

Rhynhart, a former Wall Street executive and city budget director, had a base of support among the citys affluent, college-educated liberals concentrated in Center City and some northwestern neighborhoods. Touting her work as a financial expert, she promised to employ data-driven plans to solve the problems ailing the city. Rhynharts record, style and plans  liberal but not left-wing  also won her the backing of three former mayors and the editorial board of The Philadelphia Inquirer.

Gym, who would have been the citys first Asian American mayor, was the preferred candidate of the citys formidable grassroots progressive movement. She ran on rebuilding public schools and protecting vulnerable renters, framing the public safety crisis as an outgrowth of the citys underinvestment in low-income and working-class neighborhoods.

But neither Rhynhart nor Gym proved capable of making significant enough inroads beyond their respective bases. For Gym, it didnt help matters that she faced a $1 million advertising blitz from a super PAC funded by a conservative billionaire.

Her loss, in particular, is a disappointment to the activist left, which had momentum following Mayor Brandon Johnsons win in Chicago in early April.

Its not like there has been, until recently, a string of progressive wins at this level of governance in America, said Ari Kamen, mid-Atlantic regional director for the Working Families Party, a progressive group that was heavily involved in trying to elect Gym. We just have to keep doing it and work harder and continue to fight for this.

Related...
Child molester sentenced in Shawnee County to life in prison without chance of parole

Convicted child molester David Leroy Marks Jr. was sentenced to life in prison without chance of parole Tuesday at the Shawnee County Courthouse, shown here.

Convicted child molester David Leroy Marks Jr. was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole Tuesday in Shawnee County District Court, said District Attorney Mike Kagay.

Jurors on March 3 convicted Marks, 48, of one count each of aggravated criminal sodomy to a child and taking aggravated indecent liberties with a child, according to district court records.

The charges were filed after authorities here learned in 2020 that Marks had alleged sexually assaulted a female child in 2015 at a house in southeast Topeka and locations in Osage County and in Colorado, Kagay said.

Marks was in a relationship with a family member of the victim's at the time of the alleged crimes, he said.

Marks was arrested in September 2020 in Colorado, Kagay said.

Contact Tim Hrenchir at threnchir@gannett.com or 785-213-5934.

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Child molester receives life sentence in Shawnee County District Court
Chile greenlights mining tax reform that boosts government take FILE PHOTO: A view of BHP Billiton's Escondida, the world's biggest copper mine, in Antofagasta

By Fabian Cambero

SANTIAGO (Reuters) -Lawmakers in Chile's lower house of Congress gave final approval on Wednesday for a long-awaited mining tax reform that now requires only the signature of leftist President Gabriel Boric, who has publicly backed it, to become law.

The reform will require large copper and lithium producers that operate in the mineral-rich Latin American nation to pay more taxes and royalties to the government.

Chile is the world's top copper producer and No. 2 in lithium, both seen as key to making future fleets of electric vehicles powered by rechargeable batteries.

By a vote of 101 in favor to 24 against, lawmakers approved modifications to the tax and royalty bill endorsed by the Senate last week.

The lopsided vote was hailed by Finance Minister Mario Marcel, who underscored that the higher government take required of mining companies would address past abuses.

"With this legislation, we seek to avoid what happened many times with our country's natural riches: they were exploited, they disappeared, which left very little for the country and its future development," Marcel told reporters after the vote.

Under the reform, the top tax rate will reach up to nearly 47% for companies that produce over 80,000 tonnes of fine copper a year, considered high by the industry.

It also establishes a 1% ad valorem tax on copper sales from companies that sell more than 50,000 tonnes of fine copper, as well as an additional 8% to 26% tax depending on the miner's operating margin.

Mining association Sonami expressed relief that the measure ended uncertainty over the type of reform lawmakers would ultimately adopt.

"Uncertainty lasted for almost five years and, without a doubt, hurt the country's main productive activity," Sonami said in a statement.

The association described the final legislative language as "better" than what was initially proposed by the government, giving credit to Marcel for enacting industry-friendly revisions.

(Reporting by Fabian Cambero; Writing by Carolina Pulice; Editing by David Alire Garcia and Jamie Freed)
By Andrew Hayley and Yew Lun Tian

XIAN, China -China will for the first time host an in-person summit of central Asian leaders this week, seeking to cement ties in a region seen as Russia's backyard as its relations with the West sour.

President Xi Jinping is expected to discuss deepening economic and security links with counterparts from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, former soviet states that analysts say are eager for alternative sources of investment with Moscow's focus fixed on its war in Ukraine.

The two-day summit starting Thursday in the western city of Xian, will overlap with a Group of Seven (G7) meeting in Japan from May 19-21 where efforts to counter China will be among the main talking points for leaders of the rich, western democracies.

"Beijing wants to promote a new alternative to the global order, and try to persuade the Central Asian region that this new global order is better for them too," said Adina Masalbekova, a research fellow at the OSCE Academy in Bishkek.

The inaugural China-Central Asia leaders summit was held online last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. For the first in-person summit, Xian is a symbolic nod to the importance of economic ties as the city was pivotal in the ancient Silk Road trade route that spans Central Asia.

"One of the biggest trump cards that we expect to see at this summit is a serious opening for Central Asian products to enter the Chinese market. This is something that the region has been asking for a couple of years now," said Niva Yau, a Kyrgyzstan-based fellow of the Atlantic Councils Global China Hub.

China's trade with the five Central Asia states has multiplied a hundred-fold since the establishment of diplomatic ties three decades ago, after the break-up of Soviet Union. Investment between China and the five nations reached a record high of more than 70 billion dollars in 2022.

In the lead-up to the summit, Chinese state media highlighted the importance of the region as a gateway for China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) - a major infrastructure policy announced by Xi when he visited Kazakhstan in 2013.

The two main BRI projects currently in discussion are a railway connecting China to Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan, and a natural gas pipeline from Turkmenistan.

China's BRI initiative has faced criticism for saddling emerging countries in debt for projects they can ill-afford. Beijing is already a major creditor to the Central Asian countries, with Chinese loans to the poorer states of Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan accounting for more than a fifth of their GDP.

But with the region's main backer Russia caught up in a grinding war with Ukraine and subject to international sanctions, analysts say the Central Asian states will welcome Beijing's overtures.

"They understand that its very important to have alternative partners to Russia, and the number one alternative you have is China," said Temur Umarov, a fellow at the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Centre based in Berlin.

In exchange for greater economic cooperation, China will be seeking support in keeping the region secure, say analysts.

Three Central Asian countries border Xinjiang, China's western region where Beijing has been accused of human rights abuses against the Muslim Uyghur population in a campaign it says is aimed at stopping religious extremism. The Taliban take-over of Afghanistan has also heightened China's fears of Islamist militancy spilling across its borders.

Analysts say leaders are also likely to discuss the Ukraine war and reaffirm a position shared by both China and Russia that the region should not be used by the United States and other external powers to fight a proxy war or instigate internal unrest.

(Reporting by Andrew Hayley in Xian and Yew Lun Tian in Beijing; Editing by John Geddie and Simon Cameron-Moore)
FILE PHOTO: A sign above an office of the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) is seen in Beijing

By Bernard Orr and Eduardo Baptista

(Reuters) - China has intensified efforts to clean up the internet from false news and rumours, closing more than 100,000 online accounts over the past month that misrepresented news anchors and media agencies, its cyberspace regulator said.

The Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) launched a special campaign to clean up online information, focusing on social media accounts that disseminate "fake news" and impersonate state-controlled media.

The regulator said it had wiped 107,000 accounts of counterfeit news units and news anchors and 835,000 pieces of fake news information since April 6.

The cleanup comes as China and countries across the globe grapple with an onslaught of fake news coverage online, with many implementing laws to punish culprits.

News dissemination on Chinese social media, however, is already heavily controlled, with platforms like the Twitter-like Weibo favouring topic hashtags produced by state media, while censoring hashtags on issues or incidents considered sensitive by Beijing, even if they go viral.

The CAC said its review found accounts that had disguised themselves as authoritative news media by falsifying news studio scenes and imitating professional news presenters, using artificial intelligence (AI) to create anchors to mislead the public.

Fake news identified covered hot topics such as social incidents and international current affairs, according to a statement the CAC posted on Monday on its website.

"(The CAC) will guide online platforms ... to safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of the majority of internet users to obtain authoritative and real news," the regulator said, adding it encouraged users to provide leads on counterfeit news and anchors.

China's government has regularly ordered sweeping measures to scrub the internet of material and language it deemed inappropriate, offensive and a threat to the public and businesses.

Recently, the CAC vowed to crack down on malicious online comments that damage the reputation of businesses and entrepreneurs.

Nascent generative AI technology like ChatGPT has introduced another layer of caution. China recently arrested a man in Gansu province for allegedly using ChatGPT to generate a fake story about a train crash.

(Reporting by Bernard Orr; additional reporting by Ethan Wang; Editing by Jamie Freed)
By Andrew Hayley

XIAN, China (Reuters) -China wants to further deepen relations with Kazakhstan in times of both "prosperity and adversity", President Xi Jinping told his visiting Kazakh counterpart on Wednesday.

This week, China will for the first time host an in-person summit of Central Asian leaders, building ties in Russia's backyard as Beijing's relations with the West sour.

Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan - previously part of the Soviet Union - are all seeking other sources of investment as Moscow channels its resources into the war in Ukraine.

President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev of Kazakhstan, a vast steppe nation with rich energy and agricultural resources, was the first of the five Central Asian leaders to arrive in the northwestern Chinese city of Xian for the summit.

China and Kazakstan should "promote the construction of a China-Kazakhstan community with a shared future featuring friendship from generation to generation, a high degree of mutual trust, together in prosperity and adversity," Xi said.

"Your state visit to China demonstrates the high level of relations between our two countries and once again confirms the indissoluble bond with China."

Kazakhstan will target $40 billion in annual two-way trade with China by 2030, up from over $31 billion in 2022, Tokayev told Xi.

"Kazakhstan is interested in expanding the export of agricultural products to China," he said, praising Xi for his ambitious Belt and Road infrastructure initiative that has boosted transport connectivity.

"Kazakhstan is ready to deliver legumes, high-quality and ecologically clean frozen beef and lamb," Tokayev added.

China's trade with the five Central Asia states has multiplied one hundred-fold since the establishment of diplomatic ties three decades ago, after the break-up of Soviet Union. Investment between China and the five nations reached a record high of over $70 billion in 2022.

The inaugural China-Central Asia leaders summit was held online last year due to COVID-19.

The choice of Xian as the venue for the first in-person summit is a symbolic nod to history as the city was pivotal in the ancient Silk Road trade route that once spanned Central Asia.

(Reporting by Andrew Hayley; Writing by Ryan WooEditing by Gareth Jones)
At center, from left to right: Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce U.S. CEO Shawn Beber, CIBC Palm Beach Managing Director Gina Sabean, and CIBC U.S. head of private and personal banking Dan Sullivan Jr. host a ribbon-cutting ceremony Tuesday at the new CIBC branch at 340 Royal Palm Way.

A Toronto-based financial institution with more than 13 million clients around the world debuted its new Palm Beach office Tuesday morning.

The Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC), a multinational banking and financial services corporation with more than 1,000 banking centers throughout Canada and the United States, hosted a ribbon-cutting ceremony at its 7,200-square-foot space at 340 Royal Palm Way.

Daniel E. Sullivan Jr., managing director and head of private and personal banking for CIBC U.S.; Shawn Beber, president and CEO of CIBC Bank U.S.; and Gina Sabean, managing director of CIBC's Palm Beach location, were among the speakers at the ceremony, which drew about 50 guests.

"We're really excited about our new space and our strategy in terms of growing in Florida, and in the Palm Beach area specifically," Beber said in his opening remarks. "This office is sort of an example of where we're trying to bring together all that we offer to our client products and services, complemented by U.S. capital markets and capabilities, to bring all of our services to bear and help you with your financial needs."

CIBC U.S. president and CEO Shawn Beber (right) speaks during a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the new CIBC branch in Palm Beach. The 7,200-square-foot location at 340 Royal Palm Way is a full-service branch that provides clients with access to a wide range of deposit products, mortgages and consumer and business loans.

CIBC's Palm Beach location is a full-service branch that provides clients with access to a wide range of deposit products, including checking, savings, money market accounts and certificates of deposit. It also will offer mortgages and consumer and business loans.

The branch will be staffed by on-site private banking specialists, underwriters, and client service and relationship managers. The new location complements CIBCs private wealth office in West Palm Beach, Sullivan said.

We are pleased to expand our ability to help make our clients ambitions a reality by adding banking services to our existing private wealth capabilities in Palm Beach County, he said. Our new Palm Beach location provides comprehensive banking services to our clients while allowing us to deliver more of CIBC to them through collaboration with our wealth management and commercial banking colleagues."

CIBC, whose U.S. operation is headquartered in Chicago, operates two other Florida locations  in Miami and Tampa  but neither are full-service branches.

Sullivan said the company had been eyeing Palm Beach as a potential full-service expansion site for about six months, and found the perfect spot inside a Class A boutique building at 340 Royal Palm Way. CIBC occupies the second floor of the three-story building, which is owned by real estate investors Spencer Schlager and Charles L. Rosenberg through Florida entities affiliated with their company, CS Ventures.

Schlager and Rosenberg bought the building at 340 Royal Palm Way along with the one next door at 350 Royal Palm Way for nearly $33 million in April 2022. The building at No. 340 was home for several years to the broadcast studio and office of Rush Limbaugh, a conservative radio firebrand who died in February 2021.

Sullivan said the location was perfect for CIBC, which operates 24 banking centers in the United States.

"What was key was we wanted signage, and we wanted flexibility to park," Sullivan said. "We wanted ease, and we found it here."

Seven team members will work out of the Palm Beach location initially, though that number is expected to grow as the company expands its community development and community lending teams in the market, said Amy Yuhn, chief marketing officer for CIBC U.S.

The location also provides space for colleagues from other parts of South Florida to use when meeting clients in the area.

"We chose the Town of Palm Beach because it is convenient for our clients, including our CIBC clients in Canada who spend their winters on the island," Yuhn said. "Its also a good location from which we can serve our commercial and commercial real estate banking clients."

Community service is important to CIBC, Beber said, and the company works closely with with numerous community organizations around the country. Locally, the company works with the Boys and Girls Clubs of Palm Beach County and Junior Achievement of the Palm Beaches & Treasure Coast, he said, and it plans to make a $50,000 commitment to support training for entrepreneurs in underserved communities.

"Small businesses are the backbone of our communities," he said. "We want to make sure that we are supporting them."

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Daily News: CIBC debuts new full-service banking center in Palm Beach
One of the oldest Hispanic civil-rights groups in the United States issued a warning Wednesday advising immigrants not to travel to Florida and announced that it may take legal action against the state in response to Gov. Ron DeSantis most recent crackdown on immigration.

Earlier this month, DeSantis signed a bill that limits undocumented migrant labor, ends community-funded programs that give undocumented immigrants identification cards and toughens penalties against those who transport undocumented immigrants into the state.

The travel warning alerts immigrants and their families that traveling to the Sunshine State is dangerous and could pose a threat to their freedom, Domingo Garcia, national president of the League of United Latin American Citizens, said in a virtual press conference Wednesday afternoon. Founded in 1929, the civil-rights organization has led landmark lawsuits to fight segregation in schools, one of which ultimately became a key precedent for the case of Brown vs. Board of Education in 1954.

Floridas law requires that hospitals track and report the immigration status of patients, that local governments withhold services from people who cannot provide proof of citizenship and that all employers with 25 or more employees verify the immigration status of most workers using the federal electronic system, E-Verify. Although most of the provisions in the law take effect July 1, the employer penalties do not take effect until July 1, 2024.

Only once before in its 94-year history has LULAC issued this level of travel-related alert, the organization says.

If you bring your tia (aunt) to Disney World... to Miami or Universal Studios, they are going to charge you with a felony for bringing your undocumented friend or relative to Florida, Garcia said. Florida is a dangerous, hostile environment for law-abiding Americans and immigrants.

Garcia also announced the launch of a campaign urging Florida residents to vote in 2024 against politicians who are using immigrants as a political pinata.

There will be consequences to your racism, to your xenophobia, to your scapegoating and your fearmongering, he said.

READ MORE: DeSantis signs immigration package as southern border political tensions escalate

Equality Florida, a Florida LGBTQ advocacy group, issued a similar alert in April, warning that going to Florida may pose a risk to peoples health, safety and freedom. And in March, Floridas chapter of the NAACP recommended to its national board of directors that a travel advisory be issued for the state over how they say the governors policies are negatively affecting Black people.

What are immigration advocates saying?

Advocates say Florida is penalizing immigrants and their families  many of whom are essential workers in the the food, construction, tourism, health and education industries  for being born outside the U.S. and searching for prosperity.

LULAC says its taking unprecedented action in Florida following DeSantis deliberate targeting of immigrants through the signing into law of Senate Bill 1718 and that it wont tolerate acts of fearmongering, scapegoating, and immoral policies hurting Latinos that divide Americans for political gain.

Lydia Guzman, LULACs immigration committee chair, said the law opens the door for racial profiling, drawing a parallel between Floridas Senate Bill 1718 and Arizonas Senate Bill 1070, known by its opponents as the Show me your papers law.

READ MORE: Migrants seeking asylum or humanitarian parole face tech glitches, immigration uncertainty

The 2010 Arizona law originally allowed police to demand papers and investigate the immigration status of a person if they suspected individuals were undocumented. This provision of the law no longer exists thanks to lawsuits filed by immigrant rights groups. The law prompted LULAC to issue a travel warning to Arizona in 2010.

The new Florida law opens the door to anyone that looks like me to be stopped and questioned if (they) have the authorization to be in this country, Guzman said. We will have to prove that, because of the color of our skin, we belong to this country.

Guzman warned that the Florida law may harm the economy as people choose not to travel to Florida. Arizonas SB 1070 also prompted a boycott, which translated into the immediate loss of millions of dollars to Arizonas tourism industry, though it was a trivial amount compared to the states gross domestic product, according to the Arizona Republic.

Laws like these that do nothing more than to harass immigrants are bad for a states economy, Guzman said.

READ MORE: Florida judge blocks Biden from using emergency parole powers in post-Title 42 surge

The Florida law mandates any hospital that accepts Medicaid to include a question on its admission or registration forms inquiring about whether the patient is lawfully present in the U.S. and to submit quarterly reports to the states healthcare agency.

Migrants will forgo medical attention, Guzman said. As that happens, people may die.

What is DeSantis saying?

Last week, the Biden administration allowed to expire a Trump-era rule that authorized the U.S. to expeditiously turn away migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border to reduce the spread of the COVID-19 disease. Immigration advocates and some elected officials blame the rule, known as Title 42, for a dramatic increase of migrants and asylum seekers at the border.

READ MORE: White House calls Florida migration ruling an act of sabotage, says DOJ will fight

The governors office didnt immediately respond to the Miami Heralds emailed request for comment.

But in a press conference last week in Jacksonville, DeSantis said: This is something that is the responsibility of Joe Biden. This is a responsibility that he has defaulted on really from day one of his presidency.... Obviously if we had a different administration it would be a lot easier to actually deal with the problem at its source.

READ MORE: DeSantis to send troopers, guardsmen to Texas border in lead-up to presidential run

DeSantis said on Tuesday he will send state law enforcement officers to the southern border in Texas as the Republican governor prepares to launch a presidential campaign.

That is unChristian; that is unAmerican, Guzman said.
Cake was thrown at Wolfgang Porsche, board member of German car giant Volkswagen, at a shareholder meeting

Climate activists are using shareholder meetings to turn up the heat on corporations about their carbon footprints, from flooding them with questions to more colourful tactics like singing or throwing cake at executives.

Last week's Volkswagen shareholders meeting was particularly testy, with a cake landing on the podium where supervisory board member Wolfgang Porsche, who was celebrating his 80th birthday, was sitting.

Scientist Rebellion activists held up a sign slamming the emissions from the group's vehicles. Another person took her top off in protest at the company's operations in China's Xinjiang region, where rights groups and the US say genocide is taking place.

"I wanted to go directly to the source of the car lobbies," said one of the activists, Monika Krimmer, a 60-year-old psychotherapist who held up signs and handed out fliers at the Berlin meeting.

In Paris on Tuesday, Scientist Rebellion members inundated BNP Paribas executives with questions about the European banking giant's climate strategy -- to the point of angering shareholders who hurled insults at the scientists.

BNP bosses, however, answered the questions.

"Do not underestimate the targets we have set," said CEO Jean-Laurent Bonnafe, while refusing to draw a red line regarding firms that invest in new fossil fuel fields.

- Spice Girls -

Earlier this month in London, HSBC's gathering was repeatedly interrupted by climate activists, with some demanding that the bank stop investing in fossil fuel companies and others accusing the firm of lying.

Fed up with the interruptions, executives asked that the activists be escorted out.

Days earlier, a group of activists disrupted the Barclays bank meeting, changing the lyrics to a Spice Girls song to sing "stop funding fossil fuels and end this madness".

Lorette Philippot, a campaigner at environmental group Friends of Earth, said shareholder meetings are where companies discuss their performance and make new pledges.

"So it's our role as a counter-power to both tell the truth about their actions and prevent this annual display of greenwashing," Philippot told AFP, using the term for misleading climate pledges made by companies.

The meetings are also a chance to push companies to step up their climate ambitions, she added.

- Virtual meetings -

Activist actions at shareholder gatherings are nothing new -- Greenpeace members rocked the meeting of French energy giant TotalEnergies in 2018, some hanging from the ceiling with signs reading "break free from oil".

But the "climate issue is rising in a somewhat radicalised way" with "more and more confrontations, sometimes violent", said Benedicte Hautefort, co-founder of Scalens, a financial technology firm serving listed companies.

In the United States, some corporations have avoided confrontation as they continue to hold virtual meetings, such as oil giants ExxonMobil and Chevron and banking group JPMorgan Chase.

"In a world where boards have precious little accountability, it's a step backwards," said Andrew Logan, senior director for oil and gas at Ceres, a nonprofit that works in favour of sustainability policies through capital markets.

bur-ktr/jbo/lth/rl/mca
State police are looking for information to help them solve a cold case in Washington County.

State police in Waynesburg responded to a homicide investigation on May 15, 1976, at Wapinskis Tavern in East Bethlehem Township.

Owner John Joseph Wapinski, 80, was found inside the womens restroom, having been struck in the head, then shot in the head once with a .22 caliber gun.

He died the next day in Presbyterian Hospital.

Investigators believe the motive was robbery.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the PSP Waynesburg Station at 724-627-6151 and speak to Trooper Bell or contact the Pennsylvania Crime Stoppers at 1-800-4PA-TIPS (8477) or online. All callers remain anonymous and could be eligible for a cash reward.

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A photograph released by Colombia's armed forces shows soldiers and sniffer dogs searching for the missing children

More than 100 soldiers with sniffer dogs were searching for four missing indigenous children who were traveling in an airplane that crashed in the Colombian Amazon two weeks ago, killing three adults, the armed forces said on Wednesday.

Rescuers believe the four children, aged 13, nine, four and an 11-month-old baby, have been wondering through the jungle in the southern Caqueta department since the May 1 crash.

"The search efforts... have intensified in the last hours after finding new leads that could give indications about their whereabouts," said the armed forces in a statement.

Soldiers came across a "shelter built in an improvised way with sticks and branches," leading them to believe there are survivors.

In photographs released by the armed forces, scissors and a hair tie can be seen amongst branches on the jungle floor.

Previously, a baby's drinking bottle and a half-eaten piece of fruit had been found.

Between Monday and Tuesday, soldiers found the bodies of the pilot and two adults who had been traveling from a jungle location to San Jose del Guaviare, one of the main cities in Colombia's Amazon rainforest.

One of the dead passengers was the mother of the four children, whose surname is Ranoque Mucutuy and are from the Huitoto ethnicity.

Giant trees that can grow up to 40 meters tall, wild animals and heavy rainfall make the "Operation Hope" search difficult.

Three helicopters have been used to help, one of which blasted out a recorded message from the children's grandmother in the Huitoto language telling them to stop moving through the jungle.

Authorities have not indicated what caused the plane crash.

The pilot had reported problems with the engine just minutes before the airplane disappeared from radars, the Colombian diaster response body said.

It is a region with few roads that is also difficult to access by river, so locals usually choose to travel by airplane.

das/gm/bc/tjj
Rashad Robinson, the head of Color of Change, at the non-profit's 10th anniversary gala in 2015. Mike Pont/Getty Images

Color of Change is one of the most high-profile social justice organizations in the US.

But some staff say it has been hobbled by strife, ineffective leadership, and little accountability.

Misconduct by senior leadership was often ignored or glossed over, and chaos led to high turnover.

Color of Change bills itself as the nation's largest online racial-justice organization. Founded in 2005, the nonprofit raised at least $20 million in 2020, according to public documents, and regularly partners with A-list stars like Michael B. Jordan. Rather than on-the-ground action, the organization focuses more on building awareness through its various campaigns and petitions.

It pushed to end New York City's racially biased "stop-and-frisk" policy, led a major advertising boycott that forced Glenn Beck off the air in 2009, and ran a campaign aimed at getting Fox to drop the show "Cops" from its lineup in 2013.

Its president, Rashad Robinson, is a regular on cable news, has been the subject of glowing profiles in Wired and Fast Company, and charges between $10,000 to $20,000 in speaking fees, according to one booking website.

But behind the scenes, some staff members say the organization has been wracked with internal turmoil, ineffective leadership, and deep layoffs. Insider spoke with more than two dozen current and former staff, managers, and directors across almost every team at Color of Change, and reviewed meeting recordings and internal communications.

Many sources said allegations of misconduct by senior leadership seemed to be ignored or glossed over, and a chaotic environment led to high turnover. One top executive was accused of bullying, harassment, and gender discrimination by multiple women in 2020, but quietly left the organization with a laudatory email after being cleared by a human-resources investigation. Conversely, the woman who first reported him was terminated.

A senior campaign-team manager was investigated after allegations surfaced in 2022 that he sexually assaulted an employee. After being cleared of wrongdoing by the organization's human-resources department, he was removed from the organization a short time later. The allegations and the investigation sparked enough tumult inside the organization that Rashad Robinson held an all-hands Zoom meeting to address it.

Current and former staffers told Insider that Color of Change protected senior leaders who mistreated staffers and punished rank-and-file workers who spoke up.

"I have seen how people were treated when they weren't palatable and they didn't appease the needs of their managers, especially those on the core leadership team," said Sadie Dean, a nonunion manager who was laid off in April. "If we speak up about being harassed or overworked, or if we speak up about anything that isn't putting them in the best light," there would be immediate consequences, she said.

Most recently, Color of Change management has been fighting with its union, formed in 2020. On April 10, the organization laid off 13 people, most of whom were members of the union. On May 3, the union filed a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board claiming that the April dismissals were illegal. The following day, Color of Change eliminated another 12 positions, and again, many of them were part of the union. Between the two rounds, roughly a quarter of the union was cut.

Insider asked Color of Change to comment on this story and sent a list of detailed questions. In response, a spokesperson declined to discuss individual incidents but wrote in an email that the layoffs were related to the financial downturn, and the decision to make a second round came on May 1, before the union's complaint was filed. The statement went on to say that staff complaints are investigated thoroughly and people have been held accountable. "COC takes extremely seriously any allegation of staff misconduct," the statement reads.

Rashad Robinson speaks at a New York Fashion Week event in 2022. Bryan Bedder/Getty Images

A history of bad behavior and little accountability

In late 2020, multiple women accused a top-level Color of Change executive of bullying, harassment, and gender discrimination, according to internal communications and interviews with eight people who were with the organization at the time.

One senior staff member complained to the human-resources department about the inappropriate behavior she said she experienced, and within weeks of her initial contact with HR, her position was eliminated.

HR launched an investigation after the woman complained of wrongful termination, and multiple other women came forward to say they had experienced similar behavior from the executive. Two of those women said HR later informed them that it found no evidence of wrongdoing.

In January 2021, Robinson announced that the executive was leaving Color of Change. He received a laudatory send-off, and the allegations of misconduct were not mentioned. The executive did not respond to requests for comment.

He was not the only high-level employee accused of inappropriate behavior. Some former and current staff said that they were often berated by managers or denigrated in front of other employees. Others said that a former director would get drunk at organization events and make sexual comments to workers. Another former vice president was known to routinely yell at staff, and once threatened the life of an employee, according to staff and an emailed apology by the former vice president obtained by Insider. She declined to comment.

All of this came to a head in early 2022. According to interviews and a review of internal materials, the organization's human-resources department became aware of an accusation that a senior campaign director on Color of Change's criminal-justice team had sexually assaulted a female employee. The woman has not come forward, and she did not respond to requests for comment. Because she may be a victim of sexual assault, Insider is withholding her identity and some details.

Word of the investigation into the senior campaign director eventually began to circulate among staff, causing unease. Robinson sought to address the situation in an all-staff Zoom call on May 12 last year. Normally a gifted public speaker, Robinson sounded uncharacteristically nervous in a recording of the call Insider listened to.

"COC's human-resource department did a full and complete investigation. They speak to  they spoke to the named parties and others who they thought would have credible information and found the kind of basis of the claims to be unsubstantiated," he said. The senior campaign director, in other words, had been cleared after the investigation.

In the next breath, however, Robinson said that the senior campaign director would be leaving Color of Change, not due to the allegations but because of the senior director's lack of "compliance with reform measures related to the investigation."

Ariel Moore was on the team where the allegations arose. She'd been with Color of Change since 2020 and she'd seen this play out before: allegations of staff abuse by leaders, followed by an investigation and then sudden departures. Meanwhile, she said, the organization's leader was focused on maintaining his visibility among the glitterati.

"Ultimately, who should have been held most responsible was Rashad, because you're the executive president of this entire organization," she said. "This all happened under your purview, but you were too busy buying fedoras and doing red carpets to know that your house was on fire."

In a statement in response to questions about the incident, the senior campaign director wrote that the allegation was false and arose through two anonymous emails to HR. After about three weeks of investigating, he wrote, "I was told by HR the allegation was 'withdrawn.'"

After some of the details were leaked to staff, the senior campaign director continued, "HR promised me a meeting to discuss the leak but they never scheduled it."

The investigations also uncovered the alleged behavior of the director who would reportedly get drunk at company events and make sexually inappropriate comments to employees; she also left the company that spring.

Another director resigned from the team in May 2022; in a statement he sent to the nonprofit's leadership and board, he wrote that sexual assault allegations led him to reflect on what he found to be the senior campaign director's' "consistently inappropriate behavior and to recognize a string of decisions by COC management that centered the accused and belittled the survivor."

"I have accepted that this is the organization that senior leadership created and they have no intentions of changing the toxic culture or the hypocritical treatment of their Black staff," he wrote.

Color of Change's criminal-justice team was thrown into disarray, and the work suffered. Moore, who worked as a campaign manager on the team, said the multiple departures left the team depleted of leadership, "and so we were kind of starting from scratch."

Moore had been with Color of Change since 2020, and she was a lead organizer with its union until she was laid off on April 10. She and others who spoke with Insider watched many staffers leave after the allegations came to light in 2022.

Seven senior staffers said the same in a letter sent to Robinson and his leadership team days after Robinson's all-hands Zoom call, noting that widespread rumors about the alleged misconduct had "resulted in the departure of the majority of the Criminal Justice Team." The senior staff said more work was needed to repair the organization and the organization's HR policies should be overhauled, among other demands for change.

"While COC is now a safer place to work, after months of staff-wide conjecture and confusion, we don't think firing one person is enough to ensure we can rebuild trust and retain the talented teams we have built," the employees wrote. One of the cosigners told Insider they were unaware of any significant policy changes made by leadership to address the concerns.

The Color of Change spokesperson wrote in their statement that the organization has invested in compliance, anti-discrimination, and harassment- and bullying-prevention training. It also has an anonymous hotline for staff to report issues.

"HR has done a full and impartial investigation of all concerns and complaints brought to it," the statement reads. "Based upon these investigations, COC has always taken appropriate steps to ensure that the concerns do not occur again after being reported to HR."

Earlier this year, the team dedicated to organizing local actions and events was investigated by HR following multiple staff complaints and the discovery of a Slack channel where three senior leaders bad-mouthed members of their team. As it did with inquiries in 2021 and 2022, HR concluded its investigation by finding no evidence of wrongdoing. Most of the team where the complaints originated were laid off the following week.

One of those staffers, Jae Passmore, felt that she and her colleagues were being punished for speaking out, and she said as much in an all-staff Slack channel shortly before her access was revoked. "Three minutes after I put that Slack, Rashad sent an email, talking about how it was a difficult decision to lay us off," she told Insider.

Rashad Robinson speaks during 2022 FairVote Awards at City Winery in lower Manhattan in April 2022. Monica Schipper/Getty Images

Layoffs hit a demoralized staff but spending remains high

In an email announcing the second round of layoffs on May 4, Charles Fields, a new executive vice president of operations and impact, wrote that the recent cuts were designed to ensure the financial health of the organization.

"I strongly believe that these layoffs will put us in a more sustainable position as we navigate the political and economic headwinds coming our way and will help us make good on our mission to build a more human, less hostile world for Black people in America," he wrote.

But nearly every staff member Insider spoke to balked at the notion that the layoffs were tied to an unavoidable financial downturn. They pointed to the large sums spent on events that amounted to little more than photo ops and open bars, the millions of dollars spent on outside consultants, and the large salaries executives were paid.

Nine executives received nearly $2 million in compensation in 2019, according to tax filings for that year. Rashad Robinson alone received over $458,000 in total compensation, nearly $125,000 more than the president of the NAACP that year. (Color of Change did not report executive salaries on its 2020 tax filings and has not released its 2021 returns.)

Color of Change says that its compensation packages are indexed against peer organizations and done with the advice of external experts. The group said it also reduced its budget for consultants.

The organization has gone through multiple senior finance officers in recent years, and on April 24, Fields announced that the latest executive overseeing spending would be leaving Color of Change in June. An outside consulting firm is set to take over the finances after he leaves.

Color of Change is one of a handful of organizations that experienced a flood of donations in the wake of the murder of George Floyd Jr. and subsequent protests, and some have begun to question whether the money has advanced the cause of racial justice. Questions about the use of donated funds have dogged the social-justice advocate Shaun King for years, and reporting last year on the finances of the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation revealed nearly $6 million in donor funds were used to purchase a luxury property in Los Angeles.

In light of the years of internal strife and high-paid senior leadership, Moore said that it was absurd that the organization's union is still fighting for codified protections and changes to HR policy. In its statement, Color of Change wrote that it has "always operated in good faith to reach fair agreements" with the union and its representatives.

"It feels like a joke because of the organization's values and mission," Moore said. "It feels very much like we're in a twilight zone, that we are trying to create a world that's less hostile for Black people, and we refuse to protect Black women, Black people, at work."

Read the original article on Business Insider
Columbus police are asking for help in identifying 16 people involved in a street "takeover" that also stole property from a convenience store and blocked entrances and exits.

Columbus police are asking for the public's help in identifying 16 people involved in a street takeover on April 29.

According to police, the street takeover took place on Johnstown Road on the city's East Side. Police said the group had taken over a portion of the street, blocking the entrances and exits to a gas station, as well as blocking access to the gas pumps and entrance to the gas station's convenience store.

Police said the individuals seen on surveillance camera stole products from inside the gas station, eating food without paying for it and carrying items out with paying.

More: 'You race, you lose': Columbus officials warn illegal street racers as city cracks down

The entire incident caused a large amount of panic and alarm for customers and employees.

On the same night as the incident on Johnstown Road, multiple suspects fired at Columbus police officers who were attempting to break up a street takeover event on Indianola Avenue in Clintonville. The Fraternal Order of Police and Central Ohio Crime Stoppers are offering a $5,000 reward for information in that incident.

More: 'We're going to find you': Police offer $5K reward after officers shot at in Clintonville

Street takeover events have become an increasing problem in Columbus as groups of young people take over intersections, participating in street racing and other activities.

Anyone with information about the identity about the 16 people involved on Johnstown Road are asked to contact Columbus police property crimes detectives at 614-645-1435 or email Det. Zack Rosen at zrosen@columbuspolice.org. Anonymous tips can also be given through calling Central Ohio Crime Stoppers at 614-461-TIPS.

bbruner@dispatch.com

@bethany_bruner

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Columbus police need help identifying 16 involved in street takeover
Firms are increasingly putting their foot down over WFH

You havent been in the office since Monday  why? Jess was juggling a sick toddler, a restless dog and a pressing legal brief when an email popped up on her laptop from a woman named Maggie.

Sorry, who are you? she replied.

A minute later, the answer pinged back. I oversee employee attendance at your firm and note you have only been in the office for one of your three allotted days this week. If this happens again, I will have to send you a written warning

Jess works at a seemingly liberal-minded law firm  the sort of place with monthly diversity and inclusion seminars and a stated commitment to promoting equality between the sexes. Hence her surprise at being called out when she had already spoken to her legal director and explained that her son had the flu and her husband was away.

Its all very well for them to say they want more women to stay at the firm and get on the partnership track, she says. But hiring people to send aggressive messages about working from home when I am doing everything I can to meet my deadline feels like the opposite of progressive.

Jess is far from alone. An executive working in the London branch of an American investment firm says that  after months of politely inviting employees to come back in  management has taken action.

Weve all been told that we have to be in the office for at least three days a week, regardless of holiday or bank holidays, he explains. We've heard that theyve employed someone whose only job is to monitor attendance by watching who checks in and out of the building. Anyone who is not in for three days receives a written warning. Weve also been told we have to be there at 9am, because too many people were doing odd hours and there were empty desks when the boss arrived in the morning.

Its fair to say that after making them so much money during the pandemic, were pretty annoyed and theres tension.

Companies, it seems, have had enough of the carrot. It has been over a year since the final Covid restrictions were lifted but in-house attendance is still nowhere near 2019 levels, with average office occupancy currently sitting at just 34 per cent.

Now, a tug of war is playing out between employees, who are loath to return to their daily commute and costly Pret lunches, and senior directors  under pressure as profits suffer due to economic pressures  who are determined to get bums on seats.

It is already a political issue, and a leaked document suggests that Labour plans to give people the legal right to work from home if they win the next election. The key line reads: Make flexible working the default from day one for all workers, except where it is not reasonably feasible.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer making his speech to the Progressive Britain conference - Yui Mok

For months, bosses tried tempting employees out of their spare rooms with in-house Pilates and yoga classes, Friday afternoon drinks and even dog-walking services for pandemic-bought pooches. Now  like a parent at the absolute end of their tether  they have turned to punishment.

It varies a lot from industry to industry, but there is certainly a degree of impatience from some managers that was not there in the aftermath of the pandemic, says Colin Leckey, a partner specialising in employment law at employment law firm Lewis Silkin.

And they are going down a number of routes to get what they want.

Finance is among the strictest of all the industries  JP Morgan is one of a handful of banks that has told the majority of its workforce they are expected in the office for a full five-day week. My company is obsessed, says a London-based trader at a different bank. I went to Frankfurt for work the other day and by 10am I had an email asking where I was.

And its not just the new recruits  senior teams are also being monitored. One of Britains biggest companies, investment firm M&G, has told its top managers they now have to spend a minimum of three days a week at work. In a leaked email, they were informed that junior staff would like to see more of their leadership team in the office than is currently the case. Meanwhile insurance giant Aviva has let its managers know that bonuses will be linked to getting more staff back into the office.

They might have a tricky time doing so. Workers determination to stick to new hybrid working patterns has been dubbed the Great Resistance  and in this case resistance seems very far from futile. A study by Stanford has shown that in America, employee attendance is significantly lower than management would like it; according to Leckey, Britain is in a similar boat. In almost every case Ive seen, workers arent coming in nearly as much as companies would like them to, he says.

Hence their low expectations. Businesses that asked employees to be in the office five days a week have largely failed, with less than half of workers following their guidelines. It was only once they told them to come in for three days or fewer that up to 80 per cent toed the line.

But could ignoring company policy on working from home really cost people their jobs? I dont think people will be fired outright  at least not immediately, says one woman working in HR for a London-based hedge fund. But they could well be passed up for promotion or get a smaller bonus if its something their managers care about  and quite a lot of the senior staff here have a real bee in their bonnet about it. And if there is a wave of redundancies, people who arent in the office as much are more likely to be at the top of the list.

Leckey adds it is always possible to fire someone for working from home too much  even if they have been meeting all their work targets. But whether its a good idea is a different matter, he says.

One problem businesses might run into at an employment tribunal is that, while most people signed contracts stating where their place of work is, during the pandemic, that shifted. At first, it was in response to a public emergency, but many employers continued to allow workers to spend half or even all of their week working from home after restrictions were lifted. If there is no paper trail from 2021 saying that a return to pre-pandemic working patterns was expected, then people could say their place of work changed.

Equally, anyone who has caring responsibilities  children or elderly parents  or medical or mental health issues that require them to work from home at least part of the week can claim unfair dismissal. Then there are the people who were hired during the pandemic, many of whom are super commuters with monster journeys to and from the office, or those who moved further away when they assumed flexible working was here to stay. All would be within their rights to make a flexible working application.

There are a variety of ways employees can push back  particularly if theyre being asked to come in five days a week, says Leckey. And as a result, most employers have opted for a middle ground of hybrid working.

The problem with this approach, according to workers, is that teams are rarely together on the same days  so they end up coming to work to sit on a Zoom call. One civil servant based in London explains that while he is expected to be in the office twice a week, there are no guidelines as to when. There are rarely more than two or three of us in at the same time, so all meetings have to happen on Teams anyway, which means were still just staring at our laptops in a different location, he says. Im more productive at home, which means those two days feel like a box-ticking exercise rather than anything worthwhile.

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Lawyers for Abe Hamadeh, former Republican candidate for attorney general, returned to a Mohave County courtroom saying they have new evidence Hamadeh "should be declared elected as Arizonas attorney general."

Jennifer Wright, the former leader of the state's controversial election integrity prosecution unit, claimed Tuesday that then-Secretary of State Katie Hobbs hid votes during a recount of the race and that more than 1,100 people were unable to vote because of changes to their voter registration records.

Attorneys for Democratic Attorney General Kris Mayes, Maricopa County and the Secretary of State's Office vehemently dispute those claims, saying they are false and misread state law that determines what, and when, the public gets to know about recount processes.

They urged Superior Court Judge Lee Jantzen to deny Hamadeh's request for a new trial and end his election challenge, which has been ongoing for six months.

Jantzen, who is considering whether Hamadeh should get to make his case again, didn't rule from the bench on Tuesday. Jantzen previously ruled, and Hamadeh's own lawyers admitted, in December there wasn't evidence to change the outcome of the election.

Hamadeh, who attended the hearing, lost to Mayes in November in a race so close it triggered a new state law that required a recount.

After that statewide recount, the margin between the two candidates settled to 280 votes from 511  making it one of the closest races in state history.

While Hamadeh continues questioning the outcome of the election, one of his lawyers bemoaned a lack of faith in the people running them.

"Our country's in trouble because people are losing confidence and faith in their elected officials," attorney James Sabalos, of Nevada, told the judge. "And it is no wonder when we have people who are entrusted with the sanctity of our system, like Miss Hobbs, whose conduct in this case has troubled me greatly."

Hobbs, who served a single term as secretary of state, was elected governor in November and took office in January. She is also battling an enduring legal challenge from former GOP candidate Kari Lake, who has not conceded the race, with a trial on a single issue slated to begin Wednesday.

Sabalos and Wright accused Hobbs of withholding from their team votes uncovered during the recount, and alleged that if 1,100 provisional ballots broke as Election Day voters did, Hamadeh would pick up enough votes to win the race. However, Arizona courts have required candidates to prove the outcome was affected, not just could have been impacted, based on math using a smaller sample size.

"They still are not in possession of actual evidence that would change the results," Alexis Danneman, an attorney at Perkins Coie in Phoenix who is representing Mayes, argued. "Instead, their argument before this court boils down to: The election was close. If you let us keep looking, we might find something."

Danneman said the recount order prevented Hobbs from disclosing those Pinal County votes, allowing only the judge to reveal the results. Craig Morgan, an attorney at the Phoenix firm Sherman & Howard who is representing the Secretary of State's Office, noted that the Pinal County votes didn't affect the outcome of the race, either.

Both attorneys argued Jantzen should end the case. Election challenges have specific, expedited timelines under Arizona law, and those ended long ago, they said.

"Arizonans deserve finality in the 2022 general election," Morgan said. "Every day this case exists without a final judgment is another day that (Hamadeh) and his friends, and his colleagues, his constituents, can continue to impugn the validity of our election processes in Arizona."

Morgan charged Hamadeh was impugning the integrity of election workers, and seeking to "cast doubt on the very foundation of our nation's free, full and fair elections. Arizonans need this action to come to an end."

Reach reporter Stacey Barchenger at stacey.barchenger@arizonarepublic.com or 480-416-5669. Follow her on Twitter @sbarchenger.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: AZ election official hid votes in close race, Hamadeh lawyers argue
As mass shootings rise in the U.S., despite its relative safety, other nations are highlighting the dangers of gun violence for would-be travelers.

Photo illustration: Jack Forbes/Yahoo News; photos: Getty Images (3)

Mass shootings in the U.S. are once again on the rise  and countries around the world are taking notice.

At least seven nations have issued advisories to their citizens who intend on traveling to the U.S., citing serious safety concerns in recent years. New Zealand, Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom, France, Venezuela and Uruguay have each urged precaution for travelers when visiting the U.S., due in large part to gun violence.

In the first weekend of May, eight people were shot and killed at a busy Dallas-area mall after a 33-year-old gunman opened fire, wounding at least seven others before he was fatally shot by police. The previous weekend in Oklahoma, a convicted sex offender shot and killed his wife, her three children and two of their friends before he killed himself, according to police. And just two days prior to that, a man shot and killed five neighbors, including a 9-year-old boy, after the family asked him to stop firing rounds in the air as a baby tried to sleep. The suspected shooter was arrested after a manhunt that lasted several days.

A crime problem or a gun problem?

There have been more than 200 mass shootings in the U.S. so far this year, according to the Gun Violence Archive, which defines a mass shooting as an incident in which four or more people are injured or killed, not including the shooter. Though mass shooting numbers fell slightly in 2022, since 2018 mass shootings have gone up by nearly 100 each year. In fact, in each of the last three years, there have been more than 600 mass shootings in the U.S., or about two each day.

An AR-15 rifle with bullets on an American flag. (Getty Images)

Yet despite these numbers, the U.S. remains one of the safer countries in the world. Not only has violent crime sharply declined since the mid-1990s, but scholars say that the U.S. doesnt have much more crime than many other countries. It does, however, have more guns. The U.S. is the only nation in the world where guns outnumber people, at a rate of 120 guns to 100 people, according to the Switzerland-based Small Arms Survey.

Rates of common property crimes in the United States are comparable to those reported in many other Western industrial nations, but rates of lethal violence in the United States are much higher, authors and UC Berkeley scholars Franklin Zimring and Gordon Hawkins wrote in their 1999 book, Crime Is Not the Problem.

Still, the threat of gun violence in conjunction with the perceived lack of security within the U.S. is increasingly seen as a safety concern by both American citizens and would-be tourists. Though the chances of a tourist in the U.S. becoming a victim of gun violence remain low, experts say perception is reality.

A cause for concern

If people perceive they are not safe in the U.S. they will not visit, Simon Hudson, a professor of tourism at the University of South Carolina, told Yahoo News. The 2022 Global Peace Index, which measures the peacefulness of countries and is made up of 23 quantitative and qualitative indicators, ranks the U.S. 129th out of 163 countries, just above Brazil.

Given this ranking, Hudson added, it is a cause for concern for any country seeking to attract people to live, work and play.

Direction sign at the airport. (Getty Images)

Pew Research Center found that the gun death rate in the U.S. in 2021 was 14.6 per 100,000 people  a figure much higher than in the majority of developed nations, according to a 2018 study of 195 countries and territories by researchers at the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington.

By comparison, gun death rates in countries like Canada (2.1 per 100,000) and Australia (1.0), as well as European nations such as France (2.7) and Spain (0.6), were far lower.

But the U.S. rate is still much lower than in many Latin American countries, many of which frequently find themselves embroiled in long-lasting civic unrest, like El Salvador (39.2 per 100,000 people), Venezuela (38.7), Guatemala (32.3) and Colombia (25.9), the 2018 study found.

Rifles hang on a wall. (Getty Images)

Gun crime is indeed a concern in our country, Sandy Chen, a professor in Ohio Universitys hospitality and tourism program, told Yahoo News in an email. These advisories simply point out the negative impact of the increased violence and gun crime in parts of America on U.S. tourism.

Here is how the countries are communicating concerns to their citizens.

New Zealand

A woman hikes in Egmont National Park in New Zealand. (Getty Images)

New Zealands travel advisory for the U.S. is a level 2 of 4, meaning citizens are advised to exercise increased caution.

The United States remains a target of terrorist interest, both from international terror groups and from domestic-based extremists, a portion of the advisory on the countrys travel site reads.

Canada

The Toronto skyline. (Getty Images)

Canada, the U.S.s northern neighbor, cautions its citizens to take normal security precautions, which is the least of its four advisories.

The rate of firearm possession in the U.S. is high, a portion of the Canadian advisory reads. Incidents of mass shootings occur, resulting most often in casualties. Although tourists are rarely involved, there is a risk of being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Australia

The Sydney Opera House in Australia. (Getty Images)

Australias advisory for the U.S. also cautions its citizens to exercise normal safety precautions, which is the least of its four advisories, but notes gun crime as the biggest issue.

Violent crime is more common than in Australia. Gun crime is also prevalent, the government says. If you live in the US, learn and practice active shooter drills.

United Kingdom

Houses of the British Parliament and Big Ben in London. (Getty Images)

The U.K. does not have a warning level system, but instead offers travel advice for those looking to visit the United States.

Terrorists are very likely to try to carry out attacks in the USA, the government says, adding, Violent crime, including gun crime, rarely involves tourists, but you should take care when traveling in unfamiliar areas.

France

The Eiffel Tower in summer in Paris. (Getty Images)

France describes the U.S. as among the safest countries but warns against both vehicle and physical threats in large cities like New York, Boston, Chicago, New Orleans and Los Angeles.

An increase in thefts of vehicles in motion with violence and threats, sometimes using a weapon (car-jackings), has been observed in most major American cities, a portion of the advisory reads.

Venezuela and Uruguay

The cityscape of Montevideo, Uruguay. (Getty Images)

South American countries Venezuela and Uruguay have issued warnings for the U.S. since 2019. Venezuelas government has urged caution since August 2019 because of a proliferation of acts of violence and indiscriminate hate crimes.

Similarly, Uruguays government urged caution in the face of growing indiscriminate violence, mostly due to hate crimes, including racism and discrimination.

Both warnings came shortly after two tragic shootings in less than 24 hours. The first was a shooting at a crowded El Paso, Texas, department store where 22 people were killed, and the other was where a gunman killed nine people in less than a minute on a crowded street in Dayton, Ohio.

Cover thumbnail photo illustration: Jack Forbes/Yahoo News; photos: Getty Images (3)
A court denied Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes' request to stay out of prison after her attorneys claimed there were 'numerous, inexplicable errors' in her trial

Former Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes on November 18, 2022 in San Jose, California. Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

A court denied Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes' request to stay home while she appeals her conviction.

Holmes was convicted of four counts of wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud in 2022.

Holmes was set to start a 11-year prison sentence in April, but this was delayed as she appealed her conviction.

A court has ruled that Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes has to go to prison, denying her request to stay home while she appeals her conviction.

The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit said Tuesday that Holmes hadn't shown that the appeal raised a "substantial question" of law or fact that is "fairly debatable," or that even if it did it likely wouldn't lead to a reversal of the verdict, a new trial, or a different sentence.

Holmes was convicted of four counts of an 11-count indictment in January 2022 related to her blood-testing startup Theranos, including wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud.

Holmes had asked Judge Edward J. Davila, US district judge for the Northern District of California, to let her stay out of prison while she appeals her conviction. Davila denied her request, and Holmes since appealed this decision.

Separately, Davila also ordered Holmes and former Theranos COO Sunny Balwani to pay $452 million in restitution to "the victims of their fraud conspiracy," including Rupert Murdoch, Walgreens, and Safeway.

Holmes founded Theranos in 2003, aged 19, while at Stanford, and dropped out of her chemical engineering course to work on the startup full-time. The company, which was valued at $9 billion at its peak, developed a test that could detect a variety of health conditions using blood from a single finger prick.

But in 2015, a bombshell Wall Street Journal article alleged that Theranos' blood-testing machine couldn't give accurate results and that the company was instead running its samples through the same machines used by other blood-testing companies.

Theranos ended up becoming the focus of multiple investigations  including by the FDA and SEC  and regulators from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said there were major inaccuracies in its tests. Holmes was banned from working in the lab-testing industry for two years and Theranos shut its lab operations and wellness centers in 2016.

In March 2018, Theranos, Holmes, and Balwani were charged with "massive fraud" by the SEC. Holmes agreed to pay a $500,000 fine and return 18.9 million shares of Theranos stock.

In June 2018, Holmes stepped down as CEO and the Department of Justice charged her and Balwani with nine counts of wire fraud and two counts of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Later that year, Theranos told shareholders that the company was shutting down.

Holmes' trial started in September 2021 and lasted around four months, with testimonies from witnesses including former Theranos employees, investors, patients, and doctors. In January 2022, the jury returned a mixed verdict, finding Holmes guilty on three counts of wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and not guilty on four other counts. They failed to reach a verdict on the remaining counts.

In November 2022, Holmes was sentenced to 135 months in prison with three years of supervised release set to begin on April 27, 2023. But Holmes appealed Davila's decision to deny her request to remain out of prison while she appeals her conviction, and her reporting date was delayed while the court considered her appeal.

In her appeal in April, Holmes' attorneys wrote that her conviction "resulted from prejudicial errors that warrant reversal and a new trial," and argued that the court's denial of Holmes' release pending appeal "reflects numerous, inexplicable errors."

Read the original article on Business Insider
By Jody Godoy

(Reuters) -Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes and former CEO Ramesh "Sunny" Balwani were on Tuesday ordered to pay $452 million to victims of the blood-testing startup's fraud, and an appeals court also denied Holmes' request to remain out of prison while challenging her conviction.

Holmes, who rose to fame after claiming Theranos' small machines could run an array of diagnostic tests with just a few drops of blood, was convicted last year of misrepresenting the startup's technology and finances. She was sentenced to 11 years and three months in prison.

Under the restitution order made by Judge Edward Davila in San Jose, California, who also oversaw Holmes' trial and sentencing, both Holmes and Balwani are equally responsible for the full amount.

Davila rejected their argument that intervening events contributed to Theranos investors losses.

The victims losses occurred at the moment they exchanged their money for Theranos shares, the judge said.

Holmes had asked the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to pause her sentence on April 25, two days before she was to report to prison.

The court rejected her argument that the appeal is likely to result in a new trial, the threshold for her to remain free on bail. The denial of bail on Tuesday means Davila will now set a new date for her to go to prison.

During the trial, Holmes testified in her own defense, saying she believed her statements were accurate at the time. On appeal, Holmes is challenging several of the judge's rulings, including his allowance of evidence about Theranos' test accuracy that postdated her statements to investors.

Balwani was convicted of defrauding Theranos investors and patients at a separate trial and sentenced to 12 years and 11 months in prison. He began serving the sentence on April 20, after Davila and the 9th Circuit rejected his requests to remain free on bail during his appeal.

Forbes dubbed Holmes the world's youngest female self-made billionaire in 2014, when she was 30 and her stake in Theranos was worth $4.5 billion. Theranos, once valued at $9 billion, collapsed after a series of Wall Street Journal articles in 2015 questioned its technology.

(Reporting by Jody Godoy in California and Akanksha Khushi; Editing by Richard Chang and Edwina Gibbs)
FREEHOLD - A certified public accountant and previous chief financial officer of a Matawan-based company has been sentenced to two years of probation after pleading guilty to stealing from his employer, Monmouth County Prosecutor Raymond S. Santiago announced on Wednesday.

Scott Lifshitz, 60, of Brick Township, was sentenced on Friday after he pleaded guilty on February 10 to second-degree theft of movable property, Santiago said. On that same day, Lifshitz paid $833,000 in restitution to the victim.

An investigation found that Lifshitz oversaw the financial services technology company's daily financial operations and had access to all its bank accounts, according to the announcement. Because of this, he was able to write company checks payable to himself, and to initiate wire transfers of company funds to his personal accounts, which were all unauthorized transactions.

In September 2022 - on the day Lifshitz was fired from his role in the company - he unsuccessfully tried to deposit two more company checks into his personal bank accounts, but he had already been removed as an authorized signatory, Santiago said.

The company's founders reported the theft to the prosecutor's office shortly afterwards, Santiago said. Detectives confirmed his activity through interviews, bank records and other documents, which established the theft occurred over roughly two years, from September 2020 through September 2022.

Santiago did not name the company that Lifshitz worked for.

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: Previous CFO of Matawan-based company pleads guilty to theft
I was on a family trip to Israel a few years ago and as soon as we landed, it was obvious something was wrong. Id flown over from New York with my parents and we were supposed to be meeting some cousins from London, whod arrived hours earlier to Tel Aviv.

But my British family was still in the airport when we touched down. EasyJet had left my little cousin Maxs wheelchair off the plane, meaning Max, who has Cerebral Palsy, had no reasonable way to get around. Because the airport didnt have any child-sized wheelchairs available to loan out, we wound up needing to rent one for Max from a hospital and it took days for his own wheelchair to eventually get to us from England. In the meantime, he wasnt able to sit properly in the rental chair and he was uncomfortable as we schlepped around to different tourist sites.

Last week's Cruising Altitude: What to know about getting bumped from a flight when airlines overbook

Ive been acutely aware since that trip of how tough flying can be for disabled travelers. This year, Im working on a project to highlight incidents of airlines in the U.S. mishandling mobility devices. But telling peoples individual stories is only one piece of the puzzle. Real change requires action from regulators and airlines, and Im hoping to use my reporting to help push for some of that change.

Please reach out with one of your own stories.

According to the Department of Transportation, which has been required to track these incidents since 2019, airlines damage or otherwise mishandle about 1.5% of the mobility devices they transport each month, translating to 11,389 incidents reported in 2022. That number is hardly comprehensive. Not everyone reports their damage to the airline in the first place, but it does give a sense of how great the problem is.

Imagine if Americans were to see that this particular airline broke 700 wheelchairs last year, but substitute legs for wheelchair,  Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., told me during a recent phone conversation. We would be calling for all sorts of fixes.

To that end, Duckworth introduced a bill earlier this month that, if passed, would require both Congress and airlines to do more to address these incidents beyond just tracking them.

And advocates say theres so much more to be done to make air travel accessible to everyone, too. Not all disabilities require the use of a mobility device, they point out, meaning all the focus on mobility-related issues in air travel can leave other needs unaddressed.

The proportions of this drawing may be off, but that doesn't mean accessibility in air travel isn't important.

'We want the aisle chair to go away'

This is part of the work that Ive been doing over time, Duckworth, who uses a wheelchair, said. The next thing we need to know is the extent of the damage and also it would be helpful to know for those who are traveling with assistive devices, whether the aircraft can carry their devices.

Duckworth was instrumental in getting Congress to pass the requirement that airlines report mobility device incidents separately from baggage mishandling, but she said thats just a first step.

To properly enact change, incidents need to be quantified and responsibility assigned.

Under the Mobility Aids On Board Improve Lives and Empower All (MOBILE) Act, which Duckworth introduced earlier this month with Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., the DOT would be required to evaluate the frequency and types of damage to mobility devices and develop a plan to research the technical feasibility of accommodating passengers in wheelchairs in the main cabin, among other provisions.

Don't panic: Southwest Airlines pilots vote to strike. Here's why your trip probably won't be affected.

We want the aisle chair to go away, Heather Ansley, associate executive director of government relations at Paralyzed Veterans of America, told me. In an ideal world, she said, youre either riding in your own device or transferring from your own device to the seat.

Many advocates say that having a dedicated space on board aircraft to secure wheelchairs to allow disabled passengers to fly using their own devices is a key goal.

We do it on buses, we do it on trains, Duckworth said. In many ways, that is safer for the person with a disability, especially someone who has paralysis or is more medically fragile, to be strapped into a wheelchair which is basically molded to their body.

What else needs to happen?

Beyond the provisions in Duckworths bill, advocates say future regulations should consider a broader scope of disabilities.

This is a problem across the disability spectrum, Laura Saltzman, a transportation policy analyst at Access Living of Metropolitan Chicago, told me. The number of people I talk to over an entire range of disabilities who dont want to make a stink about it  This can intersect issues of race or a combination of disabilities where people might feel less comfortable.

Ansley also said that travel can be difficult for those with other kinds of disabilities as well.

People who are deaf or hard of hearing, announcements on aircraft are not accessible, theyre barely accessible if you can hear sometimes, she said. It is true that air travel discriminates against just about every group of people with disabilities.

Saltzman said airlines should consider taking a page out of the book of their existing best practices in other areas to figure out how to treat their disabled customers better.

Checklists are mandatory for safe flights, she said, wondering why there isnt a more standardized procedure for how to accommodate disabled passengers. A checklist for: This is what I have to do for wheelchairs to make sure the wheelchair is secured and not rained on and a piece is not broken off.

A very important component: Restroom access needs to be improved too

Ansley also said that lavatory access on airplanes can be a huge problem for travelers with mobility issues.

Having access to a lavatory on board, that means having a safe, usable onboard wheelchair that can get you to that accessible lavatory, she said. If you change the structure of air travel you can actually eliminate a lot of the barriers and make it a little less labor intensive in terms of physically moving and lifting people, and instead just being there to assist as the person needs.

Single-aisle airplanes like the Boeing 737 and Airbus A320, some of the most popular aircraft in the sky today, are not required to have accessible bathrooms by the DOT.

Charlie Brown, president of Paralyzed Veterans of America, said being transferred in and out of a wheelchair can be dangerous for travelers who rely on their devices to get around too.

Our devices, which were modified for us or built for us specifically, are put in the cargo hold, he said. I was dropped to the jetway one time being transferred from (my) chair to the aisle chair and it broke my tailbone, resulting in an infection and a monthslong hospital visit.

All the advocates I spoke to for this column said airlines need to face steeper penalties for damaging mobility devices or otherwise not providing the proper accommodations for disabled travelers.

Story continues below:

Is the Department of Transportation doing anything?

The DOT released a bill of rights for disabled airline passengers last summer, but in a statement this week, the department acknowledged theres more to do to make air travel accessible to everyone.

USDOT is using all the tools available to make air travel more accessible  from formal rulemaking processes on wheelchair handling and lavatory size, which inherently are more long term, to more immediate actions like instituting the first Airline Passengers with Disabilities Bill of Rights, expanding enforcement of the Air Carrier Access Act, and working directly with the airlines to ensure all passengers are treated with dignity, a department spokesperson said Tuesday in a statement to USA TODAY. The statement also said the DOT is working on making airports and other forms of public transit more accessible as well. Everyone deserves safe, efficient and accessible travel, the statement said.

Its clear that theres still much work to be done to make flying truly accessible for all travelers, and Im committed to continuing to cover this important topic.

Zach Wichter is a travel reporter for USA TODAY based in New York. You can reach him at zwichter@usatoday.com

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Cruising Altitude: Taking a closer look at accessibility in air travel
Cuba rolls out red carpet for Russian business in push to deepen economic ties

By Dave Sherwood and Nelson Acosta

HAVANA (Reuters) - Russian and Cuban officials and business leaders on Wednesday announced new perks to entice Russian investors into the Cuban market, the latest sign of fast-growing economic ties between the two long-time political allies.

Boris Titov, head of the Russian delegation of the Cuban-Russian Business Committee, told a forum of Russian entrepreneurs in Havana that Cuba had decisively opened the door to Russian investment.

"They are giving us preferential treatment," Titov told the packed forum in Havanas Hotel Nacional. "The path is clear."

Titov said Cuba had offered Russian businesses the right to make use of Cuban land for 30 year-terms, an unusual concession to foreign firms in the communist-run country.

He said Cuba would also exempt Russian companies from import tariffs on certain technology, and would allow Russian firms to repatriate their profits, a benefit in Cubas state-dominated economy.

The two countries, on opposite sides of the globe, are also considering ways to fast-track shipping between them, Titov said.

"In Soviet times there was a direct port and maritime link," Titov told the forum. "We are analyzing this possibility with the owners of Cuban ships."

Cuba in recent months has sought to woo investors from Russia and other politically allied nations in a bid to shore up its devastated economy, ravaged by the coronavirus pandemic, harsh U.S. sanctions and rampant inefficiencies.

Russia, also reeling from Western sanctions over the conflict in Ukraine, has in recent months moved to strengthen economic ties with Cuba and other Latin American countries opposed to what it calls U.S. hegemony.

Ricardo Cabrisas, Cubas minister of foreign commerce told reporters on the sidelines of the forum that the economic ties between Russia and Cuba would only grow stronger.

"Nothing and no one can stop it," Cabrisas said.

Bilateral trade between Cuba and Russia reached $450 million in 2022, three times that of 2021, according to Sergei Baldin, Russias trade representative in Cuba.

Baldin said 90% of that trade was comprised of sales of petroleum products and soy oil.

(Reporting by Dave Sherwood in Havana; Editing by Alistair Bell)
Hey, everyone! Drew here. Happy Hump Day! Did you catch the NBA Draft Lottery last night?

The Hornets were so close to the No. 1 pick!

Check out some notable (and forgettable) draft picks Charlottes made over the years.

On to the news.

A person saw flames inside the popular restaurant Cuzzos Cuisine Wednesday morning.

A fire at Cuzzos Cuisine shut down west Charlotte roads this morning.

While officials have not said what caused the fire, owner Anglee Brown told the Observer the electrical fires damages would take three to six months to repair.

Were not going anywhere, Brown said. We own the property, so were definitely not closing.

Julia Coin continues to update this story.

Margaret Brown teachers her class at Providence Spring Elementary in Charlotte, N.C., on Tuesday, May 16, 2023.

Margaret Browns motto? No matter whats going on in her own life, she shows up for her kids.

The ninth-year teacher at Providence Spring Elementary School gives it all for her students.

Ive said this 10,000 times  I wish she could follow me to fourth grade. What I just said? Thats a hyperbole. student Avery Levine said.

Anna Maria Della Costa shares more on the Observers Charlotte area Education Superhero.

Democratic senators hold signs after a vote on an abortion restrictions bill that was up for a veto override on Tuesday, May 16, 2023, at the Legislative Building in Raleigh, N.C. Republicans have a veto-proof supermajority in the General Assembly, with the ability to overturn a veto from Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper.

In a pair of override votes yesterday evening, a supermajority of North Carolina lawmakers enacted a new abortion ban into law, over the objections of the governor and even their own voters.

Soon, most abortions in North Carolina will be illegal after 12 weeks of pregnancy, with some exceptions.

As much as Republicans want to call that mainstream, The Editorial Board writes its just not.

Police busted a 13-person dog fighting ring in a wooded area east of Statesville Saturday, May 13, 2023.

Police busted a 13-person dog fighting ring in the woods east of Statesville over the weekend.

It was not immediately clear how long the dog fighting operation had been running at the site or how many dogs were involved.

Julia Coin has the latest on this story.

5. Some more stories to read

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Find more updates at charlotteobserver.com, and follow along on Twitter, Instagram and Tik Tok to see more from us. Enjoy your day!

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Chinese FM holds talks with Sierra Leonean counterpart

Xinhua) 08:48, May 17, 2023

Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Qin Gang holds talks with Sierra Leonean Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation David Francis in Beijing, capital of China, May 16, 2023. (Xinhua/Gao Jie)

BEIJING, May 16 (Xinhua) -- Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Qin Gang held talks with Sierra Leonean Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation David Francis in Beijing on Tuesday.

Noting that this year marks the tenth anniversary of the principles of sincerity, real results, amity and good faith in China's ties with Africa, Qin said that these principles have led to the success of bilateral relations, and will also open up a bright future for bilateral relations.

Qin said that the two sides should jointly implement the consensus reached by the two heads of state, continue to firmly support each other, strengthen practical cooperation, and maintain close coordination in international and regional affairs.

Echoing Qin's remarks, Francis said that Sierra Leone values its relations with China, adheres firmly to the one-China principle, and looks forward to strengthening cooperation with China for the benefit of the two peoples.

Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Qin Gang holds talks with Sierra Leonean Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation David Francis in Beijing, capital of China, May 16, 2023. (Xinhua/Gao Jie)

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun)
PRAGUE (Reuters) - The Czech government on Wednesday cancelled Soviet-era decrees that granted the Russian embassy free use of land in Prague and other cities, a further step in a more than two-year diplomatic spat with Moscow worsened by the war in Ukraine.

Prague had in 2021 accused Russian intelligence agents of being behind explosions at an arms depot in the Czech Republic in 2014, leading it to drastically reduce staff at the Russian embassy, then one of central Europe's biggest missions and which continues to operate at a greatly reduced capacity.

On Wednesday, the centre-right government rescinded orders granting Russia the use of dozens of plots of lands in the 1970s and 1980s by the country's then Communist rulers.

The Russian embassy in Prague did not immediately reply to a request for comment.

Russia will now have to pay leases to use of the land, the foreign ministry said.

"We overturned government decisions taken under the barrels of Russian tanks after the occupation of our country," European Affairs Minister Martin Dvorak said on Twitter, referring the 1968 Warsaw Pact invasion that tightened Communist rule in the country

"Unauthorised profits from the use of these land plots cannot be allowed to support the current occupation of Ukraine."

Prague has been a strong supporter of Ukraine since Russia invaded on February 2022 and has supplied it with military aid.

The Czech parliament designated "the current Russian regime as terrorist" in November. Last month, the government put the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill, on its national sanctions list due to his support for the invasion.

(Reporting by Robert Muller; Editing by Jason Hovet and John Stonestreet)
Dan McCaffery has won the Democratic primary in Pennsylvania for a vacant seat on the state Supreme Court, which is playing a prominent role in settling disputes over voting rights, abortion rights and gun rights in the presidential battleground.

McCaffery defeated Deborah Kunselman in the two-way race.

Both currently sit on the state Superior Court, a statewide appellate body that handles appeals from county courts in criminal and civil cases.

McCaffery will face the winner of the Republican primary for the seat in the November general election.

Democrats currently hold a 4-2 majority on the court, which has an open seat following the death last fall of Chief Justice Max Baer, a Democrat. The court has handled a number of hot-button issues over the past few years.

It is currently examining a challenge to a state law that restricts the use of public funds to help women get an abortion as well as Philadelphias challenge to a state law that bars it and other municipalities from restricting the sale and possession of guns.

In recent years, the justices rejected a request to invalidate the states death penalty law and upheld the constitutionality of the states expansive mail-in voting law.

The court also turned away challenges to the 2020 election result from Republicans who wanted to keep former President Donald Trump in power, and ruled on a variety of lawsuits over gray areas in the mail-in voting law.

In one 2020 election case, justices ordered counties to count mail-in ballots that arrived up to three days after polls closed, citing delays in mail service caused by disruptions during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The ruling spurred an outcry among Republicans, who challenged the decision in the U.S. Supreme Court. The nations highest court ultimately declined to take the case.

The ballots - nearly 10,000 of them - were never counted in any federal race, including for president, because the election was certified while their fate remained in legal limbo.

State elections officials said the votes werent enough to change the results of a federal election.

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Danny Masterson and his wife Bijou Phillips arrive for closing arguments in his second rape trial, Tuesday, May 16, 2023, in Los Angeles. Masterson is charged with raping three women at his Los Angeles home between 2001 and 2003. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

LOS ANGELES (AP)  Jurors in Danny Mastersons rape retrial finished their first day of deliberations Wednesday without reaching a verdict in the case against the former That 70s Show star.

The jury of seven women and five men got the case in the morning when prosecutors finally finished their rebuttal after all-day closing arguments a day earlier. They deliberated for about 3 and a half hours before going home, without asking any questions or giving an indication of how discussions were going. They resume Thursday morning.

Late last year, a jury was unable to reach a verdict in the case against Masterson involving rape allegations by three women, and Los Angeles Judge Charlaine Olmedo declared a mistrial.

Prosecutors said in their closing argument Tuesday that Masterson drugged the women in order to assault them, then relied on his status as a prominent member in the Church of Scientology to avoid consequences for decades.

You dont want to have sex? You dont have a choice," Deputy District Attorney Ariel Anson told the jury. "The defendant makes that choice for these victims. And he does it over and over and over again.

After closing arguments, Masterson's attorney Philip Cohen made a motion for a mistrial, one of several that he made during the three-week trial, because of the prosecution's mention of drugging, which is not part of the charges. Olmedo rejected the motion, saying that the prosecution was acting within the bounds of her pre-trial decision by allowing them to assert that the women were drugged.

Masterson, 47, has pleaded not guilty to raping three women at his home between 2001 and 2003. During the defense's closing, Cohen told jurors that the women's accounts are so full of inconsistencies that there is more than enough reasonable doubt for jurors to acquit Masterson.

Cohen emphasized the lack of any physical evidence of drugging, with the investigation that led to Masterson's arrest coming some 15 years after the alleged rapes.

Miss Anson presented a case as if she was arguing a drugging case," Cohen said. "Maybe its because there is no evidence of force or violence.

Scientology played an outsized role during the trial. Masterson is a member, and all three women are former members. Prosecutors said the institution protected him, and helped convince the women that they were not raped and could not go to authorities to report a fellow Scientologist in good standing. The church denied having any such policy.

Masterson could get more than 40 years in prison if convicted on all three counts.

___

This story has been corrected to show that the jury is seven women and five men, not seven men and five women.
A photo of a burning building is being shared on Twitter alongside claims it shows a fire at a factory supplying aircraft engines to Russia's military amid its war in Ukraine. This is false; the image first appeared in 2018 and shows an oil refinery that caught fire, according to reports from the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Moscow and news articles from the time.

"A factory that produces engines for MiG fighter jets is on fire in Moscow," a May 12, 2023 tweet says, shared by an account titled "Ukraine front lines," and accompanied by a picture of a burning building.

A screenshot of a tweet taken on May 12, 2023

The claim, which also appeared here and here, is part of continuing social media misinformation circulating about the war between Russia and Ukraine.

The image shared in the tweets above, however, predates the war in Ukraine, which began with the Russian invasion in 2022.

A reverse image search in Google showed an exact match of the image in local news reports that linked to a post on the Russian social media platform VK as the source for the image.

"There is a fire at the Moscow Oil Refinery. There were no casualties, thank God. Currently, about 100 firefighters are working on the spot," the November 17, 2018 post says in Russian.

A screenshot of a VK post taken on May 12, 2023

Reuters also reported on the incident at the time, and the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Moscow released updates about field emergency responses on its website and on Twitter in the hours and days following the start of the fire.

The misrepresented posts appeared after reports of another incident on Telegram and in local Russian and Ukrainian news outlets on May 12 about a fire at a Moscow factory that manufactures military and industrial aircraft engines.

The Telegram post says in Russian: "In Moscow, a fire broke at the machine-building plant V.V. Chernyshev, three people were injured. This enterprise manufactures engines for MiG aircraft. According to our information, the fire broke out in one of the company's buildings on Vishnevaya Street at about 4AM. In an office on the second floor, personal belongings and furniture ... caught fire ... Rescuers arrived at the scene and extinguished the fire, the victims were transported by ambulance" -- sharing a picture of the building, intact.

AFP geolocated the factory and found it is also based in a different area of Moscow, about 43 kms (26.7 miles) from the refinery.

AFP reached out to the Russian manufacturer but a response was not forthcoming.
Ogden City Police officer Chavis Whitby stands outside of Ogden High School after false threats of shots fired on March 29, 2023. The flag was lowered to half-staff in honor of the recent Nashville, Tenn., school shooting victims. Police agencies along the Wasatch Front and northern Utah responded to similar reports of school violence on Wednesday morning. | Kristin Murphy, Deseret News

Starting at 9:17 a.m. on March 29, 2023, Cache County officials received the first of what would be multiple hoax calls across the state reporting an active shooter at a school.

The calls persisted for nearly an hour about threats to schools from Box Elder to Washington counties.

And then there was a hour break where we believe they were targeting another state and then started back in Utah moving east, with purported threats to schools in Tooele, Sevier, Grand and Uintah counties, said Jake Broadhead of the Utah Department of Public Safetys Statewide Information and Analysis Center.

Broadhead, addressing the Utah Legislatures School Security Task Forces inaugural meeting on Tuesday, said the calls appeared to follow a script.

The caller was an adult male with a thick accent claiming to be in a school bathroom who said the shooter was a student with a weapon. They used heavy breathing, pretended to be panting to try and make it sound like the incident was real and they were panicked. Whenever the dispatchers or whoever was on the other end of the call would try and elicit more information or ask harder questions the caller would disconnect, Broadhead said.

Affected districts scrambled to place schools on lockdown, but officers and school officials quickly determined the calls were hoaxes. One call threatened violence at Salt Lakes West High School, which was a red flag considering schools in the Salt Lake City School District were on spring break at the time.

Police maintain a presence after responding to false threats of shots fired at Ogden High School in Ogden on Wednesday, March 29, 2023. Police agencies along the Wasatch Front and northern Utah responded to similar reports of school violence on Wednesday morning. | Kristin Murphy, Deseret News

At Ogden High School, a resource officer was in the school when the threat was lodged, said Rep. Ryan Wilcox, R-Ogden, who is the task force chairman.

There couldnt have been like a more perfect guy to be at that particular school, Wilcox said.

He had previously led the SWAT team and had commanded many of the officers who responded from other agencies, Wilcox said.

So he immediately slipped into that. He was able to determine it was a hoax within minutes, if not seconds, because he knew those bathrooms that the caller was claiming the shooting was happening in, he said.

Wilcox said the response time was less than three minutes with 12 cars there immediately clearing things.

There is video of an officer in Spanish Fork, who ran directly into a school building, which Wilcox described as seriously heroic behaviors, sort of the opposite of what youve seen around the country.

When it was over, Wilcox said he had 12 pages of notes from the debrief of the incident in Ogden. Despite a swift, well-orchestrated response, responding agencies were hypercritical of their actions, he said.

So even when they sort of rocked the moment, they were very honest with what they needed to do to improve, he said.

The days events provided a lot of data and information that were going to be able to leverage to take care of our students and teachers, our communities, he said.

Deputy Superintendent of Student Achievement Patty Norman thanked Wilcox and other task force members for making school safety a priority. Task force members include law enforcement officials, educators, mental health providers and others.

Related

Related

I think that the No. 1 thing on parents minds right now when it comes to schools is not how well their students are doing academically, its whether theyre safe, Norman said.

Broadhead said hoax threats have numerous negative impacts such as mental health and trauma to students, community and responders.

Other negative effects are the financial and resource impacts to responding agencies such as law enforcement, fire, medical and health care providers.

It can create crisis fatigue among responders and the public and creates that risk for complacency and a cry wolf mentality where you law enforcement or the public might notice a threat and they might not take it seriously, he said.

Broadhead said the speed, diversity and global access of communications technologies outpace the capability of law enforcement to enforce certain types of criminal activity.

But law enforcement officials have numerous strategies to determine if threats are real or hoaxes.

For instance, callers might mispronounce names of cities, streets or buildings. Their demeanor may be inconsistent with the alleged incident or there may be background noise that is inconsistent with the alleged incident such as typing or fake gunshots.

Another giveaway might be that the call was received on a nonemergency line or there is only one call, when real incidents typically result in multiple calls, he said. Another red flag is that the story changes when the caller is confronted or asked follow-up questions.

Then theres also the use of Call of Duty speak, which is the use of exotic or specific names of firearms, different types of weapons that might be found in a video game, Broadhead said.

The majority of the hoax threats known to law enforcement officials that occurred in Utah are related to social media trends, he said.

The March 29 incident was an anomaly within Utah, but it was not an anomaly nationally, according to FBI estimates, which they themselves recognize are probably underreported. They estimate about 5,000 hoax calls come into the U.S. a year and thats not specific to schools or hospitals, Broadhead said.
Tariq Ramadan had special permission to leave France for the trial in Switzerland

Tariq Ramadan's lawyers pleaded Wednesday for the controversial Islamic scholar to be acquitted on the third and final day of his trial in Geneva on charges of rape and sexual coercion.

Prosecutors are seeking a three-year sentence for the former Oxford University professor, half served in jail and the other half suspended.

"I'm only looking for one thing and that's to convince you that Tariq Ramadan is innocent," his lawyer Yael Hayat told the Geneva Criminal Court, calling the allegations against his client "crazy".

The 60-year-old is accused of raping a woman -- a convert to Islam who appeared in court under the assumed name of Brigitte -- in a Geneva hotel room in October 2008.

Ramadan, a charismatic yet controversial figure in European Islam, insists there was no sexual activity between him and Brigitte, saying he is the victim of a "trap".

Her lawyer denounced what he called an act of "torture and barbarism", as he sought to convince judges to convict Ramadan.

The judges will deliver their verdict on May 24.

Controversial among secularists who see him as a supporter of political Islam, Ramadan obtained his doctorate from the University of Geneva, with his thesis focused on his grandfather, who founded Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood movement.

He was a professor of contemporary Islamic studies at Britain's prestigious Oxford University until November 2017, and held visiting roles at universities in Qatar and Morocco.

He was forced to take a leave of absence when rape allegations surfaced in France at the height of the "Me Too" movement, over suspected attacks in France between 2009 and 2016.

apo/rjm/pvh
Cherelle Parker, a Democrat with a long political history in Pennsylvania, won Philadelphias mayoral primary on Tuesday, likely setting her up as the citys 100th mayor and the first woman to serve in the role.

Parker, 50, who served for 10 years as a state representative for northwest Philadelphia before her election to the city council in 2015, asserted herself as a leader whose government experience would allow her to address gaping problems with public safety and quality of life in the nations sixth-largest city. She will go up against Republican David Oh in the Nov. 7 general election.

The win was a disappointment to progressives who rallied around Helen Gym, who was backed by Vermont U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders and New York U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.



Parker emerged from a crowded field of five front-runner Democratic candidates vying to replace Democrat Jim Kenney, who is term-limited. She beat out other former city council members who resigned from their seats to throw their hats in the ring; a state representative; a former city controller and a political outsider businessman.

The Philadelphia race serves as the latest barometer of how residents of some of the nations largest cities hope to emerge from the pandemic, which heightened concerns about crime, poverty and inequality. The results have sometimes been tumultuous in other parts of the country, leading to the defeat of the incumbent mayor of Chicago in February and the ouster of San Franciscos district attorney last year.

Parker pledged to stop the sense of lawlessness that is plaguing our city by putting hundreds more officers on the street to engage in community policing. Parker pushed for officers to use every legal tool, including stopping someone when they have just cause and reasonable suspicion.

She received support from members of the Philadelphia delegation in the House, as well as members of Congress. She was also backed by labor unions and a number of wards in the city, and Kenney said he had cast his ballot for her.
Jacksonville, Florida Brian Bahr/Getty Images

Donna Deegan, a Democratic former news anchor and charity founder, upset her better-funded Republican opponent Tuesday to become the first female mayor of Jacksonville, Florida's largest city, and the first Democrat to hold the office since 2015. Jacksonville was also the largest U.S. city with a Republican mayor, NBC News reports, a distinction that now falls to Fort Worth, Texas. Deegan beat Daniel Davis, CEO of the local Chamber of Commerce and the favorite to win the race, 52% to 48%. Mayor Lenny Curry (R) could not run again due to term limits.

"We made history tonight," Deegan said at her victory party. "It's a brand new day in Jacksonville."

Davis spent more money on his race than any candidate for local office in Jacksonville history, The Florida Times-Union reports. He and his allies "hit Deegan over her participation in Black Lives Matter protests, and the local sheriff said she would install 'radical policies' if elected," Politico adds, but she called those attacks smears and gained some endorsements from local GOP officials.

Davis, who conceded Tuesday night, was endorsed by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla), and local U.S. Rep. John Rutherford (R-Fla.). His loss was also defeat No. 2 for candidates endorsed by DeSantis, The New York Times notes. On Monday night, the Florida governor had made a surprise endorsement in Kentucky's GOP gubernatorial primary, backing former Trump administration U.N. ambassador Kelly Craft over state Attorney General Daniel Cameron, the candidate of former President Donald Trump and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.).

"Kelly shares the same vision we do in Florida," DeSantis said in a robocall to GOP voters Monday night. She came in a distant third on Tuesday, 17% to Cameron's 47%. "Let me just say," Cameron said in his victory speech, "the Trump culture of winning is alive and well in Kentucky!" That, the Times explains, was a dig at DeSantis, who has been preparing for a presidential run by urging Republicans to push past their "culture of losing" from the Trump era.

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Democrat Donna Deegan pulled a major upset on Tuesday, defeating her GOP rival in the runoff mayoral election in Jacksonville, Florida.

Deegan secured 52% of the vote, according to The Associated Press, prevailing over Daniel Davis, who was endorsed by Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), and making history as the first woman elected to the post.

Deegan will succeed outgoing Republican Lenny Curry, who had to step down due to term limits.

Jacksonville, the 13th-biggest U.S. city, had been the largest city led by a GOP mayor, according to CNN.

Everybody said it could not be done in Jacksonville, Florida, Deegan said following her victory. We did it because we brought the people inside.

Her win was celebrated by party leaders, including Nikki Fried, the Florida Democratic Party chair.

The contest went to a runoff race after no candidate secured 50% of the vote in the first round. Deegan came out ahead, but with only 39.4% of the vote.

In an interview following Tuesdays victory, Deegan expressed disappointment at the low turnout.

Were going to bring the people into the process and make them feel like theyre a part of it, because they are, and I think thats going to make all the difference in the world, she told First Coast News.

Deegan, a former local TV news anchor, founded a nonprofit called the DONNA Foundation to support cancer patients and survivors after her own bout with the disease. She is a three-time breast cancer survivor.

Davis had sought to portray Deegan as radical, airing an attack ad focused on her attendance at Black Lives Matter rallies following the death of George Floyd and claiming she wanted to defund the police.

Deegan struck back, telling News4JAX that the ad was racially insensitive. She noted that outgoing GOP Mayor Curry, the citys then-Sheriff Mike Williams and current Sheriff T.K. Waters also joined a Black Lives Matter protest in 2020.

She insisted she is very pro-police.

I believe that we need to make sure we are taking care of our police officers and I want to make sure we are taking care of our community, Deegan told the outlet.

DeSantis endorsed Davis, head of the citys Chamber of Commerce, as the proven law and order conservative Jacksonville needs to tackle the citys greatest challenges and seize its biggest opportunities.

A picture of the two shaking hands is also featured prominently on Davis campaign website, but the governor reportedly didnt attend any campaign events for the GOP candidate, according to NBC News.

In Novembers midterm election, DeSantis won Duval County, which includes Jacksonville, by 12 percentage points, a smaller margin than his 20-point statewide triumph over Democrat Charlie Crist.

In the 2020 presidential election, Joe Biden became the first Democrat to win Duval County since 1976.

Donna Deegan holds up a T-shirt her daughter bought for her on a trip to London, while speaking with supporters in her run for mayor of Jacksonville, Fla., on May 16, 2023. Deegan defeated Republican Daniel Davis, becoming the first female to be elected as the city's mayor.

Donna Deegan holds up a T-shirt her daughter bought for her on a trip to London, while speaking with supporters in her run for mayor of Jacksonville, Fla., on May 16, 2023. Deegan defeated Republican Daniel Davis, becoming the first female to be elected as the city's mayor.
Democratic Rep. Jamie Raskin pushes back on Biden's concerns that using the 14th amendment to solve the debt ceiling crisis would land the administration in court: 'There's a binding legal requirement to pay Social Security and Medicare recipients'

U.S. Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) (L), Ranking Member on the House Oversight and Reform Committee. Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

Rep. Jamie Raskin told Insider in an interview that Biden should use the 14th amendment to solve the debt ceiling crisis.

The 14th amendment would declare the debt ceiling unconstitutional and get rid of it forever.

Biden expressed concerns with that route due to potential litigation that could come from it.

A Democratic lawmaker thinks it's long past time that President Joe Biden start seriously considering alternative routes to solve the debt ceiling crisis without Congress.

Both sides of the aisle have been at odds for months over the best approach to raise the debt ceiling and ensure the government does not run out of money to pay its bills. While Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy recently passed a bill in the House that would raise the debt ceiling through March 2024 accompanied by over $4.5 trillion in spending cuts, Biden and Democrats have remained adamant that they will only support a clean debt ceiling increase, without any cuts attached.

But with an economically catastrophic default as soon as two weeks away, Democratic Rep. Jamie Raskin told Insider in an interview that it's time Biden invoke a clause in the 14th amendment that would get rid of this crisis forever.

"It's unfamiliar to people because no Congress has come close to driving us off the default cliff the way that Speaker McCarthy has, but I've just wanted to emphasize that there's a constitutional structure to this problem: section four of the 14th Amendment, that says that the validity of the public debt shall not be questioned," Raskin said.

The clause Raskin referenced states that "the validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned." That would mean that a default, and the debt ceiling causing that default, would be unconstitutional.

Still, Biden has cast doubt over going that route to avoid a default that inches closer by the day. He told reporters last week that he had been "considering" the 14th amendment, but "the problem is it would have to be litigated."

Biden said that he doesn't think the 14th amendment "solves our problem now. I think that only solves your problem once the court has ruled that it does apply for future endeavors."

Raskin pushed back on Biden's concerns, saying that the 14th amendment acts as "an operations manual for how the president should respond to extortion and threats by a faction of Congress."

"The question is whether anybody could sue the government for actually meeting the constitutional command by making payments to the creditors of the United States, bondholders, and Social Security recipients," Raskin said. "I'm not sure anybody would even have standing to get into court, and I imagine that the court would consider the whole thing a political question within the province of the executive branch to work out with Congress."

"There's a binding legal requirement to pay bondholders, there's a binding legal requirement to pay Social Security and Medicare recipients," Raskin added. "So the president can't violate those statutory directives, nor can he violate the constitutional command. So a debt limit statute that purports to compel the president to violate the law in the Constitution is of dubious legality."

Biden met with McCarthy and top congressional lawmakers for the second time on Tuesday to attempt to come closer to an agreement on solving the debt ceiling crisis, and it appeared there was still minimal progress toward a deal. Still, McCarthy told reporters he thinks it's still possible to reach an agreement this week  but it's unclear if that deal will include some compromises, like spending cuts on Democratic priorities.

To Raskin, the solution is clear: the 14th amendment "provides the whole structure for resolving the conflict," he said.

"The situation today is similar to what President Lincoln faced when he had to circumnavigate the habeas corpus clause during the Civil War, when he said, shall all of the laws of the United States go unrecognized except for one? Or alternatively, should one law be ignored in order to uphold the whole system of government?" Raskin said. "And the Constitution clearly disfavors an economic default and the resulting collapse in the full faith and credit of the United States."

"That's basically the argument," Raskin continued. "What began as a political fight that became a policy crisis now threatens to become a constitutional collision."

Read the original article on Business Insider
A trio of Democrat lawmakers are calling on the House Judiciary Committees GOP leadership to investigate Florida Gov. Ron DeSantiss (R) handling of the state law enforcement agency, alleging he is using it to advance his political agenda and intimidate voters.

Given the allegations of abuse of authority, improper politicization, and voter intimidation by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE), I am calling on the Judiciary Committee to open an investigation and [hold a] public hearing into Florida Governor Ron DeSantiss alleged mishandling of the agency, the lawmakers wrote in a letter to House Judiciary Chairman Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio).

The letter, signed by Rep. Glenn Ivey (D-Md.), Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas) and Rep. Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.), noted that because the FDLE receives $57 million in federal funding, Congress has the jurisdiction to investigate whether it is using the funds for improper and unconstitutional ends. Their letter also noted that DeSantiss launch of a voting fraud unit employed help from the FDLE, which argued against the move because due to the lack of voting fraud cases.

The lawmakers alleged that DeSantiss push for the election police force was used to intimidate voters of color, blasting the police force as a draconian response.

DeSantis signed a bill last year that created an election police force dedicated to investigating voter fraud and other election-related crimes.

The Governor was reportedly motivated to target these individuals  mostly Black, an overwhelmingly Democratic constituency  to placate former President Trump and his false claims that widespread voter fraud led to his defeat in 2020, despite having won the State of Florida by three percentage points, the letter reads.

The lawmakers also alleged that DeSantis abused his power by sending FDLE to the southwest border, saying the move diverted resources from the state to score political points in the runup to his campaign for president. And the lawmakers said the governor used the agency to target his political opponent, Hillsborough State Attorney Andrew Warren, by producing crime statistics about his jurisdiction in an effort to make him look bad.

We cannot be good stewards of taxpayer dollars by funding a law enforcement arm that is being weaponized for a single governors personal political purposes, the letter stated. Whether it is seeking to disenfranchise voters, violate civil liberties, or dig up political dirt, the FDLE under Governor DeSantiss direction requires oversight by this Committee.

A DeSantis spokesperson told The Hill in a statement that Ivey  who tweeted that he is calling on the Judiciary Committee to investigate DeSantis  is more concerned about the Florida governors job than doing his job in Washington.

It appears that the congressman is more concerned with Governor DeSantis doing his job  protecting Floridians, upholding the law, ensuring Floridas elections are safe and fair, securing our Southern Border from drug cartels that have brought enough fentanyl into America to kill nearly 70% of our nations population  than he is about doing his job in DC, DeSantis spokesperson Jeremy Redfern said in the statement.

I would respectfully suggest that he focus on his job by cleaning up the federal governments targeting of soccer moms at school board meetings and censoring views they disagree with on social media, he added.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
U.S. Rep. Bobby Scott, D-Va., reintroduced on Wednesday the Strength in Diversity Act and Equity and Inclusion Enforcement Act to mark the 69th anniversary of the landmark Supreme Court ruling.

U.S. Rep. Bobby Scott, D-Va., reintroduced two landmark civil rights bills on the 69th anniversary of the landmark U.S. Supreme Court ruling, Brown v. Board of Education.

Scott announced on Wednesday the reintroduction of the Strength in Diversity Act, which offers federal funding to school districts that increase diversity among the student body and reduce racial or socioeconomic isolation.

WASHINGTON, DC  JULY 29: U.S. Rep. Bobby Scott (D-VA) speaks during a news conference about the Child Care Is Essential Act and the Child Care For Economic Recovery Act at the U.S. Capitol on July 29, 2020 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

Scott argued U.S. public schools are more segregated now than they were in the 1960s, which has had a detrimental impact on minority groups.

In 1954, the Supreme Court ruled that state laws permitting racial segregation in public schools were unconstitutional and violated the 14th Amendment.

Congressman Scott said despite the several decades that have passed since the Supreme Court ruled on desegregating schools, not much has changed. Segregation, he argued, has only taken on different forms.

A study found that, in 2016, schools with a population of mostly minority students were awarded $23 billion less than predominantly white schools. As a result, minority students did not perform well academically when compared to minorities who attended diverse schools.

In a statement exclusively obtained by theGrio, Scott said, The Strength in Diversity Act would bring us one step closer to delivering on its promise of equity in education.

U.S. Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., who co-sponsored the bill, said that although substantial gains have been made in the education system following the ruling in Brown v. Board of Education, more needs to be done.

Today, our schools are still incredibly segregated, with many gains lost through the decades, including most recently by GOP attacks on diversity and public education, Jayapal contended.

In this July 2020 photo, Washington Rep. Pramila Jayapal speaks during the House Judiciary Subcommittee hearing on Antitrust, Commercial and Administrative Law on Online Platforms and Market Power on Capitol Hill. (Photo by Mandel Ngan-Pool/Getty Images)

In recent months, Republican leaders launched attacks against the classroom by passing several bills that infringe on students fundamental rights, such as banning books and prohibiting discussions of race and sexuality in schools.

Jayapal said enacting the Strength in Diversity Act would ensure that everyone can access a quality education, succeed academically, earn more in the future, and advance racial and socioeconomic equity.

Scott also reintroduced the Equity and Inclusion Enforcement Act (EIEA), which would ensure federally funded programs, such as schools, are providing students with equal opportunities.

The congressman explained: The Equity and Inclusion Enforcement Act would restore the private right of action for students and parents to hold schools accountable for policies that have a disparate impact and deny students access to a quality education based on race, color or national origin.

The U.S. Supreme Court is seen at sunset, March 27, 2019, in Washington. Dance Laboratories is asking the Supreme Court to preserve access to its abortion pill free from restrictions imposed by lower court rulings, while a legal fight continues. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

He continued: This bill also requires that every school has a Title VI monitor to ensure prompt investigations of complaints of discrimination, in the event a federally funded program is not adhering to the EIEA.

For instance, if a school disciplined Black students at a higher rate compared to their white counterparts, those students could then file a disparate impact claim against the school. Under the EIEA, it would be the duty of the school to ensure that each student is treated fairly to promote an equal learning opportunity for all.

Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., who co-sponsored the bill, said schools should be a safe place for every student.

Our schools should be safe spaces for students to learn and prepare to make important contributions to our society, but far too often, students face discrimination in the classroom, said Nadler.

He continued, This legislation restores the right of students and their families to hold schools accountable for discrimination and bias with the force of federal law. All students deserve an equal education, and Congress should speed up the passage of this legislation to protect that right.

Both pieces of legislation were first introduced in 2021. Scott is hopeful that the proposed statutes will pass in the House and the Senate this session.

He said addressing the nations history of racial discrimination is often uncomfortable and complicated.

We must confront  not ignore  inequities in education if we are to reckon with this legacy, and overcome a global pandemic that threatens to worsen achievement gaps, he declared.

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The post Democrats introduce bills to protect school diversity on Brown v. Board of Education anniversary appeared first on TheGrio.
Democrats maintained their narrow Pennsylvania House majority Tuesday by winning a special election and along with it continued control over how the chamber will handle abortion, gun rights and election law legislation.

Heather Boyd won a seat in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives representing the Philadelphia suburbs, beating Republican Katie Ford for a vacancy created by the resignation of Democratic Rep. Mike Zabel. Zabel quit the Legislature in March, shortly after a lobbyist accused him of sexually harassing her.

Boyds win gives Democrats 102 seats, the minimum needed to control the agenda in the 203-member House. The state Senate has a Republican majority.

The Democrats victory in the Delaware County district means first-term Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro will have at least one chamber to aid his agenda going into the final month of budget negotiations. The result could also affect a proposed constitutional amendment limiting abortion rights that legislative Republicans are one House floor vote away from putting before voters as a referendum.

Boyd is a former congressional and state legislative aide. Her district was once Republican but has given solid margins to Democratic candidates in recent elections.

Reflecting the stakes, President Joe Biden endorsed fellow Democrat Boyd on Monday, calling her an experienced public servant who will protect a womans right to make her own health care decisions, stand up for common sense gun safety laws and expand access to voting rights.

Boyd emphasized protection of abortion rights, drawing a contrast with Ford, who is personally against abortion but says she did not want to change existing state law. Republicans had hoped to regain the majority, in part, to advance the proposed constitutional amendment that says the Pennsylvania Constitution does not guarantee any rights relating to abortion or public funding of abortions.

Ford criticized Boyd, who has been a leading Democratic Party official in Delaware County, for not doing more in response when she learned about the allegations against Zabel. Boyd said she respected the lobbyists request for confidentiality about her claim that Zabel caressed her leg while they discussed legislation outside the Capitol in 2018 and did not stop when she moved away from him.

Common sense says that if someone comes to you and says that theyre being sexually harassed, you do something about it, Ford said during a televised debate. You dont just let it go. Boyd responded that she did not endorse or support Zabel after hearing of the lobbyists account, and says she tried unsuccessfully to find someone to run against Zabel.

Republicans entered the 2022 election with a 113-90 advantage in the state House, but Democrats flipped a net of 12 seats in November, barely enough to claim majority status after 12 years and elect one of their own as speaker.

In a second House special election on Tuesday, Republican Michael Stender kept the central Pennsylvania seat in his partys hands.

Stender, a Shikellamy school board member, firefighter and former EMT, was endorsed by former Rep. Lynda Schlegel Culver, the Republican who represented the district before winning a state Senate special election earlier this year. Stender beat Democrat Trevor Finn, a Montour County commissioner. The district also includes part of Northumberland County.

___

Associated Press writers Nicholas Riccardi in Denver and Marc Levy in Harrisburg contributed to this report.

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Democrats are moving to expel George Santos. Its only ever happened to 5 House members

The News

U.S. House Democrats on Tuesday moved to force a vote to expel Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.), the freshman lawmaker who faces 13 federal charges including fraud and money laundering.

Santos likely remains safe for now given the House's Republican majority, but the move will push senior Republicans to decide how aggressively they will defend a colleague who has admitted to lying about major components of his resume like his educational and work experience.

Since the U.S. was founded, only a handful of federal lawmakers have faced the threat of expulsion or been removed from office by their colleagues. Most of them were convicted of serious crimes.

Here's a look at the House lawmakers who have been expelled and how Santos' case compares.

Know More

Expelled for supporting the Confederacy

Three House members were expelled at the onset of the American Civil War in 1861 for supporting the Confederate rebellion:

John B. Clark (D-Mo.)

John W. Reid (D-Mo.)

Henry C. Burnett (D-Ky.)

Expelled for bribery

Mike Myers (D-Pa), 1980: Convicted of bribery during the Abscam scandal, an FBI sting operation that videotaped politicians and others taking bribes from federal agents pretending to be rich Arabs looking for favors.

James Traficant (D-Oh.), 2002: Convicted of bribery after using campaign funds for personal expenses. He was imprisoned after his expulsion, and launched his reelection campaign while incarcerated, receiving 15% of his district's vote in 2002.

Now What?

The Democrats' vote initiative would require a two-thirds supermajority in the House. So far, only 12 House Republicans have called on Santos to resign.

Speaker Kevin McCarthy on Wednesday called on the House Ethics Committee to "move rapidly" with their investigation into Santos, saying he would ask the House to also refer the expulsion matter to the committee. That would give Republicans some time to sidestep the issue.

McCarthy, however, said his party could reinitiate the expulsion vote depending on the findings of the committee, CNN reported.

Step Back

Santos pleaded not-guilty during his arraignment last week.

The indictment alleges that while Santos was paid an annual salary of $120,000 at a Florida-based investment firm in 2020, he applied for unemployment benefits in New York, receiving more that $24,000.

New York prosecutors also accuse Santos of soliciting donations for a company that he said would help his election to Congress, before using that money on personal purchases, including designer clothing.

In addition he has been charged with making false statements on the financial disclosure form that he filed with the House of Representatives before his election.
Deputies shoot, kill knife-wielding suspect in Caruthers after he charges at them

Fresno County Sheriffs detectives and the district attorneys office were investigating Tuesday evening after three deputies shot and killed a man who charged at them with a knife in Caruthers, the second shooting incident involving a deputy in as many days.

Sheriffs dispatchers received a call of a man brandishing a knife at the fairgrounds across from Caruthers High around 5:30 p..m., where the .suspect had tried contacting student-athletes.

Two coaches confronted the suspect, who then pulled out a knife.

Those coaches attempted to keep a visual on the suspect as he moved away down the street, said Fresno County Sheriffs Captain John Reynolds. During that time another parent got involved and attempted to make contact with the suspect. At that time the suspect produced a different knife than the first one and attempted to stab the parent in the abdomen area.

The suspect then headed toward a nearby strip mall at Tahoe and Marsh avenues. Deputies contacted the suspect in front of a laundromat. He did not comply with numerous commands to drop his weapons and surrender and deputies deployed less-lethal bean bags, which struck the suspect but were ineffective.

For approximately nine to 10 minutes deputies tried to deescalate the situation and get the suspect to drop his knife and comply, Reynolds said. He failed to do so. At one point the suspect stood up, produced presumably that second knife, a larger knife, from his back area, and charged the deputies.

Three deputies fired their weapons, striking the suspect multiple times.

The deputies administered first aid until EMS personnel arrived. The suspect, who was not identified by authorities Tuesday, was pronounced dead at the scene.

None of the deputies, student-athletes or parents who confronted the suspect were injured.

The Fresno County Sheriffs Office is asking anyone with information or video of the incident to contact Detective Aurelio Flores at 559-600-8208 or Valley Crime Stoppers at 559-498-7867 or valleycrimestoppers.org. Callers will remain anonymous and may be eligible for a cash reward. The reference number for the case is 23-5635.

On Monday, a deputy shot a man wielding an ax and a machete southwest of Fresno after less-lethal bean bag rounds proved ineffective in disarming the suspect.

@FresnoSheriff deputy involved shooting in Caruthers. Tahoe Ave. closed to traffic from Mt. View Ave. to Henderson. Avoid area. Investigation underway. One suspect struck. No deputies injured. pic.twitter.com/pOaAmQoY59  Fresno Co Sheriff (@FresnoSheriff) May 17, 2023

The deputy fired multiple shots and hit the man, Jose Juan Piz, in the leg.

Piz, 49, was transported to Community Regional Medical Center with non-life threatening injuries and later booked into Fresno County jail on felony charges of assault with a deadly weapon and threatening violence upon a peace officer, as well as weapons possession and vandalism.
The News

Ron DeSantis wasnt on a ballot last night, but his endorsed candidates flopped. In Kentucky, where Attorney Gen. Daniel Cameron won the Republican nomination for governor, DeSantis cut a last-minute recording for former U.N. Ambassador Kelly Craft. She stumbled into third place, after spending more than $10 million to portray the Trump-endorsed Cameron as a faux-conservative teddy bear.

Crafts campaign had hired Axiom, the political consulting firm run by Jeff Roe, who is currently advising the pro-DeSantis super PAC Never Back Down. Trumpworld enjoyed watching the operative take a hit. Republican voters stand with President Trump, not Ron DeSantis, said Alex Pfeiffer, a spokesman for the Trump super PAC Make America Great Again Inc. Voters know that President Trump has their interests in mind when he endorses a candidate, not the interests of the consultant class.

DeSantis candidate also lost in Jacksonville, the largest city in the country with a Republican mayor. Democrat Donna Deegan, a former local TV anchor and founder of a breast cancer foundation, prevailed 52-48 over local Chamber of Commerce head Daniel Davis. Six months ago, DeSantis had carried the city by 12 points, but Davis and another Republican clashed bitterly in the first round, and Deegan pre-empted effective Republican attacks on crime by promising to hire more police officers.

Republicans lost in Colorado Springs, too, where former Secretary of State Wayne Williams conceded to independent entrepreneur Yemi Mobolade. The office is nonpartisan, but the GOP backed Williams, whod irritated conservatives by appearing in an ad with his Democratic successor in the elections job.

Progressive Democrats got more mixed results. In Philadelphia, ex-city council member Cherelle Parker had a stable lead for the partys mayoral nomination. She called for hiring 300 more cops and re-allowing stop-and-frisk policing, and consolidated the Black vote. Ex-city council member Helen Gym slumped into third place, a setback for progressives, days after Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez campaigned for

The left did better in Allegheny County, where state Rep. Sara Innamorato won the Democratic primary for county executive. First elected with the support of Democratic Socialists of America, Innamorato beat more moderate Democrats who called her ideology dangerous.

In another notable result back in Kentucky, Republican Secretary of State Michael Adams easily fended off two primary challengers running on election rigging conspiracies involving George Soros, one of whom was backed by MyPillow founder Mike Lindell.

Adams was quite blunt about their differences in a pre-election interview with Semafor: Its not just me and my opponents on the ballot. Misinformation is on the ballot  whether we're going to be a fact- and rationality-based government, when it comes to elections, or whether we're gonna let conspiracy theorists run the show.

David's view

DeSantis had a bum hand, but he picked it: The decision to endorse Craft at the end of early voting, when she was trending down in polls, got him nothing. Crafts Axiom-led campaign put her to the right of an already very conservative candidate  both for anti-trans legislation, both supporting full abortion bans  and came off phony.

We got more evidence that the Republican brand is suffering in cities, where voter unhappiness with rising crime isnt enough to make them go MAGA. Democrats do their venting on this issue in primaries: Gym was badly damaged by a billionaire Republicans ad campaign, accusing her of corruption, but most voters ended up voting for someone to her right. A majority of primary voters picked a candidate who wanted to recruit more police.
EDITORS NOTE: This is the third in a five-part series called How Florida got so conservative.

It was just more than two months before the 2018 Florida gubernatorial primary, and Ron DeSantis was in trouble.

Polls showed him running well behind then-Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam for the GOP nomination, and a long list of influential Florida Republicans had lined up against him, choosing to back an establishment favorite over a relatively unknown yet staunchly conservative congressman.

Then lightning struck. President Donald Trump doubled down on his endorsement of DeSantis, the polls swung wildly in his favor and Florida Republican voters handed him a staggering 20-point victory in the primary.

Id never even heard of him honestly until he started running, former Sen. Mel Martinez (R-Fla.) said. And I, like so many others, was supporting Adam Putnam. And then Donald Trump waved the magic wand. He went from 20 percent down to 20 percent up, and won the primary.

A meteoric rise

Ron DeSantis giving a thumbs up

(AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Since then, DeSantis has experienced a remarkable political rise that has transformed him into one of the most powerful Florida governors in decades and propelled him to the top rungs of Republican politics nationally.

His ascent is the result of and a driving force for a rightward march that has been underway in Florida for years but has accelerated under DeSantiss leadership.

Ron DeSantis understands a counterintuitive principle in politics, which is that its more important to be decisive in your decision-making than to have the decision be popular, said Justin Sayfie, a veteran Florida Republican consultant who served as a spokesperson and top adviser for former Gov. Jeb Bush.

People will respect a governor who is decisive more so than a governor who puts his or her finger in the wind to figure out where theyre going next.

For those who knew DeSantis during his tenure in Congress, that approach isnt surprising. Multiple Republican House members recalled DeSantis as a firm executive with a keen sense for policy making.

Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart (R-Fla.) said that he got to know DeSantis because he was on his whip card throughout his tenure as a congressman.

(Greg Nash)

The guy is incredibly disciplined. He reads, he studies, Diaz-Balart said. So usually when you go whip somebody and its like, Hey, this is this issue, and they go, Yeah, you know Im not sure. What does that do there?

With Ron, I would literally go to him and he wouldnt interrupt me but it was basically well Yeah Im okay with this. Or he would say I kind of have an issue with this paragraph because it deals with that, and Im like: OK I have no idea about that but let me find out, because he really is a machine in that sense.

Diaz-Balart acknowledged DeSantis isnt a guy whos out there back-slapping, socializing, but described him as a legislator, incredibly competent, obviously is exceedingly smart and disciplined. As governor, Diaz-Balart said, DeSantis has shown his strengths.

Hes kind of made for that, right? Diaz-Balart said. Hes an executive. He makes decisions, he prepares, he studies, hes principled and hes courageous. And I think literally, this is what he was made for.

More stories on Floridas conservative shift:

A good governor

Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), one of three House Republicans who have endorsed DeSantiss 2024 presidential ambitions, said he became friends with DeSantis during the roughly six years they spent together in the House and have stayed in touch throughout DeSantiss time in the governors mansion.

Massie said that despite fierce pushback to DeSantiss laissez-faire  and often combative  handling of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the governor stood his ground, believing that he would eventually come out of the battle on top.

The summer of COVIDhe let me know that he was going to lean into this even though the media and public opinion were against him because he thought in a couple years, people would acknowledge that he was right, Massie recalled.

Despite his reputation as a hard-right firebrand, DeSantiss first year in the governors mansion was seen by many in Florida  including some Democrats  as at least somewhat consensus-driven.

He pushed to raise the minimum starting teachers salary, signed an executive order to bolster spending on Everglades restoration and cleaning up Floridas waterways, and helped ease the path for a voter-approved medical marijuana program to be implemented.

In his first six months in office, I was rather impressed because I thought he had really developed a pretty  certainly a consensus view that he was a good governor, he was doing a good job, Martinez said. I think there was a general sense of competence and doing well and that kind of thing, which I think he rode for the first months.

The national spotlight

(AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

It wasnt until 2020, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, that DeSantis appeared on the radar of Republicans nationally. While he ordered a lockdown relatively early on, he was quick to lift those restrictions, openly  and aggressively  defying the advice and warnings of public health experts, like Anthony Fauci, the former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, whom DeSantis regularly used as a political foil.

That, in turn, fueled Floridas rightward lurch and allowed DeSantis to flex his political muscles in a way that few governors have been able to.

Whether you like the governor or you dont, on COVID, the majority of Floridians like what he did, said Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-Fla.), who served as the director of Floridas Division of Emergency Management under DeSantis, in an interview.

They agreed with reopening businesses. They agreed with reopening schools. They talked to their friends whose kids didnt go back to school for eight more months and their kids went back. I think that was a dramatic factor.

DeSantiss grip on Florida and its politics is difficult to ignore. After winning his first term in the governors mansion by less than half a percentage point in 2018, DeSantis notched a 19-point reelection victory in 2022 that underscored the extent to which his COVID-19 policies had reshaped the states political landscape.

Sometimes you bet the right number and you win, Moskowitz said. On COVID, the majority of Floridians think the governor got it right. But let me say this: Does the governor win his reelection by 19 points if he got COVID wrong?

Even DeSantiss detractors acknowledge just how much his COVID-19 response bolstered his political standing. Nikki Fried, the chair of the Florida Democratic Party and former state Agriculture Commissioner, said DeSantiss 19-point win in 2022 is owed to both the popularity of his pandemic-era policies and a failure by state Democrats to effectively counter him.

COVID definitely helped him, she told The Hill. I dont ever attribute his 19 points to him. The 19 points was a 19-point loss for Democrats. We failed. We did not organize. We did not show up. You cant win a statewide election when Republicans are outvoting Democrats in Broward County by 17 percent.

Burnishing his conservative credentials

Regardless, DeSantis has used that landslide victory  and the supermajorities Republicans gained in the state Legislature in 2022  as a mandate to push through a long list of conservative policy priorities.

In the span of the state legislatures 60-day annual session, the governor notched wins on everything from a bill allowing Floridians to carry firearms without a permit to a six-week abortion ban.

Hes also charged forward with a months-long battle against Disney, one of Floridas largest private employers, stripping the company of its long-held special tax district after its former CEO criticized a state measure, the Parental Rights in Education Act, that prohibits classroom instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity from kindergarten to the third grade.

The state Board of Education recently moved to expand that law at DeSantiss request to include all grades.

But DeSantiss standing in Florida stems from far more than his policy battles. Multiple Republicans cited the party-building efforts that have taken place under DeSantiss tenure in the governors mansion as critical to the GOPs long list of recent successes in the longtime battleground state.

In addition to luring a vast number of prominent Republicans and GOP-leaning voters to Florida in the years since the COVID-19 outbreak began, DeSantiss political operation has poured millions of dollars into voter registration efforts. In 2021, for the first time in modern history, the number of registered Republican voters surpassed registered Democrats  an advantage that has only continued to grow since then.

A lot of work was put in when DeSantis came into office, Nelson Diaz, a Republican lobbyist and former Miami-Dade County GOP chair, said. He energized the party to get moving on voter registration efforts and, quite frankly, efforts to get people to switch parties. Youre seeing the rewards of that today.

Yet for all of DeSantiss political wins, there are still questions about his staying power. As he moves toward a likely 2024 presidential bid, hes facing nonstop attacks from Trump and his allies, as well as concerns that he may be pushing his power and influence too far.

Hes starting to unravel, Fried said. Hes looking desperate. Hes looking unhinged. And his policies  hes taking that 19 points and hes thinking that is a mandate on all of his policies. And so he is shoving that down the legislators throats and the people. All of his policies are more extreme than the people of Florida want.

This is the third in a five-part series called How Florida got so conservative.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) saw both of his endorsed candidates lose their races Tuesday, while the Florida governor is rumored to be readying for a possible presidential bid.

DeSantis stepped into the Kentucky GOPs gubernatorial primary to back former U.N. ambassador Kelly Craft, endorsing Craft on election day.

As polling in the run-up to the election had projected, Craft lost the primary race to state Attorney General Daniel Cameron, who was backed by former President Trump.

Trump is running to retake the presidency in 2024  and though DeSantis hasnt officially launched a bid, hes considered the top potential Trump challenger and is expected to get in the race.

Democrats also flipped control of the Jacksonville, Fla., mayors office, with Democrat Donna Deegan defeating Republican Daniel Davis to succeed Mayor Lenny Curry (R). DeSantis had also backed Davis in the race.

DeSantis said over the weekend that the GOP needs to reject the culture of losing that has infected our party in recent years.

Trump pushed back on the remarks, saying, Ron is not a winner.

In a victory speech late Tuesday, GOP gubernatorial primary winner Cameron quipped, Let me just say, the Trump culture of winning is alive and well in Kentucky!

Updated at 7:51 a.m.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) on Wednesday signed four bills that will substantially alter the everyday lives of LGBTQ people in the state in what advocacy groups have condemned as a slate of hate against the community.

DeSantis gave final approval to legislation banning gender-affirming medical care for transgender youths, expanding a controversial state education law that limits classroom instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity and placing additional restrictions on drag performances.

We are going to remain a refuge of sanity and a citadel of normalcy, DeSantis said Wednesday during a signing ceremony in Tampa, speaking from a podium mounted with a sign that read Let Kids Be Kids.

Floridas Senate Bill 254, the gender-affirming health care ban, will prevent transgender minors from accessing puberty blockers, hormone replacement therapy and surgeries. Transgender adults under the new law, which is effective immediately, will be required to clear several additional regulatory hurdles to receive gender-affirming health care in Florida.

The measure will also give Florida courts temporary jurisdiction over a child that has been subjected to or is threatened with being subjected to sex-reassignment prescriptions or procedures and makes it easier for recipients of gender-affirming health care to sue their providers.

Speaking before an audience of supporters and conservative lawmakers, DeSantis said gender-affirming medical care is rooted in neither science nor evidence and is supported by only a small group of ideologically charged people within the medical community.

Most major medical organizations, including the American Medical Association (AMA) and the American Academy of Pediatrics, however, say otherwise.

The AMA opposes the dangerous intrusion of government into the practice of medicine and the criminalization of health care decision-making, Dr. Michael Suk, an AMA board member, said in a 2021 statement. Gender-affirming care is medically-necessary, evidence-based care that improves the physical and mental health of transgender and gender-diverse people.

Gender-affirming health care  for both transgender youths and adults  is heavily restricted in Florida, and the state under DeSantis has already adopted policies that prohibit minors from accessing care and prevent residents of all ages from using Medicaid to help pay for gender-affirming medical procedures.

Including Florida, 18 states have enacted laws or policies that ban health care providers from administering gender-affirming health care to minors.

DeSantis on Wednesday also signed House Bill 1069 into law, expanding a state law known to its critics as the Dont Say Gay law for its disproportionate impact on LGBTQ students and families. Under the new measure, classroom instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity will be prohibited from pre-K through the eighth grade.

The new law, which will take effect July 1, places additional restrictions on lessons about human sexuality through high school and requires that all school-aged students are taught to abstain from sexual activity outside of marriage.

Florida teachers under the law are encouraged to promote the benefits of monogamous heterosexual marriage in reproductive health courses.

The new law also declares a persons sex is an immutable biological trait and it is false to ascribe to a person a pronoun that does not correspond to such persons sex. Public schools kindergarten through eighth grade are prohibited from adopting policies that require staff and students to correctly gender transgender people.

Were not doing the pronoun Olympics in Florida; its not happening here, DeSantis said Wednesday.

In a statement, Florida Education Commissioner Manny Diaz Jr., who backed the original Dont Say Gay bill as a state senator last year, said the new law is critical to keeping Florida schools focused on education, not indoctrination.

Todays actions make it clear  educators in Florida are expected to teach our standards and not interject their own opinions or worldview into the classroom, Diaz said. The department will remain focused on teaching students core subjects, rather than woke gender ideology or inappropriate topics.

In April, the Florida Education Department approved an additional proposal to extend the original laws restrictions on talk of sexual orientation and gender identity to high school classrooms, though lessons on either topic are permitted when they are expressly required by state academic standards or part of a reproductive health course.

A third bill signed Wednesday by DeSantis, House Bill 1438, prohibits establishments from admitting minors to an adult live performance, which includes drag shows. It is effective immediately.

Florida is the second state, after Tennessee, to enact a law explicitly targeting drag performances. A federal judge last month blocked the Tennessee law from taking effect, saying it was likely vague and overly broad in its restriction of speech.

DeSantis also signed House Bill 1521, which, beginning July 1, will bar transgender people from using public restrooms or locker rooms consistent with their gender identity.

LGBTQ advocacy groups on Wednesday slammed DeSantiss approval of the bills, which they said were part of the Florida governors strategy to secure the upcoming GOP presidential nomination.

DeSantis has not officially jumped into the race for the White House but is widely expected to do so. At a news conference this month, he said he would make a decision on whether to launch a 2024 presidential bid relatively soon.

DeSantis has just signed into law the largest slate of anti-LGBTQ bills in one legislative session in the states history, Joe Saunders, senior political director of the group Equality Florida, said Wednesday.

DeSantis doesnt see freedom as a value worth defending; he sees it as a campaign slogan in his bid for the White House. And he is setting freedom  and Floridas reputation  ablaze in his desperation to win the GOP nomination, he continued. The nation should be on high alert. We are all Floridians as DeSantis seeks to export this blueprint of authoritarianism to the rest of the country.

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Despite high WA state gas prices, many stations in Pierce County have deals. Heres a map

The average price of gas has continued to decrease over the last month in the U.S. The national average went from around $3.66 in mid-April to its current $3.53 per gallon for regular-grade fuel, according to AAA. At this time last year, the national average gas price was $4.52 a gallon.

Washingtons prices are moving in the opposite direction, though. The states overall median cost jumped from mid-Aprils $4.44 per gallon to the current $4.59 average. The only states with higher prices for gas than Washington state are California, Arizona and Hawaii.

Residents in western Washington, including those in Tacoma and the south Puget Sound region, carry much of the burden of the states high fuel costs. Pierce Countys average price has gone up 11 cents just in the past month, up from $4.51 in mid-April to $4.62 as of May 17.

As gas prices continue to rise in Washington, consumers should know where to find the best deal for fuel in their local areas. Fuel economy website GasBuddy provides information on locations selling cheap gas.

Here is a list of affordable fuel in Pierce County and where you can find them:

Pierce Countys cheapest gas

Drivers should keep in mind that they need a paid Costco membership to purchase gas at their fuel stations. To get the best deal on fuel at Safeway, sign up for their free rewards program on the companys website.
 Flash

As a milestone summit is about to open, China and five Central Asian countries are set to build a closer community with a shared future and send messages of solidarity, peace and development in a volatile world.

Chinese President Xi Jinping will chair the China-Central Asia Summit, the first in-person summit among heads of state of China and Central Asian countries, scheduled for May 18 and 19 in Xi'an, northwest China's Shaanxi Province. The leaders are expected to draw up new blueprints for China-Central Asia cooperation.

The summit is seen as the latest landmark in the vibrant high-level interactions, economic cooperation and people-to-people exchanges between China and Central Asian countries.

A China-Europe freight train loaded with raw materials of liquorice, a Chinese medicinal herb, which departed from Turkmenistan, arrives at Xi'an international port in Xi'an, northwest China's Shaanxi Province, Aug. 31, 2022. [Photo/Xinhua]

Political mutual trust

In 2013, Xi went to Central Asia for the first time as China's head of state, visiting Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan.

"China and Central Asian countries are friendly neighbors connected by common mountains and rivers. China highly values its friendship and cooperation with these countries and takes them as a foreign policy priority," Xi said during the trip.

China's relations with Central Asian countries were upgraded during the visits. The next year, Xi paid a state visit to Tajikistan, during which important consensus was reached on deepening bilateral ties.

In the past decade, Xi visited Central Asia seven times and also hosted multiple Central Asian leaders in China. Xi has had in-depth exchanges with people from different sectors in the region. China's relations with Central Asian countries have become a model for building a new type of international relations.

There were many unforgettable moments. Xi donned traditional Tajik attire, referenced Kyrgyz adages, explored ancient cities in Uzbekistan and a small town in Turkmenistan, and recounted the story of a Kazakh student who donated blood in China. On top of these, Xi engaged closely with the leaders of the five Central Asian countries.

Guided by head-of-state diplomacy, the friendship and political mutual trust between China and Central Asia have been constantly deepened.

China and Central Asian countries have supported each other on issues involving sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity, and firmly supported each other's development paths and governance models. They have joined hands to fight terrorism, separatism and extremism, transnational organized crime and drug trafficking. They have also resolutely opposed external interference or attempts to instigate "color revolutions."

"The key to the successful cooperation between China and the five Central Asian countries over the past three decades lies in our abiding commitment to mutual respect, good-neighborly friendship, solidarity in trying times, and mutual benefit," Xi said when he addressed a virtual summit to commemorate the 30th anniversary of diplomatic relations between China and Central Asian countries in January 2022.

This aerial photo taken on Oct. 27, 2020 shows the construction site of the second phase of the north-south highway in Kyrgyzstan. [Photo/China Road & Bridge Corporation handout via Xinhua]

Win-win cooperation

Speaking at Nazarbayev University in Kazakhstan on Sept. 7, 2013, Xi for the first time proposed jointly building an "economic belt along the Silk Road."

Over the past decade, Central Asian countries have become pioneers in promoting the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and have built the region into an example of high-quality BRI development. From fully loaded trains to humming production lines and natural gas pipelines, vigorous cooperation has resulted in common development.

A freight train carrying more than 260 new energy vehicles arrived in Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan, earlier this month. Marking the BRI's 10th anniversary, the train's 12-day journey began in Xi'an, the ancient Silk Road's starting point.

Currently, 17 railway routes connect Xi'an with Central Asian countries and many other Asian and European destinations, with more than 1,100 train trips made in the first quarter of the year.

Roaring trains are the epitome of robust trade between China and Central Asian countries. In 2022, trade volume hit a historic high of 70.2 billion U.S. dollars, up by over 100 times since diplomatic ties were established about three decades ago.

From the China-Central Asia gas pipeline and the Qamchiq railway tunnel in Uzbekistan to the Zhanatas wind power station in Kazakhstan and the north-south highway in Kyrgyzstan, a number of cooperation projects have facilitated industrial upgrades and livelihood improvements.

Officials and experts expect that the summit will open a new chapter in China-Central Asia cooperation.

Shu Jueting, spokesperson for the Ministry of Commerce, said China will take the summit as an opportunity and work with the five Central Asian countries to push economic and trade cooperation to a new level.

The China-Central Asia economic cooperation will be extended to more areas, including e-commerce, digital economy and other new forms of business, said Su Chang, a researcher with the Institute of Russian, Eastern European and Central Asian Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

Flight attendants conduct safety inspections before the first passenger flight of the Xi'an-Urumqi-Ashgabat route takes off in Xi'an, northwest China's Shaanxi Province, May 13, 2023. [Photo/Xinhua]

Diverse interactions

Today, China and the five Central Asian countries have 62 pairs of sister provinces, regions and cities. Chinese universities are enrolling more students from Central Asia, fostering greater mutual understanding and affinity through youth exchanges.

Ismail Daurov from Kazakhstan spent nine years studying in Xi'an. Calling Shaanxi his second hometown, Daurov volunteered to help with local COVID-19 response in Xi'an during the epidemic. His words -- "I am a foreigner, but I am not an outsider" -- touched many people in China. Xi also cited his words as an example of the friendship between the people of China and Central Asian countries.

Similar to Daurov, an increasing number of Central Asian students have selected China as their preferred destination for studying abroad.

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of Central Asian students studying in China witnessed an annual growth of over 12 percent between 2010 and 2018.

As the world emerges from the pandemic, there is growing anticipation of setting a new record in the number of Chinese and Central Asian students studying in each other's educational institutions.

Replying to a letter from Central Asian students studying at China University of Petroleum, Xi encouraged them to act as envoys of friendship and bridges of cooperation and contribute to building an even closer China-Central Asia community with a shared future.

With the China-Central Asia Summit poised to generate tangible outcomes, new headway is expected to be made in fortifying the bonds between China and the Central Asian countries.
Ukraine dismissed claims Wednesday that a U.S.-built Patriot missile defense system had been destroyed by Russian missiles during a barrage effectively fended off near Kyiv, and American officials verified the Ukrainian version.

Moscow claimed it used a hypersonic Kinzhal missile  named after the Russian word for "dagger''  to destroy the system during an overnight strike earlier this week. U.S. inspectors determined the damage to the Patriot system was minimal and it remains operational, CNN reported.

"Do not worry about the fate of the Patriot," Ukrainian air force spokesperson Yuriy Ihnat said. "From a technical point of view, Patriot is a complex, a battery, a division, a system. To destroy the system with some kind of 'dagger' - well, it's impossible.

"Everything that (the Russians) say there, let it remain in their propaganda archive."

Ukraine said it intercepted all 18 missiles fired on Kyiv overnight Monday into Tuesday morning. The Patriot system, sent to Ukraine last month, has become a key part of the city's defense.

The British Defense Ministry said Ukraine first shot down a Kinzhal  which NATO refers to as a Killjoy  on May 3, and that Russia has probably lost several of the missiles since then challenging the improved Ukrainian air defenses.

"The apparent vulnerability of KILLJOY is likely a surprise and an embarrassment for Russia,'' the ministry's assessment said. "Russian President Vladimir Putin has touted the system as undefeatable.''

Relatives and friends of Ukrainian serviceman Volodymyr Nestor, killed in combat with Russian troops, mourn during his funeral at a cemetery in Lviv on Tuesday.

Developments:

 Russian forces shelled a hospital and a high-rise building in Beryslav, the Kherson region's prosecutor's office reported. No casualty numbers were immediately available.

 A Moscow court ordered the arrest of prominent film producer Alexander Rodnyansky and theater director Ivan Vyrypaev for speaking out against the war. Both are living outside of Russia.

 The Chinese government has asked foreign embassies in Beijing to avoid displaying propaganda in an apparent response to shows of support for Ukraine. China calls itself neutral in the war but has repeated Russian justifications and criticized Western sanctions.

 The European Union's latest sanctions package probably will not include a plan to permanently shut natural gas pipelines the Kremlin turned off after its invasion of Ukraine, Politico reported, citing diplomats it did not identify.

Ukraine won't give up territory for peace, minister tells Chinese envoy

Ukraine remains firm in its position that it won't negotiate a peace deal that would require it to relinquish any of its territories, the country's Foreign Ministry said in a statement Wednesday after minister Dmytro Kuleba concluded his two-day talks with Chinese envoy Li Hui.

China, which has tried to present itself as a neutral mediator in the conflict despite its close ties to Russia, said it would send Li to discuss a diplomatic solution after its leader, Xi Jinping, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy spoke by phone last month.

The ministry's statement said Kuleba told a peace agreement would have to be based on respecting Ukraine's sovereignty and he "emphasized that Ukraine does not accept any proposals that would involve the loss of its territories or the freezing of the conflict."

The Kremlin wants Kyiv to acknowledge Russias annexation of the Crimean Peninsula and the Ukrainian provinces of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia, which most nations have denounced as illegal.

Russian hypersonic scientists face treason accusations

Russian authorities have made "very serious accusations" of treason against three Russian scientists who have worked on hypersonic missile technology, prompting some of their colleagues to write a letter defending them, Reuters reported.

Monday's letter raised concerns about the chilling effect on scientific work the arrest of Anatoly Maslov, Alexander Shiplyuk, and Valery Zvegintsev could have, and it proclaimed their innocence, saying, "We know each of them as a patriot and a decent person who is not capable of doing what the investigating authorities suspect them of."

The three hypersonic experts appeared at academic conferences and collaborated on a 2016 book chapter entitled "Hypersonic Short-Duration Facilities for Aerodynamic Research at ITAM, Russia,'' but their colleagues' letter said the information they made public did not include restricted material.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said of the letter: "We have indeed seen this appeal, but Russian special services are working on this. They are doing their job. These are very serious accusations."

Crucial Ukraine-Russia grain deal extended two months

Ukraine and Russia agreed to extend by two months a pact that enables Ukraine to export millions of tons of grain through Black Sea ports and help ease a global food crisis despite the war with Russia. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced the extension designed to boost global food security after the war drove up prices.

"The continuation is good news for the world," United Nations head Antonio Guterres told reporters Wednesday.

The agreement had been extended twice already, and Russia had threatened to pull out of the arrangement when it expired Thursday unless a list of its demands were met, including lifting some restrictions on its agricultural exports. The details of the deal were not immediately made public.

The arrangement allows Ukraine to safely use its Black Sea ports to ship cargo. It was brokered by the U.N. and Turkey last year. Ukraine is a major supplier of wheat, barley, vegetable oil and other food products to Africa, the Middle East and parts of Asia.

 Kim Hjelmgaard

Russian military plane near Alaska 'not a threat'

A Russian military plane was seen operating in the Alaska Air Defense Identification Zone on Monday but remained in international airspace and did not enter American or Canadian sovereign airspace, the North American Aerospace Defense Command said Wednesday. The flight occurred as several planned large-scale military training exercises are taking place around Alaska, NORAD said in a statement. The zone begins where sovereign airspace ends and is an area that requires the ready identification, location and control of all aircraft "in the interest of national security," the statement said.

"This Russian activity in the Alaska ADIZ occurs regularly and is not seen as a threat," NORAD said.

Council of Europe wants Moscow to compensate Ukraine

More than 40 countries in the Council of Europe agreed on a system to estimate the damage in Ukraine from Russia's invasion, part of a plan to compel Moscow to help rebuild the nation after the war. Ukraine was the dominant topic during the meeting in Reykjavik, Iceland, where France, Germany and the United Kingdom were among the countries that agreed to form a new office where victims of the war can report the harm they have suffered. The United States, Japan and Canada have observer status in the council.

Our support for Ukraine remains as strong and resolute as ever," Finland President Sauli Niinisto said. "With the establishment of a Register of Damages, the Council of Europe has taken an important step toward ensuring Russias accountability.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz acknowledged no plan for forcing Moscow to pay was in place, adding that efforts to use Russian assets frozen under sanctions probably would not be legal under international law.

Contributing: The Associated Press

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Ukraine war updates: Russian scientists face treason accusations
Residents and visitors to State College could see the opening of the proposed Town Centre Redevelopment Project  which includes a ninth-floor bar/restaurant with outdoor dining  as early as the fall of 2025, according to an early timetable released Tuesday.

Public details surfaced last week that showed the project, which centers on the downtown construction of a new nine-story building, had taken a crucial step forward with the recent submission of a preliminary land development plan. That submission revealed plans for two bars/restaurants, commercial space on three different floors, a 172-spot parking garage and a 160-room hotel on the 200 block of South Allen Street.

The project still needs to be formally heard Thursday by the planning commission, and it requires a formal exception from Borough Council on June 5 (involving the lack of residential housing). But, if everything goes according to plan, officials released a preliminary timetable Tuesday that showed a proposed construction start date of January 2024 with the anticipated building opening set for September 2025.

The new 95-foot building would wrap around the Jeramar Building (228 S. Allen St.), which houses businesses such as Cozy Thai and The Sign Factory. The developer is Highland Holding Group, which is based in State College.

According to the preliminary plan, a bar/restaurant on the ninth floor would have an opening to two terraces for outdoor dining. The terraces  which combine for 3,190 square feet  are about 75% the size of the indoor bar/restaurant itself. (For comparison purposes, a newer Sheetz store is typically between 6,000 and 6,500 square feet.) A bar/restaurant on the buildings lower level  below the first floor  would be just under 7,000 square feet.

A space for outdoor dining has been proposed on the ninth floor, as part of the attached bar/restaurant. This is a rendering of that proposed space.

Commercial space would also be available on the lower level (5,600 square feet), first floor (4,400 square feet) and second floor (3,900 square feet). Its not yet known what specific bars/restaurants and businesses/organizations might fill those spaces.

The only business that was specified in the preliminary plan was Canopy by Hilton, which intends to take over the 160-room hotel, with rooms on Floors 4-9. This particular Hilton brand, announced in 2014, boasts more than two dozen locations in the U.S., in cities such as Baltimore and Philadelphia. It is characterized by an orange color, canopies over the beds that are inspired by the neighborhood and an overall design theme intended to reflect each unique neighborhood. Most  but not all  Canopy by Hilton locations also welcome pets.

Officials said Tuesday the parking garage is only for hotel guests and staff.

A final land development plan will need to be formally approved before any construction begins. But thats expected to be submitted by July 27, based on details discussed publicly at Tuesdays design review board meeting. A traffic impact study is also underway.

More details could become available at Thursdays public planning commission meeting, which starts at 7 p.m. in the Municipal Buildings Council Chambers. The meeting will also be streamed online via Zoom.
On April 1, Wally Lupa went to work at the zoo the same as he had for 20+ years.

As the Lupa Zoos Director of Facility Development and Animal Care, part of his job is to ensure all the animals are happy and healthy, safe and sound in their enclosures at the end of the day.

For nearly three decades, this task was completed without incident or worry.

But as Wally returned home the night of April 1, a thunderstorm hit the Ludlow area, bringing heavy rains, whipping winds, and a situation that no zoo employee ever wants to encounter.

We had a tree branch go down at the zoo...it knocked out the wall of an enclosure and damaged another one and literally allowed the antelope to walk out the front gate, Senior Public Information Officer for the Hampden County Sheriffs Office Robert Rizzuto said.

Mary, a 24-year-old Eland Antelope with only one horn, had escaped from her enclosure and was now loose in the sleepy town of Ludlow.

Her distinct look is due to a previous infection in one of her horns, which doctors had to amputate.

She looks like a lop-sided unicorn, Lupa joked.

Mary the Eland antelope and her mate, George.

Jokes aside, Lupa would spend the next five weeks sleeping in his truck, tracking Mary through the woods of Wilbraham, the barns of Belchertown, and finally, the leas of Ludlow, where she safely returned to his trailer.

Its not like I planned to sleep in my car for five weeks, Lupa told Boston 25 News. I kind of took it a day at a time like, Okay, lets see if we get her today. And that stretched out, obviously, into five weeks.

Its a story as improbable as something youd see in the movies.

Lupa describes the first moments when he heard of Marys escape as something of a whirlwind. The 900-pound animal had walked out of the front gates and went down the road, where she was chased deep into the woods by neighboring dogs. Despite the numerous zoo staff, police, and volunteers trying to track the antelope within the first moments of her escape, catching Mary proved more difficult than anticipated.

We lost sight of her for a couple of hours. Our biggest worry was a car would hit her or something like that, he said. Its one thing to do this [search and rescue] in practice, its another thing to do it in real life

In the coming days, members of the public would get in on the action, sending in dozens of pictures and video from cell phones and trail cameras, trying to locate where the antelope was.

We always had some idea in the geographical area of where she was, Rizzuto said. We got a lot of tips...the public was a very, very big help in tracking her.

With every tip, Wally and his zoo staff would need to go investigate the old fashion way, by showing up on location.

Mary proved to be very elusive and covered a lot of ground in a short amount of time thanks to the clearings near the power lines in town. She was first spotted near Cheniers Gravel Bank in Ludlow but was also spotted at a farm in Belchertown and across the river in Wilbraham.

I found at the very beginning I needed to stay pretty close to her last sighting, Lupa said. I slept in my pickup truck [following Mary], a lot of safe spots, sometimes I stayed at friends places, places I knew were safe...in total, I probably stayed at home only about 3 or 4 times in the 5 weeks.

There was even one close call where authorities didnt think Mary would survive a harrowing swim across the Swift River.

No one really knew what was going to happen, Rizzuto said, but I guess antelopes are pretty adept swimmers, which we didnt know...shes built very, very well for the wild.

Then came the night of May 6, where Wally had pinpointed Marys location to a field of clovers in Ludlow.

That night I didnt think it was going to happen, Lupa recalls. She came out with a bunch of rogue deer friends and they were grazing in the field.

Due to the time of night and the other animals in Marys company, Lupa thought his chances of success were dubious at best.

It was about 10:30 and I was fighting fatigue but I had seen on my camera that she stuck her nose in front of the trailer, Lupa said. With the trailer, you pretty much had to do it right the first time or she would never go near it again. I had her favorite grain in the trailer, I had manure from the male, I secured the trailer so it was stable...it had to be a one-shot deal.

Slowly but surely over the course of thirty minutes, Mary and Wally played a game of cat and mouse where she would put one hoof in, then step out.

Once I saw her get two hoofs in she lifted her nose and began sniffing around [the trailer], I slowly got out of my truck and walked over to the 100-foot cord I had set up and was watching the camera the whole time, he said.

When Mary took one more half step inside, Lupa pulled the cord and closed the door, ending his weekslong Odyssey.

My first text was actually to my wife, Lupa said. It took me about two or three minutes to process it was finally over.

Even Wally couldnt believe that it was really over, Rizzuto said. He was very up on the adrenaline of the whole thing...it was something out of a Disney movie.

Mary was brought back to the Lupa Zoo where she was checked out by veterinarians, who determined she, incredibly, didnt have a scratch on her. After giving her some food and water, she returned to her pen where her partner, George, was waiting.

Theyre based on characters from Its A Wonderful Life, Lupa said. He came up to her and they rubbed noses for about two or three minutes.

Since Marys great adventure, Lupa says they learned a lot and have placed new paneling inside the pens of the antelope to make sure this doesnt happen again.

Of all the possible animals to escape, we were happy it was an antelope, Rizzuto said, we were glad it wasnt a giant cat of some sort or anything along those lines.

Lupa wanted to thank the zoos veterinarian, Peter Brewer of the Southwick Zoo, Sheriff Nick Cocchi, the Ludlow, Wilbraham, and Belchertown Police as well as his family and all the volunteers who helped get Mary home safely.

Its amazing how many people asked concerned about her, wanting to help, Lupa said. I was very thankful.

This is the trailer and truck Wally Lupa used to finally capture Mary the Eland antelope after weeks of searching.

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Doctor drugged, sexually assaulted date, CO officials say. Nine more women come forward

A doctor was accused of drugging and sexually assaulting a woman he met on a dating app, Colorado officials said. Now nine more women have come forward.

In March, Stephen Matthews, 35, was arrested after accusations of sexually assaulting and drugging a woman, according to a May 16 news release from the Denver District Attorneys Office.

The woman met Matthews on Hinge, a dating app, and accused him of drugging her and having non-consensual sex with her after they had drinks, according to the arrest affidavit. Matthews told officials the sex was consensual.

After hearing the womans story, another victim came forward and told officials she also had met Matthews on Hinge and went on a date with him, according to the affidavit.

After the victim had a drink with Matthews at a bar she went back to his home and he had a drink waiting for her when she returned from the bathroom, according to the affidavit. He told her it was a tequila and soda.

The affidavit revealed that after having some of the drink, the woman reported feeling off balance and remembers Matthews filming her at some point. She told officials she remembered very little but eventually took an Uber home where she got ill and believes Matthews sexually assaulted her.

In mid-April, police asked for potential victims to come forward, according to the release. Soon more accusations came to light, totaling ten women.

The affidavit revealed the women reported blacking out after drinking with Matthews over the last four years, with several saying he sexually assaulted them.

On May 15, Matthews was arrested outside a courtroom as he was scheduled to attend a hearing involving the charges from the first accuser, according to 9News.

Matthews has since been charged with 16 felony counts including drugging and sexual assault in relation to the ten women, according to the release.

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.

Pediatrician fondled teens during exams, Mississippi officials say. Now hes charged

Lyft driver grabs, sexually assaults teen when she asks for phone charger, CA cops say

Man posing as ICE official sexually assaulted child, officials say. Hes prison-bound
Actor Johnny Depp attends a press conference for the film "Jeanne Du Barry" during the 76th edition of the Cannes Film Festival. (Patricia de Melo Moreira / AFP via Getty Images)

The day after Jeanne du Barry opened the Cannes Film Festival, co-star Johnny Depp swept in late to the films press conference with choice words for those who objected to his presence at the festival, the press, Hollywood and, for good measure, anyone who thinks he is experiencing a comeback.

The teary-eyed Depp of the previous night, the one basking in fan love and ovation applause, was replaced with Johnny Part Two: Ready to Rumble.

Everything the majority of you have been reading for the past five or six years regarding my life is fantastically, horrifically written fiction, he said, adding that he was here to talk about film. But even so, its like asking the question 'How are you doing?' but the subtext is God, I hate you.'

The subtext of that reference to subtext, of course, is the scrutiny Depp has been under during the period in question: for his highly publicized legal wrangling with ex-wife Amber Heard and what it exposed about the couple's tempestuous relationship and Depp's substance use; for other legal woes, including a battle with his former business managers; for losing the role of Grindelwald in "Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald" and more. Like Cannes boss Thierry Fremaux, Depp preferred to focus on the film itself.

To get a film like this made, with a cast like this, he told reporters, that should be the focus, all this stuff you can stuff your shoes with, line your parrot cage with, its boring, isnt it. Hundred-thousand-year-old bird sings unrecorded Beatles song," he said, adding, "Youll get it later.

The event began a half-hour late, with Maiwenn, the films director, co-writer and star, assuring the packed room that Depp would be joining them in a few minutes. She and other members of the cast answered a few questions about how she felt about the films reception (amazing) and why an American had been cast to play a French king (Maiwenn had originally approached several French actors who all said no). But when the doors opened wide to reveal Depp and his inevitable sunglasses, it was clear who everyone had been waiting for.

And also why, perhaps, he had chosen to be late (the official excuse was traffic): A majority of the subsequent questions were addressed to him; some dealt with the experience of playing a king and doing it in French (I thought it was brave of [Maiwenn] to choose some hillbilly from Kentucky), but many did not.

Did I feel boycotted by Hollywood?" he said, echoing one question he was asked. "Youd have to not have a pulse to not feel that, of course, when youre asked to resign from a film youre doing for something that is merely just a bunch of vowels and consonants in the air, he told reporters. Do I feel boycotted now? No, I dont feel boycotted by Hollywood, because I dont think about Hollywood. I dont have much use for Hollywood, do you? Its a strange, funny time when people feel like they cant be themselves; they must fall in line with the person in front of them. If you want to live that life, I wish you the best, Ill see you on the other side.

Maiwenn gamely tried to turn the conversation around, mentioning Depps penchant for choosing a piece of music for every scene  when he was dying, it was Bach  but questions like What would you say to those who thought you shouldnt be in Cannes? were built to elicit exactly the type of response they got.

What if someone said I cant go to McDonalds for life because somewhere 35 people are watching me eat a Big Mac on a loop? Some species, some tower of mashed potatoes, cowering behind a computer screen anonymous  I dont think Im the one who should be worried.

As for the notion of a Cannes-prompted comeback, well. Ive had about 17 comebacks, and I dont understand it because I didnt go anywhere. I live about 45 minutes from here. Maybe people stopped calling out of whatever their fear was at the time  but I didnt go nowhere.... Comeback is almost like Im going to come out and do a tap dance  dance my best and hope you approve. Thats the notion. Its a bizarre mystery.

To prepare for Jeanne du Barry, or any film, he said, he mostly needs to figure out a way that the viewer can forget who you are and all the baggage you carry in the first three minutes of the film.

Perhaps with the next one it will be a bit easier. For the moment, however, it's all baggage, all the time.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
DOVER  A tractor-trailer carrying 60,000 pounds of garbage rolled over at the intersection of the Spaulding Turnpike and Knox Marsh Road Wednesday morning, snarling traffic for hours on the busy roadway, according to New Hampshire State Police.

Police said the driver was attempting to merge westbound onto Knox Marsh Road from the northbound Exit 8W off ramp, but instead drove over the granite curbing, made an overcorrection and overturned the fully loaded trailer on its side about 10:15 a.m.

More local news: Fire burns Days Inn in Kittery, shuts down Route 1 Bypass traffic

A tractor-trailer rolled over on the Spaulding Turnpike in Dover Wednesday, May 17, 2023.

The driver, who is from Lynn, Massachusetts, reported minor injuries and was medically cleared, police said. Police said negligent driving appeared to be a factor in the accident, adding it remained under investigation.

Police said the roadway closure was due to the hours it took to load the garbage into separate containers before the tractor-trailer could be lifted back onto its wheels.

Never miss a story: Follow local news on the Seacoastonline mobile app or the Fosters.com mobile app

State Police said they were assisted by Dover Fire and Rescue, Dover police and the New Hampshire Department of Transportation.

Police at mid-afternoon said the Exit 8W off ramp remained closed and there were significant traffic backups on Knox Marsh Road. Drivers were advised to avoid the area.

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Dover tractor-trailer rollover by Exit 8 on Spaulding Turnpike
Paso Robles native Mary Thompson still remembers the day she wasnt sure her father would be coming home from work.

Thompsons father commuted from Paso Robles to Soledad to work at the state prison for the Department of Corrections, she told The Tribune.

One day, when Thompson was a teenager, there was a news story: An inmate had shot and killed a correctional supervisor.

That was scary, Thompson said, noting how she anxiously waited by the door for her father to return. And we didnt know (who was killed) until Dad came home.





She later learned it was her dads best friend who died that day.

The Peace Officers Memorial was held at the Paso Robles Downtown City Park on Wednesday, May 17, 2023.

Its one of the many reasons why Thompson attended the Peace Officers Memorial on Wednesday at Paso Robles Downtown City Park. Its also why she, and several other members of her family, pursued their own careers in law enforcement.

Theyre here to try to protect us, Thompson said. When you have people who dont want them, thats sad to me. Thats very sad.

The Peace Officers Memorial was held at the Paso Robles Downtown City Park on Wednesday, May 17, 2023.

The memorial honored law enforcement officers who were killed in the line of duty throughout California. Paso Robles Police Department Sergeant Steve Boyett read each name, one by one:

Elk Grove Police Department Officer Tyler Lenehan

Huntington Beach Police Department Officer Nicholas Vella

Salinas Police Department Officer Jorge David Alvarado Jr.

Department of Homeland Security Agent David Humberto Salazar

Los Angeles Police Department Officer Ryan Tipping

El Monte Police Department Officer Joseph Anthony Santana

El Monte Police Department Sgt. Michael Domingo Paredes

Riverside County Sheriffs Department Deputy Sheriff Isaiah Cordero

Photos of the fallen officers are displayed at the Peace Officers Memorial at the Paso Robles Downtown City Park on Wednesday, May 17, 2023.

Two law enforcement officers laid a rose with each name as another rang a bell.

San Luis Obispo Police Department Chaplain Paul Sisemore and his wife Teri Sisemore said they do their best to attend every memorial for fallen officers they can.

We want them to know that that were here for them, that theyre being covered in prayer, Teri Sisemore said. We want them to know that we really, really do appreciate what they do for us.

Paul and Teri Sisemore attended the Peace Officers Memorial at the Paso Robles Downtown City Park on Wednesday, May 17, 2023.

The Sisemores son is an officer with the SLO department, they said, which can be difficult. They are extremely proud of the work he does to protect his community, but they also fear one day theyll get a call that he wont be coming home.

You just pray, because what else can you do? Teri Sisemore said.

Paul Sisemore said law enforcement officers are real people with real families, which sometimes people may forget about. He said the best way to make their job easier is to support them in any way possible.

San Luis Obispo Police Chief Rick Scott told The Tribune it was important for him to attend the memorial not only to honor this years fallen officers, but to also honor the fallen officers of years past.

The Peace Officers Memorial was held at the Paso Robles Downtown City Park on Wednesday, May 17, 2023. Paso Robles police Officer Michael Ortiz holds a rose.

That includes SLOPD Det. Luca Benedetti, who was killed May 10, 2021, during the execution of a search warrant.

Its difficult to see more names go on the wall each and every year, Scott said. But I think its important that we continue to encourage good men and women to do this job.

Scott said he hopes Benedettis legacy  and the legacy of all fallen officers  continue to be remembered. They gave the ultimate sacrifice, he said.

The Peace Officers Memorial was held at the Paso Robles Downtown City Park on Wednesday, May 17, 2023.
Dozens of LASD deputies ordered to show suspected gang tattoos, reveal others who have them

Los Angeles Sheriff's Department declared an unlawful assembly, and deputies moved toward a crowd that gathered near Imperial Highway and Normandy in Los Angeles on Sept. 8, 2020. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)

Nearly three dozen deputies have been ordered to come in for questioning, show their tattoos and give up the names of any other deputies similarly sporting ink connecting them to two of the Los Angeles County Sheriff Departments most notorious deputy gangs.

The demand came Friday in a letter sent by county Inspector General Max Huntsman to 35 deputies suspected of being members of either the Executioners, which operates out of the Compton station, or the Banditos, which operates out of the East L.A. station.

The names of the deputies have not been released to the public, but Huntsman said they were a subset of the 41 deputies he identified as suspected gang members last year.

The Los Angeles Sheriffs Department conducted incomplete internal affairs investigations into the Banditos and Executioners, failing to identify all members, Huntsman told The Times this week. Californias new gang law addresses discrimination based on race and gender and gives inspectors general enhanced authority to collect evidence. Were using that authority to complete the investigations by directing deputies to show their tattoos and tell us who else has them.

Its unclear what the consequences would be if deputies do not show up, though the letters Huntsman sent last week warned that refusing to answer questions could adversely affect your employment with Los Angeles County or your status as a peace officer.

In a mass text sent to members this week, one union representing deputies, the Los Angeles Sheriffs Professional Assn., advised members to call the union immediately if they received a letter. In a Facebook post, another union, the Assn. for Los Angeles Deputy Sheriffs, advised members not to respond to the letters and to instead call ALADS right NOW.

Richard Pippin, ALADS president, said the union believes that some aspects of the inspector general's investigation infringe upon the fundamental constitutional rights of individuals and that there are major parts of the letter that need clarification.

Deputies will no doubt be looking to Sheriff [Robert] Luna, their employer, for that clarification, he said.

In a statement late Tuesday, department officials said they were aware of the letters, but did not clarify whether deputies would be directed to respond or whether there would be consequences for ignoring them.

The Department supports any investigation that seeks to uncover wrongdoing, since all members of the Sheriffs Department are expected to hold themselves to the highest ethical and professional standards, officials wrote in an unsigned statement sent by email. Department members who engage in misconduct or criminal activity will not be tolerated and will be held accountable.

The five-page letter from the inspector general, the county's watchdog, opens by explaining the recipient is directed to appear in person to participate in an interview to be conducted by the Office of Inspector General concerning the presence of law enforcement gangs in the Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department.

It lays out the legal basis for such a probe, citing a 2021 state law that gave inspectors general the authority to investigate law enforcement gangs by specifying that agencies shall cooperate with inspector general investigations.

Though the law doesnt specify what happens if an individual deputy doesnt cooperate, Huntsmans letter points to another section of the states penal code, which says that failing to cooperate with an investigation into police misconduct can be grounds for decertification of a peace officer.

Then the letter explains the reason for the investigation: Though the Sheriffs Department has had evidence that secretive and exclusive deputy gangs commonly known as the Banditos and Executioners both exist, the department has never been able to provide investigators with a full list of the members in either group.

The Office of Inspector General is conducting a series of witness interviews to establish the membership of the Banditos and the Executioners, the letter continues.

The letter lays out more than a dozen questions interviewers plan to ask, including: Do you have a tattoo related to the Banditos or the Executioners anywhere on your body? Who was present when you were tattooed? Who knows about your tattoo? Who else have you seen the tattoo on?

The letter also included a request to see each deputys legs, which are a common spot for suspected gang tattoos.

The letter ends by instructing recipients to contact the Office of the Inspector General within two weeks to schedule an interview.

Though the letter says deputies must appear and answer questions, it does lay out one possible exception: the 5th Amendment. If deputies assert their 5th Amendment right to refuse answering questions that could incriminate them, Huntsmans office will not legally force them to answer  or at least not yet.

Should the Office of Inspector General elect to compel a statement over a Fifth Amendment assertion, you will be recalled at a future date, the letter states. Absent an assertion by you of your Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination, failure to answer may adversely affect your employment with Los Angeles County or your status as a certified peace officer.

The deputies who received the letter  under a delivery process that Huntsman said was possible only because of cooperation from the Sheriffs Department  were all among those referenced in a longer letter Huntsman sent to then-Sheriff Alex Villanueva in early 2022.

The purpose of that earlier letter was to ask the department for an array of materials needed for the investigation. But it also laid out some of the information Huntsman already had about their existence.

While the letter didnt name any gang members, it did say that the office had identified 11 suspected Banditos and 30 suspected Executioners.

The Sheriffs Department has long faced allegations about secretive deputy groups running amok in certain stations and jails, controlling command staff and promoting a culture of violence. A Loyola Marymount University report released in 2021 identified 18 such groups that have existed over the last five decades, including the Executioners and the Banditos.

Members of the former are alleged to sport tattoos of a skull with Nazi imagery and an AK-47, while members of the latter are allegedly known for their matching tattoos of a skeleton outfitted with a sombrero, bandoleer and pistol.

The current round of letters comes on the heels of a series of efforts to curb gang activity within the Sheriffs Department.

Shortly after taking office, Luna announced the creation of an Office for Constitutional Policing with the aim of eradicating deputy gangs.

And, in a lengthy report released a few weeks later, the Civilian Oversight Commissions special counsel offered more than two dozen recommendations to get rid of gangs, including firing captains who wont support anti-gang policies, requiring deputies to hide any gang-related tattoos at work, notifying prosecutors whenever a gang-involved deputy is set to testify as a witness in court and holding community meetings.

Unlike his predecessor, Luna has acknowledged the existence of deputy gangs and publicly said he wants to end them. However, he has not yet formally accepted the reports recommendations.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
A man is accused of following and shooting a driver who honked at him in the fast lane of a busy Georgia highway, deputies say.

Now, hes facing charges.

Joshua Kasparek, 31, of Cumming was arrested Monday, May 15, in connection with the road rage incident on GA 400, according to Forsyth County deputies. He was charged with aggravated assault, reckless conduct and violation of a family violence court order.

The victim called 911 around 8:15 a.m. and said he had been shot in the arm by a man driving a white Toyota, deputies said in a news release. He tried to follow the alleged shooter but lost sight of the sedan before stopping to call 911.

Prior to the shooting, the victim acknowledged that hed been following the Toyota too closely and said he honked his horn because the driver was going too slow, according to the release.

He eventually passed the sedan and continued south on GA 400. Thats when the victim said he noticed the Toyota was tailing him  and the gunfire started soon after, deputies said.

The glass of the driver door shattered, and a fragment of the bullet went into his arm, according to the sheriffs office.

The victim provided authorities with a description of the Toyota, which was stopped by deputies a short time later, the release said.

The driver, identified as Kasparek, told his version of the incident and further investigation revealed there was an active family violence order that barred him from having a gun, according to the sheriffs office.

He was arrested and remained in jail on a $36,465 bond as of May 17, online records show.

Forsyth County is about 40 miles northeast of downtown Atlanta.

Three dead after truck slams into home after shooting and chase in NC, officials say

20-year-old airman changing tire is killed in hit-and-run, Virginia reports say

Kind and caring elementary school worker killed in road rage incident, CA cops say
On the evening of 16 May, a drone fell down and exploded in Kaluga Oblast in Russia.

Source: Astra and Baza Telegram-channels

Details: On the evening of 16 May, the residents of the village of Tarutyne in the Zhukovsky district in Kaluga Oblast witnessed the fall of an unidentified flying object with a subsequent explosion.

The experts that had arrived on the scene found fragments of an unidentified drone of the plane type on the 380 kilometre of the A-108 highway. According to the preliminary reports, there have been no casualties.

Journalists fight on their own frontline. Support Ukrainska Pravda or become our patron!
 Flash

China regards the Netherlands as a priority partner of cooperation within the European Union, and is ready to work with the Netherlands to promote cooperation in various fields to achieve new results, Chinese Premier Li Qiang said on Tuesday.

Li made the remarks during a phone conversation with Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte.

The open and pragmatic partnership for comprehensive cooperation between China and the Netherlands, jointly defined by President Xi Jinping and King Willem-Alexander, meets the interests of the two countries and the needs of their people, Li said.

China will continue to open up its market, strengthen intellectual property protection, and welcome more Dutch high-quality speciality products and competitive firms coming into the Chinese market, Li said, expressing the hope that the Netherlands will provide an open, fair and non-discriminatory business environment for Chinese firms to invest in.

China is ready to deepen cooperation with the Netherlands in areas including agriculture, water conservancy and new energy, promote people-to-people exchanges and strengthen cooperation in multilateral areas such as addressing climate change, Li said.

Noting that both countries have benefited from and supported economic globalization and free trade, Li expressed the hope that the Netherlands will uphold the spirit of contract, adhere to market principles and WTO rules, safeguard the common interests of the two countries and their companies, and maintain the smooth flow of the global industrial and supply chains.

China's policy toward Europe is characterized by a high degree of consistency and stability, Li said, both China and Europe should practice true multilateralism and jointly oppose camp confrontation and the "new Cold War."

He wished that the Netherlands urge Europe to adhere to strategic autonomy, and contribute more to the development of China-Europe ties.

For his part, Rutte said China is an important cooperative partner of the Netherlands.

The Netherlands is willing to maintain close high-level exchanges with China, deepen cooperation in the fields of economy and trade, water conservancy and climate change, and push forward the open and pragmatic partnership for comprehensive cooperation between the two countries, he said.

The Netherlands is ready to continue to be a bond and bridge for cooperation and exchanges between Europe and China, he added.

The two sides also exchanged views on international and regional issues of common concern.
On May 12, 2023, Extreme Meteorologist Reed Timmer and his team accomplished an exceptionally difficult task -- intercepting a tornado in an armored vehicle. The terrifying and groundbreaking experience was captured on video from several angles, including breathtaking drone footage.

Leading up to the intercept, Timmer and his team were preparing for a unique severe weather setup, with storms moving from east to west over Nebraska instead of a typical west-to-east motion. In preparation for the chase, the team had a full checklist of responsibilities to ensure the safety of those in the Dominator 3 -- a heavily modified truck with armor strong enough to withstand winds up to 200 mph -- the wind speeds of an EF5 tornado.

When built, the vehicle's suspension was modified to an airbag setup that can drop the vehicle and its armor into the ground to safely ride out a tornado, according to The Drive. The vehicle made its first intercept in May 2013, surviving three separate EF4 twister intercepts near Shawnee, Oklahoma.

As the team prepared for the chase last week, every piece had to be checked, from the hydraulic spike system to the window lift system - the vehicle had to be checked thoroughly. It is essential for each part to be working to ensure a safe intercept.

"Most importantly, we have to make sure that our scientific instrumentation is dialed in because the whole point of intercepting a tornado is to measure scientific data from inside the tornado," Extreme Meteorologist Reed Timmer told AccuWeather in an interview.

Live update on the threat of strong+ tornadoes especially in central OK along the moisture nose and enhanced low-level jet this evening. Supercells with all hazards possible will arc from western into central KS as well. Dominator 3 is activating Oklahoma intercept mode... pic.twitter.com/sYoeaVvEzr  Reed Timmer, PhD (@ReedTimmerAccu) May 11, 2023

Those inside Dominator 3 -- consisting of Brian Allen, Ryan Hall, Sierra Lindsey and Reed Timmer -- spent the night prior to the chase driving to Nebraska and sleeping in the vehicle. The team woke up in Salina, Kansas, and realized a significant tornado threat was developing north of them.

"We targeted central Nebraska right on the eastern fringe in the Nebraska Sandhills," said Timmer.

Increased instability and moisture were some of the clues given by Mother Nature that long-track prolific tornadoes were possible from the storms produced in the area. There was another harbinger of the volatile conditions present in the atmosphere. A storm formed early on that day produced a tornado near Ord, Nebraska.

"That was kind of a sign of things to come for the rest of the day," said Timmer.

The team waited on the eastern fringe of the Sandhills to stay close to a more favorable road network. Timmer was monitoring which storm would be the healthiest supercell to go after. Then, Timmer pinpointed a target storm that was evolving and growing in size and intensity.

"It had a very high top, which means it has a very high updraft speed too. It's likely rotating a lot faster," described Timmer.

A severe thunderstorm warning was issued for the team's target storm. Storm chaser Mike Leandro was already chasing the storm in a different vehicle and provided Timmer and his team with ground visuals, telling Timmer to "get on the west side of the storm." The picture showed a cone starting to come down. The mission was then set into motion: intercept this tornado.

Spalding, Nebraska, tornado approaching Team Dominator. (Reed Timmer)

As the Dominator 3 approached the tornado, video captured by Timmer showed the roaring size of the tornado along the Nebraska Sandhills.

Storm Chaser Jordan Hall was in the vehicle with Timmer as they approached the tornado near Spalding, Nebraska, that afternoon. Timmer momentarily stopped Dominator 3 to allow Hall to deploy a drone to get a bird's eye view of the incoming twister. Hall launched the drone from inside the Dominator 3, providing a breathtaking and unique view of the incoming fury.

"It was crazy how you could see all the inflow, you could see the condensation streamers over the tops of the hills. You could see the terrain as well, and you could even time intercepting with the vehicle," explained Timmer.

The unique real-time perspective helped the team visualize that they could take a north-south road that would get them lined up right into the path of the tornado. The bird's-eye perspective also helped Timmer analyze the tornado to ensure it wouldn't be too strong for Dominator 3 to withstand.

"I identified it as the perfect candidate for us to intercept, especially realizing the terrain and that there wasn't going to be a huge amount of debris," said Timmer.

Video continued to roll as the powerful layers of the tornado approached closer to the vehicle -- debris wrapping around the twister as it made its daunting approach. The team needed to make one last maneuver to ensure a successful intercept: getting to the south of the tornado to be right in its path. The team executed the maneuver just in time.

"I was watching the left edge of it. It was not moving side to side. I knew we were right in the path of the tornado," said Timmer.

Inside the Spalding, Nebraska, tornado from Dominator 3 (Reed Timmer)

The windows of the Dominator 3 were rolled up, and the ground spikes were deployed. The hydraulically powered spikes are built to instantly dive into the pavement and penetrate the road surface 3-4 inches deep. This locks the vehicle into place and makes it impossible for a tornado to lift the vehicle off the ground or slide. The front wall of the tornado began to impact the vehicle, producing winds from the back side and lifting up Dominator 3.

"You could definitely feel the lift from the tornado from the back end. But you could feel physically the spikes latching onto the pavement, which was an incredible feeling too," Timmer recalled.

Dominator 3 was now directly inside the wedge tornado. It initially felt more powerful than Timmer thought. As the tornado lofted debris at significant wind speeds across the vehicle, the storm chasers' ears popped from the significant pressure change. Then, in a matter of seconds, it was over.

"The tornado is arriving, and then it's gone before you really have a chance to fully process it," said Timmer.

INSIDE THE #TORNADO in Dominator 3 measuring the highest resolution pressure data ever inside a tornado. WATCH: https://t.co/7joiwHyqkb pic.twitter.com/tZBTgbumRC  Reed Timmer, PhD (@ReedTimmerAccu) May 14, 2023

"Just feeling the sun come down and the rain and the hook and seeing the wedge move off into the distance. Realizing that we captured that scientific data set from inside of the tornado is a feeling that I'll never forget."

Four chasers had just experienced the Dominator 3's first direct intercept of a tornado in over a decade -- including Sierra Lindsey, who became the first female to be inside a tornado purposefully, according to Timmer.

But the intercept came at a cost - Dominator 3 suffered damage to several parts as a result of flying debris. The side of the vehicle sustained damage, and the anemometer masts used to measure wind speed were bent at a 45-degree angle. The anemometer itself was blown off and taken away by the tornado. The door system was also jammed on the right side, and some of the armor peeled up.

Check out the holes in the road from Dominator 3 spike deployment ahead of #tornado impact yesterday pic.twitter.com/E68bgnjJsw  Reed Timmer, PhD (@ReedTimmerAccu) May 13, 2023

"Overall, the Dominator 3 definitely survived that tornado very well. It served its purpose, stayed on the ground, allowed us to measure data inside and most of the fixes are largely cosmetic and relatively simple fixes to get it ready for the next intercept," explained Timmer.

The intercept of Dominator 3 produced not only astonishing footage but also remarkable advancements in meteorological science. During the intercept, the team was able to record the highest-resolution pressure data from a tornado ever captured. This was made possible by a subsonic sensor invented by ChasinSpin -- a science educator and researcher who designs and launches sensors into tornadoes. The device is a very sensitive micro barometer capable of recording very low frequencies that are lower than what the human ear can hear.

The device showed a 1.54 inches of mercury (53.23 mb) pressure drop and recovery in just 1 minute, including a 0.68 of an inch of mercury (23 mb) pressure change in less than a second.

Timmer explained that the dramatic pressure shift may have led to his disorientation after the intercept. Timmer also noted that estimated wind speeds inside the tornado reached about 160-170 mph. The full data was released online to help aid further research from the historic intercept.

Wow! The results are in. Inside Dom 3 today, within the Albion, NE tornado we measured a 53.23mb pressure drop and recovery over 1 minute, the core of which was over only 15 seconds, including a 23mb pressure change over 3/4 second!@ReedTimmerAccu @TwistedChasers @ElbingProf... pic.twitter.com/3aYKdKX4uq  ChasinSpin (@ChasinSpin) May 13, 2023

"The 3D understanding of the tornado and measuring those pressure falls above the ground, I think are so important for us to understand the evolution of tornadoes and understand tornado behavior and strength," Timmer added.

As for the long-term plan of Dominator 3, Timmer says the team is considering installing a pressurized cabin to better weather the dramatic pressure falls and rises.

"Overall, we'd like to deck it out with more instrumentation. I'd like to launch rockets again. That's kind of my number one mission now is to get back launching rockets once again from the Dominator 3. It has about 110,000 miles on it. So, apparently, it's hardly even broken in," Timmer joked.

Want next-level safety, ad-free? Unlock advanced, hyperlocal severe weather alerts when you subscribe to Premium+ on the AccuWeather app. AccuWeather Alerts are prompted by our expert meteorologists who monitor and analyze dangerous weather risks 24/7 to keep you and your family safer.
Migrants wait for a bus to take them to a processing center after they turned themselves over to US Border Patrol agents after crossing over from Mexico in Fronton, Texas

An eight-year-old migrant girl died in US custody in Texas on Wednesday, a tragedy that tempered news of a sharp drop in attempted illegal crossings of the southern US border.

The girl died in Harlingen, a Texas border city near the Gulf of Mexico.

"The child and her family were in custody at the Harlingen Station where she experienced a medical emergency," US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) said in a statement.

"Emergency Medical Services were called to the station and transported her to the local hospital where she was pronounced dead," the statement said, adding that an investigation was opened into the death.

The agency did not give the migrant girl's identity or nationality.

A 17-year-old Honduran boy who arrived in the US without a parent or guardian died last week in government custody in Safety Harbor, Florida.

Separately, new policies that came into effect last week to deal with undocumented migrants appear to have slashed US entries.

The Border Patrol counted less than 4,000 "encounters" -- apprehensions and expulsions -- with people crossing without permission each of the past two days, said Blas Nunez-Neto, assistant secretary of the Department of Homeland Security.

That compared with 10,100 per day in the week before the lifting of Title 42, the Covid-19 health emergency rule used for three years to swiftly expel a wide array of migrants, he told reporters.

Replacing Title 42 was a policy package anchored on immigration law Title 8, which provides for strict penalties for those crossing who do not qualify, including five-year bans on US entry and possible criminal charges.

That was combined with an expansion of formal avenues to migrate to the United States, focused especially on refugees and asylum applicants.

The aim was to stem pressure at the border, where more than 200,000 migrant encounters occurred in most months over the last year, creating a political crisis for President Joe Biden.

-Crossing numbers drop-

Nunez-Neto said last week's policy change appeared to be achieving the goal of reducing illegal immigration.

The number of Mexicans encountered fell from 1,900 daily to 1,000 and Colombians from 1,400 to 510 a day.

The number of Venezuelan migrants had also plunged to 50 per day, after hitting 2,400 before the policy change.

The 4,000 a day was also lower than the average of 7,000 encounters a day in April.

In addition, there were signs that the northward movement of migrants from South and Central America to the Mexico-US frontier has slowed, said Nunez-Neto.

"We are also seeing some early promising signs that entries into the Darien jungle between Colombia and Panama have been declining in recent days," he said, referring to a particularly treacherous section of the main route for migrants heading north.

Instead, "tens of thousands" have been applying for immigration interviews with US Customs and Border Protection, and over 5,000 have been "processed" in their appointments since May 12, Nunez-Neto said.

And many Haitians, Venezuelans and Cubans are taking advantage of a special program to migrate as refugees that requires them to apply from abroad, he added.

"I want to stress once again that it is still too soon to draw any firm conclusions here about where these trends will go in the coming days and weeks," said Nunez-Neto.

"We continue to monitor the situation on our border and in Mexico and along the transit routes in real-time," he said.

pmh/des/tjj/cwl
A drug trafficker tied to juvenile fentanyl overdoses in Carrollton and Flower Mound pleaded guilty on Tuesday to distribution of a controlled substance, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Leigha Simonton announced.

Magaly Mejia Cano, 20, was charged via criminal complaint in February.

On Tuesday, she pleaded guilty to one count of distribution of a controlled substance to a person under 21 years of age.

She is facing up to 40 years in federal prison and a $2 million fine.

Just 2 milligrams of fentanyl can cut a young life tragically short. Peddling fentanyl pills to teenagers is one of the most callous crimes a trafficker can commit, Simonton said in a news release. With Ms. Canos plea today, we are one step closer to getting justice for parents who lost their teens to fentanyl.

Those who choose a path of darkness to distribute and pollute our communities with fentanyl should always be looking over their shoulder because of the relentless efforts of DEA Dallas and our law enforcement partners, said DEA Dallas Special Agent in Charge Eduardo A. Chavez.

Ms. Canos guilty plea is a clear result and warning to those that decide this same path.

Cano is the first defendant to plead guilty in a drug distribution scheme that has been linked to at least 12 juvenile overdoses in Carrollton and Flower Mound since September. Three of the 12 overdoses were fatal, according to the U.S. Attorneys Office.

Others charged in the conspiracy include Jason Xavier Villanueva, Luis Eduardo Navarrete, Donovan Jude Andrews, Stephan Paul Brinson, Robert Alexander Gaitan, and Rafael Soliz Jr.

Canos co-defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

In plea papers, Cano admitted that Navarrete regularly dealt fentanyl-laced pills to children from his Highland Drive residence. The round blue pills imprinted with M/30 resembled prescription narcotics, but were actually produced fakes.

Cano said Navarrete stored the counterfeit pills near their front door of their Carrollton home and distributed them to customers who came by the house  including a network of juvenile dealers who dealt to other minors, according to plea papers.

On at least three occasions, Cano admitted she distributed pills directly to customers, including a 16-year-old, under Navarretes direction, according to the U.S. Attorneys Office for the Northern District of Texas.

The Drug Enforcement Administrations Dallas Field Office and the Carrollton Police Department conducted the investigation with help from school resource officers from the Carrollton-Farmers Branch Independent School District and the Lewisville Independent School District. Authorities said that overdoses involved students from those districts.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Phelesa Guy and Rick Calvert are prosecuting the case.

Illicitly produced, fentanyl-laced pills often look similar to prescription pills such as Oxycontin or Percocet, but can pose significantly more danger. On the street, these pills are often referred to as M30s (a reference to the markings on some of the pills), blues, perks, yerks, china girls, or TNT.

DEA research shows that six out of 10 pills laced with fentanyl contain a potentially lethal dose.

For more information on fentanyl, visit www.dea.gov/onepill.
Ryan Dwars, who had to race to find a scarce chemotherapy drug when he did not make the priority list, at home with his wife Brooke in Iowa City, Iowa on May 10, 2023. (Rachel Mummey/The New York Times)

Thousands of patients are facing delays in getting treatments for cancer and other life-threatening diseases, with drug shortages in the United States approaching record levels.

Hospitals are scouring shelves for supplies of a drug that reverses lead poisoning and for a sterile fluid needed to stop the heart for bypass surgery. Some antibiotics are still scarce following the winter flu season when doctors and patients frantically chased medicines for ailments like strep throat. Even childrens Tylenol was hard to find.

Hundreds of drugs are on the list of medications in short supply in the United States, as officials grapple with an opaque and sometimes interrupted supply chain, quality and financial issues that are leading to manufacturing shutdowns.

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The shortages are so acute that they are commanding the attention of the White House and Congress, which are examining the underlying causes of the faltering generic drug market, which accounts for about 90% of domestic prescriptions.

The Biden administration has assembled a team to find long-term solutions for shoring up the pharmaceutical supply chain, at a time when the United States remains heavily reliant on medicines and drug ingredients from India and China. And in recent weeks, generic drugmakers, supply-chain experts and patient advocates have appeared before lawmakers to discuss the problems.

The scarcity of generic forms of chemotherapy to treat lung, breast, bladder and ovarian cancers has only heightened concerns.

This is, in my opinion, a public health emergency, said Dr. Amanda Fader, a professor at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and a president-elect of the Society of Gynecologic Oncology, because of the breadth of the individuals it affects and the number of chemotherapy agents that are in shortage right now.

The American Cancer Society last week warned that delays caused by the shortages could result in worse outcomes for patients.

If these drugs are not available, people are going to get inferior care, Dr. William Dahut, the societys chief medical officer said. Thats the bottom line. These arent third- or fourth-line drugs where there are multiple other agents around. These are used upfront for people you are trying to cure.

Ryan Dwars beat pancreatic cancer in 2021, but late last year a scan showed cancerous spots on his liver. Dwars, 39 and a father of two young girls, had hoped to receive his final four doses of chemotherapy in April.

Then his doctor delivered stunning news: He didnt make the cut of those given priority for the treatment.

The light at the end of the tunnel was within sight, Dwars, a special-education teacher in Iowa City, said. It made it even worse to be so close  and now this.

Laura Bray, who founded a nonprofit called Angels for Change, works as a liaison between patients, health systems and drug companies to micro-source, as she calls it, hard-to-find medications.

Will we have the resolve and sense of urgency to fix this? asked Bray, an adjunct business professor who has been providing information to the White House and Congress. Its possible. It can be done. It happens in other supply chains. But we have to focus on it and we have to think about ending it  instead of mitigating it. I think the jurys out on that.

For Dwars, Bray contacted a maker of cisplatin, the chemo drug he needed, and arranged for a supply to be sent within days and for others at his hospital. Some have not been as fortunate, encountering frightening gaps between treatments.

The White House team working on the broader issue of long-standing drug supply breakdowns includes national security, economic and health officials, according to James McKinney, a spokesperson for the Food and Drug Administration. Bloomberg reported earlier on the White House involvement.

Officials have been debating possible measures like tax incentives for generic drugmakers and greater transparency around generic drug quality. The current incentives favor drugmakers with the lowest prices, which includes those that might cut corners  leading to disruptive plant shutdowns if the FDA demands a fix. (Some shortages, like those of weight-loss drugs, are the result of sky-high demand, while others have been attributed to overprescribing, including for antibiotics, or a lack of investment in potential alternatives.)

The FDA, which employs a team of about 10 people who do the day-to-day work of mitigating and reporting drug shortages, has said it is seeking authority from Congress to get additional information about the drug manufacturing and supply chain.

But the agency has also expressed its concerns to the White House about severe financial strain in the generic drug industry  an economic problem that FDA officials say they are not suited to address.

Dr. Robert Califf, the FDA commissioner, highlighted the agencys views during recent appearances before Congress, saying officials can only plug so many holes.

We have got to fix the core economics if were going to get this situation fixed, Califf told a House panel on Thursday.

David Gaugh, the interim CEO of the Association for Accessible Medicines, which represents generic drugmakers, recalled warning FDA officials in an April meeting that the recent bankruptcy and shutdown of Akorn Pharmaceuticals would likely be followed by others.

Shortages are on the rise. Weve all seen that, Gaugh said in an interview. And it is likely going to get worse, not better, very soon.

Gaugh cited data underscoring pressure facing the generic industry. Although the number of generic drugmakers has increased, a review by IQVIA, a health care analytics company, showed that the market has consolidated such that three buyers account for about 90% of generic drug purchases. The intermediaries are combined major drug distributors and retail chains, like Red Oak Sourcing, which includes CVS Health and Cardinal Health and ClarusONE, which includes Walmart and McKesson. Walgreens also has distribution agreements with AmerisourceBergen. The companies did not reply to requests for comment.

The competition for the contracts with those intermediaries pits U.S. manufacturers against those in India, where labor costs are far lower. When a generic drug company cant get a contract for a medication, it tends to stop making it and might see already slim profits shrink.

The opportunity to get it wrong is much narrower if youre a generic manufacturer, Gaugh said.

Hospital pharmacists and supply-chain experts were stunned in February by the abrupt shutdown of Akorn, whose products were then recalled since there was no staff remaining to address potential quality concerns.

That added insult to injury, said Eric Tichy, a supply chain division chair at the Mayo Clinic and the board chair of the End Drug Shortages Alliance.

Akorn made roughly 100 medications, including cylinders of albuterol that childrens hospitals had relied on to ease their breathing difficulties. And it was the only company that made an antidote to lead poisoning, Tichy said.

Health is so foundational to our country functioning well, Tichy said. And then we have a domestic manufacturer that just goes under and theres not a lot of action.

Four pending Senate bills with bipartisan sponsorship could help get generic drugs to market more quickly by addressing tactics or loopholes that cause delays. During a House hearing on the shortages Thursday, Anthony Sardella, a business research adviser at Washington University in St. Louis, said generic drug prices had fallen by about 50% since 2016.

But there is a high cost to low prices, Sardella said, noting that they may lead to cost cutting that can result in quality problems.

A recent case in point was Intas Pharmaceuticals, a company in India that makes three key chemotherapy drugs that are difficult to find: methotrexate, carboplatin and cisplatin, the drug Dwars needed. Intas temporarily suspended manufacturing of the drugs after the FDA found serious quality-control violations.

During an unannounced visit to the Intas plant, FDA inspectors discovered a truck full of hundreds of plastic bags filled with torn and shredded documents, according to a report issued in December. One quality-control worker poured acid on torn records and stuffed them in a garbage bag, the report said.

FDA inspectors pieced papers together and found quality control records for products bound for the United States, the report said. The agency cited a raft of other problems as well.

To ease the supply disruption, the U.S. distributor for Intas, Accord Pharmaceuticals, said a handful of lots were tested by a third party, certified and released to the U.S. market. The treatments arranged by Bray that reached patients in Iowa were among them.

The companies were working with the FDA to restart manufacturing for U.S. customers, a statement from Accord said.

The Society of Gynecologic Oncology sent out a nationwide survey in recent weeks. In response, doctors in 35 states said they had little to no supply of key chemotherapy drugs, even at large cancer centers and teaching hospitals.

Dr. Patrick Timmins, a partner of Womens Cancer Care Associates in Albany, New York, said his practice ran out of some chemotherapy drugs last week, but still has 25 patients who need them.

Our patients are in a war, and what were doing is were taking their weapons away, Timmins said. Its completely ridiculous that we cant figure out a way, at least in the short run, to get our patients treated, and in the long run to solve these recurring problems.

When Bray met with White House staff members in late April, she said that she recommended creating an exchange, to get drugs where they were needed most, and increasing the production of small-batch medicines, often referred to as compounding.

Dr. Kevin Schulman, a professor at Stanford Medicine who has studied the generic drug industry, said he had urged the White House team to examine how much power the intermediary companies have in contracting with generic drugmakers. He said they demand rock-bottom prices, but unlike a customer-facing company like Apple that contracts with suppliers worldwide, the drug intermediaries face no accountability when shortages arise.

Schulman said he had recommended expanded government contracting with the nonprofit Civica, which sells generic drugs at slightly inflated prices, which can help generic makers run a stable business.

The intermediaries are driving people out of the market, Schulman said. I think its a market problem and we need market-level solutions.

c.2023 The New York Times Company
A looming fight over the FBIs surveillance powers was always going to get rancorous. Special Counsel John Durhams report on the Trump-Russia investigation made matters worse.

The long-awaited report from Durham wasnt focused on the expiring power  known as Section 702, an authority that is meant to capture the communications of foreign targets but can also sweep up U.S. citizens. It instead accused the FBI of a double standard in its handling of an investigation probing potential ties between Russia and Donald Trumps 2016 presidential campaign.

But the findings are already being used as the latest catalyst for House GOP skeptics who want to overhaul Section 702 as well as enact broader reforms to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act and a related powerful court that operates mostly in secret.

It just further confirms that weve got to make major, major changes and that it cannot be reauthorized as is.  It cant just be same old, same old, Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) said in a brief interview about the impact of Durhams report on the surveillance debate.



As the chair of the Judiciary Committee, and conservative sweetheart within the conference, Jordan could have significant influence over any legislation renewing the program.

To be sure, many within the House GOP conference already regard the FBI with deep skepticism, concerned it has unfairly targeted conservatives like the former president. Thats been top of mind as Congress approaches an end-of-year deadline on whether to renew the program.

And even some of the intelligence communitys biggest allies in both parties on Capitol Hill have questioned the bureaus ability to stay within the guardrails of Section 702. Theres also bipartisan skepticism and opposition on the Judiciary panel specifically about continuing the authority without significant changes.

Asked if he thought Durhams report will play into their upcoming surveillance debate, Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas), replied: Absolutely. Yes.

I can assure you, 702, that is not going to get rubber stamped. That either needs to get reversed or we got to sit down and come up with some very serious protections and reforms, Roy, a member of the Judiciary Committee, said in a brief interview.

Rep. Kelly Armstrong (R-N.D.), a member of Jordans subpanel investigating Republican claims of politicization within the federal government, said he would vote against reauthorizing Section 702 as it currently exists. He also called the Durham report an absolute indictment of the broader surveillance law.

Much of Durhams report aligns with damning findings in recent years from Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz, who released a series of reports on the surveillance applications for then-Trump adviser Carter Page and a broader sweep of FISA warrant applications.

In response to Horowitzs findings, the FBI enacted changes to how the bureau handles its submissions to the court who oversees the warrants, including changes in procedures, auditing and training. The FBI, in a statement responding to Durhams report, argued that if their changes had been in place in 2016 and 2017 the missteps identified in the report could have been prevented.

This report reinforces the importance of ensuring the FBI continues to do its work with the rigor, objectivity, and professionalism the American people deserve and rightly expect, the FBI said in a statement.

The FBI and the broader intelligence community are also ramping up their efforts to pitch Congress on reauthorizing the program. The bureau and the Justice Department have touted the creation of an internal audit office and new internal guidelines like requiring additional layers of review before certain searches can take place. Officials argue the program is essential to national security, and have advocated that Congress re-up it largely as is.

And Durham, notably, doesnt mention 702 directly in his report. He adds that hes not recommending anything that would curtail the scope of reach of FISA or the FBIs investigative activities  in a time of aggressive and hostile terrorist groups and foreign powers.

Congress has until the end of the year to strike a deal on how to extend Section 702, but supporters of extending the program are already making contingency plans, such as floating a short-term patch. Some surveillance hawks on Jordans panel are discussing letting the authority lapse altogether.

Meanwhile, a group convened by House Intelligence Chair Mike Turner (R-Ohio) and Rep. Jim Himes (D-Conn.), the committees top Democrat, are looking at further changes to the secretive surveillance court.

That includes, according to lawmakers in the group, new penalties for individuals who lie to the surveillance court, transcripts for court proceedings and keeping the same judge for both the initial warrant application and follow-up applications.

Such actions should never have occurred, Turner said, referring to the Durham report. It is essential that Congress codifies clear guardrails that prevent future FBI abuses and restores the publics trust in our law enforcement institutions.
Clinton Attorney Michael Sussman Acquitted Of Charge Of Lying To The F.B.I.

Special Counsel John Durham arrives at the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on May 26, 2022 in Washington, DC Credit - Ron SachsConsolidated News Pictures/Getty Images

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No serious player really wanted it, so a special counsel gets the tap on the shoulder. Mostly unlimited in scope, budget, and remit, the office has about as long a leash as exists in the current environment. Years upon years of work later, the project releases its final report. One side finds the results indisputably damning. The other insists the damning part is how little was found.

Washington has played out this routine on a loop. First came the release of the Mueller Report. Then, this week, the Durham Report. Each focused on different aspects of the Trump orbits interactions with Russia and the FBI investigation that followed. Muellers report yielded convictions, plea deals, and jail time, but nothing that stuck to Trump. Durhams report yielded two acquittals, one plea deal, and a ton of second guessing. More than anything, both gave partisans fodder for hours of trolling. Taken together, they reveal how our self-perpetuating partisan outrage machinery makes it harder for Washington to get anything constructive done with the fruits of investigations that cost tens of millions of dollars.

Maybe its entirely our fault. We are a suppositioning sort. Where there are blanks, we fill them in, often in ways to match our existing biases. In fact, those vagaries allow many of us to arrive at book club meetings with very different interpretations of the same work based on the assumptions we brought to the plot and characters. The holes actually make for more compelling conversations than the agreed-upon facts.

More from TIME

Its no different in politics, which relies on storytelling as much as policy. The gray area can sometimes be the most colorful.

Special counsel John Durham, who then-Attorney General William Barr tapped to investigate those who had investigated his boss, released his much-awaited final report on Monday. Democrats largely shrugged off its 300 pages of findings as old news, recycled from reports from the Department of Justice inspectors general and three criminal cases that arose from the investigation. (Two of those cases ended in not guilty verdicts; a third defendant pleaded guilty to altering an email for a wiretap application.) Republicans, meanwhile, screamed bloody murder and political oppression so foul that one contender for the White House suggested it was time to dismantle the FBI.

The response has been an almost perfect reflection of the reaction to Robert Muellers two-volume report on the Trump campaigns interactions with Russia. In that case, Democrats spotted sin after sin committed by Trump and his crew while Republicans brushed it off as fake news that was, at best, old. The facts were damning, the indictments seemingly self-writing, the consequences manifestly missing.

None of this is new, and little of it will be surprising for those who have watched special prosecutors wield almost unlimited power to produce lackluster results, time and time again. (Did we learn nothing from the Bill Clinton era?) But that doesnt make the instinctive reaction to such findings any less a threat to society in which facts are ignored in service of a political agenda. While the timing was dodgy, the findings of the FBIs probe of Hillary Clintons private email server were as clear as the Durham and Mueller probesand carrying the same gaps that we tend to fill in with our own armchair indictments. Give us a gap, we will fill it with what we think we already know.

As Durham rightly notes early in his report, efforts to bring criminal charges against anyone based on his investigation would face an uphill trek: The law does not always make a persons bad judgment, even horribly bad judgment, standing alone, a crime, he writes. (Emphasis added.) Nor does the law criminalize all unseemly or unethical conduct that political campaigns might undertake for tactical advantage, absent a violation of a particular federal criminal statute. Finally, in almost all cases, the government is required to prove a persons actual criminal intentnot mere negligence or recklessnessbefore that persons fellow citizens can lawfully find him or her guilty of a crime.

In other words, poor choices alone dont automatically become legally criminal, no matter how much partisan outrage those choices may provoke. We can There Ought To Be a Law things to death, but absent a relevant law, sketchy decisions about doctored, damning, or deleted emails, often skirt by just fine. The wrongdoing can be spelled out as plainly as possible in these reports, but special counsels traditionally have been fairly unsatisfactory, especially when the missing pieces remain in desk drawers and off legislative calendars. Its as if the expired law that made special counsels possible has rotted on the vine, and incompetence seems to breed plenty of reasons to think this is sadly normalizing.

So, as yet another special counsel has found, peopleeven smart people in powerful positionsmake boneheaded decisions. Yet unless theyre explicitly against the law and the fool knows it, those actions dont rise to the level of crime. Add in the question of conviction, and its terribly tough for these special counsels to yield anything approaching anything resembling consequences. Which is why, yet again, partisans will reach for the PDFs of these final reports and sketch their own indictments in the blank spaces. It is a Choose Your Own Adventure approach to political realities, one that may feel good to everyone involved but bad for the larger system, to boot.

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AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - Dutch Foreign Minister Wopke Hoekstra on Wednesday said there was no progress to report in international talks on the possible delivery of F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine.

"We haven't reached a solution yet", Hoekstra said in response to questions about earlier announced talks of the Dutch with the UK, Denmark, Belgium and other partners to possibly deliver F-16's to Ukraine.

"When we are ready to cross that bridge and are ready to communicate this, we will."

In a statement on Tuesday British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said he had agreed with his Dutch counterpart Mark Rutte to "work to build an international coalition to provide Ukraine with combat air capabilities, supporting with everything from training to procuring F-16 jets."

Rutte earlier this month during a visit by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to the Netherlands said talks on a potential donation of F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine were progressing.

(Reporting by Charlotte Van Campenhout)
Jissel Segura, 19, was identified as the woman shot and killed outside an east Salem apartment complex in March.

More than two months after a woman was found dead outside a northeast Salem apartment complex, a shooting victim has been identified and the suspected killer is in custody.

Marion County sheriff's detectives identified the shooting victim on Tuesday as 19-year-old Jissel Segura.

The sheriff's office also announced the arrest of Aaron Marion Esiyah Anderson, 20, of Portland, in connection to her death.

On March 2 just after midnight, a 911 caller reported hearing gunshots on Embassy Way NE near Satter Drive NE, next to the Embassy Court Apartments in an unincorporated area of east Salem. Responding deputies found Segura, who is from the Woodburn area, inside a vehicle with multiple gunshot wounds. She was pronounced dead at the scene.

More: Police investigating woman found shot dead in car in East Salem

Detectives initially suspected homicide but withheld Segura's name pending her autopsy and notification of next of kin. No information was publicly released in the months that followed, but Marion County sheriff's officials said detectives worked diligently to arrest Segura's killer.

On April 26, Anderson was arrested in Sacramento, California, with the assistance of the U.S. Marshals Service.

Anderson is being charged with second-degree murder and unlawful use of a weapon in connection to Segura's death and for using a firearm against another woman in the weeks before Segura's death.

He is being held at the Marion County Jail and appeared for arraignment on Monday. His next court appearance is scheduled for Thursday.

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

This article originally appeared on Salem Statesman Journal: East Salem shooting victim identified; suspected killer in custody
Ecuador's president dismisses legislature as it tries to oust him, in a move that promises turmoil

Security forces guard the National Assembly in Quito, Ecuador, Wednesday, May 17, 2023. Ecuadorian President Guillermo Lasso on Wednesday put an end to impeachment proceedings against him by dissolving the opposition-led National Assembly, which had accused him of embezzlement. (AP Photo/Dolores Ochoa)

QUITO, Ecuador (AP)  The president of Ecuador dismissed the legislature Wednesday in a move that promised more turmoil around a conservative leader who has been unable to enact a business-friendly agenda as the South American country experiences an alarming rise in crime.

In disbanding the National Assembly, Guillermo Lasso made first use of the Ecuador presidencys nuclear option under the constitution in conflicts with the legislative branch. His first move was to push a package of tax cuts, but criticism was swift and an appeal to stop him was filed hours after he announced his decision in a televised message in which he accused lawmakers of focusing on destabilizing the government.

This is the best possible decision, he said after describing his move as a way to give Ecuadorians the power to decide their future in the next elections.

Armed soldiers then surrounded the National Assembly in the capital. Lasso had been locked in a showdown with legislators who wanted to impeach him for not stopping a deal between the state-owned oil transport company and a private tanker company, accusations he denies.

Hours later, the president of the National Electoral Council, Diana Atamaint, said that its office will set the date for the next elections in no more than seven days. She anticipated that Ecuadorians would go to the polls to elect a new president and a new Assembly in no more than 90 days.

Lasso's Wednesday decision prompted Ecuadors top military leader to warn that the armed forces would crack down on any violence.

The president appeared to have the support of the armed forces but faced opposition from Indigenous Ecuadorians. Protests by the powerful Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities have nearly paralyzed the country in recent years, and the group's leader appeared outraged.

Lasso launched a cowardly self-coup with the help of the police and the armed forces, without citizen support, Leonidas Iza Salazar said.

Lasso can now govern for up to six months by decree under the oversight of Ecuadors Constitutional Court.

Lawmakers had accused Lasso of not having intervened to end a contract between the state-owned oil transport company and a private tanker company. They argued Lasso knew the contract was full of irregularities and would cost the state millions in losses.

During a legislative session Tuesday, Lasso noted that the contract predated his administration. He also said that the state-owned company experienced losses of $6 million a year before he took office, and that it has seen $180 million in profits under his watch. something he has rejected as untrue.

Called the crossed death because it cuts short the mandate of both the assembly and the president, the option to disband the congress and temporarily rule by decree was established in Ecuador's constitution in 2008 as a means of avoiding protracted periods of political paralysis.

His move can be appealed to the Constitutional Court, which has traditionally taken a long time to resolve any petition it receives. The Social Christian Party, which supported impeachment proceedings, filed a petition Wednesday arguing that there are no grounds for the dissolution of the Assembly.

After Lasso announced his decision, the head of the Joint Command of the Armed Forces, Gen. Nelson Proano, called on Ecuadorians to maintain respect for the law and warned against rupturing the constitutional order through violence.

If violence erupts, the armed forces and police will act firmly, he said.

In neighboring Peru, conflicts between the opposition-led legislature and president also led to attempts to oust each other last year. Then-President Pedro Castillo tried to dissolve Congress and head off his own impeachment in December. Lawmakers quickly voted him out of power and law enforcement arrested him, which resulted in months of deadly protests carried out for the most part by Indigenous peoples and peasants.

The National Electoral Council now has seven days to call presidential and legislative elections, which must be held within 90 days. Those elected will finish the terms of Lasso and the lawmakers he ousted, which had been set to end in May 2025. Lasso can choose to run in the election.

Lasso, a former banker, was elected in 2021 and clashed from the start with a strong opposition in the 137-member National Assembly. He defended himself before Congress on Tuesday, insisting there was no proof or testimony of wrongdoing.

Dismissed Assemblywoman Paola Cabezas told the Ecuavisa television network that her party, which was a main force behind the impeachment process, will abide by the decree."

We will go home ... This is an opportunity for us to get out of this crisis," she said.

Lassos governing powers are now limited. Constitutional attorney Ismael Quintana explained that the president can only address economic and administrative matters, and the Constitutional Court will have to approve his decisions.

Shortly after dissolving the Assembly, Lasso announced that he signed his first emergency decree, reducing taxes for hundreds of thousands of families.

Ecuador has experienced an increase in drug-related violence, including several massacres in prisons over the past two years. Kidnappings, extortion and petty crime are also on the rise. angering Ecuadorians across the country who feel the government has not done enough to stop this.

Will Freeman, fellow for Latin America studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, said mass protests are likely in the coming days.

Its also hard to imagine Lasso is making this move without the tacit support of top brass in the military, he said. In the past, protests have tended to turn destructive quickly  and security forces have also cracked down.

The U.S. State Department in a statement said it supports Ecuadors democratic institutions and processes and urged government institutions, civil society, and citizens to ensure democratic processes are carried out for the benefit of Ecuadorians.

___

Garcia Cano reported from Mexico City. Associated Press writer Gisela Salomon contributed to this report from Miami.
Eight in 10 South African children struggle to read by age of 10

South Africa's education minister said the disappointing results were a result of school closures during the Covid-19 pandemic

Eight out of 10 South African school children struggle to read by the age of ten, an international study has found.

South Africa ranked last out of 57 countries assessed in the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study, which tested the reading ability of 400,000 students globally in 2021.

Illiteracy among South African children rose from from 78% in 2016 to 81%.

The country's education minister blamed the results on school closures during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Describing the results as "disappointingly low", Angie Motshekga also said the country's education system was faced with significant historical challenges, including poverty, inequality and inadequate infrastructure.

In many primary schools "reading instruction often focuses solely on oral performance, neglecting reading comprehension and making sense of written words", she added.

The study showed that 81% of South African children could not read for comprehension in any of the country's 11 official languages.

Alongside Morocco and Egypt, South Africa was one of only three African countries which participated in the assessments to monitor trends in literacy and reading comprehension of nine- and 10-year-olds.

Based on tests taken every five years at the end of the school year, the new study places countries in a global education league table.

Singapore secured top spot in the rankings with an average score of 587, while South Africa ranked last on 288 points - below second-last Egypt's average of 378. The scores are benchmarked against an international average of 500.

The study also showed that overall, girls were ahead of boys in their reading achievement in nearly all of the assessed countries, but the gender gap has narrowed in the most recent testing round.

South Africa's struggles with its education system are longstanding, with significant inequality between black and white students a consequence of the segregation of children under apartheid.

Education is one the single biggest budget expenses for the government, which can lead to disappointment over poor performance in studies like this.

A lack of suitable reading materials and inadequate infrastructure in schools, often things like toilets, have contributed to the crisis.
 Flash

The China-Central Asia cooperation does not target any third party, nor does it intend to compete with other mechanisms, an official with the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Tuesday.

China is willing to support all measures that are conducive to the stability, development and common prosperity of the region, Yu Jun, deputy director-general of the Department of European-Central Asian Affairs, said at a news briefing in Xi'an ahead of the China-Central Asia Summit.

China stands ready to work with Central Asian countries to continue strengthening the China-Central Asia mechanism, Yu added.

The China-Central Asia Summit will be held in Xi'an, the capital of northwest China's Shaanxi Province, on May 18 and 19.
What are El Nino and La Nina, and how do they change the weather?

Australia experienced severe flooding in October 2022 as a result of La Nina

New data shows that 2022 was the fifth hottest year for Europe since records began.

But scientists are warning that 2023 could be even warmer, as a climate phenomenon called La Nina - which has been suppressing global temperatures - comes to an end.

What is La Nina?

La Nina is part of a climate phenomenon called the El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO) system.

It has two opposite states - El Nino and La Nina - both of which significantly alter weather patterns across the globe.

For the last few years, the world has been in successive La Nina periods, which have lowered temperatures and brought heavy rains to Canada and Australia.

Infographic showing how in La Nina conditions, warmer ocean surface water tends to be further west than usual, on an area of the Pacific ocean stretching from Australia and Papua New Guinea to the west coast of South and Central America.

Winds blowing along the Equator above the Pacific Ocean - from South America in the east towards Asia in the west - were stronger than normal.

These "trade winds" piled warm water off the coast of Asia, raising the sea surface level. In the east, near the Americas, cold water flowed upwards to the surface.

During El Nino the opposite happens - weaker trade winds mean the warm water spreads out back towards the Americas, and less cold water rises towards the surface.

Infographic showing how in El Nino conditions, warmer ocean surface water tends to be further east than usual, on an area of the Pacific ocean stretching from Australia and Papua New Guinea to the west coast of South and Central America.

The phenomenon was first observed by Peruvian fisherman back in the 1600s.

They noticed that warm waters seemed to peak near the Americas in December, and nicknamed the event "El Nino de Navidad", Christ Child in Spanish.

How do El Nino and La Nina change the weather?

Not every El Nino or La Nina event is the same, but scientists have observed some typical effects:

Temperatures

Global temperatures increase by about 0.2C during an El Nino episode, and fall about 0.2C during La Nina.

El Nino means warmer water spreads further, and stays closer to the surface. This releases more heat into the atmosphere, creating wetter and warmer air.

The hottest year on record, 2016, was an El Nino year.

Between 2020 and 2022, the northern Hemisphere had three La Nina episodes in a row.

Despite the La Nina triple, the EU's climate monitoring service says that 2022 was the fifth warmest year on record.

Prof Adam Scaife from the Met Office said: "Global average temperature over the last three years has been at near record levels, but it would have been even higher without the cooling effects of a prolonged La Nina."

A 0.2C temperature rise would add about 20% to the existing global temperature rise from climate change.

The Met Office expects La Nina to end later this year, "raising the prospect of even higher global temperatures".

Map of the Pacific Ocean from December 2022, showing La Nina is underway with cooler than usual surface temperatures

Changes to rainfall

During El Nino events, the warmer water pushes the Pacific jet stream's strong air currents further to the south and the east.

This brings wetter weather to southern US states and the Gulf of Mexico, while the north of the US and Canada remain drier.

Asia, Australia and Central and Southern Africa typically experience drought.

In La Nina events the opposite is seen: drought in the southern US, and heavy rains in Canada and Asia.

In October 2022, Australia experienced record rainfall and flooding driven by La Nina.

The Navarro lagoon in Buenos Aires, Argentina, dried up due to drought in December

Tropical storms

La Nina also generates more hurricanes in the Atlantic - affecting Florida and other southern states of the US - but fewer tropical storms in the Pacific.

The opposite is true of El Nino events.

How often do these episodes happen?

El Nino and La Nina episodes typically occur every two to seven years, and usually last nine to 12 months.

They don't necessarily alternate: La Nina events are less common than El Nino episodes.

How do these events affect us?

The extreme weather events caused by El Nino and La Nina affect infrastructure, food and energy systems around the world.

The drought in Canada and Asia caused by the 2014-16 El Nino phase resulted in crop failure and damaged the food security of more than 60m people, according to the UN Food and Agricultural Organisation.

During El Nino events, less cold water rises to the surface off the Americas which brings fewer nutrients from the bottom of the ocean.

That means there is less food available for marine species like squid and salmon, in turn reducing fish stocks for South American fishing communities.

Is climate change affecting El Nino/La Nina?

In 2021, the UN's climate scientists, the IPCC, said the ENSO events which have occurred since 1950 are stronger than those observed between 1850 and 1950.

However, it also said that historical evidence like tree rings, corals and sediment records shows that there have been variations in the frequency and strength of these episodes since the 1400s.

The IPCC concluded there is no clear evidence that climate change has affected El Nino or La Nina events.
Elon Musk was asked what he'd tell his kids about choosing a career in the era of AI. His answer revealed he sometimes struggles with self-doubt and motivation.

Elon Musk was asked about career advice in the age of AI. Michael Gonzalez/Getty Images

Elon Musk was asked in a CNBC interview how he would advise his kids on careers in the AI age.

Musk said finding fulfillment can be difficult "if the AI can do your job better than you can."

As many companies develop AI, Musk has repeatedly expressed concern about the technology.

Elon Musk expressed concern about AI technology and reflected on his own self-doubt and motivation when faced with the technology's capabilities, in an interview Tuesday night with CNBC's David Faber.

At the end of the hour-long interview, the Tesla CEO was asked how he would advise his kids on pursuing valuable career paths, given the rapid developments of AI technology.

After a noticeable pause, Musk, who has nine known kids, said: "Well, that is a tough question to answer, I guess I would just say to follow their heart in terms of what they find interesting to do or fulfilling to do, and try to be as useful as possible to the rest of society."

Musk said it can be difficult to find fulfillment and meaning in life "if the AI can do your job better than you can."

That would mean AI had advanced to a "magic genie" level, Musk said, meaning you could ask it for anything.

"If I think about it too hard, it frankly can be dispiriting and demotivating, because I've put a lot of blood, sweat and tears into building companies," Musk added.

Musk went on to express that he sometimes experiences self-doubt about whether he should be sacrificing time away from friends and family when faced with the likelihood that AI will eventually be more capable at many tasks than humans.

"Then I'm like 'Should I be doing this?' because if I'm sacrificing time with friends and family, but then ultimately the AI can do all these things. Does that make sense? I don't know," Musk told CNBC.

"To some extent, I have to have a deliberate suspension of disbelief in order to remain motivated," Musk added.

As AI technologies, including OpenAI's ChatGPT, have gained great traction with the public, Musk has repeatedly expressed concern about the technology  though he has recently been recruiting and building an AI project, Insider previously reported. Musk was an early investor and cofounder in OpenAI, but he is no longer involved with the company.

Last month, Musk said AI was "a danger to the public" and stressed a need for government oversight, during an interview with Tucker Carlson. Musk's response reflected similar concerns workers and lawmakers have about the technology. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman met with Congress Tuesday where he said the government should designate an agency to oversee AI developments.

Ultimately, Musk advised his kids, and by extension people entering the workforce, to pursue work that will be useful to humanity.

"I would say work on things you find interesting, fulfilling, and contribute some good to the rest of society," Musk said.

Musk did not respond to Insider's request for comment ahead of publication.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Twitter CEO Elon Musk doubled down on a conspiracy theory he lent credence to, suggesting the gunman in the Allen, Texas, mass shooting was not a white supremacist, despite his Nazi tattoos and other damning evidence.

The tech mogul made the claims during an interview with CNBC on Tuesday evening.

On 9 May, Bellingcat, an open-source intelligence research group, found that the shooter  who killed eight, including several children, according to police  held white supremacist views. The group published a report detailing the shooter's ideological leanings and evidenced those claims using the gunman's social media posts.

Bellingcat's proof included photos of the shooter with a large swastika tattoo on his chest and a Right-Wing Death Squad patch that was sewn to his body armour. The details were taken from the shooter's profile on Odnoklassniki, a Russian social media site without moderation for hate speech. The shooter reportedly had been kicked off US social media sites, according to the report.

The investigators positively identified the shooter using photos of IDs and other identifying documents the shooter shared on the social media profile.

The Texas Department of Public Safety also said that the shooter appeared to support neo-Nazi ideology. An official noted that [the shooter] had patches. He had tattoos.

None of that was enough to convince Mr Musk, who said that there was no proof to the claims and that Bellingcat "literally specialises in psychological operations." He went on to call the report "either the weirdest story ever or a very bad psyop!"

Mr Musk's deflection is a common tactic among right-wing apologists following mass shootings and other events caused by right-wing violence. Republican lawmakers initially attempted to blame the Capitol riot on left-wing agitators and later blamed the FBI; conspiracy theorist Alex Jones infamously claimed the Sandy Hook mass shooting was a government hoax; social media comments sections about right-wing mass shooters frequently include allegations that the gunmen are government assets intended to stir up support for gun confiscation.

CNBC's David Faber asked Mr Musk about his comments during their interview on Tuesday, during which Mr Musk doubled down on his stance.

Elon Musk on Tuesday said that if his inflammatory tweets scare away advertisers from Twitter, he will accept that. Ill say what I want, and if the consequence of that is losing money, so be it." https://t.co/0Pi3Yl8Jo2 pic.twitter.com/rpZ3Ff8Dw0  CNBC (@CNBC) May 16, 2023

I think it was incorrectly ascribed to be a white supremacist action, Mr Musk said. And the evidence for that was some obscure Russian website that no ones ever heard of that had no followers. And the company that found this was Bellingcat. And do you know what Bellingcat is? Psyops.

Bellingcat noted that it did not actually discover the Russian profile  the New York Times initially reported the profile's existence; Bellingcat just dug in further and produced their report.

Mr Musk continued, again claiming incorrectly that Bellingcat was in the business of psychological warfare.

Im saying I thought that ascribing it to white supremacy was bulls***," he said. "And that the information for that came from an obscure Russian website and was somehow magically found by Bellingcat, which is a company that does psyops.

This isn't the first time Mr Musk has dabbled in right-wing conspiracy theory; last year he signal boosted another conspiracy theory claiming that the man who attacked Paul Pelosi was actually the mans gay lover and that the incident was violence born of intimacy.
Elon Musk says it's a 'good sign' that the founder of his first acquisition as Twitter owner is a 'notorious' trashposter

Elon Musk. Carina Johansen/AFP/Getty Images

Elon Musk often tweets out old memes and enjoys trolling people.

Twitter acquired Laskie, a tech recruitment company, this week.

And as one user pointed out its founder is "a notorious shitposter," Musk said it was "a good sign."

If you've had a look at Elon Musk's tweets, you'll know that he's a big fan of posting fairly dated, and sometimes conspiratorial, memes.

At times, he has also attempted to wade into the realm of trashposting or shitposting. That's the trollish use of absurd posts, sometimes to provoke debate or satirize, and other times just for a laugh.

Twitter's poop-emoji auto reply to journalists' enquiries is a relevant example of Musk's affinity for online trolling.

And it looks like his love of good posts has weighed into Twitter's recent purchase of Laskie, a tech recruitment company.

"Only fitting that Twitter's first acquisition in the Elon era is a company run by a notorious shitposter," Austen Allred, a tech founder, tweeted Tuesday night in reference to Laskie's founder, Chris Bakke.

"I regard that as a good sign :)," Musk replied at around 1.a.m PT.

Bakke has over 147,000 followers on Twitter and wouldn't have reached that without his so-called shitposts, which often see over a million views.

Unlike Musk's memes, they're original jokes which use absurd examples  often mockingly or just latching onto topical discussions with humor.

Bakke's pinned tweet uses a photoshopped news article about McDonald's Hamburglar to make fun of The New York Times' profile of Elizabeth Holmes, the Theranos founder sentenced to over 11 years in prison.

He's also joked about Italy's now-overturned ban of ChatGPT, with a fake screenshot of the AI debasing a pasta recipe.

And amid the bankruptcy of Silicon Valley Bank, quipped that only a Mr. Beast miracle could rescue the financial system.

Maybe he can give Elon a posting tip or two.

Insider contacted Twitter for comment. The company responded with an automated message that didn't address the inquiry.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Elon Musk Says Tesla Will Try Advertising After All

Tesla - YouTube

Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced Tuesday night the company will begin advertising its products for the first time.

"So I guess I should say advertising is awesome, and everyone should do it," Musk said at Tesla's 2023 annual shareholder meeting in Austin. "We will try out a little advertising and see how it goes."

The decision represents a hard about-face for the Tesla boss, who for years has routinely stood against any sort of advertising for the brand.

"Tesla does not advertise or pay for endorsements," Musk said in a 2019 tweet. "Instead, we use that money to make the product great." Later in the year, he tweeted "I hate advertising."

The turnaround decision is likely a tactic to keep investors happy in a slowing economy, Automotive News speculates. Tesla cut prices significantly in January in an attempt to boost sales and compete against the rising number of all-electric offerings from legacy brands like Hyundai.

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Elon Musk's productivity hack is taking 2 or 3 days off a year, working 7 days a week, and getting 6 hours of sleep a night

Elon Musk's productivity hack is taking 2 or 3 days off a year, working 7 days a week, and getting 6 hours of sleep a night

Elon Musk is a known workaholic, and he has the numbers to back that up.

He told CNBC's David Faber he works throughout the year except for "two or three" days.

Musk's obsession with long working hours has been extensively covered by the media.

Elon Musk is a workaholic, and he's got the numbers to back that up.

The CEO of Tesla and SpaceX told CNBC's David Faber on Tuesday that he pretty much works throughout the year.

In response to a question about whether Tesla and SpaceX employees need to come into the office every day, Musk said he works "seven days a week," but that he's "not expecting others to do that." Musk also said that he thinks working remotely is "morally wrong."

"In terms of how many days in a year do I not put in some meaningful amount of work? It's probably about two or three," he told Faber.

He also said he gets about six hours of sleep a night.

"That's not bad, I thought it would be less," Faber said, to which, Musk responded: "I tried less. Even though I am awake more hours, I get less done. And the brain pain level is bad if I get less than six hours."

Musk's obsession with working long hours has been extensively covered in the media.

After acquiring Twitter in October, Musk told the BBC he sleeps on a couch in the library at the company's San Francisco headquarters.

In August 2018, the Guardian reported that Musk had been working 120-hour weeks to keep the production of the Tesla Model 3 on track  to the extent he even slept under his desk.

The same year, he told the New York Times that he spent his birthday at the Tesla offices. "All night  no friends, nothing," he told the publication.

Musk did not immediately respond to Insider's requests for comment sent via Tesla outside regular business hours.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Embarrassed by Ukraine downing its 'unstoppable' missiles, Russia is now scrambling to attack its air defenses, UK intel says

Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko shows a Kh-47 Kinzhal missile shot down by a Ukrainian Air Defence unit, at a compound of the Scientific Research Institute in Kyiv, Ukraine, May 12, 2023. REUTERS/Valentyn Ogirenko

Russia's new priority is targeting Ukraine's improved air defense systems, the UK MOD said.

This comes after Ukraine shot down Kinzhal missiles that Russia bragged were unstoppable.

Russia claimed it destroyed one Patriot air defense system, but US officials said it was still operational.

Russia's new priority is trying to neutralize Ukraine's "improved" air defense systems after they successfully shot down missiles that President Vladimir Putin had bragged were unbeatable, according to UK intelligence.

The UK Ministry of Defence said in an intelligence update on Wednesday that Russia has prioritized attempts to neutralize Ukraine's improved air defence capabilities after it "achieved the first ever shoot-down of a KILLJOY air-launched ballistic missile."

KILLJOY is NATO's term for Russia's advanced Kinzhal missiles, which Russia has previously described as unstoppable.

Ukraine said on Saturday that it achieved the first-ever shoot down of a Kinzhal over its capital city, Kyiv, using a US-made Patriot air defense system.

On Tuesday it said it had shot down six more Kinzhal missiles over the city.

Insider has not been able to independently verify the claim.

The UK MOD did not say how many Russian Kinzhal missiles it believes have been destroyed, merely stating that Russia had lost "several more" KILLJOY missiles in its efforts to target Ukraine's defense systems.

It's also not clear how successful Russia's efforts have been.

Russia's defence ministry said on Tuesday that a Russian missile destroyed one Patriot air defense system in Kyiv. Ukraine refuted the claim, The Guardian reported.

Two US officials told The New York Times that one Patriot system had been damaged but that it was still operational.

Patriot systems make for easy targets due to the signals they emit, but their best chance of taking out a Kinzhal is actually when they are the target, one expert told Insider.

The US decided to give Ukraine the Patriot defense system last year, after Ukraine asked allies for air defense help to repel Russian attacks. Ukraine has at least two Patriot air defense systems.

Ukraine's air defenses have become increasingly important in the war, with Russia targeting cities far from the front lines.

Ukraine's defenses, which also include missile systems from the UK and other countries, have stopped many of those attacks.

The destruction of the Kinzhal missiles was a psychological blow for Russia.

The missile's manufacturer, Rostec, had claimed "there is no countermeasure" to it, with Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu in August calling it "impossible neither to detect it nor to intercept," as Insider's Ryan Pickrell previously reported.

The UK MOD said that the apparent vulnerability of the missiles "is likely a surprise and an embarrassment for Russia: Russian President Vladimir Putin has touted the system as undefeatable."

Meanwhile, experts have disputed the idea that the missile can be called "hypersonic," as they don't have the ability for sustained hypersonic flight, even though they can reached those speeds.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Editor's note: This story was updated to reflect that Shane Walker is registered as the owner of Walker Mechanical, according to state records.

RUIDOSO DOWNS  Ruidoso Downs City Councilor and Mayor Pro-Tem Shane Walker faces a felony embezzlement charge and was suspended from office after he was arrested by the Lincoln County Sheriff's Office Wednesday on a warrant issued Tuesday by Lincoln County Magistrate Court.

Walker was suspended from his capacity as city councilor via "emergency action" according to a statement from the office of Mayor Dean Holman, and further action was planned at the next city council meeting May 22.

"Mayor Dean Holman, chief executive officer of the City of Ruidoso Downs has taken immediate action to temporarily suspend Mayor Pro-Tem Shane Walker from his duties as Mayor Pro-Tem of the City of Ruidoso Downs," read the statement.

He was charged with embezzlement (more than $20,000), a second-degree felony, court records show after an investigation tied to work Walker agreed to in November 2022 but never completed.

Walker, who serves as mayor pro-tem on the city council, did not respond to a request for comment from the Ruidoso News.

More: Ruidoso woman assaulted, crashes car to escape kidnapper. Suspect being sought by police

Walker was arrested Wednesday, records show, and was scheduled for his first appearance at 10:30 a.m., May 18 before Lincoln County Magistrate Judge Katie Lund.

Walker is owner of Walker Mechanical, according to business records from the New Mexico Secretary of State.

On Nov. 4, 2022, Walker received a check for $23,000 and another for $6,777 on Nov. 16, 2022, from Ruidoso Custom Builders for which Walker was serving as a subcontractor, according to an affidavit signed by Ruidoso Police Detective Matt Christian.

A staff member at Ruidoso Custom Builders told police the checks were for material and labor for a job that was never started, records show, providing copies of the two checks to investigators.

Five months after Walker allegedly received the first check, the company told police it confirmed with ACityDiscount.com, where Walker said hed ordered the materials, that the transaction never occurred.

More: Ruidoso Downs Racetrack Hall of Fame to honor six inductees this summer

Ruidoso Custom Builders contacted Walker April 6, police said, advising that if the company did not receive the funds back or a payment plan by April 21, it would proceed with embezzlement charges against Walker and a claim against his HVAC license bond.

Staff at Ruidoso Custom Builders also provided text messages to police from between October 2022 and April 2023, records show, indicating Walker knew about the job and its requirements.

Police said when Walker was contacted, he contended hed made a civil agreement, read the affidavit, with owner of Ruidoso Custom Builders Bill Roach.

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Walker told investigators he had text messages showing Roach agreed to deduct costs owed to Walker from a job on Roachs home.

Walker refused to bring the messages to the Ruidoso Police Department, the affidavit read, telling police to contact his attorney.

Police later contacted Roach, the report read, who denied that any verbal agreement about payment or reimbursement existed.

More: Ricardo Soto sentenced in death of 2-year-old boy

Roach also assured me the payments for the job at his personal residence were kept completely separate, read the affidavit signed by Christian.

Ruidoso Downs City Councilor Judy Miller said Walker should be removed from office amid the ongoing court case, arguing no one with a felony conviction can serve on the governing body.

My first reaction is that we need to do something about it. Hes our mayor pro-tem and he signs our checks, she said. My idea is to dismiss him from that position and see how the court case goes. If he is convicted, he cannot serve as a city councilor.

Im shaken up. Its kind of scary.

Adrian Hedden can be reached at 575-628-5516, achedden@currentargus.com or @AdrianHedden on Twitter.

This article originally appeared on Carlsbad Current-Argus: Ruidoso Downs suspends councilor Shane Walker after embezzlement arrest
EPD: Officers shoot at, but do not injure, suspect during warrant operation

Police tape cordons off the Sunoco gas station at 201 E Louisiana Street Wednesday, May 17, 2023, where Evansville police shot at an armed suspect during an attempt to serve a felony warrant. The suspect was not hit and ultimately surrendered, police said.

EVANSVILLE  Two Evansville police officers serving a felony warrant in the city's Jimtown neighborhood Wednesday afternoon discharged their weapons but did not strike the suspect, police said.

There were no injuries reported.

The operation to arrest the suspect, who an Evansville Police Department spokeswoman identified as 36-year-old Samuel Earl Curry Jr., involved a joint city-county task force and multiple undercover officers. Curry was arrested on charges of felony parole violation warrant, along with possession of a firearm by a serious violent felon and felony intimidation.

Jail records listed him as a Henderson, Kentucky resident.

"Plainclothes detectives actually saw him (Curry) out driving just a little bit before he parked at the gas station," Sgt. Anna Gray told the Courier & Press. "In order to avoid a traffic stop  which potentially could lead to a pursuit - they followed him and waited for him to park."

Once Curry parked at a Sunoco gas station at 201 E. Louisiana St., uniformed officers and Vanderburgh County sheriff's deputies boxed in his vehicle and shouted at Curry to show his hands.

Body camera footage released Wednesday evening shows officers telling Curry to get out of the car. Curry repeatedly tells officers he is going to kill himself.

"He did not cooperate," Gray said. "He did open up his driver-side door [and] he did produce a handgun at that time."

The body camera footage doesn't show the moment when Curry reportedly pulled his weapon.

Two EPD officers then fired their duty weapons at Curry, but he was not hit or injured, according to police. Gray said the rounds hit Curry's vehicle, which led him to discard his firearm, put his hands up and surrender.

Body camera footage shows officers did fire at Curry, hitting his vehicle and shattering the back window glass.

After officers have Curry on the ground, they can be heard addressing the potential of another person being the car.

"I don't know if anybody else is in that car," an officer can be heard saying.

A cursory search of online court records did not immediately return reports of active warrants for Curry's arrest. And police didn't say what crimes Curry stood accused of committing or which jurisdiction issued the warrant for his arrest.

Neighborhood residents as far south as Oregon Street told the Courier & Press they heard the shots officers fired ring out in quick succession.

By 3 p.m., civilian-recorded video of the shooting made the rounds on social media pages, such as Evansville Watch. Audio from the footage features the distinctive, loud pops associated with gunfire.

Video of the officer involved shooting that occurred earlier this afternoon at the Marathon on Heidelbach & Louisiana. Very fortunate there were no injuries to any of the involved parties. #ewatch



Service Powered By K & W Premier Heating and Air pic.twitter.com/WsMUcTMZfS  EvansvilleWatch (@EvansvilleWatch) May 17, 2023

According to EPD, Curry was taken to a hospital and medically cleared after feeling ill once in custody.

Sarah Loesch contributed to this story.

This article originally appeared on Evansville Courier & Press: Evansville police shoot at armed suspect; no injuries reported
Map of Ethiopia showing Oromia region.

Rebels from Ethiopia's Oromia region on Wednesday accused the government of launching a large-scale military offensive against them after peace talks between the two sides ended without agreement.

The Oromo Liberation Army (OLA) said government forces had launched an "all-out offensive" across a number of areas in Oromia after the negotiations wrapped up earlier this month.

OLA spokesman Odaa Tarbii said in a message to AFP that the military action was "contrary to the spirit of de-escalation we had hoped for", even though there was no formal ceasefire.

"We perceive this as an attempt to gain leverage and force us into accepting their terms, but they should not mistake our commitment to peace as a sign of weakness," he added.

Odaa said the OLA was leaving the door open to continued negotiations, but added that no dates had been set for another round of talks.

It was not possible to independently verify the OLA's assertion, and federal government representatives did not respond to AFP requests for comment.

Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's government and the OLA -- which was designated a "terrorist group by Addis Ababa in 2021 -- launched peace talks in Tanzania's semi-autonomous region of Zanzibar in late April.

They ended on May 3 without a deal although both parties voiced willingness to pursue dialogue.

The OLA has been fighting Addis Ababa since it split in 2018 from the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) when that group renounced armed struggle.

The Oromo community, Ethiopia's largest ethnic group, has long complained of marginalisation.

The OLA's strength, estimated at a few thousand men in 2018, has increased significantly in recent years, although observers believe it is insufficiently organised or well-armed to pose a real threat to the federal government.

Oromia, which surrounds the capital Addis Ababa and is Ethiopia's largest and most populous region, has suffered ethnic massacres in recent years carried out by unknown groups.

The OLA has been repeatedly accused by Abiy's government of being responsible for the killings, a charge it denies.

A mosaic of more than 80 ethno-linguistic communities, Ethiopia has struggled to manage rival claims to territorial and political power.

ayv-txw/amu/ri
The Scene

ADDIS ABABA  Long lines at gas stations aren't rare in the capital of Ethiopia; there are often shortages of fuel. But the lines two weeks ago werent fuel-related; they were cash-related.

A new government-mandated cashless payment system snarled traffic as drivers found themselves spending hours grappling with account activation, forgotten passwords, and system failures. And while drivers say the system has improved since then, it's still far from seamless.

Drivers and industry watchers Semafor Africa spoke with were also irritated by the governments decision to push the use of telebirr, the mobile money platform run by the state-owned telecom giant Ethio Telecom, crowding out possible smaller rivals.

Know More

Ethiopia, like many African countries, is trying to shift the economy from a cash-based system to a digital one. The goal is to boost financial inclusion among its citizens, increase its tax base over time because digital transactions are easier to track, and boost economic growth overall in the continents second largest country by population.

One way it's doing that is by requiring digital transactions with the government, part of its first-ever National Digital Payments Strategy, published in 2021.

An IT official at a federal institution, who asked not to be named as a public worker, said that their department had currently integrated telebirr exclusively into its system but is working on adding other state owned channels.

Kaleab's view

Telebirr's current monopoly harks back to Ethiopia's old habits as a protectionist state. In the two years since its launch, telebirr has acquired over 31 million subscribers and facilitated more than 379 billion birr ($7 billion) in transactions as of March 23.

During that time, competitor Safaricom, which entered the telecoms market in 2021 as part of Ethiopias liberalization of the telecom sector, was shut out of mobile payments; it was only granted a mobile money license today. It marks the first time a foreign investor has been granted a mobile money license in Ethiopia. The Kenyan company said it had spent around $150 million to win that approval, on top of the $850 million for the telecommunications license.

That effectively provided telebirr with a head start to solidify its position before Safaricom's M-Pesas arrival.

That early preference for telebirr could also put other digital payment providers, especially Ethiopia's homegrown fintech firms, at a disadvantage. Ethio Telecom wields considerable influence and can more easily overcome the countrys lengthy and complicated bureaucratic processes to integrate payment methods compared with local startups. This could handicap Ethiopia's fintech sector and wider economic development.

Room for Disagreement

Telebirr's dominant position has been partly achieved through advanced technology, its extensive reach, diverse use cases, and competitive pricing, said Tewodros Tassew, a local fintech consultant. "The notion that telebirr's success is solely due to government favoritism overlooks these key factors," he said.

The View From Lagos

Nigeria's introduction of redesigned currency notes before general elections earlier in the year was an indirect move to further a cashless policy drive, but instead it sparked widespread frustration which we saw across the country.

At the peak of the crisis in February, multiple bank branches I visited had scores of anxious residents forming long queues around cash dispensing machines desperate to withdraw the small amounts of cash available because most food and bus vendors do not collect payments digitally. The lines were just as long at gas stations due to the drastic reduction in cash collection. Normalcy finally returned in March after the Supreme Court overruled the central bank's restrictions on the use of cash.



 Alexander Onukwue

Notable
Forty nations have signed onto the creation of the 'register of damage' for Uraine, including the United States and all other G7 nations

Europe and the United States on Wednesday hailed a newly created "register of damage" for Ukraine as a first step to making Russia pay for its war.

The instrument, created by the 46-nation Council of Europe, records claims of damage or loss, paving the way to a future mechanism to compensate victims of the conflict.

The register is a "first, necessary, urgent step" ensuring "justice that is centred on the victims" of the war, said council head Marija Pejcinovic Buric on the second day of the summit in Iceland.

She said that, by early Wednesday, 40 countries had signed onto the register, including the United States, Japan and all other G7 nations.

Another three countries were finalising internal procedures to do so.

She and other leaders emphasised that countries outside the Council of Europe -- a pan-continental rights body separate from the European Union but incorporating all 27 EU member states -- could back the initiative.

The register, established initially for three years, will be lodged in The Hague with a satellite office in Ukraine.

Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal, at the summit, hailed the register as "an important milestone on the road to justice and reparations for Ukraine and the Ukrainians who have suffered so much from this war.

"The hard work begins now -- we need to ensure that the register becomes operational soon, so that victims of Russian aggression could submit their claims."

- Wide support -

US ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield, at the summit in an observer capacity, told Icelandic media that America was "proud" to join it and was working to drum up funds to contribute to it.

Russia was kicked out of the council last year after invading Ukraine.

Several EU countries back Ukraine's call for a special court to be set up to try Russia's leadership for war crimes.

The Hague-based International Criminal Court (ICC) in March issued an arrest warrant for Putin, accusing him of unlawfully deporting Ukrainian children.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz voiced support for the register, which he signed on to, but pointed out that "it doesn't settle the issue of payment for the damages" to Ukraine.

He said Europe could use money raised from frozen Russian funds to help pay for Ukraine's postwar reconstruction.

The move by the wider European community highlighted Russia's isolation on the continent.

The summit "shows clearly that (Russian President Vladimir) Putin has failed," Scholz said.

- Ukraine presses for jets -

"This meeting and this declaration is important to show the strength of our unity, the strength of our commitment" to Ukraine, the head of the EU's European Council, Charles Michel, said.

The summit was held just after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky wrapped up a whirlwind tour of major European capitals that saw Germany, France and Britain all vow to step up arms deliveries to Ukraine.

Ukraine is believed to be preparing an offensive on Russian positions in the east of its territory to be launched within weeks.

Zelensky is intent on boosting air defences as Russia deploys missiles and drones to inflict long-range damage.

He is pressing Western allies to provide advanced fighter jets but they are wary, fearing it could escalate the war.

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Dutch counterpart Mark Rutte agreed on the first day of the summit that they would build an "international coalition to provide Ukraine with combat air capabilities, supporting with everything from training to procuring F-16 jets".

rmb/ri
Pep Guardiola is aiming to lead Manchester City into the Champions League final

Manchester City's bid for a historic treble faces the ultimate challenge on Wednesday as Real Madrid visit the Etihad aiming for the chance to retain their Champions League crown.

City are four wins away from matching Manchester United's class of 1998/99 as the only side to win the Premier League, Champions League and FA Cup in the same season.

Just three points from their final three league games will secure a fifth title in six seasons for Pep Guardiola's men and United await in a first ever Manchester derby in the FA Cup final on June 3.

But Madrid pose the biggest obstacle, just as they did at the semi-final stage 12 months ago, as they stand in City's way of reaching the final in Istanbul and conquering Europe.

Back then Carlo Ancelotti's men produced a stunning fightback from two goals down in the closing seconds at the Santiago Bernabeu.

But crucially the English champions have home advantage this time for the decisive second leg as they bid to join Inter Milan in the final.

Despite the City fanbase taking time to warm to the Champions League, Guardiola's side have turned the Etihad into an almost impenetrable fortress.

City have not lost at home in Europe for five years, winning 23 and drawing just two of their 25 Champions League games since.

This year they have won all 14 home games in all competitions.

Its 1-1 and we are at the Etihad where weve been more than confident in the Champions League to get a result," said City defender Kyle Walker. "Hopefully we do that again."

By contrast to City's quest to translate their domestic dominance onto the European stage, Madrid have once again saved their best this season for the Champions League.

- 'We feel comfortable' -

Barcelona have already been crowned La Liga champions, leaving Real with just three league titles in the past 11 years.

But while domestic success has been modest by Real's lofty standards, many of the current squad have picked up five Champions League winner's medals in the last decade.

"We always feel comfortable in these type of games," said Madrid midfielder Luka Modric.

"We know that in the Champions League we always perform well because it is a competition that we love. We feel at home playing these games.

"It is for that reason we have won so many Champions Leagues because we have the belief in ourselves and we believe in our quality."

Madrid have already eliminated two Premier League sides, Liverpool and Chelsea, en route to the last four.

But City are a different beast and the visitors will do well to keep 52-goal striker Erling Haaland as quiet as the Norwegian was in the first leg.

"Madrid and City are in this moment the best teams in Europe," said Ancelotti.

The stakes appear even higher than normal at the semi-final stage with the victors strong favourites to become European champions next month.

Inter Milan overcame local rivals AC Milan to reach their first final in 13 years.

But the Nerazzurri sit 17 points adrift of Serie A winners Napoli and cannot match either City or Madrid for star quality.

kca/gj
Photo by Lionel Hahn/Getty Image

CANNES, FranceThere was really only one person anyone could talk about on the first day of the Cannes Film Festival. Sure, there were titters about snagging tickets for the new Martin Scorsese movie or getting in to see Indiana Jones, but mostly the name on everyone's lips was Johnny Depp.

The festival had programmed Jeanne du Barry, featuring Depp's return to the screen following his defamation trial with Amber Heard, as its opening night film. Would Depp show up? (Yes.) Would fans? (They did.) Would controversy? (Yes.)

Even beyond the obvious, Jeanne du Barrydirected by, starring, and co-written by French actress Maiwenncomes laden with baggage.

There is, of course, the aforementioned highly publicized and vicious case Depp brought against his ex-wife Heard for her allegations of abuse in a Washington Post opinion piece. He won that legal battle, but it came after he lost a 2021 libel case in the UK over a The Sun story calling him a "wife beater." Unrelated to all of that, there were claims he fought with Maiwenn on the set of Jeanne du Barry over his lateness on set. They were reportedly screaming at each other.

Not that Maiwenn doesn't have her own problematic behavior trailing her. She admitted to spitting in the face of an investigative journalist whose outlet reported on the accusations of rape against her ex-husband, the director Luc Besson, who she began dating when she was 15 and he was 32.

Stephanie Branchu/Why Not Productions

Her cavalier attitude to assault was also evident when she brushed off the allegations against Depp saying, Very quickly I said, he lost the first trial, he won the second. We could say it was one persons word against another. I didnt feel I had the right to judge. It's all in line with her general opinions about #MeToo, which are fervently anti.

Questions about the festival's choice to feature Jeanne du Barry swirled around the Croisette as visitors from around the world descended on this seaside tourist town. Festival director Thierry Fremaux told journalists on Monday: I dont know about the image of Johnny Depp in the U.S. To tell you the truth, in my life, I only have one rule, its the freedom of thinking, and the freedom of speech and acting within a legal framework. The next day jury member Brie Larson, who was a Time's Up member, was asked during a press conference about whether she'll see the movie. After questioning why this was directed at her, she said, You'll see, I guess, if I see it.

Jeanne du Barry Reviews Roast Johnny Depps Big Screen Comeback

Sure enough, she was on the red carpet for the opening night ceremony with the rest of her jury. Cameras broadcasting the festivities cut right from Larson to Depp signing autographs for fans camped outside of the Grand Theatre Lumiere screaming his name. Someone shook a DVD of The Tourist in his face. Others stood from a balcony with hand drawn signs declaring their love. (Unclear if Larson stayed through the screening.)

With all that being said, uh, how's the movie, you ask?

Confusing? Misguided? Maybe the most pro-French monarchy movie you'll ever see? (Sorry, Marie Antoinette.) But none of that really has to do with Depp beyond his very casting. Depp is essentially a nonentity in the movie. Acting in French, he plays Louis XV with barely any personality. Though I admittedly tensed up when he first appeared, but soon my eyes started to glaze over whenever he was on screen, mainly because he wasn't really doing anything. His dialogue is minimalperhaps because of his lack of fluency in the languageand his role is very much secondary to the star, Maiwenn herself, who plays his beloved mistress Jeanne du Barry.

As a Johnny Depp text, there's not much to the film. As a Maiwenn text, it's sort of fascinating. Maiwenn plays her historical heroine as a woman who defies her class to rise in rank through deft use of both her intelligence and sexuality, but even as she gains status she remains fully and happily devoted to most of the men in her life. The only male character that doesn't receive that courtesy is her eventual husband Jean, who abuses her briefly in a scene that would be upsetting regardless but is even more so given everything we know about the people in this production.

Stephanie Branchu/Why Not Productions

Other women in the film, including Louis daughters and Marie Antoinette, are largely portrayed as either nasty bitches or silly creatures who envy Jeanne for her style and her sway over the king. There's a real you hate me because you ain't me thing going on, which is eyebrow-raising in the context of Maiwenn's lack of allyship.

Beyond that, the movie is politically fraught. In one excruciating scene, the king gives Jeanne a quote-unquote gift of a Black boy named Zamor. Maiwenn clearly wants us to read Jeanne as benevolent for taking the child under her wing and making him a page instead of a slave, but it still reads as incredibly racist and patronizing. Meanwhile, though title cards at the end reference Jeanne du Barry's death by guillotine during the French Revolution, the conflict is basically shrugged off as a nuisance.

All these issues didn't stop the audience at the premiere from apparently loving the film. (I was watching in a theater next door, where the reaction wasn't nearly as vocal.) According to Variety, there was a seven-minute standing ovation at the Lumiere, during which Depp got teary-eyed.

Amber Heard Supporters Slam Cannes for Johnny Depp Premiere

But the chaos continued. The next morning, after a 20-minute delay, a moderator announced that the press conference for the film would begin without Depp, who also did not appear for the traditional photocall before. After a wait of a couple of minutes, Maiwenn and other cast members filed in, still sans Depp. He arrived at 12:42 p.m.: Three minutes before the conference was originally scheduled to end. His entrance was met with applause.

He fielded a couple of softball questions, until he was asked if he still felt boycotted by Hollywood as he had once claimed. Then he took an immediately defensive, but also rambling tone filled with bizarre jokes and verbose posturing. He said he had felt boycotted because he was asked to resign over what he called, "merely a bunch of kind of vowels and consonants floating in the air," referring to his firing from the Fantastic Beasts franchise.

He continued: "Do I feel boycotted now? No, not at all. But I don't feel boycotted by Hollywood because I don't think about it. I don't think about Hollywood. I don't have much further need for Hollywood, myself."

Later, in response to a question about the media coverage at Cannes, calling what people have read about him for the last five or six years "fantastically horrifically written fiction," he implored people to focus on the movie. "We're here to talk about a film but it's like asking a question, 'how are you doing?' but what's underneath in the subtext is 'god I hate you,'" he said.

Stephanie Branchu/Why Not Productions

A series of strange analogies followed when he was asked about people who feel he should not be at the festival: "What if one day they did not allow me under no circumstances, no matter what. I cannot go to McDonald's for life because somewhere if you got them all in one room there would be 39 angry people watching me eat a Big Mac on a loop. Just for fun. Who are they? Why do they care?"

Despite his vaguely disguised displeasure, he did not feel like he was making a comeback. Maybe people stopped calling out of whatever their fear was at the time, but no, I didn't go nowhere, he said. I've been sitting around. And, for what it's worth, at least in France he was greeted like the celebrity he once was.

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Ex-Adviser Burns Trump By Revealing What World Leaders Really Thought Of Him

John Bolton, who served as national security adviser to Donald Trump, gave his old boss a blunt reality check on Tuesday.

The former president frequently claims he got along great with the worlds dictators and autocrats, and that they respected him in turn.

Trump has this impression that foreign leaders, especially adversaries, hold him in high regard, Bolton said on CNN on Tuesday, noting that Trump often refers specifically to Chinese leader Xi Jinping, North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

In fact, the exact opposite is true, Bolton said. I have been in those rooms with him when hes met with those leaders. I believe they think hes a laughing fool.

Trump has claimed that Putin never would have invaded Ukraine had he been president. Bolton said Trump, if reelected, would have weakened NATO and made it even easier for Putin to attack Ukraine and win.

Donald Trump has long touted what he says are strong relationships with world leaders, but his former national security adviser says otherwise.



I have been in those rooms with him when he met with those leaders, I believe they think hes a laughing fool, John Bolton told CNN. pic.twitter.com/oA5nH5auAj  POLITICO (@politico) May 16, 2023

Bolton also said Trumps vow to pardon most of the Jan. 6 rioters is virtually treasonous.

John Bolton, Donald Trumps former National Security Advisor, SLAMS Trump over his promise to pardon Jan. 6 rioters: Its virtually treasonous... Its another example why hes not fit to be president.#NeverTrumppic.twitter.com/VhoKJgwOKw  Republicans against Trump (@RpsAgainstTrump) May 16, 2023

Bolton, a longtime conservative foreign policy apparatchik, was national security adviser under Trump from April 2018 through September 2019.

Like many Trump insiders, he capitalized on his time in the administration with a tell-all book bashing his former boss, who in turn slammed Bolton as a liar, a dope and a sick puppy.

Bolton has said he may challenge Trump for the GOP presidential nomination in 2024.
Apple's headquarters in Cupertino, California

A former Apple engineer has been charged with stealing the company's self-driving car technology, almost five years after he fled to China.

Prosecutors accuse Weibao Wang, 35, of stealing thousands of files containing proprietary information while secretly working for an unnamed Chinese company.

Six counts of theft or attempted theft of trade secrets are in the indictment.

This is the third time an ex-Apple employee has been accused of stealing autonomous tech secrets for China.

The justice department alleges Mr Wang stole documents containing the source code for the software and hardware behind the self-driving systems.

Mr Wang joined Apple in March 2016 as a member of the team that developed technology for autonomous systems, the justice department said.

He signed a confidentiality agreement about the project, which was at the time known to very few people within the company.

Mr Wang left Apple on 16 April 2018, the indictment said. Unbeknownst to the firm, he had accepted an offer more than four months earlier to work as an engineer at another company developing self-driving cars, said US prosecutors.

That company, unnamed in the indictment, is based in China, said prosecutors.

Law enforcement searched Mr Wang's home in Mountain View, California, in June 2018 while he was there.

He told authorities he had no plans to leave the US. That same day, he bought a one-way ticket from San Francisco to Guangzhou, China, the justice department said.

An analysis of the devices seized from Mr Wang's home showed he had stored large quantities of Apple data on self-driving car technology.

In a press conference, the US Attorney for the Northern District of California, Ismail Ramsey, said Mr Wang remained in China.

If he were ever extradited and convicted, he could face 10 years in prison for each of the six charges.

Apple did not respond to BBC's request for a comment.

Two other former Apple employees have previously been charged in similar cases involving the theft of trade secrets.

Xiaolang Zhang pleaded guilty last year in a court in San Jose, California. He was arrested in 2018 as he tried to board a flight to China.

Another ex-Apple employee, Jizhong Chen, faces similar charges.
A former Apple engineer who fled to China five years ago has been charged with stealing the companys self-driving car technology.

The US Justice Department charged Weibao Wang, 35, for stealing large troves of data from Apple, including trade secrets and technology related to autonomous systems that are used to design self-driving cars.

Mr Wang was charged with six counts of theft or attempted theft of trade secrets, according to a press release issued by the department.

Innovation is alive and well in Silicon Valley  indeed, throughout the Northern District of California, said US attorney Ismail J Ramsey.

Unfortunately, there will always be some who cheat the system by stealing and profiting from the fruits of others labour. The Wang prosecution is but one example. We are pleased that the Disruptive Technology Task Force renews energy and focus on securing innovation for those who actually create it.

The former Apple engineer was a resident of Mountain View in California and began working with the tech giant in 2016.

He had signed a confidentiality agreement for the project for which he was working on, and very few people at the company knew about it at that time.

He began working as staff engineer with the US-based subsidiary of a Chinese company and was working to develop self-driving cars, the indictment said.

The company was identified only as Company One in the indictment.

Mr Wang was also accused of waiting for more than four months before telling Apple that he was resigning, after he signed a new employment agreement with Company One.

After the last day of his employment at Apple, on 16 April 2018, Apples officials found in their logs that he had accessed large troves of confidential data in the final days of his stint at the tech giant.

His Mountain View home was searched on 27 June 2018. Law enforcement agents discovered large quantities of data taken from Apple prior to his departure during the search, for which Mr Wang was present.

After telling the agents that he had no plans to travel, he purchased a one-way ticket to Guangzhou, China, and boarded a flight that same night.

In a press conference, Mr Ramsey said Mr Wang remained in China and he could face 10 years in jail, if extradited and convicted.

This is the third incident of a former Apple employee being charged for stealing of documents for China.

Two other Apple employees have previously been charged in similar cases involving theft of trade secrets, reported the BBC.
Party-switching North Carolina state Rep. Tricia Cotham (R), who was instrumental in overriding a veto of the states 12-week abortion ban Tuesday night, defended her decision to uphold the ban despite having once been an outspoken supporter of reproductive rights.

Some call me a hypocrite since I voted for this bill, Cotham said in a lengthy statement Tuesday night, deriding extremists on both sides of the abortion issue.

Cotham  who switched parties last month, thereby giving the North Carolina GOP the supermajority it needed to override Gov. Roy Coopers vetoes  described the state ban on abortion after 12 weeks of pregnancy as one that strikes a reasonable balance and represents a middle ground. This ban, she claimed, will still allow the procedure in the timeframe when most abortions occur.

North Carolina state Rep. Tricia Cotham (R) in Raleigh on May 16 ahead of a debate on the veto override.

North Carolina state Rep. Tricia Cotham (R) in Raleigh on May 16 ahead of a debate on the veto override.

But Cothams characterization ignores the current reality of Americas abortion landscape. Since the U.S. Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade last year, getting access to the procedure has become a logistical nightmare for many patients. Depending on where they live, people seeking an abortion may need to travel several states away for care, inundating clinics in states where abortion remains legal.

North Carolina, which will still allow abortions up to 20 weeks into a pregnancy until the new ban goes into effect on July 1, has seen a 37% increase in abortions since the fall of Roe  the highest-percentage increase in any state since the Supreme Courts ruling last June.

That creates longer wait times to see providers  sometimes by several weeks  which means patients may need to become aware of their pregnancy, and decide how to proceed, far earlier than Cotham and her GOP colleagues have implied.

A protestor in Raleigh slams Cotham as a

A protestor in Raleigh slams Cotham as a "traitor" on May 13.

The bill also requires patients to have an in-person consultation with their provider 72 hours before the abortion  a process that, in North Carolina, is currently allowed to take place over the phone. The bill further requires patients who undergo a medication abortion to come in for a follow-up visit. Both those stipulations would take up available appointment times at clinics, likely extending wait times even further.

Cotham, who spoke about her own medically necessary abortion on the state House floor in 2015, praised the 12-week ban in her statement as crucially providing exceptions for rape, incest, severe fetal abnormalities, and to protect the life of the mother. The bill, she claimed, affirms the life-saving care she received when she underwent a physician-advised abortion to protect both her life and her fertility during an ectopic pregnancy.

It was very important to me that this legislation protects all women going through a miscarriage or other complications  and it most certainly does, she said.

On April 23, 2015, NC Rep. Tricia Cotham delivers emotional speech in opposition to proposed waiting periods for women seeking abortions. She shares personal story. This decision was up to me, my husband, my doctor and my God. It was not up to any of you in this chamber. #ncpolpic.twitter.com/2Of51R7amX  Bryan Anderson (@BryanRAnderson) April 5, 2023

But such life-saving exceptions are not so easily applied. In some cases, it simply means that hospitals, wary of lawsuits, wait until a patient is at deaths door before helping terminate the pregnancy.

In March, five women who were denied life-saving abortions in Texas filed a lawsuit against the state, saying its six-week abortion ban forced their health care providers to delay care until the last possible moment. While four of the plaintiffs ultimately decided to travel outside the state for treatment, one of them was told it was unsafe to travel. It wasnt until the pregnancy caused her to go into septic shock  a life-threatening reaction in the bloodstream to an infection  that her providers felt they were in the clear, legally, to proceed with an abortion.

When she spoke before her colleagues in 2015, Cotham appeared to understand the nuances of the abortion issue, and the problems with government intervention.

This decision was up to me, my husband, my doctor and my God. It was not up to any of you in this chamber, she said at the time.

And as recently as four months ago, she co-sponsored a bill to codify abortion protections in North Carolina.

Cotham walked away from a reporter on Wednesday afternoon when he pressed her on those inconsistencies.

NEW: I tried asking Rep. Tricia Cotham about her vote on the abortion bill and her statement. She did not want to answer questions about the issue @WNCN@Queen_City_News@wnct9@myfox8#ncpol#ncgapic.twitter.com/2JknDhQhrK  Michael Hyland (@MichaelWNCN) May 17, 2023

One question that a lot of people have, though, is how you reconcile the vote with your public statements in the past being in support of abortion rights? WNCN reporter Michael Hyland asked her.

Cotham asked him to stop asking her questions and referred him to her statement.

A few months after winning reelection for her current term in late 2022, Cotham renounced her Democratic affiliations and joined North Carolinas GOP  giving the party a powerful supermajority in the state House and paving the way for Republicans to override vetoes by the states Democratic governor. She claimed she made the change because of bullying by her Democratic colleagues.

Immediately, questions arose regarding how Cothams switch would affect abortion access in the state. But at an April press conference announcing her new affiliation, she more or less said she didnt want to talk about abortion.

I believe women are much more, she said then. We are business owners. We help create economies. We raise families. We carry it all. And to always be tied just to that tragic, hard topic is wrong.

She later told local outlet WBTV that she supports banning abortion at around six weeks of pregnancy, but that there was a consensus among North Carolinians in support of a 12-week ban.

However, polling by Carolina Forward/Change Research found earlier this month that more than half of likely voters were either strongly opposed or somewhat opposed to the 12-week ban.

Related...
(Bloomberg) -- Ex-French President Nicolas Sarkozy lost his bid to overturn a historic criminal conviction, according to Agence France-Presse.

Most Read from Bloomberg

The Paris court of appeals on Wednesday backed a one-year prison term over allegations he offered to help a magistrate land a prestigious job in return for a favor. The additional two-year suspended sentence handed down by a lower court in 2021 was also upheld by the court, the agency reported.

An attorney for Sarkozy didnt immediately respond to a request for comment.

While he wasnt the first former French president to go on trial in modern times, Sarkozy was the first to get a non-suspended sentence. The late Jacques Chirac was too sick to attend court before he was found guilty in 2011 of misusing Paris city funds, and convicted to a two-year suspended term.

Read more: Ex-French President Sarkozy Found Guilty of Corruption

The case centers on tapped phone calls of Sarkozy dating back to 2014, after hed left office.

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

2023 Bloomberg L.P.
These Lone Star spots are still a great place to hang out.

Robbie Caponetto

If you stop off along the Interstate 10 corridor leading from San Antonio to Houston, you may notice a few open-air gathering spots with picnic tables, well-worn wooden buildings, bottled and canned beers, and patrons mixing and mingling. These spots are well-known to Texans as icehouses," and they represent a crucial element of Lone Star hospitality. Icehouses are laid-back, easy, not fussy, and an escape from the crazy world we live in today, insists Kent Oliver, owner of Dakota East Side Ice House in San Antonio.

Where did icehouses come from, why have they been so beloved in Texas, and what do they look like today? We consulted a group of Texan icehouse owners, restaurateurs, and historians to learn about this regional icons importance and what makes an icehouse a perfect stop for any Texas road trip, straight from the people who know it best.

The History of Texas Icehouses

In the late 19th century and early 20th century, icehouses first started to pop up in East Texas and along the Texas-Mexico border; and, as their name suggests, they generally served as places to get ice on sweltering days. Icehouses originally were places with garage doors and no air conditioning [for guests], and they only served beer. Oftentimes, they were also a place where actual ice was made and where people would gather on the weekends to cook with family and friends, explains Danny Evans, co-founder of Little Woodrows and co-owner of Kirby Ice House in Houston.

The interior sections of icehouses needed to keep their namesake frozen water cold, so youd typically see 2-inch or 3-inch layers of cork on the ceiling and walls to insulate and keep the ice from melting, and the doors on the icehouse were designed for sliding actual blocks of ice in and out, Petros Markantonis, owner of West Alabama Ice House in Houston, tells us.

Robbie Caponetto

Icehouses also functioned as defacto convenience stores where locals could get some simple grocery items (and other grab-and-go products like takeout beer and cigarettes). Because the icehouse always had the ice, it made sense for them to carry other perishable goods that required refrigeration, such as milk and eggs. Of course, serving cold beer was a no-brainer, since people were always coming for other things, says Morgan Weber, beverage director and co-owner of Eight Row Flint in Houston.

How Are Icehouses Different From Convenience Stores and Bars?

Historically, an icehouses literal housing of ice set it apart from a standard roadside bar or corner market. Community icehouses could be lifelines for food storage purposes in the past, but slowly seemed to take on the role of gathering spaces," says Amanda Light, owner and operator of Ronin Farm & Restaurant in Bryan, Texas.

According to San Antonio-based historian Dr. Sarah Gould, there is a hazy line differentiating icehouses from cantinas and beer bars. A cantina is more likely to have dancing, though it's not unusual for there to be live music at both cantinas and icehouses. A beer bar is more likely to have a pool table. Historically, the lines may have been more distinctive, with icehouses more prominent in San Antonio, Houston, and Austin, while cantinas reigned supreme in South Texas. Today, the lines are less distinctive, and many of the traditional icehouses that flourished in the 1960s and 1970s have disappeared or evolved.

But Brett Berry, owner of Armadillo Den in Austin, assures us that an icehouses staff should never be confused for mixologists. Too much fancy-pants and jazz-hands for a drink just isnt what a true Texas icehouse is about. They should be able to serve fast and be hospitable simultaneously, even on the busiest of days. Dance if ya want, enjoy the evening, bring your dog, have a drink (perhaps a Ranch Water), maybe grab a bite to eat. Theres always plenty of room to do what you enjoy, and what we enjoy is having a great time with friends, under big Texas live oak trees, with an ice cold Texas beer.



Icehouses As Local Hubs

The icehouses classic function as a community gathering place hasnt lessened with time. The heart-of-the-neighborhood nature of the icehouse dates back to the early years, when folks would head to the icehouse to grab ice and pick up some groceries, often staying awhile.

West Alabama Ice House, in particular, is the oldest bar in Houston," says owner Markantonis. "It started as a place where people in the community would come to cool off in the afternoon before the days of air conditioning, while sipping on some beverages with their neighborsthey truly were your one-stop shop that had everything.

Obviously, icehouse visitors dont need giant blocks of ice for refrigeration purposes anymore, but they still love the warm, unpretentious vibe of these outdoor gathering places. The fact that icehouses are generally independently-owned also helps them directly contribute to their communities success. "Being a patron helps to keep dollars local and helps promote a sense of community, explains chef and restaurateur Daniel Wolfe of City Cellars and Wolfe & Wine in Houston.

The Future of Texas Icehouses

Why should icehouses still be a thing in 2023? Our experts agreed largely on one core sentiment: "A Texas icehouse is just an extension of what has made Texas so popular in the first place. Live music, plenty of outdoor space to spread out, lots of great Texas grub, andof coursecold Texas beer," says Brett Berry of Austin's Armadillo Den. The tradition continues.



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Read the original article on Southern Living.
It sounds like science fiction, but researchers are getting better and better at retrieving tiny traces of human genetic material called environmental DNA  or eDNA  that we leave floating in the air or water, and mining it for genetic info.

The technique has technically been around for a while, and has been used for a number of purposes including detecting the virus that causes COVID-19 in wastewater, or tracking endangered or invasive species.

But now, a team of scientists has attempted to see how much information it could glean from human eDNA specifically, The New York Times reports, analyzing samples for genetic markers related to genealogy and even ethnicity.

As detailed in a new paper published in the journal Nature Ecology & Evolution, a team led by University of Florida wildlife geneticist David Duffy found that they could trace back medical and ancestry information from these minute traces of human DNA.

And that has privacy experts deeply worried, the NYT notes, especially in the context that law enforcement has already been making use of flawed and controversial DNA tools to identify suspects.

Duffy and his team were originally looking for tiny segments of sea turtle DNA to track diseases affecting the species. But upon discovering "surprising" amounts of human eDNA as well, the team shifted gears.

In a series of experiments, the researchers took samples from a creek in Florida and analyzed them for traces of DNA. They found far more legible human DNA than expected, including information pertaining to genetic ancestry.

One sample was even complete enough to be entered into the federal missing persons database, according to the report.

Experts believe that Duffy and his team's research could lead to new discussions surrounding the collection and analysis of human eDNA.

Harvard genetics researcher Anna Lewis told the NYT that the tech could one day be used to identify and perhaps even persecute specific ethnic minorities.

"This gives a powerful new tool to authorities," she said. "Theres internationally plenty of reason, I think, to be concerned."

Chinese officials have already conducted genetic research to study the DNA of the country's ethnic minorities, alarming experts. Analyzing traces of eDNA could give totalitarian states even more power in that domain.

Fortunately, the traces Duffy found only capture one genetic marker at a time, whereas current law enforcement techniques involve identifying 20 genetic markers of any given suspect.

The error rate of identifying human DNA fragments is also still much higher than conventional techniques, meaning that the chances of false positives remain high.

But these limitations may not matter much when it comes to police looking for new ways of identifying suspects. While guardrails are in place for researchers at institutions, including an approval process and ethics boards, law enforcement most of the time operates with far fewer restrictions.

"Its a total wild west, a free for all," Erin Murphy, a law professor at the New York University School of Law, told the NYT. "The understanding is police can sort of do whatever they want unless its explicitly prohibited."

More on DNA forensics: Police Say They Used Genealogy Database to Arrest Idaho Murder Suspect
Used boxes of Mifepristone, the first pill in a medical abortion, line a trash can at Alamo Women's Clinic in Carbondale

By Brendan Pierson

(Reuters) - The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans on Wednesday will hear the Biden administration's bid to overturn a Texas judge's order that, if allowed to take effect, would make the abortion drug mifepristone illegal.

However the 5th Circuit rules, the case will likely continue for months or years. Here is what you need to know about the case as it further unfolds:

WHAT IS MEDICATION ABORTION?

Medication abortion is a two-drug regimen consisting of mifepristone followed by misoprostol used to terminate a pregnancy within the first 10 weeks. It accounts for more than half of U.S. abortions.

Two companies sell mifepristone for medication abortion in the United States: Danco Laboratories, which sells the brand-name version Mifeprex, and GenBioPro Inc, which sells a generic version.

WHAT IS THE LEGAL DISPUTE ABOUT?

Anti-abortion medical associations led by the Texas-based Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine sued the U.S. Food and Drug Administration last year in federal court in Amarillo, Texas. They claimed the agency approved mifepristone for abortion in 2000 using an unlawful process and did not adequately consider the drug's safety, asking U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk to revoke the approval.

The FDA, along with mainstream U.S. medical associations, strongly disputes the claims. Danco intervened in the case to defend its drug.

HOW DID THE CASE GET TO THE 5TH CIRCUIT?

Kacsmaryk on April 7 issued a temporary order, known as a preliminary injunction, suspending mifepristone's approval while the lawsuit proceeds. The injunction was not a final ruling, but Kacsmaryk found that the anti-abortion plaintiffs were likely to win on the merits.

The Biden administration and Danco appealed the injunction to the 5th Circuit. The U.S. Supreme Court has issued an emergency order putting Kacsmaryk's ruling on hold during the appeal, keeping mifepristone on the market for now, but has not addressed the merits of the case.

WHAT COULD THE 5TH CIRCUIT DO?

Now that it has heard arguments, the panel could uphold Kacsmaryk's injunction, which would suspend mifepristone's approval while the case proceeds, or overrule it, which would keep it on the market until Kacsmaryk makes a final ruling.

The panel could also uphold Kacsmaryk's order in part, allowing mifepristone to stay on the market but with significant restrictions. A different 5th Circuit panel did just that at an earlier stage of the case, though it was quickly overruled by the Supreme Court's emergency order.

Finally, the panel could find that the plaintiffs have no standing to sue, as the government has argued, which would effectively end the entire case unless overturned on appeal.

No matter what the court does, the losing party will have a chance to appeal to the full 5th Circuit and then to the U.S. Supreme Court. Mifepristone will remain available without any new restrictions until all those appeals are finished.

All three judges on Thursday's panel are conservatives with a record of opposing abortion rights.

WHAT ABOUT THE RULING FROM WASHINGTON STATE?

Minutes after Kacsmaryk's order on April 7, U.S. District Judge Thomas Rice in Spokane, Washington, issued a preliminary injunction barring the FDA from placing any new restrictions on mifepristone. That ruling applies only in 17 Democratic-led states and the District of Columbia, which had argued the government should loosen special safety restrictions around the pill.

The injunction remains in effect. It would be in direct conflict with any future ruling restricting mifepristone, which would likely need to be resolved in another round of appeal.

ARE THERE ANY OTHER LAWSUITS OVER MIFEPRISTONE'S APPROVAL?

Yes. Abortion providers in Virginia, Kansas and Montana last week filed a lawsuit against the FDA similar to the Democratic states' lawsuit in Washington.

GenBioPro last month sued the FDA in federal court in Baltimore, seeking an order barring the agency from pulling the drug off the market without going through a formal process that gives the company a chance to be heard.

GenBioPro argues that the FDA cannot simply suspend approval without such a process, "regardless of external attempts to interfere." If successful, the lawsuit would set up another potential conflict with any future order restricting mifepristone.

GenBioPro is also challenging West Virginia's abortion ban in a separate lawsuit, while a North Carolina doctor is challenging restrictions on mifepristone in that state. Both lawsuits claim that the state laws conflict with the FDA's approval of mifepristone.

WHEN WILL THE TEXAS CASE BE FINALLY DECIDED?

Once all appeals over the preliminary injunction are over, the case can proceed to trial on the merits before Kacsmaryk, giving both sides a chance to present evidence. That could include evidence about the process the FDA used leading to mifepristone's approval and about the drug's safety record.

Kacsmaryk could then decide the case without trial, known as summary judgment, or hold a trial including witness testimony.

A final judgment from Kacsmaryk could be months or even years away. Once it does come, the losing side will again have the chance to appeal to the 5th Circuit and, eventually, the Supreme Court.

(Reporting By Brendan Pierson in New York, Editing by Alexia Garamfalvi and Bill Berkrot)
Explainer-Ecuador's Lasso dissolved the legislature. What comes next?

Explainer-Ecuador's Lasso dissolved the legislature. What comes next? Ecuador's President Guillermo Lasso dissolves National Assembly, in Quito

QUITO (Reuters) - Ecuador's President Guillermo Lasso dissolved the National Assembly by decree on Wednesday, bringing forward legislative and presidential elections, a day after he defended himself in an impeachment hearing.

WHAT IS PRESIDENT LASSO ACCUSED OF?

Lasso is accused of disregarding warnings over alleged embezzlement related to a oil shipping contract signed in 2018 between public company Flopec and a private sector business.

Lasso, a former banker who took power in 2021, has denied the charges and says they are politically motivated. He has repeatedly stressed the contract was signed years before he took office and that his administration made changes to it on advice from Ecuador's comptroller to benefit the state.

The opposition argues that Lasso and Hernan Luque - the former chairman of the board of the umbrella organization of state companies, who is now a fugitive - allowed the contract to continue even though it benefited third parties at the state's expense.

WHAT HAPPENED THIS WEEK?

Ecuador's National Assembly began an impeachment hearing against Lasso on Tuesday, following a vote on May 9 to move forward in the process against him, which was passed with 88 votes from the 116 legislators present.

The impeachment process continued although a report from the National Assembly's oversight committee found there was no cause for his trial or removal. The report was not supported by five of the committee's nine members.

Two opposition lawmakers presented the case against Lasso on Tuesday. The president then gave his own defense before the assembly.

His opponents had "created a fictitious situation that doesn't solve the problems of the country or anyone else," Lasso said in his defense.

HOW CAN LASSO DISSOLVE THE LEGISLATURE?

Ecuador's constitution includes a provision that allows the president to implement a so-called "two-way death," calling elections for both his post and the assembly under certain circumstances, including if actions by the legislature are blocking the functioning of government.

Lasso invoked the "two-way death" on Wednesday, citing Ecuador's grave political crisis.

"This is a democratic decision, not only because it is constitutional, but because it returns the power to the Ecuadorean people ... to decide their future in the next elections," Lasso said in a video broadcast.

WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?

According to the constitution, Lasso will now remain in office and rule by decree, and Ecuador's electoral court must decide on a date for new elections within seven days of the assembly's dissolution.

Those elected in new voting would only serve until 2025, when elections would return to their regular schedule.

CONAIE, Ecuador's largest Indigenous organization, says it will call an "extraordinary" council to discuss the matter and blasted Lasso's decision as dictatorial. It has previously led widespread protests against Lasso.

The military and police have pledged to uphold the constitution and the law, and say that Lasso's decision to dissolve the legislature and call elections is enshrined in Ecuador's constitution.

A number of opposition politicians have decried the president's decision as unconstitutional.

(Reporting by Oliver Griffin, Editing by Rosalba O'Brien)
Explainer-What happens if Black Sea grain corridor deal is not extended?

Vessels carrying grain wait in the southern anchorage of the Bosphorus in Istanbul

By Nigel Hunt and Jonathan Saul

LONDON (Reuters) - A deal allowing Ukraine to export grain via the Black Sea expires on May 18, with Kyiv hoping for an extension and Moscow pushing a list of demands in return for its support.

WHY IS IT IMPORTANT?

Ukraine is a major producer of grains and oilseeds and the interruption to its exports at the outbreak of war pushed global food prices to record highs. The current deal, agreed in July some five months after the war started, helped to bring down prices and ease a global food crisis.

Ukraine grain has also played a direct role with 625,000 tonnes or 2.1% of the supplies shipped through the corridor used by the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) as aid to countries such as Ethiopia, Somalia and Yemen.

WHAT HAPPENS IF IT ENDS?

Prices for some staple foods would likely rise but the situation is better than in the months after the war started due to improved supplies of grain from other producers such as Russia and Brazil.

Prices for wheat, the main ingredient in bread, fell to a two-year low earlier this month.

The WFP's chief economist has said the Black Sea pact must be renewed to avoid future spikes in wheat and corn prices.

New WFP Executive Director Cindy McCain said last month that food insecurity remains at unprecedented levels.

WHAT IS THE STATE OF GLOBAL FOOD SUPPLIES?

Global corn stocks began the 2021/22 season at a six-year low and so Russia's invasion of Ukraine, one of the world's top corn exporters, led to a significant jump in prices.

A sharp increase in exports from Brazil, however, has since helped to boost supplies along with the export of around 15 million tonnes of corn through the corridor.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has forecast global corn stocks by the end of the upcoming 2023/24 season will be at a five-year high.

Global wheat stocks, however, continue to slowly decline despite a record crop in top exporter Russia last summer. The USDA forecasts they will fall to an eight-year low at the end of the 2023/24 season.

WHAT WOULD IT MEAN FOR THE WORLD FOOD PROGRAMME?

The WFP buys several million tonnes of food commodities every year of which about 75% are grains.

In 2021, WFP purchases totalled 4.4 million tonnes with Ukraine its top source, providing 20% of the total.

Ukraine mainly supplies wheat and split peas.

Most of the food goes to Africa along with some countries in Western Asia such as Yemen and so the WFP tends to source most supplies from eastern Europe, which is closer than major producers in North or South America.

The WFP has shipped 625,000 tonnes through the corridor. It would have to look elsewhere if it closed, potentially at a higher cost when a funding shortfall has already forced it to reduce activities in some countries.

WHAT HAS BEEN EXPORTED?

Under the pact to create a safe shipping channel, Ukraine has been able to export more than 30 million tonnes of agricultural products, including 15.2 million tonnes of corn and 8.3 million tonnes of wheat.

Before the conflict, Ukraine was exporting roughly 25 to 30 million tonnes of corn a year, mostly through the Black Sea, and 16 to 21 million tonnes of wheat.

The capacity to ship grain through the Black Sea under the pact has been limited by the inclusion of only three ports.

For a full breakdown of the countries and quantities exported:

https://www.un.org/en/black-sea-grain-initiative/vessel-movements

WHY MIGHT RUSSIA WITHDRAW FROM THE PACT?

Russia has said there will be no extension unless the West removes obstacles to the export of Russian grain and fertiliser, including the reconnection of Russian Agricultural Bank (Rosselkhozbank) to the SWIFT payment system.

Other demands include the resumption of supplies of agricultural machinery and parts, lifting restrictions on insurance and reinsurance, the resumption of the Togliatti-Odesa ammonia pipeline and the unblocking of assets and the accounts of Russian companies involved in food and fertiliser exports.

CAN THE CORRIDOR OPERATE WITHOUT RUSSIA?

Ukraine's ports were blocked until the agreement was reached in July last year and it is unclear whether it would be possible to ship grain if Russia withdrew.

Insurance rates, which are already high, would be likely to climb and shipowners could prove reluctant to allow their vessels to enter a war zone without Russia's agreement.

Insurance industry sources say that for now there is no change in cover arrangements although conditions could alter quickly. War risk insurance policies need to be renewed every seven days for ships, costing thousands of dollars.

IS THE CORRIDOR NEEDED IF UKRAINE'S HARVESTS SHRINK?

Ukraine's grain exports are forecast to fall in the 2023/24 season after the war meant farmers planted less corn and wheat.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has forecast corn exports will drop to 16.5 million tonnes, down from the prior season's 25.5 million and well below the record 30.3 million shipped in the 2018/19 season when they accounted for 17% of global trade.

Wheat exports are expected to fall to 10 million tonnes, down from the prior season's 15 million and well below a peak of 21 million in 2019/20 that represented 11% of world trade.

Exporting even those lower volumes of grain through the eastern European Union would, however, be logistically difficult and expensive particularly for crops grown in eastern regions of Ukraine that face a long and difficult journey just to reach the border.

CAN UKRAINE EXPORT MORE GRAIN BY LAND?

Ukraine has been exporting substantial volumes of grain through eastern EU countries since the conflict began. There have, however, been many logistical challenges including different rail gauges.

Another issue is that the flow of Ukraine grain through the eastern EU has caused unrest among farmers in the region who say it has undercut local supplies and been purchased by mills, leaving them without a market for their crops.

The European Union earlier this month set restrictions until June 5 on imports of Ukrainian wheat, corn, rapeseed and sunflower seed to ease the excess supply of these grains in Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia.

These banned sales in those five countries although grain can still transit through them on the way to other EU member states or other regions.

(Reporting by Nigel Hunt and Jonathan Saul; editing by Barbara Lewis)
Explainer-Can Ukraine use Patriot defense systems to knock out Russian hypersonic missiles? Aftermath of a Russian missile attack in Kyiv

(Reuters) - Ukraine said on Tuesday that it downed six Russian hypersonic Kinzhal missiles in a single night, in what would be a major setback for Moscow's efforts to develop an unstoppable next-generation weapon.

It was not clear which air defense system Kyiv used to shoot down the missiles, but last week the U.S. military confirmed that Ukraine had shot down a Kinzhal missile using the U.S.-produced Patriot system.

Here is what you need to know about the Patriot:

WHAT IS THE PATRIOT MISSILE SYSTEM?

The Patriot, which stands for Phased Array Tracking Radar for Intercept on Target, is a theater-wide surface-to-air missile defense system built by Raytheon Technologies Corp and considered one of the most advanced air defense systems in the U.S. arsenal.

The system was first used in combat during the 1991 Gulf War, with batteries protecting Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Israel, and later used during the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003.

CAN PATRIOTS KNOCK OUT HYPERSONIC MISSILES?

The Patriot system was designed before hypersonic weapons were sent to battlefield and Raytheon has not said publicly that the is effective against a missile flying at hypersonic speeds (anything above five times the speed of sound). While the U.S. said that the Patriot system brought down last week's Khinzal missile, it was not clear if that missile was traveling at hypersonic speed at the time.

While Russia's Kinzhal missile may reach speeds of up to 7,600 mph (12,350 kph), "Russias designation of the Kinzhal as a 'hypersonic' missile is somewhat misleading, as nearly all ballistic missiles reach hypersonic speeds (i.e. above Mach 5) at some point during their flight," the Center for Strategic and International Studies said in a March 2022 report.

HOW DOES THE PATRIOT SYSTEM WORK?

The Patriot is a mobile system that usually includes powerful radar, a control station, a power generator, launch stations and other support vehicles.

The system has different capabilities depending on the type of interceptor - the missile fired from the battery - used.

The earlier PAC-2 interceptor uses a blast-fragmentation warhead, while the PAC-3 family of missiles uses more advanced hit-to-kill technology.

It is not clear what kind of Patriot systems have been donated to Ukraine but it is likely that Kyiv has at least some of the newer PAC-3 CRI interceptors.

The system's radar has a range of over 150 km (93 miles), the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) said in 2015.

WHAT DOES IT COST?

A newly produced single Patriot battery costs over $1 billion, with $400 million for the system and $690 million for the missiles in a battery, according to CSIS.

HOW DOES THE PATRIOT HELP UKRAINE?

Ukraine has said it needs more air defense systems to protect against the barrage of missile and drones strikes from Russian forces.

The United States has also provided a pair of National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems (NASAMS) to Ukraine.

While the Patriot system is designed to intercept threats like aircraft and ballistic missiles, it can also shoot down the "kamikaze" drones Russia has frequently sent to hit Ukrainian critical infrastructure. But it would be an extremely expensive way to destroy drones that only cost thousands of dollars.

HOW WIDELY IS THE SYSTEM USED?

Raytheon has built more 240 Patriot systems and they are currently used by 18 countries, including the United States. The system has been in high demand in the Middle East because of the threat posed by Iran to the region.

According to Raytheon, the system has intercepted more than 150 ballistic missiles in combat since 2015.

(Reporting by Idrees Ali, Phil Stewart and Mike Stone; Editing by Don Durfee and Lisa Shumaker)
Participants listen to speakers at the Transgender Day of Visibility rally held March 31 in Washington Square Park in New Orleans.

Participants listen to speakers at the Transgender Day of Visibility rally held March 31 in Washington Square Park in New Orleans.

Mostpeopledont know that you can just go testify at congressional hearings. You dont have to be important or register in advance. When I went to cover the hearing for Louisiana House Bill 466  legislation that would prohibit teachers from discussing matters of gender and sexuality with students in public schools  the people I saw offering testimony for Louisianas version of Dont Say Gay were just other concerned citizens like me. So I decided to speak.

My testimony centered on my experience as a former educator. I explained that I had not been officially out when I was a teacher over a decade ago. More specifically, I wasnt out to the administration. But I didnt hide my queerness from my students. I never had to come out to my students  they just knew.

I recounted how my fourth grade and fifth grade students would often ask if I were a boy or a girl. I always hedged, countered those questions with other questions like, Well, what do you think? And when they said, You dont really seem like a boy or a girl, I just smiled and told them that they were smart.

Many students came to me with their own gender dilemmas. Some of them were as simple as needing to talk about how they didnt want to have long hair, even though they were girls. And some of them were as complex as wondering what it meant that they were a boy with a crush on a boy. I was not perfect as a teacher, but I think my students knew they could come to me, not for answers, but for acceptance.

If HB466 passes, those conversations  which are often crucial to a students well-being  would become illegal.

Basically, this legislation will codify an already unspoken process of gaslighting trans kids out of existence, Augistina Johnson, a 27-year-old organizer with the Real Name Campaign, a grassroots trans advocacy organization in New Orleans, tells me.

That is something I experienced as a kid, where I grew up in New Orleans, Johnson says. But instead of scaring her out of resistance, Johnsons experience as a trans youth in Louisiana made her into an activist. I can relate. My own experiences as a queer educator combined with giving testimony and talking to others at the hearing inspired me to connect with people who are committed to protecting queer youth in Louisiana.

How can any trans person stay in school if youre going to literally force us out? Johnson wonders.

Ed Abraham, a 28-year-old organizer also with the Real Name Campaign, commiserates. We deserve more than to just survive, he says. Not killing ourselves doesnt have to be what trans success looks like. Abraham cites some of the harsh realities that LGBTQ+ youths face: anxiety, depression, substance abuse, and the risk of dropping out of school.

Unfortunately, there arent many statistics on how many LGBTQ+ students drop out of school, but research does give us a startling glimpse into the mental health challenges that queer youth are dealing with. According to The Trevor Project, 45% of the 34,000 LGBTQ+ youth surveyed attempted suicide in 2022. Fewer than 1 in 3 participants in the study felt they had a supportive home environment.

LGBTQ+ kids in America face massive mental health challenges. Many dont have support at home  so they need support at school.

LGBTQ+ kids in America face massive mental health challenges. Many dont have support at home  so they need support at school.

In other words, LGBTQ+ kids in America are facing massive mental health challenges and many dont have support at home  so they need support at school. They need it, not just to come to personal terms with who they are, but in order to survive within a system stacked against them. Citizen after citizen testified that their greatest fear was that the legislation would increase the risk of suicide. If you pass this bill, one person said, the blood will be on your hands.

Bills such as HB466 would also effectively prohibit the more formal support structures designed to protect children, like GSAs  genders & sexualities alliances  which are student-run, teacher-supported organizations in schools meant to help students of any gender or sexuality find resources, support and camaraderie. Research shows GSAs may help make schools safer and contribute to a positive school environment  for all students.

Mel Manuel, a 39-year-old public school teacher in Louisiana who is currently running for Congress, sponsors the GSA at their school. This is going to basically cancel GSA because, even though it doesnt outright exempt students from talking to each other about gender identity and sexual orientation, it prohibits teachers from doing so and you need a teacher sponsor to form a GSA.

Mel Manuel teaches in a conservative Louisiana parish and theyve seen firsthand how important genders & sexualities alliances can be in children's lives.

Mel Manuel teaches in a conservative Louisiana parish and theyve seen firsthand how important genders & sexualities alliances can be in children's lives.

Manuel teaches in a conservative Louisiana parish and theyve seen firsthand how important GSAs can be in childrens lives. For some kids, thats the only space that they have where they can be openly wherever they are, Manuel says. A large percentage of them have told me directly that they attempted suicide or thought about suicide. Manuel says theyre scared about what could happen if those already at-risk kids couldnt find safe spaces at school.

Nathalie Nia Faulk, a 32-year-old cultural organizer and healing justice practitioner in New Orleans, tells me GSAs were one of the first places she felt safe as her most authentic self as a teenager and shes fighting against HB466 so other young people in Louisiana have the same opportunity. I have survived this long because I was able to be in my transition and Ive been able to be in spaces and be seen in my gender, she says.

At the root, what queer people in Louisiana are fighting for right now is the simple right to exist and be recognized. When Maxwell Cohen, aka Big Gay Baby, a 27-year-old drag queen in New Orleans, gave testimony with a blue face adorned with stars, the crowd  and the media  went wild. A mom handed them her phone afterward and asked them to FaceTime with their children. My kid wants to show you that theyre wearing the same shirt as you, the mom told Cohen. The shirt read, Trans rights are human rights.

This kids face lit up looking up at me and I was like, I know what youre feeling. I know what its like to look at a drag queen for the first time, Cohen tells me. These seemingly small moments of mutual recognition can mean so much to children starving for acceptance. But the consequences of not having those moments are dire.

Everyone I spoke to at the hearing, from middle-aged suburban moms in pearls to social psychologists, pointed out that the dire statistics associated with being queer in the South are the result of stigma. The far right will point us in the fact that we do survival sex work and have a higher risk of struggling with substance abuse and we have higher rates of being incarcerated and they say its because were trans or queer, but in fact, its because of all the stigma they keep throwing at us, Cohen says.

Those engaged in the fight to say gay in Louisiana are struggling within the context of that stigma  and it is a fight that often requires great personal sacrifice. Manuel resigned their position as a teacher to run for Congress. No, theres no law that prohibits educators from also being public officials, but Manuel knew they could not engage fully with LGBTQ+ legislative issues without facing professional consequences. If I was going to be at my school, I would have to censor myself, Manuel tells me. I dont want to have to tiptoe.

Advocates and activists also face threats to their personal safety. One source I spoke with for this article requested that no images of them appear in the article. Im scared, they told me in an email.

Frankly, I am too. A conservative representative posted my testimony on Twitter, and I was terrified by the vitriol that ensued from my essentially innocuous talking points. Some Twitter users made shocking assertions that I am a pedophile and a groomer, and several posted threats of bodily harm. Its impossible not to feel fear in the face of such hate.

If youre wondering why anyone would testify only to be lambasted on the internet, spend all their free time organizing, or give up a job they love to become a public target, well, thats exactly why. Fighting for the next generation of LGBTQ+ people to be seen as human and valid is worth it. And facing the stigma head on makes it clear that the stakes of bills like HB466 are truly life and death. But the stakes are also love and belonging.

Every step we take together makes room for more steps to become possible. We have always been here. We will continue to be here, says Pearl Ricks, the executive director of the Reproductive Justice Action Collective, a network of Southern activists. Ricks says they love connecting with young people as a way to share optimism. They exist with a little more wiggle room than I started out with, they say. That wiggle room opens new spaces of possibility for all of us.

HB466 passed in the Louisiana House of Representatives on May 9. The bill is currently being read by the state Senate and is expected to be heard by the Senate this month, which means that proponents and opponents will be able to testify in front of lawmakers. If it passes there, HB466 will then be sent to Gov. Bel Edwards (D). Edwards has not said explicitly whether he would sign the legislation if it lands on his desk.

However, he has raised concerns about the recent onslaught of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation in Louisiana, saying in a press conference last week that he believes it could increase the risk of suicide for trans youth. Members of this community believe theyre being attacked for who they are, Edwards said in the press conference.

The acts of being seen and of speaking out in themselves accomplish some of the work that needs to be done. Of course we need allies in our struggle for liberation. Of course we need legal protections. Of course we need support. But more than anything, perhaps, what all queer people of every age need is proof that it is possible to survive and thrive. We need to see each other. As Ricks says, It helps us understand that we exist permanently, we are loving permanently.
police officers - Getty

Facial recognition is to be deployed in police officers body-worn video cameras as part of Government plans to embed the technology across forces nationally.

Policing minister Chris Philp is said to want to extend the technology across forces in England and Wales and extend its deployment from solely CCTV to body worn devices, drones and ANPR number-plate cameras.

Only a handful of forces including South Wales and the Metropolitan police have so far used facial recognition cameras which allow officers to identify potential suspects or missing people and cross reference their image with a database of photographs.

The technology has, however, faced a backlash with courts actions that it represents a breach of privacy and can be inaccurate and biased, particularly against darker-skinned people.

The move by Mr Philp has been revealed in a report, co-authored by professors Pete Fussey, of Essex University, and William Webster, of Stirling University, on plans to abolish the role of a separate biometrics and surveillance commissioner by merging it with other watchdogs.

It comes as the Metropolitan Police is ramping up its use of facial recognition with its deployment during the coronation of King Charles III.

Last month, the Met announced that it had conducted a review into the technologys effectiveness and found no statistically significant bias in relation to race and gender, and the chance of a false match is just 1 in 6,000 people who pass the camera.

In their report, the academics said: This issue is made more pressing given the Policing Minister expressed his desire to embed facial recognition technology in policing and is considering what more the government can do to support the police on this.

Such embedding is extremely likely to include exploring integration of this technology with police body worn video.

Professor Fraser Sampson, the biometrics and surveillance camera commissioner, said the technology could play an important role in policing to help find missing vulnerable people, prevent serious offences by identifying criminals and protect national security by detecting terrorist suspects.

But there needs to be more discussion with the public about what the safeguards are, where you go to find out more about how it is operated and separate the myths from the fact, said Professor Sampson.

He said there had been a regulatory vacuum over facial recognition in that its wider expansion had never been put before Parliament. He said there needed to be thoughtful and careful policy discussion before it was widely deployed.

Although his research found evidence that police had used Chinese CCTV, no police force was using Chinese body worn cameras, which have been deployed with facial recognition technology by the Chinese state to identify Uyghurs and punish them if they are in the wrong areas.

The Home Office said: The Government is committed to empower the police to use new technologies like facial recognition in a fair and proportionate way. Facial recognition plays a crucial role in helping the police tackle serious offences including murder, knife crime, rape, child sexual exploitation and terrorism.

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Local officials across the US are using surveillance cameras equipped with facial recognition technology to "punish and evict public housing residents"  often for minor or even trivial offenses  The Washington Post reports.

Per the paper's reporting, the cameras have overwhelmingly been purchased through US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) crime-fighting grants under the narrative that heavy surveillance makes housing projects safer. According to WaPo, however, "few" of the law enforcement agencies that were contacted for the report were able to substantiate a link to lowered crime.

Instead, the widespread implementation of this surveillance technology in public housing has mostly resulted in the overzealous monitoring  and policing  of the minutiae of poor Americans' daily lives. And for some folks, the consequences have been dire.

"It got to the point where it was like harassment," 33-year-old single mother Tania Acabou, who was evicted from a surveillance-happy New Bedford, Massachusetts project for a comically trivial offense back in 2021, told WaPo.

Per WaPo, surveillance footage bolstered the New Bedford housing authority's eviction claim that Acabou had broken a policy regarding how often a guest could visit overnight; the guest in question was her ex-husband, who Acabou says was there babysitting their shared child while she, a bus driver by day, was attending night classes to become a lab tech.

"They really made my life hell," she added.

But despite WaPo's finding that there's little to no evidence to support that the tech effectively deters crime, the folks in charge of the projects seem convinced otherwise.

"I am one of the arms of the police department," John Stasiulewicz, a former police detective who runs security for a public housing authority in Steubenville, Ohio, told WaPo. "I give them information and they act on it."

In Steubenville, the disparity between cameras in housing projects and the rest of the town is staggering. Area police told WaPo that they've installed 100 cameras throughout the town; Stasiulewicz, meanwhile, claims to monitor 161 cameras in public housing alone.

By WaPo's math, that means that public housing inhabitants, who according to census records are three times more likely to be Black than other Steubenville residents, are "25 times more likely to have their daily lives observed by government-controlled cameras."

In some places, public housing residents have reportedly been subjected to surveillance levels comparable to those seen at New York's Riker's Island prison. That's an alarming statistic, especially considering that automated surveillance tech, including facial recognition software  which is used in Steubenville  is already notorious for being biased against Black folks and other marginalized groups.

On that note, it's worth mentioning that the efficacy of Steubenville's preferred camera vendor is dubious at best.

"The cameras in Steubenville and Scott County were made by Verkada, a Silicon Valley start-up whose entry-level package  starting at less than $1,200 for a single camera and a one-year software subscription  comes preloaded with facial recognition," reads the WaPo report, explaining that when surveillance industry researcher IPVM tested a Verkada camera's efficacy earlier this year, the results were extremely poor.

According to WaPo, when a subject's face was clear, about 15 percent of Verkada matches were still wrong. When someone was wearing a mask, or was simply seen at an angle, that 15 percent figure shot up to 85 percent. In a word: yikes.

If there's any bright spot, in a public notice published in April of this year, the HUD banned the implementation of "automated surveillance and facial recognition technology" in public housing.

Still, based on the report, some local housing officials seem less than inclined to do much reflection on the undue harms that supercharged surveillance may have caused.

"People choose to get evicted by their actions," Melody McClurg, the executive director at the Steubenville housing authority, told WaPo.

"Number one," she continuted, "we are a landlord."

More on surveillance: Volkswagen Refused to Track Car with Kidnapped Child until Owner Renewed GPS Subscription
Supporters of Ecuador's President Guillermo Lasso hold a cardboard coffin with the image of Ecuador's former President Rafael Correa during a demonstration in the surroundings of the Assembly building in Quito on May 16, 2023

Ecuadoran President Guillermo Lasso, who is weathering impeachment proceedings in congress over alleged corruption, issued a decree Wednesday dissolving the legislature.

The decree released abruptly by the unpopular conservative president's office states that Lasso is dissolving the opposition-led National Assembly "due to a grave political crisis and national commotion."

In dissolving congress, Lasso also called upon the National Electoral Council (CNE) to call new elections.

It is the first time a president in Ecuador has dissolved the legislature.

By law, within seven days of the publication of this decree, the CNE must convene new presidential and legislative elections to finish out the current term.

Until a new National Assembly is sworn in, Lasso is able to rule by decree, with checks by the constitutional court.

Lasso's impeachment trial opened in congress on Tuesday, amid a spike in violence related to drug trafficking in the South American country and widespread anger over the rising cost of living. Lasso is very unpopular.

The majority left-wing opposition has accused Lasso of knowing about alleged corruption in state owned companies, in which his brother-in-law Danilo Carrera and a businessman accused of drug trafficking have been implicated.

Speaking on state television Wednesday, Lasso defended his decision to dissolve the National Assembly.

"It is a democratic decision not only because it is constitutional but because it returns to the Ecuadoran people the possibility to decide," Lasso said, referencing the new elections.

Ecuador's congress tried to impeach Lasso in June, at a time of violent protests against the rising cost of living, but came up 12 votes short.

A similar political drama played out late last year in neighboring Peru.

Then president Pedro Castillo, also facing corruption allegations, tried to dissolve congress in December so he could rule by decree. He was arrested the same day and is now in prison awaiting trial on charges of rebellion.

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FILE PHOTO: Appeal trial of former French president Sarkozy on corruption charges at Paris court

Factbox-France's Sarkozy faces more than one legal battle FILE PHOTO: Appeal trial of former French president Sarkozy on corruption charges at Paris court

PARIS (Reuters) - French former president Nicolas Sarkozy lost his appeal against a 2021 conviction for corruption and influence peddling at the Paris Court of Appeals on Wednesday, a decision his legal team said he would challenge.

Known in France as the "wiretapping affair", the courts found that Sarkozy had conspired to secure a plum job in Monaco for a judge in return for inside information about an inquiry into allegations he had accepted illegal payments from L'Oreal heiress Liliane Bettencourt for his 2007 campaign.

Below are other legal challenges that Sarkozy faces:

'BYGMALION AFFAIR'

Sarkozy was convicted in September, 2021, of illegal campaign financing over his failed 2012 re-election bid and was handed a one-year prison sentence.

He appealed the conviction, a move which in effect suspends the sentence. Even if the ruling is upheld, Sarkozy is unlikely to go to jail after a judge said he could serve the sentence at home with an electronic tag.

Known as the "Bygmalion affair", the case centres on accusations that his party, then known as the UMP, worked with a public relations firm to hide the true cost of his re-election bid.

France sets strict limits on campaign spending. Prosecutors allege that the firm, Bygmalion, invoiced UMP rather than the campaign. They say Sarkozy spent 42.8 million euros on his 2012 campaign, almost double the permitted amount.

LIBYAN CAMPAIGN CASH

Sarkozy should stand trial on charges of corruption and illegal financing of an election campaign related to alleged Libyan funding of his successful 2007 presidential bid, France's financial prosecutor (PNF) has said.

Prosecutors have investigated allegations that former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi sent Sarkozys election campaign millions of euros in cash, allegations that were first made by one of the sons of the late autocrat.

Sarkozy has always denied the accusations.

Theres not even the smallest inkling of proof, he said in an interview in 2018.

One of his main accusers, Franco-Lebanese businessman Ziad Takieddine, who has described himself as a middleman in the shadows, withdrew his account in 2020.

RUSSIA

Financial prosecutors in early 2021 opened a preliminary investigation into alleged influence-peddling related to activities undertaken by Sarkozy in Russia seven years after he left office.

(Compiled by Richard Lough; Editing by Bernadette Baum)
Mayor of New Taipei, Hou Yu-ih, gestures during his speech following the confirmation as the presidential candidate for Taiwan's main opposition party the Kuomintang (KMT), in Taipei

By Yimou Lee and Sarah Wu

(Reuters) - Taiwan's main opposition Kuomintang (KMT) party picked New Taipei City mayor Hou Yu-ih on Wednesday to be its presidential candidate in the election next year, with China tensions set to top the election agenda.

Below are facts about Hou:

- Fluent in Taiwanese, the 65-year-old mayor of New Taipei City gained nationwide attention after a landslide re-election win late last year in the city that surrounds the capital. The KMT trounced the ruling Democratic Progressive Party in December's local elections.

- With a doctoral degree in crime prevention and corrections, Hou started his career as a criminal police officer and later became head of the National Police Agency. In 1997, he became a household name after rescuing the family of a South African diplomat in a high-profile hostage case, earning the reputation of a "tender tough guy."

- Hou rarely voices his stance on Taiwan's current and future relations with China. When pressed by reporters on issues including his China policy and his role in the coming election, Hou often replied with a phrase in Taiwanese that means to focus on doing the task at hand well.

- Hou said in a Facebook post last month that as Taiwan externally faces a tricky international situation and internally faces daily problems such as soaring prices, "it is necessary for the country's people to unite, to put political confrontation and conflicts aside, and to pragmatically face various challenges."

- Earlier this month, Hou said he objected to Taiwan's formal independence as well as Beijing's offer to rule the island under the "one country, two systems" formula of governance, similar to the arrangement in Hong Kong. He has also vowed to defend the Republic of China, Taiwan's official name, if it was attacked.

- Hou joined the KMT in 1975, which traditionally favours close ties with China and supports the stance that both Taipei and Beijing are part of a single China although each can have its own interpretation of the term.

(Reporting by Yimou Lee and Sarah Wu; additional reporting by Jeanny Kao; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan)
Factbox-Who are the judges who will decide the appeal over the abortion pill?

FILE PHOTO: The U.S. Department of Justice Building is pictured

By Brendan Pierson and Jacqueline Thomsen

(Reuters) -All three of the judges on the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel that will hear the Biden administration's appeal to keep the abortion pill mifepristone on the market are staunchly conservative, with a record of opposing abortion rights. Here is a look at their records.

Jennifer Walker Elrod

Appointed by: George W. Bush

Year appointed: 2007

Previous positions: Judge, 190th District Court of Texas

Notable cases:

- In January, she wrote the majority opinion for the full 5th Circuit striking down the federal ban on so-called bump stocks, which allow rifles to be fired more rapidly.

- In 2020, she was part of the majority in a 5th Circuit panel decision that let Texas curb medication abortions after the state said it wanted to conserve medical resources due to the pandemic.

- In 2019, she co-authored a majority opinion for the full 5th Circuit that upheld a Texas law that effectively banned the most common abortion procedure for terminating second-trimester pregnancies.

- Also in 2019, she wrote a majority panel 5th Circuit opinion invalidating the Affordable Care Act's mandate requiring individuals to purchase health insurance.

- In 2015, she was part of a panel that upheld Texas's restrictions on abortion clinics that made it more difficult for them to operate.

James Ho

Appointed by: Donald Trump

Year appointed: 2017

Previous positions: Partner, appellate practice co-chair at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher; Solicitor General of Texas

Notable cases:

- In 2021, he was in the majority of a 5th Circuit panel that allowed a Texas law banning abortion after about six weeks to take effect.

- In 2019, he was part of a 5th Circuit panel that rejected Mississippi's 15-week abortion ban, but in a concurring opinion argued against the constitutional right to abortion. The U.S. Supreme Court later used the case to overturn its landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that had legalized the procedure nationwide.

- In 2018, he voted to uphold a Texas law requiring burial or cremation of fetal remains. In a concurring opinion, he called abortion a "moral tragedy."

Public statements:

- Speaking to the Federalist Society in Dallas last month, Ho called U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk, whose order suspending mifepristone's approval the government is appealing, a "friend" and defended him from claims of acting unethically in taking his name off an anti-abortion law review article shortly before his judicial confirmation hearing.

Cory Wilson

Appointed by: Donald Trump

Year appointed: 2020

Previous positions: Judge, Mississippi Court of Appeals; member of the Mississippi House of Representatives

Notable cases:

- In February, he wrote a panel opinion holding that people under domestic violence orders have a constitutional right to own guns.

- In October 2022, he wrote a panel opinion ruling the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's funding apparatus is unconstitutional and threw out a Trump-era regulation aiming to crack down on abusive practices in the payday lending industry.

Public statements:

- As a state legislator, he supported a ban on abortion after about six weeks of pregnancy.

- In a 2007 questionnaire circulated to state legislative candidates by a Mississippi anti-abortion group, he expressed support for a total ban on abortion and on stem cell research.

(Reporting By Brendan Pierson in New York and Jacqueline Thomsen in Washington, D.C., Editing by Alexia Garamfalvi and Bill Berkrot)
PHOENIX  Criminals masquerading as health providers defrauded Arizona taxpayers out of hundreds of millions of dollars and victimized Indigenous people, state officials announced Tuesday.

In what Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes called a "stunning failure of government," the criminals billed the state for mental health treatment and addiction rehabilitation that never was provided. The money was paid out by the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System, Arizona's Medicaid program.

In some cases, the treatment was reportedly provided to people who were dead, in jail or who were children. Mayes cited instances where bills were submitted to AHCCCS for services "impossible to render" such as alcohol rehabilitation to a 4-year-old who was not in one of the facilities and did not need treatment.

The criminals operating the fake treatment centers targeted vulnerable Indigenous Arizonans, aggressively recruiting them at places like gas stations, grocery store parking lots and bus stops outside Indian Health Service clinics and taken to fraudulent facilities, tribal and state officials said.

In some cases, the Indigenous people who were targeted had to jump out windows and climb over walls to escape the facilities, which typically were located in the Phoenix area, state officials said.

Mayes, Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs and representatives of 13 Arizona tribes announced the fraud at a news conference Tuesday morning. The investigation, which involved the FBI and the U.S. Attorney's Office, has resulted in at least 45 indictments by Mayes' office. Mayes said $75 million has been seized or recovered related to the schemes.

"I don't think it is too much to say that this is one of the biggest scandals in the history of the state of Arizona when it comes to our government," Mayes told reporters.

"The human impact of this fraud is the most heartbreaking of all. While these scammers are using random IDs to bill for millions of dollars of services, thousands of Arizonans are in real need. Some have been living in these facilities or homes while not being provided the services they need."

Indigenous affairs: Hobbs urges new task force to seek justice for missing and murdered Indigenous people

Advocates: Some missing Indigenous people are victims of phony clinics

Some advocates believe the sham treatment programs are contributing to a growing number of missing Indigenous people, they testified at a legislative Ad Hoc Committee for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Peoples heard testimony last year.

State Sen. Theresa Hatathlie, D-Coal Mine Canyon, introduced Senate Bill 1661 in this legislative session as an attempt to strengthen the admission policies into behavioral health residential facilities and outline more precise guidelines throughout the process.

In testimony to the state Senate Health and Human Services Committee on Feb. 14, she said many of the facilities are "predatory" and "fraudulent."

She told a story about an elderly Navajo man who went into a gas station and begged for help to escape from recruiters who were trying to take him to a treatment center in Phoenix. Such stories are typical, she said, adding that in this case, the situation had a good ending  employees at the gas station provided help and the man's daughter was able to pick him up. But other individuals have not been as fortunate, the committee heard.

"Overall, there's a huge operation that's going on," Hatathlie testified. "It's very sophisticated, to say the least ... Many of the victims are afraid to come forward."

Navajo Nation first lady Jasmine Blackwater-Nygren told the committee some tribal members are finding themselves in facilities where they are given alcohol and drugs to prevent them from leaving so that the owners of the facilities can rake in government money.

Among other measures in the bill, behavioral health facilities would be required to notify family members of patients admitted for an initial evaluation. Hatathlie's bill would also prohibit behavioral health facilities from transporting a patient unless the patient is sober or has been referred to treatment by an approved provider of a tribal health care program.

Hatathlie testified that one person can bring $7,000 or more per month in government money to the group homes. In some cases, individuals are dying in so-called rehab homes and buried in paupers' graves without their families ever knowing what happened to their loved ones.

"This practice has been going on for years," she said. "It's just now finally coming to light."

FBI warned of 'organizers' targeting Native Americans

Since at least January, the FBI has had an online callout form that seeks "victims who may have been recruited to live in and receive services in group homes (Behavioral Health Residential Facilities) located in Phoenix," between January 2020 and the present.

The FBI callout form says "organizers" are targeting Native Americans to live in group homes under the guise of getting treatment for mental illness and substance abuse, but that often no therapy services are provided, even though the group homes are receiving government funding.

"Organizers frequent community gathering locations such as flea markets, trading posts, and medical centers to pick up clients," and they are finding clients from the Navajo Nation as well as other tribal communities in Arizona, New Mexico, and South Dakota, the callout form says.

Arizona set up a hotline for victims of the fraud. The Navajo Nation is also setting up a command center for families, Ethel Branch, the tribe's attorney general, told reporters on Tuesday.

"We are going to have an on-site emergency operations center here in the Valley," Branch said. "We anticipate large numbers of impacted individuals are Navajo tribal members. So we will be here to receive our relatives and make sure that they are smoothly transitioned into licensed facilities where they will actually receive the services that they believed they would be receiving."

Mayes said her office is prepared to prosecute the perpetrators "to the fullest extent of the law." If there's evidence that operators of the behavioral health facilities were negligent, and in cases where patients died or were raped, "that will also be investigated by the proper law enforcement officials."

JOYS OF RETAINING A MOTHER TONGUE: Can movies help save the world's dying languages? New wave of Indigenous films share untold stories

Contributing: Arlyssa Becenti, Arizona Republic

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Fake rehab centers fleeced Arizona taxpayers, victimized Indigenous
Up to $3.2 million in state funding, plus $1 million in federal conservation funds, could be directed to redcedar encroachment research if House Bill 2239 gets the votes it needs this month.

The bill has been well received in House and Senate committees, but Senate amendments were rejected in the House with a requested move to a conference committee last week.

Still, supporters have high hopes for the days ahead.

Its looking good, lobbyist Don Williams said via text. Should find out about funding for it this week.

What started as a pair of bills that sought an aggressive hit on redcedar and saltcedar eradication has been tailored to one original request for a large-scale research project.

The bill, authored by Rep. Mike Dobrinski, R-Okeene, and Sen. Darcy Jech, R-Kingfisher, would create the Terry Peach North Canadian Watershed Restoration Act. The act directs the Oklahoma Conservation Commission to designate an area of the North Canadian River Watershed for a specific study of habitat and water flow and volume.

Jimmy Emmons explains how redcedars are robbing his pond of water on his ranch near Leedey.

The Western legislators are all too familiar with issues that come with drought, including wildfire and water shortages, both of which are aggravated by the growing encroachment of redcedar and saltcedar trees that plagues many western states.

The Oklahoma Water Resources Center at Oklahoma State University studied the issue in 2017 and found that redcedar encroachment does have a negative impact on water quality and volume. The new study is meant to test that theory further.

Farmer Jimmy

Few know the issue as well as Dewey County rancher and farmer Jimmy Emmons, a longtime soil health advocate who actually holds a patent on the phrase, Long Live the Soil.

At the Emmons Farm issues with redcedar comes into plain focus. It made him the natural choice to assist with the bill, speak with legislators, and consult with the Conservation Commission on what an effective study should include. He also knows how to draw the direct line from his dried-up ponds to receding lake shorelines and hungry Oklahoma City water lines.

Among felled red cedars dozens of fresh saplings like this one quickly grow to replace them on Jimmy Emmons's ranch near Leedey.

Above his past titles with the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Natural Resource Conservation Service, and the speaking engagements across the country he has held over the years, the states first prestigious Leopold Conservation Award winner says his most important title is farmer Jimmy.

Jimmy and Ginger Emmons, married 40 years and raised on farms 3 miles from each other near their hometown of Leedey, operate on 4,000 acres of the Gypsum Hills region along the South Canadian River. About half the land is theirs, the rest is leased.

She does the cattle and Im more the farmer, he said.

His grandfather first turned the rusty ground in the 1920s. One creek flows where his grandfather ran a single walking-plow line to control the spread of a wet spot soon after settling there. An overnight 14-inch rain and the ensuing Hammon Flood of 1934 turned the row into a creek that remains to this daywhen there is water.

Jimmy Emmons show how redcedar begins to rot once it is chopped and on the ground.

Trees turned to mulch

Just 24 hours after a recent 2-inch rainthe first of any measurable amount in many monthsthe Emmons Farm lands were a rusty tapestry temporarily stained a bit darker red by an accidental splash of water.

The barley didnt make it this season, the wheat is done for, so the ridge tops and valleys are more turquoise than rich green this season. The ponds still are dry, they have sold off cattle and still ended up grazing several areas more than what they like to see. They will over-seed the failed acreages and move cattle there to graze, he said.

On this tapestry that supports their livelihood, redcedars form dark green patches atop distant ridges with cragged dark fingers reaching out through steep ravines between the gyp hills and onto their place.

Thousands of felled redcedars create a swath of mottled brown where the drying corpses lie, awaiting the return of a mulch company with trucks and a giant wood chipper. It looks like a tornado ripped through the valley and chopped off every tree at ground level.

Parts of this area were so thick with cedars a man couldnt push his way through on foot, he said. The landlord applied to a federal program that covered 75% of the cost of the $270-per-hour work completed. The company will profit from the mulch, which will go to oil fields and cattle stalls, Emmons said.

He expects the native little bluestem, big bluestem, and buffalo grass will come back almost immediately.

Once theyre done in here it will look like it did back when me and Ginger were first married, he said.

Jimmy Emmons explains the workings of a mulching attachment he uses to take down old stands of burned redcedar at his ranch near Leedey.

A necessary evil

He pointed to some dozen or so spindly redcedar shoots sticking up out of the deep cedar needle duff where a tree once stood. Well still need to burn, though, he said. Its a necessary evil.

A ghostly gray swath looms on the eastern horizon at the farm as a reminder of that evil. It is where the Rhea Fire of 2017, fueled by redcedar, burned 400,000 acres, including several homes, and barns, and killed untold numbers of livestock.

Many ranchers in the area remain fire-shy after that experience, but burning grasses to control cedar re-growth is much easier and cheaper than burning ravines loaded up with trees, Emmons said.

Autumn through spring Emmons and his ranch hand use a skid-steer with a front-end shredding attachment to erase, acre by acre, the standing burned timber. Left standing, birds rest in those burned trees and deposit seeds and the redcedar cycle repeats. Tens of thousands of acres of burned cedar remain in Dewey County six years later.

They stop shredding in the summer to avoid starting another fire with a spark from that mulching blade, he said. But, once cleared, the grass, the soil, and the water recover.

It gets that carbon back on the ground, he said. The trees, the pieces, they rot away a lot faster than people would think.

This is just how life looks sometimes on a ranch in western Oklahoma. Drought happens and fire is always a threat, but both are exacerbated by the redcedar, he said.

Game-changing revelation

Even with the current drought, one small spring-fed creek with bright green grasses does flow near the farm. It stands out like one piece of the tapestry untouched but it is in fact a refurbished bit that was an inspiration for Emmons.

Jimmy Emmons talks about redcedar encroachment on the hill at his ranch near Leedey, where acres of trees have been cut by a mulching company.

An earlier drought had the typically soggy valley completely dry, so Emmons decided it was a good opportunity to remove the cedars from about a half-mile stretch to open up more grazing.

Before we finished with that half mile, water started flowing in that little creek even with the drought, he said. We always kind of knew the redcedar used a lot of water but that was when it really hit home what a big deal it is.

Emmons made his mark in the conservation world years ago and understands the struggle to educate people about new ideas, much less obtain public funding to make them a reality. His latest title is Senior Vice President, Climate-Smart Programs Trust in Food with Farm Journal.

As much as he would love to see money funneled into on-the-ground work to tackle what he knows to be true. The money belongs to the people, and people want hard facts before they invest, he said.

Standing on the dam of a pond that has been dry for nearly five years he pointed up the drainage to a series of ravines choked by those dark cedar fingers.

They want to study it. Take a spot like this and do several hundred acres and measure stream flow before and after, and then go to an area where theres no control and theyll prove that if you spend that $3.2 million its going to be worth more than $10 million or $20 million in the long run, he said.

The issue is more than grass in dry cattle country, he said. The South Canadian that borders Emmons farm flows southeast past Oklahoma City to Lake Eufaula, and the North Canadian flows toward Canton Lake, the states premier walleye fishery and a water supply lake for Oklahoma City.

Theres a lot to it and its all connected, he said. People think its just about grass and cattle out here. Well, thats the first thing but this all goes downstream and its multiple effects on water and recreation and trouble with fires and insurance costs for everybody, it goes on and on the things it can impact. It adds up for all of us and if we dont do something about it were going to lose this country.

Kelly Bostian is an independent writer working for the Oklahoma Ecology Project, a 501c3 non-profit dedicated to in-depth reporting about environmental issues for Oklahomans.

This article originally appeared on Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise: 'Farmer Jimmy' explains redcedar effects on farming
Beijing has been accused of sending more than a million Uyghurs and other mostly-Muslim minorities to re-education camps

Rights groups announced on Wednesday they had filed a new complaint in France against clothing giants including Uniqlo and Zara owner Inditex for allegedly profiting from forced labour of the Uyghur minority in China.

The complaint, filed on Tuesday, includes allegations of crimes against humanity, aggravated reduction to servitude, genocide and human trafficking.

The companies denied using forced labour in their supply chains.

The complaint was filed by anticorruption association Sherpa, the Ethique sur l'etiquette (Ethics on Labels) collective, the European Uyghur Institute and a Uyghur woman who had been held in a camp in China's far west region of Xinjiang.

An investigating judge is expected to be appointed in response to the filing.

The complainants say they want to bring to light "the possible responsibilities of clothing multinationals who profit from the forced labour of Uyghurs for the production of their products", particularly cotton items.

A previous case filed to the national anti-terror prosecutor's office in Paris, which looks into purported crimes against humanity, was dropped in April because it lacks "jurisdiction to prosecute the facts contained in the complaint".

They had accused Uniqlo France, a subsidiary of Fast Retailing, along with Inditex, the Spanish owner of Zara and other brands, the French fashion group SMCP, and footwear manufacturer Skechers of marketing products that were manufactured at least in part at factories where Uyghurs are subjected to forced labour, according to rights groups.

The plaintiffs believe the companies do not have sufficient control over their subcontractors.

- 'Zero-tolerance policy' -

The plaintiffs' lawyer William Bourdon hopes the French justice system will recognise their claim "on the basis of concealing crimes against humanity."

"Textile companies must account for having knowingly enriched themselves, at the cost of the most serious international crimes", contrary to the ethical facade they present, he said.

In addition to the four companies, other major brands such as Nike have faced similar accusations.

Rights groups say more than one million Uyghurs and other mostly Muslim minorities have been held in re-education camps in Xinjiang, with a slew of abuses that include forced labour.

Beijing denies the accusations, describing the facilities as vocational centres designed to curb extremism.

Inditex said the latest accusations were "unfounded".

"The company has rigorous traceability controls to ensure the provenance of its products and a zero-tolerance policy towards any kind of forced labor," Inditex said.

Fast Retailing said it had no been notified by the authorities but that, if and when it happens, it "will cooperate fully with the investigation to reaffirm there is no forced labour in our supply chains".

SMCP said it had "already denied with the greatest firmness these accusations".

It added that it expected its name would be dropped, as it had been following previous allegations stemming from a March 2020 report by Australian NGO Strategic Policy Institute, which ultimately removed SMCP and other groups from its findings.

Washington and lawmakers in other Western nations have called the crackdown in Xinjiang a "genocide" of Uyghurs and the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights has referred to their treatment as crimes against humanity.

gd/pa/rhl/jj
With the release of Fast X, we think its finally official: the Fast and Furious franchise ended with the death of Paul Walker. Walkers untimely passing gave 2015's Furious 7 a resonance that took the series to a new level, really solidifying the notion that family, not action, is what makes this mega blockbuster car franchise so popular.

In the films that followed, the one-two punch that had been at the heart of every single Fast movie before it was gone. The next iteration, The Fate of the Furious, suffered for it, but at least it tried something new by making franchise hero Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel) the villain. In 2021, F9 got around it by introducing Doms brother Jakob (John Cena), who provided a new twist on that back-and-forth, tit-for-tat energy the series was built on. But now, with Fast X, that brotherly comradery and mutual respect are off the table, and so too with them are all the emotions that made the franchise so special. Now its just the Vin Diesel show, complete with a plot that specifically makes it so Diesel can be on his own for as long as possible. And, as much as we may love Vin Diesel, hes never been the sole ingredient that makes Fast and Furious popular, no matter how hard Fast X tries to make it so.

Read more

Jason Momoa goes for it in Fast X, and we love it.

Fast X does have a worthy rival for Dom though, and, surprise surprise, hes the best part of the movie by far. Its Dante, played by Jason Momoa, and Fast X begins with a little retcon flashback into the world of 2011's Fast Five, where we see that the villain of that film, Hernan Reyes (Joaquim de Almeida), had a son named Dante who would have inherited all the wealth of his fatherif only Dom and his team hadnt stolen it. And so, we learn that Dante has spent the past decade studying Dom to not only be able to emulate him, but also to always be a few steps ahead of him. Dante is a joyous, hilarious, sociopathic character, mostly because Momoa plays him with a vibrancy and awareness thats worth the price of admission on his own. Literally, Momoa could be nominated for an Oscar for this role and we wouldnt be mad. Hes the anti-Dom and anytime hes on screen, all you want is for him not to leave.

Now, if Dante was Doms friend, that core relationship that drives the Fast franchise would be intact. Because make no mistake, Dante challenges Dom. But Dante is the villain, full stop, and so the movie is still driven, pun intended, by Doms decisions. And Dom, on his own, with no one to challenge him, just isnt very interesting.

Ramsey and Han find themselves in some very weird scenes.

So where are all the other people who do challenge him? That family from the previous nine films? Well, after an admittedly solid, entertaining first act that has all the elements of a great Fast movie (family barbeque, massive set piece featuring the entire cast in one place, working together), Dantes plan is put into action. To defeat Dom, Dante decides to separate him from all his friends and family and the movie does just that. One story splinters into about six as Letty (Michelle Rodriguez) goes one way; Tej (Ludacris), Roman (Tyrese Gibson), Ramsey (Nathalie Emmanuel), and Han (Sung Kang) go another, Dom is by himself, and later a few other stories following Cypher (Charlize Theron), Jakob, and Tess (franchise newcomer Brie Larson) are added in.

Having all the characters scattered into their own stories makes one thing abundantly clear. Its the same thing which was crystal clear in the Fast and Furious spinoff, Hobbs and Shaw. These characters do not work as well on their own. Its an ensemble piece and if the ensemble isnt an ensemble, whats even the point? It also doesnt help that the script here feels almost painfully uninterested in everyone who isnt a Toretto. Doms story has a few standout moments, like a mid-movie race scene, as does the one where Jakob is protecting Doms son Brian (Leo Abelo Perry), thanks in large part to a fantastic rapport between those actors. Beyond that though, all the other tangents are stunted, boring, and loosely linked with lines like Well meet Dom at the rendezvous, as we clearly watch Dom have zero interest in actually going toward any rendezvous.

Jakob (John Cena) and young Brian (Leo Abelo Perry) are a highlight of the film.

Director Louis Leterrier (Now You See Me, The Incredible Hulk), who was brought onto the production after the departure of Justin Lin, does his best to keep the audience reminded of all of the different storylines. But with so many characters in so many places, we sometimes get like two minutes of them talking, only to cut away for another 20-30 minutes. Often those scenes feature some action to remind you this is a Fast movie, but its usually just some hand-to-hand combat or lots of gunplay, which all feels generic in a franchise that has been anything but.

Along the way, characters in Fast X constantly make some of the most unexplainable, dumb decisions ever. Now, look. I know this is Fast and the Furious. Dumb is the brand. Flying cars, superhero jumps, Im fine with all of that. But when characters stay in places where they can be easily located, are saved by random characters showing up out of nowhere, or say theyre going to do something only to go missing from the rest of the film, a sense of disjointedness and apathy towards the story intensifies. This is most evident in a scene featuring a very well-known celebrity cameo and a brief drug-induced hallucination, neither of which does anything to the movie except slow it down. Then, on top of all of that, at the end youre reminded that Oh right, this is part one of two, and seemingly every single storyline is left dangling.

a car with a burning bomb



After Rome, its all downhill.

Its not all for naught though. As we said, Momoa brings such incredible charisma and energy to the franchise, you start cheering for him and his outlandish plans to work. Plus, the first major action set piece in Rome, as well as the final one in Belgium, are excellent. The problem with them is, for the first time in the franchise, you get the sense that the movie is not even trying to top the previous one. Which, on the one hand, makes sense. F9 literally took the characters into space. How do you top that? Well, this is Fast and Furious. Ingenuity is part of the special sauce, and that the two best action scenes in the movie feel like they could have been done four movies ago doesnt help.

After a promising start, Fast X devolves into a jumbled, uneven, nonsensical story that patches its problems with big explosions. Those distractions might be enough for some people, especially since this is the 11th film in the franchise, but just when the Fast movies should be getting more focused on ending, Fast X seems dead set on opening it up to more and more flaws.

the cast all around a table.



This happens in the movie, but its not representative of the movie.

Let us never forget, the Fast and Furious franchise has always been about family. So the fact that Fast X is a movie where that family rarely communicates or even shares the same scenes instantly feels off. And when the newly introduced villain is clearly the best thing in the movie, thats an even bigger issue. Hopefully, the 11th (or maybe even 12th) film can make this one look better in retrospect but, as it stands, Fast X is the worst Fast film yet.

Fast X opens in theaters Friday.





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Universal Pictures

Fast & Furious is one of Hollywoods all-time most lucrative franchises. It is also one of its dumbest, and that inanity continues apaceby which I mean, at breakneck speedwith Fast X, the tenth (!) chapter in what has become a monument to absurd action-extravaganza excess, laughable platitudes about family, and Vin Diesels superhero-sized ego.

Its additionally a summer-season series that allows myriad actors not on the Marvel and DC payrolls (and a handful who are!) to earn blockbuster salaries, which is about the only excuse for the majority of these individuals to be wasting their talents on such nonsense.

It's been 12 years since Fast & Furious remade itself from a saga about street racing into some sort of bizarre quasi-Mission: Impossible rip-off, with Diesels Dominic Toretto reimagined as an invulnerable badass who works for a covert government agency (known as, ahem, The Agency) to thwart dastardly international criminals.

That transformation never made sense, but from 2011s Fast Five on, the franchises celebration of multicultural unity and vehicular outrageousness has helped obscure its baseline illogicality. Even so, the finish has begun to wear off, peaking with F9s decision to send Ludacris Tej and Tyrese Gibsons Romancomedic foils whove yet to utter a legitimately funny word in eight moviesinto space via a rocket-propelled roadster, which felt like a move designed to preempt any parodies about the dim-bulb lengths to which these films will go to one-up their predecessors.

Fast X features no flights to the stars, nor similar instances of heroes doing ridiculous things like redirecting fired rockets with their bare hands a la Dwayne The Rock Johnson in The Fate of the Furious. Nonetheless, theres plenty of preposterousness to be found in this sequel, which barely revs to life when indulging in automotive mayhem and outright stalls every time its human characters open their mouths. No matter which cliche you choosethe series is running out of gas/spinning its wheels/stuck in neutralDom and companys latest exploits are perhaps their most exhaustingly extreme to date, not to mention their dimmest.

Turning inward on itself to a ludicrous degree, Fast X begins with a prologue that retcons Fast Five, revealing that when Dom and Brian (Paul Walker) dragged drug lord Hernan Reyes (Joaquim de Almeida) vault through Rio de Janeiro (killing the baddie in the process), they gravely injured the villains heretofore-unknown son Dante (Jason Momoa). Ten years later, Dante reemerges, intent on fulfilling his dads wish that Dom suffer before he dies for this theft.

Universal Pictures

Why Dante waited a full decade to exact his revenge is never properly explained, but logic isnt these proceedings strong suit. Neither, it turns out, is action, this despite director Louis Leterrier giving it his best over-the-top shot, employing an abundance of zooming, soaring, whooshing camerawork in an effort to keep the energy high. All that sound and fury, alas, feels tired and desperate, and the fact that Leterrier recycles a knocking-a-bomb-off-a-cars-undercarriage trick from his Transporter 2 only underlines his lack of imagination.

Marvel, Please Dont Make Another Guardians of the Galaxy

Virtually everyone whos appeared in a prior Fast & Furious film pops up here, and none of them look particularly thrilled about it. Ludacris and Tyrese half-heartedly engage in ball-busting banter, Jason Statham flashes a few grimaces, John Cena does his earnestly goofy routine, and Scott Eastwood and Brie Larsen (the latter playing the daughter of Kurt Russells Mr. Nobody) blankly glare during their brief screen time.

As Doms beloved Letty, Michelle Rodriguez snarls and yells per tradition, and Reachers Alan Ritchson struts around in shirts that are two sizes too small, the better to show off his massive frame. Charlize Theron mostly plays exhausted as super-cyber-criminal Cipher, while Sung Kang looks downright miserable as resurrected Dom pal Han. Even Helen Mirren and Jordana Brewster do some drive-by work, the latter in a scene that asks us to believe that the physically slight actress is capable of taking down a cadre of heavily armed soldiers.

Universal Pictures

There are so many cameos and callbacks littered throughout Fast X that its story feels secondary. That turns out to be a good thing, since Dantes plotkilling everything Dom loves, most notably his son Brian (Leo Abelo Perry)is a drawn-out affair in which the fiend gives Dom every opportunity imaginable to escape harm.

Momoa is the only one who seems to be having any fun, although theres a debate to be had about whether his brazenly queer-coded performance (all hip-thrusting, brightly painted fingernails, ornate rings, shimmering shirts, chitchat about masculinity standards, and pronouncements like Im Dante, au chante! and The carpet matches the drapes!) is colorful or distasteful. Either way, its still more tolerable than writers Dan Mazeau and Justin Lins third grade-level dialogue. Every utterance is a trailer-tailored bromide (Sometimes fear can be the best teacher; Without honor, you got no family. Without family, you got nothing!; The fallout will be existential!) and, moreover, worse than the last.

Universal Pictures

Diesel himself glowers, bellows, and poses with typical He-Man-ish confidence, his Dom now so thoroughly rendered a cartoon that his impossible feats (knocking a flaming bomb off-course with his car; plummeting from a plane in his Dodge, and then driving down the wall of a dam) are less awe-inspiring than awfully dull.

Doms invincibility neuters any suspense, just as Fast Xs overpopulated plot shortchanges everyone. Its a film thats content to simply put new spins on old centerpieces, and the brief sound of a Harry Potter musical theme only exacerbates the sense that Leterriers installment is a retread designed to keep the IP afloat regardless of whether theres anything novel left to do with these characters, their soap opera entanglements, or their turbo-charged vehicles.

The Mother Proves J.Lo Is Hollywoods Ultimate Action Star

Intended as the first half of a two-part franchise finale (which may now become a trilogy, God forbid), Fast X closes on a monumental cliffhanger. However, given that theres zero chance its main characters (save for one) are in serious danger of meeting their maker, it proves to be one more affected gesture in a fiasco stuffed full of them, be it sight of Dom crying over a deceased love, wistfully gazing at old photos of himself and Walkers Brian, or clutching his crucifix as a means of expressing his deep (and oft-referenced) faith. Bloated, listless and unintentionally hilarious, its a spectacular wreck.

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Negotiators have about 24 hours to save a pact that's enabled Ukraine to export millions of tons of grain and help ease a global food crisis despite the war it is fighting with Russia.

The agreement has been extended twice already. But Russia has threatened to pull out of the arrangement by May 18 unless a list of its demands are met. These include a lifting of some restrictions on its agricultural exports.

The deal between Kyiv and Moscow enables Ukraine to safely use its Black Sea ports to ship cargo despite the war taking place on land. It was brokered by the United Nations and Turkey last year. Ukraine is a major supplier of wheat, barley, vegetable oil and other food products to Africa, the Middle East and parts of Asia.

A sailor fixes the flag of Ukraine on a boat in Izmail, southwest of Kiev, on April 26, 2023.

The United Nations' World Food Programme has said that Russia's invasion of Ukraine has contributed to "acute food insecurity" for over a quarter of a billion people globally. The so-called Black Sea Grain Initiative has allowed nearly 25 million metric tons of food-related exports from Ukraine to reach global markets, according to a March estimate by Martin Griffths, a U.N. humanitarian affairs and emergency relief coordinator. The World Food Programme, he said, sources much of the wheat for its global humanitarian response from Ukraine.

Since the grain deal was signed in July 2022, prices for commonly traded global food commodities have fallen, according to the FAO Food Price Index, which tracks monthly changes in international prices.

If you have a cancellation of the grain deal again, when were already at a pretty tight situation, its just one more thing that the world doesnt need, so the prices could start heading higher, William Osnato, a senior research analyst at agriculture data and analytics firm Gro Intelligence, told the Associated Press.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters in a briefing that Russia would not be drawn into "hypothetical discussions" on what Russia will do if the Black Sea grain deal lapses Thursday.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Russia threatens to exit Black Sea grain deal with Ukraine
Here are all the new features coming to Uber, including teen accounts, group rides, and fancy car seats

Man hailing a cab outside an airport. FG Trade/Getty Images

Uber's latest products are focused on family and getting people together.

The company announced new features and updates on Wednesday at its annual product showcase.

These updates included accounts for teens, group rides, group grocery orders, and Nuna car seats.

Uber's latest products are focused on family and getting people together. Teen accounts and group orders are aimed at making it easier to ride and order food from the app for everyone in your home or friend group.

On Wednesday, Uber announced several new features and changes to its services at Go-Get, the company's annual product showcase.

"At Uber, one of the core values that we talk about is building with heart," Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said in a speech to the audience. "And if you're going to build with heart, you've gotta put yourselves in the shoes of your users."

These updates included accounts for teens, group rides and grocery orders, and a partnership with car seat brand Nuna.

Uber is also bringing back what Gen Z might consider an old-fashioned way to call a cab. Tech averse customers can now dial a 10-digit number to reserve an Uber ride, without needing to download the app.

Here are all the new features coming to Uber.

1. Teen accounts

Uber

While teens have used Uber before, now children ages 13 to 17 can have their own accounts on the app that are linked to their family's profile. Parents and guardians can monitor their trips and take-out orders.

"It is all about helping you manage the craziness that encompasses family life in 2023," Khosrowshahi said. "It has some incredible safety features embedded in it from the booking experience all the way to the end of the trip so that you as a parent can have peace of mind."

When a teen requests a ride, the app matches them with a highly rated driver and parents can track their location throughout the trip. Teen accounts on Uber will be available in some US and Canadian cities beginning on May 22.

2. Group rides

Group rides on Uber allows up to four people with separate pick up locations to share one car headed to the same place.

Once you request a ride, you can share it with your friends and invite them to join your trip. Each rider adds their pickup location and the app determines the most efficient route. Everyone is charged individually based on the amount of time they spent in the car.

Group rides will roll out in the upcoming weeks, though Uber did not provide a specific date.

3. Group grocery orders

Uber

Beginning on May 17, a new group order feature on UberEats will allow you to split your weekly grocery delivery with your family or roommates.

Each person in a household can add items to a shared grocery cart and Uber automatically splits the bill. You can also create recurring orders and set deadlines so everyone on the account receives reminders to add their selections.

4. Nuna car seats

Uber currently offers an option on its app to reserve a ride with a car seat, however children had to be at least two years old and weigh between 22 and 48 pounds. On Wednesday, the company announced a partnership with baby-gear brand Nuna to outfit car seats for a wider range of ages.

Nuna car seats cost $550 and are designed without a base to buckle in, ideal for city life and taxis. In New York City and Los Angeles, Uber will offer Nuna's Rava car seat, a model that adjusts to fit several ages, from newborns up to children weighing 65 pounds.

5. Dial 1-833-USE-UBER

Customers can now call to request a ride without using the app. They can book a ride on demand or schedule one ahead of time by dialing 1-833-USE-UBER. After the call, the rider receives a text message confirming their trip information and the driver's information.

"We all know that not everyone is comfortable using a phone or an app to call an Uber," Khosrowshahi said. "Like my mother-in-law and for her, we have a product that's incredibly easy to use."

Read the original article on Business Insider
BOSTON  Massachusetts top federal prosecutor leaked sensitive Justice Department information to a reporter as part of an effort to help an ally in a political campaign  and then lied about it to investigators, a Justice Department watchdog found.

The finding was the most damaging in a devastating pair of reports issued by DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz and another federal watchdog agency against Rachael Rollins, who announced plans Tuesday to resign her position as U.S. attorney for Massachusetts, a post she held since January 2022.

The scathing reports from the Office of Special Counsel and the Justice inspector general, released just hours after Rollins announced plans to resign, condemned the U.S. attorneys conduct in unusually harsh language rarely leveled against senior-level appointees.

Ms. Rollinss conduct in leaking nonpublic DOJ information constitutes an extraordinary abuse of her authority and threatens to erode public confidence in the integrity of federal law enforcement actions, Special Counsel Henry Kerner wrote as he delivered a 105-page report to President Joe Biden.

We found Rollinss conduct described throughout this report violated federal regulations, numerous DOJ policies, her Ethics Agreement, and applicable law, and fell far short of the standards of professionalism and judgment that the Department should expect of any employee, much less a U.S. Attorney, Horowitz concluded in his 161-page compendium on allegations against Rollins.

Horowitz found that Rollins violated the federal false statements statute, and he indicated that he referred the matter to the Justice Department for a prosecutive decision on Dec. 16, 2022. But three weeks later, he noted, the Department informed the OIG that it declined prosecution.

An attorney for Rollins, Michael Bromwich, did not address the most serious allegations directly but said some of the episodes were the result of her move from state politics to being a federal prosecutor.

The central truth is that Ms. Rollins moved from being an elected official with virtually no restrictions on her activities to the highly-regulated environment of the US Attorneys Office, said Bromwich, a former Justice Department inspector general. Most of the allegations amount to minor process fouls. Though Ms. Rollins could have raised many facts and arguments in connection with these issues, she had no interest in litigating them any further. She believed the better course was to step down and end the matter before it overwhelmed her office and DOJ.

Rollins departure under a cloud of scandal has repercussions that extend far beyond Massachusetts. Biden and senior Senate Democrats used significant political capital to muscle Rollins nomination through a divided Senate in December 2021. She was confirmed on a 51-50 vote that required Vice President Kamala Harris to twice break ties.

Shortly after the reports were released Wednesday morning, Senate Judiciary Chair Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) said he welcomed Rollins decision to step down.

Im deeply concerned by Ms. Rollinss misconduct, as detailed in the Inspector Generals and Special Counsels reports, and support her immediate resignation, Durbin said in a statement.

Massachusetts senators, both Democrats who lobbied for Rollins for the federal prosecutor post two years ago, said on Wednesday that her decision to quit was the right one.

These findings are deeply troubling and we agree with Rollinss decision to resign, Sens. Ed Markey and Elizabeth Warren said in a joint statement. Its powerfully important that public officials follow high ethical standards and the Justice Departments work on behalf of Massachusetts will continue uninterrupted.

Before being tapped as a U.S. attorney, Rollins was a prominent member of a series of progressive district attorneys who won local elections in recent years on pledges to step back from strict enforcement of many criminal laws. Many of those prosecutors are now under attack from conservatives who blame such changes for rising crime rates in some cities.

The new reports expose Rollins behind-the-scenes efforts last year to an ally, Ricardo Arroyo, in his campaign to succeed her as Suffolk district attorney. Rollins, the federal investigators say, passed information to reporters at Bostons two major metro newspapers that was intended to harm Arroyos rival, Kevin Hayden, who was filling out the rest of Rollins term as district attorney. One of the reports says that Rollins acted as a de facto campaign advisor to Arroyo  though she never publicly supported him  and that she repeatedly attempted to sabotage Hayden in what became a brutal primary election fight in which both candidates faced allegations of misconduct.

Rollins most egregious violation, the investigators say, came when she gave a Boston Herald reporter an internal Justice Department memo recusing herself and her office from an unspecified investigation of Hayden to create the public perception of a potential federal probe over Haydens handling of alleged misconduct by local transit police officers. While Rollins gave the Herald some of the information before the Democratic primary, the paper didnt publish it until after, when Hayden had secured the nomination.

The reports allege that Rollins actions violated the Hatch Act, a longstanding federal law limiting the activities of federal employees in partisan political races. For many categories of federal workers, violations of the sort Rollins was accused of can lead to workplace discipline, including termination in egregious cases, but only the president can take action against U.S. attorneys because they are presidential appointees.

Rollins plan to resign by Friday appears to preempt any such move against her. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Wednesday morning.

Rollins told federal investigators that she didnt think her conversations with Arroyo violated either the Hatch Act or Justice Department policy because I was having them in my individual capacity and had also spoken with Hayden. But, she added, Im not saying these communications are appropriate.

Arroyo called the situation incredibly sad while speaking to reporters at Boston City Hall on Wednesday, adding that he hadnt yet had a chance to read the report. He described Rollins as a longtime friend whose relationship predated her time in public office, and as somebody who Ive gone to to seek counsel. And Arroyo, who faced allegations of possible sexual assault toward the end of the primary campaign, said the Suffolk district attorneys race suffered from a number of illegal leaks from different directions. Arroyo, now a Boston city councilor, did not respond to additional requests for comment.

The inspector general revealed that he obtained Rollins phone records and text messages, with her consent, to help counter her claims that she had no contact with the reporters in question. Those records helped lead to Horowitzs conclusion that Rollins lied in her interviews.

But Rollins purported violations didnt end with the leaks of nonpublic information or with her lack of candor to investigators. The inspector general also dinged her for other apparent ethical violations  from soliciting and accepting Celtics tickets from an associate who worked for the organization and for attending a news conference with prominent political figures after POLITICO published a draft of the Supreme Court opinion overturning Roe v. Wade.

Rollins has not publicly addressed the reports or the allegations, but her attorney sent a 10-page letter to the Office of Special Counsel last week downplaying many of the claims and urging that her text messages with Arroyo not be made public.

Rachael has been profoundly honored to serve as U.S. Attorney over the past 16 months and is incredibly proud of all her office has accomplished during that limited time, especially in the areas of gun violence and civil rights, Bromwich said on Tuesday. After the dust settles and she resigns, Rachael will make herself available to answer questions.

Lisa Kashinsky reported from Boston. Josh Gerstein and Kyle Cheney reported from Washington.
Pennsylvania Democrat Sen. John Fetterman raised eyebrows with his choppy and sometimes borderline incoherent questioning at the Senate Banking Committee hearing on Tuesday.

Fetterman was the last senator to dive into questioning during a hearing on the Silicon Valley Bank collapse that occurred earlier this year, and he appeared to struggle through his opening statement in the hearing.

The Pennsylvania Democrat noted that some of the witnesses colleagues "went to go to Hawaiis (sic) after there was a crash of your bank" and that he "couldnt believe it."

FETTERMAN RAISES EYEBROWS WITH CHOPPY OPENING STATEMENT IN SENATE RETURN: FRIGHTENING

Pennsylvania Democrat Sen. John Fetterman was the last senator to dive into questioning during a hearing on the Silicon Valley Bank collapse that occurred earlier this year, and he appeared to struggle through his opening statement in the hearing.

"So, I went up on the Internet, and its like, it did happen. It did happen. It did happen," Fetterman said, holding up a cutout of a New York Post headline titled "Ex-Silicon Valley Bank CEO Greg Becker jets to Hawaii after collapse."

"And its in Fortune, the second-biggest bank in U.S. history collapsed and chose to go to Hawaii on that," he continued. "You know, Ive never been to Hawaii and neither has my family. I guess Ive never cranked, excuse me, crashed a bank."

READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP

Fetterman asked the witnesses if they believed its "a running joke" in the banking community that the federal government will bail them out in times of trouble, to which former Silicon Valley Bank CEO Gregory Becker said he does not "believe thats the case."

"Really? Because every bank you seemingly that crashed, its like, We can bail him out. This one crashed, well bail them out," Fetterman said. "So far, everythings been true. So, doesnt it feel that now if a bank really believed that they wouldnt be bailed out, now after bailing them out, these couple of bailouts, they are going to."

"Do you believe that that is not outrageous that, no matter how deplorable your performance is, you are made as whole and all by  taxpapers (sic)," the Pennsylvania senator continued. "So what do yous (sic) believe?"

Fetterman then asked what wouldve happened if Silicon Valley Bank had not been bailed out before moving on to say, "Is it staggering? Is it a staggering  its a responsibility that the head of a bank could literally, could literally crash our economy."

"Its astonishing. Thats like if you have, I mean like, and they also realize is that now they have  a guaranteed way to be saved by, again, by no matter, by how?" Fetterman said. "Isnt it appropriate that this kind of control should be more stricter to prevent this kind of thing from going, or should we go on start bailing and sailing whoever bank regardless of how  their conduct is?"

After a pause with no answer, Fetterman said he would give "an example" before attacking Republicans for wanting to introduce food stamp work requirements and asking if Silicon Valley Bank should have a "working requirement" after the bailout.

"Because they seem more preoccupied when then SNAP requirements for works for hungry people but not about protecting the taxpapers (sic) that will bail no matter whatever does about a bank to crash it," Fetterman said, before a long pause and turning control back over to the committee chairman, Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio.

Users online reacted to Fettermans choppy questioning during the Senate Banking Committee hearing on one of the largest bank failures in American history.

Joe Calvello, Fetterman's spokesperson, told Fox News Digital, "We have been clear for literally months and months that John continues to have auditory processing issues due to the effects of his stroke."

"If sickos on the internet want to keep making fun of John for recovering from a health challenge, thats between them and their consciences," Calvello said.

Fetterman has been raising eyebrows while performing his senatorial duties since his return from his months-long hospital stay last month after checking himself in for depression.

The Pennsylvania Democrat was in the hospital from mid-February to mid-April of this year.

Fetterman, who suffered a stroke on the campaign trail, resumed his chairmanship of the Senate Agriculture Committees Subcommittee on Food and Nutrition, Specialty Crops, Organics, and Research.

Calvello told Fox News Digital that it's "a sad but true fact of life that some people seem to get their jollies attacking John for the auditory processing issues resulting from his stroke, but theyre just shouting into the wind."

"Republicans already tried emptying the arsenal attacking Johns health, and Pennsylvanians had his back in a big way," Calvello said. "As a senator, John is fighting for forgotten communities and all of the people of Pennsylvania, regardless of their social media habits."
The producer created the 1+1 TV channel

On April 27, a court hearing took place to consider preventive measures against Rodnyansky. The appeal against his arrest was filed the next day. Rodnyansky learned about the courts decision while in Cannes and shared the information on his Instagram page, mentioning his intention to attend the festivals opening.

Read also: Abramovich loses influence as mediator between Ukraine and Russia, WSJ report says

Rodnyansky, born in Kyiv, is a film producer. He graduated from the Kyiv University of Theatre, Film, and Television and founded the 1+1 TV channel in 1995.

In 2002, Rodnyansky left his position as director of the channel and moved to Russia, accepting an invitation from shareholders of the Russian channel STS to lead the holding.

Read also: Bihus.Info investigation reveals growing influence of Zelenskyy's chief-of-staff

The producer continued working in Russia until the onset of the full-scale invasion. After Feb. 24, Rodnyansky left the country and began speaking out about the war, resulting in his designation as a foreign agent.

Rodnyansky is known for producing Russian TV series and films in Ukraine, including9th Company, Cadets, White Guard, and My Fair Nanny. The latter specifically portrayed a woman from Mariupol in a mocking manner, while heavily emphasizing alleged incompetence among Ukrainians.

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
Venture capital firm Lifeline Ventures today announced a fresh 150 million ($163 million) fund aimed at early-stage startups across Finland.

Founded in 2009, Helsinki-based Lifeline Ventures has invested in around 115 companies to date, with more than a dozen exits to its name including activity-tracking app Moves, which Facebook acquired back in 2014; food delivery company Wolt, which DoorDash snapped up in a $8.1 billion all-stock deal two years ago; and gaming giant Supercell, which Tencent doled out $8.6 billion for a majority stake in 2016. Lifeline Ventures has also backed unicorns such as open source enterprise infrastructure company Aiven, which hit a valuation of $3 billion last year.

Lifeline Ventures typically invests at the angel and seed stage, with some follow-on investments in the Series A realm. While "angel" usually refers to wealthy individuals investing with their own cash, in this instance the company means that it sometimes backs companies at a super-early stage, before they have anything meaningful to show from a product perspective. Such investments have included mixed reality headset maker Varjo and smart ring maker Oura, which recently claimed a valuation of $2.55 billion.

"We invested in Oura 'pre-PowerPoint' -- meaning weve been there before an actual product was ever made," Lifeline Ventures founding partner Timo Ahopelto told TechCrunch.

With its new fund, the company says it will look to make investments ranging from anywhere between 150,000 to 2 million. And while the vast majority of its investments (95%, TechCrunch is informed) are aimed at domestic Finnish startups, it has been known to take stakes in companies hailing from elsewhere, including Germany, France, the U.K. and the U.S. when invited to do so.

Lifeline Ventures' founding partners Petteri Koponen and Timo Ahopelto. Image Credits: Lifeline Ventures

Sowing seeds

While VC funding has generally declined across all stages, data suggests that earlier-stage funding has been a little more resilient. Certainly, we've seen a spate of fresh early-stage funds emerging in Europe of late in the past few months alone. For example, London's Playfair Capital closed a $70 million pre-seed fund, while France's Emblem and Ovni Capital each announced new 50 million ($54 million) funds. Elsewhere, the U.K.'s Amadeus Capital Partners partnered with Austrias Apex Ventures for an 80 million ($87 million) fund targeted at early-stage deep tech startups.

"The early stage is the most recession-proof business, both for founders and investors, as you are likely to always grow faster than markets can go down," Ahopelto said.

Lifeline Ventures' latest fund represents its fifth to date, with its inaugural 29 million fund closing in 2012, followed by fund two in 2014, which amounted to 17 million; a 57 million fund three in 2016; and a 130 million fund three years later. While a lot has happened in the world since 2019, Ahopelto says that it's pretty much business as usual from an investment perspective.

"Nothing has really changed for us in terms of investment strategy -- we are still the first investors in many cases," he said. "Were still seeing lots of startups being founded, in Finland specifically. The ecosystem in Finland is in its early days and will grow two-to-three times in terms of quality and size during the next five to 10 years. There is room for that sort of growth in Finland."

Lifeline Ventures' most recent investment was in Origin by Ocean, an Espoo-based startup working to rid the oceans of harmful algae by transforming it into functional goods spanning food, cosmetics, textiles and more. And this is one area in particular that Ahopelto reckons will continue to thrive in the years ahead.

"We feel that climate startups will raise their heads even more as time passes," he said. "Similarly, we will see more climate funds investing in the sphere."
When a group of Georgia inmates reenter society after serving their sentences, theyll do so with a college degree.

Georgia State Perimeter College announced they are graduating their first-ever class of incarcerated students.

Nine inmates at Walker State Prison in north Georgia have earned their associate degrees in general students.

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All nine of them had a GPA of at least 3.7. Three of them had GPAs higher than 3.9.

All of their courses from English to geology to philosophy and more were taught by Georgia State Perimeter College faculty who traveled to the prison.

The students will be able to don their caps and gowns for a graduation ceremony. Georgia State President Dr. M. Brian Blake and Perimeter College Interim Dean Dr. Cynthia Lester will give them their degrees virtually.

TRENDING STORIES:

Not only have these students demonstrated that they are critical thinkers by completing a degree, but theyve also shown tremendous character to seek education and follow it through to the end, said President Blake. The degree they rightfully earned can never be taken away.

The Georgia State University Prison Education Project began in 2016 and offers courses to inmates at the Walker State Prison and offer enrichment courses at the U.S. federal penitentiary in Atlanta.

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IN OTHER NEWS:
First full-size scan reveals Titanic wreck as never seen before

First full-size scan reveals Titanic wreck as never seen before

The first full-size digital scan of the Titanic has revealed the worlds most famous shipwreck as never seen before, and experts hope that it will provide more insight into how the liner came to sink in 1912.

Created using deep-sea mapping, the unique 3D view of the entire vessel could break through a centurys worth of human interpretation about what happened to the liner as it made its maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to New York, Parks Stephenson, a Titanic analyst and historian, told NBC News on Wednesday.

The new scan blew me away, said Stephenson, who was asked to assess the image. He added that it was a major step to driving the narrative of the Titanic towards evidence-based, scientific research and not speculation.

The bow of the Titanic, which sank in 1912, resting on the ocean floor. (Atlantic Productions / Magellan)

The scan was carried out last summer by Magellan, a deep-sea mapping company, and Atlantic Productions, which is making a documentary about the project.

Atlantic Productions said on its website that specially adapted cameras had been used to produce footage and stills of the Titanic wreck as never been seen before.

Using the submersible camera systems, the team performed dedicated photogrammetry passes on the wreck, allowing highly accurate and photoreal 3D models of RMS Titanic to be produced, it said.

Photogrammetry involves taking overlapping photographs of an object, structure or space, and converting them into 2D or 3D digital models.

The current condition of the wreck, unmasked by 3D scans, shows large sections that have collapsed. (Atlantic Productions / Magellan)

More than 1,500 people died when the Titanic went down and it was long assumed to have sunk in one piece.

It was only after the wreck was discovered in 1985, around 350 miles off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada, that it was found to have broken up. Surrounded by debris, the ships two main pieces are around 2,000 feet apart.

While footage has been taken of the wreck, Stephenson  who serves as the executive director of the ship and museum USS Kidd  said submersible cameras only see small portions of the wreck site at any given moment.

Previously, he said, people filled in the gaps by referring back to what the Titanic looked like as a whole ship, so as you paint the ship or try to build a model of it, its going to have a bias to how it originally looked.

It will be accurate but youll tend to make it more complete than it actually is, he said.

The wreck has never been seen in such detail. (Atlantic Productions / Magellan)

The new scan was devoid of that, he said, adding, It is completely based on data and not human interpretation and that is why we are now seeing it in its larger context for the first time ever.

Atlantic Productions said one major area of deterioration had already been observed in the officers' quarters. This included the room of Captain Edward John Smith and discovered that the iconic captains bathtub has now disappeared from view, it added.

Now were getting objective, so we can get really serious with the science of understanding the wreck, Stephenson said.

He added that he was absolutely convinced, that the photogrammetry model would now be used not just for Titanic, but for all underwater exploration, because it ushers in a new phase of exploration and analysis.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
Tuesday saw a number of key races in Kentucky, Pennsylvania and Florida, which underscored former President Trumps grip on the Republican base and Democrats relative strength in suburban areas, among other storylines.

In one of the nights marquee races, Trumps endorsed candidate in the Kentucky GOP gubernatorial primary, Daniel Cameron, prevailed against Florida Gov. Ron DeSantiss pick, former U.N. Ambassador Kelly Craft. The Florida governors choice in the Jacksonville, Fla., mayoral race also lost, in one of the biggest upsets of the night.

Meanwhile, Democrats scored a key victory in the Philadelphia suburbs in a race that largely hinged on abortion.

Here are five takeaways from Tuesday nights elections.

Trump notches a win over DeSantis in Kentucky

Trump scored a win over his chief rival in Kentucky on Tuesday night, when his endorsed candidate won the GOP gubernatorial primary.

Cameron, who was favored by the former president, won the Republican primary to take on Gov. Andy Beshear (D) this November. Craft, who received a last-minute endorsement from DeSantis on election day, placed third in the primary.

DeSantiss decision to back Craft comes against the backdrop of a burgeoning 2024 Republican presidential primary field. The Florida governor is expected to formally launch his presidential bid in the coming weeks and is seen as Trumps fiercest opponent.

DeSantis wasnt the only high-profile Republican to back Craft  declared 2024 candidate and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) also endorsed her.

Cameron, a rising star in the GOP, touted the former presidents endorsement, even after Trump was held liable for sexual battery and defamation against the writer E. Jean Carroll.

A good night for Dems

Democrats had a lot to celebrate Tuesday night.

In one of the most closely watched races of the year, Democratic candidate Heather Boyd beat Republican Katie Ford in the special election for a Pennsylvania state House seat outside Philadelphia, allowing the Democrats to keep control of the states lower chamber.

The race was seen as particularly critical because Democrats feared the GOP would use a potential majority to push through restrictive measures relating to abortion and LGBTQ issues.

Meanwhile, in Jacksonville, Fla., Democrats scored an upset with Donna Deegan (D) winning the mayoral race against Republican Daniel Davis, who was backed by DeSantis. The election offered Democrats some relief given Duval Countys red leanings, suggesting that Democrats may still be able to compete in the state, even as Florida has trended Republican in recent years.

Meanwhile, in Colorado Springs, independent candidate Yemi Mobolade won the mayoral race against Republican Wayne Williams, a former Colorado secretary of state. The result was a blow to Republicans; Trump won El Paso County, which includes Colorado Springs, by 11 points in 2020.

Progressives big-city winning streak suffers a blow

Not all Democrats were celebrating the primary results, though, as progressives suffered a blow in the Philadelphia mayoral race. Their favored candidate, Helen Gym, finished third.

Gym, who received endorsements from high-profile progressives such as Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), lost the race to become Philadelphias next top executive to former City Council member Cherelle Parker. Former City Controller Rebecca Rhynhart placed second.

Parker is almost certain to prevail in the heavily blue citys November election against Republican David Oh.

Crime has been one of the driving issues in the race, and Parker, who is Black, has notably vocalized support for the use of the controversial stop-and-frisk policing strategy. Her safety and policing platform on her website also calls for hiring 300 more police officers who would be designated to a neighborhood beat.

A surprise upset in Florida

Deegans win in the Jacksonville mayoral race was perhaps the biggest surprise of the night, flipping an office thats been helmed by Republican Mayor Lenny Curry since 2015.

The race also further dented DeSantis, given that he endorsed Davis in March.

Surveys ahead of election day indicated a tight race. Polling from the Public Opinion Research Lab at the University of North Florida (UNF) last month found 48 percent of respondents backing Deegan while Davis received 47 percent support, falling well within the polls margin of error at plus or minus 3.8 percentage points.

That polling also found that the highest percentage of respondents believed crime to be the most important issue facing the city.

Daviss loss is a blow to Republicans in a county that has become friendlier to the GOP in recent years. DeSantis won Duval County, where Jacksonville is situated, by 12 points during the November midterms. But in 2018, Democrat Andrew Gillum won the county over DeSantis by 4 points.

Voter turnout was mixed

Voter turnout in some of the biggest elections turned out to be a mixed bag.

Kentucky Secretary of State Michael Adams (R) had previously warned that turnout for the GOP gubernatorial primary might end up around 10 percent, and data from the secretary of states website as of Tuesday night showed turnout around 14 percent.

Turnout also appeared relatively light in Pennsylvania, with one election official saying early on that the levels were historically low, according to WKBN-TV.

But in Duval County, where Jacksonville, Fla., is situated, turnout was at 33 percent as of Tuesday night. Broken down by voter party affiliation, close to 99,000 Republicans voted, while about 92,000 Democrats and roughly 25,000 voters with no party affiliation turned out. More than 2,600 votes came from voters identified as other.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
A student makes her way past the sign at New College of Florida, Jan. 20, 2023, in Sarasota, Florida.

A student makes her way past the sign at New College of Florida, Jan. 20, 2023, in Sarasota, Florida.

Students at New College of Florida  a small liberal arts school that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) has sought to remake in his own image  say theyll host their own graduation ceremony on their own terms after the college invited Scott Atlas, a former Donald Trump adviser, to give the commencement speech at the official ceremony.

DeSantis has stoked fury among New College students and national voters alike by leveraging a culture war on so-called wokeness against schools and corporations across the state. He has focused his campaign on New College of Florida, a public college in Sarasota that hes been rebuilding as a bastion of conservative leadership.

Many students want nothing to do with the man whos expected to run against Trump in the next GOP presidential primary, or with his vision for the school.

The new administration that has spent the past four months attacking our students and community cannot, in good faith, celebrate our graduating students and their accomplishments, the GoFundMe page for the new graduation ceremony reads. Commencement is supposed to be a celebration of graduating students and the people who have shaped this school to be what it is.

DeSantis has slowly started to rebrand New College of Florida to fit his conservative values. He replaced six of the colleges 13 trustees with some of his conservative allies, then ousted the schools president and replaced her with Richard Corcoran, a career politician and former Florida state lawmaker. According to The New York Times, DeSantis said New College of Florida has had trouble attracting new students because of its embrace of diversity and equity programs. DeSantis office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

After New College of Florida invited Atlas, one of Trumps advisers during the COVID-19 pandemic, to speak at Fridays official graduation ceremony, students and alumni started a GoFundMe to raise money so they could host their own ceremony on Thursday. Instead of Atlas, they invited Maya Wiley, president and CEO of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, to deliver their commencement speech.

In a video posted on Twitter, Wiley said she is so excited to celebrate the graduating class.

To the New College of FL graduating class of 2023, I am honored to be joining you to celebrate your academic achievements & your bravery! You speak your truth to power & fight for freedom to learn & diversity. Youre the future! @SaveNewCollege@NCFEduFreedompic.twitter.com/hVVV82tRin  Maya Wiley (@mayawiley) May 16, 2023

Not only are you earning one of the nations most prestigious degrees from an excellent college, you have survived COVID, you made it work through the dark days of the pandemic, and at the same time, you have been pushing back for academic freedom, for the right to learn and to be who you are, she said.

As of Wednesday, the students have raised more than $100,000, which will go toward the venue, food, security, insurance and transportation from campus, according to the students GoFundMe page. The fundraiser received a $15,000 donation from Save New College, a coalition of students and alumni who seek to protect the school from a hostile political takeover.

A spokesperson for New College of Florida told HuffPost in a statement that they believe a majority of students will attend the official graduation ceremony.

New College of Floridas commencement is being held on Friday, May 19, at the Bayfront  a tradition that many students look forward to when they are accepted at New College, the statement reads. We have an exceptional speaker lined up and look forward to celebrating our graduates, alongside their families and friends, at commencement.

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The Florida Department of Education has approved 66 social studies textbooks that can be purchased by school districts, but two Holocaust-related books on the reject list have grabbed national attention.

Both of the textbooks included in the rejection list were on the Holocaust: Modern Genocides and History of the Holocaust. Both were intended for high school students.

The Times of Israel, Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Newsweek , CNN and NPR have all written about rejection of the books in connection with Gov. Ron DeSantis' campaign against what some call "woke" education.

Overhaul of Florida school system: GOP star Ron DeSantis is overhauling education policy in Florida

DEI programs: DeSantis signs bill banning funding for diversity programs at Florida public colleges

Another publisher was forced to alter a passage about the Hebrew Bible to meet state approval, according to The Times of Israel.

How many textbooks were approved by the Florida Department of Education?

The approved list includes state standards-aligned social studies curriculum for every grade level with 66 of 101 submitted materials approved to date.

These textbooks are now available for purchase by school districts across the state.

How many books were originally rejected by Florida?

Textbooks reviewed and then either approved or rejected by the Florida Department of Education in 2023.

When submitted materials were first reviewed, 19 of 101 were initially approved. The rest were rejected due to inaccurate material, errors and other information not aligned with Florida Law, according to the Florida Department of Education.

Since then, the department worked directly with publishers, who have "updated their materials to comply with Floridas rigorous standards."

To uphold our exceptional standards, we must ensure our students and teachers have the highest quality materials available  materials that focus on historical facts and are free from inaccuracies or ideological rhetoric, said Florida Education Commissioner Manny Diaz Jr.

Can publishers appeal the decision to reject a textbook?

Yes. The Department of Education will to work with publishers in an effort to include as many textbooks on the state adoption list as possible.

Book ban lawsuit: PEN America, Penguin Random House sue Florida school district over book ban. What we know.

Publishers have the ability to appeal any non-adoption decision. Publishers can also make revisions that would be reviewed to ensure the final materials "align to Floridas state academic standards."

Why were the Holocaust textbooks rejected?

Modern Genocides was rejected in part for its discussion of special topics prohibited by the state, according to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.

The list of such topics includes terms such as social justice and critical race theory, the agency reported.

Both of the rejected works received low scores from the states educational review committee.

What change had to be made in the textbook that referenced the Hebrew Bible?

According to state documents cited by The Times of Israel, the books original version included a question for students reading, What social justice issues are included in the Hebrew Bible?

That was altered to an approved version that replaced the phrase social justice issues with the term key principles. The states rationale for the change was that the original phrasing used Politically charged language when referencing the Hebrew Bible.

Do Florida schools teach about the Holocaust?

Yes. In Florida schools, the Holocaust will be taught "with content infused in ways that are age-appropriate, interdisciplinary, and in every grade-level," according to the Florida Department of Education.

In 1994, the Florida Legislature passed the Holocaust Education Bill. It requires all school districts to incorporate lessons on the Holocaust as part of public-school instruction in grade K-12.

The state mandate requires that the "Holocaust is to be taught as a uniquely important event in modern history,emphasizing the systemic and state-sponsored violence, which distinguish it from other genocides."

Alex Lanfranconi, the education departments director of communications, reportedly told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency that Florida has many textbooks and other approved instructional materials that support our efforts to make sure our students never forget about the horrific annihilation of Jews by Nazi Germany.

List of proposed textbooks that did not meet Florida education criteria

This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Florida rejects Holocaust textbooks for social justice, critical race
Republicans in the Florida state legislature are lining up behind Gov. Ron DeSantiss (R) likely presidential bid.

Ninety-nine of the states 113 Republican state lawmakers endorsed the governors White House aspirations on Wednesday, giving him a jolt of momentum as he nears a formal campaign announcement.

The new endorsement list comes just a day after the legislatures top two Republicans  Senate President Kathleen Passidomo and House Speaker Paul Renner  threw their support behind DeSantis for the GOPs 2024 presidential nod.

So far, only one member of the Florida legislature, state Sen. Joe Gruters, has endorsed former President Donald Trump, DeSantiss main rival for the Republicans presidential nomination. Trump previously described his support in Florida as almost universal.

The slate of endorsements comes less than two weeks after the Florida legislature wrapped up its annual legislative session, a 60-day stretch that saw state lawmakers pass a long list of DeSantiss biggest policy priorities.

Ron DeSantiss support among Republicans in the Florida legislature is almost universal because these lawmakers have partnered with the governor to pass the most robust conservative agenda in the history of the state, putting Florida at the top of the rankings on every key metric, a top official with DeSantiss political operation said.

Trump has still racked up a long list of endorsements from Florida Republicans. More than half of the states 20-member Republican House delegation has thrown their support behind his 2024 comeback bid. So far, only one, Rep. Laurel Lee (R-Fla.), has endorsed DeSantis.

Trumps campaign on Wednesday accused DeSantis and his team of putting undue pressure on state lawmakers to endorse the governor by threatening to veto legislation unless they get behind him.

There are some brave legislators who have stood up to DeSantis Swamp-like behavior and resisted his intimidation tactics in order to do what is right for Florida and the country, Steven Cheung, a spokesperson for Trumps campaign, said in a statement.

Those who he cant control  including almost the entirety of the Florida federal congressional delegation  have endorsed President Trump because hes the only candidate who can beat Joe Biden and take back the White House.

DeSantis hasnt formally launched a presidential bid yet, but is widely expected to do so in the coming weeks. He spent Saturday traveling through Iowa, the crucial first-in-the-nation caucus state for Republicans, and his political shop moved into a new office on Monday.

His team has also begun inviting donors and top supporters to Miami for an event later this month, signaling a presidential campaign announcement is likely.

DeSantis and Trump have engaged in a bitter, and at times chaotic, battle for endorsements in recent days.

On Tuesday, Never Back Down, the main super PAC backing DeSantis for the 2024 Republican presidential nod, rolled out a list of endorsements from more than 50 New Hampshire state lawmakers, including four who had previously announced their support for Trumps 2024 campaign.

One of those legislators, state Rep. Juliet Harvey-Bolia, later told NBC News she was endorsing both Trump and DeSantis, while another state lawmaker, Rep. Lisa Smart said she was still supporting Trump, despite signing an endorsement form pledging to back DeSantis.

DeSantis also scored endorsements from 37 state legislators in Iowa ahead of his trip to the state on Saturday. Trump, meanwhile, rolled out his own slate of 150 Iowa endorsements, though at least three of those people told Axios that they hadnt been consulted by Trumps team about their support and remained undecided.

The legislators endorsements also come after DeSantis suffered two high-profile defeats in Tuesdays elections. His endorsed candidate in the Kentucky GOP gubernatorial primary, Kelly Craft, lost to Trumps pick, state Attorney General Daniel Cameron; meanwhile, in Florida, a DeSantis-backed Republican lost to Democrat Donna Deegan in the Jacksonville mayoral race.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Florida man had endangered tortoises stolen from St. Augustine attraction at his home, police say

Police in St. Petersburg have arrested a man accused of stealing rare reptiles.

Investigators said Joshua McCarty-Thomas stole two endangered Galapagos tortoises from the St. Augustine Alligator Farm Zoological Park last November.

Police said they found one alive at his St. Petersburg home, and another in a freezer.

Watch: Driver stopping for turtle on highway causes chain-reaction crash in Florida

They are valued at $10,000 each.

These little creatures are extremely rare, and to just keep one in the front yard like that of your home is just, unbelievable, said Yolanda Fernandez, a public information officer with the St. Petersburg Police Department.

Read: Chonk, a massive snapping turtle in the Chicago River, is an internet darling

Officials said there is also a warrant out for the same man in connection to the burglary of a shop in Ocala.

Thousands of dollars worth of valuable comics were stolen from that store.

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Florida passes bill to prevent billionaires like Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos being sued if their mega-rockets kill or injure people

The SpaceX Starship lifts off in Boca Chica, Texas, on April 20, 2023. PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images

Florida passed a bill protecting space companies in case of injury or death of a crew member.

Passengers will have to sign a waiver stating they understand the risks before boarding a spaceship.

The bill comes as more billionaires are trying to make commercial space flight a reality.

Florida has signed a bill protecting the billionaire owners of space companies against civil lawsuits in case of the death or injury of a passenger or crew member.

Passengers will have to sign a waiver stating they understand the risks of spaceflight before boarding a spaceship, the bill states.

"Under Florida law, there is no liability for an injury to or death of a participant or crew in a spaceflight activity provided by a spaceflight entity if such injury or death results from the inherent risks of the spaceflight activity," the bill states.

For private sector companies like Elon Musk's SpaceX and Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin, the bill "has the potential to limit the cost of litigation to businesses engaging in spaceflight activities," a senate analysis of the bill said.

The bill extends protections to private space companies

Elon Musk stands in front of a model of a rocket. (Photo by Hannibal Hanschke-Pool/Getty Images)

The Spaceflight Entity Liability bill, which was sent to Governor Ron DeSantis and passed the Florida Senate and House with little opposition, was adjusted to reflect "the evolution of spaceflight," said Republican Sen. Tom Wright, the bill's sponsor, per Florida Politics.

"Astronauts are no longer government astronauts. These are commercial crew," said Republican Rep. Tyler Sirois at a March 9 hearing, per Florida Politics.

The new bill states that space flight remains "an extraordinarily dangerous condition" and people should take responsibility for the risks before boarding the rocket, the Senate bill analysis states.

The bill doesn't protect the companies in case of "gross negligence"

Florida lawmakers have every motivation to protect the spaceflight industry, which contributes $17.7 billion in revenues to Florida's economy, per Florida's Aerospace and Spaceport Development Authority.

SpaceX and Blue Origin have their primary launch sites in Florida. Jeff Sharkey, a lobbyist representing SpaceX, also stood in support of the bill at a March 26 hearing, per Florida Politics.

Still, the bill doesn't abrogate space companies from all responsibility. It states clearly that the company is still liable in case of gross negligence, if the company knew or should have known about dangerous conditions, or it intentionally tried to hurt or kill a crewmember.

Even in a case of negligence, the bill would be difficult to hold up in court, Mark Sundahl, director of the Global Space Law Center at Cleveland State University, told Gizmodo in an email.

The waiver, he said "assumes that there is 'informed consent.' It is questionable whether a passenger who is not familiar with the technology and history of spaceflight can truly be 'informed' as to the risks."

More protections are needed as space tourism takes off

Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa floats inside the International Space Station (ISS) as seen in this photo uploaded on December 9, 2021, Yusake Maezawa via Instagram/via REUTERS

The bill comes in the wake of a boom in space tourism led by private companies.

Multi-millionaire and billionaire civilians are hitching rides to low earth orbit and outer space.

"The fear is that the estate of ultra-wealthy passengers could bring massive claims for hundreds of millions of dollars in lost revenue due to the life of the passenger being cut short," said Sundahl, per Gizmodo.

"The industry is still in its early days and such liability might stunt the industry," he said.

These include billionaire Yusaku Maezawa, a Japanese fashion mogul who has already flown to the International Space Station and purchased all the seats on an upcoming SpaceX Starship flight around the moon.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Penguin Random House and PEN America have sued a Florida school district over the removal of books that address race and LGBTQ issues

Publisher Penguin Random House and the writers' group PEN America filed a lawsuit on Wednesday against a Florida school district over the removal of books from public school libraries that address race and LGBTQ issues.

The book removals are unconstitutional and a violation of the First Amendment, which protects freedom of speech, according to the suit against the Escambia County School District and the school board.

"Books are being ordered removed from libraries, or subject to restricted access within those libraries, based on an ideologically driven campaign to push certain ideas out of schools," the complaint said.

"These restrictions and removals have disproportionately targeted books by or about people of color and/or LGBTQ people," it added.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, a potential candidate for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, has been a driving force behind a campaign in the southern state to restrict children's access to certain books.

Florida has been a leading battleground in the so-called "culture wars" in the United States and scores of books have been removed from library shelves in recent months, deemed inappropriate for children by conservative parents and school boards.

Suzanne Nossel, CEO of PEN America, denounced the book removals in a statement announcing the lawsuit.

"Children in a democracy must not be taught that books are dangerous," Nossel said. "In Escambia County, state censors are spiriting books off shelves in a deliberate attempt to suppress diverse voices.

"In a nation built on free speech, this cannot stand."

Nihar Malaviya, CEO of Penguin Random House, said "books have the capacity to change lives for the better, and students in particular deserve equitable access to a wide range of perspectives.

"We stand by our authors, their books, and the teachers, librarians, and parents who champion free expression."

Several authors who have had their books removed joined the lawsuit along with the parents of children who attend schools in Escambia County.

According to the lawsuit, at least two books published by Penguin Random House -- "The Bluest Eye" by Nobel Literature Prize-winning author Toni Morrison and "Push" by Sapphire -- have been removed from some school district libraries and others are being targeted.

They include "The Kite Runner" by Khaled Hosseini, "Two Boys Kissing" by David Levithan and "Slaughterhouse-Five" by Kurt Vonnegut.

According to PEN America, 1,648 unique book titles were banned in 32 states during the 2021-22 school year, with the most occurring in Florida and Texas.

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These Florida spots, one near the Keys, were named the best secret beaches in the U.S.

A family travel guide has just released a list of the best secret beaches  and nine Florida beaches made the list, including one near the Keys.

Family Destinations Guide, a website that highlights reviews of hotels, resorts, destinations, and other attractions with a family-friendly atmosphere, asked readers to vote for the secret beaches they most wanted to visit. Florida and Hawaii beaches turned out to be the most popular on the 100 Best Secret Beaches list.

The most sought-after Florida beach, No. 2 on the list, is the undeveloped Shell Key Preserve, just south of St. Petersburg. The island, which is only accessible by boat, is loaded with seashells, sand dollars and starfish, with white sands and clear waters. Its also a nesting ground for sea turtles.

No. 9 on the list was the remote Dry Tortugas National Park, about 70 miles west of Key West, which includes several small islands and the historic Fort Jefferson. Like Shell Key Preserve, the only way to get there is via boat (or seaplane, if thats how you roll). There arent many amenities, but the snorkeling and diving draw lovers of the underwater world.

Seven other beaches in Florida made the list. None were in South Florida, and two remain closed due to massive damage sustained during 2022s Hurricane Ian.

This beachfront Florida town was just voted one of the best small towns in the U.S.

Lovers Key State Park (6): The barrier island thats home to this state park on Fort Myers Beach, famous for its white sand and great views of the Gulf of Mexico, sustained tremendous damage last September during Hurricane Ian and remains closed.

Boneyard Beach (10): To get to this spot at Big Talbot Island State Park off Jacksonville, you hike through a maritime forest to find every beachgoers favorite thing: a shoreline with limited development.

Navarre Beach (13): Another quiet beach experience! This beach in Floridas Panhandle is surrounded by protected lands, including the Gulf Islands National Seashore, which may explain its peaceful beauty.

Crescent Beach (17): Surrounded by dunes and vegetation, this beach lies just south of St. Augustine and features white sand and clear waters.

Caladesi Beach (23): Accessible by boat only, this beach on a barrier island across from Dunedin features great shell collecting opportunities, as well as kayaking and paddleboarding.

Cayo Costa State Park (56): Just north of Captiva, this state park known for its pines, mangrove swamps and sand dunes, also sustained massive damage during Hurricane Ian in 2022 and remains closed.

Camp Helen State Park (64) Located near Panama City in the Panhandle, this park is home to diverse ecosystems including dunes, marshes and rare coastal habitats. Its also home to a few historic buildings, including the Lodge at Camp Helen.

The most popular beach, Family Destinations Guide reports, is the secluded Awahua Beach on the island of Molokai in Hawaii, famous for turquoise waters and soft white sand. The other top five beaches are Lanikai Beach in Oahu, Hawaii; Kauapea Beach on Kauai, Hawaii; and, in a move nobody saw coming, Sedge Island in New Jersey.

This Florida city was just named best place to live in the U.S. Miami isnt even close
Lawyers for a Florida woman accused of murdering her husband have claimed the couples 14-year-old daughter wants to confess to the fatal shooting.

The bombshell allegations were made in court filings by Laurie Shavers defence on Monday (15 May), more than seven years after her 40-year-old husband Michael Shaver was shot to death.

The saga began in 2015 when Shaver was last seen by family members, but he was not reported missing until 2018 after loved ones grew suspicious because they were only able to communicate with him via text messages and social media.

(LCSO/WESH2 screenshot)

Laurie Shaver, now 40, claimed that her husband had quit his job, abandoned their family and left for Georgia  or New York, California and even Afghanistan in her varying accounts  in a Black SUV.

She allegedly went on to use his debit and credit cards, sell his firearms and marry her new boyfriend without reporting Shaver missing.

His body was ultimately found buried in a fire pit in the backyard of the familys rural home in Lake County in March 2018. Ms Shaver was charged with second-degree murder with a firearm and accessory after the fact, with her case being delayed by the pandemic.

Ms Shaver, who has pleaded not guilty to both counts, has now claimed through her attorneys that her 14-year-old daughter wishes to testify in the case and admit that it was she and not her mother who pulled the trigger at the age of just even years old.

The court has previously denied motions by the defence to have the child be evaluated by a forensic psychologist  a necessary step before the court can determine whether she can take the stand.

Ms Shavers attorneys have accused the prosecution of bur[ying] their head on what is evidence which may truly seek out and ensure that justice is obtained, per records reviewed by The Independent. According to the defence, the minor has met with her legal guardian and has persisted in seeking to testify.

The Independent has reached out to Ms Shavers attorneys and Shavers family for comment.

(LCSO)

According to the affidavit for her arrest, Ms Shaver told sheriff deputies that her husband left the family home in 2014 following his release for a domestic violence arrest.

Records show Shaver was taken into custody after his wife allegedly hit him in the head with her pink .38 calibre gun and caused him a laceration.

She then claimed the last time she saw him was during a court hearing for their custody case in 2015.

Ms Shaver cooperated with an initial search at the home following a request for a wellness check by a friend of Shaver in February 2018. But when deputies asked to bring cadaver dogs to the area where a fire pit had been built, she reportedly asked investigators to leave.

Ms Shavers boyfriend Travis Filmer told authorities during the investigation that his girlfriend had said, Its not that [Michael] is missing, its that hes no longer walking on this earth.

She also allegedly told him something bad had happened on the property and Michaels body was buried there.

Michael Shaver (WESH2)

After obtaining a search warrant, investigators returned to the home and discovered Shavers body buried three feet beneath the fire pit. He was covered in a tarp and sheets.

An autopsy determined he was killed by a single gunshot to the back of the head. Authorities have determined that Shaver was killed between 7 November 2015, when he quit his job via text message, and 10 November 2015.

Three days after Shavers body was found but before it was positively identified, a postcard was mailed from Orlando to the Shavers home. It read: Tell the kids I love them see you soon, Mike.

Shavers boss told investigators he had never missed a day of work without calling out, and that it was unlikely he would leave his tools at work. A message, believed to have been sent by Ms Shaver, said that her husbands employer could keep his tools. A coworker visited the home to check on Shaver but was told by Ms Shaver that he had left for Georgia, although her husbands vehicle was still at the property.

Shavers family and friends then began receiving odd texts. One of them addressed to his sister, read: Everyone just needs to start leaving me alone like they did my entire life.

A text to his niece also read: Who are you? ... I have no family anymore. I have no clue who you are. Now stop messaging me

(WESH2)

Other coworkers told police that Shaver had sometimes arrived to work with bruises on his face, chest and arms, and once claimed that Ms Shaver had punched him with closed fists.

Around 10 days after he is believed to have died, Shavers debit card was used to purchase female lingerie that was then delivered to his wife at the family home.

Loans mailed to the Shavers property and purchases totalling up to $5,000 were also allegedly cashed by Ms Shaver, police said.

Several witnesses interviewed by investigators claimed that Ms Shaver began selling her husbands firearms, allegedly telling potential sellers that she was also selling his truck and the house for $150,000.

Authorities believe the fire pit was built between March 2016 and the concrete slab was finalised in September of that year. Ms Shaver and her boyfriend allegedly continued to work on the fire pit in the summer of 2016 and posted pictures on Facebook of their progress.

Police have accused Ms Shaver of impersonating him before and after his death. Investigators believe Ms Shaver pretended to be her husband in an attempt to convince the wife of a man she was having an affair with to file for divorce.

The man told investigators that he didnt think her affair with Ms Shaver, believed to have taken place months after Shaver was killed, was serious and proceeded to break it off after Ms Shaver reportedly got a tattoo of his name near her vagina.

A woman who Shaver dated while he and his wife were separated also told authorities that she recalled a time Shaver warned her that Ms Shaver had a gun and was upset about their affair.

The woman claimed Ms Shaver had threatened to tell her family she was a homewrecker, and had called her grandmother at 3am.

Investigators alleged in court filings that Ms Shaver had access to four guns at the time that she is accused of murdering her husband.
A San Marcos man is being sued by the parents of 20-year-old Austin Salyer, who was fatally shot in his sleep in his apartment in 2021.

Rodney and Bonnie Salyer  of Flower Mound, Texas  are suing Gabriel Nathaniel Brown; Browns father, Gregory Keith Brown; and Gabriel Browns former girlfriend, Chantel Monique Veal, over their alleged involvement in the wrongful death of Austin.

Austin Salyer was fatally shot in his sleep in the early morning of Sept. 16, 2021, by his neighbor. He was a student at Texas State University and had just enlisted in the Army.

Austin Salyer, who grew up in Flower Mound, was a student at Texas State University and had just enlisted in the Army in September 2021. He was shot while he was sleeping in the early morning of Sept. 16, 2021, in his off-campus apartment at The Lyndon apartments.

Austin Salyer and Veal lived in units next door to each other. Gabriel Brown killed Salyer when he negligently discharged a firearm inside Veals apartment, according to the lawsuit filed May 10 in Bell County District Court.

Gabriel called his father, Gregory, on FaceTime to show off his semi-automatic pistol and the micro conversion kit, the lawsuit said. A micro conversion kit is used to turn a semi-automatic pistol into an assault rifle, according to the suit.

While on the call with his father, Gabriel Brown fired his pistol while installing the micro conversion kit, the lawsuit states. He told police it was an accident.

According to the police report, Gabriel Brown told police he saw that the bullet made a hole in the wall but believed that the bullet did not go all the way through and said he messaged Austin Salyer on Snapchat to check if Salyer was OK.

In fact, the round had blasted through the wall and hit Salyer at close range, the lawsuit states. The round went through his arm, chest, and exited through his other arm.

Austin managed to get himself up out of bed. In what must have been like a terrifying and horrific nightmare, Austin stumbled around his bedroom, injured and bleeding profusely. Austin Salyer managed to exit his bedroom into the kitchen and living room area of his apartment, and finally collapsed on the ground where he succumbed to his injuries. Austin was not discovered until the late morning of September 16, 2021, the suit said.

Despite knowing that Austin Salyer lived next door and that a bullet had blasted through the shared wall between the apartments, Defendant Gabriel Nathaniel Brown callously failed to call the police, apartment management, 911, or any other emergency service provider to report the discharge or to ask for anyone to check on his neighbor Austin Salyer, the lawsuit claims.

Veal also did not call 911 or contact emergency services after the round had been fired. Although Gregory Brown was on a phone call with Gabriel Brown when the round was fired, he also failed to call police.

Gabriel Brown did not turn himself in to the San Marcos Police Department until much later at about 12 p.m. that same day, according to police reports and the lawsuit. Austin Salyers friends found him dead in his apartment in the morning. When he turned himself in, Gabriel Brown told police he did not commit a crime, but rather an accident.

Rodney and Bonnie Salyer are seeking monetary relief of over $1 million and damages for funeral and burial expenses, pain and suffering experienced due to the death of their only child, and the physical and mental pain Austin Salyer suffered before his death.

Each of the Defendants cruelly disregarded the massive danger that they inflicted on Austin Salyer, and as a result of being shot at close range by Defendant Gabriel Brown, 20-year-old Austin Salyer died by homicide on September 16, 2021. Defendant Gabriel Nathaniel Brown subsequently pleaded guilty to and was convicted of criminally negligent homicide, the lawsuit further states.

The maximum sentence for criminally negligent homicide in Texas is two years in a state jail with a fine of up to $10,000. The minimum sentence is supposed to be 180 days, but a judge reduced Gabriel Browns sentence to 90 days broken up into nine-day increments over a five-year period, the suit says.

The lawsuit says, Despite literally killing another human being with a gun and failing to tell any authority about it until well after any chance of saving the life of Austin Salyer remained, Defendant Gabriel Nathaniel Brown received a slap on the wrist from elected officials in Hays County. Austin Salyers biological parents, the Plaintiffs, having been wholly deprived of any semblance of reasonable justice by the criminal courts. Plaintiffs now bring this action seeking full and fair compensation for the wrongful death of their son caused by the grossly negligent acts and omissions of all Defendants.

Gabriel Brown, Gregory Brown, and Veal failed to ensure the firearm was unloaded before handling it in a habitation, failed to obtain training on the safe handling and operation of a firearm, failed to exercise care to avoid risk of injury, and failed to provide aid to Austin after the round was discharged, according to the lawsuit. The suit was filed in Bell County, where the Browns currently live.
Another Kentucky womens basketball transfer portal entrant has found her new home.

Redshirt freshman Tionna Herron announced via Twitter on Wednesday that she will be transferring to the University of Texas. This commitment comes a week after Herrons announcement that she would be entering the transfer portal just one day prior to its closure to entrants this spring.

Im coming home #hookem, Herron said on Twitter.

Tionna Herron did not play during her freshman season following successful open-heart surgery on Aug. 24, 2022.

Herron hails from DeSoto, Texas, where she won a Class 6A state title as a junior with DeSoto High School. DeSoto is less than 200 miles from the UT campus. Herron is the Longhorns first portal commitment of the 2023-24 cycle. She will join a program that finished 26-10 overall and 14-4 in the Big 12 during the 2022-23 season. The Longhorns earned a share of the Big 12 title prior to falling in the round of 32 to Louisville.

Herron was Kentuckys third transfer portal entrant following a 12-19 season. Second-leading scorer Jada Walker is also headed to the Lone Star State and will suit up for fellow-Big 12 school Baylor next season. Guard Kennedy Cambridge, who led all UK freshmen in minutes (273) this season, announced her intention to transfer days after the end of the Wildcats 2022-23 campaign. She has not yet announced her destination but recently posted on social media that she took a visit to Oregon.

Herron was expected to play a factor in the post next season for the Wildcats following the graduation of fifth-year senior Adebola Adeyeye, as well as starter Nyah Leveretters early exit due to a torn ACL in UKs 79-57 loss at Vanderbilt on Feb. 19. Leveretter underwent successful surgery to repair her torn ACL in early March. There is no timetable on her return.

Senior Ajae Petty, who joined the Wildcats following a transfer from LSU ahead of this past season, will most likely carry much of the load in the frontcourt. UK has also billed recent signee, 6-4 Janae Walker of Sandy Creek (Ga.) as a post.

The Wildcats have 11 scholarship spots accounted for, two of which belong to incoming four-star freshmen Walker and 6-2 Jordy Griggs of Montverde Academy (Fla.) Academy.

Despite the transfer portals recent closure to new entrants, there are still many student-athletes searching for a destination. The Wildcats played last season with a full 15-player roster but suffered from a lack of depth due to injury and inexperience.
A former research executive accused by Oklahoma State University of hatching a large-scale fraud scheme avoided a prison sentence this week and instead will serve time in home confinement under the supervision of the Federal Bureau of Prisons.

In Oklahoma City federal court, Daniel Webster Keogh, 52, the former contract operator of university-owned OSU-Multispectral Laboratories, was ordered to serve 180 days of home confinement and pay back more than $3 million after pleading guilty to making false statements to obtain a federally backed loan from First Pryority Bank, and transferring federal funds without authorization.

Chief Judge Timothy D. DeGiusti also ordered Keogh to a term of supervised release for four years, which is to include 104 hours of community service during the first year.

Prosecutors sought an 18-month prison sentence.

Previous coverage: OSU sues over alleged fraud

Alleged schemes involved clothing shop, misappropriation of loans

In a case that spanned more than a decade, prosecutors accused Keogh of telling loan officers at the Tulsa-area bank the money would be used to buy equipment described as a battery or set of batteries to be installed at OSU-UML, but instead, he used the proceeds to fund research and the development of a utility-scale electromechanical battery.

Keogh and his company, Triton Scientific LLC, defaulted on the loan in December 2012, according to court documents.

In one alleged scheme, OSU claimed a company owned by Keoghs wife, Danielle Keogh, 41, billed Triton, which in turn billed OSU-UML for financial services that were actually costs associated with inventory for Liberte  an upscale women's clothing shop she opened in Oklahoma City.

OSU sued Keogh, his wife and several companies linked to them, alleging they used complex fraud schemes to divert money from the OSU-owned company that was engaged in sensitive national security research.

More: Major black-market marijuana ring run out of OKC Chinese restaurant, feds allege

The lawsuit was settled in Kay County District Court, with several Keogh-linked companies agreeing to have an $8 million judgment entered against them. Keogh and the Keogh Group LLC agreed to be responsible for an $875,000 judgment.

While prosecutors claimed Keogh misled First Pryority Bank about the nature of the battery project to get a loan, his defense attorneys said the bank presidents statements to federal investigators show the executive understood the project.

In a previous motion to dismiss the case, Keoghs lawyers claimed prosecutors were under pressure from OSU to file charges against him, to gain leverage in the schools civil lawsuit.

Under such pressure, prosecutors instructed government investigators to revise interview notes and statements from various key witnesses, including officials at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in northern California, where the battery development was to occur, Keoghs defense team asserted in court filings.

More: Henryetta killer had said he was not going back to prison, new records reveal

Defense attorneys accused prosecutors of urging prior Livermore officials statements to be changed from building a battery prototype to the construction of risk reduction hardware.

While prosecutors argued that research and development loans werent eligible for loan guarantees through a USDA Rural Development program, Keoghs defense team argued that prosecutors were feeding USDA witnesses their own view of the regulations, which, according to the defense, came into existence nearly a half-decade after the loan was taken out, and the regulations in place at the time contained no prohibition on research and development.

DeGiusti denied the motion for dismissal. In an eight-page order, DeGiusti wrote that Keoghs claims were raised in an untimely manner, did not appear to be well-grounded in fact and did not warrant further investigation.

Danielle Keogh pleaded guilty to making false statements to a financial institution. She was sentenced to three years of supervised release and ordered to pay back roughly $758,000.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Federal judge sentences former OSU researcher in fraud case
Fort Collins won't see an increase in the local minimum wage after City Council voted down any proposed increases in a split 4-3 vote Tuesday.

Council members Kelly Ohlson, Julie Pignataro and Mayor Pro Tem Emily Francis voted in favor of a local minimum wage ordinance, and council members Shirley Peel, Susan Gutowsky, Tricia Canonico and Mayor Jeni Arndt voted against it.

Raising the minimum wage was identified as one of council's 31 priorities to accomplish by the upcoming November election.

With the local ordinance voted down, the city will continue to follow the states minimum wage, which is $13.65 per hour and $10.63 per hour for tipped workers.

In Fort Collins, a living wage for a single adult working full-time is $18.92 per hour, and a living wage for a full-time, dual-income family with a child is $21.85 per adult, according to Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Colorado law passed in 2016 set a statewide minimum wage, including scheduled increases, and allowed municipalities to approve their own local minimum wage ordinances, acknowledging that different areas of the state have different costs of living. The county and city of Denver are the only places that have set a higher minimum wage, passed in 2019.

Denver's cost of living is 8.7% higher than Fort Collins, and its current minimum wage is $17.29 and $14.27 for tipped workers, according to Colorado State University postdoctoral researcher Emily Gallichotte.

What would the minimum wage have been if council had passed it?

Council was presented with two options for a local minimum wage Tuesday:

Option 1 would have increased the minimum wage to $16.65 by 2026.

Option 2 would have increased the minimum wage to $17.29 by 2026.

Starting in 2027, the Fort Collins minimum wage would have increased at a rate of no less than 2% and no higher than 5% per year, in accordance with the consumer price index. The minimum wage for tipped workers would have also increased along the same schedule, but $3.02 lower than nontipped workers, per state law. This wage would have applied to all work done in city limits, even if a business was not headquartered in Fort Collins.

A third option, not up for a vote Tuesday, was the highest amount, presented to council during a November work session. It would have increased minimum wage to $18.50 by 2026.

Option 2 presented Tuesday was proposed by Gallichotte and was considered by many on council as a reasonable middle ground during the April work session. Despite many indicating support for that option last month, most council members' concerns for how this could impact small businesses outweighed the potential benefits in their decision Tuesday.

What supporters of a minimum wage increase said

People who spoke in favor of raising the local minimum wage Tuesday cited personal stories and published studies supporting the ordinance.

Increased wages do not negatively impact employment but make it easier for businesses to recruit and retain employees, said Sophie Mariam, labor policy analyst at the Colorado Fiscal Institute.

Increasing wages for the lowest earners leads to more spending at local restaurants and shops, stimulating the local community, said Erik Cornell, representing the United Food and Commercial Workers union chapter in Northern Colorado.

"It might seem like too much to some of you, but the increase will help working families tremendously in ways only hourly wage workers will understand," Cornell said, encouraging the council "not to see this as a handout, but as a way to reinvest in your community."

Other speakers said wage stagnation is making Fort Collins unaffordable, noting that the cost of rent, groceries and other necessities continues to rise citywide. Increasing the minimum wage is about the "wellbeing of the community," Alvaro Acevedo said through a translator, adding that many people are working multiple jobs just to pay basic expenses.

"The work that we provide will always be more than what we receive in payment," Acevedo said. He presented a letter with about 70 signatures supporting a local minimum wage increase.

Francis said the city needs to look at everything that impacts affordability and do what it can to make Fort Collins a more affordable and livable place, and that includes raising the minimum wage. If the city is serious about increasing diversity and equity, then increasing the minimum wage is essential, she said, saying the majority of people working at the minimum wage are women of color.

"I think that we owe it to the people of Fort Collins," Francis said.

Pignataro said the state gave cities the power to implement their own minimum wage acknowledging that the cost of living varies across the state. The cost of living in Fort Collins is clearly higher than places like Walden, "and yet we're all stuck at the same minimum wage," she said.

Pignataro said the tipping system is broken, but just because they aren't allowed to exempt tipped employees from local minimum wage ordinances doesn't mean "everyone else should suffer."

While business owners and workers all suffered from the effects of COVID-19, much of the economic recovery funds went directly to businesses, leaving low-wage workers at more of an economic disadvantage, Gallichotte said in her letter to council.

Gallichotte's research also disputed a claim from many business owners that wages are the majority of their expenses. Gallichotte said wages typically make up about 22% of a business's total receipts.

Ohlson called the ordinance's failure "another in a long list of policy disappointments over the last two years" from the council.

Ohlson said the claims about businesses leaving town or having to close because of the increased cost of wages is "fearmongering" that always surrounds discussions about raising wages, and almost all of the time, "the worst just doesn't happen. That's not what actually happens."

People who earn more money spend more, supporting the local economy, Ohlson said.

"The cute little stories are nice, but it's not what actually happens in the real world," Ohlson said.

But not all businesses were opposed to the ordinance, Francis said. She spoke with a business owner who was overall supportive of the increase and said they could make it work.

"I firmly believe the most powerful thing we can do is give people the power and autonomy over their spending power," Francis said.

What detractors of a minimum wage increase said

Business owners told council this is not the right time to raise the minimum wage, and most council members agreed.

Lauren Storeby, who owns Snack Attack Specialty Sandwiches and Brews near the Prospect Road and College Avenue intersection, said they "are paying our employees more than what we're paying ourselves" and a minimum wage increase would lead to price increases for consumers, which have already increased by 30% since last year.

Adam Vander Sande, who operates five local restaurants including Austin's American Grill, said he "believes the proposal is coming from a place of good, but it's the wrong moment in time and I believe it will do more harm than good."

Cost of living "is at an all-time high," Vander Sande said, and business owners are feeling that, too, from the grocery store and the gas pump to paying for child care. Businesses are also facing new mandated expenses, including sick pay, family leave, debt from the pandemic and market-driven increases in costs of goods and labor, Vander Sande said.

Many business owners who addressed council said they are already paying nontipped workers, like line cooks and cleaning staff, above the minimum wage, but being forced to pay tipped workers even more would be a huge financial burden for them. Business owners  Storeby and Vander Sande included  said these increased costs would force them to raise their prices, driving customers to other nearby towns where prices are lower.

Gutowsky said she was pleased to hear many business owners are already paying above the minimum wage and that the market is driving wages up. She said her worry is that putting this increased cost on businesses would mean some business owners wouldn't be taking home a paycheck to pay their bills.

"I'd like us to look at a small business as an employer's way to make a living," Gutowsky said, adding later that she's struggling with figuring out "how much is enough for the worker and how much is too much for the business."

Arndt said a minimum wage increase wouldn't hurt the large corporations like Starbucks or McDonald's, but the small businesses that "make Fort Collins special." She said she spoke with small business owners who said a minimum wage increase would hurt their businesses, and that made her concerned about small businesses in Fort Collins moving to one of the many nearby towns where they can pay lower wages.

"I think this would lead to the corporatization of Fort Collins," Arndt said. "... I don't think that's the Fort Collins we want to live in."

Canonico said she sympathizes with business owners and minimum wage earners  experiencing both realities herself at some point in her life  and while she said she "would love to support the highest proposal here," she sympathizes with business owners who are facing additional and growing costs.

"Fort Collins is not affordable, but in many ways we're doing pretty well," Canonico said. "We're doing better than most areas of the country, not that we don't have more work to do."

Peel said more regulation won't help costs but actually drive them up, citing a business owner she spoke with who told her a minimum wage increase would drive up their costs drastically, "and that's what's concerning to me."

Peel said research and data can be cited from many sources, but they also need to consider the variables in the local community.

A regional approach?

Arndt suggested that, if the root problem really is affordability and giving individuals more purchasing power, the city could consider some type of limited supplemental income options, similar to a program in Denver, so the government is paying people more instead of telling small business owners to spend more out of their own pockets. Canonico also informally proposed multiple alternative ideas for council to consider moving forward on minimum wage:

A slower wage increase, like a 2.5% increase every year instead of $1 annually, to lessen the impact on businesses

Working with the legislature and local state representatives to amend the state law to allow for exemptions for tipped employees or businesses with fewer than 20 employees

Continuing to engage with the Boulder Consortium of Cities on a more regional approach to minimum wage and to engage with Fort Collins' neighbors in minimum wage conversations.

"I believe this is a regional conversation, and we should continue to reach out to regional our regional partners to move ahead," Canonico said.

This article originally appeared on Fort Collins Coloradoan: Fort Collins minimum wage: City Council kills proposal to raise it
A photograph released by Colombia's armed forces shows soldiers and sniffer dogs searching for the missing children

Four Indigenous children missing for more than two weeks after a plane crash in the Colombian Amazon have been found alive, President Gustavo Petro said Wednesday, declaring "joy for the country."

Petro shared the news on Twitter, saying the children were discovered after "arduous search efforts" by the military.

Authorities had deployed more than 100 soldiers with sniffer dogs to search for the minors who were traveling in an airplane that crashed in the Amazon on May 1, killing three adults.

Rescuers believe the four children, aged 13, 9, 4 and an 11-month-old baby, have been wandering through the jungle in the southern Caqueta department since the crash.

Earlier Wednesday, the armed forces said that search efforts intensified after rescuers came across a "shelter built in an improvised way with sticks and branches," leading them to believe there were survivors.

In photographs released by the armed forces, scissors and a hair tie could be seen among branches on the jungle floor.

Previously, a baby's drinking bottle and a half-eaten piece of fruit had been found.

On Monday and Tuesday, soldiers found the bodies of the pilot and two adults who had been flying from a jungle location to San Jose del Guaviare, one of the main cities in Colombia's Amazon rainforest.

One of the dead passengers, Ranoque Mucutuy, was the mother of the four children, who are from the Huitoto ethnicity.

Giant trees that can grow up to 40 meters tall, wild animals and heavy rainfall made the "Operation Hope" search difficult.

Three helicopters have been used to help, one of which blasted out a recorded message from the children's grandmother in the Huitoto language telling them to stop moving through the jungle.

Authorities have not indicated what caused the plane crash.

The pilot had reported problems with the engine just minutes before the airplane disappeared from radars, the Colombian disaster response body said.

It is a region with few roads that is also difficult to access by river, so airplane transport is common.

das/gm/bc/bgs
Diversified museums empower sustainable development, better lives

Xinhua) 08:58, May 17, 2023

Tourists visit Xi'an Bell and Drum Towers Museum in Xi'an, capital of northwest China's Shaanxi Province, May 1, 2023. (Photo by Zou Jingyi/Xinhua)

BEIJING, May 16 (Xinhua) -- During this year's May Day holiday, Ma Hualin, a student at Beijing University of Chemical Technology, visited a special bazaar showcasing cultural products from dozens of museums in Beijing, capital of China.

"I have collected seals from multiple museums today, and each can be seen as a cultural imprint for me," said Ma.

Ma is just one of the numerous tourists participating in this museum-themed market, which marks the beginning of the first museum activity month in Beijing. The month-long itinerary is among the city's latest moves to celebrate International Museum Day, which falls on Thursday.

Under the theme of "Museums, Sustainability and Wellbeing," this year's International Museum Day will also see thousands of relevant activities organized for the country's ever-growing number of museum lovers.

In 2021, museums across China received more than 748.5 million visits, up 32.7 percent compared to 2012, data from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism showed.

REACHING RURAL REGIONS

While integrating into the cultural life of city dwellers, museums are also thriving in the countryside to meet the burgeoning cultural demands of rural residents.

The city of Shaoxing, located in east China's Zhejiang Province, is known for being the hometown of Lu Xun, one of the most revered 20th-Century writers in China. The writer's grandmother's house in a local rural area is now a museum, where visitors can enjoy an immersive experience of the literary master's childhood.

Based on its rich cultural resources, Shaoxing has already built over 200 rural museums with a variety of themes including revolutionary history, intangible cultural heritage, and local customs.

Such types of museums have been sprouting in Zhejiang, as the local government has planned to build 1,000 rural museums within five years starting from 2021.

"The construction of rural museums is aimed at preserving the roots of rural culture, and enabling them to flourish in the new era," said Yang Jianwu, head of the provincial cultural heritage bureau.

Last year, the province issued a detailed guideline on the construction of rural museums, in a bid to ensure their well-regulated development. According to the guideline, rural museums are encouraged to be open to the public for free.

"MUSEUM WITHOUT WALLS"

Far from the coastal province of Zhejiang, Suojia museum in southwest China's Guizhou Province presents another view to visitors. Nestling in the mountains, it offers a glimpse into how a museum helps with both cultural and ecological protection.

This photo taken on Jan. 31, 2023 shows the main entrance to the Suojia ecomuseum in Suojia Miao, Yi and Hui Township of Liuzhi Special District, Liupanshui, southwest China's Guizhou Province. (Xinhua/Zhou Xuanni)

The ecomuseum, a concept which originated in France in the 1970s, is a new type of museum designed to combine human endeavors in cultural heritage preservation with those in environmental protection. In an ecomuseum, the cultural heritage is kept in its original state, rather than being confined in a traditional museum.

The first of its kind in China, the Suojia ecomuseum was established in 1998 to protect the natural and cultural heritage of the Qing Miao people, a special branch of the Miao ethnic group in China, characterized by the horn-shaped head ornaments and exquisite traditional costumes they wear.

The Suojia ecomuseum covers a complete Qing Miao community of 12 villages distributed across an area of over 120 square kilometers, with costumes, language, music and even the manner of production all serving as "living exhibits" in it.

During the past 25 years, apart from protecting local culture through cultivating talents with costume-making skills and other means, the local government also endeavored to improve the quality of the ecological environment.

"Thanks to the government's afforestation efforts and people's growing awareness of environmental protection, the mountains around the ecomuseum are filled with lush vegetation," said Luo Gang, curator of the Suojia ecomuseum, adding that over 70,000 tourists from home and abroad come to visit the ecomuseum every year.

GOING DIGITAL

In addition to offline exhibitions, technology-powered "online museums" are also providing Chinese people with more access to cultural feasts.

In mid-April, an interactive digital platform of a virtual duplication of the Library Cave in the Mogao Grottoes, a UNESCO World Heritage site in Dunhuang, northwest China's Gansu Province, was launched to the public.

The platform is "the world's first interactive museum beyond time and space," according to Dunhuang Academy, since it reproduces the historical scenes of the Library Cave over one hundred years ago in the digital world through advanced gaming technologies. Visitors can experience role-play and "time travel" to ancient dynasties and interact with eight historical figures, immersing themselves in the Dunhuang culture.

"More and more museums have managed to stay open online," said Zeng Pan, an official with the provincial museum of central China's Hubei Province, adding that these online museums can expose visitors to multi-dimensional information through new means, thus enabling them to have a better understanding of the historical background and artistic value of cultural relics.

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun)
Four high schoolers killed when SUV theyre in runs red light, Illinois cops say

Four teenagers are dead and three others are hospitalized after a major traffic crash in Illinois, police said.

The crash involving three vehicles happened at 10:19 p.m. on May 16 at an intersection in Wheeling, the Wheeling Police Department said in a news release.

All four teens who died were in the same vehicle and between the ages of 16 and 18, according to police, adding that speed and a disregarded traffic signal were factors in the crash.

The victims attended Buffalo Grove High School together, school district officials said in a Facebook post.

It is with the deepest sorrow to inform you that four Buffalo Grove High School students were killed, and one student was hospitalized, in what police are describing as a multi-car crash Tuesday night in Wheeling, the district said.

The teens were riding in a Ford Explorer when the driver blew through a red light, ran into a vehicle turning onto the road, then crashed into a second vehicle and a light pole, which knocked out power to many in the area, police told the Daily Herald.

Damage to the vehicles was so great that six of the seven people involved had to be freed from the wreckage by firefighters, the news outlet reported. One teenager riding in the Explorer survived.

The crash is under investigation, police said.

Our thoughts and prayers are with the families and friends of these students during this time of tragedy, High School District 214 said. We also offer condolences to all Buffalo Grove students, families and staff members.

Wheeling is a suburb of Chicago, roughly 30 miles northwest of the citys downtown.

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(Bloomberg) -- Foxconn Technology Groups founder Terry Gou appeared to rule out an independent bid to become Taiwans president as he promised to back his former rival for the main opposition partys nomination.

Most Read from Bloomberg

The Kuomintang officially announced on Wednesday New Taipei City Mayor Hou Yu-ih as its candidate for next years election, snubbing the tech billionaire for a second election in a row.

Gou congratulated Hou for winning the Kuomintangs nomination in a Facebook post, calling him the best choice within the party. Gou also promised to do his best to help Hou win the election and oust the current Democratic Progressive Party government, led by President Tsai Ing-wen.

Gou also said he had congratulated Hou in person on Tuesday night and asked him to continue promoting peace and prosperity.

Hou Yu-ih thanked Gou at a briefing Wednesday in Taipei after accepting the KMT nomination, and urged Gou and his supporters to show unity ahead of the election.

Especially now when our country is in a dangerous international situation and facing domestic confrontation, the young people cant see their future with all the trouble, Hou said. We need to make a change and have a transfer of ruling party.

Taiwans KMT to Pick Hou for President Over Foxconns Gou

Hou will be taking on Vice President Lai Ching-te in Januarys election, the winner of which will be thrust into the center of a worsening relationship between the worlds two largest economies. A victory for the DPP would see the US keep a willing partner in its efforts to push back against China, while a win for the KMT  Beijings preferred negotiating partner in Taiwan  would likely ensure closer ties between Taipei and the Communist Party-led government in Beijing.

By nominating Hou, the KMT has a better chance of winning the election than having Terry Guo because of Hous flexibility and inexperience in issues related to China, said Chen Yu-hua, assistant professor in China Studies at Akita International University. For years, being too pro-China or too weak on China has been a deadly weakness in attracting support from Taiwans allies.

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

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French President Emmanuel Macron

In an interview to French television channel TF1 INFO on May 15, French President Emmanuel Macron said that France would transfer missiles to Ukraine with sufficient range to fend off Russian attacks during Ukraines upcoming counter-offensive.

Read also: France and Ukraine urge Russia to withdraw from Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant

Were considering all options, a source at the Elysee Palace told Le Monde.

However, its not planned at the moment.

Read also: Netherlands, France, UK support fighter coalition says Zelenskyy

The source added that France was exchanging information with Ukraine and the United Kingdom about the results of all military aid provided to Kyiv, in particular, regarding long-range missiles.

U.S. television channel CNN reported on May 11 that London had provided Kyiv with Storm Shadow cruise missiles, capable of hitting targets over 250 kilometers away. The report was later confirmed by UK Defense Secretary Ben Wallace, who emphasized Ukraines sovereign right to defend its territory from the Russian invasion.

Storm Shadow, also known as SCALP, is a Franco-British air-to-ground missile produced by MBDA, with a warhead weight of 450 kg and a range of over 250 km.

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Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
France's privacy watchdog, the CNIL, has published an action plan for artificial intelligence which gives a snapshot of where it will be focusing its attention, including on generative AI technologies like OpenAI's ChatGPT, in the coming months and beyond.

A dedicated Artificial Intelligence Service has been set up within the CNIL to work on scoping the tech and producing recommendations for "privacy-friendly AI systems".

A key stated goal for the regulator is to steer the development of AI "that respects personal data", such as by developing the means to audit and control AI systems to "protect people".

Understanding how AI systems impact people is another main focus, along with support for innovative players in the local AI ecosystem which apply the CNIL's best practice.

"The CNIL wants to establish clear rules protecting the personal data of European citizens in order to contribute to the development of privacy-friendly AI systems," it writes.

Barely a week goes by without another bunch of high profile calls from technologists asking regulators to get to grips with AI. And just yesterday, during testimony in the US Senate, OpenAI's CEO Sam Altman called for lawmakers to regulate the technology, suggesting a licensing and testing regime.

However data protection regulators in Europe are far down the road already -- with the likes of Clearview AI already widely sanctioned across the bloc for misuse of people's data, for example. While the AI chatbot, Replika, has faced recent enforcement in Italy.

OpenAI's ChatGPT also attracted a very public intervention by the Italian DPA at the end of March which led to the company rushing out with new disclosures and controls for users, letting them apply some limits on how it can use their information.

At the same time, EU lawmakers are in the process of hammering out agreement on a risk-based framework for regulating applications of AI which the bloc proposed back in April 2021.

This framework, the EU AI Act, could be adopted by the end of the year and the planned regulation is another reason the CNIL highlights for preparing its AI action plan, saying the work will "also make it possible to prepare for the entry into application of the draft European AI Regulation, which is currently under discussion".

Existing data protection authorities (DPAs) are likely to play a role in enforcement of the AI Act so regulators building up AI understanding and expertise will be crucial for the regime to function effectively. While the topics and details EU DPAs choose focus their attention on are set to weight the operational parameters of AI in the future -- certainly in Europe and, potentially, further afield given how far ahead the bloc is when it comes to digital rule-making.

Data scraping in the frame

On generative AI, the French privacy regulator is paying special attention to the practice by certain AI model makers of scraping data off the Internet to build data-sets for training AI systems like large language models (LLMs) which can, for example, parse natural language and respond in a human-like way to communications.

It says a priority area for its AI service will be "the protection of publicly available data on the web against the use of scraping, or scraping, of data for the design of tools".

This is an uncomfortable area for makers of LLMs like ChatGPT that have relied upon quietly scraping vast amounts of web data to repurpose as training fodder. Those that have hoovered up web information which contains personal data face a specific legal challenge in Europe -- where the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), in application since May 2018, requires them to have a legal basis for such processing.

There are a number of legal bases set out in the GDPR however possible options for a technology like ChatGPT are limited.

In the Italian DPA's view, there are just two possibilities: Consent or legitimate interests. And since OpenAI did not ask individual web users for their permission before ingesting their data the company is now relying on a claim of legitimate interests in Italy for the processing; a claim that remains under investigation by the local regulator, Garante. (Reminder: GDPR penalties can scale up to 4% of global annual turnover in addition to any corrective orders.)

The pan-EU regulation contains further requirements to entities processing personal data -- such as that the processing must be fair and transparent. So there are additional legal challenges for tools like ChatGPT to avoid falling foul of the law.

And -- notably -- in its action plan, France's CNIL highlights the "fairness and transparency of the data processing underlying the operation of [AI tools]" as a particular question of interest that it says its Artificial Intelligence Service and another internal unit, the CNIL Digital Innovation Laboratory, will prioritize for scrutiny in the coming months.

Other stated priority areas the CNIL flags for its AI scoping are:

the protection of data transmitted by users when they use these tools, ranging from their collection (via an interface) to their possible re-use and processing through machine learning algorithms;

the consequences for the rights of individuals to their data, both in relation to those collected for the learning of models and those which may be provided by those systems, such as content created in the case of generative AI;

the protection against bias and discrimination that may occur;

the unprecedented security challenges of these tools.

Giving testimony to a US senate committee yesterday, Altman was questioned by US lawmakers about the company's approach to protecting privacy and the OpenAI CEO sought to narrowly frame the topic as referring only to information actively provided by users of the AI chatbot -- noting, for example, that ChatGPT lets users specify they don't want their conversational history used as training data. (A feature it did not offer initially, however.)

Asked what specific steps it's taken to protect privacy, Altman told the senate committee: "We don't train on any data submitted to our API. So if you're a business customer of ours and submit data, we don't train on it at all... If you use ChatGPT you can opt out of us training on your data. You can also delete your conversation history or your whole account."

But he had nothing to say about the data used to train the model in the first place.

Altman's narrow framing of what privacy means sidestepped the foundational question of the legality of training data. Call it the 'original privacy sin' of generative AI, if you will. But it's clear that eliding this topic is going to get increasingly difficult for OpenAI and its data-scraping ilk as regulators in Europe get on with enforcing the region's existing privacy laws on powerful AI systems.

In OpenAI's case, it will continue to be subject to a patchwork of enforcement approaches across Europe as it does not have an established base in the region -- which the GDPR's one-stop-shop mechanism does not apply (as it typically does for Big Tech) so any DPA is competent to regulate if it believes local users' data is being processed and their rights are at risk. So while Italy went in hard earlier this year with an intervention on ChatGPT that imposed a stop-processing-order in parallel to it opening an investigation of the tool, France's watchdog only announced an investigation back in April, in response to complaints. (Spain has also said it's probing the tech, again without any additional actions as yet.)

In another difference between EU DPAs, the CNIL appears to be concerned about interrogating a wider array of issues than Italy's preliminary list -- including considering how the GDPR's purpose limitation principle should apply to large language models like ChatGPT. Which suggests it could end up ordering a more expansive array of operational changes if it concludes the GDPR is being breached.

"The CNIL will soon submit to a consultation a guide on the rules applicable to the sharing and re-use of data," it writes. "This work will include the issue of re-use of freely accessible data on the internet and now used for learning many AI models. This guide will therefore be relevant for some of the data processing necessary for the design of AI systems, including generative AIs.

"It will also continue its work on designing AI systems and building databases for machine learning. These will give rise to several publications starting in the summer of 2023, following the consultation which has already been organised with several actors, in order to provide concrete recommendations, in particular as regards the design of AI systems such as ChatGPT."

Here's the rest of the topics the CNIL says will be "gradually" addressed via future publications and AI guidance it produces:

the use of the system of scientific research for the establishment and re-use of training databases;

the application of the purpose principle to general purpose AIs and foundation models such as large language models;

the explanation of the sharing of responsibilities between the entities which make up the databases, those which draw up models from that data and those which use those models;

the rules and best practices applicable to the selection of data for training, having regard to the principles of data accuracy and minimisation;

the management of the rights of individuals, in particular the rights of access, rectification and opposition;

the applicable rules on shelf life, in particular for the training bases and the most complex models to be used;

finally, aware that the issues raised by artificial intelligence systems do not stop at their conception, the CNIL is also pursuing its ethical reflections [following a report it published back in 2017] on the use and sharing of machine learning models, the prevention and correction of biases and discrimination, or the certification of AI systems.

On audit and control of AI systems, the French regulator stipulates that its actions this year will focus on three areas: Compliance with an existing position on the use of enhanced video surveillance, which it published in 2022; the use of AI to fight fraud (such as social insurance fraud); and on investigating complaints.

It also confirms it has already received complaints about the legal framework for the training and use of generative AIs -- and says it's working on clarifications there.

"The CNIL has, in particular, received several complaints against the company OpenAI which manages the ChatGPT service, and has opened a control procedure," it adds, noting the existence of a dedicated working group that was recently set up within the European Data Protection Board to try to coordinated how different European authorities approach regulating the AI chatbot (and produce what it bill as a "harmonised analysis of the data processing implemented by the OpenAI tool").

In further words of warning for AI systems makers who never asked people's permission to use their data, and may be hoping for future forgiveness, the CNIL notes that it'll be paying particular attention to whether entities processing personal data to develop, train or use AI systems have:

carried out a Data Protection Impact Assessment to document risks and take measures to reduce them;

taken measures to inform people;

planned measures for the exercise of the rights of persons adapted to this particular context.

So, er, don't say you weren't warned!

As for support for innovative AI players that want to be compliant with European rules (and values), the CNIL has had a regulatory sandbox up and running for a couple of years -- and it's encouraging AI companies and researchers working on developing AI systems that play nice with personal data protection rules to get in touch (via ia@cnil.fr).
Updated: No evidence of an active shooter at Transportation Cabinet, police say

Employees with the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet were told to evacuate the downtown Frankfort building after reports of an active shooter Wednesday but police later confirmed there was no shooter or casualties.

A call about a possible active shooter at the cabinet came in around 3 p.m., according to Kentucky State Police.

There is no confirmation of any active shooter, casualties, or anyone injured at the Transportation Cabinet, Frankfort police said in a Facebook post shortly after 3:30 p.m. We have responded to the area and are currently systematically clearing and searching the location. We will provide any updates as soon as they are available.

Gov. Andy Beshear also issued a statement late Wednesday confirming there was no shooter at the cabinet.

KSP has cleared the buildings and confirmed no injuries or shots fired, Beshear said on social media. The investigation will continue. Our priority is the safety of our people, and I am personally grateful to our law enforcement for swiftly responding and ensuring everyone is safe. We will continue to keep Kentuckians updated as information is available.

Frankfort and Franklin County officials later confirmed there was no shooter or injuries.

Franklin County Judge-Executive Michael Mueller said there was allegedly a report of a shooting on nearby Holmes Street. Mueller and police said the initial report was that someone heard gunshots. But police ultimately had no evidence of shots being fired.

Frankfort Mayor Layne Wilkerson said shortly after 4 p.m. there have been no reports of injuries or confirmation there was a shooting.

There were reports of shots fired, Wilkerson said. Our people are on the scene along with others in law enforcement. The building has been evacuated. So far theres no confirmation of injuries or an active shooter.

Posts on social media showed a major police presence around the time the incident was reported at 3 p.m.

Mark Marty Hulette posted a photo to Facebook that showed a significant police presence outside the building Wednesday afternoon.

All staff have evacuated, police running in with long guns and pistols drawn. Helicopter circling. Pray for all involved, he wrote on Facebook.

Hulette, who works across the street from the Transportation Cabinet, said he could see staff in the transportation building being evacuated and massive police presence increasing. Hulette said it appeared police were clearing the building section by section.

Hulette later posted that the lock down for state office buildings in the area was lifted around 4:15 p.m. and state employees could leave.
French journalist Olivier Dubois, pictured in a hostage video released in 2022. He was released in March, nearly two years after being kidnapped

French forces tried to use a journalist's visit to northern Mali to track a jihadist leader but failed to prevent the reporter from being kidnapped by the militants, French media reported Wednesday.

The report comes amid an investigation into what happened to journalist Olivier Dubois, 48, who was abducted in the northern Malian town of Gao in April 2021.

He flew home to France in March, nearly two years after he was kidnapped by the Al-Qaeda-linked Group to Support Islam and Muslims (JNIM).

Based on French and Malian judicial documents from the probe, the report said a fixer working with Dubois had informed France's anti-jihadist Barkhane force of his plans to interview a jihadist leader.

Barkhane planned to track the leader back to his base but abandoned the operation last minute, it said.

But they did not deploy the necessary means to prevent the journalist from being kidnapped, it said.

The report is published by newspaper Le Monde, with daily Liberation and broadcasters RFI and TV5Monde.

But a diplomatic source said a letter had been sent to Dubois the day before he was kidnapped, formally advising him against making the trip.

In addition, Liberation -- for whom Dubois was writing at the time -- had refused to back his plan to interview the jihadist in view of the risks.

Contacted by AFP, the French foreign ministry declined to comment due to the ongoing investigation.

The military general staff also declined to comment.

An internal army probe found in late 2021 that there had been "no personal fault within the Barkhane force" over the kidnapping.

But "the sensitivity of the topic was not sufficiently taken into account so as to allow... a dissuasive action with regards to the journalist", it said.

French forces withdrew from Mali last year following a fallout with the ruling junta.

dab-dt/ah/tgb/ri
Sarkozy (right) and his ex-lawyer Thierry Herzog (left) attend their appeal trial on May 13

A French appeals court on Wednesday upheld a prison sentence of three years, including two suspended, against former president Nicolas Sarkozy for corruption and influence peddling.

The court ruled he should serve a one-year detention sentence at home with an electronic bracelet and banned him from public office for three years over his attempts to secure favours from a judge in a case uncovered by wiretapping.

Sarkozy is France's first postwar president to have been sentenced to jail.

The 68-year-old left the courtroom without making any comment, but his lawyer said they would appeal before the Court of Cassation, France's highest appeals court.

"Sarkozy is innocent... We will not give up this fight," said lawyer Jacqueline Laffont.

Sarkozy, who served one term from 2007 to 2012, has been embroiled in legal troubles ever since leaving office.

In March 2021, a court found he and his former lawyer, Thierry Herzog, had formed a "corruption pact" with judge Gilbert Azibert to obtain and share information about a legal investigation.

The trial came after investigators wiretapped Sarkozy's two official phone lines, and discovered that he also had a third unofficial one taken out in 2014 under the name "Paul Bismuth", through which he communicated with Herzog.

The contents of these phone calls led to the 2021 corruption verdict.

The former leader contested the accusations and immediately appealed.

On the first day of the appeals hearing in December last year, Sarkozy said he had "never corrupted anybody".

His conversations with Herzog were played in court and expected to take a central role in determining Wednesday's ruling.

The appeals court also upheld the same sentences for Herzog and former judge Azibert, and banned Sarkozy's lawyer from practising for three years.

- Two other cases -

The so-called Bismuth case is just one of several dogging the man dubbed the "hyper-president" while in office.

Sarkozy will be retried on appeal from November 2023 in the so-called Bygmalion case, which saw him sentenced to one year in prison in a lower court.

The prosecution accused Sarkozy's team of spending nearly double the legal limit on his lavish 2012 re-election campaign, using false billing from a public relations firm called Bygmalion. He has denied any wrongdoing.

And French prosecutors on Thursday demanded he face a new trial over alleged Libyan financing of his 2007 election campaign.

Financial crimes prosecutors said Sarkozy and 12 others should face trial over allegations they sought millions of euros in financing from the regime of then Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi for the ultimately victorious campaign.

Sarkozy is accused of corruption, illegal campaign financing and concealing the embezzlement of public funds but rejects all the charges.

Investigating magistrates are to have the last word on whether or not that trial goes ahead.

Despite his legal problems, Sarkozy still enjoys considerable influence and popularity on the right of French politics and has the ear of incumbent President Emmanuel Macron.

Before Sarkozy, the only French leader to be convicted in a criminal trial was his predecessor Jacques Chirac, who received a two-year suspended sentence in 2011 for corruption over a fake jobs scandal relating to his time as Paris mayor.

alv-asl/ah/tgb/bp
France's Senate, the upper house of the parliament, has approved a resolution recognizing the Holodomor as a genocide against the Ukrainian people.

The Holodomor, a man-made famine that took place between 1932-33, occurred during Joseph Stalin's reign over the Soviet Union, and caused an estimated 3.5 to 5 million Ukrainian deaths.

The Ukrainian government has been calling on the international community to recognize it as a genocide.

Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said he's "grateful to French senators for this historic vote which restores justice and honors the memory of millions of victims." He added that "such crimes should never repeat and never be forgotten."

Russias centuries-long quest to conquer Ukraine Editors Note: This is episode 2 of Ukraines True History, a video and story series by the Kyiv Independent. The series is funded by the Institute for War and Peace Reporting within the program Ukraine Forward: Amplifying Analysis. The program is financed by the MATRA Programme of the Embassy o Kyiv IndependentIgor Kossov

"This is another important step towards restoring historical justice and perpetuating the memory of millions of Ukrainians who were starved to death," tweeted President Volodymyr Zelensky.

In March, the resolution was passed by the lower house of France's parliament, the National Assembly.

Several countries and institutions recognized the Holodomor as a genocide of Ukrainian people in 2022 and 2023. Those include Iceland, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Germany, Ireland, and Bulgaria.

In December 2022, the European Parliament also did so and urged Russia to issue an official apology for the atrocities committed by the Soviet regime.
French TV channel RTL unsuccessfully joked about

He posted a snippet of the video, where the host of the program can be heard saying that that the day before, Zelenskyy was in the Elysee Palace "with his circus."

Later in the video, the program equated Zelenskyys meetings with European leaders with a circus performing to gain support for Ukraine.

Read also: Macron says France ready to train Ukrainian pilots

Omelchenko called the video cynical and tactless, and commented that he didnt believe such words were typical of the French people.

"No empathy, no responsibility, he wrote.

I demand an apology to my president and to Ukrainian people, who are suffering and fighting for their freedom, as well as for your freedom and for the opportunity to enjoy the easy life.

Read also: France and Ukraine urge Russia to withdraw from Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant

Zelenskyy visited Italy, Germany, France and the United Kingdom on May 13-15. He arrived in Paris on May 14 and met with French president Emmanuel Macron, after which France promised to supply Ukraine with dozens of armored vehicles and light tanks. Macron also announced that France would be donating missiles of "sufficient range" to deal with Russian invaders during the upcoming Ukrainian counter-offensive.

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Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
The 360 shows you diverse perspectives on the days top stories and debates.

Illustration by Alex Cochran for Yahoo News; photos: Getty Images.

Whats happening

A federal appeals court in Louisiana heard arguments Wednesday in a high-stakes legal battle over women's access to a widely used key medication abortion drug.

Mifepristone is often paired with a second drug, misoprostol, to end a pregnancy and accounts for about half of all abortions in the U.S. The drug can also be used in the treatment of miscarriages.

The case concerns the Food and Drug Administrations approval of mifepristone in 2000 and the agencys subsequent actions making the drug more accessible, such as increasing the gestational limit from seven to 10 weeks and allowing the drug to be prescribed through telehealth visits and sent through the mail.

The Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine, a coalition of abortion opponents, sued the FDA last November in federal court, challenging the agencys decades-old approval of mifepristone. The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, Amarillo Division, where U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk, who was appointed by former President Donald Trump, is the only presiding judge.

In April, Kacsmaryk sided with the plaintiffs and ruled that the FDAs approval of mifepristone and the subsequent decisions to make the drug more accessible were improper under its authority.

In response to Kacsmaryks decision, the Biden administration filed its notice of appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in New Orleans. The appeals court disagreed in part with Kacsmaryks ruling, finding that the statute of limitations had passed on the plaintiffs ability to challenge the FDAs approval of mifepristone, but blocked the implementation of the changes made in 2016 and after regarding easier access to the medication.

The Justice Department and the manufacturer of mifepristone, Danco Laboratories, then asked the Supreme Court to freeze the Fifth Circuits decision and preserve the status quo. On April 21, the Supreme Court halted restrictions imposed by the lower courts while litigation continues to play out.

This brings us to the May 17 appellate hearing. The three conservative judges in the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, who have a history of supporting abortion restrictions, grilled attorneys from the Biden administration and Danco, the drug's manufacturer, and appeared skeptical of their arguments to preserve access to mifepristone.

Why theres debate

Most Americans (51%) say the Supreme Court should prevent any changes to the accessibility of mifepristone by reversing the Texas ruling, according to a recent Yahoo News/YouGov poll. On the flip side, just 22% of Americans think the Supreme Court should outlaw mifepristone in all 50 states by upholding the Texas ruling.

The potential rollback of the FDAs approval of mifepristone could have far-reaching implications. Not only could it upend the lives of millions of women in the United States, but medical experts and pharmaceutical companies have voiced concern that such a decision could set a precedent allowing legal challenges to bombard drugmakers and discourage them from bringing potentially lifesaving drugs to market.

Twenty-three Democrat-run states and the District of Columbia, along with hundreds of Democratic lawmakers, have filed amicus briefs to the Supreme Court in support of the Biden administrations efforts to preserve the FDAs approval of mifepristone.

"Decades after FDA's initial approval  yet somehow in an emergency posture  the district court intruded into FDA's drug approval process, casting a shadow of uncertainty over its decisions," a group of Congressional Democrats wrote in a brief to the Supreme Court. "The perils of this unwarranted judicial intervention into science-based determinations can hardly be overstated."

Meanwhile, 21 red states and 147 Republican lawmakers have urged the Supreme Court to allow the Fifth Circuits ruling to take effect, which would reinstate restrictions on access to mifepristone. In an amicus brief to the high court, GOP members of Congress wrote: By approving and then deregulating chemical abortion drugs, the FDA failed to follow Congress' statutorily prescribed drug approval process and subverted Congress' critical public policy interests in upholding patient welfare."

Mifepristone has been used by more than 5 million women and is considered safe and effective for abortions and miscarriage care by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the American Medical Association (AMA) and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. According to the AMA, major adverse reactions to mifepristone occur in about 0.3% of cases and are exceedingly rare.

Whats next

The judges likely wont rule immediately after Wednesdays hearing. But when the court does make a decision, whichever side loses the appeal could petition for a rehearing by the full Fifth Circuit, which has 12 Republican appointees out of a total of 16 active judges, and petition the U.S. Supreme Court for a second time.

Access to mifepristone would remain widely available if the Supreme Court accepts the case for review. If not, the decision by the Fifth Circuit will be the final word on the fate of mifepristone.

Perspectives

Decisions on drug approvals and abortion shouldnt be left up to the courts

The Justices in Dobbs sought to extricate themselves from regulating abortion, but partisans on both sides dont want to let them. The partisans dont appreciate that the stakes in these two cases go beyond abortion. If pro-life groups or Democratic AGs prevail, well likely see more partisan challenges to FDA approvals, such as for Covid vaccines or Alzheimers treatments. Regulating drugs isnt the business of the courts any more than abortion is.  Editorial, Wall Street Journal

Plaintiffs argument is flawed, progressive or not

"If the subject matter of this case were anything other than abortion, the plaintiffs would have no chance of succeeding in the Supreme Court. The plaintiffs are banking on the hope that because this is a case about abortion, the Court will bend ordinary principles of administrative law. I predict it will not.  Adam Unikowsky, a partner at Jenner & Block law firm who clerked for the late conservative Justice Antonin Scalia, Adams Legal Newsletter

Congress has the power to ban mifepristone but hasnt done so

The plaintiffs allege that mifepristone is unsafe and the FDA never should have approved it. But mifepristone has been widely used in this country for 23 years. If it is so dangerous, where is the popular political support to ban it outright? Congress doesnt need permission from the FDA to ban anything. If Congress wants to ban mifepristone, it can.  Conn Carroll, Washington Examiner

The lawsuit threatens the FDAs gold standard drug approval process

The doors would be open for all sorts of plaintiffs to assert standing and could really make it very hard for the drug manufacturers who rely on the FDAs final word on drugs.  Laurie Sobel, associate director of womens health policy at the nonprofit Kaiser Family Foundation, to The Hill

Limiting access to abortion medication could impact women in states where abortion is protected

Many of the restrictions that have been rolled out so far on a state-by-state basis have had little effect in New York, where abortion is legal and additional safeguards have been put into place. But since the federal court ruling affects the mail  and many women have mifepristone shipped to their homes  New Yorkers could soon feel the effects, even as the broader question of access to mifepristone is debated in the courts.  Michael McAuliff, Dave Goldiner, Josephine Stratman, New York Daily News

Keep an eye out for lawsuits in North Carolina and West Virginia that could impact the Texas lawsuit

Both cases are pressing the argument that the FDA was given the authority by Congress to create a uniform drug policy for this country and is the agency trusted with assessing drugs' safety and efficacy  So FDA regulations should preempt, or is superior, to any state regulation that contradicts it."  Rachel Rebouche, dean of Temple University's law school, to USA Today

Without mifepristone, abortion clinics will be forced to rely on a less effective alternative

If mifepristone is no longer available at some point, most abortion clinics plan to use misoprostol alone to terminate pregnancies. Studies have shown that misoprostol's success rates can range from 84% to 96%, whereas the two-drug combo can be up to 99.6% effective.  Lawrence Hurley and Berkeley Lovelace Jr. and Erik Ortiz and Aria Bendix, NBC News

Is there a topic youd like to see covered in The 360? Send your suggestions to the360@yahoonews.com.
Rising tensions in Asia-Pacific have strengthened Japan's role as a key player

At Japan's Naha airbase in Okinawa, the roar of F-15 fighter jets dwarfs the sound of commercial planes that share the same runway.

Three jets take off one after the other to start the day's training, mostly scenarios involving combat and aircraft interception - some have gone on "real life scrambles" or emergency calls to intercept suspected Chinese aircraft.

These routine exercises have taken on a new sense of urgency, according to Lt Col Masatoshi Tanaka.

"We're very nervous," he says. "We've been facing airspace violations of Japanese territory every day. Chinese activities have expanded in number and quality. They involve UAVs [drones], bombers and reconnaissance planes. There are many active aircraft carriers in this area."

Naha is part of the Okinawa island chain, which is on the frontline of any potential conflict between China and the self-ruled island of Taiwan. The territory, which Beijing claims and has vowed to take by force if necessary, has become one of the biggest flashpoints in the world, especially as tensions soar between the US and China.

"We're very nervous. Chinese activities have expanded in number and quality", Source: Lt Col Masatoshi Tanaka, Source description: , Image: Lt Col Masatoshi Tanaka

As China becomes more assertive, Taiwan's security has become a growing concern for Japan, which is hosting the G7 summit in Hiroshima this weekend. And with China expected to dominate the agenda at the summit, Japan's role as a key player in building regional stability has only grown.

The war in Ukraine and an increasingly volatile Indo-Pacific has pushed Japan to a "crucial position in the alignment of powers," according to Yoko Iwama, a professor of international relations at the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies.

"We are the linchpin of the network of American alliances and partnerships in the region and I think the Americans are aware of that," she said.

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has certainly been making moves to reflect that. In March, Japan normalised diplomatic ties with South Korea after years of terse silence in what has been hailed as a "new chapter".

That same month, Mr Kishida met India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi and then made a surprise visit to Ukraine and pledged $30m (24m) in non-lethal military aid.

Under him, Japan has announced the biggest military build-up since World War Two, pledging to double defence spending by 2027 - which would give it the third largest defence budget in the world. This illustrates both Tokyo's urgent need to show that it can defend itself, and also help its closest ally, the US.

Any defence scenario will involve the US, and Okinawa is home to the biggest concentration of US troops in Japan, but the country also needs to show that it can put up a fight. The hope is that this would be enough to deter Beijing and avoid a conflict in the region.

But Japan is close enough to feel the ripples of a conflict that it does not want, but could be pulled into.

BBC map showing location of Okinawa and Ishigaki in Japan

When China's military rehearsed "sealing off" Taiwan during three days of military drills in April, Japan's defence ministry said a Chinese aircraft carrier was some 230km (145 miles) south of Miyako Island, also part of the Okinawa chain.

When a furious China fired missiles after former US house speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit last year, at least five landed less than 100km from the westernmost Japanese island of Yonaguni.

"Geographically speaking we're very close to Taiwan and South East Asia, we feel a sense of crisis," says Yoshitaka Nakayama, the mayor of Ishigaki. The island is about an hour's flight from the Naha airbase and is a picturesque haven known for fishing and agriculture. Its white sands and crystal blue waters have long attracted holidaymakers and snorkelling fans.

Now, Ishigaki is also home to Japan's Self-Defence Forces' (SDF) newest military base. As farmers tend to their crops in the fields around it, soldiers man the gates and cranes and bulldozers move bits of earth as construction continues.

Mr Nakayama says they need to protect themselves: "Chinese ships are patrolling very closely. The equipment we have in terms of missile launchers is for defending ourselves. It's to protect us in case there are planes or ships that want to attack us. We're not looking for war."

Earlier this year nearly 600 troops moved here, including squads capable of launching land-to-ship and land-to-air missiles into the East China sea and beyond.

Ishigaki and the neighbouring chain of islands are in close proximity to two flashpoints. One is the uninhabited Senkaku Islands which Japan controls but China also claims under the name Diaoyu Islands. The other is Taiwan, which is 200km away.

Ishikgaki is just 200km from Taiwan, one of the biggest flashpoints

And Russia's invasion of Ukraine has heightened fears of a potential Chinese attack. As the war rages on there, parallels have been drawn on this side of the world.

There are some similarities, according to Prof Iwama.

"The leader type: Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping. But also the claim that a land that is controlled by someone else is yours," she said. "People see this and are afraid it could happen here."

She adds that watching large parts of Ukraine being bombed and shelled has brought up memories of World War Two. "You could relate to what was happening," Prof Iwama says.

But those memories have also angered people in Ishigaki who fear that their home might once again be caught up in conflict. Okinawa, after all, was the site of a historic battle between the US and the Japanese armies.

Now, nearly eight decades later, a military base has renewed those fears, splitting a once close-knit community.

When 85-year-old Setsuko Yamazato, who lost four members of her family in WW2, heard that a military base was being built in Ishigaki, she gathered a "group of grandmas" to speak out against it.

"The first thing that came to my mind was 'not again'," she says.

Setsuko Yamazato, 85, has been protesting against the construction of a military base at Ishigaki

Now, she and the others turn up outside the base every week to protest. With her cane in one hand and a banner saying "give our children a peaceful future" in the other, she chants, stopping at times to cough and take a breath.

"The SDF are coming to the island. They're building a missile base here," she chants. "Our island is protected by the God of Miroku, not by the military."

As someone who experienced war in her early life, she says she does not want to witness another in her old age.

"I don't want this island to become a battlefield," she says.

"We've been nurtured by the nature and culture of this island. I don't want that to be destroyed or stolen by war."
Gov. Gavin Newsom joined state and federal officials at Daguerre Point Dam in Marysville Tuesday to tout a long-sought deal to reintroduce Chinook salmon to the northern fork of the Yuba River for the first time in nearly 100 years.

As part of the agreement, state and federal officials will build a fishway  a channel for migrating fish  around the century-old dam to open up 12 miles of habitat for salmon, steelhead, sturgeon and lamprey. The announcement was met with both optimism and frustration from environmentalists who have long advocated for the dams removal.

This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to implement a truly significant comprehensive environmental stewardship project  and these benefits will be realized for decades, said Willie Whittlesey, general manager of the Yuba Water Agency.

The $60 million project, approved by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, the National Marine Fisheries Service and the Yuba Water Agency, is designed to decrease the risk of extinction for threatened species.

Despite a more modest deficit, were holding the line on projects like these and were moving them forward, Newsom said in front of the dam on Tuesday.

A California Dam blocks salmon, steelhead passage

Daguerre Point Dam was constructed in 1906 to hold back hydraulic mining debris in the Sacramento river system caused by damage from the Gold Rush. The dam, now owned by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, has become a point of contention because it blocks fish migration.

The Army Corps and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration over the last two decades have recommended the dams removal. Instead, this plan will construct a passage for adult fish to swim around the dam and truck juvenile fish past it.

After spending years debating how best to promote the recovery of Chinook salmon, steelhead and sturgeon, environmental groups expressed frustration Tuesday, saying they had been excluded from the discussions that led to the deal.

Aaron Zettler-Mann, executive director of the South Yuba River Citizens League, called the plan to truck juvenile fish around the rivers upper dam trap and haul. But he expressed optimism about the fishway effort that his organization has worked on for years.

I think theres a lot of potential good to happen from this agreement, certainly, he said. We are optimistic but skeptical about the reintroduction above New Bullards. The Chinook salmon will be released into the river north of the New Bullards Bar Dam and Reservoir.

Another deal between local water agencies and the state and federal government is coming together in the background. It involves whether to renew a program that pulls water from the Yuba River through the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and into the state and federal water projects.

Zettler-Mann said he is disappointed and nervous that there is a backroom negotiation that probably includes expiration of a water transfer program, adding that an environmental review is needed ahead of renewal.

Meghan Quinn, associate director at the national nonprofit American Rivers, said dam removal should have been a higher priority. This project is a stopgap in lieu of that outcome, she said, which would limit water for state and federal projects but is crucial to long-term environmental protection.

They needed to do something to mitigate for that damage that they are causing in the watershed, she said. Rather than work on a solution... they chose to move forward with a project that I dont think anyone supports in the NGO community.

Chuck Bonham, director of the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, said that the fishway represents a pragmatic and low-cost alternative that could be executed in a few years.

We can either keep these fights alive, which California is infamous for on water, or we can sit down and actually do something, he said. Im in the camp of doing something because Im getting too old to do otherwise.

A long history of Chinook Salmon on the Yuba River

Chinook salmon are an iconic California fish that play a critical role in regional ecosystems and support a commercial fishing industry. They make long migrations from high-altitude rivers out to the Pacific Ocean and then back again to spawn years later.

The Central Valleys river system was once a Chinook stronghold, where between 1 and 2 million fish spawned in the tributaries of the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers each year before the Gold Rush. The fish were vital to the culture and traditional foods of Native Americans, and remain so today.

But over the last decade, degradation and habitat loss led to a steep population decline for both salmon and steelhead runs. Between the impact of dams, severe drought and warm rivers, environmentalists are now seeking to list spring and fall run Chinook as threatened or endangered.

For both the sort of the historic legacy of development and climate change, our salmon need help, said Wade Crowfoot, head of the California Natural Resources Agency. We need to implement an all-of-the-above strategy to help our salmon recover and help our aquatic ecosystems recover and thrive. Thats what were doing.
Haley Pullos was reportedly arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence after a crash in Pasadena. (Richard Shotwell / Invision / Associated Press)

"General Hospital" star Haley Pullos was reportedly arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence after allegedly colliding with oncoming traffic on a freeway in Pasadena.

The 24-year-old actor was driving on the freeway April 29 when she allegedly swerved, cleared the dividing barrier and crashed into a car going the opposite direction at about 60 miles per hour, according to a police report obtained Wednesday by TMZ. The driver of the other car reportedly survived the crash but was hospitalized with severe injuries.

Firefighters reportedly rescued Pullos from her car and placed her in an ambulance, where she allegedly struck a firefighter who was assessing her injuries and shouted, "This is a $400 f shirt!"

Officers arrested Pullos at the hospital, where she was sedated after allegedly becoming hostile and violent toward healthcare workers, according to TMZ.

The case file reportedly noted that Pullos' breath smelled of alcohol and her speech was slurred. Officers also allegedly discovered edible cannabis products and mini-bottles of tequila in Pullos' vehicle, according to TMZ. The Times has reached out to the California Highway Patrol for additional information.

Police told TMZ that Pullos was involved in a hit-and-run traffic collision before the freeway accident.

Last week, Soap Opera Digest reported that "General Hospital" had temporarily recast Pullos' character, Molly Lansing-Davis, while the actor is on medical leave. The show has reportedly tapped Holiday Mia Kriegel to sub in starting next week.

Unfortunately, I was involved in an automobile accident and Im doing okay, but I am going to need a little time to recover," Pullos told Soap Opera Digest in a statement. "I will be back as soon as possible!

Representatives for Pullos and "General Hospital" did not immediately respond Wednesday to inquiries from The Times.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
George and Amal Clooney joined by her mom on the red carpet  see the pics

George and Amal Clooney joined by her mom on the red carpet  see the pics

George and Amal Clooney were joined by her mother, Baria Alamuddin, as the trio attended a special U.K. awards ceremony on May 16.

Alamuddin, an esteemed journalist, and the Clooneys all walked the red carpet together for the Princes Trust and TK Maxx & Homesense Awards in London.

The 62-year-old actor held his wifes hand as he posed for pictures with her alongside his mother-in-law.

Charlotte Tilbury, Amal Clooney, George Clooney and Baria Alamuddin attend the Prince's Trust and TKMaxx & Homesense Awards 2023 (Stuart C. Wilson / Getty Images)

Amal Clooney, 45, wore a blush jumpsuit and black belt while her husband sported a gray suit and sunglasses. Alamuddin donned a matching beige blouse, tailored pants and sheer wrap.

The family were also joined by beauty entrepreneur Charlotte Tilbury, who snapped a few photos with them. She wore a black dress with ruffled and lace detailing that featured a statement belt.

Charlotte Tilbury, Amal Clooney, George Clooney and Baria Alamuddin attend the Prince's Trust and TKMaxx & Homesense Awards 2023 (Neil Mockford / FilmMagic)

Multiple celebrities were invited to the awards ceremony, which was held in the Theatre Royal Drury Lane and honored the incredible achievements of young people across the UK.

The Prince's Trust And TKMaxx & Homesense Awards 2023 - Inside Arrivals (David M. Benett / Getty Images)

King Charles III founded the Princes Trust to help disadvantaged youths living in the United Kingdom. With TK Maxx & Homesense, the Princes Trust found finalists in England, Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland with inspirational stories about how they achieved success after working with Princes Trust programs.

George and Amal Clooney frequently show support for philanthropic causes. The pair founded the Clooney Foundation for Justice, which works to protect human rights.

This is not the first time the Out of Sight star and his mother-in-law have walked the red carpet together. She previously accompanied her son-in-law and daughter to the London premiere of his Hulu miniseries, Catch-22, in 2019.

At the time, the political journalist wowed in a green chiffon outfit and gorgeous jeweled necklace that completed the look.

A couple of years earlier, Alamuddin and Amal Clooney also showed support by attending the Los Angeles premiere of the 2017 thriller Suburbicon, which the actor directed and co-wrote. The trio sweetly embraced each other and posed together for pictures.

This article was originally published on TODAY.com
Embattled Republican Representative George Santos compared Congress to the movie Mean Girls as he faces multiple federal charges and a potential expulsion vote in the House of Representatives.

Mr Santos spoke on the Macrodosing podcast and was asked what Congress was like.

Have you ever watched Mean Girls? Mr Santos asked the interviewer. Thats Congress in a nutshell. There is a mean girl there.

Mr Santos compared himself to Cady Heron, the main protagonist in the movie portrayed by Lindsay Lohan.

I dont come from a political background, Mr Santos said, despite the fact he ran for Congress in 2020 and lost before he mounted his successful campaign in the Long Island district in 2022.

Since then, multiple news outlets reported stories about the fact Mr Santos fabricated numerous aspects of his career, from his claim that he worked for Goldman Sachs and Citigroup, to his falsehood about being of Jewish heritage, to his running a fake charity.

Last week, the Justice Department announced 13 criminal charges against Mr Santos, leading to Mr Santos turning himself in and facing arrest. Specifically, the DOJ charged him with unemployment fraud and making false statements to Congress. He has since faced calls to resign even among New York Republicans and members of the House Republican Conference.

Representative Robert Garcia, a Democrat from California, filed a resolution to force an expulsion vote for Mr Santos, though it is unlikely to pass, given an expulsion requires two-thirds of the House to pass. Republicans hold a narrow majority in the House, which means they need all the GOP support they can get.

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy called on the House Ethics Committee to take up the expulsion resolution and has said he would not support Mr Santos for re-election despite previously saying he would stand by the freshman Republican.

You got to have a process, Mr McCarthy said in a news conference. So I'm going to ask that Ethics look at this.
A former elementary school principal is suing the Georgetown County School District, claiming her removal from her role in 2022 was an act of racial discrimination.

This is one of two racial discrimination lawsuits against the school district brought by a school leader. Another complaint by the principal of Carvers Bay High School was filed on May 1.

Georgetown school officials tried to get rid of Black principal, suit claims discrimination

A spokesperson for the school district declined a request for comment, stating the district does not comment on pending litigation.

The suit was filed on April 24 by Tonja Johnson, the current assistant principal of Andrews Elementary School. Attorney Thomas Tisdale, who is representing both principals, could not be reached for a comment.

The suit states that while acting as principal at Maryville Elementary, Johnson, a Black woman, encountered unfounded, racially oriented and unjustified resistance to her management. A grievance filed with the school district management asking for the behavior of the white administrative employees at the school be addressed and corrected was rejected, according to the court records.

A group of white teachers at Maryville Elementary School wrote a letter to the school district, complaining about her administrative performance that was quite obviously racially oriented, according to the suit.

The creation of a hostile work environment due to the discrimination is listed as a second cause of action in the suit. The filing also says that gender discrimination is a core reason for her dismissal as principal.

In an answer filed May 11, attorneys for the school district have asked for the entire action to be dismissed. The filing states that her dismissal was unrelated to race or gender, but due to her refusal to demonstrate significant improvement after failing to pass two performance evaluations.

The answer confirms that a letter was written by employees expressing concerns about Johnsons performance.

More information will become available as the lawsuit moves through the court system.
FILE - Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp attends a panel at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Jan. 17, 2023. The Republican governor is setting off for a weeklong trade mission to Israel in late May 2023. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber, File) (ASSOCIATED PRESS)

ATLANTA (AP)  Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp is making an economic development trip to Israel.

Kemp spokesperson Garrison Douglas confirmed the trip Wednesday. Douglas said Kemp will be meeting with Israeli companies that do business in the state, as well as with government officials.

For security reasons, Douglas said he couldn't provide the exact itinerary, but he said the governor is leaving this weekend and will be gone for a week.

It's Kemp's fourth overseas trip as governor and his second in less than six months as he seeks to raise his profile. The second-term Republican governor is trying to steer his party away from former President Donald Trump, although Kemp has said he's not running for president in 2024.

In January, Kemp attended the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, saying he was pitching Georgia's economic model and meeting with corporate executives and government officials from around the world.

In 2019, Kemp went to South Korea, where he met with then-Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon and Hyundai Motor Group officials. Last year Hyundai announced it was building a $5.5 billion electric vehicle factory near Savannah. In early 2020, Kemp went to Germany, a trip officials credit with sparking his interest in electric vehicles

Israel is a less obvious economic target than South Korea or Germany. In 2021, according to the state Department of Economic Development, Georgia exported $280 million in goods and services to Israel, making it the state's 34th largest export market. Imports from Israel were $650 million, making it the state's 29th largest import trading partner.

Georgia officials say Israeli companies employ more than 1,000 Georgians.

The state has had a trade office in Israel since 1994, and two prior governors have led trade missions there, reflecting its outsize political and religious importance. Gov. Sonny Perdue visited in 2005, while Gov. Nathan Deal visited in 2014.

Economic Development Commissioner Pat Wilson will accompany Kemp. The cost to taxpayers for the trip isn't yet available, Department of Economic Development spokeperson Marie Hodge Gordon said.

Kemp's wife and three daughters will join him and the family will pay for their travel, Douglas said.
While two Georgia high school students were fighting cancer throughout the school year, they faced another battle with not being able to attend prom.

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Collier Savelle and Matthew English have a lot in common. They both currently attend Lee County High School and they both battled cancer.

According to WALB-TV, Lee County High Schools principal did not allow Savelle and English to attend prom due to missing too many school days.

English was reportedly diagnosed with epitheliod sarcoma, a rare form of cancer that starts as a growth of cells in the soft tissues. To stop the cancer from spreading, English traveled to Atlanta and had his arm amputated in February.

I just do my normal routine and I try not to think about how Im doing all that stuff, English told WALB-TV.

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Lee County Schools handbook states absences must not exceed a cumulative total of six days per school year, and students cannot already have absences in excess of 10 days. These absences must be pre-approved by the principal with input from the attendance officer in order to be excused. Excuses provided by the parent/guardian(s) regarding a students illnesses can only cover twelve days per school year.

Although it was not said how many days English or Savelle missed in total, WALB-TV reported that with the school policy, both students missed too many days to participate in prom.

As the days of prom grew near, the schools policy spread like wildfire to social media with hundreds of parents and classmates voicing their concerns, WALB states.

With just hours leading up to prom, the school reversed its decision.

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Im very excited for him. All of our family just texting in the group so excited. Were happy for him because we knew thats a big step for him, Matthews mother Ronnie English said. The community rallied around and were just blessed. We were very happy he was able to go. It made it a very happy Mothers Day, Ronnie said.

Matthew told WALB-TV that he had fun at prom.

Savelles family did not want to make a comment.

According to WALB-TV, the Lee County Schools did not provide why they had the change of heart.

IN OTHER NEWS:




Germany not joining Fighter Coalition for Ukraine, says Scholz

Olaf Scholz

He emphasized that Germany is not under pressure to supply fighters to Ukraine and stated, We have no demands placed on us.

When asked about Germany's potential involvement in the coalition, Scholz downplayed its relevance and highlighted Germany's focus on tanks, ammunition, establishing an operational repair system, and air defense.

Read also: U.S. to help Ukraine fill arms gaps if necessary, says Blinken

The issue is not as relevant as it is being portrayed, he said.

On May 16, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced that the Netherlands, France, and the United Kingdom have expressed their support in joining the fighter coalition.

Previously, Yuriy Sak, an advisor to the Ukrainian Minister of Defense, mentioned that Kyiv aims to receive 40 to 50 F-16 fighters from its allies to form three to four squadrons to protect Ukrainian skies against Russian attacks.

Read also: Germany commits 2.7 billion euros in military assistance to Ukraine, including tanks, drones, air defense systems

Were bringing the voice of Ukraine to the world. Support us with a one-time donation, or become a Patron!

Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
FILE - Tampa Bay Rays starting pitcher Tyler Glasnow throws during the first inning of a baseball game against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park, Monday, Oct. 3, 2022, in Boston. Glasnow was cleared to make his next minor league injury rehabilitation appearance in his return from an oblique injury, a day after a start was cut short by left side tightness. Glasnow was hurt while throwing batting practice at spring training on Feb. 27.(AP Photo/Mary Schwalm, File) (ASSOCIATED PRESS)

NEW YORK (AP)  Tampa Bay probably will give right-hander Tyler Glasnow one more minor league rehabilitation start before activating him from the injured last.

Sidelined since spring training, Glasnow allowed three hits over four scoreless innings and struck out five for Triple-A Durham against Nashville on Tuesday night. He threw 40 of 57 pitches for strikes.

Very encouraging. He's chomping at the bit to get here," Rays manager Kevin Cash said Wednesday. "I think it's highly likely that we give him one more start and hopefully it goes as well, gets his pitch count somewhere around the 75 mark, and we'll go from there.

Glasnow strained his left oblique while throwing batting practice at spring training on Feb. 27. He has made three rehab appearances.

Tampa Bay optioned right-hander Yonny Chirinos to Durham and selected the contract of right-hander Zack Burdi, who made a pair of appearances for the Rays on April 26 and 27. Chirinos had a 2.79 ERA in seven relief appearances.

Yonny had thrown the ball well for us. I think it's fair to say we think there's more there, manager Cash said.

First baseman Yandy Diaz, who left Sunday's game at Yankee Stadium with left groin tightness, took batting practice in the cage but probably won't play until Friday's homestand opener against Milwaukee.

Right-hander Javier Guerra cleared waivers and accepted an outright assignment to Durham.

___

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
This is how El Nino brought heat to the surface of the Pacific in 2015

Our overheating world is likely to break a key temperature limit for the first time over the next few years, scientists predict.

Researchers say there's now a 66% chance we will pass the 1.5C global warming threshold between now and 2027.

The chances are rising due to emissions from human activities and a likely El Nino weather pattern later this year.

If the world passes the limit, scientists stress the breach, while worrying, will likely be temporary.

Hitting the threshold would mean the world is 1.5C warmer than it was during the second half of the 19th Century, before fossil fuel emissions from industrialisation really began to ramp up.

And breaking the limit even for just one year is a worrying sign that warming is accelerating and not slowing down.

The 1.5C figure has become a symbol of global climate change negotiations. Countries agreed to "pursue efforts" to limit global temperature rises to 1.5C under the 2015 Paris agreement.

Going over 1.5C every year for a decade or two would see far greater impacts of warming, such as longer heatwaves, more intense storms and wildfires.

But passing the level in one of the next few years would not mean that the Paris limit had been broken. Scientists say there is still time to restrict global warming by cutting emissions sharply.

Since 2020 the World Meteorological Organisation has been giving an estimate of the chances of the world breaking the 1.5C threshold in any one year.

Back then they predicted there was less than a 20% chance of breaking 1.5C in the five years ahead.

By last year this had increased to 50%, and now it's jumped to 66%, which the scientists say means it's "more likely than not."

What does going over 1.5C mean?

The figure is not a direct measure of the world's temperature but an indicator of how much or how little the Earth has warmed or cooled compared to the long term global average.

A school child tries to stay cool amid a heatwave in Indonesia this year

Scientists use average temperature data from the period between 1850-1900 as a measure of how hot the world was before our modern reliance on coal, oil and gas.

For decades they believed that if the world warmed by around 2C that would be the threshold of dangerous impacts - but in 2018 they significantly revised this estimate, showing that going past 1.5C would be calamitous for the world.

Change in global temperature compared to the pre-industrial average. Temperatures were around average until about 1950, but have increased since, regularly exceeding 1C of warming in the last decade.

Over the past few decades our overheating world has nudged the mercury up so that in 2016, the warmest on record, global temperatures were 1.28C above the pre-industrial figure.

Now researchers say that figure is set to be smashed - they are 98% certain the high mark will be broken before 2027.

And in the years between now and then they believe there's a very solid chance the 1.5C limit will be surpassed for the first time.

"We really are now within reach of a temporary exceedance of 1.5C for the annual mean temperature, and that's the first time in human history we've been that close," said Prof Adam Scaife, head of long range forecasts at the Met Office, who compile the data from weather and climate agencies around the world.

"I think that's perhaps the most stark and obvious and simplest statistic that we've got in the report," he told a news conference.

The researchers stress that temperatures would have to stay at or above 1.5C for 20 years to be able to say the Paris agreement threshold had been passed.

"This report does not mean that we will permanently exceed the 1.5C level specified in the Paris Agreement which refers to long-term warming over many years," said WMO Secretary-General Prof. Petteri Taalas

"However, WMO is sounding the alarm that we will breach the 1.5C level on a temporary basis with increasing frequency," he said.

What difference will El Nino make?

There are two key elements - the first is the continuing high levels of carbon emissions from human activities that despite a fall during the pandemic are still going up.

The second, critical part is the likely appearance of El Nino, a weather phenomenon with global implications.

For the last three years the world has been experiencing a La Nina event which has dampened climate warming to some extent.

But the extra heat that El Nino will bring to the surface of the Pacific will likely push the global temperature to a new high next year.

However there is still uncertainty around the onset and scale of the event.

"It's worth noting that a lot of our forecasts that are being made now for the El Nino that we think is developing this winter, are showing pretty big amplitude," Prof Scaife told reporters.

"But to actually predict the magnitude, or a subsequent event within the five-year period, we can't give the exact dates of that beyond this one year ahead, so it could be in three or four years from now we get to two and a half degree El Nino and that might be the one that does it. "

What are the likely impacts in the UK and elsewhere?

The Arctic will experience warming at a greater level than many regions, with the temperature anomaly expected to be three times as large as the global figure over the next five northern hemisphere winters.

Northern Europe including the UK will likely experience increased rainfall for the May to September period over the next five years, the report says.

Follow Matt on Twitter @mattmcgrathbbc.
GoFundMe started for Tri-Cities researcher killed in crash. His wife is still hospitalized

A fundraiser has been started after a Pacific Northwest National Laboratory researcher died and his wife was injured in a car crash near Vantage Bridge over the Columbia River.

Money raised through GoFundMe will be used for the funeral of Abhinav Srivastava, 32, and the medical expenses of Stuti Srivastava, 28.

She is in stable condition after being flown by air ambulance to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, according to the GoFundMe post.

The loss of Abhinav has been a devastating blow to their family and friends, said the GoFundMe created by Hrishikesh Das and four others.

We are all struggling to come to terms with his untimely death, and we are grateful for the outpouring of support that we have so far received, it said.

The GoFundMe page posted Tuesday afternoon had raised about $14,000 in five hours.

The couple were headed to Seattle the evening of Friday May 12 when Abhinav Srivastava pulled onto Highway 26 from Highway 243 and was hit by a semi truck with a trailer, said the Washington State Patrol. He died before he could be taken to a hospital.

He was a post-doctoral researcher in the applied materials and manufacturing group at the Department of Energy national lab in Richland, Wash., since October 2021.

He earned a doctorate in materials science and engineering from Texas A&M University after earning a bachelor of technology in metallurgical engineering from the National Institute of Technology in India.

His LinkedIn profile said that as a researcher he worked to improve materials properties and solve engineering challenges. In his free time he pursued photography and coding.

Donations to the GoFundMe for the Srivastavas may be made at bit.ly/3Oie8EC.
The California Gold Rush of the mid-1800s transformed the United States population as gold seekers ventured out to the West Coast in search of the precious metal in the Golden State's rivers and creeks. Nearly two centuries later, torrential rainfall in California this past winter has helped jumpstart a new gold rush of sorts, with a so-called "flood gold" grabbing the attention of treasure hunters.

Gold is heavy, so it takes a lot of water power to wash it downstream. A series of atmospheric rivers over the winter months led to historic rainfall in California, including the northern part of the state, where a surplus of gold has been uncovered after the flooding.

"When you have a huge rain event, big rains come and they wash all the sides of the river into the river basin again, and bring gold with it as it happens," Barron Brandon, a geologist and manager of Cosumnes River Ranch in Plymouth, California, told AFP News.

About 25 miles northeast of Cosumnes River Ranch lies Placerville, California, where gold seeker Albert Fausel has already found gold nuggets the old-fashioned way: placing a pan in the river and shaking off any mud and sand until only gold remains.

Gold seeker Albert Fausel displays gold he uncovered after a day of collection in Placerville, California.

"The water has definitely helped move some new material," Fausel said. "This spot might not have had anything (before the rain) ... and now it's actually gotten replenished, so there's a lot of good little flood gold in this area right here."

Placerville has a rich history of gold, as it was the site of a prominent mining camp during the Gold Rush of 1849. During the 19th-century rush, the city was named after "placer gold," gold nuggets that were swept up and deposited into rivers. The city was given gold-related nicknames such as Old Dry Diggings and Hangtown, and Placerville remains a hotbed for modern gold seekers with the existence of the Gold Bug Mine.

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"When any of the water moves, the gold moves, and is deposited," said Pat Layne, a guide at the Gold Bug Park and Mine. "Back in the 1800s, all of that gold had been deposited [from] flood after flood over millions of years, so there's a huge amount of gold in all of these creeks."

Barron Brandon, a geologist and manager of Cosumnes River Ranch, is hard at work scouring for gold in Placerville, California. (AFP)

Compared to 29.14 inches of rainfall through the end of the 2021-22 seasonal rain year, Placerville has been deluged with 47.37 inches of rain through May 14, due in part to a one-month total of 18.18 inches in December. From December 2021 through March 2022, the city had 35 rainy days. That number almost doubled from December 2022 through March of this year, with 66 days of measurable rainfall.

Thanks to the downpours, Layne, who has worked in gold mining for decades, is excited about the newfound interest in gold-seeking. Layne is able to share his knowledge of Placerville's history when children visit the Gold Bug during school trips.

"What we try and get across to them is the true history, not the Hollywood version of the Gold Rush," Layne told AFP News.

The initial discovery of gold was made at Sutter's Mill in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada in January 1848, paving the way for the largest migration in United States history. Hundreds of thousands of gold seekers quickly fled to California in the following decade, starting with those who could reach the California coastline by ship, followed by East Coast travelers after President James K. Polk announced the abundance of gold during a State of the Union address.

By the following year, California's population grew significantly, leading to fierce individual competition for gold. Many travelers died from disease or accidents, while much of California's Native American population was massacred or used as forced labor during the Gold Rush era.

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This is gonna be my third act. Miami arts nonprofit leader retires to make his own art

For the last six years, arts nonprofit CEO and president Dennis Scholl has helped shape the careers of hundreds of artists through Oolite Arts residencies, awards and programs.

Now, he wants to focus on shaping his own artistic vision. Scholl is retiring from Oolite Arts sometime this year to pursue his filmmaking and visual arts practice full-time, the organization announced Wednesday morning. Oolite will conduct a national search to find a new CEO.

Throughout his tenure, Scholl spearheaded several initiatives and programs that boosted Oolites profile as a noteworthy arts support organization, like awarding millions of dollars to local artists and leading the purchase of five warehouses in Little River that will become the nonprofits new state-of-the-art headquarters in 2025.

Its always a little scary to introduce profound change into your life. Its a little scary, but I am getting such joy out of being in the studio and making the work and such joy out of pursuing my filmmaking, Scholl said. I decided that this is gonna be my third act, as they say. This is how I want to spend the rest of my life.

Before joining Oolite, Scholl served as vice president for arts at the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation from 2009 to 2015. Scholl oversaw the foundations national arts program, awarding grants to cultural organizations totaling close to $200 million.

KNOW MORE: Alberto Ibarguen retiring from leadership role at Knight Foundation

When I was at Knight I worked in all the disciplines, but my undying passion is the visual arts and visual artists, Scholl said in an interview with the Miami Herald. I knew that I was going to get the chance to support those artists and to help them grow, grow their careers, and that has been clearly the biggest joy for me.

Roscoe B. Thicke III, curator Rosie Gordon-Wallace, and Dennis Scholl president and CEO of Oolite Arts in front of Absolute, which expresses the power and beauty of Thickes pregnant friend in a stylized photo shoot.

At Knight, Scholl created the Knight Arts Challenge and Random Acts of Culture before he took over Oolite Arts, formerly known as ArtCenter/South Florida, in Miami Beach at its landmark building on Lincoln Road Mall. One of the nonprofits Lincoln Road buildings was sold for $88 million, creating an endowment for resident artists and a pool of money that would later be used for the Little River location.

Dennis came to Oolite Arts at a critical time in our organizations history, the Oolite Arts Board of Directors said in a statement. After selling our main building, which put us on firm financial footing, we needed a visionary to help us create the right programming and find the right home for Miamis artists. He exceeded our expectations, and were excited about Oolites future.

One of Scholls favorite achievements at Oolite was his proposal and launch of The Ellies, the annual visual arts awards named after the nonprofits founder Ellie Schneiderman, who had opened ArtCenter in 1984. Since its inception five years ago, The Ellies have awarded $2.5 million to fund local art teachers and artists projects, exhibitions, public artworks and films.

So much of what we are able to do as a visual artists support organization comes from Ellies foresight. The artists in our community will forever benefit from her initial instinct to help artists help themselves, Scholl told the Miami Herald when Schneiderman died in April 2020.

READ MORE: Arts pioneer Ellie Schneiderman, founder of ArtCenter/South Florida, dies at 80

Scholl was also instrumental in starting Oolites Cinematic Arts Program, a residency that provides $50,000 to South Florida filmmakers to create and screen their works in Miami, and the Home and Away travel residency program.

And Scholl is stepping down just before the completion of what is probably his largest accomplishment at Oolite, the construction of the nonprofits new $30 million headquarters in Little River. The modern Miami campus was designed by Spanish firm Barozzi Veiga and will break ground this fall.

The nonprofits board felt it was important to have a signature building that artists, staff and community members can enjoy, Scholl told the Herald. Instead of renovating an old warehouse, Oolite decided to really go for it, he said. The sprawling, one-story village design of the structure includes 21 free artist studios, rooms for art classes, a print studio, a rooftop, a theater and a gallery triple the size of the Lincoln Road locations exhibition space.

Oolite Arts, a South Florida arts nonprofit, revealed renderings of its new $30 million headquarters. Construction will begin in fall.

Esther Park, the Oolite vice president of programming, admitted that she cried a little when she learned of Scholls departure. Scholl has been a mentor to Park for years, she said.

Scholl used his experience to inject mentorship, funding opportunities, accessibility and networking into Oolites programming for artists to benefit from, Park said. Practically everyone in Miamis art scene  from artists to patrons to curators to gallerists  knows Scholl, she said.

Hes kind of like the granddaddy of the art scene, Park said. He really has his fingerprints in a lot of what Miami is today when it comes to art and culture. I think that is something that needs to be honored and celebrated and reminded.

Though shes sad to see him go, Park said its inspiring to see Scholl take on this new chapter.

Its never too late to do anything, she said. Before he was the arts patron and now being on the other side, that doesnt happen to a lot of people.

From collector to artist

A seasoned arts leader and collector, Scholl lived many lives before reaching this point. Scholl came to Miami when he was 8, and became an accountant after college. After a few years, he decided to study law. On the first day of law school, which was the most important day of my life, Scholl met his wife, Debra.

The couples passion for collecting art bloomed from there, he said. Last year, the Scholls were named Members of the Order of Australia, the countrys preeminent recognition for outstanding service or achievement, for their contributions in championing indigenous Australian artists.

Australian Ambassador to the United States Arthur Sinodinos AO honored Miami arts leaders Dennis and Debra Scholl as Members of the Order of Austrailia for their efforts to collect, donate and promote contemporary aboriginal artwork.

For years, the Scholls have been active in arts patronage and philantrophy. Scholl has sat on boards and executive committees for several major arts institutions, including the Aspen Art Museum, Museum of Contemporary Art, North Miami and the Perez Art Museum Miami. Everything changed again when Alberto Ibarguen, the Knight Foundation CEO, brought Scholl on to lead the organizations arts department.

Dennis is one of the most original, independent thinkers Ive worked with  and one of the most enjoyable, Ibarguen said in an email to the Herald. He was a simply brilliant leader in the arts and, from his position at Knight Foundation, was able to leverage or accelerate trends others simply didnt see. He was a collector, a film maker and now an artist. Hold on to your hats, theres always more coming.

Scholl has made a name for himself as a filmmaker focused on documentaries about art and culture, like the 2014 film Deep City: The Birth of the Miami Sound, which traced the citys first Black-owned record label in the early-1960s. Hes won 22 regional Emmy awards and has been featured in over 100 film festivals.

Though filmmaking has been exciting, Scholl said, hes kept another part of his artistic journey under wraps. For the last seven years, hes been quietly working on visual artwork in a studio, sometimes throwing out pieces he didnt think were good enough. Scholl uses historical ephemera to create his work, like the original tabloids broadcasting Marilyn Monroes death, a series of Civil War-era love letters and vintage Hermes scarves.

Artwork by collector and filmmaker Dennis Scholl on display for his exhibition The Texture of My Memory. His work uses historical objects and personal items, like vintage Hermes scarves and Scholls own Emmy awards.

About two years ago, he was invited to show his work in a couple of group shows in Europe. Earlier this year, he had a solo show in Berlin, which lead to even more opportunities for Scholl as an artist. Then came the hard but necessary decision to step down from Oolite in order to prioritize his art and filmmaking, he said.

Now, hes back in the studio working on projects for upcoming shows in the United Kingdom and France and wrapping up Naked Ambition, an upcoming film about Bunny Yeager, a pin-up model who became a legendary pin-up photographer.

Theres nothing more rewarding than that. If youre an artist, you want your work to be seen, Scholl said. But in order to live up to those obligations and to do my best, I need to really be in the studio now.

When it comes to Oolite, Scholl said hes not worried. The nonprofit is in great hands.

The most important thing is that the work will go on, he said. We need to get our funding out into the streets, into the hands of individual artists, and thats not going to change here. Thats in the DNA of Oolite Arts.

This story was produced with financial support from The Perez Family Foundation, in partnership with Journalism Funding Partners, as part of an independent journalism fellowship program. The Miami Herald maintains full editorial control of this work.
Update: There were 377 nurses who voted, and that vote was unanimously a vote of no confidence in MultiCare CEO Bill Robertson, Washington State Nurses Association spokesperson Bobbi Nodell told The News Tribune. That means over half of the 750 nurses eligible to vote did so.

Nodell also said nurses put up two billboards near the Emerald Queen Casino that say in part: Hey Bill! Safe Nurse Staffing Saves Lives, and Support WSNA nurses at MultiCare Good Sam.

The Washington State Nurses Association put up this billboard along Interstate 5 in Tacoma. Nurses at Good Samaritan Hospital in Puyallup held a vote of no confidence in MultiCare CEO Bill Robertson May 16, 2023 amid staffing concerns. Courtesy of Bobbi Nodell

Initial story: Nurses at MultiCare Good Samaritan Hospital in Puyallup are holding a vote of no confidence in MultiCares CEO amid staffing concerns, the Washington State Nurses Association said in a news release Tuesday.

The vote tally will be out by 9 p.m. Tuesday, WSNA spokesperson Bobbi Nodell told The News Tribune.

The main issues for the 750 nurses represented by the Washington State Nurses Association are staffing and dedicated break nurses, the WSNA release said. Nurses are concerned about handling the increasing patient load and still providing quality patient care.

Asked if MultiCare CEO Bill Robertson or MultiCare would like to comment about the vote, spokesperson Scott Thompson sent a statement Tuesday that said the hospital system understands the pressures our nurses are facing and hears the concerns they voice over staffing levels and burnout.

The statement noted that the hospital has more than 300 open registered nurse positions. Thompson said Good Samaritan has 905 registered nurses and licensed practical nurses, and that the WSNA represents 736 of them.

We will continue to be aggressive in our recruiting as we seek to improve the existing workplace environment, it said.

Nurses picketed outside the hospital last month.

Theyve had 15 bargaining sessions, which is a record for the hospital, according to the WSNA.

MultiCare believes in paying market-competitive salaries and benefits, MultiCares statement said. We must also ensure our services remain affordable for patients and that our hospitals remain fiscally sound so that we can continue providing health care services to the community.

MultiCare started negotiating with the WSNA in February, the statement said, and believes the best way to come to an agreement that satisfies both parties is at the bargaining table.

The vote of no-confidence Tuesday comes after Robertson turned down an invitation for an open town hall and rejected a staffing plan submitted by nurses on May 12, the WSNA release said.

Instead, MultiCare suggested a plan called Financial Education for Staffing Committee, for the CFO to provide education to nurses who sit on the hospital staffing committee, the release said.

Staffing proposals

The hospitals staffing committee, which has nurses and nurse managers, unanimously approved a staffing plan in the past few years that the CEO and CFO rejected, according to the Nurses Association.

One of the issues is that Good Samaritan nurses care for one anothers patients in order to take breaks, the Nurses Association said.

At MultiCare Tacoma General, meanwhile, WSNA nurses bargained for and won nurse-to-patient ratios in 2016, which cap the number of patients a nurse cares for, and they operate with break nurses, the release said. MultiCare Tacoma General nurses came to the brink of a strike vote to win ratios and designated break nurses.

MultiCares statement Tuesday said that the hospital system has proposed adding meal and break assignments to each unit based on the amount of time needed to cover those meals and breaks. We built this proposal using an established model created by the bargaining team RNs, with two minor changes to the first set of effective dates.

Those changes would allow time for the new contract (and new rates) to take effect, giving us time to recruit and train more RNs  thus gathering the required staffing levels to support adding meal and break assignments, the statement said.

The Nurses Association said another issue is that nurses are concerned about how MultiCare will staff a new 160-bed patient tower thats in the works.

The hospitals bargaining team said that policies being implemented across MultiCare, which unlawfully bypass the staffing committee, are coming from corporate leadership, the WSNA release said. This has led to a lack of confidence in leaderships willingness to listen to the nurses who are ultimately responsible for providing patient care in their facilities.

Editors note: This story has been updated with the number of registered nurses and licensed practical nurses who work at the hospital, and with how many of those nurses are represented by the WSNA.
Inactive Google accounts, which include Gmail, Photos and Drive, will be deleted from December 2023 (iStock/ Getty Images)

Google has announced a major update that will see thousands  potentially even millions  of accounts permanently deleted if they have not been used since 2021.

The purge will include Gmail, Drive and Photos accounts that have not been used or signed into for at least two years.

In a blog post announcing the update, Google said the new policy was primarily for security reasons, as older accounts are typically more vulnerable to threats like spam, phishing scams and hijacking.

Our internal analysis shows abandoned accounts are at least 10x less likely than active accounts to have 2-step verification set up, the post stated.

Meaning, these accounts are often vulnerable, and once an account is compromised, it can be used for anything from identity theft to a vector for unwanted or even malicious content, like spam.

The policy will only apply to personal accounts, with those associated with organisations like schools and businesses safe from being deleted.

The tech giant said the update will be in effect from this week, however no accounts will be deleted until December 2023.

We will take a phased approach, starting with accounts that were created and never used again, Google wrote.

Before deleting an account, we will send multiple notifications over the months leading up to deletion, to both the account email address and the recovery email (if one has been provided).

Users can avoid being caught up in the purge by doing as little as reading an email sent to the account, or watching a YouTube video while logged in.

Google hosts billions of user accounts, though it did not make public how many of them are inactive.

It follows similar announcements from Twitter, with chief executive and owner Elon Musk recently rolling out a similar policy that will see usernames recycled if they are associated with accounts that have not been used for several years.
Republicans are urging Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) to reset his media strategy, arguing that a less antagonistic approach to legacy and mainstream news organizations is needed to counter former President Donald Trump and define the 2024 race on DeSantiss own terms.

The Florida governor for years has largely cloistered himself in the world of conservative media  Fox News, Newsmax and a suite of other friendly, right-leaning outlets  while often feuding with more mainstream organizations and journalists.

But with Trump embarking on a more aggressive media campaign, even DeSantiss allies say that he may need to rethink and repair his relationship with the press if he hopes to shape the narrative of his presumed 2024 presidential campaign.

I would like to see DeSantis broaden his media hits to include more mainstream media, said Dan Eberhart, a Republican donor backing DeSantis for the GOPs 2024 nomination. I certainly understand the temptation to stick to conservative outlets, but he needs to broaden his message so he can pull more people into his tent.

Another donor whos leaning toward supporting DeSantis said the Florida governor doesnt need to play nice with CNN or other networks, even if he does open lines of communication with them.

You go on these shows, you do these interviews to show that you can take on the media, the donor said. Nobody did more mainstream media than Donald Trump in 2016, yet he was credited by the base for simultaneously standing up to media bias.

DeSantis isnt a candidate yet, though all signs point to a campaign. He spent Saturday attending GOP fundraising events in Iowa, and his Tallahassee-based political shop moved out of the Florida Republican Party headquarters and into a new office this week. A formal campaign announcement could come as soon as the next two weeks.

DeSantiss team has also begun inviting top donors and supporters to Miami for an event later this month, according to a person familiar with the plans, offering another sign that hes closing in on a likely campaign.

DeSantis isnt a stranger to the media. Mainstream networks, newspapers and magazines have been covering his political rise for months, or even years.

Yet hes also sustained weeks of attacks from Trump and his allies, and his poll numbers have flatlined in recent months, with some Republicans saying its time for the governor to take a more direct approach with the mainstream media in order to regain control of his political narrative.

I dont think anyone would claim DeSantiss coverage has been very good in recent weeks, in part because hes not engaging the media, said Alex Conant, a Republican strategist who served as communications director for Sen. Marco Rubios (R-Fla.) 2016 presidential campaign. The media is going to cover you whether you want them to or not, but shaping the coverage actually requires engaging with them.

A spokesperson for DeSantiss political operation declined to comment for this story.

Meanwhile, Trump has embraced the media, much in the same way he did during his successful 2016 presidential campaign, intent on keeping himself in the news as much as possible. Over the past several weeks, he sat for an interview with the popular Full Send podcast, took part in a town hall on CNN and granted an interview to The Messenger, a just-launched news startup.

Conant said that Trumps enthusiastic approach to the media may be helping his chances.

I think part of why Donald Trump is doing better in the polls is because hes returned to his 2016 strategy of engaging the media at every turn, Conant said. Its not just the CNN town hall. Its bringing along print reporters on his airplane and sitting down for interviews he wouldnt have done in 2020.

He understands that to improve his coverage he needs to insert his message into it, and that requires engagement.

Trump isnt the only 2024 hopeful hitting the media circuit.

Former Vice President Mike Pence, whos moving toward a presidential campaign, has sat for interviews with ABC and CNN; Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.), whos set to announce a bid next week, has sat down with NBC News and CBS News. Entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy has done countless interviews with various newspapers and TV networks.

For his part, DeSantis has long maintained a contentious  at times, outright hostile  relationship with mainstream and legacy media outlets, often accusing prominent organizations and journalists of bias and reporting inaccuracies. Just this year, he pushed the state legislature to approve a measure making it easier to sue media organizations, though legislation never came to pass.

Yet DeSantis has a team of communications professionals lining up behind him.

Never Back Down, the main super PAC backing the governor for the 2024 nomination, as well as DeSantiss own political team, have brought on several veteran communications staffers to handle media relations and outreach. Key members of the governors team recently sat down with Politico in Tallahassee, and he barnstormed Iowa over the weekend with a bevy of reporters in tow.

Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas), one of four U.S. House members who have endorsed DeSantis, brushed off questions about the governors media strategy, quickly noting that he hasnt even jumped into the 2024 race yet and has been busy meeting with voters and party leaders in early-voting states such as Iowa and New Hampshire.

The governor has been being the governor. Hes not a candidate, right? Roy said. Now, you got a whole lot of people who have been announcing support. You got a massive number in Iowa; you had 50 in New Hampshire that are apparently on the brink of coming out.

Theres a hell of a lot of support for the governor out there, and the media will catch onto that pretty quick, he added.

Yet there may be a political payoff for taking an all-encompassing approach to dealing with the media, Doug Heye, a longtime GOP strategist, said.

If youre a candidate trying to get your message out, you need to go to a broader audience, Heye said. Theres a lot of primary voters who arent going to the same network all day every day.

Thats not to suggest that were going to see The Ron DeSantis Hour on Lawrence ODonnell, he added. But there are other places that he can devote time to.

Caroline Vakil contributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
The North Ends popular Hyde Park area is adding a place to shop.

Hayes Company Boutique, a womens clothing and jewelry store in Boise, is moving from its downtown location to a bigger space at 1609 N. 13th Street. The business is holding a grand opening on Saturday and Sunday with discounts, balloon-popping and champagne.

Our move to this vibrant location allows us to better connect with our customers and provide an enhanced shopping experience, Janie Hayes, the boutiques owner, said in a news release. I am incredibly grateful for for the support weve received and the friendships weve built along the way.

The shop will celebrate its three-year anniversary in June. Hayes opened the store in 2020 in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic but had started the business online a couple of years prior.

Hayes studied fashion design and merchandising in Southern California before launching the modern and minimal fashion boutique in Boise.

The shop is hosting another event on June 19, or Juneteenth, to celebrate local Black artists and showcase their work. Hayes said in the news release that shes committed to diversity, creativity and community engagement.

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Stanislaus County and the states top health agency have an agreement outlining strategies for preventing HIV in the community.

County supervisors approved the $114,000 grant agreement with the California Department of Public Health under a consent item Tuesday.

The county Health Services Agency will keep working with medical providers and community groups to provide access to effective interventions like pre-exposure prophylaxis medication and HIV treatment.

Another strategy is distribution of HIV self-testing kits, which serve to increase awareness of HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases, a county staff report says. HIV is the virus that leads to acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) if not treated.

The state health department requires that the grant funds are spent on evidence-based prevention activities. The state expects counties to strengthen disease investigation, provide service navigation and expand access to syringe services for drug users.

The states grant allocations in October included $211,000 for San Joaquin County.

As of 2021, Stanislaus County had 880 people living with a diagnosed HIV infection, a case rate of 160 per 100,000 residents.

The county had 52 new cases in 2017, 60 in 2018, 40 in 2019, 28 in 2020 and 46 in 2021. Case numbers were not available for 2022.

Disparities persist among racial and ethnic groups, gender, age and transmission categories, the county report says.

Kamlesh Kaur, a county health educator, said Tuesday that the county supports a variety of efforts to prevent HIV, which spurred the deadly AIDS epidemic of the 1980s, resulting in more than 100,000 deaths through 1990.

Aside from access to free self-testing kits, a county public health team promotes education on HIV and PreEp, the medication that reduces the odds of getting HIV from sexual activity or injecting drugs. The county also partners with community groups to offer rapid testing for those at risk of HIV infection.

The county does not provide a service to keep drug users from getting an HIV infection from sharing needles. It cites a lack of organizational capacity for sustaining a long-term syringe service.

County health officials can guide local organizations or agencies on how to run a clean-needle program. With some help from a county staff member, St. Francis of Rome church in Riverbank began a monthly syringe service after getting approval from the city last year.

Access to free HIV self-testing kits is available at https://takemehome.org. Details of the county Health Services Agency HIV program are found at www.schsa.org.
Grocery store employee sues Rudy Giuliani for $2 million, saying the ex-mayor lied to cops to put him in jail

Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani. REUTERS/Emily Elconin

Rudy Giuliani just got hit with another lawsuit.

This one says he lied to cops to put a man in jail.

Giuliani claimed the man hit him and called him a "scumbag," while video shows he patted him and called him a "scumbag."

A former grocery store worker filed a lawsuit against Rudy Giuliani and a group of police officers Wednesday, alleging the former prosecutor and New York City mayor lied to police officers to get him jailed after he called Giuliani a "scumbag."

The lawsuit  which was filed in Manhattan federal court and asks for $2 million in damages  stems from a June 2022 incident, when Giuliani was campaigning in Staten Island for his son's railed run in an election for New York's governorship.

In it, Daniel Gill, a former ShopRite employee, says that Giuliani had visited the store where he was working and "mingled with the shoppers, who variously shook his hand, patted him on the back and shoulders, tapped him on the arm, and generally told him what a great guy he was."

Gill, however, was not a big fan of Giuliani and said he greeted him differently.

"Plaintiff Daniel Gill worked at the ShopRite and had done so for many years, in contrast to Giuliani who has not held an actual job in over a decade," the lawsuit says. "Plaintiff took a break from his work, walked up to Defendant Giuliani, patted or tapped him on the back, said 'what's up scumbag,' and walked away."

Giuliani told police officers who arrived at the store that he wanted Gill to be arrested. He told police officers that Gill "hit" him and that he was in pain, according to the lawsuit. A security camera video shows that Gill patted Giuliani on the back.

Gill was arrested and put in custody for 21 hours, the lawsuit says. Prosecutors brought assault charges against Gill, but they were later reduced to a misdemeanor.

According to the lawsuit, the charges were later dropped entirely. A representative for the Richmond County District Attorney's office, which brought the charges, didn't immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.

The lawsuit accuses Giuliani and the police officers of false arrest and false imprisonment. It also accuses Giuliani of defamation. Gill lost his job as the result of false and disparaging public statements Giuliani made about him, the suit says, claiming Gill looked "drunk or high" in subsequent media appearances.

"Defendant Giuliani falsely stated that Plaintiff said to him: 'You f'n this, you f'n that. He then says you're going to kill babies. Um, no not babies. You're going to kill women,'" the lawsuit says, citing Giuliani.

Ted Goodman, a spokesperson for Giuliani, said the lawsuit was "absurd" and politically charged.

"This complaint should be dismissed because it doesn't have legal merit," Goodman said. "The decision to make an arrest was made by the police following their own investigation."

This is the second lawsuit filed against Giuliani this week. On Monday, Noelle Dunphy accused him of sexually abusing her repeatedly between 2019 and 2021, while she worked for him. Giuliani denied those allegations.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Madison Brooks was hit by a truck in the early morning hours of 15 January. The disturbing reasons for her being in the middle of a dark road would emerge in the following days. But during those first moments as life slipped away from her, two strangers showed her unwavering kindness in stark contrast to what she had endured just hours before at the hands of her alleged rapists.

For 15 minutes, Beau Adams desperately tried to keep Brooks alive, while his friend Kathryn Devillie scrambled to find Brooks ID in the darkness. The LSU seniors were on their way home the fateful night the crash unfolded but got out of their vehicle to help the truck driver move what they first thought was a deer off the road.

I was going to pull over to help the guy move the animal so he can get on his way. Once we pulled off the side of the shoulder, we realised it was a girl, Mr Adams told Fox News Digital in an exclusive interview. Once I realized she wasnt breathing, I got on my knees and kept asking, Are you OK? Are you OK? But she wasnt responsive.

Despite the paramedics and Mr Adams best attempts, Brooks died in the hospital hours later. But her mother Ashley Baustert believes Mr Adams and Ms Devillie, whom she now calls Brooks guardian angels, comforted her daughter as she slipped out of consciousness. Ms Baustert told Fox News that they helped her daughter make it to the hospital so her organs could be preserved for donation, also giving her family a chance to say a final goodbye.

Following Brooks death, Baton Rouge police charged Kaivon Deondre Washington, 18, and Desmond Carter, 17, with third-degree rape for allegedly assaulting Brooks before dropping her off in the middle of the road where she was hit. Mr Washingtons uncle Everett Lee, 28, and Casen Carver, 18, were charged with principal to rape for failing to intervene.

Investigators believe the men assaulted Brooks in the car after a night of drinking at Reggies Bar, before dropping her off in a neighbourhood near Pelican Lakes Parkway. Her blood alcohol level was four times the legal driving limit at the time of her death and her autopsy showed injuries consistent with a sexual assault, authorities said.

The suspects attorneys have denied that their clients attacked Brooks, calling the death a tragedy, definitely not a crime and alleging that she exited the vehicle on her own after an argument. An attorney for Brooks family has previously slammed her accused attackers for launching what he described as an absolutely shameful smear campaign against the late LSU student.

But amid the heartbreaking circumstances of Brooks death, Ms Baustert said she feels relieved two angels were there for her daughter.

(Madison Brooks/Obituary)

It gives me a lot of comfort and peace in that Beau and Kathryn were both there. The last few people that Madi saw wasnt going to be her [alleged] attackers, Ms Baustert told Fox News. They were put there for a reason by the grace of God. I truly believe that because no other people stopped and did what they did.

Mr Adams and Ms Devillie told the network they visited the emergency room hours after the accident to check how Brooks was doing.

We were so frantic and needed to know if she was OK, Ms Devillie said. I wish I couldve been in the ambulance with her. There were so many things you wish you couldve done and changed, but Im glad we were at least there for her.

Mr Adams echoed his friends feelings: I wish there was more we couldve done in the moment and think about if we couldve done more.

The friends said they have become close to Ms Baustert and even got tattoos to honour the impact that Brooks made in their lives.

(Ashley Baustert)

In the aftermath of Brooks death, her mother has tirelessly advocated to change some of the circumstances that led to the tragedy. At the centre of Brooks case was the issue of underage drinking as she and three of her alleged attackers were not old enough to consume alcohol.

Last week, a bill that would raise the age to enter bars to 21 in Louisiana was advanced with the support of Brooks family.

We all know the Madison Brooks tragedy. There were a lot of factors with that, but at the end of the day when you look at it and you see that the victim and the perpetrators were underage and had been overserved, it begs the question of why we are letting underage people into the bar to begin with, Senator Beth Mizell said about the Card Em Act, according to local news station KLFY.

Brooks godmother, Lauren Leblanc also told WAFB: Our goal is to prevent this tragedy from ever happening again ... I believe its for Louisiana to join the rest of the country and prohibit anyone under 21 from entering a bar or serving alcohol, or at the very least please support the bill.

According to the LSU Reveille, Reggies Bar will be permanently closed following a ruling from the Alcohol and Tobacco Control board commissioner. The business was also fined $15,000.

Meanwhile, Brooks mother has created a foundation to provide financial help to those in need, advocate for the safety of young adults and spread awareness for the gift of organ donation  Brooks donated her heart and kidney.

Her heart was pure, her laugh infectious and her life was one that will forever shine in the stars above, the description of the page read.
GOP presidential candidate Nikki Haley said New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) should pardon Daniel Penny, who was arrested in relation to the killing of Jordan Neely on a New York City subway earlier this month.

Haley, a former ambassador to the United Nations, said in an interview on Fox News on Tuesday that Penny, a 24-year-old Marine veteran, saw danger in the situation and was trying to protect himself and others around him.

Penny pinned Neely, a 30-year-old homeless man who had a history with mental illness, to the floor of a subway on May 1 after Neely apparently began yelling at passengers and acting erratically and in an aggressive manner. Witnesses have said Neely said he was hungry and thirsty and did not care if he went to jail or died but was not physically threatening anyone.

Penny held Neely in a chokehold for about 15 minutes, causing Neely to lose consciousness. He was pronounced dead shortly after at a hospital.

Penny has been charged with second-degree manslaughter in relation to Neelys death.

Haley slammed Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg for charging Penny in the case, saying that Bragg is allowing crime to happen throughout the city but is going after someone who acted naturally to defend and protect.

Really, what I think needs to happen  the governor needs to pardon Penny. No question about it. She needs to pardon him right away. Its the right thing to do, she said.

Penny was formally charged about a week and a half after the incident happened. Neelys death, which a medical examiner ruled a homicide caused by compression to the neck, has sparked protests demanding accountability and called attention to race relations as Penny is white and Neely was Black.

Some have also defended Pennys actions, arguing that he was only trying to defend those around him and himself.

If she pardons him, that sets it right on a lot of things. Itll put criminals on notice, and itll let people like Penny who really were very brave in that instance, it will let them know that weve got their back, Haley said.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
FILE - Israelis wave national flags in front of Damascus Gate outside Jerusalem's Old City to mark Jerusalem Day, an Israeli holiday celebrating the capture of the Old City during the 1967 Mideast war, Sunday, May 29, 2022. The ruling Hamas militant group in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, May 17, 2023, called on Palestinians to confront a flag-waving parade planned by Jewish nationalists through the main Palestinian thoroughfare in Jerusalems Old City.(AP Photo/Ariel Schalit) (ASSOCIATED PRESS)

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP)  The ruling Hamas militant group in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday called on Palestinians to confront a flag-waving parade planned by Jewish nationalists through the main Palestinian thoroughfare in Jerusalems Old City.

The comments by Hamas added to the already heightened tensions ahead of Thursdays march and threatened to reignite fighting between Israel and Palestinian militants in Gaza, just days after a cease-fire took hold. Two years ago, an 11-day war between Israel and Hamas erupted during the annual march.

While Hamas stayed out of the latest round of fighting, officials with the ruling Islamic militant group urged Palestinians to oppose Thursdays parade.

We ask the people of Jerusalem to mobilize the masses to confront the march of the flags in Jerusalem tomorrow, said Mushir al-Masri, a Hamas official in Gaza.

Hamas also urged Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and inside Israel to clash with the occupation" and said it would hold a demonstration with Palestinian flags along Gazas heavily fortified frontier with Israel.

The parade is meant to mark Jerusalem Day, Israel's annual celebration of its capture of east Jerusalem, including the Old City and its holy sites, in the 1967 Mideast war.

Israel considers the entire city to be its eternal capital. But the international community does not recognize Israel's annexation of east Jerusalem, and the Palestinians claim the area as the capital of a future state.

In a speech marking Jerusalem Day, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel has broken new horizons since capturing east Jerusalem.

We are committed to safeguarding the security of Jerusalem, to ensuring its prosperity and to continuing its momentum, he said. We are also doing this against all of the threats around us.

Each year, thousands of Israeli nationalists participate in the march, waving blue and white Israeli flags and singing songs as they walk through the Muslim Quarter and toward the Jewish Quarter and the Western Wall, the holiest site where Jews can pray.

Israelis describe the parade as a festive event. But in past years, it has been marred by anti-Arab racist chants and violence toward local Palestinians by some of the marchers.

Adding to the combustible atmosphere, large numbers of Jews are expected to visit Jerusalems most sensitive holy site early Thursday before the parade.

The hilltop compound is known to Jews as the Temple Mount, home to the biblical Jewish Temples, and is the holiest site in Judaism. Palestinians call it the Noble Sanctuary, and today it is home to the Al-Aqsa Mosque, the third-holiest site in Islam.

Under longstanding agreements, Jews are permitted to visit the compound but not pray there. But an increase in such visits in recent years, along with scenes of some Jews quietly praying, have raised concerns among Palestinians that Israel is trying to alter the status quo  a charge Israel denies.

The competing claims to the site lie at the heart of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and often spill over into violence.

Chief Supt Yoram Segal, a senior police official in Jerusalem, said police would deploy some 2,500 officers on Thursday to ensure the day passes without violence.

We are going to deal harshly with anyone who tries to disturb the peace, he told reporters.

The march comes less than a week after Israel and the Islamic Jihad militant group in Gaza reached a cease-fire that ended five days of heavy fighting.

Hamas, the de facto government in Gaza responsible for the plight of the territorys 2.3 million people, stayed out of the fighting, while Israel avoided attacking the militant group.

Reham Owda, an independent Gaza-based analyst, said that neither side appears interested in resuming cross-border violence.

No one is interested in fierce escalation, she said, but she said the parade could trigger limited, symbolic firing of rockets that could in turn spark Israeli airstrikes in retaliation.

If violence erupts in Jerusalem, Hamas could jump into the fray, as it did two years ago.

The resistance is ready to protect Al-Aqsa Mosque and prevent the Judaization of Jerusalem, al-Masri said.

___

Associated Press writer Josef Federman in Jerusalem contributed to this report.
After months of work on a plan for the future of 12,000 acres surrounding Californias last nuclear power plant, the state is outlining a vision for the land that mostly aligns with community members wishes.

The California Natural Resources Agency released its land conservation and economic development plan for the property around Diablo Canyon Power Plant on Thursday  about one and a half months past the March 23 due date established by the California State Legislature under Senate Bill 846.

That bill, which passed in September, allowed the state to loan up to $1.4 billion to operator PG&E to extend the life of the nuclear power plant until 2030, about five years past its originally scheduled closure date.

Additionally, the bill set aside $160 million for the land conservation and economic development plan. However, the Natural Resources Agency did not clarify in its plan how the money could be spent.

Instead, the 19-page document the agency released on Thursday lays out five values for the future of the lands located just north of Avila Beach in San Luis Obispo County. The plan doesnt indicate how such values could be implemented.

Overall, the Natural Resources Agency plan paints a future of conservation, tribal ownership and increased public access to Diablo Canyon lands.

The coastline just north of the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant, as seen from a PG&E helicopter performing an aerial survey of fire risks to power lines on Oct. 25, 2022.

The Natural Resources Agency notes in the 19-page document that the plan doesnt mean any decisions have been made in regard to the future of the land.

These guiding values should be considered in any decision-making process used to determine the future use of the Diablo Canyon lands, the agency said. It will require time, effort and funding to carry out any action that supports land conservation and economic development activities in the region.

The pace of implementation will depend upon the feasibility and availability of resources and competing priorities.

California Sen. John Laird, D-Santa Cruz, who advocated for the passage of Senate Bill 846, said he was happy with the Natural Resources Agency plan.

Hundreds of locals shared their vision to protect this beautiful, expansive, wildlife-rich and culturally significant land while emphasizing exploration of the open space in a manner that ensures it will continue its ability to inspire future generations, Laird said Friday in a prepared statement. But now the hard work begins. I standby ready, alongside the community, to put this plan into action and to help make this a reality, once and for all.

Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant is the last of its kind in California, seen here in a photo on Oct. 25, 2022.

Conservation of Diablo Canyon lands a priority for agency

In its plan, the Natural Resources Agency asserts future land decisions should consider a durable conservation easement or another appropriate legal instrument to conserve and protect the Diablo Canyon lands.

The agency notes that the conservation framework of the lands should be developed in partnership with PG&E, state agencies, Native American tribes and non-governmental partners such as land trusts and conservation groups.

For conservation and resource protections to be perpetual and binding, a conservation easement must be granted and recorded before any fee interest or other property interest in the parcels is transferred, the agency says in its plan.

Simply said, the Natural Resources Agency says the Diablo Canyon lands must be agreed to be conserved before PG&E or its subsidiary Eureka Energy Company sell them.

Native American ownership is important endeavor, state says

Another part of the Natural Resources Agency plan for the land deals with its support for Native American tribal ownership of most of the land.

This involves North Ranch and South Ranch  large coastal parcels north and south of the power plant property that encompass a total of about 9,000 acres.

Tribal stewardship of these lands to ensure tribal members have access to and management of the important cultural and natural cultural resources in the area is an important endeavor, the plan states.

The return of North Ranch and South Ranch would be a major step forward in the states efforts to return ancestral lands to tribal stewardship where possible and to strengthen partnerships between state government and California Native American tribes, the agency says in its plan.

The Natural Resources Agency did not clarify which tribe should be the appropriate owner of the land, although various tribes have expressed interest in reclaiming it.

Mona Tucker, chairwoman of the yak titu titu yak tihini, or Northern Chumash tribe, said the agencys plan represents a great path forward.

We know that were the appropriate tribe. We know that the land is our ancestral homeland, Tucker said. Were feeling very excited about this document. Its a good starting point  really good.

The Wild Cherry Canyon property is a 2,400-acre ranch in the hills above Avila Beach and Port San Luis. This view looks toward the hill above Pirates Cove, at right.

Plan advocates for more public access

The Natural Resources Agencys plan also looks at expanding existing managed public access to the Diablo Canyon lands.

Thoughtful planning for managed access can enhance recreation and conserve critical cultural and environmental resources, the agency states in its plan. This planning should identify enhanced infrastructure that would be needed to provide for managed access and orient access to enhance sustainable outdoor recreation, tourism development and economic growth.

The agency notes that future planning should consider expanding access to the land by possibly connecting Montana de Oro State Park near Los Osos to Wild Cherry Canyon, a 2,400-acre property just north of Avila Beach owned by Eureka Energy Corporation.

The connection could be made through a trail that extends from the Point Buchon Trail just south of Montana de Oro to the Pecho Coast Trail near Wild Cherry Canyon, the Natural Resources Agency says in its plan.

The future of Wild Cherry Canyon remains in limbo as a San Luis Obispo Superior Court judge is considering the lease on the land. The judges decision will determine whether the lease on the land goes to Eureka Energy or housing developer HomeFed.

The Natural Resources Agency states in its plan it supports the transfer of Wild Cherry Canyon to California State Parks ownership. It further notes that a tribal entity could have a conservation and access easement on this land.

Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant owned by PG&E discharges about 2.5 billion gallons of cooling water a day into the 40-acre cove along the Pacific Ocean. The ecology of the cove has shifted toward warmer-water species since it began operating in 1985 but is expected to return to previous conditions within a few years of shutdown of its two units, scheduled for 2024 and 2025.

Power plant land could be used as clean tech incubator

The Natural Resources Agency notes in its plan that the so-called Parcel P  the nearly 600-acre property where Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant is located  could be reused as a clean tech incubator.

The power plant property could be used to support clean technology research and innovation aided by partnerships with local academic institutions, the agency says.

Some of the new uses of Parcel P could start while Diablo Canyon is decommissioned, the agency notes, such as ownership of the breakwater and reuse of some of the buildings on the property.

The plan notes that it was developed in a manner that is consistent with existing decommissioning efforts.

Whether Diablo Canyon will be decommissioned in 2024 and 2025 as originally planned remains to be seen.

PG&E is expected to apply by the end of this year to relicense the power plant, which produces about 9% of the states total power, to operate until at least 2030.
The Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutors Office or SAP, and the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine or NABU, have confirmed the arrest of Vsevolod Knyazev, the head of the Ukrainian Supreme Court, who is a suspect in a large-scale corruption scheme.

Ukraines SBU security service has charged sanctioned businessman Pavlo Fuks with massive financial fraud involving strategic companies and constant tax evasion, the SBU reported on its site on May 16.

The founders of CREATIVE DEPO fashion brand speak about how they created their famous I'M UKRAINIAN print and what came next for their business.

The Armed Forces of Ukraine will not comment on Russian reports of alleged damage to a Patriot air defense system during an overnight Russian missile attack on Kyiv on May 16, air force spokesperson Yuriy Ihnat said at a briefing hours after the air raid.

France will transfer missiles to Ukraine with sufficient range to fend off Russian attacks during an upcoming counter-offensive, but not hit Russia itself, French President Emmanuel Macron said in an interview to French television channel TF1 INFO on May 15.

Iran has supplied Moscow with at least 400 Shahed kamikaze drones since August 2022, White House National Security spokesman John Kirby said at a press briefing on May 15.

The administration of U.S. President Joe Biden is discussing ways to allocate further funding for sustained security assistance to Ukraine, Politico reported on May 15.

The continuing fierce fighting in the front line Donetsk Oblast town of Bakhmut is seeing Russian forces crawling forward in the city even as Ukrainian forces liberate square kilometers of suburbs to its north and south, Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister of Hanna Malyar said in a Telegram post on May 16.

One of the commanders of the 501st Separate Marine Infantry Battalion, who allegedly played a role in causing 277 Ukrainian soldiers to fall into captivity during fighting for Mariupol, has been charged with high treason by the State Bureau of Investigation (DBR), the bureaus press service reported on May 16.

Britain has begun supplying Ukraine with long-range missiles, officials in London confirmed on May 11. The news represents a major milestone in international efforts to support the Ukrainian fightback against Russias ongoing invasion, writes Peter Dickinson.

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
Helen Mirren debuts blue hair at Cannes Film Festival  see the pics!

Dame Helen Mirren had all eyes on her during the opening ceremony at the 76th annual Cannes Film Festival.

The Oscar-winner debuted her pastel blue and purple hair while strutting the red carpet at the event on May 16.

Mirren showed off her new look, which paired well with her periwinkle gown, as she posed for photos.

Helen Mirren during the opening ceremony at the 76th annual Cannes film festival at Palais des Festivals on May 16, 2023 in Cannes, France. (Samir Hussein / WireImage)

She pinned her colorful curls into a voluminous updo that highlighted the dresss neckline.

The Queen star looked like she had stepped out of a fairy tale as she glided around in her floor-length dress and silver jewelry.

She accessorized her outfit with a fan that had #WorthIt written on it.

The Shazam! Fury of the Gods actor has a habit of revealing a dramatic hairstyle at the Cannes Film Festival.

Last year, she donned extra-long white hair extensions and heavy eyeliner for a screening of the movie Mother And Son (Un Petit Frere).

She wore a beaded silver gown. Mirren danced in her metallic ensemble and had actor Andie MacDowell join her as a dance partner.

Mirren twirled MacDowell around the carpet while photographers snapped their pictures.

It seems Mirrens most recent transformation for the French festival came after she attended the premiere for her upcoming film Fast X on May 12.

Mirren was photographed with her usual blonde locks at the international premiere in Rome.

She sported a glamorous long-sleeved gown and pulled her hair into a tight bun. The 77-year-old actor also wore a jeweled headband and pearl earrings to complete her shimmery look.

The icon has had a busy few months following the release of her Yellowstone spinoff series 1923 in December. Next, she will reprise her role of Queenie in the latest Fast & Furious flick.

Fans will also hear her narrating Margot Robbie and Ryan Goslings journey this summer in the highly-anticipated film Barbie.

This article was originally published on TODAY.com
Helen Mirren Looks Like A Queen With Bold Blue Hair At Cannes

Helen Mirren was the coolest thing on the red carpet on the opening night of the Cannes Film Festival in France.

On Tuesday, the star of 2006s The Queen turned heads with a striking hair transformation, arriving at the event with a wispy, ocean blue coif that perfectly matched her Del Core dress.

Mirrens gown fell off her shoulders into a deep V with long sleeves, a corseted bodice and long train. Diamonds, soft makeup and a pale blue manicure tied the look together.

As cameras flashed, she showed off one last accessory: a handheld fan with the text #WorthIt, a reference to her partnership with LOreal Paris. Altogether, the ensemble created an edgy yet elegant look that was perfect for the film festival.

Helen Mirren attends the Cannes Film Festival on Tuesday, May 16, in France.

Helen Mirren attends the Cannes Film Festival on Tuesday, May 16, in France.

Mirren hasnt shied away from showing off her tresses in the past. In March, she wore her long gray locks down at the Los Angeles premiere of Shazam! Fury of the Gods.

Days before the California event, the 77-year-old star dismissed an all-too-common notion in society  that youre not supposed to have longer hair after a certain age.

During COVID, I started growing my hair, and I hadnt actually had long hair since I was in my 20s, she said during an appearance on the British morning show Lorraine.

It grew and grew and grew, and I couldnt be bothered to cut it, basically. And then I thought: You know what? Its pretty cool. I think Ill stick with it for a little while, Mirren added. It will come off eventually, but Im kind of enjoying it. Its quite radical.

Related...
Helen Mirren  who was radiant at Cannes  swears by a 12-minute military workout to stay in shape

Helen Mirren at the premiere of "Jeanne du Barry." Invision/AP Images

Helen Mirren is known for breaking stereotypes about older women.

The 77-year-old appeared on the Cannes red carpet with blue hair and a matching gown.

She's spoken about how she cared for her appearance in the past  including her workout routine.

Helen Mirren slayed on the red carpet at the Cannes Film Festival on Tuesday, speaking about older women breaking beauty rules while wearing a blue hairdo and a matching gown.

Her outfit at the premiere of "Jeanne du Barry," which stars Johnny Depp, was the talk of the internet  especially her "#WorthIt" fan that people wrongly speculated was a message of support to Amber Heard, Depp's former wife, following their defamation trial.

In an interview with British Vogue before the premiere, the 77-year-old said she liked to break beauty rules by having her hair long despite the unspoken rule for women her age to keep it shorter or tied up.

Mirren, who has been in the public eye for decades, has previously shared tidbits about how she approached her appearance. In 2014, Mirren said she stayed in shape by following a 12-minute Royal Canadian Air Force exercise plan from the 1950s.

The XBX workout for women consists of 10 basic exercises:

30 seconds of toe touching/warm-up

30 seconds of knee raises

30 seconds of arm circling

30 seconds of partial sit-ups

2 minutes of chest and leg raises

1 minute of side leg raises

2 minutes of push-ups from a kneeling position

1 minute of leg lifts

3 minutes of running and hopping

"It is the exercise I have done off and on my whole life. It just very gently gets you fit," Mirren previously said.

Read the original article on Insider
Helen Mirren says she wasn't sending a 'secret message' to support Amber Heard on the Cannes red carpet

Helen Mirren attends the "Jeanne du Barry" screening during the Cannes Film Festival. Christophe Simon/Getty Images

Helen Mirren walked the Cannes red carpet on Tuesday during Johnny Depp's film premiere.

And some fans thought she was subtly supporting Amber Heard with her #WorthIt fan.

But Mirren told Insider "no secret message was intended" with her outfit.

Helen Mirren is making waves at the Cannes Film Festival  and not just for her new blue hair. Some fans believed she was subtly showing support for Amber Heard.

Mirren was walking the red carpet at the premiere of "Jeanne du Barry," which stars Johnny Depp. The film is Depp's first major Hollywood film in years, and his first since his highly-publicized defamation trial against Heard last June.

As she posed for photos, Mirren held a small black fan with the hashtag #WorthIt. Some Twitter fans and outlets thought the hashtag was in reference to the #AmbertIsWorthIt hashtag that was created to show support for Heard following her and Depp's trial.

But in a statement sent to Insider, Mirren said "no secret message was intended" with her outfit.

Helen Mirren arrives for the opening ceremony and the screening of the film "Jeanne du Barry" during the 76th edition of the Cannes Film Festival in Cannes on May 16, 2023. Mustafa Yalcin/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

"I am a L'Oreal ambassador," she told Insider. "They are a sponsor of the festival, and quite truthfully, I picked up a fan because I was hot. 'Because You're Worth It' is the official L'Oreal Paris slogan."

Both Mirren and L'Oreal Paris have used the #WorthIt hashtag to promote the brand.

Heard has also featured in L'Oreal's past campaigns. Both she and Mirren walked in the brand's Paris Fashion Week show in October 2021.

Depp and his film have already kicked off a wave of controversy at Cannes.

Maiwenn, the French director behind "Jeanne du Barry," admitted earlier this month that she had spit in the face of journalist Edwy Plenel, the editor-in-chief of the French online newspaper Mediapart.

Plenel told Variety he believes Maiwenn was upset because Mediapart had published an investigation into rape allegations against her ex-husband Luc Besson, calling her "outspokenly anti-#MeToo."

Thierry Fremaux, the director of the Cannes Film Festival, defended his decision to include Depp and Maiwenn during a press conference on Monday.

Johnny Depp and Maiwenn attend the "Jeanne du Barry" Screening & opening ceremony red carpet at the 76th annual Cannes film festival at Palais des Festivals on May 16, 2023 in Cannes. Vittorio Zunino Celotto/Getty Images

"If you thought that it's a festival for rapists, you wouldn't be here listening to me, you would not be complaining that you can't get tickets to get into screenings," he said, according to a report by Variety.

"I don't know about the image of Johnny Depp in the US," he added. "To tell you the truth, in my life, I only have one rule, it's the freedom of thinking, and the freedom of speech and acting within a legal framework."

Brie Larson, who is part of this year's festival jury, also made headlines on Tuesday when she was asked by a journalist if she would see Depp's movie.

When Larson said she was confused about why she was being asked to comment on Depp, the reporter referenced her involvement with Time's Up, an advocacy group started during the #MeToo movement.

"You'll see, I guess, if I will see it," Larson said. "And I don't know how I'll feel about it if I do."

Read the original article on Insider
A high school sophomore in Missouri was suspended three days after she recorded her teacher last week using a racist slur in class, prompting the teenagers lawyer and mother to demand that the district apologize and expunge the suspension from her record.

The incident occurred May 9 in a geometry class at Glendale High School in Springfield, when the students teacher used the slur more than once, and the student then decided to pick up her cellphone and record, said the teenagers lawyer, Natalie Hull.

The student, Mary Walton, recorded the teacher, whom the school district has not publicly identified, using the N-word twice in a video that lasts about one minute.

In part of the video, another student objects to the teachers use of the word, and he responds: Im not calling anyone a n----r. I can say the word.

Glendale High School in Springfield, Mo. (Google Maps)

The teacher is no longer employed with the school system, Springfield Public Schools said. The student was suspended, Hull said, under a policy that prohibits students from recording faculty members unless they get consent.

It is absolutely impressive that the 15-year-old girl knew something was happening and stood up in the face of it and said: Im going to document this. Im going to stand up for whats right, no matter what. And I am going to make sure that this is brought to light, Hull said in an interview Tuesday.

She added: Mary was trying to provide indisputable documentation of the monumental wrong she was witnessing in class. Mary does not understand why she got punished, because she did the right thing.

Hull said the teenager is also concerned about potential backlash she may get when she returns to class after the suspension.

Shes worried about how shes going to be treated. And shes worried about how this is going to affect her moving forward in her educational endeavors.

School district spokesperson Stephen Hall said in a statement the teacher no longer is employed with the school system. Hall also defended punishment for students under similar circumstances.

Much speculation has occurred regarding student discipline related to a video recording of the unacceptable classroom incident, Hall said. Student discipline is confidential, per federal law, and Springfield Public Schools cannot disclose specifics related to actions taken.

"The student handbook is clear, however, on consequences for inappropriate use of electronic devices," the statement continues. "Any consequences applied per the scope and sequence would also consider if minors are identifiable in the recording and what, if any, hardships are endured by other students due to a violation of privacy with the dissemination of the video in question."

Hall said the school district stands by the district's handling of the incident.

"We want our schools to be safe and welcoming learning environments. When students have concerns, they should follow the appropriate steps for reporting.

Glendale High School Principal Josh Groves noted in a message to the high school community May 9 that the comments the teacher expressed on video were inappropriate, inexcusable and do not meet the professional standards for Springfield Public Schools employees.

Under the district policy in the student handbook titled Inappropriate Use of Electronic Devices, students are prohibited from recording faculty members or students without approval. Punishments for first offenses in high school range from a meeting between parents and faculty members to detention and a maximum three-day suspension.

Waltons mother, Kate Welborn, 44, said Tuesday her daughter's decision to record was morally correct.

What any parent wants is to know that they have raised a child that has a good moral compass, Welborn said. My daughter demonstrated that, and I am incredibly proud of her, and so is her father and her extended family.

Hull likened Waltons actions to those of a whistleblower and said the district policy needs to be re-evaluated because it is too restrictive.

When she picked up the camera and started recording  it was a news event. She was capturing it in case it needed to be shared, Hull said.

The school district, citing student confidentiality, declined to comment Tuesday on whether it will re-evaluate its policy, expunge the students suspension or apologize to her.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
High schooler two weeks from graduation is killed in train collision, Indiana cops say

A 19-year-old who was weeks from graduating high school was killed when a train crashed into his SUV, Indiana authorities say.

Logan Blueher, a senior at South Vigo High School in Terre Haute, was identified Tuesday, May 16, as the victim in Mondays crash, according to the Vigo County Sheriffs Office.

Blueher was the only occupant inside the SUV, the sheriffs office said. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

South Vigo High School said Blueher was scheduled to graduate in two weeks. He planned to attend Purdue University.

Logan was funny, smart, and loyal, the school said. He loved his car, his friends, and most of all, he loved animals.

His love of animals extended to Heritage Animal Hospital, where he worked. The animal hospital called him an incredible human being.

He worked at the animal hospital for nearly three years and hoped to become a veterinarian, according to the Tribune-Star.

When he first started here, he was your typical teenage kid that had no plans, Heritage practice manager Sarah Crabb told the Tribune-Star. It was a joy to watch him grow into having a plan and having all these dreams and things he was actually accomplishing,

Bluehers high school said it would honor his memory with a project to help animals at the hospital and local humane society.

Kala Koch, a registered veterinary technician at the animal hospital, shared fond memories of working with Blueher.

Always a pleasure to work with and someone I take pride in having met in this world, she said in a Facebook post.

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Rich Hills brilliant outing on the mound was backed by the offense finally breaking out as the Pittsburgh Pirates defeated the Detroit Tigers 8-0 on Wednesday afternoon at Comerica Park.

Hill (4-3) allowed an infield single to lead off the bottom of the first inning but that was the only hit the Tigers (19-22) recorded against him across six scoreless innings.

Read the full recap from our partners at Sports Now Group Pittsburgh here.

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FILE - President Joe Biden poses for photos with Pacific Island leaders including Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare, center, and Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape on the North Portico of the White House in Washington, Sept. 29, 2022. On Wednesday, May 17, Biden canceled a visit to Papua New Guinea planned for May 22 to focus on debt limit talks at home, disappointing many in the Pacific Island nation. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File) (ASSOCIATED PRESS)

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP)  Papua New Guinea had declared next Monday a public holiday in anticipation of an historic visit by U.S. President Joe Biden and other leaders from the region.

Police were tightening security, billboards were going up, and people were getting ready to sing and dance in the streets. Expectations were high for what would have been the first visit by a sitting U.S. president to any Pacific Island nation.

I am very honored that he has fulfilled his promise to me to visit our country, Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape had written on Facebook.

Those expectations were dashed Wednesday when Biden canceled the visit to focus on debt limit talks at home.

To be sure, many of the festivities will still be going ahead. Biden's planned three-hour stopover  sandwiched between the Group of Seven meeting of wealthy democracies in Japan and a now-scrapped trip to Australia  was timed to coincide with a trip by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who will still meet with Pacific Island leaders to discuss ways to better cooperate. But now that Biden plans to return home directly after the G-7 meeting, many in Papua New Guinea are feeling deflated.

Steven Ranewa, a lawyer in the capital, Port Moresby, said Biden's planned visit had been very big news across the Pacific, and he planned to watch the motorcades from the street.

Everyone was excited," he said. "But now that it's been canceled, it's really demoralizing.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Wednesday that Biden still planned to visit Papua New Guinea and the trip was not canceled, postponed.

"Were looking forward to getting that back on the books," she told reporters en route to Japan aboard Air Force One.

It's unclear if the promise would assuage any of the disappointment.

Konio Anu, who manages a lodge in the capital, said she was saddened that Biden wouldn't visit as expected, and wondered if people would still get the day off on Monday. She said she was waiting to see if one international guest who booked for Monday would cancel.

Some other leaders had their doubts as well. New Zealand Prime Minister Chris Hipkins deliberated most of the day before announcing that he would still go ahead with his trip to Papua New Guinea.

Anna Powles, a senior lecturer in international security at New Zealands Massey University, said that although Pacific leaders would understand that Biden was needed at home, the cancellation demonstrated how domestic U.S. politics can undermine the nation's foreign policy agenda.

Unfortunately, it speaks to a pattern of behavior that causes many in the region to regard the U.S. as a less-than-reliable partner, Powles said.

She said the meeting had been framed as a sequel to a summit held with Pacific leaders in Washington last year, and was supposed to represent a deepening of the relationship between the U.S. and the Pacific at a time when China is increasingly exerting its influence in the region.

The U.S. has recently opened embassies in the Solomon Islands and Tonga, and plans to open more in the region as it tries to reassert its presence in the Pacific.

Powles said the hectic schedule leading into the U.S. elections next year would make it difficult for Biden to reschedule.

Home to nearly 10 million people, Papua New Guinea is the largest Pacific Island nation by population. It is located just north of Australia on the eastern side of New Guinea island, the world's second-largest island. The western side of the island is part of Indonesia. Papua New Guinea is relatively poor, with many people leading subsistence lives.

During a 2016 speech in Australia when he was vice president, Biden talked about his connections to the Pacific region and said that two of his uncles had fought in Papua New Guinea during World War II. He said one had been killed and the other had returned home badly injured.

But China ended up sending a top-level delegation first, after Chinese President Xi Jinping visited Papua New Guinea for an APEC summit in 2018.

Ranewa, the lawyer, said that Chinas increasing influence could be seen throughout the nation, whether it was in providing services or building infrastructure. He said some welcomed China's help, while others did not.

____

White House correspondent Zeke Miller contributed from Air Force One.
A House Democrat faced backlash online for dismissing the testimony of a reporter who has covered multiple Antifa riots, including the riots surrounding the Kyle Rittenhouse murder acquittal.

Rep. Dan Goldman , D-N.Y., took shots at Townhall senior writer Julio Rosas during Tuesdays House Homeland Security Committee hearing on left-wing violence in an attempt to discredit him and former Department of Homeland Security chief of staff Scott Erickson as witnesses.

Goldman attacked committee witnesses, accusing Erickson of trying to "gaslight" Congress about left-wing violence in America "as if Antifa, which Mr. Rosas, apparently the expert now in organized terrorist activity, has overruled the FBI director who says theres a headline that says Antifa is an ideology, not an organization."

MOTHER OF NYC MURDER VICTIM SHOUTS DOWN DEMOCRAT LAWMAKER: DONT INSULT MY INTELLIGENCE

"No, no, no, lets not listen to the FBI director," Goldman continued condescendingly. "Lets listen to  sorry, whats your title?  senior writer at Townhall, who is going to tell us that the FBI director is wrong."

After his tirade, one of the witnesses asked if they could respond, to which Goldman shook his head and answered, "Theres no question."

READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP

When pressed on it, Goldman said, "No you cannot, I didnt ask a question."

Rosas blasted Goldman later in the hearing, quipping it is "funny to be lectured by an heir to the Levi Strauss Corporation."

"And, honestly, that's probably why he doesn't consider property damage to be that big of a deal because, not only does he have that, but he also has what some people would describe [as] an impossibly good stock portfolio," Rosas said.

Goldmans office did not respond to Fox News Digitals request for comment.

Rosas also posted a tweet addressing Goldman's attack, writing, "As you can see in the beginning, [Goldman] was too much of a coward to be in the hearing room for my response to his baseless attack."

"And yes, I know more about Antifa than the discredited FBI director," Rosas said.

Rosas has reported on several riots in America involving the far-left militant group Antifa, including the Rittenhouse trial that saw an acquittal.

The Townhall writer also wrote an entire book on the 2020 George Floyd riots titled "Fiery but Mostly Peaceful: The 2020 Riots and the Gaslighting of America."

Rosas has reported on several riots in America involving the far-left militant group Antifa, including the Rittenhouse trial that saw an acquittal.

Users online dogpiled Goldman after his attack on Rosas, with State Freedom Caucus Network communications director Greg Price writing, "Look at the disrespect Rep. Daniel Goldman (D-NY) shows to [Rosas] as a witness, somebody who was on the ground at violent protests from Charlottesville to Kenosha, and wouldn't even let him respond."

"What an absolute punk," Price said, sharing a video of the attack.

Fellow conservative journalist Matthew Foldi of the Spectator wrote, "Dan Goldman is literally attacking a Latinx journalist."

"This is a racist attack against the First Amendment," Foldi quipped.

"The level of liberal arrogance here is just nauseating," MRC NewsBusters managing editor Curtis Houck wrote. "Goldman, one of the richest members of Congress who made a name for himself on MSNBC (the network where Minneapolis was not generally speaking unruly), thinks he can lecture [Rosas]."

"He messed with the wrong guy," Houck wrote.

Other users online blasted Goldman for the attack, with Townhall video journalist Kevin McMahon quipping if "there was ever a time to blindly trust the FBI Director as a credible source, its certainly not right now."

Goldman appears to have an aversion to allowing committee testifiers to respond to his assertions.

Last month, Goldman was shouted down by the mother of a New York City murder victim during a House Judiciary Committee field hearing, who warned the lawmaker not to "insult" her "intelligence."

The mother, Madeline Brame, was one of many witnesses to testify before the committee during Monday's hearing highlighting the crime problem in Manhattan. Goldman attempted to use the time granted to him to question Brame to instead criticize the hearing itself, arguing it was a "coverup" for Republicans attempting to defend former President Donald Trump.

Goldman, who served as impeachment counsel during Trump's first impeachment, sought to explain his view of the situation to Brame after other Democrats had stated that Republicans were using the witnesses as "props" to defend Trump.

"We're not insulting you. Your experiences are devastating, but the problem is, is that this is a charade to cover up for an abuse of power. [Republicans] are going around incessantly, outside of this hearing, about Donald Trump, and the purpose of this hearing is to cover up for what they know to be an inappropriate investigation [into District Attorney Alvin Bragg]," Goldman said.

"Can I respond to you, please?" Brame asked as Goldman attempted to move on.

"Not right now, because I only have 20 seconds, I'm sorry. But I, I do" Goldman said.

"Don't insult my intelligence," Brame interjected as Chairman Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, attempted to maintain order. "You're trying to insult me like I'm not aware of what's going on here. I'm fully aware of what's going on here, OK? That's why I walked away from the plantation of the Democratic Party."

Brame had testified earlier about Bragg's mishandling of her son's murder case. Her son, Army Sgt. Hason Correa, was beaten and stabbed nine times by multiple people in 2018. The prosecution for the cases dragged on for more than four years, and Bragg ultimately removed the indictments against two of the suspects in favor of lesser charges. Two others ended up receiving life sentences.

Brame argued that Bragg's office has only served to escalate the city's crime problem, showing no "measurable results" in lowering the city's violent crime rate.

Fox News Digital's Anders Hagstrom contributed reporting.
U.S. Congressional leaders depart after debt limit talks with President Biden at the White House in Washington

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Democrats in the Republican-led House of Representatives on Wednesday plan to file a discharge petition - a way to bypass regular procedures in the chamber - as a means to raise the U.S. debt limit in case it becomes necessary, the top House Democrat said.

House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries said he is hopeful a bipartisan agreement can still be reached to avoid a default, as congressional leaders continue talks with the White House.

President Joe Biden, a Democrat, and Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy met on Tuesday at the White House along with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell and Jeffries.

"Emerging from the White House meeting, I am hopeful that a real pathway exists to find an acceptable, bipartisan resolution that prevents a default," Jeffries said in a statement. "However, given the impending June 1 deadline and urgency of the moment, it is important that all legislative options be pursued in the event that no agreement is reached."

Representative Pete Aguilar, a member of House Democratic leadership, on Tuesday called the discharge petition maneuver a "break-the-glass" last-resort option for avoiding default if negotiations fail. A discharge petition requires signatures from a majority of House members.

(Reporting by Richard Cowan, Doina Chiacu and Susan Heavey; Editing by Will Dunham)
Hungary to block further EU aid to Ukraine and sanctions against Russia, minister says

Szijjarto Peter, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Hungary

According to Szijjarto, Hungarys obstructionist stance is dictated by Ukraines increasingly belligerent behavior.

Read also: Ukrainian NATO membership possible only with Russias agreement, says Hungarys deputy speaker

"It is fair to say that we have had enough," said Szijjarto.

The minister gave the following reasons for the decision:

 The inclusion of OTP Bank, Hungary's largest financial institution, in Ukraine's list of international sponsors of war;

 Alleged restrictions on the rights of ethnic Hungarians to receive education in their native language in Ukraine;

 The recent Washington Post article about President Volodymyr Zelenskyy reportedly floating the idea of blowing up the Druzhba oil pipeline, which Hungary uses to receive Russian oil.

Read also: Hungary blocks funding for Ukraine's defense purchases

According to Bloomberg, Szijjarto's statement led to a 1% drop of the Hungarian forint against the U.S. dollar and the euro.

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Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
Before the sun comes up each morning, the owners of Mado Paris French Bakery & Cafe are hard at work. Owners Serge and Odette Agonglo create authentic French pastries and baked goods in their shop at 1108 Cherry Road in Rock Hill.

Originally from West Africa, the couple met in France while attending college and have been married for 21 years.

ALSO READ: Restaurant Constance offers serenity at the table

After years of traveling from France to the Charlotte area to visit family, the Agonglos decided to move here and open the bakery. Their shops name is a nod to the church where they were married in Paris.

Our philosophy is to make the best of the best and authentic French product, Serge told Your704s Elsa Gillis.

The flour, butter, chocolate, and even the ovens they use all come from France.

Never frozen, everything is fresh, Serge said.

(VIDEO: Bun Appetit finds loyal following at local farmers markets)
An Idaho grand jury has indicted the man suspected in the slayings of four college students on murder charges, paving the way for an arraignment and expected trial.

A preliminary hearing in the case against Bryan Kohberger, 28, was was scheduled for next month following his arrest in December on four counts of first-degree murder and burglary, for allegedly breaking into a Moscow, Idaho, home with the intent to commit a felony.

The prosecutors decision to impanel a grand jury, however, was not anticipated and allows the state to avoid the week-long preliminary hearing that would have required it to present evidence before a judge as well as permit the defense counsel to cross-examine witnesses.

Since January, lawyers, police and other officials have refrained from making statements after Latah County Magistrate Judge Megan Marshall issued a gag order, which is being challenged by a coalition of news organizations.

An Idaho Supreme Court spokesperson confirmed the grand jury indictment. Neither prosecutors nor Kohbergers public defender could immediately be reached for comment.

Image: Bryan Kohberger looks toward his attorney, public defender Anne Taylor, right, during a hearing in Latah County District Court on Jan. 5, 2023, in Moscow, Idaho. (Ted S. Warren / Pool via Getty Images)

Kohberger has yet to enter a plea, but is expected to do so at an arraignment Monday. A motive also remains unclear in the killings; Kohbergers family said in January that they were cooperating with law enforcement to promote his presumption of innocence.

The victims  Maddie Mogen, 21; Kaylee Goncalves, 21; Xana Kernodle, 20; and Ethan Chapin, 20  were stabbed to death in the early hours of Nov. 13 at their off-campus apartment house near the University of Idaho, where they were students. Chapin, Kernodles boyfriend, had been staying at the home overnight.

Investigators said they traced male DNA that was on a knife sheath left at the crime scene to Kohberger, who was then a doctoral student at Washington State University, less than 10 miles from the University of Idaho. Other evidence included security video from the area where a white Hyundai Elantra was spotted that investigators said was driven by Kohberger, according to a probable cause affidavit.

Authorities have not said whether Kohberger knew the victims or why he would have targeted them or the house. The murder weapon, believed to be a large fixed-blade knife, has not been recovered, police in Moscow have said.

Kohberger is being held in the Latah County Jail without bail.

This is a breaking news story. Please check back for updates. This story first appeared on NBCNews.com.

This article was originally published on TODAY.com
Idaho library election results are in. For the most part, freedom prevailed | Opinion

Tuesday was a good day for freedom in Idaho.

In almost all cases, the forces of censorship  far-right candidates whove attempted to take over local library boards  took a thumping. Candidates who pledged that public libraries would remain places of free intellectual inquiry triumphed.

Perhaps the most hotly contested races were in Meridian, where there have been efforts to simply disband the district because the library has sex education books and books that make reference to the lives of gay people. Incumbent Destinie Hart, who has pledged to protect free expression, beat challenger Xavier Torres, who had signed the petition to disband the district, by more than a two-to-one margin. The results were essentially identical in the race between incumbent Josh Cummings and challenger David J. Tizekker.

The pattern repeated at the Ada Community Library board, where anti-censorship candidates Mary Anne Saunders and Sandra Taylor prevailed over candidates who had pledged to govern the library according to conservative ideology.

And the trend of anti-censorship voting held up not just in the Treasure Valley but across much of the state. From North Idaho to eastern Idaho, library trustees committed to freedom generally prevailed.

The one exception was in Kootenai County, where pro-censorship challengers Tom Hanley and Tim Plass defeated incumbents Regina McCrea and Judy Meyer.

Hanley built his campaign on a lie. He pledged to protect children from the hardcore pornography that is available to children in our libraries, as the Coeur dAlene Press reported.

The assertions that libraries are full of porn and inappropriate material are ludicrous. But you can expect Hanley to call books he doesnt like pornography for the purposes of censoring them.

Kootenai County  home to perhaps the most extreme faction of the Idaho Republican Party, which has increasingly been willing to link arms with characters like David Reilly  is increasingly a pocket where censorship and indoctrination are advancing as freedom recedes.

Reilly has made shocking antisemitic statements, including Judaism is the religion of anti-Christ and all Jews are dangerous.

Reilly resigned from his job as a radio host in Pennsylvania after his supportive tweets and footage of the 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, became public, as the Daily News of Newburyport reported. As the Inlander subsequently reported, four days before the rally, a user later identified in court testimony as Reilly suggested the idea that participants march straight through the commons with torches for the night rally for the purpose of producing propaganda footage. The footage Reilly posted after the rally, with advertisements for another rally the following day, was exactly the kind of propaganda footage discussed in the post.

First, they took over the community college, which is now a shambles, and now the library, which may soon follow.

But the damage has largely been contained to Kootenai. And, given the incessant calls for censorship, calls that became one of the central themes of the last two legislative sessions, thats reason to celebrate.

Statesman editorials are the unsigned opinion of the Idaho Statesmans editorial board. Board members are opinion editor Scott McIntosh, opinion writer Bryan Clark, editor Chadd Cripe and newsroom editors Dana Oland and Jim Keyser.
An Illinois teen has been reunited with her dad, officials say, after her mother allegedly abducted her nearly six years ago.

Kayla Unbehaun, 15, was just 9 years old when she went missing in 2017 while in the care of her mother, Heather Unbehaun. A spokesperson for the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children tells TODAY.com that the mother had partial custody of the child at the time and failed to return her to her father.

Both Kayla and Heather Unbehaun's photos were briefly featured recently on Netflix's "Unsolved Mysteries" in November 2022.

Kayla Unbehaun. (National Center for Missing & Exploited Children)

A police spokesperson told NBC Chicago that a woman at a Plato's Closet in Asheville, North Carolina, recognized Heather Unbehaun from "published media" and contacted officials.

Additionally, Lt. Jonathan Brown and PIO Samantha Booth at Asheville Police tells NBC News via phone that the witness, a minor employed at the store, believed she may have recognized the girl from childhood or a personal connection. The witness told her manager, who contacted police. Netflixs Unsolved Mysteries was specifically mentioned in the report.

Heather Unbehuan, 40, was arrested Saturday in Asheville on a fugitive charge, according to prosecutors. Chris Nelson from the Kane County (Illinois) State's Attorney's Office tells TODAY.com that she faces a charge of child abduction, which is a Class 4 felony.

"If shes convicted of that, shed be looking at probation or one to three years in the Illinois Department of Corrections," he says.

Heather Unbehaum. (National Center for Missing & Exploited Children)

Nelson confirms the teen has been reunited with her father and that Heather Unbehaun has been released on bail. She is slated to appear in court in Buncombe County, North Carolina, on July 11 but did not waive extradition, he says.

Kayla Unbehaun was last seen in July 2017 in her mother's care following a Fourth of July parade in Wheaton, Illinois, according to a GoFundMe page her father, Ryan Iskerka, created at the time.

The suburb is 28 miles due west of Chicago.

He wrote that he was supposed to meet Heather Unbehuan on July 5 to pick up Kayla, but the two never arrived.

In a statement shared through the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children on May 16, Iskerka said he was thrilled to be reunited with his daughter.

Im overjoyed that Kayla is home safe. I want to thank the South Elgin Police Department, the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children and all of the law enforcement agencies who assisted with her case, Iskerka said in the statement. We ask for privacy as we get to know each other again and navigate this new beginning."

It is not clear if Heather Unbehuan has legal representation and her family could not be immediately reached at the phone numbers listed for them, NBC News reported.

CORRECTION (May 17, 2023 at 12:45 a.m. ET): An earlier version of this story incorrectly referred to the public information officer of Asheville Police Department as Samantha Barry. Her name is Samantha Booth and this story has been updated.

This article was originally published on TODAY.com
Before and after images show how Russia's invasion has shattered the city of Bakhmut

Destroyed buildings in the city of Bakhmut on February 27, 2023. AFPTV/AFP via Getty Images

Before and after images show the devastation in Ukraine's city of Bakhmut.

The 10-month battle for the eastern city has been the longest and deadliest in the war in Ukraine.

Bakhmut was once flush with greenery. Now it's a gray city littered with skeletal buildings and brown earth.

The Ukrainian city of Bakhmut has been all but completely destroyed. Homes, schools, and businesses have been blown out by months of ceaseless combat and reduced to rubble, and most of the city's people are long gone. What remains is a scarred landscape where thousands of lives have ended.

Satellite images from Maxar, released May 17, highlight the scale of the destruction caused by the battle for Bakhmut, a city in eastern Ukraine's Donetsk region.

The horrific fight that began last summer is the longest and bloodiest battle in the war in Ukraine. The battle has seen some of the hardest and most intense fighting and tremendous losses, and it's not over. Neither side is backing away.

The Russian military and Wagner mercenaries began their siege of the city last August  though it faced regular shelling before that  and have been fighting to take control of the city for ten months. The Ukrainian army put up a fierce resistance, but it's unclear if they can hold out against the Russian assault.

On Sunday, Russian President Vladimir Putin praised Wagner for its fighting in Bakhmut, crediting them with the "liberation" of the ruined city. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy disputed that, with independent observers saying that the fight for control continues, though he conceded that the city exists now "only in our hearts."

While the city's ultimate fate remains uncertain, the following images capture how a thriving town of roughly 73,000 people became a war-torn, bloodstained battlefield.

Bakhmut was once a beautiful city full of leafy green trees until it became the target of Russia's ambitions and a symbol of Ukraine's resistance.

Bakhmut in May 2022 before the battle for the city began. Satellite image 2022 Maxar Technologies

Nearly all the trees and greenery have been wiped out. Bombs, artillery, and incendiary weapons, among other things, have laid waste to the city.

The same section of the city as seen in May 2023 satellite images. Satellite image 2023 Maxar Technologies

A school and apartment buildings in Bakhmut, now the site of brutal urban combat, were surrounded by grassy lawns and trees.

This section of the city was also lush and green. Satellite image 2022 Maxar Technologies

The same section of the city now looks like a brown and battered wasteland.

A section of the city as it looks now. Satellite image 2023 Maxar Technologies

Bakhmut's university buildings and radio tower were surrounded by homes before the war.

A section of Bakhmut seen from an aerial view in May 2022, before the battle for the city began. Satellite image 2022 Maxar Technologies

The university and surrounding buildings are now nearly unrecognizable. The buildings, now skeletal, have been devastated in the war. The radio tower now lays on its side.

Those same buildings as they look in May 2023. Satellite image 2023 Maxar Technologies

A theatre and surrounding stores in Bakhmut were bustling with cars before the battle began.

A closer look at a section of the city before the battle. Satellite image 2022 Maxar Technologies

Some trees remain in the city but most of its buildings have been destroyed as the Ukrainians and Russians trade fire daily. As a high-casualty fight, the battle has been described as a "meat grinder" by Ukrainian and Russian troops and "slaughter-fest" by outside military observers.

Roofs have been blasted away and reveal the guts of the theatre and stores. Satellite image 2023 Maxar Technologies

In an aerial view of the entire city from May 2022, Bakhmut had corridors of greenery between buildings.

The entire city as it looked before the battle began. Satellite image 2022 Maxar Technologies

The city's buildings now appear brown and much of the greenery within city limits is gone. Bakhmut has been a focal point for front-line combat in a war that, in a span of six months between December and May, claimed an estimated 20,000 Russian lives. The Ukrainian defense has also come at a heavy cost.

An aerial view of the entire city as it looks now. Satellite image 2023 Maxar Technologies

Read the original article on Business Insider
Yurii Ihnat, spokesperson for the Ukrainian Air Force, has said that the Patriot anti-aircraft missile system cannot be destroyed with a single strike, even if it is a Kinzhal missile.

Source: Ihnat on the national joint 24/7 newscast on the morning of 17 May

Quote: "The result of an anti-aircraft battle may vary. But yesterday we even said: no comment. We have no comment on the liar Konashenkov [spokesperson for the Russian MoD - ed.], who has destroyed the entire composition of our Air Force eight times over. If we had as many planes as they have "destroyed", we would have probably won a long time ago.

I want to say: do not worry about the fate of the Patriots. From a technical point of view, Patriot is a unit, a battery, a division, a system, everyone has a different name for it and no one can understand what it consists of."

Details: Ihnat noted that a division is a command post where a combat service crew is stationed, it tracks air targets and receives information about the air situation in its area of responsibility. This is how it downs air targets.

The system can work in manual, semi-automatic and automatic modes.

The Air Force spokesperson said that it is the automatic operation mode of the Patriot that allows it to shoot down air targets without human intervention, as it did last night: "Automatic mode [allows for better] speed of decision-making, target detection and use of weapons."

He added that the system has radar and up to eight launchers, each equipped with four transport and launch canisters, which are located at a distance and which launch missiles.

Quote: "So, destroying the system with some kind of Kinzhal  thats impossible. Therefore, let everything they [the Russians  ed.] say remain in their propaganda archive."

Details: Ihnat could not specify the targets of the six Kinzhal missiles shot down over the city of Kyiv on the night of 16 May.

"We know for certain that [the missiles] were flying towards the capital or Kyiv Oblast. This is a fact because everyone saw they were exploding in the sky. If a missile [from air defence  ed.] intercepts a Kinzhal missile or other missiles high in the sky, then we cannot calculate where exactly they were aimed. Its enough to have a deflection of several degrees  and the missile has already flown a dozen kilometres further," Ihnat said.

"We will not find out where they were aimed because the targets [the Kinzhal missiles  ed.] were destroyed. And it is a good thing that we wont," he said.

Ihnat added that the Russians have several lists of priority targets throughout Ukraine: military and infrastructure facilities, storage points, and facilities in the fuel and energy sector.

Background: The Russian Ministry of Defence announced on 16 May that "a high-precision strike by a hypersonic Kinzhal missile system in the city of Kyiv hit a US-made Patriot anti-aircraft missile system".

The US has not confirmed the destruction of the Patriot air defence system in Ukraine, however, according to some information, the system may have been damaged.

The White House National Security Council's Strategic Communications Coordinator John Kirby said he could not confirm reports of damage to the Patriot system in Ukraine, but if the American air defence system had been damaged, the United States would help with repairs.

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Incumbent GOP Bucks County commissioner, running mate, win spots on November ballot

Incumbent Bucks County Commissioner Gene DiGirolamo, along with current Bucks County Controller Pamela Van Blunk, were the top two Republican vote-getters in Tuesday's primary, securing their party nomination to face the Democrats in November.

The party endorsed candidates bested former commissioner Andy Warren. With 94 percent of the vote counted, DiGirolamo had 29,298 votes and Van Blunk topped him with 32,171 votes. Warren garnered 13,567, according to unofficial results.

The commissioners are a powerful group. The board is responsible for the adoption and administration of the county's $457.5 million operating budget and overseeing roughly 2,400 full-time employees and 20 departments.

DiGirolamo, elected to the commission in November 2019, is a former auditor for Bensalem, and served for 25 years in Pennsylvania's House of Representatives.

Van Blunk is a graduate of Widener Law School and served as legal advisor to the Bensalem School District as well as the Chester City and Chester-Upland school districts in Delaware County.

Van Blunk announces candidacy: Bucks County Controller Pamela Van Blunk announces board of commissioners campaign

Andy Warren announce campaign: Former Bucks County Commissioner Andy Warren announces election bid to return to office

Ellis-Marseglia, Harvie running mates: Bucks County Democrats announce reelection bids of Commissioners Harvie, Marseglia

Commissioners Diane M. Ellis-Marseglia and Bob Harvie, both Democrats, were also running mates and endorsed by the Democratic Committee of Bucks County.

They were unopposed in their party's primary and will appear on the General Election ballot, looking to hang on to control of county government for the Democrats.

Ellis-Marseglia, first elected in November 2007, began her fourth term on the Board of Commissioners in January 2020. As the longtime minority party member on the board, she became chair of the commissioners when the Democrats took control of county government.

Harvie was elected to the board in November 2019, and named chair on Jan. 5, 2022.

Prior to becoming county commissioner, Harvie served on the Falls Township Planning Commission for two years before being elected to the Board of Supervisors in 2003.

In November, all three seats on the commissioner board are up. One seat must be held by the minority party.

This article originally appeared on Bucks County Courier Times: Gene DiGirolamo, Van Blunk easily win spots on ballot for Bucks County commissioners
FILE PHOTO: India boosts security for G20 meeting in Kashmir after rise in attacks

By Krishn Kaushik and Fayaz Bukhari

NEW DELHI/SRINAGAR (Reuters) - India has stepped up security in the Jammu and Kashmir region because of an increase in militant attacks in the run-up to a G20 meeting on tourism in the Himalayan territory, officials said on Wednesday.

The city of Srinagar, the summer capital of the federal territory, is due to host a tourism working group meeting of G20 members on May 22-24, part of a series of meetings ahead of a G20 summit in New Delhi in September.

Islamist militants have stepped up attacks this year in the Jammu region, across the mountains from the Kashmir Valley where Srinagar is located.

Ten soldiers and seven civilians have been killed in four attacks in Jammu this year.

Security officials said they fear the separatist militants could try to promote their cause with an attack before or during the G20 meeting.

"The timing of these attacks is worrisome as they are planned just before the G20 meeting," said a senior Indian army officer in the region. He declined to be identified as he is not authorised to speak to media.

Military and police officers said they had intelligence information that militants might target a military-run school in Jammu and take students hostage.

In response, such schools had been shut and classes moved online until after the G20 meeting, they said.

Security agencies are not taking any chances in Srinagar, officers said.

Vijay Kumar, chief of police in the Kashmir Valley, told Reuters that commandos had been deployed in the city and members of a counter-terrorism force would be on stationed in various places.

Srinagar has been at the centre of the insurgency by Muslim militants against Indian rule since 1989.

Tens of thousands of people have been killed although the violence has been reduced in recent years.

India blames Pakistan for supporting the Muslim insurgents. Pakistan denies that and accuses India of violating the rights of Kashmir's Muslim people. India denies that.

The nuclear-armed neighbours, who have fought three wars, two of them over Kashmir, both claim the region in full but rule it in part.

(Reporting by Krishn Kaushik in NEW DELHI, Fayaz Bukhari in SRINAGAR; Editing by YP Rajesh, Robert Birsel)
Indiana woman charged nearly 2 years after man dies of drug overdose

An Indiana woman is behind bars after an investigation into a drug overdose leading to death in July 2021.

According to Pennsylvania State Police, troopers were dispatched to a house along Sycamore Street in Homer City for a possible drug overdose.

The victim, identified as Seth Andrew Smith, 30, from Homer City, was found dead in the home.

The autopsy and toxicology testing showed that Smith died of acute intoxication with combine effects of fentanyl and heroin.

Two stamp bags seized from the scene of the incident were later analyzed and were found to contain 4-ANPP, acetyl fentanyl, fentanyl, heroin, and morphine, according to state police.

During the investigation, police interviewed Sydney Michelle Horel, 27. Shes alleged to have intentionally delivered the drugs that caused Smiths death, state police said.

Horel is charged with felony counts of drug delivery resulting in death, manufacture, delivery, or possession with intent to manufacture or deliver and criminal use of a communication facility.

Horels preliminary hearing is scheduled for May 30 at 10:15 a.m.

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TRENTON  A man accused of holding a woman captive in a remote area of South Jerseys Pinelands now faces additional charges of sex crimes.

James W. Parrillo Jr., 57, was arrested on Feb. 7 after a woman locked herself inside a convenience store in Bass River Township and told a clerk shed been forced to make a months-long cross-country trip with the suspect.

Parrillo, initially charged with kidnapping and other offenses, now is accused additionally of two counts each of aggravated sexual assault and sexual assault, according to the state Attorney Generals Office.

More: Witness details night of violence Is this how a dispute at a South Jersey water-ice shop turned into a double killing?

An 11-count indictment also includes new charges of criminal coercion and theft by extortion, the agency said in a statement.

Parrillo also is charged with kidnapping, aggravated assault, criminal coercion, and hindering apprehension.

The charges are only allegations. Parrillo has not been convicted in the case.

Woman assaulted during captivity in Pinelands town

The sex charges arise from Parrillos alleged actions in Bass River, where he and the woman had lived in a rented room since December 2022, the statement said.

Parrillo allegedly sexually assaulted the woman on different occasions during the time she was with him, it claimed.

The statement also alleged Parrillo used violence and threats to restrict the woman's freedom.

The victim told police she met Parrillo, whom she knew as Brett Parker at a gas station in New Mexico in February 2022.

The two traveled together to California, where the woman said a voluntary relationship ended with an assault by Parrillo.

Cross-country journey ended in Pinelands

The pair arrived in New Jersey in December 2022, according to law enforcement officials.

The woman ran to the convenience store after Parrillo allegedly beat and choked her at their nearby residence, the statement said.

Surveillance video showed Parrillo trying to open the store's door, then leaving when he realized it was locked, according to authorities.

New Jersey State Police arrested Parrillo a short time later as he walked along a highway.

He has been held in Burlington County Jail since that time.

Parrillo may have engaged in similar predatory conduct with individuals in other states, the Attorney General's Office said.

It asked anyone with information to call the State Police hotline at 855-363-6548.

Jim Walsh is a senior reporter with the Courier-Post, Burlington County Times and The Daily Journal. Email him at jwalsh@cpsj.com.

This article originally appeared on Cherry Hill Courier-Post: New charges against woman's alleged kidnapper in Pinelands town
Two Kentucky residents cheated borrowers and investors out of more than $3 million, a federal grand jury has charged.

Mark Carroll, 47, of Lexington and Luke Curry, 36, of Bowling Green were indicted in federal court in Rockford, Illinois, last week and were scheduled for an initial court appearance there Wednesday.

According to the indictment, Carroll and Curry duped two victims out of a total of $1 million by falsely offering them a line of credit that required a deposit of 20% of the amount.

Curry and Carroll promised to hold the deposit, but moved the money to another account and didnt fund the line of credit, the indictment charges.

The two allegedly used the money for other purposes, including donating money to a school that was not named in the indictment.

The indictment also alleges that four victims loaned Carroll and Curry a total of $2.2 million that supposedly would be used for investments.

Carroll and Curry said the lenders would get back all their principal plus a guaranteed rate of return on the loan, but used the money for other purposes and didnt return the principal or pay a return, according to the indictment.

The indictment cited financial transactions that were processed through a computer server in northern Illinois. One business in northern Illinois was listed as a victim, explaining why the indictment was filed in that region.

The companies associated with the two that were named in the indictment were Catapult Marketing, Catapult Funding and FX International Trading LLC.

Carroll and Curry face multiple charges of wire fraud, which is punishable by up to 20 years in prison.

The U.S. Department of Justice said in a news release that the FBI is seeking help from the public in identifying other potential victims of the alleged fraud associated with Carroll and Curry.

Anyone who believes they were a victim can email finfraud2023@FBI.GOV or call 1-800-CALL-FBI.
Charlotte Morrison could have been an attorney just about anywhere. When she entered the job market, she had a graduate degree in philosophy from the University of Oxford, a law degree from one of Americas top law schools and a prestigious federal clerkship. That resume wouldve gotten her a desk at any of the biggest firms in the country.

But thanks to a little bit of fate, she wound up in Montgomery.

As a first-year law student at N.Y.U., she took a class from one of the schools new faculty members, a man who had recently started a nonprofit to defend those on death row after Congress eliminated death penalty defense funding: Bryan Stevenson.

Charlotte Morrison, a senior attorney at the Equal Justice Initiative, is seen at the EJI offices in Montgomery, Ala., on Thursday March 30, 2023,

It was during that class, Morrison said, that she was able to make sense of the things shed been struggling to work out. Things like how the justice system looks for a clean narrative of perpetrator and victim, and how it overlooks the needs of both in the process.

She started taking more of Stevenson's classes. Then she started in his legal clinic, and then asked to be a legal fellow at his nonprofit.

By the time she graduated, she knew what she was going to do. In fact, she says she never felt like she had a choice.

Knowing that there are so many pressing issues that people are dying for help, and to not try to be of service, it wasnt really a choice. I didnt feel like I had a choice not to address the problems, Morrison said.

It would feel intolerable to me to know this pain exists, this harm is going on, and not respond to it. That would be an intolerable life.

For 22 years at Montgomerys Equal Justice Initiative (EJI), Morrison has represented those on death row, the wrongfully convicted and unfairly sentenced. She has also been on the forefront of EJIs anti-poverty initiatives.

Morrisons work has led to substantive changes across Alabamas prisons. Her work investigating and documenting rampant sexual abuse at Julia Tutwiler Prison for Women, for example, was crucial in getting the U.S. Department of Justice involved and reducing rates of violence at the facility.

As she likely would have distinguished herself in any area of law, shes distinguished herself here, said Stevenson, EJIs founder and executive director.

Morrison has been named the Montgomery Advertisers Community Hero for May for her contributions to improving Alabamas criminal justice system and the Montgomery community. The honor is sponsored by South University.

Stevenson said Morrison was an excellent choice for the honor.

As an advocate, she really values helping people who are in great need, he said. I think she has a heart for the poor, marginalized and vulnerable. I think she is rewarded by standing with people who have been excluded and disfavored and fighting for their rights.

Morrison was born into a working-class family that moved around until she was in about fifth grade. The family settled in the logging town of Whitefish, Montana, as the timber industry was declining there.

Her parents ran an automotive shop. She worked in the shop growing up, and she said thats when she developed her work ethic and inclination to finding practical solutions to problems.

She attended the University of Montana, where she studied philosophy and got an assistant teaching position in the department. She made new friends that showed her a new appreciation for the outdoors, which she still has today.

One particularly impactful experience during college was her volunteer work at The Womens Place, an organization that provided support for victims of domestic violence. She found herself conflicted with how the group treated the complex realities that the women lived in.

The organization treated things as black and white: There were victims and perpetrators. But the reality, Morrison felt, was always much grayer.

Charlotte Morrison, a senior attorney at the Equal Justice Initiative, is seen at the EJI offices in Montgomery, Ala., on Thursday March 30, 2023,

This sort of easy framework just wasnt comfortable for me at all, she said. That sort of disconnect between reality and this narrative was constantly in tension even for people we were serving, who came from histories of abuse in their families and were trying to figure out how to address that ongoing cycle.

That conflict between an easy narrative and a more complex reality kept nagging at her.

While her time at the University of Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar was enriching, she never got a chance to explore that tension she felt.

That academic environment was too focused on the abstract, and she was interested in the practical side.

So, when she looked at law schools, she knew she wanted to go somewhere that would enable her to make a real, practical difference. She settled on N.Y.U. because of its focus on social justice and clinical programs.

In Stevensons death penalty class, she finally learned about something that addressed that tension she was struggling with.

It was the concept of mitigation, which is at the heart of how attorneys think about sentencing, especially in the context of the death penalty.

Morrison sums it up like this: To understand how to appropriately respond to [harm] as a society  in terms of what the punishment should be, how you restore that person to society  you have to understand that persons life history to have any response that looks like justice.

Morrison, like many on EJIs staff, was initially focused on representing those on death row or with life sentences. But her scope expanded, and Morrison has led the organizations efforts challenging the conditions of Alabamas prisons.

Shes developed extensive knowledge of what goes on in those prisons.

Shes absolutely, I think more than anyone in the state, become an expert on conditions of confinement here in Alabama, Stevenson said.

Its taxing work. But the way Morrison sees it, we cant just pretend it isn't happening.

Our indifference to violence there, it will change us. It will change us as a community, it will change us as a country, Morrison said.

And things can get worse.

We dont think that we accept punishment that is torturous, but were changing in terms of what were accepting, Morrison said.

Change wont come with just attorneys. It requires people stepping in before the justice system is involved. Thats something anyone can do in their community  whether youre a teacher, whether you help with your kids Girl Scout troop, as Morrison does, or whether youre just a good neighbor.

How do we bring hope? How can we get to that hopeful place as a community? Morrison asked. I think in every job there is some way of serving the community and serving hopefulness.

Evan Mealins is the former justice reporter for the Montgomery Advertiser. He now covers justice issues for the Tennessean. Contact him at emealins@gannett.com or follow him on Twitter @EvanMealins.

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This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: EJI attorney Charlotte Morrison is Community Hero for May 2023
(Bloomberg) -- Indonesian authorities have detained the Minister of Communication and Information Technology Johnny Gerard Plate, following investigations of alleged corruption that could lead to his resignation.

Most Read from Bloomberg

The Attorney Generals Office said it detained Plate on Wednesday, after he was summoned for questioning on the same day. The AGO probed Plates role in alleged corrupt acts involving a 4G wireless base station project meant to fast-track high-speed telecommunication service throughout the country. The project was led by an agency under Plates ministry.

The action is intended at showing President Joko Widodo, popularly known as Jokowi, is sensitive to swings in public opinion and responsive to governance issues as his second term in office ends in 2024. Corruption allegations hounding his administration, however, could further dent public trust and reignite criticisms of Indonesias inability to stem graft that has plagued it for decades.

A $20 billion tax scandal that was recently brought to public attention is already casting a shadow on Jokowis anticorruption campaign. This is also not the first time for a member of Jokowis cabinet to be implicated in corruption. The president had to replace his social affairs minister and the fisheries minister who were involved in separate graft probes in the last two years.

The country ranked 110 out of 180 nations in Transparency Internationals Corruption Perception Index for 2022, dropping from 96th in 2021.

Maintaining public support is crucial for Jokowi who wants to push through major infrastructure projects related to the new capital city in Kalimantan before he steps down in the third quarter of 2024.

--With assistance from Norman Harsono.

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

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Indonesian Communication and Information Minister Johnny G. Plate, center, is escorted by prosecutors following his arrest on accusation of corruption, at the Attorney General's Office in Jakarta, Indonesia, Wednesday, May 17, 2023. Indonesian authorities on Wednesday arrested Plate as part of an investigation into a corruption scandal linked to the construction of mobile phone communication towers in remote regions in the country. (AP Photo)

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP)  Indonesian authorities on Wednesday arrested the information technology minister as part of an investigation into a million-dollar corruption scandal linked to the construction of mobile phone transmission towers in remote regions.

Communication and Information Technology Minister Johnny G. Plate was arrested after showing up for questioning at the Attorney Generals Office, said Kuntadi, the director of investigation at the prosecutor's office.

If he is formally charged, it may further tarnish President Joko Widodos credibility when it comes to fighting corruption. Four other members of Widodos Cabinet have been sentenced to prison terms in corruption cases, casting a shadow over his efforts to clean up government while he looks for a successor when his term ends in 2024.

Footage showed Plate leaving the prosecutor's office in handcuffs and wearing a detainee red vest. He did not respond to journalists' questions.

This was the third time Plate was summoned since mid-February by investigators digging deep into his supervisory role in allocation of state funds for the construction of base transceiver stations, said Kuntadi, who goes by a single name like many Indonesians.

The project was initiated at the end of 2020 to handle more than 7,900 blank spots in mobile coverage in Indonesias outermost, underdeveloped and remote areas of Papua, Sulawesi, Borneo, Sumatra and East Nusatenggara. It's due to be completed this year, and so far, 4,200 locations have received the equipment, the ministrys data showed.

The corruption case is believed to have cost the state 8 trillion rupiah ($539 million), said Muhammad Yusuf Ateh, head of the development finance control at the prosecutor's office. He said the losses included fictitious payments for the base stations that have not been built.

Plate was apprehended along with five other suspects, including three from the private sector, after some 60 people were questioned about the procurement process.

His arrest also sparked speculation over the fate of his Nasdem party, which is part of the government coalition with seven others. Nasdem had earlier endorsed a popular opposition politician, Anies Baswedan, as a presidential candidate in 2024. Widodo has referred to the party as an outsider in the coalition.
A company that makes underground storage tanks plans to set up shop in Richland County.

Xerxes will open its first South Carolina facility at 141 Hobart Road in Blythewood, according to a news release from S.C. Gov. Henry McMasters office. The project will bring 80 new jobs to the county. The company is making a more than $6.3 million investment at the site, per Richland County paperwork.

The Xerxes facility is expected to be operational in Blythewood by the end of 2024 and running at full steam by 2026.

Per the release from McMasters office, Xerxes, which is a subsidiary of Shawcor Ltd., manufactures market-leading, fiberglass-reinforced plastic underground storage tanks, primarily used within the retail fuel, storm water and wastewater markets.

Richland County Council on Tuesday night approved a tax incentive agreement for Xerxes, one that would make way for the companys property tax payments to effectively be cut in half for the next 30 years in exchange for the company making investments in infrastructure.

South Carolina is proud to welcome Xerxes as they join our thriving business community, McMaster said in a statement. Their decision to establish operations in Richland County and generate 80 new jobs serve as yet another victory for our state.

Richland County Council Chairman Overture Walker said Xerxes will be welcomed to the county with open arms.

Xerxes investment in Blythewood will add to the growing vibrancy of Richland County and position the county for future economic development, Walker said in a statement. Richland County is ripe with prosperity, and we are thrilled to welcome the Xerxes family to our region while enhancing the quality of life in the communities we serve.
For some Haitians, it will be a day to rally around their pride by waving their bi-color, horizontal blue-and-red flag through South Floridas streets while basking in everything from the culture to the cuisine.

But for scores of others, this Haitian Flag Day on Thursday, May 18, will be a day of protests against the debilitating and deadly gang violence sweeping through their homeland amid political turmoil, soaring kidnappings, vigilante killings and questions about U.S. foreign and domestic policies that critics say are contributing to the instability.

In New York, Haitians will be taking to the streets to march, joined by people from Florida, New Jersey and other states with sizable Haitian populations. In Miami, the Family Action Network Movement will sponsor A day of solidarity with Haiti. Starting at 10 a.m. the organization will be posting different social media messages demanding a stop to the incessant gang violence, killings and daily human rights abuses in Haiti.

The people are suffering. Our children are suffering. We are asking the world to stand with us as we fight for security, as we fight for better for our people so that they can finally be able to live in their homeland as any human beings deserve to do, said Marleine Bastien, the founder of the network and a recently elected Miami-Dade county commissioner. Enough is enough.

Bastien said that in addition to using social media platforms to get the word out about the suffering, supporters of the campaign will also be trying to focus attention to their stance on foreign intervention  a proposition that still divides Haitians in the United States and in Haiti, where recent polls show more are in favor of outside help to combat gangs.

Weve suffered for years under foreign intervention and things have gotten worse, so we are trying to attract the worlds attention to that also, she said, adding that if the United States, in particular, wants to help Haiti it needs to crack down on the arms smuggling that is pumping heavy weaponry into the country.

There is an arms embargo on Haiti but 90% of the weaponry comes from Florida, right here, said Bastien.

A coalition of a dozen professional and community-based organizations in the New York area plan to demand a stop to the arms trafficking. As a result of the march, a Haitian Flag Day celebration scheduled for Times Square has been postponed.

At 9 a.m. Thursday, Haitians will march through the streets of New York to the Brooklyn Bridge where in 1990 they challenged  and changed  the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Preventions recommendation that Haitians be restricted from donating blood because they were supposedly a high-risk group for AIDS.

This bridge is particularly very meaningful to us in New York because of what we were able to do, said Yolette Williams, a licensed clinical social worker who heads the non-profit Haitian American Alliance of New York.

Williams said while she knows that one march will not be sufficient, she is hoping it will be a start. Haitians in the diaspora, she said, have to start to show empathy with what is happening in their homeland and begin pressuring for change.

READ MORE: How U.S. gun laws and South Florida ports help fuel Haitis escalating gang violence

When she looks at what is unfolding in Haiti, Williams, who has lived in the U.S. for the past 50 years, said she feels very demoralized, sad, angry.

If we are going to celebrate the flag, which we should, we should also take this same day to stand up and bring attention to what is going on in Haiti because we are all Haitian Americans, we are American citizens and... we have a voice.

We could ask America, the country where we pay taxes and where we know the arms are coming from, to intervene and stop the gun trafficking, Williams added. We know this is one area where everyone agrees.

More than 1,400 Haitians have died in gang-related conflicts this year. Fed up, many Haitians have taken matters into their own hands, by aiding the police and killing suspected gang members. The Haitian police, which has welcomed the populations assistance, has nevertheless warned that vigilante killings are not the way to deal with gangs.

After appearing to have ceded control to gangs, which now control at least 80% of Port-au-Prince as well as the Artibonite Valley just to the north, the Haiti National Police force has stepped up its anti-gang operations. Since last week, theyve concentrated on gangs controlling the southern end of the capital, trying to free the community of Martissant, which has spent the last two years under gang control.

A number of Haiti National Police officers were deployed this week to the city of Cap-Haitien, where the government, led by Prime Minister Ariel Henry, plans to celebrate Haitian Flag Day on Thursday and has invited members of the diplomatic corps to join.

Concerned about demonstrations and questioning the decision given the ongoing security challenges in Port-au-Prince, some diplomats are declining to go. On Wednesday, the U.S. State Department reissued its Level 4 Do Not Travel warning for Haiti.

Violent crime, such as armed robbery, carjackings, and kidnappings for ransom that include American citizens are common. Mob killings against presumed criminals have been on the rise since late April, the warning said. Protests, demonstrations, tire burning, and roadblocks are frequent, unpredictable, and can turn violent. The U.S. government is extremely limited in its ability to provide emergency services to U.S. citizens in Haiti..

The warning also says that U.S. government personnel are discouraged from walking in Port-au-Prince and only family members over the age of 18 are permitted to accompany U.S. government employees assigned to the U.S. embassy. U.S. government personnel in Haiti are also prohibited from using public transportation or taxis, visiting banks or using ATMs, driving at night, traveling anywhere between 1 a.m. and 5 a.m,; and visiting certain parts of the city without prior approval:

Dr. Louis J. Auguste, a surgical oncologist with the Association of Haitian Physicians Abroad in New York, said while it hasnt been easy getting a coalition of Haitian organizations together for Thursdays march, it was necessary. Since last July, Auguste said, hes been talking about the need for Haitians in the diaspora to be more empathetic with whats happening in Haiti and the need for Haitians abroad to mobilize.

They love listening to Haitians marching in Haiti but the diaspora also has to march to make an impact, to draw the attention of the government and the media, Auguste said. I cannot bear the thought that people can be bleeding, suffering and nobodys paying attention.

Auguste said Haitis current crisis has made it impossible for him to visit, or to continue the medical mission trips he has taken part in for years. Those who suffer the most because of this, he said, are the hospitals and patients who benefited from the supplies and equipment that were being shipped and the professionals who visited and provided their service voluntarily.

Im waiting for the occasion to be able to go there safely because I wouldnt want to expose anybody to any kind of injury or any fatality, Auguste said.

In the meantime, he and others are hoping Thursdays march will lead to change.

The cry for help from Haitis population, which is increasingly becoming victims of the gang rapes, kidnappings and killings, has remained unheeded either by the United States, Canada or the international community in general, he said.

Among what the group is demanding is that the U.S. government make every effort to stop the illegal trafficking of guns to Haiti; stop the money laundering that allows the financing of large arm purchases, and track down and bring to justice the sellers and buyers of weapons and those transporting weapons from the US to the country.

The coalition is also also asking that Haiti be allowed to form its own military force, since neither the U.S. nor Canada have heeded the desperate calls for help from the Haitians. Requests by Henry and the United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres for the deployment of a multinational force to help the Haitian police have gone unanswered after seven months.

Also listed among the coalitions demands: to limit the power of the countries known as the Core group to make decisions about Haiti.

We need a partner and a friend, but not a master, Auguste said.
South Korean adoptee Adam Crapser speaks during an interview in Seoul, South Korea - Ahn Young-joon/AP

A court in South Korea has ordered the countrys biggest adoption agency to pay 60,000 in damages for mishandling a mans adoption as a young boy to the United States, where he suffered an abusive childhood.

Adam Crapser, 48, was sent with his sister to adoptive parents in the US in the 1970s, during what has been described as a period of mass child export from South Korea.

A Telegraph investigation into the phenomenon found that, between the mid-1950s to the late 1980s, some 200,000 South Korean babies were adopted by families in the US and Europe  many of whom were put up for adoption under false pretences.

Mr Craspers civil case, which began in 2019, is the first in which a South Korean adoptee has attempted to sue the government and a domestic adoption agency over falsified paperwork and shortfalls in the screening process.

The court dismissed the accusations against the government but fined Holt Childrens Service, which was responsible for his adoption in 1979. Holt has not commented publicly on the verdict.

Kim Soo-jung, one of Adam Crapser's lawyers, speaks to the media outside the court at the Seoul Central District Court in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, May 16, 2023 - Kim Sung-min/Yonhap

Mr Crapser, born Shin Seong-hyeok, accused the defendants of manipulating his paperwork and employing poor background checks that left him in the hands of two sets of abusive adopters, who did not secure his US citizenship.

The first couple abandoned him after seven years, forcing him into foster care until he was adopted at age 12 by an Oregon couple who would strike and burn their children with heated objects. They were later arrested on charges of physical child abuse, sexual abuse and rape.

As an adult he was deported after run-ins with the police as he did not have US citizenship, which meant he was separated from his then-wife and children and sent back to his birth country where he did not speak the language.

The government and Holt have described his case as unfortunate but denied any legal wrongdoing.

However, the case may embolden other South Korean adoptees to file lawsuits over allegations of past corruption in international adoption cases that has denied them the chance to reconnect with living relatives.

Mr Crapser was among thousands who were described in their paperwork as abandoned orphans, despite having identifiable Korean relatives.

In December, South Koreas Truth and Reconciliation Commission launched an official inquiry into past international adoption practices amid mounting evidence that many of the babies true identities had been withheld, obscured or falsified to supply a lucrative industry of child export.

In the Telegraphs investigation into the scandal, Kyung Sook Jung, who was adopted to Norway in 1970, said her widowed father never gave permission for her to be sent abroad after she was put into temporary care as a baby when her mother died.

My older sister told me that on his deathbed he remembered me and said to her you must find your little sister, you must find Kyung Sook and I want you sisters to be together, she said.

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Our investigation exposed SC failing to protect injury victims. Now the law is changed

Companies looking to take advantage of vulnerable South Carolinians by paying them quick cash in exchange for future proceeds from lawsuit settlements will now face a much tougher task.

Gov. Henry McMaster signed a comprehensive reform bill Tuesday that protects severely injured accident victims and their families who receive long-term payments because of traumatic brain injuries, and other injuries.

This is a much needed step to ensure that our most vulnerable South Carolinians are no longer preyed upon by unscrupulous flim-flam artists, McMaster said in a statement.

The bill, which passed unanimously through both the S.C. Senate and House earlier this year, was filed by Sen. Luke Rankin, R-Horry, in response to an S.C. McClatchys investigative series, Cashed Out, published in September. The series detailed how JG Wentworth and other companies like it have for years purchased accident victims future structured settlements for immediate lump sums worth an average of about 25% of the sold future payments.

South Carolinas law governing these transactions requires the deals to be approved by judges, but the law hadnt been touched since its implementation in 2002, and McClatchy found the companies were often directing the transfers to preferred judges, who offered little scrutiny.

Rankin said he was happy to be part of fixing the issues brought to his attention through McClatchys reporting.

Thats our job in Columbia  to fix problems, he said.

Attorney Sue Berkowitz, director of the South Carolina Appleseed Legal Justice Center, had been advocating for the bills passage and said its rare to see such a consumer protection bill pass so quickly without any legislator opposition.

It wouldve been embarrassing for the legislature to not come down on this practice after such extensive reporting, she said. It shows that sunshine makes a difference.

Rankin explained that legislators often have to cut through the fluff when considering whether issues brought to them warrant a change to the law, but S.C. legislators clearly understood in this case that structured settlement recipients needed more protections.

This is an example of one where it was clear on its face ... how South Carolina was being played for having no rules to keep predators from re-victimizing victims who otherwise would not be protected, Rankin told The Sun News.

How has South Carolinas law changed?

Rankins bill adds numerous protections to South Carolinas structured settlement protection act that were highlighted during McClatchys reporting as having been successful in other states.

Changes include requiring an in-person hearing in a court in the county where the seller lives, the purchasing companies must register to do business in South Carolina and the companies must disclose when the proposed seller has previously sold part of their settlement.

(South Carolinas bill) picked up on things that really do make a difference, and it builds a brand new structured settlement protection act for the 21st century for SC. Its really quite impressive, said Eric Vaughn, executive director of the National Structured Settlement Trade Association, which represents the consultants, attorneys and insurance companies that help set up these settlements.

Vaughn told The Sun News that he was most impressed by the new law giving discretion to judges to appoint attorneys to serve as guardians ad litem during sales involving minors or sellers with known mental or cognitive impairments to act on their behalf.

Thats a rare provision among states protection acts, Vaughn noted, with Minnesota being the most recent example to add it before South Carolina. Minnesota changed its law in response to an investigative series by the Star Tribune newspaper, which inspired McClatchys investigation in South Carolina.

Berkowitz is currently representing a woman featured in McClatchys series who received her structured settlement after suffering a traumatic brain injury in a train crash before selling 30 years worth of those future payments in 17 separate deals.

She told The Sun News that shes confident the new law would have prevented her client from losing all that money had it been in place at the time.

Rankin agreed that the changes should prevent the abuses previously highlighted by McClatchy from happening in South Carolina in the future.

Weve really empowered, by legislative dictate, who, what, when, where and how any future attempt to buy structured settlements has to be handled, which is a 180-degree difference from before the bill was proposed, he said.

Vaughn said his association plans to use South Carolinas updated law as an example to emulate in advocating for reform in other states.
Cryptocurrency

Investing in cryptocurrency is no different to gambling and should be regulated as such, MPs have demanded.

The Treasury Select Committee said cryptocurrencies pose significant risks to consumers because of their volatile prices and the risk of losses.

In a report, MPs said regulating consumer crypto as a financial service  as proposed by the Government  could lead consumers to believe they are safe and protected when they are not.

They said experts have called for levies to be added to speculative activity in cryptocurrencies to support debt advice and addiction services.

The report said tougher controls could clamp down on investors getting misinformed by crypto companies, especially on social media platforms.

As many as four in five investors in Bitcoin between 2015 to 2022 were likely to have lost money, according to cited research by the Bank for International Settlements.

Several high-profile crypto companies failed in 2022, including the FTX cryptocurrency exchange.

MPs pointed out that gambling is regulated by its own body  the Gambling Commission  which provides advice and guidance to individuals and businesses, including on the prevention of problem gambling, and applies safeguards such as anti-money laundering and counter terrorist finance checks.

The FCA said 85pc of cryptoasset firms applying for registration under the FCAs Anti-Money Laundering and Counter Terrorist Finance regime were rejected.

Harriet Baldwin, chairman of the Treasury Select Committee, said large parts of the cryptoasset industry were still a wild west.

She said: Effective regulation is clearly needed to protect consumers from harm, as well as to support productive innovation in the UKs financial services industry.

However, with no intrinsic value, huge price volatility and no discernible social good, consumer trading of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin more closely resembles gambling than a financial service, and should be regulated as such.

By betting on these unbacked tokens, consumers should be aware that all their money could be lost.

MPs said public resources should not be used to support cryptoasset activities without a clear, beneficial reason, criticising the release of the Royal Mint NFT.

The Government had asked the Royal Mint to produce an NFT for Britain as part of its goals to make the UK a global hub for crypto-asset technology and investment.

But MPs said it was not the Governments role to promote particular technological innovations for their own sake.

Around 10pc of adults in the UK hold or have held cryptoassets, according to HM Revenue & Customs.

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Italy rains kill at least two as more floods feared

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni tweeted her support for those affected

Heavy rains caused devastation across Italy's northern Emilia Romagna region, killing at least two people, as officials warned Wednesday more floods could follow.

"The emergency is still underway," the region said in a statement, after desperate efforts overnight to save children, the elderly and the disabled from rising waters.

The official death toll stood at two: a man in Forli, near Bologna, and one in Cesena, the region said.

But media reports said a third victim was found Wednesday on a beach in Cesenatico, while rescuers were trying to retrieve the body of a fourth from a largely submerged car near Ravenna.

Three people were also reported missing, the region said.

"The city is on its knees, devastated and in pain. It's the end of the world," Forli mayor Gian Luca Zattini wrote on Facebook.

It was fresh misery for an area hit by heavy rain just a fortnight ago, causing floods which left two dead.

"We're scared, this time we're scared," said Simona Matassoni, the owner of the Hotel Savio in Cesena, which has so far escaped flooding.

"I was born here, I've seen lots of full rivers, but never anything like this," she told AFP by telephone, adding that it was still raining.

"At the moment we're crossing our fingers... but another flood is expected, so who knows (what will happen)".

- 'Maximum caution' -

The civil protection agency said 14 rivers had broken their banks across the region between Tuesday and Wednesday, and 23 towns were flooded.

It urged "maximum caution", as mayors warned people to stay on high ground.

"About 5,000 people have been evacuated, but that number might rise," Civil Protection Minister Nello Musumeci told Radio 24.

At Imola, where the Formula One Emilia Romagna Grand Prix is due to take place on Sunday, the Santerno river which borders the track was flooded.

Race organisers asked journalists and team staff not to go to the circuit on Wednesday.

In Forli, an AFP photographer saw people in a state of shock late Tuesday, fleeing through floodwaters in the dark in their bare feet.

Images showed streets transformed into rivers, and firemen moving people to safety in rubber dinghies.

Elsewhere, muddy waters rushed at great speed under the arches of the covered walkways in Bologna, while locals in Cesena swam down a road to rescue a three-year-old child.

"We absolutely must not lower our guard," Cesena mayor Enzo Lattuca said on Facebook.

Residents "must not under any account go into basements or cellars", and should "stay out of ground floors if possible", he said.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on Tuesday tweeted her support for those affected and said the government was "ready to intervene with the necessary aid".

Some areas saw almost 300 millimetres of rain in just a few hours, Repubblica daily said.

Much of northern Italy suffered a drought last winter, on top of a record lack of rain last summer that ruined harvests.

However, spring has been wetter and colder than normal across the country.

ide/ar/bp
Through the BRI, around 150 countries have received Chinese funds and loans to build roads, ports, railways or hydroelectric dams

When Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni meets fellow G7 leaders this week, her allies will be looking for reassurances that Rome is ready to quit Beijing's Belt and Road (BRI) initiative.

Debt-ridden Italy in 2019 became the only one of the group of leading developed democracies to sign up to China's trillion-dollar investment scheme, which critics denounce as a predatory "Trojan horse" aimed at buying political influence.

The agreement automatically renews in March 2024 unless Italy opts out by the end of this year -- but leaving is no simple matter.

Meloni, whose far-right Brothers of Italy party won September elections, is keen to demonstrate Rome's loyalty to the United States, NATO and the European Union.

She is also under domestic pressure to secure her first invitation to the White House, with the highly symbolic BRI accord with China seen by political observers as a potential hitch.

During the election campaign, Meloni said the China deal was a "serious mistake", and her defence minister has also said its renewal is "unlikely".

Rome is wary, however, of provoking Beijing and risking retaliation against Italian companies already weakened by the coronavirus pandemic and suffering from sanctions on Russia over the Ukraine war.

Meloni said last week that no decision had been taken and that it was a situation "which must be handled very carefully".

A government source told AFP that Italy would not be making an announcement at the G7 summit in Japan, where leaders will look to agree a united line on China's growing military and economic power.

But closed-door discussions on how to distance from China without inflaming tensions are expected.

- 'Big promises' -

"Meloni has to be Yin and Yang at the same time," Giuliano Noci, a China expert at the Milan Polytechnic business school, told AFP.

"There's the North Atlantic Treaty and Western countries to consider... (but) she cannot leave (the BRI) to please the Americans while penalising Italian businesses, she would never be forgiven," he said.

But Philippe Le Corre, senior fellow at the Asia Society Policy Institute, said China's actions in recent years -- particularly its handling of the Covid-19 pandemic -- had affected its image in Italy "pretty badly".

"Politically I think Meloni's electorate would not understand it if she decided to stay in... unless China makes a big promise to her when she visits," he said, in reference to a trip to Beijing mooted for this summer.

Through the BRI, around 150 countries have received Chinese funds and loans to build infrastructure including roads, ports, railways and hydroelectric dams.

Italy's non-binding memorandum of understanding with China contained broad undertakings for cooperation in logistics, infrastructure, financial and environmental sectors.

But details were scarce and the lack of transparency has fuelled distrust among Italy's allies.

"The MOU was seen as Xi Jinping's top achievement during his 2019 European tour, and this 'success story' was used and reused in the Chinese media," Le Corre said, referring to China's president.

"The problem is that China did not deliver," he said.

- Disappointing -

When Meloni's predecessor Mario Draghi took office in February 2021, he essentially froze the accord and used the government's so-called "golden powers" to stop high-level investments in Italy by Chinese companies.

Lorenzo Codogno, a former chief economist at the Italian Treasury, said the BRI "seems to have had a limited impact" in Italy and "has disappointed in terms of new joint initiatives".

Other big European economies, such as Germany and France, have not joined the BRI, but have nonetheless secured important trade and investment deals.

"In 2021 (the latest available figures), the Netherlands received the most Chinese investment, followed by Germany, France and the UK," Codogno said in a note.

Not only is Italy not profiting greatly from the BRI, an abrupt exit could penalise key sectors like the luxury industry, and see countries like France nip into the vacuum, Noci warned.

Meloni could "rethink some parts of the memorandum", or opt out but "revitalise" an existing framework known as the Italy-China governmental committee, he said.

"The key thing is to not cause China to lose face, because that would be very problematic," he said.

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I've been terrified of driving my whole life, but a recent trip to Tennessee without a car made me realize I need to get over it

Insider's reporter takes a cab through the Cades Cove area in the Great Smoky Mountains. Joey Hadden/Insider

I'm a 27-year-old travel reporter who is terrified of driving.

A recent trip to the Great Smoky Mountains in Tennessee made me realize that I need to learn anyway.

With spaced-out hot spots and limited cab services, not having a car made my trip harder.

Driving terrifies me. The responsibility a person takes when they get behind the wheel of a car has always felt like something I couldn't take on myself. But in this world, I've recently learned that driving is a necessity for freedom.

Not getting my driver's license never really bugged me as a kid, when I lived in Texas. I always had rides from my older brother and later, my friends. After college, I moved straight to NYC, which made learning the daunting task feel even less necessary. So here I am, 27 and completely independent  as long as I'm in a big city with public transportation or access to ride-share apps.

But when I found myself stranded on the side of a highway next to the Great Smoky Mountains in the pouring rain, desperately calling cabs while I held back tears, I changed my mind about driving.

The author braves the rain in the Great Smoky Mountains. Joey Hadden/Insider

I went to the Great Smoky Mountains for a reporting trip. It was my first work destination that didn't include major cities, so transportation was something I considered when planning my trip. But my concerns were relieved when I read that cabs and ride-share apps were available in the area on Lonely Planet.

Later, when I got to Tennessee, I ran into an unpleasant surprise. Despite what I read, ride-share apps were not a reliable way to get around. Although I could search for rides on these apps, I wasn't ever able to find one to pick me up, save for my trip from the airport in Knoxville to my accommodations near the park.

This unexpected setback left me frantically scheduling cab rides, which I found to be quite limited in the area, as well. Unlike the cities I'm used to visiting, I found that the Great Smoky Mountains and surrounding towns of Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge were incredibly spaced out. Cab rides between cabins and towns were at least a half-hour long each, and usually longer.

Spending five days getting around the Great Smoky Mountains area without a car made me realize that not driving isn't sustainable if you want to live or travel in less urban areas  at least in the US. But there's so much to see in these often less-frequented places.

So it's time for me to be brave and face the wheel by practicing until I'm ready to get my license.

Read more: I visited the Great Smoky Mountains and the best part of my trip was an unexpected discovery I made while stuck in the rain with no way to get to my Airbnb

Read the original article on Insider
The Jackson Police Department honors fallen officers with flowers and a wreath at the annual Police Memorial Service.

Sacrificing your own life for the lives of others in the line of duty is a courageous act of bravery, honor and humility.

To honor those who have fallen in the line of duty, the Jackson Police Department hosted its annual Fallen Officers Memorial Service on Tuesday morning at the Mississippi Museum of Art in Jackson. The Mississippi Department of Public Safety also held a Tuesday morning MHP Fallen Officers Memorial Service at DPS headquarters in Jackson.

During the JPD ceremony, 18 fallen officers of the JPD were honored with a brief presentation of flowers and a wreath.

Speakers for the JPD ceremony included the Chief of JPD, James E. Davis, Safiya R. Omari of the Mayor's office and Hinds County District Attorney, Jody E. Owens II.

Davis said being a law enforcement officer is a lot of pressure under the weight of the badge.

"When someone gives their life for the life of a stranger is one of the ultimate sacrifices," Davis said. "We, the Jackson Police Department, thank you for allowing your family members to serve the city of Jackson. To the fallen officers, thank you for all you poured into us while in this constant battle to make the city of Jackson a better place."

Chief James E. Davis of The Jackson Police Department and Captain Marco Johnson of Investigations Services Bureau of JPD presented a Wreath to the fallen officers.

Davis said he was humbled to be a part of the annual memorial services to honor the lives of all fallen officers.

"This is a testament for a man or woman to lay down their life for the community so that the freedom we exercise may be enjoyed," Davis said. "The men we honor here today displayed an exceptional ballad of honor. Their sacrifices for the community made it possible for us to maintain an atmosphere of peace."

Safiya R. Omari with the City of Jackson also took a moment to thank those who served and the families who trusted law enforcement with their loved ones.

"To the families of those who made the ultimate sacrifice, on behalf of Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba and the City of Jackson, we thank you and understand that there are no words that can make up for the loss of loved ones," Omari said. "We thank you for sharing your loved ones with us. Those who serve today get up every day knowing that uniform may make you a target, but serve anyway; we thank you."

Col. Randy Ginn with the Mississippi Department of Public Safety speaks during the MHP Fallen Officers Memorial Service at DPS headquarters in Jackson, Miss, Tuesday, May 16, 2023.

In addition, JPD, Hinds County Sheriff's Department and the Jackson Fire Department Honor Guard presented brief presentations of taps for the fallen soldiers.

Owens said people must continue to honor the brave men and women who have sacrificed for the community.

"Without the sacrifices of those before us, we would live in a lawless society," Owens said. "Matthew 5:9 reads, Blessed are the peacemakers for they will be called children of God. This verse verifies God blesses those who worked for peace and reconciliation among people. After losing the lives of loved ones, things change forever, but I assure you the fallen soldier's lives will not be in vain."

Hinds County District Attorney Jody E. Owens II

Owens said it is vital we continue to celebrate and acknowledge those who wear the badge.

"It is our duty to keep going, building and representing that which they died for," Owens said.

Below is a list of the fallen officers with the Jackson Police Department.

Walker Guice

Patrol Division

End of Watch-Jan. 14, 1893

Cliff Hines

Patrol Division

End of Watch-Jan. 14, 1893

James Henry Redmond, III

Patrol Division

End of Watch-Feb. 1, 1902

Wilburn Burleson, Jr.

Traffic Division

End of Watch-March 10, 1961

Charles Buckley, Jr.

Patrol Division

End of Watch- March 14, 1965

Williams L. Skinner

Intelligence Division

End of Watch- Aug. 19, 1971

Floyd D. Seaton

Patrol Division

End of Watch-May 23, 1979

William R. Hickman

Patrol Division

End of Watch-April 13, 1981

Bobby J. Biggert

Patrol Division

End of Watch-Feb. 24, 1989

Rickey Joe Simmons

Patrol Division

End of Watch-Feb. 4, 1992

John R. Sandifer

Patrol Division

End of Watch-Sept. 18, 1994

Robert J. Washington, Sr.

Patrol Division

End of Watch-Nov. 14, 1995

Brian R. Kinsey

Patrol Division

End of Watch- Oct. 22, 1997

Thomas D. Catchings, Sr.

Patrol Division

End of Watch-March 17, 2005

Glen V. Agee

Patrol Division

End of Watch-Aug. 6, 2010

Eric T. Smith, Sr.

Major Investigations Division

End of Watch-April 4, 2013

Bruce D. Jacob

Patrol Division

End of Watch-July 20, 2013

Bryan A. Pippin

Special Operations

End of Watch-Sept. 9, 2021

Below is a list of fallen officers with the Mississippi Department of Public Safety

Trooper John Martin Harris

Mississippi Department of Public Safety - Mississippi Highway Patrol, MS

End of Watch-Friday, May 28, 2021

Master Sgt. Steve Loy Hood

Mississippi Department of Public Safety - Mississippi Highway Patrol, MS

End of Watch-Friday, May 29, 2009

Trooper Paul Denham

Mississippi Department of Public Safety - Mississippi Highway Patrol, MS

End of Watch-Monday, Dec. 27, 1999

Trooper Bobby L. "Bubba" Wells, Jr.

Mississippi Department of Public Safety - Mississippi Highway Patrol, MS

End of Watch-Tuesday, June 27, 1995

Trooper Tommie Earl Owens

Mississippi Department of Public Safety - Mississippi Highway Patrol, MS

End of Watch-Friday, July 28, 1989

Staff Sgt. Ralph R. Newell

Mississippi Department of Public Safety - Mississippi Highway Patrol, MS

End of Watch-Friday, Oct. 28, 1988

Trooper David Bruce Ladner

Mississippi Department of Public Safety - Mississippi Highway Patrol, MS

End of Watch-Sunday, April 12, 1987

Cpl. James Kenneth Bounds

Mississippi Department of Public Safety - Mississippi Highway Patrol, MS

End of Watch-Sunday, Oct. 21, 1984

Trooper Steven K. Gardner

Mississippi Department of Public Safety - Mississippi Highway Patrol, MS

End of Watch-Friday, March 23, 1984

Trooper George Danny Nash Jr.

Mississippi Department of Public Safety - Mississippi Highway Patrol, MS

End of Watch-Friday, Feb. 4, 1983

Trooper Billy M. Langham

Mississippi Department of Public Safety - Mississippi Highway Patrol, MS

End of Watch-Thursday, Dec. 31, 1981

Sgt. Joe Clay

Mississippi Department of Public Safety - Mississippi Highway Patrol, MS

End of Watch-Monday, May 27, 1974

Sgt. William O. Swindoll

Mississippi Department of Public Safety - Mississippi Highway Patrol, MS

End of Watch-Saturday, Oct. 5, 1968

Master Sgt. William Kenny

Mississippi Department of Public Safety - Mississippi Highway Patrol, MS

End of Watch-Thursday, Dec. 21, 1967

Trooper Tommy E. Kendall

Mississippi Department of Public Safety - Mississippi Highway Patrol, MS

End of Watch-Monday, May 16, 1966

Sgt. Joseph A. Pol

Mississippi Department of Public Safety - Mississippi Highway Patrol, MS

End of Watch-Saturday, Nov. 27, 1965

Trooper Marcus Lamastus

Mississippi Department of Public Safety - Mississippi Highway Patrol, MS

End of Watch-Saturday, July 17, 1965

Sgt. Julian Davis

Mississippi Department of Public Safety - Mississippi Highway Patrol, MS

End of Watch-Wednesday, Nov. 27, 1963

Trooper Daniel E. Smith

Mississippi Department of Public Safety - Mississippi Highway Patrol, MS

End of Watch-Saturday, Nov. 7, 1959

Trooper Hurfu L. Duckworth

Mississippi Department of Public Safety - Mississippi Highway Patrol, MS

End of Watch-Wednesday, Aug. 19, 1959

Capt. Walter W. Smith

Mississippi Department of Public Safety - Mississippi Highway Patrol, MS

End of Watch-Thursday, Sept. 22, 1955

Trooper Carl M. Thach

Mississippi Department of Public Safety - Mississippi Highway Patrol, MS

End of Watch-Friday, Jan. 15, 1954

Trooper Herbert E. Nixon

Mississippi Department of Public Safety - Mississippi Highway Patrol, MS

End of Watch-Sunday, April 22, 1951

Trooper James H. Tingle

Mississippi Department of Public Safety - Mississippi Highway Patrol, MS

End of Watch-Thursday, Sept. 7, 1950

Trooper Cyril J. Reichert

Mississippi Department of Public Safety - Mississippi Highway Patrol, MS

End of Watch-Wednesday, Feb. 5, 1947

Trooper James Mortimer Barry

Mississippi Department of Public Safety - Mississippi Highway Patrol, MS

End of Watch-Saturday, Feb. 1, 1947

Capt. Loma Laine Dyess

Mississippi Department of Public Safety - Mississippi Highway Patrol, MS

End of Watch-Tuesday, Oct. 27, 1942

Trooper Adrian Cole

Mississippi Department of Public Safety - Mississippi Highway Patrol, MS

End of Watch-Sunday, Sept. 8, 1940

This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: MS fallen officers honored for their sacrifice in the line of duty
Roy Curry, the father of Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry, has died, the city announced in a statement on Wednesday afternoon.

The city shared a picture of the mayor with his father on social media along with the following statement:

We extend our heartfelt condolences to Mayor Lenny Curry and his family on the unexpected loss of his father, Mr. Roy Curry. The thoughts and prayers of all of us at the City remain with Mayor Curry, First Lady Molly, Boyd, Brooke, and Bridget as they navigate this sad loss.

We extend our heartfelt condolences to Mayor @lennycurry and his family on the unexpected loss of his father, Mr. Roy Curry. The thoughts and prayers of all of us at the City remain with Mayor Curry, First Lady Molly, Boyd, Brooke, and Bridget as they navigate this sad loss. pic.twitter.com/xOn0BTcZ71  City of Jacksonville (@CityofJax) May 17, 2023

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(Bloomberg) -- Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida brought the Group of Seven summit to his hometown of Hiroshima to persuade world leaders to scrap nuclear arms. Instead, the US allies are expected to discuss bringing more to the region to deter common foes.

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At the meeting starting on Friday, Kishidas long-held ambition of a world without nuclear arms is set to clash with the harsh realities of the security challenges posed by China, North Korea and Russia, all of which neighbor Japan and possess about half of the worlds nuclear warheads.

Dealing with President Vladimir Putin, who threatened to unleash the first atomic attack on European soil as part of his war on Ukraine, will be particularly high on the agenda.

The contrast will be even sharper when leaders from the worlds wealthiest democracies on Friday visit the peace park that was ground zero for the first nuclear attack 78 years ago, which killed an estimated 140,000 people. They may also come face to face with people like Yoshiko Kajimoto, now 92, who was a girl in Hiroshima when the US dropped an atomic bomb on the city in 1945. She thought she was going to perish in a white flash.

In this summit, I want everyone to become serious and find a way toward nuclear abolition, she said in an interview. I dont want it to be settled with just some sort of a consideration or saying vague words.

Behind closed doors, however, leaders are set to discuss ways to expand the USs nuclear umbrella of protection offered to allies such as Japan and South Korea, which dont have atomic weapons of their own. Previous contingency planning has weighed toward preemptive and retaliatory strikes.

Russias nuclear threats combined with the rapid build-up of capabilities by North Korea and China have certainly raised the salience of nuclear weapons in Northeast Asia, said Ankit Panda, a senior fellow in the nuclear policy program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

Increasingly, decision-makers in these states are concerned about possible nuclear coercion in future crises and have thus doubled down on their own independent defense capabilities alongside their respective alliances with the United States, he said.

In addition to Putins threats, Chinas growing stockpile of warheads and missiles to send them around the world drew the attention of G-7 foreign ministers when they met last month. The US Department of Defense said in a report last year that Beijings nuclear warhead supply has surpassed 400 and is on a path for about 1,500 warheads by 2035.

North Korea has also been testing at a blistering pace nuclear-capable missiles designed to hit the US mainland as well as Japan and South Korea, which host the bulk of American military personnel in the region. G-7 statements have also typically highlighted other concerns regarding non-proliferation, including Irans atomic ambitions. The groups leaders have been trying to get the Kremlin to implement the New START treaty on limiting nuclear weapons stockpiles.

G-7 leaders are likely to try to thread the needle between Kishidas call for nuclear disarmament and the need to counter the growing nuclear threats around the globe, according to Nobumasa Akiyama, dean of the School of International and Public Policy at Hitotsubashi University outside of Tokyo. This will likely include a message directed at countries such as Russia and China that nuclear weapon shouldnt be used in any circumstances, he added.

To cope with the crisis, there are two measures. One is to strengthen deterrence, he said, adding, at the same time, we have to do some efforts to reduce the risk, which could include talks with potential adversaries.

Over the past year, the US has brought more assets capable of launching nuclear strikes closer to Japan and South Korea. This has included the first visit by a US carrier group in five years to waters off the Korean Peninsula, which was followed by three more visits, as well as joint training among the US, Japan and South Korea for intercepting missiles and hunting submarines.

More shows of force are on the way. South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol won assurances during a summit with President Joe Biden in April to strengthen extended deterrence measures, including more regular deployments of nuclear-armed submarines.

One such submarine is set to make a publicly announced visit to South Korea within months, the first such trip in decades, according to Pentagon officials. The Ohio-class submarines, nicknamed Boomers, each carries up to 20 D-5 Trident ballistic missiles and are designed to glide undetected. Their port calls have seldom been disclosed  much less trumpeted  by their commanders for security concerns.

The displays of US military might are meant to serve as a reminder of a warning Biden issued to leader Kim Jong Un that a nuclear strike by North Korea would be suicidal. Kim, however, will likely use the moves to justify tests of new weapons and avoid resuming stalled disarmament talks with the US.

Closer US-South Korea-Japan military cooperation will likely reinforce Pyongyangs current foreign policy of alignment with China and Russia, which in turn will have negative consequences for the prospects of US-North Korea diplomatic relations, said Rachel Minyoung Lee, a regional issues manager at the Vienna-based Open Nuclear Network who worked as an analyst for the CIAs Open Source Enterprise for almost two decades.

While the US has removed its deployments of nuclear weapons from Japan and South Korea decades ago, it maintains what the Pentagon bills as Americas largest munitions depot in the world in Guam. The jungle-strewn island is home to a US Air Force base with bombers capable of delivering nuclear strikes in places such as North Korea and further afield.

That has also made the island a target. As China and North Korea rolled out new missiles that could hit the US territory, the Biden administration began installing a $1.5 billion missile defense system on Guam, John Plumb, the assistant secretary of Defense for Space Policy, told a US Senate committee this month.

All of that doesnt bode well for residents of Hiroshima who want G-7 leaders to commit to getting rid of nuclear weapons once and for all.

Shouldnt we create a world where we dont rely on nuclear weapons? Kazumi Matsui, the citys mayor, said in an interview from his offices. Now is the time to consider how we can truly achieve that.

--With assistance from Alberto Nardelli.

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Japan visitors rise to nearly 2 million in April after China eases travel curbs

TOKYO (Reuters) - Visitors to Japan rose to a post-pandemic high of almost 2 million in April, official data showed on Wednesday, benefiting from a relaxation of travel restrictions in China.

The number of foreign visitors for business and leisure climbed to 1.95 million last month from 1.82 million in March, the Japan National Tourism Organisation (JNTO) said.

Arrivals were still down 33% from April 2019, before pandemic travel curbs were adopted the next year.

China last month eased outbound travel restrictions that had cut off a lucrative flow of visitors during the pandemic. A record 9.5 million Chinese visitors landed in Japan in 2019, a third of all visitors.

But a full recovery is likely to take time because of a lingering shortage of flights.

"We foresee a continuous increase in the number of international flights from China as there has been an 11% capacity increase between March 2023 and April 2023," said Asami Chung, general manager of travel management company FCM Japan.

There were 108,300 Chinese arrivals in April, according to JNTO data, a 43% jump from March but still well off of 2019 levels.

Traveller numbers have risen steadily since Japan resumed visa-free travel for many countries in October. It stopped pre-arrival COVID tests for travellers from China on April 5 and scrapped remaining infection controls on May 8.

Tourism to Japan all but halted for more than two years during the pandemic until a gradual reopening starting in June 2022. Meanwhile the yen has weakened precipitously against the euro and U.S. dollar, making trips to Japan the cheapest they have been in many years.

"The weak yen is positively influencing travel to Japan despite the high cost," said Chung, noting that Tokyo still has the most expensive hotel rates in Asia.

(Reporting by Rocky Swift; Editing by Shri Navaratnam and Gerry Doyle)
This years opening film in Cannes has been so engulfed in scandal that few had hope itd be any good. Its writer-director-star Maiwenn first caused consternation by choosing Johnny Depp to play Louis XV, in what would be his first acting role since his hugely acrimonious divorce from Amber Heard  she famously accused him of domestic violence. Then, not long before the festival started, Maiwenn admitted that she had spat in the face of a journalist. He has since filed a complaint against her for assault. Many have asked: what on earth is Cannes doing?

Against the odds, Jeanne du Barry has turned out to be a subtle and well-crafted costume drama with plenty of satirical bite. It has more in common with Stanley Kubricks Barry Lyndon than it does Pirates of the Caribbean, with Depp giving one of his more restrained and effective performances as the king who falls in love with a courtesan. His Louis is a taciturn, melancholy but commanding figure with a dark side.

Jeanne du Barry (played by Maiwenn) is a young woman from a very humble background who, partly through chance and partly through her own enterprise, ends up at the Palace of Versailles. She is abominably treated by many of the men she encounters but has enough wit and humour to get ahead all the same. The screenplay, co-written by Maiwenn, lays bare the absurdity and chauvinism of court life. After the king takes a shine to her, Jeanne is forced to undergo a humiliating gynecological examination before a doctor pronounces her worthy of the royal bed.

As a director, Maiwenn pays exhaustive attention to costume and production design. There are none of the anachronisms that were found in Sofia Coppolas Marie Antoinette (2006), which also played in Cannes, but there is the same obsessive interest in how characters dress and, in particular, wear their hair. The film also makes very inventive use of its Versailles locations, from its hall of mirrors to the many cavernous reception rooms where the overdressed aristocrats perform their bizarre rituals. Depps Louis XV is first seen at a distance, marching in a blue frock coat toward the assembled dignitaries. This is a very hierarchical world, in which every look, gesture and word has hidden meaning. Everybody is plotting against everybody else. Its regarded as bad form to show emotion.

In its latter stages, the plot stutters a little. Although the French revolution is only a few years away and many of the protagonists shown here are destined for the guillotine, court life is remarkably uneventful. Theres a constant jostling for power and influence  and thats about it. The only real dramatic tension comes as Jeanne waits to see if the young and air-headed Marie Antoinette will deign to talk to her and thereby demonstrate that she is not a pariah.

Jeanne is the one character who gives in to spontaneous emotion. Everyone else is too bound by convention or self-interest to reveal their true feelings. As a love story, the film is therefore on the lukewarm side. The king and the courtesan have a deep affection for one another but dont show much passion. The greater richness here lies in the films mordant humour and often monstrous characters.

What Jeanne du Barry will do for Depps faltering reputation remains to be seen, but he gives a solid enough performance. This time, at least, the Cannes doom-mongers were wrong.

Dir: Maiwenn. Starring: Maiwenn, Johnny Depp, Melvil Poupaud, Pierre Richard. 116 minutes.

Jeanne du Barry is awaiting a UK release
House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Turner (R-Ohio) and House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) are warning the CIA they could subpoena the agency if it does not produce documents related to a 2020 letter pushing back on the Hunter Biden laptop story.

If the CIA does not produce all responsive documents, the Committees may resort to compulsory process, Turner and Jordan wrote in the Wednesday letter to CIA Director William Burns, giving a May 30 deadline.

In response to the letter, a CIA spokesperson told The Hill: We remain committed to working with our Congressional oversight committees and providing them the information they need to do their work.

The letter is part of the House GOPs probe into suppression of news about the contents of Hunter Bidens laptop hard drive obtained by former President Trumps lawyer Rudy Giuliani and then reported by the New York Post in the weeks before the 2020 election.

Fifty-one former senior intelligence officials signed a letter that warned the reports contents and emails has all the classic earmarks of a Russian information operation  a letter that now-President Biden referenced in a debate against Trump. But the former intelligence officials noted that they did not have evidence of Russian involvement, and contents of the hard drive were later authenticated by other news outlets.

Republicans have argued that suppression of the story on social media and former intelligence officials pushing back on the story likely influenced the election in its final weeks.

Committee Republicans investigating the origins of the letter released a report last week on findings that included a message from now-Secretary of State Antony Blinken, then a Biden campaign adviser, to former CIA acting Director Michael Morell prompted Morell to draft the letter. The agencys Prepublication Classification Review Board (PCRB) approved the letter via email in a standard process.

But based on an email from one of the signatories, Republicans are probing whether at least one active CIA employee was involved in getting signatures for the letters. Former CIA employee David Cariens wrote in a 2023 email that a publications review board employee, in a phone call while approving one of his books, told him about the letter and asked if he wanted to sign.

If accurate, this information raises fundamental concerns about the role of the CIA in helping to falsely discredit allegations about the Biden family in the weeks before the 2020 presidential election, Turner and Jordan wrote in the Tuesday letter to the CIA director.

Democrats on the House Intelligence and Judiciary committees say Republicans concerns are misleading. In a document last week sharing excerpts of transcripts with other witnesses, Democrats noted that Cariens responded to an email request from a former CIA employee to sign the letter eight minutes later. And Cariens has not yet been interviewed under oath.

Jordans claim that the CIA promoted this letter is not justified by his investigation, House Intelligence Committee ranking member Jim Himes (D-Conn.) said in a statement last week. Im sorry that Judiciary Committee Republicans publicized unexamined allegations on an incomplete record. [The House Intelligence Committee] will continue to conduct effective, fact-driven oversight of the Intelligence Community.

Judiciary Committee ranking member Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) said in a statement last week that Jordan is fabricating these conspiracy theories and ignoring the evidence in front of him.

Jordan and Turner said that after their report was released last week, the CIA in a phone conversation with committee staff committed to searching for documents with the names of the letter signatories in October 2020; searching for all documents and communications in relation to Carienss book; and a search of all CIA phone records for communications between CIA employees and the 51 letter signatories in October 2020.

Cariens did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Updated at 5:49 p.m.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
The Biden administration has long vowed to take a more 'humane' approach to US immigration policy.

Just after taking office, US President Joe Biden vowed to put an end to what he termed the "moral and ethical" shame of Donald Trump's immigration policies.

The Trump administration had adopted a strict border policy and the Biden White House promised a more "humane" approach.

But the Democratic president has faced criticism from immigration advocates who say his policies are unduly harsh.

Here's how the two US presidents compare.

Sending migrants back

What Trump did: In March 2020, at the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Trump administration invoked Title 42, a controversial statute ostensibly meant as a public health measure.

The policy allowed US authorities to swiftly expel migrants - including asylum seekers - at the border.

Nearly 400,000 people were detained and expelled between its implementation and January 2021, when Mr Trump left the White House.

Even at the height of the pandemic, Title 42 came under frequent criticism from those who argued the policy allowed the US to expel asylum seekers without any legal process.

Human Rights Watch, for example, said the policy was "illegal and violates the human rights of those subjected to it".

What Biden did: He defended keeping Title 42 in place, using the pandemic as justification.

Over 2.28 million people were expelled using Title 42 authority between January 2021 and March 2023, the last month for which data is available.

But when the US ended its coronavirus public health emergency on May 11, Title 42 expired with it.

To replace it, US immigration authorities unveiled a "carrot and stick" approach that encourages legal pathways, while also implementing strict penalties for those who cross illegally.

They have opened regional processing centres in Latin America aimed at helping migrants apply to come to the US and expanded access to CBP One, an app migrants can use to schedule asylum appointments.People who cross illegally will be deported, barred from re-entering the US for at least five years, and be "presumed ineligible for asylum", according to Customs and Border Protection (CBP).

Under Title 42, there were no such consequences.

Republicans have said they fear the policies won't do enough to stop an influx of migrants.

Some Democrats, as well as some immigration advocates, claim the policies implemented after Title 42 also violate international refugee law.

Making migrants stay in Mexico

What Trump did: In January 2019, the Trump administration implemented a policy - officially known as Migrant Protection Protocols, or MPP - that forced asylum seekers to wait in Mexico for their US immigration hearings.

About 70,000 people were returned to Mexico under the policy. They were often left there for months at a time and sometimes preyed upon by criminal gangs.

Human Rights First, a charity organisation, estimated that more than 1,500 migrants were kidnapped, raped or abused after being returned to Mexico.

Mr Biden called the policy "inhumane".

What Biden did: The administration moved to suspend Remain in Mexico on Mr Biden's first day in the White House in January 2021. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) moved to officially terminate the policy in June the same year.

But a ruling by a Trump-appointed federal court judge in Texas found that the administration had improperly cancelled the policy. It was restarted in December 2021.

In June 2022, the US Supreme Court sided with the Biden administration, ruling it didn't violate proper administrative procedure in rescinding Remain in Mexico. The ruling allowed the policy to be terminated.

Migrant with child at the Texas-Mexico border

Separating families

What Trump did: Under Mr Trump, the US government had a "zero-tolerance" policy that allowed US authorities to deport adults who crossed the border illegally.

In some cases parents were deported back to their home countries without their children, who were placed in government custody.

Mr Trump repeatedly defended - and continues to defend - the policy as a way to deter would-be migrants.

At least 3,900 children were separated from their parents between 2017 and 2021.

What Biden did: Mr Biden reversed the practice and some families - but not all - have been reunited.

While a task force has reunited most families, as of March nearly 1,000 children are still separated from their parents, government statistics show.

In December 2021, the administration also moved to stop holding families in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention.

In a separate but related recent policy, the Biden administration announced it would let in 100,000 migrants from Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala and Colombia who have family in the US.

Details on the programme remain scant, but the US has said that requests will be handled by the new regional processing hubs. Those approved will receive travel authorisation before heading to the US.

Once there, they will be eligible to apply for work permits while they await immigrant visas. More details on the programme are expected to be announced in June.
Johnny Depp addresses Hollywood boycott at Cannes: Youd have to not have a pulse

Johnny Depp has said that the majority of words written about him are fantastically, horrifically written fiction while speaking about being boycotted by Hollywood.

Depp has returned to the screen for Jeanne du Barry, a French-language film which opened the Cannes Film Festival on Tuesday (16 May) night. The film received a seven-minute standing ovation, with Depp seen in tears in response.

The project, from French filmmaker Maiwenn, marks the Pirates of the Caribbean stars first lead role since winning his highly publicised defamation trial against his ex-wife Amber Heard last year.

Depp sued Heard for defamation, claiming that she had falsely implied he was abusive towards her in a 2018 Washington Post op-ed titled: I spoke up against sexual violence  and faced our cultures wrath. That has to change.

The jury ultimately ruled in favour of Depp, though they also found in favour of Heards countersuit, in which she claimed that Depps lawyer had defamed her by describing her abuse allegations as a hoax. Heard later settled the defamation case with Depp.

On Wednesday (17 May), Depp appeared at a press conference alongside Jeanne du Barrys cast and creative team. He was 42 minutes late to the conference.

Asked whether he still agreed with previous comments that he had been boycotted by Hollywood, the 59-year-old said: Did I feel boycotted by Hollywood? Youd have to not have a pulse at that point to feel [like], None of this is happening, this is actually just a weird joke  youve been asleep for 35 years!

Of course, when youre asked to resign from a film youre doing because of something that is merely a bunch of vowels and consonants floating in the air, you feel a bit boycotted.

Depp appeared at the press conference on Wednesday (Festival de Cannes)

In 2020, Depp announced that he was leaving the Harry Potter spin-off franchise Fantastic Beasts, having been asked to resign by Warner Bros.

His departure came after losing a libel case against The Sun in the UK, in which he sued the paper after it published an article describing him as a wife beater. A UK court ruled that the claim was substantially true.

Depp has not been cast in a major US film since the UK trial.

Speaking in Cannes, Depp continued: Do I feel boycotted now? No, not at all. I dont feel boycotted by Hollywood because I dont think about it. I dont think about Hollywood. I dont have much further need for Hollywood myself.

Its a very strange, funny time where everybody would love to be able to be themselves but they cant, because they must fall in line. You want to live that kind of life? I wish you the best. Ill be on the other side somewhere.

Referring to the idea he was making a comeback with Jeanne du Barry, Depp said: I didnt go anywhere. As a matter of fact, I live about 45 minutes away Comeback, its almost like Im going to come out and do a tap dance.

The notion of something like that, its a bizarre mystery.

You can read The Independents review of Jeanne du Barry here.
Johnny Depp admits he felt boycotted after Amber Heard drama, has no 'further need' for Hollywood

Johnny Depp admits he felt boycotted after Amber Heard drama, has no 'further need' for Hollywood

Johnny Depp is not holding back.

When questioned at length by the media for the first time since his defamation trial against ex-wife Amber Heard concluded last year, Depp was quick to answer if he had felt boycotted by the industry that made him a star.

"Did I feel boycotted by Hollywood? Well, youd have to not have a pulse to feel at that point like this was all just a weird joke," he said during a press conference at Cannes Film Festival to promote his upcoming film "Jeanne du Barry," per The Hollywood Reporter.

"Of course, when youre asked to resign from a film youre doing because of something thats merely a bunch of vowels and consonants floating in the air Do I feel boycotted now? No, not at all. But I dont feel boycotted because I dont think about Hollywood. I dont feel much further need for Hollywood  I dont know about you."

JOHNNY DEPP PRAISED ON CANNES FILM FESITVAL RED CARPET ONE YEAR AFTER AMBER HEARD TRIAL

Johnny Depp shared that while he does not feel boycotted by Hollywood, he also does not feel like he needs it anymore.

On the first full day of press in Cannes, Depp was noticeably absent from his cast and crew behind the podium, ready to field questions about the production. The moderator revealed Depp would be making an appearance, although he would be late.

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About 45 minutes into the conversation, Depp walked into the room and was met with applause. The previous night, Depp had received a 7-minute standing ovation for his performance in the upcoming Maiwenn film. Depp was brought to tears.

Johnny Depp was seen wiping away tears after receiving a 7-minute standing ovation at the Cannes Film Festival.

Depp also expressed that he's not interested in the media's interpretation of his return to the big screen, questioning why his resurgence is being characterized as a comeback.

"I keep wondering about the word comeback, because I didnt go anywhere," Depp noted in the press conference. "I live about 45 minutes away."

"Maybe people stopped calling out of whatever their fear was at the time. But I didnt go nowhere. Ive been sitting around. Comeback is almost like Im going to come out and do a tap dance  dance my best and hope you approve. Thats the notion. Its a bizarre mystery."

While doing press for his film "Jeanne du Barry," Johnny Depp was met with a barrage of questions surrounding his reputation in Hollywood.

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"Its a very strange, funny time when everyone would love to be themselves, but they cant because they must fall in line with the person in front of them," Depp said. "If you want to follow that line, be my guest. Ill be on the other side."

Despite the controversial nature of his presence, Depp has been met with hoards of fans at the festival, with supporters photographed holding signs that say "Viva Johnny" and "Congrats Johnny."

Depp acknowledged what has been written about him in the press conference, offering "The majority of you who have been reading for the last five or six years, with regards to me and my life  the majority of what youve read is fantastically, horrifically written fiction," he explained. "The fact is, were here to talk about the film. But its like asking the question, How are you doing? But whats underneath in the subtext is, God, I hate you. Thats the sort of media thing."
Johnny Depp showed up to a Cannes Film Festival press conference 42 minutes later than scheduled.

The actor, 59, is attending the festival to promote Jeanne du Barry, a biographical drama in which he plays King Louis XV of France.

It marks his first on-screen role since the high-profile court case between him and former wife Amber Heard last year.

Depp sued Heard for defamation after she wrote about her experience with sexual violence in a Washington Post op-ed in 2018. After six weeks in court, a jury ultimately ruled in Depps favour.

After the films first screening on Tuesday (16 May), Depp was so moved by the audiences seven-minute-long standing ovation that he is thought to have teared up with emotion.

On Wednesday (17 May), the actor delayed the start of a press conference discussing the film by failing to show up at the correct scheduled time of noon.

New York Times journalist Kyle Buchanan tweeted: The JEANNE DU BARRY press conference is beginning 20 minutes late because Johnny Depp has not shown up for it.

Later, Buchanan noted that neither Depp nor the films director and lead co-star Maiwenn had shown up after 25 minutes of waiting.

Johnny Depp has arrived to his films press conference, 42 minutes late. pic.twitter.com/FmHpSDaVYb  Kyle Buchanan (@kylebuchanan) May 17, 2023

After 33 minutes, Buchanan reported that Maiwenn and the remaining cast had shown up, before Depp, 59, finally arrived, 42 minutes late.

The Pirates of the Caribbean star went on to answer questions about whether he felt as if Hollywood had boycotted him in recent years, and whether he or Maiwenn were affected by the media attention brought to the film following his trial.

During another press conference at Cannes on Tuesday, Marvel star Brie Larson was asked to share her thoughts on Depps film being the first to open the film festival, despite the controversy.
"Jeanne Du Barry" Press Conference - The 76th Annual Cannes Film Festival

Johnny Depp attends the "Jeanne Du Barry" press conference at the 76th annual Cannes film festival on May 17, 2023 Credit - Guillaume HorcajueloGetty Images

The aging process is kind to no one, and that includes Johnny Depp.

On Tuesday, Depp was here in Cannes to walk the red carpet for the festivals opening night film, Maiwenns misunderstood-mistress extravaganza Jeanne du Barry, in which Depp plays King Louis XV, whose devotion to his favorite extramarital squeeze brought scandal upon Versailles. When it was announced that a Depp film would be opening the festival, murmurs of Sacre bleu! were heard far beyond the kingdom, though perhaps not so much in France: the festival itself has opened its arms wide to Depp, who hasnt exactly been untouched by controversy in the past few years, given his involvement in two high-profile defamation suits connected with allegations that he physically abused his former wife, Amber Heard. (The jury ruled that Heard defamed Depp on three counts and awarded him $15 million in damages; Depp was found guilty of one of three charges in Heards countersuit and she was awarded $2 million in compensatory damages.)

The allegations, and the details of the subsequent messy trials, are horrifying enough by themselves. The trollish Depp fans who took to social media to harass Heard and the women who stood up for her made the situation uglier. Youd have to have been cryogenically frozen through most of 2022 to have missed any of it. Yet at the festivals opening press conference on Mondaythis is its 76th editionCannes chief Thierry Fremaux defended the festivals choice to kick off with the film. If theres one person in this world who didnt find the least interest in this very publicized trial, its me, he said. I dont care what its about. I also care about Johnny Depp as an actor.

Fremauxs ostrich-head-in-the-sand act is disingenuous. But his last two statements entwine opposing ideas that bear thinking about. Is it possible to care about acts Depp may have committed, and to care about what happens to women when they come forward with allegations of domestic violence? And also to care about Johnny Depp as an actoras a performer who, at certain points of his career, if no longer, was capable of bringing us the kind of joy that we go to the movies for in the first place?

Though Depp still has legions of hardcore fans who will not give up the Black Pearl for love or moneyquite a few of them showed up in Cannes on Tuesday night to cheer him onmany of us who used to love him cant look at him exactly as we did in the 1990s. The Depp of Donnie Brasco, of Whats Eating Gilbert Grape, of Ed Wood and Dead Man, was magnificent to behold, an actor of microshaded subtlety and unforced charm. Even his roles in the earlier Tim Burton moviesas a somber, stammering Ichabod Crane in Sleepy Hollow, or a winsome artificial boy in Edward Scissorhandsshowed layers of depth within their expressionist stylization. His translucent silent-movie-star skin, his eyes capable of shifting emotional colors within the space of a heartbeat: to watch him was to sink into the deepest pleasures an actor can give us.

Then Depp began to hideor allow himself to be hiddenin the bedraggled pirate ruffles and rock-star eyeliner of the dismal Pirates of the Caribbean movies, and the Look at me! multi-toned pancake of Tim Burtons exhaustingly eccentric characters. His lost-boy naivete began to come off as schtick. In the Pirates movies, his googly-eyed mannerisms drove audiences wild. Why bother with acting when gimmickry will do the trick?

According to the current rules of how were supposed to view male artists accused of unspeakable behavior, it should be easier to despise Depp as a human being now that its become so hard to defend him as an actor. Righteous anger is the easiest fix for complex, possibly conflicting feelings. Even defending the artistry of a great or once-great filmmaker or actorit could be Roman Polanski, Woody Allen, or Bernardo Bertolucciwho has either committed or been accused of committing a heinous act is enough to get you branded a traitor. Essayist Claire Dederer has just written a whole book about how we should feel about what she calls monstrous men. Its normal to feel troubled or conflicted about artists we love, or once loved, but weve somehow been conditioned to believe that even conflicted feelings are bad. God forbid we hold two or more ideas in our heads at once.

I no longer have much invested in who the actor Johnny Depp is today, and I have serious doubts about what he must be like as a human being. But watching him both in Jeanne du Barry and on the red carpetand reading the reports coming through this morning about how moved he was to have received such a warm welcome in Cannesonly made me miserable. Jeanne du Barry is gleamingly, tastefully handsome, as well as sometimes thunderously dumb, but its not unwatchable. Maiwenn herself plays the Countess du Barry, though in only a few scenes does she wear the typical 18th century beehive of powdered hair; mostly, her locks flow anachronistically wild and free, like Stephanie Seymours in the 90s. She plays Jeanne as the Fun Gal of Versailleswearing big clown stripes! donning breeches and ruffles and tromping around on horseback! kissing the king behind a napkin at formal dinners! And she owns a Black child, given to her by her paramour the king, but dont hold that against hershes really, really nice to him.

As the ruler who ostensibly adores her, Deppin some scenes his cheeks and lips monstrously rouged, almost in a garish Edward Scissorhands approximationmerely looks like a guy who has no idea how he landed in Versailles. His lines, delivered in French, have a waxy stiffness. His eyes look beady and glazed, as if all his eyelashes had been burned off. This is Depps most high-profile film in years, but its less a comeback than a tepid lurching into a very small spotlight.

The photos and footage of Depp on the red carpet dont make the story any happier. He looked to be pleased by the attention, but there was also something tentative about him, as if hed lost his grip on this particular realitythe false reality of a crowds adoration at a place like Cannesand was very slowly getting it back.

Reclaiming that false reality is likely to do Depp more harm than good. A 2018 Rolling Stone profile by Stephen Rodrick, written in the aftermath of the Depp-Heard breakup, showed the actor spending much of his time locked away in a mansion fortress, guzzling expensive wine (reportedly more than $30,000 worth each month), and nursing the depths of his melancholy. Depp is an adult; hes about to turn 60. He has made his own decisions and created his own problems. But I dont think anyone who truly cares about acting and actors should feel happy about what hes become. To see him looking as if all the life has been sucked out of himnot to mention the creeping jowlishness, the deepening frown lines, and other physical indignities that come with getting olderis akin to watching a bird fall from the sky, though birds, unlike men, dont bring about their own downfall. Depp is a nest of tragedies, an extraordinarily gifted man who has most likely hurt others, as well as himself. Hes his own worst enemy, and no matter how loudly the crowd cheers for you, theres no glamour or valor in that.
Johnny Depp walked the red carpet at Cannes before the premiere of Jeanne du Barry

US film star Johnny Depp has returned to the international stage for the first time in three years, appearing on the red carpet at the opening night of the Cannes Film Festival.

He signed autographs and took selfies with fans before the premiere of Jeanne du Barry, in which he plays Louis XV alongside actress and director Maiwenn.

It is Depp's first major role since a series of high-profile court battles with his ex-wife Amber Heard.

The film received a standing ovation.

Depp reportedly became emotional at the response but critics have been more lukewarm in their assessment of the movie.

The French-language film tells the story of a woman - played by Maiwenn - born into poverty who becomes the French king's final mistress.

But the decision to invite Depp to the festival has been controversial, leading to the hashtag #CannesYouNot trending on social media.

He was dropped from the Fantastic Beasts franchise three years ago after losing a libel case with a newspaper which called him a wife beater.

Last year he won a defamation case against Heard after she called herself a victim of abuse in the Washington Post.

On Monday festival director Thierry Fremaux said he was not interested in Depp's legal woes, adding: "I am interested in Depp the actor."

Speaking at a press conference to promote the film, Depp told journalists: "I don't feel boycotted by Hollywood. I don't think about Hollywood. I don't need Hollywood."

Steve Pond, of The Wrap said the first night of Cannes saw a battle "between a movie and a lot of stuff that didn't have much to do with the movie".

"And the movie, Jeanne du Barry, just wasn't strong enough to put up much of a fight."

Perhaps the film needed that controversy to be noticed, he suggested. It is a "a movie that just isn't potent enough to grab any headlines on its own," he said.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TM1zhNSTSyI

An opulent period drama, the film - which was also written and directed by lead actor Maiwenn - was shot at the Palace of Versailles with some costumes designed and created by Chanel.

However, despite being "sumptuously made... with jaw-dropping costumes", it is also "kind of bland", according to Jordan Mintzer of The Hollywood Reporter.

"Even the casting - some would say stunt casting - of Johnny Depp as the king offers a few early thrills and then mostly yawns, with Depp dishing out what feels like a total of a dozen lines in respectable French, while otherwise remaining mute.

"His performance isn't bad, and neither is Maiwenn's in the lead role. But the two of them, like the movie, rarely get our pulse racing."

Read more: Indiana Jones and other Cannes highlights

Damon Wise of Deadline also noted that Depp's role is "suspiciously light on dialogue" but bewailed the lack of passion on screen.

"If Maiwenn's heroine really did sleep her way to the top and go to an early grave branded 'sin incarnate', then Jeanne du Barry must surely be the PG version," he wrote.

Awarding it three stars, The Guardian's Peter Bradshaw praised the "watchability" of the film and "spectacular casting" of Depp.

"But Louis and Jeanne are not entirely credible as a love story, perhaps because of the cynicism in which they are both complicit and perhaps because the performances are a little opaque," he continued.

"It's an entertaining spectacle, only partly aware of its own vanity."

Variety's Peter Debruge said the decision to cast Depp felt "apt, for there must be a palpable power differential between Louis and his latest infatuation".

"For his part, Depp delivers his lines in well-turned French, wearing fine powder and a stiff white wig, and yet he seems strangely uncomfortable in the role - adequate but not especially engaged," he added.

"Depp's the kind of player who delivers practically every performance with a wink, so it's odd that even when his Louis is actually supposed to be winking (at Jeanne), the sparkle isn't there. That curious lack of complicity saps the chemistry we crave between the two leads.

However, Rafaela Sales Ross of the Playlist described Depp as "very American, very misplaced" in the film where his French accent is "almost as distracting as his distorted make-up".

"If it wasn't for the highly-publicised scandals that envelop Jeanne du Barry, it is likely the film would make a swift turn from the red carpet into ostracism, and while the hubbub certainly delays the process, it will do little to prevent Maiwenn's dire latest from the merciless hands of oblivion," she added.

There was more sympathy from Kevin Maher in the Times who said Maiwenn coaxed an "impressively controlled performance" from Depp - but the movie is not really about him anyway.

"It's very occasionally too tasteful for is own good," he added. "But it's also mature and grounded, and represents probably the best recovery vehicle that Depp is going to get."

And Nicholas Barber, of BBC Culture, concluded: "The combination of Depp and Maiwenn may have seemed like a dangerous one, but on this occasion they're playing it safe."
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Johnny Depp doesn't feel boycotted by Hollywood anymore but says he doesn't 'have much further need for' the industry either

Johnny Depp at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival. Valery Hache/AFP/Getty

Johnny Depp says he doesn't feel boycotted by Hollywood.

"I don't think about Hollywood," he said at the Cannes Film Festival. "I don't need Hollywood."

His movie, "Jeanne du Barry," received a seven-minute standing ovation after it played on the opening night of the fest.

Johnny Depp was in a defiant mood on Wednesday as he addressed the media during the press conference for his movie "Jeanne du Barry," which was the opening-night film at the Cannes Film Festival.

Showing up 27 minutes late to speak to the press, as he was stuck in traffic, Depp showed up saying that he was there to speak about the movie, not his personal life. But he quickly found himself doing just that.

"Did I feel boycotted by Hollywood? You'd have to not have a pulse to feel like, 'No, none of this is happening,'" he said while answering a question asked by Deadline, adding, "Of course when you're asked to resign from a film you're doing because of something that is merely a bunch of vowels and consonants floating in the air, yeah you feel a bit boycotted."

Depp was referring to his exit from the movie "Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore" in November 2020 days after he lost his libel suit against the UK newspaper The Sun, which referred to him as a "wife-beater."

"I don't feel boycotted by Hollywood," Depp added of how he feels now. "I don't think about Hollywood. I don't have much further need for Hollywood myself."

Earlier on during the press conference, Depp also expressed his contempt for the press, who diligently covered his libel suit against The Sun and his defamation trial against ex-wife Amber Heard in which both parties were found liable for defaming each other.

"In regards to me and my life, the majority of what you've read is fantastically horrifically written fiction," he said. "It's like asking the question: 'How are you doing?' But the subtext is, 'God, I hate you.'"

Since Depp's highly publicized trial last June, the actor has been in the midst of a comeback. (Although he would also dismiss this narrative: "I've had my 17th comeback, apparently," he said at Cannes per Variety. "I keep wondering about the word 'comeback.' I didn't go anywhere.")

"Jeanne du Barry" marks the actor's first leading role in years. Before Cannes kicked off, it was reported that the three-time Oscar nominee had landed a $20 million deal with Dior, which is the largest contract ever for a men's fragrance.

Johnny Depp in "Jeanne du Barry." Le Pacte

"Jeanne du Barry," in which Depp plays French king Louis XV, was met with a seven-minute standing ovation after it screened at Cannes on Tuesday. (It currently has no American distribution.)

"The applause and the reaction from the audience, the energy of the reaction seemed to go on and on," Depp said of the reception to the movie, according to Variety. "I was very proud."

Read the original article on Insider
Johnny Depp praised on Cannes Film Festival red carpet one year after Amber Heard trial

Johnny Depp praised on Cannes Film Festival red carpet one year after Amber Heard trial

Johnny Depp is getting a lot of praise during his controversial appearance at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival.

The "Pirates of the Caribbean" star, 59, made his return to the spotlight one year after his bombshell defamation trial against ex-wife Amber Heard.

Depp received applause from fans as he arrived at the red carpet around 7 p.m. for opening night of his French film, "Jeanne Du Barry," according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Depp stars in the French-speaking role as King Louis XV, alongside director Maiwenn in the film.

JOHNNY DEPP'S EX-WIFE AMBER HEARD SPOTTED JOGGING IN SPAIN AFTER REPORTEDLY QUITTING HOLLYWOOD

Johnny Depp attended the "Jeanne du Barry" screening and opening ceremony red carpet at the 76th annual Cannes Film Festival Tuesday.

According to the outlet, the actor, who arrived with his security team, posed for selfies with fans and signed autographs as he made his way down the carpet. There were signs that said "Viva Johnny" as onlookers shouted Depp's name while he greeted fans for more than five minutes.

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The "Jeanne Du Barry" cast walked the carpet to The Clash's song, "Should I Stay or Should I Go."

Once they stepped inside the theater, Depp and the cast received a standing ovation, the outlet reported. The audience also gave the cast another standing ovation after the screening, prompting Depp and Maiwenn to tear up. Maiwenn made a brief speech, highlighting how it was difficult to secure financing for the film.

Johnny Depp and Amber Heard appear in court during the six-week defamation trial in 2022.

Maiwenn has made controversial headlines recently, too.

The French actor-director has been accused of spitting at French journalist Edwy Plenel at a restaurant. Earlier this month, she confirmed the allegations.

Johnny Depp posed with fans and signed autographs at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival.

Pauline Pollmann, Diego Le Fur, Maiwenn, Johnny Depp, Pierre Richard, Benjamin Lavernhe, Pascal Greggory and Melvil Poupaud at the "Jeanne du Barry" screening.

Depp's appearance at the festival has been a hot topic. Actress Brie Larson was asked about his attendance but said she "did not understand" why she was being asked about it.

The "Fast X" actress was asked how she felt about Depp's new film kicking off the 2023 Cannes Film Festival.

"Youre asking me that?" she replied.

Brie Larson "didn't understand" why she was asked about Johnny Depp's attendance at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival.

"Um, Im sorry, I dont understand the correlation of why me specifically," Larson said, according to Deadline.

Per the outlet, Larson was considered an "outspoken advocate for Time's Up" during the press conference, which is why she specifically was asked about Depp.

When asked if she will see the film, which is not up for competition, Larson replied, "Ill see it when I see it. I dont know how I feel about it frankly."

Johnny Depp was cheered by fans during his controversial appearance at the famed film festival.

On Monday, Cannes Film Festival's chief Thierry Fremaux addressed choosing Depp's film to kick off the festival.

"I dont know the image of Johnny Depp in the United States," he told reporters, according to Deadline. "He is extraordinary in the film in a role which is difficult. I dont [know] why he was cast. You will have to ask Maiwenn her reasons for choosing him.

"For the rest, Im the last person to talk to about this because if there is one person in the world who is not interested in this very mediatized process, its me. I am interested in Johnny Depp as an actor."

Cannes Film Festival's chief Thierry Fremaux made a statement regarding Johnny Depp's appearance at the festival Monday.

Depp and Heard had an explosive 2022 trial that resulted in a civil jury awarding Depp $10 million in damages and $2 million to Heard.

A coterie of stars streamed down Cannes famous red carpet for the opening-night ceremony, including Uma Thurman and a blue-haired Helen Mirren, who carried a fan labeled #worthit.

Uma Thurman at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival.

Helen Mirren at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival.

During the opening ceremony, Michael Douglas received an honorary Palme dOr award with his wife, Catherine Zeta-Jones, and their daughter, Carys Zeta Douglas, looking on from the audience.

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Carys Zeta Douglas, Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival.

"Im even older than the festival," said Douglas, 78, after receiving a warm standing ovation.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Johnson County DA will not charge police officer who killed man in mental health crisis

Prosecutors will not file charges against an Olathe police officer who shot and killed a 27-year-old man at his home during a mental health crisis, according to Johnson County District Attorney Steve Howe.

At a news conference Wednesday, Howe said an investigation into the Dec. 31 shooting of Brandon Lynch in the front hallway of his home showed the officer fired three times, hitting Lynch each time. A butterfly knife and a stun gun were found near Lynchs body.

Howe said the shooting was justified under Kansas law.

It is my determination that the officer properly used deadly force in this incident and will not be facing charges, he said.

Lynchs family and their attorneys at the Cannezzaro Marvel law firm said they were immensely disappointed in Howes decision.

We disagree with the determination that the officers use of deadly force was reasonable and will continue to pursue justice on his behalf, they said in a statement.

Body camera footage shows Lynch telling the officers to shoot him.

Lynch had a history of mental health problems and was well-known to Olathe police, his mother Maria Varnas previously told The Star.

He had suffered from paranoid schizophrenia and police had been called to her home on multiple occasions. Officers knew how to handle him, Varnas said  stand back, talk him down, arrest him calmly and get him the help he needed, including hospitalization.

On New Years Eve, his sister called police for help. Police said he approached them with an edged weapon, and an officer fired his gun.

Lynch was pronounced dead inside the home.

Johnson Countys Officer Involved Critical Incident Investigative Team investigated the shooting.

Brandon Lynch, 27, with his dog, River, was shot and killed in his home by Olathe police on New Years Eve night. Lynch suffered paranoid schizophrenia, his family said.

New Years Eve shooting

Around 11:10 p.m., Melissa Lynch, Brandon Lynchs sister, called 911 and told a dispatcher that her brother had attacked her and she was bleeding in her mouth. She declined an ambulance and reported that he could have a knife and that he kept a Taser.

Two Olathe Police Department officers responded.

Body camera footage played during the news conference showed the officers walking downstairs to his bedroom. Brandon Lynch told them to get out. He slammed the door and the first officer reopened it. The officer saw Lynch holding a stun gun and told him he was under arrest.

For what? Cleaning? Lynch replied.

The officer stepped further into the room and saw Lynch had a knife in his hand and ordered him to drop it.

Lynch did not drop the knife and the two officers backed out of the room.

Lynch followed, walking up the stairs into the living room. The two officers were near the front doorway and the second officer fired his Taser, but it did not have an effect on Lynch, the district attorneys office said.

Lynch paced behind some furniture and the first officer continued ordering him to drop the weapon.

You better shoot me in the head right now, you punk, Lynch said.

The second officer used his Taser for a second time, but again it failed to subdue Lynch.

The first officer said if Lynch came toward him, he would shoot.

According to the district attorneys office, Lynch moved from behind the furniture and raised his left hand (which contained the knife) away from his body in some sort of gesture.

The first officer fired, mortally wounding Lynch.

The encounter lasted about two minutes and 50 seconds.

The first officer told investigators that he was scared and that he fired when Lynch advanced. He said their vests were not designed to stop knives.

The officer had completed crisis intervention training in April 2022 and had previously arrested Lynch, the district attorneys office said.

The names of the two officers have not been disclosed.

Charging decision

Howe said he judged the officers actions based on reasonableness, a standard set by the U.S. Supreme Court.

When asked if the outcome could have been different, Olathe police chief Mike Butaud said, Were here to talk about reasonableness today, not really second guess what could have been used instead.

He noted that the two officers attempted to use less lethal force and that they retreated from the basement, factors Howe said were part of his evaluation of the case.

Howe said that in the living room, there was less than 15 feet between Lynch and the officers.

Then he closed that ground, Howe said.

Mr. Lynch took the actions that caused his death. The officers reacted to the aggressiveness of Mr. Lynch.

Howe also said the officers had probable cause to arrest Lynch for domestic violence.

Earlier Wednesday, he met with Lynchs family to explain his findings.

Obviously theyre upset, they lost a loved one and I expressed my condolences to them, Howe said. Nobody wants to be involved in these situations where we have to see a situation where law enforcement takes a life of another person. Theyre always tragedies.

Butaud said a fatal shooting is never the desired outcome.

All of us will be forever changed by this incident.

He also said all of Olathes police officers have training in mental health first aid or crisis intervention training.

Unfortunately, despite our best attempts, no police officer can ultimately control the decisions or the behaviors of the people we contact, Butaud said. Even the best trained and best prepared departments can never fully guarantee this kind of outcome will never happen.
Johnston selects interim superintendent from among its own to lead school district

The Johnston Community School District's associate superintendent of teaching and learning, Nikki Roorda, will serve as interim superintendent for the 2023-2024 school year.

She will take over the role until the board appoints a long-term superintendent who is expected to start the following year. Roorda replaces Laura Kacer, who resigned in February, effective at the end of June.

"In this new position, I will welcome challenging work, be willing to learn new skills, be mindful of details, and stay on top of best practices in education," Roorda said in a news release. "I cherish my relationships with every student, parent, staff and community member here. I plan to use these interpersonal strengths to continue building strong relationships and teams that are collaborative."

Nikki Roorda, the Johnston Community School District's associate superintendent for the past two years, will be the district's interim superintendent for the 2023-2024 school year.

More: Des Moines names ex-Olympian as superintendent  first person of color to lead district

The school board interviewed three finalists out of 17 applicants. Roorda was one of two finalists currently working in Iowa.

She has been the associate superintendent since July 2021 and worked as the district's executive director of teaching and learning since August 2019.

Roorda previously worked as the regional director for the Heartland Area Education Agency, was a K-12 literacy coordinator in Ankeny and has classroom teaching experience in Ankeny, West Des Moines and Montezuma, as well as Highlands Ranch, Colorado.

She lives in Ankeny with her husband, Dave, and they have two children who are sophomores in college.

Johnston's school board will officially vote to approve the interim superintendent on Monday, but board president Alicia Clevenger said in the district's news release that the board had confidence in Roorda's "collaborativeleadership style, passion for education and innovative ideas."

Clevenger added Roorda "lives out our mission and vision every day in the work she does. Her proven support of all staff and students will allow her to hit the ground running in this transition."

More: An Iowa school suspended a student for wearing a T-shirt depicting a gun. Now she's suing

The school board plans to reopen applications in the fall for a long-term superintendent. It's also planned that a survey will be used to gather input from district staff, parents and community members, with formal interview teams to also provide the board with feedback on finalists.

District spokesperson Lynn Meadows said the district hopes to have a long-term superintendent in place by July 1, 2024.

Phillip Sitter covers suburban growth and development for the Des Moines Register. Phillip can be reached via email at psitter@gannett.com. He is on Twitter @pslifeisabeauty.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Johnston schools chooses Nikki Roorda to be interim superintendent
This is a locator map for Jordan with its capital, Amman. (AP Photo) (ASSOCIATED PRESS)

AMMAN, Jordan (AP)  A Jordanian lawmaker has been indicted on charges that he illegally smuggled scores of rifles and handguns into the occupied West Bank through an Israeli-controlled crossing, his lawyer said Wednesday.

The alleged gun-running scandal that gripped headlines last month has threatened to further strain ties between Israel and its Arab neighbor to the east despite their nearly three-decade-old peace treaty.

The apparent effort by a Jordanian parliament member to sneak guns into a restive West Bank  where young Palestinians are increasingly getting their hands on rifles and opening fire at Israeli security forces  has raised fears of Jordanian support for Palestinian militancy that undercuts the country's moderate, pro-Western monarchy.

The Jordanian lawmaker, Imad al-Adwan, was charged in a state security court in Amman last week, his lawyer Ali Mubaideen told The Associated Press. After being interrogated, al-Adwan, 35, was charged with four counts of illegally exporting weapons and carrying out actions that breach security and threaten community peace," Mubaideen added.

Israel's Shin Bet security service has said al-Adwan successfully managed to smuggle arms, gold and other items like electronic cigarettes into the West Bank at least a dozen times since early 2022 in exchange for unspecified sums of money. He was caught on April 22 at an Israeli-controlled crossing with at least 200 weapons. Israel handed him over to Jordanian authorities last month.

Al-Adwan, a member of one of Jordan's biggest tribes, has served for the past three years as a legislator in a newly formed political party called Irada, which aims to modernize the country's political system.

Violence in the occupied West Bank has surged to heights unseen in some two decades. The territory has been awash with illegal weapons, Israeli military officials say, including arms smuggled from Jordan.

At least 112 Palestinians and 20 Israelis have been killed in the West Bank and east Jerusalem this year, according to a tally by The Associated Press. At least half of the Palestinians have been affiliated with militant groups.

After Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's far-right government took office late last year, tensions between the neighbors have spiked over Israeli settlement construction, the long impasse in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process and disputes over the handling of security at the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, a hotly contested holy site over which Jordan has official custodianship.

Jordan controlled the West Bank and east Jerusalem before Israel captured the areas in the 1967 Mideast war.
The lawsuit involving Miami Commissioner Joe Carollo was thrown into disarray Wednesday morning when the federal judge overseeing the case briefly threatened to send the commissioners attorneys to prison over a photo that was taken inside the courtroom.

Taking pictures inside federal courtrooms is strictly prohibited and U.S. District Court Judge Rodney Smith was livid when one showed up in a filing from Carollos attorneys, Ben Kuehne, Mason Pertnoy and Marc Sarnoff.

The picture, which the judge said was included in a sealed document and never shown in court, apparently showed an attorney for the Little Havana businessmen suing Carollo talking to a media member in Smiths courtroom. Smith did not name them or six other people also shown in the photo, which he said was taken by another attorney, Jesse Stolow, who is part of the defense team and had been attending the proceedings.

This is one of the most egregious reprehensible disrespectful actions you could make against this court. It requires prison time. We will see how it can be avoided, Smith said. Ive never seen something like this in my life. What happens here sets a precedent.

Smith vented his concerns early Wednesday morning before jurors were summoned in the trial, which is in its sixth week. Carollo is fighting a federal civil suit by two Little Havana businessmen who claim he weaponized city resources and used code enforcement officers and police to try and destroy several of their business ventures. The men, WIlliam Bill Fuller and Martin Pinilla, say the commissioner set his sights on them after they threw support behind one of his opponents in a commission race in 2017.

Smith said the photo violated rules designed to protect national security and federal judges, referencing a 2020 case where a disgruntled anti-feminist lawyer targeted a female judge in New Jersey in 2020. He wound up killing the judges son and wounding her husband before killing himself at the judges family home. The photo in question was included in a sealed filing from Carollos defense team. The nature of the filing wasnt immediately clear but Carollos attorneys had previously filed a number of mistrial requests, which the judge has denied.

After a 15-minute recess, Smith returned to the bench and told Carollos attorneys that he was recommending they take a deal that included not practicing in the federal court in the Southern District of Florida for the next two years. He then recessed the matter for 30 days and said if the court does not reach an agreement with the attorneys, hed set a hearing date in about 90 days. That allowed Carollos attorneys to continue representing him in the ongoing trial.

Before continuing with the trial, Stolow, whos only been practicing for 13 months but is working with the Carollo defense team , got a brief chance to address Smiith. He said he was deeply sorry for my actions.

I was unaware it was included [in the sealed document] until yesterday, he told the judge. Your honor, Im very sorry and I will never do it again.

The judge was angered enough to issue an order barring Carollos attorneys from bringing cellphones or any other recording devices into any courthouse in the Southern District of Florida. He also demanded that any known copies of photographs taken in violation of the federal rule banning them, be destroyed and that the attorneys file a notice to the court confirming it.

Wednesdays admonishment of the attorneys was just latest in a series of bizarre events that have marred the lengthy federal trial that began April 10.

The first week, after an historic rainstorm parked over Fort Lauderdale for a day, the courts electrical system was damaged the trial had to be moved to Miamis downtown federal courthouse. There, after testifying against Carollo, former Miami Police Chief Art Acevedo was tailed by two cars from the courthouse to a Coral Gables restaurant. Police spoke with the two private investigators who followed Art Acevedo. But it remains unclear why they did so.

The trial moved back to the Fort Lauderdale federal courthouse last week after the electricity was repaired, but the elevators remain on the blink and jurors have to walk up to the second floor each day.

After Wednesdays morning discussion with the attorneys, jurors were called into the courtroom and the trial continued with the defense calling witnesses. First up was Miami Senior Assistant City Attorney Rachel Dooley. She testified that to her knowledge, Carollo never ordered anyone in the city to go after Fuller and Pinilla.

Asked by Carollo Attorney Mason Pertnoy if Carollo received special treatment, she said no.

Hes treated the same as everybody else, Dooley said.

Also testifying as a defense witness late Wednesday afternoon was Miami City Manager Art Noriega, the only person in the city with supervisory authority over all 4,000 employees. After Wednesday, attorneys and jurors in the already lengthy trial, will get a two week break. Testimony is expected to resume May 30.
A Lexington woman facing a second-degree manslaughter charge in her childs death could be released from jail after a judge reduced her bond.

Alashia Brown, 24, had her bond reduced from $750,000 to $5,000 after Fayette Circuit Judge Julie Goodman deemed she was not a threat to others and had no prior felony history.

The judge told prosecutors during a hearing Wednesday she was concerned with a trend of the justice system going after low hanging fruit, and indicated she believed another person should be investigated for the childs death based on testimony given Wednesday.

(Brown) has absolutely  in this courts opinion  no criminal record to speak of in the state of Kentucky, nor does she have any out of state record based on that, Goodman said Wednesday when she ruled to lower Browns bond after a court hearing. The court does acknowledge this is a tragic death. One that deserves accountability.

The court is a little concerned that we always seem to be going after the low hanging fruit which are women, and usually Black women.

Brown was originally charged with murder after her 2-year-old son allegedly overdosed on fentanyl in November. But a Fayette County grand jury decided to indict her on a lesser charge of second-degree manslaughter.

Shed also been charged with criminal abuse of a child under 12, but the grand jury did not indict her on that charge, according to court records.

Browns family had already paid a $5,000 bond for a previous charge against her which a grand jury also didnt indict her for. Goodman ruled that the previous bond payment could carry over to this case.

Testimony reveals details into childs death

Lexington Police Detective Evan Northcutt testified in court Wednesday and revealed details of the initial investigation into Brown.

Northcutt testified that on the day of the childs alleged overdose, Brown told police she and the child had been at someone elses house and taken a nap around 11 a.m. or 12 p.m. When they woke up around 2 p.m., the victim was no longer in bed.

Brown went to look for the child in the kitchen, where she found him unresponsive with a blue pill in his hand, according to court testimony. She attempted to wake the child, but was unsuccessful. Northcutt testified Brown did not call the police because she panicked.

Brown did call the University of Kentucky Chandler Hospital emergency room around 4:17 p.m., when she was believed to have already been on her way to the hospital with the child. However, Northcutt said he did not know the exact time she was driving to the hospital because he did not have her specific location around 4 p.m.

Court testimony indicated the blue pill the child had gotten ahold of was allegedly pressed with fentanyl. Brown believed the child could have gotten a hold of an old blue pill.

Police secured a search warrant for the home where the incident happened because they believed someone may be trafficking narcotics at the residence. At the home, police found a blender, firearm and cutting agent commonly found with narcotics, according to Northcutts testimony.

Judge raises questions about suspects location, others involved

Goodman took issue with investigators not having specific evidence to show when Brown took the child to UK Hospital.

What time do you all know if you have all these (location) pings, Goodman questioned. Dont you think that is relevant?

Prosecutor Todd Willard said he thought it was relevant Brown waited almost two hours before taking the child to the hospital.

I am not so sure she did is what I am saying, Goodman said. What I am trying to figure out is what the ping time is.

Goodman questioned the detective and prosecutor about whether or not the person who lived at the residence was being investigated or charged in the death or for drug trafficking. Goodman suggested there was evidence to do both.

Browns defense attorney, Valerie Church, argued the bond should be reduced to to $5,000 because Brown had no felony history and her charge had been reduced.

Willard said he recognized the bond would likely be lowered, but objected to dropping it to $5,000. He said Brown never called 911, waited almost two hours to take the child to a hospital, and took the child to a persons home she believed was trafficking narcotics.

Goodman ordered that Brown is to reside with family, have no contact with her children or their father, submit to random drug and alcohol testing, and be on home incarceration. She is not required to be on an ankle monitor.
A judge on Wednesday set a tentative trial date for a petition seeking the removal of Nueces County District Attorney Mark Gonzalez.

Senior Judge David Peeples, during an afternoon scheduling conference held via Zoom with all the parties, agreed with a suggestion by Gonzalez's lead attorney, Matt Manning, to set a possible trial for Sept. 25. The visiting Bexar County judge cautioned that the date is tentative.

This afternoon I am attending a virtual scheduling hearing on the removal proceedings for Nueces County District Attorney Mark Gonzalez. The parties hope to set a trial date. Story to come. @callerdotcom. pic.twitter.com/ciJbqxwrSo  Chase Rogers (@chasedrogers) May 17, 2023

During the hearing, which stretched more than an hour and a half, the parties set dates and deadlines for certain filings ahead of the proposed trial date. Peeples said he would cement the dates in a pretrial filing in the coming days.

The original petition, filed in January by a Nueces County conservative activist, contends Gonzalez should be removed from office on the grounds of incompetence, official misconduct and failure to give bond. Nueces County Attorney Jenny Dorsey then amended this petition, removing some allegations of official misconduct.

Any Texas resident seeking the removal of an elected official can file such a petition, but state statute requires a state district judge to accept it and the county attorney to agree to try the case for the proceedings to move forward.

Dorsey, a Republican, agreed to try the case in February.

Manning said he would challenge whether and to what degree the legal representation for the conservative activist could support Dorsey and her office in the proceedings. Peeples asked both sides to submit their arguments and, sometime afterward, he would rule on the matter.

Gonzalez, a Democrat, has cast the effort to remove him as a politically motivated ploy meant to undo his 2020 electoral victory and, at times, has levied personal attacks against Dorsey, including on his personal Facebook page.

Wednesday marked Manning's first appearance in court. Last month, after a heated debate over whether the county should pay for Gonzalez's legal fees, the Nueces County Commissioners Court selected Manning to represent Gonzalez.

Gonzalez's first attorney, Christopher Gale, attended the Wednesday hearing as co-counsel to Manning. Gonzalez hired Gale just hours before his first appearance in court in March.

Both Dorsey and Manning worked for a time under Gonzalez during his time as district attorney.

Gonzalez hired Manning, who currently practices personal injury and civil rights law, in 2015. He later promoted Manning to first assistant district attorney and lead prosecutor in 2017. Manning left his position with the county in 2019.

Dorsey worked as a prosecutor during Gonzalez's first term and had responsibilities with training in the office. She later ran for the office of county attorney, won the election and assumed office in January 2021.

This article originally appeared on Corpus Christi Caller Times: Judge sets trial date for Nueces County DA removal proceedings
A New York state judge has temporarily blocked New York City Mayor Eric Adams (D) from sending asylum-seekers to a nearby county as the city tries to manage an influx of migrants.

The Tuesday ruling from New York Supreme Court Judge Sandra Sciortino allows the migrants who have already been transported to the Crossroads Hotel and Ramada by Wyndham in the town of Newburgh in Orange County to remain there, but it bars the city government from sending any additional migrants there.

Orange County Executive Steven Neuhaus and county Department of Social Services Commissioner Darcie Miller filed the case to stop the city from continuing to transport the migrants.

Sciortinos ruling will also allow the county to make inspections of the premises where the migrants are being housed if reasonable notice is given and the inspections do not interfere with the services they receive.

The city will still be responsible for paying for the expenses to house the migrants, including for medical services, food, laundry, security and transportation. Within five days of Sciortinos order, it also must provide the county with identification of the asylum-seekers.

Adams turned to trying to send some migrants outside of the city because it has faced a surge of those who are seeking asylum, largely from Republican governors who have sent migrants arriving in their states to New York.

Adams bashed the White House and congressional Republicans earlier this month over the situation, arguing that cities should not have to handle the situation themselves. He said the White House is being irresponsible for not addressing the problem, and the Republicans are being irresponsible for refusing to pursue real immigration reform.

He also said on Tuesday the city was looking into housing migrants at about 20 school gyms that are separate from the school buildings.

Neuhaus praised the judges ruling in a statement, saying New York City should not be trying to create a homeless shelter outside of its borders.

The city is a self-proclaimed sanctuary city; Orange County is not, he said. We should not have to bear the burden of the immigration crisis that the Federal government and Mayor Adams created, and I will continue to fight for Orange Countys residents in regard to this important manner.

Neuhaus said the county learned after the ruling that the city was planning to send seven buses of migrants to the county on Tuesday, but that plan will no longer happen with the decision.

Fabien Levy, the press secretary for the mayors office, told The Hill in a statement the city has sheltered, fed and cared for more than 65,000 migrants, mostly without any incident. He said the office is disappointed in the ruling and is reviewing its legal options.

We need the federal government to step up, but until they do, we need other elected officials around the state and country to do their part, Levy said. New York City is out of space, and were only asking Orange County to manage approximately one-fourth of 1 percent of the asylum seekers who have come to New York City, with New York paying for shelter, food, and services.

The parties are due back in court June 21.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
John Boyd Rivers testifies in a voter fraud case at the Alachua County Courthouse on May 16, 2023.

Another Florida man has been sentenced for election-related voter fraud crimes following a fraud investigation in Alachua County.

After a day-long trial John Boyd Rivers was found guilty of willfully voting as an unqualified elector, but not guilty of the charge against him for registering to vote in the first place. He was sentenced to two years of supervised probation and 50 hours of community service. He is also ordered to pay off all his court fees.

The 45-year-old Gainesville man was among the near two dozen inmates who faced various voter fraud crimes related to the 2020 general election after a voter drive held by the Alachua County Supervisor of Elections Office at the county jail. The visit took place after the passage of Amendment 4, which was intended to restore voter rights for felons convicted of non-violent crimes.

Prosecutors argued Rivers should have not registered to vote given the outstanding fees and restitution related to his felony charges, despite him claiming he was told by election officials he was eligible to register. Rivers also cast a vote in the 2020 election, an act which led to his guilty verdict and a third-degree felony.

"I think the outcome is not what we wanted, but I don't think the outcome is terrible," said Rivers' attorney Andrew Darling. "I think this sends a message that even thought the law says if you do the stuff you're supposed to do you can vote, it sends a message that we don't want you voting."

John Boyd Rivers (right) sits next to his attorney during a voter fraud case at the Alachua County Courthouse on May 16, 2023.

More: Nine charged in Alachua County as part of ongoing statewide voter fraud investigation

More: FDLE completes Alachua County elections office jail visit probe, 10th inmate charged

During Rivers testimony he claimed that he was told that if he wasnt a sex offender or a convicted murderer, he could vote. He said being told he could vote made him feel excited to finally be a part of something.

In April 2022, a report released by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement said the Alachua County Supervisor of Elections Offices practice of mass registering of jail inmates could compromise the integrity of the Florida Voter Registration System.

The investigation, which led to the 10 people being charged with felony election-related crimes, stems from a series of complaints filed by a Gainesville database researcher and programmer who says he found thousands of people across the state who registered or voted illegally.

In Alachua County alone, researcher Mark Glaeser has identified about 100 people  many of whom were incarcerated at the time  who he believes voted illegally.

At least 10 of the initially 34 inmates named by Glaeser had prior felony convictions and registered to vote and/or voted while incarcerated at the Alachua County Jail in July 2020 in connection with the voter drive held by the Alachua County Supervisor of Elections Office, the report states. Another nine inmates, who were in jail for sex crimes, are also being investigated.

Alachua County Supervisor of Elections Kim Barton testifies in a voter fraud case at the Alachua County Courthouse on May 16, 2023.

Alachua County Supervisor of Elections Kim Barton testified on Tuesday and said her former outreach director, TJ Pyche, who visited the jail and spoke to Rivers was an "outstanding employee." She said she met with the employee each day before prior to him speaking with inmates, telling him to be sure he is clear on the Amendment 4 rules.

I thought it was gonna cause a lot of confusion for folks, she said in court. So I wanted to make sure that they were really clear and understood that it included no outstanding fees and fines.

Despite the numerous people charged with voter fraud in connection to the outreach program, Barton said she feels her office did a good job educating people and that she would continue the inmate outreach program in the future.

During Pyche's testimony, he maintained that he did not tell any inmates they could register if they were unsure about owing fees or fines. He said he commonly told those in jail to ask their attorney if they had any concerns about being able to register to vote. A corrections officer who accompanied him on the visit corroborated his story.

So far, State Attorney Brian Kramer's office has chosen to prosecute more former inmates with voter fraud than any other district attorney in Florida. Some blame the state for failing to secure a system that easily identifies whether convicts have paid all associated fines and sentencing, while others blame lawmakers for changing the intention of the voter-approved Amendment 4.

Of the inmates charged with voter fraud crimes in Alachua County, most have been adjudicated guilty and entered into plea agreements. One man, Christopher Wiggins is scheduled for a change of plea hearing on June 12th. Another, Daniel John Pernini, took a plea agreement May 13.

Rivers' case has so far been the only to go to trial.

This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Alachua County jury splits verdicts for man charged with voter fraud
Just kinda stayed to himself: Neighbors say they thought Griffin 10-year-old was years younger

A neighbor of two Griffin parents accused of trying to starve their 10-year-old boy to death said they feel like they missed signs that something just wasnt right.

Tyler and Krista Schindley were arrested earlier this week after their 10-year-old boy was found wandering their upscale Griffin neighborhood looking for food.

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Neighbors became concerned that the child appeared extremely thin and said he didnt want to be sent back home.

Police arrived and the child was taken to the hospital, where it was determined he weighed just 36 pounds -- less than the average four-year-old boy.

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The Schindleys were both charged with second-degree attempted homicide, first degree attempted malice murder, cruelty to children and false imprisonment.

Channel 2s Veronica Griffin was in the neighborhood Wednesday, where she talked to a neighbor who said his granddaughters often played with the boys sisters.

We thought he was about six, Michael Seigler said. We didnt know how old he is. The little boy just stayed to himself. They were very quiet people. I say, very private.

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Seigler and his wife said they cant help but think they missing possible clues.

My wife, it just tears her up, Seilger said.

The child, who has not been identified, is still in the hospital.

Detectives told Griffin the investigation will be lengthy so new details may not be released for a while.

Authorities said there were other children in the home and they are currently with the Department of Family and Childrens Services. Police said the other children, who were homeschooled, appeared to be OK.

This child was, simply put, being starved to death, and it is tragic, District Attorney Marie Broder said. I truly believe that if he had not gotten out of that home, this would be a very different case.
The Boise Fire Dive Rescue Team has recovered a body from the Boise River presumed to be the male kayaker who went missing on May 1.

The dive team was conducting training on the river Tuesday at around 6 p.m. when it found the body, according to a news release. The Ada County Coroners Office will identify the individual after notifying next of kin.

The release said the body was found about a quarter-mile from where the kayaker was last seen, just below the E. Parkcenter Bridge. The kayaker had put in at Barber Park, according to witnesses, and after a search on the afternoon of May 1, the Boise Fire dive team recovered an inflatable kayak but no body, according to previous Idaho Statesman reporting.

Since late April, the Boise Fire Department has had posted a Dangerous River Condition notice for the Boise River, meaning conditions are extremely dangerous for people and pets. Officials recommended that people not recreate in the river, which is flowing at about 6,000 cubic feet per second (cfs).

During the annual summer float season on the river, its flow is between 500 and 1,500 cfs. At 6,000 cfs, the cold water is moving so swiftly that it can carry people and pets away rapidly, cause strong swimmers to lose motor and muscle control, and be full of dangerous debris, according to Boise Fires news release Tuesday.
Kayla Unbehaun case: When did she go missing and how does 'Unsolved Mysteries' tie in?

Kayla Unbehaun as she would've looked at 11 years old (left) and 14 years old (right). She was abducted in July 2017 at just 9 years old. She was found safe in North Carolina in May 2023.

An "Unsolved Mystery" came to a conclusion in Asheville, North Carolina on Wednesday. But what is the story behind the disappearance of Kayla Unbehaun?

Kayla was just 9 years old when she was declared missing from her hometown South Elgin, Illinois, about 45 miles northwest of Chicago. That was in 2017. For the last six years, people have wondered where the young girl had been taken and if she would ever be found. Until this week.

Take a look into Kayla's disappearance, her case on "Unsolved Mysteries" to being found in a Western North Carolina shopping center five years later.

The disappearance of Kayla Unbehaun

In July 2017, Kayla was first reported missing. The suspect? Her mother, Heather Unbehaun.

According to a 2018 video from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children with Kayla's father Ryan Iserka, a court arrangement gave Iserka full custody of Kayla in 2017 due to Heather's failure to follow previous court orders related to custody disputes, he said.

The mother and daughter had reportedly been on a camping trip in July 2017 and the two never returned.

"We had gone to court and made agreements for how we'd follow an order and she couldn't follow that," Iserka said in the video. "She had repeatedly not followed what it said."

He described going to where Heather Unbehaun was living and was allegedly told by family that they didn't know where the two were.

Netflix's 'Unsolved Mysteries' helps in finding Kayla Unbehaun

Kayla's missing person case wasn't the center of a 2022 episode of "Unsolved Mysteries" it just so happened to be part of a photo roll call at the end of a segment on parental abductions. Even though a photo of Kayla as well as a photo of her mother were only shown at the end of the episode of the Netflix's series, it was enough.

According to television station ABC Chicago, a store owner in North Carolina who had seen the show recognized the girl at an Asheville shopping center and called police.

Asheville police officers responded to Plato's Closet at the Westgate Regional Shopping Center around 7:26 p.m. May 13 to investigate a reported kidnapping, according to an APD release. Once there police were told that Kayla had been recognized from the show.

"The media is so important when it comes to the recovery of missing children," Callahan Walsh of the National Center For Missing and Exploited Children said. "Even in these long term cases, the more we tell the story of these missing children and put their images out to the public, the more likely that they're going to be recovered."

What's next in the Kayla Unbehaun case?

Police arrested 40-year-old Heather Unbehaun in Asheville over the weekend. Authorities said she posted a $250,000 bail. Her next court date is listed as July 11 in Buncombe County District Court for a hearing regarding her extradition, according to the North Carolina online court registry.

As for Kayla and her father, Iserka is happy his daughter is home safe, he said in a statement through the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children's social media. In the statement, he thanked the organization and law enforcement agencies for spreading the word about the search for Kayla.

I also want to thank all of the followers on the Bring Kayla Home Facebook page, who helped keep her story alive and were instrumental in spreading awareness, he said. We ask for privacy as we get to know each other again and navigate this new beginning.

This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: How was Kayla Unbehaun found by way of Netflix's 'Unsolved Mysteries'
Kentucky Education Commissioner Jason Glass, a finalist for superintendent of Marylands Baltimore County Public Schools, did not get the job.

On Tuesday, Baltimore district officials announced current Deputy Superintendent Myriam Yarbrough had been chosen instead.

Glass, who has been the target in GOP culture wars and faced criticism over his support of LGBTQ students, said Wednesday morning that he was honored to have been considered for superintendent of Baltimore County Public Schools, alongside three other highly-qualified candidates.

I wish Dr. Yarbrough and BCPS great success going forward. It is a wonderful community and school district, Glass said.

Glass said last week he was looking for a new position.

I will continue to faithfully execute my duties as Kentuckys Commissioner of Education and appreciate the opportunity to serve in this role, Glass said.

Daniel Cameron, Kentuckys Republican gubernatorial candidate, has blasted Glass stances and said he should leave Kentuckys top school chief job.

Glass said last week that he was seeking a place where our family can put down roots and where I can have a long-term and meaningful impact on an educational system.

Kentucky Department of Education spokesperson Toni Konz Tatman said last week that it is clear to Dr. Glass that the education priorities of the legislature are focused on culture war issues and dismantling the states public schools.

Commissioner Glass does not share these values and hopes Kentucky can find a way to recommit to supporting its public schools and to creating meaningful learning experiences for all students, Tatman said.

This is a developing story and may be updated.
The Donald Trump-backed Daniel Cameron offered questionable praise for the former president after winning Kentuckys Republican primary for governor on Tuesday. (Watch the video below.)

After thanking Trump for his endorsement, Cameron said: Let me just say the Trump culture of winning is alive and well in Kentucky.

Camerons glowing praise of Trump as a winner doesnt hold up in the big picture.

Republicans had a net loss of 40 seats in the House while Trump was president in the 2018 elections. Trump himself lost the 2020 election to Joe Biden. In the 2022 midterms, an anticipated red wave failed to materialize, punctuated by critical Senate losses for Trump-endorsed candidates Mehmet Oz in Pennsylvania and Herschel Walker in Georgia. In fact, Republicans fared historically badly for an opposition party in last years midterms, The Washington Post reported.

Cameron, Kentuckys attorney general and a religious conservative, told supporters on Tuesday that under Democratic incumbent Andy Beshear, schools have promoted liberal ideas, and hostility has risen toward religion, the Lexington Herald Leader reported.

In an October 2022 press release, Trump hailed Cameron as strong on the military, a fierce defender of our Borders and a protector of our totally under-siege Second Amendment.

Cameron and Beshear square off in the November general election.

Former Trump White House staffer Dan Scavino Jr. shared a clip of Camerons comments:

Congratulations to Attorney General Daniel Cameron on winning the Republican Nomination for Governor in Kentucky! Couldnt be happier for him and Makenze!! pic.twitter.com/PB1pLcRXA9  Dan Scavino Jr. (@DanScavino) May 17, 2023

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Kentucky Republicans on Tuesday chose Attorney General Daniel Cameron as their nominee to challenge Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear in the Nov. 7 general election.

Cameron, 37, is finishing his first term as the states top law-enforcement officer. He lives in suburban Louisville.

He is the first independently elected Black statewide officeholder in Kentucky.

Cameron ran as a religious conservative endorsed by former President Donald Trump who frequently sued Beshear and Democratic President Joe Bidens administration to challenge their policies.

In his victory speech Tuesday night, Cameron quickly thanked Trump for the public support.

Let me just say, the Trump culture of winning is alive and well in Kentucky, he said.

Cameron told his supporters that under Beshear, public schools are becoming a breeding ground for liberal ideas, fewer people are engaged in the workforce, violent crime is rising and there is a growing hostility toward religious faith.

New leadership is needed now more than ever, Cameron said.

I am honored to be the Republican nominee for governor of the commonwealth of Kentucky, Cameron says. pic.twitter.com/XkZiinwOTz  Tessa Duvall (@TessaDuvall) May 17, 2023

Cameron easily dispatched his GOP competition in 2nd and 3rd place finishers Ryan Quarles, the commissioner of agriculture, and Kelly Craft, a former ambassador in the Trump administration. As of Thursday night, with all but one county reporting, Cameron claimed 48% of the vote compared to 22% for Quarles and 17% for Craft.

A former legal counsel to Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, Cameron scored a major triumph by winning the endorsement of Trump, someone who is actively hostile to his mentor.

Hes strong on crime. Hes strong on the borders, Trump said in an endorsement video for Cameron.

Hes strong on everything you want him to be, Trump said. He loves our military. He loves our vets, and he will always take care of them and law enforcement. Number 1, above all, hes with them and hes with stopping crime, so I just want to let you know that as such an important place, its very important to get it right and youre getting it right with Daniel Cameron as your governor.

A political action committee associated with Trump claimed credit for Camerons victory Tuesday night. Make America Great Again Inc. noted that Trumps choice won in Kentucky, not Craft, who was backed in this race by a Trump rival, Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.

President Trump is the leader of the Republican Party. The results in Kentuckys Republican gubernatorial primary tonight reaffirm that. Republican voters stand with Donald Trump, not Ron DeSantis, MAGA Inc. said in a statement.

Cameron was criticized in 2020 when  after an investigation by his office  only one Louisville police officer was indicted for his role in the Breonna Taylor shooting  and not for her death. That scrutiny was renewed in 2022 when the U.S. Department of Justice charged four officers for their roles, including the falsified warrant that led police to her door. Unlike the DOJ, Camerons office had not examined how the warrant was obtained.

On Tuesday, Cameron defeated a crowded field of GOP opponents, including the wealthy and self-funded Craft, a former United Nations ambassador who spent months attacking him relentlessly in television advertising. Among the others who fell short were Somerset Mayor Alan Keck, ex-lawyer Eric Deters and state auditor Mike Harmon.

Current #kygov GOP second-place candidate Ryan Quarles says hes called winner AG Daniel Cameron and congratulated him.



I talked to the general and said enjoy your evening. Who knows whats next in life? pic.twitter.com/aY35pMdu3a  Austin Horn (@_AustinHorn) May 17, 2023

We left it all on the table, Craft told her supporters in a tearful concession speech. This has not been a campaign, this has been a revival.

Craft: When I got into this race, I knew this was gonna be tough I knew that we would be attacked by Democrats but I never in a million years thought the attacks would come from my opponents to my family. pic.twitter.com/pQzdgBvI5M  Austin Horn (@_AustinHorn) May 17, 2023

Craft said she was disappointed that her GOP rivals attacked her family, a possible reference to criticism that her coal billionaire husband, Joe Craft, largely paid for her campaign by pouring millions of dollars into it. However, she said that she will unify with the rest of the state Republican Party now that a nominee has been chosen.

Craft did not take questions from the media following her speech.

We left it all on the table, Kelly Craft told her supporters in a tearful concession speech. This has not been a campaign, this has been a revival.

Quarles pledged his support to Cameron. The commissioner of agriculture said that he felt good about his second place finish, but that Camerons high name I.D. played a role in propelling him well above the other contenders.

As for his future, Quarles did not say whether or not hed be open to joining Cameron on the GOP ticket as a running mate. Quarles asserted that his public service career was not over, but added that his immediate post-election plans included working on his family farm.

My service to Kentucky is not over. There will be other opportunities... On my dads farm, were still in planting season right now, so theres no better way to clear your head than to go out and bush hog some fields, Quarles said.

Beshear v. Cameron

Having settled an expensive and bitter primary fight, Republicans turn their attention to their real goal: unseating Beshear, 45, the only Democrat to remain in statewide office in Kentucky.

Beshear easily won the Democratic primary by a wide margin Tuesday, defeating two minor challengers.

During his four-year term, Beshear had to deal with the historic COVID-19 pandemic  angering many Kentuckians by temporarily closing schools, churches and businesses to reduce the spread of the infectious virus  and deadly natural disasters throughout the state, including tornadoes and floods.

His administration struggled to manage systemic problems with the states unemployment insurance and juvenile justice systems, due in part to years of under-investment in the state government workforce and infrastructure.

However, Beshear also can boast of successes, including a huge state budget surplus, low unemployment and several big economic development announcements, most notably the Ford BlueOvalSK Battery Park in Hardin County that is set to employ thousands of people.

Through his regular Team Kentucky updates, which are televised online, Beshear has cultivated an image of calm and compassion while some other political leaders around the country appeared churlish, even angry. Opinion polls consistently have shown Beshear to be one of the most popular governors in the country.

Im honored to be your Democratic nominee for governor, Kentucky.



Together, were going to continue to build on the progress of the past 3 yearsmoving our commonwealth not left or right, but forward.



Lets do this. https://t.co/xukMO3Iyk2  Andy Beshear (@AndyBeshearKY) May 17, 2023

In his own statement late Tuesday, Beshear said he has produced a record of accomplishments on which hes prepared to build over four more years. By contrast, he said, the Republicans want to drive a wedge between people on hot-button social issues that will do nothing but divide the state into factions.

While theyre trying to pit us against each other, people in Kentucky know that this isnt about right vs left. Its about getting things done, Beshear said.

I want Kentucky to be a place where all of our kids have a future, the governor said. As a father, this is personal. We all want our kids to be able to have opportunity and potential here in every part of our commonwealth.
Kentucky officer who was shot in the head is on the right track in recovery

Nickolas Wilt, the Louisville police officer injured in the Old National Bank mass shooting, continues to show signs of improvement after recently being transferred to the Frazier Rehabilitation Institute, according to the Louisville Metro Police Foundation.

Doctors, nurses and therapists have been impressed with Wilts progress. The foundation said in a Facebook post that Wilts wakefulness has significantly increased since he began his rehab.

The foundation said Wilt is on the right track but there are a few areas doctors are closely monitoring.

Despite the challenges he faces on his long road to recovery, his dedication and hard work have yielded noticeable improvements, the foundation said in the Facebook post.

Wilt was taken off all life-sustaining medical equipment on May 10, according to the foundation. He has also shown neurological improvement and is able to follow some commands.

Wilt has been hospitalized since April after he was shot in the head by a gunman armed with an AR-15. He has battled pneumonia and other infections during his hospitalization.

The bullet that struck Wilt remained in his head as of last week, according to the Louisville Metro Police Department. Doctors determined the bullet is in a crucial area but does not pose a threat to his brain or blood vessels, and the damage from the injury is minimal.

Wilt has also worked as a firefighter and dispatcher. He graduated from the police academy March 31 and was working his fourth shift as a police officer when he was shot.
WASHINGTON  House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) boasted that President Joe Biden and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) are negotiating with Republicans on a bill to raise the federal debt ceiling.

The president and Leader Schumer have finally backed off their idea that they wont negotiate, McCarthy declared at a press conference on Wednesday. They finally backed off the insane, un-rational, un-sensible idea that you just raise the debt ceiling.

If Congress fails to raise the debt ceiling sometime next month, the federal government will be unable to borrow money to cover its expenses, resulting in an unprecedented federal default that could hurt the economy.

Democrats have said Congress should just raise the debt ceiling to avoid hurting the economy, but Republicans have refused, arguing that Congress should not raise the ceiling without reducing the future growth of debt by cutting spending. Since Republicans control the House of Representatives and Democrats control the Senate, the two sides will need to cut a deal.

Biden and McCarthy met last week and again on Tuesday, and members of their staffs have been continuously talking. McCarthys triumphant tone on Wednesday marked a shift from Monday when he complained that it just seems like they want to look like they are in a meeting, but they arent talking anything serious.

But Biden insisted Wednesday that hes not actually negotiating about the debt ceiling, just the federal budget, even though to Republicans, the two things are essentially the same.

To be clear, this negotiation is about the outlines of what the budget will look like, not about whether or not we are going to, in fact, pay our debts, Biden said.

A key Republican demand is to add stricter work requirements to federal programs that help low-income Americans afford food and health care. The president said Wednesday he would be open to stricter rules, just not anything of any consequence. Its not clear what Biden meant by the statement; Republican proposals for stricter rules in three federal programs would affect millions of people.

When asked about Bidens comments at his press conference, McCarthy and a group of House and Senate Republicans surrounding him broke into laughter, with one unidentified lawmaker saying, Loser!

Anything that has consequence? This is a senator who voted for work requirements, McCarthy said, referring to the presidents time as a senator. (Biden voted for work requirements as part of a welfare reform bill in 1996.)

McCarthy claimed boosting work requirements would help people escape poverty and ease pressure on the supply chain.

I think when youre sitting in the room and listening to the American public, why wouldnt he want to help people get out of poverty? he said. What youre going to have is a supply chain that doesnt work as well, more dependent on China and making America in a weaker position. I think thats wrong.

The Congressional Budget Office has found that work requirements  essentially limits on benefits to the unemployed  may spur some people toward gainful employment, but not most. Overall, the increase in earnings doesnt make up for the loss in benefits.

Jonathan Nicholson contributed reporting.

Related...
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) tried to criticize the White Houses border policy Tuesday, but it ended up sounding more like a compliment.

Or worse, a campaign ad for Joe Biden.

McCarthy was talking to reporters after an Oval Office meeting on debt ceiling negotiations when he mentioned that an Afghan national on the U.S. governments terrorist watchlist was recently arrested while seeking to cross the U.S.-Mexico border near San Diego.

Why? he asked, before launching into his attempted attack on Bidens border policy.

We caught more people in the month of February on the terrorist watchlist than we caught the entire time of the last administration, he said.

McCarthy: We caught more people in the month of February on the terrorist watch list than we caught the entire time in the last administration. pic.twitter.com/KRLfcqGrY8  Acyn (@Acyn) May 16, 2023

The government typically uses the number of border apprehensions as a proxy for how many people are attempting to enter the country without authorization, so its not unusual, particularly for Republicans, to frame more apprehensions as a sign that the border is out of control.

But while the House speakers fiery rhetoric might have appealed to some, many noted that apprehending more people who are potential threats actually seems like a good thing.

Consequently, McCarthy set himself up for a whole bunch of Twitter mockery.

So the Biden Administration has been more effective in one month than the Trump administration was in four years?  Christopher Wiggins (@CWNewser) May 16, 2023

Not really the flex he thinks it is.  Levi Damien (@LeviDamien) May 16, 2023

McCarthy is so caught up in his own BS he doesnt realize this is a good thing.



Either hes full of shit or hes dumber than a chia pet.



Either way hes the worst speaker EVER.  Gary The Deep Stater (@GaryKoepnick) May 17, 2023

It's so nice of @SpeakerMcCarthy to cut these ads promoting the Biden administration. https://t.co/35HB7LSSaK  Kevin M. Kruse (@KevinMKruse) May 16, 2023

Excellent work Border Patrol. Thanks Biden https://t.co/HqMvb1ZdqP  JodiKyman (@jodikyman) May 17, 2023

Hes blaming Biden for capturing more terrorists on the watch list than Trump did?   (@ChidiNwatu) May 16, 2023

They keep saying this like it's bad news. https://t.co/sPVJbbIkc3  Bob Cesca (@bobcesca_go) May 16, 2023

Chad Gilmartin, the deputy spokesman for McCarthy, insisted to HuffPost that the increase in apprehensions doesnt necessarily equate to overall success, since, he said, at least 1.5 million illegal immigrant gotaways have evaded capture after entering the U.S. under Bidens tenure.

Who would argue that over 175 terrorism suspects crossing our border is a positive trend? he added.

The House speaker isnt the first politician to get pushback for his comments on border enforcement

In July 2021, Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.) tried to criticize the Biden administration for seizing enough fentanyl to kill 238 million Americans at the southern border the previous month.

Biggs was then thoroughly mocked online for suggesting that he was upset about the successful interception of the highly addictive drug.

Related...
FILE - Former President Donald Trump speaks at his Mar-a-Lago estate Tuesday, April 4, 2023, in Palm Beach, Fla. Timothy Parlatore, a key lawyer for former President Donald Trump says he's leaving the legal team, a move that comes as a special counsel investigation into the retention of classified documents shows signs of being in its final stages. Timothy Parlatore told The Associated Press that his departure had nothing to do with Trump and was not a reflection on his view of the Justice Departments investigation, which he has long called misguided and overly aggressive, or on the strength of the governments evidence. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File) (ASSOCIATED PRESS)

WASHINGTON (AP)  A key lawyer for former President Donald Trump said Wednesday that he was leaving the legal team, a move that comes as a special counsel investigation into the retention of classified documents shows signs of being in its final stages.

Timothy Parlatore told The Associated Press that his departure had nothing to do with Trump and was not a reflection on his view of the Justice Department's investigation, which he has long called misguided and overly aggressive, or on the strength of the government's evidence. He said he believed he had served Trump well.

Other lawyers, including former Justice Department prosecutor James Trusty, are continuing to represent Trump in Washington investigations.

CNN earlier reported Parlatores departure.

Parlatore has long been a key member of the team representing Trump in an investigation by Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith into the possession of hundreds of classified documents at the former president's Florida home, Mar-a-Lago as well as into possible efforts to obstruct that probe.

A grand jury over the last several months has heard from a broad array of witnesses close to Trump. Federal prosecutors in March questioned another of Trump's lawyers, M. Evan Corcoran, before the grand jury after successfully piercing attorney-client privilege. Parlatore testified voluntarily in December about efforts to recover classified documents in response to government demands.

Last month, Parlatore and other lawyers for Trump issued a letter to the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, Rep. Mike Turner, laying out a series of defense arguments of Trump and saying that the Justice Department should be ordered to stand down in its investigation.

Besides the Mar-a-Lago probe, Smith has also been investigating efforts by Trump and his allies to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election, with former Vice President Mike Pence among the grand jury witnesses in that probe. Manhattan prosecutors charged Trump in March arising from hush-money payments made to a porn star who said he had an extramarital sexual encounter with her years earlier.

In Georgia, prosecutors in Fulton County are expected to announce in coming months the results of an investigation into attempts to subvert Trump's election loss to President Joe Biden in that state.

___

Follow Eric Tucker on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/etuckerAP
Interview: Chinese carmakers gather steam as innovation thrives, expert says

09:02, May 17, 2023 By Martina Fuchs ( Xinhua

LONDON, May 16 (Xinhua) -- Three Chinese auto brands were among the top 10 most "future-ready" carmakers, reflecting a rise of Chinese players as the industry pivots toward new capabilities, such as chipset design and software, an expert said here Tuesday.

According to the 2023 Future Readiness Indicator for the auto industry, Chinese carmaker BYD snatched up the second position just after Tesla, while XPeng ranked 6th and Li Auto in the 7th place, the famous business school International Institute for Management Development (IMD) said in a report.

"One key finding is the rise of the Chinese players in the automotive industries," Howard Yu, director of the IMD Center for Future Readiness, told Xinhua on the sidelines of the report's launch.

"For the first time, we have three players from China, BYD, Li Auto, XPeng, all making it into the top 10 of our global indicator. It illustrates how quickly the industry is evolving, the kind of new skills that these Chinese players represent," Yu said.

"The Chinese players have done an incredible job when it comes to hard skills, batteries, AI, semiconductors. What is needed going forward is to internationalize their offerings and to understand the different consumer behaviors, from Europe to North America, in order to win market share," Yu said.

The report also showed that while Tesla has retained the number-one spot, competition from China's new kids on the block is heating up.

BYD's rank moved up three places from last year, while XPeng and Li Auto were up six and seven notches, respectively.

Meanwhile, Geely and Nio, two other Chinese carmakers, ranked the 17th and 19th in the indicator.

Yu said automotive companies that develop capabilities like chipset design and software would eventually be the winners.

He added that the strongest auto players, Tesla, BYD and Volkswagen, are innovating in battery-run vehicles, autonomous vehicles and in-house expertise in microchips.

"The industry is at a crossroads. Demand for chips would likely remain highly unpredictable as we see the rollout of technologies like AI, the Internet of Things, and 5G/6G," he said.

The Future Readiness Indicator has been compiled annually since 2010 to assess the world's top carmakers' ability to adapt to future challenges.

The rankings are based on companies' performance in financial fundamentals, investor expectations, business diversity, research and development, early innovation results, and cash and debt.

"Future readiness is really about a balanced scorecard, and this is how we measure it. It's not enough if you have one single hot product," Yu said.

"You need to perform today in order to transform tomorrow. We always tell executives there's never a better time to prepare," he added.

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun)
What You Need to Know About Ax-2the Second Private Mission to the ISS

Artistic impression of Crew Dragon approaching the Harmony module at the ISS.

The second private crew to the International Space Station (ISS) is getting ready to strap into a SpaceX Dragon capsule, venturing to low Earth orbit as part of Axiom Spaces follow-up mission to the orbiting lab.



Axiom Mission 2, or Ax-2, is scheduled for liftoff aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket at 5:37 p.m. ET on Sunday, May 21. The rocket will launch from Pad 39A at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Following a roughly 16-hour journey to low Earth orbit, the four-person crew will dock to the space stations Harmony module and begin its eight-day stay on board the ISS.

Read more

Who is the Ax-2 crew?

Veteran astronaut Peggy Whitson, who is currently Axiom Spaces Director of Human Spaceflight, will lead the crew as the Ax-2 mission commander. Theres so many lessons learned after being up in space for 665 days, Ive got one or two lessons Ive maybe learned the hard way, Whitson said during a press call on Tuesday. Im trying to save them some time because our mission is relatively short, so we want to make sure we get the most out of every one of those days.

The Ax-2 crew during a video call with the media on May 16.

Whitson has had three long-duration stays on board the ISS and holds the record for most days spent in space by a NASA astronaut. Having an experienced astronaut at the helm of the mission is now part of NASAs requirements for private crews heading up to the space station.

Saudi Arabia bought two tickets for its astronauts on board Ax-2. Mission Specialists Ali Alqarni and Rayyanah Barnawi will journey to space for the first time as part of the kingdoms first class of astronauts.

Barnawi, a biomedical researcher, is set to become the first woman from Saudi Arabia to go to space. When the announcement happened in Saudi Arabia, [Alqarni and I] were training here in Houston, Barnawi said during the call. Everyone was super excited for this mission, seeing people from their own region go to the space station with the great commander Peggy and international partners is a great thing for them.

Alqarni and Barnawi will be joining a third astronaut from the Arab world currently on board the ISS, Emirati astronaut Sultan Al Neyadi. Al Neyadi launched to the ISS on March 2 as part of SpaceXs Crew-6 mission. He was selected by the Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC) as part of an agreement between NASA and Axiom Space.

I think its a great opportunity for the three of us to be on board the ISS, and will hold a big message...to inspire people, Alqarni said. For us as the Arab world, we are working together for the betterment of humanity.

The Ax-2 crew is rounded out by pilot John Shoffner, who purchased a ticket to space through the company in 2021. Shoffner recalled falling in love with space at eight years old when the space race was just kicking off. We formed a young astronauts club in the small town Middlesboro, Kentucky, where I grew up, and that was our weekend fun, pretending to train as Gemini pilots and it never left me, so here I am.

What will the Ax-2 crew do aboard the ISS?

Although their time on board the space station is relatively short, the Ax-2 crew members are set to carry out a variety of science experiments and research in orbit.

Crew members will examine the effects of the microgravity environment on the production of stem cells as part of a project by the Board of Governors Regenerative Medicine Institute. Another stem cell project aims to improve the detection of precancerous and cancerous cells, building on a previous research project that was part of Axiom Spaces first mission to the ISS in collaboration with the Stanford Stem Cell Institute.

Related article: Scientists Are About to Try to Create Stem Cells in Space

The Ax-2 crew is also set to test a wearable suit designed to simulate Earths gravity. Developed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the suit is meant to mitigate the effects of microgravity on the body during long duration flights.

How is Ax-2 different from the first mission?

Ax-2 is a follow up to Axiom Spaces first private mission to the ISS, Ax-1, which launched in April 2022.

Following the return of the Ax-1 mission, NASA admitted to having learned some important lessons about having private crews on board the space station. The Ax-1 crew members complained that their schedules were too packed and the private astronauts sometimes got in the way of the regular crew of astronauts aboard the ISS. As a result, the space agency updated a few of its rules for future private astronaut crews venturing to low Earth orbit.

The experience from the first mission also affected how the first-time astronauts trained for their upcoming flight. We learned some lessons from Ax-1, but also, recognizing that we need to go back to more of a short duration training style, Whitson said during the call. Ive tried to optimize our training flow to be much more short duration focused, focusing on the areas that we need the most experience with...so weve changed that focus of the training, which is I think really made this crew so much more ready this time around.

The Ax-2 crew is scheduled to undock from the space station at the end of May after having spent a little more than a week working alongside ISS astronauts.

Its an exciting time for the four-person crew gearing up for their time in orbit. Barnawi joked that she had called her grandmother earlier this week, who finally gave her her blessings to go on the orbital journey. I was like, thats a little late setto [Arabic for grandmother], Im already in quarantine.

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What to know about serial killer Israel Keyes and his link to the Alexis Patterson case

Alexis Patterson disappeared on her way to Hi-Mount School in Milwaukee on May 3, 2002.

She was 7.

The latest season of Unsolved, a true-crime podcast for USA TODAY and the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, examines the case. The episodes feature exclusive interviews with Alexis' family and more details about the police investigation than has ever been made public before. Unsolved is available on all podcast platforms.

During the making of Unsolved, a possible connection emerged between Alexis Patterson and Israel Keyes. Here's what to know:

Who is Israel Keyes?

Keyes was a serial killer from Alaska. He confessed to murdering eight people, though authorities believe he is responsible for 11 killings between 2001 and 2012.

Israel Keyes is seen in undated booking photos.

Where did his crimes take place?

The killings took place across the country, from Alaska to Vermont to New York. Investigators say Keyes stashed so-called "kill kits" in different parts of the country, sometimes years in advance. The kits contained supplies such as weapons, shovels, plastic bags and bottles of Drano.

How did Keyes get caught?

Keyes was arrested in 2012 when authorities were investigating the disappearance of 18-year-old Samantha Koenig from Anchorage, Alaska.

Keyes posted a ransom note and used Koenig's ATM card, which led police to Lufkin, Texas, where he was arrested. Koenig's body was found in a frozen lake in Alaska three weeks after his arrest.

What is Keyes' connection to Alexis Patterson?

After Keyes was arrested, the FBI took his laptop and his girlfriend's computer and examined the devices. They found Keyes had been looking up missing people.

He used the online database called the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System, otherwise known as NAMUS.

One of the search results was for Alexis Patterson.

Josh Hallmark, creator and host of the podcast "True Crime Bullsh**," was the first to report on the search results. The title of his podcast comes from a statement Keyes made to the FBI, that he didnt want his case to get a lot of media attention.

Alexis Patterson was 7 when she disappeared as she was headed to school in May 2002.

Did Keyes have other links to the Alexis Patterson case?

Hallmark said Keyes did have a kill kit in Wisconsin.

The serial killer also had a red truck.

In Milwaukee, some witnesses reportedly said a red truck was spotted near Hi-Mount School in the weeks before Alexis disappeared, and that a person inside the truck tried to take a child from the playground.

Could Keyes have abducted Alexis Patterson?

Hallmark, an expert on Keyes, does not think so.

For one, Keyes stayed away from major cities. And Keyes had told the FBI after he had his own daughter, he could not target children anymore. At the time Alexis disappeared, Keyes' daughter was about a year old.

The truck Keyes owned was a vintage model, and all evidence points to him not using the truck in 2002, according to Hallmark.

"I just don't see him going in broad daylight to a school in a major city to abduct a child," Hallmark says on Unsolved.

What happened to Keyes?

Keyes died by suicide at a jail in Anchorage while awaiting trial in the Koenig case.

Learn more about the Alexis Patterson case by listening to the true-crime podcast Unsolved.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: How serial killer Israel Keyes was linked to Alexis Patterson
How will we know when Ukraine's long-awaited counteroffensive has started? Experts say look for the Western armor.

Ukrainian military personnel receive armored maneuver training on German-made Leopard 2 battle tanks OSCAR DEL POZO/AFP via Getty Images

For months, Ukrainian officials have signaled that a much-anticipated counteroffensive is imminent.

Recent Ukrainian counterattacks and limited gains around Bakhmut have caused confusion in the Russian ranks.

But military experts say Kyiv's use of Western armor will signal the start of a larger offensive.

Russia's war in Ukraine is inching toward the 15-month mark, the front lines are largely static, and questions are swirling about when Kyiv's forces will finally launch their highly anticipated counteroffensive.

When, exactly, this might happen has already stirred confusion within Russia's military ranks, especially as Ukraine makes small territorial gains in the country's eastern region. But military experts say the ultimate signal that a large-scale offensive is underway will be when Kyiv's forces integrate heavy armor provided by the US and its NATO allies into a front-line push.

"The Ukrainian counteroffensive, I think, is going to start with a bang, literally and figuratively," Mark Cancian, a retired US Marine Corps Reserve colonel, told Insider.

For months, Ukraine has signaled that it will carry out a massive counterattack aimed at liberating occupied territory as a follow-up to a successful Ukrainian counteroffensive last summer and early fall. Ukraine's expected counterpunch will come on the heels of what turned out to be a lackluster offensive carried out by Russian forces during the winter.

Moscow's troops failed to make significant territorial advances, despite paying astonishingly high costs in human lives. The fighting is largely a grinding war of attrition along front lines that don't change much day to day. The focus of hostilities has primarily been the war-torn eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut.

To help Ukraine prepare for its attack, its Western supporters  like the US and NATO members  have committed mountains of heavy armor. This includes advanced, modern tanks, armored troop carriers, infantry fighting vehicles, and other systems to help beef up Kyiv's arsenal, such as air defense and artillery. The armored vehicles in particular are expected to help Ukraine hit hard and exploit gains quickly with shock, firepower, and mobility.

Servicemen of one of the brigades of the Territorial Defence Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine are pictured in Zaporizhzhia Region, southeastern Ukraine. Dmytro Smolienko / Ukrinform/Future Publishing via Getty Images

Although the offensive's operational details remain a tightly guarded secret by Ukrainian officials, they have spoken publicly at times about Ukraine's ambitions and given indications that the military is ready. Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov said in late April that Kyiv was ready to use the Western arms to hit Russia with an "iron fist."

"As soon as there is God's will, the weather and a decision by commanders, we will do it," Reznikov said. "We are to a high percentage ready." He later backtracked, expressing reservations. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told European broadcasters last week that his forces still need more time. Not everyone was convinced the Ukrainian leader was sincere though.

The 'real sign' is Western armor

Amid speculation over when Ukraine's counteroffensive will begin, recent territorial gains by Kyiv's troops are already causing confusion within the Russian ranks.

Ukrainian forces signaled last week that they made advances and carried out "effective counterattacks" in front-line areas, including around Bakhmut, where Wagner Group mercenaries have played a key role in Russia's campaign. A Ukrainian battalion even said that it chased Russian soldiers from parts of the city and published footage that appeared to show them fleeing.

Yevgeny Prigozhin, the leader of Wagner, later claimed Ukraine's advances indicated that its counteroffensive was in "full swing" and accused Zelenskyy of lying when he said the country needed more time.

Kyiv's military officials, however, said the advances were only a "positional struggle" and did not mean the start of a broader offensive. And Russia's defense ministry, which regularly pushes disinformation about the war, denied the reports that Ukraine had even achieved any front-line breakthroughs.

Ukrainian soldiers in the Donetsk region, where the country's most intense clashes occur, attend intensive combat training by using both domestic and foreign weapons amid in Donetsk, Ukraine on May 08, 2023. Photo by Muhammed Enes Yildirim/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

Military experts told Insider that Kyiv's gains around Bakhmut are not the start of its counteroffensive, which will actually kick off with the eventual integration of Western tanks and armored vehicles.

"The real sign of the Ukrainian offensive is going to be the commitment of Western armor," Andrew Metrick, a fellow with the defense program at the Washington-based Center for a New American Security, told Insider.

Metrick said that when we see the huge amount of weaponry and heavy armor committed to Ukraine by Western partners, from infantry fighting vehicles and armored combat and reconnaissance vehicles to personnel carriers and tanks, "I think that would be probably the biggest harbinger of that the Ukrainians are serious about undertaking an offensive operation in whatever strategic direction those show up in."

It's unclear exactly how much of this Western armor Ukraine already has in its arsenal, as some training continues and some systems are still in the delivery stage, but NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said in late April that over 98 percent of the promised combat vehicles had been delivered to Kyiv, including more than 1,550 armored vehicles, 230 tanks, and "vast amounts of ammunition."

Servicemen of one of the brigades of the Territorial Defence Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine carry out a combat mission with the help of the Partizan portable multiple rocket launcher system. Dmytro Smolienko / Ukrinform/Future Publishing via Getty Images

"In total we have trained and equipped more than nine new Ukrainian armored brigades, this will put Ukraine in a strong position to continue to retake occupied territory," Stoltenberg said. However, during Zelenskyy's interview with European broadcasters, which was published last week, he said that Ukraine's military still needs additional resources, like armored vehicles, which he said were "arriving in batches."

But as Cancian, a senior adviser with the international security program at the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies, said, these armored brigades, which have been trained and equipped by NATO countries, will give Ukraine the ability to start its counteroffensive "with a bang."

Ukraine is unlikely to just "dribble" these forces into battle. Instead, it is more likely to "unleash" them all at once after a massive preliminary bombardment, Cancian said. Infantry troops could then attack the Russian defensive lines with tank forces breaking through to make deeper gains. "When it happens, I think it's going to be very obvious," he said.

Ukraine won't reveal its offensive right away

The exact timeline for when the counteroffensive will start still remains a mystery, but despite needing more military equipment and hardware, a constant state for Ukraine as it fends off the Russians, Zelenskyy did acknowledge that combat brigades  some trained by NATO  were ready.

"We can go forward, and, I think, be successful" with the equipment that Ukraine already has, Zelenskyy told European broadcasters. "But we'd lose a lot of people. I think that's unacceptable. So we need to wait. We still need a bit more time."

Artillery rocket units of the mechanized brigade of the Ukrainian Army conduct operation to target trenches of Russian forces through the Donetsk region, where the country's most intense clashes occur, amid Russia and Ukraine war in Donetsk, Ukraine on May 09, 2023. Photo by Muhammed Enes Yildirim/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

When Ukraine's counteroffensive does finally get underway, it might take some time before Kyiv reveals any specific details to the public.

Cancian said that Ukraine will probably wait several days before making any public statements about its counteroffensive so it doesn't give anything away to the Russians and can keep Moscow guessing about timing and location until it's obvious what's happening.

"If the Ukrainian armed forces had their way, they would try to keep the wraps on this as long as possible," Metrick said. "That's just good operational practice  you want to maximize fog and friction. You want to keep the Russian armed forces guessing as to, is this actually the commitment of their main forces?"

It's unclear if Ukraine has the ability to execute this strategy, but from an official messaging perspective, Kyiv is unlikely to announce when the offensive is unfolding until it's "blatantly obvious" to everyone after a few days, Metrick said.

If Ukraine achieves operational success it can report, that might move forward the timeline for strategic messaging because it could boost national morale, strengthen international cohesion, and degrade Russian optimism.

Read the original article on Business Insider
What to know about 'Unsolved Mysteries' case of missing Illinois girl, Kayla Unbehaun

Kayla Unbehaun as she would've looked at 11 years old (left) and 14 years old (right). She was abducted in July 2017 at just 9 years old. She was found safe in North Carolina in May 2023.

The South Elgin Police Department has been spreading the news since a missing Illinois girl was recovered safely after her abduction nearly six years ago.

According to police, Kayla Unbehaun  now 15 years old  was found safe in Asheville, N.C., after being recognized by a store owner who watched an episode of "Unsolved Mysteries" on Netflix.

Kayla Unbehaun found: Girl abducted in Illinois in 2017 found safe in North Carolina after 'Unsolved Mysteries' episode

Here's what you need to know about the case:

What 'Unsolved Mysteries' episode features Kayla Unbehaun on Netflix?

The episode can be found on volume 3, episode 9 of Netflix's "Unsolved Mysteries" series.

Who is Kayla Unbehaun?

Kayla Unbehaun is a 15-year-old girl who was abducted from South Elgin, Illinois, in July of 2017 when she was just 9 years old, according to police.

Who is Heather Unbehaun?

Heather Unbehaun is the noncustodial mother of Kayla Unbehaun. An extraditable national arrest warrant was issued for Heather on July 28, 2017, after the South Elgin Police Department consulted the Kane County State's Attorney's Office with details of the child's disappearance. Kayla was entered into the national database for missing children.

Who is Ryan Iserka?

Ryan Iserka is Kayla Unbehaun's father. He has been searching for Unbehaun since her disappearance in 2017.

From the archives: Woman and kidnapped child may be 'hiding in plain sight' in Athens

Is Kayla Unbehaun still missing?

No. Police say she was found safe May 13 in Asheville, N.C., after a store owner recognized Unbehaun from watching "Unsolved Mysteries" on Netflix and notified the Asheville Police Department.

Asheville police coordinated with South Elgin police to confirm the identities of both Kayla and Heather Unbehaun. Heather Unbehaun was arrested on her warrant and Kayla Unbehaun was held in protective custody until Iserka could pick her up.

Heather Unbehaun posted bond and has been released from the Buncombe County Detention Center.

Police consider the case to be an active investigation and encourage anyone with information about the case to contact the South Elgin Police Department at (847) 741-2151.

More: Kayla Unbehaun found in Asheville after being featured on Netflix's 'Unsolved Mysteries'

What happened the day Kayla Unbehaun was abducted?

According to the Athens Banner-Herald, Iserka was awarded full custody in 2017, where Kayla would reside with his wife and her two children. Heather Unbehaun was allowed weekly visitations.

Iserka traveled to Wheaton, Illinois, to pick up Kayla after a court-ordered house visitation back in July 2017, but Kayla and Heather were nowhere to be found, according to USA TODAY.

Police heard the pair may have traveled to the Athens area in Georgia as Heather had expressed a desire to live off the grid and sold her car. She had previously taken Kayla to Athens without a previous visitation arrangement, Iserka said at the time.

The Banner-Herald reported a felony warrant for kidnapping had been issued for Heather Unbehaun on July 29, 2017, asking anyone who saw the duo or the car they were in to contact authorities.

More: Girl abducted in Illinois in 2017 found safe in North Carolina after 'Unsolved Mysteries' episode

Where is Kayla Unbehaun now?

Police say Kayla Unbehaun has been reunited with her father, Iserka. The family is receiving social services to assist in the process.

Im overjoyed that Kayla is home safe," Iserka said through the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children.

"I want to thank the South Elgin Police Department, the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children and all of the law enforcement agencies who assisted with her case. I also want to thank all of the followers on the "Bring Kayla Home Facebook page, who helped keep her story alive and were instrumental in spreading awareness. We ask for privacy as we get to know each other again and navigate this new beginning.

Chris Sims is a digital producer for the Journal Star. Follow him on Twitter: @ChrisFSims.

This article originally appeared on Journal Star: Kayla Unbehaun found: What to know about the Unsolved Mysteries case
By Tatiana Gomozova and Lucy Papachristou

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Three Russian academics who have worked on hypersonic missile technology face "very serious accusations", the Kremlin said on Wednesday, in a treason investigation that has spread alarm through Russia's scientific community.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said he was aware of an open letter from Siberian scientists in defence of the men, but that the case was a matter for the security services.

In the letter, published on Monday, colleagues of Anatoly Maslov, Alexander Shiplyuk and Valery Zvegintsev protested their innocence and said the prosecutions threatened to inflict grave damage on Russian science.

"We know each of them as a patriot and a decent person who is not capable of doing what the investigating authorities suspect them of," they said.

President Vladimir Putin has boasted that Russia is the global leader in hypersonic missiles, capable of travelling at speeds of up to Mach 10 (12,250 kph) to evade enemy air defences. On Tuesday, Ukraine said it had managed to destroy six of the weapons in a single night, although Russia disputed this.

Notices of academic conferences stretching back over many years show the arrested scientists were frequent participants.

In 2012, Maslov and Shiplyuk presented the results of an experiment on hypersonic missile design at a seminar in Tours, France. In 2016, all three were among the authors of a book chapter entitled "Hypersonic Short-Duration Facilities for Aerodynamic Research at ITAM, Russia".

The open letter from their colleagues at ITAM - the Khristianovich Institute of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics in Novosibirsk - said the materials the scientists had presented in international forums had been checked repeatedly to ensure they did not include restricted information.

The cases showed that "any article or report can lead to accusations of high treason", the open letter said.

"In this situation, we are not only afraid for the fate of our colleagues. We just do not understand how to continue to do our job."

The letter also cited the case of Dmitry Kolker, another Siberian scientist who was arrested last year on suspicion of state treason and flown to Moscow despite suffering from advanced pancreatic cancer. Kolker, a laser specialist, died two days later.

It said such cases were having a chilling effect on young Russian scientists.

"Even now, the best students refuse to come to work with us, and our best young employees are leaving science. A number of research areas that are critically important to laying the fundamental groundwork for the aerospace technology of the future are simply closing because employees are afraid to engage in such research."

Asked about the letter, Kremlin spokesman Peskov said: "We have indeed seen this appeal, but Russian special services are working on this. They are doing their job. These are very serious accusations."

(Reporting by Tatiana Gomozova in Moscow and Lucy Papachristou in Gdansk; writing by Mark Trevelyan; Editing by Kevin Liffey)
Kyiv during the nighttime massive strike by Russia on May 16

According to the SBU, the footage of cruise and ballistic missiles being intercepted in the skies above Kyiv may reveal information about the location and specifics of Ukraines air defenses, noting that the footage was immediately picked up and spread by numerous Russian propagandist media outlets.

Specialists have also blocked webcams in several locations throughout Kyiv, which automatically records the work of air defense systems, the SBU said.

Read also: Sixth attack on Kyiv in May targets Ukrainian air defense systems, says military expert

"Thus, the occupiers could use the obtained information to adjust repeated air strikes on the capital of Ukraine," the SBU said, adding that it had seized equipment used by the residents to record the devices. The six residents have been charged with the unauthorized dissemination of information on the work of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, and could face up to eight years in prison if convicted.

Russia conducted another air raid on Ukraine in the early hours of May 16.

According to Ukrainian authorities, air defense forces all 18 missiles launched by Russia, including six hypersonic Kinzhal missiles and nine drones.

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
Two young men who had been attacked by racist mobs on the streets of Los Angeles during the Zoot Suit Riots are surrounded by a crowd on June 20, 1943. (Associated Press)

Nearly 80 years after the infamous Zoot Suit Riots, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to condemn the violent attacks by racist mobs on Latino, African American and Filipino youths as "one of Los Angeles' most shameful moments in history."

Supervisor Hilda Solis marked the anniversary of the 1943 attacks Tuesday by introducing a motion denouncing the devastation from the riots and recommitting to fighting racial discrimination.

Local residents joined the board during the unanimous vote while wearing outfits that resembled the zoot suits favored by many minority youths in Los Angeles in the 1940s.

Supervisor Holly Mitchell said people are still being targeted for their attire and culture.

"We've seen that repeated over and over in our history, where groups who attempt to express our cultural pride and identity through clothes, music, style, hair ... whatever the case may be, how it's frowned upon and quite frankly feared," Mitchell said. "And the effort to erase and eliminate never seems to be successful."

The attacks were incited by men in the military who roamed the streets in uniform, some armed with clubs, looking to start fights with minority youths, known as "pachucos," who were wearing zoot suits, Solis said.

The young men who were targeted wore wide-legged, high-waisted, pegged trousers and long coats with wide lapels and wide padded shoulders that were part of the zoot suit style. Many of the victims were disrobed by their attackers, according to reports from the time.

Racial tensions in Los Angeles were already high, partly due to the Sleepy Lagoon murder trial, at which racist stereotypes of Latino youths were introduced as evidence.

Months before the riots, a young man named Jose Diaz was stabbed to death near a swimming hole that became known as Sleepy Lagoon in southeast L.A. Police, based on what Solis characterized Tuesday as a shoddy investigation and limited evidence, rounded up nearly 300 suspects, mainly Latino youths, in connection with the slaying.

Twenty-two defendants were charged with murder. At the trial, a sheriffs captain testified that the Mexican element had an innate desire to use a knife or some lethal weapon. In other words, his desire is to kill, or, at least, let blood.

The judge presiding over the trial refused to let the defendants change their clothes after prosecutors requested that the jury see the youths wearing their "zoot suit" attire that was worn only by "hoodlums," according to news reports from the time.

That sentiment fed into the racist attacks against youths who wore the zoot suits, according to Solis.

Following the riots, the Los Angeles City Council seriously contemplated banning zoot suits within the city.

At the time, L.A. Mayor Fletcher Bowron said that the attacks against zoot suit-wearing youths were not inspired by "racial discrimination" and harangued critics who questioned the police for arresting victims in the attacks.

Bowron framed the issue squarely around "youthful gangs" and asked military personnel to make sure that "soldiers and sailors do not pile into Los Angeles for the purpose of excitement and adventure and what they might consider a little fun by beating up young men whose appearance they do not like."

Seventeen defendants were convicted in the Sleepy Lagoon murder trial, but an appellate court in October 1944 found there was insufficient evidence in the murder trial and reversed all the convictions.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Parishioners in 1948 gather outside the original Our Lady of Prompt Succor church located then on 21st St. in Alexandria. The church celebrates 75 years on June 4.

Our Lady of Prompt Succor Catholic Church will celebrate its 75th anniversary at 10:30 a.m. June 4.

The parish formation was announced by Bishop Charles P. Greco in 1947, and one year later the first service was held in June 1948.

The original church was on 21st Street, and the first pastor was Msgr. Aloysius Olinger. Today the current church, which was built in 1975, is on Elliott Street. It replaced the former Providence Academy for high school girls. That property became available when Menard High School (for boys) and Providence merged into one school located on Coliseum Boulevard.

There were 549 families in the beginning, and today there are more than 1,200 registered families.

"Our mission is to know Christ Jesus," said Father Rusty Rabalais, pastor. "The rich legacy of those who have built this parish is expressed even more simply with our theme: 'We are family, and this is our home.'"

The parish added a parochial school (first-seventh grades) in 1949. Today the Pre-K through sixth-grade school has 405 students. The first rectory was at 572 Chester and later moved to 21st Street across from the school. A convent was added in 1965 to house the Sisters of Divine Providence, who staffed and ran the school. Sister Virginia Lee Vanderlick was the longest-serving principal of the school.

Today the church campus also includes the Divine Providence Center for church gatherings and receptions, St. Timothy Center -- the original Youth House -- and the first church, now named Olinger Hall, for other activities. The parish also sponsors Our Lady's Manor, a complex for the retired, located since 1983 in downtown Alexandria. It was built through a loan from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

"Our church is more than buildings and Sunday services," said Sid McDaniel, chair of the 75th anniversary committee. "It has instilled a great foundation of faith handed down through the generations."

This article originally appeared on Alexandria Town Talk: Our Lady of Prompt Succor Church celebrates 75th anniversary
LaShakia Moore, Flagler Schools assistant superintendent for academic services, was appointed as interim superintendent May 16 as the district begins its search to replace Cathy Mittelstadt. Moore's position begins July 1.

After voting 3-2 against renewing superintendent Cathy Mittelstadts contract last month, the Flagler School Board decided Tuesday on a temporary replacement.

LaShakia Moore, the current assistant superintendent for academic services, will begin as interim superintendent on June 1.

I am humbled by our school boards confidence in me to lead this district for the next six months, Moore said in a press release. There is a line of leaders who have guided this district through my career here, and I hope to steer this ship forward, just as they had done. Flagler Schools is a great place to learn and grow, and I look forward to sharing those great things every chance I get.

Mittelstadt out: Flagler School Board votes against renewing Superintendent Cathy Mittelstadt's contract

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Mittelstadts contract ends June 30, which allows for her to work with Moore for a month-long transition period. Mittelstadt will remain in charge of district operations until June 30, one day before Moores term officially begins.

We, as a board, appreciate the work Mrs. Moore has done along every step of her career in education, Board Chair Cheryl Massaro said. Her vision and drive to advance educational opportunities for all students is what makes us confident this district is in great hands while we start the process of searching for a new superintendent.

Moore has worked in Flagler Schools for 15 years, first as a teacher, then as a teacher support colleague at Rymfire Elementary, where she later became principal. She has been in her current position for a year. Moore will receive a monthly salary of $12,500.

What is the process of selecting a new superintendent?

Moores contract runs through Jan. 31 of next year, when the board hopes to have hired a new superintendent. The board hopes the new superintendent can start Jan. 1.

School board attorney Kristy Gavin told board members last month that the superintendent search would last approximately five months and, because of the vacancy, they would have to appoint an interim superintendent.

The process of selecting a new superintendent will involve the Florida School Board Association  the organization that most districts use to fill vacant superintendent positions.

Although designating the search to FSBA will probably cost the district around $30,000, according to Gavin, the process is complex and would demand time and effort from district staff.

Youre asking people to take on a huge responsibility, and they already have a huge responsibility as a staff member, Massaro said during a meeting last month.

The FSBAs CEO, Andrea Messina, will meet with board members on June 2 to review the search timeline, Gavin said.

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Flagler Schools appoint LaShakia Moore as interim superintendent
By Huseyin Hayatsever and Michelle Nichols

ANKARA/UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) -The Ukraine Black Sea grain deal has been extended for two more months, in what U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres hailed as "good news for the world," a day before Russia could have quit the pact over obstacles to its grain and fertiliser exports.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan announced the extension in a televised speech and it was later confirmed by Russia, Ukraine and the United Nations.

The flow of ships through the corridor had been grinding to a halt during the last few days with the deal set to expire on Thursday.

"The continuation is good news for the world," the U.N.'s Guterres told reporters on Wednesday.

The United Nations and Turkey brokered the Black Sea deal for an initial 120 days in July last year to help tackle a global food crisis that has been aggravated by Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, one of the world's leading grain exporters.

Moscow had initially appeared unwilling to extend the pact unless a list of demands regarding its own agricultural exports was met.

"This is a chance to help ensure global food security, not in words, but in deeds. First and foremost, to help the countries most in need," Russia's foreign ministry said, confirming the extension.

"Our principled assessment of the Istanbul agreements of July 22, 2022, has not changed and the distortions in their implementation should be corrected as soon as possible."

While Russian exports of food and fertiliser are not subject to Western sanctions imposed following the February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, Moscow says restrictions on payments, logistics and insurance have amounted to a barrier to shipments.

Russia's UN ambassador, Vassily Nebenzia, said the deal was extended because "we still do not lose hope that the problems that we are raising will be sorted out."

UN chief Guterres said outstanding issues remain but that representatives of Russia, Ukraine, Turkey and the United Nations would keep discussing them.

"Looking ahead, we hope that exports of food and fertilizers, including ammonia, from the Russian Federation and Ukraine will be able to reach global supply chains safely and predictably," Guterres said.

The United States has rejected Russia's complaints. U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Linda Thomas-Greenfield said last week: "It is exporting grain and fertilizer at the same levels, if not higher, than before the full scale invasion."

EXTENSION WELCOMED BY UKRAINE

Ukraine also welcomed the extension but a senior official said Russia must not be allowed to sabotage the agreement and must stop using food "as a weapon and blackmail."

"We welcome the continuation of the Initiative, but emphasise that it must work effectively," Deputy Prime Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov said on Facebook.

The extension helped to drive down grain prices on Wednesday with Chicago wheat futures and corn futures both falling by around 4%.

Earlier on Wednesday, the last remaining ship registered to travel through the corridor had left a Ukrainian port.

U.N. data showed that the DSM Capella had left the Ukrainian port of Chornomorsk carrying 30,000 tonnes of corn and was on its way to Turkey.

Officials from Russia, Ukraine, Turkey and the U.N. make up a Joint Coordination Centre (JCC) in Istanbul, which implements the Black Sea export deal. They authorise and inspect ships. No new vessels have been authorised by the JCC since May 4.

Authorised ships are inspected by JCC officials near Turkey before travelling to a Ukrainian Black Sea port via a maritime humanitarian corridor to collect their cargo and return to Turkish waters for a final inspection.

In an excerpt of a letter seen by Reuters last month, Russia told its JCC counterparts that it would not approve any new vessels to take part in the Black Sea deal unless the transits would be done by May 18 - "the expected date of ... closure."

It said this was "to avoid commercial losses and prevent possible safety risks" after May 18.

Some 30.3 million tonnes of grain and foodstuffs has been exported from Ukraine under the Black Sea deal, including 625,000 tonnes in World Food Programme vessels for aid operations in Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia and Yemen.

(Reporting by Huseyin Hayatsever in Ankara and Michelle Nichols at United NationsAdditional reporting by Orhan Coskun, Ali Kucukgocmen, David Ljunggren and Pavel PolityukWriting by Michelle Nichols, Nigel Hunt and Gareth JonesEditing by Alison Williams and Matthew Lewis)
Border encounters continue to hover at about half of what they were before the lifting of Title 42, Biden administration officials said Wednesday, a significant drop following the rescission of a policy that effectively barred asylum seekers.

Since May 12, the U.S. Border Patrol has experienced a steady decrease in daily encounters, Blas Nunez-Neto, chief operating officer at U.S. Customs and Border Protection, said on a call Wednesday with reporters.

Encounters are defined as interactions between U.S. border officials and foreign nationals who cross the border without prior authorization.

Ahead of the lifting of Title 42 on May 11, border encounters were around 10,000 individuals per day, a total that is now averaging around 4,400 people each day, with figures the last two days under 4,000.

This represents a decrease of 56 percent, or less than half of the average encountered in the four days leading up to the lifting of Title 42, Nunez-Neto said.

However, I want to stress once again that it is still too soon to draw any firm conclusions here about where these trends will go in the coming days and weeks.

With the end of Title 42, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has returned to the use of expedited processing under its Title 8 authorities. The Title 8 process creates a paper trail that Title 42 lacked and comes with a potential five-year bar on reentry.

That has been paired with a program started earlier this year that allows Cubans, Venezuelans, Nicaraguans and Haitians to apply for temporary entrance to the U.S., but they must have a valid passport and secure a U.S.-based financial sponsor. Nunez-Neto said since May 12, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has processed 5,000 applicants to the program through the CBP One app.

Nunez-Neto noted that the nationalities at the border have shifted following the change in policy, with Mexicans now representing about a quarter of those encountered, though overall numbers are dropping.

The top three nationalities we are currently seeing at the border are 1,000 individuals a day from Mexico, 510 a day from Colombia, and 470 a day from Guatemala. By contrast, in the days before the lifting of Title 42, we were seeing 2,400 individuals a day from Venezuela, 1,900 a day from Mexico, and 1,400 a day from Colombia, he said.

Though encounters have dropped, authorities have returned thousands of migrants to either their home countries, or to Mexico, for those from Cuba, Venezuela, Nicaragua or Haiti.

The dip in encounters comes as numerous Republican governors have sent their own personnel to the border, with Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) arguing they need to send backup for an anticipated spike in migration.

There is outstanding coordination taking place at the local level each and every day. Weve seen, however, at times, that Governor DeSantis and Governor Abbott take actions that are being done really for purely political reasons and that do not involve the kind of coordination that we really need to see at the border, Nunez-Neto said.

We are confident in our men and women on the front lines ability to conduct their border operations in a safe, humane and secure manner. And we again call on the governors to make sure that any steps they take are done in coordination with our federal personnel.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
During the latest Operation Consequences, sheriffs officials made 40 felony arrests and seized numerous firearms and illegal drugs.

During the latest Operation Consequences, sheriffs officials made 40 arrests and seized numerous firearms and illegal drugs.

From April 1 through May 12, the targeted crime suppression activities occurred in Apple Valley, Victorville, and other parts of the Inland Empire, San Bernardino County Sheriffs officials said

Investigators from department's Gangs/Narcotics Division, along with deputies from patrol stations, served 22 search warrants at the following locations:

15900 Block of Serrano Avenue, Apple Valley

15800 Block of Mojave Drive, Victorville

15300 Block of Seventh Street, Victorville

14900 Block of Seneca Road, Victorville

15500 Block of 7th Street, Victorville

12600 Block of California Street, Yucaipa

3600 Block of E Highland Avenue, Highland

4200 Block of Highland Avenue, Highland

200 Block of Winchester Drive, Rialto

1700 Block of West 7th Street, San Bernardino

2300 Block of Portola Street, San Bernardino

2300 Block of North Street, San Bernardino

26600 Block of Highland Avenue, San Bernardino

200 Block of East N Street, San Bernardino

3000 Block of Waterman Avenue, San Bernardino

During the latest Operation Consequences, sheriffs officials made 40 felony arrests and seized numerous firearms and illegal drugs.

During the service of search warrants, seized 28 firearms, eight of which were ghost guns, and nearly 3.5 pounds of narcotics, which includes fentanyl and methamphetamine, according to investigators.

There are currently 6,721 parolees at large in California and 564 parolees at large in San Bernardino County, sheriff's officials reported.

The nearly year-long operation includes personnel from the Gangs/Narcotics, Specialized Enforcement divisions, and patrol stations, as well as California Highway Patrol, county probation, and Department of Homeland Security Investigations.

Operation Consequences will continue to take place over the next several months to curb violent crime, disrupt and dismantle targeted criminal street gangs, and locate and arrest criminals who are illegally possessing, manufacturing, and trafficking firearms, sheriffs officials said.

This article originally appeared on Victorville Daily Press: Latest Operation Consequences include arrests, seizing firearms, drugs
Lauren Boebert once told women in rocky marriages that they just need to start 'chasing Jesus' to solve their marital issues. Now she's getting divorced.

Lauren Boebert. Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images

Lauren Boebert served her husband Jayson divorce papers in April.

She's spent much of her political career advocating for "strong families."

She once told women struggling in their marriages that chasing Jesus would solve marital issues.

Colorado Rep. Lauren Boebert once told women who were struggling in their marriages that devoting themselves to Jesus would solve their marital issues. This week  after years of making the traditional American family a cornerstone of her political platform  she joined a collective of far-right MAGA lawmakers who've gone through very public divorces.

On Tuesday, Boebert announced that she filed for divorce from her husband Jayson Boebert, citing irreconcilable differences. He didn't take it well: According to an affidavit, he flew into a rage and set his dogs on a process server when the documents were given to him on April 25.

News of Boebert's impending divorce comes after years of advocating for the traditional American marriage and family unit  the "union of one man and one woman."

Boebert's website still says that she believes "strong families are the foundation of American society." On the same page, she rages about "anti-family leftists" and touts her efforts to protect "family values."

Boebert has previously brought up her Christian faith while advocating for women to stay in rocky marriages.

"Are you struggling in your marriage? Begin to speak life into your marriage. Ladies, you were called to something great in your marriage. The power that you have in Christ, for your marriage, is unmatched," Boebert told an audience at the Cornerstone Christian Center during an event in June.

"And if you start chasing Jesus, with everything that you have, I promise you that your husband will chase you, chasing Jesus," Boebert added. "To be able to speak life into a marriage that seems like it's ending is so powerful."

A representative for Boebert did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment sent outside regular business hours.

Boebert isn't the only MAGA lawmaker who's recently split from their partner. In December, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene finalized her divorce from her husband Perry Greene. He had filed for divorce in September, saying his marriage with the congresswoman was "irretrievably broken." Greene is now dating Brian Glenn, who works for the conservative Right Side Broadcasting Network.

And in December 2021, then-congressman Madison Cawthorn announced he and his wife were splitting up after less than a year of marriage. Two days before announcing his divorce, Cawthorn had advocated for marrying young and having "as many kids as possible" at a Turning Point USA conference.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Lauren Boebert's husband Jayson flew into a rage while being served divorce papers and set his dogs loose on the process server, affidavit says

Rep. Lauren Boebert of Colorado. Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

Lauren Boebert is divorcing Jayson Boebert, her husband of nearly two decades.

A process server who delivered divorce papers said that Jayson Boebert yelled profanities at him.

The server said Boebert was "extremely angry" and "let the dogs out" when being served on April 25.

Rep. Lauren Boebert of Colorado filed for divorce from Jason Boebert, her husband of nearly two decades  and he did not take it well.

According to an affidavit, Jayson Boebert got "extremely angry" with the process server who delivered divorce papers to him and tried to reject the documents.

Jason Boebert was drinking beer and cleaning a gun when he was served on April 25, per the affidavit.

"He started yelling and using profanities, and told me that I was trespassing, and that he was calling the Sheriff's Office," the process server, Mike Estep, wrote in the affidavit. "I told him I was leaving the documents on the chair outside of the door, he closed the door then let the dogs out."

Jason Boebert told the Daily Beast in text messages that he did not know what he was being served for "or if it was some crazy left wing person coming to my house again."

He also said that he didn't do "anything bad" to the process server, and that his dogs were "no threat."

He added: "The divorce is sad, I did not expect this, I love her with every bit of my heart, she has been my soul mate and she is the mother of my Children."

"We have been through a lot together and I just want her to be happy," Jason Boebert said. "So it's what ever she wants."

Lauren Boebert defended her husband on Wednesday, claiming that stories about the process server's accounts are a "complete lie."

"The stories reported about the process server, and even Jayson running over a mailbox are a complete lie," Boebert wrote on Twitter. "Jayson doesn't sit around cleaning guns and he certainly doesn't drink beer out of a glass, just as much as he doesn't drink Bud Light."

Mike Estep, the process server, made his allegations in an affidavit filed with the court. The story and other reports quoted from what Estep said in the legal filing.

Lauren Boebert said in a statement to The Colorado Sun on Tuesday that she was breaking up with her husband because of "irreconcilable differences."

The Republican lawmaker's divorce comes after years of her advocating for the traditional family unit.

In 2022, she gave some faith-based advice to women whose marriages were ending.

"If you start chasing Jesus with everything that you have, I promise you, your husband will chase you chasing Jesus," Lauren Boebert said.

"To be able to speak life into a marriage that seems like it's ending is so powerful," she added.

The Boeberts have four children together.

In the past, the Colorado Republican had written extensively about her relationship with Jayson and how they decided to get married after she became pregnant as a teenager. She also previously defended him after he was arrested, charged, and later pled guilty and served jail time for public indecency and lewd exposure. In her 2022 memoir, Lauren Boebert wrote that her husband "needed the alcohol and anger management classes that came with the plea deal."

Jayson Boebert's attorney and representatives of Lauren Boebert did not immediately respond to requests for comment sent outside regular business hours.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Lavrov: White House has called Kremlin to seek release of Gershkovich and Whelan

Lavrov: White House has called Kremlin to seek release of Gershkovich and Whelan FILE PHOTO: White House Correspondents Association (WHCA) Dinner 2023, in Washington

(Reuters) - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Wednesday that White House officials had requested the release of detained Americans Evan Gershkovich and Paul Whelan in conversations with a Kremlin official.

In an interview with a Russian TV channel, Lavrov said White House officials "sometimes call" Yury Ushakov, a presidential aide specialising in foreign affairs, and send "one and the same signal" demanding the release of the two men.

He did not say how Ushakov responded.

Wall Street Journal reporter Gershkovich was arrested on March on suspicion of spying, which he and his newspaper deny.

Whelan, a former U.S. marine, was arrested in December 2018, held for 18 months in Lefortovo prison in Moscow, and jailed for 16 years in June 2020 on spying charges. He too has denied the accusations, and Washington has designated both men as "wrongfully detained".

Lavrov's deputy, Sergei Ryabkov, last week accused the United States of exerting "pressure and threats" on Moscow over the Gershkovich case, and said Russia would ignore such tactics.

(Reporting by Reuters; Editing by Kevin Liffey)
A local man has filed a lawsuit against the city of Mansfield and four Mansfield firefighters who were terminated after an incident involving a lack of appropriate medical care and inappropriate restraints while he was being transported to a hospital.

Robert McGuire and his wife Amber McGuire filed the lawsuit on March 14 in Richland County Common Pleas Court against the city of Mansfield, Firefighters George Williams, Allen Price, Matthew Kendle and Michael Drum, Mansfield police Officer Korey Kaufman, John Doe employees #1-10, ABC Company #1-10, S&S Healthcare Strategies Ltd and Ohio Department of Medicaid.

Mansfield Fire Truck Stock

In the lawsuit, McGuire, who was having an asthma attack while being transported in a city squad in March of 2022, claims as a result of various defendants' actions he suffered permanent physical injuries causing pain and suffering, according to Richland County Clerk of Courts documents.

The man's wife told a dispatcher McGuire's breathing was labored and his inhaler was not working. She said he was pale, sweating, wheezing and having trouble speaking between breaths, according to the 911 tape the News Journal obtained from the city.

Numerous allegations cited in lawsuit

McGuire's attorneys allege the defendants' "willful and/or wanton misconduct," included failing to perform and document an assessment, document McGuire's vital signs, and failing to deliver supplemental oxygen while the plaintiff was in distress.

The suit also alleges that the firefighters failed to review McGuire's medications and did not attempt cardiac monitoring and IV access; administered a medication to plaintiff without assessing for a history of COPD or emphysema; and failed to consider the use of the drug Solumedrol.

The court document also alleges proper protocol during the patient's panic attack was not followed and firefighters ignored the patient's statements that he could not breathe, restraining him in a manner that restricted the adequate monitoring of his vital signs, restricting the ability of his airway.

McGuire was allegedly placed in a flat, supine position with arms extended above his head and bound with Coban bandage, the suit said.

Firefighters were yelling and cursing at McGuire and applying force and restraint in excess of appropriate amounts and in a dangerous manner, according to the court records.

The plaintiff was also put into a prone position, face down and handcuffed, the lawsuit claims, adding firefighters did not provide timely response to McGuire's unresponsiveness and the fact he had stopped breathing, according to the complaint.

In 2022, McGuire said, "I will never, ever trust the Mansfield Fire Department again."

"The night it happened, when I rolled into the ER, Dr. Thai and his nurses brought me back to life in the ED. I had no heart rate and was I clinically dead for three minutes," he said.

He said he was being transferred from his wife's parents' home on Harter Avenue to OhioHealth Mansfield Hospital.

McGuire declined further comment in 2022.

The four firefighters terminated June 14, 2022 are Firefighter/EMT George Williams; Lt./EMT Allen Price; Firefighter/EMT Matthew Kendle, and Firefighter/EMT Michael Drum, according to termination letters the News Journal obtained in a public records request to the city's human resource director, Sharon May. Both the Mansfield fire Chief Steve Strickling and interim Safety Service Director Dave Remy made the determination for termination actions.

Four firefighters' employment status

On Monday, May provided an update on the four firefighters' employment status.

Firefighter George Williams - His arbitration has not yet concluded; no update.

Firefighter Matthew Kendle - The arbitrator has upheld his termination from the city.

Firefighter Allen Price - The arbitrator found the city had just cause to demote him from lieutenant to firefighter. However, the arbitrator found his termination was without cause. The arbitrator reduced his termination to a two-week suspension. However, Price retired from the Mansfield Fire Department effective March 8, 2023.

Firefighter Michael Drum - The arbitrator found just cause did not exist for his termination. However, he was given a three-month suspension without pay. He has returned to his former position.

The attorneys from Jones Kahan Law LLC in Cincinnati are demanding a jury trial. The lawsuit asks for $25,000 or above from each defendant, court costs and more.

lwhitmir@gannett.com

419-521-7223

Twitter: @LWhitmir

This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: Four Mansfield firefighters initially terminated from jobs
Lets call it what it is: stupidity. Driver mad someone honked at him opens fire on former officer

A driver is recovering after he was shot in what police said was a case of road rage Monday morning.

Channel 2s Tom Regan was on Georgia 400 in Forsyth Parkway, where Forsyth County Sheriff Ron Freeman said an angry driver pulled out a gun and fired multiple times at a man who had honked his horn at him for driving too slow.

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Its a classic case of... lets call it what it was: stupidity, Freeman said.

The sheriff said the victim saw 31-year-old Joshua Kasparek pull out a gun, but didnt think he was really going to fire it.

And the next thing he finds is multiple gunshots hitting his vehicle, including one hitting him in the arm, Freeman said.

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The victim, a retired public safety officer, followed the accused shooter long enough to get a look at his license plate.

Deputies soon arrested Kasparek.

He was compliant. There was no chase, no use of force, Freeman said. But he had no good explanation. Basically, I did it. I got mad.

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Freeman said people with guns cant let their emotions take control in road disputes, because too often, they end in tragedy.

He was very lucky the bullet was deflected and went into his arm, Freeman said. He received minor treatment for that. But it could just as easily been a loss of life, because someone got mad that you were passing him.
LG Energy Solution reached a milestone in its massive expansion.

HOLLAND  LG Energy Solution Michigan celebrated the placement of the final steel beam for its "transformational" expansion on Tuesday, May 16.

Its a big milestone to let us know we are over the crest and on the home stretch, said LG Senior Manager Roger Traboulay.

More: 'Transformational' LG expansion could bring 1,000 jobs to Holland by 2025

More: Residents frustrated with excessive dust, late-night lights as LG expands

The addition was originally slated to be just shy of 1 million square feet, but Traboulay told WOOD TV-8 it's now nearly 1.7 million square feet.

LGs campus off 146th Avenue, west of I-196, opened in 2010. Once complete, it will be home to the companys North American production headquarters for lithium-ion battery manufacturing.

This is cutting-edge technology. This is the most modern electric vehicle battery manufacturing plant there is, Traboulay said. Bring back the automobile jobs to Michigan, what Michigan is known for. But bring it this time clean and state of the art.

The site will add 1,200 permanent, highly skilled jobs once its done in 2025.

Construction progress on LG Energy Solution's expansion as of Thursday, March 16, 2023.

Youre talking about high-paying operators, technicians, engineers, that category of worker, Traboulay said. And we do a lot of training.

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Jennifer Owners, president of economic development group Lakeshore Advantage, said the expansion will also support additional growth in the Holland area.

For the city of Holland and for the lakeshore to be sustainable and to actually conserve power makes a difference, Owens said. Its less power we have to generate. Its less fuel we have to produce. Its the right thing to do for the environment and the right thing to do for the community.

This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: LG Energy Solution places final beam for Holland expansion
Li Huis visit to Zelenskyy: Beijing aims to show de-escalation dependence on China, says Klimkin

Chinese diplomat Li Hui

Klimkin characterized Huis recent visit to Kyiv as a strategic move in their own game.

The Chinese aim to demonstrate that without their involvement, any progress to-wards de-escalation is impossible, explained Klimkin.

Furthermore, they seek to exhibit the willingness of all parties, including ourselves, the West, and Russia, to engage with China; no other sides in the world possess such readiness.

Klimkin further noted that Chinas primary focus will be on probing positions and listening, rather than explicitly stating their own stance. This approach allows China to establish a network of personal connections for future utilization.

Currently, there is no opportune moment for meaningful negotiations due to the absence of defined prerequisites, said Klimkin.

The Chinese are aware of this, but they firmly believe that the necessary conditions will arise at some future juncture, ultimately justifying their efforts.

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) -- Liz Truss called on the West to bolster support for Taiwan in the face of Chinese aggression during a visit to the self-governed island, the first by a former British prime minister in almost three decades.

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It is completely irresponsible for European nations to wash their hands of Taiwan, Truss said in a speech Wednesday in Taipei, warning about Chinas recent military buildup. The only choice we have is whether we appease and accommodate  or we take action to prevent conflict.

It was the latest intervention on China by Truss since leaving 10 Downing Street in October, after a disastrous and record-breaking 49-day premiership that triggered financial market and political turmoil.

Her hawkish stance toward Beijing is at odds with her successor Rishi Sunaks attempt to reset ties with the worlds second-largest economy, and her Taiwan visit has drawn criticism from members of his governing Conservative Party.

A recent review of Britains security policy stopped short of branding China a strategic threat, but that disappointed those Tories who say British engagement with Beijing has failed  a faction that includes Truss. In Taipei, she called on the review to be amended to state clearly that China is a threat.

The comments come at an awkward time for Sunak, who has faced a steady drip of criticism in recent weeks especially from the Tory right. The party shed more than 1,000 seats in local votes this month and trail the opposition Labour Party by a double-digit margin in national surveys. The prime minister travels to the Group of Seven summit in Hiroshima, Japan on Wednesday.

There are still too many in the West who are trying to cling on to the idea that we can cooperate with China on issues like climate change, as if there is nothing wrong; that there are bigger issues than Chinese global dominance, Truss told the Prospect Foundation think tank. We know what happens to the environment or world health under totalitarian regimes that dont tell the truth. You cant believe a word they say.

Speaking to reporters after her speech, Truss said it was absolutely clear that Chinese President Xi Jinping has the ambition to take Taiwan. All we can do  those of us who believe in freedom and democracy  is make sure that Taiwan is as protected as possible, she said. We need to be clear and we need to be coordinated in dealing with that threat.

Truss also underscored the importance that allies in the Asia Pacific region play in creating a strong defense, adding that Britain wants to work with nations like Japan, South Korea and Australia. We want to do all we can to support our friends in the Pacific, but it will take leadership directly from the Pacific nations themselves, she added.

Trusss visit was branded a farce earlier Wednesday by Chinas Taiwan Affairs Office. The islands ruling Democratic Progressive Party was spending taxpayers money to bring over anti-China politicians that have left their offices, spokesman Ma Xiaoguang told reporters in Beijing in response to a question about the trip.

Taiwan typically welcomes visits by overseas political and business delegations, amid growing fears the island may become a flashpoint as ties between China and the US deteriorate. A visit by then-US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in August triggered the ire of Beijing officials who ordered an unprecedented series of military drills around the island in response.

Truss is expected to meet with senior members of Taiwans government  including Taiwan President Tsai-ing Wen, according to local media.

--With assistance from Yujing Liu, Jennifer Creery and Stuart Biggs.

(Updates to include details from Liz Truss presser, China Taiwan Affairs Office.)

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Lone holdout juror in Lori Vallow trial reveals why he changed his mind to convict her: I put a face to evil

The last juror to vote to convict Lori Vallow of all charges in her trial for the murders of her children and husbands late wife has spoken out.

In an ABC News exclusive interview that aired on Good Morning America on Wednesday, Saul Hernandez, one of the 12 jurors out of a panel of 18 including six alternates, gave his account of their deliberations.

Mr Hernandez was the lone holdout on the panel before ultimately switching his stance on day two of deliberations to find Vallow guilty of all charges.

On Friday 12 May, Vallow was found guilty of first-degree murder, conspiracy and grand theft over the deaths of her daughter Tylee Ryan, 16, son Joshua JJ Vallow, seven, and of conspiracy to murder Tammy Daybell, 49, her new husband Chad Daybells first wife, at Ada County Courthouse in Boise, Idaho.

Tylee and JJ were last seen in September 2019. In June 2020, their remains were found buried in shallow graves on the Daybell property. Tammy died one month after their disappearance in October 2019 and her death was later ruled a homicide by asphyxiation.

Over six weeks, prosecutors argued that Vallow conspired with Mr Daybell and her brother Alex Cox to kill the three victims, motivated by greed and their doomsday cult beliefs.

Of the experience of being on the jury, Mr Hernandez said: I dont think as a human being you are ever really prepared to experience this.

Asked why he had initially held out on convicting Vallow, he explained: I just didnt feel like at that timeline with Tylee [Vallow] we were quite there yet, and if we were, I perhaps was missing it.

Speaking about the bizarre religious beliefs that appear to have partially underpinned the motive for the murders and if the defendant had really believed them, Mr Hernandez said of Vallow: I think she started with maybe curiosity, exploring what her initial beliefs were. And once Chad came into the picture, she went along with it.

Mr Hernandez told ABC News that he otherwise found Vallow strangely stoic during the six-week trial.

Asked what went through his mind when the court was shown pictures of Vallow and Mr Daybell dancing on a beach in Hawaii at their wedding while her children were buried in his backyard, Mr Hernandez said: I was disgusted. I didnt want to look at them. I just couldnt believe how someone could be that happy when your kids are in the ground and the person that was key in all of this is sitting across from you, smiling at you, and dancing with you on a beach.

Chillingly, Mr Hernandez said: As the case progressed, as the evidence came to light, testimony was shared, it was harder to look at her. Growing up, were taught good and bad, God and evil, and I think for the first time in my life, I put a face to evil.

Earlier, an alternate juror broke her silence, speaking to Law & Crime . Juror Tiffany, who was not on the final panel of 12 but served as an alternate and was presented with all of the evidence over the course of the six-week trial, said she felt she could be impartial based on her experience in the military as a neutral person who does not judge people right away.

She also admitted to not knowing anything about the case going in but was wary of the fact it was centred around the murder of children, being a mother herself. Key to her was watching Vallows reaction as the evidence came out  at critical moments, Tiffany said she felt Vallow was unemotional.

Tiffany said she would have definitely voted to convict Vallow but added that she would have needed more time to deliberate on Vallows involvement in the conspiracy to murder Tammy Daybell.

I felt pretty solid on the other charges but the one on Tammy Daybell I did not feel solid on. I didnt feel there was solid evidence for her charge as opposed to the other charges, she said explaining that the evidence was there but she needed time to talk it over.

Asked if she felt Mr Daybell had killed his wife as prosecutors were suggesting, she replied: I feel he definitely had a heavier hand in it, I do.

On the murder of the children, Tiffany said the prosecutions argument about the money motive  Vallow switched social security payments due to the children to her accounts  was key as they demonstrated she had learned a lesson from the death of her husband when she had not been the beneficiary of his life insurance. It showed she had prepped for the death of Tylee in particular.

Asked if she believed it was Alex Cox who had actually killed the children, Tiffany says she did, noting his finger and palm prints were found on the plastic bag wrapped around JJ, and his cellphone records placed him at the site where the bodies were buried and led the police to find the graves.

Tiffany was sure that Vallow encouraged her Cox to commit crimes but is not sure she knew exactly what happened to the children but was aware they were dead.

Reflecting on two of the most powerful pieces of evidence, Vallows jailhouse phone calls with her surviving son Colby Ryan and sister Summer Shiflet, Tiffany says they were tough to hear as there was so much emotion from them but none from Vallow.

Tiffany says she was surprised that there was no defence case to argue that Vallow had been manipulated by Mr Daybell and felt that the closing argument was too little too late.
(Bloomberg) -- The cash bail system in Los Angeles was curtailed by a state judge who issued a preliminary injunction that will allow most people charged with low-level crimes to be released without having to post bail.

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Superior Court Judge Lawrence Riff on Tuesday ordered Los Angeles officials to drop the current system and abide by an emergency bail schedule that was put in place in October 2020 during the Covid pandemic, beginning May 24. Under that practice, as a general rule, no bail is required for all infractions, misdemeanors and felonies, with a number of exceptions for crimes such as domestic violence, violent felonies and any theft with a loss of more than $100,000.

The judge also issued a broader injunction barring the enforcement of current bail rules, but he put that on hold until July 17 to give all sides a chance to develop a plan for the release of detainees. He ordered them to submit the plan to him by July 5.

The issue of cash bail dominated the midterm elections in several states, including New York and Illinois, with those advocating its abolishment saying poor people end up imprisoned, for years at times, only because they cant afford to buy their way out of jail. Opponents argued abolishing cash bail will lead to a surge in crime.

The evidence demonstrates that secured money bail as now utilized in Los Angeles County is itself criminogenic  that is secured money bail causes more crime than would be the case were the money bail schedules no longer enforced, Riff wrote in the 58-page decision.

The defendants provided no evidence to the contrary, the judge said.

This is not for a want of opportunity, Riff wrote, saying he invited the mayor, sheriff, chief of police and anyone from the County Board of Supervisors and Los Angeles City Council to come to court and be heard.

Perhaps these public officials, given their expertise in criminology and public administration, have better ideas for the content of the PI than proposed by the plaintiffs, he said, referring to the preliminary injunction. But all have declined to testify.

Los Angeles, with the largest jail system in the country, requires people who are arrested on suspicion of crimes to pay between $250 and $1,000 if theyre charged with misdemeanors and as much as $50,000 for felonies. The amounts are set by a committee of Los Angeles County Superior Court judges.

The practice was challenged by a group of civil rights organizations and law firms who sued the city and county of Los Angeles as well as the LA Sheriff and Police Departments seeking the injunction while the constitutionality of the practice is challenged.

LA County said in an emailed statement Wednesday that its hopeful the judges ruling will help reduce the jail population.

It is worth noting that the state, its Judicial Council and the court system set the bail schedule, and the countys authority is limited solely to implementing that schedule, the county said. The county did not defend the constitutionality of the current system, and the Board of Supervisors is focused on pretrial reforms that would create a fairer system and lower the jail population. The Sheriffs Department is working to implement the courts ruling by May 24.

The ruling was welcomed by The Bail Project, a national non-profit that provides bail assistance to low-income people.

After paying bail for nearly 30,000 clients nationally, our clients returned to over 90% of their court dates with none of their own money on the line, the group said in a statement. We are hopeful that as this case proceeds that Los Angeles will finally move towards a more humane pretrial system where pretrial freedom is not determined by the amount of money in a persons bank account.

The judges ruling will have an immediate impact on those arrested in Los Angeles County, said Munger, Tolles & Olson Chair Brad Brian, who along with Salil Dudani of Civil Rights Corps argued the motion for the preliminary injunction. We are confident that LA County bail policies are unconstitutional, and look forward to proving that at trial.

Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascon said in November he wasnt surprised the cash bail system was being challenged, adding that upon taking office he changed the policy to reject the heavy reliance on the bail schedule and courts should have followed.

For nearly a decade, I have advocated against cash bail, said Gascon, who was previously San Franciscos district attorney.

The case is Urquidi v. City of Los Angeles, 22-STCP-04044, Superior Court of California, County of Los Angeles.

(Updates with comment from the County)

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'Losing our best': activists killed in war seen as blow to Ukraine's future

'Losing our best': activists killed in war seen as blow to Ukraine's future FILE PHOTO: Roman Ratushnyi is buried in Kyiv

By Dan Peleschuk

KYIV (Reuters) - Investigative journalist Oleksandr Tsakhniv spent much of his professional life trying to uncover corruption in Ukraine's eastern hinterlands where he lived and worked.

He was killed in March, aged 37, fighting Russian forces near Bakhmut. Now, his employer says his death could have an impact on the local fight against graft - and on Ukraine's broader efforts to prepare for a future more closely aligned to Europe.

"I understand it's a civic duty to defend your country, and so they go," said Maria Davydenko, director of the online outlet Vchasno where Tsakhniv worked, referring to activists and other members of civil society. "But we really are losing our best."

A growing number of civic activists and community leaders, who might be expected to drive Ukraine's ambitions to build a modern democracy, are among the thousands of Ukrainians from all walks of life killed fighting since Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022.

The European Union offered Kyiv candidate status last year and made improving governance and fighting corruption key requirements for membership negotiations.

Among the first activists to fall was well-known environmental campaigner Roman Ratushnyi, who famously tackled illegal construction in a woodland in Kyiv. He was killed fighting near Izium in the east of the county last June aged 24.

Another was 28-year-old Mykhailo Alekseyenko, a star political science graduate from Karazin University in Kharkiv. He was killed last month near Kreminna.

The pro-European Maidan revolution in 2014 that ousted a pro-Russian leader inspired young Ukrainians like Alekseyenko, who before the war helped rebuild homes and took part in youth education programmes after receiving a Masters degree in 2017.

"Misha was definitely another type of activist, who was ready to act in many different ways," said professor Yuliya Bidenko, who taught Alekseyenko political science. Misha is shorthand for his first name.

In different circumstances, Bidenko believes Alekseyenko could have sought a political career. His death, and those of other young idealists, could undermine the country's drive toward greater self-rule across its regions, she said.

Decentralisation was a key post-Maidan reform to empower local administrations.

The mass flight of millions of refugees after Russia's invasion has also dealt a blow to Ukraine's potential political class, Bidenko added.

'EXTREMELY NECESSARY'

In some cases, the war may also be forging future leaders, especially among the military and humanitarian volunteer organisations that are now trusted by 88% of Ukrainians, according to the Razumkov Centre think-tank in Kyiv.

Away from Kyiv, in far-flung places like Pokrovsk, about an hour's drive west of the besieged city of Bakhmut, people like Tsakhniv, the journalist, will be missed.

There, in 2018, he investigated an allegedly rigged tender process involving more than $10 million of European Investment Bank money to rebuild local schools and hospitals damaged after Russia's previous, covert, invasion of 2014.

His report led to a review by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), which scrapped the tenders, said colleague Davydenko. The UNDP confirmed to Reuters that new tenders were held and contracts awarded to different builders.

"People like this are just extremely necessary for us after the war," Davydenko said of Tsakhniv.

(Reporting by Dan Peleschuk; Editing by Frank Jack Daniel)
'Loud mouth' Prigozhin's public feuding with Russia's military leaders is an effort to blame the Kremlin for Wagner's failures in Bakhmut, military expert says

Wagner Group head Yevgeny Prigozhin attends the funeral of his fighters at the Beloostrovskoye cemetery outside St. Petersburg, Russia, on December 24, 2022. AP Photo

Yevgeny Prigozhin and Russia's military brass have been locked in a public feud for months

Meanwhile, Prigozhin's Wagner Group troops have sustained significant losses in Bakhmut.

Experts told Insider that Prigozhin's taunts and tirades are likely an attempt to set the narrative.

Yevgeny Prigozhin, the leader of the Russian paramilitary Wagner Group, has publicly escalated his feud with Russia's military brass in recent weeks, shaming the country's defense leaders and threatening to withdraw his troops from the frontline, all in an attempt to paint himself in a flattering light, military experts posited.

Prigozhin, a one-time close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, oversees the mercenary Wagner Group, which sparked global outrage earlier in the war after offering convicted prisoners a chance at freedom in exchange for their fighting in Ukraine, and the rouge wartime leader has been increasingly desperate for a victory after sustaining significant losses this year.

"I think Prigozhin is playing a political, as well as a military game," Simon Miles, an assistant professor at Duke University's Sanford School of Public Policy and a historian of the Soviet Union and US-Soviet relations, told Insider.

Wagner troops have played an outsized role in the battle of Bakhmut, Russia's monthslong assault in Ukraine's east where the fighting has grown so ruthless it has become known as "the meat grinder."

For months, Wagner troops have borne the brunt of the attritional fighting in Bakhmut as the frontlines grinded to a brutal stalemate. The White House in February said Wagner troops had suffered 30,000 casualties since the war began in February 2022.

Prigozhin's forces have been wounded and killed at such stunning rates that Russia has been forced to supplement traditional forces to make up for the losses in Bakhmut.

"Prigozhin has spent the last seven to eight months trying to capture Bakhmut and still hasn't done it," Ben Hodges, a retired lieutenant general and former commander of US Army Europe, told Insider earlier this month.

Ukraine continues to defend the strategically unimportant city and even managed to reclaim several miles of territory last week, sending Russian soldiers fleeing from armored vehicles.

"All the resources that have been expended, the lives lost around Bakhmut, and for what?" Hodges said of Wagner's efforts.

The animosity between Prigohzin and Russia's military leaders, who do not directly command Wagner troops, has been growing for months, with Prigozhin sharing graphic videos of dead Wagner soldiers in Bakhmut while castigating Russia's military brass, alleging that they've been withholding necessary ammunition from his men.

In recent weeks, Prigozhin has even taken to shaming Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and General Valery Gerasimov by name, the current leaders of Russia's war effort whom Prigozhin "clearly hates with a passion," said Miles.

A mural depicting mercenaries of Russia's Wagner Group that reads: "Wagner Group - Russian knights." AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic

Prigozhin seems to care very little about Russia's overall war effort

In the most brazen escalation yet of Prigozhin's apparent vendetta against Russia's military brass, the Wagner leader reportedly offered to give the locations of Russian troops to Ukraine defense officials in exchange for sparing his for-hire army in Bakhmut, according to leaked intelligence documents obtained by The Washington Post.

Prigozhin has since denied the accusations, but Miles told Insider that the timing of the alleged offer makes sense with regard to his desperation for a win.

"Wagner being in a position to claim the lion's share of credit would have been a real coup for Prigozhin," he said. "And it would have been a blow to Shoigu and Gerasimov, who I think have been entirely happy to let Wagner grind itself down in Bakhmut to try to diminish the Prigozhin problem."

An expert on Russian security and politics told Insider this week that Prigozhin's alleged attempt to sell out Russia for his own gain is akin to treason and indicates a genuine threat to Putin's leadership.

"I'm sure this is extremely frustrating to Putin, but he built this system of divide-and-rule himself," Miles said. "This is the logical consequence."

And indeed, reports from earlier this year suggest Russia was perfectly happy to allow Wagner troops to suffer in Bakhmut and sustain the majority of blows during the fighting, even looking at the assault as an opportunity to wipe the group  and its leader  off the map.

"I think they probably hate [Prigozhin] because he's such a loud mouth," Hodges said of Russia's defense leaders.

The ongoing and chaotic infighting with Russia's forces comes as Ukraine prepares to launch a much-anticipated counteroffensive, though evidence suggests Prigozhin is not particularly concerned with the war beyond his personal stakes in Bakhmut.

"All the stuff he says so publicly, my guess is that is mainly him wanting to create a narrative that it's not his fault they have failed in Bakhmut," Hodges said.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Lupita Nyongo is giving fans a closer look at the henna design on her newly bald head. The Black Panther star explained the henna artwork and what led to the decision to have it applied. In a post to her Instagram account, Nyongo says she met the artist responsible for her henna last year at a wedding in Pakistan. At the time, the artist applied henna to the bride and Nyongo says she was blown away.

 I was ASTOUNDED by the INTRICACY and BEAUTY of her work. There was something unique about the way she expressed herself in henna art, Nyongo wrote on IG.

The actress says she promised herself at that wedding that one day she would have a reason to work with the self-taught artist who goes by Sabeen on social media.

Nyongo says a year and a half later she finally had her chance. As she was preparing for the opening night of a friends musical, the actress says she felt her look for the night wasnt complete. Then, she had a flash of inspiration.

[I]n the middle of the night, an image SHOT into my mind of a henna design covering my bald head!!! Nyongo wrote.

The Decision to Go Bald

On May 10, Nyongo shared her new haircut with the world on social media. Writing, Happy without hair!!! Over the years, the actress has been willing to experiment with different hair styles. The decision to go bald prompted an array of comments under her post. Some questioned the reason. Others asked why hair should ever cause a stir. Five days later Nyongo shared the first of two posts flaunting her henna art.

I could do something special and different, to celebrate the culture using the canvas readily available to me! Nyongo wrote in the latest post about the henna art on her head.

According to the New York Times, the musical Nyongo was preparing for centers on an arranged marriage that brings together two vastly different Indian families. For the musicals opening night, the actress wore a sari and jewels and ultimately felt the addition of henna would be the perfect final touch.

Hennas Cultural Significance

According to St. Thomas University, henna art has been practiced in Pakistan, India, Africa, and the Middle East for over 5000 years. Today, Henna is mostly used for celebrations such as wedding and birthdays. The look is achieved by applying a temporary dye to the skins surface. Though these designs are often referred to as henna tattoos they are not permanent.

While Nyongo was excited about her choice to have henna applied to her head, the decision wasnt without some concerns. Partially because this was the artists first time ever designing for a head.

We were both excited and terrified. What if it went wrong or looked funny??? Well, I thought, I can always wear a head wrap, the actress wrote.

Nyongo explained that she only had a few requests for the artist.

My only prompt to her was that I wanted a widows peak (homage to the bindhi, borla / maang tikka), she wrote.

In the end, a natural dye from South America was used. A choice specifically made to work with Nyongos skin tone.

She suggested #jagua, a natural dye from the jagua fruit of South America that would be dark enough to give good contrast to my dark skin, the actress wrote.

Despite any initial reservations, Nyongo says the outcome was incredible. According to Nyongo it took 24 hours for the dye to really show up and when it did she was moved. She says it may have been easier to play it safe, but taking a risk paid.

I had found a new way to express myself without hair! Nyongo wrote. So the moral of this story is: DARE YOURSELF TO SEEK OUT BEAUTY IN NEW WAYS.

The post How Lupita Nyongo Learned to Express Herself Without Hair appeared first on 21Ninety.
Madera County pitches in to save its only hospitals license. What that means for reopening

Madera County supervisors unanimously approved setting aside $100,000 in federal COVID-19 recovery funds to help pay license renewal costs for Madera Community Hospital.

Tuesdays vote came with little fanfare, but has potentially significant consequences for the 106-bed hospital, which closed in January amid severe financial difficulties. The hospitals license is currently in suspense with state officials as local leaders explore ways to reopen the facility, which was Madera Countys only acute-care hospital for adults before it closed and filed for bankruptcy earlier this year.

The hospitals license is set to expire May 26, according to Jessica Leon, a principal administrative analyst for the county.

County Administrative Officer Jay Varney said Californias hospital regulatory officials have expressed considerable flexibility on the license expiration as the local facility explores options for reopening. He said Madera County will set aside the $100,000 in American Rescue Plan Act money until the state makes a formal request for the license renewal fee to be paid.

Expiration of the license, Varney added, means that whoever might take over the closed hospital likely would have to start from scratch as if licensing a brand new hospital  a process that might require meeting an entirely new set of requirements compared to hospitals that are already licensed.

The bottom line is that if its going to reopen as an acute-care hospital, that licensing is very important, and I think it would be a reasonable commitment on behalf of the county to pay for that licensing, Varney told the county supervisors at their May 9 meeting.

According to the California Department of Public Health, licensing and certification fees for general acute-care hospitals are set at $828 per licensed bed. At 106 beds, that would put the license fee for Madera Community Hospital at almost $88,000.

A possible lifeline from the state

The vote comes a day after Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law the Distressed Hospital Loan Program, a new state program aimed at providing interest-free loans for public and nonprofit hospitals facing significant financial distress. Local government agencies can also qualify for loans to prevent the closure of a hospital or to help reopen a closed hospital.

The bill authorizes up to $150 million from the states general fund into the loan program for the 2022-23 and 2023-24 budget years. The loan program would be available through the end of 2031.

State Assemblymember Esmeralda Soria, D-Fresno, and state Sen. Anna Caballero, D-Merced, both hailed the bill as a potential lifeline for Madera Community Hospital and other financially troubled hospitals in the central San Joaquin Valley.

I am grateful to the governor for prioritizing state assistance so Madera Community Hospital and other struggling hospitals have access to emergency funding, Soria said Monday. Reopening Madera Community Hospital has been my top priority this year and (Mondays) action give me hope towards restoring emergency health care, labor and delivery services, and preventative care access that is critical to the community.

Caballero said she was thankful for the swift, collaborative work of my Assembly and Senate colleagues along with the support and work of Gov. Newsom and his team to ensure that our hospitals remain open and able to serve our residents.

Madera Community Hospital was financially unable to continue providing services and was forced to close three clinics in rural communities, along with their  hospital, Caballero added. Our health care system is in crisis.

Madera County studies feasibility for hospitals reopening

In addition to the $100,000 approved on Tuesday, county supervisors voted last week to hire a consulting company to study the feasibility of various options for reopening the hospital.

Force 10 Partners LLC will be looking at business scenarios for an agency or entity to acquire the hospital with the goal of turning it around and converting it to some hospital health care facility, said Joel Bugay, deputy county administrative officer. The work will also include an analysis of break-even prospects for various types of services and estimating how much money would be needed to reopen the hospital if a new operator can be found.

The contract has no set amount, but the total cost for the various aspects of the study are estimated to come in between $400,000 and $440,000, Bugay said.

As for possible suitors for the hospital, Varney said there have been very, very preliminary discussions. He told The Fresno Bee on Tuesday that he is not able to go into detail on who might get involved.

For now, he said, potential operators are waiting for more detailed information on costs, the potential mix of insurance and other payers for services, reimbursement rates and time delays and more.
By Corina Pons

MADRID (Reuters) -For serial entrepreneur Martin Varsavsky, the outcome of elections in Spain this year will determine whether he stays in Madrid.

The Argentine-born founder of five "unicorns" - start-ups worth more than $1 billion - is one of 27,000 millionaires or billionaires living in Spain who were blindsided by a "solidarity" tax on the wealth of the rich introduced in the final days of 2022.

The debate over whether the richest 1% should pay more to government coffers to help society cope with the cost-of-living crisis or if the levy will drive away entrepreneurs and investment is dominating regional elections this month in Madrid, home to about half of the individuals liable to pay it.

The outcome of a national vote later in the year - which will either oust the ruling Socialists or return them to power - will more likely determine whether this temporary tax of as much as 3.5% on fortunes greater than 3.7 million euros ($4.1 million) will be made permanent after 2024.

"It's something we've discussed in the family and it depends on whether the tax is made permanent," Varsavsky said of whether he would stay in Madrid or move to Germany or Italy to avoid paying an additional 2.75% on his capital each year.

"This measure has already had an effect. Friends of mine who were thinking of coming to live in Spain are no longer coming."

Spain already had a wealth tax which gave regional governments the power to apply exemptions. Madrid, which in recent years has vied with Miami to attract Latin American fortunes, has offered its residents a 100% discount since 2008.

However, the latest tax, introduced by the national government on Dec. 27 and which took effect this year, does not allow for regional exceptions.

Varsavsky, who is best known for founding and selling the Spanish telecoms company Jazztel to Orange and now runs Inception Prelude Fertility, one of the largest fertility services providers in the United States, is not the only disgruntled taxpayer.

Madrid's wealthy have been talking to advisors since January about options to avoid paying the wealth tax in future, nine sources ranging from lawyers and tax advisors to private bankers told Reuters.

They have an ally in Madrid's President Isabel Ayuso, from the conservative People's Party (PP). She is challenging the wealth tax in court while also pledging to cut local income taxes by 0.5% if she wins reelection.

"I would like to convey my commitment and conviction that in the region we will soon achieve the goal of not having this wealth tax," Ayuso, who currently leads polls, said at an event in Madrid on May 11.

The PP's national leader and candidate for prime minister, Alberto Nunez Feijoo, has backed Ayuso's concerns about the tax, saying it will drive investors to move to Portugal.

Ayuso's main electoral rival, Socialist candidate Juan Lobato, wants to make the wealth tax permanent as part of a wider reform that will reduce taxes for middle class families.

LEGAL CHALLENGES

Some 60 families with businesses in Madrid have joined forces to challenge the law. They argue it is confiscatory and violates the regional government's autonomy, according to a lawyer's draft for the appeal seen by Reuters. Madrid Finance Minister Javier Fernandez-Lasquetty said he expects thousands more to file lawsuits.

Spain's Budget Ministry said it had complied with all legal requirements.

Family offices and investment funds in Latin America are rethinking plans to open branches in Madrid, three wealth advisory sources and Fernandez-Lasquetty said.

Spain is the only country in the European Union that applies a tax on global fortunes. Around a dozen large economies had wealth taxes of some description in the 1990s, but most were repealed on capital flight concerns or because revenues were not as high as hoped due to loopholes.

Switzerland and Norway still have modest taxes on the difference between an individual's assets and liabilities. Belgium in 2021 introduced a small charge on investment accounts of more than 1 million euros. France dropped its wealth tax in 2017 but kept a levy on property worth more than 1.3 million euros.

No other European country is proposing a similar levy, although elsewhere Argentina will bring one into effect this year and Venezuela is also considering one.

Spain expects to collect 1.5 billion euros from the tax. Madrid's government counters that the city will lose 1.2 billion euros in foreign investment this year. Tax adviser Javier Martin said Madrid's top earners already pay 52% tax on annual income.

Varsavsky, 62, says the levy is a tax on his savings. He is considering retiring in the next decade, but maybe not in Spain.

"To stay in a country that takes 2.75% of your savings each year would be economic suicide," he said.

($1 = 0.9084 euros)

(Reporting by Corina Pons; Writing by Charlie Devereux; Editing by Aislinn Laing and Toby Chopra)
The train crash prompted tens of thousands of people to take to the streets to vent fury with the government

They are Greece's first-time voters, some as young as 16-years-old, who came of age during national bankruptcy, the Covid pandemic and the cost-of-living crisis.

Now they have a chance to decide the country's future when Greece goes to the polls on Sunday, three months after the nation's worst rail tragedy, in which 30 of the 57 people killed were under 30 years old.

The disaster prompted tens of thousands of people to take to the streets to vent fury with the government, which for the last eight years has been led by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis or his main rival, Alexis Tsipras.

Conservative Mitsotakis, 55, leftist Tsipras, 48, and Socialist ex-MEP Nikos Androulakis, 44, are dominating the polls and high-school student Nefeli Zouganeli, 16, is eager to have her voice heard.

"I recently learnt that I have the right to vote, and I am enthusiastic about it," she told AFP at her home in the northern Athens suburb of Anixi.

Greece is one of only three EU countries that allow teenagers under 18 to vote. In Sunday's election, that means anyone born in 2006 or earlier.

This time, nearly 440,000 young Greeks are eligible to cast their vote for the first time, representing around eight percent of the electorate.

- 'Sickened' -

Despite politicians' repeated calls and social media stunts, however, young voters are not expected to turn out massively on Sunday.

Only one in four people aged 17-24 voted in the last election in 2019, notes Maria Karaklioumi, a political analyst for polling company RASS.

Zouganeli expects most of her classmates -- fed up with the main parties -- to either skip the vote or pick one of dozens of small parties with little hope of making it to parliament.

"I think we must all go to vote. Abstention is not a solution," says the teen with dyed, cyan-coloured hair.

The February 28 train disaster, on the country's main train line from Athens to the second city Thessaloniki, may help tip the election.

At the height of protests in March, tens of thousands of people demonstrated across the country.

Kostis Smanis, a 25-year-old electronics engineering graduate looking for work, says he was "sickened" by the government blaming the duty stationmaster and ducking responsibility for years of mismanagement and under investment.

"I did not like how they tried to cover it up," he says.

- 'Wages are very low' -

For him, however, the biggest issue in the election is the Greek jobs market.

"Wages are very low compared to living costs," says the graduate, who spent three years studying in England's northern city of Manchester.

Smanis returned to Greece hoping to build his future near his family and friends but does not rule out the possibility of leaving again.

"If I decide to stay here, the idea of renting an apartment seems distant," admits the job seeker, who still lives with his parents the Athens suburb of Neo Iraklio.

Greece is the country with the second highest level of youth unemployment in the European Union, with 24.2 percent of those under-25 jobless, according to the latest available data from EU statistics agency Eurostat in March.

"Despite being better educated... the new generation has a significantly higher participation in professions that are considered badly paid and that have poor working conditions," says Alexis Ioannides, a professor of political economy of labour at Democritus University of Thrace.

Thomas Zoumis, 21, who lives on the tourist island of Paros and works in his family's road assistance company, says a steady income is paramount.

"The main thing that I expect from the government is to help me improve my financial situation," he said.

- 'Mojito instead of voting' -

Though tourism brings money and creates jobs, Thomas wants more for his island.

"We don't have the infrastructure to sustain so many people in the summer: roads, water, electricity, internet. I pay my taxes to the central government, but I don't get much in return," he grumbled.

Caught between last-minute election promises, including a 150-euro "coming-of-age" voucher and increasing the 780-euro minimum wage to at least 880 euros, Greece's first-time voters have little time to decide.

"I think I will vote for the lesser evil," says Smanis, who thinks the Greek political scene is afraid of innovation. "Politicians only try to sell to the people want they want to hear" he says.

For 16-year-old Zouganeli, though, ideology is important. "If we vote according to what we stand for, maybe things can change," she says.

But in a country with an ageing population, no one talks about what Greece will look like in 20 years' time, regrets Karaklioumi.

"It's no wonder that a young person will prefer to go for a mojito instead of voting," she concludes.

pk-jph/jm
INDIAN RIVER COUNTY Sebastian police called to a house fire Monday night helped a 90-year-old woman out of a smoke-filled home but later found a man, 60, and a dog dead in the residence, a police official said.

The woman was taken to Holmes Regional Medical Center in Melbourne but no other information was available Wednesday about her injuries or condition.

Police did not disclose the names of the home's two occupants, citing a need to verify that relatives of the deceased were notified.

More: Incredibly unusual dog survives 2-month trek in wild, found relatively 'in great shape'

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Officers were first to arrive to the home in the 900 block of Dolphin Avenue around 11 p.m. Monday, said Sebastian police Capt. Timothy Wood.

From talks with those officers, Wood said he learned "there was a lot of smoke ... (but) thankfully the female was close to the front door."

The man was found in a bedroom. Wood said the mother and son were the only occupants aside from the dog.

A police and state fire marshal investigation is underway but Wood said, so far, "It does not appear like it was anything criminal."

A cause has not yet been determined, he said.

Corey Arwood is a breaking news reporter for TCPalm. Follow Corey on Twitter @coreyarwood, or reach him by phone at 772-978-2246.

If you are a subscriber, thank you. If not, become a subscriber to get the latest local news on the Treasure Coast.

This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Man, 60, dead in Sebastian house fire; Woman, 90, taken to hospital
One of four surviving pairs of Dorothys ruby red slippers from The Wizard of Oz; this pair was stolen in 2005 and recovered by the FBI in 2018 (FBI)

Dorthy's ruby red slippers can't just take you home, they can also land you in federal court.

That much was made apparent after a federal grand jury indicted Terry Martin, 76, with one count of theft of a major artwork for allegedly stealing one of four remaining pairs of Dorthy's ruby red slippers from The Wizard of Oz.

The indictment claims that Mr Martin stole the slippers  worn by Judy Garland in her iconic 1939 role  in 2005 during an after-hours "visit" to the Judy Garland Museum in the actress's hometown of Grand Rapids, Minnesota.

Federal prosecutors alleged on Tuesday that Mr Martin climbed into the museum through a window, broke a display case containing the slippers, and took off with the legendary film artefact, according to ABC News.

The museum's alarm had been tripped, but it failed to alert local police, according to a report by The Guardian.

The biggest thing that ever happened to our museum was getting the slippers stolen. We were literally crying, the museums co-founder, Jon Miner, told KQDS just after the robbery.

The slippers were on loan to the museum from Hollywood memorabilia collector Michael Shaw when they were stolen. The other three pairs worn in the movie are in the possession of a private collector, the Smithsonian, and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

At the time of their theft, the slippers were insured for $1m but had a market value of approximately $3.5m.

After they disappeared, law enforcement, enthusiasts and film history buffs offered up rewards for the slippers' safe return, with one anonymous donor in Arizona offering up to $1m. The museum even hired a private investigator in 2013 to try to track down the slippers, but the investigation never made headway.

One of four surviving pairs of Dorothys ruby red slippers from The Wizard of Oz; this pair was stolen in 2005 and recovered by the FBI in 2018 (FBI)

In 2017, a man came forward and told the company that insured the slippers he could assist in their recovery. That man was later found to have been allegedly attempting to extort the individual who stole the shoes, according to the FBI. The agency launched a nearly year-long investigation, after which they launched a sting operation to recover the slippers.

The FBI managed to recover the slippers in Minneapolis during the operation, and later examination by experts confirmed the shoes were authentic. However, no arrests were made following the sting, as the FBI was continuing its investigation into who actually stole the memorabilia.

Since the 2018 recovery operation, the agency has been working to rule out suspects.

Little is known about Mr Martin beyond his age. The indictment did not include a motive or any details about how investigators determined Mr Martin was behind the alleged theft. No attorney's information is available for Mr Martin.
Ma Xiaoguang, spokesperson for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, gestures at a press conference in Beijing, capital of China, May 17, 2023. (Xinhua/Chen Yehua)

BEIJING, May 17 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese mainland spokesperson on Wednesday denounced some remarks made by U.S. politicians concerning Taiwan, saying the remarks have fully exposed the evil intention of the anti-China forces in the United States.

The remarks have revealed that they are engaging in deeds to "destroy Taiwan" under the guise of "supporting Taiwan," said Ma Xiaoguang, a spokesperson for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, at a press conference.

Ma quoted Taiwan netizens as saying that "no country wants to destroy Taiwan more than the United States," noting that facts have proven that by playing the "Taiwan card" and raising tensions across the Taiwan Strait, the United States aims to contain China.

He pointed out that by colluding with external forces in hyping up the so-called "mainland threat," Taiwan's Democratic Progressive Party authorities are seeking excuses for deceiving Taiwan people for its own interests, and the fantasy of colluding with external forces to "seek independence by force."

Ma warned that if left unchecked, this would only bring disaster to Taiwan.

He called on all sectors of Taiwan society and Taiwan compatriots to join the mainland in promoting the peaceful and integrated development of cross-Strait relations and building a peaceful homeland for compatriots on both sides of the Strait, thus bringing them tangible benefits. 

Ma Xiaoguang, spokesperson for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, gestures at a press conference in Beijing, capital of China, May 17, 2023. (Xinhua/Chen Yehua)
Man breaking into cars leaves cell phone behind, comes back for it and pulls a gun, police say

Detectives are hoping someone can identify a man accused of breaking into a car in a Gwinnett County church parking lot.

[DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]

It all started on May 9 when Gwinnett County police were called to the McKendree United Methodist Church on Lawrenceville Suwanee Road.

According to authorities, the victim told police while she was inside the church, she noticed someone was inside her car in the parking lot.

When the victim went to confront the suspect, he allegedly left, leaving his cell phone inside the victims car.

TRENDING STORIES:

Just moments after leaving, police said the suspect came back and demanded the victim to give him his cell phone back.

Gwinnett officials said as the victim was waiting for police to arrive, the suspect pulled out a gun and pointed it at the victim.

The man then reportedly began breaking out the window of the victims car and took his cell phone.

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The suspect is described as wearing a white t-shirt and blue jeans. Police believe he is between 19-20 years old, 6 feet tall, and weighs 180 pounds.

He left in a gray or silver Jeep Liberty driven by another man. The Jeep has distinctive decals on the back windshield that reads Cars $500 Down www.GreatCityCars.com 614-522-6500.

Anyone with information is urged to contact GCPD detectives at 770-513-5300. Tipsters can remain by contacting Crime Stoppers at 404-577-8477.

IN OTHER NEWS:
Man gets 7 years for fatal DUI crash in Boone County, prosecutor says

A Burlington man will spend the better part of a decade in prison for a March 2022 DUI crash in Boone County that killed a man and injured a juvenile, the county's top prosecutor confirmed.

Michael Mead, 30, was sentenced on Wednesday morning to seven years in prison, according to Boone County Commonwealth's Attorney Louis Kelly.

Court records show Mead pleaded guilty last month to manslaughter, assault, criminal mischief and operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol.

As part of his plea, prosecutors also recommended a six-month driver's license suspension, records show. Suspensions are imposed by the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet, Kelly said, adding the court no longer has discretion over those matters.

Mead was driving a 2006 Dodge Durango west on U.S. Route 42 on the evening of March 20, 2022, when he failed to negotiate a left-hand curve as he passed Ransom Drive, the Boone County Sheriff's Office said.

He then ran off the right side of the road and overcorrected his steering, crossing the center line and T-boning a 2011 Kia Forte driven by Charles Smith, 46, of Union, who was headed east, according to the sheriff's office.

Meads SUV came to rest in the side yard of a house along U.S. 42, officials said.

Paramedics were unable to save Smith, the sheriff's office said, and he died at the scene. A juvenile passenger in Smith's car suffered minor injuries and was taken to Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center. Mead also sustained minor injuries.

Mead surrendered himself to authorities two days after he was indicted by a Boone County grand jury in May 2022, the sheriff's office said.

Ryan Beck, Mead's attorney, said the crash was "just an absolute tragedy."

"Michael has been very remorseful," Beck said. "There's no amount of years or amount of anything that would make what he did right."

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Burlington man sentenced in fatal DUI crash on Boone County highway
The man who is accused of fatally stabbing four University of Idaho students has been indicted on murder charges in connection with their deaths, allowing a preliminary hearing to be skipped and the court process to advance.

Bryan Kohberger was arrested in December and charged with four counts of first-degree murder and a felony charge of burglary following the killings a month before, but he was scheduled to appear before a preliminary hearing that was set to begin June 26. Prosecutors would have needed to demonstrate to a judge that they had enough evidence to move forward with the case.

But the grand jury indicted Kohberger, who was a graduate student studying criminology at Washington State University at the time, on the same charges Tuesday, allowing the preliminary hearing to be skipped.

Kohberger waived his right to a speedy trial in January.

Authorities had for weeks searched for a suspect in the deaths of students Xana Kernodle, Ethan Chapin, Madison Mogen and Kaylee Goncalves at a rental home in Moscow, Idaho, near campus.

Officials matched a white sedan that was caught on surveillance footage around the time of the killings to one that Kohberger allegedly owns and matched traces of DNA on a knife sheath found inside the house to Kohberger.

Authorities have not declared a possible motive.

Kernodle, Mogen and Goncalves lived at the house, while Chapin, who was Kernodles boyfriend, was visiting at the time.

Officials have said they did not see signs of forced entry and believe all four were asleep when they were stabbed.

The indictment will allow Kohberger to be formally arraigned, which NBC News reported will happen Monday.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Man killed by Fresno police was shot 5 times in back, attorney says in federal lawsuit

Fresno civil rights attorney Kevin Little has filed a federal lawsuit alleging Fresno police acted illegally when offices shot and killed 29-year-old Roberto Corchado on March 4.

Little is suing the City of Fresno, Police Chief Paco Balderrama and two officers involved in the shooting, Luke Tran and Bryce Hammond, the attorney said Tuesday.

City spokesperson Sontaya Rose said Tuesday that officials cannot comment on pending litigation.

In a 32-page wrongful death lawsuit filed Friday, Little accuses the police of shooting at Corchado, a man with a lengthy criminal history, while he had his hands up and his back to the officers.

This was clearly an unjustified shooting, Little said during a press conference at his downtown Fresno law office.

Corchados mother, Sylvia Aguilera, said the death of her son has been hard on the family.

We are all heartbroken and we want justice for my son, she said.

Robert Corchado Jr., 29, seen in an undated photo, was killed March 4, 2023, by Fresno officers. Police say he fired at officers, striking one.

Fatal shooting by Fresno police

Police said on the day of the shooting they were attempting to stop Corchado, who had an outstanding bench warrant for failing to appear in court and for evading police.

As Corchado was heading west on Herndon Avenue near Ingram Avenue, one of the officers used a maneuver with his vehicle to disable Corchados 2009 Chevrolet Malibu.

The Malibu came to rest on the center median and what happened next is in dispute. Police said Corchado fired a gun at officers, striking one officer in this bullet-proof vest. Also struck multiple times was one of the police cars.

Police also reported finding freshly spent casings inside the car and finding two firearms in or near the car.

According to the lawsuit, Corchado got out of the car with his hands raised high when Hammond ordered him to get on the ground.

Hammond is alleged to have fired five rounds into Corchados back and head. A photo contained in the lawsuit shows the wounds to Corchados body.

Video shows man no longer had gun when Fresno officer shot him. DOJ investigating death

Lawyer says shooting illegal

Little has criticized the police narrative that Corchado was a dangerous man and their use of what he called a heavily edited and curated video showing the shooting.

He looked at a video of the same event taken by a citizen and synchronized it with the police video. The video taken by the citizen shows Corchado with his back to officers when the shooting starts. The police video does not, Little said.

That makes it clearly an illegal shooting, he said.

Little said Corchado did not represent an immediate threat to officers or anyone else with his back turned and his hands up.

Little is seeking financial damages to be determined at trial.

I want to leave it in the hands of regular people, the jury, not police officers to determine if this shooting was justified, Little said.
Man lies to 911 about burglary, then women call screaming, California cops say

A man is accused of keeping two women against their will and torturing them at his California home, according to a sheriffs office.

Gilberto Puga, 53, initially called authorities on Sunday, May 14, to say two women had burglarized his Moreno Valley home, the Riverside County Sheriffs Office said in a May 17 news release.

The sheriffs office, however, said it also got another call from two women at Pugas home screaming for help.

When they arrived, deputies said they found two women walking away from Pugas home.

An investigation showed the women had not burglarized Pugas residence but had been locked in Pugas residence, held against their will and tortured, according to the release.

Puga was arrested May 15 on counts of false imprisonment and torture, deputies said. He is being held on $1 million bail.

Moreno Valley is about 60 miles east of Los Angeles.

Man holds woman hostage in apartment, forces her to clean up own blood, WA cops say

18-year-old kidnapped, tortured in a basement until his mother paid $20,000, feds say

My son was not my son: Grisly details emerge in Clinton County, MO, torture case
Man who ran out of California courthouse mid-hearing is arrested 2 weeks later, sheriff says

Authorities on Tuesday arrested a man accused of fleeing a Northern California courthouse more than two weeks earlier in the middle of his court hearing, leading police and deputies on a pursuit in a stolen pickup truck.

David Lee Salke Jr., 35, ran out of the Jackson courthouse during an afternoon hearing April 27 as he was being remanded back into custody by an Amador Superior Court judge following a February arrest on firearms-related charges, the Amador County Sheriffs Office said in a news release at the time.

He then allegedly stole a pickup truck, leading deputies and Jackson police on a pursuit on Highway 49 and Highway 26 as well as back roads, the Sheriffs Office said.

Officers on the day of the incident found the abandoned pickup truck near the Calaveras County town of Mountain Ranch. A California Highway Patrol helicopter tracked Salke as he allegedly fled on foot toward Tiger Creek Reservoir, but authorities eventually lost sight of the suspect in steep and rugged terrain, sheriffs officials said.

An arrest warrant for Salke was issued Monday, court records show.

CHP personnel around 9:45 a.m. Tuesday notified sheriffs officials that an acquaintance of the suspect had been contacted in a disabled vehicle on Ione Michigan Bar Road in Sacramento County near the Amador County line, the Sheriffs Office said in an updated news release, and that a second man had walked away from the vehicle.

Amador County investigators determined the man who walked away to be Salke, and a search began with assistance from a CHP helicopter and canines. Law enforcement personnel around 1:40 p.m. found Salke near Maxwell and Carbondale roads in Amador County.

Salke was arrested without further incident and booked Tuesday evening into the Amador County Jail on outstanding warrants and charges related to firearms possession, vehicle theft and evading peace officers. The Amador County District Attorneys Office has filed a new criminal complaint against Salke in connection with last months incident, court records show.

Salke is due to be arraigned on the new charges Wednesday afternoon in the courthouse from which he allegedly escaped.
The court found Vladyslav Kozieiev, 47, who shared photos of military facilities in Lviv Oblast with Russian forces, guilty of high treason.

Source: Court Reporter, a publication covering court proceedings in Ukraine

Details: On 16 May, a panel of judges of the Zaliznychnyi District Court in Lviv sentenced Kozieiev to life imprisonment; his property will be confiscated.

Prosecutor Taras Kovalchuk proposed the harshest form of punishment, given that the defendant not only carried out tasks he received from his Russian handlers, but also, for ideological reasons, independently sought out information [that might be useful for the Russians] and passed it on to the Russians.

Kozieiev pleaded not guilty, saying that he did not commit the acts set out in the indictment.

Kozieiev is a Ukrainian citizen, but was born in Ulan-Ude, the capital of Buryatia, a republic in eastern Siberia that is part of the Russian Federation. In 20082010, he was given a suspended sentence for fraud, for misappropriating 3,600 hryvnias (approximately US$97). He deceived his friend, telling her that he was borrowing the money either to buy a land plot or to buy a sofa for his apartment, as he intended to have guests.

On 20 May 2022, he was detained in his parents house. He took photos for the Russians from the windows of the house, as it was near the railway tracks.

In May 2022, several months after the full-scale Russian invasion, Kozieiev shared information about the location of Ukrainian military facilities and Ukrainian Armed Forces units with representatives of the Russian Federation. He also passed on the coordinates of critical infrastructure facilities in Lviv Oblast, including those of five bridges. He used his phone to take photos and videos showing the outcomes of Russian missile attacks on Lviv. In total, he passed various types of information on to Russians a total of 25 times.

Kozieiev shared the information he obtained via Telegram, sending it to a user whose alias was "$". Covert investigative search operations established that this was Sergey Varin, a Russian citizen.

Only some of exchanges between Varin and Kozieiev were found on the phone seized from Kozieiev, since he was using the messengers auto-delete function.

Using a dedicated software, investigators were able to restore deleted images on Kozieievs phone, which he likely shared with the Russians. The photos capture the aftermath of a missile strike on Lviv, a military unit and military equipment in a village in Lviv Oblast, a Ukrainian Armed Forces training centre, an oil depot, and a bridge, among others.

The contents of his phone suggest that Kozieiev was fond of Communist and Russian symbols, and kept several photos marked with Z. He subscribed to several Russian Telegram channels [including several Kremlin-aligned propaganda channels]: Solovyev Live, Madurov, Radio Sputnik, Sladkov+, Margarita Simonyan, Kadyrov 95.

Kozieiev posted a question in the Solovyev Live Telegram channel, asking whether Russian forces would fight in Lviv.

He also expressed his concern about this in his correspondence with other users, including someone with the alias Sasha Bryansk.

Before the outbreak of the full-scale war in Ukraine, Kozieiev regularly travelled to Russia and worked there. He was an active user of several Russian apps: Sberbank, Wallet, Rosneft, Avto.ru.

Many Russian phone numbers are saved on his phone, including those of employees of the Ministries of Internal Affairs and Foreign Affairs, and the Migration Service. Residence permit application forms, downloaded from the website of the Moscow Migration Centre, were also found on his phone.

His phone also contained a photo of a letter from the Russian Interior Ministry dated 2021, indicating that Kozieiev wanted to obtain a Russian passport.

He also corresponded with the late Vladimir Zhirinovsky, right-wing populist leader of the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia, about his citizenship application.

During the trial, the defendants lawyer tried to convince the court that Kozieiev had likely ceased to be a citizen of Ukraine and therefore could not be tried for treason.

The court hearings lasted for over six months. Kozieiev refused to give his version of the events, saying that he had not had enough time to talk to his lawyer and agree on a position.

The court refused to adjourn, concluding that the defendant was refusing to testify. Defence counsel Rostyslav Dol then challenged the presiding judge, allegedly for her bias, but the challenge was not granted.

Kozieiev asked to be acquitted, and his lawyer claimed the persecutors pursued an incorrect charge against his client. He said he did not see any treason in Kozieievs actions  at most, unauthorised dissemination of information about the movement of the Armed Forces under martial law.

Journalists fight on their own frontline. Support Ukrainska Pravda or become our patron!
A 63-year-old man who was found shot last week behind a barbershop in Parkland later died in the hospital, according to the Pierce County Sheriffs Department. Deputies believe theyve arrested his killer.

Deputies were dispatched May 10 to the 1200 block of Pacific Avenue after fire crews responded for reports of a man down at about 5:37 p.m. They discovered a man bleeding from a gunshot wound. Sheriffs Department spokesperson Sgt. Darren Moss said the man was taken to an area hospital in critical condition.

The victim initially wasnt cooperative with law enforcement and didnt give deputies a statement before he died, Moss said. Deputies were notified of his death Monday. He has not been publicly identified.

Surveillance video obtained by detectives reportedly captured the shooting. Moss said the footage helped detectives identify the suspected gunman. Tuesday evening, the suspect agreed to meet with detectives with his attorney in downtown Tacoma. Moss said the man showed up but declined to be interviewed and was taken into custody.

Pierce County Jail records show the suspect was booked at about 5:30 p.m. on suspicion of second-degree murder and unlawful possession of a firearm. The News Tribune generally does not name suspects until they have been formally charged with a crime.

The victims death was the seventh homicide to occur outside Tacoma in Pierce County this year. Of those, four occurred in Parkland. Since the shooting, two people were killed in Lakewood, bringing the total homicides outside Tacoma to nine. Tacoma has recorded 16 killings.

The shooting was reported shortly before a 31-year-old man was shot in an exchange of gunfire between two groups of people about two miles north on Pacific Avenue, according to Tacoma Police Department. Police said the gunshot victim drove away and crashed into the fence of a church day care center. Law enforcement for both agencies said Friday they had no reason to believe the shootings were connected.
Is Manchester City vs Real Madrid on TV? Kick-off time, channel and how to watch Champions League semi-final

Manchester Citys Champions League tie with Real Madrid is delicately poised (PA Wire)

Manchester City hope to keep their pursuit of a treble alive as they host Real Madrid in the second leg of their Champions League semi-final.

Pep Guardiolas side dominated large portions of their trip to the Spanish capital last week and will be reasonably content to have left the Bernabeu at level pegging.

But Madrid showed their threat in the 1-1 draw, particularly on the counter-attack, and felled their opponents at this stage 12 months ago.

With full focus on continental success, Carlo Ancelottis team will hope to dash Guardiolas treble dreams.

Heres everything you need to know.

When is Manchester City vs Real Madrid?

Manchester City vs Real Madrid is due to kick off at 8pm BST on Wednesday 17 May at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester.

How can I watch it?

Viewers in the United Kingdom will be able to watch the second leg live on BT Sport 1, with coverage on the channel from 7pm BST. Subscribers can stream the action via the BT Sport app or online player.

Team news

Nathan Ake could be back in contention for Manchester City, with the versatile defender nearing a return from his hamstring issue. Rodri is also thought not to be a concern, with his withdrawal against Everton precautionary.

The weekend brought mixed fitness news for Carlo Ancelotti, with Eduardo Camavinga limping off in a fixture against Getafe that marked Ferland Mendys return from injury. Ancelotti does have Eder Militao back from suspension, which could prompt a reshuffle - if Camavinga is fit, reports in Spain suggest that he could be pushed into midfield with Fede Valverde utilised in the front three.

Predicted line-ups

Manchester City XI: Ederson; Walker, Ruben Dias, Akanji; Stones, Rodri; Bernardo Silva, De Bruyne, GundoAan, Grealish; Haaland.

Real Madrid XI: Courtois; Carvajal, Militao, Rudiger, Alaba; ModriA, Kroos, Camavinga; Valverde, Benzema, Vinicius Jr.

Odds

Manchester City win 5/8

Draw 18/5

Real Madrid win 9/2

Prediction

Manchester City couldnt quite convert their comfort in possession into clearcut chances in the first leg, and Real Madrid will be hopeful of again frustrating their opponents. But Erling Haaland and co.s scoring might may eventually tell. Manchester City 3-2 Real Madrid (4-3 agg.)
Manhattan DA refuses Trump's demand for a lot more detail in his hush money records-fraud prosecution  for now

Former President Donald Trump, left, and Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg, right. Brian Snyder/Reuters, left. John Minchillo/AP, right.

Trump has demanded more detail from Manhattan prosecutors concerning his hush-money prosecution.

On Tuesday, lawyers for DA Alvin Bragg said Trump already has everything he's currently entitled to.

Trump won't get more from prosecutors until he agrees not to weaponize the materials, the DA said.

The Manhattan district attorney has denied  for now  former President Donald Trump's demand for a lot more detail on his hush-money prosecution.

Trump received all the detail he's entitled to last month, the DA told defense lawyers in a court filing on Tuesday, referring to a 34-count indictment and a 13-page statement of facts issued by DA Alvin Bragg back on April 4.

Tuesday's filing said Trump and his defense team would soon be getting "millions of pages" of additional details on the prosecution's case on a rolling basis  just not yet.

That so-called discovery material, "will include grand jury minutes, grand jury exhibits, prior witness statements, financial documents, subpoena compliance, and extensive additional materials," including witness emails and texts, Tuesday's filing promised.

But first, Trump must agree not to weaponize these sensitive materials by posting them online or otherwise publicly distributing them, as stated in a protective order signed on May 8 by the judge presiding over the case, New York State Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan.

Trump is set to formally agree to the protective order on Tuesday, May 23, when he is scheduled to appear before Merchan via video at a public hearing in the judge's lower Manhattan courtroom.

Under the protective order, Trump will be allowed to view the new discovery material only in the presence of his lawyers.

Prosecutors will start turning over these "voluminous" materials to Trump's defense team once Trump "has been advised on the record of the terms and content of, and conduct prohibited by, the protective order entered by this court on May 8, 2023," Tuesday's filing said.

Assistant District Attorney Becky Mangold did tip the DA's hand slightly in the filing.

Trump allegedly falsified business records to conceal violations of the following state and federal laws, the filing revealed:

New York Election Law 17-152, which makes it a crime to conspire to promote or prevent an election. Bragg previously alleged that less than two weeks before the 2016 election, Trump worked with others, including the editors of the National Enquirer, to suppress porn star Stormy Daniels' account of having a sexual encounter with him in 2006. Trump has denied conspiring to influence the election and the alleged tryst itself.

New York Tax Law 1801(a)(3) and 1802, which make it a crime to knowingly submit false information "in connection with any return, audit, investigation, or proceeding" or to commit any act of tax fraud. Bragg has alleged that internal Trump Organization records include computations for how to reimburse then-Trump lawyer Michael Cohen for making the $130,000 hush money outlay to Daniels. Trump and his company misrepresented Cohen's reimbursement as "legal fees" in company books, the DA alleged last month. In deciding how much Cohen should be reimbursed, company officials upped the amount by calculating how much in taxes Cohen would owe from pocketing those "fees," the DA also alleged last month.

New York Penal Law 175.05, a misdemeanor that criminalizes any false entries in a business record. Bragg has alleged there were false entries in the records of the Trump Organization and the National Enquirer concerning the hush money payment to Daniels.

Federal Election Campaign Act 52 USC 30101, the US law that regulates election contributions and expenditures. Bragg has alleged that the $130,000 payment to Daniels was an unreported expenditure by Trump's campaign, made to influence the outcome of the 2016 presidential election.

Trump has denied the charges and pleaded not guilty to the 34 counts.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Wang Huning, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, meets with delegates to the sixth members' congress of the Association of Taiwan Investment Enterprises on the Mainland (ATIEM) and takes a group photo with the delegates at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, May 17, 2023. (Xinhua/Wang Ye)

BEIJING, May 17 (Xinhua) -- China's top political advisor Wang Huning met on Wednesday with delegates to the sixth members' congress of the Association of Taiwan Investment Enterprises on the Mainland (ATIEM).

Wang, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, the top political advisory body, took a group photo with the delegates at the Great Hall of the People.

The sixth members' congress of the ATIEM was convened in Beijing earlier Wednesday, with a new leadership of the association elected.

At the inauguration ceremony of the new leadership, Song Tao, head of both the Taiwan Work Office of the CPC Central Committee and the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, encouraged Taiwan business people to aim for long-term development by grasping the mainland's development opportunities.

Song called on the ATIEM to play its advantages in promoting exchanges and cooperation in various fields across the Taiwan Strait and guiding Taiwan compatriots to work in unity with their mainland counterparts to pool great strength for realizing national reunification and rejuvenation.

Founded in April 2007, the ATIEM has been committed to uniting and leading Taiwan enterprises in taking part in mainland's economic and social development and has made important contributions to maintaining peace and stability across the Strait, advancing the peaceful development of cross-Strait relations, and deepening the integrated development across the Strait. 

Wang Huning, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, meets with delegates to the sixth members' congress of the Association of Taiwan Investment Enterprises on the Mainland (ATIEM) and takes a group photo with the delegates at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, May 17, 2023. (Xinhua/Wang Ye)
Dozens of students, teachers, parents and librarians pleaded with Mansfield school board members Tuesday to reject a policy that would restrict library materials with gender fluidity themes, stating they are harmful and discriminatory.

But the board voted 5-1 to move forward with the policy after its first reading. Warren Davis voted no and Desiree Thomas was absent. The board must vote again to adopt the policy.

That date has not been set for that vote because board members asked for clarification on several issues, including the legality of the policy. Concerns were also raised about the time frame for ordering books and materials. Board members would approve library materials under the new policy.

The overwhelming majority of people who spoke during the meeting were against the policy, calling it discriminatory and harmful to transgender and LGBTQ students.

A student said she is gender fluid and on the LGBTQ spectrum. She described how she grew depressed and contemplated suicide, but library books with gender fluid characters helped boost her self-esteem.

I found that olive branch that was extended to children. Now, I mourn the future generations opportunity to learn, she said. This is not about sex, not about porn, not about pedophilia. Youre trying to erase LGBTQ from your community.

Megan Fanning, a parent in school district, said the policy is not about kids, its about politics.

This book policy is the epitome of discrimination, she said.

Amy Thooms, a school librarian, urged the board to vote against the policy.

Our libraries are the cornerstone of our community. We have a responsibility to provide information for a wide variety of users, she said.

The proposed policy would restrict access for everyones children, she said.

After over two hours of comments, board members discussed policies on cell phone use and school safety, which were included in the vote on the library materials.

Board members raised several questions.

Michelle Newsom asked why the extra step was needed for the board to approve books.

Others said the current policy is too vague and that librarians had asked for clarification.

Some in the audience spoke in support of the proposed guidelines.

Sheila Faber said she wants to volunteer to serve on the committee that reviews books.

I do support your policy, and there are a lot of people who do support your policy, she said. We started with prayer tonight. I know some of you are believers. I ask that you pray fully when you consider these policy changes as they affect the education of our students as a whole.

The ACLU of Texas sent a letter to district officials Tuesday afternoon stating that the policy violates the First Amendment and federal anti-discrimination laws.

The policy under consideration is similar to guidelines that the Keller school district adopted last year.

According to the proposed policy, the ultimate decision on what is appropriate lies with parents and their children.

However, under the new guidelines, the school board would have the final say in approving library materials.

All library selections will be posted online so that parents and residents can review them.

Board members may also request information on materials.

Parents, employees, residents and students who are 18 or older may challenge library books and materials if they feel that the content doesnt meet policy guidelines.

A committee of employees, including teachers and librarians, and people appointed by board members would review the materials. If materials meet the policy standards, no one can challenge them for a year unless legal guidelines change. If the materials are removed, they will not be reconsidered for five years.

The proposed guidelines list 14 themes, such as gender fluidity, bullying and drug and alcohol use, and whether that content would be allowed at specific grade levels.
How many teens have the same politics as their parents?

President Barack Obama hugs his daughter Sasha as he walks with Malia as they leave St. Johns Episcopal Church to walk across Lafayette Park as they return to the White House in Washington, on Sunday, Oct. 28, 2012. | Jacquelyn Martin, Associated Press

This article was first published in the State of Faith newsletter. Sign up to receive the newsletter in your inbox each Monday night.

Teenagers may ignore their parents reminders about chores and homework, but most seem to be good at absorbing what they hear about politics and faith.

A new analysis from Pew Research Center found that a large majority of teens espouse the same political and religious views as their parents, even in households where the parents havent prioritized passing on these views.

Here are some of Pews specific findings:

82% of Protestant parents have a teen who identifies as Protestant.

81% of Catholic parents have a teen who identifies as Catholic.

86% of religiously unaffiliated parents have a teen who is also religiously unaffiliated.

81% of parents who identify as Republicans or lean toward the Republican Party have a teen who identifies as Republican.

89% of parents who identify as Democrats or lean toward the Democratic Party have a teen who identifies as a Democrat.

Pew noted that the consistency of results from faith group to faith group and from political party to political party was surprising, given that some groups prioritize passing on their beliefs more than others.

For example, 70% of white evangelical parents reported that it was extremely or very important to them to pass on their religious beliefs to their kids, compared to just 8% of religiously unaffiliated parents. But the share of teens with evangelical parents who identify as evangelical (80%) is actually lower than the share of teens with religiously unaffiliated parents who identify as religious unaffiliated (86%).

Pew also pointed out that few parents care as much about passing on their politics as they do about passing on their faith.

In a fall survey by the center, 35% of U.S. parents said it was extremely or very important that their kids grow up to share their religious views, while fewer than half as many (16%) said the same about their political views, the new analysis said.

Overall, Pews findings make it seem as if passing on your political or religious views is somewhat foolproof, which can be comforting to parents who are struggling with other aspects of raising teens.

But, unfortunately for those parents, the new analysis noted that the survey results wont necessarily hold steady, since young peoples views on lifes biggest questions often shift during their late teens and early twenties.

Many people switch religious affiliations or leave organized religion entirely between the ages of 18 and 29, Pew reported.

Fresh off the press

Do faith groups have a legal right to feed the hungry?

Choosing pets over parenting? Pope Francis is (still) unhappy with you

A late pastors grandson sold his watch on eBay. The buyer gave it back  along with a lesson

154 soccer fans were arrested last week for singing antisemitic chants

Term of the week: Vesak

Vesak is a Buddhist holiday commemorating the Buddhas life, as well as his enlightenment. Its celebrated with visits to the temple and family gatherings, according to the BBC.

Families may decorate their homes with lanterns, take part in processions and wear special white clothes to mark the occasion, the article said, noting that festivities differ depending on where you are in the world.

In 2021, the Biden administration became the first presidential administration in history to host a Vesak celebration. It held its third such gathering on May 5.

While previous iterations of the White House Vesak ceremony were kept small due to pandemic restrictions, this year participants (included) an array of ambassadors and representatives from the embassies of Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Mongolia, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Thailand, Religion News Service reported.

What Im reading ...

The rise of artificial intelligence is already reshaping our academic and professional lives. Soon, it will also affect how we socialize, writes Daniel Cox in a recent edition of his American Storylines newsletter. The most valuable relationships are those that motivate us to become better. Relationships (with AI chatbots) that do not require empathy and understanding rob us of the very things that make them so important, Cox writes.

Rabbi Shmuly Yanklowitz is a vegan rabbi on a mission. Over the next year, he plans to visit five to 10 synagogues across the U.S. and take part in debates about whether or not Jews should eat meat. Nobody could argue that the Torah forbids meat. But I want to make the case for a higher ethic that emerges from Torah, he told The Forward during an interview about his plan.

A new report from LifeWay Research highlights the conversations happening in U.S. congregations about foster care and adoption. Around 1 in 6 say their church leaders have raised funds for families who were adopting (18%), encouraged families to provide foster care (17%) or encouraged families to consider adoption (16%). Additionally, 10% say their church leaders have provided training for foster parents in the last year, the report said.

Odds and ends

I cant stop thinking about this whacky coronation-related story from The Washington Post: I was not Meghan in disguise at coronation, says 79-year-old composer.
Marc Dones, the CEO of the King County Regional Homeless Authority (KCRHA), has decided to step down after leading the department for two years.

The KCRHA team and our city and county partners are grateful and appreciative of the visionary work of CEO Marc Dones in starting up the King County Regional Homelessness Authority as a new regional agency, Anne Martens, the senior director of External Affairs & Communications at KCRHA, wrote in a prepared statement.

Mx. Dones has served as CEO since 2021, and was deeply involved in the design of the agency from its first inception in 2018, the statement continued. They have been a tireless advocate for racial equity and social justice, centering lived experience, increasing affordable housing, highlighting root causes of economic instability, and working together to iterate on new approaches to transforming the homelessness response system.

Prior to taking on the role of inaugural CEO for the organization, they were the founder and executive director of the National Innovation Service (NIS), an advocacy group that focused largely on reshaping racial equity in the United States. Dones also worked with the then-governor of Massachusetts, Deval Patrick, on the design and implementation of a youth violence production program spanning 11 cities.

As a queer Black person, I have watched many members of my community burn out trying to hold too much for too many and I have watched them become unable to contribute the full breadth of their talent or vision to the work, Dones wrote in their resignation letter. I have watched them become bitter and destructive and what I know is that I dont want that for myself.

In their letter, Dones cited the need to revisit the structures of the boards and their capacity to partner with the CEO to effectively get work done, claiming regionalism is the correct path, and that requires the appropriate governing structure to be successful and effective.

We have to be able to name the underlying causes and focus our energy appropriately, Dones continued in their letter. In order to do better, we must all commit to telling the whole truth, not just about the work now, but also how generations of systemic racism and oppression, decisions made by people in positions of power, brought us here.

KCRHAs purpose and function will remain the same despite new leadership  to unify and coordinate policy and funding across all of King County for a regional approach to the local homelessness crisis.

In two years, under CEO Doness leadership, KCRHA has hired 100 people, focused on unsheltered homelessness, reimagined the point-in-time count to include the stories of people affected, resolved 13 long-standing encampments, deployed the most successful Emergency Housing Voucher strategy in the nation, and developed a more accurate count of the number of people experiencing homelessness so that we can match the scale of the solution to the scale of the problem, Martens statement continued.

The point-in-time count was KCRHAs system for tracking how many people were living unsheltered within the county, but the methodology faced criticism for not providing accurate data, as it relied on volunteers to hand-count the number of people they observed living unsheltered on a single night, and then calculate a rough estimate of people they believe they might have missed living in abandoned buildings.

KCRHA decided to skip the process in 2022.

We thank KCRHA CEO Marc Dones for their service to communities across King County and their work supporting those experiencing homelessness and all our neighbors, Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell and King County Executive Dow Constantine wrote in a joint address. Marcs drive to innovate systems, improve housing stability, and help people move off the streets and inside with the support they need is rooted in a staunch commitment to ending homelessness. From leading the design of the KCRHA to taking the reins as its first CEO, Marc has played an indispensable role in transforming regional solutions to homelessness from an idea to tangible action.

KCRHA estimated it would take approximately $11.8 billion to address homelessness, a financial number introduced to the county through its 5-year plan to end homelessness. The plan requires $8.4 billion in new one-time capital costs over five years and between $1.7 billion and $3.4 billion in additional annual operating costs.

The agencys current annual budget is approximately $250 million.

According to The Seattle Times, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development had to send a letter to the KCRHA last November to warn the organization to stop bypassing federal rules and follow the federal departments system for selecting who gets to move into housing from streets or shelters  a process the entire country has to use.

Deputy CEO Helen Howell will step in as interim CEO for the immediate future.

We are grateful for Helens proven experience in this field, which will be critical for ensuring steady, capable leadership through this transition, Harrell and Constantines joint address continued. The Governing Board will work with the Implementation Board and key partners to launch a search for KCRHAs next CEO. It is our priority to identify a candidate with the expertise, leadership, and demonstrated commitment to equity to build on existing work and accelerate efforts to bring more people indoors.

mynorthwest.com
Marjorie Taylor Greene Gets Called Out To Her Face During Congressional Hearing

Conspiracy theorist Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) attempted to question a witness during a congressional hearing on a subject Republicans branded as left-wing organized violence on Tuesday.

But she may have gotten more than she was expecting with the reply.

Greene began by mispronouncing the name of the witness, Amy Spitalnick, a senior adviser on extremism at the human rights organization Human Rights First. Then, Greene suggested that abortion providers are the true white supremacists, pausing mid-rant to attack Spitalnick.

You think this is funny, Miss Spitalnick? Is this funny to you? she asked. Is babies being murdered in the womb funny to you, because youre smirking and laughing at me right now.

Spitalnick fired back with a very serious response  not about abortions, but the real threat of white supremacist violence.

Whats not funny are the Black people and Hispanic people and Jewish people and Muslim people who have been murdered in synagogue, in church, in supermarkets, in mosque, by white supremacists, she said.

Are you aware that all-color people are murdered? Greene replied. That is a fact, that every single color person has been murdered. Thats not unusual. Its not just that people of color are murdered, white people are murdered too.

See more of the exchange below:

Rep. Greene (R-GA): Is babies being murdered in their womb funny to you?



Witness: Whats not funny are the Black people, and Hispanic people, and Jewish people, and Muslim people who have been murdered  by white supremacists.



Greene: Murder is not just for minorities! pic.twitter.com/pqF87asze8  The Recount (@therecount) May 16, 2023

Greene also attacked trans people, claimed trans terrorism was motivating mass shooters, and took offense to the term cisgender.

Spitalnick later called her dealings with Greene and other extremist lawmakers appalling.

I just finished testifying at a nearly 3-hour House Homeland Security hearing that right-wing members like MTG used to normalize bigotry and hate against trans people and downplay white supremacist violence  under the guise of addressing left wing violence. It was appalling. https://t.co/mifzTsW9dc  Amy Spitalnick (@amyspitalnick) May 16, 2023

Greene, a close ally of House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), last year spoke at a white nationalist event. She has downplayed the threat of white supremacist violence.

White supremacy shouldnt be the main target, she said last year.

Greene has also pushed conspiracy theories about mass shootings, and last year implied that they could have been staged.
Lizeth Gaxiola, from left, Angela Sanchez and Vanesa Sandoval grieve at a Lancaster fundraiser for the funeral of their sister Martina Barraza Jr., one of four people fatally shot in an RV in Mojave last month. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

The last message John Denardo received from his daughter came from a phone number he didnt recognize.

Her cellphone had been stolen, she wrote, but she promised to see him in the next few days with a gift in time for his birthday.

About a week later, Faith Leighanne Rose Asbury was the only victim still breathing when paramedics entered an RV on a dirt lot in Mojave where four people had been shot. The 20-year-old was rushed to Antelope Valley Hospital, where she died the next day.

Asbury and the others  Martina Barraza Jr., 33; Darius Travon Canada, 31; and Anna Marie Hester, 34  had eked out an existence for years on the fringes of society in the Mojave Desert. Their killings have gone relatively unremarked, lost in the noise of a deadly wave of American gun violence.

The Kern County Sheriff's Office has released few details about the April 30 quadruple homicide; no arrests have been made, and there is no description of a suspect or suspects. The victims' relatives said they've been given no updates on the status of the case, and they believe it's because those killed were homeless and had a history of drug abuse.

"They were still people. No matter how they lived their lives, what they did, they're still people," said Canada's mother, Jeanette Benson.

Days after the shooting, a neighbor showed Denardo text messages Asbury had sent to a friend the night she was killed. Asbury was scared and locked herself in the RV bathroom because someone had burst in with a gun, she wrote. Two other people were in the RV with the four victims, according to the message thread, but they left after the gunman arrived.

In the texts, Asbury pleaded for help and then said her goodbyes to the friend before she stopped responding, Denardo said.

He was upset that his daughter didn't call the police and that the friend didn't show him the messages sooner. He believes the gunman accused the victims of stealing a cellphone.

"Four people killed over a damn phone," Denardo said.

When asked about the text messages or whether a stolen phone was connected to the killings, the Sheriff's Office said that a motive had not been determined and that it would not comment about evidence in an ongoing investigation. Authorities encouraged anyone with information to contact homicide investigators and would not say whether investigators had seen Asbury's text messages when The Times inquired about them.

"Kern County Sheriffs Office understands that families have lost loved ones," the agency said in a statement. "Drug use, homelessness, or any other factor does not play a role in the duty and service" the Sheriff's Office has to investigate the homicides.

The Sheriff's Office said it is still pursuing leads and processing evidence.

"This investigation involves 4 separate homicides that each require extensive investigation. Providing information that is factual is priority for us," the statement said.

During a Wednesday news briefing, Kern County Sheriff Donny Youngblood reassured the Mojave community that the victims shot in the RV were killed in an isolated incident and that there was no threat to the greater public.

"Obviously, from the lifestyle of the residence  we found some drug paraphernalia  this has the implications of a drug house, and bad things happen at places like this," he said.

A father's loss hits in waves

The RV where four people were shot to death last month in Mojave sat on a dirt lot on H Street. (Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)

Faith Leighanne Rose Asbury lived with her father in California City, about 14 miles from the RV where she was shot.

There was a time when all they had was each other, Denardo said about his daughter.

Her mother used drugs while she was pregnant, he said, and he was granted custody of his daughter when she was a baby.

He raised her the best a single father could, Denardo said, but she had a difficult life. Asbury was sentenced to several months in juvenile hall for stealing a car, and she was the victim of sex trafficking when she was a teenager, Denardo said. She spent time in a rehabilitation facility in Kern County and wanted to be an advocate for other trafficking survivors.

"She was a jerk sometimes, but she didn't have a mean spirit," Denardo said.

Denardo said he was not allowed to see his daughter when she was in the hospital, though he doesn't know if it would have made a difference.

"They didn't let me see her while she was still breathing. I still haven't seen her," Denardo said more than a week after the shooting. "They said that they all got shot in the head. I can't even give my kid an open casket."

Rudy Arroyo, president of True Memories Car Club, washes a car at a fundraiser for the Mojave shooting victims in Lancaster. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

Authorities said only that the victims were shot in the upper part of their bodies. It would have been the hospital's decision to bar Denardo from the room where his daughter was being treated, said Kern County Sheriff's Office spokesperson Lori Meza.

The Sheriff's Office "only assumes the responsibility to seal off the room once the victim is deceased. Without being too graphic, the body becomes evidence of her own homicide," Meza said.

To Denardo, the harsh reality of his daughter's death sometimes hits all at once, turning on and off like the flip of a switch.

He can't bring himself to stay at home. One night he woke in a panic and started to knock on her bedroom door. He called her name and tried to get her to come to the door just one more time.

Grieving a couple gunned down together

When Anna Marie Hester met Darius Canada in Apple Valley over 15 years ago, she didn't immediately like him, according to his family, but his charms won her over.

She had a young son from a previous relationship whom Canada raised as his own child, and the couple went on to have two more sons.

Family members console Rhonda Canada as she speaks about her brother, Darius Canada, who was killed in Mojave on April 30. (Dania Maxwell / Los Angeles Times)

Two weeks after the shooting, their 12-year-old and 6-year-old sons clung to their grandmother Jeanette Benson in her South Los Angeles apartment. Her worries about her grandsons, about her son, have piled up, making it difficult to sleep. Lately, she agonizes over what she doesn't know.

On the night of the shooting, she saw a familiar RV on her television as she watched news reports about four people killed in Mojave. It looked like the place where her son lived, but she couldn't be sure.

"Everyone who came into contact with them loved them," Benson said as her voice broke.

Hester wasn't close to her own family, but Benson treated her like a daughter. Hester would often call on a video chat, holding the phone up to whoever was in the room.

"She was my baby," Benson said with a laugh. "My Anna banana Hannah Montana."

Canada and Hester were together for about 15 years and well-known by locals in the tiny desert community of Mojave. Rhonda Canada remembers people greeting her brother by name as she took him to the store to buy him some food.

Canada and Hester would find work through odd jobs in the community, Chris Canada said about his brother and his partner.

"They didn't just sit around. They didn't hurt anyone," Chris Canada said.

"None of us know why people do what they do, why they're homeless or why they're on drugs," Rhonda Canada said.

Jeanette Benson, second left, is surrounded by family at her apartment in South Los Angeles. (Dania Maxwell / Los Angeles Times)

As the immense grief of losing their loved ones weighs on the Canada family, the lack of response from Kern County authorities feels especially painful, they said.

The family said they received only one phone call from officials, when an employee with the coroner's office confirmed Canada's and Hester's deaths.

Sheriff's officials said investigators have contacted relatives of each victim or taken statements.

Rhonda Canada said she doesn't know how to talk about her brother's death with his children because the family has received so little information.

"They're going to have questions that we can't even answer," she said. "We don't know what to do, what to say."

A family searching for help

For the second time since Martina Barraza Jr.'s death, her eight sisters held a car wash to raise funds for her funeral.

One of Barraza's five children, Annya Morelli, 16, held a sign with her mother's picture above her head on Sierra Highway in Lancaster. She stood next to her 11-year-old sister, Natalie, among the crowd, their T-shirts emblazoned with Barraza's face.

Annya Morelli, in the white top, stands with relatives at a fundraiser car wash in Lancaster for her mother, Martina Barraza Jr., one of the four Mojave shooting victims. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

Many relatives of the four shooting victims said they tried for years to help their loved ones break out of the cycle of drug abuse. Annya understood that she needed to leave California for a better life away from her mother, but she always thought about her.

"My plan was always to come back when I was older to get my mom and my siblings," Annya said. "To give them something more. Something better."

Annya spoke to her mother in a video call the day she was killed. Barraza was visiting her mother, Cecilia Gomez, who was taking care of Barraza's 4-year-old daughter.

Annya didn't speak to her mother regularly, and she didn't know when she would see her again. She wished her a happy Mother's Day even though it was more than a week away.

"She told me she loved me," Annya said. "She was a very strong girl, and she held it all on her 10 toes."

Annya Morelli, 16, has her mother's name tattooed on her forearm. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

Barraza was loud, the life of the party. Annya said her mother told bad jokes and refused to not laugh at her own puns.

After Barraza's death, her sisters are wondering whether their family will be eligible for victim assistance services through the county or the state.

That is still unclear because the investigation is ongoing, Kern County Assistant Dist. Atty. Joseph Kinzel said.

The district attorney's office will offer help to the families, but Kinzel could not say whether his office had reached out to a list of relatives provided by The Times.

During the reporting of this story, a representative from the California Victim Compensation Board contacted Canadas and Barrazas relatives to determine whether they are eligible to receive funds from the state, which will hinge on the findings of the homicide investigation and whether they meet the state's standards for victims. Benson said her family would try to relay information to Hester's family, and Denardo did not reply to questions about whether he had received a follow-up call.

Kern County Supervisor Zack Scrivner, who represents Mojave, did not respond to requests for comment about the killings.

"We're going to keep demanding justice for her," Barraza's sister Vanesa Sandoval said. "We have to constantly speak about what happened so they're not forgotten."

Another sister, Glenda Gaxiola, said the county coroner's office called her several days after the killing. By then, the family already knew Barraza was one of the victims, but the official wanted to know if Gaxiola could describe any of Barraza's tattoos.

Barraza had all eight of her sisters' names on her arm. She also had her mother's name tattooed.

The coroner's official described a tattoo at the back of Barraza's neck: the name Cecilia.

"That's my mom's name," Gaxiola said. "That broke us right down, because it was our names. I said, 'That's us.'"

After the shootings, Annya also got a name tattooed on her forearm: her mother's name, Martina, surrounded by a flock of doves.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
A Massachusetts police department hosting self defense course for women

The North Reading Police Department will offer a nationally certified self-defense course for women ages 17 or older next month.

The 12-hour, Rape Aggression Defense (RAD), program is taught by certified instructors who will focus on awareness, verbal tactics, and defensive physical skill training, said Chief Michael Murphy.

Classroom work is followed by hands-on tactical practice and dynamic simulations.

I didnt think Id have the courage to defend myself, much less the strength, but I did, a past participant of the course said. The (instructors) were tough, respectful, and extremely efficient at what they do. I thank them to make me achieve what I thought I couldnt.

The Summer 2023 program will be held on:

Monday, June 5, from 6-9 p.m. at the North Reading Police Department

Wednesday, June 7, from 6-9 p.m. at the North Reading High School Auxiliary Gym.

Tuesday, June 13, from 6-9 p.m. at the North Reading High School Auxiliary Gym.

Wednesday, June 14, from 6-9 p.m. at the North Reading High School Auxiliary Gym.

Participants must attend all four dates to complete the course.

The RAD approach uses simple techniques that people can remember and use effectively in emergency situations. The course will increase participants situational awareness and help them become more confident, Chief Murphy said. The course is very empowering. I encourage all women to attend.

To register, please visit www.northreadingma.gov/CIT and click on RAD: Rape Aggression Defense.

Those with questions about registration should contact Det. Michael Marra at mmarra@nrpd.org or 978-357-5057.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.

Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts.

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FILE PHOTO: Authorites speak about the march by supporters of the white nationalist group Patriot Front in Boston

By Sarah N. Lynch

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Rachael Rollins, the top federal prosecutor in Massachusetts, improperly used her U.S. Justice Department position to meddle in a local district attorney election by leaking to newspapers dirt about a political rival - one of many ethics violations cited in two reports by government investigators on Wednesday.

The reports by Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz and the independent U.S. Office of Special Counsel (OSC) were released a day after Rollins, appointed by Democratic President Joe Biden as the first Black woman to serve as U.S. attorney in Massachusetts, announced she would resign by Friday.

The scathing 161-page inspector general's report described a host of ethics lapses, from Rollins improperly attending a Democratic fundraising event with U.S. first lady Jill Biden in her capacity as a prosecutor to accusations that she "knowingly and willfully made a false statement" during her interview with Horowitz's office.

Horowitz referred the false statement allegation to the Justice Department in December for possible criminal prosecution, though the report said officials declined to do so.

The OSC report said Rollins "willfully violated" the Hatch Act - a law that limits the political activities of federal employees. It characterized the case as "one of the most egregious Hatch Act violations" OSC had ever investigated.

Rollins is a prominent figure in the "progressive prosecutor" movement that supports policies designed to eliminate racial disparities in the justice system. The investigations were launched at the urging of Republican U.S. Senator Tom Cotton.

The reports described her interactions with Ricardo Arroyo, a progressive-leaning Democrat who in 2022 ran in the party's primary election for the Suffolk County district attorney job vacated by Rollins when she became U.S. attorney. Arroyo's rival, moderate Democrat Kevin Hayden, won and now serves as the county DA.

Justice Department and OSC investigators unearthed numerous text messages showing that Rollins was working behind the scenes to help Arroyo win the election.

"No mercy. Finish him," Rollins wrote in one July 2022 text.

The investigators said Rollins planted negative information about Hayden in Boston Globe articles about his handling of a police misconduct probe and then used those stories to try to help spur a Justice Department investigation.

Rollins later leaked to the Boston Herald a sensitive Justice Department memo saying she would be recused from any Hayden-related investigation.

"By leaking non-public DOJ (Department of Justice) information for the purpose of damaging Mr. Hayden's campaign, Ms. Rollins violated the Hatch Act prohibition against using her official authority or influence for the purpose of interfering with or affecting the results of an election," the OSC found.

When Rollins was interviewed about the leaks, the inspector general said she "lacked candor" and "falsely testified under oath" by initially denying she was the source of them.

Horowitz's report also said Rollins violated Justice Department policy and ethics rules by soliciting free Boston Celtics NBA tickets, using her personal cellphone for official business, accepting payments from outside groups to attend events and accepting political contributions to her Suffolk district attorney campaign account after becoming a U.S. attorney.

Her attorney Michael Bromwich said the inspector general's allegations "amount to minor process fouls."

"Though Ms. Rollins could have raised many facts and arguments in connection with these issues, she had no interest in litigating them any further. She believed the better course was to step down," Bromwich said in a statement.

In a letter in the OSC report, Bromwich said Rollins received Justice Department approval to attend the fundraising event.

Rollins "was there for the sole purpose of a brief meet-and-greet with the First Lady. Ms. Rollins pledged no money, encouraged no one else to pledge money or make cash contributions, stayed for no speeches, and left immediately after she shook hands with the First Lady," Bromwich wrote.

Rollins, narrowly confirmed by the Senate in December 2021, is one of the 93 U.S. attorneys appointed by the president as the lead federal prosecutors in various regions around the country.

(Reporting by Sarah N. Lynch; Additional reporting by Rami Ayyub in Washington and Nate Raymond in Boston; Editing by Will Dunham)
FILE - AU Health's campus on Jan. 4, 2023. Augusta University Health System and Wellstar Health System announced on Friday, March 31, 2023 that they now will comprise Wellstar MCG Health. On Wednesday, May 17, 2023, state officials announced that a four-year campus for MCG will be established at Georgia Southern University.

The Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University is establishing a new four-year medical campus at Georgia Southern University, according to a news release from Georgia House of Representatives Speaker Jon Burns.

On Tuesday, the Board of Regents voted to approve a $1.69 million bond to renovate 23,000 square feet of space at the Armstrong Center and Health Professions Building at Georgia Southern. The resolution says that this new space will be for MCG students, but does not mention that it will be a new four-year campus.

Increasing opportunities within the University System of Georgia allows Augusta Universitys Medical College of Georgia to educate and train more students and meets a clear need to make sure our communities receive better health care, Burns was quoted as saying in the statement. Georgia needs more doctors, and Im proud we are making this investment in our future.

Big bucks: Wellstar agrees to spending nearly $800 million over next decade in AU Health merger

MCG dean: Georgia needs more doctors and Wellstar-AU Health merger can make it happen

The announcement comes as MCG prepares to merge with Atlanta-based Wellstar Health System, forming Wellstar MCG Health. The agreement, which would obligate Wellstar to spend up to $800 million on capitol investments, is currently under routine legal review by the state Attorney General's office.

The USA Today Network has reached out for comment to GSU, the Medical College of Georgia, and Wellstar Health System, but did not receive an immediate reply on Tuesday afternoon.

According to prior reporting, after the merger with Wellstar MCG hopes to increase the number of students from 264 in each class to 304. The Medical College has its main campus in Augusta and another four-year campus in Athens, as well as a number of regional campuses where students in their final two years can work on clinical skills.

This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: New four year campus for Medical College of Georgia announced at GSU
Meet Pita Limjaroenrat, the 42-year-old Harvard grad who was once married to a TV actress  and now vows to become Thailand's next prime minister

Move Forward Party leader and prime ministerial candidate Pita Limjaroenrat in Bangkok. Jack Taylor/AFP via Getty Images

Pita Limjaroenrat is the favorite to become Thailand's new prime minister.

Pita holds degrees from Harvard and MIT.

Pita is regarded as a celebrity in Thailand, and was once married to a local actress.

The results of Sunday's election suggest Pita Limjaroenrat is on track to becoming the next Prime Minister of Thailand. The 42-year-old business executive is the leader of the Move Forward party, one of the country's liberal opposition parties.

Pita has achieved celebrity status among young Thais  and his fame and fandom is most evident on TikTok. The Thai hashtag of his name  # has garnered some three billion views on the platform. A video that recorded one of his speeches has over 7.6 million views and thousands of comments showing support for his campaign. And, at many of his rallies, thousands of students gathered, holding banners with his face on them and chanting his name.

"I am ready to be the prime minister for all, whether you agree with me or not," Pita said on May 15, the day 99% of the votes were counted, per the Straits Times.

Pita promises to revive Thailand's "lost decade." His platform? To "demilitarize, demonopolize, and decentralize"  a plan that hopes to revive the economy by investing beyond tourism in major cities like Bangkok, Pita said in an interview with Bloomberg. Now, all eyes are on the ballot box as his supporters eagerly wait for a new era in Thai politics.

Pita was the first Thai student to receive an international scholarship from Harvard.

Pita Limjaroenrat waves to his supporters during a victory parade in Bangkok. Manan Vatsyayana/AFP/Getty Images

Pita moved to Hamilton, New Zealand when he was 11 years old. Growing up, he described himself as a youngster who smoked cigarettes and fought in school. At the time, he attended Bangkok Christian College, according to local publication Nation Thailand.

In New Zealand, Pita lived on a farm with a local family. There, he attended high school  and picked strawberries and delivered milk and newspapers in his free time, according to New Zealand-based publication The Spinoff, citing a 2012 interview.

"I got shipped to the middle of nowhere in New Zealand and there were three channels back then. Either you watch Australian soap operas, or you watch the debates in parliament," Pita told the Thai YouTube program Aim Hour.

Pita then returned to Thailand to pursue a bachelor's degree in finance and banking at Thammasat University, per his profile on Thailand's parliament's website. He graduated in 2002 with first class honors.

He went on to obtain a master's degree in public policy from Harvard Kennedy School and an MBA from MIT Sloan School of Management, per his LinkedIn profile.

Pita did not immediately respond to Insider's requests for comment.

Before becoming a politician, Pita Limjaroenrat worked in consulting and operations.

Pita Limjaroenrat speaks to the crowd during a major election campaign. Peerapon Boonyakiat/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

In 2018, Pita became a member of parliament in Thailand, a move that skyrocketed his rise as the leader of the Move Forward party. Before that, Pita was a business executive who worked in multinational corporations.

Most notably, Pita served as the executive director of Grab Thailand, a ride-hailing and food delivery app, from 2017 to 2018, according to his LinkedIn profile.

Pita's career also extends to working in the government. After a few years as a senior associate at the Boston Consulting Group, he took on a role in Thailand's Office of the Minister for two years, working on issues including trade and investment, according to his profile.

Pita's family is known for their prominence in politics and business.

Pita's father, Pongsak Limjaroenrat, was an advisor to the Ministry of Agriculture, per the Guardian. His uncle, Padung Limjaroenrat, was a close aide to the billionaire and former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

His family also owns a successful company  and it's in large part because of Pita's efforts. In 2006, his father died, leaving him to take over as CEO of Agrifood, their rice bran oil company, according to Tatler's 2017 profile.

The then-25-year-old Pita rescued the company from bankruptcy and turned it into a thriving business. Pita served as the company's managing director for a decade, per his LinkedIn profile.

"We humans are all born with sufferings and mistakes, but we must not fear to fail," Pita told the Bangkok Post in a 2014 interview. "We have to fail and fail better. And don't let guilt in the past or emotion get in your way," he added.

Pita was married to a TV actress, whom he had a daughter with.

Pita Limjaroenrat holds his daughter on stage during a rally in Bangkok. Lillian Suwanrumpha/AFP/Getty Images

Pita married Thai actress Chutima Teepanart in 2012, but the couple divorced seven years later. Chutima, whom he met online, is seven years his junior, according to an interview with Prestige in 2016.

Chutima once accused Pita of physical abuse, but her claim was thrown out in court in 2016. She later said that while he was never violent towards her, he still abused her psychologically, as quoted by the Bangkok Post.

Pita is a single father, with sole custody of their daughter Pipim, per the Bangkok Post. He is often seen carrying Pipim at his rallies.

"I want her to appreciate good food, enjoy good music, travel a lot," Pita told Prestige. "I want her to enjoy life to the fullest, and I would definitely support her in any possible way that I can: her endeavors and her journeys," he continued.

Thailand's Electoral Commission has 60 days after the results were announced on May 15 to certify the election results and confirm the winning party.

Read the original article on Insider
Can you really ride Megabus for $1? Heres what a California trip actually costs

Traveling on a ride-share bus service through California can be an affordable way to get around the Golden State  the key is to book in advance to snag the best possible rate.

Companies like Megabus advertise fares starting as low as $1 for a one-way ticket. But how soon do travelers have to book a trip to secure low travel rates?

California Megabus announced in a May news release, it would provide daily trips between Anaheim, Los Angeles, Bakersfield, Fresno, San Francisco, Oakland and Sacramento.

Heres how the cost actually breaks down for Megabus as you get into the booking process:

Last-minute tickets

We get it  life happens and it can be difficult to plan ahead.

If you find yourself needing to book a bus ticket within the month of your travel plans, prices with Megabus seem to be consistent whether you decide to book tickets the same day or even 30 days out.

A reporter at The Bee checked ticket pricing on the Megabus website on May 17. Heres a breakdown on one-way pricing for cities you can get to in California with Megabus from Sacramento as of Wednesday:

We compared Megabus and Greyhounds ticket prices, and discovered you can find cheaper tickets with Greyhound if you have flexibility with your travel plans. Otherwise, Megabus is more consistent across the board.

Greyhound tickets from Sacramento to Los Angeles, leaving the Friday before Memorial Day weekend, are priced at $69.99 for its 10:15 a.m. departure. Greyhound offers more departure times but prices range from $91 to $143, for a one-way ticket.

The Bee reached out to Megabus for comment and did not immediately receive a response.

How to get a $1 ticket from Megabus

When you book more than a month in advance through Megabus, thats when youll start to find the advertised $1 travel fares a few times per week. When you book at about two months in advance, the $1 travel fares become available daily, for at least one of the advertised travel times.

Whats my total at checkout?

Once youve secured your tickets youll be asked to select a seat for your journey. General seating is free, but panoramic seats, extended view seats and table seats all require an additional fee.

Upgraded seat prices vary depending on day, time and demand of travel, according to the Megabus website.

At checkout youll also see an additional $3.99 booking fee added to your total.

What do you want to know about life in Sacramento? Ask our service journalism team your top-of-mind questions in the module below or email servicejournalists@sacbee.com.
PHNOM PENH, May 17 (Xinhua) -- The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) trade pact and bilateral free trade agreements will put the region and Cambodia in a better position to recover from the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, a Cambodian scholar said on Wednesday.

Tean Samnang, a strategic advisor to the Phnom Penh-based independent think tank Asian Vision Institute (AVI), said Cambodia has demonstrated its unwavering commitment to trade liberalization and regional economic integration through the RCEP, Cambodia-China Free Trade Agreement (FTA), and Cambodia-South Korea FTA.

"The achievement of these trade agreements is crucial because it will put the region, and Cambodia in particular, in a better position to recover from the impacts of the pandemic," he said in an AVI bulletin.

Cambodia has been one of the first countries to fully and swiftly resume social and economic activities, Samnang said, adding that the government's rapid, thorough, and effective responses to the pandemic have supported the stability of production, the continuation of business activities, and the protection of those affected.

The RCEP agreement comprises 15 Asia-Pacific countries including 10 ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) member states - Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam - as well as ASEAN's five trading partners, namely China, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand.

Cambodian Ministry of Commerce's undersecretary of state and spokesman Penn Sovicheat said the RCEP has not only given a boost to the kingdom's sustainable trade growth, but also become a magnet to attract more foreign direct investments.

"This regional mega-trade pact will help Cambodia graduate from its least developed country (LDC) status likely by 2028 and to achieve its goals of becoming an upper middle-income country in 2030 and a high-income nation by 2050," he told Xinhua.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said in its annual World Economic Outlook released last month that Cambodia, with a growth projection of 5.8 percent in 2023, is among three most robust RCEP economies alongside the Philippines and Vietnam. 
Meghan accepts Women of Vision award in New York as Harry and mum Doria look on

The Duchess of Sussex speaks onstage during the Ms. Foundation Women of Vision Awards (Getty Images)

The Duchess of Sussex urged women to be the visionary of your own life as she was presented with an award at a glittering ceremony in New York.

Meghan attended Tuesday nights Ms Foundation for Womens 50th anniversary gala event in Manhattan with her husband, Prince Harry, and mother Doria Ragland.

It was the couples first public outing together since Harry made the solo trip to the Kings coronation earlier this month.

The ceremony honoured game-changing grantee partners and visionary leaders committed to the organisations mission of advancing collective power and creating safe, just and equitable futures for women, girls, and gender-expansive people.

Doria Ragland, Prince Harry and Meghan, The Duchess of Sussex attend the Ms. Foundation Women of Vision Awards: Celebrating Generations of Progress & Power at Ziegfeld Ballroom (Getty Images)

The duchess, 41, received the Ms Foundations Women of Vision Award, recognising her global advocacy to empower and advocate on behalf of women and girls.

Dressed in a strapless $1,850 gold Johanna Ortiz midi dress with scalloped pattern detailing, Meghan took to the podium to the sounds of Alicia Keys hit song Girl on Fire.

Meghan was presented with the award by renowned journalist and feminist activist Gloria Steinem.

Her acceptance speech closed out the gala where she said: Its never too late to start.

You can be the visionary of your own life There is still so much work to be done.

I am a woman who remains inspired and driven by this organisation, she said, looking over Ms Steinem, who introduced her alongside current foundation chief executive Teresa Younger.

Meghan delivering an acceptance speech at the awards (Getty Images Ms. Foundation for)

It allowed me to recognise that part of my greater value and purpose in life was to advocate for those who felt unheard, to stand up to injustice, and to not be afraid of saying what is true and what is just and what is right.

While Harry flew to London to attend his fathers coronation, Meghan opted to stay at their US home in Montecito, California, with their two children Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet.

Last year the pair became the recipients of the NAACP Presidents Award as well as the Robert F Kennedy Ripple of Hope Award, at a ceremony also held in New York.

The event comes amid several High Court trials involving the Harry in the UK.

The duke is attempting to bring a second legal challenge against the Home Office over his security arrangements when in the UK.

He is also bringing a contested claim against Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN) over allegations of unlawful information gathering.

Meanwhile, King Charles and Queen Camilla were set to visit Covent Garden on Wednesday in their first joint engagement since the coronation. They were expected to meet market traders and other business people, as well as members of local arts organisations.
James Devaney/GC Images/ Getty Images

Meghan Markle appeared resplendent in a gold dress at a charity award Tuesday night, as she invoked the concept of service in what is being seen as part of a coordinated, post-Coronation relaunch.

Meghan has kept a low profile for much of this year, not appearing alongside her husband as he promoted his book, Spare, and not making an appearance at the Coronation of King Charles III, which Harry attended alone.

However, all that changed Tuesday night when Meghan stepped out of a car at the Ziegfeld Ballroom in Manhattan, to accept the Ms. Foundations Women of Vision award.

Meghan and Harry Make Low-Key First Joint Appearance in Months on Lakers Jumbotron

With Harry and her mother at her side, Meghan was greeted by a blaze of flashbulbs bouncing off her dazzling gold dressand one British heckler who called out, Meghan, how do you feel about being a part of two broken families?

Inside, there was a friendlier crowd. Gloria Steinem, described as co-Founding Mother of the Ms. Foundation, presented Markle with an award, for her global advocacy to empower and advocate on behalf of women and girls while Danielle Moodie, host of The Daily Beast podcast The New Abnormal, hosted the event.

In her own speech, Meghan served up her signature mix of self-affirmation and on-brand compassion as she told the crowd, Its just never too late to start. You can be the visionary of your own life. You can charter a path in which what you repeat in your daily acts of service, in kindness, in advocacy, in grace and in fairness, that those become the very things that are recognized by the next wave of women, both young and old, who will also choose this moment to join the movement and make our vision for an equitable world reality.

Meghans words recalled a statement she and Harry made in February 2021, after the queen said their desire to live as private individuals was not compatible with a life of public service. Meghan and Harry responded: We can all live a life of service. Service is universal.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

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Meghan Markle shines in gold alongside her mom and Prince Harry to accept award in NYC

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex made their way to New York City for a special event.

Prince Harry and the former Meghan Markle attended the Ms. Foundation Women of Vision Awards: Celebrating Generations of Progress & Power at Ziegfeld Ballroom on May 16.

The royals, along with Meghan's mom, Doria Ragland, were first spotted entering through a Hertz car rental location before making their way inside the venue, which was adjacent to the rental location.

Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, Doria Ragland and Meghan Markle, Duchess of Sussex, entered the

The former "Suits" actor was seen in a gold strapless dress by Johanna Ortiz. She paired the metallic look with matching Tom Ford stiletto sandals and a Carolina Herrera clutch.

As for Harry, the 38-year-old royal wore a black suit with white dress short and blue tie. Once inside the venue, the couple posed for photos together. In one snap, Meghan lovingly looked at her husband.

The Duchess lovingly looking at her husband. (Kevin Mazur / Getty Images Ms. Foundation for Women)

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex were then joined by Ragland and took a sweet family photo. Meghan's mother stood beside her son-in-law in a black dress and heels.

Meghan was one of six people who were recognized at this years Women of Vision Awards.

According to the organizations website, the duchess was honored for championing human rights and gender equity as well as being an advocate for women and girls through her humanitarian and business ventures.

Doria Ragland, Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, posing at the event. (Kevin Mazur / Getty Images Ms. Foundation for Women)

The event was held on Tuesday, a little more than a week after Prince Harry attended his father King Charles III's coronation on May 6.

The prince went to London while his wife stayed at home in California with their children, Archie, 4, and Lilibet, 1. Harry arrived solo at Westminster Abbey and left following the ceremony.

The coronation day also happened to be Archies fourth birthday.

King Charles and Camilla, the queen consort, later gathered on the balcony of Buckingham Palace, with Harry nowhere in sight. A source familiar with the coronation planning told NBC News that Harry was not invited to join the royal family on the balcony following the coronation.

Buckingham Palace declined to comment.

Harry and Meghan announced they would be stepping down as senior members of the royal family in 2020. They left London and moved to California. There has been a royal rift ever since, especially with the couple's bombshell sit-down with Oprah Winfrey, their Netflix docuseries, and Harrys explosive memoir, Spare, released this year.

This article was originally published on TODAY.com
Meghan Markle and Prince Harry marked their first official public appearance Tuesday, 10 days after King Charles III ascended the throne during the royal coronation.

The Duchess of Sussex opted for a gold strapless Johanna Ortiz dress with a subtle key-hole cut-out for the Women of Vision awards in New York.

Markle was joined by her husband for the ceremony, which benefits the Ms. Foundation for Women and feminist movements. Harry and Markle will celebrate their fifth wedding anniversary on Friday.

Markle is set to receive the 2023 Women of Vision award from Gloria Steinem at the event Tuesday evening.

MEGHAN MARKLE'S POST-CORONATION AWARD IS 'SLAP IN THE FACE' TO KING CHARLES: EXPERT

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry shared the look of love on the red carpet ahead of Ms. Foundation Women of Vision Awards.

Markle's stunning gold jacquard dress was expertly tailored and hemmed to her calves, and she added inches to her petite frame with a pair of towering metallic heels.

READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP

PRINCE HARRY STILL FIGHTING FOR POLICE PROTECTION IN UK AFTER BEING DENIED

The mother of two carried a matching golden clutch in one hand and a pair of thick gold earrings peered out from behind her dark brown hair.

Doria Ragland, Markle's mom, was also on hand to watch her daughter earn recognition from the foundation.

Meghan's mother, Doria Ragland, joined the couple on the red carpet.

Meghan Markle was all smiles as she arrived to Women of Vision awards in New York with Prince Harry.

The Duke of Sussex sported a classic navy-blue suit with a light-blue tie.

Markle will receive the award for "her global advocacy to empower and advocate on behalf of women and girls" from Gloria Steinem, the Ms. Foundation co-founder.

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According to its 2022 annual report, the organization provided 12.66 million COVID-19 vaccines with partner Global Citizen and helped resettle nearly 175,000 refugees from Ukraine and Afghanistan in the United States with partner Welcome.US.

The foundation also helped build a community play space in Uvalde, Texas, following the school shooting there that killed 19 children and two teachers.

Harry recently returned from across The Pond where he was on hand to witness his father and his stepmother, Queen Camilla, be crowned in Britain's first coronation ceremony in 70 years.

Prince Harry attended the coronation of his father, Britain's King Charles III, and Queen Camilla at Westminster Abbey in London on May 6.

King Charles III and Queen Camilla are pictured with members of the working royal family, from left, Prince Edward, Duke of Kent, Birgitte, Duchess of Gloucester, Prince Richard, Duke of Gloucester, Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence, Anne, Princess Royal, King Charles III, Queen Camilla, The Prince of Wales, Catherine, Princess of Wales, Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh, Princess Alexandra, The Honourable Lady Ogilvy and Prince Edward, Duke of Edinburgh.

Charles immediately ascended to the throne following the death of his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, on Sept. 8, 2022.

Shortly after the coronation service, Prince Harry left London and returned home to his family in California. Although he did attend the coronation, Prince Harry was excluded from the official portraits released Monday.

The group photo, which feature the senior working royal family members, includes The Duke of Kent, The Duchess of Gloucester, The Duke of Gloucester, Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence, The Princess Royal, The King, The Queen, The Prince of Wales, The Princess of Wales, The Duchess of Edinburgh, Princess Alexandra, the Hon. Lady Ogilvy and The Duke of Edinburgh.

Prince Harry and Markle stepped back from their roles as senior royals in January 2020 and have since settled into life in Southern California to raise their two children.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
HAMILTON  A Gloucester Township man was fatally shot early Wednesday in this Mercer County community.

Matthew Morales, 28, was gunned down shortly after 1 a.m. on the 4900 block of South Broad Street, according to the Mercer County Prosecutors Office.

The Blackwood man was pronounced dead a short time after being taken to an area hospital.

More: Witness details night of violence Is this how a dispute at a South Jersey water-ice shop turned into a double killing?

No arrests were announced, and an investigation is ongoing.

Anyone with information is asked to Prosecutors Detective Luis Vega at 609-989-6406 or Sgt. Sherika Salmon at 609-960-3119.

Information can also be emailed to mchtftips@mercercounty.org.

Jim Walsh is a senior reporter with the Courier-Post, Burlington County Times and The Daily Journal. Email him at jwalsh@cpsj.com.

This article originally appeared on Cherry Hill Courier-Post: Matthew Morales was fatally shot on South Broad Street in Hamilton, Mercer County
New Mexico gunman who killed 3 in 'purely random' shooting identified as graduating Farmington High School student

The New Mexico teen, who killed three senior citizens in a purely random onslaught, was supposed to graduate from high school Tuesday, a little more than 24 hours after the horrific attack, officials said.

Beau Wilson, 18, was killed by Farmington police, who confronted him shortly after 11 a.m. Monday, Deputy Police Chief Kyle Dowdy told reporters.

Wilson was a student at Farmington High School, which held the commencement ceremonies Tuesday evening for his 12th-grade classmates, officials said.

"I can confirm he wouldve graduated last night," Farmington Municipal Schools spokesperson Roberto Taboada said in a statement Wednesday.

Police identified the three slain women as Shirley Voita, 79, Melody Ivie, 73, and Gwendolyn Schofield, 97. Schofield was Ivie's mother.

"Shirley, Melody and Gwendolyn were valued members of our community and their untimely deaths have left a void that will never be filled," Deputy Police Chief Baric Crum said.

Image: Community members sing during a prayer vigil at Hills Church, on May 15, 2023, in Farmington, N.M. (Susan Montoya Bryan / AP)

All of the victims appeared to be well-known and -liked in the tight-knit community in the Four Corners region of New Mexico.

"I knew Shirley Voita; just a saint," former state Rep. James Strickler said Tuesday. "We go to the same Catholic church. She went to Mass that morning with my wife, and she was caught up in this. "

Ivie was a well-respected preschool teacher, Strickler said.

"So its a very small town. Everybody knows everybody," he said.

Dowdy said a doorbell camera captured what police believe were Wilson's first shots, fired at 10:56 a.m., a minute before Farmington police officers were dispatched to the neighborhood near Ute Street and Dustin Avenue.

The officers arrived at 11:02 a.m. to find Wilson opening fire; he was brought down at 11:06 a.m., police said.

"The suspect was shot, and almost simultaneously as well, an officer was shot," Dowdy said.

Image: Investigators work along a residential street following a deadly shooting on May 15, 2023, in Farmington, N.M. (Susan Montoya Bryan / AP)

The gunman appeared to fire at random, as at least six houses and three cars were hit by gunfire in the quarter-mile-long crime scene, police said.

The gunman and officers fired more than 150 rounds, Dowdy said.

"I can't say who fired what yet, because I'm not sure," he said. "So on the scene so far, and we're still counting [because] that's legitimately going to go up, at this point we found approximately 150 [rounds] exchanged."

Police said they have not immediately been able to make any connection between Wilson and his victims, who were in cars when they were fatally wounded.

It appears to be purely random and had no specific targets or motives that we can identify at this time," Dowdy said.

Two members of law enforcement  Farmington Police Sgt. Rachel Discenza and New Mexico State Police Officer Andreas Stamatiadas  were injured but have been released from the hospital, Mayor Nate Duckett said.

Discenza has been with the Farmington department for 10 years. Stamatiadas, a four-year veteran, was wounded driving to the scene, officials said.

San Juan County Sheriff Shane Ferrari said his agency has been tasked with investigating the response of the police officer who fired 16 shots.

The teenager used at least three weapons, including what Farmington Police Chief Steve Hebbe called an AR-style rifle.

School officials said they believed moving forward with the high school's commencement, despite Monday's tragedy, was in the community's best interest.

"Farmington High Schools graduation last night was the best way to honor our students for their accomplishments, dedication, and unwavering commitment to our community," Taboada said.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
JUAREZ, Mexico  This country's top immigration official said Mexico is closing migrant detention centers in the wake of a deadly fire and plans to open humanitarian shelters instead.

Francisco Garduno faces criminal charges in Mexico that he failed to protect migrants in his custody after a March 27 fire killed 40 migrants from Guatemala, El Salvador, Venezuela and other countries. The National Immigration Institute commissioner has remained in his post as he awaits trial.

On Tuesday, Garduno gave reporters a tour of empty offices on the Mexican side of the Ysleta-Zaragoza international bridge that would soon be turned into an albergue provisional, "a temporary shelter," he said, "to replace the one where the accident occurred."

The "accident" was a horrific fire that spun out of control after migrant men  being held behind bars  allegedly lit foam mattresses to protest their detention. Prosecutors claim an immigration official or private security guard sold the men cigarettes and a lighter.

Migrants hold a vigil at the gate of the Mexican migrant facility, where 40 migrants lost their lives after the facility where they were being detained caught fire.

As black smoke bellowed the night of the fire, security camera footage appeared to capture officials and guards walking by the men's cell block door nonchalantly, without attempting to unlock the padlock or rescue the migrants.

Since the fire, inquiries have revealed that officials and guards could not find the keys to unlock the cells in time to free the men.

Francisco Garduno, Mexico's top immigration official, visits the Zaragoza international bridge in Ciudad Juarez on Tuesday, May 16, 2023, as part of a tour with members of the media of the installations that will be accommodated to 'shelter' migrants that are expelled from the U.S. Behind Garduno is Manuel Alfonso Marin Salazar, the top immigration official for the state of Chihuahua who accompanied Garduno.

'All the conditions of security'

Garduno walked through a series of small offices looking over the bridge traffic. The remodeling was in the early stages: broken blinds hung over tinted floor-to-ceiling windows; piles of junk waited to be hauled away.

The new shelter will have space for 80 people, he said, "with all the conditions of security and civil protection." He didn't give a date for its opening.

"I have closed 33 installations, or provisional shelters, or migratory stations," he told reporters. "But we still have 17 more with capacity for nearly 5,000 people. So we aren't left without shelters. But the goal is that no one is held more than 36 hours, as the law requires."

More: Mexican president faces protest in Juarez over deadly fire at immigration center

Mexican officials have often used euphemisms to describe their immigration stations.

The federal government operates two migrant shelters  in the traditional context of the term  at its northern border, one in Tijuana and another in Juarez.

A Mexican immigration official accompanies Francisco Garduno, Mexicos top immigration official, during a visit to the Zaragoza international bridge in Ciudad Juarez on Tuesday, May 16, 2023, as part of a tour with members of the media of the installations that will be accommodated to shelter migrants that are expelled from the U.S.

The Leona Vicario shelter in central Juarez is in an old maquila assembly plant and with a capacity to house 1,500 people. Although they are required to respect a curfew, migrants are allowed to leave the shelter for work or medical appointments.

But the station that President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador called a "shelter" in the wake of the fire consisted of cells where migrant men and women were locked, in separate blocks, behind bars.

The new shelter won't keep migrants behind bars or locked in, Garduno said.

"We changed the model, immediately after the incident," he said.

Mexico "has always sheltered migrants, because (irregular) migration in Mexico is an administrative offense and we have to have a place to register them, to find out their nationality," he said.

Dig Deeper 'They couldn't find the keys': How 40 migrants died in Juarez fire

Number of migrants at border declines

Several dozen migrants picked up cardboard beds from the walkway outside the INM offices, as an entourage of immigration officials and reporters followed Garduno on his tour.

Some of the migrants said they had spent the night there; a Honduran mother said she hoped to be able to get an appointment through the CBP One app for her family.

"We heard that it worked better at the border," she said.

Migrants are photographed as Francisco Garduno, MexicoOs top immigration official, visits the Zaragoza international bridge in Ciudad Juarez on Tuesday, May 16, 2023, The top official was visiting what will be renovated installations to OshelterO migrants expelled from the U.S. from El Paso, Texas.

Last week, Department of Homeland Security officials said the number of appointments available via the cellphone app were up to 1,000 per day. The app has frequently been overwhelmed by demand, as migrants seek an appointment to make a claim for asylum or another other lawful immigration pathway.

The number of migrants crossing into the U.S. between ports of entry dropped dramatically in the days after border authorities stopped expelling migrants Thursday under the pandemic-era Title 42 rule.

Border authorities in El Paso reported 626 encounters Monday, according to the city's dashboard, after months of reporting over 1,000 migrant encounters nearly every day. The number of non-Mexican migrants returned to Mexico dropped, as well, Garduno said.

Garduno, who resides in Mexico City, is required to sign in at the federal tribunal in Juarez every other Tuesday while he awaits trial.

This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: After deadly Juarez fire, Mexico shuts some migrant detention centers
Miles Teller and his wife Keleigh are letting go of the modern Spanish-style Studio City abode theyve lived in for the past seven years. According to Dirt, the Top Gun: Maverick actor and his wife have listed the 5,500-square-foot home for $5.7 million. The property originally cost them $3 million. Earlier this year, the couple settled down in a larger house (6,622 square feet) on a smaller lot (0.19 acres) in the Pacific Palisades.

The Studio City dwelling theyre looking to part ways with sits on a little over a quarter acre of land, surrounded by hedges and a wooden gate. Built in 2016, the two-story house includes five bedrooms and seven bathrooms. Interiors are painted white, floors are laid with hardwood throughoutwith the exception of tiled bathroomsand several rooms feature wood-beamed ceilings. A chefs kitchen is topped with a rustic wood-paneled ceiling and also features a breakfast nook and butlers pantry attached to either side of the room.

Open archways allow a breezy flow from the kitchen and throughout the living spaces on the ground floor, with public rooms including a dining room complete with floor-to-ceiling wine storage, a home theater with tiered seating, an ensuite bedroom (which was used as a workout space), and a living room that opens up to outdoor dining and a landscaped backyard. A pool with a spa and baja shelf, a designated section for barbecuing, and a cabana outfitted with a television, fireplace, and seating are highlights of the grounds.

See the video.

Sitting upstairs are four ensuite bedrooms. Double doors in the primary suit lead to a balcony overlooking the backyard, and the expansive bathroom features a soaking tub, a standalone shower, and an attached walk-in closet.

Rooms in the couples new East Coast-style property are just a little bigger than those in their old home and feature dark hardwood floors, coffered ceilings, and several fireplaces throughout the rooms.

Despite all its amenities and sought-after design features, it isnt surprising that the Tellers are ready to leave this homeearlier this year, burglars broke into the house while the couple was out of the country.

Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest

More Great Celebrity Style Stories From AD
Ken Baker and Cocoa

What becomes a Legend most ?

Barbara Streisand, Lauren Bacall, Bette Davis, Judy Garland, Joan Crawford, Lena Horne, Brigitte Bardot, Maria Callas, Carol Burnett, Carol Channing, Ethel Merman, Raquel Welch, Julie Andrews, Sophia Loren, Lucille Ball, Ann-Margret, Cher, Audrey Hepburn, Cindy Crawford, and Ray CharlesWhat do they have in common?

The year was 1968. During the first week of February, Viet Congs Tet Offensive killed 543 Americans. Martin Luther King was assassinated in Memphis on April 4 and Robert F. Kennedy in Los Angeles on June 6. At the end of August, Chicago Mayor Richard Daleys riot police clashed with protesters outside the chaotic Democratic National Convention.

In October, Olympic Gold and Silver medalists Tommie Smith and John Carlos bowed their heads and raised a black-gloved fist during the playing of "The Star-Spangled Banner" at the summer games in Mexico City. And on Election Day in November, Richard Nixon beat Hubert Humphrey, with former Alabama Governor, segregationist George Wallace, capturing 13.5% of the popular vote and five southern states.

On Christmas Eve, astronauts Jim Lovell, Bill Anders and Frank Borman orbited the moon 10 times, with Lovell radioing back to NASA. Houston, please be informed there is a Santa Claus.

And also in 1968, Richard Avedon photographed 26-year-old Barbara Streisand in the first of what would become a remarkable decades-long, promotional campaign. She was wearing mink.

An American mink in the wild.

Mink fur campaign relied on celebrities wearing the product

A Blackglama mink.

A few months beforehand, the Great Lakes Mink Association (GLMA), breeders of a distinctive black-furred mink for the fur trade, hired a New York advertising firm to promote their product. Copywriter Jane Trahey suggested the name Blackglama, an ingenious amalgam of GLMA with the concept of glamour.

More: Thousands of minks released by vandals in Ohio

But dark fur doesnt photograph well, so Trahey also conceived of the brilliant marketing strategy of linking the furs to instantly recognizable celebrities. Each year, one celebrity would be the featured model, someone so famous no name need be mentioned in the ad. Above the striking black-and-white photo was the slogan, What becomes a Legend most? Below, just the word, Blackglama.

After Streisand, some of the worlds most famous women (and a few men like Ray Charles) would model for the enormously successful Blackglama campaign.

But times change. In January 2023 California became the first state to ban the sale and manufacture of new animal fur products within its borders. Similar legislation is under consideration in New York, which is interesting; in 2017, the two states comprised 43% of all new fur sales in the country. The ban does not prohibit owning or wearing furs or the sale of used furs, and it does not apply to other animal products used for clothing such as leather or shearling.

Across much of the world the popularity of fur has been in decline, for both ethical concerns and shifting tastes in fashion. In Europe, annual mink production decreased from 45 million in 2014 to 12 million in 2021, and 19 countries, including France, Italy, Ireland, the Netherlands and the UK have banned fur farming.

Minks are common and territorial

Although most urban dwellers may never see one, American mink are surprisingly common. Last fall, Deb and I had come to the intersection of US 224 and Ohio 18 just outside of Tiffin. We had a green light, but traffic was stopped in all directions as a sleek, two-and-a-half-foot long mink, the color of a cup of dark roast coffee and as thick in body as my forearm, bounded diagonally across the intersection. It was about 9 a.m.

Despite that one sighting, minks are primarily active at night. They are semiaquatic, fiercely carnivorous mammals that feed on all manner of vertebrate prey, from frogs and fish to mice, shrews and muskrats. On several occasions Ive walked across the ice of a frozen swamp to inspect a muskrat lodge, only to find a skull lying beside a neatly drilled hole through the reeds and cattails with which the rodent had built the lodge.

Minks are highly territorial animals, and adult males will commonly fight to the death on meeting. Their long and narrow territories can stretch for several miles along a river or marsh, although they typically spend most of their time within one or two core areas with good prey availability.

American minks (Neogale vison) and the distantly related European minks (Mustela lutreola) are both highly sensitive to SARS-CoV-2, the virus causing COVID, with 35-55% mortality reported in a study of farmed mink in Utah. In 2020 Denmark, formerly the worlds leading producer of farmed mink, slaughtered its entire population of 17 million mink to stop the spread of a mutated strain of the virus which had infected 12 humans.

The accidental and intentional (by animal rights activists) release of American minks from farms in Europe have been listed as one of a number of factors for the precipitous decline in European mink in recent years. American minks are larger, more aggressive and more flexible in habitat use than their European cousins.

Ken Baker is a retired professor of biology and environmental studies. If you have a natural history topic you would like Dr. Baker to consider for an upcoming column, please email your idea to fre-newsdesk@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Fremont News-Messenger: Baker: Mink furs popular in the 1960s have lost their alure
Lake Street Station in Minneapolis

Two men have pleaded guilty in an attack on a transgender woman at a Minneapolis light rail station in February, in a plea agreement that the Minneapolis City Council president, Andrea Jenkins, says is unjust.

Kevin York, 23, of St. Paul pleaded guilty Monday in Hennepin County court to third-degree assault, local TV station WCCO reports. As a result of a plea deal, the court dismissed a charge of first-degree aggravated robbery. Last week, Keaten Morris, 19, of Minneapolis also pleaded guilty to third-degree assault, and likewise in his case, the robbery charge was dropped.

They are expected to be sentenced to four months in jail each, according to Minnesota Public Radio. Sentencing has been set for July.

The attack occurred on February 27 at Minneapoliss Lake Street Station. The victim, whose name has not been made public, suffered a broken rib, a collapsed lung and cranial bleeding, MPR reports. She was in critical condition when she was taken to a hospital, but she was released after her condition stabilized.

Security video showed three people assaulting the woman, but police could locate only Morris and York, who had boarded a train and gotten off at another station.

Police initially were concerned that the attack was motivated by anti-trans bias, but after investigators listened to audio from the security system, the Hennepin County Attorneys office determined that this was not the case and therefore did not seek hate-crime enhancements.

The evidence is that this was not an assault motivated by bias, and the plea agreement holds the defendants accountable for the conduct that did occur, Nicholas Kimball, a spokesperson for the county attorneys office, said in a statement to MPR.

Minnesota law calls for the men to serve 80 days of their 120-day sentences in the Hennepin County Workhouse and the rest on supervised release, the radio station reports. Morris has been released to await sentencing, while York remains in custody in connection with a separate charge.

City Council President Andrea Jenkins, who is a trans woman, was deeply critical of the plea agreement, and she differed with the assessment that the attack was unrelated to the victim's trans identity.

"I am deeply dismayed by this plea agreement," she told The Advocate via email. "The victim suffered a brutal attack because of her gender identity, which placed her and other trans-identified women at significant risk. As a community, we deserve more."
UN Assistant Secretary-General for Africa Martha Pobee speaks at a meeting of the UN Security Council at the UN headquarters in New York on May 16, 2023. The international community's support for the joint military force of the Group of Five for the Sahel (G5 Sahel) has fallen short of making the force fully operational, Martha Pobee said on Tuesday. (Eskinder Debebe/UN Photo/Handout via Xinhua)

UNITED NATIONS, May 16 (Xinhua) -- The international community's support for the joint military force of the Group of Five for the Sahel (G5 Sahel) has fallen short of making the force fully operational, said a UN official on Tuesday.

"Unfortunately, the international community's efforts have fallen short of what is required to render the joint force fully operational and autonomous with the capacity to help stabilize the Sahel region," said Martha Pobee, UN assistant secretary-general for Africa.

Lack of consensus among partners and donors on the most effective support mechanism for the Joint Force has proved to be a significant obstacle to its operationalization, she told the Security Council in a briefing.

Support provided by the UN peacekeeping force in Mali, known as MINUSMA, to the joint force did not fundamentally change this situation. With the expiration of a tripartite agreement between the European Union, the G5 Sahel and the United Nations in June, MINUSMA's logistical and operational support to the joint force, as part of its mandate, would cease to be in effect, she said.

G5 Sahel groups Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania, Niger.

Pobee said the end of the tripartite agreement presents an opportunity to reflect on how the international community should renew its approaches to support the regional security mechanisms.

She said the G5 Sahel joint force has made steady progress in its operationalization. Joint force units have gained practical experience and developed enhanced efficiency in their operations, particularly in coordination and responsiveness. Against the background of the strategic and operational shifts in the Sahel, including the reconfiguration of European and French forces, and in the context of Mali's withdrawal from the joint force and the intensification of threats in the tri-border area of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger, the Joint Force is restructuring to reflect these new realities.

Despite the relative success of the joint force, the security situation in the Sahel has remained worrying. Non-state armed groups continue to carry out large-scale attacks against civilian and military targets, and to engage in confrontation over access to resources, territorial control, and influence. Terrorism and violent extremist groups frequently target border areas, in particular the tri-border area, said Pobee.

The security crisis is exacerbating an already dire humanitarian situation. In Burkina Faso, there are growing humanitarian challenges as a result of the violence, with roughly 4.7 million people in need of humanitarian assistance this year and more than 2 million people displaced internally, compared with 3.5 million people in need in 2022. In Mali, a staggering 8.8 million people will need humanitarian assistance this year, compared with 7.5 million people who needed such humanitarian assistance in 2022. Women and children still bear the brunt of violence and food insecurity, she said.

Resolute advances in the fight against terrorism, violent extremism and organized crime in the Sahel desperately need to be made. Without significant gains, it will become increasingly difficult to reverse the security trajectory in the Sahel and the further expansion of insecurity toward coastal West African countries, she warned.

Recent instability in the east of the Sahel, in Sudan, is yet one additional cause for concern. The devastating effects of the continuing destabilization of the Sahel would be felt far beyond the region and the African continent, she said. 
A 15-year-old Illinois girl allegedly kidnapped by her mother six years ago was found alive in North Carolina on Saturday, less than a year after her disappearance was featured on the Netflix series Unsolved Mysteries.

Im overjoyed that Kayla is home safe, the girls father, Ryan Iskerka, said in a statement issued by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. We ask for privacy as we get to know each other again and navigate this new beginning.

Kayla Unbehaun was nine when she disappeared in 2017, while under the supervision of her mother, Heather Unbehaun, who did not have custody. Iskerka said he was supposed to retrieve Kayla from her mother on 5 July that year but they did not show up.

Unbehaun was required to bring Kayla to Iskerka pursuant to a court order, NBC News said. The girl was last seen with her mother the day before the planned exchange, after a 4 July parade.

Police said Heather Unbehaun was last spotted packing up her belongings and attaching them to the roof of her car. Relatives said Heather went camping in Wisconsin. When the pair did not arrive for the handover, Iskerka called police.

It was discovered that all of Heathers social media had been canceled and her phone turned off, Iskerka said on a GoFundMe page, explaining that he filed a missing person report.

A few weeks earlier, Unbehaun had missed a court date.

Her lawyer had not talked to her for days, was unaware of what happened and was very concerned, Iskerka said.

Prosecutors in Kane county, Illinois issued an arrest warrant for Unbehaun shortly after she and Kayla went missing, NBC Chicago said.

In November last year, the disappearance was among several alleged family abduction cases discussed in an episode of Unsolved Mysteries.

Last week, NBC News said, a woman at a consignment shop in Asheville, North Carolina, recognized Unbehaun from published media and called authorities.

Asheville police arrested Unbehaun on Saturday and she was set to be extradited to Illinois. It was not known whether she had a lawyer, NBC said.

Kayla was in the custody of North Carolina social services, set to be reunited with her family in Illinois, NBC said. Iskerka reportedly said the ordeal had been really devastating.

According to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, family abduction cases are when children are taken, wrongfully retained, or concealed by a parent or other family member depriving another individual of their custody or visitation rights.

Of nearly 30,000 cases logged with the center in 2020, almost 5% were family abductions. The same year, more than 60% of amber alerts, emergency messages sent to help locate missing persons, mostly children, involved alleged family abductions.
Missouri man set to be executed in June. Five jurors now say he should be spared

As a Missouri mans execution date approaches, a team of attorneys is asking Missouri Gov. Mike Parson to grant him clemency in light of the abuse he endured as a child, jurors who have changed their minds and the role of a co-conspirator.

Michael Tisius, 42, is scheduled to die by lethal injection on June 6. He was convicted of killing two Randolph County jailers in June 2000.

This week, lawyers submitted a 56-page clemency application to the governor. Parsons office did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Star.

The document is sprinkled with drawings  sunflowers, portraits of dogs and the Virgin Mary  created by Tisius, who said art has been an emotionally and mentally therapeutic outlet throughout his years at Potosi Correctional Center.

It also includes statements from jurors and an archbishop who support commuting his sentence to life without parole.

Tisius suffered beatings and neglect in childhood, lead poisoning and brain damage. He was manipulated by an older man, which led to the fatal shootings. Those factors and others have altered the views of some jurors, five of whom now oppose execution.

Tisius legal team also said he has expressed genuine remorse.

Not a day has gone by that he has not regretted his actions, they wrote to Parson. His dedication to personal growth reflects in his artwork and his faith in God. He strives to be redeemed in the best manner he can, and in doing so, demonstrates the difference age makes in development.

Abused and abandoned

Throughout his childhood, Tisius was neglected by his parents and beaten by his older brother.

The boys lived on Pepsi, cold hot dogs, and chips, the clemency application read. He often appeared hungry and dirty, reeking of urine and in need of medical attention for scabies or ringworm.

His parents had a volatile relationship and divorced when he was two. His mom was involved in sex work and was emotionally abusive. His dad came in and out of his life. His brother attacked him on a daily basis, throwing baseballs and bottles at him.

Michael Tisius was abused and neglected as a child, his attorneys said in a clemency application sent to Gov. Mike Parson.

He failed sixth grade and had a profoundly low sense of self-worth.

Im weird Im stupid, he wrote as a child. Im a moron nobody likes me Im ugly ... Im not worth a cent.

Tisius also grew up near a Superfund site.

Later in life, his attorneys had his lead levels tested and found that they were seven times the average amount. Elevated lead exposure can cause brain damage and behavioral problems.

When he was 13, he went to live with his father and his stepmom. She showed care towards him, but his dad abruptly sent him back to live with his mom after two months. He told his other brother his dad didnt want me anymore, and in another note to himself, he wrote, I hate myself. Everybody hates me. I wish I would die.

A failed escape

Tisius was 19 when he met Roy Vance in the Randolph County jail.

Vance saw Michael as a mark, the clemency petition said, and Tisius fell under Vances spell quickly.

Neuropsychiatrist George Woods said Vance groomed Tisius, convincing him to help him escape with the aid of Vances girlfriend Tracie Bullington. But in the course of the attempted escape, Tisius shot and killed corrections officers Jason Acton and Leon Egley.

When interviewed by Tisius attorneys, Vance said he manipulated Mike for my own benefit ... This is my fault. It only happened because of me.

Jurors in Boone County sentenced Tisius to death.

But at least five now say they support life without parole. During sentencing, they did not hear much about Tisius early childhood traumas, assaults committed by his brother that resulted in concussions or his epilepsy, all of which doctors said affected his brain development. Some jurors noted that his trial attorneys did not present enough information about the role of Vance, who was sentenced to life and is housed at Eastern Reception, Diagnostic and Correctional Center, where executions take place.

I remember Mr. Tisius defense attorneys presented very little, one juror said.

Others noted his good behavior in prison and their belief in a second chance.

Archbishop Christophe Pierre, a personal representative of Pope Francis, urged Parson to spare Tisius life.

The Holy Father appeals to you for clemency on behalf of Mr. Tisius solely on the basis of his and our own shared humanity, Pierre wrote in a letter included with the clemency application.

The Eastern Reception, Diagnostic and Correctional Center, a Missouri prison in Bonne Terre, is shown in this Feb. 7, 2023 photograph.

Randolph County sheriff

Screens in the lobby of the Randolph County jail show revolving information, including remembrances for Acton and Egley, the two slain jailers.

The facility was built in the wake of their deaths. The former jail was a converted home.

Unfortunately it seems like it always takes a tragedy to happen to get a new facility or for change, said Sheriff Aaron Wilson, who joined the office three years after the murders.

He supports going forward with the execution.

I think itd be definitely a good closure for the family and in our county as a whole, Wilson said.

However, he said he was concerned about how new information may impact what happens.

Late last month, Tisius attorneys discovered that one of the jurors was not able to read or write. According to Missouri law, a person is disqualified from serving on a jury if they are unable to read, speak and understand English. Motions are pending before the Missouri Supreme Court.

Parson has not granted clemency on a death penalty case as governor. Two people were executed last year and two people have been executed so far this year in Missouri. Two more executions, including Tisius, are scheduled this year.

Missouri is one of four states that have carried out the death penalty in 2023, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.
Missouri voters likely to reinstate abortion rights if given the chance, Republicans say

As Missouri girds for an anticipated fight at the ballot box next year over an amendment overturning its near-total abortion ban, some Republicans have begun saying they expect a majority of voters to support restoring access to the procedure.

The stark admissions have also been accompanied by intense efforts to make it harder for Missourians to amend the state constitution  an extraordinary acknowledgment that the Republican-controlled General Assembly must erode direct democracy in the state or risk decades of anti-abortion policy unraveling in a single election.

I think we all believe that an initiative petition will be brought forth to allow choice, House Speaker Dean Plocher, a St. Louis Republican, said Friday. I believe it will pass. Absolutely.

Plochers remarkable comments come near the beginning of what is almost certain to be a furious 18-month race to the November 2024 general election, when an abortion rights amendment is likely to appear if one qualifies for the ballot.

Missouri, the first state to ban abortion after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June 2022, could also potentially become the first state where voters reverse an abortion ban.

Ending the ban would be a seismic event in Missouri, opening a path for the return of abortion clinics after years of restrictions imposed by the General Assembly effectively whittled access down to a single location in St. Louis even before the ban, sending residents into Kansas, Illinois and elsewhere for the procedure.

Eleven amendments have been proposed so far that would allow various levels of abortion access and abortion rights supporters are expected to seek signatures through an initiative petition to place at least one on the ballot. Republican lawmakers have until then to pass an overhaul to the initiative petition process that would raise the threshold for passing an amendment at a statewide vote  and, the thinking goes, place a victory out of reach for abortion rights supporters.

A compromise lawmakers agreed to last week but couldnt pass through the Missouri Senate would have required amendments to receive 57% of the vote instead of the current simple majority, a threshold that would have prevented recreational marijuana legalization from passing last November (the measure received 53% of the vote). GOP leaders have already said they will try again next year.

Whatever changes the General Assembly approves must then itself go to a statewide vote and pass with a simple majority. Republicans have signaled they would try to win support for the overhaul with arguments that the state constitution, at 253 pages, has grown too complex and that a higher bar for passage will require amendments to receive more buy-in from rural voters.

One idea that was discarded during negotiations, but could be revived next year, would require amendments to also win a majority of congressional districts if they only obtain a simple majority statewide. The change would empower residents in the rural areas to block amendments even if a majority of voters support them.

The threat of abortion with no restrictions looms large and we are committed to finding the answer early next year. That timeline allows us to see the actual language of abortion advocates and plan a path to defeat it, Senate Majority Leader Cindy OLaughlin, a Shelbina Republican, wrote in a newsletter to constituents Monday explaining that the Senate would act on initiative petition changes in 2024.

The anti-abortion group Missouri Right to Life has been even more blunt, calling the initiative petition overhaul the Resolution to Protect our Constitution and Keep Missouri Pro-Life.

Missouri Senate Majority Leader Cindy OLaughlin.

A dramatic expansion of abortion access

For abortion rights supporters, the urgency among Republicans and abortion opponents only underscores their belief that they hold the upper hand with voters.

We know that Missourians positions and personal thoughts on abortion can be nuanced and complex, but regardless of an individuals personal opinions, by and large, they do not think that it is politicians business, and they dont think that politicians should have the final say over individuals access to this basic health care, said Mallory Schwarz, executive director of Pro-Choice Missouri.

Polling by Saint Louis University and YouGov of nearly 450 voters in August 2022 found that 48% support reversing the ban, while 40% would vote to continue the ban. The question had a margin of error of plus or minus 5.93%.

The poll appears to show Missourians support some restrictions on abortion, even if a plurality also support overturning the states ban. While 58% of voters said abortion should be legal during the first eight weeks of pregnancy (a period during which many women dont know theyre pregnant), only 40% said it should be legal through the first 15 weeks compared to 46% who said it shouldnt.

Just 32% said abortion should be legal when a woman wants one for any reason. The poll didnt ask about support for legal abortion up to the point of viability (around 24 weeks).

While all of the pending petitions would guarantee the right to reproductive freedom in the state constitution, they range from allowing all abortions to only restricting abortions after a certain time period such as 24 weeks.

Without knowing what policy might be able to move forward, we have an opportunity to create a level of access that has not existed in years with something that can pass, Schwarz said. And I think the policies proposed could restore 99% of access in our state and would be a dramatic expansion of access broader than weve seen in Missouri in decades.

Anna Fitz-James, a retired St. Louis pediatrician, filed the Missouri petitions in March on behalf of a political action committee called Missourians for Constitutional Freedom. The group appears to have no public presence, hasnt responded to reporter phone calls, and reports to the Missouri Ethics Commission show it has raised very little money, if any.

Fitz-James declined to comment. Michael Pridmore, Missourians for Constitutional Freedoms treasurer, didnt respond to a request for comment.

Tori Schafer, deputy director for policy and campaigns at the ACLU of Missouri, said lawmakers know abortion is popular, and thats why theyre afraid of majority rule.

The ACLU of Missouri is representing Fitz-James in a lawsuit against Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft, Attorney General Andrew Bailey and Auditor Scott Fitzpatrick, all Republicans, over delays in posting official ballot summaries and fiscal notes for the petitions. A scheduling hearing is set for Wednesday.

Even though some Republicans say that while an abortion rights measure of some kind could pass, its chances depend in large measure on how far the proposal goes in allowing the procedure. Senate President Pro Tem Caleb Rowden, a Columbia Republican, said it would depend on what the left does.

I think if the political left decided that they were going to be reasonable in how they put something on the ballot relative to abortion, they probably have a chance, Rowden said.

Senate President Pro Tem Caleb Rowden, a Columbia Republican, speaks to reporters at the Missouri State Capitol in Jefferson City on Jan. 5, 2023. Caleb Rowden Missouri Senate

Abortion rights supporters have won every statewide election on abortion access across the country since the end of Roe last June. More than 59% of Kansas voters in August rejected an amendment that would have allowed state lawmakers to ban abortion  the first election since the Supreme Court decision. Other states  including Kentucky, Montana and Vermont  have followed in voting in favor of abortion rights.

Against that backdrop, Missouri Senate Minority Leader John Rizzo, an Independence Democrat, said Republicans had let the cat out of the bag after Plocher tied the initiative petition overhaul to abortion.

If he wants to explicitly link abortion or the ability for a woman to have autonomy over her body to (initiative petition), great, he said. They wont like the outcome of that. I promise you. Go ask Kansas.

Fights over ballot candy

Missouri Republicans have been trying to restrict the initiative petition process for years, either by tightening signature-gathering requirements or raising the bar for passage at a statewide vote. The proposals have never passed, either becoming overtaken by larger priorities or bogged down by infighting.

But Republicans have now linked the initiative petition overhaul effort to one of their core political issues  opposition to abortion  in a way that could place enormous pressure on any GOP holdouts.

Peverill Squire, a political science professor at the University of Missouri-Columbia, said Republicans could have likely headed off some of the anger at the states ban if they had enacted additional exceptions this year. However, the potency of abortion politics among the Republican base makes that effectively impossible.

Theyre in a position politically within their primaries where they cant really do that, Squire said. And so now theyre facing giving the voters a choice of all or nothing.

Missouri lawmakers toss paper on the final day of session. Republican legislators will try again in 2024 to raise the threshold for passage of constitutional amendments ahead of an expected abortion rights measure.

Samuel Lee, a lobbyist for the anti-abortion Campaign Life Missouri, said a proposal with enough ballot candy  official ballot summary language that entices voters  could have a chance of passing with a simple majority (opponents of initiative petition changes have also leveled ballot candy accusations at GOP proposals).

But whether any of the 11 abortion amendments currently put forward could pass is a different story, he said.

Democrats have issued their own criticism of the deceptive ballot language on the initiative petition proposal that would be placed in front of voters, saying that Republicans were using confusing ballot candy to get voters to agree to take away their voting power.

The ballot initiative considered by lawmakers this year would have asked Missourians to Allow only U.S. citizens to vote on ballot measures, despite the fact that the Missouri constitution already requires voters to be U.S. citizens. State Rep. David Tyson Smith, a Columbia Democrat, last week likened the summary to dog poop with icing on it.

Ashcroft, who is running for governor, has proposed a summary for the abortion amendments that would say that they allow for dangerous, unregulated, and unrestricted abortions, according to late April letters from Bailey to Ashcroft that have been released publicly.

They know that in order to block an abortion access ballot from being able to get the votes that it would need, they have to rely on tactics of manipulation and coercion, Schwarz, the Pro-Choice Missouri director, said.

Lee called Ashcrofts proposed language pretty strong stuff but acknowledged a lawsuit will probably be filed against it.

The voters will decide based on whats in front of them, Lee said, And the jurys still out on what is even going to be promoted.
To maximize value and enjoyment, try to make an informed decision.

To maximize value and enjoyment, try to make an informed decision.

Staying at a hotel is such a common part of the travel experience that youd think the process is foolproof. Still, plenty of people make mistakes  and sometimes end up paying handsomely  when it comes to booking their travel accommodations.

Whether these missteps end up costing valuable time and money or otherwise just sour the vacation experience, its worth taking the time to steer clear of such hassle. Thats why HuffPost asked some experts to share the common mistakes travelers make when it comes to booking a hotel.

From selecting the wrong cancellation policy to grossly underestimating final costs, here are 12 hotel booking errors  and some advice for avoiding them in your future travels.

Choosing A Hotel Solely Based On Price

While it may be tempting, do not just book the cheapest hotel, said Phil Dengler, co-founder of The Vacationer. Before picking a hotel, you need to read reviews from a variety of different sources.

Remember there might be a good reason why the option is so cheap, whether its poorly reviewed or inconveniently located.

You need to check its location on Google Maps and decide if it is a good spot for your home base, Dengler noted.

Konrad Waliszewski, the CEO of the booking deals resource @hotel, believes that travelers often underestimate the importance of optimizing for location.

Saving a few bucks by staying further away from your preferred neighborhoods and activities may seem tempting at first, but it can result in frustration and increased time and money spent on transportation during your trip, he said. Prioritize convenience and proximity to your desired destinations when choosing your hotel.

Forgetting To Take Resort Fees Into Account

Unfortunately, hotel websites as well as third-party booking sites often hide resort fees until the very last second, Dengler said. By the time they show, many people have already filled out their personal and payment information.

He recommended searching for resort fee information before you start the actual booking process. That way you get a better sense of how much youll actually be paying per night.

On third-party booking sites, you can often find them listed toward the bottom of the listing, Dengler explained. If you do not see them, just click through to the final booking page. Some hotels charge $40 or more per night in resort fees. That can add up for a multinight stay, and many times you do not get much for paying the required fee.

Assuming Parking Is Included

Even when youre paying expensive resort fees, parking is not necessarily included in that extra cost.

If you have a car, always check the hotels parking situation, Dengler advised. Some hotels do not have a parking lot, and you will be forced to find and potentially pay expensive public parking fees. Other hotels do not have self-parking and instead charge hefty valet parking fees. Ive seen upwards of $60 per day before tip.

Selecting The Wrong Cancellation Policy

One of the biggest mistakes that someone can make when booking a hotel is not checking the cancellation policy, said Collette Stohler, a travel agent with Elite Travel Arrangements and director of marketing at Roamaroo. While nonrefundable rates may save you a few dollars, the hotel will not refund your money under any circumstance if you need to cancel.

As unexpected changes and delays seem to have become more common than ever, it makes sense to opt for flexible rates just in case. Make sure you correctly understand the timing, however.

Travelers typically dont realize that the cancellation policy deadline of hotels is always set in the local time zone of the hotel, Waliszewski said. If you need to cancel or modify your trip, make sure you do it before the deadline local time. Set a reminder for your cancellation deadline in your calendar to avoid any last-minute surprises.

Booking With A Debit Card

Besides earning points, credit cards offer purchase protection that cash and debit cards do not, Dengler said. I recommend always booking your hotel stays with a credit card. Even no-annual-fee cards like the Chase Freedom Unlimited earn 1.5% cash back for every dollar spent as well as 5% cash back per dollar spent for hotels purchased through Chase.

Additionally, it offers trip cancellation/interruption insurance, which is great peace of mind when booking hotels, he added. Other travel credit cards with annual fees offer even more benefits when booking hotels, but there are many no-annual-fee cards available that are more than enough for most people.

In addition to airline miles, room upgrades and cash-back bonuses, credit card benefits like fraud protection and immediate refunds for incorrect charges offer a lot of comfort when planning a vacation. With a debit card, you may also have to worry about having insufficient funds for any temporary holds the hotel might require upon check-in, which can add up and take time to be refunded.

Always double-check that you have the correct dates and location before you turn up at the wrong hotel at the wrong time.

Always double-check that you have the correct dates and location before you turn up at the wrong hotel at the wrong time.

Using A Third-Party Platform Incorrectly

One of the biggest mistakes people make when booking hotels is not booking directly with the hotel itself and instead using booking engines, said Victoria Yore, the travel blogger behind Follow Me Away.

If you book directly through the Marriott or Hilton website for instance, you can directly contact Marriott or Hilton when something goes wrong and get immediate help.

If you use a booking engine such as Expedia and there is a problem, often the hotel chain cannot help you and you need to use Expedia as a middleman in order to work out the problem with the hotel, instead of going direct, Yore said. As long as you know this upfront when making this choice, you are far more prepared than many others who may be blindsided in the event of an emergency or cancellation.

Dengler also prefers booking directly with the hotel to cut out the middleman when he has to change or cancel a reservation. He recommended booking directly to guarantee youll receive credit toward the hotels rewards program and the opportunity to access benefits if you already have status as well.

Many hotels guarantee the cheapest price when booking directly through them, Dengler added. Unless you have a special promo code at a third-party booking site, I recommend just booking directly with the hotel for special rates and better service.

Booking The Wrong Location...

I worked in reception of hotels for eight years, and something which happened surprisingly often was a traveler showing up with a reservation for the night, in a hotel of the same name, but in a different country! said Meg Jerrard, co-founder of Solo Female Travelers. So I recommend you always double-check that youre booking the right location, as many countries, and even cities, have hotels by similar or the same names.

Because 24-hour cancellation policies are the norm for hotels, discovering that youve booked the wrong place upon arrival means youll be out the money you spent on that incorrect hotel and also have little choice over the room type thats left at the one where you actually want to stay. Make sure you always confirm the address before embarking on your trip.

Its quite an easy mistake if youre searching for hotels on booking platforms, but then going directly to the hotel site to make a booking, Jerrard said. You can overlook the location when you simply Google a hotel name and click on the first option.

...Or The Wrong Dates

The surprisingly most common mistake by far is booking the wrong dates, Waliszewski said. Always double-check your dates before finalizing your reservation. It may sound obvious, but it happens more often than you think.

As with your hotels address, just take that extra moment to review your selected dates and make sure they align with your travel plans. Things can get confusing with long-haul overnight flights and major time zone changes.

Overvaluing Loyalty Programs

Waliszewski believes that many travelers overvalue hotel loyalty programs.

Its essential to know the actual value of your points and status, and be cautious not to spend more money solely to book a room with a specific brand unless it genuinely adds value to your stay, he said. Take a step back and evaluate the benefits youll receive against the additional cost you might incur.

Failing To Plan Ahead

A major issue is not devoting enough time to proper planning and not starting the process early enough before the trip, said Gordon Gurnik, the chief operating officer at Hilton Grand Vacations. Planning ahead is critical, because trying to make last-minute accommodations will likely mean sacrificing the perfect trip or more expensive choices

There are a number of theories around the perfect time to book a hotel for the best rate, which can depend on the location and time of year. But Gurniks bottom line: Do your research and give yourself as much time as possible to make a decision that ensures your vacation meets your expectations. You can even adopt a reserve now, cancel later attitude and give yourself flexible options, which is especially helpful if you notice the rates going down as your travel dates approach.

Overlooking Amenities

To make sure you get the most of your stay, I recommend researching where you want to stay and what kind of amenities are important to you, Gurnik said For example, do you want your hotel to have a pool, a gym or airport pickup? Are your dates flexible? How many beds and rooms do you need to be comfortable?

Taking stock of your needs and having answers to these questions makes for a smooth and stress-free vacation. If certain hotel amenities require reservations, try to snag those in advance as well.

With travel at an all-time high, make sure to book any added experiences such as spas, tours and restaurants ahead of time, especially in properties that offer these services to guests outside the property, said Jessica van Dop DeJesus, founder and editor at The Dining Traveler.

Not Asking For A Room Upgrade

Most travelers overlook the simple step of calling the hotel a day before check-in to confirm their room and inquire about any complimentary upgrades, Waliszewski said. While upgrades arent always available, its worth the effort as it can really enhance your stay. A quick call allows you to establish a personal connection with the hotel staff and might lead to a pleasant surprise.

Even if an upgrade feels like a long shot, it never hurts to just ask.

I call the hotel the night before and ask for an upgrade, Dengler echoed. If I am denied, I ask again when checking in. In most cases, you will only be upgraded to the next level room. So do not expect to get the penthouse when you booked the cheapest room.

Still, the mere idea of getting some sort of special perk can offer a nice mental boost that makes your vacation even more enjoyable.

Related...
Scary as it sounds, monster can be such a strangely comforting word. Not only does classifying someone as inhuman absolve us from acknowledging the most difficult aspects of our shared humanity, it also reaffirms the smallness and simplicity of an infinitely complex universe that continues to expand no matter how much we might want to wrap our arms around it. Monster is a period at the end of a sentence; its the permission we give ourselves to demonize whatever we dont understand.

And, for all of those reasons, its also a very unexpected title for a new feature by the great Hirokazu Kore-eda, whose achingly humanistic stories of families lost and found (e.g. Shoplifters, Still Walking, After the Storm) have never had any use for such a stiflingly judgmental term. And yet, in the wake of a pandemic that exacerbated so many of societys worst impulses, Kore-eda felt compelled to make a film that dismantles it completely.

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A dense and looping melodrama that spirals towards its core idea with the centrifugal force of a Christopher Nolan movie, Monster is one of those movies that  from its title on down  invites the audiences worst assumptions of its characters so that it can show us our blind spots when the story eventually circles back to fill in the blanks.

Paul Haggis Crash may be an unkind comparison for a film that just as frequently evokes the likes of Kiyoshi Kurosawas Cure, but its not an altogether unfair one, as some of the more contrived moments in Yuji Sakamotos script betray a didacticism that has seldom appeared in Kore-edas previous work. At the same time, however, this knotted yarn about misunderstood kids at the mercy of a reactionary adult world also contains moments of heart-piercing sensitivity so honest and true that even the most dedicated Kore-eda fans might not realize that he didnt write it himself.

Monster is the only movie that Kore-eda has made in his native Japan since winning the Palme dOr for Shopkeepers in 2018 (The Truth was set in France, and last years Broker in South Korea), but his decision to direct someone elses script for the first time since 1995s Maboroshi suggests a filmmaker whos still eager to push himself out of his comfort zone. So does the films opening chapter, which summons a different (and far more disturbing) shade of darkness than he previously invoked in the likes of Distance or The Third Murder.

Monster begins with a deliberate fire at a hostess bar in a lakeside Japanese town, and the identity of the arsonist responsible becomes the biggest of several mysteries in a movie whose narrative is sustained by the inertia of unanswered questions. Our first suspect: A sullen and shaggy-haired fifth-grader named Minato (Soya Kurokawa, another in Kore-edas seemingly infinite supply of immaculate child actors), whose widowed single mother Saori (Shoplifters stunner Sakura Ando) is already concerned by her sons recent behavior.

Minatos newfound demands for privacy are par for the course at that age, and Saori has no reason to believe that her son is assembling molotov cocktails behind his locked bedroom door, but Ando searches her co-stars face with the agitated discomfort of a parent realizing that they dont know everything about their kids life anymore. As Minato begins to complain about bullying, repeat cryptic things he heard at school, and suggest that he was physically assaulted by a teacher named Mr. Hori (Eita Nagayama), Saoris anxiety inflates to existential proportions.

By the time Minato pulls a Lady Bird and barrel rolls out of his moms moving car, Monster is halfway towards becoming a full-blown horror movie about a mothers fear of losing her son to forces beyond her control, and Kore-eda  expertly inverting his usual empathies  mines a wicked degree of everyday terror from the sequence in which Saori goes to Minatos school for a meeting with the principal. Its here that Kore-eda first begins to expand on the definition of his films title, broadening it to accommodate all manner of the unknown.

Considering the weight that Sakamotos script will later put on the word alien in a very different context, the Invasion of the Body Snatchers vibe of Saoris parent-educator sit-down feels eerily deliberate. Hori himself, smiling and haphazard, acts like hes never interacted with a human before, and the fact that he teaches all of his classes in a tracksuit doesnt exactly do anything to ease Saoris concern. Everyone at the school reacts to her complaint as if Hori just hit her kid in the face by accident (Well learn from our mistake is a common refrain), and the feeling that shes entered some kind of bizarro world only grows more pronounced with the first of the films many unreliable reveals: Her precious Minato isnt being bullied, hes the one doing the bullying. Were told that Eri (Hinata Hiiragi), a cheerfully androgynous classmate prone to wearing frilly jumpers, is actually the victim in all this.

Its around then that Monster doubles back around to the start in order to depict the same period of time from Horis perspective, a trick that will be repeated in several different ways as it comes to define the films figure-eight structure. The shift from one POV to another is never absolute  Monster isnt as neatly divided among its characters as something like Rashomon, nor does it have the same interest in challenging the objective fact of its events  but each cycle through this story complicates what we know by giving us more information, as the creeping dread of Saoris chapter gives way to a more ambiguous kind of social unease. Its an approach informed by the gaps in our understanding of each other, and one that both mimics and triggers the human tendency to bridge those gaps in bad faith whenever that might be the easiest way to make sense of the unknown.

Needless to say, Mr. Hori may not be as cruel as Saori assumed. In fact, theres something frustratingly predictable about the way that many of this films most odious characters are redeemed by additional context, as the opposite almost never proves true. The one major exception to that rule involves the storys most heinous rumor, which pans out in a way poignant enough to deserve its own movie (thus making its awkward integration into this one that much more of a sore spot), but all of these bombshells turn out to be in the service of the films most obvious and tender reveal. That truth is hinted at throughout, but its final confirmation is powerful enough to recategorize the entire movie around it as it finds Kore-eda pushing himself even deeper into territory hes never really explored before.

Monster clearly has a lot on its mind, and its jumbled chronology isnt always well-suited to make room for everything this film is trying to do. The scripts destabilizing structure has a tendency to soften the impact of otherwise piercing moments  as is often the case with stories that dont let you in on what theyre really about until their dying minutes  and some of the sacrifices it makes while scraping closer to the monstrousness feel too severe to justify the structural conceit. Andos performance peaks with a bone-shivering display of muted parental horror at the end of the films initial time loop, and her frequent absences from the remainder of the film are so pronounced that it seems like Kore-eda has forgotten something along the way.

But Monster also takes advantage of its strange chronology in some powerfully unexpected ways. A stray shoe acquires an extra layer of heartsick meaning every time someone tries it on, while the sound of an errant trombone blast from the school music room echoes with rich new resonance after we learn who it came from. The universe always keeps expanding, one character explains, and time will reverse itself once the whole thing finally snaps. Perhaps then, Kore-eda suggests, the wrongness that people use to explain the things we dont fully comprehend  in each other and themselves  will be reversed as well, and even the misunderstood characters at the heart of this unusual film will be reborn into the people they always were.

Grade: B

Monster premiered at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival. It is currently seeking U.S. distribution.

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Montana to become first US state to ban TikTok

FILE PHOTO: TikTok logo is displayed on the smartphone while standing on the U.S. flag in this illustration

Montana to become first US state to ban TikTok FILE PHOTO: TikTok logo is displayed on the smartphone while standing on the U.S. flag in this illustration

By David Shepardson

(Reuters) - Montana Governor Greg Gianforte on Wednesday signed legislation to ban Chinese-owned TikTok from operating in the state to protect residents from alleged intelligence gathering by China, making it the first U.S. state to ban the popular short video app.

Montana will make it unlawful for Google and Apple's app stores to offer TikTok within the state, but will not impose any penalties on individuals using the app. The ban is to take effect Jan. 1, 2024, and is almost certain to face legal challenges.

TikTok, owned by Chinese tech company ByteDance, did not respond to a Reuters question asking if it planned legal action.

Earlier, TikTok issued a statement saying that the new law "infringes on the First Amendment rights of the people of Montana by unlawfully banning TikTok," and said it will "continue working to defend the rights of our users inside and outside of Montana."

TikTok, which has over 150 million American users, has faced growing calls from U.S. lawmakers and state officials to ban the app nationwide over concerns about potential Chinese government influence over the platform.

The app has become wildly popular with teens. According to the Pew Research Center, 67% of U.S. teens ages 13 to 17 use TikTok, and 16% of all teens say they use the app almost constantly. TikTok has said that the "vast majority" of its users are over the age of 18.

In March, a congressional committee grilled TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew about whether the Chinese government could access user data or influence what Americans see on the app. But calls to ban TikTok nationwide or give the Biden administration new powers to crack down or ban TikTok have not advanced in Congress.

Gianforte, a Republican, said the bill will further "our shared priority to protect Montanans from Chinese Communist Party surveillance."

TikTok has repeatedly denied that it has ever shared data with the Chinese government and has said the company would not do so if asked.

FREE SPEECH "TRAMPLED"

Montana, which has a population of just over 1 million people, said TikTok could face fines for each violation and additional fines of $10,000 per day if it violates the ban.

The short video app can be downloaded in app stores on Apple Inc and Google devices. Apple and Google, a unit of Alphabet Inc, could also face fines of $10,000 per violation, per day if they violate the ban.

Apple and Google did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) slammed the law as "unconstitutional" and noted that it will go into effect on Jan. 1 if the courts do not act.

With this ban, Governor Gianforte and the Montana legislature have trampled on the free speech of hundreds of thousands of Montanans who use the app to express themselves, gather information, and run their small business in the name of anti-Chinese sentiment, Keegan Medrano, policy director at the ACLU of Montana, said in a statement.

An attempt by former President Donald Trump to ban new downloads of TikTok and WeChat through a Commerce Department order in 2020 was blocked by multiple courts and never took effect.

TikTok's free speech allies include several Democratic members of Congress, including Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and First Amendment groups like the American Civil Liberties Union.

Industry group NetChoice general counsel Carl Szabo also criticized the new law. "The government may not block our ability to access constitutionally protected speech - whether it is in a newspaper, on a website or via an app." he said in a statement, adding that Montana "ignores the U.S. Constitution, due process and free speech."

Gianforte, who had sought to convince the state legislature to broaden the ban to other social media applications that provide certain data to foreign adversaries, also prohibited the use of all social media applications that collect and provide personal information or data to foreign adversaries on state government-issued devices.

TikTok is working on an initiative called Project Texas, which creates a standalone entity to store American user data in the U.S. on servers operated by U.S. tech company Oracle .

(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Leslie Adler)
Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte (R) signed a bill into law on Tuesday that places a statewide ban on abortions after the first trimester of pregnancy.

With HB 721 signed into law, Montana residents are prohibited from electively having a dilation and evacuation abortion after about 15 weeks of pregnancy, unless in the event of a medical emergency where the child wouldnt survive outside the womb. Dilation and evacuation abortions are the most common abortion method in the second trimester of pregnancy.

People who violate the new law can face a fine of up to $50,000, a prison sentence of five to 10 years, or both. Physicians who perform these abortions when its not a medical emergency can face a minimum one-year suspension of their state medical license, as well as fines.

Dismemberment abortion for nontherapeutic or elective reasons is a barbaric practice, dangerous for the mother, and demeaning to the medical profession. House Bill 721 makes clear that it has no place in Montana, Gianforte said during a bill signing earlier this month.

Last month, Planned Parenthood of Montana filed a lawsuit in an attempt to preemptively block the bill as it made its way through Montanas legislature, The Associated Press reported. But District Court Judge Kathy Seeley said there was nothing to block, since the legislation hadnt yet been signed into law.

After Gianforte signed the bill on Tuesday, Planned Parenthood of Montana filed to block the ban on dilation and evacuation abortion. The case remains pending, according to the Planned Parenthood Advocates of Montana.

HB721 is a grave threat to Montanans health and safety and must be blocked, PPAM President Martha Fuller said in a statement. Given the laws immediate effective date, patients across the state can already be denied access to care that was legally available moments before the Governors signature today. We hope the Court will block this dangerous abortion ban.

The legislation is one of four GOP-backed abortion restrictions that Gianforte signed into law on Tuesday, along with five others he signed earlier this month, the Montana Free Press reported.

Im proud to round out our legislative session with another suite of pro-life, pro-family bills that protect the lives of unborn babies in Montana, Gianforte said in a statement on Tuesday.

The ban on dilation and evacuation abortions after the second trimester arrives days after Montanas Supreme Court upheld a ruling that allows some nurses to provide abortions, and reaffirmed a right to abortion under the state constitutions right to privacy.

In the U.S., 14 states have banned most abortions. According to The New York Times, about half the states in the country are expected to try to enact bans or gestational limits on the procedure.

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Hello, and welcome back to Equity, a podcast about the business of startups, where we unpack the numbers and nuance behind the headlines.

This is our Wednesday show, where we usually focus on one person  but today, we're talking to two people!  think about their work and unpack the rest. This week, Alex spoke with Hans Yang, GM of Microsoft for Startups, and Tom Davis, senior director of Microsoft for Startups, about how the tech giant is working to integrate itself more deeply into the startup world, and all things AI.

Microsoft's startups-facing team made TechCrunch recently for its new Pegasus program, which provides a set of benefits to startups that are accepted. That work sits next to Microsoft's effort to provide capital to up and coming startups through its venture arm.

As traditional venture capital shrinks in a more conservative market and founders find themselves reducing costs and looking for ways to expand revenue, working with a tech giant like Microsoft could be enticing. Note startup-facing work is common at big tech companies: Google has a startups program, as does Amazon.

In short, if you are a major cloud player, getting into the good graces of the next technology breakout stories is just good business.

Finally, Microsoft is close with OpenAI, which puts its work on the cloud in a different context than a year ago.

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Correction: A previous version of this article incorrectly suggested that the reference human genome is heavily weighted toward people of White European ancestry. The reference genome lacks genetic diversity, but is not heavily weighted toward people of White European ancestry. The article has been corrected.

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The landmark deciphering of the human genome more than two decades ago allowed doctors to solve thousands of medicine's cruelest mysteries, including the reason 10-year-old Celia Steele has never walked or talked, and now needs tubes to deliver oxygen and food. Deep in the genetic blueprint of the Wichita girl, doctors discovered the cause: two mutations in PDE2A, one of the 20,000 genes in the body. Just four people in the world share her condition.

The answer mattered deeply, but it came with disappointment. Doctors have yet to find a treatment. As powerful and transformative as the sequencing of the human genome has been, the medical revolution it kick-started still falls short, often delivering explanations for illness but no solution.

But hope for Celia and millions of other people with hereditary diseases rose on Wednesday with the announcement of a second scientific landmark: a new, more detailed version of our genetic code that finally begins to account for human diversity - a factor of critical importance to medicine.

Until now, doctors have been comparing their patients to catalogues of publicly available genome sequences, collections overrepresented by people of European ancestry.

"There is so much frustration in medicine about how we are operating with such a lack of fundamental knowledge," said Eric Green, director of the National Human Genome Research Institute. "We will look back on how we practiced medicine, and we will be astonished at how barbaric it was."

The pangenome, unveiled in the journal Nature, is based on the full genetic blueprints of 47 people who were sequenced between 2008 and 2015 for another study, including some of African, Asian, Caribbean, American and European ancestries. Scientists hope to expand the new tool over the next two years to incorporate 350 genetic blueprints from around the world. By contrast, the first draft of the human genome, released in 2001, relied on one man in Buffalo for about 70 percent of the code.

While the human genome is like a single road, the pangenome resembles a subway map, converging in parts of the sequence that are common to most people and branching out in areas where we differ.

"We can see human variation as if through a new microscope. We'll now be able to make new associations to predict diseases and disease outcomes," said Evan Eichler, a professor of genome sciences at the University of Washington, and one of more than 120 scientists who worked on the five-year, $40 million pangenome project.

Eichler stressed that the pangenome ("pan" comes from the Greek word for "whole") still needs far greater representation from the Middle East, Africa and Oceania, which includes Australia, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea.

This broader version of humankind's genetic architecture builds on previous drafts of the genome. The most complete version yet, unveiled last year, uncovered the mysterious final 8 percent of our code, including millions of new genetic variants  622 of them linked to disease.

It is likely to be years before many Americans benefit directly from the pangenome. Even if scientists do not find a cure, Celia's mother, Teresa Cruz-Steele, dreams that the pangenome will help experts discover better ways to treat the girl's seizures: "I'm kind of hoping for that, so I can get back my happy child."

Among its early results, the project has aided groundbreaking research into the genetic underpinnings of autism, a disorder estimated to affect 5.4 million adults in the United States.

Eichler, who is one of the researchers on the autism project, said the pangenome helped scientists separate genetic variants that appear in the general population from those that are specific to autism. It also led to the discovery of 150 genes that had not previously been linked to the disorder.

The idea for the pangenome came from bacteria researchers, who realized that they needed multiple genomes to capture true diversity within a species. The human project, carried out by an international consortium of institutions in the United States and Europe, delved deeply into some of the most difficult regions of our genetic code, areas made of long repeating sequences that were devilishly hard to tease apart.

"You realize that there was a degree of genetic complexity that we were completely blind to," said Eimear Kenny, one of the pangenome researchers and director for the Institute for Genomic Health at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. "We just didn't have the microscope to see it."

Dramatic improvements in sequencing and computational technology fueled the pangenome research, in part by bringing down the cost of the process.

"There were announcements just this year that we will soon have a $100 human genome," Kenny said. "That's an extraordinary leap forward from the 3 billion or so dollars it cost to sequence the first human genome."

Even with its limitations, the basic ability to map a person's unique genetic blueprint has had a profound effect on medicine.

"Oh, it's night and day," said Tom Curran, executive director and chief scientific officer of the Children's Mercy Kansas City Research Institute.

Consider cystic fibrosis. Children with the disease often died because doctors lacked the precise molecular diagnosis required to match them to the right treatment, Curran said. The number of children saved by getting the right treatment, he said, meant "we had to invent adult clinics for cystic fibrosis. There is now a cohort of [cystic fibrosis] patients who would never have lived before."

Then there's cancer, which will kill an estimated 610,000 Americans this year.

"Cancer is fundamentally a disease of the genome," said Andrew Futreal, chairman of the department of genomic medicine at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. Measuring patients' genetic blueprints and comparing them with the altered versions found in their tumors allows doctors to see what has changed, and helps drug developers to target specific points where they can prevent change, or lessen its effects.

Beyond its impact on any single illness, the human genome marked "a tectonic shift in the way we think about health and diseases," said Stanley Crooke, the chairman and chief executive of n-Lorem Foundation, a Carlsbad, Calif.-based nonprofit that helps people with the rarest of mutations, those that cause diseases affecting fewer than 30 people worldwide. "It's teaching really important lessons about human life."

One such lesson is that while Celia Steele's disease is extraordinarily rare, her predicament is not. There are about 10,000 rare diseases, most of them hereditary; all told, they afflict 30 million Americans, or roughly 1 person in 10.

For many of the affected families, the pain and doubt of not knowing what caused an illness can feel overwhelming. Finding an answer - even one that comes without cure or treatment - often has great meaning.

Jean-Baptiste Le Pichon, professor of pediatrics in the Division of Neurology at Children's Mercy Kansas City, recalled explaining to a mother that a genetic mutation was to blame for her son's autism.

"She dissolved into tears because she finally had an answer and she had a relief," he said. "She knew it wasn't something she did. Her entire life - she told me this on the phone - she had wondered what she had done wrong while she was pregnant to cause this child to have autism."

For much of Celia's life, her family has struggled to understand why her twin bother, Corbin, born just one minute and one second after her, shared none of her symptoms.

Corbin hit all his developmental milestones on schedule: rolling over, crawling, sitting, standing, walking, talking.

"He was doing those things, and she wasn't," Celia's mother said.

Celia had strange jerking arm movements. She would tense up suddenly. Teresa and her husband, Cornell, used pillows to prop up Celia whenever she tried to sit; otherwise she fell backward. She didn't start crawling until she was 2.

At 5, Celia was still crawling and had learned the words, "Mama" and "what." Then her progress unraveled. About age 7, she began to lose the ability to crawl and say the occasional word. She had trouble breathing. She experienced seizures, sometimes more than 100 in a day. Her eyes would roll back. Her hands would jerk up at her sides as if in surrender.

In 2020, after the family returned from a Make-A-Wish trip to Walt Disney World in Florida, Celia's condition suddenly grew dire.

"We just couldn't keep her oxygen up," Teresa said. "Whatever we tried, we just couldn't do it."

Celia wound up in the pediatric intensive care unit at Children's Mercy Kansas City, where a machine had to breathe for her. It was not her first trip to the emergency room, nor her last. Celia's parents estimate there have been somewhere between 15 and 20.

Running on little sleep after nights spent listening for the warning beeps from Celia's ventilator and oximeter, Teresa would tell her four other children: "I go to battle for you guys, but I am in a war for Celia."

Over the years, doctors tested Celia, seeking a genetic explanation for her condition. Always the tests came back with no answer. Her mother felt defeated.

Celia was enrolled in the Genomic Answers for Kids program at Children's Mercy, which has analyzed the genetic blueprints of about 6,000 patients, boys and girls for whom all other tests had failed.

In September 2020, a genetic counselor phoned Teresa with the results from Celia's test. Her condition had a name: PDE2A-related disorder. The gene involved carried the instructions for making an enzyme linked to other neurological disorders. To cause harm, the mutation must come from both parents. Teresa and Cornell were carriers. Each had one copy of the mutation.

"I literally felt the blood just rush down my body," Teresa said, recalling the phone call with Celia's test results. "I had to sit down. I was sitting there with my hands on my face listening to her, shaking and shaking, crying and crying. It was like a sense of relief."

Although doctors don't fully understand how the mutations cause Celia's symptoms, they know the genetic changes destroy the function of an enzyme that helps cells throughout the body receive, process and transmit signals. Some of the signals come from the brain and direct movement in parts of the body, "so when those signals aren't transmitted correctly, the body doesn't move and function as it would typically," said Rose Gelineau-Morel, a pediatric neurologist at Children's Mercy who has treated Celia and specializes in movement disorders.

There is no clear prognosis for Celia, Teresa said. "We don't know for sure if it's fatal, if it'll get worse or stay the same. We are hopeful because there is an adult who has this condition, so we know at least maybe it's not fatal. But we cannot say 100 percent."

The much more detailed pangenome fuels hope for families like Celia's because there already have been cases in which better understanding of the human genome has led to viable treatments.

The National Institutes of Health's Undiagnosed Diseases Program has searched the genetic sequences of about 2,700 patients, diagnosing around 300 through the tests. Of those, roughly 100 have received treatment for a specific disease; about 250 have been able to get treatments that provide some relief from symptoms.

In March 2022, Melissa Evans received news about her son, Logan, whose genome was sequenced after years of illness climaxing in a cardiac arrest when he was 9.

"Melissa," the doctor said, "this rarely happens, but I know what Logan has, and there's a treatment."

Melissa and her husband, Jason, adopted Logan from foster care when he was 3. He was not talking at that point, struggled with walking and showed signs of autism and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. From an early age, he displayed behavioral problems.

"He got kicked out of every preschool he ever attended," said Melissa, who lives with her husband in Quinton, Va. "In second grade, he had nine suspensions. He'd throw furniture. I was getting a phone call every single day. 'Hey can you calm Logan down?'"

On the evening of Dec. 14, 2021, he began vomiting and had to be taken to the emergency room of a local hospital. His blood sugar level was at 7; it should have been around 120. Logan was then taken by helicopter to MedStar Georgetown University Hospital. There he flailed away at his intravenous and medication lines, as well as at the tubes in his chest that helped remove the fluid accumulating around his lungs. Hospital staff placed his arms and legs in restraints and administered the antipsychotic drug Haldol.

Shortly afterward, the Evans were told that their son had suffered a cardiac arrest, a rare side effect of the medication. When they entered the room a nun was already there. Jason remembers telling her, "Your being here terrifies us. It's a sign he is not going to make it."

Doctors were able to stabilize Logan, who was later transferred to Children's National Hospital. While there, his genome was sequenced.

A few months later, medical geneticist Seth Berger discovered a harmful mutation in the gene SLC6A8, which had impaired the body's ability to transport an important source of energy called creatine. Logan's condition, which is known to have affected about 300 people around the world, could be treated.

Since starting on supplements that boost his creatine levels, Logan has changed dramatically. He takes about 50 pills a day, but he is able to work with his parents on vocabulary assignments. He no longer lashes out at school, and for the first time in years he can ride the bus to school with the other children.

"It's groundbreaking, and it completely changed the course of his life," said Kyle Moser, his former assistant principal. "If we can do this for one child, we should continue the research."

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Defenders of Azovstal, who have just been released as a result of a prisoner exchange, on May 6, 2023

"This topic is particularly painful for me because there are a lot of people there whom I consider my brothers and close to me, he said in response to a question about Ukrainian prisoners-of-war taken after the fall of Mariupol.

Unfortunately, most of them are still in captivity, almost 700 of them who are now in captivity in different places.

Zhorin said he has only very vague information about who is where.

Read also: How female Ukrainian POWs are treated by Russians  eyewitness account

"We understand that some people are being held in the occupied areas of Donetsk Oblast, and some people are being held in Russia, he confirmed.

By the way, the conditions of detention in Russia are much worse, it's really hell there, people are abused a lot.

Even the military, he said, finds it difficult to listen to the stories of prisoners, and civilians "would be shocked, to put it mildly, by what is happening there."

Read also: Over 7,000 Ukrainian soldiers are MIA, two-thirds believed in captivity

"It is extremely difficult to keep track of where someone is, because Russia conceals this information  it is impossible to contact them, impossible to find them, he revealed.

Nevertheless, we are working on it. Unfortunately, today, when some exchanges are taking place, we must remember that most Azov people are still in captivity in extremely terrible conditions.

The Parliamentary Commissioner for Human Rights, Dmytro Lubinets, said on May 4 that 86% of Ukrainians captured by Russia had been tortured.

Zhorin claimed on May 8 that Azov commanders who defended Azovstal and were exchanged, on the condition that they remain in Turkey for the duration of the full-scale war, were actually in captivity and had contact with only one of their relatives.

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Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
XI'AN, May 17 (Xinhua) -- Ten years into Belt and Road cooperation, China and Central Asian countries have made historic achievements. With an upcoming milestone summit, they will strive for greater success and inject more impetus into global development.

China proposed the idea of building an "economic belt along the Silk Road" in Kazakhstan in 2013, which, combined with the proposal of the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, eventually became the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

Over the past decade, Central Asian countries have become pioneers in promoting the BRI and have built the region into an example of high-quality BRI development. From fully loaded trains to humming production lines and natural gas pipelines, vigorous cooperation has resulted in common development.

As the China-Central Asia Summit is scheduled for May 18 and 19 in northwest China's Xi'an, the ancient Silk Road's starting point, experts believe the win-win cooperation between the two sides will open a new chapter.

Marking the BRI's 10th anniversary, a freight train left Xi'an on April 26 to carry more than 260 new energy vehicles to Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan, in 12 days. Currently, 17 railway routes connect Xi'an with Central Asian countries and many other Asian and European destinations, with more than 1,100 train trips made in the first quarter of this year.

Roaring trains are the epitome of closer economic ties between China and Central Asian countries. In 2022, trade volume hit a historic high of 70.2 billion U.S. dollars, an over 100-fold increase since diplomatic ties were established about three decades ago.

Central Asian quality agricultural products, such as wheat, soybeans, fruits, dried fruits, beef and mutton, have been exported to China, bringing tangible benefits to ordinary people.

Getting enough water for four hectares of farmland used to be a big problem for Kyrgyz farmer Evgeny Yakovlev living in a village called Kara-Oi. Thanks to China's support in reconstructing Kyrgyzstan's irrigation system, a new reservoir was built in the village by a Chinese company and the water supply was increased on an area of over 1,000 hectares.

A Chinese-built wind farm in Zhanatas, Kazakhstan, not only offered Maksat Abilgaziev, a 33-year-old local resident, a new job with more than doubled income but brought the run-down town back to life with green investment and technology.

A number of major projects have facilitated industrial upgrades and livelihood improvements in Central Asia, including the China-Central Asia natural gas pipeline, the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan highway, the Pengsheng Industrial Park and the Qamchiq railway tunnel.

The success of such projects serves as a vivid demonstration of China's genuine support for the development of neighboring countries, said Ding Xiaoxing, director of the Institute of Eurasian Studies at China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations.

By the end of last year, China's direct investment stock in the five Central Asian countries reached nearly 15 billion U.S. dollars, covering various fields such as oil and gas exploration, processing and manufacturing, connectivity and digital technologies.

China will embrace the summit as an opportunity and work with the five Central Asian countries to push economic and trade cooperation to a new level, said Shu Jueting, spokesperson for the Ministry of Commerce. 
Glendale police announced the arrest of a mother and her boyfriend following the death of her 2-year-old child.

According to police, at about 10 a.m. on May 16, police responded to the area of the 6000 block of West Golden Lane for reports of a sick or injured child.

Police said the mother's boyfriend, 20-year-old Johnny Brazell II, made the call, stating that his 2-year-old stepson, Braxton Lopez, was not breathing and did not have a pulse. Brazell said that Braxton had been attacked by a dog earlier in the morning, resulting in a gash and bump on his head.

Glendale fire crews responded and provided lifesaving measures, but Braxton was later pronounced dead at a hospital.

According to court documents, the mother, 20-year-old Leilah Lopez, told hospital staff that Brazell and her, along with their other children, had been on a walk earlier in the day when they were approached by a pitbull who attacked Braxton.

Court documents state that no bite marks were observed on Braxton or any other injuries consistent with a dog attack.

Brazell told officers a similar story.

Court documents state that Brazell said the family had been on a walk earlier in the morning when a pitbull came up and knocked Braxton down, but did not bite him.

Brazell also told officers that after the attack, he had to take their infant son to a doctor's visit and while away, received a call from Lopez saying Braxton was not breathing.

Treating physicians as well as officers observed "numerous bruises of varying sizes and colors across the entirety of the child's body, to include swelling and bruising to his eyes, head and a significant skull fracture," according to the statement.

Ultimately, the injuries were determined to be consistent with child abuse, police said.

Both Brazell and Lopez were brought in for interviews, in which police said the couple shared inconsistent stories about the alleged dog attack.

According to court documents, Brazell provided detectives with a "detailed path of travel" for their early morning walk when Braxton was attacked, taking place in a different location than Lopez had stated. Brazell, however, was still unable to get his story straight whether Braxton had fallen back and hit his head or not, according to police.

Court documents state that Brazell told officers he had to carry Braxton home as on the way back, he had stopped, which Brazell attributed to a head injury.

Once home, Brazell prepared to take their other child to a doctor's appointment, where he received the call from Lopez stating Braxton's worsening condition.

With contradicting stories and locations, police opted to look at video footage of where Brazell had said the attack took place.

Court documents state that there was no indication that this incident had ever occurred.

Through further investigation, Brazell allowed detectives to view his call log over the time of the reported events.

Brazell's call log would show that he never received a call from Lopez, instead placing outgoing calls to her around the time he claimed to be at the doctor, court documents state.

When confronted, Brazell ultimately admitted to killing the child, police said.

"In the morning (May 16), Braxton was trying to take down a blanket that was covering a window and Brazell came into the room and punished him for doing so," Glendale police spokesperson Officer Gina Winn told reporters at a briefing on Wednesday.

According to the police statement, Brazell told officers he had hit the child multiple times with a leather belt while dangling him in the air by his leg. Additionally, Brazell said he had dropped him on his head onto the hardwood floor and swung the boy's body into objects inside the room, striking the child's head against some furniture.

"Brazell told Lopez what occurred and left the residence to bring another child to a medical appointment," Winn told reporters. "Braxton was then left in the care of his mother, who is there to protect him, and she did not. Instead, she noticed that he had shallow breathing and was struggling to get breaths and decided to give him a bath and then laid him down for a nap."

Police said that Brazell and Lopez failed to call 911 when the child sustained visible injuries and shallow breathing, waiting to call after he was no longer breathing as well as agreeing to lie to police, paramedics and the hospital about the incident.

"Following Brazell and Lopez's interviews, the two were placed into an interview room together. During this time, Brazell was overheard telling Lopez that he killed the victim. Brazell also said something to the effect of; 'The story didn't work,'" court documents state.

Winn told reporters on Wednesday that there were two other children in the home at the time, Lopez and Brazell's 2-week-old newborn, as well as Brazell's own 2-year-old child. Neither child had any reported injuries and has since been taken into custody by the Arizona Department of Child Safety.

Brazell and Lopez were later booked into jail and are facing charges of first-degree murder and child abuse.

No other information had been released.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Mother, boyfriend arrested in murder of 2-year-old child
How MTSU Tennessee Teach Back Initiative invests in the next wave of educators | Opinion

What do Ronald Reagan, Oprah Winfrey, Mark Zuckerberg and LeBron James have in common?

All have credited teachers with influencing their lives and laying the foundation for their personal, professional or political success. In fact, I would contend there are few, if any, in our society who do not credit a portion of their lifes achievements to a teacher.

There was a time when our society considered teachers to be our most important resource.

Serving as educator, mentor, role model and sometimes a de facto parent, the men and women who filled our classrooms influenced and guided generations of impressionable youth.

Hear more Tennessee Voices: Get the weekly opinion newsletter for insightful and thought provoking columns.

Creative new approach meets the needs of schools

Today, like the rest of the nation, Tennessee is facing a critical teacher shortage. In response to this acute need to attract the best students into the teaching profession, MTSUs College of Education leaders collaborated with Tennessees State Collaborative on Reforming Education (SCORE) to look for solutions.

Middle Tennessee State University President Sidney A. McPhee, left, shakes hands with David Mansouri, president and CEO of the State Collaborative on Reforming Education, or SCORE, after signing an agreement to the new Tennessee Teach Back Initiative  an effort to create a teacher pipeline to high-needs school districts  at a ceremony held Monday, May 8, at Homer Pittard Campus School in Murfreesboro, Tenn. Pictured behind them are MTSU alumnus and Murfreesboro City Schools Director Trey Duke, back left, and Neporcha Cone, incoming dean of the MTSU College of Education.

Recently, we celebrated the launch of the MTSU Tennessee Teach Back Initiative, a creative approach to address both the educational needs of students and the recruitment and retention needs of schools.

This innovative partnership represents not only an important investment focused on the critical shortage of teachers, but it also tackles the pressing need forteachers of color and those from other underrepresented groupsin our K-12 schools.

Through scholarships that cover remaining costs after all other scholarships and grants, mentoring opportunities, and guaranteed positions within their district, school partners help remove financial barriers that stand between teachers and their goals of making a difference in their communities.

A key benefit of this effort and critical to the success of Tennessee Teach Back will be the recruitment of future educators from our states underserved and underrepresented populations.

Prospective teachers are recruited from school districts in Tennessees under-resourced areas. After training at MTSUs College of Education, they return to teach in their local communities.

The future strength and vitality of these communities rest in large part on our ability to meet their needs in the classroom. This initiative will help provide teachers who can relate to local challenges and can better connect with the students and families with whom they will engage.

Sign up for Black Tennessee Voices newsletter:Read compelling columns by Black writers from across Tennessee.

MTSUs history informs this new program

More than 112 years ago, Middle Tennessee State University was founded as the states first normal school, created to educate students in the norm of curriculum and pedagogy.

Middle Tennessee Normal School, as we were known then, was the only public institution of higher education in the state of Tennessee specially designated for teacher training, and the states first major investment in teacher training.

Since then, we have remained true to our roots and committed to the responsibility of leadership to serve our schools and classrooms with highly trained professionals. This rich history and the belief that our children deserve to be nurtured and educated by the most dedicated, talented professionals laid the groundwork a century ago for the Tennessee Teach Back Initiative.

Sign up for Latino Tennessee Voices newsletter:Read compelling stories for and with the Latino community in Tennessee.

This commitment to educators is personal

In my family, these principles are more than anecdotal. My wife Elizabeth taught for more than 40 years. Rarely a month goes by that she doesnt hear from former students who call to share stories about their family, successful career, reflections on fond memories of experiences in her classroom, and thanks to her for making these things possible.

Sidney A Mcphee

For me, this commitment to the future of teaching is more than rhetoric  its personal! Education isnt just an issue for those with young children, it is an important issue for everyone in our society.

Our future leaders are serving in our classrooms today, and our future prosperity and well-being are in the hands of those who have committed themselves to meeting the needs of our youth.

We remain faithful to the charge we accepted, over a hundred years ago, to train teachers and assure a quality education for all students. With the Tennessee Teach Back Initiative, we are confident we will all succeed!

Sidney McPhee is president of Middle Tennessee State University.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: How MTSU Tennessee Teach Back Initiative invests in future educators
Multiple Fayette County students could face legal action in social media prank, district says

Multiple Fayette County students could face legal action for their roles in a social media prank that threatened violence at one of the districts schools, Superintendent Demetrus Liggins said Wednesday in a message to families.

On Monday evening, district leaders became aware of a social media post circulating among some students that alleged an act of violence at a Fayette school Wednesday, Liggins said.

We take all reports of potential threats against our students, staff and campuses very seriously and in collaboration with the Fayette County Public Schools Police Department, we immediately launched an investigation, tracking down the source of the original post and determining that this was a prank, Liggins said.

Students from two schools were involved in sharing the post, Liggins said. He did not say in the message how many students were involved.

District spokesperson Lisa Deffendall said,  The letter has all the information I can share.

Those students were immediately identified and appropriate disciplinary action was taken. We are also pursuing possible legal action, Liggins said.

The post appeared on students social media accounts across the district, Liggins said.

A similar post is popping up in other school communities, though it was not connected to any Fayette County campus, Liggins said.

Acting Winburn Middle School Principal B.J. Martin sent families a message Tuesday night that said school officials became aware of a social media post circulating among students Tuesday, claiming that someone was planning an act of violence at school Wednesday.

Martin said police determined there was not a credible threat against the school.

Martin said increased police presence was planned at Winburn Wednesday.

Richmond school threat

The Richmond Police Department said in a Facebook post that extra officers would be at Madison Middle School Wednesday as a result of a social media threat sent to a student.

A school threat was sent anonymously via Snapchat to a Madison Middle student Tuesday night, the post said.

Police are working to identify the sender, according to the post.
The Supreme Court of Georgia Tuesday upheld the murder convictions of two Columbia County men accused of fatally stabbing a one-armed man at Augusta State Medical Prison.

Michael Lorenzo Ward, 49, and Frederick Dewberry, 40, were convicted on Sept. 17, 2015 of malice murder and felony murder in connection to the stabbing death of Antonio Wiley, 30, on Aug. 28, 2011.

They were convicted of aggravated assault in connection to the stabbing of a second inmate on the same date.

Ward and Dewberry were each sentenced to service life in prison without the possibility of parole for the murder charges, plus 20 years for the assault.

Initial charges: Names of inmates charged in fatal Augusta State Medical Prison Stabbing stabbing released

Convictions: Conviction affirmed in prison murder

Ward appealed the court's decision, stating the evidence was not sufficient to support his convictions, according to court documents. The trail court denied his motion for a new trial and the Supreme Court of Georgia affirmed the decision.

In Dewberry's appeal, he stated the trial court should not have denied his motion for a directed verdict of acquittal, which is when a judge throws out a case due to lack of evidence, on the murder and assault charges, according to court documents.

He also noted the court allowed a "heavy police presence" in the courtroom violating his right to a fair trial, left a defense witness in visible restraints, and did not declare a mistrial after the prosecutor conferred with a witness, according to court documents.

As with Ward, the Supreme Court of Georgia found there was sufficient evidence to support Dewberry's convictions, according to court documents. They also found the police presence was adequate due to the nature of the trial  it was a trial for a murder inside of a prison involving rival gangs, where all three defendants were maximum security inmates.

FILE - The stabbings occurred at Augusta State Medical Prison in August 2011.

The murder at Augusta State Medical Prison in 2011

On Aug. 28, 2011, the first inmate was stabbed multiple times at about 7:15 a.m., but survived his injuries. Between 1 p.m. and 2 p.m. later that day, Wiley was stabbed at least 65 times in a yard outside of the prison dorms, according to court documents.

According to earlier reports in The Augusta Chronicle, a member of the Gangster Disciples at Hayes State Prison in Trion put out a hit on Wiley over a dispute about a cell phone battery.

Wiley had been at Hayes until his transfer to Augusta State Medical Prison just days before he was attacked, according to previous reports.

While a guard attempted to move Wiley to a gurney, the inmates, including Dewberry, started groping her, according to court documents. He died from blood loss.

UPDATE: Body from Augusta shootout dragged more than 50 feet by Augusta Fire vehicle

High school assault: Burke County school resource officer assaulted by high school student

Other inmates indicted in the case

Richard James, 19 at the time of the stabbings, pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter in January 2015 and was sentenced to 17 years in prison.

Chas Clifford Cannon, 24 at the time of the stabbings, and Miracle Nwakanma, 23 at the time of the stabbings, each pleaded guilty to aggravated assault in May 2014 and were sentenced to five years in prison followed by five years probation.

Dedrick Crews, 30 at the time of the stabbings, was convicted of aggravated assault in January 2014 and sentenced to 20 years in prison.

Murder charges against Jean B. Fortie, 33 at the time of the stabbings, and Norman P. Simpson, 26 at the time of the stabbings, were placed in inactive status for judicial economy in February 2016 because they are already serving life sentences.

This article originally appeared on Augusta Chronicle: Court upholds murder convictions for two Columbia County men
People queue for water and rice in the Rakhine state capital Sittwe while UN officials negotiate with the junta for access after deadly Cyclone Mocha hit Myanmar

Residents of Myanmar's cyclone-ravaged Rakhine state capital queued for rice and drinking water on Wednesday as the United Nations negotiated with the internationally isolated junta for access to hard-hit areas.

Cyclone Mocha tore through Myanmar and Bangladesh on Sunday, bringing lashing rain and winds of 195 kilometres per hour (120 mph) that collapsed buildings and turned streets into rivers.

The storm killed at least 81 people across Myanmar, according to statements given by local leaders and officials to AFP journalists and state media tallies.

Residents in the Rakhine capital Sittwe queued for small tanks of drinking water after the cyclone stopped production at purification plants that supply potable water in the city of some 150,000 inhabitants.

"We stored some water but after two days there is none left in our home," said Ko Htun, who was queueing under the noon sun for water being handed out by a civil society organisation.

"Rich people can afford to buy water but poor people cant," he told AFP.

Aye Hla, another Sittwe resident, queued for rice being given out by the World Food Programme at a monastery in the city.

"I haven't eaten for four days," the 47-year-old said.

"I don't have bowls, plates or a home and I don't even have clothes to change. I'm here to ask for rice as my family is starving."

Hundreds of bags of rice had been airlifted to Sittwe and a naval vessel carrying rice, communication equipment and other aid was expected to arrive late Wednesday, according to the Global New Light of Myanmar.

- 'Hold on' -

A "humanitarian catastrophe" was unfolding in Myanmar, the United Nations resident and humanitarian coordinator for the country said on Tuesday.

Negotiations with Myanmar's military junta for access to cyclone-affected areas were "ongoing", the UN's humanitarian affairs office has said.

An OCHA spokesperson did not respond to questions on the discussions or whether access had been granted for UN teams to visit cyclone-affected areas, including camps housing displaced Rohingya.

"Offers from the international community for providing aid have been accepted," state media said Tuesday.

"But, relief and rehabilitation tasks must be done through existing united strength," said the Global New Light of Myanmar.

After cyclone Nargis killed at least 138,000 people in Myanmar in 2008, the then-junta was accused of blocking emergency aid and initially refusing to grant access to humanitarian workers and supplies.

Rakhine state is home to around 600,000 Rohingya, who are regarded by many there as interlopers from Bangladesh and are denied citizenship and freedom of movement.

Camps housing displaced Rohingya around Sittwe were ravaged by the storm, with residents swept away and homes destroyed.

The leader of one camp outside Sittwe said on Wednesday they were still waiting for help from outside.

"No organisation nor the government aid arrived to us yet because the bridges on the way to our camp are broken," he told AFP.

The camp leader said authorities told them they were trying to reach the area and that they should boil any water they can get and drink that.

"We might be able to hold on for two days more," he said.

lpk-rma/pbt
New Delhi  The death toll from Cyclone Mocha's frontal assault on Myanmar and Bangladesh over the weekend had risen from six to at least 21 by Wednesday, with some unofficial reports suggesting the real toll could be over 200.

All the deaths have been reported in Myanmar's coastal Rakhine state, on the Bay of Bengal, which took the brunt of the strongest tropical cyclone so far this year. Mocha was as powerful as a category-5 hurricane.

A Rohingya woman sits by her destroyed house at Ohn Taw Chay refugee camp in Sittwe, Rakhine state, Myanmar, May 16, 2023, in the aftermath of Cyclone Mocha's landfall. / Credit: SAI AUNG MAIN/AFP/Getty

Some deaths were also reported, but not yet confirmed, in Myanmar's Sagaing and Magway regions.

The storm's high winds and heavy downpours destroyed hundreds of homes and shelters across Myanmar and toppled trees, power and communication lines, with most of the damage reported in Rakhine, an area home to an estimated 1.2 million Rohingya Muslims. The Muslim minority has been persecuted by successive Myanmar governments, which have refused to recognize the Rohingyas as citizens of Myanmar.

Varying death tolls, and Rohingyas in the crosshairs

For years, thousands have lived in makeshift shelters in Rakhine.

About 1 million more Rohingyas, who fled military persecution in Myanmar in 2017, live in challenging conditions in the world's largest refugee camp in neighboring Bangladesh. The sprawling refugee camp there, at Cox's Bazar, was also in the predicted path of Cyclone Mocha, but it was spared at the last moment by a change in the storm's track.

Not a single death has been reported in Cox's Bazar, which, like Myanmar, ordered tens of thousands of people in low-lying areas to evacuate ahead of the storm's hit, but dozens of tents and other shelters there were destroyed.

Myanmar's ruling military regime had confirmed the deaths of 21 people as of Wednesday. But unconfirmed reports put the death toll much higher. In Rakhine alone, at least 100 people have died and many more were still missing, the Reuters news agency reported, citing people in the region.

Myanmar's National Unity Government (NUG)  a group of lawmakers living in exile who oppose the junta that seized full control in a 2021 military coup  and representatives of ethnic minority groups have said that at least 200 people were killed by the storm in Myanmar.

Damage caused by Cyclone Mocha in Sittwe, in Myanmar's Rakhine state, is seen on May 17, 2023, several days after the storm made landfall in Myanmar. / Credit: SAI AUNG MAIN/AFP/Getty

"The number of confirmed deaths is 200 and more than 200 others are missing," Aung Kyaw Moe, NUG's Advisor at the Ministry of Human Rights, told CBS News.

CBS News could not verify the figure independently, and reliable information has been difficult to come by as the cyclone crippled Myanmar's communications infrastructure. As phone and internet lines are restored, the official death toll is likely to increase.

"Assessments of the extent of the damage in Myanmar are challenging, largely due to interrupted transport and telecommunication services however, early reports show that children were reportedly among the victims of the storm," the United Nations children's agency UNICEF said in a statement.

Victims cut off by alleged aid "blockade"

Several areas in Myanmar remained cut off Wednesday, several days after the cyclone made landfall, due to collapsed bridges, washed away roads, fallen trees and flooded streets. Emergency aid still had not reached the worst affected areas, and aid agencies warned that could result in more deaths.

The National Unity Government accused the ruling junta of blocking aid agencies from going into the Rakhine region.

"No aid agency is able to deliver aid because of the military blockade," the NUG's Moe told CBS News on Wednesday.

There have even been reports of the military attacking Rohingya Muslims in Rakhine as the storm approached, forcing thousands of people to flee their homes.

UNICEF warned that millions of vulnerable children and families were at risk in the aftermath of the cyclone, saying: "timely and urgent humanitarian access to the affected areas in both countries is critical."

"Some of the world's most vulnerable children and families are, yet again, at the sharp end of a crisis they didn't create. The areas hit hardest by the storm are home to communities already living through conflict, poverty, instability, and climate and environmental shocks," said UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell.

Climate change linked to more powerful storms

Scientists have linked the increasing frequency and power of cyclones in the Bay of Bengal to rising temperatures in the Indian ocean.

"Warmer waters provide more fuel for storms, and they also increase evaporation into the air. That additional water vapor also provides fuel for the storm as well as more moisture for rainfall," Dr. Jennifer Francis, a senior scientist at the Massachusetts-based Woodwell Climate organization, told CBS News. "As oceans continue to warm, we are seeing an increase in strong-category storms (Category 3-5) and more cases of rapid intensification, such as Cyclone Mocha."

"This kind of rapid intensification has become frequent recently both in the Arabian Sea as well as in the Bay of Bengal," Dr. Roxy Mathew Koll, a climate scientist at the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology and a lead author for the U.N.'s international climate change panel, told CBS News.

That means millions of people who live along the coasts of Myanmar, Bangladesh and India are more vulnerable than ever to more, and more powerful cyclones.

In 2020, at least 80 people were killed and dozens of homes destroyed as Cyclone Amphan tore through India and Bangladesh. In 2008, Cyclone Nargis hit the southern coastal regions of Myanmar, killing almost 140,000 people and affecting millions of people living along the Irrawaddy Delta.

"It's not too late to lessen the impacts of climate change for our children and theirs, but we must act boldly and quickly, where the 'we' is the developed world, who are responsible for creating the vast majority of the crises," Francis told CBS News.

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Used condoms sent to ex-pupils of Melbourne school

The victims are thought to have all attended the same private school

Australian police are investigating after at least 65 women received used condoms in the post.

The letters, which also contained handwritten messages, were sent to addresses in south-eastern and eastern Melbourne.

Police believe the victims are linked and part of a targeted attack.

All of the women who have come forward attended the city's Kilbreda College private girls' school in 1999.

Most of the victims received multiple letters, all with used condoms enclosed, police said.

Investigators were carrying out DNA and handwriting analysis to track down the perpetrator, said Detective Acting Senior Sergeant Grant Lewis.

The women's addresses were obtained from a yearbook they put together as pupils 24 years ago, he said.

Some letters were handwritten, some typed, but all contained "suggestive and threatening... sexualised " messages, he said.

"Our message to the offender would be 'you need to stop this' and 'we will find you'".

"We don't know what the connection to the school is. It might be an ex-student, an employee... it could be someone who found this yearbook in the rubbish and they're playing a game".

Many of the letters were sent to the women's old home addresses and were opened by their parents, who were traumatised and distressed by the ordeal.

One victim, Bree, told reporters of how her mother called to ask whether she should open an "odd letter" she had received. She asked that her full name be withheld.

"Her reaction was quite shocked and upset. She was really grossed out and her and dad were worried thinking someone was targeting me".

Bree said the similar complaints snowballed and she soon formed a Facebook Messenger group among fellow Kilbreda College alumna.

"It seemed to be every day or two days more and more girls would say 'I've got one'."

"It's beyond a joke now. We just want it to stop. One of the girls has received four letters and she's just over it."

"We've got no idea who it could be. No one can seem to find a connection. We can't think of anybody who has a grudge against us."

Police have urged anyone with information to come forward.

Kilbreda College, an independent Catholic school for girls, was founded by the Brigidine Sisters in 1904 and has some 900 pupils enrolled.

The college is assisting with the investigation, police said.

Principal Nicole Mangelsdorf told Melbourne's Herald Sun newspaper that the school had written to former pupils encouraging any other victims to come forward to the police.

"We have no reason to believe this matter is related to any recent data breach at the college", she said.
NC Gov. Cooper on 12-week abortion ban: I will never ever give up fighting

Starting July 1, abortion access will be limited in North Carolina, which has a major impact on the Southeast.

The states Republican-led legislature voted to override the governors veto, banning most abortions after 12 weeks of pregnancy. But the law will do much more than that.

PREVIOUS STORIES:

Less than 24 hours after the abortion bill became law, Channel 9s Genevieve Curtis got a chance to ask Gov. Roy Cooper about the next direction the state takes from here.

I will never ever give up fighting for womens health in North Carolina, Cooper said.

While visiting the North Wilkesboro racetrack for NASCAR All-Star weekend, which is getting national attention in the racing world, Cooper addressed the abortion law, which is also in the national spotlight.

The law bans most abortions after 12 weeks; at 20 weeks in cases of rape or incest, and 24 weeks if the fetus cant live outside the womb. Theres no restriction if the womans life is at risk.

Democrat-turned-Republican Rep. Tricia Cotham of Mecklenburg County cast one of the deciding votes in support of the bill. She previously had said she would protect womens rights to choose.

Cotham said in a statement that she believes the bill strikes a reasonable balance on the abortion issue and represents a middle ground. Groups against abortion, like NC Values, applaud the bill for providing $160 million to help pregnant mothers, including money for child care, foster care, and to reduce infant and maternal mortality. But they also suggest the bill doesnt go far enough on banning abortions.

Curtis asked the governor what next steps he plans to take.

There were a lot of arguments being made that the legislation was less restrictive than we had warned, so we are going to work very hard to make sure those arguments come true, Cooper said.

Cooper also addressed concerns that the law could stop businesses or events from coming to the state, as we saw with the bathroom bill.

I believe this is going to be a destination state for businesses and that will continue, Cooper said.

Until now, the Carolinas have been two of the few remaining southern states with relatively easy access to abortions. In South Carolina, the House is expected to take a final vote soon on a bill that bans most abortions when a fetal heartbeat is detected, which is usually around six weeks of pregnancy. It includes exceptions for fatal anomalies and for rape and incest through 12 weeks.

Right now, abortions are allowed through 22 weeks in the state.

The bill will still need to clear the South Carolina Senate again before reaching the governors desk.

Florida bans abortions at 15 weeks, but a recent law would tighten that to six weeks, pending a court ruling. That leaves Virginia as the last southern state for women seeking abortions. There, its restricted after the second trimester.

(PREVIOUS: North Carolina GOP overrides veto of 12-week abortion limit, allowing it to become law)
It didnt matter when Gov. Roy Cooper would visit Wilkes County  whether it was two decades ago when he was running for attorney general or just a year ago when he took laps with Richard Childress  he would always end up at the same place.

Most of the time, North Wilkesboro Speedway had grass growing in between pavement cracks. Its structures were crumbling. Its signs were rusted by time and abandonment. So were its grandstands.

(Residents of Wilkes County) would bring you to this famous speedway, and theyd tell you Earnhardt stories, Cooper said. And theyd tell you about how they spent family weekends here. And theyd tell you about how they started going when they were a kid.  And theyd look at it wistfully and say, We gotta do something to bring it back. We have to. 

On Wednesday, Cooper saw North Wilkesboro Speedway alive again.

The governor, wearing a white racing jacket with blue and white stripes, took a short tour of the newly renovated racetrack and spoke to reporters in Victory Lane. He told the story of the racetracks resurrection after falling into disrepair after the NASCAR Cup Series left it in 1996, and he celebrated what its reemergence does for the state of North Carolina just days before the NASCAR All-Star Race runs there on Sunday night.

When you think about North Carolina, you think about motorsports, Cooper said. And you think about the economics of it all, and clearly it puts money in the pockets of everyday North Carolinians. But its so much more than that. Its a sport thats ingrained in our state, and in our culture.

Richard Childress and N.C. Gov. Roy Cooper buckle up to take a few laps around the Historic North Wilkesboro Speedway in Wilkesboro, NC on Tuesday May 17, 2022. The speedway has not hosted a race for many years but was once common stop for early racing in the Carolinas before it evolved into NASCAR. Federal money given to North Carolina will go towards the revitalization of the speedway and will be a catalyst for other events in Wilkes county.

The state played a big role in North Wilkesboros resurrection.

In Nov. 2021, the North Carolina state budget earmarked approximately $18 million for service to the speedway, money that was made available via North Carolinas cut of the federal post-pandemic stimulus package passed in Feb. 2021. And then in April 2022, Speedway Motorsports announced that it would schedule grassroots racing events at North Wilkesboro Speedway so the company could learn more about what needs to be done for a grand reopening in the future.

One of those grassroots events was an emotional, magical late-August night in North Wilkesboro, where Dale Earnhardt Jr. raced in a lime green No. 3 Sun Drop late model stock car in front of a sold-out crowd. Earnhardt crossed the start-finish line third that night, but in every other way, hed won. The Hall of Famer, overcome with emotion, said postrace that it felt exactly like being here in 1990.

That event delivered the racetrack momentum and attention and prompted possibility. About a week after that late model stock car race, in downtown Raleigh not far from the Governors Mansion, Speedway Motorsports and NASCAR announced that North Wilkesboro Speedway would host the 2023 All-Star Race.

N.C. Gov. Roy Cooper talks to the media as part of the rehabilitation of the speedway through a Motorsports Relief Fund that North Carolina will allocate to various speedways. Press gathered at the Historic North Wilkesboro Speedway in Wilkesboro, NC on Tuesday May 17, 2022 to learn more about the investment in the Speedway.

All that happened months ago. North Wilkesboros return has been a reality since.

But still, on Wednesday, Cooper looked out from Victory Lane  which uniquely sits on the roof of the media center in the infield of the 0.625-mile racetrack  in wonder.

As they began renovations, people from the community actually came out here, he said. They started pulling up weeds and painted and felt a part of it all. And I told Marcus (Smith, CEO of Speedway Motorsports), How in the world are we going to get this renovation done before the All-Star Race? I said, Man, supply-chain issues. I dont know, I dont know. I didnt know that we could do it.

But the fact that it has been done, and we are here, we are racing, and the sound of these cars, the power of it  theres nothing like it.

NC Gov. @RoyCooperNC visited North Wilkesboro Speedway this afternoon to explain his part in the racetracks revitalization. He also met with NASCAR Cup Series star @keselowski, who showed him his car at his hauler. pic.twitter.com/QjMSv3pOoX  Alex Zietlow (@alexzietlow05) May 17, 2023

Racetrack officials have said throughout the renovation process that North Wilkesboro Speedways return to NASCAR isnt a one-time deal  that they were building for the future, and building the facility back up to be able to host events beyond racing.

They repeated the same on Wednesday.

One of the things that we wanted to do when we started with the plans for North Wilkesboro is to develop a facility that will be used year-round for lots of different events, Smith said. So we think theres an opportunity for music festivals and car shows and all sorts of great events that people will want to visit North Wilkesboro Speedway again and again, and being part of it.

Said Cooper: Its sort of like the U.S. Open in Pinehurst: We want to show that we can do this thing right, so that they come back with the All-Star Race here again.
Two skulls comparing the shape of nasal cavities.

Neanderthals were equipped with tall noses that could warm and moisten the cold and dry air around them in chilly climates  an adaptation that may be the result of natural selection.

These sizable schnozzes were likely helpful to Neanderthals; once anatomically modern humans (Homo sapiens) left Africa and joined Neanderthals up north in Eurasia, the two mated, with Neanderthals gifting Homo sapiens their bigger-nose genes, a new study finds.

Scientists made the discovery after analyzing DNA taken from more than 6,000 volunteers recruited from Brazil, Colombia, Chile, Mexico and Peru who had Latin American, mixed European, Native American or African heritage, and compared their genetic information to photographs of their faces, according to a study published May 8 in the journal Communications Biology .

After measuring the distances between different points on each face, such as the height of a person's nose, the researchers compared those data to see if those characteristics were associated with certain genetic markers, according to a statement .

The researchers successfully identified 33 new genome regions that corresponded with facial features. One in particular, ATF3, not only had Neanderthal origins but also defined nose height. They found that study participants with Native American ancestry "had genetic material in this gene that was inherited from the Neanderthals, contributing to increased nasal height," according to the statement.

Related: Human and Neanderthal brains have a surprising 'youthful' quality in common, new research finds

"It has long been speculated that the shape of our noses is determined by natural selection; as our noses can help us to regulate the temperature and humidity of the air we breathe in, different shaped noses may be better suited to different climates that our ancestors lived in," lead author Qing Li , a faculty member in the Department of Environmental Science and Engineering at Fudan University in Shanghai, said in the statement. "The gene we have identified here may have been inherited from Neanderthals to help humans adapt to colder climates as our ancestors moved out of Africa."

In 2021, the same team of researchers conducted a related study that identified a gene that influenced lip shape. That gene, called TBX15, was inherited from the Denisovans , modern-human relatives who lived in Asia and went extinct approximately 30,000 years ago. The Denisovans interbred with Homo sapiens, passing along this genetic attribute. By examining data from this previous study, the researchers discovered that, like Native Americans, East Asians were also more likely to have the ATF3 nose gene.

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Nobel Prize in medicine awarded to geneticist who sequenced Neanderthal genome

50,000-year-old DNA reveals the first-ever look at a Neanderthal family

So what was the benefit of having a taller nose thousands of years ago?
Li Ganjie, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and head of the CPC Central Committee's Organization Department, meets with Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance of Singapore Lawrence Wong in Beijing, capital of China, May 17, 2023. (Xinhua/Zhang Ling)

BEIJING, May 17 (Xinhua) -- Li Ganjie, a senior official of the Communist Party of China (CPC), met with Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance of Singapore Lawrence Wong in Beijing on Wednesday.

Noting that China and Singapore are friendly neighbors and important partners, Li, a member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and head of the CPC Central Committee's Organization Department, said that China stands ready to work with Singapore to follow the important consensus reached by the leaders of the two countries, promote cooperation in various fields, and actively develop an all-around, high-quality and forward-looking partnership to bring further benefit to the two peoples.

Wong said the Singapore-China relations enjoy a sound momentum of development with extensive and in-depth cooperation in various fields, and Singapore is willing to strengthen personnel training cooperation, promote mutual visits of senior officials and advance the development of bilateral relations. 

Li Ganjie, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and head of the CPC Central Committee's Organization Department, meets with Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance of Singapore Lawrence Wong in Beijing, capital of China, May 17, 2023. (Xinhua/Zhang Ling)
Prince Harry and Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex detailed a harrowing car chase by paparazzi in New York City. And did Russia destroy a United States Patriot missile defense system? Not so much, Ukraine says.

 Hello! Laura Davis here to tell you all about what's happening in Wednesday's news. Let's dive in!

But first: Tackling #Tattoogate.  Here's why the internet is fighting over a tattoo of a fox.

The Short List is a snappy USA TODAY news roundup. Subscribe to the newsletter here.

Harry, Meghan in harrowing chase by paparazzi, reps say

Stirring memories of the crash that killed Princess Diana, Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan, were pursued in their car by paparazzi after a charity event in New York City, an incident that the mayor and the couples office described Wednesday as potentially dangerous. The pair and Meghans mother, Doria Ragland, were followed for more than two hours by half a dozen vehicles on Tuesday. Calling the incident "near catastrophic," the team said in a statement that the chase to capture photos of the couple "resulted in multiple near collisions involving other drivers on the road, pedestrians and two NYPD officers." The couple was eventually able to switch to a taxi cab and be whisked away safely. Here's what we know.

 Watch: Witness describes Harry, Meghan paparazzi pursuit.

Last-minute debt ceiling deal could still spark recession

Even if the United States doesn't hit the ceiling, it doesn't mean we're totally recession-proof. Sure, a deal in the coming days would avert the economic and financial catastrophe envisioned by Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen. But an eleventh-hour agreement that narrowly averts default but frays nerves, sinks stocks and pushes up interest rates could still do some damage, as did similar standoffs in 2011 and 2013, and even push a frail economy into recession. Thats far more likely than a breach of the debt limit that triggers financial calamity. What you should know.

 President Joe Biden pushed back Wednesday at new work requirements for welfare programs that Republicans covet in a package to raise the debt ceiling, insisting that any changes he supports would be insignificant, yet not taking the issue off the table entirely. Here's the latest.

Does the debt ceiling battle matter to your 401(k)?

Just in case: How to prepare financially in case the US defaults.

What everyone's talking about

The Short List is free, but several stories we link to are subscriber-only. Consider supporting our journalism and become a USA TODAY digital subscriber today.

Suspect indicted in stabbing deaths of 4 University of Idaho students

A Ph.D. criminology student accused of fatally stabbing four University of Idaho students in November has been indicted by a grand jury and will appear for arraignment on Monday to enter a plea. Bryan Kohberger, 28, has already been charged directly by prosecutors, but a grand jury indictment allows the case to be transferred directly to a higher-level court in Moscow, Idaho. It also allows prosecutors to keep more of their evidence secret until trial. Authorities say DNA evidence left at the scene ties Kohberger to the deaths of Ethan Chapin, 20, Madison Mogen, 21, Kaylee Goncalves, 21, and Xana Kernodle, 20, whose bodies were found by another roommate on Nov. 13. Here's what's next.

A flyer seeking information about the killings of four University of Idaho students who were found dead on Nov. 13, 2022, is displayed on a table along with buttons and bracelets on Nov. 30, 2022, during a vigil in memory of the victims in Moscow, Idaho.

Ukraine denies Russian claim Patriot system destroyed

Calling it Russian propaganda, Ukraine dismissed claims Wednesday that a U.S.-built Patriot missile defense system had been destroyed by Russian missiles during a barrage effectively fended off near Kyiv. Moscow claimed it used a hypersonic Kinzhal missile to destroy the system during an overnight strike earlier this week. U.S. officials later said the system probably was damaged but not destroyed. "Do not worry about the fate of the Patriot," Ukrainian air force spokesperson Yuriy Ihnat said. "Everything that (the Russians) say there, let it remain in their propaganda archive." Here's the latest.

Fate of Black Sea grain deal between Ukraine and Russia hangs in balance.

Relatives and friends of Ukrainian serviceman Volodymyr Nestor, killed in combat with Russian troops, mourn during his funeral at a cemetery in Lviv on Tuesday.

A break from the news

Laura L. Davis is an Audience Editor at USA TODAY. Send her an email at laura@usatoday.com or follow along with her adventures  and misadventures  on Twitter. Support quality journalism like this? Subscribe to USA TODAY here.

This is a compilation of stories from across the USA TODAY Network. Want this news roundup in your inbox every night? Subscribe to the newsletter here.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Prince Harry, Meghan, debt ceiling, Bryan Kohberger: Wednesday's news
Neo-Nazis have arrived. Is it time to ban free speech on SLO County overpass? | Opinion

There they were, back again last weekend, a small crew of masked bigots who use Templetons Vineyard Drive overpass on Highway 101 as a stage to proselytize for white pride.

This time, there were four men instead of two, and their hateful messaging was even uglier. The Embrace White Pride banner first displayed on April 23 had some additions  three Nordic runes described as hate symbols by the Anti-Defamation League.

Two of the men wore T-shirts emblazoned with The White Race in large lettering with Save European Identity in smaller print underneath, next to what looked like The North Face corporate logo. (Does The North Face know their brand has been co-opted by racists?)

One member of the group even gave the Nazi sieg heil salute to passing motorists, according to one of the observers who showed up on the bridge to counteract the message of hate.

The Embrace With Pride banner includes Nordic runes that have been identified as hate symbols by the Anti-Defamation League.

So what now?

How do we let these racists know they are not welcome in our community?

A well-attended Rally Against Hate held on the Templeton overpass on May 10 obviously didnt faze them. Neither did the condemnations posted online and in the media.

Will calling them out, once again, only serve to give the attention they crave  and provide more fodder for them to post on social media?

Or would ignoring them from here on out give the impression that were giving up and moving on?

Board of Supervisors reacts

At Tuesdays Board of Supervisors meeting, Board Chairman John Peschong  who attended the May 10 counter-protest  said hes been working with Caltrans on a solution. He didnt elaborate because the item was not listed on the agenda, and a prolonged discussion risked violating the Brown Act, Californias open meeting law.

During the public comment portion of the meeting, however, several speakers pleaded with the board to do something to prevent the overpass from being used as a soapbox for hate.

I cried when I saw that sign, said North County resident Yvonne Baughman, in reference to the white pride banner. I cried for all the people and all the children this was really going to affect.

Her husband, Tom Baughman, suggested enforcing a no loitering policy on the overpass  which would essentially prohibit all gatherings there, including the MAGA displays that regularly take place there.

Yet banning displays on one overpass in Templeton  if that were legally possible  would most likely drive the haters to another overpass.

Then what?

Ban them from all overpasses in the county ... or the state?

What the law says

While it is illegal in California to affix signs to an overpass, it is not a violation to hold signs, flags or banners, as the white supremacists were doing.

As terrible as the message is, the Constitution does allow them to stand there, Supervisor Peschong said during a break in the meeting.

Since Caltrans  not the county  controls the bridge, any change in policy would have to originate with the state.

And yes, it may have to apply to all overpasses in California  not just to the ones where demonstrators congregate.

Thats a major undertaking, but Peschong said he isnt giving up. If state legislation is required, hell take that up with local lawmakers.

These vile messages really do hurt people, he said. You dont want people feeling that they (arent) safe in their own community.

Demonstrators walk to the Vineyard Drive Highway 101 overpass in Templeton for a Rally Against Hate.

The safety factor

Could government argue that a ban on loitering on this particular overpass is needed to protect public safety?

It could try.

Theres no question that motorists take note of whats happening and many of them respond in a variety of ways  honking, yelling, giving protesters the finger.

Yet theres no hard evidence of a threat to public safety. Political demonstrations on the overpass have never been reported as a contributing factor to a crash, according to CHP Public Information Officer Patrick Seebart.

There is a potential for violent interactions, however. Indeed, progressive activists were pepper-sprayed in September during a pro-democracy rally on the bridge, resulting in the arrest of an Arroyo Grande man.

That points to a need for monitoring by the Sheriffs Office, but not necessarily to a blanket ban on free speech.

Outing the offenders

So, again, how should we react?

There have been calls to out these masked cowards so they can be held accountable for fouling our county with their bile.

That could be one powerful deterrent, as cockroaches tend to scurry when you shine a light on them. Men like these deserve no safe harbor in decent society.

Another approach could be to put up a stand-against-hate billboard near the overpass as a show of support for those targeted by their hate campaign.

Meanwhile, the group that organized the Rally Against Hate is planning future events, and the Democratic Party is putting together a list of people willing to converge on the Templeton overpass to counter-protest whenever white supremacists show up.

We know this is likely not ending anytime soon, and we plan to continue countering their efforts, the group said. If youd like to be part of an email or text alert when these individuals are on the bridge, please let us know.

Thats a giant step, but heres another idea: Maybe the local Republican Party  which has been noticeably silent about the sudden appearance of neo-Nazis  could join in driving these Ku Klux Klan 2.0 wannabes from our midst. Same goes for the independents and the apolitical.

Because this isnt about politics.

This is about standing up for our community and telling racist haters that while they may have the right to wave their Nazi banners and salute like Brownshirts to passing motorists, they have no home here.

Their brand of hate has no place in San Luis Obispo County, and no place in California or our nation, either, because its downright un-American.

If we cant prevent them from putting their small-minded ignorance on public display, lets drown it in rainbow-colored messages of inclusivity and love.

We dont have to silence them to stop their hate.
Neo-Nazis have arrived. Is it time to ban free speech on this California overpass? | Opinion

There they were, back again last weekend, a small crew of masked bigots who use a Highway 101 overpass in the small San Luis Obispo County town of Templeton as a stage to proselytize for white pride.

This time, there were four men instead of two, and their hateful messaging was even uglier. The Embrace White Pride banner first displayed on April 23 had some additions  three Nordic runes described as hate symbols by the Anti-Defamation League.

Two of the men wore T-shirts emblazoned with The White Race in large lettering with Save European Identity in smaller print underneath, next to what looked like The North Face corporate logo. (Does The North Face know their brand has been co-opted by racists?)

One member of the group even gave the Nazi sieg heil salute to passing motorists, according to one of the observers who showed up on the bridge to counteract the message of hate.

Several men with masks hold up an Embrace white pride flag on the Vineyard Drive Highway 101 overpass on Saturday, May 13, 2023.

So what now?

How do we let these racists know they are not welcome?

A well-attended Rally Against Hate held on the Templeton overpass on May 10 obviously didnt faze them. Neither did the condemnations posted online and in the media.

Will calling them out, once again, only serve to give the attention they crave  and provide more fodder for them to post on social media?

Or would ignoring them from here on out give the impression that were giving up and moving on?

Board of Supervisors reacts

At Tuesdays meeting of the San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors, Board Chairman John Peschong  who attended the May 10 counter-protest  said hes been working with Caltrans on a solution. He didnt elaborate because the item was not listed on the agenda, and a prolonged discussion risked violating the Brown Act, Californias open meeting law.

During the public comment portion of the meeting, however, several speakers pleaded with the board to do something to prevent the overpass from being used as a soapbox for hate.

I cried when I saw that sign, said North County resident Yvonne Baughman, in reference to the white pride banner. I cried for all the people and all the children this was really going to affect.

Her husband, Tom Baughman, suggested enforcing a no loitering policy on the overpass  which would essentially prohibit all gatherings there, including the MAGA displays that regularly take place there.

Yet banning displays on one overpass in Templeton  if that were legally possible  would most likely drive the haters to another overpass.

Then what?

Ban them from all overpasses in the county ... or the state?

What the law says

While it is illegal in California to affix signs to an overpass, it is not a violation to hold signs, flags or banners, as the white supremacists were doing.

As terrible as the message is, the Constitution does allow them to stand there, Supervisor Peschong said during a break in the meeting.

Since Caltrans  not the county  controls the bridge, any change in policy would have to originate with the state.

And yes, it may have to apply to all overpasses in California  not just to the ones where demonstrators congregate.

Thats a major undertaking, but Peschong said he isnt giving up. If state legislation is required, hell take that up with local lawmakers.

These vile messages really do hurt people, he said. You dont want people feeling that they (arent) safe in their own community.

Demonstrators walk to the Vineyard Drive Highway 101 overpass in Templeton for a rally on May 10, 2023, in response to a social media post showing two people holding an Embrace white pride banner there last week.

The safety factor

Could government argue that a ban on loitering on this particular overpass is needed to protect public safety?

It could try.

Theres no question that motorists take note of whats happening and many of them respond in a variety of ways  honking, yelling, giving protesters the finger.

Yet theres no hard evidence of a threat to public safety. Political demonstrations on the overpass have never been reported as a contributing factor to a crash, according to CHP Public Information Officer Patrick Seebart.

There is a potential for violent interactions, however. Indeed, progressive activists were pepper-sprayed in September during a pro-democracy rally on the bridge, resulting in the arrest of an Arroyo Grande man.

That points to a need for monitoring by the Sheriffs Office, but not necessarily to a blanket ban on free speech.

Outing the offenders

So, again, how should we react?

There have been calls to out these masked cowards so they can be held accountable for fouling our county with their bile.

That could be one powerful deterrent, as cockroaches tend to scurry when you shine a light on them. Men like these deserve no safe harbor in decent society.

Another approach could be to put up a stand-against-hate billboard near the overpass as a show of support for those targeted by their hate campaign.

Meanwhile, the group that organized the Rally Against Hate is planning future events, and the Democratic Party is putting together a list of people willing to converge on the Templeton overpass to counter-protest whenever white supremacists show up.

We know this is likely not ending anytime soon, and we plan to continue countering their efforts, the group said. If youd like to be part of an email or text alert when these individuals are on the bridge, please let us know.

Thats a giant step, but heres another idea: Maybe the local Republican Party  which has been noticeably silent about the sudden appearance of neo-Nazis  could join in driving these Ku Klux Klan 2.0 wannabes from our midst. Same goes for the independents and the apolitical.

Because this isnt about politics.

This is about standing up for our community and telling racist haters that while they may have the right to wave their Nazi banners and salute like Brownshirts to passing motorists, they have no home here.

Their brand of hate has no place in San Luis Obispo County, and no place in California or our nation, either, because its downright un-American.

If we cant prevent them from putting their small-minded ignorance on public display, lets drown it in rainbow-colored messages of inclusivity and love.

We dont have to silence them to stop their hate.
Graphic showing the main summit route on Mount Everest, the South Col.

Nepali climber Kami Rita Sherpa reached the top of Mount Everest for the 27th time on Wednesday, reclaiming the record for the most summits of the world's highest mountain.

"He successfully reached the summit this morning guiding a Vietnamese climber," Mingma Sherpa of Seven Summit Treks, his expedition organiser, told AFP.

Nepal is home to eight of the world's 10 highest peaks, including the 8,849-metre (29,032-foot) Everest, and welcomes hundreds of adventurers each spring, when temperatures are warm and winds are typically calm.

Earlier Wednesday, British guide Kenton Cool reached the world's highest point for the 17th time, extending his own record for the most summits by a non-Nepali.

Meanwhile, a 46-year-old Moldovan climber died on the mountain the same day -- the fifth fatality of the season.

Authorities have issued 478 Everest permits to foreign climbers this year, the $11,000 fee part of total costs for a summit ranging from $45,000 to $200,000.

Since most will need a guide, more than 900 people -- a record -- will try to summit this season, which runs until early June.

The 53-year-old Kami Rita Sherpa had held the overall title since 2018, when he ascended Everest for the 22nd time, passing the previous mark he shared with two other Sherpa climbers, both of whom have since retired.

But on Sunday another climber, Pasang Dawa Sherpa, 46, tied the record by reaching the top for the 26th time.

A guide for more than two decades, Kami Rita Sherpa first summited in 1994 when working for a commercial expedition.

Since then, he has climbed Everest almost every year, several times leading the first rope-fixing team to open the route to the top.

"These records were made not with an intention to make them but during my work as a guide," Sherpa told AFP last month as he headed to base camp.

- 'Everest man' -

Dubbed "the Everest man", Sherpa was born in 1970 in Thame, a village in the Himalayas renowned as a breeding ground for successful mountaineers.

Growing up, Sherpa watched his father and then his brother don climbing gear to join expeditions as mountain guides, and was soon following in their footsteps.

In 2019, he reached the summit twice in the span of six days.

Sherpa's client Wednesday was reportedly Chinh Chu, a Vietnamese billionaire who made his fortune in finance, while Cool guided Richard Walker, executive chairman of British supermarket chain Iceland Foods, to the top.

Nepali guides, usually ethnic Sherpas from the valleys around Everest, are considered the backbone of the climbing industry and bear huge risks to carry equipment and food, fix ropes and repair ladders.

Cool, 49, first climbed Everest in 2004, and his 16th ascent last year gave him the sole record for the most summits by a non-Nepali climber, but he told AFP then that he was "surprised" by the attention.

"In reality, it's not that amazing," he said, pointing out that many Sherpa guides had stood on the peak more often than him.

"People go 'it's a world record', it's not a world record," he said. "It's just that I happen to hold the non-Sherpa record, for whatever that is worth, which in my mind, (is) not very much."

The Moldovan climber died at Camp 4, said Expedition Himalaya, which arranged his permit.

"He felt unwell at South Col and despite many attempts to provide him aid he passed away," the company said.

Three Nepali climbers died on the mountain last month when a block of glacial ice fell and swept them into a deep crevasse as they were crossing the treacherous Khumbu icefall as part of a supply mission.

The season's toll rose to four when a 69-year-old US mountaineer died this month during his acclimatisation rotation at around 6,400 metres.

pm/slb/smw
Netflix And Microsoft Photo Illustrations

Multiple Netflix logos are displayed on screens in this photo taken in Krakow, Poland on July 14, 2022. Credit - Jakub PorzyckiNurPhoto/Getty Images

A missing girl was found in Asheville, North Carolina over the weekend after she was recognized from a Netflix true crime show.

On Saturday, Kayla Unbehaun, 15, was seen at a shop in Asheville by someone who recognized her from an episode of Netflixs Unsolved Mysteries, the Asheville Police Department told CNN. That person notified a store employee, who then called the police.

Kayla Unbehaun was abducted by her mother, Heather Unbehaun from South Elgin, Illinois on July 5, 2017, when she was 9 years old, according to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. The two were meant to meet up with her father, Ryan Iskerka, for a planned custody exchange, but Unbehaun never arrived.

Photos of Kayla and her mother were shown in a 2022 episode of Unsolved Mysteries, which focuses on unsolved true crime cases, disappearances, and paranormal encounters. While Kaylas story was not the main focus of the episode, she was featured as part of a list of victims of parental abduction included at the end of the episode.

UPDATE: Kayla Unbehaun, who was abducted in 2017 by her non-custodial mother Heather, has been found safe. A store owner in North Carolina recognized Kayla, now 15, from the roll call in Volume 3, Episode 9 "Abducted by a Parent" on @Netflix. Heather was arrested over the pic.twitter.com/7QswAjUvLU  Unsolved Mysteries (@Unsolved) May 16, 2023

Media is so important when it comes to the recovery of missing children, Callahan Walsh, an advocate at the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children said in an interview with ABC 7 Chicago. Even in these long-term cases, the more we tell the stories of these missing children and put their images out in the public, the more likely they are going to be recovered.

Unbehaun was arrested Saturday in Asheville and charged with child abduction, a felony, before being released on bond, according to USA Today.

Im overjoyed that Kayla is home safe, Iskerka said in a statement issued by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. We ask for privacy as we get to know each other again and navigate this new beginning.
F-16

According to the president, he had reached an agreement on the matter with the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Rishi Sunak.

Yesterday, this was also supported by the President of France, Emmanuel Macron, and today it was endorsed by the Prime Minister of the Netherlands, Mark Rutte, Zelenskyy declared.

A good start for the coalition! Thank you all!

Earlier, Yuriy Sak, an advisor to the Minister of Defense, stated that Kyiv aims to receive 40 to 50 F-16 fighters from allies and establish three to four squadrons to safeguard the skies against Russian attacks.

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'You can never get justice': Corning man who confessed to murdering Keli Collins sentenced

A man who admitted to strangling a woman in her Corning apartment complex in August last year will serve the maximum sentence in state prison.

Steuben County Judge Philip Roche on Monday sentenced Brett R. Heffner, 28, of Corning, to 25 years to life after he pleaded guilty in March to second-degree murder in connection with the death of 26-year-old Keli Collins.

Heffner admitted that on Aug. 5, 2022, he intentionally caused the death of Collins, a mother of two, at her Walter Smith Terrace apartment in Corning.

Moments after the incident, Heffner was seen driving from the scene in Collins' car, according to Steuben County District Attorney Brooks Baker. Her body was discovered by other residents of the apartment complex who were concerned for her welfare.

Corning murder victim Keli Collins

About an hour later, Heffner was stopped in the victims car by the Hornell Police Department in the City of Hornell, Baker said.

Heffner confessed to the murder while being interviewed by New York State Police investigator Timothy Stewart and Corning police Lt. Carter Payne.

Autopsy and laboratory results confirmed Collins had been strangled and sexually assaulted, officials said.

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There was no known close relationship between Heffner and the victim, Baker said. The investigation indicated Heffner wanted a relationship with Collins, but she was not receptive, he said.

Heffner was originally charged with first-degree murder, second-degree murder, first-degree rape, third-degree possession of a weapon, second-degree burglary, and several other charges.

Baker said he had a long conversation with the victim's parents, and they were both on board with the plea agreement.

As part of his plea, Heffner also waived the right to appeal his conviction, Baker said.

The sentencing will hopefully provide at least some sense of justice and closure for Collins' family, he added.

"You can never get justice," Baker said. "Under the circumstances the plea saved a lot of additional trauma for the family. He will do at least 25 years, and hopefully a lot more, given his lack of remorse for the victim."

Heffner has been incarcerated at the Steuben County jail since his arrest. Roche remanded him to the jail pending his transfer to the custody of the state Department of Corrections and Community Supervision.

Follow Jeff Murray on Twitter @SGJeffMurray. To get unlimited access to the latest news, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.

This article originally appeared on The Leader: Corning man sentenced in strangling death of 26-year-old Keli Collins
SACRAMENTO, Calif.  Gov. Gavin Newsom is ramping up his pressure campaign against Republicans as a slow-moving natural disaster hits a conservative-leaning region of California. And the Democrat is using a perennial Republican calling card  water funding  to drive home his message.

Newsom, who has grown increasingly frustrated over the lack of federal action, is casting Republicans as unwilling to fund critical flood protection in the Central Valley, where record snowmelt has already submerged farms and will continue to threaten communities into the summer, while California steps up to front the money.

Now, hes singling out House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and Rep. David Valadao, who represent the region, in a letter shared with POLITICO that marks an unusual escalation for a governor more used to calling out his foes in speeches and tweets than issuing stern, behind-the-scenes appeals for their cooperation.

At the heart of the squabble is a levee protecting the city of Corcoran and a state prison complex from the slowly-rising Tulare Lake, which had been a dry lakebed for decades until this years record snowmelt started flowing down the mountains. Newsom agreed to front $17 million to increase the height of the levee after pressure from local leaders, who also asked federal representatives for help.

While they called for immediate action, House Republicans refused to act on their request, pushing instead for more cuts to local infrastructure projects, and driving the country closer to the brink of default, as you play politics with the American economy, Newsom wrote to McCarthy and Valadao in the letter dated May 11, which references the partisan standoff between congressional Republicans and the White House over the debt limit.



Valadao spokesperson Faith Mabry pushed back, calling the letter "nothing more than political posturing from the governor on an issue that is completely nonpartisan."

"Rep. Valadao and our team have been in close communication with the governors office and local leaders in the Central Valley since the storms began  for Newsom to play politics on flood response is shameful and incredibly disappointing," Mabry added.

Since the flooding started, Valadao and other California members of Congress have said they are working on getting additional federal support. Federal disaster agencies may be able to reimburse some or all of the $17 million because of President Joe Bidens emergency declaration, Newsom officials said last week, but the process could take months or years.

A representative for McCarthy did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Along with Newsoms direct appeals to get the lawmakers to work on providing federal funding for Corcoran, theres an element of political jiu-jitsu: a Democratic governor most closely associated with liberal parts of the state calling out the pair of conservatives from rural California for not adequately focusing on the needs of people in their own backyard.

Specifically, Newsoms request also turns on its head years of Republican agitation in California and Washington for more water-infrastructure funding, a point the GOP has repeatedly used to paint Democrats as out of step with the region.

The federal government funded repairs to the levee in 1969 and 1983, and Newsom in recent public remarks has said he finds it absolutely extraordinary, but not surprising, that you have representatives in the Central Valley that opposed federal funding for infrastructure. The levee continues to cause problems because the ground has sunk as farmers pump groundwater for their crops.

The governor sought to draw a wider contrast between the state of California and the federal government, which are both dealing with budget troubles. Newsom wants to spend an additional $493 million for flood response despite the state's projected $31.5 billion budget deficit. McCarthy led House Republicans last month in passing a proposal to cut federal spending by $4.8 trillion  some of which would likely target environmental spending  and raise the debt ceiling by $1.5 billion. Biden has pushed back on those sweeping cuts.

Newsom has also noted that part of the budget woes facing both the state and federal government come from a delay in the tax deadline granted to disaster victims including millions of Californians hit by winter storms and flooding.
Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley has called on New York Gov. Kathy Hochul to pardon the Marine veteran who was seen in a video putting Jordan Neely in a fatal chokehold on a New York City subway this month.

Neely, a homeless subway busker who performed dance routines in costume as Michael Jackson, was pronounced dead after Daniel Penny put him in a chokehold for about 15 minutes after a verbal dispute escalated into an altercation, according to police. The video showed two other subway riders appearing to help restrain Neely.

In an interview Tuesday night on Fox News, Haley urged Hochul, a Democrat, to pardon Penny: No question about it. She needs to pardon him right away. Its the right thing to do. She argued that its in Pennys blood to defend and protect as someone who served in the military.

He saw danger, Haley said. He was trying to protect himself and the other people on that subway, and the idea that Bragg would go and indict him this way without an investigation without any sort of grand jury really what I think needs to happen.

Haley also accused Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg of letting street crime happen all over New York City.

Criminals will continue to rule the streets of New York, because they will know that theres no accountability for anyone who tries to stop them, she said. And if she pardons him, that sets a right on a lot of things  itll put criminals on notice. And itll let people like Penny who really were very brave in that instance, it will let them know that weve got their back.

Penny was arraigned on a second-degree manslaughter charge that Neelys family suggested was too lenient.

Attorneys for Neelys family said he suffered from mental illness after his mother was murdered in 2007.

Juan Alberto Vazquez, a witness who partly captured the incident in a video recorded on his cellphone, told NBC New York that Neely got on the subway car and began saying that he was hungry and thirsty and that he didnt care about anything, he didnt care about going to jail, he didnt care that he gets a big life sentence. Neely also said that it doesnt even matter if I died, according to Vazquez.

Neelys death has sparked a national debate, with people denouncing vigilantism and some politicians demanding that officials do more to address homelessness, mental health and violence on subways.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., said Bragg should have charged Penny immediately. She also criticized New York Mayor Eric Adams for not condemning the killing in a statement.

Ocasio-Cortez called Adams statement a new low. Not being able to clearly condemn a public murder because the victim was of a social status some would deem too low to care about, she tweeted.

Demonstrators protesting Neely's death gathered on crowded subway platforms across New York City and marched down streets in the days after the incident. Advocacy groups and Neely's supporters have demanded justice for his killing, better social services for people with mental health issues and reform to local policies that, they say, further marginalize unhoused communities in the city.

Meanwhile, right-wing political figures and groups have compared Penny to a good Samaritan who rescued the public from danger.

Lets show this Marine  Americas got his back, Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis tweeted Friday.

Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., similarly called Penny a Subway Superman.

DeSantis and Gaetz promoted a campaign to raise money for Pennys legal defense that was set up on GiveSendGo, the Christian crowdsourcing platform that has also been used to raise money for some people arrested in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., tweeted that Penny is a hero and that Neely was a violent criminal who should have been behind bars. Fox News host Sean Hannity also depicted Penny as a brave veteran who subdued Neely.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
Nikki Haley, a former South Carolina governor and 2024 Republican presidential candidate, has called for the release and pardon of a man accused of killing a homeless man on a subway train in New York.

In an interview with Fox News Tuesday, Haley urged New York Gov. Kathy Hochul to pardon Daniel Penny, who is white, for the death of Jordan Neely, who is Black. Penny was charged with second-degree manslaughter after he is alleged to have strangled Neely to death on a train earlier this month after Neely reportedly shouted at passengers. Penny was arrested days following the incident and has since made bond.

Here you have a former military guy where its in their blood to defend and protect, Haley said of Penny, a 24-year-old Marine veteran. He saw danger. He was trying to protect himself and the other people on that subway.

Witnesses told police that Neely had been shouting at passengers on the train but had not physically attacked anyone, according the New York Times.

The struggle between Penny and Neely was captured in a four-minute video showing Penny choking Neely and holding on for an additional 50 seconds after Neely stopped struggling. Penny was initially interviewed by police following the altercation but was released without charges.

The video sparked protests, spurring the Manhattan district attorney to begin investigating the incident, ultimately leading to Pennys indictment.

The governor needs to pardon Penny, no question about it, Haley told Fox News. She needs to pardon him right away. Its the right thing to do. If they dont, criminals will continue to roll the streets of New York because they will know that theres no accountability for anyone who tries to stop them.

Hochul responded Wednesday to Haleys call.

A pardon works after someone has been convicted of a crime, Hochul said in an interview with Specturm News. You dont pardon after theres just been an indictment, No. 1. Secondly, let the process play out. The district attorney indicted after serious deliberation, looking at the facts, witnesses and the video.

A representative for U.S. Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., who is expected to launch his 2024 presidential campaign Monday, could not be immediately reached for comment in response to Haleys remarks.

Criminal charges against Penny were brought by Manhattan District Attorney Alan Bragg who, Haley said, has a record of being soft on crime, letting murderers go (and) letting street crime happen all over New York City.

Haley also said that while Penny has not yet been convicted of manslaughter, Hochul could declare her intent to pardon him.

Gov. Hochul has sat on the sidelines while liberal district attorneys like Alvin Bragg turn New York City into a war zone where innocent people are scared to take the subway and criminals get a free pass, Haley said in a news release Wednesday. Governors are supposed to protect their people. She can send a message to criminals by announcing her intent to pardon Daniel Penny. She can remove Alvin Bragg for endangering Manhattan residents. One thing is clear: doing nothing only continues the crime wave in New York.
CARACAS, May 16 (Xinhua) -- Venezuela has made progress in social inclusion policies despite the U.S. blockade, said the Venezuelan ambassador to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) on Tuesday.

"The Venezuelan government is advancing social inclusion public policies that guarantee education, science and culture despite the blockade," Rodulfo Perez said at the 216th Session of the UNESCO Executive Board.

At the meeting in Paris, Perez said that Venezuela "has built a broad and strong universal education system" which guarantees free public education from preschool to university.

In the cultural arena, Perez said the country's system of youth orchestras and choirs has incorporated more than 1 million children and adolescents.

He added that Venezuela opened its first Science and Technology Park this year. 
No damage to Patriot battery in Russian missile attack on Kyiv, says military expert

Patriot

I have information that indicates that it (Patriot system) is not damaged, he said.

All six Kinzhal aeroballistic missiles were shot down, while the Patriot missile defense system was not damaged. The enemy will make efforts to destroy it, to break through the capital citys air defense, which along with this air defense system has acquired quite significant capabilities.And we see that efforts are being made for this, in particular, obviously, intelligence efforts to locate its whereabouts.

Read also: Ukraine needs at least 20 Patriot air defense batteries, says military expert

Popovych explained what the Russians had attempted to achieve with their attacks on the Patriot system.

Of course, to show off and even the score in this Patriot-Kinzhal match, which so far is not in favor of the Kinzhal, i.e. its currently getting swept, the expert said.

And this is what the publicity and media stunts are needed for. Until now, we've thought that the Kinzhal is a weapon that is impossible to shoot down, that it is a Wunderwaffe ('superweapons' in German -ed.). And this myth has been busted.

Earlier, the Russian Defense Ministry claimed in a Telegram messenger post that a Patriot air defense system had been destroyed in Kyiv in a high-precision strike by the Kinzhal hypersonic missile system.

In turn, U.S. television channel CNN reported that the Patriot missile defense system had likely been damaged, but not destroyed.

White House National Security spokesman John Kirby said on May 16 that Washington could not confirm reports that the Patriot missile defense system was damaged in Ukraine.

Read also: First Patriot air defense system division is operational, says Air Force

Meanwhile, Ukrainian air force spokesperson Yuriy Ihnat claimed that it was impossible to destroy a Patriot system with a Kinzhal missile.

The Reuters news agency reported on May 16 that the Patriot missile defense system being used by Ukraine had likely suffered some damage from a Russian strike. However, Washington and Kyiv are already in talks about the best way to repair the system and at this point it does not appear the system will have to be removed from Ukraine.

Read also: Zelenskyy inspects Dutch Patriot batteries to be handed over to Ukraine

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No More Silent Service As Marine CH-53s Resupply Ballistic Submarine In Pacific photo

The U.S. Navy's top submarine officer in the Pacific has said that his forces are no longer just "a silent service" in a recent interview with Breaking Defense. This reflects an increasing willingness by the Navy to discuss the activities of its Ohio class missile submarines and other types to help deter potential adversaries, particularly China. An announcement today from the U.S. Marine Corps about resupplying an Ohio class ballistic missile submarine, or SSBN, in the Philippine Sea using CH-53E Super Stallion helicopters reflects this policy shift and highlights new concepts of operations.

The U.S. Marine Corps' III Marine Expeditionary Force (III MEF), headquartered on the Japanese island of Okinawa, issued a press release about the recent vertical replenishment of the Ohio class SSBN USS Maine in the Philippine Sea earlier today. Two CH-53Es from Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron 462 (HMH-462), part of III MEF's 1st Marine Aircraft Wing (1st MAW), carried out the recent replenishment mission. Cargo was lowered down to the submarine via hoists on the helicopters.

https://twitter.com/ryankakiuchan/status/1658750115493081088

The Navy currently has 14 Ohio SSBNs in service, which form the sea-based leg of America's nuclear deterrence triad. The service has four other Ohios converted into conventionally-armed guided missile submarines. Those boats are capable of carrying up to 154 Tomahawk cruise missiles, as well as serving as motherships for special operations forces and uncrewed platforms, underwater command and intelligence fusion centers, and more, as detailed in this past War Zone feature.

"1st MAWs persistent and forward presence makes it the backbone of the Stand-in-Forces

expeditionary capability," U.S. Marine Corps Col. Christopher Murray, head of the Marine Aircraft Group 36 (MAG-36), part of 1st MAW based in Okinawa, said in a statement. "The intricacies of seamlessly sustaining the force through naval integration and aviation-delivered logistics is a testament to our adaptability, readiness, and ability to project power within the Indo-Pacific."

A view of the Ohio class SSBN USS Maine from one of the Marine CH-53Es involved in the vertical replenishment mission last week. USMC

The concept of a "Stand-in-Force," or SiF, that can operate effectively within an opponent's so-called "Weapons Engagement Zone" is a central component of the Marine Corps' Expeditionary Advance Base Operations (EABO) concept. The service is still in the process of refining EABO, but it is focused on the idea of relatively small, but still robust Marine task forces being able to rapidly deploy to remote or austere forward locations, establish temporary bases to hold enemy forces in the area at risk, and then be just as capable of redeploying as the situation demands. The Corps has made clear that readily deployable aviation contingents, including F-35B Joint Strike Fighters, MV-22B Ospreys, and helicopters, as well as ground-based stand-off strike capabilities, will be key enablers of these concepts of operations.

The Marines have already been exploring other ways that forces might be able to contribute to larger operations using the EABO concept. This includes supporting anti-submarine warfare missions and using forward bases as critical logistics nodes inside contested environments.

Marine units resupplying Navy submarines, including Ohio SSBNs, might be another way to leverage EABO. At-sea replenishment of submarines in forward areas could be valuable for ensuring interrupted deployments, or even extending them, in the midst of a crisis or contingency.

A box of cargo about to be lowered down to the USS Maine from a Marine CH-53E last week. USMC

"The U.S. Navy's ballistic missile submarine force has demonstrated yet again that we have the proven capability to work seamlessly alongside III Marine Expeditionary Force to execute our mission, allowing us to remain on station," Navy Cmdr. Travis L. Wood, the USS Maine's commanding officer, said in a statement about the recent vertical replenishment of his boat in the Philippine Sea. "Rotary-wing vertical replenishment such as this allow us to quickly resupply so that we can constantly maintain pressure against any adversary who would wish to do harm to the homeland."

The Navy's interest in this kind of resupply capability for its forward-deployed submarines has been apparent for some time now. The service has demonstrated the potential to use various aircraft, including Air Force C-17A Globemaster III cargo planes, Marine MV-22 tilt-rotors, and Navy MH-60 Sea Hawk helicopters and drones, for these kinds of missions in recent years. Even platforms with limited capacity could still be used to deliver vital spare parts, medical supplies, or other cargo to submarines, as well as other ships, at sea.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dy4ZUnUUgRc

This all comes amid an increasing willingness of the part of the Navy to disclose where its submarines are and what they are doing, in general. This is a trend that The War Zone has been very actively tracking in recent years. The service has historically been tight-lipped about submarine forces, often referred to as the "Silent Service." The Navy's various classes of submarines inherently provide discreet platforms capable of conducting a host of missions, including stand-off strikes, intelligence-gathering, special operations support, and more, even inside denied or otherwise sensitive areas.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A4FvP9pdAFA

"I would no longer characterize ourselves as a silent service," Navy Rear Adm. Jeffrey Jablon, who is currently commander of Submarine Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet (SUBPAC), told author and defense expert Robbin Laird earlier this year according to a piece Breaking Defense published last week. "Deterrence is a major mission for the submarine force You cant have a credible deterrent without communicating your capabilities; if the adversary doesnt know anything about that specific deterrent, its not a deterrent."

Jablon's viewpoint here is particularly notable in the context of Ohio SSBNs and deterrence given that those boats are often touted as the most survivable leg of the U.S. nuclear triad given their ability to effectively disappear for months at a time.

Laird said that Jablon told him during the interview that, at that time, there were 18 unspecified Navy submarines sailing across the full expanse of the Pacific Ocean, seven of which were conducting operations west of the international dateline. That part of the Pacific includes the Philippine Sea where the recent vertical replenishment of USS Maine occurred.

USS Maine underway in the Philippine Sea last week. USMC

"The submarine force is now becoming part of the combat clusters that youre talking about instead of an independent operator. In the Cold War, we operated independently, alone, and unafraid," Jablon explained to Laird, who also said the SUBPAC commander specifically highlighted work with the Marines using the EABO concept. "During the land wars, we started becoming part of the joint force as we provided land fires via the TLAM [Tomahawk Land Attack Missile]. Now, we are fully integrated with the joint force in terms of targeting and communications. But, of course, we can also conduct independent operations as the silent service when directed."

In the Pacific, the major target of any U.S. deterrence efforts, broadly, is dissuading the Chinese government from engaging in various malign activities. Concerns have been growing in recent years across the U.S. government about the potential for a Chinese military intervention against Taiwan well before the end of the decade.

However, China is not the only country the U.S. military seeks to deter in the Pacific, including through the increasing disclosures about Navy submarines in the region, especially Ohio class SSBNs and SSGNs. For instance, public submarine deployments and other shows of force are often meant to send signals to North Korea. They have the added effect of helping to reassure American allies and partners, too.

Just last month, President Joe Biden, speaking alongside his South Korean counterpart Yoon Suk Yeol, announced plans for more port visits in that East Asian country involving unspecified Navy "nuclear submarines." Reports at the time said that this could include the first visit by an Ohio SSBN to the Pensinal in some four decades. Ohio SSGNs have made stops in South Korea more recently than that. This was all part of a new expanded nuclear-deterrence-focused security framework called the Washington Declaration, which you can read more about here.

The Ohio class SSGN USS Michigan seen during a very rare public port visit to Busan, South Korea, in 2017 at a time of heightened tensions with North Korea. USN

U.S. submarine operations in the Pacific, as well as those conducted by its allies, have gained new attention in recent years due to the Australia-United Kingdom-United States (AUKUS) security agreement. A major component of this has been expanding Australia's submarine capabilities. The Australian government currently plans to buy at least three U.S.-made nuclear-powered Virginia class boats and pursue a domestically-developed nuclear-powered design with American and British assistance.

Submarine activity in the Pacific overall has been more and more of a hot topic. China's People's Liberation Army Navy continues to expand the size and capabilities of its own submarine fleets, which includes a growing number of Type 094 SSBNs. There is evidence that the PLAN is increasing the scale and scope of its routine SSBN operations, as well.

With regard to U.S. Navy submarines, and the service's increasing disclosure of their movements, this all extends well beyond the Pacific. There has been a similar surge in publicly announced U.S. submarine activity in and around Europe and the Middle East in recent years that has looked clearly intended to send signals to Russia and Iran, respectively.

All told, the recent use of Marine CH-53Es to resupply the USS Maine in the Philippine Sea is a demonstration of what could be a very useful capability in various scenarios in the future. At the same time, the public disclosure of the at-sea replenishment mission, and of Maine's presence in the region at all, reflects a larger change in the Navy's willingness to talk openly about its submarine activities to help deter opponents in the Pacific and beyond.

Contact the author: joe@thedrive.com
No one knew a US aircraft carrier water tank had jet fuel in it until the unaware crew hooked it up to the drinking water system, Navy report says

The USS Nimitz, a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier. REUTERS/Hugh Gentry

The Navy acknowledged that it found jet fuel in the drinking water aboard the carrier USS Nimitz.

Sailors previously told Insider that the situation was far worse than what officials initially said.

A new report said that it took more than a year for the crew to realize the tank was polluted.

An unused water tank on a US Navy aircraft carrier was polluted with jet fuel for at least 17 months before anyone realized it, a newly released investigation said. The crew found out when they connected it to the drinking-water system.

As water with an unusual odor came out of the drinking fountains late last summer, the problem started to become clear, but even then, some weren't completely aware of the severity of the problem.

This week, the Navy published the results of an investigation into how jet propellant-5  a kerosene-based fuel used in military aircraft and known as JP-5  contaminated the potable water aboard USS Nimitz. The contamination led to nearly a dozen of the Nimitz's sailors reporting concerning symptoms that Navy officials would later acknowledge could have been the result of JP-5 exposure.

Sailors on the Nimitz first noticed that the ship's potable water smelled and tasted like jet fuel on September 16 last year, but the problem started at least a year before that.

A screenshot of a text exchange with a photo of a sample of what was identified as water from the USS Nimitz contaminated with jet fuel. Courtesy photo

In a Monday statement summarizing the investigation's findings, the Navy said that "JP-5 residue in the ship's bilges entered an unused potable water tank through a deteriorated gasket on top of the tank sometime between June 2020 and March 2021, during the ship's previous deployment."

The ship's bilge is the lowest part of the inside of the hull where potentially hazardous substances  like fuel, oil, or sewage  collect during operations. According to the Navy's investigation, jet fuel likely ended up in the bilge space due to the misalignment or malfunction of the ship's main drainage system, which connected to tanks that held JP-5. A failed manway cover gasket then allowed the leak into the offline potable water tank.

The investigation said that eight of the ship's 26 potable water tanks had been taken out of service since at least September 2020, with some of them listed as being out of service due to potential unspecified bilge contamination and seawater contamination. However, the problems were only recorded informally and not adequately communicated to future crews.

"Failure to formally document the deficiency and promptly correct the issue allowed the condition to worsen, and it left the problem to future crew members who had no insight into circumstances of the original problem," the investigation said.

Washing down on the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz. US Navy

In March 2022, the Nimitz moved to clean several of its potable water tanks that were full of liquid and out of service due to suspected seawater contamination.

The Nimitz requested help from the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and Intermediate Maintenance Facility, which emptied one tank but was unable to do more because of the limited amount of time and resources available.

So the Nimitz developed a plan that included instructions on emptying tanks using the ship's installed potable water pumps so it wouldn't have to wait for help from the shipyard.

"When developing the sequencing document used to empty potable water tanks, the ship was unaware that any of the tanks contained JP-5," the investigation said. "Informal records indicated tank contained a mixture of potable water and seawater. This was a major factor in the ship's understanding and consideration of the risk associated with pumping liquid from tank through the potable water piping."

Sailors participate in a countermeasure wash down on the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz. US Navy

Thinking the only problem was seawater, the ship determined that the risk of contaminating the broader potable water system by flushing the tanks out was low. "The ship did not know or consider the possibility that the tank might contain contaminants other than seawater," the investigation added.

When sequencing commenced on September 16, 2022, the same day reports of water that smelled of jet fuel surfaced, proper procedure wasn't followed, leaving key players in the process unfamiliar "with the procedure or system lineup" and "largely unaware that the procedure was being executed," the report said.

So when "unexpected conditions"  water that smelled like jet fuel  showed up, the report said that they "did not recognize the significance" and "were unable to determine or take appropriate corrective actions to prevent more significant consequences from occurring." The JP-5 then spread to the distribution system, creating a more serious issue.

While the investigation includes over a dozen recommendations for preventing this contamination from happening again, it does not mention any disciplinary action.

USS Nimitz US Navy

Not long after the problem was first discovered on the Nimitz, the Navy said it found only traces of jet fuel in the water. However, a sailor told Insider that the problem was worse than the service initially let on and that they were exposed to an "unhealthy amount" of JP-5.

And the Nimitz was not the only aircraft carrier to deal with contaminated water last year. The Navy also found that the drinking water aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln was polluted with bilge water and bacteria. One sailor told Insider the water tasted "horrible" and that they couldn't "escape it."

In addition to the Navy's findings on the contamination aboard the Nimitz, the service also investigated the presence of bacteria in the USS Abraham Lincoln's potable water and said that "bilge water entered a potable water tank through a hole, caused by corrosion, in the tank's ventilation pipe."

Polluted water on Navy ships is not isolated to these two vessels. Veterans of the Marine Corps and the Navy told Insider that sailors aboard aircraft carriers, and amphibious assault ships had, for decades, experienced water that was contaminated by jet fuel.

Read the original article on Business Insider
No One Is More Dangerous For The White House Than Ron DeSantis  Including Donald Trump

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (above)

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (above) "appears more focused in his one-man crusade to bring the country back to burning witches."

Imagine Donald Trump, but with brains and savvy.

OK ... most people have those.

Imagine Trump, but with a stalwart dedication toward legislation that moves the country in a direction that should terrify most reasonable human beings.

Enter Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.

To me, Trump has always been, at his core, an avowed iconoclast and solipsistic opportunist who probably decided on a lark that hed run for the U.S. presidency and managed to sweep his competitors on an anti-establishment platform. Like a man who catches a fully grown alligator, he never quite seemed to know what to do with the presidency when he got it.

Trump had the hubris and gall of a man who had no intention of adhering to the conventions of the White House, and he had (and still has) the benefit of unwavering support from a bunch of mouth-breathers frustrated with eight years of a Black man in the office. These people were aimless, looking for someone to follow off the edge of the flat earth. Trump was their man.

I believe addiction to the power of the presidency is the only reason Trump is giving the presidency another go  he has no real interest in legislative movement that doesnt line his pockets. DeSantis, however, is a different brand of threat.

He managed to become a beast of a governor, anchored by a Republican Florida Legislature that, as the recently closed legislative session has shown us, bends to his whims like some do to Darth Vader using the Force.

DeSantis has not formally launched a campaign to run for president in 2024, but theres precisely zero likelihood that he wont: Hes already made recent stops in early primary states Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina in recent months, and a super PAC supporting him is on a hiring spree in several states.

Though youll find no shortage of Make America Great Again hats in Florida, the state is so enamored with DeSantis that the legislature passed a bill allowing him to remain governor while running for president  which, to me, seems like taking the bar exam while in medical school.

Legislatively, Trump gave the impression that he was throwing darts at a board while blindfolded to see what might shake out. But DeSantis appears more focused in his one-man crusade to bring the country back to burning witches.

Florida was already a hole of little faith before DeSantis got to it (just Google Florida Man), but for the past four years hes used the state as a petri dish to advance his ultra-conservative agenda, providing frightening insight into what the country could look like if he makes it to the Oval Office.

In April, he signed a law criminalizing abortion after six weeks, making Florida  once a haven for people seeking abortions from nearby red states  among the most restrictive state for abortions in the country. Considering the U.S. Supreme Courts unconscionable overturning of Roe v. Wade knowing the danger faced by women who cant legally obtain abortions, its downright frightening to have multiple areas of government concerned about what women do with their bodies.

That same month, DeSantis signed into law a bill allowing Floridians to carry concealed guns with no permit or training. Which, if you did what I suggested and Googled Florida Man, you know is like throwing a match on a kerosene-doused haystack.

Theres also DeSantis co-opting and bastardization of the word woke, which he uses as a dog whistle to appeal to his demographic. He signed the Stop WOKE (Wrongs to Our Kids and Employees) Act, which would ban critical race theory (read: talking about actual white people actually acting badly) from Florida classrooms.

It would essentially require teachers and professors in the state to teach about Christopher Columbus discovering America, skip over the hundreds of years of chattel slavery and jump straight to Ronald Reagan saving us all. Fortunately, local courts arent having that nonsense.

Then theres the Parental Rights in Education Act bill, which critics refer to as Dont Say Gay. The bill, which DeSantis signed in March, forbids teachers from teaching about or discussing sexual identity and gender orientation to kids up to third grade; a few weeks later, the states Board of Education agreed to expand the ban to all grades.

The legislature passed a bill in April restricting drag performers from doing anything around children (it calls them adult live performances). DeSantis is expected to sign a bill banning gender-affirming care for minors, making it so not even doctors or parents can make decisions that could save young lives.

In April, DeSantis signed into law a bill allowing Florida juries to impose the death penalty without a unanimous vote, making it the state with the single lowest threshold for a convicted criminal to die. Logical move for an institution thats historically racially biased, and in a state that has among the highest number of death row inmate exonerations ...

Finally, DeSantis signed into law last week SB 1718, perhaps the most draconian immigration bill on record. Among its provisions, it would make it illegal for anyone to give an undocumented immigrant a ride into the state, invalidate the drivers licenses of immigrants from other states, and make it considerably harder for an employer to hire them.

Im not sure how pretending like Florida doesnt function on the back of undocumented immigrant labor is supposed to benefit the legislature, but perhaps itll learn the hard way.

Thats a royal flush of regressive social politics tied directly to DeSantis. And I havent even gotten into his ongoing beef with Mickey Mouse.

Lest you think DeSantis is a genuine ideologue, armed with the Holy Bible and a nostalgia for the good ol days before immigrants and the LGBTQ community existed, hes actually like so many other politicians  rocking with whatever advances his agenda at the time. The irony of DeSantis being Trumps biggest competitor for the GOP ticket is that he made it to his current position riding Trumps coattails in a state that adores the former president.

Now, Trump is in headlines for the verdict finding him liable for sexually abusing writer E. Jean Carroll. Some Republicans believe this could tank his 2024 chances. But considering Trump has gotten as far as he has by doing everything short of eating a baby on camera, Ill never count him out. DeSantis, however, could be his biggest threat  far wiser, more tactical and more calculated than his opponent.

Trumps presidency emboldened the countrys troglodytes to do reprehensible acts like organizing racist tiki torch gatherings and storming the U.S. Capitol dressed like assholes. But hes the devil Ive already experienced in the White House, and hed only have one term to go. Eight years of DeSantis terrifies me far more.
No path to Russian presidency for Prigozhin, expert says

Yevgeny Prygozhyn can uncontrollably unite protest voices around him, says Ivan Preobrazhensky

Read also: Ukrainian intelligence comments on rumours of its alleged ties with Prigozhin

"No, this cannot happen; this is an absolutely unrealistic scenario because he is a candidate who can actually attract votes," said Preobrazhensky.

According to him, Prigozhin could suddenly unite the protest vote around himself, which would lead to a serious political crisis, because people will simply vote for him in order to not vote for Putin.

He stands out too much against the background of this Russian ruling class, which has absolutely degraded, Preobrazhensky adds.

Any of his statements are be more credible than their statements. Therefore, this is too great a danger. He will definitely not be allowed (to run).

Read also: Ukrainian serviceman dismisses Prigozhin's tantrums as false and exaggerated

The political scientist also said it was "obvious" that Prigozhin insulted Russian dictator Vladimir Putin when he spoke of "a grandfather who can turn out to be a bastard."

He, of course, then explained, but it is quite obvious that he was talking about Putin, the expert notes.

The entire Russian ruling class over the past few years called him (Putin) grandfather, in a mafia-like fashion.

Read also: Videos show Russian regular troops seeking to join Wagner, whats Prigozhin up to?

On May 14, The Washington Post reported that according to leaked Pentagon documents, Prigozhin allegedly offered Ukraine to reveal the positions of Russian troops in exchange for withdrawing from Bakhmut.

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
North Carolinas Republican-controlled Legislature overrode the governors veto of legislation banning most abortions after 12 weeks, further restricting abortion in the state.

The override vote was completed in back-to-back sessions Tuesday night by the state House and Senate  marking a victory for the new supermajority Republican Legislature. The state now bans abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy, but the new law bans abortions after 12 weeks with exceptions for rape, incest, fetal anomalies and cases in which the life of the pregnant person is at risk.

The ban is set to take effect July 1.

Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper, an abortion rights supporter, vetoed the measure over the weekend during a rally in front of hundreds of abortion rights activists and voters in Raleigh. Cooper had spent the past week traveling around the state to persuade Republicans to uphold his veto.

The new law, known as Senate Bill 20, severely limits abortion access for people across the South, where a number of states have banned or restricted the care since the overruling of Roe v. Wade last year.

Nationally, bans on abortion throughout pregnancy are in effect in 14 states.

ABORTION CLINIC VIOLENCE: Violence against abortion clinics escalated since overturning of Roe v. Wade, report finds

Abortions banned, restricted across much of South

The Carolinas, Florida and Virginia have been abortion destination states amid bans or severe restrictions in neighboring states.

Abortion is banned throughout pregnancy in Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas and West Virginia. In Georgia, it is banned after six weeks of pregnancy.

But new anti-abortion proposals in the Carolinas and Florida could further erode abortion rights.

Florida law bans abortions 15 weeks after pregnancy but under a recent law, it would be reduced to six weeks. In another bill up for vote Tuesday in the South Carolina House, abortions would be almost entirely banned after about six weeks of pregnancy. Last month, South Carolina and Nebraska failed to advance abortion bans.

If both the bans in the Carolinas become law, combined with Florida's ban, "it would be just devastating for abortion access in the South," Jamie Lockhart, executive director of Planned Parenthood Advocates of Virginia, told The Associated Press on Tuesday.

'THERE'S MORE WORK TO BE DONE': Abortion clinics regroup, rebuild after violent attacks

Protesters, supporters gather ahead of vote

Anti-abortion protesters and supporters of the North Carolina ban rallied hours before the vote in the Senate gallery.

Senate lawmakers debated the bill as Republican leaders claiming Cooper ignored the proposed spending of at least $160 million for contraceptive services, child care access and maternal health care.

"North Carolinians watching this debate, you are bearing witness to exaggerated and extremist objections from some Democrats," Republican Sen. Vickie Sawyer of Iredell County said. "Their anger is that this bill is mainstream and a common-sense approach to a very difficult topic."

Democrats argued the ban would place dangerous barriers between pregnant people and their doctors. Democratic Sen. Natasha Marcus of Mecklenburg County said the 12-week cutoff could leave pregnant people with only a couple of weeks to decide on an abortion and would cause unwanted pregnancies.

"This bill is a slap in the face. It is a muzzle over our mouths, and it is a straitjacket on our bodies," Marcus said.

After the Senate vote, loud chants of "Shame!" could be heard outside the chamber doors.

ABORTION PILLS: With eyes on Texas mifepristone case, 2 other abortion pill lawsuits 'flying under the radar'

Contributing: The Associated Press

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: North Carolina 12-week abortion: Lawmakers override governor's veto
The new North Carolina abortion law has sparked protests

North Carolina lawmakers have voted to override the governor's veto of a ban on most abortions after 12 weeks.

The measure was passed by the state's Republican-controlled legislature in early May, but was vetoed by Democratic Governor Roy Cooper over the weekend.

Republicans overturned the veto in back-to-back votes, prompting chants of "shame" from onlookers.

The law, which cuts the window for abortion in the state down from 20 weeks, will now take effect on 1 July.

A lot of women travel to North Carolina from nearby states to get an abortion because restrictions have been historically stronger in neighbouring states.

On Tuesday, the state Senate voted 30-20 and the House by 72-48 to override the veto. A single Republican defector could have tipped the outcome the other way.

"Shame! Shame! Shame!" protesters in the statehouse started shouting.

Anti-abortion advocates also attended Tuesday's votes

Officially known as the Care for Women, Children and Families Act, it was passed by the state Senate along party lines on 4 May, a day after being passed by the state House of Representatives.

The measure was vetoed by Governor Cooper at a rally on Saturday. He said the bill would stand "in the way of progress" and "turn the clock back 50 years on women's health".

The legislation bans abortion at 12 weeks except in cases of rape, incest and medical emergencies. It mandates that any abortions taking place after that period be carried out in a hospital.

The exceptions in the case of rape and incest are until 20 weeks of pregnancy, or in the event of a "life-limiting anomaly", up to 24 weeks.

The law also restricts use of abortions pills after 10 weeks of pregnancy and puts in place additional requirements, such as an in-person consultation with a doctor ahead of the procedure.

The law includes $160m (128m) in funding for contraception, foster and childcare and paid parental leave.

Protests as North Carolina Republican lawmakers hold a vote to override Democratic Governor Roy Cooper's veto on 16 May 2023

Republicans hold slim supermajorities in both chambers of the statehouse, giving them the ability to override a veto from the Democratic governor.

The party gained its veto-proof supermajority last month after a Democrat who had previously vowed to protect abortion access switched her party affiliation to Republican.

Congresswoman Tricia Cotham voted in favour of the ban after promising last year to "continue my strong record of defending the right to choose".

Republicans hold exactly three-fifths of seats in both the Senate and House, meaning that just one party defector could have scuppered the vote on Tuesday, allowing the governor's veto to stand.

The razor-thin supermajority led Mr Cooper to launch a last-ditch pressure campaign last week to try to convince any Republican to cross party lines.

After the state Senate voted to override the veto on Tuesday, four female Republican lawmakers released a joint statement saying the new law "brings to life a culture that cherishes motherhood and saves the lives of the unborn".

Democratic lawmakers protest after North Carolina Republican lawmakers vote to override Democratic Governor Roy Cooper's veto on 16 May 2023

One of the four, Vickie Sawyer, accused Democrats of "exaggerated and extremist objections".

But Democratic state representative Deb Butler said the law would make North Carolina a "less hospitable place to live".

"This regressive law will affect every single woman in the state for the entirety of her reproductive life," she said.

Democratic state Senator Natasha Marcus said: "This bill is a slap in the face. It is a muzzle over our mouths, and it is a straitjacket on our bodies."

Near-total abortion bans have been passed by 14 states in the US since the Supreme Court ended the nationwide right to abortion last year.

North Carolina saw abortions rise 37% in the wake of the Supreme Court ruling, according to the Society of Family Planning, a non-profit that advocates for abortion rights and research.

The increase was largely driven by women travelling to North Carolina from other parts of the southern US, where abortions are now largely restricted.
The GOP-controlled North Carolina General Assembly on Tuesday evening overrode a veto from the governor on a bill that prohibits abortions after 12 weeks and imposes more restrictions on providers and patients.

The lower chambers vote came after the state Senate voted to override the veto earlier Tuesday. Gov. Roy Cooper (D) had vetoed the bill over the weekend, lambasting Republicans for including medically unnecessary obstacles and restrictions.

North Carolina had allowed for abortions up to 20 weeks, but that time frame is now reduced to 12 weeks as the bill becomes law.

The 12-week ban is set to go into effect immediately. Some provisions will go into effect later this year, such as heightened restrictions on administering medical abortions and licensing requirements for new abortion facilities.

However, N.C. Democratic lawmakers have argued the law actually limits abortions to a shorter time frame, owing to how it reduces when medical abortions can be performed to 10 weeks. Medical abortions account for more than half of all abortions in the U.S.

Abortion clinics are now vulnerable to losing their licensing with the enactment of this bill as it allows the North Carolina Medical Care Commission to adopt, amend and appeal the rules applied to such facilities.

Republicans in the state have framed this bill as a compromise or middle ground, arguing that a 12-week limit does not go as far as other abortion bills passed in GOP-led states and have also pointed to the provisions that incentivize health care, child care and provide free contraception.

The vote was not unexpected, with the North Carolina GOP having a veto-proof majority in the legislature after state Rep. Tricia Cotham switched over to the Republicans Party a few months following her election.

Cooper had appealed to constituents in districts represented by GOP lawmakers, urging them to call on their representatives to vote against the bill, but no legislators came forward before it was overridden.

Democrats in North Carolina have few options in fighting this vote. While they may be able to delay its enactment through lower courts for a short time, conservative justices have had a supermajority in the states supreme court ever since November when two Republicans claimed seats on the bench.

In the long term, North Carolina Democrats plan to use this vote to bring about a referendum at the ballots in 2024, possibly taking down the conservative supermajority.

I think that this will fuel everything going into 2024, Anderson Clayton, chairperson of the North Carolina Democratic Party, said. This is a health care decision for women and for people who have babies. And I think that theres a lack of willingness to believe that people across North Carolina are going to stand up in 2024 against this, but I fully expect them to.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
North Carolinas GOP supermajority legislature voted Tuesday to override Democratic Gov. Roy Coopers veto and ban abortion after 12 weeks of pregnancy.

The votes in the House and Senate represent a significant victory for Republican legislative leaders  who needed the unanimous support of GOP lawmakers to override Coopers veto  and a measurable loss for Democrats and abortion-rights advocates.

This bill is mainstream and a commonsense approach to a very difficult topic, North Carolina state Sen. Vickie Sawyer, a Republican, said on the Senate floor shortly before the override vote. This is compromise legislation  a sentiment that has been shared with me by Republicans, independent voters and whispered to me by moderate Democrats.

North Carolina was the last state south of Virginia and east of New Mexico that had not implemented or passed new abortion restrictions since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last June.

The votes also come as a significant blow to Cooper, who spent the last week traveling across the state, including to the districts of a handful of moderate Republican lawmakers, hoping to persuade at least one to oppose the override.



Cooper, in a statement shortly after the votes, said those lawmakers broke their promises to protect womens reproductive freedom.

"Strong majorities of North Carolinians dont want right-wing politicians in the exam room with women and their doctors, Cooper said. "For the last two weeks, Republican sponsors of this abortion ban have strenuously argued that it is much less restrictive than we warned, so we will now do everything in our power to make sure thats true.

North Carolinas Republican lawmakers had been working behind the scenes for months to reach a compromise on new abortion restrictions, wary of how a bitter, public debate split GOP lawmakers in South Carolina. Still, Democrats cried foul when Republican lawmakers quickly introduced and passed the legislation earlier this month.

According to the CDC, 93 percent of abortions are performed during the first trimester, meaning the procedure will remain accessible in most circumstances when the new law takes effect on July 1. The bill also contains exceptions for rape and incest, fatal fetal abnormalities and to save the life of the pregnant person.

In 1992, Democratic presidential candidate William Jefferson Clinton said that abortion should be safe, legal, rare. Thats what this bill does, said North Carolina state Sen. Amy Galey, a Republican.

But the new law includes other restrictions such as requiring a patient to attend an in-person doctors visit at least 72 hours before receiving an abortion, which abortion-rights advocates argue will make it more difficult not only for North Carolinians but for people across the South to terminate their pregnancies.

Nearly 5,000 more abortions were performed in North Carolina in the six months after Roe v. Wade was overturned as people in states where the procedure was newly banned flocked to the state, according to WeCount, an abortion tracking project sponsored by the Society of Family Planning.

SBA Pro-Life America President Marjorie Dannenfelser in a statement praised the North Carolina legislature, holding up the body as a model for Republicans across the country.

Elected officials and candidates across this country should take note how pro-life leaders stood up to the extreme abortion agenda of the Democrats to protect life and serve mothers, Dannenfelser said.

Abortion rights advocates, meanwhile, promised to hold Republicans lawmakers accountable for the legislation at the ballot box and redouble their efforts to ensure a Democrat replaces Cooper, who is term limited, in 2024.

The anti-abortion supermajority in the North Carolina legislature just trampled over every chance they had to listen to the public  their constituents  all to enact a cruel ban on abortion, said Mini Timmaraju, president of NARAL Pro-Choice America. Now the work begins to give North Carolinians a legislature that will protect their freedoms.

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement that the override votes were out of touch with popular sentiment in North Carolina and that the new law would make it harder for patients to access reproductive health care.

In the more than a dozen states with bans, women have been turned away from emergency rooms, left with no choice but to travel hundreds of miles for the care they need, and faced complications that put their lives and health at risk, Jean-Pierre said. Like those laws, the North Carolina ban will harm patients and threaten doctors for providing essential care."

GOP legislatures in South Carolina and Nebraska on Tuesday also debated new abortion restrictions. Lawmakers in the South Carolina House heard hours of debate on a thousand amendments introduced by Democrats to a bill that would ban abortion after about six weeks of pregnancy, while Nebraska lawmakers weighed whether to add a 12-week abortion ban to a separate bill banning gender-affirming care for transgender youth.
Abortion rights supporter in North Carolina Travis Long/The News & Observer/Tribune News Service via Getty Images

North Carolina's Republican-led legislature voted along party lines Tuesday to override Gov. Roy Cooper's (D) veto of a 12-week abortion ban. The new restrictions will now take effect July 1.

Cooper vetoed the bill over the weekend after spending the previous week campaigning against it, trying to peel off at least one Republican to defeat the override. "How about we leave medicine to the doctors and the decisions to the women," he suggested after signing his veto. All four Republicans he targeted voted for the ban, including Rep. Tricia Cotham (R), a former pro-choice Democrat who switched parties in April, giving Republicans the supermajority they needed in both chambers to override Cooper's veto.

The new abortion ban includes rape and incest exceptions through 20 weeks of pregnancy, an exemption for some fetal abnormalities through 24 weeks, and no limit for when a pregnant woman's life is in danger. The override will further limit abortion access in the South, where South Carolina will be the only state that allows abortion past 12 weeks.

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China, Central Asian countries to remain pioneers in Belt and Road cooperation

09:16, May 17, 2023 By He Yin ( People's Daily

In September 2013, Chinese President Xi Jinping for the first time proposed building the Silk Road Economic Belt in a speech he delivered in Kazakhstan. Thus, Central Asia is where the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) was initiated.

Over the past decade, China and Central Asian countries have proactively promoted the synergy of their development strategies and achieved fruitful results in high-quality Belt and Road cooperation.

The China-Central Asia Summit to be held in Xi'an, northwest China's Shaanxi province will further build consensus between China and Central Asian countries and consolidate their positions as pioneers in advancing high-quality Belt and Road cooperation.

Photo shows the Luban Workshop in Tajikistan. (Photo from the website of Belt and Road Portal)

Central Asia is a demonstration zone of high-quality Belt and Road cooperation. The BRI is actively seeking alignment with the Central Asian countries' development strategies, carrying out a series of win-win projects that bring tangible benefits to the people in the region, including the China-Kazakhstan crude oil pipeline, the China-Central Asia gas pipeline, the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan highway, the Pengsheng Industrial Park and the China-Tajikistan-Uzbekistan highway.

The China-Kazakhstan Horgos International Frontier Cooperation Center and the China-Kazakhstan International Logistics Base in the eastern Chinese port of Lianyungang have provided Central Asian countries with a gate to the global market.

The Qamchiq Tunnel built by a Chinese enterprise along the AngrenPap railway line, which is the longest tunnel in Central Asia, has put an end to the days when local travelers had to cross mountains or take diversion routes via neighboring nations in order to reach their destinations.

Industrial parks supported by China have sprung up in Central Asia, which not only create massive jobs and train a tremendous number of local professionals, but also drive local industrial development and upgrade.

These examples of Belt and Road cooperation between China and Central Asian countries vividly explain the Central Asian proverbs that "An empty sack cannot stand upright" and "A tree gets attention only when it bears fruits."

The development of relations between China and Central Asian countries provides important political guarantees for Belt and Road cooperation.

Over the past decade, Xi has paid multiple visits to Central Asian countries and maintained frequent contact by multiple means with leaders of these countries, promoting the leapfrog development of relations between China and Central Asian countries.

Photo shows the Pengsheng Industrial Park in Uzbekistan. (Photo from cocz.org)

At the virtual summit commemorating the 30th anniversary of diplomatic relations between China and Central Asian countries held in January 2022, the two sides announced to build an even closer China-Central Asia community with a shared future and usher in a new era of their relations.

Today, China has elevated its ties with Kazakhstan to a permanent comprehensive strategic partnership and established comprehensive strategic partnerships with Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan. It has signed Belt and Road cooperation documents with all five Central Asian countries.

Besides, stronger synergy is being built between China's BRI and Kazakhstan's Bright Path new economic policy, Tajikistan's national development strategy by 2030, Kyrgyzstan's 2040 National Sustainable Development Strategy, the New Uzbekistan Development Strategy for 2022-2026 and Turkmenistan's development strategy to revive the Great Silk Road.

People-to-people bond lays a public and societal foundation for Belt and Road construction.

Over the past decade, China and Central Asian countries have constantly strengthened friendly exchanges and enhanced mutual understanding and their traditional friendship.

The two sides have established 62 pairs of sister provinces and cities, seeing hundreds of thousands of mutual visits each year. The Confucius Institutes and Classrooms in Central Asian countries have triggered a craze for learning the Chinese language and Chinese culture.

The first Luban Workshop in Central Asia, a China-initiated international program of vocational training, was put into use in Dushanbe, capital of Tajikistan.

A center of traditional medicine between China and Kazakhstan, the China-Central Asia Agricultural Cooperation Center and a China-Central Asia agricultural science and technology demonstration park have been inaugurated. The two sides also launched a joint educational training program and a joint poverty reduction program for farmers.

A China-Europe freight train commemorating the 10th anniversary of starting the Yiwu-Xinjiang-Europe freight train cargo service departs from Yiwu, east China's Zhejiang province, for Central Asian countries, April 23, 2023. (People's Daily Online/Gong Xianming)

These cooperation projects and programs all indicate the solid public foundation for the thousand-year friendship between China and Central Asian countries, and for the joint construction of the BRI.

The China-Central Asia Summit is expected to inject a strong impetus into the high-quality BRI cooperation between China and Central Asian countries. At present, Central Asian countries are having an increasingly stronger desire to advance high-quality cooperation with China.

Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said that Belt and Road construction has grown into a crucial engine in building a community with a shared future for mankind, and Kazakhstan will continue to actively support and participate in the Belt and Road cooperation.

Tajikistan said it is willing to join Belt and Road cooperation and expand its cooperation with China in economy and trade, industry, energy and infrastructure under the BRI framework, said Tajik President Emomali Rahmon.

Turkmen President Serdar Berdimuhamedov also expressed the willingness to promote synergy between Turkmenistan's development strategy to revive the Great Silk Road and the BRI, and to further expand its economic and trade cooperation with China.

China and Central Asian countries have kept improving the facilitation of trade and investment and expanding mutual investment and trade. Meanwhile, the two sides will continue deepening cooperation in production capacity, energy, agriculture, digital economy and other fields, ensure the smooth progress of key cooperation projects, foster new growth points for bilateral cooperation and create more benefits for the people.

In Xi'an, the starting point of the ancient Silk Road and the host city of the upcoming summit, China and Central Asian countries will take the opportunity to promote high-quality Belt and Road cooperation, and make new and greater contributions to building an even closer China-Central Asia community with a shared future.

(Web editor: Chang Sha, Du Mingming)
CAIRO, May 17 (Xinhua) -- Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi met with visiting Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto on Wednesday to discuss ways to strengthen bilateral military ties, according to a statement issued by the Egyptian presidency.

The two sides agreed on further developing the security cooperation between the two countries, the statement said.

During the meeting, they also reviewed the recent regional developments, especially in Libya and Sudan, as well as efforts to push for political solutions to regional crises, it added.

Crosetto hailed Egypt's pivotal role in maintaining stability in the Middle East and the Mediterranean region, urging the country to intensify efforts to help curb illegal immigration into Europe.

The Italian defense minister also called for more efforts to advance the mechanism for tackling cross-border immigration issues. 
Republican lawmakers in North Carolina voted to override the governors veto of a bill that outlaws abortion at 12 weeks of pregnancy, restricting abortion access in a state that has been a haven for abortion care in the year after the US Supreme Courts decision to reverse Roe v Wade.

In neighbouring South Carolina, lawmakers have continued debate before voting on a more-restrictive measure that would ban nearly all abortions after roughly six weeks of pregnancy, before many people know they are pregnant, adding to a streak of abortion restrictions across the US South.

More than a dozen states, mostly in the South, have outlawed most abortions or severely restricted access within the year after the Supreme Courts ruling in Dobbs v Jackson Womens Health Organization, which revoked a constitutional right to abortion care that was affirmed for nearly half a century.

Abortion rights restrictions in North Carolina and a six-week ban in South Carolina would dramatically change the map for abortion access in the US, where abortions are banned in most cases from Texas to West Virginia and along the Gulf Coast.

In the more than a dozen states with bans, women have been turned away from emergency rooms, left with no choice but to travel hundreds of miles for the care they need, and faced complications that put their lives and health at risk. Like those laws, the North Carolina ban will harm patients and threaten doctors for providing essential care, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement on 17 May.

She called the North Carolina measure a dangerous bill that is out of touch with the majority of North Carolinians and will make it even more difficult for women to get the reproductive health care they need.

Weve already seen the devastating impacts that state abortion bans have had on the health and lives of Americans living under these draconian laws, she added.

(REUTERS)

Health workers joined protesters at the North Carolina Capitol in Raleigh on 17 May as lawmakers in the Republican-controlled state legislature convened to override a veto from Democratic Governor Roy Cooper, who has spent the last several days campaigning for GOP lawmakers to break from the party and drop the challenge to his veto.

In a video posted online, the governor named four Republican lawmakers who he said made campaign promises to protect access to abortion.

They say this is a reasonable 12-week ban. Its not, he said in the video. The fine print requirements and restrictions will shut down clinics and make abortion completely unavailable to many women at any time, causing desperation and death.

Much of the coverage surrounding the North Carolina legislation has centred around a now-Republican lawmaker who previously campaigned against abortion restrictions when she was a Democrat, up until April.

State Rep Tricia Cotham joined the Republican Party last month after campaigning for her seat as a Democratic candidate and earning the endorsement of EMILYs List, an influential abortion rights organisation. Her party switch delivered Republicans a veto-proof majority in the House.

(ERIN SIEGAL MCINTYRE)

Ms Cotham has spent years campaigning against abortion restrictions, with powerful testimony about abortion rights and her own medically necessary abortion experience, saying in one widely shared 2015 speech that my womb and my uterus is not up for your political grab.

In a statement following the vote, the governor said that North Carolinians now understand that Republicans are unified in their assault on womens reproductive freedom, and we are energized to fight back on this and other critical issues facing our state.

Lawmakers in the House and Senate voted on party lines to reverse the governors veto.

The bill includes exceptions for pregnancies from rape or incest or if there is a life-limiting anomaly in the fetus. It also will require in-person physician visits at least 72 hours before a procedural abortion, and doctors must also make real-time views of fetuses available and allow patients to listen to embryonic cardiac activity.

North Carolina lawmakers approved the anti-abortion law while lawmakers in Nebraska debated a measure that coupled a 10-week abortion ban with a bill targeting gender-affirming care for trans youth, a proposal that inspired a nearly three-month-long filibuster in an effort to block it. Republican lawmakers ultimately broke through the filibuster on Tuesday night and voted in favour of the combined bill, which will head to a final round of votes before it heads to the desk of Republican Governor Jim Pillen, who intends to sign it into law.

Meanwhile, in Louisiana, lawmakers recently refused to add rape and incest exceptions to its anti-abortion law, one of the most restrictive in the country. State lawmakers also overwhelmingly rejected attempts to clarify medical exceptions in the law, including a measure that would specifically allow providers to remove an ectopic or molar pregnancy, which cannot result in a successful birth.
North Carolina Republicans successfully killed Democratic Gov. Roy Coopers veto of a 12-week abortion ban onTuesday, paving the way for the restriction to soon become law.

When the legislature held an override vote on Tuesday, every Republican voted for the 12-week abortion ban in the Senate, 30-20, and the House, 72-48  confirming that the states Republican supermajority had the power to override Coopers veto. All four Republicans whom Cooper had eyed as possible swing votes  state Reps. Tricia Cotham, John Bradford and Ted Davis Jr., as well as state Sen. Michael V. Lee  voted in favor of the abortion ban.

Protesters in the state house immediately started yelling Shame! Shame! Shame! after the override was successful. Republican leadership cleared the galley.

The 12-week ban and its additional restrictions concerning medication abortion are set to go into effect on July 1. Other parts of the legislation are expected to go into effect at different times later this year.

Cotham switched parties earlier this year, handing Republicans their critical veto-proof supermajority. The former Democrat was once an outspoken advocate for abortion rights, even sharing her own abortion story on the House floor in a passionate plea against an abortion restriction in 2015. Earlier this year, she co-sponsored a bill to codify abortion protections as a response to the Supreme Courts decision to repeal Roe v. Wade last summer.

Cooper vetoed the 12-week abortion ban at a rally in Raleigh on Mothers Day weekend, surrounded by physicians, advocates and fellow Democrats.

Weve heard Republican legislators claiming this bill is a mainstream compromise, Cooper said to the crowd. Let me tell you what  mainstream bills dont get written in secret, kept under lock and key, introduced in the dark of night, kept from public input, protected from any amendments and then get rammed through in less than 48 hours.

The governor traveled to several swing districts in recent weeks, after Republicans pushed the abortion ban through the legislature in just 48 hours. Cooper, who has voiced support for abortion rights throughout his tenure, hosted a handful of roundtable discussions on reproductive health and encouraged voters to call their elected officials and ask them to sustain his veto.

During his six years in office, Cooper has successfully vetoed more than 50 bills.

But Cothams party switch, plus the national wave of anti-choice political rhetoric since Roe fell, set up Cooper and his fellow Democrats for failure. A 12-week abortion ban will likely have devastating consequences not just for North Carolinians, but for a large swath of the Southeast, since the state has become a safe haven for abortion care since the Dobbs v. Jackson Womens Health Organization decision.

The state has experienced a 37% increase in abortions since Roe fell  the highest percentage increase of any state. Florida, the state with the second highest increase in abortions since Dobbs, is also staring down a six-week abortion ban that is likely to go into effect in July. These restrictions are only expected to create more barriers to care, forcing people who can do so to travel even farther to get abortions, and other people to continue with unwanted pregnancies.

North Carolina Republicans crafted the abortion ban behind closed doors, unveiling it earlier this month to the surprise of many voters in the state. Instead of introducing a new piece of legislation, Republican lawmakers quietly tucked the 46-page abortion restriction into an unrelated piece of legislation. The move allowed anti-abortion lawmakers to circumvent the committee process, where most public testimony is heard, and go straight to a vote.

Senate Republicans know that by talking about abortion, its bad for them, state Sen. Sydney Batch (D) told HuffPost on Monday. They want this done as quickly as possible. They want to hold this override and they want to be done talking about abortion.

The 12-week abortion ban carries a laundry list of other restrictions, including a 72-hour waiting period, a ban on medication abortion after 10 weeks and a requirement that patients go to a clinic twice before receiving abortion care. There are exceptions for rape and incest through 20 weeks of pregnancy and an exception for lethal fetal abnormalities through 24 weeks. There are also exceptions for the life of the pregnant person, and the bill clarifies that the removal of an ectopic pregnancy is not defined as an elective abortion.

The ban requires that any abortion performed after the 12-week point, under the exceptions, needs to be done in a hospital. Its worth noting that abortion ban exceptions often dont work in practice, and sometimes represent a strategy by anti-choice lawmakers to make an extreme bill look more reasonable.

There are only 14 abortion clinics in North Carolina, meaning 91% of counties are without a clinic. And the legislation will impose new licensing requirements on abortion clinics, which could lead to some shutting down.

The Republican Party has proven that they will not stop until every American loses their reproductive freedom  and the North Carolina GOP has shown that once again, Republicans cannot be trusted with our rights, Heather Williams, Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee interim president, said in a statement Tuesday night.

This move by North Carolinas Republican supermajority will impact access to abortion for over 10 million people in the state and will have ripple effects across the region and the country, Williams added. State Democrats everywhere are fighting back against this extreme agenda, and Republicans will pay for their attacks on our freedoms at the ballot box  just like they did last cycle.

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Republican South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster signed a bill Thursday that bans abortion in the state after six weeks of pregnancy. The new law allows exceptions for fatal fetal anomalies, when the mother's life and health are at-risk. Victims of rape or incest can obtain abortions for up to 12 weeks if they filed a police report and obtained certification from two doctors.

South Carolina's is just the latest in a string of strict restrictions on abortion passed by individual states since Roe v. Wade was overturned by the Supreme Court last summer.

Prior to the Supreme Court ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization in June 2022, 18 Republican states across the South and West, such as Alabama, Idaho, Mississippi and South Dakota, passed so-called trigger laws, which outlawed abortion the moment the court handed down its verdict.

In recent months, eight other Republican-led states have enacted new laws that outlaw abortion at various stages of pregnancy.

Here is a guide to the new abortion restrictions states have passed since last summer:

South Carolina

The state had a 2021 trigger law that banned abortion after cardiac activity can be detected in a fetus, at around six weeks of pregnancy  but the state Supreme Court overturned that law in January, saying that it violated privacy rights in the state constitution. That left abortion legal until 22 weeks of pregnancy. Abortion providers in the state immediately filed suit against the law in state court, asking the court to put in place a temporary restraining order preventing the law's implementation. On Friday, a South Carolina judge granted abortion providers' request to block a newly enacted six-week abortion ban while a legal challenge proceeds.

Nebraska

In May, Republican lawmakers in Nebraska's one-chamber Legislature amended a bill that outlaws gender-affirming surgeries for anyone younger than 19 and will impose new rules limiting access to hormone therapy and puberty blocking drugs for trans youth to also outlaw abortion after 12 weeks and then passed the measure. It was subsequently signed into law by Republican Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen. There are exceptions for rape, incest and when the mother's life is in danger. Nebraska previously outlawed abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy. An effort in April to ban abortion after six weeks failed by one vote.

North Carolina

The state's House and Senate overrode the governor's veto on a party-line vote, with Republicans having attained the three-fifths majority in both chambers after one Democratic state representative changed parties. State law previously banned nearly all abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy, and Cooper spent last week unsuccessfully trying to persuade at least one Republican to side with him and uphold his veto. North Carolina law previously banned nearly all abortions after 20 weeks.

North Dakota

North Dakota adopted a law on April 24 banning abortion almost entirely, with exceptions in the first six weeks of pregnancy for cases of rape, incest, and medical emergencies. After six weeks, only certain medical emergencies, such as ectopic pregnancies would qualify for legal abortions. In March, a previous North Dakota abortion ban that was almost as far-reaching was temporarily suspended by the state supreme court while a legal challenge proceeds. There are no longer any abortion clinics in North Dakota. After Roe v. Wade was overturned, the states only abortion clinic moved operations to Moorhead, Minn.

Florida

A law signed on April. 14 by Gov. Ron DeSantis would ban abortions after six weeks of pregnancy except for victims of rape or incest or for women whose health is at risk. Those seeking one of those exceptions would also be required to produce evidence. The new law will take effect only if the existing 15-week ban is upheld by the state Supreme Court in a current legal challenge. The states top court has a conservative majority.

Indiana

The Hoosier State became the first in the country to create new abortion restrictions after the Dobbs decision. In August 2022, Gov. Eric Holcomb, a Republican, signed a bill that banned abortion, with limited exceptions. Abortions are now permitted in Indiana only in cases of rape and incest in the first 10 weeks of pregnancy, in order to protect the pregnant womans life or physical health, or if a fetus is diagnosed with a lethal anomaly. Doctors who provide illegal abortions are to be stripped of their medical license. Abortions can also now be performed only in hospitals or outpatient centers owned by hospitals  abortion clinics are no longer legally able to operate in the state. Enforcement of the new law, however, has been blocked pending the outcome of legal challenges. The Indiana state Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the case in January.

West Virginia

Last September, West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice, a Republican, signed a law banning abortion except in cases of rape or incest for up to eight weeks of pregnancy for adults and 14 weeks for minors. It allows abortions of a nonviable fetus or embryo, and when there is a medical emergency or an ectopic pregnancy. Providers of abortions not covered by those exceptions face up to 10 years in prison.

Wyoming

In March, Wyoming became the first state to ban abortions conducted via oral medication, which account for a majority of abortions nationwide. The state already had a full abortion trigger ban on the books, but it is currently enjoined by court order from enforcing it. The same abortion pill is at the center of federal lawsuits, as a Trump-appointed federal judge in Texas recently overruled the FDAs approval of the drug.

Idaho

Earlier this month, Idaho became the first state to criminalize helping a minor get an abortion in another state, with persons convicted of breaking the law facing two to five years in prison. The law allows the state attorney general to prosecute a case if local prosecutors decline to do so. It also allows family members of a pregnant child or the person who impregnated her to file lawsuits against medical professionals who provide her abortion care, with up to $20,000 for damages.
North Korea Could Be About to Launch Its First Spy Satellite

(Bloomberg) -- Leader Kim Jong Un visited a facility assembling North Koreas first spy satellite, indicating the state could soon conduct its first space rocket launch in about seven years.

Most Read from Bloomberg

Kim was accompanied by his preteen daughter in the field guidance visit to inspect the military reconnaissance satellite No. 1 which is ready for loading, the official Korean Central News Agency reported Wednesday. The device is designed to monitor US forces and their allies in Asia.

The leader stressed the need for the spy satellite as the US imperialists and south Korean puppet villains escalate their confrontational moves against the DPRK, KCNA reported, referring to North Korea by its formal name and avoiding a formal reference for its neighbor to the south.

North Korea is barred by United Nations Security Council resolutions from conducting ballistic missile tests, but Pyongyang has long claimed its entitled to a civilian space program for satellite launches. The US and its partners have warned that technology derived from North Koreas space program could be used to advance its ballistic missiles.

While no date was given for a possible launch, North Korea could be looking to upstage South Korea ahead of the May 24 launch of its homegrown Nuri space rocket, which is designed to put satellites into orbit.

Kims public appearance at the satellite facility was his first in 28 days, specialist service NK News reported. His reemergence comes before leaders of the Group of Seven nations gather in the Japanese city of Hiroshima from Friday to discuss issues including the security threats posed by Pyongyang.

Recent commercial satellite imagery from North Koreas Sohae Satellite Launching Station shows construction progressing rapidly at several key facilities, and whats likely a new launch pad being built, the 38 North website reported this week.

North Korea last launched a space rocket in February 2016, when the country claimed to have put an earth-observation satellite into orbit. Observers of the secretive regime believe that satellite never reached orbit.

Pyongyangs space program has diminished in importance over the years as the state greatly enhanced its ability to build intercontinental ballistic missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads that could strike the US.

We used to view North Korean space launch attempts as ICBM tests in disguise this is no longer the case since they frequently test ICBM class missiles, said David Schmerler, a senior research associate at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies.

They have progressed pretty far since their last space launch attempt. The new space launcher will incorporate the developments theyve accumulated to date, and it would make sense for the new system to be more advanced, he said.

Still, a satellite launch would add to security concerns that have recently ratcheted up to levels not seen in years with Kims tests of new weapons for nuclear strikes.

These have included a solid-fuel ICBM launched for the first time in April that could be quickly deployed to target the US, and new missiles systems designed to hit US troops stationed in South Korea and Japan.

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North Korea looks to the final frontier as Kim Jong Un readies launch of spy satellite

North Korea looks to the final frontier as Kim Jong Un readies launch of spy satellite

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un inspected a completed military spy satellite this week as concerns mount that Pyongyang may prepare to launch the spacecraft using banned technology in the coming weeks.

The dictator was seen touring the site with his daughter dressed in white lab coats Tuesday as they spoke with scientists in his first public appearance in a month.

Kim approved an unspecified "future action plan" as experts prepare for a launch that some analysts believe could happen in the next few weeks.

NORTH KOREA CLAIMS FIRST-EVER MILITARY SPY SATELLITE READY FOR LAUNCH, WHICH WOULD VIOLATE UN RESOLUTIONS

Though Pyongyang has routinely defied international law when it comes to ballistic missile testing and nuclear development, it plans to take it one step further and use long-range missile technology that has been banned under U.N. Security Council resolutions.

Kim has argued that the satellite is necessary for space-based reconnaissance and in countering the U.S. and South Korea  which have ramped up joint military exercises in the face of increased aggression and illegal missile testing in North Korea.

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Though Pyongyangs space capabilities remain dubious.

Some South Korean analysts have reportedly argued that the satellite revealed in images by North Koreas state-controlled media is too small and insufficient to capture high-resolution imagery from space.

A TV screen shows image of North Korea's rocket with the test satellite during a news program at the Yongsan Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, Dec. 20, 2022.

NORTH KOREA PLEDGES TO FURTHER 'DEVELOP' RELATIONSHIP WITH CHINA

North Koreas official Korean Central News Agency said Wednesday that the satellite was ready to be loaded onto a rocket after having been inspected and tested on its abilities to withstand spaces environmental factors.

South Koreas Foreign Ministry said its northern neighbor had yet to inform international maritime and telecommunication authorities of any impending launch.

"The announcing of the satellite launch plan shows yet again that the North Korean regime is preoccupied with continuing its illegal provocations while ignoring the plight of its people," the ministry said in a statement.

North Korea has launched roughly 100 missiles since the start of 2022, and its latest push to launch a satellite into space is just one of Kims top priority items.

He also has vowed to develop solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missiles, nuclear-powered submariners, hypersonic missiles and multi-warhead missiles.

Japan has also taken steps to prepare for a potential Pyongyang satellite launch and last month its military activated missile interceptors and ordered its troops to shoot down any satellite fragments that may fall on its territory.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Northern Spain blast now believed to be shooting, security chief says

Police cordon off the area where a man and a woman died in a suspected bomb blast in Orio

MADRID (Reuters) - Police investigating what at first seemed like an explosion in northern Spain that killed a man and a woman now believe it was a murder-suicide with a sawn-off shotgun, authorities said on Wednesday.

According to Basque regional security chief Josu Erkoreka, a man with a hidden "manipulated firearm" is presumed to have shot his ex-partner before turning the gun on himself when they met on Tuesday near her home in the fishing town of Orio.

"Witnesses interpreted the noise as an explosion from a homemade device," he told a news conference.

Erkoreka said the couple were the only victims of the incident.

So far this year, at least 17 women have been allegedly killed in Spain by their partner or former partner, according to the Equality Ministry.

(Reporting by Inti Landauro; Editing by David Latona and Alison Williams)
Not the impression we want. Kennewick bans lying on sidewalks in downtown district

The main business area of downtown Kennewick was designated a no sit, no lie zone this week by the Kennewick City Council.

Sitting or lying in the entrance of a business at any time will be a misdemeanor, and from 6 a.m. to midnight sitting or lying on a sidewalk or in a nearby right of way will be a misdemeanor in most instances.

The new city law allows police to take action without having a complaint made by a business owner or member of the public.

It is expected to be enforced as it is in Kennewicks three other no sit, no lie zones.

Typically, police ask people to move. They may make multiple verbal warnings, which can escalate to an arrest and being taken to jail, said Kennewick Police Chief Chris Guerrero.

The city has had complaints from small downtown businesses and their customers on people sleeping on benches and defecating in planters.

We understand this ordinance is not a solution, but we do see it as a useful tool to help us with the revitalization effort, the investment and the sense of vibrancy that we have been working so hard to achieve in downtown Kennewick these last several decades, Stephanie Button, executive director of the Historical Downtown Kennewick Partnership, told the council.

Another woman who addressed the council said she has previously been at risk of being homeless and found the no sit, no lie zones in Kennewick very unwelcoming and off putting and disturbing.

We are spending a lot of energy moving people around, she said.

City officials and council members said their goal was to temper help to small businesses with compassion.

Help for homeless

Guerrero said officers team up with service providers every Thursday to approach people who appear to be homeless to offer them help. That can include offering opportunities for housing, food and other resources.

The last weekly report to the council said of the 22 people contacted one day, 17 of them had been contacted before, said Councilman Chuck Torelli.

Five of the 22 contacted that week signed up for assistance from the Housing Resource Center, he said.

The city is showing compassion, but there are boundaries, he said.

RVs have been cleared on Railroad Avenue just east of North Fruitland Street in downtown Kennewick.

There are shelter beds and other resources that are going unused, said Councilwoman Gretl Crawford.

Council members also are representing small businesses that say homeless and vagrant people are deterring customers, she said. Customers dont want children with them exposed to some behaviors, including the use of drugs and drug paraphernalia, she said.

Councilman Jim Millbauer voted in favor of the new law, but said the council needs to do more to address homelessness.

I dont think any of those homeless individuals woke up this morning and said, I want to be homeless, Millbauer said. They all have a situation that affected them.

Other cities have found ways to reduce homelessness in partnership with local, state and federal agencies and groups, he said.

Theres no reason Kennewick cant do that either, he said.

Kennewick no sit zones

Of the three other no sit, no lie zones in Kennewick, the one that the police find themselves doing the most enforcement in is in the area of Highway 395 at Kennewick and Clearwater avenues, Guerrero said.

Councilman Brad Beauchamp said he was dismayed to see five men sleeping on the sidewalk near the Taco Bell in that area on a recent morning.

It was the day of a major high school tournament that brought busloads of students to Kennewick. Some of the buses parked at that corner to let students buy fast food, some using the sidewalk where he saw the men sleeping, he said.

He also pointed out that Highway 395 is a major corridor through the city for travelers and people sleeping on the sidewalk is not the impression he wants visitors to have.

A person sleeps under a blanket with his belongings in the doorway of a closed downtown Kennewick business on a cold morning in December 2022.

Other Kennewick no sit, no lie zones are from 24th to 28th avenues between Tweedt and Olson streets and Canal Drive between Young and Kellogg streets.

The city is adding downtown as another no zone with restriction on sitting and lying based on the number of complaints received from that area and what police see there.

The new zone is between First Avenue and Canal Drive and between Dayton and Washington streets.

Other cities in the Northwest, including in Washington, have tried similar restrictions across most or all of their cities only to lose court cases, including on the grounds they are too restrictive and target the homeless without giving them options, according to Kennewick officials.

Kennewick does have other laws to address problems citywide, including restrictions on trespassing; urinating or defecating in public; public use of drugs; and disorderly conduct, such as interfering with pedestrian or traffic movement.

Kennewick zone restrictions

City officials said they are open to designating other no sit, no lie zones if the need can be shown. Among considerations is how many complaints are made about a specific area.

The restrictions of the ordinance for certain Kennewick areas include:

 From 6 a.m. to midnight the zone would ban sitting or lying on the sidewalk or in a right-of-way or on a blanket, chair or stool placed there.

 At no time are people allowed to sit or lie at the entrance to a building or parking lot or in a loading zone.

 People may not sit at any time on structures not meant for sitting such as trash containers and bicycle racks.

There are exceptions, including for medical emergencies and people with disabilities, and during events such as parades, festivals, rallies and demonstrations.
A resident who passed on information about the Defence Forces to a representative of the FSB of the Russian Federation was exposed and arrested in the city of Kherson.

Source: The press service of the Security Service of Ukraine (SSU) and the Kherson Oblast prosecutor's office

Details: According to the investigation, the suspect is a nurse at one of the local hospitals. During the occupation of the oblast centre, the woman was recruited by a staff member of the FSB of the Russian Federation, the SSU press service writes.

After the liberation of Kherson, the woman continued to maintain contact with representatives of the aggressor state. Through the messenger, she sent information about Ukrainian defenders being treated in the medical institution to her Russian "acquaintance"  a representative of the Russian special services.

Information on the deployment, armament and movement of military equipment of units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and other defence forces was leaked as well.

The occupying forces used this information to launch missile and artillery strikes and adjust their shelling.

The mobile phone containing evidence of the nurses involvement in illegal activities was seized from her.

The woman was informed of the suspicion of treason committed under martial law. The court chose a preventive measure for her  detention.

Journalists fight on their own frontline. Support Ukrainska Pravda or become our patron!
JAY-Z

Over the last decade, JAY-Z has pushed his champagne brand, Armand de Brignac, commonly known as Ace of Spades, into a premier powerhouse.

Its so coveted that three New York police officers face charges for allegedly stealing nearly $3,000 worth of the beverage at a music festival last year.

According to a Billboard report, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg brought felony charges against Jonathan Gonzales and Wojciech Czech on Monday for taking bottles of Hovs expensive champagne from the VIP area at Electric Zoo in September 2022.

Gonzales and Czech face one fourth-degree charge of grand larceny and one fourth-degree charge of criminal possession of stolen property. Gonzales and a third officer, Warren Golden, also received an official misconduct charge.

Based on the prosecutors investigation, the three detectives worked narcotics at the festival. They witnessed VIP guests order bottles of Ace of Spades.

After the attendees stepped away briefly, Gonzales reportedly took two bottles  worth $2,900 in total  and retrieved a backpack. Czech then allegedly gave Gonzales the bottles to put in the bag, and Golden turned a blind eye to what had occurred.

Once the crooked detectives left the VIP area and went to a staff-only location, two attendees saw the men take the champagne bottles and reported the incident to a security guard.

In addition to the alleged theft that occurred, none of the officers working at the event stepped up and stopped this activity, Bragg said in a statement. Public confidence in the criminal justice system depends on members of law enforcement acting with the utmost integrity while on duty and following the same rules that apply to everyone else.

As a result of the continuing joint investigation with the Internal Affairs Bureau and The Manhattan District Attorneys Office, two NYPD officers were arrested and subsequently suspended from duty today, the NYPD told Billboard. The NYPD will continue to pursue the facts in this investigation and initiate further discipline where appropriate.
The Oakland Unified School District and Oakland Education Association reached a tentative agreement late Sunday, ending a strike that saw students miss eight days of classroom instruction.

The settlement provides all teachers with a 10% salary increase retroactive to Nov. 1, 2022, plus a one-time payment of $5,000.

This was a strike with unusual features, but they will become increasingly common as teachers unions continue to win generous compensation packages and greater influence over district operations. School systems will be forced to deal with these tactics, not just in California but wherever state law allows them to be employed.

Unfair labor practice strikes

A standard teacher strike over wages and working conditions  otherwise known as an economic strike  requires a long administrative process. In California, this means formally declaring an impasse in negotiations, which is followed by analysis and a report by an independent fact-finder.

But theres a loophole. If the employer commits an unfair labor practice, such as bargaining in bad faith, the union can legally walk out at any time.

The problem for school districts, and parents who want their kids in school, is that determining whether the unions complaint has any merit cannot be made instantaneously. It may take months, or even years, before the state labor board can hear the case and render a ruling.

If there is no unfair labor practice, then the strike is illegal and penalties can be levied. But by then, its too late to matter, and the union has probably already won a settlement that ensures it will come out ahead financially.

Related Los Angeles Pays a Steep Price for Labor Peace. Will the War Continue Anyway?

So while the strike is ostensibly called to bring an end to specific alleged unfair labor practices by the district, its real purpose is to jump-start contract negotiations and bring about an advantageous settlement.

Union-friendly publications have articles on how to precipitate an unfair labor practice by an employer and so legitimize a strike. Among the suggested methods are to pepper the employer with detailed information requests or to cite employers for refusing to bargain at reasonable times and locations.

Since 2019, school employees unions have conducted two unfair labor practice strikes in Sacramento, two in Los Angeles and now, two in Oakland.

Bargaining for the common good

This term is used to describe union demands for contract provisions that are geared to benefit a wider community than just teachers and school employees. These include restorative justice, ventilation, affordable housing and even climate change. The Oakland union sought contract language regarding housing vouchers and use of vacant district properties for housing students families, as well as union input on facilities upkeep.

Asking for such things allows the union to position itself as altruistic, seeking more than just better compensation for its members. It also increases the scope of its influence over district operations. Many of these items may, in fact, be beneficial.

But the union is the legal representative for teachers, not for anyone else. The public at large did not elect the Oakland Education Association to decide what was good to bargain for. Nor is the union accountable for the consequences that might arise from its demands. The school board is supposed to represent the public and choose between competing desires and needs within an available budget  which brings us to the most disturbing aspect of the Oakland strike and its settlement.

School board leverage

There has been a lot of media attention over the past couple of years about the politicization of school boards. Special-interest groups clout in politics is a problem as old as the Republic, but the situation in Oakland went well beyond the usual arguments over who funded whose campaign.

The school board, which currently has six members, has been split on the issue of OEAs common-good demands, reported The Oaklandside during the strike. Three members, Jennifer Brouhard, VanCedric Williams and Valarie Bachelor, have joined the union in urging the districts bargaining team to discuss the common good demands with OEA, while other directors have said the demands should be left to the school board to discuss and implement, or left to OUSD to partner with other organizations on.

Related NY, Chicago, LA: Power Plays by the Nations 3 Largest Teachers Union Locals

Its true that all three of the named board members received union campaign contributions, but thats just a standard public policy issue. These three have unique relationships with teachers unions.

Bachelor is employed as a lead organizer for the California Federation of Teachers.

Brouhard is the former secretary of the Oakland Education Association and sat on its executive board at least through the 2021 school year.

Williams was elected to the California Teachers Association board of directors in October, after serving as treasurer of United Educators San Francisco and a member of the National Education Association board of directors.

The union went on an unfair labor practice strike despite having three teacher union activists on the school board. It claimed to be bargaining for the common good even though the common people were woefully underrepresented in negotiations. Lakisha Young, founder of the parent advocacy group The Oakland REACH, wrote in a recent newsletter that her organization has organized and mobilized hundreds of district parents and none of us have been a part of the process.

She added, OEA is replaying tactics Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) parents and students just experienced: say on repeat that the district is bargaining in bad faith, avoid fact-finding, mediation, impasse and then strike!
ISLAMABAD, May 17 (Xinhua) -- At least six people were killed and 18 others injured in a road accident after two passenger buses collided in Pakistan's southwest Balochistan province, officials said on Wednesday.

The accident happened late Tuesday on the Reko Diq Road in the Nok Kundi area of Balochistan, Assistant Commissioner Taftan Sagar Kumar told local media.

He said that both the vehicles caught fire after hitting each other, adding that rescue teams rushed the site and immediately extinguished the fire.

All the injured have been shifted to a nearby hospital, whereas at least 14 among the injured are in critical condition, according to hospital sources, and they are being transferred to Quetta, the provincial capital of Balochistan.

Police said that a full-fledged investigation has been launched into the accident. 
In this July 15, 2015, photo, President Barack Obama answers questions about the Iran nuclear deal during a news conference in the East Room of the White House in Washington. | Pablo Martinez Monsivais, Associated Press

Former President Barack Obama said hes worried about the effects of the politically divided news media in the U.S.

In an interview with CBS News published Tuesday, Obama was asked what keeps him up at night since leaving the White House and he spoke about a lack of shared facts and concerns Americans have over conservative and liberal media.

The thing that Im most worried about is the degree to which we now have a divided conversation in part because we have a divided media, Obama said.

He said the situation today is different than the simpler media environment of the past.

When I was coming up you had three TV stations and people were getting a similar sense of what is true and what isnt, what was real and what was not, he said. Today, what Im most concerned about is the fact that because of the splintering of the media, we almost occupy different realities.

In the past when an event occurred, everybody could say, All right, we may disagree on how to solve it, but at least we all agree that, yeah, thats an issue. Obama said. Now people will say, Well, that didnt happen, or, I dont believe that, or, I dont care about the science, or, Im not concerned about these experts, you know, cause theyre just all liberals or, you know, Thats just conservative propaganda.

Related

Many Americans seem to agree with Obama when it comes to concerns about polarization in the news media. U.S. adults view partisan outlets as the least trustworthy, according to a YouGov poll of U.S. adults released last week that found the Daily Caller, Breitbart News and HuffPost were among the least trusted outlets.

The most trusted news outlet was a network that only covers the weather, the Weather Channel, followed by two news brands on opposite sides of the Atlantic that both receive some public funding: PBS and the BBC. They were followed by The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, The Associated Press, and a trio of news brands with wide, mainstream appeal: ABC, USA Today and CBS.

Gallup polling released last October found the percentage of Americans who say they trust the mass media a great deal or fair amount dropped from 36% to 34% in a year, falling below those who said they have no confidence in the media at all (38%) for the first time since the pollster began asking in 1972.

Related

Obama said one of the goals of his post-presidency and of the Obama Foundation is to find answers to questions like, how do we return to that common conversation, how can we have a common set of facts? He mentioned combating gun violence as an example of an issue Americans might disagree about how to handle, but that all sides have to acknowledge the data.

We may disagree on gun violence in terms of what the best prescriptions are, but we cant deny the data that says the United States has levels of gun violence that are 5, 10, 15 times more than other countries, he said.
No one was initially believed to have been inside the mill when the fire broke out

A fourth man has been arrested on suspicion of manslaughter over a fatal mill fire where the remains of four Vietnamese nationals were found.

Cuong Van Chu, Uoc Van Nguyen, Duong Van Nguyen and Nam Thanh Le were found by demolition workers at Bismark House Mill, Oldham, on 7 July.

Greater Manchester Police said the man, aged 36, being held was also suspected of drug and organised crime offences.

Three men previously held on suspicion of manslaughter have been bailed.

Duong Van Nguyen told family he was living in an "abandoned house", while Uoc Van Nguyen told his wife he was in a mill

No one was initially believed to have been inside the mill when a fire broke out in May.

However, demolition workers discovered human remains at the site two months later.

Police said officers were continuing to work "to complete the formal identification process and organise repatriation".

Mr Van Chu, 39, arrived in the UK in June 2019 and had maintained regular contact with his wife and children until 7 May, but his family had not heard from him since that date, police said.

Officers said Uoc Van Nguyen, 31, was also in regular contact with his wife until the same date, when he said he was in a mill.

Detectives said Duong Van Nguyen, 29, had been in the UK for about a year and last contacted his family about three months earlier, when he said he was living in an "abandoned house" and looking for work.

Mr Thanh Le, 21, who arrived in the UK in January 2022 last contacted his family on 4 May that year when he said he was living in a derelict house in "Dam", believed to be Oldham, and looking for work, police added.

Why not follow BBC North West on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram? You can also send story ideas to northwest.newsonline@bbc.co.uk
Olympia ranked one of top places to visit in US this summer. Other WA cities made the cut

For the past few years, Americans have wondered when traveling will return to how it was during pre-pandemic times. Since the World Health Organization officially ending the global health emergency in early May and Washington state immediately followed suit, the upcoming season is shaping up to be the first real post-COVID summer since the 2020 outbreak.

Will the summer of 2023 really be the first real post-pandemic travel boom? AAA predicts that about 7% more travelers will be out and about than in the summer of 2022. During Memorial Day weekend alone, more than 42 million Americans are expected to travel.

Washingtonians will no doubt be looking to fill up their travel logs in the coming months. Travel blog Travel Lemming recently curated a list of Americas top 150 summer travel destinations, and several Washington state cities and locations are listed as top choices, with Olympia ranked as 10th-best.

Olympia summer events and travel spots

The travel site states Washingtons capital city represents the best of the state, highlighting its vibrant artistic community, performances at local theaters, and live downtown and summer festivals.

Olympia is also a great access point for much of western Washingtons diverse scenery, including rainforests, coastal beaches, state parks, national parks and more. The city rests on the southern shore of the Puget Sound, perfect for kayaking and boating. The following environments are around a two-hour or less drive from Olympia:

Craig Romano recommends hiking the Porter Trail in the Capitol State Forest.

The Milky Way above the crater of Mount St. Helens.

Olympia has no shortage of outdoor festivals in the coming summer months, too. Here are some notable events to add to your calendar:

Visitors and vendors flock to the annual Olympia Harbor Days Festival on Percival Landing Sept. 4, 2022.

Other notable WA destinations

Travel Lemming ranks other Washington locations in top spots to check out this summer, including one central Washington city at #2. Other regions include locales in Pierce County, Seattle and northern Washington.

Leavenworth  #2:

The Bavarian Village lies at the foothills of the Cascade Mountains in Chelan County and is defined by its Old-World Bavarian architecture, wineries and Alpine aesthetic. The town also is home to Washingtons first Alpine Coaster at the Leavenworth Adventure Park, which opens June 1.

Gig Harbor  #21:

The Pierce County town is set just across the northwestern side of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge. Its known for its paddleboarding opportunities, maritime history, breweries, cafes and marine wildlife such as sea lions and jellyfish.

The Church Cantina in Tacoma  #30:

This bar in south Tacoma features an 80s-horror and goth, with candles, skeletons and religious relics on display.

Seattle Seafair  #32: Seattles month-long summer festival lasts from early July to early August. It features an airshow, a torchlight parade and various other community events.

Friday Harbor  #35:

This port town on the eastern edge of San Juan Island contains forests of fragrant cedar and fir, zero stoplights on the roads and abundant wildlife.

Kayakers paddle through the calm waters of Gig Harbor on Wednesday, Oct. 12, 2022. Even though summer has seemed to last longer than usual rain is forecasted throughout the South Puget Sound Area in the coming week.
Dems split on whether parents must know their child is having an abortion

Democrats have been eager to present a united front in support of abortion rights in the post-Roe era.

But as many legislative sessions come to a close, state lawmakers are divided over whether children and teenagers should be able to have an abortion without telling their parents.

Some Democrats see repealing parental notification and consent laws as a political liability, particularly as conservatives push parents rights to win popular support for changing school curricula and banning certain books from libraries.



Democrats reticence is frustrating some abortion rights advocates who want lawmakers to do whatever they can to expand access as red and purple states  including Florida, Nebraska, North Carolina and South Carolina  debate or pass new restrictions on the procedure. The clash also comes as access to mifepristone, one of the two drugs used together to terminate a pregnancy, remains in jeopardy as the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals hears arguments on the pills on Wednesday.

Broadly, every person in our caucus is pro-reproductive freedom. Its always when you get into the details that things become negotiable, said Minnesota state Sen. Erin Maye Quade, a Democrat, who introduced a wide-ranging reproductive health care bill that included repealing the states parental notification law.

Nearly three-quarters of states  including liberal enclaves like Colorado, Maryland and Massachusetts, where Democrats control both legislative chambers and the governors mansion  have laws that either require parents to give permission or be notified before their child terminates a pregnancy.

Minors make up roughly 8 percent of those receiving abortions in the U.S., according to the CDC  the vast majority of them between the ages of 15 and 19.

Anti-abortion groups, eager to make a case that Democrats are the extremists when it comes to abortion, are seizing on the issue  aiming ads and other messaging at parents upset by the idea that their children are having abortions without their knowledge.



Theyre pushing to limit a parents ability to have a say in their daughters lives, said Kelsey Pritchard, director of state public affairs for Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America. Whether an American is pro-life or pro-choice, this goes so far beyond that and so far beyond Roe v. Wade. Its something people of all political stripes are uncomfortable with.

State advocates point to local polling  for instance, in Minnesota  showing the public approves of repealing parental notification laws. But national polling shows overwhelming support for keeping the laws in place: A Pew Research poll conducted last year found 70 percent support for requiring parental notification for minors, including 57 percent of self-described Democrats. And over 50 percent of the public support requiring parental consent.

Its a trickier issue, said Ruth Lytle-Barnaby, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood of Delaware. Everybody, logically, would like to know what their teen is up to  Working through that not all parents have the same response and that sometimes violence in the home can occur  those are long conversations.

Abortion rights groups in Colorado, Delaware and New Hampshire said they didnt even try to repeal their parental involvement laws this year  instead spending their time on other reproductive health efforts. And while bills to repeal or amend parental involvement laws were or will be introduced this year in Minnesota, Oregon and Michigan, their fate is uncertain.

While other provisions of Maye Quades bill were tacked onto an omnibus health bill that is advancing through the legislature, the parental notification repeal was left out. Maggie Meyer, executive director of Pro-Choice Minnesota, said that some Democratic lawmakers who support abortion rights and with whom she has good relationships wouldnt take her calls on the issue.

We have been somewhat shut down in attempting to have these conversations, Meyer said.

Anti-abortion groups are pouncing on this divide.

In multiple states, theyre working to highlight public discomfort with the idea of minors obtaining abortions without their parents knowledge, and argue removing parental consent laws would protect sex traffickers and abusive boyfriends. Conservatives see it as a winning message that cuts across the political spectrum and could help them stymie broader efforts on the left to make it easier for people of all ages to terminate a pregnancy.

In Ohio, they recently poured $5 million into ads arguing that the upcoming ballot measure to codify the right to abortion in the state constitution would strip away parental rights. In one of the TV spots, as ominous music plays over footage of a slamming door, a narrator warns parents: You may be cut out of the biggest decision of her life.

We dont share our campaign strategy but weve conducted polling and we know for a fact that this is something parents are concerned about, said Amy Natoce, the press secretary for Protect Women Ohio. This isnt a Republican or Democratic issue.

Anti-abortion groups used similar parental rights-focused messaging in their campaign in Michigan last year to stop a ballot measure enshrining abortion rights in the states constitution. Voters were not swayed and overwhelmingly approved the amendment. Some lawmakers are pointing to that vote  and several others around the country that the abortion rights side won last year  to argue that Democrats shouldnt be afraid of the issue.

The so-called parents rights narrative is being used through the lens of abortion care and LGBTQ rights  its impossible to pick the two apart because it basically became the same argument, said Laurie Pohutsky, speaker pro tempore of the Michigan House. And what astounds me is that that has been demonstrated to be a losing message virtually across the board, and certainly here in Michigan.

Democratic strategists said they welcome a debate on which party is more extreme on abortion and voice confidence that the rights push to outlaw the procedure entirely will outweigh any voter concerns about unwinding parental involvement requirements.

This conversation about parental consent is not happening in a vacuum for voters, said Martha McKenna, a strategist who has held top positions at the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and the feminist organization EMILYs List. Idaho is saying you can't leave the state to get an abortion. The courts are saying you can't get an abortion pill to manage an early abortion. Florida is saying nothing after six weeks. This is a much, much bigger problem for Republicans in the short and the long term.



Still, some abortion rights advocates believe their political capital is best spent elsewhere, such as pushing for constitutional amendments to protect the right to abortion, expanding insurance coverage of abortion and shielding patients and providers from prosecution.

We feel like it is a barrier and its an unnecessary barrier, said Karen Middleton, president of the abortion rights group Cobalt Advocates in Colorado, where advocates are prioritizing passing an abortion-related ballot measure in 2024. But it is a problem that is probably not affecting as broad an audience.

Progressives have long pushed for the repeal of parental involvement policies, and Democrats in Illinois and Virginia passed laws in recent years allowing minors to seek abortions without telling their parents.

But many states, including Texas and Idaho, have gone in the opposite direction, imposing more restrictions on minors access to reproductive health care including contraception.



In states like Colorado and New Hampshire, advocates said a program that allows minors to petition the court to circumvent the states parental notification or consent requirements, known as judicial bypass, is working well and has lessened the need for immediate repeal. In other states, like Maryland, health care providers can exempt a minor from the parental notification process if they determine following the policy would jeopardize the patients physical or mental health.

But the policies arent working well everywhere. Lytle-Barnaby said that no one has ever used the judicial bypass process in her nearly 11 years at Planned Parenthood of Delaware.

I think its a bit onerous, Lytle-Barnaby said. Thats a struggle, and we know that might be keeping some people from seeking services.

Lawmakers and advocates in favor of repealing parental consent and notification laws said its a matter of both public health and bodily autonomy, and argue that the belief that someone should be able to decide for themselves when and whether to have a child shouldnt come with an arbitrary age-based caveat.

Minnesota lawmaker Maye Quade argued such laws can harm teenagers even when their parents are supportive of their choices.

Its really not about notifying your parents. Its about proving to the clinic that the people you told were in fact your parents. Its really an issue of paperwork, she said. You could be standing with both of your parents at the clinic, but you have to produce your birth certificate or their marriage certificate or their divorce certificate  all of these things to prove that these two people are your parents. And that is the barrier this was meant to create.
One awkward photo sums up how the debt ceiling negotiations are going

U.S. President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris host Congressional leaders, including Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) and Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer for a meeting about raising the debt limit in the Oval Office at the White House on May 16, 2023 in Washington, DC. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Joe Biden met with congressional leaders to discuss solutions to raising the debt ceiling on Tuesday.

The lawmakers emerged with little progress two weeks ahead of a possible default.

One stunningly awkward photo captured the displeasure in the room.

Awkward stances and uncomfortable dispositions were on full display in the Oval Office on this week as President Joe Biden and other high-ranking politicians returned to debt ceiling talks and emerged with little tangible progress.

Biden on Tuesday met with Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell for the second time to attempt to find a solution to raise the debt ceiling. And with a potential default as soon as two weeks away, the lawmakers emerged with still little movement on a deal.

In one stunningly tense photograph, the faces of four of the most powerful people in politics summed up just how difficult the negotiation process appears to be going (Jeffries and McConnell were in attendance, as well, but are not in the photo).

McCarthy seemed stony-faced during discussions

Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy sits in the Oval Office on Tuesday, May 16. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

"Lot of work to do in a short amount of time," McCarthy told reporters following the meeting. "It's unfortunate that we are where we are."

McCarthy did, however, note that he thinks "it is possible to get a deal by the end of the week," and Schumer told reporters that it was a "good and productive meeting. Everyone agreed default would be the worst outcome."

Sen. Chuck Schumer offered a slightly more positive spin

Sen. Chuck Schumer sits in the Oval Office on Tuesday, May 16. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

"We also agreed we have to pass a bipartisan bill with bipartisan support in both chambers," Schumer said.

Biden, meanwhile, appeared positively flummoxed

President Joe Biden sits in the Oval Office on Tuesday, May 16. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

A White House readout on the Tuesday debt ceiling talks offered little concrete evidence as to how close the administration is to reaching a deal.

"The President emphasized that while more work remains on a range of difficult issues, he's optimistic that there is a path to a responsible, bipartisan budget agreement if both sides negotiate in good faith and recognize that neither side will get everything it wants," the statement said.

Kamala Harris looked like she wanted to be anywhere other than the Oval Office

Vice President Kamala Harris sits in the Oval Office on Tuesday, May 16. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

As Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned McCarthy on Monday, the US is still on track to run out of money to pay its bills as soon as early June, meaning Congress needs to act fast to find a solution that would avoid an unprecedented and economically catastrophic default. And with the short timeframe, some Democrats are still urging Biden against compromising with the GOP on their party's priorities.

The White House can "expect pushback on nearly any significant concession. This is not an appropriate vehicle ... I don't think we should normalize such destructive tactics," New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez told Axios.

Read the original article on Business Insider
One dead after small plane crashes and erupts into flames on Florida street

One person has died after a banner plane crashed into the ground and caught fire in Hollywood, Florida, on Wednesday afternoon.

The small airplane was caught on video flying low around buildings moments before it crash-landed on North Park Road around 12.35 pm local time near Memorial Regional Hospital.

Footage from the crash site showed the plane engulfed in flames.

In a press conference, a member of the Hollywood Police Department said the plane burst into flames upon impact and firefighters were able to put out the blaze.

According to police, the only occupant of the single-engine plane died and there were no other injuries.

Police advised people to avoid the area... between Hollywood Blvd and Johnson Street due to dual agency operation.

According to local news outlet WSVN, the plane, a yellow Piper PA-25 Pawnee was owned by Aerial Banners Inc and departed from North Perry Airport in Pembroke Pines. It is unclear at this time where the plane was headed.

The Independent has reached out to Aerial Banners Inc for comment.

Police said they had contacted the National Transportation Safety Board to conduct their own investigation as Hollywood Police and Fire Rescue begin their own.

Seemingly, there were no other vehicles or buildings damaged in the crash, though it is still early in the investigation.

 Banner plane crashes and engulfs in flames near Memorial Regional Hospital in Hollywood; 1 dead.



Full Story  https://t.co/xLdCfYQNQk pic.twitter.com/5lzqDal6Ql  PiQ (@PriapusIQ) May 17, 2023

The person on board who died has not been publicly identified.

Hollywood Police reminded people to use an alternate route other than North Park Road to access the hospital.
One person injured after multiple buildings damaged in Mykolaiv during Russian missile attack  photos

Russians attacked a store in Mykolaiv

Multiple buildings, including a shopping mall and a car showroom, were damaged in the Black Sea port city of Mykolaiv as a result of a Russian missile attack on the evening of May 16, head of Mykolaiv Oblast Military Administration (OVA), Vitaliy Kim, reported on Telegram on May 17.

According to Kim, the strike damaged multiple buildings, including a shopping mall. Kim later showcased the impact of the strike on a store in Mykolaiv, sarcastically mocking Russias claims of destroying Ukraines newest weapons. He highlighted the failure of one out of four super-modern analogue missiles from a recent air raid, and ridiculed Russias weapon standards  sarcastically claiming the destruction of a thousand units of the Kovbasa (sausage) air defense system and Yogurt multiple rocket launchers.

t.me/mykolaivskaODA

A public transport stop was also damaged by the strike, Mykolaiv Mayor Oleksandr Senkevych reported.

The General Staff of Armed Forces of Ukraine confirmed that two Kalibr cruise missiles struck the city, partially destroying a shopping center and a car showroom, which subsequently led to a fire that has since been extinguished by firefighters.

Read also:

Photographs documenting the aftermath of the Russian attack were released by local authorities and the State Emergency Service of Ukraine.

State Emergency Service of Ukraine

State Emergency Service of Ukraine

State Emergency Service of Ukraine

State Emergency Service of Ukraine

In a separate incident on May 13, Mykolaiv was attacked by Russian combat drones, resulting in injuries to three individuals after the drone struck a five-story building.

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Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
OnPolitics: Joe Biden cancels trip to Australia over debt limit talks. Will he reach a deal?

 OnPolitics readers. It sounds like leaders could reach a deal on the debt ceiling soon.

President Joe Biden shortened a planned trip overseas yesterday in order to be back for more debt ceiling negotiations with congressional leaders.

Biden was set to travel to Sydney to meet with leaders of India, Japan and Australia at the conclusion of the Group of Seven Summit, which is taking place this week in Hiroshima. He was also set to stop in Papua New Guinea.

However, White House officials said yesterday Biden would cancel the second half of his trip and return to the U.S. at the end of the summit.

 'Trust, but verify': As McCarthy meets with Biden on debt limit, is the GOP backing him?

Why this matters: The move underscores the urgency of a looming June 1 deadline for potential economic calamity, reporters Francesca Chambers and Joey Garrison write.

So, is there a deal?: Not yet, but leaders, including Biden have remained optimistic.

Biden said yesterday he would be speaking regularly with congressional leaders while in Japan, adding that hes confident they would make progress toward avoiding default.

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., told reporters after meeting with the president and other congressional leaders yesterday that its possible to get a deal by the end of the week.

 Keep reading: Biden cancels trip to Australia over debt ceiling talks, will travel to Japan

 Close to a deal?: Biden, McCarthy make progress on debt ceiling deal but sides still far apart

 ICYMI: 'I don't have anything in my refrigerator': GOP debt ceiling plan would cut SNAP benefits

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Biden cancels trip to Australia over debt limit talks. Will he reach a deal?
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and President Biden before a meeting on the debt limit in the Oval Office last week. (Evan Vucci / Associated Press)

With two weeks left until the national debt ceiling is expected to be reached, precipitating a constitutional and economic crisis, House Republicans continue to insist that President Biden cave in to their threats.

The problem is that if Biden makes any concession as the price of raising the debt ceiling, it will encourage Republicans to take the global economy hostage again and again. After all, their proposal would provide only a short respite from extortion, setting the stage for another showdown less than a year from now.

What happens if Congress fails to raise or suspend the statutory debt limit before the beginning of next month, when the Treasury Department expects to run out of money to cover the nations obligations without further borrowing? Conventional wisdom says the president would have to choose which creditors to pay and which to stiff. But the conventional wisdom is wrong.

The Constitution assigns the power to spend money to Congress. Supreme Court cases under Presidents Nixon and Clinton established that a president who fails to spend funds appropriated by Congress unconstitutionally usurps legislative power. Biden could no more fail to pay the nations bills than he could refuse to serve as commander in chief of the armed forces.

Yet although it would be plainly unlawful for the president to unilaterally decide not to cover some of the nations legal obligations in full and on time  sometimes called prioritization  the same can be said of any presidential attempt to raise revenue through taxes or increase borrowing beyond the debt ceiling.

Once we hit the debt ceiling, Biden will bump into a constitutional obstacle no matter what he does. Failing to spend appropriated funds, raising taxes or borrowing money to pay the bills would all infringe on Congress constitutional powers. The president would face what we have called a trilemma in which all his options are unconstitutional.

Does that mean the president should do nothing? Hardly. Its not even clear what nothing would mean in this context. Not pay the bills? That would amount to unconstitutionally cutting spending. Hide out at his beach house in Rehoboth? That would simply force other executive-branch officials to decide how to encroach on congressional powers.

Even so, a choice has to be made. Comparing household and government finance is often unhelpful, but here it offers some guidance.

Consider a financially distressed tenant who risks eviction if she skips a months rent but also must buy gas and make loan payments on the car she needs to get to work. She explores alternatives: Maybe the landlord will cut her some slack; maybe she can ditch the car and take a bus. Even if there is no escaping an unappealing choice, she doesnt simply give up. Rather, she chooses the least bad option.

The same principle applies to a president: If all his options are unconstitutional, he should choose the least unconstitutional option. So which unconstitutional option  unilaterally raising taxes, disobeying spending laws or borrowing beyond the debt ceiling  is the least unconstitutional? The answer lies in the Constitutions delicate balance of powers.

The nations complex tax and spending laws reflect a vast array of contentious congressional decisions  from how much to spend on childhood nutrition programs to the extent of tech subsidies to the level of assistance to veterans. If the president chose to unilaterally raise taxes, he would confront the question of whose taxes to raise and by how much. If he refused to release the money Congress has appropriated to cover our legal obligations, he would have to decide which bills to pay in full, which to pay in part and which to not pay at all.

Every aspect of these choices would be legislative. The president would become a legislature of one, overriding the compromises and trade-offs that Congress made.

By contrast, violating the debt ceiling would not require the president to make any legislative-style decisions. He would simply instruct the Treasury Department to continue to issue bonds sufficient to cover the shortfall between taxes and appropriations  just as it always does. Borrowing in excess of the debt ceiling is clearly the least unconstitutional option because the president would make only one simple decision instead of leaping into the realm of rewriting multiple laws.

But wait: Might there be a fully constitutional option  the equivalent of selling the car and taking the bus instead? The short answer is no.

Some suggest issuing exotic bonds based on a hyper-technical reading of the debt-ceiling statute. Others propose the administration pay off the debt by minting a multitrillion-dollar platinum coin and depositing it with the Federal Reserve. That would attempt to exploit an extremely dubious statutory loophole while threatening to rattle global markets more than any other option . Besides inviting invalidation by the courts, both the coin and the bonds would probably count as debt and therefore fail to achieve the purpose of avoiding the ceiling.

What about Section 4 of the 14th Amendment , which commands that the validity of the public debt of the United States  shall not be questioned? Although some have wrongly suggested Biden could "invoke" that constitutional provision to disable the debt ceiling the way Harry Potter invokes his protective Patronus , the provision does not imbue the president with special powers. It does, however, mean that a president must not fail to pay the nation's bills and would therefore lead Biden to the same course we are urging.

We wish there were a magic spell to neutralize the debt ceiling. Even without one, however, the president has options. He should choose the least unconstitutional one and continue to meet our national obligations.

Neil H. Buchanan is an economist and law professor at the University of Florida Levin College of Law. Michael C. Dorf is a law professor at Cornell Law School.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
As the nation exits a once-in-a-century pandemic, policymakers everywhere are working toward accelerating learning. High-dosage tutoring. Extra instructional time. New summer programming. Reforms abound  all with the straightforward goal of catching students up and preparing them for college.

Yet, despite states best efforts, data about postsecondary success is alarming. One recent poll found that 56% of Americans think earning a four-year degree is not worth the cost. Skepticism about higher education is rising, while enrollment is declining. So how do policymakers and education leaders prepare students for the future in a time of exceptional academic challenges across all grade levels?

By integrating college classes into high school. This reduces cost and improves outcomes.

This is a moment when America needs to reimagine the K-12 experience, remove barriers to higher ed and achieve K-16 results with K-12 dollars.

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It starts with the college readiness exam. At GEO Academies, the network of public charter schools that I run in Indiana and Louisiana, every high school student  all of whom live in high-poverty areas  takes a college entrance exam for free, starting in ninth grade. If they pass, theyre enrolled in classes immediately at a local college or university, starting in their first year in high school, alongside their traditional 9-12 curriculum. If they dont pass, we prepare them until they do.

Having all students take college readiness exams, such as the College Boards Accuplacer, provides each one with an academic roadmap, telling educators the kind of support they need for college preparedness. Then, our K-16 model provides transportation to our partner community and four-year colleges. This exposes students who otherwise might never have even considered getting a higher degree to college classes on real college campuses, with other college-level students.

All this  the cost of exams, registration, tuition, textbooks and transportation  is covered by our network through existing funding, without any added expense to taxpayers.

We deliver K-16 outcomes on K-12 dollars.

Experiencing college provides unquestionable social benefits for high school students, particularly those who come from low-income backgrounds. As college enrollment declines, learning how to navigate higher education while in high school makes it likelier that students will attain a degree, because college classes and campus life arent foreign to them. Its a seamless transition.

Theres a financial benefit to our students as well. Working toward a high school diploma and a degree simultaneously means students will take on no debt while earning college credit, making them more likely to gain a degree while saving them precious dollars in the process.

What are the academic outcomes? This May, GEO Academies will graduate 22 students who will have earned a college degree before they receive their high school diploma. Last year, one of our students, who began taking college classes at age 11, completed his associate degree by age 13  the youngest in Indiana to do that. He will complete a full bachelors degree while in high school, our third student to achieve this goal, by the time he turns 15.

The numbers speak for themselves. The graduation rate at our Gary school, 21st Century Charter School, is 22 points higher than the district average (94.5% versus 72.8%) and even surpasses the states overall average of 86.5%. Our college and career readiness rating, as calculated by the Indiana Department of Education, is 50 points higher than the districts (88.9%, compared with 37.6%) and again beats the state average (68.1%).

Louisiana does not track college and career readiness like Indiana does, but it did report that just 159 of 42,650 graduates in 2019 received associate degrees while in high school. This year, we will have our first graduating class, with 10% of our 60 seniors earning an associate degree.

Integrating college classes into the high school experience for all students is truly a scalable model that is yielding game-changing results for high-poverty children. But the barriers to doing so are clear: It requires policymakers to rethink what it means to go to high school and reimagine higher education as part of an educational continuum for students.

Reinventing the high school experience requires bold thinking.

Fortunately, America has the funding to be innovative. Tens of billions of ESSER dollars have gone unspent, and many states and districts  so often risk-averse  can capitalize on this moment as an opportunity to reimagine the high school experience.

As policymakers search for answers to accelerate learning, they should look to students in schools in Gary, Indianapolis, and Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Our schools are showing why college has never been more important and are providing the blueprint for integrating college credits into the high school experience.
BEIJING, May 17 (Xinhua) -- At the invitation of Chinese President Xi Jinping, Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev will attend the China-Central Asia Summit and pay a state visit to China from May 18 to 19.

Shavkat Mirziyoyev, 66, was born on July 24, 1957, in Jizzakh Region.

He graduated from the Tashkent Institute of Engineers of Irrigation and Mechanization of Agriculture with a degree in mechanical engineering in 1981. He holds a Ph.D. in Technical Sciences.

He lectured and conducted academic research at the Tashkent Institute of Engineers of Irrigation and Mechanization of Agriculture from 1981 to 1990.

From 1992 to 1996, he became Tashkent's Mirzo Ulugbek District governor. From 1996 to 2003, he successively served as the governor of the Jizzakh Region and the Samarkand Region.

He was appointed Prime Minister of the Republic of Uzbekistan in December 2003 and subsequently re-approved three times in his post in February 2005, January 2010 and February 2015.

Mirziyoyev was elected President of the Republic of Uzbekistan in December 2016.

In October 2021, Mirziyoyev was re-elected President.

He is married and has two daughters and one son. 
A musician who was expelled from a Denver high school over 50 years ago received his diploma. Otis Taylor was kicked out of Manual High School in 1966 because of his hair. This was decades before laws ending racial hair discrimination. Denver Public Schools wanted to right a wrong.

/ Credit: CBS

It's been decades since Otis Taylor roamed the halls at Manual High School. He remembers loving shop and art class. He remembers being on the gymnastics team. He remembers the day Kennedy was shot. He doesn't remember that much about the day he was expelled.



"I remember that day thinking, 'Oh, I'm out of school!'" Taylor told CBS Colorado's Tori Mason.



Taylor was 17 years old at the time.



He went to high school in the 1960s - and Taylor had style.



"You had to have that James Brown haircut. You can have all you want on the top, but you had to be clean on the sides," said Taylor. "The whole school district was coming down on people who didn't look how they wanted you to look."

/ Credit: Otis Taylor

Taylor's administrators gave him an ultimatum.



"Cut your hair or leave."



Taylor left.



"I wasn't thinking about me going into the janitorial business or something. I was trying to figure out how to do my music," said Taylor, about a moment 57 years ago.



He remembers how his parents felt. He says his mom was upset, and his dad was livid. After he was expelled, he went to California where his dad lived. He tried to get into a bar, showed his underage ID and went to jail briefly.



"My father let me sit there for three days. When I came out, he took me straight to a barber. I got my haircut!" laughed Taylor.

Taylor has been nothing short of impressive since. He's had over a dozen blues albums and the awards to match. But this week, eyes were on Taylor for a different tune.



The sound of Pomp and Circumstance played as DPS presented the 74-year-old with a long overdue honorary diploma.





/ Credit: CBS

"Today is a day that we rectify the failures of the past," said Auon'tai Anderson, VP of the Denver School Board. "I know what Otis experienced along with others will no longer happen in the state of Colorado."

Mason asked Taylor if he wonders if life would be different had he cut his hair.

/ Credit: CBS

He says life's been too good to wonder.



"The wrong happened a long time ago. So being a Black man in America, I'm going to deal with wrongs," said Taylor. "My kids went to college. My wife loves me and we've been married for 37 years. How can I regret?"



Otis Taylor will perform at Dazzle in Denver in May. He will also perform at City Park in July.

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Over 40 countries sign declaration to create register of damage caused by Russian aggression

The Prime Minister of the Netherlands, Mark Rutte, joined the signing of the declaration on the creation register of damage

A political declaration on the establishment of a register of damage caused by Russian aggression against Ukraine has just been signed in Reykjavik, he said in a post, while attending the Council of Europe Summit in Iceland.

I thank the Council of Europe and all the member states that have supported this landmark decision at a high level.

Shmyhal emphasized that the register of damage is an important step towards justice and compensation to Ukraine and Ukrainians for the damages caused by Russian troops.

Read also: The Hague to set up register of damage caused to Ukraine by Russian aggression

The prime minister added that it is currently necessary to ensure the registers operation so that victims of Russian aggression can submit their applications.

On July 17, 2022, the Dutch government backed Ukraines proposal to establish an international register of damage caused by Russian aggression.

Ukrainian Justice Minister Denys Maliuska emphasized that all damage caused by the aggressor country must be carefully documented and evaluated for compensation in future.

The need to establish a register of damage was separately mentioned in the UN General Assembly resolution of Nov. 14, 2022, which referred to the need to create an international mechanism for compensation for damage resulting from Russias violent aggression against Ukraine.

Were bringing the voice of Ukraine to the world. Support us with a one-time donation, or become a Patron!

Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
PAs future rail system is cleaner, safer, and could create 1000s of jobs in Erie at Wabtec

Modernizing our country's rail system, if done right, can create thousands of family-sustaining jobs. Some of those jobs would manufacture cleaner, safer green locomotives, the future of rail transportation. Moreover, production of green locomotives can build local wealth and put as many as 10,000 people to work, restoring opportunity in places like Erie, Pennsylvania  a global leader in this vital industry.

Stephen Herzenberg

The desperate need to invest in upgrading the U.S. rail system was recently exposed by the train derailment and chemical disaster in East Palestine, Ohio. But beyond tragedies like this, folks across the country are being poisoned everyday by harmful diesel fumes and other locomotive emissions. The vast majority of freight locomotives are old diesel engines which do not conform to today's standards. They pump unnecessary carbon into our air, fill rail yards with diesel exhaust and other pollutants, impacting the health of workers, and of those in nearby communities. Those communities are often low-income, including communities of color.

More: Wabtec picks up steam as focus moves to new lines of work

Today's hybrid diesel-electric green locomotives create 50-90% less pollution during operation than older diesel locomotives. But those old models comprise 90% of freight locomotives that run on American rails today. Next-generation electric locomotives run entirely on batteries do even better  they create no pollution at all during operation if charged on renewable energy.

More: Resolving to do better: Penn State Behrend initiative to bolster industry and environment

More: Talks between Wabtec and union inch ahead as memories of 2019 strike linger

In recent decades, Erie has lost many good manufacturing jobs, including at the Lawrence Park plant previously owned by General Electric but now part of Wabtec (Westinghouse Air Brake Technology). Production of locomotives there has been declining since 2008. But the plant still has the space and equipment needed to ramp production back up. And the local union workforce is ready to apply its skills and experience to build the green locomotives needed.

A crew works near locomotives stored at Wabtec Corp. on April 7, 2020, in Lawrence Park Township.

According to a new study, scaling up green locomotive production in Erie to feed a sustainable U.S. rail system could be a game-changer for economic opportunity in northwest Pennsylvania.

The study, conducted by the PERI institute at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, finds that if the Wabtec facility were to produce 1,000 green locomotives per year, up to 5,000 well-paying jobs would be created at the facility itself. A similar number would be created elsewhere in Erie County, at suppliers and at businesses that serve workers and managers when they spend their wages. The total job creation across the United States could be as much as 15,000.

The east entrance to the Wabtec locomotive-manufacturing facility in Lawrence Park Township is shown on Jan. 19. The company, which purchased GE Transportation in 2019, reported sales of $8.36 billion in 2022.

To ensure this brighter future for our region will require the collaboration of corporations, the government, labor and community groups.

Corporations have the opportunity  and the responsibility  to be part of the solution. Railroads must update their locomotives. Wabtec, in turn, must commit to building those locomotives in the Erie community. The company has the resources to make the investments needed in the facility and the workforce required.

A locomotive, bound for Egypt, is assembled in building 10 at Wabtec Corporation in Lawrence Park Township on Jan. 19, 2023.

Nonprofit groups like ReImagine Appalachia can work as connective tissue to bring these partners together, to help leverage federal support, and to support local hiring that maximize the benefit for the community. In conjunction with subsidizing green manufacturing, the government must ensure that locomotives aren't making people sick and damaging our climate. Some action has happened at the federal level, like a recent Environmental Protection Agency proposal for a rule that would allow states to set higher emission standards.

Good jobs in clean industries are something we all can agree on. It's time to invest in the workers and communities of northwestern Pennsylvania to make this unifying and practical future a reality.

Stephen Herzenberg is the executive director of the Keystone Research Center (KRC).

This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Building green locomotives at Wabtec in Erie could create 5,000 jobs
Its time to face the truth: Parental leave isnt enough. Employers in a country with no mandated federal parental leave may think that they support parents by offering any paid leave at all. But by only focusing on parental support during the first stage of childhood, employers are failing parents and limiting their pool of exceptional workers. Its time for employers to reexamine how they support parents beyond the infancy phasean action that holds unsung benefits for business.

Im the founder of a biotech start-up called Helaina. Im also a new mom. Since my son Leo was born last summer, I began the balancing act of life as a CEO and mother. In that short time Ive experienced firsthand how the demands of parenthood continue beyond the early days. Children of all ages and childcare workers get sick; Childcare costs are soaring (averaging $10,600 per child per year, and climbing); School pick-up is in the middle of the day. We all know this. And yet, some employers deny that reality.

Related: Companies are cutting parental leavewhy doesnt the U.S. value families?

This disconnect directly contributes to the unique disadvantages that parents, particularly women, face in the workplace. According to a 2022 study by the National Bureau of Economic Research, Parenthood reduces female employment by 25% and female earnings by 33%, relative to males. Female employment has continued to drop in recent years; moms surveyed in Motherlys 2023 State of Motherhood Report cite expensive childcare and rigid work schedules as two key reasons for leaving the workforce.

But some change is within our grasp. The PUMP for Nursing Mothers Act was just signed into law, ensuring federal protection for many breastfeeding moms right to break time and a private space to pump during the day. The PUMP Act also makes it possible for breastfeeding moms to file lawsuits against employers who fail to abide by the law. More federal protections for parents followed in April, when President Biden signed an executive order focused on steps to make child care more affordable and accessible. It includes over 50 directives to various federal agencies. While the impact of this order will be determined over time, in the meantime, employers have the ability and responsibility to take action now. Employers can support women and parents in several, tangible ways that connect with highly-qualified job seekers. And, should parents receive more tangible support? This would result in happier families and more engaged, more productive, less resentful and less burnt-out employees.

4 ways (and reasons) companies can support parents

1. Provide childcare stipends

Motherlys 2023 State of Motherhood Report found that 52% of working moms have considered leaving the workforce because childcare is too expensive. The same survey found that 67% of moms spend at least $1,000 per month on childcare. Offsetting these costs as part of an employees benefits package is a concrete way to demonstrate that your workplace is one that values equity and inclusivity. If employers truly want a diverse workforce, they must acknowledge the soaring cost of childcare and the economic toll it takes on parents. Employers should care because one-third of the U.S workforce has a child under 14 in their household, according to the Harvard Business Review. Why isolate one-third of the American workforce? Doing so only denies the link between childcare and the economy.

Related: Its time for employers to stop penalizing parents who take paid family leave

2. Embrace flexible schedules

Some employers fear that flexible schedules, such as allowing parents to pick up a child from school or gather with family for an early dinner, results in less productivity. But the opposite is true. According to a Future Forum Pulse report, Workplace flexibility fuels company culture and productivity. The metrics in this report are convincing. According to the report, Employees who are dissatisfied with their level of flexibility at work are 43% more likely to say they feel burned out at work. When employees can work on their own schedule, they are more productive, creative, and committed to your business. In situations, like labwork, where flexibility potential is limited, employers can still get creative. At Helaina, we have core working hours for lab staff, allowing employees to flex earlier or later depending on personal schedules.

3. Rethink after-hours events

Build morale and connections for employees by rethinking after-work events. When companies have regular events outside of business hours, parents are impacted the most. By being intentional about when successes are celebrated, employers can build the infrastructure for better integration, equality and social connections for parents. By choosing to light candles on a birthday cake during lunch or scheduling an off-site on a week day, rather than defaulting to after work or weekend events, employers are not only accommodating parents, but are also taking a step forward in gender equality in the workplace (where in 2022, women still only earned an average of 82% of what men earn).

Related: Paid leave is good for babies, women, families, businesses and America. Heres why

4. Build additional support infrastructure

To enable parents to perform their best at work, employers must support workers themselves, not only their children. One example is employee resource groups for parents. Providing a space for parents to share concerns and challenges and connect with others who are facing similar obstacles has a quantifiable impact on employee retention and career satisfaction. According to an article titled Childcare is a Business Issue in the Harvard Business Review, Companies that have adopted programming designed to build community and peer-to-peer support networks have seen a 90% increased commitment and organizational attachment from their female professionals. Employees can help each other navigate the balance of home and work if they are given the space to do so.

Parenthood doesnt start and end during maternity leave.

Last year, I joined the 72% of moms in the U.S. who work. Since becoming a parent, Ive faced a stereotype that still persists in the start-up world: the assumption that parenthood and the demands of a start-up are incompatible. Sounds like something a man would say. American office culture was designed by men, for men. Or more specifically, by men without family responsibilities for men without family responsibilities. This no longer describes the average American worker, yet workplace culture has lagged behind in its evolution.

In my experience as a female founder of a rapidly growing Series A company, parenting is not a weakness, but rather a strength in my team. Parents are impressively judicious with their time. They are organized, fast decision makers, multi-taskers, creative thinkers, and goal-oriented. They have no time to waste, and so no time is wasted. Parents are some of my best employees.

Parenthood doesnt start and end during maternity leave. Lets give American mothers what they really want: comprehensive parental support benefits from infancy through teenage years. Its time for a long overdue cultural shift in how the workplace views and treats parents. I believe that employers can and must lead the charge: Improve working conditions for parents and build a loyal company culture that allows your business to thrive.
There has to be a better alternative to combination classes than busing students to other schools, parents and teachers complained to the Modesto City Schools board Monday night.

Combination classes put students from two grade levels in the same classroom with one teacher. Theyre among the options when a school has too few students in one or more grade levels to create a regularly sized class.

Other options include teachers accepting more students in a class than whats outlined in their contract, Associate Superintendent Brad Goudeau said in a presentation to the trustees Monday night. They are compensated for the increased workload, but one obstacle is that classrooms may not be able to accommodate more desks. Similarly, a school may want to add a class but not have the physical space to do so.

Or students can be overflowed, meaning students may face a bus ride out of their neighborhood and families may end up with siblings at different schools.

A survey was sent to all families of students in transitional kindergarten through sixth grade  more than 10,000 in all. Of that number, there were 773 responses. Results showed that 64% preferred a combo class to overflow, and 35% preferred overflow, Goudeau reported.

But parents who addressed trustees after the presentation said neither option is good.

Combos are lesser of two evils

The survey should not be interpreted as parents supporting combo classes, said Lakewood Elementary parent Lauren Montavon. They simply picked what they believe to be the lesser of two evils, she said. The survey did not describe to them how combo classes work. It did not explain to parents how their students would receive only 50% instruction time.

Two fourth-graders in a fourth/fifth-grade combo class at Enslen Elementary spoke to what Montavon said about direct instruction. The teacher is with the other grade half of the time, one of the children said. She has to teach the other class while we do work by ourselves, but some kids dont do their work and play around.

Goudeaus presentation also included math and English/language arts test scores that showed higher performance by students in combo classes than in single-grade classes.

An Enslen parent who also is a substitute teacher in the district said the testing data bars are so close, Im unclear if this is even a statistically significant result. And Trustee Jolene Daly noted that the data was based on just one round of testing from October and November.

Superintendent Sara Noguchi said the district will look at test results from all three trimesters of this school year and next. I can see how folks might see that this possibly could be misleading because it is one trimester, she said at the meeting, but I can say the data I have seen out of two trimesters, the majority of the grades that were combos outperformed a single grade.

District staff will report back to the board in September after it gathers all of its data over the summer, she said.

One-time funds offer reprieve

At a late-March board meeting, parents spoke in protest of the projected 33 combination classes across the districts 22 elementary schools during the 2023-24 school year.

Monday night, Goudeau reported to trustees that $2.4 million in one-time funds will allow the district to reduce the number of combo classes next year. But this is not a sustainable model for one-time dollars, he added.

Parent Marc Etchebarne argued that giving every student a full-time teacher should not have to rely on one-time funds. We cant look a little closer at the budget and what we can cut ...? he said.

Theres room for internal maneuverability with current district positions, he said, including dozens of credentialed teachers who are working in professional development at the district office but could be in classrooms. They could teach the kids and mentor from their own school sites, he said.

Much changed since combos were norm

How combo classes are used across the district also was questioned by families and teachers at Mondays meeting.

Mary Morado, a second-grade teacher at Kirschen Elementary, said next year will be her 30th as an educator. She noted that when she began her career, combos were the norm in many schools, but the cognitive and academic demands that we place on children have exponentially increased since then. And with the toll the pandemic took on childrens socioemotional health, they need more support than ever, she argued.

She pleaded with trustees to think about where combo classes are having the most impact. Theyre at our schools with English learners with parents that may or may not have had a good educational experience. And theyre good, solid citizens and members of our community that want to help their kids, but they dont have the skills to do so.

Her school is on the citys west side, has a high number of English learners and has two combo classes, she said. Other school sites dont have them at all. How is that being equitable?

Trustee Adolfo Lopez agreed with her. We hate to have combination classes, he said, but when there is no alternative, it has to be equitable throughout our district.

Other trustees, including Abel Maestas and board Vice President John Ervin III, asked district staff to take another crack at a survey of families. Both asked that it ask for more qualitative data, an opportunity for parents to offer suggestions, not just answer multiple-choice questions.

Maestas, who said that as a parent he took the survey, said hed like to see one that is an outlet for families to share their thoughts. It would be a valuable way to hear from parents beyond those who turn out for board meetings, he said.

Qualitative data goes far in gaining information especially when people are asked to pick between two choices  in this case combo classes or busing  that might both be unappealing. Maestas said.

The presentation on combination classes and the discussion that followed can be viewed at www.youtube.com/watch?v=89uGsPQv_zw . It starts at the 2:12:45 mark.
Jonathan Drake/Reuters

A single lawmaker who switched parties this spring helped North Carolina Republicans override the Democratic governors veto Tuesday and enact a sweeping new abortion ban that will impede access throughout the South.

Tricia Cotham, a state representative who in April announced she was switching from Democrat to Republican, gave the party the two-thirds supermajority required to bar pregnant people from having abortions after 12 weeks gestation.

The ban will significantly limit the amount of time patients have to seek abortions, making it more difficult for those traveling from even more restrictive states to access the procedure in North Carolina.

Legislators voted late into the night, following days of last-minute jockeying to persuade at least one Republican to uphold Gov. Roy Coopers veto. Abortion rights advocates held out hope until the last minute that Cothamwho passionately spoke out about her own abortion on the House floor in 2015would vote against it or simply abstain.

But Cotham voted in favor of the ban, along with two other legislators who had previously pledged to uphold the existing law allowing abortion up to 20 weeks. Audience members erupted in chants of Shame! as the results were announced.

Today will go down as a shameful loss of freedom in our state, said North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein, who is running for governor.

Cotham, a lifelong Democrat who previously served in the assembly from 2007 to 2017, switched party affiliations after winning re-election as a Democrat in November. At a press conference announcing the switch, Cotham said she had been bullied by Democrats and alienated from the party. She said Democrats had not clapped for her when she was honored as the youngest woman elected to the state house in Marcha claim that flummoxed Democrats, who said both parties had applauded.

Cothams defection in theory gave Republicans in the legislature the 72 votes they need to override any of Coopers vetoes. With that supermajority, Republicans hope to pass education and policing reform and anti-transgender provisions.

The ban passed on Tuesday replaces a 20-week ban. It also limits the amount of time pregnant people have to seek abortions in cases of rape, incest, or severe fetal abnormality, and requires patients to meet with their provider 72 hours before the procedure.

The 72-hour restriction is especially damaging to women traveling from out of state, the numbers of which have skyrocketed since surrounding states passed restrictive bans following the fall of Roe v. Wade.

Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee and Mississippi have all banned abortion completely, while Georgia and Florida ban the procedure after six months, leaving North Carolina an important outlet for access. The state saw a 37 percent increase in abortions in the eight months after Roe fell, according to The New York Times, and a local abortion fund reported an 400 percent increase in requests for assistance.

Now patients will have to travel to North Carolina within 12 weeks or make longer, more expensive journeys to the dwindling number of more permissive states.

The provisions of this bill are just going to be so devastating for people who would be coming from outside North Carolina for care, said the director of engagement for the Carolina Abortion Fund, who asked that her name not be used for fear of harassment.

I cannot tell you how many times Ive spoken to someone who did not know they were pregnant until it was too late, or they were assaulted ... or theyre underage, or theyre scared, or they dont have the money, she added. These bans hurt people who are already struggling to access care. Its just going to entrench those difficulties.

Cotham campaigned on protecting abortion rights, tweeting in May 2022 that the state needed leaders who will be unwavering and unapologetic in their support of abortion rights. She supported a bill codifying the protections of Roe v. Wade into law as recently as this year.

But Cotham was not the only legislator to flip-flip on abortion. Republican Rep. John Bradford told the editorial board of the Charlotte Observer in October that he would leave the existing 20-week law in place, saying: I support the law  Thats a pretty clear position, where I am, where Ive been. Republican Rep. Ted Davis also said last year that he supports what the law is in North Carolina right now.

In a last-ditch attempt to stop the override, abortion rights advocates inundated the legislators with calls asking them to change their minds, at one point contacting Davis and Sen. Michael Lee at least once every three minutes, according to the Times. Never & Now, an abortion rights advocacy group started by four North Carolina moms after the fall of Roe, also sent out emails and social media posts asking their community members to call legislators. Co-founder Liz Morrell told The Daily Beast that volunteers found several Republican legislators voicemails were full or disabled this week.

State Democratic Party Chair Anderson Clayton said the party organized literature drops, phone banks, and rallies in the members neighborhoods, with a particular emphasis on Cotham.

I want people to put the pressure on them that [they are] going to have to answer for this, she told The Daily Beast. Of Cotham, she added: Were just asking her not to take away our rights to things she already had.

During the House vote Tuesday, Democratic lawmakers complained that the bill had been introduced and voted on in 42 hoursless time than pregnant people are required to wait to have an abortion under the law. One lawmaker shared her own abortion experience; two spoke about their fears for their teenage daughters. Others questioned why the legislature was so eager to pass a bill not supported by the majority of voters.

Why are we doing this? Why are you so determined to subvert the popular will of our state? asked Rep. Julie von Haefen. Why do you so profoundly distrust the women of our state?

Cotham, Bradford, and Davis did not speak before casting their votes in favor of the override.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

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NEW YORK (AP)  An Islamic extremist was given 10 life sentences and another 260 years in prison on Wednesday for killing eight people with a truck on a bike path in Manhattan and severely injuring 18 others.

"The conduct in this case is among the worst if not the worst I've ever seen," said U.S. District Judge Vernon S. Broderick. He cited the unrepentant nature of Sayfullo Saipov, who, given a chance to speak, said the tears of victims and family members in the courtroom were small compared to the blood and tears that those in the Islamic faith have suffered.

Saipov's sentence came after a jury in March rejected the death penalty for the Uzbekistan citizen and onetime New Jersey resident, leaving him with a mandatory life prison sentence for his Oct. 31, 2017 slaughter of tourists and New Yorkers. Saipov was living in Paterson at the time of the arrest.

Darren Drake, 32, of New Milford, was among those killed. The Darren Drake Act, signed into law by President Joe Biden in December, is a bipartisan law aimed at stopping lone-wolf terrorism.

Relatives of eight people killed in the Halloween terror attack spoke sometimes through tears during the sentencing, describing their lingering pain and sometimes directly addressing the man convicted in the deaths.

Previous coverage: Parents of NYC terror victim Darren Drake 'lived the trauma,' glad trial is over

Frank Decadt, father of victim Ann-Laure Decadt, told Saipov that he hoped that "one day you will understand the extent of horror you have inflicted on so many people."

Marion Van Reeth, who lost her legs in the attack, sat before Saipov in her wheelchair, telling him: "I will never be able to walk like you can."

Marion Van Reeth leaves Manhattan federal court after making a victim statement at the sentencing of convicted Islamic extremist Sayfullo Saipov, Wednesday May 17, 2023, in New York.

As Saipov kept his head drooped and eyes lowered, listening to a translation of the proceedings through earphones, she said: "I have a question for you. After all this time in prison, are you still convinced that your criminal acts against innocent people was the right thing?"

Like others, she expressed hope that someday Saipov would see that his terrorist act was wrong.

Prosecutors urged Broderick to impose a sentence of eight consecutive life sentences  one for each death  and an additional 260 years in prison, according to a presentence submission.

Mike Kelly: Finally, justice in the 2017 NYC terror attack. But why did it take so long?

"Saipov is an unabashed terrorist  a proud murderer who deserves no leniency and should be punished to the fullest extent of the law," prosecutors wrote.

The judge followed the prosecution's recommendation, imposing eight consecutive life sentences and two to run concurrently, though the practical effect of a single life sentence is the same since there is no parole.

Gabriela Pabla Pereya, the wife of Ariel Erlij, who was among five men from Argentina killed during a bike ride as they celebrated the 30th anniversary of their high school graduation, delivered the shortest statement during the sentencing hearing. She called Saipov a coward and said if he truly wanted God "to accept and love you, go kill yourself."

Monica Missio, whose son, Nicholas Cleves was killed, told Saipov his death "has completely destroyed my life."

Rachel Pharn, 26, speaks with media outside Manhattan federal court, after making an impact statement at the sentencing of convicted Islamic terrorist Sayfullo Saipov, Wednesday May 17, 2023, in New York.

Saipov, 35, left a path of destruction behind him with his terrorist attack.

Five tourists from Argentina, two Americans and a Belgian woman were killed, and 18 others were seriously injured.

Saipov was shot by a police officer and immediately taken into custody after emerging from his truck shouting "God is great" in Arabic and waving paintball and pellet guns in the air.

Prosecutors said he smiled as he asked FBI agents who questioned him in a hospital room after the attack if they could hang an Islamic State group flag on the walls.

At his trial, his family members urged a life sentence, saying they hoped he would realize what he had done and express remorse. They said they wanted him to return to the passive person they remembered him as before he grew obsessed with online propaganda posted by the Islamic State militant group.

A former long-haul truck driver, Saipov moved legally to the U.S. from Uzbekistan in 2010 and lived in Ohio and Florida before joining his family in Paterson.

His lawyer, David Patton, told jurors that his actions were "senseless, horrific, and there's no justification for them."

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: NYC bike path attack: Sayfullo Saipov, of Paterson, sentenced
Patriot missile defense in Kyiv sustained minor damage and remains operational, report says

Patriot air defense in Poland

The Pentagon representative stated that the damage inflicted by an unidentified projectile that fell near the Patriot system is still being evaluated.

Read also: Air Force reveals that Patriot system that took down Russian Kinzhal was operating autonomously

" The Patriot is in service; all is well," Yuri Ihnat, spokesman for Ukraines Air Force, told AFP.

Earlier, CNN reported that the Patriot missile defense system sustained minimal damage from the Russian attack.

Read also: One person injured after multiple buildings damaged in Mykolaiv during Russian missile attack  photos

On May 17, Russias Defense Ministry claimed the "destruction" of a Patriot battery by the Kinzhal air-launched hypersonic missile, asserting the destruction of "five launchers" and "multifunctional radar stations."

CNN later reported that the system could have been damaged. The White House was unable to confirm the report.

Read also: US position on long-range missiles unchanged after UK gives Storm Shadow to Ukraine, says Pentagon

During an attack on the night of May 4, Ukraine achieved the first ever interception of a Kinzhal hypersonic missiles. Subsequently, Russia has prioritized attempting to neutralize Ukraines improved air defense capabilities, but in the process has likely lost several more of these missiles.

Were bringing the voice of Ukraine to the world. Support us with a one-time donation, or become a Patron!

Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
A soldier stands in front of a Patriot surface-to-air missile system during a military exercise in Poland on February 7, 2023

A high-tech Patriot air defense system provided to Ukraine suffered damage but is still working, a US defense official said Wednesday.

"The Patriot system remains operational" and the damage -- caused by an unspecified projectile landing near it -- is still being assessed, the official told AFP.

Ukraine repeatedly pushed for its supporters to provide the Patriot system to help shield against relentless Russian strikes targeting civilians and infrastructure, and the damaged battery is only one of two confirmed to have arrived in the country.

Ukrainian air force spokesman Yury Ignat earlier said that "all is fine with the Patriot," but declined to specify if the sophisticated system had been damaged.

"The Patriot is in service," Ignat told AFP. "All is well."

The Russian defense ministry said Tuesday that its forces had struck a Patriot system in Kyiv with a Kinzhal hypersonic missile.

Kyiv announced Ukraine's air defense shot down six of Russia's hypersonic missiles, but Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu rejected that claim.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, who unveiled the Kinzhal in 2018, has termed it "an ideal weapon" that is extremely difficult to intercept.

Kyiv also said it downed a Kinzhal using a Patriot system in the first week of May, describing it as a "historic event."

- Boosting Ukraine's air defenses -

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said the Patriot system would significantly strengthen Ukraine's defenses against Russian strikes.

After promising late last year that it would provide a Patriot battery to Ukraine, the United States trained a group of 65 Ukrainian troops on its use in the state of Oklahoma between January and late March.

Made by Raytheon, the MIM-104 Patriot is a surface-to-air missile system initially developed to intercept high-flying aircraft.

It was modified in the 1980s to focus on the new threat of tactical ballistic missiles, and was used in combat against Iraq's Russian-made Scuds in the first Gulf War.

Ukraine's air defenses have played a key role in protecting the country from strikes and preventing Moscow's forces from gaining control of the skies.

But as Russia faced increasing setbacks on the ground, it began systematically targeting critical infrastructure in Ukraine in attacks that have disrupted electricity, water and heat to millions of people.

When Russia invaded in February 2022, Ukraine's air defenses largely consisted of Soviet-era planes and SAM systems.

They have been significantly augmented since the start of the war: in addition to Patriot, the United States provided NASAMS and Germany IRIS-T -- two advanced systems -- while older equipment such as the S-300 and HAWK systems and Stinger missiles have also been donated.

wd/dw
Patriot missile ukraine

Yesterday evening, video began to emerge out of Kyiv showing a massive volley of surface-to-air missiles roaring into the night sky. This came as reports stated that the capital was under an unprecedented degree of aerial standoff attacks. Speculation quickly ran wild that a Patriot system, one of just two donated to the country and just recently put into service, had been hit by a Russian weapon. I jumped on Twitter to try to give some context to what was being seen and its implication and I think now, a day later, it is even more important to share some of it in retrospect. This is especially the case now that several media outlets are reporting at least one of the Patriot batteries was indeed at least damaged in the barrage.

You can read our initial report on the large-scale aerial attack and the air defense response here.

https://twitter.com/Aviation_Intel/status/1658297847345991680?s=20

https://twitter.com/Aviation_Intel/status/1658298861499351041?s=20

First, as stated last evening, its entirely possible that one of the Patriot systems was damaged in the aerial onslaught due to an enemy weapon. Its also worth remembering that just like any missile system, Patriot interceptors fail, and sometimes they do so right after launch in spectacular fashion. These failures can even damage parts of the battery itself, although that is rare. And sometimes such a failure can look like the battery was hit by the enemy. So claims of a Patriot site being struck due to a flash seen in a video, or some other single piece of vague evidence, are not worth a hard conclusion. On a very active and dynamic battlefield, things explode and sometimes its not caused by enemy munitions and sometimes it is.

https://twitter.com/csm231_/status/1658263563914362880?s=20

Second, and far more importantly, is that the possibility of a Patriot system being damaged or destroyed by enemy fire should not come as a surprise at all. From the first time it was uttered that Patriot could be on the table for Ukraine, we made it clear that those systems would become Russias top target to which they would assign their most capable weapons. Kinzhal air-launched ballistic missiles would be the top conventional weapon of choice to try to successfully attack those batteries. It was designed, in part, to evade higher-tier anti-ballistic missile defenses. As time went on and the Patriot deal for Ukraine was formally announced, Russia said just as much, that it would be at the top of its targeting list.

So Patriot was always going to be under direct attack just as soon as it arrived and its location was ascertained by Russia. Its radars put out a massive electromagnetic signature that is not hard to detect and geolocate. Even the most nimble configuration of the Patriot system is also quite static and it takes time to move from one location to another. Multiple types of other intelligence, from satellite imagery to informants on the ground, can help geolocate such a large layout in near-real time.

There simply was no doubt that these batteries would become absolute missile magnets, not just for their capabilities and overt value, but also for what they symbolize  increasing support from the U.S. and its allies for Ukraine via the donation of advanced weapons. This is all something of a feature, not just a bug.

Every weapon fired at the Patriot battery is one less weapon Russia can use to hit other targets. And while the Patriot batteries are of very high value, they are also the best-defended locations in the country, so Russia would be spending a lot of its best standoff weapons, an arsenal that is dwindling in size and very hard to replace, just to get a shot at a hit. While Patriot interceptors vary in capability, can be very expensive, and can be depleted fairly quickly, there are thousands in NATO's collective inventory.

As I stated last night, Russia is doing exactly what we always expected it to do. It would start with basic attempts at taking out the Patriot battery, usually by targeting its radar, with as few advanced weapons as possible. This is precisely what we have seen them attempt to do. Once that didnt work, they would layer in multiple threats from different attack vectors, which would include air-breathing and ballistic types. So Shahed-136s, various cruise missiles, and Kinzhal and Iskander-Ms, all attacking in a coordinated and well-timed manner in an attempt to overwhelm Ukraines air defense network, and especially the Patriot itself.

So none of this was unexpected and damage to a Patriot battery shouldnt have been either, if indeed that actually occurred.

Remember that a Patriot battery is made up of many elements that can be spread out over a fairly wide area. One unitary conventional warhead from a standoff missile or drone is not going to destroy the whole battery. The enemys best bet is to destroy or damage the radar/radars, and in doing so put the battery largely out of action or at least in a degraded remote launch state. If many weapons targeted at a Patriot battery were able to pierce Ukraines defensive umbrella then the damage could be more widespread and feature secondaries caused by the interceptors exploding in their box launchers. But that is far less likely than a leaker or two getting through and causing limited damage to the finite number of battery elements.

A look at a Patriot battery arranged at an airport in Texas during a training exercise. (Reader submission)

As we have stated many times over the years, air defense, and especially missile defense, is not magic. Far from it. It is not an impenetrable shield. That is a fantasy that has emerged from Hollywood, elements of the mainstream media, outright propaganda, and defense marketing. The Patriot is a very capable system, even in its most basic configuration, but especially so the more deeply it is woven into a larger integrated air defense network. That, however, does not make it a foolproof invisible wall. It can be attacked, overwhelmed, and it can malfunction. In some cases, it can just be down for servicing at an inopportune time and whatever is backing it up, if anything, is just as failable. A complex attack that layers in other threats means that its successful defense may also at least partially rely on other systems, such as lower-tier air defense systems, from NASAMS to drone jamming rifles.

So none of this should be unexpected and it is really just the beginning. The Patriot will continue to be targeted in increasingly complex ways. And yes, we should be prepared to hear that a Patriot battery was damaged or parts of it were destroyed. That is the nature of warfare, especially against an enemy like Russia that still has considerable capabilities and has worked for decades to defeat this exact system.

While Patriot batteries are in far smaller supply than most may think, lost hardware can and likely will be replaced. The trained Ukrainian operators that operate and service it are of higher value, and cannot just be sent from a depot somewhere as attrition replacements.

U.S. Patriot missile batteries from the 5th Battalion, 7th Air Defense Artillery Regiment stand ready at sunset in Poland on April 10, 2022. The deployment of these air & missile defense systems is purely defensive. They contribute to the robust shielding provided along NATOs Eastern flank. The SBAMD systems will protect Allied, populations, territory, and our deployed forces from attack. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. 1st Class Christopher Smith)

Finally, we need to remember that the destruction of enemy air defenses (DEAD), an activity that Ukraine and Russia are very active in performing, is a mission, not a capability, weapon, or platform. SAM batteries can be destroyed by small special operations teams on the ground or by a slew of other means. Anti-radiation missiles still remain a threat as well. The bottom line is that Russia is going to try to realize their DEAD objectives in relation to Patriot any way they can and that will likely go beyond lobbing Kinzhals and Shaheds at it as time goes on.

All that being said, the Patriot is just another weapon system. It is not magical. It is not invincible or perfect. But it is critically important, especially now that Ukraines Soviet-era long-range air defenses may be down to their last rounds. It also gives Ukraine critical anti-ballistic missile capability to protect its capital from those kinds of attacks, which it really didn't have before.

https://twitter.com/Aviation_Intel/status/1658301674698723328?s=20

By all means, last night was a stress test for Patriot under combat conditions. Some reports state 32 interceptors were launched. The system did an excellent job at repulsing nearly all, and possibly all, of what Russia threw at it, including weapons specifically designed and/or evolved to overcome it. That is bad news for Russia and all that data engagement and sensor data is going to be dissected in incredible detail to make the system even better and to get a clearer handle on what else Ukraine needs in terms of hardware, personnel, and tactics, in order to keep Russias barrages at bay.

And when losses in hardware come, which they are likely to do, more hardware can be sent in to replace it. Thats just the nature of the fight at this point. With many advanced Western systems now in Ukraines hands, including Bradley Fighting Vehicles to advanced cruise missiles, it's a reality we need to get used to.

Contact the author: tyler@thedrive.com
Paul Flores is appealing his conviction for Kristin Smarts murder. Whats next?

The man convicted of killing Cal Poly freshman Kristin Smart has filed a notice of appeal, appellate court records show.

In October, a Monterey County jury convicted Paul Flores of killing Smart  26 years after the she disappeared returning from an off-campus party.

Monterey County Superior Court Judge Jennifer OKeefe called Flores a cancer to society on March 10, as she sentenced him to 25 years to life in state prison.

Flores filed his notice of appeal a month after his sentencing with the California Courts of Appeals Sixth District in an attempt to overturn his conviction.

Its Flores 11th attempt to restart legal proceedings in the case.

Defense attorney Robert Sanger, who represented Flores during his murder trial, filed for a mistrial nine times before Flores was convicted, then filed a motion for a new trial before Flores sentencing.

Flores is currently in custody at North Kern State Prison, according to court records and the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.

A notice of appeal must be filed within 60 days of sentencing. It does not need to include the legal grounds for the appeal, and a brief making that case has not yet been filed.

Although Sanger represented Flores during more than two years of criminal proceedings, he does not appear to be representing Flores for the appeal.

Flores is currently represented by court-appointed attorney Soloman Wollack, the court docket shows.

According to the docket, the trials court reporter was granted an extension in April to produce court transcripts. She asked for a second extension Friday.

California Deputy Attorney General Michael Cannon Keller filed a motion to move the case to Californias Second District Court of Appeal, the docket shows, but Flores filed an opposition arguing for the case to remain in the Sixth District Court of Appeal.

The Second District court oversees San Luis Obispo County, where the cases investigating jurisdiction resides, while the Sixth District court oversees Monterey County, where the trial took place.

A decision has not yet been made on whether the case will move districts or whether the court reporter will be granted a second extension, according to the docket.

Wollack and the California Attorney Generals Office will likely need an official court transcript of the entire case in order to file their briefs.

The murder trial was three months long, and it is unclear how much time is needed to accurately transcribe a trial of that length.
The Biden administration has given its clearest indication yet that the years-long pause of student loan repayments will come to an end in the coming months.

Optimism that the White House would keep offering borrowers relief from making their payments was crushed last week, when Education Secretary Miguel Cardona told a Senate panel that the payments would officially resume due to the pandemic emergency being over.

That means borrowers, who have been jolted around since March 2020 with last-minute extensions and uncertainty over exactly when they should expect payments to start up again, will finally have to make payments  many for the first time.

President Biden said in November that payments would resume either 60 days after the Supreme Court rules on his student loan forgiveness plan  which would permanently eliminate some debt  or 60 days after June 30, whichever came first.

But student loan groups had been optimistic the president was bluffing again, hoping for another extension from Biden amid his 2024 reelection campaign.

That optimism turned to fury after Cardonas speech at the Senate Appropriations hearing Thursday.

Education Secretary Miguel Cardona speaks during a ceremony honoring the Council of Chief State School Officers 2023 Teachers of the Year in the Rose Garden of the White House, Monday, April 24, 2023, in Washington. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

Cardonas comments are grossly out of touch and concedes a lot. Its going to lead to a really large political defeat, said Braxton Brewington, press secretary of The Debt Collective.

Despite the backlash, the Education secretary doubled down on his statement during a House hearing Tuesday, after Education Committee Chairwoman Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.) asked if he will commit to no more extensions of the repayment pause.

We communicated that after the Supreme Court decision is made, loan repayments will start within 60 days of the decision, Cardona responded.

Advocates have emphasized research from the administration showing that many borrowers will default on their student loans if they resume this summer, particularly if the Supreme Court blocks Bidens relief plan. Concerns have also been raised that student loan student loan servicers are not ready to turn back on the accounts.

Were confident, senator, that the Supreme Court will rule in favor of the targeted debt relief, providing relief for millions of borrowers, Cardona said last week.

Student loan forgiveness: What to know as the Supreme Court mulls case

In February, the Biden administration stood in front of the high court to defend its program against two lawsuits: one by six Republican attorneys general who claim their states will be negatively affected by a loss of tax revenue from the debt relief, and another by two student borrowers who say there wasnt a required comment period for them to voice their opinions on the program.

With the cases at the mercy of the conservative-leaning Supreme Court, there is high skepticism over Bidens chances of victory, further raising the stakes of the Education secretarys comments.

It was premature for Cardona to rule out another extension, Brewington said. He argued that if the court rules against debt relief, it is incredibly irresponsible for the administration to restart payments, and if the court rules for it, borrowers still need time for the relief to hit their accounts.

Robert Moran, a former senior policy adviser in the Education Department under President George W. Bush, predicted the resumption of payments will be a morass for borrowers.

Many borrowers will have difficulty making payments, he said. Making matters worse is that the Department is not communicating with these actors. This lack of communication will only result in further confusion for all involved.

More on education from The Hill:

Other experts note that the administrations handling of the expiration of the Trump-era Title 42 immigration policy shows a willingness to take heat from the left.

The Biden administration has shown it wont back away from taking action, even if it might be politically fraught, said Debra Dixon, who served as a chief of staff in President Obamas Education Department.

She argued that another extension would be inconsistent with the administrations other actions post-COVID emergency.

Restarting loan payments now that the emergency period related to the pandemic has officially ended would be consistent with other actions the Biden administration has taken recently, even in the face of potential political fallout. I dont foresee another extension, and the administration is trying to give borrowers as long of a runway as possible, said Dixon, now a principal at Ferox Strategies.

The president campaigned on student loan forgiveness in 2020 and was pushed by progressives to forgive up to $50,000 of a borrowers loans. Although some were disappointed when he announced his plan only included forgiveness of up to $20,000, they still looked at it as a positive step and necessary relief.

Whether the restarting of payments impacts Bidens reelection campaign is contingent on if voters still have the issue top of mind by Election Day. Some advocates say young voters would make it a major issue.

Our argument is that it is a really poor political strategy for people to be getting student loan bills in the mail at the same time as theyre getting their ballots, and thats going to lead to huge Democratic disillusionment and decreased turnout, Brewington said.

But while Cardonas comments are concerning to some, not all hope is lost.

Moran said speculation is still swirling about whether the administration really will resume payments this time. But, he argues, such a move is due.

It is past time. Will be three and half years before the first payment is due. Pandemic is over, so we need to return all aspects of life to a level of normalcy, said Moran, a principal at Bose Public Affairs Group.

But Brewington disagrees and says theres still time for the White House to reverse course and extend the pause  after all, theyve done it before.

Theyve said final and then final in all caps and final in bold and then extended the pause, Brewington said. Theres no reason they cant do it again.

Updated at 9:28 a.m.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Pensacola Mayor D.C. Reeves said it's possible that if American Magic wins the 2024 America's Cup, the next America's Cup race could be hosted in Pensacola.

Reeves made the comments during his weekly press conference on Tuesday while talking about the city winning initial approval for an $8.5 million Triumph Gulf Coast grant and a $3.9 million from the Governor's Job Growth Grant fund.

"I was joking with someone today, I said, the city of Pensacola's chances to host an America's Cup one day went from 1 in a trillion to about 1 in 4 in the last week or so," Reeves said while sporting an American Magic team shirt at the press conference. "And they mean it when they say that their intent would be to host it here."

DeSantis backs American Magic: Gov. Ron DeSantis awards Pensacola $3.9 million for American Magic headquarters

Triumph Grant: $8.5M grant, American Magic facility may make Pensacola 'top sailing destination in the U.S.'

The America's Cup is the longest-running and is considered the most competitive sailing race in the world by the sailing community. The event usually occurs every four years in yachts using the latest sailing and aviation technology to gain an edge in the competition.

The American Magic team has been training in Pensacola since 2018 and is currently relocating to Spain, where it will compete in the 37th America's Cup in Barcelona.

The winning team of the 37th America's Cup will write the rules for the next competition, including picking the location of the race.

Relocating American Magic: Pensacola seeking $15M for American Magic America's Cup team and 150 new high-wage jobs

Last week, Triumph Gulf Coast gave initial approval for Pensacola to receive $8.5 million to rebuild Warehouse No. 10 at the Port of Pensacola to create the Center for Maritime Excellence that will serve as the headquarters for American Magic.

On Monday, Gov. Ron DeSantis announced he was also awarding Pensacola $3.9 million in an economic development grant for the project.

American Magic currently builds and designs its boats in Rhode Island. City officials say the team will relocate up to 150 jobs with an average salary of $105,000 to the Port of Pensacola. The project is also expected to generate up to 20 additional jobs for a total of 170 new jobs for the Pensacola economy.

Triumph Gulf Coast and the city are beginning to negotiate terms of the grant agreement, which usually include clawbacks if economic development goals aren't met.

Reeves said the city and American Magic would likely have to sign an agreement to protect the city.

"Meeting with their ownership and the folks financing it, I feel very, very good. Nonetheless, it's our job to make sure the taxpayer is protected," Reeves said.

Pensacola Mayor D.C. Reeves wears an American Magic team shirt during a press conference Monday, May 16, 2023.

Reeves said it would make sense for American Magic to choose Pensacola to host the cup because it would give the team the home-field advantage.

"They're going to be so familiar with this water," Reeves said. "They would be on it for a decade by that point, so they'd have a competitive advantage. They'd be in their home. All their folks would be sleeping in their own beds with their own families. While all the other teams from around the world would have to be here for an extended period of time."

It would be a large undertaking for Pensacola to host an America's Cup. According to media reports, New Zealand's government spent $73 million to host the race in 2021 during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Bermuda hosted the America's Cup in 2017, and the island territory spent $64.1 million to host the event. The island government said the event generated a $336.4 million boost to its GDP.

San Fransico hosted the event in 2013 and spent $20.7 million. According to the Bay Area Council Economic Institute, the event drew 70,000 people to the city, generating $364 million in economic impact.

Reeves acknowledged Pensacola's challenge in hosting the event, but it would be "a great problem to have."

"We'll have a lot to do the day after they win the cup," Reeves said. "I can guarantee you that. Hopefully, I'd be over there cheering them on, and then probably on the plane the next morning back here to try to figure out how we can pull this thing off."

Reeves said Pensacola's geography gives it an advantage over other previous host cities.

"We actually kind of have a natural amphitheater to watch (the race)," Reeves said. "Other places are not necessarily that way."

Reeves said, speaking with the team, the idea of spectators lining the waterfront and the pedestrian area of the Three Mile Bridge has been brought up.

"Even though we may have some additional challenges that the larger cities may not have," Reeves said. "What (American Magic) described is we have a lot of additional advantages (over) San Francisco or Barcelona and some of their issues, in terms of land, in terms of other things that they need to put on something like that."

This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Pensacola could host America's Cup if American Magic wins, mayor says
WASHINGTON  Colin Kahl, who has served for two years as the Pentagons policy chief under the Biden administration, will resign this summer.

Kahl, who the Senate confirmed as undersecretary of defense for policy in a party-line vote in April 2021, will return to his role as a professor at Stanford University, a Defense Department official familiar with Kahls plans told Defense News. The official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the individual was not authorized to talk publicly on the matter, said Kahl is still notifying his colleagues about the plan.

Kahls planned resignation was first reported by NBC News.

The official said that Stanford originally agreed to allow Kahl a two-year leave of absence from his professorship. But as that mid-April deadline approached, Kahl got Stanfords permission to stay on a few months more.

The extension will allow Kahl to remain in his role supporting and advising Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin through the NATO Summit planned for July 11-12 in Vilnius, Lithuania, the official said.

The official said there is no specific date yet set for Kahls return to Stanford, but staying on for the Vilnius summit  which the official called an important milestone event for the department  will keep him in his current role at least through mid-July.

Kahls confirmation in 2021 was tumultuous, and Senate Republicans unanimously objected to making him the No. 3 civilian at the Pentagon. Some lawmakers criticized Kahls support for the Obama administrations nuclear deal with Iran, and in his confirmation hearing he apologized for his sometimes disrespectful language in tweets harshly criticizing Republican lawmakers during the Trump administration.

The Senate Armed Services Committee ultimately deadlocked on his nomination, with Vice President Kamala Harris casting the tiebreaking vote in the Senate to advance his nomination. The Senate ultimately voted to confirm Kahl 49-45 when a few Republican senators were absent.

Before coming to the Pentagon two years ago, Kahl served as co-director of Stanfords Center for International Security and Cooperation. He was also the first Steven C. Hazy senior fellow at Stanfords Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, as well as a political science professor.

Kahl served as deputy assistant to President Barack Obama and national security adviser to then-Vice President Joe Biden from 2014 to 2017.
WASHINGTON  The U.S. Department of Defense asked Congress to authorize the transfer of nuclear-powered submarines to Australia as part of the trilateral AUKUS agreement with the U.K.

Three legislative proposals, submitted on May 2 and first posted online Tuesday, would greenlight the sale of two Virginia-class submarines to Australia, permit the training of Australian nationals for submarine work and allow Canberra to invest in the U.S. submarine industrial base.

Rep. Joe Courtney of Connecticut, the top Democrat on the Armed Services Committees sea power panel, praised the proposals in a statement to Defense News, saying I look forward to working with all my colleagues in Congress to fulfill these goals.

The Department of Defenses legislative proposals are the latest example of President [Joe] Bidens commitment to fulfilling the AUKUS agreement, said Courtney. Importantly, the proposals spell out a clear path forward to facilitate the transfer of Virginia-class submarines to Australia while ensuring we have the necessary authorities to accept the Australian Governments investments to enhance our submarine industrial base capacity and provide training for Australian personnel.

AUKUS stipulates that Australia will buy at least three and as many as five Virginia-class submarines in the 2030s as part of phase two of the agreement, giving Congress more than a decade to authorize the sale. This years proposal, which the Pentagon hopes will become part of the fiscal 2024 National Defense Authorization Act, asks that Congress approve just two of those submarines without a deadline to consummate the transfers and without specifying the specific vessels to be transferred.

The proposal argues that this small amount of flexibility is necessary since the transfers depend on Australian readiness to operate the submarines, which will involve developing Australias submarine industrial base through training and appropriate shipyard infrastructure.

To that end, a second legislative proposal would authorize U.S. defense service exports directly to Australias private sector in order to train its own submarine workers.

This development must begin as soon as possible for Australia to become ready to own and safely operate these submarines in a manner that both maintains the highest non-proliferation standards and strengthens the global non-proliferation regime, the Pentagon argues in the proposal.

Finally, the Pentagon is also asking Congress for permission to accept Australian payments to bolster the U.S. submarine industrial base. Australia has offered to make an undisclosed sum of investments in the U.S. submarine industrial base as part of AUKUS.

The Pentagon states in the legislative proposal that those funds would be used to add a significant number of trade workers that will help address the significant overhaul backlog for the Virginia-class submarine. Australian monies would also be used for advance purchasing of components and materials that are known to be replacement items for submarine overhauls and outsourcing less complex sustainment work to local contractors.

Congress is also making its own investments to expand the U.S. submarine industrial base as the Navy ultimately aims to build two Virginia-class and one Columbia-class submarines per year. Courtney helped secure $541 million in submarine supplier development and $207 million in workforce development initiatives as part of the FY 23 government funding bill.

Austal USA, the American subsidiary of Australia-based Austal, plans to open a new facility at its shipyard in Mobile, Alabama to begin construction on nuclear submarine modules for General Dynamics Electric Boat shipyard in Connecticut, which produces both Virginia and Columbia-class submarines. Austal expects it will need 1,000 new hires in Mobile to staff that facility.

At Electric Boat, the prime contractor for the Virginia- and Columbia-class submarine programs, the hiring need will be even greater. The company currently employs more than 19,000 people, after hiring 3,700 new workers in 2022, according to local newspaper The Day. But the company needs to hire 5,750 new workers this year, to manage attrition and to help grow the workforce to about 22,000 to handle the increased workload.

The legislative proposal notes that Australian funds would be applied to recruitment, training, incentivizing, and retention of key skilled trades, engineering and planning personnel in both nuclear and non-nuclear disciplines that are required by the additional AUKUS workload.
Top Pentagon policy official Colin Kahl is set to leave his role in mid-July after two years in the building, the Defense Department confirmed Wednesday.

Kahl, who in 2021 was narrowly confirmed by the Senate after Republican members banded together to try to oppose him, will return to his former role as tenured professor at Stanford University, an official familiar with his plans told The Hill.

Under an agreement with Stanford, Kahl took a two-year leave of absence while he served as the Department of Defenses (DOD) undersecretary for policy. That leave was set to be up in April, but Kahl extended it until summer to support Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and President Biden in the run-up to the NATO leaders summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, the official said.

NBC News first reported on Kahls impending departure, with Deputy Undersecretary for Policy Sasha Baker to take over the role in an acting capacity.

Since his appointment, Dr. Kahl has been a trusted adviser and a resolute leader in our mission to safeguard American interests, both inside the Pentagon and across the interagency, Austin said in a statement announcing Kahls departure.

His strategic insights, deep understanding of international relations, and staunch commitment to strengthening our national defense have been crucial in shaping our policies, seizing geopolitical opportunities, and tackling a range of challenges around the world, he added.

While the Pentagons top policymaker, Kahl has played a key part in shaping DODs National Defense Strategy and synchronizing billions of dollars in military aid delivered to Ukraine.

But he has faced harsh criticism from Republicans on Capitol Hill, with Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), on Wednesday tweeting that the officials departure was a good day for America.

Two years ago, during Kahls confirmation process, Republicans unified against him over tweets lambasting Trump administration officials and policies, as well as his support for the 2015 Iran nuclear deal.

At the time, Kahl apologized for the disrespectful language in his tweets, pledging to approach the Pentagon job in a nonpartisan way.

The Senate eventually confirmed Kahl in a narrow 49-45 vote in April 2021, with no Republicans in the chamber voting for him.

Prior to serving as the Pentagons No. 3 official, Kahl was national security adviser to then-Vice President Biden from October 2014 to January 2017. He also served as the Pentagons deputy assistant secretary for the Middle East from 2009 to 2011 under the Obama administration.

I have personally valued Colins leadership and counsel, and I have been continually impressed by his seriousness of purpose, his commitment to Americas national security, and his reverence for public service, Austin said. Our Department is stronger and better prepared for future security challenges because of Colins distinguished service.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
The Defense Departments top policymaker plans to resign, according to three U.S. officials familiar with the decision.

Colin Kahl, who has been undersecretary of defense for policy since April 28, 2021, is likely to leave in the summer, the officials said.

The officials, who asked not to be named, said Kahl plans to return to the private sector, most likely to Stanford University, where he was a professor and fellow before he joined the Biden administration.

Kahl is on a leave of absence from Stanford for two years, said a source familiar with the matter. As that deadline approached in April, he requested an extension through mid-July to support Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and President Joe Biden at the NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania. He will leave after that, the source said.

A Pentagon spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Before his time at Stanford, Kahl was national security adviser to then-Vice President Joe Biden from October 2014 until January 2017. During the Obama administration, he was also a policy official at the Pentagon.

Kahl has not ruled out returning to serve in a second Biden administration, the three U.S. officials familiar with the decision said.

Two years ago Kahl faced a tough confirmation battle to become the No. 3 civilian at the Pentagon, in part because of his critical comments about Republicans on social media when he worked in the private sector. Republicans also criticized his involvement in the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran known as the JCPOA and his other policy views about the Middle East.

Kahl apologized for his comments on social media, and the final vote to confirm him was 49-45. He did not get a single Republican vote.

Sasha Baker, the deputy undersecretary of defense for policy, could move up to the head policy job, at least in an acting capacity, the officials said.

Mara Karlin, the assistant secretary of defense for strategy, plans and capabilities since August 2021, could be nominated to replace Kahl. She advises senior Pentagon leaders on defense strategy, national security and emerging capabilities. Karlin played a critical role in crafting the current National Defense Strategy.

But nominees for top Pentagon positions continue to be held up by Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., over the Pentagons abortion policy. There are now 234 nominations stuck in the confirmation process, including two civilian nominees, Nickolas Guertin to be assistant secretary of the Navy and Ronald Keohane to be assistant secretary of defense for manpower and reserve affairs.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
A person was hit and killed by a passenger train near the State Fairgrounds in West Raleigh late Tuesday night, and police say theyre investigating the incident as a suicide.

The Piedmont was near the end of its evening run from Charlotte to Raleigh when it hit someone on the tracks at about 10:47 p.m., according to Amtrak spokeswoman Kimberly Woods.

There were no reported injuries to the 24 passengers and crew members on board the train, Woods said. The train was held up until 1:30 a.m.

Woods said Amtrak is working with Raleigh police to investigate. A Raleigh police report classifies the incident as a suicide.

The collision took place near Blue Ridge and Beryl roads. The crossing at Blue Ridge is closed as contractors for the N.C. Department of Transportation work to build an underpass to carry the road under the railroad tracks and Hillsborough Street.

Because of the threat of thunderstorms, there were no workers at the site Tuesday night, according to NCDOT spokesman Aaron Moody.

Amtrak refers to people who get hit on its tracks as trespassers, and cites Federal Railroad Administration data that shows trespassing on railroad rights-of-way is the leading cause of rail-related deaths in the country.

These incidents can affect everyone involved  those who are injured or die and their families, our train crews, and our passengers, Woods wrote in an email. They also serve as critical reminders about the importance of obeying the law and of exercising extreme caution around railroad tracks and crossings.
These Photos Show the Deadly Impact of Floods in Italy

A view of the swollen Santerno River with behind the Enzo e Dino Ferrari circuit, in Imola, Italy, on May 17, 2023.

A view of the swollen Santerno River behind the Enzo e Dino Ferrari circuit, in Imola, Italy, on May 17, 2023. Credit - Luca BrunoAP

Deadly floods swept through Northern Italy on Wednesday, killing at least eight people, and thousands more evacuating the region.

Persistent, heavy rain led Italian authorities to place the Emilia Romagna region under a red threat-level warning due to the potential of flooding and landslides. The worst hit areas of the region received almost 20 inches of rain in 36 hours, according to the New York Times.

AP reported that the countrys deputy chief of the Civil Protection agency, Titti Postiglione, said that rescue operations for those needing emergency evacuations were particularly difficult given so many roads and routes were flooded and phone service interrupted.

Extreme weather events have been on the rise in Italy. In 2022, the hottest year on record in Italy, 310 extreme weather events were registered, resulting in the deaths of 29 people, according to Legambiente, an environmental group.

More from TIME

Formula 1s Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix was set to be held in Imola this weekend (May 19-21), but was canceled, with the organization saying in a Twitter statement on May 17th that they did not want to burden the emergency services in the region as they deal with extreme weather conditions. Thousands of fans were set to descend onto the region this weekend for the race.

Italys deputy prime minister, Matteo Salvini, had called for the race to be postponed as the extreme weather conditions hit the region. He said in a statement it was imperative to concentrate all efforts on coping with the emergency, and avoid a traffic overload in an area still in need of relief. The areas electricity and cell phone networks have also been severely affected.

The Formula 1 season features a globe-spanning circuit that travels from country to country on a tight schedule. One leg was held in Miami two weeks ago and the circuit will move on to Monaco by the end of the month. It is unclear if the event in Italy will be rescheduled. If it is not, the circuit will have 22 F1 races this year, rather than setting a record as planned with 23.

Flooding in Faenza where the Lamone river has flooded a large part of the city on May 17. Michele LapiniIPA/Reuters

Flooded cars are pictured on a street in Cesena on May 17. Alessandro SerranoAFP/Getty Images

A member of the Italian Red Cross helps a resident evacuate after the flooding of the Savio river, in Cesena, on May 16. Max CavallariEPA-EFE/Shutterstock

Damage and flooding in Rimini on May 17. IPA/Sipa USA/Reuters

Cars displaced by the flooding of the Savio river in Cesena on May 17. Alessandro SerranoAGF/Shutterstock

A pedestrian walks in a flooded street in Castel Bolognese, near Imola, on May 17. Piero CruciattiAnadolu Agency/Getty Images

Flooded bungalows in Cesena on May 17. Alessandro SerranoAFP/Getty Images

A collapsed bridge can be seen in the aftermath of a heavy rain that hit Italy's northern Emilia-Romagna region, in Budrio near Bologna, on May 17. Claudia GrecoReuters

Rescue workers help residents during the flooding in Cesena on May 17. IPA/Sipa USA/Reuters

Damaged furniture from flooding sits outside of a home in Cesena on May 17. Alessandro SerranoAGF/Shutterstock
What is Pine Forest High School's 'Dads on Duty' program and how is it improving behavior?

In its first semester, Pine Forest High Schools pilot mentorship program "Dads on Duty" has helped significantly reduce behavioral referrals during the school day. Pine Forest may be the first in Escambia County school to implement it, but not in the country. Heres what the program is, why it was brought to Pine Forest and how its working.

What is 'Dads on Duty?'

"Dads on Duty" is a mentorship program that implements the power of presence into the school day encouraging students to make better decisions. The program helps to reduce behavioral referrals such as fighting and absenteeism.

The recruited dads have different approaches to the role. Some are just looking to be a friendly face to say hello to students, while others are actively enforcing students getting to class.

Where was the first 'Dads on Duty?'

Dads on Duty was a response to a series of fights at a Louisiana high school in 2021 that resulted in nearly two dozen students getting arrested, suspended or expelled in a span of 72 hours, according to a report by ABC News.

The program began with five dads who came together to find ways to lessen the violence. The solution they settled on was "securing a presence" during the school day. They wore branded Dads on Duty t-shirts and become a familiar face to talk and joke with students. The idea was to support students through exposure to positive male role models.

The program eventually grew to have a daily presence of dads on campus.

Mario Dread, a Dads on Duty volunteer, talks with Pine Forest High School teacher Ranee while making rounds on Friday, May 12, 2023.

Why did 'Dads on Duty' start up at Pine Forest High School?

Pine Forest High School Vice Principal Bakari Franklin noticed that an uptick in disruptions during the lunch periods due to the schools small cafeteria.

From 10:40 a.m. to about 12:40 p.m., staff are feeding about 1,900 students in a cafeteria that has a capacity to hold about 400, he said. With students spilling out into the hallways and corridors, more eyes on students are needed than are available. An increase in bad behavior issues during those busy times is almost inevitable, he said.

Many of the high school's "at-risk" students, or those administrators fear might not graduate, have one thing in common: they don't have a dad at home, Franklin said. But he believes these stand-in father figures may be able to steer students in the right direction simply by building relationships with them during free periods.

Remembering the success of the Louisiana program, he realized the opportunity to emulate the same thing at Pine Forest High School in hopes that the program would minimize disciplinary issues during that busy time frame.

Mario Dread, a Dads on Duty volunteer, makes the rounds while on duty at Pine Foriest High School on Friday, May 12, 2023.

How many school 'dads' does Pine Forest High School have?

Franklin carried out the first semester of the pilot program with about a dozen volunteer dads, half of whom were considered regulars.

The dads, right now, are only coming in on Fridays during the schools busiest transition times. However, Franklin would like to expand the program to daily following after the Louisiana model.

Florida DOE leaves Escambia 'pinched:' Escambia School District won't leave Warrington kids behind, even under state threats

Kids Slow Ride headed for East Hill: Slow your roll  the first-ever 'Kids Slow Ride' is coming to East Hill on May 20

Is 'Dads on Duty' really working at Pine Forest High School?

Since the program started at the beginning of the year, referrals have steadily declined, according to Franklin.

Referrals have dropped steadily at 12% or higher every month since February. More severe School Environmental Safety Incident Reporting (SESIR) incidents, such as fighting or vaping, have declined by 40% since January.

Pine Forest seniors especially have testified to the programs value and shift in the school day when dads are present.

How do I volunteer to become a Pine Forest dad?

Franklin Is looking to build up his team for next school year to eventually have rotations of dads present in the classroom daily.

Eligible men would need to have a clean background check and a strong mission to volunteer with the high school students. He encourages potential dads to contact him at BFranklin4@ecsdfl.us for information on the program.

This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Dads on Duty at Pine Forest High School is a success in first year
BANGKOK, May 17 (Xinhua) -- Amidst the global wave of the energy transition, Thailand is actively promoting its role as a leader in regional energy transformation.

During the opening ceremony of the Future Energy Asia Exhibition and Summit here on Wednesday, Veerapat Kiatfuengfoo, Deputy permanent secretary of the Energy Ministry, expressed Thailand's commitment to achieving a low-carbon economy through determined efforts and consistent policy measures.

"We are scaling up our utilization of renewable energy sources, such as solar, wind, and hydropower, by implementing various measures, including subsidies," Veerapat said.

Thailand has set ambitious targets of reaching carbon neutrality by 2050 and achieving net-zero emissions by 2065.

The three-day event is anticipated to attract more than 18,000 visitors from over 70 countries and regions, providing valuable insights from 350 CEOs, policymakers, and technical experts on the current trends, challenges, and prospects in the energy and mobility sectors.

Prasertsak Cherngchawano, Deputy Governor of the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand, emphasized the growing necessity for collaborations and partnerships across sectors and regions to address climate change and develop sustainable solutions.

The exhibition showcases a diverse range of renewable energy and automotive exhibits, including electric vehicles, EV batteries, charging infrastructures, and enabling software and technologies.

The event has also garnered significant attention from Chinese exhibitors. Gao Cheng, Sales Director of a Chinese renewable energy company, expressed optimism about the Southeast Asian market.

"We have high expectations and see this exhibition as the first step in expanding our presence overseas and venturing beyond the Chinese market." 
A planned meeting of the Quad alliance, which consists of the United States, Australia, Japan and India, will not take place as scheduled in Australia after President Biden said he would cut his trip short amid negotiations over the debt ceiling in Washington, D.C.

The leaders of the four nations were set to gather in Sydney for a summit, but with Bidens altered schedule, they will instead connect in Japan at the Group of Seven (G-7) summit this week.

Biden informed Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese of his change in plans and invited him to the U.S. for an official state visit in the future.

Biden told reporters he expected to meet with Quad members on the sidelines of the G-7.

Albanese said Wednesday he understood why Biden needed to scrap his trip to Australia.

The blocking and the disruption thats occurring in domestic politics in the United States, with the debt ceiling issue, means that, because that has to be solved prior to 1st June  otherwise there are quite drastic consequences for the U.S. economy, which will flow on to the global economy  he understandably has had to make that decision, Albanese told reporters, according to The Associated Press.

The White House announced Tuesday the change to Bidens itinerary, which also included the cancelation of what was set to be the first ever presidential trip to Papua New Guinea.

Biden met Tuesday with congressional leaders about the debt ceiling, and he is expected to reconvene lawmakers at the White House upon his return from Asia. The Treasury Secretary has warned the U.S. could default as early as June 1 if lawmakers do not raise the debt ceiling.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Poland cannot provide Ukraine with F-16 fighters but is prepared to send MiG-29s  Duda

Poland is prepared to continue to send MiG-29 fighters to Ukraine, but not F-16s, as the country does not have so many of them.

Source: This was stated by Andrzej Duda, the President of Poland, in Reykjavik, as cited by European Pravda with reference to wPolityce.

Quote: "We have a relatively very small number of F-16 aircraft. We are ready to support training Ukrainian pilots  I discussed this with the Prime Minister and the Minister of National Defence some time ago. However, the number of F-16 aircraft we have does not allow us to talk about sending some of them to Ukraine today," he said.

At the same time, Duda gave assurances that he was prepared to continue sending MiG-29 aircraft to Ukraine.

Reminder:

On 17 May, following the results of a meeting on the sidelines of the Council of Europe summit in Reykjavik, the prime ministers of the UK and the Netherlands agreed to lead a "fighter jet coalition" to provide Ukraine with F-16s.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced in his evening address on Tuesday that Britain, the Netherlands and France had joined the "fighter jet coalition".

It was reported on 15 May that the UK has agreed to begin training Ukrainian pilots this summer and is already working with other countries on the possible provision of F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine.

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Poland has handed over nearly all of its MiG-29s, but cant provide F-16s, says Duda

MiG-29

"We are ready to support the training of Ukrainian pilots  I have been discussing this for some time with Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Mariusz Blaszczak, he said.

However, the number of F-16 aircraft at Poland's disposal is insufficient.

Earlier, Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba stated that several countries are ready to provide Ukraine with the fighter jets  known as the fighter coalition.

Read also: West withholds F-16s from Ukraine out of fear that Russia will obtain secret components  Czech President Pavel

NV

Poland, for its part, has so far handed over ten MiG-29 fighter jets to Ukraine, Blaszczak said on May 8. Slovakia has transferred all of its thirteen promised MiG-29 fighters over to Ukraine as well. These two countries are the first NATO members to have provided Ukraine with combat aircraft.

The Ukrainian Air Force considers the modernized Soviet-era MiG-29 fighters to be a serious combat asset, though, they are unlikely to lead to any significant changes at the front. According to Ukrainian officials, Ukraine needs modern combat aircraft in order to contest Russian air superiority.

Read also: Ukraine has airfields that can accommodate F-16 fighters  Ihnat

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Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
George Heron, who was wrongly accused, has provided a statement that will be read out to the court when David Boyd is sentenced on May 23 - North News and Pictures

A police force has apologised to a man wrongly accused of murdering seven-year-old Nikki Allan in 1992, after the real killer was finally convicted 31 years later.

Northumbria Police also apologised to the victims family for mistakes made in the original investigation of her murder and the length of time it has taken to bring her real killer, 55-year-old David Boyd, to justice.

After Boyd was convicted at Newcastle Crown Court, the force wrote to George Heron, the innocent man who was tried for the offence in 1993 and cleared on the directions of the judge.

Mr Heron was subjected to oppressive questioning and denied having any involvement in the murder 120 times during three days of interviews before making some kind of confession.

Det Supt Lisa Theaker led a complex reinvestigation, which began in 2017 and culminated in Boyds conviction last week.

She told reporters: In terms of the earlier [1992] investigation, it has been well-publicised that the interviews that were conducted back in the day were oppressive and some of the evidence was misrepresented before George Heron confessed, and we know the judge excluded that confession.

On a national scale, the way we interview people has changed massively.

David Boyd, 55, who was convicted of Nikki Allan's murder, sexually assaulted a nine-year-old girl in 1999 - Northumbria Police/PA

Assistant Chief Constable Alastair Simpson has written to Mr Heron, who was understood to have had his face slashed while on remand in the 1990s and had to move away from Sunderland despite being cleared. He was taken in by a religious order.

After Mr Heron was cleared, police said they were not looking for anyone else in connection with Nikki's murder, although the real killer, Boyd, remained at large.

Mr Heron has provided a statement that will be read out to the court when Boyd is sentenced on May 23.

Mr Simpsons letter stated: I have had the opportunity to read your victims impact statement, and appreciate the effects your arrest, charge and trial had on you, and continue to have.

On behalf of Northumbria Police, I would like to apologise for the mistakes that were made in the investigation and I hope, as you express in your statement, that the conviction of Mr Boyd will finally bring closure on this matter for you and allow you to move on with your life.

Ms Theaker said the investigation team was certain Boyd was the only person responsible for Nikkis murder and that no one assisted him.

During the exhaustive reinvestigation, which she led and continued to manage despite moving to Cleveland Police, the team looked at more than 1,000 men who could have been linked to the inquiry.

This inquiry has not identified any further offences that Boyd could have committed.

Ms Theaker said that now the trial had finished, the team would be able to share information with Nikkis mother, Sharon Henderson - who campaigned for justice for her daughter for more than 30 years - to reassure the family that no one else was involved in the murder.

Mr Simpson extended the apology to Nikkis family, telling reporters: I am truly sorry for mistakes that were made in the 1992 investigation and I am sorry for the length of time it has taken to get justice for the family.

I cannot imagine the impact on them over the course of the last 30 years, so I have offered to meet with Sharon and with other members of the family, and I will be happy to say that to them when I meet them.

Sharon Henderson, who has campaigned for justice for her daughter, talks to the media outside Newcastle Crown Court after David Boyd was convicted - Tom Wilkinson/PA

Ms Theaker praised Nikkis mother for her ceaseless campaigning to keep the pressure on the force over the years.

Ms Henderson met with Steve Ashman, the then chief constable, in 2017, who agreed to a reinvestigation of the case on the back of advances in DNA techniques, which were able to extract new traces from Nikkis clothes.

The breakthrough ultimately led them to Boyd, but it also involved more than 800 Sunderland men volunteering to give DNA samples so they could be eliminated.

Ms Theaker said: The community in Sunderland have massively helped and they have played their part.

Boyd, then aged 25, lured Nikki away from the East End flats where she lived and took her to a derelict building, where he hit her with a brick and stabbed her 37 times before dumping her, dead or dying, in the basement.

In 1999, he indecently assaulted a nine-year-old girl in a park and later told his probation officer that he had a sexual interest in young girls when he was younger.

Outside court last week, Ms Henderson spoke of the injustice that this evil man slipped through the net to murder Nikki when he was on their [police] files in the first place.

Asked how she found the strength to keep fighting for justice, Ms Henderson said: Because Nikkis my daughter and I love her.

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The El Paso police SWAT team on Tuesday arrested a young man accused of shooting and wounding an off-duty U.S. Border Patrol agent outside an East Side taco restaurant over the weekend.

Brandon Jacob Perez, 17, allegedly shot Agent Matthew Ross, who was attempting to disarm Perez, who was wielding a pistol after getting into a fight with other customers early Saturday at Taqueria El Cometa on Viscount Boulevard next to Interstate 10, authorities said.

The Special Weapons and Tactics team arrested Perez on a charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon following an investigation by detectives with the Crimes Against Persons Unit, police officials said Wednesday.

Brandon Jacob Perez, 17, was arrested, accused in a shooting that wounded off-duty U.S. Border Patrol Agent Matthew Ross on Saturday outside Taqueria El Cometa on Viscount Boulevard.

Perez is a senior at Pebble Hills High School with no prior criminal record, court officials said at Thursday morning online teleconference bond hearing for Perez.

A jail log shows Perez, of far East El Paso, is incarcerated at the El Paso County Jail in Downtown.

At Thursday's hearing, Magistrate Judge Ruben Nunez reduced the bond amount from $150,000 to $100,000 (made up of a $50,000 cash or surety bond and $50,000 personal recognizance). The bond terms include no drugs; no alcohol; no firearms, weapons or ammunition; and a daily curfew of 8 p.m. to 6 a.m., unless working or going to school.

Crime: Teens, guns and mental health: Juvenile crime in El Paso getting more violent

Under Texas law, defendants 17 years and older are considered adults in the state criminal justice system.

The shooting outside El Cometa is among a surge in gun violence in El Paso and other cities involving teenagers following the COVID-19 pandemic.

Wounded Border Patrol agent on 'road to recovery'

Ross, 38, of El Paso, was hospitalized in stable condition with a gunshot wound to the upper left chest that punctured a lung and broke a rib, according to a GoFundMe online fundraising page created to help him with support and expenses.

A GoFundMe page collects donations to assist U.S. Border Patrol Agent Matthew Ross, who was wounded Saturday in a shooting outside the Taqueria El Cometa restaurant on Viscount Boulevard in East El Paso.

About 2:45 a.m. Saturday, Ross was in line after just arriving at the popular late-night restaurant when some customers got into an argument and then a fight. One of the men arguing left but returned a short time later, standing outside a window while holding a pistol, according to the fundraising page and a prosecutor.

In an attempt to prevent a shooting in the busy restaurant, Ross  who was not in uniform  rushed outside and tried to wrestle Perez from behind. During the scuffle, Ross was shot, the fundraiser states. The shooter fled the scene.

The scuffle was recorded by a bystander's cellphone video shared on social media.

El Cometa on Viscount. A man attempts to tackle another man that was arguing with a group through the window; he ended up getting shot during the altercation. pic.twitter.com/7SnlUEbbId  Fitfamep (@fitfamep) May 13, 2023

Witnesses who accompanied Perez at the restaurant told detectives that he went to confront somebody about cheating before the shooting, Assistant District Attorney Adam Loving said at the bond hearing.

The driver of a car later stopped by police told investigators that Perez came running to the vehicle and told him, "Lets go." The gun was thrown out a car window as they drove away, Loving said.

Ross is a member of the Border Patrol Search, Trauma and Rescue, a specially-trained special operations unit better known as BORSTAR, according to the fundraising page.

Homicides 2023: El Paso driver's shooting death in Northeast still under investigation

The fundraising page had collected nearly $19,000 in donations by Thursday morning, surpassing its $10,000 goal. The fundraiser states that Ross is "in overall good spirits" but will have "a road to recovery."

This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: El Paso teen arrested in Border Patrol agent's shooting at El Cometa
Ann Naisbitt went missing from Paphos on 3 April (Cyprus Police)

Police looking for a British woman in Cyprus have found human remains in a riverbed.

Ann Naisbitt, 79, went missing over a month ago on April 3. She was last seen leaving the home where she lived with her son in the city of Paphos.

After finding the remains on Sunday, police said today that genetic tests have now confirmed they belong to Ms Naisbitt.

A local farmer made the discovery and alerted the police, who rushed to the site where the remains were found, between the villages of Koloni and Marathousta.

The farmer had discovered a skull in coastal village Yeroskipou when he contacted the police. More bones, clothes and other objects were then discovered in a riverbed close by the following day.

The Mirror reports that a silver heart pendant necklace was found among the objects.

People took to social media to pay their respects after police made the discovery.

One person said: My thoughts are with Anns family and friends. We had all so been hoping she would be found alive, hadnt we? RIP.

Such sad news. I knew Ann from 10-pin bowling every Thursday always smiling. My heart goes out to her son and all the family, said another person.

A family member was able to identify the clothes as belonging to Ms Naisbitt, police spokesperson Christos Andreou said to the Cyprus broadcaster CybC.

Police have launched an investigation to look into the possibility of foul play but nothing has yet been confirmed.

Ms Naisbitt had been suffering from dementia, according to the Cyprus Mail.

Jean Ivell, a family friend, said to local media that the missing woman suffered from dementia and had previously gone missing in March. Her son Lee had found her on that occasion.

She had last been spotted leaving her home in the Universal area of Paphos at about 10am on April 3, where she lived with Lee.

Throughout the time she was missing, Ms Naisbitts family had been constantly in touch with local police as they extended their search to areas such as Petra tou Romiou, Limassol and Pissouri.

The Independent has asked the Foreign Office for comment.
Pompeii archaeologists found the remains of a man raising an arm to protect himself from caving walls during the Vesuvius eruption, showing 'the inferno' victims suffered

Photo of Pompeii ruins from above, taken on March 29th, 2014. Leonardo Costa Farias

Pompeii archaeologists have made a striking new discovery amid the ruins from the 79 AD tragedy.

The skeletal remains of two men found this week marked the first discovery of human remains there since 2020.

One of the men was raising an arm, likely trying to stop a wall from caving in on him during an earthquake.

Pompeii archaeologists discovered the remains of two men believed to be killed during the Vesuvius earthquake and eruption in 79 AD, and their conditions may help unveil new wrinkles about the course of the tragedy.

The remains of two men in their mid-50s were discovered early this week by archaeologists in Insula dei Casti Amanti, an old neighborhood in Pompeii that included a bakery and homes, according to The Guardian.

Skeletal remains showed that one of the men likely died with his arm raised, trying to protect himself from a caving wall on the day of the historic volcanic eruption, per the report.

The two men, laying close to each other, died in the earlier stages of the volcanic eruption in a building that crumbled, archaeologists estimated, per The Guardian.

The intense heat from the volcanic eruption at the time incinerated and asphyxiated most of the victims and residents in the town within 15 minutes, according to The Guardian. It's still unclear what exactly killed the two newly-discovered men, or when in the process of the eruption and earthquakes they died.

The new remains show the "inferno" that residents suffered through at the time, Gabriel Zuchtriegel, the director of Pompeii archaeological park, told the outlet.

"Human mortality is so fragile," Zuchtriegel said, per The Guardian. "In Pompeii, the advancement of excavation techniques helps us to see more clearly the inferno that destroyed the city in two days."

Zuchtriegel added that the discovery is helping staff understand the extent of the seismic activity that accompanied the eruption, according to ABC.

The archaeological team, in their first discovery since 2020, also discovered six coins from the mid-second century BC, as well as necklace beads, in the same area as the men. During the same year, a well-preserved snack bar, decorated with colorful frescoes, was discovered and eventually opened for tourists to visit.

Excavations from Pompeii, which was buried under volcanic ash for centuries, started in 1748  the same century that the ruins were discovered. According to The Guardian, some 1,500 of the 2,000 victims have been found so far.

Read the original article on Insider
Pope Francis talks on the phone during his weekly general audience in the St. Peter's Square at the Vatican, Wednesday, May 17, 2023. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

VATICAN CITY (AP)  The Vaticans Wednesday general audiences are often chances for ordinary people to get rare access to Pope Francis, and this weeks gathering was no different: A group of LGBTQ+ Catholics got a papal photo, and clergy abuse survivors from Germany who biked to Rome handed Francis a letter demanding a better response from the church to the crisis.

In between, Francis stopped the proceedings in St. Peter's Square midway through to take a cellphone call. The Vatican didnt provide any information on the content.

Members of the LGBTQ+ group Mosaiko said they wanted to visit Francis at the audience on Wednesday to send a message of inclusion and unity on the international day against homophobia, biphobia and transphobia.

The appeal we want to send to Pope Francis is for the church to finally, lets say, to welcome us, Tiziano Fani Braga, the groups coordinator, said after the audience. We try to be an integral part of the church, as all believers are, without discrimination and to fight all discrimination.

Also in the square were 15 survivors of clergy sexual abuse and their companions who left Munich on May 6 on a bicycle pilgrimage to Rome. They are trying to draw attention to a campaign to change the way the Catholic Church deals with priests who rape and molest children and vulnerable adults, and how it cares for victims.

The group delivered a letter to Francis urging him to do everything in your power to ensure that in all corners of the universal Church the issue of sexual and spiritual abuse is seen, addressed and prevented through appropriate preventive measures.

The letter acknowledged initial steps have been taken, but that more must be done and a clear signal must be sent to perpetrators and bishops who have not fulfilled their responsibilities and who, to a certain extent, still do not do so today.

Francis' weekly catechism lesson focused on the life and vocation of St. Francis Xavier, and ended with another appeal for peace in Ukraine.
This popular Pennsylvania destination was named one of the top secret beaches in US

One Pittsburgh-area state park was recently recognized among the top 100 secret beaches in the U.S., according to a reader poll conducted by vacation website Family Destinations Guide.

Raccoon Creek State Park, located near Hookstown in Beaver County, checked in at No. 34 on the top-100 list. A survey of roughly 3,000 families across the country helped assemble the list of hidden beaches, headlined by sites in Hawaii, Florida and New Jersey, but no additional locations in Pennsylvania.

Spanning 7,572 acres, this state park offers a sandy and relaxing 500-foot beach near Pittsburgh, Family Destinations Guide wrote online. You can sunbathe on the parks beach or relax on a more secluded spot on the verdant grass. Of course, you can take a dip in the lakes cool and rejuvenating lake water.

Heres what to know about Raccoon Creek State Park.

Raccoon Creek State Park is home to one of the top secret beaches in the country, Family Destinations Guide writes.

Raccoon Creek State Park

Known as one of the Keystone States largest and most popular state parks, Raccoon Creek State Park began as a recreational demonstration area through the National Park Service in the 1930s during the Civilian Conservation Corps era, the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources reports. The park developed over the next several decades before joining the National Register of Historic Places in 1987.

Nearly a century later, the western Pennsylvania park spans across nearly 7,600 acres. Its premier attractions include the 101-acre Raccoon Lake and the 314-acre wildflower reserve that contains more than 700 species of native plants. Hiking is popular throughout the 4.5 miles of trails that stretch throughout the wildflower reserve, the DCNR says.

Visitors can traverse Raccoon Lake by rowboat, canoe or kayak, the DCNR says. You can also fish in the parks waterways, which contain trout, panfish, bass, carp and walleye. Additionally, the parks grounds are open to hunting for small game, deer and turkey.

Raccoon Creek State Park is open every day of the year from sunrise to sunset, though day-use areas close at dusk, the DCNR says. Environmental education programs, including hands-on activities and guided walks, are available upon request, while curriculum-based programs for schools and youth groups must be arranged in advance by calling 724-899-3611.

You can make campground reservations by heading online or calling 888-727-2757 between 7 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Saturday. Additionally, the parks Lakeside Lodge and cabins are available for overnight stays.

Raccoon Creek State Park is located roughly 136 miles from State College. You can access it from the east and west through U.S. Route 30 or from the north and south through Pennsylvania Route 18, which passes directly through the park.

Top secret beaches in the US

Heres a look at the top 10 secret beach sites as determined by Family Destinations Guide:
The claim: Jean-Pierre said, 'Weve seen a 90% decrease in illegal immigration since President Biden took office'

A May 8 Facebook post (direct link, archive link) makes a claim about White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre.

"President Joe Bidens press secretary, Karine Jean-Pierre, was caught in a lie on Monday when she claimed that illegal immigration had come down by 90% since Biden took office," reads the post. "Jean-Pierre made the claim during a press briefing, saying that 'weve seen 90% decrease in illegal immigration since President Biden took office.'"

Similar posts have been shared elsewhere on Facebook.

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Our rating: False

Jean-Pierre did not say the quote attributed to her and did not say all illegal immigration has gone down 90% since President Joe Biden took office. Rather, she was referencing how illegal migration from four specific countries has gone down by 90% since Biden implemented a new parole program.

Jean-Pierre said illegal migration dropped over 90% due to a parole program

The post surfaced after a May 1 press briefing when a reporter asked Jean-Pierre how Biden wants to address the challenge of illegal immigration and whether he considers his job on the issue to be incomplete.

In response, Jean-Pierre said Biden asked Congress to take bipartisan action on the issue, and that he has implemented policies to deal with the immigration system in a humane way. She then highlighted one those.

And thats why youve seen the parolee program be so successful," said Jean-Pierre, according to a White House transcript. "It has  it has  it has  when it comes to illegal migration, youve seen it come down by more than 90 percent, and thats because of this act-  the actions that this President has taken."

Jean-Pierre did not say illegal immigration has gone down by 90% since Biden took office, as the post claims. Rather, she was stating how unlawful migration from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela went down over 90% because of a parole program for individuals from those countries, Abdullah Hasan, a White House spokesperson, told USA TODAY in an email.

The press secretary's language, including her statement "that's because of this act," indicate she was referring to a statistic from the time after the act was implemented.

Jean-Pierre also clarified her remarks in a May 2 press briefing  before the Facebook post was shared  that she was speaking to the parole program when referencing the 90% figure.

The parole program was implemented in October 2022 for Venezuelans but was expanded on Jan. 5 to include Cubans, Haitians and Nicaraguans. It allows individuals to stay in the U.S. on a temporary period of parole for up to two years for public benefit or urgent humanitarian reasons, according to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.

Jean-Pierre was referencing data from Customs and Border Protection that found encounters of Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans between ports of entry at the southwest border declined 98% from a seven-day average of 1,231 on Jan. 5 to a seven-day average of 46 on Feb. 28, according to a White House press spokesperson.

Fact check: As Title 42 ends, post falsely claims Biden has no plan for migrants at US-Mexico border

Another claim in the post is also wrong. The post says Customs and Border Patrol apprehended 221,303 illegal immigrants at the southern border in February 2023, making it the highest number of illegal immigrants apprehended in a single month since 2000.

In February 2023, Customs and Border Protection actually encountered 156,138 migrants at the southwest border. This is lower than in December 2022, when 252,012 migrants were encountered at the border, according to the agencys data.

The figure in the post appears to originate from a federal court document that says the Department of Homeland Security reported 221,303 total encounters at the southwest border in March 2022.

USA TODAY reached out to the social media users who shared the claim for comment but did not immediately receive a response.

Our fact-check sources:

Thank you for supporting our journalism. You can subscribe to our print edition, ad-free app or electronic newspaper replica here.

Our fact-check work is supported in part by a grant from Facebook.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Post distorts Karine Jean-Pierre's words on immigration | Fact check
Nigerias disputed presidential ballot in February 2023 continues to generate disinformation. In one of the latest claims, a well-known legal expert purportedly said the inauguration of President-elect Bola Tinubu would be delayed until a court had ruled on petitions seeking to overturn the February election result. However, this is misleading: the lawyer, Femi Falana, told Nigerian broadcaster Arise News that legal challenges to the results preferably should be concluded before a new leader was sworn in and called for constitutional reforms to ensure this happens.

Femi Falana Tinubu Will Not Be Sworn In As The President. Untill The Presidential Election Petition Is Concluded. The Judiciary Should Handle The Petition In 14 Days Before The Sworn In On May 29th (sic), reads a post published on May 6, 2023.

A Screenshot of the misleading claim, taken on May 12, 2023

Shared more than 1,400 times, the post features a 22-minute video showing two men, one wearing a suit and the other dressed in traditional Nigerian attire. Below them are the logo of Nigerian-owned international broadcaster Arise News and an inscription that reads: May 29th: CAN IT BE STOPPED?

The video also features three men wearing judges' wigs and a woman wearing a black hat. Meanwhile, a clip of a man in a white T-shirt plays in the right-hand corner of the video.

The account behind the post has a history of sharing content critical of Tinubu of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), and in support of his rival from the Labour Party, Peter Obi.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared Tinubu the winner of the presidential ballot held on February 25, 2023 (archived here).

Obi and fellow opposition candidate Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party argued that widespread irregularities and rigging marred the election.

Both men petitioned an election tribunal, with each claiming to have won (archived here). A court in Nigerias capital city of Abuja has also been asked to stop Tinubus inauguration as president (archive here).

However, the claim that Falana said Tinubu would not be sworn in as planned on May 29, 2023, is misleading.

Lawyer misrepresented

Using the InVID-WeVerify video verification tool, AFP Fact Check found that the original video was published on Arise News official YouTube channel on May 5, 2023 (archived here).

It shows Arise anchor Charles Aniagolu interviewing Falana, a constitutional lawyer.

At no point in the clip does Falana say that Tinubu will not be inaugurated as president on May 29, 2023. Rather, he argues why the event ideally should be put off.

I have always believed that all election petitions should be concluded before the inauguration of an incoming government, Falana says at the 805-mark in the video.

He says it is possible for legal challenges such as those brought to court by Obi and Abubakar to be heard and ruled on within 14 or 21 days if we embrace technology.

Falana cites examples from Kenya, where similar disputes were settled within similar timeframes (archived here).

But he was clear all candidates declared winners during the general elections held on February 25 and March 18, 2023, would be sworn in before the conclusion of the petitions against them, adding that constitutional reforms would be needed for petitions to be decided before an inauguration.
Postal clerk opened greeting cards to check for money then taped them shut, feds say

Two days before a Missouri postal worker was confronted about stealing gift cards placed in the mail as part of a sting, authorities said she rifled through 17 greeting cards.

The sales and service distribution clerk said she stole those outgoing cards and took them home, according to federal authorities. But those 17 cards didnt have money or gift cards, she said, so she taped them shut and placed them back in the mail.

Other times, the woman did steal gift cards and cash from mail in the Poplar Bluff area, according to her signed plea agreement. Authorities said she also embezzled about $150 from the post office.

Now, the 29-year-old has been sentenced to probation and ordered to pay restitution after pleading guilty to two counts of theft of mail, according to a May 16 news release from the U.S. Attorneys Office for the Eastern District of Missouri.

Her defense attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment from McClatchy News on May 17.

People in the Poplar Bluff area started complaining about missing mail contents in April 2022, authorities said, sparking an investigation by the U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General.

The clerk was identified as a possible suspect on Aug. 18, 2022, according to the release.

Two days later, a federal agent put a blue envelope in the mail that the clerk would come in contact with, authorities said. The envelope contained a greeting card and two Walmart gift cards worth $25 each.

Those gift cards were redeemed on Aug. 23, 2022, according to the plea agreement. Authorities said the clerk used the two gift cards, along with one other, to buy two Huffy bicycles via an online pick-up order.

About a month later, authorities said an agent placed another blue greeting card  with an empty Kohls gift card  into the mail at the Broseley, Missouri, Post Office, where the clerk was working.

She opened the test mail piece, prosecutors said, and was questioned.

Investigators found that she stole mail from at least 45 customers, according to the plea agreement.

Poplar Bluff is in the southeast corner of Missouri.

Stolen checks were being sold out of vehicle stopped in road in Missouri, feds say

USPS worker stole stimulus checks and credit cards from people on his route, feds say

Postal workers splurge on $1.3M in luxury goods with stolen credit cards, feds say

Stashing stolen mail in 55-gallon trash bags leads to prison for two Texans, feds say
Articles and posts circulating on social media claim a study found the coronavirus vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna had "no effect on overall mortality" in clinical trials. This is misleading; the research confirmed the shots prevented Covid-19 fatalities -- its purpose was to analyze potential protection from other causes of death, according to the paper authors and independent experts.

"Messenger RNA COVID-19 Vaccines Had No Effect on Overall Mortality: Trial Data Reanalysis," says the headline of a May 13, 2023 article from the Epoch Times, a website that has previously spread misinformation about the pandemic.

The story accumulated thousands of interactions on Facebook and Twitter, according to CrowdTangle, a social media insights tool. Similar claims circulated on Instagram.

"Final nail in the coffin of the mRNA Covid19 vaccines: Didn't 1. Stop infection, 2. Stop transmission, 3. Stop hospitalization, 4. Stop deaths," says text in a May 14 post.

Screenshot from Instagram taken May 16, 2023

Screenshot from Instagram taken May 17, 2023

The posts cite as evidence a Danish study (archived here) published April 24, 2023 in the open-access journal iScience. A preprint version of the paper previously inspired misinformation about the efficacy of Covid-19 vaccines.

The authors analyzed clinical trial data and found the Johnson & Johnson, AstraZeneca and Sputnik V shots were more effective at preventing overall mortality than messenger RNA (mRNA) jabs from Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna. But the posts shared online give a misleading impression of the research, which looked at how well different vaccines protect against all causes of death -- not just Covid-19.

"The study is being taken out of context," said Amesh Adalja, a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins University Center for Health Security. "What they are seeing is a non-specific effect on mortality -- above and beyond protection against Covid-19 -- with the adenovirus vector vaccines."

He said in a May 15 email that the paper "is based on a hypothesis that certain vaccines may stimulate immunity and protect against mortality from other causes."

Kate Grusich, a spokesperson for the US Centers and Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), told AFP real-world data indicate the Covid-19 vaccines "provide substantial and durable protection against critical outcomes from Covid-19, including needing to be placed on a ventilator or death."

What the study found

Using clinical trial reports, researchers affiliated with the University of Southern Denmark and other institutions compared the effects of mRNA and viral vector vaccines on five death categories: "Covid-19 mortality," "cardiovascular mortality," "other non-Covid-19 mortality," "accidents" and "non-accident, non-Covid-19 mortality."

They found the viral vector shots may have played a role in "reducing the risk of non-Covid-19 diseases."

The authors said: "The most important cause of non-Covid-19 death was cardiovascular disease, against which the data for the current (randomized control trials) suggest that the adenovirus-vector vaccines provide at least some protection."

Christine Stabell Benn, a global health professor at the University of Southern Denmark and the study's lead author, told AFP the Epoch Times's headline is "somewhat misleading," although the article itself "is a fair representation of our study results."

"Technically speaking, there was an almost equal number of deaths in the mRNA-vaccinated and placebo-vaccinated individuals in the mRNA trials, so one can say that there was no impact on overall mortality," she said in a May 16 email.

However, the research has limitations.

"The study is based only on the clinical trials which had very specific populations. These trials generally had healthy people with a very low risk of mortality," Adalja said. "This is not something that can be extrapolated the way those posts are doing."

The paper authors noted in a May 2022 LinkedIn post (archived here) that population differences in the trials "may have influenced the comparison of mRNA and adenovirus vector effect estimates." The study also says the number of deaths in the trials "was limited, and chance could therefore have played a role in these findings."

The researchers said: "In a real-life situation in which the Covid-19 vaccines are administered to highly vulnerable populations with high Covid-19-related mortality, significant reductions in overall mortality are expected, also for mRNA vaccines."

mRNA vaccines prevent death

Despite the implication of the posts shared online, the paper authors found all the vaccines protected against death due to Covid-19 -- confirming what public health officials have long said about the shots.

The Epoch Times claimed in its article that while the mRNA vaccines "protected against deaths from Covid-19," the effect was "offset by vaccinated trial participants being more likely to die from cardiovascular problems."

AFP has previously fact-checked claims that clinical trial participants were more likely to suffer serious adverse events such as heart attacks than they were to have had serious Covid-19 cases. The allegations hinge on research findings that have not borne out for the general population and contradict much of the available data on the safety of the jabs.

Larry Corey, a professor in the Vaccine and Infectious Disease Division at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, previously told AFP that, "within the context of the (US government)-supported clinical trials on Covid-19 vaccines, we have no evidence of subsequent high rates of hospitalization or cardiac events post-enrollment into these trials."

Meanwhile, Pfizer said in a May 16 statement that there are "numerous real-world analyses demonstrating the effectiveness of Covid-19 vaccines in reducing hospitalization and mortality from Covid-19."

A CDC study analyzing data from 19 US states between February 2022 and January 2023 found the mRNA vaccines were "76 percent effective in preventing Covid-19associated ventilation and death" among adults with healthy immune systems, according to Grusich. She said that level of protection lasted for "six months after the last original mRNA vaccination dose," dropping to 56 percent at "one to two years after the last dose."

Booster shots provide even more protection; another CDC study examining data between March and July 2022 found two additional mRNA doses were nearly 90 percent effective at preventing death among US nursing home residents.

"People who are up to date have lower risk of severe illness, hospitalization and death from Covid-19 than people who are unvaccinated or who have only received the primary series," the agency says on its website.

The Commonwealth Fund, a private US foundation that aims to improve health care quality, estimated that Covid-19 vaccines prevented 3.2 million additional deaths between December 2020 and November 2022.

AFP reached out to Moderna and the US Food and Drug Administration for comment, but responses were not forthcoming.

AFP has fact-checked other false and misleading claims about vaccines here.
President Biden is cutting his international trip short and will return to the U.S. for debt limit negotiations instead of visiting Papua New Guinea and Australia as initially planned.

Biden will still leave Wednesday for a three-day G-7 summit in Hiroshima, Japan, but his previously scheduled stops to Papua New Guinea and Australia will be postponed.

He would have been the first sitting U.S. president to visit Papua New Guinea, where he was originally expected to be in the capital of Port Moresby to witness the signing of a new strategic agreement with Micronesia and meet with 18 Pacific island leaders.

The president had planned to visit Sydney, Australia, next week for the annual Quad Leaders' Summit to meet with the leaders of Australia, Japan and India to discuss initiatives to counter China's rising influence in the Indo-Pacific region.

MCCARTHY NOT OPTIMISTIC ABOUT DEBT CEILING NEGOTIATIONS, SAYS THERE IS NO MOVEMENT

President Biden is cutting his international trip short and will return to the U.S. for debt limit negotiations instead of visiting Papua New Guinea and Australia.

Biden told reporters he spoke on the phone with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese about his decision to postpone the trip.

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"Defaulting on the debt is simply not an option," Biden said.

White House spokesperson John Kirby said the president would have the opportunity to meet Albanese and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Hiroshima, where he also has meetings planned with the leaders of Japan and South Korea.

Albanese said in a statement that Biden apologized for not being able to visit Australia and that the two leaders would try to reschedule. The Australian leader also said he would visit Washington later this year.

Biden's decision not to visit Australia comes after Albanese recently placed pressure on the U.S. government to end its prosecution of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, who is locked in the maximum security Belmarsh Prison in London amid a legal battle over his potential extradition to the U.S., where he could be sentenced to as many as 175 years in an American maximum security prison.

AUSTRALIAN LAWMAKERS MEET WITH US ENVOY TO PUSH FOR END TO JULIAN ASSANGE'S PROSECUTION

Biden will still visit Japan for a three-day G-7 summit.

Assange is facing 17 charges for receiving, possessing and communicating classified information to the public under the espionage act and one charge alleging a conspiracy to commit computer intrusion for Wikileaks' 2010 publication of classified military documents leaked to him by a whistleblower that detailed war crimes committed by the U.S. government in the Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, detention camp, Iraq and Afghanistan.

Albanese's office declined to comment to Fox News Digital on whether he had planned to bring up Assange's case to Biden. The prime minister's office instead referred to a recent interview he gave on the matter.

"I, of course, don't discuss the private discussions that I have with leaders of other countries," Albanese told ABC's 7:30 last week. "But my public comments are the same as my private ones here. And we have made our views very clear to the U.S. administration. We'll continue to do so. And a solution needs to be found that brings this matter to a conclusion. And Mr. Assange needs to be a part of that, of course, and so I'm hopeful that that will occur. It has been too long. And in my view, as I've said before, I see nothing is served from the further incarceration of Mr. Assange."

Papua New Guinea's leaders were also informed by White House officials of Biden's decision to cancel his visit.

The Treasury Department has estimated that the U.S. will default as soon as June 1 if Congress does not lift the debt ceiling.

The White House has repeatedly blamed House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., for a deal on the debt limit not being reached. House Republicans have proposed a bill to raise the debt limit by $1.5 trillion or until the end of March 2024, while capping discretionary government spending at fiscal 2022 levels.

Reuters contributed to this report.
Pressure campaign on Biden to send F-16s to Ukraine goes into overdrive

The Biden administration is facing a new and amplified pressure campaign to greenlight the transfer of F-16s to Ukraine, after the U.K. announced it will train Ukrainian fighter pilots and Kyiv ramped up its calls for the warplanes.

While the administration has crossed several other red lines in military aid  approving everything from guided rockets to drones to Abrams tanks they once claimed would provoke Russia  the Biden administration is holding the line for now on the Lockheed Martin-made F-16s.

But momentum may be building for Washington to do the next best thing: allow other countries that fly the F-16 to send their own jets to Ukraine.

The pressure campaign is a multi-pronged effort by friendly European governments, U.S. lawmakers from both parties and, most vocally, Ukrainian leadership. This week, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy traveled throughout Europe advocating for more aid, especially the jets.

A new wrinkle appeared on Tuesday when the U.K. announced the kickoff of an international coalition of countries focused on procuring F-16s for Ukraine. Under the agreement, the U.K. said it would soon start training Ukrainian pilots to fly modern fighter jets; Belgium quickly followed suit, saying it could also train the pilots.

Appearing virtually in front of a gathering of leaders in Reykjavik on Tuesday, Zelenskyy said that given his countrys vast size, we need additional air defense systems and missiles. We also need modern fighter jets, without which no air defense system will be perfect. And I am sure we will get there.

The F-16 issue is expected to loom over the G-7 gathering in Japan this week, a preview of the public campaign Ukraine and other world leaders are expected to continue at NATOs annual leaders summit in Lithuania in July.

Theres an ongoing discussion about also other types of jets, said NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, speaking to reporters on the sidelines of last months meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group at Ramstein Air Base, Germany.

A spokesperson for Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov said that jets are the only thing still missing from Reznikov's wishlist.

While the White House has repeatedly dismissed the possibility of sending the U.S. Air Forces F-16s, it has never ruled out approving a third-party transfer from another country. Nations that have purchased the F-16, or any other weapons system, from the U.S. must first seek Washingtons approval before transferring them to a third country. The U.S., under both Republican and Democratic administrations, have nixed requests in the past if there are concerns over transfers of specific sensitive technologies.



When asked for comment, a Pentagon spokesperson pointed to a January POLITICO article quoting a senior DoD official saying, I dont think we are opposed to the idea of a third-party transfer. The official, who like others quoted in this story was granted anonymity to speak about sensitive discussions, stressed a decision has not been made.

The Biden team has suggested that discussions over sending F-16s should wait until after the war is concluded. But some European allies have already started moving down the path of providing advanced fighters  or at least training  for Kyiv.

The debate over approving third party F-16s is not unlike the debate over sending tanks at the beginning of the year, which saw countries that operate the Leopard tank plead with Germany to greenlight the transfer.

As the F-16 campaign looks to gain momentum, one aspect stumbled a bit out of the gate. After a meeting between U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Netherlands Prime Minister Mark Rutte, London on Tuesday appeared to announce the start of a coalition of countries that would begin working toward sending the planes to Ukraine.

A spokesperson for the Dutch government later said there is no agreement with the U.K. government on F-16s for Ukraine, though the person confirmed the two leaders did discuss the issue.

The U.K. does not fly the F-16 but appears willing to begin training Ukrainian pilots in more advanced air-to-air tactics they would need to learn if given the 4th-generation fighter plane.

The Netherlands is one of a small group of NATO allies transitioning from the F-16 to the F-35, a move that will free up dozens of fighter planes in the coming years. The Netherlands has 48 F-16s in service, while Belgium, Poland and Denmark will also soon make the switch.

Top Pentagon officials have consistently said that they do not believe F-16s are what Ukraine needs for this stage of the conflict.

'Our focus is on Ukrainian priorities for this fight and aircraft, while on the list, Western, modern aircraft is about eighth on the list, head of the Pentagons International Security Affairs office, Celeste Wallander, said in a House Armed Services hearing last month.

Ukraines top three priorities are air defense, artillery and mechanized and armored vehicles, said another DoD official.

At every stage of the conflict we've tried to figure out what Ukraine needs right now. And we do that in consultation with the Ukrainians, the official said.

Despite that contention, Ukrainians have made a major push in Washington for F-16s, and Congressional Ukrainian Caucus Co-Chair Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio) said the warplanes should be considered.

For Ukrainians, that is one of their top priorities, she said. Every person that comes to see us from Ukraine mentions F-16s  every elected official, every interest group leader. Thats very important to them.



Kaptur joined 12 other Republican and Democratic House lawmakers to once again press the administration to send the jets, POLITICO first reported on Wednesday. The lawmakers used more strident language than in the past, and specifically sought to rebut the administrations arguments against the transfer.

"Respectfully, this is an artificial and false choice," they wrote, referring to the administrations argument that the jets arent at the top of Ukraines wish list. "The United States can provide Ukraine with both immediate military assistance to defend against Russian advances and in preparation for Kyivs expected spring offensive while simultaneously beginning the process of providing Ukraine with long-term air superiority capability."

The Ukrainian government made their F-16 pitch to a group of U.S. lawmakers at the Munich Security Forum in February, and the top U.S. military official in Europe, Gen. Christopher Cavoli, privately conceded to those members of Congress that F-16s, along with longer range missiles and drones, would help Ukraine control its skies.

At this point, it does not appear that any European government has made a formal request to the U.S. to send their fighter jets to Ukraine, but countries are likely saving some of these debates until closer to NATOs upcoming summit in Vilnius, Lithuania in July. Biden, along with Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, are slated to attend and huddle with their counterparts from across the NATO alliance.

Security assistance for Ukraine has undergone a huge transformation since the pre-war debates over sending anti-armor Javelin missiles to Kyiv, and the reluctance in Europe and the U.S. to send more sophisticated weapons has been whittled away.

The most recent example is the British decision to send Storm Shadow cruise missiles to Ukraine, a move that gives Kyiv the ability to hit targets up to 155 miles away. Thats about three times the striking distance of the High Mobility Artillery Launch System provided by the U.S.

The move showed yet again that Western allies have become less concerned about Russian threats of escalation if Ukraine were provided more powerful weapons.

As Russias war against Ukraine has evolved, so too has U.S. military assistance, a State Department spokesperson said when asked for comment. We will continue to closely consult with Ukraine and work around the clock to continue deliveries in support of Ukraines courageous defenders. We will also continue to work with allies and partners to identify and provide Ukraine with additional capabilities.



Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), who has called on the administration to send advanced military aid to Ukraine, said theres an upside to other allies making moves on their own.

The supportive country should be getting Ukraine what it needs and giving Ukraine the benefit of the doubt as to what it needs, but doesn't always have to be the U.S. actually doing it, as long as we're all working together with allies, he said. And I think there's value to having this not be an entirely U.S. operation to argue against Putins premise.

Ukrainian Air Force spokesperson Yuriy Ignat posted on a government Telegram channel this week that Kyiv is planning to replace our entire fleet of aircraft with just that type of light, easy-to-use fighter in the coming years.

Ukraine currently flies Soviet-era Su-24M, Su-25, MiG-29 and Su-27 planes, and the F-16 multirole fighter is capable of performing the full range of missions performed by these four types of fighter, he said. Yes, maybe not so powerful, but due to modernization, due to high-precision weapons, it can do a lot of useful things for Ukraine in the defense of our state.

Still, not all U.S. lawmakers are sold on sending F-16s.

Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz) said Wednesday that while he supports Ukraine eventually getting the aircraft, he has concerns in the short term over any transfers.

Russian air defense systems pose a pretty significant threat right now to their MIG-29s, he said, are they going to be willing to put F-16s into that same threat environment?

He added that while a test program for two Ukrainian pilots in Arizona this year went well, I've got concerns about how quickly they could operationalize it and how effective it would be right now in this fight.

Veronika Melkozerova, Nicholas Vinocur and Zoya Sheftalovich contributed to this report.

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this report misstated the U.S. officials slated to attend a NATO summit in July. They are President Joe Biden, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.
An off-year set of elections Tuesday produced a bevy of firsts, particularly for Democrats and Black candidates.

Philadelphia is poised to elect its first woman of color as mayor, while Colorado Springs did elect its first Black male as mayor.

Jacksonville, Florida, elected its first Democratic mayor in decades, defeating a candidate backed by Republican governor and likely 2024 presidential candidate Ron DeSantis. The Jacksonville result also demonstrated the vulnerability of Republicans in the Donald Trump era, analysts said.

"Democrats just flipped the biggest city Republicans controlled," a tweet from former Florida congressman and MSNBC host Joe Scarborough's account said. "And they did it in the heart of DeSantis Country. Trumps Republicans keep losing in places like Jacksonville, Wisconsin, and Kansas. How long will they keep driving their car off the cliff?"

Republicans also had some successes Tuesday. In Kentucky, GOP primary voters nominated Attorney General Daniel Cameron for governor, the first Black Republican to win such a race in state history.

A brief rundown of Tuesday's results:

Mayor of Philadelphia

It was an election day in Philadelphia and other cities across the country.

Cherelle Parker, a former state representative and Philadelphia City Council member, won the Democratic mayoral primary while campaigning on a pledge to hire more police officers to combat crime.

These 'off-year' elections present Dems, GOP with opportunities and lessons ahead of 2024

Winning the Democratic nomination is tantamount to election in Philadelphia, where the party enjoys at least a 7-to-1 advantage over Republicans. In the general election, Parker faces GOP candidate David Oh, a former City Council member.

"Im looking forward to November and bringing our city together as its 100th mayor," Parker said after winning the Democratic nomination.

Elsewhere in Pennsylvania, a key battleground in the 2024 presidential election, Democrats are projected to hold onto the Pennsylvania state House.

Black Republican nominated for Kentucky governor

In Kentucky, which also held a set of primaries Tuesday, Republicans boosted a rising party star for governor.

Cameron, the first Black Republican to be nominated for governor in Kentucky, will take on Democratic incumbent Gov. Andy Beshear in November, one of the year's most-watched races.

GOP members both in Kentucky and across the country have promoted Cameron's career; he had a prominent speaking slot at the 2020 Republican convention.

To anyone who looks like me, know that you can achieve anything, Cameron said to supporters after winning the primary. "Know that in this country and in Kentucky, all that matters are your values.

Upset in Jacksonville

One of the night's biggest upsets came in North Florida, where Donna Deegan became a rare Democratic winner in the mayor's race. The Republicans have controlled that office for all but four of the past 30 years.

Deegan defeated Republican Daniel Davis, who had the support of Florida governor and probable 2024 Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis.

A former television anchor, a nonprofit executive, and a breast cancer survivor, Deegan had been attacked during the campaign for participating in Black Lives Matter protests. After winning the mayor's race, she called it a triumph of love.

"We have a new day in Jacksonville," she said, "because people chose unity over division  creating a broad coalition of people across the political spectrum that want a unified city."

National Republicans took note of the loss in Jacksonville by a DeSantis-backed candidate.

Trump, who will likely face a primary challenge by the Florida governor, said on his Truth Social platform that a DeSantis-supported candidate also lost in the Kentucky gubernatorial primary. "Rons magic is GONE!" Trump said.

Colorado Springs

There was more bad news for Republicans in Colorado, where they lost control of the mayor's office in Colorado Springs.

Yemi Mobolade, a Nigerian immigrant and businessman who does not belong to a political party and was making this his first political race, won a runoff mayoral election over political veteran Wayne Williams. Colorado Springs conducts nonpartisan political races, but Republican candidates have dominated them in recent decades.

"I'm speechless," Mobolade told supporters. "This is incredible. Wow. Wow."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Primary firsts: A good night for Black candidates and Democrats
Photo Illustration by Kelly Caminero / The Daily Beast / Getty

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Friends of the royals have told The Daily Beast that they suspect media forays by Prince Andrews camp in recent days, suggesting he will not willingly move out of his vast home, the 30-room Royal Lodge, are maneuvers to get a better deal, and that he will eventually comply with his brothers wishes and move out of the mansion.

A friend of King Charles told The Daily Beast: In the end, Andrew will play ball. The house is far too big and expensive for him to run without the kings support and goodwill. The speculation is that he is on maneuvers, and trying to get a better deal.

Prince Andrew Is Reportedly Refusing to Leave Royal Mansion

The friend said they did not know the detail of the negotiations between Andrew and Buckingham Palace, but said that they suspected Andrew would be looking for a generous financial pay-off to surrender the lease and downsize to Frogmore Cottage, the former home of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, which he has reportedly been offered.

The friend added: Its the memoir all over again, referring to stories earlier this year that Andrew would contemplate writing a memoir if he was pushed out of royal life. Andrew, who was kicked out of the ranks of working royals last year and subsequently made a multi-million dollar settlement with Virginia Giuffre, who accused him of raping her three times, appears to have been significantly rehabilitated by Charles, with prominent seating at the Coronation, to which he was allowed to wear the formal robes befitting his status as a member of the Order of the Garter. He was also given a ticket to the Coronation concert and allowed to sit in the royal box. Rumors of a memoir have now been definitively quashed.

A friend of Prince Williams also scoffed at reports that Andrew could try and hang on to Royal Lodge in defiance of his brother. The friend said: Its a hugely expensive house to run and he doesnt have any money, so if they want him out hell have to go.

Royal Lodge is understood to be earmarked for William and Kate, who currently live in a more modest property on the Windsor Estate.

The Daily Beast understands that William and Kate are not pressuring Andrew to leave and are perfectly happy at their current four-bedroom home, Adelaide Cottage.

Prince Andrew attends the Royal Family's Christmas Day service at St. Mary Magdalene's church, as the Royals take residence at the Sandringham estate in eastern England, Britain December 25, 2022. REUTERS/Toby Melville

In what appeared to be a fresh briefing to the Telegraph Tuesday, friends of Andrew said that he intended to honor the remaining 50+ years of his lease on the grand property in Windsor Great Park. The choice of words was perhaps unfortunate, recalling Andrews claim in his disastrous Newsnight interview with Emily Maitlis that he stayed in the house of his friend Jeffrey Epstein after he had been convicted of child sex offenses because he was too honorable to break the friendship off remotely.

On Tuesday, the Telegraph ran a cartoon on its front page of a van arriving at Royal Lodge emblazoned with the words Duke Control: Humane Removal.

The story has been bubbling for several months after it emerged that the new king had cut the 250,000 ($436,000) annual payment that Andrew used to get from his mother. Several other individuals, notably Meghan and Harry and the late queens dresser, Angela Kelly, have been turfed out of their Windsor homes with sources close to Charles briefing that houses will only be provided to working royals and active staff members.

Andrew has reportedly been offered Frogmore Cottage, which was refurbished at great expense for Harry and Meghan, after the king let it be known he would not leave his brother homeless or penniless.

However this weekend, a friend of Andrews told the Sun: This has been his family home for the last 20 years. Is it really sensible to kick him out? Hes concerned that now the Coronation is over, the knives are out. But were dealing with human beings, not real estate.

Andrew lives at Royal Lodge with his ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson. They live in separate wings of the rambling, crenelated property which sits on several acres of land. It was previously the home of the late queens famously extravagant mother, Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, the widow of George VI, who was known as the Queen Mother.

Another friend told the Sun: Eugenie (Andrews daughter) is heavily pregnant and her parents expect to have the new grandchild there this summer.

The Mail on Sunday reported that Andrew feared utilities to the house could be cut as a tactic to force him out; however, sources on Andrews side dismissed that claim, the Telegraph said, quoting a source as being close to Andrew as saying: He has a 75-year lease and has no plans to move house.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

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Prince Harry and Meghan involved in 'near catastrophic car chase' with paparazzi in N.Y.

Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, took refuge at New York City police station in the middle of a "chaotic" pursuit by photographers, the couple and law enforcement sources said Wednesday.

The pair, together with Meghans mother, were followed by photographers after they left a charity event in midtown Manhattan on Tuesday night.

This relentless pursuit, lasting over two hours, resulted in multiple near collisions involving other drivers on the road, pedestrians and two NYPD officers, a spokesperson for the couple said in a statement.

The spokesperson added that the near catastrophic car chase came at the hands of a ring of highly aggressive paparazzi.

Law enforcement sources pushed back against any characterization that the incident was near catastrophic but conceded that the couples ride Tuesday night was a bit chaotic.

Julian Phillips, the police departments deputy commissioner of public information, said officers assisted the private security team protecting the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.

Megan Markle receives Ms. Foundation's Woman of Vision Award in New York (Selcuk Acar / Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

There were numerous photographers that made their transport challenging, Phillips said in a statement. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex arrived at their destination and there were no reported collisions, summonses, injuries, or arrests in regard.

The couple spent Tuesday night in the Upper East Side of Manhattan and didn't want photographers to know where they were staying, law enforcement sources said.

Photographers followed the couple for 75 minutes up and down the Franklin D. Roosevelt East River Drive, the main thoroughfare of Manhattan's East Side, sources said.

The traveling party went to the police department's 19th Precinct station house, on East 67th Street between Lexington and Third avenues, for about 15 minutes before they got into another car and left without being followed, sources said.

At the station, the couple's team flagged down a taxi driven by Sonny Singh, 37, of Queens.

They were about to take off when a garbage truck pulled in front of them, blocking their departure and giving pursuing photographers enough time to converge around the party, Singh said.

Instead of going to their ultimate destination, they simply drove around the neighborhood and ran up a $17.80 fare before Harry and Meghan got out of the cab back at the police station and back into their car.

They paid the fare and left a $50 tip, said Singh, who was unfazed by the celebrity pickup.

"I pulled over to the side, and the next you know, Prince Harry and his wife are running into my cab," Singh said in front of 30 Rockefeller Plaza after he had dropped off an airport fare.

"I picked up [rock star] Keith Richards [once], [he] was in my cab, and I had [former New York Police Commissioner] Ray Kelley in here one time, as well. So I picked up a lot of people. It's New York; you don't know who you're going to pick up."

The couple had attended the Women of Vision Awards and left New Yorks Ziegfeld Ballroom at about 10 p.m., police officials said. Meghans mom, Doria Ragland, also attended the event.

It was the first public event the couple had attended since King Charles III's coronation, which Meghan didn't attend. Harry's mother, Princess Diana, died in a Paris car crash while being pursued by paparazzi in 1997.

While being a public figure comes with a level of interest from the public, it should never come at the cost of anyones safety, the couple said in their statement Wednesday.

Doria Ragland, Prince Harry and Meghan attend the Ms. Foundation Women of Vision Awards on May 16, 2023, in New York City. (Kevin Mazur / Getty Images for Ms. Foundation for Women)

After they stepped down as senior royals in January 2020 and moved to California, the couple repeatedly complained about the lengths the media went to pursue them.

We all know what the British press can be like, and it was destroying my mental health, Harry said in a February 2021 interview on The Late Late Show With James Corden.

This is toxic, he said, adding the media had created a really difficult environment for the couple. So I did what any husband and what any father would do  I need to get my family out of here.

Harry has also said his biggest fear before he left the royal family was history repeating itself, with his wife facing the same intense scrutiny as Diana.

Both Harry and Meghan have since won privacy cases against several media outlets, with more still outstanding. Harry has also accused newspapers of using unlawful methods to target him and his family.

He is seeking to overturn a decision by the British government to take away his specialist police protection when he is in the U.K.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
Pennsylvania state Rep. Sara Innamorato (D), center, chats with U.S. Rep. Summer Lee (D-Pa.), right, and Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey (D), left. Innamorato's win in the Democratic primary for Allegheny County executive is the product of years of incremental gains for the left.

Pennsylvania state Rep. Sara Innamorato (D), center, chats with U.S. Rep. Summer Lee (D-Pa.), right, and Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey (D), left. Innamorato's win in the Democratic primary for Allegheny County executive is the product of years of incremental gains for the left.

Progressive Democrats won a host of competitive races in Pennsylvanias Allegheny County on Tuesday, significantly reducing the influence of the partys moderate wing in a region that includes the city of Pittsburgh.

State Rep. Sara Innamoratos victory in the Democratic primary for county executive was perhaps the most consequential result.

Meanwhile, progressive challenger Matt Dugan unseated Allegheny Countys Democratic district attorney, Stephen Zappala. And Bethany Hallam, an at-large member of the county council, survived a challenge from a moderate contender.

People are hungry for a government that works for them, Innamorato told HuffPost. They are hungry for policies that progressives tend to espouse during campaigns and use when they govern.

The primarys outcome is the product of a yearslong campaign by progressives to win elections in a county where the reigning Democratic Party has historically been moderate  and often lacking in female and nonwhite representation.

Should she win the general election in November, Innamorato would replace outgoing County Executive Rich Fitzgerald (D), a deal-maker with ties to both big business and organized labor who served for three four-year terms.

Fitzgerald has been determined to reverse the lefts advances in the Pittsburgh area since an initial wave of progressive wins in 2018, when Innamorato and Summer Lee (D), backed by the Democratic Socialists of America political group, ousted two old-guard Democratic state lawmakers.

In the 2022 Democratic primaries, Fitzgerald endorsed then-U.S. Rep. Conor Lambs bid for the U.S. Senate nomination over the more progressive candidate and ultimate winner, John Fetterman. He also endorsed attorney Steve Irwin over Lee for a seat in the U.S. House, which she ultimately won.

This time, Innamorato benefited from a crowded primary field, triumphing over at least two serious contenders: Pittsburgh Controller Michael Lamb and Allegheny County Treasurer John Weinstein. (Fitzgerald had endorsed Michael Lamb, who is Conor Lambs uncle.)

She also ran on a clear, progressive message, pitching voters on her vision for more affordable housing, tougher environmental regulations, and higher taxes on big corporations and nonprofits like the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. All the while, Innamorato highlighted how the loss of her father to an opioid addiction shaped her worldview, and presided over a grassroots canvassing network that helped identify 20,000 voters supporting Innamorato.

Over the course of the last five or 10 years, weve been really building a coalition of people and organizations across Allegheny County that care deeply about affordable housing, clean air and clean water, good union jobs  the most basic things that we need in our everyday lives, said Jennifer Rafanan Kennedy, the chair of Innamoratos campaign committee and managing director of Pennsylvania United, a progressive umbrella group that has been active in many of the Pittsburgh lefts electoral successes.

Its really that cycle of issue-based organizing and elections that has allowed us to build the kind of power thats needed to transform this county.

Joe Rockey, a former banking executive, speaks to a voter.

Joe Rockey, a former banking executive, speaks to a voter.

But Pittsburghs ascendant left cannot declare victory just yet, even if Dugan does not have a Republican opponent and Hallam is widely viewed as safe.

Joe Rockey, Innamoratos Republican opponent and a former banking executive with PNC Financial Services Group, could mount a competitive campaign. Allegheny County has about twice as many registered Democrats as Republicans, but many of those Democrats are more moderate than Innamorato.

Sara was the weakest candidate from our perspective coming out of the primary, said Mark Harris, a Republican consultant advising Rockeys campaign. The voters in the county are going to have a clear choice between the steady executive leadership of a moderate versus someone whos well outside the mainstream.

Harris added, If you want to continue the Fitzgerald jobs-first efforts, Joe Rockey on those issues is closer.

A key flashpoint in the campaign is likely to be the issue of hydraulic fracturing for natural gas, commonly known as fracking.

Many environmentalists and public health experts fault the energy extraction method for leaking dangerous methane gas and jeopardizing local freshwater supplies. But proponents of the technology note that using gas to generate electricity results in lower greenhouse emissions compared with coal. And local labor unions have become heavily dependent on the industry as a source of high-paying union jobs.

Fitzgerald in 2013 signed off on a fracking initiative at the Pittsburgh International Airport. The project has generated millions of dollars in annual revenue that the county has used to lower airline fees and expand airport operations (though some observers note that the revenue has fallen short of initial expectations).

Innamorato confirmed to HuffPost that she would seek to effectively ban fracking by having the Allegheny County Health Department issue new rules regulating the practice out of existence.

She conceded that the office of the executive would need to resolve legal jurisdiction issues over the airport with the Federal Aviation Administration, as well as with the countys many municipalities that currently exercise control over land use.

What it means for existing infrastructure is more unclear, but we will pursue and exercise the full authority of the [Health] Department, she said.

Innamorato and her allies are confident that she will prevail against Rockey, having already shown that she can garner support in suburban communities well outside of Pittsburgh.

She also plans to emphasize to elected Democrats in federal and state offices the importance of having a party member heading the county prior to the 2024 presidential and congressional elections.

Weve collectively breathed a lot of new life into the party and created excitement around it, Innamorato said. That can enhance turnout and ensure that were reaching people who feel disengaged in the process and give them an opportunity to be a part of it.

She is even planning to give Fitzgerald a call. Will she seek the outgoing county executives endorsement?

Ill welcome anyones support, she said. If you care about the future of this region, we should care about our current elected leaders and the people who want to guide us into the future.

Need help with substance use disorder or mental health issues? In the U.S., call 800-662-HELP (4357) for the SAMHSA National Helpline.
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - OCTOBER 30: Sheff G (L) and Sleepy Hallow attend Sleepy Hallow's "Don't Sleep" Album Listening Party on October 30, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Johnny Nunez/WireImage) (Johnny Nunez / WireImage)

Brooklyn, N.Y., prosecutors have accused prominent Brooklyn rappers Sheff G and Sleepy Hallow of a conspiracy to allegedly kill members of a rival gang.

Sheff G, whose real name is Michael Williams, was arrested and charged with two counts of conspiracy to commit murder on Tuesday, according to court records. Sleepy Hallow, whose name is Tegan Chambers, was also charged with conspiracy charges.

The pair of performers are among 32 individuals who were charged in the case, which spans a dozen shootings with 13 victims, including one person who died and three bystanders who were injured. The crimes occurred from March 2019 to present day, according to the 140-count indictment filed by the Brooklyn district attorney's office, which held a high-profile press conference featuring New York Mayor Eric Adams and top law enforcement officials.

Williams' attorney Mitchell Elman responded to The Times' questions, but was not immediately available to comment

Under their performing names, Williams and Chambers were frequent collaborators and are considered pioneers of the growing Brooklyn drill rap scene, which exploded in popularity over the past half-decade. The late rapper Pop Smoke, who was killed in February 2020 in Los Angeles, was one of the scene's most visible artists. Williams rose to fame in 2017 with a viral single, "No Suburban." He and Chambers command social media followings of hundreds of thousands, with their music garnering hundreds of millions of streams on Spotify and YouTube.

However, during his ascent, prosecutors allege Williams had been funding a Flatbush-based gang, 8 Trey Crips, and its affiliated 9 Ways gang, according to the indictment and a district attorney's news release.

Prosecutors alleged in court documents that Williams had treated members of the gang to a Manhattan steakhouse to celebrate a drive-by shooting in October 2020 in which one alleged rival gang member was killed and five other alleged gang members were injured.

After buying a mansion in Short Hills, N.J., prosecutors alleged Williams, who had recently signed a partnership deal with RCA Records, had used his music earnings to fund further alleged gang shootings, "offering money and giving expensive jewelry to those who commit acts of violence." Prosecutors also said he had allegedly helped coordinate one of the shootings in April 2021 in which two innocent bystanders were hit by gunfire, and acted as a getaway driver.

When prosecutors filed the recent conspiracy charges, Williams was still serving time for a 2021 gun charge at a Rikers Island jail, according to New York Department of Corrections records. In January 2021, police had pulled Williams over for speeding and an illegal U-turn and found a gun in his car, according to the New York Daily News. He pleaded guilty to the gun charge later that year and was sentenced to two years in prison.

Prison records showed his earliest projected release was set for June 15.

While Williams was locked up, fans eagerly anticipated his release. In a video posted to Williams' Instagram account earlier this week, Williams had phoned in from prison during a Sleepy Hallow concert where Chambers held his phone to a large crowd that chanted, "Free Sheff!" With the cell against the microphone, Williams responded, "I love yall! Im coming home soon!"

Williams and Chambers were slated to perform at Miami's Rolling Loud hip-hop music festival in July, which is headlined by Playboi Carti, Travis Scott and ASAP Rocky.

Williams is incarcerated at a facility in Queens, N.Y., according to jail records, where he awaits his next court date on Aug. 9.

In interviews, Williams had shared his experiences growing up around street violence, which left him and others in his neighborhood "scared and paranoid" and with "PTSD," he told Passion of the Weiss in a 2019 interview. The rapper had also been candid about his affiliation with Brooklyn gangs, but rejected the negative connotations, such as violence and criminal activity.

"Its more like a brotherhood," Williams said. "If you living on a block and you coming outside, this is people that you with every day ... This is our neighbors, you feel me? You know each others moms. You eating together. Holidays celebrating. These are your brothers now. Now, yall like family. Yall built this relationship. Everybody loves each other. Its not just a 'gang' with everybody wildin recklessly. Its more than that."

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
NEW YORK  In a first-of-its-kind ruling, Mount Sinai Hospital has been ordered to pay nurses a $127,000 penalty after an arbitrator faulted it for a persistent pattern of understaffing its neonatal intensive care unit.

The arbitrator found the 46-bed unit was routinely short on nurses from mid-January to mid-April, according to a copy of the ruling obtained by POLITICO.

The units nurses care for extremely sick babies and are supposed to be assigned no more than two at a time, their union contract states. In the case of the sickest patients, the ratio is supposed to be one-to-one. Another two nurses are supposed to have no assigned patients, so they can step in as needed.

The hospital continuously violated those terms, at times understaffing the ICU by as many as six nurses, the arbitrator found. That typically left about two dozen nurses working at once in a unit overflowing with an average of 52 patients daily.

This is about life and death for some of our patients, Meghan Hurlbut, a nurse who works on the unit, said in an interview.

Last weeks ruling, which has not been previously reported, is the first time a New York City hospital has been held financially liable for violating the contractual staffing ratios won by the New York State Nurses Association after a three-day strike earlier this year. Such a provision, accompanied by a clear enforcement mechanism with financial penalties, was virtually unprecedented in the U.S. nursing industry.

In a statement to POLITICO, Mount Sinai pushed back on the arbitrators conclusion of understaffing.

Hospitals everywhere have grappled with nursing and other health care worker shortages, and these are not challenges unique to any health care provider and have been well documented across the city, state and country, Mount Sinai spokesperson Lucia Lee said.

We are confident that Mount Sinai is appropriately resourced to provide excellent care as we continue to recruit top caregiver talent and maintain the highest standards of clinical quality for our patients, Lee added.

Arbitrator Timothy S. Taylor calculated the penalty based on nurses average daily base pay of $643 per shift and the number of nurses short on a given shift. He then gave the hospital a 20 percent discount because he said the penalty amount does not reflect the extraordinary financial efforts Mount Sinai Hospital has made to address staffing and meet ratios.

However, those efforts have fallen short, and excessive workloads continue, Taylor wrote.

A NYSNA spokesperson said approximately 150 nurses may be eligible for compensation from the penalty.

Robert Chersi, Mount Sinais director of finance, said the hospital spent over $1.2 million on travel nurses and nearly $592,000 on overtime between Jan. 1 and April 30 in an effort to staff the ICU.

Adequate staffing levels are critical because the nurses work is hands-on and time-sensitive, Hurlbut said. Many of the babies require respiratory support because their lungs are underdeveloped; if their oxygen levels suddenly drop, a nurse has to physically stimulate them to remind them to breathe.

The nurses must also squeeze tasks into a set timeframe to give the babies a chance to rest unbothered, something that is integral to their healing and continued development, Hurlbut said.

If youre five, six nurses short, you feel that, she said. You just feel like youre constantly playing catchup.
Protecting the ocean is vital to Newport. Summit details how The Ocean Race is helping

NEWPORT  In places such as Newport, the health of the ocean is critical to the future.

Mayor Xay Khamsyvoravong, R.I. Gov. Daniel McKee and philanthropist Wendy Schmidt  co-founder of Newports 11th Hour Racing Team, which just won the 5,500 nautical mile Leg 4 of the Ocean Race, dueling their way to victory in front of a hometown crowd at the end of a 17-day run from Itajai, Brazil  were all on hand to speak to a packed room at Newports fourth Ocean Summit and detail why protecting the ocean is vital.

Xhamsyvoravong, who sailed with 11th Hour skipper Charlie Enright in college at Brown University, said in his remarks to the audience, Newports success is directly tied to the health of our ocean, and because of that we are proud to be a voice fighting to protect its health. Newport is Americas most inspiring seaside destination and the U.S. capital of sailing.

Newport Mayor Xay Khamsyvoravong speaks during an award ceremony at Ocean Summit Newport during the Newport topover of the Ocean Race on Tueday, May 16 2023.

The Ocean Summit started as a stand-alone event during the 2014-15 edition of the Ocean Race stopover in Newport and has become a prominent global element of the Racing with Purpose sustainability program co-founded by 11th Hour Racing.

The summits were expanded to all stopover cities in the 201718 edition of the race with a focus on reducing plastic waste in the ocean and eliminating single-use plastics from competitive sailing events, and now 11th Hour Racing and The Ocean Race use the summits to address a set of broader issues affecting the ocean including lack of governance, lack of protection, and climate change.

Speakers at this years Newport summit reflected the broadening approach to address issues beyond the plastic crisis, speaking in favor of a universal declaration of ocean rights by 2030. Along with partners including the government of Cabo Verde, Brazil, The Ocean Race has been collecting signatures from the public in support of the ocean rights declaration they intend to present at the Ocean Summit in the final port of Genova, and then deliver to the UN Assembly in New York in September 2023.

Visting The Ocean Race: Everything you need to know while The Ocean Race is in Newport

Climate Interactive founder Andrew Jones demonstrated a climate simulation his organization has developed with the MIT Sloan Sustainability Initiative  free to the public online at En-ROADS (climateinteractive.org)  which shows that even with considerable alterations to current energy consumption and economic practices to limit global warming, significant pieces of Newports coastline will be underwater by the year 2100.

Charlie Enright took part in a panel discussion about sport as a catalyst for environmental change alongside Zandile Ndhlovu, a South African free diver and founder of the Black Mermaid Foundation, and Jess Hotter, a professional skier from New Zealand who works with an organization called Protect Our Winters Alliance. Referencing 11th Hour Racings ambitious environmental research and policy agendas, Enright said he was proud an organization from Newport could make a truly global impact.

RIDEM director Terry Gray, 11th Hour Racing Team co-founder Wendy Schmidt and Sail Newport Executive Director Brad Read converse at Ocean Summit Newport during the Newport stopover of the Ocean Race on Tuesday, May 16 2023.

This years edition of The Ocean Race continued its tradition of data-gathering and environmental research, with the organizers calling the 2023 science program the races most ambitious science program to date and the most comprehensive science program of any sporting event in the world.

The Ocean Race website explains that during the 32,000-mile-long race, 4.3 million measurements of various data will be taken. In addition to throwing out drifter buoys to collect data in some of the most remote reaches of the ocean, the racing sailboats have also been capturing levels of oxygen and trace elements in the water and transmitting data in real-time via satellite to leading scientific organizations including the World Meteorological Organization, National Oceanography Centre, Max Planck Society, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

Weekend plans: Oysters, concerts and plants. What to do in Newport County this weekend

Locally, 11th Hour Racing owns Ocean Hour Farm on Harrison Avenue in Newport, which is a permaculture farm and research center focused on regenerative land management practices and long-term ocean health. 11th Hour Racing and some of Schmidt's other enterprises have also given grants to organizations in Newport County and around the world to tackle environmental problems.

Eva Touhey, the sustainability director at Middletowns Clean Ocean Access, spoke to the summit audience about an 11th Hour grant-supported project called Healthy Soils, Healthy Seas Rhode Island which focuses on composting as a waste management solution and a best agricultural practice for healthy watersheds and oceans.

The 11th Hour Racing Team, Team Malizia and Biotherm IMOCA 60 racing sailboats docked at Fort Adams State Park in Newport, Rhode Island during the Ocean Race Newport stopover on Tuesday, May 16, 2023.

The project includes five compost drop-off locations in Newport County:

 McQuades Marketplace in Jamestown

 Newport City Yard in Newport

 Innovate Newport in Newport

 The Portsmouth Transfer Station

 Clements Marketplace in Portsmouth

The hubs are opened with a combination code and are accessible dawn to dusk, seven days a week, and people can sign up to use them online at cleanoceanaccess.org/hshsri.

This article originally appeared on Newport Daily News: 11th Hour Racing Team combines sports and science to protect ocean
'Proud of who I work with': First responders in Hunterdon honored with service awards

The story didn't add up for Clinton Township Police Sgt. Joseph Sangiovanni.

On July 2, 2022, the driver of a vehicle Sangiovanni had stopped with an expired temporary Virginia registration said they and three passengers were heading to New York to attend a funeral.

But they had no luggage.

And after a K-9 indicated the presence of drugs, officers had the right to search the vehicle and found two bookbags in the backseat, one containing two loaded handguns, $10,000 in cash and a large quantity of marijuana.

Then one of the backseat passengers took off running.

Not knowing if the backseat passenger was armed, Clinton Township Patrolmen Frank Praino and Christopher Ramos pursued him on foot as he jumped over a fence to Interstate 78 and ran through the woods where police lost sight of him several times before a K-9 officer found him and he was apprehended.

For their actions in pursuing, tracking and apprehending the suspect without any major injuries, Sangiovanni, Praino and Ramos as well as Flemington Officer Greg Zytko and his K-9 partner Jax will received meritorious service awards Wednesday during the 200 Club of Hunterdon County Valor & Merit Awards Banquet.

From left, Clinton Township Patrolman Frank F. Praino, Patrolman Christopher M. Ramos and Sgt. Joseph S. Sangiovanni are receiving meritorious service awards this year from the 200 Club of Hunterdon County.

This is the fourth time Sangiovanni is being honored with a 200 Club award.

"I love the job and I'm proud of who I work with," said Sangiovanni, adding this will be the first 200 Club award for Praino and Ramos.

"There is a lot of different aspects to rescue work, fire, EMS, police work and theres no one thing that's more important than the other, so we appreciate everyone's help with everything," Sangiovanni said.

Other honorees

Also receiving meritorious services awards are Lambertville Police Sgt. Anthony Memolo, Officer Kevin Bereheiko, Lambertville Volunteer Firefighter and Hunterdon County Deputy Office of Emergency Management Coordinator Andrew Camp and volunteer Lambertville Firefighters Donald Hart and Gavin Hart, for their response to a fire at the South Hunterdon Apartments on Jan. 12 and rescuing a resident who later died from his injuries.

New Jersey State Police Trooper Iman Martinez, Trooper John Caemmerer, Sgt. Christopher Waanders and Trooper Juan Jacome are receiving a unit citation for their actions Jan. 16 in getting a resident of The Commons complex in Lebanon Borough to voluntarily surrender after apparently firing several shots in the neighborhood and then barricading himself inside his home which contained weapons and illegal fireworks.

More: 'Just did their job': Franklin Township first responders among valor award recipients

New Jersey State Police Staff Sgt. David Penna and Troopers Eric Deery, Zach Manley, Jeff Florkowski and Martinez are receiving a unit citation for apprehending a suspect who attempted to elude the State Police on Nov. 26, 2022, and who attempted to escape the justice system by not showing up for a Nov. 29, 2022, trial on child sexual assault and child endangerment charges.

Life Saving Awards are being presented to South Branch EMT and Firefighter Jason Mayer and EMT Patrick Kochanowski for their response to a May 1, 2022, condo development fire in which three people had jumped from the second and third floors to escape.

High Bridge Fire Chief Sean Smith is receiving a Life Saving Award for rescuing a woman on the third floor of a townhouse development in an early morning fire on May 1, 2022, using a ladder.

And New Jersey State Police Sgt. Michael Delgaizo, and Troopers Jacome, Peter Munoz-Aquino, Filip Konieczkowski, Manley and James Thompson are receiving unit citations for their response to the May 1, 2022, fire.

The Clinton Township motor vehicle stop

In the early morning hours of July 2, 2022, Sangiovanni, a 16-year veteran of the Clinton Township Police Department, was behind a vehicle when he saw an expired paper Virginia temporary registration flipping over a Virginia license plate and made a motor vehicle stop.

He walked up to the vehicle, identified himself, asked the driver for their documents and explained why the vehicle was stopped. As the driver looked for the documents, Sangiovanni noticed the two rear seat passengers were asleep and not wearing seatbelts. He also shined his flashlight in the backseat, when the driver said he should shine the light by her.

Sangiovanni said that seemed unusual and he believed the driver was trying to distract him from the backseat. The driver also indicated they were going to a funeral in New York, had no luggage in the vehicle and planned to buy clothes when they arrived.

As other officers arrived, Sangiovanni also asked for the identification of the rear-seat passenger on the driver's side who had a tattoo of an eight ball on his cheek. The passenger initially gave police his twin brother's name but with the tattoo, police were able to confirm his real identity.

The driver declined to give consent to have the vehicle searched but said police could call out a K-9. Sangiovanni contacted Flemington K-9 Officer Greg Zytko and asked for his partner Jax to conduct a sniff for drugs. Jax give a positive indication for narcotics.

With all the occupants out of the vehicle, police searched the vehicle and behind the driver's seat, Ramos found a bookbag with two handguns. When he alerted the other officers, another rear-seat passenger, a man, ran off toward Dunkin heading to the area of Interstate 78 westbound near a dark, wooded area.

"We weren't sure if the individual who ran was armed or not," Sangiovanni said.

Ramos, Praino and Zytko with the assistance of a Town of Clinton police officer chased the man on foot while the other vehicle occupants were secured at the scene.

Police found five handguns, all loaded, some with bullets in the chamber, and one handgun which had been reported stolen along with $10,000 in cash and a large quantity of marijuana.

Praino, who has served on the police force for nearly four years, said the officers lost sight of the man who ran in the woods before he and Ramos saw him pop up from the bushes and jump over a fence along the highway. The officers also hopped over the fence and took off running after the man before losing sight of him again.

The officers found the man's shoes before the police K-9 began tracking the man. Police wanted to apprehend the man before he had a chance to break into a nearby home or car.

"This time of night I think it was 1 a.m. or 2 a.m. it was very dark and the area in which we were in actually gave him a tactical advantage to shoot at us if he did have a gun," said Ramos, who has served with the police department for five years. "Uphill he had coverage, tractor-trailers are passing us as a high rate of speed so we can't hear and we can't see him but he can see and hear us as we're walking up and down the highway trying to figure out where he is. That was probably the most dangerous part."

After about 10 minutes K-9 Jax found the man up a hill off the highway in an area with bushes and poison ivy. The man screamed, but police said he was not bitten by the dog. Praino took him into custody.

Found in the man's possession was $600 in cash and a small amount of marijuana. Additional K-9 units searched the area to see if any weapons had been tossed or hidden but results were inconclusive.

Sangiovanni said all four people were taken into custody and because no one took possession of the weapons, everyone was charged in the case which remains ongoing.

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: NJ police, fire, EMS honored by 200 Club of Hunterdon County
Providence residents frustrated over potential residential property tax hikes in Mayor Brett Smiley's first budget spoke out against the proposal on Tuesday night in a lively hearing.

The public hearing is one of two the City Council's Finance Committee will hold, signaling broader engagement and greater transparency than under the previous administration.

Locals took advantage of that, queuing up for nearly two hours of testimony  most of it a reflection of outrage and exhaustion over the cost of living for those just trying to get by.

"As a born and raised resident of Providence who is the daughter of a tenant, I am also a young person who plans to go to college in September of 2024," said Rachel Santos. "If were to have this potential increase in homeowners tax, that could result in my mothers rent going up, and that could make college very unaffordable for me. And that could be the fate of many other students here in Providence as well."

More: Breaking down Mayor Smiley's first Providence budget: Tax hikes, city spending and more

Diverse residents concerned tax hike will undermine their gains

Santos had something in common with several others who spoke that night  she is part of the city's diverse community, some of whom are marking a lot of firsts. For some, it may be shouldering the financial burden of higher education. For others, it may be climbing the mountain to homeownership and generational wealth.

Smiley's tax proposal  which cuts the commercial property tax rate by 3.8% and raises the residential rate by a history-making 4.8%  threatens to undermine those hard-fought achievements, critics say.

Providence Mayor Brett Smiley delivers his budget in City Council chambers on April 25. To support that budget, the city's residential tax rate will rise an unprecedented 4.8%. "Given the increasing likelihood of a recession, its critical that we build a budget with a strong foundation to get us through the next few years," city Chief Operating Officer Courtney Hawkins said this week. "We have been plugging a deficit with federal dollars, and that cant continue.

Nancy Xiong, a first-generation college student who hails from a family of Hmong genocide survivors, described herself as reliant on her father's disability insurance and her mother's income from a low-paying job. As Xiong put it, "the odds are already stacked against me"

More: Can you buy a home in RI? What inventory and interest rates mean for homebuyers this spring.

"This budget proposal for a residential tax increase makes it harder for us to survive," she said. "In addition, as a first-generation college student, this budget proposal creates more barriers for me to break the cycle of poverty within my family."

Karla Vigil, who immigrated to the U.S. from El Salvador and recently bought a home in Elmhurst, is also uneasy.

"I just made it in life," Vigil said. "And now I have a tax increase  more financial burden for me and my family."

More: 'House Hunters' episode in Providence aired Tuesday. Here's what the couple bought, and what they paid.

A tough question: How does Providence create a balanced budget?

Michael DiBiase, president and CEO of the Rhode Island Public Expenditure Council, appeared to defend Smiley's budget.

DiBiase said former Mayor Jorge Elorza's budget for the current fiscal year "resulted in a much more unbalanced tax system."

That budget cut the residential rate by more than 25%, but because of the city's revaluation of property, homeowners still saw themselves paying more as home values skyrocketed.

And still, there is an imbalance. While Providence is by far the state's most populous city, its residents don't pay the most taxes. It currently has the eighth-lowest property tax rate in the state. Smiley's changes would push it back only a few spots to eleventh place.

"Providence is heavily dependent on the rest of the taxpayers in the state of Rhode Island to fund its services, particularly schools," DiBiase said. He added that it makes it tougher to push for more education funding when residents aren't paying as much compared with other parts of the state.

'Truly a modest proposal' to make Providence run its best, city says

As residents fight a tax increase, Chief Operating Officer Courtney Hawkins noted that the budget contains a placeholder of $7.1 million for local payments in lieu of taxes as the city continues negotiating with Brown University and other local schools. That's the same amount the city received for the current fiscal year.

Overall, Hawkins called the budget a "truly a modest proposal that we believe puts us on the path to being the best-run city in America"  a catchphrase Smiley used as part of his campaign to promise locals better services and a better city.

Our goal with this budget is to rebalance our tax structure and move away from our reliance on federal funding," Hawkins said. "Given the increasing likelihood of a recession, its critical that we build a budget with a strong foundation to get us through the next few years. We have been plugging a deficit with federal dollars and that cant continue.

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Providence residents frustrated over residential tax hike in budget
The public emergency has ended, but COVID is still here. Here are the CDC guidelines for 2023

As of last week, the COVID-19 public health emergency is over. But that's just the administrative declaration that freed up funds and streamlined processes to help the U.S. government deal with the emerging threat.

The actual virus is still here, mutating and spreading, and probably isn't going away.

Florida has seen over 7 1/2 million COVID cases since the pandemic began three years ago, with over 88,000 reported deaths. With the ending of the public health emergency, authorization to require reporting and tracking data from states has changed, which means the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) will no longer be providing weekly updates or state- and county-specific data on variants although the agency will continue tracking data through other means.

Case reporting in Florida became less complete when more people began using at-home testing. The state Department of Health stopped sending statistics to the CDC in April at the same time that state officials inexplicably removed more than 32,000 cases without explanation. The FDOH has not issued any statements about how case and death numbers will be reported in the future.

What now? The COVID-19 public health emergency is over. What does that mean for Floridians?

This doesn't mean you're on your own, exactly, but Floridians should be aware of the latest CDC guidelines on COVID-19, which were updated the day the public health emergency ended. Here's what you need to know.

Who should get a COVID-19 vaccine in 2023?

What is the updated COVID vaccine?

When the highly-transmissible, vaccine-resistant BA.4 and BA.5 variants evolved and rapidly became the dominant strains, both Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna developed a new "bivalent" vaccine and booster that targeted both the original virus and the more dangerous versions.

Updated COVID vaccines: New COVID boosters target the BA.4, BA.5 variants. Here's what you need to know

Was the J&J vaccine pulled off the US the market?

As of May 10, 2023, the single-shot Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine is no longer available in the U.S. According to the CDC, all the remaining doses expired on May 9 and providers have been directed to dispose of any J&J vaccines that were left over from the 31.5 million doses delivered.

The J&J vaccine has had a troubled history. While getting one shot instead of two was popular, its effectiveness was never quite as high as the other two and after reports of blood clots in a small number of J&J recipients the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and CDC temporarily paused the J&J vaccine in 2021. The pause was lifted soon after, but the next year the FDA said the risk of vaccine-induced thrombatic thrombocytopenia outweighed the benefits and the agency limited use of the J&J vaccine to people 18 and over who can't receive a different vaccine or those who specifically request it.

More than 19 million doses of the J&J vaccine have been administered in the U.S., according to data from the CDC.

What do I do if I got the J&J vaccine?

The CDC recommends that any adult who received one or more doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine should get one updated dose of the mRNA vaccines from Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna.

What if I can't or don't want to get a Pfizer or Moderna COVID vaccine?

Novavax is available for people aged 12 and over. The second dose can be taken from 3-8 weeks after the first, but the CDC recommends waiting till 8 weeks, especially for males aged 12-39, to increase the protection and reduce the "rare risk of myocarditis and pericarditis." People aged 65 and older or anyone likely to get very sick from COVID-19 should get the 2nd dose three weeks after the first, the CDC says.

The CDC still recommends an updated Pfizer or Moderna booster for anyone who has received the Novavax vaccine, but Novavax boosters are available for people 18 and up.

What are the COVID quarantine rules in 2023?

Whatever your vaccination status, if you have or suspect you have COVID-19 but don't yet have test results you should isolate yourself from others, according to the latest CDC guidelines, especially if you may have contact with immunocompromised people. If you test negative, you can stop isolating.

If you test positive, stay home at least five days when you are most likely to be infectious. Wear a high-quality mask around others, avoid going anywhere where you can't wear a mask, use a separate bathroom (if possible) and separate personal household items, and monitor your symptoms.

If you tested positive and have no symptoms, Day 1 is the first full day after you were tested. If you develop symptoms within 10 days of getting tested, the clock starts over the day the symptoms developed.

If you tested positive and have symptoms, Day 1 is the day after they started.

If you have no symptoms, or you did and they're improving, you can end isolation after five days if you're fever-free for 24 hours without fever-reducing medication. If your symptoms are not improving, keep isolating until they are and you're fever-free for 24 hours.

If you had symptoms and experienced shortness of breath or difficulty breathing, or you were hospitalized or have a weakened immune system, you need to isolate for ten days and should consult your medical professional. If you had a severe illness, you may need a viral test before you can end your isolation.

Even if you ended isolated after five days, you should avoid being around high-risk people until at least day 11.

Can I still get free COVID tests by mail?

You will be able to order free at-home COVID-19 tests through COVIDtests.gov through at least the end of May, but they may not last much longer now that the Biden administration is no longer buying them.

Private insurance: Insurance providers will no longer have to waive costs or provide free tests, but the Department of Health and Human Services says it is encouraging private insurers to continue covering tests. Check with your own insurance to see what it will offer moving forward.

Medicaid: Anyone with coverage through Medicaid or the Children's Health Insurance Program can continue to get rapid tests through Sept. 30, 2024. State Medicaid programs will decide what to cover after that.

Medicare: Enrollees will no longer receive free at-home tests but lab tests are covered.

No insurance? Some communities may still receive stockpiled tests and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has a No Cost COVID-19 Testing Locator that can help you find free or reduced tests in your area.

No more free tests: With last day for free at-home covid tests approaching, here's how to avoid scams and fake kits

C. A. Bridges is a Digital Producer for the USA TODAY Network, working with multiple newsrooms across Florida. Local journalists work hard to keep you informed about the things you care about, and you can support them by subscribing to your local news organization. Read more articles by Chris here and follow him on Twitter at @cabridges

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: COVID-19 CDC guidelines for 2023 include vaccine pulled off market
Empty elementary classroom during recess.

Credit - Getty Images

In May 2022, an Arizona mom named Karrie got a heartbreaking message from the local public school: Her son Brayden wouldnt be allowed to return as a second-grader in the fall. The reason? Brayden had been diagnosed on the autism spectrum, and the school claimed that it didnt have any more room for kids with disabilities.

It felt like they were looking for a reason to dismiss him, Karrie told me, and make him somebody elses problem.

Karrie and her family had recently moved just outside of the boundary line for the Tanque Verde School District just outside of Tucson. In accordance with Arizonas Open Enrollment law, Braydens old school actually accepts many students outside of that boundary line. But that law has a troubling loophole that allows districts to reject the applications of students with disabilities, no matter how minimal the services they require. So the district said that Brayden couldnt come back.

This experience has really turned me off of public education, says Karrie. Its a hard lesson that many American families have learned over the years: The public schools are not as inclusive as we typically assume them to be, and they often turn children away for arbitrary or discriminatory reasons, violating the foundational promise of common schools that are open to all children.

Writing almost 70 years ago this week, Chief Justice Earl Warren issued the courts ruling in Brown v. Board of Education, pledging that all public schools in the U.S. must be available to all on equal terms. But seven decades later, that promise remains unfulfilled.

Historically, the most coveted public schools in America use government-drawn maps to discriminate against students who live in less desirable parts of town. This type of geographic discrimination echoes the racist redlining policies of the early 20th century and allows many sought-after public schools to operate as quasi-private schools. The practice of educational redlining is one of the main reasons that a childs zip code increasingly determines his or her fate in life.

Some of these coveted schools are protected by district boundary lines, like the Beverly Hills Unified School District in Southern California or the Grosse Pointe Public Schools just outside of Detroit. Others are protected by the boundaries of attendance zones or catchment areas drawn by bureaucrats at large urban districts. These maps determine who isand who isnteligible to attend coveted public schools. Look no further than Lincoln Elementary in Chicago, Ivanhoe Elementary in Los Angeles, P.S. 8 Robert Fulton in Brooklyn, Mary Lin Elementary in Atlanta, and many others.

Indeed, the shape of these school zones is often shockingly similar to the redlining maps drawn by the federal government nearly a century ago. And families are toldonce againthat they arent eligible for valuable government services because they dont live in the right part of town. Left out are the working-class families (disproportionately people of color and immigrants) who cant afford the extra premium of $200,000 or more that people pay for a house within the coveted zone lines. This is often the real financial cost of a free public education.

Read More: How School Voucher Programs Hurt Students

As a result, its commonplace for Americans of all races and income levels to use a false address to get into a school that they arent zoned for. School districts then sometimes hire private eyes to spy on kids and even put parents in jail for crossing the lines.

But educational redlining is just one of the many ways that public schools try to cherry-pick their students. Connecticut, for example, built gleaming new magnet schools that were meant to end the racial divisions in the public schools. But most privileged students, who were predominantly white and Asian, already had access to high-performing schools (via educational redlining) and didnt have an incentive to enroll in the new magnets. In order to get the racial mix that it wanted, Connecticut had to enforce a strict racial quota. Instead of enrolling African American kidsthe group that the state was supposedly trying to helpthe magnets ended up excluding them, despite hundreds of empty seats.

New York City has long harbored a dirty secret about public school enrollment. Alina Adams, an expert on admissions in the citys public schools, says that cherry-picking students is common. Anyone who tells you that a New York City public school waitlist follows a straight queue is lying, she says, either to you or to themselves. A coveted school has the ability to pick which kids they want to serve by manipulating the waitlist queue, leaving everyone else scrambling for the scraps.

Charter schools have faced the most scrutiny for their admissions processes, and there is no doubt that some engage in cherry-picking. Ive spoken to one former charter worker who discovered that the schools enrollment director was turning away students who didnt speak English very well. She felt that those students would be harder to educate, says the staffer. But its a public school, and thats against the law.

Shes right: It is against the law. In most states, charter schools are held to a high legal standard of open access. They have to take all comers, and theyre required to hold a lottery if they have too many applicants. In addition, most charter schools are forbidden from discriminating against a child based on where they live. (The most common exception is zoned schools that convert to charter, which are most often required to continue operating the exclusionary zone.)

So when a charter school is found to be cherry-picking its students, there are consequences. Local ACLU chapters, including Southern California and Arizona, have published reports detailing how charter schools have either broken the law or violated its spirit. And many charters have altered their enrollment policies as a result.

But the rest of the public schools are held to a very low legal standard of access and face very little scrutiny of their enrollment practices. Yes, they are prohibited from excluding a child explicitly because of his or her race. But public school waitlists receive little attention, and school staff are often free to pick those families that they prefer. As in Arizona, many Open Enrollment laws have loopholes that allow school staff to turn kids away because they have a minor disability.

Whats more, magnet schools often use socioeconomic status as a proxy for race, giving wealthier students a better shot of admission in hopes that they can get their racial mix right. Thats the policy that Connecticut adopted after it was sued for racial discrimination. Its solution means that low-income students still face a disadvantage when they apply to the magnet schools. Similar policies have faced scrutiny in Indiana and Illinois.

Its clear that our public education system is not available to all on equal terms. As a country, we desperately need to repair our social contract. One vital way to do that is to restore the promise of public education as a system of common schools that are truly open to all American children.

We need state laws that hold public schools to the highest standards of openness. We need district enrollment policies that are simple, fair, and transparent. These policies need to prevent local school staff from turning children away for arbitrary or discriminatory reasons. We also need the government, the media, and nonprofits to monitor the admissions and enrollment practices of the public schools. We need enforcement mechanisms that punish public schools for trying to cherry-pick their students.

Its time we make good on Justice Warrens promise.
Health Solutions Adult Outpatient Medical clinic at 1304 Chinook Lane.

May is Mental Health Awareness Month and Pueblo organizations are stressing the importance of mental health while trying to break down the stigma often attached to seeking mental health services.

Health Solutions last weekend sponsored a Mental Health Awareness Block Party at El Pueblo History Museum and has been hosting other outreach activities this month to alert the community to the services it offers.

Its all part of an effort to address mental health needs in Pueblo, which continue to grow post-pandemic, said Jason Chippeaux, CEO of Health Solutions.

The center also seeks to reduce stigmas associated with mental health services and loops education into that effort. Chippeaux said reducing stigmas are critical and normalizing the behavioral health system is a large part of Health Solutions' focus.

Whats at stake is what makes it so significant, Chippeaux said. Anything that creates a barrier between an individual needing care and getting care is problematic fundamentally because of the high-stakes nature of these illnesses.

According to a 2021 survey from the Colorado Health Institute, 33.1% of Puebloans ages 16 or older who took the survey reported that their mental health declined after the pandemic started.

The same survey revealed that nearly one in four (23.9%) Puebloans ages five or older reported feeling "poor mental health for a stretch of eight or more days over a 30-day period. That number has risen significantly since 2015, when 15.4% of those surveyed reported poor mental health.

Chippeaux feels the 2021 number could actually be higher, since the results only encompass individuals who participated in the survey.

There certainly has been an increased need on the other side of the pandemic, Chippeaux said. The interest in our services and the volume of services that we are offering and number of clients were seeing is definitely increasing. That leads me to think that the need is growing, and we are certainly trying to grow along with that need to make sure that those in our community who need that care have that as an option.

Health Solutions, on average, sees between 550 to 600 clients daily through its different services and offerings, Chippeaux said. The centers requests for services are now constant throughout the year, he said, compared to five to seven years ago, when that need was more seasonal.

Pueblo services, partnerships tackling mental health

One in five adults each year in the United States experiences a mental illness, according to the National Alliance of Mental Illness, and nearly one in 25 adults live with a serious mental illness.

Health Solutions works closely with the Pueblo Department of Public Health and Environment to increase access to behavioral health resources to address those illnesses. The mental health services provider also has partnerships with Pueblo County School District 70 and Pueblo School District 60 that entail clinicians offering services in multiple schools across both districts.

Health Solutions also partners with the Colorado Department of Human Services to connect people to resources, Chippeaux said.

More: Health Solutions opens new center to promote early childhood development

Health Solutions encourages individuals to engage in effective ways to reduce the burden of mental illness such as prevention, early identification and early intervention. This may also reduce the burden of other chronic conditions, according to a Health Solutions news release.

Other agencies and community members have sounded the alarm on the need to expand local mental health resources. The city of Pueblo recently obtained a state grant that will bolster the Pueblo Police Departments peer support group, and some D60 students last month protested before a school board meeting to plead for more mental health resources.

'Mental health is health'

To reduce the stigma surrounding mental health, the phrase mental health is health has been used more prominently in recent years. The phrase seeks to show that mental health equally important to one's physical health, which typically isnt as stigmatized.

Mental health is health, Ron-Li Liaw, mental health-in-chief of Childrens Hospital Colorado, told Tribal Radios Sarah Flower during a 29-minute interview last month. I think we are repeating this  theres always been historically a lot of stigma around mental health, which makes it different to talk about.

Our young people have a different vocabulary, language and comfort level in sharing their struggles and supporting each other and talking about mental health challenges and substance use, addiction issues and trauma in a way that our previous generations really (didnt)," she said.

For more information about Health Solutions or its services, call 719-542-5647 or visit www.health.solutions.

To reach Colorado Crisis Services, call 1-844-493-8255 or text TALK to 38255.

Chieftain reporter Josue Perez can be reached at JHPerez@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @josuepwrites.

This article originally appeared on The Pueblo Chieftain: Pueblo providers raising awareness of the importance of mental health
If you stopped for a moment on Monday, you could almost hear  and feel  the sigh of relief coming from rural Pierce County.

With a stroke of his pen, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee officially put an end to months of angst and concern, all of it focused on a contentious question that, for the time being anyway, has been put on ice:

Where to build a new Puget Sound-region airport?

As The News Tribunes Shea Johnson reported, Inslee signed Engrossed Substitute House Bill 1791 on Monday. Sponsored by Rep. Jake Fey, D-Tacoma, and Tom Dent, R-Moses Lake, the law  which passed the state House and Senate with bipartisan support this session  sought to end the Commercial Aviation Coordinating Commissions search for a new regional airport location, effectively resetting a site selection process underway since 2019.

Inslee vetoed parts of the legislation, including a provision that would have immediately halted the CACCs work, and instead directed the 15-member body to follow through with a scheduled June report noting that they dont have a preferred site for the construction of a new airport.

Still, the takeaway for residents of Graham, Roy and rural Pierce County places in between is clear.

Its a huge victory, any way you slice it, for people who stood up for their communities and the priceless open spaces we should feel an obligation to protect.

Two undeveloped Pierce County sites and one undeveloped Thurston County site had previously been identified as potential airport locations.

The state will now turn its attention to studying the feasibility of increasing capacity at existing airports before entertaining thoughts of building a massive new facility.

Speaking with Seattle Times aerospace reporter Dominic Gates, Michelle Horaney, who has led vocal public relations efforts for the Thurston County-based group Stop the Airport, offered understated praise for what Gates accurately described as a radical shift away from the previous plan. In Pierce County, No Airport Here engaged in similar activism.

We are happy that greenfields are off the table, Horaney told The Seattle Times. The focus now is on the expansion of existing airports.

As it should be.

Of course, none of this is to say that the Puget Sound regions airport conundrum will magically disappear  which is one of many reasons why skeptics of the new plan have voiced concerns along the way.

Given the expected increased demand for passenger travel and air cargo in the coming years  and the potential economic implications of inaction  lawmakers like state Sen. Karen Keiser, D-Des Moines, have likened the recently signed legislation to kicking the can down the road.

The Puget Sound Regional Council has forecast 27 million more annual passengers by 2050 than can be accommodated at existing airports, and double the demand for cargo. Meanwhile, Warren Hendrickson, the chair of the Commercial Aviation Coordinating Commission, has said sitting idly by and doing nothing could cost the state as much as $31 billion annually.

Thats why, four years ago, Keiser, whose district includes Sea-Tac, sponsored the bill that gave the CACC its marching order.

Now, Keiser is predicting that the states recalibrated effort will struggle with the same challenges  namely, that no community in its right mind wants to be home to a giant new airport, and there is no perfect location to build one.

At this point, were at an impasse, Keiser said during an April 12 state Senate hearing.

Is Keiser exactly right? Sure. But dont expect it to dampen celebrations in this neck of the woods  nor should it. We can save the next battle for another day.

For now, at least, local anger and grassroots organizing helped to stiff-arm an effort that could have decimated rural Pierce County forever.

For that, they deserve our immense gratitude for generations to come.
Purplebricks snapped up by rival Strike for 1

Purplebricks sign

Troubled online estate agent Purplebricks has agreed a deal to sell its business and assets to rival Strike, for the token sum of 1.

Purplebricks' aim was to create a lower-cost, more flexible estate agent by charging house sellers a flat rate.

But the UK firm, which was once valued at more than $1bn (800m), put itself up for sale in February.

It said the deal will lead to job losses, and that its boss will step down after the sale.

The announcement sent its shares tumbling by around 40%.

Over the past 18 months there have been a number of management reshuffles at the company, a restructure, and one of its shareholders called for the removal of its chairman, Paul Pindar.

The company revealed in February that it expected to lose between 15-20m this year.

It said last week that it was in exclusive talks with Strike.

The sale price of 1 is down to the company burning through cash, the BBC understands.

The firm is spending 3m per month on costs including staff, hosting and marketing.

Purplebricks has been making staff redundant over the past 12 months, and sales have taken a hit.

But out of more than 750 employees, the BBC understands the firm will try to keep many on.

Its chief executive Helena Marston is set to resign after the sale completes, and a number of directors will also step down.

Mr Pindar said: "I am disappointed with the financial value outcome, both as a 5% shareholder myself and for shareholders who have supported the company under my and the board's stewardship.

"However, there was no other proposal or offer which provided a better return for shareholders, with the same certainty of funding and speed of delivery necessary to provide the stability the company needs."

The firm said the deal would transfer its 33m liabilities to its new owner.

Purplebricks was founded in 2012 by brothers Michael and Kenny Bruce, who grew up on a council estate in Larne, County Antrim.

The company had early success, but it has seen its share price fall 98% over the past five years.

In 2017 its shares suffered after a BBC Watchdog investigation into allegations that it had made misleading claims to customers.

A year later, stockbrokers Jefferies said selling with Purplebricks was a "1,000 coin toss".

Unlike traditional estate agents, its customers had to pay the fee regardless of whether the property sold, Jefferies said.

Strike is backed by the Carphone Warehouse and TalkTalk founder Sir Charles Dunstone - who is a partner at Strike's joint major shareholder Freston Ventures.

Sir Charles said the deal was "a positive outcome for anyone looking to sell their home".
Push to get dangerous chemicals out of makeup and other beauty products

PFAS have been in the news a lot lately for threatening drinking water.

Officially known as per- and poly-fluoroalkyl, PFAS are also called forever chemicals because they never disintegrate.

The Centers for Disease Control believe they could be linked to cancer, increased risk of asthma, thyroid disease, and fertility issues.

Public health officials worry about the presence of these chemicals in many beauty products.

Boston 25 News asked shoppers in Charlestown how they feel about seeing so many chemicals that are unpronounceable on the labels of lotions, makeup, and shampoo.

One woman said, I like to know the ingredients in a product so if I cant pronounce it or I dont know what they are, I dont buy them. I like all natural products.

Another woman added, Its never clear whats in these and what it is and how they go there.

Massachusetts state representative Kate Hogan (D-Stowe) is concerned about the presence of PFAS in beauty products because when were talking about makeup or other products such as that, the ingestion level is so high because youre putting it on your face or your body. Its just very close.

Hogan is the House sponsor of a wide-ranging bill that would reign in exposure to PFAS.

It not only addresses beauty products but also fire gear and housewares

If we were to pass this bill, it would really make us a leader in dealing with, remediating, and removing PFAS from the environment, and that is where we want to be in Massachusetts. Our bill will be much more comprehensive than other bills that have been passed.

Mia Davis, vice president of Sustainability and Impact at Credo Beauty, says they make every effort to keep PFAS off their shelves but admits that these chemicals are so ever-present that it can be impossible.

All of the brands that youll find for sale at Credo Beauty, in our stores and online, are compliant with the Credo clean standard and do not use any PFAS as an intentional ingredient.

Another challenge for shoppers is that the Food and Drug Administration doesnt approve cosmetics and other health and beauty aids before they are on store shelves.

They dont even require a full list of ingredients to be provided.

Davis has this advice for shoppers. I think when you see a waterproof or lasts for 24 hours promise on a product, you should be wary because theres some chemical in that product that is making that stick to your skin and it might be PFAS.

If the bill becomes law, intentionally adding PFAS to a wide range of consumer products would be banned starting in 2026. More measures would kick in by 2030.

Boston 25 News reached out to the Personal Care Products Council to get their reaction to the Massachusetts bill.

They provided a statement that said some of their members have already removed PFAS from the products.

It went on to say Nevertheless, our industry is committed to discontinuing the use of PFAS in our products. . .Our member companies take their responsibility for product safety and the trust families put in these products very seriously.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.

Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts.

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An Idaho juror in the Lori Vallow trial has spoken publicly for the first time, revealing why the doomsday mom was convicted of murdering her two children and conspiring to kill her husbands former spouse.

As the case progressed, as the evidence came to light, testimony was shared, it was harder to look at her, Saul Hernandez told Good Morning America on Wednesday. Growing up, were taught good and bad, God and evil, and I think for the first time in my life, I put a face to evil.

Last week, Vallow was found guilty on all charges against her in connection with the September 2019 disappearance and death of her two children, 16-year-old Tylee Ryan and 7-year-old Joshua JJ Vallow. After seven hours of deliberation, Hernandez and his fellow Ada County jurors also convicted Vallow of conspiring to murder her husband Chad Daybells first wife, Tammy, in October 2019.

.@ABC NEWS EXCLUSIVE: I think for the first time in my life I put a face to evil.



Lori Vallow Daybell juror speaks out after Lori was found guilty of killing her 2 children.@EvaPilgrimhttps://t.co/SiNYI2Y9tS pic.twitter.com/9mg4dstoo5  Good Morning America (@GMA) May 17, 2023

Throughout the trial, prosecutors alleged that Vallow and Daybell were driven to murder by their extreme religious beliefs and need for money to start a new life in Hawaii. Vallows defense lawyers, who did not call any witnesses to the stand, insisted that their client was innocent of murder because she was a loving mother. Defense attorney Jim Archibald also implied that Daybell was the one who had a hand in the slayings.

Hernandez said he thought that Vallows beliefs began as a curiosity that grew once she met Daybell at a Utah conference in 2018.

The Disturbing Searches on Doomsday Mom Lori Vallows Internet History

Once Chad came into the picture, she went along with it, Hernandez said. They wanted to believe something that only applied and benefited them, only applied and benefited those people they liked, their circle that they liked and they wanted to be around.

The juror, however, acknowledged that he was disgusted by photos prosecutors shared of Daybell and Vallow dancing on a beach in Hawaii and didnt want to look at them."

He said that even after the lengthy trial, which included 60 witnesses from the prosecution, he was initially hesitant about whether Vallow was guilty when deliberations began. Deliberations ultimately look two days, he said, because of his hesitation as the lone holdout.

I just didnt feel like at that timeline with Tylee, we were quite there yet, he said. And if we were, I perhaps was missing it.

Eventually, as the jury looked through all the evidence and testimony, he said, he was convinced of Vallows guilt.

Tiffany, who was alternate juror, also spoke out this week. In an interview with Law&Crime, she revealed that it was Vallows unemotional reactions to harrowing evidence that made her believe she was guilty. She added that if she was on the final panel of 12 jurors who delivered a verdict, she would have also voted to convict Vallowbut would have needed some time on the charges related to Tammy Daybells murder.

I felt pretty solid on the other charges but the one on Tammy Daybell I did not feel solid on. I didnt feel there was solid evidence for her charge as opposed to the other charges, Tiffany said, adding that she believed Chad Daybell had a heavier hand in in his former wifes slaying.

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(Getty Images)

Rafael Nadal will announce whether he intends to defend his French Open title next month at a press conference on Thursday.

The 14-time champion at Roland Garros has not played since suffering a hip injury at the Australian Open in January and there have been reports in Spain that the 36-year-old is set to withdraw from the tournament.

Nadal has recently pulled out of tournaments at Madrid, Monte Carlo and Rome while he continues his recovery.

The French Open main draw begins in Paris on Sunday 28 May, and Nadal has yet to announce whether he will enter one of the warm-up events in Lyon or Geneva that will be held next week and before the second major of the year.

The Spaniard will give an update on his plans at the Rafael Nadal Academy in Manacor at 4pm lcoal time, according to a press release from his team.

If he plays [the French Open] or not and the reasons either way will only be communicated tomorrow, the statement said.

Nadal defeated Casper Ruud in last years final at Roland Garros to win his 14th French Open title and a record 22nd grand slam.

The Spaniard is now level with Novak Djokovic on 22, following the Serbians victories at Wimbledon and the Australian Open, and it was hoped the two could compete for a record-setting crown in Paris over the coming weeks.

Nadal has slipped out of the worlds top 10 for the first time since 2005 due to being sidelined by his hip injury since January.
Rape victim's mother seeks to force Athens DA's Office to recuse itself in another trial

The mother of an Athens girl who alleged a man raped her in 2021 has retained a lawyer to try and force the Western Circuit District Attorneys Office to recuse itself from prosecuting the same suspect in a subsequent case.

The motion was filed May 11 in the wake of the district attorneys office filling a noll prose, or dismissal, of the rape and child molestation charges against the defendant when the case was called for trial on April 18 in Clarke County Superior Court.

The defendant, Michael Lareco Daniel, 42, of Lawrenceville, still faces a felony charge of cruelty to children and a misdemeanor charge of battery against the same girl he was previously charged with raping. Daniels attorney, David Crowe, has requested a bench trial on the charges.

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That pending case was called for a pretrial hearing on May 12, but during the hearing Superior Court Judge Eric Norris told the assistant district attorney and Crowe that he has received an unusual motion to have the district attorneys office recused from the case.

The mother of the child, who was 14 years old at the time of the alleged assault, wants a hearing to determine if her childs rights were violated under the Georgia Crime Victims Bill of Rights.

Attorney Kevin Epps is representing the mother in the matter. The bill, also known as Marsys Law, went into effect January 2019.

The motion is the first time it has been filed in Athens-Clarke County, Epps said. Norris will hold a hearing for lawyers to address the motion Friday morning at the county courthouse.

During the May 12 hearing on the pending cases, Norris did not discuss the Marsys Law motion, but he did note that this is the first time he has been asked to rule on one.

FILE - District Attorney Deborah Gonzalez speaks at the Seats of Justice Awards Ceremony hosted by the Western Judicial Circuit District Attorney's Office at the ACC Library in Athens, Ga., on Wednesday, Oct. 26, 2022. Gonzalez's office is facing a motion asking that it recuse itself from trying an assault case.

We used it as the mechanism to let the court know that there has been a violation of Marsys Law, Epps said as his reason for seeking the recusal.

The district attorneys office will have to make a decision on if they will recuse themselves and have a special prosecutor appointed, Epps said. That prosecutor, he said, will look at the case to see if the course of action in the rape and molestation case was proper.

The mother of the girl requested in September 2022 that she be notified of court proceedings regarding her daughter, but the DAs office dismissed the case without informing her, according to the motion. On the day of the trial, the child did express that she wanted to testify against the accused, the motion states.

The mother also reported that after the dismissal she attempted to discuss the case with District Attorney Deborah Gonzalez, but this has not happened.

The DA dismissed the case on the basis of insufficient evidence to prosecute, according to the court document.

What happened in the initial trial?

Some important issues arose prior to a jury being selected for the proposed trial on April 17. The assistant district attorney, Robert Wilson, acknowledge on the opening day that the state was not ready for trial as it had not subpoenaed the forensic interviewer, a key and necessary witness for the prosecution.

I did not subpoena her. I should have, Wilson said, according to the official transcript of the hearing. Wilson said he contacted the witness three days before the trial, but she said she was not available.

Norris would not grant a continuance for the trial and told Wilson he would be willing to have the trial continue into the next week if necessary to accommodate having the witness testify.

But Wilson explained he had a conflict the next week.

Well, your Honor. I am set for a murder trial in front of Judge (Lisa) Lott next week, Wilson said, explaining that he and Gonzalez will jointly try the murder case and there is a ton of stuff that needs to be done.

That murder charge against Christopher Tyrone Rollins, 32, of Jefferson ended with a jury granting an acquittal on April 27. In that case, the prosecution was also unable to locate a key witness. However, that witness was subpoenaed for the trial.

Prior to the rape trial, Norris urged Wilson to try to get your witness subpoenaed.

A jury was seated for Daniels trial. The assistant district attorney informed Norris that an attempt was made to subpoena the witness, but she refused to take it.

Crowe objected to a continuance in the case. Before court was recessed for the day, Norris told the prosecutor he would give him another opportunity to have his witness at trial which would begin the next morning.

The day when court reconvened, Wilson announced he was going to dismiss the rape and molestation charges against Daniel. The dismissal was signed by the judge.

This article originally appeared on Athens Banner-Herald: Athens woman wants DA's office to recuse itself from prosecuting case
Rare creature  as adorable as it is dangerous  spotted on farm in Taiwan, photos show

Creeping through the grass, a small golden-colored creature wandered along at a farm in Taiwan. Photos captured the rare sighting of the cute and dangerous animal.

The small, weasel-like creature  identified as a Formosan yellow-throated marten  was seen on Wuling Farm, according to a report from Central News Agency translated by Taiwan News.

Wuling Farm shared photos of the encounter on Instagram on May 2. Photos show the animals black-brown head and distinct golden-colored neck, which fades into brown towards the end of its body.

Deputy director of Wuling Farm, Hu Fa-tao, described the Formosan yellow-throated marten as a rare and precious animal, according to Central News Agency.

Although these creatures look adorable, martens are actually formidable carnivores known to hunt in packs and take down prey several times their size, Hu said, according to Liberty Times, a Taiwanese news outlet.

Formosan yellow-throated martens are an endangered species found only in the mountains of Taiwan, Hu told Liberty Times. The sighting of the animal at Wuling Farm was considered a success for conservation efforts, he said.

Photos shared by Wuling Farm show what appears to be a pair of martens peeking through the green grass.

Hu warned the public not to approach or try to interact with the yellow-throated marten despite how cute and pet-able it looks, Central News Agency reported.

Wuling Farm is about 90 miles southwest of Taipei.

Google Translate and Baidu Translate were used to translate the Instagram post from Wuling Farm. Google Translate was used to translate the articles from Central News Agency and Liberty Times.

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Measles Outbreak in Minnesota

Lydia Fulton, LPN, administers the MMR vaccine to a child at Children's Primary Care Clinic in Minneapolis, MN, Friday April 28, 2017. Children's has set up a triage center at the clinic to pre-screen patients and ensure proper handling of suspect measles cases. Credit - Courtney Perry-The Washington Post

In a new study released by Pew Research Center, the percentage of Republicans who said parents should be able to forego the MMR (measles, mumps, and rubella) vaccine for their public school children, even if it may create a health risk for others, more than doubled from 20% in 2019 to 42% in 2023. White evangelical Protestants showed a nearly identical pattern with the percentage supporting parents decision not to vaccinate their children despite the health risk to others doubling from 20% to 40%.

This is obviously concerning. Measles cases in the U.S. spiked in 2019 to levels we hadnt seen in decades. Studies showed this was tied to growing vaccine hesitancy, much of which was due to (sometimes deliberate) misinformation about the connection between childhood vaccines and autism. So why just after a decades-high measles spike would we see conservatives even more enthusiastic about normalizing reluctance to vaccinate children?

Several reasonable explanations immediately jump out from the study. Pew shows theres a strong connection between skepticism over the COVID-19 vaccines and childhood MMR vaccines. And Americas siloed media landscape has played a demonstrable role in fomenting skepticism toward even those vaccines that have proven safe and effective for decades like the MMR shot.

But what ties these factors together isnt primarily scientific ignorance about the effectiveness or safety of such vaccines. Rather its a combination of partisan polarization and a growing populist identity that prioritizes parents rights over expert recommendations, state mandates, or the safety of others. Thats actually a bigger problem than ignorance.

More from TIME

Theres an interesting paradox in Pews study. Despite the large change in Republican support for parents to avoid vaccinating their children with the MMR vaccine, Republicans did not change much in their beliefs about the vaccines themselves. Between 2019 and 2023, the percentage of Republicans who thought the benefits of the MMR vaccines outweigh the risks only declined 3% from 89% to 86%. And the percentage who felt there was a high risk of side effects hardly changed at all.

Theres a nearly identical pattern for White evangelicals. In fact, the percentage of White evangelicals who say the benefits of childhood MMR vaccines outweigh the risks didnt change at all from 2019 to 2023, staying right at 87%. And those who thought the vaccines posed a medium or high risk of side effects only increased 5% from 32 to 37%.

Its not primarily about fear of vaccines per se. If that were the case, Black Protestants would be the most supportive of leaving their children unvaccinated. Likely owing to a long history of negative interactions with healthcare providers and lower education on the subject of vaccines, Pew shows Black Protestants are even more skeptical about MMR vaccines than White evangelicals. But theyre about half as likely (21% to 40%) to agree parents should be able to decide not to vaccinate their children.

Rather than beginning with ignorance, the conservative shift seems to reflect an amplification of problems that precede the past four years: Political polarization and populist distrust in experts. This then drives political and religious conservatives to sources and relationships where vaccine hesitancy is more normalized.

Political and religious conservatives were already more likely to be antivaxxers before COVID-19. In fact, former president Donald Trump likely contributed to their skepticism. Before he became president in 2016, Trump frequently tweeted claims that childhood vaccines cause autism. And a recent experimental study shows when Trump voters were shown his numerous tweets, they became even more skeptical about vaccines than they were before.

How did COVID-19 response amplify this problem? Despite the COVID-19 vaccine owing its rapid development to Trumps administration, support for COVID vaccine mandates quickly became associated with the political left.

Research shows motivated reasoning, often driven by a natural bias toward promoting our group above others, consistently overrides any evaluation of facts. Following one of the most contentious elections in American history, ideological and partisan identities both direct Americans consumption of vaccine news and provide the lenses through which they read it.

Consequently, no matter how many meta-analyses show that COVID-19 vaccines are safe and effective, the narrative on the right must be that they pose grave health risks and are ineffective. Indeed, this is exactly what Pew found among both Republicans and White evangelicals.

But there is also the growing populist skepticism toward experts and normalization of individualized vaccine choices. Pew found only 37% of Republicans said they had A lot of trust in their own doctors to give them accurate information about MMR vaccines, compared to 55% of Democrats. Again, this doesnt point to a skepticism about vaccines per se, but about skepticism toward experts. And Pew shows in other reports that this partisan gap in trust toward experts is widening.

Lastly, childhood vaccine hesitancy is becoming normalized. Heres an indicator. Pew asked Americans whether they would feel uncomfortable or comfortable letting their child spend time with a child who had not received the MMR vaccine. Over two-thirds (67%) of Republicans said they would be comfortable compared to only 42% for Democrats. Part of this may be the polarization issue, but it also likely reflects that Republicans simply know more parents who have chosen to keep their children unvaccinated.

Scientists can bridge information gaps. We can publicize findings. Ignorance is not an insurmountable barrier. But an identity built around distrust in experts, and particularly any experts who are suspected of serving the narrative of leftists and elites, is more problematic. Its even more so if those communities are increasingly isolated.

There may be little chance of depoliticizing COVID-19 vaccines at this point, and that will have consequences. But we should all be invested in depoliticizing narratives around childhood vaccines that have proven safe and effective for decades. The future of all our children is at stake.
Records: How an attempted robbery led to fear of 'active shooter' at Evansville mall

EVANSVILLE  Newly unsealed court documents and other public records reveal how a chaotic Saturday night fight and alleged robbery at Eastland Mall left customers, employees and police scrambling to respond.

While the incident began at about 6:50 p.m., its impact lingered well into Saturday night and beyond, after what began as an alleged robbery and fight inside the mall morphed into widespread fear of a potential active shooter.

The Courier & Press reviewed 9-1-1 calls, recordings of police radio transmissions, incident reports and court records to gain a better understanding of what happened.

The records show how conflicting witness accounts, the presence of firearms and a general state of panic inside the mall complicated law enforcement's response.

Original Story: No shots fired, but 'active shooter' fear leads to pandemonium inside Evansville mall

Im at Eastland Mall; theres a mass fight breaking out," one 9-1-1 caller told dispatchers Saturday evening. A different caller said, "There's a fight with a bunch of African American kids with guns."

At least one of the 9-1-1 calls the Courier & Press reviewed used the phrase "active shooter."

According to the FBI, an active shooter is an individual actively engaged in killing or attempting to kill people in a populated area.

Two women walk past an entrance to Eastland Mall Saturday, May 13, 2023, just hours after multiple law enforcement agencies descended on the mall to investigate a large fight and potential "active shooter" incident.

However, police ultimately determined no shots were fired at Eastland Mall and do not believe the incident stemmed from an attempted mass killing. Officers did locate a handgun and magazine on mall property, and two juveniles were taken into custody.

Braylin C.J. Underwood, 16, appeared in Vanderburgh County Superior Court on Tuesday. Prosecutors intend to formally charge Underwood as an adult.

Monday Update: Evansville teen charged as adult after Eastland Mall incident led to fear of shooter

The Evansville Police Department has not publicly identified the second juvenile. EPD spokeswoman Sgt. Taylor Merriss said Tuesday that the investigation was ongoing.

"Eastland mall security footage is still being reviewed," Merriss wrote in a news release. "Once the investigation is complete, future arrests may occur."

A 'huge fight' and fears of an 'active shooter'

The Courier & Press requested and obtained time-stamped logs from Evansville-Vanderburgh Central Dispatch that shed light on how law enforcement responded to the Eastland Mall incident.

The records, known as run cards, begin with an ominous, but brief, pronouncement: "ACTIVE SHOOTER EASTLAND MALL." The time was 6:53 p.m.

At approximately the same time, two EPD officers finishing routine paperwork from the Eastland Mall parking lot noticed "people running out of the mall yelling that 'shots were fired'," Merriss said.

It's unclear if the officers' observation is what led to the general report of an active shooter at Eastland Mall.

During the next several minutes, dispatchers and first responders relayed reports of "a huge fight," "weapons," and a suspect threatening to "blow this place out."

A Vanderburgh County Sheriff's Office deputy armed with a semi-automatic rifle walks back toward his squad car from the Eastland Mall's JCPenney on Saturday, May 13, 2023. A large fight reportedly broke out and led to fears of a potential active shooter, triggering an intense law enforcement response.

"My caller said a bunch of B/M's (Black males) fighting, and guns," a note from 6:54 p.m. reads. "Security heard about guns but didn't see any."

More: Fire destroys former Pearl Cleaners site in Downtown Evansville

The probable cause affidavit in Underwood's case elaborates on what these callers may have witnessed. According to EPD Detective Jonathan Helm, four victims came forward to say a group of up to six males clad in ski masks attacked and robbed them at Eastland Mall.

Police identified one of the suspects as Underwood, who they claim shares a gang affiliation with three unnamed suspects.

During the altercation between the alleged attackers and the victims, an unknown individual stated they had been shot, according to Helm.

"This caused a mass exodus of patrons from [Eastland Mall]," Helm wrote.

The suspects, including Underwood, allegedly engaged responding officers in a foot chase. Helm said officers detained two suspects inside the mall, while two others fled West from the mall through JCPenny's  where at least 9-1-1 caller made contact with dispatchers.

Police reportedly located Underwood and a second suspect in the mall parking lot. Underwood allegedly turned himself into officers and was taken into custody. Beneath a nearby vehicle, Helm said investigators located a fully loaded 9mm handgun.

Evansville Police Department squad cars - along with civilian vehicles - parked outside Eastland Mall Sunday, May 14, 2023, after a large fight reportedly broke out and resulted in a heavy response from law enforcement.

911 callers report hiding in bathrooms amid rumors of active shooter

Law enforcement quickly determined it was unlikely shots had been fired, but panic at the mall continued to fester as groups of customers and employees hid in backrooms and sought advice from 9-1-1 dispatchers.

At 6:56 p.m., just three minutes after the initial active shooter alert, one officer radioed in to say, "No shots fired," according to dispatch logs. The officer later cited witnesses who also confirmed: "No shots actually fired."

But multiple 9-1-1 callers from inside the mall voiced fears of the incident spiraling into gun violence.

Caller : "There's something happening at Old Navy in the mall. Everybody ran to the back; we thought we heard shots."

Dispatch : "Okay, do you see anybody shooting?"

Caller: "No, we're all in the back."

The caller said a "ton" of people  "almost the whole store"  had sought cover in a backroom. Dispatchers remained on the line until an armed Illinois State Trooper arrived to secure the Old Navy and evacuate those inside.

Dispatch logs note the 9-1-1 call from Old Navy at 7:01 p.m.: "Thought they heard shots and everyone is hiding in the back of the store."

Other 9-1-1 calls noted the earlier fight and claimed to have heard about a shooting.

Caller : "There's, uh, something terribly going wrong at Eastland Mall. Someone said that people are shooting; there's a huge fight inside."

Dispatch : "You've not heard anything or seen anything?

Caller: "No, no."

The caller appeared to be unsure of where they were positioned in Eastland Mall and asked dispatchers for help.

"Listen to me," the dispatcher said calmly. "I want you to get to a safe space. I was you to go hide. Okay? I don't want you going outside."

A 9-1-1 caller who told dispatchers she was in JCPenney's claimed she was armed and needed officers to respond to "a group of blacks with guns."

I am armed, the caller stated before describing one of the suspects as wearing a bright red T-shirt with a printed photo on the back.

Im so sick of this s**t," she said.

Officers ultimately secured the building, and the eyewitnesses who emerged described earlier scenes of chaos as people heard reports of gunfire.

"We saw cops draw their guns and start running out the doors as well, and then there was just a bunch of yelling," Amelia Hollins, a Hopkins County High School senior, said. "I had to run into a bathroom."

Hollins, and her mother and father, described sheltering in place with at least 14 people.

More: Indicted Pigeon Township aide requests approval to return to work

It took time for word to permeate the separated groups of people hiding in Eastland Mall that the threat of shooting had subsided.

According to run cards, law enforcement issued an order to lockdown Eastladmall by at least 6:59 p.m. By 8:30 p.m., officers were working to clear the remaining groups of unevacuated people.

Investigators were able to review and obtain surveillance footage from multiple vantage points at Eastland Mall, and further details may emerge in the coming days as the EPD continues its investigation.

Tuesday afternoon, Merriss said the department would refrain from releasing officers' body camera footage until "potential future arrests have been made."

'Active shooter' scare at Eastland comes just one week after Texas mall shooting killed eight

Scenes of shocked men, women and children being escorted to safety by heavily armed police are all too familiar for many Americans.

Just one week prior to the active-shooter scare in Evansville, a massacre at a mall in a Dallas suburb dominated news headlines.

Videos posted to social media showed customers at the Allen Premium Outlets mall running in search of cover and shelter. Police killed the gunman, Mauricio Garcia, 33, after Garcia allegedly shot and killed eight people, including children as young as 3 years old.

Indiana Gun Violence: Six people shot Sunday night in Anderson

It is within that context, and amidst the steady drumbeat of public shootings in the United States, that Evansville police and civilians responded to the initial report of an active shooter at Eastland Mall.

Their response also comes just months after the EPD shot and killed a gunman inside Evansville's west side Walmart.

"[The Eastland Mall] incident had the potential to be much worse if it weren't for the quick response of the Vanderburgh County Sheriff's Office and the Evansville Police Department," Merriss said.

This article originally appeared on Evansville Courier & Press: Evansville police release new records in Eastland Mall Braylin Underwood
If records are closed in Ralph Yarl case, public has right to know why, prosecutors say

Andrew Lester, center, appeared in Clay County court Wednesday where he made a plea of not guilty after being charged in the shooting of Ralph Yarl.

If records are closed in the criminal case of Andrew Lester, the white Kansas City homeowner who is accused of shooting Ralph Yarl, a Black teenager who rang the wrong doorbell, the public has a right to know why, Clay County prosecutors say.

Prosecutor Zachary Thompson made the argument in a court filing Tuesday after Lesters attorney sought a protective order asking a judge to prevent additional case information from being shared publicly.

Thompson did not oppose Lesters request, but said legal precedent had established a strong presumption in favor of the publics right to access.

In cases such as this, the Court must strike a balance between the publics legitimate interest in access, and the equally legitimate interest in preserving the legal integrity of the case and ensuring a fair trial, Thompson wrote. If justice is to be served, it must be done in a manner consistent with both due process and public interest.

Lester, 84, was charged with first-degree assault and armed criminal action after he allegedly shot Yarl twice  including once in the head  when Yarl, 16, accidentally went to the wrong Northland house on the night of April 13 while trying to pick up his brothers.

The shooting of Yarl, who was hospitalized for three days, sparked a national conversation about racism and gun rights. Civil rights activists and politicians, including prominent Black leaders in Kansas City, have pointed to the case as an example of how racial biases, whether implicit or explicit, can be fatal for Black Americans.

Lesters attorney, Steven Salmon, asked that case information not be made publicly available unless Lester is convicted. Salmon said dissemination of more information would be harmful to Lester while the case is active and ongoing.

This publicity in this case has already caused a widespread adverse and prejudicial reaction against the defendant and prejudice to his case, Salmon wrote, later adding that more information will continue to fuel speculation and taint Lesters ability to get a fair trial.

Lester admitted he opened fire within a few seconds of seeing Yarl at his door, but said he feared for his safety. Yarl told detectives he rang the doorbell, waited and was shot immediately. Thompson, the prosecutor, has said there was a racial component to the shooting, but has not elaborated.

Lester has pleaded not guilty to the charges. His attorney has signaled in court filings that he will rely in part on self-defense laws, including those commonly known as Stand Your Ground and The Castle Doctrine.

The judge has not ruled on whether the records should be closed. Lesters next hearing is set for June 1.
Rehabilitated seal is returned to the water in Charlestown  why it's becoming more common

CHARLESTOWN  Nose pressed against the kennel grate, Coasty needed no prodding to get back in the water.

Fifty pounds heavier on Tuesday than when she was found emaciated on a Block Island beach in March, the rehabilitated grey seal flopped out of the crate onto the sand at Blue Shutters Beach and into the waves in one of the fastest releases Mystic Aquarium Animal Rescue Program volunteers remembered ever seeing.

That is saying something, because over the last five years, the program  which handles 1,000 miles of coastline in Rhode Island and Connecticut and on Fishers Island, New York  has become busier and busier in the Ocean State.

Coasty, a seal rescued by the Mystic Aquarium Animal Rescue Program, heads back to the ocean at Blue Shutters Beach in Charlestown on Tuesday, May 16. The seal was malnourished, dehydrated and suffering from an infection when it was found on a Block Island beach in March.

Calls about strandings are on the rise in Rhode Island

About 80% of the calls Mystic responds to are in Rhode Island, in part because it's open ocean off the shoreline, said Sarah Callan, the animal rescue program manager.

Since 2018, Rhode Island has seen a 47% increase in annual marine mammal reports, which includes whales, dolphins, turtles and seals.

Coasty was found on the beach near the Surf Hotel in Block Island on a cold night in late March, barely moving against the rocks.

RI General Assembly: As RI legislators near session's end, compromise on expensive proposals looks inevitable

"It looked like part of the rock," said Jules Craynock, one of the volunteers who responded to the call.

Coasty was malnourished, dehydrated, suffering from an infection and had significant hair loss, and it took only two volunteers to load the then-42-pound young seal into the carrier. With limited ferries running between Block Island and the mainland, the Coast Guard station in New London ended up making a special trip  which they also used as a training opportunity  to pick up the seal and bring it back to the aquarium for treatment.

Yes, the Coast Guard's assistance is how the seal came to be named Coasty, though it was also put to an online vote.

With the exception of a Coast Guard rescue, the story isn't that uncommon. Block Island in particular has become a hot spot since a population of seals started to live there year-round in 2018, Callan said, and it accounts for about 29% of Rhode Island calls.

Coasty gives one last look before entering the water at Blue Shutters Beach in Charlestown.

"We're seeing a lot more animals in our coverage area in general, and I think a lot of it might have to do with food resources and the environment changes with climate change, and also just more people are out on the beaches," Callan said.

What the response is varies depending on the call. Some calls are for animals that have already died, in which case they're going out to collect field data and respond to callers. One dead seal generated 68 phone calls, which Callan said takes a lot of resources to call everyone back.

And then there are the cases like Coasty, who stayed at the aquarium for six weeks of care, which is a short visit compared with the two to three months that seals typically spend at the aquarium receiving care, Callan said.

Mystic Aquarium looking for state money to support it

With the rise in calls, so too comes a rise in costs.

"We're doing the best we can, but we're kind of at max capacity right now," Callan said. "We're getting a lot more calls. We have a lot more responses to go to and we just have very limited resources in order to make it all happen."

To that end, a bill has been introduced in the Rhode Island House of Representatives looking for $500,000 to establish a marine mammal rescue and response program and rapid response fund through the Department of Environmental Management to help pay the rescue, treatment and public-education costs.

Coasty waits to be released from a carrier at Blue Shutters Beach in Charlestown.

"With the increasing number of marine mammal reports in Rhode Island, it's more important than ever that we have strong policies in place to support the field response and rehabilitation efforts of these animals," Meagan Seacor, vice president of external relations for Mystic Aquarium, said in a news release. "We hope the Rhode Island legislature will pass H 6359 to ensure that we can continue providing the best possible care to these animals while collecting valuable data."

A companion bill in the Senate has not been introduced yet. But state Sen. Victoria Gu was there for Coasty's release, helping to open the kennel.

Marine carpentry: High school wood shop class in RI is unique

"These efforts to rescue animals and to help people connect with these animals, it plays a large part in just people appreciating our environment," she said as the crowd to see off Coasty thinned. "It then translated to us investing in our environment."

How to report a marine animal stranding in Rhode Island

If you see a stranded or dead marine animal or sea turtle, call Mystic Aquarium's 24-hour hotline at 860-572-5955 Ext. 107 and expect a return call. Keep at least 150 feet away from the animal, even if it's dead, and do not attempt to touch or feed it.

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Mystic Aquarium wants state money to rescue stranded seal. Here's why
Remains, including that of the Beaufort Co. Jane Doe, sent back to family, coroner says

A pair of unclaimed cremains interred in a Beaufort County mausoleum are heading back home this week after the coroners office was able to get in touch with their families.

An orthopedic surgeon found the remains of Paciano Lopez-Morales, 54, of Hilton Head, while clearing trees from his Spanish Wells Road property after Hurricane Matthew in 2016. Lopez-Morales had been missing since May 2015.

The coroners office is currently coordinating the return of his remains to family in Mexico, Beaufort County Coroner David Ott said Wednesday.

A second set of cremains, belonging to 36-year-old Maria Telles-Gonzalez, of Kissimmee, Florida, was sent back to family members Tuesday, Ott said.

Maria Telles-Gonzalez of Kissimmee, Florida, had been known as the Beaufort County Jane Doe for 27 years. Gonzalez, who was 36 at the time of her death, was a wife and mother of three children.

Telles-Gonzalez was murdered in 1995 and, up until her DNA was sent to an ancestry database in 2020, she had been known to police only as the Beaufort County Jane Doe. The investigation into her death is ongoing.

In a 2021 ceremony, both were interred in a mausoleum purchased by Beaufort County along with more than two dozen others at Forest Lawn Cemetery in Beaufort. The interment took place as part of a project spearheaded by Chief Deputy Coroner Debbie Youmans to get the unclaimed remains of 61 people piled on a shelf in the coroners office back to their families.

In the end, 34 people went on unclaimed. Four of the unclaimed remains were veterans who were laid to rest in a ceremony at the Beaufort National Cemetery while the other 30, including Telles-Gonzalez and Lopez-Morales, were placed in the mausoleum.

The highlight of the day for me was always when someone was claimed, Youmans previously told the newspapers about the project.

The public reaching out about the remains, Ott told the Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette, has been helpful. In Lopez-Morales case, it was a Hilton Head family who ended up getting coroners office officials in touch with his loved ones after they saw a March 2023 newspaper article that had named him.

In September 2022, a family in Honduras was finally reunited with the ashes of their brother, 42-year-old Hector Bueso Mejia, 15 years after his death on Hilton Head after they discovered what became of him in an online article.

The unclaimed remains of two others who died in February 2023 were also added to the mausoleum in a ceremony Tuesday.

A mausoleum purchased in 2021 to house the unclaimed remains of people who have died in Beaufort County.

Lopez-Morales

After Lopez-Morales remains were discovered in 2016, pathologists performed an osteological examination, an assessment of bones or skeletal remains. No no signs of trauma were found. The cause and manner of his death are undetermined, according to previous reporting.

Lopez-Morales, nicknamed Shorty by friends, was staying in a makeshift room at a house on Bluebell Lane, about a minutes drive from where his remains were found. He did not have any known medical conditions but had told friends of his ears bothering him before he went missing, according to previous reporting.

In 2018, the FBI was able to use DNA technology to get in touch with Lopez-Morales sister in San Luis Potosi, a city in central Mexico, but later lost touch. Before that, his family did not know what had happened to him, Ott said.

Maria Telles-Gonzalez

On May 24, 1995, Telles-Gonzalez was found in a drainage ditch off of I-95 in Yemassee wearing only a pair of Leonisa underwear, a brand manufactured in Colombia and sold in South and Central America at the time. Police estimated she had been found about 36 to 48 hours after her death.

An autopsy concluded that she died by ligature strangulation and bruises led police to believe she was beaten. DNA samples, dental records and fingerprints were taken from her body.

Her three children thought their mother left the family and only discovered what happened to her after DNA technology was used to link her to a relative, according to previous reporting.

Telles-Gonzalezs identity was released by the Beaufort County Sheriffs Office in December 2022. After the announcement, Maj. Bob Bromage, head of the Beaufort County Sheriffs Office cold case investigations, said the case was far from over.

Its not solved, he previously told reporters. We have a lot of work to do on this case.

Investigators have contacted several of Telles-Gonzalezs friends since making the announcement in December 2022. Currently, they are trying to get in touch with a man they think lived in Central Florida around the time of her death named Carlos. Pictures of the man have not been made public. The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division is working with age progression technology to show what Carlos might look like today.

The investigation is ongoing.

Anyone with information about this case may call Maj. Bob Bromage with the cold case investigations team at the Beaufort County Sheriffs Office at 843-816-8013.
The remains of a retired U.S. Marine who died in Ukraine after joining the fight against the Russian invasion will be coming home Friday.

Marine Capt. Grady Kurpasi (ret.), 50, went missing in April 2022 after taking small-arms fire in the Kherson region. He was located a year later by the global human rights advocacy group, the Weatherman Foundation.

Kurpasi's remains are being repatriated through a Turkish Airlines flight from Istanbul to John F. Kennedy Airport in New York. His remains are expected to arrive in the U.S. Friday morning. There will be a brief ceremony at the airport before his body is flown by private plane to Wilmington, N.C., to be returned to his family.

Kurpasi's disappearance

On the day of his disappearance, the 20-year veteran of the U.S. military left his position to investigate incoming fire in southern Ukraine with British citizen Andrew Hill, according to the Weatherman Foundation. Hill was captured by Russian-backed forces and has reportedly been charged with being a mercenary. Kurpasi did not make it back to his troops.

Investigators from the Weatherman Foundation, founded by Bess Weatherman and Andrew Duncan, spent nine months working to locate Kurpasi's remains and ensure their safe passage to American soil.

Finding Kurpasi's remains was like "finding a needle in a haystack" Duncan told CBS News.

"We are not only bringing him home, but we spent months trying to find his remains," says Duncan. "That was like a pet project for our organization because we feel very strongly that you never leave an American behind. Ever."

Kurpasi intended to train soldiers and assist with evacuations

Kurpasi, a Purple Heart recipient, was known for "leading by example" and "consistently inspiring those around him with his dedication, strength, and unwavering loyalty" according to the veteran rescue and assistance non-profit Project Dynamo.

U.S. Marines Capt. Grady Kurpasi (ret.) is seen in a file photo from the U.S. Marine Corps website. A family friend told CBS News on June 16, 2022, that Kurpasi had not been heard from since taking small arms fire during combat alongside Ukrainian forces. / Credit: USMC

After retiring from the Marine Corps, Kurpasi felt he had to assist Ukrainians defending their country against the Russians. He intended to train soldiers and assist with evacuations but eventually joined the Ukrainian Foreign Legion, according to the Weatherman Foundation. Kurapsi is survived by his wife, Heeson Kim, and his daughter.

Kurpasi was adopted from Korea and grew up in New York City before he joined the Marines. As a child he flew into JFK airport to meet his new family, and now, the same airport will receive his remains Friday.

At least 12 Americans have been killed fighting in Ukraine

The State Department warns Americans to not travel to fight in Ukraine, specifically citing the singling out of U.S. citizens in Ukraine by Russia's security officials, but U.S. citizens continue to make up some of the foreign fighters supporting Ukrainian troops.

At least 12 Americans have been killed fighting in Ukraine since the war broke out, according to "Task and Purpose." The State Department does not confirm the total number of U.S. citizens killed in Ukraine.

Two U.S. military veterans who disappeared while fighting Russia with Ukrainian forces were released in September after about three months in captivity, according to relatives.

Alex Drueke, 39, and Andy Huynh, 27, disappeared in the Kharkiv region of northeastern Ukraine near the Russian border. Both had traveled to Ukraine on their own and became friends.

CBS News spoke to another former U.S. Marine who said he knew Huynh and Drueke and served with them in Ukraine before they went missing.

"We knew that by going over there and serving for the government of Ukraine, that little to no protections would be extended to us, and that the United States government would be powerless to help us," said the veteran, who asked not to be identified.

It was witnessing the atrocities committed by Russian troops outside of Kyiv that motivated Kurpasi to stay and fight, Duncan said.

"These guys are heroes. They're not doing this for any attention. They're doing it knowing they don't have any government support, and they're still doing it," Duncan said.

Margaret Brennan contributed to this report.

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Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 16)  The Department of Health (DOH) said on Tuesday that local government units (LGUs), establishments, and schools should be able to assess their current COVID-19 situation and risks, and impose restrictions if necessary.

Health Officer-in-Charge Maria Rosario Vergeire noted that these LGUs, establishments, and schools may also lift restrictions based on their assessment. This came after the announcements of the Baguio City LGU mandating the wearing of masks in indoor spaces, and the City of Manila requiring its employees to wear masks.

"Itong mga restrictions na ini-impose nila, hangga't ito ay rational at aligned naman sa ating pagpapatupad ng ating protocols, ito ay susuportahan ng Kagawaran ng Kalusugan," she said.

[Translation: The Department of Health will support these restrictions as long as these are rational and aligned with the protocols being implemented.]

When asked if there is a need for the national government to impose additional COVID-19 restrictions with the increasing number of new COVID-19 cases, Vergeire pointed out that they see no reason for it at the moment.

"Hindi po namin nakikita sa ngayon, sa sitwasyon natin ngayon na ang Kagawaran ng Kalusugan ay magrerekomeda sa ating presidente or through IATF ng mas mataas o iaayos na naman o ipapatupad na naman na mga restriction katulad ng mandato sa mask," Vergeire added.

[Translation: For now, we do not see a reason to recommend to the president, or through the IATF, any stronger restrictions like the mask mandate.]

However, she said that if case classification shifts to mostly severe and critical cases and hospital admission rises, they may then recommend bringing back some COVID-19 restrictions.
Actor Forest Whitaker, left, Aubervilliers mayor Karine Franclet, center, and Stephane Troussel, head of the Seine Saint-Denis region, pose Wednesday, May 17, 2023 in Paris suburb Aubervilliers. Whitaker officially inaugurated on his Whitaker Peace and Development Initiative in Seine-Saint-Denis, meant to bring business, communication and conflict resolution skills to the young people of France's poorest region. Free classes are being offered in a small space with big ideas in Aubervilliers, outside Paris. (AP Photo/Oleg Cetinic) (ASSOCIATED PRESS)

AUBERVILLIERS, France (AP)  Renowned actor Forest Whitaker, who has portrayed a dictator, a Mafia hitman and a butler, has taken on what for some may be his most inspirational role.

Whitaker officially inaugurated on Wednesday his Whitaker Peace and Development Initiative in Seine-Saint-Denis, meant to bring business, communication and conflict resolution skills to the young people of Frances poorest region. Free classes are being offered in a small space with big ideas in Aubervilliers, outside Paris.

It is the Academy Award winner's first foray into Europe, and the ninth country where his nongovernmental organization operates, all light years from the lights of Hollywood and the accolades and awards bestowed on him for his film career. His presence in Aubervilliers forms part of an arc that included his work with child soldiers in Uganda, where his NGO is present.

I would see in some of their eyes this look  a look that I knew from when I remember gang members from my neighborhood in Los Angeles, he said to a crowd of local officials and enthusiastic members of his French NGO. All eyes were glued on his large, quiet presence. I started trying to figure out how to fix that," he said. In the end, "I knew that the only way to really find peace was to work together as a society and to work together on the ground."

Returning to the here and now, he added that sometimes we have to address peace that way, to work as a team on the ground  we have to know that we can make a difference ourselves.

The learning center, located above an outlet of PNB-Paribas bank, which lent Whitaker a huge hand in his discovery of Aubervilliers, actually began offering its free classes in late April and currently has more than 70 students. The hope is to have 200 students by the end of the year. Among courses taught are entrepreneurship, communications, computer science and social mediation.

Everything is linked, said Aminata Sidibe, in charge of the school. Identifying conflict areas, working to prevent them and stopping them are skills needed within families and in businesses alike, she said. A special program, the Fighters, is reserved for women, whom Whitaker says have shown themselves important to effecting change, to provide the needed baggage to integrate and succeed.

Bringing Whitakers NGO to Seine-Saint-Denis was a process. He visited another town in 2021 before being introduced to Aubervilliers. He said he got an understanding of the place and then reviewed the data  unemployment rate of 39% and poverty at 34% plus a soaring crime rate.

Its a great opportunity for us to be able to partner in an area that people imagine is down, but actually has potential, a lot of potential, to go up, he said.

Aubervilliers Mayor Karine Franclet sees the arrival of Whitakers initiative as one more reason for optimism, like the coming of the 2024 Olympic Games. A swimming pool is under construction in Aubervilliers to be used for Olympic athletes to train. The numbers are very bad, but 30% of the population is under 30 years of age, and the town is too often unexploited. Whitaker is an example of success, she said.

There are hundreds of associations aimed at helping residents of Seine-Saint-Denis, so Whitakers is one more.

This is a dream, you know. You said you were going to build a center here, and now Im sitting in front of you and here we are, Whitaker said to the crowd.

Whitaker won the 2007 Academy Award for best actor for his starring role in The Last King of Scotland  his second such honor  plus Britain's BAFTA awards, the Golden Globe and a string of other prizes.

Whitaker was in Aubervilliers as the Cannes Film Festival was in session in southern France. He won an Honorary Palme d'Or there last year for his body of work. But he said no when asked if he would visit the Riviera venue this year.

Instead, he said he was heading off to Uganda, Rwanda and other points on the African continent.
Democrats reintroduce legislation that would expand by four the number of justices on the nations highest court.

Democratic congressional members have reintroduced legislation that would expand the number of justices appointed to the Supreme Court in an effort to restore order and equality.

In recent months, some U.S. citizens on both sides of the political aisle have lost faith in the Supreme Court following the overturning of Roe v. Wade and in light of recent scandals involving a few of the courts justices.

People stand outside the Supreme Court on April 21, after the court decided to preserve womens access to a drug used in the most common method of abortion as a lawsuit continues. On Tuesday, a group of Democratic lawmakers again called for the expansion of the high court. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

On Tuesday, Rep. Hank Johnson, D-Ga., and Sen. Edward Markey, D-Mass., held a press conference to reintroduce the Judiciary Act in a bid to restore the publics trust in the Supreme Court.

The legislation would place four additional justices on the nations highest court in an attempt to add political balance and ensure justice.

Johnson told reporters that the Supreme Courts right-leaning justices have spent years dismantling our democracy and that this proposal would put an end to it.

The court has descended into extremist politics and we need to save this arrogant court from itself. It has become too partisan so that it no longer reflects the country as a whole, said the congressman.

The Supreme Court is also trying to whitewash history by undoing the civil rights legacy and continuing to rule as if racism does not exist, he continued.

Johnson stated that the proposed legislation to alter the number of justices appointed to the Supreme Court would be in line with past practices.

Congress has changed the number of justices seven times throughout American history and it is clear to me that the time has now come to make that adjustment again, he asserted.

Alencia Johnson, a senior adviser to Demand Justice, told theGrio that this bill is long overdue and would serve as a solution to the GOPs efforts in recent years to politically steal seats on the Supreme Court.

We can go all the way back to Merrick Garland, not having his seat. Hes a great attorney general, but he was supposed to be a Supreme Court justice. We can go back to Clarence Thomas when he faced accusations against him for sexual misconduct. Amy Coney Barrett, her nomination was rammed through less than two months before the last election, she recounted.

If theres any political motivation its actually to get the politicsout of the courts and rebalance them, Alencia Johnson maintained.

Hank Johnson first introduced the Judiciary Act in 2021 but it did not garner sufficient support. He believes this time the proposed statute has a better chance of being passed.

Im even more intent on the need for change and so are my colleagues. Last session when I introduced the Judiciary Act, we introduced it with only two co-sponsors. This year Im introducing the Judiciary Act with 56 original co-sponsors in the House, he said.

Rep. Cori Bush, speaking on Capitol Hill in 2021 in favor of a pandemic-related eviction moratorium. This week, the Missouri Democrat was on hand as colleagues reintroduced a bill to increase the number of Supreme Court justices. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

Alencia Johnson told theGrio that Republicans will be up in arms about [the bill] and theyre going to give some crazy talking points to their base about how this is morally wrong.

Even with the possibility that the legislation will face opposition from the right, she believes there is a chance that it could pass in the House and the Senate.

I think the people who care about certain issues, whether its abortion rights, making sure that we have comprehensive gun controlpeople who believe that you should be able to love and marry who you want to marry. People who believe these issues will actually be in support of this, she stated.

Markey told reporters that the fundamental freedoms of all Americans are under attack at the hands of an illegitimate far-right Supreme Court.

If we fail to act, it will only get worse. We must fix this broken and illegitimate court. the American people have suffered, he said.

Pregnant people and their families feel the painful real-world consequences of the Dobbs decision overturning Roe v. Wade that took away a bedrock constitutional right and families have lost lives to the unrepentant scourge of gun violence, he argued.

Markey said he believes the only way to combat this issue is to expand the court.

Lets start with undoing the Republicans thievery and adding four seats to the court, he said.

Reps. Cori Bush, D-Mo., and Adam Schiff, D-Calif., were also in attendance and stood in solidarity with their congressional colleagues.

Bush told reporters that the Supreme Court is a cesspool of corruption and misconduct.

Justice Clarence Thomas failed to disclose lavish trips and gifts from a billionaire benefactor. Justice Neil Gorsuch sold his property to the head of a major law firm nine days after being confirmed. Chief Justice John Roberts wife raked in millions of dollars by placing lawyers in elite law firms with business before the court, she said.

Bush contended that these may be only the scandals we know about because of weak disclosure requirements and the lack of a binding code of conduct for Supreme Court justices. We have no idea how many other scandals are being covered.

Markey, in his remarks, urged that Thomas resign from his seat because of his decades-long relationship with a right-wing donor.

[He] should resign from the Supreme Court of the United States. We have to remind him that we have a system of constitutional checks and balances. Not checks for balances, he voiced.

Hank Johnson told reporters that if Thomas remains on the bench, the conservative justice will erase rights for everyone except for himself.

Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas should resign because of his ties to a right-wing donor, Rep. Ed Markey said. (Photo by Erin Schaff-Pool/Getty Images)

He will keep Loving v. Virginia intact while denying [others] the right to love who and how they want to love and he will use a wealthy donors private jet and super yacht. But he will take away your right to vote and your right to make decisions about your health care and this extremist court will go right along with him, he insisted.

The Democratic lawmakers were joined by organizations like NARAL Pro-Choice America, League of Conservation Voters, Demand Justice and Take Back the Court Action Fund.

Jacqueline Ayers, senior vice president of policy, organizing and campaigns at Planned Parenthood, also attended the press conference in support of the legislation and stated that the country needs a Supreme Court that reflects what the people actually want to see.

Courts are being used as a weapon to take away our rights and because of systemic racism, discrimination and other forms of institutional racism we are continuing to see all of these actions are disproportionately impacting people of color, she said.

We know that your rights should not be determined by your ZIP code or what state a particular legislature has sent to this court to review. We know that the entire system needs to be able to take change, she declared.

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The post Rep. Cori Bush calls Supreme Court a cesspool of corruption appeared first on TheGrio.
The Orlando Executive Airport is getting a financial boost from the Federal Aviation Administration as part of the landmark Bipartisan Infrastructure Law for airport improvement.

>>> STREAM CHANNEL 9 EYEWITNESS NEWS LIVE <<<

On Wednesday, Congressman Maxwell Frost announced the $120,000 grant to OEA as part of a federal funding program established in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

This investment will allow the Orlando Executive Airport to continue its role as a vital aviation connector in Central Florida, said Kevin Thibault, CEO of the Greater Orlando Aviation Authority. We are grateful for the funding from our federal partners, which will help with needed enhancements of the airfield.

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According to a news release, the grant will allow OEA to rehabilitate the airports apron where airplanes are parked, passengers board and disembark, and planes are refueled and loaded.

The Orlando Executive Airport acts as a critical catalyst for our business community while bringing hundreds of thousands of visitors to Central Florida yearly, said Frost. This grant marks an important investment in the physical infrastructure of the airport while supporting Orlandos continued tourism and economic growth.

Read: Prince Harry, Meghan involved in near catastrophic car chase, spokesperson says

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.
Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) is defending her estranged husband, Jayson Boebert, from allegations that he threatened the process server who was trying to serve him divorce papers.

The controversial member of Congress announced on Tuesday that she and Jayson Boebert were divorcing after nearly 18 years.

The couple filed for divorce on May 11, but The Colorado Sun reported April 25 as the date of the couples separation.

Both the Sun and The Daily Beast reported that the process server claimed in an affidavit that Jayson Boebert chased him away while cursing before siccing his dogs on him.

I tried to hand him the documents but did not take them. He started yelling and using profanities, and told me that I was trespassing, and that he was calling the Sheriffs Office. I told him I was leaving the documents on the chair outside of the door, he closed the door then let the dogs out.

The process server noted in the affidavit that Jayson Boebert was cleaning a gun and drinking a tall glass of beer when he was served.

Although Boebert asked for privacy regarding the divorce on Tuesday, she defended her soon-to-be ex against the process servers false accusations on Twitter.

Boebert said the stories reported about the process server, and even Jayson running over a mailbox are a complete lie, before saying that her husband did not sign up to be in the public limelight, and he certainly did not agree to be falsely accused of things he didnt do.

The lawmaker claimed that our own home security footage shows he didnt sick dogs on the process server and said the dogs were outside when the server pulled up and never showed aggression toward him.

Boebert also felt important to correct the part of the process servers account where he claimed Jayson Boebert was cleaning guns and drinking beer when he arrived.

Jayson doesnt sit around cleaning guns and he certainly doesnt drink beer out of a glass, just as much as he doesnt drink Bud Light, she said. The beer brand recently became the target of right-wing ire over its partnership with transgender TikTok influencer Dylan Mulvaney.

I have always spoken highly of my marriage. I believe in marriage. I believe in the power our words hold.



Jayson, a man I spent half of my life with, did not sign up to be in the public limelight, and he certainly did not agree to be falsely accused of things he didn't do.



The  Lauren Boebert (@laurenboebert) May 17, 2023

In a text message interview with The Daily Beast, Jayson Boebert said he was upset by the process servers visit, but denied saying anything bad to the process server, while insisting the dogs were no threat.

I did not know what I was being served for or if it was some crazy left wing person coming to my house again, he claimed. I was not drinking and I was not cleaning any gun. The divorce is sad, I did not expect this, I love her with every bit of my heart, she has been my soul mate and she is the mother of my Children.

We have been through a lot together and I just want her to be happy, Jayson Boebert said, ending with: So its what ever she wants.

Lauren and Jayson Boebert first met when she was 16 and he was 22. She was 18 when the couple married in June 2005, just months after they had their first child, Tyler.

Related...
North Carolina Rep. Tricia Cotham cast a pivotal vote Tuesday to pass new restrictions on abortion.

State lawmakers voted Tuesday to override Coopers veto of the abortion bill, making the new 12-week abortion restrictions law. Every Republican, including Cotham, voted to support the override.

Cotham released a statement expressing her support for the new restrictions, saying the new law represents a middle ground that anyone not holding one of the two extremist positions can support.

Cotham, a former Democrat from Mecklenburg County, changed her party affiliation to Republican in April, drawing backlash from her constituents and Democrats.

Republicans announced their new abortion bill in mid-May, and many wondered if Cotham would vote for it, as she had campaigned as a Democrat who supported Roe v. Wade.

Rep. Tricia Cotham, a Mecklenburg County Republican and former Democrat, mouths the words I see you, as demonstrators are escorted from the House gallery by General Assembly police after a vote to override Gov. Roy Coopers veto of an abortion restriction bill Tuesday, May 16, 2023, at the Legislative Building in Raleigh, N.C.

Her vote was crucial, as she had granted Republicans in the state House a veto-proof supermajority, allowing them to pass legislation steadily, barring party dissent.

In her statement, Cotham writes that she understands there are extremists on both sides of the abortion issue. Some of the absolutists believe abortion is unacceptable in any circumstance and some of the absolutists believe aborting a perfectly healthy child in the 40th week of pregnancy is morally acceptable. I cannot support either of these extreme positions.

Instead, she says that like most North Carolinians, she thinks abortion is a complicated issue without absolute answers. Abortion is an unpleasant subject for many women, and I know of no woman that considered having an abortion that did so flippantly or unseriously. Despite what some people on the fringes may claim, contemplating an abortion is a grave decision, not a choice Ive ever known anyone to celebrate.

After extensive review, I believe this bill strikes a reasonable balance on the abortion issue and represents a middle ground that anyone not holding one of the two extremist positions can support, she writes.

The abortion bill passed into law Tuesday prohibits abortions after 12 weeks, with exceptions up to 20 weeks for rape and incest, up to 24 weeks for life-limiting fetal anomalies, and no limit if a physician determines that the life of the mother is in danger due to a medical emergency.

This legislation gives women continued access to elective abortions during the first trimester of a pregnancy in consultation with their doctor. This is the timeframe when most abortions occur. However, this bill ends elective late term abortions in North Carolina. While crucially providing exceptions for rape, incest, severe fetal abnormalities, and to protect the life of the mother. Women continue to be guaranteed unrestricted care in the event of a miscarriage or ectopic pregnancy, wrote Cotham.

The bill also includes new appointment requirements for women seeking medical abortions, new reporting requirements for physicians and new licensing requirement for clinics that provide abortions. It further provides that abortions after 12 weeks must be performed in hospitals. These provisions have faced opposition from some who say they will limit access to abortion care, especially for low-income women.

The bill also includes funding for child care, foster care, and maternity and paternity leave for teachers and state employees. Cotham wrote that she had insisted that any abortion legislation include meaningful support and protections to mothers and children to give them the best chance at a good life.

This bill provides hundreds of millions of dollars in support for paid parental leave, maternal healthcare, foster care, contraception, and community college tuition and job placement supports to ensure that women and their children have choices, protections and pathways to success. Finally, this bill provides important protections to mothers and children by keeping weapons out of the hands of domestic abusers and ensuring sexual child predators have lifetime GPS monitoring and tracking, Cotham said.

Some call me a hypocrite since I voted for this bill. They presume to know my story. As I said at the time, I had an ectopic pregnancy that sadly ended in miscarriage, not an elective abortion. In fact, Senate Bill 20 affirms the life-saving care I received in that dire situation. It was very important to me that this legislation protects all women going through a miscarriage or other complications - and it most certainly does, Cotham said.

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Senator Ted Cruz during the May 16 hearing.

A pair of prominent Republican senators co-opted yesterdays hearing on NASAs 2024 budget request by accusing the space agency of siding with Biden-friendly initiatives pertaining to climate change and diversity.



The Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee got together yesterday to discuss NASAs fiscal year 2024 $27.2 billion budget proposal. Senators on both sides of the aisle grilled NASA administrator Bill Nelson on a variety of topics, but Senators Ted Cruz and Eric Schmitt largely ignored the big-ticket items and instead honed in on two Republican bugaboos: initiatives to combat climate change and investments in diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI).

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The duo levied accusations at NASA, asserting that the space agency has become overly aligned with Biden administration policies, thereby veering away from its longstanding nonpartisan foundations. If NASA is seen as partisan, that is very bad for space and space exploration, Cruz, a Committee ranking member, said during the hearing, as quoted in Space Policy Online. So I hope NASA will continue its tradition of staying out of those battles, he added.

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson during the May 16 budget hearing.

A new rule tabled late last year would require NASAs commercial partners to disclose greenhouse gas emissions and articulate reduction targets. Cruz said that, instead of helping the U.S. win the space race, the proposed rule would ensure that NASA could do less exploration and less science for more taxpayer dollars.



According to Schmitt, also a ranking member, NASAs $22 million budget request for an Office of Diversity and Equal Opportunity could influence the space race, resulting in China landing humans on the Moon before NASA is able to do so through its ongoing Artemis program. He said he strongly disagrees with NASAs obsession with misguided woke policies related to climate change and diversity, equity, and inclusion. Schmitt said the U.S. must be laser-like focused in its approach, and that China has no interest in out-DEIing us.

Cruz mirrored these sentiments, saying, should we show up second at the Shackleton Crater, I highly doubt the Chinese Communist Party will care much about how weve advanced an Equity Action Plan, as he was quoted in Payload. Shackleton Crater is located within the Moons southern polar regions, the desired landing site of NASAs upcoming Artemis 3 mission. Cruz and Schmitt both stressed the urgency by highlighting Chinas stated aim of sending humans to the Moon, emphasizing that the United States is once again engaged in a space racea claim that Nelson himself has made on repeated occasions.

Nelson found himself on the other side of the table yesterday, as he previously served alongside Cruz on the Committee from 2013 to 2019. The NASA chief didnt offer deep dives into the Senators questions, but to Cruz, he did say: You and I in this committee have a different approach to what is happening to the Earths climate, and it so happens that NASA is in the middle of this. The climate initiative, Nelson explained, is still a draft currently in the comment phase, and it will also apply to the Department of Defense and the General Services Administration. He added that the draft does include a provision to waive the requirements for small businesses.

As to the claim that NASA is pandering to the Biden Administration, Nelson said the reality, Senator Cruzand you know I love youis the fact that we have political differences, but I can guarantee you that NASA is being run in a nonpartisan way, as quoted in SpaceNews.

NASA, dedicated to advancing the frontiers of space exploration, wants to maintain a similar dedication to addressing the challenges of climate change and promoting diversity. Its a shame to witness these two Republicans attempting to drag the space agency back to the previous century.

For more spaceflight in your life, follow us on Twitter and bookmark Gizmodos dedicated Spaceflight page.

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Kentucky Republicans on Tuesday picked longtime Garrard County Attorney Mark Metcalf as their nominee for state treasurer.

Metcalf will face Democrat Michael Bowman of Louisville in the Nov. 7 general election.

A banker, Bowman lost in 2019 when he challenged the incumbent treasurer, Republican Allison Ball, who was seeking a second and final term. Ball is now running for state auditor.

Kentuckys state treasurer only has a few formal bookkeeping duties, including depositing the states revenues, monitoring the states bank accounts, withholding the proper sum of taxes for state employees and managing the states unclaimed property fund.

The treasurer also sits on several boards and commissions responsible for large sums of public money, including those that oversee the Teachers Retirement System of Kentucky and the Kentucky Lottery.

On Tuesday, Metcalf defeated former deputy state treasurer O.C. OJ Oleka, 35, and Lexington businessman Andrew Cooperrider, 30, for the GOP nomination.

All three of the Republican candidates for treasurer this year criticized woke investments during their campaigns. They opposed state funds going to institutions that promote environmental or social-justice causes, a practice  controversial among conservatives  known as ESG, or environmental, social and governance and investing.

Some of the nations largest asset managers, including BlackRock, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley, have said they are reducing their investments in new coal projects. This has prompted some Kentucky Republicans, such as Ball, to call for a boycott of those corporations, particularly in regard to the states pension funds.

Metcalf, 64, holds the rank of lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army reserve after serving as a judge-advocate in Iraq and at other assignments.

In a recent interview, Metcalf said he wants state government to be smaller overall; focused on law enforcement and reducing its debts, such as the unfunded pension liabilities; and invested only in Kentucky first values, which rules out institutions that in any way hinder gun sales or the coal industry.

Im interested in preventing what I consider to be the woke interests in directing the application of funds toward woke objectives, and in particular, the movements that tell us we cannot mine coal or drill natural gas, he said. The same interests want to see tax revenues directed toward green technologies and toward the LGBTQ movements, which I think are contrary to the best interests of the state.
Democrats and Republicans headed to the polls Tuesday for Pennsylvanias primary election.

Pennsylvania is a closed primary, meaning only those who are registered members of a political party could vote on the ballot of that political party.

Polls closed at 8 p.m. Results are below:

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A retired Special Forces soldier died in Ukraine after an apparent building collapse amid a Russian artillery barrage in the embattled city of Bakhmut, according to U.S. officials, claims from a Russian paramilitary leader, and media reports.

Nicholas Maimer, who retired from the National Guard as a staff sergeant, was working with a non-profit group seeking to aid civilians and train Ukrainian troops, CNN cited fellow Americans working in Ukraine as saying.

A spokesperson for the Idaho National Guard, from which Maimer retired on Dec. 24, 2018, with an honorable discharge, expressed condolences to the veterans family.

Our hearts and prayers are with the family of Nicholas Maimer, along with his friends in the community, said Lt. Col Christopher Borders in a phone interview.

Borders said that Maimers military career took him from the active duty Army to the Idaho Army National Guard, with intervening stints in the Utah and California Guard as well. Maimer, who earned his Special Forces tab while with a Utah unit in 2005, was qualified as a Special Forces engineer sergeant, an infantryman, a cavalry scout and a tank crewman.

The leader of the Wagner Group private military corporation, Yevgeny Prigozhin, appeared in a Tuesday video posted to Telegram that displayed a body and U.S. documents that appeared to belong to Maimer. The Russian oligarch claimed Maimer had been directly fighting against his troops, who have borne the brunt of Russias bloody drive to capture the city in eastern Ukraine, and deserved respect because he did not die in his bed as a grandpa but he died at war, according to a CNN translation.

Military Times could not independently verify the videos authenticity, but Maimers uncle told the Idaho Statesman that the body in the video was that of his nephew.

A State Department spokesperson, speaking anonymously to discuss an American citizens reported death, told Military Times that officials are aware of the reports of the death of a U.S. citizen in Bakhmut and are seeking additional information. The spokesperson cautioned that their ability to verify death reports is extremely limited and reiterated that U.S. citizens should not travel to Ukraine due to the active armed conflict.

Its not clear whether Maimer had experienced combat before he went to Ukraine.

Borders, the Idaho Guard spokesperson, provided a list of Maimers awards and decorations that did not include any specific War on Terror expeditionary ribbons or combat badges. But Borders noted the difficulty of compiling Guard troops service records, particularly for soldiers like Maimer who transferred multiple times between states.

The spokesperson said Maimer deployed to the Philippines as a Utah National Guard Special Forces sergeant from September 2006 until May 2007, though its not clear what duties he or his unit held.

According to archived press releases, the Utah Guard-led 1st Battalion, 19th Special Forces Group completed a nine-month rotation with the Joint Special Operations Task Force-Philippines during that time. Troops assigned to that task force, which operated under the Operation Enduring Freedom-Philippines banner, were not authorized to participate in combat save for self-defense scenarios, according to a 2016 RAND report.

Troops who participated in that mission were authorized the Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, but Maimers seemingly-incomplete records do not include one. Other service awards did not include devices to which Maimer should have been entitled.

Maimer received at least one Army Commendation Medal and five Army Achievement Medals during his 20-year career, Borders said.
An American killed in a barrage of artillery fire in Ukraine this week is believed to be a retired U.S. Special Forces member. Russia's Wagner mercenary group highlighted his death in a propaganda video.

Former Green Beret Nicholas Maimer, 45, was identified as the person killed in fighting around Bakhmut, his uncle Paul Maimer and retired U.S. Army Lt. Col. Perry Blackburn told The Idaho Statesman.

The identification was made based on a video in which Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin filmed himself standing near a body and rifling through Maimer's documents in a graphic video posted to the mercenary group's social media account.

"We're just trying to get him home for proper burial," Paul Maimer told the Statesman "I think he's deserving to be put to rest in a veterans cemetery. He might not have been fighting for our country, but he was fighting for the right reasons."

RUSSIAN LOSSES IN UKRAINE SURPASS 200,000, UKRAINE INTEL SAYS

The fighting around the town of Bakhmut is some of the most severe anywhere in Ukraine. Former Green Beret Nicholas was killed in the area this week.

It is unclear whether Russia plans to return Maimer's body to the U.S.

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The State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital regarding whether the U.S. was aware of Maimer's death and whether it hoped to secure the return of his body.

RUSSIAN MISSILE BARRAGE RAINS DOWN ON KYIV AS UKRAINE PREPARES COUNTEROFFENSIVE

Maimer was reportedly killed when Russian artillery struck the building where he was stationed. Blackburn, who helped Maimer deploy to Ukraine, says the veteran was there largely in a training capacity.

"From what I understand, he was providing them with firsthand training in that area so that they can continue to do the fight, and he got caught behind enemy lines," Blackburn told the Statesman. "Having Nick die over there, it's just brutal."

Maimer's death comes roughly a month after another veteran, a U.S. Marine, was killed in Ukraine. Cooper "Harris" Andrews, 26, was hit by a mortar April 19, during a battle for a crucial road to Bakhmut.

Andrews joined the Foreign Legion, a group of foreign fighters assisting Ukrainian forces since being invaded by Russia, according to social media posts.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 17)  The Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Wednesday green-lighted electronic or internet voting for overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) for the national and local elections in May 2025.

"We approved the policy direction and therefore we are now to prepare the roadmap for Electronic Voting for Overseas Filipinos," Comelec chairman George Garcia said.

Garcia added that Comelecs goal is higher overseas voter turnout.

In a press statement, the Comelec said it approved the online mode of voting based on Republic Act No. 10590 or the Overseas Voting Act of 2013, which gives the poll body the authority to explore other modes or systems using automated election system, and RA No. 9189 or The Overseas Absentee Voting Act of 2003.

[W]ith the additional authority granted to the Commission under Republic Act No. 10590 vis-a-vis its stronger implementing authority, it can be assumed that the Congress has yielded to the expertise and knowledge of the Commission in understanding the peculiarities attendant to the overseas voting process, to the extent that Congress no longer required prior approval in the form of legislation in order for the Commission to promulgate rules and regulations and consequently, implement other means of overseas voting that are more reliable, secure, and efficient, the Comelec said.

Comelec spokesperson Rex Laudiangco said the go signal is also based on RA No. 9369, which mandated an automated election system.

"Based on RAs 9369 and 10590, the Commission is of the opinion it is empowered to do so even without prior legislation," Laudiangco told CNN Philippines.

Laudiangco stated that the approval of internet voting for OFWs is for implementation in the national and local elections in May 2025.

The Comelec was directed to study and explore the use of internet to cast votes for OFWs as early as the enactment of RA 9189 in 2003, according to Laudiangco.

He added that RA 9369 authorized the poll body to use an automated election system "as it may deem appropriate and practical."

"Then came RA 10590, again expressly mentioning, and unequivocally stating that voting may be done either personally, by mail, or by any other means as may be determined by the Commission, and that internet based technology or whatever latest technology may be explored, he explained.

The Comelec did not include online voting in the 2022 national elections, but it made test runs for the 2025 polls that yielded "promising" results.
Retired U.S. Special Forces soldier killed in Ukraine said he felt 'compelled to come help'

KYIV, Ukraine  A retired U.S. Army Special Forces soldier who worked alongside the Ukrainians and died in an artillery barrage in Bakhmut earlier this week told NBC News in a February interview that he felt compelled to come help.

When the war started, Nicholas Maimer was already working in Europe, he said, as he walked the frozen grounds of a training compound for members of Ukraine's Territorial Defense Forces.

I think in recent history  this was one of the most clear-cut violations of human rights and national sovereignty that we have seen, he said, the snow of a Ukrainian winter crunching underfoot as he strode past military green tents, public latrines and steel wire fences. So, I personally  with my background  I knew I was compelled to come help.

At the time, Maimer was training volunteers and helping Ukrainian officers develop training programs of their own. One challenge, he said, was overcoming a Soviet-era military mentality that sometimes discouraged individuals from taking the initiative.

He was working to give them the tools that they need to defeat the Russians, he said in a wide-ranging interview, in which he discussed training strategies, the capabilities of the volunteers, the spirit of those he trained and his 14-hour working days.

With his face wrapped in a ski mask and his eyes covered by dark sunglasses to hide his identity at the time, Maimer also mentioned the discord he saw at home. He said he hoped the U.S. would continue its support, despite calls by some politicians in Washington to cut back American aid to Ukraine.

Former U.S. special forces soldier Nick Maimer speaks to NBC News' Raf Sanchez in Ukraine Feb. 2023. (NBC News)

I think its short-sighted, he said. Because of the spirit of the Ukrainian people, what theyre asking for is materials and not asking for our people. The kind of existential threat that Russia poses to the world, I think this is the right place to take a stand.

Maimer served in the U.S. Army from 1996 to 1998. He then joined the Idaho Army National Guard until 2018, according to his military service record. He deployed to the Philippines in 2006 during Operation Enduring Freedom, in which Special Forces units advised the Armed Forces of the Philippines as they battled domestic and transnational terrorist groups.

During his service, Maimer earned multiple awards and decorations, including the Special Forces Tab, Army Commendation Medal and four Army Achievement Medals.

A Telegram post Tuesday by the commander of the private Russian military company Wagner Group cast a pall over Maimers death. Yevgeny Prigozhin, who runs the mercenary group, posted a video that he claimed showed the body of an American, which he appeared to be inspecting. He alleged the man had been firing at the Russians when he was killed and said the group would return the body to the U.S.

NBC News could not verify the claims made by Prigozhin, who often uses his channel for propaganda purposes or to further his own interests.

Vedant Patel, a State Department spokesperson, said the agency was aware of Maimers reported death and is working to confirm the details surrounding it. He emphasized Russias obligation under the Geneva Convention, however.

Let me just note though that, as part of the conflict in Ukraine, Russia, including its Wagner forces, have an obligation under the Geneva Convention to respect the dead, including from disrespectful and degrading acts, Patel said at a briefing on Tuesday.

Sen. Jim Risch, R-Idaho, who is the ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, met Maimer in Kyiv when he visited Ukraine last year. The senator said he was deeply saddened to hear the news about Maimers death, but he knew the retired Green Berets training was of great benefit to the Ukrainians.

I am deeply saddened to learn of reports that Idahoan Nick Maimer was killed in Ukraine, Risch said in a statement. In meeting him, it was clear Nick was exceptionally well trained for, and sober about, the realities of the war in Ukraine. May he rest in peace.

Maimer said in a video he posted on his Facebook at the end of May 2022 that he had come to Ukraine a few weeks earlier and had first linked up with the Western volunteer organization, the Mozart Group, which was formed in response to the Wagner Group.

At that point in the war, he said he found the Mozart volunteer effort to be pretty unprofessional as it failed at taking care of basic security and stuff like that.

From there, Maimer said he met another retired Green Beret, Lt. Col. Perry Blackburn, who enlisted his expertise to help his nonprofit group called AFGFree. Through that group he began his work as a trainer of the Territorial Defense Forces. He said that he felt like they were really moving the needle.

The effort is going to allow me to hopefully save some lives by getting them some good training, because theyre basically taking local civilians that are willing to fight and defend and trying to turn them into soldiers, he said on the Facebook video. And of course, theyre trying to do this on the fly.

Almost a year later, standing in the snow on the training grounds, Maimer sounded as committed to the cause as ever. He said he had no imminent plans to give up his post, despite the fact that the group of Westerners, particularly Americans, had diminished in the months since.

To him, he said, it was important for the American public to know that this war is not someone elses war, as the Ukrainians had the same desires and principles as the U.S.

These people want the exact same thing that your average American wants, Maimer said. They want to raise a family, enjoy life, have a good quality of life and have the chance for prosperity  a better future for their kids. They want exactly the same thing. Its not somebody else, somewhere else. It could just as easily be America.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
Photo Illustration by Thomas Levinson/The Daily Beast/Getty/Reuters

Why did you decide to run for president?

Thats the first question ABC News Linsey Davis put to Democratic presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., whose bid to challenge President Joe Biden for the partys nomination has already attracted the interest of some 20 percent of primary voters.

My party is becoming the party of war, the party of censorship, the party of fear and I felt like I had a unique opportunity to change that, Kennedy answered. (My italics.)

RFK Jr. Was Always a Crackpot, He Just Switched Political Tribes

That one sentence really sums up the ethos of Kennedys campaign so far. Hes running as an outsider and promising to take on corruption, while railing against overzealous government agencies like the FBI and the heavy-handed governmental response to COVID-19. So, its hardly surprising to see Kennedy earning praise from prominent free market libertarians, conservatives, progressives, and civil libertarians.

But theres one big problem. While Kennedy is undoubtedly saying some things that resonate about free speech and government overreach, he has no actual credibility on these issuesbecause, as Matt Welch first pointed out in a fantastic piece for Reason, he has a long track record of advocating for unhinged and brazen acts of censorship.

For example, in a 2014 interview with Climate Depot, Kennedy (who has been a prominent and influential left-wing environmental activist for decades), accused the Koch brothers of treason for supposedly denying the issue of climate change. (Treason, you might remember, is a crime punishable by death!)

They are enjoying making themselves billionaires by impoverishing the rest of us. Do I think they should be in jail? I think they should be enjoying three hots and a cot at the Hague with all the other war criminals, Kennedy declared. Do I think the Koch brothers should be tried for reckless endangerment? Absolutely, that is a criminal offense and they ought to be serving time for it.

He even lamented the fact that politicians who deny climate change couldnt be jailed, saying, They are contemptible human beings. I wish there were a law you could punish them with. Thats right: Kennedy actually thinks philanthropic activists and politicians with which he disagrees ought to be jailed for war crimes.

Disagree with people all you want. You can even think their views are vile and evil. But once you start calling to lock them up over your disagreements, a free speech hero you are not.

Ron DeSantis Anti-Free Speech Crusade Would Cancel Fox News

Furthermore, Kennedy wants to target CEOs for imprisonment and punitively revoke the corporate/nonprofit status of businesses and organizations that advocate ideas he thinks are wrong. For example, hes said that coal companies are criminal enterprises and called for state attorneys general to annul the charters of mercenary merchants of deceit like ExxonMobil.

Whats more, Kennedy has publicly listed the ideological nonprofits who he thinks the government should bankrupt (by revoking their nonprofit status), as a retaliatory consequence of their espousals of ideas and views with which he disagrees.

These include (in Kennedys listing): The Cato Institute, The Heritage Foundation, Cooler Heads Coalition, Global Climate Coalition, American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), Americans for Prosperity, Heartland Institute, Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow (CFACT), George C. Marshall Institute, State Policy Network, Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) and American Enterprise Institute (AEI). (Disclosure: I have been employed at several nonprofits that receive donations from the Koch network, although none that are listed here. I have done a small amount of freelance work for Americans for Prosperity in the past).

RFK Jr. Would Be the Worst Possible President Kennedy

Even if one is somehow not bothered by his long history of promoting conspiracy theories and other unhinged views, all of this thoroughly disqualifies RFK Jr. as any sort of free speech champion.

The ultimate test of free speech is whether you support it even for your enemies. RFK Jr. has failed that test, again and again, throughout his entire career. To imagine how someone with his record might weaponize the full power of the federal government is truly chilling.

Still, the fact that RFK Jr.s campaign is receiving so much interest, while certainly bolstered by his famous name recognition alone, does suggest that even Democrats arent satisfied with President Biden. Indeed, polling from NBC News shows that even 51 percent of Democrats dont want Biden to run for president again.

But if Democrats are going to flock to an alternative candidate, it should probably be one with basic respect for free speech and the First Amendmentnot a wanna-be authoritarian whos willing to trample on the Constitution when it suits his agenda.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

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Riley Gaines tells Congress she was held for ransom at San Francisco State, unsure if she could leave safely

Former NCAA swimmer Riley Gaines told members of Congress on Tuesday that earlier last month, she was held against her will at San Francisco State University, with protesters demanding ransom for her release.

Gaines shared her story during a discussion about left wing violence plaguing American communities and how Homeland Security can do more to support state and local law enforcement to combat interstate threats.

Since tying for fifth with transgender University of Pennsylvania swimmer Lia Thomas in the 200-meter NCAA championship last year, Gaines has advocated that women's sports must be reserved for biological females.

On April 6, Gaines visited San Francisco State University to speak with a campus group about the right of women to compete on a level playing field. She told congress that the school administration was aware of her visit, and she was told she would be met by campus police to be briefed on a security plan before she gave her talk.

RILEY GAINES URGES FEMALE ATHLETES TO BOYCOTT COMPETING AGAINST TRANS GIRLS: DONT RUNDON'T SWIM'

But campus police failed to show, according to Gaines.

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Still, she gave her speech, despite protesters outside the room chanting.

KATIE PORTER, PIERS MORGAN CLASH OVER RILEY GAINES' EFFORTS TO KEEP WOMEN'S SPORTS FAIR

Gaines said she could hear the protesters shouting, "We fight back," which is when she began to fear for her safety.

When she finished her speech, protesters flooded the room, Gaines said, while raising their fists and flickering the lights until eventually the lights were turned off.

During the incident, Gaines said, she was assaulted.

RILEY GAINES CALLS ON FAMOUS FEMALE ATHLETES TO CHOOSE A SIDE IN TRANS DEBATE. HERE'S WHO SHE'S STARTING WITH

"A woman grabbed me and told me she was with the campus police and pulled me toward the door, but I did not believe she was with the police because she wore no clothes that indicated she was an officer, and she had a face covering on, so I couldnt see her face," Gaines told the committee.

After resisting for a bit, Gaines said she really had no other choice because she "really truly feared" for her life.

When she got into the hallway, she was escorted to the stairwell which was blocked by protesters. Instead, she barricaded in an office with members of campus police.

RILEY GAINES AMBUSHED AND PHYSICALLY HIT AFTER SAVING WOMEN'S SPORTS SPEECH AT SAN FRANCISCO STATE

Riley Gaines, now a spokeswoman for the Independent Womens Forum, famously tied Lia Thomas for fifth place in the 200 Freestyle finals at the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships last year.

"The small room we had found would be my prison for the next three hours, and in those hours, I was certainly held against my will," Gaines said.

While she sat in the room, Gaines could hear the angry mob scream "vengeful, racist" things, and police would not assure her she would get out.

Gaines said the officers would not provide any type of support to her because the issue was too controversial, and when she told an officer she was hit, nobody asked if she was ok.

When Gaines realized she missed her flight home because she was being held hostage, the lieutenant in the room responded, "Dont you think we all want to go home?"

Protesters, Gaines said, eventually demanded ransom and threatened to not release her without payment.

"They said that my appearance on campus was so traumatic that they were owed something," Gaines said. "They were under the false notion that the university paid me to be there."

SEC champion swimmer Riley Gaines speaks during the general session at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Dallas, Texas, U.S.,

She later expanded on what was being yelled at her by people outside the room, saying she heard things like "youre only protecting her because shes a white girl," "you knew this was going to happen," "you were asking for this," and "she doesnt get to go home safely."

Eventually, Gaines said, the San Francisco Police Department arrived and was able to help get her out safely.

"Free speech suffers when university administrators do not condemn violence and kidnapping on their campus," she said. "Its chilled when administrators do not adequately prepare for and protect the safety of their speakers, whether liberal or conservative. Free speech is undermined when administrators misrepresent and malign the views with whom they disagree."
Editors Note: The opinions expressed in the op-ed section are those of the authors and do not purport to reflect the views of the Kyiv Independent.

Youre thinking of Europe as Germany and France. I dont. I think thats old Europe. If you look at the entire NATO Europe today, the center of gravity is shifting to the East.  You look at vast numbers of other countries in Europe. Theyre not with France and Germany, theyre with the United States.

- Former U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld (January 2003)

On the one hand, most experts agree that, since Russias full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the West has shown and maintained an amazing level of unity. On the other hand, some fundamental divisions have not disappeared between the U.S., Western Europe, and Central and Eastern Europe.

This became abundantly clear after French President Emmanuel Macron warned in April that Europe is not a vassal of the U.S. and that Europe had won the ideological battle on strategic autonomy.

He was massively criticized for this statement in Central Europe. Some saw the Old Europe and New Europe paradigm, which had marked the time of the Iraq War (cf. Donald Rumsfelds quote above), re-emerging.

These differences are manageable for the moment because of the near consensus on helping Ukraine, but they may yet come to split the West if things go badly.

Temur Umarov: Why did Central Asias leaders agree to attend Moscows military parade? Editors Note: The opinions expressed in the op-ed section are those of the authors and do not purport to reflect the views of the Kyiv Independent. Russias annual Victory Day holiday on May 9, when the country marks the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany in World War II, Kyiv IndependentTemur Umarov

East and West in the EU and NATO

In a way, there has been an East-West divide in Europe on security strategy ever since the Cold War ended between 1989 and 1991.

As soon as the new democracies in Central Europe had gotten rid of the last vestiges of communism and found their own voices as increasingly self-confident members of the Euro-Atlantic family, two fundamentally different, dominating views emerged on Transatlantic relations, Russia, and European security: in the East, a hawkish Atlanticism, and in the West, a more accommodating attitude toward Russia and skeptical view of the U.S.

This was never a clean split. Look at how today Hungary defies all of its Eastern flank neighbors on Russia and Ukraine. However, by and large, a Franco-German-led Western Europe regularly clashes with a Central European mainstream which has, since the 1990s, developed a special relationship regarding security and defense with the U.S. and the U.K.

France and Germany were right in their rejection of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, but that was 20 years ago. By comparison to the Franco-German appeasement of Russia and a lack of diplomatic and military support for Ukraine in the Minsk II process, Central Europes overall hawkishness was corroborated by Russias brutal aggression.

Europes center of gravity looks indeed to be shifting to the East now.

Slovak President Zuzana Caputova (L), Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky (C), and Czech President Petr Pavel (R) attend a press conference in Kyiv, Ukraine, on April 28, 2023. Caputova and Pavel reaffirmed their countries' dedication to supporting Ukraine amid Russia's war. (Tarasov/Ukrinform/Future Publishing via Getty Images)

The crux of European strategic autonomy

In this constellation, the question of how autonomous Europe could and should be from the U.S. quickly becomes a crucial bone of contention.

France has always been the most pronounced proponent of a Europe that should, primarily within the EU framework, reduce its defense dependency on the U.S. and in the long run become capable of defending itself.

The Central European mainstream has always emphasized that, while U.S. demands for increased European contribution to security are legitimate, autonomy is neither possible nor good for Transatlantic relations.

Nataliya Bugayova: Reframing the US policy debate on a long war in Ukraine Editors Note: This is an analysis by Nataliya Bugayova, a non-resident Russia Fellow, at the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), a U.S.-based defense and foreign affairs think tank. This analysis was originally published by the ISW on April 27, 2023, and has been republished by Kyiv IndependentNataliya Bugayova

Its a fact: As long as Europe does not become a federal state, it will not be able to deter potential aggressors like Russia or China on all levels  conventional, hybrid, nuclear  as the U.S. is able to deter them. Europeans would not only have to create a unified force structure and a command for nuclear forces but also spend a multiple of 2% of GDP on defense, which is utopian even after the recent spending increases.

European supply chain autonomy in sectors such as energy, pharmaceuticals, technology, and raw materials is absolutely necessary, but, here too, cooperation with like-minded democracies is far better for Europe than going at it alone.

Defense and military security are entirely different matters. The purpose of higher defense spending and increased European resilience is to shoulder a greater part of the burden and thus make life easier for Atlanticists in Washington  it should not replace U.S. extended deterrence.

The 2024 problem

At this point in the conversation, France and other proponents of strategic autonomy (sometimes referred to as European sovereignty) habitually ask the question of what happens if the U.S. itself turns away from Europe.

Of course, Trump may come back after the elections in 2024. But the question of to what extent the U.S. will then remain engaged in Europe, and loyal to its Article 5 commitments in NATO, is not his alone to answer.

In Congress and even the Republican Party, there is a broad Atlanticist majority (Senator Mitch McConnels speech at the Munich Security Conference, for example). American aid to Ukraine enjoys broad support in American society.

U.S. commitment to Europe is also a function of how much of the defense burden Europe shoulders, and to what extent it is willing to share U.S. strategies vis-a-vis China.

This is another topic on which President Macron is mistaken: Being more hawkish on Xi Jinpings autocracy, careful about Chinese investments, and supportive of the status quo in the Taiwan Strait is not being an American vassal, but rather in Europes own interest. It also has the additional benefit of demonstrating to the U.S. that Europe is an ally whose security is worth American efforts in the future as well.

Paul Grod: A cry to bring Russia to justice for its genocidal war in Ukraine Editors Note: The opinions expressed in the op-ed section are those of the authors and do not purport to reflect the views of the Kyiv Independent. On May 8, the world honors the memory of those who sacrificed their lives defending the world from Nazi German dictatorship. This victory Kyiv IndependentPaul Grod

Russia will remain a security challenge for a long time to come. Europeans can help prevent future U.S. administrations, be they Republican or Democrat, from becoming either isolationist or totally absorbed in their rivalry with China.

However, this presupposes that talk about strategic autonomy is safely laid to rest, that Europes efforts to take on more strategic responsibility for its own security serve to strengthen the Transatlantic Alliance, not to weaken it, and that Europeans seek more consensus with the U.S. on China. This will be the best outcome of this debate for Ukraine, as well.

Central Europeans should use their newfound momentum in the EU and NATO to hammer home this message.
WARSAW, Poland  The Commission for Defense, Public Order and National Security in Romanias Chamber of Deputies, the parliaments lower chamber, has approved the National Defence Ministrys request to allow the purchase of 54 used M1A2 Abrams SEPv3 tanks from the United States.

The envisioned purchase of 54 tanks along with accompanying gear and services is estimated to be worth about 1 billion euros ($1.1 billion), according to official documents obtained by local news site DefenseRomania.ro.

As Romanias ruling tripartite coalition holds a large majority in both chambers, a relevant bill to authorize the acquisition is expected to be adopted by the parliament shortly.

Manufactured by General Dynamics Land Systems, the Abrams are to enable Romanias land forces to replace some of their outdated Soviet-times tanks.

The development comes as the Romanian government is accelerating work on a number of procurements, including plans to buy new armored vehicles, missile systems, warships, 155-mm howitzers and the F-35 Lightning II fighter jet in the aftermath of Russias attack against Ukraine.

Owing to the planned purchase, Romania could become the second operator of the U.S.-made tank in Eastern Europe after the Polish government signed a deal worth some $4.75 billion to acquire 250 M1A2 Abrams SEPv3 tanks in April 2022. Last January, Polands Ministry of National Defence placed a second order, valued at about $1.4 billion, to buy 116 used M1A1 Abrams from the United States.
A Republican governor in the South is peeling back diversity programs in public schools and limiting how gender and race can be discussed in classrooms  and hes not from Florida.

While Florida governor Ron DeSantis made headlines on Monday for signing a law that bars colleges from using state or federal funding on most diversity, equity and inclusion programs, conservatives are pursuing similar tactics in other GOP-led states.



Republican Gov. Greg Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick in Texas are shepherding legislation through Austin requiring public universities to shutter their DEI offices and ban diversity training and hiring statements but, unlike Florida, avoids interfering with course instruction. In Tennessee and North Dakota, Republican-controlled legislatures have passed new restrictions on DEI training or are pressing to pass them before their legislative sessions end.

After signing a suite of curriculum rules last year, Florida has the most sweeping set of restrictions on classroom discussions about race and gender in the nation. But the work in the Sunshine State has inspired dozens of copycats this year among conservatives who say diversity programs are working to indoctrinate young people and being used as a club to silence critics.

DEI programs advocate for racial preferences that are highly unpopular with the American public, said Jonathan Butcher, a Heritage Foundation education fellow.

A lot of this stuff is connected by certain ideas based around racial discrimination, he added.

GOP lawmakers want to dismantle DEI on campus in at least three different ways: striking down diversity statements used for hiring or promotions, ending required social curriculum and eliminating offices in charge of facilitating diversity efforts. Several have said diversity programs breed division.

Many DEI programs have existed for decades with the goal of attracting people to campuses from communities that have faced discrimination. And the Democratic Governors Association has slammed the red state movement.

Despite GOP governors pushing politics into the classroom as part of their broader attack on American rights, DGA national press secretary Devon Cruz said in a statement, Democratic governors will continue fighting back and standing up for our fundamental freedoms, while also delivering on the issues that actually impact the lives of working families.

Texas

Gov. Greg Abbott

The Lone Star State may soon have the second most restrictive criteria for college DEI initiatives, with proposals similar to the law DeSantis signed this week. The Texas Senate and House are negotiating their differences on a bill that would eliminate most DEI offices and programs, but lawmakers have acknowledged that a version of the proposal is likely to pass. Texas lawmakers only have a few days left to get the legislation across the finish line.

DEI hiring practices have caused division and must be stopped, Patrick said in a statement after the Senate passed its DEI bill, S.B. 17. Texas universities improve and the educational environment is enhanced when we recruit the best faculty based on merit and equal opportunity, not arbitrary quotas based on equity.

Several institutions have already started re-evaluating DEI initiatives after Abbott issued a directive instructing public universities to stop using DEI statements in their hiring processes.



When criticized over the move, Abbott told Hearst Newspapers: Diversity is something that we support. But college DEI programs dont advance equal opportunity for everyone and are part of an effort to purge conservative thought.

In response to the directive, Texas A&M University announced it would no longer have diversity statements when hiring. University of Houston Chancellor Renu Khator soon followed, saying her institution will not support or use DEI statements or factors in hiring or promotion anywhere in the University of Houston System to stay in compliance with state law. And the University of Texas Board of Regents paused any new policies that promote diversity.

Texas Students for DEI, a new group started in response to the conservative legislation, has been organizing protests and petitions against the directive and several bills. Legislation introduced this session looks to ban funding for DEI offices or initiatives and training, and limit college and university curriculum on race, sex and gender identity. Most of the bills are not likely to advance.

These bills will minimize and even erase historically underrepresented voices in hiring, admissions and class curricula, the student group said in its petition to the state legislature that outlines at least nine bills that target DEI initiatives. These bills will prevent universities from facilitating meaningful learning environments that equip students with academic, social and emotional skills needed to navigate the world beyond higher education.

North Dakota

gov. doug burgum

North Dakota was the first state this year to pass legislation that restricts diversity training and hiring statements. Republican Gov. Doug Burgum signed the bill into law without the fanfare DeSantis  a likely presidential hopeful  received at New College this week. The new measure echoes Floridas Stop-WOKE law, which restricts how lessons on race and gender can be taught in public schools and universities.

DeSantis Stop-WOKE Act has been mired in legal challenges, but was the building block of Floridas latest law targeting diversity initiatives.



North Dakotas specified concepts law, which will take effect on Aug. 1, will bar colleges from asking students and employees about their commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion. The law would also block colleges from requiring diversity training and prevent institutions from penalizing students or employees for disagreeing with more than a dozen concepts that are identified in the law text.

That list includes the concept that one race or sex is inherently superior or inferior to another race or sex, that an individual's race or sex is inherently privileged, racist, sexist, or oppressive, whether consciously or subconsciously and that the state or the United States is fundamentally or irredeemably racist or sexist.

Tennessee

Gov. Bill Lee

Similarly, Tennessee lawmakers this month sent Republican Gov. Bill Lee a bill that prohibits mandatory implicit-bias training. The bill would also bar public colleges and universities from penalizing faculty for refusing to participate in the training. Republican lawmakers contend that the legislation would protect teachers from disciplinary action or firing if they dont submit to the training.

In 2021, Lee signed into law a bill that restricts how race and gender can be discussed in the classroom. Tennessee teachers are limited in how they can teach about racism, white privilege and unconscious bias.

Iowa

Gov. Kim Reynolds

Iowa lawmakers adjourned their session this month without advancing a bill that would ban the states public college system from spending money on DEI offices and professionals.

However, the Iowa Board of Regents announced that it is taking on a comprehensive review of all DEI programs and efforts and pausing any new ones at the University of Iowa, Iowa State University and the University of Northern Iowa.

Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds has already signed into law a measure that restricts "divisive concepts" from diversity training because, she says, it combats critical race theory. Reynolds, in a statement in 2021, said the law would promote learning, not discriminatory indoctrination.

She has argued that critical race theory teaches students to judge others by their race or gender, rather than their character.

Critical race theory is an analytical framework originally developed by legal scholars examining how race and racism have become ingrained in American law and institutions since slavery and Jim Crow. Many conservatives have used critical race theory as shorthand for a broader critique of how race and social issues are being taught in schools.

Some colleges argue that new measures cutting DEI programs will stifle academic freedom and halt diversity work that create a welcoming environment for students.

Our work makes a difference to help students succeed, and it is this progress such legislation attempts to destroy by misrepresenting it in a divisive narrative, said Paulette Granberry Russell, president of the National Association of Diversity Officers in Higher Education, in a statement. Her group is composed of diversity practitioners, scholars and researchers at universities.

Instead of attempting to understand the work we do, policymakers are seeking to seed division and cause confusion, she said.

Liz Crampton and Andrew Atterbury contributed to this report.
TALLAHASSEE, Fla.  Gov. Ron DeSantis announced Tuesday that he is sending more than 1,100 state law enforcement agents and National Guard members to Texas border with Mexico. The number is a tenfold increase compared to a similar move in 2021, and comes just weeks ahead of his expected presidential launch.

DeSantis had signaled for weeks that he was preparing an immigration-focused announcement as he re-energized his war of words over the issue with President Joe Biden, whose administration recently allowed for the lapse of Title 42, a pandemic-era policy that made it easier to expel migrants.

The impacts of Bidens Border Crisis are felt by communities across the nation, and the federal governments abdication of duty undermines the sovereignty of our country and the rule of law, DeSantis said in a statement.

What DeSantis will be sending:

800 members of the Florida National Guard;

200 agents (in teams of 40) from the state Department of Law Enforcement;

101 state highway patrol troopers;

20 agents from the state Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and the Department of Emergency Management;

5 fixed-wing aircrafts;

17 unmanned drones;

10 waterborne vessels.

DeSantis' office said the personnel will be at the border for 30 days, with possible extensions. The announcement comes just weeks before the June start of hurricane season.

Image: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks at a New Hampshire Republican Party dinner on April 14, 2023, in Manchester, N.H. (Charles Krupa / AP file)

In June 2021, DeSantis sent just over 100 Florida law enforcement officers over six weeks to help with what he called at the time a catastrophe at the southern border under the Biden Administration. Those officers came mostly from the Florida Highway Patrol, the Department of Law Enforcement and the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

The Florida personnel in that instance were sent after Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott made an Emergency Management Assistance Compact request, which prompted Republican governors across the country to send state resources to the southern border.

Abbott said in a statement Tuesday, shortly after DeSantis' announcement, that he has sent letters to all 50 governors requesting "support in responding to the ongoing border crisis."

In its ask for assistance from the states, Texas requested that those states pay for the costs associated with the mission.

DeSantis' communications director, Taryn Fenske, said that given the crisis at the border, we decided to send in the cavalry. She told NBC News that law enforcement agencies in Florida and Texas have been in contact for over a week.

We didnt want bureaucracy standing in the way of border security, she added.

Over the past few weeks, DeSantis has once again amplified his focus on immigration. Last week, he signed a measure aimed at disincentivizing migrants from coming to Florida, just one day before Title 42 was set to expire.

In January, he signed an executive order deploying the Florida National Guard to respond to hundreds of Cuban migrants arriving in southern Florida. Thats on top of the more than $20 million the Republican-dominated Legislature has given him to help expand a migrant transport program that sparked controversy last September when it was used to shuttle 50 mostly Venezuelan migrants from Texas to an unsuspecting Marthas Vineyard.

In addition, DeSantis has devoted increased time during public appearances on immigration, even when the events are unrelated. For example, he opened a Friday news conference held to sign banking legislation with comments Title 42.

Biden cannot just release all these people into our country who are here illegally, DeSantis said Friday. Maybe it will cause them to look internally and say maybe start doing our job and protecting the American people for a change.

The immigration focus comes against the political backdrop of DeSantis soon launching a presidential campaign.

NBC News has reported the announcement is likely in the next couple weeks, in part because DeSantis' political operation has moved its headquarters. That move prompted them to spend federal campaign funds, which will give them 15 days to file paperwork with the Federal Elections Commission.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
Photo Illustration by Thomas Levinson/The Daily Beast/Getty/Reuters

When Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill into law Monday banning the states public colleges and universities from allocating funds to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs, he sent a resounding message to not just his constituents, but to the nation writ large.

Simply put, DeSantis is focused on fueling culture wars that rally his basea necessary move as he increasingly becomes more interested in running for president than serving as governoreven if that hurts Floridas standing as a beacon for economic freedom and prosperity, two things in which DeSantis takes pride.

He and his army of advisers and right-wing media allies have spun the move as a way to stand against discriminationtwisting the narrative surrounding his anti-DEI push as one thats actually supporting diversity and equality by eliminating unfair concessions to those deemed undeserving.

Disneys Going to School Ron DeSantis About Free Speech

But make no mistake, in signing SB 266 into law DeSantis has gone counter to many things he claims to stand for.

It starts with brain drain.

If colleges and universities are, as DeSantis describes them, hotbeds of student indoctrination rife with woke curricula and leftist academics, on what planet will said woke army stick around at institutions that no longer support diversity, equity, and inclusion? And who would be crazy enough to assume these bastions of liberal indoctrination will be OK with being told what curricula they can and cannot teach?

The answers are easy: Very few. Certainly not enough to maintain the high bar of academic excellence attained at the schools booming institutes of higher education.

Faculty members at Florida State University, one of the top schools in the state, have already announced departures, and others are rethinking their decision to teach in Florida, according to WUSF.

The Florida Bulldog, a nonprofit investigative journalism outlet in South Florida, wrote about an exodus of faculty members and other out-of-state professors looking for new jobs passing on opportunities in the Sunshine State.

Both outlets spoke with Matthew Latta, an FSU music professor who spoke about conversations hes had with colleagues.

Ron DeSantis Secret Twitter Army of Far-Right Influencers

One of my sources in the Tampa Bay area mentioned knowing two University of South Florida professors mulling job offers out of state, precisely because of what they perceive as attacks on higher education from Florida politicians.

And its affecting students.

An intelligent.com survey in March found that 91 percent of prospective college students and 79 percent of current college students disagree with Gov. DeSantis policies. Just as bad, one in eight graduating high school students say they wont attend a public college because of DeSantis education policies and one in 20 current state college students are planning to transfer.

Florida's Governor Ron DeSantis signs three bills into legislation, including one that bans tax dollars from being used in state colleges for diversity, equity and inclusion programs (DEI) in a sweeping measure that also places restrictions on classroom discussion of race, at New College of Florida in Sarasota, Florida on May 15, 2023. Thomas Bender/USA Today Network via Reuters

The Oxford definition of brain drain is the emigration of highly trained or intelligent people from a particular country.

Florida is not its own country, but if it were a sovereign nation, its economy would rank as the 16th largest in the world.

The impacts of that brain drain could spell a major hit to Floridas economy.

Ron DeSantis and Gavin Newsoms Pissing Contest Is Culture War Idiocy

Take a look at North Carolina circa 2016. When the state passed a controversial bathroom bill dictating which bathrooms transgender people could and could not use, it cost the state $3.76 billion as a result of business shirking the state over about a dozen years, according to a CNBC analysis.

PayPal canceled plans to add a facility in the state; Ringo Starr canceled a concert; Deutsche Bank canceled its move to the Raleigh area; and Adidas decided to open a factory in Atlanta instead of North Carolina.

Those decisions were based, in great part, on the message it sent to customers about company commitments to diversity and inclusion. It doesnt even factor the effects of brain drain.

So not only is DeSantis and his lackey legislature giving the finger to both, theyre actively imposing policy that will scuttle the necessary talent pipeline businesses need to thrive.

The effects can get even more micro.

Florida colleges and universities have been enjoying consistent boosts in college rankings. The University of Florida is now ranked in the top five in the U.S. News and World Reports Top Public Schools. FSU is at No. 19. If faculty are fleeing and prospective students are opting for (more expensive) out-of-state schools, whats going to happen to those rankings, which schools have been working for decades to climb?

And what about schools like the University of South Florida, where attention to DEI has specifically improved four- and six-year graduation rates among low-income students who tend to be from minority communities? In 2018, USF was named one of the top public universities serving students receiving Pell Grants (federal financial aid for low-income students.) The graduation rate among those students was 68 percent, 19 percentage points higher than the national average at that point.

An analysis shows USF experienced a 6-point drop from 2017 to 2020 in the number of enrolled undergrads with low incomes, one of the steepest declines among the states public colleges and universities.

That drop came despite robust DEI efforts at the school.

And those efforts arent just about recruitment, theyre also about personalizing education for at-risk students to help them be successful in their higher education journey.

Ron DeSantis Isnt a Tough Guy. Hes Just Another Cowardly Bully.

Without that access, individuals from low-income or marginalized communities that typically experience higher rates of poverty and lower rates of educational attainment are likely to continue to suffer as the state not only pauses gains, but potentially reverses them.

This would be a good opportunity to talk about unintended consequences. But that would assume these consequences are indeed unintended. So far, DeSantis has given no reason to believe his higher education policies are anything less than reshaping education to align with his political ideology, promote his partys priorities and stifle any woke progress that may be bred on Florida campuses.

If you agree with him on those three fronts, nothing else Ive written even matters. But if you care about Floridas economy, its entrepreneurs and its ability to provide quality education to support both, youll pay attention and maybe speak up.

Peter Schorsch is the publisher of FloridaPolitics.com.

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Rostov court sentences three Crimean Tatars to more than 10 years in prison each

The Russian Southern District Military Court of Rostov-on-Don, Russia, has announced an illegal sentence for three Crimean Tatars  Oleksandr Sizikov, Alim Sufianov and Seiran Khairedynov. They have been sentenced to 12-17 years in prison.

Source: Dmytro Lubinets, Verkhovna Rada (Ukrainian Parliament  ed.) Commissioner for Human Rights, on Telegram

Details: Lubinets has said that Oleksandr Sizikov, who is visually impaired, has been sentenced to 17 years in prison. The court has also sentenced Alim Sufianov and Seiran Khairedynov to 12 years at a high-security penal colony.

All three were found guilty of involvement in the Hizb ut-Tahrir religious organisation, which is considered a terrorist organisation in Russia, but operates without restrictions at the level of national legislation in many countries, including Ukraine.

Lubinets has drawn attention to the fact that the "verdicts" were announced on the eve of 18 May, the Day of Remembrance of the Victims of the Crimean Tatar Genocide, which makes them particularly cynical.

The Ombudsman has called on the international community to respond to "another shameful trial" and increase pressure on Russia.

Journalists fight on their own frontline. Support Ukrainska Pravda or become our patron!
Here's a roundup of recent incidents and announcements from Ventura County agencies:

Teens rescued using phone's emergency feature

Ten teens were rescued from a remote canyon Friday night after requesting help using a new iPhone feature, sheriff's officials said.

Ten teens were rescued from the rugged Santa Paula Canyon area Friday night after they sought help using a relatively new emergency feature on an iPhone, the Ventura County Sheriff's Office said in a release Tuesday evening.

Sheriff's dispatchers received a text around 8 p.m. through Apple's Emergency SOS feature, which allows communication via satellite when no cell phone or wifi connection is available. The feature, announced by Apple in November, is available on iPhone 14 models.

The male and female teens, age 16-18, weren't able to find their way back from the canyon's "Last Chance" area in Los Padres National Forest. The emergency communication provided a possible location and information about whether immediate medical aid was required.

The teens' guardians had also contacted sheriff's officials from near the trailhead to report them missing.

Thirteen volunteer members of the sheriff's Upper Ojai Search and Rescue team hiked in about 4 miles and found the hikers. The trek involved low visibility and multiple stream crossings in an area where heavy winter rains had damaged trails.

The SAR team members made contact around 11:15 p.m. Most of the teens weren't prepared for the outing and were given food, water and lighting equipment for the hike back down to the trailhead, sheriff's officials said. They were reunited with family around 2:40 a.m. Saturday. None needed medical aid.

Woman sentenced for violent attacks

Raquel Villarreal

A 36-year-old Ventura woman was sentenced to more than three years in prison after pleading guilty in cases involving physical attacks, the Ventura County District Attorney's Office reported.

Raquel Regina Villarreal had pleaded guilty last month to felony charges in three separate incidents.

In November 2021, she violated a restraining order and confronted her ex-husband at their daughter's school in Oxnard, prosecutors said, striking him several times in the arm with a cane and hitting the window frame of a truck. When two Oxnard police officers contacted her the next day and tried to arrest her for domestic violence and violating the restraining order, she struggled with the officers, kicking them in the lower body before they were able to handcuff her.

The following day while in custody and uncuffed for fingerprinting, she struck a processing deputy several times in the face.

In February, while in custody for the prior assaults, Villarreal attacked another inmate in an unprovoked assault, prosecutors said. She punched, stomped and slammed the inmate's head against the floor before deputies were able to remove her from the locked area.

On Tuesday, Villarreal was sentenced by Ventura County Superior Court Judge Bruce Young to three years, four months in state prison.

Butcher shop fined for false advertising

An Ojai butcher shop was ordered to pay $75,000 in a civil case involving false advertising, the Ventura County District Attorney's Office said.

The judgment Wednesday against Watkins Cattle Co. involved ads for beef described as "from our pasture to your plate," prosecutors said. The meat in many cases came from third parties outside the county and state. The company also misrepresented how many acres it owned or leased.

The $75,000 in civil penalties will be paid over three installments, with the last due by February 2025, according to the stipulated agreement. Of the total, $50,000 will go to the DA's consumer protection trust fund account to help enforce laws involving deceptive advertising and fraudulent business practices. The remaining $25,000 will be used to cover the DA's investigative costs in the case.

Simi police warn of scam calls

The Simi Valley Police Department on Wednesday warned of a phone scam where calls appear to come from the police agency.

Several residents have reported receiving the calls, which falsely appear to come from the department's number, officials said. A caller impersonating an officer has asked for money or to meet up at the police station regarding missed jury duty that has resulted in an arrest warrant.

The police department does not make such calls, the agency said.

Police officials reminded residents to never provide money, credit card information, bank account details or a Social Security number to someone you don't know.

If you believe you've been a victim of the scam, you can call the department's non-emergency line at 805-583-6950.

-- Items may be updated.

This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Roundup: Teens rescued from canyon using iPhone SOS feature, more news
China-CEEC cooperation expands in Ningbo

09:34, May 17, 2023 By Ma Zhenhuan and Yu Yin in Ningbo ( Chinadaily.com.cn

An exhibitor shows goods from Poland during the third China-CEEC Expo in Ningbo, Zhejiang province, on May 16. [Photo/Xinhua]

Ningbo, Zhejiang province, host city for the China-Central and Eastern European Countries (CEEC) Expo, has not only facilitated cooperation in trade but also expanded it to more areas.

The third China-CEEC Expo kicked off in Ningbo on Tuesday, revolving around the theme "Practical cooperation for a shared future". The event includes 27 activities and has attracted nearly 3,000 exhibitors, more than 10,000 buyers and some 100,000 visitors. Over 10 billion-yuan ($1.43 billion) purchase orders for CEEC products are expected to be made during the event.

Hungary is the guest of honor country of this year's expo. A delegation led by Peter Szijjarto, Hungary's minister of foreign affairs and trade, attended the opening ceremony on Tuesday.

Szijjarto stressed that the example of Hungary proves that there is much to be gained from fair and constructive cooperation with China.

Janos Hajdu, general manager of a beef processing factory in Hungary is leading a three-person team to the expo. Although it's the first time the business has attended, its beef products have already reached the Ningbo market.

In July, Ningbo launched a chartered business flight to Europe. Sun Chonglong, executive director of Ningbo Lianbang Changyun International Trade Co, took the flight to Hungary and placed a $200 million order for beef at the factory.

Around 30 containers of beef are shipped monthly from Hungary to Ningbo. Some of the beef is transported to wholesalers and processing plants, while some is sold through an online shopping platform launched by the Ningbo municipal bureau of commerce. It has become a best-seller on the platform.

In recent years, Ningbo has been building itself into the first choice for CEEC to export goods to Chinese markets. The city has coordinated departments, including commerce, port, and customs, to help traders in those countries solve problems and facilitate trade.

Last year, Ningbo's imports from Central and Eastern Europe reached 11.2 billion yuan, a more than nine-fold increase from 2016. Meat products accounted for more than one-third of China's total meat imports. In the first quarter of this year, Ningbo's imports from the region increased by 102 percent year on year to 4.39 billion yuan.

As the China-CEEC Business Cooperation Demonstration Zone, Ningbo has also expanded cooperation. As of the end of last year, 176 projects with two-way investment exceeding $1 billion had been reached between Ningbo and CEEC.

In April, the China (Ningbo Yuyao)-CEEC Industrial Cooperation Forum was held in Budapest, Hungary, during which five projects related to high-end manufacturing, information technology, biomedicine and virtual reality were signed. The Ningbo CEEC (Budapest) Innovation Center was also launched at the forum.

Tourism and educational cooperation are also on track to be implemented.

The city said it will launch a new direct flight to Budapest at the end of May, and more CEEC travel products will be rolled out in the near future.

More than 90 colleges in Central and Eastern Europe have cooperated with Ningbo, with more than 1,000 teachers and students having worked and studied in the city.

One student is Stoyan Valentinov Gegovski of Bulgaria. Having graduated from Ningbo University in 2022, he started his business  Zhejiang Yiliu Cultural Communication Co  in Ningbo. The company aims to promote culture and tourism cooperation between Ningbo and CEEC.

"I recommend the Rose Valley in Bulgaria and the ancient Roman theater. And I believe that more Chinese tourists would like to find out more about Central and Eastern European countries in the future," he said.

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun)
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 17)  The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) has approved the release of funds totaling 15 billion to finance the construction of nearly 5,000 classrooms nationwide.

In a statement on Wednesday, the DBM said the construction works in the education sector cover a total of 1,194 sites across the country.

It includes the construction, replacement and completion of kindergarten, elementary and secondary school buildings and technical vocational laboratories; the installation or replacement of disability access facilities; the construction of water and sanitation facilities; and site improvement.

We need to build and repair classrooms to keep up with increasing enrollment in our public schools, Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman said.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. earlier said the administration would focus on the construction of new classrooms as in-person classes have resumed.
The Brooks family cant really hear each other over the revved up engines, screeching tires and grandstand cheers.

But thats fine.

Theyre old pros at this by now.

Its sometime in the late 1980s, and the family that has called Wilkes County home for generations is busy operating the analogue scoreboard that hovers right above Turn 3 at North Wilkesboro Speedway. Everyone is filling in wherever theyre needed: Judy, the mother, might be updating the Lap Number. One or both of the kids, either elementary-school-aged Tracy or a slightly older Julie, is probably in charge of the leaderboard. And Ken, the father, is communicating with NASCAR officials over a radio with a bulky headset  commanding the whole enterprise with aplomb.

It was chaos, really, Ken recalled last week.

It was, Judy chimed in with a smile. And it was hot.

Oh yeah, Ken added. Aint no night racing back then.

Judy remembers going down to the racetrack with clean clothes on and coming back covered in dirt and soot from the tires. Ken remembers how often the board needed to change because of all the passing on the 0.625-mile track. Tracy is now a firefighter in the community he grew up in  a guy who jumps into flames and saves lives for a living  and even he remembers the pride his younger self took the few times he updated the scoreboard correctly while NASCAR officials lagged behind.

Judy and Ken Brooks worked the leaderboard at North Wilkesboro Speedway during the last race held in 1996. The couple will return to once again change the board by hand during the NASCAR All-Star race to be run on Sunday, May 21, 2023.

Oh and right there in that turn? There were always wrecks, Judy said. It would just be so exciting.

The NASCAR Cup Series will make its triumphant return to the once-abandoned, once-forgotten North Wilkesboro Speedway this weekend. The All-Star Race will run Sunday night at 8 p.m.  bringing new life to an old racetrack that for so long stood at the cultural center of NASCAR.

And just as NASCAR is making its return, so is the Brooks family.

The highly anticipated race will feature a manually run, analogue scoreboard, similar to the one that the Brooks family ran during the racetracks heyday. The bright red structure stands just above Turn 3, right next to the newly planted aluminum grandstands, and a digital video board on the side of a big truck will sit right next to it.

Judy and Ken Brooks stand on the leaderboard platform as fans pass by at North Wilkesboro Speedway on Wednesday, May 10, 2023. The speedway will host the NASCAR All-Star race on Sunday, May 21, 2023. The couple operated the manual leaderboard during the last race ran at the speedway in 1996.

The manual scoreboard, then, will serve as an emblem of nostalgia that the racetrack has carefully tried to maintain as it has made renovations ahead of the big race.

The scoreboard will be run by Ken and Judy, surely  as they did for dozens of years before the racetrack built a digital scoreboard sometime in the early 1990s. Theyre hoping to get some help from their children, and maybe a few of their grandchildren, too. Those grandchildren include Morgan, whos 18; Josh, whos 16; and Cam, whos 7.

My family is all grown up, but my grandkids are not, and we are certainly looking forward to doing this, Ken said, a smile poking out from underneath a mustache thats decidedly whiter than it was the last time he climbed the scoreboard ladder. I know at least the 7-year-old is just thrilled to death to get to come. But hell only get to look. The 18 and 16 will help us flip the numbers.

He added: All our kids, they liked (helping) then. It was an enjoyable thing. I mean, this is a big thing for Wilkes County. This is a big event  the biggest event.

Its a big deal for the family, too.

A chance meeting at North Wilkesboro Speedway

Racing fans might look at North Wilkesboro Speedway and see a racetrack that has roots to the beginning of NASCAR. For decades, after all  from when it began hosting Cup Series races in 1949 to the last Cup Series race in 1996  the 0.625-mile track has meant so much. It meant Richard Petty. Dale Earnhardt. Moonshine. Small-town Southern Americana. It was the birthplace of The Last American Hero (Cup driver Junior Johnson) and an economic beam of Wilkes County, a land of about 65,000 in the foothills of northwestern North Carolina.

But to Ken and Judy Brooks, the racetrack means something else, too.

North Wilkesboro Speedway is where they met.

Heres the short story of their chance meeting, as they tell it:

It was 1969, a few days before one of the two NASCAR races of the year at the racetrack. Holly Farms Poultry, in an annual tradition, was hosting a cookout at the speedway. Judy had just graduated from East Wilkes High School and was a student at the local community college, and she and two of her best friends decided to go to the speedway.

Judy and Ken Brooks stand on the leaderboard platform at North Wilkesboro Speedway on Wednesday, May 10, 2023. The speedway will host the NASCAR All-Star race on Sunday, May 21, 2023. The couple operated the manual leaderboard during the last race ran at the speedway in 1996.

Something caught her eye. It was a dune buggy. Or, as she and her friends called it, a really sharp little car. Van Johnson, a classmate of Judys and the nephew of Junior Johnson, offered to introduce her to the guy who owned that dune buggy.

That guy was Ken.

Ken had just returned home. Hed served four years in the U.S. Air Force after graduating from Wilkes Central in 1965. He built houses with his Dad through high school and found a job with Holly Farms Poultry as a civil engineer upon his return from the military in 1969. He could build anything. He even fixed up that dune buggy that had caught Judys attention.

So Ken comes walking up, Judy said. She chuckled: He was about this big around  making a tight circle with one hand  and he had his sunglasses on, and Im sure he was thinking he was really sharp.

Van asked Ken if hed mind taking Judy and her friends for a ride. Ken agreed.

And the ride, in a way, never ended. Their courtship and their lives certainly didnt: Ken and Judy got married the following May. They honeymooned at Daytona Beach. With his construction experience and connection with Holly Farms (a primary sponsor of North Wilkesboro Speedway), Ken helped build a new scoreboard in the early 80s at the racetrack and operated it with his wife and his kids on race day thereafter.

They had two children. They built the house theyve now lived in for 35 years. Ken was diagnosed with cancer three separate times and survived them all. And on Sunday  three days before their 54th wedding anniversary  parts of their communitys past and professional past and personal past return to their lives.

Im getting old, Ken said with a smile. But Im so blessed. I got a wonderful wife. A wonderful life.

Relishing the past and present





This past Friday, the Brookses took a five-minute drive across town and knocked on an old friends door.

That friend was Mike Staley.

And that door was an entrance into history.

Mike Staley is the son of Enoch Staley, one of the charter members of NASCAR and the longtime president of North Wilkesboro Speedway. The son has an office and a garage filled with memorabilia from the racetracks heyday.

Framed newspaper clippings and photos smatter the walls. Old programs are yellowed by time. There are credentials hung on office cabinets and die cast cars neatly strewn on desks and posters and books and trophies and mason jars of moonshine covered by a quilt. In the garage, specifically, there hangs a menu from an old North Wilkesboro Speedway concession stand  a chopped barbecue sandwich and a Sun Drop cost a handsome sum of $4 back in the day  and there sits the pace car from the last Cup race North Wilkesboro Speedway ever saw in September 1996.

The Brookses had visited here before. But they wanted to visit again ahead of Sunday.

Mike Staley holds a photo of his father and late longtime owner of North Wilkesboro Speedway, Enoch Staley, in his house ahead of the NASCAR All-Star Race on Sunday, May 21, 2023.

Oh my goodness me, Judy said occasionally, walking through the garage that felt like a museum.

Would you look at that? Ken added.

Mike Staley, while providing a short and simple tour, casually remarked that he likes coming in here every once in a while. He said his late father would be ecstatic to see the race come back.

Every time I come in here, Staley said, I see something I had forgotten about or hadnt seen before.

At one point on this visit, Staley handed the Brookses a photo. It was a picture of the old scoreboard, looking out over Turn 3, sprouting above all the campers and fans who were sitting on top of their cars in the infield.

Ken Brooks, center, takes a look at a photo that Mike Staley has stashed away of the old scoreboard at North Wilkesboro Speedway ahead of the NASCAR All-Star Race on Sunday, May 21, 2023.

In nine days from that Friday visit, the Brookses would be there again. Over Turn 3. In the sun. Theyll be stepping over each other like they once did on those chaotic and sacred Sundays.

Ken carefully grabbed the photo, and the couple quietly scanned it in contented quiet. They did so for a while, as if, after all this time, they saw something new.
PANAMA CITY  The unofficial results of the runoff elections are in, leaving two new officials in office.

According to the Bay County Supervisor of Election Office website, Michael Rohan defeated incumbent Greg Brudnicki for Panama City mayor, and Sam Peebles defeated Brian Gray for Seat 1 commissioner in Lynn Haven.

The unofficial results of the runoff elections in Bay County are in, and two new officials now hold public officials for local municipalities.

The runoff elections were needed because no candidate in either race secured at least 50% plus one of the total votes in the municipal elections, which occurred April 18. This is a requirement by both cities to win an election.

2023 municipal elections: Unofficial results are in: Who won in the 2023 municipal elections in Bay County?

Early voting: Don't miss out!: Early voting for runoff elections begins in Bay County

The website notes Rohan received almost 52% (2,553) votes in Panama City's runoff election, while Brudnicki received about 48% (2,382 votes.)

Peebles received about 68% (983) votes in Lynn Haven's runoff elections, while Gray received almost 32% (459 votes.)

In the initial election, Brudnicki received about 47% or 1,970 votes, while Rohan received almost 41% or 1,710 votes; and Peebles received almost 47% or 1,467 votes, while Gray received about 35% or 1,082 votes.

Rohan will join the Panama City Commission along with two other new members who were elected in the municipal election. They are Janice Lucas, who was elected as Ward 2 commissioner over Michelle Bryant, and Brian Grainger, who was elected as Ward 3 commissioner over Bruce Lang and incumbent Billy Rader.

There was not as much change in Lynn Haven. Peebles will join incumbents Mayor Jesse Nelson and Seat 2 Commissioner Pat Perno, both of whom were reelected in April. Judy Vandergrift, who was appointed to the commission early this year, also was elected as Seat 4 commissioner last month.

The elections office website notes the unofficial voter turnout for the runoff elections was 6,384. Of those voters, 4,096 were Republican, 1,677 were Democrats, 558 were not affiliated with a party and 53 were categorized as "other."

This article originally appeared on The News Herald: Unofficial results of runoff elections for 2023 municipal elections
Anatoliy Maslov, Oleksandr Shyplyuk and Valeriy Zvehintsev

Read also: Russia has launched about 8,000 missiles against Ukraine since start of invasion, air force says

These arrests were made public in an open letter from the staff of RAS Institute of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics, published on May 16.

According to the letter, Valery Zvegintsev, head of the aerodynamics lab of at the institute, has been arrested on charges of high treason.

"The past year has seen the arrest of three prominent aerodynamics scientists at our institute  Anatoly Maslov, Alexander Shiplyuk, and Valery Zvegintsev  on suspicion of committing a crime under the graves article the Criminal Code  high treason," the letter reads.

According to Russian media reports, Zvegintsev was detained three weeks ago on charges of publishing scholarly work on gas dynamics in a foreign scientific journal. The scientist is currently under house arrest.

Read also: France may transfer SCALP long-range missiles to Ukraine

Shiplyuk was arrested in early August 2022, and at the end of June, Anatoly Maslov was also arrested on suspicion of high treason. Both scientists were detained at Lefortovo detention center in Moscow.

Read also: Vulnerability of Kinzhal missiles likely surprise for Russia, says UK intelligence

According to The Moscow Times, Shiplyuk and Maslov have been working on hyper-sonic missile research for over ten years. They presented an experimental design for this weapon in 2012 at a scientific conference in France. Four years later, they published a joint article on hyper-sonic aerodynamics.

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Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
Vessels carrying grain wait in the southern anchorage of the Bosphorus in Istanbul

(Reuters) - Russia confirmed on Wednesday that a deal to allow Ukraine to export its grain safely across the Black Sea, despite Russia's war in Ukraine, had been extended for two months.

Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said the deal had been extended to help countries in need, but added that Russia's overall assessment of the situation regarding the deal had not changed.

Russia had threatened to quit the arrangement, agreed last July with the help of the United Nations and Turkey, this Thursday unless a list of conditions were met.

"The extension of the grain deal is for two months. Thus, there is a chance, not in words, but in deeds, to help ensure global food security. First of all, to help the most needy countries," Zakharova told reporters in a video briefing.

The Russian conditions were designed to counter the effect of some of the economic sanctions imposed by the West after Russia sent its armed forces into Ukraine.

The demands were:

- the readmission of the Russian agricultural Bank (Rosselkhozbank) to the international banking payment system, SWIFT

- the resumption of supplies to Russia of agricultural machinery and spares

- the lifting of restrictions on insurance and access to ports for Russian ships and cargo

- the reinstatement of a pipeline pumping ammonia from the Russian city of Togliatti to the Ukrainian port of Odesa

- the unblocking of accounts and financial activities of Russian fertiliser companies

It was not clear whether any of the demands had been secured. Zakharova said work on them would continue.

"We proceed from the obligation to implement the parameters we declared," she said.

"Our fundamental assessments of the Istanbul agreements concluded on July 22, 2022, have not changed, and the distortions in their implementation must be corrected as quickly as possible."

(Writing by Kevin Liffey; Editing by Mark Trevelyan)
Three scientists of the Novosibirsk Institute of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics, who were engaged in the development of hypersonic missiles, were arrested one by one by the security forces under the high treason article.

Source: The Moscow Times

Details: Reportedly, on Tuesday, 16 May, employees of the Institute of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics published an open letter informing about the arrest on suspicion of treason of Valery Zvyagintsev, doctor of technical sciences and chief researcher who founded the laboratory of high-speed aerodynamics at the institute.

Zvehintsev has been under house arrest since 7 April. His supervisor, Aleksandr Shiplyuk, the Director of the Institute of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics, was placed in the Lefortovo pre-trial detention centre in August of last year, a few days after the arrest of Anatoly Maslov, the chief researcher. Both were charged under the same Article 275 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, high treason. Maslov was suspected of transferring data related to hypersonic technologies to China.

Shiplyuk and Maslov have worked on hypersonic missiles for over 10 years. They presented an experimental design of such a weapon in 2012 at a scientific seminar in France. Four years later, the two scientists published a joint paper on aerodynamic research at hypersonic speeds.

In recent years, Shiplyuk has also worked on the protective coating of hypersonic missiles.

In total, 16 people were prosecuted in the Siberian branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, known for its strong potential in physics and mathematics, including Aleksandr Aseev, the former head and academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences. One of the scientists, 54-year-old Dmytro Kolker, the head of the laboratory of quantum optical technologies at the Novosibirsk State University, died in the Moscow pre-trial detention centre shortly after his arrest by FSB officers.

Background: The Russian invaders attacked Ukraine with 18 missiles of various types, including a hypersonic Kinzhal missile, on the night of 15-16 May, with all Russian targets shot down by the defenders.

A few days before, the military destroyed another Kinzhal missile on the approach to Kyiv.

For reference: In 2018, President Vladimir Putin announced the creation of hypersonic weapons in Russia. In particular, he boasted about the Zircon, Avangard and Kinzhal missiles.

Putin assured that any anti-aircraft defence would be powerless against the Kinzhal.

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Russia has launched about 8,000 missiles against Ukraine since start of invasion, air force says

During the full-scale war, Russia launched several thousand missiles of various types against Ukraine

Ihnat explained that it is currently difficult to name the exact number of missiles launched, since different sources provide different statistics.

Some of them count cruise missiles, some  ballistic missiles, and others include the S-300 missiles, the official explained, noting that these differences can cause discrepancies in statistical data. He added that in addition, there are also guided aerial missiles, such as the Kh-59 and Kh-31.

And now the enemy has started using 500-kilogram guided aerial bombs, which actually replace missiles on the front line, in front-line areas, he said.

Read also: One person injured after multiple buildings damaged in Mykolaiv during Russian missile attack  photos

In addition, according to Ihnat, the complexity of these calculations is also due to the fact that the Ukrainian Air Force did not have its current capabilities in the first weeks of the war, so it is difficult to establish where and what the Russian army used against Ukraine at that time.

At the same time, he cited generalized data for the period of mass missile strikes from Sept. 11, 2022, to March 9, 2023: over this period, air defense forces shot down about 750 cruise missiles and 750 suicide drones launched by Russia at Ukrainian critical infrastructure.

The amount is almost the same, both what was launched and what was intercepted, Ihnat added.

The latest mass missile attack occurred on May 16, when Russia attacked Kyiv with ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, and UAVs overnight. All 18 missiles were destroyed by the air defense forces of the Ukrainian Air Force.

However, rumors, stoked by Russian propagandists and the Russian Defense Ministry, claim that a Patriot air defense system had been destroyed in Kyiv during the latest strike.

Read also: Russia fires 18 missiles at Ukraine in lightning overnight attack

U.S. television channel CNN reported that the Patriot system had likely been damaged, but not destroyed, while the White House refused to confirm any reports of damage.

Ihnat claimed that it was impossible to destroy a Patriot system with a Kinzhal missile.

Read also: Russian missile attack on Kupyansk and shelling of Kherson Oblast cause damage and injuries

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Russian forces have ramped up their attacks on Sumy, Chernihiv and Kharkiv oblasts in northern and northeastern Ukraine over the past month.

Source: Hanna Maliar, Deputy Defence Minister of Ukraine, on Telegram

Quote from Maliar: "Over the past month, enemy forces have stepped up shelling of oblasts located near the [Russian] border: Kharkiv, Chernihiv and Sumy oblasts.

Between 8 and 16 May 2023, Russian forces shelled these oblasts 162 times. Sumy Oblast sustained the most attacks, 110; Chernihiv Oblast sustained 29, and Kharkiv Oblast, 23."

Details: Maliar also said that in addition to targeting civilians, Russian forces are relying on shelling and airstrikes to keep Ukrainian troops in the border-adjacent areas under constant pressure and prevent them from being deployed to other areas.

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Russia stated that its Kinzhal destroyed 5 Patriot missile system launchers with one attack

The Russian Defence Ministry claims that five launchers of the American Patriot air defence system were "completely destroyed" by a hypersonic Kinzhal strike on 16 May in Kyiv.

Source: Russias Ministry of Defence on Telegram

Quote: "According to reliably confirmed data, on 16 May, as a result of the strike by the Kinzhal hypersonic missile system on Kyiv, a multifunctional radar station was hit and completely destroyed, as well as five launchers of the Patriot anti-aircraft missile system manufactured in the United States."

Background:

The Ministry of Defence of Russia had previously stated that on 16 May, the Patriot was allegedly hit by a "high-precision strike" of the Kinzhal in Kyiv.

The Air Force of Ukraine said that the Patriot anti-aircraft missile system cannot be destroyed with a single strike, even if it is a Kinzhal missile.

The Armed Forces added that, on the contrary, it was the Patriots that shot down six Kinzhal missiles near Kyiv on 16 May.

At the same time, the American TV channel CNN learned that the Patriot air defence system near Kyiv did suffer damage, but it was "minimal".

The US stressed that the air defence system is "in operating condition".

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The wave of Russian missile strikes fired all at once on Tuesday morning has likely caused damage to the US-made Patriot missile defence system being used by Ukraine, two US officials said.

The Patriot is one of the most advanced air defence systems in the world, designed to work against a mix of aircraft, cruise missiles and ballistic missiles.

The system has not been destroyed and Washington and Kyiv are in talks about the best way to repair it without removing it from Ukraine, one of the officials said on the condition of anonymity.

Just hours earlier, Russia said it had destroyed the US-built surface-to-air missile defence system with a hypersonic Kinzhal missile.

Vladimir Putin had issued a clear threat to damage and weed out the West-supplied Patriot anti-missile defence systems delivered to Ukraine.

On the battlefield front, Ukrainian forces have taken back about 20 square km of territory from Russia around the eastern city of Bakhmut in recent days, Kyiv said.

Key Points

Patriot missile defence system likely damaged but not destroyed  reports

Russia firing more weapons to overwhelm Ukraine, says US official

Zelensky rallies support at EU council meet, cites battlefield success

Russia rejects Kyivs claims on missiles downed

Kyiv forces reclaim significant ground around Bakhmut

Patriot missile defence system likely damaged but not destroyed  reports

03:53 , Arpan Rai

The wave of Russian strikes has likely caused damage to the US-made Patriot missile defence system being used by Ukraine, two US officials said on Tuesday, adding that it did not appear to have been destroyed.

Washington and Kyiv were already talking about the best way to repair the system and at this point it did not appear the system would have to be removed from Ukraine, one of the officials said on the condition of anonymity.

The official added that the US would have a better understanding in the coming days and information could change over time.

This comes just hours after Russias defence ministry said it had destroyed a US-built Patriot surface-to-air missile defence system with a hypersonic Kinzhal missile in an overnight strike on Ukraine but did not share more details.

Vladimir Putin had issued a clear threat to damage and weed out the West-supplied Patriot anti-missile defence system to Ukraine.

Ukraine shot down 18 Russian missiles overnight, including an entire volley of six Kinzhals. It was not clear which Western weapon Ukraine used.

When asked about the Ukrainian claim, Russian defence minister Sergei Shoigu dismissed it. The Pentagon had no immediate comment.

The Patriot is one of the most advanced US air defence systems, designed to work against a mix of aircraft, cruise missiles and ballistic missiles. It typically includes launchers along with radar and other support vehicles.

Ukraine denies Russia destroyed Patriot missile defence syste

09:39 , Matt Mathers

Ukraine denied on Wednesday that a Russian hypersonic missile had destroyed a US-made Patriot missile defence system during an air strike on Kyiv.

Russias defence ministry made the assertion on Tuesday after an overnight air attack on the Ukrainian capital. Two US officials later said a Patriot system had probably suffered damage but that it did not appear to have been destroyed.

"I want to say: do not worry about the fate of the Patriot," Ukrainian air force spokesperson Yuriy Ihnat told Ukrainian television.

He ruled out the possibility of a Russian "Kinzhal" missile knocking out a Patriot system.

"Destroying the system with some kind of Kinzhal, its impossible. Everything that they say there, it can remain in their propaganda archive," he said.

Last ship leaves Ukraine as fate of Black Sea grain deal in Russia's hands

09:04 , Matt Mathers

The last ship left a port in Ukraine on Wednesday under a deal allowing the safe Black Sea export of Ukraine grain a day before Russia could quit the pact over obstacles to its grain and fertilizer exports.

The DSM Capella has left the port of Chornomorsk carrying 30,000 tonnes of corn and was on its way to Turkey, according to data issued by the United Nations.

The United Nations and Turkey brokered the Black Sea deal for an initial 120 days in July last year to help tackle a global food crisis that has been aggravated by Moscows invasion of Ukraine, one of the worlds leading grain exporters.

Moscow agreed to extend the Black Sea pact for a further 120 days in November, but then in March it agreed to a 60 day extension - until May 18 - unless a list of demands regarding its own agricultural exports was met.

UN scrambles to secure grain deal extension

08:37 , Matt Mathers

The United Nations is speedily trying to extend a deal that has allowed shipments of Ukrainian grain through the Black Sea to parts of the world struggling with hunger - helping ease a global food crisis exacerbated by the war Russia launched more than a year ago.

The breakthrough accord that the UN and Turkey brokered with the warring sides last summer came with a separate agreement to ease shipments of Russian food and fertiliser that Moscow insists has not been applied.

Russia set a deadline of Thursday for its concerns to be ironed out or it is bowing out.

Such brinkmanship is not new; with a similar extension in the balance in March, Russia unilaterally decided to renew the deal for 60 days instead of the 120 days outlined in the agreement.

UN officials and analysts said a failure to extend the Black Sea Grain Initiative could hurt countries in Africa, the Middle East and parts of Asia that rely on Ukrainian wheat, barley, vegetable oil and other affordable food products, especially as drought takes a toll.

The deal helped lower prices of food commodities like wheat over the last year but that relief has not reached kitchen tables.

"If you have a cancellation of the grain deal again, when were already at a pretty tight situation, its just one more thing that the world doesnt need, so the prices could start heading higher," said William Osnato, a senior research analyst at agriculture data and analytics firm Gro Intelligence.

"You dont see relief on the horizon."

UN humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths told the Security Council on Monday the deal is "critical" and talks were ongoing.

Workers load grain at a grain port in Izmail, Ukraine, on April 26, 2023. (Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

Can Ukraine use Patriot defense systems to knock out Russian hypersonic missiles?

08:11 , Matt Mathers

Ukraine said on Tuesday that it downed six Russian hypersonic Kinzhal missiles in a single night, in what would be a major setback for Moscows efforts to develop an unstoppable next-generation weapon.

It was not clear which air defense system Kyiv used to shoot down the missiles, but last week the US military confirmed that Ukraine had shot down a Kinzhal missile using the US.-produced Patriot system.

What is the Patriot missile system?

The Patriot, which stands for Phased Array Tracking Radar for Intercept on Target, is a theater-wide surface-to-air missile defense system built by Raytheon Technologies Corp and considered one of the most advanced air defense systems in the US arsenal.

The system was first used in combat during the 1991 Gulf War, with batteries protecting Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Israel, and later used during the US invasion of Iraq in 2003.

Can Patriots stop hypersonic missiles?

The Patriot system was designed before hypersonic weapons were sent to battlefield and Raytheon has not said publicly that the is effective against a missile flying at hypersonic speeds (anything above five times the speed of sound). While the US said that the Patriot system brought down last weeks Khinzal missile, it was not clear if that missile was traveling at hypersonic speed at the time.

While Russias Kinzhal missile may reach speeds of up to 7,600 mph (12,350 kph), "Russias designation of the Kinzhal as a hypersonic missile is somewhat misleading, as nearly all ballistic missiles reach hypersonic speeds (i.e. above Mach 5) at some point during their flight," the Center for Strategic and International Studies said in a March 2022 report.

A Russian Air Force MiG-31K jet carries a high-precision hypersonic aero-ballistic missile (Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

Vulnerability of Russias Killyjoy missiles an embarrassment for Kremlin

07:46 , Matt Mathers

The apparent vulnerability of Russias Killjoy missiles is likely an embarrassment for the Kremlin, Britains Ministry of Defence has said.

Ukraine for the first time shot down a Killyjoy air-launched ballistic missile on 3 May.

The increased air threat over Russias border region will be of exceptional concern for the Russian Aerospace Forces (VKS) because it uses the area to launch air power in support of the war, the MoD said in its latest daily updates.

The apparent vulnerability of KILLJOY is likely a surprise and an embarrassment for Russia: Russian President Vladimir Putin has touted the system as undefeatable.

China asks foreign missions displaying Ukraine flags to remove 'propaganda'

07:20 , Matt Mathers

China has notified several foreign missions in Beijing not to display "politicised propaganda" on their buildings, diplomats told Reuters, adding the request appeared aimed at Ukrainian flags they have displayed since Russias invasion.

Several foreign missions in China raised the Ukrainian flag, or displayed its image in posters and lights, following the February 2022 invasion that sparked international condemnation of Russia, a close ally of China.

"We and others got a letter calling on embassies and representative offices to refrain from using the outer walls of their buildings for politicised propaganda," one diplomat, whose embassy is displaying a Ukraine flag image, told Reuters on condition of anonymity.

The diplomat said the mission did not intend to comply with the notification.

Last ship leaves Ukraine today as Black Sea grain deal remains in Putins control

06:57 , Arpan Rai

The last ship carrying out the safe Black Sea export of Ukrainian grain will leave port today, a UN spokesperson said, a day before Russia could quit the pact over obstacles to its grain and fertiliser exports.

The last remaining ship at a Ukrainian port and will transit the maritime corridor with its cargo, the spokesperson said.

Another vessel was in transit back to Turkey on Tuesday and five other ships are waiting for an outbound inspection in Turkish waters, the official said.

The deal, which has ramifications for grain consumption across the world, was brokered by the United Nations and Turkey for an initial 120 days in July last year to help tackle a global food crisis that has been aggravated by Moscows invasion of Ukraine, one of the worlds leading grain exporters.

Moscow agreed to extend the Black Sea pact for a further 120 days in November, but then in March it offered only a 60 day extension, until 18 May, unless a list of demands regarding its own agricultural exports was met.

South Korea signs $130m aid package for Ukraine

06:13 , Arpan Rai

South Korea will provide a $130m (104m) financial aid package to Kyiv after Ukraines first lady visited Seoul to seek military assistance.

South Koreas finance ministry said minister Choo Kyung-ho and Ukrainian economy minister Yulia Svyrydenko, in Seoul to attend a conference, signed the agreement on the package, which will consist of donations and aid loans.

South Korea, a major producer of artillery shells, has said it was not providing lethal weapons to Ukraine, citing its relations with Russia.

But South Korean president Yoon Suk Yeol said in an interview with Reuters last month his government might not insist only on humanitarian or financial support if civilians in Ukraine come under a large-scale attack or because of a situation the international community cannot condone.

Russia firing more weapons to overwhelm Ukraine, says US official

05:35 , Arpan Rai

Russian forces are expending more weapons than usual in order to overwhelm and confuse Ukrainian air defences, a US official familiar with the matter told CNN.

The expanded attacks seen this week may even work to Ukraines advantage, the official said, as the move forced Russia to scrape deeper into its restricted supply of precision munitions.

Moscow has tried to target command and control centres in Kyiv and other high-value locations, the official said, as seen yesterday when Russia launched larger aerial attacks comprising drones, cruise missiles and ballistic missiles overnight from north, south and east direction in one go.

Zelensky rallies support at EU council meet, cites battlefield success

04:42 , Arpan Rai

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky bolstered his bid to seek more support for Ukraine as he spoke at the fourth summit of the Council of Europe and said that the war-hit nation is able to achieve battlefield successes unimaginable last year.

A year ago, we were not able to shoot down most of the terroristss missiles, especially ballistic ones. And I am asking one thing now: if were able to do this, is there anything we cant do when were united and determined to protect lives? The answer is that we, in unity, will give one hundred per cent in any field  when we have a goal to protect our people and our Europe, Mr Zelensky said.

He presented Ukraines historic feat of downing cruise and ballistic missiles as he addressed the leaders virtually at the summit.

Today, Ukraine went through a difficult challenge  an intense Russian missile attack. Such challenges are what we all have to pay attention to now, he said.

At three oclock in the morning, our people woke up to explosions... Eighteen Russian missiles of different types were in our sky  in particular, ballistic ones, which the terrorist state has boasted about. We were told such missiles would bring a guaranteed death, because they are supposedly impossible to shoot down, Mr Zelensky said.

The war-time president said Russia used ballistic and cruise missiles, as well as drones, all at the same time  to make it especially difficult for our air defence to save lives. But all lives were protected  all missiles were shot down, including ballistic ones. One hundred per cent! This is a historical result, he said.

Russia rejects Kyivs claims on missiles downed

04:25 , Arpan Rai

Russian defence minister Sergei Shoigu has said the number of claimed Ukrainian missile intercepts in general is three times greater than the number we [Moscow] launch.

And they get the type of missiles wrong all the time. Thats why they dont hit them, he said, without elaborating.

Ukraine said it had shot down six Russian Kinzhal missiles in a single night, taking down a weapon Moscow has branded as a next-generation hypersonic missile that was all but unstoppable.

Zelensky needs Sunak to push Ukraines allies to go further and faster over weapons and jets

03:00 , Joe Middleton

Britains willingness to step first unto the breach over military support has spurred wider Western action, writes Kim Sengupta. The Ukrainian president needs that now more than ever.

Analysis: Zelensky needs Sunak to push allies to go further and faster over weapons

UK 'on guard' over Russia's use of chemical weapons, says Ben Wallace

02:00 , Joe Middleton

Ukraine claims to have shot down multiple unstoppable Russian missiles during barrage on Kyiv

01:00 , Joe Middleton

Ukraine claims to have shot down a volley of Russian hypersonic missiles  one of Moscows most potent weapons  during an attack on the capital Kyiv described as exceptional in density.

It is the first time Ukraine has claimed to have struck down multiple Kinzhal  which means dagger in Russian  missiles in one go. If confirmed it would be a demonstration of the effectiveness of Kyivs newly deployed Western air defences in helping thwart some of Russias most advanced weaponry.

President Vladimir Putin has previously claimed that the Kinzhal would be able to overcome all existing and ... prospective anti-aircraft and anti-missile defence systems.

Chris Stevenson reports.

Ukraine claims to have downed multiple unstoppable Russian missiles during barrage

Like a scene from Apocalypse Now: I was there when the missiles shook Kyiv

Tuesday 16 May 2023 23:59 , Joe Middleton

The noise that repeatedly filled the air early this morning was extraordinary: shuddering, horribly percussive waves of sound that burrow down through your chest and into your stomach, writes Kit Macdonald.

Opinion: Like a scene from Apocalypse Now: I was there when the missiles shook Kyiv

South Korea's president vows to expand non-lethal aid to Kyiv in meeting with Ukraine's first lady

Tuesday 16 May 2023 22:00 , Joe Middleton

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol vowed to expand the countrys non-lethal aid to Kyiv when he met with Ukraines first lady Tuesday in Seoul.

Olena Zelenska visited South Korea as a special envoy of President Volodymyr Zelensky. During her meeting with Yoon, Zelenska requested South Korea expand its support of non-lethal military supplies, including equipment for detecting and removing mines and ambulance vehicles, according to Yoons office.

Yoon replied that his government would closely coordinate with NATO and other international partners to actively support the Ukrainian people, his spokesperson Lee Do Woon said during a briefing.

South Korea's president vows to expand non-lethal aid to Kyiv in meeting with Ukraine's first lady

Ukraine claims to have shot down multiple unstoppable Russian missiles during barrage on Kyiv

Tuesday 16 May 2023 21:14 , Joe Middleton

Ukraine claims to have shot down a volley of Russian hypersonic missiles  one of Moscows most potent weapons  during an attack on the capital Kyiv described as exceptional in density.

It is the first time Ukraine has claimed to have struck down multiple Kinzhal  which means dagger in Russian  missiles in one go.

If confirmed it would be a demonstration of the effectiveness of Kyivs newly deployed Western air defences in helping thwart some of Russias most advanced weaponry. President Vladimir Putin has previously claimed that the Kinzhal would be able to overcome all existing and ... prospective anti-aircraft and anti-missile defence systems.

Ukraine claims to have downed multiple unstoppable Russian missiles during barrage

Hungary blocks next tranche of military support for Ukraine from EUs European Peace Facility

Tuesday 16 May 2023 20:30 , Joe Middleton

Hungary did not approve the disbursement of the next tranche of military support for Ukraine provided under the EUs European Peace Facility (EPF), a government spokesmans office said on Tuesday.

The EPF, created in 2021, is an off-budget instrument aimed at enhancing the EUs ability to prevent conflicts, build peace and strengthen international security.

Hungary does not agree with the fact that the European Union, along with other existing tools, uses the European Peace Facility solely with regard to Ukraine as this does not allow sufficient funds to be channelled to promote the EUs interests in other areas, the government spokesmans office said in an email response to Reuters about an Italian media report on the matter.

The EU has provided a total of about 3.6 billion euros for military support for Ukraine so far under the EPF.

Hungary, which is member of the EU and also NATO, has refused to provide any military equipment to its neighbour Ukraine, which was invaded by Russian forces in February 2022.

Hungary has also repeatedly criticised EU sanctions against Russia, which all 27 EU countries must also unanimously approve, but eventually supported all the agreed measures so far.

In power since 2010, Prime Minister Viktor Orban has clashed with the EU and its executive arm, the European Commission, over Budapest restricting the rights of migrants, as well as tightening state controls over non-governmental organizations, academics, media and courts.

AP

Zelensky needs Sunak to push Ukraines allies to go further and faster over weapons and jets

Tuesday 16 May 2023 20:00 , Joe Middleton

Britains willingness to step first unto the breach over military support has spurred wider Western action, writes Kim Sengupta. The Ukrainian president needs that now more than ever.

Analysis: Zelensky needs Sunak to push allies to go further and faster over weapons

What are Storm Shadow cruise missiles and what other weapons has the UK sent to Ukraine?

Tuesday 16 May 2023 19:30 , Joe Middleton

Britain is to supply Ukraine with multiple Storm Shadow cruise missiles to bolster Kyivs forces against a feared Russian offensive.

Defence secretary Ben Wallace on Thursday confirmed the gifting but did not say how many of the UKs 700-1,000 missiles would be sent.

The aid came in advance of Volodymyr Zelensky visiting the UK with the Ukraine president having appealed for western help in a bid to withstand Russian offenses and push back.

William Mata and Joe Sommerlad explain.

What are Storm Shadow cruise missiles? All the weapons the UK has sent to Ukraine

Russian Duma votes to scrap Cold War armed forces deal

Tuesday 16 May 2023 18:55 , Joe Middleton

The lower house of Russias parliament on Tuesday voted unanimously to formally pull out of a key Cold War-era security deal, more than eight years after Moscow halted its participation.

The vote in the State Duma came less than a week after President Vladimir Putin introduced a draft bill on May 10 denouncing the Treaty of Conventional Armed Forces in Europe, which aimed to prevent Cold War rivals from massing forces at or near mutual borders. The deal was signed in November 1990, but not fully ratified until two years later.

The Federation Council, Russias Kremlin-controlled upper chamber that generally rubber-stamps legislation that the Duma has approved, is scheduled to consider Russias pullout from the treaty next Wednesday.

Russian Duma votes to scrap Cold War armed forces deal

UK 'on guard' over Russia's use of chemical weapons, says Ben Wallace

Tuesday 16 May 2023 18:25 , Joe Middleton

Putin and Zelensky agree to separate meetings with African delegations to discuss peace plan, says SA president

Tuesday 16 May 2023 17:54 , Joe Middleton

Russian president Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky have agreed to separate meetings with a delegation of leaders from six African countries to discuss a possible plan to end the war in Ukraine, South Africas president said.

Cyril Ramaphosa said he had spoken with Mr Putin and Mr Zelensky by phone over the weekend and they each agreed to host an African leaders peace mission in Moscow and Kyiv respectively.

Principal to our discussions are efforts to find a peaceful resolution to the devastating conflict in the Ukraine, Mr Ramaphosa said.

The leaders of Zambia, Senegal, Congo, Uganda and Egypt would make up the delegation along with Mr Ramaphosa, he said in a statement, and Mr Putin and Mr Zelenskyy gave him the go-ahead to commence the preparations.

Four of the African countries - South Africa, Congo, Senegal and Uganda - abstained from a UN vote last year on condemning Russias invasion. Zambia and Egypt voted in favour of the motion.

Mr Ramaphosa did not give a timeframe or outline any parameters for the possible peace talks. Mr Zelensky has previously said he would not consider a peace deal to end the 15-month war until Russian forces withdraw from Ukrainian territory.

Like a scene from Apocalypse Now: I was there when the missiles shook Kyiv

Tuesday 16 May 2023 17:08 , Joe Middleton

The noise that repeatedly filled the air early this morning was extraordinary: shuddering, horribly percussive waves of sound that burrow down through your chest and into your stomach, writes Kit Macdonald.

Opinion: Like a scene from Apocalypse Now: I was there when the missiles shook Kyiv

Ukraines Supreme Court votes no confidence in chief justice

Tuesday 16 May 2023 16:24 , Joe Middleton

A plenary meeting of Ukraines Supreme Court voted no confidence in the courts head on Tuesday after he was detained by anti-corruption authorities.

The 140-2 vote move paves the way for chief justice Vsevolod Kniazievs dismissal from the court but does not strip him of his status as a judge, Ukrainian media said.

Watch: Listen to what a night of aerial bombardment in Kyiv sounds like

Tuesday 16 May 2023 15:48 , Emily Atkinson

Kyiv forces reclaim significant ground around Bakhmut

Tuesday 16 May 2023 15:13 , Emily Atkinson

Ukrainian forces have taken back about 20 square km (7.5 square miles) of territory from Russian forces around the eastern city of Bakhmut in recent days, Ukrainian deputy defence minister Hanna Maliar said on Tuesday.

(AP)

She said on the Telegram messaging app that Russian forces had advanced somewhat in the city of Bakhmut itself, and that heavy fighting continued.

What are Storm Shadow cruise missiles and what other weapons has the UK sent to Ukraine?

Tuesday 16 May 2023 14:29 , Emily Atkinson

Britain is to supply Ukraine with multiple Storm Shadow cruise missiles to bolster Kyivs forces against a feared Russian offensive.

Defence secretary Ben Wallace on Thursday confirmed the gifting but did not say how many of the UKs 700-1,000 missiles would be sent.

What other aid and provision has the UK promised to support Ukraine? Joe Sommerlad and William Mata have the details:

What are Storm Shadow cruise missiles? All the weapons the UK has sent to Ukraine

Ukraine lifts barriers to exports of some farm goods

Tuesday 16 May 2023 14:00 , Emily Atkinson

Ukraine has removed barriers to the export of some agricultural commodities, imposed last year to prevent food shortages, in a bid to boost foreign currency income, its government said on Tuesday.

The country introduced export licences in 2022 to protect food supplies after agricultural production was hit by Russias invasion. While licensing did not ban exports, it made them much more difficult.

The government said it would lift the requirement for export licences for live cattle, frozen cattle meat, chicken meat, eggs, rye, oats, millet and some other commodities.

It said via the Telegram messaging app that the resolution was developed in response to numerous requests from associations, and would help to optimise agricultural exports and increase foreign exchange earnings for Ukraine.

The decision would not affect supply to the domestic market, the government said. Ukraine is a major producer of poultry meat and exporter of grain and cereals.

The European Union on 2 May set restrictions on imports of Ukrainian wheat, maize, rapeseed and sunflower seed to ease excess supply to Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia. Those states last week called for the curbs to be extended.

Russia and Ukraine agree African mission on potential peace plan'

Tuesday 16 May 2023 13:25 , Emily Atkinson

Russia and Ukraines presidents have agreed to receive a group of African leaders to discuss a potential peace plan for the conflict, South African president Cyril Ramaphosa has said.

My discussions with the two leaders demonstrated that they are both ready to receive the African leaders and to have discussion on how this conflict can be brought to an end, Ramaphosa told a joint press briefing with the Singapore prime minister.

(Getty/ Sputnik)

Whether that will succeed or not is going to depend on the discussions that will be held, he said.

Ramaphosa said the peace plan was also backed by the leaders of Senegal, Uganda and Egypt, adding that the UN Secretary General, the United States and Britain had also been briefed about the initiative.

Washington and London had expressed cautious support to the peace plan, Ramaphosa added.

South Korea's president vows to expand non-lethal aid to Kyiv in meeting with Ukraine's first lady

Tuesday 16 May 2023 13:05 , Emily Atkinson

South Korea's president vows to expand non-lethal aid to Kyiv in meeting with Ukraine's first lady

Kremlin, on CIA video aimed at Russians, says our special services are monitoring

Tuesday 16 May 2023 12:35 , Emily Atkinson

Commenting on a YouTube video encouraging Russians to make contact with the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, the CIA, the Kremlin said on Tuesday that its own special services were tracking Western intelligence activity.

The short video in Russian, entitled Why I made contact with the CIA: my decision, appeared on the CIAs official YouTube channel.

(Reuters)

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said he had not paid attention to it, but added: I am convinced that our special services are monitoring this space in the necessary way.

He added: We all know perfectly well that the CIA and other Western intelligence services are not reducing their activity on the territory of our country.

Head of Ukraine's Supreme Court detained

Tuesday 16 May 2023 12:05 , Emily Atkinson

The head of Ukraines Supreme Court has been detained over an alleged bribery scheme, a prosecutor from the Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutors Office (SAPO) said on Tuesday.

The prosecutor did not name the official detained, but told a briefing that he was the head of the Supreme Court and had not yet been served with a formal notice of suspicion.

The Supreme Court is headed by Chief Justice Vsevolod Kniaziev, who could not be reached for comment.

The National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) and SAPO announced on Monday that they had exposed large-scale corruption at the court, and shared a photograph of piles of dollars neatly lined up on a sofa.

You see that we are showing through real cases, real deeds, what our priority is: its top corruption, its criminal organisation at the highest levels of power, NABU director Semen Kryvonos told Tuesdays briefing.

Russia says it destroyed Ukrainian Patriot air defence system

Tuesday 16 May 2023 11:33 , Emily Atkinson

Russias defence ministry said on Tuesday that it had destroyed a US-built Patriot surface-to-air missile defence system with a hypersonic Kinzhal missile in an overnight strike on Ukraine, the Zvezda military news outlet reported.

It quoted the ministry as saying the overnight strikes had also been aimed at Ukrainian fighting units and ammunition storage sites.

Kremlin says Russia faces decision on extending grain deal

Tuesday 16 May 2023 11:19 , Emily Atkinson

The Kremlin said on Tuesday that questions still remained about Russias part of the Black Sea grain deal, and that it would have to make a decision about whether to renew it.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters contacts on the subject were continuing.

MoD provide update on situation in Bakhmut

Tuesday 16 May 2023 09:56 , Emily Atkinson

The British Ministry of Defence (MoD) has provided an update on the current situation in Bakhmut, with both Russia and Ukraine making some progress across the contested town.

While the Wagner Group forces continue to make gradual progress in clearing Ukrainian positions in the town centre, Ukraine has in the last four days made tactical progress stabilising the flanks of Bakhmut to their advantage, the MoD said in its daily intelligence update.

It went on: As well as progress to the south of town, Ukrainian assaults have forced back the Russian frontline to the north-west of the town. This has likely enabled Ukrainian forces to re-establish more secure use of the key 0506 supply road.

Ukraine is holding Russias western advances along the line of Donets-Donbas Canal, turning the waterway into an obstacle as part of a deep defensive zone around the town of Chasiv Yar.

Latest Defence Intelligence update on the situation in Ukraine - 16 May 2023.



Find out more about Defence Intelligence's use of language: https://t.co/0FG6w4yI6a



 #StandWithUkraine  pic.twitter.com/BPDgNQ7Z39  Ministry of Defence  (@DefenceHQ) May 16, 2023

Macron signals France ready to train Ukrainian pilots'

Tuesday 16 May 2023 09:09 , Emily Atkinson

President Emmanuel Macron has reportedly signalled that France is ready to begin training Ukrainian fighter pilots.

We have opened the doors to training pilots alongside several other European countries, which are also ready; I believe the negotiations with the Americans are ongoing, he said in an interview with broadcaster TF1 , according to Le Monde.

CNN also cites Mr Macron as saying that training can start right away.
Liquidation of the consequences of a missile attack on Lviv Oblast

On May 16, the Zaliznychnyi District Court of Lviv sentenced him to life imprisonment with confiscation of property. According to prosecutors, they sought for the most severe sentence in this case, as Kozeyev, in addition to the tasks he received, looked for information on his own initiative, pursing an anti-Ukrainian ideology.

Read also: SBU detains Moscow church priest in Sumy Oblast for spying on Ukrainian army

An investigation revealed that in May 2022, Kozeyev sent the Russians data on the location of military facilities and the movement of the Armed Forces, as well as the coordinates of critical infrastructure in Lviv Oblast, including five bridges.

Read also: Former SBU head faces treason trial

He also used his phone to take pictures of the aftermath of missile attacks on Lviv. In total, investigators discovered about 25 separate episodes of Kozeyev passing information along to the Russians.

Law enforcement also revealed that Kozeyev regularly traveled to Russia prior to the full-scale war, and had worked at a number of Russian companies.

"He has many Russian contacts in his phone, including those of the Ministries of Internal Affairs and Foreign Affairs, and the Migration Service, court documents citing investigators read.

Read also: SBU accuses Poltava judge of working for Moscow

We also found application forms for a residence permit downloaded from the website of the Moscow Migration Center.

A photo of a letter from the Russian Interior Ministry dated 2021 was also found on his phone, purportedly a request for Russian citizenship.

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Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 17)  The House of Representatives may decide on the status of suspended Negros Oriental Rep. Arnolfo Teves Jr. before Congress adjourns sine die on June 2, House Secretary General Reginald Velasco said Wednesday.

Velasco said the House Committee on Ethics is expected to submit a recommendation on Teves if the lawmaker still fails to report for work when his 60-day suspension ends on May 22.

Any recommendation from the panel would need the vote of two-thirds of all House members in the plenary to be implemented, Velasco added.

The Secretary General, however, cannot say what possible actions can be taken, saying Teves' case has no precedent in the House.

Hopefully before the end of the session, there will be some action," Velasco said. "First, a recommendation from the Committee on Ethics and then there will be voting in the plenary kung okay yung recommendations ng Committee on Ethics. In the end, its really the whole membership who will have to decide what to do in the case of Congressman Arnie Teves."

Hindi natin masabi kung ano yung gagawin talaga ng Committee on Ethics on this kasi walang precedent eh, na after the 60-day suspension, ano bang mangyayari," he added. "Wala eh. Wala tayong mabanggit na precedent eh. So its a new game for the Committee on Ethics and the House of Representatives."

[Translation: We cannot say what the Committee on Ethics will actually do on this because there is no precedent, that after the 60-day suspension what will happen? We have no precedent to cite.]

Velasco said the House has not received any word from Teves about his supposed return to the Philippines on Wednesday.

The lawmaker earlier dismissed as fake news the announcement of Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla that he will be flying back to the Philippines within the day.

Velasco said Teves brother, former congressman Pryde Henry Teves, called him to say that he also has not gotten any confirmation from the embattled lawmaker about his supposed comeback.

Despite conflicting information about Teves return, Velasco assured the suspended congressman the House will provide him the necessary protection once he returns to the country and goes to the House of Representatives.
REUTERS/Evgenia Novozhenina

Russias apparent response to the CIA circulating a video aimed at recruiting disaffected Kremlin informants is to blast out its own recruitment video targeting Americans fed up with the U.S. government.

The video, posted to the pro-Russia Siloviki Telegram channel and circulating among pro-Kremlin bloggers, shows clips of U.S. military personnel on patrols, protesters lighting fire to the American flag, and a protest against Planned Parenthood.

Is this the life I dreamed of? The path that I have chosen for myself, the narrator in the apparent Russian video states. Why are the lives of some more valuable than the lives of others? And who decides?

The video ends with footage of Joe Biden delivering a speech, with a bullseye overlaid on his head.

This is my America, this will always be my America. We will stand. We will live with dignity because of my actions, the video states. I will raise the flags of our fathers again.

The Brazen FBI Hunt for Russian Spies Ready to Betray Putin

Write to us, the video urges viewers, providing a link to instructions on how to get in touch with the SVR, Russia's federal foreign intelligence agency. The Daily Beast could independently verify that the agency was directly involved in the production of the video.

If you want to help normalcy, help the Foreign Intelligence Service of the Russian Federation, an accompanying social media post states.

The Russia's foreign ministry will not leave the CIA recruitment video without proper effective response, spokesperson Maria Zakharova said Wednesday.

"Such malicious activities, including dissemination of inciting materials, will not be left without proper effective response. They know that we wont keep them waiting, she said, according to TASS.

The video comes after the CIA established its own Telegram channel and shared a recruitment video early this week, targeting Russians disillusionment with Moscow.

The battle for informed intelligence has grown even more urgent with Russia failing to achieve major gains in Ukraine in the last several months. Since the start of the invasion last year, the U.S. intelligence community has been working to take advantage of Russians who are interested in working against Russian President Vladimir Putins war plans.

The FBI in the last several months, for instance, has been posting separate social media video recruitment ads on Twitter, Facebook, and Google targeting Russians with access to classified information who might be willing to share information with the bureau, as previously reported by The Daily Beast.

The video shows the path an individual working for the Russian government might take to reach the FBI in Washington, D.C. Last year, the FBI targeted ads around the area of the Russian embassy in Washington, D.C.

The CIA provided instructions in its video this week on how to share information with the U.S. intelligence community through secure and encrypted channels.

CIAs global mission requires that individuals be able to contact us securely from anywhere in the world. Thats why, for the first time, CIA is establishing a presence on Telegramto reach those who feel compelled to engage CIA and ensure they know how to do so as securely as possible, the agency said in its inaugural Telegram post. If youre considering reaching out to CIA, please review the materials on this channel: we value those willing to talk with us, and your safety is our priority.

In the CIA video, individuals presumably working for the Russian government are shown pulling up pages with information how to contact the agency on their phones.

Are you a military officer? Do you work in the field of intelligence, diplomacy, science, high technology, or do you deal with people who do this? Do you have information about the economy or the top leadership of the Russian Federation?, the CIA wrote on Telegram. Contact us. Perhaps the people around you don't want to hear the truth. We want.

This video shows fictitious Russians who made the difficult but important decision to quietly get in touch with the CIA through the anonymous information system Tor, another CIA post says. The CIA wants to know the truth about Russia, and we are looking for reliable people who know and can tell us this truth. Your information may be more valuable than you think.

The apparent Russian video appears to be an attempt to mimic the CIA video.

The people around you may not want the truth. We want, the video states.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

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Russia propaganda accuses Ukraine of using tanks on Russia territory during Ukraine

According to the pro-Russian Telegram channel Shot, the village of Stary in Belgorod Oblast of Russia was allegedly attacked by either T-64BV or T-72B Ukrainian tanks on the morning of May 16, possibly originating from the Kupyansk district of Kharkiv Oblast, which has been a frequent target of Russian invaders. Reportedly, a total of 12 125mm caliber shells were fired, though Russian media outlets say that no casualties or damages have been reported thus far.

The Armed Forces of Ukraine have not confirmed that they have attacked any targets on Russian territory.

Read also: Drone attacks FSB administration in Kursk Oblast, five Russian border guards injured

In recent weeks, there has been a rise in incidents involving explosions and fires at refineries in various regions of Russia.

On May 13, residents of Bryansk Oblast witnessed two Russian military jets and two helicopters fall out of the sky, killing all aboard, according to Russian media. No explanations for the aircraft failures have been presented, though Russian sources claim it was the work of Ukrainian sabotage.

During the night of May 3, a military airfield in Bryansk Oblast was attacked by five drones, resulting in damage to an An-124 military transport aircraft.

Read also: Russian propaganda claims Ukraine tried to attack Moscow three times on May 9

On the night of May 4, a fire broke out at the Il'sk oil refinery in Russias Krasnodar Krai region  reportedly starting at storage tanks containing petroleum products.

Additionally, a drone targeted an oil product plant in Rostov Oblast of Russia. On the same day, a drone crashed on the premises of a military unit in Voronezh Oblast.

Another explosion occurred at a railway in Bryansk Oblast on May 1, leading to the destruction of a locomotive and four wagons, as well as a leakage of 12 tons of diesel fuel from storage tanks.

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Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
A Russian warlord posed over the body of a US Army vet killed in Ukraine  then bizarrely said he'd send him back to America draped in a flag as a sign of respect

A Ukrainian tank is seen in position in the frontline in Bakhmut, Donetsk region, on February 12, 2023. Libkos/AP Photo

Wagner mercengary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin posed over the dead body of a US Army veteran in Ukraine.

The man has been identified as retired Army Staff Sgt. Nicholas Maimer.

Prigozhin bizarrely said the mercenary group would send the body back to the States covered in an American flag.

Russian oligarch-turned-warlord Yevgeny Prigozhin posed over the dead body of a US Army veteran who died while fighting in Ukraine, according to a video posted on Telegram.

The video appeared to show American documents that identified the fallen soldier as retired Army Staff Sgt. Nicholas Maimer, a native of Idaho. Maimer's uncle confirmed his identity to the Idaho Statesman.

In the video, Prigozhin oddly said the group will send the body back to the US covered in an American flag as an act of respect.

"So we will hand him over to the United States of America, we'll put him in a coffin, cover him with the American flag with respect because he did not die in his bed as a grandpa but he died at war and most likely a worthy [death], right?" Prigozhin said in the video, according to a translation by CNN.

Retired Lt. Col. Perry Blackburn, a close friend of Maimer's and founder of the non-profit AFGFree  a group with which Maimer was working in Ukraine  told CNN that Maimer was in a building in Bakhmut that collapsed after being hit with artillery fire.

He added that Ukrainians who were with Maimer at the time believe he was either trapped under the rubble of the collapsed building or that he was killed by a "barrage" of Russian artillery, CNN reported.

A soldier in the Telegram video posted to the Wagner account alleged that Maimer was shooting back at Russian soldiers when he died.

Prigozhin said, "He was shooting back; he died in the battle, so we will hand over his documents tomorrow morning and pack everything, right?" according to translations by CNN.

In a June 2022 interview with the Idaho Statesman, Maimer said he felt a calling to go and help when the war broke out.

"I think this is one of the most clear-cut unjust invasions in recent history," Maimer said at the time. "It's really obvious to everybody that it's an unjustified invasion. So I felt like my moral compass just pointed me towards it."

According to one of Maimer's friends, Maimer was "training Ukrainian soldiers and officers" and had "started to accumulate and organize a massive training manual for the Ukrainian army."

Read the original article on Business Insider
US-UKRAINE-RUSSIA-CONFLICT-TRIAL-ATTORNEY

Evgenia Kara-Murza, wife of imprisoned political activist in Russia, Vladimir Kara-Murza, looks on during a discussion at the Washington Post in Washington, DC on April 17, 2023. Credit - Andrew Caballero-ReynoldsAFP via Getty Images

On the same stage where her husband, the prominent Russian dissident Vladimir Kara-Murza, was honored for his courage years earlier, Evgenia Kara-Murza took the floor. She was addressing the 15th Annual Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy in Geneva, Switzerland, on Wednesday to speak about her husbandthe political prisoner Russian President Vladimir Putin fears mostand others fighting against authoritarian regimes around the world. Had Evgenias husband not been sentenced to 25 years in a penal colony a month earlier for his vocal opposition to Russias full-scale invasion of Ukraine, perhaps he would have been there with her. It is the longest sentence handed down to a Putin critic to date.

Since Vladimirs detention last year, Evgenia has taken up the mantle of his activism, traveling around the world to speak out against his detention and the crimes of Putins authoritarian regime. Despite her high-profile role, Evgenia insists that, unlike her husband, she is no politician. I have no such ambition whatsoever, she says. I never wanted to be a public speaker. I never wanted to be a public figure. I was happy working from home, being there for the kids when they came from school.

Read More: My Friend Vladimir Kara-Murza Is the Political Prisoner Putin Fears Most

TIME caught up with Evgenia on the sidelines of the summit to discuss her and her husbands activism, the toll it has taken on their family, and whether she can envisage a future in a free, democratic Russia.

TIME: Since your husbands detention in April 2022, youve been traveling around the world calling for Vladimirs freedom. Youve also vocally criticized the Russian government and its ongoing war in Ukraine. Have you taken up the mantle of his activism?

Evgenia Kara-Murza: Not fully, because Vladimir is a politician. First and foremost, hes a politician and I believe that one brilliant politician is enough for our family. He has a very clear vision of what Russia can offer to the world as a democratic country, of how to build democracy in Russia.

But I took up his work speaking on behalf of political prisoners, calling for sanctions. And as a Russian citizen, Im devastated by the war and I will do everythingI will talk about it and talk about it again. I will call on politicians not to allow Vladimir Putin to get away with it, not to allow him any victory in this war. Not to force or coerce Ukraine to donate part of its territory to the Russian Federation to appease, yet again, a dictator who can never be appeased. Appeasement doesnt work. Vladimir Putin is a bully. He behaves like a bully. Hes always behaved like a bully. And in the past, hes tried his hand at these same crimes that hes now committing on a large scale.

What were witnessing today was inevitable; it was an absolutely inevitable thing. All those years of impunity have led to this; all those years of Vladimir Putin believing that he could commit a crime and get away with it and commit another one and get away with it. I believe that in these circumstanceswhen the war is raging, when tens of thousands of people are being killed in Ukraine, when tens of thousands of people are arbitrarily detained in RussiaVladimirs work cannot stop. He has been speaking on behalf of political prisoners in Russia for many years before becoming a political prisoner himself. So I have to continue making sure that these voices are heard, that their stories are known, that the world understands that not the entire Russian population stands behind Vladimir Putin and his vision.

I believe that these voices need to be heard, and I continue as best I can. I dont have the skillset. I dont have the knowledge. The first public speech that I ever made, I made last year when Vladimir was arrested.

You say you dont have the skills, but as your friend, the Putin critic Bill Browder, recently wrote in TIME, you speak with the same charisma and moral authority as your husband. That comes across here in Geneva, as well.

I think its my fury and adrenaline speaking. Ive been living on adrenaline for over a year now. I sometimes stop and wonder how long can a person live on pure, concentrated adrenaline? I dont know. After Vladimirs poisonings [in 2015 and 2017 in Moscow, in purported retaliation for his anti-Kremlin activism], I lasted a year after each. When he was poised in 2015, I went to Moscow. I was there while he was in a coma, while he was being treated. Then we came back to the United States for rehabilitation. And I literally used to carry him around in my arms because he could not walk without help. He could not use a spoon. He was talking gibberish because he had a stroke while in a coma in Moscow.

I had to hold it all together. We have three kids. The oldest was nine; we had a six-year-old, a three-year-old. I had to hold it all together, and Vladimir. I think it took a year for everything to fall back into some kind of normalcy. And when I felt that everyone was okay and Vladimir was walking and talking and doing his thing, the thing that he does best, that was when I collapsed. So I think I have a delayed reaction and this has saved me before. But now its been over a year, so I sometimes wonder: How much time have I got?

I think you dont know what [strength] you have until youre faced with a situation where you dont really have a choice other than to stand up and do something about it. And I was raised to stand up and do something. I was not raised to just sit quietly and wait for things to happen on their own. That has never been my approach to any kind of crisis. I try to think of what I can do under the circumstances, with whatever I have at hand.

It sounds like you and your husband have a really strong partnership.

I believe this is what marriage is about. Whenever Vladimir was in a difficult situation, I was there for him. And whenever I fell apart, he was always there for me, to pick up the pieces and put them together. So it has always been a partnership, and I believe that it will continue being a partnership because this is the only way I understand a marriage. Otherwise, why would you live with a person? You share everything and youre there for each other. Thats the only way to me.

Youve spoken a lot about the retaliation that your husband has faced from the Kremlin for his activism. Have you received a similar response? Do they also see you as a threat?

I think that the Kremlin has their hands full and they dont really notice me running around the world and screaming. Its mostly the statements, the efforts, the help, and the solidarity of the world with Vladimir that annoys them and that makes them maybe think twice about doing something to him. I dont believe its my activity, per se. I just talk. But Vladimir has made friends all over the world all these years and they all stand in solidarity with him. They always welcome me with open arms because they know and love and respect Vladimir, and so its easy for me to come and speak because Im always welcome being Vladimirs wife.

I do receive a lot of hatred on social media. And honestly, because Im an introverted person, because I dont like publicity, I have never been a big fan of social media. I only use it because I have to right now to spread information. But I try not to read comments. I need the remnants of my sanity to do the work.

Where do you find those bits of sanity or peace?

My kids. They are the United States. Weve always believed that in order for Vladimir to do his work as he saw fit, the kids needed to be safe. They were born in the States. They are bilingual: they can read and write and speak both English and Russian fluently. Russian has always been a big part of their culture and theyve been to Russia many times. But over the years, it became apparent that it would not be safe for them there. I think [theyre] my place of strength. Going home even for a few days a month. I dont get to spend more at home than just a few days at a time. But when I come home  thats my place of strength.

What do your kids think of your and Vladimirs activism?

I think they are proud, but also absolutely terrified. You see, these kids have been growing up like this. Vladimir was poisoned when the oldest one was nine. He was poisoned for the second time when she was 11. Shes now 17. Our youngest, the third one, is 11 and his father was just sentenced to 25 years [in a penal colony] in Russia. So our kids have been growing up like this, unfortunately, living in two parallel realities. One reality is where they have a home, a loving family, where they have their friends and schools and their extracurricular activities, their passions, their hobbies. And another one is where the Russian regime is consistently trying to kill their father. And their father, being a genuine Russian patriot, refuses to give up his fight and keeps on and on and on. I can only imagine how excruciatingly painful it is for them.

I will do anything to bring the father back and to make sure that our family is reunited again. I do want to show them that in order to make something happen, you have to fightyou have to go to war, in a way. And I think that Vladimir, somehow amazingly, manages to teach them a lesson as well, even from behind bars. A lesson about always fighting, never giving up without a fight, and always being prepared to stand up for what you believe in and to know that there are risks involved.

Do you see a future where you and your family will be able to return to Russia?

If Vladimir survives and the regime in Russia collapses, I know 100% that Vladimir will want to be a part of a new and democratic system in our country. I know that he will be one of those willing to undertake the impossible task of rebuilding a country from scratch and making it into a democracy. Because Im still very much in love with my husband, I think [laughs] I will have to tag along.

I dont know what our kids will choose to do. We want them to have all the opportunities in the world, all the possibilities. Im very happy that theyre growing up in the United States. Im very happy that they are bilingual. Their understanding of the world is definitely more profound. We want them to choose their own path, and we have always tried to create opportunities for that.

Obviously, we will never try to force our kids to move back to Russia with us. We want them to have this possibility, and in order for them to have this possibility, Vladimir has been fighting for a different Russia that would be safe to go to for our kids as well as many, many people. I will stand by him.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
The city of Sacramento has not provided stable housing for a quadriplegic homeless woman, Holly Porter, as it has promised to try to do.

At the end of March, city attorney Susana Alcala Wood signed a letter of understanding that said the City commits to work diligently and use all efforts to either directly provide or secure and obtain commitments from the County of Sacramento or other sources within 45 days, the means to provide appropriate durable housing to Ms. Porter and her caregiver mother.

The agreement was signed 54 days ago, but Porter, who is described as functionally quadriplegic, still spends most of her time in an adjustable hospital bed in a tent at Camp Resolution. The North Sacramento encampment won a lease with the city in March, becoming the first sanctioned self-governing homeless encampment in the county  and, possibly, the country.

The city has agreed that the camp will continue without being swept until every resident has permanent housing.

This novel arrangement, in which homeless adults at the women-led community make their own rules, could become a model for the country. In the six weeks since the camp became official, the city has delivered 16 trailers, and people have moved out of tents or older trailers.

Sharon Jones, center, a leader of Camp Resolution, holds up an agreement between city of Sacramentos attorney and Sacramento Homeless Union lawyer Anthony Price, left, to work diligently and use all efforts to find housing for Holly Porter and her live-in caregiver mother, at a press conference at the self- governing Sacramento homeless encampment Tuesday.

However, delays with rehousing Porter and the lack of generators to provide power to the new trailers have driven home the sluggish and fractured approach local governments have taken in addressing the homelessness crisis.

Katharine Weir-Ebster, a representative for the city, said that according to the lease, Sacramento was not responsible for providing generators because they constituted utilities. Weir-Ebster said, The City of Sacramento continues to use all available resources to help people experiencing homelessness transition into temporary and permanent housing.

Its all on them

Residents in the camp pointed out that the city and county were continuing to clear other homeless encampments, even as Camp Resolution was granted permission to remain in place.

At a news conference Tuesday morning, the California Homeless Union attorney who has represented the residents in negotiations with Sacramento said he was meeting with the city the same day to discuss the citys breach of the agreement with Porter.

Its time to fish or cut bait, said the lawyer, Anthony Prince. Were not going to buy any of these excuses any longer.

Its all on them, Porter said, referring to city officials as she lay in her tent. It was not yet noon, but the day was already sweltering, and a midsize fan blew more hot air in her direction. Porter has been homeless for years.

Trying to catch a breeze from a fan inside her tent, functionally quadriplegic Camp Resolution resident Holly Porter said she felt too ill to attend a Tuesday press conference asking the city of Sacramento to adhere to an agreement it made to find her housing. The agreement, signed on March 24, promised housing for Porter in 45 days, a timeline that as passed.

Ive completed everything, she said. Everything they wanted, pretty much down to the time I s---. She was, she said, not getting (her) hopes up that the city would follow through on its agreement.

Crystal Sanchez, the president of the Sacramento Homeless Union, praised the city for providing trash service and trailers. At the same time, she pointed out that without water, the residents could not use the toilets in the trailers. Without power, the metal trailers became incredibly hot in the beating sun. A small solar power station the camp acquired itself, she said, provided limited power to about 20 of the trailers  a resident could run, for example, a fan but not a refrigerator.

A local business owner, Sean Murphy of Town and Country Contractors Inc., planned to donate the money to acquire a second solar power station, which would allow more residents to have some power in their trailers. As Sanchez spoke to reporters on Tuesday, a man drove up in a red minivan and dropped off a case of bottled water for the camp, which has no water supply.

This is what it looks like, Sanchez said. Community.
Linda Siegrist could lose her childhood home  the home that she now shares with her husband  and become one of Sacramentos 9,300 homeless residents.

Her home has been taken over by a private company that put it up for auction in February. On Thursday the company will ask a judge to approve the sale to Bay Area real estate agent Alex Lehr for $220,000.

The trouble started in 2017 when the city of Sacramento sued Siegrist for a broken down pickup truck and items piled up in her North Sacramento driveway. The city then asked a judge to appoint the Bay Area Receivership Group to take over control of the house to fix the violations, and a judge agreed.

Since taking control of the house in March 2021, the private company has so far charged them $248,000, according to court documents, despite performing no serious renovations.

The bill continued to grow  often by hundreds of dollars per day for expenses like phone calls and emails  even though the house has been clear of all code violations for over a year, according to city records.

The house went up for auction, and Siegrist faced the possibility of eviction. BARG wrote in a court filing this month that Lehr will allow Linda Siegrist and her husband Bruce to stay in their house as renters. But the receivership group has also taken recent steps toward evicting them, court documents show.

BARG on March 22 contacted an eviction attorney to inquire on unlawful detainer costs and timing to evict, the company wrote in a court document. The firm charged the Siegrists $202 for researching how to evict them.

Linda Siegrist, a double amputee in a wheelchair, suffers from diabetes and kidney issues. Her doctors are trying to figure out why she needs blood transfusions every two weeks, Siegrist said, and are planning important medical procedures this week. She wants to heal from the surgeries from the comfort of her own bed, in the North Sacramento house she grew up in, she said. She fears she will be kicked out Thursday.

Its like these people are trying to kill me, said Siegrist, 67, referring to BARG. Its very stressful right now. Were just nice ordinary people. I dont need this.

The city earlier this month filed a court document asking Judge Richard K. Sueyoshi to block the sale. The city claims BARG has overcharged Siergrist up to $61,000 in fees, citing The Bees reporting, and asks for an audit of the billing practices.

Coincidentally, the receiver returned to the courts approved billing rates at, or about, the same time as the Sacramento Bees investigative news story was published on September 25, 2022, the city filing states. In that article the receiver received sharp criticism for excessive billing rates in other cases.

The city continued in the filing to question whether BARG had fulfilled its court-authorized duty to protect the property in a way that benefits the homeowner and city residents in light of the fact that the excessive billing practices failed to translate into any renovations.

City Attorney Susana Alcala Wood in a statement said we cannot stand by and ignore excessive receivership fees that appear to have little-to-no relationship to the work that has actually been performed. We are optimistic that the court will conduct an extensive audit of the bills and compare it to the rehabilitation work performed before it approves a sale of the home.

The city asked the judge to block the sale until the court can audit all the bills the company sent the Siegrists.

BARG submitted a response filing stating that even if the judge removes the $61,000 that the city believes BARG incorrectly charged in inflated hourly staff fees and by adding an unnecessary number of staffers to work on the case, the Siegrists will still lose ownership of the house unless they pay the remaining $187,000.

For the first time since it sought to install me as receiver, and years after it has known of my actions and recommendations as previously approved by this court, the city now asks this court to pause any sale of the property, BARG wrote in a court filing. But, other than belatedly attacking the receivership costs, the city offers no alternative solution to the proposed receivers sale.

BARGs statement in the court filing went on to accuse the city of changing its position on the property sale because of political pressure.

The filing suggests the city pay BARGs bill, relieving the Siegrists, as it did for another Oak Park homeowner named Wanda Clark in 2021. The city has not said whether it will pay the Siegrists bill like it did for Clark, however.

The city will await the courts response to its motion before determining any potential next steps, city spokesman Tim Swanson said.

Unlike Clark, the Siegrists own another house in the city, which is in East Sacramento. But the couple planned to pass that house down to their daughter, and its not yet ready to be occupied, Siegrist said.

There are no code violations at the East Sacramento house however, according to a city web page. BARG requested a title report on that house, according to a letter mailed to the couple in March. The couple worries that means there might be a way BARG could gain control of that house too. If the couple loses both houses, they say they could be on the streets.

We would be homeless, Bruce Siegrist, 69, said. Its ridiculous because there was nothing really wrong that couldve been fixed in the beginning.

BARG president Gerard Keena did not respond to an email seeking comment for this story.

City could keep using BARG

After the backlash from both cases, city officials have not submitted recommendations for judges to appoint BARG to take control of more Sacramento houses. But city officials have not promised they wont do so in the future.

Seven months after three elected officials called for a review of receivers, that review still is not complete.

In October, about a week after the story published, Mayor Darrell Steinberg and council members Katie Valenzuela and Eric Guerra called for a city review and a city audit of BARG.

This story raises serious questions about whether a process meant to safeguard neighborhoods is instead hurting vulnerable residents, Steinberg said in a statement at the time. Its time for us to re-evaluate which receivers we will be recommending to the court.

But the city did not launch an audit. And it did not formally launch the review until last month, when it sent out so-called request for interest forms to 212 receivership companies. The forms, due back to the city in June, ask the companies for their hourly fees and costs, among other qualifications.

Part of the reason for the delay was due to an effort to identify receivers who are more inclusive, Swanson said. The city routed the form through a Diversity Equity and Inclusion committee before sending it out.

Another reason for the delay was that the city needed to make sure it complied with a state law, Swanson said.

One section of the law is particularly restrictive because it prohibits the city from directly or indirectly establishing an understanding or agreement with any receiver it intends to nominate on how the receiver will administer the receivership, if appointed, or how much it will charge for its services, Swanson said in an email.

After a Berkeley man faced over $1 million in bills from BARG for his house, Berkeley started requiring all receivership appointments go to the council  a step Sacramento has not taken.

Rashid Sidqe, a community advocate who worked to try to help Clark, said the city should take that step, and should also immediately announce it will stop using BARG.

After Wanda Clark, I think they should have denounced that receivership company, Sidqe said. And they should have asked for an outside evaluation of our receivership process. I look at it as elder abuse.

Cities continue to use BARG

The city of Sacramento has not recommended BARG to the court as a receiver over any new homes since the October story. But other cities have continued to do so.

Earlier this month, judges appointed BARG to take over three houses in the Bay Area, according to the firms Facebook page  two in Fremont and one in Lafayette. In December, judges approved appointments of BARG as receivers for houses in Napa and Fremont, as well as Dunsmuir, in Siskiyou County, and Albany, in Alameda County. In February, a judge appointed BARG over a house in Mt. Shasta.

BARGs leaders have also been speaking at statewide conferences to train staff at cities across the state on their practices. BARG attorney Ryan Griffith last month spoke at the League of Cities Leadership Summit for mayors, council members and city managers on how to resolve drug houses, according to the page. He also presented to the Alameda County Bar Association in February.
Safety of Barnstable inmates in question as ACLU sues the state. Here's what we know.

EDITOR'S NOTE: On May 17, 2023, a date in the photo caption was corrected.

In a lawsuit filed May 9, the American Civil Liberties Union Massachusetts accused the Office of the State Auditor of illegally withholding audit reports regarding prisoner deaths and health care at the Barnstable County Sheriff's Office and the Plymouth County Sheriffs Department, according to court documents.

The state auditor's office issued two reports, according to the Massachusetts office of the ACLU, "Barnstable County Sheriff's Office - a Review of Healthcare and Inmate Deaths," on March 16 and "Plymouth County Sheriff's Department - a Review of Healthcare and Inmate Deaths," on March 15, covering July 1, 2019 through June 30, 2021.

What did the audit say about the Barnstable County Sheriff's Office?

For the Barnstable County Sheriff's Office report specifically, the 20-page performance audit report delineated only one finding: that the sheriff's office "did not ensure that its inmates received health appraisals on time and that it documented the health appraisals and admission medical screenings." For that finding, the audit recommended that the sheriff's office ensure that the healthcare vendor completes health appraisals on time, documents the health appraisals and admission medical screenings, and has enough staff to do the job.

A performance audit of the Barnstable County Sheriff's Office from July 2019 to June 2021, conducted by the Office of the State Auditor and issued March 16, found the office did not ensure proper inmate health appraisals. The audit also cited a finding that was not made public. In this photo from May 9 is a cell at the Barnstable County Correctional Facility in Bourne.

The audit of the Barnstable office identified one other issue, which was omitted from the report by citing an exemption in the state's public records law. The full report, with no omissions, was provided to the sheriff's office, the audit report stated.

The audit report was sent to Barnstable County Sheriff Donna Buckley on March 16, according to the report. Buckley took office on Jan. 4, replacing former Barnstable County Sheriff James Cummings, who held the job for 24 years.

The statewide ACLU characterized the Barnstable and Plymouth reports as incomplete. Within those reports, the auditor's office made reference to an issue that could impact the health and safety of inmates. The issue referenced was redacted, according to court documents.

Health concerns heightened at the Barnstable County Correctional Facility in Bourne.

From 2017 to September 2022, there were four suicides and 63 attempted suicides at the Barnstable County Correctional Facility, according to Cummings in 2022. Three deaths by suicide occurred in 2022, in June and mid-August.

Response to ACLU public records request was heavily redacted.

The ACLU responded with a public records request for the complete reports, and the Office of the State Auditor then produced heavily redacted versions of the report, which didn't describe the redacted issue, according to Daniel McFadden, staff attorney at the ACLU.

McFadden was not available to speak directly to the Times on Friday.

Even if there is underlying confidential information that informed the audits, the audit results should not be confidential," said McFadden in a press release. "Our government should always strive for transparency and openness  especially when it relates to the life and death of people in its custody.

The lawsuit, filed in Suffolk County Superior Court, demands complete audit reports.

Because the Barnstable County Sheriff's Office isn't a party in the lawsuit, Buckley, the current Barnstable County sheriff, said in an email that all questions must be sent to state auditors and the ACLU.

Is the redaction related to the health and safety of inmates?

State Auditor Diana DiZoglio said the redacted information included in both reports has nothing to do with inmate healthcare, and instead pertains to cybersecurity.

"Cybercrimes are on the rise, and we continue to see governments at all levels subjected to cyber attacks due to the evolving sophistication of attackers," said DiZoglio in an emailed statement. "Thats why our office has a new IT audit unit dedicated to auditing information technology with a focus on cybersecurity in state agencies."

Auditor says the lawsuit was unnecessary. Her office learned about it from ACLU's Twitter feed.

DiZoglio said the Office of the State Auditor learned of the lawsuit pending against them through the Massachusetts ACLUs Twitter feed. She called the lawsuit unnecessary and said her office wasn't given the opportunity to alleviate the ACLU's concerns and provide clarity, before the lawsuit was filed.

Exclusive in 2022: Three people die in 8 weeks at Barnstable County jail. Here's what we know

"Carelessly publicizing identified cybersecurity challenges found within state systems puts those systems at risk," she said. "If current ACLU leaders disagree with the law in this regard and believe we should instead publicize specific cybersecurity risks  they are, of course, welcome to make that case in court."

ACLU officials said the Office of the State Auditor justified its redactions with a reference to a public records law exemption and have not explained how this exemption would apply to information concerning the health care for incarcerated people.

DiZoglio said she remains available to speak directly with ACLU officials.

Rachael Devaney writes about community and culture. Reach her at rdevaney@capecodonline.com. Follow her on Twitter: @RachaelDevaney.

Thanks to our subscribers, who help make this coverage possible. If you are not a subscriber, please consider supporting quality local journalism with a Cape Cod Times subscription. Here are our subscription plans.

This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: ACLU lawsuit says MA auditor withheld Barnstable, Plymouth inmate info
Salma Hayek. (Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images)

Salma Hayek. (Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images)

Salma Hayek knows how to cut loose, and the Living it Up actor did just that to celebrate an impressive new milestone on Instagram.

On Tuesday, the star shared a video of herself joyfully dancing in a robe with her glam team to commemorate reaching 24 million followers on the platform.

After her robe slipped down, revealing some NSFW lady bits  tastefully blurred in the video  an unfazed Hayek continued showcasing her moves as her friends reveled in the background.

24 million followers, 24 million reasons to smile. Thank you all for joining me on this wild ride! she wrote in the caption of the merry clip.

I cannot contain my excitement & gratitude, the Magic Mikes Last Dance star added, alongside a dancing emoji.

Hayek, who has been married to husband Francois-Henri Pinault since 2009, hasnt been shy about showing off her physique with stunning snaps on social media.

Last month, the actor wowed fans in a neon green bikini, stylishly flipping her hair back as she emerged from the ocean.

Hayek confessed to People in 2020 that her figure doesnt come from spending long hours in the gym. She said she doesnt have time to exercise with work days of 16 hours or more.

I work with a woman in London who taught me how to hold my body in a way where the muscles are activated all day long, she explained, revealing how she manages to stay so fit. So even when you brush your teeth, youre working the muscles.

Hayek added: She taught me to tone [my muscles] without clenching them. You relax them and focus on the parts that need to be used, but never with tension. If youre aware of your body, youd be surprised by the effect it can have.

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Salmon Is About To Be Nearly Impossible To Buy

UCG / Universal Images Group - Getty Images

Salmon is beloved around the world for its rich flavor and health benefits . But if you buy a lot of it, be warned that the fish will probably become even more of a delicacy this year, especially wild-caught salmon. The nutrient-dense fish will come at a steep price if salmon fishing is closed this year in California, which is likely.

Based on low population forecasts for Klamath River and Sacramento River Chinook salmon this fall, the Pacific Fishery Management Council (PFMC) is recommending the cancellation of salmon fishing in California and a small portion of Oregon for the 2023-2024 season, which begins May 16. The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) must approve the proposal by May 15. This is very likely to happen, given they already took in-season actions to halt most salmon fishing south of Cape Falcon, Oregon, until then.

So what does this mean for your salmon dinners ? For one, theyll likely become more expensive.

California is really good at growing food and providingnutritionally valuable food to the American peoplesalmon is one of them, said Robin Ehlke, the PFMCs staff officer for salmon fishery management. I think it will definitely be noticed that salmons not part of anybodys meal plan.

While there will be salmon fishing further north in Washington and parts of Oregon, the majority of wild-caught Chinook salmon on the West Coast comes from California, according to Ehlke.

With a low supply of wild-caught salmon, it's only natural that the prices of farm-raised might also increase. A decline in fishing will increase prices and put a strain on people who make their living fishing, said Bryan Boches, co-founder and CEO of Safe Catch . We need to find the sustainable balance and invest in these ecosystems if we want future generations to enjoy catching salmon in California.

Californias salmon industry has an annual value of $1.4 billion and supports 23,000 jobs, according to the Golden State Salmon Association .

A Decreasing Salmon Population

PATRICK T. FALLON - Getty Images

"Chinook salmon populations have been in a general decline," said Boches. "We have a much smaller population of Chinook salmon now than just 20 years ago."

This year, the forecast for Sacramento River Fall Chinook is less than 170,000, compared to a harvest of over 1 million fish in 1988 and 1995, according to a report from PFMC.

The last time California's salmon fishing season was canceled was in 2009. While there are several factors that determine a fluctuation of salmon populations, one of the biggest ones, according to Ehlke, is waterboth lack of it and its quality.

Salmon need cold, fresh, not fast-moving, but flowing water, she said.

The water conditions have been greatly impacted by drought. "Low water flows during drought years is exacerbated by the diversion of water for farms and cities," said Boches. "Water was also being diverted to grow crops in the desert during a time of drought. That puts a tremendous strain on river systems."

After spawning in rivers, salmon head out to the ocean for a few years before returning, so any environmental factors from three years ago are now affecting the low returns and population forecasts, according to a press release . Given past patterns of drought and rainfall, salmon populations should bounce backand return to plates.

"With the well above average rainfall weve had this year in California, hopefully that will help the overall health of fresh waterways in the state. However, these are delicate ecosystems, and sometimes too much water can also negatively affect salmon eggs and hatchlings," said Boches.

While salmon are resilient, Ehlke said it wouldnt be surprising for the numbers to be low again next year, as it will probably take a year or two for the population to recover.

Increasing hatchery production is one way to increase population, but the survival of those fish is reliant on healthy water, according to Ehlke. Currently, there's an effort to remove four Klamath River damsthe first of which would be dismantled this summer. Ehlke said this exciting development has been in the works for decades and will provide flowing water and habitat for salmon.

"As long as society comes together to protect the purity of our waterways and to utilize and monitor responsible, sustainable fishing practices, we can have a thriving ecosystem," said Boches.

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Sam Altman says a government agency should license AI companies  and punish them if they do wrong

OpenAI's CEO Sam Altman told a Senate panel Tuesday that he thinks an agency should be created to help oversee the safety of advanced AI projects. Elizabeth Frantz/Reuters.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman suggested that a government agency should be formed to oversee AI safety.

Such an agency could give licenses to companies for advanced AI work  and revoke them.

Altman made the comments on Tuesday at his first appearance before Congress.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman told a Senate panel on Tuesday that there should be an agency to police AI projects that operate "above a certain scale of capabilities."

He told lawmakers on a Judiciary subcommittee panel that such an agency should be able to grant licenses for advanced AI work  and be able to take them away if those companies run afoul of established safety rules.



The agency could operate possibly like the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which licenses nuclear power plants and strictly oversees their use, a senator suggested. Altman agreed.

Altman suggested the idea of new agency oversight in response to a question posed by Republican Sen. John Kennedy of Louisiana, who'd brought up a potential scenario involving "a berserk wing of the artificial intelligence community that intentionally or unintentionally could use artificial intelligence to kill all of us and hurt us."

Altman had earlier in the day told senators that the technology could indeed go haywire. "I think if this technology goes wrong, it can go quite wrong," Altman said during in the hearing. "And we want to be vocal about that, we want to work with the government to prevent that from happening."

OpenAI is behind ChatGPT, perhaps the buzziest of the AI bots that's hit the scene in recent months. Altman, 38, is one of its founders, along with Elon Musk, who has since parted ways with the organization.

A representative for OpenAI did not immediately respond to Insider's emailed request for comment on Tuesday.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 17)  The control over the countrys power grid may be restored to the government, Malacanang has said, as some senators moved to investigate the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP).

If necessary, the government will take back control of the entity, the Palace said in a statement on Monday.

The Palace also said President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. agreed with Sen. Raffy Tulfos proposal to scrutinize the performance of the NGCP by conducting a comprehensive study or hold hearings to determine the actual situation.

During his meeting with Marcos, the lawmaker also raised the potential risks in the Chinese governments partial ownership of the NGCP.

READ: Chinese ownership may put NGCP at risk  Tulfo

The State Grid Corporation of China has a 40% stake in NGCP, while 60% is held by investment group Synergy Grid and Development Philippines of Henry Sy Jr. and Roberto Coyiuto Jr.

In a statement issued on Tuesday, Tulfo said the Chinese ownership of NGCP presents a serious national security threat given the tension in the West Philippine Sea.

Sen. Risa Hontiveros also expressed her support for regaining full control of the grid.

Energy Secretary Raphael Lotilla said that while the Department of Energy appreciates the concern of Hontiveros, they would still have to wait for the completed audit report on the security aspects of the transmission system.

Sen. Chiz Escudero, however, said the plan, if pushes through, might send a wrong signal to existing potential investors.
Surveillance video of the shooting death of Banko Brown, a transgender Black man, has been released by San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins. However, many are still upset at Jenkins for deciding not to charge Michael Earl-Wayne Anthony, the security guard that killed Brown.

According to the Advocate, the 24-year-old was fatally shot outside of a Walgreens in the Bay Area last month following an alleged shoplifting incident. Browns friends claim he wasnt shoplifting, though Jenkins said that both threats of force and physical force were used, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. According to the Advocate, Jenkins initially declined to share whether Brown had a weapon, but it has since been confirmed that he was unarmed at the time of his death.

Despite being unarmed, Jenkins determined that the evidence clearly shows that the suspect believed he was in mortal danger and acted in self-defense, per The New York Times.

Her decision has not gone over well with San Francisco officials, activists and Browns family. Some are questioning why stores need to have armed guards in the first place. Jenkins initially declined to release the video of Browns death, but the backlash pushed her to do so. The clip shows Anthony pushing and punching Brown. Along with the clip, Jenkins shared a 25-page report laying out why she didnt charge Anthony, The Bay Area Reporter reported.

In the report, Jenkins claimed that Anthony confronted Brown about allegedly shoplifting. Shortly after, Brown started to threaten him.

During the struggle, Anthony reports that Brown repeatedly threatened to stab him, the report states. Anthony had Brown pinned down and released Brown after telling Brown repeatedly that he would let Brown go if Brown calmed down. Anthony released Brown, stepped back, and drew his firearm because of the stabbing threats, but pointed the firearm at the ground. Brown grabbed the bag of goods off the floor, made for the exit, then turned and lunged in Anthonys direction, after which the shot was fired. Anthony said he shot because he was in fear for his safety.

The Brown familys lawyer, civil rights attorney John Burris, said he is skeptical about many of the details shared in Jenkins report, especially her claim that Brown threatened Anthony. He said he suspects that claim may have been just made up afterward, according to The Bay Area Reporter.

The report also states that Anthony told inspectors that while he didnt see anything in Browns hand, he was not certain that Brown did not have the ability to make good on the threat.

Regardless of Jenkins and Anthonys claims, Burris said he still believes the guards actions were not justified.

It seems to me the officer was being aggressive, physically controlling, and beating up on Banko, who ultimately broke loose and went out the door, he told The Bay Area Reporter. He turned and was facing him, and he was shot. I havent seen any evidence Banko was lunging toward the officer. It seems the use of deadly force was unconscionable and unnecessary.

I dont agree with the DAs decision not to charge  at the very least, it could be a manslaughter case, he added.

As the investigation continues, those closest to Brown are remembering who he was, the Advocate reported. The 24-year-old, who was unhoused for a long period of time, was looking for housing while working as a community organizing intern with the Young Womens Freedom Center. The Center helps young women and trans youth who have experienced poverty and other struggles.

Banko was a loving person, Julia Arroyo, co-executive director of Young Womens Freedom Center, said at a rally on Browns behalf after his death, per the Advocate. Every time Banko walked into the center, he was surrounded by small children and a gang of people around him. And even when he was turned away from doors, he still brought people to get resources.
An executive vice president at Bob Jones University has been named interim president of the 96-year-old fundamentalist Christian school in Greenville.

Alan Benson, who oversaw student development and ministry advancement, was appointed to the position as the Board of Trustees searches for a permanent replacement for Steven Pettit.

Pettit resigned last month amid an uncharacteristic public spat with some members of the board.

John Lewis, the chairman of the board when Pettit resigned, also resigned a few days later. Pettit stayed on through graduation May 7.

Pettit was named president in 2014, the first non-Jones family member to hold the job since the school was founded by Bob Jones Sr. The founder was succeeded by Bob Jones Jr., Bob Jones III and then great-grandson, Stephen Jones. Bob Jones IV elected not to work at the school.

Some alumni had expected the board to name a permanent replacement at its regular board meeting Tuesday, but in a statement released at about 8:30 p.m. board chairman Sam Dawson said, Appointing an acting CEO will give the Board of Trustees time to solicit qualified applicants, conduct interviews, and strategically evaluate candidates for the permanent position. We trust God will guide our steps as we look for the individual who will lead the university as we approach our century mark.

Pettit told the board in April that Lewis created disunity, held a meeting without telling staff and was not taking seriously a comment made by a board member that female students clothing and female student athlete uniforms accentuate their boobs and butts.

Pettit said he had heard the board member took photos of women without their permission.

He said he did not know if the information was true, but by law it should have been turned over to the Title IX coordinator for investigation.

He also said he believed the board was not seeing and working on the schools financial difficulties and declining enrollment.

Longtime employee who Also left the school May 7 was Randy Page, who was a spokesman at one time and most recently worked as chief of staff for Pettit.

He called it one of the hardest decisions of his life.

He also praised Pettits leadership.

He was so much more than my boss  he was my friend, my mentor, and an encourager. Steve loves God and he loves people. He constantly challenged us to love God and people  and supported us as we carried out that mission, Page said.

Pettit worked to loosen some of the rules that have set Bob Jones apart from other universities, especially with regard to clothing and grooming.

The university for decades did not allow women to wear pants or men to have facial hair.

Pettit also worked to have the university accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission, an action long eschewed by the Joneses but started during the tenure of Stephen Jones. The previous leadership did not want to be ruled by an outside secular organization.

He also worked to have the universitys tax exemption reinstated after the IRS pulled it in 1976 because of the schools discriminatory racial policies, namely that people of different ethnicity and race could not date or marry.

Benson was an undergraduate at Bob Jones in the 1990s and worked as a pastor for 25 years in Florida, North Carolina and Illinois. He received graduate degrees from BJU, Louisiana Baptist Theological Seminary and BJU Seminary.

He returned to the university in the leadership role in 2018.

Bob Jones University was founded in Bay County, Florida, then moved to Cleveland, Tennessee, before arriving in Greenville in the mid-1940s. Bob Jones Sr. was an evangelist, who said he saw young people during his travels with a need for religious-based higher education.
SC man who died in Hardeeville police shootout was just a vet who needed help, family says

The May 9 funeral had no prepared eulogy.

After a few words from the preacher, family and friends began to add their voices to a tribute of their own for Calaab Kirby, 33.

One by one, attendees stood and shared their own Calaab stories. Each memory came from a new perspective, set somewhere during the 33 years of the young mans life.

The congregations collective remembrance only confirmed what Michael Kirby, Calaabs father, had known all along: His son had never met a stranger.

He knew everybody, Michael said. He made it a point to know every relative he ever had, and made friends everywhere he went. Thats the kind of kid he was.

To prove his point, Michael had a few Calaab stories of his own. He remembers 3-year-old Calaab  a mischievous little thing  walking off from the house and through a tall, grassy field to have a chat with the neighbors. Decades later, Michael was driving across town when he saw Calaab with an elderly woman in her yard; his son had stopped to help with a leak in her sprinkler system.

Calaab Kirby died the morning of May 1, during a shootout with police on a dark gravel road near I-95 in Hardeeville. The Jasper County Coroners Office is investigating his death as a suicide, and additional details on his manner of death are pending. Kirby lived in Union, a town of 8,000 situated about 30 miles southeast of his birthplace in Spartanburg.

Inspired by his grandfather and brother, both U.S. Air Force veterans, Kirby joined the Army after graduating high school. He served in Afghanistan as a Pvt. Second Class in the Armys 82nd Airborne Division, a team of paratroopers trained to respond anywhere in the world within 18 hours.

After a year-and-a-half deployment, Kirby returned to Union deeply traumatized by his time overseas, according to his father. He turned to drugs as a result, Michael said, beginning a battle with addiction that would last his whole life.

Kirbys case is a common one. More than 20% of veterans with PTSD go on to develop substance abuse issues, according to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

Its an epidemic in our country, Michael said. We have to help our veterans get better when they come home.

Calaab Kirby pictured with his 12-year-old son, Chase. Family and friends remember Calaab for his deep kindness, friendly demeanor and million-dollar smile.

Discussing the unfortunate circumstances of his sons death, Michael said he hopes Kirby can still be remembered as the kind, personable man he was.

Anytime you hear of a police shooting  and Im guilty myself  Im sure peoples minds automatically go to, Well this guys just trouble, Michael said. But Calaab wasnt. He was just a vet that needed help. Thats all this was.

Although Calaabs 18 months in Afghanistan showed him the worst side of mankind, Michael said, he came back with his friendly demeanor and wide, constant smile still intact.

Out of all the pictures that all his family and friends brought  and there were hundreds  theres two where this boy (isnt) smiling, Michael said of the photos brought to Kirbys funeral. He had a million-dollar smile, and everybody loved him for it.
Danny Masterson leaves court alongside his wife, Bijou Phillips, after a hearing in his criminal trial on rape charges in Los Angeles. (Brian Melley / Associated Press)

For the record:

7:57 a.m. May 17, 2023: An earlier version of this article reported that Danny Masterson was charged with drugging and raping his ex-girlfriend, identified in court as Chrissy B., in December 2001. While the woman did make that allegation and it was extensively discussed at trial, the charged offense against Masterson stems from conduct alleged in November 2001.



Each of the women who have accused Danny Masterson of raping them in the early 2000s said they feared two things: the once-beloved sitcom actor's violent outbursts and the life-altering consequences they might face for opposing the powerful Church of Scientology.

The controversial faith is not a defendant in Masterson's second trial on rape charges. But its doctrines, the behavior of its members and even a church attorney have loomed over two weeks of testimony.

Like all predators, the defendant carefully sought out his prey. ... Most of his victims are members of the Church of Scientology, and that makes sense," Los Angeles County Deputy Dist. Atty. Ariel Anson said in her closing argument Tuesday. "The church tells his victims: 'Rape isnt rape. You cause this. And above all, you cant go to law enforcement.'

Scientology officials say the church has no policy prohibiting or discouraging members from reporting criminal conduct to law enforcement.

It has been almost six years since Masterson was first publicly accused of sexually assaulting three women in his Hollywood Hills home between 2001 and 2003, during the height of his fame from playing the mercurial Steven Hyde on "That '70s Show."

The accusers  identified in court as Chrissy B., Jen B. and N. Trout  all described growing dizzy and discombobulated after being served drinks by Masterson, who they allege proceeded to grope and ultimately rape them while they slipped in and out of consciousness.

Chrissy B. was Masterson's longtime girlfriend. She testified to repeated abuse and said Masterson would often start having sex with her while she was asleep. The lone charged incident the jury must decide allegedly occurred in November 2001, when Chrissy B. said she tried to stop Masterson from doing that and fought back, resulting in the actor striking her and forcing himself on her while she repeatedly said "no" and resisted.

Jen B. and N. Trout alleged they were brutalized and assaulted at Masterson's swank residence after nights out drinking with him in Hollywood. Jen B. accused Masterson of holding a gun and suffocating her with a pillow during the attack.

Trout alleged Masterson assaulted her so forcefully she threw up in her own mouth and later begged him to at least put a condom on if he was "not going to stop," Anson said.

Masterson has denied all wrongdoing. He did not testify at either trial, and his defense team did not present any witnesses in the recent proceeding. Defense attorneys Phillip Cohen and Shawn Holley have largely relied on cross-examination and argument to try to undermine each accuser's credibility.

On Tuesday, Cohen meticulously outlined discrepancies between the women's testimony in court and their statements to police, while repeatedly noting prosecutors have no corroborating witnesses for any of the assaults or forensic evidence to prove Masterson drugged them.

He questioned why Chrissy B. had consensual sex and shared a hotel room with Masterson after the rape.

And he asked: Why have we heard so much about Scientology? Could it be that there are so many other problems with the governments case?

Prosecutors are expected to complete their rebuttal of Cohen's closing on Wednesday morning, and then the case will be turned over to the jury.

Masterson met each woman through the church. Each woman has alleged that Scientology officials either told them they weren't raped or barred them from reporting the assaults to police.

People affiliated with the church have at times argued with critics of Scientology in the hallway outside the courtroom. Prominent former Scientologist Leah Remini has made multiple appearances in support of the accusers.

A Scientology group that says it is fighting discrimination against the church began attacking Remini on Twitter after news of her presence at opening arguments became public last month. Some reporters covering the trial have said the church has "targeted" them.

And last week, accusers and prosecutors began to make allegations of impropriety against a church attorney.

First, one of the accusers said Vicki Podberesky, who is serving as Scientology's outside counsel, made gestures from the gallery meant to intimidate her.

Days later, Deputy Dist. Atty. Reinhold Mueller said Podberesky had come into possession of a "large quantity of the people's discovery," which she attached to an emailed complaint to high-level officials in the district attorney's office regarding the conduct of an LAPD witness.

"It's text messages that we had redacted and turned over to the defense between law enforcement and the complaining victims," he said.

Mueller called the incident "extremely troubling." Cohen denied giving the information to Podberesky and said he had "no idea" how it came into her possession.

In an email to The Times, Podberesky said that she legally obtained the materials and that they were not subject to a protective order.

"There is no impropriety and there was no 'leak' as suggested by the prosecutor. The discovery was legally and properly obtained," she said. "The materials sent ... solely deal with false claims of stalking and harassment by the Church and/or its agents and show there is no evidence to support these false allegations."

Podberesky did not respond to a question about how she obtained the materials, or if they were connected to a civil lawsuit brought by the accusers. Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Charlaine Olmedo issued a protective order on the materials last week and will hold a hearing after the trial to determine whether there was any issue with Podberesky's possession of the discovery.

Critics of the church were furious to learn one of its attorneys had documents related to the accusers.

"Scientology has no reason to have criminal discovery materials in its possession. No reason at all," Remini, who attended closing arguments in support of Jen B., said on Twitter last week.

The email from Podberesky also disclosed that she met with Los Angeles Police Chief Michel Moore to discuss concerns about potential bias against the church from within the department.

She made complaints about the two lead detectives on the case, Javier Vargas and Esther Myape, according to Mueller.

Capt. Kelly Muniz, an LAPD spokeswoman, said Podberesky's complaint sparked an internal investigation. The meeting with Moore took place on April 24, according to Muniz, who would not say why Moore sat down with the lawyer.

After the complaint was filed, Myape expressed concern about testifying, Mueller said.

Muniz said Tuesday the department had also launched an internal investigation to determine whether LAPD personnel played a role in providing the discovery documents to Podberesky.

Karin Pouw, the church's lead spokeswoman, dismissed the entire ordeal as an attempt to tie the church to the criminal case.

"The D.A.s attempt to create an issue of a purported 'leak' is just a further example of harassment of the church. There is and was no impropriety other than the D.A. mischaracterizing what has occurred and attempting to insert the church where it does not belong," Pouw said.

"Numerous false reports have been filed with the LAPD by the Jane Does falsely alleging church harassment," she said, "and the D.A. has elicited false testimony regarding harassment. There is not a scintilla of evidence to support these claims."

A spokeswoman for the district attorney's office said she could not comment on a pending case.

The Los Angeles Police Department began investigating claims against Masterson in 2016, starting a case that eventually led prosecutors to charge the actor with three counts of rape in 2020.

A year before his arrest, the women filed a lawsuit against Masterson and the church accusing him of conspiring with Scientology to intimidate them into silence. That civil case is still pending.

Jurors deadlocked in November after Masterson's first criminal trial, and a majority of the 12-member panel said they would have voted to acquit him. The second trial has lasted a little more than two weeks, and the testimony has largely remained the same since the women first took the stand against him in a 2021 preliminary hearing.

The prosecution's case in the second trial has focused on the idea that Masterson drugged the women before assaulting them. Each of the accusers  as well as a so-called prior bad acts witness who says Masterson assaulted her at a film wrap party in Toronto in 2000  described growing woozy and nauseous after being handed a drink by the actor. Not long after, each woman testified, Masterson isolated and assaulted them.

Cohen has pointed out there is no forensic evidence that anyone was drugged and noted that all but one of the women waited more than a decade to report their alleged assault to law enforcement.

Each woman expressed fear of being labeled a "suppressive person" by Scientology if they went against the church or Masterson. Such a label was tantamount to excommunication, an extreme concern as most of the accusers' relatives are also Scientologists, prosecutors said.

The church has repeatedly denied its doctrines bar members from reporting to police. But when Olmedo ordered Masterson to stand trial after the 2021 preliminary hearing, she ruled that Scientology has an expressly written doctrine that not only discourages, but prohibits its members from reporting one another to police.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Investigators on Wednesday continued their search for three suspects in a weekend shooting in Old North Sacramento that wounded four people, including a 10-year-old boy and a 1-year-old girl.

The shooting was reported shortly after 10 p.m. Saturday near Del Paso Boulevard and Fairfield Street. Officers found the boy and the girl, each with a non-life-threatening gunshot wound. They were taken to a hospital. Officers later learned two adults were also admitted to a nearby hospital with gunshot wounds that were not considered life-threatening.

That night, three men were spotted walking up to a corner store, looking at a group around the corner and then firing shots before running away, according Sacramento Valley Crime Stoppers. Authorities are seeking information from the public to help solve this crime.

The Sacramento Police Department said on Wednesday investigators did not have any further suspect information to release.

Taco festival postponed

The Vida De Oro Foundation, a Sacramento community group, announced on Wednesday that it was postponing its annual Sacramento Taco Festival on Del Paso Boulevard over safety concerns after Saturday nights shooting. The foundation has organized the festival since 2012.

This is very frustrating for organizations like ours that try to bring good things to this neighborhood, only to have that goodwill undone because of incidents like this, said Mina Perez, the foundations president and CEO. We have been very active on the Boulevard since 2007, bringing art shows, activities, and events, and we have never felt as threatened as we do today.

The taco festival was scheduled for Sunday. Its unclear when the event will be rescheduled. The foundation said in a news release that taco lovers from throughout the region will have to wait a little longer as organizers look for a new sight to hold festival, which also is the community groups annual fundraiser.

Three suspects were captured on video of the shooting in front of Sunland Liquor, according to the Vida De Oro Foundation. Sacramento Valley Crime Stoppers has posted on its website images of the suspects captured on the video footage.

The intersection of Del Paso Boulevard and El Camino Avenue in North Sacramento. A taco festival planned for the area on Sunday, May 21, 2023, has been postponed several days after a shooting injured two children and two adults.

Perez and her group said last weekends shooting is a growing issue of crimes on the Boulevard including break-ins and robberies.

The foundation is a group of artists, performers and business owners who promote arts, food and culture to increase community engagement through public events and activities. The foundations mission is to highlight the best qualities of neighborhoods and the potential of communities.

Perez, a board member for the North Sacramento Chamber of Commerce, said its unfortunate that the Boulevard is headed the wrong direction, and the consequences will lead to fewer people visiting the neighborhood or attending street events like the festival.
Japanese monk Yoyu Mimatsu blows into a conch at a ritual burning of thousands of paper cranes sent to his Buddhist temple near Hiroshima

At a hillside temple, a monk in saffron robes blows a refrain on a conch and begins chanting prayers as thousands of origami cranes donated to Hiroshima burn.

For a decade, the Daisho-in Buddhist temple on Miyajima island, facing Hiroshima, has held ritual burnings of the millions of origami cranes sent to the city each year.

The ceremony is intended to honour the sentiments folded into each of the miniature paper birds.

And since 2015, the ash from the burned cranes has been used to glaze ceramic incense burners and candle holders, including one given to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky by Japan's prime minister on a trip to Kyiv.

Cranes have arrived in Hiroshima for decades, inspired by Sadako Sasaki, who was just two when the United States dropped an atomic bomb on the city on August 6, 1945.

She developed leukaemia and in hospital began folding cranes in keeping with a tradition that holds folding 1,000 can make a wish come true.

She died aged 12, one of about 140,000 people killed by the bomb immediately or in the aftermath, and has become a powerful symbol of the bomb's effects and a popular way to educate children about the attack.

For years, the cranes sent to Hiroshima were simply left at memorials, with municipal cleaners occasionally disposing of them.

It wasn't until 2012, as the city searched for a better way to handle the cranes, that Kinya Saito of the Nagomi Project, a peace group, proposed ritually burning them.

"I thought about the idea of emotions being released with smoke and sent up to the victims of the atomic bomb," the Hiroshima native told AFP.

- 'Message of peace from Hiroshima' -

Yoyu Mimatsu, a monk at Daisho-in, has led the burning ceremony for the past decade.

After blowing the conch, he sits at a table in front of the fire pit and strikes a prayer bowl before beginning chants for the souls of bomb victims.

He also prays "for the emotions and prayers of people from all over the world, the prayers for peace folded into each of the paper cranes, to reach the heavens," the 57-year-old told AFP.

While Daisho-in was willing to burn the cranes, they weren't sure what to do with the leftover ash.

They found a solution in Taigendo, a pottery studio that for more than 100 years has produced ceramics using sacred sand from under a Miyajima shrine.

The third-generation potter running the studio -- Kosai Yamane -- was already using ash from an eternal flame burning on Miyajima to glaze his ceramics and was open to using the crane ash in a similar way.

It was an artistic project, but also deeply personal for Yamane, whose mother was 14 at the time of the bomb attack.

"She had burn scars on her elbows, and as a child, I never saw her wear anything except long sleeves," Yamane told AFP.

"She never talked about it. I felt she was trying everything to avoid being noticed, to avoid talking about it."

Yamane knew immediately the crane ash could not be used to glaze everyday items like cups or bowls.

"I wanted to make something that would convey a message of peace from Hiroshima," he said.

- 'Listen to what people say' -

He settled first on a delicate crane-shaped incense burner, and later began producing candle holders.

They have a dome-like top modelled on the shape of the Children's Peace Memorial and are etched with cranes.

The candle sits under the dome on a plate glazed with the ash, the glaze helping reflect the light to produce a warm orange glow.

Yamane was shocked but delighted to learn Japanese Prime Minister Kishida had presented Zelensky with one on his March visit.

"I felt that people's message of peace was in the right place," the 60-year-old said.

"This message gathers in Hiroshima, but it does not come only from Japan, it comes from all over the world, and is brought together when the cranes are burned."

Group of Seven leaders, including US President Joe Biden, are expected to visit peace sites in Hiroshima during this week's summit, where Kishida will push for action on nuclear disarmament.

"Hiroshima is now a synonym for peace," said Saito.

But it is also "a place that directly illustrates how terrifying and horrifying nuclear weapons are."

"I want the leaders to understand what happened, to listen to what people say."

oh-sah/mca/cwl
Jake Sullivan. Win McNamee/Getty Images

The Secret Service has launched an investigation into how a man was able to make his way into the Washington, D.C., home of President Biden's national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, without the agents on guard noticing, three government officials told The Washington Post.

The incident took place one night in late April, at about 3 a.m. After realizing the man was in his home, Sullivan approached him and told him to leave, two of the officials said. Sullivan has a round-the-clock Secret Service detail, but the agents weren't aware of the intruder until Sullivan went outside and notified them. By that time, the unknown man had left, two officials told the Post.

There were no signs of forced entry, the Post reported, and the intruder seemed to be intoxicated and confused about his whereabouts. The government officials said there is no evidence that the man knew Sullivan or wanted to hurt him. Under normal protocol, the intruder would have been detained by the Secret Service for questioning, and most likely arrested and charged with trespassing.

In a statement, Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said the agency is "taking this matter seriously" and opened a "comprehensive mission assurance investigation to review all facets of what occurred. Any deviation from our protective protocols is unacceptable and if discovered, personnel will be held accountable."

National security advisers used to receive Secret Service protection only while traveling outside of Washington, D.C., a senior national security official told the Post, but after the FBI uncovered in 2021 an Iranian plot to assassinate John Bolton, a national security adviser under former President Donald Trump, the Secret Service added a heightened level of security for the position.

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Security worker threatened to blow all the Democrats up at campaign office, feds say

A woman working as a security contractor said she would plant a bomb and blow all the Democrats up at a Democratic campaign office in Georgia, federal prosecutors said.

Jessica Diane Higginbotham, 35, a Democratic Senatorial Committee Campaign security contractor, threatened the campaigns headquarters in Athens-Clarke County while U.S. senators from Georgia were visiting Athens in December, according to officials.

Be ready to be blown up, Higginbotham wrote in a text sent to a campaign employee at the headquarters the evening of Dec. 3, days before the U.S. Senate runoff election in Georgia on Dec. 6, prosecutors said.

The next day, FBI agents found Higginbotham sitting at a coffee shop on her phone, and she vomited upon seeing them, according to officials.

Higginbotham, of Elberton, pleaded guilty to one count of communicating a bomb threat on May 16, the U.S. Attorneys Office for the Middle District of Georgia announced in a news release.

The bomb threat was leveled by an employee for a political organization days before a federal election in Georgia; this incident was a targeted effort to disturb the peace and disrupt the democratic process, U.S. Attorney Peter D. Leary said in a statement.

Higginbotham initially pleaded not guilty in January, according to court records, but changed her plea at the May 16 hearing.

McClatchy News contacted her attorneys for comment on May 17 and didnt immediately receive a response.

The bomb threat

Higginbotham is accused of sending the bomb threat through TextNow, an app she had downloaded on her cellphone that provides users a phone number and allows them to make texts and calls, according to an indictment.

The full threat sent to the campaign employee on Dec. 3, according to prosecutors, said:

Hello, I am writing this message to you to let you know that I am coming by either tonight or in the morning to set a bomb up. So I can blow all the Democrats up. I have other people going to other offices also. If I cant stop you by breaking in and destroying the property then I will blow every one up. So be ready to be blown up. This is going to either happen tonight or in the morning. Hope you like being on the wrong team.

The FBI and U.S. Capitol police began investigating and ultimately traced the threat back to Higginbothams phone, according to prosecutors.

When FBI agents found her at the coffee shop in Athens, she initially denied sending the bomb threat, officials said.

She has since said she used her phone to willfully threaten to kill or injure people and unlawfully destroy a building with an explosive, according to prosecutors.

Higginbothams sentencing is scheduled for Sept. 7, the release said. She could be sentenced to up to 10 years in prison, according to prosecutors.

Elberton is about 105 miles northeast of Atlanta.

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See Halle Bailey's Best Looks from 'The Little Mermaid' Press Tour

Ahead of the release of The Little Mermaid, Halle Bailey has been channeling her inner Ariel with some gorgeous mermaid-inspired gowns. See some of her best looks from the Disney press tour

Matt Winkelmeyer/GA/The Hollywood Reporter via Getty

Part of Her World

VALERIE MACON/AFP via Getty Images

Halle Bailey looked like like real-life undersea royalty as she stepped out at The Little Mermaid premiere in Hollywood on May 8. For the special event, she shined in a custom gown by Valdrin Sahiti that evoked a mermaid's shimmering tail.

Speaking to PEOPLE on the red carpet, Bailey gave a nod to princesses played by actresses including Brandy and Anika Noni Rose who "were the blueprint for me to even be able to be here today."

She added, "I hope that [Black girls] know they are worthy and we deserve to be in these spaces. And I hope that they see themselves in me on the screen. I'm just grateful to be here."

Showing Off Her Red Locks

Matt Winkelmeyer/GA/The Hollywood Reporter via Getty

Not only did Bailey go full mermaidcore with her liquid-esque gown, but she completed the look by donning red locks like her character Ariel.

In a cover story for Ebony, Bailey expressed why it was so important for her to show her natural hair in the movie.

"There was a time when we'd barely see locsand now we have a Disney princess with them, which has never happened before," she told Ebony. "It was super important for me to have my natural hair in this film. I was really grateful to [director] Rob Marshall, because he wanted to keep my locs. It's always important to have somebody to cosign."

Two Disney Princesses Unite

Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty

After walking the red carpet at the Hollywood premiere, Bailey slipped into a beaded gown that was reminiscent of the dress Ariel wears as she emerges from the ocean and reunites with Prince Eric in the film.

Following the screening, Bailey also shared a magical moment with Jodi Benson, who voiced Ariel in the original 1989 Disney animated movie. Donning her own princess-perfect gown, Benson beamed alongside the newest iteration of Ariel.

Father-Daughter Bonding

Hector Vivas/Getty Images For Disney

On May 11, Bailey joined actor Javier Bardem (who plays Ariel's father King Triton) at the film's premiere in Mexico City, Mexico. The two showed off their sweet bond as they held hands and shared an embrace on the red carpet.

Practically Pearl-Fect

Hector Vivas/Getty

For the Mexico premiere of The Little Mermaid, Bailey was draped in another gown that evoked the sea, with its netting effect and pearl embroidery, as she posed on the red carpet, which was transformed into a seaside grotto.

Going Under the Sea

Jesse Grant/Getty

For "Disney Night" on American Idol, Bailey gave a special performance at Disneyland Resort. Wearing a blue satin gown that gave the effect of rising out of the water, Bailey belted "Part of Your World" on the stage.

Fin-Tastic

Dave J Hogan/Getty

For the film's London premiere on May 15, Bailey donned a custom Miss Sohee gown with beaded seashell motif and a glamorous "swim cap" style headpiece.

It's All in the Details

Karwai Tang/WireImage

Pearl accessories and the scalloped edges of the headpiece further added to the sea-inspired vibes of the look.

An Adorable Disney Duo

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Bailey and her costar Jonah Hauer-King (who plays Prince Eric) showed off their sweet chemistry as they shared a laugh on the red carpet.

Inspiring the Next Generation

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Bailey held a mini meet-and-greet with a group of lucky young girls as she attended the London premiere of The Little Mermaid.

Speaking with PEOPLE, Bailey expressed how grateful she is to inspire the next generation, especially young girls of color. "It's exceptional to be able to see a figure that you look up to that also looks like your auntie or your sister," she said.

"When I was able to see them, I felt like I was worthy," she adds. "Now that I'm on posters and inspiring these little girls that come up to me, it's very surreal. I just want to continue making them proud of me."

Positively Bewitching

Kate Green/Getty

Bailey and Melissa McCarthy (who plays Ursula in the film) were far from poor unfortunate souls as they posed on the red carpet together.

McCarthy, who recently graced PEOPLE's Beautiful Issue cover, said she begged director Rob Marshall to play the Disney villain in the film.

"I loved her so much," she told PEOPLE. "She's such a broad, I just wanted to have a drink with her. And yes, she's the villain, but I was like, I think I get her. She's been ostracized. Especially after COVID, I think we all get Ursula a little bit more  spending all that time alone. I just thought she was funny. And I love that it was about this young woman who was just trying to figure out what she wanted."

Hugs From Ariel

Joe Maher/WireImage

Bailey shared an embrace with one young girl at the premiere, who was proudly holding Bailey's Ariel doll.

Of getting a doll in her likeness for the film, Bailey previously said, "I am literally choking up because this means so much to me, and to have one that looks like me, that is my favorite Disney character, is very surreal."

Riding the Wave

Raymond Hall/GC Images

Bailey donned a pearly white ensemble as she arrived at Good Morning America on May 18, greeting photographers with a wave and bright smile.

Ocean Blue

Don Arnold/WireImage

Bailey donned an ocean blue dress with matching eyeshadow as she attended the film's Australian premiere on May 22. While the top of her dress was encrusted with shiny jewels, the bottom featured a long train, giving the appearance of a mermaid tail.

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Growing pile of clothing in the Atacama Desert in Chile

The worlds fast-fashion addiction is wrecking the planet. Its also contributing to an enormous and growing pile of clothing that is sitting in Chiles Atacama Desert.

SkyFi, a company that provides access to satellite imagery, recently shared a striking view of the Atacama Desert. The company explained in a blog post last week that members of its Discord channel had helped find the coordinates for the growing graveyard of trashed garments.

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By purchasing a $44 Existing Image at 50 cm resolution, we can confirm the giant clothes pile in the desert of Chile exists and is growing, SkyFi tweeted.

The Atacama Desert is the driest place on the planet. Its about 990 miles (1,600 kilometers) long and sits between the Andes mountains and the Pacific Ocean. It doesnt get a full centimeter of rain in a typical year, and sometimes there is no rain at all. Little delicate flowers grow in the dry landscape about once or twice a decade. Conditions are so dry that Atacama has been used as a stand-in for Mars by the European Space Agency and NASA.

Clothes form a new dune in the desert outside of Iquique.

A person searches for clothing in a pile of discarded garments in the Atacama Desert.

Sadly, the desert is also a dumping ground for cheap, unsold clothing. Shein party dresses, H&M sweaters, and more are all heaped in growing mounds. The site contains an estimated 60,000 tons of clothes from Europe, Asia, and North America, the BBC reported. The nearby port town of Iquique is one of several free zones in Chile, meaning there are no tariffs, taxes, or customs-related fees. This was meant to boost the local economy, but its been catastrophic for the local environment. Clothing that is transported to the port city and isnt sold is then dumped in the desert, because no one wants to pay fees to get those items out of the free zone.

An aerial view of piles of used clothing.

The area is home to another environmental hazard. Nearby communities have to deal with intentionally set fires that sometimes last for days, Refinery29 reported. Any smoke is bad for our lungs, but this is cheap fabric that were talking about. Many synthetic fibers like polyester create toxic fumes when burned. Government officials have yet stop this from happening. A 2016 law holds producers and importers accountable for waste, but it does not include waste that comes from textiles, National Geographic reported.

That mountain of unwanted garments is probably going to keep growing. Clothing production doubled from 2000 to 2014, according to a 2016 McKinsey report. And cheap, synthetic garments create other issues: They shed microplastics, which end up in waterways, the air, and inside our bodies.

Want more climate and environment stories? Check out Earthers guides to decarbonizing your home, divesting from fossil fuels, packing a disaster go bag, and overcoming climate dread. And dont miss our coverage of the latest IPCC climate report, the future of carbon dioxide removal, and the invasive plants you should rip to shreds.

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Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 17)  US-based pharmaceutical firm Moderna on Tuesday said it aims to expand its study on new mRNA vaccines for rare diseases in its service facility that will be established in the Philippines.

Moderna senior vice president and general manager Patrick Bergstedt told CNN Philippines' the Final Word that the firm is "excited to expand the science of mRNA" in the country.

"This is a country of more than 100 million people. This is a region that unfortunately has seen many pandemics. COVID is not the first pandemic that Asia Pacific has seen. So we, as our mission, is to advance the science of mRNA to also work with the government on pandemic readiness so that we are better prepared," Bergstedt said.

In a meeting in the United States, Moderna informed President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. of its plan to set up a facility in the country, the firm's only shared service facility in Asia and the third in the world following Poland and Georgia in the US.

Bergstedt said Moderna chose to establish a shared service facility in the country due to the Philippines' experience of providing shared services and its promising workforce.

"You have a very experienced industry of providing shared services to a number of industries. There's excellent talent. There are people that have an excellent work ethic, great language skills," he added. "And so there's a very diverse workforce that we can tap into in order to create jobs, but also to provide the support to the rest of the Moderna business in the region.

Malacanang earlier said Marcos expressed his gratitude to Moderna, telling them the project will give the country an advantage in healthcare.

Moderna is among the companies that developed COVID-19 vaccines, which have been distributed in the Philippines.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein Returns from Medical Leave, Says She Was Never Gone: 'I've Been Here. I've Been Voting'

Feinstein took a two-and-a-half-month leave of absence in California to recover from shingles

AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana Dianne Feinstein

Sen. Dianne Feinstein seemingly forgot that she had been absent from the Senate during a two-and-a-half-month recovery from shingles, telling a reporter on Tuesday, "I've been here" when asked about her recent return.

Feinstein, 89, was admitted to a San Francisco hospital to be treated for shingles in March, saying in a statement at the time she was hopeful to return to the Senate later that month.

Ultimately, her leave stretched for more than two months, with the California Democrat returning to the Capitol in mid-May, using a wheelchair but saying in an official statement she was "prepared to resume my duties."

Related:U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein, 89, Hospitalized with Shingles

Francis Chung/POLITICO via AP Dianne Feinstein

On Tuesday, she spoke to reporters briefly while in an elevator. Slate reports that, when one reporter asked how her Senate colleagues had welcomed her back, Feinstein responded, "No, I haven't been gone. You should follow theI haven't been gone. I've been working."

Asked if she meant she had been working from home, Feinstein told the reporter: "No, I've been here. I've been voting. Please  You either know or don't know."

Feinstein  a six-term senator and the oldest member of Congress  announced in February 2023, that she would not seek reelection in 2024 amid rumors of cognitive decline, leading other notable California Democrats to announce bids to replace her.

Related:California's 2024 Senate Race Is Poised to Be a Historic Showdown  Here Are the Candidates to Watch

Initially, Feinstein pushed back on such claims of decline, even after the 2022 publication of a lengthy report, by the San Francisco Chronicle, in which four U.S. senators, including three Democrats, and three former staffers and a California Democrat serving in the House of Representatives all said Feinstein's memory was deteriorating to the point that they felt she could not fulfill her job duties without the help of her staff.

Francis Chung/POLITICO via AP Images Dianne Feinstein

In a statement to PEOPLE shared by her press team in April 2022, Feinstein denied the accounts of infirmity.

"I remain committed to do what I said I would when I was re-elected in 2018: fight for Californians, especially on the economy and the key issues for California of water and fire," she said in the statement.

"While I have focused for much of the past year on my husband's health and ultimate passing, I have remained committed to achieving results and I'd put my record up against anyone's," she continued.

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.

Since her hospitalization with shingles, more lawmakers have expressed support for her resignation. In a recent interview with Politico, Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna said "three months is a long time to be absent without any clarity."

He continued: "But given where we are, I'm hopeful. I'm giving the situation the benefit of the doubt and hopeful that she'll be able to fulfill her duty, that's what I care about."

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(Bloomberg) -- Senate Finance Committee Chair Ron Wyden on Tuesday renewed his demand that GOP donor Harlan Crow provide a detailed account of expensive trips and gifts that he provided to Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, just days after a Crow attorney refused to do so.

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In a letter to Crow attorney Michael D. Bopp, Wyden rejected the idea that Crow can ignore the information request because it isnt for the purpose of drafting legislation and that the committee lacks jurisdiction to require it. Wyden, in a statement, implied that unless Crow fulfills his request, the senator may try to get committee backing to issue a subpoena to the Texas-based billionaire.

My hope is that with the issue of committee jurisdiction settled, Mr. Crow provides answers to the questions Ive put before him a second time, Wyden, an Oregon Democrat, wrote. I realize the committee may need to follow another route to compel his answers, and Im prepared to make that happen.

Over two decades, Crow paid for vacations for Thomas and his wife, including trips on a yacht and private jet, ProPublica has reported. Thomas, who hadnt disclosed the travel, later amended his disclosure and defended his decision to not document the trips.

Wyden first asked Crow to detail travel and other gifts to Thomas in late April, saying it was likely the flights and other expenses would have sparked a need to file a gift tax return. He demanded detail about all flights taken by Thomas and information about their value recorded on any tax documents or other records. He also asked for information related to reports that Crow bought three properties from Thomas and other members of his family, including the home where his mother resides.

Crows attorney last week in a letter to Wyden questioned whether the Finance Committee has jurisdiction to conduct tax audits or judicial ethics inquiries. The inquiry, Bopp wrote, appears to be a component of a broader campaign against Justice Thomas and, now, Mr. Crow, rather than an investigation that furthers a valid legislative purpose.

Wyden, in his Wednesday letter, said those claims are without merit in part because the panel has long history of oversight and legislating on gift and estate tax laws. He gave Crow until June 2 to supply all the answers requested about travel and other gifts to Thomas.

Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee last week sent their own letter demanding Crow detail gifts or payments to Thomas.

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She was the best of both of us: Parents of flight student search for answers in deadly plane crash

Alexis George wouldve turned 20 this week. Two years ago, the Fernandina Beach teen was killed with her flight instructor when their plane nosedived into the St. Marys River.

The National Transportation and Safety Board recently released its report, blaming pilot error for the crash. Her parents say its easy to blame someone who cant defend himself. In an exclusive interview with Action News Jaxs John Bachman, they say theres more to this story and theyre suing to find out.

Eighteen-year-old Alexis George soared in high school with a 4.74 grade point average. By the summer of 2021 she was ready to take off. She had a full scholarship to Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University to pursue her passion to fly.

Thats what she wanted to do, Kim George, Alexis mom said. If you see the pictures with her smile, and then the airplane. You couldnt take that away from her. She was the perfect daughter.

Alexis never made it to college.

RELATED: Local flight instructor killed in plane crash was a Navy veteran; employer defends safety record

A 9-1-1 caller reported the crash: Hey, I just saw a plane crash from right across the St. Marys downtown dock ... 

On June 18, 2021, Alexis dreams crashed into the St. Marys River during a training flight with A-Cent Aviation instructor, retired Navy pilot David Cuttino.

I just didnt want to believe in just the worst day of my life. Ill never get over it, Kim George said.

When asked what the last two years have been like, she added, Pretty much torture. Its its hard.

RELATED: NTSB releases preliminary report for plane crash that killed teen pilot and instructor in Nassau Co.

Devastated, Alexis parents wanted answers. NTSB launched an investigation and released its report just last month  nearly two years after the crash. In it, eyewitnesses describe the plane entering an aerodynamic stall and subsequent spin before hitting the water. Its Probable Cause and Findings states the instructors decision to conduct slow flight training below the schools minimum altitude and his delayed remedial action caused the plane to stall, putting the blame on the instructor.

Ive been around long enough to know, when you know, this guy, this guy cant defend himself. Hes not here. So sometimes blame can be put very easily on somebody that cant defend himself, Michael George, Alexis dad, said.

The Georges believe something happened to the plane that forced the nosedive. Theyre suing A-Cent  the flight school, and the Alabama company that sold A-Cent the plane  Pinnacle Aircraft Engines, LLC, along with Fernandina Beach Aircraft Maintenance. Their attorney, Jody Wade, said it wasnt the pilot it was the plane claiming in the lawsuit the 1971 Cessna 150L was not in an airworthy condition and should not have been allowed to fly.

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The evidence in this case, based on our forensic examination, is that that housing, the elevator bell crank was woefully insufficient, that plane should have never been in the air, Wade said.

Wade points to a picture of what he called the elevator bell crank. He showed a picture of what he said is a normal bell crank and then a picture of the part from the plane that crashed. Wade said his metal expert will testify that the damage was not from the crash, but instead, it caused the crash. The lawsuit claims the bell crank had incorrect hardware and its failure was foreseeable.

I think this is not the result of a sudden impact in the St. Marys River. Thats not what this is, he said.

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For the Georges, whether the lawsuit uncovers a cause different from the NTSB report or doesnt, the tragic reality is the same.

Ive been thinking about her quite a bit lately. And we just miss her. She was the best of both of us. Really, Michael George said.

We reached out to all three companies named in the lawsuit. A-Cent said no comment. Pinnacle Aircraft referred us to the NTSB report. We could not reach Fernandina Beach Aircraft Maintenance.

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Shocked the heck out of us. Bully bear tried to steal bird feed in Mooresville yard

When her cats acted strangely in the early morning dark Friday, Denise Hegarty didnt think much of it. Her pets paced back and forth and whined at the back door, she said.

She realized something odd was up when she went into her yard off Shinnville Road in Mooresville later that morning to check on her chickens. Iron shepherds hooks holding up the familys bird feeder on a pole were bent to the ground.

A trail camera outside Denise Hegartys home in Mooresville revealed a black bear trying get at seed in a bird feeder early on May 12, 2023. COURTESY OF DENISE HEGARTY

What would do that? she wondered. Even if five raccoons were on them, they wouldnt bend, because we had tied two of them together.

Still later that morning, the family decided to check their trail camera, and there he was!! Hegarty told The Charlotte Observer in a Nextdoor message this week. Shocked the heck out of us.

The camera revealed a young male black bear trying to get at the seed in their feeder, the first time Hegarty ever saw a bear in the backyard.

Welcome to bear sighting season in the Charlotte area.

This time of year, black bears are just passing through the region on their way elsewhere, state Wildlife Resources Commission enforcement officers say.

Black bears are more likely to appear in the Charlotte area in June, sometimes in May and more rarely April and March, Sampson Parker Jr., the only state Wildlife Resources Commission enforcement officer based in Mecklenburg County, told the Observer last year.

Remain calm if you see a bear

In late March 2022, three black bears showed up in woods near a Huntersville womans home and her friendly dog wanted to play with them, the Observer reported at the time. Dont freak out, Parker urged homeowners after that sighting. I wouldnt say they are harmless, but theyre not aggressive.

N.C. wildlife officers typically dont respond to such a sighting unless a bear is being a nuisance, such as rummaging through trash cans and refusing to leave, he said.

The Shinnville Road sighting prompted a mini-outcry on Nextdoor that over-development is to blame for homeowner encounters with bears, coyote and other wildlife.

Theyre taking their woods away, a woman said. They dont have any safe place no more. They keep building up and take over their homeland.

We need to leave well enough alone and stop tearing down their habitats, another woman wrote.

Hegarty said she doesnt know how long the bear stayed in her yard.

We think he ran off when he broke one of our glass bird feeders and cut himself, because there was blood on the glass when we went to pick it up. she said.

Past black bear sightings

Bears have a history of traipsing through the Charlotte area.

On June 30, 2020, a black bear camped out in a tree in the front yard of a home in Mooresville, McClatchy News reported at the time.

On May 31, 2020, a 13-year-old Charlotte girl calmly shot video of a black bear meandering through her familys University-area backyard as her mom acknowledged going hysterical, the Observer reported at the time.

That same weekend, a wopman said she and her husband spotted one while driving along Prairie Rose Lane in Huntersvilles StoneGate Farms neighborhood.

If you encounter a bear

Black bear attacks on humans are rare, as the bears are seldom aggressive, according to BearWise.org, which the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission links to on its black bear site.

Stay still if you see a bear before the animal spots you, BearWise advises. Admire the bear, then walk quietly away, according to the site.

If a bear sees you, never run, BearWise urges. Instead, back away slowly in the opposite direction and wait for the bear to leave, according to the site.
Simon Cowell was 'unfit' before devastating bike accident broke his back: 'Happened for a reason'

Simon Cowell was 'unfit' before devastating bike accident broke his back: 'Happened for a reason'

Simon Cowell proved that hes not afraid to get back on his bike after he suffered a severe accident.

The "Americas Got Talent" judge detailed the tragic moment after he broke his back during a bike crash in 2020.

"It was painful, it wasnt great," Cowell, 63, said during an appearance on "Today."

"However, I was so unfit before the accident. I didnt know how unfit I was until I had to do all this stuff afterwards," he noted. "And Im like, My God. Things like that, I believe, happened for a reason."

SIMON COWELL ALL SMILES ONE DAY AFTER LATEST E-BIKE ACCIDENT

"Americas Got Talent" judge Simon Cowell detailed the tragic moment he broke his back during a bike crash in 2020.

The former "American Idol" judge continued to say his devastating accident didnt stop him from continuing to ride his bike.

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"Im still going to stay on my bike," he asserted. "Im obsessed with these things."

SIMON COWELL UNDERGOES SURGERY FOR BROKEN BACK AFTER BIKE ACCIDENT

Cowells comments come after he was involved in a series of bike crashes in the last several years.

Simon Cowell detailed his tragic bike accident during an interview and said the moment was "painful" after he "nearly smashed his spine."

He broke his back in an electric biking accident in August 2020 and had to undergo an extensive six-hour surgery to repair the damage.

"It could have been a lot worse. When I saw the X-ray, I really nearly smashed my spine to pieces, so I literally wouldnt [have] been able to walk," he told "Extra" in 2021.

More recently in January 2022, the television personality was hospitalized following a crash on his electric bicycle near his home in London.

Simon Cowell shows the broken arm he suffered in a bicycle injury, Feb. 2, 2022.

Cowell rode his bike when he "crashed to the ground" and "broke his arm," a source confirmed with Fox News Digital at the time.

In January 2022, Simon Cowell was hospitalized following a crash on his electric bicycle near his home in London.

He candidly spoke out about his bike accidents during his appearance on "Today" with other "Americas Got Talent" judges.

As Cowell, along with Howie Mandel, Sofia Vergara, Heidi Klum and Terry Crews gear up for season 18, the star-studded group dished on their "family" dynamic on the hit talent competition show.

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"When we say we are a family it does actually feel that way because we like each other," Cowell remarked.

The new season of "Americas Got Talent" is scheduled to premiere on May 30.
FILE - Singapore Prison Service visitor entrance is seen on April 26, 2023. Singapore on Wednesday, May 17, hanged another citizen for trafficking cannabis, the second in three weeks, as it clung firmly to the death penalty despite growing calls for the city-state to halt drug-related executions. (AP Photo/Lionel Ng, File) (ASSOCIATED PRESS)

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP)  Singapore on Wednesday hanged another citizen for trafficking cannabis, the second in three weeks, as it clung firmly to the death penalty despite growing calls for the city-state to halt drug-related executions.

The 37-year-old man was executed after his last-ditch bid to reopen his case was dismissed by the court Tuesday without a hearing, said activist Kokila Annamalai of the Transformative Justice Collective, which advocates for abolishing the death penalty in Singapore.

The man, who was not named as his family has asked for privacy, had been imprisoned for seven years and convicted in 2019 for trafficking around 1.5 kilograms (3.3 pounds) of cannabis, she said. His bid to reopen his case was based on DNA evidence and fingerprints that tied him to a much smaller amount, which he admitted to possessing, but the court rejected it, she added. Under Singapore laws, trafficking more than 500 grams (1.1 pounds) of cannabis may result in the death penalty.

If we dont come together to stop it, we fear that this killing spree will continue in the weeks and months to come, she said. Some 60 prisoners are on death row in the city-state, mostly for drug-related offenses, she added.

Singapore executed 11 people last year for drug offenses after a two-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The hanging of one particular Malaysian believed to be mentally disabled sparked an international outcry and brought the country's capital punishment under scrutiny for flouting human rights norms.

Three weeks ago, Singaporean Tangaraju Suppiah, 46, was hanged in the first execution this year for trafficking 1 kilogram (2.2 pounds) of cannabis although he was not caught with the drugs. Prosecutors said phone numbers traced him as the person responsible for coordinating the delivery of the drugs, which he denied.

Human rights groups, British mogul Richard Branson and the United Nations have urged Singapore to halt executions for drug-related offenses as increasing evidence shows the death penalty is ineffective as a deterrent. But Singapore authorities insist that all prisoners get due process of law and that capital punishment remains part of Singapores comprehensive harm prevention strategy which targets both drug demand and supply.

Apart from Singapore, Amnesty International said Indonesia carried out 112 drug-related executions last year by firing squad after a hiatus since 2016. In contrast, neighboring Thailand has legalized cannabis while Malaysia has ended the mandatory death penalty for serious crimes.

___

This story was first published on May 17, 2023. It was updated on May 18, 2023 to correct the number of prisoners on death row in Singapore. There are some 60 prisoners on death row, not 600.
According to the founder of Singapore-based telehealth platform Ora, 90% of its patients are less than 39 years old and have not been treated for their conditions offline. That puts the onus on Ora to make sure its patients, mostly millennials who live in cities, have a good experience. Ora wants to perform with verticals focused on specific health issues, like women's and men's health and skincare. They also run an end-to-end platform that handles everything from consultations to prescription delivery and post-care.

Today, Ora announced it has raised $10 million in Series A funding, which it says is the biggest telehealth Series A round in Southeast Asia. The investment was co-led by TNB Aura and Antler, with participation from Gobi Partners, Kairous Capital and GMA Ventures.

This brings Oras total raised since its inception in 2020 to $17 million. Ora was founded by Elias Pour, the former CMO of Zalora, and says it has had uninterrupted >20% month-over-month growth since it launched last year.

Pour told TechCrunch that while working at Zalora, he saw a very clear trend from customers investing in looking good, driven by fashion buys that allowed them to express themselves, to feeling good, which is connected to physical appearance such as skin, hair, weight and overall well-being. He started looking for segments that were underserved and found a major opportunity in healthcare.

Ora founder and CEO Elias Pour

Ora founder and CEO Elias Pour. Image Credits: Ora

Pour added that Southeast Asia has one of the highest out-of-pocket health expenditures globally, so there didnt need to be a behavioral change in order to convince people to move to direct payments. People are already used to paying out of pocket for their healthcare costs, suiting this category well for DTC.

Ora says it has delivered over 250,000 doctor consultations since its launch in 2021. It has an end-to-end model, meaning it covers consultations, pharmacy, medication delivery and post-purchase care. Ora monetizes with subscriptions, with subscriptions accounting for more than 70% of its revenue.

Ora is vertically integrated, and currently operates three brands. The first, called Modules, is focused on online dermatology consultations and prescription skincare. The second, andSons, offers male health care, and the third, OVA, treats female reproductive healthcare.

The platform primarily treats a young clientele. The company says that 90% of its patients are first to condition, under 38 years old and have never been treated before online. Younger patients demand flexibility and speed, which is why Oras telemedicine model is attractive to them.

Pour said that one of the challenges healthcare providers face in Southeast Asia is the large disconnect between the patient population, which skews young, and the legacy experience of healthcare. He believes that over the next decade, about 80% of healthcare services will be brought online.

Today, men and women in their 20s and 30s living in capital cities represent 36% of the total population. Its the fastest growing segment, forecasted to represent half of the population in most markets by 2030, he said. Pour added that Ora is establishing a strong relationship with them at this early stage, to earn their trust, remaining relevant to address the healthcare needs they will have as they age.

Pour said Ora differentiates from other telehealth players like Doctor Anywhere, Speedoc and Alodokter because it focuses on specific health issues. Ora is also combining prescription, OTC and strong consumer products to provide post-treatment service and clinical continuity.

Oras new funding will be used to expand into new markets and bring its brands to more than 1,300 retail stores.

In a statement, TNB Aura founding partner Charles Wong said, [Oras] combined focus on specialized, and often taboo, healthcare verticals as well as a direct-to-patient approach has led the team to clearly differentiate itself while delivering market-leading unit economics that meet the tailored needs of patients across the full value chain.
It singes your soul. Carolina Reaper creator unveils new, even hotter SC pepper

The man who brought the world the famously, unbelievably hot Carolina Reaper  hottest chili pepper in the world according to Guinness Book of World Records  has been thinking up something new.

Pepper X.

Ed Currie, known as Smokin Ed and owner-founder of Puckerbutt Pepper Company based in Fort Mill, told television station WCNC in Charlotte, Pepper X is 3 million Scoville units, compared to Carolina Reapers 1.64 million units.

Those numbers are so big its hard to imagine what they mean, but by comparison the lowly, simple Jalapeno measures 3,000 Scoville units.

Lets just say the Reaper is so hot a reporter for NPR affiliate WFAE ate a small piece, rolled on the floor and hallucinated, according to the Puckerbutt website. Thats how people learned about the Reaper. He shared his story on the radio in 2011.

Another oft-told story is of a man who arrived at a New York ER after eating one with whats known as a thunderclap headache. Hes written up in a medical journal.

Those who dont fear the Reaper are fools, Currie says on his website. It is Painfully Hot, with sweet, fruity undertones and hints of cinnamon and chocolate. It can be used to spice up your sauces, salsas or in combat.

Currie describes eating a Reaper as an increasing tidal wave of scorching fire that grips you from head to toe.

Its bright red and a cultivar of the Capsicum chinense plant. It was certified by Guinness as the hottest chili pepper in the world in 2017.

In the years since its development, Currie has opened a store on Main Street in Fort Mill, selling a variety of pepper sauces (mild to flaming), mustards, jellies and chocolates. One item is a sauce called I Dare you Stupit.

And Pockerbutt sells seeds. Grow your own Carolina Reaper if you dare. The website says the company grows more than 100,000 plants on their farms each year.

Curries used to be a banker, now he calls himself a mad scientist. Pepper X was 10 years in the making and is also a cultivar of Capsicum chili pepper. Currie has told various publications he needed Pepper X because most chili peppers were too mild.

He was looking for more heat but also flavor.

Pepper X peppers and sauces are not on the market just yet but they were used to make the hot sauce The Last Dab, a collaboration between Currie and The Heatonist founder Noah Chaimberg.

On his website Chaimberg says, More than simple mouth burn, Pepper X singes your soul.

So who wants to try Pepper X?

Currie is trying for a new world record for Pepper X and once he gets it he told WCNC it aint never getting broken.
SLO County store dedicated to love has a new location  and an art vending machine

A vending machine that sells miniature works of art is just one of the attractions at a San Luis Obispo County store celebrating love, marriage and friendship.

The Love Story Project will unveil the Art-o-mat  SLO Countys second  on Saturday as the store celebrates its move to a new, larger location in Cambria.

In late February, Love Story Project owners Alan and Shari Fraser moved the shop from its original location at 734 Main St. to a new spot a half-block away at 766 Main St.

The former home to Teresa Belle Gallery, the wavy-shingled building is near West End Bar & Grill and across the street from the Cambria Coffee Roasting Company and the Cambria Chamber of Commerce office.

The Love Story Project is celebrating its eighth anniversary on the North Coast.

This large button-shaped sign lets people know where The Love Story Projects new, larger location is, a half block away from the space it occupied for eight years.

SLO County store moves to new location

As the name of their business implies, the Frasers are all about love.

Before opening The Love Story Project in 2015, the married couple ran Sonrisa Photography and photographed hundreds of weddings over the years, Shari Fraser wrote via email. Combining a shared interest in storytelling from our backgrounds in film and cultural anthropology, we started recording peoples love stories in our Airstream Photo Booth, and opened our storefront in Cambria shortly after.

The added square footage and loft inside The Love Story Projects new home gives the Frasers more space to exhibit their eclectic stock of everything from hats and shirts to photos and signs.

Alan and Shari Fraser, owners of The Love Story Project store in Cambria, pose for a selfie. They have relocated their Cambria shop to a larger space a half block away from the original location.

They also sell modern art, quirky gifts and locally made crafts and goods, and offer same-day photo printing on metal, wood, tile and slate.

The Love Story Project has even hosted weddings in the shop, providing photos and video of the romantic events.

We invite anyone to come in the story and tell any story in the theme of love story while we record it on video, Shari Fraser wrote. We then post the stories to our website. We have a really amazing collection of love stories from our customers.

The Love Story Project will hold a grand reopening party at its new spot on Saturday and Sunday.

For adults, therell be a celebratory happy hour from 5 to 7 p.m. Saturday night. A 10% discount will apply to everything in the store all weekend.

One feature of the party will be a Whats in the Box? reveal at 6 p.m. Saturday.

The party also will feature a free photo booth, a prize wheel and the launch of a two-month-long exhibition of the work of watercolor artist Tracy Taylor.

According to exhibiting artist Tracy Taylor, this woodsy-fronted store at 766 Main St. at Arlington Street in Cambria exhibits eclectic things, one of a kind, originals, oddities, videos, all about love and telling your love story. The Love Story Project also has a new-to-them Art-o-mat art-vending machine.

Taylor, who lives in San Luis Obispo, is well known for her artworks, including her partnership with sculptor Wyland.

(Taylor) was actually my babysitter when I was a kid! Alan Fraser wrote via email. We found each other again through the (San Luis Obispo International Film Festival).

In a Watercolor painting with Tracy Taylor video on her website, Taylor spoke about Fraser and The Love Story Project.

They love eclectic things, she said, one of a kind, originals, oddities, videos, all about love and telling your love story.

Art vending machine featured at Cambria shop

Fraser said he is looking forward to revealing the Art-o-mat, a retired cigarette vending machine thats been repurposed to sell and dispense itty bitty creations.

Just slide a $5 token into the vending machine, and youll get back some original art  a painting, photograph, woodblock, jewelry or other tiny treasure.

Each artwork is about the same size as a pack of cigarettes.

This revamped cigarette vending machine at The Love Story Project in Cambria dispenses tiny works of art rather than smokes or candy.

According to the Art-o-mat website, inventor Clark Whittington created Art-o-mat in 1997 with the primary goal of working with communities so anyone can affordably and habitually live with art.

We are dedicated to working with individual artists to create connections locally/nationally within our network and distribution process, the company said on its website.

That mission has been covered by news outlets including Newsweek, ABC News and Southern Living magazine.

There are hundreds of Art-o-mat machines in use across the United States, Germany and Australia. That includes an art vending machine installed at the Smithsonian American Art Museum in 2010.

I just love the idea of the Art-o-mat as a really neat way to start your collection of art, Georgina Goodlander, interpretive programs manager of the Smithsonians Luce Foundation Center for American Art, said at the time. Maybe well be creating some future collectors.

With the addition of the machine at the Love Story Project, there are about a dozen Art-o-Mats in California, from Oceanside to Sacramentos Crocker Art Museum.

First local Art-o-mat relocated

SLO Countys first Art-o-mat was originally installed at Farmhouse Corner Market near San Luis Obispo County Regional Airport. The restaurant and market closed about a year ago.

In 2021, that Art-o-mat was relocated to the offices of Downtown SLO, 1135 Chorro St. in San Luis Obispo, at the insistence of the nonprofit organizations CEO, Bettina Swigger.

Swigger has loved the Art-o-mat concept since she first saw the companys art vending machines years ago, she said.

My sister was an Art-o-mat artist on the East Coast, selling her art through the machines, she said.

When Farmhouse Corner Market shut up shop, Swigger got its art vending machine, which she said has been popular with visitors, staff and board members alike.

More about The Love Story Project

The Love Story Project is open 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday. The shop is closed on Tuesday.

For details, call 805-464-1963, email info@thelovestoryproject.org or follow the business on Facebook.
SLO County supervisors get 26% salary bump. How will future board raises be determined?

The San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors voted 3-2 to give themselves a 26% salary increase  and change how future supervisors will receive raises.

After June 2025, supervisors will no longer vote on their own salaries.

Instead, supervisors salaries will be set at 50% of the bottom salary range of California Superior Court judges, a SLO County staff report said.

When the judges receive a raise, the supervisors will get a salary bump, too.

By tying this to the judges, were really taking it out of the political theater, Supervisor Dawn Ortiz-Legg said at Tuesdays board meeting

State judges are paid a minimum annual salary of $219,000, a wage thats set by the state, according to San Luis Obispo County Human Resources Department Director Tami Douglas-Schatz.

Six counties about the same size as SLO County already tie their supervisor salaries to the pay rate for Superior Court judges, Douglas-Schatz said.

It just gives you a little bit of a step back, Douglas-Schatz told the board Tuesday.

San Luis Obispo County Supervisor Dawn Ortiz-Legg listens to public comment Feb. 7, 2023. David Middlecamp/dmiddlecamp@thetribunenews.com

The 26% raise will bump the supervisors annual salaries from $90,417 to $114,067 in three installments over a two-year period, according to a staff report.

Supervisor Jimmy Paulding voted against raises for the board in February. He said that District 4 voters didnt expect him to accept a pay raise as a new member of the board, and didnt want to break trust with his constituents.

On Tuesday, however, Paulding voted to pass the raise, while pledging to decline an increase in his own salary.

What were talking about is making sure that this position pays a living wage, so we can attract the most qualified individuals to serve our community, Paulding said. This is about good governance and the next generation of our leaders, not about benefiting ourselves.

Supervisors Debbie Arnold and John Peschong voted against the salary increase with little discussion. Peschong said he will decline the raise, but Arnold did not comment on the item or share if she planned to accept the raise.

I just dont think its the right time to raise the salary, Peschong said Tuesday, noting that numerous District 1 residents urged him to vote against the raise.

San Luis Obispo County Supervisors Debbie Arnold and John Peschong, listen to public comment Feb. 7, 2023. David Middlecamp/dmiddlecamp@thetribunenews.com

How will SLO County supervisors raise be implemented?

The board members will receive their raise in three phases.

First, on July 23, the supervisors salaries will bump from $90,417 to $97,697.

On June 23, 2024, their annual salaries will increase to $105,560, the staff report said. Then, on June 22, 2025, that pay rate will jump to $114,067 a year.

Supervisor seats in Districts 1, 3 and 5 will be on the 2023 ballot. Arnold is not running for office again, so she will not benefit from the June 2025 pay increase  as it will be implemented after her term ends.

If Ortiz-Legg wins another term representing District 3, she will benefit from the June 2025 raise during her next term.

Supervisor Bruce Gibson will receive the full raise. Peschong and Paulding declined the raise, so they will not receive any of the raise installments.

San Luis Obispo County Supervisor Jimmy Paulding listens to public comment Feb. 7, 2023. David Middlecamp/dmiddlecamp@thetribunenews.com

The Human Resources Department recommended the raise to align county supervisor salaries with the rest of the market, Douglas-Schatz said.

SLO County competes for employees in the same market as Santa Barbara County, Monterey County, Fresno County, Cal Poly and other employers, Douglas-Schatz said.

According to a January compensation study, SLO County supervisors are paid 22% below the market median.

It doesnt match the responsibilities of the heavy public policy duties that impact every member of the county of San Luis Obispo, Douglas-Schatz said. A market-based wage also encourages people of all income levels to run for the office.

Supervisors are paid $7,535 per month, compared to a median monthly salary of $9,659, the study said.

Douglas-Schatz recommended that the board keep their salaries above 25% of their legislative assistants, who support the supervisors work.

Right now, the supervisors salaries are 5.4% higher than those of their legislative assistants. Without the raise, supervisors salaries would be only 0.3% higher than legislative assistants salaries by July 2024, the staff report said.

Some SLO County residents oppose pay increase

At Tuesdays board meeting, some SLO County residents urged supervisors to vote against the pay raise.

Mike Brown, a representative of the Coalition of Labor Agriculture and Business of San Luis Obispo County, said his organization doesnt like the new boards policies, such as their repeal of the Planting Ordinance  a law that adjusted water-use rules for farmers seeking a planting permit.

As a result, Brown said the board didnt earn a raise yet.

You should really tie (the raise) to solid accomplishments, like bumping that housing rate up, Brown said.

Arroyo Grande resident Sissy Pace said the board shouldnt accept a raise during a difficult economy.

What is being gained by going to the press and telling them you have a mortgage and bills to pay? Pace said to the board. We all do. We have all had to tighten our belts, postpone vacations, make drastic cuts to our budgets to make ends meet. You are no different.

Gibson disagreed.

There is no good time for the board to talk about its own compensation, he said.

He voted for the raise to make the position of SLO County supervisor more accessible to anyone who wants to run for office, he said.

We need to not have low pay be a barrier to those who want to compete in elections, to take these positions and serve their county, Gibson said.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 17)  The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) filed murder complaints on Wednesday against suspended Negros Oriental Rep. Arnolfo Teves Jr. over the killing of Governor Roel Degamo last March.

Carrying boxes of documents, members of the NBI  led by Director Medardo de Lemos  arrived at the Department of Justice (DOJ) office to lodge the complaints against the lawmaker who remains at large.

Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla told reporters the NBI is suing Teves for murder, frustrated murder, and attempted murder.

However, the investigation bureau has yet to release a copy of the complaints to the media.

Aside from Degamo, nine other people died in the March 4 massacre in Pamplona town, while 17 others were wounded. The slain governor was in the middle of a meeting with some of his constituents when several armed men entered his residential compound and opened fire.

Remulla earlier said Teves appears to be the main orchestrator of the killings, claiming he funded the planning and the firearms used. Teves has repeatedly denied the allegations.

Teves lawyer also told CNN Philippines Balitaan that he believes the cases filed are not airtight, as he cited reports that some suspect-witnesses recently began to refuse to give their statements to authorities.

This was reportedly after the suspect-witnesses  who were previously represented by public attorneys  were able to get the services of private lawyers.

Sabi nila solid ang testimonial evidence against Congressman Teves. Eh ayan, may mga recantations pala noong nagkaroon na ng lawyers of their own choice itong mga witnesses, Atty. Ferdinand Topacio said.

[Translation: They said they have solid testimonial evidence against Congressman Teves. But now, there are recantations after witnesses got lawyers of their own choice.]

On Tuesday, the DOJ chief said he received information that Teves will fly back to the country on Wednesday, but the latter dismissed this as fake news.

The congressman faced a 60-day suspension from the House in March due to his failure to return to the Philippines from his medical treatment in the United States after his travel authority expired. The suspension runs until May 22.

Earlier this month, the Justice department bared that Teves sought political asylum from Timor-Leste, but the application was denied.

Please refresh this page for updates.
The Grammy-nominated artist topped the UK album chart in 2021 with his second LP, Tyron

UK rapper Slowthai's name has been removed from the official line-up poster for this year's Glastonbury Festival, as well Reading and Leeds, after he was charged with rape.

The 28-year-old, real name Tyron Frampton, appeared in court via video on Tuesday, charged with two counts of raping a woman in September 2021.

The rapper has posted online to say he "categorically denies the charges".

He is expected to appear before Oxford Crown Court on 15 June.

Writing on Instagram, Slowthai said: "Regarding the allegations being reported about me. I categorically deny the charges. I am innocent and I am confident my name will be cleared.

"Until then, I will apply my energy to ensure this is concluded swiftly and justly."

He added: "I ask that my supporters don't comment on this situation and respect the process and privacy of my family during this time."

Slowthai appeared before Oxford Magistrates' Court via video link from his home in Northampton on Tuesday, speaking only to confirm his name, date of birth and address.

The Grammy-nominated rapper had originally been named to perform at Worthy Farm sometime between 21-25 June, but that now appears to be in doubt.

Here is the first Glastonbury Festival 2023 line-up poster, which includes our final two Pyramid Stage headliners: @ArcticMonkeys (Friday) and @gunsnroses (Saturday).



Many more acts and attractions still to be announced. pic.twitter.com/dMnppdSf1U  Glastonbury Festival (@glastonbury) March 3, 2023

He was also set to appear on the Main Stage West at Reading on 26 August, before playing the festival's Yorkshire leg the next day.

Neither Glastonbury nor Reading and Leeds has yet commented on his name being erased from their line-ups.

Who is Slowthai?

He was nominated for the prestigious Mercury prize in 2019

The Northampton-born star arrived on to the scene with his politically-driven 2019 debut album, Nothing Great About Britain, which was nominated for the Mercury Prize.

At the awards ceremony, its creator caused the biggest stir of the night by holding aloft a dummy of the then-Prime Minister Boris Johnson's severed head while performing Doorman - a track about wealth disparity in modern Britain.

Speaking to the BBC, he explained the song, like the rest of his album, aimed to give a voice to "the people from small communities that have been forgotten about".

"It's time to let people in," he said. "Everyone, the lower class, the middle class, and even the ones in the upper who feel their life is hard."

Slowthai was nominated for best dance recording at the Grammy Awards in 2021, for My High - a collaboration with Disclosure and Amine. The same year, his second album, Tyron, topped the UK chart.

Having previously featured on a Gorillaz track, Slowthai has been booked to open for Damon Albarn's other band Blur at Wembley Stadium in July.
Black woman sitting in the sand

Solo travel has experienced a remarkable resurgence, with numerous tour operators reporting a significant demand increase over the past year. Bookings for individual travel in 2023 have not only met but surpassed expectations, exceeding the levels seen in 2019 thus far, according to Travel Weekly.

EF Go Ahead Tours, a prominent operator in the industry, has witnessed an astounding 200% increase in bookings from solo travelers since the beginning of the year compared to the same period last year. Whats particularly striking is the early commitment of these travelers. As early as June 2022, solo travel bookings for the current year had already surged by an impressive 120% compared to the equivalent period in 2018 for travel in 2019.

Solo travel within a group is one of the fastest-growing travel styles right now, said Heidi Durflinger, president of EF Go Ahead Tours.

Intrepid Travel, a well-known tour operator, has experienced a significant rise in the number of solo travelers booking their trips. In North America alone, there has been a remarkable growth of 2,300 solo bookings compared to the previous year. The companys global figures are even more impressive, with approximately 9,000 more solo travelers opting for Intrepids services.

It is interesting to observe the trend in solo travelers from North America gravitating toward more far-flung destinations such as Southeast Asia, Central America, Turkey, India, and Nepal and a skew to more adventurous, overland Central America and Africa trips, said Matt Berna, president and managing director of Intrepid Travel, the Americas, who added that around 65% of the companys 15-day Everest Base Camp Trek consists of solo travelers.

Women Travelers Are at the Top of Solo Travel

Photo credit: LeoPatrizi

Tour operators say women play a significant role in driving this trend. Steve Born, Chief Marketing Officer for the Globus family of brands, noted, Weve seen real growth in solo travelers, primarily driven by single women, whether theyre married or not.

The statistics support this observation. In North America, women make up about 75% of Intrepids solo travelers, with 64% being over 40. EF Go Ahead Tours also reports that the number of women on their solo tours is 27% higher than on non-solo tours, and these trips are trendy among women over 50. Even Toni Tours of Levittown, New York, has witnessed a growth in the number of women booking travel for themselves.

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has contributed to the surge in solo travel among women. Toni Lanotte-Day, owner of Toni Tours, shared, Solo travel trip requests for me have increased by about 25% since COVID. Primarily, theyre single women who used to look to travel with a roommate but now prefer their personal space. I also have some who are married, whose husbands dont want to do long-distance travel anymore.

Traveling Solo Can Cost Less

Traditionally, solo trips have come with a higher price tag, as single travelers often have to bear the costs of accommodations typically priced for two people. This is due to the levying of single supplement rates to compensate for the shortfall when a guest travels alone.

Photo credit: Halfpoint Images

When two people share, the cost of the room is split. When it is a single traveler, they need to foot the bill by themselves, explained Lanotte-Day, a travel industry expert. Cruise lines prefer to have two people in the room because that also doubles the onboard spend.

However, the travel industry is witnessing a shift in favor of solo travelers, with more suppliers making solo trips more accessible and affordable. Many are offering promotional deals and incentives targeted explicitly at budget-conscious solo travelers. Some suppliers are adding more solo-only trips to their portfolios, eliminating single supplements.

Globus also encourages solo cruisers to consider Avalon Waterways by waiving single supplements on all Avalon cruises. This move aims to entice solo travelers to embark on their dream cruise without the burden of additional costs.

Riviera River Cruises has gone further by offering a range of solo-only river cruises that eliminate the single supplement. This means that solo travelers can now enjoy top-category suites or staterooms without the added cost of a single supplement. It opens up more luxurious options for solo travelers while keeping their budgets in check.
Two sons of a Maricopa "YouTube Mom," who was indicted on child abuse charges, have been charged with sexual misconduct with minors.

An indictment from February in Maricopa County Superior Court accuses Logan and Ryan Hackney of several counts of sexual misconduct with minors.

Attorneys for the Hackneys did not respond to a request for comment.

The Hackneys are the adult sons of Machelle Hobson, She was arrested in 2019 and accused of beating and starving seven adopted children who she forced to produce popular YouTube videos in their Pinal County home in the city of Maricopa.

Police said the children were pepper-sprayed in the face, beaten or locked in a closet for days on end without food or bathroom breaks for forgetting a line in their video script or for not following directions.

The case gained international media attention. Hobson's Fantastic Adventures channel on YouTube attracted 800,000 subscribers and nearly 350 million page views, earning her tens of thousands of dollars.

Pinal County prosecutors charged Hobson with 30 felony counts of child abuse and kidnapping involving five of her adopted or fostered children.

She pleaded not guilty, but while in Pinal County's custody suffered a non-traumatic brain injury, was declared mentally incompetent to stand trial and died in a hospital six months later.

Her sons were never charged in connection with the abuse allegations. They were arrested but released without charges after police suspected them of failing to report the alleged abuse of their adopted and fostered half-siblings.

It's unclear if the February indictments from a Maricopa County grand jury are connected to the Fantastic Adventures case because many of the details in the new cases are sealed.

The Pinal County Attorney's Office declined to comment on the new charges.

Maricopa County Attorney Chief of Staff Jennifer Liewer said, "There is not a statute of limitation on sex abuse crimes and our office will seek indictments on crimes, when there is a reasonable likelihood of conviction, regardless of when an incident occurs."

"Because this is a pending case, we cant provide further comment," she added.

Logan Hackney, 31, faces four counts of sexual misconduct with a minor. Three of the counts are class two felonies, and one is a class six felony.

Arizona law ranks felonies from class one, the most serious, to class six.

The indictment alleges Logan Hackney engaged in sexual intercourse and had sexual contact with two minors under the age of 15 during different time periods ranging from June 2008 to June 2013.

At an arraignment on May 5, Logan Hackney pleaded not guilty to the charges. A date has been preliminarily set for Aug. 31 to assign a trial date. Hackney was offered a $20,000 bond but has not paid it and is still in MCSO custody.

A separate indictment from February charges his brother Ryan Hackney, 29, with two counts of sexual conduct with a minor. Both counts are class two felonies. The indictment alleges Ryan Hackney engaged in sexual intercourse or contact with one victim under the age of 15. The time span of the alleged conduct is on or between Aug. 1, 2011, and March 1, 2012.

The charges were first reported by ABC15 news.

He pleaded not guilty on March 24. Hackney's trial date, for now, has been scheduled to be assigned on Aug. 17.

Hackney paid a $25,000 bond and was released but is under electronic monitoring.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Sons of 'YouTube Mom' charged with sexual misconduct felonies
South African president wants to visit Ukraine with peace initiative

Cyril Ramaphosa

According to Nykyforov, Ramaphosa raised the issue during a phone call with Zelenskyy, who welcomed the peace initiative and is ready to accept high-ranking guests and listen to their proposals. Zelenskyy also wants to familiarize them with the Ukrainian peace formula and invite African countries to join its implementation.

On May 16, Ramaphosa said that Zelenskyy and Russian dictator Vladimir Putin had agreed to host a group of African leaders for a potential peace plan to settle Russias full-scale war against Ukraine.

Read also: South Africa accused of supplying weapons to Russia

According to the South African leader, several African countries have supported the peace plan, while Washington and London expressed cautious support.

Earlier U.S. Ambassador to South Africa Reuben Brigety said that the United States is confident that South Africa supplied weapons to Russia for the war against Ukraine, despite its nominal claims of neutrality.

In turn, the South African authorities denied these accusations, saying they would conduct an investigation into this issue.

Meanwhile, Zelenskyy warned South Africa against supplying weapons to Russia.

Anyone who helps the aggressor with weapons will be an accomplice, with all the consequences, he said.

Read also: South Africa warns Putin of threat of arrest should he attend BRICS Summit in person

Read also: South Africa mulls withdrawing from ICC ahead of BRICS summit

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
Avery Olson is a second-year OB-GYN resident physician at the University of Hawaii. She is originally from Rapid City.

Avery Olson has a choice to make.

She could practice womens health care as an OB-GYN in her home state of South Dakota, where it is illegal to perform abortions and where the exception to perform one to protect the life of the mother is unclear to some physicians.

Or she could practice in a nearby state, one where abortions are legal and she can practice to her full ability while still staying close to her family.

She has two years left in her residency, but shes already being recruited by South Dakota practices.

South Dakota is facing a shortage of OB-GYNs and is a leading state for maternity care deserts, which is a county without a hospital or birth center offering obstetric care. Olson wants to be part of the solution, but she hesitates. She worries the states abortion laws will serve to worsen the shortage, leaving future South Dakota OB-GYNs to bear heavier workloads while some rural womens health care needs are neglected.

Its a nationwide worry, as a patchwork of state laws in the aftermath of the U.S. Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade in 2022 could exacerbate an already looming national shortage.

Where Im training, there are maybe two out of the 28 residents who would consider working in a state that has restrictive laws in place for womens health care, said Olson, who is a resident physician at the University of Hawaii. Thats because Im from South Dakota and the other is from Texas. The rest of them wouldnt even touch South Dakota.

South Dakotas OB-GYN shortage

Forty-six of South Dakotas 66 counties do not have obstetric providers, according to the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration.

OB-GYNs are trained in two specialties: pregnancy care from preconception to childbirth, and all womens health issues. They handle Pap smears, mammograms, menopause and annual womens health physicals; they also handle infertility and are the primary surgeons when cesarean sections are needed or when an abortion is performed.

While family physicians can provide many of the same services, they are not specialized in such surgical procedures.

Patients with high-risk pregnancies often see a specialist early. Some women may have pulmonary hypertension, cystic fibrosis or other conditions that pose high risks of death when pregnant. Some could develop cancer while pregnant, or fetal anomalies might be detected. Prior to South Dakotas trigger ban, termination would have been among the options for those patients to consider.

In 2021, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention documented increases in cesarean delivery, preterm birth rates and low birth weights across the country, all of which can increase other health risks and require specialized care. About a quarter of births in South Dakota are by cesarean delivery.

According to a 2021 report projecting the supply and demand for womens health service providers across the county, South Dakota was short 10 OB-GYNs in 2018. Although the demand isnt projected to increase by 2030, the report expects the supply of OB-GYNs to worsen  with only 78.6% of the demand being filled.

In a national survey of more than 2,000 medical students, residents, fellows and practicing physicians through social media, three-fourths of respondents said they would not apply to states with legal consequences for providing abortion care, and more than 80% would prefer to train or practice in states with preserved abortion access, according to a study published in February in the Journal of General Internal Medicine.

If medical residents bypass South Dakota for nearby states where abortion is legal, such as Colorado or Minnesota, that could lead to worse health outcomes for South Dakotans, said Morgan Schriever, a University of South Dakota medical school graduate and first-year resident at Southern Illinois University.

Womens health care is going to suffer, Schriever said. Itll be harder to find an OB-GYN, there will be longer wait times to see a physician, and there will be ultimately more stress on providers because theyre taking more calls and more patients and more stress and more burdens on them. Itll be a downward spiral.

OB-GYNs travel out of state for residencies, less likely to return

South Dakota is one of five states that does not have an obstetrics residency, according to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.

The University of South Dakota ended its residency program in the late 1980s amid budget concerns and other complications the school faced at the time.

Since then, all USD medical students planning to become OB-GYNs must train in another state. That already makes it difficult to recruit OB-GYNs, Olson said, because residents are typically at an age where theyre planning future careers, marrying or starting families.

Its a time where a good portion of people stay in the state where they do their residencies, Olson said.

When residents practice in states such as Hawaii or Illinois, where abortion law is not as restrictive as in South Dakota, it makes it a more difficult choice to return, Schriever said.

Originally from Sioux Falls, Schriever was intent on returning to South Dakota after her residency. But thats changed. In Illinois, she regularly encounters patients requesting or requiring an abortion.

The frequency of those situations made her realize how integral the practice is to womens health care, and highlighted the lengths to which women will go to receive an abortion  even spending over $1,000 and driving hours out-of-state for one.

Coming to or planning on practicing in a state that has these bans means I cant practice full-scope, Schriever said.

OB-GYN residency programs are required to offer access to training in abortion, although students with moral or religious objections are permitted to opt out. This requirement has been enforced by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education since 1996, and programs unable to meet this standard jeopardize their accreditation status.

Its already a problem for residents in states where abortion is banned, such as Tennessee. Several residents travel out of their residency state to another, like Oregon, to get the required experience.

Its just a skill as an OB-GYN you should have, Schriever said. No matter where you practice, you could have someone in the ER who needs that type of procedure and youre the only one who can perform it. It should be a skill you should have even if you dont perform it on a daily basis.

If South Dakota continues to see a shortage of OB-GYNs it wont be fair to the patients, Schriever added.

These laws in these states make them less desirable locations for OB-GYNs to work, she said. Womens health care will ultimately suffer, and the people who will pay the price are the patients in these states.

This article originally appeared on Sioux Falls Argus Leader: South Dakota has a womens health care shortage. The abortion ban may worsen it, physicians say.
SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea signed an agreement with Ukraine on Wednesday on its plan to provide a $130 million financial aid package, a day after the visiting first lady of the war-hit country asked for military assistance.

South Korea's finance ministry said Minister Choo Kyung-ho and Ukrainian Economy Minister Yulia Svyrydenko, in Seoul to attend a conference, signed the agreement on the package, which will consist of donations and aid loans.

South Korea, a major producer of artillery shells, has saidit was not providing lethal weapons to Ukraine, citing itsrelations with Russia.

But Yoon said in an interview with Reuters last month hisgovernment might not "insist only on humanitarian or financialsupport" if civilians in Ukraine come under a large-scale attackor because of a "situation the international community cannotcondone".

(Reporting by Choonsik Yoo; Editing by Christian Schmollinger)
SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and Canadian Prime Minister Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau agreed on Wednesday to step up cooperation on critical minerals and other economic security issues.

In a joint statement issued after their summit in Seoul, the leaders also "strongly condemned" North Korea's nuclear and missile development, and agreed to continue joint efforts for a rules-based order in the region.

Trudeau arrived in Seoul on Tuesday for the first visit in nine years by a Canadian leader as the two countries seek to boost cooperation on security and critical minerals used in electric vehicles (EVs).

(Reporting by Soo-hyang Choi; Editing by Ed Davies)
A Southern Illinois man was charged with first-degree murder after after an alleged drag racing while under the influence of alcohol turned deadly.

Justin M. Bullard, 21, of Iuka in rural Marion County was charged with additional felony counts of aggravated driving under the influence, reckless homicide, and aggravated street racing. Derrik P. Coomer, 27, of Salem, was charged with aggravated reckless driving for his alleged role in the drag race.

According to Illinois State Police, a two-vehicle crash was reported at about 9:07 p.m. on May 4. Bullard, state police alleges, was racing eastbound on U.S. 50 near Hotze Road in Marion County when he disregarded a red light and struck another vehicle turning left through the intersection.

The driver of the second vehicle, Nita Mobley, 66, of Salem was pronounced deceased on scene. Her car burst into flames after the collision, state police said.

Bullard and a passenger were seriously injured and airlifted to a St. Louis hospital, according to WSEI-FM radio in Olney.

After a thorough and extensive investigation, including reviewing hours of surveillance footage, ISP DCI determined that Bullard had been driving under the influence of alcohol and at excessive speeds while racing another car, driven by Coomer, just prior to the crash, according to a state police release.

Bullard and Coomer were incarcerated at the Marion County Jail. Bullard is being held on a $1 million bond; Coomer is being held on a $250,000.
Speeding 19-year-old leads deputy on chase with open alcohol in car, Georgia cops say

Two 19-year-olds were charged after a high-speed chase in Georgia, deputies say.

A Forsyth County deputy was driving just past midnight when a white BMW drove past him going in the opposite direction, the sheriffs office said in a May 16 Facebook post. The BMW was going 87 mph in a 45 mph zone.

The deputy made a U-turn and tried to pull over the driver but instead was led on a chase for almost two minutes, a video shared by the sheriffs office showed.

During the pursuit, the BMW continued to speed, reaching 140 mph, before it was forced to slow down ahead of a curve in the road, according to deputies.

Once the BMW began to break, the deputy hit the back of the car, forcing it to spin around and stop, the video shows.

Deputies who stopped the BMW said the drivers license did not permit him to drive after midnight. There was also a 19-year-old passenger in the front seat.

When deputies were talking with the 19-year-old passenger, they could smell a strong odor of alcoholic beverage coming from his breath and his eyes were watering, the sheriffs office said.

An open container of alcohol was found on the floor of the car, according to deputies.

The cars driver was arrested and charged with felony fleeing, speeding, reckless driving, possession of an open alcoholic container and violation of a class D license, officials said. The passenger was charged with possession of alcohol under the age of 21.

Video shared by the sheriffs office shows a deputy arresting one of the 19-year-olds and calling him a silly goose.

All these bad decisions when all you had to do was stop, the sheriffs office said in the post. A 19 year old putting every other driver and our Deputy at risk, much less himself and his passenger.

Forsyth County is about 40 miles north of Atlanta.

2 teens in stolen car killed in crash after high-speed chase, SC officials say

Teens killed after 14-year-old driver loses control in police chase, NC cops say

Hit-and-run driver killed after dragging officer during police chase, Georgia cops say
Historian/writer Robin DG Kelley's bookcases at his home in Los Angeles. (Ye Rin Mok / For The Times)

This story is part of Clearance, a design issue that peels back the layers of aspirational architecture in L.A., and envisions a more beautiful future that lives a little less on the nose. Read the whole issue here.

The year was 2011. I was fresh out of college and in New York for the first time as an adult. I was a little worried about myself, as I wasnt sure if I was going to be smart enough or cool enough for actual adulthood. I was young, so I didnt know anything, but I was young, so I knew everything. I used HopStop, I went into an energy-efficient office, and I had lunch from Mooncake Foods. CBGB was already John Varvatos, and Maxs Kansas City was but a memory. The third-world Manhattan I had romanticized in my youth was long gone, but it didnt matter  I was there.

I found myself at the Strand, which was once mecca for a young person with glasses. Almost immediately, I was drawn to a modern trade paperback copy of Lorrie Moores Self-Help. There was a medicine cabinet on the cover containing ointments, a bottle of antacids and a few other toiletries. It was fairly unspectacular, but it evoked my own projections of medicine cabinets, so I took it home.

The bookcases of author, academic and music critic Josh Kun at his home in Los Angeles. (Ye Rin Mok / For The Times)

More of Kun's bookcases. Christopher Chang writes: "A book cover should be designed not to speak to an audience, but to speak for a book." (Ye Rin Mok / For The Times)

Author Justin Torres' bookshelf at his home in Los Angeles. (Ye Rin Mok / For The Times)

Torres' bookshelf. "A good cover should compel you to find out what's inside and aim to ultimately shrink the disparity between what an audience thinks a book is and what a book actually is," writes Chang. (Ye Rin Mok / For The Times)

Its intrusive and unsavory, but weve all poked around someone elses medicine cabinet before. It is intimate to know what shampoo or brand of floss someone uses, and often thats all you get. Still, the sordid potential of fun pills or finding out someone is secretly rich makes you look every now and again. These vaults know what parts of your face get more of your budget, what ailments you keep at bay, and essentially, they are the keepers of the secret recipes that transform the damp, undignified mess that leaks out of your bed each morning into the version you present to the world. They hold everything inside that results in the outside, and for Self-Help, this is perfect.

This was maybe the purest and possibly last example in my life where I judged a book by its cover, at least in person. Most of my window-shopping nowadays is conducted online, where book covers are reduced to flat, rectangular images that are merely elements on a page. Designers have adapted to these modern shopping habits, and their main consideration now is whether a cover can be visually processed before a thumb scrolls it into the past. But why value the consumer over the book itself? A book cover should be designed not to speak to an audience, but to speak for a book.

Critic Harmony Holiday's bookshelf at her home in Los Angeles. (Ye Rin Mok / For The Times)

More of Holiday's shelves. Chang believes that book covers should "prepare" you "mentally and emotionally" for what you're "about to get into." (Ye Rin Mok / For The Times)

A lot of these new covers follow a template of sans-serif type against a colorful, patterned backdrop, and they all kind of look the same. They value efficiency and aesthetics above all other considerations, and they end up a graveyard of lost opportunities: How will the jacket or the obi interact with the buckram? What does the typeface of the title convey? What emotions do these colors induce? They feel akin to Squarespace websites  inoffensive and nice enough for an Instagram feed. All of the sensual elements that were once a big part of the sell dont matter anymore, either. On a screen, you cant smell a book, nor can you gauge the heft and texture of the page. There is no crack of dormant glue as you first break the spine, nor is there the running of fingers over the raise of emboss. These are special aspects unique to buying a book in person, but not special enough to trump the convenience of buying one from bed.

I dont even think these modern covers look half bad. To be honest, theyre fine. They look good enough, but a good-looking cover is not necessarily a good cover. A good cover should compel you to find out whats inside and aim to ultimately shrink the disparity between what an audience thinks a book is and what a book actually is.

If you can do both, great, but too many of them preserve a trendy aesthetic at the cost of speaking for the book. There are plenty of covers I find unattractive that are great covers for their books. A prime example is Colson Whiteheads The Colossus of New York. The 2003 book is a love letter to the city, told through a series of 13 deconstructed portraits, each highlighting a specific aspect of Whiteheads New York. The cover dons a stylized, jagged skyline reminiscent of individual elements that make a whole, but a whole that is not exactly a sum of these parts. It illustrates all the dissonance and unity of both the city and the stories inside, and it is the best book ever written about New York  but I dont like the cover. I dont like the black sky paired with the brassy copper of the buildings, and I find the sizing and layout of the text to be haphazard and unbalanced. However, the cover speaks for the book, and it does not consider me. It does not know who I am, nor does it care what I think. What it does do, is it communicates to me how I should prepare mentally and emotionally for what Im about to get into.

More of Robin DG Kelley's bookshelves. (Ye Rin Mok / For The Times)

Kelley's bookcase invites you in. "Once a cover has successfully convinced you to read a book, in addition to speaking for the book, it now takes on the added responsibility of speaking for you," writes Chang. (Ye Rin Mok / For The Times)

Once a cover has successfully convinced you to read a book, in addition to speaking for the book, it now takes on the added responsibility of speaking for you. It comes to represent the time in your life when you first read the book, and while the book itself does not change, you do, so the cover starts holding different weight in your life as you emotionally mature and approach the book differently each read. The cover comes to symbolize who you were when you first met, and becomes a record of all the tweaks and edits that have been made to your worldview since. The very sight of it on your bookshelf acts as a time capsule to remind you of an older version of yourself, and how this book is a foundational part of the you that exists today. When others see it displayed prominently on your shelves, it is a way for them to learn something about you, or at least a way for you to present yourself to others. A book cover becomes a way for you to understand and be understood.

As a teenager, the equivalent of books on shelves was bands on shirts. It was the early aughts in suburban Diamond Bar, and if you were alt at all, you were punk, or emo, or into hardcore. The main tell of your divergence was what band was named on your shirt. We wore these as a way to find each other, while at the same time separating ourselves from the general populace. We all wanted to be part of something, but we didnt want everyone in on it. It was the first time in my life where I sort of scared my mother and displeased her a bit, so it was a very special time for me. Eventually, this practice evolved into a display of pure fandom for these bands we had lost years of our lives listening to, and so we continued wearing the shirts. I never really grew out of this, and at some point a few years back, it gave me the idea to proudly display other media that I had formed my whole identity around, so I started making literary merch.

Author Stephanie Cha's bookshelf at her home in Los Angeles. (Ye Rin Mok / For The Times)

Cha's bookshelves. "A book cover becomes a way for you to understand and be understood," writes Chang. (Ye Rin Mok / For The Times)

Naturally, the first had to be Self-Help, so I could find my Lorrie Moore contingent. Dont get me wrong, I am well aware that it is an immensely popular book, but still, Lorrie Moore is not the Beatles. Lorrie Moore is ours, and thats part of why we like her. Visually, the merch is quite underwhelming. Theyre just black sweaters with the text from the title page, but if you know what youre looking at, it floods your system with joy, because to you, its the world. A very well-known musician even messaged me about getting one, as Self-Help is their favorite book, and they told me they kept a copy atop a piano for a live televised performance. We have never met, but because we share the same deep affinity for Self-Help, I feel like this complete stranger understands parts of me on a quite intimate level. You can skip a lot of the steps in getting to know someone when there is a shared interest suggesting that you meet certain prerequisites.

When I made the Molly Giles Rough Translations sweaters, at the suggestion of a friend, I cold emailed Molly Giles herself and sent her a few. She was so tickled, and after a few email exchanges, she sent me her personal copy of Lucia Berlins Where I Live Now with a nice note inside. Molly Giles and I will never meet  we dont go to the same bars. However, I have read enough of her to feel fairly confident that I know what she was doing. I thoroughly believe that she was not giving me a book, but that she was giving me the story so I could think fondly back on it whenever I saw it on my shelves.

Curator AJ Girard's bookcases at his home in Los Angeles. (Ye Rin Mok / For The Times)

More of Girard's books. "The cover comes to symbolize who you were when you first met, and becomes a record of all the tweaks and edits that have been made to your worldview since," writes Chang. (Ye Rin Mok / For The Times)

One of Girard's bookcases. "The very sight of [a book] on your bookshelf acts as a time capsule to remind you of an older version of yourself, and how this book is a foundational part of the you that exists today," writes Chang. (Ye Rin Mok / For The Times)

Self-Help has now been with me for over a decade, and it has seen all my follies and victories. I still revisit it once a year when I need to remember how its done. I unfortunately no longer have that shabby trade paperback copy with the medicine cabinet on its cover, but it has been replaced by a first edition hardcover. When I got this copy, I was already deeply familiar with the contents, so the cover wasnt a metric on which I could judge. Frankly, its a little all over the place and very late '80s. I dont know that I would have picked it up in 2011, and so Im eternally grateful for the edition with the medicine cabinet on the cover. It changed my life, and Im so relieved that the bright-eyed, bushy-tailed kid was compelled enough to pick it up and judge it by its cover. Soon, he will crack it open and find out a lot about himself. By the 10th or so reading, he will have seen a little more of the world, he will have met a few more people, and he will have discovered he is not so alone on this planet of billions. While he is worried about himself in 2011, he ends up being fine, so I am nothing but excited for him. I love that kid.

Christopher Chang lives in Los Angeles.

More stories from Image

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 17)  Women in lesbian relationships may also be charged for violation of the Anti-Violence Against Women and Their Children (Anti-VAWC) Act, the Supreme Court (SC) reiterated in a ruling made public recently.

In a 10-page decision uploaded on its website on May 15, the high court rejected the appeal of a private individual, identified as a certain Sandra Jane Jacinto, to quash the case against her which was filed after she allegedly attacked her partner of 16 years.

Jacinto was accused of forcefully pushing her live-in partner and of crushing the latter's hands repeatedly with a car door, resulting in physical injuries.

In assailing the case against her, Jacinto argued that what she did does not constitute an offense under Republic Act (RA) 9262, or the Anti-VAWC Act, as she said that the law does not apply to lesbian relationships.

But this argument "utterly lacks basis," according to the SC, which cited a previous case known as "Garcia v. Drilon."

The Garcia ruling noted that Section 3 of the Anti-VAWC law is clear that "any person" could be liable for violation of its provisions, whether the attacker is a man or a woman.

"The foregoing discussion of the Court as to the applicability of the law to lesbian relationships is clearly a resolution of the particular issue raised in Garcia," read the recent SC decision penned by Associate Justice Henri Jean Paul Inting.

Jacinto sought intervention from the SC after the Regional Trial Court of Antipolo City twice denied her motion to dismiss the case  the first time in July 2019, and the second in November of the same year.
Earlier this evening at approximately 5:30 p.m., the St. Petersburg Police Department made a significant breakthrough in the case of the stolen rare tortoises that disappeared from the St. Augustine Alligator Farm back in November 2022.

Joshua McCarty-Thomas, a 46-year-old individual, was apprehended by the authorities for his involvement in the theft.

The St. Petersburg Police Department collaborated closely with the St. Augustine Police Department after receiving a crucial tip regarding the possible whereabouts of the stolen endangered Galapagos Tortoises. The tip led the investigating officers to a residence they were already looking into for unrelated thefts. After obtaining a search warrant, law enforcement officials from both agencies carried out a joint operation.

>>> STREAM ACTION NEWS JAX LIVE <<<

During the search, the authorities discovered one of the endangered Galapagos Tortoises alive, while unfortunately, the other tortoise was found deceased. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) provided valuable assistance to the two law enforcement agencies by scanning and verifying the microchips implanted in the tortoises.

McCarty-Thomas has been charged by the St. Augustine Police Department with grand theft, and additional charges in multiple cities throughout the state, including stealing rare books and comic books.

Action News Jax had previously reported on the theft of the endangered animals six months ago, shedding light on the severity of the crime and its potential impact on wildlife conservation efforts.

READ: Grand Theft Tortoise: St. Augustine Alligator Farm says two endangered tortoises stolen from park

Each of the stolen tortoises is estimated to be worth up to $10,000, according to John Brueggen, the director of the Alligator Farm.

The recovered tortoises, which were born at the farm in 2017, were a part of the facilitys Species Survival Plan.

Brueggen emphasized that, at the time of their theft, the tortoises weighed about 20 pounds. However, as they grow older, these remarkable creatures can reach an astonishing weight of up to 600 pounds by the time they are 30 years old.

The successful recovery of the stolen tortoises brings hope to wildlife advocates and conservationists who have been deeply concerned about the well-being of these endangered species.

In a statement released by the Alligator Farm, the organization expressed both relief and sadness regarding the recovery of the stolen Galapagos Tortoises.

The statement read, Recovered Galapagos Tortoises: One has survived, but sadly, one has not. Both tortoises are being returned, but we are saddened by this news. Thank you to all the law enforcement agents across Florida that helped track down the individual and recovered our juvenile Galapagos Tortoise. We will update you with information as soon as we have it.

The Alligator Farm promised to provide further updates on the situation as more information became available, keeping the public informed about the ongoing developments surrounding the recovered Galapagos Tortoises.

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Stanislaus County supervisors took emergency action Tuesday evening to approve repairs for a storm-damaged road in the western part of the county.

Public works officials are concerned about settling and cracking on Del Puerto Canyon Road about 13 miles west of Interstate 5. The two-lane road winds through the Diablo Mountains west of Patterson.

The road remains open. Supervisors gave approval for the emergency repair project, which required at least a fourth-fifths vote from the board.

Public Works Director David Leamon said there are no estimates yet on the repair costs. He said the road is stable now and he did not recommend closing it.

Del Puerto is the only access road for ranchers and people living in the mountain area. The heavy storms in March damaged a 100-yard road section.

The settling and longitudinal cracks suggested the roadway and hillside could fail. County public works did temporary repairs to ensure the road could stay open. The Board of Supervisors expects to hear an update on the emergency project May 23.

Also at Tuesdays meeting, board chairman Channce Condit delivered the state of the county speech, saying the county should ensure equal opportunity for all residents.

He expressed pride that the board allocated $55.8 million of American Rescue Plan Act funds for improvements in unincorporated islands. An additional $15 million in county general funds has been directed to infrastructure projects including sidewalks, street lighting, water service and other upgrades.

The chairman said state Sen. Marie Alvarado-Gil has submitted a state budget request for $16 million to match local dollars, which could result in $32 million in more sidewalks and upgrades for the Parklawn and Bret Harte neighborhoods in south Modesto.

In south Modesto, schoolchildren bring extra pairs of clothing to change into once at school because of pants soaked knee high when it rains and floods, Condit said. The elderly and disabled are unable to freely navigate their community due to unlevel dirt and gravel paths that offer no other option than to travel in the street.

Condit downplayed his speech, saying future addresses can only go up from here, but thousands of residents will benefit if projects that he referenced come to fruition.

Possible step to improve health care

He said a proposal is on the table for an after-hours medical facility serving the countys West Side, including Newman, Patterson and Grayson. Condit said the time is overdue for meeting the health care needs of western Stanislaus residents. The project could be a step toward establishing a hospital for those communities, he said.

Condits speech recognized work by county leaders on the Highway 132 bypass just west of Modesto, the Empire and Turlock libraries, Riverdale Tract improvements and proposals to widen McHenry Avenue.

He added that the Stanislaus 2030 Investment Blueprint shows that far too many families are currently struggling in our local economy, and those struggles disproportionately impact our most vulnerable residents living in disadvantaged communities.

The 2030 economic initiative should be supported to deliver quality jobs to residents and help everyone compete equally in the economy we have, Condit said.
A recent advertisement by Starbucks has come under the spotlight for focusing on the message of gender inclusivity in India.

The advertisement, launched under the hashtag #ItStartsWithYourName, shows estranged parents reuniting with their adult daughter as they accept her new identity of a transwoman.

The commercial, starring trans actor Siya, opens with a tense elderly couple waiting at a Starbucks cafe.

The father begins dialling a number with the display picture of young man named Arpit. As the phone goes unanswered, the woman sitting beside him requests: Listen dont get angry this time please As she completes the sentence, the scene cues to a young woman entering the cafe with poignant music in the background.

While the mother hugs her daughter warmly, the father seems hesistant. The young woman takes a seat at the table and looks at her father saying: Thank you for meeting me dad.

I know a lot of years have passed, she says, visibly overwhelmed. But you still mean the world to me. He nods with a reluctant smile and gets up to ask whether she wants coffee.

They wait while silence fills the air, only to be broken by the barista calling out: Three cold coffees for Arpita!

Astounded, the girl looks from the counter to her father sitting in front of her. For me, you are still my kid. Only a letter has been added to your name, he says in a calm voice, implying that he accepts his daughter Arpitas decision to undergo a gender reassignment surgery and embrace her new identity as a transwoman.

They hold hands across the table and the ad faded out the jingle and hashtag #ItStartsWithYourName.

Posted on Twitter on 10 May, the video went viral. It has been viewed over 5.1 million times and retweeted by over 3,800 users. The ad has also garnered praise for its casting, which stars 25-year-old trans model Siya.

Your name defines who you are - whether it's Arpit or Arpita. At Starbucks, we love and accept you for who you are. Because being yourself means everything to us. #ItStartsWithYourName.  pic.twitter.com/DKNGhKZ1Hg  Starbucks India (@StarbucksIndia) May 10, 2023

Born as Sourav, she felt trapped in her body and felt like a woman, she told the Indian Express, about her personal journey of coming to terms with her identity.

My father passed away when I was six, so I grew with my mother and two sisters. Everybody thought I was confused because I was growing up around women, she told the outlet and also shared her experience of being bullied at school.

I would hold my pee for several hours to avoid being bullied inside the washroom, she told the outlet adding that she attempted to die by suicide at the age of 15.

It was with the support of her mother and two sisters, that she started making frequent trips to Delhi from nearby Dehradun city for hormone therapy and psychiatric help.

At 19, she took a job as a beautician before finding footing in the hospitality industry. By 2019, she saved enough to undergo sex reassignment surgery, while by 2020, she legally changed her name to Siya from Sourav. She soon moved to Mumbai city and landed gigs and advertisements, before playing the part of a trans make up artist in the Netflix show Rana Naidu, an official adaptation of Ray Donovan.

Speaking of the campaign by Starbucks, she said: When I got the brief about this advertisement, I wanted to be the one doing it, so I auditioned in three different styles.

The campaign aims to look at personal connections and relationships with a renewed lens, said Starbucks in a press release after The Independent reached out to the coffee chain for comment on ads ideation and execution.

The riveting brand film and communication aims to further the companys positioning as being people first and creating cherished interpersonal interactions and brings alive how each experience is inclusive and feels like a homecoming, it said.

Starbucks has always been a warm, welcoming space for its customers where relationships are fostered, and personal connections are celebrated over a cup of coffee, said Deepa Krishnan, Tata Starbucks Pvt Ltds chief marketing officer.

The unique Starbucks experience where everyone feels welcome is what drives our growth. At Starbucks, we are not in the coffee business serving people, but in the people business serving coffee, nurturing the limitless possibilities of human connection every day.

With the #ItStartsWithYourName campaign, the coffeehouse chain hopes to further drive the message of being a welcoming, inclusive brand where nothing matters to us more than our customers comfort, she said. We understand that our customers enjoy and cherish their individuality and we are always ready to celebrate it with them.

Social media users heaped praise on the ad campaign.

Its about time to move past transphobia. https://t.co/BNif52Npb7  Armani. (@artsln_) May 17, 2023

Its about time to move past transphobia, wrote one user.

ONE OF THE BEST AND MOST TOUCHING ADS IVE SEEN IN MY LIFE!



A parents love and acceptance to their trans kid is truly everything. Thank you, @StarbucksIndia



What a beautiful way to commenorate International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia, Intersexphobia, and Transphobia!  https://t.co/jpDKI9gwLp  Miss Mela Habijan (@missmelahabijan) May 17, 2023

One of the best and most touching ads Ive seen in my life! A parents love and acceptance to their trans kid is truly everything. Thank you, [Starbucks India]. What a beautiful way to commemorate International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia, Intersexphobia, and Transphobia! wrote another user.
The State Department is urging Americans to reconsider travel to Jamaica and Colombia due to crime and, in Colombias case, terrorism.

The department regularly assesses risks for Americans abroad and had previously issued travel advisories for both Colombia and Jamaica but reissued them with fresh updates.

Violent crimes, such as home invasions, armed robberies, sexual assaults, and homicides, are common. Sexual assaults occur frequently, including at all-inclusive resorts, the State Department says in its level 3 travel advisory for Jamaica.

The State Department similarly warns of widespread violent crimes in Colombia, including homicide, assault and armed robbery and in some places, kidnapping and extortion. Additionally, terrorist and criminal organizations may attack public areas like airports, hotels and restaurants without warning, and due to civil unrest, demonstrations occur regularly throughout the country and protests can become violent and can result in fatalities and injuries.

The State Department is urging Americans to reconsider travel to Jamaica.

"The U.S. Department of State has no higher priority than the safety and security of U.S. citizens overseas," a State Department spokesperson said. "We take seriously our commitment to provide U.S. citizens with clear, timely, and reliable information about every country in the world so they can make informed travel decisions."

Heres what travelers should know about visiting Colombia and Jamaica:

Not everyone wants to come to the US: Gun violence, safety concerns keeping international travelers away

Why is there a travel warning to Jamaica?

The biggest risk factor is crime, but the response to crime is also important to note.

Local police do not respond effectively to serious criminal incidents, according to the State Department. When arrests are made, cases are infrequently prosecuted to a conclusive sentence. Families of U.S. citizens killed in accidents or homicides frequently wait a year or more for final death certificates to be issued by Jamaican authorities.

The State Department adds that emergency services and hospital care vary widely across Jamaica and U.S. government personnel are not allowed to travel to many areas due to increased risk, meaning travelers have limited resources if something goes awry.

Is Mexico travel safe? What to know about visiting Cabo, Cancun, Playa del Carmen and more

Is it safe to travel to Colombia?

For now, the State Department is encouraging Americans to reconsider visiting Colombia in general due to crime, terrorism and civil unrest.

There are, however, specific parts of the country Americans are urged to avoid. The State Department says do not travel to Arauca, Cauca and Norte de Santander Departments, where violent crime is widespread, terrorist groups can be active and the U.S. government has limited ability to provide emergency services to U.S. citizens as U.S. government-personnel travel to these areas is severely restricted due to security concerns. Popular tourist spots are located in Bogota and Medellin, which are several hours away from the highlighted states by car.

Americans are also urged to avoid the border area between Colombia and Venezuela, which in many places is not clearly marked and where U.S. citizens risk being detained and charged with terrorism and other crimes.

How to travel like a spy: CIA tips to stay safe on vacation

What should you do before traveling to Jamaica or Colombia?

Travelers who decide to visit Jamaica, Colombia, or any country with safety risks are urged to enroll in the State Departments free Smart Travel Enrollment Program, read the destinations Country Security Report, prepare contingency plans for emergencies, be aware of their surroundings, keep a low profile, and follow the State Department on Facebook and Twitter for updates.

Additional destination-specific tips are available online through the State Departments Bureau of Consular Affairs.

Tourists walk in the forest in Gorgona Island, Colombia, on Dec. 2, 2021. Formerly an infamous prison island comparable to Alcatraz in the U.S. and Robben Island in South Africa, today the island is a national natural park.

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: State Department: 'Reconsider travel' to Jamaica, Colombia
State prison guards in Pinckneyville accused of beating restrained inmate then lying about it

A federal grand jury has indicted three correctional officers at a state prison in Pinckneyville, accusing two of them of beating an inmate who was handcuffed and in leg irons and trying to cover it up in written reports.

The third officer is accused of failing to intervene when the alleged beating was taking place at Pinckneyville Correctional Center.

The indictments were issued Tuesday, according to a Wednesday announcement by the United States Attorneys Office for the Southern District of Illinois.

The accused officers are Cord A. Williams, 35, Christian L. Pyles, 25, and Mark C. Maxwell, 52, a release states. Williams and Pyles were indicted on charges of violation of civil rights under color of law, conspiracy to obstruct justice and obstruction of justice. They were also charged with filing false reports.

The indictment alleges the incident happened on April 24, 2022. Williams and Pyles are accused of beating an inmate who was fully restrained with his hands cuffed behind his back and secured in leg irons, the release states.

Maxwell is charged with a civil rights violation, with the indictment alleging he was working as an acting lieutenant and failed to intervene as the inmate was beaten.

The indictment also alleges that Williams and Pyles colluded with other officers to file false reports about the incident.

Details of what led to the alleged beating are included in a 10-page indictment. The indictment refers to the inmate as ``J.T.

 Inmate J.T. was outside walking from the prison cafeteria back to his housing unit when he got into a verbal dispute with other inmates who were inside a different housing unit, the indictment states.

A correctional officer referred to as E.S. intervened, and as he tried to handcuff J.T., the inmate spun around and punched the officer in the head, knocking him to the ground, the indictment states.

Other officers came to the aid of E.S., and an officer working ``in the tower immediately announced a ``Code 1 over the radio, alerting others that an officer was in distress. J.T. was placed in leg irons and handcuffed, the indictment states.

He was escorted from the prison yard to an evaluation room inside the prisons Health Care Unit where he was subjected to a retaliatory beating despite being fully restrained in handcuffs and leg irons, the indictment states.

The prisoner was allegedly kicked and punched during the beating.

The indictment alleges that the correctional officers agreed to create a false narrative for their reports.

The indictment states that those completing incident reports falsely claimed that after J.T. was taken to the Evaluation Room, that he continued to be combative, attempted to kick staff, verbally threatened staff, and was physically secured on the floor to prevent further staff assault.

 The various narrative reports were prepared to make it appear that force was used in a good faith effort to gain compliance over an unruly inmate, the indictment states. . The reports were materially false because once he arrived at the Health Care Unit, J.T. was not combative, did not attempt to kick staff, did not make verbal threats, and was not secured on the floor to prevent staff assault.

Force was not used in good faith to gain compliance over an unruly inmate. 

Illinois State Police are leading the investigation into the incident. Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven D. Weinhoeft is prosecuting the case.

Accusations of unlawful misconduct by correctional officers must be investigated in order to protect the integrity of the criminal justice system, U.S. Attorney Rachelle Aud Crowe stated in a news release.
View of the Astra production line at the Vauxhall Ellesmere Port plant where a worker in a blue shirt places a mat in car boot.



In the production line.

Automaker Stellantis warned UK lawmakers that it may be forced to shut some of its operations in the country, jeopardizing thousands of jobs, unless Brexits trade rules are renegotiated.



The companys submission (pdf) to a parliamentary inquiry on EV production, published today (May 17), said impending tariffs on EV exports from the UK to the EU could pose a serious threat to its business, and hamper the broader UK car industry.

Read more

If the cost of EV Manufacturing in the UK becomes uncompetitive and unsustainable operations will close, Stellantis said in its submission to the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) committee.

Executives from Stellantis, the worlds fourth-largest automaker, are meeting with UK business secretary Kemi Badenoch, a Brexit supporter, to discuss their concerns, the Associated Press reported.

The automotive parent company owns brands including Italys Fiat, the UKs Vauxhall, and Frances Peugeot and currently employs more than 5,000 people in the UK. It has two major UK manufacturing plants located in Ellesmere Port and Luton, and is working towards fully electrifying its range of vehicles.

Quotable: The UKs EV ambitions

Watch this space because we are very focused on making sure that the UK gets EV and manufacturing capacity. British chancellor Jeremy Hunt at a British Chambers of Commerce event on May 17, quoted by Reuters

EV tariffs costs are set to go up under Brexit terms

Under the current Brexit deal, 45% of an EVs value sold in the EU must originate from the UK or EU to avoid export tariffs. But stricter rules of origin, set out in the UK and EUs free trade agreement, will increase that requirement to 65% in 2024, meaning the companys EVs could be hit with a 10% export duty.

Stellantis said it will face a competitive disadvantage under the rule change, and has asked that the UK negotiate with the EU to maintain the current sourcing rules until 2027.

The carmaker explained in the submission that the UK still lacks the capacity to carry out car battery production on its own, and requires overseas sourcing from Asia and Europe. Under the new rule, logistics costs would go up, and the UK would become less attractive as a production site for the auto industry. The submission cites Honda and BMW, who have shifted business to the US and China, respectively, in recent years, as a signal that Brexit has already negatively impacted the auto sector.

Two years ago, Stellantis announced an investment of 100 million ($126 million) in Ellesmere Port, which has been in operation since 1964, to become its first plant devoted to EV production.

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Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie Apple TV+

The mission statement of the new Apple TV+ documentary "Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie" is declared in its opening minutes after Michael J. Fox rejects the "sad sack" version of his life story, which suggests he was an actor at the top of the world before being crushed by a debilitating disease. "Yeah," he says, "that's boring."

From director Davis Guggenheim, "Still" gives the beloved actor an opportunity to tell his story in his own words as he recalls the ups and downs of his career and opens up about his battle with Parkinson's disease. The film is as emotional as viewers would anticipate from the subject matter. According to critics, though, what's even more impressive is the documentary's innovative editing style, and Fox's signature charisma and wit in the face of illness make it an unexpectedly inspiring watch. After earning rave reviews out of Sundance and a near-perfect score on Rotten Tomatoes, don't be surprised to find "Still" on many year-end lists of 2023's best films.

"Still" is built around a series of conversations between Guggenheim and Fox, as well as voiceovers of the actor. He recounts the start of his career and his explosion in fame to his Parkinson's diagnosis, detailing his attempt to hide the disease from the public and, ultimately, his decision to go public with it. But no other subjects are interviewed in the documentary, allowing Fox to control his own narrative. By excising any other talking heads, Guggenheim has also "crafted the powerfully intimate sensation that Fox is confiding in us," RogerEbert.com's Christy Lemire noted.

Even more compelling is the director's choice to visualize Fox's stories using clips from his movies and shows. When Fox describes getting his role on "Family Ties," for example, the film shows a scene from "The Secret of My Success" where Fox's character pleads, "I want this job. I need it. I can do it." Later, as Fox opens up about battling alcoholism, Guggenheim compiles every clip he could find from Fox's movies where his character drinks and/or wakes up in a daze. Placing these scenes in a new context creates the illusion that we're viewing real moments from Fox's life, not scenes of him acting. The fascinating exercise is sure to be studied in editing classes. "Guggenheim does an astonishing job of finding clips from Fox's career to suit the story beats," Variety's Peter Debruge wrote, and interweaving the modern interviews with these clips "makes for a bold and bravely vulnerable form of nonfiction narrative," said The Washington Post's Michael O'Sullivan.

Guggenheim combines these old clips with reenactments of events from Fox's life. The director also draws on a massive collection of archival footage, including behind-the-scenes video, and these clips are edited into a series of energetic montages. One illustrates how Fox filmed "Back to the Future" and "Family Ties" simultaneously, and the mix of reenactments, interviews, and eerily relevant clips is so seamless, it's easy to forget we're not watching a scripted narrative feature. Another montage shows signs of Fox's Parkinson's disease in his performances before he revealed the diagnosis to the public. The filmmaking choices are "inspired and border on experimental," The Hollywood Reporter's Daniel Fienberg explained, and Deadline's Pete Hammond dubbed the editing award-worthy. It all adds up to a movie that's visually dynamic and provides a value that viewers couldn't get from simply listening to an extended interview with Fox. "As rote as many celebrity navel-gazing documentaries have become, it's refreshing to see a film that can still find the strengths of the format," The A.V. Club's Leigh Monson pointed out.

When the film delves into Fox's Parkinson's battle, it doesn't hold back, and the interviews are "far less delicate than one might expect," The Wall Street Journal's John Anderson said. In one, Fox reflects on his mortality by stating that if he's alive in 20 years, he'll be cured or a "pickle." In another scene, he greets a fan on the street before falling to the ground, and when we see footage of his physical therapy sessions, he admits to being in "intense pain."

Despite all this, "the documentary is, perhaps improbably, not a downer in the least," but instead "a character study in which Fox reflects on his life with quick wit and self-deprecation," The New York Times' Ben Kenigsberg noted. Indeed, the actor speaks with "humor and nary a trace of self-pity," CNN's Brian Lowry observed, and Empire's John Nugent called it "amazing how funny he is, even when visibly in pain." After Fox describes falling into a piece of furniture and smashing his face, he jokes, "Gravity is real, even if you're only falling from my height." And in the scene where he falls after greeting a fan, he doesn't waste a moment before quipping, "You knocked me off my feet." The "effects of Parkinson's are visible but so is the jaunty, self-deprecating actor we've always known," The Associated Press' Jake Coyle said. When Fox is at home with his wife, Tracy Pollan, and their kids, the family always appears to be in good spirits, as in a scene where they playfully rib him for his texting etiquette. "His relationship with Pollan and their children seems to have finally granted him the stillness he never had," wrote Mark Kermode at The Guardian.

Ultimately, "Still" is not the "story of a wonderful actor felled by an illness," as Time's Stephanie Zacharek put it. It's the "story of a wonderful actor, period." It "accomplishes something amazing" by drawing "viewers into the painful reality of Fox's life with Parkinson's without turning him into an object of pity or martyrdom," NPR's Eric Deggans agreed. So as devastating as the documentary can be, it also serves as a reminder that the actor's story shouldn't be defined by his Parkinson's battle, nor should he be viewed mainly as a tragic figure.

"If you pity me, it's never gonna get to me," he says in the film. "I'm not pathetic. I got shit going on. I'm a tough son of a bitch."

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Republicans are blasting President Biden for leaving Washington for Asia on Wednesday without significant progress on debt limit negotiations, as the country inches toward a deadline on defaulting that could prove catastrophic on the financial system.

Biden will be in Japan for this weekends Group of Seven (G-7) summit but has canceled the latter portion of his trip, which included stops in Papua New Guinea and Australia, to be back in the nations capital and resume talks with congressional leaders.

Even with the shortened trip, lawmakers criticized Biden for taking off at all.

Here we are on the brink of a Biden default. And I think we saw the helicopters going across here, and I said I think hes leaving now to go to Japan. Im like stop, stop, Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) said during an outdoor press conference at the Capitol on Wednesday.

She criticized the president for priding himself on being a good negotiator yet not negotiating with Republicans between the beginning of February until last week, when he brought leaders to the table again.

Mr. President, cancel your trip to Japan. Stay at the table, said Rep. Dusty Johnson (R-S.D). Good grief, Mr. President, when is enough, enough? Shame on anyone, on anyone, who refuses to act. Speaker [Kevin] McCarthy and this entire team have been responsible, reasonable and sensible. Time is short, Mr. President. Lets get this done.

Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.), who has gone toe-to-toe with Biden on some key policy issues, said the president should not leave, and he should worry about the debt limit here at home.

After his meeting with Biden and other congressional leaders Tuesday, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) was asked if Biden should even be attending the G-7 and responded that the president can make his own decisions about his time.

The White House maintains Biden can be president anywhere, a line they often use when he heads out of Washington.

But on the day of Bidens departure, McCarthy slightly changed his tune, saying, I think he can conduct international business while dealing with the debt ceiling before suggesting that the president should not have taken the trip.

I think America wants an American president focused on American problems, the California Republican said.

Biden delivered last-minute, unexpected remarks just before take off where he tried to assure the nation that leaders could come to an agreement before the country could default on its debt on June. 1 He referred to his shortened trip, indicating that would return Sunday after the G-7. His absence disrupted another international event  a planned Quad Leaders summit in Sydney was canceled once Biden determined he would not attend.

When questioned about Bidens indication that he can return to Washington on Sunday, have a press conference and finish the deal, McCarthy poked at the president for not engaging in talks between Feb. 1 and last week.

Its doable, but this is for a guy who didnt want to meet with us for 97 days, and leaves the country and says he wants to come back Sunday to have a press conference? I really want a president thats engaged and working through it, the Speaker said.

The White House brushed off Republican criticism over Biden leaving Washington at all, highlighting the significance of the G-7.

One of the responsibilities that an American president has is our leadership on the global stage, which is incredibly important and critical, press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters on the way to Japan, by way of Alaska, on Wednesday. There are critical issues, yes, domestically, but also internationally that the president has to take on.

McCarthy at the White House on Tuesday outlined that Biden had changed the scope of who is involved in talks, appointing White House officials, including his Office of Management and Budget director, to work directly with members of the Speakers team as they try to reach an agreement.

Biden on Wednesday said that group met last night and will meet again Wednesday as well as in the days following. Biden added he will be in constant contact with his team while at the G-7 and in touch with the Speaker.

National security adviser Jake Sullivan defended the decision to cancel the second leg of the trip when questioned about the White House previously insisting that Biden can do the job of president anywhere  right before they announced the trip would be cut short.

As we were getting prepared to take off on this trip, he  made the determination that in the balance of his time, he needed to be back in Washington for the closing days before the deadline to ensure the United States does not go over a cliff, Sullivan said.

The president is confident that we can avoid default, but the reason hes going back is to make sure that happens. So what he will tell [allies] is he is going home to do what a president does, Sullivan said, adding that Biden will express confidence to allies that he can strike a deal.

Vice President Harris is set to provide an update to reporters on preventing default Thursday, alongside the director of the National Economic Council Director, Lael Brainard, indicating that she is also stepping in while the president is away.

Thats still not enough for lawmakers.

[Treasury Department Secretary Janet Yellen] said the U.S. could default as early as June 1, which is 16 days away. With this as a backdrop, President Biden is planning to hop on a plane to Japan tomorrow, Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) said Tuesday. He cant fly halfway around the globe just as negotiations are gaining momentum.

Meanwhile, some Democrats defended the presidents decision to leave town.

I dont think hes the one sitting in the room doing the negotiations. I think hes the one, hopefully, leading the people in the room negotiating, but he can do that via Zoom or via telephone call, Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) said. Look, theres a lot of shit going on in the world he needs to be tending to, too.

Similarly, Sen. Dick Durbin (Ill.), the No. 2 Senate Democrat, said Bidens trip to the G-7 is a high priority.

President Biden has a G-7 meeting, which is an effort to establish global security. Its a very high priority, he said. I hope that Speaker McCarthy doesnt try to use that [against him].

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
The Russian occupiers attacked the city of Mykolaiv with two Kalibr cruise missiles on the night of 16 May.

Source: General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on Facebook, information as of 06:00 on 17 May

Details: It was noted that Kalibr missiles hit the civilian infrastructure of Mykolaiv.

The General Staff also confirmed that yesterday, Russian forces fired two S-300 missiles on civilian infrastructure facilities in Kostiantynivka, Donetsk Oblast.

Background:

The Russian invaders attacked Mykolaiv on 16 May, with fires breaking out in the city, and one woman injured.

Vitalii Kim posted a photo of the "military target" in Mykolaiv which was hit by the Russians. Judging by the photo, a supermarket was damaged.

Journalists fight on their own frontline. Support Ukrainska Pravda or become our patron!
Black peoples higher mortality rate from 1999 to 2020 resulted in a cumulative loss of more than 80 million years of life compared to the white population.

Black Americans experienced a startling 1.63 million excess deaths compared with white Americans over the past 22 years.

According to KFF Health News, a study published Tuesday in the medical journal JAMA found that Black peoples higher mortality rate from 1999 to 2020 resulted in a cumulative loss of more than 80 million years of life compared to the white population.

The studys authors characterize it as a call to action to enhance the health of Black Americans, whose higher rates of heart disease, cancer, and infant mortality contribute to their disproportionately early deaths.

Research has consistently shown that Black Americans experience higher rates of premature deaths compared with white people. The gap was starting to narrow but COVID-19 widened it again, a new study shows. (Photo: Adobe Stock)

Real lives are being lost. Real families are missing parents and grandparents, said study author Herman Taylor, a director at the Morehouse School of Medicine, KFF reported. Babies and their mothers are dying. We have been screaming this message for decades.

From 1999 to 2011, the country made headway in bridging the gap between white and Black death rates, but that development stagnated from 2011 to 2019. Two decades of advancement were undone in 2020 by the large number of deaths brought on by COVID-19, which was particularly hard on Black Americans.

Clyde Yancy, a study author and the chief of cardiology at Northwestern Universitys Feinberg School of Medicine, said the countrys long history of discrimination contributes to Black peoples high mortality rates more than genetics.

Yancy noted that Black communities redlined in the 1930s, because they were deemed too high risk for mortgages and other investments, remain poorer and sicker today. There were also more COVID-19 infections and deaths in previously redlined ZIP codes.

Non-Hispanic White Americans in 2021 could anticipate a life expectancy at birth of 76 years, compared with a 71-year life expectancy for non-Hispanic Black Americans. Non-Hispanic Black infants are 2 1/2 times as likely to pass away before their first birthday than non-Hispanic White infants. Regarding the likelihood of dying from a pregnancy-related problem, non-Hispanic Black women are more than three times more probable than non-Hispanic White mothers.

Tonia Branche, a neonatal-perinatal medicine fellow in Chicago who was not involved in the JAMA study, said racial health disparities are so deeply ingrained that wealth and education cannot completely eradicate them.

Black women with college degrees were more likely to die from pregnancy-related problems than white women without a high school diploma. Branche suggested that stress, such as that caused by systematic racism, may have a more negative impact on Black mothers health than was previously thought.

According to a companion study, racial and ethnic imbalances cost the United States $421 billion in medical costs, lost productivity and early deaths in 2018.

Khaliah Johnson is the director of pediatric palliative care at Childrens Healthcare of Atlanta. While she was not part of the JAMA study, she noted that Black individuals bear a disproportionately heavy burden of grieving, which can negatively impact their mental and physical health.

Johnson said she hoped the new study would help people understand how society is impacted when Black individuals die too soon.

We as Black people all have some legacy of unjust, unwarranted loss and death that compounds with each new loss, said Johnson, whose parents lost two boys, KFF reported. It affects not only how we move through the world, but how we live in relationship with others and how we endure future losses.

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Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 17)  Suspended Negros Oriental 3rd District Rep. Arnolfo Teves belied the claim of Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla that he will return to the Philippines on Wednesday.

Teves, the alleged mastermind in the assassination of Negros Oriental Gov. Roel Degamo, dismissed Remulla's announcement as fake news.

Sana tinanong muna nila ako bago sila nagbitaw ng salita," the lawmaker said in a message to CNN Philippines.

[Translation: They could have asked me first before announcing anything.]

Remulla earlier said Teves may have decided to return as it was becoming more difficult for him to travel to other countries while on Interpol notice.

Teves has denied involvement in the killing of Degamo.

He sought political asylum from Timor-Leste, but the application was denied.

The lawmaker faced a 60-day suspension in March due to his failure to return to the Philippines from his medical treatment in the United States after his travel authority expired. The suspension runs until May 22.

The Philippine National Police (PNP) said it is on alert if Teves decides to come home.

According to PNP Chief Public Information Officer PBGen. Red Maranan, they have alerted the PNP Aviation Security Group and the Civil Aviation Authority to assist the embattled congressman.

The PNP addressed concerns of Teves regarding his security by further reiterating that he will be in safe hands.

The police force, however, did not disclose where Teves will be taken upon his arrival.

In an interview with CNN Philippines Balitaan, Teves' lawyer Ferdinand Topacio said Remulla's claim is irresponsible.

To announce that someone is on his way back ng walang (without) verification, I think, is the height of irresponsibility, he said.

Topacio also reiterated that there is no reason for Teves to be in the Philippines amid "a serious and grave threat to his life.

CNN Philippines Correspondents Xianne Arcangel and Crissy Dimatulac contributed to this report.
Theres a lack of civil legal aid services across South Dakota, and a group of three legal aid services have come together to publish a report illustrating the need for services.

The recetly published statewide legal needs assessment was a partnership between East River Legal Services, Dakota Plains Legal Services and Access to Justice. The study surveyed and conducted in-depth interviews with community partners and potential clients across South Dakota.

Were really in a crisis when it comes to civil legal access to courts, said Lea Wroblewski, the East River Legal Services executive director. She noted the crisis isnt unique to South Dakota, but rather the nation.

Courtroom 2B sits on the second floor of the Lincoln County Courthouse, across from the state's attorney office, on Tuesday, January 25, 2022.

What is unique to the South Dakota civil legal crisis is the lack of lawyers in rural areas, leaving people to represent themselves in court. The study also surveyed populations that commonly come in contact with the civil legal system and the issues they face. The report also listed recommendations for ways to ease some of the issues.

There is absolutely a lack of attorneys in rural areas in South Dakota and the state bars done a number of things to try and help with that, Wroblewski said. But, there are communities that dont have lawyers. Those resources arent available even if you can afford to pay for it.

And when people need help navigating the civil court system, it can be an uphill battle trying to access legal service aid.

Nearly one out of every five civil cases between 2018 and 2021 were rejected, leaving people without legal aid while navigating the civil court systems, according to the report.

More: New South Dakota task force aims to better support attorneys defending residents in legal trouble

That means people are typically left to represent themselves in court, also known as pro se cases. About 80% of divorce cases in parts of the state are pro se cases.

Honestly, a lot of the time, the [divorce] process cant be completed, Wroblewski said, explaining that one party may be able to file the divorce but might be unable to overcome the systematic barriers. The cases will drag on sometimes for years because the parties cant figure out how to finalize the case or they cant figure out how to calculate child support.

Pro se cases can also be a drain on the court, with Rapid City court clerks noting in the report that they cant provide legal advice or help individuals fill out the form.

More: Her tribe pays her Sioux Falls rent, landlord says its due. Now, she's going to court.

From the courts point of view, it is so much better for all parties when an attorney is involved in a case, according to the report. It is hard for judges to help when the litigants are not prepared or do not know what they are doing.

Denise Langley, the executive director of Access to Justice in Pierre, said she's hopeful the study could pave the way for the three programs to establish pro se form clinics in rural areas.

Wroblewski added when pro se cases have a party represented by a lawyer, the outcome isnt as good for the person representing themselves. And, its not just divorces Wroblewski said, its also evictions.

Almost 100% of those tenants are unrepresented, she said, adding that COVID-19 pandemic rental resources are running out but rental assistance is still a viable pathway for tenants. We have recently seen several instances where if we know the tenant is going to be receiving assistance thats on its way, the landlords are done. Theyre ready to get the tenant out and move someone else in.

More: Renter rights: How you are protected under South Dakota law

Surveying overrepresented populations

As part of the data gathering process, specific populations were oversampled to gain a better understanding of legal barriers they confront. Those populations included Native Americans, seniors, victims of domestic abuse and veterans.

Of the 10 counties that have a high rate of legal aid, eight are on reservations and seven of those 10 have the highest poverty rate in the state.

Most legal aid clients were white and Native American, and a majority of clients were women.

More: Lack of diverse interpreters creates delays in due process for some Minnehaha County defendants

Civil court cases that needed more legal aid included child abuse and neglect, housing, divorce and child bustody, elder abuse, and tribal law. Theres also a shortage of expertise on immigration, bankruptcy, family law and tribal law.

Immigration and bankruptcy cases tend to get sent to attorneys in Sioux Falls where someone might be able to take their case. South Dakota Voices for Peace, a non-profit immigration and civil rights group, has attorneys specializing in immigration law.

On the western side of the state, people with more specialized cases have to go to Rapid City.

What can be done?

The civil legal study comes as a group of judges, lawyers, court experts and lawmakers work throughout the summer on a taskforce focused on barriers within criminal indigent court services.

The legislature also helped fund access for legal services in South Dakota during the 2023 session, Paul Cremer, the executive director of the South Dakota State Bar said.

"We're hopeful that they will continue to provide funding for efforts to address access to legal services in South Dakota," he said.

More: A new taskforce could examine issues with court appointed attorneys across South Dakota

As for civil legal services, Wroblewski said the study was surprising based on how many of their community partners didnt understand what cases East River, Dakota Plains and Access to Justice could and could not take on.

We havent done a very good job about messaging, Wroblewski said. I think that would help the frustration level, too, if clients or agencies knew youre not likely to get an attorney  I just dont have enough attorneys for the need  but we can give you advice, we can help you with the pro se forms and help you know what type of outcome to get.

Joint recommendations between the three civil legal services included clarifying application processes, the creation of legal aid referral sheets for county courthouse clerks to give out, recruitment and education partnerships.

Langley said the groups are already working through the recommendations and are looking for the potential for collaboration between legal aid service programs and other stakeholders like the Uniformed Judicial System and non-profits.

Overall, Wroblewski said the thinking around accessing legal services needs to change.

I do think we need to just think about the legal profession and consider different ways to help individuals access the courts, Wroblewski said. I think rather than just say everyone needs a lawyer, because I don't think that's realistic, I think we need to say what are other options to help this person get through this process in a successful way.

This article originally appeared on Sioux Falls Argus Leader: Study: Lack of lawyers in rural South Dakota cause of legal crisis
Sudan's Darfur conflict: Why an accountant took up arms

El Geneina's market has been ransacked during the fighting

Accountant Mohamed Osman has been forced to pick up an AK-47 rifle for the first time in his life to defend his neighbourhood as the conflict in Sudan escalates, inflaming racial tensions between Arabs and other groups in the country's volatile Darfur region.

Mr Osman lives in El Geneina, historically a symbol of black African power in Darfur, that has been shelled, burnt and looted by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and allied Arab militiamen. Their notoriety has earned them the nickname Janjaweed, an Arabic word for "devils on horseback" .

"I've never seen such a thing in more than 20 years of war in Darfur. It's awful," Mr Osman, 38, said. We have changed his name for his own safety.

"Whenever there is an attack by the Janjaweed here in El Geneina, their fellow tribesmen come with their arms from across the border in Chad on motorbikes and on horsebacks to assist them," he told the BBC from his home in the northern Ardamata neighbourhood.

Mr Osman's office, in the city centre, is a burnt-out wreck.

"I can't go there, let alone work," he noted, in a matter of fact way.

Another resident, Mohammed Ibrahim, said the city had been taken over by the RSF and Janjaweed, with snipers positioned in buildings and gunmen on streets.

"They're just shooting every place. If you go outside you'll be killed. You can't move, even 200 or 300 metres," Mr Ibrahim told the BBC. His name has also been changed.

Medics reported that at least 280 people have been killed and 160 have been wounded in El Geneina in the last few days alone.

The latest violence is seen by analysts as a clear breach of the 11 May Saudi-brokered agreement between the RSF and the Sudanese army to alleviate the suffering of civilians, while talks aimed at reaching a ceasefire continue in Jeddah.

Mr Osman said that as the fighting advanced closer to Ardamata in recent days, he and many other men in his neighbourhood got AK-47 rifles and began carrying out 24-hour patrols in shifts.

This was something he never imagined doing, as his life used to revolve around keeping track of the finances of his clients.

"We have no choice but to arm ourselves and defend our city," Mr Osman said, pointing out that he could not risk exposing his family - including his mother, sisters, nieces and nephews - to the much-feared paramilitaries and militiamen.

Asked how he acquired his Soviet-made Kalashnikov rifle, he replied wryly: "The cheapest thing you can buy here is a weapon."

In contrast, food has become scarce and prices have rocketed as the RSF and Janjaweed set markets ablaze.

"They even burnt the food and flour that was stored in the markets, as if they want the survivors of bullets to die of hunger," said Ishaq Hussein, a former worker at a non-governmental organization in El Geneina.

The BBC has been unsuccessful in attempts to reach the RSF for comment.

The Massalit people say they have faced racism for years

With a population that was put at around 170,000 in the last census in 2010, El Geneina is the traditional capital of the Massalit kingdom, making it a target for the Janjaweed. They have long been accused of ethnic cleansing against non-Arab groups in Darfur.

"The Janjaweed are killing all the African people starting with the Massalit," Mr Ibrahim said.

Conflict first erupted in Darfur in 2003 when mostly non-Arabs took up arms against the government, complaining about discrimination and a lack of development.

The government retaliated by mobilising the Janjaweed, and later welding them into an estimated 80,000 to 100,000-strong paramilitary force that has now turned on Sudan's military ruler Gen Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and the army he commands.

The RSF launched an assault on the capital Khartoum on 15 April, with the military retaliating with daily air strikes in a bid to regain control of the city.

But in El Geneina, there is no attempt to fight back against the RSF and the Janjaweed.

"There's a zero presence of the army or any other government body to protect the civilians," Mr Ali said.

The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) estimates that about 100,000 people have fled their homes in the city, and remain "at the mercy of the relentless violence, with settlements once again being reduced to ashes".

"We are still unable to deliver emergency aid," NRC added in a statement.

Mr Ibrahim said that water supplies had also been cut.

"Water is a big problem for everyone, even for the donkey," he said.

He made a desperate plea for international help, saying the city has been under attack for 23 consecutive days.

"A lot of injured people don't have any type of treatment, more than hundreds and hundreds and hundreds," Mr Ibrahim said.

He added that he was alone at home, having sent his wife and family to safety.

"I have kids and it's difficult for them to be hearing these guns every day. That's why I sent them out," he said, pointing out that families tend to leave in guided groups before sunrise, when the risk of being confronted by the RSF and Janjaweed is less.

Mr Osman said that if the security crisis deepens, he too will flee to Chad to live in make-shift camps.

"If this does not stop by the mercy of Allah, I will take my family and run to Chad to stay in a shelter built with our clothes rather than being killed here," he said.
A Florida sheriffs deputy is being lauded on social media for pulling off an animal rescue while changing someones flat tire at a convenience store.

It happened in Brooksville, about 50 miles north of Tampa.

While Deputy L. Janezic was at a local Speedway gas station ... a citizen noticed what sounded like a cat coming from her engine, the Hernando County Sheriffs Office wrote in a May 16 Facebook post.

Deputy Janezic looked in the engine bay of the womans car to find two kittens trapped inside. Both kittens were rescued, all while Deputy Janezic was still changing a tire in the same parking lot for another citizen.

A photo shows the kittens appeared to be just weeks old. Their fate was not revealed.

Meanwhile, Janezic returned to responding to calls for service after a busy time in this parking lot.

The Facebook post reporting the rescue had garnered nearly 8,000 reactions and comments within 24 hours, including reports the kittens were adopted by someone working at the store.

Most of the commenters praised Janezic, who joined the department in December 2020.

This is why police officers are trained for multi tasking.  You just never know when you will have to change a tire and save two kittens all at the same time, Leanne Gagnon Walsh wrote on Facebook.

Super woman, Amber Kettering posted. You rock maam.

This is the definition of serving and protecting, Martin McFly said.

Cats rear was too big to fit through Virginia storm drain. It got hopelessly stuck

Mean feral cat suddenly went blind at NC shelter. It led to a stunning transformation

Worlds worst cat up for adoption at North Carolina shelter. Shes just a jerk.
The Supreme Court declined to immediately block Illinoiss assault weapons and high-capacity magazine bans, leaving them in place, for now.

A gun rights group and gun shop owner asked the justices to pause the laws enforcement by intervening in the case ahead of an appeals courts final ruling. The lawsuit also challenges an ordinance in Naperville, Ill., that bans the sale of assault rifles.

The justices, in a brief, unsigned order, declined to step in at this stage of the case, which could ultimately return to the Supreme Court on the merits.

Last summer, the conservative majority handed down the courts largest expansion of gun rights in more than a decade, ruling that gun control measures must be consistent with the nations historical tradition of firearm regulation.

A number of Democratic-led states passed new gun laws following the decision, and lawsuits were quickly filed.

But the Supreme Court has since on three occasions declined to take an aggressive approach using the courts emergency docket, which only involves minimal briefing and no oral argument, to intervene in gun law challenges.

In Illinois, Democrats looked to pass new gun control measures following a mass shooting at a Fourth of July parade in Highland Park, Ill., which killed seven people while wounding dozens of others.

The city of Naperville, located about 35 miles southwest of Highland Park, passed an ordinance last August that bans the sale of assault rifles, defined to include 26 categories of weapons or other firearms that meet certain criteria. It went into effect in January.

Robert Bevis, the owner Naperville firearm store Law Weapons, sued over the ordinance, and the National Association for Gun Rights joined his effort.

They later added to their lawsuit a challenge to the Protect Illinois Communities Act, which was enacted Jan. 10 and banned the sale of assault weapons and high-capacity magazines statewide. Residents who already owned such weapons could legally keep them.

A federal district judge in a preliminary ruling declined to block either the state law or the city ordinance in February. Late last month, the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals declined a request to put the measures on hold as the gun rights advocates appealed.

The advocates then brought the request to the Supreme Court.

A separate lawsuit recently caused the state law to be briefly put on hold, but the measure was quickly put back into effect.

The justices in the dispute took a similar route to how they handled two other emergency requests to block New York gun laws earlier this year.

Attached to one of those rulings, conservative Justice Samuel Alito, joined by fellow conservative Justice Clarence Thomas, wrote in a statement that advocates should not be deterred and that the court declining to step in was over procedural considerations, rather than expressing a view on the merits of the case.



For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Supreme Court says Illinois may ban sale of rapid-fire assault weapons for now

The Supreme Court's action regarding Illinois is a good sign for California and the eight other states that also ban the sale of assault weapons. (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times)

The Supreme Court on Wednesday turned down a 2nd Amendment appeal from gun owners and let stand for now an Illinois law banning the sale of the rapid-fire assault weapons that have been used to carry out mass shootings across the country.

In an unsigned order with no dissents, the justices rejected an emergency appeal that asked them to block a local ordinance and the state ban from taking



effect.

While the courts action is not a ruling on the broader constitutional issue, it is a good sign for California and the eight other states that also ban the sale of assault weapons.

Justices usually agree to block a new law from taking effect if they believe it is unconstitutional.

The case before the high court was the National Assn. for Gun Rights vs. Naperville, Ill.

The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago has said it will hear arguments on the constitutional issue in late June, and the justices may have decided to wait for that ruling.

The high court has not ruled directly on whether an AR-15-style rifle is protected by the 2nd Amendment. In the past, it turned away 2nd Amendment challenges to similar state and local laws.

But last year, gun rights advocates were cheered when the more conservative court struck down laws in New York and elsewhere that restricted many law-abiding gun owners from carrying a concealed weapon in public. Writing for a 6-3 majority, Justice Clarence Thomas said gun restrictions can be upheld only if they are consistent with the nations historical tradition of firearms regulation.

Less than two weeks after that ruling was announced, a shooter armed with a semiautomatic AR-15 rifle and 30-round magazines opened fire on an Independence Day parade in Highland Park, Ill. The weapon allowed the shooter to fire 83 rounds in less than a minute, killing seven and wounding 48.

In response, the city of Naperville and the state of Illinois adopted new laws to forbid the sale and possession of assault weapons and high-capacity magazines. Only the sale ban was due to take effect immediately.

A gun store owner and several gun rights groups sued to block the measures as violations of the 2nd Amendment.

Gun rights advocates argued that millions of AR-15s have been sold in this country and that the 2nd Amendment has been understood to protect firearms that are in common use.

But todays lightweight semiautomatic weapons are quite unlike the heavy, cumbersome muskets that were in use in 1791. In defense of the ban, the states lawyers argued that the rapid-fire rifles were developed and marketed as military-style offensive weapons, not as a means for self-defense.

A federal judge agreed and allowed Napervilles ban to take effect.

The history of firearms regulation establishes that governments enjoy the ability to regulate highly dangerous arms, said U.S. District Judge Virginia M. Kendall, and assault weapons and large-capacity magazines fall under this category.

The 7th Circuit Court refused to block the two laws from taking effect while it considered the gun groups appeal.







This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Suspect linked to Mesa homicide is identified in Globe by authorities

Multiple law enforcement agencies attempted to negotiate for a peaceful surrender of a man who shot at officers and then barricaded himself inside a residence.

The U.S. Marshals Service identified the man taken into custody Friday in connection to a Mesa homicide.

Joseph Pratt, 46, was wanted for weapon violations and a recent Mesa homicide, and was identified by the Arizona WANTED Violent Offender Task Force in Globe, Ariz., according to authorities.

When officers approached to make contact, Pratt shot at officers and then barricaded himself inside of a residence, firing off several more shots "with no regard of the safety of the community," said U.S. Marshal Matthew Tate.

Members of the Task Force, along with the Mesa Police Department SWAT, Apache Junction SWAT, Department of Public Safety SWAT, Globe Police Department and Gila County Sheriff's Department attempted to negotiate for a peaceful surrender.

Pratt failed to comply with the officers' orders to evacuate the premises and after a less lethal use of munition, he was ultimately arrested. Pratt was then transported to a hospital to be treated, according to authorities.

No other injuries were reported during the shooting and the investigation is still ongoing.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Suspect arrested in Mesa homicide is identified by authorities
Suspected overdoses kill two Fayette County students hours before the school's graduation

Two teenage girls were found dead from a suspected drug overdose at a Fayette County high school late Tuesday afternoon, according to Fayette County Public Schools.

A third teenage girl was rushed to an area hospital in critical condition, but was later upgraded to stable condition, according to the Fayette County Sheriff's Office.

All three of the students attended Fayette-Ware High School. The high school held its scheduled graduation Tuesday evening.

Both the Fayette County school system and the sheriff's department posted few details about the overdoses. The victim's identities have not been confirmed by any public officials.

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation is also investigating the circumstances around the students' deaths.

All three students were found in the parking lot of the high school, hours before the graduation ceremony was slated to begin in the school's gymnasium.

Like virtually every other Tennessee county and U.S. state,

Overdoses and overdose deaths have increased over the last decade in Fayette County, similar to every other Tennessee county and U.S. state, largely driven by the prevalence of synthetic opioids, like Fentanyl.

But with a population of around 43,000, overdose fatalities in Fayette County are not necessarily common.

According to data from the Tennessee Department of Health, 19 people have overdosed and died in the county in 2021  the latest year for which data is available.

Micaela Watts is a reporter for The Commercial Appeal. She can be reached at micaela.watts@commercialappeal.com.

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Two Fayette County students found dead from suspected drug overdoses
Sweden wants to make pesky EV chargers a thing of the past.

The Nordic country is building the worlds first permanent electric road that will recharge the batteries of cars and trucks as theyre driving on it, as reported by Elektrek. The Swedes have already piloted four temporary electrified roads, but this 13-mile stretch will be, well, concrete.

More from Robb Report

The new e-highway, which is set to be complete in just two years time, will increase vehicle range on the go and reduce the need for lengthy charging pitstops. The project is being spearheaded by Trafikverket, though the Swedish transport administration has yet to settle on a contractor and the tech that it will use.

Trafikverket is considering three different options that it has already successfully trialed. The highway could be fitted with overhead power lines that can power a car like a tram or electric rails that transmit energy to the EV through a conductive pickup beneath the vehicle. Another option is an inductive system in which electromagnetic coils that are embedded in the road pass a charge into the battery.

A short electric road north of Stockholm that was laid in 2018.

Theres a silver lining to the inductive tech, too. Swedens Chalmers University of Technology released a study back in March that found a combination of home charging and dynamic charging could make EV batteries 70 percent (or one-third) smaller.

The road itself will be built on the European route E20, which connects Hallsberg and Orebro. The highway also provides access to Swedens major cities of Stockholm, Gothenburg, and Malmo. The E20 was selected as it is a heavily trafficked route and also has the power supply required.

The road is expected to come online shortly after it is completed in 2025. Sweden plans to have a further 1,900 or so miles of electric road laid by 2045. Other countries such as France, Italy, the U.K., and the U.S. are also looking into building electric roads. Given the EV charging network in the States is buckling with the influx of battery-powered rides, it seems that electric roads cant come soon enough.

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New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi delivers a speech during a press conference in Taipei, Taiwan, Wednesday, May 17, 2023. Taiwan's Nationalist Party has selected the current New Taipei City mayor Hou, as their candidate in the upcoming presidential elections next year. (AP Photo/Chiang Ying-ying)

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP)  Taiwan's opposition Nationalist Party picked the popular mayor of New Taipei City, Hou Yu-ih, on Wednesday as its candidate in next year's presidential election, seen as a referendum on the island's future relations with China.

Hou, the former head of the National Police Agency, will face current Vice President William Lai of the governing Democratic Progressive Party in the January polls. The Nationalists seek warmer ties with mainland China, while the governing party is seen as pro-independence. Current President Tsai Ing-wen has served two terms and is unable to run again.

Hou was chosen by the Nationalists over Terry Gou, a billionaire Taiwanese businessman who founded Foxconn, the world's largest contract electronics maker. One of his first tasks will be to try to unite the party behind his candidacy.

Hou has said little publicly about his approach to China, focusing instead on local politics. Beijing claims Taiwan as its territory and has repeatedly threatened to take the island by force. Near-daily flights by Chinese fighter jets near Taiwan have raised tensions.

Hou enjoys popular support as mayor of New Taipei, the administrative region that surrounds Taipei, the capital. Liu Cheng-shan, a professor of political science at National Sun Yat-Sen University, said Hou has developed a reputation for getting things done as mayor. He gives everyone an image of someone who quietly does the work and is diligent, Liu said.

I'm Taiwanese. I'm humble, diligent and honest," Hou said Wednesday, speaking in Taiwanese at the Nationalist Party headquarters in Taipei. I will work hard to strive for a good future for this piece of land. We know that the Republic of China is our country and Taiwan is our home. The Republic of China is the island's official name.

Foxconn founder Gou had announced in April that he was seeking the party's nomination and accused the Democratic Progressive Party of increasing tensions with Beijing. He conceded to Hou on Wednesday and offered his congratulations.

Experts say Hou is likely to follow his partys general direction in international relations.

The Nationalists, also known as KMT, support an agreement with Beijing called the 1992 Consensus under which both sides consider Taiwan and the mainland to be one country. In Taiwan, that is seen as the Republic of China. The mainland says the one country is the Peoples Republic of China which includes Taiwan as a province.

President Tsai declined to explicitly agree to the consensus when she came into power in 2016, prompting Beijing to cut off communications with her government.

Hou said last week in response to a question from a lawmaker that he believes in the sovereignty and rights of a nation called the Republic of China, but stopped short of saying that Taiwan is independent.

However, he said he opposes the one country, two systems framework proposed by Beijing for unification under which Taiwan would be allowed its own form of governance as part of China. That framework was also used for Hong Kong's return to Chinese rule in 1997. The rights promised under it have steadily deteriorated as Beijing has taken more control over the territory.

Civic groups have called for Hou to clarify his role in the death of a pro-democracy activist and publisher, Deng Nan-jung, in 1989. Hou, then a police captain, led a group of officers who were attempting to arrest Deng, who had barricaded himself in his office for 71 days, when the activist set himself on fire.

___

AP video journalist Taijing Wu contributed to this report.
Mayor of New Taipei, Hou Yu-ih, gestures following the confirmation as the presidential candidate for Taiwan's main opposition party the Kuomintang (KMT), in Taipei

Taiwan's Kuomintang picks New Taipei City mayor as presidential candidate Mayor of New Taipei, Hou Yu-ih, gestures following the confirmation as the presidential candidate for Taiwan's main opposition party the Kuomintang (KMT), in Taipei

By Sarah Wu and Yimou Lee

TAIPEI (Reuters) -Taiwan's main opposition Kuomintang (KMT) party picked New Taipei City mayor Hou Yu-ih on Wednesday to be its presidential candidate for an election next year, with China tensions set to top the election agenda.

The run-up to the vote in mid-January is taking place at a time of increased tensions between Taipei and Beijing, which has staged regular military exercises near Taiwan to assert its sovereignty claims over the democratically governed island despite Taiwan's strong objections.

The KMT favours close ties with China while the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) champions Taiwan's separate identity.

"Internationally, our country faces fierce troops and the danger of war," Hou told reporters at the party's headquarters in Taipei after his candidacy was announced.

"Within the country, there are conflicts over divisions and countless things to be fixed, making it hard for young people to see their future," he said, vowing to lead the KMT to victory.

Outside KMT's headquarters, dozens of people stood behind barricades, some waving Taiwan's flag. A big banner saying "oppose war, want peace" was on display.

KMT chairman Eric Chu said the decision was made based on polling data and the opinions of senior party members.

Polls commissioned by the KMT, as well as surveys conducted by other organizations, showed Hou had a better shot at winning than Foxconn founder Terry Gou, who was also in the fray. The majority of county chiefs and lawmakers supported Hou's candidacy, the party said.

"For the future of the Republic of China and cross-strait peace, the Kuomintang must return to office," Chu said, using Taiwan's official name. The KMT last held office between 2008-2016 amid warming ties with China.

Hou will run against the DPP's William Lai, Taiwan's vice president, who was leading the KMT pick by about five to 10 percentage points, according to three Taiwan polls released this week.

Formerly the head of the National Police Agency, 65-year-old Hou was thrust into the limelight after a landslide re-election win in New Taipei city late last year in a local election in which the KMT trounced the DPP.

Gou, who stepped down as Foxconn's chief in 2019, congratulated Hou on Wednesday for winning the nomination and called him the "best candidate" for the party.

"I will keep my promise to do my best to support Mayor Hou's election campaign in order to win the 2024 election and to remove the incompetent government," Gou said in a Facebook post.

The KMT denies being pro-Beijing, although it supports maintaining good relations with China as well as the proposal that both are part of a single China though each can have its own interpretation of the term.

Despite its differences with China, the DPP has repeatedly offered talks with Beijing that have been rebuffed.

While the KMT has framed the 2024 vote as a choice between war and peace, DPP's Lai has urged voters to choose democracy over authoritarianism.

The Taiwan People's Party, the island's third-largest party, announced on Wednesday that former Taipei mayor Ko Wen-je would be its presidential candidate.

The KMT's poll data showed Hou trailing Lai by 4.97 percentage points, and beating Ko by 0.16 points.

(Reporting by Sarah Wu and Yimou Lee; additional reporting by Ann Wang and Fabian Hamacher; Editing by Christian Schmollinger and Raju Gopalakrishnan)
Debra Long looks through documents about the murder of her son, Randy Long, and photographs from his life, at her home in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., April 19, 2023. An AP examination of data from 23 states shows that Black people are disproportionately denied aid from programs that reimburse victims of violent crime. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Thousands of Americans each year turn to state-run programs that provide financial assistance to victims of violent crime. The money is used to help with funeral expenses, physical and emotional therapy, lost wages, crime-scene cleanup and more.

While interviewing people for a story on gun violence in Philadelphia, The Associated Press heard from victim after victim that they had received a form letter denying them access to the funds. In many cases, the state said they or their loved one had contributed to their own victimization.

The AP sought to find out from the Pennsylvania program  and then programs in all 50 states and the District of Columbia  who was being denied aid, and why.

While the programs hand out millions of dollars each year nationwide, the AP found that Black victims were disproportionately denied in many of the states that provided racial data  and often for subjective reasons rooted in implicit biases that are felt across the criminal justice system.

A look at the takeaways from the AP's investigation.

DISPROPORTIONATE BLACK DENIALS

In 19 out of the 23 states willing to provide racial data, Black victims were disproportionately denied compensation. In Indiana, Georgia and South Dakota, Black applicants were nearly twice as likely as white applicants to be denied. From 2018 through 2021, the denials added up to thousands of Black families each year collectively missing out on millions of dollars in aid.

In Delaware, for instance, Black applicants accounted for less than half of the compensation requests between 2018 and 2021. But they made up more than 63% of denials. Officials there acknowledged that even the best of intentions are no match for systemic bias.

Even race-neutral policy at the programmatic level may not accomplish neutral outcomes under the shadows that race and criminal justice cast on one another," Mat Marshall, a spokesman for Delawares attorney general wrote in an email.

DENIED FOR MISCONDUCT AND LACK OF COOPERATION

Thousands of people are denied compensation every year for often subjective reasons that scrutinize victims behavior before or after a crime. The AP found that Black victims were nearly three times as likely to be denied for these reasons.

In some states examined by AP, such as New York and Nebraska, the denial rates for Black and white applicants seeking compensation werent too far apart. But the data revealed apparent bias in other ways: While white families were more likely to be denied for administrative reasons, such as missing deadlines or seeking aid for crimes that arent covered, Black families were more likely to be denied for subjective reasons, such as whether they may have said or done something to provoke a violent crime.

Many states deny compensation based on a vaguely defined category of behavior  often called contributory misconduct  that can mean anything from acting imprudently during an attack to having drugs in your system. Unlike the burden of proof that is necessary in criminal investigations, compensation can be denied merely based on circumstantial evidence or suspicions, such as people being denied because police found drugs on the ground nearby.

Victims and families also can be denied if police or other officials say they failed to cooperate with an investigation. That can harm people who are wary of retribution for talking to police, or people who dont have information. A Chicago woman who was shot in the back was denied for failing to cooperate, even though she couldnt identify the shooter because she never saw the person.

RACIAL BIAS IS INGRAINED

As the wider criminal justice system  from police departments to courts  reckons with institutional racism in the aftermath of the police killing of George Floyd, compensation programs are also beginning to scrutinize how their policies affect people of color.

Elizabeth Ruebman, an expert with a national network of victims-compensation advocates and a former adviser to New Jerseys attorney general on the states program, said implicit bias can lead to more scrutiny of Black and brown victims.

"We have this long history in victims services in this country of fixating on whether people are bad or good, she said.

The reasons for the disparities are complex but experts point to a few common factors. For starters, the process for reviewing compensation claims in many states involves relying on police reports that may contain implicitly biased descriptions of events. Also, many state guidelines were designed decades ago to benefit victims who would make the best witnesses, disadvantaging people with criminal histories, among others.

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This is the first in an occasional Associated Press series examining crime victim compensation programs. Send confidential tips at ap.org/tips.

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Lauer reported from Philadelphia. Catalini reported from Trenton, New Jersey.
Teach our kids to love our country. Budd breaks silence with Senate speech on NC values

In keeping with a long tradition, first-term senators wanting to gain the respect of their colleagues remain silent on the floor until a respectable amount of time has passed.

On Wednesday, Sen. Ted Budd, a Republican elected from North Carolina in November, is breaking his silence with a 15-minute floor speech that highlights North Carolina values and Americas future.

My number one goal during my time in the U.S. Senate is to create a strong nation full of strong families, Budd planned to say in his speech around 11 a.m. To be of service to others. To make other peoples lives better  to just do what I said I would do.

Budd teased his maiden speech on social media Tuesday and released excerpts of it to McClatchy.

The speech says a younger generation is being indoctrinated with a sense of victimhood, instead of being encouraged with vision and hope.

Instead of teaching the next generation of Americans to wallow in all the things that their country has done wrong, we need to be celebrating, learning, and building on all the things weve done right, Budd says. Simply put, we need to teach our kids to love our country, and not to hate it. To have a spirit of gratitude not a spirit of disdain.

The speech acknowledges that aspects of the country are broken, but says that doesnt overshadow Americans unique ability to overcome challenges.

Some senators wait a few months or up to several years before making their maiden speech as a sign of humility and to show respect to senior colleagues, according to the Senates website. The speech is considered a milestone in a senators career and is often attended by family and senior lawmakers from their home state.

Among those planning to attend Budds speech are his wife and Sen. Thom Tillis, a Republican from North Carolina in his second term.

Budds first six months in office

Vice President Kamala Harris swore Budd into office on Jan. 2. Behind him stood Tillis and Budds predecessor, Sen. Richard Burr, a Republican, who retired.

Budd, who previously served in the U.S. House and was a member of the chambers ultraconservative Freedom Caucus, is ranked as far more conservative than both Tillis and Burr.

But since being sworn into office, with little legislation reaching the Senate floor so far, Budd and Tillis have only disagreed on two votes: both involving the nominations of men for district court judge in California, who Tillis supported, but Budd did not.

Since taking office, Budd has sponsored 10 pieces of legislation and co-sponsored 65. That included bills to speed up a process for approval or denial of a statue to honor the life of the Rev. Billy Graham inside the U.S. Capitol, a resolution to remember the late Sen. Jim Broyhill, a bill to require certain federal employees to disclose their student loans, and legislation that required abortion providers to report potential victims of human trafficking.

Budd improved his voting record this year to 95.2% over last years 87.8% while he ran for Senate, according to C-SPAN, which tracks each members votes.

Economy and regulation

Members of Congress have some heavy decisions ahead of them in the coming weeks as they tackle a looming deadline of defaulting on the countrys debts that could crash the countrys economy and have ripple effects across the world.

Budd planned to talk about the economy during his speech Wednesday.

Looking to the government as our economic savior is simply not the solution, Budds speech says. Capitalism, open markets, a free and moral people  that is the formula for success.

Budd also planned to tell Americans that they can find success if the country has the right leadership to lighten the regulatory burden on job creators.

International affairs and immigration

His speech also includes highlights of the 11 international trips he took during his first five months in the Senate. He planned to discuss his time spent with ambassadors, foreign leaders and U.S. troops deployed overseas.

Budd most recently traveled to the southern border ahead of the expiration of a policy that allowed Border Patrol officials to turn away migrants due to COVID-19. Many say the policys expiration will be a tipping point that leads to a large increase of people trying to cross the border.

But after Thursdays expiration, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said Sunday that theres actually been a 50% drop in the number of people trying to cross. Thats after stern warnings about attempting to cross into the U.S. illegally and after the Biden administration deployed troops to help mitigate any issues that arose once the policy expired.

Budd, on the other hand, a loyal supporter of former President Donald Trump, who helped Budd win his 2022 election with a surprise endorsement, blames Biden for what he says is a crisis caused by failing to complete a border wall that Trump championed. The first bill Budd proposed, on Feb. 14, aims to ensure the wall is completed.

We know if we want to have a strong country, then we have to have a strong border, Budd said from the southern border last week. Ive been to multiple sections of this border over multiple years and Ive seen these crises and this is truly a humanitarian crisis.

Budds origin story

Budds speech highlights his North Carolina roots and the impact of growing up in a small town. Budd was born and raised in Davie County, where his father ran a farm and launched a successful multi-state janitorial company.

In his speech, Budd planned to discuss how he shares the values of small North Carolina communities.

Its about faith, Budds speech says. Its about loyalty to your family and friends. Its about being a man of your word, its about being honest. Its about being reliable. Its about working hard. And its about serving others.

He also planned to highlight North Carolinas motto: Esse Quam Videri, which translates as, To be, rather than to seem.

Put another way, we tend to walk the walk more than talk the talk, Budds speech says. That is the sort of spirit I will endeavor to carry with me during my time in office.
Accenture, a tech staffing firm with about 5,900 employees in Austin, is cutting more than 500 employees in Central Texas.

Tech staffing firm Accenture is laying off more than 500 employees in Austin amid a wider wave of cuts by technology employers.

Accenture, an Irish-American contract firm focused on information technology services and consulting, is considered one of Austin's largest technology employers and has a significant Texas presence with offices in Austin, Dallas, Houston and San Antonio. The company has contracts with large technology giants, including Google and Facebook parent-company Meta, but some of these contracts ended in recent months as the tech industry at large looks to reduce costs.

Accenture has approximately 5,900 employees in Austin, according to the Austin Chamber of Commerce, which tracks the region's top technology employers. The layoffs come as a number of technology giants, including those with large Austin presences, have cut hundreds of employees in recent months amid an uncertain economic environment.

The layoff numbers were reported in a WARN letter, which stands for Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act. Employers are federally mandated to provide notice to state governments in the event of major layoffs.

In a statement, an Accenture spokesperson said Wednesday the company adjusts its workforce from time to time on ongoing projects to meet the needs of its clients.

WARN notices: See which companies announced layoffs and closings

The Austin layoffs follow a wider announcement Accenture made in March in an SEC filing that said the company would be cutting 19,000 employees globally, or about 2.5% of its workforce, over the next 18 months. At the time, Accenture said it expected more than half of the cuts to be in nonbillable corporate functions, which the company has been working to streamline in recent months along with some other operations, to reduce costs.

The WARN notice blocks out what positions in Austin are affected, but it does indicate it includes a range of positions. The WARN notice said that up to 549 people will be cut, with their last days between June 27 and Sept. 8.

"This action is due to a change in client contract requirements and expected to be permanent," the notice said.

The cuts follow the company's rapid growth in recent years. As of March, the company had more than 738,000 employees, up from 699,000 employees at the end of February 2022, according to the SEC filing.

According to the notice, Accenture's affected facility is at 11800 Alterra Parkway in the Domain. The Accenture website lists several Austin offices, though it does not list this office space.

But the Domain address is the same as one of Facebook's Austin offices, and Accenture does have contracts with Meta to provide the tech giant with contract employees.

More: Facebook, Instagram parent company Meta to cut another 10,000 workers; unclear if any in Austin

Accenture said the cuts come "due to a change in client contract terms" that are expected to be permanent.

Despite the number of cuts, in the notice, the company said the Austin facility will not be closing. The notice said that all the affected employees already have been notified or will be at least 60 days before their last day.

"We will rescind an employees termination if, during the notice period, they are able to obtain a new role within Accenture and we will support their efforts to search for a new role," the WARN notice said.

The cuts at Accenture come as other tech giants let go of thousands of employees. Industry experts said the Central Texas tech workforce has undoubtedly seen effects from the reductions, including those at companies with large Austin workforces including Google, Meta and Austin-based Tesla.

In recent months that has included Intel, which last week confirmed it would be laying off employees nationally in positions across the company. The company, which also put its Southwest Austin office on the market this year, employed about 2,100 people in Austin as of 2022, but Intel declined to disclose the number of positions that could be affected nationally or in Central Texas.

During a Tesla shareholders meeting Tuesday, CEO Elon Musk predicted the ongoing economic uncertainty will continue for at least 12 more months, and, while he expected Tesla would come out on the other side strong, he expected some companies will go bankrupt.

More: AI robots, Cybertrucks and more: 6 takeaways from Tesla's shareholder meeting

Other companies cutting employees in recent months include Round Rock-based Dell Technologies, which announced it was laying off 6,650 employees globally, or about 5% of its workforce, to prepare for the economic environment.

In March, Austin-based jobs website Indeed announced cuts expected to affect about 15% of its global workforce due to a cooldown in the job market and reduced demand for its technology. That same month, Meta, which had about 2,000 employees in Austin prior to layoffs, announced its latest round of cuts in March, shedding 10,000 employees nationally, though it did not say if any of the layoffs would be in Austin.

More: Intel slashes jobs nationally, to sell Austin office amid wider tech industry uncertainty

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Accenture lays off 549 employees at Austin's Domain office
Teen charged with murder at KC middle school placed in Division of Youth Services custody

The family of a 14-year-old boy fatally stabbed to death in his middle school last year in Kansas City exited a Wednesday hearing at the Family Justice Center as if still in mourning, after a judge ruled on custody arrangements for the teen accused with the murder.

The mother, Vicenta Guzman, and another family member, Maria Guzman, dressed all in black for the dispositional hearing, which stretched more than two and a half hours. It concluded with Family Court Administrative Judge Kevin Harrell placing the juvenile charged with the murder in the custody of the Division of Youth Services.

The juveniles identity has not been publicized or shared by authorities because of his age.

The 15-year-old is accused of stabbing and killing 14-year-old Manuel Guzman in their Northeast Middle School bathroom on April 12, 2022. He was initially charged with first-degree murder, armed criminal action and unlawful weapon use, but under a plea agreement, agreed to the lesser charge of voluntary manslaughter, which is a class B felony under Missouri law.

The Guzman family spoke out against the plea in a May 12 rally, saying they were disappointed with how the case was prosecuted.

We lost so much during this process with my child. And for them to just accuse him of manslaughter. I disagree, Vicenta Guzman said during a weekend rally.

Her sorrow was clear to the dozens in the courthouse waiting room Wednesday morning. Tears rolled down her cheeks, which were red from crying. She wept for a few minutes with Maria Guzman, who sat in a wheelchair with a breathing tube. Then the pair moved into a nearby elevator.

Both declined to answer questions. An attorney for the family was not immediately available to discuss the hearing.

In an afternoon statement about the hearing, Valerie Hartman, a public information officer for Jackson County, said evidence was entered and recommendations were made by the defense attorney and the Office of the Juvenile Officer as to where the juvenile should be placed.

The family of the victim also addressed the court.

The Division of Youth Services will decide where the juvenile will be placed, how long he will be held and what his treatment plan will entail, Hartman said.
Tell Me The Work Situation That Made You Feel So Over It That It Ultimately Led You To Quit Your Job

You know youre starting to emotionally check out of a job when you find yourself constantly running on autopilot to get through a shift. If you're at the point where you're on the clock just casually daydreaming about quitting, usually all it really takes is one excessively irritating moment to make you lose the last teeny-tiny bit of willpower you have left.

man in business casual clothing in office with caption that says "I gotta get out of here. I think I'm going to lose it."

Judgemental Films / Office Space / Via giphy.com

Most of us have had bummer jobs where we stayed employed way longer than we wanted to only because we had to. These bills definitely arent payin themselves.

beyonce dancing with caption "can you pay my bills?"

Colombia Records / Destiny's Child / Via giphy.com

I know there are success stories about people who finally had enough and were able to break free from their toxic job, and I'm curious to hear what that breaking point was. If you have had an experience like this, let us know! Tell us what occurred during your shift that was so stress-inducing that it led to a moment of clarity and made you think, "Yeah, I'm quitting." I would love to hear what went down!

man sitting at desk, looking upset with caption "I don't think I can work here any longer"

NBC / The Office / Via giphy.com

I'll go first  I used to work at a call center that was not known for its enjoyable work environment. They did not pay well, always promised bonuses that never came, loaded us with meaningless busy work, and required overtime without any warning. I dealt with all of this fun stuff because, you know, I need a job to survive. However, I was slowly running out of emotional stamina to keep it up. That stamina abruptly depleted when, one day, the building the office was located in changed the rules about where we could park our cars. Instead of the company that I worked for just communicating that change with us and suggesting we relocate our vehicles, they began towing our cars.

group of people running after a tow truck as its taking their car away

FX / It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia / Via giphy.com

I was working at my desk, full of misery, and decided to look through a window for a brief moment of sunshine and comfort mid-workday  only to see my car being whisked away into the abyss. To make matters worse, the amount of money the towing company had us pay to release our cars exceeded what we would even make in a days work. So technically, I paid to work that day. I applied for jobs that night and started the following week.

Maybe you had a boss who bulldozed past your boundaries one too many times? Was there a customer who said something so outrageous that it pushed you over the edge? Perhaps after a stressful morning, you took your lunch break only to discover a coworker had stolen your lunch from the break room  again? What moment, big or small, had you so frustrated that you decided working literally anywhere else would be better?

Warner Bros. Television / Friends / Via giphy.com
A Texas man was arrested Friday for allegedly gunning down his girlfriend after learning she'd recently traveled to Colorado to terminate her pregnancy, police said.

Harold Lavance Thompson, 22, was charged with one count of first-degree murder in the death of 26-year-old Gabriella Gonzalez, according to probable cause affidavit reviewed by Law and Crime. He's also been charged with one count of assault on a family or household member by impeding breathing.

He is currently being held at Dallas County Jail, and was denied bond at a Thursday hearing, according to CNN.

RELATED: J.J. Vallows Grandparents Applaud Idaho Doomsday Cult Mom Lori Vallow Daybell's Murder Convictions

According to the court documents, officers with the Dallas Police Department found Gonzalez dead of multiple gunshot wounds at an address in the 800 block of Walton Walker Boulevard after receiving reports of a shooting on the evening of May 10.

A mugshot of Harold Lavance Thompson

Harold Lavance Thompson Photo: Dallas County Jail

Thompson was arrested at the scene and declined to give a statement to police, per CNN.

A witness to the shooting told police that Thompson put the young woman in a "chokehold" before shooting her dead. The witness told police that she wasn't able to call for assistance because she didn't have her cellphone, and was unsuccessful when she "attempted to give help" to the mortally wounded Gonzalez.

Melanie Rubio, Gonzalez' sister, also witnessed the pair walking together before the shooting, police said. Shortly after she passed the couple, Rubio told police, she heard the sound of gunfire and turned to see her sister on the ground.

Surveillance footage from nearby buildings corroborated the witness' accounts, per the documents:

RELATED: Could a "Money Hungry" Mother Be Behind the Mysterious Deaths of Her 2 Children?

"The suspect then attempts to put [Gonalzez] in a choke hold but [she] shrugs him off," police wrote. "[Gonzalez] and the suspect continue to walk through the parking lot. Suspect Thompson then pulls out a firearm and shoots [Gonzalez] one time in the head."

After Gonzalez fell to the ground, per the affidavit, Thompson "fired multiple more shots into [her]."

After the shooting, police wrote, they learned that Thompson was likely "the father of [Gonzalez' unborn] child" and "did not want [Gonzalez] to get an abortion." She had just returned from Colorado, where she traveled to get the procedure.

Thompson was the subject of an active arrest warrant for previously assaulting Gonzalez, police said, according to Law and Crime.
FILE - A member of the Mexican security forces stands next to a white minivan with North Carolina plates and several bullet holes, at the crime scene where gunmen kidnapped four U.S. citizens who crossed into Mexico from Texas, on March 3, 2023. A man who admitted to purchasing firearms that he knew would be going from the U.S. to a Mexican drug cartel has been arrested in Texas after the discovery that one of the weapons was linked to the deadly kidnapping of four Americans in the border city of Matamoros, according federal court records, Saturday, March 18. (AP Photo, File)

BROWNSVILLE, Texas (AP)  A Texas man pleaded guilty in federal court Wednesday to purchasing a gun for a Mexican drug cartel that was linked to the deadly kidnapping of four Americans.

Roberto Lugardo Moreno Jr., 42, of Harlingen, Texas, appeared before a federal judge in Brownsville and entered his guilty plea to charges of straw purchasing and smuggling a firearm.

Lugardo Moreno bought a multi-caliber AR-style pistol at a pawn shop in 2019 and lied on a form stating he was the buyer when he purchased it for a Gulf Cartel member in Mexico, according to a federal complaint.

All too often, firearms are trafficked into Mexico where they end up in the hands of criminals who use them to murder, rob and extort innocent people, U.S. Attorney Alamdar Hamdani said in a statement. "This case is a textbook example of the dangers involved when criminals transport weapons into Mexico.

Sentencing was scheduled for August.

A public defender appointed for Lugardo Moreno did not respond to a call and email request for comment.

The kidnapping occurred in Matamoros, Mexico, which is located just across the border from Brownsville.

The serial number of a firearm Lugardo Moreno purchased in October 2019 matched that of a gun recovered by authorities that was linked to the March 3 kidnappings, according to the federal complaint. Lugardo Moreno said he didnt apply for a license to export the firearm from the U.S. to Mexico and knew it would be illegally exported, according to the complaint.

Moreno told authorities that he received $100 for the purchase of the guns.

Four friends who were traveling to Mexico in March so one member of the party could have cosmetic surgery were caught up in a drug cartel shootout in Matamoros. After a vehicle crashed into their van, men in tactical vests with rifles arrived in another vehicle and surrounded them.

Shaeed Woodard and Zindell Brown appeared to have been killed immediately, and their bodies were loaded into a truck with the two survivors, Eric Williams and Latavia McGee. The bodies and the two living friends were found days later in a shack.
A Texas professor failed more than half of his class after ChatGPT falsely claimed it wrote their papers

Texas A&M University-Commerce. Google Streetview

A professor at Texas A&M University-Commerce tried to fail some students, Rolling Stone reported.

He said he used ChatGPT to test whether they'd used the software to write the papers.

However, ChatGPT is not designed to detect material that it has previously composed itself.

A professor at Texas A&M-Commerce failed more than half of his class after ChatGPT falsely claimed it wrote their papers, prompting the university to withhold their diplomas, Rolling Stone reported on Tuesday.

In an email sent to his class of seniors on Monday, Dr. Jared Mumm said that he had submitted three of their last essay assignments into OpenAI's bot Chat GPT to test whether any students used the software to write their papers.

"I copy and paste your responses in this account and Chat GTP will tell me if the program generated the content," Mumm, who teaches agricultural sciences and natural resources, wrote in the email, misspelling Chat GPT.

"I put everyone's last three assignments through two separate times and if they were both claimed by Chat GTP you received a 0," he added.

As a result, most of the seniors  who had already graduated  had their official diplomas put on hold by the university, Rolling Stone reported. Mumm offered the class the chance to re-do the assignment to avoid a failing grade.

However, ChatGPT was not designed to identify content created by artificial intelligence  including its own. There are several other programs, including Winston AI and Content at Scale, that are able to do this.

The email was originally posted to Reddit by someone called DearKick.

In a follow-up post, DearKick wrote that several students wrote to Mumm to show him their timestamped Google Docs in an effort to prove that they did not use ChatGPT.

However, the professor "ignored the emails, instead only replying on their grading software in the remarks: 'I don't grade AI bullshit,'" DearKick wrote.

DearKick also said that one student had been exonerated and that Mumm had apologized to them. Two other students had admitted to using ChatGPT earlier in the semester, which "no doubt greatly complicates the situation for those who did not," they added.

Texas A&M-Commerce told Insider in a statement: "University officials are investigating the incident and developing policies to address the use or misuse of AI technology in the classroom."

"A&M-Commerce confirms that no students failed the class or were barred from graduating because of this issue. Dr. Jared Mumm, the class professor, is working individually with students regarding their last written assignments," they added.

The use of AI technology in education has become a contested issue. While some schools in Texas have banned students from using ChatGPT, others are trying to incorporate the AI chatbot.

Read the original article on Business Insider
The leaders of the progressive Move Forward Party, Pheu Thai and other opposition groups meet in Bangkok for coalition talks to form a new government after winning the most seats in Thailand's election

Thai opposition groups met for coalition talks Wednesday after hammering government rivals at the ballot box, but some junta-appointed senators warned they would try to stop the victorious party's leader from becoming prime minister.

The progressive Move Forward Party (MFP) emerged from Sunday's election as the biggest party after voters emphatically rejected nearly a decade of military-backed rule.

MFP leader Pita Limjaroenrat met senior officials from five other opposition parties at a Bangkok restaurant, posing for photos before ushering them inside for closed-door talks.

Pita, 42, is trying to build an alliance with Pheu Thai -- the party that has dominated Thai politics for two decades -- and four smaller groups.

MFP claimed 152 seats, with Pheu Thai second on 141. Allying with the other parties would give them more than 300 of the 500 lower house seats.

But to secure the prime minister's job the coalition needs a majority across both houses -- including the Senate, whose 250 members were handpicked by the previous junta.

MFP and its allies need 376 lower house votes to ensure senators could not block Pita from becoming prime minister.

Some senators have already voiced opposition to him, rattled by his strong anti-establishment stance that includes plans to amend the kingdom's tough royal insult laws.

"I will not accept Pita as a PM," Senator Jadet Inswang said, raising concerns about lese-majeste reform.

Senator Kittisak Ratanawaraha also declined to support Pita.

"The PM candidate needs to love the nation, monarchy," he said.

- Fresh blow -

A senior Pheu Thai leader on Tuesday called on two mid-size conservative parties -- Bhumjaithai and the Democrats -- to help the coalition in the vote for prime minister.

But in a fresh blow to the MFP, the Bhumjaithai party said on Wednesday evening it would not back a party that wanted to amend lese-majeste laws, known as 112 after its section of the Thai penal code.

"If a party that wishes to change or scrap the 112 is able to form the government, Bhumjaithai party would be ready to go into opposition for the benefits of the people and to protect the monarchy," Bhumjaithai said in a statement.

The party was part of the outgoing coalition of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha and now boasts 70 lower house seats.

Military-linked parties could in theory try to form a minority government, relying on Senate support to get their choice of prime minister through but, with few lower house seats, it would find it difficult to govern.

Regional observers from the Asian Network for Free Elections (ANFREL) said Thailand should have a government that "reflects the will of the people".

ANFREL saluted the strong voter turnout of just over 75 percent and said the poll was more transparent than the previous one in 2019.

It deployed 41 regional observers, who visited 460 polling stations in 51 provinces on election day, and said voting was "peaceful and orderly".

The mission said vote-buying was the most reported concern, although it did not give the number of cases involved.

tak-pdw/pbt
(Bloomberg) -- Thailands Move Forward Party, which emerged as the single-largest party in Sundays election, vowed to press ahead with efforts to form a coalition government after holding talks with allies even as it struggled to win broad support from the influential Senate.

Most Read from Bloomberg

Pita Limjaroenrat, the blocs prime ministerial pick, met with senior executives of Pheu Thai and four other smaller parties in Bangkok on Wednesday. It was the first formal meeting of the new coalition after they swept the election which saw a record voter turnout and defeat of parties aligned to the pro-military establishment.

Pita said preliminary talks about government formation went well and the bloc will hold a briefing Thursday to reveal details about a memorandum of understanding between the parties.

Move Forwards government will have unity, clarity, and concrete plans, Pita, 42, said on Twitter after the meeting. And most importantly, regardless of whether you agree or disagree with me, I will be your prime minister. Regardless of whether you voted for me or didnt, I will serve you.

But in a setback for Pita, Bhumjaithai Party, which came third with 70 seats, ruled out backing him for the top job, saying it wont back a candidate from a party planning to amend the countrys lese majeste law. The Move Forward-led coalition has about 310 seats in the 500-member House of Representatives, well short of the 376 votes needed to ensure Pitas selection as premier in a joint sitting of the house with the Senate.

Read More: Thai Pro-Democracy Groups Dominate Vote in Rebuke of Military

Bhumjaithais stance means Pita will now need to look to pro-royalist senators and the conservative Democrat Party for support after previously ruling out any alliance with military backed parties. Alongkorn Ponlaboot, a deputy leader of the Democrat, said he will propose a motion to endorse Pita at a key party meeting next week. If approved, the endorsement from Democrat will come with no strings attached, he said.

With Move Forward struggling to secure enough support, foreign investors dumped the nations bonds, stocks and currency on Wednesday. They were net sellers of $492 million of bonds and $130 million of stocks, that sent the baht tumbling 0.9% against the dollar, the biggest drop in six weeks.

The countrys main stock index ended 1.1% lower at 1,522.74, the lowest close since 2021. The selloff has been led by shares of some companies linked to tycoons who dominate sectors such as telecom and retail.

The intense political jockeying and Senates opposition to Move Forward can potentially delay a government formation for months with some analysts pointing to the risk of a new budget bill for 2023-24 being delayed to next year.

Senate Resistance

Some members of the Senate  stacked with allies of the pro-military establishment of Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-Ocha  have vowed to block Pitas bid for the top job. Under Thailands constitution, the 250-member Senate gets to vote alongside the 500-member lower house in picking the next prime minister until early 2024.

Much of the senators opposition to Pita comes from Move Forwards pledge to amend the lese majeste law, which punishes criticism against King Maha Vajiralongkorn and other members of the royal family.

Thaksin Shinawatra, the influential former premier who lives in exile, said Pheu Thai or anyone from his family wont back any legislation that could hurt the monarchy. Paetongtarn, Thaksins daughter and one of Pheu Thais prime ministerial candidates, said this week her party was open to discussing change to the controversial lese majeste in parliament.

Supporters and allies of the Harvard-educated Pita have also mounted pressure on the Senate to back the popular mandate.

Pita told CNN in an interview on Tuesday that hes prepared a strategic response for different scenarios in the light of the tussle with the Senate.

But theres unlikely to be any quick solution to the stalemate, according to Yuttaporn Issarachai, a political scientist at Sukhothai Thammathirat Open University. The political uncertainty over who gets to rule Thailand next will last at least until the election officials certify the results, which may throw up some twists, he said.

Its a difficult situation to navigate, Yuttaporn said. Move Forward needs to reach out for talks. Forming a government isnt just about securing a majority under this abnormal political climate.

--With assistance from Karl Lester M. Yap and Pathom Sangwongwanich.

(Updates with comments from Pita in third, fourth paragraphs.)

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(Bloomberg) -- Former Thailand Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said Pheu Thai, the party he supported in Sundays election, wont back any action that could harm the monarchy after it agreed to participate in a coalition with top opposition group Move Forward.

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Speaking in public for the first time since the vote, he heralded the result as a rejection of the militarys excessive power despite a second place finish for Pheu Thai following two decades of electoral dominance for Thaksin-backed groups. Still, he distanced his family from Move Forwards plans to ease rules outlawing criticism of the royal family.

The stance of the Pheu Thai Party and the Shinawatra family is we respect and love the institution of the monarchy, Thaksin said, responding to a question about how the party doesnt touch issues on the royal family. How others perceive it is not something I can control. I am who I am, and I am open to criticism because Im not fighting to do anything bad to the monarchy. Im only fighting for political wins.

Thaksins stance draws a line in the sand on an issue that has faced staunch resistance within Thailands political establishment. While pro-democracy groups like Pheu Thai are eager to return to government, theyre also cautious not to provoke a strong reaction from military factions that led two coups against them in the past decade.

Election winner Move Forward, which said it will continue to hold talks with coalition partners on Wednesday, has vowed not to compromise on its push to change Article 112. That refers to Thailands law known as lese majeste that can put offenders behind bars for as many as 15 years if theyre convicted of offenses against the monarchy.

Move Forward seeks to secure 376 votes in the lower house, the number needed to bypass the military-appointed senate and get 42-year-old party leader Pita Limjaroenrat elected as prime minister. While pro-royalist members of Thailands 250-member upper house are facing mounting pressure to back Pitas bid, at least one senator said he wont be guided by poll results alone.

Thaksin was ousted in a 2006 military coup and has lived abroad to avoid a jail term for a corruption conviction. He reiterated Tuesday hes ready to serve his prison sentence provided hes allowed to spend the rest of his life with his family. Until the Sunday vote, Thaksin and allies had secured the most seats in every national election since 2001 due to his sway over the rural heartlands, which he won over with cheap healthcare and guaranteed crop prices.

Ive made my decision. I dont care about anything else, he said, reiterating earlier remarks that he plans to come home July. Ive been overseas for 17 years, its like being in a big prison.

--With assistance from Anuchit Nguyen.

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

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Theatre of the absurd: How the world views the unfolding US debt ceiling drama

The News

As the U.S. nears the deadline to raise its debt ceiling  the limit on the amount of money the federal government can borrow to pay for services  observers around the world are weighing in on what the standoff between lawmakers represents.

If the country doesnt raise the debt ceiling, it could default on its loans, an unprecedented situation since the limitation was imposed.

Heres what U.S. watchers are saying about the scenarios facing the government.

The View From the UK

Its abnormal for a country to legislate a budget and that budgets debt separately, Martin Wolf wrote in a Financial Times piece titled: America is hurt by its debt ceiling theatre of the absurd.

Its not known exactly how a debt default would affect the worlds largest economy, Wolf notes, but it is possible that such a default could happen.

It would be a huge shock to trust in the US, he wrote. The only reason why a default is conceivable is the depth of disagreement in the country and so in Congress, Wolf adds. If the US were less divided, the debt ceiling would not matter.

The View From New Zealand

The ongoing debt crisis talks have prompted U.S. President Joe Biden to cut short a planned trip to Asia and Pacific nations, a decision that could erode regional trust in Washingtons commitment to constrain China as concerns mount over Beijings influence.

Speaking to The New York Times, Anna Powles, senior lecturer in security studies at Massey University in New Zealand, said that trust is the currency of the Pacific, and building trust takes consistency, it takes being reliable, being there, being present. As the Times noted, the U.S. has not proven it can be as present in the Pacific as China.

The View From Australia

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese Wednesday canceled next weeks Quad summit after Biden postponed his visit to the country. The one-day meeting was supposed to bring together the leaders of Australia, India, Japan, and the U.S.

Bidens abrupt change of plans has triggered anxieties in Canberra about how political polarisation in the United States is again sapping its international diplomacy, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported.

Albanese has reportedly pointed at blocking and disruption thats occurring in domestic politics in the United States for Bidens decision, ABC notes.
Theranos fraudster Elizabeth Holmes has been ordered to repay Rupert Murdoch the entire $125m he invested in her failed blood-testing start-up, part of $452m to be paid in restitution to victims of the scam.

Holmes, 39, was also ordered by Judge Edward Davila to begin her 11-year sentence as she tries to overturn her conviction for fraud after a trial in San Jose, California, last year.

The mother of two had been due to report for prison on 27 April, but sought to delay beginning her prison sentence in a last-minute legal manoeuvre last month.

Holmes is jointly liable for the massive $452m restitution figure with her former boyfriend and Theranos executive Ramesh Sunny Balwani, who is already in prison after being convicted in a separate trial.

Judge Davila will now set a new date for Holmes to leave her San Diego home and report for prison, which is likely to be a womens prison in Bryan, Texas.

Her imminent incarceration will separate her from her husband Billy Evans, and their two children William, 1, and 3-month-old daughter Invicta.

The decisions came in separate rulings issued late on Tuesday by Judge Davila, who also oversaw her trial and sentencing.

Elizabeth Holmes has been ordered to report for prison (Associated Press)

In an interview this month with The New York Times, Holmes said she was unable to pay her $30m in legal fees.

The restitution payment to Mr Murdoch, the embattled Fox Corporation chairman, was by far the largest ordered by Judge Davila.

In an interview with the Wall Street Journal after her conviction, Mr Murdoch said being caught up in the scam was a total embarrassment.

Walmart, which invested $40m in the startup, is owed $40m, and Safeway is due to receive $14.5m.

At her sentencing in November, prosecutors said Holmes had preyed on hopes of her investors that a young, dynamic entrepreneur had changed healthcare.

They added that she he had leveraged the credibility of her illustrious board to attain spectacular fame, adoration, and billions of dollars of wealth.
Former Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes is to report to prison in the US on May 30 to begin serving time after efforts to remain free while appealing her fraud conviction failed

Fallen US biotech star Elizabeth Holmes must begin serving prison time on May 30 after a court denied her latest request to remain free while appealing her fraud conviction.

Holmes was sentenced to just over 11 years in prison for defrauding investors with her Silicon Valley start-up Theranos.

She was scheduled to begin doing time behind bars in late April, but her lawyers lodged a last-minute appeal on procedural issues after an earlier attempt was denied.

A court of appeals on Tuesday denied the new request and Holmes is to report to prison on May 30 to begin serving her sentence.

According to media reports, US Judge Edward Davila has recommended that she do her time at a women's prison in Texas.

In a separate ruling Davila ordered Holmes and her top Theranos lieutenant, Ramesh "Sunny" Balwani, to pay $452 million to victims of their fraud, which included Fox News owner Rupert Murdoch who is owed $125 million.

Holmes was found responsible of duping investors into believing that she had developed a revolutionary medical device.

The 39-year-old became a star of Silicon Valley when she said her start-up was perfecting an easy-to-use test kit that could carry out a wide range of medical diagnostics with just a few drops of blood.

But her company flamed out after a Wall Street Journal investigation into the validity of the tests.

Holmes had a child shortly before her trial and has had a second since her conviction.

arp/mlm
Jetty in the lagoon of Bora Bora, French Polynesia

Bora Bora is one of the French Polynesian islands, and what a stunner it is. The island itself may be small, but theres no shortage of activities to enjoy.

This island, like its sister islands, was created by a volcanic eruption approximately seven million years ago. The main island is surrounded by several islets that host many of the best resorts.

The locals principally speak Tahitian and French, but some speak English, especially in hospitality. The mantra here is aita pea pea, meaning not to worry.

Once you arrive at Faaa International Airport in Tahiti, take a 45-minute flight to Bora Bora, and youre in paradise. All you have to decide is how muchor how littleyoull do.

Check Out World Class Beaches

You cant visit any island without setting aside time for the beach.

Matira Beach, a public stretch of sand, is celebrated for its crystal-clear waters. Its on the southern shore of Bora Bora, and if youre coming from the city of Vaitape, you can bike or take a taxi.

One visitor suggests, If you choose to drive to Matira Beach, you can find parking spaces near the InterContinental Bora Bora Le Moana Resort.

Aside from swimming, you can snorkel or book a jet ski. Go on your own jet ski adventure (within limits, of course), or take a guided jet ski tour.

When conditions are ideal, you can sign up for kite surfing lessons. Lastly, there are snack bars, restaurants and boutique shops to explore.

The other top beaches are mostly linked to resorts such as Le Meridien Bora Bora and Conrad Bora Bora Nui, among others.

Eat, Eat, Eat!

Whether you just want a snack or a five-star meal, youll find it all in Bora Bora.

Visitors recommend trying the fish, as it is the freshest theyve ever tasted. One former guest wrote, Go for ocean fish, rather than lagoon fish. Poisson Cru is a favorite Polynesian dish of tuna marinated in lime and coconut. Its delicious and healthy.

The resorts have plenty of restaurants, but try to support the local eateries when possible.

Surfs Up

As far as surf spots go, theres Teavanui Pass, which youll have to access by boat. The second is Motu Piti Aau. Whichever you choose, youll definitely want to have an experienced guide on hand.

So, when is the best time to surf? The Surf Atlas suggests March, April, May and Junethe dry season months. The publication, which offers surf reviews, writes, This is high time for big SW groundswells in the South Seas, which is precisely what you need to filter through the reefs around Teavanui Pass.

However, within French Polynesia, some surfers say that Tahiti offers better surfing than Bora Bora. You be the judge.

Hiking and Mountain Climbing

In addition to water, snacks and sunscreen, make sure you have your camera with you during your hike. And a guidethats the most important part.

Mount Otemanu is the highest point on the island at approximately 2,400 feet above sea level. Like the Pitons of St. Lucia, it can add drama to your photos.

Please note that you wont be able to reach the summit. However, Viator notes, Experienced hikers can explore the base of the mountain in the company of a guide, and you can also explore the lower parts of the mountain in a 4-wheel-drive vehicle or see it from above on a helicopter tour.

If you want to climb a mountain, try Otemanus sibling: Mount Pahia. Youll not only earn bragging rights once youve reached the top, but youll enjoy jaw-dropping views. Again, make sure you have that camera!

If proper hikes and mountain climbing sound too strenuous, a long, head-clearing walk on the beach is always an option.
Well, we just finished the nastiest, most expensive, most painful gubernatorial primary in recent memory, and if you thought this was bad, just wait.

As mostly predicted, Republican Attorney General Daniel Cameron wiped the floor with his opponents, and now will go against Gov. Andy Beshear into the the nastiest, most expensive and most painful governors general election that most of us have ever seen. How nasty? We got a taste in Camerons victory speech, which spent more time attacking Beshear than touting his own policies.

The most expensive part of the primary finished in third place. Turns out spending $11 million of your husbands coal fortune and targeting trans kids as a central policy position was not compelling enough for voters to come out and vote for Kelly Craft. The Crafts have so much money this will be a blip, but $11 million for a probable third place has got to sting.

Crafts loss also enabled Trump to get a quick dig in at Ron DeSantis, who made a last-minute and little-publicized endorsement of Craft on Monday night. Her loss also topped a rough week for Congressman James Comer, Kentuckys supposed new political kingmaker whose less than spectacular investigations into Hunter Biden landed with a thump.

Neither did Agriculture Commissioner Ryan Quarles more folksy, grassroots approach work altogether, although it did push him into second place, and as some have wondered, a possible lieutenant governor offer. Cameron and Quarles would make a good pair on paper, with Quarles bringing some rural bona fides to Camerons campaign.

Cameron, who was the first Black candidate to win statewide office in Kentucky, has danced a delicate waltz between his original mentor, Sen. Mitch McConnell, and McConnells sworn enemy, Donald Trump, whose name was on Camerons lips approximately 95 percent of the campaign. Including his victory speech.

Cameron has stayed loyal to an indicted former president found liable for sexual assault who fomented an attempted coup and is under investigation for numerous other crimes. The loyalty certainly paid off on primary day, but it will be interesting to see how its rewarded by women and independent voters in November.

But Trump fever abated in other corners of the state; Secretary of State Michael Adams easily defeated two election deniers, and the Trumpiest of all the candidates, Republican Eric Deters, came in fourth. Sadly, he beat the eminently reasonable Somerset Mayor Alan Keck, but did not wreak predicted havoc in the rest of the race.

Now well find out just how popular Beshear is, and whether a total ban on abortion without exceptions will backfire on Cameron or not. It will also be interesting to see if Louisville Democrats will punish Cameron for his lack of action in the Breonna Taylor case.

Because of course the biggest story was that even in a fiery hot GOP primary, only 10 percent of voters showed up. Bad weather was a factor, but its also clear that voters are weary of incessant negative ads, zillions of dollars wasted ($10 million on ads alone) and a lot of culture war nonsense when Kentucky suffers from so many real problems. Maybe the general election can take on more substantive topics and tones, but probably not. Get ready for a long and painful silly season.
Three homicides in a week in Fresno. Police say crime still trending downward this year

Three Fresno slayings in a week  one described by police as a very violent gun battle near downtown, a second growing out of a dispute between landlord and tenant, and a third involving the brutal stabbing of a homeless man  brought the citys homicide total in 2023 to 10.

Two men are in custody in the unrelated killings, police said in an update Wednesday, while officers continue to search for a suspect in the most recent case.

Lt. Paul Cervantes of the departments Street Violence Bureau said the homicide rate is a reversal from recent years.

These are very tragic events, but overall, violent crime is down, homicides are down, said Cervantes, who noted that in 2022 there were 19 homicides by the the same date.

Detectives were investigating a fatal shooting on Fresno Street north of Belmont Avenue in Fresno on Thursday, May 11, 2023.

28 rounds fired in shootout at Fresno and Belmont

Montray Skinner, 38, is in Community Regional Medical Center, recovering from gunshot wounds he suffered early May 11 after exchanging fire with another man near Fresno Street and Belmont Avenue, Cervantes said Wednesday.

Killed in the exchange of fire was Nathaniel Castaneda, 45. Cervantes said Skinner would be arraigned on homicides charges when he recovers.

Cervantes said video evidence shows Skinner started the shootout, in which at least 28 shots were fired, and police believe a third person, still at large, returned fire.

Police say Castaneda was caught in the crossfire.

Cervantes said Skinner has a lengthy criminal history that includes an armed robbery arrest and possession of firearms.

Michael Brady, 56, was shot Saturday, May 13, 2023, in the 4500 block of East Dakota Avenue in Fresno, California. He was taken to Community Regional Medical Center and pronounced deceased shortly thereafter.

Victim was tenant and shooter was landlord, police say

Ira Gordon Lewis, 79, is being held in Fresno County Jail on a bail of $1.5 million after he was arrested Saturday near Dakota and Hayston avenues following the shooting of Michael Brady, 56, who was identified by police Tuesday.

Cervantes said police believe Lewis, a landlord, shot Brady in a dispute over unpaid rent, although Lewis denied the allegation.

Brady, a tenant for five years, died after being rushed to Community Regional Medical Center. Dozens of officers spent more than a day at the crime scene searching for the gun used in the shooting before finding it, the lieutenant added.

Police say officers found the victim of a deadly stabbing behind a dumpster in a shopping center near West Clinton and North Brawley avenues,

Suspect at large in Fresno killing

Police are hunting for the killer of Jonathan Garcia, 37.

Garcia, who was homeless, was living in the area near Clinton and Brawley avenues when he was stabbed in the neck about 2 a.m. Tuesday. He died after he was taken to CRMC.
A TikToker asked for help identifying a plane passenger who looked like a celebrity. Her video blew up, and caught the attention of the 'Mexican Jim Carrey.'

A TikToker appealed to her followers to ask who her fellow passenger was and received 43,000 responses. TikTok: @_paigecraig, Paige Craig, Instagram: @ederbez, Eugenio Derbez

TikToker Paige Craig asked her 1.1 million followers if they recognized a nearby plane passenger.

The upload received over 29 million views and thousands of comments who wrote it was Eugenio Derbez.

The Mexican actor caught wind of the viral moment and responded by introducing himself.

An influencer posted a video asking viewers to help her identify a potential celebrity she spotted on a flight. In under a day, her video had blown up and caught the attention of the man in question  a Mexican actor who got in on the joke himself.

On May 12, 31-year-old TikToker Paige Craig from Orlando, Florida, posted a video she'd filmed during a flight to Los Angeles, which featured an on-screen caption that asked if someone could tell her who a nearby passenger was, as people kept taking pictures with him but she was too scared to ask him directly.

@_paigecraig Other information- he speaks spanish and is a very nice man. Thank you for your service.  Who Are You - The Who

The video then panned to briefly show a seemingly oblivious passenger in a nearby seat, while the track "Who Are You" by The Who could be heard playing in the background. "He speaks spanish and is a very nice man," the TikToker added in the caption as an extra clue.

The upload received a staggering 29 million views and over 40,000 comments as people excitedly informed Craig she was on a flight with the actor Eugenio Derbez. A comment with over 7,000 likes described 61-year-old Derbez as the "Mexican Jim Carrey" while others listed specific films he had starred in, including "CODA" which won an Oscar for Best Picture in 2022.

"I was contemplating taking it down since I had my answer and then I wouldn't have to risk the poor man finding out I did this when I had to sit next to him for five-ish more hours," Craig told Insider in an email exchange, but said she ultimately decided to keep the video up to learn more from the comments about the films he had featured in.

However, so many people tagged the actor beneath the video that Craig felt compelled to post a comment of her own which received over 48,300 likes, asking viewers to stop, alongside a string of emojis that are typically used to express embarrassment.

"I spent the rest of the five hours stressing that my video would pop up on his phone," she told Insider.

The actor caught wind of the online furor

On May 13, Craig posted a follow-up video and wrote in the caption that she initially thought she'd gotten away with the actor not spotting the online commotion. The upload, which received 1.3 million views, then showed what appeared to be an Instagram story uploaded by Derbez which had tagged Craig. (The story is not currently available to view on his account.)

@_paigecraig Replying to @Paige Craig really thought I got away with him not knowing this but no Paige, he was just busy having his production team make me a full educational video  we shall now binge your movies  @eugenioderbezoficial  original sound - Paige Craig

The footage began with the clip of the original TikTok and then cut to Derbez who filmed himself in a car and said, "Hi Paige. Let me introduce myself."

He said he was an actor and director, and gave a rundown of some of the characters he had played which included a billionaire in 2018's "Overboard" and a titular Latin lover in 2017's "How to Be a Latin Lover." At the end of the video, Derbez referenced Craig's original appeal and asked his followers, "Now can someone tell me who this girl is?!"

"I thought his response video was hilarious," Craig told Insider. "It was also nice knowing he wasn't going to put a restraining order on me for the creeper vibes," she joked.

To answer his question: Craig has over 1.1 million followers on TikTok where she uploads videos from the perspective of a mom, and videos with her husband, the professional Supercross motorcycle rider Christian Craig, as well as a YouTube channel with over 106,000 subscribers where she posts Supercross-themed vlogs.

On May 13, Derbez also posted a photo to his 18.9 million followers on Instagram which received over 100,000 likes, where he could be seen holding his phone while he looked off in the distance, with a caption that read, "Now I have to look everywhere" and tagged Craig. The caption added in Spanish, "just in case people are filming me."

Derbez did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.

For more stories like this, check out coverage from Insider's Digital Culture team here.

Read the original article on Insider
A TikToker says she found dozens of live fish in a dumpster behind a PetSmart while 'dumpster diving'

TikTok screenshots of a video posted by user @ugckatehahn32 that she said shows live fish in a dumpster behind a PetSmart. TikTok/@ugckatehahn31

A TikToker said she found a box with live betta fish in a dumpster behind a PetsMart in Idaho.

Kate Hahn said she was "disgusted" when she found the fish, and store employees saved all but one.

PetSmart told Fox News that the fish Hahn said she found were "an isolated incident made in error."

A TikToker going "dumpster diving" for the first time said she stumbled onto dozens of live betta fish in the garbage behind a PetSmart store in Idaho.

TikTok user Kate Hahn posted the video on Sunday, which now has more than 12.5 million views.

"They've lost like half their water, more than half," Hahn said in the video. "They're all alive. PetSmart literally threw them away."

Hahn posted a follow-up video on Tuesday where she said she was "disgusted" that the fish were in the dumpster and didn't know what to do with them because betta fish are typically aggressive and can't be put into tanks together and all the local pet stores were closed.

Hahn said she posted videos of the fish on her Snapchat story to try and find friends who would be willing to take them, but no one could.

Then, she said, she noticed PetSmart employees coming out of the store and told them that she found the fish.

Hahn said the employees were "horrified" and said that they thought the fish being in the dumpster was an accident. She said the workers told her that the blue water in the containers indicated that they had just been shipped to the store.

The employees took the fish and were able to save all but one, Hahn said.

PetSmart told Insider in a statement on Wednesday that "nothing is more important than the health and safety of pets in our care."

"This was an isolated incident, made in error, which we sincerely regret," the statement continued. "We are using this situation to review store policies and procedures with our team to reinforce our industry-leading pet care standards."

Several TikTok users left comments on Hahn's video claiming that PetSmart has let animals end up in dumpsters behind its stores before. One comment from user @lolcrybaby said they found a box of hermit crabs behind a store in 2016.

In 2021, PetSmart said it was "reviewing these situations" after TikTok users posted videos of live hamsters and a bird in dumpsters behind stores in Ohio and Pennsylvania, The Independent reported.

This story was updated with comment from PetSmart.

Read the original article on Insider
Scout Clean Energy plans a wind farm on Benton County farm land south of the Tri-Cities along the Horse Heaven Hills ridgeline south of Badger Road.

Outrage over the proposed Horse Heaven Hills wind farm was fierce two years ago when Tri-Citians had their first shot at voicing their concerns during a Benton County Commission hearing.

Now the process is at the state level and all that community frustration has been put on the shoulders of four citizens who are doing everything they can to represent Tri-City interests.

But its getting to the point where the fight is getting expensive and Tri-Cities C.A.R.E.S is scrambling to raise money for the legal battle ahead.

For those who adamantly oppose the wind farm, now is the time to open your wallets and make a donation to the cause.

Its not fair for such a small group to carry this load alone. They are committed to putting in the time, but they need financial backing from the community.

Those leading the wind farm challenge are Paul Krupin, Dave Sharp, Pam Minelli, and Karen Brun  directors for Tri-City C.A.R.E.S. They organized the 501(c)(3) nonprofit to represent the people in our community with a united voice.

Krupin told the Herald they are cautious about estimating the total amount they will need to continue the legal challenge because theres no way to know when it will end.

But for now, they need at least $100,000 for attorney fees and expert witnesses to testify before a judge. Krupin said the only way to have influence on the outcome from now on is in the adjudication.

If we dont succeed in the adjudication and legal battles, then we are going to be significantly harmed, said Krupin, a retired attorney and retired environmental specialist.

The attorney for Tri-Cities C.A.R.E.S, J. Richard Aramburu, wrote in a letter that the Horse Heaven application is the biggest renewable project ever proposed in Washington state, and cumulatively the wind turbines stretch for 25 miles  the distance from downtown Seattle to Tacoma.

Wed like Gov. Jay Inslee to imagine what that would look like if it were possible to put wind turbines that far along Interstate 5.

He is the one who will have the final say on the matter. But first, the approval process has to go through the state Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council (EFSEC).

Scout Clean Energy, the company behind the Horse Heaven project, made an end-run around Benton County and took its application straight to EFSEC  the council with power to override local decision makers.

Krupin said the process has been a mess and there are several legal issues that may need to be resolved by the Washington Supreme Court before a recommendation can be presented to Inslee.

EFSEC refused to hold public hearings in the Tri-Cities, and Krupin told the Herald that EFSECs visit to the Tri-Cities last November was a dismal failure. The weather was rainy and cold and the trip was led by Scout Clean Energy.

Apparently, Tri-Citians in attendance could only listen. C.A.R.E.S Vice President Dave Sharp said he attended the tour and when he tried to correct misinformation, he was shut down and told he couldnt address the state council.

He also said that when he got the tour map, he realized the council wasnt going to the Horse Heaven Hills at all and the group also failed to see the most impacted population zones on Badger Canyon Road.

From this account alone, it certainly appears that the deck is stacked against the public.

Benton County and the Yakama Nation are also fighting the wind farm proposal, and both are working with Tri-City C.A.R.E.S. But Krupin noted that all three entities have separate goals.

Tri-Cities C.A.R.E.S is the party fighting specifically for citizens interests, he said. That includes an attempt to protect our cultural resources, wildlife, the natural skylines, tourism, real estate, agriculture and other economic concerns.

In addition, the group has focused much of its attention on protecting the ferruginous hawk population. These birds breed and rear their young in the Horse Heaven Hills, but the loss of shrub-steppe habitat has greatly reduced their numbers and they are now listed as an endangered species with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife.

Adding a wind farm in their breeding grounds will surely have a negative impact.

Krupin said the time for public comment is over and now the challenge will be decided through legal avenues. He said Tri-City C.A.R.E.S is eager to speak to service groups and other organizations and fill citizens in on whats going on.

And if anyone wants to make a contribution, they can go to the Tri-City C.A.R.E.S website at tricitiescares.org. The community should not take the efforts of four citizens for granted  its time to help them out financially.
Time for a vacation? This NC destination ranks among the nations trendiest for summer

North Carolina is home to one of the nations trendiest places to visit this summer, a new report finds.

North Topsail Beach ranks No. 10 on a list of destinations that potential travelers are interested in checking out when the days get warmer, according to results published May 3.

To create the list of travel hot spots, the short-term rental website Airbnb said it studied searches that people conducted earlier this year. It focused on those who were curious about booking U.S. vacations from June through August and compared the figures to data from 2022 to see year-over-year trends.

North Topsail Beach was the only place in the state to land a top spot in the rankings. That might not come as a surprise, as Airbnb said the most-booked summer trip destinations include coastal spots.

North Topsail Beach, located about 40 miles northeast of Wilmington, is on Topsail Island. Other towns on the island  pronounced Topsl rather than Top-sail  include Topsail Beach and Surf City.

Each town is unique in its own way, with North Topsail Beach being known for being laid back and peaceful with an abundance of natural treasures. Wildlife, such as dolphins, sea turtles and shorebirds are regulars to the town and you might even catch a glimpse of more elusive creatures such as bald eagles, and an occasional alligator in the backwaters, the town wrote on its website, adding that the area also boasts water activities.

The results come after nearby Topsail Beach recently was named the No. 1 most sought-after summer destination for U.S. tourists to visit, McClatchy News reported.

On the more recent list, Airbnb said the vacation spot that grew the most in popularity was Louisville, Kentucky. Rounding out the top five:

Laconia, New Hampshire

Lexington, Kentucky

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Panama City, Florida

This small town in North Carolina ranks among the best in the South. Heres why

Best place for brunch? Three North Carolina restaurants rank among nations favorites
After years of high-profile court proceedings, Elizabeth Holmes could actually be headed to prison. For real this time.

The former Theranos founder and CEO was found guilty of defrauding investors last January, but has consistently delayed and appealed her sentencing to remain out of incarceration. Though the infamous biotech entrepreneur is still appealing her 11-year sentence, a panel of Ninth Circuit judges ruled that Holmes' legal team has not raised enough of a "substantial question" to keep her out of prison. So, unless Holmes has even more tricks up her sleeve, she will soon begin serving her prison sentence, five years after Theranos dissolved. Holmes had previously been ordered to report to prison on April 27. Her former boyfriend and Theranos COO Ramesh "Sunny" Balwani, who was found guilty of both defrauding investors and patients, reported to prison last month.

But the bad news keeps coming for Holmes and Balwani. The two former Theranos execs have been ordered to pay $452 million in restitution to victims of their fraud, for which they are jointly liable.

Image Credits: United States District Court, Northern District of California (opens in a new window)

Business mogul Rupert Murdoch will get the largest payout of $125 million. Walgreens and Safeway, which struck deals with Theranos to use its technology in their stores, will get $40 million and $14.5 million, respectively. The DeVos family's firm, RDV Corp, will get a $100 million payout. Among several other investors getting restitution are Black Diamond Ventures, Peer Ventures Group, PFM Funds and others.

Just last week, The New York Times published a controversial long-form profile of Holmes, which portrays her through perhaps too sympathetic a lens: now known as "Liz," the convicted fraudster is depicted as a loving mother, a volunteer for a rape crisis hotline and a survivor of alleged abuse from Balwani, her former partner. These aspects of her identity are seemingly true. But what's also true is that Holmes ran a company that collected investments at a $10 billion valuation for tech that didn't actually exist.

These actions had real consequences for ordinary, innocent people. In one case, a mother with a history of miscarriages was wrongly informed that she wouldn't be able to give birth to her baby. Another patient, Erin Tompkins, used Theranos' blood testing to save money, got flagged as HIV-positive, and had to wait three months until she could afford a second blood test. She did not actually have HIV. Another patient, Mehrl Ellsworth, was given a false cancer diagnosis after using Theranos tests.

Ellsworth and Tompkins testified in the cases against both Balwani and Holmes. But the jury in Balwani's case found him guilty of defrauding patients and investors, while Holmes was only convicted of defrauding investors.

Holmes is now expected to report to prison by May 30.

Update, 5/17/23, 3:30 PM ET with the date of Holmes' report to prison.
James Ho testifies during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on nominations on Capitol Hill in Washington, Nov. 15, 2017.

The ridiculous abortion pill lawsuit is still ongoing, and its latest stop was a Wednesday hearing at the ultraconservative Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. The three judges drawn at random to hear the case were all appointed by Republicansand two by Donald Trumpso we knew it was going to be bad. But it was truly something to behold.

The wildest comment came from Judge James Ho, who was notably sworn in by Clarence Thomas in Republican megadonor Harlan Crows library in 2018. Is pregnancy a serious illness? he asked. When we celebrated Mothers Day, were we celebrating illness?

Read more

For context, the plaintiffs are claiming that the FDA was wrong to approve the abortion drug mifepristone back in 2000 under the regulatory pathway it used because, they argue, pregnancy isnt an illness (and its offensive to suggest otherwise). Ho clearly embraced this argument in his questioning and didnt even remotely feign objectivity.

Jessica Ellsworth, the lawyer for Danco, the pills brand-name manufacturer, responded that the FDA used the words illness, condition, and disease interchangeably, so its wrong to say the agency was calling pregnancy an illness. Still, pregnancy can be life-threatening (even more so for people living in states with abortion bans!) and for every person who dies from pregnancy, another 70 women come close. As Ive written previously, pregnancy is not a benign event.

After this exchange, George W. Bush-appointee Judge Jennifer Elrod decided to repeat the anti-abortion claim that mifepristone affects the nutrition of the embryo or fetus. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk also cribbed that language from the plaintiffs and then plopped it in his extremely unscientific April 7 opinion, writing that Mifepristonealso known as RU-486 or Mifeprexis a synthetic steroid that blocks the hormone progesterone, halts nutrition, and ultimately starves the unborn human until death.

Kacsmaryks opinion was widely condemned not only for its language, but also for his claiming to have the power to make the FDA pull a drug from the market. But Elrod used part of her time in Wednesdays hearing to ask if Ellsworth thought the pill manufacturers legal briefs were too mean to Kacsmaryk. Elrod quoted the brief and asked if it was inappropriate to say that the ruling was anunprecedented judicial assault with a relentless one-sided narrative.

Heres a snippet of the exchange:

Judge Elrod: Im wondering if you would have had more time and not been in a rush and probably exhausted from this whole process, would those have been statements that would have been included in your brief? Ellsworth: Your Honor, I think those statements reflect our view that the district court court was very far outside the bounds of established Judge Elrod: So you think its appropriate to attack the district court personally in the case in that way, not just the rulings? Ellsworth: Your honor, I dont think that those remarks, any of them, were intended as any sort of personal attack. They were an attack on the analysis and the reasoning.

Its pretty rich to see a judge try to defend the sanctity of the process, here, when this entire lawsuit is a farce. It was filed 22 years after the FDA approved the drugonly after Roe was overturnedand in a Texas district with a single anti-abortion judge, whose cases funnel up to this very conservative appeals court. In other words, the case has been rigged from the start.

It seemed clear from the arguments that this Fifth Circuit panel will eventually issue the same ruling the court handed down on an emergency basis last month, which would end telehealth appointments for medication abortion and shorten the time period during which people can take it. A ruling isnt expected for several weeks, if not months.

The case would go back to the Supreme Court before any changes would take effecta process that will itself take monthsbut SCOTUS would, unfortunately, be working off an opinion written by anti-abortion activist judges like Ho and Elrod. Stay tuned and stay vigilant, everyone.

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Marked for death. Man testified against XXXTentacions murderers. Now hes off to prison

Robert Allen, the fourth man involved in gunning down rapper XXXTentacion, will be behind bars for about two years after taking a deal that reduced his sentence in exchange for sitting at the witness stand.

Allen, who pleaded guilty in August to second-degree murder and armed robbery, turned on his co-defendents Michael Boatwright, Dedrick Williams and Trayvon Newsome during their month-long trial. In March, the jury sealed the fates of the trio after eight days of deliberation: guilty of first-degree murder and robbery with a deadly weapon.

Dedrick WilliamsTrayvon Newsome, left, and Michael Boatwright were found guilty of first-degree murder of emerging rapper XXXTentacion at the Broward County Courthouse in Fort Lauderdale on Monday, March 20, 2023. XXXTentacion, born Jahseh Onfroy, 20, was killed during a robbery outside of RIVA Motorsports in Deerfield Beach in 2018.

Boatwright, Williams and Newsome were each handed down two life sentences by Judge Michael Usan in early April.

READ MORE: I hope it is hell: Life sentences for 3 men convicted of gunning down XXXTentacion

Broward Circuit Judge Michael A. Usan on Wednesday sentenced Allen, 27, to seven years in in state prison  shaving off five of the years he already served during the length of the trial  followed by 20 years of probation.

No sentencing is easy, and this one is hard, Usan said. I genuinely believe you are sorry for what you have done and not sorry for yourself.

The family of Jahseh Onfroy, famously known as XXXTentacion, was present during the sentencing, solemnly listening to Allens fate. His aunt Deandra Ellis said on behalf of the family that they are satisfied with the outcome.

I say we are content as far as what the judge threw out for the sentencing, Ellis added. We still have a long road ahead of us. Its still a day by day process for us. Everyday is just another day that hes missing.

Marked for death

Before the sentence came down, prosecutor Pascale Achille called Broward Sheriffs Office detectives and a Multi-Agency Gang Task Force member to the stand to testify that Allens life would be in danger for providing information against known-gang members.

Allen, Boatwright and Williams were said to be affiliated with the violent South Florida-based clique ZMF, the witnesses said.

ZMF, established between 2010 and 2013, primarily started as a way for the incarcerated to defend themselves when sent to north Florida prisons where South Florida gangs were not as prevalent, said Danny Polo, a gang unit member, during testimony.

It has since grown and committed terrible acts of violence, including weapons trafficking, fraud, drug trafficking, prostitution, murder for fire and organized robbery.

ZMF has hard-set rules that must never be crossed by its members, similar to many American gangs  and speaking to law enforcement about fellow gang members is at the top.

Aside from telling law enforcement necessary information to convict XXXTentacions murdrers, he also helped detectives build enough probable cause to arrest a ZMF gang member in an unrelated cold case.

It should be noted that ZMF has an infamous reputation for retaliating against fellow members in the Florida prison system who they see as wronging the gang. Polo cited one incident in which an entire cell block beat up a gang member who was rumored to be gay.

There is so much violence in the prison system that it doesnt matter how hard they protect you if they want to get to you they will get to you, said Danny Polo, a gang unit member.

The prosecution and Allens defense attorney Jim Lewis both suggested that Judge Usan sentence him to 20 years of probation with no time in prison, though to no avail.

Allen also pleaded to Usan for a lesser sentence. He offered his sympathies to XXXTentacions family and spoke remorsefully about his crimes.

If I have to die in prison then so be it I know the risk I was taking, Allen said to the judge. Let justice be served and Ill know that was the right thing to do...Please forgive me.

Lewis believes Allen could have gotten much worse, like a life sentence, and the court did take into consideration the great risk he made by being candid with detectives about his gang involvement and how XXXTentacions murder unfolded. However, it may not be enough to save Allen.

Hes a dead man, Lewis said. Hes been marked by that gang for death and there will be a bounty placed on his head that hopefully will never be collected.

A key witness tells all

In four days of testimony, Allen detailed the events of June 18, 2018  and how they led to the robbery and murder of XXXTentacion.

Though a key witness, Allen was on the hot seat as defense attorneys poked holes in the states case. They stood in front of jurors and tried to cast doubt on the reliability of his testimony.

READ MORE: Five years after XXXTentacions murder, three men found guilty in a month-long trial

The main evidence against Newsome, attorney George Reres said, was Allens testimony. Reres claimed that Allen changed his testimony to fit what the state wanted him to say to reduce his time behind bars.

Suspected shooting accomplice Trayvon Newsome inhales deeply as he stands for the jury to enter the courtroom for closing arguments in the XXXTentacion murder trial at the Broward County Courthouse in Fort Lauderdale on Tuesday, March 7, 2023. Newsomes attorney George Edward Reres, stands at left. Emerging rapper XXXTentacion, born Jahseh Onfroy, 20, was killed during a robbery outside of Riva Motorsports in Deerfield Beach in 2018 allegedly by defendants Michael Boatwright, Trayvon Newsome, and Dedrick Williams.

All the physical evidence points against what Robert Allen said about Trayvon Newsome, Reres said. The state had nothing against Trayvon Newsome without it.

Attorney Mauricio Padilla, who represented Williams, combed through the states list of witnesses and ranted about Allen, whom he painted as a career criminal with a lot to gain from lying.

Attorney Mauricio Padilla stands with his client, suspected shooting accomplice Dedrick Williams, as he speaks in court about an allegation that at least one juror saw Williams brought into court via the front entrance in shackles. This before the start of day two of closing arguments in the XXXTentacion murder trial at the Broward County Courthouse in Fort Lauderdale on Wednesday, March 8, 2023. Emerging rapper XXXTentacion, born Jahseh Onfroy, 20, was killed during a robbery outside of Riva Motorsports in Deerfield Beach in 2018 allegedly by defendants Michael Boatwright, Trayvon Newsome, and Dedrick Williams.

Theyre asking you to convict somebody based on that guys testimony, he said. How many times did Robert Allen [say] Oh, yeah. I lied?

Boatwrights attorney, Joseph Kimok, pointed to how Allen was turned down a deal with police in 2018 and told investigators he felt they were pressuring him to say things he didnt know. Then last year, Kimok said, prosecutors went to strike a deal with Allen.

Shooting suspect Michael Boatwrights attorney, Joseph Kimok, speaks about DNA swabs taken from the victim that do not contain his clients DNA. This during his closing argument in the XXXTentacion murder trial at the Broward County Courthouse in Fort Lauderdale on Wednesday, March 8, 2023. Emerging rapper XXXTentacion, born Jahseh Onfroy, 20, was killed during a robbery outside of Riva Motorsports in Deerfield Beach in 2018 allegedly by defendants Michael Boatwright, Trayvon Newsome, and Dedrick Williams.

He gets two things out of his testimony, Kimok said. He gets a chance to go home and he gets to protect the real [perpetrators].

In the states closing statement, prosecutor Pascale Achille shied away from mentioning Allen, instead opting to focus on surveillance videos, phone records and the flashy social media posts linking the defendants to the crime.

During her closing arguments in the XXXTentacion murder trial, Assistant State Attorney Pascale Achille shows videos of the defendants with large sums of money recorded shortly after the murder. This at the Broward County Courthouse in Fort Lauderdale on Tuesday, March 7, 2023. Emerging rapper XXXTentacion, born Jahseh Onfroy, 20, was killed during a robbery outside of Riva Motorsports in Deerfield Beach in 2018 allegedly by defendants Michael Boatwright, Trayvon Newsome, and Dedrick Williams.

However, Achille fired back at the defenses claim that Allen was an unreliable witness.

Plans that are hatched in hell do not have angels for witnesses, she said.

The murder of an emerging rapper





XXXTentacion was shot to death on June 18, 2018, as he was leaving the RIVA Motorsports dealership in Deerfield Beach. A dark-colored SUV blocked his BMW, police say, and two gunmen hopped out  robbing the rapper and firing a spray of bullets.

After the murder, police identified the two gunmen as Boatwright, 27, and Newsome, 24. They identified Williams, 27, as the getaway driver.

The suspects charged with the robbery and murder of rapper XXXTentacion (clockwise from top left): Dedrick Williams, Michael Boatwright, Robert Allen and Trayvon Newsome.

The focus of the robbery, police say, was a Louis Vuitton bag with $50,000 inside. The rapper had withdrawn the sum from his account at a Bank of America branch in stacks of hundred-dollar bills.

XXXTentacion, who died at 20, came into the public eye in 2017 with his single Look At Me!, which was posted to the music website SoundCloud.
Tom Hanks says he could live on in movies after his death because of AI

Tom Hanks knows that the future of artificial intelligence, known as AI, can be quite troubling.

During a recent appearance on the "Adam Buxton Podcast," Hanks said that AI could allow actors to "recreate themselves at any age" and called movies featuring AI or deepfake-created stars "a bona fide possibility" in the future.

He imagined a scenario where he starred in a series of seven movies as his 32-year-old self.

Tom Hanks (Dia Dipasupil / Getty Images)

I could be hit by a bus tomorrow and thats it, but my performances can go on and on and on," he said.

And outside of the understanding that its been done by AI or deepfake, therell be nothing to tell you that its not me and me alone. And its going to have some degree of lifelike quality. And that is certainly an artistic challenge, but it's also a legal one."

Buxton, a British actor and comedian, acknowledged that this could be the way of the future, but he told Hanks that fans would likely prefer to watch human performances, not AI ones.

Without a doubt, people will be able to tell, but the question is, will they care? Hanks replied.

There are some people that wont care, that wont make that delineation," he added.

Hanks also said there were discussions "going on in all of the guilds, all of the agencies, and all of the legal firms in order to come up with the legal ramifications of my face and my voice  and everybody elses  being our intellectual property."

Earlier in the interview, he noted that his 2004 Christmas movie, The Polar Express," was created with AI-like technology that relied on his voice and face to create an animated likeness.

Tom Hanks, as the conductor on The Polar Express. (Alamy )

"And we saw this coming, we saw that there was going to be this ability in order to take zeros and ones inside a computer and turn it into a face and a character," he said.

"Now, that has only grown a billionfold since then, and we see it everywhere.

This article was originally published on TODAY.com
(Bloomberg) -- Zimbabwes Environment Minister said the operators of a project generating carbon credits from an area almost the size of Puerto Rico will have to give the government half its revenue if the initiative is to survive.

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The 785,000 hectare (1.94 million acre) Kariba forestry project, operated in part by South Pole, the worlds leading seller of offsets, will need to comply with rules announced Tuesday governing the sector including the flow of money due to the state, said Mangaliso Ndlovu, the Minister of Environment, Climate, Tourism and Hospitality.

The changes threaten to reverberate beyond the southern African nation. Governments around the world, from Gabon to Papua New Guinea, are seeking to profit more directly from securities generated by the climate warming carbon dioxide their trees remove from the atmosphere or from activities that prevent emissions. A carbon credit represents one ton of carbon dioxide equivalent and polluters purchase them to offset their emissions.

One company signed for over 750,000 hectares, Ndlovu said in an interview on Wednesday. We will be giving them an opportunity to fix that, he added, saying that retrospective payments will not be sought.

Those rules also stipulate that foreign investors can get a maximum of 30% of revenue from carbon credit projects and private local investors must get at least 20%

A spokesperson for South Pole earlier said its reviewing the Zimbabwe governments announcement and assessing the implications for the Kariba project. its biggest money-maker.

South Pole has sold carbon credits from the Kariba project to a number of large companies, including Gucci, Nestle SA, Barclays Plc, LOreal SA and McKinsey & Co.

A meeting between government and all industry participants is planned for May 22, Ndlovu said.

Municipalities had, in the past, agreed to carbon credit deals with international investors for small amounts, meaning that millions of dollars had gone out the country, Ndlovu said. The country has been working on its carbon credit trading framework for sometime and also got further direction on how to proceed from proceedings at the COP27 summit held in Egypt in November.

From now on, the ministrys designated national authority will be the one processing all applications, he said.

--With assistance from Benjamin Elgin.

(Updates with COP27 summit information in penultimate paragraph)

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Timothy Parlatore, a key lawyer representing Donald Trump in a special counsel investigation of his handling of classified documents, said Wednesday that he is leaving the former presidents legal team.

Parlatore had been a staunch defender of Trump, calling special counsel Jack Smith's investigation into the former president's retention of classified documents "improper." In a statement announcing his departure, Parlatore repeated his criticism of the investigation.

It has been an honor to be a member of this legal team over the past year, and to litigate some very interesting issues, Parlatore said in a statement. Although I have decided to move on, I believe very strongly in the merits of the case, and the DOJ is acting improperly.

CNN first reported the news of Parlatore's departure. A spokesperson for the Justice Department declined to comment on Parlatore's criticisms of the investigation.

Last year, Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed Jack Smith, a former federal prosecutor, as special counsel investigating Trump's handling of classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago home in Florida and his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol by his supporters. Smith pledged to conduct an "independent" investigation.

Parlatore had voluntarily testified before a federal grand jury investigating Trump's handling of classified documents. Then, he answered questions about the search for classified documents he conducted at a number of Trump properties late last year.

Parlatore said he was acting as custodian of records for Trump. He organized searches for documents at Trump Tower in New York, Trumps property in Bedminster, New Jersey, and three locations in Florida  Mar-a-Lago, an office in Palm Beach and a storage unit. The search yielded additional documents with classification markings at the storage unit and at Mar-a-Lago.

In Parlatore's testimony, he accused the Justice Department of prosecutorial misconduct," saying it tried to stop him from discussing his efforts to include the FBI in the search and pressed him to detail conversations protected by attorney-client privilege.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
In all of the countless retellings of the legend of Faust, the lesson is that those who sell their souls never quite get what they bargained for.

Poor Kansas state Rep. Marvin Robinson, so shocked that politics happen in Topeka, is the latest to learn how this works, and also how it doesnt work.

After Robinson, who in theory is a Democrat, voted with Republicans over and over in his first year in office, in ways that will disproportionately harm his constituents in Kansas City, Kansas, his friends in the GOP wanted to do something nice for him. So  surprise!  they put a little something extra in the state budget as a thank you.

State Sen. J.R. Claeys, vice-chair of the Senate budget committee, said in front of Jesus and the world that hed asked for $250,000 in funding for Robinsons longtime passion, the development of the Quindaro Township ruins in KCK, because he wanted to give Robinson a win in his first year since he was clearly being treated poorly by some select individuals.

No quid pro quo here, said everybody, even though this payoff in broad daylight, for services rendered, was a textbook trade of this for that.

Only, thats not where the story ends.

This week, Gov. Laura Kelly used a line-item veto to strip that $250,000 for the Quindaro Ruins right back out of the budget.

Quindaro, a Civil War town in whats now KCK, was a stop on the Underground Railroad for enslaved people trying to escape to Canada. Its history should be preserved.

But Robinson was the only Democrat in Topeka who helped Republicans override Kellys vetoes of bills restricting the rights of transgender Kansans, requiring doctors to tell women that their drug-induced abortions could be reversed, and making it harder for older Kansans to get food stamps, even though Robinson used to get food aid himself.

His defection made a difference, and not for the better; his was the deciding vote in overriding Kellys veto of four bills.

In vetoing the funding for Quindaro, Kelly said, This request for funding for a master plan for the Quindaro Ruins historic site was not considered until the final moments of the 2023 session. As a result, there was no opportunity to vet this proposal to ensure that it truly serves the needs of the community for whom the site is named.

The governor said she wants to elevate this fundamental piece of Kansas history but advocates should work through the proper channels to seek funding for this measure and ensure that it receives the recognition it deserves.

While its true that Kansas doesnt normally award funding in such vague terms, without any vetting of how the money is to be spent, this veto was still more about payback than process. Democrats are so few in number in Topeka that the only power they do have is in sticking together. And as in every party and political body, unity is encouraged through the application and disbursement of sticks and carrots.

Thats why Republicans who step out of line are told theyll have a primary opponent unless they find their way back to the fold. Its why Republican state Sen. Rob Olson was immediately stripped of his committee chairmanship after bucking his party by voting against bringing a vetoed flat income tax proposal back into consideration last month.

His services are no longer required, Senate President Ty Masterson announced minutes later.

Dissenting as a matter of conscience is one thing, but seeking to deny other people the same food aid you used to get didnt really come across as that.

Kansas House Speaker Dan Hawkins declared himself horrified by Kellys baldly political move: Preserving the archaeological and educational importance of the Quindaro Ruins should be a bipartisan priority and excluded from the wrath of political punishments. Oddly, this has never been a priority before.

Robinson has said he would never have run for office if I had known it was going to be so contentious and full of so many heart-breaking personal, private choices.

His cousin, former Democratic state Rep. Broderick Henderson, whose seat he ran for after Henderson retired, should have told him thats the job. He also should have told him what Democrats are for and against.
An investigation of mail theft in the Tri-Cities has led to the arrest of a suspect on suspicion of felony aggravated identity theft.

Numerous pieces of mail and checks with addresses across the Tri-Cities were found in a car Levi Dennis of the Tri-Cities was known to use, according to documents filed in Eastern Washington District U.S. Court.

The U.S. Postal Inspection Service had been receiving reports of mail thefts in 2022 and learned of a fraud report taken by the Kennewick police in February from a grandmother who had the power of attorney for her grandson when he was incarcerated in late 2022.

She had seen checks for $315 and $400 deposited in her grandsons HAPO Community Credit Union account and then $715 withdrawn.

The Richland owner of the $400 check noticed the transaction and reported it to HAPO and police.

He said the signature on the check did not match his own. He also said that his mailbox had been opened on Jan. 14, 2023, but he did not know then if anything was missing.

Investigators obtained video at HAPO that showed Levi Dennis in the credit unions drive thru passing checks and identification at the time of the fraudulent transaction, according to federal court documents in Eastern Wash.

Levi Dennis, a suspect in a Tri-Cities mail theft case, was seen in a Kennewick credit union security video, show court documents.

In March, the tan Chevrolet Tahoe that Dennis was driving in the video belonged to someone Dennis knew and was involved in a hit and run collision, according to court documents.

Richland police searched the Tahoe and found mail and checks with addresses throughout the Tri-Cities, according to a court document.

Police also found a HAPO bank receipt for the grandson of the woman who had reported suspicious activity with his account and her grandsons Washington state drivers license.

Dennis was arrested this month and is being held pending a detention hearing scheduled next week in the Richland U.S. Courthouse. He denied the allegations against him.

Levi Dennis

He has previously failed to appear about 30 times for court hearings, according to court documents.

Felony aggravated identity theft carries a possible sentence of up to two years in federal prison.

The U.S. Postal Service says that depositing outgoing mail inside a post office or at where you work or handing it to a letter carrier are among the best ways to protect it from theft.

You should not let either incoming or outgoing mail sit in your mailbox, it said. And remove your mail daily.

You also can sign up online for Informed Delivery, which tells you what mail and packages are scheduled to arrive soon.
Preakness contender First Mission is groomed after working out on the Pimlico track Tuesday morning, May 16, 2023, in Baltimore, in preparation for Saturday's Preakness Stakes horse race. (Jerry Jackson/The Baltimore Sun via AP)

BALTIMORE (AP)  Brad Cox sent 21 horses he trains to Churchill Downs in the days leading up to the Kentucky Derby and all came back from their races healthy with no problems.

Still, Cox is worried. Seven horses died in a span of 10 days at and around the famous track, thrusting horse racing into a familiar, negative spotlight during Triple Crown season. The sport, which by some measures is as popular as ever, is facing intense scrutiny over the health of its animal athletes.

The sales are strong, and the purses are strong, people are still involved  hopefully we can keep it going, Cox said this week while preparing for the Preakness. I think people are doing a good job of trying to keep their horses sound, healthy, happy and performing well. Thats the main thing. Ive got a lot of questions about Derby week and what all happened there.

He's not alone. Industry leaders say racing is at a critical juncture, even though horse deaths are at their lowest number since they began being tracked, money is flowing and new national medication and anti-doping rules are set to take effect next week. The hope is to clean up the sport, making it fairer for those involved and perhaps more acceptable to skeptics.

When it comes to passion about the horse and all of that, weve got a really vibrant industry, Horseracing Safety and Integrity Authority CEO Lisa Lazarus told The Associated Press. Were at a crossroads because of essentially what happened in the leadup to the Derby weekend, on Derby day, and obviously incidents over the last few years that shows that theres nothing more important for the sustainability of our industry than ensuring that were taking the best care possible of our horses and the people who ride them.

The authority (HISA) is a federally mandated agency established to set uniform regulations across the U.S. Its racetrack safety program has been in place since July 1, and the Antidoping and Medication Control Program that was delayed and challenged in court is set to start Monday.

In the big picture, it may already be working.

According to the Jockey Club's Equine Injury Database, the rate of 1.25 fatalities per 1,000 starts (or fewer than 13 horses out of each 10,000 who race) in 2022 is the lowest since record-keeping of that number began in 2009. According to University of Bristol professor Tim Parkin, the final six months of last year was the safest six-month period on record."

Those in charge of the sport understand the progress that has been made fades into the background when there is a high-profile cluster of deaths like those in Kentucky this spring, at Santa Anita in California in 2019 and at Aqueduct in New York in 2011-12.

National Thoroughbred Racing Association president and CEO Tom Rooney said he knows there is a culture of accepting the risk of injuries and deaths inherent in horse racing but acknowledged the need to address the criticism.

With the advancements in social media and cable news, every single fatality is probably more pronounced now than it ever has been, Rooney said. Theres nowhere for us to hide, nor should there be, except to get better and to keep getting better and to show that we have done everything that we can absolutely minimize the risk to horses."

Craig Bernick, an owner and breeder at Glen Hill Farm in Florida who is also part of the Thoroughbred Idea Foundation, said infighting within the business  and too many lawyers in important positions  has prevented real change. Still, he pointed out, There have been improvements out of most of (horse racing's) catastrophes.

A task force spurred by the deaths at Aqueduct more than a decade ago led to a series of reforms in the Mid-Atlantic region that reduced fatalities there by 35%. New safety measures have also been put in place since the deaths at Santa Anita four years ago.

Dr. Dionne Benson has been at the forefront of many of those steps since taking over in the aftermath of the Santa Anita situation as chief veterinary officer for the Stronach Group, which owns and operates tracks in California, Florida and Maryland  the latter of which annually hosts the Preakness at Pimlico Racecourse in Baltimore. Benson and Stronach's 1/ST Racing chief operating officer, Aidan Butler, point to the company's investment in standing positron emission tomography machines as one innovation that has reduced fatalities.

It basically allows us to observe injuries to a place on their leg where it had never been seen before and was responsible for quite a few of the fractures that wed had historically, Benson said.

Racing fatalities at Santa Anita are down 79% from 2019 to 2022. They're down more than 85% at Pimlico, where Kentucky Derby winner Mage on Saturday is favored to win the second Triple Crown race of the year.

Among the preventative measures in place in Baltimore is a series of pre-race drug tests and checkups by independent veterinarians. Benson and a surgeon will look at each Preakness horse and those in a couple of other big races this weekend, and a Maryland Racing Commission vet must clear each one to run.

Theres an actual formulated set of protocols and operating principles. They work, and they work really, really well, Butler said. For the big days, obviously theyre in effect. But then growing to all of our racing jurisdictions to make sure things that work are implemented far and wide and then hopefully other racing jurisdictions that arent anything to do with us, per se, can adopt them and see whats working and make the industry safe across the board.

Safer and more equitable. Before Rooney took over as head of the NTRA, he recalled, a well-known trainer pleaded with him to make sure racing rules were the same from Florida to New York to Kentucky and beyond. HISA, which is the first national commission in the sport's long history, aims to do that; Lazarus said the medication and doping regulations will be stricter than any currently in place.

There has been pushback, but Lazarus said she has noticed more acceptance since the deaths in Kentucky. Given that race purses are at an all-time high and almost $25 billion was bet on horse racing in the U.S. over the past two years, there's incentive for agreement to grow the sport

If we can make the sport stronger, if we can make the product better by wrapping it in safety and integrity, theres no question that its going to prosper financially, Lazarus said. I think were really going to be able to show that kind of secure industry where the public has trust and feels good that the horses are taken well care of, its going to mean more people invest in horse racing.

___

AP sports: https://apnews.com/hub/sports and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
Traditional friendship between China, Central Asia deeply rooted

09:57, May 17, 2023 By Qu Song ( People's Daily

Photo shows a monument commemorating Chinese composer Xian Xinghai on Xian Xinghai Boulevard in Almaty, Kazakhstan. (People's Daily/Qu Song)

In the long river of history, the ancient Silk Road has opened a window for China-Central Asia exchanges and written a number of stories of mutual learning between civilizations.

As the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) gathers strength, the people-to-people and cultural exchanges between China and Central Asia have become closer and more frequent and yielded fruitful results.

From student exchanges to joint archaeology, from the mutual translation of books to the co-production of movies, the thousand-year-old friendship between China and Central Asian countries has become more deeply rooted and long-standing.

Over the past decade or so, China and Central Asian countries have achieved remarkable progress in the cooperation on the conservation of cultural relics.

Since 2012, a joint team of archaeologists from China and Uzbekistan has so far launched eight excavations at the ruins of the Mingtepa ancient city in Uzbekistan, achieving a series of important archaeological findings.

In June 2014, the property named "Silk Roads: the Routes Network of Chang'an-Tianshan Corridor" jointly submitted by China, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List. It is the first Silk Road heritage recognized on the list and also the first UNESCO heritage site bid jointly applied by China and other countries.

Guided by China's National Cultural Heritage Administration, the International Council on Monuments and Sites International Conservation Center-Xi'an provided technical guidance for Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan in bidding for "Silk Roads: Fergana-Syrdarya Corridor" to become a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2019.

Photo shows a Luban Workshop in Tajikistan. (Photo courtesy of the Chinese Embassy in Tajikistan)

Central Asia is where the BRI was initiated. Under the framework of the initiative, China and Central Asian countries have witnessed promising cooperation on energy, infrastructure, agriculture, water conservation and power. The cooperation not only brings tangible benefits to the people, but also expands new space of people-to-people and cultural exchanges between the two sides.

On April 26 this year, the opening ceremony of the third school aided by Power Construction Corporation of China to Tajikistan was held in Danghara, Khatlon Province of Tajikistan. The ceremony was attended by Tajik President Emomali Rahmon, as well as multiple Tajik government officials. Expressing his satisfaction with the quality of the school, Rahmon spoke highly of the contribution made by the Chinese enterprise to Tajikistan's public welfare.

The first Luban Workshop in Central Asia was put into use in Dushanbe, capital of Tajikistan at the end of 2022. The Chinese vocational training program is also currently under construction in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.

Training talents to boost local development, the program has built a technical station for promoting common development and a bridge of cultural exchanges and people-to-people bonds between China and Central Asian countries.

Learning Chinese is getting trendy in Central Asia in recent years as more young people in the region are going to China for study and business.

Kazakhstan is currently home to five Confucius Institutes that offer Chinese language courses for more than 3,000 people each year.

Sholpan Zharkynbekova, professor of the Department of Theoretical and Applied Linguistics at Kazakhstan's L.N. Gumilyov Eurasian National University, told People's Daily that the demand for Chinese language speakers is on the rise in Kazakhstan's job market, and the people in the country are having an increasingly higher passion for learning Chinese.

Photo shows a stamp themed on the achievements of China-Uzbekistan joint archaeology. (Photo from Northwest University in China)

In Almaty, Kazakhstan's largest city, there is a street named after famous Chinese composer Xian Xinghai. Not far from it, there's also a street named after Kazak composer Bakhitzhan Baykadamov.

In May 2019, the first film co-produced by China and Kazakhstan The Composer hit the big screen, telling the stories of the close friendship between the two composers forged in wartime.

Kazakh producer of the film Serik Zhubandykov said Kazakhstan-China cooperation not only spreads the historical stories of the friendship between the two countries, but also introduces frontier development philosophies and filming technologies to Kazakhstan's movie industry.

Recently, a culture and tourism festival kicked off in Zhangye, northwest China's Gansu province. Over 100 pictures depicting the natural beauty and splendid cultures of China and Central Asian countries were exhibited at the event.

This February, the Ministry of Tourism and Cultural Heritage of Uzbekistan discussed with China's Shaanxi Tourism Group to strengthen tourism cooperation, hoping to learn from China's experience to promote Uzbekistan's tourism development.

Kazakh Sinologist Klara Khafizova told People's Daily that Central Asian countries and China have achieved tremendous progress in their cooperation on science and technology as well as education.

Mutual visits between experts and scholars, international conferences, academic exchanges, joint research programs and book translation programs have become regular between the two sides, she said, adding that BRI development has injected new impetus into the cultural and people-to-people exchanges between Central Asian countries and China.

(Web editor: Chang Sha, Du Mingming)
T.J. Martin didnt just survive being a prisoner of war once. He survived twice.

He was captured in 1951, then again in 1952.

But he never gave up.

Martin spent more than two years as a captive in Korea. Then he came home to York County and spent the rest of his life volunteering for veterans in York County, throughout South Carolina and around the country.

Martin, 93, died Monday, according to an obituary from Bratton Funeral Home in the city of York, S.C..

When Martin, a U.S. Army veteran, spoke to The Herald over the years about other prisoners of war, he would talk of service to country and community that few people ever are asked to give.

He said simply that prisoners of war shared an awful experience but fought to survive so that afterwards they could make the world a better place. Of Fort Mills Paul Luckadoo, a World War II POW who died in 2016, Martin said at the time: Pauls service to his country will never be forgotten, and we will never forget him.

Of Gene Newton, a Rock Hill POW who died in 2011, Martin said then: Gene Newton knew that we shared something awful, yet something special. He was decent and humble. He was one of us.

Martin said this in 2007 of his time in captivity: It leaves a mark when you wake up beside a man who has frozen to death. Or wake up next to a man who has starved to death. Or next to man whose limbs are bloated from disease.

Martin wanted to help others for the rest of his life.

T.J. was an American patriot in the truest sense of the word, said Joe Medlin, an Iraq and Afghanistan combat veteran who for many years was director of York Countys veterans affairs office. Medlin and Martin worked together for years on the countys veterans advisory council and other veterans projects.

Even after having been a prisoner of war, twice, he continued to give back by serving with the American Legion, Disabled American Veterans, and other organizations, Medlin said. T.J. Martin will certainly be missed.

Martin was for years the commander of South Carolinas Ex-Prisoner of War group. He led the charge to have those people honored statewide by then Gov. Nikki Haley in 2015.

Martin helped create and run Yorks American Legion post. He chaired the countys veterans advisory council for decades, and was one of the founders of York Countys annual Memorial Day tribute to military members who died in wars. He helped start the city of Yorks annual Veterans Day parade, and organized it for years.

Jim Carter, another York County veteran who was involved with Yorks American Legion Post and veterans office, said Martin cared deeply about service to community and country.

Ronnie Taylor, also a York County veteran and close friend, said Martin will be honored among others in the countys Memorial Day weekend service in late May in York.

Viewing for Martin is Friday from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Bratton Funeral Home in York, according to the obituary. The funeral with full military honors is 11 a.m. Saturday at the funeral home.
WASHINGTON  Donald Trump took credit Wednesday for the elimination of Roe v. Wade, embracing his role in selecting the Supreme Court justices who were instrumental in ending the half-century precedent that protected abortion rights nationwide.

After 50 years of failure, with nobody coming even close, I was able to kill Roe v. Wade, much to the shock of everyone, Trump, the former president and front-runner for the 2024 Republican nomination, said on his social media platform.

Trump said his actions have put the Pro Life movement in a strong negotiating position against proponents of abortion rights, giving himself credit for the various bans that are being advanced by conservatives across the country. More than a dozen states have enacted abortion limits since Roe was overturned last summer.

Without me there would be no 6 weeks, 10 weeks, 15 weeks, or whatever is finally agreed to. Without me the pro Life movement would have just kept losing, Trump added.

Trump's effort to lean into a key part of his record could be an asset to him in the Republican primary, but it may hurt him in the general election, given the backlash from the majority of Americans who support abortion rights, according to polls.

The former president was recently rebuked by the anti-abortion group Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America after his campaign said that the issue of abortion should be left to the states.

Trump has not said what types of abortion bans he would support at the federal level, but said at a recent CNN town hall, I happen to believe in the exceptions, the life of the mother, rape, incest.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who is seen as Trumps main rival for the 2024 nomination, recently signed a six-week statewide abortion ban.

Trump campaigned in 2016 on eliminating Roe v. Wade, saying he would appoint pro-life judges who would overturn it. He made good on that promise by picking Justices Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett. All three were confirmed by a Republican-led Senate and, along with GOP appointees Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas, made up the five-member Supreme Court majority that voted to overturn Roe.

The three Democratic-appointed justices dissented. Chief Justice John Roberts, a Republican appointee, disagreed with the decision to fully overturn Roe nationwide but did support a narrower ruling to uphold Mississippi's 15-week abortion ban at issue.

The Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization decision, issued last summer, empowers states to impose abortion restrictions and opens the door for Congress to prohibit abortion federally, even in states that want it to be legal.

The Democratic National Committee reacted quickly to Trumps comments on Wednesday.

Donald Trump is on a mission to make sure everyone remembers he is responsible for the most extreme abortion bans in the country, DNC Chair Jaime Harrison said in a statement. Trumps record speaks for itself: He is an anti-choice extremist who is hellbent on ripping away a womans right to make her own health care decisions.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
Photograph: Chris Seward/AP

As Donald Trumps legal troubles mount at the federal, state and local levels, the ex-president and his lawyers are banking on their political allies in the Republican party to make attacks on a New York prosecutor who has charged Trump with criminal offenses, and to also get them to help derail investigations that endanger his 2024 campaign.

Former prosecutors and members of both parties have voiced strong criticism about the drives by Trump, his lawyers and Republican House allies to attack prosecutors who have filed charges against Trump or are investigating him, calling such moves antithetical to democratic principles and the rule of law.

Related: FBI accused of failures but key report finds no deep-state plot against Trump

Such criticism has not deterred Trump, his lawyers or pliable Republicans from trying to discredit prosecutors with political attacks that in part reflect Trumps lack of success in convincing courts to curb prosecutors.

In April, the House judiciary committee chairman, Jim Jordan, a key Trump ally, publicly launched an inquiry into the Manhattan district attorney, Alvin Bragg, soon after he filed a 34-count indictment of Trump for falsifying business records tied to alleged hush money payments that Trump made in 2016 to Stormy Daniels, the porn star who claimed Trump had an affair with her.

In a Fox News interview last month, Jordan echoed Trumps attacks on Bragg for interfering in the coming election charging that Alvin Bragg used federal tax dollars to go after a former president, to indict a former president for no crime, [which] interferes with the federal election.

Donald Trump and Jim Jordan at a rally for JD Vance in Vandalia, Ohio, in November 2022. Photograph: Michael Conroy/AP

The House speaker, Kevin McCarthy, too has supported Trump by calling the Bragg charges not a real case, after downplaying the investigation by saying the payments were just personal money.

For his part, Trump has repeatedly launched his own feverish attacks on several prosecutors including calling Bragg, who is black, an animal, a degenerate psychopath and a racist.

Two Trump lawyers also last month wrote to the House intelligence committee chairman, Michael Turner, blasting special counsel Jack Smith for pursuing a criminal inquiry into Trumps retention of hundreds of classified documents at his Florida home Mar-a-Lago after he left the White House.

The letter asked Turner to tell Smith to stand down. It came amid signs Smiths inquiry may be in its closing stages with fresh testimony from Trump insiders and was sent to Turner even though Congress does not have the authority to control justice department (DoJ) criminal investigations.

Trumps own attacks on Smith escalated in mid-May with posts on his Truth Social platform charging Smith with harassing, terrorizing and threatening people who work for me, probably illegally.

Separately, Trump and his lawyers have mounted harsh attacks on the Fulton county district attorney, Fani Willis, who since early 2021 has been investigating drives by Trump and his allies to block Joe Bidens win in Georgia including a high-pressure Trump call with the secretary of state, and is expected to file charges this summer against Trump and several others.

Trump has labeled Willis, who is black, a racist, and his lawyers are trying to have a special grand jury report, which is mostly under seal, but reportedly recommended charges against more than a dozen people quashed and expunged from the record, a move Willis is challenging.

Taken together, the efforts by Trump and his lawyers to ratchet up House attacks on prosecutors and investigators fuel concerns amid experts.

Casting doubt on the legitimacy of investigations is another attack on democracy Barbara McQuade, former US attorney for eastern Michigan

Casting doubt on the legitimacy of investigations is another attack on democracy, said former US attorney for eastern Michigan Barbara McQuade. The strategy seems to be to undermine all efforts to hold Trump accountable for misconduct. The logical extension of that practice would be to allow Trump to violate the law with impunity. The rule of law demands that all of us be held to the same standard.

Other ex-prosecutors express similar criticism and stress that politicians seeking to do Trumps bidding in this regard could be participating in a public cover-up.

The folks who Trump is enlisting to help him with a legislative fix need to be reminded of how easy it is to potentially become part of a cover-up to the American people after the fact, said former Georgia US attorney Michael Moore. A prosecutor can easily argue that these continued efforts to generate help are both proof of his guilt and proof that he knows hes caught.

Moore added: Given the status of the multiple inquiries involving Trump, I wouldnt want to be the one getting the call to help. Id feel like a fireman answering the alarm yet knowing I was the one likely to get burned.

Similarly, current and former House members say moves to undermine prosecutors by Trump, his lawyers and House allies are dangerous to US civic life.

All the attacks on judges, prosecutors and the courts are a thoroughgoing assault on any part of the judicial system that takes up a case related to Trump, the House Democrat Jamie Raskin told the Guardian. Its an astounding violation of our proper federal role. It demonstrates the willingness to use any lever of institutional power over other parts of the government to advance Trump-related objectives.

Former Republican congressman Charlie Dent agreed.

I would never have intervened in a pending federal, state or local criminal matter. At the very least it would have felt inappropriate. The members who are attempting to shield Trump from federal, state or local investigations should stand down.

Such qualms didnt slow Jordan from aggressively attacking Braggs 34-count indictment of Trump and echoing Trumps claims that the charges were politically driven.

Soon after Trump blasted the Bragg charges, Jordan issued a subpoena to Bragg which the prosecutor rejected as improper interference in a pending criminal case. Then Jordan subpoenaed a top ex-prosecutor in the DAs office, Mark Pomerantz, who penned a book about the long-running inquiry into Trumps hush money payments.

While Pomerantz is expected to comply with the subpoena, Jordan may not be pleased with the results, say critics. Paul Pelletier, a former acting chief of the fraud section at the justice department, told the Guardian that Jordans move to haul Pomerantz before his committee is going to boomerang because Mark Pomerantz, as he detailed in his book, is likely to shiv Trump.

Donald Trump at a campaign rally in Manchester, New Hampshire, in late April. Photograph: Charles Krupa/AP

Separately, to help Trump fend off Smiths investigation into the hundreds of classified documents he took to Mar-a-Lago, other Trump lawyers are prodding Congress to intercede and short-circuit the special counsels inquiry.

DoJ should be ordered to stand down, and the intelligence community should instead conduct an appropriate investigation and provide a full report to this committee, as well as your counterparts in the Senate, the Trump lawyers wrote to Turner.

The letter lamely faulted the staffs packing processes and not any criminal intent by President Trump, to explain how the classified documents wound up in Mar-a-Lago. Trump, though, may have undercut his own lawyers during his CNN town hall last week when speaking of the removal of the documents, he boasted: I had every right to do it, I didnt make a secret of it.

Some House veterans ridicule the Trump lawyers missive. I think the letter to Turner was stupid, the former Republican congressman Tom Davis said. Why they would do that is bonkers.

Trumps efforts to mobilize House allies to go after the criminal investigations into his conduct set dangerous precedents and will not succeed, say critics.

Related: Trump is now a legally defined sexual predator  will it affect his 2024 bid?

Not long ago, a savvy legislator would try hard to keep away from pending criminal or civil enforcement investigations, perhaps out of a sense of propriety, perhaps for fear of scandal, the Columbia law professor and ex-prosecutor Daniel Richman said.

Maybe this is no longer true, and what otherwise would seem like naked obstruction for partisan gain or out of partisan loyalty can hide behind a claim of fighting the alleged weaponization of the federal government.

Other justice department veterans are adamant that prosecutors wont be deterred by political pressures on them.

The attempted infusion of political influence into the work of DoJs career prosecutors rarely if ever benefits the target of such an investigation. It is viewed by prosecutors as an attempt to corrupt and improperly influence their investigation, and thats a line DoJs prosecutors wont cross, said Pelletier.
Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron has won the state's Republican gubernatorial primary and will face incumbent Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear in the November general election.

Cameron, a rising star in the party, came out on top in a crowded field of 12 Republican candidates that included former U.N. Ambassador Kelly Craft and Kentucky Agriculture Commissioner Ryan Quarles.

His campaign had the backing of former President Donald Trump in a contentious race that served as a proxy fight between the Republican presidential front-runner and a number of other Republican heavyweights, including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, who both backed Craft.

TOP GOP CONTENDER IN TIGHT GOVERNOR'S RACE TOOK MONEY FROM PRO-ESG COMPANIES DESPITE PLEDGE AGAINST POLICY

Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron delivers a live address to the largely virtual 2020 Republican National Convention from the Mellon Auditorium in Washington, D.C., on Aug. 25, 2020.

Craft also had the high-profile endorsements of Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and House Oversight Committee Chair Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., while Quarles had the commanding support of Kentucky farmers.

Cameron will now face what is expected to be a tough fight against Beshear, who polls say is one of the most popular governors in the country despite being one of the nation's few Democrat governors of a red state.

READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP

The race is widely expected to be a bellwether for the 2024 presidential and congressional elections as Republicans hope to capitalize on the unpopularity of President Joe Biden and congressional Democrats.

KENTUCKY AG, GOVERNOR HOPEFUL REJECTS DEMOCRATS' TREATMENT OF MINORITY REPUBLICANS: A LOT OF GRIEF

The super PAC supporting Trump's third run for the presidency released a statement once the race was called for Cameron, touting the win as proof of the former president's continued hold over the GOP.

"President Trump is the leader of the Republican Party. The results in Kentucky's Republican gubernatorial primary tonight reaffirm that. Republican voters stand with President Trump, not Ron DeSantis," Make America Great Again Inc. spokesperson Alex Pfeiffer said in a statement.

"It's time to unite around Donald Trump. Voters know that President Trump has their interests in mind when he endorses a candidate, not the interests of the consultant class," he added.

BLACK REPUBLICAN RIPS LIBERAL PAPER'S RACE BAITER CARTOON DEPICTING HIM WITH LIGHTENED SKIN, BACKWARD HAT

Former President Donald Trump

Beshear responded to Cameron's victory in a statement, celebrating his own Democratic primary win and describing it as "a stark difference" from the Republican race.

"While theyre trying to pit us against each other, people in Kentucky know that this isnt about right vs. left. Its about getting things done," he said. "I want Kentucky to be a place where all of our kids have a future. As a father, this is personal. We all want our kids to be able to have opportunity and potential here in every part of our commonwealth."

"So, while tonight we celebrate, were also preparing for the road ahead. Together, we will win this election and build a Kentucky our kids deserve," he added.

Cameron avoided members of the media following his victory speech at the Galt House in downtown Louisville. Fox News Digital observed his campaign abruptly pull him away from the area in front of the stage where reporters were gathering to ask him questions and quickly usher him to another room.

His campaign also ignored requests for him to speak with Fox following his win.

The Associated Press called the race.
Attorney General Daniel Cameron won the Republican nomination for governor in Kentucky, setting up the highest-profile governor race of 2023.

Cameron, a protege of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, emerged on top of a GOP field that included Kelly Craft, a Republican megadonor and then-President Donald Trumps final U.N. ambassador. Cameron was endorsed by former President Donald Trump.

Cameron had 45.4 percent to Crafts 17.6 percent when the Associated Press called the contest Tuesday evening  a blowout.

Cameron was the frontrunner for the GOP nomination since announcing his bid this time last year, picking up an early endorsement from Trump before his main opponent even got in the race.

He will face popular incumbent Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear in November. Republicans acknowledge that beating Beshear will be tough . Defeating a popular incumbent governor is generally one of the hardest things to do in politics.

But they argue that Cameron, a rising star in Kentucky Republican politics, is the best positioned to do so.

Daniel has a strong case for being the advocate for people who feel like they were disenfranchised or not listened to or just trampled upon during Covid, said Scott Jennings, a prominent Republican consultant in the state who was neutral in the primary. I mean small business owners, churches, parents. There's a lot of people out there that are still pretty sore about that.

It is something that Cameron himself has signaled he was going to lean into. His opening ad for the primary went after Beshear, saying he ignored the Constitution and shut churches down.

Republicans argue they have significant structural advantages. Republicans officially overtook Democrats in voter registration totals last summer, capping off a long-running trend of ancestral Democrats voting for Republicans at the federal level.

But perhaps most importantly, one of the biggest things Cameron has going for him is that he is not Matt Bevin, the deeply unpopular Republican incumbent that Beshear narrowly defeated in 2019. Bevin was incredibly confrontational with even members of his own party, and he was dogged by a bevy of scandals that ultimately led to his undoing.

The most bipartisan thing Matt Bevin ever did was be disliked by everybody in both parties, said Jennings. "People just didn't like the guy and Daniel does not have that problem.

Cameron will, however, have to unite the party after a particularly brutal struggle for the nomination.



Craft and her allies pummeled Cameron for months, ranging from ads that labeled him as establishment teddy bear before literally morphing a photo of him into a stuffed bear, along with other ads that tried to tether him to Beshear and President Joe Biden.

Cameron began fighting back in April, firing shots at his deep-pocketed rival. It was ultimately successful for Cameron, but it came with a cost: Campaign finance data indicate his campaign account has just over $340,000 left in its coffers as of the beginning of this month. The Republican Governors Association is expected to spend significantly, and has already run an ad taking an early shot at Beshear.

Beshear has stockpiled over $7 million, and the Democratic Governors Association has signaled it would spend heavily to boost the only incumbent Democratic governor on the ballot this year.

DGA executive director Meghan Meehan-Draper told POLITICO last month defending Beshear is the committees number one priority.

Democrats argue that Beshear is also well positioned from his tenure as governor. Beshear has had the duty of overseeing recovery efforts for several major tragedies, from the pandemic to a major mass shooting to significant natural disasters. It has placed him regularly in front of Kentuckians, where he positioned himself not as a partisan fighter but as a steady hand to helm the state through uncertain moments.

He has been a rock solid governor, he has led the state with integrity and with dignity, he has ushered in a dramatic transformation in terms of our economy, said Colmon Elridge, the chair of the state Democratic Party.

Democrats have signaled they planned to try to tie Cameron to Bevins administration, arguing the two men share similar political networks, with Elridge saying he is unprepared to lead and he is too self-involved to lead our commonwealth.

The race could also bring early signs of the larger political environment heading into next years presidential election. Although Kentucky will not be competitive on the presidential level, it is the biggest off-year contest this year and has long been seen as a messaging testing ground.

Trey Grayson, a former Kentucky Republican secretary of state, noted that for decades the Kentucky gubernatorial election has helped shape national party messaging the next year, like when Beshear successfully targeted Kentucky suburbs in 2019 before his nail-biter of a win.

The swing suburbs of Pennsylvania look like the swing suburbs of Kentucky, he said.
Newsmax

The man who arguably bears the most responsibility for the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade is confident thatsomehowhell be able to come up with a policy solution on abortion that the whole country can agree with.

Appearing on Newsmax Tuesday, former President Donald Trump was asked about Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis ban on abortions after six weeks of pregnancy.

Do you think that six weeks is going too far as to doom Republicans with the moderates in this country when it comes to 2024? Newsmax host Rob Schmitt wondered. On Monday, Trump had suggested that the timeframe was too harsh, which prompted DeSantis to criticize the GOP presidential candidate for not offering limits of his own.

Trump, who has been trying to appease hard-line evangelicals who say hes too soft on the issue, said of DeSantis measure, Other people agree with it and a lot of people don't.

Were in a position now, and Im going to be leading the chargewhere we can get something that the whole country can agree with, Trump claimed, as if the issue hasnt been one of the countrys most divisive in the fifty years since the Roe v. Wade ruling was issued.

Trumps Call-In to Far-Right Roadshow Is Red Meat for Christian Nationalists

According to an April NPR/PBS Newshour/Marist poll, about 6 in 10 Americans support abortion rights, while just under 4 in 10 oppose them. Also, a majority of those surveyed oppose limiting abortions up until six weeks, as is now the case in Florida. (Only 40 percent of Republicans support doing so.)

Furthermore, Democrats are seen as being more trustworthy on the topic of abortion than Republicans, outpolling them 41 percent to 25 percent.

Trump didnt spell out his solution, but had no problem continuing to brag about the Supreme Courts ruling last summer.

What I did on Roe v. Wadefor fifty years they had been trying to do it. I got it done and now were in a position to make a really great deal, and a deal that people want, he asserted.

But in light of the extreme measures that Republican-controlled state legislatures have taken and how those laws have negatively affected women in those states, it remains doubtful that the whole country, as he put it, will agree on whatever the GOP candidate comes up with.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

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After four years, we finally have the full 316-page report from Justice Department special counsel John Durham, and its a damning indictment of some of our countrys leading institutions.

Durham said the FBI should have never launched an investigation into alleged Russian collusion with Donald Trumps 2016 campaign, given the slim evidence.

That is a huge win for Trump, who has for years called out his unfair treatment by the FBI  and a media all too willing to find blame in the former presidents actions.

The investigation into the "collusion" clouded Trumps entire presidency, and Democrats harnessed the tale to paint Trump as an illegitimate president.

The real-life implication is that some Trump supporters will see the Durham report as reason to believe the former presidents outrageous claims, including that the 2020 election was "stolen."

A 2020 election repeat? Many Republicans don't want Trump to be the 2024 GOP nominee. But Democrats sure do.

Double standard: If Trump was 'irresponsible' for stashing secret documents, what does it make Biden?

Failures at the FBI

Durham slammed the FBIs investigation  dubbed Crossfire Hurricane  into the Trump campaign for its serious lack of analytic rigor and a cavalier attitude for accuracy.

...We conclude that the Department and the FBI failed to uphold their important mission of strict fidelity to the law in connection with certain events and activities described in this report, Durham wrote.

For its part, the FBI does not dispute the reports findings, but says it has already taken action and added safeguards in its investigations.

Jack Smith, A former career federal prosecutor and a war-crimes prosecutor at the Hague, John Durham, A former U.S. attorney for Connecticut and Robert Hur, A former U.S. attorney for Maryland are each leading investigation from the DOJ into the Biden Documents, Trump Documents connections between Trumps presidential campaign and Russia.

Durham also called out the role of the (now-discredited) Steele dossier, the opposition research gathered for the Hillary Clinton campaign that was in turn given to the FBI. Durham said the dossier was unvetted and unverified, yet was used as justification for surveillance.

Indeed, based on the evidence gathered in multiple exhaustive and costly federal investigations of these matters, including the instant investigation, neither U.S. law enforcement nor the Intelligence Community appears to have possessed any actual evidence of collusion in their holdings at the commencement of the Crossfire Hurricane investigation," the report stated.

The political implications are clear, and the report highlights the favoritism shown to the Clinton campaign over Trumps.

Give Biden family the Trump treatment

As Durham details, the FBI fumbled the collusion investigation. But mainstream media outlets also deserve blame for breathlessly going along with the Trump-Russia allegations.

Justice Department special counsel John Durham ended his four-year investigation into possible FBI misconduct in its probe of ties between Russia and Donald Trumps 2016 presidential campaign. The report released Monday, May 15, offers withering criticism of the FBI, slamming the bureau's cavalier attitude for accuracy.

The willingness to report negative rumors about Trump is in direct contrast to how the news media have protected President Joe Biden and his family.

For example, when the New York Post broke the Hunter Biden laptop story in October 2020, ahead of the presidential election, the rest of the media pretty much ignored it. Twitter even suspended the Posts account for sharing its news reports. Emails from the laptop indicated Hunter Biden had used his dads position as vice president for his personal gain.

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The story was slammed by Democrats and the media as Russian disinformation.

Nearly two years later, however, news organizations outside the right-leaning press finally admitted that the substance of the laptop story was real.

Now, the media are largely ignoring  or downplaying  the findings of a GOP-led House Oversight Committee investigation that last week announced it had evidence that nine Biden family members have allegedly received millions of dollars for no clear business purpose from foreign nationals, including entities in China and Romania.

USA TODAY columnist Ingrid Jacques

At the least, the allegations deserve further scrutiny. Imagine if these were members of the Trump family. The coverage would look vastly different, Im sure.

The American people arent blind to these blatant discrepancies, whether from the FBI or the media. And once trust is broken, its very hard to rebuild.

Ingrid Jacques is a columnist at USA TODAY. Contact her at ijacques@usatoday.com or on Twitter: @Ingrid_Jacques

More from Ingrid Jacques:

Biden wants airlines to pay for cancelling your flight. It's not as good as it sounds.

With Trump gaining in the 2024 primary polls, it's go (or never go) time for DeSantis

Are we really still obsessing over what conservative women are wearing? Give me a break.

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: Media should give Biden 'Trump treatment' during GOP investigation
Former prime minister Liz Truss has made a personal plea for Rishi Sunak to brand China as a "threat" to UK security during a visit to Taiwan.

The ex-prime minister challenged Mr Sunak to deliver on pledges he made last summer to clamp down on China.

Ms Truss made the speech in Taipei City on Wednesday, making her the first former prime minister to visit Taiwan since Margaret Thatcher.

The Chinese Embassy called Ms Truss's visit "a dangerous political stunt".

It added that the visit "will do nothing but harm to the UK".

In the speech, Ms Truss urged the West not to work with China, warning that totalitarian regimes "don't tell the truth".

She drew comparisons between the tensions between China and Taiwan, and the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Former British Prime Minister Liz Truss is in Taiwan for five days to meet with a number of high-ranking officials

During the Conservative party leadership contest, Ms Truss pledged to take a firm stance against the Chinese government, and wanted to declare China under Communist Party rule a "threat" to national security.

But after her short-lived time in No 10, her plans were never realised.

Her successor Rishi Sunak, also declared China as "the biggest-long term threat to Britain", and promised to close all 30 of Beijing's Confucius Institutes in the UK.

Confucius Institutes, which teach Chinese language and culture, came under fire after critics and charities accused the centres of being used by the Chinese government to spread propaganda under the guise of teaching, interfere with free speech on campuses, and even spy on students.

While Mr Sunak has not closed the institutes, the UK government is expected to promise that it will stop funding Mandarin teaching at the centres.

In her speech, Ms Truss said Mr Sunak was "right" to make those pledges. "We need to see those policies enacted urgently," she added.

The prime minister updated the UK's integrated review on foreign and defence policy in March to describe China as representing an "epoch-defining and systemic challenge".

In her speech, Ms Truss said the review needed to be amended to "state clearly that China is a threat".

She called on the UK government to support Taiwan joining the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) trade agreement - and for it to block China from joining.

The former prime minister also called for the development of "an economic Nato", which "supports freedom and proper free enterprise".

She suggested countries including the G7 nations, members of the EU, South Korea and Australia could join this kind of group.

Ms Truss said: "We cannot rely now on the UN security council, which was recently chaired by Putin's Russia.

"We cannot rely on the World Trade Organisation to make sure fair trade rules are in place. That's why we need other alternatives to get things done."

Ms Truss made the speech at the invitation of the Prospect Foundation, a think tank. It forms part of the former UK leader's five-day visit to the country.

Last week, senior Conservative MP Alicia Kearns accused former Prime Minister Liz Truss of "Instagram diplomacy" over her planned visit to Taiwan.

Ms Kearns, who chairs the Commons Foreign Affairs committee, told the Guardian the trip was "performative, not substantive".

But Ms Truss accused her Tory colleague of "misusing" her position "to engage in petty political attacks", and said her visit aimed to show "solidarity" with Taiwan.

Taiwan and China split in 1949 following a civil war that ended with the Communist Party in control of the mainland. China views Taiwan as Chinese territory.
TUNIS (Reuters) - Tunisian president Kais Saied pledged on Wednesday to guarantee the safety of Jewish citizens and their temples, after meeting the country's chief rabbi in the wake of a deadly attack at a synagogue.

Last Tuesday a National Guardsman killed two Jewish visitors and two policemen at the synagogue on Djerba island - Africa's oldest - before being shot dead. He had earlier killed a colleague at a naval installation.

Saied last week blamed the attack on "criminals" seeking to harm the tourism sector.

On Wednesday he met with Tunisia's chief rabbi, chief Christian archbishop and Muslim mufti, saying that receiving clerics sent a "historical message" of coexistence and tolerance.

"We will provide you security in your temples. Live in peace and security, and we will provide you with all security conditions," Saied said in a broadcast of part of the meeting.

The Jewish victims of the attack, which occurred during an annual festival, were two cousins, one French-Tunisian and the other Israeli-Tunisian.

"The president gave us guarantees that what happened recently would not happen again", Chief Rabbi Haim Bittan said.

Saied did not describe the shooting as terrorism, a term he has sometimes used to label interventions by his political opponents since he extended his powers in 2021.

Mainly Muslim Tunisia is home to one of North Africa's largest Jewish communities with about 1,800 members.

The pilgrimage to the Djerba festival regularly draws hundreds of Jews from Europe and Israel and has operated under tight security since al Qaeda militants attacked the synagogue in 2002 with a truck bomb, killing 21 Western tourists.

(Reporting by Tarek Amara; editing by John Stonestreet)
Two juveniles are facing theft and other charges in connection with the theft of Wicomico County Public Schools bus and vans last December.

The Wicomico County Sheriff's Office said in a release two of three suspects have been identified in the thefts that happened in December 2022.

It said deputies responded to the 1100 block of Jersey Road in Salisbury in reference to theft of a Wicomico County Public Schools school bus on Dec. 28, 2022, as well as two transportation vans on Dec. 29.

A Wicomico County Sheriffs Office Criminal Investigation Division (CID) investigation determined that three suspects were involved in both motor vehicle thefts.

The stolen school bus and one of the stolen transportation vans were located in Hurlock, Maryland. The transportation van had been wrecked and determined to be a total loss. The second transportation van was located just down the road from the transportation facility, the release said.

One of the suspects was identified as a 16-year-old juvenile and a second suspect was identified as a 17-year-old juvenile, the release said. The third suspect remains unidentified.

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As a result of the incidents, it is estimated that it will cost approximately $29,253.16 to repair the vehicles to include the assessed value of the totaled van, police said in the release.

A request for charges was submitted to juvenile services for the two identified suspects including three counts of motor vehicle theft, two counts of burglary 4th degree, and three counts of MDOP over $1,000.

If anyone has any additional information regarding the investigation, be sure to contact the Wicomico County Sheriffs Office Criminal Investigation at 410-548-4898.

Olivia Minzola covers communities on the Lower Shore. Contact her with tips and story ideas at ominzola@delmarvanow.com.

This article originally appeared on Salisbury Daily Times: 2 juveniles face charges in theft of school bus, vans: Sheriff's office
Two students killed in Tennessee wreck, high school says. Living in a nightmare

Four high school students were involved in a Tennessee wreck, and two of them died, school officials say.

McMinn County High School said four of its students were involved in a deadly vehicle crash the evening of Tuesday, May 16.

Please keep their family and friends, as well as the other students involved in the accident, in your thoughts and prayers as we all grieve this loss, the school wrote in a May 17 Facebook post.

The school said counselors will be available on campus for students.

Officials have not shared details about the wreck, and neither the Tennessee Highway Patrol nor the McMinn County Sheriffs Office immediately responded to McClatchy News request for information.

McMinn County Sheriff Joe Guy posted about the incident, calling it a terrible crash in a Facebook post.

Please join me in prayers for the families and friends impacted by a terrible crash on CR 750 this evening, as well as the deputies, state troopers, EMA, and volunteer firefighters who worked a difficult scene, Guy wrote.

The two students who died were Cameron Bohannon and Robert Hicks, WTVC reported.

Bohannon would have turned 18 on Thursday, May 18, ahead of his high school graduation on Saturday, May 20, his aunt, Kimberly Bohannon Hazelwood wrote on Facebook.

Living in a nightmare, she wrote. So many things he will not get to do ... This is not fair. Not right. Moms should NOT EVER have to bury their babies!

Other people shared tributes for the students on social media.

Absolutely heartbreaking for these families and these students, one person wrote on Facebook. 3 days prior to graduation families wont see ... (their) child cross that stage, parents are left with empty holes in the hearts.

This is gonna be really hard, another person wrote in a Facebook comment.

McMinn County is about 60 miles southwest of Knoxville.

2 high schoolers die in crash weeks before graduation, reports say. How do we go on

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Police search the Glasgow home of Nicola Sturgeon and husband Peter Murrell, the former SNP chief executive on 5 April - Wattie Cheung

Humza Yousaf has insisted that there was nothing out of the ordinary in Police Scotland having to wait two weeks before being granted permission to raid Nicola Sturgeons home.

The First Minister said he did not believe that there was any particular reason that was unusual for officers having to wait between March 20 and April 3 for a search warrant to be approved.

This meant the raid did not occur until after the SNP leadership contest concluded and Mr Yousaf was installed as First Minister. He had cast himself as the Sturgeon continuity candidate.

But Mr Yousaf insisted the Crown Office would not base the timing of the warrant on election contests or politics and that the Scottish Government would would never dream of interfering.

The First Minister also claimed that SNP members would dig deep to fund another independence referendum campaign despite the police investigation into the partys finances.

He said that the party would without a doubt have the necessary funds for next years general election campaign, in which it is predicted to lose a slew of seats to Labour.

Fundamental questions

His intervention came the day after a former Scottish Justice Secretary said the Scottish Government should appoint a judge to examine whether political considerations were to blame for officers having to wait for the search warrant.

Kenny MacAskill, an Alba Party MP, said an inquiry was required to restore trust and confidence in the Crown Office and reassure the public.

It has emerged that the Crown Office was informed on March 20 that police wanted to search the home Ms Sturgeon shares with her husband, Peter Murrell, the SNPs former chief executive. At that point there was still a week to go in the SNPs fractious leadership contest.

However, the application for a search warrant was only approved by a sheriff on April 3, a week after the contest ended. Police raided Ms Sturgeons home early on the morning of April 5 and conducted a two-day search.

Mr Murrell was arrested and later released without charge pending further inquiries. Officers also searched the SNPs headquarters in Edinburgh and seized a luxury motorhome from outside the home of Mr Murrells elderly mother in Dunfermline, Fife.

The Tories have said the case raised fundamental questions about the role of Lord Advocate Dorothy Bain KC, who heads the Crown Office while also sitting as a Scottish Government minister in Cabinet.

Mr Yousaf told BBC Radio 4s Today programme that she and her deputy, the solicitor general, recuse themselves from any decision that has to do with a politician.

He said: Its really important, of course, that these processes and these questions that youve got around process are for the Crown.

I dont believe that there will be any particular reason out of the ordinary that it would take that time but, again, it would be a question for the Crown Office.

Pressed that SNP members may have considered a police raid on Ms Sturgeons house relevant in casting their vote, he insisted that the timing would have been based on what is appropriate to the Crown.

Mr Yousaf added: So really what you're asking me to do is make an inference about a process that has nothing to do with me. I have no involvement in it.

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Catch up @MishalHusain's interview with First Minister of Scotland Humza Yousaf.



They discuss the SNP's challenges, the future of indyref2, Nicola Sturgeon and preparing for the next General Election https://t.co/VhVjSOt45E pic.twitter.com/cRdBxAELKU  BBC Radio 4 Today (@BBCr4today) May 17, 2023

Since July 2021, Police Scotland has been examining the SNPs handling of more than 600,000 in donations raised in 2017 for a second independence referendum.

Supporters made complaints when accounts lodged with Companies House in 2020 appeared to show the SNP only had 97,000 in the bank despite the referendum never having been held.

But Mr Yousaf insisted members could trust the party with their money, saying: Although well, of course, look to donations and so forth like other political parties do, we will rely on a grassroots membership to raise those funds for a future independence referendum and no doubt that our members will dig deep.

He said the partys new auditors are confident of meeting a deadline of the end of this month to file the Westminster groups accounts to ensure it does not lose out on 1.2 million of parliamentary funding.

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U.S. pilot looks to become first Black woman to fly solo around the world

This summer, Leona Serao, 23, is looking to make history by becoming the first Black woman to fly solo around the world.

The fact that Im going to be the first one, means Im going to be able to inspire other Black and other African people who want to join the aviation field, she told Yahoo News.

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Serao plans to begin her 3-month, round-the-globe journey from New York City in early August, and, before returning home, it will take her to 33 countries across four continents. To date, there have been 142 solo flights around the world, according to Earthrounders, a site that tracks the feat. Just 11 of the pilots have been women and none of those have been Black.

There are just over 158,000 licensed pilots in the U.S., according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Of that number, just 2.6% of pilots, or about 4,100, are Black and less than one percent, or about 150, are Black women.

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Fight for it

Born in the U.S., Serao was raised in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the second-largest country in Africa where just three women are licensed pilots. Serao hopes her journey will inspire other young girls there.

It is a challenge because its a male-dominated field and women didnt really get the opportunity to be pilots before, she said. We couldnt even drive before [the 20th century]. And in the aviation industry, it stayed like that.

Even getting to this point, Serao says, has been filled with challenges. After moving back to the U.S. for college five years ago, she found it difficult to adapt to American culture. She became a licensed pilot at the end of 2020 after studying for six months nearly around the clock and spending upwards of $70,000 on flight school. She has since launched an online campaign to solicit donations to help her cover the costs of food, fuel and lodging during her round-the-world trip.

When you have a goal, you have to fight for it, no matter the situation, she said.

Read: St. Augustine Alligator farm rare tortoises thief arrested in St. Petersburg: One dead, one alive

First Black man to circle the globe

In 2007, Jamaican-born American pilot Barrington Irving became the first Black person to fly around the world solo. Like Serao, he was also 23 when he made his attempt.

Irving told Yahoo News that he recalls taking off from Miami for his historic flight sixteen years ago with just $30 in his pocket. He couldnt swim at the time, couldnt afford a life vest or a survival suit, but he was determined to succeed.

Ill never forget major media outlets interviewing me, a couple thousand people at the airport cheering, Go Barrington, Go and I only had three $10 bills, he said. But folks were so inspired. This was before crowd crowdfunding was a big thing.  I just told myself, I need to get from point A to point B and see how far it could go.

Looking back, he says, he has no idea what he was thinking given how few resources he had, but eventually people were so moved by his story that once he was about to take off, the donations started rolling in. The first, of $5,000, came from Florida Congresswoman Fredericka Wilson, then came donations from players on the Miami Dolphins.

Read: Casa de Vino 57 hosting St. Augustine Wine Walk this weekend for residents and visitors alike

In some ways, Irving said, the actual flying may have been the easiest part of the journey, aside from the long hours of being alone. He recently contacted Serao to share his experiences and offer advice. Since he flew around the world more than a decade ago, Irving has opened up his own flight school to teach the next generation of aviators. He has also mentored at least six young people who have successfully flown solo around the world and knows the impact leading by example can have. In that way, Seraos attempt will be of lasting importance.

There is 100% a void of young women seeing other young women who look like them in the field of aviation that they can aspire to, Irving said. She will have the attention of so many women, not just Black girls, but so many women, to inspire them. And theres nothing like being the first.

For Serao, the inspiration to fly came from her father, a former pilot who died before she began grade school.

I said why not try to fly, she said. Now I know Ive found my true passion.

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U.S. State Department Issues Warning Against Traveling to These Popular Caribbean and South American Countries

The U.S. Department of State is warning Americans to reconsider traveling to Jamaica and Colombia.

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The U.S. Department of State is warning Americans to reconsider traveling to a pair of popular Caribbean and South American countries amid a recent uptick in crime.

The State Department last week re-classified both Colombia and Jamaica as Level 3, urging Americans to reconsider travel to the countries. The State Department regularly assesses the security and health situations in each country and adjusts the classification accordingly on a scale of one (which indicates travelers should exercise normal precautions) to four (which warns Americans not to travel there).

In Jamaica, the department warned violent crimes, such as home invasions, armed robberies, sexual assaults, and homicides, are common and said sexual assaults occur frequently, including at all-inclusive resorts. The Department added local police often do not respond effectively to serious criminal incidents.

A do not travel advisory was issued for several areas on the island, including downtown Kingston.

In Colombia, the State Department warned travelers should reconsider their trip due to crime and terrorism and should exercise increased caution due to civil unrest and kidnapping. Additionally, the department warned terrorist organizations may carry out attacks on transportation hubs, shopping malls, hotels, restaurants, airports, or other public areas.

The department said travelers especially should not visit the Arauca, Cauca (excluding Popayan), and Norte de Santander departments, and should not go to the Colombia-Venezuela border region due to crime, kidnapping, and risk of detention when crossing into Venezuela from Colombia.

Violent crime, such as homicide, assault, and armed robbery, is widespread, the State Department wrote in its updated advisory. Organized criminal activities, such as extortion, robbery, and kidnapping, are common in some areas.

If travelers do go to Colombia, the Department said they should avoid protests and large crowds and keep a low profile.

Travelers who do visit these countries can enroll in the State Departments Smart Traveler Enrollment Program to receive alerts and make it easier to locate you in an emergency.

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The Supreme Court on Wednesday turned down a 2nd Amendment appeal from gun owners and let stand for now an Illinois law banning the sale of the rapid-fire assault weapons that have been used to carry out mass shootings across the country.

In an unsigned order with no dissents, the justices rejected an emergency appeal that asked them to block a local ordinance and the state ban from taking effect.

While the courts action is not a ruling on the broader constitutional issue, it is a good sign for Illinois and the eight other states that also ban the sale of assault weapons.

Usually, justices would block a new law from taking effect if they believe it is unconstitutional.

The case was National Assn. for Gun Rights vs. Naperville.

The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago said it would hear arguments on the constitutional issue in late June, and the justices may have decided to wait for its ruling.

The high court has not ruled directly on whether an AR 15-style rifle is protected under the 2nd Amendment. In the past, it had turned away 2nd Amendment challenges to similar state and local laws.

But last year, gun-rights advocates were cheered when the more conservative court struck down the laws in New York and elsewhere that restricted many law-abiding gun owners from carrying a concealed weapon in public.

Writing for a 6-3 majority, Justice Clarence Thomas said gun restrictions can be upheld only if they are consistent with the nations historical tradition of firearms regulation.

Less than two weeks after that decision was announced, a shooter armed with a semiautomatic AR-15 rifle and 30-round magazines opened fire on an Independence Day parade in Highland Park, Ill. The weapon allowed the shooter to fire 83 rounds in less than a minute, killing 7 and wounding 48.

In response, the city of Naperville and the state of Illinois adopted new laws to forbid the sale and possession of assault weapons and high-capacity magazines. Only the sale ban was due to take effect immediately, and a gun store owner and several gun-rights groups sued to block the measures as violations of the 2nd Amendment.

Gun rights advocates argued that millions of AR-15s have been sold in this country and that the 2nd Amendment has been understood to protect firearms that are in common use.

But todays lightweight, semiautomatic weapons are quite unlike the heavy and cumbersome muskets that were in use in 1791. In defense of the ban, states lawyers argued these rapid-fire rifles were developed and marketed as military-style offensive weapons rather than as a means for self-defense.

A federal judge agreed and allowed the Naperville ban to take effect.

The history of firearms regulation establishes that governments enjoy the ability to regulate highly dangerous arms, said U.S. District Judge Virginia M. Kendall, and assault weapons and large-capacity magazines fall under this category.

The 7th Circuit Court refused to block both laws from taking effect while it considered an appeal from the gun owners.

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
The University of Georgia will build a new residence hall for incoming freshmen in a move aimed at addressing the housing needs of students as enrollment continues to increase.

The hall, which was approved by the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia on Tuesday, will be built on South Lumpkin Street near the intersection of West Wray Street. It is expected to hold 565 beds when construction is finished.

The university is also weighing a separate proposal to build a new parking deck by Brumby Hall, near the existing West Campus Parking Deck.

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The new dorm building will be built in a space that is currently a surface parking lot, according to the university. When it is completed, the facility is expected to be 125,000 square feet.

The move to build additional student housing comes as the university says enrollment grew from 5,500 students in the fall of 2019 to more than 6,250 in fall 2022.

UGA requires all first-year students to live on campus. As a result, officials said more space would help support work to enhance the universitys world-class learning environment.

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We know that living on campus is critical for first-year students to help them engage with the campus community and to benefit fully from all that the university offers, Jere W. Morehead, UGA president, said.

The plans for the new residence hall also include proposals to build a new dining, learning, and wellness center in addition to dorms and more parking.

According to the university, the dining, learning, and wellness center would create roughly 68,000 square feet dedicated to academic and student-focused services, as well as a floor for active learning classrooms, a University Health Center ancillary clinic, and space for nutritional counseling for students.

Classrooms in the building would also be used for evening meeting spaces for student organizations, with the current plan to have construction begin in the summer 2024.

The universitys release on the building plan said the residence hall and other facilities would be open to students starting in fall 2026. The dining and parking still need to be approved.

The University of Georgia has always been committed to providing the best learning experience, and our high rankings in student and campus life illustrate that were fulfilling that commitment, Victor K. Wilson, UGAs vice president for student affairs, said. Our residence halls are a key part of the student experience and making UGA a home for our students.

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The extra parking deck, if approved, would add an extra 1,100 spaces for student vehicles, allowing the university to more than offset lots and provide more parking capacity for future needs.

Renderings of the project are expected in the summer, according to a statement from UGA.

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(Bloomberg) -- The UK government laid out a series of extra protections for tenants in the biggest shake-up of the private rental market for a generation.

Most Read from Bloomberg

Under the Renters Reform Bill introduced to Parliament on Wednesday, the government will abolish the existing section 21 provision allowing landlords to remove tenants via so-called no-fault evictions, according to a statement from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities. It will also give renters more power to challenge poor living standards without fear of losing their homes.

The legislation  which was first discussed by the Conservative Party in 2019  has been eagerly awaited by advocates for tenants rights, who have long sought extra protections for millions of people in England who rent their homes from private landlords.

The bill is a huge opportunity to improve the lives of the 11 million people who now rent from private landlords, Dan Wilson Craw, acting director at campaigner Generation Rent said. Thats because section 21 evictions make it impossible for tenants to put down roots and report problems about their home with confidence.

Fixed-term tenancies are also set to be scrapped and replaced with open-ended agreements, meaning landlords will no longer be able to evict tenants at the end of a contract. Whats more, landlords will only be allowed to hike rents once a year. Housing Secretary Michael Gove told BBC News on Wednesday that he hopes the bill will become law by the end of this year.

Evictions

The alternative route for landlords is to evict tenants through the courts using a provision allowing the removal of residents that have damaged the home, engaged in anti-social behavior, or fallen into persistent rent arrears.

Still, there is concern among campaigners that the bill contains loopholes, such as landlords being able to remove tenants to make way for themselves or a family member.

The bill should be as strong as possible with every loophole closed, so that no renter can be unfairly evicted, Polly Neate, chief executive of housing charity Shelter said in a statement.

While the added protections may serve as some comfort to people facing soaring rental prices in many cities, they also risk triggering an exodus from the rental market of landlords who are already contending with higher mortgage costs as a result of a series of interest-rate hikes, and more stringent regulation.

Serious Concerns

Ben Beadle, Chief Executive of the National Residential Landlords Association said in a statement that when the section 21 provisions are removed, responsible landlords will need confidence that they can repossess their properties as quickly as possible when they have legitimate reasons.

The government said that landlords too would get extra powers to evict anti-social tenants, speeding the process up and broadening the disruptive and harmful activities that can lead to eviction.

Beadle called for more details on how that will work, and also said the government needs to address serious concerns about open-ended tenancies held by landlords letting to students, because of the need to plan around the academic year.

Publication of the bill will enable politicians to debate the specifics of the legislation, which also include provisions aimed at improving the safety and quality of rental homes.

Labour Support

The crackdown on private landlords will also make it illegal to have blanket bans on renting to tenants with children or those receiving benefits. It will also give renters the legal right to request a pet in their home, and provide a new Ombudsman to settle disputes with landlords.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is already under pressure to improve Britains housing woes after the nations property crunch was blamed for contributing to the Torys widespread losses in local elections earlier this month. Meanwhile, Labour leader Keir Starmer is looking to capitalize with a set of fresh policies to boost homeownership, including restoring housing targets to ensure that the private sector builds at least 300,000 homes a year.

Starmer on Wednesday said he plans to back Goves bill.

I actually think what hes saying is broadly right and we would support it, Starmer told BBC News. I dont think that no-fault evictions are right. They dont give security so Ill broadly support what the government are doing today for renters.

--With assistance from Kitty Donaldson.

(Updates with Gove comment, more detail on bill starting in fifth paragraph.)

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Brazilian Indigenous activist Txai Surui was among several people ambushed by dozens of armed men and held hostage on Indigenous territory in northen Brazil, according to people involved

A British director, two noted Brazilian Indigenous activists, and 13 others were ambushed by dozens of armed men accused of illegally occupying territory in an Indigenous reservation in the Brazilian Amazon, people involved said Wednesday.

In the latest episode underscoring the risks to those fighting to defend the world's largest rainforest, respected Indigenous expert Neidinha Surui said she, her activist daughter Txai Surui, British filmmaker Heydon Prowse and Brazilian artist Thiago Mundano were held hostage for hours Sunday by some 50 men on the Uru-Eu-Wau-Wau Indigenous reservation in the northern state of Rondonia.

In a "threatening tone," the men -- who were carrying machetes, and also appeared to have concealed handguns -- insisted they be allowed to continue using the surrounding land, in violation of its status as a protected Indigenous reservation, Surui said.

"They knew who Txai and I were. They were clearly targeting us," she said.

Prowse, whose latest project is about Mundano and his environmental activism, was filming with his crew and a group of Indigenous inhabitants, who were also taken hostage, Surui told AFP.

She said the victims had been ambushed and held for nearly four hours by the men, who surrounded them in a remote territory with no cell-phone reception.

"All indications are that this was planned well in advance," added the 63-year-old activist, who has received death threats for her work defending the Amazon and its Indigenous peoples.

Surui filmed part of the incident with her phone. The video shows a large group of men surrounding her group. One of them warns a "tragedy" could happen if their demands are not met.

Prowse is an activist, journalist, comedian and director known for the Bafta-winning 2012 BBC satire show "The Revolution Will Be Televised."

Surui and her daughter, both well-known activists for Brazilian Indigenous rights, collaborated on the 2022 National Geographic documentary "The Territory," which follows the Uru-Eu-Wau-Wau people's fight to protect their land from invasions by illegal loggers, miners and cattle ranchers.

Mundano is a self-described "artivist" known for his environmental work, notably painting with ashes from burnt Amazon trees.

Brazil is the deadliest country in the world for environmentalists and Indigenous activists, according to rights group Global Witness, which found last year that at least 342 of them had been killed in the past decade.

Surui and her group reported the ambush to federal police. The police did not immediately respond to questions from AFP.

Surui said she believed the incident could have turned violent if a foreign film crew had not been present.

She recalled the international media attention when British journalist Dom Phillips was murdered in the Amazon in June 2022 with Brazilian Indigenous expert Bruno Pereira.

"I think the fact we were with an English journalist saved us," she said.

"We could all be dead."

jhb/nro/mlm
Ukraine gets closer to recovering $113 million from Zhevagos Swiss accounts

Konstantin Zhevago is now under house arrest in France

Read also: Exiled oligarch Zhevagos Ferrexpo comments on ruling to seize assets

The SBI, together with the Asset Recovery and Management Agency (ARMA) is working on recovering over $113 million of seized funds from the accounts of companies belonging to former MP and shareholder of the defunct Finance and Credit Bank, Kostyantyn Zhevago.

The assets were seized on an order issued by Kyivs Pechersk District Court on Oct. 26, 2022, at SBIs request.

The Swiss authorities informed SBI that the amount of the frozen assets exceeds $113 million, the bureau said in a statement.

Currently, the SBI is taking measures to transfer the seized funds to the ARMA with the assistance of the Swiss side.

The bureau accuses Zhevago and a number of Finance and Credit Bank's top managers of organizing a mechanism for embezzling $113 million, which harmed the interests of the state and the bank's depositors.

Read also: Ukrainian officer who beat soldier on video may face 12 years in prison  SBI

The suspect's property and related legal entities were seized, including shares in his enterprises worth hundreds of millions of UAH, 26 real estate objects, 14 property complexes, 21 parts of property complexes, 30 non-residential premises and 10 apartments, a helicopter, and a yacht.

The SBI cooperates with French authorities, which led to the detention of Kostiantyn Zhevago in a hotel in Courchevel on Dec. 27, 2022.

Read also: SBU and SBI make public recordings alleged to show Kulinich working with FSB

On March 30, the Court of Appeals in the French city of Chambery dismissed the extradition request for Zhevago, arguing that "the requesting state is at war and in an uncertain situation, so it is not possible to provide the court with guarantees of fundamental freedoms."

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Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
Erdogan said Russia had agreed not to block ships from leaving two Ukrainian harbours

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday announced a two-month extension of a UN-backed deal under which Ukraine ships grain across the Black Sea to global markets.

Erdogan made the announcement one day before it had been due to expire, scoring a diplomatic coup ahead of a May 28 runoff election in which he will try to extend his two-decade rule until 2028.

He thanked "my precious friend", Russian President Vladimir Putin, Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky and UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres for their roles in extending the agreement.

"With the efforts of our country, the support of our Russian friends, the contribution of our Ukrainian friends, it was decided to prolong the Black Sea grain deal for two more months," Erdogan said in nationally televised remarks.

Erdogan said Russia had agreed not to block ships from leaving two Ukrainian harbours, expressing hope that the deal would be "beneficial for all the parties".

Kyiv said it was "grateful" to the United Nations and Turkey for their efforts in "strengthening food security".

"These agreements matter for global food security -- Ukrainian and Russian products feed the world," Guterres said, while stressing the need for a more comprehensive, longer-term agreement.

But Russia denounced what it called "disparities" in the implementation of the deal that "should be corrected as quickly as possible".

Ukraine was one of the world's major grain exporters before Russia invaded in February last year.

Russian warships blockaded Ukraine's Black Sea ports, sending food prices soaring on global markets and disproportionately hitting the world's poorest.

- Drawn-out negotiations -

Turkey and the United Nations first brokered a deal between the warring parties in July 2022, which created safe corridors for the export of Ukrainian produce to assuage the crisis.

The deal is still the only one Moscow and Kyiv have signed up to since the war began.

More than 30 million tonnes of grain and agricultural products have been exported under the initiative to date.

But the agreement has periodically come under threat since then as Russia and Ukraine struggled to agree on renewing it before expiration deadlines.

In March, the agreement was renewed for 60 days instead of the 120 days sought by Ukraine, after Russia laid down a number of conditions, including the right to export fertiliser.

Ukrainian, Russian, Turkish and UN officials met in Istanbul last week to negotiate the latest renewal, which was held up by a separate proposal to resume exports of Russia's ammonia via a pipeline.

Ammonia is a core component of fertiliser, whose export Russia accuses the West of blocking in violation of past deals.

Kyiv has also accused Russia of blocking ships by refusing to register them and conducting lengthy inspections.

Ukraine's attempt to export more of its agricultural produce by land has caused friction with neighbouring EU countries where farmers said the price of their produce was being undercut.

- 'Putin gives Erdogan win' -

The announcement was seen as the latest diplomatic success for Erdogan, who failed to clinch outright victory against secular rival Kemal Kilicdaroglu in last Sunday's presidential election.

NATO member Turkey has worked to maintain good ties between Russia and Ukraine, hosting two early but ultimately unsuccessful rounds of peace talks between the warring sides.

The diplomatic overtures have boosted Erdogan's domestic political message of providing responsible statesmanship and increasing Turkish influence in the world.

"Putin gives Erdogan another diplomatic win ahead of the 28 May presidential election run-off," Emre Peker of the Eurasia Group consultancy wrote on Twitter.

bg/imm/jj
Ukrainian law enforcement officers have identified another invader involved in the massive shelling of Kherson and the killing of civilians.

Source: Security Service of Ukraine; Prosecutors Office in Kherson Oblast; State Border Guard Service of Ukraine

Details: The criminal appeared to be Lieutenant Colonel Dmitry Zharkikh, the commander of the 8th Separate Artillery Regiment of the 22nd Army Corps of the Russian Black Sea Fleet.

On 24 December 2022, the occupier ordered a fire attack on the central part of Kherson from BM-21 Grad multiple-launch rocket systems based on the left (eastern) bank of the Dnipro River.

The Russians then hit residential buildings, shops, a hospital and a humanitarian aid distribution point in the central part of Kherson.

As a result of the shelling, 11 civilians were killed and 64 others were injured. Most of the victims were women and the elderly.

Shortly afterward, Zharkikh was invited to the Kremlin, where he was honoured for terrorising the civilian population of Ukraine, as noted by the Security Service of Ukraine.

According to the investigation, the war criminal took an active part in the seizure of Crimea in 2014. Later, his regiment began to be deployed in the temporarily occupied territory of the Ukrainian peninsula.

After the start of the full-scale invasion, the units subordinate to Zharkikh were deployed to the southern front.

Based on the collected evidence, the Security Service of Ukraine investigators have served Zharkikh with a notice of suspicion of violating the laws and customs of war.

Evidence is currently being collected on the involvement of the Russian commander and his subordinates in other shelling of Kherson and the oblast, which took the lives of civilians and caused other grave consequences, as stated by the prosecutor's office.

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Photo from Bahmut

The longer-term outlook for Ukraine will depend on the duration and intensity of the war and its ability to finance reconstruction, with reconstruction cost estimates raised to $411 billion, reads the report.

Read also:

According to the UN, Ukraines economy lost a large share of its industrial capacity and energy infrastructure due to the war, contracting by 29.1% in 2022.

At the same time, despite external financial assistance, including an IMF loan and budget support from the European Union and the United States, the economy is likely to stagnate in 2023.

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Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
Tomas Fiala

Fiala mentioned that investment firms like Goldman Sachs and BlackRock are very sympathetic to Ukraine in the war, but will wait until its conclusion before committing the majority of their funds.

Regarding their own money or their companys money, over 90% of these funds will come to us only after the war ends, given the high risks, Fiala explained.

Therefore, we will have to wait for this money. Their main motivation for investing (in Ukraine) will be the opening of negotiations with the European Union for Ukraines accession, which we expect in December of this year. We expect the European Union to open these negotiations.

Read also: US announces $1.2 billion security assistance package for Ukraine

Fiala further highlighted that the primary incentive for investing in Ukraine would be the opportunity to export products to the EU market, which is the largest in the world, without facing restrictions or tariffs.

This was the main motivator for investing in Central European countries like Poland and others, which have received many times more foreign direct investments than Ukraine over the past 30 years, Fiala noted.

Recently, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal stated that Ukraine should be prepared to join the European Union within two years and expressed hopes for initiating accession negotiations as early as this year.

Note: Dragon Capital owns NV magazine, the NV.ua website, including NV English, and Radio NV.

Read also: Ukraines post-war reconstruction cost estimates raised to $411 billion, says UN

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FILE PHOTO: Ukrainian servicemen ride atop of a tank on a road to the frontline town of Bakhmut

Ukraine reports new advances near eastern city of Bakhmut FILE PHOTO: Ukrainian servicemen ride atop of a tank on a road to the frontline town of Bakhmut

By Pavel Polityuk and Olena Harmash

KYIV (Reuters) - Ukraine's military said it had made new advances on Wednesday in heavy fighting near the eastern city of Bakhmut, and that Russia was continuing to send in new units including paratroopers.

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy mentioned sustained Russian shelling in several regions, saying in a video address that these attacks showed the need to place further international pressure on Moscow.

The remarks on Bakhmut by military spokesman Serhiy Cherevatyi were the latest by Kyiv in the past week to indicate Russian forces have been pushed back in some areas.

"We are successfully conducting a defensive operation, counterattacking and during this day our units have penetrated up to 500 metres in some parts," he told Ukrainian television.

He said he saw no sign Russian forces were short of ammunition, contradicting statements by Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of the Wagner mercenary group spearheading the Bakhmut assault.

"The enemy is seeking to take over the city at will, striking with all systems and calibres," Cherevatyi said. "They are moving new units there (to Bakhmut), primarily paratroopers, in an attempt to achieve some kind of intermediate success."

Moscow sees Bakhmut, a city of about 70,000 before Russia's invasion, as a stepping stone towards capturing the rest of the eastern industrial Donbas region bordering Russia.

Ukrainian officials have signalled the advances around Bakhmut are not part of a broader counteroffensive planned by Kyiv to push back the Russian forces.

Moscow did not immediately comment on Cherevatyi's remarks although Russia's RIA Novosti news agency quoted the Russian Defence Ministry as saying its forces were continuing to fight to capture western parts of Bakhmut.

Prigozhin, in an audio statement, appeared to confirm Ukrainian forces now held an advantage in Bakhmut and he newly criticized Russian commanders.

"Despite the fact that the enemy has only a few percent of the territory in Bakhmut, surrounding the enemy does not appear to be possible," he said. "As a result of the enemy's advance ... Russian paratroops have taken up positions that are advantageous to the enemy."

Reuters was unable to verify the battlefield situation.

Ukrainian military analyst Oleksandr Musiyenko said the protracted battle resembled the Soviet army's defeat of Nazi troops in Stalingrad in 1943 after five months of fighting.

"Russian troops have lost the initiative on the flanks - our troops have cut off those flanks," Musiyenko told NV Radio.

(Reporting by Pavel Polityuk, Olena Harmash and Ronald Popeski, editing by David Ljunggren and Grant McCool)
France to provide Ukraine with SCALP-EG air-launched cruise missiles

Following the United Kingdom's announcement that it had sent Storm Shadow cruise missiles to Ukraine, French President Emmanuel Macron has said his country will provide Kyiv with virtually identical weapons called SCALP-EGs.

Macron announced his decision Monday to the French TF1Info media outlet. Deliveries of French SCALP-EGs will only further expand the Ukrainian military's stand-off strike arsenal.

https://twitter.com/TF1Info/status/1658175651260555265?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1658175651260555265%7Ctwgr%5Ea20b051061d764cfd3a1ed6d8f0c46d4e606136a%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ouest-france.fr%2Feurope%2Fukraine%2Fguerre-en-ukraine-la-france-va-livrer-des-missiles-supplementaires-annonce-emmanuel-macron-7da1b474-f348-11ed-bed6-44c3d00c902d

With a stated range in excess of 155 miles, these missiles give Ukraine's forces additional munitions that exceed the range and punch of anything previously provided by the United States or the country's other international partners, at least that we know about. The missiles, which contain warheads capable of penetrating hardened targets, have stealthy features and use low-altitude flight profiles to reduce the possibility of interception. You can read more about what these missiles bring to the table for the Ukrainian Air Force in our previous deep dive on Storm Shadow here.

By comparison, the vaunted Guided Multiple Launch Rocket Systems (GMLRS) artillery rockets provided by the U.S. and allies  fired by the M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, or HIMARS, and variants and derivatives of the M270 Multiple Launch Rocket System (MLRS) provided to Ukraine  have a range of some 43 miles and a smaller warhead.

The Ground Launched Small Diameter Bombs (GLSDB) the United States has said it will be providing have a range of about 94 miles with a smaller warhead than the one found inside SCALP-EG and Storm Shadow.

The U.S.-donated Joint Direct Attack Munition-Extend Range, or JDAM-ER, air-launched precision-guided bomb has a range of about 45 miles with considerable destructive power, the implications of which The War Zone has previously explored in detail.

The Russian Defense Ministry (MoD), meanwhile, claims Ukraine has already used Storm Shadows on Luhansk City. Pictures purporting to show debris from at least one of the missiles have been circulating online.

https://twitter.com/RALee85/status/1658536104927059971?s=20

It remains unclear how the Ukrainians might be employing Storm Shadows. The Ukrainian Air Force is using "specially modernized" Su-24 Fencers "under the cover of MiG-29 and Su-27 fighters with [AGM-88 High-speed Anti-Radiation Missile] HARM" missiles to launch the Storm Shadows, the Russian Izvestia news agency reported Tuesday, citing anonymous sources. The War Zone had previously noted that Ukraine's Su-24s and Su-27s are the only aircraft the country has that could realistically carry these missiles at all.

"To ensure the safety of their aviation, the Ukrainian command is actively using false targets in the form of UAVs," according to Izvestia. The Russian outlet's story did not specify what kinds of drones might be being used for this purpose, but there is evidence that Ukrainian forces have also been employing U.S.-made ADM-160 Miniature Air-Launched Decoys (MALD), as you can read more about here.

https://twitter.com/GuyPlopsky/status/1658319084508028928?s=20

When the French SCALP-EGs will be delivered to Ukraine is still unknown, but we will continue to monitor this and let you know when we find out.

Before we head into the latest from Ukraine, The War Zone readers can catch up on our previous rolling coverage here.

The Latest

On the battlefield, Oleksandr Syrskyi, the commander of the Ground Forces of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, visited the troops near Bakhmut and thanked them for their counteroffensive actions this week.

Visited commanders and soldiers on the front line, he wrote Tuesday on his Telegram channel. Each of them is the author of a new page in the history of our war.

Referring to the Russian Wagner mercenary group, Syrskyi said that those troops climbed into Bakhmut like rats into a mousetrap.

Using the principle of active defense, we resort to counteroffensive actions in some directions near Bakhmut, he wrote. The enemy has more resources, but we destroy his plans.

Together with the commanders of units and subdivisions, Syrskyi discussed and adopted the necessary decisions for the continuation of the defense operation. All possible scenarios of the development of events were calculated.

Presenting awards and medals to his troops, Syrskyi said, I am grateful to each and every one of them for their heroism, in particular, to the servicemen of the 57th Military Brigade, 3rd Brigade, 5th Brigade, 24th Brigade, 56th Brigade and other brigades for their exploits on the battlefield. Let's keep in line! Together - we will win! Glory to Ukraine and its defenders!

https://twitter.com/KyivPost/status/1658394713131479040

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky have agreed to separate meetings with a delegation of leaders from six African countries to discuss a possible plan to end the war in Ukraine, South Africas president said Tuesday, according to The Associated Press.

Cyril Ramaphosa said he spoke with Putin and Zelensky by phone over the weekend and they each agreed to host an African leaders peace mission in Moscow and Kyiv, respectively, AP reported.

Principal to our discussions are efforts to find a peaceful resolution to the devastating conflict in the Ukraine, said Ramaphosa, whose nation has strong ties to Russia.

This all comes after U.S. ambassador to South Africa, Reuben Brigety, told local journalists in a briefing last week that Washington was confident a Russian vessel had uploaded weapons and ammunition from South Africa in December.

"Ramaphosa's office said on Thursday that an inquiry led by a retired judge would look into the U.S. allegation," according to Reuters. "On Friday, a minister responsible for arms control and a foreign ministry spokesman said South Africa had not approved any arms shipment to Russia in December."

The leaders of Zambia, Senegal, the Republic of Congo, Uganda, and Egypt would make up the delegation along with Ramaphosa, he said in a statement. Putin and Zelensky gave him the go-ahead to commence the preparations, the South African leader said. At the time of writing, the Russian and Ukrainian governments do not appear to have publicly confirmed any of these details.

https://twitter.com/Alfaiomi/status/1658553148804407298

As of yet, there has been no apparent confirmation from either Kyiv or Moscow, The New York Times reported Tuesday.

The White House said it supports any negotiations Ukraine supports.

We support any third-party peace proposal as long as it can be seen as credible, enforceable, and sustainable, White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters Tuesday afternoon. And for those three things to be the case it's got to be supported by President [Volodymyr] Zelensky. And the Ukrainian people. Nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine. I said it a million times but keep saying it.

https://twitter.com/CBSNews/status/1658537396353335296

Ukrainian Maj. Gen. Kyrylo Budanov, head of his military's Defense Intelligence directorate (GUR) said the GUR has been conducting backchannel negotiations with Belarus through Belarusian MP Yevhen Shevchenko.

"We used all possible means of communication," Budanov told the Rasnye Lyudi (Different People) YouTube channel. "They even involved, lets say, one MP. In order to prevent Belarus from being drawn into the war, this is the first goal. The second goal was when the Russian army was pushed out, to prevent a second approach from Belarus. As time has shown, this has now been achieved."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i1L3Sir9Kp8&t=1101s

Ukrainian forces look to be using Romanian 152mm M1981 howitzers, a derivative of the Soviet-era D-20, according to the Ukraine Weapons Tracker OSINT group. This follows the emergence of APR-40 122mm multiple rocket launchers apparently in Ukrainian service earlier this month.

https://twitter.com/UAWeapons/status/1658496648366940160?s=20

Storm Shadow may be getting the headlines at the moment, but the U.S.-donated Guided Multiple Launch Rocket Systems (GMLRS) rockets are still creating havoc on the battlefield for Russia. The Ukraine Weapons Tracker OSINT group has highlighted a report that a GMLRS recently destroyed a Russian Pantsir-S1 air defense system in Donetsk Oblast.

https://twitter.com/UAWeapons/status/1658491239501799426?s=20

GMLRS also reportedly destroyed a Russian 9A310M1 TELAR near Popasna in Luhansk Oblast. The 9A310M1 is used in both the Buk-M1 and M2 air defense systems and it's unclear which one this particular example may have been.

https://twitter.com/UAWeapons/status/1658448076271484929?s=20

Ukraine's Air Force remains in the fight as well, as you can see from this low-level attack by a Ukrainian Su-25 Frogfoot ground-attack jet.

https://twitter.com/Osinttechnical/status/1658472291884470272?s=20

A Siberian court has sent a man suspected of setting an out-of-service Su-24 Fencer fighter jet on fire at the Novosibirsk Aviation Plant in early May to pretrial detention, according to the U.S.-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty news organization.

"The Lenin district court in Novosibirsk ruled on May 15 that Viktor Skorobogatov must stay in pretrial detention until at last July 12 on a charge of arson aimed at destroying an industrial facility and damaging Russias defense capability. Since Russia launched its ongoing invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, hundreds of arson attacks have been reported, mostly targeting military conscription centers."

https://twitter.com/russiandefpolic/status/1658397665132961794?s=46&t=cbCZ6V64euYCCy5V9r9oiQ

That's it for now. We'll update this story when there is more news to report about Ukraine.

Contact the author: howard@thewarzone.com
Ukraines spy chief says his words about killing Russians anywhere in the world were misinterpreted

Kyrylo Budanov

This is a cut version, he explained.

The most important part was cut from it: only Russians who are war criminals, who have committed crimes against humanity, crimes such as gang rapes, rapes of minors, murders... It was about them. That clarification was removed from the quote.

Budanov claimed that no matter how bad it sounds, he has nothing personal against Russians, though he admitted that he doesnt like them  especially those proven to have committed war crimes on Ukrainian soil, he added.

According to Budanov, the Main Intelligence Directorate, Ukraines military intelligence angry, cooperates with Russians who are against the war and are ready to change Russia, but the downright scoundrels will eventually suffer a well-deserved punishment.

But only the downright scoundrels, the military intelligence chief said.

This is absolutely true. Ill confirm it for you once again  Im not afraid of my words: there have been and will be cases [of scoundrels]. These people will eventually suffer the punishment they would deserve in any country in the world. Only their liquidation can be the well-deserved punishment for these actions. I dont consider anything else to be fitting. This is my personal opinion. I adhere to it and will implement it.

Earlier in an interview with Yahoo News, in response to a request to comment on Ukraines possible involvement in the assassination of Kremlin propagandist Daria Dugina, Budanov asked not to continue on this topic.

All I will comment on is that we have killed Russians and will continue to kill Russians anywhere in the world, until the complete victory of Ukraine,he said.

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Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
FILE PHOTO: Billboard in support of Ukraine outside the Canadian embassy in Beijing

KYIV (Reuters) -Ukraine's foreign minister told a top Chinese envoy at talks in Kyiv on Wednesday that Kyiv would not accept any proposals to end the war with Russia that involved it losing territory or freezing the conflict, the Ukrainian foreign ministry said.

Li Hui, China's special representative for Eurasian affairs and former ambassador to Russia, visited Ukraine on Tuesday and Wednesday, and met Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, the ministry said in a statement.

The visit is the first to Kyiv by a senior envoy from China, which has burgeoning ties with Russia, since Moscow's full-scale invasion in February 2022.

"Kuleba briefed the special envoy of the Chinese government in detail on the principles of restoring a sustainable and just peace based on respect for Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity," the ministry said.

"He stressed that Ukraine did not accept any proposals involving the loss of its territories or the freezing of the conflict," it said.

The senior Chinese official's trip to Europe is expected also to include talks in Russia, Poland, France and Germany.

China has refrained from condemning Moscow or referring to its actions as an "invasion", leading to criticism from European countries and the United States, which have questioned China's credibility as a potential broker in the conflict.

(Reporting by Pavel Polityuk; writing by Tom Balmforth; editing by Timothy Heritage)
Key developments on May 17:

Patriot still operational, radar not damaged

Defense Ministry: Ukraine advances 500 meters near Bakhmut over past day

US House Foreign Affairs Committee supports resolution on special tribunal for Russia

U.S. officials do not believe the Patriot air defense system must be removed from the battlefield for repairs, CNN reported on May 17, quoting undisclosed U.S. officials.

According to CNN, the U.S. sent inspectors to examine the system on May 16 after Ukrainian forces said it appeared to have been damaged.

Moscow claimed to have hit and "destroyed" a Patriot system with a Kinzhal missile early on May 16. However, the system is still operational, and one of the key elements  the radar  was not damaged, the experts told CNN.

In the early hours of May 16, Russian forces launched an airstrike on Kyiv that the Kyiv City Military Administration called "exceptional in its density, with the maximum number of attacking missiles in the shortest time possible."

The Air Force initially said it shot down all of the 18 Russian missiles targeting Ukraine overnight, including six Kinzhal ballistic missiles and six Iranian-made Shahed-131/136 kamikaze drones.

The attacks were carried out from the north, east, and south, it added. Later in the day, the military updated the count to 25 missiles.

According to the Air Force's report, Russian forces launched the Kinzhal missiles from six MiG-31K jets, and the attack happened around 3:30 a.m.

The State Emergency Service reported that the debris of the shot-down missiles caused fires and damages in five of Kyiv's ten districts. Still, the city did not suffer significant damage.

The Kinzhal, an air-launched ballistic missile with a range of up to 2,000 kilometers, was previously deemed difficult to shoot down because of its ability to bypass radar systems.

On May 4, a week after the arrival of the U.S.-made Patriot air defense systems, Ukraine's Air Force reported shooting down a Kinzhal ballistic missile for the first time.

Patriot air defense faces its toughest challenge ever in Ukraine The wait is over  after almost a year of refusals and hesitation, Western-provided MIM-104 Patriot air defense systems have finally arrived and become operational in Ukraine. On April 21 and 26, Ukraines Air Force confirmed the full employment of two Patriot batteries. As Ukraines own Soviet-er Kyiv IndependentIllia Ponomarenko

Battle for Bakhmut

Ukraine's Armed Forces have advanced up to 500 meters near Bakhmut over the past day, spokesperson for the Ukrainian military's Eastern Operational Command Serhii Cherevatyi said on May 17.

"(Despite) not having a large number of reserves or an advantage over the enemy in terms of equipment or personnel, we are beating them," Cherevatyi told Ukrainian TV. "In addition to conducting a successful defensive operation, we're also attacking the flanks."

On the same day, Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar said that the Ukrainian military still held the recently liberated 20 square kilometers on the outskirts of Bakhmut.

Maliar also reported Ukrainian advances in the area, although adding that Russian troops had success inside the city of Bakhmut.

According to the Institute of the Study of War's May 16 update, despite Ukraine's successful counterattacks north and south of the city, Russian forces have likely committed to reinforcing their offensive efforts in the area.

Where does Russia expect Ukraines counterattack? Overview of defensive lines As Ukraine gathers forces for the counteroffensive, Russia continues to build defensive lines on a massive scale. The lines are especially formidable in the southwestern part of Zaporizhzhia Oblast, where many observers expect the main Ukrainian assault to strike. But defenses have been prepared a Kyiv IndependentIgor Kossov

'Fighter jet coalition'

A coalition to provide Ukraine with Western fighter jets will be formed this year, Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said on national television on May 17.

According to Kuleba, some of Ukraine's allies have expressed their willingness to train Ukrainian soldiers on how to operate Western fighter jets, and other countries are ready to provide the aircraft.

"Our priority is the F-16, but we are not canceling other aircraft options. It's like with tanks," Kuleba said.

Once the coalition is formed, "everything will happen very quickly," Kuleba added.

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte have agreed to build an "international coalition" to help procure F-16 fighter jets for Ukraine, the British government announced on May 16.

A Downing Street spokesperson said Sunak and Rutte "would work to build an international coalition to provide Ukraine with combat air capabilities, supporting with everything from training to procuring F-16 jets."

During President Volodymyr Zelensky's visit to the U.K. on May 15, Sunak said that providing Western fighter jets to Ukraine was "no straightforward thing," but the U.K. was nonetheless prepared to be "a key part of the coalition countries" aiding Ukraine in this endeavor.

The U.K. has promised to train Ukrainian pilots on F-16s this summer.

However, British Defense Minister Ben Wallace said during a joint press conference with his German counterpart Boris Pistorius on May 17 that the U.K. can contribute to "training and support, again, within limits, because we don't have F-16 pilots."

Meanwhile, Pistorius said Germany did not have the training capacity or military equipment to actively contribute to a British-Dutch initiative to supply Ukraine with fighter jets.

"We cannot play an active role in such an alliance, in such a coalition, because we have neither the training capacities, the competencies, or the planes," Pistorius said.

Shortage of air defense missiles endangers Ukraines ability to fight off Russian attacks Over last winter, Ukraine successfully withstood Russias months-long campaign targeting energy infrastructure with barrages of missiles and drones. But that achievement came with a cost. Having shot down hundreds of Russian rockets and kamikaze drones since October, Ukraines Air Force is now fac Kyiv IndependentStanislav Storozhenko

France has "opened the door" for training Ukrainian pilots on how to use Western fighter jets, French President Emmanuel Macron said in an interview on May 15, as cited by Le Monde, after meeting Zelensky in Paris.

Polish President Andrzej Duda said that Poland was not able to supply Ukraine with F-16 fighter jets but was not against training Ukrainian pilots and sending more MiG-29s, news outlet wPolityce reported on May 17.

While speaking to journalists at the Council of Europe summit in Iceland, Duda was asked if Poland would join an international coalition alongside the U.K. and the Netherlands to procure F-16 fighter jets for Ukraine.

According to Duda, Poland has a "relatively small number" of F-16s, meaning that supplying Ukraine with such fighter jets is not an option.

Ukraine has received 14 Soviet-era MiG-29 fighter jets from Poland and 13 from Slovakia.

US House Committee supports resolution on special tribunal

The Foreign Affairs Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives agreed to a resolution on May 16 supporting the establishment of a special tribunal for Russian crimes of aggression in Ukraine.

The resolution was first registered in the House of Representatives on Jan. 31, 2023.

According to the resolution, Russia's "unprecedented full-scale invasion of Ukraine has reached a critical point requiring immediate and decisive action by the international community."

One possible step toward establishing a special tribunal includes an agreement between Ukraine and the United Nations following a U.N. General Assembly vote, according to the resolution.

The resolution urges U.S. President Joe Biden to "take all available measures" to support the creation of a special tribunal.

U.S. State Department Global Criminal Justice Ambassador Beth Van Schaak said in late March that the U.S. was in favor of a hybrid tribunal.

This system would involve "the integration of professionals, judges, prosecutors, investigators, lawyers, or through the provision of expert assistance at Ukraine's request."

However, Zelensky is among those who have publicly criticized the option of a hybrid tribunal for punishing Russian war crimes.

When dying stops being scary: Worn out Ukrainian soldiers in Donbas hold off Russian assaults Editors Note: This story is based on interviews with Ukrainian soldiers, conducted in Donetsk Oblast, near the eastern front line, in late March. Some of the soldiers declined to give their last names for security reasons, and are identified by first names and callsigns instead. DONETSK OBLAST  U Kyiv IndependentAsami Terajima

Speaking at The Hague on May 4, Zelensky said that the world "should not refer to the shortcomings of the current international law but make bold decisions" that would correct them in order to receive "full" justice, citing the Nuremberg trials as a precedent.

The Council of Europe also announced on May 17 that it had established a "Register of Damage" for Russian crimes of aggression in Ukraine.

Forty-three countries and the European Union joined or indicated their intention to join the initiative, according to the press release.

The office of the Register will be located at The Hague with a satellite office in Ukraine. It will serve as "a record of evidence" concerning the damages caused to the victims of Russia's crimes of aggression in Ukraine.

According to the press release, establishing the Register "paves the way towards a future international comprehensive compensation mechanism for the victims of the Russian aggression."

Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said the establishment of the Register was followed by the urgent task of making it operational as soon as possible so that "victims of Russian aggression could submit their claims."

The Register is only "the first step" being taken to ensure that Russia will be held accountable for its crimes against Ukraine, Shmyhal said.

Secretary General of the Council of Europe Marija Pejcinovic Buric wrote that it was a "historic achievement," adding that "every loss will be counted, every damage will be compensated."
Ukraine's Ministry of Defence is expected to strengthen Ukraine's military intelligence capabilities.

Source: website of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine, citing Lieutenant General Oleksandr Pavliuk, First Deputy Minister of Defence

Details: The Defence Ministry has held the first meeting of the Strategic Planning Committee. Defence Ministers deputies, department heads, and representatives from the Ukrainian Armed Forces and the State Transport Special Service (a specialised military unit within Ukraines Defence Ministry created to guarantee reliable operation of transportation  ed.) took part in the meeting.

Oleksandr Pavliuk, who chairs the committee, has signed into effect measures designed to strengthen military intelligence capabilities, which were agreed on during the meeting.

Quote from Pavliuk: "The first meeting of the Strategic Planning Committee has launched the introduction of committee work within the Defence Ministry, one of the key governance practices and procedures of NATO member states. As a result of the joint work of the committee members, the military intelligence capabilities will be strengthened."

More details: Automating intelligence data gathering and processing and managing intelligence personnel and equipment in accordance with NATO standards were among the issues discussed during the meeting.

Ukraines top priority in terms of enhancing intelligence capabilities is the speed of intelligence assessments of operational circumstances, and the management of intelligence personnel and equipment.

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Ukraine's military may not be able to retake Crimea, but it can make life hell for Russians there, experts say

Reservists called up by the Russian military at a departure ceremony in Sevastopol in September. Photo by STRINGER/AFP via Getty Images

Ukraine is gearing up for what's expected to be a counteroffensive against Russian forces.

There's debate inside and outside of Ukraine about whether and how Kyiv can recapture Crimea.

Retaking the peninsula would be tough, but Ukrainian forces can isolate it, two US experts say.

Rather than a costly ground offensive to liberate Crimea from Russian control, there may be an easier way: Use unmanned boats to attack Russian forces and blockade the peninsula, argue two American experts.

Ukraine does not "need to drive occupying forces out of Crimea to render it less hospitable to Russia's purposes," William Courtney and Scott Savitz, two researchers at the RAND Corporation think tank, wrote in an essay published by The Moscow Times in April.

Defending the Crimean Peninsula, which Russia invaded and annexed in 2014, has historically presented a quandary. A land invasion from the northwest  the direct route  must cross the narrow and easily defended Perekop isthmus between the peninsula and the mainland.

On the other hand, a hostile army can just as easily block communications between Crimea and the mainland. This would force Russia to supply the peninsula either by sea or by road and rail using the 11-mile Kerch Strait bridge on the eastern side of the peninsula, which connects Crimea with the Taman peninsula in southern Russia.

Smoke billows from a fire on the Kerch Strait bridge after an explosion on October 8. AFP via Getty Images

In October, a Ukrainian truck bomb badly damaged the bridge, which Ukrainian officials recently said they would target as part of the counteroffensive.

The result is that Russia's ability to supply and reinforce its military in Crimea  or retreat, if need be  by land depends on two precarious chokepoints.

"The geography that makes Crimea hard to invade facilitates a modern-day siege," Courtney and Savitz wrote. "All Russian movements by land must pass through one of two constrained corridors. The first entails traversing hundreds of miles of occupied territory, including areas relatively close to the front and crawling with hostile populations, saboteurs, and special forces. The final gauntlet is the isthmus, a target-rich place with minimal room for maneuver and within range of current Ukrainian weapons."

That leaves the Black Sea route. Ideally, Ukraine would either launch an amphibious invasion of the peninsula  as Britain and France did in the Crimean War in 1854  or starve out the Russians through a naval blockade.

But the Ukrainian navy is much too weak to take on Russia's Black Sea Fleet, which lost its flagship but still fields about six diesel-electric submarines as well as several dozen missile-armed frigates, corvettes, patrol craft, and other support vessels.

Russian warships near the port of Sevastopol on February 16, 2022. REUTERS/Alexey Pavlishak

But Ukraine could use unmanned surface vessels laden with explosives to damage and destroy Russian ships. Ukraine has already employed USVs to damage Russian warships and to attack the Russian naval base at Sevastopol, at the southern tip of the Crimean peninsula.

"USVs are well-suited for networked swarm attacks, and relatively low-cost," Courtney and Savitz wrote. "Their nascent designs can be modified to make them stealthier and harder to detect than most crewed vessels. Sinking a warship in a confined channel could create obstacles that would take weeks to clear, or longer if under fire."

If sea and land links to Crimea are blocked, that would only leave air transport. Supplying Russian forces on the peninsula  including the Black Sea Fleet  would require far more airlift capacity than Russia has. "Ukraine could attenuate this flow by targeting runways and fuel facilities on the peninsula," they wrote.

"Augmented by other weapons, Ukrainian forces could hinder Russian forces from using it as a safe haven from which to attack the mainland or threaten Black Sea shipping," Courtney and Savitz added. "Rattled by attacks, short of supplies, and somewhat isolated, Russian forces in Crimea could become less capable."

Smoke rises from a fuel tank after an alleged drone attack in Sevastopol in April. REUTERS/Stringer

A naval drone blockade has its risks. Ukrainian aerial drones and GPS-guided weapons such as HIMARS rockets are already being hampered by Russian jamming. It is possible that Russia could devise some defense or countermeasure against USVs, especially if they have naval and air superiority over the Black Sea.

Perhaps the biggest drawback to a drone blockade is the time it would take. Siege warfare has always been slow and painstaking. Sapping the capabilities and morale of Russian forces by disrupting their supply lines is one thing. If the ultimate goal is to liberate Crimea and force the Russians out  as Ukrainian officials have repeatedly vowed to do  that may require a ground offensive.

But Ukrainians and Russians can both read a map. The obvious Ukrainian strategy is to drive eastward across southern Ukraine and the Black Sea coast, cutting off the neck of the peninsula. The obvious Russian strategy is to defend that area, and in fact Russian forces have built multiple fortified lines meant to thwart attacks by land or sea.

That is a recipe for a bloodbath, but blockading Crimea with robot attack boats may be a way around it.

Michael Peck is a defense writer whose work has appeared in Forbes, Defense News, Foreign Policy magazine, and other publications. He holds a master's in political science. Follow him on Twitter and LinkedIn.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Ukraine's NATO membership to be decided after the war, UK defense secretary says

Ben Wallace

Read also: Zaluzhnyi skips NATO meeting due to difficult operational situation on front line

"The issue of Ukraine's membership in NATO is not currently being discussed; Ukraine is in the midst of a war," Wallace said.

At the same time, the secretary stressed the importance of strengthening Ukraine's defense capabilities and its ability to deter Russia, both now and after the war. According to Wallace, the political decision about Ukraine's NATO accession will be made by all Alliance members after the war is over. The UK advocates for providing Kyiv with a roadmap for membership.

He underscored that London and Berlin are leading the continent in support of Ukraine.

"The UK and Germany are sending a signal to Russia that aggression is unacceptable, that it cannot win this war, and that it must give Ukraine peace," Wallace added.

Read also: Shmyhal and Wallace visit Ukrainian troops training in UK

During a meeting with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg on April 20, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy emphasized that there are "no barriers to making political decisions" regarding the country's membership in the alliance.

Read also: UK first country to start training Ukrainian pilots to NATO standards, says envoy

Stoltenberg stated that all NATO members agree that Kyiv will ultimately join the alliance, but are currently focusing on Ukraine's victory in the war with Russia.

Read also: Ukraine officially joins NATOs cyber defense center

At the NATO Vilnius Summit in July 2023, Ukraine expects specific proposals from the alliance regarding membership prospects and security guarantees.

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Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
Ukraine's Patriots aren't hard to find, and Russia's gunning for them with one of its best weapons  Putin's prized Kinzhals

A Russian MiG-31 fighter jet carries the Kinzhal missile. AP Photo/ Russian Defense Ministry Press Service, File

Ukraine's Patriots aren't hard to find, and Russia appears to be using one of its best weapons to hunt them.

It's not going very well, though. Russia has lost as many as seven of its Kinzhals this month.

The Patriot's best chance of taking out a Kinzhal is when it is the target, an expert said.

Russia is hunting the newest addition to Ukraine's air defenses with its advanced Kinzhal missiles, a weapon until recently hailed as unbeatable, in a major test of the US-made system.

Though they are considered to be among the most advanced in the world, the American-made Patriot batteries defending Ukraine's cities are not that difficult to find. Their radars emit telltale frequencies that Russia can detect, and Russia is targeting these batteries with one of its best and harder-to-kill missiles.

The good news for Ukraine, a missile-defense expert said, is the Patriot is very capable and has the best chance of killing the Kinzhal when it's the missile's target, but there are still limits to what it can do. So far, though, the Patriot is holding its own against the Kinzhal, which, while good, hasn't quite lived up to the hype.

The US and Ukrainian militaries recently said that earlier this month, in a first, a MIM-104 "Patriot" Air Defense Battery took out a KH-47M2 Kinzhal, an advanced maneuverable air-launched ballistic missile that Russia had touted as an unstoppable hypersonic weapon.

CNN, citing US officials, reported the deadly missile was targeting the Patriot, noting that officials suspected the Russians detected signals emissions that allowed them to target the system. It apparently backfired, though, and instead resulted in the loss of the missile.

Russia has denied losing one of its prized "superweapons."

On Tuesday, there was another air battle, though much larger and more intense than the last. The details of the fight are still somewhat disputed and unverified, but it is clear it was a rough night in Kyiv as a salvo of Russian missiles screamed toward their targets.

A missile exploding over Kyiv, Ukraine, during Russia's attack on Tuesday. Gleb Garanich/Reuters

Russia has claimed it destroyed a US Patriot system near Kyiv with a Kinzhal, indicating in an online update that the battery was the intended target. The defense ministry said "all assigned targets have been hit," adding that "a high-precision strike by a hypersonic missile system Kinzhal in the city of Kyiv hit a US-made Patriot anti-aircraft missile system."

Russia's claims it took out a Patriot with a Kinzhal were undercut by a Ukrainian announcement saying that all six of the Kinzhal missiles launched were shot down, along with at least a dozen other missiles.

Russia denies this, but a US official told The New York Times six Kinzhals were downed.

A CNN report citing a US official said that a Patriot battery was most likely damaged but not, as the Russians claimed, destroyed. Reuters reported the damage seemed minimal, and an official told the Times it remained operational against threats.

The reported kills during the overnight air battle would put Russia's total Kinzhal losses in less than a month at seven and, like the reported damage to a Patriot system, are a reminder nothing is truly invincible.

Neither the US Department of Defense nor Ukraine's Ministry of Defense responded to a request for clarification or details on the attack on Kyiv.

But the British defense ministry said in a Wednesday update that the vulnerabilities of the Kinzhal were most likely "a surprise and an embarrassment for Russia."

The update said Russia was prioritizing "attempting to neutralize Ukraine's improved air defense capabilities, but in the process has likely lost several more" Kinzhals.

A Patriot missile-defense system at Schwesing military airport in Germany on March 17, 2022. Photo by Axel Heimken/picture alliance via Getty Images

Ukraine presently has just two Patriot air-defense batteries in its arsenal, one from the US and another provided by European partners. These systems, which first arrived in April, fill a critical capability gap, targeting threats Kyiv's forces were previously unable to defend against, but the limited number means Ukraine can't really afford to lose one.

Yet, "it's always going to be at risk," Ian Williams, the deputy director of the Missile Defense Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told Insider. "There's always a chance that the Patriot will get hit."

Missile defense is never flawless, and though it's difficult to take out an entire battery, all it takes is a successful strike to the phased-array radar to potentially render the system useless.

And in the electronic-warfare space, the Patriot radar emits a signature that stands out among the noise. It can also be detected and tracked visibly via other surveillance, such as satellites or overhead drones.

Patriots are 'pretty easy to spot'

Russia has said the Patriot is a fair target, and, in general, "if a radar is radiating," as it does when it's on and tracking targets, "no matter what radar it is, it typically is pretty easy to spot if you have the right equipment," Williams said.

For the May 4 engagement, US officials said that Russian signals intelligence could have tracked the Patriot to its position outside Kyiv.

The Patriot also presents a decent-size target on the battlefield, as each battery consists of several launchers, command and control components, and a power station, among other things, as well as up to several dozen personnel. And it's not anywhere near as mobile as some of Ukraine's smaller shoot-and-scoot systems.

An attempt could be made to move it, but "evading an attack is really about tactics," like relying on effective early-warning systems and radiating only when needed, Williams says, noting these options "minimize opportunities for Russian aircraft equipped with anti-radiation missiles to get in there and start taking shots at them, which they are always trying to do" to knock out Ukraine's air defenses keeping Russian missiles and planes at bay.

Another potential solution is the use of decoys. Ukraine has successfully used decoys, such as wooden units, to trick attackers in the visible spectrum and protect its US-made High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems.

"That's the kind of simple, low-tech thing that has been surprisingly effective in this war," Williams said. The Ukrainians may need a higher-end solution, though, to best the Russians hunting for the Patriot's electronic signature.

Throughout the war, Russian forces have sought to suppress and eliminate Ukrainian air defenses holding Russian aircraft at risk and threatening their ability to conduct air operations.

Ukraine's defenders have done well at protecting systems from threats like Russia's Kh-31 anti-radiation missiles designed to target radar systems, and overall system losses, Williams noted, have been lower than expected. But Russia is now gunning for its newly added systems with a missile that's, at least on paper, tough to kill.

A mobile defense surface-to-air missile system in Gnoien, Germany, on January 23. REUTERS/Annegret Hilse

Putin said the Kinzhal could "overcome all existing and, I think, prospective antiaircraft and anti-missile defense systems." Ukraine is proving that wrong, but it's still a formidable threat.

The Kinzhal  the Russian word for "Dagger"  is known as the Killjoy missile among NATO forces. It's an advanced Russian system that shares design features with the Iskander short-range ballistic missile. It was adapted to be launched from the MiG-31, a high-speed Russian combat aircraft, at speed and altitude, and the missile's erratic flight path and hypersonic speeds complicate interception.

'Probably the best time' to take the shot

The Patriot  components of which are manufactured by the US defense giants Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, and Boeing  has been significantly improved and upgraded since the controversies when it was first put to the test in combat decades ago, but, again, missile defense is not perfect and no system is batting a thousand.

Tom Karako, the director of the Missile Defense Project at CSIS, recently told Insider that the Patriot's ability to bring a missile down and the degree of difficulty in doing so depended on several factors, specifically "what the heck the missile was doing at that exact couple-second window when the interceptor was in the basket."

A MiG-31BM supersonic interceptor equipped with a Kh-47M2 Kinzhal hypersonic cruise missile. Russian Ministry of Defense/YouTube

When Patriot is the target, some of the features of the Kinzhal that make it particularly difficult for defenders, such as its ability to maneuver in flight, potentially become less of a problem.

In an intercept situation, "the closer you are to the target, the more kinematic flexibility you have to make that engagement," Williams told Insider, explaining that the missile eventually had to "stop maneuvering and bear down, and you have sort of maximum flexibility" if you were close to the target or were the target.

"The further you are away" from the intended target, he said, "then the physics get a little more challenging."

Talking about the reported May 4 intercept, Williams said that "if it was going for the Patriot itself, that is probably the best time to take that shot." That would be the optimal engagement scenario, he said, although intercepts become significantly more challenging in a barrage situation like the most recent engagement.

Russia can't afford to throw Kinzhals away

In the first intercept of a Kinzhal missile, the Patriot was said to have fired off multiple interceptors to bring it down. There aren't a lot of details on the second engagement of Kinzhals, but photos and videos from that battle showed several surface-to-air missiles in flight.

Though this is standard shot doctrine and Ukraine seems to be using its Patriots sparingly, really only using them for high-end threats, Kyiv's forces have a limited supply of surface-to-air missiles, including Patriot interceptors, and it looks as if Russia is trying to overwhelm their defenses and strained arsenal.

Airpower and air-defense experts have emphasized the need to keep Ukraine supplied with Western SAMs, arguing this is critical to preventing the Russian air force from overrunning Ukrainian forces.

Service members patrolling in front of the Patriot air-defense system during Polish military training on the missile systems at the airport in Warsaw on February 7. REUTERS/Kacper Pempel

A diminished Ukrainian air-defense capability would not only leave "Ukraine at greater risk from Russian missile attack but raise the prospects of the Russian Air Force resuming penetrating sorties into Ukrainian airspace," Williams wrote in a recent CSIS analysis.

He made the case that "to the extent possible, replenishing Ukraine's air defense capacity should remain a priority for Western military aid for the foreseeable future."

That said, Russia is estimated to have only a limited supply of Kinzhals and probably can't produce them in any significant quantity, a problem possibly exacerbated by industry constraints, consequences, in part, of Russia's aggressive invasion of its neighbor last year. Russia has faced significant shortages in its stockpiles of precision-guided munitions that have forced it to turn to cheaper yet less effective alternatives like Iranian-made exploding drones.

Ukraine's Patriot capacity, Williams suspects, "is actually bigger and deeper than these kinds of ballistic missiles." If that's the case, Russia can't really afford to throw them away gunning for Ukrainian Patriots, especially half a dozen of the missiles at a time.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Six-year-old Anna-Maria, whose parents were captured as they defended the city of Mariupol, has been brought home to Ukraine from Russia.

Source: Dmytro Lubinets, the Ukrainian Parliaments Commissioner for Human Rights, on Facebook

Quote: "A six-year-old girl has been returned to her parents, who spent a long time in Russian captivity. The girl's mum and dad are soldiers who were captured in their hometown of Mariupol as they defended it from the Russian military who came to destroy and kill.

After being released from captivity, the girl's mother asked the Office of the Commissioner to help bring her daughter home."

Details: Lubinets added that they have managed to bring the little Ukrainian home, and now the whole family is in Ukraine and happy that they were able to be reunited.

Lubinets urged anyone who has lost a child to contact the Secretariat of the Ukrainian Parliaments Commissioner for Human Rights on its hotline: 0-800-50-17-20.

Journalists fight on their own frontline. Support Ukrainska Pravda or become our patron!






Ukrainian film producer arrested in absentia in Russia over "fake news" about army

The Basmanny District Court of Moscow has arrested Ukrainian film producer Oleksandr Rodnianskyi in absentia in connection with the spread of "fake news" about the Russian army.

Source: Mediazona

Details: According to the information on the court's website, both "hearings" on the choice of pre-trial custody measures took place on 27 April.

At the same time, the Basmanny Court did not publish the case files until 17 May.

There had been no previous reports of a criminal case against Rodnianskyi.

Journalists have found a similar decision in relation to the Russian film director and actor Ivan Vyrypaiev.

Rodnianskyi is a co-founder and former owner of the Ukrainian 1+1 channel. In Russia, Rodnianskyi Sr. is known as a film producer.

In 2021, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine appointed Oleksandr Rodnianskyi Jr., the son of the ex-founder of the TV channel 1+1 and Russian TV producer Oleksandr Rodnyansky Sr., as a member of the Supervisory Board of Oschadbank as a state representative of the President.

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Ukraine's Deputy Defence Minister Hanna Maliar has said that Ukrainian forces have liberated nearly 20 square kilometres on the Bakhmut front and repeated that fierce fighting for the city of Bakhmut itself is still underway, with Russian forces making minor gains.

Source: Hanna Maliar on Telegram

Quote from Maliar: "Currently on the Bakhmut front:

[Ukrainian forces] have held the nearly 20 square kilometres they liberated on the outskirts [of Bakhmut] over the course of the past few days, and are moving forward and advancing in some areas.

Fierce fighting continues in the city of Bakhmut itself. Enemy forces are making some gains."

Details: Maliar also said that Ukrainian commanders and soldiers were doing everything that any military could do in this situation: "They are doing it skilfully, to the best of their ability."

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Ukrainian forces have advanced by another 500 metres on the Bakhmut front.

Source: Interfax-Ukraine, citing Serhii Cherevatyi, spokesman for the Skhid (East) Group of Forces, on Freedom TV channel

Details: Cherevatyi said that Ukrainian forces saw more success in the past 24 hours, advancing by up to 500 metres on parts of the Bakhmut front and liberating Ukrainian land from Russian occupation.

Quote from Cherevatyi: "Enemy forces deployed artillery of various calibres and MLRS [multiple-launch rocket systems  ed.] to fire on our positions 456 times, thus showing that unfortunately they are not experiencing an ammunition shortage. A total of 25 clashes and 12 airstrikes took place on this front; 107 [Russian soldiers] were killed and 153 sustained injuries."

More details: The spokesman for the Skhid (East) Group of Forces also said that Ukrainian troops destroyed several pieces of Russian military equipment, including an infantry fighting vehicle, an airborne fighting vehicle, 6 D-30 howitzers, 2 electronic warfare systems, 3 unmanned aerial vehicles (2 Orlan-10 UAVs and 1 Zala), and 4 kamikaze drones.

He confirmed what Oleksandr Syrskyi, Commander of the Ground Forces of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, had said earlier  namely, that Wagner Group mercenaries "entered Bakhmut just like rats enter a mousetrap". He explained that Russian forces now realise that they cannot succeed, but keep trying to capture the city.

Quote from Cherevatyi: "At the same time, they realise that gradually, we are seizing the initiative. Despite not having significant reserves or a major advantage in the amount of equipment or troops, we are defeating enemy forces, conducting a successful defence operation, and occasionally attacking from the flanks."

Previously: Ukraine's Deputy Defence Minister Hanna Maliar has said that Ukrainian forces liberated nearly 20 square kilometres on the Bakhmut front and repeated that fierce fighting for the city of Bakhmut itself was still underway, with Russian forces making minor gains.

Journalists fight on their own frontline. Support Ukrainska Pravda or become our patron!
Uma Thurman joined by son at Cannes in rare joint red carpet appearance

Uma Thurman had an unexpected guest join her on the red carpet for the opening ceremony of the Cannes Film Festival.

On May 16, the Kill Bill star arrived at the French festival with her 21-year-old son Levon Thurman-Hawke by her side, marking a rare public appearance for the mother and son.

The duo smiled for the cameras as they posed for pictures together.

Thurman, 53, donned a rose pink gown and oversized maroon coat that featured a lengthy train. She styled the look with a crimson and plum choker and a tousled updo.

Thurman-Hawke beamed while standing next to his mom in a classic black suit and bow tie.

The Pulp Fiction actor shares her son and actor Maya Hawke, 24, with Before Sunrise star Ethan Hawke. She also has a 10-year-old daughter, Luna, with former fiance Arpad Busson.

Thurman-Hawke and his little sister are not in the spotlight as much as Maya Hawke, who has followed in her parents footsteps. Maya Hawke has already landed roles in popular movies and television shows like Stranger Things and Do Revenge.

The rising stars next film, Asteroid City, will premiere at Cannes Film Festival on May 23, which means she could join her mother and brother in France soon. She co-stars with Tom Hanks, Margot Robbie, Scarlett Johansson, Steve Carell and more A-list actors in the Wes Anderson flick.

Although Thurmans youngest children are not often in the public eye, they attend celebrity events with their mom from time to time.

In December 2022, Thurman brought Luna to the opening night of the Broadway musical Some Like It Hot.

The proud mom shared a photo from the night of the opening on her Instagram. She uploaded a picture of her posing with Luna in front of a Christmas tree.

Spreading holiday spirit, she said in the caption.

This article was originally published on TODAY.com
FILE - Myanmar military officers leave the venue during a parade to commemorate Myanmar's 78th Armed Forces Day in Naypyitaw, Myanmar, Monday, March 27, 2023. Myanmars military government is urging people fighting against its rule to surrender their weapons, offering a cash reward if they do so along with the possibility of reduced sentences if they broke the law. The official announcement was made in the edition of the Global New Light of Myanmar newspaper Wednesday, May 10. (AP Photo/Aung Shine Oo, File) (ASSOCIATED PRESS)

UNITED NATIONS (AP)  Myanmars military has imported at least $1 billion worth of weapons and related material from Russia, China and other countries since its February 2021 coup, some of which it has used to carry out atrocities against civilians, according to a U.N. report released Wednesday.

The weapons continue to flow to the military despite overwhelming evidence of its responsibility for the atrocities, including some that amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity, said Tom Andrews, the U.N. independent investigator on human rights in Myanmar.

As an example of what he called the juntas brutality, Andrews pointed to its April 11 airstrike using a Russian Yak-130 fighter jet on a ceremony attended by some 300 opponents of army rule, which was quickly followed by an attack by Russian Mi-35 helicopters on those who came to help. He said at least 160 people were killed, including many children.

In addition, the machine guns and bombs used in the attacks included parts and materials from companies located in Singapore, China and Thailand, he said.

Myanmar is mired in strife because of a political crisis unleashed when the military took power. Its takeover prompted widespread peaceful protests that security forces suppressed with deadly force, triggering armed resistance throughout the country that the army has been unable to quell. Andrews said at least 22,000 political prisoners have been detained since the coup, at least 3.500 civilians have been killed and 1.5 million people have been forcibly displaced.

The report documents over 12,500 purchases that were shipped directly to the Myanmar military or known Myanmar arms dealers working for the military from Feb. 1, 2021, when the military ousted the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi, until December 2022, Andrews said at a news conference.

He said the volume and diversity of equipment the military received was staggering, ranging from fighter jets and attack helicopters and drones to advanced missile systems, tank upgrades, sophisticated communications equipment, radar complexes and components for naval ships.

Andrews, a former Democratic congressman from Maine , said he had received highly credible and detailed information from confidential sources identifying the major networks and companies involved in the arms trade with Myanmar.

The report to the Geneva-based Human Rights Council identifies $406 million in weapons and material that went to the Myanmar military from Russia, $267 million from China, $254 million from Singapore, $51 million from India and $28 million from Thailand.

Since the coup, the report said, 28 Russian private and state-owned companies have transferred fighter jets and their spare parts, advanced missile systems, reconnaissance and attack drones, attack helicopters and other systems to the junta.

The report identified 41 private and state-owned companies registered in China and Hong Kong that supplied the Myanmar military with an extensive array of arms, equipment and raw materials between October 2021 and December 2022, including advanced trainer jets, light attack aircraft, tank upgrades and repairs for Chinese fighter jets, which make up the Myanmar Air Force fleet, the report said.

They also supplied aluminum, copper, steel, rubber and lubricants for use in Myanmars domestic weapons manufacturing, it said.

Unlike with Russia and China, and to a lesser extent India, Andrews said he received no information indicating that the governments of Singapore or Thailand approved or transferred arms to the Myanmar military.

He said companies in Singapore are of critical importance to the junta, having supplied spare parts, raw materials and manufacturing equipment, especially for Myanmars KaPaSa weapons factories. Thai companies have done the same, the report said.

Twelve Thai companies were established after the coup, many by sanctioned arms networks already operating in Singapore, which suggests arms dealers may be looking at Thailand as an alternative route to avoid scrutiny, the report said.

Andrews said Singapore has a policy prohibiting the transfer of arms to Myanmar, and he reported his detailed findings to the government, which he said expressed appreciation for the information and indicated it was reviewing the effectiveness of its export controls.

If the Singapore government stopped all arms shipments to the Myanmar military, he said, the impact on the ability of the junta to manufacture arms would be significant.

Andrews said China and Russia both criticized the report, saying it went beyond his human rights mandate, and accused him of vilifying legitimate arms trade. He countered that identifying the sources of gross human rights violations and atrocities, including crimes against humanity and war crimes, is within my mandate and in my moral obligation.

Andrews said India responded to the reports findings that 22 state-owned and private firms shipped a coastal surveillance system, a remote-controlled weapons system, components from an ammunition and missile manufacturer, and 122 mm howitzer barrels by saying these involved contracts with the previous civilian government.

A U.N. General Assembly resolution adopted on June 18, 2021, calls upon all member states to prevent the flow of arms into Myanmar, but unlike a Security Council resolution it is not legally binding. The United States, United Kingdom, European Union, Canada and Switzerland have imposed sanctions on arms dealers providing support to the military.

Andrews said the sanctions weren't coordinated and have been largely ineffective. He called for countries to impose coordinated sanctions that target the networks that procure weapons and also the junta's finances.
Four months ago, Gov. Gavin Newsom yanked $40 million in funding to restore San Joaquin Valley floodplains from his proposed budget, angering legislators from both parties and conservationists. Last week, he gave all of the money back as part of a $290-million package to increase flood protection funding statewide.

The funding comes in addition to $202 million already included in Newsoms 2023-24 budget proposal in January. That makes a total of $492 million in investments that Newsom is proposing to protect Californians from flooding in the wake of winter storms that inundated towns in the San Joaquin Valley and the Central Coast.

California is facing unprecedented weather whiplash  we just experienced the driest three years on record, and now were dealing with historic flooding, Newsom said in a written statement today. Our investments must match this reality of climate-driven extremes. Were committing even more resources to support communities up and down the state as they continue responding to the impacts of this years storms.

The governors revisions included changing $125 million in drought contingency funds into flood contingency funds, a response to the rapid turn from drought to deluge.

The revisions also include $75 million for local flood control projects, $25 million in grants to small agricultural businesses affected by the recent storms and $25 million for potential additional disaster relief and response costs.

The restored floodplains funding comes after CalMatters revealed widespread criticism from an unlikely alliance of bipartisan legislators, local leaders and conservationists in the San Joaquin Valley. They all said the cuts jeopardized the regions low-income, disadvantaged farm towns and the city of Stockton.

The magic of floodplains

Restoring floodplains  which usually involves removing or notching levees so that swollen rivers can spread across uninhabited land, as rivers naturally do  is considered one of the most cost-effective ways of reducing flood impacts on communities. Inundated floodplains also provide habitat for fish and other wildlife and help recharge groundwater basins for farms and communities.

Both Democrats and Republicans in the Legislature  often at odds when it comes to water and ecosystem management  expressed dismay when Newsom clawed back the $40 million for floodplains. At the time, Resources Secretary Wade Crowfoot said the budget cut was the result of the states $22.5 billion deficit, adding that it was not easy because were cutting priorities.

Republican Assemblymember Heath Flora, whose district includes part of Stanislaus County, was among those frustrated by Newsoms January budget cut. He said parts of the Central Valley are traditionally the last ones at the table when it comes to funding.

Flora said the governors latest action restores faith in a lot of us that the governor caresThe governor should be complimented on doing the right thing and hearing our concerns.

In March, former Assemblymember Adam Gray, a Democrat from Merced who rallied for floodplain restoration work in the valley, said the governors proposed $40 million cut demonstrated inequality in how the state distributes assistance.

The floodplain money will probably be allocated to the nonprofit River Partners, which was named in last summers budget as the recipient of the $40 million. The groups projects were considered shovel-ready when Newsom cut the funding.

The governor should be complimented on doing the right thing and hearing our concerns.

As much as 600 acres of land could be reconnected to adjacent waterways in the next six months, according to Julie Rentner, River Partners president. It will go fast, and the impacts will be measurable and tangible, Rentner said.

With an El Nino predicted later this year bringing the possibility of another wet winter, time is of the essence to complete these restoration projects. Rentner said she and collaborating groups are seeking matching funding from federal agencies.

Theres tremendous opportunity right now to see how an investment of this magnitude could be amplified with federal investment, she said.

Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, executive director of Restore the Delta, an environmental justice group in Stockton, also applauded the governors action. Scientists say the San Joaquin Valley could experience cataclysmic flooding in the near future.

The governor listened to the multitude of voices that have called for the restoration and expansion of flood protection funding, she said. He did the right thing for Californians.

She said much more money for flood protection work is needed, citing a report from state flood officials who estimated that $3.2 billion in state-federal funding over the next five years is needed to protect against catastrophic flooding in the Central Valley. According to that report, the state has spent just $250 million a year on flood protection.

More needed to prepare for climate change

Were still not where we need to be, she said. That may take work through several state budgets to get fully adjusted, but more will have to be done to prepare for climate change, Barrigan-Parrilla said.

Rentner also said the $40 million is a downpayment on what we need to get going.

The revised budget must still be approved by the Legislature.

But Flora said he doubts at this point the floodplain restoration money would fail to reach the final budget, which comes later this summer. It seems by now that this is a priority, he said.

Sen. Melissa Hurtado, a Democrat from Bakersfield, said she is committed to advocating for this fundings inclusion in the final draft of the state budget to help ensure that communities of the Central Valley are safe from future flooding.

Hurtado said the new funding will make an important difference as continued snowmelt causes waterways throughout the Central Valley to continue rising and endangering our economic recovery efforts.

CalMatters is a nonprofit, nonpartisan newsroom committed to explaining California policy and politics.
University of Idaho has a plan to acquire University of Phoenix. Heres what we know

This is a breaking news story. Check back to idahostatesman.com for updates.

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The University of Idaho plans to acquire the University of Phoenix for $550 million via a not-for-profit entity it has created.

The proposal is up for approval by the Idaho State Board of Education at a special meeting Thursday at 1 p.m. Mountain time. According to a news release from the State Board on Wednesday, the University of Phoenix would move from a for-profit to a not-for-profit institution after receiving various regulatory approvals.

The request from U of I comes less than a month after the University of Arkansas System board of trustees voted to reject a similar measure to acquire the University of Phoenix, Inside Higher Ed reported in April.

The University of Phoenix is a predominantly online school with about 85,000 students, according to a page about the acquisition on U of Is website. The university, started in 1976, once had many physical locations across the country, but they have mostly shuttered, including one that used to be in Meridian.

In the early 2000s, University of Phoenix experienced massive growth, with over 450,000 students, but has since seen sharp declines in enrollment. On U of Is website, it notes that the school has been criticized, and sued, for business decisions leading to millions of dollars in fines and punitive actions by regulators.

The school had a lawsuit settlement over deceptive advertising that totaled $191 million in 2019.

U of I said the primary reason it wants to affiliate with the University of Phoenix is to give students more opportunities to be successful. Both institutions serve a large number of first-generation students, the school said, and it believes U of I would benefit from the acquisition.

The university also said the move would allow it to diversify its revenue streams and improve access to higher education with expanded online technologies.

As we face a national enrollment cliff in traditional students and increased demand from adult learners, this brings together two institutions that complement each other and share a vision for student success, U of I said on its website.

To acquire the University of Phoenix, the Moscow school formed a not-for-profit corporation to purchase all Phoenix assets. That includes the universitys digital education platform and a few remaining leases for physical locations. According to U of Is website, a few of the schools campuses remain open for now but are expected to transition to completely online.

U of I said it plans to keep the University of Phoenixs leadership and staff. The universitys Phoenix campus, which houses administrative offices, would not close.

The deal is expected to be finalized by early 2024 if the State Board gives the OK.

The purchase price is $550 million, but the seller would provide $200 million in cash that would transfer to the not-for-profit entity once the transaction is complete, according to U of I.

U of I said it would finance the deal through both nontaxable and taxable bonds, which would be separate from the money used to fund the universitys budgets. Idaho taxpayers would not be involved in paying for the acquisition, but the university has agreed to fork over $10 million a year should the not-for-profit entity running University of Phoenix miss payments on debt related to the transaction.

The University of Phoenix currently generates about $100 million in annual cash flow, according to U of I.

In addition to approval from the Idaho State Board of Education, the acquisition would need the green light from U of Is accreditor, the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities, and University of Phoenixs accreditor, the Higher Learning Commission.

Idaho college students will see tuition hikes for first time in years. What to expect

Bryan Kohberger indicted by grand jury in Moscow killings. June hearing canceled

Who won Meridian Library seats in Tuesdays election? Did West Ada levy pass? Results here
Representative Mike Gallagher, the Wisconsin Republican who heads a new select committee on China, speaks during its first hearing on on February 28, 2023

US lawmakers on a new committee pressing a tough line on China will seek cooperation with Britain on their first foreign visit, people involved said Wednesday.

Representative Mike Gallagher, the Republican who heads the House Select Committee on Strategic Competition between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party, said he would address Beijing's alleged theft of Western technology and its repression outside of its borders, among other concerns.

"Chinese Communist Party aggression is global, and the United States and United Kingdom face common economic, military and ideological threats posed by the CCP," Gallagher said.

"I look forward to working with my friends in parliament and the government to build upon our special relationship and fight CCP aggression and malign influence across the globe," he said.

The lawmakers will meet senior British policymakers on Friday including Defense Minister Ben Wallace, a source close to the committee said, and also take part in a conference on security.

The House of Representatives established the special committee after the Republican victory in November elections, with a goal of addressing the "existential threat" of a rising China, although it also includes lawmakers from President Joe Biden's Democratic Party.

Britain, while frequently critical of China, has also put a focus on engagement with Beijing.

In a speech last month, Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said he does not "see anything inevitable about conflict between China and the United States and the wider West."

The United States increasingly has engaged with Western allies on China including through dialogue with the European Union and within NATO.

sct/md
The White House and congressional Republicans have appointed a new set of negotiators, injecting fresh hope into talks to raise the US debt limit.

"Now we have a format, a structure," House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy told reporters, saying a deal was "possible" by the end of the week.

Without a deal, the US could enter a calamitous default on its $31.4tr (25tr) debt as soon as 1 June.

The standoff has forced President Joe Biden to cut short a foreign trip.

Mr Biden departs later on Wednesday for Japan, where he will attend a Group of Seven (G7) summit, but he will return to Washington on Sunday, foregoing planned visits to Australia and Papua New Guinea.

Reaching the debt ceiling would mean the US government is unable to borrow any more money. This means it would no longer be able to pay the salaries of federal and military employees. Social Security cheques - payments that millions of pensioners in the US rely on - would also be suspended.

A failure to meet debt obligations, or a default, is also likely to trigger global financial chaos.

"We're going to come together because there's no alternative to [doing] the right thing for the country," Mr Biden said Wednesday. "We have to move on."

He said that, at an hour-long Oval Office meeting a day earlier, the top four congressional leaders had agreed the country cannot default.

Both sides expressed cautious optimism after the meeting that a deal was within reach, although Mr McCarthy said the two sides remain far apart.

House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy, Vice-President Kamala Harris, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries at the White House meeting on 16 May 2023

Senior White House officials Steve Ricchetti, Shalanda Young and Louisa Terrell will now take the lead in negotiations for the president, while Louisiana Congressman Garret Graves, a key McCarthy ally, will represent House Republicans.

That is in addition to the daily meetings already taking place between senior White House and congressional aides.

But despite the new "structure" Mr McCarthy is touting, the clock is ticking ahead of the 1 June default deadline set out by the Treasury Department.

A deal to avoid this scenario has so far proven elusive. In April, Republicans proposed an agreement that would suspend the debt limit by $1.5tn or until 31 March 2024, whichever comes first.

In exchange for support for raising the debt ceiling, Republicans are demanding budget cuts and seeking to scupper several of Mr Biden's legislative priorities, including student loan forgiveness.

Mr McCarthy said at a news conference Wednesday that the president and Senate Democrats "have finally backed off their insane, un-rational idea that you just raise the debt ceiling" and were willing to negotiate over budgetary issues.

But it remains unlikely that most Democrats in Congress will support Republican demands such as work requirements for government aid recipients.

With lawmakers only in session in Washington for a handful of days until the 1 June deadline, House Democrats are attempting to force a vote on lifting the debt ceiling alone using a rare procedural move.

Urging his members to get behind the long-shot effort, Democratic House leader Hakeem Jeffries said he is "hopeful that a real pathway exists to find an acceptable, bipartisan resolution that prevents a default" but "it is important that all legislative options be pursued in the event that no agreement is reached".

The US debt ceiling has been raised, extended or revised 78 times since 1960.

The last time the country was approaching a default, back in 2011, lawmakers struck a deal only hours before the deadline.

That standoff led to a downgrade in the US credit rating, sent the stock market plummeting and increased the government's borrowing costs.
President Joe Biden is attending the G7 in Hiroshima but skipping plans to visit Papua New Guinea and Australia

President Joe Biden's departure Wednesday to the G7 summit in Japan was meant to launch a geostrategic masterclass on rallying the world's democracies against China.

Instead, he will limp into an abruptly truncated journey facing concerns that the US debt ceiling row is about to tear up the global economy.

Biden arrives Thursday in Hiroshima, one of the two cities hit by US atomic bombs in 1945 -- a closing chapter to World War II and the start of an era of US leadership across the Pacific that Beijing now seeks to supplant.

He will meet leaders from the rest of the G7 club -- Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan -- that has been crucial in the US-led drive to enforce unprecedented economic sanctions on China-ally Russia for invading Ukraine.

However, visits next week to Papua New Guinea and to a Sydney meeting of the Quad, comprising Australia, India, Japan and the United States, were canceled so that Biden can rush back home Sunday and negotiate with Republican opponents on the debt crisis.

For a president who often warns that democracies are in an existential fight to prove their viability against the world's autocracies, it's a sobering moment.

"It's extraordinarily hard... to go to the G7 and talk about economic unity against Russia, economic unity against China, when the dysfunction is coming from inside the house," Josh Lipsky, at the Atlantic Council, said.

As he left the White House to head to Japan, Biden said "No!" when asked if the turmoil was a win for China.

"I'm confident that we'll get the agreement that we need on the budget and that America will not default," he told reporters.

But Evan Feigenbaum, a former US diplomat with the Carnegie Endowment, was brutal.

"It's tough to 'compete with China' in the Pacific when you're busy sinking your own boat," he tweeted. "How do we think we look to the rest of the world?"

- Candidate Biden enters furnace -

For Biden, 80, the trip and the debt ceiling mess come at a key time. He has just launched his reelection campaign and Americans wary about his age are watching how he copes in the furnace of the presidency at home and abroad.

National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said Biden can multitask.

"He can travel overseas, and manage our foreign policy and our defense policy and look after our national security commitments in an important region like the Indo-Pacific, and also work with congressional leaders to do the right thing -- raise the debt ceiling, avoid default so that the United States credibility here at home and overseas is preserved," Kirby said.

The risks over the debt ceiling, however, are so huge -- global market panic would be just the beginning of the fallout from a default -- that Biden may spend much of his time trying to reassure fellow world leaders on the state of the US economy, rather than planning how to manage China.

Biden doesn't know whether the increasingly hard-right Republican Party will allow an increase to the debt in time to prevent default. Nor does he know whether the left of his own Democratic Party will forgive him for the compromises he may have to make to save the situation.

- Quad consolation prize -

Canceling the Papua New Guinea and Australia stops will have been a bitter pill for a president who has reinvigorated US diplomacy after the isolationist Trump years.

The Quad, an informal grouping of large democracies interested in restraining aggressive Chinese economic and military expansion across the Pacific, is one of Biden's priorities.

Biden's National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan emphasized Wednesday that those visits had simply been "postponed," not cancelled.

"We feel extremely good about where America's position is in the Indo-Pacific," he said.

And the White House pointed out that Biden will already be meeting in Japan on the sidelines of the G7 with his other Quad counterparts.

And as a consolation prize, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was extended an invitation to a state visit at the White House. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is already booked in for a state visit this June.

Yet the symbolism of the Australia stop, at a time when remote Pacific island territories and countries have become chess pieces in the geostrategic contest with China, would have been powerful.

Sullivan took issue with the idea of China grinning at Biden's troubles.

"This notion that somehow the PRC is sitting there happy and comfortable about the situation is a convenient media narrative going into this trip, but it does not reflect reality in any way," he said.

sms/bgs/dw/pmh/tjj
The US has a new friend in the Mediterranean that could help it isolate Russia, but not everybody in NATO is happy about it

US Navy fast-attack submarine USS San Juan sails into Limassol, Cyprus, in April. US Embassy Cyprus

US-Cyprus relations are picking up, as shown by increasing military exercises and exchanges.

Cyprus long had close ties with Russia, but it has turned to the West in recent years.

That trend is a problem for Turkey, which has its own disputes with both the US and Cyprus.

In April, the nuclear-powered submarine USS San Juan docked in the port of Limassol in Cyprus.

The submarine's visit was "clear evidence" of the US and Cyprus's "shared commitment to promoting security and stability in the region" the US ambassador to the island country said after visiting the boat with recently elected President Nikos Christodoulides.

The visit illustrates the importance that Cyprus's government puts on its relationship with the US and the value Washington sees in the island amid rising activity  and tensions  in the Eastern Mediterranean.

A strategic regional ally

US Army CH-47 helicopters on a training flight over Cyprus in January 2020. US Army/Maj. Robert Fellingham

Located in the northeast corner of the Mediterranean Sea, Cyprus has a valuable position in an important neighborhood, providing a perch from which to watch activity in the Eastern Mediterranean and to reach into the Middle East and North Africa.

The Republic of Cyprus, as it's formally known, was subject to a US arms embargo imposed in 1987 and had developed close ties to Russia, but that dynamic has begun to reverse in recent years.

At a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing in April, Gen. Christopher Cavoli, head of US European Command and NATO's supreme allied commander, said Cyprus is ideally located for the US to project power into the Eastern Mediterranean.

The region is a complicated area "that has seen greatly increased competition as well as Russian naval presence in the past few years," Cavoli said, adding that US naval forces "work extensively down there" and that NATO is devoting a lot of attention to Russian activity in the region.

Russia maintains a naval base in the Syrian port of Tartus  its only naval base outside the former Soviet Union  and an airbase nearby in Hmeimim. Recent upgrades allow its airbase to support strategic bombers and its naval base to do more repairs for warships.

Russia was also a close military partner and a major arms exporter to Cyprus. In 2015, Nicosia struck a deal granting Russian ships access to Cypriot ports for replenishment. Cyprus is also a major hub for illicit Russian funds.

A Westward shift

US Army paratroopers train with Cypriot troops in Larnaca, Cyprus, in February US Army/Staff Sgt. John Yountz

However, Nicosia has been moving away from Russia and pursuing a closer relationship with the US.

In 2019, Congress voted to increase energy cooperation with Cyprus and other countries in the region. In 2020, the US partially lifted its arms embargo so non-lethal equipment could be exported to Cyprus, and last year, it fully lifted the embargo.

"Sharing an equipment set with another nation creates a strategic bond as well as a practical bond that is very useful," Cavoli said at the hearing when asked about the importance of Cyprus buying American rather than Russian or Chinese weapons.

"We keep a strong military-to-military relationship with Cyprus," Cavoli said.

Cyprus has expanded its military exchanges with the US, including formalizing its relationship with the New Jersey National Guard under the US's State Partnership Program in March. That agreement allows Cypriots "to engage in various training and joint exercises on issues ranging from counter-terrorism to emergency response" said Andrew Novo, a professor of strategic studies at the National Defense University.

Cypriot and American units have already conducted joint exercises and the US is training Ukrainian troops on the island.

Nicosia has also undone some of its ties to Russia. Following Moscow's attack on Ukraine in February 2022, it scrapped the 2015 deal and barred Russian ships from its ports.

Christodoulides, who took office in March, has "strong Western credentials" and wants to continue his predecessor's efforts to bring Cyprus and the US closer and "to promote Cyprus as a force for stability in the Eastern Mediterranean" Novo told Insider.

Unhappy neighbors

A UN peacekeeper looks at a map of the buffer zone between the Republic of Cyprus and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus in Nicosia in April 2021. ROY ISSA/AFP via Getty Images

Burgeoning US-Cyprus ties would appear to benefit NATO, but not all of the alliance's members are happy about it.

Following USS San Juan's arrival in April, Turkey publicly backed a statement by the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus  a breakaway territory that only Turkey recognizes  that criticized the visit.

The Turkish statement described the US as taking actions "at the expense of disrupting the balance on" Cyprus and called on Washington "to reconsider these policies."

Novo said he doubted that Ankara had "a genuine objection" to US warships visiting Cyprus. "These activities present no real concern for Turkey and are not militarily significant for Cyprus," he added, calling the submarine's visit symbolic. (US submarines also visited the island in 2022 and 2021.)

Rather, Novo added, Turkish leaders are "uncomfortable with the new close ties between the US and Cyprus."

Since Turkey invaded Cyprus in 1974, the island has been divided between the Greek-speaking Republic of Cyprus, which is internationally recognized, in the south and the Turkish-speaking region in the north, which still hosts some 20,000 Turkish troops.

Firefighters respond to a fire at the Russian Cultural Center in Nicosia in April. AMIR MAKAR/AFP via Getty Images

"Putting out an official press release criticizing the docking of an American ship is a way to make a little noise and remind Washington that closer relations with Cyprus make people in Ankara unhappy," Novo said.

Growing US ties to Cyprus is only the latest issue to come between Washington and Ankara, whose relations have deteriorated in recent years, driven in part by warming Turkish relations with Russia.

Turkey bought Russian S-400 air-defense systems  which prompted the US to expel it from the F-35 program  and opposed sanctions on Russia over its war against Ukraine, and Ankara is now suspected of helping Moscow avoid those sanctions. In April, Russian and Turkish leaders unveiled a Russian-built nuclear power plant on Turkey's southern coast.

Turkey remains one of NATO's largest militaries and occupies strategically important territory in the alliance's southeastern corner. It also hosts alliance forces, including US nuclear weapons.

Asked about Turkey's relationship with NATO during the April hearing, Cavoli said he would "defer" to civilian leaders on policy issues but added "that there is a sharp difference between our military relationships and our other relationships when it comes to some countries."

Constantine Atlamazoglou works on transatlantic and European security. He holds a master's degree in security studies and European affairs from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. You can contact him on LinkedIn.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Congressman Michael McCaul, Chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs

The Committee recommended that the House of Representatives during a joint vote support resolution H.Res.81 Calling on the President to support the creation of a Special Tribunal for the Punishment of the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine.

According to House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul, he had the opportunity to visit the town of Bucha outside the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv, and believes that the establishment of the special tribunal is appropriate, given the atrocities carried out there by Russian occupation forces.

The resolutions author, congressman Bill Keating, said that the adoption of the bill is important to bring Russia to justice for its intentions in the full-scale invasion.

A tribunal should be held to try Russian dictator Vladimir Putin for war crimes, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in The Hague, the Netherlands, on May 4. Putin and Russian childrens rights ombudswoman Maria Lvova-Belova are both wanted by the International Criminal Court for the forcible abduction of children from Ukraine to Russia.

The 123 countries that have ratified the Rome Statute establishing the Court are obliged to arrest the Kremlin dictator, should he appear in their territory.

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Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
The Foreign Affairs Committee of the US House of Representatives has voted in favour of a resolution calling on the US president to support the creation of a special tribunal for the punishment of the crime of aggression against Ukraine.

Source: European Pravda, referring to Voice Of America; text of House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee Resolution 81

Presenting the resolution to members of the committee, one of its sponsors, Democratic Congressman Bill Keating, noted that it is one of the documents that is crucial for both domestic and international efforts to hold the Russian government accountable for human rights violations.

"I personally believe that a special international tribunal, created by a majority vote of the United Nations General Assembly, brings forth legitimacy in that regard and the authority to a tribunal," Keating said.

Michael McCaul, Republican Congressman and chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said that before the resolution was approved, members of Congress had the opportunity to hear Andrii Kostin, the prosecutor general of Ukraine, and see firsthand the Russian Federation's war crimes.

"So I think a special tribunal is appropriate," McCaul said.

In the resolution, the congressmen emphasise Russia's violation of articles of the UN Charter and emphasise that "the Russian Federations unprecedented full-scale invasion of Ukraine has reached a critical point requiring immediate and decisive action by the international community."

To quote the resolution, the "House of Representatives condemns in the strongest terms the Russian Federations full-scale invasion of Ukraine; supports the people of Ukraine in their fight for freedom, independence and democracy; underscores Ukraines sovereignty and territorial integrity within its internationally recognized borders; finds that there is significant evidence that individual leaders of the Russian Federation are culpable of committing the crime of aggression against Ukraine, and this requires proper adjudication by the international community; recognizes the need for the creation of a Special Tribunal in the on the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine; identifies the agreement between Ukraine and the UN following a favourable vote of the United Nations General Assembly as one of the options towards the creation of such an international tribunal; and urges the President to take all available measures to support the creation of a Special Tribunal for the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine."

Background: The new PACE decisions in January for the first time gave details and outlines of a special tribunal for punishing the crime of aggression of the Russian Federation. This rather symbolic body was proposed to be created in the Hague.

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US judges appear skeptical of preserving access to abortion pill

Mifepristone, sold under the brand name Mifeprex, at a family planning clinic in Rockville, Maryland

A US federal appeals court panel appeared skeptical on Wednesday of preserving access to a widely used abortion pill.

The three conservative judges pushed back against government arguments that the decision on whether to allow the use of mifepristone should be left to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which approved the drug more than 20 years ago.

"We are allowed to look at the FDA just like we're allowed to look at any agency," said Judge James Ho. "That's the role of the courts."

Anti-abortion groups are seeking to have mifepristone banned, claiming despite its long track record that it is unsafe. The case is the latest skirmish in the battle over reproductive rights in the United States.

Ho and one of the other judges on the panel of the New Orleans-based 5th Circuit Court of Appeals were appointed by former president Donald Trump, while the third was also named by a Republican president, George W. Bush.

All three judges seemed unconvinced by arguments by the Justice Department of Democratic President Joe Biden and lawyers for mifepristone manufacturer Danco that the drug should be allowed to remain on the market.

The case stems from a ruling by a conservative US District Court judge in Texas that would have banned mifepristone, which accounts for more than half of the abortions in the United States.

The 5th Circuit Court blocked a ban on the abortion pill, but imposed tough restrictions on access, after which the baton was handed to the Supreme Court, where conservatives wield a 6-3 majority.

The Supreme Court temporarily preserved access to mifepristone, freezing the rulings by the lower courts, and sent the case back to the 5th Circuit.

Jennifer Dalven, director of the ACLU Reproductive Freedom Project, was pessimistic following Wednesday's hearing.

"The arguments today demonstrated in detail that the case has no legal or scientific merit and should have been laughed out of court from the very start," Dalven said.

"Unfortunately, the deck is stacked as the judges hearing this case are well known for their extraordinary hostility to abortion," Dalven said.

Any ruling by the appellate court is likely to eventually reach the Supreme Court, which overturned the constitutional right to abortion 11 months ago.

Since then, more than a dozen states have banned abortion and it has been severely restricted in others.

Mifepristone is one component of a two-drug regimen that can be used through the first 10 weeks of pregnancy.

It has a long safety record, and the FDA estimates 5.6 million Americans have used it to terminate pregnancies since it was approved in 2000.

chp-cl/st
The University of South Carolina will invest $10 million to create five research institutes over the next four years, which the school hopes will help it compete for federal research funding and solve problems facing the public in the state.

The five new institutes  the Institute for Rural Education, Institute for Extreme Semiconductor Chips, Institute for Infectious Disease Translational Research, Institute for Clean Water and Institute for Cardiovascular Disease Research  were announced on May 15.

The research done by these institutes will focus on issues affecting the state as well as fields with more national and international implications, according to a news release.

This will spur innovation within the university that is going to provide opportunities to solve South Carolina problems, Vice President for Research Julius Fridricksson said. In addition to that, its also going to provide opportunities for our students to work on cutting-edge research as part of their education.

The Institute for Rural Education and Development will focus on improving science, technology and math education in rural areas with the goal of improving the pipeline of S.C. students going to college in those fields, Fridricksson said.

The Institute for Cardiovascular Disease Research will study heart and kidney disease. This is especially important given South Carolinas poor history of cardiovascular disease  heart disease was the leading cause of death in the state in 2021, according to federal data  and location within the Stroke Belt, he said.

The Institute for Clean Water is developing drones that can take water samples from across the state to be monitored for issues before they start causing health problems. That includes Forever Chemicals, known as Per- and Polyfluorinated Substances, according to Tammi Richardson, chair of the biological sciences department who will direct the clean water institutue.

The Institute for Extreme Semiconductor Chips will develop microchips to help bring more of the production of the technology to the U.S., as well as potential business investment to the state, Fridriksson said.

The Institute for Infectious Disease Translational Research will study emerging diseases that could become public health threats, he said.

You can imagine that this is a topic that all of us are interested in, he said. We all want to know that when we have COVID 2.0 or whatever that looks like, (such as) the next pandemic, we want to be able to understand ahead of time how to deal with it.

The institutes are expected to be competitive for  and eventually completely funded by  federal research grants, university spokesman Jeff Stensland said.

Its very important for us to be competitive for getting those research grants, Fridriksson said. So these five groups, each one of them we expect to be highly competitive in bringing in hundreds of millions of dollars to the university in the long run.

The institutes will each be joint projects between faculty members from different colleges within the university, according to the release.

One of the reasons why were doing this is because we want to foster interdisciplinary research, Fridricksson said. We know that a lot of the questions left unanswered in science have to do with people sort of coming together from different disciplines to try to solve them.

The funding will also provide research experience for students through the institutes, including for theses and dissertations, Richardson said.

Its really an interdisciplinary, multidisciplinary approach, she said. Were attacking it from the science perspective and the social science perspective. I think its gonna be fun.

The funding will be dispersed $500,000 annually to each of the five institutes over the next four years, according to a news release.

The Research Institutes Funding Program, which provided the $10 million that created the five institutes, was first announced in September 2022, according to the universitys website. The institutes will officially start operating in June, Stensland said. More institutes may be created at some point in the future, he said.
Volodymyr Hryshchenko

As marijuana becomes decriminalized and more socially acceptable, the health effects of frequent use is beginning to fall under a brighter spotlight among researchers. For every study that suggests cannabis could help stymie diseases like COVID or HIV, others suggest that it increases the risk of landing in the emergency room or getting into car crashes.

For researchers at Central Michigan University, their focus has been on what marijuana use might do during pregnancy. In a new study published in Frontiers in Pediatrics on Tuesday, the authors found that fetuses that are exposed to cannabis as early as the first trimester experience significant decreases in newborn weight. Higher rates of exposure exacerbated these effects, and could even lead to reduced head size.

We show that even when marijuana use occurred only in the first trimester of pregnancy, birth weight was significantly reduced, by more than 150 [grams] on average, Beth Bailey, a population health researcher at Central Michigan University and a co-author of the new study, said in a news release. If that use continued into the second trimester, newborn head circumference was significantly decreased as well.

Put Down the BongPot Users More Likely to Land in Hospital

The new study builds off of previous research members of the team had done on how cannabis use can affect newborn size, but the findings are some of the first to caution against cannabis use even when the suspicion of a pregnancy is still being confirmed. On average, one out of every three pregnant people dont know until after six weeks into their pregnancy.

The study looked at the health records of 270 expectant mothers who delivered their babies at Central Michigan Universitys College of Medicine109 of whom had urine samples that tested positive for marijuana at some point during their pregnancy, and 171 of whom tested negative throughout pregnancy. The findings indicate that continued exposure past the first trimester resulted in an average decrease in size by as much as 200 grams, and reduction in head circumference by nearly 1 centimeter.

The authors note that newborn size is a critical factor for a childs development, and can inform how well someone might suffer later on in life from decreased immune systems and increased risks to conditions like heart disease, as well as learning disabilities and emotional problems.

Government Blacklisted Her for Smoking Legal Medical Marijuana While Pregnant

The new study does have its limitationsin particular the small sample size, and the fact that the study took place at a single site. There was also no data on how frequent expectant mothers were using cannabissimply when they tested positive during set intervals during pregnancy.

Nevertheless, the takeaway for the authors is that pregnant women should refrain from any use of cannabis. What we are telling women is that its not an absolute certainty that your babys growth will be impacted if you are using marijuana, Bailey told CNN. But we do know that you are at substantially higher risk for that outcome.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

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The USS Orleck faced yet another delay, pushing its soft opening to next week. The destroyer was expected to welcome visitors Wednesday, but electrical issues pushed the date.

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We were really hoping to be open this week, but with any other large project there were a couple snags, Jim Webb said. Hes the Executive Director of the Jacksonville Naval Museum. Webb said electrical contractors are working on some power issues, but next Wednesday it should be good to go.

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While the soft opening didnt happen as planned, one man was able to still hop on board.

Bosun mate Schwartz served on the USS Orleck in the 70s during the Vietnam War. He drove from Mobile, Alabama with his daughter to see the ship.

It just really made me proud when a gentleman said that yeah I served on this ship, Webb said. [He said] I celebrated my 18th birthday in the navy on this ship.

Related Story: USS Orleck docks at new, permanent home

Due to the long journey Schwartz made, the crew welcomed him on board turning disappointment into a dream come true.

Other families will be able to get the same experience next Wednesday, May 24. The hours of operation are 9 a.m. until 3 p.m. for weekdays. It will stay open later for Memorial Day Weekend, but Webb didnt specify a time.

The plan is to make the area the museum district with the fire museum already on the property and the eventual plans for MOSH to relocate.

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You can visit the Jacksonville Naval Museum.

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Water levels are high in the Ogden River after a record snowfall year in Weber County on May 8. No parts of Utah are currently listed in severe drought, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. | Kristin Murphy, Deseret News

No parts of Utah are listed in severe drought for the first time in more than three years. However, state water officials are still calling on residents to use water efficiently as the summer nears.

The U.S. Drought Monitor released a report last week that finds about 63% of Utah remains either "abnormally dry" or worse, listing about one-fifth of the state in moderate drought. But the report did not list any severe drought for the first time since October 2019, a few months into the start of the current drought cycle Utah is close to shaking off.

"Right now, we've put a very big dent in (the drought)," said Glen Merrill, a National Weather Service hydrologist who appeared on KSL NewsRadio's "Dave and Dujanovic" Monday. "We're still holding onto moderate drought across 20% of the state but this is the time of the year where we can see significant improvements in drought status, especially after a large winter."

Getting out of severe drought

Utah's winter wasn't just large. Merrill called the state's record 30-inch snowpack "exceptional," helping bring down the severity of the drought that has impacted the area for years.

The current drought cycle began at the end of the summer of 2019, after what was another really good year for water.

"We had a very dry summer and a hot summer," Merrill said. "The combination of the heat and the lack of water over the summer months, which are typically dry, we saw that drought status creeping back up into severe ... by the end of the (year),"

The U.S. Drought Monitor began to list parts of southern Utah in moderate drought on Aug. 27, 2019. Some parts of the state, especially in southeast Utah, fell into severe drought on Oct. 8, 2019.

Nearly 43% of Utah had fallen into severe drought by the end of November that year before an average snow collection season fell over the ensuing winter, dropping the percentage back down to less than 2% by the spring of 2020. But the precipitation seemingly stopped after the winter, and severe, extreme and exceptional drought conditions emerged across the state during what was its driest calendar year on record.

The severe drought continued into the start of the 2023 water year in October. The agency listed over 95% of the state in severe drought or worse at the time, including more than 50% in extreme drought. While the extreme drought ended in March, the U.S. Drought Monitor still listed about 5% of the state in severe drought in its May 2 report.

It dropped the status completely in its latest report issued Thursday.

While leaving severe drought is a major improvement after years of drought, Merrill warns it doesn't mean the state is out of the clear when it comes to future droughts. He points to 2019 as a percent example of how bad drought conditions can reappear months after a prolific winter.

"We have to remember that drought is normal in the Great Basin and the Desert Southwest," he said.

How to water more efficiently this year

Meanwhile, the drought update comes as temperatures are finally warming up to a point where the irrigation season is ready to begin in earnest. And the Utah Division of Water Resources has a new tool aimed at helping residents be more efficient with how they water their lawns.

It released a new "Low Water Use Guide" this week with recommendations on how many times someone should water their lawn if they have more water-efficient landscapes. It's an addition to its regular Weekly Lawn Watering Guide.

The first Low Water Use Guide issued by the Utah Division of Water Resources for this week. The report indicates how many irrigations are recommended for residents with landscapes that require less water. | Utah Division of Water Resources

For example, the regular watering guide lists Washington County in three irrigations this week, while Grand and San Juan counties are in two irrigations. The new guide suggests those with low-water use lawns in those three counties should irrigate once this week, while all other areas with similar low-water use types don't need to irrigate at all.

The guide also outlines cycle recommendations for when people do irrigate their lawns.

Even though Utah's drought situation is much better this spring than the last two or three years, Shelby Ericksen, water conservation manager for the Utah Division of Water Resources, said she hopes people will use the guide and continue to consume water more efficiently.

"Utah will continue to be one of the driest states in the country and water conservation remains critical to our long-term sustainability," she said in a statement Monday. "The Weekly Lawn Watering Guide and Low Water Use Guide are essential tools for residents to make informed decisions about their lawn watering habits and ultimately help conserve our precious water resources."
Utah State officials, including Utah Gov. Spencer Cox and Senate President Stuart Adams, R-Layton, hold the flag during the raising of the new Utah state flag at the Capitol in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, May 17, 2023. | Ryan Sun, Deseret News

Sen. Dan McCay couldn't stop thinking about the process it took for Utah to adopt a new state flag as he, Gov. Spencer Cox and a group of other elected leaders, government employees, residents and children carried the new flag to a pole on the roof of the Utah Capitol on Wednesday morning.

To him, the group of people holding the flag represented a piece of the thousands of Utahns who either submitted designs or offered feedback that led to the final design that they were holding. Moments later, they clipped the large flag to a line underneath the state's current flag and hoisted both up to the top of the pole.

"I just love that there were so many Utahns involved in the process, and how the flag was put up today is symbolic of that kind of participation," said McCay, the Republican from Rivterton who authored the bill that set aside the new flag.

The brief ceremony marked the first time the new state flag has flown atop the Utah Capitol since the Utah Legislature passed SB31 in March. The bill designated the most radically different state flag design in over a century.

While the bill, which also designates the current design as the state's historical flag, technically doesn't take effect until March 9, 2024, many residents, businesses and state entities have already started to voluntarily begin flying the new flag. Major venues like Smith's Ballpark in Salt Lake City and America First Field in Sandy are among its earliest adopters.

In fact, Colonial Flag has already sold about 2,000 flags since the flag design was approved, according to DeVaughn Simper, a vexillologist at the company.

Simper, who was involved in the flag design process as an expert in manufacturing flags, explained that he was not completely surprised by the early support, as it aligned with previous examples of when Utahns become "passionate" about a topic or cause. It happened last year with Ukrainian flags after Russia invaded the country, and it happens regularly with American flags.

Sen. Dan McCay, R-Riverton, speaks during the raising of the new Utah state flag at the Capitol in Salt Lake City on Wednesday. | Ryan Sun, Deseret News

Of course, the current state flag isn't going anywhere. Cox referenced the "controversy" that arose over the new flag process shortly before he helped raise the new flag Wednesday morning, including a referendum that would have sent SB31 to a public ballot before it could take effect. The measure gained almost 50,000 total signatures but fell far shy of the 134,298 signatures required to be successful.

A Deseret News/Hinckley Institute of Politics poll of 801 Utahns published in early April found that about 48% supported the new design, while 38% opposed it. But now that the bill is moving toward its effective date, the governor said that he hopes Utahns will fly either flag in the future since the new law essentially offers Utahns to pick whichever flag they want to fly.

"I'm grateful for the compromise that was reached," he said. "I think the Legislature did the right thing in keeping the historic flag, as well. ... I'm hoping that this is something that can bring us together."

Simper said that since the current flag has been around much longer, it's difficult to compare sales with the new flag. It's likely sales for either flag will level off moving forward, as other political and cultural topics eventually take center stage.

He also believes the two flags will be equally popular moving forward, given the arguments he's seen on either side of the debate.

"We're anticipating about a 50-50 split based on all the conversation that's happening online and the different opinions going on," Simper said. "We'll be continuing to make both flags for the foreseeable future."

Sen. Dan McCay, R-Riverton, holds the flag during the raising of the new Utah state flag at the Capitol in Salt Lake City on Wednesday. | Ryan Sun, Deseret News

That's an estimate that McCay is thrilled to hear. While he championed the new flag, he told KSL.com that he wants Utahns to take pride in either flag and decide to fly one outside their home or business in the future.

He's confident that those who oppose the new flag will begin to come around to the design, especially as they see it more often outside of homes, businesses and government buildings moving forward.

"Watching the (new flag) be flown, seeing people run with it, it's been awesome," he said. "I guess I'm humbled by the whole thing. Eventually, I'll fade away and no one will really remember me but the flag itself will be here for a long time."
Sens. Ted Budd, Thom Tillis and seven other lawmakers demanded answers Wednesday on why their constituents continue to die from Camp Lejeunes toxic waters while the Department of Justice and the Navy refuses to settle their claims.

On Wednesday, the lawmakers sent a letter to Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro and Attorney General Merrick Garland voicing concerns about delays in settling claims and lawsuits filed by veterans, military personnel and their families affected by toxic waters on the base in Jacksonville.

It is imperative that the Navy Judge Advocate General and Department of Justice act expeditiously to ensure these individuals receive the justice they deserve without undue delay, the lawmakers wrote.

Between Aug. 1, 1953, and Dec. 31, 1987, toxic chemicals seeped through the ground into two of eight water treatment plants on the Marine Corps base from underground fuel storage tanks, an off-base dry cleaning facility, industrial area spills and waste disposal sites. The chemicals included trichloroethylene, perchloroethylene, benzene and vinyl chloride and are known to cause miscarriages, birth defects, cancers and childhood leukemia.

Last August, Congress passed into law the Camp Lejeune Justice Act, which allowed an estimated more than 1 million people exposed to the water to file a claim with the Navy. If the Navy didnt respond within six months, the legislation then gave those people the right to sue.

After initially opposing it, Budd voted for the legislation, which was part of a broader bill on toxic exposure for veterans. Tillis, who helped create the bill, ended up voting against it due to concerns that the Department of Veterans Affairs would not be able to properly implement it, causing increased wait times, delays in receiving cares and a backlog in claims. Tillis tried to get the bill amended to work on those issues, to no avail.

The lawmakers letter Wednesday said an estimated 45,000 claims have been filed, none have been answered and that has resulted in at least 900 lawsuits in the Eastern District of North Carolina.

Last month, Judge James Dever told involved parties that at the rate people are filing lawsuits in the case, it would take him and two others 1,900 years to hear all the cases. Hes looking for a way to expedite the process.

The lawmakers are looking to help Dever with that cause. They include Reps. Richard Hudson, a Republican from Southern Pines, Dan Bishop, a Republican from Charlotte, Greg Murphy, a Republican from Greenville, Don Davis, a Democrat from Snow Hill, Valerie Foushee, a Democrat from Hillsborough, and Matt Cartwright, a Republican from Pennsylvania, and Sen. Mike Braun, a Republican from Indiana.

All of them said theyve heard from their constituents who voiced concerns about the Navy and the Department of Justices delays in responding to the claims and settling the lawsuits.

In response, the lawmakers are asking the two agencies to respond to a series of questions by June 9 related to the number of claims and lawsuits and their status, and plans to process and resolve them.

Among the questions asked in the letter: How many individuals with pending Camp Lejeune claims have died while waiting for a resolution to their case?

Lawmakers reminded the DOJ and the Navy of the sacrifice the service members and their families made and said that they owe it to them to respond in a timely manner.

Further delay is unacceptable, and it is critically important that JAG and DOJ move quickly to adjudicate or settle these cases in a transparent, efficient manner, the lawmakers stated. Anything less is injustice.
LISBON (Reuters) - Portugal's conservative President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa has signed a bill decriminialising euthanasia into law in the Catholic-majority country after parliament on Friday overturned the last of his four vetoes.

His office said in a statement the president had enacted the legislation "as he is obliged" to do so under the constitution.

Portugal becomes the sixth European Union country allowing the procedure. Opinion polls have long been showing the majority of Portuguese are in favour of the right to choose medically assisted death over suffering.

In January 2021, a previous legislature passed the first bill that would have legalised medically assisted death under certain conditions, but Rebelo de Sousa vetoed it due to "excessively undefined concepts".

As parliament kept approving slightly amended versions, the president would send them back to the house or to the Constitutional Court, usually citing doubts over wording, which critics said were mere attempts to delay its introduction.

On Friday, the 250-seat parliament voted by 129-81, with one abstention, to approve the bill without changes requested by Rebelo de Sousa, effectively overturning his veto.

The centre-right main opposition Social Democratic Party has said, however, it will appeal against the law with the Constitutional Court.

The law specifies that people would be allowed to request assistance in dying in cases when they are "in a situation of intense suffering, with definitive injury of extreme gravity or serious and incurable disease".

It establishes a two-month gap between accepting a request and the actual procedure and makes psychological support mandatory.

Portugal spent a large part of the 20th century until the 1974 Carnation Revolution under fascist rule but has since implemented many liberal reforms. It decriminalised drug use in 2001, legalised abortions in 2007 and allowed same-sex marriage in 2010.

(Reporting by Andrei Khalip; Editing by Angus MacSwan)
We understand equality is important, but not everybody starts out on the same base, Kamala Harris told the dozens of men gathered, all of them entrepreneurs.

Vice President Kamala Harris convened a small business roundtable of three dozen men of color this week to discuss ways the Biden-Harris administration can better support minority entrepreneurs.

Participants inside the Indian Treaty Room on the White House complex included more than 35 Black and Hispanic male business owners in various industries, from finance and technology to beauty and fashion.

Vice President Kamala Harris, center, convened a small business roundtable at the White House, inviting three dozen men of color to discuss ways the Biden-Harris administration can better support minority entrepreneurs. (Photo: White House)

Harris was joined by Don Graves, deputy secretary of the Commerce Department, and Donald R. Cravins Jr., the departments first undersecretary for minority business development and head of its Minority Business Development Agency.

Seated at the head of the table, Harris said she and administration officials invited the group of predominantly Black men to share their stories of success and the challenges they face in growing their businesses.

We want to give everyone an equal opportunity to compete and to not only survive but thrive, the vice president said during her opening remarks Tuesday. She emphasized that the roundtable was intended to listen more than we talk.

Despite criticisms from so-called leaders about the Biden-Harris White Houses focus on racial equity, she said, We are proud of the fact that equity is one of our guiding principles, proud of the fact that we understand equality is important, but not everybody starts out on the same base.

The entrepreneurs shared their unique tales of triumph and the obstacles they encountered while trying to scale their businesses.

Brandon Blackwood, founder and CEO of Brandon Blackwood New York, said during the roundtable that despite his designer bag and accessory business earning $30 million in revenue, he lacked the capital and resources to grow and compete with his counterparts.

That requires more resources, way more money [and] way more knowledge, Blackwood told theGrio after the roundtable. I learned about so many resources I didnt know about before.

Vice President Kamala Harris participates in a Young Men of Color Small Business Roundtable, Tuesday, May 16, 2023, in the Indian Treaty Room of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building at the White House. (Official White House Photo by Lawrence Jackson)

Being able to share his entrepreneurial struggles in a room filled with other young Black and Latino male business owners was something Blackwood said he would continue to hold on to.

We dont really get to reflect or hear or talk to other people, and we got to really do that, said Blackwood. It felt like support and community in the room.

Ryan Wilson, CEO of The Gathering Spot, a private membership club in cities throughout the country, including Atlanta and Washington, told theGrio that access to capital is a recurring matter he sees among minority small business owners.

Wilson said he agreed to participate in the roundtable to ensure the interests of folks in my community are well represented.

I see what happens when a business is thinking about trying to figure out how to go after its first contract but doesnt know how to do it, he shared. I see what happens when folks are trying to figure out how to employ more people.

Wilson commended Harris for convening the group of minority entrepreneurs, noting that there are any number of issues that the vice president could be spending time working on that are equally important.

He recalled hosting Harris at his Atlanta club when she was a senator and vice presidential candidate and acknowledged seeing a continuity between the conversation while she was running, to today while shes in office.

Vice President Kamala Harris participates in a Young Men of Color Small Business Roundtable, Tuesday, May 16, 2023, in the Indian Treaty Room of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building at the White House. (Official White House Photo by Lawrence Jackson)

Its really important that those same values track, said Wilson, and that she has the same interests.

Tuesdays small business roundtable was the latest in a series of meetings the vice president has held with young men of color at the White House.

[The] conversation shows the administrations commitment to ensuring that the voices of Black men and their economic needs do not go unaddressed, said Natalia Madeira Cofield, an economic adviser and a former assistant administrator at the U.S. Small Business Administration.

She told theGrio: Although Black women represent nearly 60 percent of all businesses started and run by African Americans in the U.S., the reality is that until and unless Black men have equitable access to resources, contracts and capital to grow, the U.S. will never achieve entrepreneurial parity for Black Americans.

During the roundtable, Harris touted the $12 billion that the Biden-Harris administration invested in Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) and Minority Depository Institutions (MDIs), which she said are rooted in and run by folks who understand the community and are best situated to understand the capacity of the community [and] the needs of the community.

Vice President Kamala Harris addresses attendees of the Freedmans Bank Forum Oct. 4 at the Treasury Department. The conference is held each year to address economic disparities. Harris roundtable this week also addressed that theme. (Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Shaundell Newsome, a co-chair of Small Business for Americas Future, applauded the administration for making the Minority Business Development Agency a permanent agency within the federal government.

Thats crucial because the MBDA will provide us with technical assistance, provide us with the access to capital, and theyre an advocate for, of course, Black-owned firms, he told theGrio.

Newsome noted that during the COVID-19 pandemic, which the Biden-Harris White House inherited at its peak, Black and minority businesses faced record losses. More than halfway through the administrations four-year term, he said, We have record gains, [and] were at the lowest unemployment rate for African Americans in history.

Harris told the young entrepreneurs of color that the administration wanted to recognize their achievements and excellence and to hold that up as models of who we are as a nation and what we can do to continue to grow not only our economy but our capacity and strength.

The feedback provided to the White House, she said, would be used to develop ways to grow our administrations focus on what we can do to support you.

It is about continuously focusing on what we can do to strengthen our nation, Harris said. And that means strengthening and supporting the work that each of you has accomplished.

Gerren Keith Gaynor

Gerren Keith Gaynor is a White House Correspondent and the Managing Editor of Politics at theGrio. He is based in Washington, D.C.

TheGrio is FREE on your TV via Apple TV, Amazon Fire, Roku and Android TV. Also, please download theGrio mobile apps today!

The post Vice President Harris convenes young men of color for small business roundtable appeared first on TheGrio.
A Chicago man who was shot during a gunfight at the Econo Lodge Inn & Suites in Overland Park earlier this month has died from his injuries, according to a news release from police Wednesday.

Damon Payton of Chicago was identified as the victim of the shooting, according to a news release from Capt. Todd Chappell of the Overland Park Police Department.

Police responded to a disturbance at the hotel in the 7500 block of Shawnee Mission Drive about 2 a.m. on May 6. Arriving officers found Payton, who was suffering from a gunshot wound. He was taken to a hospital in critical condition, and later died from his injuries, according to the news release.

A vehicle with two people inside left the hotel prior to police arriving. That vehicle was found soon after, and police discovered both people inside also suffered gunshot wounds. They were taken to a hospital for treatment of their injuries.

The incident reportedly started as a verbal disturbance in the parking lot between two pairs of individuals, then weapons were drawn and a gunfight ensued, the news release said.

A suspect has been identified, but no one is in custody, said Officer John Lacy, a spokesman for the Overland Park Police Department.

Police consider the shooting an active investigation thats still in the preliminary stages, police said.
Visiting WA? Just moved here? You could be accidentally mispronouncing location names

Washington state is full of history, as made evident by its many unique city and county names. In fact, a large number of all types of locations in the Evergreen State have connections to Indigenous history. But that leaves these places vulnerable to mass mispronunciation, as the languages of these location names are not widely spoken.

Other names come from family names of influential residents in history, or from languages not from North America, like France.

Can you pronounce all of these Washington state locations correctly? Do you know the history behind the names?

Note that capitalization shows where emphasis should be.

Eastern WA location pronunciation guide

 Spokane

Spoh-CAN

Spo like the start of spoke, CAN not cane

This city and county name comes from its original inhabitants, the Spokane tribe. In Interior Salish, this translates to children of the sun.

Spokane is considered the hub of Eastern Washington, the most populous county in the region. The city of Spokane is known for its proximity to scenery, culture and activity.

 Asotin

Uh-SOH-tin

Uh like in under, soh like so-so, tin

The city of Asotin sits on the former site of a traditional Nez Perce camp. The nearby creek was referred to as Eel Creek, so Asotin was an homage to the Nez Perce tribes name for eel, Has-Hu-Tin.

Nestled along the Snake River, Asotin has a large array of scenic recreation options.

Lake Pend Oreille has a storied history.

 Pend Oreille

Pond-Oh-ray

An anglicized form of a French term for hangs from ears, the history of the county and lake name says that French-Canadian fur-trappers likely coined the term in reference to Indigenous people occupying the space. They presumably wore ear pendants or something similar.

Pend Oreille County shares borders with Idaho and Canada in the most northeast corner of Washington state. Its abundant resources and proximity to Idahos Lake Pend Oreille, one of the deepest lakes in the country, make it a beautiful destination.

 Cheney

Chee-nee

Chee like the beginning of cheek, nee like knee

Cheney was named after a director of the Northern Pacific Railroad, Benjamin P. Cheney, not the political family, hence the different pronunciation.

Cheney is home to the Eastern Washington University Eagles!

 Okanogan

Oak-uh-NAW-gin

Oak, uh like under, naw like nautical, gin with a hard G

This county is named after the an interior tribe of Salish people, the Okanagan Band, as it is currently spelled. The origins of the tribes name are still largely disputed.

Okanogan is perfect for anyone who cant decide between snowy mountain views and a relaxing river retreat. The diversity in the countys natural resources makes it a popular family travel destination.

Central WA location pronunciation guide

 Yakima

YAK-ih-mah

Yak, ih like the start of is and a quick mah like in mall

Yakima is a city, county and valley named after the Yakama Nation, though its origins are also disputed.

The more than 1.1 million-acre Yakama Nation Indian Reservation in Yakima County is the largest Indian Nation in the northwest.

Tieton River flowing below basalt cliffs near the Oak Creek Wildlife Recreation Area west of Yakima.

 Tieton

TIE-uh-tin

Tie, uh like under, tin

Tieton is named after the Tieton River, which is believed to be derived from an Indigenous word for roaring water, though the specific language is unclear.

Tieton is a small, quiet city at the top of Yakima Valley, filled with wineries and gourmet food options using local fruit.

 Naches

Natch-eez

Natch like snatch without the S, eez like the start of easy.

The Naches River was named by Native Americans living nearby, combining the word for rough or turbulent, naugh, with the word for water, chez. It is likely this was coined by the Upper Yakama Indians, but that has not been confirmed.

The small, rural town sits at the foothills of the Cascade Mountains and offers numerous outdoor recreation options.

 Kahlotus

Kuh-LOW-tiss

Kuh like the start of cut, low, tiss like hiss with a T.

It is believed that Kahlotus was also named by inhabiting Native populations, though its meaning is disputed.

Located in Franklin County, Kahlotus most recent census count reported fewer than 200 residents.

Western WA location pronunciation guide

The view of Skagit Valley from Mount Erie on Sunday, April 2, 2023, at Mount Erie Drive in Anacortes, Wash.







 Skagit

Skaa-jit

Skaa like S and the start of cat, jit like gist without the S.

Skagit is derived from the Chinook jargon word for the best, the most beautiful, most powerful or largest. White settlers heard Indian populations often use the word as an exclamation and noun, and named the county and river with the superlative.

Skagit Valley is home to Washingtons famous tulip blooms.

 Snohomish

Sno-HOAM-ish

Sno like snow, hoam like home, ish

Both the county and city of Snohomish were named after the Snohomish tribe.

Snohomish has been recognized as one of the ten coolest small towns in America and describes itself as kind of like Mayberry, only with high speed Internet.

 Wahkiakum

Wha-KYE-uh-kum

Wha like what, kye like high with a K, uh, kum as come.

Wahkiakum County is named after Chief Wakaiyakam, who led the Kathlamet Tribe village. Wahkiakum is the Chinook translation for tall timber.

The county is an outstanding example of Washingtons rural recreation opportunities, situated between the coastal mountains and the Lower Columbia River. The area has a range of events during the year, including Bald Eagle Days in July, and a wooden boat festival, a county fair and a competitive salmon derby in August.

A aerial view of the Upper Clear Creek Mitigation Site in Puyallup, Wash. The 45-acre wetland is designed to attract birds and insects to help create a space for salmon development.

 Puyallup

Pyu-waall-up

Pyu like pew, waall like Al with a W, up

The city and river of Puyallup are named after the Puyallup Tribe, translating to generous people.

Puyallup is home to the Washington State Fair, the Emerald Queen Resort and Casino and several other attractions.

 Sequim

Squim

Squim like swim with a Q

Sequim was named by the SKlallam people who first occupied the land, translating to a place to shoot or hunt.

Dubbed one of the driest places in western Washington, Sequim is home to famous lavender fields.

 Tulalip

Too-LAY-lip

Tulalip is the non-Native pronunciation of the Salish word for small-mouthed bay.

The Tulalip Indian Reservation is referred to as Washingtons premier gaming location, with three casino locations on the reservation alone.

A man paddle boards on Chambers Bay in Steilacoom, Wash. on Sunday, June 26, 2022. Temperatures climbed into the 90s over the weekend in Tacoma.

 Steilacoom

Still-uh-coo-m

Still, uh as in under, coo-m like coop with an M. Similar to Tillamook.

Steilacoom has long been known for its abundance of pink flowers, the Indian Pink flower. The towns name is an anglicized form of the Salish word for the Native people in the area, literally translating to the people of the Indian Pink area.

While the town is loaded with history, its also full of waterfront restaurants, pubs, parks and walking trails.

 Chehalis

Shuh-hay-liss

Shuh like the start of shuck, hay, liss like list without th T.

The city, river and tribe name Chehalis comes from the Indian word for shifting and shining sands.

The up-and-coming city of Chehalis is hosting more and more events as it grows. It is also home to several museums.

 Mukilteo

Muckle-tee-oh

Muckle like buckle with an M, tee like the letter T, oh like the letter O

The city name comes from the Indian word for a good camping ground.

The area is known for the Mukilteo Lighthouse Park, with its lighthouse and gift shop featured on the coast. The Mukilteo Historical Society website says simply to, Come, explore, and savor the beauty  well leave the light on!

 Quileute

Quill-ute

Quill, ute like the start of Utah

The Quileute Reservation is home to the Quileute Tribe.

Stay in a beautiful oceanside resort in La Push, WA, home to the Quileute Reservation.

Sometimes even on rainy days hikers are rewarded with a view of Issaquah and Lake Sammamish when they reach the top of Poo Poo Point.

 Sammamish

Suh-MAAM-ish

Suh like the start of sun, maam like maam, ish

Several translations are offered for Sammamish, but the only consensus is that the city comes from Native language.

Sammamish is home to a large number of parks and trails for outdoor enthusiasts, plus a plethora of summer events like Shakespeare in the Park and an August scooter competition.

 Skykomish

Sky-koh-mish

Sky, koh like the start of coal, mish like the start of mission

Skykomish is the name of a tribe, river and town that translates to inland people in the subset of Salish language spoken by the tribe.

The historic railroad town is surrounded by mountains, offering something for adrenaline junkies, history buffs and everything in between.

 Washougal

WA-shoo-gull

Wa like Washington, shoo like shoe, gull

Washougal is believed to be derived from an Indian word for rushing water.

There are many things to do in Washougal, and the city is home to a unique Pedestrian Tunnel, a safe way for people to walk from Washougal to the Levee Trail.
Theres a new plan to shuffle thousands of Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools students to different south Charlotte high schools.

The proposed boundaries were made with the goal of accommodating the new relief school along North Community House Road.

The changes are needed because the area is exploding with growth, but the proposal doesnt come without controversy.

PREVIOUS STORIES:

Oh its very challenging, because I want to make everyone happy and it is very upsetting that not everyone is happy with it, CMS Director Claire Schuch told Channel 9s Dan Matics.

Schuch has the tough job of drawing the new map. The district has to come up with the final plan over who will be assigned to the new high school.

Boundaries for four CMS high schools  Ardrey Kell, Myers Park, Providence and South Mecklenburg  will all change when the relief high school opens in August 2024.

No, we are not going to be able to make everyone happy unfortunately, but we do hope everyone will get on board and make their new school their own, Schuch said.

Most of the concerns are over how the socioeconomic status of those schools might be impacted. That does concern Jeanine Craft, but shes relieved about one thing: Previous versions of the map would have had her children switching schools, but now they wont have to.

Im happy with the way it ended for our school, but I think there is more research that needs to be done so all students have more parity, Craft said.

Craft said even though her daughters wont have to relocate, she thinks CMS needs to do more research before voting on this final draft.

Going to the meetings you definitely saw that there is a need for further research, she said. I mean you want equity for every student.

Students who will be juniors or seniors in the 2024 to 2025 school year can choose stay at their current school, but they wont be given a bus route.

District officials will not be going back to the drawing board. The proposal will be presented to the board next Tuesday and they will vote on June 6.

The public can still give feedback through the CMS website until Sunday. Those comments will also be presented to the board.

The school board is expected to approve the changes because theyve heavily been involved in drawing the map. If a problem came up, they could send it back for adjustments.

The updated school boundaries dont just impact the high schools -- they impact elementary and middle schoolers as well.

(PREVIOUS: Leaders lay out timeline, framework for relief high school in southern Meck County)




Vulnerability of Kinzhal missiles likely surprise for Russia, says UK intelligence

Details of the Russian Kh-47 Kinzhal hypersonic missile in Kyiv

The apparent vulnerability of KILLJOY is likely a surprise and an embarrassment for Russia: Russian President Vladimir Putin has touted the system as undefeatable, the ministry said, using the NATO code word for the weapon.

According to UK intelligence, over the last week, the air battle over the Russia-Ukraine border has intensified. On May 13 alone, four Russian Aerospace Forces (VKS) aircraft (two advanced combat jets and two helicopters) crashed, apparently shot down over Russias Bryansk region.

Read also: Mayor Klitschko shows fragments of drones, missiles shot down over Kyiv

During an attack on the night of May 4, Ukraine achieved the first ever interception of a Kinzhal. Subsequently, Russia has prioritized attempting to neutralize Ukraines improved air defense capabilities, but in the process has likely lost several more of the missiles.

The increased air threat over Russias border region will be of exceptional concern for the VKS because it uses the area to launch air power in support of the war, the report says.

According to Ukraines General Staff, Russia attacked Ukraine with 27 missiles on May 16, including six Kinzhals, nine Kalibr cruise missiles, 10 ground-based missiles (S-400, Iskander-M), and two S-300 surface-to-air missiles. Twenty-five of them were destroyed by the Ukrainian air defenseforces.

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
Wake schools have new rules for selecting instructional material. Some are not happy.

Tensions over what books should be allowed in Wake County schools flared up as new rules were adopted over how instructional materials are selected and read aloud in class.

The Wake County school board voted 7-2 on Tuesday to approve policy revisions that say instructional materials should not be pervasively vulgar and that teachers should consult with other school staff before material is read aloud in class. Most board members said it strikes a good balance between parental and teacher concerns.

We want to honor what parents believe is best for their child, said school board chair Lindsay Mahaffey. But we also have to honor what our educators believe has an educational relevance to their classroom.

Board members Cheryl Caulfield and Wing Ng voted no, saying the policy doesnt go far enough to define what books should not be allowed in schools. They advocated steps such as adopting a rating system.

If I were to have a child be able to access this kind of material that theyre not ready for, I have to answer not to my wife, I have to answer to a higher power, Ng said.

In good conscience, I can not allow this to be accessible when its not appropriate for their age group.

An Idaho high school student reads The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie in this 2016 photo. An updated Wake County school policy would require teachers to discuss with other school staff before they read aloud excerpts from books in class. Joe Jaszewski/jjaszewski@idahostatesman.com

Pervasively vulgar

Wakes updated policy on selection of instructional material says it should not be pervasively vulgar. The wording is taken from the state law on book challenges.

The term pervasively vulgar is not defined in the policy or in a related policy being developed to handle book challenges.

The policy also adds a new section on read alouds. The policy says materials selected for read alouds will be made by teachers in collaboration with other school staff.

In addition to not being pervasively vulgar, teachers should consider:

 The needs, age, and maturity level of the students in the classroom.

 The fact that additional care and discretion is required for selecting materials to be read aloud to a captive classroom audience as opposed to a voluntary reading selection by students.

 The teacher should first independently read the text as a whole before selecting a text or passage for read aloud.

The policy adds that principals have the power to discontinue having a text read aloud at their school.

This is not educational material

The policy update comes at time when what books are allowed in schools has become part of the national school culture wars.

Over the past two years, people have brought at least 189 book challenges across North Carolinas 115 public school districts, journalists from nine state newsrooms learned by surveying the districts as part of Sunshine Week. Books on race and sexuality were among the most targeted.

In December 2021, a group of parents and community activists filed criminal complaints accusing the Wake County school system of violating obscenity laws based on some of the books in school libraries. Wake County District Attorney Lorrin Freeman announced she would not file criminal charges.

Speakers now regularly show up at Wake school board meetings reading excerpts from books that they say should be removed from schools due to their sexual content and language. Theyve read from books such as Jack of Hearts, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian and Lawn Boy.

Caulfield said shes been uncomfortable hearing the passages.

Youre talking about sexual positions, Caulfield said. Youre about how to perform sexual acts.

This is not educational material, and the more that I start diving into these books, the more I see what people are really complaining about.

Small percentage are complaining

But school board member Sam Hershey said its the responsibility of parents to talk with their children about what books to read. He said its not the fault of anyone on the board or in the district what students check out of the school library.

Lets be clear, Hershey said. A very small percentage of people have problems with some of these books and I respect that they share their opinion here. That is great.

That is part of the process and if we have a rating system for some of them, fine. But this idea that were going to get rid of them, no.

Mahaffey, the board chair, said the books read at meetings have been only found in some school libraries and are not part of required classroom reading. She also said schools will provide alternative reading assignments for any material parents dont want children to read.

No one book can be judged by a sentence within that book, Mahaffey said.

Board member Lynn Edmonds said speakers have only been reading salacious excerpts.

There are families in this school district that would not be bothered of their children having access to those books, and they are our families, too, Edmonds said. Those are our students, too. Those are our parents, too.

So it is not appropriate for me to decide what, Cheryl (Caufield), you and your husband choose for your children. Its not appropriate for me to tell you what they should and shouldnt read and have access to.
Wallace: UK can enable other countries to send Ukraine fighter jets, but its own role is 'limited'

The U.K. can assist nations that wish to provide Ukraine with fighter jets, but its own role is "limited," U.K. Defense Secretary Ben Wallace said on May 17, Sky News reported.

"What we can obviously contribute is training and support within limits because we don't have F-16 pilots," Wallace said at a joint press conference with his German counterpart Boris Pistorius.

A day before, U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and his Dutch counterpart Mark Rutte agreed to build an "international coalition" to help procure F-16 fighter jets for Ukraine. Earlier, the U.K. promised to train Ukrainian pilots on fighter aircraft this summer, and France also "opened the door" for such training.

Meanwhile, Pistorius told reporters, as cited by Sky News, that Germany "cannot play an active role in such an alliance because we have neither the training capacities, the competencies or the planes."

Ukraine has been requesting fighters for months to defend its skies and maximize the effectiveness of its combined arms forces during a future counteroffensive. Of all the available models, Ukraine has shown the most interest in the U.S.-built F-16, in service since the 1970s and operated by over 20 nations.

Ukraine needs Western aircraft to put an end to massacre of civilians, achieve victory Russias air force has proven insufficiently effective when it comes to crushing Ukrainian resistance. Despite heavily outnumbering Ukraines air force, Russia has failed to achieve total air supremacy, with the skies over Ukraine still being contested. And yet there is one aspect in which Russias Kyiv IndependentOleg Sukhov

At the May 17 news conference, Wallace said that "it's up to the U.S. to decide if they want to release this (F-16's) technology," calling claims about "massive difference" between U.S.-made F-16 jets and Soviet-era MiGs "misleading."

Ukraine's military has said that the country needs more advanced aircraft than MiG-29 fighter jets provided by Poland and Slovakia in order to defeat Russia. However, Washington has recently ruled out sending F-16 jets to Ukraine for now.

Critics argue that allies' reluctance to supply F-16, Typhoon, and Dassault fighter jets and long-range ATACMS missiles to Ukraine will prevent Kyiv from launching a counteroffensive and liberating the rest of Ukrainian territory.
Warwick man sentenced to state prison term for sexual abuse and related charges

GOSHEN - A Warwick man will serve a total of 14 years in state prison after being convicted of sexual abuse and related charges in two counties.

John Olson, 60, of Warwick, had been accused of sexually abusing children in day care and foster care homes in Warwick in Orange County and the town of Andes in Delaware County.

Orange County District Attorney David Hoovler said Olson was sentenced Wednesday in Orange County Court to six years in state prison, followed by 10 years of post-release supervision.

Olson had previously pleaded guilty to first-degree sexual abuse and attempted first-degree rape, both felonies, in Orange County Court.

The Orange County sentence was ordered to run consecutive to a previous sentence imposed in Delaware County Court for related incidents there, for a total sentence of 14 years in prison.

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Hoovler said when Olson pleaded guilty, he admitted that he attempted to engage in sexual intercourse with a person less than 11 years old, and that he subjected a person less than 11 years old to sexual contact.

"The lengthy prison sentence imposed on this defendant is justified based on his admitted abhorrent conduct," Hoovler said in a statement released by his office. "I commend the brave actions of the victims who came forward and made sure the defendant was held accountable."

Mark Gordon, Olson's lawyer, declined to make a comment on his client's behalf.

Mike Randall covers breaking news for the Times Herald-Record, Poughkeepsie Journal and The Journal News/lohud. Reach him at mrandall@th-record.com or on Twitter @mikerandall845.

This article originally appeared on Times Herald-Record: John Olson sentenced to state prison for attempted rape, sexual abuse
London politics LIVE: Oliver Dowden and Angela Rayner clash over NHS waiting lists at PMQs

Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden has faced MPs in his first Prime Ministers Questions while Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is in Japan.

He clashed with Angela Rayner over waiting lists at the NHS, with the deputy Labour leader saying they are longer than when Mr Sunak made his pledge to reduce them.

Ms Rayner said: The fact is, waiting lists are longer than when the Prime Minister made his pledge five months ago. The number of people in England waiting to start hospital treatment is the highest since records began. 7.3 million patients left waiting.

But Mr Dowden insisted the government is making good progress on reducing the lists, adding that Rayner was forgetting the pandemic.

The pair made jibes at each other - with Mr Dowden accusing Ms Rayner and Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer of being the Phil and Holly of British politics.

On the NHS, Ms Rayner said: I know the Prime Minister has his own private GP, so maybe he doesnt appreciate the urgency.

The pair were stepping in as Mr Sunak joins other members of the G7 in Hiroshima.

Mr Sunak is unveiling a new defence and technology collaboration before seeking to galvanise support for Ukraine during talks with world leaders.

Back in Westminster long-promised plans to ban no-fault housing evictions will be introduced to Parliament in the Renters (Reform) Bill by Housing Secretary Michael Gove.

Meanwhile a top Metropolitan Police officer is facing questions from MPs over six protesters arrested at the Kings coronation who were then released without charges.

Met Temporary Assistant Commissioner Matt Twist denies officers had been overzealous or were under any political pressure.

Thank you for following our live coverage of PMQs

14:14 , Barney Davis

Theyre the Phil and Holly of British politics' Oliver Dowden blasts Angela Rayner & Keir Starmer

13:22 , Barney Davis

Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden has branded the Labour leader and his deputy the Phil and Holly of British politics as he clashed with Angela Rayner in the Commons.

Deputy Labour leader Ms Rayner said the Conservatives were stuck in a conveyor belt of crisis after 13 years in office, as she criticised their record on child poverty and the NHS during Prime Ministers Questions.

Mr Dowden countered he was surprised the Lib Dem leader isnt taking questions today, referring to reports Sir Keir Starmer has left the door open to working with the Liberal Democrats if he does not secure a Commons majority after the next election.

PM avoids railway chaos on private jet - MP slams Rishis flights

13:14 , Barney Davis

A Labour MP highlighted the Prime Ministers use of a private jet at a time when people are facing chaos on the railways.

Matt Western (Warwick and Leamington) told the Commons: I was concerned to read last week that the Prime Minister had to be airlifted to a pharmacy in Southampton after suffering electoral dysfunction.

Several weeks earlier, he flew all the way from Lancashire to Yorkshire by private jet. Meanwhile, angry rail commuters face the reality of cancellations, longer journey times and are unable to get to work on time

The public think that the Prime Ministers got his head in the clouds, they are right, arent they?

Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden replied: It is quite extraordinary to take lectures from the party opposite about the railways when actually the head of the train drivers union actually sits on Labours NEC.

He was described by the Deputy leader of the Labour Party as I quote, one of us. No wonder Labour wont stand up to the militant rail unions. They literally let them drive their policies.

Labour accused of wanting to rig elections by allowing EU settled citizens the chance to vote

13:13 , Barney Davis

Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden suggested Labour was planning to rig votes in future elections.

Conservative former minister Sir Desmond Swayne said: What would be a reason for extending the general election franchise to settled EU citizens, a population of voters equal to the number in Wales?

Mr Dowden said: I think that (Sir Desmond) is referring to the plans from the (Labour Party).

And its actually quite interesting that this week while were pushing ahead with legislation to break the smuggling gangs, whats Labours big idea? Give foreign nationals in a say in our elections.

So there we have it. While the Conservatives will stop the boats, Labour will rig the votes.

Prime Minister wants to protect Greenbelt

13:09 , Barney Davis

Downing Street insisted the Prime Minister was committed to housebuilding in response to Sir Keir Starmers comments.

A No 10 spokesman said: The Prime Minister is committed to building new homes.

But he also wants to ensure that we protect the greenbelt and we encourage people to use brownfield sites where possible.

Healthcare and child poverty in spotlight

12:46 , Miriam Burrell

Deputy Labour leader Angela Rayner chose to pull apart the Governments efforts to reduce NHS wait times and child poverty during todays PMQs.

She said the number of people in England waiting to start hospital treatment is the highest since records began and 7.3 million patients are left waiting.

She claimed the Government has taken a wrecking ball to measures by the last Labour government to eradicate child poverty.

Oliver Dowden said the Government has introduced record increases in the National Living Wage.

Dowden surprised Lib Dem leader isnt taking questions

12:43 , Miriam Burrell

Oliver Dowden said he was surprised the Lib Dem leader isnt taking questions today as he faced deputy Labour leader Angela Rayner at Prime Ministers Questions.

The Deputy Prime Minister claimed Ms Rayner and Sir Keir Starmer are the Phil and Holly of British politics, and that its all lovey dovey on the surface, they turn it on for the cameras, but as soon as theyre off, its a different story.

Oliver Dowden asked about mental health

12:35 , Miriam Burrell

MP Rachael Maskell said mental health patients are being failed and she urged for a meeting with ministers.

The deputy prime minister said the Government has invested in 150 wider capital schemes and made mental health a priority.

Half of Newcastle children in poverty, MP says

12:33 , Miriam Burrell

Half of children growing up in Newcastle are in poverty, MP Chi Onwurah said.

Oliver Dowden said the Government has lifted 1.7 million people out of absolute povery altogether.

UK praised for high reading rates

12:30 , Miriam Burrell

MP Robin Walker said the UK has high performing reading rates. He commended the 10-minute rule bill and urged the Government to adopt it.

The Deputy Prime Minister said he would examine the details of the bill.

Delays to A&E facelift in Shropshire

12:24 , Miriam Burrell

In 2016, 300m was secured to modernise A&E in Shropshire but building work has not started, MP Daniel Kawczynski said.

Oliver Dowden said the trust is due to submit plans in the coming months to the Department of Health and the Government will work at pace to make sure it gets started soon.

Public loos shut in Guildford

12:21 , Miriam Burrell

Tory MP Angela Richardson said its an absolute disgrace that the Lib Dems-run council have shut public toilets in Guildford at night, and women are at risk of sexual assault.

Oliver Dowden said she should make those views known to Guildford District Council.

Travellers parking on private land, MP claims

12:19 , Miriam Burrell

MP Esther McVey said Tatton has a problem with travellers parking on private land, claiming police do not have sufficient powers or are not using them.

She asked Oliver Dowden to make sure police can take action.

The deputy prime minister said Home Office officials regularly liase with police on this.

SNP calls for Govt to admit Brexit has failed

12:18 , Miriam Burrell

SNP deputy leader Mhairi Black said Brexit has led to a shrinking economy and asked the Government to admit it has failed.

Oliver Dowden said the UK has one of the fastest growth rates in the G7 since Brexit.

He said the party needs to work with the Government and stop the focus on independence.

Oliver Dowden asked about child poverty

12:13 , Miriam Burrell

Angela Rayner pointed to child poverty rates increasing, and remembered being a young mother worried about paying her bills.

She asked what level of child poverty is seen as a success.

Oliver Dowden responded by saying the Government has taken one million working-aged people out of poverty.

Rayner turns to NHS wait lists

12:11 , Miriam Burrell

Angela Rayner has now turned to NHS waiting lists.

She said they are now longer than when the Prime Minister made his pledge five months ago.

The Labour deputy leader said 11,000 patients have waited more than 18 months.

Oliver Dowden asked why Labour is opposing the Torys minimum service levels.

Rayner, Starmer at each others throats'

12:09 , Miriam Burrell

Oliver Dowden has claimed Angela Rayner and Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer are at each others throats in private.

Ms Rayner responded by saying Mr Dowden should take notice of Tory failings before focussing on Labours in-house politics.

Dowden asked about Tory local election loss

12:07 , Miriam Burrell

Labour deputy leader Angela Rayner said Oliver Dowden has been the third deputy prime minister she has faced at PMQs.

She asked Mr Dowden who should be responsbile for the Tory loss at the local elections.

Mr Dowden responded by saying he was surprised he wasnt facing the Liberal Democrats leader Ed Davey.

PMQs begins

12:01 , Miriam Burrell

Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden has begun PMQs.

Where is Rishi Sunak?

11:58 , Miriam Burrell

Rishi Sunak is skipping PMQs this week while hes in Japan.

The Prime Minister will unveil a new defence and technology collaboration before seeking to galvanise support for Ukraine during talks with world leaders.

He will join allies including the USs Joe Biden and Frances Emmanuel Macron as the G7 group of industrialised democracies meets in Hiroshima.

Read more here.

Government announces long-promised plans to end no-fault evictions

11:55 , Miriam Burrell

After PMQs long-awaited plans to abolish no-fault evictions and give renters the right to keep pets are being introduced in Parliament.

Housing Secretary Michael Gove said the sweeping reforms will allow tenants to challenge poor landlords without losing their home.

Read more here.
An image of Messier-15, a globular cluster home to up to a million tightly packed stars

The James Webb Space Telescope has helped astronomers detect the first chemical signs of supermassive stars, "celestial monsters" blazing with the brightness of millions of Suns in the early universe.

So far, the largest stars observed anywhere have a mass of around 300 times that of our Sun.

But the supermassive star described in a new study has an estimated mass of 5,000 to 10,000 Suns.

The team of European researchers behind the study previously theorised the existence of supermassive stars in 2018 in an attempt to explain one of the great mysteries of astronomy.

For decades, astronomers have been baffled by the huge diversity in the composition of different stars packed into what are called globular clusters.

The clusters, which are mostly very old, can contain millions of stars in a relatively small space.

Advances in astronomy have revealed an increasing number of globular clusters, which are thought to be a missing link between the universe's first stars and first galaxies.

Our Milky Way galaxy, which has more than 100 billion stars, has around 180 globular clusters.

But the question remains: Why do the stars in these clusters have such a variety of chemical elements, despite presumably all being born around the same time, from the same cloud of gas?

- Rampaging 'seed star' -

Many of the stars have elements that would require colossal amounts of heat to produce, such as aluminium which would need a temperature of up to 70 million degrees Celsius.

That is far above the temperature that the stars are thought to get up to at their core, around the 15-20 million Celsius mark which is similar to the Sun.

So the researchers came up with a possible solution: a rampaging supermassive star shooting out chemical "pollution".

They theorise that these huge stars are born from successive collisions in the tightly packed globular clusters.

Corinne Charbonnel, an astrophysicist at the University of Geneva and lead author of the study, told AFP that "a kind of seed star would engulf more and more stars".

It would eventually become "like a huge nuclear reactor, continuously feeding on matter, which will eject out a lot of it," she added.

This discarded "pollution" will in turn feed young forming stars, giving them a greater variety of chemicals the closer they are to the supermassive star, she added.

But the team still needed observations to back up their theory.

- 'Like finding a bone' -

They found them in the galaxy GN-z11, which is more than 13 billion light years away -- the light we see from it comes from just 440 million years after the Big Bang.

It was discovered by the Hubble Space Telescope in 2015, and until recently held the record of oldest observed galaxy.

This made it an obvious early target for Hubble's successor as most powerful space telescope, the James Webb, which started releasing its first observations last year.

Webb offered up two new clues: the incredible density of stars in globular clusters and -- most crucially -- the presence of lots of nitrogen.

It takes truly extreme temperatures to make nitrogen, which the researchers believe could only be produced by a supermassive star.

"Thanks to the data collected by the James Webb Space Telescope, we believe we have found a first clue of the presence of these extraordinary stars," Charbonnel said in a statement, which also called the stars "celestial monsters".

If the team's theory was previously "a sort of footprint of our supermassive star, this is a bit like finding a bone," Charbonnel said.

"We are speculating about the head of the beast behind all this," she added.

But there is little hope of ever directly observing this beast.

The scientists estimate that the life expectancy of supermassive stars is only around two million years -- a blink of an eye in the cosmic time scale.

However they suspect that globular clusters were around until roughly two billion years ago, and they could yet reveal more traces of the supermassive stars they may have once hosted.

The study was published in the journal Astronomy and Astrophysics this month.

pcl/dl/bp
Kyrsten Sinema, whos convened her share of bipartisan dealmaking groups, has stayed pretty quiet on the debt limit standoff. Until now.

The Arizona Independent on Wednesday cheered a new quartet whos leading negotiations for President Joe Biden and the Big Four congressional leaders. That group now consists of White House counselor Steve Ricchetti, budget chief Shalanda Young, legislative affairs chief Louisa Terrell and McCarthy emissary Rep. Garret Graves (R-La.).

And Sinema, a longtime friend of the speaker, predicted eventual success: I think were gonna get there.

Choosing Steve Ricchetti and Shalanda Young to lead these negotiations was the best move the Biden administration could have done, Sinema said in an interview. It would have been good if it happened sooner, but the fact that it happened yesterday is really good. And there is enough time for them to get to an agreement, but it couldnt happen with all the others in the room.

Sinema wasnt the only one feeling more encouraged. While Rep. Kelly Armstrong (R-N.D.), a close ally of McCarthy, said those negotiations should have started at least a month ago, the newly appointed people handling the toughest gig in D.C. gave him some hope.

You wanna get a deal done? Having [Young] and Garret Graves in a room is probably the best way to do it, he said.

The shifting sentiment reflected some welcome optimism on Capitol Hill, as Washington approaches the two-week mark before the U.S. could fumble into a full-on economic disaster. Though both sides remain far apart, lawmakers from both parties acknowledged that if anyone can cut a deal in time, it's the group of advisers now at the table.



Ricchetti and Terrell are renowned for having the full confidence of the president, allowing them to actually clinch a deal on Bidens behalf. Then theres Young, a respected budget guru whos won trust from both sides in her handling of epic Hill spending battles like the border wall. And Graves is McCarthys shadow whip, a behind-the-scenes policy wonk whos described by the speakers staff as a bonus chief of staff. Theyve leapt quickly into talks, meeting Tuesday night and again Wednesday morning.

Both Biden and McCarthy have been upbeat about reaching a default-avoiding deal as soon as this week that involves several thorny political issues  like spending caps, new work requirements for aid and energy permitting reform  but several lawmakers remain skeptical.

In fact, a growing number of progressives say Biden needs to more seriously entertain invoking the 14th Amendment as leverage against McCarthy, to show the president has an escape hatch. That would almost certainly provoke legal challenges, but the left thinks it would help Biden nonetheless.

Otherwise, warned Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), it means that we will be held hostage to this type of blackmail against ordinary American families time and time and time again. Its time now to say enough of this.

The new band of negotiators has been, so far, tight lipped as they work toward a deal that can somehow clear both chambers in the next few weeks. Its a complex challenge in a narrowly divided Congress, with Democrats facing pressure from the left to resist anything Republicans propose at all  while conservatives assert that McCarthy should accept nothing less than their own deficit-slashing package last month.

Were going to hold the line. I think thats what Graves is gonna do, thats what the speakers gonna do, said Rep. Andrew Clyde (R-Ga.), one of the dozen-plus conservatives who initially opposed McCarthy for speaker.

In fact, Clyde said Republicans should only accept changes that add even more of their wish list to the pile, like a recently passed border bill: We could always make it better.

Players in the talks also undoubtedly recall the recent history of the White Houses interventions into delicate Hill deals. Sen. Joe Manchin was unable to reach agreement with the presidents team in 2021 on a trillion-dollar progressive package the House labored to pass, insisting that it get cut down to size, and White House aides backchanneling with certain factions of House Democrats over that same bill led to chaos.



Thats on top of the first bipartisan foray of Bidens presidency, an infrastructure deal that went nowhere when Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) tried to cut a deal with Ricchetti and other White House officials. Eventually Capito joined Sinema and other senators to write a law themselves, in consultation with the White House.

Still, Capito said that stumble was not due to Ricchetti or Terrell, saying both have the confidence of the president and that the administration seems like theyre taking this more seriously.

I know all three well and have found them to be effective in negotiations, such as on the infrastructure bill, so I view it as a positive sign, added Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), referring to the two White House officials and Young. My experience has been, if you have people in the room who have experienced negotiations and want to get to an agreement, you usually do.

Across the Capitol, some House Democrats still feel stung by a series of missteps made by Bidens inner circle earlier this year. In one instance, Bidens flip flop on a GOP crime measure humiliated dozens of Democrats whod previously been reassured the president would back up their vote. And progressives are more cautious of Ricchettis influence after the departure of liberal ally and former Biden chief of staff Ron Klain.

So when Biden added Young, a former senior House Democratic aide, to his negotiating team, many in the caucus were ecstatic to see one of their own leading talks in an administration thats leaned far more toward the Senate, the presidents former stomping grounds. In fact, when House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries mentioned Youngs role in the debt talks during a closed-door meeting on Wednesday, House Democrats burst into applause, according to a person who attended.

That goodwill has, perhaps surprisingly, carried across the aisle. During Youngs time on the House budget panel, senior Republicans were typically more likely to dial her up than the panels Democratic chair at the time. And she was seen as a pivotal dealmaker to resolve plenty of other spending crises, including ending the ugly 35-day government shutdown over then-President Donald Trumps border wall.

"If we're able to get a deal, it's somebody like Shalanda that can do it," said conservative Rep. Robert Aderholt (R-Ala.), a longtime appropriator. "Obviously, while we may have a different viewpoint on some things, and I understand she works for the president, she's someone that I've always had a good experience with."

Whats unclear, though, is whether Biden and McCarthys newly slimmed-down band of emissaries can convince skeptics in both parties to support a budget deal designed to steer the nation away from a debt cliff that looms as closely as June 1.

What do they have to offer? ... Theyre not doing anything realistic, said Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.) when asked about Bidens deputies coming to the table. Democrats? Its been a disaster. Name me one thing theyve put forward.

Adam Cancryn and Caitlin Emma contributed to this report.
Will West Sacramento City Council break the law on Thursday night? What experts say

West Sacramento City Council may break the law on Thursday night.

That depends on whether at least two city council members attend Mayor Martha Guerreros State of the City address in City Hall. The council is made up of five people, four councilors and Guerrero. This quorum along with a price tag of $150 per seat would make the meeting in violation of the Brown Act, according to experts on the topic.

They should not be charging the public for the privilege of attending a public meeting on public property, David Loy, legal director of the First Amendment Coalition in San Rafael.

The California state law that Loy cited guarantees the publics right to freely attend and participate in meetings of local legislative bodies.

Guerreros speech is treated like a ticketed event because the West Sacramento Chamber of Commerce runs it as a fundraiser. Along with admission to the mayors speech, the ticket includes a cocktail reception and dinner.

From an ethical perspective, an event held at City Hall should be open to the public, said John Pelissero, a senior scholar at the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at Santa Clara University. The fact that the Chamber of Commerce is sponsoring this and intends to charge $150 for a ticket, just on the face of it, violates a sense of fairness.

But West Sacramento City Manager Aaron Laurel said the event doesnt violate the Brown Act because there is an exception for social or ceremonial events.

The act says those exceptions are allowed, provided that a majority of the members do not discuss among themselves business of a specific nature that is within the subject matter jurisdiction of the legislative body of the local agency.

Loy said that portion of The Brown Act is meant to deal with events like a hospital groundbreaking or a gala for The Red Cross at which all council members are present, not a meeting in which the mayor is discussing plans for the city.

Guerrero said she has had concerns about this arrangement with the chamber ever since she gave her first State of the City three years ago.

For me, the state of the city is to connect with the community and invite them to learn more about whats happening, to develop an engaged process with the community, Guerrero said. Thats how I see it.

West Sacramento Chamber of Commerce officials refused to comment, other than to refer questions to city officials.

Can a few free seats satisfy the law?

Guerrero said after she threatened to take her speech elsewhere, chamber officials conceded to let her and the four council members have their own tables where non-paying guests can sit and hear the speech.

City Manager Laurel said the city is actually paying the chamber for those tables.

Even if the chamber was giving the seats for free, Loy said, throwing in a few free token seats is not enough to avoid violating the Brown Act.

Under the Brown Act, citizens or law enforcement officials could sue a government body in violation and receive legal fees if they prevail. Individuals or the district attorney may file civil lawsuits for injunctive, mandatory or declaratory relief, or to void action taken in violation of the Act, the act reads.

The district attorney is also allowed to bring misdemeanor criminal penalties against the governing body, which could include up to 364 days in jail.

Guerrero said next year it will be different.

I dont want people to pay for their seats, she said.

Laurel said he is working with the mayor to fulfill her wishes and that discussions are being held to make the event free for all attendees next year.

He said the chamber has held the city hall event for more than 20 years without anyone raising concerns about violations of the Brown Act.
A booking photo shows Chad Daybell. | Rexburg Police Department via Associated Press

The recent Netflix docuseries Sins of Our Mother documents Colby Ryan confronting his mother, Lori Vallow Daybell, over the deaths of her children, J.J. Vallow and Tylee Ryan. While the series focuses on Vallow Daybell, there is another person involved in the case: Chad Daybell.

Related

J.J. and Tylee went missing in September 2019. Their bodies were later found on June 9, 2020, in Daybells yard. Vallow Daybell and Daybell have been charged with conspiracy to commit murder and first-degree murder in the cases of J.J., Tylee and Daybells deceased wife, Tammy Daybell.

While Vallow Daybell and Daybell were originally scheduled to be tried together in Ada County starting in January 2023, their trials were severed. Vallow Daybells trial began in April and she was found guilty of murder, conspiracy and grand theft in May at the conclusion of the trial, per Deseret News.

Daybells trial has not been rescheduled yet.

Where is Chad Daybell now?

Daybell was arrested in June 2020. When he was arrested, his bail was set at $1 million, on the condition that he remain in the immediate area and wear an ankle monitor. According to East Idaho News, Daybell was booked into Fremont County Jail after human remains were found on his property.

Daybell remains in Fremont County Jail.

According to KPVI, Judge Steven W. Boyce heard a motion from Daybells team requesting that the trial be moved from Fremont County to Ada County, due to it being a high-profile case. The Rexburg Standard Journal reported that Boyce ruled to move Daybells trial to Ada County (Boise).

When is Chad Daybells trial?

A new trial date for Daybells trial has not been determined. According to CBS News, its possible Daybells trial could still be several months away.
President Joe Biden will not offer an apology for the United States use of nuclear weapons against Japan 78 years ago, the White House has said.

Mr Biden is currently en route to Hiroshima, the Japanese city that was the target of the first combat use of an atomic bomb on 6 August 1945, for the 2023 Group of Seven leaders summit.

He is scheduled on Friday to visit the Hiroshima Memorial Museum with the other six G7 leaders, and will participate in a wreath-laying and tree-planting ceremony with his counterparts from Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United Kingdom. The museum and memorial include the remains of the Hiroshima Prefectural Industrial Promotion Hall, the only building left standing after the bombing.

Some Japanese politicians have called for the US to offer an official apology for the Hiroshima bombing and the bombing of Nagasaki four days later. But the first US president to visit the memorial site, Barack Obama, did not apologise for the use of nuclear weapons when he visited in 2016, and the White House says Mr Biden will not do so either.

National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters aboard Air Force One that no apology would be offered in part because the event Mr Biden is attending would not be an appropriate occasion for such a gesture.

The president won't be making a statement at the Peace Memorial Park. He'll be participating with the other G7 leaders in a wreath laying and a few other events, but this is not from his perspective, a bilateral moment, said Mr Sullivan, who added that Mr Biden will attend as one of the G7 leaders coming to pay respects.

He added that Mr Biden would be doing so both out of respect for history and for Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, who entered Japanese politics as a member of the Japanese House of Representatives for Hiroshimas First District.
"Chan Is Missing" actors Marc Hayashi (left) and Wood Moy play two cab drivers looking for a friend who stole their money.

In 1982, Wayne Wangs Chan Is Missing became the first feature film by an Asian American director to get a mainstream theatrical release. A decade later, Wang broke more ground when he directed The Joy Luck Club, widely considered the first major Hollywood studio movie featuring an all-Asian cast. (Famously and embarrassingly, it took 25 years to make another one: 2018s Crazy Rich Asians.)

Chan Is Missing and other early films by Wang are featured in Asian American 80s, a collection of 12 movies streaming this month on the Criterion Channel.

Spotlighting a formative decade for Asian American cinema, the series was curated by Brian Hu, an associate professor of film and television at San Diego State University. Last year, he programmed a Criterion series about Asian American independent films in the 2000s. Curators Abby Sun and Keisha N. Knight also developed a series about Asian American cinema in the 1990s.

So I think [Criterion] figured: Lets just keep connecting the dots backwards and see what we get, Hu said in an interview with HuffPost.

At some point, it becomes strange to go further back because the term Asian American is fairly new. And then the idea of Asian American cinema is relatively new and has changed in terms of how its been defined. So at some point, if you keep moving back, you find that youre inventing a notion of Asian American cinema out of nothing.

I think the 80s is where it really starts to coalesce into something, and I was really interested in that. When something is first being named and people are finding value in a term, what does it look like? And, also, how does it differ from today, to get a sense of how things have changed?

As Hu explained, the 1980s marked a turning point in Asian American cinema because for the first time, Asian American directors were entering the arena of feature films. Prior to that, they were primarily making short films, documentaries and student productions. The growth in opportunities and visibility resulted from the confluence of several developments: a new wave of American independent film, the rise of art house cinemas in major U.S. cities, and the first generation of Asian American artists who came of age after the start of the Asian American movement in the 1960s now figuring out how to assert themselves.

You have two circuits going on at the same time. You have that sort of white, upper-middle-class, New York-educated we want to watch films that are outside of the box. And then you also have young Asian Americans  many of them the first generation that took Asian American studies classes  who are now saying, Are we a market onto ourselves? Hu said. Can going into the movies be a communal act, and can going to watch our movies be part of the larger political movement that weve been hoping to be part of since the late 60s? So all of this is coming together in the 1980s.

In addition, Asian Americans had more avenues to get their films funded and seen, like through grants from the National Endowment for the Arts (or NEA) and public television, and the rise of Asian American film festivals. They were also figuring out what Asian American cinema even meant, and to what extent their work should confront questions about identity.

You have some filmmakers who are like: I just want to make weird movies. I just want to make silly B movies. And do those things all go together? Hu said. And what I love about this period is they dont always. And you have people who are imagining what Asian American can be in wildly different ways, that might not adhere perfectly to that sense of needing to be very clearly part of the Asian American movement as defined in the 60s. So it was a moment of anything goes, that there were no rules yet. They were making it up as they went along. So thats really appealing.

Speaking to HuffPost, Hu went on to detail some landmark Asian American films of the period, a few underappreciated gems, the connections and differences between Asian American cinema then and now, and how one might go about developing the idea of an Asian American film canon.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity and brevity.

What specifically in the 80s was different from how we think of Asian American cinema now, or the Asian American movement more broadly? What was different in the 80s that sort of led to a lot of these filmmakers just trying to figure out what that meant, and how they fit  or how they maybe didnt fit into that idea?

So, Im interested in a filmmaker like Peter Wang. He made a film called A Great Wall in the 1980s. Hes a transnational figure in a sense that hes originally from China, his family moved to Taiwan, he grew up in Taiwan, and then he came to the United States to become an engineer. He dabbled in theater in San Francisco, and then he worked on Wayne Wangs Chan Is Missing as an actor in a small but memorable role. And then he directed his own film called A Great Wall.

So around this time, there was a lot of discussion about Asian Americans, [how] the Asian American community needs to emphasize its Americanness, that what makes us an important political faction is that people have to stop thinking about us as a perpetual foreigner. And yet he makes a film thats set in China, and he, like, finds home via China.

Im sure the film is also about wanting to say how Chinese Americans are different from people in China. But they are sort of not afraid of thinking about ones Asian American identity as necessarily transnational. And I think weve come around to that now because of, like, K-pop. I think Asian Americans think its fine to consume stuff from Asia, even though that sort of marks us as not necessarily, like, homegrown American in our pop cultural interests, for instance. But Peter Wang was really, at that time, thinking beyond the boundaries of the nation. His subsequent films  he made a feature in Taiwan. He lives in Taiwan now. So how does he fit within the Asian American rubric? So, theres someone like him.

Theres Elliott Hong, who made They Call Me Bruce, which in some ways, when youre watching it, feels, like, politically regressive. Its about a guy who  people think hes Bruce Lee, and hell play along with it. I think for a lot of Asian Americans, especially in the 1980s, Ive talked to so many, especially Asian American men, who grew up in the 80s, and they didnt have anything in the media that represented them. But suddenly, even though this is a guy whos playing on stereotypes, he also seemed to be winking at them at the same time, and that was refreshing.

So watching it now, its cringey. Its a creature of its time. But we could say that its a creature of its time before a certain kind of, like, savviness about Asian American pop cultural politics. It was like, we didnt have the liberty to ask for everything. We had to play within the rules of certain kinds of B movie tropes and bad B movies with a lot of stereotypes in them. How do we use these kinds of forms to get a little bit of us in there?

Brian Hu, an associate professor at San Diego State University and curator of the Criterion Channel collection

Brian Hu, an associate professor at San Diego State University and curator of the Criterion Channel collection "Asian American '80s."

What also was happening within the industry at the time, in independent film, that opened up these opportunities for Asian American directors to get their foot in the door and start making these films?

Yeah, thats a great question. Because the late 70s, early 80s, thats when Hollywood was starting to say, all right, we were interested in independent cinema in the late 60s, early 70s, with Easy Rider and that sort of thing. By the late 70s, you have Jaws, you have Star Wars  Hollywood is saying, Lets pivot back to the blockbuster.But you have this institutionalization of, you have film schools, you have distributors who have been dabbling in art cinema.

And so in the 1980s, you have really a refining of, like, all right, independent cinema doesnt have to just be an Easy Rider, kind of druggie youth movies. It could also be movies for adults and movies for people who just want to think at the movies  that sort of cliche of independent cinema that persists today. And Chan Is Missing fed really into that, this idea of lets watch some movie to see something new. And Chan Is Missing still feels so fresh today.

So there was this sort of urban hunger for new kinds of cinema. And a lot of these films were being subsidized not by the market, but by grants from, like, the NEA and stuff. And so those institutions were in place. Independent cinema was also entering its straight-to-video phase. So you have films like They Call Me Bruce, that has that sort of exploitation, straight-to-video  its playing upon those genres.

Oh, and then you also have the rise of public media, public television saying, Hey, were also interested in narrative. Public television had understood that documentary needs to be a big part of their mission. But theyre starting to say, Oh, what if we did, like, little TV plays? So a film like The Wash was essentially made for public television. And so those opportunities were arising too. So in the American independent scene, I think those are the major shifts that were inspiring filmmakers to say: We can do this. We can make feature-length narrative films, which had not existed in Asian American cinema before this.

And then of course, the rise of the Asian American film festival circuit, which was more than just a place to show movies, because youre not getting paid for being shown in an Asian American film festival. But it creates a certain ecosystem for building audiences, for getting reviews of your films. And then you have, for instance, whats now known as the Center for Asian American Media in San Francisco. And they were also funding films that could be shown on PBS. So yeah, there was a certain ecosystem for finding audiences, for cultivating ones professional identity  but also the possibility of sustaining ones career financially.

You mentioned Wayne Wangs Chan Is Missing already. What were some of the landmark Asian American films you immediately knew you had to include in this series?

A question we asked was: How much Wayne Wang is there? Is there too much Wayne Wang? And I think we decided no.

Hes the central figure of Asian American cinema in the 80s, at least on the narrative side, for sure. He got so much prominence through Chan Is Missing, and the stylistic daring of it became the inspiration, I think, for a lot of other filmmakers to say: Wait, I can do that as well. Im not just making a film, but I can do anything I want with this film, without caring as much about, say, narrative development in the traditional sense. It could blur the lines between fiction and documentary, especially since at this point, Asian American filmmakers had been mostly working in documentary. This is a film thats sort of a natural transition from that documentary moment to one that embraces narrative feature filmmaking.

So the Wayne Wang films for sure. Dim Sum: A Little Bit of Heart is to me as important as Chan Is Missing, or at least as satisfying a film as Chan Is Missing. But its a lot lesser known.

Living on Tokyo Time was a very important one for me to get. Its just about slacker type Asian Americans who want to be in bands. It was important that this was not the cliche of independent Asian American cinema that we think of, what I often joke as the my mom wont let me date this person movie  the movies that are about intergenerational conflict, cross-racial encounters or often about 

 Trauma.

Yeah, or about queerness. Sometimes its about that too. But sometimes its just about young people who are not that great. [Laughs.] But that are charming in their own way, and just worthy of a story too.

I think a lot of Asian American folks around this time were trying to define their identities vis-a-vis Asian culturalness. So for instance, in the 1970s, there was this great short documentary about Asian Americans who are defining their culture through Japanese music. So what sets us apart from the rest of America, perhaps, is the fact that weve inherited these different kinds of musical traditions, and then we can fuse that with rock-and-roll and folk and stuff like that. Whereas Living on Tokyo Time says, No, I just like punk rock. Its just about being oneself in a mundane sense.

I loved The Wash. Its one of the first and few Asian American films about two Asian Americans in love, an Asian American couple. It is shockingly rare, until maybe 10 years ago, just to see in the movies two Asian Americans who are in a relationship. Theyre not always in a happy relationship in this movie, but you get the sense of where their affection comes from and their history of romance. Its shockingly rare. And so that was a really important movie for me to include here as well.

Were there films that you as a film scholar didnt even really know about, that you unearthed or rediscovered through putting together this series?

A lot of my research was actually spent on the short films, because there are certain feature films that are well known to people whove been investigating it, as I have. There arent that many on the feature side. I feel like I watched a pretty high percentage of Asian American feature-length narrative films for this project. Short films, though, thats a lot harder, one, to research to even know whats out there, and then secondly, to find them. And so I did a lot of research into film festival catalogs, into writing that was happening around that time, reviews of film festivals, to see what people were getting excited by. The writing of the filmmaker, critic, scholar, everything, Renee Tajima-Pena  who ended up directing the [2020] Asian Americans series on PBS, as well as co-directing [the documentary] Who Killed Vincent Chin?  she was writing a lot during the 1980s as a commentator, as sort of an insider-outsider.

And her writing was very important because I think she understood why short films are so important, because until the 1980s, it was just short films. The feature films were the novelty in this decade. But the short films had been the lifeblood, and continue to be a certain lifeblood. But of course, these are the films that are not on the tip of anybodys tongue. So [I did] a lot of research and then working with distributors, working with filmmakers  like for the film Otemba, which became one of my favorites, a 16-minute short film, a student film at [the University of California, Los Angeles]. ... The filmmaker passed away over a decade ago, and I worked with her sister on securing the rights to this film. And so these short films dont necessarily have distribution. Theyre not necessarily in catalogs of films for people to see. So a lot of it I had not seen before.

Series art for

Series art for "Asian American '80s," a collection of 12 films streaming this month on the Criterion Channel.

Something you said earlier: In the 80s, there are films about identity, and then there are films that arent about identity at all. And I feel like were sort of in that moment now as well, both in film and on TV. Were figuring out the balance of things made by Asian Americans about being Asian American, versus things where the characters happen to be Asian American, but the film isnt really about that at all. Do you see connections, or are those things very different between then and now?

There are both kinds of films in the 80s. There are films that are very much who are we?

Chan Is Missing is like that. What is a Chinese person in the United States? is what its asking. It doesnt feel like the kind of identity film that weve come to know of, which is that I brought food to school and people think its stinky kind of an identity film. I feel like in the 1980s, both kinds of films  the identity films versus the ones that were characters just happened to be Asian films  they were coexisting without there being debate, or a sense of which is better or not.

By the 1990s, I think this starts to change, especially as these films get more visibility. And also, the possibility of mainstream success becomes part of the equation. Within the 1980s, it really wasnt, except for Chan Is Missing. None of these films became national phenomena.

Ive always seen this sort of as a pendulum swing. Like in the 1990s and early 2000s, there were a lot of these kinds of identity films, especially in South Asian American films. A ton of them were about parents trying to get their kids married off, and it was like no, but Im American. And then it sort of swung the other way a little bit after Better Luck Tomorrow, which was very much of a no, were just a bunch of bad kids in school. So, an anti-model minority film.

But really, I see the pendulum swing all the way to the other end with the [filmmaking group] Wong Fu Productions age in the late 2000s, early 2010s, when YouTube opened up a possibility for young people to just make films on their own. And theyre not sitting around talking about identity all the time. Theyre making films, like, silly little rom-coms or what I did in school, and they happened to be Asian. Of course, theres also a little bit of were actually white, but we just happen to be Asian. Theres some projection of a kind of assimilated middle-class, suburban identity.

I feel like Im seeing the pendulum swing a little bit back now. I mean, [2020s] Minari is very much in that sort of immigrant identity film. [Last years] Everything Everywhere All At Once is as well.

And 2019s The Farewell.

The Farewell, for sure. For me, The Farewell goes back to Peter Wang and A Great Wall. These are both films about Chinese Americans going back to China and discovering their own Americanness through differences with someone from China. So are we swinging back a little bit, or are we finding some comfortable space in between? Right now, Im not seeing so much of the grumbling about another identity film. I mean, 15 years ago, people grumbled so much about that: Please dont make me do another movie about how Im different from my parents.

But I think that maybe its because these films are now getting a lot more prestige  and theyre cool. I mean, whats cooler than Everything Everywhere All At Once? Maybe Asian Americans have settled into this point where its like, Im OK with these stories representing us now again. But I also see it as, the mainstream still requires us to represent, to have the burden of representation, and say, like, Well, we want to give you space, but tell us how you are different. Anyway, so well see how this continues to swing  and if [production and distribution company] A24 will continue to have an outsized role in telling these stories, which is a whole other issue.

Im curious about what you think about the idea of an Asian American canon. I feel like Im always sort of thinking about that as an Asian American culture reporter, and this series got me rethinking about that. How do you feel about that idea? And as Asian Americans, how do we go about actually bringing that idea out into the open?

Yeah, because canon could be a dirty word.

Right.

It could be about gatekeeping, or about, I mean, who is represented by a canon? If the Asian American film project has been about undoing canons, why are we therefore settling into a new one? As well as the fact that a lot of Asian American cinema has always been invested in things like queerness, thats about breaking categories and rethinking institutions like history-making and boundaries. And yet, what I was starting to feel, especially after Crazy Rich Asians, was the sense that nobody knew the history of Asian American cinema, because everyone was saying, Crazy Rich Asians, the first since Joy Luck Club.And then everyone had to walk that back and say, like, first Hollywood film [since The Joy Luck Club], because they realized they dont know anything about the independent side. Or they know it exists  they may have heard of Better Luck Tomorrow  but they dont feel well versed enough to talk about it.

I did a project with the ... [Los Angeles] Times where I polled people who I knew were observers in the scene: film festival curators, critics. I intentionally didnt poll filmmakers because they were just going to pick their own friends films. Im not saying that to be sort of mean about it. Much of Asian cinema has been built on helping each other, lifting each other. But to me, canon-making is also about  I hate to use the word expertise  but who has actually watched everything in order to say, These are important films that we should be talking about.

So for me, it was less about greatness and more about memory  and so, the extent to which we can think about canon as memory-making, or just reminding us of what came before. Because I think for us to have a future, it helps to have a sense of a shared memory, right? A set of narratives and characters that we can draw from. Because otherwise, I guess I was thinking about do Asian Americans have nostalgia for something common? The same way that mainstream white Americans can say [1942s] Casablanca is part of our cultural heritage, even though maybe youve never seen it before  all these classic American films that youve never seen before, but youve accepted as part of our cultural history.

Can Asian Americans sort of invent that themselves? Can we know of Peter Wangs cameo in Chan Is Missing or something like that as a touchstone that we can all refer to? Inventing this cultural history  I think that is, for me, why this thing that resembles canon-making is important. And that really was a major inspiration for how I approached not just this series, but also, the 2000s one.

Related...
Why This Billionaire Has Gone to War With a Little Nantucket Clam Shack

Strap in, folks: Looks like the fight over a proposed Nantucket clam shack is far from over.

Billionaire Charles Johnson has sued the owners of the forthcoming Straight Wharf Fish Market in the towns Superior Court in hopes of overturning the decision to grant the establishment local and state liquor licenses, the Nantucket Current reported. This is just the latest move in a months-long saga involving the restaurant.

More from Robb Report

Kevin Burleson and Gabriel Frasca, the eaterys proprietors, first received approval from the towns board members in March for their business despite local opposition from nearby wealthy residents, who had concerns of the establishments impact on the enclave, The Boston Globe reported. The next month, an attorney for Johnsona neighbor of the proposed localetried to halt the project by arguing that construction on the building violated its permit for work performed near a wetland, according to Forbes. Alas, the attempts to block the restaurant were unsuccessful.

In the lawsuit, Johnsons lawyer argues that the liquor decision didnt consider the number of businesses in the area that already sell alcoholic beverages and the possible congestion, noise, and effect on its neighbors that the restaurant may cause. An inquiry from Robb Report to Johnsons attorney was not immediately returned.

The Town of Nantucket, the local select board, and the Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission were also named as defendants in the lawsuit, according to the Daily Beast.

Frasca told the publication that he tried to talk to Johnson before the billionaire filled the lawsuit. The owner of the proposed clam shack previously introduced himself and told Johnson we were committed to being a good neighbor to him. However, Frasca says, it appears thats a one-way promise. But so be it.

No one likes being told no, Frasca told the Daily Beast. I think some people have options to sort of game out not hearing no a little better than the rest of us. And perhaps some people just due to disposition are less well inclined to hear no.

Johnson is the former CEO of investment firm Franklin Resources and has an estimated net worth of $4.8 billion, Forbes reported.

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Click here to read the full article.
This is why cockroaches are in your kitchen. How to keep them out of your Charlotte home

If youre trying to beat the heat in Charlotte, some cockroaches might be keeping you company.

Some cockroach species prefer indoor spaces during spring and summer, but others, like American and Australian roaches, can invade your home at any time of the year, Kristin Dodd, the manager of Carolina Pest Management, told The Charlotte Observer in June.

While cockroaches dont bite, they can carry diseases that can be harmful to humans, including Salmonella and poliomyelitis, the virus that causes polio, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Cockroaches are also a source of allergens, which can trigger respiratory illnesses like asthma, according to the American Lung Association.

Why do cockroaches enter your home?

Cockroaches can get inside homes through any opening that is accessible to them, said Dodd.

Youll see them come in through windows and doors that arent sealed properly, or through plumbing, Dodd said. It doesnt take a large opening for them to get through.

Once inside, cockroaches like to hide in dark, damp places including kitchens, bathrooms, and basements, Dodd said, adding that some roaches gravitate anywhere that theres food available, like trash cans and dog bowls.

Signs of a cockroach infestation

Here are some signs that cockroaches may be in your home, according to the National Pest Management Association:

Droppings in dim areas of your home

Presence of egg capsules, which are about 8 millimeters long and dark-colored

A musty smell around

How to keep cockroaches out

The National Pest Management Association recommends these tips to help keep cockroaches away from your home:

Seal cracks in walls and gaps near electric sockets

Keep counters, sinks, tables and floors free of clutter and crumbs

Dont let dishes pile up

Avoid leaving food out in the open and store it in airtight containers

Vacuum at least once a week to remove food particles

Ventilate crawl spaces to prevent moisture buildup

If you suspect cockroaches are in your home, you should contact a licensed pest control professional.
Why the drinking water got tainted on the carriers Nimitz and Lincoln

For years, and through an historically long deployment during the most disruptive phase of the COVID pandemic, the aircraft carrier Nimitz was hauling around polluted water in its potable water tanks, and more than a third of those 26 tanks were out of commission.

But that issue was never formally documented or addressed until JP-5 jet fuel got into the carriers drinking water last fall while the ship was getting ready to deploy, sidelining the carrier and sickening at least 11 sailors, according to a Navy investigation released this week.

Fellow carrier Abraham Lincoln suffered its own drinking water contamination in September as it ended a deployment, and a separate investigation into that incident released this week shows that the carrier was dealing with water purity issues for longer than the Navy has publicly acknowledged.

The Navy has previously disclosed that noxious bilge water got into Lincolns potable water system in September, but the investigation also shows that five of Lincolns potable water tanks tested positive for bacterial contamination in early 2022, prior to the ships deployment.

Before that, no other carrier had had a water tank test positive in the past two years, and such a test should have been a warning sign, according to the report.

Lincoln allowed this deviation to normalize without clearly bounding the problem or taking corrective action, the report states. Though Lincoln was able to address each (potable water) tank that tested positive before putting that (potable water) tank back into service, thorough investigation of these results could have provided an opportunity for early root cause identification.

Jet fuel leaks into USS Nimitzs drinking water system

A bilge space is where accumulated dirty water, oil, chemicals and other assorted ship sludge are stored.

Lincoln also got underway without an in-line water treatment system that investigators found could have helped mitigate some of the bilge contamination, and the probe found no casualty reports indicating that the system was down.

When Puget Sound Naval Shipyard workers inspected the ships problematic potable water tank in October, a few weeks after the contamination was discovered, the bottom of the tank had a visible black substance layer, the investigation states.

No Lincoln sailors were sickened by the bacteria found in that ships water system, according to Navy officials.

Go here to read the Nimitz investigation and here to read the Lincoln investigation.

In light of these events in September and October, Naval Air Forces Commander Vice Adm. Kenneth Whitesell directed the establishment of an Aircraft Carrier Potable Water Working Group to review all incidents involving potable water on carriers within the past year.

The group was supposed to report back its findings by Jan. 31, but they are not included in the investigations the Navy released this week and officials did not provide on-the-record responses to Navy Times questions about that groups findings.

There have been no other potable water contamination cases on carriers since the Lincoln and Nimitz, and no one has been disciplined in connection to those two incidents, according to Naval Air Forces spokesman Cmdr. Zachary Harrell.

The type community is working with Navy medical and public health officials to continue a dedicated effort to review and update policies and procedures on potable water maintenance and corrective actions to ensure the health and safety of our Sailors, Harrell said in an email Wednesday.

Multiple messages were also sent to carrier commands late last year reminding them to follow proper procedures and instructions when dealing with potable water.

The U.S. Navy is taking this issue very seriously, he said.

Harrell did not respond to specific questions about the investigations findings that both carriers had water quality issues before the contaminations came to the fore last fall.

The Navy's investigation into water contamination aboard the aircraft carrier Nimitz

In a statement, Whitesell said that access to clean, safe water is a priority that we as Sailors take extremely seriously, and that efforts to provide bottled water and treat sickened sailors during the contaminations are a clear reflection of the leadership and compassion we have on our aircraft carriers.

Nimitzs longstanding water problem

In 2020 or earlier, Nimitzs crew discovered that water in at least one of the ships potable water tanks was tainted with seawater, but that deficiency was never formally documented or addressed, according to the report.

Failure to formally document the deficiency and promptly correct the issue allowed the condition to worsen, and it left the problem to future crew members who had no insight into circumstances of the original problem, the investigating officer wrote.

Nimitz completed an historic, 340-day deployment from April 2020 to February 2021.

Likely unbeknownst to the thousands of sailors onboard for that cruise, one of Nimitzs potable water tanks was also fouled with jet fuel during that deployment, after JP-5 leaked into the potable water tank through a deteriorated manway cover gasket, the investigation states.

That manway cover was located in a bilge space and the leak likely occurred due to misalignment or malfunction of the ships main drainage system.

The ships crew was unaware of the presence of JP-5 in (one of the potable water tanks) prior to 16 September 2022, the investigation states.

The aircraft carrier Nimitz departs a naval base in Busan, South Korea, on April 2. (Cha Geun-ho/Yonhap via AP)

Months before, in February 2022, the ships reactor officer discovered that eight of Nimitzs 26 potable water tanks were out of service and not being used to supply drinking water to the crew.

His investigation revealed the eight tanks had been out of service since at least September 2020, the report states.

Harrell did not respond to Navy Times questions regarding whether it is normal for a carrier to have so many potable water tanks offline.

The only record noting the tank issues was an informal tracking sheet at the ships water control watch desk, the report states.

That reactor officer, whose name is redacted in the publicly released report, directed the reactor propulsion division to make plans to clean, inspect and restore the tanks prior to the ships upcoming deployment.

While the ship was in maintenance at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Washington, in March 2022, the ship requested assistance to empty and clean the eight potable water tanks that were full of liquid but out of service for suspected seawater contamination, the report states.

But just one of the fouled tanks was cleaned, inspected, sanitized and restored to service, due to limited time and resources available.

Concerned there would be insufficient time to restore the remaining seven tanks to service, the Reactor Officer directed the Reactor Propulsion Division to develop plans to empty and restore the remaining tanks without the assistance of the shipyard, the report states.

While developing plans to empty the ships potable water tanks on their own, the crew was unaware that any of the tanks contained JP-5, and assumed they were just dealing with seawater, based on the ships informal records.

This was a major factor in the ships understanding and consideration of the risk associated with pumping liquid from one tank through other water piping, the report states. The ship did not know or consider the possibility that the tank might contain contaminants other than seawater.

Nimitzs jerry-rigged plan to empty and flush the potable water tanks did not comply with polices to ensure that the potable water system remained free of contaminants.

The ship should have held a briefing on Sept. 16, before starting the job, to bring key officers up to speed, the report found, but the plan went forward without everyone being on the same page.

And that day, water stinking of JP-5 started flowing out of water fountains, sinks and ship sample points as the crew emptied one of the potable water tanks.

Leaders in charge of those systems were unable to determine or take appropriate corrective actions to prevent more significant consequences from occurring, which ultimately led to spreading JP-5 to ships distribution system, the report states.

The fuel spread to the ships potable water distribution system that evening, and it later spread to other potable water tanks when operators attempted to locate the source of JP-5 by recirculating and sampling some of the potable water tanks.

Just before 9 p.m. on Sept. 16, the engineering officer on watch and the water control watch received reports from the wardroom, staterooms and berthing that there was JP-5 in the water.

Aircraft carrier Nimitz makes history with 350,000th arrested landing

As news of the contamination spread, the report states the ships command took appropriate action to keep the crew safe and initiated actions to recover the ships potable water system.

The following morning, the ships senior medical officer trained the medical department on symptoms of fuel ingestion in case crew members presented with those symptoms.

People who visited medical complained of minor symptoms common to many ailments: upset stomach, nausea, headache or rash, the report states.

The ship arrived at Naval Air Station North Island, California, the next day, but other issues occurred that slowed a return to normal.

At one point, the ship requested a second hose to help pump out all the sewage from the ships toilets, showers and galleys, and a base public works employee asked a sailor why a second hose was needed.

The sailor inaccurately stated that they were pumping JP-5 into the sewer, according to the report, so the base employee halted the raw sewage offload.

To stop the sewage tanks from filling up while pumping was paused, the ship halted laundry and potable water, and Nimitz sailors had to use aircraft carrier Carl Vinsons berthing barge for showers.

The confusion resolved by the night of Sept. 18, and the next day, Nimitzs leaders and officials with Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command met to discuss the carriers sewage system and JP-5 in the potable water.

Neither the ship nor shore support facilities had preplanned procedures or response actions to recover a shipboard potable water system contaminated with JP5, the report states.

While the report found the ships force did not have the capability to analyze water or sewage for JP-5, flushing the water system took several weeks before the ship was able to depart.

About two weeks after mooring at North Island, the ships safety officer deployed a four-member sniffer team to determine which areas of the ship continued to exhibit odor from the potable water system.

The sniffer team commenced daily analysis of 65 sample points throughout the ship for odor, the report states. The results were used to target additional flushing of the potable water system.

Sailors heave in a line on the fantail aboard the aircraft carrier Nimitz as the ship gets underway from Guam on March 4. (MC3 Caylen McCutcheon/Navy)

Honest Abes nasty water

Lincoln sailors first noticed nasty drinking water on Sept. 21, and that ships investigation notes that there was no evidence that Lincolns potable water tanks were circulated and sampled in the 48 hours before the ship got underway, in accordance with regulations.

There was also no evidence that a contaminated tank was sampled or recirculated before it was placed in service that day.

An unsatisfactory sample would have prevented placing that tank online, the report states.

The Navy's investigation into water contamination aboard the aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln

After that troubled tank started supplying sailors, there were immediate indications of (potable water) contamination.

As previously disclosed by the Navy, Lincolns contaminated drinking water issues stemmed from a hole in a vent header pipe located six inches above the bilge deck.

Corrosion produced the hole sometime in spring 2022, the report states.

Lincoln was scheduled to depart North Island on Sept. 18, but the reactor was shut down for repairs, delaying the departure to Sept. 21.

From Sept. 19 to Sept. 21, the bilge levels reached the six-inch height where the corroded venter hole sat, allowing in the dirty fluids.

On Sept. 21, after placing the potable water tank into service, sailors told the plant chief machinery operator that the water tastes weird.

That chief machinery operator didnt alert the chain of command based on perceptions that moving from shore to ship-provided water could result in a brief change in taste.

The chief machinery operator told the water control watch sailors that the tank is bad, but did not elaborate. The water watch took this to mean that chlorine measurements were off.

That afternoon, more than 12 nautical miles from land, Lincoln experienced a separate chemistry casualty that diverted watch stander attention, delaying the identification of any potable water contamination.

By about 7 p.m., the engineering officer of the watch began to get reports that the water smelled, tasted and looked funny, prompting the officer to shut down the potable water tanks that were in use.

That officer did not log the contaminated potable water incident but reported it to the ships main propulsion assistant.

Lt. Cmdr. Andrew Castro, front, and Lt. Bartley O'Toole shoot off an EA-18G Growler jet as it launches from the aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln Dec. 2, 2022. (MC3 Clayton A. Wren/Navy)

Just before 9 p.m., the contaminated water tank was put back in service as part of a tank shift ordered by the engineering officer of the watch, which reintroduced the source of the contaminated water into the ships system.

While the ships supply officer and chief engineer tried to figure out what was going on, the report suggests rank-and-file sailors knew something was wrong, as there was a run on bottled water at the ships store.

XO verified with (the supply officer) the quantity of bottled water on hand and suspended bottled water sales to ensure adequate bottled water for the crew would be available as they worked to fix the potable water system.

Medical took a bacteriological sample of the potable water tank, but results would not be available for 18 hours.

The water later tested positive for E. coli bacteria, which is extremely common and mostly harmless, but can cause severe cramps, diarrhea and vomiting, according to the Mayo Clinic.

That particular vent header that allowed bilge into the drinking water system was susceptible to corrosion and premature failure in an operational environment with higher-than-normal bilge levels, the report states.

If this header had been classified as high interest piping, the next inspection would have occurred in September and a proper inspection likely would have discovered the hole in the vent header and limited the contamination of the water tank.

An image from the Navy's investigation into water contamination onboard the aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln reveals the vent header hole that allowed bilge to get into the ship's drinking water. (Navy)

In-line chlorinators used to treat the water system were also not available for use during most of the deployment, the report states.

While Lincoln had learned to live without the chlorinators as it had not undergone such a modification, such an asset would have significantly mitigated this issue.

Despite missed opportunities in preventing and mitigating the contamination, the response demonstrated proper risk assessment and aggressive response, the report states.

Puget Sound Naval Shipyard workers traveled to North Island and inspected the potable water tank on Oct. 15 and found the black substance in the bottom, according to officials and the investigation.

Three days later, yard workers discovered the vent header with the hole in it.

The afflicted water tank was inspected during maintenance in Fiscal Year 2020 and received a Good/Normal result, according to the report.

That vent header that caused all the issues had not been replaced since Lincolns construction, but the ships force rated the component satisfactory during a March 2022 inspection.

Correction: an earlier version of this story incorrectly stated where Puget Sound Naval Shipyard workers found a potable water tank with a black substance in the bottom aboard the carrier Abraham Lincoln. They discovered the substance while the ship was at Naval Air Station North Island, California.
Why Ecuador's president dissolved the National Assembly, and what happens next

Police guard the National Assembly in Quito, Ecuador, Wednesday, May 17, 2023. Ecuadorian President Guillermo Lasso on Wednesday put an end to impeachment proceedings against him by dissolving the opposition-led National Assembly, which had accused him of embezzlement. (AP Photo/Dolores Ochoa)

QUITO, Ecuador (AP)  President Guillermo Lasso dissolved Ecuador's National Assembly on Wednesday just as it was forging ahead with impeachment proceedings to remove the conservative leader from office over alleged mismanagement.

In disbanding the assembly, the president, who denies any wrongdoing, made first use of the Ecuador presidencys nuclear option under the constitution in conflicts with the legislative branch.

WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?

Elections must be called within three months, for both the assembly and presidency, and the winners will serve out what would otherwise have been the remainder of the terms of those elected officials, or until May 2025.

Lasso can choose to run in the presidential election. In the meantime, he can rule by decree for up to six months.

The move could deepen the country's political turmoil and spark protests, as critics push back in part by noting that Lasso was himself on the verge of being ousted. Lasso appears to have the support of the armed forces, but a powerful confederation of indigenous groups  which have nearly paralyzed the country with protests in recent years  has condemned his move.

WAS LASSOS MOVE LEGAL?

Yes. Ecuadors 2008 constitution granted the president the power to dissolve the assembly and call for new elections. It's colloquially known as la muerte cruzada, or the crossed death, because it cuts short the mandate of both the assembly and the president.

This option is aimed at short-circuiting periods of prolonged political paralysis, and this week was the first time a president used this power.

Now, Lasso can rule by decree on economic issues and matters of government administration, as long as the decrees are approved by the Constitutional Court.

WHAT DID LAWMAKERS ACCUSED LASSO OF?

Lawmakers accuse Lasso of not having intervened to end an allegedly fraudulent contract between the state-owned oil transport company Flota Petrolera Ecuatoriana and the private entity Amazonas Tankers.

They did not accuse Lasso of any personal benefit from the contract, but alleged that he knew it was full of irregularities and that the deal cost the state millions in losses.

Lasso denied any wrongdoing, and has noted that the contract predated his administration.

In testimony Tuesday, he said that the state-owned company experienced losses of $6 million a year before he took office, and that it has seen $180 million in profits under his watch.

HOW CLOSE WAS LASSO TO BEING REMOVED FROM OFFICE?

Lasso's ouster appeared imminent, or at least very possible, some time this week.

The assembly had gathered for impeachment proceedings Tuesday in which lawmakers presented what they described as irrefutable evidence of irregularities in the oil transport contract.

A vote on Lasso's removal from office was expected in coming days, and the left-leaning opposition coalition appeared confident of obtaining the 92 votes they would have needed.

CAN THE DISSOLUTION OF THE ASSEMBLY BE APPEALED?

The move can be appealed before the Constitutional Court, and the Social Christian Party already has done so, arguing that there are no grounds for the dissolution of the assembly. The court, however, has traditionally taken a long time to resolve cases.
Why Gen. Allvin is the frontrunner to become Air Force chief of staff

Gen. David Allvin, the Air Forces No. 2 officer, is the frontrunner to become its next chief of staff, four people familiar with the deliberations told Air Force Times.

Allvin, a career mobility pilot and strategist who has served as Air Force vice chief of staff since November 2020, is the services internal pick for chief, according to one current military officer, two retired officers and another expert outside of the Pentagon, all of whom were granted anonymity to discuss the issue.

He is the preferred candidate of Gen. CQ Brown Jr., the Air Forces current top officer who is expected to earn President Joe Bidens nomination for chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The competition has been very personality-dependent, based on who Brown wants as his successor, one source said.

What Gen. CQ Brown would bring as chairman of the Joint Chiefs

Lt. Gen. Jim Slife, the Air Forces deputy chief of staff for operations and a leader in the special operations community, is in line to become Allvins right-hand man as Air Force vice chief of staff, two sources added.

If nominated by Biden and confirmed by the Senate, Allvin and Slife would take over the third-largest branch of the armed forces, a nearly $180 billion portfolio spanning around 689,000 uniformed airmen and civilians. They would inherit a sweeping effort to modernize the services inventory of decades-old aircraft, adapt the force to the digital era and encourage young Americans to enlist.

The pair still requires Bidens approval for the top jobs, sources cautioned.

Their nominations arent a done deal, said one former military officer with knowledge of the discussions. Another source believes the process is around 80% complete and that the race has been stable for a few months.

U.S. Transportation Command boss Gen. Jacqueline Van Ovost could still be in the running as well if Biden seeks to interview her, according to current and former officers. Sources in and out of the federal government have viewed Van Ovost, who previously oversaw the Air Forces airlift and tanker fleets, as a top contender for the job. She is one of three female four-star officers in the Defense Department.

Another potential pick, Pacific Air Forces boss Gen. Kenneth Wilsbach, was recently nominated to lead Air Combat Command.

Its unclear when candidates would interview with Biden or when he would sign off on the nomination.

An Air Force spokesperson said its premature to comment on whether Allvin is in line for chief of staff. The National Security Council did not respond to a request for comment.

Gen. David Allvin, Air Force vice chief of staff, presents a coin for exceptional performance to Tech Sgt. Mayra Corona, 341st Medical Group MHS Genesis project coordinator, during a trip to Malmstrom Air Force Base, Mont., in January 2021. (Senior Airman Daniel Brosam/Air Force)

Presidents dont always accept or follow the recommendations of the DoD as to who for a particular position, especially a service chief, said Arnold Punaro, a defense consultant and retired Marine Corps two-star general who served as the staff director on the Senate Armed Services Committee.

For example, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin could reject the services suggestion and put forward his own favorite, as could the president himself, Punaro said.

A retired four-star who spoke on condition of anonymity said Allvin and Austin have worked together but the vice chief spends more time in meetings with Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks.

Once senior military nominees are approved by the Pentagon, they head to the White House Military Office and the National Security Council for further scrutiny.

While the basic process is well-known and well-used and has lots of paperwork, even for the military, each administration and each president has their own approach for the most senior military nominations, Punaro added. Once the president makes a decision, then there is a host of SASC and Senate paperwork that has to be completed.

In short: There is no such thing as a routine four-star nomination, he said.

The consummate insider

A 1986 graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy, Allvin began his career as a cargo pilot in the C-12F Huron and C-141 Starlifter while stationed in Washington state and Germany.

He changed tack to become a test pilot in 1994, flying the C-17 Globemaster III and C-130J Super Hercules airlifters as the Air Force built its first squadrons of those airframes in the mid-1990s.

Allvin hoped to parlay his test pilot experience into a job as an astronaut, but decided it wasnt the right time to join NASA and turned to academics instead, a former general told Air Force Times.

He spent two years as a student at the Air Command and Staff College and School of Advanced Airpower Studies at Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama, and joined Air Mobility Command headquarters as part of the commanders action group in 1999.

Over the next decade, he would bounce between command positions at pilot training wings nationwide and policy jobs in the Pentagon. All told, Allvin amassed more than 4,600 flight hours in nearly a dozen airframes.

He pinned on his first star in September 2010 and took command of NATOs aviation training command in Afghanistan, then returned to Air Mobility Command at Scott Air Force Base in Illinois a year later.

There, he led the 618th Air and Space Operations Center  AMCs hub for tasking tanker and airlift missions around the world  from April 2012 to June 2013. He also served as its vice commander for eight months.

Gen. David Allvin's family pins on new rank insignia during his promotion ceremony at Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling in Washington, D.C., Nov 12, 2020. Allvin began his term as 40th vice chief of staff of the Air Force. (Andy Morataya/Air Force)

As a general officer, Allvin has risen through multiple strategy and planning roles at the Pentagon, Air Force headquarters, U.S. European Command and the United Nations over the past decade. That experience has positioned him as the consummate insider, a stronger advocate for Air Force interests and deft navigator of the federal bureaucracy, sources said.

After Russia illegally annexed Ukraines Crimean peninsula in early 2014, Allvin  who became EUCOMs strategy and policy director in 2015  drew up a new war plan for the command, the retired four-star said. That landed him a job on the Joint Staff in 2018 as the vice director, then director, of strategy, plans and policy.

When he was a J-5, he was thinking in a way thats bigger and different, said Clint Hinote, who recently retired as the Air Forces lieutenant general in charge of long-term force planning. Thats been a hallmark, and I think that is going to be something we need.

The one in the trenches

Allvin took over as Air Force vice chief of staff in November 2020, where he plays a central role in shaping the services budget and managing its acquisition programs.

Sources described him as a well-read, professorial leader with the self-discipline and Washington know-how to make an impact.

He seeks out insight across and outside of the federal government when crafting an opinion on a subject, and is secure enough in his own perspective to respectfully debate others, multiple retired officers said.

I have had sparring matches with him that I think a lot of senior leaders would have been very off-put by having a three-star challenge them, Hinote said. Weve actually grown closer in our working relationship because of it.

One of Allvins most significant accomplishments as vice chief has come as the leader of the Joint Requirements Oversight Council and other strategic planning groups within the Pentagon, Hinote said. His leadership ensured more Air Force priorities were included in the Defense Departments recent budget requests than may have been otherwise.

We got a tremendous amount of victories and plus-ups in the budget, Hinote said. Theres so much that is different than what we had before, and I think he really deserves a lot of credit for that because hes the one in the trenches every meeting, trying to make the case for the Air Force.

While Allvin has a wealth of Pentagon experience, he has less operational command experience than predecessors like Brown and Gen. David Goldfein. That may concern some observers, but Hinote thinks there are ways to solve the issue.

I actually think you can use social media a little bit differently, and you could have a lot of town halls and listening sessions to bring in the perspectives of rank-and-file airmen, Hinote said.

Allvin has sought out those perspectives.

He has spearheaded a new group to rethink recruiting policies and professional development initiatives to help airmen pursue nontraditional careers in the service, and mentors generals and other staffers that are earlier on in their careers.

His version of the annual Vice Chiefs Challenge invites airmen to submit their ideas on agile combat employment, the Air Forces term for deploying quickly and without a large logistics footprint to respond to threats more easily.

He has cultivated a close relationship with Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall and works well with Slife, a similarly strategic thinker who looks to improve airpower overall rather than push parochial interests, sources said.

Lt. Gen. Jim Slife, then head of Air Force Special Operations Command, talks about AFSOC's mission and airmen at the Experimental Aircraft Association's AirVenture Oshkosh 21 in Wisconsin in July 2021. (Senior Airman Miranda Mahoney/Air Force)

Slife, a former helicopter and drone pilot, arrived at the Pentagon in December after leading Air Force Special Operations Command for more than three years and serving as the vice commander of U.S. Special Operations Command.

Hes not very patient. Hes not willing to look at things and shrug his shoulders, one retired general said of Slife. I think theyll probably be, kind of, [Allvin] as the idea guy  and then Slife as the executor.

Its the first time in more than a decade that neither the Air Force chief of staff or its vice chief hail from a fighter background.

Gen. Norton Schwartz, a mobility pilot, and vice chief Gen. William Fraser, a bomber pilot, served as the Air Forces top two leaders for about a year together in 2008-2009. Schwartz overlapped with Gen. Larry Spencer, a finance officer, for less than a month in 2012 as well.

Some will say it with a sense of, This could be really good for the Air Force because youre not having the groupthink problem. And then therell be some people that say, Oh, my God, the Air Force is going to pot. Theyre not even letting combat pilots lead it anymore, Hinote said.

He believes the Air Forces plan to divest airframes like the older F-15 Eagle models and the A-10 attack plane, and to buy fewer F-35 Joint Strike Fighters than initially planned, while investing in more advanced drones and communications technology would happen regardless of what top brass previously flew.

Another source pointed out that Lt. Gen. Scott Pleus, a career fighter pilot currently serving as deputy commander of U.S. Forces in Korea, is nominated to move to the Pentagon as the Air Staff director to ensure that perspective isnt lost.

As the new face of the Air Force, Allvin will need sharp elbows to fight for the services interests in upcoming budget and strategy debates within the Pentagon and with Congress, and convince the public of its value, one retired officer said.

The Air Force is pushing Congress to grant its $185 billion budget request for fiscal 2024 and green-light a sweeping plan to retire hundreds of older aircraft that leaders say will be ineffective in future wars.

Vice Chief of Staff Gen. David W. Allvin, center, is briefed about aeromedical evacuation training during a visit to Air Force Research Laboratory's 711th Human Performance Wing at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, in April 2021. (Richard Eldridge/Air Force)

If Allvin is selected, he will inherit a lot of the same problems that Brown has faced, the retired four-star said, which are primarily how to convince the system that, after 30 years of underfunding the Air Force, its going to take some fairly drastic measures to let them catch up with the efforts China has made.

The new chief will also play a key role in reversing the Air Forces struggle to recruit and retain airmen  particularly pilots, maintainers and cyber operators.

After nearly 40 years in the military, Allvin believes he has more to give to solve those problems.

He really wants the job, the retired four-star said. He thinks he can do a good job at it and he thinks there are things that need to be done.

He thinks hes prepared, and his family is prepared, to go through this, he added. And thats important.
Why Hamas was not Israel's target in Gaza airstrikes - this time

FILE PHOTO: Israel's Iron Dome anti-missile system intercepts rockets launched from the Gaza Strip, as seen from Sderot

Why Hamas was not Israel's target in Gaza airstrikes - this time FILE PHOTO: Israel's Iron Dome anti-missile system intercepts rockets launched from the Gaza Strip, as seen from Sderot

By Nidal al-Mughrabi and James Mackenzie

GAZA/JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel's latest round of airstrikes against Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip left familiar images of towering spirals of smoke and wailing sirens but none of the buildings left in rubble by the jets belonged to its main enemy, Hamas.

Instead, the strikes targeted the Iranian-backed Palestinian Islamic Jihad, killing six senior commanders who Israel said had planned and carried out attacks on Israelis, and destroying dozens of rocket silos, mortars and tunnels across Gaza.

But while Islamic Jihad fired hundreds of rockets at Israel in response, Hamas - with a rocket arsenal estimated at four times the size - stayed on the sidelines, apparently unwilling to see a repeat of the fierce 10-day conflict it fought in May 2021.

"It is not that Hamas is afraid of confrontation with Israel, it is rather not willing to have a large-scale war so soon," said a regional diplomat, who has long experience working with Hamas officials.

The diplomat, who was involved in the talks that brought a ceasefire to last week's flare up, spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter.

Israel's decision to avoid targeting the most powerful Palestinian faction with which it has fought repeated wars in the past decade, points to the complexity of the relationship with a group that has run Gaza since 2007, even though Israeli officials insist the military could strike Hamas at any time.

The two sides may be sworn enemies, but they share an interest in maintaining a basic level of stability in Gaza, where 2.3 million people live in a coastal enclave of just 365 square kilometres between Israel and Egypt.

Israel maintains a strict blockade, yet almost 20,000 Gazans are allowed to leave the enclave to work in Israel or the West Bank in jobs that provide about $3 million a day in wages to a territory where around half the population is out of work.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu alluded to Israel's calculations at work in dealing with Hamas in Gaza.

"Hamas, like other extremist Islamist movements, flies the banner of destroying Israel, so it is very difficult to achieve real accords with them," he said this week. "But are there certain areas in which to maneuver here? The answer is that, when deterrence is strong, such areas grow accordingly."

GOVERNING RESPONSIBILITY

Michael Milshtein, a former official of COGAT, the office that coordinates Israeli governance over the West Bank said there was a form of tacit agreement between the two sides.

"We will provide permits, we will promote salaries, we will promote all kinds of civil projects and in return, you will keep the whole Gaza Strip calm," he said.

Israeli officials declined to comment on day-to-day relations with Hamas authorities in Gaza. Hamas denies it makes any concessions to Israel in return for economic benefits.

Islamic Jihad, which has no governing responsibility in Gaza, has a freer hand and has recently been more aggressive in taking on Israel from Gaza, pointing to possible frictions between the two groups, said Hani al-Masri, a political analyst based in the West Bank city Ramallah.

"The gap between Hamas and Islamic Jihad is rooted in the fact that Hamas has a political programme and governing authority, whereas the Jihad has neither," he said.

However, Israeli officials say Islamic Jihad would not be able to fire rockets without approval from Hamas.

The two Palestinian groups deny they have any major differences and say all decisions during the recent fighting went through their Joint Operations Room, which coordinates activities of Palestinian armed groups in Gaza.

Taher Al-Nono, political adviser of Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh, said there was "a complete state of harmony and understanding". An Islamic Jihad official offered a similar line.

NEXT TEST

"Al-Quds Brigades got the lion's share of the response since those who were assassinated were its leaders," said one Palestinian militant official, using the name of Islamic Jihad's armed wing. "That was the tactic."

The next potential test of Hamas restraint could come as early as Thursday when Israeli nationalists hold an annual "Flag Day" march through the Muslim Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem, celebrating Israel's victory in the 1967 Middle East War.

Hamas has stayed out of previous rounds of fighting in Gaza between Israel and Islamic Jihad over an Islamic Jihad hunger striker who died in Israeli custody earlier this month and over a senior official who was arrested last August.

Instead it has sought to build its status as leader of the Palestinian resistance by focusing on tensions in the West Bank and around Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem, the most sensitive point between Muslims, for whom the mosque is the third most holy place, and Jews who revere the site as Temple Mount, the location of two ancient temples.

Hamas has encouraged shows of defiance such as the uproar surrounding an Israeli police raid on the mosque compound during Ramadan. Dozens of Hamas militants have also been killed over the past year during an escalation of violence that has brought the territory to the brink of a new Intifada, or uprising.

With 87-year-old Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas likely to be nearing the end of his time in power, the future of the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority is unclear, with a potential vacuum opening up when Abbas departs the scene.

"That's why they (Hamas) focus their attacks in the West Bank," the regional diplomat said. "They hurt Israel and they embarrass the Palestinian Authority before its people and before Israel as well."

(This story has been refiled to fix the dateline)

(Additional reporting by Ali Sawafta in Ramallah, Dan Williams in Jerusalem; Editing by Edmund Blair)
Each year, near the middle of May, folks in and around Charlotte will start hearing a lot about MeckDec Day. You see, MeckDec Day is a pretty big deal in the Queen City.

Heres why: As the story goes, on May 20, 1775, the Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence was read from the courthouse steps at noon, making Charlotte the first American governing body to declare independence from Great Britain  more than a year before the Thomas Jefferson-authored declaration was adopted by the Second Continental Congress.

ALSO READ: Explore Charlottes past at Trail of History Festival

Every year, events are held to commemorate and celebrate the Mecklenburg Declaration on May 20, which has also become known as MeckDec Day.

On Friday, the annual commemoration ceremony at noon will take place at the intersection of Trade and Tryon Streets in Uptown. This event will look like a scene you might find in a history book. There will be reenactors dressed in colonial wear, a military parade, horses and cannon firing. In fact, it should look a lot like a patriotic celebration, because thats exactly what it is.

On Saturday, the Charlotte Museum of History will host a MeckDec Day celebration from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Click here for more information about the event.

More MeckDec Day Facts:

- In the spring of 1775, the American colonies were at war with the British. Mecklenburg County civic leaders gathered at the log courthouse (corner of Trade and Tryon streets) to discuss the crisis.

- On May 19, 1775, a rider brought news of a massacre of colonists by British troops at Lexington. In response, the Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence was drafted, unanimously adopted, and read from the courthouse steps on May 20 at noon.

- For this reason, the date May 20, 1775 is on the state flag of North Carolina.

- Having declared independence, the next step was to establish a new code of governance for the county, so on May 31 a committee of safety adopted 20 resolutions (now known as the Mecklenburg Resolves). These were essentially executive bylaws designed to set forth how the county was to be governed, since it was independent from Great Britain.

- A copy of the declaration was given to a local merchant, Capt. James Jack, to deliver to the Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia. He traveled by horseback for more than 1,100 miles and was recorded to have returned through Salem, North Carolina, on July 7, 1775. When war broke out, Jack became a captain in the militia.

- North Carolina congressional representatives never presented the Mecklenburg Declaration to the national congress, however, after two of the states delegates reported that reconciliation with the British crown might have been in progress.

- In June 1775, the Mecklenburg Resolves were published in at least three newspapers.

- North Carolina was the first state to vote for independence by authorizing its delegates to vote on it in April 1776. Then on July 4, 1776, the national Declaration of Independence was adopted by the Continental Congress.

- Unfortunately, all original copies of the Mecklenburg Declaration were lost when fire destroyed the house of secretary J.M. Alexander in 1800. A working copy survived the fire and Alexander made a new copy that is currently held at the University of North Carolina.

- On May 20, 1822, the first public commemoration of the Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence was held in Charlotte.

- It would take 50 years for MeckDec to receive national recognition. The centennial celebration of the declaration had 40,000 attendees when Charlottes population was only 6,000.

We should note, there are some historians that do not believe the Mecklenburg Declaration ever existed. For more on that controversy, click here.

Check out may20thsociety.org to learn more.

(WATCH: Panning for gold at Reed Gold Mine)




Cairo  Economist Riham Shendy started collecting children's books when she was expecting her twins. An Egyptian married to a German and living in New York, she was determined to teach her children her own native language, Arabic. But she found it wasn't as straightforward a task as many people would expect.

Riham Shendy reads with her children at their home in New York. / Credit: Courtesy of Riham Shendy

Arabic, which is spoken in more than two dozen nations, actually functions as two connected but separate language systems.

Arabic isn't just one language

"It's like we speak modern English but write Shakespearean English," Shendy told CBS News. "It's a bit further than that  let's say we speak French but we write in Latin."

Spoken Arabic (SpA) comes in a wide range of regional dialects. The Tunisian, Moroccan and Egyptian Arabic used in everyday life, to name just a few, all have significant differences  to the extent that two speakers from different countries may barely understand each other.

However, if the same two people are given a transcript of what they're saying in the written form of Arabic (Modern Standard Arabic, or MSA), they should both fully understand it. This provides common ground for literate Arabic speakers across a huge swath of the globe.

The majority of Arabic books, including children's books, are written in MSA. But children generally don't start learning MSA unless and until they go to school, so reading to them in the early years presents a challenge.

How to read to children in Arabic

Many parents who want to read to their young children, including Shendy, try to translate the books for their kids in real time, pausing constantly as they read to convert the written MSA they've just scanned from a page into whatever spoken form of Arabic they use at home.

For small children, the jilted delivery can be not only confusing, but extremely disengaging.

"I started by translating on the spot. Then I noticed that when my husband reads to our kids in German, they would finish his sentences, but they didn't with me," Shendy recalled to CBS News. "I realized, oh, every time I translate, yes, it's more or less the same meaning, but I don't use the same exact words in the same order, and if I am tired or lazy, I might even skip a detail or two."

Riham Shendy reads with her children at their home in New York. / Credit: Courtesy of Riham Shendy

Unsatisfied with the experience, she sought another solution.

Shendy wrote down her translations in SpA, using words she normally would to communicate with her kids, printed it out and bound them to the book itself.

It "looked awful," she admitted. But, "it worked! The kids started finishing my sentences like they do with my husband."

So, Shendy set to work creating her own small library, translating English children's books into Egyptian spoken Arabic. Then her friends started asking for copies, and then friends of friends.

Ultimately, she uploaded the translations to her website, along with her "recipe" for creating the text.

Riham Shendy's instructions for how to translate children's books into Egypt's colloquial dialect of spoken Arabic, from her website Tuta-Tuta. / Credit: Tuta-Tuta/Riham Shendy

When a bestseller isn't good enough

Shendy offered her translations, free of charge, to three of the biggest publishers in Egypt, but they all turned down the offer, explaining that they didn't publish children's books in spoken Arabic.

For the next 11 months, she went down a rabbit hole learning about the issue. She wrote an academic paper and self-published her first book, "Kan Yama Kan" ("Once Upon a Time"), an Egyptianized collection of international folktales from the public domain, all in SpA.

When Shendy, who has a PhD in applied economics, did the math, she was sure that with more than 30 million children in Egypt, a good quality book in spoken Arabic was sure to sell. She figured publishers would see the success, replicate it, and the problem she encountered along with so many other Egyptian parents would be solved.

The book was a success. It was even a bestseller in Egypt. But Shendy's economic predictions were off.

"Not a single publisher contacted me. Nothing!" So, she did it again. She published a second edition and two new books. They all sold out in less than a year. But still, there was nothing from publishers. (See her meticulous process in her Instagram video below.)

While the book was a bestseller in Egypt, the bar is pretty low: It sold only around 1,000 copies per year.

"People would tell me, 'You are selling more children's books than the biggest publishers in Egypt!'" recalled Shendy. "I'd say, 'True, but we are both doing very poorly!' When I think that a title is only reaching 1,000 kids a year, I am not satisfied."

The low distribution numbers may help explain why publishers tend to shy away from spoken Arabic. At least for texts printed in MSA the market is significantly larger, as they can sell to schools and individuals across the entire Arabic speaking world.

Shendy lamented that while "the tradition of oral storytelling died" long ago in Egypt and other Arab nations, it "was not replaced by reading books. The idea of sitting and reading to your child is just not something we do."

"Many parents spend money on cake and juice in a shopping mall, but they won't buy a book for a child. That upsets me, and I feel I am too small to tackle this. I am just one person in the end," she said in frustration. "I am talking here about the upper-middle-class who imitate the West in everything. They eat blueberries, quinoa Why don't they imitate the West in reading? Why?"

Giving up, almost

As the books her growing children were reading got longer, Shendy couldn't keep up. Translating a novel just to read it once to your kids in your own dialect doesn't make sense, especially if they understand English.

"I am not going to deny my children all these amazing English books and expect them to wait six months until I translate a novel," she said. "I have decided to go for content over form! Sadly, I had to drop Arabic as the priority."

Shendy feels that, in her experiment, both she and her native language have lost. But she isn't giving up completely.

"I failed relative to my husband, who has succeeded in teaching our kids to speak and read in German from just German bedtime stories," she said.

Shendy has shifted her focus to trying to help other parents.

"What I do now does not help my own kids, but I do it hoping that I am helping another mom down the road to avoid being in the same position," she said. "No mother should go through this."

Does it get better when children go to school?

The complications that Arabic's many dialects present for parents with children's literature also have much broader implications for longterm literacy across the Arabic-speaking world.

Without understanding the language books are written in, everything else is harder for children to learn, and that may have a lasting impact.

According to the World Bank's "learning poverty indicator," 59% of children across the Arabic-speaking world, rich and poor, are unable to read and understand an age-appropriate text by the age of 10. In Egypt, data show an alarming 69% of children don't fully understand what they're reading.

Shendy noted a study on Palestinian children that found only 20% of MSA and Spoken Arabic vocabulary overlapped, and while 40% of the vocabulary was similar or had the same roots (such as "night" in English with "nacht" in German) the other 40% of words were completely different words (think words like "fall" and "autumn" in English).

Is there a solution?

Shendy and others believe children's books should be available in spoken Arabic, and even that it should be taught in schools from a young age, before students make the shift to MSA, but some experts reject the argument.

"There is an elephant in the room that no one is paying attention to in Arabic, and that is teaching quality, content and methodologies," Hanada Taha, endowed professor of Arabic Language Education at Zayed University in the United Arab Emirates, told CBS News. "We need to come up with engaging content and fun and kid-friendly methods to bring MSA closer to the kids' daily life."

Taha argues that as kids will have to learn MSA anyway "to access the vast body of knowledge written in the past 14 centuries," it's better to introduce it even earlier by using words common to both MSA and spoken Arabic dialects when writing for children, and to keep it as simple as possible "to help kids make the shift."

Exposing children to more SpA, and more formally, could make it harder for them to learn MSA later, Taha said.

"The kids have the dialect at home. There is no shortage of dialect for a native learner in an Arab setting," she said. "What they really need is that exposure to fun and simplified content in MSA."

Her response to people pushing for children's books in spoken Arabic dialects and faulting MSA for low literacy rates was simple and frank:

"They do publish books in Spoken Arabic, there is no ban on writing in Spoken Arabic! But how many copies are books written in Spoken Arabic selling?"

This argument over the potential merits of publishing and teaching spoken Arabic versus MSA is not new, and there are those who advocate for a complete separation between the two, suggesting that one form of the language should be abandoned entirely in favor of the other.

Taha finds that discouraging, too.

"The idea that it is either/or I think is very short-sighted. We belong to a language that has two forms, and we go in and out of both forms all the time, everyday," she said. "We need to educate people, we need to spread awareness, we need to stop fighting about the language itself, embrace what our language is about and change our practices and attitude."

While using MSA or SpA is sometimes just a market decision, teaching it in schools, academic debates aside, is also a political decision.

Some see the idea of promoting Spoken Arabic as an attack on Islam, since the language of the Muslim holy book, the Quran, is the basis for MSA.

Some see Spoken Arabic as a corrupted form of the language that can never convey the richness of MSA. But others see that argument as part of a conspiracy aimed at dividing the Arab world.

In the meantime, many parents are left to find that it's not that easy to just open a book and read to a child.

There's a common saying in Arabic that suggests "small children create problems and grownups suffer the consequences."

In reality, it's almost always the other way around.

White House introduces debt ceiling negotiations team

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Congregants sit in largely empty pews during service at Zion Baptist Church in Columbia, S.C., on Sunday, April 16, 2023. | Jessie Wardarski, Associated Press

Loneliness has become a profound threat to public health in part because many Americans have stopped going to church, according to a report on the healing effects of social connection released by the United States surgeon general earlier this month.

Vivek Murthy and his team noted that religious services, like other types of community events, have long been an important source of social connection. Without them, many Americans struggle to form meaningful bonds.

Religious or faith-based groups can be a source for regular social contact, serve as a community of support, provide meaning and purpose, create a sense of belonging around shared values and beliefs, and are associated with reduced risk-taking behaviors. As a consequence of this decline in participation, individuals health may be undermined in different ways, the report says.

Related

The side effects of loneliness and isolation can include mental and physical challenges, according to the report, which says (loneliness) is associated with greater risk of cardiovascular disease, dementia, stroke, depression, anxiety and premature death.

To avoid these negative consequences, Murthy and his team recommend being more intentional about how you spend your free time.

The report encourages readers to seek out close relationships with others, keep phones put away in social settings and join community groups, like houses of worship.

Participate in social and community groups such as fitness, religious, hobby, professional, and community service organizations to foster a sense of belonging, meaning, and purpose, the report says.

As the Deseret News has previously reported, this advice is easier to give than to follow at a time when many Americans are prioritizing individual pursuits.

Theres been a real shift away from community and civic organizations toward personal endeavors, said Daniel Cox, the director of the Survey Center on American Life, to the Deseret News last year.

In other words, if everyone you know is focused on their career or kids or fitness goals instead of social connection, it becomes harder to swim against this tide and invest time in community groups.

Over the past decade, the share of Americans who attend religious services at least a few times per year has fallen by 13 percentage points, according to a survey released Tuesday by Public Religion Research Institute.

In 2022, 43% of U.S. adults attended religious services at least a few times each year, compared to 56% in 2013, the survey showed.

In the new report, Murthy and his team highlight a number of related findings, including data showing that fewer than half of Americans now report being a member of a house of worship.

Other community groups, like social clubs and labor unions, have faced similar drops in membership, the report says.

In a letter accompanying the report, Murthy calls on Americans to take these trends seriously and to do what they can to reverse them. By focusing on building meaningful relationships, we can tap into a hidden source of healing, he writes.

Answer that phone call from a friend. Make time to share a meal. Listen without the distraction of your phone. Perform an act of service. Express yourself authentically. The keys to human connection are simple, but extraordinarily powerful, Murthy writes.
The News

U.S. President Joe Biden canceled a scheduled trip to Papua New Guinea and Australia on Tuesday to focus on the domestic debt ceiling crisis.

Biden, who would've been the first president to visit Papua New Guinea after his upcoming Asia tour, still plans to attend the G-7 summit in Hiroshima, Japan this weekend, returning to the U.S. on Sunday.

Here's why other U.S. presidents have canceled foreign trips or cut them short.

Know More

Joe Biden

Last November, after the G-20 summit in Bali, Biden scrapped a trip to Thailand for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation leaders' meeting, and flew back to Washington to attend his granddaughter's wedding at the White House, according to reports.

For this most recent trip, Biden was set to meet with Pacific Island leaders in Papua New Guinea before going to Sydney to gather with his counterparts in the "Quad" alliance, which includes the U.S., Australia, India, and Japan.

Donald Trump

Trump was scheduled to visit Denmark in 2019, but canceled after he said Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen refused to discuss selling Greenland, a Danish autonomous territory.

And in 2017, Trump ended a lengthy international trip early to fly back to Washington, skipping the East Asia Summit in the Philippines.

Barack Obama

In 2013 Obama called off plans to visit Malaysia, the Philippines, Indonesia, and Brunei and attend two summits because of the government shutdown and budget struggle.

Bill Clinton

Once again, APEC got the short end of the stick because of a domestic budget dispute. Clinton canceled his trip to the APEC summit in Japan in 1995 so he could work on resolving a budget impasse.

Ronald Reagan

Reagan scrapped his plans to visit the Philippines, Indonesia, and Thailand in 1983. The White House said the president had "particularly demanding" congressional business to attend to.

But behind the scenes, officials were concerned about the political instability of the Philippines under then-President Ferdinand Marcos, according to reports.

The New York Times reported that First Lady Nancy Reagan, was "understood to be fearful of the conditions in the Philippines" after opposition leader Benigno S. Aquino Jr. was assassinated at the Manila airport months earlier.

Honorable mention

George W. Bush was no longer in office in 2011, but he canceled a trip to Switzerland after human rights activists threatened to protest and pursue legal action over accusations that he condoned the torture of terrorism suspects.
Mark Gietzen, a prominent Wichita anti-abortion activist and president of the Kansas Republican Assembly, died in a plane crash in Nebraska on Tuesday evening.

Gietzen, one of the nations leading anti-abortion activists, was instrumental in a Republican takeover of Kansas politics in the early 1990s in the wake of the Summer of Mercy clinic blockades in Wichita.

I know many people right now are in shock over this news. Its not something we expect to see like this, said Sedgwick County Commissioner Jim Howell, who characterized Gietzen as principled, passionate and a warrior in the pro-life movement.

Most recently, Gietzen spearheaded an effort to force a recount of the vote on the August 2022 Value Them Both amendment, the first statewide referendum on abortion after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.

Kansas voters rejected the amendment, which said the state constitution did not include the right to an abortion and would have allowed lawmakers to impose further restrictions or a ban on the procedure. The recount confirmed the loss for the anti-abortion movement. Before the election, Gietzen filed an unsuccessful lawsuit against Kansas Secretary of State Scott Schwab seeking to block the use of ballot drop boxes.

Gietzens Cessna 172 crashed around 6 p.m. a few miles north and east of Chambers, Nebraska.

The Holt County Sheriffs Office identified Gietzen as the pilot Wednesday afternoon in a written statement. He was pronounced dead at the scene. No one else was on the plane.

The aircraft was identified as a 1963 Cessna 172. The aircraft had flown from Newton, Kansas and was enroute to North Dakota at the time of the crash, the Holt County Sheriffs Office said.

The cause of the crash is under investigation by the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board.

Gietzen, in an August interview with The Eagle, said the nearly $120,000 he spent on the statewide recount would likely complicate his plans to renovate the old Cessna, which he said he flew for the first time in the summer of 2022 after he put 15 years of work into it.

My only drawback on this Value Them Both recount is that that airplane is going to sit and collect dust for a little while, he said in August. Well, not collect dust. Ill just go fly it in uncontrolled airspace, and we have to put 50 hours on it before you can fly with passengers anyway, which is a necessary and good rule. Ive already got so much invested in that plane, I want to get finished. Im so proud of this thing.

Gietzen said the airplane was allowed only in uncontrolled airspace until he could afford to install instrumentation that would give onboard notice to other air traffic in the area.

Gietzen came to Wichita in the late 1970s to work for Boeing. He became chair of the Sedgwick County Republican Party after the Summer of Mercy demonstrations in 1991 and capitalized on an energetic base to recruit anti-abortion advocates for precinct committee positions.

With Gietzens help, Kansas Republicans took back the House in 1992 to reclaim majorities in both chambers of the state Legislature that have held strong for 30 years.

With sadness and prayer, the KSGOP regrets to report Mark Gietzen of Wichita, KS, a longtime and highly effective and active pro-life advocate, supporter, and leader, passed away on Tuesday, May 16, 2023, in Nebraska, the Kansas Republican Party shared in a Wednesday social media post that linked to a funeral home notice.

Gietzen had served as president of the Kansas Republican Assembly, a state affiliate of the National Federation of Republican Assemblies, since 2004.

The KRA that was led by Mark was really kind of firewall conservatives, Howell said.

Even among Republicans, that was considered a very conservative group.

He remained active in politics, running for Wichita mayor in 2019. Gietzen was also a regular at Wichita Pachyderm Club meetings, where he often questioned Republicans on what they were doing to promote life at the Statehouse.

Even those unfamiliar with Gietzen may recognize his Truth Truck, a massive box-truck that served as a mobile billboard displaying large images of aborted fetuses. He would often park it in front of the Trust Women abortion clinic in east Wichita in an effort to deter women from getting abortions.

Outside of the anti-abortion movement and Republican politics, Gietzen ran a dating service for Christian singles.

Gietzen grew up in Glen Ullin, North Dakota, in a German Catholic family that included nine brothers and five sisters. After high school, Gietzen served in the U.S. Marine Corps and later graduated from the Spartan School of Aeronautics in Tulsa. He had three children.

Its hard to say someone is irreplaceable. Mark is an irreplaceable figurehead, Operation Rescue President Troy Newman told The Eagle. He was the hardest-working guy I know in the pro-life movement.

Newman sat on the Kansas Coalition for Life board for a number of years, and said women who were convinced by Gietzens outreach not to terminate their pregnancies could rely on his financial support until their children turned 18.

Basically, if somebody needed rent, he would cover it. Or if someone needed their cell phone taken care of, hed cover it, Newman said. If they needed a car payment or an insurance payment, money for food or diapers, rent  hed cover it. He literally had the biggest heart of anybody I know.

Its just terrible that we dont have a better safety net for these women, Gietzen told The Eagle in 2022. They have an abortion because they cant afford the ones they already have or its their first one and theyre not ready. Their parents are going to throw them out of the home or they already are separated from their parents and the boyfriend is irresponsible and all he sees is the possibility of having to pay child support. And they have no idea how valuable every child is.

For decades, Gietzen coordinated sidewalk counseling outside Wichitas Trust Women clinic and meticulously documented unusual activities, including when ambulances were called.

Gietzen was outside a Wichita clinic when he was first approached by Scott Roeder, the man who would go on to kill abortion doctor George Tiller. Gietzen told The Eagle last year that Roeder asked about another activist and rebuffed Gietzen when he suggested that he sign up for a sidewalk counseling shift.

The biggest lie that anybody could say is that Scott Roeder is pro-life, Gietzen said. Pro-life people, we think that God has a right to choose who lives or dies . . . But we say humans dont have a right to take another human life because once that life is taken, we cant put it back together again.
Wilberforce University will receive a federal grant to rehabilitate its academic complex.

>>RELATED: Wilberforce University holds spring commencement ceremonies

The National Park Services (NPS) Historic Preservation Fund (HPF) awarded a $750,000 Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) grant, according to Senator Sherrod Brown.

By working with our National Park Service to honor key sites at Historically Black Colleges and Universities, we are preserving the legacy of these institutions, said Brown. This investment at Wilberforce University gives an opportunity for future generations of Ohioans to learn our states proud history at Historically Black Colleges and Universities.

Dr. Elfred Anthony Pinkard, President of Wilberforce University, said they are excited about the opportunity to establish an enduring legacy.

This grant comes at a particular time of hopefulness as Wilberforce welcomes new presidential leadership, he said. With the collective commitment and hard work of the Wilberforce University family, we will continue to build a solid foundation for a future of high performance and sustainability.

Pinkard is leaving Wilberforce on June 30 to come the first-ever HBCU presidential fellow at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island on July 1.
Wisconsin lawmaker from the city where a teacher was suspended for playing Miley Cyrus' 'Rainbowland' now wants to make it so that teachers can be sued for 'obscene' books

Dolly Parton and Miley Cyrus pose together on November 7, 2022. Vijat Mohindra/NBC via Getty Images

Wisconsin lawmakers introduced a bill that would allow parents to sue teachers over "obscene" books.

Republican state Rep. Scott Allen, who co-sponsored the bill, is from Waukesha, Wisconsin.

In April, the district suspended a teacher who played the song "Rainbowland," which is about acceptance.

A Wisconsin legislature representing the city where a teacher was suspended for playing a Miley Cyrus and Dolly Parton song about acceptance has introduced a bill that would let parents sue teachers for "obscene" books.

On May 9, state Rep. Scott Allen and state Senator Andre Jacque proposed two bills that "address the matter of obscene materials in schools," according to a news release from Allen's office.

The first bill recommends that the state strip school employees and teachers of their protections against prosecution for "displaying obscene material," the release says. The other bill would prohibit the use of public funds to purchase "obscene material."

Republicans throughout the country have been pushing for books and other material they deem "inappropriate" to be removed from schools over the past few years through legislation, typically targeting books that deal with issues of race or LGBTQ themes.

In April, the Waukesha School District suspended Melissa Tempel after she included "Rainbowland," as part of a planned performance with her first-grade class.

"And if I have to lose my job, then at least I'll be able to sleep at night knowing that I stuck up for kids," Tempel previously told Insider.

Sarah Schindler, whose daughter was in Tempel's class, said her daughter used to be happy to share what she learned at school, but now she doesn't have the same enthusiasm with Tempel gone, the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reported.

According to Allen's news release, his proposed bills would cover obscene material, which Wisconsin law defines as a work that "lacks serious literary, artistic, political, educational or scientific value, if taken as a whole."

Allen said he'd received a complaint in his district about a book where "characters describe how to perform oral sex," which "could" be considered obscene.

"Some might panic that there will be multiple lawsuits brought against schools, but current Wisconsin State Statute 944.21 (7) requires both a district attorney and the attorney general to sign off before a civil or criminal proceeding could commence," the news release says.

In Idaho, the state legislature passed a law earlier this year that would have stripped public libraries of their civil protections against laws that prohibit the distribution of "harmful" material to minors.

Idaho Gov. Brad Little, a Republican, vetoed the bill on April 5.

In a letter to lawmakers, Little said the legislation made "sweeping, blanket assumptions" and would force "one interpretation" onto all patrons of the library, The Spokesman-Review reported.

The bills in Wisconsin would have to pass in the state legislature and get the governor's signature in order to become law. Democratic Gov. Tony Evers would likely veto them if they reached his desk.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Woman, 97, among those killed in Farmington, New Mexico shooting

People have laid down flowers at a house where the gunman was standing shooting at random people

A 97-year-old woman and her daughter were among those killed by a teenage gunman in New Mexico earlier this week, police said.

Eighteen-year-old Beau Wilson, a high school student, shot at people at random in the town of Farmington on Monday morning.

He killed three people - Gwendolyn Schofield, her daughter Melody Ivie, 73, and Shirley Volta, 79.

Six others, including two police officers, were injured, officials said.

"To kill three innocent, elderly women that were just absolutely in no position to defend themselves is always going to be a tragedy," said Farmington Deputy Police Chief Kyle Dowdy.

Authorities said all three elderly women were driving through the neighbourhood when they were shot, and that two died on the scene. The suspect did not appear to know the victims, officials said.

Ms Ivie was known for leading a popular private preschool that she started in the 1980s called the Ivie League Preschool, according to US media outlets.

Nurse Brandy Brown told the New York Times her daughter attended the school. "She had just the purest servant heart," Ms Brown said of Ms Ivie. "She's almost a legend."

Friend Bonnie Kennedy told the Albuquerque Journal that Ms Ivie was known for her generosity and the spontaneous visits she paid to loved ones.

She recalled one time when the 73-year-old gifted her a bright red geranium. "I'm thankful that our last togetherness was so enjoyable," Ms Kennedy said.

Ms Ivie and her mother were both teachers and active churchgoers. They were on their way to pick up a grandchild from school when they were killed, according to the Journal.

New Mexico Republican State Rep. Mark Duncan, who is married to Ms Ivie's niece, told the outlet that Ms Ivie "teaches and loves unconditionally".

He said his wife started calling to make sure her aunt was safe as soon as she heard about the shooting before learning she was among the dead.

Ms Voita was known to community members as a churchgoer and a nurse. Her friend, former state Rep. James Strickler, told NBC News she was "just a saint".

The shooting started late Monday morning as the gunman roamed the neighbourhood randomly firing at people, houses and cars, police said.

Police give a briefing on the shooting

Officers arrived on the scene within minutes and shot and killed the suspect in a prolonged shootout involving 150 rounds.

One patient died at the hospital, while six others were treated and have been released.

The suspect - who was living in the neighbourhood - had three guns, including an AR-15 rifle, police said.

At least one of the weapons was purchased legally a month after he turned 18, police said.

Deputy Police Chief Dowdy said the suspect had minor criminal charges as a juvenile but nothing to put him on the radar of police.

The suspect's relatives said he was dealing with mental health problems.

New Mexico adopted a red-flag law in 2020, allowing police to temporarily take guns from people who are determined a threat to others or themselves.

More than 100 people attended a vigil held to honour the victims on Monday night, according to the Farmington Daily Times.
Woman charged in death of Kim Kardashian lookalike who got silicone injections in buttocks

Vivian Alexandra Gomez was arrested April 20 in Florida. (Broward County Sheriff's Office)

A Florida woman will be extradited to California this week to face charges in connection with the death of a social media model to whom she had given buttocks-enlarging injections, prosecutors said.

Vivian Alexandra Gomez, 50, is charged with one felony count each of involuntary manslaughter and practicing medicine without a valid license, resulting in the death of another, said San Mateo County Dist. Atty. Steve Wagstaffe.

Gomez flew to San Francisco International Airport on April 19 to meet with Christina Ashten Gourkani, a San Jose resident and social media model whose resemblance to Kim Kardashian garnered her millions of views on some of her videos on TikTok, Instagram, YouTube and OnlyFans.

Gourkani had found Gomez online and contacted her seeking silicone injections to increase the size of her buttocks, Wagstaffe said.

Gourkani and her boyfriend met Gomez at a Marriott hotel in Burlingame for the procedure.

At the hotel, Wagstaffe said, Gourkani received at least two injections of what was supposed to be gluteal silicone. Immediately after the injections, however, she began to go into distress, including convulsions.

Gourkani's boyfriend called 911, and she was taken to a nearby hospital. She died the following day.

According to her modeling website, after Gourkani began a career as a fitness model, she gained social media recognition as a Kardashian lookalike, pushing some of her videos to go viral.

On April 20, she died "after complications from a cosmetic surgery procedure," according to the site.

Her family said in a statement that her death was investigated by police as a homicide, connected to a "medical procedure that took a turn for the worse."

An autopsy determined Gourkani died of an embolism and poisoning in her system, Wagstaffe said. Investigators are still working to confirm whether the substance she was injected with was gluteal silicone.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 2021 warned against using silicone injections to enlarge or shape parts of the body, saying the injections can cause long-term pain, embolisms, disfigurement, stroke and death.

Silicone injections are not approved by the FDA.

The agency also warned that when silicone injections are made in areas with many blood vessels, such as the buttocks, "silicone can travel through those vessels to other parts of the body and block blood vessels in the lungs, heart, or brain. This can cause a stroke or even death."

Gomez was arrested hours after Gourkani was pronounced dead, according to police records. She was booked by the Broward County Sheriff's Office in Florida.

Gomez is expected to be extradited this week and to make her initial court appearance Monday, Wagstaffe said.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Woman dies while surfing day after graduating from nursing school, CA family says

A woman died while surfing at a California beach the day after graduating from nursing school, according to her family.

Witnesses said they saw Martina Marie Scarfia, 25, of Eureka surfing with another woman at Moonstone Beach on Sunday, May 14, when she fell from her surfboard and was overcome by waves, the Humboldt County Sheriffs Office said in a May 15 news release.

Deputies said a beachgoer swam out to rescue Scarfia.

The U.S. Coast Guard took her to a hospital, where she later died, the sheriffs office said.

Scarfia graduated from the College of the Redwoods nursing program the day prior, her sister, Asia Autumn Scarfia-Ward, told the Lost Coast Outpost.

I am so proud of everything she has done and the amazing person she has become, Scarfia-Ward wrote on Facebook. We celebrated as a family and paddled out together one last time until paradise.

Wards cause and manner of death are under investigation pending an autopsy, the sheriffs office said.

Moonstone Beach is 300 miles northwest of Sacramento.

Man dies surfing Oregon coast. His friend helped pull him to shore, rescuers say

Surfers pull unresponsive man to shore after pair jump 40 feet from pier, officials say

17-year-old dies after vanishing in water at popular beach, Florida cops say
FILE - This undated booking photo provided by the Houston Police Department shows Theresa Raye Balboa. On Wednesday, May 17, 2023, Balboa agreed to a 52-year prison sentence after pleading guilty in the 2021 death of her boyfriends 5-year-old son, whose body she had kept hidden in a storage unit before it was discovered in an East Texas hotel, according to prosecutors. During a court hearing, Balboa pleaded guilty to murder in the death of Samuel Olson. Her plea was part of an agreement with prosecutors, who reduced the charge against her from capital murder to murder. (Houston Police Department via AP, File)

HOUSTON (AP)  A woman on Wednesday agreed to a 52-year prison sentence after pleading guilty in the 2021 death of her boyfriends 5-year-old Houston son, whose body she had kept hidden in a storage unit before it was discovered in an East Texas hotel, according to prosecutors.

During a court hearing, Theresa Balboa, 31, pleaded guilty to murder in the death of Samuel Olson. Her plea was part of an agreement with prosecutors, who reduced the charge against her from capital murder to murder.

This woman robbed the world of a little boy with a big smile and bright future, and there is no prison sentence long enough for someone like her, Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg said in a statement.

Anthony Osso, Balboas attorney, said his client will be eligible for parole after serving half her sentence.

She didnt want to put the victims family through a trial, nor did she want to risk dying in prison ultimately. She has some light at the end of the tunnel with this alternative, Osso said in a telephone interview following the hearing.

Balboa did not say anything during Wednesdays court hearing.

Sarah Olson, Samuels mother, disagreed with the prison sentence Balboa received.

Today she admitted to what she did, for 52 years and the chance of parole in 26. My son did not even get six years of life and she still gets a chance at one? This is not justice, Sarah Olson told reporters after the hearing.

Andy Kahan, the director of victim services and advocacy for Crime Stoppers of Houston, said he and others will fight any efforts to release Balboa on parole

And 26 years from now, God forbid, well be there and make sure that she never breathes free air again, Kahan said.

Prosecutors said Balboa, who had been dating Samuels father, had been watching the boy in her suburban Houston apartment when she hit him with a blunt object on May 12, 2021. Samuel would have turned 6 on May 29, 2021.

Neither the weapon used to kill the boy or a motive for his death were ever determined, according to prosecutors.

Balboa reported Samuel missing on May 27, 2021, initially claiming the boys mother and a man who presented himself as a police officer had taken the boy. Samuels parents had been involved in a bitter custody battle since filing for divorce in January 2020.

Authorities said Samuels body was kept in a bathtub at Balboas apartment until she and her roommate put it in a plastic tote and hid it in a storage unit. The body was later moved to a motel in Jasper, about 135 miles (215 kilometers) northeast of Houston.

Balboas roommate and a friend who helped her move the body to the motel in Jasper were each charged with evidence tampering counts.

___

Follow Juan A. Lozano on Twitter: https://twitter.com/juanlozano70
Woman reveals her top school reached out to her after she missed out on $104,000 scholarship

A woman went viral after she discovered an unopened scholarship letter from one of her top colleges, prompting the school to reach out to her.

Last month, Madi, who goes by the username @luvlyymadiii, shared a clip on TikTok of her video diary for 29 April. As she sat on the floor, she proceeded to go through her mail, before finding an unopened letter from Maryville College, which is based in Tennessee.

Going through my unopened college acceptance letters from October after cleaning out [the] closet, she wrote in the text over the clip.

In the footage, Madi proceeded to look at the letter and opened her mouth in shock. She described the offer that she received from the university, writing: Finds out I had a $104,000 scholarship from one of my top three colleges.

Madi then looked at the camera, before pointing out her feelings of shock and anger. She continued to film herself reading the letter, as she explained why she didnt initially plan on going to this school.

Already decided to go to a community college because I thought university would be too much debt. Disappointed I never opened this letter & college decision day is literally Monday, she wrote, referring to 1 May, which is the date that many high school seniors decide which college they want to attend in the fall.

The 18-second video ended with Madi holding up the letter, as she turned her head to the side and continued to look disappointed. The sound of the footage also included a snippet of the Taylor Swift song High Infidelity, from her album Midnights. Madi made a reference to one of the lyrics in the caption, writing: Do you really want to know where I was April 29th?

As of 17 May, Madis video has more than 2.8m views, with TikTok users in the comments encouraging her to still go to Maryville College.

Change your decision, it will be worth it!! one wrote, while another added: GO. enrollment deposits are NOT binding. Go!!!

A third agreed: You opened it a day before decision [day] for a reason. Go and get that uni education w/ the scholarship!! Itll be worth it!.

In a follow-up video, Madi revealed that the admissions office at Maryville College had called her, after seeing her viral video. She explained that the university was still offering her the scholarship and wanted her to attend the school.

Basically, they said that they were going to make my dreams come true, she said. Theyre going to send me like an official award offer letter to my Gmail. I dont know how they found me but they did. So, now Im going to college, and Im just so excited!

She went on to explain why she didnt open the letter in the first place, noting that she had over 300 letters come in at the time, and it was impossible for her to open every single one. She also pointed out how she had a busy schedule.

I was still doing a ton of school work, and I had a job, she said. So, I just figured I was going to keep all of those letters for my children so that whenever they were in high school, Id be like: Your mom was a genius, and you should be working like a genius.

She concluded the video by expressing how excited she is to be going to Maryville College.

The Independent has contacted Madi and Maryville College for comment.

Meanwhile, this isnt the first student who has gone viral on TikTok, when sharing some of their experiences. Last month, one university student sparked a debate about expectations in school when she tearfully revealed that her professor gave her a zero on her six-page philosophy essay.

And so I wrote this entire paper, and all I needed on it was a 17 or 18 per cent to pass the course. The professor gave me a zero, the college student, Erika Schafrick, explained in her viral clip. And Im literally sitting here thinking it was a mistake so I sent him my submission receipt and he was like: No, its not a mistake, heres your feedback.

According to Schafrick, her professor claimed in the feedback that what shed written misrepresented the text the class had been assigned. However, she alleged that the work could be interpreted in so many different ways.
A woman went viral when she discovered black mold in her reusable straw and thought it made her sick. A doctor explains why there's no need to panic.

Kayla Houlihan told TikTok she thinks mold in her bottle straw has been making her unwell. Iza yson/500px/Getty Images.

A TikToker said she found black mold in her reusable straw and thought it was making her unwell.

Commenters began to weigh in with speculation and concerns about the impact of mold on her health.

Experts say it's unlikely the mold caused her symptoms, but there's more to learn from her saga.

A TikToker went viral and caused widespread concern when she discovered black mold in her reusable water bottle straw and became convinced it's the reason she's been unwell for the past three years.

"I feel so sick about this," said Kayla Houlihan, at the beginning of a video from April 3 that has since received 2.2 million views.

Posting from the account of her Australia-based brand Tribe Skincare, she began to recount a personal experience, explaining that she uses a reusable water bottle every day at work, and only fills it with water. One day, when she inspected its reusable straw, she found chunks of black mold, she said.

Not only was Houlihan disgusted by the mold, which she posed a photo of, but she also shared a theory with her viewers about the effects she thought it was having on her body. The TikToker said she has been sick for the past three years with stomach issues, and hasn't gotten a clear answer from medical professionals about why. She suggested the mold was the hidden cause of her problem.

@tribeskincare I would be sooo happy if this is the reason I have been sick for 3 years so I can finally get an answer and get better PSA that probably everyone already knows, you have to clean the straw in your water bottle I forgot to explain in the video, I only use my drink bottle on weekdays so maybe thats why I dont get sick on weekends and I have often not used it for months at a time which could be when I was feeling better?? Please note, @frankgreen_official  original sound - Tribe Skincare

Houlihan posted a series of clips explaining her theory further, and viewers began to weigh in with their thoughts on her viral revelation. The reaction revealed confusion about how to properly sanitize reusable water products, as well as the potential risks of not doing so.

Insider spoke to experts to get to the bottom of it, and while it's unlikely the mold caused Houlihan's symptoms, there is a valuable lesson in her story, they said.

TikTokers believe the moldy straw made Houlihan sick, but a doctor said that's unlikely

The day after posting her original video, Houlihan shared more details about her health, saying she has struggled with unpredictable nausea and vomiting, and had already undergone a number of tests to eliminate potential causes.

She said she noticed she felt sick mainly on weekdays, making her think her symptoms could have been caused by the water bottle, which she keeps on her desk at work.

Her videos drew a huge reaction. Some people questioned her theory and speculated about other health conditions that could have been causing her symptoms, but many viewers seemed convinced the straw was to blame, leading to panic from some about the impact of mold consumption. Some commenters said Houlihan's video made them concerned about mold in their own reusable bottles, which they decided to thoroughly clean out or throw out after seeing her video.

David Denning, a professor of infectious disease at the University of Manchester, UK, who has researched and written papers on fungal infections, told Insider that mold gives off mycotoxins, substances toxic to humans that can make them unwell, but it's unlikely that Houlihan's moldy straw was to blame for her symptoms.

He explained that the reason people can get sick from breathing in mold in large quantities, such as in buildings, is due to the high level of exposure. Such a level of mycotoxins can cause health problems like asthma.

While it's possible that there would be some mycotoxin in the straw, he doubts it's enough to make someone really sick.

The fact that Houlihan was drinking through the straw for two years implies "chronic exposure," Denning said, which could produce symptoms such as fatigue and coughing. But it's unlikely to cause the gastrointestinal symptoms she described, he said.

That's in part because our stomachs have lots of acid that kills some fungi  including mold  and it's only likely to make someone sick if there are lots of mycotoxins produced, he said. A 2018 study found that while mycotoxins can cause gastrointestinal issues, most people will be able to eliminate the mycotoxins naturally, provided they have good gut health.

Houlihan did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.

It's important to regularly wash reusable straws, even if they're only used for water

In her original TikTok, Houlihan acknowledged she was responsible for allowing mold to grow on the straw, noting that the brand she bought it from, sustainable-product retailer Frank Green, urges customers to wash their bottle with soapy water after every use on its website. The brand also sells small brushes for customers to clean their stainless steel straws.

Some commenters on TikTok said they were as surprised as Houlihan about the website's instructions, as they would not think to regularly wash a bottle they were only using for water.

But mold doesn't just grow on food. Mold spores can be airborne or carried on clothes and will begin to grow when they land in an area that is high in moisture.

According to a 2020 survey by research company CivicScience, 51% of people who don't make it a priority to use sustainable products overall still use a reusable water bottle  with 67% of environmentally conscious people doing the same. But it's unclear whether people are aware of how often they should clean these products.

To maintain good general hygiene, Sylvia Anderson, a food safety consultant based in London, told Insider it is important to clean reusable water bottles daily, using hot soapy water. A dishwasher is even better if it's an option, she said.

Anderson suggested using a small brush to clean the straw, pouring fast-running water through the straw, or leaving it to soak in hot water to encourage debris to come out.

But she said that if, like Houlihan, you find mold in your water bottle, it can be safe to continue to use if it is cleaned and sanitized properly, but this is down to personal preference, as some might rather throw it out.

"It's like if you have a cup of tea or coffee. You wouldn't clean it in a week's time," she said.

For more stories like this, check out coverage from Insider's Digital Culture team here.

Read the original article on Insider
I worked with a capsule-wardrobe stylist to pack sustainably with just a backpack for a 5-day trip to the Great Smoky Mountains. Here's what I brought.

A banner-style logo for One Planet

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Insider's reporter packed for a trip to the Great Smoky Mountains as sustainably as possible with help from a capsule-wardrobe stylist. Joey Hadden/Insider

Sustainability experts told me that traveling lighter is a good way to help the environment.

So I tried a capsule wardrobe, and asked the Aday stylist Millie Bentley to help me pack for a trip.

Bentley recommended neutral, quick-drying clothes that can be layered in different ways.

This article is part of "Green Getaway," a series exploring how people can make more eco-conscious choices while traveling. For more climate-action news, visit Insider's One Planet hub.

When I planned a 5-day trip to the Great Smoky Mountains, I knew I wanted to pack my backpack as lightly as possible.

The author visits the Great Smoky Mountains in April 2023. Joey Hadden/Insider

Lately, I've been taking just a backpack with me when I travel.

It started in August 2022 when I spent a week traveling by train from my home in New York City to Niagara Falls and the Canadian cities of Toronto, Montreal, and Quebec City. I only had enough time to spend one or two nights at each destination, so traveling with a backpack seemed easier than packing a full suitcase.

The lighter load made me feel more mobile, and I had an easier time keeping track of all my stuff.

Two months later, when I took a two-week train trip through four European countries, I crammed everything into my backpack again. I packed even lighter than I did for my first trip, even though it was twice as long.

Most recently, I was set to take a five-day trip to Great Smoky Mountains National Park in Tennessee, and I wanted to try packing lighter than I ever have before.

Packing light makes getting around easier, but it's also more sustainable for the environment, according to eco-tourism experts.

The author packs for her trip, and slips her backpack under the seat for her flight to Tennessee. Joey Hadden/Insider

Efficiency sparked my interest in backpacking, but learning that packing lightly is also a more sustainable way to travel kept me hooked.

Sustainable travel experts who previously spoke with Insider said that packing as lightly as possible can help the environment, especially when it comes to air travel.

"The more weight an aircraft carries, the more fuel it burns; the lighter the load, the less polluting," Justin Francis, the cofounder and CEO of Responsible Travel, told Insider. "So pack as light as you reasonably can. If you avoid the hassle of checking a bag, that's a bonus."

To put that into perspective, according to FiveThirtyEight, Southwest's fuel costs increase by more than $1 million per year if every passenger carries a cell phone, and $21 million if everyone carries a laptop.

Learning about the impact of weight on a flight's pollution made me want to pack as lightly as possible for my Tennesse trip.

Since I wanted to pack light without becoming bored with my outfits, I looked into capsule wardrobes.

An example of a capsule wardrobe. Olesia Kononenko/Getty Images

On my previous backpacking trips, I found myself growing bored with the clothes I brought after a few days.

I was wary of feeling this way again, until I learned about capsule wardrobes.

Capsule-wardrobe styling is about selecting a small number of clothing items that are versatile enough to be worn together in different ways and neutral enough to be paired with anything else in the wardrobe, according to Reader's Digest.

The idea of bringing fewer clothes while having more outfits seemed like an oxymoron to me. But I still wanted to try it, so I called in an expert to show me how capsule wardrobes work.

I spoke to Millie Bentley, a capsule-wardrobe stylist, who helped me pack for my trip.

The clothes the author packed for her five-day trip. Joey Hadden/Insider

Millie Bentley has been working as a designer and product developer for the last eight years at Aday, a capsule-wardrobe company that she says creates "minimalist wardrobes for maximal benefits."

"The idea is that you have fewer clothing items that you can do more with and travel further," Bentley said of capsule-wardrobe styling. "So we want clothes that people can wear in multiple situations and climates that really don't hold them back from doing what they love."

I asked Bentley to help me choose what to pack for my upcoming trip and we started by going over the details of my trip to the Great Smoky Mountains. I told Bentley that I'd be hiking, glamping, and exploring towns on foot, all while taking photos. I also told her the predicted forecast, which was 50-70 degrees Fahrenheit and rainy weather.

Bentley and I started packing by looking at my work gear since these items were non-negotiable.

The author's work gear for her trip to Tennessee. Joey Hadden/Insider

Since I was going on a reporting trip, Bentley and I started by packing all my work gear.

This included my laptop, my camera with two lenses, a tripod, a headlamp for night photography, device chargers, and a notebook.

My work gear took up about one-third of the space in my 32-liter backpack  leaving the other two-thirds of my bag for toiletries and clothing, which ended up being more than enough, to my surprise.

Next, we talked about toiletries to ensure I had enough room for everything I needed while traveling.

The author's toiletries for her 5-day trip. Joey Hadden/Insider

Staying clean and healthy while traveling is as important as my work gear. So I packed my toiletries next, as well as medications and a mini first-aid kit.

Bentley recommended bringing liquid toiletries like shampoo, conditioner, and face wash in reusable mini bottles to avoid purchasing single-use plastic bottles.

I was happy to follow this advice since she previously told Insider that packing reusable bottles was a more sustainable way to travel. According to a Greenpeace report published in 2022, only about 5% of all plastic was recycled in 2021 while the rest ended up in landfills, incinerators, or natural places.

Since I already had leftover travel-sized toiletries from previous hotel stays, I decided to finish those and refill them.

And, because I was going to be outside a lot, Bentley also suggested that I bring a cloth rag and biodegradable face wipes to "freshen up or take off any makeup or any dirt."

Lastly, I suggested laundry soap to wash my clothes in sinks, and Bentley agreed.

"I think that's a great idea," she said. "If there are puddles, or if you drop something that gets wet, it might start to smell."

By the time I finished packing my toiletries, I had a little less than half of the bag left for clothing.

After I packed my toiletries and work gear, Bentley and I talked about clothes. She recommended quick-dry items that could be layered.

The room in the author's backpack for clothing and toiletries after packing her work gear. Joey Hadden/Insider

When it was time to pack clothes, Bentley said her No. 1 tip for packing fewer items is focusing on quick-dry pieces, especially since my destination would be rainy.

"Quick-drying means you can wash the garment really easily and just hang it up," Bentley said.

Then, she explained the importance of including shirts that could be layered.

"You are going to want to layer as well. If the layer gets wet, you can take it off and can dry it quickly," she said.

She added that layering could help you feel more comfortable in a range of temperatures.

"Because you're fighting with the elements, you want a lighter layer that you are wearing underneath," she said. "So you've got the warmth, but then you can take it off if you get hotter."

I found it hard to follow Bentley's recommendation to wear neutral clothes because I love color. But Bentley said that packing neutrals makes it easy to style and match in different ways because every article of clothing goes together.

Lastly, Bentley asked if I felt confident that all my garments could be tightly rolled up. I told her that I'm quite short, so all my clothes are small.

"I always pack more of the smaller, lighter pieces than I would of the bigger, heavier ones," she added.

Bentley said I should bring two T-shirts that I could wear separately or layer on top of each other on colder days.

The author's quick-dry shirts Joey Hadden/Insider

Bentley and I then moved on to T-shirts. She said I should bring two that could be worn on top of each other. This gave me three styling options with just two shirts  each by itself and also layered on top of each other  which I'd never considered before.

Following Bentley's advice, I selected two shirts made of thin, moisture-wicking materials. One was a plain gray shirt with a tight fit that could easily fit another shirt over it. The other shirt was a navy blue polo with orange accents, which was the closest I had to a neutral polo.

I chose shirts with different collars to give me more variety, too. I thought the gray shirt looked best underneath the polo, but it stood well on its own, too.

Most importantly for me, I thought these shirts were comfortable. They felt soft on my skin and were tight enough to trap in the heat without feeling constricting.

She also recommended that I bring a cardigan and another long-sleeve layer.

The author packed a zip-up hoodie and a cardigan. Joey Hadden/Insider

Bentley recommended I also bring a long-sleeve layer that I could wear on top of or underneath my T-shirts on cooler days.

"You could wear it open with your T-shirt underneath for a more casual look as well," Bentley said. "When clothes can be opened, draped, or tied, you've got this different look. And even though you perhaps haven't changed, you feel like you're in a different outfit."

For my long-sleeve layer, I selected a thin, light zip-up hoodie. Technically, it's a rash guard meant for swimming in cooler temperatures, but I thought the neutral color and lighter, quick-drying fabric would work perfectly for this trip since it's designed to get wet.

I could wear the rash guard underneath my polo, on top of each shirt separately and together, and tied around my waist. I was surprised by how different each look was, and it made me think of how I could wear my other clothes to make them feel different.

In that same vein, Bentley also suggested I bring a cardigan to layer for more formal activities, like going to dinner. I don't have many, so I brought my smallest, most neutral one. Bentley said I should go with a lightweight wool fabric, if possible.

"Because wool is very breathable and thermoregulating, it keeps you warm but can also keep you cool," she said.

Then Bentley said I should bring one pair of pants for going out during the day, and another to change into at night.

Pants the author packed. Joey Hadden/Insider

Bentley said that I needed only two pairs of pants for my five-day trip

"Go for a pant to wear day-to-day that you'll be wearing in the rain. And then have a pant that you can relax in at the end of the day and perhaps go to dinner in, too." Bentley said. "Because you don't want to be wearing that pant that you've been wearing all day. You're going to want to dry them out."

For my daytime pants, I selected a pair of quick-dry joggers since they'd be easiest to air out after a day in the rain. When I hung them up each evening during my trip, they were dry by morning.

For my nighttime pants, I picked a pair of thin, black joggers that feel like scrubs but look more formal in dim lighting. I thought they would make me feel presentable when I went out, and cozy when I stayed in during my trip.

She recommended pajamas that could also be worn during the day.

The author's multipurpose pajamas. Joey Hadden/Insider

After packing shirts and pants, I asked Bentley about pajamas. She gave me ideas for clothing that could also add a layer to my daytime wardrobe.

"Leggings are very good. If it's cold in the morning, you can keep them on and layer them under your trousers," Bentley said, adding that I could take them off if it warms up

For a top, Bentley said I could bring another T-shirt so I'd have more options for layering in the daytime, too. I went with another quick-dry shirt that was slightly looser than the others I brought so it would be cozier to sleep in.

It wouldn't fit underneath my other shirts but could be layered over both, giving me two additional daytime looks.

Then we talked about undergarments. Unlike my other clothing items, Bentley said I should bring one pair of socks and underwear for each day.

The author's undergarments for her trip. Joey Hadden/Insider

Since Bentley recommended I rewear other clothing, I wondered about socks and underwear. In my previous backpacking experiences, I've found that socks tend to take up more room than most other items, but they also take days to air dry.

Bentley said I should bring a pair of socks and underwear for each day, but I could find more efficient ways to pack them.

"Underwear can be hidden in socks. Socks can be hidden in shoes or a random pocket," she said. "It's all about tucking them into different places to fill your bag."

I took Bentley's advice: I covered my camera and lenses with socks so they took up less room while serving another function. I was amazed by how much space I saved by rethinking the way I packed my backpack.

For jackets, Bentley also suggested layers. I brought my thinnest puffer and a rain jacket.

The author brought two jackets. Joey Hadden/Insider

Bentley said my jacket should be my heaviest option, and that I should bring two and layer them on travel days.

"When I go away, I think about what takes up the most room and wear that when I'm traveling," she added.

I told Bentley that since my jacket options were limited, I wouldn't be able to stick with the neutral palette. But she said this was OK since the rest of my clothes were neutral. The jackets could serve as a "pop of color," she added.

I packed my biggest raincoat so it would fit on top of all of my layers. Underneath, I'd wear my smallest puffer. It's one of my thinnest jackets, but it also keeps me quite warm.

The raincoat's hard shell and adjustable Velcro straps could protect my inner sleeves, and the hood extended out beyond my glasses, to stop water drops from obscuring my vision.

Underneath my raincoat, the thin puffer would keep me warm and the rest of my clothes dry, and I couldn't believe I never thought to pair them before.

Bentley thought I only needed one pair of shoes for this trip, and I agreed.

The author brought neutral water-resistant trainers Joey Hadden/Insider

I typically travel with a single pair of shoes, so I wasn't surprised when Bentley told me I should only bring one because they're typically heavy.

"Your shoes should be comfortable with a look that you feel you can wear all the time," she said, recommending a neutral boot or trainer.

Since I expected rain, I picked a pair of black, water-resistant running shoes because they always keep my socks dry and I think they look presentable enough to wear out.

I'd also save room in my bag since I'd wear them on travel days and wouldn't have to sacrifice space for another pair of shoes.

Lastly, I popped a water bottle and an umbrella into the pockets of my backpack. And I still had extra space.

The author all packed up. Joey Hadden/Insider

With my clothes, toiletries, and work gear in the bag, I packed an umbrella for the rain and a reusable water bottle, per Bentley's suggestion.

When my packing was complete, I was surprised to see I still had space left at the top of my bag but chose not to add anything else, and left it empty for a lighter, more sustainable load.

After my conversation with Bentley, I felt confident that I had created a small, versatile wardrobe.

When I left for my trip, I thought my new capsule wardrobe served me well. I now plan to use Bentley's tips for every trip so I can be a more sustainable traveler.

The author layers her clothing in different ways. Joey Hadden/Insider

Bentley and I talked about wearing clothes in different ways, but I couldn't really visualize some of her tips until I was actually in the Great Smoky Mountains wearing the clothes that we chose together.

Ultimately, I was surprised to find that simply thinking about clothing in a different way can lead to ideas for more sustainable ways to live. Even though I brought less clothing for this trip than ever before, I never felt bored with my outfits like I have on previous backpacking trips.

In the future, I'll use these tips for all travel, big or small. And thanks to Bentley, I know I'll feel confident that I can enjoy a range of outfits with just a few articles of clothing.

In case you missed it, watch a replay of Insider's One Planet virtual event with the activist and artist Elijah McKenzie-Jackson.

Read the original article on Insider
IT worker sued boss who marked problems with XX as she thought they were kisses

Alexander Goulandris, chief executive of essDOCS - Financial IT/YouTube

An IT worker sued for sexual harassment after her rich and powerful male boss marked parts of an email where he wanted more information with xx, which she thought were kisses.

Karina Gasparova, a project manager, also claimed Aleksander Goulandriss use of question marks in the same message were code for asking her when she would be ready to engage in sexual acts.

In a number of other innocent work-related incidents where she would find a sinister motive, Ms Gasparova thought his renaming a file with his initials AJG was an acronym for A Jumbo Genital.

Ms Gasparova took her employer, the paperless documents firm essDOCS, to the tribunal claiming sexual harassment.

But now a judge has thrown out her case, ruling that she has a skewed perception of everyday events and regularly misinterpreted innocuous interactions.

The tribunal, held in central London, heard she started working at essDOCS, which is based in the capital, as an IT project manager in November 2019 under Mr Goulandris, the co-head and former chief executive.

The panel heard Ms Gasparova told bosses she thought he wanted to have a sexual relationship with her, but was treating her badly because she had rejected his advances.

She claimed this included shouting at her, undermining her in meetings with clients and removing key elements of work from her, but the panel rejected these claims.

Ms Gasparova told the panel Mr Goulandris was a rich and powerful man and therefore his conduct had not been overt as a man in his position would be too clever to make obvious moves.

The panel ruled this meant her case rested on interpreting seemingly innocent interactions between Mr Goulandris and herself and finding a sinister motive in them.

A Jumbo Genital

Included in a string of claims which were dismissed by the panel, Ms Gasparova interpreted Mr Goulandris renaming a draft presentation file with his initials AJG in brackets as standing for A Jumbo Genital.

The same month, when Mr Goulandris asked her when a project would be finished, she told the tribunal he burst out shouting with an extremely angry voice, saying I need date, date, date.

Ms Gasparova interpreted this as having been asked the exact date when I would finally agree on sexual contact with him.

The panel heard later that month that Mr Goulandris had emailed Ms Gasparova asking for information on a project. To indicate what details he required her to fill in he used XX, YY and ???? in the message, written in red.

The tribunal heard she interpreted the Xs as meaning kisses, the Ys as sexual contact of some kind and the question marks as when she would be ready to engage in sexual acts'.

In April 2021, she submitted a detailed grievance claim, in which all of her sexual harassment allegations were dismissed. She appealed in May 2021 but it was again rejected so she resigned.

Employment Judge Emma Burns said: "Our primary reasons for rejecting her account of events were that we considered her perception of everyday events was skewed.

She demonstrated a tendency to make extraordinary allegations without evidence and she contradicted herself in a way that could not be attributable to a fallible memory.

Ms Gasparova interpreted entirely innocent work-related conduct, some of it accidental, by Mr Goulandris as having a sinister intent.

Ms Gasparova was also ordered to pay 5,000 in costs to essDOCS following her failure to comply in time with parts of the tribunal procedures.

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Wright-Patterson Air Force Base will be hosting a police expo today as part of National Police Week.

>>PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Wright-Patterson AFB celebrates National Police Week with special events

The event will take place this afternoon from 4 p.m. until 6 p.m. at the Prairies base housing community park, according to a WPAFB spokesperson.

The police expo will provide attendees the opportunity to see the latest technology and equipment local law enforcement agencies and 88 SFS Defense use to keep communities safe.

The event will be open to the public.

National Police Week lasts until Friday which celebrates the work and sacrifices of Defenders with events and ceremonies.
One of the most famous paintings of Picassos early career initially contained one more element that wasnt seen until now: a cute lapdog seated by a table with a few soused drinkers.

That painting, Le Moulin de la Galette (1900), currently figures in a small exhibition about Picassos early years in Paris at the Guggenheim Museum, the New York institution that also owns the piece. The Guggenheim announced the finding of a canine in its press materials for the show, which opened last Friday and runs through mid-August.

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According to CNN, conservators with the Guggenheim, working with experts at the nearby Metropolitan Museum of Art and the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., made the discovery using X-ray fluorescence. The dog can now be seen clearly, thanks to those scans. It may be a Cavalier King Charles spaniel that wears a red ribbon around its neck.

Julie Barten, senior paintings conservator at the Guggenheim, told CNN, it was interesting to me that he hastily painted over this dog, which would have been a rather compelling aspect of the composition.

Why did Picasso remove the dog? Barten said it could be because the ribbon proved too enticing, distracting the eye from the blurred dancers who move across the background.

Some background for Picassophiles: Le Moulin de la Galette depicts a popular dance hall in Paris, to which Picasso had moved that same year. He paid close attention to the electric lightsa modern element in a rapidly changing Parisian landscapeand to the intermixing of people of different classes in the space.

The painting was sold for 250 francs by dealer Berthe Weill the year it was made. The Guggenheim faced a restitution claim concerning the work in 2007, with the heirs of its former owner claiming that the painting was sold under duress; the museum subsequently settled with the heirs two years later.

Le Moulin de la Galette is one of 10 works by the artist in Young Picasso in Paris, part of a worldwide celebration of the artist this year that marks the 50th anniversary of his death.

The newly revealed dog in Le Moulin de la Galette.

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Former President and GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks at a campaign event in Manchester, New Hampshire on April 27, 2023. (Sophie Park/The New York Times)

WASHINGTON  The limping conclusion to John Durhams four-year investigation of the Russia inquiry underscores a recurring dilemma in U.S. government: how to shield sensitive law enforcement investigations from politics without creating prosecutors who can run amok, never to be held to account.

At a time when special counsels are proliferating  there have been four since 2017, two of whom are still at work  the much-hyped investigation by Durham, a special counsel, into the Russia inquiry ended with a whimper that stood in contrast to the countless hours of political furor that spun off from it.

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Durham delivered a report that scolded the FBI but failed to live up to the expectations of supporters of Donald Trump that he would uncover a politically motivated deep state conspiracy. He charged no high-level FBI or intelligence official with a crime and acknowledged in a footnote that Hillary Rodham Clintons 2016 presidential campaign did nothing prosecutable, either.

Predictably, the reports actual content  it contained no major new revelations, and it accused the FBI of confirmation bias rather than making a more explosive conclusion of political bias  made scant difference in parts of the political arena. Trump and many of his loyalists issued statements treating it as vindication of their claims that the Russia inquiry involved far more extravagant wrongdoing.

The Durham Report spells out in great detail the Democrat Hoax that was perpetrated upon me and the American people, Trump insisted on social media. This is 2020 Presidential Election Fraud, just like stuffing the ballot boxes, only more so. This totally illegal act had a huge impact on the Election.

Trumps comparison was unintentionally striking. Just as his and his supporters wild and invented claims of election fraud floundered in court (Fox News paid a $787.5 million settlement for amplifying lies about Dominion Voting Systems), the political noise surrounding Durhams efforts ultimately ran up against reality.

In that sense, it was less that Durham failed to deliver and more that Attorney General William Barr set him up to fail the moment he assigned Durham to find evidence proving Trumps claims about the Russia investigation.

There were real-world flaws with the Russia investigation, especially how the FBI botched applications to wiretap a former Trump campaign adviser. But the Justice Departments inspector general, Michael E. Horowitz, found those problems, leaving Durham with depleted hunting grounds.

Indeed, credit for Durhams only courtroom success, a guilty plea by an FBI lawyer who doctored an email during preparations for a wiretap renewal, belongs to Horowitz, who uncovered the misconduct.

At the same time, Horowitz kneecapped Durhams investigation by finding no evidence that FBI actions were politically motivated. He also concluded that the basis of the Russia inquiry  an Australian diplomats tip related to the release of Democratic emails hacked by Russia  was sufficient to open a full investigation.

Before Horowitz released his December 2019 report, Durham lobbied him to drop that finding, arguing the FBI should have instead opened a preliminary inquiry. When Horowitz declined, Durham issued an extraordinary statement saying he disagreed based on evidence collected to date in his inquiry.

But even as Durhams report questioned whether the FBI should have opened it as a lower-level investigation, he stopped short of stating that opening a full one violated any rule.

A remaining rationale for the Durham investigation was that Horowitz lacked jurisdiction to scrutinize spy agencies. But by the spring of 2020, according to officials familiar with the inquiry, Durhams effort to find intelligence abuses in the origins of the Russia investigation had come up empty.

Instead of wrapping up, Barr and Durham shifted to a different rationale, hunting for a basis to blame the Clinton campaign for suspicions surrounding myriad links Trump campaign associates had to Russia.

By keeping the investigation going, Barr initially appeased Trump, who, as Barr recounted in his memoir, was angry about the lack of charges as the 2020 election neared.

But Barrs public statements about Durhams investigation also helped foster perceptions that he had found something big. In April 2020, for example, he suggested in a Fox News interview that officials could be prosecuted and said: The evidence shows that we are not dealing with just mistakes or sloppiness. There is something far more troubling here.

Trump and some of his allies in the news media went further, stoking expectations among his supporters that Durham would imprison high-level officials. Those include the former directors of the FBI and CIA, James Comey and John O. Brennan, and Democratic leaders like Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden.

In fact, Durham only ever developed charges against two outsiders involved in efforts to scrutinize links between Trump and Russia, accusing them both of making false statements to the FBI and treating the bureau as a victim, not a perpetrator.

While in office, Barr worked closely with Durham, regularly meeting with him, sharing scotch and accompanying him to Europe. When it became clear that Durham had found no one to charge before the election, Barr pushed him to draft a potential interim report, prompting Durhams No. 2, Nora R. Dannehy, to resign in protest over ethics, The New York Times has reported.

Against that backdrop, the first phase of Durhams investigation  when he was a U.S. attorney appointed by Trump, not a special counsel  illustrates why there is a recurring public policy interest in shielding prosecutors pursuing politically sensitive matters from political appointees.

But the second phase  after Barr made him a special counsel, entrenching him to remain under the Biden administration with some independence from Attorney General Merrick Garland  illustrates how prosecutorial independence itself risks a different kind of dysfunction.

The regulations empowered Garland to block Durham from an action, but only if it was so inappropriate or unwarranted under established departmental practices that it should not be pursued and required him to tell Congress. Garland gave Durham free rein, avoiding Republican accusations of a cover-up.

Durham continued for another 2 1/2 years, spending millions of dollars to bring the two demonstrably weak cases involving accusations of false statements; in each instance, a jury of 12 unanimously rejected the charges. One of Durhams hand-picked prosecutors resigned from his team in protest of the first of those indictments, the Times has reported.

But Durhams use of his law enforcement powers did achieve something else. He used court filings to insinuate a theory he never found evidence to charge: that the Clinton campaign conspired to frame Trump for collusion. Those filings provided endless fodder for conservative news media.

Even after Durhams cases collapsed, some Trump supporters held out hope that his final report would deliver a bombshell. But it largely consisted of recycled material, interlaced with conclusions like Durhams accusation that the FBI had displayed a lack of analytical rigor.

Durhams own analytical rigor was subject to scrutiny. At one point he wrote that he had found no evidence that the FBI ever considered whether Clinton campaign efforts to tie Trump to Russia might affect its investigation.

Yet the same page cited messages by a top FBI official, Peter Strzok, cautioning colleagues about the Steele dossier, a compendium of claims about the Trump campaigns ties to Russia that, it later became clear, were Clinton campaign-funded opposition research. He wrote that it should be viewed as intended to influence as well as to inform and whoever commissioned it was presumed to be connected to the campaign in some way.

As Horowitz uncovered and criticized, the FBI later cited the Steele dossier in wiretap applications, despite learning a reason to doubt its credibility. But Trump supporters often go further, falsely claiming that the FBI opened the entire Russia investigation based on the dossier.

Durhams report appeared to nod to that false claim, saying that information received from politically affiliated persons and entities in part had triggered the inquiry. Yet elsewhere, his report acknowledged that the officials who opened the investigation in July 2016 had not yet seen the dossier, and it was prompted by the Australian diplomats tip. He also conceded that there was no question the FBI had an affirmative obligation to closely examine that lead.

Tom Fitton, a Trump ally and the leader of the conservative group Judicial Watch, expressed disappointment in the Durham investigation in a statement this week, while insisting that there had been a conspiracy by Obama, Biden, Clinton and their Deep State allies.

Durham let down the American people with few and failed prosecutions, Fitton declared. Never in American history has so much government corruption faced so little accountability.

But Aitan Goelman, a lawyer for Strzok, said that while the special counsel accused the FBI of confirmation bias, it was Durham who spent four years trying to find support for a preformed belief about the Russia investigation.

In fact, it is Durhams investigation that was politically motivated, a direct consequence of former President Trumps weaponization of the Department of Justice, an effort that unanimous juries in each of Durhams trials soundly rejected, he said.

c.2023 The New York Times Company
A New York City hospital employee was placed on leave after a viral video appearing to show her trying to take a rental bike from a group of young Black men garnered millions of views online.

The incident, which was first posted to Twitter on Saturday, appears to show a white woman in NYC Health + Hospitals scrubs arguing with a young man over a Citi Bike that he says he has already rented. The man has his hand on the bike while the woman screams, "Please help me."

NYC Health + Hospitals operates Bellevue Hospital.

A hospital employee attempts to take a rental bike from a group of young Black men in New York. (via NBC New York)

It's unclear what happened before the minute-and-a-half video began, but the young man doesn't appear to touch the woman in the posted clip, nor does he appear to verbally threaten her.

At one point, the woman takes off her work identification badge and tries to push the man off the bike with her body.

"This is my bike. It's on my account," the man holding the bike says.

The woman also appears to cry, although another person on the video accuses her of faking it.

"You're acting," the man recording the video says. "She's fake-crying. Stop fake-crying."

At one point a bystander can be seen trying to intervene. About a minute into the video, the woman steps away from the bike, and the recording stops.

The woman was not identified by Bellevue Hospital, which is operated by NYC Health + Hospitals. Bellevue apologized in a statement the day after the video was posted and said it was reviewing the incident. In a follow-up Tuesday, the hospital called the video "disturbing."

"The provider is currently out on leave and will remain on leave pending a review," the hospital's statement Tuesday said. "As a health system, we are committed to providing an environment for our patients and staff that is free from discrimination of any kind."

The video had been viewed on Twitter more than 40 million times by Wednesday afternoon, with many social media users pointing out the risk placed on the young Black men being accused of wrongdoing in situations involving white women.

Civil rights attorney Ben Crump was among many who posted the video and commented on Twitter.

"She grossly tried to weaponize her tears to paint this man as a threat," Crump wrote. "This is EXACTLY the type of behavior that has endangered so many Black men in the past!"

NBC New York tried to reach the woman at her Brooklyn apartment, but no one answered or returned calls for comment.

The man who posted the video did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
Remember The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles? No, not the opening sequence of The Last Crusade starring River Phoenix as a teenage version of Harrison Fords iconic archeologist. Were talking about the short-lived 90s series starring Sean Patrick Flanery as the title character. The two-season curiosity has been mostly left behind in its decade, but now Disney has acknowledged it  and is putting it on Disney+, no less.

The news was announced out of The Walt Disney Companys Upfronts Presentation on Tuesday afternoon. The show will be available to stream on Disney+ starting May 31, in anticipation of the release of Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny in theaters next month. In addition, all four of the initial Indiana Jones movies  Raiders of the Lost Ark, The Temple of Doom, The Last Crusade, and The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull  will also be added to the streamer, after inexplicably being left off since its launch in 2019.

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Although mostly forgotten today, Young Indiana Jones had serious pedigree behind it, and a very complicated release history. It originally premiered on ABC as The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles, and ran for 28 episodes from March 1992 to June 1993. Four made for TV films were released between 1994 and 1996, and the series was later edited to 22 TV films under the title The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones in 1999; based on Disneys titling, its likely the latter cuts are the ones being put on the service.

As for what the show was about, it was essentially Forrest Gump or Midnight in Paris but set in the 1910s and based around young Indiana Jones (played by Flanery as a teen and Corey Carrier as a younger child) traveling the world and getting into adventures. In the process, the young hero constantly ran into real-life historical figures, the likes of which include Leo Tolstoy, John Ford, Sigmund Freud, T.E. Lawrence, Al Capone, Louis Armstrong, Winston Churchill, and many, many more. The series also featured George Hall, as an elderly Indy in flashforwards, although Ford made an appearance in one episode set in 1950.

Ford wasnt the only member of the original films involved in the series; George Lucas created and executive produced, in addition to providing the stories for most episodes. Young Indiana Jones also attracted many prominent directors and writers to work on it, including Joe Johnston, Terry Jones, Nicholas Roeg, Mike Newell, and even Carrie Fisher, who wrote an episode where Indy had a romance with French dancer/spy Mata Hari.

The shows Disney+ debut marks the first time that the series has made the leap to streaming, after decades of being tough to track down. VHS editions of several episodes were released in 1999, but not the entire series. The last time the series was made available for home viewing was in 2008, when it was released on DVD to tie-in with the release of Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. The DVDs also included an insane 94 historical documentaries created by Lucasfilm, telling the real-life stories of the historical figures seen in the show. (Rick McCallum, who produced the series, then became the main producer other than Lucas on the Star Wars prequel films, before leaving Lucasfilm before Disneys acquisition in 2012.)

There had been some question about whether this series, given its lack of accessibility for decades, was even still regarded by Lucasfilm (let alone Disney) as being Indys official backstory. If it was, indeed, still canon. Simply because Disney might have wanted to tell its own separate story about Indys youth at some point. But putting the series on Disney+ feels like an endorsement that this is Indys official history and wont be rewritten anytime soon.

Although Flanery is (presumably) not making a cameo in Dial of Destiny, the fifth film in the beloved series will feature a young Indiana Jones of sorts, in the form of a digitally de-aged Harrison Ford. The film, which sees James Mangold take over directing duties from Steven Spielberg, also stars Phoebe Waller-Bridge, John Rhys-Davies, Mads Mikkelsen, Boyd Holbrook, Thomas Kretschmann, Toby Jones, and Antonio Banderas. The movie will release in theaters June 30.

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On 17 May, Ukraines President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that he held new meetings to strengthen Ukraine's defence but that even more consolidated support from the world is needed to destroy the aggressor.

Source: Presidents evening address on 17 May

Quote from Zelenskyy: New attacks on Sumy, Chernihiv, Dnipro, Zaporizhzhia and Donbas oblasts; all this proves again and again that we need even more consolidation of the world to put pressure on Russia, even more strength for our soldiers to destroy every position of terrorists, and even more support for our people to save lives and restore security to our cities and villages."

Details: The president said that he had held several preparatory meetings on new steps to strengthen Ukraine's defence and international position.

He also reported that the visit of the Ukrainian delegation to the Republic of Korea was successful, where government officials and First Lady Olena Zelenska held meetings and negotiations at various levels.

Zelenskyy thanked the President of the Republic of Korea for "clearly condemning Russian aggression and supporting global efforts for peace".

He also noted "an important decision of the Council of Europe", particularly the fact that the final resolution of the summit held in Iceland recorded support for the Ukrainian peace formula.

"It is important that Europe is so consolidated for an honest peace plan. I thank all the leaders of Europe and every member state of the Council of Europe for this. Based on this consolidation, we will continue to limit the terrorist state's ability to continue its aggression and increase our opportunities to restore justice, liberate our land, and save our people," Zelenskyy concluded.

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Two Democratic candidates for Virginias newly-formed 55th House of Delegates district told Nelson County voters May 9 how life experiences have shaped their politics.

Albemarle County emergency department nurse Kellen Squire talked about performing emergency abortions, treating fatal COVID-19 cases and responding to mental health crises, and said work in an emergency room has shown him the intersection of all the things that go wrong in Richmond.

Former Charlottesville City School Board member Amy Laufer said womens reproductive health is a personal issue for her, and described her experience with a high risk pregnancy.

...I was either going to die or the child was going to die, and I cant imagine a politician has any business in this decision at all and the fact that were talking about it at all speaks to how far backward weve gone she said.

As of 2021, Nelson County is split between the new 55th and 53rd House of Delegates districts; Laufer and Squire are vying for the democratic nomination in the district that includes all of Albemarle minus Charlottesville City, part of Louisa County, and an approximate third of Nelson County including the Afton, Greenfield, Woods Mill, Faber and Schuyler communities.

Both candidates appeared at a candidate forum at Rockfish Valley Community Center last Tuesday and answered similar questions to those posed to State Senate candidates at a Nelson County Democratic Committee event last month.

Public education, LGBTQ rights

Both Laufer and Squire are parents of children in Albemarle County Public Schools. Squire has worked as a school nurse; Laufer taught middle school math and science after volunteering in the peace corps.

Asked about parents role in their childrens curriculum, Squire said when a child visited his school office hed give their parents the preeminent role, and saw his colleagues do the same.

I actually think what the Republicans are doing is the opposite of that. Theyre trying to separate parents and public education because they know how powerful public education is. They want to keep our kids from learning history the way it actually happened. They want to attack kids that are different and refuse to let them be the way that they are.

To a question about LGBTQ rights, Squire said parenting a trans teenager makes the issue personal: We need to do everything we can to stand up to protect kids like my teenager and make sure that they can be who they are.

...[W]ere just living in a kind of terrifying situation where we have a governor that is willing to use these children as political pawns and history as a tool to spread disinformation to an entire Commonwealth, Laufer added.

On curriculum, she said its ok for parents to want certain things for their children. Its not OK for them to make it a policy or a law for all children.

She called critical race theory a made-up problem.

And the thing is we live in Virginia. This is our history, OK  We have Jamestown right down the road. Richmond was the capital of the Confederacy. We cannot disassociate ourselves with where we live, and telling the truth can only help all of us Laufer said.

Gun Safety, mental health

Both candidates said theyd be in favor of banning assault weapons, Laufer adding shed like to see ammunition cost more.

Squire said an important related issue is extremism: and we have to tackle that. We wont be able to solve this problem unless we do. Thats a lot harder to do but we cant ignore it.

To a question about mental health, Laufer talked about her current service on the Albemarle County Department of Social Services Board, and their new approach to crisis response.

And the other thing were implementing now, rather than having the police department respond to a lot of these issues which end up being a mental health crisis, we actually are getting together a team with a social worker, a psychologist and the police department to go to some of these emergencies to kind of crisis care at the scene, she said.

Squire talked about seeing patients choose between their medications and paying their rent, and adults and pediatric patients having to wait days or weeks to get beds for mental health crisis treatment. He said the problem in his emergency room isnt the number of beds, but a lack of doctors, nurses and social workers to treat patients.

...[W]e need to make sure that we are funding things at a primary care level, that we are solving these problems before they become crises he said.

Clean energy and climate change

...clearly we need to get Dominion out of politics because that is really holding back a lot of progress, Laufer said. Squire agreed, adding, one of the biggest things we can do for climate change honestly here in Virginia is get Dominion money out of our political system.

Laufer sourced her geology degree and work experience: ...as a water chemist we know how hard it is to clean water after its dirty, so talking about not only clean energy, but then the next step is how to keep water clean and air clean with our environment and really monetizing the idea that there is value in greenspace, there is value in trees because they give us oxygen and they take in carbon

Squire expressed concern about climate change causing a repeat of local history.

I mean, if you think about Hurricane Camille, we still see the scars from that here in Nelson County, imagine if we have a Hurricane Camille every year. I get really concerned about what were leaving for our kids  we need to act now and make sure that again our kids have a planet to inherit from us.

As for working across the aisle, Laufer talked about growing up on a dairy farm in Wisconsin with seven siblings, Squire about working to solve problems in a high-stress workspace.

Early voting in the House of Delegates primary election is ongoing until June 17. Primary election day is June 20.
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Forty years after joining the Amherst Circuit Court Clerks office, Deborah Coffey Mozingo, the countys circuit court clerk, has filed to run for a second eight-year term in the position.

Mozingo had more than 30 years experience as chief deputy clerk and deputy clerk prior to becoming Amherst Circuit Court Clerk in January 2016.

Working with people is my passion and Ive always loved this job since day one, Mozingo said.

She said she enjoys working with the many citizens who visit the Amherst courthouse daily as well as the attorneys, real estate agents, land surveyors and paralegals.

Mozingo started in the office in early 1983 and worked under her predecessor, Roy Mayo, who served the circuit court clerk role since 1984. She oversees an office of six employees that run a wide range of court services such as recording real estate transfers, issuing marriage licenses, recording and probating wills, tracking court hearings, filing appeals for cases and handling legal paperwork for divorces, adoptions and concealed carry weapon permits, among others.

Ive been blessed to have a great staff, Mozingo said. Without them, it wouldnt be possible.

Mozingo said she has led an extensive effort to upgrade the clerks office computer system and streamline the filing of all legal documents.

My experience and training have taught me how the work should be done and how to lead it effectively and passionately, Mozingo said in a statement.

She said she used available grants to restore and preserve county books of legal documents dating back as far as 1761 and has worked on a county project preserving and indexing records from 1869 to 1912.

With support of the Library of Virginia and Amherst County officials, Mozingo also has worked to restore and computerize deed and plat books to make research easier and more accessible, she said.

She said she is well versed and enjoys handling all aspects of the clerks office.

The general election is Nov. 7. The filing deadline for candidacy in a variety of local races, including the countys constitutional offices, is June 20.
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After nearly eight years as Amherst Countys chief law enforcement official, Sheriff E.W. Viar announced Thursday he is not seeking a third term in the Nov. 7 election and is retiring. His predecessor, former Sheriff Jimmy Ayers, confirmed Thursday evening he is running for sheriff.

Viar, who worked under Ayers when he was first elected to the sheriffs seat in November 2015, in a letter shared via Facebook post Thursday wrote his career in law enforcement has spanned nearly 40 years and he was honored and humbled to serve as sheriff.

The people of Amherst County have given us the ability to implement positive change that has allowed this office to excel in many aspects of law enforcement, Viar, 67, said in the letter. When first taking office, I was faced with many challenges to make this a better working environment. My first promise to the citizens of this county was to have the Amherst County Sheriffs Office become an accredited agency.

Viar said the sheriffs office accomplished the goal of receiving its initial award of state accreditation in 2021. He thanked officers for their dedication and discipline in meeting the milestone that was years in the making.

He further wrote he wanted to show everyone in the department was of equal importance. We have been able to secure pay raises throughout the years which have helped us become one of the most competitive agencies in Central Virginia, Viar said. I could never put a price on the value of which each of you does on a daily basis. In my opinion, you could never be given a monetary value to show how much each of you truly means to me.

Viar won a three-way race in the 2015 election and a four-way race in 2019.

Ayers has spent more than seven years on the Amherst County Board of Supervisors representing the District 3 seat after retiring as sheriff following 20 years in the role. He recently announced he is not seeking reelection to the board after two terms.

In a phone interview Thursday, Ayers said he is running to restore leadership in the office he feels has been lacking.

It is not a financial thing for me, Ayers, 60, adding he wants the best for the county he has lived in his entire life. Up until this point I dont feel like weve received that. Our community deserves better than what its been seeing, thats for sure.

Many residents have voiced hopes for Ayers to run again on his personal Facebook page after he wrote a lengthy Jan. 30 social media post strongly criticizing the handling of a county homicide investigation involving former defendant Justin Jay Sales.

Charges of murder and aggravated malicious wounding against Sales in connection with a June 2019 shooting that left 92-year-old Doris Puleio dead and severely injured her daughter, Trudy Goetz, at a residence on Bobwhite Road in Amherst were dropped in December 2021 in large part because of evidentiary-related issues. Ayers confirmed in Thursdays interview that case is a contributing factor in his running, along with a few other unsolved homicides in the county.

Amherst Commonwealths Attorney Lyle Carver, Viars son-in-law, has said the case against Sales remains an active investigation and charges can come back. Carver criticized Ayers comments in the Jan. 30 post, calling them reckless and selfish, inaccurate and misleading. He has said because the case is active he cant further comment on evidentiary-related matters Ayers was critical off in the social media post.

Meanwhile, Sales has moved to New Hampshire since his December 2021 from custody in Amherst County and is undergoing criminal proceedings there in a sexual assault case he is charged in.

Viars letter said with the consistent problem of narcotic violations that occur in the county he expanded the K-9 program, which he added has contributed to drug-related arrests and apprehensions of suspects. He also wrote the office employed the use of drones for searches, surveillance and aerial photos, and he and the department fought for more school resource officers in Amherst County Public Schools and that program has expanded and will continue until more qualified professionals fill needed positions.

Viar wrote he wants to spend more time with family and plans to enjoy life traveling, working on his car and motorcycle and going to car shows, a passion of his. He wrote he is thankful to be free of colon cancer. Life is precious and I want to enjoy my family and friends with the additional time God has blessed me with, he wrote.

Viar concluded the letter by endorsing Major Eric Elliott, second-in-command for the department, for sheriff. As of press time Elliott has not been reached for comment to confirm he intends to run for the seat. Viar praised Elliotts hard work ethic, knowledge, integrity, compassion, years of service and his conservative values.

I know in my heart that he is more than qualified for this position and know that he will do a great job for not only this office but for the citizens of this county, Viar wrote.

Amherst County Board of Supervisors member Claudia Tucker, who along with Supervisor David Pugh welcomed Ayers to the board in January 2016, said what strikes her the most over the years are the stories so many citizens have about him.

Whether its the guy who has worked a double shift and is swerving at 1 a.m. only to find that the officer who stopped him is the Sheriff; he got a warning and an escort to his home to make sure hes safe. The parents who have told me that Jimmy is the reason that their kids got help and went on to be responsible parents, Tucker said in an email. There are so many Jimmy stories. He is hands down the most qualified and he is committed to serving the people of Amherst. I thank him and his family from the bottom of my heart for his willingness to serve again.

Tucker also thanked Viar for his service and wishes him well in his retirement she said is much deserved.

Ayers, who hired Viar to the sheriffs office during his tenure as sheriff, did not comment when asked about his successors retirement. He said he is turning in his signatures in to the Amherst County Registrars Office on May 12 and will release a formal announcement soon.

He said if given a sixth term as sheriff, he will protect his community like he protects his family.

Im not a young man, Ayers said. But my desire to serve mankind and my community has not diminished at all.
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For the second time in eight years, Jeff Bennett is succeeding Michael Garrett as a sitting judge in the 24th Judicial District when he will become the new Amherst Circuit Court judge this summer.

Bennett, a Chesterfield County native who spent 13 years as a prosecutor in Lynchburg, has lived in Amherst County for the past 21 years. In July 2015, he was sworn in as Amherst County Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court judge and on June 30 will take the oath again as the circuit courts presiding judge in Amherst.

Im very excited about it, Bennett, 48, said in a recent interview. Its very humbling and a tremendous honor. Im looking forward to it.

Bennett said becoming a judge was an aspiration that happened during his tenure in the Lynchburg Commonwealth Attorneys Office, where he held the position of deputy prosecutor for much of his time there. He worked under former Lynchburg Commonwealth Attorneys William Petty and Michael Doucette who also became judges  Petty to the Virginia Court of Appeals and Doucette as current presiding judge in Nelson County Circuit Court.

Petty swore Bennett into the Amherst J&D court seat in 2015; Doucette is set to do those honors at Bennetts June 30 investiture ceremony in Amherst Circuit Court.

I cannot say enough good things about that office and the two of them, Petty said of his prosecuting years in Lynchburg. They were just tremendous mentors, they taught me how to practice law, how to be a lawyer. It was just a great office to work in. The focus was never on putting people in jail, the focus was on doing the right thing for the right reasons and trying to achieve a just result in every case. I was very fortunate to have gotten a job in that office and to have been trained there.

Petty during the 2015 investiture called Bennett a remarkable talent and a wise lawyer with common sense. During that same ceremony, Doucette described Bennett as a very diligent, hardworking attorney and tremendous asset to the Lynchburg prosecutors office.

Bennett said he was blessed to follow in Garretts footsteps eight years ago.

 When I got here, this court, it was a turnkey operation, Bennett said. Judge Garrett is very smart and organized; he runs a good court and a good operation. I walked in the door and it was a well-oiled machine. I didnt need to make a lot of changes.

He has enjoyed serving the Amherst community he has called home since 2002 and praised the wonderful staff in the J&D office.

This is a great community, Bennett said. Amherst is a great place.

He said the Amherst courthouse benefits from a tremendous group of lawyers that practice in the Lynchburg area who are very friendly and collegial.

As far as the work itself, I enjoyed it, Bennett said. When you have the success stories, this can be tremendously rewarding work. You feel the weight of the responsibility. Id be concerned about any judge that didnt. Ive enjoyed my time here.

In the first several years as judge, Bennett served one day per week in Nelsons juvenile and domestic relations court until the county received a full-time judge in recent years. He currently serves a few days per month in Campbell Countys J&D court and fills in around the district, which also includes Lynchburgs and Bedford Countys court systems, as needed.

What I have tried very hard to do here and I hope people would say Ive been somewhat successful in, like my practice as a prosecutor  this is public service, Bennett said. I think that a desire to serve the community and I think a strong sense of humility are extremely important characteristics in a judge. I try very hard to ensure everyone who comes in the courtroom has had an opportunity to have their say, to present their case, to tell me what they need to tell me.

Bennett said he also likes for people who come into court to understand how and why he makes decisions and feel satisfied with the legal process.

A graduate of Hampden-Sydney College and University of Richmond Law School, Bennett was a history major as an undergraduate and said he figured out numbers and science werent his career path. In college, he thought he would enjoy the rigor of the law and his older brother was an attorney, which Bennett said influenced his decision to pursue a living practicing law.

The COVID-19 pandemic and its effect on judicial operations was a major challenge in March 2020 and on for a lengthy period. For a while Bennett said by order of the Virginia Supreme Court only pressing, emergency cases were taken up and much of the caseload was delayed.

At the very beginning it was a completely different world, Bennett said. We never shut down but we streamlined for a while and there was a period we were doing things remotely.

The court was provided software that allowed for many remote appearances with parties to cases in different rooms and locations. The facial coverings rule and social distancing also was in place for in-person hearings for a while.

It was a tremendous challenge because no one knew how to do it, Bennett said. We got great support from Richmond but we were all figuring it out as we went.

For the most part, court now runs like it did before the pandemic started but it does receive requests for proceedings involving parties from remote locations.

Bennett said Amherst has been fortunate to have a high caliber of judges, praising Garretts predecessor, retired judge Mike Gamble, as a wonderful brilliant jurist. It is a privilege to once again preside over a court system Garrett has wonderfully managed, Bennett said.

Hes been an excellent judge, he said. I wish Judge Garrett well.
South Africa: National Treasury sets aside R265 million to get SA off grey list

Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana says efforts to get the country off the grey list are well underway, with the Financial Intelligence Centre (FIC) allocated more than R265 million over the medium-term.

Delivering his Budget Vote speech in Parliament on Tuesday, Godongwana said that this forms part of the response measures to the recent placing of the country on the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) grey list.

As part of the response measures to the recent placing of the country on the grey list, the Financial Intelligence Centre has been allocated additional funding of more than R265 million over the medium-term to implement the Financial Action Task Forces recommendations and get the country off the grey list, Godongwana said.

Earlier this year, the Paris-based anti-money laundering watchdog added South Africa to its list of countries that will be monitored to ensure the implementation of anti-money laundering and terrorism funding regulations.

Godongwana said that government will implement the Financial Action Task Forces recommendations, with his department providing periodic updates to Cabinet on progress.

Last year, the Minister said, government led an unprecedented process to pass an omnibus of statutory amendments that address the gaps in SA's anti-money laundering regime.

The National Treasury, as the lead in the Interdepartmental Committee on Anti-Money Laundering and the Combating of the Financing of Terrorism, continues to coordinate government-wide efforts to comprehensively address the remaining weaknesses in our legal system, he said.

Godongwana said one of the many examples is the frozen assets of individuals and entities designated by the United Nations to be linked to ISIS, the Taliban and al Qaeda.

He said that they have updated and strengthened systems for supervising non-financial businesses that are at risk of being used for money laundering or the financing of terrorism.

We have also strengthened the systems needed to identify the beneficial owners of business and trusts, so that they cannot hide behind the veil of corporate secrecy when engaged in money laundering.

Godongwana said these updates have been submitted to the FATF and a positive re-ratings of the country's technical compliance with FATF standards can be expected in the next six months.

Departmental budget

Godongwana announced that National Treasury has been allocated a total of R34.9 billion for the 2023/24 financial year.

Because of the dire economic situation, urgent and considered actions are required. The Budget Vote of the National Treasury aims to contribute to fostering higher and more inclusive economic growth, address fiscal vulnerability and stabilise public finances. These are preconditions for addressing poverty and unemployment, he said.

The Minister said 85% of the budget will be allocated for transfers and subsidies mainly to the South African Revenue Service (SARS), State Security Agency, conditional grants to municipalities and funding for Civil and Military pensions.

The allocation to SARS is R12.2 billion and it is to support continued efforts to rebuild SARS. I am pleased to report that the efforts are bearing fruit.

SARS has seen a net tax revenue growth of 7% per annum since 2019. Public trust in SARS has also increased from 48% in 2018 to 66% this year, whilst public attitude toward tax compliance is at 76.5%, Godongwana said.

Mending municipal finances

In relation to municipalities, Godongwana emphasised that decisive action is needed to restore the integrity of the sector.

Unfunded mandates, overexpenditure and ineffective revenue management practices have manifested in many municipalities defaulting on payments to creditors and falling into financial and service delivery crisis.

Furthermore, personnel expenditure is crowding out spending on service delivery and investment. In response, Treasury has placed 25 municipalities under mandatory intervention, under S139(5) of the Constitution, while three municipalities are subject to mandatory intervention under S139(7), he said.

The Minister emphasised that professionalising the administration of the municipalities is a critical pillar of addressing these issues, particularly the training of chief financial officers and municipal managers.

He told Members of Parliament that Treasury is supporting the countrywide roll out of training to support the implementation of the Municipal Standard Chart of Accounts, in addition to a number of free tools and training opportunities.

Over the last 12 months, 31 special council induction sessions were conducted for the 43 municipalities identified as being in financial and service delivery crisis. We are not resting on our laurels. Our interventions are beginning to bear fruit, Godongwana said.  SAnews.gov.za

This story has been published on: 2023-05-17. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
China-Central Asia business council to be established

Xinhua) 10:08, May 17, 2023

XI'AN, May 16 (Xinhua) -- A China-Central Asia business council will be established to strengthen economic cooperation between the two sides, an official said Tuesday.

The inauguration ceremony of the business council will be held here Friday during the China-Central Asia Summit running from Thursday to Friday, Yang Xiaojun, an official of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, told a press conference.

The event is expected to gather more than 400 representatives from industry associations and businesses, covering major cooperation areas including energy, construction, logistics, food, information and communications.

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun)
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Bedford County will receive $1.37 million from the Virginia Telecommunication Initiative (VATI) to fund a broadband project with Shentel in the northern part of the county, Gov. Glenn Youngkin recently announced.

The new project area includes 565 residences near the countys Cifax, Sedalia and Charlemont communities.

Bringing high-speed, affordable broadband connectivity to the citizens of Bedford County has been a top priority of this Board and will continue to be until universal coverage is achieved, Edgar Tuck, chair of the Bedford County Board of Supervisors, said in a news release. These additional funds will allow the County not only to build upon our existing partnership with Shentel, but we are confident it also will provide additional momentum to get the residents in these project areas connected sooner.

Shentel estimates the total cost of the project will be about $4.6 million and customers in those areas would be connected to broadband within the next 18 months, according to the release.

Tuck thanked Youngkin and the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development, which administers the VATI program that provides targeted funding to extend service to areas currently underserved by any broadband provider.

Bedford County has been focused on achieving universal broadband for several years. In the 2022 VATI grant application cycle, the county received three VATI grants totaling more than $26 million. For more information and to view an online map of the countys four VATI project areas, visit https://www.bedfordcountyva.gov/boards-commissions/broadband-authority.

Youngkin recently announced more than $59.5 million in VATI grants for 14 projects serving 20 localities throughout the state.

In todays increasingly digital world, having access to high-speed broadband is no longer a luxury, it is necessary in order to fully participate in daily life, Youngkin said in a news release. These investments will allow us to reach underserved communities, grow Virginias economy and close the digital divide across the Commonwealth.

The goal of VATI is to create strong, competitive communities throughout the state by preparing those communities to build, use and capitalize on telecommunications infrastructure, the release said.

Closing the digital divide is paramount to growing Virginias economy, supporting businesses and ensuring that all Virginians have the resources they need to thrive, Secretary of Commerce and Trade Caren Merrick said in the release. These investments will connect over 29,400 homes, businesses and community anchors, making critical strides toward achieving universal broadband in Virginia.
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As plans for annexation of more county land into the Town of Bedford are targeted for town council vote later this month, a Bedford County Board of Supervisors member publicly asked town officials to consider changing course.

Supervisor Bob Davis, who represents District 6 on the board that includes the Town and Country subdivision area that is within the Phase II boundary adjustment, asked Bedford Town Council on Tuesday to not annex that area.

Davis addressed council during the public comments portion of the meeting and spoke on the agreement between the former city of Bedford and Bedford County to revert the city to a town, which took effect in July 2013. He noted a section stated the agreement can be modified or amended in regard to boundary adjustments.

Council voted 5-2 in April to remove tracts from north of the Little Otter River on Virginia 43 from consideration of annexation while also voting 5-2 to keep an area on Forest Road currently on outskirts of town as part of the planned boundary adjustment.

The Phase II proposal, if given final approval, is set to bring in more than 2,000 acres in areas lying generally to the north, northeast, northwest, west, southwest and south of the existing town and would go into effect July 1.

Town Manager Bart Warner said the boundary adjustment would bring in about 1,000 county residents into the town.

Those new town residents would be subject to paying applicable taxes and fees, which drew the protests of many residents during an April 11 public hearing where more than 20 people spoke. Residents during the hearing that packed the towns meeting room spoke against annexing more land because of increased taxes, and services many feel are unneeded.

Davis asked council how county residents benefit if annexation moves forward, saying they already have trash pickup if they choose.

Each of us here know  we value our right to choose, Davis said. This is the United States of America  for the most part we have to the right to choose.

He said they already have law enforcement protection through the Bedford County Sheriffs Office and animal control.

Currently, their tax rate is very affordable, Davis said of the Town and Country area. Many of them are on fixed income. For them to pay more than what they are currently paying is going to be a significant burden.

Davis said he has spoken with many of those residents and figures show they would pay close to $800 per year in added taxes and the town will net about $108,000 per year from that area.

Is it really worth what you are going to be getting on an annual basis? Davis asked council. The reason they live in Town and Country is because they have a low tax rate and enjoy the quality of life  I really, really want to ask each one of you to look inside yourselves and think about how you would feel if you were forced to pay another, lets say, $800 a year in tax on your property.

According to Warners April 11 letter to council on the towns proposed fiscal year 2023-24 budget, an estimated $411,140 in added real estate tax collection would result from the Phase II boundary adjustment. That figure is before councils later vote to remove a portion on Virginia 43 north of the Little Otter River from consideration and another recent council vote to set the real estate tax rate at 28 cents per $100 of assessed value, one cent less than when the total assumed in the April 11 letter.

Council also held a public hearing Tuesday on the proposed budget that takes effect July 1, which drew no speakers. The budget plan includes a $10.1 million general fund and $24.9 million combined in solid waste and electric departmental spending.

Council is expected to vote on an ordinance for the Phase II boundary area during its May 23 meeting.

In other news Tuesday, council approved a resolution supporting a Phase 2 grant application for the Hilltop Community Revitalization Project. In August of 2021, the Town of Bedford Redevelopment and Housing Authority was awarded a Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) to support the rehabilitation project funded largely by CDBG money in conjunction with the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD).

The projects first phase includes 11 houses in the 60-acre Hilltop area that has been or will be repaired and brought up to proper health and safety standards, or demolished and built new if they are in irreparable condition. A CDBG grant is made to target low to moderate income areas of a locality and fund primarily housing repairs and rehabilitation.

Jefrado Granger, community development planner for the Central Virginia Planning District Commission (CVPDC), told council a dozen families attended a March meeting on the second phase of the project.

The grant cap is $1.2 million to rehabilitate or rebuild up to 19 homes over the cycle of the grant, according to town documents. The CVPDC will continue serving as grant manager for the project, which Granger said is about 30% complete with a goal of completing phase 1 by the end of the year.

Two weeks ago CVPDC signed five contracts to move forward with the next four homes rehab projects, Granger said.

The two-year targeted housing rehabilitation project throughout the phase 2 area is anticipated to benefit an estimated 29 people in 19 households, the resolution states.

Im amazed at the houses being renovated, Vice Mayor C.G. Stanley said. Its a great thing for the community. Its really helping the aesthetics for the Hilltop community. Im 100% behind it.
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BEDFORD  A Goodview man accused of accessory after the fact: homicide in connection with an ongoing Bedford County murder investigation was granted a secured bond Monday.

Jonathan Dewayne Bell, 34, was arrested April 25, a week after human remains later identified as Ethan Ryan Bert, 20, of York, Pennsylvania, were found in a burning vehicle in Bedford County, Virginia State Police have said.

Joseph Richard Walker, 29, of Roanoke, was arrested in Brevard County, Florida, and charged with second-degree murder in connection with the killing of Bert, according to state police.

An investigation began after Bedford County Fire & Rescue crews were called to a vehicle fire on Sandy Level Road off Virginia 24 in the Goodview area on April 18, a news release has said. Firefighters arrived at about 12:45 a.m. to find the vehicle fully engulfed in flames.

First responders found human remains later identified as Bert, who according to investigators died by violent circumstances prior to his remains being placed in the vehicle, the release said. The victim and Walker were believed to have known one another, according to the release.

Bedford County Commonwealths Attorney Wes Nance said at a bond hearing in Bedford General District Court on Monday that he and Matthew Pack, Bells attorney, recommended a property bond of $25,000. Under the agreement Bell is to stay within the state while awaiting further court hearings, Nance said.

No other details of the case were revealed during Mondays bond hearing. Bell and Walker each face a preliminary hearing at 1:30 p.m. July 12.

 Justin Faulconer
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In its 55th graduation ceremony, Central Virginia Community College celebrated the Class of 2023 on May 15 at the Liberty University Vines Center.

CVCC conferred more than 1,400 degree certificates and credentials, with students receiving associate of arts and sciences degrees, associate of applied science degrees, associate of science degrees, diplomas, certificates, career studies certificates and workforces solutions credentials in various areas, such as business administration, education, general studies, early college general studies, respiratory therapy and welding.

I want to extend my congratulations to our graduates of the class of 2023. We are here tonight to celebrate your achievements, and I hope you will savor this important milestone in your lives, said John Capps, president of CVCC.

Capps told students that he stands in awe and admiration of them because, I dont think I could do what many of you have done.

I dont believe I could overcome the challenges that ... you have overcome, he said.

Capps told students that graduating is a testament to not only them as students, but also the people they are. He hopes students are as proud to call CVCC their alma mater, as we like to call you our graduates.

Thats especially true for you. Youve had to fight your way through a pandemic to get here. Youve remained steadfast but you might have waited, and you persevere given that youve conquered every challenge set before you and there are many, Capps said.

Michael Davis, a graduate of CVCCs Respiratory Therapy Program and current assistant research professor at Indiana University, delivered the commencement address.

Davis told students their achievement can open a lot of doors and equip them to make the world better.

I hope you will pay that forward where your next chapters take you, Davis said.

Davis said his experience at CVCC made him who he is today.

He did not know what he wanted to do or be, the only thing he knew was that he could get started at CVCC while he figured it out.

Davis was aware of the respiratory therapy program at the college, and found the heart and lungs fascinating, and got accepted in 2003.

I came here having a very little idea of what I was doing professionally or academically and left in much better shape. Ill always be grateful for that. And Ive tried to pass that forward myself along the way, Davis said.

Davis urged students to keep walking through the doors that appear, keep stretching to make the world better and keep progressing.

One key thing he hopes students learned during their time at the college is how to keep learning.

The world is trying to keep changing and moving. Whether you stand still or not ... we just dont notice the possibilities, or perhaps there are even obstacles placed in our way, but I hope that you will take your CVCC education and experience and let it open every door, Davis said.

Bethany Rogers, who received her associate degree in general studies for the health science specialization, said her journey of getting to this point was hard.

Rogers, 27, took a four-year break after attending John Tyler Community College.

Over that time, she witnessed her grandfather in the hospital, which motivated her to get back in school and pursue her degree, with nursing as a possibility.

I learned that I was very passionate. I completed 26 credits in two semesters just to get here today, Rogers said.

Landora Tucker received her credential as a certified nurse aide. She said it feels wonderful to finish, but the journey was rough.

Tucker explained she was the oldest in the classroom and felt out of place, but eventually became the mama of all of the girls in her class, kept praying and was able to get through with Gods help.

She plans to take her CNA examination and work toward becoming a registered nurse.

No matter how old you are, you still can do it. Encouraging other people along the way. So yeah, thats what I learned, Tucker said.
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Energix Renewables, a company pursuing a special exception permit to operate a utility-scale solar operation on about 170 acres in the Piney River area of Amherst County, withdrew its permit a few hours before a public hearing the countys board of supervisors was set to hold May 16.

The project called Piney River Solar sought the permit for two parcels totaling more than 400 acres with road frontage on Virginia 151 near the Nelson County border and Roses Mill Road. The parcels previously were used as a tailing storage area in connection with the U.S. Titanium mining operation that spanned land in Amherst and Nelson counties, the site of a large amount of solid waste in violation of Amherst County zoning regulations, according to the application from Energix.

The Piney River Solar proposal would see this registered brownfield site with current historic difficulties, brought fully into compliance with local ordinances and part of a cleaner environment for the future of Amherst County, a recent letter to the county from Shawn Hershberger, development manager for the Piney River solar project, said.

Hershberger briefly addressed the Amherst County Board of Supervisors during the public comments portion near the start of the May 16 meeting.

We did make the hard decision to withdraw that application today with intent of putting pen back to paper, modifying it and making it an application we think will be better reflective of the neighbors wishes, the countys wishes and still something that will still be a win-win scenario for everyone, Hershberger told the board.

Hershberger thanked the county for its review and neighboring property owners and residents for their feedback.

The Amherst County Planning Commission voted March 16 to recommend denial of the special exception permit following a public hearing where eight area residents, including a few from Nelson County, spoke on concerns with the projects unknowns and impacts the solar operation would have on scenic views in that area.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency still regularly monitors the area where the solar farm is proposed, according to Energixs application. This utility-scale solar project will revitalize previously disturbed land with limited future uses into a net-positive project for the community, an excerpt from the application states.

Karla Hernandez, external affairs manager at Energy Renewables, said in a statement that Piney River Solar LLC takes community input very seriously and that factored into the decision to withdraw the application. Piney River Solar plans to soon resubmit the application with key changes reflecting feedback received on the proposed project, she said.

We are committed to working with the community to improve our project and make it harmonious with nearby land uses, Hernandez said. We are confident that Piney River Solar will soon deliver American-made renewable energy to benefit the local economy and our environment.

Skyler Zunk, co-founder and CEO of Energy Right, a nonprofit involved in clean energy discussions, attended the May 16 meeting with intent to speak. He told the board during public comments the nonprofit advocates for property rights, as long as applicants for solar operations are not adversely affecting neighbors.

Its very notable its proposed on a brownfield, Zunk said. That is what counties will go after all the time when looking for projects to site if its not taking up forest land or if its not taking up farmland. Brownfields are what everybody almost unanimously agrees are good spots for solar because there usually isnt the higher and better use.

Zunk said he appreciates the countys diligent work in reviewing solar operations. The Piney River project marked the largest scale in three such operations so far for the county in the past few years, county officials have said. The previous two received the boards approval.

Energy Right opposes any action by state lawmakers to strip counties of the authority in regulating such operations, Zunk said.

We think thats wrong, Zunk said. We think that counties that are doing this diligently and permitting good projects and saying no to bad ones are doing it right.

Tom Martin, the Amherst boards chair, said the contract for the property in Energixs application was signed in 2019 and the permit request was pulled two-and-a-half hours before Tuesdays hearing. He asked county staff and County Attorney Mark Popovich to look into ordinances that set a timeframe on when petitioners and applicants can postpone or withdraw requests.

Its definitely their right. We had a lot of citizens that came out for that, Martin said. Just to go through [all] that, have the citizens come out, and they just pull it  it just kind of sets me a little wrong.
Yemi Mobolade is the first elected black mayor of Colorado Springs. [ColoradoSun]

Mobolade's victory has been described as a political earthquake in Colorado Springs.

A Nigerian immigrant, Yemi Mobolade has been elected as the first black mayor of Colorado Springs in the United States of America.

Mobolade received 57% of the votes to defeat Wayne Williams, who polled 43% as of 7:15 p.m. on Tuesday, May 16, 2023, in the citys runoff contest.

At about 7:30 pm, Williams, a Republican conceded defeat before the second batch of results was released shortly before 9 p.m.

The victory of the Nigerian immigrant who is not affiliated with any political party has been described as a political earthquake in Colorado Springs, long known as a conservative stronghold.

In his victory speech, Mobolade said, We are Colorado Springs. Its a new day in our beloved city. Do you believe that? Colorado Springs will be become an inclusive, culturally rich, economically prosperous, safe and vibrant city.
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Amy Parker is the owner and head chef of The Back Forty Bar and Grill in Macedonia. She has owned and operated this community gathering place for four years. The restaurant is known for their delicious homemade lunch specials, burgers, and live music performances.

Were a small-town bar and grill that takes the time to do things right, Amy said.

During National Travel and Tourism Week (May 7-13), the Council Bluffs Convention & Visitors Bureau announced on their website and social media channels that The Back Forty won the Omaha Metropolitan Area (OMA) Tourism Award for the best restaurant in Pottawattamie County. These awards are given to the business that received the most online nominations and votes from the public earlier this spring.

Amy thanks her loyal customers and staff for nominating and voting for her restaurant. She says that the relationships she has built with her customers keep her coming back to work every day, and she loves it when people from outside the community come to enjoy a meal at The Back Forty. They frequently have people driving from surrounding communities like Council Bluffs, Omaha and Shenandoah.

When she isnt busy running the restaurant, Amy enjoys taking her daughter to Dream Playground at Lake Manawa State Park or enjoying a concert at Stir Concert Cove.

When asked what she believes Pottawattamie Countys hidden gems are, she mentioned the Grist Mill Theater in Macedonia and the Dreamland Theatre in Carson.
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David Hazlewood, who has worked to develop affordable housing in Council Bluffs in several different roles, has been appointed chief executive officer of NeighborWorks Home Solutions, according to a press release from Board Chairman Josh Berry.

Hazlewood was pleased with the appointment.

Its kind of a capstone to all the things I was gearing up from, he said Tuesday. Its been very rewarding.

NeighborWorks develops affordable and work force housing in Pottawattamie, Douglas and Sarpy counties.

Hazlewood has been chief operating officer with the nonprofit organization since March 2019. He has been instrumental in re-establishing community partnerships, designing an organizational strategic plan, assisting in the selection and hiring of a housing development director, implementing a culture shift to better serve staff and stakeholders and creating single- and multi-family development plans to better serve NeighborWorks and the communities it serves, according to the press release.

He launched construction of Franklin Heights, the subdivision taking shape on the plateau at Franklin and Bennett Avenues. Three houses have been completed and are now owner-occupied, and a fourth is being built. There are two duplex buildings under construction that will offer a total of four living units. NeighborWorks has also built several infill houses and partnered with private contractor Turn the Page for the development of many more.

The organization is now having an old garage at 17th Street and Avenue G demolished to pave the way for more projects, Hazlewood said.

One its demoed, we should be able to start construction of two single-family homes, he said.

NeighborWorks is partnering with IceCap Cold Storage, which is building a cold storage facility at 1720 16th Ave., on the development of eight additional single-family homes, Hazlewood said. IceCap purchased a block of land and demolished two buildings to make way for the development.

Those are going to be lease-to-own for their employees, he said.

NeighborWorks is also building two houses in north Omaha in partnership with Metropolitan Community College and is working to acquire a block of property for more houses in Council Bluffs.

Hazlewood joined NeighborWorks when it was trying to finish up development of the Walnut Grove subdivision. Construction of 14 single-family homes was originally envisioned as 14 building projects for Iowa Western Community College construction technology students. However, as enrollment in the program decreased, it became difficult for students to keep up with a timeline required for a federal grant paying for part of the development. After students completed their second house in the neighborhood and four were done by private contractors, Hazlewood went to NeighborWorks and lined up contractors to finish the subdivision.

He had been a faculty member of the construction technology program at Iowa Western Community College from August 2001 until January 2019. He served as the program chair for the construction technology program, welding program, sustainable energy program and the manufacturing program. He taught residential and commercial construction, engineering, construction management and welding during his tenure. He was instrumental in developing and sustaining partnerships with the community to construct over 31 affordable and workforce single family dwellings.

Prior to his employment at Iowa Western, Hazlewood was a successful general contractor in both residential and light commercial construction in Central Texas for eight years. He successfully constructed over 240 single- and multi-family projects in Texas.

He served eight years in the United States Marine Corps. While serving his country as a combat engineer, he also taught engineering and explosives for the United States Marine Corps at Quantico, Virginia for two years.

Hazlewood graduated from The Marine Corps University School of Engineering with a diploma. He also attended Tarleton State University and Iowa Western Community College. He obtained many teaching and construction certifications over his 31 years in education and the construction industry. He holds a residential license in Iowa and Nebraska.

He is affiliated with The Associated General Contractors of America-Nebraska Building Chapter, National Association of Home Builders & Home Builders Institute, Metro Home Builders Association of Omaha, Council Bluff Building Trades Association, Home Builders Association of Iowa, the Home Builders Association of Lincoln and the Master Builders of Iowa.
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The longtime choreographer for the Omaha Community Playhouse was just a tiny girl when she figured out she belonged in the theater.

Council Bluffs native Joanne Cady, who died this week at age 96, was in a fashion show at age 3, said son Jay Cady of Roeland Park, Kansas. Each model was supposed to walk on the platform, pose, and walk off. But she had a different idea.

When it was her turn, she went to the middle of the stage and started dancing, Jay Cady said. The audience started applauding. They loved it.

Backstage, show runners were frantically trying to rein her in.

She was like, No, they love me, and kept on going, Jay said. And a lifelong career was born.

She started dance lessons as a small child in Council Bluffs, got a high school diploma in boarding school at St. Marys Academy in Leavenworth, Kansas. She attended Iowa State University but didnt graduate and moved to New York City in the 1950s to become a professional dancer, though no job was waiting in the wings.

It was the classic Go to New York to make it story, Jay said.

She ended up working at one point with ventriloquist Shari Lewis and her puppets, though both Jay and his brother Jerry, of Council Bluffs, dont know many specifics about that gig.

She also met her husband, James F. Jim Cady, when she stopped in a favorite New York City bar one evening. As it turns out, Jim was having a backroom birthday bash at the tavern that night.

The bartender asked if she was there for Jims party, Jay said.

She said I dont even know Jim. Im just here for a drink, Jay said, but later, when she realized Jim was the guy who had just emerged from the backroom, she changed her mind. They got married in 1954 and had been together 44 years when he died in 1998.

Joanne Cady died Saturday at her home in Amelia Place Assisted Living in Council Bluffs.

She choreographed her first show at the Playhouse, The Music Man, in 1974, working with then-artistic director Charles Jones, who had just arrived at the theater from Georgia. He hired her as a full-time choreographer and teacher and she worked there for 30 years, retiring in 2003.

People who worked with Cady in Playhouse shows have posted tributes on Facebook this week. She was known for her wit and her inspiring method of teaching.

I will always admire the level of complexity and challenge she brought to her choreography, for both dancers and non-dancers said Susie Baer Collins, former assistant artistic director at the theater. (She) raised the bar for musical theater excellence at the Omaha Community Playhouse.

Another Facebook poster, Valerie Thorson, offered an anecdote that spoke to Cadys sense of humor.

One day I was in Charles office (Jones, the artistic director), and he leaned forward to rip off the next page in his small desk calendar, Thorson wrote. He immediately began to chuckle and then laugh uproariously. Written on the calendar, in Joannes handwriting, was Give Cady a raise. They made a remarkable team.

Cadys sons say she loved to laugh.

She was funny in a very dry way, Jay said. They also said she was a strong woman, calling her the glue to hold things together.

She was active in the community, choreographing the Ak-Sar-Ben Coronation Ball and a yearly variety show for the Arthritis Foundation that took months of rehearsal, her sons said. She was active in the Chanticleer Theater and the Bluffs Arts Council, was in the PEO sisterhood and was a lifelong member of the Catholic church.

When asked about her hobbies, Jerry displayed a little of her dry wit himself: She didnt really have time, did she?

But both sons said she fit bridge games and knitting into her schedule.

In addition to her sons, survivors include two granddaughters. A memorial Mass is at 10:30 a.m. Friday at St. Patrick Catholic Church, 4 Valley View Drive in Council Bluffs.
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National Alliance on Mental Illness Southwest Iowa will host a National Day of Hope Walk on Saturday, May 20, at Rodney Pits Recreation Area, outside of Rodney, Iowa. Rodney is just over an hours drive from Council Bluffs.

The walk is free for family, friends and significant others of those who wish to help shine awarness on mental health, and begins at 1 p.m.

NAMI Southwest Iowa provides information, classes, support groups and advocac about mental health conditions. The National Alliance on Mental Illness, of which NAMI Southwest Iowa is an affiliate, is the nations largest grassroots mental health organization dedicated to building better lives for the millions of Americans affected by mental illness.

For more information, contact Lisa Lima at lisa@namisouthwestiowa.com.
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DES MOINES  Iowa U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley said he's working on legislation to overturn California's Proposition 12, an animal welfare law recently upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Grassley said the proposal will be a reintroduction of the Exposing Agricultural Trade Suppression (EATS) Act, a Republican-backed bill introduced in 2021 that did not pass. U.S. Rep. Ashley Hinson, R-Iowa, proposed the bill in the House, while Republican Sen. Roger Marshall of Kansas led the Senate proposal.

"I'm working with my colleagues on a bill to reverse the effects of Proposition 12, and put an end to California's war on breakfast," Grassley told reporters on Wednesday.

The bill would prohibit states from imposing regulations on the production of agricultural products if those products originated outside the state.

Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, also co-sponsored the 2021 bill. A spokesperson said for Ernst on Wednesday that she is in discussions regarding legislation similar to the EATS Act.

California's law regulates the conditions of calves raised for veal, laying hens, and birthing sows whose products are sold in the state, including those produced in other states.

The Supreme Court last week denied a challenge to the law from national farm groups that said it violated the Constitution's prohibition on states restricting interstate commerce.

The law requires that sows that give birth to pigs sold for pork in the state be given at least 24 square feet of space. Farm groups argued it will require farmers to spend money to retrofit their operations to comply with the law, even if their products are not destined for California, pushing up pork prices nationally.

In his opinion, Justice Neil Gorsuch said California has a right to regulate products sold within its borders, but also noted Congress has the authority to overturn those regulations.

Grassley, who sits on the Senate Agriculture Committee, said Congress could work the proposal into the upcoming farm bill.

"With the reauthorization of the farm bill this year, Congress has a good opportunity to weigh in on this process and reverse Proposition 12 and help Iowa pork producers," Grassley said.

The farm bill, a sprawling agriculture bill reauthorized every five years, contains myriad divisions dealing with crop insurance, nutrition assistance, forestry and conservation. Last authorized in 2018, Congress will need to craft and pass a new farm bill this fall.

Sen. Grassley holds roundtable on challenges with local law enforcement leaders
WASHINGTON (AP)  Living in New York City, working full time and without a car, Jessica Ray and her husband have come to rely on deliveries of food and just about everything else for their home. It has meant more free time on weekends with their young son, rather than standing in line for to
"When no one wants to take you up on the TikTok tortilla challenge, you do it by yourself.!"



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People needing additional information about death notices and obituaries can call the Daily News at 371-1020 or (877) 371-1020 and ask for the newsroom.
Six African leaders plan to spearhead and facilitate what they hope could be the beginning of peace talks between Moscow and Kyiv more than one year after Russias invasion of Ukraine.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa announced on Tuesday (16 May) that Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had agreed to meet a group of African leaders to discuss a potential peace plan for the conflict. Six African leaders plan to travel to Moscow and Kyiv as soon as is possible to help find a resolution to the war, Ramaphosa said. The South African leader said he had presented the peace initiative, which was drawn up by Zambia, Senegal, the Republic of Congo, Uganda, Egypt and South Africa, separately to Putin and Zelenskyy over the weekend. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and the African Union (AU) have been briefed on the initiative and welcomed it, while the United States and the United Kingdom expressed cautious support for the proposal, according to Ramaphosa.

Ramaphosa did not give a specific timeline for the visit or other details, saying only that the conflict had been devastating and Africa is also suffering a great deal from it. African countries have been badly hit by rising prices of grain and by the impact to world trade. The war has largely reached a stalemate, although Ukraine is expected to start a counteroffensive soon to try to take back land occupied by Russia. Considered one of Moscows closest allies on the continent, South Africa says it is impartial and has abstained from voting on UN resolutions on the war.
Morocco was among the countries that benefited from the resumption of grain shipments from Ukraine receiving so far 111.1K tons of grains, according to UN data.

The Black Sea Initiative was agreed between Russia and Ukraine following Turkish and UN mediation in 2022 to help secure safe food shipments, notably cereals.

Russia however said it would quit the pact due to restrictions facing its own food and fertilizers export as Western sanctions on payments and logistics tighten the noose on Moscows economy.

The last ship left a port in Ukraine on May 16 leaving uncertainties as to future cereals and grains shipments from the war-torn country that plays a key role in global food security and supply chains.

Besides Morocco, a major soft wheat buyer, other north African countries, namely Egypt, Algeria and Tunisia benefited from the resumption of Ukrainian exports.

Senior officials from Russia, Ukraine, Turkey, and the U.N. met in Istanbul last week to discuss the Black Sea pact, U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said on Tuesday.

Contacts are going on at different levels. Were obviously in a delicate stage, he said.
The Court of first instance of Tunis sentenced Tuesday Nadia Akacha, former Chief of Staff of President Kais Saied to one year in prison, in absentia, for defamation and false accusations.

The ruling from the sixth criminal chamber of the court came following a complaint by a former staff from the United Nations system accused by the former Tunisian official for leaking a telephone conversation.

Nadaia Akacha who resigned in January last year was at the center of a series of leaked audio tapes attributed to her. The now in exile Tunisian woman denied any wrongdoing and indicated it was a montage and rigged sound elements.

She requested investigations for the tapes. Tuesday court ruling also ordered Akacha to pay $195 in fine.

In January, another court ruling condemned the former official to four years in prison in connection to the leaked conversation, following the lawsuit lodged by the sister-in-law of the Tunisian President.

In one of the leaked tapes, Akacha revealed that President Saied is ill and does not recognize his ailment.

He will end up very badly, because he is ill and does not recognize his illness. He is going to the wall, even on a personal and psychological level, he is going badly, very badly. There is a doctor who follows his condition. He has foreseen that he will have a big crisis and he will have it because this kind of pathology degenerates in the absence of care and supervision, she allegedly said in the tape leaked on social media.

The leaked audio came few months after her resignation that chalked on fundamental differences with the countrys leader.
OCP Group, the Moroccan state-owned global phosphate-based plant and animal nutrition solutions provider, and Fertinagro Biotech S.L., a major Spanish fertilizer producer, have finalized the acquisition by OCP of 50% Stake In Globalfeed S.L.

In a joint press release issued this Wednesday, May 17, 2023, the OCP Group and Fertinagro Biotech S.L., a major fertilizer producer in Spain, announce that they have finalized the acquisition by the OCP Group of a 50% stake in the capital of GlobalFeed S.L.

GlobalFeed, located in Spain, manufactures and distributes a wide range of products in the animal nutrition segment, including phosphate-based commodities and high-value feed solutions customized to different livestock species.

Regarding the transaction Marouane Ameziane, Managing Director for Specialty Products and Solutions at OCP Group, said: This acquisition confirms OCPs commitment to becoming a leading player in the animal nutrition sector. We are delighted to close this transaction and strengthen our partnership with Fertinagro.

Following this acquisition, we intend to increase GlobalFeeds production capacity to 400,000 tons per year by 2027, in order to serve the needs of our customers around the globe, with an offering that expands our portfolio to include, beyond DCP, MCP and MDCP, premium products and customized solutions, Ameziane said.

Generoso Martin, Founder of Fertinagro Biotech, on his part said that the completion of this acquisition not only demonstrates our two companies strong commitment to continue serving our customers with innovative phosphate solutions, but is also a testament to the success of our relationship, which we will continue to strengthen in the years to come.

OCP is a global leader in plant nutrition and the worlds first producer of phosphate-based products. It provides a wide range of customized products to enhance soil, increase agricultural yields, feed animals, and help nourish the planet in a sustainable and affordable way.

OCP provides essential elements for the agricultural industry, with a century of experience and revenues reaching $11.3 billion in 2022. OCP is a leader in plant nutrition and the worlds first producer of phosphate-based products.

Headquartered in Morocco and present on five continents, OCP works in close partnership with more than 350 customers across the world. The Group is firmly convinced that leadership and profitability are necessarily synonymous with social responsibility and sustainable development. Its strategic vision is rooted in the meeting of these two dimensions.

The Company owns flexible production units with a capacity of 200,000 tons of phosphate-based products and 30,000 tons of iron sulphate located in Huelva, Spain, and benefits from a large global sales footprint.

The animal feed market has been strong these past years thanks to livestock production growing around the world, in order to feed the populations increasing needs for adequate meat and protein products, especially in the emerging countries.

In this context, this transaction will contribute to OCPs strategy to grow in the animal nutrition segment by expanding its presence geographically and offering a diversified, customized, and innovative product portfolio.

Fertinagro is a major Spanish fertilizer company with more than 35 years of experience in the production and commercialization of plant nutrition solutions (NPK, enriched NPK, biostimulants etc.) and is a leading player in terms of product development capabilities biotech application and number of patents registered. It has a production capacity of 2 million tons throughout its 28 owned manufacturing plants and logistics centers located in Spain and France. Fertinagro also has an international footprint through its subsidiaries and sales in over 60 countries worldwide.
The bodies of nine migrants from sub-Saharan Africa were discovered recently in Tunisia on the Algerian border, judicial sources said this Wednesday, quoting a Tunisian NGO.

According to the NGO, the migrants died of thirst and cold.

The bodies were found recently in a mountainous area near Haidra, in central-western Tunisia, not far from the border with Algeria.

An investigation was opened, Kasserine court spokesman Riadh Nwiwi told the media, adding that an autopsy has been ordered to determine the causes of death.

The Forum for Economic and Social Rights (FTDES), which follows migration issues in Tunisia, said in a statement that according to preliminary data, the nine migrants died of cold, thirst and fatigue.

According to the FTDES, migrants travel great distances in hostile climate for multiple reasons: to escape wars and tragedies, difficult economic conditions or climate change.

The forum called for the establishment of a system of reception and humanitarian orientation at the Algerian-Tunisian border to ensure to the migrants basic humanitarian services on these deadly migratory routes.

Between January and April, the number of irregular migrant entries into the European Union through the central Mediterranean reportedly increased by almost 300% compared to the same period of 2022, reaching 42,200.
Gift this article Share this article paywall-free.

Starting in June, the Nebraska Department of Transportation is planning to renovate Jeffers Street from Leota Avenue to First Street.

The agency held a public informational session at Harvest Christian Fellowship Tuesday explaining the process and taking public feedback.

The project will be split into two segments: The first segment, from Leota to Philip, will be this year ending in the first or second week of November. Work on Philip to First will start during the construction season in 2024, sometime during March to April, said Gary Thayer, District 6 engineer for NDOT.

Both projects will be split into three phases, with each phase leaving one lane of Jeffers Street open to traffic, while two other lanes will be rebuilt and repaved.

Phase one will leave the westernmost lane open with the other two closed. Phase two and three will have a newly constructed easternmost lane for motorists while workers renovate the middle and west side of Jeffers. Charts indicate the direction of construction will start south and work its way north.

The projects intend, Thayer said, to replace the concrete, but not to make any other drastic changes.

This is more of a pavement replacement just because of the age of the pavement, said Thayer. And underground utilities, sidewalk, street lighting, new traffic signals, those type of things. New driveways, new intersections.

Lights will be swapped from incandescent lamps to LEDs. Storm sewers will also be renovated.

The first phase has most of the storm sewer underneath it, so Thayer says it will take longer.

If everything goes right, he expects the first phase to complete in August. The second and third phases will last from mid-August to early November.

Construction is scheduled to start June 5.

Thayer said there will be no need for detours and no long term disruption to business. Depending on the phase of construction, some streets may be temporarily closed off from access to Jeffers, but only as construction meets those intersections.

We got some very specific contract language about how and what the contractor can close and how they have to alternate the closures of any of the main intersections, he said.

Contractors are Paulsen Inc. of Cozad.

Still, beginning of construction will coincide with Nebraskaland days, and that was just an unfortunately unavoidable circumstance, he said.

You have to allow the contractor to get in as early as he can, he said. So, if we would have tried to start gapping for Nebraskaland days, instead of a two-year project it probably would have wound up a three-year project.

Still, traffic is maintained throughout the corridor, so things may proceed slower, but nothing will be inaccessible.

Thayer said the project is $11.4 million dollars in total, with an 80/20 split in cost between NDOT and the City of North Platte, respectively. A part of Francis St. is also due for renovation all at North Plattes cost.

Thayer said Dewey is also scheduled for renovations, but that will be years off to ensure disruptions are kept at a minimum.
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Prosecutors charged a 21-year-old Lincoln man Friday with first-degree sexual assault after a teenage girl told police that she had sexual contact with him when she was 15, police alleged in court filings.

Wint Pham was 19 years old when he sexually assaulted the girl for the first time, Lincoln Police Investigator Lynette Russell said in the probable cause statement for his arrest.

Police believe Pham initially assaulted the girl in December 2019 and did so repeatedly until November 2021, buying her Levonorgestrel pills  often called "Plan B pills"  and having her take pregnancy tests, Russell said in the statement.

The girl, now 17, reported the assaults to police earlier this month.

Investigators arrested Pham on Thursday and took him to the Lancaster County jail, where a judge ordered he be held on a $500,000 percentage bond.

He must pay $50,000 to be released.
Photo-Illustration: Intelligencer; Photos: Shutterstock, Getty Images

In the last few months, soon-to-be-official Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis has pursued varying strategies in his effort to deal with 2024 front-runner Donald Trump. Initially, the Florida governor seemed to be well on his way to eclipsing the 45th president by putting together a pan-ideological coalition of Republicans ready to move on from the founder of the MAGA movement. More recently, as Trump has surged into a lead in the polls and among elected officials, the DeSantis rationale has been more subtle: Trump may own the hearts of the GOP base, but hes toast in a general election, and will inevitably sacrifice his party and his country to a narcissistic campaign doomed to fail.

Evidence of DeSantiss superior electability isnt that easy to come by, so presumably his team has been looking for something a bit more immediate to help him get a leg up on his rival. It may have arrived in a sudden dispute between the candidates over the red-hot issue of abortion.

Trump started the brouhaha on Monday with a strange comment in an interview with the Messenger about the six-week abortion ban DeSantis recently signed into law.

He has to do what he has to do, Trump said. If you look at what DeSantis did, a lot of people dont even know if he knew what he was doing. But he signed six weeks, and many people within the pro-life movement feel that that was too harsh.

Trump didnt explain how many people were many, but anti-abortion activists were quick to explain that they want to outlaw all abortions. And many eyebrows were raised when one of Iowas most important conservative Evangelical opinion leaders, Bob Vander Plaats, embraced the criticism of Trump:

Coincidentally or not, DeSantis, who often ignores Trumps sniping at him, responded quickly, as the Hill reported:

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) went after former President Trump over his stance on abortion restrictions, saying Tuesday that Trump dodged questions about whether he would sign a bill similar to the six-week abortion ban signed by DeSantis 

DeSantis fired back during a bill signing in Tallahassee on Tuesday, criticizing Trump for not saying whether he would sign a similar bill.

I think that as a Florida resident, you know, he didnt give an answer about would you have signed the heartbeat bill that Florida did. DeSantis said. He wont answer whether he would sign it or not.

This was interesting coming from a politician who wouldnt even mention the six-week ban in an appearance at conservative evangelical Liberty University the very day after he signed it. It sounds like hes now ready to lean into his base-pleasing record on abortion even though many swing voters (including Floridians) are horrified by it. The opening Trump gave him, and the issues particular importance in Iowa (where Evangelicals dominate conservative caucusgoers) may just be too tempting.

More generally, DeSantis may see an opportunity to severely damage the 45th president in the very first contest of the 2024 GOP primary, instead of playing the longer game and hoping Trump fatally stumbles or Republican voters truly get tired of his act. His campaign surely made a big and successful opening play in Iowa last weekend with a little help from Mother Nature and an unusual Trump campaign misstep, as Politico reported:

A tornado watch kept Donald Trump away from his planned rally in Iowa on Saturday  and Ron DeSantis took full advantage, barnstorming the state in the former presidents absence.

DeSantis fought his poor reputation for retail politicking by engaging in such Iowa Caucus rituals as an appearance at a Pizza Ranch restaurant and some burger-flipping time with a whos who of Iowa Republican politicians (including Governor Kim Reynolds and Senator Joni Ernst) in vote-rich northwest Iowa. His campaign also showed a deft touch by arranging an unscheduled detour to Des Moines, where DeSantis was able to point to the nice weather in order to lightly mock Trump for canceling his rally there. And the uncontested visit was nicely coordinated with a show of force by the DeSantis super-PAC, which announced DeSantis endorsements from over a third of the Republicans in the state legislature, a very impressive haul.

Going forward, if DeSantis is able to exploit Christian-right unhappiness with Trumps criticisms and equivocations on abortion, he could become the favorite in Iowa (for the record, the candidates endorsed by Vander Plaats won the caucuses in 2008, 2012, and 2016). But thats a big if: Aside from Trumps residual strength in conservative evangelical pews (if not pulpits), Mike Pence and Tim Scott have the same idea as DeSantis, and can boast records of personal piety and public bible-thumping that at this stage the Floridian has never even tried to emulate. And for them, its Iowa or bust.

Perhaps DeSantis will become Iowa-centric as well, but to the extent that he tries to become 2024s version of 2016s Ted Cruz or 2012s Rick Santorum, he may be sacrificing some of that electability street cred that up until now has been so important to his candidacy.
Good for them. I would never but love this for them. 

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Ikr. Is there a word for when something id cringey but you also kinda admire it but would never? Somewhere between second-hand embarrassment and admiration

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She didn't even care or speak out when certain ~ahem fine people~ consider(ed?) her their princess. Why would she care about this?

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I keep thinking back to that now too...

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Her music can't be that good for these fans to be embarrassing themselves like this.



STAND UP!

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guess you've never heard dear john!

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Tbh shes really good at making catchy music. Only after Red though. All the albums before that are corny.

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me reading this being a debut and speak now stan 

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New Romantics / LWYMMD is not enough for me to whip out Grammarly for T. Swift!

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To a point, I love cheesy pop music but even her shit is not it. I dont get it.



I was in the car and that sexy baby song came on and I was just like THIS? THIS IS YOUR LEADER?!

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The Fans did it for Dylan OBrien and Ben Barnes, why wouldnt they do it for Taylor? lmao. Shes the new white boy with a racist gf

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The comments on instagram when anyone criticizes her are droves of fans claiming shes the best lyricist of our generation and we just arent listening closely to how deep her lyrics are 

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Love Story is a masterpiece, sorry to say.



I still wouldn't do this tho.

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I don't have a great taste in music so I should be one of TS's biggest fan but what I have listened so far from her sounds the same, a bland, uninspired, safe, unflavored potato.



I hope with time I discover she was indeed a great singer and songwriter, but for now I can't understand how someone so boring and generic is so famous.

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It is the most mediocre stuff I've ever had the displeasure of listening to, but from the way her fans go on about her you'd think she was a wordsmith on the level of Kate Bush or someone like that.



Edited at 2023-05-17 08:52 pm (UTC)

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She doesnt care lol

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MTE! lmao They don't know her at all, do they?

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Doesn't she though? There's nothing she cares about more than what people think of her

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There's no way she would ever respond to this.

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better to denounce it to gain more traction about how shitty her boyfriend is than just sit in silence imo

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from a pr perspective, absolutely not lol. the people who try to acknowledge everything are the ones who get trapped in a PR mess, and it is always better to avoid a statement and avoid drawing attention to any controversy



especially one that, i'm sorry, the gp is generally not aware of.



taylor has also proven over and over again that she cannot write a statement that calms people down. it never goes well for her



Edited at 2023-05-17 04:14 pm (UTC)

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I think if she's silent about it it will be forgotten in a couple of weeks - it would have to be something everyone is talking about for her to really feel like she needs to respond.

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Im genuinely upset for her fans that are good people that like her music. And thats one of the reasons why I cant stand her.



Edited at 2023-05-17 04:03 pm (UTC)

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good for these fans. i hope they continue to call her out, you know she looks at all this social media of herself.. she will be bound to see it and hopefully feel uncomfortable

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This is hilarious. Theyre not wrong in what they said but instead of trying to scold her into being your perfect role model maybe move on??



Shes more than shown her colors now.



Edited at 2023-05-17 04:05 pm (UTC)

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Yeah, this kind of scold makes more sense for a friend/family not your fav artist. I LOVE Fiona Apple but if she went full MAGA, what can I do but stop listening to her music. Also, if someone has to 'call you out' for dating a bigot, that's a problem in and of itself. You needed someone to tell you that shit is wrong? Come on.

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Wait whut!!! How did I miss that about Fiona??!

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Why can't cancel culture cancel this devil woman!!



/s because I know cancel culture isn't real

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that's what I don't get, like she doesn't need to be a role model lol. she is not a close, personal friend you are trying to save from a shitty relationship. I love her but girl has proven time and time again that she is a messy bitch and that is almost entirely why swifties (myself included) enjoy her music. this open letter stuff is embarrassing, just enjoy the bops and go!

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The letter is measured and well thought out. It shouldve ended with and this is why we cant support you or your music anymore k thx bye.



Shes purposely cultivated a mutually parasocial relationship with her stans so while they dont have a right to dictate who she dates or is friends with, they have a right to tell her goodbye.

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At the end of the day, she will make herself the victim in all this and everyone will eat it up.

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Yep, what I was thinking.



In the end these same people will be excusing everything she did when she writes a sad song about it.

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"you don't understand she was heartbroken and on the rebound and HE mAnIpUlaTeD HER!!! She had NO chance!!1!"

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Literally a intervention letter when your bestie is in her coke boyf era. Good luck to the fans



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this is so embarrassing for them

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i hope they take this to capitol hill

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I don't want this joke to ever die

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what is joe biden's plan to break up taylor swift and matty healy?

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I cant even read it

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mteeee my god

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The professionalism and thoughtful wording of this is freaking me out. I mean, is there like a TS fan headquarters? Is there a PR branch? Did they have a crisis meeting?

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that one friend who majored in comms

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this is white women's superpower when something hurts them personally

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You're right and I feel called out

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This went all the way up to legal

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Now I HAVE TO read it.

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They're doing better than Chrevans stans lol

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Having read neither letter, how does it compare to the letter Chris Evans fans wrote about his new girlfriend?



I assume that since Matty Healy is actual trash there is actual content to this letter, already making it superior.

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Edited at 2023-05-17 05:07 pm (UTC) They took the Truth and Narrative Customization class at ONTD University.

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Idk if I'm reading it wrong but it's coming across as part concern, part passive-aggressive, part condescending, part patronizing, and yet still very professional, lol. Like damn, a lot of thought went into this!



insert mariekondoilovemess.gif



Edited at 2023-05-17 05:15 pm (UTC)

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I agree! They worded this so eloquently. I'm impressed.

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Idk, you can think he is trash and he could be trash but that still doesnt give you as a fan the right to dictate who someone you dont even know dates. People dont even have this power over people they actually know in real life and are really close with. Havent you had a friend date a trash person and you just have to deal with it? These fans are way out of pocket!

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Theyre giving her a chance to still have their support. Theyre not crossing any boundaries or anything but holding her accountable for the company she keeps

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They dont know her. It seems super entitled to try to hold someone accountable for their personal relationships as a complete stranger. She almost certainly doesnt care about them giving her a chance to still have their support. This feels a few steps further than assessing her character because of the people she surrounds herself with.

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yeah it's all so ridiculous. she deserves these entitled, parasocial fans though so i don't feel bad about it. i'm just here for the drama and her stans always deliver

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They didn't even tell her to break up though.



She can date whoever she wants obviously. But I don't think they're out of line to tell her how they feel.



I hope friends would tell thier friends they should break up with a racist misogynistic antisemite.  like what type of relationships do yall have with your friends?

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Also Taylor purposely courts this behavior so

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idk if im the weird one but i take my friends opinions of who i date into consideration. they see something i dont and they offer some insight.

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Beyond Taylor and friends, matter of fact is people won't cut ties with someone until it personally affects them, hell, I've received backlash from distancing myself from friends who have done harm to other people because it's perceived as valuing a stranger over your friends.

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This is the kind of attachment AND consumer activism shes encouraged from her fans though. Its just gone slightly against *her* now.

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You are 100 percent correct but Taylor has built her fanbase this way on purpose to reap the commercial benefits so shes also got some responsibility for how obsessed her fans have become. Normally I dont think celebrities should be held accountable for how their fans act - but Taylor on purpose has created this narrative of like youre all my best friends!, would invite fans over and bake cookies for them, etc. etc. she wanted this massive cult-level of a fanbase and shes made strategic steps to help cultivate that.



It doesnt give people a right to dictate her life, sure, but shes definitely always wanted this creepy cult like fanbase who worships her and thinks of her as some deity / perfect role model

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more of this please! hope it comes to fruition. good luck!

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Good. There needs to be more pushback against this book banning crap on all levels. As a public librarian I can say it's getting ugly, and in public schools it's worse.

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I can't imagine they'll have much luck with this if it's literally in the law, but let's hope anyway.

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Well I think the point of the court case is that the law is not constitutional. They're challenging the constitutionality of the law.

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The lawsuit could potentially reach the supreme court. The published have a point that it infringes in first amendment rights in public schools and public services. Discriminatory practices and laws shouldn't be in practice in those settings.



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I hope they get a sane judge...



If DeSantis continues to take Ls on his culture war bullshit, maybe he'll stop.

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Cant wait for him to see just how much of his bullshit is actually going to hurt the FL economy. As everyones been saying hes been fucking around and Im hoping hes in for a very unpleasant finding out.

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The real heroes here are the parents leading the lawsuit on behalf of their kids being deprived of books.

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luckily they have access to the corporate resources that the publishers would have to hire a really good legal team too

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I feel like even more groups are going to sign on or contribute to other lawsuits against the many counties and states doing this, and good, put some corporate profits to good use.

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Get their asses!

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I feel so blessed I grew up with free access to books with parents who were really encouraging of my desire to read and who brought me to libraries and book stores.



What they're doing to those kids in Florida is sick.

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It's literally an alternate history going on in Florida and the US government should've stepped in long ago. Texas too. They have their own curriculums, textbooks, etc. Made by the same publishers that print books for other states. It's nuts.



I mean, they started banning math textbooks because they were "woke". How tf does that work??

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Same. Even when money was tight, my parents always bought me books. They also took me to the library and let me check out the maximum number of books and never complained about carrying 20 books for me. And they never told me I couldn't read certain books. They let me pick out what I wanted to read and never censored my reading material.

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Thats good. I saw one Tiktok clip on my FYP about this and the other teacher got in trouble for playing a movie in class that happened to have a LGBTQA character (for just literally existing for a hot minute or something) in it due to those bigotry laws. The kids in her class are already identified and confirmed as LGBTQA. Like this sent the conservatives into a frenzy spiral which is hilarious to watch. Just too stupid. These people need to. Like. go outside and touch the grass, get therapy or something.



Can you imagine how embarrassing than already this is for them in the next decade? They played themselves like how do they think they can be taken seriously if theyre spewing their own irrelevance and the same old tired shit

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All because some Moms for Facism (liberty) member is on a crusade to forever be a victim.

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The teacher apparently had signed consent forms from every parent. But they still did this

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There's more info about it here!

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i'm a big fan of libraries and books in general AND i live in Tenn AND i'm a mom. this shit STRESSES ME OUT.



do you think i wanna watch the city's board of education meetings when they stream it on youtube? NO. it's SO boring lmao. sometimes i watch in double speed. but i gotta stay SHARP.

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Fucked up that this even needs to happen. I hope they win.

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I'm glad people are being aware and fighting back. Several social justice organizations have put FL on a place that's dangerous to travel to

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A lot of people in education there are moving and flat out telling other educators not to bother with FL and that recent case of the teacher getting sued by the State for showing a Disney film has made it worse. I've noticed there's a lot of jobs in academia there...and no one wants to take them.

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DeSantis wants uneducated children mothers are forced to give birth to that he can shove into the tourism pipeline and pay peanuts to.

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I need to watch DeSantis suffer.

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Edited at 2023-05-17 07:51 pm (UTC)

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About fucking time someone sued FL for their nonsense!



Considering how much they're dumbing down education in FL it's only a matter of time before all of their secondary schools get Decertified and that's going to hurt everyone.

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That's what he wants, so he can sell off the schools to corporations.

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The joke's on him because Decertification means no competitive sports or other events and no decent college or Uni will have you. I genuinely feel bad for FL students because they are getting completely fucked over.

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I hope more parents join in the lawsuit.

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Ron DeSantis is sending in state investigators from the Dept. of Education to interrogate students about watching the Disney movie Strange World in class.



I repeat, interrogations of 5th graders by state officials for watching a Disney movie.https://t.co/T9N74PP8Lu pic.twitter.com/fdBEaP76dx  Alejandra Caraballo (@Esqueer_) May 17, 2023





Fuck him gently with a chainsaw. Fuck him gently with a chainsaw.

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I'm just...there are no words.



:(

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Why are people so VILE.

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I saw a meme  "I only say 'morning'. I don't say good morning, because if it were a good morning, DeSantis would be  " well you can guess the rest.

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Improve Your Workforces Health and Safety: Why Access to Resources Matters

To make a difference in our communities, it is essential to focus on the safety and mental health of our mission-critical workforce.

The news cycle these days is often filled with stories that leave us feeling discouraged and even horrified. From school shootings to rising mental health issues, it can be difficult to maintain a positive outlook.

Shockingly, nearly one in five American adults will experience a diagnosable mental health condition in any given year. Additionally, 46 percent of Americans will meet the criteria for a diagnosable mental health condition sometime in their life, with half of those people developing conditions by the age of 14. These types of statistics are eye-opening and highlight the need for more training in the workplace on topics as direct as mental health awareness, but also those that are connected to our mental health, such as trauma, stress management, and depression.

The workplace is a complex environment, wrought with a unique set of potential risks and hazards. Employees rely on their employers to provide them with the information and resources they need to stay safe on the job, not just physically but also mentally. Business leaders have a legal and ethical obligation to ensure their workforces have access to critical health and safety data, such as safety protocols and occupational health resources.

Critical Issues and Challenges That Still Need Addressing

There are many issues and challenges in our world today that businesses should be looking at ways to help. One issue that is particularly pressing and close to our hearts is the rise in gun violence, both in K-12 and higher education institutions. Additionally, recent devastating gun violence incidents in places of business, such as the deadly Louisville bank shooting in April 2023, have further highlighted the importance of addressing this issue. The crises Americans are facing today are multifaceted and, unfortunately, there is no singular solution to these complex problems. However, training communities can play a significant role in preventing such incidents. This includes providing mental health education, so individuals seek help before they take drastic actions, educating communities on how to respond during a crisis, and providing resources for trauma healing and post-incident management.

As our society faces these challenges, it is crucial that businesses and individuals with resources, expertise, and passion come together to make a difference. Education and training are key underpinnings to help prevent, manage, and understand these critical issues, keeping our mission-critical workforce safe and healthy.
Hedging is a popular trading strategy frequently used by oil and gas producers, airlines and other heavy consumers of energy commodities to protect themselves against market fluctuations. During times of falling crude prices, oil producers normally use a short hedge to lock in oil prices if they believe prices are likely to go even lower in the future.

Last year, with oil and gas prices hitting multi-year highs, producers that typically lock up prices preferred to hedge only lightly, or not at all, to avoid leaving money on the table if crude continued to soar.

But oil and gas prices have retreated significantly since peaking mid-2022, leaving producers with minimal hedging exposed to highly volatile energy markets.

Back in November, Standard Chartered reported that the U.S. oil hedge book was less than a fifth of the Q1-2020 peak of 563mb. Now the commodity traders have provided an update and revealed that producers are still showing little appetite for this type of insurance despite wild swings in oil prices. StanChart has revealed that there has been no significant rebound in oil hedging by U.S. producers over the past three months with the hedge book standing at 363 million barrels (mb) at the start of May, a mere 1.5% higher than the February estimate and the lowest across the 30 quarters of its panel survey.

Meanwhile, hedge ratios remain low with the 2023 figure at 21.2%, while the ratio for 2024 output is just 5.2%. Gas producers have been more cautious with equivalent ratios for natural gas output at 43.2% for 2023 and 22.5% for 2024, perfectly understandable considering the huge gas price crash. The experts have reported that the distribution of 2023 purchased put options held by producers is mostly clustered almost exactly in the middle of the key USD 68-72/bbl range, suggesting that gamma effects are likely to intensify the next significant move above or below that range.

About a month ago, Standard Chartered reported that the extreme volatility being witnessed in the oil markets is due to gamma hedging effects, with banks selling oil to manage their side of options as prices fall 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. While gamma hedging effects do not trigger the initial price fall, they result in a short-term undershoot, further magnified by the closing out of associated less committed speculative longs. Related: WTO Chief: Nigeria Cant Rely On Oil & Gas Revenues

The Best Hedge: A Strong Balance Sheet

Buoyed by the best financial performance in years, oil executives are wagering that high oil and gas prices are here to stay, with less hedging activity reflecting this optimism.

As Paul Cheng, an analyst at Scotiabank, has told Bloomberg, the best hedge for oil and gas companies is a strong balance sheet.

Management teams have greater FOMO, or fear of missing out, being hedged in a runaway market. With prices rising and companies books stronger than theyve been in years, many drillers are opting out of their usual hedging activity, Cheng told Bloomberg.

Likewise, RBC Capital Markets analyst Michael Tran told Bloomberg, Fortified corporate balance sheets, reduced debt burdens and the most constructive market outlook in years has sapped producer hedging programs.

Some Big Oil companies are so confident that high oil prices are here to stay that they have completely ditched their hedges.

To wit, Pioneer Natural Resources Co .(NYSE: PXD), the biggest oil producer in the Permian Basin, closed out almost all of its hedges for 2022 in a bid to capture any run-up in prices while shale producer Antero Resources Corp.(NYSE: AR) revealed that its the least hedged in the companys history. Meanwhile, Devon Energy Corp. (NYSE: DVN) is only about 20% hedged, way lower than the companys ~50% normally.

Interestingly, some oil companies are being egged on by investors looking for more commodity exposure.

It has been overwhelmingly the request of our investors. We have a stronger balance sheet than weve ever had, and we have more and more investors that want exposure to the commodity price, Devon Chief Executive Officer Rick Muncrief told Bloomberg News when asked about the decision to hedge less.

But the experts are now saying that the current trend of not hedging future output could have major implications up and down the forward price curve--in a good way.

Thats the case because energy producers act as natural sellers in futures contracts some 12 to 18 months ahead. Without them, trading in later months has less liquidity and fewer checks, leading to more volatility and potentially even bigger rallies. In turn, higher oil prices in the future are likely to encourage producers to invest more in drilling projects, a trend that has slowed down considerably thanks in large part to the clean energy transition.

Double-edged sword

Other than avoiding leaving money on the table, theres another good reason why producers have been hedging less--avoiding potentially huge losses.

Hedging is broadly meant to protect against a sudden collapse in prices. Many producer hedges are set up by selling a call option above the market, a so-called three-way collar structure. These options tend to be a relatively cheap way to hedge against price fluctuations as long as prices remain range bound. Indeed, collars are essentially costless.

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In theory, hedging allows producers to lock-in a certain price for their oil. The simplest way to do this is by buying a floor on the price using a put option then offsetting this cost by selling a ceiling using a call option. To trim costs even further, producers can sell what is commonly referred to as a subfloor, which is essentially a put option much lower than current oil prices. This is the three-way collar hedging strategy.

Three-way collars tend to work well when oil prices are moving sideways; however, they can leave traders exposed when prices fall too much. Indeed, this strategy fell out of favor during the last oil crash of 2014 when prices fell too low leaving shale producers counting heavy losses.

But exiting hedging positions can also be costly.

Indeed, U.S. shale producers suffered tens of billions in hedging losses in 2022, with EOG Resources (NYSE: EOG) losing $2.8 billion in a single quarter while Hess Corp. (NYSE: HES) and Pioneer paid $325M apiece to exit their hedging positions.

Whether or not this dramatic cut in hedging activity will come back to bite U.S. producers remains to be seen.

By Alex Kimani for Oilprice.com

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Major Indian natural gas importers are discussing long-term supply deals with the biggest LNG exporting countries to lock in future supply and avoid volatility and uncertainty in case of spot price spikes, traders and executives tell Bloomberg.

India plans to significantly increase its natural gas consumption as it looks to boost its share in the energy mix. But the country and its LNG importers are particularly sensitive to surging spot LNG prices and often retreat from the spot market when prices jump.

Such was the case last year when high spot LNG prices priced out many Asian buyers as Europe bid up for supply and became the primary destination of spot LNG cargoes. For most of 2022, India  alongside other countries in South Asia such as Bangladesh and Thailand  withdrew from the spot market due to the record high prices.

In India, LNG imports fell by 15.2% in 2022, but the total import costs soared by 44.5% due to high LNG prices, the Institute for Energy Economics & Financial Analysis said in a report in February.

This year, the slump in spot LNG prices has encouraged price-sensitive buyers India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh to return to the market looking for cargoes.

But it looks like Indian buyers are not willing to take chances on the spot market for years to come.

According to Bloombergs sources, Petronet LNG, GAIL India, and Indian Oil Corporation are holding discussions with LNG exporters from the United States, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for supply deals of 20 years.

GAIL India, the biggest natural gas company in the country, is even reportedly looking to buy an interest in an LNG export project in the United States.

Petronet LNG is in talks with Qatar to secure additional long-term volumes and is also in discussions with several other LNG suppliers, executives at the company told Bloomberg.

Petronet LNGs chief executive Akshay Kumar Singh, told Bloomberg earlier this month, The lesson learned by the consumers is that they cant run the business based on spot.

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The much-touted second shale boom has lately been getting a reality check as equipment demand declines sharply, a worrying sign that drilling in U.S. shale energy regions is leveling off.

The Financial Times has reported that next week, Texas auctioneer Kruse Asset Management will auction off two unused, top-of-the-line drilling rigs valued at $40 million and $30 million when built in 2019 at starting bids of just $12.9M and $2.3M, respectively.

Theres no reason for them to be so cheap, but theres just no demand, Dan Kruse, chief executive of Kruse Asset Management, has told the Financial Times.

According to Baker Hughes data, U.S. oil and natural gas rig count has declined 6% in the year-to-date to 731 last week, reversing a steady climb since the depths of the pandemic. The current tally is a far cry from the nearly 2,000 rigs that were running around mid-2014 at the peak of the shale boom. Last week, rig count for gas-directed rigs dropped by 16, or 10 per cent--the steepest weekly fall since 2016. Expectations for another shale boom are getting tamped down due to rising costs as well as limited supplies of labor and equipment that continue to hamstring efforts by U.S. shale producers to quickly ramp up production.

Still, a number of experts have predicted that U.S. production will continue growing. A week ago, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) forecast U.S. crude production will rise about 5% in 2023, while fuel demand will increase 1%.

U.S. crude oil exports for the month of April surpassed forecasts, hitting a record 4.5 million barrels per day in March thanks to a strong Chinese market due to rising fuel demand. U.S. crude exports grew 22% last year from 2021 after Russia's invasion of Ukraine led the U.S., the EU and Canada to ban imports of Russian oil and dramatically altered global flows.

China is the worlds second largest oil consumer, and has recorded an economic resurgence ever since it rolled back its strict zero-covid policies. April exports to China surged to ~850,000 barrels per day, the highest level since May 2020.

By Alex Kimani for Oilprice.com

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In early May, the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on the Judiciary was reportedly considering a bill to pressure the OPEC oil producers group to stop making output cuts by revoking the sovereign immunity that has protected OPEC+ members and their national oil companies from lawsuits over price collusion. (The committee previously passed the bill in 2018, 2019 and 2021.)

The OPEC Basket Price has hovered in the mid $70s, not historically high, though U.S. politicians like to talk down the price of gasoline before the summer driving season begins. (Saudi Arabia needs a price of $80.90 USD to balance its budget, and fund the diversification of its economy.)

Gasoline prices are higher than during the Trump administration, but the Gallup polling organization reported in April 2023, Americans show significantly less concern about the U.S. energy situation now than they did a year ago.

If American consumers arent up in arms over gasoline prices, and the recent OPEC production cuts have failed to stop the slump in crude oil prices, why might OPEC be a target now?

One reason may be the good news out of the Middle East: a rapprochement between Iran and Saudi Arabia (with Chinese mediation); Egypt and Iran starting to normalize ties (with mediation by Iraq); Syria rejoining the Arab league; the United Arab Emirates and Iran in talks to promote ties, and the possibility for energy cooperation between Iraq and Iran. The bill may be retaliation against the Arab OPEC countries, and a warning to others, for normalizing ties with Iran and Syria, under the color of protecting U.S. consumers. It also avoids a discussion about the Biden administration policy of limiting oil and natural gas production, though lately the administration has approved limited drilling in federal lands. Related: Oil Prices Rise Amid Expectations Of A Tightening Market

And not to be outdone, a bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers just announced the Assad Regime Anti-Normalization Act of 2023, that would counter foreign governments outreach to Syria and allow for additional sanctions on anyone doing business with the Assad government.

The losers? Israel which probably cant depend on the Arabs to form a bloc to back an attack on Irans nuclear research facilities; and the U.S., which is seeing its influence diminish as OPEC members in the Middle East start to normalize with the hated governments in Tehran and Damascus, and welcome Chinas mediation of negotiations between Tehran and Riyadh, and Russias facilitation of talks between Saudi Arabia and Syria, and Syria and Turkey. (The worst-case scenario for Tel Aviv and Washington is Chinese participation in talks between Israel and the Palestinians.)

Normalization of relations between the Arab OPEC states and Iran and Syria would lower tensions in the region, which is not in Washingtons interest as big customers like the Saudis and Emiratis might scale back purchases of weapons intended to counter Iran. Tensions also keep the U.S. busy in the neighborhood to ensure stability, though U.S. actions in Iraq and Libya (and its supporting role in Yemen) guaranteed the opposite. And tension in the region makes it easy for Israels Shabbos goy in the U.S. to scotch any attempts to pressure Israel and the Palestinians to get peace talks going or else, especially if the Pals invite the Chinese into the process.

The U.S. may be failing to heed that the Middle East OPEC states, most run by kings or emirs, must pay attention to public sentiment  one secret of successfully ruling without elections. Though Iran is not popular with the publics in Arab OPEC countries, closer relations might result in less tension and more people-to-people ties and economic opportunity that will promote stability, which is more important than democracy for the Arab Spring generation according to a recent region-wide poll.

The 2022 Arab Youth Survey also found, Nearly three-fourths (73%) want to see the US

disengage from the region. China, Turkey and Russia are now seen as the regions strongest allies and the default position of looking to the West in times of crisis is being eroded by new allegiances to China, Russia and Turkey.

This sentiment may see other Arab states, i.e., Saudi Arabia, not rushing to join American projects such as the Abraham Accords, which Israel still hopes will be a detour around peace talks with the Palestinians, and instead favor homegrown initiatives to stabilize the region.

Thus, Washingtons attack on the economic engine of the Middle East, petroleum, and use of sanctions to halt attempts to end conflict and alienation between the OPEC Arabs and Iran and Syria. It is important that peace not break out as that would depress weapon sales, increase regional economic diversification and integration and reduce the need for Washingtons solutions, and introduce to the region new economic and political players, such as China and Turkey.

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Washington has a lot of power and can force events in the short term, but it has already lost the hearts and minds of Middle Eastern youth who, since 2001, have matured with the U.S. continuously engaged in combat operations in their lands - and all for nothing. For the future, it would be wise for Washington to remember the Cold War policy that understood that civil rights and economic opportunity for all Americans was the nations best weapon in the war of ideas with Communism. It worked against the Reds then and it will work against the Islamists now and, if America wants to be part of the future of the region it should stop being an example of the worst kind.

By James Durso for Oilprice.com

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It was a daunting moment last Thursday in Colombia, South Americas longest-running democracy, when retired Colonel John Marulanda, ex-president of the Andean countrys powerful Retired Officers Association (ACORE  Spanish initials), threatened to depose (Spanish) Colombias President Gustavo Petro. In a statement directed at Petro, Marulanda said they are going to defenestrate a guy who was a guerrilla." Those comments came a day after hundreds of Colombias military veterans protested against Petro in Bogota. Since taking office on August 7, 2022, the relationship between former socialist guerrilla Petro, who is Colombias first ever leftwing president, and the public forces, which have experienced substantial resignations, has been particularly strained. Since then, fears have emerged that Colombias armed forces, a politically influential body with close ties to former hard-right President Alvaro Uribe, will not accept a former socialist guerrilla as president.

The political intrigues and conflict playing out in Bogota, long a focal point for clashes between the extreme left and right, are being fanned by considerable unease in the upper socioeconomic levels of Colombian society over a one-time leftwing revolutionary holding the office of president. As a young man, Petro joined the socialist M19 guerrilla movement, founded after the disputed and allegedly fraudulent 1970 presidential election. During his time with the M19 Petro was imprisoned and according to him tortured. After the group disbanded as part of the March 1990 peace deal - where Petro was a negotiator - struck with the government of President Virgilio Barco, he held various government appointments. Petro then went on to become a congressional representative in 2002 and a senator in 2006. After two earlier failed attempts to win Colombias presidency, in 2010 and 2018, Petro finally succeeded during the 2022 election.

Tensions are further heightened in Colombia because of the impact of the fallout from the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic with the Andean country struggling to recover from spiraling poverty, crime, and violence. By the end of 2021, nearly 40% of Colombians were living in poverty (Spanish) compared to 36% in 2019, while 12% of the population was living in extreme poverty against just under 10% 2 years earlier. Petros predecessor President Ivan Duque ignited a tinderbox of simmering community resentment in April 2021 when he announced plans to hike taxes subsequently triggering Colombia-wide violent anti-government protests.

After emerging victorious during the July 2022 presidential run-off, Petro announced his ambitious yet what increasingly appears to be an unachievable plan for total peace. This focuses on obliging the state policy to seek peace with the disparate illegal armed groups engaged in Colombias decades-long bloody civil conflict that has claimed 262,000 lives, the vast majority of whom were civilians. It is this low-level asymmetric war which is responsible for much of the violence occurring in the strife-torn country, notably in remote rural regions. As part of that plan, Petro prematurely declared a ceasefire at the start of 2023, but it was not recognized by the numerous illegal armed groups operating in Colombia which continued attacking crucial infrastructure, civilians, and the armed forces. That only heightened tensions with the military and police which have borne much of the brunt of the uptick in violence.

Petro, to the displeasure of the hard-right and many within the armed forces, resumed peace talks with the last remaining leftist guerrillas the National Liberation Army, known by its Spanish initials ELN. His predecessor Duque suspended negotiations (Spanish) with the guerrillas after their January 2019 bombing of a Bogota police academy claimed 21 lives. The ELN, which was founded in 1964, is believed to have as many as 2,500 combatants making it the second largest illegal armed group in Colombia after the Gulf Clan, a neo-paramilitary group that has an estimated 5,000 fighters. The Gulf Clan emerged in 2006 when senior paramilitary leader Vincente Castano broke away from the demobilization process of the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC  Spanish initials) and rearmed a paramilitary group. After clashing with a variety of other illegal armed groups the Gulf Clan emerged as Colombias most powerful criminal organization. There are also various bands of combatants from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC  Spanish initials) who didnt accept the 2016 peace accord with Bogota.

There have been frequent scandals and allegations concerning Colombias police and armys involvement in human rights abuses, illegal detention, torture, extrajudicial killings, and rampant corruption over the last two decades. The most severe instances occurred during the 2021 national strike where thousands of Colombians took to the streets to protest against President Duques proposed tax hikes, soaring corruption, and economic mismanagement. The crisis of impunity among Colombias public forces is so severe that the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR  Spanish initials) expressed concerns over endemic police violence in Colombia in 2021. Petros desire to secure peace, eliminate corruption, and end the impunity enjoyed by Colombias armed forces and police when it comes to human rights abuses saw him appoint controversial prominent anti-corruption investigator Ivan Velasquez as Minister of Defense. That further inflamed tensions with Colombias armed forces.

This is all occurring at a time when there is considerable rumor and innuendo about a rightwing campaign by various former senior security officials as well as business leaders and supporters of former President Uribe to undermine Petros presidency. While Petro has been able to maintain an overall semblance of a functional relationship with Colombias Armed Forces despite evident tensions, his relationship with retired members of the military has been strained and antagonistic. Regardless of the issues discussed, Colombias active military has, thus far, shown no interest in Marulandas comments. Petro ridiculed the statement and warned the Colombian people of the threat writing via Twitter Why are they conspiring for a coup detat? Because they are terrified that we will put an end to impunity. Indeed, the retired colonel later walked back his comments claiming that he was referring to the President of Peru Pedro Castillo, who was ousted from office during the first week of December 2022 to be later arrested and detained.

While a coup certainly appears unlikely with Marulandas comments appearing to amount to nothing more than saber rattling, Colombias Attorney Generals Office has opened an investigation (Spanish) to determine whether a crime has been committed. They have also inflamed tensions at a crucial time for Petro whose controversial health reforms, aimed at establishing a centralized government-monitored payment system to reduce corruption and improve care, were rejected. After the clashes over his health reform proposals, the president replaced seven ministers in his cabinet who were seen by many as moderates. There are also accusations that retired military members protested to create a distraction from the explosive testimony from paramilitary leader Salvatore Mancuso before the Special Jurisdiction for Peace. That includes claims of close ties between paramilitary forces, the Army, and police as well as their participation in extrajudicial killings.

By Matthew Smith for Oilprice.com

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Norwegian energy consultancy Rystad Energy has warned that nearly 2.7 million barrels per day of Alberta oil sands production is in"very high" or "extreme" wildfire danger rating zones in the month of May. Rystad estimates that ~60% of May production volumes are currently subject to extreme wildfire danger levels, with the rest exposed to very high danger levels.

"As of the afternoon of May 16, high-confidence outage volumes based on operator communication stand at about 240,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd), although in reality, the impact is likely in excess of 300,000 boepd if not higher," Rystad has said.

The Canadian energy sector is reeling after the shutting in of at least 145,000 of oil equivalent per day (boepd) in the oil-rich province of Alberta due to wildfires more than a week ago.

The unprecedented fires have forced tens of thousands of Albertans to evacuate their homes.

More than half a dozen Canadian oil and gas companies including Paramount Resources (OTCPK:PRMRF), Crescent Point Energy Corp. (NYSE:CPG), Vermilion Energy Inc. (NYSE:VET), Pipestone Energy Corp. (OTCPK:BKBEF), Kiwetinohk Energy Corp. (TSX:KEC:CA),Tourmaline Oil Corp. (OTCPK:TRMLF) and Cenovus Energy Inc. (NYSE:CVE) have been impacted by the nearly 80 fires currently running amok in the province.

Declaring a state of emergency on Saturday, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith described the situation as "unprecedented".

Alberta"has been experiencing a hot, dry spring and with so much kindling, all it takes is a few sparks to ignite some truly frightening wildfires," Smith said.

Climate change is making it costlier for oil and gas companies to operate.

Albertas wildfires are the latest in a series of climate-related?supply threats have already begun to manifest in the oil and gas industry, with more than 600 billion barrels equivalent of the worlds commercially recoverable oil and gas reserves, or 40% of total reserves, facing high or extreme risks.

According to UK-based global risk and strategic consulting firm Verisk Maplecroft, the risk of?climate-related events disrupting?the flow?of oil?to global markets?is highest in Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Nigeria.

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Algerias exports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) rose in the first quarter of 2023 compared to the same period of 2022, and the North African producer booked the highest LNG export growth rate among the Arab countries as Europe seeks to replace Russian pipeline gas supply.

Algerias LNG exports rose to around 2.8 million tons in the first quarter of 2023, up from 2.4 million tons during the same quarter of 2022, in which exports were below their usual levels, according to a report by the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC) obtained by news outlet Attaqa.

Most of Algerias LNG shipments between January and March 2023 went to some of the largest European markets, such as France, as European countries are welcoming record levels of LNG cargoes to replace the lost Russian pipeline gas supply.

Algerias LNG exports are expected to further grow as the Skikda port expansion is nearing completion. The expanded port will have a second pier with a new LNG loading station suitable for super LNG carriers.

Italys energy major, Eni, has been particularly active in securing more natural gas supply for Europe from Africa and has fast-tracked projects in Africa to meet Europes gas demand in the absence of Russian pipeline deliveries.

Last month, Eni launched the construction works for the first natural gas liquefaction project in the Republic of the Congo, which is expected to supply LNG to Europe.

Early this year, Enis chief executive Claudio Descalzi told the Financial Times in an interview that Europe should look to Africa for a south-north energy axis that would deliver gas from Africa to the EU.

At the announcement of the 2022 results in February, Descalzi said, During the year, we were able to finalize agreements and activities to fully replace Russian gas by 2025, leveraging our strong relationships with producing states and fast-track development approach to ramp-up volumes from Algeria, Egypt, Mozambique, Congo and Qatar.

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The chief executive of the port of Corpus Christi in Texas, Sean Strawbridge, resigned this week with the announcement providing no reasons for the move, Reuters reported.

Strawbridge took the helm of the port of Corpus Christi in 2018 after serving as its chief operating officer. According to Reuters, during Strawbridges term, the ports operating revenues expanded by 76.5% to $162.3 million.

The port of Corpus Christi is the largest export hub for U.S. crude oil. Last year, it accounted for 60% of all exports of crude oil from the country, according to research company RBN Energy.

On average, the port saw crude oil exports of 2 million barrels daily last year, up from 1.76 million bpd a year earlier. Petrochemical exports performed even better, rising by 23% on the year in 2022.

One big growth area for the largest U.S. oil export hub, however, is liquefied natural gas. Since 2020, exports of LNG via Corpus Christi have doubled to 16 million tons annually.

Cheniere Energy, the operator of the Corpus Christi LNG export terminal, plans to increase this by another 12 million annually, driven by forecasts for robust global demand for the liquefied fuel, especially from Asia and Europe.

At a recent event at the port of Corpus Christi, the chief operating officer of Cheniere Energy said that the company had filed application for another expansion of its export terminal, too, to the tune of 13 million tons of LNG annually.

According to Corey Grindal, the global LNG market would expand from the current 400 million tons annually to 700 million tons annually by 2040.

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Earlier this year, Strawbridge predicted another record-breaking year for the port, after 2022 ended with record tonnage for the sixth year in a row, in part thanks to the ban on Russian oil imports, which boosted U.S. exports by 15%.

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Chinas CNOOC reported the receipt of the first cargo of liquefied natural gas that the company paid for in Chinese yuan in the latest instance of the ongoing diversification of international energy trade.

The state energy firm, as quoted by China Daily, said it had bought 65,000 tons of LNG from the UAE, noting that settling international trade deals in the local currency was becoming more mature.

International trade in the Chinese currency has been expanding rapidly over the past year, after the West cut Russia out of the SWIFT system, which encouraged the latter to seek alternatives.

To date, almost all the commodities that China buys from Russia are paid for in yuan, Reuters reported earlier this month, as Chinese banks expand their presence in Russia, complete with an alternative payment settlement system dubbed CIPS.

Since the start of the war in Ukraine, the volume of commodity trade between Russia and China has reached $88 billion, the report noted, contributing significantly to the internationalization of the Chinese currency although it still constitutes a tiny portion of the total.

International trade in yuan stands at 2.5%, while trade in U.S. dollars accounts for 39.4% of the total and trade in euros accounts for 35.8%, according to data from SWIFT.

Reuters cited one BNP Paribas analyst as forecasting a snowball effect for the yuans international adoption as more countries join Chinas sphere of influence "especially after they've seen what the U.S.-led sanctions against Russia have done."

This is a very long term development stretching into the coming one or two, even three decades," Chi Lo said, adding "For now, and for the foreseeable next few years, I think the trade using RMB will predominantly be used for commodity and energy trade."

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"China has big influence on the demand for oil and gas," according to the Bank of CommunicationsChinas fifth-largest lender. "Increasing the use of yuan in pricing, and settling cross-border oil and gas trade will give a boost to yuan internationalization."

By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com

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An Evening With Andrew Rannells at KANEKO has been canceled.

Rannells, an Omaha native known for his acting roles in the musicals The Book of Mormon and Falsettos on Broadway, had been traveling to promote his new book, Uncle of the Year.

He was scheduled to stop in Omaha on Wednesday, but called off all the remaining stops on his tour. He didnt offer a reason for the cancellation.

Ticket prices for the event will be automatically refunded on the card that was used to purchase the tickets on Square. If you dont receive the appropriate amount by the end of the week, contact accounting@thekaneko.org.

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Washington County prosecutors filed additional charges, including first-degree murder, against a Council Bluffs man accused of shooting the mother of his child and killing her brother last week.

Elijah Logan, 22, now faces seven felony charges: first-degree murder, two counts of use of a firearm to commit a felony, first-degree assault, first-degree domestic assault, burglary and intentional child abuse without injury. He was ordered Wednesday to be held in custody without bail, according to court records.

According to an affidavit for Logans arrest, 22-year-old Samantha Ely called 911 in the early hours of May 12 to report that she had been shot. She identified Logan  the father of her child  as the alleged gunman, and reported that her brother, Jordan Ely, also had been shot and was laying on the floor.

Jordan Ely was pronounced dead at the scene. Samantha Ely was shot several times, according to the affidavit, but she survived and was transported to the hospital. The child was not injured.

Logan allegedly fled from the scene after the shooting. On Monday, he turned himself in to authorities without incident, according to the Blair Police Department.

Alexis Ely, 27, said Jordan was shot when he put himself between Logan and her sister, Samantha. She also said Jordan Ely was sleeping but woke upon hearing his sisters cry for help. He ran upstairs to his sisters bedroom, where reports say he confronted Logan, who had allegedly broken into the house.

Most people would run away or hide from the sound of an intruder, but not Jordan, Alexis Ely said. He lost his life saving our sister and our nephew, and I know for a fact he would choose the same path if given the opportunity to do it again. My brother died a hero.

A GoFundMe for Jordan Elys funeral expenses and Samantha Elys medical care has raised over $14,000.
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Douglas County appears poised to move forward with a $30 million jail addition for mental health treatment, after a vote Tuesday that rejected a proposal to also erect a community mental health center building next door.

The board voted 5-2 to reject a proposed project, estimated at $60 million, for both the Douglas County Jail addition and a new home for the Douglas County Community Mental Health Center. The proposal would have used $50 million of 2021 American Rescue Plan Act money.

County Board member PJ Morgan said hell introduce a resolution by as early as May 23 to build a mental health treatment unit connected to the jail, 710 S. 17th St. It would provide care to incarcerated people, which county corrections officials have long cited as a growing need. Consultants have estimated that the addition would cost about $34 million.

Morgan and board member Roger Garcia said at Tuesdays meeting that the board should wait until March 2024, after the next session of the Nebraska Legislature, to make a decision on what to do about the Community Mental Health Center. Thats because Morgan believes the Legislature might provide more money, he said.

Cost and stigma were the main reasons cited by opponents of building a new community mental health center near the jail. In the 5-2 vote, Morgan, Mike Friend, Roger Garcia, James Cavanaugh and Maureen Boyle voted no. Mary Ann Borgeson and Chris Rodgers voted yes.

Morgan was among several board members who cited concerns about the estimated $23.5 million cost of the proposed community mental health center, and the estimated $60 million cost of the two facilities combined.

About $8 million of that was to come from the countys general fund, from money that was left over from the federal CARES Act COVID relief to the county. The county might need that money in coming tight budget times, Morgan said.

The County Board has been discussing for months how to address two sets of needs: addressing the increasing numbers of people in jail with mental illnesses, and moving the Community Mental Health Center out of the countys nursing home at 4102 Woolworth Ave. The board has also held a series of town halls on mental health needs, for more than a year. It had voted to make mental health a main priority for ARPA funds and had earmarked about $50 million for it.

County Corrections Director Michael Myers and Community Mental Health Center Director Sherry Driver had urged co-locating the facilities. They said their departments often work together already, serving many of the same people, and would be more effective if they were located closer to each other.

But Cavanaugh and a number of people from the public  including former State Sen. Ernie Chambers at Tuesdays board meeting  have contended that putting the community facility next to the jail would stigmatize mental health care.

Labels can kill, Chambers said.

To take those people who have been stigmatized and put them in a situation where the place they go for treatment is going to be related to the place where you put criminals, criminality (and) mental illness are going to be bound together once again, Chambers said.

A consultant for the county had suggested options, including a joint facility near the jail that would house treatment for people in jail and the general public. Cavanaugh has pressed the board to consider an alternative plan involving renovations of the Douglas County Health Center building, which he said would be less expensive. He has said the county should explore collaborating with the University of Nebraska Medical Center and local hospital systems.

Morgan said Tuesday he believes that such collaboration is possible. He said the county could still use the remaining ARPA money, after the jail addition, for Community Mental Health Center needs. He said philanthropists may contribute.

Board Chair Borgeson was skeptical.

The private sector and the hospitals and community providers  where were they for the last 14 months? Borgeson said. Where have the medical centers been for the last 14, 24, 34 years of us providing this service, and not stepping up to help us provide the services for the most vulnerable in our communities? Because, again, no matter what private-public partnership we do, were going to be stuck with serving those individuals. And you can just mark my words on that.

She urged the board to listen to the countys corrections and mental health directors as the experts with experience in serving the people to whom the county must provide mental health care.

Our best Omaha staff photos & videos of May 2023
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CASTEL BOLOGNESE, Italy (AP)  Exceptional rains Wednesday in a drought-struck region of northern Italy swelled rivers over their banks, killing at least eight people, forcing the evacuation of thousands and prompting officials to warn that Italy needs a national plan to combat climate change-induced flooding.

The heavy rains also forced Formula One to cancel this weekends Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix to not overtax emergency crews that were already stretched thin in responding to the rivers of mud that have torn through the region, wreaking havoc on infrastructure and homes.

Days of rainstorms stretched across a broad swath of northern Italy and the Balkans, where apocalyptic floods, landslides and evacuations were also reported in Croatia, Bosnia and Slovenia.

The deputy governor of Emilia-Romagna, Irene Priolo, said eight people were killed and others unaccounted for in flooding that forced the evacuation of more than 10,000 people.

On Wednesday evening, authorities in the province of Ravenna, a tourist town famed for its Byzantine-era mosaics, about 14,000 people were ordered to leave their homes as a precaution because of fears that three rivers could overflow their banks.

Among the dead was a farmer who defied floodwaters to try to save equipment on his property, officials said. His wife was among the missing.

Rescue helicopters plucked people from rooftops as floodwaters rose ever higher in homes. In one rescue, a coast guard member pulled a woman out through a skylight from her home and held her tight as the two were winched to a hovering helicopter and pulled inside.

"Even upper floors aren't safe any more,'' Gian Luca Zattini, mayor of Forli', one of the hardest-hit towns, told Sky TG24 TV.

Italian Civil Protection Minister Nello Musumeci called for a new nationwide hydraulic engineering plan to adapt to the impact of increasing incidents of floods and landslides. At a briefing, he noted that an average of 200 millimeters (7.9 inches) of rain had fallen in 36 hours in the region, with some areas registering 500 millimeters (19.7 inches) in that period.

"If you consider that this region averages 1,000 millimeters (39.3 inches) of rain in a year, you realize the impact that these rains have had in these hours," Musumeci said.

Citing the November landslide in Ischia, which killed a dozen people, he said that Italy is increasingly experiencing tropical weather seen in parts of Africa and other areas around the world, with long periods of drought punctuated by intense rainfall that cant be absorbed by the soil.

Nothing will ever be the same again ... and what has happened in these hours is evidence of that," Musumeci said. "When soil remains dry for a long time, instead of increasing its absorption capacity, it ends up cementing and allowing rainfall to continue flowing over the surface and causing absolutely unimaginable damage.

In Castel Bolognese, a town of around 9,000 people, the mayor said there was no electricity and many families were running out of food in an area that was hit by floods earlier this month. Two weeks ago we had a flood and we were left to believe it happens once every 100 years,'' Luca Della Godenza said.

Compounding Italy's vulnerability to climate-change induced flooding are already fragile hydrological conditions in much of the country. Italy also must grapple with the decades-long practice of people building in areas prone to mudslides or floods  homes that are often allowed to stay in place thanks to occasional government amnesties.

Hillsides, pounded by the rain, gave way in many parts of Emilia-Romagna. In 48 towns or hamlets, a total of 250 mudslides were reported by residents, state television said. Walls of mud, rushing down, toppled trees and buckled roads in their path.

Musumeci said 50,000 people lost electricity, and more than 100,000 lost cellphone or landline use.

Many residents evacuating homes put vital belongings in the rubber boats they'd normally tow each summer to the region's flourishing beach resorts on the Adriatic Sea and pulled them through deluged streets.

Some regional train routes remained suspended Wednesday around Bologna and Ravenna, with severe delays elsewhere, the Italian state railway said.

Premier Giorgia Meloni, who was traveling to the G-7 meeting in Japan, said the government was monitoring the situation and was prepared to approve emergency aid.

In the Balkans, the swollen Una river flooded parts of northern Croatia and northwestern Bosnia, where authorities announced a state of emergency. The mayor of the town of Bosanska Krupa in Bosnia said that hundreds of homes had been flooded.

We have an apocalypse, Amin Halitovic told regional N1 network. We can no longer count the flooded buildings. Its never been like this.

Dozens of landslides were reported in eastern Slovenia, many of which endangered homes and infrastructure.

In Croatia, hundreds of soldiers and rescue teams continued bringing food and other necessities to people in flood-hit areas who have been isolated in their homes. No casualties have been reported so far.

Previous versions of this story have been corrected to show that the last name of the Italian Civilian Protection Minister is Musumeci, not Musemeci, and that Meloni was en route to Japan, not coming home.

Winfield reported from Rome. Jovana Gec contributed from Belgrade, Serbia, and Frances D'Emilio contributed from Rome.
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LINCOLN  Nebraska lawmakers added a 12-week gestational abortion ban to a controversial bill that seeks to restrict gender-affirming care for transgender youths.

The Nebraska Legislature advanced Legislative Bill 574 in a 33-14 vote Tuesday night. While the bill had been slated for its final round of debate, lawmakers also adopted an amendment Tuesday that will require the legislation to make it through one more round of debate before it goes to Gov. Jim Pillens desk to be signed into law.

Our kids are our future, and the advancement of LB 574 is an important step in protecting that future, Pillen said in an email statement after the vote. I applaud the senators who voted for LB 574 and stood up for our common sense, conservative values. I am proud to have partnered with conservative senators in this fight and look forward to signing the bill upon final passage.

Andi Curry Grubb, executive director of Planned Parenthood Advocates of Nebraska, said the group was saddened by but not deterred by Tuesdays vote.

This fight is far from over. For now, abortion and gender affirming care remain safe and legal in Nebraska and our residents have the right to control their bodies, families and futures, she said in an email to The World-Herald. And we wont stop until we win this fight for Nebraskans today and for generations to come.

Tuesdays debate had many twists and turns, with several points of order made and motions to overrule the chair. The tensions rose as the night went on, with lawmakers on both sides accusing the other of degrading the sanctity of the Nebraska Legislature.

Throughout the day, a din of voices echoed on the floor from hundreds of protesters in the rotunda, representing opponents of the measure, along with a few supporters. It became loud enough that Lt. Gov. Joe Kelly at one point called for the chamber doors to be closed, but ultimately decided against it.

After the bill got the 33 votes necessary to end an opposing filibuster, several opponents on the Legislatures balcony stood up and chanted, One more vote to save our lives, you cant debate on human rights. The chants continued even as Kelly ordered the balcony to be cleared, causing the Legislature to recess for a few minutes as security guards escorted people out.

Supporters of the bill went through back hallways to leave the chamber. Several had moved their vehicles at the urging of the Nebraska State Patrol to avoid any problems with the bills opponents.

State Sen. Megan Hunt of Omaha yelled, Youre trash as LB 574s introducer, Sen. Kathleen Kauth of Omaha, and other bill supporters left the chamber.

Hunt and Sen. Machaela Cavanaugh of Omaha declined to comment after the vote. They left the chamber arm-in-arm to cheers from the bills opponents, who included former Sen. Patty Pansing Brooks.

The scene at the Nebraska Capitol right now as lawmakers opposing #LB574 exit the chamber. #neleg pic.twitter.com/ZT3HRaWnGa  Erin Bamer (@ErinBamer) May 17, 2023

The original bill sought to completely ban puberty blockers, hormone therapy and gender-affirming surgeries for individuals under 19. The amendment, introduced by State Sen. Ben Hansen of Blair, narrows the ban to just surgeries, and calls on the states chief medical officer to establish regulations on puberty blockers and hormone therapy for youths. Those who were already undergoing such care before the legislation takes effect would be exempt.

The amendment also revives an attempt to further restrict Nebraskas 20-week abortion ban to 12 weeks. Earlier this session, lawmakers attempted to pass a bill that would have restricted abortions at around six weeks of pregnancy, but the bill failed by just one vote.

Sen. Machaela Cavanaugh of Omaha slammed the tactic supporters used to get to a vote on the amendment, frequently calling to cease debate on priority motions she made against the bill when only a handful of lawmakers had the chance to speak.

This is not how good policy is made, and it is beneath the Nebraska Legislature, Cavanaugh said.

The 12-week proposal takes from a suggestion made by Sen. Merv Riepe of Ralston, who was one of the primary reasons the previous bill was blocked. Though the amendments ban is more restrictive than Riepes proposal as it is based on gestational age, not fertilization, Riepe called the proposal a reasonable compromise.

Gestational age measures a pregnancy based on the womans last menstrual period, whereas fertilization refers to the moment the egg is fertilized. The difference between the two could amount to several weeks. Multiple opponents referred to the proposal as a 10-week abortion ban.

We have proven time and time again in the past year that we have the power to defeat these harmful bans, Curry Grubb said. We know this goes against the will of Nebraskans, who want to retain their bodily autonomy. Thats why its imperative Nebraskans keep stepping up and have their voices heard. We need to let the people elected to represent us know that this isnt acceptable, and we arent backing down. Not now. Not ever.

In terms of transgender health care, Hansens amendment is a less restrictive version of both LB 574 and what Kauth was planning to offer through her own amendment. She previously said her amendment would mainly include a grandfather clause, while maintaining LB 574s ban on puberty blockers, hormone therapy and surgeries.

However, Kauth expressed her support for Hansens amendment. Although she isnt totally happy with the changes he proposed, she said, Hansens amendment would ensure the votes are rock solid to pass the measure. Several lawmakers had previously indicated they wouldnt continue to support the original bill unless changes were adopted.

Hansen and Kauth both described the amendment as a compromise  both on LB 574, and on the previous six-week abortion ban. Hansen said the changes to LB 574 incorporated suggestions opponents made during a series of talks after the trans health care bills second round of debate.

HOW THEY VOTED Here is the vote to send the amended version of LB 574 back to the final round of consideration. Senators voted the same on the filibuster-ending cloture motion and the amendment, except that Walz voted no on both. Yes (33): Aguilar, Albrecht, Arch, Armendariz, Ballard, Bosn, Bostelman, Brandt, Brewer, Briese, Clements, DeKay, Dorn, Dover, Erdman, Halloran, Hansen, Hardin, Holdcroft, Hughes, Ibach, Jacobson, Kauth, Linehan, Lippincott, Lowe, McDonnell, Moser, Murman, Riepe, Sanders, Slama, von Gillern. No (14): Blood, Bostar, J. Cavanaugh, M. Cavanaugh, Conrad, Day, DeBoer, Dungan, Fredrickson, Hunt, McKinney, Raybould, Vargas, Wayne. Abstain (1): Walz. Absent (1): Wishart.

Before she was ushered out, Kauth said she was very pleased with how it went.

I knew it was going to be hard, she said. I think it was a good compromise.

But opponents, including some lawmakers who participated in the talks, rejected the notion that the amendment was a compromise. Sen. John Cavanaugh of Omaha introduced his own amendment last week that would regulate only gender-affirming surgeries.

My amendment is more of a true compromise, John Cavanaugh said.

Opponents also criticized the change leaving regulation of puberty blockers and hormone therapy to the states chief medical officer. Because the position is appointed by the governor, who supports LB 574, they alleged this was a thinly veiled attempt to maintain the full ban of the original bill.

Its really harming kids more, said Hunt.

The criticism of LB 574 is nothing new, as the bill sparked backlash as soon as it was introduced. For the last 45 legislative days, opposing lawmakers filibustered as much as possible to protest the legislation. Their effort was spearheaded by Machaela Cavanaugh.

Kauth largely ignored the ongoing filibuster. In her view, she said, the bill isnt an attempt to discriminate against trans youths, but an attempt to protect vulnerable children.

Our kids deserve the right to grow up, Kauth said.

Sen. Danielle Conrad of Lincoln said bill supporters had discounted science, medicine, parental rights and process to push a desired outcome.

What was on display thus far in the session and particularly today was nothing more than raw exertion of raw political power, she said, urging Nebraskans to become more involved with the political process, both when the bill comes back for a final vote and in the future.

World-Herald staff writer Martha Stoddard contributed to this report.

Photos: 2023 Nebraska legislative session
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BLOOMINGTON  Under Wraps, 113 N. Center St. in downtown Bloomington, is this week's pick for Eats of the Week.

Its owners, longtime friends Corey Mathis and Greg Saarinen, opened the restaurant on March 21 in the spot formerly occupied by Shannon's Cafe and, before that, Kelly's Bakery.

Mathis has gained 10 years of experience through working in different restaurants. He is originally from Mount Olive and graduated from Illinois State University in 2016, with a degree in biology. Saarinen is originally from the Libertyville/Chicago area and also has an extensive background in the industry, including working at Portillo's in Chicago. The two thought by putting their knowledge together they could create something great.

"We're really just trying to bring a great meal at home that's quicker than everybody else and travels well, packages nice," Saarinen said. "My favorite part is they're like, 'Thank you, because I haven't been able to enjoy 25 minutes of lunchtime,' so we kind of formulated the business plan around that being our focus as fast and fresh."

Tomatoes, cucumbers, strawberries and other ingredients are cut fresh daily at the restaurant. They offer indoor and outdoor seating as well as takeout and curbside pickup, or delivery through third-party apps such as DoorDash and GrubHub.

Saarinen and Mathis said they are also developing a rewards program that will involve some type of punch card.

"Greg does great in general  the time and effort that he put into developing the menu items and the lengths that he goes to make sure every single thing that comes out of that kitchen is pristine and what he's expecting," Mathis said. "That's what we have that no one else is ever going to have."

Popular menu items include the honey sriracha chicken wrap, the "spartichoke" (spinach and artichoke) dip, the Mediterranean salad, chicken Caesar and apple wrap, the cowboy wrap, and the Rose strawberry turkey wrap.

The Rose wrap is made with roasted turkey slices, strawberries, spinach, avocado, bacon and maple syrup. It is named in memory of 7-year-old Rose Tylar Kunkes, who attended school with Saarinen's children and passed away due to an illness in February.

Like Saarinen, Rose was a twin, so he felt especially connected to the loss. A photo of Rose hangs in the lobby of Under Wraps to honor her memory.

"I remember Rose because my son and I would tell her we're going to open a restaurant and Rose said she wanted to do a restaurant," Saarinen said. "After she passed, her dad posted that Rose's dream was to have a restaurant and thanked me for giving her that opportunity. Then I knew that it was a good thing that we did and it was helpful to her parents."

Mathis and Saarinen added that they plan to create a two-in-one experience at Under Wraps by opening another restaurant called A La Tavalo next door. The name translates to "at the table," an Italian expression to signal that dinner is ready.

The menu will include flatbreads, Italian street food, pasta and more, the owners said. The restaurant, which is likely to open in June, is part of the owners' Collab Foods concept, which aims to redefine off-premise dining, and takes inspiration from dining concepts that were used during COVID.

Mathis and Sarrinen also added they both consider Bloomington-Normal their home and couldn't have chosen a better place to open up a restaurant together.
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How Time Flies is a daily feature looking back at Pantagraph archives to revisit what was happening in our community and region.

100 years ago

May 17, 1923: McLean County roads and bridges have been seriously damaged in many instances by the recent rains, according to reports received by R.O. Edwards, county superintendent of highways. Three bridges were damaged, with one northeast of Heyworth being washed out, while two others in Downs and Old Town had portions washed away.

75 years ago

May 17, 1948: A garage and Hudson agency showroom operated by Taylor Motor Mart, Inc., will open Thursday, owners Charles Taylor and Bernard Ban Ness said. The building at Front and Lee streets will have parts and service.

50 years ago

May 17, 1973: The Administrative Office of Illinois Courts is taking back expensive television equipment installed in the McLean County Courthouse for an experiment, Judge Wendell E. Oliver said. The equipment was used only once, April 30, for the testimony of Dr. Gordon Schultz.

25 years ago

May 17, 1998: U.S. Rep. Tom Ewing told Lincoln College graduates at the institution's 131st commencement ceremony that they should act more like kindergarteners. He was listing ideas promoted by Robert Fulton in his book, "All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten," including sharing everything, playing fair, cleaning up our messes, saying we're sorry when we hurt someone and washing our hands before we eat.

101 years ago: See vintage Pantagraph ads from 1922 Gerthart's Union Gas and Electric Co. Hoover Dr. J.A. Moore Dentists Moberly & Klenner W.P. Garretson W.H. Roland Pease's Candy Thor 32 Electric Washing Machine The Kaiser's Story of the War Ike Livingston & Sons Gossard Corsets Cat'n Fiddle 'Stolen Moments' Case Model X The Johnson Transfer & Fuel Co. The Pantagraph want ads Franklin Motor Car Co. 'A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court' Calumet Baking Powder Mayer Livingston & Co. Newsmarket 'The Emperor Jones' 'California Fig Syrup'
Nana Agyei Baffour Awuah Esq, counsel for the former Secretary to the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining (IMCIM), Charles Bissue, has argued that the Special Prosecutor, Kissi Adjabeng has engaged in illegality for having failed to investigate Anas Aremeyaw Anas in respect of allegations made in the 2019 Galamsey Fraud Part 1 documentary.



According to him, the former Special Prosecutor, Martin Amidu had indicated that Anas Aremeyaw was a subject of investigation in the very matter he petitioned the Office of the Special Prosecutor.



Speaking to the media after todays hearing at the Accra High Court Complex, Nana Agyei Baffour Awuah argued that it is strange the current Special Prosecutor, Kissi Adjabeng has struck out Anas Aremayaw Anas from its investigations into the matter. He indicated that it was for this reason and others, that the Plaintiff [Charles Bissue] filed a suit to restrain the Special Prosecutor from investigating and prosecuting him.



Mr Martin Amidu, the former Special Prosecutor wrote an article and stated in there that apparently the Special Prosecutor Mr Kissi Adjabeng is the one who wrote the petition invoking the powers of the Special Prosecutor, and indeed he was also investigating Anas whiles he was in office in respect of this matter.



And so, it is the current Special Prosecutor who then has decided not to investigate Anas in this matter. That then raised some curiosity necessitating the instant application to bring to the courts attention to the effect that indeed it would be irrational for the Special Prosecutor to continue with its investigation and or prosecution of Mr Charles Bissue he clarified.



" because we think that hes acted in a manner which is illegal to the extent that Anas is not a subject of this investigation, he emphasized.



He indicated that the Special Prosecutor has on two occasions refused to provide the court with the petition that Anas Aremeyaw Anas filed invoking the powers of the OSP to investigate and prosecute Mr Bissue. Nana Baffour Awuah disclosed that it was the current Special Prosecutor, Kissi Agyabeng who wrote the petition that occasioned this investigation by the OSP.



He thinks that the refusal of the Special Prosecutor to make available the petition and also investigate Anas Aremeyaw Anas in this matter raises some eyebrows.



Prior to the filing of this suit, we made a request for the petition that necessitated the investigation. On two occasions, weve made that request and the Special Prosecutor has refused to make that petition available to us.

We thought that they were all leading to a certain conclusion or they were suggestive, he argued.



The court has been adjourned to 12 June 2023 for the hearing of the motion for discovery, and the substantive suit which is seeking to restrain the OSP from investigating and prosecuting Mr Charles Bissue.



Anas & Tiger Eye P.I Withdraw Application Seeking to Be Strike Out of the Suit



Counsel for the 2nd and 3rd Defendant [ Anas Aremeyaw Anas, and Tiger Eye P.I], Evans Selassie told the court, their application filed on 22 March 2023 which was seeking to have his clients strike out from the suit, has been withdrawn.

It would be recalled the OSP in its notice of conditional appearance filed on 11 January 2023, did argue that the Anas Aremeyaw Anas and the Tiger Eye P.I cannot be joined to the suit, as they are considered whistle-blowers.







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The Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) has recently received the network licenses of six software  Kingdom Geoscience Bundle, Harmony Enterprise, Piper, WellTest, SubPump, and PERFORM; a development which is expected to further bridge the gap between industry and academia.



These software licenses, estimated to be worth US$1.2 million, were presented by S&P Global, a leading intelligence service provider, in partnership with Reservoir Management Group (RMG) Limited, a provider of petroleum geosciences and reservoir engineering services.



The implementation of this cutting-edge engineering and geoscience software will enable researchers and students at KNUST to conduct more complex analyses and simulations, leading to accurate and groundbreaking discoveries within the academic setting and better preparing them for the job market.



To ensure the successful installation and usability of the software, the management team from RMG, along with their partners from S&P Global, paid a visit to the university, where they engaged in discussions with the Provost of the College of Engineering and the Vice-Chancellor of KNUST.



Nana Akwasi Ankamah, the Managing Director of RMG, emphasised the significance of these software licenses in the petroleum industry as many National Oil Companies and International Oil Companies utilise them in their operations. He expressed the importance of introducing students at KNUST to these software tools before they enter the industry, thereby closing the gap between industry and academia.



One of the things we realised in our consulting space is the heavy usage of this software in the industry for real-time decision-making. We felt it was fit for the students to be introduced to it before they get into the industry to make them ready to fully utilize this software and bring value to any organization they will be attached to, Mr. Ankamah said.



He also mentioned the possibility of extending this initiative to other universities and expressed the intention to invite S&P Global for webinars and training sessions in the future.



Samuel Asiedu Duah, the Business Development Manager for RMG, highlighted RMG's commitment, along with S&P Global, to advancing education in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM).



He stressed the need to equip the next generation of oil and gas professionals with the hands-on skills and tools required to navigate the most advanced industry software.



In our experience in providing petroleum geosciences and reservoir engineering services, we see the need to equip the next generation of oil and gas professionals with hands-on skills and tools in navigating these most advanced industry tools, he said, adding that the goal is to reduce the learning curve for students as they enter the industry, ultimately increasing their market value and employability in the highly skilled oil and gas sector.



Nalin Vatte, Associate Director for S&P Global, expressed confidence that the software licenses would optimise production and enhance the capabilities of the students.



Also, Professor George Yaw Obeng, representing the Provost of the College of Engineering, commended RMG and S&P Global for their generous contribution, noting that it aligns with KNUST's mission. He highlighted the importance of modern software tools for training students, conducting research, and engaging with communities to effectively transfer knowledge and contribute to national development.



"This is a very good gift and it is consistent with the mission of KNUST. We require modern tools in software for training students. Also, for our research and engaging with communities because the knowledge we generate from the research is the knowledge we transfer to the community in order to engage the community effectively and build the nation. So, this software are very key for both faculty research as well as the students' training, he noted.



Prof. Emmanuel Donkor, Head of Petroleum Engineering at KNUST, highlighted the significant impact of the licenses on the academic work of students, providing them with the necessary skills for the industry. He explained that the validated licenses would allow for unrestricted usage, enabling academic work and research to be published without any hindrances.



Highlighting the advantages of using authorised licenses, which ensure compliance and the ability to openly reference and utilise the software for academic purposes, he remarked, Imagine you use a software and because you know it is pirated, you can not make mention of it in any publication. When you have a validated license authorised without any restrictions from usage, you can do anything. The only thing is that because it is free, you cannot commercialise it. But we can use it anyhow for academic purposes.



About S&P Global



S&P Global connects trusted knowledge to customers workflows  mitigating risk, increasing efficiency and accelerating innovation. For more than 60 years, leading Research and development (R&D) and engineering-intensive organizations have relied on us to achieve on-time, on-budget delivery of complex projects and new products.

S&P Global delivers an unparalleled combination of technical content and Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies to surface answers from the vast universe of technical knowledge, both inside and outside the organization. In a single interface, we connect the dots between information scattered across many different sources, allowing technical professionals to make better, more informed decisions faster.



About Reservoir Management Group Limited (RMG)



Reservoir Management Group Limited ("RMG") is a 100% Ghanaian-owned company registered under the Companies Act, 1963 (Act 179). The company is also registered and licensed by the Petroleum Commission of Ghana.



Reservoir Management Group Limited provides a complete range of petroleum geosciences, subsurface and reservoir engineering services, offering full field lifecycle solutions from exploration, through appraisal, to development and production. With the aim to maximize profitability for Exploration and Production (E&P) operators and National Oil Companies.



RMGs integrated solutions are also focused on developing new or under-evaluated plays and prospects with reserve potential capable of affecting the growth profile in both frontier and mature basins. Our consulting services are aligned towards training, capacity building and competency development for the local workforce. Serving the oil and gas industry in Ghana, we aim to be the preferred provider of expert consultancy services in Africa.



About KNUST



Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) is a university located in Kumasi, Ghana. It is the second public university established in the country. The university is currently ranked the best in Ghana & West Africa by the www.webometrics.info university ranking.



The vision of KNUST is to be globally recognised as the Premier Centre of excellence in Africa for teaching Science and Technology for development; producing high-calibre graduates with knowledge and expertise to support the industrial and socio-economic development of Ghana and Africa.

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Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
Johnson Asiedu Nketiah, the National Chairman of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), has questioned Dr. Kwabena Duffuor, a former flagbearer hopeful for the party, for supporting his son in the NDC parliamentary elections.



Speaking in an interview with Okay FM on May 15, 2023, Asiedu Nketiah expressed concerns over Dr. Duffuor's decision to support his son's campaign despite his allegations about the integrity of the voters' register.



He pointed out that the same flawed voter register that Dr. Duffuor had objected to was utilized in both the presidential and parliamentary elections.



"The election, it is the same voters register that we are using for both the presidential and parliamentary, so after withdrawing from the presidential, why did they choose to support the parliamentary elections because it is the same voter register that we are using?" he questioned.



Highlighting the inconsistency in Dr. Duffuor's stance, Asiedu Nketiah questioned whether the flawed voter register that Dr. Duffuor deemed unfit for the election could be suitable for his son's electoral success. He emphasized that utilizing the same flawed register for the parliamentary elections raised concerns about its reliability and fairness.



"The same register that is not good for his father (Dr. Kwabena Duffuor) to use for an election, can the son (Dr. Duffuor Jnr) use it to win an election? It is the same register, so how?" Nketiah added.



It may recall that, Dr. Kwabena Duffuor, a former flagbearer hopeful for the National Democratic Congress (NDC), announced his withdrawal from the party's presidential primaries which was held for Saturday, May 13, 2023.



The decision was made public during a press briefing held late Friday evening at the Institute of Fiscal Studies in Accra.



Dr. Duffuor, who had been eagerly vying for the NDC's presidential race, cited flawed processes leading up to the elections as his primary reason for withdrawing.



However, Dr. Duffuors son, Duffuor Jnr went ahead to contest a parliamentary election in the primaries but lost by nine votes to his opponent Hajia Nasira Afrah in the Sekyere Afram Plains constituency.











Source: ghanaweb.com









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A former PNC National Chairman, Bernard Mornah has congratulated former Mayor of Kumasi, Kojo Bonsu, for his courage to contest the Presidential elections of the National Democratic Congress (NDC).



The NDC held its Presidential and Parliamentary primaries over the weekend across the various constituencies in the country, electing their flagbearer and Parliamentary aspirants for the 2024 elections.



Sixteen (16) sitting Members of Parliament of the party lost their seats.



The party delegates elected former President John Dramani Mahama as their flagbearer with him polling an overwhelming 297603 votes representing 98.9% of the total valid votes cast at the end of the NDC primaries on Saturday to win in a landslide.



His closest contender, Mr. Kojo Bonsu polled a paltry 3181 representing 1.1%.



Despite Mr. Kojo Bonsu's defeat in the primaries, Bernard Mornah believes the former Kumasi Mayor will become a major force in the NDC.



He stated, "in my opinion, he has demonstrated maturity throughout the process of the campaigns and despite the outcome or the eventual outcome, in my opinion, he has prepared himself as a major force for the NDC going into the future".



He further commended Kojo Bonsu asserting "if God is with him, the NDC will look for him because he demonstrated more than maturity and conduct throughout this exercise".



Mr. Mornah made these comments on Peace FM's "Kokrokoo" morning show.



Watch video below





Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana









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Former President John Dramani Maham is under investigation by the Special Prosecutors office over allegations of bribery.



According to reports, Mr. Mahama paid over GHC14,203,680 to 355,092 delegates of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the partys recently held primaries.



The money, which was given under the guise of transportation, has been deemed as an inducement and classified as a bribe by the Special Prosecutor due to Mr. Mahamas contest for the flagbearership position.



The Special Prosecutors office considers that the money was given to influence voters in favor of Mr. Mahama, who was competing for the partys flagbearership position with two others, but Dr Kwabena Duffuor later withdrew from the race leaving the contest to Kojo Bonsu and Mahama.



A statement issued by Mr. Mahamas campaign team confirmed that they provided some delegates with transportation and assured that the support was not a replacement but intended to augment what the party is providing to all constituencies. They also emphasized that the donation was consistent with Mr. Mahamas continuous support for the party over the years.



According to the statement by Mr. Mahamas campaign team, acknowledged their support for delegates transportation in order to enable them to attend the primaries.



The statement added that the money was not intended to replace what the party was giving to all constituencies; rather, it was meant to augment it. The former president is being investigated by the authorities regarding these alleged bribes, since provision for transportation is the responsibility of the party and not an individual.



Professor Joshua Alabi, a member of Mr. Mahamas campaign team, defended the donations, stating that the former presidents contributions were consistent with his continuous support for the party over the years.



The opposition National Democratic Congress 2023 Primaries were held on May 13, 2023, with a total of 355,092 delegates from 277 constituencies converging at 401 voting centers to elect both Presidential and Parliamentary Candidates for 2024 general elections.



In the Presidential race, three people, including Mr. Mahama and former Kumasi Mayor Kojo Bonsu, featured on the ballot after Dr. Kwabena Duffuor withdrew from the race citing irregularities. For the parliamentary elections, hundreds filed to contest.



Certified results by the Electoral Commission (EC) showed that Mr Mahama polled an overwhelming 297,603 votes representing 98.9 percent of the total valid votes cast at the end of the NDC Primaries on Saturday.



His contender, the former Kumasi Mayor, Kojo Bonsu, polled a paltry 3,181 votes representing 1.1 percent.



The other contender in the NDC flagbearer race, former Finance Minister in the Mills regime, Kwabena Duffour, pulled out on Friday.



This is the fourth time John Dramani Mahama will be leading the NDC into an election.



Then Vice President John Dramani Mahama who took over from President John Evans Atta-Mills when the latter died while in office in July 2012, went on to win the election later that year.



As an incumbent, he first lost to the then New Patriotic Party (NPP) presidential candidate Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo in 2016, becoming the first President to serve only one full term.



He won the flagbearership race in February 2019 with an overwhelming endorsement of 95% votes to represent the NDC in the 2020 election, but he lost to incumbent President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo who was declared the winner of the December 7, 2020 election with 51.59% ahead of the NDC candidate who received 47.37%.



Mr Mahama challenged the outcome at the Supreme Court, arguing that Akufo-Addos votes in some polling stations were padded, pushing him above the 50% threshold needed to avoid a run-off.



The investigation into Mr. Mahamas alleged bribery will bring additional scrutiny to the ongoing NDC Primaries ahead of the 2024 general elections.

Source: dailyguidenetwork.com









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Ahead of his official announcement to contest in the New Patriotic Party's upcoming presidential primaries, a video of a convoy of pickup trucks branded with the image of Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia has gone viral on social media.



The viral video shows a convoy of tow trucks carrying the campaign-branded MG T60 pickup trucks driving through some principal streets in the capital.



The video has attracted several reactions on social media, with some supporters of the vice president expressing excitement over his readiness to work for power.



On the other hand, some comments have criticized the vice president over the cars acquired for his campaign in the face of the current economic challenges.



Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia is a frontrunner in the NPP's flagbearership contest, along with the likes of Kennedy Agyapong, Alan Kyerematen, Afriyie Akoto, and Kwabena Agyapong.



A few weeks ago, the vice president met with members of the NPP caucus in parliament, where he informed the caucus about his decision to contest in the primaries and courted their support.



His official announcement is expected in the coming days.





I thought they said his the chosen onechosen one mpo nie if his not chosen dieer like aeroplane then ships all go come inside.Alan kuraa as not branded cars yet.Bawumia is the photocopy of Nana Addo and Npp shouldnt him give chance to become their flagbearer https://t.co/CQK1dSYR3g  Rasta4NDC JM 4 President (@Rasta4NDC) May 17, 2023







The OSP doesn't know his job

This is what he (@ospghana )should be probing on people who are in office and are in charge of the public purse



Bawumia has been using tax payers money to buy car and doing donations for his campaigns.

And leave Mahama who pic.twitter.com/rNzKxuiU9V  GENERAL DAN (@ABROWGEE17) May 17, 2023







After many months of rumours,The Vice President Of Ghana



Dr Mahamudu Bawumia,is expected to declare his intention to run as a Presidential Candidate Aspirant of the ruling New Patriotic Party pic.twitter.com/ZTklIGi1On  Celebrityblogger (@Celebrity_blogg) May 17, 2023







Have you ever heard nor seen Bawumia talked about corruption/any corrupt activities in his government since he became veep? Well! Appearance fees proceeds showing off results  https://t.co/qNVnbir9cD  Lamp Oil (@LampOil10) May 17, 2023





































































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The leadership and delegates of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) have been commended for exhibiting a high sense of political maturity in the just-ended presidential and parliamentary primaries of the Party.



Mensah, a former organizer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the then Brong-Ahafo Region gave the commendation in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) on Monday at Odumase in the Sunyani West Constituency.



As the largest opposition Party, he said the credible, peaceful, and responsible manner the NDC conducted its primaries were indications the Party has understood internal democracy which an index is to measure the countrys democratic gains.

Mensah, therefore, suggested the need for the leadership of the NPP to emulate by ensuring that parliamentary candidates were not imposed on the Party members.



Instead, the NPP must conduct credible parliamentary primaries for the delegates to make informed decisions and vote for competent candidates to contest the parliamentary seats in the Election 2024, he added.



The NDC successfully conducted its presidential and parliamentary primaries over the weekend and overwhelmingly endorsed former President John Dramani Mahama as the Partys 2024 flagbearer and elected other parliamentary candidates.



Though the Party could not conduct the parliamentary primaries in some constituencies due to pertinent internal challenges including Court injunctions placed on them, the primaries in general had received applause from critics and political pundits.



The NPP must learn lessons and ensure that a fair playing field would be given to particularly all aspirants contesting in impending NPP presidential and parliamentary primaries.



In fact, the NDC has proven critics wrong, and the Partys successful primary elections are an indication that they are yearning to regain political power in the next general election.



This is telling us as NPP that if we are not careful and repeat the unpardonable mistakes in the election 2020 by forcibly imposing parliamentary candidates on our people, then we are heading for political doom, Mensah stated.



The former NPP organizer indicated the choice of the Party people remained paramount if the NPP could recapture lost parliamentary seats and maintain the incumbent seats in the next general election, saying We must also do our homework well.



As a strong Party under a great elephant which cherishes internal democracy, the NPP leadership must ensure that every qualified parliamentary aspirant is given the opportunity to contest in the Party primaries devoid of bias, skirmishes, and unhealthy political considerations, he stated.



We cannot afford to allow some few people in the Party to decide our fate in the Election 2024 because that would be politically suicidal for us. We must strive hard and get the simple majority in parliament and if we do our homework well, we can regain many of the parliamentary seats, particularly our traditional seats we lost in 2020, Mensah added.



As a government in power, he said the NPP was strong enough not only to break the eight, but also win a majority of the parliamentary seats, saying, We need to do a lot, make the NPP more attractive for the masses to make informed decisions and vote for us in 2024.



Mensah said perceived political complacency and voter apathy threatened the fortunes of the Partys victory in the election of 2024.



He, therefore, made an urgent call to the leadership of the Party to ensure that various committees set up to investigate pertinent challenges pertaining to some constituencies would accelerate their work for the progress of the Party.



Certain internal challenges which emanated during the last parliamentary elections in the Sunyani East, Jaman South, Berekum East, Sunyani West, and Wenchi constituencies remained unresolved. The Party is going through other similar challenges in some constituencies nationwide and the leadership must be proactive enough to tackle those challenges before it is too late, he added.



That notwithstanding, Mensah appealed to disgruntled members and supporters of the Party to give peace a chance to prevail, saying Despite our differences, we must remember we are fighting a common enemy, the NDC on the political space in the Election 2024.





Source: GNA









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Chairman of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Johnson Asiedu Nketia has expressed optimism that the NDC flagbearer, John Dramani Mahama, will match the late President Jerry John Rawlings record of being the only head of state to have been sworn into office three times.



Speaking at a ceremony at the University of Development Studies (UDS) where Mr. Mahama delivered his post-election acceptance speech after he was elected flagbearer of the NDC, Mr. Nketia said Mr. Mahama will win the 2024 election.



Comparing Rawlings era to today, the NDC chairman noted that Just as Rawlings was destined to rescue the country some 44 years ago, Mahama is also destined to rescue the country now from the hands of the incompetent Akufo-Addo and NPP-led administration.



Mr Nketia said President Rawlings swore to the nation three times  First as the chairman of Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC), second, as chairman of Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC) and third, as elected President of Ghana under NDC. We never chose this day, May 15, consciously, it just happened that today, we are repeating history in another form.



Mr. Nketia noted that President Mahama is going to be the second President to swear to this nation for the third time before he leaves. He has already been sworn in twice  he swore in as president after the unfortunate demise of President Atta Mills, the second term was when he was elected as president of the Republic, and on January 7th, 2025, he is going to conclude the history-making of this country, for he is going to swear with the state sword for the third time as the President of the Republic of Ghana.



This tells you that the man comes with divine guidance. Rawlings was chosen at a time the nation was considered to be at the lowest end and we hadnt seen the works of Akufo-Addo yet, so at that time we thought that was the worst this country could come to. But today, those who can compare will realize that we were joking in those days and that the real bad times of Ghana, the worst time of Ghana is today.



So, if divine providence had chosen President Rawlings to rescue the country in those days, today, President John Dramani Mahama is being chosen to do the work that has been left uncompleted by President Rawlings, the NDC chairman added amidst applause from NDC executives and former appointees as well as some supporters gathered at the auditorium.





Source: ghanaweb.com









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Member of Parliament (MP) for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, has described the main opposition National Democratic Congress flag bearer, John Dramani Mahamas victory and acceptance speech as a patriotic pledge.



Mr Mahama delivering an acceptance speech following his victory in the NDCs Primaries at the University for Development Studies (UDS), Monday, 15 May 2023, pledged his commitment to run a government with fewer officials and appointees as compared to the current Akufo-Addo-led administration.



I am committed to operating an effective government with not more than sixty (60) ministers. These Ministers together with other appointees of the government will not be entitled to ex-gratia payments after their tenure, as they will commit to that undertaking even before the necessary constitutional amendments, including a review of the controversial Article 71, Mr Mahama stated.



Reacting to NDC flag bearers speech, in a Facebook post on Tuesday, 16 May 2023, the North Tongu MP who went unopposed in the just-ended Primaries, indicated that Mr Mahama would be saving the taxpayer GH350 million if he fulfills his pledge.



John Mahamas inspiring & patriotic pledge to appoint not more than 60 Ministers & Deputies, and to prevent all his appointees from receiving ex-gratia payments, will at current conditions of service potentially save the Ghanaian taxpayer an impressive GH350million in four years, Mr Ablakwa posted on the social media platform.





Source: class fm









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Member of Parliament for Assin North has expressed his disappointment in the Supreme Court's ruling to get his records expunged as a Member of Parliament.



A seven-member panel of the Supreme Court ordered Parliament to expunge the name of the NDC MP.



In the ruling, the apex court barred Mr. Quayson from holding himself as an MP for Assin North.



Gyaye Quayson reacting to this in a letter said: I am, of course, disappointed by the Courts decision. I am especially surprised that the Court now says that foreign bureaucrats now determine whether natural born Ghanaians have the right to contest for parliamentary elections in Ghana or not. Thus, a country that does not allow renunciation of its citizenship can bar a natural born Ghanaian, who has severed all relations with a country of acquired citizenship, from ever standing for MP.



According to him, he has "turned the page on litigating this matter in the courts of justice. I leave the matter to the court of conscience, which Ghandi reminds us, supersedes all other courts".





Read his full statement here:



I Remain Committed To The Development Of Assin North Constituency and Her People



This morning, the Supreme Court by a unanimous decision, ordered the Parliament of Ghana to expunge my name from its records as a Member of Parliament. The Court ruled that the Electoral Commission acted unconstitutionally in allowing me to contest the 2020 Parliamentary Elections without proof that I had denounced my Canadian citizenship at the time I filed my nomination in October, 2020 to contest the parliamentary elections in the Assin-North constituency.



In fact, the EC inspected my renunciation certificate in November 2020, prior to allowing me to contest the elections. Thus, I was duly qualified to run, according to the ECs regulations, which the law presumes to be regular. Yet, the Court holds that I should have offered this proof to the EC at the time of filing for my nomination and then applies the holding retrospectively to disqualify me.



It is a matter of public record that I filed for the renunciation of my Canadian citizenship in December, 2019. It is also a matter of record that I left Canada in February, 2020. It is also a matter of record that as soon as I applied for renunciation of my Canadian citizenship and left Canada, I lost all the rights of Canadian citizenship. It is also a matter of record that I picked up my renunciation certificate from the Canadian Embassy in Accra in November, 2020.



It is also a matter of public record that Canadian law does not say I owe allegiance to Canada, even after filing for renunciation. In fact, Canadian law is unequivocal that disavowal of allegiance is subjective and can be done at any time, including immediately after swearing the oath of citizenship. Thus, under Canadian law, I owed no allegiance to Canada at all material times.



I am, of course, disappointed by the Courts decision. I am especially surprised that the Court now says that foreign bureaucrats now determine whether natural born Ghanaians have the right to contest for parliamentary elections in Ghana or not. Thus, a country that does not allow renunciation of its citizenship can bar a natural born Ghanaian, who has severed all relations with a country of acquired citizenship, from ever standing for MP.



Nevertheless, I have turned the page on litigating this matter in the courts of justice. I leave the matter to the court of conscience, which Ghandi reminds us, supersedes all other courts.



Helping to develop my constituency has always been, and remains, my priority. I assure my constituents that nothing has changed, and I will work even harder than before to win their support and to attain these goals.



I thank the good people of Assin-North, the leadership of the NDC, my attorneys, and the numerous Ghanaians, from all sides of the political divide, who have supported me during these turbulent times. Together, we must ensure that we build a progressive and inclusive society that does not treat any of our citizens as second-class citizens.



May God bless our homeland Ghana, and bless my beloved Assin North Constituency and her people.



Thank you.



signed

James Gyakye Quayson

[Assin North Constituency]

Background

The State had on February 12, last year, charged James Gyakye Quayson with five counts being; deceit of a public officer, forgery of a passport, knowingly making a false statutory declaration, perjury, and false declaration.



As the trial continued on July 2022, his lawyers led by Lawyer Tsatsu Tsikata questioned the competency of the Prosecutions First Witness, Richard Takyi-Mensah, a teacher and his subsequent tendering of his witness statements.



But, his objection was overruled by the trial Judge Justice Mary Maame Ekue Yanzu on the grounds that the witness was competent and duly admitted the witness statements and paragraphs.



Dissatisfied with the High Courts ruling, Mr. Quayson and his lawyers filed a motion at the Supreme Court seeking to quash the decision of the trial judge and order of Prohibition against the judge.

Source: Peacefmonline.com









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But if the authors of Matthew and Luke were both referencing the same original text, then why are their two versions of the Beatitudes so different?

Ian Paul at the blog Psephizo provides a good breakdown of all the differences between Matthew 5 and Luke 6, including the fact that there are only four Beatitudes in Luke while there are eight in Matthew. (Some say nine but in general, scholars count the last two "blesseds" as one beatitude). But the thorniest differences for Christians and other Bible readers is the language that Jesus uses to describe the people he blesses.

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" " This wood engraving shows Jesus teaching the Beatitudes to his followers. ZU_09/Getty Images

In Luke, in the first beatitude, Jesus blesses the "poor" and explicitly casts "woe" upon the rich. But in Matthew, Jesus blesses the "poor in spirit" and makes no mention of the rich. "Poor in spirit" is generally understood as meaning "humble," says Eklund, and blessing people for their humility strikes a very different ethical chord than blessing people for being poor (or at least not being rich). This spirit is different from the Holy Spirit, which Christians believe is the third person of the trinity (along with God and Jesus Christ.) In other words, self-righteousness won't help. Only the spiritual beggars inherit the kingdom of God.

The same contradiction holds for the Bible verses about hunger. In Luke, Jesus blesses those "who hunger now, for you will be satisfied" and pronounces "woe to you who are well fed now, for you will go hungry." Again, it sounds like the authors of Luke have Jesus talking about physical hunger.

But in Matthew, Jesus blesses "those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled." Hungering for righteousness is not the same as hungering for bread, so which one is right?

"Most modern scholars think that Luke is closer to the original text," says Eklund, "and that Matthew has taken [those 'earthly' blessings in Luke] and spiritualized them."

That would explain why there are so many more blessings in Matthew, if Matthew's authors were indeed expanding and "spiritualizing" the message for their audience. But Eklund also thinks that the differences between the two versions raise some really interesting questions.

"Can the rich really be humble, in a sense? Do material 'lack' and spiritual need go together? Can I really experience 'poverty of spirit' if I'm materially wealthy?" asks Eklund. "There have been a lot of great conversations and meditations over the centuries about how to understand that Beatitude."
" " A letter carrier pushes her mail cart through Brooklyn on a rainy day. You know what they say: "Neither snow nor rain ..." Keith Getter/Getty Images

There he is again, just like yesterday and last week and seven years ago. "Neither snow, nor rain, nor heat, nor gloom of night" keeps your loyal mailman from making his daily rounds in his powder-blue shirt, gray shorts and occasional awesome safari hat. But how exactly did your trusty mail carrier get assigned this specific route, and how long is he or she stuck with it?

According to Sue Brennan at the United States Postal Service, your mail carrier's route is one of more than 74,000 rural postal routes and nearly 145,000 city routes across the nation. The longest single route in America is in Mangum, Oklahoma, where a well-traveled rural carrier drives 182.75 miles (294 kilometers) a day to serve 248 customers. The shortest route is in Athens, Georgia, where a city carrier walks 950 feet (289 meters) to make 281 deliveries.

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"If you've had the same letter carrier for a long time, that probably means you're part of a desirable route."

Brian Renfroe is a second-generation letter carrier from Hattiesburg, Mississippi, currently serving as executive vice president of the National Association of Letter Carriers, a labor union representing America's 200,000 city postal workers. Renfroe was happy to explain the process by which an individual postal route is designed and assigned.

For starters, Renfroe says, rural carriers and city carriers have different systems for determining the size of a route. A rural carrier's route is much more consistent, and he or she is paid for the amount of time it takes to complete the route. For city carriers, the guiding principle of route design is for a carrier to complete the route in as close to eight hours as possible.

As you can imagine, an eight-hour route looks a lot different depending on your location. In a dense urban center full of high-rise apartments, it might take a postal worker eight hours to service a couple of blocks. Out in the suburbs, another postal worker might walk and drive miles delivering to hundreds of single-family homes.

The size and dimensions of each route are calculated using a combination of computer-based mapping software and old-fashioned, on-the-ground experience.

"The Postal Service has a computer program that maps the exact location of every delivery point. Not just 'this house is here,' but where the mailbox is," says Renfroe. "And this program uses a number of algorithms to try to generate the most efficient way to travel the route based on the time value that's assigned to each street."

The computer's timing of the route is just a starting point. Then it's the postal manager's job to "account for reality," says Renfroe, which includes all the variables that can impact the time it takes to complete a route. There are seasonal fluctuations in mail volume. There's inclement weather. There's road construction and new home construction and the very human differences between one carrier and the next.

"Some letter carriers are tall, some are short, some are young, some are older, some are faster, some are slower," says Renfroe. "There are all sorts of variables that play into it."

There's no set time to deliver mail at a particular house. The postal carrier has to spend a few hours sorting the mail into trays before heading out on his or her route. The trays correspond to the order of the route. If the houses ahead of you on the route happen to be heavier on mail than usual on one day, the letters may get in your box later than on another day, even if the weather is good and there's no road construction or other delays.

Keeping the routes as close to eight hours as possible requires regular adjustments. Postal managers will conduct six-day route inspections to accurately time each part of the letter carrier's day, from the daily morning sorting to the on-the-street delivery to hanging up the bag at night.

If a carrier's day is stretching closer to eight-and-a-half hours, the postal manager will slice off a portion of his or her route and divvy it up among nearby carriers with lighter loads. That explains why you might see a new face on your route every couple of years.

Otherwise, the assigning of routes at any given post office is done by seniority. When a route is vacated  the carrier quits or retires  or a new one is created, all the carriers in the office get to bid on the route. The carrier with the most seniority wins. If you've had the same letter carrier for a long time, that probably means you're part of a desirable route. Or those cookies you give him on National Postal Worker Day (July 1) are paying off.

In addition to the long-term route adjustments that are made every few months or years, the Postal Service also makes short-term route fixes.

When letter carriers show up to work every morning, they look at the day's mail volume and make an estimate of how long it will take to complete their assigned route. Maybe it's a snow day, or a day after a holiday when mail volume is doubled. If they know it's going to take more than eight hours, they can either volunteer for overtime  overtime signups are every three months  or the supervisor can assign a portion of the route to other carriers for the day.

"It's actually much more complicated than that, but that's a simplified way of explaining how it works," says Renfroe, noting that individual post offices in big cities like New York, Los Angeles or Boston might have 200 to 300 letter carriers to manage.

Now That's Cool The U.S. Postal Service was established by the Constitution and the first Postmaster General was named by George Washington in 1789. The new country was served by 75 post offices delivering to 4 million people.
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:

Plot of chloroplast volume to surface area determined by serial block face scanning electron microscopy (SBF-SEM) for maize and sugarcane compared with previously published values. Symbols are the mean for each species cell type with error bars showing SE. Solid line shows the volumesurface area of a triaxial ellipsoid. The dotted line shows the volumesurface area relationship of a sphere. Insets: (a) the example of ellipsoid shape (a = 2b = 6c), and (b) the example of sphere shape (a = b = c). Credit: New Phytologist (2023). DOI: 10.1111/nph.18956

A team from the University of Illinois has quantified the plant cell properties in two C4 species, including cell shape, chloroplast size, and distribution of cell-to-cell connections called plasmodesmata, providing information that can change how people model photosynthesis thanks to their 3D reconstructions.

"Our motivation for this project was to provide critical missing baseline information about C4 plant cell structure," said Moonsub Lee, a postdoctoral researcher at Illinois who, along with Ryan Boyd, led this work for a research project called Renewable Oil Generated with Ultra-productive Energycane (ROGUE). "We quantified a lot of information about the different types of cells involved in C4 photosynthesis that we believe will reduce gaps in understanding."

This work is part of ROGUE, a research project that aims to create an abundant and sustainable supply of oil that can be used to produce biodiesel, biojet fuel, and bioproducts with support from the U.S. Department of Energy. Much of ROGUE's work focuses on two C4 plants, energycane and miscanthus. Lee and his colleagues believe by quantifying cellular structures they can improve modeling and eventually, production.

Published recently in New Phytologist, their work "Exploring 3D leaf anatomical traits for C4 photosynthesis: chloroplast and plasmodesmata pit field size in maize and sugarcane," shows detailed structures, opening the door for more analysis than was possible with previous 2D images. Their findings extend current perceptions of mesophyll cell shape, finding a more intricate structure than the bundle sheath cell which is closer to a simple cylinder.

"The most exciting aspect of this work to me was the ability to visualize the plasmodesmatal interconnections among the different cell types," said Don Ort, the Robert Emerson Professor of Plant Biology and Crop Sciences at the University of Illinois.

The group plans to work with others on the ROUGE project who have engineered Energycane with larger chloroplasts as a strategy to improve photosynthetic efficiency in dynamic light.

"This work was our initial attempt at 3D quantification and visualization of C4 plant structures, said Lee. "The images we were able to observe with these microscopy techniques have facilitated new ideas and questions that we are excited to explore."

More information: MoonSub Lee et al, Exploring 3D leaf anatomical traits for C 4 photosynthesis: chloroplast and plasmodesmata pit field size in maize and sugarcane, New Phytologist (2023). DOI: 10.1111/nph.18956 Journal information: New Phytologist
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LP 791-18 d is an Earth-size world about 90 light-years away. The gravitational tug from a more massive planet in the system, shown as a blue disk in the background, may result in internal heating and volcanic eruptionsas much as Jupiter's moon Io, the most geologically active body in the solar system. Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/Chris Smith/KRBwyle

Imagine an Earth-sized planet that's not at all Earth-like. Half this world is locked in permanent daytime, the other half in permanent night, and it's carpeted with active volcanoes. Astronomers have discovered that planet.

The planet, named LP 791-18d, orbits a small red dwarf star about 90 light years away. Volcanic activity makes the discovery particularly notable for astronomers because volcanism facilitates interaction between a world's interior and its exterior.

"Why is volcanism important? It is the major source contributing to a planetary atmosphere, and with an atmosphere you could have surface liquid watera requirement for sustaining life as we know it," said UC Riverside astrophysicist Stephen Kane.

Astronomers already knew about two other worlds in this star system, LP 791-18b and c. The outer planet, c, is about 2.5 times Earth's size, and nearly nine times its mass.

During each orbit around the star, planets c and d pass very close to each other. As they do, c's massive size produces a gravitational tug that makes planet d's orbit more elliptical, rather than perfectly circular. These deformations to the orbit create friction that heats the planet's interior, producing volcanic activity at the surface.

Researchers found the planet using data from NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite, TESS, and the retired Spitzer Space Telescope. Kane was part of the team that did the original TESS observations, and he co-authored a paper about the newly discovered planet published in the scientific journal Nature.

Another key feature of the planet, as described in the paper, is the fact that it does not rotate.

"LP 791-18d is tidally locked, which means the same side constantly faces its star," said Bjorn Benneke, corresponding co-author of the paper and astronomy professor at the Trottier Institute for Research on Exoplanets, based at the University of Montreal.

"The day side would probably be too hot for liquid water to exist on the surface. But the amount of volcanic activity we suspect occurs all over the planet could sustain an atmosphere, which may allow water to condense on the night side," Benneke said.

Though the presence of so many constantly erupting volcanoes would likely make the planet uninhabitable, their presence offers new information about evolution.

"A big question in astrobiology, the field that broadly studies the origins of life on Earth and beyond, is if tectonic or volcanic activity is necessary for life," said Jessie Christiansen, paper co-author and California Institute of Technology research scientist.

"In addition to potentially providing an atmosphere, these processes could churn up materials that would otherwise sink down and get trapped in the crust, including those we think are important for life, like carbon," Christiansen said.

The recent discovery of active volcanoes on Venus also shows that planets of Earth's size can continue adding to their atmospheres, with or without plate tectonics.

The main constituents of volcanic emissions are carbon dioxide and water vapor, greenhouse gases that can help keep a planet warm. "On Venus, volcanic carbon dioxide stayed in the atmosphere, pushing the planet into a runaway greenhouse state," Kane said.

"Today, surface temperatures on Venus are more than 850 degrees Fahrenheitas hot as a wood-fired pizza ovenand odds of life there are slim. But it may not always have been that way," he said.

"Volcanoes might be a big piece of the puzzle about what actually happened on Venus. Planets like LP 791-18d can shed important insights into how volcanoes shape planetary environments with time, including those of Venus and Earth."

More information: Bjorn Benneke, A temperate Earth-sized planet with tidal heating transiting an M6 star, Nature (2023). DOI: 10.1038/s41586-023-05934-8. www.nature.com/articles/s41586-023-05934-8 Journal information: Nature
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Artist's impression of a near-Earth object in space. NASA is on the lookout for near-Earth objectsneighboring asteroids and cometsthat could possibly impact Earth. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Anyone can become an asteroid hunter thanks to a new program launched by astronomers at the University of Arizona Lunar and Planetary Laboratory. As part of the Catalina Sky Survey, the scientists created an online portal that opens their missionthe discovery and identification of space rocks that regularly visit Earth's neighborhoodto the general public.

While gazing up at the night sky with the naked eye, one might see stars, planets and the occasional airplane. What one usually won't see, however, are asteroids and cometslumps of rock tumbling through spaceleft over from the formation of our solar system about 4.6 billion years ago. Because of their origin, these space objects might hold clues about the formation of the sun and planets, scientists believe.

Through the new portal, scientists from the Catalina Sky Survey will share potential asteroid and comet detections from their ground-based telescopes with anyone with an internet connection. Even amateurs can help scientists find unknown objects in the solar system as they click through and pore over high-resolution, telescope snapshots of the sky that scientists haven't been able to look at.

"I thought it would be great if people could do what we do every night," said Carson Fuls, a science engineering specialist for the Catalina Sky Survey who heads the project. "We see this website as throwing open the doors: Do you want to look for asteroids, too? If so, come on in."

To begin asteroid hunting, participants must create an account on Zooniverse, an online platform for people-powered research. Through the website, volunteers without any specialized training or expertise assist professional researchers from various fields. In the case of the public asteroid detection portal, a basic tutorial will have participants picking out moving asteroids from pictures in no time.

Participants look at sets of images of the night sky taken by one of the Catalina Sky Survey telescopes. Each image set contains four exposures taken six or seven minutes apart. The pictures are noteworthy because software spotted a moving speck of light from one image to the next, which may or may not represent the light reflected from a faraway comet or asteroid.

The task for the amateur asteroid hunter: Decide if the identified speck of light in the images looks like a genuine celestial body or, rather, is a false detection resulting from inconveniently timed "twinkles" of the star-studded background, dust on the telescope mirror or other causes. After answering by clicking a "yes" or "no" button, the participant can either write a comment or move on to the next detection.

It is not necessary that people know the correct answer every time, said Catalina Sky Survey director Eric Christensen. Rather, the system relies on strength in numbers.

"With enough people participating, you can establish a general consensus, so there's less margin of error," Christensen said.

The Catalina Sky Survey operates up to five large, powerful telescopes each night in their quest to keep track of over 1 million lumps of flying rock with diameters ranging from the length of a school bus to the width of Arizona. Initially, the images in the portal will come from their G96 telescope atop Mount Lemmon, just north of Tucson. The diameter of the telescope's primary mirror is approximately 5 feet, and it can usually survey the whole Northern Hemisphere night sky in about a month.

"The number of asteroids we detect per night with our telescope really depends on the weather or where we are in the lunar calendar," Christensen said. "On clear nights, the database matches tens of thousands of candidates to known asteroids based on their motion, speed and position in the sky."

While the lab's software detects and records all asteroid sightings, Catalina Sky Survey is a NASA-funded project with the mission of specifically tracking and discovering near-Earth objects, or NEOs. NEOs are asteroids that have strayed from the flock of space rocks plodding around the sun in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. Their new orbits take them much closer to Earth, and some pose a potential threat if their orbit crosses that of Earth.

Graph showing the amount of near-Earth asteroids discovered over time. Most notably, the current total of almost 32,000 asteroids is at least triple the amount that had been detected ten years ago. Catalina Sky Survey alone has discovered over 14,400 near-Earth asteroids, including 1,200 in the past year. Credit: Alan Chamberlin/JPL-Caltech

More than 14,400 NEOs in the past 30 yearsalmost half of the entire known population of nearly 32,000have been discovered by the Catalina Sky Survey. Of those, 1,200 were found just in the past year.

"We are most interested in candidates that are moving fast with an unknown identity because they are most likely to be NEOs," Fuls said. "Because NEOs are closer to us, they appear to move faster and in somewhat random directions from our viewpoint compared to main belt asteroids."

The process of spotting a new NEO and reporting it is time sensitive, and astronomers can lose track of them if there is no immediate follow-up on their discovery. That's because NEOs have highly elliptical orbits that only bring them close to Earth every three or four years. Plus, some smaller NEOs can only be detected if they are passing near Earth.

"NEOs move so erratically that it's easy to miss them," Christensen said. "We try not to filter out false detections too aggressively because this could also filter out some NEOs."

Currently, the asteroid-tracking telescope on Mount Lemmon is set up to take about 1,000 images per night. Afterwards, sensitive software ranks detected moving objects from most to least likely to be an asteroid. The final step is for a human observer to analyze the detections that the software identified.

"A human can only process so many images a night," said Fuls, explaining that while the software flags many possible objects, the researchers don't have the time and resources to look through everything that was picked up. "We are missing a certain number of objects because they simply didn't rank high enough in the algorithm."

That is where a Zooniverse account comes in handy, as "citizen scientists" peek through sky photos that the software flagged but weren't obvious enough to make the cut. For each set of images, a participant must decide: Did the software pick up on a never-before seen space object or did it just get confused by the flickering stars?

Already, three citizen scientists have discovered 64 possible candidates for unknown asteroids during the testing phase of the web portal.

"We've sent these detections off to the Minor Planet Center as potential new discoveries, and most of these objects have not yet been linked to any object that has been detected before," Fuls said. "We anticipate that there will be many more discoveries like that going forward."

The Catalina Sky Survey astronomers plan to release new data into the interface every day after their scheduled nighttime viewing session.

"The observations made by these citizen scientists may not always be of a never-before-detected object," Christensen said. "But they may still be key observations that allow the Minor Planet Center to nail down the identity of something that, until now, was just a candidate."

To keep prospective asteroid hunters on their toes, Fuls said, he and his colleagues will throw pictures of already known objects into the mix to test people's ability to identify real objects and keep them engaged.

"Even when you're at the telescope, you perk up when you see one of those," Fuls said. "You don't want it to be mindless and boring."
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RDOC, recalcitrant dissolved organic carbon; POC, particulate organic carbon; DOC, dissolved organic carbon. Credit: Science China Press

A marine research team led by Professor Yan Qingyun has proposed a method to assess the net carbon sink of marine macroalgae (Gracilaria) cultivation. Then, they calculated the net carbon sink of Gracilaria cultivation in China based on the yield of annual cultivated Gracilaria in the last ten years.

Also, the net carbon sink trend of Gracilaria cultivation in the next ten years was predicted by the autoregressive integrated moving average model (ARIMA). Finally, they explored the potential carbon sink increase and methane reduction related to Gracilaria cultivation in China through a scenario analysis.

Their results suggested that the net carbon sink of Gracilaria cultivation in China was about 32.1-92.4 kilotons per year from 2011 to 2020, and showed a great annual growth trend. Specifically, the predicted average annual net carbon sink of Gracilaria cultivation from 2021 to 2030 would double that of the last ten years (i.e., increase to 77.8-191.4 kilotons per year).

The predicted average annual net carbon sink of Gracilaria cultivation from 2021 to 2030 tend to increase continuously, might have the potential to double that of last ten years and reach 191.4 kilotons in 2030. Credit: Science China Press

Thus, the Gracilaria cultivation could contribute considerably in the achievement of China's carbon peak goal. Moreover, under a scenario of producing ruminant green feed with additional Gracilaria cultivation, each ton of macroalgae was predicted to reduce carbon emission (i.e., methane) by 0.33-0.68 tons.

In summary, marine macroalgae cultivation might form a synergistic chain of "carbon sink increase-water purification-economy-methane reduction." A synergistic new model that operates through marine macroalgae cultivation, economic aquaculture, and green feed production was proposed in this study.

The work is published in the journal Science China Earth Sciences.

More information: Yifan Xu et al, Assessment of carbon sink potential and methane reduction scenarios of marine macroalgae (Gracilaria) cultivation, Science China Earth Sciences (2023). DOI: 10.1007/s11430-022-1053-3 Journal information: Science China Earth Sciences
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Credit: CC0 Public Domain

Summer in India has always been hot. Increasingly, it's testing the limits of human survival. As temperatures have climbed across the world's most populous nation in recent weeks, more than a dozen people died at an event in central India and thousands crowded hospitals with heatstroke symptoms. Hundreds of schools were closed and the mercury is still rising: Temperatures will hover around 45C (113F) across the northern plains this weekend.

The most immediate fix is mercifully affordable, at least in the short-term.

Demand for air conditioners is surging in markets where both incomes and temperatures are rising, populous places like India, China, Indonesia and the Philippines.

By one estimate, the world will add 1 billion ACs before the end of the decade. The market is projected to nearly double before 2040. That's good for measures of public health and economic productivity; it's unquestionably bad for the climate, and a global agreement to phase out the most harmful coolants could keep the appliances out of reach of many of the people who need them most.

The logic behind the AC boom is simple. Economists note a spike in sales when annual household incomes near $10,000, a tipping point many of the world's hottest places touched recently or will soon. The Philippines passed the $10,000 threshold roughly last year; Indonesia within the last decade. In India, where more than 80% of the population doesn't yet have access to air conditioning, per capita gross domestic productadjusted for purchasing powerwill top $9,000 this year for the first time.

"We are operating in a limitless opportunity," said Kanwaljeet Jawa, who heads the India wing of Daikin Industries Ltd, the world's largest AC manufacturer. In recent years, he said, "our sales have grown more than 15 times."

This development has far-reaching consequences for public health, well-being and economic growth. Purchasing an AC is a pivot away from poverty for individuals and for their communities. People in hotter countries, which also tend to be poorer ones, suffer from worse sleep and impaired cognitive performance, both of which drag on productivity and output.

In a study looking at thousands of Indian factories with different cooling arrangements, researchers found that productivity fell by around 2% for every degree Celsius increase. This is a big deal for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's push to boost sluggish export numbers, lure business from China and move up the global value chain: The declines due to heat over the past 30 years may equate to roughly 1% of India's GDP, or about $32 billion, according to E. Somanathan, author of the report and a professor of economics at ISI Delhi.

But expanding AC coverage too quickly also threatens to worsen the crisis it's responding to. Most units use a refrigerant that's far more damaging than carbon dioxide. The nations where demand is growing fastest remain deeply reliant on coal-fired power, and most people can only afford the cheapest, most energy-inefficient units.

If efficiency standards don't improve, "then the planet will literally be cooked," said Abhas Jha, a World Bank expert on climate change based in Singapore.

Wealthier, more temperate countries have tightened regulations on ACs, requiring better energy efficiency and less-toxic coolants. That adds to the cost of units, making those kinds of measures less palatable where affordability is paramount. International climate bodies are pressuring developing countries to lower their carbon footprint, but India and its peers point out that they still contribute far less to global emissions than places like the U.S., where nine out of ten people have access to AC.

"We're facing a situation where extraordinarily harsh conditions are being imposed on growing economies," said Jose Guillermo Cedeno Laurent, an assistant professor of public health at Rutgers University in New Jersey.

In Delhi's working-class neighborhoods, these debates are abstractions. For many, access to an AC is a matter of survival. Piyu Haldar, who works as a maid, said her shanty turns into a furnace in the summer. The tin roof gets hot enough to cook roti on it. Before sleeping, Haldar and her husband used to splash water on their bed to cool down the room.

When her son was born in 2016, he suffered fevers from the heat. That was the breaking point. To afford an entry-level Voltas AC, Haldar stopped buying clothing, cut down on meals, took out a loan and doubled the number of houses she cleaned.

Haldar, 27, avoids turning on the unit during the day. But as night falls, she flips on the switch and closes the door, keeping the mosquitoes out and preserving the cool air. In a windowless bedroom decorated with teddy bears and toys, her son, Yasir, pushed his face against the AC, delighting in the "cold chilled air!"

"Relatives visit just to sit next to it," Haldar said. "People think we've become very fancy." Since purchasing the AC, she and her husband have more energy in the day, she said, and Yasir no longer falls sick from the heat.

As more people like Haldar buy ACs, cooling companies are trying to improve energy efficiency without pricing out their biggest growth markets. Most G-20 nations, including India, use labeling systems to rate the efficiency of products, and stricter standards in the U.S. and European Union have lowered energy use from appliances by 15% in recent years, according to BloombergNEF.

Haldar chose a three-star unit from Voltas, which cost about 27,000 rupees ($330), or roughly 15% less than comparable higher efficiency options. Three-star units comprise about 60% of total AC sales at Godrej Appliances, one of India's largest retailers, said business head Kamal Nandi. One way to encourage consumers to buy more efficient models, the company says, would be to lower taxes on the units to 18%, down from the 28% luxury tariff that currently applies. "The AC has become a necessity," Nandi said. "It is no longer a luxury item."

For cooling companies like Daikin and Haier, the growing demand for ACs could be quashed by regulation designed to slow climate change. Part of the problem will be solved if and when countries move toward cleaner sources of power. The other issuethe refrigerants that turn that electricity into cool airis trickier.

One of the most common coolants, hydrofluorocarbons, can have 1,000 times the warming potency of carbon dioxide. Scientists estimate that failing to drastically lower dependence on HFCs could result in half a degree Celsius of warming by the end of the century, an enormous contribution to a rise that would trigger deadlier storms, droughts and, yes, more heatwaves.

In 2016, more than 170 nations agreed to start phasing out HFCs beginning in 2019, with wealthy industrial countries required to make the first deep cuts. There are less environmentally harmful coolants on the market, made by Chemours Co. and Honeywell International Inc. Daikin and Mitsubishi Electric Corporation are working on their own products.

"If you don't have a green refrigerant, you are going to be the loser," said Jawa, the chief executive of Daikin India, which became a billion-dollar company last financial year and expects to double that number within three more.

Cooling companies are hunting for new options. Daikin's R-32 has approximately one-third the global warming potential of conventional refrigerants and is cheaper than some other coolants; it's become common in appliances sold by big retailers such as Godrej. But it's also a bit more flammable than older refrigerants and, according to Prima Madan, an expert on cooling and energy efficiency at the US-based Natural Resources Defense Council, still too polluting.

The Kigali Amendment to phase out HFCs is legally binding, and though many of its goals are still far in the future, developed nations have picked up the pace. While R-32 has "helped avoid a large chunk of emissions," Madan said, "we do need to go lower."

As of now, though, the alternatives are often more expensive. That's prompted opposition even in wealthy countries. The U.S. senate recently agreed to reduce HFC consumption by 85% within 15 years, and the conservative Heritage Foundation has warned Americans to get "ready to pay a lot more for air conditioning."

For India, the challenge is to implement cleaner technology before millions of new consumers purchase the dirtier ACs, locking in their use for another decade. Last year, the country logged some of its hottest weeks since 1901. Brutal heatwaves pushed temperatures to 50C (122F) on the subcontinent. The worst stretches killed hundreds of people, led to hours-long power outages and even caused a giant landfill on the outskirts of India's capital to spontaneously combust.

Naresh Tatavet, a personal driver in Delhi, is among those who've had enough. This month, he bought his young family their first AC, calling it one of the biggest financial investments he's ever madeon par with purchasing a motorbike. In his neighborhood, after somebody purchases an AC, "we bring them sweets to celebrate."

Whatever happens in Washington, Brussels and other faraway places, Tatavet is sure of one thing: His family won't go back. He can no longer watch his baby throw up from the heat.

"I don't want to wake up drenched in sweat anymore," he said.

2023 Bloomberg L.P.

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
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Researchers examined whether the data they obtained from citizen scientists reflects the true distribution pattern of mosquito species. Credit: Kornelia Kurucz and Zoltan Soltesz

Hungarian researchers have demonstrated in a new Journal of Applied Ecology paper that citizen science data collected by the public can be used to track the distribution of mosquitoes in the country.

Citizen science, also known as community science, is any activity that involves the public conducting scientific research. Citizen science holds the potential to impact society in a variety of ways. For example, bringing together scientists, policy makers and the general public, as well as enabling researchers to collect large amounts of data efficiently.

For the fifth year in a row, Hungarian researchers asked the public to help map mosquito distribution across the country. The Mosquito Surveillance Hungary program utilizes a citizen science approach, with mosquito reports coming from a variety of areas, with the purpose of allowing researchers to paint an increasingly accurate picture of the presence of invasive species in Hungary.

Researchers examined whether the data they obtained reflects the true distribution pattern of the investigated mosquito species. The spatio-temporal patterns of mosquitoes (where and when they're found) generated from the reports of citizens (based on the presence/prevalence data of individual species) were compared with field monitoring data collected by researchers. The conclusion determined that the maps based on the reports corresponded well with the results of direct field sampling using traditional trapping protocols.

Citizen science holds the potential to impact society in a variety of ways. Credit: Zoltan Soltesz

These results suggest that data collected from citizen science can contribute to biologically meaningful conclusions regarding invasive mosquito distribution in any country. However, this depends on the reporting intensity of citizens being appropriate. For example, the number of reports must reach a species-specific threshold.

The distribution maps of invasive species can be used for identifying ecological predictors that determine such spatial patterns. Alongside this, they are also used for developing mosquito control programs and assessing epidemiological risk.

More information: Laszlo Zsolt Garamszegi et al, Validating a surveillance program of invasive mosquitoes based on citizen science in Hungary, Journal of Applied Ecology (2023). DOI: 10.1111/1365-2664.14417 Journal information: Journal of Applied Ecology
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Selection of the 128 pottery shards, analyzed by Professor Kaare Lund Rasmussen, University of Southern Denmark. Credit: Kaare Lund Rasmussen/University of Southern Denmark.

When Christopher Columbus arrived at the present-day US Virgin Islands on his second voyage across the Atlantic in 1493, the islands were already inhabitedbut how and when the islands of St. Croix, St. John, and St. Thomas were originally populated remains uncertain.

Now, a research team present a chemically-based answer to the puzzle. An international research team from the United States, Argentina, the United Kingdom, and Denmark got permission to conduct the first thermoluminescence dating of archaeologically excavated pottery shards from the islands.

These results can now be compared with archaeologists' previous datings, which were based on stylistic analysis, site location, and radiocarbon dating. The results have been published in the journal Heritage Science.

"For the first time, we have conducted a thermoluminescence dating of the pottery shards left behind by the islands' former inhabitants. This provides a more accurate dating of the culture that prevailed on the islands because pottery shards are the most important archaeological artifact group in this warm tropical climate," says Kaare Lund Rasmussen, a professor at the Department of Physics, Chemistry, and Pharmacy, who led the chemical analyses.

He is an expert in archaeometry, which involves conducting chemical analyses of archaeological and historical objects. He has analyzed high-profile artifacts such as the tomb of Renaissance astronomer Tycho Brahe, the Dead Sea Scrolls, the coffin of King Canute the Holy, and the skeletons of Jesus' apostles.

The pottery shards were made available by the National Museum of Denmark in Copenhagen, which granted the researchers permission to take samples from the ceramic pieces brought to the museum in 1924 from the former Danish colonies in the West Indies. The samples consist of 128 pottery shards from seven different locations on St. John, St. Thomas, and St. Croix.

"These new datings contribute to a more nuanced understanding of when the islands were inhabited and, most importantly, how many different ethnic groups lived on the islands or engaged in trade with each other at the same time," says Kaare Lund Rasmussen.

Who these early residents were, researchers don't know much about. Although several archaeological investigations have been conducted on the islands, not many artifacts have been found apart from pottery shards that can contribute to forming a picture of the people who inhabited and settled on the islands.

Selection of the 128 pottery shards, analyzed by Professor Kaare Lund Rasmussen, University of Southern Denmark. Credit: Kaare Lund Rasmussen/University of Southern Denmark

The new datings challenge the prevailing theory about the early inhabitants of the islands. According to the widely accepted theory proposed by Professor Irwin Rouse from Yale University in 1960, immigrants arrived in three successive waves from the south, originating from the mouth of the Orinoco River in Venezuela.

This theory is plausible and intuitively understandable for several reasons: One can see from one island to the next in the chain (at least in good weather). Furthermore, the almost always prevailing southeasterly wind makes the journey northwest relatively easy.

However, Lund Rasmussen's and co-workers' thermoluminescence datings have revealed that several different styles coexisted on the islands at the same time.

"Our data suggests that multiple cultures were present in the same location simultaneously or at least in close proximity to each other, enabling them to engage in trade. This contradicts to some extent the theory of three major waves of immigration from south to north. It appears to be more of a multitude of different styles that prevailed simultaneously at almost all locations," says Lund Rasmussen.

As an example, he mentions that the styles of Ostiones, Monserrate, Santa Elena, La Hueca, and Cuevas, each displaying their own distinctive pottery decoration, have been found at various locations on the three islands within a timeframe that researchers date from 600 to 1200 AD.

"This indicates that these five different ethnic groups may have inhabited these places during the mentioned period. Perhaps not continuouslythey may have come and gone, only to return again. But they were certainly within trading distance of each other. It seems that the travels went in multiple directions, both north and south," explains Kaare Lund Rasmussen.

Until now, datings of archaeological findings on the U.S. Virgin Islands were based on radiocarbon dating of the surrounding materials found together with the pottery shards. For example, radiocarbon dating has been performed on seashells found alongside the pottery shards. The ages of the pottery shards were also estimated based on their decoration and production techniques, placing them in Rouse's scheme of immigration waves.

"Radiocarbon datings of remains found near pottery shards can generally be helpful for archaeologists. However, the problem in the Virgin Islands is that there are rarely well-defined layers where the overlying layer is clearly and distinctly younger than the underlying layer. In fact, only one site on the islands has a truly good stratigraphy, namely Cinnamon Bay on St. John. The situation at most other locations more closely resembles kitchen middens," says Kaare Lund Rasmussen.

Currently, the research team is investigating whether the chemical composition of the clay can provide information about where the different pottery vessels were made, potentially determining whether a pottery vessel was locally produced or brought by canoe from another island.

More information: Joshua Torres et al, Thermoluminescence and radiocarbon dating of pre-colonial ceramics and organic midden material from the US Virgin Islands: outline for a revised chronology, Heritage Science (2023). DOI: 10.1186/s40494-023-00936-1
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Life reconstruction of Archopterus anjiensis. Credit: Yang Dinghua

Eurypterids (Arthropoda: Chelicerata), normally known as sea scorpions, are an important extinct group of Paleozoic chelicerate arthropods.

Researchers led by Profs. Zhang Haichun, Wang Bo, Zhang Yuandong, and Ph.D. student Wang Han from the Nanjing Institute of Geology and Paleontology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (NIGPAS), in collaboration with their colleagues from the U.K., have described a new Ordovician eurypterid, Archopterus anjiensis, from the latest Ordovcian (Hirnantian) Anji Biota of Zhejiang Province, South China. It represents the first unequivocal Ordovician eurypterid recorded in China as well as the oldest one ever found in the country, adding new knowledge to the early evolution of eurypterids in Gondwana.

The study was published in the Journal of Paleontology on May 10.

Eurypterids first appeared in the Ordovician, attained their maximum diversity during the late Silurian and early Devonian, and became extinct at the end of Permian. With bizarre morphology and high ecological diversity, they occupied marine, freshwater, and even terrestrial environments, becoming an important medium for us to understand the transition of ecological environments in the Paleozoic.

However, Ordovician eurypterids are extremely rare. To date, only 12 species of Ordovician eurypterids are known in the world, so any reported occurrence is of great significance to understanding their early evolutionary history.

Fossils of Archopterus anjiensis. Credit: NIGPAS

The current study reported a rare Ordovician eurypterid from the Wenchang Formation of Anji County, Zhejiang Province.

"Archopterus anjiensis is characterized by a parabolic carapace, Hughmilleria-type prosomal appendages, vase-shaped metastoma, and a three-segmented type A (female) genital appendage, estimated to be 15 cm long," said Wang Han, first author of the study.

Associated with diverse sponges, Archopterus anjiensis was found in a deep-water environment at a depth of several hundred meters. This occurrence, along with some Ordovician eurypterids from a normal marine environment, may indicate that some early eurypterids favored living in deeper waters than their post-Ordovician relatives.

In addition, Archopterus anjiensis represents the oldest adelophthalmid and extends the stratigraphic range of this family to the Late Ordovician (by about 10 million years), making Adelophthalmidae the longest-living eurypterid family (Ordovician to Permian), and indicates that adelophthalmids have been found in the widest range of habitats of all eurypterid groups.

This rare Ordovician sea scorpion from Zhejiang Province, along with continuous discoveries of eurypterid fossils in China, indicates that there is great potential for exploration of eurypterids in Paleozoic Gondwana areas.

More information: Han Wang et al, The first documentation of an Ordovician eurypterid (Chelicerata) from China, Journal of Paleontology (2023). DOI: 10.1017/jpa.2023.21 Journal information: Journal of Paleontology
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The nine planetary boundaries. The orange and red indicate which have been exceeded (October 2022 data). Credit: Leiden University

We have crossed six of the nine boundaries within which human life on Earth will still be possible for future generations. That is not good news. Can the tide still be turned?

The planetary boundaries were discussed on May 9 as part of the Leiden University Green Office's Sustainability Day. They include climate change, biodiversity loss and ocean acidification. Six of the nine boundaries have already been crossed (see figure above). Crossing planetary boundaries increases the risk of large-scale abrupt or irreversible environmental changes.

Systemic changes are needed

Drastic changes are needed to ensure that the Earth remains habitable. In a keynote lecture, Jan Willem Erisman, Professor of Environmental Sustainability, said systemic changes are needed in food, energy and how we live and consume. In fact, all planetary boundaries are interconnected.

For example, once the nitrogen limit is exceeded, it affects biodiversity and climate. Besides planetary boundaries, Erisman also stressed the importance of social boundaries, which include education, social equality and health care. Planetary boundaries and social boundaries affect each other, and if we are to preserve a livable Earth, they must be addressed in an integrated waywhich is possible.

Local solutions

One approach that can help keep the Earth livable is to let communities come up with their own local solutions. Erisman gained first-hand experience of this with some farmers on Schiermonnikoog island.

And the Polder Lab, part of the university's Livable Planet program, is a place where farmers and citizens work together to explore how peatland can be managed sustainably and profitably. Erisman said, "You see that communities often achieve more than their original goal. There is hope if we give communities responsibility for themselves."
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A demonstrator shows her hands reading "1.5 to survive" at a protest advocating for the warming goal at the COP27 U.N. Climate Summit, Nov. 16, 2022, in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt. Theres a two-out-of-three chance within the next five years that the world will temporarily reach the internationally accepted global temperature threshold for limiting the worst effects of climate change, a new World Meteorological Organization report forecasts on Wednesday, May 17, 2023. Credit: AP Photo/Peter Dejong, File

There's a two-out-of-three chance that the world will temporarily hit a key warming limit within the next five years, the United Nations weather agency said Wednesday.

But it likely would only be a fleeting and less worrisome flirtation with the internationally agreed upon temperature threshold. Scientists expect a temporary burst of heat from El Ninoa naturally-occurring weather phenomenonto supercharge human-caused warming from the burning of coal, oil and gas to new heights. Temperatures are expected to then slip back down a bit.

The World Meteorological Organization forecasts a 66% likelihood that between now and 2027, the globe will have a year that averages 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) warmer than the mid 19th century.

That number is critical because the 2015 Paris climate agreement set 1.5 degrees Celsius as a global guardrail in atmospheric warming, with countries pledging to try to prevent that much long-term warming if possible.

Scientists in a special 2018 United Nations report said going past that point would be drastically and dangerously different with more death, destruction and damage to global ecosystems.

"It won't be this year probably. Maybe it'll be next year or the year after" that a year averages 1.5 degrees Celsius, said report lead author Leon Hermanson, a climate scientist at the United Kingdom's Met Office.

But climate scientists said what's likely to happen in the next five years isn't the same as failing the global goal.

"This report does not mean that we will permanently exceed the 1.5 C level specified in the Paris Agreement which refers to long-term warming over many years. However, WMO is sounding the alarm that we will breach the 1.5 C level on a temporary basis with increasing frequency," WMO Secretary-General Petteri Taalas said in a statement.

"We haven't been able to limit the warming so far and we are still moving in the wrong, wrong direction," Taalas said at a Wednesday press conference.

Hermanson cautioned that "a single year doesn't really mean anything." Scientists usually use 30-year averages.

Those 66% odds of a single year hitting that threshold in five years have increased from 48% last year, 40% the year before, 20% in 2020 and 10% about a decade ago. The WMO report is based on calculations by 11 different climate science centers across the globe.

The world has been inching closer to the 1.5-degree threshold due to human-caused climate change for years. The temporary warming of this year's expected El Ninowhich starts with a warming of parts of the central Pacific Ocean and then sloshes across the globemakes it "possible for us to see a single year exceeding 1.5 C a full decade before the long-term average," said climate scientist Zeke Hausfather of the tech company Stripe and Berkeley Earth, who wasn't part of the WMO report.

Extinction Rebellion activists and sympathizers shouted slogans against global warming when blocking a busy road in The Hague, Netherlands, Jan. 28, 2023. Theres a two-out-of-three chance within the next five years that the world will temporarily reach the internationally accepted global temperature threshold for limiting the worst effects of climate change, a new World Meteorological Organization report forecasts on Wednesday, May 17, 2023. Credit: AP Photo/Peter Dejong, File

"We don't expect the longer-term average to pass 1.5 C until the early-to-mid 2030s," Hausfather said in an email.

But each year at or near 1.5 matters.

"We see this report as more of a barometer of how we're getting close, because the closer you get to the threshold, the more noise bumping up and down is going to bump you over the threshold randomly," Hermanson said in an interview. And he said the more random bumps over the mark occur, the closer the world actually gets to the threshold.

Key in all this is the El Nino cycle. The world is coming off a record-tying triple dip La Ninathree straight years of El Nino's cooler cousin restraining the human-caused warming climband is on the verge of an El Nino that some scientists predict will be strong.

The La Nina somewhat flattened the trend of human-caused warming so that the world hasn't broken the annual temperature mark since 2016, during the last El Nino, a super-sized one, Hermanson said.

And that means a 98% chance of breaking the 2016 annual global temperature record between now and 2027, the report said. There's also a 98% chance that the next five years will be the hottest five years on record, the report said.

Because of the shift from La Nina to El Nino "where there were floods before, there will be droughts and where there were droughts before there might be floods," Hermanson said.

The report warned that the Amazon will be abnormally dry for a good part of the next five years while the Sahel part of Africathe transition zone between the Sahara on the north and the savannas to the southwill be wetter.

That's "one of the positive things coming out of this forecast," Hermanson said. "It's not all doom-and-gloom and heat waves."

University of Pennsylvania climate scientist Michael Mann said reports like this put too much emphasis on global surface temperature, which varies with the El Nino cycle, even though it is climbing upward in the long term.

The real concern is the deep water of oceans, which absorb an overwhelming majority of the world's human-caused warming, leading to a steady rise in ocean heat content and new records set regularly.

"I think it's important to realize that if we pass 1.5 degrees it's not a reason to give up," Hermanson said at a Wednesday news conference. "We have to continue working out how much we can reduce emissions of greenhouse gases as much as possible, even after that, because it will make a difference."

 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
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Illustrated map of the sampled Taiwanese groups. Taiwan is depicted from top and horizontal views, surrounded by ocean, with sampling locations indicated by dots and linked to illustrations of people from these groups. Credit: Original painting by Gou-Sing Kao Liu, modified by Dang Liu.

The Austronesian language family is one of the largest in the world, comprising more than 1,200 languages spoken from Madagascar to Hawaii. Dang Liu, Albert Min-Shan Ko and Mark Stoneking collected genome-wide data from 55 individuals from seven Taiwanese Austronesian groups and two Han-Taiwanese groups to study the genetic structure of Taiwan, the point of origin for all Austronesian-speaking peoples.

There are over 20 different Indigenous groups in Taiwan, divided into "highland" and "lowland" peoples. Many lowland peoples have intermarried with Han people, and their languages are endangered or extinct. For example, the lowland Makatao showed Han admixture dated within the past 100 years. A highland group known as the Atayal showed the most distinctive genetic profile, suggestive of considerable isolation from other groups in the last 3,000 years.

By including published ancient genomes in their analyses, the authors inferred little divergence between the Into- and Out-of-Taiwan groups, with the latter and the present day highland groups showing additional interactions from northern East Asia. The work is published in the journal PNAS Nexus.

Austronesian people from outside Taiwan are most closely related to southern highland peoples in Taiwan. Exactly which Indigenous group is the parent of the Austronesian diaspora is still up for debate. Haplotype-based results suggest that the Amis are the source population, which accords with a recent linguistic analysis.

However, a different approach, allele-based f4 comparisons, show that the Rukai share more ancestry with groups that left Taiwan than the Amis. The authors speculate that haplotype-based results for the Amis might reflect recent back-migration and contact. According to the authors, the results of the study demonstrate the importance of considering genetic structure within Taiwan when making inferences about the Into and Out of Taiwan events.

More information: Dang Liu et al, The genomic diversity of Taiwanese Austronesian groups: Implications for the "Into- and Out-of-Taiwan" models, PNAS Nexus (2023). DOI: 10.1093/pnasnexus/pgad122 Journal information: PNAS Nexus

Provided by PNAS Nexus
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A new method to forecast drought could help inform management of water resources, wildland fire and fuels, and agriculture. Credit: redcharlie, Unsplash

A new computer modeling technique developed by scientists at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) offers the potential to generate months-ahead summertime drought forecasts across the Western United States with the capability of differentiating between dry conditions at locations just a couple of miles apart.

The technique uses statistical methods and machine learning to analyze key drought indicators during the winter and spring and correlate them with the likelihood of dryness throughout the landscape the following summer. The scientists say this approach, if adapted for use by forecasters, could provide important information for such priorities as management of water resources, wildland fire and fuels, and agriculture.

"This approach forecasts drought conditions before they have the largest impact," said NCAR scientist Ronnie Abolafia-Rosenzweig, the lead author of a new paper describing the technique. "It gives managers an additional tool that they can use to prepare and guide the decisions they are making."

Abolafia-Rosenzweig and his co-authors found that predictions issued one to three months in advance could correctly identify the occurrence of summer drought in about 81%94% of cases at a resolution of 4 kilometers (2.5 miles) across the rugged and often parched western third of the United States.

The predictions proved most accurate in regions of persistent drought, showing how upcoming dry conditions may vary from a cultivated field to a nearby mountainside or forested area. In regions where dry spells were punctuated by periods of heavy summer precipitation, however, the predictions proved less accurate.

The scientists detailed their findings in a recent article in Water Resources Research.

Strengthening societal resilience

Droughts can have devastating health and economic impacts, costing the United States at least $249 billion since 1980 and setting the stage for widespread fires. In the West, the period from 20002021 was the driest 22-year stretch since at least the year 800, according to tree ring data. In 2021 alone, the drought and associated heat waves led to hundreds of deaths in the region.

To strengthen societal resilience, scientists are working to improve computer modeling techniques that produce months-ahead predictions of drought. Current drought forecasts, however, have a relatively coarse resolution of, at best, about 10 kilometers, which does not adequately capture the varying degrees of drying across different landscape features in the West.

But a new dataset that NCAR scientists recently produced in collaboration with the U.S. Geological Survey helped open the way for more detailed drought forecasts. The dataset is named CONUS404 because it contains simulations of hydrological and climate conditions at 4-kilometer resolution across the continental United States (or CONUS) over the past 40-plus years. Abolafia-Rosenzweig and his co-authors also drew on an equally high-resolution U.S. Department of Agriculture dataset, known as PRISM (Parameter elevation Regression on Independent Slopes Model) for meteorological observations.

These datasets enabled the scientists to identify complex relationships, at a 4-kilometer resolution, between climate and drought conditions in late fall and winter and the extent of drying during the following summer. To identify these relationships, they used machine learning techniques that trained specialized statistical models.

The scientists focused on pre-summer climate variables such as temperature, precipitation, and humidity, as well as distant ocean-atmosphere patterns such as the Pacific Multidecadal Oscillation that have far-reaching effects on climate. They found that commonly used drought measures, the Palmer Drought Severity Index and Soil Moisture Percentiles, have strong persistence from winter and spring into the summer, making pre-summer drought severity an especially important predictor of summer drought conditions.

Abolafia-Rosenzweig said the drought forecasting method can augment a fire prediction technique that he and his co-authors had developed last year. Combining the drought and fire models offers the potential for a very detailed look at fire hazard across the West.

"The West is in a very unique period in terms of both drought and fire with records being broken that go back thousands of years," he said. "The climate projections are showing drought conditions will continue to intensify in the future. Having tools that can better inform management is becoming increasingly important."

More information: Ronnie AbolafiaRosenzweig et al, High Resolution Forecasting of Summer Drought in the Western United States, Water Resources Research (2023). DOI: 10.1029/2022WR033734 Journal information: Water Resources Research

Provided by NCAR & UCAR
How U.S. hegemonic practices undermine the world's trade order

Xinhua) 13:10, May 17, 2023

BEIJING, May 16 (Xinhua) -- The United States has long abused sanctions to "punish" other countries and formed cliques to promote a "pseudo-multilateralism," arbitrarily undermining the authority and effectiveness of the global trading system.

Its actions have severely damaged international trade rules and the multilateral economic and trade order. These actions could potentially harm the world economy, including the United States.

"A BISON ON THE RAMPAGE"

Under the slogan "America First," the United States has put its domestic laws above international rules and exerted long-arm jurisdiction over other countries for its benefit.

Citing so-called "national security concerns," former U.S. President Donald Trump's administration in 2018 unilaterally imposed a 25-percent tariff on steel imports and a 10-percent tariff on aluminum imports under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, which has drawn strong opposition at home and abroad.

In October 2022, the United States upgraded export controls on semiconductors and other sectors to China. This February, its bullying extended to companies in Japan and the Netherlands.

As of fiscal year 2021, more than 9,400 sanctions imposed by the United States had been implemented, said a report by the U.S. Department of the Treasury.

"The 'America First' policy is like a bison on the rampage," said Evandro Menezes de Carvalho, head of the Center for Brazil-China Studies of the Getulio Vargas Foundation School of Law in Brazil.

The United States has adopted "an act of the underworld" by restricting overseas economic activities of its own companies, constantly escalating export controls and coercing other countries to join it in sanctioning other countries, said Kiyoyuki Seguchi, research director at Japan's Canon Institute for Global Studies.

SMALL-CIRCLE MULTILATERALISM

Instead of backing true multilateralism based on the principles of the UN Charter and international order, the United States has gripped pseudo-multilateralism, which serves the interests of a small clique or political bloc.

The United States has contradicted itself by claiming that the so-called "Indo-Pacific Economic Framework" launched in May 2022 would promote regional cooperation, stability, prosperity, development and peace. In reality, it would re-establish U.S. economic leadership in the region and work to relegate China to the sidelines.

In the eyes of Muhammad Asif Noor, director of the Islamabad-based think tank Institute of Peace and Diplomatic Studies, the framework seeks to undertake unilateral measures to create parallel economic systems and manipulate the global supply chains.

From the Build Back Better World initiative put forward at the 2021 G7 summit to "help narrow the 40+ trillion dollars infrastructure need in the developing world" to its rebranding in June 2022 -- the Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment initiative -- to mobilize 600 billion U.S. dollars in public and private funding for developing countries by 2027, few U.S.-driven aid programs have proven trustworthy.

On the pretext of "opening up," the United States has embellished such initiatives to serve its own geopolitical purposes. Its investment pledges have turned out to be nothing but empty promises.

"For both Republican and Democratic administrations, it seems that multilateral institutions will be supported or created when they can assist in the furtherance of America's policy objectives; otherwise they will not," according to the book "U.S. Hegemony and International Organizations."

"GREAT IRONY"

It is a "great irony" that the United States, the "driving force" behind the creation of the Appellate Body of the World Trade Organization (WTO), has caused it a significant setback, said Raj Bhala, Brenneisen distinguished professor at University of Kansas Law School.

The multilateral trade arbitration body faced an unprecedented crisis in December 2019 when the United States blocked the selection of judges, suspending the Appellate Body. This paralyzing action exposed the multilateral trading system to a grave threat. At a meeting of the WTO's dispute settlement body in February, a proposal by 127 WTO members to restart the process of selecting new judges for the appellate body was again rejected due to U.S. objections.

The United States has always prioritized "instrumentalism" when it comes to international rules. Regardless of the creator of the rules, recognition by the majority of countries, or the United States' own commitments and obligations, the country will discard them if they interfere with its pursuit of self-interest and maintenance of hegemony.

A WTO report showed that the United States is its most unruly member, causing two-thirds of all WTO violations.

"When it enacts trade and industrial acts or policies, it considers only its own interests and disregards the interests of other countries," said Moatasem Rashed, a veteran economic consultant for the Egyptian Federation of Investors Associations.

These policies will backfire on the United States itself, he said.

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun)
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a, Selected populations from the 1000 Genomes Project and the African Diversity Reference Panel illustrate diversity from western, eastern and southern Africa. We chose representative ethnic groups from each region (bold labels) to build parameterized models, including the newly genetically sequenced Nama populations from South Africa, Mende from Sierra Leone, Gumuz, Oromo and Amhara from Ethiopia, British individuals and a Neanderthal from Vindija Cave, Croatia. b,c, Principal component analysis highlights the range of genetic divergence anchored by western African, Nama, Gumuz and British individuals between principal components (PC) 1 and 2 (b), and 1 and 3 (c). Percentages show variance explained by each principal component. Colours represent the groups shown in bold in a. d, ADMIXTURE analysis using K = 4 principal components reveals signatures of recent gene flow in Africa that reflect colonial-period migration into the Nama, back-to-Africa gene flow among some Ethiopians, and Khoe-San admixture in the Zulu population. Credit: Nature (2023). DOI: 10.1038/s41586-023-06055-y

There is broad agreement that Homo sapiens originated in Africa. But there remain many uncertainties and competing theories about where, when, and how.

In a paper published today in Nature, an international research team led by McGill University and the University of California-Davis suggest that, based on contemporary genomic evidence from across the continent, there were humans living in different regions of Africa, migrating from one region to another and mixing with one another over a period of hundreds of thousands of years. This view runs counter to some of the dominant theories about human origins in Africa.

Competing theories about human origins in Africa

One theory holds that, about 150,000 years ago, there was a single central ancestral population in Africa from which other populations diverged. Another suggests that this central ancestral population was the result of the mixing of modern humans with a Neanderthal-like hominins (human-like beings), resulting in a leap forward in human evolution, as has been suggested took place in Eurasia.

"At different times, people who embraced the classic model of a single origin for Homo sapiens suggested that humans first emerged in either East or Southern Africa," says Brenna Henn, a population geneticist in the Department of Anthropology and in the Genome Center at the University of California, Davis and co-lead author of the research.

"But it has been difficult to reconcile these theories with the limited fossil and archaeological records of human occupation from sites as far afield as Morocco, Ethiopia, and South Africa which show that Homo sapiens were to be found living across the continent as far back as at least 300,000 years ago."

So, the research team took a different approach.

Contemporary genomic evidence tells a different story

In the first systematic test of these competing anthropological models against genetic data, the team worked backwards from contemporary genomic material of 290 individuals from four geographically and genetically diverse African groups to trace the similarities and differences between the populations over the past million years and gain insight into the genetic interconnections and human evolution across the continent.

The groups were the Nama (Khoe-San from South Africa); the Mende (from Sierra Leone); the Gumuz (recent descendants of a hunter-gatherer group from Ethiopia); and the Amhara and Oromo (agriculturalists from eastern Africa). The researchers also included some Eurasian genetic material to include the traces of colonial incursions and mixing Africa.

"We used a new algorithm to rapidly test hundreds of possible scenarios. Those with gene flow back and forth between populations in various parts of the continent over the course of hundreds of thousands of years provided a much better explanation of the genetic variation we see today," adds Simon Gravel, Associate Professor in the Department of Human Genetics at McGill University, and co-senior author on the paper.

"We wrote this algorithm to understand how genetic disease risk varies across populations, and it led us to this deep dive into human origins. It's been really fun to tie applied and fundamental research together in this way."

More information: Brenna Henn, A weakly structured stem for human origins in Africa, Nature (2023). DOI: 10.1038/s41586-023-06055-y. www.nature.com/articles/s41586-023-06055-y Journal information: Nature
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a) Map created with Matlab software of Ceniza drainage on the SSW side of Fuego Volcano showing locations of seismic, infrasound, and camera locations during the 2022 season. Channel distances, relative to summit, are indicated. Inset maps show detail of IO array and the instrumentation configuration near the three cameras. The cyan-highlighted section of Ceniza channel shows regions where station IO is most sensitive to the moving lahar source; locations A, B, and E correspond to featured timing of IO infrasound detections. (b) Normalized waveforms from August 17 show vertical seismic channels, a single microphone channel from each of the three infrasound arrays, and acoustic power extracted from the audio microphone of cameras CB and CR. Vertical time lines AF are described in the text and in Table 2. Vertical magenta and red arrows correspond to infrasound detections of thunder and volcanic event activity respectively. Credit: Scientific Reports (2023). DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-32109-2

A study published in Scientific Reports shows that catastrophic volcanic mudflows, known as lahars, can be effectively monitored with infrasound remote sensing technology.

Infrasound airwaves are low-frequency sounds below the threshold of human hearing that can propagate long distances. They may be used to detect small mudflows at distances of 5 kilometers or more. The signals can identify approaching mudflows when they are still more than 20 minutes away.

Lahars are the most impactful of volcanic hazards. The 1985 eruption of Nevado del Ruiz in Colombia, for example, killed more than 20,000 people when large lahars reached the flat valleys where the city of Armero was located.

The recent research looked at signals from more than 20 small- to medium-sized lahars that occurred in 2022 at the active Fuego volcano in Guatemala, where regular lahars occur during the country's rainy season.

"This study is exciting because it adds to our arsenal of tools for early warning of volcanic mudflows before they reach and potentially impact downstream communities," said co-author and Boise State geologist Jeffrey Johnson.

"Infrasound signal analysis appears to have special utility to identify the early movement of mudflows high up on a volcano as they begin to flow toward exposed populations. Early warning is key for mitigation of hazards."

The research team was fortunate, said Johnson, to record several lahars and to observe one medium-sized event firsthand.

"Lahars are one of the most common volcanic hazards but still one of the most poorly understood," said Eva Zanzerkia, a program director in NSF's Division of Earth Sciences. "This project demonstrates that developing new infrasound tools can go a long way toward improving our understanding the dynamics of these mudflows and helping us manage the hazards."

More information: J. B. Johnson et al, Infrasound detection of approaching lahars, Scientific Reports (2023). DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-32109-2 Journal information: Scientific Reports
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Credit: Routledge

Education systems need major reform in the light of lessons learned from COVID, according to a leading education academic.

Klaus Zierer, Professor of Education at the University of Augsburg, Germany, and an associate research fellow at the University of Oxford, U.K., has revealed ways in which the "collateral damage" from school closures is still hitting children and young people particularly hard.

He examines the evidence in his new book, "Educating the COVID Generation," published on May 17 by Routledge. The author believes policymakers are turning a blind eye not only to the physical, emotional and educational after-effects on children, but also to deep flaws in educational systems which have been exposed by the pandemic.

Flaws in the system

"The COVID-19 pandemic has shaken the education system and at the same time exposed known weaknesses in a dramatic way. We are stumbling through this crisis from an educational policy perspective It is hard to avoid the impression that educational policy is turning a blind eye to this," Professor Zierer says.

He suggests that three key flaws in education systems have been highlighted by the pandemic. They are:

A too-narrow focus on easily-measured mathematical, scientific-technical and linguistic competencies.

A tendency for schools to think mainly in terms of "effectiveness," which is only one element of a good education.

A lack of "joy," which should be "the guiding principle for education and teaching."

The book sets out five key elements for a more joyful education:

Reasons: Children and young people need to know why their lessons should matter to them. Feelings: Children's emotions should be taken into account, both in the classroom and in extracurricular activities. Activity: Learning that consists only of listening and executing is ultimately inhumane. Success: Children need to be given challenges through which they can gain a sense of achievement. Community: A new balance is needed between individual achievement and the experience of becoming a team player.

Professor Zierer also describes how his own family struggled during COVIDhe has three school-age children who were then aged 6, 9 and 11.

"We have not fallen as a family but we have stumbled many times," he says. "It fills me with concern that they have spent more time at home than at school between 2020 and 2022. How is a young person supposed to develop if they are cut off from the outside world, isolated from friends, quarantined again and again, and not allowed to do all the things that make life worth living?"

More information: Educating the Covid Generation: How We Can Prevent the Impending Educational Catastrophe after Covid. www.routledge.com/Educating-th  p/book/9781032528748
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This image of galaxy cluster SMACS 0723 and its surroundings was the first image released from the James Webb Space Telescope in July 2022. The five zoom-ins are each roughly 19,000 lightyears across, and show galaxies seen some 13 billion years back in time. Careful analysis of these galaxies reveals that if we cannot resolve a galaxy, we may severely underestimate the total mass of its stars. Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI / Gimenez-Arteaga et al. (2023), Peter Laursen (Cosmic Dawn Center)

The first results from the James Webb Space Telescope have hinted at galaxies so early and so massive that they are in tension with our understanding of the formation of structure in the universe. Various explanations have been proposed that may alleviate this tension. But now a new study from the Cosmic Dawn Center suggests an effect which has never before been studied at such early epochs, indicating that the galaxies may be even more massive.

If you have been following the first results from the James Webb Space Telescope, you have probably heard about the paramount issue with the observations of the earliest galaxies: They are too big.

From a few days after the release of the first images, and repeatedly through the coming months, new reports of ever-more distant galaxies appeared. Disturbingly, several of the galaxies seemed to be "too massive."

From our currently accepted concordance model of the structure and evolution of the universe, the so-called CDM model, they simply shouldn't have had the time to form so many stars.

Although CDM is not a holy indestructible grail, there are many reasons to wait claiming a paradigm shift: The measured epochs at which we see the galaxies could be underestimated.

Their stellar masses could be overestimated. Or we could just have been lucky and somehow have discovered the most massive of the galaxies at that time.

A closer look

But now Clara Gimenez Arteaga, Ph.D. student at the Cosmic Dawn Center, proposes an effect that could further increase the tension.

In essence, a galaxy's stellar mass is estimated by measuring the amount of light emitted by the galaxy, and calculating how many stars are needed to emit this amount. The usual approach is to consider the combined light from the whole galaxy.

However, taking a closer look at a sample of five galaxies, observed with James Webb, Gimenez Arteaga found that if the galaxy is regarded not as one big blob of stars, but as an entity build up of multiple clumps, a different picture emerges.

"We used the standard procedure to calculate stellar masses from the images that James Webb has taken, but on a pixel-by-pixel basis rather than looking at the whole galaxy," says Gimenez Arteaga.

"In principle, one might expect the results to be the same: Adding the light from all pixels and finding the total stellar mass, versus calculating the mass of each pixel and adding all individual stellar masses. But they're not."

In fact the inferred stellar masses now turned out to be up to ten times larger.

The figure below shows the five galaxies with their stellar masses determined by both ways. If the two different approaches agreed, all galaxies would lie along the slanted line named "The same." But they all lie above this line.

The five galaxies placed in a diagram that shows both the stellar mass inferred in the usual way (blue numbers) and Clara Gimenez-Arteagas pixel-by-pixel method (red numbers). In all cases, the masses found using the pixel-by-pixel method are larger. Credit: Gimenez-Arteaga et al. (2023), Peter Laursen (Cosmic Dawn Center)

Outshined

So what is the reason that the stellar masses turn out to be so much larger?

Gimenez Arteaga explains, "Stellar populations are a mixture of small and faint stars on one hand, and bright, massive stars on the other hand. If we just look at the combined light, the bright stars will tend to completely outshine the faint stars, leaving them unnoticed. Our analysis shows that bright, star-forming clumps may dominate the total light, but the bulk of the mass is found in smaller stars."

Stellar mass is one of the main properties used to characterize a galaxy, and Gimenez-Arteaga's result highlights the importance of being able to resolve the galaxies.

But for the most distant and faint ones, this is not always possible. The effect has been studied before, but only at much later epochs in the history of the universe.

The next step is therefore to look for signatures that does not require the high resolution, and which correlate with the "true" stellar mass.

"Other studies at much later epochs have also found this discrepancy. If we can determine how common and severe the effect is at earlier epochs, and quantify it, we will be closer to inferring robust stellar masses of distant galaxies, which is one of the main current challenges of studying galaxies in the early universe," concludes Clara Gimenez Arteaga.

The study has just been published in The Astrophysical Journal.

The CDM model

"CDM"pronounced "Lambda-CDM"is the moniker given to the best model we have for describing the structure and evolution of our universe. The model is based upon one of the most well-tested theories in physics, the theory of general relativity, which describes how matter affects space, and how space affects matter.

In this model, the universe is assumed to consist primarily of an unknown substance known as dark energy, denoted by the Greek letter , and cold dark matter (CDM), where "cold" means that it does not move around too fast.

CDM has been extremely successful in describing and predicting numerous phenomena. But we still do not know what dark matter and energy is, and we know that general relativity, despite its success, is not a complete theory. We therefore do expect CDM eventually to be expanded or replaced by a better theory.

More information: Clara Gimenez-Arteaga et al, Spatially Resolved Properties of Galaxies at 5 < z < 9 in the SMACS 0723 JWST ERO Field, The Astrophysical Journal (2023). DOI: 10.3847/1538-4357/acc5ea Journal information: Astrophysical Journal
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Computer scientists at MIT joined forces with oceanographers to develop a machine-learning model that incorporates knowledge from fluid dynamics to generate more accurate predictions about the velocities of ocean currents. This figure shows drifting buoy trajectories in the Gulf of Mexico superimposed on surface currents. The red dots mark the buoys positions on March 9, 2016, and the tails are 14 days long. Credit: Edward Ryan and Tamay Ozgokmen from the University of Miami

To study ocean currents, scientists release GPS-tagged buoys in the ocean and record their velocities to reconstruct the currents that transport them. These buoy data are also used to identify "divergences," which are areas where water rises up from below the surface or sinks beneath it.

By accurately predicting currents and pinpointing divergences, scientists can more precisely forecast the weather, approximate how oil will spread after a spill, or measure energy transfer in the ocean. A new model that incorporates machine learning makes more accurate predictions than conventional models do, a new study reports.

A multidisciplinary research team including computer scientists at MIT and oceanographers has found that a standard statistical model typically used on buoy data can struggle to accurately reconstruct currents or identify divergences because it makes unrealistic assumptions about the behavior of water.

The researchers developed a new model that incorporates knowledge from fluid dynamics to better reflect the physics at work in ocean currents. They show that their method, which only requires a small amount of additional computational expense, is more accurate at predicting currents and identifying divergences than the traditional model.

This new model could help oceanographers make more accurate estimates from buoy data, which would enable them to more effectively monitor the transportation of biomass (such as Sargassum seaweed), carbon, plastics, oil, and nutrients in the ocean. This information is also important for understanding and tracking climate change.

"Our method captures the physical assumptions more appropriately and more accurately. In this case, we know a lot of the physics already. We are giving the model a little bit of that information so it can focus on learning the things that are important to us, like what are the currents away from the buoys, or what is this divergence and where is it happening?" says senior author Tamara Broderick, an associate professor in MIT's Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS) and a member of the Laboratory for Information and Decision Systems and the Institute for Data, Systems, and Society.

Broderick's co-authors include lead author Renato Berlinghieri, an electrical engineering and computer science graduate student; Brian L. Trippe, a postdoc at Columbia University; David R. Burt and Ryan Giordano, MIT postdocs; Kaushik Srinivasan, an assistant researcher in atmospheric and ocean sciences at the University of California at Los Angeles; Tamay Ozgokmen, professor in the Department of Ocean Sciences at the University of Miami; and Junfei Xia, a graduate student at the University of Miami. The research will be presented at the International Conference on Machine Learning and is available as a pre-print on the arXiv server.

Diving into the data

Oceanographers use data on buoy velocity to predict ocean currents and identify "divergences" where water rises to the surface or sinks deeper.

To estimate currents and find divergences, oceanographers have used a machine-learning technique known as a Gaussian process, which can make predictions even when data are sparse. To work well in this case, the Gaussian process must make assumptions about the data to generate a prediction.

A standard way of applying a Gaussian process to oceans data assumes the latitude and longitude components of the current are unrelated. But this assumption isn't physically accurate. For instance, this existing model implies that a current's divergence and its vorticity (a whirling motion of fluid) operate on the same magnitude and length scales. Ocean scientists know this is not true, Broderick says. The previous model also assumes the frame of reference matters, which means fluid would behave differently in the latitude versus the longitude direction.

"We were thinking we could address these problems with a model that incorporates the physics," she says.

They built a new model that uses what is known as a Helmholtz decomposition to accurately represent the principles of fluid dynamics. This method models an ocean current by breaking it down into a vorticity component (which captures the whirling motion) and a divergence component (which captures water rising or sinking).

In this way, they give the model some basic physics knowledge that it uses to make more accurate predictions.

This new model utilizes the same data as the old model. And while their method can be more computationally intensive, the researchers show that the additional cost is relatively small.

Buoyant performance

They evaluated the new model using synthetic and real ocean buoy data. Because the synthetic data were fabricated by the researchers, they could compare the model's predictions to ground-truth currents and divergences. But simulation involves assumptions that may not reflect real life, so the researchers also tested their model using data captured by real buoys released in the Gulf of Mexico.

In each case, their method demonstrated superior performance for both tasks, predicting currents and identifying divergences, when compared to the standard Gaussian process and another machine-learning approach that used a neural network. For example, in one simulation that included a vortex adjacent to an ocean current, the new method correctly predicted no divergence while the previous Gaussian process method and the neural network method both predicted a divergence with very high confidence.

The technique is also good at identifying vortices from a small set of buoys, Broderick adds.

Now that they have demonstrated the effectiveness of using a Helmholtz decomposition, the researchers want to incorporate a time element into their model, since currents can vary over time as well as space. In addition, they want to better capture how noise impacts the data, such as winds that sometimes affect buoy velocity. Separating that noise from the data could make their approach more accurate.

"Our hope is to take this noisily observed field of velocities from the buoys, and then say what is the actual divergence and actual vorticity, and predict away from those buoys, and we think that our new technique will be helpful for this," she says.

"The authors cleverly integrate known behaviors from fluid dynamics to model ocean currents in a flexible model," says Massimiliano Russo, an associate biostatistician at Brigham and Women's Hospital and instructor at Harvard Medical School, who was not involved with this work. "The resulting approach retains the flexibility to model the nonlinearity in the currents but can also characterize phenomena such as vortices and connected currents that would only be noticed if the fluid dynamic structure is integrated into the model. This is an excellent example of where a flexible model can be substantially improved with a well thought and scientifically sound specification."

More information: Renato Berlinghieri et al, Gaussian processes at the Helm(holtz): A more fluid model for ocean currents, arXiv (2023). DOI: 10.48550/arxiv.2302.10364 Journal information: arXiv

This story is republished courtesy of MIT News (web.mit.edu/newsoffice/), a popular site that covers news about MIT research, innovation and teaching.
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Lisa Wu, undergraduate student in Agricultural and Biological Engineering at the University of Illinois, conducted research on detecting food allergens with near-infrared spectroscopy. Credit: College of ACES.

Food allergies pose a significant health risk, resulting in numerous hospitalizations every year, as even trace amounts of allergens can trigger severe reactions. Cross-contamination of food products can happen easily in the production process, so it's important to have reliable methods of testing for allergens.

A new study conducted at the University of Illinois explores the application of near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy to detect three types of allergens in quinoa flour. The researchers say the method is fast, easy, non-invasive, inexpensive, and highly accurate.

"Detecting adulterated allergenic components in food could benefit millions of people around the world who suffer from food allergies," said Qianyi (Lisa) Wu, an undergraduate student in the Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering, part of the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences and The Grainger College of Engineering at U of l, and lead author on the paper. The project was supported by a grant from the Office of Undergraduate Research at U of I.

"We use an NIR device to measure spectral information through the reflectance of light in the samples. We tested models with different wavelengths to determine the best NIR system for allergen detection," she added.

The researchers used NIR spectroscopy to identify three common allergenspeanut, sesame, and wheatin quinoa flour, a gluten-free grain that is often used as a wheat substitute. Adulterated or contaminated quinoa could be dangerous for people with allergies, so it is crucial to find any presence of allergens.

Traditional laboratory methods for allergen detection typically involve complex DNA analyses that require costly equipment and specialized personnel. These methods are time-consuming, involve the use of chemicals, and often result in destruction of the sample, so industry scientists are seeking better approaches to detect allergens.

"NIR spectroscopy offers numerous advantages. It is non-destructive, non-invasive, and doesn't use chemicals. It provides results in real time, and with a short training period, anyone can perform the analysis," said Mohammed Kamruzzaman, assistant professor in ABE and Wu's faculty advisor. Kamruzzaman is corresponding author on the paper.

NIR spectroscopy uses near-infrared light to measure the absorbance of different wavelengths, Kamruzzaman explained.

"Each material has a unique 'fingerprint' of light absorbance. When allergens are present in the quinoa flour, the NIR instrument can detect them. Then we use machine learning to analyze the gathered information, allowing us to identify the allergens and quantify their concentration," he said.

NIR spectroscopy is an indirect method of analysis, so it is not 100% accurate but comes very close. Even if it doesn't capture the exact amount of contaminants present in the food, it will identify whether the allergen is there or not, and that is what the consumer needs to know, Kamruzzaman stated.

Other techniques usually focus on detecting a single allergen, but this method can detect multiple allergens simultaneously. It can easily be modified to detect additional allergens and to test other products than quinoa.

The researchers said it will not be difficult to develop low-cost miniature sensors based on their methodology. These sensors can be used in various settings, including industry facilities, restaurants, and even homes. Eventually it may even be possible to have a mobile phone app that can detect food allergens on the spot.

Wu said the opportunity to conduct research as an undergraduate student has been instrumental in deciding her future plans.

"During my sophomore year, I attended an American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers (ASABE) meeting and Dr. Kamruzzaman gave a speech introducing his research topic. I thought it sounded really interesting, so I contacted him, and that's how I got involved," Wu stated. "I was thinking about going to graduate school, but I wasn't entirely certain. After being engaged in research for several years, I have discovered my passion for it."

Wu received a U of I Graduate College Illinois Distinguished Fellowship, and upon graduating with her bachelor's degree in May 2023, she will continue directly into a doctoral program in ABE with Kamruzzaman.

"Lisa has done outstanding work with a small grant from the Office of Undergraduate Research. It is truly inspiring for undergraduate students to realize they can do meaningful research and publish their findings. This can serve as motivation for other students to engage with faculty and actively pursue research opportunities. I'm always open to students reaching out to me for potential involvement in research projects," Kamruzzaman added.

The paper, "Reagent-free detection of multiple allergens in gluten-free flour using NIR spectroscopy and multivariate analysis," is published in the Journal of Food Composition and Analysis.

More information: Qianyi Wu et al, Reagent-free detection of multiple allergens in gluten-free flour using NIR spectroscopy and multivariate analysis, Journal of Food Composition and Analysis (2023). DOI: 10.1016/j.jfca.2023.105324
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Experimental setup of the source-DI QRNG. (a) Entanglement source: the timeenergy entangled photon pairs are generated from the Ti:PPLN waveguide pumped by a pulsed laser with a duration of 5 ns, which are separated by a PBS. (b) Measurement device: photons are passively selected for measurement T or D by a 90:10 beam splitter (BS) after being coupled to fiber in Alice and Bob sides. PC, polarization controller; FI, filter; C-BG, chirped Bragg grating; OC, optical circulator; SNSPD, superconducting nanowire single-photon detector; and TDC, time-to-digital converter. Credit: Advanced Photonics (2023). DOI: 10.1117/1.AP.5.3.036003

Quantum random number generators (QRNGs) produce genuine randomness based on the inherent unpredictability of quantum mechanics. They have important applications in quantum information processing and computation tasks. In practice, any imperfection or inaccurate characterization of quantum source devices in a real implementation highly affects the security and generation rate of QRNGs, and may even induce the disappearance of quantum randomness.

Source-device-independent (source-DI) QRNGs operate with untrusted sources yet well characterized measurement devices, to positively address these problems.

As reported in Advanced Photonics, researchers from Nanjing University recently proposed and experimentally demonstrated a secure and fast source-DI QRNG protocol that is simple and efficient for practical implementation. The source-DI QRNG in this work is realized through single-photon detection technology assisted by entangled photons.

The random numbers are extracted by a process that measures the arrival time of a photon from a pair of timeenergy entangled photons. The timeenergy entangled photon pairs are produced from a spontaneous parametric down conversion (SPDC) process.

The researchers were able to confirm the security of the scheme by certifying the timeenergy entanglement though observation of nonlocal dispersion cancelation. To improve security, they employ a modified entropic uncertainty relation to quantify the randomness, taking into account a well-recognized problem of finite measurement range.

They report a secure generation rate of random bits at 4 megabits per second (Mbps), which they note could reach the level of giga bps with advanced single-photon detectors, given their faster detection speed and lower temporal resolution. Based on a PPLN waveguide SPDC source, the source-DI QRNG they realized may be further developed as an integrated chip-scale device by exploring on-chip photon generation, manipulation, and detection techniques.

According to the corresponding author Yan-Xiao Gong, Professor at Nanjing University, "Compared with several existing semi-DI QRNGs, our work achieves an excellent balance among security, speed, and practicality." He adds, "This research paves the way for practical applications of secure quantum information tasks and promotes the development of high-performance and high-security quantum random number generators."

More information: Ji-Ning Zhang et al, Realization of a source-device-independent quantum random number generator secured by nonlocal dispersion cancellation, Advanced Photonics (2023). DOI: 10.1117/1.AP.5.3.036003

Provided by SPIE
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Elemental map of zinc measured by synchrotron-based X-ray fluorescence microscopy demonstrates the increase in total zinc content, and the differential distribution of zinc in ovarian follicles during primordial-through-secondary-stage development. The color scale bar represents the minimum and maximum zinc contents (g/cm2). Scale bar=10 m. Credit: NIH/Yu-Ying Chen

The discovery that zinc is involved in the fertilization process earlier than initially thought was made with the help of the Bionanoprobe, a cutting-edge instrument at Argonne.

To make a baby, first you need an egg. To have an egg, there needs to be a follicle. And in the very beginning of follicle development, there needs to be zinc.

The last of those statements represents the new findings reported recently by a team of researchers from Michigan State University, Northwestern University and the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory. The research builds upon earlier work looking at the role of zinc in fertilization and uncovers the importance of the metal earlier in the process of ovulation.

The results were reported in a paper in the Journal of Biological Chemistry that looked at the role of zinc in follicle development. The researchers, led by Teresa Woodruff and Tom O'Halloran of Michigan State University, used the Bionanoprobe at Argonne's Advanced Photon Source (APS) to examine zinc and other trace elements in the egg cell itself as well as surrounding somatic cells.

The researchers observed that the concentration of zinc in mouse follicles more than triples as they go through their development, while concentrations of other trace elements such as iron and copper increased to a lesser extent. The researchers also noticed that growing follicles acquired zinc at a rate 70 times faster than undeveloped follicles, suggesting a key role for zinc in the maturation of ovarian follicles.

"We had known from earlier research that zinc played an important role in fertilization, but this new research shows that it's involved way before egg meets sperm," said Argonne staff scientist Si Chen, an author of the study.

"This study is a beautiful example of how synchrotron-based science can open new fundamental understandings of biology, of reproduction, and of metabolism of disease," said Michigan State microbiology professor Tom O'Halloran. "When you're working with photons and X-ray beams, you might not always initially understand the connection to actual physiologybut this is really at the cutting edge of bringing new tools to the biology community."

The Bionanoprobe is one of a few facilities in the world where researchers can measure the concentration of different elements within a cell's organelles in cryogenic conditions, Chen said. "Being able to resolve subcellular compartments is important for understanding what's going on behind the scenes as the follicle develops," she said.

The importance of zinc for follicle development is related to the fact that there are zinc-activated proteins that control the process, according to Chen. "Transient fluctuations in the amount of zinc in a cell can provide important signaling pathways for the next steps in development," she said.

The researchers also observed that the egg has ways of regulating how much zinc is allocated to specific subcellular locations. "The zinc levels need to be kept in a certain range for the follicle to develop normally," Chen said. "Just like in the rest of our bodies, there are certain optimal conditions, or homeostasis, that needs to be achieved."

At the Bionanoprobe, the researchers used X-ray fluorescence microscopy to measure the zinc concentrations.

The results may have implications for future studies on human fertility. "The production of follicles is essential to human reproduction," Chen said. "Gaining a better understanding of how they develop could potentially lead to better reproductive medicine."

"There are a lot of mysteries about what the signals are that tell which follicle to mature and be ovulated," O'Halloran said. "This process is rooted in a deeper biological story about which we are just beginning to uncover the foundations."

According to O'Halloran, the upcoming upgrade of the APS will give scientists access to a more intense beam that will produce a 100 times greater sensitivity to zinc, allowing for an even faster and more precise structural determination of chemical signatures.

"Because there's so much biological variability between cells as they go through differentiation and developmental processes, you need to image a large number of sections to get a statistically representative sample," he said. "With the upgraded APS, we'll have more samples being measured per minute of beam time, with higher sensitivity and better spatial resolution."

More information: Yu-Ying Chen et al, Zinc dynamics regulate early ovarian follicle development, Journal of Biological Chemistry (2022). DOI: 10.1016/j.jbc.2022.102731 Journal information: Journal of Biological Chemistry
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Magnificent ramshorn. Credit: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Southeast Region

North Carolina might need to move a snail. A tiny mollusk known as the magnificent ramshorn has long made its home in the state's freshwater coastal ponds. But sea level rise and storm surges are making those ponds saltier, and the snail can't tolerate salt. The coastal plain that was once the species' habitat has no snails leftthe only surviving members are bred in captivity.

The state hopes to reintroduce the snail in one remaining pond, but little of the habitat where it once lived can now support it.

"There are very few places that exist in its known historic range that would still be suitable for it to live," said Kyle Briggs, chief deputy director of the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission.

If the magnificent ramshorn is to flourish in the wild again, it may well have to be somewhere new. It's among many species that are finding their long-established habitats increasingly inhospitable because of warmer temperatures, rising oceans, wildfires and droughts.

Some wildlife officials want to help those plants and animals find new homes, a tactic known as assisted migration. In the coming weeks, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is expected to issue a final rule that could allow wildlife managers to introduce endangered species in habitats where they've never been seen before.

"It just allows us to have more flexibility when that is needed," said Elizabeth Maclin, division chief for restoration and recovery with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. "When a habitat has been depleted to the extent that it's no longer suitable for a species, we're able to have the tools we need to prevent its extinction."

States such as North Carolina have been following the proposal closely since the agency released it a year ago. They see the threats climate change poses, and many acknowledge that some species won't survive without help getting to new places.

But state wildlife officials disagree about whether the feds' plan is a good idea. In Michigan, wildlife managers hope the change will allow them to move a tiny blue butterfly northward. Arizona officials, however, fear that relocating a wolf to a new habitat could unleash serious ecological risks.

Other states, including North Carolina, are willing to consider assisted migration but have deep concerns about how it will be carried out.

"This is a really big opportunity that I'd hate for us to miss, but I think it needs to be done correctly and with the concurrence of the states," Briggs said.

North Carolina is among several states asking for a "concurrence" provision, essentially requiring state wildlife officials' approval before the feds could move a species. The federal agency would not comment on whether it is considering those requests.

The states' role

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service oversees management of endangered species including the magnificent ramshorn (for marine species, that role falls to the National Marine Fisheries Service). But state wildlife managers often work closely with the feds on plans to preserve and restore those populations, such as habitat restoration projects and landowner incentive programs.

And state agencies are responsible for keeping species without federal protection out of the "emergency room." They are wary of threats that could place a species under endangered status, removing it from the state's purview and bringing along a host of federal regulations and restrictions.

The Association of Fish & Wildlife Agencies, a nonprofit advocacy group representing state wildlife managers, expressed "cautious support" for the federal proposal, said Lane Kisonak, the group's chief legal officer. While the group's member agencies have differing views on the rule, he said, they share a belief that any species relocation efforts should require extensive collaboration with the states.

"There's a strong desire by the states to have that cooperation maximized should a final version of this rule be implemented," he said.

In Hawaii, which has more endangered species than any other state, wildlife officials have welcomed the proposal. Two species of Hawaiian honeycreepers are among the forest birds that are particularly threatened as climate change brings invasive mosquitoesand deadly avian malariainto upper elevation forests.

"We're the endangered species capital of the world, and our landscape has changed so much," said Kathryn Stanaway, program specialist with the Division of Forestry and Wildlife in the state Department of Land and Natural Resources. "We want to establish populations outside of their historical range in some instances, and we can do that under state law, but we can't do that under federal law the way it's currently written."

But some wildlife managers fear the assisted migration of federally protected species could prove harmful to other species under the states' care. Wyoming officials have identified more than 800 species of "greatest conservation need," which are not currently listed as endangered but may require state action to address declining populations.

"Our role is to keep those species common," said Angela Bruce, deputy director of external affairs at the Wyoming Game and Fish Department. "Putting endangered species in non-historic ranges could throw off the ecological balance and throw off all the great work we're trying to do. The risk is too high to jeopardize all the other species."

Much of the Wyoming agency's conservation work comes through voluntary partnerships with landowners, who are wary of the restrictions that often come along with endangered species status. Putting such species in new places would jeopardize those relationships, Bruce said.

While Wyoming sees the proposal as a threat to its own wildlife management efforts, others believe it could empower states. Doug Vincent-Lang, commissioner of the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, said the rule change could be the first step to one day allowing species to be moved before they're listed as endangered. Such preemptive rescues also would keep those species from falling under federal authority.

"We see [assisted migration] as a means to move species around the landscape to prevent them from getting listed under the Endangered Species Act," he said. "That would allow us to retain state management."

Vincent-Lang mentioned wolverines as a candidate for relocation. If assisted migration were eventually allowed for state-managed species, Alaska officials could help wolverines migrate to more suitable areas before dwindling snowpack in their current range put them on the endangered species list.

The track record

Washington state has successfully reintroduced fishers, a small member of the weasel family that had been eradicated in the state because of trapping and habitat loss. While state wildlife officials support changing the rule to allow such relocations in new ranges, they caution that it won't be an easy answer to habitat loss caused by climate change.

"Translocations are difficult, expensive, they don't always succeed and there's a lot of risks," said Hannah Anderson, wildlife diversity division manager with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. "I would perceive [assisted migration] as another tool in the toolbox, but it's not like we would immediately jump to that."

While the Washington agency supports the rule change, Native tribes that serve as co-managers of the state's fisheries are skeptical.

"This would need to be done very carefully, in full consultation and collaboration with affected tribes, and we don't see a track record that leads us to believe that that's the way this would move forward," said Rob Jones, fisheries policy analyst with the Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission, a coordinating body for treaty tribes in western Washington. "This is a half-baked idea without those specifics."

At least a dozen states weighed in through comment letters sent to the federal agency. Wildlife officials in Oregon, Florida and Missouri all said species may need to be moved to new areas to save them from climate change, but urged the feds to craft strong safeguards that acknowledge the ecological risks of such maneuvers. Leaders in New Mexico and Montana opposed it altogether.

"To introduce experimental populations to new ecosystems renders the experimental population nothing more than an invasive species, threatening the natural balance within the ecosystem unaccustomed to its presence," wrote Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte, a Republican.

Many statesboth supporters and opponents of the rulealso expressed concern about social and economic consequences. Areas with endangered animals and plants can face severe limitations on development, ranching, mining and other land-use activities that could disrupt the species.

Federal officials say that past reintroductions of endangered speciesin areas where they'd previously livedshow that the model can work. Such "experimental populations" can have more flexible rules that are often less restrictive, but some states still fear that adding endangered species to a landscape could have major economic consequences and public backlash for those regions.

Maclin, with the federal agency, said introductions of experimental populations account for the community impact. She pointed to the black-footed ferret, which has been reintroduced with allowances that permit landowners to manage their lands without fear they will inadvertently violate the Endangered Species Act.

While states weigh the ecological and economic repercussions of the proposal, many environmental advocates say it would be more costly not to act.

"This is an emergency room situation where species are going to blink out if we don't help them," said Elise Bennett, Florida director and senior attorney with the Center for Biological Diversity, an environmental advocacy group. "We would much prefer and urge preventative care, but within the policy framework of the Endangered Species Act, Congress was quite clear that we have to prevent extinction of a speciesno matter what the cost is."

2023 States Newsroom.

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According to the study, cocoa agroforestry can be an environmentally and economically sustainable activity. Credit: Juan Pablo Marin Garcia

In areas of Colombia once controlled by guerillas, conflicts over land continue and deforestation has risen considerably. But it's in these same areas that researchers have found that farmers implementing sustainable land use systems, like agroforestry driven by cocoa (one of the key ingredients of chocolate), has contributed to reducing conflicts.

In 2016, the government of Colombia signed a peace treaty with the guerilla group Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC, for its initials in Spanish) and in the following years, forested areas formerly controlled by the FARC saw an influx of other illegal actors, contributing to deforestation and renewed instability.

In the first quarter of 2022, 50,400 hectares were deforested across Colombia, an increase over the 45,500 hectares deforested in the same period in 2021, according to Colombia's Ministry of Environment.

In a new paper, "Integrating climate mitigation and environmental peacebuilding objectives through sustainable land use systems: Theory of change and indicators," published in the journal PLOS Climate researchers from the Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT found that land is an essential natural resource for climate mitigation and peace; commonly connected with sources of greenhouse gas emissions and with drivers of violent conflict.

The researchers held workshops in the Cesar and Caqueta departments (states) in Colombia about sustainable land-use systems (SLUS), in particular, cocoa agroforestry, as an environmentally and economically sustainable activity.

Hector Morales-Munoz, a visiting scholar at the Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT at the time of the workshops and the paper's lead author, said that the results from these workshops are building up evidence for peacebuilding, that is the implementation of agricultural interventions intended to reduce pressure on forests, especially in an area affected by conflict.

"In environmental peacebuilding there's an approach called the contact hypothesis, which says, that contact, or putting conflicting parties together to talk about environmental issues or agricultural practices, typically reduces prejudice, enabling them to have a neutral space for dialogue, for them to start to create a lasting trust," Morales-Munoz said.

Cocoa, like these beans being processed at the Association of Agricultural Producers in La Paz, Cesar, are part of a fairly new value chain in the region. Credit: Valentina Yomayuza

Conflict, land and climate

Morales-Munoz explained that sustainable land use systems (SLUS) provided a starting point.

"The farmers gained access to knowledge, seeds and different forms of capital and in return they had to conserve part of the forest and this also started a community dialogue process," he said,

"What is also critical, and what no-one was expecting, was that climate mitigation came into the conversation."

Morales-Munoz said that the diversification in cocoa also protects farmers from getting into illegal spaces.

"Cocoa is a relatively new value chain, so they are more able to negotiate a fairer price for their produce," he said.

In the paper, the researchers found that cocoa agroforestry can contribute to climate change mitigation and deliver co-benefits in creating jobs and diversifying livelihoods; allowing negotiations around the design of farms, including conservation agreements; natural resource governance; and an interchange of knowledge and experience.

One feature of the study was including perception indicators to measure the impacts of cocoa agroforestry in peacebuilding. In a survey of 429 farmer households involved in cocoa agroforestry in Caqueta and 500 in Cesar, the researchers found that participants felt that agroforestry systems had increased the spaces for community dialogue.

A majority of farmers also considered that SLUS decreased disputes over access to natural resources in their environment.

Implications beyond Colombia

Augusto Castro-Nunez, a senior scientist at the Alliance of Bioversity and CIAT, global theme leader for low-emissions food systems (and leader of the SLUS project which produced the paper) said that the government of Kenya has already shown interest in working with the CGIAR Initiative on Low Emissions Food Systems on approaches for linking climate change mitigation with peace efforts.

"We are planning to scale out the approach to other countries also experiencing conflicts with potential to reduce emissions from the AFOLU (agriculture, forestry and other land uses) sector," Castro-Nunez said.

Castro-Nunez explained that the work in Caqueta and Cesar helped inspire the CGIAR initiative called AgriLAC Resiliente, where researchers are working to develop a theory of changes and indicators for linking climate change mitigation and other Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

"This is because although a good deal of the countries with potential for reducing emissions from the land sector are experiencing conflict, and therefore peacebuilding is a development priority, some countries have other development priorities such as biodiversity or improved nutrition," Castro-Nunez said.

More information: Integrating climate mitigation and environmental peacebuilding objectives through sustainable land use systems: Theory of change and indicators, PLOS Climate (2023). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pclm.0000075 Journal information: PLOS Climate

Provided by The Alliance of Bioversity International and the International Center for Tropical Agriculture
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The D-Wave Advantage processor, with more than 5,000 qubits and 40,000 programmable couplers, was used to demonstrate coherent annealing through a quantum phase transition, giving a speedup over simulated annealing. Credit: D-Wave

Over the past decades, researchers and companies worldwide have been trying to develop increasingly advanced quantum computers. The key objective of their efforts is to create systems that will outperform classical computers on specific tasks, which is also known as realizing "quantum advantage."

A research team at D-Wave Inc., a quantum computing company, recently created a new quantum computing system that outperforms classical computing systems on optimization problems. This system, introduced in a paper in Nature, is based on a programmable spin glass with 5,000 qubits (the quantum equivalents of bits in classical computing).

"This work validates the original hypothesis behind quantum annealing, coming full circle from some seminal experiments conducted in the 1990s," Andrew D. King, one of the researchers who carried out the study, told Phys.org.

"These original experiments took chunks of spin-glass alloy and subjected them to varying magnetic fields, and the observations suggested that if we made a programmable quantum spin glass, it could drive down to low-energy states of optimization problems faster than analogous classical algorithms. A Science paper published in 2014 tried to verify this on a D-Wave Two processor, but no speedup was found."

In their recent work, King and his colleagues realized quantum acceleration by boosting the connectivity and coherence of the D-Wave Advantage processor, a quantum computing system recently developed at D-Wave. They ultimately pushed this processor into a coherent annealing regime with no thermal effects, which was not achieved in previous works.

To attain this, the researchers programmed a 5,000-qubit spin glass system that they could then control. They then used this system to tackle different optimization problems.

Artist's interpretation of a 3D optimization problem solved with a D-Wave Advantage processor. Credit: D-Wave.

"This is a 'full circle' moment, in the sense that we have verified and extended the hypothesis of the UChicago and NEC researchers; quantum annealing shows a scaling advantage over simulated thermal annealing," King said. "Ours is the largest programmable quantum simulation ever performed; reproducing it classically is way beyond the reach of known methods."

To realize coherent annealing rigorously and reliably, the team first developed a 2,000-qubit system and applied it to a simple 1D problem that can be precisely solved with classical computing methods. In their new study, on the other hand, they developed a system with over double the number of qubits and applied it to a problem that cannot be simulated using classical computing tools.

"For several reasons, D-Wave annealing-based quantum computers are the only quantum platform that can solve this kind of optimization problem," King said. "The first is size: we looked at scaling behavior from very small spin glasses (250 qubits) to very large (5,000+ qubits); 250 is pretty much the upper limit for other platforms. The second reason is programmability: we programmed qubit networks in a three-dimensional geometry, tuning each individual qubit-qubit interaction individually."

The researchers performed their experiments on an online production system, which means that they could run alongside their cloud customer activities. In this online platform and with their 5,000-qubit spin glass system, they finally demonstrated scaling advantage on optimization problems.

"We have a clear view of quantum effects and very clear evidence, both theoretical and experimental, that the quantum effects are conferring a computational scaling advantage over classical methods," King said. "We want to highlight the difference between this original definition of quantum advantage and the fact that it is sometimes used as a stand-in term for quantum supremacy, which we have not demonstrated. Gate-model quantum computers have not shown any capabilities approaching this for optimization, and I personally don't believe they ever will."

In light of their recent work, King and his colleagues believe that quantum annealing will always perform better than gate-model on optimization problems. This is why D-Wave is currently focusing on the development of both these platforms.

"For a long time, it was subject for debate whether or not coherent quantum dynamics were playing any role at all in quantum annealing," King said. "While this controversy has been rebuked by previous works, this new research is the clearest demonstration yet, by far."

The work by this team of researchers and the 5,000-qubit system they realized is a significant contribution to the field of quantum computing, which specifically highlights the potential of tackling optimization problems using quantum computing systems. Their recent paper focused on attaining quantum advantage over classical systems on optimization problems by precisely controlling the quantum dynamics of a large system. In their future works, however, King and his colleagues would also like to quantify how limited classical methods are and show that the capabilities of their system can reach beyond those of supercomputers.

"We can also see the effects of coherence in our processors very clearly," King added. "The Advantage2 processor, currently in development, promises significant improvements in that area, so we're really excited to see what we can do, not only in terms of improved optimization for customer applications, but also with more exotic experiments in coherent annealing."

More information: Andrew D. King et al, Quantum critical dynamics in a 5,000-qubit programmable spin glass, Nature (2023). DOI: 10.1038/s41586-023-05867-2 Journal information: Science , Nature

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Credit: Dominic Janus

In a bid to control the Canada goose population in the city, the Vancouver Park Board has approved a plan for "lethal removal."

The birds were introduced by humans in the late 1960s for hunting and other purposes, and they thrived. But the same is not true for the river ecosystem they feed on.

The Canada goose population has grown from about 100 at introduction to more than 20,000, thanks to a combination of plenty of grass and water, few natural predators such as eagles and coyotes, and restrictions on hunting of the birds.

According to a study conducted by MSc student Dominic Janus, geese consume important vegetation in the Fraser River estuary. This vegetation provides vital habitat for young salmon and helps protect land from erosion, and when the goose population is very high, the plants have no chance to regrow. Protecting small plots of vegetation from being eaten by the geese helped it regrow, but required fencing, which isn't feasible for large tracts of land, says Janus.

Various methods exist to control the geese population, including making the habitat unappealing by planting tall grass, addling eggs to prevent them from hatching, and physically removing the geese to other locations. But these methods can be costly, labor-intensive, and offer only a temporary fix, says Janus. A more permanent option is lethal controlan approach that must be collaboratively developed, grounded in science, and inclusive of the land's ecocultural history, he says.

More information: Introduced canada geese in the fraser river estuary: a conservation challenge. sustain.ubc.ca/about/resources  nservation-challenge
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An image of Messier-15, a globular cluster home to up to a million tightly packed stars.

The James Webb Space Telescope has helped astronomers detect the first chemical signs of supermassive stars, "celestial monsters" blazing with the brightness of millions of Suns in the early universe.

So far, the largest stars observed anywhere have a mass of around 300 times that of our Sun.

But the supermassive star described in a new study has an estimated mass of 5,000 to 10,000 Suns.

The team of European researchers behind the study previously theorized the existence of supermassive stars in 2018 in an attempt to explain one of the great mysteries of astronomy.

For decades, astronomers have been baffled by the huge diversity in the composition of different stars packed into what are called globular clusters.

The clusters, which are mostly very old, can contain millions of stars in a relatively small space.

Advances in astronomy have revealed an increasing number of globular clusters, which are thought to be a missing link between the universe's first stars and first galaxies.

Our Milky Way galaxy, which has more than 100 billion stars, has around 180 globular clusters.

But the question remains: Why do the stars in these clusters have such a variety of chemical elements, despite presumably all being born around the same time, from the same cloud of gas?

Rampaging 'seed star'

Many of the stars have elements that would require colossal amounts of heat to produce, such as aluminum which would need a temperature of up to 70 million degrees Celsius.

That is far above the temperature that the stars are thought to get up to at their core, around the 15-20 million Celsius mark which is similar to the Sun.

So the researchers came up with a possible solution: a rampaging supermassive star shooting out chemical "pollution".

They theorize that these huge stars are born from successive collisions in the tightly packed globular clusters.

Corinne Charbonnel, an astrophysicist at the University of Geneva and lead author of the study, told AFP that "a kind of seed star would engulf more and more stars".

It would eventually become "like a huge nuclear reactor, continuously feeding on matter, which will eject out a lot of it," she added.

This discarded "pollution" will in turn feed young forming stars, giving them a greater variety of chemicals the closer they are to the supermassive star, she added.

But the team still needed observations to back up their theory.

'Like finding a bone'

They found them in the galaxy GN-z11, which is more than 13 billion light years awaythe light we see from it comes from just 440 million years after the Big Bang.

It was discovered by the Hubble Space Telescope in 2015, and until recently held the record of oldest observed galaxy.

This made it an obvious early target for Hubble's successor as most powerful space telescope, the James Webb, which started releasing its first observations last year.

Webb offered up two new clues: the incredible density of stars in globular clusters andmost cruciallythe presence of lots of nitrogen.

It takes truly extreme temperatures to make nitrogen, which the researchers believe could only be produced by a supermassive star.

"Thanks to the data collected by the James Webb Space Telescope, we believe we have found a first clue of the presence of these extraordinary stars," Charbonnel said in a statement, which also called the stars "celestial monsters".

If the team's theory was previously "a sort of footprint of our supermassive star, this is a bit like finding a bone," Charbonnel said.

"We are speculating about the head of the beast behind all this," she added.

But there is little hope of ever directly observing this beast.

The scientists estimate that the life expectancy of supermassive stars is only around two million yearsa blink of an eye in the cosmic time scale.

However they suspect that globular clusters were around until roughly two billion years ago, and they could yet reveal more traces of the supermassive stars they may have once hosted.

The study was published in the journal Astronomy and Astrophysics this month.

More information: C. Charbonnel et al, N-enhancement in GN-z11: First evidence for supermassive stars nucleosynthesis in proto-globular clusters-like conditions at high redshift?, Astronomy & Astrophysics (2023). DOI: 10.1051/0004-6361/202346410 Journal information: Astronomy & Astrophysics

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(a) Excerpt from building base outline database for New York City showing parts of Manhattan, Queens, and Brooklyn. Base outlines and height data were used to calculate total building floor areas, which combined with live and dead load values yields a building's mass. (b) The combined building load profile distributed in 100 m-by-100 m cells is shown superposed on the finite element model used to calculate subsidence. Credit: Earth's Future (2023). DOI: 10.1029/2022EF003465

A trio of oceanologists at the University of Rhode Island working with a geologist colleague from USGS Moffett Field has found that the massive weight of buildings in New York City is contributing to its subsidence drop. In their study, reported in the journal Earth's Future, Pei-Chin Wu, Meng Wei, Steven D'Hondt and Tom Parsons calculated the total mass of the buildings that make up New York City and applied it to models that predict natural subsidence to estimate how much overall subsidence is likely to occur in the coming years.

Subsidence, in geological terms, is when land becomes lower in altitude due to underground settling or removal of material or watermeaning, it sinks. Scientists have noted for many years that most coastal cities are slowly sinking due to settling and reductions in the water table. New York City, for example, has been sinking for many years, and likely will continue to do so in the future.

Coastal areas are particularly at risk due to climate change, which is leading to sea level rise. Such areas, it is believed, are likely to face serious challenges in the near future. In this new effort, the research team noted that few, if any, estimates of subsidence for cities such as New York, take into account the massive weight of the buildings in downtown areas. In this new effort, they sought to overcome that problem for New York by adding up the weight of all of its buildings and factoring in its impact on subsidence.

(a) Surface geology map of New York City after Nikolaou et al. (2001) and Tamaro et al. (2000). (b) Soil-bedrock interface interpolated from well data (Nikolaou, 2004) and outcrop observations. Blue dots represent well locations and white dots are bedrock outcrops. Credit: Earth's Future (2023). DOI: 10.1029/2022EF003465

The work involved counting the buildings in New York City and making estimates of their weight and then adding them all together. The researchers arrived at a figure of 764,000,000,000 kilograms. Next, they divided the city into a 100 x 100 grid to calculate downward pressure from all the weight due to gravity. They then added that weight to natural ground weight on top of the conditions that are known to exist beneath New York Citymostly silt, sand and clay lake deposits along with some bedrock outcrops. The team also added real-world subsidence rates for the past several decades courtesy of satellite measurements.

Once complete, the model showed estimated subsidence rates for different parts of the city and also gave an average for the entire city1 to 2 millimeters per year. They also found that some parts of the city are more at risk than othersclay-rich soils, for example, and artificial fills were found to be more prone to subsidence than sand deposits or bedrock, which will not sink at all.

More information: Tom Parsons et al, The Weight of New York City: Possible Contributions to Subsidence From Anthropogenic Sources, Earth's Future (2023). DOI: 10.1029/2022EF003465 Journal information: Earth's Future

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WHITE CREEK  A White Creek man was sentenced on Friday to 25 years in prison for threatening to kill his landlords and police officers.

Matthew Parant was convicted in April on three counts of second-degree attempted murder and reckless endangerment, both felonies, and a misdemeanor count of menacing following a nine-day trial.

Parant was arrested on July 7 after police responded to his residence at 210 Jermain Hill Lane at about 1:43 p.m. for a report of a landlord-tenant dispute at the scene.

Parant had gotten into an argument with the landlords after he was being evicted from his rental home. He engaged in violent behavior toward the landlords, who are both in their 80s, and threatened to kill them. Parant fired multiple shots in their direction and also at responding state troopers.

No one was injured in the incident. Washington County District Attorney Tony Jordan credited the calm and professional response of law enforcement resolving the situation without injuries.

Judge Kelly McKeighan sentenced Parant to 25 years in prison on each of the attempted murder convictions and 2 1/3 to 7 years on the reckless endangerment charge, all of which will run concurrently.

The prosecution was led by Chief Assistant District Attorney Christian Morris, who was assisted by Assistant District Attorney Brandon Rathbun, Senior Crime Victim Specialist Robin MacNeil and legal assistants Kim Little and Vern Bosley.
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Budgets and ballot measures passed overwhelmingly for the most part Tuesday as voters turned out to support their local school districts.

In this area, the average proposed tax levy increase is about 1.28%, according to an analysis of 24 school districts in The Post-Star coverage area. The statewide average increase in spending is 5.46%. It is about 5% in this area.

We appreciate the support of our South Glens Falls community on the budget vote we put forth this year, said Kristine Orr, superintendent for the South Glens Falls Central School District, where a budget proposal was approved easily. We are thankful for the support our community showed us today. Community support is an integral part of the South Glens Falls Central School District, so we are so thankful to all those who came out to vote today.

For a listing of voting numbers, see the accompanying chart compiled by The Post-Stars staff.

Heres some highlights of how voters spoke at Tuesdays election:

Rockwell Falls Library

Voters added Josh Jacquard and Kathleen Jones to the Rockwell Falls Library board with 279 and 187 votes, respectively. Robin Cammarata received 108 votes and Jade Eddy received 107 votes. Write-in candidate Jason Hall received 132 votes.

The library found itself at the center of controversy when it had planned to host a drag queen story hour. The board had decided to postpone the event for further research and then the performer who was to do the event said he was no longer available.

Jacquard ran on a platform in opposition to the event, according to his Facebook page.

The board is scheduled to meet on Thursday at 6:30 p.m. The librarys website had incorrectly listed that it was planning to meet on Tuesday.

The library board election was included in the Hadley-Luzerne Central School District vote. The district is totally separate from the library.

Lake George

The Lake George Board of Education race featured Linda Clark, who ran unsuccessfully for the board last year, on a platform of fighting curriculum changes. Clarks campaign took on a similar theme this time around, and had a similar outcome. The two incumbent board members, Rosemarie Earl and Jeannine Bieber, retained their seats with 598 and 566 votes, respectively. Clark received 351 votes.

Fort Edward

The ballot for Fort Edward schools included a measure that would transfer an annex building, as well as an associated shed and two parking spaces, to the village. That measure passed with 127 votes in favor to 54 in opposition.

Richard DeMallie, superintendent of schools, said the annex building was used by the district for storage, but it was taken out of use due to code and Americans With Disabilities Act compliance issues. The transfer is projected to have no impact on the district financially. DeMallie said the property will need to be surveyed and divided.

Fort Edward voters also passed a new capital reserve fund by a vote of 139-42. DeMallie said that at this point the district is still in the planning stages of the capital project.

We have a capital project kickoff meeting planned at the end of this month to get a better idea of what we want to complete in regards to the capital project, he said.

Hudson Falls

Voters approved the district entering into an energy performance contract 290 votes to 32. The $3,153,668 contract will have no additional tax impact to residents. Voters also approved transferring an additional $150,000 from fund balance into the districts capital reserve fund.

North Warren

The three incumbents remained seated on the North Warren Board of Education. Mike Erickson received 196 votes; Cortney Swan received 226 votes, and John Maday received 235 votes. Newcomer Brian Gereau finished last with 158 votes.

Schuylerville

The Schuylerville Board of Education will get new faces as no incumbent was running. Shaun Cumm received 320 votes, Jamie Martin received 514 votes, and Michele Renner received 426 votes.

South Glens Falls

Incumbent South Glens Falls School Board President William Elder will be joined by newcomers Haley Brashears and Nicholas Healy. Elder received 752 votes, while Brashears received 768 votes and Healy 757 received votes. Edward Potter received 635 votes and Christopher Music received 396 votes.

Whitehall

Incumbents Jared Mowatt, Patricia Norton, Richard LaChapelle and retained their three-year seats on the board with 135, 116, 122 votes respectively. Newcomer Randall Lambert received 111 votes. Roxanne Waters won her one-year seat with 109 votes.

Also on the ballot was a decision to reduce the number of board members from nine, to seven members. That measure initially received 86 positive votes and 84 negative votes. A recount was requested and resulted in a tie vote of 84 to 84, killing the measure. Had the proposition passed, the candidates with the least number of votes would have lost their seats.

School Election 2023 Results District Budget For Against Board Votes Ballot propositions For Against Abraham Wing $5.848 million 26 1 Peter Accardi Argyle $13.818 million 165 31 Rodney Saunders 153 yes Capital reserve 166 26 Library appropriations 151 45 Bolton $10.36 million 163 31 Timothy Daken 173 Jesse Foy 182 Cambridge $24.8 million 335 295 Edmund (Ted) Flint 439 Public Library 412 225 Joseph Hamilton 455 Corinth $25.59 milllion 162 51 Fort Ann $13.77 million 85 27 Cathy Graham 96 Bus purchase 86 26 Timothy Webb Fort Edward $12.449 million 143 37 Establish capital reserve 139 42 Transfer property to village 127 54 Glens Falls $57.135 million 441 104 Sara DiLandro 482 Capital reserve project (turf) 434 110 Granville $29.676 million 127 25 Michele O'Brien* 121 Priscilla Brown* 104 John Troy* 131 Write in: Sabrina Gibbs 19 Write in: Jeff McMorris 2 Greenwich $24.125 million 322 116 Heather Mattison 334 Purchase equipment 323 112 other/write ins 52 Greenwich Library 326 111 Easton Library 335 104 Hadley-Luzerne $23.294 million 335 132 Rockwell Falls library trustee (Vote for 2) Josh Jacquard* 179 Robin Cammarata 108 Jade Eddy 107 Kathleen Jones* 187 Jason Hall (write-in) 132 Hudson Falls 53.45 million 260 60 Energy contract 290 32 Transfer fund balance 268 50 Johnsburg $12.345 million 156 36 Lake George $24.809 million 628 254 Rosemarie Earl* (i) (Vote for 2) 568 Establish capital reserve Jeannine Bieber* (i) 598 Linda Clark 351 North Warren $15.16 million 277 40 Mike Erickson* (i) 196 Cortney Swan* (i) 226 Brian Gereau 158 John Maday (i) 235 Putnam $2.892 million Queensbury $75.296 million 621 228 Salem $17.32 million 172 68 Saratoga Springs $142.719 million N.A. N.A. Anjeanette Emeka (Vote for 3) N.A. Sharon Dominguez N.A. Joseph Sabanos N.A. Tony Kraceler N.A. Beth Fogarty Braxton N.A. Schuylerville $38.365 million 515 102 Jonathan Procter N/A Jamie Martin* (3-year term) 514 Michele Renner* (3-year term) 426 Shaun Cumm (1-year term) 320 South Glens Falls $69.872 million 919 291 Haley Brashears* 768 Spend $2M from repair reserve 951 274 Edward Potter 635 William Elder* (i) 752 Nicholas Healy* 757 Christopher Music 396 Warrensburg $22.97 million 130 33 Whitehall $20.098 million 140 27 Randall Lambert* 111 Reduce size of board(recount requested) 84 84 Jared Mowatt* (i) 136 Patricia Norton* (i) 117 Richard LaChapelle* (i) 122 Roxanne Waters* (i) 109
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NEWCOMB  The Newcomb Central School Music Department held a benefit concert on May 11 to support the North Country Wild Care Organization chapter of Wildlife Institute of Eastern New York.

The concert showcased prekindergarten through 6th grade students in the performance of the musical Tweet! and featured a communitywide Owl About Me poster display, as well as a vocal recital and performances by the elementary band and MS/HS Jazz Ensemble.

During intermission, representatives from Warren County-based North Country Wild Care gave a presentation on raptor care and education led by Trish Marki a wildlife rehabilitator.

Needless to say, our community was very generous in donating to their great cause. It was an unforgettable evening for all involved, said Zhanna Pendell, musical director for Newcomb Central Schools. We would like to thank the Newcomb community, NCS Board of Education, members of the National Honor Society and our Superintendent, Mrs. Christian Fisher for their support during this Benefit Concert.

North Country Wild Care operates in Schenectady, Warren, Washington, Saratoga, Albany, Rensselaer, Montgomery, Fulton and Essex counties, according to its website.
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NORTHFIELD  Atlantic County commissioners approved new three-year contracts for Teamsters 331 members in the Board of Elections and in white- and blue-collar law enforcement positions Tuesday.

The contracts increase starting salaries, give $1,000 to $1,500 one-time bumps to salaries, and provide for annual increases based on longevity, said County Counsel Jim Ferguson.

Both agreements run from Jan. 1, 2023, to Dec. 31, 2025, and have been ratified by members, Ferguson said.

Commissioner Caren Fitzpatrick asked if the workers will get the new pay in their next paycheck, and county administration representatives said it may not happen that quickly but should be soon.

Members of Teamsters Local 331 and other unions representing county workers have attended previous meetings to ask commissioners for help increasing their wages, which they said make it difficult to lead independent lives. Some said they are barely making the states minimum wage of $14.13 per hour for most workers.

As of Jan. 1, 2023, there will be a one-time wage adjustment to base salaries. For anyone hired up to December 2017, it will be $1,500. For those hired from 2018 to last year, it will be a $1,000 bump, Ferguson said.

Atlantic County commissioners approve new contract with jail officers NORTHFIELD  The Atlantic County commissioners approved a new four-year contract with the un

Annual wage increases will also depend on when workers were hired.

For those hired before Dec. 31, 2014, the increases will be 4.5% the first year, followed by 4% each of the next two years, Ferguson said.

Anyone hired from 2015 through 2017 will receive raises of 4%, 3.5% and 3.5%; those hired from 2018 to 2019 will receive 3% each year; and those hired in 2020 to the end of 2021 will receive 3%, followed by two years of 2.5%.

Those hired in 2022 will go to the new starting salary, then next year will get an additional $200 and a 2% increase in the third year.

To encourage workers to join the less expensive NJ Direct 2030 plan, Ferguson said the county is offering those who take it an annual stipend of $400.

Uniform allowances will increase to $800 from $600, and Juneteenth will be added as a holiday.

The unions agreed to give up Lincolns birthday as a holiday to take the Friday after Thanksgiving off instead.

For public safety telecommunicators who work at the Sheriffs Office, those working the 4 p.m. to midnight shift will receive a shift differential of 50 cents per hour and those working midnight to 8 a.m. will get $1 per hour differential.

In basic terms I think its a fair contract, Ferguson said. We raised starting salaries in various categories.

Weve always said they were the lowest paid employees in the county. Somebody has to get the ball rolling, said Commissioner Ernest Coursey.

The county also established its first four year contract with workers in the new Atlantic County Consolidated Municipal Court, retroactive to January 2022 when the court began.

Ferguson said contracts are still being negotiated with unions representing the Division of Public Health and Meadowview Nursing and Rehabilitation Center nurses and staff.
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Events

Wednesday, May 17

ADULT BOARD GAME NIGHT: 5:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. Wednesdays May 17, June 7, 21, July 5, 19, August 2, 16; Egg Harbor Township/Atlantic County Library System, 1 Swift Drive, Egg Harbor Township. 609-927-8664 or atlanticlibrary.org.

BILINGUAL FAMILY STORYTIME: 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. Wednesdays through May 17; Egg Harbor Township/Atlantic County Library System, 1 Swift Drive, Egg Harbor Township. 609-927-8664 or atlanticlibrary.org.

BORED? GAMES!: 6 to 7 p.m. Wednesdays through Aug. 31; for ages 10 to adult; games are family-friendly classic board games meant for at least two players; Ventnor City Branch/Atlantic County Library System, 6500 Atlantic Ave., Ventnor; registration required. 609-823-4614 or atlanticlibrary.org.

'FISH, FINS, AND MORE!' PRESENTED BY OF THE WETLANDS INSTITUTE: 6 to 7 p.m.; learn about local fish; Cape May County Library/Lower Cape Branch, 2600 Bayshore Road, Lower Township; free. 609-463-6350 or events.cmclibrary.org.

ONE-ON-ONE COMPUTER BASICS: 1 to 7 p.m. Wednesdays through May 31; for adults; Brigantine Branch/Atlantic County Library System, 201 15th St. S., Brigantine. 609-266-0110 or atlanticlibrary.org.

TECH WORKSHOP: HOME INTERNET OPTIONS: 10 to 11 a.m.; Public Library, 235 32nd St., Avalon. 609-967-7155 or avalonfreelibrary.org.

WEDNESDAY FAMILY GAME NIGHT: 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Wednesdays through Aug. 30; for all ages; board games provided; Pleasantville Branch/Atlantic County Library System, 33 Martin Luther King Junior Ave., Pleasantville; registration required. 609-641-1778 or atlanticlibrary.org.

Thursday, May 18

CRAFT-TASTIC: 6 to 7 p.m. third Thursdays; adults make a craft; Atlantic County Library System, 305 New Jersey Ave., Absecon; registration required. 609-646-2228 or AtlanticLibrary.org.

CREATIVE CRAFTS WITH CONVERSATION: 6 to 8 p.m. May 18, June 15; monthly crafts for adults; Atlantic County Library System, 300 E. Jimmie Leeds Road, Galloway Township; registration required. 609-652-2352 or atlanticlibrary.org.

CYBER THURSDAYS: 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Thursdays through Aug. 31; Pleasantville Branch/Atlantic County Library System, 33 Martin Luther King Junior Ave., Pleasantville. 609-641-1778 or atlanticlibrary.org.

GAME ON!: 5:30 to 7 p.m. May 18, June 8, July 13, Aug. 17; for adults; disconnect from the screen and connect over board games; Brigantine Branch/Atlantic County Library System, 201 15th St. S., Brigantine; registration required. 609-266-0110 or atlanticlibrary.org.

NEW JERSEY WRITERS SOCIETY GATHERING: 4 to 5:30 p.m.; for those with an interest in writing; in-depth discussion and writing critiques; Public Library, 1058 E. Landis Ave., Vineland; registration requested. 856-794-4244 or vinelandlibrary.org.

SENIOR CRAFT AND ACTIVITIES: 10 a.m. to noon Thursdays through June 29; Pleasantville Branch/Atlantic County Library System, 33 Martin Luther King Junior Ave., Pleasantville. 609-641-1778 or atlanticlibrary.org.

TEA TIME AT THE AVALON HISTORY CENTER: 11 a.m. to noon third Thursdays through December; enjoy tea with us as we share memories of old Avalon, and make new ones; Avalon History Center, 215 39th St., Avalon. 609-967-7155 or avalonfreelibrary.org.

For kids

Wednesday, May 17

PLAYDATE AT THE LIBRARY: 10 to 11 a.m. Wednesdays through Aug. 9; for ages 6-36 months; enjoy stories, rhymes and songs designed to develop early literacy skills; Mays Landing Branch/Atlantic County Library System, 40 Farragut Ave., Hamilton; registration required. 609-625-2776 or atlanticlibrary.org.

STORIES AND SONGS: 10 to 10:30 a.m. Wednesdays through May 31; join Miss Linda for stories, songs, and rhymes; for ages 3 and younger; Public Library, 235 32nd St., Avalon. 609-967-7155 or avalonfreelibrary.org.

Groups

Wednesday, May 17

ROMANCE BOOK CLUB: 6 to 7:30 p.m.; title for May, "Josh and Hazel's Guide to Not Dating," by Christina Lauren; Public Library, 235 32nd St., Avalon. 609-967-7155 or avalonfreelibrary.org.

'TOO MUCH STUFF?' MEETINGS: 1 to 2 p.m. first and third Wednesdays; hosted by the Mental Health Association in Atlantic County; online or call-in support for those with clutter challenges, collecting behaviors, or hoarding tendency. 609-652-3800 or MHAAC.info.

WEDNESDAY NIGHT BOOK CHAT: 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. May 17, June 21, July 19, Aug. 16; for adults; Mays Landing Branch/Atlantic County Library System, 40 Farragut Ave., Hamilton; registration required. 609-625-2776 or atlanticlibrary.org.

Thursday, May 18

AL-ANON MEETING: 11 a.m. to noon Thursdays through December; by Al-Anon Family Groups; Cape May County Library/Lower Cape Branch, 2600 Bayshore Road, Lower Township. 609-463-6350 or events.cmclibrary.org.

CROCHET GROUP: 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. Thursdays through Aug. 31; learn and practice your craft in a fun and welcoming environment; Egg Harbor City Branch/Atlantic County Library System, 134 Philadelphia Ave., Egg Harbor City. 609-804-1063 or atlanticlibrary.org.

INTO THE EVENING BOOK CLUB: 6 to 8 p.m. May 18, June 15, July 20, Aug. 17; Ventnor City Branch/Atlantic County Library System, 6500 Atlantic Ave., Ventnor; registration required. 609-823-4614 or atlanticlibrary.org.

NATIONAL ACTIVE AND RETIRED FEDERAL EMPLOYEES: 1 to 3 p.m. third Thursdays; lunch meeting of South Jersey Shore Chapter 1664 of NARFE; current, retired and spouses of Federal Employees are welcome; Shore Diner, 6710 Tilton Road, Egg Harbor Township. 609-822-2018 or NARFE.net.

Health, fitness

Wednesday, May 17

BARRE STAR: 9:15 to 10:15 a.m. Wednesdays through May; combination of ballet, flexibility, yoga/balance and strength training; Wildwood Crest Branch, 6300 Atlantic Ave., Wildwood Crest. 609-463-6350 or events.cmclibrary.org.

EXPLORING SPIRITUALITY ONLINE WELLNESS GROUP: noon to 1 p.m. Wednesdays; hosted by the Mental Health Association in Atlantic County; wellness group exploring themes of faith, hope, sense of purpose, and fulfilment. 609-652-3800 or MHAAC.info.

MEDITATION MEET-UP WITH TED COSTA: 1:30 to 2:30 p.m. and 5 to 6 p.m. Wednesdays through December; Woodbine Community Center, 812 Longfellow St., Woodbine. 609-463-6350 or events.cmclibrary.org.

MIND AND BODY VIRTUAL WORKSHOP: 11 a.m. to noon Wednesdays; workshop is provided to individuals who live with a disability; participants discuss topics such as adapting, goal setting, refocusing and more; offered by the Mental Health Association in Atlantic County. 609-652-3800, ext. 308 or MHAAC.info.

STRETCH & BURN - WITH KELLIE WOOD: 10 to 11 a.m. Wednesdays; hosted by Cape May County Library; virtual event; no registration required. 609-463-6350 or events.cmclibrary.org.

TAI CHI & QIGONG: 10 and 11:30 a.m. Wednesdays; with Cheryl Crews and Denise Jones; Lower Cape Branch, 2600 Bayshore Road, Lower Township. 609-463-6350 or events.cmclibrary.org.

ZUMBA - WITH JANET SPADA: 6 to 7 p.m. Wednesdays at Wildwood Crest Library, and Thursdays at Lower Township Library; no meetings July 12, 26, Nov. 22, 23. 609-463-6350 or events.cmclibrary.org.

ZUMBA - WITH KELLIE: 5 to 6 p.m. Wednesdays; Sea Isle City Branch, 4800 Central Ave., Sea Isle City. 609-463-6350 or Events.CMCLibrary.org.

Thursday, May 18

'CREATIVE EXPRESSIONS' ONLINE WELLNESS GROUP: 7:30 to 8:30 p.m. first and third Thursdays; online group to share artwork, discuss the creative process, and work on projects among peers; presented by the Mental Health Association in Atlantic County. 609-652-3800 or MHAAC.info.

GENTLE YOGA - WITH ELIZABETH KILCOURSE: 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. Thursdays; bring a yoga mat; Upper Township Branch, 2050 Tuckahoe Road, Woodbine. 609-463-6350 or events.cmclibrary.org.

HEALTHY LIVING WITH HOLLY: 5 to 7 p.m.; "Out With the Old, In With the New" with Holly Delong; bring food safe containers to bring samples home. Cape May County Library/Stone Harbor Branch, 9516 Second Ave., Stone Harbor; free, registration required. 609-463-6350 or events.cmclibrary.org.

IFSS FAMILY MEETING: 7 to 8:30 p.m. third Thursdays; call in or join on Zoom; monthly evening meeting for family members of individuals who live with a mental health concern. 609-652-3800 or MHAAC.info.

'RISING MINDS' ONLINE MEETING: 6 to 7:30 p.m. Thursdays; offered by the Mental Health Association in Atlantic County; peer-led meeting for individuals age 18 to 30; participants discuss mental health, share experiences, develop tools for self-care and connect to others. 609-652-3800 or MHAAC.info.

Reunions

Thursday, May 18

ACHS CLASS OF '63 REUNION: 5 to 9 p.m.; ACHS Class of '63 Reunion; includes a buffet dinner with music and dancing; Golden Nugget Atlantic City Hotel, Casino & Marina, 600 Huron Ave., Atlantic City; $55. andiade6@yahoo.com or cvr534@aol.com.
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A post office supervisor from Cape May County is accused of using postal funds for personal purchases at retailers around New Jersey, the U.S. Attorney's Office said Wednesday.

For six months between 2022 and 2023, Austin T. Mahan, 42, of Cape May Court House, misappropriated about $65,000 in money from the U.S. Postal Service to make purchases ranging from home decor to shaving cream to food, the U.S. Attorney's Office said in a news release.

Mahan faces a maximum of 10 years in prison and a potential fine of about $250,000, or a sum equal to the amount of money misappropriated.

Mahan is represented by Thomas Young, an assistant federal public defender.

A message left with the Federal Public Defender's Office was not immediately returned Wednesday.

Mahan appeared in federal court in Camden on Tuesday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Ann Marie Donio, who agreed to release him on a $50,000 unsecured bond.

Mahan is not allowed to possess a firearm or other weapons, according to a filing from a federal court. He also cannot use alcohol excessively and must alert the court to changes in his address or contact information, the document states.

Mahan worked as a supervisor at two South Jersey post offices, one in Sea Isle City and the other in Somers Point.

A federal investigation into the misappropriated funds began around February, when an employee at the Sea Isle branch reported to authorities "a large volume of suspected fraudulent transactions," including more than $20,000 worth of purchases at three stores, on Postal Service purchase cards belonging to Mahan, according to the criminal complaint.

An unidentified witness told investigators Mahan did not follow procedures for filing purchase requests, adding the transactions were suspicious because of their "associated vendors, dollar values and frequency," the criminal complaint states.

After obtaining financial records for both cards in February, investigators learned Mahan allegedly used them to make $65,000 in purchases, some of which were made while he was on vacation or not at work, the complaint states.

According to the complaint, Mahan was captured on store security footage at or around the time purchases were made.
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New charges against a man accused of holding a woman hostage for nearly a year before she escaped while they both briefly lived in Bass River Township have been added to a grand jury indictment, the state Attorney General's Office said Wednesday.

James W. Parrillo Jr. has been in the Burlington County jail since his arrest in February on charges that he kidnapped an unidentified woman in New Mexico, taking her across the country and sexually assaulting her multiple times.

An 11-count grand jury indictment against Parrillo, 57, includes six added charges, including two counts of aggravated sexual assault, criminal coercion and theft by extortion, the Attorney General's Office said in a news release.

State Police and the Burlington County Prosecutor's Office investigated.

The woman allegedly was held captive by Parrillo after meeting him at a gas station off Interstate 10 in New Mexico in February 2022, according to evidence used in court.

The Attorney General's Office said authorities believe Parrillo may have committed similar offenses against other women in different states.

The victim agreed to take Parrillo to Arizona, entering a "voluntary relationship" for about three weeks before their association with each other allegedly became violent, including an instance where he physically assaulted her while the pair were in California, the Attorney General's Office said.

The pair eventually began renting a room in Bass River Township, where the victim planned the escape that led to Parrillo's arrest.

While she told authorities she previously felt unable to leave the relationship because of Parrillo's threatening behavior, the woman eventually escaped to a township Conoco gas station, running along a road in cold temperatures in only a shirt and shorts.

She told gas station employees she had been kidnapped and felt her life was threatened.

Footage from the station shows Parrillo following the woman. He would later be captured along the shoulder of Route 542, charged initially with kidnapping, aggravated assault, hindering apprehension and criminal restraint, the Attorney General's Office said.

Anyone with additional information about the case or who knows further details about other alleged crimes Parrillo may have committed can call State Police at 855-363-6548.
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A fugitive wanted since October in the killing of a Mays Landing man has been arrested in Virginia, according to reports.

Rasabohyt Bethea, of Atlantic City, was apprehended by police in Hampton, Virginia, earlier this month, according to BreakingAC.com.

He is charged with being a fugitive from justice. BreakingAC reported that prosecutors are working to have him returned to South Jersey to face charges.

Hampton police did not respond to a call seeking comment.

Atlantic City police directed questions about Bethea's reported capture to the Atlantic County Prosecutor's Office, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

3 charged with Mays Landing man's murder Three men have been charged in the death of a man shot dead in Atlantic City in October.

Rasabohyt Beathea, Rahmir Bethea, also of Atlantic City, and David Santiago, of Westville, Ohio, are accused of murdering Tyronne Ford, 21.

Atlantic City police responding to a report of a shooting in the 1400 block of Atlantic Avenue discovered Ford unconscious at 1:47 a.m. Oct. 19. He was transported to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Rahmir Bethea was arrested the day of the shooting and charged with murder, conspiracy to commit murder, possession of a firearm for an unlawful purpose and unlawful possession of a firearm, the Prosecutors Office said in announcing his charges.

Santiago was arrested in Newark on Dec. 6 by U.S. marshals. He was charged with murder, conspiracy to commit murder, possession of a firearm for an unlawful purpose and unlawful possession of a rifle.

Rasabohyt Bethea was being sought for murder, conspiracy to commit murder, possession of a firearm for an unlawful purpose and unlawful possession of a rifle.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
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The miscreants involved in vandalism on May 9 in Pakistan following the arrest of former Prime Minister and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan include doctors and engineers too, media reports said.



During a press conference held by the police in Lahore, it was revealed that over 1,700 individuals involved in acts of arson and vandalism have been arrested following the arrest of Imran Khan, Samaa TV reported.



Some 38 cases have been registered, with Imran Khan being named as the accused in approximately 80 per cent of these cases, the report said.



Pakistan Punjab Police DIG (Operations) Kamran Adil disclosed that even professionals such as doctors and engineers were among the rioters and troublemakers.



He said the vandals entered the Jinnah House using three different routes.



The PTI Tiger Force, along with the local party leadership, played a role in mobilising people for the violence, he added, Samaa TV reported.



Adil said that the anarchy was created as part of a conspiracy which was executed according to a well-planned strategy.



The officer claimed that despite the tense situation, no deaths were reported.



Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday while expressing dismay over the recent events unfolding since May 9, deeming them a disgraceful episode for Pakistan, emphasised that strict action should be taken against the culprits involved in orchestrating acts of arson, creating unrest, and inciting riots, ensuring their arrest and subsequent legal proceedings.



An important meeting of the National Security Committee took place under the chairmanship of the Prime Minister, which was attended by General Asim Munir, the Chief of Army Staff, heads of the armed forces, Chief Minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Azam Khan, Chief Minister of Punjab Syed Mohsin Naqvi, and several other high-ranking civil and military officials.



During the meeting, Sharif expressed his concerns regarding the incidents that occurred at the GHQ and Mianwali Air Base, Samaa TV reported.

IANS
City President of BJP Jagdish Mulik said, The state executive committee meeting will be addressed by party chief J P Nadda. There will also be separate meetings of state BJP ministers and MP as well as MLAs of the party.

A total of 1,200 delegates including partys district level officer-bearers will attend the high-level meeting.

Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and State President Chandrasekhar Bawankule will also be parent in the meeting. A separate meeting of all the MLAs, MPs and Ministers will be held.

Mulik further said, Pune city is planning various arrangements and creating a good atmosphere on behalf of BJP. Under the guidance of State General Secretary Vikrant Patil, meetings of various departments are going on for preparation.

BJP has lost power in Karnataka to the congress, while Lok Sabha elections are just a year ahead, the civic polls can be held any time soon.
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A new super PAC formed to encourage Mike Pence to run for president will have an office in Iowa, the organization said Tuesday in a news release.

Committed to America launched Tuesday with the goal of supporting the former vice president.

Pence has traveled to Iowa multiple times this year, but has not yet definitively stated whether he will seek the Republican Partys nomination for president.

The man Pence served under in the White House, former President Donald Trump, has officially declared his candidacy.

Jeb Hensarling and Scott Reed were announced as Committed to Americas national co-chairs, and Bobby Saparow will lead operations as executive director, the news release said.

The organization will have offices in Dallas and Iowa, the latter being the site of the first-in-the-nation presidential caucuses.

Another Roast and Rider announced

Larry Elder, a Republican candidate for president, announced on social media that he will attend Iowa U.S. Sen. Joni Ernsts annual Roast and Ride fundraiser.

The event, which will feature many presidential candidates, is scheduled for June 3 at the Iowa State Fairgrounds in Des Moines.

PHOTOS: Roast and Ride: Sen. Joni Ernst takes fundraiser on the road Election 2022 Iowa Election 2022 Iowa Election 2022 Iowa Election 2022 Iowa Election 2022 Iowa Election 2022 Iowa Election 2022 Iowa Election 2022 Iowa Election 2022 Iowa Election 2022 Iowa Election 2022 Iowa Election 2022 Iowa Election 2022 Iowa Election 2022 Iowa Election 2022 Iowa Election 2022 Iowa Election 2022 Iowa
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The Rock Island Arsenal is always busy, but this weekend the public is invited to find out more.

U.S. Army Garrison Rock Island Arsenal Commanding Officer Col. Daniel D. Mitchell is inviting the public to Arsenal Island this Friday and Saturday for Armed Forces Day. The event kicks off at 4 p.m. Friday and continues until 10 p.m. Saturday evening. Armed Forces Day is commemorated on the third Saturday each May.

Mitchell said last year the Arsenal celebrated its 160th anniversary with a big celebration. This year, it is looking to make the celebration bigger and better.

"Coming out of COVID, it was moderate. It was a first step," he said. "This year to encourage the community to get to know the Arsenal and what goes on, we have decided to make it bigger."

On Friday, things will kick off with an opening ceremony. It will be followed by a carnival and food vendors. At 4:25 p.m., there will be a keg tapping from Front Street Brewery, followed by a performance by Wicked Liz and the Belly Swirls at 5 p.m. The night will end at 10 p.m.

Saturday will start off with the carnival opening at 8:45 a.m. and the America's Kids Run at 9:35 a.m. The Run the Rock 5K/10K will start at 10 a.m. followed by awards. The Quad Cities Cruisers will host a car show at 1 p.m., and performances by the Matt Fuller Band at 5:30 p.m. and 30 West at 9:15 p.m. will round out the evening.

Registration for the races is available online. The weekend of fun will finish with fireworks at 10 p.m. Saturday, Mitchell said. Admission is free, and no visitors pass is needed. Those planning to attend need only a valid state ID to get onto the island and can access from either the Moline or Rock Island gates.

"I encourage people to do that because over the course of this coming year, we are going to have a whole bunch of stuff going on," Mitchell said.

On May 25, the Arsenal will conduct a flag placement ceremony at the cemetery, and the Arsenal museum will reopen in June. For a long time, people felt they did not have a personal connection to the island, he said. Now, staff are working hard to reverse that feeling.

"For whatever reason, we understand folks didn't feel they were welcomed here, but we want them to know they are," he said. "We are part of the community, and the community is part of us."

Since his arrival last July, Mitchell said he has noticed things have already started to change. Now, getting to welcome the community to the island to celebrate military members creates a full circle moment.

"I've been the Garrison Command here for almost a year. The community support for the military here is amazing," he said. "We get a tremendous outpouring of support from the community. It really is heartwarming to me and all the other service members to know we have such great support."

Photos: Take a look at how the Rock Island Arsenal defends against the Mississippi River
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A Davenport woman is facing a charge of arson after she allegedly poured gasoline onto a home in an attempt to set it on fire, Davenport Fire Marshal Jim Morris said Tuesday night in a news release.

Raven Nicole Whitney, 30, is charged with first-degree arson. The charge is a Class B felony under Iowa law that carries a mandatory prison sentence of 25 years. A district court judge determines whether a person convicted under this statute shall have to serve 50%, or 12  years, or 70%, or 17  years, of their sentence before parole or work release can be granted.

According to Morris news release, at 6:03 p.m. Tuesday, Davenport Police were sent to 667 W. 64th St. to investigate a person pouring gasoline onto the home. The building is a duplex with two residences.

Police were able to secure the scene and firefighters were sent to there.

Police and firefighters determined that a verbal argument between individuals escalated into Whitney allegedly pouring gasoline onto the duplex with an attempt to set it on fire.

Whitney was being held Wednesday night in the Scott County Jail on a bond of $50,000, cash or surety.

During a first appearance Wednesday in Scott County District Court, Magistrate Jay Sommers scheduled a preliminary hearing in the case for May 26.

Whitney is currently awaiting trial in Scott County District Court in several other cases.

She has a jury trial scheduled for Aug. 17 on a charge of unlawful possession of a prescription drug, a serious misdemeanor that carries a jail sentence of up to one year.

Whitney was arrested on a warrant May 8 on a charge of fifth-degree theft. She allegedly stole a bracelet and a pair of earrings totaling $168 from Von Maur in NorthPark Mall on April 29.

The act was caught on video and she was identified by the stores loss prevention and Davenport Police.

The charge is a simple misdemeanor that carries a jail sentence of up to 30 days. Whitney posted a cash bond of $50 to be released from the Scott County Jail and has not made a first appearance on the charge.

Whitney was arrested in November of 2022 on a charge of domestic abuse assault-first offense and interference with official acts. Both charges are simple misdemeanors. Scott County District Court electronic records to not specify a court date in the case.

However, on Jan. 24, 2023, District Judge Mark Fowler sentenced Whitney to seven days in the Scott County Jail for violating a no-contact order filed in connection with the case.

A glimpse at the 2023 Quad Cities Law Enforcement Memorial Service
Key votes

Bills sponsored

Successes of the session

I was proud to support legislation that will deliver roughly $100 million in property tax relief to all Iowans, including direct relief for Iowa veterans and seniors through new property tax exemptions. Secondly, we passed an important bill to provide Iowa teachers with additional tools and supports to address behavioral issues in the classroom. This bill, House File 604, is a first step in creating an enhanced teacher empowerment environment.

Disappointments from the session

Im disappointed CO2/eminent domain question did not get resolved in the Senate as was the case in the House with a bipartisan majority vote in favor of property rights. However, Ive learned to appreciate good legislation is a process that sometimes takes more thought, time and constituent input to serve all Iowans best. All in all, Im not disappointed in the session. Im quite proud of our 93% bipartisanship votes on enacted legislation, Im proud Iowa leads the nation in service to all citizens and Im proud of our nation-leading fiscal management success. Iowa is going in the right direction and should our focus drift from time to time in issue agreement. Im also proud to serve with a legislative body that will have the courage to evolve and grow when needed by the Iowans we have the honor and privilege to serve.
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ATLANTIC, Iowa  Iowa elected officials took action at the state and federal level aimed at combating rising rates of fentanyl-related drug overdoses on Tuesday.

Surrounded by state and local law enforcement, Reynolds signed the law in Atlantic, Iowa, where last year five area residents were arrested on federal charges in a fentanyl distribution case that led to a series of overdoses in Cass and Shelby counties.

The law enhances the penalty for selling fentanyl, imposing up to 10 years of prison time for small amounts of the potent opioid, and up to 50 years for more than 50 grams.

The law will also triple the sentence otherwise imposed by law for providing a drug that results in someones death, and double the sentence if it results in bodily injury. Manufacturing a drug in the presence of a minor or selling to a minor would carry twice the penalty otherwise imposed by law.

This poison  and thats what it is: poison  is fueling addiction, death and chaos, Reynolds, a Republican, said.

The law, proposed by Reynolds early in this years legislative session, is part of her push to put a spotlight on the rising presence of fentanyl in Iowa and its role in overdose deaths.

Fentanyl, a potent opioid about 100 times stronger than morphine, is often mixed into illicit pills, pressed to look like other prescription medications, and other drugs as a cost-cutting measure. Reynolds said Iowa law enforcement seized twice the number of fentanyl pills in 2022 than it did in 2021, and more than 27,000 in the last six weeks.

Synthetic opioids like fentanyl accounted for more than 80% of all opioid-related overdoses nationally in 2020, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Iowas rate of overdose deaths is among the lowest in the country, but it is increasing. In Iowa, 432 people died of drug overdoses in 2020, according to the CDC, and 172 of those  about 40%  were from synthetic opioids.

A similar bill was proposed by Republican Attorney General Brenna Bird at the beginning of this years legislative session. Bird said the law will allow prosecutors to seek stricter penalties at the state level when a person dies from a drug overdose.

This law brings the drug dealers who kill to justice, she said. It gives prosecutors the tools that we need to seek justice for the victims of crime and their families. And it prevents the scourge of the dangers of drugs in our communities.

Under the new law, fentanyl sale and manufacture will be punished the following ways:

Less than five grams: Class C felony, punishable by up to 10 years in prison and a fine between $1,000 and $50,000.

Between five and 50 grams: Class B felony, punishable by up to 25 years in prison and a fine of up to $100,000.

More than 50 grams: Class B felony, punishable by up to 50 years in prison and a fine of up to $1 million.

The bill also expands who can dispense naloxone, a medication that reverses the effects of an overdose. The changes will allow law enforcement, emergency rooms and schools to get it into the hands of those who need it most, Reynolds said.

The law passed with mostly bipartisan support in the Legislature this year, but some Democrats opposed the law. They argued increasing penalties does not work in reducing criminal activity, and the bill did not do enough to prioritize treatment of substance use disorders.

Democratic Rep. Megan Srinivas, a doctor from Des Moines, proposed an amendment to the bill that would have legalized fentanyl test strips, which can be used to test for the presence of fentanyl in a pill or other drug.

Reynolds said she does not think fentanyl test strips should be part of the solution to the rising opioid death rates.

Thats not something that I pushed in my bill because I dont believe that that has an appropriate place, she said.

Reynolds also took aim at Democratic President Joe Biden's administration, whose border policies she said are to blame for the increase in fentanyl coming across the southern border.

"President Biden has a constitutional responsibility to secure our nation's border from illegal immigration and drug trafficking, human trafficking, and everything that's taking place the southern border," she said. "His failure is empowering criminals; it's empowering the cartel, who trade others' lives for profit."

Sen. Joni Ernst introduces fentanyl bill

Around the same time Reynolds signed the new law, Iowa Republican U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst announced plans to introduce a bipartisan, bicameral bill with Virginia Democratic U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine that would direct the Department of Defense to take stronger action against Mexican cartels and transnational criminal organizations trafficking fentanyl.

Both Ernst and Kaine serve on the Senate Armed Services Committee.

Im using my oversight authority of the Department of Defense to stem the fentanyl crisis at its source, Ernst told reporters.

The Disrupt Fentanyl Trafficking Act would classify fentanyl trafficking as a national security threat to provide a response proportional to the problem, Ernst said during a conference call with reporters.

It would require the Pentagon to develop a fentanyl-specific counterdrug strategy, including working directly with the Mexican military and increasing security operations with Mexico to combat the fentanyl drug trade and disrupt Mexican cartel activity.

The bill also seeks to address and better coordinate efforts between the military and federal law enforcement agencies.

The DoD plays a leading role in the nations counterdrug intelligence and monitoring operations, Ernst said. However, the lack of interagency cooperation, over classification and inadequate resources have hampered our governments counter-fentanyl efforts.

Fentanyl has become a leading cause of death in U.S. adults between the ages of 18 and 45. President Joe Biden, in his State of the Union address earlier this year, vowed to do more to tackle the epidemic.

The amount of lives lost in Iowa and across the country due to this deadly drug has far surpassed the federal governments response, and we must scale immediately to combat this national security threat, Ernst said in a statement following her news conference. This bipartisan work will engage Mexico as an active partner to counter fentanyl trafficking and put the Pentagons tools to use to save American lives.

Ernst met with Mexican officials at the Mexican embassy during a visit to Mexico City and the San Diego-Mexican border back in February as part of a congressional delegation that included Iowa Republican U.S. Reps. Randy Feenstra and Mariannette Miller-Meeks.

She said the crisis will only get worse with the expiration of a COVID-era policy that allowed known as Title 42 that allowed U.S. authorities to quickly expel migrants on public-health grounds.

Republican lawmakers have lambasted President Joe Biden and his administration's handling of a historic influx of illegal border crossings they say has allowed fentanyl to be smuggled into the U.S. at higher rates and fueled the opioid crisis.

Biden initially kept Title 42 in place after he took office, then tried to end its use in 2022. Republicans sued, arguing the restrictions were necessary for border security. Courts had kept the rules in place, but with the end of national COVID-19 emergencies the border restrictions have now gone away.

The federal government, however, is putting new restrictions into place at its southern border to try to stop migrants from crossing illegally and encourage them instead to apply for asylum online through a new process.

The White House earlier this month announced the Pentagon is sending 1,500 troops to support U.S. Customs and Border Patrol and a counter-smuggling operation in the Darien Gap. And the U.S. Department of Homeland Security is expanding detention capacity and deploying more resources and technology to support border communities, including hundreds more asylum officers and immigration judges to process migrants, according to the White House.

While most fentanyl is smuggled into the United States along the southern board, the vast majority of fentanyl seizures along the border have been at legal U.S. ports of entry, according to the Drug Enforcement Agency. Fentanyl is rarely carried over the border through the desert, but is rather smuggled across official border crossing in passenger vehicles with concealed compartments or commingled with legitimate goods on tractor-trailers, according to the DEA.

And I do have separate efforts where Im pushing the administration on greater resources so that we can interdict the fentanyl thats coming in through the ports of entry, Ernst said. But, we do know that a number of migrants will also bring fentanyl into the country in between those ports of entry, and that there will be more people coming in unfettered with the end of Title 42.

Sgt. Nick Nolte of the Cedar Rapids Police Departments narcotics division said over the last two months the department has seized more than 4,000 fentanyl-laced fake prescription pills.

And just this last week we had two more overdoses, Nolte said. Both people admitted to taking (counterfeit) pills, but would not cooperate with us.  And that continues to be a problem here in Cedar Rapids, just cooperation from the people to allow us to try to find the source of supply.

Photos: Quad Cities High School Apprenticeship Signing Day
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The owner of a Box Elder animal refuge pleaded not guilty Tuesday to 10 counts of animal neglect after animals were taken from her property this winter.

Tamara Lile, 44, owner of the Charm Farm on Eagle Ranch Road, was charged with the misdemeanors on March 23 following the removal of several animals by the Meade County Sheriff's Office in February.

Lile told the Journal she didn't appear in court, but her lawyer did on her behalf and entered not guilty pleas to the allegations she neglected five horses, three ponies and two donkeys.

"They've just been piling charges on me left and right," she said.

Each count carries a maximum sentence of one year in the county jail and up to a $2,000 fine.

Law enforcement reports attached to the criminal complaint filed in the case detailed the investigation into the well-being of the animals.

According to a report by Meade County Deputy Jennifer Ness, law enforcement visited Lile's property on several occasions in January and February before ultimately removing the animals.

The first visit was on Jan. 19 after an animal neglect complaint about a pony with a wound and a mare and foal that were "skin and bones."

When Ness visited the farm, the animals had access to food and water, but the deputy noted a mare named Wildfire that was "very skinny," with signs of malnourishment. According to the report, Lile said the horse had asthma, which made it difficult for her to keep weight on.

A few days later, Ness spoke with Lile's vet, who said he prescribed a short-term steroid prescription to a different horse, Ruby, and Lile never followed up with him on how the treatment was going. The vet said he had never formally examined Wildfire.

After speaking with the vet, Ness met with Adam Weichmann, a vet with the State of South Dakota Animal Industry Board to discuss Wildfire. He visited the farm with Ness on Jan. 27 and set up a treatment plan for Wildfire, which Lile did not follow, according to the report.

The sheriff's office received a complaint on Jan. 28 from a man who kept horses on his brother's land next to the Charm Farm stating the animals hadn't been fed in days.

Another complaint about a week later stated there were dead animals on the property, including a dead horse.

During later visits, law enforcement observed water troughs without water in them and animals lacking access to food.

On Feb. 15, a deputy visited and discovered the animals hadn't been fed. The next day, two deputies and the state vet Weichmann visited the property to follow up on the animals' conditions.

During that visit, Ness asked Lile about the dead animals. Lile led the deputy to a dead horse, Ruby, as well as eight goats, a llama, and two chickens. She was given 24 hours to get rid of the carcasses. According to the report, Lile buried the horse and burned the other carcasses.

After several more visits from law enforcement in February, during which they observed a lack of food and water, the animals were ultimately seized.

Lile has denied neglecting the animals. The farm posted on their Facebook page after the seizure that the animals were stolen. Lile said on Tuesday she feels like she has to prove herself innocent.

"It's been a nightmare," Lile said. "I've been protecting animals since 2016."

Lile is scheduled to appear in court at 8:30 a.m. on June 20 for a status hearing.
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Gov. Greg Gianforte this week signed a bill into law establishing mandatory minimums and higher criminal penalties for drug dealers trafficking specifically in fentanyl.

State law enforcement officials who testified in support of House Bill 791 during the legislative session described fentanyl's proliferation since 2019 as "meteoric" and approaching methamphetamine's place as the state's most vexing substance. Rep. Courtenay Sprunger, a freshman Republican from Kalispell, carried the bill.

The law now sets a two-year minimum prison sentence for those convicted of criminal distribution of dangerous drugs involving 100 fentanyl pills or a combined weight greater than 10 grams in a powder, solid or liquid form. Along with fentanyl, the law includes possession of additives or cutting agents in those combined weights.

Previously, such cases would have been charged under the broader criminal distribution of dangerous drugs statute, which had no minimum prison sentence.

The maximum sentence of 25 years for drug distribution is also upped to 40 years for distribution of 100 or more pills of fentanyl, or more than 10 grams.

"Our narcotics agents and troopers are already getting more fentanyl out of our communities than ever before, but this new law will send the message to drug traffickers to stay out of Montana," Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen said in an emailed statement Tuesday. "Im thankful to Gov. Gianforte and Rep. Sprunger for working with me during the legislative session to crack down on the flow of fentanyl and the criminals who are bringing this poison into our state.

Montana has grappled with rounds of mass overdoses sometimes spurred by the same batch of fentanyl ferried into the state. Last year Helena law enforcement reported nine overdoses from fentanyl-laced heroin in a 48-hour span, and the Blackfeet tribe declared a state of emergency following 17 fentanyl overdoses and four related deaths in a week's time.

"We absolutely have to step to the plate if we're going to do something to save the Montana that we all love," Sprunger said in a phone interview Monday. "This became clear to me that it was the right approach when I started to look around and realize our law enforcement officers are carrying around Narcan," the brand name of the overdose reversal medication called Naloxone.

Mandatory minimums are generally regarded as regressive, removing judges' discretion to tailor sentences that account for the facts of a person's case and life circumstances. Sprunger and those who supported the bill contended during the legislative process the law would also send a clear message to traffickers.

Frank Garner, a former Kalispell police chief whose legislative seat was taken over by Sprunger when he termed out last year, testified in support of the bill in a committee hearing in January.

"I think most of us would agree, it's not the solution individually or by itself, but it's got to be part of the package in terms of our response to this in our state, along with education, treatment and a chance to punish those" who traffic fentanyl in Montana, Garner testified. "This bill also has the same opt-out that others do. The only thing you have to do to not be subject to this bill is don't deal fentanyl in this state."

The bill passed both chambers with bipartisan support, tallying an 87-11 vote in the House and 31-18 vote in the Senate.

A separate bill to decriminalize fentanyl testing strips, meanwhile, failed to pass out of its first committee.

State and federal officials in bipartisan fashion have pointed to Mexican drug cartels as the source of fentanyl that's reached Montana. Indeed, Mexican citizens have been arrested and prosecuted in Montana on alleged fentanyl trafficking operations.

Officials with the Montana Attorney General's Office have cited a 10,800% increase in fentanyl dosage seizures since 2019. That's an increase of 1,900 doses seized in 2021, to 206,955 doses seized by area drug task forces in 2022.

In most instances, those cases are taken up by federal law authorities because the conduct crosses state and international boundaries. Still, state analysts found some instances, roughly four cases per year, could still be filed in state court under this new state law.

As a matter of monitoring the effect of the new law's effects, lawmakers included a reporting requirement for the Montana Department of Justice. Beginning in September 2024, the Montana Attorney General's Office will begin reporting the number of times judges have imposed the mandatory minimum to legislative interim committees on an annual basis.

The Governor's Office on Monday announced Gianforte's signing HB 791 following a recent trip to the U.S.-Mexico border to survey the area as a pandemic-era federal border policy known as Title 42 expired. The policy allowed border officials to turn certain asylum seekers away from the U.S. as a precautionary measure against COVID-19. Despite attempts from Republican-led states like Montana to preserve the policy, it fell away on Thursday with the national public health emergency expiration.

Gianforte criticized the Biden administration for Title 42's sunset, contending it would allow more drug traffickers into the U.S. and Montana.

"As just one consequence of the border crisis, Montana is being overrun by fentanyl trafficked into our state by Mexican drug cartels," Gianforte said in a press release. "Were taking action to crack down on the criminals who profit off these deadly drugs."
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Jay Raines got a notice in his mailbox one day last year that the entire Missoula mobile home court he lives in had been sold to a mysterious new owner, a Limited Liability Corporation based in California.

The LLC's registered agent is Jim Mosier, a managing partner at Grove Ventures Real Estate. The company's website says "Grove Ventures is a private real estate investment firm focused on multi-family and manufactured housing communities in high-growth regions of the Western United States."

At the bottom of the company's homepage, "cash flow generation" is listed, along with "appreciation," "tax benefits" and "capital preservation."

Raines subsequently got a notice his lot rent was being raised by $100 a month, which is an extra $1,200 a year. The only extra improvement the new property managers have added is more garbage service.

Raines relies on disability benefits from the Social Security Administration, meaning he's on a fixed income, and the lot rent increase was more than the cost-of-living-adjustment increase to his disability payments.

"That's a big increase," he remembers thinking.

As private equity firms snap up mobile home parks and apartment complexes in Montana, raising rents in the process, more and more people are being pushed toward and into homelessness or less stable housing.

Raines has lived in Sherwood Court in the Westside neighborhood near the corner of Broadway and Russell for the past eight years. The local owner, Bill Johnson, wrote in the letter to all the residents that they had decided "it was time for someone else to take the reins" after 30-plus years.

"A lot of these people live on disability," Raines said, referring to the dozens of residents in the trailer court. "My neighbor rents and she works at Walmart. I think she's been there for at least 10 years, and she is planning on moving to Billings."

Raines is upset that the previous owner didn't give the residents enough notice that it was being sold. If they had enough time, it's possible that they could have pooled their money and made a matching offer to buy the entire court through what's known as a Resident-Owned Community. Trailer court residents in other parks in Missoula and Montana have bought the land underneath their courts and then formed a cooperative.

"We could have gone around and gotten some kind of coalition going so we could have purchased it, if we had been notified," Raines said.

A bill proposed in the Montana Legislature this past session, HB 429, would have required that the residents of parks with more than 50 units be given a 60-day notice if the property was being sold. That would give them time to perhaps form a cooperative. It would also have required property owners to review counter-offers from a residents' association. The bill, sponsored by Rep. George Nikolakakos, R-Great Falls, died in the house.

'Under threat'

Cindy Newman is a resident of the Highwoods Trailer Park in Great Falls. In November of 2019, her trailer park was bought by Havenpark Capital Partners, a private equity firm that has been criticized for drastic lot rent increases as it snaps up mobile home parks across the country. The company also bought Golden Park trailer court in Billings and several other mobile home courts in Montana.

"Three years ago you could rent a lot in either Highwoods or Golden Meadows for $283 a month," Newman said. "Now Golden Meadows is $749 a month and it's $700 here. It just really exceeds what people have the ability to pay."

Newman felt her only option was to go to the Legislature this year and try to get some of the pro-tenant bills passed. She supported House Bill 889, which is a "Mobile Home Tenant Bill of Rights."

The bill was introduced by Rep. Jonathan Karlen, a Democrat representing the Frenchtown and Huson areas west of Missoula. Among other provisions, the bill would ban mobile home park owners from instituting month-to-month lease agreements and instead would require year-long leases unless a month-to-month lease agreement is mutually agreed upon. The bill passed the Legislature and is awaiting a signature from Gianforte to become law.

We are here today because our communities are under threat, Newman told a House committee when the bill was being considered. Real estate investors have seized on the vulnerability of homeowners who own homes but rent the land. They have built a highly profitable business model that relies on our limited mobility to squeeze large profits out of moderate-income residents."

Newman believes outside investors have worsened the affordability crisis for people in what used to be the most affordable homes in Montana.

"Under this model, we residents are suffering greatly and are reaching out in crisis," she said. "Lot rents for our homes are going up drastically. Under new corporate owners, utilities are being decoupled, maintenance is worsening. We now live with fear and uncertainty.

Both Raines and Newman say that residents of mobile home parks are at great risk of becoming homeless when lot rents are raised drastically. That's because many residents are on fixed incomes, and because there's nowhere for older mobile home owners to move their trailers. Often, mobile home parks are full, or the trailer is too old to move safely or meet the requirements of a new park.

Raines said most of the people in Sherwood Court have trailers that wouldn't stand up to being moved.

"I could not afford the thousands of dollars that it would take to move this and I actually bought my wheels and axels," he said. "Most of these people don't have wheels and axels and they would have to rent them as well as getting the truck to move it. Plus you have to jack it up and put it on said wheels."

According to the Manufactured Housing Institute, more than 22 million people in the U.S. live in these types of homes.

"In many parts of the U.S., homes like these are the least expensive kind of housing available without a government subsidy," the Institute's website states.

In 2022, an Oregon company purchased the El-Mar Trailer Village in Missoula and subsequently raised the lot rents by $100 per month. Dori Jenkens and her husband David had lived in the court for 34 years.

"We're more concerned about the elderly people living here that are on fixed incomes and people that will be forced to move out," Dori Jenkins told the Missoulian at the time. "This is a community here. A lot of people have been living here for decades and there's nowhere to move their trailers."

'At risk'

Outside investors have their eye on Montana, and Missoula is an especially hot market. It's not limited to trailer parks.

In 2022, a Colorado investment firm called Brinkman Real Estate bought the 171-unit Brooklyn West Apartments on Mullan Road.

"This is a highly attractive market," said Brett Silverstein, a Brinkman executive.

"We've seen tremendous success with our other assets in the state and Missoula has all the fundamentals that support real estate investment," said company CEO Kevin Brinkman.

Raines, the Sherwood Court resident, is now fearing that if rent keeps going up he may join the ranks of the untold numbers of homeless individuals in Montana. It could have been different if he and all the residents had a chance to come up with an offer.

"We had no opportunity," he said.

For Newman, the threat of out-of-state investors looking to make a profit off the backs of trailer park residents in Montana is a crisis.

"These private equity firms have a huge impact on the lives of homeowners due to rent gouging, retaliation and harassment," she said. "They train new managers to be bullies. Their main goal is to pretty much keep us quiet and get us to pay up and shut up."

She said that her time at the Legislature was frustrating, especially because of the short amount of time given to public commenters on every bill.

"We were given two minutes to save our homes," she said, "and our homes are really truly at risk."
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In order to allow candidates for office a chance to clearly and concisely address some of the issues facing Rapid City, the Rapid City Journal reached out to all five candidates for mayor with the same set of five questions. The candidates each had two weeks to respond and were given a limit of 200 words per question.

Below, youll find their unedited answers (except for very minor changes made to comply with AP style and word count). The answers are entirely the words and opinions of the candidates, sent to the Rapid City Journal via email.

The Journal does not endorse any of the answers provided but has provided all of the unedited answers to inform the residents of Rapid City and give them the information needed to understand the candidates views and to make an informed decision.

All five candidates' answers are provided below in the order each appears on the ballot.

1. Why should people vote for you?

Ron Weifenbach: I have lived in Rapid City for 50 years. I have raised my family here, graduated from high school, received a degree from Black Hills State University in business. I have a CPA license that is currently inactive, I earned an MBA from Chadron State College, and I am most proud of my degree from the School of Hard Knocks! I served eight years in the S.D. Army National Guard and four terms on and off of the City Council. I have extensive management experience with large national companies and business ownership experience. I am a decisive leader that understands that acting and switching decisions if needed is by far the most effective way to obtain positive results. I have prepared myself to hit the ground running and understand the top issues of public safety, infrastructure and housing, and have a plan to face them head on. This is one of the differences between me and the other candidates. I am committed to putting my plan into action and am not concerned about personal consequences to myself; rather I am dedicated to keeping Rapid City a safe, beautiful place that we can all call home.

Laura Armstrong: I have served Rapid City for the past six years as a member of the City Council and worked with citizens of all backgrounds and political leanings to get things done. I was in leadership positions for four years, including two years as Council President. I am the daughter of a retired law enforcement officer, and I will make public safety a top priority. As a speech pathologist and local small business owner, I see the opportunities and challenges presented by Rapid Citys growth. I want to see my community grow in a smart, sustainable way so that our quality of life is maintained for everyone to enjoy.

Brad Estes: I am running for mayor because I want to serve Rapid City. My family and I moved to Rapid City in the early 90s from Wall. Rapid City has given us a safe place to raise our family and grow our business. We couldnt have asked for a better place to live, and I want to provide leadership and service to our community. Now is my chance to give back. Secondly, I believe Rapid City is hungry for a mayor that comes from the private sector; someone like myself who knows what its like to take personal chances to create economic development for myself and my employees. Given the tremendous growth Rapid City is facing in the coming years, I feel that I am uniquely qualified to provide experience, leadership and a steady hand to address growth, public safety, infrastructure development and the issues facing our community.

Jason Salamun: Rapid City is my hometown and it would be my honor to serve as our next mayor. Im grateful to draw from a wide range of leadership experiences including being a veteran of the U.S. Air Force, serving as Vice President of Operations and Strategic Services at Black Hills Federal Credit Union, and in my current role as Executive Pastor for Fountain Springs Church, where I oversee the staff and operations. Combined with my six years on the City Council, including as Council President, I hope you agree I am uniquely equipped to help lead Rapid City forward during this pivotal time. No one is more well-rounded and ready to serve. As your next mayor, we will prioritize public safety, promote a strong and resilient economy, and work together to build a brighter future for the next generation. Im not running to simply win a mayoral race, Im running to help Rapid City win. Im well-aware this wont be the result of politicians and elected officials alone. This is a shared vision of a community committed to being our best. Rapid City is where possibility lives and it would be my honor to serve as your next mayor.

Josh Lyle: I am what the people have been waiting for  a real conservative, with no political or private interests, no bias to rich or poor, committed to saving the middle class  as it is being dismantled  and someone with a vast business background that came from every walk of life  someone willing to put his entire life savings in order to give the people an option at a very critical moment! Someone that sees that our nation is under attack from the inside. Someone that knows the start of WWIII began with COVID. Then the mask. Then the jab. Then giving away $85 billion to the Taliban. Opening our borders, shuttling fugitives into our state and selling the children to sex traffickers. Bringing the Mexican Cartel that made $500 million in 2019 to $14 billion since the Biden Administration in drugs and sex trafficking. Derailing trains full of chemicals near water ways primarily in swing states and counties. Telling children there's 61 genders and sexual drag shows in our children's classrooms are okay. WWIII is here and our cities and states are under attack. Who will defend you? I see what is coming before the general public realizes it is here.

2. What is the biggest challenge Rapid City is facing and how will you address it?

Weifenbach: The biggest issue facing Rapid City is the recent surge in population and the ramifications of that growth. Spiking crime, aggressive panhandling, homelessness, streets in disrepair, failing infrastructure, home prices and low housing supply, and the low-level transparency for what is transpiring in the community have been magnified. To handle crime and panhandling, we will put police and private sector workers on the ground to deal with crime and social issues. Together they will identify those who need help and those who choose that lifestyle and then they will be treated accordingly. We will have each council member bring infrastructure priorities that affect their ward, and we will find ways to get them repaired. We will attack home prices by increasing supply through planning quality neighborhoods where the city participates in quality infrastructure, incorporating green spaces and removing red tape to better accommodate today's need and the needs of the future for housing. We will bring our website, data-gathering and data-sharing into the new era and will share this information freely with the public. We will gather data on all these issues and make decisions based on facts so our decisions will be driven by real-time information.

Armstrong: Increased crime and homelessness, lack of affordable housing, aging infrastructure, and an over-burdened and underfunded public school system are major concerns, but the impact of poorly planned growth makes all these challenges exponentially worse. We must take ownership and direction of our citys expansion. I propose a 'Growth and Development Task Force' comprised of local citizens who live and work in our area to focus on three initial areas: infrastructure is a top priority. We should begin with implementing our Infrastructure Development Plan by protecting our water, extending the lifespan of our landfill, and replacing aging service lines. With emphasis on planning and development, we should partner with developers and focus on infill while avoiding urban sprawl. There must be affordable mixed-housing for seniors and the middle class. For our downtown businesses, priorities should include reducing crime and homelessness, and revisiting the feasibility of a Railroad Quiet Zone. We want businesses, locals, and tourists to all safely enjoy our beautiful downtown. We can implement mentoring and Early Learner programs within public schools, recognizing the correlation between increased academic success and the reduction of violent crime. If you want to reduce crime, be willing to invest in our public schools.

Estes: The biggest challenge we currently face is public safety. I am deeply concerned to see the increases in violent crimes, and its heartbreaking to see how young some of the people are who are committing these crimes. Our community will never reach its full potential until we can address public safety. Short term, we need to make sure our law enforcement has the tools and training to respond safely to dangerous situations. Our officers need to be safe and supported. The victims need to have access to resources, and our laws have to be enforced. Second, we have to start looking at long-term solutions because simply responding to more and more crimes is expensive and its not working. I believe this is going to require a serious commitment to our youth. The mayor has to provide leadership on this issue. We have some great partnerships between the city, our nonprofit and community groups, and our citizens to provide early intervention programs, mentorship programs, mental health services, and education so that young people in our community can grow up to lead successful lives.

Salamun: As I visit with neighbors in Rapid City, theres no doubt public safety is of chief concern. As mayor, we will work together to strengthen public safety. This begins by supporting those who serve on the front lines in our police and fire departments. They deserve our deepest appreciation, respect, and support. They confront the symptoms of our cultural issues, and they need our help. As mayor, we will enforce the law. Weve seen other communities allow theft to occur unchallenged, vandalism to go unenforced, and parks taken over by tent cities. Subsequently, the same communities often experience a rise in illegal drug use, violent crime, and a sense of lawlessness. Not here. Even as we grow, that will not be our story. Everyone is welcome here; crime is not. Our commitment to enforce the law is one side of the equation, the other side is whether or not our criminal justice system will hold people accountable for their actions. The good news is we have new leaders in public safety and I look forward to working together to address these challenges. I have no higher priority than the safety and security of the residents of Rapid City.

Lyle: Homelessness and crime; when the poor start going without the basics: food, shelter, transportation, communication, they turn to crime. Everyone is scared to address the compounding issue, which is the natives [specifically that come from the reservation and don't have an address or job here] to primarily get intoxicated, panhandle to get more booze and repeat. Homelessness and crime is in every city, but this specific situation has not been solved because no one wants to be labeled racist, because the problem is 95% a native issue. I don't have that problem, for the same reason I don't have a problem saying my mother was homeless. Did it hurt in 6th grade when Scott B. brought an article with my mom as the centerpiece of homelessness to class and make fun of me? Yes. I AM NOT AFRAID TO DO WHAT IS RIGHT! And with the crime, I will put on a bulletproof vest and talk to the gang leaders, and tell them to clean up their own act, or I will go in head first and start making a lot of arrests with our strong police department. I will make Rapid City the safest city in our great nation.

3. Do you think there is a unity problem in Rapid City and how will you address it?

Weifenbach: I think problems of unity come from a basic lack of information or lack of taking the time to inform or be informed. The best way to achieve unity is for people to embrace differences amongst their fellow community participants. Unity can be damaged by people failing to consider the ramifications of their actions upon others. My approach to building unity in the community is to embrace that which makes us different. Working with others to celebrate, not force others to understand why we see things may be different from one perspective to another. The governance role in unity is to promote opportunity for the understanding of cultural and political differences. The most effective way to increase unity is for each individual person to do what they can to promote unity as often as they can and work with others to set good examples and be role models. Mentoring young people is a good way to promote unity. There was an old saying: "each one, reach one; each one, teach one." If we continue to wait for government to solve these human issues, time will just pass us by and we will continue to just talk about them.

Armstrong: Yes, but the unity problem is widespread and not confined solely to Rapid City. I dont believe that partisan politics should play a role in municipal government. I am known at City Hall and in the community as a unifier. I build bridges, heal divides, inspire people, and bring them together whether its for a unanimous city resolution or a community improvement project. I firmly support our Community Relations Commission and the work they do in Rapid City. It is important to have healthy, respectful discussions about culture and our differences. I am committed to listening and open to healthy, productive dialogue so that we can improve relations and unity. Its how I served my six years on Council and its how I will lead as Rapid Citys next mayor.

Estes: There is no room for racism or hate in our community. I love Rapid City and I am so grateful for the sense of community that I have always felt here. But, I know thats not everyones experience. Whether is political divisions or racial divisions, we can do better. I want every member of our community to feel valued, safe, and respected, even if we dont agree on everything. During my terms on the City Council, one of the things Im most proud of is my reputation as a consensus builder, and I did that by listening more than I speak. Thats the only way to address racism and exclusion in our community. As mayor, my door will be open. I am going to need the support of Native American community leaders to help guide me. I know we can do better if we work together, but first we need to listen to one another.

Salamun: Rapid City has a history of coming together in tough times. This includes rebuilding after the tragic 1972 flood, rallying to help save Ellsworth AFB from the base closure list, and helping our neighbors during Winter Storm Atlas. I believe this spirit of unity still exists in our community. Yes, we have our differences  but deep down, we all share a love for this special place we call home. In our culture, its become more common to treat one another as collective objects rather than as individual human beings. This is wrong. The truth is, every person is created in the image of God and has value, worth, and potential. Our founders confirmed this timeless truth in our Declaration of Independence stating, We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal... The more we drift from true north, the more divided we will become. Unity doesnt mean uniformity. We all need to know when to stand our ground and when to seek common ground. If we are to come together, we need to get back to treating one another like human beings. This begins by being honest and showing respect. The mayor should lead by example.

Lyle: The unity problem also falls back to our crime and homeless problem downtown. The beautiful citizens of Rapid City do not come out of their home to enjoy downtown because they don't want to deal with harassment and rising crime. This keeps family and friends from gathering downtown, spending time at events and spending money at the small businesses [essentially hurting small business owners and primarily the middle class]. Once I have eliminated the homelessness to a safe place and provided options and programs to assist with mental health and addiction, I will start having local concerts every weekend of the summer and free ones at that! I will reach out to artists from Billings to Sioux Falls to Denver and whatever artist want to be recognized and see what the community is into.

4. What do you think sustainable growth in Rapid City looks like?

Weifenbach: Sustainable growth to me is quality growth in the community that meets the demands of today and into the future. To reach quality growth in our community will take a greater participation from the city, moving forward in a manner that addresses quality roads, water and sewer infrastructure and not continue to do as we always did. As the community attracts new members, we must continue to look at the growing demands for housing, roads, public safety, water, sewer, and landfill, and how the increasing demand will affect them over the next generations to come. Investment today will be less investment tomorrow. Building quality will take foresight and discipline to make sure we have quality educational systems, green space and buildings that will stand the test of time. The use of innovation and involving the public with transparency will help build bridges between the citizens and entrepreneurs who will build the future of Rapid City and help meet the needs of how we see our city in the future.

Armstrong: This is why the Growth and Development Task Force is necessary, to focus on infill while avoiding urban sprawl. Growth is inevitable, but we must do it in a smart and strategic manner that preserves the quality of life for our residents and businesses. The sustainability coordinator position, which I advocated for, will help us to achieve a more enjoyable, livable community. We must guide our expansion in a productive manner while being good stewards of our natural resources and historic landmarks.

Estes: To me, sustainable growth means balance of all the pieces we need to keep Rapid City moving forward through this growth cycle. Those pieces include things like land and infrastructure that allows for development, businesses with jobs at a variety of skill levels, workers to fill jobs for those employers, houses and neighborhoods for those workers to live in at various price points, and a city government that is forward looking. No matter where we are on that circle, sustainable growth requires us to be looking ahead. I dont believe that its the Citys job to recruit or dictate the kinds of people or jobs that are coming here. The market will dictate that, and groups like Elevate can help facilitate it. As mayor, it will be my job to make sure we know which direction were planning to develop so that infrastructure in terms of roads, utilities and planning is in place when a housing development or a business knocks on our door. My experience as a builder and project developer makes me uniquely qualified to provide that leadership.

Salamun: The next decade and beyond will be transformative for the Rapid City region. The arrival of the B-21 mission and other efforts will bring continued growth to our community. The question isnt whether or not we will grow. The question is this: will we grow better or will we grow worse? We should aim for healthy growth and work to get better, not just bigger. One way is to get back to basics and focus on providing essential city services. This includes investing more in infrastructure. It connects a community and is critical to strategic growth. From water to streets to fire stations to parks and more, its essential we budget more for capital improvement projects (CIP). How do we pay for it without raising taxes? One idea is to adjust the Vision Fund allocation and direct more toward our infrastructure budget. As Rapid City grows so does the Vision Fund. The upside is theres margin to prioritize more investments in infrastructure improvements and still have Vision Funds available for quality-of-life projects. This is just one of the ideas that could position us to grow smarter and make the most of the opportunities ahead.

Lyle: Sustainable looks like this: as Mayor I will cut the red tape and stop purposely slowing construction! We are way behind and this city has not seen growth like this nor do they know how to deal with it because of the lack of experience. I have seen this in multiple cities. I watched Denver double in size from 2015  2020. Santa Barbara rapid growth from 2003  2012. The difference between the two, we have half of the year to make the same progress due to harsh winter conditions. As long as we are not over-building the supply has to meet the demand, simply economics. I know we are short-handed in the building department because all of the big companies cherry pick jobs [mean only take the big money jobs] and leave the like home or commercial owner high and dry. I will make the big companies take on X amount of job for the smaller home owner in order to get the bigger city contract jobs until more help arrives.

5. What do you think Rapid City could be doing differently?

Weifenbach: This list is not meant to be in any order, nor are they meant to be the only areas we can improve: build bridges between citizens and city hall with transparency; use new technology and innovation and evaluate how it could help the city, for example, snow and weather monitoring equipment; a complete level of transparency with everything that involves municipal government and making it easily accessible on levels of media; a more intense street and infrastructure repair plan; more collection of data for factual decision-making; more policing and private sector security walking the streets; personal accountability for individuals that continue bad behavior; a greater sense of pride in the community of arts and culture and the beauty of our city structures moving forward; listen to citizens to better address their concerns; make sure we are always looking at best practices when it comes to efficiency and effectiveness when it comes to delivering public services; we can be better stewards of public funds; stand up for our community when it comes to county and state issues that affect our city; and make sure we understand our role when it comes to our surrounding communities.

Armstrong: We can all agree Rapid City is not the same community it was even five years ago. Society, technology, and our demographics have significantly changed. For far too long, we kicked the can down the road and ignored our aging infrastructure, schools, and housing demands. We are now paying the price of not addressing those critical needs earlier. With the recent and fast paced growth, correcting these issues has become even more urgent. The city must review and modify ordinances, update and revise our zoning laws, and streamline our building codes. In addition, we need more citizen involvement in community projects. Join a committee, board or commission. Volunteer your time for a worthy cause. If we all work together as a unified force, our citys growing pains can be overcome, and the quality of life that we love will be preserved for this generation and those to come.

Estes: Our roads and potholes are probably the most visible thing that we need to get to work on. Weve continued to fall behind, and our existing neighborhoods are really starting to show the strain. Weve not kept up. As mayor, I want to make this a priority in terms of funding, in terms of quality of new roads were building and finding a better way to repair roads so they last longer. Secondly, I think we can do better at developing land areas in an orderly manner so we dont end up with empty spaces and sprawl. The City has to take a more aggressive leadership role in determining and planning for new neighborhoods. I want us to lead on which direction we want to grow, mitigating obstacles like water drainage issues, topography challenges and utility planning so we can be as efficient as possible. If we are going to get on top of housing and growth development, we have to do more on our land planning.

Salamun: Rapid City has a big heart. We are a compassionate and generous community. Over the years, weve supported numerous organizations and programs to help our homeless population. While well-intended, Im concerned our efforts are having the opposite effect. Theres a difference between helping those who cant help themselves and enabling those who wont help themselves. For some, homelessness is a difficult situation and we should help them get back on their feet. For many, homelessness is a chosen lifestyle. Therein lies the problem. Our good intentions have made it too comfortable to choose that destructive path. As a community, we need to change our approach to homelessness. Were called to love our neighbor, not enable them. Those who are truly homeless should be in shelters. Those who battle addiction should be in rehabilitation. Those with serious mental illness should be in treatment. Those who commit crimes should be in jail. Our donation dollars will dictate our direction when it comes to addressing homelessness. Rather than give randomly (or to professional panhandlers), lets pool our resources toward productive and efficient organizations with proven results. As mayor, we will work together and approach the issue with wisdom, compassion, and common sense.

Lyle: Working together. Helping the less fortunate and cultivating a plan for what is coming. Try to become self-sufficient from the outside world. There is a fight for power in our country and if the DNC and elites will do anything to not lose to Donald Trump including a second pandemic. Just ask Bill Gates as he has called for the next one in 2025.

A schedule of candidate forums is available online at rapidcityjournal.com.

Rapid City's municipal election will take place on Tuesday, June 6. The voter registration deadline is May 22; early voting will also begin that day. Rapid City's municipal elections operate on plurality, meaning the candidate with the most votes will be declared the winner. There will be no runoff elections.

The new mayor will take office on July 3 at the Council meeting.
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Bitterroot Valley blacksmith Glenn Gilmore has been doing metalwork for almost 50 years, and when he thinks about heading to Helena for Fridays Montana Circle of American Masters induction ceremony, the two words that come to his mind are humbled and honored.

Gilmore will be among three artists honored at the Capitol in Helena on Friday as one of the the newest members of the Montana Circle of American Masters (MCAM). The MCAM recognizes Montana folk and traditional artists for artistic excellence in their work, along with their role in preserving and passing on their knowledge.

"It's a great honor to be inducted into that, Gilmore said. I'm really excited about it, and, you know, it's kind of humbling. It's a selection by peers.

Gilmore started in metal work when he went to horseshoeing school in 1974, making his own handmade shoes using a forge, anvil and coal fire. He started getting interested in decorative ironwork in the late 70s, but took a couple years off in the early '80s to do glassblowing. But in 1985 he took a trip to Germany for four months and studied decorative ironwork, which would have a formative influence on him and his art. Since then his focus has been forge metalwork.

They have a great history there of blacksmiths, Gilmore said. In (the U.S.) when blacksmithing started to kind of wane and it became sort of the repair shop kind of thing in small towns and was getting replaced by other businesses, it continued in Europe as an art form. So they had quite a history to learn from."

Gilmore would take the trains to different towns and museums in Germany to go look at historical ironwork from the fourteenth and fifteenth century. It would inspire his work for decades to come.

Despite the fine craftsmanship Gilmore displayed in his work over the years, it took a while for him to become comfortable with people calling him an artist.

That was a long, slow process, Gilmore said. It wasn't like I woke up one day and was an artist or thought of it in those terms. I think of myself as a creative person.

Friday will be Gilmores first trip to the Montana State Capitol building. He will be inducted into the MCAM along with Marc Brogger of Three Forks and Terry Hill of Great Falls.

Brogger, a fifth-generation Western horseman, has built over 900 saddles since the start of his career in 1981. He is well respected in the Western community for his intricate leather work and flower stamping, using his skills to create ornately hand-tooled saddles which bridge art and utility.

I believe in art and in not just being little machines that go to work every day, Brogger said. I think art just makes life for everyone more interesting.

Hill, a fourth-generation Montanan, spent 29 years as a game warden for the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife & Parks before retiring in 2007. In 2009, Hill discovered his love for segmented woodturning through a course taught by Rich Charlson, a previous MCAM honoree, who he studied under for six months. Today Hill channels his passion for Montanas natural beauty and wildlife through his segmented woodturning, specializing in designs that depict natural scenes, wildlife, ranching and farming.
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During Tuesdays commencement speech at Virginia Military Institute, Gov. Glenn Youngkin invoked the name of a VMI alum  Jonathan Daniels  who has become a heroic figure in the schools lore.

Daniels gave the valedictorian address to his Class of 1961, Youngkin told an audience of cadets no doubt well-versed in Daniels story. When Jonathan received his diploma, he, too, was asking the question, Who am I? Seeking answers, he enrolled in graduate school at Harvard to study English literature before answering a call into the ministry  and then, a call to Alabama during the civil rights movement.

Arrested and released from a Haynesville, Alabama, jail, he joined a Catholic priest in taking two Black teenage girls for a soda. They were met at the front of the store by a part-time deputy sheriff with a shotgun raised to shoot Ruby Sales, one of the Black teenagers with him, Youngkin said. Jonathan pushed her down to safety and took the blast that was meant for her. He died instantly. Jonathan Daniels heroically answered the question, Who am I?

Left unanswered in the current political environment is: Who is Glenn Youngkin? The sunny candidate who projected an air of moderation or the governor who has pronounced himself a foe of equity?

What Youngkin left out of the story was that Daniels valedictorian address was given to an all-white corps of cadets. It was not until 1968 that VMI admitted its first Black cadets  the last public college in Virginia to integrate.

It took a 1996 decision by the U.S. Supreme Court before the school admitted women. But lingering division and a dearth of diversity continued to plague the school, with tensions peaking during our moment of racial reckoning following the 2020 murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer.

In April, at this college still struggling with its legacy of exclusion, Martin Brown, a Black Republican and Youngkins chief of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (unilaterally renamed Diversity, Opportunity and Inclusion), foolishly declared: Lets take a moment right now to kill that cow. DEI is dead.

It was a blatant bit of political pandering that Youngkin subsequently supported  a position that rendered his speechifying about Jonathan Daniels hypocritical, since Daniels was clearly a DEI kind of guy. The Episcopal seminarian was arrested participating in a voter rights demonstration; Republicans today are attempting to suppress or subvert the vote, if not democracy altogether.

Browns attack on equity  a synonym for fairness  occurred around the time Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Alabama, complained during an interview with NPR station WBHM in Birmingham about the Biden administrations attempts to screen out white nationalists from the military  a real problem, given the role of military-trained white nationalists in the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection. Asked if white nationalists should be allowed in the military, Tuberville replied: Well, they call them that. I call them Americans.

The U.S. military  which was not desegregated until a July 1948 executive order by then-President Harry Truman  does not work in the 21st century without diversity, equity and inclusion. The reform a segment of the VMI community laments is necessary for the colleges survival. I do not envy Wins task of navigating through change with a divided constituency.

Tuesdays VMI class, when it arrived in August 2019, consisted of 515 cadets, he said. About 61% were from Virginia; others came from 34 states and three foreign countries. More than 200 of those cadets did not make it to the finish line, reinforcing the challenge facing VMI under the best of circumstances.

According to its fall 2022 enrollment figures, VMIs corps was 74% white, 8% Latino, 7% Black, 5% Asian/Pacific Islander and 13% female. This is an institution that hardly needs the suggestion by Brown, and by extension Youngkin, that women and people of color are not valued. The college is not served by being a battlefield in the GOPs war on equity.

Wins, in addressing the students, spoke of the turmoil about our culture and of his message to the cadets upon his arrival: Own the narrative. They succeeded magnificently, he said.

You demonstrated to anyone willing to see what this institute really produces: That you are young leaders, and youre prepared to take on the challenges the world currently faces. You understand the importance of integrity. You understand intolerance and hate. You embody humility and demonstrate a sense of humor. You have embraced the many differences you arrived with and molded them into the strength of your class.

The world they will enter consists of people from all walks of life, with many different experiences, backgrounds and values, he said. This diverse group will have various talents not unlike what you have seen among yourselves here at VMI. They need and they deserve principled leaders of character, that will bring people together, draw upon each individuals strengths, and show fairness to all.

Diversity? Fairness? The embrace of difference by principled leaders of character?

We can hope, can we not?
Akumal busiest beach destination in Mexico reports Secretary of Tourism

Riviera Maya, Q. R.  The Secretary of Tourism of the Government of Mexico has reported a 60.5% hotel occupancy rate across Mexico. The figures, according to the Secretary of Tourism Miguel Torruco Marques, are for the first quarter of 2023.

Torruco Marques says hotel occupancy was 60.5% in the 70 centers monitored by DataTur, which is 9.5 percentage points more than in 2022. For beach centers, an average of 142,685 occupied rooms were registered, while in the same period of 2022 there were 124,300, which represents an increase of 14.8%.

Torruco Marques highlighted that the arrival of tourists from January to March 2023 was 19.8 million of which 13.9 million were nationals or 69.9% of the total.

He specified that in the beach centers, the occupancy rate was 71.7%, which means an increase of 9 percentage points compared to the same period in 2022, when 62.7% occupancy rate was registered.

He specified that Mexico cities registered 10.8 million tourists in hotel rooms while the beach centers received 9 million tourists during the first three months of 2023.

Torruco Marques said that during the period of January to March 2023, the busiest tourist centers in Mexico were Akumal with 87.6%, Playacar 86.6% (Playa del Carmen), Cabo San Lucas, 84.5%, New Nayarit, 84.4%, Puerto Vallarta, 83.6% and Cancun 80.5% were beach destinations with the highest occupancy levels.
Brembo doubles its Nuevo Leon plant size creating 500 jobs

Escobedo, Nuevo Leon  Brembo has doubled its plant size creating 500 jobs. Brembo, who is a global leader in the design and production of high-performance braking systems, inaugurated its latest plant expansion in Escobedo, Nuevo Leon.

The expansion, which began in 2021, represents a $207 million investment in Mexico and will create 500 jobs in addition to the 1,100 associates employed since 2016. A ceremony held by Brembo North America President Stephane Rolland, was attended by Governor Samuel Garcia, Italian Ambassador Luigi De Chiara together with several Mexican authorities and institutional representatives.

Expanding from a joint-venture in Puebla in 1996 to the acquisition of Hayes-Lemmerzs brake component operations in 2007, today Brembo independently operates three facilities in Mexico, the Escobedo caliper plant, established in 2016, the Escobedo cast-iron foundry and the disc machining plant in the nearby city of Apodaca.

The Escobedo plant expansion greatly increases Brembos ability to serve our customers in North America, said Brembo North America President Stephane Rolland.

As Brembo continues to push beyond in the world of braking, advanced facilities like this help make our vision a reality. This represents another step in our mission of being a solution provider, he stated in a press release.

Today, Nuevo Leon is making a transition from the traditional industry to the industry of the future, said the Nuevo Leon governor Samuel Garcia.

We are grateful that our friends at Brembo, who had already recognized our potential since 2016, are committing once again to invest in the best place to make business in Mexico. Congratulations to everyone!

Now fully operational, the 322,917-square-foot Escobedo expansion doubles the facilitys output, enhancing all stages of the aluminum caliper production process, from foundry to manufacturing and assembly creating 500 new jobs through 2027 in the process.
Castanon Trejo reports on two large Tulum projects

Tulum, Q. R.  Tulum Mayor Diego Castanon Trejo has reported on two large projects. Accompanied by his Cabildo, he led the start of two projects, one being the second stage of the Social Assistance Center (CAS) and the perimeter fence of the Secretary of Security and Citizen Protection (SSYPC) of Tulum.

Castanon Trejo laid the first stone of the project that will be the second stage of the Social Assistance Center in Tulum. He said that the CAS will benefit 1,414 inhabitants, being a space that will watch over children and adolescents who are without parental care.

The mayor recognized that this social project is part of the legacy of former Mayor Marciano Dzul Caamal.

It was a project that was started by our former mayor, friend and a great human being, Marciano. We are going to continue with this project for children whose rights have been or are being violated. These are social projects and we are going to do this type of work for the good of citizens, he said.

Simultaneously, Castanon Trejo launched the start of construction of the perimeter fence of the SSYPC of Tulum. He said that his administration will promote a first level police force, equipped and with infrastructure that meets its needs to achieve a municipality that is safe and prosperous.

The new Secretary of Security and Citizen Protection (SSYPC) of Tulum. Photo: Ayuntamiento de Tulum May 15, 2023.

Citizens deserve a first-rate police force and it is my obligation to give them all the effort they deserve in this the first project of its kind for this honorable police institution. A well-equipped and well-supported police force is my administrations top priority and the least they deserve, he said.

The director of Public Works, Santos Hipolito Tuz Chi, said the Social Assistance Center is a cost of just over 7.4 million peso, while the fencing for the SSYPC is just over 2.4 million. Both are being paid for from the Contribution Fund for the Strengthening of the Social, Municipal Infrastructure and Territorial Demarcations of the Federal District.
Jimmy Lai, Hong Kongs most famous freedom fighter, is still in prison. In September, he will face a trial that could leave him spending the rest of his life behind bars for the crime of standing against the Chinese Communist Partys crackdown on Hong Kong and the civil rights it had enjoyed. The CCP knows that obscuring Lais story is the best way to ensure the former clothing mogul and entrepreneur never sees freedom again. Yet, outside the walls of Lais prison, the outcry is growing.

More than a hundred media leaders have announced their commitment to telling the truth about Lai and Hong Kong in an open letter published Tuesday by Reporters Without Borders. The Chinese regime has taken its attempts to control information beyond its borders, and made it a concern for the entire world, the letter reads. The universal right to press freedom must be protected for the people of Hong Kong and around the world.

Among the 116 signatories of the open letter are executives in such major American news outlets as the Washington Post, the New York Times, and Politico, as well as several Nobel Prize laureates and media figures from within both Hong Kong and China.

Also among those demanding Lais release from prison are a number of prominent U.K. journalists. This public stand comes less than a week after Lais son lambasted the British government as incredibly weak over its failure to intervene in his fathers case. Lai, a British citizen, is still being deprived of his right to counsel, including legal specialists from the U.K., as the CCP has allowed Hong Kong to block international lawyers from Lais national security trial. Facing charges of foreign collusion and conspiracy, Lai could face life in prison if convicted, and his sentencing would be a clear precedent for CCP-backed courts to retaliate against the few Hong Kong freedom fighters who still dare to speak out.

Nothing less than the future of free media is at stake as Lais trial approachesfailure here could be the turning point for Hong Kong and the free voices that remain in the region. As the Reporters Without Borders letter declares:

We call for the immediate release of all 13 of the currently detained journalists, and for any remaining charges against all 28 journalists targeted under national security and other laws over the past three years to be dropped. We also call for immediate steps to allow for the reinstatement of media that have been forced to close, including Apple Daily and Stand News, which have served as devastating blows to media freedom in Hong Kong.

The Hong Konger, the Acton Institutes new documentary, tells the story of Jimmy Lais heroic struggle against authoritarian Beijing and its erosion of human rights in Hong Kong. Banned by TikTok, the film premiered worldwide at freejimmylai.com on April 18, 2023, and is available in full on YouTube here.
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ROCKY MOUNT  Just a month after providing temporary funding to last the remainder of the current school year, the Franklin County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday discussed providing a school resource officer at every school for the next school year and beyond.

Supervisors approved $100,000 in additional funding for the Franklin County Sheriffs Office last month to pay for a school resource officer at each school in the district. The request came following a school shooting in Nashville, Tennessee, that killed six people.

The additional money funded six additional resource officers to ensure each elementary school had an officer. Previously, six officers rotated between the countys six elementary schools.

At Tuesdays work session, supervisors agreed having a school resource officer at each of the schools should continue. The concern was how the county would fund it moving forward.

Some additional funding could come from a grant from the Virginia Department of Criminal Justice Service that the Franklin County Sheriffs Office applied for earlier this year for eight additional school resource officers.

If approved, it would provide $461,904 in funding annually for the next four years.

Franklin County would be required to provide a local match of $305,000 for the grant. That amount would increase to more than $400,000 annually by 2027.

Even with additional funding from grants, supervisors were concerned how the county would be able to afford the additional costs. The countys 2023-24 fiscal year budget approved last month was called a maintenance budget with little additional spending.

This cannot be done without a tax increase. Period, said Boone District representative Ronnie Thompson.

Thompson said a 1 cent increase to the real estate tax rate would increase revenue for the county by approximately $700,000. A real estate tax increase would need to be several cents to continue funding officers in the schools, especially after the grant ends in 2028. That year the countys cost for the program is estimated to exceed $2 million.

Thompson also asked what impact having officers in the schools would have on patrols in the county. He said it could take away officers from other areas where they are needed and create more problems in the future.

Hiring part-time officers to fill the school resource officers could provide some savings for the county, but costs would still exceed $1 million by 2028, according to a draft of possible funding options provided at Tuesdays meeting. Blue Ridge District representative Tim Tatum said he was in support of using some or all part-time officers to fill the positions.

Our job is to balance all this out, Tatum said. Weve got to roll up our sleeves and decide how we are going to fund this.

Blackwater District representative Ronald Mitchell said the county is in support of funding the officers. He said it is still necessary as there are still constant reports of mass shootings.

There is a mass shooting almost every day, Mitchell said.

While supervisors were unable to come to an agreement Tuesday, a vote will be necessary at an upcoming meeting if the Virginia Department of Criminal Justice Service grant for eight additional school resource officers is awarded. A response is expected in the coming weeks.

If awarded, supervisors have 60 days to approve matching funds of $305,000.
April Chavez is the Santa Maria City Reporter for the Santa Maria Times. If you have information, or a story idea that you would like to share, send her an email at AChavez@SantaMariaTimes.com.
Solomon D. Stevens has a Ph.D. in Political Science from Boston College. His publications include Religion, Politics, and the Law (co-authored with Peter Schotten) and Challenges to Peace in the Middle East. He wrote this for InsideSources.com
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Most anthropologists trace the origins of the engagement ring back to ancient Rome. However, the modern tradition of offering a diamond ring as a symbol of loyalty and love began in 1477 when Austrian Archduke Maximilian Ferdinand commissioned a unique engagement ring for Mary of Burgundy.

Ferdinand wanted a premier stone that was extremely rare, breathtakingly brilliant and would last the ages. He, therefore, landed on the hardest-known mineral in the world  a diamond.

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Although diamonds and other gemstones were popular fixtures in high-class society, they didn't catch fire in the fine jewelry industry until the British company De Beers mined diamonds at a commercial scale in South Africa. This influx of supply made them more readily available to the average middle-class consumer.

In 1947, Hollywood celebrities touted De Beers' slogan, "A diamond is forever," and a wave of public interest sent scores of hopeful grooms to jewelry stores to find their beloved a dream engagement ring.

Although diamonds are still the classic option, recent trends have shifted to uniquely colored gemstones and lab-created diamonds for customers looking for affordable and eco-friendly alternatives. For these reasons, and the fact that they are almost identical to a natural diamond, moissanite gems have risen in popularity.

" " Antique diamond rings set in a platinum are stunning. But other stones are growing in popularity for engagement ring settings. Robert Kirk/Getty Images
" " Researchers in Madagascar discovered the remains of a horned crocodile in a water-filled cave. Barry Coleman

Winding through the South Carolina low country, the Cooper River is a reed-lined haven for sportfish and shorebirds. The waterway originates in Berkeley County's Lake Moultrie. From there, it proceeds all the way down to Charleston, where it merges with the Ashley and the Wando to form that city's world-famous harbor. (Ever hear of Fort Sumter?)

The Cooper River took its name from Anthony Ashley Cooper, a 17th-century English lord. As time wore on, it became a lifeline in the region's burgeoning rice trade. But the Cooper also bears the hallmarks of a far more ancient chapter in South Carolina history.

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If you know where to look, and you've got scuba gear handy, you just might find a mammoth tusk lurking beneath the water's surface.

Matthew Weas knows that feeling. He and his father, Joe Harvey, are experienced local divers who patrol the Cooper for fossils  many of which end up on display at the Berkeley County Museum in Moncks Corner, South Carolina.

Not all the giants they encounter are prehistoric. To hear Weas tell it, run-ins with living modern-day river-beasts aren't uncommon. "I have had a [catfish] swallow my hand in a log jam underwater, a manatee break the surface while I was swimming back to the boat... [and] alligators swim toward me," he says via email. Once, he came "nose-to-nose" with a gator measuring about 10 feet (3 meters) long.

" " This skull was from an extinct lemur that was part of a primate community in Madagascar that disappeared during the last 1,100 years. Barry Coleman
" " An aerial view of the mighty Amazon River, seen here in Peru. At 4,345 miles (6,993 kilometers) long, it runs through Peru, Bolivia, Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador and Brazil. It is the world's longest river, but which river is the shortest? DEA/PUBBLI AER FOTO/De Agostini/Getty Images

Rivers are known for their long, meandering flows, but not all rivers run great distances. In fact, Montana's Roe River flows for a mere 201 feet (61 meters) between Giant Springs and the Missouri River.

The Roe River was named the world's shortest river in the 1989 Guinness Book of World Records. Before that year, the title had belonged to the 440-foot-long (134-meters-long) D River in Lincoln City, Oregon. Both rivers have been measured at various lengths at different times, and residents in both cities soon disputed which river should rightfully hold the title. In 2006 Guinness opted to avoid the controversy and dropped the category altogether.

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According to the World Atlas, there are even shorter rivers elsewhere in the world, including the Tamborasi River in Indonesia, which has been measured at 20 meters, or 65.6 feet, long and the Kovasselva River in Norway, which has also been measured at 65.6 feet long.

But can a river truly only flow for 65 feet? The truth is, the definition of a river is fairly broad. According to the U.S. Geological Survey, a river has constant flowing water in the form of a current, it's fed by upland sources and it deposits water in the ocean, another river, lake or watershed. Generally speaking, creeks and brooks flow together to form streams, streams flow together to become rivers and rivers ultimately transport water from higher elevations to lower ones, ending in the ocean.

In 1952 a geoscience professor at Columbia University named Arthur Newell Strahler proposed a system for classifying streams and rivers. According to the Strahler Stream Order Classification, there are 12 stream orders, ranked according to tributaries. Tributaries are streams or rivers that don't flow directly into the ocean but feed a larger stream or river.

Level one and two streams flow into and feed larger streams and don't have other streams feeding them. Headwater streams, which flow into the upper reaches of a watershed are ranked from first to third order and make up over 80 percent of the world's waterways. Streams ranked from fourth to sixth order are considered medium-sized and are fed by other streams, while anything above six are fed by multiple tributaries and are considered rivers, according to the system.

The Mississippi River is an eighth order stream and the Amazon River, which carries more water than any other waterway in the world, tops the charts as a 12th order stream. The mighty Amazon River carries water for 4,345 miles (6,993 kilometers), making Montana's Roe River seem like a tiny trickle in comparison.

Now That's Shameful The most polluted river in the world is the Citarum River in Indonesia. The Buni clay pottery-making culture grew and thrived there in prehistoric times, but now the river is so full of plastic, household and industrial waste, raw sewage and other human refuse, that the rivers water is practically invisible.
Element 115 was only discovered in 2003, but it may sound familiar because the name has been around for decades in connection with UFOs, aliens and other related phenomena.

We're referring to the long-lived story of Robert ("Bob") Scott Lazar, who in 1989 went public with what he said was top-secret information about element 115. Lazar claimed to be a former employee at Area 51, the famous (and highly classified) area of the Nevada Test and Training Range operated by the United States Air Force, where his job was to reverse-engineer crashed alien flying saucers. He said that he'd personally worked with element 115, which was used to pilot alien spacecraft.

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It is "impossible to synthesize an element that heavy here on Earth. ... The substance has to come from a place where superheavy elements could have been produced naturally," Lazar said.

Lazar said that he'd seen evidence of anti-gravity propulsion technologies, and nine alien spacecraft stored in a hangar at Area 51. Those spaceships ostensibly used some sort of propulsion system that harnessed the inherent power of gravity, and thus utilized the characteristics of element 115 to work their technological wizardry.

The government doesn't confirm the employment of anyone who's worked at Area 51. And as some sources have pointed out, the gist of his claims have never been thoroughly disproved.

Yet, there is still the fundamental science contradicting his claims.

"No, there is no connection between this discovery and the claims of Bob Lazar," said Gates. "Presently, all the created atoms of element 115 have decayed way too fast to be used to fuel UFOs!"

So instead of the excitement about little green men and incredible spacecraft, we're left with real, tangible  and equally thrilling  science. For the people who are immersed in these advances on a daily basis, that's more than enough. After all, moscovium is an amazing element. Gates said that it is a sign that we're pushing the boundaries of what we know about the universe.

"Element 115 is special in that we can make it easier than some lighter elements like element 112 or element 113. Typically, as we add more protons, it becomes harder to make a new element. This trend is broken around element 115. Due to this, we have been able to make over 100 atoms of element 115 and begin to understand its nuclear and chemical properties," she said.

Editor's note: After this story was first published, we heard from Jeremy Kenyon Lockyer Corbell who directed the documentary "Bob Lazar: Area 51 & Flying Saucers" and is very familiar with Lazar. Corbell emailed us some additional information about Lazar and element 115 that we've excerpted here: "When Lazar first came forward in 1989, he made a point to explain that there's no reason a version of element 115 couldn't be synthesized and observed at some point in the future. In fact  he predicted that it would be observed (as did many)  just likely not in a stabilized form (because of the statistical improbability of landing on a relevant isotope). ... The [isotope discovered in 2003] is not the isotope that would account for what Lazar has described having had access to while working at Area 51 (Site 4). Lazar reports that the 115 he had access to was far more stable.

"My understanding of Lazar's thinking is that with the advances in bombardment techniques new isotopic combinations would be achieved. However  just like how gold has 37 different isotopes and only one isotope is stable  115 is suspected to have MOSTLY rapid decay isotopes... So hopefully in the future we will land on a version with a longer half-life  even if it just ends up being a few atoms of it. That would be cool  and one day will likely happen," Corbell said.

Now That's Interesting Elements have been discovered roughly every three years  until recently. Now, researchers must pump more technology (and money) into projects that may or may not generate fleeting atoms of newfangled elements. One lab in Russia  the Flerov Laboratory of Nuclear Reactions  hunts relentlessly for new elements, in hope of expanding our understanding of the universe. In the past 65 years, the lab has discovered 10 new elements.

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Originally Published: Sep 2, 2020
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FLORENCE, S.C.  With a gray cancer ribbon pinned to his hat, brain tumor survivor Chris Lane is on a mission to raise brain cancer awareness nationally in the name of all survivors, fighters and the fallen.

Lane was less than a year old when he almost died from the removal of a rare brain tumor, causing him to have problems as a child and seizures until he was 15. Only at 17 years old was Lane able to completely come off medication.

The difficulty with having it at that age is I dont know what life was like pre having a brain tumor, Lane said. I know what life was like post having a brain tumor, but do I know if the two were similar or if itd be the same? I dont know.

Although Lane survived his surgery, he lost his cousin and multiple friends to the disease. Now with their memory in mind, Lane is fighting for a nation-wide recognition of brain cancer with the aim of funding further research of the disease.

Lanes cousin found out he had a brain tumor after going to the doctor for migraines.

[My cousin] was 36 at the time and to watch him go through what he went through was really a struggle, and I didnt even consider it or didnt really take what full effect it had on me emotionally until many years later, Lane said.

Having sent a multitude of letters to the White House with little to no response, Lane persists in his communications with the goal of bringing brain cancer to the same level of importance and acknowledgement as more prominently supported cancers.

Everybody wants to support breast cancer and wants to promote breast cancer, Lane said. I get it  please do that. Its a very worthy and important cause, and it needs to be advocated for, but theres 11 other months out of the year and 100 other cancers out there that also need to be advocated for and fought for and there are people who are struggling with them.

On May 7 Lane participated in a 5K alongside 5,000 others in Washington, D.C., to raise money and awareness for brain cancer and tumors. Of the 5,000 participants, Lane said, only 200 were survivors like him.

Im very blessed and very fortunate that I can advocate and push and try to fight for this right here, and Im going to until the Lord sees fit to let me go, Im going to, Lane said.

May is Brain Cancer Awareness Month, and upon request by Lane, the Myrtle Beach SkyWheel will be lit up gray on May 24  a date that also commemorates the anniversary of Lanes brain tumor removal.

On July 21 Lane will be throwing out the first pitch for the Miami Marlins in honor of brain cancer awareness, and on June 29 the Florence Flamingoes will be hosting Brain Cancer Awareness Night and will be recognizing survivors, families and caregivers at their home game.

Whatever struggle you have been through, have the courage, the bravery to speak up about it cause thats the only way that youre going to get the help that you need and desire, Lane said. Everybody has been through something, everybody. Not everybody has been through cancer but everybody has been through something.

While visiting a Christmas shop recently Lane saw there was only one type of cancer ornament. When he asked the store clerk where the other ribbons were she responded, thats the one that makes us money. Lane said that it is instances such as these that cause him to advocate so hard for brain cancer awareness.

If I have one message to everybody its if youve got something in your heart like this right here, do it with passion, have a passion about it, Lane said. Dont go halfway about something. Light a fire under yourself  whatever it takes  and be passionate and advocate for yourself, advocate for whats important to you.

Lane recommended both the National Brain Tumor Society and American Brain Tumor Association as organizations that accept donations to fund brain cancer research.

Lane and his wife also have their own organization  The Bible Project  that accepts donations and takes Bibles across the country and world to cancer hospitals.
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Just in time for the summer dining season, the U.S. government has given its blessing to restaurants that want to allow pet dogs in their outdoor spaces. It better reflects reality; nearly half of states already allow canine dining outdoors. Restaurants have been required to allow service dogs for decades. But it wasnt until the mid-2000s that states began allowing dogs in outdoor dining spaces. Late last year, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued new guidance saying restaurants can welcome dogs as long as they get permission from a local authority. The FDA suggests they also require leashes and develop plans to handle dog waste.

Just in time for the summer dining season, the U.S. government has given its blessing to restaurants that want to allow pet dogs in their outdoor spaces.

But even though nearly half of states already allow canine dining outdoors, the issue is far from settled, with many diners and restaurants pushing back against the increasing presence of pooches.

Restaurants have been required to allow service dogs for decades. But it wasnt until the mid-2000s that a handful of states  including Florida and Illinois  began passing laws allowing dogs in outdoor dining spaces, according to the Animal Legal and Historical Center at Michigan State University. Twenty-three states now have such laws or regulations.

But the legal landscape is confusing. Michigan law doesnt allow dogs in outdoor dining spaces, for example, but lets restaurants apply for a variance from their county health department.

So in 2020, the Conference for Food Protection  a group of food industry and health experts that advises the government  asked the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to issue guidance for states. It cited a 2012 risk assessment in Australia and New Zealand that found that the health risk to human diners from dogs was very low.

The FDAs updated food code, issued late last year, says restaurants can have dogs in outdoor areas if they get approval from a local regulator. Restaurants should have signs saying dogs are welcome and should develop plans to handle dogs and their waste. They should ensure dogs remain properly restrained and provide separate food bowls so dogs dont use plates or utensils meant for humans.

The new guidance comes as U.S. pet ownership is rising. Nearly 87 million U.S. households now have a pet, up from 85 million in 2019, according to the American Pet Products Association.

And experts say more people are looking for dining options that will accommodate their dogs. Yelp searches for businesses using the dogs allowed filter jumped 58% between the year ending May 1, 2021, and the year ending May 1, 2023. A total of 47,415 businesses now describe themselves as dog friendly on Yelp, the company says.

Younger pet owners, Millennials and Generation Z, have incredibly strong bonds with their pets and they are willing to act upon that, said Steven Feldman, president of the Human Animal Bond Research Institute. They are more likely to frequent  and express a preference for  pet-friendly businesses.

Monty Hobbs, the managing director of a digital marketing agency in Washington, can often be found at local restaurant patios with Mattox, his 5-year-old terrier and miniature schnauzer mix. Some waiters even bring Mattox bits of bacon.

Hobbs stresses that he doesnt take Mattox everywhere. Hes my dog. Hes not my child, he said.

But Mattox is well-behaved, he said, so its nice to know they can drop in at a neighborhood bar if theyre out taking a walk.

At Zazie, a San Francisco bistro, diners get $10 off a bottle of wine on Mondays if they bring their dogs, who get treats donated by the pet store across the street.

Its great for business. People really enjoy bringing their dog out with them, said Megan Cornelius, Zazies co-owner.

But other restaurants are saying no to Fido.

The Salty Dog Cafe in Hilton Head, South Carolina, allowed dogs on its patio when it first opened in 1987. But two years later, it banned them. Too many dogs were barking through meals, fighting, lying in walkways and stealing hot dogs from kids plates, says Tim Stearns, the Salty Dogs chief operating officer.

If diners object, the Salty Dog points them to a separate dog-friendly deck where they can eat takeout food from the restaurant. But most diners seem to appreciate the policy.

We are all dog lovers at Salty Dog, but we remain a restaurant for humans, Stearns said.

The Blond Giraffe Key Lime Pie Factory in Key West, Florida, banned dogs because it didnt want to be held responsible if a dog ate iguana droppings  which can make them violently ill  or tripped a child or an elderly diner. In at least one case, an unleashed dog at the restaurant killed a neighborhood cat.

Julie Denzin, who has worked as a restaurant server in Milwaukee for more than a decade, has watched dogs drool, fight, growl and relieve themselves on restaurant patios. Dogs have bitten her and knocked her over, causing her to spill scalding hot coffee. She has also encountered diners who are allergic to dogs or afraid of them.

Denzin doesnt think dogs should be banned, but says restaurants should consider designating dog-friendly areas or specific hours when dogs are allowed.

Its not a matter of liking or disliking dogs, she said. The point is, regardless of what the owner might say  no matter how perfect and obedient they insist their dog is  theres no way to ensure the safety and comfort of other guests.

Maddie Speirs, a dog trainer with Pawsitive Futures Dog Training in St. Petersburg, Florida, said many people hire her with the goal of training their dogs to eat out at restaurants. Not every dog is cut out for that, she said; they need to be comfortable with noise and unsolicited interactions and able to be able to sit near food for long periods.

She urges owners to think about who benefits from restaurant visits: them or their dogs.

If you think its for your dog, what exactly are they getting out of it? she said. Its not as fun of a social interaction for dogs as it is for us.
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May 16, 2023

Watching a quartet of SCOTUS criminal justices cases as the Term starts to wind down

As has been true in the last few Terms, the current Supreme Court Term is almost certain to be remembered for decisions outside the core realm of criminal justice. But it has still already been an interesting SCOTUS Term for hard-core criminal justice fans with seemingly lots of (small?) wins for criminal defendants in cases like Reed, Cruz, Ciminelli, and Percoco. Of course, the "easy" cases tend to be resolved first, and I would not expect quite so many wins for criminal defendants in the weeks ahead.

By my rough count, there are still around ten still-pending criminal justice (or criminal-justice-related) cases for the Justices still to resolve before they head off for their summer vacations. All the remaining cases could prove interesting and consequential, but here are four remaining cases that have most captured my attention (with help from this SCOTUSblog list):

Jones v. Hendrix, No. 21-857 [Arg: 11.1.2022 ] [Arg: Issue(s): Whether federal inmates who did not  because established circuit precedent stood firmly against them  challenge their convictions on the ground that the statute of conviction did not criminalize their activity may apply for habeas relief under Whether federal inmates who did not  because established circuit precedent stood firmly against them  challenge their convictions on the ground that the statute of conviction did not criminalize their activity may apply for habeas relief under 28 U.S.C  2241 after the Supreme Court later makes clear in a retroactively applicable decision that the circuit precedent was wrong and that they are legally innocent of the crime of conviction. Dubin v. U.S., No. 22-10 [Arg: 2.27.2023 ] [Arg: Issue(s): Whether a person commits aggravated identity theft any time they mention or otherwise recite someone elses name while committing a predicate offense. Counterman v. Colorado, No. 22-138 [Arg: 04.19.2023 ] [Arg: Issue(s): Whether, to establish that a statement is a "true threat" unprotected by the First Amendment, the government must show that the speaker subjectively knew or intended the threatening nature of the statement, or whether it is enough to show that an objective "reasonable person" would regard the statement as a threat of violence.

Tyler v. Hennepin County, Minnesota, No. 22-166 [Arg: 04.26.2023 ] [Arg: Issue(s): (1) Whether taking and selling a home to satisfy a debt to the government, and keeping the surplus value as a windfall, violates the Fifth Amendment's takings clause; and (2) whether the forfeiture of property worth far more than needed to satisfy a debt, plus interest, penalties, and costs, is a fine within the meaning of the Eighth Amendment.

I would welcome in the comments any predictions about likely outcomes in these cases and/or the flagging of other pending criminal-justice-related cases from this Term that folks are keeping a close eye on. We are not quite to the final stretch of the SCOTUS Term, but there are opinions coming this Thursday and likely just about every week from now until the end of June.

May 16, 2023 at 08:47 PM | Permalink

Comments

Jones v. Hendrix has the potential to be a blockbuster or a death knell for those of us who regularly practice federal habeas law.

SCOTUS could functionally gut 2241 with this case and I have a sneaking suspicion that is what is going to happen.

On the flipside, SCOTUS could open the door to getting around all kinds of 2255 second or successive B.S. problems which often keep folks incarcerated. I personally have two different cases waiting on a Jones v. Hendrix ruling.

Keeping my fingers crossed!

Posted by: Zachary Newland | May 17, 2023 10:45:13 AM

Looking at other potential cases of interest:

1) Not directly criminal, but the Google and Twitter cases from February will have some criminal law spin for the liability of internet content providers.

2) Hansen -- the encouraging unlawful immigration case. Depending on how resolved, I could see some of the reasoning coming into play in garden-variety accomplice liability cases which also use an encouraging theory.

3) Smith -- the remedy for improper venue. If a trial in the wrong venue implicates double jeopardy, that could impact state cases too.

4) Samia -- redactions of codefendant statements in joint trial. While feds regularly do joint trials, states do joint trial on occasion. If we get a clear opinion on how to properly redact that could impact whether state prosecutors start to use joint trials more regularly or use them even less than we currently do.

As far as predictions, I think Jones narrows when an inmate can use 2241 to evade restrictions in 2244 and 2255 on successive petitions.

I think the decision in Dubin will be very muddled (as to when the use of another's identity is enough for the enhancement) but will favor the defendant in this case.

Counterman -- While I can see a split from the First Amendment absolutists, I think the majority will find that an objective standard is adequate to prevent a chilling effect.

Tyler -- I think the home owner wins.

On the four that I noted, not sure on the internet cases or the encouraging immigration (although I think it is easier to write the opinion favoring the prosecution on the immigration case). My hunch is that vacating a conviction for the wrong venue is a manifest necessity and does not bar a retrial in the correct venue. And on Samia, I fear a plurality opinion that leaves it unclear what needs to be done in the next case to satisfy the Confrontation Clause.

Posted by: tmm | May 17, 2023 1:10:21 PM

Zach,

The Supreme Court wouldn't be "gutting" 2241 but, rather, returning the statute to the meaning it had in 1948. That courts expanded its meaning after AEDPA because they thought it would be more "fair" does not justify the expansion. Congress doesn't have to permit successive 2255s at all, so the fact that it chose to allow some but not others does not give right-thinking judges license to re-write the statute to achieve a more "just" result. It's up to Congress to amend subsection (h) or up to the Executive to grant clemency when a new decision narrows the scope of the statute. That's what separation of powers is all about.

Da Man

Posted by: Da Man | May 17, 2023 4:38:15 PM

Prior to the Supreme Court's decision in United States v. Cotton, 535 U.S. 625 (2002), all 12 Federal Circuit Court that hears criminal appeals had held that "drug quantity" was not an element of a Federal drug crime, 21 U.S.C. section 841(b). The Supreme Court changed that with its Cotton decision; it was the first time in American judicial history that the Supreme Court disagreed with the mutually agreed decisions of the 12 Federal Circuit Courts. Prior to Cotton, based on the Court's 19th century decision in Ex Parte Bain, 121 U.S. 1 (1887), omission of an element of the offense sought to be charged from the indictment was a jurisdictional defect, meaning that the indictment failed to charge a crime. If the Supreme Court had not over-ruled Ex Parte Bain, they would have had to reverse thousands of Federal drug convictions (even guilty pleas) and release thousands from prison. How the Supreme Court finessed the situation is a bit subtle. Because the decision about drug quantity being an element of the offense was a matter of statutory interpretation, it was automatically retroactive, since it said what the statute had actually met from the day Congress passed it. The reversal of Ex Parte Bain, however, should only have applied to Cotton itself and prospectively -- it wasn't really retroactive, as was the first half of the decision about drug quantity.

Posted by: Jim Gormley | May 17, 2023 8:56:52 PM

Jim,

Interestingly, it wasn't until an offhanded remark by Justice Rehnquist in Bousley that the Supreme Court expressed the view that a narrowing construction is automatically retroactive. Many lower courts had so held after Davis v. United States (1974), which said that an actual innocence claim due to a narrowing construction is cognizable under 2255 but the court there (pre-Teague) remanded so the lower court could tackle retroactivity.

Posted by: Da Man | May 18, 2023 12:55:48 PM

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SIOUX CITY  At 2 p.m. on Wednesday, May 24, 31 local organizations will receive a total of $500,000 in grant money from the Missouri River Historical Development (MRHD).

MRHD's announcement of its 2023 Target Grant award winners is set to take place at the Lewis & Clark Interpretive Center. The money is specifically meant to be used for short-term projects or "capacity building items," according to MRHD Executive Director David Gleiser. The event is open to the public.

In total, the MRHD 2023 Target Grant Committee reviewed 60 applications and winnowed that number down to the 31 recipients. Categories for the grant awards include: economic development; community improvement and tourism; health and human services; civic, public, patriotic, charitable and religious; leisure, cultural and historical; and education.

"MRHD is pleased to announce our upcoming Target Grant awards ceremony," Chair of the 2023 Target Grant Committee Sarah Kleber said in a press release. "This year 31 non-profits and local governmental agencies will be awarded a cumulative total of $500,000. Were thankful for our partnership with Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Sioux City, which allows us to distribute these funds into our community."

MRHD was founded in 1989 when Woodbury County voters approved riverboat gaming. The nonprofit group holds the state license for the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino and disburses a share of the casino's revenues to local charities, organizations and governmental entities.

Last month, MRHD awarded $750,000 for the Sioux City 'Innovation Center' which will have three floors and feature such amenities as a food hall, tech lab, business space and recording studios.
President Joe Biden marked Jewish American Heritage Month on Tuesday by highlighting his administrations efforts to combat rising antisemitism, at a White House reception that featured performances from the stars of the Broadway revival of Parade. Biden told the crowd it was important to him personally to guard against the rise of antisemitic bile in the world, and in particular the U.S. He also reiterated how his decision to run for the White House in 2020 was shaped by a 2017 neo-Nazi march in Charlottesville, Virginia.
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CHEROKEE, Iowa  A Cherokee man has been charged with driving away from the scene of a fatal collision with a bicyclist in December.

Casey Herwig, 29, was arrested May 12 on a charge of leaving the scene of an accident resulting in death, a Class C felony that carries a 10-year prison sentence.

Emergency personnel were called to Sixth and West Willow streets in Cherokee at approximately 8:30 p.m. Dec. 26 for a report about a bicyclist, later identified as 27-year-old Phillip Watterson, of Cherokee, lying in the street.

Police investigating the incident were told Herwig had struck Watterson. According to court documents, Herwig's vehicle had damage that matched parts found at the scene of the collision.

Herwig told officers he knew he hit something, but wasn't sure what it was. When asked if it was possible he hit someone, he said, "could've been," court documents said.
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SIOUX CITY  Updated Woodbury County wind turbine setback distances made it through another day of discussion by the Woodbury County Board of Supervisors.

The board on Tuesday unanimously approved the second reading of increased commercial wind turbine setbacks with a revision. The newly proposed setback distances are two miles from city limits and a mile setback from public conservation areas.

The first read had a half-mile setback from conservation areas but was changed after a Woodbury County Conservation board.

Those concerned with the current setbacks said the current setback distance could hamper potential city growth and affect wildlife and visitors who frequent county conservation areas, according to board documents.

During the public hearing on Tuesday, citizens who spoke preferred a five-mile setback distance from city limits and Woodbury County Conservation Board is recommending a one-mile setback from public conservation, instead of a half-mile.

For three consecutive years, the issue of commercial wind turbines in Woodbury County has come before the board to approve setback distances and regulations.

The current ordinance has a setback distance of 600 feet or 110 percent of turbine height from city limits and public conservation areas.

Dan Priestley, Woodbury County zoning coordinator, told the board Iowa Code grants cities the ability to review land use within two miles of city limits, so a two-mile setback from city limits for wind turbines made sense.

MidAmerican Energy supports a one-mile setback from city limits and MidAmerican Energy's William Dougherty said the company had just learned of the new conservation setback and would take it back to the company to discuss.

Supervisor Keith Radig said continuing to increase the setback distances creates uncertainty and thinks it's "ridiculous" to continue changing the distances.

"I just think at what point do you say 'just screw it' and ban wind altogether," Radig said.

Woodbury Countys ordinance on commercial wind turbines was approved by the board in July 2021 with a 1,250-foot setback from occupied residences, a 600-foot setback from city limits or public conservation, and 110 percent of total turbine height from adjacent property lines, unoccupied non-residential buildings and confinement feeding operations buildings.

In August 2022, after hearing from numerous county residents, the board increased the setback distance to 2,500 feet from occupied residences but did not address other structures.

The last public hearing will occur on May 23.
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With Republicans holding a razor-thin majority in the U.S. House, Winning For Women  a conservative political action committee dedicated to electing women to public office  released its first round of endorsements in 2024 battleground seats Wednesday.

Among them are Iowa Republican U.S. Reps. Ashley Hinson of Marion and Mariannette Miller-Meeks of Ottumwa.

In the last cycle, Winning for Women and related entities raised $17 million to support its endorsed candidates, including directing nearly $4 million in hard dollars to their campaigns.

With these endorsements, WFW PAC will max out to each candidate and commit to hosting fundraisers across the country to ensure they have the resources needed to win, according to a statement.

The PAC, according to its website, supports right-of-center women leaders who are working to advance free-market principles and a strong national defense.

WFW PAC founder and chairwoman Annie Dickerson, in a statement, said the candidates are rising stars in the party and that its never too early to start playing offense.

Hinson represents Iowas 2nd Congressional District, which includes Cedar Rapids, Dubuque, Waterloo and Grinnell.

Telling Iowans stories in Congress and fighting for conservative policy solutions has been the honor of my life, but were just getting started, Hinson said in a statement. There has never been a more important time to have strong, conservative women join our fight.

Hinson said WFW PAC played a tremendous role in sending a historic number of Republican women to Congress in the 2022 midterm elections, by giving early support to top-tier candidates.

Im honored to have Winning For Women PACs continued support as we fight to expand our majority in the House, and work to elect more Republican women to stand up for working families, push back against the Biden administrations radical policies, and bring fiscal sanity back to Washington, Miller-Meeks said in a statement.

She represents southeast Iowas 1st Congressional District, which includes Davenport, Iowa City, Burlington and Indianola.

Another guest announced for Roast and Ride

Vivek Ramaswamy makes four confirmed guests and counting for Iowa Republican U.S. Sen. Joni Ernsts Roast and Ride fundraiser.

Ernst announced on social media that the 37-year-old Republican presidential candidate and biotech entrepreneur from Ohio will be a special guest at the June 3 motorcycle ride, hog roast and rally.

Ramaswamy is the GOPs first millennial presidential candidate.

Other guests already announced are former Vice President Mike Pence, former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley and conservative talk radio host Larry Elder. Pence has said hes nearing a decision on a 2024 presidential bid. Both Haley and Elder have either officially launched or announced a bid to seek the Republican presidential nomination in 2024.

Iowa is set to kick off the Republican presidential nominating process with its first-in-the-nation caucuses.

Every potential candidate in the 2024 GOP primary has been invited to the June 3 event.

PHOTOS: Roast and Ride: Sen. Joni Ernst takes fundraiser on the road Election 2022 Iowa Election 2022 Iowa Election 2022 Iowa Election 2022 Iowa Election 2022 Iowa Election 2022 Iowa Election 2022 Iowa Election 2022 Iowa Election 2022 Iowa Election 2022 Iowa Election 2022 Iowa Election 2022 Iowa Election 2022 Iowa Election 2022 Iowa Election 2022 Iowa Election 2022 Iowa Election 2022 Iowa
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ATLANTIC, Iowa  Iowa elected officials took action at the state and federal level aimed at combating rising rates of fentanyl-related drug overdoses on Tuesday.

Surrounded by state and local law enforcement, Reynolds on Tuesday signed the law in Atlantic, Iowa, where last year five area residents were arrested on federal charges in a fentanyl distribution case that led to a series of overdoses in Cass and Shelby counties.

The law enhances the penalty for selling fentanyl, imposing up to 10 years of prison time for small amounts of the potent opioid, and up to 50 years for more than 50 grams.

The law will also triple the sentence otherwise imposed by law for providing a drug that results in someones death, and double the sentence if it results in bodily injury. Manufacturing a drug in the presence of a minor or selling to a minor would carry twice the penalty otherwise imposed by law.

This poison  and thats what it is: poison  is fueling addiction, death and chaos, Reynolds, a Republican, said.

The law, proposed by Reynolds early in this years legislative session, is part of her push to put a spotlight on the rising presence of fentanyl in Iowa and its role in overdose deaths.

Fentanyl, a potent opioid about 100 times stronger than morphine, is often mixed into illicit pills, pressed to look like other prescription medications, and other drugs as a cost-cutting measure. Reynolds said Iowa law enforcement seized twice the number of fentanyl pills in 2022 than it did in 2021, and more than 27,000 in the last six weeks.

Synthetic opioids like fentanyl accounted for more than 80% of all opioid-related overdoses nationally in 2020, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Iowas rate of overdose deaths is among the lowest in the country, but it is increasing. In Iowa, 432 people died of drug overdoses in 2020, according to the CDC, and 172 of those  about 40%  were from synthetic opioids.

A similar bill was proposed by Republican Attorney General Brenna Bird at the beginning of this years legislative session. Bird said the law will allow prosecutors to seek stricter penalties at the state level when a person dies from a drug overdose.

This law brings the drug dealers who kill to justice, she said. It gives prosecutors the tools that we need to seek justice for the victims of crime and their families. And it prevents the scourge of the dangers of drugs in our communities.

Under the new law, fentanyl sale and manufacture will be punished the following ways:

Less than five grams: Class C felony, punishable by up to 10 years in prison and a fine between $1,000 and $50,000.

Between five and 50 grams: Class B felony, punishable by up to 25 years in prison and a fine of up to $100,000.

More than 50 grams: Class B felony, punishable by up to 50 years in prison and a fine of up to $1 million.

The bill also expands who can dispense naloxone, a medication that reverses the effects of an overdose. The changes will allow law enforcement, emergency rooms and schools to get it into the hands of those who need it most, Reynolds said.

The law passed with mostly bipartisan support in the Legislature this year, but some Democrats opposed the law. They argued increasing penalties does not work in reducing criminal activity, and the bill did not do enough to prioritize treatment of substance use disorders.

Democratic Rep. Megan Srinivas, a doctor from Des Moines, proposed an amendment to the bill that would have legalized fentanyl test strips, which can be used to test for the presence of fentanyl in a pill or other drug.

Reynolds said she does not think fentanyl test strips should be part of the solution to the rising opioid death rates.

Thats not something that I pushed in my bill because I dont believe that that has an appropriate place, she said.

Reynolds also took aim at Democratic President Joe Biden's administration, whose border policies she said are to blame for the increase in fentanyl coming across the southern border.

"President Biden has a constitutional responsibility to secure our nation's border from illegal immigration and drug trafficking, human trafficking, and everything that's taking place the southern border," she said. "His failure is empowering criminals; it's empowering the cartel, who trade others' lives for profit."

Sen. Joni Ernst introduces

Around the same time Reynolds signed the new law, Iowa Republican U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst announced plans to introduce a bipartisan, bicameral bill with Virginia Democratic U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine that would direct the Department of Defense to take stronger action against Mexican cartels and transnational criminal organizations trafficking fentanyl.

Both Ernst and Kaine serve on the Senate Armed Services Committee.

Im using my oversight authority of the Department of Defense to stem the fentanyl crisis at its source, Ernst told reporters.

The Disrupt Fentanyl Trafficking Act would classify fentanyl trafficking as a national security threat to provide a response proportional to the problem, Ernst said during a conference call with reporters.

It would require the Pentagon to develop a fentanyl-specific counterdrug strategy, including working directly with the Mexican military and increasing security operations with Mexico to combat the fentanyl drug trade and disrupt Mexican cartel activity.

The bill also seeks to address and better coordinate efforts between the military and federal law enforcement agencies.

The DoD plays a leading role in the nations counterdrug intelligence and monitoring operations, Ernst said. However, the lack of interagency cooperation, over classification and inadequate resources have hampered our governments counter-fentanyl efforts.

Fentanyl has become a leading cause of death in U.S. adults between the ages of 18 and 45. President Joe Biden, in his State of the Union address earlier this year, vowed to do more to tackle the epidemic.

The amount of lives lost in Iowa and across the country due to this deadly drug has far surpassed the federal governments response, and we must scale immediately to combat this national security threat, Ernst said in a statement following her news conference. This bipartisan work will engage Mexico as an active partner to counter fentanyl trafficking and put the Pentagons tools to use to save American lives.

Ernst met with Mexican officials at the Mexican embassy during a visit to Mexico City and the San Diego-Mexican border back in February as part of a congressional delegation that included Iowa Republican U.S. Reps. Randy Feenstra and Mariannette Miller-Meeks.

She said the crisis will only get worse with the expiration of a COVID-era policy that allowed known as Title 42 that allowed U.S. authorities to quickly expel migrants on public-health grounds.

Republican lawmakers have lambasted President Joe Biden and his administration's handling of a historic influx of illegal border crossings they say has allowed fentanyl to be smuggled into the U.S. at higher rates and fueled the opioid crisis.

Biden initially kept Title 42 in place after he took office, then tried to end its use in 2022. Republicans sued, arguing the restrictions were necessary for border security. Courts had kept the rules in place, but with the end of national COVID-19 emergencies the border restrictions have now gone away.

The federal government, however, is putting new restrictions into place at its southern border to try to stop migrants from crossing illegally and encourage them instead to apply for asylum online through a new process.

The White House earlier this month announced the Pentagon is sending 1,500 troops to support U.S. Customs and Border Patrol and a counter-smuggling operation in the Darien Gap. And the U.S. Department of Homeland Security is expanding detention capacity and deploying more resources and technology to support border communities, including hundreds more asylum officers and immigration judges to process migrants, according to the White House.

While most fentanyl is smuggled into the United States along the southern board, the vast majority of fentanyl seizures along the border have been at legal U.S. ports of entry, according to the Drug Enforcement Agency. Fentanyl is rarely carried over the border through the desert, but is rather smuggled across official border crossing in passenger vehicles with concealed compartments or commingled with legitimate goods on tractor-trailers, according to the DEA.

And I do have separate efforts where Im pushing the administration on greater resources so that we can interdict the fentanyl thats coming in through the ports of entry, Ernst said. But, we do know that a number of migrants will also bring fentanyl into the country in between those ports of entry, and that there will be more people coming in unfettered with the end of Title 42.

Sgt. Nick Nolte of the Cedar Rapids Police Departments narcotics division said over the last two months the department has seized more than 4,000 fentanyl-laced fake prescription pills.

And just this last week we had two more overdoses, Nolte said. Both people admitted to taking (counterfeit) pills, but would not cooperate with us.  And that continues to be a problem here in Cedar Rapids, just cooperation from the people to allow us to try to find the source of supply.
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A new super PAC formed to encourage Mike Pence to run for president will have an office in Iowa, the organization said Tuesday in a news release.

Committed to America launched Tuesday with the goal of supporting the former vice president.

Pence has traveled to Iowa multiple times this year, but has not yet definitively stated whether he will seek the Republican Partys nomination for president.

The man Pence served under in the White House, former President Donald Trump, has officially declared his candidacy.

Jeb Hensarling and Scott Reed were announced as Committed to Americas national co-chairs, and Bobby Saparow will lead operations as executive director, the news release said.

The organization will have offices in Dallas and Iowa, the latter being the site of the first-in-the-nation presidential caucuses.
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ANKARA, Turkey (AP)  Russia agreed to a two-month extension of a deal that has allowed Ukraine to ship grain through the Black Sea to parts of the world struggling with hunger, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced Wednesday, a boost to global food security after the war drove up prices.

Turkey and the U.N. brokered the breakthrough accord with the warring sides last summer, which came with a separate agreement to facilitate shipments of Russian food and fertilizer that Moscow insists hasn't been applied.

Russia had threatened to bow out if its concerns were not ironed out by Thursday. Such brinkmanship isnt new: With a similar extension in the balance in March, Russia unilaterally decided to renew the deal for 60 days instead of the 120 days outlined in the agreement.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Wednesday that problems would need to be resolved at the technical level. Neither she nor Erdogan mentioned any concessions Moscow may have received.

"We will continue our efforts to ensure that all the conditions of the agreement are fulfilled so that it continues in the next period, said Erdogan, who announced the highly anticipated decision two days after being forced into a runoff in Turkey's presidential election.

Extending the Black Sea Grain Initiative is a win for countries in Africa, the Middle East and parts of Asia that rely on Ukrainian wheat, barley, vegetable oil and other affordable food products, especially as drought takes a toll. The deal helped lower prices of food commodities like wheat over the last year, but that relief has not reached kitchen tables.

Ukrainian and Russian products feed the world, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said. They matter because we are still in the throes of a record-breaking cost-of-living crisis.

Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Kubrakov welcomed the extension, but emphasized that the deal has to work effectively. On Facebook, he blamed Russia for dragging its heels on joint inspections of ships by Russian, Ukrainian, U.N. and Turkish officials.

Average daily inspections  meant to ensure vessels carry only food and not weapons that could aid either side  have steadily dropped from a peak of 10.6 in October to 3.2 last month. Shipments of Ukrainian grain also have declined in recent weeks.

Russia had denied slowing the work. No vessels have been cleared to enter Ukraines three open ports since May 6, and Kubrakov says nearly 70 vessels are waiting in Turkish waters to participate.

Russia, meanwhile, is shipping record amounts of its wheat through other ports. Critics say that suggests Moscow was posturing or trying to wrest concessions in areas such as Western sanctions.

The deal has allowed over 30 million metric tons of Ukrainian grain to be shipped, with more than half that going to developing nations. China, Spain and Turkey are the biggest recipients, and Russia says that shows food isn't going to the poorest countries.

Guterres has said developed countries bring in Ukrainian corn for animal feed, while emerging economies receive a majority of grain for people to eat. He noted exports bring prices down for everyone.

Looking ahead, we hope that exports of food and fertilizers, including ammonia, from the Russian Federation and Ukraine will be able to reach global supply chains safely and predictably," the U.N. chief said Wednesday.

The U.S. said Russia should stop creating hurdles to the deal.

"We should not need to remind Moscow every few weeks to keep their promises and to stop using peoples hunger as a weapon in their war against Ukraine, State Department deputy spokesman Vedant Patel told reporters.

Russia is expected to export more wheat than any country ever has in one year, at 44 million metric tons, said Caitlin Welsh, director of the Global Food Security Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

Trade flows tracked by financial data provider Refinitiv show that Russia exported just over 4 million tons of wheat in April, the highest volume for the month in five years, following record or near-record highs in several previous months.

Exports since last July reached 32.2 million tons, 34% above the same period from last season, according to Refinitiv.

Welsh says Russia knows that the less grain Ukraine can export, the more it can make up for the shortfall. And restrictions on Black Sea shipments mean the war-torn country would have to rely more on land routes through the European Union, which has stirred anger from its neighbors.

The more it restricts Ukraines access to Black Sea ports, the better it is for its political influence with trading partners and the better it is for Russia in the sense that its straining unity among EU member states and their support for Ukraine, she said.

With Ukraines wheat harvest coming up in June and the need to sell that crop in July, maintaining a Black Sea shipping corridor is key to avoid taking another large chunk of wheat and other grains off the market, said William Osnato, a senior research analyst at agriculture data and analytics firm Gro Intelligence.

It comes as places including Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria, Syria and East Africa  big importers of food  are facing drought and economic issues that are likely to keep food prices high.

Shortages of food in the system and lack of affordable fertilizer continues to push up prices, making it difficult for families in countries like Somalia to predict if they will be able to afford a meal the next day, said Shashwat Saraf, emergency director for East Africa at the International Rescue Committee.
Care and Feeding is Slates parenting advice column. Have a question for Care and Feeding? Submit it here.

Dear Care and Feeding,

I am a 20-year-old woman who was raised by a single mother, who got pregnant with me when she was 20 and traveling abroad and had a summer fling with my father, who was also traveling abroad. When they found out she was pregnant, they discussed their options and my mother, having aspirations of becoming a lawyer, decided she wanted to have an abortion. My father supported her decision; however, when the time came, she couldnt go through with it and had me and told my father about me via email about five months after I was born. My father, blindsided, told her he was in no position to be a father (he lived on another continent and was traveling a lot for work), but told her he would pay child support, which he faithfully paid until I graduated from high school. My mother worked as a paralegal while I was growing up and was bitter about not realizing her dream of becoming a lawyer. She would often complain about how she would be a better attorney than the one she worked for and how she gave up so much. I grew up feeling pressure to succeed to make up for her giving up her dreams to have me and also guilt that I was the reason she didnt achieve her dreams.

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Upon my graduation, I received a letter from an attorney for my fathers family regarding a trust that had been set up for me. It had enough money in it to pay for my college as well as help me get started in life. I was shocked and found it odd when the letter closed with in the past, requests to meet you have been denied, but your fathers family would like you to know that if you ever would like to meet, they are eager to get to know you, as I had no idea his side of the family had any interest in me. When I asked my mother, she feigned confusion but then admitted that after she told my dad about me, his family reached out offering assistance but that she turned them down because she was angry at my father. They are an old money family and she felt like they were trying to buy me.

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I ended up meeting my family soon after I graduated and they are the sweetest, kindest, most wonderful family. My grandparents are quirky and loving and my aunts and uncles are some of the most interesting people Ive ever met. I have seven cousins who I fell into with as if we grew up together. I even met my dad, who is right in that he wouldve been a shit dad but is one of my favorite people to be around. He is more like an uncle or friend than a dad figure, but I love him nonetheless.

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For a while, I tried to find a balance between getting to know my paternal family and having a relationship with my mother, but any time she would find out I was seeing someone from that family she would get upset and try to guilt trip me about how much she gave up for me and how I was choosing those people over her. She always plays the martyr and points out the sacrifices she made so I could have expensive hobbies and wear stylish clothes. When asked, my grandparents disclosed to me that when they found out about me they reached out and offered assistance to my mother, including arranging for a nanny so she could go to school and allowing her to live in a property they owned rent free. They asked to have a relationship with me over the years, but she turned them down.

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The last straw came a couple weeks ago, when my dad asked if I wanted to accompany him on a month-long assignment overseas this summer. I was ecstaticits a place Ive always wanted to visitbut when I told my mom, she accused me of having no loyalty and said that now that I have my fathers money I should be paying her back for all that she sacrificed for me. It was the worst fight weve ever had and I havent spoken to her since. I dont know how to go forward. I know she wont see my side of things, or anyones side of things except her own. I find myself growing more and more bitter and angry thinking of the years I missed out on with this family because she only thought of herself and not what I might want. I am thinking of just taking the whole summer off from her. My cousins want me to join them on their backpacking trip after the trip with my dad is over, and a break from everything sounds great.

But I feel guilty. My mother is estranged from her own family and doesnt have many friends, and I feel like I would be abandoning her. What I think would be the best thing for my mental health isnt necessarily the best thing for her. Am I being a bad daughter? Cant I have a relationship with both my parents?

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I Didnt Ask to Be Born

Dear I Didnt Ask,

You love your mother. That doesnt mean she has the right to guilt you for a lifetime or tell you that youre the reason she didnt pursue her dreams. I realize that may have been her anger or other emotions talking, but its still not okay for her to put that on you. Nor is it okay to try to deny you the relationships youve created with your father and his family, or the experiences youre hoping to share with themyou shouldnt have to give those things up in order to prove your love or loyalty to her.

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I dont know that you will be able to make her see your point of view. But since she is your mother and you do love her, you can try one more time. Tell her that youre going to continue to see your father and his family, and go on those trips you want to take with them. You can reiterate that you love her and that wont change, but you also need her to know that shes hurting you and hurting your relationship by trying to cut you off from part of your family. Tell her that you wont be made to feel guilty for getting to know your relatives, and the next time she tries to take you to task for it, youre hanging up. And then be ready to follow through on it.

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I hope she can eventually accept your decision and your right to make it, even if she doesnt agree. I do want to point out that, just to make things easier for yourself (not because you should have to hide anything!), you can always follow the time-honored tradition of doing whatever you want and not telling your mom about it. She sounds like a person entirely wrapped up in the specific story she is telling herself about how her own life has played out. It doesnt make it any easier for you to hear that, perhaps, but I say it because you should know and try to believe that her reaction is not about you, or what kind of daughter you are, at all. Its about her. For your sake and hers, I hope she decides to change.

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Want Advice From Care and Feeding?

Submit your questions about parenting and family life here. Its anonymous! (Questions may be edited for publication.)

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Dear Care and Feeding,

My husband and I have an almost-3-year-old. I take on 100 percent of logistics involving our daughter, including taking her to nursery school every day. Its a 10-minute drive or 2-minute walk; I usually walk. My husband chooses not to come with us; the nature of his job is that he has to be logged in (he works from home) at 9 a.m., even though Im always home at least a few minutes before then. When our daughter asks why daddy isnt coming with us, he says Daddy has to work.

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I hate this, because in my mind this implies that mommy does NOT have to work. This is untrue-n fact, I make almost twice as much as my husband in a high-powered job that I am extremely proud of. I just happen to work efficiently, so I can spare the 20 minutes to drop her off, and make the time to hang out with her after her babysitter leaves and on the weekends and in the mornings before my husband wakes up, etc.

It is important to me that I set a good example for my daughter. My mom did so for me. I do not want her to think that daddy works and mommy is just babys playmate; I am babys playmate, but I also do important work. I also realize shes very little, so nuance might be lost on her. Should we be saying something else when explaining why her dad isnt present at these times?

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Mommy ALSO Works

Dear Mommy Also Works,

Im sure your daughter knows that moms also have jobsshe sees you doing your job every day. The problem is not that she will grow up thinking moms dont work.

The problem is that she may grow up thinking dads dont parent.

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This is about much more than the walk to school and what you tell your child about it. Like, it would be completely acceptable if you were always the one to walk her to schoolif both you and your husband agreed to that division of labor, and if he were taking care of other things! It sounds like hes not, since you say you take on 100 percent of logistics (aka all the logistics!) when it comes to parenting. Thats the example Id be worried about. It would be ideal if your husband worried more about an equitable division of labor, and the example hes setting for your child.

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Slate Plus Members Get More Advice From Nicole Each Week

From this weeks letter, One of My Daughters Is Incredibly Successful. The Other Blows Up Every Time I Mention It.: I will mention how proud I am of Everleigh, or how much shes accomplished, and Veronica will blow up and say that she knows that I think shes a burden.

Dear Care and Feeding,

My husband comes from a big family that lives near each other in another state. Were not especially close to them (physically or emotionally), but we try to visit every couple of years. One of his siblings adopted a child about 13 years ago. As the kid has entered their teenage years, it seems there has been a lot of friction recently, and Im sorry to say that his sibling has been appallingly awful and effectively disowned this child, turning them out of the house and sending them to live with their spouses parents. Everyone in the family has strongly condemned this action.

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My heart breaks for this child, whom I have met a handful of times at family events. My husband and I want to let them know that they still have a family in us. The rest of my husbands family feels the same and continues to make sure the kid is invited to family events, which the parent then pointedly refuses to attend. However, were not really sure how to go about it. We dont have kids, and most of the children we interact with via local friends are preschoolers. Do you have any advice/ideas on how we can best support a reserved teenager in another state who is going through a devastating ordeal? So far, my best idea is to plan a visit to take the kid and a friend of their choosing to a local amusement park, along with another one of my husbands siblings who lives in town and sees them more. Or should we just set up a 529 in the childs name and not try to show up out of the blue and involve ourselves in their life? I would love your perspective, because I am worried about doing the wrong thing and making the whole situation somehow worse for the child.

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 Concerned in California

Dear Concerned,

This is enraging and heartbreaking; of course you are concerned for your nibling. (I would be really concerned for the terrible parents spouse as wellif their child was sent away against their wishes, things in that marriage obviously cant be good.) If you decide you want to try to see the child, communicate that through their grandparents or the other parent, dont force anything, and only go forward if the child genuinely welcomes the idea. Ask yourself whether your pre-existing relationship with them is close enough that they would look forward to and enjoy spending a day with you; if not, or if youre not sure, then it may not be the best idea, however well intended.

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Ultimately, I am afraid there is nothing you can do to make up for this child being disowned by their father. But that doesnt mean nothing you do with or for them matters. Continue to reach out with sincerity, show interest in their life, and just let them know you care about them. Send gifts, if you want to, on birthdays and holidays. Continue to let them know theyre part of the family and welcome at family functions, but dont be surprised or upset if they dont feel comfortable joining in right now. And yes, offering financial support in the future may be another meaningful way to help, if you want to, particularly if this upheaval in their life means they enter adulthood without the practical support or prospects they might have otherwise had.

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Catch Up on Care and Feeding

 If you missed Tuesdays column, read it here.

 Discuss this column in the Slate Parenting Facebook group!

Dear Care and Feeding,

My husband and I have been together for 13 years. He has always been the self-sacrificing type. Much of his behavior stemmed from his past marriage where he was emotionally and mentally abused into being a caregiver and provider to his ex-wife and her son, who was only a few years older than him. In turn, he often places a significant amount of responsibility on himself to do everything at home, or ends up doing nothing because he is burned out. This has disrupted his health over the years, despite my begging him to see a doctor for numerous issues that hes had. He has chronic skin problems that are not resolved after many years, he has bad sleep apnea but he will not wear his CPAP. He recently developed an allergy to fish that left him vomiting profusely. He also was itching with no rash for days on end, and did nothing about it. His anxiety is untreated and leaves us to work around a lot of it.

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When were both working together, everything is great, neither of us feels overwhelmed, and the house is in order. As someone with chronic health and mental illness issues myself, its becoming harder to manage everything in the house when he isnt doing any self-care. I end up having to pick up the slack of taking care of the house itself when I am in bouts of pain or exhaustion, I cant sleep because he is up all night, or hes holed up online because hes overwhelmed. Picking up and taking care of our two kids, cooking, cleaning, laundry, trash, dishes, mopping, all falls to me. I cant say the last time the bathrooms were cleaned. After working a stressful, mobile, out-of-the-home job (he works from home), all day to come home and immediately have to jump into working more is so hard and Im exhausted.

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I dont know how to take care of him. I feel like I can talk to him about everything but this. He just blows me off, or gets upset. If I explain that I am struggling with the workload he points out everything hes already doing (bills, cooking dinner) to say that its ok hes not contributing to the other labor around the house at that time. It ultimately ends in an argument, so I am just holding it in. If I ask him to at least make an attempt to wear his CPAP or see the doctor about his skin or allergy he thinks of every excuse not to do it. We have excellent insurance and we are well off enough that money isnt a concern for medical treatment either. I know hes not doing well and its affecting everyone now. What do I do?

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 Please Take Care

Dear Please Take Care,

To use a common analogy, this is a clear-cut case of your husband needing to put on his own oxygen mask before he can help anyone else. I dont know if it would help at all for him to hear that, but its true.

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It sounds like you already know that the current status quo isnt working for either of you, and that household work needs to be distributed differently so that you arent overburdened physically and mentally. But this situation wont really improve until your husband decides to attend to his own basic needs and care for himself, and by extension care for his family. You shouldnt have to do this, but could you make an appointment and bring him to the doctor? In the meantime, think about everything that needs to get done around the house and consider what you may be able to outsource (while staying within your means) or who you might be able to call upon for help, if only temporarily.

I try not to go on about therapy too much in this columnyou all know about therapy!but you mentioned that you think past experiences with abuse are affecting your husbands actions and reactions right now. Its very understandable, if so. And at the same time, his choices right now are having a profound impact on his health and yours, and on your family overall. Perhaps if he talks with a counselor, or the two of you go to counseling together, youll have a better chance of finding a workable way forward.

Nicole

More Advice From Slate

Im a single mother, sole parent to a 6-year-old son. Next month I will be starting a new job, working 12-hour night shifts in a hospital two hours away from our home. He seems prepared for me not being with him overnight sometimes, but he recently asked for a phone of his own so we could exchange messages. I think it could be good for us. Is it a crazy idea?
Prince Harry and Meghan Markles spokesperson said they were involved in an incident with the paparazzi in New York City on Tuesday night, which the aide described as a two-hour-long, highly aggressive and relentless car chase following an event. This sounds awfuland it was hard to miss the unspoken parallels with the death of Harrys mother, Diana. However  weve got some questions. Heres what we know and what we dont, so far.

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Why were the Sussexes in New York?

Markle was honored on Tuesday at the Ms. Foundation for Womens annual gala, receiving the Women of Vision Award. The awards ceremony took place at the Ziegfeld Ballroom in midtown Manhattan. This was the first public appearance for either Sussex since King Charles coronation earlier this month (an event Markle did not attend). Markles mother, Doria Ragland, accompanied the couple to the venue.

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What happened exactly?

Well, we dont know the exactly just yet, but according to a spokesperson for the Sussexes, the trio was involved in a near catastrophic car chase on Tuesday night after leaving the gala.

What does near catastrophic mean?

According to the ex-royals spokesperson, the Sussexes and Ragland were pursued by highly aggressive paparazzi in a chase that allegedly lasted for over two hours and resulted in multiple near collisions involving other drivers, pedestrians, and two New York Police Department officers.

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According to TMZ, the trio left the event in an SUV, followed by police officers, when a half-dozen blacked-out vehicles with photographers inside violated all sorts of traffic lawsincluding, allegedly, driving on sidewalks, blazing through red lights, and driving the wrong way down one-way streetsin pursuit of the SUV. At some point, the couple reportedly switched vehicles, jumping into a yellow taxi, while the cops tried to outwit the paps by driving in a different direction than the cab.

TMZ also published some photos and videos which the Sussexes spokesperson specifically warned against disseminating. One photo shows the Sussexes and Ragland in the car, Ragland looking down, Markle looking straight ahead, and Harry holding his phone up to cover his face. The video attempts to capture the trio after they got into the taxi, but shows not much more than a very tinted taxi window before a Sussex security person gets out of the front passenger seat and asks the videographer to step back.

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Waitthey got into a yellow cab? Why wouldnt they just  pull over?

Unclear! It is NYC, which is full of cabsa yellow cab could maybe be inconspicuous? As for the pulling over parton one hand, I agree, but on the other hand: Then what?

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The Washington Post interviewed a taxi driver, Sukhcharn Singh, who said that he picked the group up around 11 p.m. after their security guard hailed him outside the NYPDs 19th precinct on East 67th St. Singh confirmed the car was pursued by two vehicles, but added, I dont think I would call it a chase. I never felt like I was in danger. It wasnt like a car chase in a movie. They were quiet and seemed scared but its New Yorkits safe.

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What about the pedestrians and NYPD officers involveddo we know anything yet?

As far as we can gather, not really. The NYPDs statement cited no injuries, collision or arrests, but mentioned that numerous photographers made transportation of the couple challenging. Asked about it at an unrelated press conference, New York City Mayor Eric Adams called the incident reckless and irresponsible, though according to the New York Times, the mayor added that he found the reported two-hour length of the chase to be hard to believe.

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Rightwith New York traffic alone, how is this even possible? And how catastrophic could this be?

Thats a good question, and its hard to say. While I think we can all agree that a car chase through the streets of Manhattan couldnt be as high-speed as one taking place elsewhere, unless they got on the West Side Highway or something, theres plenty more obstacles to run into (or  avoid, rather) to make a chase near catastrophic. Thats subjective, to a certain degree, but theres no doubt that they were hounded.

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Is it just me, or does it seem like people might be doubtful of the severity of this event for other reasons besides the couples knowledge of NYC geography?

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The Sussexes have been in the news quite a bit lately! From their decision to leave the royal family in January 2020, to the famous interview with Oprah in March 2021, to Harry releasing his megahit memoir Spare in January, and Meghan deciding not to attend King Charles coronation earlier this month, its been hard to escape the Sussex news cyclea news cycle the couple swears it wants to be removed from, yet continues to perpetuate. Harrys decision to marry Meghan, his defense of her against racist British media, and their ultimate decision to leave the royal family has put them at the center of a culture war. Needless to say, anytime they breathe, a whole bunch of speculative drama is drummed up in the tabloids.

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Why is this such big news?

Besides the obvious? This incident is particularly icky because Harrys mother, Princess Diana, died in an eerily similar way, when her vehicle crashed in a Paris tunnel in 1997 during a fatal high-speed paparazzi chase. Harry has often spoken publicly about his mothers death, blaming the media, and has made countless comparisons between the medias harassment of his mother and its harassment of his wife. This media harassment is a large part of what drove the Sussexes to leave the royal family and move to the United States. And, yet, here we are.
To hear it from House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, there wont be a deal on the debt ceiling without work requirements. Meaning, his caucus wants harsh new restrictions to be placed on needy recipients of social welfare programs, forcing them to secure jobs and submit proof of near-full-time employment just to remain eligible for things like food aid and health care. In other words, McCarthy is holding the economy hostage so that fewer poor Americans can access the countrys already paltry welfare state.

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What is thisthe 1990s?

President Joe Biden seems to think so. When asked over the weekend about this GOP red line, he re-upped his previous support for welfare reform from his time as a senator by telling reporters, I voted for tougher aid programs thats in the law now, but [raising the work-requirement age] for Medicaid, its a different story. This was a reference to his 1996 vote for the Clinton-era legislation that Clinton bragged would end welfare as we know it, accomplished with the help of restrictive new work requirements. Biden suggested that he might be open to new restrictions to federal aid programs such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (food stamps) and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (cash assistance for families) in a compact with the GOP. He said he was not open to restrictions on Medicaid, which Republicans also want.

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Its an alarming position on a number of levels. Decades of research have shown that work requirements have been completely ineffective when it comes to moving people out of poverty or even encouraging them to find workin fact, work requirements may actually make it harder for people to find and maintain employment. They work only in restricting access to lifesaving support and are, therefore, de facto cuts, which is why Republicans embrace them. Importantly, they are also a non-starter for House Democrats, according to top House Democrat Hakeem Jeffriesnot to mention a complete disavowal of the presidents own position on welfare expansion from just two years ago.

After Bidens original statement, the White House issued a mealy-mouthed addendum that said Biden was not open to work requirements on Medicaid, without mentioning the other critical programs that would be burdened by it, and the president tweeted, We should reduce the deficit by making sure the wealthy and large corporations pay their fair share in taxes. When asked in a press pool on Wednesday, the president again refused to rule out new restrictions.

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The presidents newfound openness to work requirements would mark a stunning retrenchment from a man who, just two years ago, signed into law the largest expansion of the welfare state in decades. And its kicked off a bitter showdown behind the McCarthy-Biden showdownnesting showdowns, as it wereas House and Senate Democrats have come out forcefully against the White Houses position on this.

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Just how out of character is Bidens sudden pivot toward the GOP-favored policy? The American Rescue Plan Act, inked just after Biden was inaugurated in 2021, featured major boosts in funding for everything from food aid to health care. The flagship policy of the package was the Child Tax Credit, which was notable not just for its size but for its construction. It was, critically, not subject to work requirements, a feature that was touted in the first breath of the programs description as a pathbreaking development in the president and partys orientation toward welfare programs.

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The Child Tax Credit has, ever since, been celebrated as a flagship program of the Biden administration. The income-restricted benefit, $300 per child per month, immediately cut child poverty in half. That was no coincidence: That it was immune to work requirements meant that it was easily accessible to parents.

Then the program expired after a year, and a barrage of lobbying by conservative groups just so happened to coincide with West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin having an epiphany that the benefit was going to layabouts. He pulled his support for it. In the easiest cause-and-effect sequence imaginable, the policy died, and child poverty rocketed upward.

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That isnt the only welfare program thats been throttled since then. In the past few months alone, numerous other programs have seen their expansions clawed back. On March 1, as the result of a deal Democrats struck with Republicans in December (when they could have raised or abolished the debt ceiling but didnt), the federal government shut off enhanced food aid for 32 states, aggressively constricting benefits and leading to a massive spike in hunger.

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A month later, somewhere between 5 million and 14 million people lost Medicaid coverage after the Medicaid expansion in the American Rescue Plan Act expired.

Those cuts to all sides of the welfare state are profound, but it is Bidens willingness to consider the return of work requirements that marks the biggest intellectual whiplash of his entire presidency.

In just over two years, the president has done a complete 180 on what Politico called the evolution of the Democratic Party. As that story put it: Once fearful of race-baiting rhetoric on supposedly lazy welfare queens, the party now is largely unapologetic about spending money to strengthen the social safety net.

Now the legitimacy of work requirements has been given new life by the president. After the already deep cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, a new round of restrictions could be devastating to the program. Meanwhile, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, the poster child program for work requirements, also looks primed for new restrictions; TANF is already so hobbled by restrictive work standards from the Clinton bill that it barely exists for needy Americans at all. Over a quarter of TANF-eligible Americans dont get the benefit. It is perhaps worth noting that Bruce Reed, Bidens deputy chief of staff, is best known as the mastermind of that Clinton legislation. Jeff Zients, Bidens chief of staff, is well-known for the cut, cut, cut and give Republicans everything they want strategy from the 2013 fiscal cliff standoff.

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Already the pushback from House Democrats and civil rights groups has been searing. We did not elect Joe Biden of 1986, Rep. Pramila Jayapal, the chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, told Politico. We elected Joe Biden of 2020.

She added that additional work requirements for SNAP were an absolutely terrible idea and a nonstarter for many of us across the Democratic caucus. It is indeed very unlikely to fly with the House Democratic Caucus, which has been resolute in its rejection of work requirements. Senate Democrats are also coming out hard against the notion, from Massachusetts Elizabeth Warren to Pennsylvanias John Fetterman.

For now, though, the president seems to have run the gamut of an extremely troubling cycle, going from unapologetically expanding the welfare state, to standing quietly by while all those expansions expired, to now laying the groundwork for even tighter restrictions than ever.

Regardless of how much is ultimately ceded on the policy side, progressives seem to have, almost overnight, lost the war of ideas in the White House, at least over the legitimacy of policy prescriptions like work requirements.The 1990s are back, it seems, and with them, the Joe Biden progressives most feared.
With a sexual assault verdict, campaign finance and fraud indictment, multiple federal investigations under Special Counsel Jack Smith, and more investigations pending in New York and Georgia, it seems that Donald Trump may finally face accountability for his criminal misconduct. Yet federal investigators appear to be ignoring Trumps potential involvement in a criminal conspiracy to access and copy voting software systems as part of the broader scheme to overturn the 2020 presidential election. As we reported to federal officials last month, testimony suggests that Trump himself was, at a minimum, aware of the unlawful scheme which was discussed with him at an Oval Office meeting with weeks left to go before the Jan. 6 electoral college count.

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Over the last two years the scope and breadth of Trumps campaign to overturn the 2020 election has come into focus, though, this particular piece has been missing from public view. Whats long been clear is that the multipronged plan included pressuring state officials to make unfounded claims of voting irregularities and discard legitimate vote totals; corruptly pressuring the Department of Justice to adopt Trumps false claims of election fraud; recruiting fake electors to defy the voters will; and pressuring Vice President Mike Pence to certify fake electors over the real ones. Most terrifying, Trump incited the violent and deadly Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol in an effort to exert even more pressure on Pence and prevent the certification of his electoral defeat, all to overthrow our democracy and defeat the constitutionally mandated transfer of power.

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The Jan. 6 Committee compiled a compelling record and report demonstrating that all these schemes were part of a coordinated plot to unlawfully keep Trump in power. But other evidence, some unavailable to the committee during its tenure, shows that conspiracy stretched even further.

After Jan. 6, reports emerged of Trump supporters efforts to gain access to voting systems and software in Michigan, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Colorado. Many assumed these incidents were unconnectedjust overzealous Trump supporters freelancing in different states to support their fervent belief in the Big Lie.

More recently, evidence uncovered by plaintiffs in a Georgia lawsuit indicates that these incidents were part of the broader scheme to falsely cast doubt on, and overturn, the 2020 election.

During 2022, plaintiffs in a long-standing civil lawsuit against the Georgia Secretary of State unearthed evidence of a another voting system software breach in Coffee County, Georgia. Documents and depositions revealed that the Coffee County software breach was directed and funded by Trump attorney Sidney Powells organization Defending the Republic. Powell also arranged for the same operatives to access and copy voting software in Michigan and Nevada. The Coffee County breach was coordinated by Cathy Latham, the then-local GOP party chair and a fake elector. In her sworn deposition, Latham denied being at the Coffee County election office for the unauthorized software breach. But security camera footage showed she welcomed the operatives and spent the day with them. Copies of the voting software (that runs all the voting machines in Georgia and many other states counties) were posted to a sharefile site, then covertly distributed to Trump-allied election deniers.

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This evidence tying Trumps campaign to multiple software breaches, uncovered in the civil lawsuit, was publicly reported in late summer and fall of 2022, when the Jan. 6 Committee had already taken many key depositions and was winding down its work. Unfortunately, this timing may have prevented the committee from thoroughly probing or reporting on the voting system breaches. But our review of the committees testimony establishes that the unlawful scheme to copy voting system software in multiple states went straight to the topTrump himself. During a now-infamous December 18, 2020 Oval Office meeting with Trump attended by Powell, Rudy Giuliani, and othersduring which Powell advocated the federal government seizing voting machinesGiuliani offered an alternative plan, promising that he was going to be able to secure access to voting machines in Georgia through means other than seizure.

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As recently reported in the New York Times, we shared this evidence with the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Department of Justice and requested a federal investigation. Despite the ongoing Justice Department investigation into Trumps efforts to overturn the election, and the evidence tying the unlawful access software scheme to those efforts, publicly available information indicates that there is still no federal investigation into the software scheme, either as part of the broader conspiracy or otherwise. Even the perpetrators caught on security cameras, as yet, face no consequences. Indeed, according to a letter the FBI sent to one of the undersigned, the FBI has declined to investigate this scheme based on the erroneous view that it cant do so without a request from local authorities

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Theres no excuse for the Justice Department and the FBI to continue to ignore this evidence. By itself, this multistate plot to copy and distribute election software in order to interfere with and discredit federal election results would justify a federal investigation into a potential conspiracy to defraud the United States and other federal crimes. That this plot may have been carried out with the former presidents knowledge, at his key advisors and allies direction, as part of a broader conspiracy to unlawfully overturn the electiona conspiracy already being investigated by Special Counsel Smithmakes the case for investigation even more compelling.

Finally, aside from exposing unlawful efforts to overturn the last presidential election, a thorough federal investigation is needed to uncover any ongoing threats posed by these security breaches to future elections and inform federal efforts to protect elections in the future. Our democracy is in the balance.
This piece was originally published on Just Security, an online forum for analysis of U.S. national security law and policy.

In terms of criminal law, among the several self-destructive statements former President Donald Trump made in CNNs Town Hall, the competition is stiff for the title of most damaging to his legal defense. From the perspective of Special Counsel Jack Smiths expected prosecution of Trump relating to the Mar-a-Lago documents case, however, to this constitutional scholar and former federal prosecutor, one statement stands out for a reason of criminal procedure rather than just substantive criminal law: Trump made an admission that helps secure Washington, D.C., rather than Florida, as the proper venue for the indictment and trial. Where this case is tried can be the whole ballgame.

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When asked why he took government documents from the White House, Trump answered: I was there and I took what I took.  I had every right to do it. I didnt make a secret of it. You know, the boxes were stationed outside of the White House.

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With those fateful words, Trump admitted that he was involved in willfully removing the documents from the White House. It is a federal crime to willfully and unlawfully  remove  any  document  in any public office  of the United States. Indeed, the Justice Department has identified improper removal, or unlawful removal, as a key concern in court filings in the Mar-a-Lago litigation.

Before making that admission, Trump might have blamed the removal on his aides. Indeed, his lawyers had recently done just that. In a letter they sent to the chair of the House Intelligence Committee last month, they claimed the removal of the documents marked as classified was a result of staff error and inadvertence.

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But that no longer holds. Trumps own statement directly implicates him in the deliberate removal of the documents at issue.

It also discards another potential defense. If the documents were taken to Trumps southern White House at Mar-a-Lago months before Trumps presidency ended and were simply not returned, Trump could argue they were never unlawfully removed from a government office; they just stayed there. Trump appears to have tossed that argument overboard, too.

Suppose, however, that Trump was still president when the documents landed in Mar-a-Lago in the few hours remaining while that resort was still the southern White House. He might claim the documents simply remained in that federal office and were never removed.

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Trumps admission has undercut that line of argument as well. By affirming that he intentionally moved the official materials from the White House mere hours before his presidency terminated, he provided evidence of constructive removal. Trump knowingly and intentionally initiated the removal in D.C., with the full intent to keep the documents once power passed and he no longer had any right to possess them.

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But why is this admission so pivotal to the potential outcome of a trial? The answer is location, location, location.

The Sixth Amendment requires that trials occur in the federal district wherein the crime shall have been committed. Trumps admission of his personal role in removing the documents while he was in Washington means that Special Counsel Smith is now on surer footing than ever in bringing the documents case in D.C. rather than in Florida. Trumps admission adds significantly to any other factors pointing to D.C. as the proper venue, such as the location of the National Archives from which Trump concealed the documents (listen to Mary McCords recent discussion with Andrew Weissmann). With this new and important admission, there goes the legal basis for Trumps inevitable motion, if indicted, to move to his home turf the trial of an indictment count for unlawfully removing government documents .

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That is a very big dealfor at least two reasons: the potential judges and the jurors.

First, in Florida, one judge who could be assigned the case is Aileen Cannon, the Trump appointee who, in a major favor to Trump and truly without any support in the law, granted his request to have a special master oversee the documents case. A conservative bench of the Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit expeditiously and unanimously reversed that ruling. But theres little reason to think that would deter her in the future, especially as she showed an extraordinary effort to wrestle the case away from a federal magistrate judge who was already handling it.

Second, one could expect that in Florida, populated as it is with strong Trump supporters, one or two might find their way onto the jury and refuse, whatever the evidence, to join a unanimous verdict to convict him. Just think of the members of the CNN town hall audience in New Hampshire, and what some of them might do in the face of evidence beyond reasonable doubt.

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Another point as to venue is easily overlooked: an indictment for conspiracy. One potential charge Smith could bring is conspiracy to defraud the United States of its property or lawful functionsfunctions like maintaining national security documents in secure locations. That charge, of course, depends on Smiths proof of an agreement between Trump and another person to remove the documents.

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Conspiracy charges carry a potential five-year sentence, two years longer than the maximum prison term for unlawful removal of government property.

In addition, charging conspiracy permits introducing an array of evidence that a prosecutor might not otherwise be able to use at trial. Adding a conspiracy count based on conduct that began in D.C. would enable Smith to allege, and introduce evidence to prove, a range of illicit acts Trump committed in Florida.

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Those acts include his 18 months of stonewalling government requests to return the documents and apparently refusing to allow the Justice Department to inspect boxes that contained classified material. Then theres the June 2022 false affidavit from Trump lawyer Christina Bobb attesting that a diligent search of Mar-a-Lago had been conducted and revealed no further government material responsive to a May 2022 grand jury subpoena. Two months later, the court-approved FBI search of the country club turned up more than 100 documents with colored cover sheets and classified markings.

Because so much of that conduct is Florida-based, Smith could face challenges if he seeks to charge obstruction of a government investigation as a separate crime to be tried in D.C. Thats not to say that the challenges are necessarily insurmountable.

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For example, letters from Evan Corcoran, Trumps lawyerletters that appear to have been part of the obstructionwent to D.C. Under the venue statute, any offense involving the use of the mails  is a continuing offense and  may be inquired of and prosecuted in any district from, through, or into which such  mail matter  moves.

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Whats more, the obstruction might also be charged as a conspiracyfor example, if Trump tampered with the Mar-a-Lago video surveillance tapes, which would presumably require the assistance of his aides or staff. Thats important because a conspiracy to obstruct can also overcome venue questions and place the case firmly in D.C., as others have explained.

Finally, theres the grave Espionage Act charge of failing to deliver unlawfully possessed defense-related materials to the government. Because the unlawful retention occurred in Florida, whether Smith can try that case in D.C. will also depend on what other evidence he has, including mailings to Washington. If such evidence is available, Trumps admission can help Smith show that the unlawful acts in Florida were part of a continuing offense that began in D.C.

The central point is this: Whether Smith chooses to play it safe on venue by charging only unlawful removal of government documents and conspiracy to defraud the United States, or to take perhaps a bit more risk with charges under the Espionage Act or the obstruction statutes, Trumps recent admissions have greatly strengthened the special counsels hand in bringing the case where it ultimately belongs: in the nations capital.

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This story was originally published by Knowable magazine

Even the temperate, mountainous country of Switzerland isnt immune to climate change. Sizzling heat waves are melting alpine glaciers, killing trees and fish, and, in the cities, likely causing an uptick in human deaths.

Rosmarie Wydler-Walti, who lives in Basel, is acutely aware of this. A woman in her 70s, she belongs to the demographic most vulnerable to heat-related death. To her, the governments response to recent heat wavescautioning seniors to stay in the shade during hot days, for instanceseemed like a Band-Aid. She wanted to see people tackling the problems root cause: Countries like Switzerland not doing enough to curb emissions of planet-warming greenhouse gases.

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With support from Greenpeace Switzerland, Wydler-Walti and other members of a group of senior women climate activists filed a lawsuit against the Swiss government in 2016, demanding that the state curb emissions more quickly. They argued that the government, by not sticking to policies consistent with the worldwide goal of limiting warming to less than 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial temperatures, was threatening senior womens fundamental human right to life. Indeed, many of the women involved ultimately reported having experienced heart palpitations, vomiting, swollen arms and legs, and breathlessness during recent heat waves, and some reported having fainted.

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Hundreds of lawsuits like these have been filed around the world in recent years, as activists, frustrated by the slow pace at which nations are acting to cut greenhouse gas emissions, have turned to the courts for help. The success rate has surprised many experts. Of those cases filed outside the United Statesthe focus of one analysisdozens had outcomes that encouraged more aggressive climate action, according to a 2022 report from the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment at the London School of Economics and Political Science. In one landmark case that concluded in 2019, for example, Dutch courts ordered the government to set more ambitious climate targets.

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But such cases dont always succeed. To Wydler-Waltis disappointment, after a series of courts dismissed the case, the Swiss Supreme Court concluded in 2020 that the womens rights hadnt been violated severely enough to merit a case. We would have to be half dead for them to believe that were particularly affected, Wydler-Walti says angrily.

Examining why some cases succeed while others dont is key to understanding the future of this rapidly growing field of litigation. Experts say that success hinges on many factorsnot only on the plaintiffs arguments, but also on the design of a countrys legal system, its political environment, and the apparent willingness and/or ability of judges to interpret the scientific evidence around climate change.

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One of the reasons its so important to look closely at these cases and the impact theyre having is because their impact is likely to only grow in the years to come, as people increasingly see litigation as an important way to address the problems of climate change, says Hari Osofsky, a human rights law expert now at Northwestern Universitys Pritzker School of Law, who in 2020 co-authored an overview of climate change litigation in the Annual Review of Law and Social Science.

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That said, litigation by itself is not going to close the emissions gap, Osofsky says. Solutions to climate change require a lot of different kinds of action.

Taking governments to court over climate change was once considered a long shot, says Cesar Rodriguez-Garavito, an international human rights and environmental law expert who heads New York Universitys Climate Litigation Accelerator, which studies and advocates for climate litigation, and who edited the 2022 book Litigating the Climate Emergency. Climate change is, after all, a tricky issue for courts to address.

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For one thing, theres the question of whether individual governments can be held accountable for the climate crisis when no single actor is responsible. For another, courts are typically designed to react to harms that have already been inflicted, whereas the bulk of climate-related damage will unfold in the future.

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The Dutch courts decisions, the last of which was reached in 2019, were groundbreaking in how they handled both questions. The courts rigorously applied the latest scientific evidence on how countries policies contribute to climate change, concluding that the Netherlands must do its fair share regardless of what other countries do. The courts also agreed with the plaintiffsthe Urgenda Foundation, a Dutch nonprofit, and 886 Dutch citizensthat the government has a duty to reduce not only current harms of climate change to its citizens, but also future risks. The Dutch courts ordered the state to raise its existing goal of reducing emissions from 17 percent below 1990 levels by 2020 to 25 percent below.

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The state complied that year, and later announced that it would greatly reduce the capacity of coal-fueled power stations, among other measures. It was a Big-Bang moment in climate litigation in Europe, says human rights researcher Corina Heri of the University of Zurich in Switzerland. That really changed the idea of what could be possible legally.

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The decision inspired a wave of like-minded lawsuits, some of which saw similar success. In 2021, Germanys constitutional court decided a lawsuit brought by nine young people against the German government that claimed insufficient climate goals. The court ordered the government to set clearer emissions targets for 2031 onward. Soon after, the government passed a bill containing faster emissions reductions and announced plans to become carbon-neutral by 2045faster than its previous goal of reaching climate neutrality by 2050.

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Like the Urgenda case, the German lawsuit invoked human rightsfundamentally arguing that the worsening hazards driven by climate change threaten the very rights to life and dignity, particularly for future generations. This is legally, as well as symbolically, a powerful argument, because many regions have specific legal pathways and courts dedicated to dealing with human rights cases, and such arguments center and individualize the suffering of people.

In recent years, the argument has gained traction in courtrooms and international law, Rodriguez-Garavito says, and on the whole, it has been much more consequential and much more effective than any of us would have thought. However, while such successful cases create an impetus for action, actually changing and implementing new policies is often a longer-term project, Heri notes.

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For instance, some courts, such as the German one, have stopped short of mandating specific targets for reducing emissions and instead leave that up to legislators. Some youth activists argue that the governments new climate policies arent aggressive enough and are still in violation of human rights.

And, as Wydler-Waltis experience illustrates, this argument hasnt worked everywhere.

In her case, the courts rejected the argument that the senior women were disproportionately affected by climate change compared to the general publican argument adapted to a Swiss legal system that largely doesnt allow public interest lawsuits, Heri says. In another case, a lawsuit against the Norwegian government by two activist groups over new oil-drilling licenses in the Barents Sea in the Arctic was rejected.

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Those plaintiffs had argued that by exacerbating climate change, the licenses infringed on the human right to a healthy environment, which is enshrined in Norways constitution. After years of litigation in domestic courts, the countrys supreme court ruled that the youths rights werent violated, in part because it was uncertain at that time how much the licenses would actually end up contributing to climate change.

Part of the reason the Urgenda case succeeded while these two didnt could lie in the design of the Dutch legal system, which makes it easier for environmental groups to bring collective claims of this kind. What works is very jurisdictionally specific, Osofsky says. European jurisdictions that are legally similar to the Netherlands are going to be the most promising jurisdictions for a successful Urgenda-style case.

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To Heri, it also comes down to the willingness of courts to engage with and understand the scientific evidence around climate change and its impacts, which they did with Urgenda, she says. The fact that the case was heard by judges who understood the need for urgent climate action and the evidence before them in the end made all the difference, she says.

Far from giving up, the plaintiffs in Switzerland and Norway have since taken their cases to higher powers: the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, France, which can order states to change policies it deems unlawful. The Swiss case and two others are among the first climate cases the Strasbourg court is reviewing, and its decisions could influence climate policy across Europe, Heri says.

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Lasse Eriksen Bjrn, a plaintiff in the new Norway case and a member of the Saami Indigenous community, whose way of life is threatened by Arctic warming, is optimistic that the Strasbourg court may decide more favorably than Norwegian courts, which have closer ties to the oil industry. In late March, the Strasbourg court held an official public hearing for the Swiss case and for a French lawsuit. If we win, Wydler-Walti says, I think I will see it as a feminist win for older women, who usually come last in society.

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Invoking human rights may be a promising legal strategy in places like Europe and Latin America, where 25 youths recently won a lawsuit against the Colombian government over deforestation in the Amazon. Latin America also has a regional human rights court. But the strategy is less useful in jurisdictions like the United States, whose legal system doesnt recognize human rights in the same way.

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I think thats actually been one of the main reasons that we havent seen the same sorts of major victories when it comes to strategic climate litigation that we have seen in some other countries, particularly in Europe, says Jessica Wentz, a climate law expert at Columbia Law Schools Sabin Center for Climate Change Law.

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The U.S. Constitution doesnt recognize the human right to health, for example. But some states, like Montana, do acknowledge the right to a healthy environment, and youth plaintiffs are now using that right to sue the state of Montana over climate change. At the federal level, plaintiffs can bring cases based on the political human rights the Constitution does contain, like the rights to liberty and property, and indirectly argue that having a stable climate is essential to exercising these. Still, this strategy is neither particularly successful nor common; only a tiny fraction of the more than 1,100 climate cases filed in the United States have invoked constitutional rights.

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One of the most famous of these was the Juliana case, named after one of the youth plaintiffs who sued the federal government in 2015 over it causing harmful levels of greenhouse gases. Although the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit acknowledged that the government is obligated to address climate change, it still ultimately dismissed the case, arguing that decisions over climate policy should be left to the elected branches of government, not the courts.

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U.S. courts have often reached this conclusion in cases that have pursued emissions reductions, Wentz says. Its possible, she adds, that the reason this has become such a prominent thing in U.S. climate cases is linked to how climate change itself has been politicized in our public discourse.

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A more popular and effective legal strategy in the U.S. has involved targeting government decisions over specific infrastructure projects, such as permitting new gas pipelines or extracting fossil fuels from public lands, and forcing federal agencies to consider the climate impacts, says Michael Burger, the Sabin Centers executive director. Such cases often draw on the National Environmental Policy Act, which mandates that federal agencies assess the full scale of the environmental impact of proposed projects, including the greenhouse gas emissions they cause.

Courts may not necessarily put a stop to such projects, but in forcing government agencies to redo their environmental analyses to take carbon emissions into account, Osofsky says, these lawsuits often raise the cost and time required for such projects. Wentz says that the impact can be seen in trends in government decision-making. We have seen a big shift where the federal government is, in fact, thinking through the climate implications of its actions in much greater detail than it did before, she says. I think litigation has helped drive that.

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Like some other regions, the United States has also seen an uptick in cases brought against fossil fuel companies. The U.S. doesnt have strong laws requiring that corporate entities limit the global environmental damage they cause. In Europe, Friends of the Earth Netherlands recently argued in its lawsuit against the Dutch oil giant Shell that companies, like states, had such obligations. Instead, U.S. plaintiffs often claim that oil and gas companies are deliberately misleading the public by underplaying the harms of climate change in order to deepen their profits, in a similar vein to suing tobacco companies over downplaying the health risks of smoking.

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We know that a very small [number] of companies are responsible for half the worlds emissions. So we really need to hold companies accountable, says Sam Cossar-Gilbert, who coordinates Friends of the Earth Internationals economic justice program. However, he adds that this strategy has drawbacks. Since some companieslike some governmentshave deep pockets, they can delay a lot of these decisions for a very long time. In the case against Shell, the company has appealed the decision and the process is still ongoing three years after the judgment.

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Most climate lawsuits aim to get big emitters like governments to more rapidly reduce emissions in order to reduce future harm. But as climate change is increasingly making its mark in the present, many of the plaintiffs suing fossil fuel companies are testing another approachsuing for compensation for damages already caused or for the costs to prevent future ones.

Several U.S. cities, states, and counties are suing such companies for the damages incurred during hurricanes and for the costs of relocating infrastructure away from shorelines due to rising sea levels. While its still early days, some experts note that such cases could be strengthened by a growing body of evidence on how climate change fuels specific extreme weather events and connecting specific damages to the emissions of fossil fuel producers.

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Suing for damages or compensation to prevent future damage may become an especially important approach in developing countries in hotter parts of the world where the worst climate impacts are being felt, Rodriguez-Garavito says. Theres long been a scarcity of climate lawsuits in many pockets of the developing world where people lack access to courts or the financial means to sustain the legal process, says Lisa Vanhala, a political scientist at University College London who published an overview of how law is being used to prevent environmental degradation in the 2022 Annual Review of Law and Social Science. But cases in South America, Asia, and Africa are growing in number, and some of them are targeting entities in wealthier, high-emitting countries.

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One such case has been ongoing since 2015, when the Peruvian farmer Saul Luciano Lliuya, whose city is threatened by flooding from a melting glacier, filed a lawsuit against the German energy company RWE, demanding that it pay for local flood protections. Such cases can be challenging, because corporations arent always legally responsible for the environmental damage they cause overseasit depends on the jurisdiction, Rodriguez-Garavito says.

Developing countries may even consider taking legal action against high-emitting countriessomething theyve long been reluctant to do as theyre often geopolitically dependent on wealthier countries and have prioritized international negotiations over climate targets, Rodriguez-Garavito says. But, he adds, after 30 years, a lot of people have lost patience, and the effects are also much more urgent and serious. So that perception is changing.

For instance, the Pacific island nation of Vanuatu, which is under threat from rising seas, recently spearheaded a United Nations request to the International Court of Justicewhich handles disputes between countriesfor an official opinion on whether states have an obligation under international law to ensure a safe and livable climate for everyone.

The opinion could then set the stage for lawsuits brought by individual countries.

Rodriguez-Garavito predicts that the coming years will see a rise in cases between developing nations and wealthy ones. There may also be lawsuits against other high-emitting entities like carmakers and cement companies, and even banks for financing fossil fuels as plaintiffs continue to explore new strategies, the Grantham Institute report notes. Their success remains to be seenbut many experts stress that even where lawsuits fail in the actual courts, they can still win in the court of public opinion, and raise awareness around climate change as a justice issue.

Bjrn, of the Saami community in the Arctic, says he witnessed this after Norwegian courts rejected the oil drilling case. The way oil drilling in the Arctic was talked about in northern Norway had completely changed, he says. The feeling was that we had succeeded in many ways, no matter what the result was.

This article originally appeared in Knowable Magazine, a nonprofit publication dedicated to making scientific knowledge accessible to all. Sign up for Knowable Magazines newsletter.

Future Tense is a partnership of Slate, New America, and Arizona State University that examines emerging technologies, public policy, and society.
On Tuesday, lawmakers, A.I. experts, and the guy chiefly responsible for ChatGPT gathered in the same room to swap analogies for just how dramatically A.I. is about to change our lives. The invention of the internet, the cell phone, and airplanes all made the list. For a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing ostensibly concerned with the dangers A.I. might pose to the world, everyone seemed to get along quite well.

Maybe too well. At one point. Sen. John Kennedy of Louisiana asked Sam Altman, the CEO of ChatGPT maker OpenAI, if he could recommend some people to oversee a new agency to oversee A.I.that is, to pick his own regulators. Then again, Altman was doing an exceptional job projecting a self-critical persona. The man was begging for his industry to be regulated! Who does that? No, he did not want A.I. drones to self-select targets. Good answer! Nor did he want to see the industry force people to contribute their content to the training of A.I. tools.

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I think a minimum is that users should be able to, to sort of opt out from having their data used by companies like ours or the social media companies, Altman said.

Unlike many other powerful tech companies, it looked like OpenAI, the company that created whats one of the fastest-growing consumer apps ever, was open to criticism and early reform. You might have left the hearing feeling that Democrats, Republicans, tech leaders, and the American people all wanted the same thing, which is sensible oversight for this fast-growing and important field. Perhaps an A.I. licensing regime? But there was one easy-to-miss reality check highlighting just how complicated this whole A.I. thing is going to get, in ways the leaders in the space may not want to cop to yet. It came in the form of a single word: frivolous.

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I will not tell you how ChatGPT defines it, because that schtick has already gotten old. Sen. Richard Blumenthals opening statement was, of course, written by ChatGPT. Instead I will offer you the setup.

Were about 80 minutes into the hearing. Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina has just been reflecting on Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, the influential rule that prevents social media companies from being held responsible if users post hate speech, misinformation, terrorist propaganda, or defamation. The section, which the Supreme Court may soon revisit, is often blamed for making it difficult to hold services like YouTube and Facebook accountable for the consequences of spreading this material.

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This tool you create, if Im harmed by it, can I sue you? Graham asks, evidently trying to figure out if ChatGPT is protected by the same law.

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That is beyond my area of legal expertise, Altman says. His answer makes sense. Until a generative-A.I.-specific case along these lines heads to court, its hard to say whether the technologys maker can be held liable for harms, multiple lawyers and A.I. policy experts told me.

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Still, Graham is not quite ready to move on. Have you ever been sued? he asked in a couple different ways.

Yeah, weve gotten sued before, Altman acknowledges.

What for?

Um, I mean, theyve mostly been like pretty frivolous things, like I think happens to any company, he says. Graham moves on.

So what were these frivolous things? Given that OpenAI has been dealing with just one lawsuit over the past year, according to a search of court filings and multiple lawyers who are tracking the evolution of A.I. law, it seems likely that hes referring to this: Last November, a group of developers filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, the code repository GitHub, and GitHubs owner Microsoft in a district court in San Francisco for using their code without regard for the terms under which they licensed their work and creating a for-profit A.I. tool. Within two years, that tool, Copilot, was being used by around 1 million developers to write nearly half of the code on GitHub. (OpenAI did not respond to a request for comment on Wednesday.)

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The lawsuit is not quite as exciting as some of the similar image-based A.I. lawsuits that have followed, in which artists have accused companies of stealing their work to train A.I. image generators. The coders have requested anonymity and their code would resemble gibberish for most of us. But frivolous?

Of course its not frivolous, said Sasha Luccioni, an A.I. researcher at Hugging Face, an A.I. company that recently released its own ChatGPT-like tool. Jason Schultz, the director of NYUs Technology Law and Policy Clinic, agreed. Its significant, he said, particularly given that just two weeks ago, a judge rejected OpenAI, GitHub, and Microsofts latest attempt to have key claims dismissed. Pamela Samuelson, a director of Berkeley Center for Law and Technology, who has been closely following the suit, said she wouldnt call the case strong. But neither would she hand-wave it as Altman seemed to.

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So why bring up this legal minutiae? Because the case is advancing more quickly than any of the ideas for A.I. that were discussed at the hearing, and it could affect how the stuff you have posted on the internet gets used to train A.I.

The frivolous case represents the first time that anyone has challenged A.I. companies ability to suck in and scrape all this content and monetize that and put it back out there in direct competition with them, said Joseph Saveri, one of plaintiffs lawyers. Though the open-source licenses did not require the coders to get paid for the code, it required them to get credit for it, he said. Its important for their career and for recognition, he said, suggesting that this is a widespread A.I. dynamic that will affect photographers, musicians, journalists, and more.

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Hes their lawyer. Of course he would say that. But Schultz, who has nothing to do with the case, offered a similar analysis. And even if you are inclined to agree with the folks who feel that Copilot benefits the average coder more than it hurts them (supposedly developers are now coding 55 percent faster), and that training A.I. on open-source code is not all that egregious, calling these coders concerns frivolous seems to contradict the idea that Altman and his $27 billion company care passionately about respecting who doesand does notwant to help train A.I.

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Part of the coders concerns as outlined in the complaint also focus on the fact that OpenAI, GitHub, and Microsoft were so cagey about what data was used to train the A.I., offering shifting accounts of the source and amount of the code or other data used to train and operate Copilot.

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This dynamic, too, seems likely to affect many of us, beyond this lawsuit. At the moment, we have no way of knowing what ChatGPT, OpenAIs image generator DALLE 2, or many other A.I. tools were trained on. Luccioni believes that companies are avoiding making training data public in part to avoid lawsuits or requests to remove it.

Its kind of like saying: You should feel free to request that a copy of your artwork is removed from this exhibition. But please understand that we cannot offer you a way to view the exhibition to figure out if your work was included.

Or to quote the 1990 Mel Gibson classic Air America: Users are like mushrooms; feed them shit and keep them in the dark, said Luccioni.
A barback, also known as a bartenders assistant, plays a vital role in the bar industry. They are the backbone of a bar, and their efficiency and hard work are key for smooth and efficient service. A barbacks job primarily involves assisting bartenders, ensuring the bar is stocked with liquor bottles, beer kegs, and other essentials, and keeping the bar area clean and organized.

Working in a fast-paced environment, like a bustling bar or restaurant, can be challenging. The barback position requires hard and soft skills, a keen eye for detail, and the ability to multitask efficiently. The barback responsibilities also include preparing garnishes, cleaning glasses, and making sure the bar is ready for the bar opening each day.

Key Duties and Responsibilities of a Barback

A detailed barback job description should cover the full range of barback duties and responsibilities, including stocking, cleaning, organizing, and preparation. Here are some of the primary duties and responsibilities of a barback:

Stocking

A barbacks day often starts with ensuring the bar is stocked with all the necessary items for service. This includes liquor bottles, beer kegs, wine, mixed drinks, and non-alcoholic beverages. They are also responsible for stocking bartending tools, bar equipment, and supplies like ice, glassware, garnishes, and more.

Cleaning and Organizing

Maintaining cleanliness is vital in the bar area. Barbacks keep the bar clean by wiping down surfaces, cleaning glasses, plate ware, and bar equipment, and removing empty glasses. Cleaning also extends to the service area, where barbacks assist in bussing tables and removing trash. In addition, they help organize the bar station, ensuring everything is in its place for efficient service.

Preparation

Barbacks play a crucial role in preparing the bar for service. They prepare garnishes for cocktails, restock glassware, and ensure that all supplies are available at a moments notice. On busy nights, this aspect of the job can be particularly challenging.

Inventory Management

Barbacks assist in managing inventory. This includes checking stock levels, identifying items that need to be ordered, and sometimes even assisting with inventory count.

The Skills of a Successful Barback

Hard Skills

A good barback must have a basic knowledge of the bar industry and a high school diploma. While no formal education beyond that is typically required, some establishments might prefer a barback with some level of experience in the service industry, specifically in the hospitality sector.

A barback should be familiar with POS (Point of Sale) systems and cash handling, as they sometimes help bartenders process payments. They should also have basic math skills for calculating change and sometimes even helping guests manage their tabs.

Knowledge of bar menu items, including cocktails and other drinks, is also necessary. Barbacks should also be capable of lifting heavy items, like beer kegs, and managing the physical demands of the job. Understanding safety and sanitation regulations is another essential hard skill for barbacks.

Soft Skills

Soft skills are equally important for a barback. Excellent customer service skills are paramount as barbacks often interact with customers, serve drinks, and assist in ensuring customer satisfaction. They also need strong communication skills to work effectively with co-workers, bartenders, and the bar manager.

Time management, multitasking, and attention to detail are crucial in a fast-paced environment like a bar. A great barback can switch tasks efficiently, often needing to support bartenders, serve customers, and restock supplies simultaneously.

Flexibility, adaptability, and the ability to work shift hours, including weekends and holidays, are also important. Barbacks should be prepared to work late hours, particularly on busy nights, as bars often have extended hours of operation.

Professionalism and a strong work ethic are essential in the hospitality industry. Barbacks should be dependable, with a focus on providing efficient service and ensuring the bars successful operation.

Learning and Development Opportunities for Barbacks

Starting as a barback can be a great entry point into the bar industry, especially for those interested in becoming a bartender. Many barbacks use the position as a stepping stone, learning valuable skills and gaining experience on the job.

Training often happens on the job, with new barbacks learning from more experienced staff members, including bartenders and the bar manager. A good bar manager will often mentor barbacks, helping them learn the ropes and develop their skills.

Barbacks learn how to mix drinks, serve alcohol responsibly, handle customers, manage crowds, and much more. They also learn the importance of teamwork in a fast-paced environment and how to handle the pressures of a busy night while maintaining excellent customer service.

Barback Salary and Tips

A barbacks salary can vary based on factors like location, the size and type of the establishment, and the individuals experience. However, in addition to their average salary, barbacks often receive a share of tips. The barback tip can significantly supplement their income, particularly in busier establishments.

Key Traits of a Good Barback Candidate

When hiring for a barback position, employers should look for candidates who are eager to learn, hardworking, and efficient. A successful barback is dependable, able to manage their time well, and comfortable working in a team in a fast-paced environment.

Physical stamina is also important, as the barback job can be demanding, particularly on busy nights. Barbacks are often required to lift kegs, stock heavy boxes, and be on their feet for extended periods.

See Also: 10 Tips for Honing Essential Entrepreneurial Skills

Candidates should also demonstrate a basic understanding of the bar industry, including knowledge of different alcoholic beverages and bar menu items. Additionally, good problem-solving skills can be a strong asset, allowing the barback to quickly adapt and respond to issues that can arise in a busy bar environment.

A great barback should be at least the minimum age to serve alcohol, as defined by local regulations. They should also have a focus on customer satisfaction, and the ability to assist bartenders and other staff members in providing an outstanding customer experience.

Crafting a Great Barback Job Description

When creating a barback job description template, its essential to clearly outline the barback duties and responsibilities. Candidates should understand what the job entails, including the need to assist bartenders, keep the bar stocked, and maintain cleanliness behind the bar.

The job description should also include the skills and qualifications required, like a high school diploma, physical stamina, and basic knowledge of the bar industry. It can also be beneficial to mention the potential for learning and development within the role, and the opportunity to progress in the bar industry.

Job Description Template 1:

Job Description: Barback

Location: [City, State]

Company: [Company Name]

About Us: [Company Name] is a vibrant and thriving small business in the hospitality industry. We pride ourselves on delivering exceptional customer experiences through our top-notch service and carefully crafted beverages. As we continue to grow, we are looking for dedicated and energetic individuals to join our team as Barbacks. If you have a passion for the bar industry and thrive in a fast-paced environment, we would love to hear from you.

Job Description: As a Barback at [Company Name], you will play a crucial role in supporting our bartenders and ensuring a smooth operation of our bar area. You will assist in stocking supplies, maintaining cleanliness, and providing excellent customer service to our patrons. The ideal candidate is hardworking, reliable, and has a strong attention to detail.

Responsibilities:

Assist bartenders in preparing and serving beverages to customers.

Stock bar supplies, including glassware, liquor, mixers, and garnishes.

Ensure the bar area is clean, organized, and properly stocked at all times.

Collect and wash glassware and utensils, ensuring their cleanliness and readiness for use.

Monitor and replenish bar inventory throughout the shift.

Assist in setting up and breaking down the bar area before and after service.

Provide exceptional customer service by promptly addressing customer needs and requests.

Maintain a clean and sanitary work environment, following health and safety guidelines.

Collaborate with bartenders and other team members to create a positive and efficient work atmosphere.

Qualifications:

Prior experience as a Barback or in a similar role is preferred but not required.

Ability to work in a fast-paced and high-pressure environment.

Strong physical stamina, as the role involves lifting and carrying heavy items.

Excellent communication and teamwork skills.

Attention to detail and ability to multitask.

Availability to work flexible hours, including evenings, weekends, and holidays.

Benefits:

Competitive hourly wage, with opportunities for tips and advancement.

A fun and dynamic work environment.

Opportunities for professional growth and development.

To Apply:

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

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

Job Description Template 2:

Job Description: Barback

Location: [City, State]

Company: [Company Name]

About Us: [Company Name] is a small, lively establishment known for its exceptional service and vibrant atmosphere. We take pride in our craft cocktails and unique beverages that keep our customers coming back for more. As we continue to expand, we are seeking dedicated and enthusiastic individuals to join our team as Barbacks. If you have a passion for the bar industry and enjoy working in a fast-paced environment, we invite you to apply.

Job Description: As a Barback at [Company Name], you will be an integral part of our bar team, supporting the bartenders and ensuring a seamless operation. You will assist in stocking supplies, maintaining cleanliness, and providing excellent customer service. The ideal candidate is reliable, detail-oriented, and thrives in a team-oriented environment.

Responsibilities:

Assist bartenders in preparing and serving beverages to customers.

Maintain cleanliness and organization of the bar area, including wiping surfaces, sweeping, and emptying trash.

Restock bar supplies, including glassware, liquor, mixers, and garnishes.

Ensure proper storage and rotation of perishable items.

Collect and wash glassware, utensils, and bar tools.

Assist with the setup and breakdown of the bar area before and after service.

Respond promptly to customer requests and provide exceptional service.

Adhere to health and safety regulations and maintain a clean and safe work environment.

Collaborate with bartenders and other team members to create a positive and efficient work atmosphere.

Qualifications:

Prior experience as a Barback or in a similar role is preferred but not required.

Knowledge of basic bar operations and terminology.

Strong attention to detail and organizational skills.

Ability to work in a fast-paced and high-energy environment.

Excellent communication and teamwork skills.

Physical stamina to lift and carry heavy items and stand for extended periods.

Availability to work evenings, weekends, and holidays.

Benefits:

Competitive hourly wage, with opportunities for tips and growth.

A lively and engaging work environment.

Opportunities for professional development and advancement.

To Apply:

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

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

Job Description Template 3:

Job Description: Barback

Location: [City, State]

Company: [Company Name]

About Us: [Company Name] is a small business that prides itself on delivering exceptional service and creating memorable experiences for our patrons. Our bar team is known for its creativity and passion for crafting delicious cocktails. As we continue to grow, we are seeking enthusiastic individuals to join us as Barbacks. If you have a strong work ethic, a keen eye for detail, and enjoy working in a dynamic environment, we invite you to apply.

Job Description: As a Barback at [Company Name], you will provide crucial support to our bartenders and contribute to the overall success of our bar operations. You will assist with stocking supplies, maintaining cleanliness, and ensuring that our guests have a seamless and enjoyable experience. The ideal candidate is motivated, adaptable, and possesses a positive attitude.

Responsibilities:

Assist bartenders in preparing and serving beverages to guests.

Stock and replenish bar supplies, including glassware, liquor, mixers, and garnishes.

Maintain cleanliness and organization of the bar area, including cleaning surfaces, sanitizing equipment, and removing empty glasses.

Collect and wash glassware, utensils, and bar tools.

Assist with the setup and breakdown of the bar area before and after service.

Respond to customer requests and inquiries, providing friendly and efficient service.

Monitor inventory levels and communicate any shortages to the appropriate team members.

Adhere to health and safety regulations, ensuring a clean and safe work environment.

Collaborate with the bar team to maintain a positive and harmonious work atmosphere.

Qualifications:

Prior experience as a Barback or in a similar role is preferred but not required.

Basic knowledge of bar operations and beverage preparation.

Excellent organizational and multitasking skills.

Ability to thrive in a fast-paced and high-energy environment.

Strong communication and teamwork abilities.

Physical stamina to lift and carry heavy items and stand for extended periods.

Flexibility to work evenings, weekends, and holidays as needed.

Benefits:

Competitive hourly wage, with opportunities for growth and advancement.

A vibrant and inclusive work environment.

Opportunities for training and professional development.

To Apply:

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

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

Job Description Template 4:

Job Description: Barback

Location: [City, State]

Company: [Company Name]

About Us: [Company Name] is a thriving small business known for its vibrant atmosphere and exceptional customer service. We take pride in offering a wide range of beverages and creating memorable experiences for our patrons. As we continue to grow, we are seeking enthusiastic and dedicated individuals to join our team as Barbacks. If you have a passion for the bar industry and enjoy providing top-notch service, we would love to hear from you.

Job Description: As a Barback at [Company Name], you will play a crucial role in supporting our bartenders and ensuring the smooth operation of our bar area. Your responsibilities will include stocking supplies, maintaining cleanliness, and assisting with customer service. The ideal candidate is energetic, detail-oriented, and works well in a fast-paced environment.

Responsibilities:

Assist bartenders in preparing and serving beverages to customers.

Stock and organize bar supplies, including glassware, liquor, mixers, and garnishes.

Maintain cleanliness and orderliness of the bar area, including wiping surfaces, clearing tables, and emptying trash.

Collect and wash glassware and utensils, ensuring their cleanliness and readiness for use.

Restock inventory throughout the shift to ensure smooth operations.

Assist in setting up and breaking down the bar area before and after service.

Provide friendly and efficient customer service, attending to customer needs and inquiries.

Adhere to health and safety regulations, ensuring a clean and safe work environment.

Collaborate with bartenders and other team members to maintain a positive and cohesive work environment.

Qualifications:

Previous experience as a Barback or in a similar role is a plus, but not required.

Basic knowledge of bar operations and beverage preparation.

Strong attention to detail and organizational skills.

Ability to thrive in a fast-paced and high-energy environment.

Excellent communication and teamwork abilities.

Physical stamina to lift and carry heavy items and stand for extended periods.

Availability to work evenings, weekends, and holidays.

Benefits:

Competitive hourly wage, with opportunities for tips and advancement.

A lively and engaging work atmosphere.

Opportunities for professional development and growth.

To Apply:

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

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

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a barback?

A barback, also known as a bartenders assistant, supports the bartenders by keeping the bar stocked with liquor bottles, beer kegs, and other essentials. They also maintain cleanliness and organization in the bar area.

What are the duties and responsibilities of a barback?

Barback duties and responsibilities include stocking the bar with necessary items, maintaining cleanliness, organizing the bar station, preparing garnishes, and assisting in inventory management. They also assist bartenders and sometimes help process payments.

What skills does a successful barback need?

A successful barback needs a mix of hard and soft skills. They should have basic knowledge of the bar industry and be familiar with POS systems and cash handling. They also need excellent customer service skills, strong communication skills, and the ability to multitask in a fast-paced environment.

How does a barback learn and develop on the job?

Training for barbacks often happens on the job. They learn valuable skills from more experienced staff members, including bartenders and the bar manager. The position offers a great entry point into the bar industry, especially for those interested in becoming a bartender.

How much does a barback earn?

A barbacks salary can vary based on factors like location, the size and type of the establishment, and their experience. In addition to their average salary, barbacks often receive a share of tips, which can significantly supplement their income.

What should be included in a barback job description?

A great barback job description should clearly outline the duties and responsibilities of the role. It should also include the skills and qualifications required, like a high school diploma, physical stamina, and basic knowledge of the bar industry. It can also mention the potential for learning and development within the role.
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The Google Pixel 5 unlocked is a great option for professionals who need a high-quality smartphone with various features. As a small business owner, freelancer, or entrepreneur, you need the latest features to run your enterprise effectively. Choosing the right device can positively impact your productivity and overall success.

A high-quality smartphone allows you to stay connected with your clients, manage your schedule, and access essential business tools and resources. The Google Pixel 5 unlocked is a powerful and versatile smartphone that can help streamline your daily tasks and improve your overall productivity. This guide goes into the world of the unlocked Google Pixel 5 and explores the benefits it offers for your business.

Google Pixel 5 Unlocked Overview

The Google Pixel 5 Unlocked is a flagship smartphone from Google that offers top-of-the-line features and specifications. With a sleek design, powerful processor, impressive camera, and an array of useful features, the Google Pixel 5 Unlocked is an ideal choice for professionals who demand the best from their devices.

Unlocked Google Pixel 5 128GB

Top Pick: This unlocked Google Pixel 5 128GB is a refurbished phone, making it much more affordable. It still has all the features that make the Pixel one of the best Android phones, including its famous camera and image software.

Features:

Brand: Google

Model Name: Pixel 5

Wireless Carrier: Unlocked

Operating System: Android 11.0

Cellular Technology: LTE, GSM, WCDMA, UMTS

Memory Storage Capacity: 128 GB

Connectivity Technologies: Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, USB, NFC

Color: Just Black

Screen Size: 6 Inches

Wireless Network Technology: Wi-Fi

Pros:

Refurbished and fully functional

Excellent condition with no visible cosmetic damage

Comes with a SIM removal tool, a charger, and a charging cable

90-day Amazon Renewed Guarantee for added peace of mind

5G capable for faster download and streaming speed

Cons:

Accessories may not be original

Product may come in a generic box

Refurbished phones are not guaranteed to maintain their waterproof seal

Headphones and SIM card are not included

This unlocked Google Pixel 5 has been professionally inspected, tested, and cleaned to be fully functional and in excellent condition. This phone comes with a 90-day Amazon Renewed Guarantee and a battery exceeding 80% capacity relative to the new. The product is eligible for a replacement or refund within 90 days of receipt if it does not work as expected.

Unlocked Google Pixel 5 128GB

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Google Pixel 5  5G Android Phone

Runner Up: The version of the Google Pixel 5 has 5G capabilities, giving you an extra speed boost for downloading movies in seconds, streaming ultra-clear HD content, playing games, and sharing your 5G speed with friends. And because it is unlocked, it can be used with a range of carriers, including T-Mobile, Sprint, AT&T, Verizon, and other major carriers. This phone boasts

Features:

Brand: Google

Model Name: Google Pixel 5

Wireless Carrier: Unlocked

Operating System: Android 11.0

Cellular Technology: 5G

Memory Storage Capacity: 128 GB

Connectivity Technologies: Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, NFC

Color: Just Black

Screen Size: 6 Inches

Wireless Network Technology: Wi-Fi, LTE

Pros:

5G capable for faster download and streaming speed

All-day battery life that can last up to 48 hours with Extreme Battery Saver

Automatic updates for at least 3 years, including the latest OS and security updates

Water-resistant and can be submerged in 1.5 meters of fresh water for 30 minutes

Night Sight feature allows for vibrant photos in low light conditions

Cons:

Accessories may not be included

May not be compatible with all carriers

No expandable storage options

Some users have reported issues with the phones touch screen responsiveness

The other features of this Google Pixel 5 include all-day battery life, automatic updates, and water-resistant. While it may not come with accessories and has some touchscreen responsiveness issues, it is still a reliable choice for small business owners.

Google Pixel 5  5G Android Phone

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Google Pixel 5 5G 128GB 8GB RAM

Best Value: The best value goes to the Google Pixel 5 5G 128GB 8GB RAM. This phone boasts 5G capabilities and runs on Android 11, with an upgradable option to Android 12. It is unlocked for all carriers, allowing for flexible use with GSM service providers like AT&T, T-Mobile, and MetroPCS.

See Also: 4 Essential Business Overdraft Tips for Small Business Owners

Features:

Wireless Carrier: Unlocked for All Carriers

Operating System: Android

Cellular Technology: 5G

Memory Storage Capacity: 128 GB

RAM: 8GB

Connectivity Technologies: Wi-Fi

Screen Size: 6 Inches

Wireless Network Technology: GSM, CDMA

SIM card slot count: Single SIM

Pros:

Unlocked for all carriers, providing flexibility in use

5G capable for faster download and streaming speed

Large 128GB storage capacity and 8GB RAM for smooth performance

Corning Gorilla Glass 6 protection for added durability

Runs on the latest Android operating system, with an upgradable option to Android 12

Cons:

International version with no warranty

Not compatible with CDMA service providers like Verizon or Sprint

May not come with all necessary accessories

May have limited customer support options

While it may be an international version with limited customer support and not compatible with CDMA service providers, it is still a reliable choice for small business owners. This phone comes with a 90-day Amazon Renewed Guarantee and a battery exceeding 80% capacity relative to the new. The product is eligible for a replacement or refund within 90 days of receipt if it does not work as expected.

Google Pixel 5 5G 128GB 8GB RAM

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Google Pixel 5A 5G 128GB 6GB RAM Factory Unlocked

The Google Pixel 5A 5G 128GB 6GB RAM is a factory-unlocked smartphone designed to work with T-Mobile, AT&T, MetroPCS, and other GSM service providers. This device features 5G capabilities, allowing for faster download and streaming speeds, and runs on Android 11.0.

Features:

Brand: Google

Model Name: Pixel 5A

Wireless Carrier: T-Mobile

Operating System: Android 11.0

Cellular Technology: 5G, 2G, EVDO, LTE, HSPA

Memory Storage Capacity: 128 GB

RAM: 6GB

Connectivity Technologies: Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, USB, NFC

Color: Black

Screen Size: 6.3 Inches

Wireless Network Technology: GSM, LTE

Pros:

Factory unlocked for use with various GSM service providers

Large 128GB storage capacity and 6GB RAM for smooth performance

5G capabilities for faster download and streaming speeds

Features a high-quality camera with dual-pixel autofocus

Large 4680 mAh battery for extended use

Cons:

International version with no warranty

Not compatible with CDMA service providers like Verizon or Sprint

May not come with all necessary accessories

Limited customer support options

This is a reliable choice for small business owners. This unlocked Google Pixel 5 has been professionally inspected, tested, and cleaned to be fully functional and in excellent condition. This phone has a 90-day Amazon Renewed Guarantee and a battery exceeding 80% capacity relative to the new. The product is eligible for a replacement or refund within 90 days of receipt if it does not work as expected.

Google Pixel 5A 5G 128GB 6GB RAM Factory Unlocked

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Google Pixel 5a with 5G (128GB, 6GB) 6.34 OLED

The Google Pixel 5a with 5G is a high-end smartphone that comes with the latest technology and features. It is unlocked for all carriers, so you can choose the data plan that works best for your business. The phone has a large 6.34 OLED screen that provides clear and vibrant images. It runs on Android 11, which is upgradable to Android 12, and has a long-lasting 4680mAh battery.

Key Features:

128GB ROM, 6GB RAM, Qualcomm SM7250 Snapdragon 765G 5G (7 nm), Octa-core, Adreno 620

Rear Camera: 12.2 MP, f/1.7 + 16 MP, f/2.2, Front Camera: 8 MP, f/2.0, Bluetooth 5.0

2G: GSM 850/900/1800/1900, CDMA 800/1900, 3G: HSDPA 850/900/1700(AWS)/1900/2100, CDMA2000 1xEV-DO, 4G LTE: 1/2/3/4/5/7/8/12/13/14/17/18/19/20/25/26/28/29/30/32/38/39/40/41/42/46/48/66/71, 5G: 1/2/5/12/25/28/41/66/71/77/78 SA/NSA/Sub6  Single SIM

US model, the warranty, if any, will be honored by the manufacturer

Pros:

Large OLED screen with HDR technology for better image quality

5G capability for faster download and upload speeds

Long-lasting battery life for all-day use

Dual rear camera setup for better photography options

Unlocked for all carriers, providing more flexibility

Cons:

No expandable storage options

No wireless charging

No IP rating for water and dust resistance

No headphone jack

Overall, the Google Pixel 5a with 5G is a top-of-the-line smartphone with impressive performance, features, and flexibility. It is a great choice for small business owners who need a reliable and high-quality phone for their daily operations.

Google Pixel 5a with 5G (128GB, 6GB) 6.34 OLED

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How It Stands Out Among Competitors

The Google Pixel 5 Unlocked stands out from the competition due to its combination of high-end specifications, clean software experience, and excellent camera capabilities. The Pixel 5 is known for its exceptional photography performance, with Googles advanced image processing software delivering stunning results in various lighting conditions. Additionally, the Pixel 5 is one of the few smartphones on the market that offers a stock Android experience, ensuring smooth performance and timely software updates.

Why Choose an Unlocked Google Pixel 5

There are several reasons why an unlocked Google Pixel 5 is a smart choice for small business owners, freelancers, and entrepreneurs. Here are some of the benefits of choosing an unlocked smartphone:

Benefits of an Unlocked Smartphone

Network Flexibility : With an unlocked Google Pixel 5, you can choose any carrier that supports the device, giving you the freedom to select the best network coverage and pricing for your needs. You can also switch carriers easily without having to purchase a new phone.

: With an unlocked Google Pixel 5, you can choose any carrier that supports the device, giving you the freedom to select the best network coverage and pricing for your needs. You can also switch carriers easily without having to purchase a new phone. Cost Savings : Unlocked smartphones often have lower monthly fees, as youre not locked into a specific carriers contract. This can result in significant savings over time, especially for small business owners who need multiple devices for their team.

: Unlocked smartphones often have lower monthly fees, as youre not locked into a specific carriers contract. This can result in significant savings over time, especially for small business owners who need multiple devices for their team. International Travel : Unlocked smartphones can be used with local SIM cards while traveling internationally, potentially saving you money on roaming fees and ensuring you stay connected while abroad.

: Unlocked smartphones can be used with local SIM cards while traveling internationally, potentially saving you money on roaming fees and ensuring you stay connected while abroad. Higher Resale Value: Unlocked smartphones tend to have a higher resale value, as they can be used with any carrier. This can be advantageous if you plan to upgrade your device in the future.

Network Compatibility

Before purchasing an unlocked Google Pixel 5, its essential to ensure that its compatible with your preferred carriers network. The Google Pixel 5 supports a wide range of carriers, including major ones like Verizon, T-Mobile, and AT&T, as well as smaller carriers and MVNOs (Mobile Virtual Network Operators). Here are some tips for choosing the right network for your unlocked Google Pixel 5:

Research Carrier Coverage : Check coverage maps to ensure that your desired carrier offers reliable service in your area. Keep in mind that coverage can vary depending on factors like building density and geographical obstacles.

: Check coverage maps to ensure that your desired carrier offers reliable service in your area. Keep in mind that coverage can vary depending on factors like building density and geographical obstacles. Compare Pricing and Plans : Examine the plans and pricing offered by various carriers to find the best fit for your budget and usage requirements. Be sure to consider factors like data allotments, international roaming, and potential discounts for bundling services or adding multiple lines.

: Examine the plans and pricing offered by various carriers to find the best fit for your budget and usage requirements. Be sure to consider factors like data allotments, international roaming, and potential discounts for bundling services or adding multiple lines. Confirm Device Compatibility: While the unlocked Google Pixel 5 is designed to work with a wide range of carriers, its essential to double-check that its compatible with the carrier youre considering. You can usually find this information on the carriers website or by contacting their customer support.

Performance and Speed

A powerful and fast smartphone is of great help to small business owners, freelancers, and entrepreneurs who need to multitask and stay connected on the go. The Google Pixel 5 Unlocked features a Qualcomm Snapdragon 765G processor and 8GB of RAM, ensuring smooth performance and quick app loading times.

The Snapdragon 765G is a powerful mid-range processor that delivers excellent performance for everyday tasks, such as browsing the web, checking emails, and running various productivity apps. While it may not be the fastest processor on the market, it offers a great balance of performance and efficiency, ensuring that your Google Pixel 5 Unlocked can handle your daily tasks without breaking a sweat.

Display and Design

The Google Pixel 5 Unlocked features a 6.0-inch Full HD+ OLED display with a resolution of 2340 x 1080 pixels, offering sharp and vibrant visuals for an enjoyable viewing experience. The display is also HDR10+ compatible, providing improved contrast and color accuracy when watching HDR content.

In terms of design, the Google Pixel 5 Unlocked has a sleek and modern look, with a minimalist aesthetic and a premium build quality. The device features a metal unibody construction with a matte finish, providing a comfortable grip and a durable design that can withstand the rigors of daily use. The IP68 water and dust resistance rating adds an extra layer of protection, ensuring your smartphone can survive accidental spills and splashes.

Camera Capabilities

One of the standout features of the Google Pixel 5 Unlocked is its impressive camera system. The device boasts a dual rear camera setup, consisting of a 12.2MP primary sensor and a 16MP ultrawide lens. The primary sensor is equipped with Googles advanced image processing software, which delivers stunning results in various lighting conditions. The ultrawide lens allows you to capture more of the scene in a single shot, making it ideal for landscape photography or group photos.

The Google Pixel 5s camera is not only great for personal use but can also be a valuable tool for your business. You can use the high-quality camera to capture images for your website, social media, or marketing materials. The Pixel 5 also offers various camera features that can benefit your business, such as Night Sight for low-light photography, Portrait Mode for professional-looking headshots, and Google Lens for real-time image recognition and information retrieval.

Battery Life and Charging

Battery life is a critical consideration for any smartphone user, but its especially important for small business owners, freelancers, and entrepreneurs who rely on their devices to stay connected and productive throughout the day. The Google Pixel 5 Unlocked features a 4,080mAh battery, providing all-day battery life for most users. The device also supports fast charging, quickly boosting your battery when youre short on time.

One of the standout features of the Google Pixel 5 Unlocked is its support for wireless charging. This means you can charge your device wirelessly using a compatible wireless charger, eliminating the need to fumble with cables and connectors. The Google Pixel 5 can also charge wirelessly at an impressive speed, so you dont have to wait too long for your battery to recharge.

In addition to wireless charging, the Google Pixel 5 Unlocked also supports reverse wireless charging, a feature known as Battery Share. This allows you to use your Pixel 5 to charge other Qi-compatible devices, such as wireless earbuds or another smartphone, making it a convenient power source when youre on the go.

Security and Privacy Features

Keeping your sensitive data and communications secure is important as a small business owner, freelancer, or entrepreneur. The Google Pixel 5 Unlocked offers several security features to protect your information and ensure privacy.

One such feature is the fingerprint sensor located on the back of the device. This allows you to unlock your smartphone quickly and securely using your unique fingerprint, ensuring that only authorized users can access your device.

The Google Pixel 5 Unlocked also runs on a stock Android operating system, which means it receives timely security updates directly from Google. This ensures that your device stays up-to-date with the latest security patches and bug fixes, helping to keep your data safe from potential threats.

Additionally, the Google Pixel 5 offers a range of privacy features, such as the ability to control app permissions, built-in VPN support, and the option to use incognito mode in various Google apps.

Accessories and Productivity Enhancements

To get the most out of your Google Pixel 5 Unlocked, you might want to consider investing in some accessories and productivity-enhancing tools. These can help you maximize your devices capabilities and streamline your daily tasks.

Some popular accessories for the Google Pixel 5 Unlocked include:

Wireless Charger : A compatible wireless charger allows you to charge your Pixel 5 quickly and conveniently, without the need for cables.

: A compatible wireless charger allows you to charge your Pixel 5 quickly and conveniently, without the need for cables. Protective Case : A sturdy case can help protect your Google Pixel 5 from accidental drops, scratches, and other forms of damage.

: A sturdy case can help protect your Google Pixel 5 from accidental drops, scratches, and other forms of damage. Screen Protector : A high-quality screen protector can help prevent scratches and cracks on your devices display, ensuring it stays in pristine condition.

: A high-quality screen protector can help prevent scratches and cracks on your devices display, ensuring it stays in pristine condition. Bluetooth Keyboard: A portable Bluetooth keyboard can turn your Google Pixel 5 into a mini workstation, allowing you to type more efficiently and comfortably when responding to emails or working on documents.

Pricing and Where to Buy

The Google Pixel 5 Unlocked is priced competitively, offering excellent value for the features and specifications it provides. You can purchase the device directly from Googles online store, as well as from various authorized retailers and e-commerce platforms such as Amazon, Best Buy, and Walmart.

When purchasing your Google Pixel 5 Unlocked, be sure to double-check that youre buying the unlocked version of the device, rather than a carrier-specific model. The unlocked variant will offer the network flexibility and benefits weve discussed earlier in this guide.

Alternatives to the Google Pixel 5 Unlocked

While the Google Pixel 5 Unlocked is an excellent choice for small business owners, freelancers, and entrepreneurs, its always a good idea to consider other options before making a final decision. Some popular alternatives to the Pixel 5 include:

Samsung Galaxy S21 : A high-end Android smartphone with a powerful processor, impressive camera system, and a range of productivity-enhancing features.

: A high-end Android smartphone with a powerful processor, impressive camera system, and a range of productivity-enhancing features. Apple iPhone 12 : A popular choice among professionals, the iPhone 12 offers a powerful processor, a top-notch camera, and seamless integration with Apples ecosystem of apps and services.

: A popular choice among professionals, the iPhone 12 offers a powerful processor, a top-notch camera, and seamless integration with Apples ecosystem of apps and services. OnePlus 8T : This device features a high-refresh-rate display, a powerful processor, and a versatile camera system, making it a solid option for professionals seeking a high-performance Android smartphone.

: This device features a high-refresh-rate display, a powerful processor, and a versatile camera system, making it a solid option for professionals seeking a high-performance Android smartphone. Google Pixel 4a: For those on a tighter budget, the Pixel 4a offers many of the same benefits as the Pixel 5, such as an excellent camera and stock Android experience, but at a more affordable price point.

When evaluating these alternatives, consider factors like performance, camera capabilities, battery life, and overall user experience, as well as your personal preferences and budget constraints.

Google Pixel 5 Unlocked: Testimonials and User Experiences

To get a better understanding of what the Google Pixel 5 Unlocked has to offer, its helpful to read testimonials and user experiences from real people who have used the device. Many small business owners, freelancers, and entrepreneurs have praised the Pixel 5 for its:

Impressive camera capabilities, which can be used for professional photography or marketing materials.

Smooth performance and fast app loading times, enabling efficient multitasking.

Timely software updates, ensuring the device remains secure and up-to-date.

Network flexibility, allowing users to switch carriers easily or use local SIM cards while traveling internationally.

All-day battery life and convenient wireless charging features.

Is the Google Pixel 5 Unlocked Right for You?

The Google Pixel 5 Unlocked is an excellent smartphone for small business owners, freelancers, and entrepreneurs who value network flexibility, a powerful camera, and a device that receives timely software updates. With its sleek design, impressive performance, and range of productivity-enhancing features, the Google Pixel 5 Unlocked is a strong contender for those seeking a reliable and efficient smartphone to support their business needs.

However, its essential to weigh the pros and cons of the Pixel 5 Unlocked and consider alternative options before making your final decision. Factors like your budget, personal preferences, and specific business requirements will play an important role in determining the best smartphone for your needs. By taking the time to research and compare different devices, you can make an informed choice that will help you stay connected and productive in todays fast-paced business world.

Despite these potential drawbacks, many small business owners, freelancers, and entrepreneurs find that the benefits of using an unlocked smartphone, such as the Google Pixel 5 Unlocked, outweigh the disadvantages.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Q1: What is the difference between the Google Pixel 5 and the Google Pixel 5 Unlocked?

The primary difference between the Google Pixel 5 and the Google Pixel 5 Unlocked is that the unlocked variant is not tied to a specific carrier. This means you can use the unlocked Pixel 5 with any carrier that supports the device, giving you greater flexibility in choosing a network and plan that suits your needs.

Q2: Is the Google Pixel 5 Unlocked compatible with all SIM card sizes?

The Google Pixel 5 Unlocked uses a nano-SIM card, which is the smallest SIM card size available. Most carriers can provide you with a nano-SIM card, or you can cut your existing SIM card down to size using a SIM card cutter.

Q3: Will my existing phone plan work with the Google Pixel 5 Unlocked?

In most cases, your existing phone plan should be compatible with the Google Pixel 5 Unlocked, as long as the device supports your carriers network. Its essential to double-check with your carrier to confirm compatibility before purchasing the device.

Q4: How can I transfer my data from my old device to my new Google Pixel 5 Unlocked?

Google offers a data transfer tool called the Google Pixel Transfer Tool, which makes it easy to transfer your data, including contacts, messages, photos, and apps, from your old device to your new Google Pixel 5 Unlocked. The tool supports transfers from both Android and iOS devices.

Q5: What kind of warranty does the Google Pixel 5 Unlocked come with?

The Google Pixel 5 Unlocked comes with a standard one-year limited warranty, which covers manufacturing defects and hardware issues. This warranty does not cover accidental damage or issues resulting from unauthorized modifications or repairs.

Q6: How long will my Google Pixel 5 Unlocked receive software updates?

Google typically provides software updates for its Pixel devices for a minimum of three years from the devices release date. This includes both major Android version updates and monthly security patches, ensuring your device stays up-to-date and secure.

Q7: Are there any drawbacks to using an unlocked smartphone?

While there are many benefits to using an unlocked smartphone, there can be some potential drawbacks as well. These may include:

Limited Carrier-Specific Features : Unlocked smartphones may not support some carrier-specific features, such as Wi-Fi calling or visual voicemail. Its essential to check with your carrier to determine which features will be available with an unlocked device.

: Unlocked smartphones may not support some carrier-specific features, such as Wi-Fi calling or visual voicemail. Its essential to check with your carrier to determine which features will be available with an unlocked device. Potentially Slower Network Support : In some cases, unlocked smartphones may receive slower network support from carriers compared to carrier-branded devices. This is because carriers prioritize their branded devices when rolling out network updates and improvements.

: In some cases, unlocked smartphones may receive slower network support from carriers compared to carrier-branded devices. This is because carriers prioritize their branded devices when rolling out network updates and improvements. Higher Upfront Cost: Unlocked smartphones often come with a higher upfront cost compared to their carrier-locked counterparts. However, this higher initial cost is often offset by the flexibility and potential savings offered by an unlocked device in the long run.

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This story began over 70 years ago on a tropical island that was blessed with natural beauty, a dynamic multiracial population and a vibrant, Afro-Spanish culture but also cursed by racial and economic tension, political corruption, and a northern neighbor that often tried to control and exploit it.

It is the tale of a young man from the provinces, the 10th of 12 children, who like his older brothers, left his rural homeland to find his fortune in the islands political and economic capital. Though he did not find his fortune he made a career in his countrys tourist industry, then in its heyday. He worked in a hotel famous as a place where a well-known northern author stayed and drank and wrote. The young man catered to visitors from the north, who sought pleasures that were forbidden back in their homeland. Some of those visitors became his friends.

After two years in the capital the young man met a young woman, 10 years his junior, who was the youngest of seven children. However, unlike the young mans family, which lived on the island for generations, the young woman, native born, was the daughter of immigrants. Her father was a stern, imperious German architect from Bavaria and her mother was a pious, maternal Spanish housewife from the Canary Islands. Though differences in age and background and personality might have kept our two young people apart, their love eventually solved their differences and brought them together.

This was a time of political turmoil on the island, when a brutal military officer seized power from a corrupt civilian government and when charismatic rebel leaders pushed the island to the brink of revolution. But all this did not bother our young couple, which like many others did not care much for politics. The two got married and traveled north for their honeymoon, staying in a beach front hotel on an already famous southern beach. There, I am convinced, they conceived their first child, who was destined to live most of his 70 years in that part of the world. Meanwhile, his future parents returned to the island, where they settled in a working-class neighborhood located on the outskirts of the capital. There, on May 6, 1953, the woman gave birth to the couples first born  a boy  at 5 a.m. So began his story, a tale of revolution, exile, and a family whose son dared to disagree with them in so many ways. His is a long story, one that I am now willing to tell.

Jesse Monteagudo is a freelance writer and journalist. He has been an active member of South Florida's LGBT community for more than four decades and has served in various community organizations.
Standing at nearly 14 feet tall and covered with 6,500 pieces of bright blue glass, a new Instagrammable moment has made its way to the Island City.

Hunt Slonems Thunderbunny is on loan from the artist by way of the New River Fine Art in Fort Lauderdale and will reside at Justin Flippen Park for the next year.

This sculpture, born from an early mosaic piece I created for a West Palm Beach building, has been years in the making, with its Floridian origins lending it a profound connection, Slonem said in a statement. I'm thrilled by the perfect fit my work finds in Florida, and the sheer ecstasy I feel knowing it will grace Wilton Manors in monumental scale.

Lisa Burgess, president and founder of New River Fine Art, explained that Thunderbunny first made its way down to South Florida for the Palm Beach Modern + Contemporary art fair in 2022. When she discovered that it wasnt immediately needed by the artist until Spring 2024, she asked Slonem if he would agree to loan it to Wilton Manors. The world renowned artist enthusiastically agreed, and after the OK from the Wilton Manors City Commission, New River Fine Art and Art Gallery 21 helped put up funds to support the display.

I was very excited because I couldnt think of a better place for it to go, Burgess said.

She explained that the main thoroughfare at Five Points would give Thunderbunny great visibility, and she was also impressed with the citys efforts to expand its public art. Around town, one can partake in the Sculpture Walk, including melting popsicles, oversized orange slices, candy hearts, and countless other pieces to enjoy.

Slonem is an American artist known for his paintings of butterflies, bunnies and tropical birds; his work has been on display in more than 250 museum exhibitions as well as 60 permanent collections, including the lauded Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.

I just smile every time I look at it, Burgess said of Thunderbunny. We want it to bring culture, happiness and joy to anybody who sees it. Thats one of the purposes of public art.

And with a concrete pad now in place at the park, she hopes it opens opportunities for more public art to be on display there.

An official unveiling ceremony for Thunderbunny is planned for the future; a date has not yet been announced. In the meantime, visitors are encouraged to take a photo with Thunderbunny and include the hashtag #thunderbunnyWiltonManors when sharing on social media.


The marginalization and segregation of Roma communities will require generations to overcome and every step forward is an important one.

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After living in Slovakia for eight months, and having traveled across this beautiful country multiple times, I am firmly convinced that the Roma minority is Slovakias greatest source of untapped potential.

The social, economic, and political inclusion of the Roma community is not just a moral imperative, it will make Slovakia stronger. Research from across the world demonstrates conclusively that inclusive societies are more resilient and economically stronger. The United States is the worlds greatest example of this phenomenon, and my personal story exemplifies the power of opportunity. As an immigrant from India to the United States and a person living with a disability, I have had access to educational and employment opportunities that have supported my career in public service. My achievements were possible because the society I lived in promoted my dreams. I believe the same is possible for the Roma community here.

Slovakia has already benefitted from the power of inclusion welcoming tens of thousands of refugees from Ukraine fleeing Russias war of aggression. Today more than 15,000 Ukrainian citizens are employed across Slovakia, helping improve the lives of Slovak citizens and contributing, according to a government report, at least 0.2 percent to Slovakias GDP for the foreseeable future. Imagine the possibilities then if Slovakia were to fully integrate the Roma population into its educational and employment systems.

Solutions exist

Though the United States is a testament to what is possible, I know from our own experience that the journey is not easy and never fully complete. I am aware of the multiple challenges Roma face in Slovakia, including discrimination and poverty. The marginalization and segregation of Roma communities will require generations to overcome and every step forward is an important one.

I am hopeful for Slovakia  and the Roma community  because I have seen firsthand that solutions exist. In the last eight months, I have met multiple times with members of the Roma community and local leaders, including municipal leaders, NGOs, and private companies, and heard from them about the solutions that are being implemented across this country. Their innovative efforts are successfully tackling what I believe are the three key issues that most Roma continue to struggle with: lack of adequate housing; discrimination and segregation in education; and limited access to employment.

In Borka, a Roma majority village in the Gemer Region, I observed how civil society organizations, the local community, and the mayor work hand-in-hand to improve Roma integration and quality of life. One resident, Omama Sona, is an example of how much one community can achieve. She showed me the home she recently built with the support of Projekt DOM.ov, an organization that helps Roma families build their own affordable housing. Ms. Sona also told me about her work with the NGO Cesta von equipping Roma mothers with the skills to ensure the educational development of their children from a very young age. One of Ms. Sonas daughters is studying at a university while the other one works as a medical professional in Bratislava. These partnerships tangibly improve lives.

Roma Employment Greatly Benefits Slovakia

In Poprad, I had the honor of co-hosting with Jan Hero, the Plenipotentiary for Roma Communities, a roundtable of companies practicing inclusive hiring of Roma. The discussion left me with optimism that employing a workforce from local marginalized communities is possible and will greatly benefit Slovakia. These innovative recruitment and retention efforts will help the companies economically, develop a skilled labor force, and have a wide social benefit. Over time, prejudices between Roma and non-Roma will fade away and I am hopeful that communities will become ever more inclusive. The companies I met in Poprad are willing to share their experience and Slovakias business community can multiply those efforts on a national scale. With new employers coming to eastern Slovakia, now is the perfect opportunity to expand inclusive hiring.

Slovakia has made unprecedented progress in building inclusivity for the Roma over the past two years. The government has apologized for past injustices and has developed strategic plans to utilize hundreds of millions of euros in new European Union funds for integration efforts. Slovakia should not lose momentum now. Greater inclusion will bring undeniable benefit to everyone in Slovakia and I know it will make your country even stronger and more prosperous.
Constitutional Court dismisses former Smer finance minister's complaint.

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National Bank of Slovakia Governor Peter Kazimir is to appear in court in July on bribery charges after the Constitutional Court dismissed a complaint he made over the speed with which charges were filed against him.

In mid-April, Kazimir was found guilty of corruption in a 2018 bribery case and was ordered to pay a fine.

He appealed and, while appealing, he tried to get the case thrown

out by asking Prosecutor General Maros Zilinka to apply Article 363 of the Criminal Code which would cancel the charge against him.

But while Zilinka was considering this, prosecutors filed bribery charges in a different court - the Specialised Criminal Court - which meant that the prosecutor general could not use Article 363, and that a trial would have to go ahead in the Specialised Criminal Court.

Kazimir then complained to the Constitutional Court that his rights had been breached, in part because of the speed with which prosecutors filed the case with the Specialised Criminal Court.
https://sputnikglobe.com/20230516/biden-quietly-ends-trump-era-policy-blocking-foreign-gov-funding-of-us-think-tanks-1110408708.html

Biden Quietly Ends Trump-Era Policy Blocking Foreign Gov Funding of US Think Tanks

Biden Quietly Ends Trump-Era Policy Blocking Foreign Gov Funding of US Think Tanks

The State Department under the Biden Administration has reversed a Trump-era policy that required think tanks to disclose foreign contributions.

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frederick kempe

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The change, first reported on by Casey Michel in The New Republic, has been ignored by US mainstream media, despite it opening the US government to clandestine foreign influence campaigns from nations, including dictatorial and sometimes adversarial countries.Think tanks play an influential role in American politics, particularly regarding foreign policy. When the Mike Pompeo-run State Department clamped down on the funds in 2020, he specifically called out their role in foreign policy as justification for the rule. The unique role of think tanks in the conduct of foreign affairs makes transparency regarding foreign funding more important than ever, he said.Unlike foreign lobbyists, think tank members are not subject to the Foreign Agents Registration Act, which makes them an attractive target for foreign entities that intend to influence US policy without exposure.The Trump-era rule brought a small amount of clarity to the shadowy world of think tanks, but without explanation or announcement, the State Department under Antony Blinken has rescinded the policy, once again allowing foreign entities to fund powerful think tanks in the United States without a modicum of transparency.What we are seeing is this lack of transparency allows for dark money from some of the governments that might not want to be exposed for what they are doing and why they are funding, independent investigative journalist Christopher Helali told Radio Sputniks Political Misfits on Monday. It is worth noting the think tank named after President Joe Biden, the Penn Biden Center, was accused of taking donations from China after it was determined millions of dollars in funding was gifted to the Penn State University after the think tank's formation was announced. The DC office of the Penn Biden Center was where classified documents from Bidens time as vice president were discovered last year.According to Michel, governments with concerning or inarguably bad records on human rights have been funding American think tanks, including Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).The UAE in particular has been active and, thanks to the short-lived requirement of disclosures, it was revealed the Emirati government is the largest single foreign contributor to think tanks in the US, beating out democratic allies Sweden and the United Kingdom.The UAE, which ranks 153 out of 165 countries in personal freedom according to the Global Human Freedom Index, has donated millions on an annual basis to prominent think tanks including the Atlantic Council, the Aspen Institute, the Brookings Institution, the Center for American Progress and the Middle East Institute.In the case of the Atlantic Council, the UAE was at least the second-largest foreign donor. While it has not revealed how much the country has donated, it was enough to land it on its highest ranks of donors, one of only two foreign nations to reach that number, the other being the UK.Bahaa Hariri, the billionaire businessman son of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafic Hariri, is also listed as a top donor.That funding paid off earlier this year when Atlantic Council President Frederick Kempe published an article in a major US media outlet that praised UAEs selection to host the 28th United Nations Climate Change Conference later this year. The connection between the Atlantic Council and the UAE was not disclosed at the time of publication. The outlet later added an editors note disclosing it, noting that Kempe had not initially disclosed the connection to them.But dozens of articles by Atlantic Council fellows and members of other think tanks are published by major media outlets every year. They often advocate for foreign policy actions by the US government, including on the issue of Ukraine, Afghanistan, Iraq, and China, among others. The op-eds are carried by both nominally liberal and conservative outlets and their connection to their think tanks are rarely disclosed and funding disclosures of said think tanks in the article are rarer still.The Atlantic Council was also tapped by Facebook* to help fight election propaganda.The State Department and the White House have not commented on the canceled policy.*Facebook and its parent company Meta are banned in Russia over extremist activities.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230118/us-lawmakers-to-probe-millions-of-dollars-in-china-donations-to-penn-biden-center-1106469430.html

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20230516/un-on-ukraine-intel-chief-admitting-to-assassinations-in-russia-were-against-terror-acts-1110408955.html

UN on Ukraine Intel Chief Admitting to Assassinations in Russia: We're Against Terror Acts

UN on Ukraine Intel Chief Admitting to Assassinations in Russia: We're Against Terror Acts

The UN said Tuesday it has not seen remarks by Ukrainian military intelligence chief Kyrylo Budanov claiming responsibility for recent assassinations of public figures in Russia, but opposes "all" terrorist attacks.

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ukraine

kiev

russia

the united nations (un)

youtube

stephane dujarric

zakhar prilepin

assassination

targeted killing

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"I have not seen the quote. I am not able to talk on the veracity of it," spokesperson Stephane Dujarric told a briefing. In a YouTube interview published on Tuesday, Budanov admitted Kiev's involvement in recent assassinations of Russian public figures, bragging that Ukraine had already "got to" many of them. At the same time, Budanov refused to say whether Ukraine had been behind the attempted murder of Russian writer, politician and co-chairman of the political party A Just Russia  For Truth, Zakhar Prilepin, that took place earlier in the month."When you get personal, I have to answer you the way any intelligence services in the world usually do. We cannot comment on this situation and can neither confirm nor deny this information," the intelligence official added.Another terrorist attack involving a prominent Russian national took place in early April. An unidentified explosive device went off in a cafe in the center of St. Petersburg, killing military reporter Vladlen Tatarsky. Russia's National Anti-Terrorism Committee said the terrorist attack had been planned by the Ukrainian special services.In an interview with US media earlier this month, Budanov - when asked about US intelligence reportedly attributing the August car-bomb assassination of Daria Dugina to the Ukrainian government - asked not to "continue with that topic." Instead, he added that all he would comment on is that Ukrainian forces "have been killing Russians" and "will keep killing Russians anywhere on the face of this world until the complete victory of Ukraine."

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20230517/chinese-embassy-slams-truss-visit-to-taiwan-as-political-show-1110410398.html

Chinese Embassy Slams Truss' Visit to Taiwan as 'Political Show'

Chinese Embassy Slams Truss' Visit to Taiwan as 'Political Show'

The Chinese Embassy in London on Tuesday opposed the visit of former UK Prime Minister Liz Truss to Taiwan and called it a "political show."

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asia

liz truss

joseph wu

taiwan strait

taipei

nancy pelosi

chinese embassy

political rift

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"British politician Liz Trusss recent visit to Taiwan is a dangerous political show which will do nothing but harm to the UK," the embassy said on the website. "This provocative move has caused strong indignation among the Chinese people and will be firmly rejected by people with conscience from all walks of life."The embassy added that "the greatest threat to peace across the Taiwan Strait now is 'Taiwan independence' activities and foreign forces connivance at and support for them." Earlier on Tuesday, the Taiwanese media reported Truss arrived at Taoyuan International Airport and was welcomed by Taiwanese Foreign Minister Joseph Wu. She is expected to give a speech early Wednesday in Taipei dubbed "Taiwan: On the Frontline of Freedom and Democracy." Truss announced her visit last week. Last week, the chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the UK parliament's lower house, harshly criticized Truss's decision to visit Taiwan and called the trip "perfomative" and "the worst kind" of diplomacy for Instagram (banned in Russia over extremism), warning that it might cause a serious escalation in the region, as happened after the visit of then-US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to Taiwan in August 2022, as quoted by The Guardian.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230312/uks-new-comprehensive-defense-review-to-mention-chinas-threat-to-taiwan-reports-say-1108304001.html

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20230517/chinese-envoy-to-ukraine-durham-report-shows-fbi-corruption-economic-war-on-russia-fails-1110409317.html

Chinese Envoy to Ukraine; Durham Report Shows FBI Corruption; Economic War on Russia Fails

Chinese Envoy to Ukraine; Durham Report Shows FBI Corruption; Economic War on Russia Fails

The Durham report shows that the FBI repeatedly ignored data that debunked the Russiagate premise and submitted false evidence to the court.

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the critical hour

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china

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Chinese Envoy to Ukraine; Durham Report Shows FBI Corruption; Economic War on Russia Has Failed The Durham report shows that the FBI repeatedly ignored data that debunked the Russia Gate premise and submitted false evidence to the court.

Steve Poikonen, national organizer for Action4Assange, joins us to discuss US intelligence corruption. The Durham report shows that the FBI repeatedly ignored data that debunked the Russiagate premise and submitted false evidence to the court. Also, the CIA fast-tracked the infamous Hunter Biden 51 intelligence operatives letter.Mark Sleboda, Moscow-based international relations security analyst, joins us to discuss Ukraine. A top Chinese envoy is visiting Ukraine to discuss a peace initiative. Also, US military aid to Ukraine may dry up in July.Dr. Gerald Horne, Professor of History at the University of Houston, TX, author, historian, and researcher, joins us to discuss the Global South. South Africa is under extraordinary pressure to pick sides in the Ukraine conflict. Also, the President of Colombia believes that there is a coup plot against him.KJ Noh, writer, teacher, and activist, joins us to discuss China. Japan intends to increase Russian gas imports. Also, the US dollar may lose its dominance as nations trade in local currencies.Laith Marouf, broadcaster, and journalist based in Beirut, Lebanon, joins us to discuss the Middle East. The UN is commemorating the Palestinian Nakba for the first time in history. Also, there are negotiations ongoing to end the conflict in Yemen.Regis Tremblay, an American citizen in Crimea, joins us to discuss neocon dysfunction. Also, the West's economic war on Russia has failed.Marjorie Cohn, Professor Emerita at Thomas Jefferson School of Law in San Diego, joins us to discuss Palestine. Israel is using a vast network of biometric cameras to terrorize Palestinians.Dr. Jemima Pierre, Professor of Black Studies and Anthropology at the University of California, Los Angeles, a member of the Black Alliance for Peace, and an editor of the "Black Agenda Review" segment of the Black Agenda Report, joins us to discuss Haiti. The United States plays a major role in fomenting violence in Haiti. Also, Haitian workers demand an increase in the minimum wage.We'd love to get your feedback at radio@sputniknews.comThe views and opinions expressed in this program are those of the speakers and do not necessarily reflect the position of Sputnik.

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20230517/erdogan-to-prioritize-tv-appearances-in-preparation-for-presidential-runoff---reports-1110416330.html

Erdogan to Prioritize TV Appearances in Preparation for Presidential Runoff - Reports

Erdogan to Prioritize TV Appearances in Preparation for Presidential Runoff - Reports

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will focus on visiting earthquake-hit regions and doze his appearance on TV programs.

2023-05-17T11:07+0000

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world

turkiye

recep tayyip erdogan

2023 turkish presidential election

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The Turkish leader has already instructed all the bodies of the ruling Justice and Development Party, also known as the AK Party, to be on the ground during this process and "not to relax," Turkish newspaper reported. Erdogan's main competitor, Kemal Kilicdaroglu, also plans to visit the quake-hit zones and participate in various TV programs ahead of the second round of the election, but this time, his speeches will primarily focus on a stronger social program and the fight against terrorism, the report said. Turkiye's opposition believes it has failed to adequately counter "the government propaganda" that depicts it "staying side by side" with the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which seeks to establish a Kurdish autonomy in Turkiye and is labeled as terrorist by Ankara, the newspaper reported. The opposition plans to pay special attention to deflecting such accusations in preparation for the run-off. "Both our chairman [Kilicdaroglu] and we will give a strong signal that we are against all forms of terrorism," a source in the Republican People's Party, Turkiye's main opposition party, was quoted by news outlet as saying. After counting 100% of ballots, the Turkish Supreme Election Council announced on Monday that the second round of the presidential vote would take place on May 28, as none of the candidates had reached the 50% threshold. The first round saw Erdogan winning 49.51% of votes and Kilicdaroglu receiving 44.88%.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230514/2023-turkish-presidential-election-in-numbers-1110315174.html

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230514/erdogan-and-kilicdaroglu-vote-in-general-election-1110337231.html

turkiye

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middle east, turkiye, recep tayyip erdogan, elections in turkiye
https://sputnikglobe.com/20230517/i-havent-been-gone-feinstein-appears-to-forget-her-near-3-month-senate-absence-1110411301.html

'I Haven't Been Gone': Feinstein Appears to Forget Her Near 3-Month Senate Absence

'I Haven't Been Gone': Feinstein Appears to Forget Her Near 3-Month Senate Absence

Senator Dianne Feinstein seemed to forget her months-long absence when asked about it by reporters.

2023-05-17T03:38+0000

2023-05-17T03:38+0000

2023-05-17T03:34+0000

americas

dianne feinstein

washington

california

senate

us senate judiciary committee

mental health

mental state

mental capacity

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California Senator Dianne Feinstein, fresh off her nearly three-month medical absence, seemed to forget on Tuesday that she was gone in a brief conversation with two reporters in the Senate halls.The reporters, working for two different media outlets, corroborated the story. The pair say they saw Feinstein getting off an elevator, surrounded by staff and being pushed in the wheelchair that she has used since her return to the Senate last week.Upon seeing one reporter, Feinstein reportedly said: Arent you an eager one.The reporters asked how she was doing, to which the lawmaker said she was feeling fine. I have a problem with the leg. The reporters subsequently asked what was wrong with her leg, but she refused to answer, saying it was no ones concern but her own.To that point, the conversation seemed normal, if a little confrontational. But when the reporters asked what her colleagues in the Senate have said to her since she returned, the conversation took a strange turn.The reporters asked if she meant that she had been working from home, but Feinstein insisted that she had been in the Capitol.Feinstein then declined to answer a question about recent calls for her resignation and was ushered out by her staff.While it is possible that the aging senator was referring to the past week, when she has been back in Washington and voting on committees when needed, it seems to beggar belief that someone who remembered their monthslong absence would think the reporters were asking about the last week and not her recent, lengthy and controversial absence.It was also noted by reporters that since her return last week, Feinstein was tough to spot in the congressional halls. One reporter pointed out that Feinstein has been sticking to the unpopulated areas of Congress and has skipped luncheons and non-urgent committee meetings.Multiple judicial appointments that lacked bipartisan support were delayed because of her absence; those appointments have been happening at a quick pace since her return. Feinstein sits on the Senate Judiciary Committee, though she gave up her chairman position on the committee in 2021. The committee is split 11-10 in favor of Democrats and without Feinsteins votes, Democrats had no choice but to move forward on appointments that had some Republican support while awaiting Feinsteins return.Concerns about Feinsteins mental acuity have been rising in recent years. One report cited anonymous Democrat allies who expressed concern she didnt have the mental capacity to perform her duties as a senator.Shortly after her return, a report described the senator as rapidly deteriorating mentally while staffers do what they can to keep airs or normalcy.Citing a former staffer and corroborating witnesses, one US outlet reported that staffers have, since at least 2019, used a system to ensure Feinstein is never left alone in the Capitol. They fear, according to the report, what she might say if a reporter talks to her unattended and keep a staffer ready at all times to accompany her whenever she leaves her office. The staffer says Feinstein is unaware of the system.The former staffer and at least one other witness have described meetings where Feinstein would forget subjects that were discussed for minutes at a time, forcing senior staffers to reenact the conversation as if it were occurring for the first time in an effort to placate the senator.There have been public incidents as well. In October, Feinstein announced in a written statement she would voluntarily give up the title of president pro tempore, which had put her third in line to the presidency, behind only the vice president and speaker of the House.But when a reporter asked about it three weeks later, she claimed she was still trying to decide what to do.Then in February, after announcing she would retire at the end of her term but remain in office, a reporter asked her about it the same day and Feinstein replied she had not made a decision. Her staff blamed the mixup on a confusion of timing. Oh, no, I'm not announcing anything. I will one day, Feinstein said an hour after the announcement.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20220415/its-bad-and-getting-worse-fellow-dems-voice-concerns-over-dianne-feinsteins-job-performance-1094772989.html

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230215/just-confusion-on-timing-dianne-feinstein-seemed-unaware-of-her-own-retirement-in-press-gaggle-1107441756.html

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The move strongly suggests that Mike Pence would openly compete against former President Donald Trump for the GOP nomination.

The creation of the Committed to America PAC indicates Mike Pence's potential challenge

Mike Pence has been actively signaling his intention to run for president

The PAC aims to separate Pence's legacy from Trump's

A group of seasoned Republican strategists is starting a new super PAC to back former US Vice President Mike Pence's anticipated 2024 presidential bid.

This move strongly suggests that Mike Pence, who has not publicly declared a 2024 campaign, would openly clash with former President Donald Trump for the GOP nomination. According to NPR, campaign-style trips to Iowa and New Hampshire have signaled Pence's intentions for months.

Thank you, @NewHampshireHBA for the warm welcome! It was an honor to hear from you about the issues home builders are facing today in the failed economy of Joe Biden. We will get this country back on track!  pic.twitter.com/ggWq2o0e4R  Mike Pence (@Mike_Pence) May 16, 2023

Former Texas Rep. Jeb Hensarling and Scott Reed, who oversaw former Kansas Sen. Bob Dole's 1996 presidential campaign, will serve as co-chairs of the newly established Committed to America PAC.

Hensarling said that Mike Pence is the conservative leader desired at this crucial moment and is qualified to lead. Hensarling also took delight in spearheading the drive to elect Mike Pence.

This group's creation clearly indicates Pence's campaign plan to set his legacy apart from Trump's.

Bobby Saparow, the PAC's executive director, ran Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp's effective campaign in 2022. The PAC emphasized Kemp's decisive win against Trump's preferred candidate in that contest, underscoring the detachment from the influence of Donald Trump that Mike Pence wants.

Super PAC Advantages

Super PACs have traditionally supported voter mobilization initiatives, bought campaign commercials, and conducted research on policies and other candidates during presidential races.

According to CBS News, the Committed to America super PAC and the Never Back Down super PAC, which back Florida Governor Ron DeSantis' prospective 2024 presidential bid, want to increase their on-the-ground support for candidates. Donations to super PACs are limitless.

Despite Pence's trips to early voting states, early national presidential primary polls have not yet shown that he will win the GOP nomination and eventually the White House.

Mike Pence had just 5% support among probable GOP primary voters, according to a nationwide survey by CBS News conducted in late April. Fifty-seven percent said they would not vote for Pence, while 17% said they would.

However, the staff of the PAC thinks that Pence's experience as governor of Indiana, congressman, and vice president after the 2020 election would distinguish him from other contenders as a "committed constitutional conservative."

Read Also: US Debt Ceiling Deadline Nears

Initial Focus on Iowa

The establishment of the Committed to America PAC is considered a precursor to a formal campaign that strongly emphasizes winning Iowa, per a report from Politico.

Mike Pence, an ardent evangelical Christian, wants to build on the support base that helped Republican candidates win in Iowa in recent elections, including Sen. Ted Cruz in 2016 and former Sens. Rick Santorum and Mike Huckabee in 2012.

Although none of these contenders eventually won the GOP nomination, Iowa is a key early state that has the potential to influence the dynamics of the presidential primary.

Mike Pence is receiving advice from Chip Saltsman, who oversaw Huckabee's successful Iowa win in 2008, on his approach in the early stages. Additionally, Mike Biundo, a citizen of New Hampshire and a veteran of nine presidential campaigns, including victories in the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primaries, is being discussed by Pence's campaign.

Related Article: Ron DeSantis to Meet With Top Supporters in Miami

@ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
https://sputnikglobe.com/20230517/kim-inspects-work-on-north-koreas-first-reconnaissance-satellite-1110413070.html

Photos: Kim Jong-un Inspects Work on North Korea's First Reconnaissance Satellite

Photos: Kim Jong-un Inspects Work on North Korea's First Reconnaissance Satellite

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un with his daughter inpected preparations for the launch of first North Korean military reconnaissance satellite.

2023-05-17T06:38+0000

2023-05-17T06:38+0000

2023-05-17T06:41+0000

asia

north korea

kim jong-un

deterrence

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"He [Kim] inspected the military reconnaissance satellite No. 1 which is ready for loading after undergoing the final general assembly check and space environment test. He highly appreciated that the preparatory committee has fulfilled its duty and role in a responsible manner in the course of carrying out the important work for dramatically developing the military technology of the country," media reported. The North Korean leader delivered a speech on the spot on Tuesday, stressing the importance of possessing such a satellite, especially given "confrontational moves" against Pyongyang on the part of Washington ans Seoul, the report said. North Korea "will exercise its sovereignty and just right to self-defense to deter them and defend the country," Kim was quoted as saying by the state-run new agency. The North Korean leader listed defense and space research goals the country needs to achieve upon the launch of the satellite and gave the green light to the committee's plan of further actions, the report said. "To successfully launch the military reconnaissance satellite is an urgent requirement of the prevailing security environment of the country, a process of correctly implementing our Party and government's policy of bolstering up the defence capabilities on a top priority basis, and at the same time, a clear stride forward in developing the space military, science and technology of the country," news agency quoted Kim as saying. In April, the North Korean leader ordered the country's first military reconnaissance satellite, which has been already completed, to be launched at the planned date. Before the launch, the satellite is scheduled to undergo a check of its general assembly and space environment test, KCNA reported.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230408/photos-north-korea-tests-underwater-radioactive-tsunami-drone-for-second-time-1109259136.html

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asia, north korea, kim jong-un, kim jong-un daughter, deterring us
https://sputnikglobe.com/20230517/microsoft-scientists-claims-glimmers-of-human-logic-appearing-in-neural-networks-1110410188.html

Microsoft Scientists Claim Glimmers of Human Logic Appearing in Neural Networks

Microsoft Scientists Claim Glimmers of Human Logic Appearing in Neural Networks

Microsoft has published a research paper titled "Sparks of Artificial General Intelligence," which explores the possibilities and risks associated with creating machines that possess human-level or superior intelligence.

2023-05-17T02:25+0000

2023-05-17T02:25+0000

2023-05-17T03:37+0000

beyond politics

science & tech

openai

microsoft

artificial intelligence

artificial intelligence (ai)

chatgpt

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Microsoft recently published a research paper, titled "Sparks of Artificial General Intelligence," that explores the possibilities and risks associated with creating machines possessing human-level or superior intelligence.The debate surrounding the concept of Artificial General Intelligence (A.G.I.) often delves into philosophical realms, making it a contentious topic among computer scientists. Previous claims of A.G.I. led to reputational damage for researchers, and distinguishing true intelligence from simulated intelligence remains a challenge. However, recent progress in the field has shown promise, with new AI systems generating human-like answers and ideas without explicit programming.Microsoft has restructured its research labs to include dedicated groups investigating A.G.I., with Sebastien Bubeck, the lead author of the Microsoft A.G.I. paper, leading one of these groups. The technology they are working with, OpenAI's GPT-4, is considered the most powerful language model currently available. Microsoft has invested $13 billion in OpenAI, indicating a strong partnership between the two companies.GPT-4, after analyzing extensive amounts of digital text, including books, articles, and chat logs, has learned to generate its own text, write poetry and even engage in conversations.Researchers have observed impressive behavior from the system, showcasing a "deep and flexible understanding" of human concepts and skills.For instance, GPT-4 was able to write a mathematical proof of infinite prime numbers in rhyming form, demonstrating both mathematical and linguistic prowess.When challenged with various tasks, GPT-4 showcased its ability to analyze, synthesize, evaluate, and judge text better than generating it. For example, it generated a program to draw a unicorn when asked to do so, and even modified the program to draw the unicorn without a horn when the relevant code was removed.It also composed a program to assess diabetes risk based on personal information and crafted a letter supporting an electron as a US presidential candidate in the voice of Mahatma Gandhi, among other complex tasks.Critics argue that Microsoft's claims are unsubstantiated, representing an opportunistic effort to generate attention for a technology that remains largely misunderstood. Some researchers emphasize that true general intelligence requires an understanding of the physical world, which GPT-4 does not possess in theory. The Microsoft paper's subjective and informal nature, along with its departure from rigorous scientific evaluation, further raises skepticism among experts.As researchers used an early version of GPT-4 that lacked fine-tuning for unwanted content, external experts cannot verify the claims made in the paper. Microsoft clarifies the public version of the system is less powerful than the one tested.While GPT-4 demonstrates capabilities that resemble human reasoning, it also exhibits inconsistent behaviors. Some experts argue the text generated by these systems may not reflect true human reasoning or common sense.Alison Gopnik, a psychology professor at the University of California, Berkeley, suggests anthropomorphizing AI systems and comparing them to humans in a competition is an inadequate approach.The pursuit of Artificial General Intelligence continues to captivate researchers, but questions remain regarding the true nature and limitations of the intelligence generated by these systems.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230514/stakes-couldnt-be-higher-unbridled-super-intelligent-ai-could-wipe-out-humanity-1110344362.html

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230404/just-identify-tricky-areas-bill-gates-opposes-pausing-ai-beyond-gpt-4-hypes-huge-benefits-1109119337.html

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sparks of artificial general intelligence, chatgpt, gpt-4, is gpt-4 sentient, openai, will neural networks enslave humans, is human-level intelligence achievable by machines
https://sputnikglobe.com/20230517/mystic-tremors-in-baltic-sea-linked-to-fighter-jets-breaking-sound-barrier-1110412515.html

Mystic Tremors in Baltic Sea Linked to Fighter Jets Breaking Sound Barrier

Mystic Tremors in Baltic Sea Linked to Fighter Jets Breaking Sound Barrier

The sonic boom is associated with objects moving through the air faster than the speed of sound. To the human ear, it sounds like an explosion or a loud thunderclap.

2023-05-17T07:44+0000

2023-05-17T07:44+0000

2023-05-17T07:44+0000

beyond politics

europe

seymour hersh

joe biden

sweden

baltic sea

saab

nord stream 2

nord stream

fighter jet

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The same mysterious tremors and low-frequency sounds that were observed on the Danish island of Bornholm and puzzled locals and researchers alike were also recorded in Blekinge County and the Baltic island of Oland in southern Sweden.Seismologist Bjorn Lund, an associate professor at the University of Uppsala, cited reports of "low-frequency sounds and tremors" by locals, to the point of windows shaking. The past weekend, the phenomenon was said to last between ten and 13 seconds.The Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland (GEUS) ascribed the tremors to pressure waves from "an unknown source" in the atmosphere, adding more suspense to the story.However, Lund pointed out that the same phenomenon has been measured several times a year in Sweden, including the Stockholm archipelago, and the tremors were found out to be caused by fighter jets breaking the sonic barrier."These are very much the same phenomena that we see here a few times a year. So for me it is the most proximate reason," Lund told Danish media.According to Lund, the sonic boom may have appeared louder due the the phenomenon of inversion, where a different set of temperatures in layers of air above the Earth affects the spread of sound.However, neither the Danish nor the Swedish military could confirm they had fighter jets on their wings on Saturday, the day the phenomena occurred last. Nor did the Swedish arms manufacturer Saab  the usual "culprit" in previous observations in Sweden, according to Lund  admit to performing test flights on Saturday. However, Polish authorities had previously disclosed intense military activity during the Anakonda23 drill in the northern part of the country, which involved a fighter jet and the live firing of artillery munitions.Bornholm (population 40,000) is a rocky island in the Baltic Sea, south of Sweden, northeast of Germany, and north of Poland. It lies notably close to where the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines were sabotaged in September 2022. Authorities in the relevant countries are still investigating the bombings.A subsequent bombshell investigation by veteran journalist Seymour Hersh suggested the involvement of the US and Norway in the pipeline attacks; this has since been repeatedly rejected by the Biden administration. Western media outlets have instead hinted at a potential pro-Ukrainian group's role in the bombings.Moscow considers the explosions at the two pipelines an act of international terrorism and will continue to use any available legal mechanisms to bring those responsible to justice , Russian Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev said.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230515/mysterious-tremors-on-danish-island-prompted-by-unknown-acoustic-pressure-waves--1110387421.html

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230418/us-tries-to-control-energy-and-info-flow-with-nord-stream-bombing-cover-up-1109621776.html

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20230517/nutcracker-what-we-know-about-russias-kinzhal-hitting-us-patriot-system-in-kiev-1110418058.html

Nutcracker: What We Know About Russia's Kinzhal Hitting US Patriot System in Kiev

Nutcracker: What We Know About Russia's Kinzhal Hitting US Patriot System in Kiev

President Vladimir Putin earlier warned that if the West provides Ukraine with the Patriot systems, these air defenses would be knocked out by the Russian armed forces.

2023-05-17T14:22+0000

2023-05-17T14:22+0000

2023-05-18T06:14+0000

russia

ukraine

us

special operation

kinzhal missile system

mig-31

attack

strike

patriot missile system

military

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Russia's Ministry of Defense (MoD) spokesman Igor Konashenkov announced in a statement on Tuesday that the US-made MIM-104 Patriot surface-to-air missile (SAM) system stationed in Kiev had been hit by the Kinzhal ("Dagger") hypersonic ballistic missile.So what is known about the Kinzhal strike on the Patriot that came as part of Russias ongoing special military operation in Ukraine? Sputnik explores.'Struck From Air Ambush'A well-informed source said in an interview with Sputnik that the Russian supersonic interceptor MiG-31K equipped with a Kinzhal missile had struck the Kiev-based American SAM like a bolt from the blue.According to the insider, the Kinzhal is capable of reaching targets in minutes, which is why the Patriot crew simply did not have time to change position or reload the SAMs launchers.'Gesture of Desperation'In this vein, Moscow-based military expert Alexey Leonkov was cited by Russian media as saying that the MIM-104 used all the ammunition in an attempt to shoot down the Kinzhal.He singled out a total of 32 Patriot missile interceptors that were fired from the SAMs eight launchers in a bid to down the Kinzhal, but to no avail.He added that the 32 interceptors being launched by the Patriot crew were "a gesture of desperation rather than the actions of professionals." Incidentally, launching one Patriot interceptor is worth a whopping three million dollars. Kiev has meanwhile denied that the Russian hypersonic missile hit the MIM-104, with Ukrainian air force spokesperson Yury Ignat claiming, "Do not worry about the fate of the Patriot. Destroying the system with some kind of 'Kinzhal', it's impossible."Russian Defense Chief Quips at Kiev's Tall Tales Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu exclusively told Sputnik on Tuesday that Kiev's words about allegedly shooting down six Russian Kinzhal hypersonic missiles are not true.Kinzhal Attack on Patriot SAM AssessedThe Russian Defense Minister spoke as an American broadcaster quoted an unnamed White House source as saying that Washington is still assessing the Kinzhal attacks impact on the Kiev-based MIM-104. The source argued that the SAM is thought to have been damaged, but not destroyed, as the result of the missile strike.The Ukrainian Army currently possesses two Patriot SAMs, with one delivered by the US and the other jointly by Germany and the Netherlands.The deliveries came as part of Western countries military assistance to Kiev that intensified shortly after Russia started its special military operation in Ukraine.A separate US news outlet cited an unnamed White House official as saying that Washington and Kiev "were already talking about the best way to repair the [Patriot] system and at this point it did not appear the system would have to be removed from Ukraine." The official added that the US "would have a better understanding in the coming days and that information could change over time."Crash, Boom, Bang As far as the fallout from the Russian hypersonic missile strike is concerned, Moscow-based international relations and security analyst Mark Sleboda told Sputnik that there may have been more than one [Kinzhal] impact on the Patriot.Not Hard Nut to Crack In December 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin commented on the Pentagons plans to deliver a Patriot system to Ukraine, which Kiev received this spring."Our adversaries proceed from the idea that this is supposedly a defensive weapon. All right, we'll keep that in mind. And an antidote can always be found," the Russian president stressed, assuring that the Patriot deliveries will be "in vain," and will "just prolong the conflict, that's all."

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230220/nato-carrier-killer-and-killjoy-what-is-russias-hypersonic-kinzhal-missile-1107618124.html

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230510/fact-check-ukraine-didnt-shoot-down-russias-kinzhal-hypersonic-missile-1110235332.html

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russia's special military operation in ukraine, russia's kinzhal hypersonic missile, kinzhal strike on ukraine's patriot system, russian hypersonic missile, patriot missile interceptors
https://sputnikglobe.com/20230517/over-900-people-evacuated-from-italys-emilia-romagna-over-heavy-rains-1110410689.html

Over 900 People Evacuated From Italy's Emilia-Romagna Over Heavy Rains

Over 900 People Evacuated From Italy's Emilia-Romagna Over Heavy Rains

More than 900 people have been evacuated from the region of Emilia-Romagna in the north of Italy due to torrential rains, Italian media reported on Tuesday.

2023-05-17T01:46+0000

2023-05-17T01:46+0000

2023-05-17T01:41+0000

world

italy

evacuation

floods

floodwater

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In the city of Cesena, the Savio River has burst its banks, having caused flooding on the first floors of buildings. The office of the city's mayor has barred vehicles from crossing the local bridge. Citizens of the city have reportedly been urged to leave the first floors of buildings.The Bologna authorities are reported to have urged government agencies and companies allow employees to work remotely on Wednesday, when the highest level of weather danger will remain in the region.The mayor of the city of Pesaro said the situation in the city was critical as the Genica artificial channel had spilled. In the city of Modena, bridges over the Secchia River have been closed. The most tense situation was in the cities on the Adriatic Sea coast. The mayor of the port town of Senigallia has urged citizens not to stay on the first floors of buildings. An ambulance department in the city of Riccione has been flooded but continued to operate a few hours. Several people sought help from rescuers after being trapped in cars under bridges. In early May, two people died as a result of bad weather in Emilia-Romagna, and several hundred were evacuated due to the risk of landslides. Floods have also caused disruptions in rail traffic. The Emilia-Romagna authorities estimate the damage brought by the natural disaster at 1 billion euros ($1.1 billion).

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230315/at-least-14-dead-in-turkiye-amid-severe-floods---videos-1108433572.html

italy

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evacuation, italy, emilia-romagna, heavy rains, flooding
https://sputnikglobe.com/20230517/putin-raisi-sign-agreement-on-construction-of-16bln-rasht-astara-railway-1110415004.html

Putin, Raisi Sign Agreement on Construction of $1.6Bln Rasht-Astara Railway

Putin, Raisi Sign Agreement on Construction of $1.6Bln Rasht-Astara Railway

Russian President Vladimir Putin participating in the ceremony of signing an agreement on the construction Rasht-Astara Railway, via a video link together with Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi.

2023-05-17T09:12+0000

2023-05-17T09:12+0000

2023-05-17T09:12+0000

economy

vladimir putin

ebrahim raisi

rasht-astara railway

international north-south transport corridor (instc)

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Putin is taking part in the ceremony of signing an agreement on the construction of the railway, which is a part of the International North-South Transport Corridor, via a video link together with Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi. Moscow hopes that the agreement between Russia, Iran and Azerbaijan on cooperation in the development of railway and cargo transportation will be signed promptly, Putin added.

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vladimir putin, rasht-astara railway, russian economy, iran, ebrahim raisi, international north-south transport corridor
https://sputnikglobe.com/20230517/quad-leaders-to-meet-at-g7-after-biden-nixes-summit-to-handle-debt-ceiling-talks-1110426242.html

Quad Leaders to Meet at G7 After Biden Nixes Summit to Handle Debt Ceiling Talks

Quad Leaders to Meet at G7 After Biden Nixes Summit to Handle Debt Ceiling Talks

US President Joe Biden has canceled much of his planned Asia trip over the coming week, including visits to Papua New Guinea and Australia. Sydney was set to host a meeting of the Quad leaders.

2023-05-17T20:42+0000

2023-05-17T20:42+0000

2023-05-17T20:38+0000

world

g7

anthony albanese

narendra modi

joe biden

fumio kishida

quadrilateral security dialogue (quad)

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https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e6/05/18/1095733879_0:0:599:336_1920x0_80_0_0_7af34f1beb1462a7998a4401cfdbc48f.jpg

US President Joe Biden has canceled much of his planned Asia trip over the coming week, including visits to Papua New Guinea and Australia. Sydney was set to host a meeting of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad) leaders, which includes Biden as well as Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, and hosting Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.Instead, the four will speak at the Group of Seven summit later this week in Hiroshima, Japan, and Biden will return to the United States afterward to focus on high-stakes budget negotiations instead of embarking on the Asia tour.Ross Feingold, a political risk analyst who has over twenty years of experience advising clients on political risk in Taiwan, told Sputnik on Wednesday that the cancellation would be only a minor speed bump in Quad relations, which will remain strong because Washington must retain a significant presence in the Western Pacific.On 24 June 2022 Australia, Japan, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States announced the Establishment of the Partners in the Blue Pacific, and on 12 July 2022 Vice President Kamala Harris announced the US Partnership with the Pacific Islands. This was followed by the first-ever US- Pacific Islands Summit held at the White House from 28-29 September 2022, at which was announced the Roadmap for a 21st-Century US-Pacific Island Partnership, and the First-Ever Pacific Partnership Strategy, he noted.Ultimately, US influence in the PIC will depend on aid as well as a presence, he said. The reopening of an embassy in the Solomon Islands and a new US embassy in Tonga helps. A US Coast Guard presence is generally welcomed especially to the extent it helps with law enforcement action against illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing. A presence also includes frequent visits by senior US leaders, which will require President Biden to make up for the canceled visit to Papua New Guinea.The budget talks for which Biden has returned to Washington are focused on passing legislation to lift the debt ceiling before the federal government defaults on its debt, which the US Treasury has warned could happen in days or weeks. The Republican majority in the US House of Representatives has sought to use the threat of default to compel Democrats to agree to steep budget cuts they would otherwise reject, such as cuts to social programs. If they fail and the government defaults, it will destroy the countrys credit rating and plunge it into an economic crisis.Feingold said a default is not expected, but if it were to occur, other US-aligned financial centers are more likely to benefit than Beijing.While many assume that this might mean an opportunity for China, there is a greater likelihood that other locations in Asia might be able to play a safe-haven role, such as Japan or Singapore.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230511/natos-liaison-office-in-japan-part-of-plan-to-destabilize-china-and-russia-1110263884.html

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230515/us-and-china-had-secret-submarine-showdown-near-hong-kong-around-jan-6-events---report-1110384416.html

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quad; biden; g7; hiroshima; papua new guinea
https://sputnikglobe.com/20230517/russian-oil-and-gas-innovations-set-the-stage-at-iran-oil-show-2023-1110418488.html

Russian Oil and Gas Innovations Set the Stage at Iran Oil Show 2023

Russian Oil and Gas Innovations Set the Stage at Iran Oil Show 2023

The Iran Oil Show 2023 in Tehran opened its doors for groundbreaking advances from Russia's leading oil and gas companies. The national 'Made in Russia' booth... 17.05.2023, Sputnik International

2023-05-17T13:30+0000

2023-05-17T13:30+0000

2023-05-17T13:30+0000

russia

russia

russian export center jsc (rec)

alexander novak

veronika nikishina

made in russia

made in russia brand

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"The exhibition features 28 Russian companies under the auspices of JSC Rostec and the national brand Made in Russia, as well as the pavilion of the Government of the Republic of Bashkortostan, 'Made in Bashkortostan', with 10 Bashkir companies. We intend to continue informing the business community about the possibilities of Russian and Iranian production and the potential for mutual trade, including through industrial exhibitions," Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said at the opening of the exhibition.Over the course of four days, Russian exporters will hold over 200 B2B meetings with representatives of international businesses at the exhibition.The 27th Iran International Oil, Gas, Refining and Petrochemical Exhibition will take place in Tehran from May 17 to May 20. The Made in Russia exposition will cover an area of 600 square meters.The Russian Export Center and the Roscongress Foundation are implementing the Made in Russia program, which includes the voluntary certification system Made in Russia and support for the national brand Made in Russia.***JSC Russian Export Center (REC Group, part of VEB.RF) is a state institution for supporting non-commodity exports, providing financial and non-financial assistance to companies in all industries at all stages of entering foreign markets, including within the framework of the national project "International Cooperation and Export." The REC Group includes the Russian Agency for Export Credit and Investment Insurance (EXIAR), Eximbank of Russia (State Specialized Russian Export-Import Bank), and the Export School Autonomous Non-Profit Organization (ANO REC Export School).

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230516/iea-suggests-russias-oil-exports-in-april-hit-record-high-since-february-2022-1110397606.html

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20230517/truss-cashing-in-on-her-former-uk-premiership-with-superfluous-taiwan-speech-1110424657.html

Truss 'Cashing in' on Her Former UK Premiership With Superfluous Taiwan Speech

Truss 'Cashing in' on Her Former UK Premiership With Superfluous Taiwan Speech

Now reduced to a mere lawmaker, MP and former UK prime minister Liz Truss has little influence over British policy any longer, and her provocative visit to Taiwan is mostly a repeat of policies already set in motion in London.

2023-05-17T18:34+0000

2023-05-17T18:34+0000

2023-05-17T18:34+0000

analysis

taiwan

liz truss

china

cold war

uk

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Earlier in the day, Conservative UK Parliament member and former prime minister Liz Truss visited the Chinese island of Taiwan to denounce Beijing, accusing the People's Republic of China of being responsible for the burgeoning cold war with the US and its allies. She also praised Taiwan, which is governed by a rebel force enjoying informal US support, as "an enduring rebuke to totalitarianism" whose fate was a "core interest" to Europe.Beijing fired back, with the foreign ministry saying that "washed-up British politicians use Taiwan to draw attention to themselves. Previously, the Chinese embassy in London referred to Truss visit as a "dangerous political show which will do nothing but harm to the UK."Ross Feingold, a political risk analyst who has over twenty years of experience advising clients on political risk in Taiwan, told Sputnik on Wednesday that the UK, "in line with the United States, was moving to expand 'friend shoring' and domestic investment in the semiconductor sector. Truss is simply talking about things that Prime Minister [Rishi] Sunak is already doing in part. Of course, its easy for someone out of government to call on the government to move faster. Generally though, Sunak is probably not going to take advice from Truss on these issues."In all, Feingold said that a visit to the region by the UKs shortest-serving prime minister, who spent just seven weeks in office before her government collapsed, would be seen by cynics as "another former leader or senior government official cashing in on their previous government role."

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20230517/unstoppable-kinzhal-one-us-made-patriot-cracked-up-more-to-come-1110424287.html

Unstoppable Kinzhal: One US-Made Patriot 'Cracked Up', More to Come

Unstoppable Kinzhal: One US-Made Patriot 'Cracked Up', More to Come

Russia's knocking out of the US-made MIM-104 Patriot surface-to-air missile (SAM) system stationed in Kiev by a Kinzhal hypersonic missile is a PR coup for Moscow, Boris Rozhin, a military expert with the Center for Military-Political Journalism, told Sputnik, adding that more Patriots may soon be "cracked up," too.

2023-05-17T18:05+0000

2023-05-17T18:05+0000

2023-05-17T18:05+0000

russia's special operation in ukraine

russia

russian ministry of defense

armed forces of ukraine

kiev

ukraine

patriot

airborne early warning and control system (awacs)

kinzhal missile system

hypersonic missiles

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The Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD) announced that a Patriot system had been hit by a Kinzhal hypersonic ballistic missile in Kiev on May 16. The Kinzhal launch came amid the Russian Armed Forces' "combined attack with long-range precision-guided air- and sea-based weapons against the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) units, as well as depots of ammunition, weapons and military equipment supplied by Western countries," according to the statement. Presently, the Ukrainian military possesses two Patriot complexes.Footage purportedly of Russia's Kinzhal missile hitting the Patriot air defense system in Kiev has already created hype on social media. In the video, the extremely dense work of the batteries of the American MIM-104 Patriot air defense system can be seen. As soon as the air defense system runs out of missiles, a powerful explosion occurs at the place where the launches were made. According to Rozhin, the footage in question debunked Kiev's attempts to lie that "everything is fine." The Western mainstream media rushed to claim that the US-made system had not been completely taken down, but only "damaged." However, it's clear that the Russian strike made the Patriot non-operational, even if just a single element of the sophisticated complex was destroyed, according to the military expert. He added that it would take much time and effort to fix it.The military expert noted that Western press assessed the massive missile launch as a sign that the Patriot's crew panicked. That is, they decided that if they fire all missiles at once, then, perhaps, at least one of them would hit the Kinzhal. Alas, all their calculations were proven wrong. On the one hand, this situation has been interpreted as a result of insufficient training of the Ukrainian crew. On the other, if the Patriot complex was operated by the foreign military, it would look even worse for the West, meaning that the crew's failure to intercept the hypersonic missile apparently cost them several lives of NATO officers or instructors, according to Rozhin. Furthermore, the aforementioned footage demonstrated that even a massive launch of missiles is incapable of stopping the Kinzhal. It likewise showed that the Patriot is out-of-date, as per the military expert, who recalled that, previously, Saudi Arabia subjected the US-made air defense system to tough criticism for not meeting the stated specifications.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230516/russias-kinzhal-missile-destroys-patriot-system-in-kiev-1110397858.html

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230517/nutcracker-what-we-know-about-russias-kinzhal-hitting-us-patriot-system-in-kiev-1110418058.html

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230512/from-avangard-to-zircon-how-far-do-russian-missiles-fly-1110296500.html

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(Photo : Phil Noble - WPA Pool/Getty Images)

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol meet to discuss trade relations and the current North Korea threat.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau visits South Korea and meets with President Yoon Suk Yeol

The two world leaders are set to discuss various topics, including trade relations and the North Korea threat

Trudeau is the first Canadian leader to visit South Korea in the last nine years

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau visits South Korea and meets with President Yoon Suk Yeol to discuss various issues, including trade relations between the two countries and the continuous North Korea threat.

Trudeau is the first Canadian leader to visit South Korea in the last nine years and was set to meet with the South Korean president on Wednesday, a few hours after giving a speech at the National Assembly located in Seoul.

Canada and South Korea Relations

The office of the South Korean president said that the two leaders will discuss North Korea's poor human rights record. They are also expected to discuss cooperation over security and "critical minerals," as per ABC News.

The critical minerals authorities mentioned most likely referenced Canadian materials that South Korean companies used to manufacture electric car batteries or semiconductors. These are two major products in the Asian country's export-driven economy.

South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin and Minister for Trade Ahn Duk-Geun met on Tuesday with Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly and Minister of Innovation, Science, and Industry Francois-Philippe Champagne. The officials discussed various topics, such as economic security.

The South Korean president has long been trying to increase international pressure on North Korea, which has continued to expand its nuclear capabilities. Yoon has also tried to bolster Seoul's voice in supply chain issues.

The two world leaders are set to travel later this week and head to Japan to attend the summit of the Group of Seven (G7) industrialized nations. That would be where North Korea's nuclear threat is believed to be the center of attention alongside Russia's invasion of Ukraine and China's rising assertiveness in its foreign policy, according to the Associated Press.

Read Also: Zelensky Reaps Billions of Dollars in Aids During Europe Tour

Addressing Global Issues

A South Korean government official said that Trudeau and Yoon are expected to sign an agreement regarding key mineral supply chains, clean energy conversion, and energy security cooperation.

The meeting comes with Canada trying to bolster its EV production using mineral reserves such as lithium, cobalt, and nickel. These three resources are used to make batteries for such products.

During their meeting in September last year, Trudeau and Yoon agreed to deepen their countries' cooperation on mineral supply chains. Their conversation and agreement were parts of efforts to cut down emissions to address the climate change issue.

Furthermore, Canada and South Korea have tried to deepen cooperation regarding intelligence sharing while navigating a rising rivalry between the United States and China. Ottawa's diplomatic relations with Beijing have run high since the detention of Meng Wanzhou, an executive of Huawei Technologies, in 2018.

Additionally, Beijing arrested two Canadians over spying charges. Most recently, last week, Beijing announced that it was expelling a Canadian diplomat in Shanghai in response to Ottawa's decision to expel a Chinese diplomat in Toronto, said Reuters.

Related Article: Thailand Election Update: Opposition Parties Win Major Victory Against Military Rule

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20230517/us-reportedly-still-assessing-damage-to-patriot-system-after-russian-strike-on-kiev-1110412365.html

US Reportedly Still Assessing Damage to Patriot System After Russian Strike on Kiev

US Reportedly Still Assessing Damage to Patriot System After Russian Strike on Kiev

The Armed Forces of Ukraine currently has two Patriot air defense systems, which were supplied as part of Western countries military aid to Kiev amid Russias special military operation in the country.

2023-05-17T06:23+0000

2023-05-17T06:23+0000

2023-05-19T10:17+0000

us

russia

ukraine

patriot missile system

missile strike

special operation

military

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Washington is still assessing to what degree the US-made Patriot surface-to-air missile (SAM) system was damaged following a Russian missile barrage in and around Kiev on Tuesday, an American broadcaster has quoted an unnamed White House source as saying.This comes after the Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD) announced in a statement on Tuesday that a Patriot system had been hit by the Kinzhal hypersonic ballistic missile in Kiev.The Kinzhal was launched as the Russian armed forces conducted a combined attack with long-range precision-guided air- and sea-based weapons against the AFU [Armed Forces of Ukraine] units, as well as depots of ammunition, weapons and military equipment supplied by Western countries to Kiev, according to the statement.Right now, the AFU possess two Patriot SAMs, one delivered by the US and the other - jointly by Germany and the Netherlands.The Patriots were delivered to the Zelensky administration within the framework of Western countries ongoing military aid to Kiev. The US and its allies ramped up their assistance shortly after Russian began its special military operation in Ukraine. Moscow has repeatedly warned that the Wests military supplies to Kiev add to prolonging the Ukraine conflict and make the US a direct party to the standoff.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230516/shoigu-rejects-ukrainian-claims-on-downing-of-six-kinzhal-hypersonic-missiles-1110406121.html

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russian special militatry operation in ukraine, russian missile strike on kiev, us' assessment of damage to patriot missile system
https://sputnikglobe.com/20230517/watch-russian-airborne-troops-and-bmd-4m-crush-a-ukrainian-stronghold-1110422694.html

Watch Russian Airborne Troops and BMD-4M Crush a Ukrainian Stronghold

Watch Russian Airborne Troops and BMD-4M Crush a Ukrainian Stronghold

Russian armored group approached the enemy positions and opened direct fire, using amphibious infantry fighting vehicle BMD-4.

2023-05-17T16:17+0000

2023-05-17T16:17+0000

2023-05-17T16:17+0000

russia's special operation in ukraine

ukrainian crisis

bmd-4

russia

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A group of Russian BMD-4M combat vehicles approached enemy positions and opened direct fire. The crews used 30 mm automatic cannons and 100 mm cannons, rendering results in moments. Victorious, the armored group returned to the safe area.BMD-4 is an amphibious infantry fighting vehicle created in Russia after the end of Cold War. Russian military specialists dub it "technology of the future," capable of roving in different climatic conditions. the BMD-4 were airdropped and tested in water  and this also means that they were redeployed at sea.You can also watch this video on Sputnik's Odysee Channel. This fighting vehicle proved to be quite instrumental in protecting the people of Donbass against Kiev's attacks.

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20230517/wests-price-ceiling-caves-in-russian-oil-exports-hit-post-february-2022-high-1110419698.html

West's Price Ceiling Caves in: Russian Oil Exports Hit Post-February 2022 High

West's Price Ceiling Caves in: Russian Oil Exports Hit Post-February 2022 High

Russia thwarted Western attempts to exhaust it economically, turning to Asian markets and ignoring the price cap. China and India a close business partners of Moscow, willing to buy its hydrocarbons.

2023-05-17T15:22+0000

2023-05-17T15:22+0000

2023-05-17T15:22+0000

multimedia

infographic

russia

oil

international energy agency (iea)

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According to the IEA, Russia remains one of the top countries in the OPEC+ framework with daily crude output holding at 9.6 million barrels in April, second only to Saudi Arabia. That said, exports hit a post-February 2022 high, peaking at 8.3 million barrels per day in April. In the meantime, Russian hydrocarbon revenues have grown steadily, reaching $15 billion in April compared to $13.3 billion in March. As the IEA's experts put it, "Russia seems to have few problems finding willing buyers for its crude and oil products." Kremlin officials consistently warn that Russia won't act against the best interests of its citizens, and therefore refuse to do business with hostile countries, while redirecting hydrocarbon exports to Asia instead.

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Harness racing will return to Peterborough, Ont. this Saturday (May 20) for the first of 18 race dates at Kawartha Downs in 2023.

A 10-race card will hit the track on Saturday with many events planned for those on site. Kawartha Downs will host a car show on opening night and will also have live music for the track patrons. Prize giveaways will happen through the opening-night card as well.

The featured races on the night are a pair of $5,000 conditioned events, one on the pace and one on the trot. In the pace, veteran Matts Tuition lands post one against a field which also includes Mohawk invader Julerica, exiting the Claiming Handicap company in Campbellville, along with another Mohawk shipper in Mad Man Hill. The trot pins nine competitors and includes the grizzled half-millionaire O Narutac Perfetto from post six in a group that features many six-digit earners like Oh Lina, Sonofamillionaire, Wishyoudtellme, Brady Bunch and All The Truth.

Kawartha Downs wishes to remind all horsepeople that a valid AGCO license is required for access to the backstretch. There will also be no qualifiers held this Saturday due to an event on the infield.

Post time at Kawartha Downs is 7 p.m. (EDT). Racing at Kawartha continues weekly through Sept. 23 with cards mostly on Saturdays and on select Fridays.

To view Saturdays harness racing entries, click on one of the following links: Kawartha Downs -- Saturday Entries || Program Pages (courtesy TrackIT)
Summer vacation isnt here yet, but that hasnt limited Harness Horse Youth Foundation (HHYF) educational efforts.

On April 29, a dozen youngsters attended the fun-filled (rainless) day at Shenandoah Downs. They spent the morning learning about grooming, harnessing and getting their hands-on horse time. They listened to guest speakers like the legendary trainer/driver Roger Hammer, the starter, the associate judge, the paddock judge and the commission veterinarian. A quick lunch at the concession stand (complete with funnel cakes and deep fried oreos for dessert) and then they were off to enjoy an afternoon at the races. Four lucky individuals who answered quiz questions correctly earned the chance to ride in the starting gate. All had the opportunity to meet and receive autographed Artsplace trading cards as well as watch a few races with ever-gracious John Campbell.

This spring opener was HHYFs new program coordinator C.J. Holthaus's first official event and first time at the races. She reflected on the day: What made the event truly special was the enthusiasm and engagement of the young participants. Even though many had little exposure to harness racing, they asked insightful questions and were keen to get involved in all the hands-on activities.The kids were not only eager to learn about harness racing, but they also had experience in grooming and cleaning hooves, and they weren't afraid to get their hands dirty.

On May 2, HHYF stable stars CDs Miss M and Imas Hit along with human volunteers Vicky Rouch, Ned Green and Rick Robertson travelled to Oxford, Indiana, the birthplace of Dan Patch. A handful of adults as well as a group of preschoolers stopped by to visit the town square around lunchtime. In the afternoon, 230 fourth, fifth and sixth graders learned a bit about Dan Patch, Bulldog Hanover, and, of course, harness racing. This event was coordinated by Gwen Erwood as a part of the Life and Times of the Great Dan Patch celebration held throughout the week in honour of Dan Patchs 127th birthday.

On May 6, HHYF trustee Suzanne DAmbrose greeted 40 eager 4-Hers and their families at Fair Winds Farm in Cream Ridge, New Jersey to learn about foals and what happens on Standardbred breeding farms. Farm manager Heather Zitone took creativity to a new level in her discussion of artificial insemination and foal delivery. Attendees were allowed to watch ultrasounds done by the farm veterinarian. The day concluded with visits to paddocks with warm nuzzles from the foals boarded at the farm.

Tally through mid May: 300 new harness racing fans!

Registration is open for upcoming HHYF summer programs listed below.

June 19: $40 - Jay County Fairgrounds, Portland, Indiana; registration deadline June 12

June 28: $40 - Darke County Fairgrounds, Greenville, Ohio; registration deadline June 21

July 7: $40 - DeLong Stable, Anderson, Indiana; registration deadline July 1

July 8 - 12: $300 - Leadership Program, Crimson Lane Farm, Anderson, Indiana; registration deadline July 1

July 18 - 20: $115 - Crimson Lane Farm, Anderson, Indiana; registration deadline July 11

July 28 & 29: $75 - Windsor Fairgrounds, Windsor, Maine; registration deadline July 21*

August 2: $75 - Goshen Historic Track, Goshen, New York; registration deadline July 21

August 6 & 7: $75 - Gaitway Farm, Manalapan, New Jersey; registration deadline July 21

*Note change of location.

(With files from HHYF)
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As a Gering native, Vanessa Woolsey always knew that she wanted to come back to the town she grew up in, inspired by its legacy of music education.

Woolsey, the music teacher at Northfield Elementary School, graduated from Gering High School as a member of the Class of 2014. She then attended the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, where she earned her bachelors in music education. She taught pre-K through 12th grade vocal and instrumental music at Sioux County Schools in Harrison for three years before making a return to her hometown at the start of the current school year.

I really toyed with whether or not I would leave my job and start a new adventure by coming home, she said. But this was something Ive always wanted since I left for college, to come back home and teach in Gering. Its an awesome school district with great people, and we have a wonderful reputation for music in our community. I wanted to be a part of that.

Woolseys return led to an even better experience than shed hoped. She said that returning to Gering as a teacher has led to relationships with her old teachers, now her peers, that are truly unique and supportive.

There are teachers I had in high school that Im now coworkers with, which is different but really cool  They can talk to me on a completely different level than I think they could with anybody else because they know me, she said.

Being a Gering native has also helped Woolsey form close relationships with her students, many coming from families that she knows well.

Its funny because I have a lot of kids whose parents I went to high school with, Woolsey said. Once it clicks I can see things like, Her little dimples on her chin are the same as her dads. I build really good connections with them because I can say, Hey, I know your mom and they get so excited. Its a wonderful experience to have.

Woolsey said she knew early on that she wanted to specialize in music education due to her upbringing and the influence of a particularly impactful teacher.

My mom made sure that I was always involved in music. I was the kid that was always running around the house and singing and making up songs, she said. Then in my freshman year, we had an assignment thanking a teacher for their impact on our lives. I knew from that moment on that I was going to be a music educator, because Randy Raines, my high school band teacher, had such a huge impact on my life.

Woolsey wrote her letter to Raines, thanking him for the impact that he had on her and many others. She said he showed her that music has a way of connecting people that nothing else can imitate, which guided her to where she needed to be.

Other special aspects of music have made themselves apparent to Woolsey over the years, including its ability to help students turn around a bad day. She said that Gerings elementary schools allow their students to attend music class every day, which can help them overcome stress.

Its almost like a reset for them, she said. They can have just a second to breathe and do something fun that engages them musically or mentally. Its so unique and so hard to describe.

Woolsey and her peers at Northfield have seen that power of music firsthand. She described a day in which a class of second graders began singing on their own to recover after a tiring testing session.

They sang all the Christmas songs that they sang at their Christmas concert, she said. Its so wonderful to have those experiences with the kids, and for them to know that I will be there for them and they can always find me and Ill help as best as I can.
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LINCOLN  Nebraska lawmakers added a 12-week abortion ban to a controversial bill that seeks to restrict gender-affirming care for transgender youths.

The Nebraska Legislature advanced Legislative Bill 574 in a 33-14 vote Tuesday night. While the bill had been slated for its final round of debate, lawmakers also adopted an amendment Tuesday that will require the legislation to make it through one more round of debate before it goes to Gov. Jim Pillens desk to be signed into law.

Our kids are our future, and the advancement of LB 574 is an important step in protecting that future, Pillen said in an email statement after the vote. I applaud the senators who voted for LB 574 and stood up for our common sense, conservative values. I am proud to have partnered with conservative senators in this fight and look forward to signing the bill upon final passage.

Andi Curry Grubb, executive director of Planned Parenthood Advocates of Nebraska, said the group was saddened by but not deterred by Tuesdays vote.

This fight is far from over. For now, abortion and gender affirming care remain safe and legal in Nebraska and our residents have the right to control their bodies, families and futures, she said in an email to The World-Herald. And we wont stop until we win this fight for Nebraskans today and for generations to come.

Tuesdays debate had many twists and turns, with several points of order made and motions to overrule the chair. The tensions rose as the night went on, with lawmakers on both sides accusing the other of degrading the sanctity of the Nebraska Legislature.

Throughout the day, a din of voices echoed on the floor from hundreds of protesters in the rotunda, representing opponents of the measure, along with a few supporters. It became loud enough that Lt. Gov. Joe Kelly at one point called for the chamber doors to be closed, but ultimately decided against it.

After the bill got the 33 votes necessary to end an opposing filibuster, several opponents on the Legislatures balcony stood up and chanted, One more vote to save our lives, you cant debate on human rights. The chants continued even as Kelly ordered the balcony to be cleared, causing the Legislature to recess for a few minutes as security guards escorted people out.

Supporters of the bill went through back hallways to leave the chamber. Several had moved their vehicles at the urging of the Nebraska State Patrol to avoid any problems with the bills opponents.

State Sen. Megan Hunt of Omaha yelled, Youre trash as LB 574s introducer, Sen. Kathleen Kauth of Omaha, and other bill supporters left the chamber.

Hunt and Sen. Machaela Cavanaugh of Omaha declined to comment after the vote. They left the chamber arm-in-arm to cheers from the bills opponents, who included former Sen. Patty Pansing Brooks.

The scene at the Nebraska Capitol right now as lawmakers opposing #LB574 exit the chamber. #neleg pic.twitter.com/ZT3HRaWnGa  Erin Bamer (@ErinBamer) May 17, 2023

The original bill sought to completely ban puberty blockers, hormone therapy and gender-affirming surgeries for individuals under 19. The amendment, introduced by State Sen. Ben Hansen of Blair, narrows the ban to just surgeries, and calls on the states chief medical officer to establish regulations on puberty blockers and hormone therapy for youths. Those who were already undergoing such care before the legislation takes effect would be exempt.

The amendment also revives an attempt to further restrict Nebraskas 20-week abortion ban to 12 weeks. Earlier this session, lawmakers attempted to pass a bill that would have restricted abortions at around six weeks of pregnancy, but the bill failed by just one vote.

Sen. Machaela Cavanaugh of Omaha slammed the tactic supporters used to get to a vote on the amendment, frequently calling to cease debate on priority motions she made against the bill when only a handful of lawmakers had the chance to speak.

This is not how good policy is made, and it is beneath the Nebraska Legislature, Cavanaugh said.

The 12-week proposal takes from a suggestion made by Sen. Merv Riepe of Ralston, who was one of the primary reasons the previous bill was blocked. Though the amendments ban is more restrictive than Riepes proposal as it is based on gestational age, not fertilization, Riepe called the proposal a reasonable compromise.

Gestational age measures a pregnancy based on the womans last menstrual period, whereas fertilization refers to the moment the egg is fertilized. The difference between the two could amount to several weeks. Multiple opponents referred to the proposal as a 10-week abortion ban.

We have proven time and time again in the past year that we have the power to defeat these harmful bans, Curry Grubb said. We know this goes against the will of Nebraskans, who want to retain their bodily autonomy. Thats why its imperative Nebraskans keep stepping up and have their voices heard. We need to let the people elected to represent us know that this isnt acceptable, and we arent backing down. Not now. Not ever.

In terms of transgender health care, Hansens amendment is a less restrictive version of both LB 574 and what Kauth was planning to offer through her own amendment. She previously said her amendment would mainly include a grandfather clause, while maintaining LB 574s ban on puberty blockers, hormone therapy and surgeries.

However, Kauth expressed her support for Hansens amendment. Although she isnt totally happy with the changes he proposed, she said, Hansens amendment would ensure the votes are rock solid to pass the measure. Several lawmakers had previously indicated they wouldnt continue to support the original bill unless changes were adopted.

Hansen and Kauth both described the amendment as a compromise  both on LB 574, and on the previous six-week abortion ban. Hansen said the changes to LB 574 incorporated suggestions opponents made during a series of talks after the trans health care bills second round of debate.

Before she was ushered out, Kauth said she was very pleased with how it went.

I knew it was going to be hard, she said. I think it was a good compromise.

But opponents, including some lawmakers who participated in the talks, rejected the notion that the amendment was a compromise. Sen. John Cavanaugh of Omaha introduced his own amendment last week that would regulate only gender-affirming surgeries.

My amendment is more of a true compromise, John Cavanaugh said.

Opponents also criticized the change leaving regulation of puberty blockers and hormone therapy to the states chief medical officer. Because the position is appointed by the governor, who supports LB 574, they alleged this was a thinly veiled attempt to maintain the full ban of the original bill.

Its really harming kids more, said Hunt.

The criticism of LB 574 is nothing new, as the bill sparked backlash as soon as it was introduced. For the last 45 legislative days, opposing lawmakers filibustered as much as possible to protest the legislation. Their effort was spearheaded by Machaela Cavanaugh.

Kauth largely ignored the ongoing filibuster. In her view, she said, the bill isnt an attempt to discriminate against trans youths, but an attempt to protect vulnerable children.

Our kids deserve the right to grow up, Kauth said.

Sen. Danielle Conrad of Lincoln said bill supporters had discounted science, medicine, parental rights and process to push a desired outcome.

What was on display thus far in the session and particularly today was nothing more than raw exertion of raw political power, she said, urging Nebraskans to become more involved with the political process, both when the bill comes back for a final vote and in the future.

World-Herald staff writer Martha Stoddard contributed to this report.

Photos: 2023 Nebraska legislative session
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A bill passed in 2021 aimed to spare victims of violent crime in Nebraska from the burdensome process of being reimbursed for medical treatment  instead allowing providers to send bills directly to the state.

But, two years later, the state hasnt yet reimbursed a single provider through the new process.

The hospital reimbursement changes sought to address one piece of the states Crime Victims Reparations program, which is intended to financially aid victims of violent crime. A recent Flatwater Free Press investigation found Nebraska helps far fewer people than nearly every surrounding state.

The programs lone staff member said the state has received only four reimbursement claims directly from providers  all from Methodist Health System. All four are still pending, Gretchen Mills said. That means no reimbursement has successfully been processed under the new law.

But in an email, Mills also wrote that theres a fix coming soon.

There is a focus underway to ensure those are processed as quickly as possible and that all future submitted claims are managed in a timely manner, Mills wrote.

Three of Nebraskas major hospital systems declined to make staff available to speak to Flatwater for this story. In statements, both CHI Health and Methodist confirmed that, two years after the laws passage, they hadnt successfully billed the program directly. Nebraska Medicine declined comment.

Even though Methodist is now able to route unpaid balances to Nebraskas Crime Victims Reparations Program, it remains a work in progress, said Jeff Francis, vice president and chief financial officer, in a prepared statement. We have not yet received a payment.

Speeding up payments is part of what Legislative Bill 497, the legislation passed in 2021, set out to accomplish. The law is meant to lift the burden of applying for medical bill reimbursement from victims shoulders and expedite payments to health care providers. It passed without a single no vote.

Some victims of violent crime found themselves saddled with bills, unable to pay and even hounded by debt collectors as they try to piece their lives back together, said advocates who work with victims of sexual assault and domestic violence.

Other victims avoided seeking the care they needed because of the expected costs, the advocates said in public comment.

Medical providers can now apply to CVR directly, on behalf of victims of crimes like abuse and sexual assault, with their permission, so they arent entangled in the process.

No survivor should have to worry about their ability to pay for medical care needed in the aftermath of violence that was perpetrated upon them, said LB 497sponsor Sen. Wendy DeBoer of Omaha, a Democrat, in its public hearing.

In her testimony, DeBoer said that the average cost per victimization is $2,000  more if a victim has a hospital stay. About 30% of victims of intimate partner violence pay their medical bills out-of-pocket, she said.

But DeBoer later heard that the laws rollout was going poorly, which spurred an interim study that focused on the CVR program. That study, in turn, inspired more legislation meant to improve the program. Those changes are currently under consideration in the Nebraska Legislature.

The issue, according to lawmakers, seems to be twofold: An education gap  providers dont know the process exists  and an issue with how the program has traditionally processed claims.

It typically processes medical claims as a lump sum, after all bills are received, lawmakers said, but has signaled plans to start experimenting with a more pay-as-you-go strategy to expedite payments.

Even before the new process existed, Francis said, sending crime victims to collections wasnt part of Methodists billing practices. After billing insurance, the hospital would write off any unpaid balances after 120 days.

We encourage all victims of violence to seek medical care without worrying about bills or collections, said Hanna Halpenny, forensic nursing program manager at Methodist Hospital and Methodist Womens Hospital.
Blast inside firecracker factory kills 7, injures 5 in India's West Bengal

Xinhua) 13:19, May 17, 2023

NEW DELHI, May 16 (Xinhua) -- At least seven people were killed and five others injured, some of them critically, on Tuesday from a firecracker factory blast in the eastern Indian state of West Bengal, police said.

The blast took place in Egra area of East Medinipur district, about 130 km south of Kolkata, the capital city of West Bengal.

According to police, the factory was being illegally run in a residential building and the injured were immediately removed to the nearest health facility.

Police said the building completely collapsed in the blast.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said an investigation has been ordered to find out the reason.

Accidental explosions are common at Indian firecracker factories and shops as owners usually ignore safety standards.

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun)
(Photo : Carl Court/Getty Images)

Former British Prime Minister Liz Truss visits Taiwan and is expected to warn against submitting to China's aggressive demands regarding the self-governed island nation.

Former British Prime Minister Liz Truss to visit Taiwan and warn against submitting to China's demands

The lawmaker's trip to the self-governing island is expected to risk Britain's relations with Beijing further

Truss is the most well-known UK politician to visit Taiwan since former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher traveled to the island in the 1990s

Former British Prime Minister Liz Truss visits Taiwan on Wednesday and is expected to warn against meeting China's demands while showing support for the self-governed island's democracy.

Truss' visit and agenda are expected to potentially damage Britain's already-tense relations with Beijing regarding the issue. She is the most well-known UK politician to visit Taiwan since former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher traveled to the island in the 1990s.

Liz Truss To Visit Taiwan

Furthermore, Truss' trip to Taiwan is when relations between Britain and China are at their lowest in the past few decades. As per US News, the former UK prime minister represents a hawkish wing of the governing Conservative Party that is opposed to the British government's approach with China.

This includes lawmakers trying to engage with Chinese counterparts in areas such as trade and climate change while also trying to limit national security threats. On the other hand, French President Emmanuel Macron is trying to distance Europe from any involvement in the China-Taiwan controversy.

However, Truss said that choosing to do so would be completely irresponsible for European nations. She pushed back against some officials' comments that said the island is too far away or is not important.

The situation comes as China claims that Taiwan is part of its territory and has not renounced using aggressive force to unify it with the mainland. Previously, Beijing condemned visits by British lawmakers to the self-governed island, calling them interference in China's internal affairs.

In a statement, Truss said that there needs to be support given to democracies such as Taiwan despite the aggression that it faces from China. The former British prime minister previously made remarks that focused on rebuilding her political reputation and mounting pressure on Rishi Sunak, her successor, according to Reuters.

Read Also: Sudan Crisis: Reports of Khartoum Women Raped by Armed Men Emerge

China-Taiwan Relations

On the other hand, a spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in London criticized Truss' visit to Taiwan, calling it a "dangerous political show" that they argued would only harm the United Kingdom.

Last month, Foreign Minister James Cleverly said it would be a mistake to isolate Beijing. The remarks were the clearest attempt to explain Britain's current stance on the China-Taiwan issue under Prime Minister Sunak.

On Tuesday, the Chinese military said that it is prepared to "resolutely smash any form of Taiwan independence." The remarks come as the United States is reportedly preparing to accelerate the sale of various defensive weapons and other military assistance to Taiwan.

Chinese Defense Ministry spokesperson Col. Tan Kefei warned that the recent exchanges between the US and Taiwan militaries were extremely wrong. According to ABC News, Tan added that Beijing's Liberation Army continues to bolster its military training and preparations.

Related Article: Justin Trudeau Meets Yoon Suk Yeol To Discuss Various Issues

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Twelve men, including two Statesville men, are wanted on felony dogfighting and other charges by the Iredell County Sheriffs Office. Multiple dogs were seized from a scene near Statesville on Saturday.

James Faron Morrison, 56, of Statesville, is charged with felony dogfighting and felony conspiracy, the Iredell County Sheriffs Office said in a news release.

Phillip Alexander Stevenson, 36, of Statesville, is charged with felony dogfighting and felony conspiracy, the sheriffs office said.

On Saturday, Iredell County deputies received information from an anonymous caller about a possible dogfighting event happening on Sena Lane east of Statesville. Deputies and Iredell County Animal Services went to the 1200 block of Sena Lane to investigate, the sheriffs office said.

Sgt. Nate Hodges, Deputy Easton Rhoney, and Deputy Garret Deal went to the dead end of Sena Lane, which leads to a field. The deputies found more than 20 vehicles parked in the field. As the deputies approached, multiple people fled on foot, the sheriffs office said.

Based on the investigation, it was determined that a dogfight was about to take place as the deputies arrived, the sheriffs office said.

The deputies found a fighting ring in the nearby woods, with sides of the ring numbered one through four, which was used for a dogfighting event to take place, the sheriffs office said.

Deputies also found medical supplies to care for the dogs after fighting and a hanging scale to weigh the dogs, the sheriffs office said. Due to evidence at the scene and the number of people involved, deputies determined that this location has been used for these types of events multiple times in the past, the sheriffs office said.

Deputies and Iredell County Animal Control rescued five dogs on the scene. One dog was locked inside a vehicle that was left on the scene, the sheriffs office said.

Based on physical evidence gathered throughout the investigation, a magistrate issued warrants for arrest for 12 individuals, the sheriffs office said.

All of the men charged in this case are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. The other men wanted in the case are listed below.

Curtis Alexander Bowers Jr., 39, of Lenoir, is charged with felony dogfighting and felony conspiracy.

Sean Lennell Burton, 51, of Moorseville, is charged with felony dogfighting and felony conspiracy.

Maurice Moore, 51, of Charlotte, is charged with felony dogfighting and felony conspiracy.

Maurice Leon Washington, 22, of Charlotte, is charged with felony dogfighting and felony conspiracy.

Tomocka Gladden, 51, of Asheboro, is charged with felony dogfighting and felony conspiracy.

Maurice Kentrell Nance, 31, of Newberry, is charged with felony dogfighting and felony conspiracy.

Johnathan Marquis Baxter, 35, of Newberry, is charged with felony dogfighting and felony conspiracy.

Mugshots were not available for Nance or Baxter, the sheriffs office said.

Keith Deshawn Robinson, 30, of Greensboro, is charged with felony dogfighting, felony conspiracy, and misdemeanor resisting a public officer.

Jashari Malik Billups, 26, of Charlotte, is charged with felony dogfighting, felony conspiracy, felony identity theft and misdemeanor resisting a public officer.

Thomas Duane Bennett, 46, of Charlotte, is charged with felony dogfighting, felony conspiracy and misdemeanor cruelty to animals.

This investigation is ongoing by the Iredell County Sheriffs Office along with Iredell County Animal Services. The sheriffs office can be contacted at 704-878-3180. The Iredell County Crime Stoppers can be contacted at 704-662-1340.
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May 14-20, 2023, is National Police Week. This commemorative week started in 1962 when President John F. Kennedy designated May 15 as Peace Officers Memorial Day and the week in which it falls as National Police Week. It has grown to become the time to honor officers lost in the line of duty and to recognize the dedication and bravery of those who continue to serve and protect our communities.

I have been a prosecutor for 26 years. During that time, I have had the privilege of working with many excellent law enforcement officers from all of the agencies in my district. Under North Carolina General Statutes 7A-61, one of the duties of the district attorney and of assistant district attorneys is to advise law enforcement officers in their district. In my district, which includes Alexander and Iredell counties, there are seven primary law enforcement agencies which we advise. Those are: The Alexander County Sheriffs Office, the Iredell County Sheriffs Office, the Mooresville Police Department, the Statesville Police Department, the Taylorsville Police Department, the Troutman Police Department and the North Carolina State Highway Patrol.

Advising officers can mean talking to them about the next steps to take in an investigation or letting them know which charges are appropriate in a given situation. It can mean talking over issues regarding interrogations, searches or arrests. It can mean updating officers on changes in the law or educating them on the court process. Prosecutors in my office also routinely participate in training current, as well as prospective, law enforcement officers. Officers in my district know that they can call me or my assistant district attorneys at any time with any question that they might have.

As I stood at the National Police Week Ceremony in Mooresville Monday, I thought about all of the officers that I have worked with over the years. Although it seems like I just started in the DAs office, many of the officers that I think of as having trained me have retired. And many of them wear white shirts now, having been promoted. I thought back on Monday about the days I sat beside those officers in District Court while we tried cases. I thought about how we worked long hours together preparing for murder trials. I thought about how we looked over items of evidence and went out to crime scenes. And for those times I am grateful. Those are part of what makes being a prosecutor worthwhile  working together as a team, building solid cases and keeping our community safe.

During this week, I want to say thank you to the officers in my district. Thank you for responding to calls, investigating crimes, assisting victims, testifying in court and keeping us safe. Thank you for being the first ones to go into the places where others are afraid to go. Thank you for your bravery and your dedication. Thank you for training us in the district attorneys office and for helping us to do the best job that we can do to prosecute criminals.

And, in case we do not say it enough, we appreciate you. And we like being on your team.
Iraq is surrounded by Syria, Turkey, Iran, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, countries that are not always friendly. Iraq is oil-rich but economically poor. Corruption and government mismanagement resulted in an unemployment rate of 14 percent. Worldwide, this is surpassed only by South Africa (32 percent) and Nigeria (32 percent). Both these African countries also suffer from high levels of corruption. The most recent corruption survey has Iraq ranked 157 out of 180 nations. South Africa is at 72 and Nigeria at 150. While Iraq remains in the top twelve percent of most-corrupt countries, it is visibly climbing out of that hole. In 2020 Iraqs rank was 160 and 162 in 2019.

Transparency International measures corruption on a 1 (most corrupt) to 100 (not corrupt) scale. The nations with the worst score are currently Syria (score of 14), South Sudan (12) and Somalia (12). The least corrupt nations are currently Denmark and New Zealand, each with a score of 88. Iraq had a score of 23 in 2022, up from 21 in 2020, 20 in 2019, 17 in 2017-18 and 16 in 2013.

Since Iraq became a democracy in 2004, reducing corruption has become more and more at the center of reform efforts. Iraq has long been infamous for its high levels of corruption. Before Saddam Hussein was ousted in 2003, the corruption was somewhat controlled by Saddam and his government. Saddam used the corruption to raise money and reward friends and punish enemies. Eliminating Saddam did not eliminate the corruption but did mean you could openly protest the corruption without risking arrest or execution.

Naturally, Iraq prefers to do business with other corrupt nations. Russia (137 out of 180 in corruption) is a favorite. Russias high level of corruption often results in problems with maintaining military equipment purchased from them. For example, because of the Ukraine War related sanctions on Russia, the Russian helicopter gunships Iraq depends on for many airstrikes have been gradually grounded because no spare parts can be obtained from Russia. Iraq instead used its American F-16IQ jets to carry out most of its airstrikes. The air force received 36 American built F-16IQ jet fighters between 2015 and 2020, In late 2015 Iraqi F-16IQs carried out their first combat operation (against ISIL in Anbar province). The F-16IQ made its first flight in early 2014. F-16IQ is a custom version of the single seat Block 52 F-16C and the two-seater F-16D. Iraq ordered 36 F-16IQs seven years ago. The F-16IQ is similar to American Block 52 F-16s except they are not equipped to handle AMRAAM (radar guided air-to-air missiles) or JDAM (GPS guided bombs). The F-16IQ can handle laser guided bombs and older radar guided missiles like the AIM-7.

Iraqi F-16s too have suffered because of corruption. When the F-16s are not heavily used, maintenance soon becomes a problem because cash allocated for F-16 maintenance suddenly dwindles as air force and defense ministry officials dip into the maintenance fund because the F-16s generally dont have to fly much. For each hour an F-16 is in the air, it requires about $25,000 in operating and maintenance costs. Fuel alone accounts for over 20 percent of the cost. Pay and benefits for pilots and maintenance personnel is nearly as costly, especially if, like Iraq, you have to import expensive foreign contractors. These contract personnel become even more expensive if you want them to operate in a war zone. Replacement parts account for nearly as much as fuel. Some components, like tires and engines, wear out the more they are used. All components of an F-16 are subject to wear and tear and eventually need replacing if you want to avoid accidents or the inability to fly at all. At the moment the F-16IQs are needed and that means money allocated for operating them arrives on time and without any unexpected deductions by larcenous officials.

In addition to many American contractors, Iraq also hosts several thousand American troops. These are part of an effort to reduce growing Iranian influence in Iraq. Arabs see Iran as a major troublemaker in the region. The Turks, Americans and Israelis agree and are all doing something to keep the Iranians out. The Assads in neighboring Syria are somewhere in the middle when it comes to Iran. At the moment the Assads want closer relations with its fellow Arabs, have been able to gain re-admittance to the Arab League and are negotiating with Saudi Arabia for reconstruction assistance and commercial investments.

Keeping Iran out of Iraq is complicated by the fact that lots of pro-Iran Iraqis are already in Iraq and a growing number appear to be on the government payroll via the post-2014 deal that put all PMF (Popular Mobilization Force) militias on the army payroll. Technically this meant that the PMF units had to report to senior army commanders and obey orders issued by army generals. The PMF units took the payroll cash but refused to obey army commands or requests. Each year the PMF units demanded more money from the government. This cash was deducted from the army budget. This year PMF wants nearly $3 billion. The PMF claims that this is what it needed to about 200,000 PMF members and that number increases each year. The PMF claims that many are pro-Iran groups and will resort of violence if they are not paid. Anti-corruption groups claim that this is another form of criminal activity because the number of PMF members claimed dont exist and most of this PMF budget is being stolen via a traditional ghost soldier scam. This is when large numbers of soldiers are claimed but do not exist and whoever controls the payroll and other expenses for these non-existent troops, can just steal the money. It is suspected that some of the ghost soldier cash going to the PMF is being diverted to Iran. This would not be the first time that cash from Iraqi corruption went to Iran, which is responsible for a lot of the corruption in Iraq.

May 16, 2023: In the north (Sinjar in Nineveh province) a Turkish UAV used a missile to kill three members of a local pro-PKK (Turkish Kurd separatists) group. Turkey regularly carries out attacks like this in northern Iraq, especially around Sinjar.

May 15, 2023: In the autonomous Kurdish north (outside Kirkuk), security forces cornered two ISIL members hiding in some marshes and killed them. One soldier was wounded. There arent any organized ISIL groups left this far north and the Iraqi and Kurdish security forces want to keep it that way.

May 14, 2023: The U.S. has concluded that a March UAV attack on an American base in Syria, which killed a military contractor, was launched by an Iran-backed militia in nearby Iraq.

May 13, 2023: In the north (Erbil, the capital of the Kurdish north) Kurdish forces continue finding the hideouts of the few remaining ISIL (Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant) groups and trying to eliminate them. This is a tedious and frustrating process because there are enough Sunni Arabs living in the area to provide some cover and sanctuary for ISIL members. ISIL survives in Iraq by reverting to gangster mode. Kidnapping for ransom is a favorite activity and it works as long as ISIL avoids grabbing any0ne belonging to a well-armed and aggressive group that will respond with violence to ransom demands rather than paying.

May 11, 2023: North of Baghdad (Saladin province) ISIL attacked a police checkpoint but were repulsed with three of the attackers killed. One policeman died as well.

Iraq requested that Turkey allow Kurdish oil to resume using a pipeline through Turkey for exporting oil. This comes after Iraq won an International Court of arbitration ruling in March that declared it illegal for Turkey to allow 370,000 barrels of oil a day to move through a Turkish pipeline to a port where the oil can be sold to export customers and finance the autonomous Kurd government. Turkey gets a transit fee for use of the pipeline. Without the oil income the Kurds will have to surrender some of their autonomy to the Arab dominated Iraqi government. The Iraqi Arabs have never treated the Kurds well and under Saddam, the Kurds were constantly being attacked, in one case with chemical weapons. The Iraqi government and the Kurds worked out a new deal.

May 9, 2023: In the northeast (Diyala Province) an Iraqi F-16 airstrike killed two senior ISIL leaders.

Meanwhile, in the west (Anbar Province) security forces found and destroyed an ISIL hideout in remote areas of western Anbar. The hideouts are destroyed along with the munitions and equipment found.

May 8, 2023: In the northeast (Diyala Province) security forces found two ISIL hideouts that were used to store large quantities of weapons and ammunition. The hideouts and weapons were destroyed. These two locations were part of a larger ISIL network of weapons storage sites.

May 6, 2023: In the north (Kirkuk province) security forces found an ISIL hideout and killed several Islamic terrorists who were living there. Weapons and munitions were destroyed, along with the building.

April 19, 2023: In the autonomous Kurdish north, a Turkish airstrike killed six PKK (Turkish Kurd separatists) near the Turkish border. Iraq and the Kurds protest this cross border Turkish violence, which includes ground forces, because the Kurd separatists do have hideouts in Iraq and neither Arab or Kurdish Iraqis want to deal with the PKK and stand aside as the Turks attack.
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A man wanted on a murder charge out of Hawkins County, Tennessee was taken into custody in Saltville Monday night.

Chief of Police Erik Puckett said his office was notified that the suspect, 25-year-old Canaan Ellis Harless, had been staying at a residence on Perryville Road.

When officers with the Saltville PD, the Smyth, Washington and Hawkins county sheriff's offices, and the US Marshals Service arrived at the home, Puckett said Harless took off on foot, leading the officers on a brief foot chase over a hill before he was taken into custody.

Harless, of the Denton Valley area near the Tennessee/Virginia border, was wanted on felony murder and aggravated robbery charges in the April killing of 29-year-old Tyler Nelms, of Church Hill, Tenn.

According to area news reports, Nelms' body was found over an embankment just off the road in Hawkins County on April 23. His cause of death has not been made clear.

Puckett said Harless is being held at the regional jail in Abingdon pending extradition to Tennessee where he will face the murder and aggravated robbery charges.
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The Virginia State Board of Education on Thursday unanimously approved an emergency regulation to let the state extend 15,500 expiring but renewable teacher licenses for a year, until June 30, 2024.

The move, which the board approved unanimously in a 12-minute meeting, extends renewable teacher licenses that were to expire on June 30. The move is meant to help alleviate a backlog of license applications amid a significant teacher shortage.

At the start of the 20222023 school year, the teacher vacancy rate in Virginia was 3.85%, which equates to about 3,602 teachers, according to state officials.

"We have experienced unprecedented licensure changes and backlogs over the past several years," State Superintendent of Public Instruction Lisa Coons said during the emergency meeting.

"During the pandemic renewable licenses were extended several times, which created an end date," on June 30.

The Richmond Times-Dispatch reported last month that a backlog in Virginias teacher licensure application system was leaving qualified candidates waiting six months  and, in some cases, for much longer  for the state to process their applications.

Coons, whom Gov. Glenn Youngkin appointed in late March, said the Department of Education is preparing to launch an improved digital renewal system in the fall. Meantime, it has reinstituted a task force on teacher licensure and is working with school division superintendents to elevate their authority to streamline the process.

In the short term the administration also is reaching out to retired and part-time human resources specialists to help make sure pending licenses are back on track by July 1.

"It is my first priority to look at some of these things," Coons said Thursday. "We know that we need a high-quality, licensed teacher in every K-12 classroom.

Board members - appointed by former Democratic governors and by Youngkin - praised the move.

Anne Holton, a former state secretary of education, told Coons that she appreciates that the superintendent is making the teacher shortage a top priority.

"It is really a crisis that our divisions are dealing with and I appreciate your recognition of its importance," said Holton, who was first appointed to the board in 2017 by Gov. Terry McAuliffe, a Democrat.

Dale Sturdifen, a former Mecklenburg school board chair whom Youngkin appointed to the board in March, said: "Anything we can do to get these licenses approved and pushed forward, I'm 100% behind it."

Board President Dan Gecker, first appointed by McAuliffe in 2015, also thanked Coons, saying: "It is particularly gratifying to have an item as important as this being acted upon this quickly."

in September Youngkin signed an executive order that calls on officials to cut red tape that can discourage retired teachers and teachers licensed in other states from getting the Virginia licenses they need to teach here.
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Before he got down to ceremonially signing a bill that adds a definition of antisemitism to the Code of Virginia, Gov. Glenn Youngkin bent close to hear the message Holocaust survivor Halina Zimm wanted to share:

Hate is wrong, love is right, he repeated, more loudly than her soft voice could, so all of the several dozen people at the Executive Mansion ceremony on Monday afternoon could hear.

When she was a child, Zimms parents were sent to what they hoped was safety in Warsaw, shortly before the Nazis arrived in her Polish hometown. She witnessed the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, hearing the weeping and cries as the Nazis dynamited buildings where Jews had hidden; she was sheltered by a couple who lived across the street from the ghetto, and managed to survive despite being denounced to police and accused of being Jewish.

"I can't imagine what she went through," said Youngkin, who actually signed the measure, sponsored by Del. Anne Ferrell Tata, R-Virginia Beach, in March.

The bill comes from an initiative Youngkin launched on his first day as governor  setting up the nations first state commission to combat antisemitism.

It was an initiative he feels strongly about.

First, Ive had a lot of wonderful Jewish friends over the years, he told the Richmond Times-Dispatch after the ceremony, in a pause between photos with the students of Rudlin Torah Academy, legislators and excited members of the Jewish community.

Second, our nation is founded on Judeo-Christian principles. And this was a promise I made during the campaign, he said.

The bill writes into the Code of Virginia the Working Definition of Antisemitism adopted by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, which says Antisemitism is a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews. Rhetorical and physical manifestations of antisemitism are directed toward Jewish or non-Jewish individuals and/or their property, toward Jewish community institutions and religious facilities.

That definition has generated some criticism because examples of antisemitic expression the alliance uses include some criticisms of the State of Israel.

But Youngkin said he does not understand why any legislator would oppose the measure  25 members of the House of Delegates voted against it while eight state senators did not vote.

Youngkin said the bill would make it easier for police to address hate crime and would help educate Virginians about a form of hatred that is on the rise.

We acknowledged that were in a world where there is hate, in a world where hate has been translated into despicable actions, but we can stand up together and say there is no room for hate in the Commonwealth of Virginia, Youngkin said.

After signing the bill, he addressed reporters' questions about comments that the state's chief diversity, inclusion and equity officer, Martin Brown, made that DEI is dead. Youngkin said Brown's comments reflect recent trends where a moment he feels is important has gone off the rails, by focusing on equal outcomes at any cost, when he said the point should be to encourage diversity and inclusion.

He also said he still believes Virginians will support his proposal to scale back the state's current abortion law, so that it permits abortions only through 15 weeks, instead of through the second trimester and later if doctors say it is necessary. Youngkin backs exceptions in cases of rape, incest or when the woman's life is in jeopardy.
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As a funeral home director, Jon Milton is used to dealing with death, but the issue he recently discussed with legislators on Capitol Hill delves into the realm of horror movies.

Milton and about 200 other members of the National Funeral Directors Association painted macabre images of body brokers, individuals or companies that target those who may want to donate their loved ones body to science or may not be able to afford funeral expenses.

The next-of-kin signs over rights to the body, believing the donation will help others. Instead, they may unwittingly be contributing to a money-making industry in which brokers trade bodies as raw material in a largely unregulated national market, according to the NFDA.

Or, as Milton, the manager of Laurel Hill Funeral Home and Memorial Park in Spotsylvania County put it, body brokers are selling what should have been for medical research to the highest bidder.

A broker can get up to $10,000 or more for a body, according to the NFDA. Bodies can be sold or leased more than once, and Milton said brokers typically will make the most money by selling off six separate pieces: head, arms, legs and torso.

As a result, it can be difficult to track what becomes of donors bodies or body parts, ensure they are handled with dignity and returned to their loved ones after cremation, according to the NFDA.

Grisly practices

A 2017 investigation by Reuters news agency called The Body Trade brought to light many of the grisly practices of body brokers. A reporter contacted a Tennessee brokerage firm and, after a few emails, procured a cervical spine and two human heads, according to the Reuters story.

The cost was $300 per item, plus shipping.

Other news outlets occasionally report on equally bizarre incidents, from people buying parts online and reselling them on Facebook to a November 2021 incident in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, that seems particularly disturbing, even in the context of body brokers.

A World War II veteran wanted to donate his body to science as an act of patriotism, according to a story in The Advocate. His widow carried out his wishes, only to discover that his body was used during a public autopsy at an event known as the Oddities and Curiosities Expo.

A touring group in Portland, Oregon, charged up to $500 per ticket for people to watch the public dissection, advertising there will be several opportunities to get an up close and personal look at the cadaver, according to The Advocate story.

Brokers deal with whole-body donations because, as the NFDA reports, its legal in almost every state for anyone to sell the human remains of adults. Virginia may be one of the few states that has a law on the books. Its a Class 1 misdemeanor to be involved in the trafficking of human dead bodies, according to state code.

Virginia also is one of the few states that requires authorization to have any anatomical material imported into the state, said Rick Sikon, operational director of the Virginia State Anatomical Program. Shipments must be tracked through the Virginia Department of Health.

Sikon said he knows body brokers are out there, but because of the ways laws are written, they cant operate in Virginia.

Then, he amended his statement to say: They cant operate legally.

Wrong and immoral

The funeral home directors point out that donations of organs and other tissues such as skin, eyes and bones are handled in a hospital setting under practices that are heavily regulated by the federal government.

No such regulations exist with donations of whole bodies, and thats what Milton and others are asking Congress to consider. They believe a federal agency should register, track and regulate the work of facilities that receive donated bodies for education and research to make sure those who handle the deceased are trained, licensed and use the proper tools.

From what I learned, said Milton, who started researching the issue four years ago, I could literally (work) in my garage with a cooler and be a body broker.

When people first hear about the issue, as some members of Congress or their legislative staffs did last month, they often have the same reaction, said Lesley Witter, a lobbyist with the NFDA.

People think theres no way thats happening in America, she said. This is 2023 and we dont allow those things to happen.

Rep. Abigail Spanberger said in a statement that no Virginia family should have to go through such heartbreak after losing a loved one. She said she supports stronger measures to crack down on body brokers and prevent the trafficking of human remains.

Sen. Mark Warner said the horrific process of body brokering is wrong and immoral. Its paramount that the wishes of the deceased are respected.

Both said they will review the NFDAs recommendation, the Consensual Donation and Research Integrity Act of 2023, when it is introduced on the Hill.

Noble and selfless

As for the prevalence of body brokers in the Fredericksburg area, thats difficult to gauge for the same reason Witter mentioned: theres no tracking or regulation.

Milton has learned from funeral directors in other states that people in his own profession sometimes partner with body brokers by placing pamphlets in their lobbies, aimed at those who perhaps cant afford the cost of a funeral or want to donate to science.

Milton said he hasnt seen any such pamphlets at local funeral homes  and hes looked. But then, in the last month alone, Milton has scheduled memorial services for three families who donated their loved ones bodies to science.

It is a noble and selfless act, he said, hoping the bodies went to legitimate sources, but my heart breaks understanding what is most likely taking place.

Ernie Johnson, owner of Johnson Funeral Home in Locust Grove, said he doesnt know if body brokers are looking for business locally.

I have no idea if its taking place, he said. But it would not surprise me in todays world.

Read the fine print

How does a family respect the wishes of a loved one who wants to contribute to science or medical research? How can people know if theyre dealing with reputable representatives or body brokers?

In many cases, universities and state-run anatomy programs arent allowed to solicit donations of bodies; people have to come to them, according to the NFDA. Theres a vital need for donated bodies, according to those interviewed, in medical studies, for surgeons learning new techniques or forensic students tracking the way bodies decompose under certain conditions.

No models, films or books can substitute for the actual study of the human body itself, according to the Virginia State Anatomical Program website. Hundreds of doctors, nurses and other health professionals studying in Virginia medical schools, colleges and universities must learn how the human body is constructed before they can successfully treat living patients.

The VSAP is the only agency in Virginia authorized to receive donations of human bodies for scientific studies. It provides donors, which is how the program refers to donated bodies, to six Virginia medical schools, 17 colleges and universities, five community colleges, and two biomechanical research facilities, according to its website.

Even before COVID-19 changed practically every aspect of health care, the VSAP didnt have enough donors to meet the needs, said Sikon, the director. It couldnt accept bodies of those who died of COVID, for fear of contaminating researchers, and thats impacted donations which had numbered about 450 bodies a year, he said.

For many students in health care fields  including those learning the mortuary trade as Milton did  a donated body often is the persons first patient, Sikon said. In those settings, he said bodies are treated with respect and dignity, and he described moving memorial services, held at universities and medical schools, to honor those who donated their own bodies or their loved ones bodies to research.

The Virginia program takes in whole bodies only, Sikon said. It doesnt buy bodies from other places or get paid for what it provides to teaching facilities, except for a fee to cover operational expenses to get and prepare the bodies. That cost averages about $2,300 per body, he said.

However, there are times when researchers need specific parts, such as knees or shoulders for surgeons being trained on joint replacements. Nobody wants to waste a donation and use only one piece, so there may be times when segmented parts are sent to various places, Sikon said.

In those cases, next-of-kin have to give their permission for that type of usage, Sikon said.

He offered the same advice as Milton and others in the funeral business: Look into the donation, well ahead of time if possible, and know what youre signing. Read the fine print, which should indicate if the donation will stay whole or be segmented.

Ask about possible uses and dont authorize unwanted ones, Milton said.

Thats really what it comes down to, being informed and doing a little research and understanding what is going to take place, Sikon said, adding his agency stresses transparency with potential donors and their families. They appreciate that and it leaves nothing to the imagination.
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ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP)  A northern Virginia man arrested on terrorism charges has a husband-wife relationship with another American who was dubbed by authorities as an empress of ISIS  for her work to establish an all-female battalion of the Islamic State, prosecutors said Wednesday.

Mohammed Chhipa, 33, of Springfield, Virginia, was arrested last week on charges that he provided support to a terrorist group. Prosecutors allege that he transferred nearly $200,000 in cryptocurrency, with some of that money traced back to the Islamic State, to support Chhipa's stated goal of helping smuggle female ISIS members from detention camps. Other funds remain unaccounted for.

At a detention hearing Wednesday, prosecutors also disclosed a relationship between Chhipa and Allison Fluke-Ekren, an American from Kansas who is serving a 20-year prison sentence. Fluke-Ekren pleaded guilty last year to organizing and leading the Khatiba Nusaybah, a battalion in which roughly 100 women and girls  some as young as 10  learned how to use automatic weapons and detonate grenades and suicide belts.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Anthony Aminoff told the judge that Chhipa considers himself to be married to Fluke-Ekren, although the marriage was apparently conducted online and has no legal status in the U.S. He said Chhipa, a naturalized U.S. citizen originally from India, has been trying to adopt Fluke-Ekren's children.

Court documents in Fuke-Ekren's case do not mention Chhipa by name, but also indicate that Fluke-Ekren considered herself to be married to a man she met online. It is not clear that the two have ever met in person.

Whatever the relationship between Chhipa and Fluke-Ekren, the charges against Chhipa appear unrelated to that relationship. Prosecutors say that between November 2019 and July 2022, Chhipa used virtual currency to transfer more than $188,000 to accounts known and unknown. An FBI affidavit states that some money remains unaccounted for but that $18,000 went to wallets known to be used by ISIS women located in Syria, while $61,000 went to cryptocurrency wallets in Turkey. The affidavit states that money intended to arrive in Syria is often routed through Turkey.

The affidavit quotes text messages sent by Chhipa indicating he wanted the money to be used to bribe guards at detention camps where families of Islamic State fighters are still being held.

The affidavit says Chhipa also met with an FBI controlled persona  either an undercover agent or a confidential source  and accepted cash from the individual. Chhippa then transferred the money to Bitcoin and sent it directly to a known ISIS member, according to the affidavit.

Chhipa has been under investigation for years. Indeed, prosecutors say he fled to Egypt in August 2019, fearing he would be arrested after his home was raided. He was brought back to the U.S. after authorities contacted Interpol, but he was not charged until Monday. Prosecutors say Chhiipa continued to engage in illegal conduct after he returned to the U.S., even though he know he was drawing authorities' scrutiny.

Family members who attended Wednesday's hearing did not comment, but passed out a written statement supporting him. The statement described Chhipa as tirelessly working for the betterment of women and children and said he "has been targeted by false allegations.

U.S. Magistrate Judge John Anderson ruled at the conclusion of Wednesday's hearing that Chhipa should remain jailed while he awaits trial.
(Photo : Win McNamee/Getty Images)

OpenAI chief executive and ChatGPT founder Sam Altman testified before Congress on Tuesday and largely agreed with lawmakers with the need to regulate artificial intelligence technology.

OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman urged lawmakers to regulate artificial intelligence technologies

Altman's remarks were made in a Senate hearing over the potential consequences of such advancements

The situation comes as many governments and technologists have growing concerns about the speed of AI development

OpenAI chief executive and ChatGPT creator Sam Altman testified in a Senate hearing on Tuesday and largely agreed with senators on implementing regulations for artificial intelligence technologies.

During Altman's first testimony before Congress, he urged lawmakers to regulate artificial intelligence technologies. His call comes as members of the Senate subcommittee showed a simple understanding of the technology.

Sam Altman Testifies Before Congress

The latest hearing underscored the lingering tension that many technologists and governments feel regarding the potential consequences of artificial intelligence. However, that concern did not extend to Altman, who retained a relatively friendly audience among the subcommittee members.

The 38-year-old Stanford University dropout and tech entrepreneur's appearance at the Senate hearing was seen as his christening as the leading figure in AI technology. As per the New York Times, he swapped his usual pullover sweater and jeans for a blue suit and tie.

Altman also talked about his company's technology when he had dinner with dozens of House members on Monday night. He was also said to have privately met with several senators before the Senate hearing, as revealed by people who attended the dinner and the meetings.

The AI expert allegedly offered a loose framework to manage what happens next with the quickly-developing technologies that some have argued could fundamentally affect the economy.

The OpenAI chief executive said AI technology could do badly if it goes wrong. He said he wanted to be vocal about that possibility and noted that he was willing to work with the government to prevent such consequences.

The situation has also united lawmakers in the hearing as Democrats and Republicans got along and even complimented each other on the collegial atmosphere in the room. After the hearing, Sen. Richard Blumenthal said that Altman looked to be sincere during his testimony, according to BBC.

Read Also: IRS Chief Warns of Scrutiny Among Black Taxpayers

Regulating AI Technology

Altman argued that artificial intelligence could become as big as the printing press but acknowledged its dangers. Additionally, he admitted that the impact of the technology includes the likelihood that it could replace some jobs.

Senators also argued that new laws must be implemented to make it easier for people to sue OpenAI. On the other hand, Altman said that he was concerned regarding AI's potential effects on democracy itself and how AI can be taken advantage of to send targeted misinformation during elections.

During his testimony, the OpenAI chief executive gave several suggestions on how a new agency in the United States could work on regulating the AI industry. This includes giving out and taking away permits for AI companies. Altman added that companies such as OpenAI need to be audited independently.

On the other hand, Republican Sen. Josh Hawley argued that the technology could also be revolutionary but compared it to the "atomic bomb." Blumenthal noted that Altman differed from other CEOs in how he handled himself during the hearing, said the Washington Post.

Related Article: Experts Warn of Growing Threat of AI-Generated Misinformation in US 2024 Elections

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The mother and great-grandfather of the 6-year-old student who shot his teacher at Richneck Elementary School four months ago spoke with Good Morning America Wednesday morning discussing her son and what may have led to the shooting.

In April, Deja Nicole Taylor, 25, was indicted by a Newport News grand jury and turned herself in to face two charges. Police say Taylors son used her gun to shoot his teacher, Abby Zwerner, in his first grade classroom on Jan. 6. The childs mother now faces a felony child neglect count, as well as a misdemeanor charge of recklessly leaving a firearm so as to endanger a child. She was released on a $5,000 bond.

Taylor said in todays interview she takes responsibility for her son and his actions. She also said her son really liked Zwerner as his teacher.

He was more attentive, he tried to follow along, he tried to do the coursework, Calvin Taylor, the boys great-grandfather, said. But in all fairness to the other kids in the class, sometimes it was just too much for him.

Deja Taylor added that her sons ADHD may have played a role in his behavior, stating he doesnt sit still ever.

He had started medication, and he was meeting his goals academically, she said. According to the boys family, the school informed Taylor she and other family members were no longer required to be present in the classroom, a request they made in the fall due to the boys behavior challenges.

Taylor and her attorney James Ellenson have maintained that the handgun was stored on the top shelf of a bedroom closet, out of the childs reach, with Ellenson saying Taylor has no idea how the boy gained access to the gun on the day of the shooting. The gun was obtained by Taylor legally.

In a subsequent lawsuit filed against the Newport News School Board by Zwerners attorney, the complaint claims in the days before the shooting, Taylors son grabbed Zwerners phone and slammed the cellphone on the ground so hard that it cracked and shattered. Taylor said in the interview that is not what happened, and instead said that her son knocked Zwerners phone out of her hand on accident.

Most children, when they are trying to talk to you, and if you easily just brush them off, or you ask them to sit down, or youre dealing with something else and you ask them to go and sit down, at 6, you in your mind would believe that somebodys not listening to me, and you have a tantrum, she told ABC.

The boys great-grandfather said he is in school and is getting therapy, adding that Jan. 6 was a terrible day for the teacher, a terrible day for the kids that was in that classroom, a terrible day for (his) great-grandson and a terrible day for the community and my other family members and friends.

Deja Taylors trial is set to begin Aug. 15.
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A former and current deputy with the Warren County Sheriffs Office have been indicted in last years death of a 77-year-old man following a traffic stop near a Front Royal shopping center, according to a release on Monday from special prosecutor Prince William County Commonwealths Attorney Amy Ashworth.

Former Warren County Sheriffs Office Deputy Sheriff Zachary Fadely, 30, of Shenandoah County was indicted on one count of malicious wounding in the April 2, 2022 death of Ralph Ennis, of Gainesville. Fadely faces a maximum of 20 years in prison if convicted, according to the prosecutors release.

Warren County Sheriffs Deputy Sheriff Tyler Poe, 25, of Warren County was indicted on one count of unlawfully wounding in Ennis death. Poe faces a maximum of five years in prison if convicted, according to Ashworths office.

State police have been in contact with both men's attorneys to arrange for each one to turn himself in to state police investigators as soon as possible, VPS spokesman Sgt. Brent Coffey said in a release Monday night.

Ashworth was appointed special prosecutor last April following Warren County Commonwealths Attorney John Bell recusal in the case. The prosecutors release said both men were innocent until proven guilty.

Ralph Ennis died in hospice care nearly two weeks after being injured during the traffic stop with the two deputies. Virginia State Police launched an investigation into the incident last year, according to the Associated Press.

The sheriffs office previously said deputies began following Ralph Ennis early on April 2 after he was observed speeding and driving erratically. After initially failing to stop during a chase that covered nearly four miles, Ennis drove and parked his truck at a convenience store near Front Royal, according to the AP.

A wrongful death complaint filed in October by the deceaseds son says Ralph Ennis suffered from dementia and cites body camera footage of the incident.

The suit claims the deputies used excessive force against him when they slammed him face-first into his vehicle and then tackled him to the ground after he was already restrained. That caused a traumatic and ultimately fatal brain injury, the complaint states, according to the AP.

A Medical Examiner's report stated Ennis died from natural causes.

A Warren County grand jury on May 8 handed up the two felony indictments related to the investigation into the April 2022 traffic stop, Coffey said in the release Monday evening.

The indictments result from a traffic stop that occurred at 1:20 a.m. when the Warren County Sheriffs Office encountered a vehicle traveling on Winchester Road, according to Coffey. The traffic stop was initiated for a speeding violation of 63 mph in a 55 mph zone, state police said.

During the course of the traffic stop, Ennis was allegedly assaulted by Fadely and Poe, Coffey said. Ennis was transported to Winchester Medical Center for treatment of injuries sustained during the traffic stop.

The Virginia State Police Bureau of Criminal Investigation's Culpeper Field Office is investigating the case, according to Coffey.
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Both men who escaped from Piedmont Regional Jail in Farmville, Va., in late April are now back in custody.

Bruce Callahan, 44, was apprehended by police from Prince George County and Longwood University after he walked onto the school's campus in Farmville and pulled a fire alarm at approximately 5:30 a.m. Monday.

In a statement, Longwood said that Callahan was "injured and in poor health" when he entered the campus and pulled the alarm, surrendering to police and asking for medical treatment.

The school also said that there was no indication Callahan, who was being held on drug and weapons charges issued by a federal court in North Carolina, had been on university property at any other point since escaping shortly after 11 p.m. Sunday, April 30.

The other inmate who escaped that day, 26-year-old Alder Marin Sotelo, was captured in southwestern Mexico Thursday, May 4. His sister has been charged with helping him escape.

Sotelo being arrested in 2022
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The Food and Drug Administration is considering allowing birth-control pills to be sold without a prescription. Some conservatives are raising predictable objections, but others appear to grasp the obvious: If the anti-abortion-rights movement truly is motivated solely by a desire to prevent abortions, without a broader agenda of imposing religious dogma or subjugating women, its adherents should be the loudest voices for making reliable birth control as easily accessible as possible.

The start of the sexual revolution is often pegged to a single date  May 9, 1960  which is when the FDA approved sale of the prescription oral contraceptive Enovid, over fervent objections of religious leaders and political conservatives. "The pill," as society quickly dubbed it, was initially illegal in many states, and even where it could be sold, prescriptions were generally available only to married women. The specter of separating sex from procreation was viewed by many as a harbinger of moral decay. In reality, it would usher in vast new opportunities for women to pursue personal and professional lives free of the ever-present threat of unplanned pregnancy.

After 63 years, the FDA is finally giving its first consideration of approval for an over-the-counter birth-control pill (the French-made Opill). Its late in coming by global standards. More than 100 countries already allow over-the-counter oral contraceptives. Americas continued prescription requirement is less the result of medical necessity than political trepidation. When a Supreme Court justice officially muses, as Clarence Thomas did in his concurring opinion in last years reversal of Roe v. Wade, that perhaps contraception, too, should lose its constitutional protection, its clear that at least some of the culture remains mired in the misogynist past.

But unlike the continuing debate over abortion rights, there are encouraging signs that the re-emergence of birth-control pills in the national conversation wont spawn the same entrenchment from the right that it did generations ago. While a statement from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops strenuously opposing easier access to the pill was predictable enough, others who are fully engaged in the fight to end abortion rights appear to be sitting this one out. The National Right to Life organization told The Washington Post it does not take a stance on anything that prevents fertilization. Even as red states like Iowa and Indiana are passing draconian new abortion restrictions, they are simultaneously expanding birth-control availability.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch would argue that abortion rights and easily accessible birth control share a common imperative: allowing women to make their own reproductive choices, free of governmental coercion in this most private of topics. But those who seek to end abortion rights should at least recognize their own special obligation to expand rather than close off other avenues of choice. To the extent thats happening, its a bright spot in this otherwise darkening era for women.
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United Salts production team in Saltville knew the potential for growth existed. They proposed an expansion several times. Marcie Peters, USC Holdings Corp. president, acknowledged Wednesday morning that when they ran the numbers the project didnt seem viable.

The Saltville team persisted.

About 18 months ago, Peters said, the team surprised her with a dinner presentation showing how the expansion could be accomplished.

Peters credited their will and ambition as the company celebrated that expansion Wednesday morning in Saltville.

In an interview following the celebration, Peters also said that the Saltville operation is quickly becoming one of our most profitable facilities, and she expressed the belief that future investments will be made in Saltville.

As United Salt is privately owned, Peters declined to note the investments value in terms of dollars but noted that it will increase production capacity by 15%  about 30,000 tons. The expansion included a new packaging line and added 31,000 square feet of storage capacity and an additional silo.

United Salt, said Peters in her public remarks, is the fourth largest producer of salt in the United States and is still owned by the same family that founded the company nearly 100 years ago just outside Houston, Texas.

United Salt acquired the Saltville operation in 2007 from Spectra Energy. When the deal closed in June 2007, the plant employed 14 people. Today, according to the Saltville plants manager, Chris Crawford, 51 employees work at the facility that operates 24/7.

Crawford, a former Merillat production manager, joined United Salt in 2014. He explained that continuous operation is necessary to keep the mines going and to supply food industry customers that include Mt. Olive Pickle Co., Smithfield, and Mr. Chips Inc.

In addition to evaporated salt for food, the Saltville facility produces salt for pools, chemicals, oilfield markets and agriculture.

Dubbed AquaSalt, the salt produced for pools and spas makes up about 40% of Saltvilles production, Crawford said.

The plants expansion, Peters said, is an investment in our customers who continue to grow.

According to Crawford, the Saltville plant produces about 680 tons of salt each day. In 2022, it sent 227,000 tons of salt out of the town.

Both Peters and Crawford celebrated the companys relationship with Saltville and Smyth County.

The partnership we enjoy with the community is very important to us, Peters said. With many of its employees living in Saltville, she said, United Salt is pleased to give back.

Crawford noted that the operation has contributed to town efforts and multiple school projects.

Of United Salt and Saltville, Crawford observed, Its a great place to work, a beautiful place to work.

Roscoe Call, who represents Saltville on the board of supervisors and a former United Salt employee, echoed those sentiments, saying it was the best company he worked for. He started with the plant at the site in 1997.

In earlier comments, Town Manager Brian Martin said, USC is one of the towns largest industries and they are outstanding corporate partners. As the town manager Im grateful for the solid relationship that the town shares with USC.

Speaking during Wednesdays celebration, Saltville Mayor Todd Young described United Salt as an amazing company and great partner.

Noting that the town was founded on salt, Young said the element is part of Saltvilles history and its future.

Salt began being commercially mined in the community in the mid-1700s.

Peters declared, We do what we do for the love of salt.

The 95-year-old company is based in Houston, Texas. A number of its Houston employees and company owners were present for the celebration.

U.S. Rep. Morgan Griffith spoke during the ceremony and celebrated the initiative of the Saltville employees that led to the expansion, the investment and the jobs.

Laura Blevins, who serves as U.S. Sen. Tim Kaines regional director, noted that her father grew up in downtown Saltville and her grandparents were members of the towns Madam Russell church. Knowing that United Salt is growing and helping Saltville thrive, she said, warms my heart even on a cold day.

Del. Israel OQuinn noted Virginias high rankings as a place to do business and to live and said, We live in the best part of a good state. He celebrated the belief in the people of Southwest Virginia.

In addition to Saltville, United Salt produces salt products at two plants in Texas and another in New Mexico.
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When he learned about the mental health care now available at Marions Mel Leaman Free Clinic, U.S. Rep. Morgan Griffith described it as amazing, especially when compared to many of its rural peers. The congressman toured the clinic Monday afternoon following a visit to Marion Senior High School, where mental health was also on his mind.

At the clinic, Griffith learned that a psychiatrist from the Southwest Virginia Mental Health Institute offers some care and, earlier this year, thanks to a $28,000 grant from the Foundation of the Carolinas, the clinic is also now providing onsite mental health care counseling through a partnership with Mount Rogers Community Services.

Susan Ferraro, the clinics executive director, told Griffith that when she accepted her post in 2018, she recognized the need for mental health care and immediately began seeking the resources for the clinic.

Griffith assured the clinic leaders giving him the tour that he is a proponent of mental health services and is working legislatively to support telehealth to fill the gap in providers. There just arent enough providers, he said. Additionally, the congressman said, hes in favor of allowing licensed clinical social workers to help provide services.

When speaking to the MSHS seniors, Griffith said, mental health came up and he spoke at length encouraging the students to get help if they need it. While he may have bored many students, Griffith said, if he helped one get needed help, it was worth it.

Dr. Neil Hollyfield, a retired oral surgeon and clinic board member, updated Griffith on the volunteer work he does there, typically seeing four to six patients each week.

Hollyfield, who volunteers with multiple dental programs in Southwest Virginia, told Griffith that a significant problem in dental care is a lack of providers who accept Medicaid.

The congressman acknowledged that Medicaids reimbursement rates are part of the problem.

While the clinic is searching for a restorative dentist to volunteer, this year it did enter a partnership with Smyth County schools and the Elgin Childrens Foundation to ensure that students ages 5-12 can get needed dental care, particularly extractions and fillings. Ferraro noted that the care is totally free for the children.

Hollyfield noted that about 300 Smyth County children qualified for the program.

During the tour, Ferraro celebrated the clinics partnership with Emory & Henry College and Smyth County Community Hospital.

On the tour, Griffith noted the power of wearable devices that monitor exercise, sleep, and other health areas, including the ability to do on-demand heart monitoring. Sharing that he knows two people whose lives were saved by such devices, Griffith said their affordability and FDA approval are hurdles that must be addressed. He declared, Wearables will be big down the road.

Griffith also learned about the clinics programs that help patients get needed prescriptions, including Rx Partnership, a non-profit that increases access to medication for uninsured Virginians. Aware that many clinics, like Marions, dont have pharmacies but still need access to affordable generic medications, in 2017, Rx Partnership launched the Access to Medication Program (AMP).

AMP uses bulk purchasing power to provide generic medications to 30 Virginia free clinics. Ferraro noted that for $3 the program will provide a 90-day supply of a generic medication for a clinic patient.

On Wednesday, celebrations were held throughout the Virginia, marking the one millionth prescription offered to the clinics low-income, uninsured patients.

The Mel Leaman clinic used the opportunity to celebrate its current and former patients, offering a hot dog lunch over several hours. Clinic staff noted that several of those patients made donations to the non-profit clinic.

The clinic depends on donations for its work. According to the clinics website, the average patient visit carries a cost of $153 not including donated medical care.

The clinic can also use the communitys help to maintain a small food pantry with non-perishable items and personal hygiene materials. Contributions can be dropped off at the clinic, which is on the Emory & Henry campus on Radio Hill Road, Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Established in 2001, the clinic serves the uninsured of Smyth, Grayson and Washington counties. Ferraro noted that 82% of the clinics patients live in Smyth County.

As Medicaid coverage extended during the pandemic is no longer available to many individuals, Ferraro expects to see the medical centers patient total grow in the coming months.

To learn more, visit www.melleamanfreeclinic.org or call 276-781-2090.
Julani aims to position himself as a partner to Ankara, according to Athr Press.

With each new political and field development in the Syrian arena, Abu Muhammad al-Julani, the leader of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) (formerly known as Jabhat al-Nusra and its allies), seeks to carve out a space for himself. He does so by implementing changes in the structure of armed groups deployed in northwestern Syria, which falls under his control, or by altering their overall appearance.

In this context, Al-Akhbar newspaper highlighted the HTSs campaign against Hizb ut-Tahrir in Idleb and Aleppo. The HTS worked towards dismantling the organization and arresting several of its members. The newspaper noted that this campaign followed three months of efforts to undermine Hizb ut-Tahrirs standing among the public and in the media. Various scandals involving its members were published, making the subsequent arrests predictable and without any significant consequences.

According to sources quoted by the newspaper, the HTS operation was carried out at the direct request of Ankara. This request was prompted by the active involvement of Hizb ut-Tahrir members in organizing demonstrations against Turkeys inclination to engage with Damascus. These demonstrations raised concerns in Turkey that its military bases and positions might become targets, particularly as some protesters wrote slogans rejecting Turkeys role on the walls of certain observation points.

The sources also revealed that HTS action against Hizb ut-Tahrir represents a final step to suppress any dissent against Turkeys normalization efforts with Damascus. Al-Julani aims to position himself as a partner to Ankara in this regard. He leverages several supporting factors, including the presence of numerous displaced people camps near the Turkish border within areas under HTS control. Additionally, Turkey and HTS are involved in joint construction projects to resettle Syrian refugees. These endeavours, along with the prevention of any disruptions in the relationship between Hayat Tahrir al-Sham and Turkey, provide Julani with a broad range of auxiliary advantages.

The sources also highlighted Julanis objective with his campaign: to persuade the West to remove his group from the list of terrorist organizations. This is because Hizb ut-Tahrir has gained influence in various countries and aspires to establish a broad Islamic emirate. In contrast, Julani, a former al-Qaeda member, has repeatedly stated that his groups activities are confined to Syria. He has been promoting a shift in governance mechanisms in the areas under his control, advocating for greater freedom for minorities. Al-Akhbar quoted these statements.

In a related report, the American agency Associated Press confirmed that Julani is actively working to distance his group HTS from its parent organization, al-Qaeda. He aims to convey a message that promotes acceptance of pluralism and religious tolerance. As part of this transformation, Julani has dismantled extremist factions, disbanded the notorious religious police, and, for the first time in a decade, allowed a mass to be held in a church that had long been closed in the Idleb governorate. In a recent meeting with religious and local officials, Julani expressed that Islamic law should not be imposed, emphasizing the avoidance of hypocrisy and the need for societal continuity even when his group is not present.

Regarding these developments by Julani, the US agency noted that they occur at a time when the isolation of the HTS is growing and countries that previously supported opposition factions in the Syrian war are reestablishing relations with the Syrian state.

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 bill explicitly prohibits the U.S. federal government from recognizing or normalizing relations with any government in Syria under the leadership of Bashar al-Assad, according to Syria TV.

Confidential sources have informed Syria TV that members of the US Congress have agreed on making minor amendments to the anti-normalization law with the Syrian regime. The proposed changes will be put to a vote in the House of Representatives on Tuesday.

Confidential sources have disclosed that several proposed amendments have been made to the original draft law on combating normalization with Assad (No. HR3202) dated May 15th, 2023. The amendments includes.

Modification of the requirement to add adult relatives to the list of sanctioned individuals, except in cases where it can be proven that the individual has formally disowned their sanctioned relative and has no history of assisting them in hiding their wealth.

Approval of the addition of financial transactions with the Syrian government to the list of punishable acts under the Caesar Act, limited to commercial transactions exceeding five million dollars.

Extension of the validity of the Caesar Act until the end of 2023.

Expansion of the criteria for punishing the Syria Trust for Development associated with Asma al-Assad, the wife of the Syrian regimes president. This expansion includes the requirement that the owners of the trust be subject to sanctions other than those specified under the Caesar Act, such as those related to presidential executive orders or as determined by the Treasury Department.

Adjustment of the threshold amount required to contribute to the restoration of normalization with the Assad regime, which must be monitored and included in the anti-normalization reports by the State Department. The threshold will be increased from $50,000 to $500,000, individually or cumulatively per year.

Inclusion of a definition of transactions that must be disclosed within the anti-normalization campaign strategy. This definition encompasses any investment, grant, contract, donation, or loan from non-Syrian individuals residing in Turkey or any Arab country, including UAE, Egypt, Jordan, Iraq, Oman, Bahrain, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, Libya, and Lebanon. The requirement applies as long as the beneficiary is located within the areas controlled by the Syrian regime.

The sources have clarified that this proposed formula closely resembles the original version, as it upholds the principle of secondary sanctions, which is a significant concern for affected countries. It also maintains the principle of non-recognition of any government or regime led by Bashar al-Assad, while also calling for detailed reports on the United Nations activities in Syria.

The bill explicitly prohibits the U.S. federal government from recognizing or normalizing relations with any government in Syria under the leadership of Bashar al-Assad, which is already subject to U.S. sanctions. Furthermore, the bill expands the scope of the Caesar Act.

Reuters, citing a senior member of Congress involved in drafting the bill, reports that it serves as a clear warning to Turkey and Arab countries regarding potential serious consequences if they engage with the Assad government. The recent readmission of the Syrian regime to the Arab League has provoked anger among members of Congress, highlighting the urgent need to send a strong signal by taking swift action.

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 prospects of the Constitutional Committee's process resuming in the next phase remain uncertain, according to al-Souria Net.

To discuss the resumption of the Syrian Constitutional Committee, the UN envoy to Syria, Geir Pedersen, recently held a meeting with Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian. This meeting is part of a series of shuttle meetings that Pedersen has been conducting lately, bridging the gap between two significant Syrian tracks.

The first track revolves around the evolving relationship between Arab states and the Assad regime. Meanwhile, the second track focuses on the quadripartite meetings involving Turkey, Iran, Russia, and the Syrian regime, aimed at fostering dialogue and taking constructive steps.

In a Twitter statement on Sunday, Pedersen expressed satisfaction with the comprehensive discussions he had with Abdollahian, Ambassador Khaji, and other high-ranking officials regarding Syria. He further acknowledged Irans assessment of recent diplomatic developments in Syria and the region, along with its support for the resumption of the Constitutional Committees work.

To Turkey

Pedersen mentioned his discussions with senior Turkish officials regarding Syrian matters, following his previous contacts with senior Russian officials. He emphasized the significance of coordination between the United Nations and the countries supporting the Astana negotiations in order to facilitate the resumption of the Constitutional Committees work and propel the political process forward.

The prospects of the Constitutional Committees process resuming in the next phase remain uncertain.

Syrian Constitutional Committee

According to the United Nations, the recent statement from Amman involving Saudi Arabia, Jordan, the Syrian regime, and Iraq referenced a clause that called for the activation of the Syrian regime.

Pedersen further commented, expressing appreciation for recent phone conversations with Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan and Egyptian Foreign Minister Shoukry. He also mentioned his communication with Jordanian Foreign Minister Safadi, highlighting the importance of close coordination between the United Nations and Arab countries in reaching agreements on future steps.

The UN remains committed to working with all partners, including the Syrian parties, Arab states, the sponsors of the Astana negotiations, and Western countries, to initiate genuine confidence-building measures, Pedersen affirmed. He emphasized their dedication to advancing the renewed political process in alignment with Security Council resolution 2254.

Pedersen is widely regarded as the originator of the step-for-step concept, which entails Arab countries gradually restoring relations with the Syrian regime. This policy involves Washington and its allies considering the lifting or easing of certain sanctions on the regime, contingent upon Moscows efforts to encourage Assad to take steps towards reviving the stagnant political solution process while avoiding military escalation.

This article was translated and edited by The Syrian Observer. The Syrian Observer has not verified the content of this story. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author.
Your daily brief of the English-speaking press on Syria.

A report by the UK Telegraph sheds light on the severe conditions prevailing in northwest Syria, as the region deals with the aftermath of a destructive earthquake and continues to face ongoing conflict. Meanwhile, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, the Iranian Foreign Minister, emphasized the importance of global assistance in the process of reconstructing Syria, emphasizing the need to facilitate the return of displaced individuals to their homes.

Time is running out for quake-hit, war-ravaged northwest Syria

The UK Telegraph published a report highlighting the dire situation in northwest Syria, which is grappling with the aftermath of a devastating earthquake and ongoing conflict.

The authors describe their visit to Aqrabat Hospital, where they led a surgical mission to provide specialized care to survivors.

The region, sustained by civil society organizations and NGOs, is home to millions of people heavily reliant on humanitarian aid. The northwests precarious situation is exacerbated by the erosion of its protection as several countries show willingness to normalize relations with the Assad regime.

The impending Turkish elections further raise concerns about the fate of Syrian refugees and the security dynamics in the region.

The article emphasizes the importance of the UKs continued support for Syria and suggests diversifying aid to include locally-led humanitarian organizations. It also underscores the vulnerability of healthcare workers and the need to protect open societies and human rights.

The authors urge the UK to form a coalition of sympathetic states and organizations to prevent the abandonment of northwest Syria and advocate for a future political settlement that guarantees security, prevents compulsory refugee returns, and ensures unconditional humanitarian access.

Colleagues in northwest Syria have welcomed the United States and United Kingdoms stated opposition to the normalization of Assad, but question why the US Caesar Act and UK and EU sanctions regimes have not been used to deter those extending the hand of friendship.

As the Turkish election heads towards a likely run-off, the stakes for northwest Syria could not be higher. Both Presidential candidates have said that Syrian refugees will be returned and suggested that the nature of the Turkish security presence in the enclave could change.

The article explained that cuts to the UK Development budget are being felt in the northwest. Time and again I heard from those I met that the UK was a valued friend but they were increasingly forced to do more with less in the face of soaring demand.

Criticism is growing of the Western-led, expeditionary model of humanitarian aid. When making funding decisions, the UK should look beyond the big UN agencies and established International NGOs and diversify to give greater support to locally-led humanitarian organizations.

Local healthcare and humanitarian workers are also uniquely positioned to bear witness to crimes against humanity and have done so at critical junctures of the Syrian conflict, including the chemical weapons attack on eastern Ghouta in 2013 and the siege of eastern Aleppo in 2016.

Iranian FM urges intl support for Syrias reconstruction

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian stressed on Sunday the necessity of international support for Syrias reconstruction, saying it is essential to help the countrys displaced people return to their homes.

Amir-Abdollahian made the remarks during a meeting with UN Special Envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen in Tehran, the Iranian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

They also discussed the latest regional and international developments with regard to Syria, including the recent quadrilateral meeting in Moscow on working out a solution to the Syrian crisis.

Amir-Abdollahian pointed to the recent visit by Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi to Damascus, saying the trip was an indication that Syria has reached a stage of lasting security.

The minister also expressed gratitude to Pedersen for his work to promote peace and stability in Syria, while Pedersen commended Iran for its counterterrorism efforts and contributions to Syrias security and regional stability, according to the statement.

Opposition calls for holding Assad accountable for crimes in Syria

Head of the High Negotiations Committee (HNC) Badr Jamous, stressed that it is important to activate the principle of holding Syrian President Bashar al-Assads regime accountable for all its crimes against the Syrians, North Press reported.

This came during an online event Accountability in Syria sponsored by the EU, Turkey, Germany, the US, the UK, Netherlands, France, and Canada.

There can be no sustainable peace in Syria without holding those responsible for these crimes accountable, the HNC said, in a tweet, citing Jamous as saying.

Jamous urged the international community to achieve accountability and release detainees and the forcibly disappeared.

In addition, the SNC president affirmed the importance of implementing the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) Resolution 2254 to pave the way for a new democratic Syria where human rights are guaranteed.

Syria participates in the AL meeting of representatives and senior officials kicks off in Jeddah

For the third consecutive day of the preparatory meetings for the Arab Summit, a meeting of representatives and senior officials, with the participation of Syrias delegation chaired by Assistant Foreign and Expatriates Minister Ayman Sousan, started, on Tuesday, SANA reported.

Algerian Ambassador in Cairo, Permanent Representative in the League of Arab States, Hamid Chabeira said, in a speech, we again welcome the presence of Syrian delegation at these meetings, stressing the need for unifying ranks and solidarity among the Arab countries.

Undersecretary of the Saudi Ministry for International Affairs, Abdul Rahman al-Rasi, welcomed the Syrian delegation participating in the meeting, wishing them success.
Elon Musk did not hold back his criticisms against the work-from-home setup trend, which has taken Silicon Valley by storm amid the pandemic.

In his recent interview, the billionaire entrepreneur, known for his controversial remarks, slammed the notion of remote work as "morally wrong," in his recent interview.

Elon Musk Slams Work-From-Home Setup

The outspoken Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Tesla and SpaceX, Elon Musk, slammed the work-from-home trend, which has been prevalent in Silicon Valley and other companies globally. In an interview with David Faber of CNBC, the Chief Twit shared his spicy takes on the prevalence of remote work among tech workers.

Working from home has been the preferred method of some employees as it comes with tons of pros. As per Morning Star, remote workers no longer grapple with long and chaotic commutes, while others find the setup more productive since it ditches office distractions. Some folks find more time for themselves.

On the other hand, Musk, the second wealthiest man in the world, believes that remote work privilege steps down on morality, according to CNBC. The Tesla boss says, "People should get off the goddamn moral high horse with the work-from-home bull****."

He even called tech workers people attending "laptop classes living in la-la-land." On top of that, Musk argues that it is contradictory to advocate for remote work while expecting service workers to report to their workplaces physically.

While some tech workers had embraced the remote work setup, others had expressed concerns about returning to the office. They cite multiple reasons, including health risks, commuting challenges, and a desire for greater flexibility.

However, Musk puts it in another perspective, raising moral concerns. The billionaire believes that it is "not just a productivity thing." Instead, he "thinks [it is] morally wrong."

Musk's criticism echoed growing sentiments among executives at companies like Amazon and Salesforce, CNBC notes. These companies, which saw productivity decrease and face higher investor expectations, have asked their employees to return to the office.

Read Also: Elon Musk Defends Twitter 'Censorship' in Turkey Ahead of Presidential Elections

Musk vs. Remote Work

As per ZDNET, Musk previously asked Twitter employees to return to the offices, asking them to end their remote working setup. It was the first order of business from the ultra-billionaire after taking over the giant social network.

Musk reportedly required employees to work at least 40 hours weekly in the office to deal with looming "difficult times." The Twitter owner further stated that remote work would only be allowed if Musk gave them a signal.

Musk bought Twitter for roughly $44 billion last October 27. He had a brief stint as its CEO before Linda Laccarino replaced him.

Related Article: Elon Musk Subpoenaed Over JPMorgan's Jeffrey Epstein Ties





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Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani highlighted the necessity of a solution that satisfies the Syrian people, according to al-Modon.

Qatars Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani, stated that his countrys stance on the Syrian regimes return to the Arab League is clear. He emphasized that Doha will not normalize relations until a just solution to the Syrian issue is reached.

During a press conference with his German counterpart, the Qatari minister expressed the importance of adhering to the Arab consensus in restoring order to the Arab League. He affirmed that Qatar has maintained a consistent position on this matter since the beginning.

Regarding the normalization of relations with the Syrian regime, the Qatari official acknowledged that it is a sovereign decision for each country. However, he emphasized that Qatars viewpoint, at least, requires a comprehensive and just solution to the Syrian issue.

While Qatar aligns with other Arab countries in their shared objectives of facilitating the safe return of Syrian refugees and achieving a political solution based on UN Security Council Resolution 2254, there are differences in the approach to attain these goals between Qatar and the Gulf Cooperation Council countries, Egypt, Iraq, and Jordan. It is crucial for any steps toward normalization with the regime to contribute to the fulfillment of these objectives.

The Qatari minister emphasized that the ultimate issue lies between the Syrian regime and its people, not Qatar. He highlighted the necessity of a solution that satisfies the Syrian people, who have endured the ravages of war for 12 years, in order to restore stability in Syria.

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock expressed her disappointment that the normalization with the Syrian regime occurred without adhering to the necessary steps. She emphasized the importance of a political process in Syria and ensuring the safety of the Syrian people.

Two weeks ago, Arab foreign ministers decided to reintegrate the Syrian regime into the Arab League and allow its delegtions to participate in the League Council meetings. This decision was made after more than 11 years of suspending the regimes membership. However, it should be noted that the State of Qatar has maintained its unchanged position of rejecting normalization with the Syrian regime.

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.
Mekdad expressed optimism about the constructive role of Arab nations in facilitating the repatriation of refugees, according to Syria TV.

Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal al-Mekdad, during a meeting of Arab foreign ministers in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, emphasized the importance of Arab involvement in reconstruction as a prerequisite for the return of Syrian refugees.

Mekdad expressed optimism about the constructive role of Arab nations in facilitating the repatriation of refugees and welcomed their participation in the reconstruction efforts.

He highlighted the significance of this Arab involvement in supporting the refugees return and ensuring the reconstruction process effectively rebuilds Syrias damaged infrastructure.

Mekdad also acknowledged that the proposed resolutions at the preparatory meetings for the Arab summit aligned with Syrias perspective on crisis resolution and its regional and international role.

Moreover, the Syrian regime insisted on commencing the reconstruction of Syria before addressing matters concerning the return of Syrian refugees.

Deputy Foreign Minister Ayman Sousan disclosed that the preparatory meeting in Jeddah covered various topics, including Sudan, Libya, and the repatriation of Syrian refugees.

Sousan linked the return of refugees to reconstruction, emphasizing that the regime has implemented amnesty decrees, national reconciliations, and facilitation procedures. However, he noted that the return of refugees necessitates the provision of essential services in their respective areas. He highlighted the interdependence between refugee repatriation and reconstruction in ensuring a dignified return.

Sousan accused countries imposing sanctions on the Syrian regime of obstructing the return of refugees. He questioned the feasibility of reconstruction amid economic blockades and sanctions, stating that it is these coercive measures that impede the practical return of Syrian refugees to their country.

This article was translated and edited by The Syrian Observer. The Syrian Observer has not verified the content of this story. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author.
Your daily brief of the English-speaking press on Syria.

Arab Foreign Ministers, including Faisal al-Mekdad, have gathered in Saudi Arabias Jeddah to prepare for Fridays Arab League summit. During this meeting, the focus is anticipated to shift towards Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who has been widely condemned for over ten years and is predicted to attract significant attention. Meanwhile, there is doubt in Washington regarding Assads reintegration into the Arab fold, with recent developments including the introduction of a bill by lawmakers aimed at preventing U.S. recognition of Assad. Simultaneously, undisclosed direct talks are said to be ongoing between the U.S. and the Syrian government in Muscat, Oman.

Syrias Assad to steal spotlight at Arab summit after years in the cold

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, a pariah for more than a decade, is expected to steal the spotlight at Fridays Arab League summit in Saudi Arabia, where he will rub shoulders with regional leaders who once backed his war foes, Reuters reported.

Ostracised by most Arab states following his crackdown on protests against his rule in 2011 and the ensuing civil war, his governments return to the bloc is a signal that his war-battered countrys isolation is ending.

Assad to Attend Arab Summit

A senior Syrian official affirmed on Wednesday that Syrian President Bashar Assad will be in Jeddah to take part in Fridays Arab League summit.

Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs Ayman Susan, said in a statement to Asharq Al-Awsat that Syrian President Bashar Assad will be present in Jeddah.

Susan said it is common sense to have the summit held in politically-moderate Saudi Arabia.

In his statement to Asharq Al-Awsat, Susan said that everyone wants the summit to be a prelude for a new phase.

The importance of holding the summit in Saudi Arabia is unquestionable because it is evident and clear. Saudi Arabia, with its weight and moderate policies, everyone hopes that the Jeddah summit would pave the way for a new phase amid atmospheres of optimism.

Demand

However, Reuters reports that while Arab countries appear to have brought Assad in from the cold, they are still demanding that he curbs Syrias flourishing drugs trade and that war refugees can return.

This is, indeed, a triumphant moment for Bashar al-Assad, being accepted back into the Arab League, the Arab world, after being shunned and isolated by it for over a decade, said David Lesch, a Middle East History professor at Trinity University in Texas.

Several states, including Qatar and Kuwait, had voiced their opposition to welcoming back Assad. But the summit will underscore how Qatar has scaled back its ambitions to be a major diplomatic player in the region and accept Saudis preeminent role.

Washington

Reuters adds that Washington has been skeptical about Assads return to the Arab fold. A bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers introduced a bill last week intended to bar U.S. recognition of Assad as Syrias president and enhance Washingtons ability to impose sanctions.

His return to the Arab League is likely to revive questions over his human rights record.

There has been indeed in the past few years a willingness by Saudi Arabia and other regional actors to consolidate a form of authoritarian stability in the region, said Joseph Daher, a professor at the European University Institute in Florence, Italy.

Despite continuous rivalries among various statesthey hold a common position in wanting to return to a situation similar to that in place before the uprisings in 2011.

FMs meet ahead of summit

Saudi Arabia on Wednesday officially took over the rotating presidency of the Arab League summit from Algeria as Syrias attendance at the meeting was welcomed after years of isolation, Al-Arabiya reports.

Algerian Foreign Minister Ahmed Attaf handed over the presidency to the Kingdoms Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan during a meeting for Arab foreign ministers in Jeddah.

Syria was represented at Wednesdays meeting by a high-level delegation headed by the countrys Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad, who confirmed that Assad will attend Fridays summit.

Saudi Arabia has exerted tremendous effort to [plan for the meeting] and embrace all Arab countries. We are very grateful that all countries are now present in this summit, and this is an achievement for the role that [the Kingdom] plays, Mekdad told Saudi Arabias al-Ekhbariya state television.

In his speech, Prince Faisal underscored the need for unity among Arab countries in order to overcome mutual challenges and difficulties.

More effort should be exerted to strengthen joint Arab work to face and find solutions to these challenges so that our region can be safe and stable, Prince Faisal said.

He also called on countries to put aside their differences while rejecting external interferences in countries affairs.

Arab states see a path to progress through Syria. It could be bumpy

In a long analysis for Christian Science Monitor, Taylor Luck discusses why its not so easy bringing Syria, Arabs together.

For Luck, Arab states are embracing the Assad regime in Syria, signaling a significant shift in their approach after years of suspension and pressure. The Arab Leagues decision to readmit Syria and the upcoming attendance of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad at an Arab League summit in Riyadh mark a dramatic turnaround. The change in stance is driven by realpolitik, as Arab states seek cooperation with Syria to address shared challenges, including militias, illicit drugs, and refugees.

The Gulf states, Luck adds, in particular, are eager to extend the wave of cooperation and diplomacy sweeping across the Middle East to Syria. They aim to offer normalization, legitimacy, and financial aid to Damascus in exchange for addressing key issues. These include curbing the production and flow of illegal narcotics, allowing humanitarian aid to reach rebel-held areas, facilitating the return of Syrian refugees, and restoring properties to exiled Syrians.

He says Arab states envision a new way of engaging with Syria, where their financial support and engagement will pave the way for a national political dialogue, political reforms, and the reunification of territories currently outside of Assads control. The Arab states approach is also motivated by a desire to empower the Syrian government and weaken armed non-state actors like Hezbollah and Iranian- and Turkey-backed militias.

However, there are challenges ahead. Arab diplomats must navigate a history of broken agreements with the Assad government, which has eroded trust. Moreover, Assads reliance on Iranian military power and aid, as well as the presence of Hezbollah, pose obstacles to full normalization. The recent airstrikes conducted by Jordan targeting drug operations in southern Syria without coordination with Damascus signal a warning that Arab states are prepared to take matters into their own hands if Syria fails to address key issues.

Furthermore, the reports says, international justice and Western sanctions loom over the potential for full engagement. The Caesar Act, which imposes U.S. sanctions on Syria, and ongoing legal cases alleging crimes against humanity pose limitations on financial aid and economic cooperation that Arab states can offer. The outstanding issues of the autonomous Kurdish-run regions and the military presence of Turkey and Russia also complicate the path to progress.

Luck concludes that while Arab states see potential in cooperating with Syria, the road ahead may be bumpy. The success of the Arab states engagement hinges on Syrias willingness to fulfill the conditions set by the Arab states and overcome the challenges of international justice and sanctions. It remains to be seen whether Damascus will take the necessary steps to regain legitimacy, address shared challenges, and establish a new way of doing business with the Arab world.

US and Syria holding secret talks in Oman

A senior diplomatic official in the Arab League has revealed exclusively to The Cradle that secret, direct negotiations are currently taking place between the US and Syrian governments.

The diplomat, who revealed the information under the condition of anonymity, said that the talks took place in the Omani capital Muscat, the city of secret negotiations between Washington and several nations in West Asia. He also pointed out that the meetings included security figures from both countries and representatives of foreign Ministries.

During the talks, Syrian officials mainly pressed for the complete withdrawal of US occupation troops from the country. According to field sources that spoke with The Cradle, around 2,000 American military personnel are present at any given time in Syrian territory across 22 US bases  a figure higher than the Pentagons official count of 900 troops, The Cradle added.

During the Muscat talks, the source stressed that the American envoy repeatedly confirmed that he has information that Austin Tice is alive and in a Syrian army detention center. However, the Syrian delegation insisted that it had no information about Tice, with Damascus expressing its readiness to make all possible efforts to reveal his fate.

According to The Cradles sources, the White House is convinced that Damascus knows of Tices whereabouts. However, the Syrian delegation in Muscat did not confirm any information on this matter.

According to sources, Washington and Damascus began secret communications during the administration of former US president Donald Trump. However, these fell by the wayside once Trump stated his intention to kill Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in September 2020.

The diplomat added that secret talks took place in previous years between Damascus and Washington, but most of them were through mediators, such as the former director general of the Lebanese General Security, Abbas Ibrahim. Direct meetings also took place between the two countries, one of which was in the Syrian capital, Damascus. However, the number of direct meetings remained limited.

We know where you are: Syria drug dealers warned by Jordan via text

Warning text messages were sent out to dozens of people in southern Syria wanted for drug crimes, urging them to hand themselves over to Jordanian authorities The New Arab reported.

The messages, reportedly received by suspected drug dealers in the Daraa and Suweida governorates from an unknown sender, called on them to surrender to Jordanian border guards or face a similar fate to Marei al-Ramthan, one of Syrias most notorious drug dealers.

Activist Abu al-Baraa al-Hourani confirmed the text messages were sent, in an interview with Al-Araby Al-Jadeed.

The [text] message included threats that in the event of non-compliance with orders, the fate of those who work in the promotion, trade and smuggling of drugs will face the same fate of Marei Al-Ramthan, said Al-Hourani.

The messages contained information about the whereabouts of the suspected fugitives.

Al-Ramthan will not be the last, read the text messages, warning that Jordan was ready to strike inside Syria at any time.

Daraa and Suweida  both largely within Syrian regime control  sit on the border with Jordan, which has become a main transit route for drug smugglers looking to reach the Gulf.

US Representatives House approves Assad Regime Anti-Normalization Act

The Foreign Affairs Committee of the US House of Representatives approved on Tuesday the Assad Regime Anti-Normalization Act of 2023, which is to be included later in both the House and Senates agenda and then the office of the US president, North Press reports.

The Syrian Support Group, a Washington-based non-governmental organization, the only organization permitted to provide support directly to the Free Syrian Army (FSA) by the US government, said that the Foreign Affairs Committee approved the Assad Regime Anti-Normalization Act of 2023 days after its introduction.

A bipartisan group of US lawmakers introduced a bill on May 11 that would bar the White House from normalizing ties with the government of Bashar al-Assad and facilitate sanctioning countries that do.

The Assad Regime Anti-Normalization Act was introduced by Representatives Joe Wilson, Vicente Gonzalez, Michael McCaul, Brendan Boyle, French Hill, Steve Cohen, Carlos Gimenez and Amata Radewagen.

The bill faces a vote in the House of Representatives and in the Senate.

If backed by a majority, it will be put before US President Joe Bidens desk for final approval.

However, the date of implementation has not been announced.

This bill follows multiple normalization processes between Arab countries and the Syrian government over protests by the US, which rejects any normalization with the Syrian government without serious steps toward a political solution to the Syrian crisis.

The bill has been one of the strongest pieces of legislation regarding Syria since the approval of the Caesar Act in 2019.

In June 2019, the US administration imposed sanctions that targeted Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his inner circle in a bid to force it back to the UN and put an end to the countrys decade-long war.

The bills provisions include a requirement for an annual strategy from the secretary of state for five years on countering normalization with Assads government, including a list of diplomatic meetings held between Syrias government and Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and others, according to Reuters.
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Washington Gov. Jay Inslee on Monday signed a bill into law that called for ending the current search for the states next major airport as he expressed a desire for a deeper review of expanding existing facilities before contemplating a brand-new one.

Engrossed Substitute House Bill 1791 sought to immediately supplant the Commercial Aviation Coordinating Commission, which was tasked by state lawmakers in 2019 with recommending a preferred location for a potential new airport to fill a looming void in Washingtons commercial flight capacity.

The CACC, created by the Legislature as a body of 15-voting members largely from the transportation industry, caused a firestorm in communities in and around Graham, Roy and East Olympia when in September it narrowed options for an airport location to three greenfield sites in those areas.

ESHB 1791 offers protection for Pierce and Thurston county residents who have fiercely resisted the prospects of a new airport landing near them and acts as a restart of the states investigation into its aviation future.

The pressure valve was getting ready to explode and this took the pressure off, Rep. Jake Fey, D-Tacoma, a primary bill sponsor, told The News Tribune.

But the governors vetoes of four sections Monday also changed elements of the legislation.

For one, the bill will not go into effect immediately as proposed, but instead in 90 days from the April 23 end of the legislative session. While thats a typical timeline, it also means that the CACC will still be active when the group hits its June 15 deadline to make an airport site recommendation to the state and the group will expire on its own two weeks later.

In his veto message, Inslee wrote that an emergency clause was not needed because the CACCs final report should reflect the findings of the Commission that they do not have a single site recommendation at this time.

Inslee also nixed a section of the bill that spelled out the functions of the new work group that will replace the CACC.

In his veto message, the governor made it clear that he did so because that section directed the work group to simultaneously consider existing airport expansion and sites for a new airport.

However, it is important for the state to first fully consider increasing capacity at existing airports throughout the state, excluding SeaTac, before it considers a new airport, he wrote.

The new work group, whose role will be limited to information-gathering, was left with a broad directive: a comprehensive investigation of airport capacity in the state and the best way to address aviation needs in the context of overall state transportation needs in the next 20 years using independent verifiable data.

Mike Faulk, a spokesperson for the governor, told The News Tribune that there could be executive action later to give formal guidance to the work group but that remained to be seen.

Fey, who appeared at the signing along with anti-airport activists, said that any complications that may arise from the governors vetoes could be fixed. For instance, new work group members could be given specific assignments during the next budget process.

I would still say, mission accomplished, he said.

Bill was response to outcry

The possibility of a two-runway airport drew concerns from residents, area lawmakers, tribal groups and others about the potential effect on quality of life, wildlife and the environment in the region. It also raised questions over logistics. Opponents waged a several-month campaign with hopes of preventing the CACC from circling any of the greenfield site finalists for recommendation.

In February, Fey, along with Tom Dent, R-Moses Lake and other lawmakers, introduced HB 1791 to replace the CACC with a new work group, arguing that the pandemic hadnt allowed for the CACC to thoroughly review sites or conduct proper community engagement.

The bill, which garnered bipartisan support and passed the House in March and the Senate last month, also mandated that any sites that interfered with nearby military operations be excluded from the new work groups considerations. Each of the three greenfield sites homed in on by the CACC fit that description, according to Joint Base Lewis-McChord officials.

As part of the bill  kept intact by Inslee despite shifting the focus to existing airport expansion  the new work group must submit a report by next summer that explicitly lists the locations that are precluded from further review due to military conflict.

People need some certainty, Fey said.

Projected problems persist

Inslees signature represents the culmination of the months-long battle over the potential siting of Washingtons next major airport, but it does not signal an end to the search for a thus far elusive answer to a projected shortfall in the states commercial passenger service capacity.

(Seattle-Tacoma International Airport) will reach capacity very soon and our economy depends on air travel and air freight in order to operate, state Sen. Marko Liias, D-Everett, said during the April 12 hearing when ESHB 1791 passed the Senate. So we need to figure out a path forward that ensures weve got adequate capacity to move people and goods into and out of our region and also respect local communities who have legitimate concerns that need to be addressed.

The bill acknowledges that commercial and general aviation, as well as air cargo operations, are growing and that there is a projected near-future gap between the demand for such services and the capacity to meet that demand.

The Puget Sound Regional Council estimated in May 2021 that the region was expected to see 27 million more annual passengers by 2050 than it could accommodate and double the current demand for cargo. Projections also showed Sea-Tac reaching capacity by 2032.

The expected shortfall is not lost on state Sen. Karen Keiser, D-Des Moines, who sponsored the bill that gave the CACC its instructions four years ago. Keiser, whose district includes Sea-Tac, expressed doubt last month that revisiting the problem in a different way would lead to any meaningful changes.

It is going to kick the can down the road and the effort, I believe, is doomed, she said during the Senate hearing April 12.

The regions leaders had identified a need for more aviation facilities as far back as 1982, she said, and the number of prospective sites have decreased since then due to other development. Keiser predicted that the new work group would face the same issues that the CACC had been wrestling with.

At this point, were at an impasse, she said.

Asked whether the shift in approach, as directed by ESHB 1791, merely meant delaying the inevitable discomfort of trying to site an airport, Fey underscored that the new work group would have more money and more time to get it right.

Its better to get a good answer in a good process in a few years from now, than get a bad answer as a result of a bad process now, Fey said.

Meanwhile, the CACC, which did not appear close to homing in on a single site recommendation during its last meeting in late March, also could not consider adopting any choice at that time due to lack of a quorum. It canceled its most recent planned session May 4 after the Senate passed ESHB 1791.

In recognition of the legislatures expressed intent and recent action, it would not be appropriate for the CACC to make such a final recommendation until the governors action on this bill is known, it wrote on its website.

A message seeking comment from a CACC spokesperson Monday was not immediately returned.
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More than 80 high school juniors and seniors from eight Southwest Washington school districts, including four in Cowlitz County, are headed to three days of firefighting training Wednesday through Friday in Astoria.

The Field Leadership and Response Exercise training culminates students year-long fire science class, according to a press release from the Kelso School District.

Fifty to 60% of our staff came from a high school program like this, said Jacob Trotter, planning support specialist for Cowlitz 2 Fire & Rescue, in the press release.

Cowlitz 2 partners with Kelso School District for the Fire Science program in Cowlitz County. Although the off-campus program is housed within Kelso School District, students from other districts can take this or one of the other off-campus, industry-based courses offered through Kelso.

Participating school districts in this weeks training include Kelso, Longview, Castle Rock, Woodland, Ridgefield, Battle Ground, Evergreen and Vancouver. The training will be conducted by Cowlitz 2 Fire & Rescue, Clark Cowlitz Fire & Rescue, Clark Fire District 3 and Clark Fire District 6.

Students plan to spend three days at the Clatsop Community Colleges Marine and Environmental Research and Training Station to participate in field leadership, team building and live fire exercises.

Assigned to one of four companies within a battalion, students will rotate in assigned companies of five or six students through four stations: search and rescue/forcible entry, live fire (building), car fire, and ladder station.

Students plan to spend two nights at Camp Rilea, the armed forces training center in Warrenton. To replicate the fire station experience, theyll be woken up during the night, asked to put their gear on and ride to a simulated town for drills.
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Longview school officials say they have found a way to bring up reading and math scores, but not everyone is thrilled about their solution.

The plan is to shorten afternoon recess and lunch times by about 10 minutes each and reschedule the 15-minute breakfast to before-school hours rather than during.

Superintendent Dan Zorn said they want to make sure everyone  students and teachers  gets a proper break. But as the district looks to improve test scores that have dipped in recent years, Zorn said they need to free up more instructional time.

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The current recess and meal schedule spans about an hour during the instructional day. Under the changes, this would set aside 20 minutes for lunch, 20 minutes for recess, and then have breakfast earlier so it does not swallow any school time. Overall, the district expects to add 35 minutes of teaching time.

There is some rescheduling that needs to happen, Zorn said, but we believe this will help us get more of that instructional time that our kids need.

A bill that would require all state school districts to give 30 minutes of recess time passed during the 2023 Washington state Legislature. The Longview School District offers a second afternoon recess that, even with the shortened time, would keep them in compliance with the new law.

A survey done in 2009 by the state Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction found half of districts offer 30 to 45 minutes of recess a day, and a third offer 16 to 30 minutes.

Brenda Winters, librarian at Kessler Elementary School, told the school board last week children need at least 30 minutes for lunch and 30 minutes for recess. She said she also thinks lunch should remain in the classrooms.

When I was a classroom teacher, I would read to them for the first 10 minutes of lunch, because if I didnt, the conversations would happen and they wouldnt finish in time, Winters said. Kids eat slow, some of them, so I would like to suggest you do not reduce the lunch time.

Stay up to date on Lower Columbia news, wherever you go Easily access the latest Lower Columbia news in an app that lets you select the topics that matter most to you.

Zorn said misbehavior often escalates in that last 10-minute stretch of recess, which could be helped by the time change. Students would also move to their schools gym to have lunch before recess, freeing up time for teachers to get their full meal break.

The district collaborated with teachers and principals before making the decision, Zorn said. This also wont change the two recesses guaranteed for students, he said.

Its about improving the quality of the educational experience for our kids, Zorn said.

Test scores have dropped since 2020 in Longview, with many elementary level students who are not meeting growth targets or passing standardized tests.

According to the Educational Recovery Scorecard, Longview students between 2019 and 2022 lost on average 0.61 points in math and lost 0.26 points in reading on state tests.

Spring data from the state Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction shows about 27% of Longviews students met math standards, 42% met English standards and 38% met science standards.

Nathan McMullan, a physical education teacher at Columbia Heights Elementary School, said the districts goal to increase instructional time is admirable but misguided.

McMullan said the staggered lunches that would occur in the gymnasium, sometimes during his own class time, would not work with what his job entails: having kids get moderate to vigorous exercise.

We dont have desks and chairs. We have squat spots, exercise spots. We have equipment and instructional units that we have to teach, McMullan said. We cant (meet requirements) in a compromised space.

Ann Marie Odegaard, fourth grade teacher at Kessler, told the school board she fully agreed with the attempt to get more instructional time, which was reduced as a result of the many changes that came from the COVID-19 pandemic.

But I dont want that back at the expense of my colleagues losing their classroom, Odegaard said.

Editor's Note: This article has been updated to reflect the bill to require 30 minutes total of recess time did pass, and the Longview School District is still in compliance with the law regardless of whether it shortens the lunch recess time.
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Roxy Remmers has been attending Kelso Virtual Academy since her sophomore year, giving her more time to focus on her passion of horses. Remmers answered The Daily News questions about her upcoming graduation, overcoming procrastination and plans to use her passion in her future career.

Q&A

Parents: Terrisa and Caleb Remmers.

Hometown: Kelso.

What are your plans after graduation?

Im going to go to an equine dentistry school (in Glenns Ferry, Idaho). Then I want to find a two-year vet technician school to have the background in giving horses medication.

What was your biggest struggle to graduate and how did you overcome it?

It was keeping the motivation to get my work done and finish the year strong. I procrastinate and I will get behind but I always have the opportunity to get back ahead. I deal with the motivation one day at a time, I just have to get a burst of focus ... to get my work done and it kind of goes from there.

What are you going to miss about high school?

When I found out that KVA was a thing I found it super interesting. I was able to ride my horse more. I worked on school whenever I had the time to around that. Its all online now so I dont see as many other students. The thing Im going to miss most is the teachers, especially Mrs. Hyde and Mrs. Hiatt. Hiatt was my teacher for two years ... and she was always there for me and willing to have a conversation. Wed be on the phone for 30 minutes having a good talk and Ill always remember her for that.

Where do you see yourself in five years?

The vet tech work is my longterm goal. Theres a high demand for it. I always wanted to do something with horses but I never knew what it was going to be until recently, when I had the opportunity to work with someone who does (equine dentistry) for a living.

What would you recommend to someone having difficulty in school?

My biggest advice would be to keep pushing because there are days when you will have no motivation and procrastinate, and there are days when you will want to get it all done. In the end itll all even out for you.

Who is your biggest inspiration and why?

My grandpa. Hes the one who got me involved with horses. Ive been riding basically since I could walk and hes been the No. 1 supporter. There were a lot of people who helped teach me but he was really important.

If you could talk to one person, living or dead, who would it be?

Bayleigh Choate. She became a professional barrel racer at 19. I look up to her a lot and she inspires me to push harder when Im at a race. (Choate was the 2022 Rookie of the Year for the Womens Professional Rodeo Association.)

What would you order for your final meal?

My dad is really good at cooking meat. I love it when he makes prime rib; hell make mashed potatoes and green beans to with it. Thats my favorite.
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Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain

"Good vs. Evil" was the stark subtitle of the artificial-intelligence (AI) panel earlier this month at Philadelphia Alliance for Capital and Technologies' yearly Phorum conclave at Penn State Great Valley.

The tech-business group summoned technologists to make sense of the disorientingly rapid growth of programs like OpenAI's ChatGPT and Microsoft's Bard, which process online sources to create quick, detailed narratives from a user's questions. They are designed to "learn" from repeated use, improving over time.

Will these AI applications boost the speed and reach of human mental labor, enriching developers and backersor will they learn to replace us, threatening humanity with unemployment, irrelevance, technological slavery?

Here are some highlights from the PACT panel, hosted by Michael Bachman, emerging-technology architect at Berwyn-based communications-software integrator Boomi.

'Get used to paywalls'

With AI programs automatically mining the internet for free material to convert into narratives, James Thomason, cofounder of Next Wave Partners and a Silicon Valley new-venture adviser, predicts that the remaining "free" publishers will move fast to charge for whatever they are not already selling.

"Get used to paywalls," Thomason advised.

More broadly, AI brings "a wave of innovation we cannot contemplate," added Thomason. He supports Tesla boss Elon Musk's call for a "pause" in AI development until standards are set and expects government will step in.

"If we wait for the private sector, we will be disappointed," he said. "Microsoft recently fired its entire ethics team for AI," even as the software giant is "employing AI at a frantic pace."

He asked: "Will we be able to adapt to AI as we have to other technologies? I am an AI optimist, but I am pessimistic in our ability to adapt," given tech investors' aggressive "obsession" with imposing maximum efficiency to squeeze profits from everything that can be digitally measured.

New technologies can be liberatingfor their first users. But as any new tech becomes widely adopted, "it starts to impose its requirements on our society," changing culture and even laws.

Indeed, "the internet has been a planetwide experiment, [applying] the model of Silicon Valley" to daily life, Thomason said. With well-funded-based companies like Amazon, Facebook, and Uber, "we broke politics, banking, retailing, education," driving established retailers out of business and forcing entrenched players to compete.

"And now we're moving full speed to unleash another new technology," he said.

Thomason is not worried about machines literally destroying humans. Instead, he fears the relentless speedup of machine-aided creativity may "hollow out our humanity" so we "stop thinking of technology and AI" as tools, but come to regard their recommendations as "basic to humanity."

Don't sweat the 'AI apocalypse'

"It's too late [for] big, broad regulation. We are not going to pause" AI development, said Ethan Mollick, who teaches business innovation at University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School.

He suggested there has been "too much emphasis on an AI apocalypsebut not enough on the ways that this is massively disruptive," for example to factory work. "What do we need to do to retrain people who are going to be displaced?'

To be sure, Mollick said, "how to stop super intelligence from murdering us all is an interesting question." But a more realistic threat may arise for the CEO who recently told Mollick "he thinks he can fire 80% of his engineers and marketers within 18 months, and replace them all with high school students."

Citing a 2019 paper by Wharton's Daniel Rock, reviewing the value of artificial intelligence skills to employers, Mollick said research suggests it's not routine physical work that's in danger from AI; to the contrary, there's "almost a perfect correlation between how much you earn, are educated, are creative," and how well the programs may be able to do what you do.

Still, he concluded, "we don't know if that means replacing people, or augmenting them" so they can do more with AI assistance.

Don't worry about the engineers' jobs ... yet

"We don't recommend" replacing expensive, seasoned engineers with AI-literate students, said Caroline Yap, director of AI Practice at Google. For one thing, "there are copyright issues on the material" that ChatGPT and similar program rely on that require careful judgment by those who would use them commercially. "And you still have to train [AI] to your particular business."

"Our customers are not seeing AI as gloomy," Yap added. "They are finding ways to embrace the technology ... I use Alexa at home. Why not something like it at work?"

It's about profit, for sure, Yap said. "Revenue generation is one aspect." But, like other big tools, AI may itself be an attraction for users: "How can I make [young employees] want to come to work, to use AI? What does it mean for job creation?"

Remember what we've already learned

"AI, like all power tools, will allow you to make a mistake with great intensity," Peter Coffee, vice president of strategic research at Salesforce, quipped.

Coffee said computing has accelerated to where detecting AI-aided lies is now a basic, required skill: In the 1980s, "computer literacy meant you learned to write in BASIC [computer language]. Later it was to control your material on Facebook. Now [with AI] it's a level of informed skepticism on what you are being told."

Maintain skepticism

"We need a culture that knows how to use AI effectively," said investor and philanthropist Esther Dyson. "It's less about regulation, and more to have the proper skepticism about what is human and who is [lying to] you. This is the Jurassic Park line: Just because we can do it, doesn't mean we should!"

'The human brain will always matter'

"The human brain will always matter," said Dean Miller, president and CEO of the Philadelphia Alliance for Capital and Technologies. "Even if you get close to replicating it, you shouldn't, because there are things the machine shouldn't do. There are some scary scenarios in the wrong hands." He prefers to expect, that mostly, "machines will continually help people be more efficient and effective."

2023 The Philadelphia Inquirer, LLC.

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
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Credit: Vienna University of Technology

The basic principle of the atomic force microscope is very simple: an extremely thin, movable tip on a cantilever is moved over a surface that is being examined. Tiny forces on an atomic scale act between the tip and the surface and influence the movement of the cantilever. If the tip's behavior is measured very precisely, information can be gained about the surface and a high-resolution image of the finest surface details can be created on the computer.

To achieve the necessary precision, relatively complex data processing technology is used today. TU Wien (Vienna) has now been able to show: There is a simpler way. A customized electronic circuit was built directly into the sensor element of an atomic force microscope (AFM), and its signal directly provides information about the state of the tip. The precision is just as good as with previous devices, but the new technology is much more compact, simpler and, above all, cheaper. The prototype is already working well, and now TU Wien is looking for industry partners.

Laser beams or precision electronics

"There are different methods to measure the movement of the tip," says Mathias Poik from the Institute of Automation and Control Engineering (ACIN) at TU Wien. "For example, you can point a laser beam at the lever to which the tip is attached. If the tip moves a little bit, the laser beam is measurably deflected."

But there are also atomic force microscopes that do not require a laser beam: You can make the tip vibrate and then measure electrically how the vibration changes over time. Piezoresistive materials are used for this: they change their electrical resistance when they are bent. The oscillation of the tip thus leads to an oscillating electrical resistance, and the signal is transmitted to a computer.

"The frequency at which the tip oscillates in the microscope is fixed," explains Mathias Poik. "The important question for us is: with what amplitude does it oscillate? And where do phase shifts occur?" For example, if you scan a very hard area of the surface with the tip and then move it over a softer area, there is a change in the oscillation phasethe oscillation of the tip falls out of sync for a moment. If you measure this accurately, you can gain valuable information about the surface.

Electronics built directly into the sensor

"Reading amplitude and phase from this oscillation is no big problembut today it is solved with relatively complicated and expensive measurement and data processing technology," says Mathias Poik. "We have chosen a completely different approach: We build the essential element of data processing directly into the hardware, the signal is already processed before it is sent into a computer."

An electronic circuit is built directly into the sensor to which the vibrating tip is attached. This circuit multiplies the signal from the tip (a sinusoidal oscillation) by another oscillation with the same frequency. "Mathematically, it's easy to see: this multiplication creates a signal from which you can then read the amplitude and phase of the original oscillation very easily," Mathias Poik explains.

"And this is done entirely without special sensors with high sampling rates and complex computer technologybut simply by means of a relatively simple electronic circuit that we have built directly into the sensor." While conventional sensors use DC voltage, the new method works with AC voltage. Among other things, this means that the method is also well suited for measurements on liquids (for example, in biological samples).

Experiments have already been very successful: one achieves the same precision as with previous devicesbut in a way that is simpler, more compact and cheaper. "There are already initial talks with manufacturers of atomic force microscopes to exploit this technology," says Prof. Georg Schitter, head of the Advanced Mechatronic Systems Group at ACIN. "But we are also investigating other application areas of vibration measurement where this method can be used and thus improve or simplify instrumentation."

More information: Mechatronic Demodulation of AFM Cantilever Oscillation
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Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain

Many owners of electric vehicles worry about how effective their battery will be in very cold weather. Now a new battery chemistry may have solved that problem.

In current lithium-ion batteries, the main problem lies in the liquid electrolyte. This key battery component transfers charge-carrying particles called ions between the battery's two electrodes, causing the battery to charge and discharge. But the liquid begins to freeze at sub-zero temperatures. This condition severely limits the effectiveness of charging electric vehicles in cold regions and seasons.

To address that problem, a team of scientists from the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Argonne and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratories has developed a fluorine-containing electrolyte that performs well even in sub-zero temperatures.

The research appears in Advanced Energy Materials.

"Our team not only found an antifreeze electrolyte whose charging performance does not decline at minus 4 degrees Fahrenheit, but we also discovered, at the atomic level, what makes it so effective," said Zhengcheng "John" Zhang, a senior chemist and group leader in Argonne's Chemical Sciences and Engineering division.

This low-temperature electrolyte shows promise of working for batteries in electric vehicles, as well as in energy storage for electric grids and consumer electronics like computers and phones.

In today's lithium-ion batteries, the electrolyte is a mixture of a widely available salt (lithium hexafluorophosphate) and carbonate solvents such as ethylene carbonate. The solvents dissolve the salt to form a liquid.

When a battery is charged, the liquid electrolyte shuttles lithium ions from the cathode (a lithium-containing oxide) to the anode (graphite). These ions migrate out of the cathode, then pass through the electrolyte on the way into the anode. While being transported through the electrolyte, they sit at the center of clusters of four or five solvent molecules.

a) Scheme of solvent design transition from carbonates to fluorinated esters. b) Atomic charge analysis of carbonyl groups in EA, EA-f, f-EA, and f-EA-f. Credit: Advanced Energy Materials (2023). DOI: 10.1002/aenm.202204182

During the initial few charges, these clusters strike the anode surface and form a protective layer called the solid-electrolyte interphase. Once formed, this layer acts like a filter. It allows only the lithium ions to pass through the layer while blocking the solvent molecules. In this way, the anode is able to store lithium atoms in the structure of the graphite on charge. Upon discharge, electrochemical reactions release electrons from the lithium that generate electricity that can power vehicles.

The problem is that in cold temperatures, the electrolyte with carbonate solvents begins to freeze. As a result, it loses the ability to transport lithium ions into the anode on charge. This is because the lithium ions are so tightly bound within the solvent clusters. Hence, these ions require much higher energy to evacuate their clusters and penetrate the interface layer than at room temperature. For that reason, scientists have been searching for a better solvent.

The team investigated several fluorine-containing solvents. They were able to identify the composition that had the lowest energy barrier for releasing lithium ions from the clusters at sub-zero temperature. They also determined at the atomic scale why that particular composition worked so well. It depended on the position of the fluorine atoms within each solvent molecule and their number.

In testing with laboratory cells, the team's fluorinated electrolyte retained stable energy storage capacity for 400 charge-discharge cycles at minus 4 F. Even at that sub-zero temperature, the capacity was equivalent to that of a cell with a conventional carbonate-based electrolyte at room temperature.

"Our research thus demonstrated how to tailor the atomic structure of electrolyte solvents to design new electrolytes for sub-zero temperatures," Zhang said.

The antifreeze electrolyte has a bonus property. It is much safer than the carbonate-based electrolytes that are currently used, since it will not catch fire.

"We are patenting our low-temperature and safer electrolyte and are now searching for an industrial partner to adapt it to one of their designs for lithium-ion batteries," Zhang said.

In addition to John Zhang, Argonne authors are Dong-Joo Yoo, Qian Liu and Minkyu Kim. Berkeley Lab authors are Orion Cohen and Kristin Persson.

More information: DongJoo Yoo et al, Rational Design of Fluorinated Electrolytes for Low Temperature LithiumIon Batteries, Advanced Energy Materials (2023). DOI: 10.1002/aenm.202204182 Journal information: Advanced Energy Materials
Johnny Depp received an overwhelming seven-minute standing ovation at the premiere of his new film, "Jeanne Du Barry," as he graced his Cannes Film Festival comeback.

The embattled actor has been elusive from the public eye since he faced the highly-publicized legal battle between the actor and his ex-girlfriend Amber Heard.

Johnny Depp Cannes Film Festival Comeback

The Hollywood icon Depp captivated the audience at the renowned Cannes Film Festival with his performance at the opening film at the star-studded annual event.

As per Lad Bible, the actor held his tears after the crowd at the French film fest stood up in applause to the 'Jeanne du Barry' star. When the actor entered the premiere of the Cannes opening film, the crowd was ecstatic with his much-awaited comeback to the big screen.

On top of that, the crowd erupted into thunderous applause, initiating a standing ovation that seemed to last for an eternity. Depp, seemingly shocked by the overwhelming response from the audience, waved on the balcony as he got a bit emotional, according to Variety.

But apart from the positive response, Depp's comeback also faced backlash. The Independent UK reports that critics slammed the Cannes director Thierry Fremaux for opening the doors of the renowned festival to the 59-year-old actor.

However, he still stood by and welcomed Depp back. The backlash comes from the allegations that his ex-wife Heard hurled against him during the defamation trial, which concluded in 2022.

Lad Bible notes that the trial affected the career of Depp, kicking him out from massive franchises, such as the 'Fantastic Beast' and the 'Pirates of the Caribbean.' Some were skeptical about his comeback to the big screen due to the high-publicized lawsuit.

But despite that, the star-studded crowd's positive response in France shows that the embattled actor is still beloved.

Read Also: Johnny Depp Appeals Amber Heard's $2 Million Defamation Win; Actress' Twitter Account Vanishes Following Ex-Boyfriend Elon Musk's Takeover

Depp's New Film 'Jeanne du Barry'

Depp stars King Louis XV, the lover of Jeanne Vaubernier, which the film's director Maiwenn played. The latter had a humble beginning as a working class in France. But she did not settle at that as she eventually rose to social ranks and married the 18th-century king.

The movie, which marks Depp's comeback to the big screen, also features Pascal Greggory, Melvil Poupaud, Benjamin Lavernhe, and Pierre Richard.

The opening film at Cannes marks the monumental comeback of Depp, giving him a high-profile role in a movie after his legal battle with his ex-wife.

The Cannes director, Fremaux, addressed the appearance of Depp at the French festival, saying, "I [do not] know about the image of Johnny Depp in the US." He shared his one rule in life: "the freedom of thinking, and the freedom of speech and acting within a legal framework.

Related Article: [Report] Amber Heard Almost Became Groomer Like Ghislaine Maxwell After Pseudo Name Gia Reveals 'Aquaman' Actress' Real Personality





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Datasets used to train AI algorithms may underrepresent older people. Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain

The artificial intelligence (AI) pioneer Geoffrey Hinton recently resigned from Google, warning of the dangers of the technology "becoming more intelligent than us." His fear is that AI will one day succeed in "manipulating people to do what it wants."

There are reasons we should be concerned about AI. But we frequently treat or talk about AIs as if they are human. Stopping this, and realizing what they actually are, could help us maintain a fruitful relationship with the technology.

In a recent essay, the US psychologist Gary Marcus advised us to stop treating AI models like people. By AI models, he means large language models (LLMs) like ChatGPT and Bard, which are now being used by millions of people on a daily basis.

He cites egregious examples of people "over-attributing" human-like cognitive capabilities to AI that have had a range of consequences. The most amusing was the US senator who claimed that ChatGPT "taught itself chemistry". The most harrowing was the report of a young Belgian man who was said to have taken his own life after prolonged conversations with an AI chatbot.

Marcus is correct to say we should stop treating AI like peopleconscious moral agents with interests, hopes and desires. However, many will find this difficult to near-impossible. This is because LLMs are designedby peopleto interact with us as though they are human, and we're designedby biological evolutionto interact with them likewise.

Good mimics

The reason LLMs can mimic human conversation so convincingly stems from a profound insight by computing pioneer Alan Turing, who realized that it is not necessary for a computer to understand an algorithm in order to run it. This means that while ChatGPT can produce paragraphs filled with emotive language, it doesn't understand any word in any sentence it generates.

The LLM designers successfully turned the problem of semanticsthe arrangement of words to create meaninginto statistics, matching words based on their frequency of prior use. Turing's insight echos Darwin's theory of evolution, which explains how species adapt to their surroundings, becoming ever-more complex, without needing to understand a thing about their environment or themselves.

The cognitive scientist and philosopher Daniel Dennett coined the phrase "competence without comprehension," which perfectly captures the insights of Darwin and Turing.

Another important contribution of Dennett's is his "intentional stance". This essentially states that in order to fully explain the behavior of an object (human or non-human), we must treat it like a rational agent. This most often manifests in our tendency to anthropomorphise non-human species and other non-living entities.

But it is useful. For example, if we want to beat a computer at chess, the best strategy is to treat it as a rational agent that "wants" to beat us. We can explain that the reason why the computer castled, for instance, was because "it wanted to protect its king from our attack," without any contradiction in terms.

We may speak of a tree in a forest as "wanting to grow" towards the light. But neither the tree, nor the chess computer represents those "wants" or reasons to themselves; only that the best way to explain their behavior is by treating them as though they did.

Intentions and agency

Our evolutionary history has furnished us with mechanisms that predispose us to find intentions and agency everywhere. In prehistory, these mechanisms helped our ancestors avoid predators and develop altruism towards their nearest kin. These mechanisms are the same ones that cause us to see faces in clouds and anthropomorphise inanimate objects. No harm comes to us when we mistake a tree for a bear, but plenty does the other way around.

Evolutionary psychology shows us how we are always trying to interpret any object that might be human as a human. We unconsciously adopt the intentional stance and attribute all our cognitive capacities and emotions to this object.

With the potential disruption that LLMs can cause, we must realize they are simply probabilistic machines with no intentions, or concerns for humans. We must be extra-vigilant around our use of language when describing the human-like feats of LLMs and AI more generally. Here are two examples.

The first was a recent study that found ChatGPT is more empathetic and gave "higher quality" responses to questions from patients compared with those of doctors. Using emotive words like "empathy" for an AI predisposes us to grant it the capabilities of thinking, reflecting and of genuine concern for otherswhich it doesn't have.

The second was when GPT-4 (the latest version of ChatGPT technology) was launched last month, capabilities of greater skills in creativity and reasoning were ascribed to it. However, we are simply seeing a scaling up of "competence," but still no "comprehension" (in the sense of Dennett) and definitely no intentionsjust pattern matching.

Safe and secure

In his recent comments, Hinton raised a near-term threat of "bad actors" using AI for subversion. We could easily envisage an unscrupulous regime or multinational deploying an AI, trained on fake news and falsehoods, to flood public discourse with misinformation and deep fakes. Fraudsters could also use an AI to prey on vulnerable people in financial scams.

Last month, Gary Marcus and others, including Elon Musk, signed an open letter calling for an immediate pause on the further development of LLMs. Marcus has also called for a an international agency to promote safe, secure and peaceful AI technologies"dubbing it a "Cern for AI."

Furthermore, many have suggested that anything generated by an AI should carry a watermark so that there can be no doubt about whether we are interacting with a human or a chatbot.

Regulation in AI trails innovation, as it so often does in other fields of life. There are more problems than solutions, and the gap is likely to widen before it narrows. But in the meantime, repeating Dennett's phrase "competence without comprehension" might be the best antidote to our innate compulsion to treat AI like humans.

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Programmable SSPP cell, supercell and partially connected SPNN. a, A single programmable SSPP cell is constructed by integrating the varactors, detectors and amplifier through the SSPP interconnection with four input ports and one output port. The varactor is controlled by the applied bias voltage to constitute a tunable-ratio power divider, where the input signals are mixed with the customized weight factors. The detectors measure the output signal intensity, which is transformed and fed back to the power amplifier, implementing a programmable activation function. The panel illustrates the output programmable cells with detectors and power amplifiers, while the detectors and amplifiers are omitted from the programmable input cells. b, A programmable supercell consisting of eight programmable cells (four inputs and four outputs) that can realize 4  4 matrix multiplication. c, A partially connected SPNN with 16 inputs and 12 outputs to carry out the classification task on the MNIST dataset. In comparison with a fully connected counterpart, the partially connected SPNN reduces the complexity of routing between the cell layers without performance degradation. Credit: Gao et al

AI tools based on artificial neural networks (ANNs) are being introduced in a growing number of settings, helping humans to tackle many problems faster and more efficiently. While most of these algorithms run on conventional digital devices and computers, electronic engineers have been exploring the potential of running them on alternative platforms, such as diffractive optical devices.

A research team led by Prof. Tie Jun Cui at Southeast University in China has recently developed a new programmable neural network based on a so-called spoof surface plasmon polariton (SSPP), which is a surface electromagnetic wave that propagates along planar interfaces. This newly proposed surface plasmonic neural network (SPNN) architecture, introduced in a paper in Nature Electronics, can detect and process microwaves, which could be useful for wireless communication and other technological applications.

"In digital hardware research for the implementation of artificial neural networks, optical neural networks and diffractive deep neural networks recently emerged as promising solutions," Qian Ma, one of the researchers who carried out the study, told Tech Xplore. "Previous research focusing on optical neural networks showed that simultaneous high-level programmability and nonlinear computing can be difficult to achieve. Therefore, these ONN devices usually have been limited to specific tasks without programmability, or only applied for simple recognition tasks (i.e., linear problems)."

The primary objective of these researchers' recent work was to further improve the performance of neural networks on complex nonlinear problems, while also making them suitable for a broad variety of applications. SPNN, their proposed architecture, can be programmed for different weight configurations, which means that it should theoretically generalize well across different tasks.

The research team led by Prof. Cui has been developing programmable spoof surface plasmonic devices and exploring their use for electromagnetic regulations for several years. Inspired by their previous findings, they thus set out to develop a neural network with programmable weights and activation functions based on one of these plasmonic devices. In principle, the architecture they proposed could achieve remarkable processing speeds, approaching the speed of light.

"The SPNN was created in a layer-by-layer fashion, where each layer consists of multiple programmable SSPP supercells," Ma explained. "Each supercell with a four-in and four-out fully connected network is composed of eight programmable SSPP cells. We design a three-dimensional composite structure, which cleverly realizes the characteristics of the full connection."

The decoding mechanism in a wireless communication system using the SSPP supercell. a, Photograph of the communication system, in which a Southeast University logo has been transmitted and received by the SPNN. b, The input code mapping between the two-bit symbols and channel signals in the encoding process of the SSPP supercell. c, The near-field patterns between the transmitting antenna array and the receiving antenna array under four coding circumstances. a.u., arbitrary units. d, The output code mapping between the two-bit symbols and channel signals in the decoding process of the SSPP supercell. Through the decoding process implemented by the SSPP supercell in the electromagnetic domain, the original code mapping is converted into a simplified injective one. Credit: Gao et al

Each of the programmable supercells that the researchers used to create their platform is made up of a SSPP power divider and a coupler. This unique design allows it to robustly manipulate electromagnetic waves and then use them to realize plasmonic neural networks.

"The weight parameters of neural networks are adjusted by changing the voltages of varactors loading on the couplers," Ma said. "More importantly, the activation function can be customized by detecting the input intensity using detectors and feeding back the threshold to an amplifier. The SPNN can perform an image classification task and can also be used to create a wireless communication system to decode and recover images."

The most notable features of the team's SPNN architecture are its programmable weights and activation functions, which could make it easier to apply to a broad range of tasks. Some previous works realized programmable neural networks using phase change materials, yet this approach was found to result in limited dynamic ranges.

"Although diffractive deep neural networks can flexibly modulate and process electromagnetic waves, their lack of nonlinear activation functions also limits their potential to handle more complex problems such as the exclusive-or (XOR) logic operations," Ma said.

"Our proposed programmable SPNN based on digital surface plasmonic devices may bring some new ideas into this field. Programmable SSPP devices can control electromagnetic waves with simple architecture, low cost, and high efficiency, which is a potential for building programmable neural networks. Moreover, we can use a closed-loop feedback system between detection ports and amplifier bias circuits to realize programmable activation functions."

In the future, the SPNN developed by this team of researchers could be used to detect and process microwaves on a large scale, thus potentially opening new possibilities for 5G and 6G wireless communications. In contrast with some of the ANN-based solutions for microwave detection introduced in the past, SPNN can directly modulate electromagnetic waves at speeds that approach the speed of light.

In their paper, Prof. Cui, Ma and their colleagues showed that the same architecture also performs well on other tasks, for instance classifying handwritten digits with high levels of accuracy. In their next works, they plan to evaluate SPNN on other tasks, while also increasing its complexity so that it can tackle more advanced problems.

"The prototype implemented in this work is based on a 44 fully neural network, which is relatively low," Ma added. "The SPNN structure resembles a circuit system, which means that the scale of SPNN layers could be enlarged without increasing the footprint of the device. For example, a cubic structural form could be created to reduce the physical size of the partially connected system, achieving ultra-high spatial utility in three-dimensional space. Additionally, we can also reduce the size of the network by improving the operating frequency band."

More information: Xinxin Gao et al, Programmable surface plasmonic neural networks for microwave detection and processing, Nature Electronics (2023). DOI: 10.1038/s41928-023-00951-x Journal information: Nature Electronics

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Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain

You've probably seen deepfake videos on the internet that inject facsimiles of famous people into odd or funny situationsfor example, a fake Tom Cruise doing "industrial cleanup," or in a truly meta effort, an artificial Morgan Freeman hyping "the era of synthetic reality."

Now imagine receiving a phone call from someone who sounds exactly like your child, pleading for emergency help. Same technology, but no one's laughing.

Cybersecurity experts say deepfake technology has advanced to the point where it can be used in real time, enabling fraudsters to replicate someone's voice, image and movements in a call or virtual meeting. The technology is also widely available and relatively easy to use, they say. And it's getting better all the time.

"Thanks to AI tools that create 'synthetic media' or otherwise generate content, a growing percentage of what we're looking at is not authentic, and it's getting more difficult to tell the difference," the Federal Trade Commission warned.

Researchers say the technology for real-time deepfakes has been around for the better part of a decade. What's new is the range of tools available to make them.

"We know we're not prepared as a society" for this threat, said Andrew Gardner, vice president of research, innovation and AI at Gen. In particular, he said, there's nowhere to go if you're confronted with a potential deepfake scam and you need immediate help verifying it.

Real-time deepfakes have been used to scare grandparents into sending money to simulated relatives, win jobs at tech companies in a bid to gain inside information, influence voters, and siphon money from lonely men and women. Fraudsters can copy a recording of someone's voice that's been posted online, then use the captured audio to impersonate a victim's loved one; one 23-year-old man is accused of swindling grandparents in Newfoundland out of $200,000 in just three days by using this technique.

Tools to weed out this latest generation of deepfakes are emerging too, but they're not always effective and may not be accessible to you. That's why experts advise taking a few simple steps to protect yourself and your loved ones from the new type of con.

The term deepfake is shorthand for a simulation powered by deep learning technologyartificial intelligence that ingests oceans of data to try to replicate something human, such as having a conversation (e.g., ChatGPT) or creating an illustration (e.g., Dall-E). Gardner said it's still an expensive and time-consuming proposition to develop these tools, but using them is comparatively quick and easy.

Yisroel Mirsky, an AI researcher and deepfake expert at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, said the technology has advanced to the point where it's possible to do a deepfake video from a single photo of a person, and a "decent" clone of a voice from only three or four seconds of audio. But Gardner said the tools widely available to make deepfakes lag behind the state of the art; they require about five minutes of audio and one to two hours of video.

Regardless, thanks to sites like Facebook, Instagram and YouTube, there's plenty of images and audio for fraudsters to find.

Mirsky said it's easy to imagine an attacker looking on Facebook to identify a potential target's children, calling the son to record enough audio to clone his voice, then using a deepfake of the son to beg the target for money to get out of a jam of some kind.

The technology is becoming so efficient, he said, you can clone a face or a voice with a basic gaming computer. And the software is "really point and click," he said, easily available online and configurable with some basic programming.

To illustrate how effective real-time deepfakes can be, the LexisNexis Risk Solutions' Government Group shared a video that David Maimon, a criminology professor at Georgia State University, grabbed from the dark web of an apparent catfishing scam in progress. It showed an online chat between an older man and a young woman who was asking for a loan so she could meet the man in Canada. But in a third window, you could see a man was actually saying the words that were coming out of the woman's mouth in a woman's voiceshe was a deepfake, and he was a scammer.

This technique is known as reenactment, Mirsky and Wenke Lee of the Georgia Institute of Technology said in a paper published in 2020. It also can be used to "perform acts of defamation, cause discredibility, spread misinformation and tamper with evidence," they wrote. Another approach is replacement, where the target's face or body is placed on someone else, as in revenge porn videos.

But how, exactly, fraudsters are using the tools remains a bit of a mystery, Gardner said. That's because we only know what they've been caught doing.

Haywood Talcove, chief executive of LexisNexis Risk Solutions' Government Group, said the new technology can circumvent some of the security techniques that companies have been deploying in lieu of passwords. For example, he pointed to California's two-step online identification process, which has users upload two things: a picture of their driver's license or ID card, then a freshly snapped selfie. Fraudsters can buy a fake California ID online for a few dollars, then use deepfake software to generate a matching face for the selfie. "It's a hot knife through butter," he said.

Similarly, Talcove said that financial companies need to stop using voice-identification tools to unlock accounts. "I'd be nervous if [at] my bank, my voice were my password," he said. "Just using voice alone, it doesn't work anymore." The same goes for facial recognition, he said, adding that the technology was at the end of its useful life as a way to control access.

The Cybercrime Support Network, a nonprofit that helps individuals and businesses victimized online, often works with targets of romance scams, and it urges people to do video chats with their suitors to try to weed out scammers. Ally Armeson, the network's program director, said that just two or three years ago, they could tell clients to look for easy-to-spot glitches, like frozen images. But in recent weeks, she said, the network has been contacted by scam victims who said they'd done a video chat for 10 or 20 minutes with their supposed suitor, "and it absolutely was the person that they sent me in the photo."

She added, "The victims did say, 'The head did kind of look weird on the body, so it looked a little off.'" But it's not unusual for people to ignore red flags, she said. "They want to believe that the video is real, so they'll overlook minor discrepencies."

(Victims of romance scams in the United States reported $1.3 billion in losses last year.)

Real-time deepfakes represent a dangerous new threat to businesses too. A lot of companies are training employees to recognize phishing attacks by strangers, Mirsky said, but no one's really preparing for calls from deepfakes with the cloned voice of a colleague or a boss.

"People will confuse familiarity with authenticity," he said. "And as a result, people are going to fall for these attacks."

How to protect yourself

Talcove offered a simple and hard-to-beat way to guard against deepfakes that impersonate a family member: Have a secret code word that every family member knows, but that criminals wouldn't guess. If someone claiming to be your daughter, grandson or nephew calls, Talcove said, asking for the code word can separate real loved ones from fake ones.

"Every family now needs a code word," he said.

Pick something simple and easily memorable that doesn't need to be written down (and isn't posted on Facebook or Instagram), he said, then drill it into your family's memory. "You need to make sure they know and practice, practice, practice," Talcove said.

Gardner also advocated for code words. "I think preparation goes a long way" in defending against deepfake scams, he said.

Armeson said her network still tells people to look for certain clues on video calls, including their supposed paramour blinking too much or too little, having eyebrows that don't fit the face or hair in the wrong spot, and skin that doesn't match their age. If the person is wearing glasses, check whether the reflection they give is realistic, the network says"deepfakes often fail to fully represent the natural physics of lighting."

She also urges people to give these simple tests: Ask the other person in the video call to turn their head around and to put a hand in front of their face. Those maneuvers can be revealing, she said, because deepfakes often haven't been trained to do them realistically.

Still, she admitted, "we're just playing defense." The fraudsters are "always going to kind of be ahead of us," weeding out the glitches that reveal the con, she said. "It's infuriating."

Ultimately, she said, the most reliable way to smoke out deepfakes may be to insist on an in-person meeting. "We have to be really analog about it. We can't just rely on technology."

There are software tools that automatically look for AI-generated glitches and patterns in an effort to separate legitimate audio and video from fake. But Mirsky said "this potentially is a losing game" because as technology improves, the telltale signs that used to betray the fakes will go away.

Mirsky and his team at Ben-Gurion University have developed a different approach, called D-CAPTCHA, which is operates on the same principle that some websites use to stop bots from submitting forms online. A D-CAPTCHA system poses a test that's designed to flummox current real-time deepfakesfor example, asking callers to hum, laugh, sing or just clear their throat.

The system, which has yet to be commercialized, could take the form of a waiting room to authenticate guests attending sensitive virtual meetings or an app that verifies suspect callers. In fact, Mirsky said, "we can develop apps that can try to catch these suspicious calls and vet them before they're connected."

Gardner offered one other, hopeful note. The experiences people are having now with AI and apps like ChatGPT, he said, have made people quicker to question what is real and what is fake, and to look more critically at what they're seeing.

"The fact that people are having these AI conversations one-on-one on their own is, I think, helping," he said.

2023 Los Angeles Times.

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Credit: Northern Arizona University

Spend five minutes on a college campus and you'll see walkers, runners, cyclists, skateboarders, a dog or two and maybe somebody on a hoverboard. Increasingly these days, you'll also find six-wheeled robots offering contactless food delivery.

And just like with all users of busy multi-use sidewalks, those robots add the potential of collisions and dangerous interactions with others on the same walkway. A new study from Northern Arizona University examines the frequency of these conflicts and what causes them with the goal of fixing issues in the future.

Steven Gehrke, an assistant professor in the Department of Geography, Planning and Recreation (GPR); Christopher Phair, a master's student in applied geospatial sciences; Brendan Russo, an associate professor in the Department of Civil Engineering, Construction Management, and Environmental Engineering (CECMEE); and Edward Smaglik, a CECMEE professor, co-authored the article, published in Transportation Research Interdisciplinary Perspectives in March.

Lead author Gehrke said the research, which is the first of its kind to examine how sidewalk autonomous delivery robots (SADRs) impact pedestrian and bicyclist safety, highlighted a need for more deliberate decision-making regarding the routing of these robots around college campuses. Informed future planning decisions as well as evolving facility management practices are critical to allow the robots and pedestrians to safely move throughout the same spaces.

"With the continued emergence of these delivery services on college campuses, which have expansive sidewalk networks and a technological-savvy consumer market, we believe this work can help inform other campuses who have recently or are considering an introduction of these services to ensure their safe operation in shared-use environments," he said.

What the research says

The researchers made their observation on NAU's campus, which has had SADRs since 2019. They set up cameras at 10 sites and then observed interactions over a one-week period and identified human-robot conflicts, determining whether the person or the robot entered the conflict zone first and what evasive action was taken. They also classified each interaction as moderate, dangerous or not a conflict. An interaction was considered dangerous if the traveler and robot crossed a shared point of the pathway before 1.5 seconds elapsed. They recorded 12 instances when the elapsed time was zero seconds, which means a collision occurred.

They found that in the more serious conflicts, most occurred when an SADR was crossing in front of or overtaking a pedestrian on a sidewalk.

The researchers also observed other characteristics of the sites that could impact travelsidewalk width, the number of intersections and the number of robots, pedestrians and cyclists in the areaand found that sites with narrower sidewalks and more intersections had more dangerous interactions.

This research points to the need for SADR routes that prioritize parallel travel of the robots along wide sidewalks and minimizing high-activity sidewalk crossings. Having the robots drop off their food orders at less-trafficked, well-marked sites also should help reduce interactions.

This is especially important for cities that are considering using SADRs, especially as cities are focused on promoting the safety of more sustainable modes of travel. They may need new infrastructure along with education and route programming for the robots to reduce as much of the potential for conflict as possible.

"Research on the real-world introduction of this technology on facilities shared with pedestrians and cyclists is important for providing practitioners the evidence they need to support programs and policies that ensure the safe operations of these devices in environments with vulnerable roadway users," Gehrke said, adding that more research is needed. "One particular area where we have received interest is in helping cities determine what is the right fleet size to meet their delivery needs without compromising the ability of pedestrians and cyclists to safely traverse their downtown street network."

More information: Steven R. Gehrke et al, Observed sidewalk autonomous delivery robot interactions with pedestrians and bicyclists, Transportation Research Interdisciplinary Perspectives (2023). DOI: 10.1016/j.trip.2023.100789
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MAY 18, 2023  Thank God we have a Governor who is unafraid to lead and defend. Our entire country needs to pull together and prevent our country from further descent into a third world nation. The thousands and thousands of people fleeing their countries are trying to leave behind an entire continent .... not a single country.... an entire continent to break into ours and create the same kind of environment. Let them go back to their own countries and continent and FIX it !MAY 18, 2023  Skwinty de musollini wants to out-trump trump to get nominated as the Republican candidate for the 2024 presidential election using the Florida taxpayers as his campaign fianciers. Those dollars could ease the problems of the snookered Florida taxpayeers who are struggling to pay mortgages escallating because of the corrupt leway given insurance companies by this governor and 'elected' officials (through the dark money funnelled to them). Our waters are polluted and yet they plan on allowing more runoff and the release of radioactive waters. So amny Florida issues need attention that it is impossible to list here. Water is fundamental to so many. Sign the petition to put the protection of our waters on the ballot to see what the voters would rather see their taxdollars pay for. We have to this November for the proposed state constitutional amendment that would change the game in our favor, to be qualified for the 2024ballot, FloridaRightToCleanWater.org  have you taken that step or are you going to watch clean water become just a fond memory?MAY 18, 2023  Your tax dollars at work. We import tourists to build up war coffers. Then, we export Floridians to Texas ... to what? At who's request? Ron's Little Wagner? DeSnakey is trying to be pre-maturely presidential.MAY 17, 2023  DeSantis is invading Texas. Anything for a headline is fair game.MAY 17, 2023  it seems funny that our governor makes speeches about wasting tax payers dollars but he is willing to waste it sending troops to another state. let texas use their own money to control their own border. this political crap has got to stop.MAY 17, 2023  We have illegals coming across the border that our tax dollars must pay for and with them they are bringing drugs which are killing our youth. Good for our governor!MAY 17, 2023  Ron DeSantis simply can't do that! He has no authority under the U.S. Constitution or the Florida Constitution to send the Florida National Guard outside Florida borders. He really has a "Dictator" complex... "I am the law, I can do anything I want!" That's not acceptable in a public official in a democracy.MAY 17, 2023  Luv the Gov with cojones! Responding to the comments above  David  the states have an obligation to step in and step up when the Federal government allows an invasion to take place and does nothing to stop it. Rick, seriously?  just how would you perceive that the troops could alleviate our insurance / housing crisis? If this state sucks so much, leave! And finally, Cat you are absolutely right  WTF is wrong with people like yourself who believe that 1) this is a culture war issue and 2) that this is not a REAL problem? In 2022, there were 2.76 MILLION undocumented migrants crossing our borders. While these numbers represent many oppressed people from different countries trying to find a better life, there are many who bring crime, drugs, disease, human trafficking and terrorists. Our infrastructure and our taxpayer $$ cannot support this influx. We cannot even take care of our own. There are proper ways to seek asylum in the United States. Also in 2022, 900,000 immigrants living in the U.S. became U.S. citizens the proper way! Support your Governor, support your state and be a part of the solution instead of being the problem!MAY 17, 2023  Clearly a stunt for a future presidential candidate. This deployment is idiotic helps Florida not one bit but will cost Florida to move these law enforcement people and equipment. This man is out of control and his personal legislature is falling behind him. And yes no clean water efforts, no homeowner insurance fixes and no housing fixes.MAY 17, 2023  It seems to me that DeSantis is overstepping his authority. The State of Florida has no business interfering with matters that are clearly within the bounds of the federal government's perview.MAY 17, 2023  He can deploy troops to Texas but he can't deploy "troops" to fix our state's insurance crisis or housing issues. How nice for him that he gets to keep his gov seat while playing presidential politics. This state sucks.MAY 17, 2023  Why are my tax dollars being used on culture war issues, when we have real problems? WTF is wrong with people?
(Photo : Scott Olson/ Getty Images)

A missing Illinois girl whose abduction was featured on a popular Netflix true crime series was discovered safe in North Carolina after a stranger recognized her.

Six years after her alleged abduction by her mother, an Illinois girl whose disappearance was featured on Netflix's 'Unsolved Mysteries' was discovered alive in North Carolina last week.

Kayla Unbehaun, who turned 15 in January, was nine years old when she went missing while in her mother, Heather Unbehaun's custody.

Missing Illinois Girl Since 2017 Found Safe

According to an arrest report, a fugitive allegation led to Unbehaun's apprehension on Saturday in Asheville, North Carolina. NBC Chicago reports that a police spokesman said a woman at Plato's Closet in Asheville recognized Unbehaun from "published media" about the case and contacted authorities.

Ryan Iskerka, the father of Kayla, said, "We request privacy as we reacquaint ourselves and navigate this new beginning."

Kayla vanished around July 4, 2017. Kayla was last seen in her mother's custody after the Fourth of July parade in Wheaton, Illinois, according to a GoFundMe page created by Iskerka days after her disappearance. According to the NCMEC, Heather Unbehaun is a non-custodial parent.

Iskerka said he was due to get his daughter from Heather Unbehaun on July 5, 2017, but the pair never showed up. When the mother and daughter failed to appear, the police were contacted, and a missing person's report was filed for Kayla.

On July 29, 2017, her mother was issued a felony warrant for abduction. Police asked anyone who saw them or the vehicle they were traveling in to contact authorities.

The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children reported that the missing girl's mother had been inactive on social media since her disappearance. Before the abduction, her mother wanted to live off the grid and lead a more unfettered lifestyle. She also later sold her car, according to USA Today.

According to Kayla's father, Heather took their daughter to Athens without a visitation arrangement. A judge ordered that the girl's father be permitted to visit her in Illinois during school vacations after a succession of court appearances. However, her mother did not permit this, citing medical reasons.

Read Also: Xi Jinping Administration Shuts Down Beijing LGTB Center as Crackdown Grows in China

Netflix's 'Unsolved Mysteries'

Throughout the girl's disappearance, including in 2020, authorities released age-progression photos of her and requested the public's assistance in locating her. A quick look at her father's Facebook page reveals that he never ceased posting about her, and in January 2021, he shared a birthday message for his daughter.

Sharing a baby photo of his missing daughter, he wrote at the time, "I love you eternally, and I pray you're secure, happy, and I'm always looking forward to seeing you again one day."

In his most recent statement since her discovery, her father requested privacy and alluded to a lengthy road ahead for the couple. According to the Kane County District Attorney's Office, Heather Unbehaun was apprehended and charged with one count of juvenile abduction. She is being detained on a $250,000 bond, and officials say she may face additional charges.

Kayla, now 15 years old, was taken into custody by the Division of Social Services of North Carolina. Per NY Daily News, the teen was expected to be reunited with his family and returned to Illinois. In November 2022, an episode of the Netflix series 'Unsolved Mysteries' highlighted several cases of purported family abduction, including the disappearance.

Related Article: New Mexico Shooting: 18-Year-Old Teen Randomly Shot Cars, Houses, Killing 3, Injuring 9

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Kim Jong-un has examined North Korea's initial military espionage satellite and approved its "future action plan." On Tuesday, the North Korean leader met with the "temporary satellite launch preparatory committee" before inspecting the satellite.

The satellite looks like a cylinder with many sides, coated in golden insulating material, and equipped with solar panels. However, the images are not perfectly clear.

Kim was photographed one month prior in front of a screen at the "National Aerospace Development Administration" (Nada), where something of a similar shape was displayed, but it was also blurry, as reported by The Guardian.

About a month ago, Kim announced that the satellite construction was finished and approved its launch. This news came shortly after Pyongyang launched a new intercontinental ballistic missile powered by solid fuel, which was considered a significant advancement in their prohibited weapons programs. It's important to note that both ICBMs and space launch technologies require the same type of technology.

Kim claimed that the US and South Korea were increasing hostile actions towards North Korea, which he referred to as "confrontational moves", and declared that his country would use its right to protect itself.

Kim has given his approval for the future action plan of the preparatory committee. As part of the key defence projects for 2021, the creation of a military reconnaissance satellite was included.

In December 2022, North Korea announced that it had conducted a crucial test for the creation of a surveillance satellite, which it planned to finish by April of the following year.

However, experts in South Korea were skeptical of the outcome, pointing out that the black-and-white images released by North Korea, which were allegedly taken from the satellite, were of low quality.

The exact date for the launch of the satellite by Pyongyang has not been disclosed.

In 2022, North Korea announced that it had become a nuclear power and that it would not consider giving up its nuclear weapons. However, experts suggest that North Korea would face difficulties in conducting satellite reconnaissance without assistance from Russia or China.

Read also: North Korea's First Spy Satellite Ready To Launch, Kim Jong Un Claims

What This Means

North Korea's announcement of a forthcoming surveillance satellite, coupled with its declaration of nuclear power status, raises concerns about the country's intentions and capabilities.

The low-quality images released by North Korea suggest that the satellite may not be as advanced as claimed, but any potential use of the technology for surveillance purposes is a cause for concern.

The lack of transparency surrounding the launch date and the need for assistance from other countries also highlights North Korea's isolation and reliance on allies.

The news of North Korea's satellite launch has sparked international concern over the country's growing military capabilities. The announcement comes as tensions continue to rise between Pyongyang and its neighbors, particularly South Korea and Japan.

(Photo : by Darrian Traynor/Getty Images)

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA - NOVEMBER 01: A race fan dressed as Kim Jong Un is seen during 2022 Melbourne Cup Day at Flemington Racecourse on November 01, 2022 in Melbourne, Australia.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has long sought to develop a nuclear arsenal as a means of deterring foreign aggression against his regime. However, the development of surveillance satellites is also seen by many analysts as an important step towards enhancing the country's intelligence gathering capabilities.

While some experts have cast doubts on North Korea's ability to deploy advanced space technology without assistance from Russia or China, others warn that any advancements in this area could pose significant security threats for neighboring countries and even further afield.

As such, there are calls for greater transparency around North Korea's plans for its new satellite system. This includes information regarding potential targets or areas where it may be used for reconnaissance purposes.

Despite concerns over its intentions and abilities however, some still hold out hope that dialogue can ultimately lead to peaceful resolution with regards to North Korean missile tests and other militaristic displays.

Related article: Kim Jong Un Shows Off Daughter at North Korea Military Event

@ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
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Amanda Buenger, executive director of Unbound Now BCS, explained Tuesday at the inaugural meeting of the Brazos Valley Human Trafficking Task Force how different agencies can work together to provide insight and bring strategy to missing persons cases.

Not only do we want to increase victim identification through this task force; we also want to increase criminal investigations and prosecutions of traffickers, Buenger said. So thats why we need our law enforcement officers who are here today from all the different counties across our region to work with us as we work these cases.

Unbound Now BCS and the Brazos County Sheriffs Office announced the creation of the task force four months ago following the receipt of a $1.5 million Enhanced Collaborative Model Task Force to Combat Human Trafficking grant in October 2022.

The $1.5 million will be divided equally, with $750,000 distributed to Unbound and the Sheriffs Office over the next three years to establish a multidisciplinary regional task force that supports an end to human trafficking across Brazos, Burleson, Grimes, Washington, Madison, Leon, Robertson, Lee and Walker counties.

Officials said there were 1,235 confirmed child abuse cases in the nine counties in 2021.

In addition to law enforcement, victim service providers, juvenile services or health care  those who come in direct contact with the victims in those capacities  Buenger said it is important to have an all-encompassing community group to assist in these efforts, such as local schools, churches and nonprofit organizations.

This task force is all-encompassing; it really does bring together everyone, all of our leaders in our communities across the region to combat human trafficking in a variety of ways, Buenger said.

To answer the question of why a task force is needed in the Brazos Valley, Buenger listed a few risk factors that have presented themselves in the area, one major reason being the increase of child and sexual abuse cases over the nine counties.

Since the launch of their 24/7 crisis referral line for human trafficking survivors across the region a little over three years ago, Buenger said Unbound has served over 100 labor and sex trafficking victims from the age of 12 and older.

She added that the regions proximity to I-35, I-10 and I-45 that house 70% of Texas population makes the region more susceptible to trafficking, as well as Brazos Countys poverty rate of 22.6% being double the national rate of 11.4%.

We are seeing so much traction in and out of our region, she said. It is happening in this area; its happening in your county; its happening in this region.

Brazos County Sheriff Wayne Dicky provided an overview of his offices role in the task force.

In the past, Dicky said the department would respond to a call regarding domestic violence or a problem at a hotel or suspicious circumstances. If it looked like a prostitution or domestic violence case, they would investigate.

Particularly in prostitution cases, everybody went to jail, he said. And the reality is those cases require law enforcement to be educated and prepared to respond to anything they may encounter, and we need organizations like Unbound to help us do that.

In regard to need, Dicky honed in on the number of commercial sex advertisements found throughout the Brazos Valley.

From Jan. 1 to Dec. 31, 2022, he said there were over 22,000 online ads for sex in College Station. From April 15 to May 1, 2023, he said there were 4,854 ads targeting College Station and 2,643 ads in Huntsville.

Were perfectly situated for two things: 1) to have a high instance of this crime and 2) to be able to respond to it, Dicky said.

Through this coalition, two grant-funded investigators will be hired to serve as a resource for agencies in all nine counties.

What we intend for these investigators to do is first to put forth a proactive effort to address the commercial sex ads that are on the internet, he said, to actually be working those cases, looking for opportunities for us to interrupt that activity.

These investigators, who Dicky said the sheriffs office is in the process of hiring, will be able to consult and assist any case in the region.

We will lead proactive investigations, multiagency operations and conduct some TCOLE [Texas Commission on Law Enforcement] training as well for officers that are not directly involved in the day-to-day investigations, he said. This assistance can take on many forms.

Having received a similar grant three years ago, members of the Tarrant County Human Trafficking Task Force attended the meeting to share their experience.

Tarrant County Sheriffs Offices collaboration with Unbound Now North Texas has allowed its task force to establish a more victim-centered approach to working human trafficking cases, said Commander Kevin Turner of the Tarrant County Sheriffs Office, who serves as the task force coordinator.

For example, once a potential victim is detained, law enforcement will choose a second location with a soft interview room to engage with this individual. From there, they will determine if the person is OK prior to investigating whether or not he or she is a trafficking victim.

Being more victim-centered, we understand how trauma has an impact on these victims and how rarely they are going to make an outcry to law enforcement when those encounters take place, but thats why its so important for us because we have our victim service providers on scene with us, Turner said. Once that initial interview is done, we immediately transition and pass them off to our victim service providers to immediately provide them assistance.

From there, it is the victims decision of how involved they want to be with the investigation, Turner said.

When asked how they have included outside organizations in their task force, Sandy Hennip, executive director of Unbound Now North Texas, said it has been a multifaceted process with an emphasis on educating the community about trafficking.

There is a significant place for you in the places of helping watch for the signs and be advocates for those you come across, Hennip said.
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The Brazos County Veterans Service Office in Bryan is temporarily closed and the Brazos County Commissioners Court voted to terminate Brazos County Veterans Service Officer Alfred Pat Patterson during its regular scheduled meeting on Tuesday.

Brazos County Judge Duane Peters provided no further comment as to why Patterson was let go during the meeting or in a phone call Tuesday afternoon under the advice of legal counsel.

I hired Pat a number of years ago based on the recommendation of a couple of good friends that I hope theyre still friends of mine, Peters said before the court voted on the item. And Pat, in a lot of ways, has done some very good things and I was aware of that.  This is a hard decision for me and, ultimately, I did what I felt like I had to do and did it.

The office will be closed until a new veterans service officer is hired. Peters said the position will be posted in the real new future and added county officials will work to get the position filled in a quick manner, if possible.

Were going to move forward in replacing the veteran service officer, Peters said. In the interim, there are some numbers that are listed they can call to try to continue moving forward with their applications that maybe theyve already filed.

Nine citizens spoke in favor of Patterson being retained during the Commissioners Court meeting. Most were veterans and shared personal stories of how Patterson went above and beyond to help them. Most also asked the court to wait to vote on Pattersons employment and allow him to share his side before a decision was made.

I hope this Marine keeps his job, Paul Carroll said of Patterson. No one could do it better.

Once citizens were done speaking, though, Peters called for a vote to affirm or deny his decision to terminate Patterson. The vote to terminate Patterson passed 3-2 after Peters and commissioners Chuck Konderla and Wanda Watson voted in favor of the item. Commissioners Steve Aldrich and Nancy Berry voted against the item.

Until the Brazos County Veterans Service Office reopens, those seeking assistance are asked to contact the Texas Veterans Commission Northeast District at (254) 743-0549 or northeastclaims@tvc.Texas.gov, or the Texas Veterans Commission, VA Regional Office at (254) 299-9962.
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Texans who provide someone with a fatal dose of fentanyl could face a murder charge under a bill the Texas Senate advanced Tuesday. As part of the Legislatures war on opioids, House Bill 6 would classify overdoses from fentanyl as poisonings.

The bill passed on a 30-1 vote.

Gov. Greg Abbott made combating opioid overdose deaths a key issue this session. HB 6 and its companion bill, Senate Bill 645, could effectively increase the penalties related to the sale and production of fentanyl.

On Tuesday, Sen. Joan Huffman, R-Houston, the author on the Senate version of the bill, introduced an amendment to the bill to include the term fentanyl poisoning as an alternative to fentanyl toxicity when medical examiners complete the death certificate.

Sen. Drew Springer applauded Huffmans addition to the bill. The Muenster Republican likened these deaths to poisonings because children who take Adderall laced with the much more potent drug dont know theyre ingesting fentanyl.

HB 6 passed the House with a 124-21 vote on April 28. The Senate had previously passed Huffmans version of the legislation in March.

State Rep. Craig Goldman, R-Fort Worth, the author of HB 6, did not immediately return a request for comment on Tuesday on whether he would accept Huffmans amendment. If Goldman signals support for the Senate amendment, this legislation would be very close to becoming law.

Supporters of the legislation argue the enhanced penalties give law enforcement more tools to help address a growing crisis in the state by holding dealers accountable.

Over two years, from fiscal year 2019 to 2021, overdose deaths involving fentanyl in the state rose nearly 400%. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention predicts that more than 5,000 people in Texas died of drug overdoses between July 2021 and July 2022.

The issue has gained even more attention after the deaths of Texas teens and young adults from fentanyl overdoses, who thought they were taking the attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder drug Adderall.

Critics say increasing penalties for sale and production of fentanyl could discourage people from seeking help for someone suffering from an overdose.

No study has ever shown that increasing penalties for drug usage has ever reduced drug usage in people who have a drug addiction, said Rep. Gene Wu, D-Houston during a House session in April.

In other states that have increased penalties for people who sell or make fentanyl, overdose deaths have increased and family members and friends of those present when the victim took the drug have been charged.
Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A  Get Rating) was the recipient of a large decline in short interest during the month of April. As of April 30th, there was short interest totalling 4,840,000 shares, a decline of 9.0% from the April 15th total of 5,320,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,500,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.2 days. Currently, 1.6% of the companys shares are sold short.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Agilent Technologies

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Ancora Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 41.1% in the first quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 326 shares of the medical research companys stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. Roof Eidam & Maycock ADV acquired a new position in shares of Agilent Technologies in the 1st quarter valued at $1,041,000. Milestone Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Agilent Technologies in the 1st quarter valued at $61,000. Sherbrooke Park Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in Agilent Technologies in the 1st quarter worth about $221,000. Finally, Snowden Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Agilent Technologies in the 1st quarter worth about $257,000. 85.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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Agilent Technologies Trading Down 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE A traded down $1.70 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $126.29. The stock had a trading volume of 1,180,671 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,436,203. The company has a market capitalization of $37.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.51, a PEG ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.03. Agilent Technologies has a 1-year low of $112.52 and a 1-year high of $160.26. The company has a quick ratio of 1.53, a current ratio of 2.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $135.35 and a 200 day moving average price of $144.65.

Agilent Technologies Announces Dividend

Agilent Technologies ( NYSE:A Get Rating ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 28th. The medical research company reported $1.37 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.31 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $1.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.70 billion. Agilent Technologies had a return on equity of 30.35% and a net margin of 19.09%. Agilent Technologiess revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.21 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Agilent Technologies will post 5.68 earnings per share for the current year.

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 26th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 4th were issued a dividend of $0.225 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 3rd. This represents a $0.90 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.71%. Agilent Technologiess dividend payout ratio is presently 20.32%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on A shares. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $170.00 to $174.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Wednesday, March 1st. Barclays assumed coverage on Agilent Technologies in a report on Thursday, May 11th. They issued an equal weight rating and a $140.00 price objective for the company. StockNews.com downgraded Agilent Technologies from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, March 29th. Finally, Credit Suisse Group increased their price target on Agilent Technologies from $165.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Wednesday, March 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the companys stock. According to MarketBeat, Agilent Technologies presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $161.64.

Agilent Technologies Company Profile

(Get Rating)

Agilent Technologies, Inc engages in the provision of application focused solutions for life sciences, diagnostics, and applied chemical markets. It operates through the following segments: Life Sciences and Applied Markets, Diagnostics and Genomics, and Agilent CrossLab. The Life Sciences and Applied Markets segment offers application-focused solutions that include instruments and software that identify, quantify, and analyze the physical and biological properties of substances and products, as well as the clinical and life sciences research areas to interrogate samples at the molecular and cellular level.

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Boston Properties, Inc. (NYSE:BXP  Get Rating) saw a large growth in short interest in the month of April. As of April 30th, there was short interest totalling 8,450,000 shares, a growth of 7.1% from the April 15th total of 7,890,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,820,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.6 days.

Boston Properties Stock Down 4.2 %

BXP traded down $2.05 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $47.06. The stock had a trading volume of 1,509,325 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,712,500. Boston Properties has a twelve month low of $46.18 and a twelve month high of $114.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a quick ratio of 4.76 and a current ratio of 4.76. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $52.72 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $63.92. The company has a market capitalization of $7.38 billion, a PE ratio of 9.84 and a beta of 1.07.

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Boston Properties (NYSE:BXP  Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 26th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of $1.70 by ($1.20). The business had revenue of $803.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $778.80 million. Boston Properties had a net margin of 24.82% and a return on equity of 9.44%. The firms revenue was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.82 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Boston Properties will post 7.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Boston Properties Dividend Announcement

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 31st were paid a dividend of $0.98 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 30th. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.33%. Boston Propertiess payout ratio is 78.56%.

Several brokerages have issued reports on BXP. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on Boston Properties from $74.00 to $57.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 21st. StockNews.com began coverage on Boston Properties in a research report on Thursday, March 16th. They set a hold rating on the stock. Argus reduced their price target on Boston Properties from $82.00 to $70.00 in a research report on Monday, May 1st. Barclays lowered Boston Properties from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating and set a $57.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, March 23rd. Finally, Evercore ISI cut their price objective on Boston Properties from $79.00 to $66.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 27th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Boston Properties presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $73.49.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Boston Properties news, Director Matthew J. Lustig bought 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 15th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $52.92 per share, with a total value of $529,200.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 10,000 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $529,200. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. 1.22% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Boston Properties in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. MV Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Boston Properties by 232.7% during the 1st quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 509 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 356 shares during the last quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC raised its stake in Boston Properties by 103.5% in the 4th quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC now owns 464 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 236 shares during the last quarter. Machina Capital S.A.S. acquired a new position in shares of Boston Properties during the 1st quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA acquired a new position in shares of Boston Properties during the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. 88.62% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Boston Properties

(Get Rating)

Boston Properties, Inc operates as a real estate investment trust. It develops, acquires, manages and owns a portfolio of Class A properties. The firm operates through the following geographical locations: Boston, New York, San Francisco and Washington. The company was founded by Mortimer Benjamin Zuckerman and Edward H.

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Chimera Investment Co. (NYSE:CIM  Get Rating) was the target of a large growth in short interest in the month of April. As of April 30th, there was short interest totalling 9,630,000 shares, a growth of 7.5% from the April 15th total of 8,960,000 shares. Approximately 4.2% of the companys stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 2,020,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.8 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on CIM shares. StockNews.com started coverage on Chimera Investment in a report on Thursday, March 16th. They issued a hold rating for the company. Royal Bank of Canada restated an outperform rating and set a $7.00 price objective on shares of Chimera Investment in a research note on Tuesday, March 7th. Finally, Credit Suisse Group restated a neutral rating and set a $6.50 price objective on shares of Chimera Investment in a research note on Thursday, March 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $7.50.

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Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Chimera Investment by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,082,870 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $265,878,000 after buying an additional 176,508 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. increased its position in Chimera Investment by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 19,570,027 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $110,375,000 after buying an additional 261,901 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in Chimera Investment by 3.7% during the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,550,713 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $32,570,000 after buying an additional 198,432 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Chimera Investment by 2.8% during the 1st quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,426,998 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $24,968,000 after buying an additional 118,961 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Leeward Investments LLC MA increased its position in Chimera Investment by 7.7% during the 4th quarter. Leeward Investments LLC MA now owns 3,131,408 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $17,223,000 after buying an additional 224,905 shares in the last quarter. 47.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Chimera Investment Stock Down 2.2 %

Shares of NYSE CIM traded down $0.11 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $4.81. 1,787,791 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,943,886. The company has a quick ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 0.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.86. The stock has a market cap of $1.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.26 and a beta of 1.52. Chimera Investment has a 1 year low of $4.80 and a 1 year high of $10.66. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $5.44 and a 200 day moving average of $6.18.

Chimera Investment (NYSE:CIM  Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.13 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of $0.16 by ($0.03). Chimera Investment had a positive return on equity of 9.79% and a negative net margin of 25.38%. The company had revenue of $189.25 million for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $86.60 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.39 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Chimera Investment will post 0.78 earnings per share for the current year.

About Chimera Investment

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Chimera Investment Corp. is a real estate investment trust, which engages in the business of investing in a portfolio of mortgage assets, including residential mortgage loans, Agency RMBS, Non-Agency RMBS, Agency CMBS, and other real estate-related assets. The company was founded on June 1, 2007 and is headquartered in New York, NY.

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Embraer S.A. (NYSE:ERJ  Get Rating) saw a large increase in short interest in the month of April. As of April 30th, there was short interest totalling 1,720,000 shares, an increase of 10.3% from the April 15th total of 1,560,000 shares. Currently, 0.9% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 1,660,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.0 days.

Institutional Trading of Embraer

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ERJ. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Embraer in the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. Atlas Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Embraer by 241.4% in the 3rd quarter. Atlas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 4,404 shares of the aerospace companys stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 3,114 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp acquired a new position in shares of Embraer in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $56,000. Advisors Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Embraer in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $60,000. Finally, Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. raised its position in shares of Embraer by 461.3% in the 4th quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 6,073 shares of the aerospace companys stock valued at $66,000 after buying an additional 4,991 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 37.89% of the companys stock.

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Embraer Stock Performance

NYSE ERJ traded down $0.06 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $14.36. The companys stock had a trading volume of 1,166,670 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,634,693. The company has a current ratio of 1.75, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -478.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 1.28. Embraer has a 12 month low of $7.91 and a 12 month high of $16.75. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $15.23 and a 200 day moving average price of $12.83.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Embraer ( NYSE:ERJ Get Rating ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, March 10th. The aerospace company reported $0.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of $0.30 by ($0.06). The business had revenue of $1.99 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.02 billion. Embraer had a negative net margin of 0.08% and a positive return on equity of 0.65%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Embraer will post 1.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

A number of research analysts have recently commented on ERJ shares. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Embraer from $18.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 11th. TheStreet raised shares of Embraer from a d+ rating to a c- rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 8th. Bank of America reduced their target price on shares of Embraer from $27.00 to $24.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 29th. StockNews.com raised shares of Embraer from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Embraer from $11.75 to $17.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Thursday, March 23rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the companys stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Embraer has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $19.25.

Embraer Company Profile

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Embraer SA engages in the design, manufacture, and sale of aircraft and its parts for commercial, defense, and executive aviation sectors. It operates through the following segments: Commercial Aviation, Defense and Security, Executive Jet Business, Service & Support and Others. The Commercial Aviation segment is involved in the development, production, and sale of commercial jets; and the provision of support services to regional aviation and aircraft leasing.

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Forestar Group Inc. (NYSE:FOR  Get Rating) saw a large decrease in short interest in April. As of April 30th, there was short interest totalling 368,300 shares, a decrease of 11.0% from the April 15th total of 413,900 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 102,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.6 days. Approximately 2.0% of the companys shares are sold short.

Forestar Group Stock Down 0.5 %

NYSE:FOR traded down $0.10 on Tuesday, hitting $19.69. The stock had a trading volume of 100,811 shares, compared to its average volume of 109,064. The businesss fifty day moving average is $16.49 and its 200 day moving average is $15.35. The company has a market cap of $982.49 million, a PE ratio of 7.08 and a beta of 1.63. The company has a quick ratio of 1.33, a current ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. Forestar Group has a 52 week low of $10.28 and a 52 week high of $20.32.

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Insider Activity at Forestar Group

In related news, Director G.F. (Rick) Ringler III sold 2,000 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.12, for a total transaction of $40,240.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 7,267 shares in the company, valued at approximately $146,212.04. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.39% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Susquehanna International Group LLP bought a new position in shares of Forestar Group in the first quarter valued at approximately $218,000. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Forestar Group by 2.6% in the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 350,507 shares of the oil and gas exploration companys stock valued at $5,454,000 after purchasing an additional 8,911 shares in the last quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Forestar Group by 18.5% in the first quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 15,228 shares of the oil and gas exploration companys stock valued at $237,000 after purchasing an additional 2,377 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Forestar Group by 8.3% during the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 47,703 shares of the oil and gas exploration companys stock valued at $742,000 after acquiring an additional 3,647 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Forestar Group by 3.0% during the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 382,229 shares of the oil and gas exploration companys stock valued at $5,947,000 after acquiring an additional 11,295 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 35.02% of the companys stock.

FOR has been the topic of several recent research reports. Citigroup increased their price target on Forestar Group from $21.00 to $22.00 in a report on Friday, April 21st. StockNews.com initiated coverage on Forestar Group in a report on Thursday, March 16th. They issued a hold rating on the stock. Finally, TheStreet upgraded Forestar Group from a c+ rating to a b- rating in a report on Monday, April 17th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the companys stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $17.17.

Forestar Group Company Profile

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Forestar Group Inc is a residential lot development company, which engages in the provision of real estate business. The firm focuses on making investments in land acquisition and development to sell finished single-family residential lots to homebuilders. The company was founded in 2007 and is headquartered in Arlington, TX.

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Governor Jay Inslee of Washington signed a measure into law on Tuesday, May 16, that criminalizes possession of small amounts of drugs. The bill was the result of a special parliamentary session called to avoid the legalization of all drug use in the state.

With the expiration of a temporary statute this summer that reduced drug possession to a criminal offense, the state was on the verge of decriminalizing possession of substances like meth and fentanyl across the entire state.

The governor claims that the new legislation would increase funds for drug treatment and recovery programs by millions of dollars, in addition to maintaining criminal sanctions for drug possession.

"This bill is not designed to fill our jails, it's designed to fill our treatment centers," the governor said.

Also Read: US Drug War: DEA Inflitrates Mexican Drug Cartel Behind Fentanyl Crisis

Enforcement of Drug Prohibition

In a report by CNN, possession of a restricted drug or counterfeit substance with the intent to distribute is now a severe misdemeanor punishable by up to 180 days in prison for the first two offenses or a $1,000 fine, or both. According to a bill summary, the maximum penalty under the outgoing statute was 90 days in prison, a $1,000 fine, or both.

The summary also establishes a pretrial diversion program, which allows those charged with drug possession to opt into a substance use disorder treatment program in return for the state dropping the charge.

After the Supreme Court of Washington invalidated the state law that made drug possession a felony in 2021, pressure mounted to pass new legislation. Notably, the previous law did not require prosecutors to prove the offender had criminal intent and thus was unconstitutional.

As an interim fix, legislators reduced drug possession to a minor offense while they worked on a permanent solution. The new legislation enacted on Tuesday will replace the old one, which was slated to expire on July 1.

Inslee defended the plan, saying, "This bill I think has been a very thoughtful process rather than some emotional response to a devastating problem."

He added, "It is our deep hope that this will help people away from the scourge of addiction, that it will reduce crime overall in our communities, and will help our children be safe from the scourge of drug addiction."

Inslee claims that $44 million of the law's total $51 million budget would go toward substance abuse rehabilitation programs. These investments, according to AP News, include methadone mobile clinics, crisis centers, and short-term housing for people with substance-use disorders.

The new legislation imposes mandatory minimum prison terms for offenders convicted of drug possession who reject or drop out of substance use disorder treatment. Meanwhile, it dismisses possession charges for those who complete such programs.

The expansion of treatment and harm reduction programs, as recommended by the Substance Use and Recovery Services Advisory Committee, is likewise required under the new legislation.

Also Read: Convicted Drug Trafficker Sentenced to 30 Years For Trafficking Nearly 150 Pounds of Drugs, Including Heroin, Fentanyl, and Marijuana

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VAALCO Energy, Inc. (NYSE:EGY  Get Rating) Director Edward David Lafehr bought 5,300 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 16th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $3.72 per share, for a total transaction of $19,716.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 26,112 shares in the company, valued at approximately $97,136.64. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

VAALCO Energy Stock Down 0.8 %

NYSE EGY traded down $0.03 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $3.70. 989,542 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,497,259. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 1.23 and a quick ratio of 1.21. The company has a market cap of $395.06 million, a PE ratio of 6.66 and a beta of 1.58. VAALCO Energy, Inc. has a 52 week low of $3.51 and a 52 week high of $8.77. The companys 50-day simple moving average is $4.32 and its 200-day simple moving average is $4.61.

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VAALCO Energy (NYSE:EGY  Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 6th. The energy company reported $0.19 earnings per share for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $96.59 million during the quarter. VAALCO Energy had a return on equity of 43.34% and a net margin of 14.65%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that VAALCO Energy, Inc. will post 2.19 earnings per share for the current year.

VAALCO Energy Increases Dividend

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 23rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 24th will be paid a $0.063 dividend. This is a positive change from VAALCO Energys previous quarterly dividend of $0.06. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 23rd. This represents a $0.25 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.81%. VAALCO Energys dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 44.64%.

Several analysts have issued reports on EGY shares. StockNews.com started coverage on VAALCO Energy in a research report on Thursday, March 16th. They set a hold rating on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus started coverage on VAALCO Energy in a research report on Wednesday, March 1st. They set a buy rating on the stock. Finally, Roth Capital reaffirmed a buy rating on shares of VAALCO Energy in a research report on Monday, March 6th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On VAALCO Energy

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ancora Advisors LLC raised its stake in VAALCO Energy by 5.9% in the 1st quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 414,208 shares of the energy companys stock worth $1,876,000 after acquiring an additional 23,154 shares during the last quarter. First Sabrepoint Capital Management LP raised its stake in shares of VAALCO Energy by 42.4% during the 1st quarter. First Sabrepoint Capital Management LP now owns 2,350,000 shares of the energy companys stock valued at $10,646,000 after buying an additional 700,000 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of VAALCO Energy by 8.3% during the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 280,442 shares of the energy companys stock valued at $1,270,000 after buying an additional 21,437 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of VAALCO Energy by 5.7% during the 1st quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,990,119 shares of the energy companys stock valued at $9,015,000 after buying an additional 108,124 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Graham Capital Management L.P. raised its stake in shares of VAALCO Energy by 616.0% during the 1st quarter. Graham Capital Management L.P. now owns 522,656 shares of the energy companys stock valued at $2,368,000 after buying an additional 449,662 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 31.61% of the companys stock.

About VAALCO Energy

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VAALCO Energy, Inc engages in the acquisition, development, and production of crude oil. It operates through the following segments: Gabon and Equatorial Guinea. The Gabon Segment focuses on the Offshore Gabon-Etame Marin Permit operation. The Equatorial Guinea segment deals with the Equatorial Guinea-Block P operation.

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Materion (NYSE:MTRN  Get Rating) was upgraded by investment analysts at StockNews.com from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report issued on Tuesday.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on the company. CL King boosted their target price on Materion from $123.00 to $126.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 18th. KeyCorp increased their price target on Materion from $92.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Friday, February 17th.

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Materion Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MTRN traded down $1.02 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $101.92. 71,610 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 125,775. The companys fifty day simple moving average is $109.59 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $96.35. The company has a market cap of $2.10 billion, a PE ratio of 21.73 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 2.85. Materion has a 1-year low of $64.89 and a 1-year high of $121.29.

Insider Buying and Selling

Materion ( NYSE:MTRN Get Rating ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 3rd. The basic materials company reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.29 by $0.05. Materion had a return on equity of 14.03% and a net margin of 5.57%. The company had revenue of $442.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $447.10 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.20 EPS. The companys revenue for the quarter was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Materion will post 5.82 EPS for the current year.

In related news, Director Emily M. Liggett sold 2,398 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction on Monday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.59, for a total value of $250,806.82. Following the sale, the director now owns 2,621 shares of the companys stock, valued at $274,130.39. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, Director Emily M. Liggett sold 2,398 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.59, for a total value of $250,806.82. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 2,621 shares in the company, valued at $274,130.39. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Gregory R. Chemnitz sold 577 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $110.00, for a total transaction of $63,470.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 18,783 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $2,066,130. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 5,398 shares of company stock worth $580,807 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 2.10% of the companys stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Materion

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. WealthPLAN Partners LLC bought a new position in Materion in the first quarter worth approximately $44,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its position in shares of Materion by 948.2% during the first quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 587 shares of the basic materials companys stock worth $68,000 after acquiring an additional 531 shares in the last quarter. Huntington National Bank raised its holdings in shares of Materion by 100,000.0% in the 3rd quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 1,001 shares of the basic materials companys stock worth $80,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000 shares during the last quarter. UBS Group AG lifted its position in Materion by 23.7% in the 3rd quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 1,433 shares of the basic materials companys stock valued at $115,000 after acquiring an additional 275 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new position in Materion during the 2nd quarter valued at about $111,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.66% of the companys stock.

Materion Company Profile

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Materion Corp. engages in the production of engineered materials used in a variety of electrical, electronic, thermal, and structural applications. It operates through the following business segments: Performance Materials, Electronic Materials, Precision Optics, and Other. The Performance Materials segment provides engineered solutions comprised of beryllium and non-beryllium.

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Alpha Pro Tech, Ltd. (NYSEAMERICAN:APT  Get Rating) was the target of a large increase in short interest in the month of April. As of April 30th, there was short interest totalling 172,800 shares, an increase of 8.7% from the April 15th total of 158,900 shares. Approximately 1.7% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 24,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 7.1 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Alpha Pro Tech by 10.1% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 579,446 shares of the companys stock worth $2,434,000 after buying an additional 53,003 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its stake in Alpha Pro Tech by 6.4% in the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 650,063 shares of the companys stock worth $2,730,000 after acquiring an additional 38,900 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in Alpha Pro Tech by 7.5% during the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 50,028 shares of the companys stock worth $210,000 after acquiring an additional 3,487 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in Alpha Pro Tech by 38,157.5% during the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 15,303 shares of the companys stock valued at $68,000 after acquiring an additional 15,263 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PDT Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alpha Pro Tech by 48.7% in the 2nd quarter. PDT Partners LLC now owns 20,918 shares of the companys stock valued at $93,000 after purchasing an additional 6,850 shares during the period. 19.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, StockNews.com assumed coverage on Alpha Pro Tech in a research note on Saturday, April 22nd. They issued a strong-buy rating for the company.

Alpha Pro Tech Stock Up 0.8 %

About Alpha Pro Tech

Alpha Pro Tech stock traded up $0.03 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $3.90. The companys stock had a trading volume of 21,706 shares, compared to its average volume of 31,508. Alpha Pro Tech has a twelve month low of $3.81 and a twelve month high of $4.99. The stocks fifty day moving average price is $4.15 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $4.19. The stock has a market capitalization of $47.81 million, a P/E ratio of 14.89 and a beta of -0.77.

(Get Rating)

Alpha Pro Tech Ltd. engages in the business of protecting people, products and environment. It develops, manufactures and markets disposable and limited use protective apparel products for the industries, clean room, medical and dental markets. The company operates through the Disposable Protective Apparel and Building Supply segments.

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abrdn plc boosted its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST  Get Rating) by 2.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 408,166 shares of the medical instruments suppliers stock after acquiring an additional 8,784 shares during the period. abrdn plc owned 0.55% of West Pharmaceutical Services worth $96,062,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Texas Permanent School Fund boosted its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund now owns 10,519 shares of the medical instruments suppliers stock valued at $2,476,000 after buying an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 3.8% during the third quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,162 shares of the medical instruments suppliers stock valued at $286,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Wetherby Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 5.7% during the first quarter. Wetherby Asset Management Inc. now owns 822 shares of the medical instruments suppliers stock valued at $338,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Formidable Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 2.4% in the third quarter. Formidable Asset Management LLC now owns 1,870 shares of the medical instruments suppliers stock worth $460,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lumature Wealth Partners LLC boosted its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 6.5% in the 3rd quarter. Lumature Wealth Partners LLC now owns 783 shares of the medical instruments suppliers stock worth $193,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.51% of the companys stock.

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Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Eric Mark Green sold 44,000 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $322.35, for a total transaction of $14,183,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 85,705 shares in the company, valued at $27,627,006.75. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Thomas W. Hofmann sold 1,212 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $365.57, for a total value of $443,070.84. Following the sale, the director now owns 43,616 shares in the company, valued at $15,944,701.12. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Eric Mark Green sold 44,000 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $322.35, for a total transaction of $14,183,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 85,705 shares of the companys stock, valued at $27,627,006.75. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 111,744 shares of company stock worth $38,778,758 in the last ninety days. 1.13% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

West Pharmaceutical Services Price Performance

A number of research firms have issued reports on WST. Stephens upgraded West Pharmaceutical Services from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating and boosted their price target for the company from $330.00 to $400.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 11th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research report on Thursday, March 16th. They set a hold rating for the company. KeyCorp increased their price target on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from $315.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Friday, February 17th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from $250.00 to $290.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 22nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the companys stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, West Pharmaceutical Services has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $313.00.

Shares of WST stock opened at $354.56 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $349.30 and a 200 day moving average price of $288.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.70, a P/E/G ratio of 7.46 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 2.79 and a current ratio of 3.62. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a 52-week low of $206.19 and a 52-week high of $376.72.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST  Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 27th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $1.67 by $0.31. West Pharmaceutical Services had a return on equity of 24.14% and a net margin of 19.15%. The firm had revenue of $716.60 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $697.28 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.30 earnings per share. West Pharmaceutical Servicess quarterly revenue was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 26th will be given a $0.19 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 25th. This represents a $0.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.21%. West Pharmaceutical Servicess payout ratio is 10.44%.

About West Pharmaceutical Services

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West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc manufactures and markets pharmaceuticals, biologics, vaccines and consumer healthcare products. It operates through the following business segments: Proprietary Products and Contract-Manufactured Products. The Proprietary Products segment offers proprietary packaging, containment and drug delivery products, along with analytical lab services, to biologic, generic and pharmaceutical drug customers.

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National Australia Bank Limited (ASX:NAB  Get Rating) insider Ann Sherry bought 1,225 shares of National Australia Bank stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 11th. The stock was purchased at an average price of A$26.37 ($17.70) per share, with a total value of A$32,303.25 ($21,680.03).

National Australia Bank Price Performance

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National Australia Bank Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a Interim dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 4th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. This is a boost from National Australia Banks previous Interim dividend of $0.60. This represents a dividend yield of 3.12%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 9th. National Australia Banks dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 72.81%.

National Australia Bank Company Profile

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National Australia Bank Limited provides financial services to individuals and businesses in Australia, New Zealand, and internationally. It operates through Business and Private Banking; Personal Banking; Corporate and Institutional Banking; New Zealand Banking; and Corporate Functions and Other segments.

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BG Investment Services Inc. grew its stake in iShares Russell 2000 ETF (NYSEARCA:IWM  Get Rating) by 3.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 27,136 shares of the exchange traded funds stock after buying an additional 991 shares during the period. iShares Russell 2000 ETF accounts for 5.2% of BG Investment Services Inc.s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest holding. BG Investment Services Inc.s holdings in iShares Russell 2000 ETF were worth $4,731,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Defender Capital LLC. purchased a new position in shares of iShares Russell 2000 ETF during the first quarter worth about $411,000. Fairfield Bush & CO. acquired a new stake in shares of iShares Russell 2000 ETF in the 1st quarter valued at about $105,000. AMI Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in iShares Russell 2000 ETF by 38.5% during the 1st quarter. AMI Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,553 shares of the exchange traded funds stock worth $1,345,000 after buying an additional 1,822 shares during the last quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in iShares Russell 2000 ETF by 29.9% during the first quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,391 shares of the exchange traded funds stock worth $286,000 after buying an additional 320 shares during the period. Finally, Sei Investments Co. lifted its stake in iShares Russell 2000 ETF by 8.2% in the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 38,919 shares of the exchange traded funds stock valued at $7,989,000 after buying an additional 2,962 shares during the last quarter.

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iShares Russell 2000 ETF Price Performance

Shares of IWM stock traded up $1.26 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $173.54. The stock had a trading volume of 6,060,219 shares, compared to its average volume of 27,958,420. The stocks 50 day moving average is $175.06 and its 200 day moving average is $180.82. iShares Russell 2000 ETF has a twelve month low of $162.50 and a twelve month high of $201.99.

iShares Russell 2000 ETF Profile

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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Conifex Timber Inc. (TSE:CFF  Get Rating)  Raymond James cut their FY2023 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for Conifex Timber in a report issued on Wednesday, May 10th. Raymond James analyst D. Swetlishoff now expects that the company will post earnings of ($0.31) per share for the year, down from their previous estimate of ($0.21). The consensus estimate for Conifex Timbers current full-year earnings is $0.16 per share.

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Separately, CIBC cut their target price on Conifex Timber from C$1.50 to C$1.25 in a research report on Thursday, April 20th.

Conifex Timber Stock Down 0.7 %

Conifex Timber Company Profile

TSE:CFF opened at C$1.45 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of C$57.64 million, a PE ratio of 2.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.06 and a beta of 1.59. The stock has a 50 day moving average of C$1.51 and a 200-day moving average of C$1.59. Conifex Timber has a 52 week low of C$1.36 and a 52 week high of C$2.19. The company has a current ratio of 2.73, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 42.94.

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Conifex Timber Inc primarily manufactures and sells lumber products in the United States, China, Canada, Japan, and internationally. It is involved in the timber harvesting, reforestation, and forest management activities; manufacture of finished softwood lumber from spruce, pine, and fir logs; manufacture, sale, and distribution of dimension lumber; processing logs into lumber and wood chips, as well as by-products or residues, such as trim blocks, sawdust, shavings, and barks; and providing value added lumber finishing services.

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Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. lowered its holdings in shares of Onto Innovation Inc. (NYSE:ONTO  Get Rating) by 5.3% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 6,642 shares of the semiconductor companys stock after selling 373 shares during the quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.s holdings in Onto Innovation were worth $452,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in ONTO. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund lifted its position in shares of Onto Innovation by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 16,475 shares of the semiconductor companys stock worth $1,122,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio lifted its position in shares of Onto Innovation by 51.3% in the 3rd quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 516 shares of the semiconductor companys stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 175 shares during the period. Pictet Asset Management SA lifted its position in shares of Onto Innovation by 7.3% in the 3rd quarter. Pictet Asset Management SA now owns 3,165 shares of the semiconductor companys stock worth $203,000 after purchasing an additional 215 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its position in shares of Onto Innovation by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 6,726 shares of the semiconductor companys stock worth $458,000 after purchasing an additional 242 shares during the period. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Onto Innovation by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 64,366 shares of the semiconductor companys stock valued at $4,123,000 after acquiring an additional 256 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.59% of the companys stock.

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Onto Innovation Stock Up 2.4 %

Shares of ONTO stock opened at $95.70 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $84.20 and a 200-day moving average price of $79.65. Onto Innovation Inc. has a 52 week low of $56.02 and a 52 week high of $96.06. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.68 billion, a PE ratio of 23.87 and a beta of 1.46.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Onto Innovation ( NYSE:ONTO Get Rating ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 4th. The semiconductor company reported $0.92 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.04. Onto Innovation had a net margin of 20.67% and a return on equity of 16.09%. The firm had revenue of $199.17 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $200.00 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.31 earnings per share. The businesss revenue for the quarter was down 17.5% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Onto Innovation Inc. will post 3.65 earnings per share for the current year.

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on ONTO. DA Davidson lifted their price target on shares of Onto Innovation from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Friday, February 10th. Benchmark reaffirmed a buy rating and issued a $92.00 target price (up from $85.00) on shares of Onto Innovation in a report on Friday, February 10th. Needham & Company LLC lifted their target price on shares of Onto Innovation from $75.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Friday, February 10th. StockNews.com cut shares of Onto Innovation from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Friday, May 5th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Onto Innovation in a report on Thursday, April 20th. They issued a buy rating and a $100.00 target price for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $96.80.

About Onto Innovation

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Onto Innovation, Inc engages in designing, developing and manufacturing process control systems. It offers process control, combining global scale with an expanded portfolio of technologies that include: 3D metrology spanning the chip from nanometer-scale transistors to micron-level die-interconnects, macro defect inspection of wafers and packages, metal interconnect composition, factory analytics, and lithography for advanced semiconductor packaging.

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Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (NYSE:CMG  Get Rating) by 12.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 323 shares of the restaurant operators stock after acquiring an additional 36 shares during the period. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLCs holdings in Chipotle Mexican Grill were worth $557,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Pinebridge Investments L.P. grew its stake in shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Pinebridge Investments L.P. now owns 13,248 shares of the restaurant operators stock valued at $18,381,000 after buying an additional 429 shares during the period. Nicolet Bankshares Inc. grew its stake in shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill by 7.7% in the 4th quarter. Nicolet Bankshares Inc. now owns 838 shares of the restaurant operators stock valued at $668,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill by 46.3% in the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 9,101 shares of the restaurant operators stock worth $12,631,000 after acquiring an additional 2,881 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill by 13.9% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 62,291 shares of the restaurant operators stock worth $86,428,000 after acquiring an additional 7,610 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Valeo Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill in the 4th quarter worth approximately $247,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.26% of the companys stock.

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Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CMG has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill from $1,960.00 to $2,270.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, April 26th. BTIG Research upped their price objective on shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill from $1,825.00 to $2,175.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, April 26th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill from $2,050.00 to $2,250.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, April 26th. 888 reiterated a maintains rating on shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill in a report on Wednesday, April 26th. Finally, KeyCorp increased their target price on shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill from $1,780.00 to $1,870.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Thursday, April 6th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Chipotle Mexican Grill has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $2,021.37.

Insiders Place Their Bets

Chipotle Mexican Grill Trading Up 0.2 %

In other news, CEO Brian R. Niccol sold 991 shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,537.37, for a total transaction of $1,523,533.67. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 23,347 shares in the company, valued at $35,892,977.39. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link . In other news, insider Laurie Schalow sold 3,658 shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $2,066.73, for a total transaction of $7,560,098.34. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,637 shares in the company, valued at $3,383,237.01. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link . Also, CEO Brian R. Niccol sold 991 shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,537.37, for a total transaction of $1,523,533.67. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 23,347 shares of the companys stock, valued at $35,892,977.39. The disclosure for this sale can be found here . Over the last quarter, insiders sold 17,790 shares of company stock worth $33,073,075. Insiders own 0.96% of the companys stock.

Shares of CMG opened at $2,050.22 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $56.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 55.46, a PEG ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a 50-day moving average of $1,786.65 and a two-hundred day moving average of $1,611.65. Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. has a 12-month low of $1,196.28 and a 12-month high of $2,077.29.

Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE:CMG  Get Rating) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 25th. The restaurant operator reported $10.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $8.89 by $1.61. The company had revenue of $2.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $2.34 billion. Chipotle Mexican Grill had a net margin of 11.49% and a return on equity of 45.01%. The firms quarterly revenue was up 18.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $5.70 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. will post 43.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Chipotle Mexican Grill Profile

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Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc engages in the development and operation of classically-cooked, real food with wholesome ingredients without artificial colors, flavors or preservatives. It offers a focused menu of burritos, tacos, burrito bowls, and salads prepared using classic cooking methods. The company was founded by Steve Ells in 1993 and is headquartered in Newport Beach, CA.

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Shares of Chinook Tyee Industry Ltd (CVE:XCX  Get Rating) were up 21.6% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as C$0.53 and last traded at C$0.45. Approximately 203,469 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 356% from the average daily volume of 44,615 shares. The stock had previously closed at C$0.37.

Chinook Tyee Industry Price Performance

The stocks fifty day simple moving average is C$0.45 and its 200-day simple moving average is C$0.45. The company has a market capitalization of C$9.10 million and a P/E ratio of -2.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 20.15, a current ratio of 1.55 and a quick ratio of 1.55.

Chinook Tyee Industry Company Profile

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Chinook Tyee Industry Limited operates as a financial service company in Canada. The company was formerly known as Global Railway Industries Ltd. and changed its name to Chinook Tyee Industry Limited in August 2013. Chinook Tyee Industry Limited is headquartered in Vancouver, Canada.

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During her meeting with President Yoon Suk Yeol in Seoul, Ukraine's first lady Olena Zelenska requested air defense systems and non-lethal military equipment from South Korea. This has been confirmed by both countries.

During her visit to South Korea as a representative of the Ukrainian president, Zelenska asked for various items such as mine detectors, demining equipment, and first aid vehicles, according to Lee Do-woon, the spokesperson for South Korea's president.

The presidential office of Ukraine stated that Zelenska informed Yoon about their requirement for assistance in the technologies that South Korea is renowned for.

What changed?

Despite the ongoing war in Ukraine, South Korea has consistently refused to supply weapons to any involved parties. However, there are indications that this policy may change. During a meeting with the Ukrainian first lady, Yoon hinted at a possible shift in policy. Additionally, the first lady expressed her desire for South Korean companies to participate in rebuilding efforts in Ukraine.

Yoon conveyed his sympathies to Zelenska for the victims and people of Ukraine and assured her that South Korea would extend assistance to Ukraine in collaboration with NATO nations and the global community.

Zelenska had a separate meeting with South Korea's first lady, Kim Keon-hee, who commended the Ukrainian leader for her brave and dedicated efforts during a time of war, as reported by the spokesperson for the presidential office.

According to the Ukrainian officials, the wife of the Ukrainian president gave Yoon a special letter and an invitation from the president of Ukraine to come and visit their country.

Zelenska traveled to the country to attend the Asian Leadership Conference along with Ukraine's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy Yulia Svyrydenko and Deputy Head of the Presidential Office Rostyslav Shurma, as stated by Ukraine's presidential office.

Read also: Ukraine War: Soldier Admits 'No One Counts the Dead' in Ukraine Town Under Heavy Attack by Russia

South Korea's Air Defense Systems

South Korea is known for its advanced air defense systems, including the Patriot missile defense system and the Korean Air and Missile Defense system. Ukraine, which has been at war with pro-Russian separatists since 2014, has expressed interest in upgrading its military capabilities.

(Photo : by LEE JIN-MAN/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau (C) leaves after a visit to the National Cemetery in Seoul on May 17, 2023.

South Korea and Ukraine have been strengthening their ties in recent years, particularly in the areas of defense and technology. In 2018, South Korean President Moon Jae-in visited Ukraine to discuss potential cooperation between the two countries.

One area where there has been collaboration is in the development of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). Ukrainian company Antonov partnered with South Korean firm Hanwha Systems to create a UAV capable of conducting intelligence-gathering missions.

There have also been discussions about joint military exercises between South Korea and Ukraine. The two countries share similar security concerns regarding North Korea's nuclear program as well as Russia's annexation of Crimea.

In addition to defense cooperation, there are opportunities for economic partnerships between the two nations. Ukraine possesses significant natural resources such as coal and iron ore while South Korea is known for its advanced manufacturing capabilities.

Overall, it appears that relations between these nations will continue to strengthen in various fields including politics, economics, and defense.

Related article: Ukraine Crisis Needs Early Resolution, China's UN Envoy Says

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Cibc World Markets Corp trimmed its holdings in shares of Koninklijke Philips (NYSE:PHG  Get Rating) by 1.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 471,500 shares of the technology companys stock after selling 7,100 shares during the quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp owned about 0.05% of Koninklijke Philips worth $7,068,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its position in Koninklijke Philips by 67.6% during the third quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 4,141 shares of the technology companys stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 1,670 shares during the period. Sittner & Nelson LLC lifted 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 worth $60,000 after acquiring an additional 750 shares during the last quarter. Credit Suisse AG acquired a new position in Koninklijke Philips during the 2nd quarter worth $65,000. Quadrant Capital Group LLC lifted its position in Koninklijke Philips by 50.3% during the 3rd quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 7,973 shares of the technology companys stock worth $123,000 after acquiring an additional 2,668 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Koninklijke Philips by 39.2% in the 3rd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 9,275 shares of the technology companys stock worth $143,000 after buying an additional 2,614 shares during the period. 10.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on PHG. UBS Group downgraded Koninklijke Philips from a neutral rating to a sell rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 17th. Societe Generale upgraded shares of Koninklijke Philips from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 25th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Koninklijke Philips from 17.00 ($18.48) to 16.00 ($17.39) and set an equal weight rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 17th. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on shares of Koninklijke Philips in a research report on Tuesday, March 7th. They issued a market perform rating on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com began coverage on Koninklijke Philips in a research report on Thursday, March 16th. They issued a hold rating for the company. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the companys stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $16.79.

Koninklijke Philips Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:PHG opened at $20.63 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 0.78. The businesss fifty day moving average price is $18.65 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $16.61. Koninklijke Philips has a fifty-two week low of $11.75 and a fifty-two week high of $26.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.42 and a beta of 0.91.

Koninklijke Philips (NYSE:PHG  Get Rating) last announced its earnings results on Monday, April 24th. The technology company reported $0.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $0.19 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $4.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $3.99 billion. Koninklijke Philips had a negative net margin of 11.63% and a positive return on equity of 6.29%. The firms revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.32 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Koninklijke Philips will post 1.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Koninklijke Philips Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared an annual dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 18th. Investors of record on Friday, May 12th will be given a dividend of $0.9387 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 11th. This represents a yield of 3.7%. Koninklijke Philipss dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -31.84%.

Koninklijke Philips Company Profile

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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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Clarivate Plc (NYSE:CLVT  Get Rating) hit a new 52-week low on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $7.38 and last traded at $7.39, with a volume of 221424 shares. The stock had previously closed at $7.60.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on CLVT shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Clarivate from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Thursday, March 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada restated an outperform rating and set a $14.00 price objective on shares of Clarivate in a report on Monday, April 17th. Morgan Stanley downgraded Clarivate from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $11.00 to $12.00 in a report on Monday, February 6th. Finally, Bank of America initiated coverage on Clarivate in a research report on Wednesday, March 15th. They set a neutral rating on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $13.88.

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Clarivate Stock Down 2.2 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.90. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $9.01 and a 200-day moving average of $9.59.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Clarivate

Clarivate ( NYSE:CLVT Get Rating ) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, March 1st. The company reported $0.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $0.13 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $675.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $651.42 million. Clarivate had a positive return on equity of 8.39% and a negative net margin of 151.76%. Analysts forecast that Clarivate Plc will post 0.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. CWM LLC raised its stake in shares of Clarivate by 341.6% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 3,705 shares of the companys stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 2,866 shares during the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Clarivate during the 1st quarter valued at about $38,000. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its stake in shares of Clarivate by 637.1% during the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 4,946 shares of the companys stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 4,275 shares during the last quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Clarivate by 50.0% during the 1st quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC now owns 5,322 shares of the companys stock valued at $89,000 after buying an additional 1,774 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Macquarie Group Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Clarivate by 40.5% during the 1st quarter. Macquarie Group Ltd. now owns 6,077 shares of the companys stock valued at $57,000 after buying an additional 1,753 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.34% of the companys stock.

Clarivate Company Profile

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Clarivate Plc engages in the provision of global information, analytics, and workflow solutions. It operates through the following segments: Academia and Government (A&G), Life Sciences and Healthcare (LS&H), and Intellectual Property (IP). The A&G segment consists of products and services to organizations that plan, fund, implement, and utilize education and research at a global, national, institutional, and individual level.

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Primerica (NYSE:PRI  Get Rating) and FOXO Technologies (NYSE:FOXO  Get Rating) are both finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, profitability, valuation, institutional ownership, risk, earnings and analyst recommendations.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current recommendations for Primerica and FOXO Technologies, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

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Sell Ratings Hold Ratings Buy Ratings Strong Buy Ratings Rating Score Primerica 0 3 1 1 2.60 FOXO Technologies 0 0 0 0 N/A

Primerica currently has a consensus target price of $205.25, suggesting a potential upside of 13.74%. Given Primericas higher probable upside, research analysts clearly believe Primerica is more favorable than FOXO Technologies.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

Profitability

91.6% of Primerica shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 73.9% of FOXO Technologies shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.9% of Primerica shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 16.9% of FOXO Technologies shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

This table compares Primerica and FOXO Technologies net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

Net Margins Return on Equity Return on Assets Primerica 15.33% 28.34% 3.17% FOXO Technologies N/A -18,881.06% -90.78%

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Primerica and FOXO Technologies revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

Gross Revenue Price/Sales Ratio Net Income Earnings Per Share Price/Earnings Ratio Primerica $2.72 billion 2.40 $373.01 million $11.08 16.29 FOXO Technologies $511,000.00 19.96 -$95.25 million N/A N/A

Primerica has higher revenue and earnings than FOXO Technologies.

Volatility and Risk

Primerica has a beta of 1.18, indicating that its stock price is 18% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, FOXO Technologies has a beta of 2.22, indicating that its stock price is 122% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Primerica beats FOXO Technologies on 9 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Primerica

(Get Rating)

Primerica, Inc. engages in the provision of financial products to middle-income households. It operates through the following segments: Term Life Insurance, Investment and Savings Products, Senior Health, and Corporate and Other Distributed Products. The Term Life Insurance segment includes underwriting profits in the in-force book of term life insurance policies. The Investment and Savings Products segment is involved in managed mutual funds and annuities, and segregated funds. The Senior Health segment consists of the distribution of Medicare-related insurance products underwritten by third-party health insurance carriers to eligible Medicare participants through e-TeleQuotes licensed health insurance agents. The Corporate and Other Distributed Products segment consists of revenues and expenses related to discontinued lines of insurance. The company was founded by Arthur L. Williams, Jr. and Angela Williams on February 10, 1977, and is headquartered in Duluth, GA.

About FOXO Technologies

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FOXO Technologies Inc., a technology platform company, focuses on commercializing longevity science through products and services that serve the life insurance industry. The company is developing products and services that combine longevity science with life insurance to support the consumer health and wellness engagement, and to simplify the consumer underwriting journey. It offers FOXO Labs, a services platform that integrates saliva-based epigenetic biomarkers into accelerated underwriting protocols to improve the customer underwriting journey; and FOXO Life, an insurance products platform that offers proprietary life insurance products and third-party life insurance carrier products based on bundling longevity science with life insurance. The company was founded in 2019 and is based in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

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First Trust Advisors LP raised its stake in Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS  Get Rating) by 19.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,802,855 shares of the utilities providers stock after purchasing an additional 292,131 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LPs holdings in Fortis were worth $72,187,000 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 FTS. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in shares of Fortis by 22.4% in the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 24,569 shares of the utilities providers stock worth $1,215,000 after purchasing an additional 4,500 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Fortis by 9.9% during the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 3,569 shares of the utilities providers stock valued at $177,000 after acquiring an additional 322 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. increased its position in shares of Fortis by 9.1% during the first quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 26,923 shares of the utilities providers stock valued at $1,333,000 after acquiring an additional 2,249 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. increased its position in shares of Fortis by 45.3% during the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 510,446 shares of the utilities providers stock valued at $25,266,000 after acquiring an additional 159,068 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Fortis by 32.5% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 212,935 shares of the utilities providers stock valued at $10,540,000 after acquiring an additional 52,248 shares during the last quarter. 49.59% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Fortis Price Performance

Shares of NYSE FTS opened at $44.19 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $43.17 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $41.42. Fortis Inc. has a 1-year low of $34.76 and a 1-year high of $50.89. The firm has a market cap of $21.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a current ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

About Fortis

FTS has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Scotiabank increased their price target on Fortis from C$57.00 to C$58.00 in a research report on Monday, January 23rd. National Bank Financial increased their price target on Fortis from C$55.00 to C$56.00 in a research report on Monday, February 13th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a sector perform rating and set a $65.00 price target on shares of Fortis in a research report on Friday, March 24th. Finally, StockNews.com started coverage on Fortis in a report on Thursday, March 16th. They set a hold rating for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $58.75.

(Get Rating)

Fortis, Inc is a holding company, which engages in the electric and gas utility industry. It operates under the Regulated Utilities and Non-Regulated segments. The Regulated Utilities segment includes ITC Holdings (ITC), UNS Energy Corporation (UNS Energy), Central Hudson, FortisBC Energy, FortisAlberta, and FortisBC Electric.

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Shares of Gran Tierra Energy Inc. (NYSEAMERICAN:GTE  Get Rating) reached a new 52-week low on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $5.42 and last traded at $5.44, with a volume of 73086 shares. The stock had previously closed at $5.50.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, StockNews.com downgraded Gran Tierra Energy from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Thursday, May 4th.

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Gran Tierra Energy Stock Up 1.3 %

The businesss 50 day moving average is $10.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.87 and a beta of 1.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a current ratio of 0.70 and a quick ratio of 0.70.

Insider Transactions at Gran Tierra Energy

Gran Tierra Energy ( NYSEAMERICAN:GTE Get Rating ) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 21st. The company reported $0.90 earnings per share for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $162.64 million for the quarter. Gran Tierra Energy had a net margin of 19.54% and a return on equity of 36.99%.

In other Gran Tierra Energy news, CFO Ryan Ellson bought 5,000 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 15th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $7.10 per share, for a total transaction of $35,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 70,148 shares of the companys stock, valued at $498,050.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 6.45% of the companys stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Gran Tierra Energy

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. BlackRock Inc. lifted its holdings in Gran Tierra Energy by 25.5% in the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 128,674 shares of the companys stock valued at $202,000 after acquiring an additional 26,105 shares during the last quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. raised its stake in Gran Tierra Energy by 193.8% during the 1st quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 81,826 shares of the companys stock valued at $128,000 after acquiring an additional 53,974 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP purchased a new stake in shares of Gran Tierra Energy in the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. XTX Topco Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Gran Tierra Energy during the 1st quarter worth approximately $85,000. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership purchased a new position in shares of Gran Tierra Energy in the first quarter valued at $7,986,000. 32.83% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Gran Tierra Energy Company Profile

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Gran Tierra Energy, Inc engages in the exploration and production of oil and natural gas in Colombia and Ecuador. It holds interests in the assets located in the Middle Magdalena Valley and Putumayo Basins. The company was founded on June 6, 2003 and is headquartered in Calgary, Canada.

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Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT  Get Rating) by 2.6% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 239,715 shares of the retailers stock after buying an additional 6,111 shares during the quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd.s holdings in Walmart were worth $33,991,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Ethos Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Walmart in the 4th quarter worth about $882,000. Coston McIsaac & Partners lifted its position in Walmart by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. Coston McIsaac & Partners now owns 38,801 shares of the retailers stock valued at $5,501,000 after acquiring an additional 1,694 shares during the period. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC lifted its position in Walmart by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 9,104 shares of the retailers stock valued at $1,284,000 after acquiring an additional 193 shares during the period. Trust Co. of Vermont lifted its position in Walmart by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 28,231 shares of the retailers stock valued at $4,003,000 after acquiring an additional 1,353 shares during the period. Finally, Pinebridge Investments L.P. lifted its position in Walmart by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Pinebridge Investments L.P. now owns 225,808 shares of the retailers stock valued at $32,017,000 after acquiring an additional 5,016 shares during the period. 31.27% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Walmart Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WMT opened at $149.78 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.21. Walmart Inc. has a 1-year low of $117.27 and a 1-year high of $154.64. The company has a market capitalization of $404.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.00, a P/E/G ratio of 4.56 and a beta of 0.48. The firms 50 day simple moving average is $147.20 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $145.56.

Walmart Dividend Announcement

Walmart ( NYSE:WMT Get Rating ) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 21st. The retailer reported $1.71 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.51 by $0.20. Walmart had a net margin of 1.91% and a return on equity of 20.45%. The firm had revenue of $164.05 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $158.67 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.53 earnings per share. The companys quarterly revenue was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 6.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, January 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 8th will be issued a $0.57 dividend. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.52%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 7th. Walmarts dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 53.27%.

Insider Transactions at Walmart

In other news, EVP John R. Furner sold 4,375 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.00, for a total value of $660,625.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 286,617 shares of the companys stock, valued at $43,279,167. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 9,708 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $142.37, for a total value of $1,382,127.96. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,371,994 shares in the company, valued at $195,330,785.78. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP John R. Furner sold 4,375 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.00, for a total transaction of $660,625.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 286,617 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,279,167. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 21,044,002 shares of company stock valued at $2,981,168,308. 47.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Walmart from $157.00 to $161.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 6th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Walmart from $155.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Thursday, April 6th. Tigress Financial upgraded shares of Walmart from a neutral rating to a buy rating and raised their price objective for the company from $170.00 to $176.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 26th. Telsey Advisory Group restated an outperform rating and set a $160.00 price objective on shares of Walmart in a research note on Thursday, April 6th. Finally, KeyCorp raised their price objective on shares of Walmart from $170.00 to $175.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 25th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $165.13.

Walmart Company Profile

(Get Rating)

Walmart, Inc engages in retail and wholesale business. The company offers an assortment of merchandise and services at everyday low prices. It operates through the following business segments: Walmart U.S., Walmart International, and Sams Club. The Walmart U.S. segment operates as a merchandiser of consumer products, operating under the Walmart, Wal-Mart, and Walmart Neighborhood Market brands, as well as walmart.com and other eCommerce brands.

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MNC Media Investment Ltd (OTCMKTS:LTONY  Get Rating) traded down 42.2% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as low as $0.15 and last traded at $0.15. 113,100 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 1,408% from the average session volume of 7,500 shares. The stock had previously closed at $0.26.

MNC Media Investment Stock Performance

The stock has a 50-day moving average of $0.15.

About MNC Media Investment

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MNC Media Investment Ltd (MMIL), formerly Linktone Ltd., is a provider of services and content to a range of traditional and new media consumers and enterprises. The Companys segments include China VAS, mobile game and PC game; Indonesia Digital Media, Media Content and Investment; Indonesia Digital Media; Media content, and Investment.

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Murray Income Trust PLC (LON:MUT  Get Rating) announced a dividend on Wednesday, November 1st, Upcoming.Co.Uk reports. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 18th will be given a dividend of GBX 8.25 ($0.10) per share on Thursday, June 15th. This represents a yield of 1.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 18th. The official announcement can be accessed at this link.

Murray Income Trust Stock Down 0.4 %

MUT opened at GBX 866.50 ($10.85) on Wednesday. Murray Income Trust has a fifty-two week low of GBX 715 ($8.96) and a fifty-two week high of GBX 897 ($11.24). The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.47, a current ratio of 3.76 and a quick ratio of 3.64. The firms fifty day moving average price is GBX 858.16 and its two-hundred day moving average price is GBX 848.58. The company has a market capitalization of 983.48 million, a P/E ratio of -1,274.26 and a beta of 0.78.

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Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Murray Income Trust news, insider Peter Tait purchased 2,000 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Friday, March 3rd. The shares were purchased at an average price of GBX 873 ($10.94) per share, for a total transaction of 17,460 ($21,871.48). Corporate insiders own 0.83% of the companys stock.

Murray Income Trust Company Profile

Murray Income Trust PLC is a closed ended equity mutual fund launched and managed by Aberdeen Fund Managers Limited. It is co-managed by Aberdeen Asset Managers Limited. The fund invests in the public equity markets of the United Kingdom. It seeks to invest in stocks of companies operating across diversified sectors.

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Entergy Co. (NYSE:ETR  Get Rating) saw a large decline in short interest in the month of April. As of April 30th, there was short interest totalling 2,140,000 shares, a decline of 10.1% from the April 15th total of 2,380,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,250,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.7 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on ETR. Mizuho cut their price target on shares of Entergy from $114.00 to $113.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 19th. TheStreet raised shares of Entergy from a c+ rating to a b- rating in a report on Monday, April 17th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH started coverage on shares of Entergy in a report on Monday, April 3rd. They set a buy rating and a $116.00 price objective on the stock. Guggenheim reduced their target price on shares of Entergy from $128.00 to $124.00 in a research report on Monday, April 24th. Finally, Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Entergy from $131.00 to $117.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 12th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $116.93.

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Entergy Stock Down 0.9 %

Entergy stock traded down $0.88 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $102.12. The stock had a trading volume of 1,279,168 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,328,925. The stock has a market cap of $21.59 billion, a PE ratio of 18.57, a P/E/G ratio of 5.65 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87. Entergy has a 52-week low of $94.94 and a 52-week high of $122.46. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $106.51 and a 200 day moving average price of $108.74.

Entergy Announces Dividend

Entergy ( NYSE:ETR Get Rating ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 26th. The utilities provider reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.34 by ($0.20). The company had revenue of $2.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $2.80 billion. Entergy had a return on equity of 10.34% and a net margin of 8.17%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.32 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Entergy will post 6.68 EPS for the current year.

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, May 4th will be given a $1.07 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 3rd. This represents a $4.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.19%. Entergys dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 77.82%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Entergy

In other news, EVP Marcus V. Brown sold 12,500 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.10, for a total value of $1,326,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 9,129 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $968,586.90. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Marcus V. Brown sold 12,500 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.10, for a total value of $1,326,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 9,129 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $968,586.90. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Haley Fisackerly sold 3,890 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $108.42, for a total transaction of $421,753.80. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 1,656 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $179,543.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 17,092 shares of company stock valued at $1,821,838 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.37% of the companys stock.

Institutional Trading of Entergy

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Wetherby Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Entergy by 2.7% in the 1st quarter. Wetherby Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,269 shares of the utilities providers stock valued at $382,000 after buying an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. Lake Street Financial LLC grew its stake in shares of Entergy by 4.7% in the 1st quarter. Lake Street Financial LLC now owns 2,097 shares of the utilities providers stock valued at $226,000 after buying an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. Greenleaf Trust grew its stake in shares of Entergy by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 3,830 shares of the utilities providers stock valued at $431,000 after buying an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems lifted its holdings in Entergy by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems now owns 16,089 shares of the utilities providers stock worth $1,733,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust lifted its holdings in Entergy by 15.5% in the 1st quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 739 shares of the utilities providers stock worth $86,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.98% of the companys stock.

Entergy Company Profile

(Get Rating)

Entergy Corp. is a holding company, which engages in electric power generation and distribution. It operates through the following segments: Utility and Entergy Wholesale Commodities. The Utility segment includes the generation, transmission, distribution, and sale of electric power and the operations of a natural gas distribution business.

Further Reading

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Skeena Resources Limited (TSE:SKE  Get Rating)s share price traded down 6.1% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as C$7.36 and last traded at C$7.44. 625,900 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 328% from the average session volume of 146,139 shares. The stock had previously closed at C$7.92.

Skeena Resources Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.60, a quick ratio of 1.55 and a current ratio of 2.40. The stock has a market capitalization of C$580.47 million, a P/E ratio of -6.15 and a beta of 1.37. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of C$8.50 and a 200 day moving average price of C$7.86.

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Skeena Resources (TSE:SKE  Get Rating) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, March 22nd. The company reported C($0.22) earnings per share for the quarter. On average, analysts expect that Skeena Resources Limited will post -0.4862973 EPS for the current year.

Skeena Resources Company Profile

Skeena Resources Limited explores and develops mineral properties in Canada. The company explores for gold, silver, copper, and other precious metal deposits. It holds 100% interests in the Snip gold mine comprising one mining lease and four mineral tenures that covers an area of approximately 1,932 hectares; and the Eskay Creek gold mine that consists of eight mineral leases, two surface leases, and various unpatented mining claims, which total 6,151 hectares located in British Columbia, Canada.

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When New York Mayor Eric Adams tried to reduce the number of asylum applicants by moving them to neighboring Orange County, a judge from the state's highest court issued a temporary restraining order to prevent this.

According to the petition, Orange County Executive Steven Neuhaus sought the order last week so that the 186 asylum seekers now staying at the Crossroads Hotel and Ramada by Wyndham in the Town of Newburgh may remain in the county.

The ruling states that if any of the present migrants leave the hotels, no new migrants will be permitted to move in, CNN reported.

In a statement, Neuhaus said that New York City should not expand its services to Orange County by opening a homeless shelter there. Neuhaus added, "The city is a self-proclaimed sanctuary city; Orange County is not. We should not have to bear the burden of the immigration crisis that the Federal government and Mayor Adams created, and I will continue to fight for Orange County's residents in regard to this important manner."

The Challenge of Addressing a Massive Flood of Asylum Seekers

The backlash is occurring as New York City tries to accommodate a large influx of migrants, some of whom were bused to the city from southern states by Republican governors and municipal politicians.

Officials estimate that 35,000 of the over 65,000 migrants who have been processed through New York City since the last spring are still in the city's custody. To deal with the situation, Mayor Adams said that the city had created more than 140 emergency shelters and eight massive humanitarian support facilities.

To cope with what authorities expected to be a larger influx of migrants following the expiry of Covid-related border restriction Title 42 last week, the Adams administration planned to send willing migrants to hotels outside the city.

A week ago, New York Governor Kathy Hochul made a request to the federal government for help in building and maintaining temporary shelters "in anticipation of several thousand asylum seekers arriving in New York City every week."

See Also: New Migration Laws Make Crossings on US-Mexico Border More Organized

A Sense of Dismay at the Judge's Ruling

Mayor Adams' office expressed dismay with the judge's decision in a statement to CNN on Tuesday evening, May 16.

Adams' press secretary Fabien Levy told CNN, "New York City has cared for more than 65,000 migrants - sheltering, feeding, and caring for them, and we have done so largely without incident."

The representative emphasized the need for the federal government to take charge. But in the meantime, they are urging local, state, and federal representatives to all do their share.

Levy added that due to overcrowding, New York is only requesting Orange County to take care of a small percentage of the asylum seekers who have arrived in the city at no cost to the county.

Rockland County is another municipality in New York that has filed a lawsuit against the city, claiming that Adams' plan to bus migrants to a hotel there violates the city's legal power. A court has already issued a temporary restraining order prohibiting the city from transporting migrants to a hotel in Rockland County.

See Also: Migrant Crisis: 60,000 Migrants Waiting Near US-Mexico Border as Biden Administration Faces New Hurdles

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William Blair Investment Management LLC decreased its holdings in SM Energy (NYSE:SM  Get Rating) by 3.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,015,776 shares of the energy companys stock after selling 38,304 shares during the quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC owned 0.83% of SM Energy worth $35,379,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. BlackRock Inc. boosted its stake in SM Energy by 3.4% during the third quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 20,286,857 shares of the energy companys stock valued at $762,988,000 after buying an additional 676,547 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in SM Energy by 1.5% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,111,503 shares of the energy companys stock valued at $568,344,000 after buying an additional 224,029 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in SM Energy by 13.7% during the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,002,705 shares of the energy companys stock valued at $272,755,000 after buying an additional 842,589 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in SM Energy by 35.4% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 3,249,967 shares of the energy companys stock valued at $126,586,000 after buying an additional 849,019 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in SM Energy by 88.5% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,229,142 shares of the energy companys stock valued at $86,825,000 after buying an additional 1,046,602 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.45% of the companys stock.

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Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. StockNews.com assumed coverage on SM Energy in a report on Thursday, March 16th. They set a hold rating for the company. Cowen downgraded 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. Susquehanna reduced their target price on SM Energy from $34.00 to $30.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 21st. TD Cowen downgraded 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, Cowen downgraded 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. One research 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $41.00.

SM Energy Stock Down 3.2 %

SM opened at $25.68 on Wednesday. SM Energy has a fifty-two week low of $24.66 and a fifty-two week high of $54.97. The business has a 50-day moving average of $27.80 and a 200-day moving average of $33.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 1.34 and a quick ratio of 1.34. The company has a market capitalization of $3.09 billion, a PE ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 4.40.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM  Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 28th. The energy company reported $1.33 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.14. SM Energy had a return on equity of 28.22% and a net margin of 41.07%. The company had revenue of $573.51 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $559.37 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.98 EPS. The businesss quarterly revenue was down 33.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that SM Energy will post 5.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

SM Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 21st were issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 20th. SM Energys dividend payout ratio is 5.89%.

Insider Buying and Selling at SM Energy

In other SM Energy news, CEO Herbert S. Vogel bought 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 15th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $25.63 per share, with a total value of $25,630.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 406,063 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $10,407,394.69. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders have acquired 3,000 shares of company stock valued at $86,460 in the last 90 days. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

SM Energy Company Profile

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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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Solaria Energia y Medio Ambiente (OTCMKTS:SEYMF  Get Rating) was downgraded by investment analysts at Societe Generale from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday, The Fly reports.

Solaria Energia y Medio Ambiente Stock Performance

Shares of SEYMF stock opened at $17.00 on Monday. Solaria Energia y Medio Ambiente has a twelve month low of $15.25 and a twelve month high of $21.68. The businesss 50 day moving average is $18.64 and its two-hundred day moving average is $18.12.

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About Solaria Energia y Medio Ambiente

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Solaria Energia y Medio Ambiente, SA engages in the solar photovoltaic power generation business. The company owns, manages, and operates photovoltaic plants in Spain, Italy, Uruguay, and Greece. The company was incorporated in 2002 and is headquartered in Madrid, Spain.

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Shares of Springfield Properties Plc (LON:SPR  Get Rating) traded up 0.6% during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as GBX 89.90 ($1.13) and last traded at GBX 88 ($1.10). 6,728 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 93% from the average session volume of 90,954 shares. The stock had previously closed at GBX 87.50 ($1.10).

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Peel Hunt reissued a hold rating and set a GBX 120 ($1.50) price target on shares of Springfield Properties in a research note on Tuesday, February 21st.

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Springfield Properties Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 4.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 64.84. The stock has a market cap of 104.28 million, a P/E ratio of 628.57 and a beta of 1.24. The firms fifty day moving average price is GBX 82.65 and its 200-day moving average price is GBX 85.54.

Insider Transactions at Springfield Properties

About Springfield Properties

In other news, insider Innes Smith sold 12,978 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of GBX 77 ($0.96), for a total value of 9,993.06 ($12,517.93). In other news, insider Innes Smith sold 12,978 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of GBX 77 ($0.96), for a total value of 9,993.06 ($12,517.93). Also, insider Roger Eddie sold 22,170 shares of Springfield Properties stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of GBX 80 ($1.00), for a total transaction of 17,736 ($22,217.21). Company insiders own 44.99% of the companys stock.

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Springfield Properties Plc, together with its subsidiary, engages in the house building business in the United Kingdom. The company operates in Private Housing and Affordable markets. It is also involved in hiring plants and machineries, property development, buying and selling real estate and residential property, manufacturing timber kit, and management services.

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China Hongqiao Group (OTCMKTS:CHHQF  Get Rating) was downgraded by analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group from a buy rating to a sell rating in a note issued to investors on Wednesday, The Fly reports.

Separately, HSBC upgraded shares of China Hongqiao Group from a reduce rating to a buy rating in a report on Monday, January 30th.

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China Hongqiao Group Price Performance

CHHQF stock opened at $1.00 on Wednesday. China Hongqiao Group has a 52-week low of $0.93 and a 52-week high of $1.03. The companys 50-day moving average price is $0.96.

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A hacking group dubbed OilAlpha with suspected ties to Yemen's Houthi movement has been linked to a cyber espionage campaign targeting development, humanitarian, media, and non-governmental organizations in the Arabian peninsula.

"OilAlpha used encrypted chat messengers like WhatsApp to launch social engineering attacks against its targets," cybersecurity company Recorded Future said in a technical report published Tuesday.

"It has also used URL link shorteners. Per victimology assessment, it appears a majority of the targeted entities were Arabic-language speakers and operated Android devices."

OilAlpha is the new cryptonym given by Recorded Future to two overlapping clusters previously tracked by the company under the names TAG-41 and TAG-62 since April 2022. TAG-XX (short for Threat Activity Group) is the temporary moniker assigned to emerging threat groups.

The assessment that the adversary is acting in the interest of the Houthi movement is based on the fact that the infrastructure used in the attacks is almost exclusively associated with Public Telecommunication Corporation (PTC), a Yemeni telecom service provider subjected to Houthi's control.

That having said, the persistent use of PTC assets doesn't exclude the possibility of a compromise by an unknown third-party. Recorded Future, however, noted that it did not find any evidence to back up this line of reasoning.

Another factor is the use of malicious Android-based applications to likely surveil delegates associated with Saudi Arabian government-led negotiations. These apps mimicked entities tied to the Saudi Arabian government and a humanitarian organization in the U.A.E.

The attack chains commence with potential targets  political representatives, media personalities, and journalists  receiving the APK files directly from WhatsApp accounts using Saudi Arabian telephone numbers by masquerading the apps as belonging to UNICEF, NGOs, and other relief organizations.

The apps, for their part, act as a conduit to drop a remote access trojan called SpyNote (aka SpyMax) that comes with a plethora of features to capture sensitive information from infected devices.

UPCOMING WEBINAR Zero Trust + Deception: Learn How to Outsmart Attackers! Discover how Deception can detect advanced threats, stop lateral movement, and enhance your Zero Trust strategy. Join our insightful webinar! Save My Seat!

"OilAlpha's focus in targeting Android devices is not surprising due to the high saturation of Android devices in the Arabian Peninsula region," Recorded Future said.

The cybersecurity company said it also observed njRAT (aka Bladabindi) samples communicating with command-and-control (C2) servers associated with the group, indicating that it's simultaneously making use of desktop malware in its operations.

"OilAlpha launched its attacks at the behest of a sponsoring entity, namely Yemen's Houthis," it theorized. "OilAlpha could be directly affiliated to its sponsoring entity, or could also be operating like a contracting party."

"While OilAlpha's activity is pro-Houthi, there is insufficient evidence to suggest that Yemeni operatives are responsible for this threat activity. External threat actors like Lebanese or Iraqi Hezbollah, or even Iranian operators supporting the IRGC, may have led this threat activity."
The Justice Department today unsealed two indictments charging a Russian national and resident with using three different ransomware variants to attack numerous victims throughout the United States, including law enforcement agencies in Washington, D.C. and New Jersey, as well as victims in healthcare and other sectors nationwide.

According to the indictment obtained in the District of New Jersey, from at least as early as 2020, Mikhail Pavlovich Matveev, aka Wazawaka, aka m1x, aka Boriselcin, aka Uhodiransomwar, allegedly participated in conspiracies to deploy three ransomware variants.

These variants are known as LockBit, Babuk, and Hive, and Matveev transmitted ransom demands in connection with each. The perpetrators behind each of these variants, including Matveev, have allegedly used these types of ransomware to attack thousands of victims in the United States and around the world.

These victims include law enforcement and other government agencies, hospitals, and schools. Total ransom demands allegedly made by the members of these three global ransomware campaigns to their victims amount to as much as $400 million, while total victim ransom payments amount to as much as $200 million.

READ NEXT: Massachusetts Man Indicted for Acting as an Illegal Agent of the People's Republic of China

"From his home base in Russia, Matveev allegedly used multiple ransomware variants to attack critical infrastructure around the world, including hospitals, government agencies, and victims in other sectors," said Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite, Jr. of the Justice Department's Criminal Division. "These international crimes demand a coordinated response. We will not relent in imposing consequences on the most egregious actors in the cybercrime ecosystem."

On or about June 25, 2020, Matveev and his LockBit coconspirators allegedly deployed LockBit ransomware against a law enforcement agency in Passaic County, New Jersey.

Additionally, on or about May 27, 2022, Matveev and his Hive coconspirators allegedly deployed Hive against a nonprofit behavioral healthcare organization headquartered in Mercer County, New Jersey. On April 26, 2021, Matveev and his Babuk coconspirators allegedly deployed Babuk against the Metropolitan Police Department in Washington, D.C.

"From Russia and hiding behind multiple aliases, Matveev is alleged to have used these ransomware strains to encrypt and hold hostage for ransom the data of numerous victims, including hospitals, schools, nonprofits, and law enforcement agencies, like the Metropolitan Police Department in Washington, D.C.," said U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger for the District of New Jersey.

"Thanks to the extraordinary investigative work of prosecutors from my office and our FBI partners, Matveev no longer hides in the shadows - we have publicly identified his criminal acts and charged him with multiple federal crimes. Let today's charges be a reminder to cybercriminals everywhere - my office is devoted to combatting cybercrime and will spare no resources in bringing to justice those who use ransomware attacks to target victims."

According to the indictment obtained in the District of Columbia, between April 21, 2021, and May 9, 2021, Matveev allegedly participated in conspiracies to deploy Babuk and to transmit a ransom demand. Specifically, on April 26, 2021, Matveev and his Babuk co-conspirators allegedly deployed Babuk ransomware against the Metropolitan Police Department in Washington, D.C., and then threatened to disclose sensitive information to the public unless a payment was made.

"Data theft and extortion attempts by ransomware groups are corrosive, cynical attacks on key institutions and the good people behind them as they go about their business and serve the public," said U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves for the District of Columbia.

"Whether these criminals target law enforcement, other government agencies, or private companies like health care providers, we will use every tool at our disposal to prosecute and punish such offenses. Thanks to exceptional work by our partners here, we identified and charged this culprit."

"The FBI is steadfast in our commitment to disrupting cybercriminals like Matveev," said Assistant Director Bryan Vorndran of the FBI's Cyber Division. "The FBI will continue to impose costs on cyber adversaries through our joint collaboration with our private sector and international partners, and we will not tolerate these criminal acts against American citizens."

The LockBit ransomware variant first appeared around January 2020. LockBit actors have executed over 1,400 attacks against victims in the United States and around the world, issuing over $100 million in ransom demands and receiving over $75 million in ransom payments.

The Babuk ransomware variant first appeared around December 2020. Babuk actors executed over 65 attacks against victims in the United States and around the world, issuing over $49 million in ransom demands and receiving as much as $13 million in ransom payments.

Since June 2021, the Hive ransomware group has targeted more than 1,400 victims around the world and received as much as $120 million in ransom payments.

The LockBit, Babuk, and Hive ransomware variants operated in the same general manner: first, the ransomware actors would identify and unlawfully access vulnerable computer systems, sometimes through their own hacking, or by purchasing stolen access credentials from others.

Second, the actors would deploy the ransomware variant within the victim computer system, allowing the actors to encrypt and steal data thereon.

Next, the actors would send a ransom note to the victim demanding a payment in exchange for decrypting the victim's data or refraining from sharing it publicly.

Finally, the ransomware actors would negotiate a ransom amount with each victim willing to pay. If a victim did not pay, ransomware actors would often post that victim's data on a public website, often called a data leak site.

Matveev is charged with conspiring to transmit ransom demands, conspiring to damage protected computers, and intentionally damaging protected computers. If convicted, he faces over 20 years in prison.

The FBI Newark Field Office's Cyber Crimes Task Force is investigating the case with valuable assistance from the Jersey City Police Department, New Jersey State Police, Newark IRS Criminal Investigation, and international partners from European Cyber Crime Centre of Europol, National Police Agency of Japan, Gendarmerie Nationale Cyberspace Command of France, National Crime Agency and South West Regional Organized Crime Unit of the United Kingdom, Kantonspolizei Zurich of Switzerland, High-Tech Crime Unit of the Dutch Police Services Agency of the Netherlands, Bundeskriminalamt and Landeskriminalamt of Germany, Mossos d'Esquadra Police Department of Spain, Norwegian Police Service of Norway, and Swedish Police Authority of Sweden.

Trial Attorneys Jessica C. Peck, Benjamin Proctor, and Jorge Gonzalez of the Criminal Division's Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section (CCIPS); Assistant U.S. Attorneys Andrew M. Trombly and David E. Malagold for the District of New Jersey's Cybercrime Unit in Newark; and Assistant U.S. Attorney Elizabeth Aloi for the District of Columbia's Fraud, Public Corruption, and Civil Rights Section are prosecuting the case.

The FBI Tampa Field Office and Orlando Resident Agency, along with Assistant U.S. Attorney Chauncey Bratt for the Middle District of Florida and CCIPS Trial Attorneys Christen Gallagher and Alison Zitron, made critical contributions to the case. The FBI Washington Field Office and Metropolitan Police Department also provided valuable assistance.

The Justice Department's Office of International Affairs and National Security Division also provided significant assistance.

Victims of LockBit, Babuk, or Hive ransomware should contact their local FBI field office for further information. For additional information on ransomware, including the LockBit, Babuk, and Hive variants, please visit StopRansomware.gov.

Additionally, the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) today announced that it is designating the defendant for his role in launching ransomware attacks against U.S. law enforcement, businesses, and critical infrastructure.

Finally, the Department of State has also announced an award of up to $10 million for information that leads to the arrest and/or conviction of this defendant. Information that may be eligible for this award can be submitted at tips.fbi.gov or RewardsForJustice.net.

Congress established the Transnational Organized Crime Rewards Program in 2013 to support law enforcement efforts to dismantle transnational criminal organizations and bring their leaders and members to justice. The Department of State's Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs manages the program in coordination with other U.S. federal agencies.

An indictment is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

READ MORE: Readout of President Biden's Meeting with Congressional Leadership on Preventing Default

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Ongoing

Art exhibit featuring work by local artist Casey Hansen, through May 26, Grand Island Public Library, 1124 W. Second St. Library hours: 1 to 5 p.m. Sunday, 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday and Tuesday, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday and 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday; 308-385-5333.

Wednesday, May 17

A Perk and a Prayer, 7 to 9 a.m., free drive-thru coffee, First-Faith United Methodist Church parking lot, 4190 W. Capital Ave., Grand Island (weather permitting); 308-384-5620.

Bingo, 1 p.m., Grand Generation Center, 304 E. Third St., Grand Island; 308-385-5308.

Thursday, May 18

The String Beans, a family-friendly concert for kids, traditional and contemporary bluegrass, 7 p.m., College Park. Presented as part of the Grand Island Music Series, this concert is free but seating is limited; call 308-850-3307 or email gims@artsincorporated.org to reserve a seat.

Spring Barn Festival, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday, and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday, 3045 S. Marian Road, Hastings (take 281 south of Hastings, turn west on Prairie Lake Road). More than 70 vendors, indoors and out, featuring food, home decor, crafts, clothing, food trucks, and more. Free shuttle bus runs from the Adams County Fairgrounds every 15-20 minutes. Admission is $5 per day, four-day pass is $10; www.barnfestival.com

Tabithas Closet, free clothing giveaway, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., Stolley Park Church of Christ, 2822 W. Stolley Park Road, Grand Island. Clothing donations accepted; no housewares; 308-384-2613.

Bingo, 7 p.m., United Veterans Club, 1914 W. Capital, Grand Island. Doors open at 6; open to the public; 308-381-1555.

Friday, May 19

Nebraska Volunteer Fire School, through Sunday, Fonner Park.

Coloring with Pastor Kelly, 2 p.m., the Chocolate Bar, 116 W. Third St., Grand Island. Adult coloring get-together led by the Rev. Kelly Karges of Trinity United Methodist Church most Friday afternoons; 308-382-1952.

Saturday, May 20

Live Horse Racing, last day, Fonner Park.

Classic Car Show, to benefit Childrens Hospital, hosted by Sams Club and Chef Anthony, noon to 3 p.m., Sams Club parking lot, 1510 N. Diers Ave. Registration starts at 10 a.m., entry fee is $20. Event also includes oldies music, food, raffles and more.

Ride for Woody Poker Run, Armed Forces Day event to benefit local veterans, Sams Club parking lot, 1510 N. Diers Ave. Registration starts at 10 a.m.; kickstands up at 11. Route includes stops in Ravenna, Gibbon and Doniphan, then back to Grand Island; $20 per hand, $30 per couple.

Bicycle Ride for Veterans, Armed Forces Day event to benefit local veterans, Northridge Church, 3025 Independence Ave. Registration starts at 8:45 a.m., ride begins at 9:30.; 20 mile route includes a stop in Cairo. Entry fee is $25 per rider; helmets and waivers required.

Family Saturday: Birding Hike, 1 to 3 p.m., Crane Trust Nature & Visitor Center, 9324 Alda Road (just south of the I-80 interchange at Alda). Event includes a brief bird-watching lesson and a trail walk; best for kids 5-15 with their grown-ups, dress for the weather. Free, but donations appreciated; Amy Sandeen, 308-382-1820.

Guided bird outing, hosted by Rowe Sanctuary in observance of Nebraska Bird Month, 9 to 10:30 a.m., Cottonmill Park, Kearney (meet in the parking lot facing the swim beach). Binoculars and field guides available to borrow. Free; suitable for all ages and abilities; rowe.audubon.org/events Nebraska Volunteer Fire School, through Sunday, Fonner Park.

Stolley Park Railroad, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, Grand Island. Tickets are $3.50 for anyone age 3 and older; children age 2 and younger ride for free with a paying adult. Punch cards and group rates available. All dates and times are weather permitting; 308-389-0290.

Sunday, May 21

Heartland Lutheran High School graduation, 2 p.m., 3900 W. Husker Highway.

Fast & Furriest, event featuring cars and dogs to benefit the Good Life Rescue, 11 a.m., 1420 Ada St. Car show starts at 11 a.m., dogs (available for adoption) arrive at noon; trophies presented at 3 p.m. Event also includes food trucks, bounce house, raffles and silent auction items and more. Car show information: 308-381-4313.

Tosca Lee, author visit, 4 p.m., Grand Island Public Library, 1124 W. Second St. Lee will discuss her new World War II novel, The Long March Home, co-written with Marcus Brotherton; 308-385-5333.

Bingo, 2 p.m., United Veterans Club, 1914 W. Capital, Grand Island. Doors open at 1; open to the public; 308-381-1555.
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The appearance of a B-29 Superfortress, one of only two B-29s still flying, will highlight the 2023 Nebraska State Fly-in and Air Show June 3 at Central Nebraska Regional Airport.

The B-29, nicknamed "Doc," is based in Wichita, Kansas. People will be able to tour and ride in the rare World War II bomber. Tours will also be given of a Chinook helicopter.

The Nebraska State Patrol will have a helicopter on hand, and airport Executive Director Mike Olson hopes to have some World War II vintage aircraft at the event.

The air show will feature eight aerobatic acts that are "guaranteed to thrill," says the poster for the event.

This will be the first air show at Grand Island's airport in more than 30 years.

Olson said planning the event is "fun and exciting, and hopefully we'll have a big crowd out here, if the weather will cooperate for us."

He expects up to 15,000 people to come through the gates, in addition to 80 to 100 pilots flying in from other communities.

The event is sanctioned by the Nebraska Aviation Council.

Admission to the event is free, although free-will donations are accepted.

To purchase tickets for the B-29, visit www.b29doc.com. The cost to ride in the plane ranges from $600 to $1,500 per seat.

The Nebraska Aviation Council reminded Olson four years ago that Grand Island hasn't hosted the Nebraska State Fly-in for a while. After agreeing to host the 2023 fly-in, Olson and other organizers took it a step further, making it an air show as well.

A news release says spectators will enjoy the "fast-flying acrobatics" of Doug Roth, Brian Correll, Bob Freeman, Susan Dacy, Erik Edgren, Bob Richards, Jeff Shetterly and the Vanguard Squadron.

The ethanol-powered aircraft in the Vanguard Squadron will do formation flying, with smoke trailing behind the planes.

The event will include static aircraft displays and vendor booths.

Olson has fielded calls from Texans asking about the air show. "So the word's getting out," he said.

People are encouraged to bring their lawn chairs. But outside food and drink are prohibited. There will be a dozen food trucks on hand. "We will have plenty of food and drink," Olson said.

He encourages attendees to hop aboard shuttle buses leaving from Central Community College and Grand Island Senior High.

Parking near the airport will be difficult. A farm field west of the terminal will be available for parking, but rainfall could play havoc with that field.

The event is sponsored by Levander's Body Shop and Tom Dinsdale Automotive.
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CARBONDALE  When we think of trauma, we think of car accidents, shootings and horrible injuries. Dr. Roy Danks, the trauma medical director at SIH Memorial Hospital of Carbondale, said we often dont give thought to one of the leading causes of trauma: falls.

Falls as we age are much more common and are one of the most common entry patterns that we see in our trauma center here in Carbondale, Danks said.

On Tuesday, Danks gave a slideshow presentation to members of Second Act, a free membership program sponsored by SIH for adults 50 and older, regarding falls, particularly falls in the older population. They talked about who falls, how to prevent falls and what to do if witness a fall or fall yourself.

Memorial Hospital treats about 500 patients per year for injuries sustained in falls by all ages.

As people age, they want to continue living in their homes. After a fall, it is necessary to look at the home for problem areas like loose rugs, steps and stairs, pets and traffic flow through the house.

Sometimes a simple change in the placement of furniture can make a big difference.

Danks said one fall increases the probability of another fall.

Once a fall occurs, its important to take action. First, determine if an injury has occurred. If an injury is suspected, Danks said calling 9-1-1 is the quickest way to get a trained professional on the scene to assess injuries and prepare your home to avoid any additional injuries.

He said it is good for older people to carry their phones with them, so they can get help when they need it. They can also wear a commercial device with a button that calls for help.

May is Trauma Awareness Month, the perfect time to learn about these incidents.

We recognize the month of May by highlighting injuries not only from falls but all types of motorcycle crashes, not using seat belts, all types of injury patterns that we see on a daily basis in the trauma center. So this is a perfect month to come and speak to the group about falls in particular, Danks said.

Injuries from falls often fall into two categories; head injuries and hip fractures.

"In 2021 at MHC, we took care of 134 hip fractures, and most of those were in the eighth decade. Our average age was just a little over 85, Danks said. We also see head injuries more commonly as people are living longer and having other medical conditions. Many patients are placed on blood thinners for a variety of reasons. That increases the risk of having complications as a result of the injuries.

He added that the Centers for Disease Control considers the older population to be anyone 65 or older.

In 2020, more than 400,000 falls in people over the age of 65 occurred in Illinois.

Of the 134 falls treated at SIH in 2021, most falls were from ground level or lower (like from a chair). Only nine of those were from ladders, steps or stairs. Most patients spent five days in the hospital.

Danks said 95% of hip fractures are from ground level falls.

Broken ribs is a common injury that results from falling. Danks said every broken rib increases the chance of dying by 20%.

You dont die of broken bones, but what happens after the break, Danks said.

Aging also increases the chance of a brain injury. Danks explained that as we age, our brains shrink. That process stretches blood vessels in the brain, making them easier to damage.

The best way to avoid injury is to avoid falls. Here are a few tips to help:

Assess your medication. Know the side effects.

Do strength and balance exercises.

Have your eyes checked.

Make your home safer.

For more information about Second Act, visit sih.net.
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CARBONDALE  Children learn and express themselves in myriad ways, but traditional education often stifles them, according to education professors at Southern Illinois University Carbondale.

We believe strongly that children can problem-solve, often with very little help from adults and have a creative ability to find the value in most anything, said Melissa Viernow, director of the Child Development Laboratories. A pebble, piece of wire or chunk of clay can bring about the richest of dialogue and an opportunity to represent knowledge in a hundred different ways.

Viernow said her philosophy coincides with Loris Malaguzzis theory that children learn in 100 languages.

Through scholarships, an upcoming conference, classroom grants and more, SIUs School of Education is introducing to the region a unique way of learning, said Christie McIntyre, director of Teacher Education Programs. The Reggio Emilia Approach, inspired by educators in Reggio Emilia, Italy, is all about giving children the opportunity to grow, explore, learn and tell their stories in ways that work for them.

The university received a two-year Early Childhood Access Consortium for Equity (ECACE) state grant for $937,000 to accomplish this mission by:

Providing scholarships of $31,000 per year to early childhood majors (birth through second grade).

Hosting a special three-day Rooted in Play conference in June that early childhood educators or educators in training may attend for a nominal fee.

Offering grants of up to $6,000 for 20 conference attendees to use for early childhood classroom supplies.

We want to help bring early childhood educators into the workforce to help ease the teacher shortage and provide educators with the information, tools and experience to effectively teach children in the ways they learn best, said McIntyre.

How does it work?

The Reggio Emilia Approach was conceived shortly after World War II as the rebuilding of Italy began and officials determined schools would be a top priority, McIntyre said. And more recent studies have shown that early childhood is a critical time for learning, including language skills and higher cognitive functions.

This is a holistic method of education that encompasses all of those ways children learn and demonstrate what they know, McIntyre said. The community invests in the children, and their education isnt bound by the walls of the school building. Learning is an extension of the childrens inquiries.

This approach has been used at SIUs Child Development Lab for decades, but now the goal is to facilitate use by others. McIntyre recently nabbed the last spot at the Reggio Emilia international conference, joining 405 other educators from 27 countries in an immersive study of the concepts, contents and values used in the citys municipal infant, toddler and preschool educational program. She said arts and creativity figure strongly in the program, as it does in the SIU CDL.

We have prided ourselves on encouraging and supporting child-led inquiry, while sharing the Reggio Emilia principle that all children are capable and competent, said Viernow, also coordinator for Southern Region Early Childhood programs and senior lecturer. They are a valued part of the school and campus community.

Following a heavy rain, for example, you might find children exploring the outdoor mud kitchen with cups and funnels to dig holes, scoop water as they learn about the effects of weather on their environment. In conjunction with a nature project, the children used the resources of their campus community and visited SIU campus greenhouses as they learned all about plants through diverse experiences, including touching a Mimosa pudica (touch-me-not) plant to observe its response. They planted and harvested vegetables at the lab, too, experiencing soil between their fingers and the taste of tiny tomatoes fresh off the vine.

In addition, the children create art in special ways, whether painting on canvas with mud to replicating the reflections of trees on glass. Building concepts come alive as they use sections of tree bark, sticks, pinecones, gumballs, tree slices and a variety of leaves to construct their own trees. They use resources, such as books, to support their learning and apply real concepts to their work in early childhood classrooms. The children are able to construct their own learning when they are seen as competent, treated with respect, and give the opportunity to engage their bodies and brains in learning, according to their teachers.

The children have minds of researchers, and we encourage that, McIntyre said. Their questions guide their explorations. They document their learning in all kinds of ways, including with cameras, journals and art.

McIntyre said a quote by Ayla Arseven, researcher and Sivas Cumhuriyet University faculty member, sums it up: Children growing up according to the Reggio Emilia Approach become individuals with high self-confidence, improved personalities, improved production level who are acting in solidarity.

Amanda Sullivan, CDL lead toddler teacher, agreed. As a classroom teacher, I see real differences when we trust children to show us what they need. I strive to honor the children's interests and development and have found that when I follow their lead and tune in to what they are showing and telling me, there are fewer behavior challenges and stronger relationships.

Learn what its all about

Anyone who is already working as an early childhood educator or anyone training to do so can discover what Rooted in Play is all about and how to implement it by joining the June 1 to 3 conference at Touch of Nature Outdoor Education Center, about eight miles south of Carbondale off Giant City Road. Featuring numerous acclaimed guest speakers, the event cost is $30 for all three days or $10 for Saturday only.

Were pleased to offer professional development support for early childhood educators, McIntyre said, noting that plans are to host the conference annually. The conference is a wonderful opportunity for these educators to connect with us and one another and share with them best practices that are used in SIUs Child Development Laboratories, practices they can aspire to.

People can sign up to participate in the experiential Rooted in Play: The Power of Place conference through May 19. Find the complete program and details about the conference online.

We are beyond excited about this conference, Viernow said. The information that is going to be shared at the conference will inspire us all to remember why we chose this path, and how we, as early childhood educators are helping children to connect with themselves, each other and their environment.

Theres a special bonus for those who attend all three days. They can apply for one of 20 competitive awards to help fund supplies to implement or enhance place-based classrooms. The awards are $6,000 each.

In addition, conference participants can receive continuing education units.

SIU scholarships available

Anyone who has previous or current experience in early childhood education can also apply for an ECACE scholarship through the Illinois Student Assistance Commission, good for up to $31,000 annually through June 2024.

SIU is also working with community colleges and other universities in the state to streamline the degree process for these students. That includes having navigators to assist students at the community college level and mentors at SIU. The curriculum and transitions are also streamlined to help aspiring educators enter early childhood classrooms as quickly as possible with the best preparation.

McIntyre noted that SIUs Teacher Education Programs offer a variety of pathways to degrees, including:

Dual credit programs allowing students to earn dual college/high school credits thereby completing their degrees sooner.

The Grow Your Own program to help nontraditional students train for high-need teaching positions serving rural and minority classrooms.

The Saluki Teacher Residency Partnership featuring a shorter but more intense teacher preparation experience including a yearlong teacher residency.

SIU and the School of Education also offer a variety of other scholarships, student organizations and programs, including working with area feeder high schools and their students.
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COLUMBIA  Xerxes, a subsidiary of Shawcor Ltd., on Wednesday announced plans to establish its first South Carolina operations in Richland County. The company will create approximately 80 new jobs.

Shawcor Ltd., the parent company of Xerxes, will expand its composite systems segment production capabilities in the United States, with an additional production facility for its Xerxes business. Xerxes manufactures market-leading, fiberglass-reinforced plastic underground storage tanks, primarily used within the retail fuel, storm water and wastewater markets.

Shawcor Ltd. is a growth-oriented, global material sciences company serving the infrastructure, energy and transportation markets. The company operates through a network of fixed and mobile manufacturing and service facilities. Its three business segments  composite systems, automotive and industrial, and pipeline and pipe services  enable responsible renewal and enhancement of critical infrastructure while lowering risk and environmental impact.

Located at 141 Hobart Road in Blythewood, Xerxes plans to lease a new production facility that will expand the companys capability to deliver market-leading underground fuel and water storage tanks.

The facility will be populated in a phased manner. It is expected to be operational by the end of 2024 and to approach normalized levels of production in 2026. Individuals interested in joining the Xerxes team should visit the companys contact page.

Our new Xerxes facility will bring 80 jobs to Blythewood while positioning us closer to our U.S. customer base and expanding our ability to serve the eastern-U.S. market with underground storage tanks, Shawcor Ltd. Composite Systems segment President Martin Perez said.

South Carolina is proud to welcome Xerxes as they join our thriving business community. Their decision to establish operations in Richland County and generate 80 new jobs serve as yet another victory for our state," Gov. Henry McMaster said.
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Orangeburg

Department

of Public Safety

Four people were injured as patrons fled a nightclub around 1:30 a.m. Saturday, according to a police incident report.

An officer heard shots at The Palms as he was patrolling the area due to previous incidents. The club is located at 1359 Grove Park Circle.

He then saw people running out of the club.

The bartender told officers that a fight occurred in the corner near the pool tables.

The officer claimed the club smelled like marijuana.

A woman told the officer a friend was outside with a knot on her head.

Orangeburg County EMS arrived and treated the injured woman at the scene.

A woman and two men received treatment at MUSC-Orangeburg for minor injuries they received after theyd gotten trampled trying to exit the club, the report said.

In other reports:

 A Clarendon Street woman reported hearing gunshots outside of her home between 2 a.m. and 3 a.m. on Friday.

She saw a bullet hole in her cabinet.

Officers werent able to find the bullet.

Later that afternoon, she called officers to let them know she found the bullet in the spice rack.

No one was physically injured during the shooting.

 Someone stole a catalytic converter from a 1990 red Ford F-250 parked at Xpress Travel Center, located at 1935 Old Edisto Drive on Friday.

The catalytic converter is valued at $325.
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The Orangeburg County School District (OCSD) is excited to announce an upcoming Construction Job Fair to be held on May 17 from 5:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Orangeburg County Library Convention Center.

The event serves as an opportunity for construction professionals -- including brick masons, work-site cleaners, plumbers, electricians and welders -- to connect directly with construction managers from firms such as MB Kahn, Contract Construction and Thompson Turner.

The job fair is a key initiative following the OCSD's successful passage of a $190 million bond referendum. These funds will be used for a range of major construction projects in the district, including the development of new school buildings and other vital additions. The job fair aims to strengthen ties with local workers and invite them to play an active role in these upcoming construction ventures.

"We call on our community to show up and seize this unique opportunity. This is a critical step towards nurturing local talent and ensuring our projects benefit from the skills and dedication of our local workforce. Let's build our children's future together," said Greg Twitty, procurement coordinator for the Orangeburg County School District.

Rhe Orangeburg County Library Convention Center is located at 1643 Russell St., Orangeburg, SC 29118.

For more information, contact Greg Twitty, 803-534-5454 x 80126.
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South Carolina State University will receive $750,000 to rehabilitate Wilkinson Hall, U.S. Congressman James E. Clyburn announced Tuesday.

Clyburn announced the National Park Service is providing a total of $3 million to help preserve and restore historically Black colleges and universities in South Carolina.

The funding will support four projects that will focus on repairing historic structures on the campuses.

The S.C. State money will go toward the Wilkinson Hall Pathway to Full Rehabilitation project, phase IV.

In addition to S.C. State, the following projects will receive funding:

Benedict College  $750,00 for the Morgan Hall Preservation Extension Project, phase III

Benedict College  $750,000 for the rehabilitation of Antisdel Chapel

Allen University  $750,000 for The Coppin Hall Preservation Project

NPS awarded $9.7 million total for 14 projects in 10 states as part of the Historic Preservation Funds Historically Black Colleges and Universities grant program.

South Carolina received 30% of the allocated funding and was the only state to receive funding for multiple projects.

I am pleased to see another round of essential funding coming to South Carolinas HBCUs, Clyburn said. I applaud the National Park Service for supporting these preservation and rehabilitation projects. This continued support will help future generations remember the legacy of HBCUs.

Congress appropriated funding for the Historically Black Colleges and Universities Grant Program in FY2022 through the Historic Preservation Fund. Clyburn has long supported program, having successfully passed legislation to authorize it in 2003 and 2019.
China, New Zealand ready to promote military relations: defense spokesperson

Xinhua) 13:24, May 17, 2023

BEIJING, May 16 (Xinhua) -- The militaries of China and New Zealand expressed their willingness to further promote relations under new circumstances during a recent strategic dialogue, a Chinese defense spokesperson said on Tuesday.

Tan Kefei, spokesperson for the Ministry of National Defense, made the remarks in response to an inquiry about the 11th strategic dialogue between the Chinese and New Zealand militaries held in China's northwestern city of Xi'an on May 10.

He said the two sides held "candid, in-depth and friendly discussions on the regional security situation and issues of common concern."

They also exchanged views on nuclear submarine cooperation between the United States, Britain and Australia, as well as views on maritime and airspace security, Tan said.

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun)
In April, the number of people visiting Japan reached a record high since the pandemic began. This was due to China easing its travel restrictions, allowing more visitors to travel for both business and leisure purposes. The number of foreign visitors increased from 1.82 million in March to 1.95 million last month.

Compared to April 2019, before the pandemic travel restrictions were put in place, there was still a 33% decrease in the number of arrivals. China imposed restrictions on outbound travel during the pandemic, which resulted in a significant decrease in the number of visitors.

However, China eased these restrictions last month, allowing more visitors to travel. In 2019, there were a record 9.5 million Chinese visitors to Japan, making up a third of all visitors. However, due to a shortage of flights, it may take some time for the tourism industry to fully recover.

In April, the number of Chinese visitors to Japan increased by 43% compared to March, reaching a total of 108,300 people. However, this is still significantly lower than the number of Chinese tourists who visited Japan in 2019.

The number of tourists has been increasing consistently since Japan allowed visa-free travel for several countries in October. They had also stopped conducting COVID tests for Chinese travelers before their arrival on April 5 and eliminated all remaining infection control measures on May 8.

Due to the pandemic, tourism in Japan was severely affected for over two years until it slowly started to reopen in June 2022. At the same time, the value of the yen compared to the euro and U.S. dollar has significantly decreased, resulting in travel to Japan being the most affordable it has been in years.

Read also: Virgin Orbit Bankruptcy Threatens Japan's Ambitious Space Plans

The Boom of Japanese Tourism

The increase in Chinese tourists is just one example of the recent boom in Japanese tourism. The country is known for its rich cultural heritage, stunning natural scenery, and unique blend of traditional and modern attractions. Tourists can visit historic temples and shrines, enjoy world-renowned cuisine, shop in trendy neighborhoods, and experience cutting-edge technology.

(Photo: by YUICHI YAMAZAKI/AFP via Getty Images) People eat Japanese sweets dumplings at a sweet shop in Kamakura city of Kanagawa prefecture on May 3, 2023.

Japan is also increasingly popular with younger travelers drawn to its vibrant pop culture scene and unique fashion trends. The country has seen a surge in visitors from Southeast Asia, particularly Thailand, and Vietnam, as well as from North America and Europe.

Despite the pandemic, Japan is expected to continue to attract tourists in the coming years. The government has set a target of 60 million annual visitors by 2030 and is investing in infrastructure and marketing to achieve this goal. With its diverse attractions and growing popularity, Japan is becoming an increasingly popular destination for travelers from around the world.

Related article: Japan Approves $13.5 Billion Casino Resort, Paving Way for New Era of Gaming, Tourism

@ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
(TBTCO) - Bo Nong nghiep va Phat trien nong thon va Ngan hang Nong nghiep va Phat trien Nong thon Viet Nam (Agribank) vua chinh thuc ky ket thoa thuan hop tac. Su kien nay se la tien e e tang cuong hon nua su phoi hop chat che giua Agribank voi Bo Nong nghiep va Phat trien nong thon cung huong en hien thuc hoa cac chu truong, chinh sach cua ang, Nha nuoc ve phat trien nong nghiep, nong dan, nong thon en nam 2030, tam nhin en nam 2045.
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Almost two months have passed since the Bureau of Land Management announced its sweeping proposal known as the Public Lands Rule  an attempt by the agency to respond to the escalating effects of climate change and make it easier to protect vulnerable landscapes. But Wyomingites on all sides of the issue are still wrapping their heads around what, exactly, it could mean for the state.

But one thing the bureau wants to change is attracting a lot of attention: As written, the Public Lands Rule would allow lands to be leased not only for uses like drilling and grazing, but also for conservation. Wyomings top elected officials and a number of industry members have declared the measure an illegal attack on ranching and oil and gas development in the state.

The oil and gas industry is worried that the agency will use conservation leasing as a way to block companies from accessing minerals located beneath federal lands, in violation of the multiple use mandate handed to it by Congress, said Ryan McConnaughey, vice president of the Petroleum Association of Wyoming.

U.S. Sens. John Barrasso and Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo., introduced a bill alongside a number of other Republican senators earlier this month that would prevent the BLM from adopting the proposed rule and implementing conservation leasing.

Nearly half of Wyomings lands are owned by the federal government, Barrasso emphasized in a statement at the time. The law has long recognized the value of managing much of that land for multiple use  including mineral development, grazing, recreation, and timber management, he said.

Conservation leasing, he added, would upend a system that is foundational to public land access and productivity and poses a threat to our Wyoming way of life and our economy.

The Biden administration insists it will do none of those things.

During a two-hour virtual presentation and Q&A on the Public Lands Rule, much of which focused on the prospect of conservation leasing, bureau Director Tracy Stone-Manning said the agency has no intention of prioritizing conservation over any other use but wants to make sure its valued equally.

If the BLM intends to fulfill its promise to the American people and to future generations, we need the tools to respond, Stone-Manning said. The proposed Public Lands Rule would provide us with some of those tools.

The agency will hold three in-person public meetings, in Denver, Albuquerque and Reno, followed by a second virtual meeting on June 5. The public comment period, one of the agencys longest in years for a proposed rule, will remain open until June 20.

Importantly, Stone-Manning said, It codifies conservation, which we define as restoration and protection, as a multiple use on the landscape. The bureau is confident the move complies with its legal obligations  and limitations  as an agency.

That assertion is likely to be tested. Both supporters and opponents of the proposed rule expect it to face legal challenges down the line. But despite the backlash from state leaders, the initiative has also won some local support.

It seems like the rule has the potential to do a lot of good in Wyoming, said Meghan Riley, public lands and wildlife advocate for the Wyoming Outdoor Council. She pointed to the widely agreed-upon need to safeguard winter range and migration corridors for mule deer and pronghorn antelope, both of which suffered heavy losses amid this years low temperatures and deep snow.

Habitat is the key to making sure that our big game persist and can maintain their numbers in the future, Riley said. And then, in addition, obviously, theres a lot of really just excellent sagebrush habitat on our BLM lands, especially in the southwestern part of the state.

Riley also noted that the agencys effort to recommit to its conservation mandate, without sacrificing its other responsibilities, seems to align with the views of Wyoming residents: 47% of Wyomingites say its more important to conserve public lands than maximize drilling and mining there, and 48% want drilling and mining prioritized, according to Colorado Colleges 2023 Conservation in the West poll.

Most of us in Wyoming cherish our public lands and abundant wildlife, she said. And I think finding ways to protect them as part of a multi-use landscape is a goal that a lot of us can get behind.
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Officials have confirmed that human remains found east of Worland belonged to an Idaho man who went missing in 2015.

On Tuesday, two people found a human skull while tending to cattle in the area off Blue Bank Road between Worland and Ten Sleep, the Washakie County Sheriffs Office and Worland Police Department announced in a joint statement.

Washakie County Coroner Jeff Lapp determined the remains belonged to Patrick Michael Combs, who was reported missing over seven years ago, the statement said.

Sheriff Austin T. Brookwell and a deputy met with the people who discovered the remains on Tuesday, the statement said. They, and one of their family members, brought officials to the location of the skull.

Once on scene, sheriffs office personnel started documenting the area.

There was a large number of human bones  all in one area  a few yards away from the skull, the statement said.

The people who found the skull and the additional family member volunteered their time to assist Brookwell and the deputy in locating all the other remains.

One of them located a wallet close by the scene, the statement said. The wallet had a drivers license that belonged to Combs. There was also another card in the wallet with the same name on it.

Due to the remoteness of the area, Brookwell asked the three civilians if they would help guide the other officials that were en route to the scene, the statement said.

The three individuals again volunteered their time and their UTVs to assist in getting the extra personnel into the location, the statement said.

Lapp then arrived on scene, and the remains were turned over to his custody, the statement said.

Officials have so far made the identification based solely off the contents of the wallet, the statement said. But they are certain the remains belong to Patrick Michael Combs. Lapp is expected to make additional confirmation in the coming days.

GPS data also shows Combs remains were found only 2.1 miles away from where his truck was abandoned years ago.

Investigators dont suspect foul play.

Combs was 38 years old when he was last seen. Almost two years after Combs was reported missing, his Mazda pickup was spotted well off the Blue Bank by a pilot flying over the area.

Over the years, multiple individuals and cadaver dog teams had searched the area but were never able to locate him, the statement said.

At the time, Washakie County Sheriff Steve Rakness said the truck looked like it has been there for some time, and it was unclear why the truck was in Wyoming, previous AP reporting shows.

The location of the truck, and subsequently the newly discovered remains, are about 400 miles, or about seven hours away, from Combs Idaho address.
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CASPER  A judge last week said he has plenty of things to chew on as he mulls a corner-crossing suit that alleges four hunters trespassed by passing through the air above a private ranch.

In response to an hour and 20 minutes of arguments at a motions hearing, Chief U.S. District Judge Scott Skavdahl said he must decide what rights belong to a landowner as he himself attempts to settle the legal claims.

The hearing marked the first instance conflicting arguments in the civil corner crossing case have been put under rigorous, public and legal scrutiny. Skavdahl questioned whether there is a genuine issue of material fact that should be settled by a trial. Attorneys for Elk Mountain Ranch owner Fred Eshelman and the Missouri hunters have each requested that he instead make a summary judgment in their favor.

Rather than immediately rule, he promised a decision on the summary-judgment requests soon in the case that otherwise is scheduled to go to trial in June.

The civil case could establish whether corner crossing  stepping from one piece of public land to another at the four-corner intersection with two pieces of private property, all without setting foot on private land, is permissible. The case has implications for 8.3 million corner-locked acres in the West where federal railroad land grants in the 1800s left a checkerboard pattern of land ownership.

Eshelman believes we should have control over who crosses the private land, including the air above, he has said in a deposition. The hunters believe passing through the airspace is not trespassing and that a federal law prevents Eshelman from blocking them from public property.

Skavdahl probed the conflicting reasoning behind claims made over the last year by the two sides.

If corner crossing is illegal, he asked, does that mean the public cant access public land blocked by the ranch? Does Eshelman believe the right to exclude others from some 6,000 acres of public land corner-locked by his 22,045-acre Elk Mountain Ranch is worth $7.5 million?

Did two fence posts on Eshelman property  chained together across a common corner with public land  constitute an obstruction prohibited by federal law, the judge wondered. If corner-crossing is allowed, does that damage a property owner by diminishing the value of his or her land?

I believe the judge asked both parties some hard questions, Eshelmans attorney Greg Weisz said after the hearing.

Airspace

The Carbon County prosecutor charged the hunters with criminal trespass in 2021 but a jury found them not guilty last year. In an ongoing civil suit filed in 2022, Eshelman alleges three of the hunters trespassed through his airspace in 2020 and all four in 2021.

Eshelman doesnt just own the ground, ranch attorney Weisz told the judge, citing a common-law doctrine known as ad coelum. You own to the heavens, Weisz said.

Because the checkerboard corners come together in an infinitesimally small point, it is physically impossible [to corner cross] without physically invading the airspace, he said.

Skavdahl asked, Is the public land  no longer public? Can the public access the public land?

Weisz said the public can: by helicopter or plane.

The hunters attorneys Ryan Semerad and Lee Mickus maintain that the airspace above the common corners is, according to Wyoming law, vested in the several owners of the surface beneath. Passing through it is not trespassing, they say.

I dont think thats an artificial reading, Semerad said. If one views the law otherwise, then that statute doesnt mean what it says.

Skavdahl asked whether a landowner has a right to exclude others from his or her property, likening ownership to a bunch of sticks, each conveying a different right.

Exclusion, is that not part of the bundle of sticks? the judge asked. Are the hunters trying to take a stick?

The hunters are not using the law to make a claim or take anything from Eshelman.

Eshelman has no right to exclude others from public land, he said. Its never been part of their bundle of sticks.

Semerad referenced the federal Unlawful Inclosures Act of 1885 that hunters say bars Eshelman from blocking them from the public land at Elk Mountain Ranch. Without public access, Eshelman enjoys the benefit of the whole landscape  including public property  even though he only owns part of it, Semerad said.

At Elk Mountain Ranch, that amounts to a minimum of 6,000 acres, Semerad estimated. They do not want to allow access because they want to preserve a perceived monopoly of that public land, he said.

The Wyoming Constitution says no one shall have right and title to unappropriated lands, Semerad said. Wyoming law also says low-level flight is not a trespass unless it causes some kind of damage, he said.

Stepping across a corner cant be so far different from such low-level flight, Semerad said.

Unlawful Inclosures Act

The hunters say the UIA prohibits erecting physical barriers and using threats and intimidation to keep the public from accessing public land.

Two ranch fence posts chained together across one common corner, plus harassment by ranch manager Steve Grende, constitute obstructions, the hunters contend. Eshelmans lawsuit itself is a $7.5 million monumental obstruction, Semerad said.

This is not a case about the right to corner cross, he said. Instead its about freedom from unlawful interference with public access to public land.

Weisz said the hunters are attempting to use the UIA to create access. The federal law is instead intended to preserve access and is a tool for the U.S. attorney, not an instrument in civil litigation.

The fence posts, each of which held a no-trespassing sign, were erected to say to people stay off [Elk Mountain Ranch] property, Weisz said. Thats dramatically different from erecting an obstructing fence, Weisz said. Theyre not even close.

Those did not obstruct the defendants, Weisz said. The hunters swung themselves around the posts in 2020 and climbed over them using a homemade ladder in 2021.

Furthermore, ranch property manager Grende was able to pass between the posts, Weisz said, but a person with a pack full of gear could not.

Elk Mountain Ranch removed the chain, Skavdahl observed, about a week before the filing of this lawsuit.

Skavdahl quizzed Weisz about how Grende accosted the hunters on public land.

The reality is, if they are on public land [corner-locked by ranch property] my client has the right to assume they crossed private land, Weisz said.

Of the eight corners the hunters crossed, only the first one was flanked by posts and no trespassing signs. The hunters used the onX digital mapping program to find survey monuments marking the corners, then stepped across those monuments.

At one corner at least, the hunters went from federal to state or municipal property, Weisz said, places where the UIA does not apply.

$7.75 million

Eshelmans civil suit originally contended that the Missourians  Zach Smith, Bradly Cape, Phillip Yeomans and John Slowensky  devalued his property by $7.75 million or more by corner crossing.

Thats assuming every single corner is taken by the government, Weisz said.

Prohibiting corner crossing creates a premium value for the landowner, Semerad agreed. But he questioned whether thats justified or legal.

They want something they thought they had, he said. Theyre losing a premium that never should have been there.

The obstruction at common corners by whatever means, that whole scheme is a violation of the UIA, Semerad said. You cannot recover [damages] from your own violation.

Since he filed the suit, Eshelman, a North Carolina pharmaceutical millionaire, has said he would withdraw his damage claim if the judge finds the men trespassed and prohibits corner crossing at Elk Mountain.

Until recently the opposing sides agreed on the facts, meaning Skavdahl could make a summary judgment whether passing through airspace constituted trespass. But Eshelman last month alleged he had proof at least one hunter actually stepped on his property and identified that spot with a digital marker now labeled Waypoint 6.

Resolving that factual dispute could require a trial and a jurys verdict. The Waypoint 6 allegation arises from data attributed to hunter Smiths cell phone.

The hunters dispute that Waypoint 6 proves anything, saying it could have been set remotely, unlike other waypoints on public land they marked during their hunts. The Wyoming chapter of Backcountry Hunters and Anglers raised funds to ensure the hunters could have their day in court.
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How do we know when adults cant take care of themselves? And what responsibility does the state have to protect them from harm?

A task force of lawmakers and representatives of state agencies convened Friday to discuss ways to better support vulnerable adults in Wyoming. Think seniors, people with developmental disabilities or those intellectually impaired due to ongoing illnesses.

Were really talking about, across the board, people who, for whatever reason, have a difficult time meeting their basic needs, Department of Family Services Director Korin Schmidt, who sits on the panel, said during the meeting.

Wyoming will likely have more and more people who fall under this category going forward. The percentage of Wyoming residents age 65 and over is expected to surpass 20% of the states population by 2030, according to a report published by the Wyoming Economic Analysis Division last summer.

And most members of the task force were in agreement Friday that Wyoming needs to do more to help them. Many vulnerable adults arent getting the support they need right now, Schmidt said, because the state lacks a robust social safety net for them.

Services provided by Department of Family Services and other agencies usually focus on assisting abused and neglected minors, after all.

Thats not without good reason. Adults, of course, have a level of autonomy that children do not. Its hard for social services providers to distinguish between someone living in squalor because they cant take care of themselves (or are being neglected by caregivers), and someone whos living that way out of personal choice, for instance.

Because of that, the state just doesnt wield the same legal authority to assist vulnerable adults in the same way it assists children.

The question remains whether the task force can find a way to expand the definition of vulnerable adult to cover more people who truly need help without infringing upon the independence of those who dont.

Members of the task force and advocates who offered testimony on Friday tended to agree that the states current definition of vulnerable adult  which covers anyone over 18 whos unable to manage and take care of himself or his money, assets or property without assistance as a result of advanced age or physical or mental disability  is woefully vague.

The group is expected to revisit a proposed amendment to that language recommended by a similar task force assembled by former Gov. Matt Mead in 2017.

That panel floated changing the definition to include any adult who lacks the capacity to consent, or is unable to provide for their own care or protect themselves from abuse, neglect, exploitation, intimidation, abandonment or self neglect, due to a physical, emotional, developmental or mental disability, the effects of illness, injury or accident or residency in a nursing care or similarly facility.

While that proposal never received committee sponsorship, it was brought individually by Sen. Tara Nethercott, R-Cheyenne, during the 2018 legislative session.

It cleared the Senate but ultimately failed its third reading in the House. The proposed change proved highly divisive, and representatives couldnt settle on language everyone was happy with.

During the Friday meeting, task force members expressed interest in considering three additional draft bills related to vulnerable adults, including:

a bill that would mandate cross reporting between the Department of Family Services and law enforcement;

a proposal to create a civil cause of action for vulnerable adult abuse; and

an amendment expanding the time limit for emergency protective services from 72 hours to 14 days.

The task force indicated that Sen. Eric Barlow, R-Gillette, and Nethercott would work on revising the draft proposals with the Department of Family Services and the courts before everyone reconvenes in July.

We do want to flesh those out and see if we can start either putting the stamp of approval as is, or suggesting some amendments, task force co-chair Rep. Lloyd Larsen, R-Lander, said during the meeting.

Any policy recommendations made by the task force will be submitted to a standing legislative committee. Itll then be up to that committee to decide whether or not the panel wants to move forward with sponsoring those legislative proposals.
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Water is still for fighting in Wyoming.

The state and Bureau of Reclamation announced Tuesday that theyd reached a deal after weeks of negotiations to keep minimum water flows in the Snake River below Jackson Lake Dam.

This after the Wyoming Game and Fish Department announced in a press release last week that the bureau planned to cut flows from Jackson Lake to 50 cubic feet per second on the upper river. The state agency said a minimum of 280 cfs is needed to avoid killing fish in the stretch of water that runs through the scenic and much photographed Oxbow Bend section of Grand Teton National Park.

To ensure the fisheries survival, game and fish agreed to use its water allocation in the lake to keep the releases at 280 cfs. Initially, the agency said its 33,000 acre feet of water would run out before the Bureau of Reclamation planned to increase its flows. In the agreement announced Tuesday, the department said the bureau has decided to cover any shortfalls to maintain the minimum flows.

The 4.5-mile stretch of river below the dam is critical habitat for Snake River cutthroat trout, shore birds, wildlife and the bluehead sucker  a species of greatest conservation need, WGFD noted.

This stretch of river is iconic and a national treasure, said Wyoming Game and Fish Director Brian Nesvik in a statement. I appreciate the Bureau of Reclamations efforts to work with us to find solutions to address our concerns. We look forward to working together to examine water operations and ensure water flows are maintained year-long.

Why?

The Bureau of Reclamation wanted outflows from Jackson Lake cut to raise the water level in Jackson Lake while reducing inflows to Palisade Reservoir and other dam impoundments downstream. WGFD called the change in flows drastic and with extremely short notice.

The Snake River below the dam was designated a Wild and Scenic River in 2009. The conservation group American Rivers stepped into the fray, urging the Bureaus leadership to compromise.

I conveyed to the Bureau in no uncertain terms that the Snake River in Grand Teton National Park is a globally significant treasure, and reducing flows out of Jackson Lake Dam to a trickle when it should be at peak flood stage is totally unacceptable due to the profound negative ecological and economic impacts it would have, said Scott Bosse, Northern Rockies regional director of American Rivers. While the Bureau is maintaining flows at 280 cubic feet per second and has no immediate plans to reduce flows below that level, normal flood flows on that reach of the Snake River should be at least 10 times that level in order to sustain healthy fish and wildlife habitat. I appreciate that they listened to what I had to say, and they seem to understand the importance of the upper Snake River to Jackson Holes tourism-based economy.

Drought

In the summer of 2021, Jackson Lake hit a historically low water level as the bureau worked to meet downstream irrigation needs during an extended drought. As of Tuesday, the lake was filled to an elevation of 6,746 feet, about 36% of its total capacity. For much of 2021, the lake was 8 to 9 feet lower and last year hovered around 6,739 feet, or 7 feet lower.

Under the 1949 Snake River Compact, Wyoming only has rights to 4% of the rivers water while Idaho claims the other 96%.

The bureau gets stuck thinking about their irrigators, not Jackson, Bosse said. I reminded them the public in Jackson Hole is very concerned when they look up at all of the snow in the mountains and the Bureau says they have to cut flows to a bare minimum.

Atypical

A request to Grand Teton National Park for information on the Park Services stance regarding the water fight was referred to headquarters in Washington. Park Superintendent Chip Jenkins is quoted in game and fishs press release as praising the water deal.

We appreciate the State of Wyoming and the Bureau of Reclamations joint efforts to ensure minimum flows from Jackson Lake Dam to protect these resources and experiences.

According to the state agency, the bureau recommended cuts to flows out of Jackson Lake due to atypical snowpack conditions in the region and an effort to store water and reduce flood risks downstream. The agency said Palisades Reservoir, which is 58% full and the next impoundment downstream from Jackson Lake, is expected to reach flood management maximums soon.

The Snake Rivers flow at Moose, about 20 miles downstream from Jackson Lake, was 4,290 cfs. By the time the river reaches Alpine, just above Palisades Reservoir 70 miles downstream, the river was running at 5,970 cfs, demonstrating the amount of water that comes from sources other than Jackson Lake. Yet just below the lake about 5 miles, near Moran, the river was running at 285 cfs.

Managing water in the West in light of changing hydrology requires adapting to dynamic water conditions, Reclamation Regional Director Jennifer Carrington said in the WGFD press release. We appreciate our partners and remain committed to working with them on collaborative solutions as we attempt to balance the water needs of interests upstream and down.
ENERGY Minister Stuart Young yesterday met with Woodside Energy officials on the progress that has been made on the deep-water hydrocarbon Calypso Project.

Young held discussions with the Woodside Energy team which consisted of executive vice president international operations Shiva McMahon, president and country manager of Woodside Energy Trinidad and Tobago Juan Vazquez, project director Stacy Patrick, and corporate affairs manager Carla Noel-Mendez.
The US announced charges Tuesday, May 16, in five instances involving alleged attempts to steal technology for the advantage of China, Iran, and Russia. Among those charged is a former Apple engineer suspected of acquiring the company's tech on autonomous systems, such as self-driving vehicles, before escaping to China.

According to Reuters, theft of trade secrets and other forms of tech was at the root of the cases presented during a Justice Department news conference. US officials said procurement networks were established in two of the instances to aid Russia's armed forces and intelligence agencies in acquiring classified materials.

Although the investigations into the five incidents started before the US "strike force" was set up in February, it was the first to be disclosed.

Justice Department National Security Division Chief Matt Olsen assured the media that the government would be vigilant in its enforcement of the law to prevent the transfer of critical technology to foreign enemies.

He added, "We are committed to doing all we can to prevent these advanced tools from falling into the hands of foreign adversaries," ABC News reported.

How Did the Ex-Apple Worker Get Caught?

An indictment from April was released on Tuesday, naming the former Apple engineer as 35-year-old Weibao Wang. He had previously lived in Mountain View, California, and had been employed by Apple in 2016.

According to the accusation, he waited around four months after accepting a position in the US with a Chinese firm working on developing autonomous vehicles in 2017 before alerting Apple of his resignation.

After his final day at Apple, the corporation found out he had viewed confidential information in the days leading up to his departure, the Justice Department claimed. In June 2018, federal authorities reportedly searched his residence and discovered "large quantities" of data from Apple.

The man in question was said to have left for China shortly after the search concluded.

Six charges of theft or attempted theft of trade secrets have been filed against Wang. For each count, he may spend up to 10 years in jail and pay a $250,000 fine. CNBC said that would only happen if authorities could deport Wang from China.

See Also: ChatGPT Creator Sam Altman Testifies in Senate Hearing in Support of Regulations on AI Technologies

Other Technology Smuggling and Theft Cases

US authorities also charged Rancho Cucamonga resident and 64-year-old Liming Li with stealing trade secrets from his California employers to start a competitive firm in China.

New York prosecutors have accused Nikolaos "Nikos" Bogonikolos, 49, from Greece, of smuggling military technology from the US to Russia while working as a defense contractor for NATO.

Russian citizens Oleg Sergeyevich Patsulya and Vasilii Sergeyevich Besedin were indicted in Arizona for using their Florida-based corporation to transport airplane components to Russian airlines while the Commerce Department froze their export rights.

In addition, New York authorities charged 39-year-old Xiangjiang Qiao, also known as Joe Hansen, with using a Chinese firm under American sanctions to provide Iran with components for making nuclear weapons.

See Also: Google To Delete Inactive Accounts This 2023: Here's How to Avoid Gmail Deactivation

@ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Overwhelmed. Surreal. Thankful.

Those were the adjectives that came pouring out of crossover singer Coutain (Denzil Coutain) 48 hours before he hosts his debut solo concert.

Coutain is set to present the Kanvas Koncert tomorrow evening at Sound Forge, Christopher Samuel Drive, Mucurapo.
Vote the United National Congress (UNC) into office and get more matters like Piarco Airport, Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley has told citizens.

Though stating that Thursdays political meeting in San Fernando was not the launch of the Peoples National Movement (PNM) local government campaign, Rowley trained his guns on Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar and the UNC.
THE United States Supreme Court with its justices appointed for life is being portrayed as a divided group of jurists making them the butt of jokes worldwide.

These justices may very well focus without any bias on significant matters related to interpreting the law, on how a law should be applied or even its relevance in some instances.
The Tucson Musicians Museum started getting calls from local musicians in the days after its founder and beloved Tucson bluesman George Howard died in April.

Longtime bands whose names still resonate with Tucson music fans and artists just finding their way wanted to be part of any community memorial being planned. They didnt care what part they played; they just wanted to add their voices to the choir of folks mourning Howards passing.

On Sunday, May 21, more than a dozen acts, including a youth bluegrass band from Chandler, a pair of Grammy-nominated world musicians and one of Tucsons most popular and longest-running blues bands, will perform in the George Howard Celebration of Life memorial concert at the Hotel Congress Plaza, 311 E. Congress St.

I think (Howard) would have loved it, said Liz Walter, secretary of the TMM board of directors. Its the least we could do for him. Everybody loved him so much. I have been overwhelmed with the love and just the respect they had for George.

I think George would be happy, added Jim Travis, Howards friend of 20-plus years who helped organize Sundays event.

Howard, a regular on Tucson stages since the early 1980s, died of cancer on April 14. He was 72.

Sundays event, which was coordinated by Travis, TMM and the Southern Arizona Blues Heritage Foundation, will include performances by TuneSmith; Howards old band Mojo Zydeco Cannibals; Grammy-nominated world musicians R. Carlos Nakai and AmoChip Dabney; Tucsons legendary Bad News Blues and Neon Profit bands; and the blues band Black Cat Bones.

Also on the lineup: Tucson bass player and cellist/middle school music teacher Drew Nickles; the eight-piece horn-centric jazz/blues band The Coolers; the funk and soul band Soul Essential; blues bands Midnight Blue and Soaring Hawk; the rock band Znora; and the Chandler youth bluegrass band Jam Pak.
Tucson police are asking for help finding a gunman who shot a teen in the neck last month after an argument at a gas station on the city's south side.

The teen was in a car that left a gas station near West Valencia Road and the Interstate 19 frontage road April 28, following an argument with people in a beige SUV, police said in a news release.

Moments later near the I-19 overpass, the SUV pulled next to the car the teen was riding and a gunshot was fired into the vehicle. The teen was struck in the neck, police said.

The teen was treated for non-life-threatening injuries.

Police are hoping for help identifying the people in the SUV.

The driver is described as a heavy-set man in his 20s with curly hair. He wore a red shirt at the time of the shooting.

The passenger in the SUV was thin and had long hair.

The SUV is possibly a 2007-2015 Chevy Tahoe, Cadillac Escalade or other General Motors vehicle, police said. It has chrome rims and a quarter panel on its driver's side is black, police said.

Anyone with information is asked to call 88-CRIME, the anonymous tipster line.
In the event of a passenger or crew member's death or injury, Florida has enacted a statute safeguarding prominent owners of space companies from legal litigation. According to the legislation, before entering a spacecraft, passengers must sign a release indicating they are aware of the potential dangers involved.

In a Business Insider report, the measure provides that if a person is hurt or killed while participating in a spaceflight activity brought by a spaceflight company, the firm is not responsible under Florida law because of the inherent dangers associated with aerospace activities.

The law "has the potential to limit the cost of litigation to businesses engaging in spaceflight activities," according to a senate report. This means that companies like Elon Musk's SpaceX and Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin stand to benefit.

The Spaceflight Liability

Republican Senator Tom Wright, the legislation's author, told Florida Politics that the law was revised to account for "the evolution of spaceflight." The House and Senate unanimously approved the Spaceflight Entity Liability bill, sending it to Governor Ron DeSantis.

"Astronauts are no longer government astronauts. These are commercial crew," Republican Representative Tyler Sirois remarked at a March 9 hearing.

Space travel is still "an extraordinarily dangerous condition," according to the Senate's review of the new measure, and passengers should be aware of and prepared for potential risks before boarding a spacecraft.

According to the Florida Aerospace and Spaceport Development Authority, the space sector brings in $17.7 billion annually for the state's economy, giving Florida's legislators every reason to safeguard it.

Florida is home to both SpaceX and Blue Origin's principal launch sites. At a hearing on March 26, a lobbyist for SpaceX, Jeff Sharkey, spoke in favor of the measure.

The measure does not, however, relieve space businesses of all accountability. In the instance of gross negligence, where the firm either knew or should have known of potentially hazardous situations, or when the corporation intended to injure or kill a crew member, the company is still held accountable.

Mark Sundahl, director of Cleveland State University's Global Space Law Center, told Gizmodo in an email that the law would be hard to uphold in court, even in a scenario of carelessness.

He noted that the waiver is conditional on the existence of informed consent. If a passenger has no background in space travel, they may not be adequately "informed" of the dangers involved.

Also Read: James Webb Space Telescope Makes Rare Discovery of Water Surrounding Comet in Main Asteroid Belt

Space Tourism Boom

In response to a surge in private-sector space tourism, this law has been introduced. Many wealthy citizens are paying to ride rockets to travel to space.

Sundahl, quoted by Gizmodo, expressed concern that the estates of ultra-wealthy passengers would file large claims for hundreds of millions of dollars in lost income as a result of the passenger's premature death.

He warned that the industry "is still in its early days and such liability might stunt the industry."

Also Read: NASA's Lunar Flashlight Mission Comes to an End

@ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Tucson voters have rejected a new Tucson Electric Power Co. franchise agreement with the city that included a fee to help fund the underground installation of a major transmission line through midtown as well as funding future climate-action programs, early results show.

Proposition 412 would have raised the TEP bills of city residents an average of about $1 a month through a new fee community resilience fee while keeping the current franchise fee.

Prop. 412 was losing 55 percent to 45 percent, with 129 of 144 precincts reporting, preliminary results from the city clerks office Tuesday night showed.

It said 62,796 total votes were cast.

Within an hour of the initial election results, TEP said in a prepared statement it was disappointed voters defeated Prop. 412, as it offered a collaborative response to important energy-related issues.

In the near term, TEP will resume development of a new 138-kilovolt transmission line to serve growing energy needs in central Tucson, in consultation with area residents and stakeholders to identify the best route for the line, TEP spokesman Joe Barrios said Tuesday night.

The company says it will restart its review of potential routes for the project through central Tucson. Because the line is urgently needed to maintain reliable service, we will seek to complete it by the summer of 2027  the same timeline we hoped to achieve if Prop 412 had passed, the company said, adding that more details will be provided soon to area residents.

Final results are expected by Monday, and the Mayor and Council are scheduled to canvass the election results at their meeting on May 23, according to City Clerk Suzanne Mesich.

The new 25-year franchise agreement was backed by TEP, city leaders and neighborhood activists as a way to fund underground installation of a proposed high-voltage transmission line running from South Kino Parkway and East 36th St. to West Grant Road and Interstate 10.

Residents of historic neighborhoods said the overhead lines and poles up to 110 feet tall would ruin views and destroy property values, while city officials said TEPs plan would violate ordinances that ban overhead power lines in Tucsons designated scenic and gateway corridors.

TEP has said undergrounding the project would be too expensive  some 13 times the cost of overhead lines or about $60 million to bury six miles of the line  and it opposed seeking funding through an increase in its state-regulated rates.

With the expiration of TEPs city franchise agreement approaching in 2026, city leaders negotiated a new agreement with TEP that includes a new fee mainly to fund the cost of undergrounding the transmission line over the first 10 years and allowing for some proceeds to be used for the citys climate-mitigation initiatives.

TEP said the new line is urgently needed to boost capacity to keep up with load growth along the route, which runs astride the University of Arizona campus into the midtown area.

The new franchise agreement was backed by TEP, Mayor Regina Romero and most of the city council, along with the Tucson Metro Chamber, the Southern Arizona Leadership Council and Sun Corridor Inc.

Other supporters included the Sam Hughes Neighborhood Association; and the steering committee of the Underground Coalition, which includes about a dozen neighborhood associations, according to Yes on 412, a city-registered political action committee backed by TEP shareholder funding.

But Prop. 412 faced criticism from different opponents for varying reasons.

Council member Steve Kozachik said he favored putting the measure on the ballot but TEP should commit some of its own money to help Tucson further its climate goals, instead of simply relying on fees from ratepayers.

The Pima County Republican Party said it opposed any funding of the citys climate-change action measures, while some environmental activists contended the proposed new franchise agreement didnt go far enough to prompt TEP to move faster to carbon-free renewable energy.

The only apparent organized opposition to the franchise agreement was a group called Prop 412 facts, created by the Phoenix-based Strong Communities Foundation of Arizona, a nonprofit voter education organization espousing conservative, free-market values.

Other opponents said TEP shareholders should pick up at least part of the extra costs of undergrounding the new transmission line.

TEP initially filed for approval of the transmission line route with the state Power Plant and Transmission Line Siting Committee in August 2021. The committee holds hearing and makes recommendations to the Arizona Corporation Commission whether to approve a plant site or line route.

But after drawing fire from city council members who said TEP was trying to ignore city ordinances, the company withdrew its application in February 2022 to allow more time for negotiations with the city.
Pima County is handling more than 1,400 migrants in its shelters daily, but has so far avoided releasing asylum seekers onto Tucson streets, the Board of Supervisors was told Tuesday.

Casa Alitas, the main provider of short-term shelter for migrants in the region, had 1,474 asylum seekers in its care on Tuesday, according to the county. Some of the migrants may be moved to shelters in Maricopa County, however.

The number is an increase from the 1,300 people Casa Alitas reported in its shelters on Friday night, and doesnt include those housed in hotel rooms the city of Tucson is providing.

The daily counts of those seeking shelter in Pima County have more than tripled from the average 420 asylum seekers the county received each day the first week of May, according to county reports. The influx has come with the end of Title 42, the pandemic-era measure that allowed the federal government to expel some migrants from the country immediately that expired on May 11.

The federal government used an expedited procedure to process individuals in about 15 minutes by avoiding issuing migrants a notice to appear in court when Title 42 was first rescinded. The policy resulted in higher volumes of asylum seekers with less time to find transportation and shelter.

A court injunction issued by a federal judge in Florida on Thursday stopped Border Patrol from conducting the expedited releases for those who dont pose a risk to public safety. That means migrants stay in federal custody longer before being released to local shelters, but Border Patrol said in a statement the ruling will lead to unsafe overcrowding at its facilities.

I think its fair to say that everything was looking good until May 11 hit, and then by the 12th, we not only had the expedited processes, but we had, I think, an increase of individuals who had been unable to cross since 2020 who may be looking forward to come across at this point. I think everyone was a little bit underwater, Country Administrator Jan Lesher told supervisors Tuesday.

Lesher said the county received about 1,600 migrants on Friday, and the latest May 13 report from the countys Office of Emergency Management said the local shelter system still has not recovered from  mass release under the 15min expedited process. The daily releases placed Casa Alitas main shelter in overcapacity because they cannot process out faster than what is coming in, according to the report.

The county administrator said there was a situation in the very near past where buses from the Department of Emergency Management in Phoenix drove to the southern border, picked up migrants and dropped them off in Tucson. The county has since coordinated with Phoenix, Maricopa County and the state to ensure those picked up in Douglas, Naco and Nogales are taken to Phoenix for shelter, Lesher said.

We hope to transition into a mode in which we are only getting those individuals that the Tucson Sector of the Border Patrol drops in our community, she said.

The countys received nearly $29.5 million from the Federal Emergency Management Agencys Emergency Food and Shelter Program to provide aid to asylum seekers, and while staff previously estimated current funding would last through June, the county now estimates it will be able to provide aid through September.

Supervisor Steve Christy reiterated his opposition to the county engaging in federal border management operations and said, Once we started taking the money from the federal government, it became our problem.

Supervisor Adelita Grijalva agreed This is a federal issue, but said, When people are going to be street released into our Pima County community, it is our responsibility.

Supervisor Sharon Bronson said shes heard concerns from her District 3 constituents about a lack of communication among federal agencies. Lesher said the many moving components of the Department of Homeland Security do not necessarily communicate well, but the county is appealing to its federal delegation to address oversight issues with the department.

Representatives from Arizonas U.S. congressional delegation, the state legislature, Arizona border counties and Tucson are meeting daily to receive briefings on the situation at the border.
With the end of Title 42 on May 11, the pandemic-era measure that allowed the federal government to expel some migrants from the country immediately, theres been an influx of asylum seekers.

The city of Tucson and Pima County have contracted with area hotels to provide transitional housing for migrants as they purchase bus and plane tickets to their final destinations.
Rep. Juan Ciscomani has always struck me as steady and responsible.

He says he still is, and what hes doing now shows that.

Im not seeing it.

Ciscomani, the freshman Republican who represents much of the Tucson area as well as southeastern Arizona in the U.S. House, has gone along with the GOP plan to use the threat of debt default as a political lever. They want to force Democrats and President Joe Biden to accept spending cuts, or else.

Or else what? Economic catastrophe. We would all suffer. There would be global impacts.

Now, Ciscomani insists that he would never support a default.

We need to raise the debt ceiling limit, and we will do that, he told me Tuesday. And as we do that, its an opportunity to look at our spending, and limit where we can.

It isnt the first time the debt ceiling has been used as leverage. This occasional drama goes back at least to 2006 when George W. Bush was president, and Democrats used the debt ceiling as leverage to get concessions. Since then, its been a Republican tactic, not one that GOP congressmen use against Republican presidents though.

Spending, it seems, is only a crisis worthy of the threat of default when Democrats are in the White House.

When Donald Trump was president, Congress raised the debt limit three times, two of those times when Republicans were in control. Spending cuts were never a condition.

April 26, Ciscomani voted in favor of a bill called the Limit, Save, Grow Act that is the Republicans framework for cutting spending and raising the debt limit, although the debt limit would have to be revisited by March 31, 2024. As a condition for raising the debt limit, it would:

Require federal spending to be capped at $1.47 trillion in fiscal year 2024

Limit spending increases to just 1 % total in the subsequent fiscal years

Stop Bidens student-loan relief program, which forgives $10,000 to $20,000 in debt per person

Rescind increased spending on the IRS  a change that would actually raise the deficit by $120 billion, according to the Congressional Budget Office.

Since the plan is so short on details and open to interpretation, Democrats have taken the opportunity to interpret it for voters.

Theyve labeled it the Default on America Act and alleged that it would threaten medical care for veterans, worsen wait times for Social Security and Medicare decisions, deny treatment for opioid addicts and make other drastic changes.

A poll by the Democratic group House Majority Forward put a recent question in a push poll this way:

Representative Ciscomani voted for a bill that would cut Medicaid, ending care for 21 million who count on it, especially disabled kids and seniors in nursing homes. Do you strongly agree, somewhat agree, somewhat disagree or strongly disagree with this bill?

This is probably an unfair reading of the bill, as it doesnt expressly do this at all. But really its pointless to get bogged down in the details.

The point is that nobody should use the threat of defaulting on our debt and crashing the economy as leverage to win a political battle, even one over spending. These are, after all, debts weve already accrued.

We should move past the era of debt-ceiling drama and simply pay our bills, as we did for decades.

Now, Ciscomani says that the bill is part of a negotiation. Its the Republicans giving the Democrats something to respond to.

We laid out a plan. Now its up to the president to negotiate, he said.

But this is the wrong context, in my view. Biden, too, has put out a plan  his proposed 2024 budget. It cuts $3 trillion from the deficit, cumulatively, over the next 10 years.

That compares to a possible $4.8 trillion savings over 10 years in the Republicans bill.

This sounds like grounds for negotiation  in budget talks, not a situation where the country is being held hostage and threatened with economic collapse.

Maybe that would be justified if we were in a specific emergency. I asked Ciscomani what the emergency is at this moment that required using this leverage. He pointed to the fact that the national debt is almost $32 trillion and said if we dont start reducing spending now, drastic cuts will be necessary in just a few years.

Its our responsibility to make these decisions now, he said. Quite frankly, were late.

While the total national debt is growing and needs to be dealt with, our deficit is shrinking. The annual deficit rose to $3.1 trillion in 2020, Trumps last year and the opening year of the pandemic, but was down to $1.4 trillion last year and appears to be dropping further.

Ciscomanis use of the debt limit as a lever could come back to bite him in next years election, his first re-election effort. Democrat Kirsten Engel, who he defeated in the 2020 election, is watching closely.

It is fundamentally irresponsible to threaten to tank the economy in order to get your way in budget negotiations, she told me Tuesday. It is the responsibility of Congress to work out a budget. Part of that process is also tackling a deficit.

Thats the steady, responsible way to proceed. Have a budget negotiation  dont use threats of disaster to get your way.
PHOENIX  For generations, Indigenous people have suffered the loss of missing and murdered loved ones, an issue that is difficult to solve given incomplete data and a lack of collaboration among tribal and governmental entities.

Murder is the third-leading cause of death among American Indian and Alaska Native women, according to a 2018 Urban Indian Health Institute report. And the report said Tucson was one of the cities with the highest number of cases of missing and murdered women and girls.

Violence against Indigenous people exceeds national averages, and according to the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Community advocates describe the crisis as a legacy of generations of government policies of forced removal, land seizures and violence inflicted on Native peoples.

In an effort to make progress on solving this issue, Gov. Katie Hobbs in March created an Arizona Missing and Murdered Indigenous People Task Force.

Over the past few decades, Arizona has seen a dramatic uptick in the number of missing and murdered Indigenous people, said Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes, who is on the task force.

You have multiple jurisdictions who have authority to act on crime on tribal lands: the federal government, the state government, sometimes tribal courts and tribal police, Mayes said, noting it will take collaboration to solve the issue.

Because of the jurisdictional issues, it is not uncommon for cases to get lost in the system, Mayes said. We need to shine a bright light on this problem, so these cases get solved and these women and these people do not get forgotten, she said.

Captain Paul Etnire with the Arizona Department of Public Safety is also on the task force. He agreed that the jurisdictional issue is one of the many challenges blocking a solution. However, he believes this is a 500-year-old issue that is now becoming more noticeable because of new technology like social media.

It is kind of disheartening if you look at it, just the injustice within Indian Country, the inequities of justice being applied, Etnire said.

Etnire, who is Hopi and grew up on the Hopi Reservation, said it was not uncommon there to not know where someone was.

It wasnt uncommon to say, Wheres this person at, or theyre lost, and theyll come back, theyll show up a month or two weeks from now, Etnire said. The expectation from family members that the missing person would show back up caused reluctance to involve police, he said.

Etnire said the way to help is by getting more hands involved, and thats what the Arizona Missing and Murdered Indigenous People Task Force intends to do through collaboration.

Arizona is not the first state to implement such a task force  other states include Washington.

The Washington State Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and People Task Force began meeting over a year ago and has found some success, said Annie Forsman-Adams, a policy analyst for the Washington State Attorney Generals Office who is on the task force.

Last year, Washington established the first missing Indigenous persons alert system in the nation, Forsman-Adams said. The alert system, which functions similar to Amber Alerts sent to peoples phones, has been activated dozens of times now.

I think weve had close to 40 reports, and we have found people, we have found people that maybe may not have been found, Forsman-Adams said.

The Urban Indian Health Institute report said that while there were 5,712 reports of missing Indigenous women and girls to the FBIs National Crime Information Center in 2016, just 116 of those cases were reported in NamUs, the Justice Departments National Missing and Unidentified Persons System. The institute decided to focus its study on cases of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls in urban areas in an attempt to find out why obtaining data on this violence is so difficult and how police and media are handling the issue.

The institute report identified 506 cases of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls in urban areas between 1943 and 2018, but noted that number is likely an undercount.

Of 71 cities surveyed by the institute, Seattle had the highest recorded number of cases in the nation, with 45; Tucson was fourth with 31 cases. The report said of the 29 states where data was collected, New Mexico had the highest with 78, Washington State followed with 71, and Arizona had the third highest, with 54 cases.

Anna Bean, who is a Puyallup Tribal Council Member and on the Washington task force, said since the task force was created, she has seen more progress than in previous years.

Some might find it slow work, but we have to make sure that were measuring twice and cutting once because this involves actual lives, Bean said.

Bean said once she became aware of what she called an epidemic of missing and murdered Indigenous men, women and children, she could not walk away. I feel deeply affected by this. These are our relatives. I know somebody whos been affected, and so for them I carry this work so that they dont have to carry it alone, she said.

Bean said to get closer to a solution, it is important to involve as many people in task force operations as possible.

However, one big issue facing all of the task forces is the lack of accurate data, Etnire said. Theres not a lot of data thats out there. So do we truly know the whole scope? I dont believe so, he said.

Mayes is optimistic. She said the Arizona task force will help bring the many jurisdictions together so that they can begin to coordinate, talk about solutions and take action as a team.
PHOENIX  Their work isnt done. But state lawmakers are on break, again, this time until June 12.

House Speaker Ben Toma, R-Peoria, said not all of the 31 Republicans can be at the Capitol until that date. Even the loss of one would undermine efforts to advance the GOP policy agenda, unless they can attract Democrats in the 60-member chamber.

The time away may provide an opportunity to negotiate and resolve some major issues that have so far defied resolution, ranging from whether to take some zoning powers away from cities, amid claims that will produce more affordable housing; to deciding whether Maricopa County residents will get to vote on extending a half-cent sales tax for transit issues another 20 years.

Closely linked to that is the possibility that Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs, a supporter of the Maricopa County sales tax measure, Proposition 400, might be willing to sign legislation curbing the ability of cities and towns to force landlords to pay local sales taxes on residential rentals.

Hobbs had vetoed such a plan earlier this year as unfair, saying there was no guarantee tenants would reap the benefits through lower rents.

But the governor, asked about it earlier this week, said only, Im not going to go into specifics of how were negotiating on that bill.

Tamales, vetoes and more

Theres at least one other issue lawmakers hope to resolve before they finally pack up and end their 2023 session: tamales.

That goes to the question of under what circumstances people should be allowed to cook foods at home and sell them directly to the public.

Hobbs vetoed a popular bill  it passed by huge bipartisan majorities  insisting that it did not protect public health. But she has yet to say what changes would be necessary to get her to reconsider.

The decision to recess came after the House approved and sent to Hobbs more than 90 bills on Monday, the last day it had those 31 GOP votes present.

Many of these were part of the partisan agenda, ranging from parental and student rights, such as whether schools should only address students by pronouns associated with their genders at birth; to other social and culture issues, such as regulating drag shows.

Many of these are likely to provide an opportunity for Hobbs to boost her veto tally, already at 72 by the end of the day Tuesday.

Zoning and housing

One of the biggest issues to be resolved is the tension between affordable housing and zoning.

Home prices and rents have skyrocketed in much of Arizona. Developers have argued regulation is at least part of the reason.

Partly thats a procedural issue, like the amount of time and the number of steps it takes to get permits.

But the bigger question falls into the category of whether communities, through zoning, are making housing less affordable. Issues range from how many homes can be placed on a lot of a given size to how much off-street parking must be provided.

One proposal would forbid cities from preventing homeowners from adding accessory dwelling units to their properties that can be rented out.

Another would require cities to allow construction of new low-income housing up to 80 feet tall, near light rail stations.

Municipal lobbyists argue zoning is a quintessentially local function determined by public officials after getting input from area residents about what they want their communities to look like. But that, in turn, has led to claims of NIMBY-ism  the idea that certain housing is fine, just not in my back yard.

Hobbs hasnt weighed in on overriding local zoning in the name of driving down mortgage payments and rents, instead focusing on the money she got in the state budget to help not only the homeless but also to finance low-income housing projects. Her press aide, Christian Slater, said Hobbs believes that increasing housing supply up and down the cost scale is helpful for lowering housing costs for everybody.

Light rail costs

Then theres Proposition 400.

State law allows county residents to decide whether to impose a sales tax to finance local transportation improvements. These can involve everything from road repair to freeway construction. But there also are elements of mass transit, including buses and light rail.

Only Maricopa County has to get legislative permission for each 20-year election. And without such a go-ahead, the half-cent levy, and the programs it pays for, will expire at the end of 2025.

This problem could have been solved last year when lawmakers gave the go-ahead. But Doug Ducey, governor at the time, vetoed the measure as a tax hike, although all it would have done is allowed residents to make the decision themselves.

Now, a newly reconstituted Legislature includes more foes of mass transit. They say they wont support a new vote unless elements are sharply curtailed.

Most controversial is light rail with its high construction costs.

The initial 20 miles in Maricopa County had a price tag of about $70 million per mile. The Free Enterprise Club, which lobbies against light rail, pegs the cost of an extension being built in South Phoenix at $245 million per mile.

Some lawmakers say their support for a 20-year extension is conditional on no new light rail, a measure that would halt expansion.

Hobbs said she wants the issue resolved.

That, however, goes to the question of whether she might be able to persuade some Republicans to go along if they can get something else they want: Elimination of residential sales taxes.

In February, Hobbs vetoed such a bill, saying it suffers from defects like the lack of any enforcement mechanism to ensure that landlords, who are the ones who remit the tax to the cities, would pass along the savings to their tenants.

Toma said he believes a new version approved by the House earlier this week may be more acceptable to Hobbs and provide the basis for a deal.

Home-cooked food sales

That still leaves unresolved for now what has been called the tamale bill, vetoed by Hobbs as not providing sufficient protections for buyers from potential food-borne illnesses from home-cooked foods.

The bill did have some safeguards, ranging from requirements for home cooks to register and get some training, to label foods with their ingredient, and to disclose to buyers that the food was made in someones kitchen. But Hobbs has so far refused to say what changes would make the bill acceptable to her.
PHOENIX  Arizona is the victim of massive fraud in its health-care program, Gov. Katie Hobbs and Attorney General Kris Mayes said Tuesday, and they blamed their Republican predecessors for ignoring it.

The scheme involves sober living homes signing up Native Americans, often on the streets, with promise of treatment, the Democratic governor and attorney general, who took office in January, said at a news conference.

But they said when patients got to the homes there was no treatment and, according to Hobbs, some had to escape out of windows and jump over fences in the middle of the night just to access a phone to reach the outside world.

Hobbs said the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System, the states Medicaid program, was billed for the services.

Mayes said scammers used the names of Native Americans  some who were dead  to bill for services never provided.

This, the two contend, occurred because AHCCCS, under the direction of an appointee of former Gov. Doug Ducey, and the Attorney Generals Office run previously by Mark Brnovich, failed to adequately address the problems.

This is what you get when you have a governor who didnt care about governing, Mayes said.

Rebuttal by former officials

That drew sharp replies from a spokesman for Ducey and from Brnovich.

The investigations revealed today had been underway for several years, well before the current occupants took office, said Daniel Scarpinato, who was Duceys chief of staff.

He pointed out that even Mayes acknowledged there were more than 40 prosecutions and $75 million recovered during the past three years  long before Hobbs and Mayes took office in January.

Scarpinato called the Democrats news conference grandstanding.

Brnovich had a similar reaction. Our office prosecuted a record amount of health-care fraud cases, he said. Its sad that the governor and current attorney general are more focused on scoring partisan political points instead of protecting Arizonans.

But Mayes said the prosecutions of the past amounted to a whack-a-mole approach of going after individual fraudsters but never recognizing, or addressing, how to prevent the problem.

The alleged schemes

Each case of fraudulent claims cited by Hobbs and Mayes involved care for Native Americans.

Most of the more than 2.4 million residents enrolled are in health-care plans paid through a flat fee of federal and state dollars for all care.

But under federal law, services to Native Americans are provided on a fee-for-service basis. Mayes said that makes it attractive for sober living homes to seek out and sign them up for care.

Mayes said thats only part of the scam.

They simply purchased lists of names and dates of birth of people and used those to bill AHCCCS, she said.

There even were cases where the state was billed for services she said were impossible to render, such as 13 hours a day of alcohol rehab services for a 4-year-old for whom they had the childs AHCCCS identification card.

This poor child was not in one of the facilities and did not need alcohol rehabilitation, Mayes said.

She said there were similar billings, like $1 million for treating a woman and her children over the course of a year.

There also were services for patients who were dead, in jail, or clearly not in Arizona at the time.

Estimate: Hundreds of millions lost

Most of this went undetected and unprosecuted, Mayes said, despite what she said were complaints registered by investigators for AHCCCS and within the office she inherited from Brnovich.

This never should have been allowed to happen, she said.

Mayes estimated that in the past three years hundreds of millions of dollars were lost due to fraud. But she declined to put a specific figure on it.

I wish I could be more specific about that, Mayes said. I dont think it is too much to say this is one of the biggest scandals in the history of the state of Arizona when it comes to our government.

The previous administrations were asleep at the switch, asleep at the wheel, Mayes said. The Ducey administration was, at best, negligent while they allowed scam artists and fraudsters to take advantage of the antiquated, outdated systems and incompetent management of AHCCCS.

She said Brnovich did not provide leadership for his staff  now her staff  to pursue the issue.

He and Gov. Ducey should have done what Gov. Hobbs and I are doing today: taking aggressive action to shut down the money supply to these fraudulent actors and working to ensure that we root out fraud and abuse in our states Medicaid program, Mayes said.

Carmen Heredia, tapped by Hobbs to head AHCCCS, said the first part of that now is occurring.

We have suspended payments to approximately 100 Medicaid providers based on credible allegations of fraud, the first step of whats required under federal law, she said.

It is suspicious

Mayes said alarms should have been going off in the AHCCCS administration under the direction at the time of a Ducey appointee.

In 2019, she said, $53.5 million was billed to AHCCCS under the code of outpatient behavioral health services. That more than doubled to $132.6 million the following year, went to $291 million in 2021, and hit $668 million in the 2022 fiscal year.

I cant stand here and tell you how much of that growth represents fraud, Mayes said. But our agents will tell you, that is extraordinary growth. It is unusual, it is suspicious.

Mayes made it clear there were some efforts to pursue the problem before she took office in January. In fact, she was the one who acknowledged that more than 40 people were indicted in the past three years and the state has recovered $75 million.

But the problem, she said, is that no one in either AHCCCS or the Attorney Generals Office undertook a systemic review.

She and Hobbs claimed failure starts at the top.

Mayes said prosecutors and investigators in what is now her office have been screaming from the rooftops for some time now, trying to get the leadership of the Attorney Generals Office and the leadership of AHCCCS to shut down the money as a way to address the problem. Similar alarms were being raised by investigators in AHCCCS, she said.

Instead, she said, Brnovich and AHCCCS went after individual offenders as they were found. All that did, Mayes said, is result in those people simply forming a new corporate entity to go back in business.

You cant prosecute your way out of this problem, she said.
PHOENIX  Arizonans wont be able to bring guns legally onto college campuses, Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs said Tuesday.

She vetoed legislation crafted by Rep. Rachel Jones, R-Tucson, to bar public universities or colleges from adopting any rules prohibiting someone with a permit to carry a concealed weapon from bringing the gun onto campus. The legislation also would have allowed those with CCW permits to store their weapons on campuses.

Hobbs, in her veto message, said allowing weapons to be carried or stored on campus could lead to greater anxiety among students, staff and faculty.

It may also lead to increased risk on campus and other unintended consequences, she wrote. We cannot set a precedent that allows guns on campus.

Hobbs rejected five other bills Tuesday, bringing her tally so far this year to 72.

Jones told colleagues during hearings that the campus guns bill was simply an extension of the Second Amendment and its wording that the right of people to be armed shall not be infringed.

These college campuses are funded by the state, are funded by the taxpayers, she said, calling it unacceptable to me that people cannot bring their weapons onto those campuses. Jones said law-abiding citizens who are armed can thwart shootings by criminals.

Election machines

Also vetoed Tuesday was legislation saying machines cannot be used to conduct elections unless 100% of the parts and components are produced in the United States and the machines themselves are manufactured and assembled in this country.

This bill could create a situation where Arizonas election administrators are no longer able to procure certifiable voting and tabulating equipment, Hobbs wrote. It should be clear how catastrophic that would be for the successful administration of elections in Arizona.

The measure was opposed by many lawmakers who argued there are currently no such devices on the market.

That was not disputed by Rep. Steve Montenegro, R-Goodyear, who said this is a matter of national security. He said thats why the legislation was not set to take effect until 2028 and would not outlaw machines already in place.

Montenegro said he was convinced that manufacturers, facing the mandate, would find ways to comply.

Teachers Academy

Hobbs also declined to expand the Teachers Academy program that provides scholarships for prospective public school teachers to students attending private and religious colleges.

The program, created in 2017, provides one year of college tuition for students at public community colleges and universities in education programs in exchange for each year of teaching in an Arizona public school. Rep. Matt Gress, R-Phoenix, sought to expand that to all private colleges offering education degrees.

Hobbs said the big problem is money.

She noted there is $15 million put into the program each year, money that is quickly spoken for by education students at public universities, where theres a waiting list for the scholarships.
Abe Hamadeh in September 2022. Photo by Gage Skidmore (modified) | Flickr/CC BY-SA 2.0

Abraham Hamadehs third appeal to nullify the results of the race for Arizona attorney general he lost last year hinges on permission to inspect more ballots, which attorneys for his Democratic opponent say proves that his claims continue to be evidence-free.

On Tuesday, Mohave County Superior Court Judge Lee Jantzen heard arguments on whether or not to grant Hamadeh another opportunity to challenge the results of the election he lost by just 280 votes. Attorneys for the failed Republican nominee argued that more than 1,000 thwarted votes tipped the outcome against him, but were unable to present more than speculation to the court. A decision on the cases future is expected in the coming weeks, though an exact date wasnt set.

A quick recap

The 2022 midterm elections, widely predicted to be a windfall for Republicans, instead resulted in narrow wins for several Democratic candidates. Democrat Kris Mayes captured the attorney generals office by a margin of just 511 votes.

GOP candidates immediately sought to overturn their losses in the courtroom, bolstered by mishaps on Election Day and conspiracy theories surrounding those mishaps. Issues with on-demand printers in Maricopa County caused tabulators to reject as many as 17,000 ballots, leading to confusion and claims of disenfranchisement as voters were asked to travel to other polling sites, submit their ballots for counting later, or fill in provisional ballots.

Hamadehs first lawsuit contesting his loss in late November was thrown out of court for ignoring the timelines of when challenges can be legally filed. A second attempt was thrown out in December for failing to meet the burden of proof. During that trial, Hamadehs attorneys lodged a bevy of complaints, including that widespread election worker misconduct and unfair election verification processes cost him the race. But with only 14 ballots submitted as dubious evidence following an examination of more than 2,000, Judge Jantzen was forced to dismiss the case.

After a statutorily mandated recount revealed poll worker errors in Pinal County to such an extent that Mayes lead shrunk to 280 votes, Hamadeh launched a third challenge, shifting the focus to undervotes and rejected provisional ballots.

Hamadehs request: Let us do more digging

Attorneys for Hamadeh excoriated Gov. Katie Hobbs  at the time the secretary of state  and Maricopa County election officials for what they perceived as concealing information. Hobbs, attorneys claimed, could have shared information from the recount while the trial was underway because it was relevant to the issues in the case, and a public records request submitted to Maricopa County for a list of provisional voters wasnt completed until after the trial had wrapped up.

When evidence or information is not revealed, it does violence to the interest of justice. It does violence to the truth function of the court, said attorney for Hamadeh, James Sabalos.

State law, however, directs the secretary of state to deliver the results of the recount to a judge, and only the judge may announce those results. That announcement was delayed until Dec. 29, just under a week after Hamadehs trial finished, due in part to one county needing more time to perform a post-recount audit.

Attorney Jennifer Wright, a frequent critic of Mayes who served under previous Attorney General Mark Brnovich, pointed to hundreds of written declarations from voters who alleged they were disenfranchised as proof that Hamadeh shouldve won the election. Wright also claimed that as many as 1,100 provisional ballots were erroneously rejected in Maricopa County alone, among them hundreds of voters who stated their registrations were incorrectly canceled and updated to reflect a separate property address in another county. Wright posited that changes made to ServiceArizona, the states department of transportation self-service website, and Arizonas voter registration database unintentionally complicated the process enough to disenfranchise voters across the state.

A similar viral claim from Hamadeh in March was debunked after it was reported that the veteran who alleged his registration was incorrectly moved to Navajo County was found to have simply agreed to update his registration after applying for an I.D. card in the county.

Wright speculated that because Election Day voters were overwhelmingly Republican, its likely that the majority of rejected provisional ballots would have been cast for Hamadeh by a large enough margin to change the outcome of the race in his favor. To prove those claims, Hamadehs attorneys requested a limited ballot inspection to make their case.

We assert by reason of erroneous vote counts, Kris Mayes, who was declared elected, did not in fact receive the highest number of votes for office of attorney general, Wright said.

Opponents responses: Judge should dismiss the fishing expedition

Alexis Danneman, representing Mayes, criticized Hamadehs legal team for failing to present any concrete evidence beyond written testimonials. Those testimonials arent facts, Danneman said, and estimates about vote counts arent either.

As we stand here today, more than five months after the trial, they still are not in possession of actual evidence that would change the result. Instead, their argument before this court boils down to: the election was close, if you let us keep looking, we might find something, she said.

Election challenges, Danneman added, are strictly governed by state law and the exceptions Hamadehs attorneys are requesting simply dont exist. Lawsuits challenging the results of a race must be filed within five days of the statewide canvass, the trial must begin no later than 15 days afterward and the judge is required to make a decision on the case immediately, to avoid lengthy deliberations that could jeopardize election integrity.

Allowing Hamadeh to rehash the election after he was already given the opportunity to do so in court and failed, and after the mandated recount has already verified the results of the election would set a dangerous precedent, Danneman said.

The extraordinary and unprecedented relief that Plaintiffs are asking for would cause chaos, she warned. Chaos for the courts, chaos for election officials, chaos for the attorney general. Election contests would go on forever, the contestant could continue to look for more new evidence indefinitely.

Craig Morgan, an attorney for the secretary of states office, noted that the relief Hamadeh claims to seek  ensuring that all votes are counted  has already been satisfied by the statewide recount. It was through that process that issues were identified and uncounted votes were added to the final tally.

Greenlighting the case, Morgan said, would do nothing for election integrity in Arizona. It would only serve to bolster election deniers like Hamadeh, who continues to circulate baseless claims of fraud on social media and rightwing news platforms.
Republican candidates Abe Hamadeh and Kari Lake join Arizona Republican Party Chairwoman Kelli Ward (center) at a Nov. 7, 2022, campaign event for GOP candidates. Photo by Gage Skidmore (modified) | Flickr/CC BY-SA 2.0

GOP candidates for Arizonas top offices who claim the November election was stolen from them have spent months presenting shape-shifting arguments in court  and six months after races were called, they arent done.

A Maricopa County judge on Monday granted losing GOP gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake a trial on a claim initially made in December that has changed over time as it made its way up to the Arizona Supreme Court and back down again. That trial begins Wednesday.

This article was originally published by Votebeat , a nonprofit news organization covering local election administration and voting access.

Meanwhile, a Mohave County judge is considering granting losing GOP attorney general candidate Abe Hamadeh a new trial based on a claim he presented in court Tuesday: that the statewide recount in December and other records obtained since then offered new evidence that he really won.

Its unusual for these types of cases to be ongoing in May. Court challenges to election results have an expedited time frame set out in state law for a reason: So claims of problems can be resolved before the winners take their seats. Gov. Katie Hobbs and Attorney General Kris Mayes, both Democrats, took office in January.

Theres a high bar in Arizona to prove in court that election results should be overturned, and there is little precedent for it  especially months later. Allowing the midterm challenges to linger for months has already caused uncertainty for voters regarding the stability of their elected offices, according to voter advocates and attorneys for the state and county.

Every day this case exists without a final judgment is another day the contestee and his friends and his colleagues and his constituents can continue to impugn the validity of our election processes in Arizona  and cast doubt on the very foundation of our nation  free, full and fair elections, Craig Morgan, the lawyer representing Secretary of State Adrian Fontes, said on Tuesday during the Hamadeh hearing.

The long timeframe and seemingly neverending hunt for evidence has also given the losing candidates ongoing hooks to spread false claims about their contests, potentially deepening distrust in the system, said Alex Gulotta, Arizona director of the voting rights organization All Voting is Local.

The longer that misinformation about the election is unaddressed, or appears to have validity because there are still court processes going on, the more harm, he said.

Attorneys for Lake and Hamadeh told judges in the past week that they want to inspect ballots or ballot envelopes in hopes of finding evidence to prove their claims, but attorneys for the state and Maricopa County say the time to fish for such evidence is long past.

Proving their claims wont be easy. Lake will need to offer clear and convincing evidence, the judge wrote, on a far-fetched claim that Maricopa County completely failed to verify voter signatures on mail-in ballots and this caused her to lose to Hobbs by more than 17,000 votes.

Hamadeh, who lost to Mayes by only 280 votes, would need to prove his claims that tabulation machines failed to properly count hundreds of votes in his favor, and that counties incorrectly rejected ballots from voters who were registered to vote.

Taxpayers pay while Lake raises money

The many court milestones spread over months have given candidates consistent fundraising opportunities. Lake, more than Hamadeh, has taken advantage of these milestones to ask for money, according to a review of their public statements and solicitations.

Kari Lake quite literally has nothing else to do, and the fundraising aspect of it is the goal, said Barrett Marson, a Republican political strategist in Arizona. Its not the bug, its the feature.

This week was no different. In a live Twitter audio broadcast on Tuesday morning, the day after the judge granted her request for a trial, Lake said supporters could help pay her legal fees by visiting her website or the website of a nonprofit advocacy group set up for this purpose.

People all across the nation have said, Here is 25 bucks, please dont stop fighting to secure our elections, and so thats how we are paying for it, she said.

The full amount Lake and Hamadeh have raised this year as litigation has dragged on is not publicly available because candidates do not have to file campaign finance statements at all in the year after their election. Lake raised more than $2.5 million from the day after the election through the end of December, according to an analysis by the Arizona Mirror. The Mirror found that, while she spent $3 million in that timeframe, less than 10% of that spending was related to her lawsuit. The amount Lake raised for the nonprofit, Save Arizona Fund, is not required to be disclosed under campaign finance laws.

Meanwhile, Arizona taxpayers continue to pay state and county attorneys to defend the election.

Maricopa County as of March had used seven in-house attorneys for the 2022 contests, and had also paid outside counsel more than $100,000. Since taking office in January, Secretary of State Adrian Fontes has paid outside counsel more than $32,000 for continued defense related to the cases. Hobbs, who was secretary of state until January, used a pro-bono team for the 2022 challenges.

Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer, who oversees early-ballot signature verification for the county, said the latest legal dispute in the Lake case is seen by the vast majority of Arizonans as the pathetic last gasps of a sore loser.

Recorder: Election law amateurs

Lake has been calling her election fraudulent from the time it became clear Hobbs would win, saying that Maricopa County officials intentionally rigged the election against her and often calling them crooks. So far, courts have said she doesnt have evidence to back up any of those claims.

Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Peter Thompson allowed two out of her initial 10 claims to proceed to trial, but then dismissed them, citing lack of evidence. That all happened quickly, as state law requires, and was done before the end of December.

Theres a few ways Lakes attorneys could have sped up the appeals process at this point, either by filing a special action challenge or by appealing directly to the Supreme Court instead of the Court of Appeals, which county attorneys said in a filing would have allowed the case to be resolved before Hobbs took office.

Lakes attorneys did not do this.

Richer said this is because her attorneys are inexperienced in Arizona election law. Kurt Olsen previously was an attorney in New York, and Bryan Blehm worked for a family law firm in Phoenix.

Because she is represented by election law amateurs who have been racking up sanctions in various courts  admittedly, likely the only people who would take her case  were still dealing with this six months after Katie Hobbs won, Richer, a Republican, told Votebeat in a statement.

Kari Lake and her attorneys did not respond to a request for comment.

She spent the weeks following her trial court loss on a tour across the U.S., broadcasting her claims of a stolen election, according to The Arizona Republic, and asking for money on Twitter. When the appeals court affirmed the trial courts decision on Feb. 16, she posted a link to Save Arizona Funds website and said she was taking the case to the state Supreme Court. Buckle up, America! she wrote.

The state Supreme Court on March 22 affirmed the lower courts decisions on all claims but one, the claim about fraudulent voter signatures. It also subsequently sanctioned Lakes lawyers over another claim. Help fuel our fight by making a donation at karilake.com, Lake tweeted the next day.

Lakes claim about fraudulent voter signatures has evolved over time. County and state attorneys have said consistently that she failed to state a claim altogether, and have refuted any notion that workers didnt follow law and approved fraudulent voter signatures.

When casting votes by mail in Arizona, voters have to sign the envelope they put their ballot in, and county officials use that to confirm it came from the right person by comparing the signature to those they have on file.

Lake initially wrote that the county recorder decided that some voter signatures didnt match but nevertheless accepted a material number of these early ballots.

After the state Supreme Court directed him to reconsider his dismissal of the claim, Judge Thompson heard arguments on Friday. He then decided Tuesday that the actual claim Lakes attorneys appeared to be making was that, during two steps in their process, county workers failed to verify the signatures at all.

Thats an argument that Lakes attorneys themselves have already contradicted by presenting witness statements from temporary workers who reviewed signatures and by acknowledging that the county rejected hundreds of signatures the workers deemed bad. In fact, the county rejected double the amount of bad signatures as it did in prior elections, according to a Votebeat review of changes Richer has made to the process since 2020.

The trial is scheduled to run from Wednesday to Friday. Even if Thompson dismisses this final claim, Lake says it wont end there. She said during Cardones broadcast on Tuesday morning that we are going to take this to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Hamadeh claims hundreds of uncounted votes, ballots

In Hamadehs case, Judge Lee Jantzen initially allowed four of the candidates five claims to go to trial in December, but then dismissed them all from the bench after only a few hours of arguments..

During that Dec. 23 trial, Hobbs attorneys didnt reveal that her office was aware that the statewide recount in process had already revealed numerous ballot counting errors in Pinal County, later saying that she believed she was bound by the court not to say anything until the recount was complete.

The recount results were announced less than a week later, after court proceedings had ended. They showed that Pinal County had failed to initially tabulate hundreds of votes in the race, which helped close the gap between the candidates from 511 to 280 votes.

On Jan. 4, Hamadeh filed his motion for a new trial, saying that the recount revealed new evidence that he won the election. Since then, he told the court, he received responses to public records requests that, he believes, show provisional ballots were incorrectly rejected.

Hamadehs lawyers want access to ballots they believe will show uncounted votes in his favor that the tabulation machines failed to count, as well as entire ballots the county rejected after determining the voter wasnt registered to vote. The attorneys emphasized in court Tuesday that they believe Hobbs attorneys wrongly withheld information from the court during the initial trial, citing a Votebeat story mentioning that her office knew of Pinal County problems by Dec. 7.

While Hamadehs attorneys claimed that declining to provide a new trial would erode voter confidence, the state and county argued the opposite. Judge Jantzen said he was hoping to decide whether to allow for a new trial within the next few weeks.

Gulotta, the voting rights activist, said he would love to figure out a way to expedite appeals, or somehow cut off fundraising at a certain point. He foresees election contests being drawn out again in future elections, so long as its profitable for the candidates.

The extended timeframe may be good for the candidates, Marson, the GOP strategist, said, but its not good for the Republican party in the state.
Following the defeat of two of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis' (R) favored candidates in Tuesday night's elections, former President Donald Trump used the situation on Wednesday to mock his potential 2024 Republican presidential rival.

Kelly Craft, a supporter of DeSantis, lost to one of Donald Trump's preferred candidates, Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron (R), in Kentucky's GOP gubernatorial primary. Cameron took the top spot, while Ryan Quarles, the agriculture commissioner, came in second. Craft came in third place, according to The Hill.

Ron DeSantis' backing for Republican Daniel Davis in Jacksonville's mayoral contest failed as Davis lost to Democrat Donna Deegan.

Donald Trump commented on his Truth Social platform that Cameron "easily won" the Republican nomination for governor because he had the ex-POTUS' "complete and total" support.

Former President Trump blasted Ron DeSantis by calling him "DeSanctimonious" and emphasizing the distant third-place result of his favored candidate. Trump continued by commenting on DeSantis' unexpected defeat in the Jacksonville mayoral election.

The latest political events in Kentucky will be eagerly monitored by experts predicting the 2024 US presidential contest, according to The Guardian. Republicans are the majority in Kentucky, and Democratic Governor Andy Beshear is expected to have a difficult reelection campaign despite his popularity. During his first term, he dealt with the COVID-19 epidemic, natural catastrophes, and a devastating mass shooting.

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Trump Says DeSantis Lacks Skills

Donald Trump recently launched a barrage of attacks at Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, hitting on everything from personality to policy. He voiced his displeasure that DeSantis was practically running for president but not formally declaring his candidacy.

Trump avoided giving a firm response when asked whether he would support DeSantis as the GOP's presidential candidate in 2024. He said he despises DeSantis' manner of campaigning, as the Florida governor is acting as a candidate but does not adhere to rules because he has not filed, which Trump calls a "total violation."

The ex-POTUS also disclosed that he decided not to get in touch with the Florida governor to inquire about his plans when DeSantis started displaying signs of thinking about running for president. "But if he runs, he runs," said Trump. But he went on to call DeSantis "very disloyal," per Politico.

The Republican leader said that before he endorsed DeSantis for governor in 2018, he was "a dead man walking" and said he would never run against a person who had similarly backed him.

Donald Trump blasted DeSantis further, saying that the latter lacks charisma and "political skill."

Related Article: Super PAC to Boost Mike Pence Expected Presidential Bid

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The Arizona Daily Star touts the "huge bipartisan majorities" received by the so-called "tamale bill" without investigating how such an unexpected coalition was achieved. HB 2509 was derived nearly in its entirety from boilerplate legislation offered by the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) with the sole intent of advancing their goal of eliminating government regulation of private enterprise.

Democrats who amended an otherwise abominable bill with provisions that would allow home preparation of time-and-temperature-controlled food items acted against the public interest. Governor Hobbs' thoughtful veto of the bill was based on scores of studies conducted by professionals in the field of food safety (which, notably, does not include Rep. Alma Hernandez). Arizonans owe a debt of gratitude to Hobbs and to the sixteen Democrats who later voted to sustain her veto.
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DOVER, N.H. (AP)  A man accused of hiding in a woman's attic and secretly photographing her while she slept has been convicted of burglary and other charges.

The man, now 19, was arrested in February 2022 on the roof of the womans home in Somersworth, New Hampshire. He was accused of driving hundreds of miles from Pennsylvania, spending several days hiding in her attic, photographing her while she slept and attempting to put a tracking device on her car. He was convicted Tuesday of burglary, criminal trespass and invasion of privacy.

The man told jurors he and the woman were in a relationship and that she wanted to be stalked, WMUR-TV reported. The woman testified that she began communicating with him by text after he subscribed to her site on the adult website OnlyFans. She said they had sex once during an earlier unannounced trip to New Hampshire, but she did not consider them to be in a relationship.

Prosecutors argued that the victim never invited him to her home and said the man stored food in the attic and came down only when no one was awake. He will remain free on bail pending sentencing but is required to wear a monitoring device.
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WASHINGTON (AP)  The Senate has voted to overturn a District of Columbia law enacted last year to improve police accountability, the second time this year that Democrats have joined with Republicans to try and block the districts crime regulations.

President Joe Biden is expected to veto the resolution, which the House passed last month. The White House said in a statement of policy that the president doesnt support every provision of the D.C. law, which was passed in the wake of the police killing of George Floyd in 2020. But Biden supports commonsense police reforms that are part of it, such as banning chokeholds, limiting use of deadly force, improving access to body cameras and requiring increased de-escalation training.

Congress should respect the District of Columbias right to pass measures that improve public safety and public trust, the White House said.

Still, eight Senate Democrats supported the GOP-led effort to overturn the law, as members of both parties have expressed concern about rising violent crime rates in cities nationwide. In D.C., homicides in the city had risen for four years straight before they dropped around 10% in 2022. The 2021 murder count of 227 was the highest since 2003.

Congress must exert our constitutional authority to keep our nations capital safe, said freshman Sen. J.D. Vance, R-Ohio, who sponsored the Senate effort.

In March, the Senate approved a separate GOP-led House bill to overturn changes in D.C.s criminal code. Biden signed that resolution, ultimately blocking the D.C. law that would have redefined some crimes, changed criminal justice policies and reworked how sentences should be handed down after convictions. The scrapped criminal code also would have done away with mandatory minimum sentences for many crimes and would have reduced the maximum penalties for burglary, carjacking and robbery.

Bidens signature two months ago marked the first time in more than three decades that Congress has nullified the capital citys laws through the disapproval process  and reflected a shift in the long-held Democratic position that the federal government should let D.C. govern itself.

On Tuesday, six Democrats voted for the Republican resolution to overturn the police accountability laws: West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin, Montana Sen. Jon Tester, New Hampshire Sens. Jeanne Shaheen and Maggie Hassan and Nevada Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto and Jacky Rosen. Independent Sens. Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona and Angus King of Maine also supported the resolution.

District lawmakers said that even if Biden were to sign the resolution  which he has said he wont  it wouldnt be valid. D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb issued an opinion that the time period for Congress to act had expired, meaning that the law has been enacted and cannot be overturned. Vance disagreed, arguing that there was Senate precedent for enactment after the deadline.

District of Columbia Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton said after the vote that she was disappointed but pleased it would not ultimately overturn D.C. law.

Washingtons criminal code hasnt been updated substantially since it was first drafted in 1901, and criminal justice experts say that Black people have been disproportionately affected by the criminal laws, similar to many other cities.

Ahead of the House vote in April, Norton called the resolution  profoundly undemocratic and paternalistic.

I can only conclude that the Republican leadership believes that D.C. residents, a majority of whom are Black and Brown, are unworthy of governing themselves, Norton said.
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RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP)  Israeli forces shot and killed a Palestinian man in the occupied West Bank on Monday, the Palestinian Health Ministry said, the latest death in a spiral of violence that has rocked the region.

The Health Ministry said 22-year-old Saleh Sabra was killed after being shot in the chest in the flashpoint West Bank city of Nablus, a frequent site of Israeli operations.

The Israeli military said that troops preparing to demolish the home of a Palestinian attacker came under fire and shot back. Israel demolishes the homes of attackers in an attempt to deter others, a tactic critics say amounts to collective punishment.

The death comes after more than a year of relentless violence in the West Bank, where the Israeli military has been conducting near-nightly raids in response to Palestinian attacks against Israelis. It also follows a deadly five-day burst of fighting between Israel and militants in the Gaza Strip.

More than 250 Palestinians have been killed since Israel launched the West Bank raids in March of last year, with 112 of those killed just this year according to a tally by The Associated Press. Israel says most of the dead were militants, but youths protesting the incursions and others not involved in the confrontations have also been killed. During the Gaza fighting last week, 33 Palestinians were killed, with 18 of them identified as militants.

Since the violence erupted last year, 51 people have been killed in Palestinian attacks against Israelis.

Tensions are expected to surge again later this week, when Israeli nationalists hold an annual march through the main Palestinian thoroughfare in Jerusalem's Old City. The march, which marks the Israeli capture of east Jerusalem in the 1967 Mideast war, often gets rowdy, with participants chanting slurs against Arabs. The Palestinians see the gathering as provocative.
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A national engineering and environmental consulting firm recently opened a new location in Owasso.

Trihydro, located off of 86th Street near 129th East Avenue, cut a ribbon with the Owasso Chamber of Commerce on Tuesday, May 16.

Trihydro looked far and wide when we were trying to determine where we wanted to have our Oklahoma home, Corporate Recruiter Anni Baker said. Owasso was it, and were super happy that weve moved into the community.

Trihydro, established in 1984, employs professional engineers, geologists, scientists, designers and regulatory experts who help clients develop a strategic plan and move it through project delivery.

The company specializes in: air consulting; brownfield site planning and design; decommissioning and reconfiguration; ecological services; emerging contaminants; environmental planning, management and regulatory compliance; environmental remediation; and environmental site assessment, characterization and modeling.

It also focuses on: human health and ecological risk assessment; infrastructure; land reclamation; natural resource management and resilience; solid waste management; stormwater management; survey and mapping; technology consulting; water resources; and water and wastewater treatment.

Andrew Pawlisz, regulatory toxicologist over business development for Trihydro, said hes looking forward to carrying out these services at the companys newest site.

It (Owasso) was an ideal location central to serving our clients, Pawlisz said. We have oil and gas companies locally, regionally, and Owasso seemed like a great place to bring employees.

Trihydro, located at 8504 A N. 128th E. Ave., is open Monday-Friday, 8 a.m.-5 p.m. More information can be found at trihydro.com.
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A graduation confrontation over an eagle feather plume has prompted a civil lawsuit against Broken Arrow Public Schools and two district employees.

Citing the Oklahoma Religious Freedom Act and the free speech clause of the First Amendment, attorneys filed a lawsuit Monday on behalf of Lena Black in Tulsa County District Court.

High school graduation is a deeply significant event for Ms. Black and other Native American students who wish to practice their religious beliefs, celebrate their academic achievements and transition into adulthood by wearing an eagle feather and other tribal regalia at their graduation ceremonies, the petition states. This civil rights action seeks to protect the rights of all Native American students to wear religious items at graduation ceremonies unmolested by school officials.

The suit seeks $50,000 in damages, plus attorneys fees and court costs.

A citizen of the Otoe-Missouria Tribe and of Osage descent, Black graduated from Broken Arrow High School in May 2022. Before the start of the commencement ceremony at Broken Arrow Memorial Stadium, she was stopped by two school district employees who attempted to physically remove the plume from her mortarboard, calling it a decoration.

Black ultimately left the ceremony due to an anxiety attack brought on by the incident, which damaged the eagle plume.

I filed this lawsuit to ensure everyone understands the importance of items like my eagle plume, and to prevent schools from targeting Native students like me in the future. No student should face ignorance and discrimination in their school or their community, Black said in a prepared statement.

As published on the districts website, BAPS graduation dress code prohibits seniors from decorating their mortarboards and requires students to fill out an application if they intend to make any additions to the standard cap and gown. A district spokeswoman said more than 60 seniors have filled out the form in advance of Broken Arrow High Schools 2023 graduation ceremony, which is scheduled for Tuesday night.

Black asked a teacher prior to graduation day and said she was told that her plume did not count as a decoration due to its cultural and religious significance. However, no mention was made of filling out a form or seeking additional permission to wear the plume.

Additionally, in the filing, Blacks attorneys noted that her attire was reviewed without objection by at least five district employees at checkpoints in and around the stadium before being stopped by the two employees specifically named in the lawsuit.

Although Black and her mother met with a Broken Arrow High School administrator two days after the ceremony and received an apology, they said they were also informed that she should have gone through the districts Indian Education coordinator for permission to wear the plume at graduation rather than asking a teacher.

Broken Arrow Public Schools attendance area is entirely within the boundaries of the Muscogee Nations reservation. When reached Tuesday afternoon for comment, Broken Arrow Public Schools issued a statement.

At this time, the district has not yet been served with a court filing on behalf of Ms. Black. As a result, it would be inappropriate to comment publicly as to such a lawsuit.

In 2019, then-Attorney General Mike Hunter issued a formal letter to school districts, stating that an Indigenous students right to wear eagle feathers on their mortarboard is protected under the Oklahoma Religious Freedom Act. That position has since been echoed in a letter from current Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond.

On Wednesday morning, Blacks attorneys, Wilson Pipestem with Tulsa-based Pipestem Law and Morgan Saunders with the Native American Rights Fund, acknowledged the lag time between the graduation ceremony and Mondays filing and noted that they had given notice of a potential claim to the school district in late 2022.

Theres behind the scenes work that has to get hammered out, Saunders said. We wanted to make sure the lawsuit was in as good a position as it could be before going public with it.

The lawsuit comes on the heels of a decision by Gov. Kevin Stitt to veto Senate Bill 429, which would have codified protections for Indigenous students seeking to wear tribal regalia at graduation. The measure passed through the House and Senate by a combined margin of 135-1 but was vetoed on the grounds that it would usurp local control.

Blacks attorneys said the veto and its timing did not impact the decision to go forward with the lawsuit.

This lawsuit was going to be filed one way or another, Pipestem said. But this demonstrates that without the state acting here and clarifying the law, we believe that the law permits this one way or another without the states action.

Without clarification from the state, it could unfortunately lead to more litigation between students and school districts. The right thing now to happen would be for the governors veto to be overridden so theres less likelihood of litigation similar to this one.

Video: Oklahoma Gov. Stitt: My veto did not stop any student from wearing tribal regalia
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The popular Greek Street Drive-Thru will return this weekend, offering authentic Greek foods prepared by the community responsible for the Tulsa Greek Festival.

Hours for this years Greek Street are 11 a.m.-8 p.m. Friday-Saturday, April 28-29, at Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church, 1222 S. Guthrie Ave.

Orders for items such as gyro sandwiches, spanokopita hand pies, Greek fries and baklava can be placed drive-thru style, although the wiser course of action is to order online for pickup at the church. Greek Street Drive-Thru will accept only credit cards as payment.

In addition to individual items, the Greek Street Drive-Thru offers a variety of meal packages. These range from the Alpha Ticket, which includes a gyro with choice of traditional lamb or chicken as the protein, an order of Greek fries, and bottled soda or water for $16, up to the My Big Fat Family Feast package, which includes gyros, fries and pastries to feed four, along with a six-pack of Greek beer and bottles of red and white wine, for $110.

For the youngsters, there is the Little Zeus meal with chicken nuggets in a pita, fries and choice of drink for $7.

To order, and more information: tulsagreekfestival.com.

Flanagan Wine Dinner at French Hen

The French Hen, 319 E. Archer St., will host a special wine dinner beginning at 6:22 p.m. Tuesday, May 2, featuring vintages from the Flanagan family of wines.

Eric Flanagan purchased his first parcel of California wine-growing real estate in 1999, the same year his daughter Riley was born. Flanagan Wines are made from grapes grown throughout the Sonoma Valley region and include a variety of chardonnay, pinot noir, merlot and other varieties and blends.

Riley Flanagan, now based in Tulsa, is the Midwest representative for both Flanagan Wines and her own Riley Rows vintages. She and her father, Eric, will be present at the dinner to discuss the wines being served.

The menu begins with passed hors doeuvres, followed by a watercress salad with blood orange, burrata and olives. Next will be a lemon pasta made with Meyer lemons, cream and prosciutto, then Arctic char with a pinot noir-berry sauce, cremini mushrooms and haricot vert. The main will be braised beef cheeks with glazed carrots.

Cost is $165 per person, including tax and gratuity. Reservations are required. 918-492-2596, frenchhentulsa.com.

Vineyard 29 wine dinner at Prhyme

Prhyme Downtown Steakhouse, 111 N. Main St., will host a dinner featuring wines from the California winemakers Vineyard 29 at 6 p.m. Wednesday, May 3.

Vineyard 29 is a prestigious Napa Valley winery founded in 1989, which draws its grapes from the more than 40 acres of vineyards in the St. Helena area of California and has since expanded to include three additional St. Helena estates, for a total of 47 planted acres.

Nora Comee, the vice president of national sales for Vineyard 29, will be at the dinner to guide diners through the wines being served to accompany the five-course menu.

That menu begins with a salmon crudo with arugula, nasturtiums and a citrus vinaigrette. This will be followed by a black pepper-crusted pork belly with roasted beets and a blackberry chutney. Prime tenderloin medallions with a dijon mustard bechamel and accompanied by wild mushrooms and braised mustard greens will be followed by a coffee-cured duck with black currant gel, endive and chives.

Dessert will be a Chocolate Appreciation, a chocolate mousse with chocolate bark, chocolate soil, a chocolate ganache and macerated berries.

Cost is $156 per person, and reservation are required. To reserve: 918-794-7700.

Dip into Big Mac Special Sauce

One of the reasons for ordering a Big Mac at McDonalds is because one can use the fries to scoop up the excess Special Sauce that might escape from under the sesame-seed bun.

For a limited time, fans can indulge in their favorite condiment to their hearts delight, as Big Mac sauce will be available in individual servings. The sauce cups  whose blue-and-silver packages was chosen to mimic the color scheme of the paper wrapping for the original Big Mac in the 1960s will be available beginning April 27 but will only be available by ordering through the McDonalds app.

The sauce will be available at no extra charge with any purchase of Chicken McNuggets. It can also be ordered a la carte, for those who may wish to anoint their breakfast hash browns or fish sandwich.
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A woman arrested in downtown Tulsa outside then-President Donald Trumps June 2020 campaign rally has had a misdemeanor police obstruction charge against her thrown out in Tulsa County District Court.

After hearing that a witness deemed essential to the nearly 3-year-old prosecution of Sheila Buck was unavailable and would not testify, Special Judge Tanya Wilson dismissed the case with prejudice over the prosecutors objection.

Buck, who had a ticket to the rally inside the BOK Center, arrived wearing a T-shirt that read I Cant Breathe, a reference to some of the final words of a dying man named George Floyd, who was killed by a police officer in Minneapolis a few weeks earlier on May 25, 2020.

After clearing a security screening and entering a secured zone on a city street outside the arena, Buck reportedly was asked to leave by the Trump campaigns private security.

She refused the request and reportedly knelt to pray, at which point she was arrested by Tulsa police.

Tulsa County District Attorney Steve Kunzweiler said he believes the district court judges ruling to dismiss the misdemeanor charge was an unprecedented action and that he will be appealing to the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals.

Miss Buck views this as a matter of free speech. We view it as an enforcement of the rule of the law, Kunzweiler told the Tulsa World on Wednesday. Thats why you erect a security perimeter  is to avoid confrontations that can get out of hand very quickly. Out of necessity, the law recognizes there are security zones that need to be set up for the protection of those dignitaries. We are going to enforce the rule of law regardless of who the dignitary is.

Daniel Smolen, Bucks attorney, called the pursuit of the criminal case harassment and a continuation of a violation of Miss Bucks First Amendment rights.

He said he is planning to file a civil rights complaint with the U.S. Department of Justice by the end of next week.

Smolen said the essential witness in question was a subcontractor who was hired to provide private security for the Trump campaign.

Smolen insists that his client had a right to refuse to leave the city street where she was arrested because the Trump campaign had not obtained the appropriate city permit to shut down the area.

She was arrested on the corner of Fourth and Cheyenne. Had the Trump camp obtained the appropriate permit to convert a public street to a private event, they could have asked her to leave, Smolen said Wednesday.

Why has it taken three years to prosecute a misdemeanor? Whats shocking to me is this: She was removed from a public street because the shirt she was wearing said I cant breathe. She was arrested for trespassing, but when the city and DA realized there was no permit, they changed the charges to obstruction.

Smolen said Buck, a former elementary school art teacher who is in her 60s, decided she had to move out of Tulsa after her arrest was televised across the globe.

Her separate civil lawsuit is still pending in federal court.
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A federal judge has found a second Fort Gibson man guilty of charges related to the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol.

U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly on Tuesday found Anthony Alfred Griffith Sr., 58, guilty on all four counts on which he was tried in March, according to court records.

Beyond a reasonable doubt, Anthony Griffith knew on January 6, 2021, that his actions at the Capitol were unlawful, Kollar-Kotelly concluded in her findings of fact and conclusions of law.

Griffith is one of more than 1,000 people arrested in the days and weeks after the 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

Griffith was found guilty following a five-day bench trial in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia of entering and remaining in a restricted building, disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building, violent entry and disorderly conduct in a Capitol building, and parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building.

The misdemeanors carry jail sentences ranging from six months to one year in jail, plus possible fines.

Griffith was arrested March 4, 2021, after he and his employee Jerry Ryals, 28, were charged with violations at the Capitol on Jan. 6.

The pair and a third person traveled from Oklahoma to the District of Columbia to attend former President Donald Trumps Stop the Steal rally prior to the riot.

Griffith testified during his trial that he marched from the rally to the Capitol, occasionally yelling Freedom, among crowd chants of Stop the Steal, according to Kollar-Kotellys findings.

After arriving at the Capitol, Griffith entered the building about 2:45 p.m., stepping over broken glass only to leave the building and enter it again five minutes later through another door, according to the judges findings.

Griffith left the building for the last time at 3:33 p.m.

In general, defendant maintained in his testimony that he thought it was lawful to enter and remain in the Capitol and its grounds until instructed otherwise, Kollar-Kotelly wrote in her findings of fact and conclusions of law.

The Court does not find this testimony credible, Kollar-Kotelly wrote, noting that Griffith encountered chemical spay, an ear-splitting alarm upon entering the Capitol, a ransacked office and glass broken by rioters while breaching the building.

The judge also commented on Griffiths claim of being guided by his religion.

Although Griffith testified that he was guided by firm religious convictions, particularly in regards to his views on abortion, those religious convictions do not negate the clear video and photographic evidence speaking to his intent to engage in political demonstrations in concert with the mob around him, Kollar-Kotelly wrote.

Griffith will be sentenced at a later date.

5 takeaways from the Jan. 6 report 1. Eight chapters 2. New details, pressures 3. Behind the scenes 4. Safeguarding democracy 5. Record for history
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OKLAHOMA CITY  Panels in both legislative chambers on Tuesday moved bills providing the framework for a historic education funding plan.

Gov. Kevin Stitt and legislative leaders announced on Monday a agreement to include teacher raises, six weeks of paid maternity leave and millions of dollars for advancing literacy and school security.

Senate Bill 1118 would provide $10 million for a three-year literacy program.

Senate Bill 1119 would raise the minimum salary schedule to provide pay hikes ranging from $3,000 to $6,000 for certified personnel, with the amount based on years of experience.

The increase would apply to personnel who were paid above the salary schedule during the prior school year, according to a bill summary.

In addition to the states public school teachers, the increase also would apply to teachers in CareerTech, the Oklahoma Department of Corrections, the Office of Juvenile Affairs and the Department of Rehabilitation Services, according to a bill summary.

Senate Bill 1120 would update the calculation for the Redbud Program, which provides money to school districts to buy or improve buildings. The education plan calls for $125 million additional dollars for the program, which largely benefits rural districts.

The measure would increase the building fund for 391 school districts across the state, said Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Adam Pugh, R-Edmond.

House Bill 2903 would create a three-year pilot program for school security at a total cost of $150 million.

Sen. Dewayne Pemberton said the money could be spent on hiring school resource officers or on a number of other items, such as locking devices and cameras.

I dont think there is enough money to spend to keep kids safe in schools, he said.

Ten of the appropriations bills sent through committees Tuesday would allocate $109.9 million in American Rescue Plan funds, including $14.5 million to the behavioral health hospital being built in downtown Tulsa.

The allocations also would include $1.25 million for Rogers State Universitys nursing program and $1.3 million for Northeastern Oklahoma A&M Colleges, as well as $11.5 million for administrative costs.

The House panel passed two bills that the Senate did not take up.

House Bill 2898 and House Bill 2899 would offer tribal governments extensions of their existing tobacco and motor vehicle tag compacts to Jan. 1, 2028. The compacts expire at the end of this year.

In related action, lawmakers called a special legislative session for more time to finalize a state budget for the upcoming fiscal year and ensure that they get the final say on any bills they pass.

House and Senate leaders announced on Tuesday the special session, which will run concurrently with the regular legislative session that must conclude by 5 p.m. May 26.

The special session, which begins Wednesday, gives lawmakers the ability to return in June if they need to override any of Stitts vetoes on budget bills or other legislation.

The agenda for the special session is limited to appropriating funds for the current and upcoming fiscal years, tackling legislation related to implementing the state budget and spending federal pandemic relief funds, according to a news release.

Lawmakers are expected to unveil and approve a state budget by May 26.

But Stitt has a history of vetoing major parts of the state budget.

Last year, the governor vetoed key pieces of the state spending plan after accusing lawmakers of cutting the executive branch out of budget negotiations.

Stitt also vetoed much of the state budget in 2020, saying the spending plan did not reflect the values of Oklahoma.

If a similar situation happens this year, lawmakers can resume the special legislative session and attempt to override the governors vetoes.

Stitt has vetoed more than 40 bills this year. At one point, he vetoed 20 Senate bills in an attempt to pressure the Legislatures upper chamber to cut taxes and pass an education plan.

Lawmakers are expected to attempt to override some of those vetoes.

Two-thirds of state lawmakers in both chambers can call a special session at any time.

House Minority Leader Cyndi Munson, D-Oklahoma City, said the call for a special session is wasteful and fiscally irresponsible.

Weve had four months to address the state budget, and with plenty of money to do it, she said. The call made by the supermajority demonstrates the continued dysfunction in state government.

Randy Krehbiel contributed to this story.
It is known to many that Elon Musk has somewhat of a reputation when it comes to his tweets, especially those that have caused criticism and led to the tech billionaire being charged with fraud. Musk tried to appeal the court's decision regarding his tweeting habits, but it has been dismissed.

Lawyer Still Has the Final Say

the Twitter CEO, at least until Linda Yaccarino takes over, tried to appeal the court ruling where a lawyer should first approve of his tweets that are Tesla-related. The federal court, of course, declines Musk's attempt to challenge the SEC's ruling.

The court panel stated that the Tesla CEO should've fought the charges or negotiated the conditions regarding the consent decree of the SEC, given that he feels that it was an unfair restraint on his freedom of speech, as mentioned in Engadget.

The consent decree from the Securities and Exchange Commission was implemented back in 2018, meaning that it has been more than four years since Musk is unable to tweet about his EV company without the go signal of a lawyer.

In case you haven't heard, all of this started with Musk's weed joke tweet stating that he is considering taking Tesla private at $420 per stock and that the funding has been secured. The tech CEO even insisted that the number had nothing to do with marijuana.

The denial, however, did not do the trick as he was still subjected to a $20 million fine, which is different from the other $20 million Tesla must pay. He was also asked to step down as the company's chairman on top of the consent decree.

Furthermore, Musk also claims that the Commission pressure him to make a deal and was out of bounds in its authority. The outcome of the ruling has caused a bit of bad blood between Musk and the Commission, as reports say.

Read Also: Twitter Will Soon Allow Media Publishers to Charge Per Article

Musk's Troubles on Twitter

It seems that even owning Twitter will not grant the tech billionaire the freedom to say whatever he wants. In fact, some of his tweets have even caused more harm than good, even more so with his new policies on the platform.

It hasn't been smooth sailing for Musk since he acquired Twitter. He has been met with many issues regarding his "free speech" advocacy, as well as the implementation of new rules. This resulted in the struggle of Twitter to be a profitable company.

His actions made advertisers believe that Twitter is no longer the best social media platform for their business, causing Musk to lose many of its major advertisers. It's a huge problem considering that Twitter Ads are the main source of income for the company.

People aren't also happy with the new verification process, where people will have to pay the Twitter Blue subscription fee to obtain the blue checkmark that Twitter has since placed on known personalities. Now, even normal everyday users can get the verification badge.

Related: Twitter Blue Subscription Now Required for Tweets to be Recommended
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Related Content Education plan advances through Oklahoma House, Senate

OKLAHOMA CITY  Ginger Tinneys daughter was supposed to be born over summer break, but she came three weeks early when Tinney went into labor on May 1, the same day she was supposed to be at her schools end-of-the-year party.

The early arrival left Tinney, who was still a teacher at the time, scrambling because she didnt have any time off remaining for the rest of the school year. Tinney recalled that her district docked her pay while she stayed home with her newborn.

Under a GOP education plan advancing through the Oklahoma Legislature, teachers could receive six weeks of paid maternity leave after giving birth.

Hallelujah. Its about time, said Tinney, who is the executive director of Professional Oklahoma Educators. The change is likely to encourage more women to become teachers, she said.

Theres no way I could have gone back to work before then (six weeks), Tinney said. Theres no way after having a baby I could have done it. Its exhausting. Your bodys just gone through a major transition, and you just dont get over it that quick.

The states offering teachers paid maternity leave would be a first.

Republican lawmakers plan to earmark $12 million for paid maternity leave next year as part of $625 million in new public education funding.

The proposal has been met with bipartisan praise even as other parts of the GOPs education agenda, namely tax credits for families who send their children to private school, has faced opposition from teachers and elected officials across the aisle.

Senate Bill 1121 says full-time teachers will become eligible to receive paid maternity leave after working for a public school district for one year.

The bill is unclear as to whether women who foster or adopt a baby would be eligible for the same benefit. But Rep. Rhonda Baker, who chairs the House Common Education Committee, said she assumes those mothers could also qualify for paid maternity leave.

Sen. Adam Pugh, R-Edmond, said hes ecstatic that paid maternity leave made it into Republicans final education plan.

For a pregnant mom who just had a baby, its about giving them time to be with their child without the stress of being pulled in a million directions, he said.

Roughly three-fourths of Oklahoma educators are women, and the average age of teachers is trending younger as a growing number of veteran educators retire, Pugh said.

Earlier this legislative session, Pugh was pushing for 12 weeks of paid maternity leave for teachers. Lawmakers pared down the number of weeks in an attempt to be sensitive to school districts needs, he said.

But teachers could use sick leave or personal days to extend their maternity leave, Pugh said.

Rep. Melissa Provenzano, D-Tulsa, said the paid maternity leave proposal is a huge step forward. Democrats overwhelmingly support the idea, she said.

But the rest of the GOP education package falls short because neighboring states will continue to surpass Oklahoma in per-pupil funding, Provenzano said.

Lawmakers are also considering granting six weeks of paid maternity leave for state employees through a bill filed by Sen. Jessica Garvin, D-Duncan, and Rep. Nick Archer, R-Elk City.

Archer said hes confident that the bill will go to the governors desk because Senate Bill 193 has gotten bipartisan support in both chambers.

Video: Sen. Adam Pugh celebrates $625 million education package

Tulsa-area state legislators and how to contact them Sen. Nathan Dahm Sen. Jo Anna Dossett Sen. Todd Gollihare Sen. John Haste Sen. Kevin Matthews Sen. Joe Newhouse Sen. Dana Prieto Sen. Dave Rader Sen. Cody Rogers Rep. Meloyde Blancett Rep. Jeff Boatman Rep. Amanda Swope Rep. Suzanne Schreiber Rep. Dean Davis Rep. Mark Tedford Rep. Scott Fetgatter Rep. Ross Ford Rep. Regina Goodwin Rep. Kyle Hilbert Rep. Mark Lawson Rep. T.J. Marti Rep. Stan May Rep. Monroe Nichols Rep. Clay Staires Rep. Terry O'Donnell Rep. Melissa Provenzano Rep. Lonnie Sims Rep. John Kane Rep. Mark Vancuren Rep. John Waldron Check out our latest digital-only offer and subscribe now
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OKLAHOMA CITY  State lawmakers have called a special legislative session to give themselves more time to finalize a state budget for the upcoming fiscal year and to ensure that they get the final say on any bills they pass.

House and Senate leaders announced on Tuesday the special session, which will run concurrently with the regular legislative session that must conclude by 5 p.m. May 26.

The special session, which begins Wednesday, will give lawmakers the ability to come back in June if they need to override any of Gov. Kevin Stitt's vetoes on budget bills or related pieces of legislation.

The agenda for the special session is limited to appropriating funds for the current and upcoming fiscal years, tackling legislation related to implementing the state budget and spending federal pandemic relief funds, according to a news release.

Lawmakers are expected to unveil and approve a state budget by May 26. But Stitt has a history of vetoing major parts of the state budget.

Last year, the governor vetoed key pieces of the state spending plan after accusing lawmakers of cutting the executive branch out of budget negotiations. Stitt also vetoed much of the state budget in 2020, saying the spending plan did "not reflect the values of Oklahoma."

If a similar situation happens this year, lawmakers can resume the special legislative session and attempt to override the governor's vetoes.

Stitt has vetoed more than 40 bills this year. At one point, he vetoed 20 random Senate bills in an attempt to pressure the Legislature's upper chamber to cut taxes and pass an education plan. Lawmakers are expected to attempt to override some of those vetoes.

House Minority Leader Cyndi Munson, D-Oklahoma City, said the call for a special session is wasteful and fiscally irresponsible.

"We've had four months to address the state budget, and with plenty of money to do it," she said in a statement. "The call made by the supermajority demonstrates the continued dysfunction in state government."

Two-thirds of state lawmakers in both chambers can call a special session at any time.
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GENEVA (AP)  The voices sound like well-known personalities, the music features trendy dance beats and hip-hop syncopations, and the jokes and laughter are contagious. But listeners of an offbeat Swiss public radio station repeatedly got the message on Thursday: Today's programming is brought to you by Artificial Intelligence.

Three months in the making, the French-language station Couleur 3 (Color 3) is touting a one-day experiment using cloned voices of five real, human presenters  in what managers claim is a world first  and never-aired-before music composed almost entirely by computers, not people. From 6 a.m. to 7 p.m., the station said, AI controlled its airwaves. Every 20 minutes, listeners got a reminder.

With an eerie, Sci-Fi movie-like track whirring in the background, a soothing, raspy female voice said: AI is taking your favorite radio by storm.

For 13 hours, our digital alter egos have taken the reins, broadcasting their voices and their messages across the airwaves, without mercy or respite, the voice said, at times almost taunting listeners. The boundaries between human and machine have been blurred, and its up to you to unravel what's real and what's fake."

"Our voice clones and AI are here to unsettle, surprise and shake you. And for that matter, this text was also written by a robot.

The explosive emergence of ChatGPT last autumn and other "Generative AI" tools have caused a stir  and often fear, confusion, fascination, laughter, or worry  about the long-term economic, cultural, social and even political consequences. Some musicians have complained that AI has ripped off their styles.

In the face of such recalcitrance, the Swiss station, which falls under the umbrella of public broadcaster Radio Television Switzerland, notes the concerns about AI  and embraces and seeks to de-mystify it.

Antoine Multone, the stations chief, said Couleur 3 could get away with the experiment because its already known as provocative.

While some might fear the project could be a first step toward the obsolescence of people on the air  and firings of personnel too  or could weaken journalism, he defended the project as a lesson on how to live with AI.

I think if we become ostriches ... we put our heads in the sand and say, Mon Dieu, theres a new technology! Were all going to die! then yeah, were going to die because it (AI) is coming, whether we like it or not, Multone said by phone. We want to master the technology so we can then put limits on it.

Some have gone even further, like Seven Hills, Ohio-based media company Futuri, which has rolled out RadioGPT that relies on AI.

At Couleur 3, the voices of the presenters were cloned with the help of software company Respeecher, which has worked with Hollywood studios and whose website says its team is mostly based in Ukraine.

Station managers say it took three months to train the AI to understand the needs of the station and adopt its quirky, offbeat vibe. The tracks aired during the day were at least partially composed by AI and some were entirely, and that's also a first," Multone said. AI was behind the voices that sang songs broadcast in the morning, and it played DJ in the afternoon  selecting copyrighted music.

To avoid any possible confusion with today's real news, the synthetic voices  indistinguishable from a real person's  served up top-of-the-hour news flashes that were way too futuristic to be believable: A temporary ban on spaceship flights over Geneva airspace due to noise complaints; the opening of the first underwater restaurant in Lake Zurich; extraterrestrial tourists who mistook swans on Swiss lake for inflatable toys.

The AI had been instructed to come up with news that might be read in the year 2070.

Multone acknowledged a lot of discussion among staffers about whether to go through with it, and I was ready to pull the plug on the project if I had seen that my team wasn't 100% motivated to try it.

Hundreds of messages poured into the station in the morning shortly after the programming began, Swiss public radio said in a statement. One complained of boring jokes. Another listener, stupefied, admitted to being stumped. One critic called the project a waste of time for a station that gets public funding.

The main feedback we get, in 90% of the messages, is: It's cool, but there's a human element missing. You can sense these are robots, and there are fewer surprises, less personality,'" Multone said, noting an on-air discussion of the experiment was planned Friday  by real people.

Many messages just said: Give us back our humans!" he said. "I think that's great.
The State Bank of Vietnam, or Vietnams central bank, has bought over US$6 billion in the year to date to beef up its foreign exchange reserves.

The purchase was meant to make the liquidity of the Vietnamese dong ample in the local market, stabilize the interbank market, and help lending rates cool down, the central bank said on Wednesday.

Besides, local credit institutions have canceled the purchase of foreign currency worth $1.74 billion, contributing to the circulation of a huge amount of the dong.

Vietnams central bank quoted the U.S. dollar-Vietnamese dong exchange rate at VND23,656 per dollar on Wednesday, up VND4 after the first two sessions this week.

At state-run Vietcombank, the buying price of the greenback stood at VND23,285 per dollar, while the selling price was VND23,625 to the dollar.

BIDV, another state-owned lender, quoted the selling price of a U.S. dollar at VND23,600, while buying a dollar at VND23,300.

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The Airport Services Company of Vietnam (ASV), which owns the ASV Airports Taxi brand, signed a contract to rent 500 VinFast electric cars from Green and Smart Mobility Joint Stock Company (GSM), a subsidiary of Vietnamese multi-sector conglomerate Vingroup, for its airport taxi service on Tuesday.

As per the deal, ASV Airports Taxi will lease 500 VinFast VF e34 cars from GSM, the company that inaugurated Vietnams first electric taxi service -- Green SM Taxi -- last month, in order to offer eco-friendly and smart transportation services to customers.

As planned, GSM will deliver the 500 electric vehicles (EV) in phases, with the initial batch of 100 EVs slated to be transferred this month.

The leasing agreement spans a duration of 36 months starting from the delivery date, with the potential for extension depending on actual demand.

ASVs electric taxi service is projected to commence its official operations later this month and soon be available at major airports such as Noi Bai in Hanoi and Tan Son Nhat in Ho Chi Minh City.

Previously, various companies including Lado, Ahamove, and En Vang, among others, entered into agreements with GSM to introduce electrically-powered passenger transportation services in different cities and provinces nationwide, such as Lam Dong, Binh Dinh, Da Nang, Hai Phong, and more.

In March, Be Group, a major player in Vietnams ride-hailing market, and GSM inked a deal to convert Be drivers petrol vehicles to electric ones.

GSMs Green SM Taxi is scheduled to launch in Hue City of Thua Thien-Hue Province later this month and expand its presence to at least five cities and provinces, encompassing nearly 20,000 cars throughout the course of this year.

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A Chinese fishing vessel with 39 crew members on board has capsized in the Indian ocean and President Xi Jinping has ordered that all efforts be made to search for survivors, state media reported on Wednesday.

The distant-water fishing vessel "Lupeng Yuanyu 028", owned by Penglai Jinglu Fishery Co Ltd based in Shandong province, capsized early on Tuesday, state-run CCTV reported.

The 39 people on board - 17 Chinese crew members, 17 Indonesians and five from the Philippines - were missing, CCTV said.

Xi said all efforts should be made for the rescue and early warning alerts of safety risks would be strengthened for distant-sea operations, CCTV reported.

China's maritime search and rescue centre had informed relevant countries of the accident and the foreign ministry had told its missions in Australia, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Indonesia, the Philippines and other countries to coordinate search and rescue operations, it said.
Chile's Patagonia is known for its mountains and hiking paradise but it is also home to the largest continuous kelp forest in the world.

Kelp forests are crucial for battling climate change by capturing carbon, regulating the sea's PH level, maintaining the structure of coasts and are home to multiple species.

But more than half of the world's kelp forests have been decimated by human activity and climate change.

"We want to show that this is what can be lost if we don't protect them," said Max Bello, a Chilean expert on ocean policy who was part of a nine-day scientific expedition run by American NGO Mission Blue to study the kelp forest in the southern area of Chiloe, around 1,400 kilometers south of Santiago.

"When you say Patagonia, we imagine mountains, huge rocks, wind, but few people know what there is underwater," added Bello.

"We know that Patagonia has the largest and best preserved continuous kelp forest in the world."

Bello said this potentially gave the kelp forest "greater carbon sequestration power even than the Amazon rainforest."

But it needs protecting -- a kelp forest off the coast of California has lost 97 percent of its size.

One threat the southern Patagonian kelp forest faces is exploitation of alginate, a principal component in cosmetics which is extracted from algae, usually illegally along the northern coasts of Chile.

"If we don't protect ourselves from this threat, if we don't stop what is happening in the north, we will lose one of the few answers we have to be able to stop climate change," said Bello.

A dozen scientists, videographers and photographers took part in the mission to Patagonia.

They dived down up to 30 meters to collect information on this little explored ecosystem that expands across hundreds of islets, fjords and canals.

"They are truly playgrounds of many species" such as mackerel, sardines, otters, molluscs, sea urchins and octopi, said Bello.
Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh will attend an expanded summit of the Group of Seven (G7) in Japan from Friday to Sunday at the invitation of his Japanese counterpart Kishida Fumio, the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced on Tuesday.

The G7 is an organization of seven of the worlds most advanced countries, including the U.S., the UK, France, Germany, Japan, Italy, and Canada.

This year, Japan assumes the rotating presidency of the G7 and will host the G7 summit as well as its expanded sessions in the Japanese city of Hiroshima.

The expanded sessions are set to pass a Hiroshima action program on global self-sufficient food security.

PM Chinh will attend these expanded discussions featuring three main topics, including establishing cooperation to cope with multiple crises and making joint efforts for a sustainable planet and a world of peace, stability, and prosperity.

In addition, the Vietnamese government chief will meet with leaders of other nations on the sidelines of the events.

He will also meet the Vietnamese community in Japan and attend a business forum, among others.

This is the third time for Vietnam to take part in an expanded G7 summit. The country first attended an expanded G7 summit in 2016 when Japan served as the G7 chair.

The invitation of Japan to Vietnam paved the way for Canada to invite the Southeast Asian nation to attend the 2018 G7 summit in Canada.

On March 20 this year, Prime Minister of Japan Kishida revealed that he wanted to invite the leaders of eight countries to Hiroshima.

These countries, namely Vietnam, Australia, Brazil, Comoros, the Cook Islands, Indonesia, India, and South Korea, are not G7 members, but they are among important partners with whom Japan seeks to further strengthen ties.

Of the list, Vietnam and Indonesia are the two ASEAN state members to be invited to the event.

Japan is ramping up efforts to become the fifth comprehensive strategic partner of ASEAN. Both sides are also making preparations to celebrate their 50th anniversary of diplomatic ties this year.

Meanwhile, Vietnam is a member of the United Nations Human Rights Council for the 2023-25 tenure and plays a crucial role in ASEAN.

Vietnam and Japan are celebrating 50 years of their diplomatic relations.

The fact that Japan invited Vietnam to the expanded G7 summit demonstrated the G7 chairs and the grouping's respect toward the position and role of Vietnam in ASEAN.

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Three siblings were hospitalized due to contracting botulism after eating cha lua (Vietnamese pork sausage) sold on a street in Ho Chi Minh City.

Cho Ray Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City said on Tuesday that the hospital used antitoxin vials sent from Quang Nam Province, central Vietnam to save these patients.

At 9:00 am on May 13, a family of four in Thu Duc City under Ho Chi Minh City, including three siblings aged between 10 and 14 and their aunt, bought cha lua from a street vendor to eat with bread.

Three hours after their breakfast, the four suffered stomachache, diarrhea and vomiting. The three siblings also developed other symptoms such as fatigue and muscle weakness.

A day later, the three were taken to Childrens Hospital 2 in downtown Ho Chi Minh City due to their physical exhaustion.

The three suffered drooping eyelids, weakness of legs, and respiratory failure.

Childrens Hospital 2 sought support from some doctors at Cho Ray Hospital to treat them. They were suspected of being poisoned.

At 3:00 on May 15, the doctors of the two hospitals diagnosed them with botulism poisoning from eating cha lua.

The doctors quickly treated them as botulism can lead to muscle paralysis and serious respiratory failure.

One hour after taking botulism antitoxins shipped from Quang Nam Northern Mountainous Region General Hospital in the namesake province, the three young patients health condition was stabilized on Tuesday.

Botulism is a serious illness caused by clostridium botulinum, a poisonous substance in the bacteria found in badly preserved food, according to the Ministry of Health.

People with botulism poisoning develop symptoms of vomiting, the paralysis of the head, neck and face, weakness in the arms, legs and chest, and drooping eyelids 12-36 hours after eating food containing clostridium botulinum.

Canned meat is one of the food products linked to botulism.

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It seems that threat actors are more active, and it may have something to do with the upcoming Democratic mayoral primary. While it's still unclear why the breach was even conducted, it's easy to suspect that it may have something to do with politics.

Philadelphia Inquirer Breach

The cyberattack may have begun on May 11th, when security firm Cynet detected suspicious activity and alerted the publication. Soon enough, the company's employees were no longer able to enter its content management system.

Lisa Hughes, a publisher from the Philadelphia Inquirer, did not disclose which of the publication's systems were affected, which means that it is still unclear whether the hacker accessed private or sensitive information in the attack.

The breach might have something to do with the fact that the Inquirer's internal systems don't have multi-factor authentication, making it easier for hackers to access. Regardless, it already hired a security company called Kroll to investigate the attack.

The publication has also informed the Federal Bureau of Investigation about the incident. The agency stated that it was customary for them to offer their assistance in the matter, as mentioned in Engadget, which could help hasten the investigation along.

Since it is just a week before the mayoral race, there is reason to believe that the cyberattack was politically-motivated, although authorities and security experts still cannot say for sure until the investigation is complete.

Since it is the election period, the publication will need to work on the paper, and so the Philadelphia Inquirer will be looking for an alternative space for employees to work on covering the subject and avoid any more disruptions.

As reported, this is the first major cancellation of the newspaper in almost three decades. Back in 1996, the publication had to shut down due to a blizzard that made it impossible for the employees to go to their offices.

Read Also: Gifted 9-Year-Old Pennsylvanian Kid Finishes High School With Online Classes

Could It Be Political?

Perhaps, but there's no way of telling yet. It is possible, especially since the mayoral race. The winner of the elections would become the 100th mayor of Philadelphia, which is the largest city in Pennsylvania and can indeed hold a significant vote count for presidential elections.

Although there are nine candidates in the race, five of which are ahead such as former City Council members Helen Gym, Cherelle Parker, and Allan Domb, as well as Rebecca Rhynhart and Jeff Brown, big names seem to be supporting Gym.

Helen Gym is backed by Senator Bernie Sanders, Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and the Working Families Party, as mentioned in The New York Times. Since she and Cherelle Parker hold strong positions in the race, being backed by such may make a huge difference.

With the upcoming elections and a tight race, the breach of a respected publication to gain an edge against an opponent is not impossible. The hacker may access reporters' emails, sources, and private messages.

It could also be simply to delay the publication of information that may cause harm to the reputation of one of the candidates. It is unlikely, but the threat actors may resort to publishing misinformation.

Related: Crown Resorts Confirms Ransomware Attack Following GoAnywhere Data Breach
Police in Ben Nghe Ward, Ho Chi Minh City detained a Vietnamese-American lawful permanent resident (LPR) for falsely reporting the loss of his LPR card, also known as a 'green card,' last week.

He allegedly sold his LPR card, according to the U.S. Consulate General in Ho Chi Minh City.

The green card, often valid for 10 years, is an identity document which allows a person to live and work in the U.S. permanently, the U.S. Embassy in Hanoi said on its website.

The individual allegedly provided police officers with false information about the loss of his green card, obtained a police report, and submitted the report with an application to the U.S. Consulate General in Ho Chi Minh City for a boarding foil to return to the U.S..

The U.S. Consulate General notified the Ben Nghe Ward Police of the false police report, and the individual was subsequently arrested.

Falsifying the reason for the loss of a green card or not providing truthful information to a U.S. consular or federal law enforcement officer is a serious offense that may affect immigration status.

We urge all LPRs to take extra care with their green cards, keep them in a safe place, and recommend using other forms of identification, such as a U.S. drivers license or a Vietnamese identification card, the U.S. Consulate General in Ho Chi Minh City said on Wednesday in a press release.

The U.S. Consulate General in Ho Chi Minh City reminds all applicants wishing to travel to the U.S. to always present legitimate and unaltered documents.

Those applicants who submit fraudulent documents may be permanently banned from entering the U.S..

The growing cooperation between Vietnamese and American law enforcement agencies continues to ensure that we can achieve one of our top priorities  to facilitate legitimate travel to the United States, said the consulate.

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British broadcaster Channel 4 has severed ties with Escape To The Chateau stars Dick and Angel Strawbridge.

Channel 4 have now ordered an independent investigation into their conduct, but the reason for it is unclear.

Concerns were originally raised by production company Two Rivers Media who will no longer work with the couple, Deadline reports.

Two Rivers said: We can confirm that we will no longer work with Dick and Angel and cannot comment further at the moment.

A Channel 4 spokeswoman said: Following a review, we have taken the decision not to work with Dick and Angel on any new productions in the future.

The Strawbridges are yet to comment on the claims. A representative for the couple has previously refuted allegations of improper behaviour.

The ninth and final season screned in the UK in December.

A number of spin-off series were in the works, including travel show Escape To The Chateau: Secret France, which has wrapped and is currently being edited. Channel 4 is yet to confirm whether it will be broadcast.

Dick and Angel Strawbridge toured Australia and New Zealand in February / March.

Escape To The Chateau, which recently screens in Australia on Nine.


Cafe Sheeru seeks to offer a safe and comfortable space for women customers

By Simeen Anjum & Arbab Ali, TwoCircles.net

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Sarah (who goes by her first name), 21, is strolling towards a bangle shop in the bustling streets of the Batla House market in Jamia Nagar, a Muslim ghetto in southeast Delhi. Delhi. Sarah is a physiotherapy student who lives in Abul Fazal Enclave, a nearby neighborhood. After much haggling, she purchases a set of red glass bangles, has them gift-wrapped, and walks to Cosmos Plaza on the opposite side of the road.

She skips every other step on the staircase until she reaches the second level and enters Sheeru Cafe, where her friend Sahrish Khan, 22, is waiting for her at one of the tables. Were celebrating Sahrishs birthday here, says Sarah, as she joins her posse of friends.

They order a large meal of cheesy chicken lasagna and farmhouse pizza at the counter, where the chef is also a girl like them: 21-year-old Sanya, a biology graduate with a flair for cooking and baking.

Cafe Sheerus most outstanding feature is that it is a womens only space. The customers, the chef, the manager, the waitress, and the owner are all women.

There are no leisure facilities for women in the area. But here, women are able to find their own space and enjoy time alone, says Sanya, who doesnt share her full name.

A safe space for women

The cafe seeks to create a safe and comfortable space for women shoppers to relax, eat, and even pray. It provides a separate space for offering namaaz inside the cafe, keeping in mind the culture and values of its clientele. Offering Islamic prayers (namaaz) is important for the majority of Jamia Nagar residents. Five times a day, the speakers of the numerous mosques in the area call people to prayer (adhan).

Because not all mosques have a designated space for women to pray, women who go out to shop in Batla House find it difficult to offer their daily prayers. They can pray in peace at our cafe, says Frahim Akhtar, 31, Sheerus co-founder, and the only man in the team. Akhtar manages the cafes grocery supplies and its books section, entering it only twice a day: before it opens in the morning, and after it shuts, at 10 pm. Sitting over 20 yards away from the cafe, he makes sure no man can walk in.

Building a connection with women

Atiya Khursheed, 30, the cafes burqa-clad founder, who has always been concerned about the paucity of leisure areas for women, waited for the Covid lockdown to end to launch the cafe. The idea of creating a space for women is something we have been planning for many years, she says.

An architect and urban planner by profession, Khursheed co-created the cafe with her husband Akhtar, a mechanical engineer who spent over 25 years in Saudi Arabia. The couples baby daughter, who they like to call Sheeru, inspired the cafes name.

Since its launch in July last year, Khursheed says the cafe has built a connection with its customers. One day, a mother of a wailing infant came to the cafe and breastfed her child. She said shed visit again someday with time on her hands, Khursheed cites as an example of women seeking a safe space for their exclusive needs.

Sheerus active Instagram page shares pleasant moments with its customers. Photos and social media mentions suggest that the cafe has established a loyal band of customers who appreciate the women only environment. The modestly built cafe, about 850 square feet in area, has white curtains and white furniture, and its aroma is filled with freshly baked pizza and brewing tea. The sense of calm contrasts with the clamour outside, visible via its large glass window.

The space wisely incorporates Islamic ideas and values, such as offering free mineral water to visitors. The inspiration for this gesture is made apparent in their menu, which includes a saying of Prophet Muhammad: When a companion questioned the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, Which charity is best? A drink of water, said the Prophet.

A bookshelf in the corner stacks Islamic books for children, such as Babys first Prophet Muhammad stories and Babys first Quran stories.

During prayer times, there is a palpable rush in the cafe, with nearly a dozen ladies inside. At times, ladies come in only to offer namaaz and they dont order anything at the cafe, says Nahid Mateen, 24, the manager. We are supportive because our goal is to build a community space rather than just make money, she adds.

Community building at Sheeru Cafe

Mishkat Tehreem, a 23-year-old mass communications student at Jamia Millia Islamia University, near the Batla House market, says the cafes location works to its advantage. Batla House market is a one-stop shop for Jamias female students needs. Being out in public places as a woman can be difficult at times. Sheeru is filling this void for me, she says.

In spaces exclusively for them, women can enjoy their time without the feeling of being watched, which is something women typically experience in public places, Khursheed says.

The cafe also serves as a cultural space, hosting events such as calligraphy workshops, poetry sessions, open-mic nights, art shows by local women artists, and guest presentations on topics that are important to its customer base, such as women in public spaces. They conducted a series of seminars and talks for women during Womens Week in March, and also arrange pop-up stalls to assist women-led local businesses like Aetbaar (a clothing brand) and Salzbakes (a home-based bakery).

The challenges

Before opening the cafe, Akhtar and Khursheed researched the market to see if their novel concept had any takers. We asked people on the streets of Batla House what they thought about an all-womens cafe. They replied positively, says Akhtar.

Still, it remains a risky business venture because it eliminates more than half of your potential clients. It required a lot of courage to take this step, he says.

Then, there are unique operational challenges involved in running a women-only space. As maintenance work, such as repairing the AC or plumbing, is almost always done by men, customers have to be turned away during such hours, says Akhtar.

But these are only operational hiccups in the larger happy story of Cafe Sheeru. Khursheed and Akhtar hope to set up more branches in Delhi as well as expand to other cities like Lucknow, Aligarh, and Hyderabad in the future.

Simeen Anjum is a social practice artist based in Delhi. Arbab Ali is a fellow at TCN SEED program.
(Bloomberg) -- Sanjay Shah, a hedge-fund trader accused of masterminding a massive tax fraud, lost an appeal at a Dubai court over an order to pay the Danish authorities more than 8.5 billion krone ($1.24 billion).

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The Court of Cassation in Dubai rejected the appeal from a lower court in the emirate this week, according to the Danish tax agency. The authority said in a statement Wednesday that it would now begin an asset recovery process.

Denmark has sought to claw back more than $2 billion that authorities said it was defrauded out of by networks of bankers, lawyers and others as a part of the Cum-Ex scandal. Shah was named as the mastermind of the scheme in which pension plans filed for tax returns to which they werent entitled, because they never paid the taxes to begin with.

Shah, a British national, has always maintained his innocence.

Shah and a group of individual traders and firms accused of earning vast sums of money from the tax trading loop hole are being sued in London by Denmark also. A London judge recently ruled the dividend tax refund claims at issue werent valid in a so-called validity trial.

It is important to note that the civil proceedings deal exclusively with civil liability issues and do not allow any conclusions to be drawn with regard to the possible criminal liability of my client, Bjorn Gercke, Shahs German criminal defense attorney, said in an email.

A spokesperson for Shah did not immediately comment. A copy of the ruling couldnt be obtained.

--With assistance from Karin Matussek.

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Never-before-seen Second World War photos of the first SAS soldiers have been uncovered.

They offer a rare pictorial glimpse into the day-to-day life of men who served in the Special Air Service, a highly classified special forces unit of the British Army formed in 1941.

The 1940s images, described as 'an exceptional find', appear in a unique photo album set for auction as part of a military collection relating to L/Cpl Gerald Hutchinson 1st SAS Regiment (1922-1989).

The album of unpublished photos from World War II and the post-war era show SAS troopers on manoeuvres in the desert of North Africa and later in ski uniforms during training exercises.

It also contains photographs of renowned SAS commanding officer Paddy Mayne, plus other soldiers, some named. Mayne, from County Down, Ireland, was a founding member of the SAS. In addition, he was capped for Ireland and the British Lions at rugby union, was an amateur boxer and worked as a lawyer. During WW2, he became one of the British Army's most highly decorated soldiers. However, he was controversially denied a Victoria Cross. His acts of bravery included leading armoured Jeep squadrons through the front lines toward Oldenburg, Germany. He rescued wounded men and eliminated a German machine-gun position. A citation, approved by Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery, recommended Mayne for the Victoria Cross. However, the award was downgraded and Mayne received a third bar to his DSO. Mayne was also a lead character during the recent BBC dramatisation of the birth of the SAS - SAS Rogue Heroes. The military collection includes L/Cpl Hutchinson's full set of medals and corresponding miniatures, rare uniform cloth badges, scrapbooks, poems, and associated paperwork including a certificate signed by Lt-Col Mayne.

The collection will be offered in Hansons Auctioneers' Medals and Militaria Auction on June 15 with a guide price of 4,000-5,000.
Pregnant woman stuck in Greece fears for baby 'who is only piece of partner left'

Pregnant Thurza Blagg is currently stuck in a hospital in Greece. (Reach)

A pregnant woman stuck in a Greek hospital says she fears for the safety of her baby after she went on holiday in an attempt to get over the death of her partner.

Thurza Blagg is 28 weeks pregnant and desperate to return to the UK after she was rushed to hospital when she began bleeding in Rhodes.

The 32-year-old said she went on holiday to get away from it all after her partner  and father to her unborn baby  Paul Ahad, took his own life in January.

Blagg said the baby is really important because its the only piece of my partner Ive got left.

She wants to return home so she can give birth safely but says her insurance company AXA missed an opportunity to repatriate her, resulting in an urgent transfer to Alexandra Hospital in Athens.

She said due to the language barrier and receiving little support, she does not understand what is happening with her baby.

Blagg said: "I don't feel very safe, I don't feel like I've got a clear birth plan.

Thurza Blaggs partner, Paul Ahad, took his own life in January. (Reach)

They're changing my sheets today for the first time, I haven't been offered any food or water, my mum has to buy it all."

Blagg, from Sherwood, Nottinghamshire, flew out to Rhodes on 6 May with her mum, Kim, who was celebrating her 60th birthday.

She received a fit-to-fly letter ahead of her trip, but on 12 May  two days before she was due to return  she began bleeding.

After being rushed to Rhodes General Hospital, Blagg was told her waters had broken and was given medication to delay the birth.

She says she contacted AXA so she could arrange a flight home but they were unable to acquire medical information from Blaggs GP due to it being closed at weekends.

Instead, the insurance company said Blagg could sign a medical disclaimer saying she would be liable for payment if she did not "fall within the terms of your policy", according to Nottinghamshire Live.

However, after sending the signed documentation, Blagg said AXA failed to organise her flight before the decision was made to move her to Athens.

Blagg added: "There was an opportunity for me to return home to receive the appropriate care.

Thurza Blagg says she is fearing for the safety of her unborn baby. (Reach)

I did everything they asked, it isn't about money, I want my baby to be alive, healthy and safe.

I'm scared and I want to go home and understand what's happening to my baby.

AXA has stated it was crucial to ensure any decision made was the right one and, after carefully reviewing her case, it is providing her with the medical assistance she needs.

A spokesperson said: Due to the complex nature of her condition, we have a duty of care to ensure any decision we take is in her best interest.

"Therefore, it was essential for our medical team to obtain and review Ms Blaggs full medical history in order to determine the appropriate next steps to ensure she receives the right level of care.

A spokesperson for the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office said it was supporting Ms Blagg and is in contact with local authorities.

For confidential support at times of emotional distress, contact The Samaritans at any time by calling 116 123 or emailing jo@samaritans.org.
FILE PHOTO: India's SpiceJet aircrafts prepare for landing and take-off at the airport in Mumbai

By Arpan Chaturvedi

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Aircastle, a lessor to Indian budget airline SpiceJet Ltd, told a tribunal on Wednesday that settlement talks with the company over unpaid dues were inconclusive.

The Ireland-based lessor earlier this month sought to initiate bankruptcy proceedings against SpiceJet over non payment of lease rentals and other dues. The airline owes Aircastle around 500 million rupees ($6 million), a lawyer present at the hearing told Reuters.

The company's settlement offer was not good enough and talks had not reached anywhere, the lessor told the tribunal which will next hear the case on May 25.

SpiceJet, which sought time from the tribunal to respond to Aircastle's bankruptcy plea, did not immediately reply to a request for comment.

The Indian carrier has been scrambling to raise funds amid a string of quarterly losses and as local competition heats up. Last week it said it had begun to revive 25 of its grounded fleet using its own money and a $50 million line of credit through an Indian government scheme.

But rival Go First's recent bankruptcy proceedings have spooked international lessors who are staring at a long legal battle to pull their planes out of the country.

Following this, Spicejet's lessors, including SMBC Aviation, have in recent weeks submitted over half a dozen requests to India's aviation regulator to de-register their planes and fly them out as dues remain pending.

The airline said last week it had no plans to take similar action and file for insolvency.

"Our lessors have supported us through the thick and thin and continue to do so and we are grateful for their support and confidence," it said.

($1 = 81.7800 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Arpan Chaturvedi in New Delhi, writing by Sakshi Dayal; Editing by Savio D'Souza and Louise Heavens)
The UK and the EU agreed to build a new working arrangement to strengthen co-operation on migration at a European summit, Downing Street said, despite the host country downplaying the events focus on border issues.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Ursula Von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, underlined a shared interest in tackling cross-border crime and people trafficking during a bilateral talk at the Council of Europe meeting in Iceland on Tuesday, according to No 10.

The arrangement would see British agencies working with Frontex, the EU border force, on critical operational and strategic challenges including the situation in the Channel, a Downing Street spokesman said.

The UK and the EU will discuss the details and operationalisation of this new working arrangement, they added.

Mr Sunak had sought to make migration a key topic at the summit in Reykjavik, warning leaders that the international system for policing human trafficking is not working.

He also called for reforms to Strasbourg measures which have hampered his plan to send migrants to Rwanda, as well as advocating for sustained support to Ukraine as it defends itself against Russias invasion.

In his remarks at the councils opening session, the Prime Minister cited Winston Churchill as one of the founding fathers of the organisation who helped champion its values of freedom, democracy and the rule of law.

We will hold Russia accountable for the horrendous war crimes that have been committed, Mr Sunak said.

And we must also learn the lesson of this war  by being prepared to confront threats to our societies before they become too big to deal with.

Rishi Sunak with Icelands Prime Minister Katrin Jakobsdottir (Alastair Grant/PA)

That includes acting on cybersecurity and AI, and it means tackling illegal migration.

He told leaders they need to do more to co-operate on stopping boats crossing the Channel, adding: The council already plays a vital role but I urge leaders to consider how we can go further.

But Icelands foreign affairs minister Thordis Kolbrun Gylfadottir suggested migration was not top of the agenda, telling the BBCs World At One programme: This summit doesnt have a big focus on migration in general.

Mr Sunak also held talks with the president of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), Siofra OLeary, over a review of the working of Rule 39  the order that blocked the inaugural flight to Kigali in Rwanda last year.

He said he would use the conversation to talk about the importance of ensuring Strasbourg acts in a way that is fair, transparent and effective.

He insisted the UK would be building on its record of leading reform of the ECHR, citing the Brighton Declaration on human rights cases as an example.

Rishi Sunak and European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen (Dan Kitwood/PA)

People trafficking came up in the Prime Ministers bilateral meeting with Dutch leader Mark Rutte, with whom he agreed to tackle the scourge by working together both bilaterally and through forums such as the European Political Community, according to Downing Street.

At the summit, Mr Sunak said European communities and the worlds most vulnerable people are paying the price for the failure to prevent unlawful migration.

It comes as his Conservative administration attempts to pass into law measures designed to stop asylum seekers crossing the English Channel in small boats.

The Illegal Migration Bill aims to send asylum seekers who arrive in Britain via unauthorised routes back home or to a third country such as Rwanda, as well as cutting the daily 5.5 million cost of housing migrants who make it to the UK.

No 10 said the Government remains committed to reducing net migration amid speculation it could pass the one million mark next year.

It follows reports that the Home Office has privately shared figures with No 10 suggesting more than 1.1 million foreign workers and students could legally arrive in Britain in 2024/25, just as the Tories face a general election test.

Rishi Sunak speaks to the media as he arrives at the Harpa concert hall in Reykjavik (Alastair Grant/PA)

Mr Sunaks spokesman said: I wont get into specific pieces of advice that go between departments and No 10.

The Government remains committed to reducing net migration over time while ensuring the economy has the skills we need.

He said there is no specific target on reducing migration numbers and the priority is tackling illegal migration in the first instance.

Cabinet minister Michael Gove, speaking about the one million number, said: I dont think it will reach those figures.

But the Housing Secretary added that the numbers recently have been at a level where there is an inevitable pressure on housing and on public services.

The Leave campaigner said a critical part of Brexit was being able to say this is the level of migration we as a country believe is right and establishing there is a limit.

Official figures to be released later this month are expected to show net migration of between 650,000 and 997,000 in 2022.

The Illegal Migration Bill has come in for criticism and sparked demonstrations (Kirsty OConnor/PA)

The 2019 Conservative Party manifesto pledged overall migrant numbers would come down.

Home Secretary Suella Braverman argued in a speech at Mondays National Conservatism conference that Britain must not lose sight of the importance of controlling legal migration, as well as preventing people from entering through unauthorised channels.

The Council of Europe was established after the Second World War to uphold democracy and freedom throughout the continent.

Tuesdays gathering is only the fourth time the institution, which counts 46 countries as members, has met since its founding in 1949.

The meeting, which Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is due to join virtually, focused on the situation in his country and how international allies can hold Russia to account for breaches of international law since the invasion.

The Prime Minister will sign the UK up to the Register of Damages to ensure the people of Ukraine are compensated for losses incurred as a result of the war, No 10 said.

The register is a mechanism to record and document evidence and claims of damage, loss or injury as a result of Russian aggression against Ukraine.
A month after clashes began between the Sudanese army and paramilitary forces, air strikes continue to pummel Sudans major cities while on the ground street battles rage. Bodies of both soldiers and civilians are piling up in the streets of the capital Khartoum, many of them remaining unclaimed due to the unstable security situation. Sudanese volunteers have launched an initiative to bury civilian victims of the civil war and locate the missing, dead or alive.

People living in Khartoum, the capital of Sudan, are finding themselves with no access to basic goods or medical care as street battles between the army and paramilitary groups continue to rage. Across the country, only 28 percent of hospitals are in operation. In the capital, the number drops to just 16 percent, according to the World Health Organization .

In mid-April, when clashes began between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a paramilitary group, our team received a number of images showing the bodies of both civilians and soldiers piling up in the streets of the capital. In many cases, the ongoing air raids and gunfire have meant that family, friends and medical teams have been unable to gather and bury the bodies of the dead.



Read more on The Observers - France 24



Read also:

How both sides in Sudan claim to be cracking down on gang violence and looting

Janjaweed militias rampage through Darfur, adding to conflict chaos in Sudan

In Khartoum, corpses litter the streets: The fighting keeps residents from burying them
Chrysler-parent Stellantis looks to trim around 3,500 hourly U.S. jobs - union letter

By David Shepardson

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Chrysler-parent Stellantis NV wants to cut approximately 3,500 hourly U.S. jobs and is offering voluntary exit packages, according to a United Auto Workers union letter made public Tuesday.

The automaker is looking to reduce its hourly workforce offering incentive packages that include $50,000 payments for workers hired before 2007, UAW Local 1264 said in a letter dated Monday posted on its Facebook page.

Stellantis spokeswoman Jodi Tinson declined to comment. A person briefed on the matter said the figure might be lower than the figure cited in the UAW letter.

In late February, Stellantis indefinitely halted operations at an assembly plant in Illinois, citing rising costs of electric vehicle production.

The action impacted about 1,350 workers at the Belvidere, Illinois, plant that built the Jeep Cherokee SUV and resulted in indefinite layoffs. The automaker has warned it may not resume operations as it considers other options.

The UAW letter said openings created by workers leaving would be filled by workers on indefinite layoff. Stellantis said in February that about 40,000 U.S. hourly workers were eligible for profit sharing.

Last week, UAW President Shawn Fain said Stellantis' decision to idle the Illinois plant was "a flat-out violation" of the union's contract with the UAW and is unacceptable.

The UAW will enter talks with the Detroit Three before labor contracts expire in mid-September.

Earlier this month, General Motors said about 5,000 salaried workers accepted buyouts to leave the automaker. GM CEO Mary Barra said February job cuts of a few hundred jobs and the 5,000 buyouts "provided approximately $1 billion towards" a $2 billion cost cutting target.

Ford Motor Co recently announced significant job cuts in Spain, Germany and other parts of Europe and in August said it would cut a total of 3,000 salaried and contract jobs, mostly in North America and India.

(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Lincoln Feast.)
Samsung has something new for the brave people in the military.

The popular tech giant recently revealed it would release military-ready editions of its Galaxy S23 smartphones, allowing soldiers to utilize Samsung's capabilities in the field.

Unfortunately, military enthusiasts, let alone the general public, possibly couldn't get their hands on this smartphone edition since they're specifically made for the military.

Samsung Galaxy S23 Military Edition Details

Samsung announced that its Tactical Edition Galaxy S23 smartphone would come in two variants: the base Galaxy S23 Tactical Edition smartphone and the Galaxy XCover 6 Pro Tactical Edition, per Android Authority.

Both variants offer extra features that their public-use counterparts wouldn't have due to them being suited for the military only. According to Sam Mobile, these features include the Android Team Awareness Kit (ATAK) and the Battlefield Assisted Trauma Distributed Observation Kit (BATDOK).

The former feature provides operators in the field enhanced real-time situational awareness such as precision targeting, surrounding land formation intelligence, navigation, and data sharing. Meanwhile, the latter collects and distributes real-time patient encounter information, such as vital signs using wired and wireless sensors.

Interestingly, the two features meet US military security requirements and are protected by Samsung's Knox and Knox Dual Data at Rest, which meets NSA requirements for protecting confidential data.

Read More: Fortnite To Add Ranked Play, Zero Build in v24.40

While the two variants share the same features, they do not share some hardware. Both have an IP68 rating that allows them to be submerged in nearly five feet of clear water for up to 30 minutes and is protected by Gorilla Glass Victus 2+ and an Armor Aluminum build with a rugged, wearable military-grade case on the chest or forearm.

However, only the XCover 6 Pro Tactical Edition variant has an IP68 rating and a case that meets MIL-STD-810H military specifications, meaning it can survive a fall up to five feet and continue to work under various temperatures.

Phone Arena mentioned that both variants support Samsung DeX and the on-device desktop platform that allows military law enforcement units to connect to a monitor, keyboard, and mouse to provide a desktop-like experience inside military vehicles without requiring a mounted laptop.

Another difference between the two variants is the replaceable battery the XCover 6 Pro Tactical Edition has; the base Tactical Edition variant only has an intelligent battery that optimizes app usage in the field to save battery life and extend smartphone use.

Samsung Galaxy S23 Military Edition Release Date

Samsung mentioned during SOF Week that its Tactical Edition Galaxy S23 smartphones would become available for purchase this summer, with the company assuring customers that the two new Tactical Edition smartphones "will be valuable tools that can help our warfighters achieve their missions."

However, it seems these phones would only be available for military personnel or the US military to purchase and use due to the specialized nature these phones have.

Related Article: Samsung Adds Message Guard to Upcoming Galaxy S23 - What Is It For?
First ever full-size scan of Titanic reveals wreck as never seen before

First ever full-size scan of Titanic reveals wreck as never seen before

The first full digital scan of the Titanic wreckage has been created, revealing details of the worlds most famous shipwreck as never seen before.

Curious history buffs can take a 3D tour of the ship that sank in 1912, killing more than 1,500 people, in a video created from more than 700,000 images taken of every angle of the wreckage.

The 3D render shows the ship as though on dry land, giving people a unique view of details such as the radio room and the serial number on the propeller.

Its believed to be the first unbiased view captured of the Titanic wreckage in its entirety that relies on pure data.

The scan was carried out by deep-sea mapping company Magellan Ltd and Atlantic Productions, who are making a documentary about the project.

Underwater robots controlled by specialist teams spent a painstaking 200 hours surveying the length and breadth of the wreck, which lies in two parts in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Canada.

The BBC superimposed the entire digital scan of the wreck inside the London Stadium, which held the 2012 Olympics, showing its gigantic scale.

Historians hope the digital scan will offer new insight into exactly what happened on the fateful night of April 14.

Atlantic Productions CEO Andrew Geffen told BBC Breakfast on Wednesday: Great explorers have been down to the Titanicbut actually they went with really low-resolution cameras and they could only speculate on what happened.

We now have every rivet of the Titanic, every detail, we can put it back together, so for the first time we can actually see what happened and use real science to find out what happened.

It will take a long time to go through all those details but literally week by week there are new findings.

Historian Parks Stephenson told BBC Breakfast that the Titanic wreck site has previously been subject to human bias as we try to look at the scale of it.

The context is put together by artists, either painting artists or digital model artists. Every artist that tries to give you overall context of the wreck is going to unconsciously insert some human bias, always trying to make the wreck look like the ship used to, he explained.

But this model is the first one based on a pure data cloud, that stitches all that imagery together with data points created by a digital scan, and with the help from a little aritifiical intelligence, we are seeing the first unbiased view of the wreck.

He added: I believe this is a new phase for underwater forensic investigation and examination.

The wreck of the Titanic lies at a depth of about 12,500 feet, around 370 nautical miles off the coast of Canadian island Newfoundland. It lies in two main pieces about 2,000 feet apart.

Rare footage of the Titanic shipwreck was released in February, 37 years after the ruins were first discovered, in tandem with the films 25th anniversary.

The video was taken by a team from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) and the French National Institute of Oceanography months after they discovered the wreckage in September 1985.

The ship sank after colliding with an iceberg on its maiden voyage from Southampton to New York in April 1912.
Ukraine claims it has gained ground around Bakhmut

Kyiv said on Tuesday it had captured 20 square kilometres from Russian forces around Bakhmut in recent days.

Likened to a "meat grinder", the devastated eastern city has been an epicentre of fighting for months, with both sides suffering heavy losses.

Ukraine's army claims it is regaining ground to the north and south, diminishing Russian control over the former salt mining town - currently estimated at 90%.

"In recent days, our troops have liberated about 20 square kilometres north and south" of Bakhmut, said Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Ganna Maliar.

Russian troops continue their attempt at "completely destroying the city with the help of artillery", he added.

In its daily assessment, the US-based Insitute for the Study of War said Russia was reinforcing its troops in Bakhmut, despite Ukraine's "limited and localised counterattacks".

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stressed on Monday that Ukraine's long-awaited counter-offensive had not begun, maintaining his army "needs more time".

This could be a red herring to trick Russian forces.

US volunteer allegedly killed by Wagner mercenaries

The Russian mercenary Wagner Group claimed on Tuesday its soldiers killed a US citizen in Bakhmut.

In a video posted online, Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin announced the death of the volunteer soldier, reportedly an ex-member of the US special forces from Idaho.

"He came to meet us," Prigozhin said next to the body of a man he claimed was the American. He said the body would be handed over to the US authorities.

Euronews could not verify his claim.

At least 12 Americans have died fighting in Ukraine since the war broke out last year, despite authorities warning citizens not to travel to the country.

The mercenary head also claimed his force had seized ground in Bakhmut.

"Today Wagner's units advanced 200 meters and occupied an area of 113,000 m2. Only 1.46 square kilometres remain under enemy control in Bakhmout," he said.

UK tires to build collation for supplying Ukraine with jets

Kyiv has received support from London to obtain F-16s - something it has been calling for in vain for months.

London wants to build an "international coalition" to help Ukraine obtain the sophisticated Western fighter jets, Downing Street said on Tuesday.

Its statement followed a meeting between British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and his Dutch counterpart Mark Rutte - who also wants to supply Ukraine with the planes - during a Council of Europe summit in Iceland.

It is a question of "providing Ukraine with air combat capabilities (...), ranging from training to the delivery of F-16 aircraft", added Downing Street.

The day before Zelenskyy said he was "very optimistic" jets would be forthcoming after the meeting with Sunak.

Western countries have previously been hesitant to supply Ukraine with such expensive and complicated to use military equipment, with Ukraine accusing them of dithering.

Russia threatens to exit Ukraine grain deal

The United Nations is racing to extend a deal that has allowed shipments of Ukrainian grain through the Black Sea, easing a global food crisis exacerbated by Russia's invasion more than a year ago.

The breakthrough accord the UN and Turkey brokered last summer came with a separate agreement to ease shipments of Russian food and fertilizer that Moscow insists hasn't been applied.

Russia set a Thursday deadline for its concerns to be ironed out or it's bowing out.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Tuesday there's an intense session of contacts but that a decision is yet to be made.

With a similar extension in the balance in March, Russia unilaterally decided to renew the deal for just 60 days instead of the 120 days outlined in the agreement.

UN officials and analysts warn that a failure to extend the Black Sea Grain Initiative could hurt countries in Africa, the Middle East and parts of Asia that rely on Ukrainian wheat, barley, vegetable oil and other affordable food products.
As my colleague Joshua Zyber already wrote a wonderfully eloquent review of the film, Ill refer you to that momentarily, but I have to pause a moment to pin down that Wings of Desire is one of my very favorite films of all time. I was introduced to it by my high school German teacher who got the clever idea of showing her class a film in German and trying to have us ignore the subtitles and translate the dialog ourselves. As an exercise, it didnt always work because wed spend more time just simply watching the film, but its from this viewing I fell in love with Wim Wenders somber creation.

Simply, Wings of Desire is a film that celebrates life and living and appreciating the small things around us. Its dark and haunting but also beautiful and moving as we follow Bruno Ganzs Damiel as he transitions from a watching angel into a human who gets to fully explore the world. Ganz is fantastic in this role deliveirng a natural sense of wonder and amazement at everything he sees. Solveig Dommartin is devistating in her own ways as the beautiful trapeze dancer Marion who captures Damiel's heart. Otto Sander is equally haunting has Damiel's angel friend Cassiel who fails to see the same amount of wonder in the world as his friend. I also dearly love Peter Falk in his role as himself who offers simple but poignant advice to our former angel who begs to know everything - That you have to find out yourself. Thats the fun of it!

In a world that increasingly demands that you enjoy only certain things or that you can only be curious about certain topics, Wings of Desire is a wonderful affront to cynicism. I had a friend describe this film to me like it was coming off of anti-depressants. All of a sudden you start to experience real wonder and see beauty in the smallest details. Even if the love story may be a little slim, its there enough to say Damiel has loved. Ultimately never take for granted the small experiences and encounters.

Now, Ill give a little credit to those involved with the making of City of Angels that they at least tried to recapture the magic of this film - but missed the mark. This film was already perfect as is and that remake was sadly hollow - even if Nicolas Cage was quite good in it. In the aim to make a comercial love story, they take simple themes and smack you over the head with them like sledgehammers. In the loss of subtlety, the story lost a lot of its meaning. Simply put, you just cant make perfect twice.

Heres what Josua Zyber had to say about Wings of Desire for his 2009 Blu-ray review:

In the years prior to the fall of the city's infamous Wall, angels Damiel and Cassiel (Bruno Ganz and Otto Sander) roam the streets of Berlin, invisible to all but young children. They have always walked these grounds, since the time before the first hairy biped created in their image stood upright. They have seen great beauty, and tragedy, and wonder, and indifference. They observe, record, and testify to one another on the minutiae of the human condition. Not the grand dramatic events that mankind might believe shape its history, but the important details  the way a man suddenly looks over his shoulder into space, a woman inexplicably putting away her umbrella in the middle of a rainstorm, an old lady grasping her watch. They witness everything, even intruding into people's thoughts, but cannot have direct interaction. The angels live on a spiritual plane lacking the true richness of human life, which they can intellectually examine but never truly understand.

'Wings of Desire' (its English-language title; in German it's known as 'Der Himmel uber Berlin', literally translated as "The Sky over Berlin") is a film with no big action scenes, stunts, explosions, or expensive special effects. It has no surprise twist ending, and in fact very little story or plot at all. The movie's grandest set-piece involves a group of characters looking over people's shoulders at a public library. Yet this is a work of pure cinema, a mesmerizing stream of words, images, and sounds fused together in a way that only the motion picture medium will allow.

For its first 90 minutes, the film is essentially a non-narrative tone poem. The movie is less about story than about detail, as the angels collect little fragments of daily life for their journals. The picture is moody, contemplative, and existential. It's a meditation on the human existence, and an exploration of post-war Germany, a region still haunted by its past, still trying to rebuild and to reconcile its identity, even decades after the end of World War II. Cinematically, director Wim Wenders affects a tone of forlorn detachment. His camera floats dreamily through the city streets like the angels themselves, stopping to observe briefly and then move on.

Eventually, a narrative does surface. The angel Damiel longs for earthly ties, yearns to experience and finally understand those things that the living take for granted  things like color, warmth, the taste of hot coffee, or the sensation of touching the crook of a woman's neck. The price for this knowledge is mortality, and ultimately death.

Damiel is drawn to a woman who cannot see or touch him (the late Solveig Dommartin, at her most radiantly beautiful). He's fallen in love, even though he can't comprehend what that actually means. The woman is a circus acrobat, a trapeze artist in costumed wings. While this human pretends to be an angel, the real angel wishes to forsake his immortal existence to become human. The path to that transformation requires unexpected assistance from, of all people, Peter Falk (as himself), in Berlin to film a World War II drama that forces the city to reopen a wound it has tried unsuccessfully to suppress.

In years past, I've taken issue with the last half hour of the movie, which transitions from dreamy black & white to dull color, and forces a somewhat standard love story onto the material. The lovers' first physical meeting climaxes with an interminable speech that still tests my patience. However, in subsequent viewings, the thematic weight of these scenes has become more clear and resonant.

'Wings of Desire' is certainly Wim Wenders' masterpiece. It's a beautiful piece of visual poetry with images and ideas potent enough to haunt you for years.

Vital Disc Stats: The 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray

Wings of Desire makes the natural upgrade to 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray with a new 2-Disc release from The Criterion Collection. The 4K disc is pressed on a BD-100 disc with a Region A BD-50 disc reserved for the 1080p edition and additional bonus features. The discs are housed in a standard clear case with spine number 490 repurposed for this release. Also included is a booklet fcontaining essays and restoration notes about the film. The discs load to Criterions standard animated navigation system.
The University of North Georgia's (UNG) Cumming Campus hosted its inaugural Backyard Bash May 11. In addition to showcasing the impact of the campus, the event offered a chance for community members to see progress on the 27,300-square-foot campus expansion, which is set to be complete in time for the fall 2024 semester.

The new space will allow for the addition of bachelor's degrees in Cumming and provide a capacity for future enrollment of 2,200 students, particularly in health care and technology-centric programs in demand along the growing Ga. 400 corridor.

"I see such a robust future for this campus," UNG President Bonita Jacobs said. "Our new course offerings will make us a destination university for this community."

It was also the latest event in UNG's Sesquicentennial Celebration. By celebrating UNG's legacy of scholarship, leadership and service, the Sesquicentennial serves as an opportunity to honor the university's heritage, celebrate its present achievements, and focus on where it will lead next.

Dr. Chaudron Gille, provost and senior vice president for Academic Affairs, and Dr. Ken Crowe, executive director of the Cumming Campus, provided an update on the expansion of the campus. They pointed to the addition of bachelor's degrees in elementary and special education, management, computer science, and international affairs with a European concentration as a game-changer.
Human beings are so intricate and dynamic. You could look at someone, and based on the way they look, act, speak, and even smell, you can guess some things about them. You can guess what region of the world they come from, what they do professionally, how much curry they cook with, and maybe even what God they serve.

My daughter, Ada Verastic, and I were at IHOP (Store #2121, located at 8620 Pulaski Highway, Rosedale, MD 21237), and Ahmed was our server. I admired his professionalism and swiftness, and when I pleaded with him to bring my food out hot, not lukewarm, he understood the assignment. So, naturally, I was drawn to find out more about this man who was unlike most of the other servers I had encountered at this particular IHOP location.

I knew from his accent that he was an immigrant, and I guessed from his looks that he was Arab, possibly. Well, there was only one way to find out.

Ahmed Taha was Egyptian. So, Arab-speaking but not Arab. You know, like French-speaking, but not French. Or English-speaking but not English. Okay, you get the point.

I introduced myself to Ahmed and asked if I could write about him. He agreed with a smile and even added a Thank you, but when I told him I was Nigerian after he told me he was Egyptian, his smile became wider and broader, and his countenance became more relaxed as if he had run into an old friend. Two Africans, we had unexpectedly found each other, and there is a warmth and comfort that comes with finding people who share the continent with you. There is just comfort in finding people who remind you of you. That could be a woman finding a fellow woman in a room full of men or a child finding a child in a room full of adults or even a dog finding a dog in a room full of humans. Okay, you get the point again.

We talked about our rich continent, our incompetent leaders, and the challenges of raising children in America while still trying to immerse them in our culture and without having said culture positioned authentically within our immediate geographical means. It is an Its complicated relationship status.

Ahmed owned a barbershop and spa in Egypt before he visited America and decided he would like to start a life here. He finally moved to America in 2017 with the help of the owner of this IHOP location, who sponsored him. He loves Maryland because he finds the people to be more tolerant of his African and Muslim self and family. The short time he previously spent in California and New Jersey was uncomfortable as people stared at him when he prayed outside, and his wife, who wears the full hijab did not feel welcome. But Maryland is nice, he said. His wife originally did not like the idea of living in America, but every year, her disposition toward America becomes warmer, so Ahmed is pleased.

Ahmeds barbershop and spa were only for men. The men came there to get pampered with haircuts and Moroccan baths. I asked him why it was only for men, and he reminded me that his Islamic religion did not allow the mixing of men and women in that way. He showed me a promotional video, and for a brief second, I wished I was a man.

The spa is still open in Egypt, but it is not what it used to be when he was there. Today, Ahmed still cuts hair every day, except Friday and Saturday, because he reserves those days for his family. He is currently saving up and actively working towards opening another spa and barbing salon in Maryland, probably in Towson. This time, however, it will be sectioned into two, and services will be provided for women, too.

So, IHOP, I dont know what you do for your great employees, but this one deserves his flowers: money, global recognition on your website, and a promotion.
HA NOI  There is plenty of room for Vietnamese products to gain a bigger market share in Africa, as the country accounts for only 0.6 per cent of the continent's total imports of US$600 billion per year, according to the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT).

Vietnamese exports to Africa can also enjoy new opportunities brought about by the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement, the MoIT said.

To facilitate intra-bloc trade, African nations will pour more capital into infrastructure facilities, thus offering opportunities for Vietnamese goods to access more markets, including 15 landlocked countries, in Africa.

Currently, Viet Nams main export markets in the region are major economies with seaports such as South Africa, Egypt and Nigeria.

Countries around the world are planning to study, negotiate and sign international trade agreements, especially free trade agreements (FTAs), with the African Continental Free Trade Area. This will help them save time negotiating with individual countries or regions (Africa currently has 55 countries divided into eight economic regions).

African countries have quite similar production structures, mainly primary products such as crude oil, raw agricultural products, minerals, and precious metals, according to the ministry.

Even if the AfCFTA agreement takes effect across the region, the continent still cannot guarantee the supply of machinery, equipment, rice, textiles, footwear, and processed aquatic products; and still has to depend on imports from foreign countries.

Therefore, there remains huge potential for Viet Nam to export its key commodities such as rice, coffee, garment and textiles, footwear, and aquatic products to Africa.

According to the ministry, Viet Nam could increase its exports of textile, leather and footwear products to Africa by promoting competitive advantages such as low labour costs, good sewing techniques, and high-quality products, if the nation or the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) negotiated a trade agreement with the AfCFTA.

Statistics from the ministry's Asian-African Market Department revealed that trade between Viet Nam and Africa increased to $5.5 billion in 2022 from $2.52 billion in 2010.

During the year, Viet Nam exported over $2.8 billion worth of goods from the bloc, resulting in a trade surplus of $226.3 million. Among Viet Nam's major items were rice with a turnover of $568.6 million; phones and parts ($355.6 million); computers and electronics ($210.4 million); and footwear ($141.8 million).

At the same time, it spent $1.1 billion in importing cashew nuts from this continent besides metals ($484.1 million); wood and wood products ($114.3 million).

The AfCFTA is the worlds largest free trade area bringing together the 55 countries of the African Union (AU) and eight Regional Economic Communities (RECs).

The overall mandate of the AfCFTA is to create a single continental market with a population of about 1.3 billion people and a combined GDP of approximately $3.4 trillion.

As part of its mandate, the AfCFTA is to eliminate trade barriers and boost intra-Africa trade. In particular, it is to advance trade in value-added production across all service sectors of the African Economy.

The AfCFTA will contribute to establishing regional value chains in Africa, enabling investment and job creation. The practical implementation of the AfCFTA has the potential to foster industrialisation, job creation, and investment, thus enhancing the competitiveness of Africa in the medium to long term.

As of March 2023, 54 AU member states had signed the AfCFTA agreement, according to the AfCFTA official website au-afcfta.org.  VNS
HA NOI  Viet Nams logistics industry is gaining recognition in the global market, with growing expectations that it will emerge as a rising star in Asia.

This is due in large part to the countrys efforts to develop its supply chain industry and benefits from China plus sourcing strategies of major multinational manufacturers.

The industry has witnessed an annual growth of 14-16 per cent which has solidified its position as one of the fastest-growing and most stable sectors in the country with a total value of US$40 billion to $42 billion a year.

According to Agility Emerging Markets Logistics Index 2023, Viet Nam moved into the top 10 of the Index among 50 global markets, advancing one position compared to the previous year.

Agilitys ranking is based on four criteria including domestic opportunities, international opportunities, business fundamentals and digital readiness.

This recognition can be attributed to several factors, including the countrys strategic location, favourable investment policies and the Governments ongoing efforts to improve infrastructure and streamline regulations.

Among these criteria, Viet Nam is leading Southeast Asia and ranks 4th globally in terms of global opportunities with a score of 6.03 out of 10. The country has benefited greatly from the China plus policy as major global manufacturers are seeking to diversify their supply chains to reduce reliance on the Chinese market.

According to Agibility, Apple has been at the forefront of moving production to Viet Nam. In 2020, it began planning to expand assembly operations in Viet Nam, requesting its major supplier Foxconn to expand its assembly operations in the country. Sony, Samsung and LG have also expanded production in Viet Nam, building airfreight infrastructure in Ha Noi to support their assembly of mobile phones.

Viet Nams furniture industry is also a key beneficiary of this trend with its share of global exports rising from 11 per cent in 2019 to 17 per cent in 2022 while at the same time, Chinas share has fallen from 61 per cent to 53 per cent.

Viet Nams competitiveness has also been boosted by the growth of both domestic and export e-commerce, transforming it into a major hub for global product transhipment.

According to Tran Thanh Hai, Deputy Director of the Import-Export Department under the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the countrys import-export value reached a record high of $732 billion in 2022, up 9.5 per cent on-year, was partly attributable to the improved quality and quantity of logistics services offered by businesses.

Moreover, the Vietnam Maritime Administration has recently embraced the trend of green technology in the shipping industry to reduce fuel consumption, lower carbon emissions, and mitigate the effects of climate change.

However, the logistics industry in Viet Nam has not developed adequately due to the lack of connections between logistics service providers and manufacturers, traders and import-export businesses. Experts in Viet Nam's logistics sector stress the critical need for greater collaboration with enterprises.

Nguyen Xuan Hung, Deputy General Director of Ratraco, wants to expand the network of shipping, warehousing and equipment suppliers to enhance the domestic and international rail transportation systems for refrigerated containers.

"This not only diversifies the product range and offers inland cold transport solutions, but also provides a solution to shippers' concerns about supplying and delivering chilled products to the Chinese market," he said.

Despite Viet Nam being in an advantageous position to capitalise on China's challenges, the Vietnamese Government still has a considerable amount of work to do in order to establish a strong industrial ecosystem that can attract top-notch manufacturers and foster the growth of local suppliers that add value.  VNS
BTS' Suga, left, and J-Hope promote their documentary films in a video released by their agency Hybe / Courtesy of Hybe



By Kwak Yeon-soo



Ever since BTS began its indefinite hiatus in June 2022, its members have been busy pursuing their solo works. Their line of projects includes the song "Fast X" and the release of documentary films.



BTS' Jimin, who released his first solo album "Face" in March, lent his voice to a song in the 10th installment of the "Fast and Furious" series.



He collaborated together with American hip-hop artist Kodak Black and rapper NLE Choppa on "Angel, Part. 1." The full music video was released on Wednesday.



Jimin became the first ever Korean artist to feature on an original soundtrack for a "Fast and Furious" movie franchise release. He recently landed at No. 1 on Billboard's Hot 100 Singles chart with "Like Crazy" from his solo album "Face."



"Fast X" follows Dom Toretto (Vin Diesel) who confronts Dante Reyes (Jason Momoa), the villain who is out for revenge for the death of his dad and is determined to kill Dom's family. It made its global premiere in Korea on Wednesday.





Album cover for "Angel, Part. 1" featuring BTS' Jimin / Courtesy of Universal Pictures
HA NOI  Firms in supporting industries in Viet Nam are in desperate need of high-qualified and skilled workers in addition to solutions regarding capital and raw materials.

Le Lam, Deputy General Director of MBT Electrical Equipment JSC in Ha Noi's an Phuong District, said his company faced many difficulties in the past two years due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and disruption of the global supply chain, resulting in sharp declines in orders and revenue.

The company, which specialises in manufacturing transformers and medium-voltage cabinets, had been coping with dependence on imported raw materials as the quality of domestic products has failed to meet demand. Lam said his firm had also encountered difficulties in recruiting human resources to meet the requirements of its factory.

We seek intermediate-level welding workers all year round, but could only recruit a few," Lam told Viet Nam News.

Although the market was facing difficulties, in the future, if exports increased, his firm would need abundant human resources. Therefore, Lam suggested the authorities draw up effective training policies for supporting industries.

Nguyen Hong Phong, Managing Director of An Mi Tools Co in the capital city agreed. He said his company which is involved in manufacturing high-precision products and mechanical components for enterprises in automobiles, motorcycles, aviation, space and moulds needed to recruit workers in the cutting and processing industries throughout the year.

However, personnel recruitment had caused his firm headaches because it was difficult for the local workforce to meet the recruitment demand of his company.

"Currently, we need to recruit between 30 and 50 new employees annually. But we can only meet about 30-40 per cent of our goal," Phong told Viet Nam News.

Furthermore, businesses had to spend a lot of time retraining recruited workers from the concept of operations in production to expertise as most of them lacked the necessary skills, he said.

This is costly and time-consuming as it takes six months for workers to master their work, one year to have related skills and experience and they can be able to work independently only after two years, he said.

Meanwhile, his firm has failed to collaborate continuously with educational facilities to train students or recruited workers.

Can supply meet demand?

According to Pham Xuan Khanh, Rector of the College of High Technology (HHT), HHT has established relationships with large enterprises in Viet Nam and in the world and they are willing to cooperate with HHT to build the training centres.

At these centres, businesses will invest in facilities and equipment, and bring good experts who can team up with HHT from developing and organising training programmes to assessing students. Businesses will later use this workforce for their business and production activities.

However, there are no specific guidelines governing businesses' investments in school facilities and the coordination between schools and businesses to build centres which specialise in training, research, production, and commercialisation of products, Khanh said.

Khanh said he hoped Ha Noi's authorities and the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs would soon remove these difficulties so that enterprises would be offered more favourable conditions in investing in the training area.

Sharing Khanh's opinion, Nguyen Van, Standing Vice Chairman of Ha Noi Supporting Industries Business Association (HANSIBA), said it was very important to remove bottlenecks in institutions and policies governing cooperation between businesses and universities, colleges and vocational training institutions. This would help facilitate cooperation between firms in supporting industries and educational institutions and the ultimate beneficiaries are students.

In the past, HANSIBA organised short-term training courses, bringing affiliates to visit training facilities. Through specific connection activities, HANSIBA had listened to both sides - schools and enterprises - thereby building connection programmes to meet demand and supply labour for each other.

This would be the shortest way in meeting the supply-demand of human resources for the supporting industries in the short term as well as in the long term, Van said.

To ensure the quality of human resources served for supporting industries, Van emphasised the importance of setting up technical standards on occupational skills according to international standards and focusing on training methods and certification systems so that Vietnamese labourers can work in regional and international markets.

Well-structured training plans and roadmaps for personnel resources served for supporting industries should be also included, he said.  VNS
GIA LAI  The Central Highlands province of Gia Lai is focusing on improving the quality and value of its coffee produce and building brands but without expanding the coffee farming area until 2025.

The province has nearly 99,000 hectares under coffee and an annual output of over 267,000 tonnes.

The bean accounts of nearly 71 per cent of Gia Lais agriculture exports, and was worth US$490 million in 2022.

Gia Lai has ideal soil and weather conditions for coffee, which plays an important economic role, providing hundreds of thousands of jobs and improving the livelihoods of people, especially ethnic minorities.

Under a province plan for restructuring agriculture, the focus will be on improving quality and value and building brands to boost exports.

While the area under coffee will not be increased, around 9,500ha will be regrown.

Many local coffee processors have been improving their quality and investing in large production and processing facilities to take their products all over the country and to picky foreign markets such as the US, Japan and the EU.

Their high-quality coffee brands include Thu Ha, BaKa, Thuy Dung, and L'amant.

Farmers have been tying up with businesses to be a part of their supply chains, getting training in organic agricultural practices and changing their methods to improve yields and incomes.

Gia Lai is also growing its own unique specialty coffee on around 200ha, and hopes to increase it to 1,200ha by 2025 and have more supportive policies to build brands for it.

Authorities are considering policies to facilitate the development, and encouraging businesses and farmers to adopt technology and increase their rate of processing.

Le Huu Anh, director of Lam Anh Agriculture and Service Co-operative Group in ak oa District, said developing clean coffee would be as crucial as integrating stories about coffee into brands, especially with foreign buyers.

In order for Vietnamese coffee to have a standing in the international market, it is important to ensure transparency related to farms and assist farmers applying organic and clean farming practices.  VNS
HA NOI - Closing the third quarter of the 2022 - 2023 crop year, the sugar industry achieved brighter business results than expected because the global sugar price rose to the highest level in more than a decade.

With concerns about tightened supply affecting global food security, global sugar prices have skyrocketed.

Specifically, global raw sugar prices have recorded an increase from the beginning of April, touching 24.67 US cents per pound on April 19, the highest level since Q1/2012.

In addition, the impact of domestic trade remedies has also limited a large amount of imported sugar, so supply and demand are more balanced. Domestic sugar prices are expected to remain at a high level.

The Securities Corporation of Vietnam Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Foreign Trade (VCBS) said in its sugar industry report for the first quarter of 2023 that the protection measures for the domestic sugar industry had made imported sugar volume decline. The sugar imports from Thailand, Laos and Cambodia in the first quarter decreased by more than 12 per cent year on year.

Viet Nam imposes an anti-dumping levy on some sugar products imported from five Southeast Asian countries but originating from Thailand.

The purchasing price of sugarcane has also recovered to an average of VN1.05-VN1.1 million per tonne due to the scarcity of supply, creating favourable conditions for farmers to expand the raw material area.

Sugar price is forecast to increase by around VN18,000-18,500 per kilo thanks to increased domestic demand. Less competitive price of imported sugar after being taxed has also boosted demand for domestic sugar.

The above information brought a positive business outlook to sugarcane enterprises in the third quarter of the 2022 - 2023 crop from January 1 to March 31, 2023.

Leading was Kon Tum Sugar (KTS) with a net profit of more than VN12 billion, 3.2 times higher than in the same period last year. This is a business that regularly maintains a profit of less than VN4 billion per quarter, but in the third quarter of the 2022 - 2023 crop, the company had strong growth thanks to high sugar consumption in the domestic market.

Meanwhile, Son La Sugar (SLS) had a second consecutive quarter of net profit of over a hundred billion Vietnamese ong. Specifically, the third quarter's net profit reached more than VN109 billion, up 90 per cent. It was a record high in its profit for a quarter.

One of the advantages that helped SLS achieve this result was that the company is exempt from corporate income tax due to its agricultural product processing activities carried out in Son La Province, a locality with extremely difficult socio-economic conditions.

In addition, income from financial activities in this period increased by 100 per cent to nearly VN11 billion, including VN8 billion being the interest on loans for investment in raw material areas.

Lam Son Sugarcane (LSS)'s net profit increased by 22 per cent, reaching more than VN7 billion because all expenses were significantly reduced over the same period, although net revenue decreased by more than 15 per cent.

A major player in the industry is Quang Ngai Sugar (QNS), the owner of the Vinasoy brand, whose financial year normally ends on December 31 of each year.

At present, the company has announced the consolidated financial statements of the third quarter of 2023 with net revenue of nearly VN2.13 trillion and net profit of nearly VN317 billion, up 17 per cent and 80 per cent, respectively, over the same period of last year.

Regarding each business segment, Quang Ngai Sugar said there were some products with high growth such as sugar products with growth in sales volume at 90 per cent and revenue at 80 per cent, thereby contributing VN746 billion to total revenue.

However, the soy milk segment still played a key role with VN817 billion in revenue, a reduction of more than 8 per cent.

While most businesses received positive results, Thanh Thanh Cong - Bien Hoa (TTC AgriS, Hose: SBT) announced the third quarter financial statements of the year 2022 - 2023 with weaker results.

SBT's net revenue was about VN5.71 trillion, up 62 per cent. Of which, the sugar business accounted for nearly 91 per cent, reaching more than VN5.174 trillion, up 76 per cent.

However, SBT's net profit dropped 27 per cent to more than VN149 billion because financial expenses doubled in the same period, while selling and administrative expenses also increased significantly.

In general, the profit of most sugarcane enterprises in the third quarter increased sharply compared to the same period last year. The high price of sugar is one of the main factors improving the profitability of sugarcane producers.

In the agricultural industry report published at the beginning of April, VNDirect Securities Company said that companies mainly using domestic sugarcane materials, such as SLS and LSS, will benefit more from the upward trend in sugar prices.

For enterprises importing raw sugar to produce refined sugar such as QNS or SBT, the high selling price of sugar in 2023 will partly offset the increase in imported raw sugar prices.

In line with business results, stocks of the sugar industry boomed in both market price and liquidity recently. This industry was one of the few industries that attracted cash flow during the quiet period of the market.

LSS shares hit the ceiling at VN12,150 per share on May 8, increasing by 90 per cent compared to the beginning of the year.

During the same period, KTS shares reached VN26,300 each share, up 79 per cent, and QNS shares rose by 32 per cent to VN44,500 per share. The "big firm" SBT gained the lowest growth at 14 per cent to VN16,600 per share.

Especially, SLS became a phenomenon on the stock exchange when continuously conquering its historical peak. It set a new peak of VN175,000 per share on April 25, an increase of 43 per cent compared to the beginning of the year. It is one of the most "expensive" stocks on the stock exchange at the moment. VNS
HA NOI  Central Retail Vietnam and Bac Giang Provincial People's Committee signed a cooperation agreement on the sale of lychees on Tuesday in Bac Giang City.

According to the agreement, Bac Giang Province Department of Industry and Trade will provide Central Retail details of key agricultural manufacturing and trading units to connect and build consumption plans to meet the retailers needs and demands.

The province's Department of Industry and Trade also instructed companies, cooperatives, and suppliers to coordinate and complete the procedures in accordance with regulations.

Central Retail Vietnam will inform cooperatives and businesses the requirements and processes involved to put lychees and other key agricultural products into its systems, like GO!, BigC, and Tops Market.

It will continue guiding to complete the requirements and processes for goods that have not yet qualified to be inserted into the system right away.

In 2023, Central Retail Viet Nam will consume about 300 tonnes of lychees from Luc Ngan District. The total area of lychee in Bac Giang Province is 29,700 hectares, an increase of 1,400 hectares compared to 2022. The output is estimated at over 180,000 tonnes.  VNS
HA NOI  Despite uncertainties in the global economy, Vingroup will continue focusing on winning over international markets this year, the company said at the 2023 Annual General Meeting of Shareholders on Wednesday.

VinFast, a Vingroup subsidiary that specialises in the design and production of electric vehicles (EVs), and Black Spade Acquisition Co. announced a merger on May 12.

The occasion represents a significant step toward VinFast's listing on the US stock market and presents Vingroup and VinFast with new options for international financing.

In addition, VinFast continues to focus on the production of launched EV models for delivery to customers and prepares for the manufacturing of new models, which are the VF 6 and VF 7, while ramping up the progress of setting up a plant in North Carolina.

In 2023, the Board of Directors of Vingroup targets a net revenue of VN190 trillion (US$8.1 billion), a gain of 87 per cent year-on-year. If it is reached, this will be the highest net revenue since the company started operations. The company's profit after tax is forecast to slightly decrease by VN44 billion over the last year to VN2 trillion.

For its fund-raising plan, Vingroup expects to issue a maximum of VN5 trillion in bonds in one or many offerings. They are convertible bonds with a maximum coupon rate of 15 per cent a year.

The term of a bond ranges from 12 months to 60 months. Vingroup will offer private placement or public placement, depending on the actual situation.

Last year, it raised nearly $1.1 billion from international markets, demonstrating the company's reputation globally.

Regarding the plan to use accumulated profit after tax as of the end of 2022, Vingroup proposes to distribute VN5 billion to the reserve fund according to the provisions of the group's charter, and all accumulated profits will be kept for operating activities. VNS
HCM CITY  HCM City needs to be supported by specific mechanisms and policies that are strong enough to remove bottlenecks faced by the city and enable it to create breakthrough developments, experts said.

Over the past decades, the city has always maintained its role as the countrys economic locomotive, but its economic growth has slowed down in recent years.

Its gross regional domestic product (GRDP) grew just 0.7 per cent in the first quarter of the year, much lower than the national average. The citys economy will continue to face many unpredictable difficulties and challenges in the remaining quarters of the year, they said.

Speaking at the seminar Removing obstacles to drive HCM Citys economic development' held in HCM City on Tuesday, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Tran inh Thien, former director of the Vietnam Institute of Economics, said HCM City shouldered the countrys economy, and only when the locomotive grows strongly can it 'pull the whole train up'.

Despite its economic growth slowing down, the city still has abundant internal resources. So creating new breakthroughs for the city is needed to boost its development, he said.

"We need to identify and address long-term problems to enable HCM City to regain its position and growth," he said.

The city has to turn itself into an international integration centre, with breakthrough projects such as Can Gio transshipment port and an international financial centre to draw more international investors," he said.

Dr. Tran Du Lich, a member of the National Advisory Council for Financial and Monetary Policies, said macro policy that stimulates demand in the domestic market is needed to help the economy recover soon.

The Government should continue to reduce the value added tax to 5-6 per cent. The current reduction of the VAT tax to 8 per cent is not enough, he said.

Businesses need to run a series of discount campaigns to stimulate demand, including tourism. With exports facing difficulties, promoting consumption in the domestic market is a must, he said.

In addition, consumer credit should be accelerated to stimulate consumption demand, he added.

From a business perspective, Nguyen Anh uc, general director of Saigon Co.op, said that retail businesses are facing many difficulties due to declining demand. Statistics of the Association of Vietnam Retailers showed that no retailer had positive growth in the first quarter of 2023.

To create conditions for the retail industry to develop as well as the economy to recover, there should be policies to directly support consumers, such as a 2 per cent reduction in VAT.

Lich said the National Assembly is discussing a resolution to supersede Resolution No 54 on specific mechanisms and policies for the development of the city. If it is approved and immediately applied, it will give the city great autonomy and help solve institutional obstacles to facilitate growth.  VNS
Hoang uc Cuong, Deputy Director of the General Department of Meteorology and Hydrology at the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, talks to the Vietnam News Agency about the importance of establishing an early warning system associated with impact forecasting.

Can you explain what is impact forecasting and how it differs from impact-based forecasting in the field of hydrometeorology?

Impact-based forecasting focuses on potential impacts, rather than traditional weather information as the central information. The core question that impact-based forecasting seeks to answer is what impacts hydrometeorology is likely to have on various sectors such as agriculture, transport, tourism, and aquaculture.

For example, instead of answering the question of what the weather will be like tomorrow, an impact-based forecast will address how such weather will affect the economy, society, the environment, and people. An impact-based forecast bulletin is more comprehensive than a traditional forecast bulletin, including information on temperature threshold, rainfall threshold, water level threshold, and their impacts on different aspects of life.

Moreover, impact-based forecasting not only predicts heavy rainfall in a specific area but also indicates the possibility of flooding, landslides, and damage to transportation networks and buildings across the region.

Impact-based forecasting is particularly valuable for local governments and disaster risk managers, particularly in areas that are prone to natural disasters like storms, floods, and high tides. The Viet Nam Meteorological Agency, along with numerous other countries worldwide, has shown an interest in impact-based forecasting as a future development trend.

Impact forecasting involves predicting how a certain threshold of a natural disaster (e.g., 50mm of rain/24h, wind levels 6-7) will affect exposed objects, taking into account the vulnerability of those objects. For instance, instead of simply stating the amount of rainfall in millimeters, an impact forecast would predict how much flooding that amount of rain could cause, whether it would reach knee or ankle level. Similarly, instead of issuing a warning for wind level 10, an impact forecast would indicate the speed at which roofs could be damaged at level 4, small tree branches could fall at level 12, and power poles could break and fall at level 13 or above.

Impact forecasting is closely related to the disaster risk warning that the hydrometeorology industry is implementing in its forecast and warning bulletins.

Decision No. 18/2021/QD-TTg, issued on April 22, 2021, has amended and supplemented the regulations on forecasting, warning, and communication of natural disasters, as well as disaster risk levels.

When it comes to forecasting and early warning of natural disaster risks, this decision is significant as it merges two previous decisions. The first Prime Minister's Decision focuses on disaster forecasting and communication, while the second Prime Minister's Decision addresses disaster risk levels. Decision No. 18/2021/QD-TTg is the result of merging the two previous decisions, and this is the first new point that creates favorable conditions for decision-making units.

Decision 18 emphasises the importance of early warning, detailed warning, and increasing the reliability of bulletins. The newsletters are delivered to users more than an hour earlier than before. In addition, when issuing newsletters, forecasting and warning information is accompanied by a regulation on the level of disaster risk shown in the same bulletin. This is very convenient, logical, appropriate, and effective for the implementing unit, as well as the users who access and read the bulletin.

Decision 18 places special emphasis on early and detailed warning, as well as increasing the reliability of bulletins. Newsletters are now delivered to users more than an hour earlier than before.

In addition to this, Decision 18 has also made adjustments and supplements that are reflected in the thicker frequency of bulletins, which ensures that hydro-meteorological phenomena are updated continuously and regularly. Moreover, the regulation of disaster risk levels in Decision 18 has been carefully studied and adjusted based on the natural disaster patterns that have occurred in the past, providing levels that are more suited to reality. The level of detail of the disaster risk levels has been extended down to the district level and each small river basin.

These adjustments have contributed to earlier and more proactive prevention and control of natural disasters, especially when the level of disaster risk is forecasted in accordance with the reality of natural disasters. With an adequate and appropriate allocation of resources, proactive disaster response and prevention will become better and more effective.

How has the work of early forecasting, impact forecasting, and disaster risk warning in Viet Nam been done in the past, and what are the lessons learned from this work?

Since the beginning of 2020, the General Department of Meteorology and Hydrology has been adding impact warning information to the bulletin of storms and tropical depressions. As of now, all forecast and warning bulletins issued by the General Department of Meteorology and Hydrology must include information on the potential impacts on the environment and living conditions.

The impact forecasts released by the hydrometeorological agency have helped leaders and decision-makers better protect the public by providing recommendations on evacuations, school closures, and other protective measures to reduce damage to people and infrastructure. This has contributed to minimising economic losses.

Disaster risk prediction and impact forecasting are important tools for managers, policymakers, and other stakeholders involved in disaster risk management, emergency preparation, planning, and response actions.

Experience has shown that impact forecasting and disaster risk warnings are very effective for major natural disasters such as storms, floods, and large-scale heat waves. However, for types of natural disasters that occur gradually such as drought, saltwater intrusion, or small-scale, fast-occurring natural disasters affecting different areas, the mechanisms and methods of sharing information among ministries, branches, and localities need to be further improved.

The Hydrometeorological sector will continue to gather and enhance information about objects that may be affected by various types of natural disasters to provide realistic and appropriate reports. This is especially important for large and complex natural disasters that can severely impact people, properties, and communities during this year's storm and flood season.

In terms of initial experience, the Hydrometeorological sector acknowledges the importance of coordination between the Hydrometeorological Forecasting Agency and other ministries, branches, and localities. To accurately and timely forecast and warn of natural disasters, the meteorological agency must have a good understanding of the infrastructure, current status of agricultural production, and the living conditions of people in regions and localities. Without such coordination, the forecasts and warning reports of the hydrometeorological agency will be greatly limited.

To contribute to the implementation of "sustainable and adaptable to natural disasters," what programmes and plans does the General Department of Meteorology and Hydrology have?

Decision No. 10/2023/QD-TTg, issued on April 24, 2023, assigned the General Department of Meteorology and Hydrology many new tasks, such as assessing disaster risks and zoning, forecasting and assessing climate, hydrology, hydrogeology, wind, solar, wave, and hydroelectric potentials for directing, operating, exploiting, and producing non-renewable and renewable energy. The General Department is also streamlining its apparatus from 23 affiliated units to 19 units.

In order to successfully carry out the assigned tasks, the General Department of Meteorology and Hydrology is taking immediate steps to consolidate its organisation, particularly its hydrometeorological forecasting and warning units at both central and local levels. It is also assessing the impact of climate change on hydro-meteorological disasters in Viet Nam in order to incorporate this information into forecasting models and plans, with the aim of providing earlier, more detailed and more reliable information about such disasters.

Furthermore, the industry is promoting privatisation to create a favourable environment for businesses and individuals to participate in hydro-meteorological activities. The department is also making the most of the existing infrastructure and hydro-meteorological information within society, as well as strengthening the dissemination and education of laws related to hydrometeorology, to raise public awareness of the importance of utilising hydrometeorological forecasting and warning bulletins. VNS
HA NOI  Black-and-white infrared photographs by Nguyen Xuan Khanh have attracted attention of viewers at the ongoing Photo Hanoi '23 exhibition in Ha Noi.

Khanh recently discussed his two ongoing documentary photography projects since 2010, 'Angkor of My Dream' and 'Titan Sand', at Matca Space for Photography.

The talk was a side event of Photo Hanoi '23, the first international photography biennale in Viet Nam, initiated by the French Institute of Ha Noi with the support of the Ha Noi Peoples Committee.

Khanh went into greater detail about the procedure and technique he used to capture black-and-white infrared photography projects.

Infrared photography, a technique that captures wavelengths of light that are invisible to the human eye, is used in both of his projects.

I am more familiar with using black-and-white infrared photographs since colour photography fails to convey the effect and emotion I desire, he said.

According to Khanh, his first project Angkor of My Dream is his tribute to Cambodia and the next generation about the beauty of Angkor, the ruins of the Khmer Empires capital city.

When I was young, my father was active in the revolution, and I lived with my adoptive parents in Cambodia," he said. "Therefore, Cambodia is my second homeland. I celebrate New Year festival twice: Vietnamese Tet (Lunar New Year) and Khmer new year Chol Chhnam Thmey.

My twenty-year experience of residence in Cambodia and my ability to speak in Khmer allowed me to communicate with locals to discover the ideal location, angle, and moment of time from which to photograph.

His second project, 'Cat Titan' (Titan Sand), was captured at the old titanium mine in Quy Nhon, Binh Thuan.

This titanium mine was turned into a resort and now only exists in my photographs, he said.

Khanh also shared about his career as a professional photographer and how he acquired skills and technical knowledge of the photographic world.

At the event, uc Viet, a freelance photographer in Ha Noi told Viet Nam News: "Photo Hanoi '23 is a great opportunity for the general audience to meet photographers and exhibition curators as well as learn about their creative process."

After the talk, both of Khanh's art projects were displayed to the public in the group exhibition: i Tim Thoi Gian a Mat (In Search of Lost Time) with nine other Vietnamese and foreign photographers. They give their own perspective on time through visual art projects.

In terms of black-and-white infrared photography, Nguyen Xuan Khanh is one of the most famous names in Viet Nam," said Le Nguyen Duy Phuong, photographer and curator of the exhibition. "During two projects, he observed many interesting objects with different textures and forms found in nature.

Artists were the first ones to create close connections between ethnic communities," said Thierry Vergon, director of the French Institute of Ha Noi and general coordinator of Photo Hanoi23 Biennial. "They also contribute to cultural exchange, connecting individuals and countries to become closer."

Khanh was born in 1948 in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, and started photography by taking family photographs at age 20. He moved to HCM City in 1970, then studied at EURELEC school and was a pedagogical trainee at the Arles national school for Photography in France.

Aside from several years of teaching photography at the Ho Chi Minh City Academy of Theatre and Cinema, his works have been shown locally and internationally.

Among his notable photography exhibitions was a part of ''Mua xuan Viet Nam'' (Vietnam Spring) programme by the Association Francaise dAction Artistique (AFAA) in Paris, Touch in Cypress School in California, USA, and at The Factory Contemporary Arts Center in HCM City, Viet Nam.

He also played a role as art co-director at Viet Nam-France Photography Month in HCM City from 2005 to 2007.

The exhibition is open till May 31, at Mo Art Space, 136 Hang Trong Street, Hoan Kiem District, Ha Noi. VNS
The 4.000-seat hall at National Convention Centre was full for musician Tran Tiens concert last Saturday in Ha Noi.

Now living in the southern province of Ba Ria Vung Tau, the 76-year-old Hanoian, born and bred, was very happy to meet his hometown's audience at the gig entitled Nua The Ky Phieu Bat (Half a Century of Wandering).

He is one of the first musicians to compose in multiple genres such as jazz, country, rock, hip-hop and rap. His colleagues call him "The King of Vietnamese pop songs".

The musician spoke about his music and his fight against cancer in recent years.

You turned 76 on May 16 and this concert was a birthday present. Was it a nice surprise?

The concert was produced by a female impresario. She is very brave to gather skilful artists to create the concert for me. Music director uc Tri and theatre director Cao Trung Hieu kept it a secret from me.

I am very happy because the audience still loves me and I can still stand on the stage at my age.

I am also moved to know that there are very young people in the audience that didn't have enough money and the organisers gave them free tickets.

It reminds me of my song Mat Troi Be Con (Little Sun). I wrote the song for a little girl who did not have money to buy a ticket to watch my performance.

Did the audience expectations put pressure on you?

Yes, but I remember my late colleague musician Trinh Cong Son said that we should try to write good songs for life and we should be away from the stage, communication and meetings in show business to live as normal people.

I returned to the stage because of the COVID-19 pandemic. It has pushed millions of people into difficult conditions and grief. I sang with my band to share and encourage frontline workers and COVID-19 patients as well.

I am a person who doesnt like to be pressured to sing in a money-making show. I like wandering and singing for charity. However, nobody wants to wander singing in modern life.

I have had over 1,000 shows and I have travelled 46 countries in the world to sing for overseas Vietnamese. With my 55-year career, I still want to sing like a boy, not an older man. I am always myself on the stage whether it is in front of thousands or just a few people.

Your Du Ca band used to be very popular in the 1990s and then it disbanded. You once again set up a band with young artists in recent years. Could you tell me about the band?

I established Du Ca band in 1991. It wandered through the country performing to raise funds to build a music school for orphans and underprivileged children.

Wandering to sing made me refreshed and inspired me to write songs that have been popular.

In 2021, I invited three young artists, violinist Hien Le and guitarists An Nhien and Thanh Nghiep to join me in performing. We volunteer to sing for soldiers in Truong Sa (Spratly) Archipelago and field hospitals to encourage frontline workers and patients in the COVID-19 pandemic.

What is the significance of music in your life?

Music has meaning only when it touches the listeners' heart. I have never published my music works or made albums. I am like a cowboy still roaming on horseback or a nomad wandering to sing with a guitar until the day I can't.

You wrote two songs Sac Mau (Colours) and Khong Guc Nga (Not Falling Down) when you were in the hospital. What inspired you to write these songs?

I wrote Colours when I was at deaths door. Sometimes, melodies flash in my mind when I was in a serious health condition.

I remember the days in the hospital when a young man and I have to get radiotherapy together 14 times. I did not see him the next time and I was informed that he died.

I also nearly fell down at the 30th time of radiotherapy. At that moment, the lyrics and the melodies of Not Falling Down resounded in my ears.

I immediately wrote down the scores. However, I could not stand up when I finished and I asked the doctor to give me iPad to record. After that, I sent the recording to musician Thanh Phuong asking him to adjust and arrange the song.

I want to say that in any situation, even though my health and physical condition may not be as good as before, the spirit and will of each person including me will not back down and never surrender to fate.

You are a prolific musician. What song do you like the most?

One of my brothers said that he likes Co Gai Sam Nua (Beautiful Girl in Sam Nua) song the most. When I wrote this song I was self-taught. At that time I was a staff member of the Ha Noi Singing and Dancing Troupe.

The best songs are written with personal emotion and truthfulness, not skill. I later graduated from the Viet Nam Academy of Music. But I am not sure which song is favoured most by the audience.

I think that the song which was written without music knowledge is the best.

Recently, young artists en Vau and Phan Manh Quynh invite you to join their projects. Could you tell me more about this?

I am old but wanted to do something new. The young artists ask me to work with them and I was happy to do. - VNS
Norwegian Ambassador to Viet Nam HE Ms Hilde Solbakken wrote to Viet Nam News on Norwegian Constitution Day

On May 17, 1814, the Norwegian constitution was adopted. It is now one of the oldest constitutions in Europe. At the time, it was a radical and progressive constitution, founded on the principles of separation of power and human rights. These principles, and the core values they embody  openness and trust, freedom of expression, inclusive decision-making processes, and effective rule of law - have become the backbone of the Norwegian society as we know it today.

After World War 2, a new and broader meaning was added to the celebration of the 17th of May. By standing together as one nation and with our allies, we had won back our freedom from the German occupation. Todays war in Europe once again proves that it is a privilege to live in a peaceful society and that this should not be taken for granted.

The Norwegian national day looks different than in many other countries. There are no military parades. Instead, it is a party for everyone, especially for children. More often than not, official speeches are delivered by children instead of by politicians. Wherever you are in Norway on May 17, you will see streets filled with children accompanied by their school bands, waiving Norwegian flags. People dress up in national costumes reflecting all the regions of the country, and high school graduates have a spirited early celebration of their final year before university. They all enjoy an abundance of ice-cream, hot dogs, strawberries and of course, the sound of the national anthem Ja, vi elsker dette landet.

I would like to take this opportunity to speak about the bonds between Viet Nam and Norway. Over the past 52 years since the establishment of our diplomatic ties in 1971, the two countries have enjoyed a good relationship and a rich history of cooperation. However, I would wager that our relationship has never been more dynamic than it is now. We both have abundant energy and marine resources, and we are committed to combating climate change and to developing a sustainable ocean economy. Within these areas, our cooperation is expanding almost daily  with renewable energy, circular economy, fisheries and aquaculture at the government level and through the private sector.

Norway and Viet Nam will join forces to realise the commitments under the Paris Agreement on Climate Change.

To accomplish this goal, it is crucial to shift to alternative sources of energy that are clean, sustainable, reliable, and affordable. As part of the Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP), Norway is working closely with relevant ministries and authorities to help Viet Nam realize its historic net-zero target by 2050.

Norway is partnering with the UNDP to assist the Government of Viet Nam and its ministries and relevant authorities in tackling marine litter, waste management and building a circular economy, which can also contribute to cutting CO2 emissions and accelerating green shift.

In the fisheries sector, Norway and Viet Nam are the second and third biggest seafood exporters in the world. We are in the fortunate position that this does not make us competitors  in fact, we complement each other as seafood nations. There is great potential in further cooperation in sustainable marine aquaculture, representing an important part of the solution to the worlds pressing need for a sustainable food systems transition.

Businesses play a major role in all these areas and are key drivers towards a green and circular economy. With innovation and digitalisation, they can bring systemic change in how we use resources, materials, products, and services. Many Norwegian companies have been active in Viet Nam, making contributions to the countrys socio-economic growth. Others, particularly those in waste management and the renewable energy sector, including offshore wind, look to Viet Nam as a promising destination of investment and cooperation.

Today, we celebrate the Norwegian Constitution Day, but we also celebrate the strong ties with Viet Nam and friends and partners of Norway. We choose to stay optimistic and do what is needed to ensure a better future for our children and grandchildren, where they can live a life filled with greater prosperity, happiness, and freedom.

Congratulations Norway and Hip Hip Hurrah! VNS
Man who opened plane door says he wanted to get off quickly: police
HA NOI  Viet Nam and Cuba should create cooperation breakthroughs in many fields including cybersecurity, digital transformation, and science and technology.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh made the statement during talks with Cuban Minister of the Interior Lazaro Alberto Alvarez Casas in Ha Noi on Tuesday.

He expressed his hope that both sides will remain committed to strengthening their relationship, creating breakthrough collaboration in the above fields, which contributes to safeguarding independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity, socio-economic development and international integration for each country.

The leader stressed that Viet Nam will always support Cuba in all fields and is willing to share experiences in agriculture, improving production capacity and ensuring food security.

He said the two countries should support each other to build an independent and self-reliant economy with active, extensive and effective international integration.

The PM noted that the visit is of great significance at the time when the two countries celebrate the 60th anniversary of the establishment of the Cuban Committee for Solidarity with South Viet Nam and the 50th anniversary of the first visit of President Fidel Castro to Viet Nam and the liberation area of South Viet Nam.

Recalling the words of President Fidel Castro, " For Viet Nam, we are willing to devote our blood", the PM thanked the Cuban Party, State and people for their "sincere and righteous" support to Viet Nam throughout Viet Nams process for independence, freedom and national reunification.

PM Chinh said he hoped the two countries would promote cooperation relations, continue to maintain dialogue and the exchange of high-level delegations between ministries, branches, localities and enterprises as well as improve the efficiency of bilateral cooperation through different mechanisms.

The two countries should also continue to promote the traditional solidarity, cooperation and mutual support at international organisations and multilateral forums, especially at the United Nations and the Non-Aligned Movement, he said.

He also expressed his hope that Cuba strengthen its support to Viet Nam in health, biotechnology, human resource training, especially foreign languages, and pays attention to and facilitates mechanisms and policies for Vietnamese legal entities and individuals to stabilise their life and work in Cuba.

Minister Alberto briefed the PM about the successful talks between the Cuban Ministry of Interior and the Ministry of Public Security of Viet Nam.

He said the two sides agreed to continue to closely coordinate and promote the implementation of agreements, especially in specialised fields, contributing effectively to the interests of the two countries.

In the field of security, PM Chinh highly appreciated the increasingly practical and effective cooperation, noting that they have supported each other in COVID-19 pandemic prevention and control, healthcare and the exchange of information, experience and expertise.

Cuban Minister Alberto thanked Viet Nam for its valuable experience and support for Cuba.

He said he agreed with the core orientations of PM Chinh and affirmed that the Cuban Ministry of Interior would maintain close coordination with the Ministry of Public Security of Viet Nam to ensure the effective implementation of the Prime Minister's initiatives.  VNS
HA NOI  The US Government will continue to support educational initiatives in ASEAN countries and Timor-Leste, especially fostering innovation in higher education, US Ambassador to Viet Nam Marc Knapper said.

Speaking at the opening ceremony of the 2023 Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative (YSEALI) regional workshop on innovating high education held on Tuesday, the Ambassador said education was a key priority for the US government and for many other governments around the region.

"The US Mission to Viet Nam takes pride in supporting this workshop to foster innovation in higher education by encouraging collaboration among higher education institutions to enhance regional integration," he said.

The workshop, jointly organised by the United States Embassy and the National Economics University, is scheduled to run until May 19.

Out of over 900 applicants from 10 ASEAN countries and Timor-Leste, 75 young leaders have been selected to participate in the workshop. These individuals, who currently work as educators, managers, policy planners, advisors, and young experts in higher education institutions, government agencies, non-governmental organisations, and other relevant organisations, will contribute their expertise and insights in the field of higher education.

The workshop aims to promote international cooperation as a tool for innovation in higher education institutions. The participants will discuss various topics, including resource sharing, best practices in curriculum design and accreditation, experiential learning, and inclusive education.

Throughout the four-day programme, participants will have the opportunity to connect and be inspired by guest speakers, mentors, advisors, and fellow participants through various activities. These activities will include plenary sessions, interactive group work, design thinking training, networking events, field trips, and a sponsored project competition.

The competition will provide participants with the opportunity to initiate projects that foster partnerships between higher education institutions in the region. Three selected project groups will receive seed funding of US$3,000 each.

Speaking at the opening ceremony, Prof Pham Hong Chuong, President of the National Economic University said the university was committed to promoting innovation and creativity in all areas of study, with a focus on cultivating students who are equipped with the skilled knowledge necessary to make a positive impact to the country's economy.

We believe that education is a powerful tool for positive change. Therefore, we are expected to have a chance to collaborate with the US Embassy in Ha Noi to create new opportunity for learning and collaboration, he said.

The future of South Asia is bright, but it will require innovative and forward thinking leaders who are committed to making a positive impact. We are confident that you are all up to this challenge and we are delighted to work with you to build a brighter future for all of us.  VNS
HA NOI  It's been ten years since Viet Nam launched its first observational satellite into orbit, providing vital data on water resources and natural disasters

In an era of escalating environmental concerns and the growing necessity for comprehensive resource management, the VNREDSat-1 satellite has proven to be an invaluable asset to Viet Nam.

Over the course of its decade-long existence, the satellite has captured nearly 160,000 images, spanning not only Viet Nam's territories and territorial waters, but also locations around the globe. Its contributions have been pivotal in proactive surveillance, managing natural resources and the environment, advancing scientific research, fostering education, and underpinning sustainable socio-economic growth and national defence and security.

This milestone was celebrated at an event held yesterday in Ha Noi, with the theme "Connection for Future". The gathering was a joint endeavour by the Viet Nam Academy of Science and Technology, the French Embassy, and Airbus. The event was marked by a keynote address from Dr. Bui Trong Tuyen, director of Viet Nams Space Technology Institute. He elaborated on the achievements of VNREDSat-1 over its ten-year operational lifespan.

VNREDSat-1 has been a game-changer for Viet Nam, marking its first fully-integrated remote sensing system, encompassing a ground receiving station to an in-orbit satellite. Surpassing expectations, it has managed to double its designed lifetime while continuing to operate efficiently, producing stable and high-quality images, according to Tuyen.

Over the decade, it has made an impressive 53,000 revolutions around the Earth, an astronomical equivalent to 2.4 billion kilometres of distance. The impact and scope of VNREDSat-1's contributions continue to be a testament to the prowess of Viet Nam's technological advancements.

The VNREDSat-1 system's technological sophistication extends to its direct connection with the image receiving and processing station, forming a seamless link with the National Remote Sensing Department (NRSD) database. This strategic integration of data ensures a streamlined, closed system that enhances the efficiency of monitoring and management.

With its global imaging capabilities, the satellite's data significantly bolstered scientific research and application tasks at all levels, from central to local agencies, as Tuyen said in his address.

The operations team at the Space Technology Institute, which includes some of Viet Nam's finest scientists, had diligently overseen VNREDSat-1's journey. They had conducted 56 orbital corrections thus far. Of these, two were major corrections, 15 were collision avoidance manoeuvres, and the remainder were technical adjustments, Tuyen told the attendees.

Moreover, the satellite's operations had had far-reaching benefits beyond Viet Nam's borders. It had made significant contributions to disaster prevention and mitigation strategies in the ASEAN region and across the globe, solidifying Viet Nam's commitment to global sustainability and cooperation.

Speaking at the event, Prof. Chau Van Minh, director of the Viet Nam Academy of Science and Technology, said: Viet Nams first launch of an earth observation satellite VNREDSat-1 into orbit on May 7, 2013, was an important milestone in the implementation of the Space Technology Development Strategy in the country."

This was also the result of the close cooperation between the academy and Airbus Group and a symbol of the friendship between Viet Nam and France, Minh said.

The fact that the VNREDSat-1 satellite has operated twice as long as expected was not only a testament to the advanced technology of France and Airbus Group in particular but also demonstrates the effective training and transfer between Airbus and the Viet Nam Academy of Science and Technology, Airbus' active support in satellite maintenance as well as the initiative and creativity of Vietnamese staff in satellite operation, the director said.

As a partner in collaboration with the Viet Nam Academy of Science and Technology to develop the VNREDSat-1 project from early ideas to the present, Hoang Tri Mai, general director of Airbus in Viet Nam, said that Airbus Group was extremely proud to be a partner in this important space project of Viet Nam.

The VNREDSat-1 satellite had been actively contributing to support the government to solve challenges in the management of natural resources and environment, Mai said.

Airbus looked forward to accompanying Viet Nam on the development of aerospace for decades to come, she added.

French Ambassador to Viet Nam, Nicolas Warnery, said that the VNREDSat-1 was an example of very successful cooperation in the field of space and satellites between the two governments.

The exceptional longevity of VNREDSat-1 was a testament to the quality of French brand satellites.

The French government looked forward to continuing to cooperate with Viet Nam in this strategic area, as well as sharing skills and expertise through training young scientists and researchers and transferring technology to Viet Nam to establish an integrated space industry, said Warnery.

VNREDSat-1, short for the Vietnam Natural Resources, Environment and Disaster-monitoring Satellite-1, is Viet Nams first optical Earth observation satellite, capable of taking pictures of all areas on the Earth's surface. VNS
VIENTIANNE  The Laos-Viet Nam Friendship Hospital, the largest health care infrastructure project that Viet Nam has presented to Laos, was inaugurated in Laos northern province of Xiangkhouang on Wednesday.

Covering an area of 2.5ha, the hospital is built at a cost of nearly VN500 billion ($21.32 million) using non-refundable aid from the Vietnamese Government. With 200 beds and modern equipment, the hospital aims to meet the healthcare service demand of people in Xiangkhouang and northeastern localities of Laos.

According to Lao Deputy Minister of Health Snong Thongsna, the hospital is expected to make great contributions to the development of Laos health care sector as it is the largest of its kind in the region, of which personnel are trained with the support of Viet Nam.

Xiangkhouang Deputy Governor Sivilay Sengchaleun said that for Xiangkhouang, a war-torn locality with poor healthcare infrastructure, the Laos-Viet Nam Friendship Hospital is hoped to bring great benefits to locals and residents of nearby localities.

Meanwhile, Viengsavanh Vilayphone, Standing Vice Chairman of the Laos-Viet Nam Cooperation Committee, expressed deep gratitude to the Party, State and people of Viet Nam for the support, affirming that the project symbolises the traditional solidarity and mutual support between the two countries.

Addressing the inauguration ceremony, Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment Tran Quoc Phuong said that along with meeting locals' healthcare demand, the project contributes to strengthening the traditional friendship, special solidarity and comprehensive cooperation between the two countries.

It shows the great attention of the Party, Government and people of Viet Nam to improving healthcare service quality for Lao people, and reflects the determination of the two Governments in implementing the Viet Nam-Laos cooperation strategy in Xiangkhouang and Houaphanh, he said.

Phuong asked the Peoples Committee of Nghe An Province, which borders Laos, as well as relevant agencies to continue to coordinate closely with authorities of Laos and Xiangkhouang province to ensure smooth operations and maintenance of the hospital, and continue personnel training activities within the projects framework.  VNS
Hai Phong Port. Viet Nam moved into the top 10 of the Index among 50 global markets in the Agility Emerging Markets Logistics Index 2023.  VNA/VNS Photo

This is due in large part to the countrys efforts to develop its supply chain industry and benefits from China plus sourcing strategies of major multinational manufacturers.

The industry has witnessed an annual growth of 14-16 per cent which has solidified its position as one of the fastest-growing and most stable sectors in the country with a total value of US$40 billion to $42 billion a year.

According to Agility Emerging Markets Logistics Index 2023, Viet Nam moved into the top 10 of the Index among 50 global markets, advancing one position compared to the previous year.

Agilitys ranking is based on four criteria including domestic opportunities, international opportunities, business fundamentals and digital readiness.

This recognition can be attributed to several factors, including the countrys strategic location, favourable investment policies and the Governments ongoing efforts to improve infrastructure and streamline regulations.

Among these criteria, Viet Nam is leading Southeast Asia and ranks 4th globally in terms of global opportunities with a score of 6.03 out of 10. The country has benefited greatly from the China plus policy as major global manufacturers are seeking to diversify their supply chains to reduce reliance on the Chinese market.

According to Agibility, Apple has been at the forefront of moving production to Viet Nam. In 2020, it began planning to expand assembly operations in Viet Nam, requesting its major supplier Foxconn to expand its assembly operations in the country. Sony, Samsung and LG have also expanded production in Viet Nam, building airfreight infrastructure in Ha Noi to support their assembly of mobile phones.

Viet Nams furniture industry is also a key beneficiary of this trend with its share of global exports rising from 11 per cent in 2019 to 17 per cent in 2022 while at the same time, Chinas share has fallen from 61 per cent to 53 per cent.

Viet Nams competitiveness has also been boosted by the growth of both domestic and export e-commerce, transforming it into a major hub for global product transhipment.

According to Tran Thanh Hai, Deputy Director of the Import-Export Department under the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the countrys import-export value reached a record high of $732 billion in 2022, up 9.5 per cent on-year, was partly attributable to the improved quality and quantity of logistics services offered by businesses.

Moreover, the Vietnam Maritime Administration has recently embraced the trend of green technology in the shipping industry to reduce fuel consumption, lower carbon emissions, and mitigate the effects of climate change.

However, the logistics industry in Viet Nam has not developed adequately due to the lack of connections between logistics service providers and manufacturers, traders and import-export businesses. Experts in Viet Nam's logistics sector stress the critical need for greater collaboration with enterprises.

Nguyen Xuan Hung, Deputy General Director of Ratraco, wants to expand the network of shipping, warehousing and equipment suppliers to enhance the domestic and international rail transportation systems for refrigerated containers.

"This not only diversifies the product range and offers inland cold transport solutions, but also provides a solution to shippers' concerns about supplying and delivering chilled products to the Chinese market," he said.

Despite Viet Nam being in an advantageous position to capitalise on China's challenges, the Vietnamese Government still has a considerable amount of work to do in order to establish a strong industrial ecosystem that can attract top-notch manufacturers and foster the growth of local suppliers that add value.

Bizhub
Mochizuki Masashi, head of the FDI Centre, Financial Markets, and Transaction Banking Division at VPBank, made the remarks at the conference Stronger investment partnerships for a thriving Vietnam hosted by VIR on March 15 at the Pullman Hanoi Hotel to commemorate 35 years of FDI attraction in the country.

In his speech, Masashi, who boasts a 30-year track record working in the finance and banking sector with half of this acquired in Vietnam, noted that through the deal which was aired to the public in late April, the two banks are set to craft a strong cooperative structure across different segments in the banking sector.

Notably, we will focus on promoting the FDI landscape as one of the highlights of our alliance by leveraging two key strategies, said Masashi.

The first is bolstering cooperation between the two banks, capitalising on the advantage of SMBC being one of Japans largest banks with extensive investment and business expertise across the globe and close relationships with the foreign investor community.

As a remedy to these issues, VPBank has launched the Supply Chain Financing (SCF) scheme, specifically catered to customers in this segment.

In Masashis words, although it does not have a lot of experience with overseas banking operations, VPBank has secured solid growth, particularly in retail banking and the provision of services for small- and medium-sized enterprises in the domestic market.

In terms of both sides advantages, VPBank and SMBC cover the market segments well thanks to their stark differences. Through combing synergies, we aim to grow into a banking group with an edge for development in any segment, yet without the need to compete with each other directly, said Masashi.

The second aim is to provide a comprehensive suite of products and solutions serving FIEs operating in Vietnam.

According to a VPBank representative, with fast growth pace and a dense population, Vietnam has been an appealing destination to foreign investors, many of whom are looking to facilitate sales to allow them to swiftly overcome the current challenges.

As it is time-consuming and by no means easy for foreign investors to establish their sales network in Vietnam, it is inevitable for them to leverage their dealer system.

In this context, Masashi pointed out three challenges facing foreign investors in Vietnam.

These include streamlining sales collection procedures, mitigating risk related to local buyers credit, and creating new tools to boost sales.

As a remedy to these issues, VPBank has launched the Supply Chain Financing (SCF) scheme, specifically catered to customers in this segment.

The scheme offers lucrative benefits to the FIEs, dealers, and distributors who join it.

For instance, FIEs can eliminate their concerns about prolonged payment timelines and missed payment collections, allowing them to increase sales regardless of the distributor's and dealer's cash flow conditions, and they can check the payment status online through VPBanks SCF system.

For distributors and dealers, the main advantage is that they can improve their cash flow with immediate solutions and lower funding costs based on their trading history.

All employers want to maintain their labourers experience, and the best way to retain employees is not always related to their salary. It is also important to provide additional benefits. We also provide financial solutions for employees of FIEs, such as offering them a concessionary loan package, which is a very practical aspect of helping to drive the FDI landscape in Vietnam. We believe that with these joint efforts, there will be a very bright future, not only in the finance and banking sector, but also for the FIEs, customers, and all stakeholder parties, said Masashi.

vir
Despite impacts caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, foreign direct investment (FDI) is still being poured into Vietnam, contributing importantly to turning the country into a new production hub of the world.

Despite impacts caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, foreign direct investment (FDI) is still being poured into Vietnam, contributing importantly to turning the country into a new production hub of the world.

Registered capital, disbursement boom

Over the past five years, since Vietnam reviewed its 30-year foreign investment attraction, the FDI flow into the nation has not ceased increasing.

Statistics from the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI) show that from January 2018 to April 20, 2023, the registered FDI in Vietnam totaled 180 billion USD, equaling 40.3% of the accumulated investment capital over the last 35 years.

As of April 2023, Vietnam had attracted 37,065 foreign-invested projects with a total registered capital of 445.87 billion USD, with 279.8 billion USD of the total being disbursed.

HSBC, in its report on attracting foreign investment in ASEAN in the middle of last year, highlighted a boom in foreign investment into ASEAN, saying that Vietnam and ASEAN are the two markets receiving the most of foreign investment capital.

Over the last five years, the total FDI disbursement hit 107.47 billion USD, equaling 38.4% of the total disbursed capital over the past 35 years. About 19-20 billion USD of FDI is averagely disbursed every year during the reviewed period. A record of FDI disbursement was set in 2022 with 22.4 billion USD.

The quality of foreign investment into Vietnam has also improved significantly.

Becoming new production centre

According to Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Chi Dung, more and more multinationals and big investors have continuously invested in Vietnam.

Economists said that the foreign-invested economic sector has made an important contribution to the added value of industrial products thanks to international economic groups' investment in many large-scale projects which use high technology, and modern services.

Dozens of research and development (R&D) centres, innovation hubs, and technology incubators have been established, making it easier for domestic firms, especially small- and medium-sized enterprises, to connect with foreign businesses, they noted.

When it comes to success economic stories driven by foreign investment, Vietnam is a prominent example, HSBC said, highlighting that Vietnam turned itself into a rising star in global supply chains, gaining substantial global market share in such sectors as textiles, footwear and consumer electronics.

The bank also mentioned large-scale investments of Samsung, Pegatron, Foxconn, Luxshare, and Goertek, stressing that Vietnam is transforming itself into the world's technology factory.

Not long ago, Quanta Computer of Taiwan (China) signed an agreement with the People's Committee of the northern province of Nam Dinh on developing a large-scale computer production project in My Thuan Industrial Park, which is expected to have an investment capital of 120 million USD. This is Quanta's 9th factory globally and the first in Vietnam.

Quanta is a MacBook manufacturing partner of Apple, so the appearance of this corporation in Vietnam means that Apple is continuing to shift its production to the Southeast Asian nation.

Foxconn, another partner of Apple, is also planning to set up a new factory in the central province of Nghe An, to expand its production in Vietnam after it successfully invested in the northern provinces of Bac Ninh and Bac Giang.

Samsung is a good example of the foreign investment scale in Vietnam. So far, the groups total investment in the country has hit 20 billion USD.

Meanwhile, LGs investment in Vietnam totaled 7.5 billion USD in the last five years. The group has continuously added capital to its factories - LG Display, LG Innotek, and LG Electronics.

Foxconn, Pegatron, Winston, Goertek, and Amkor have continuously increased their investment capital in Vietnam, including billions-USD commitments.

According to Christopher J Marriott, CEO of Savills Southeast Asia, Vietnam is considered one of the prominent destinations for high-value industries with production capacity that meets the expectation of international investors and technology corporations.

Last year also marked another important turning point when Lego Group of Denmark officially started construction of a project worth over 1.3 billion USD in Vietnam. Given that Vietnam has committed to cutting emissions to net zero by 2050, Lego's first global carbon-neutral project is seen as a start of green investment in the Southeast Asian nation./.

Source: VietnamPlus
Accordingly, Foxconn will invest in a project at WHA Industrial Zone 1 - Nghe An on an area of about 48 hectares. The total investment capital of the project is 100 million USD. The company manufactures wireless headphones, connecting wires, wireless chargers, speakers, and connectors.

Previously, on May 8, 2023, Foxconn announced information on the Taiwan Stock Exchange, its subsidiary, Fu Wing Interconnect Technology (Nghe An) Co., Ltd., using 48ha of land at Lot B3 of WHA Industrial Zone1. This transaction is worth 509.5 billion VND, equivalent to 1,061,460 VND/m2. Previously, on May 8, 2023, Foxconn announced information on the Taiwan Stock Exchange, its subsidiary, Fu Wing Interconnect Technology (Nghe An) Co., Ltd., using 48ha of land at Lot B3 of WHA Industrial Zone1. This transaction is worth 509.5 billion VND, equivalent to 1,061,460 VND/m2.





According to the investment registration certificate, from June 2023 to June 2024, Foxconn will complete the project's factory construction and ancillary works from July 2024 to October 2024. Foxconn will import equipment, operate it, test it, and calibrate it.

By November 2024, the factory will officially go into production with a design capacity of nearly 400 million connection wires/year; more than 94 million wireless chargers/year; nearly 10 million wireless headphones/year; more than 244 million speakers/year and over 627 million connectors/year.

Foxconn is a multinational corporation established in 1974, headquartered in Taiwan (China). After many years of development, until today, Foxconn has become the largest electronics manufacturer in the world, the company's leading manufacturing partner of Apple.

Foxconn's main job is to assemble and manufacture electronic products for big companies in the US, Canada, China, etc. Among the manufactured products, the most prominent are Iphone, Ipad, iPod (Apple), Kindle (Amazon), and PlayStation (Sony). In 2018, Foxconn produced more than half of all mobile phones worldwide.

Besides assembling and manufacturing electronic products, Foxconn also provides many technology solutions and research in areas such as AI, electronic health, and devices running on 5G and 6G platforms...

Foxconn has invested in constructing several plants in Vietnam to manufacture home electronics, including Fukang Technology, Fuyu (Bac Giang), and Competition Team Technology Vietnam (Quang Ninh).

Additionally, this company takes part in constructing the infrastructure for industrial parks through initiatives like the Binh Xuyen 2 Industrial Park in Vinh Phuc and the Van Trung Bac Industrial Park in Bac Giang.





Building a factory in Nghe An opens many job opportunities and increases people's income. Mr. Le Tien Tri, the head of the management board of Southeast Nghe An Economic Zone, told Nhadautu. vn that because the plant has yet to be put into operation, confirming the wage Foxconn would provide is not feasible.

Mr. Le Tien Tri claims that the current monthly pay in Nghe An is only between 5 and 12 million VND. However, since Foxconn is a sizable FDI company, it will need to provide a higher wage in the future to draw in workers. This compensation is anticipated to range between VND 12 and 20 million.








Phu Quoc Island location

Climate on Phu Quoc Island

Travel on Phu Quoc Island

Located in the Gulf of Thailand , the hear-shaped island lies just 62 nautical miles from Rach Gia and nearly 290 nautical miles from Laem Chabang (Thailand). It covers an area of 567 sq. km (about 62 km long and 3-28 km wide) and is situated at 10o01''-10o27'' north latitude and 103o51''-104o50'' east longitude. Its population is approx. 85,000 (2001). Phu Quoc is called the island of "99 mountains" because of its many sandstone chains gradually descending from the north to the south. The longest one is Ham Ninh which stretches for 30 km along the eastern edge with its highest peak called Mt. Chua (603m).Phu Quoc has a monsoon sub-equatorial climate. There are two seasons in the year: the rainy season (October only) and the dry season (November to September). The average annual rainfall is 2,879 m and the average temperature is 27oC. Trips to Phu Quoc can be made all year round, but the best time is dry season when the sky is always sunny, clear and blue.In the early 17th century, Phu Quoc was a desolate area, where Vietnamese and Chinese immigrants earned their living from sea cucumbers. From 1782 to 1786, Phu Quoc became a stronghold of Lord Nguyen Anh, later Emperor Gia Long, in his confrontation with Tay Son forces. In 1869, the French occupied it and set up rubber and coconut plantations in the island. From 1967 to 1972, a P.O.W detention camp of 40,000 inmates during the war covering on 400 hectares was built at An Thoi by the Saigon regime. After being liberated on 30 April 1975, Phu Quoc has been converted into an ideal tourist destination for nature and sea lovers.Citizens of south-east Asia countries don't need to have im-emmigrating certifications when entering Duongdong town within 15 days. If you want to go to other places from here (except restricted areas), you can get im-emmigrating certifications given by im-emmigrating management Offices of Duongdong town. Foreign-tourist ships can arrive or leave Duongdong harbor as the projects signed with Vietnamese tourist companies. Foreign tourist ships to Duongdong area & other areas(except restricted areas) have to obey the laws mentioned above.Foreign cargo ships are allowed to arrive or leave Duongdong town to deliver or get cargoes as the contracts signed business-manufacturing organizations. The crewmen on these ships can use their passports or sailor''s registers to enter Duongdong area issued by foreign authorities. If you deliver or get goods in other harbors of Kiengiang province, you have to obey Vietnam's current law.
Participants of K-Finance Week in Indonesia 2023 celebrate the event in Jakarta, May 11. A group of Korea's top-ranking financial figures  including Financial Supervisory Service Governor Lee Bok-hyun, left, KB Insurance CEO Kim Ki-hwan, third from left, Hana Financial Group Chairman Ham Young-joo, fifth from left, and Mirae Asset Securities Chairman Choi Hyun-man, sixth from left  joined the event. Courtesy of KB Financial Group





By Lee Min-hyung







Indonesia is emerging as a hub for major securities firms' overseas business due to the country's economic and demographic potential.







Brokerage houses here have long recognized the need to diversify their sales channels overseas amid toughening competition in the domestic market. Their revenue structures are also vulnerable to macroeconomic circumstances, as was shown by their steep earnings fall in 2022 amid then-freezing investor sentiment on the back of steep rate hikes.







Major brokerage houses have so far focused on expanding their presence mostly in Asian markets, as they have a slimmer chance of competing against their American and European counterparts.







Indonesia's population is estimated at around 272 million. Korean financial firms eye the country as their strategic base for the region, as young people between the age of 15 and 34 account for around 35 percent of the total population. This is far higher than some 20 percent of Koreans.







Shinhan Sekuritas Indonesia, the local branch of Shinhan Securities, is widening its footing in the country rapidly after recently serving as a lead manager for the initial public offering (IPO) of PT Informasi Teknologi Indonesia (JATI)  an artificial intelligence-powered app developer  in the country's stock exchange. The Shinhan subsidiary has so far succeeded in the listing of four local companies there.







Korea Investment & Securities is also identifying Indonesia as its next major revenue channel. The company signed a memorandum of understanding with the Indonesia Stock Exchange on the introduction of advanced financial products. The partnership was clinched on the sidelines of the K-Finance Week in Indonesia 2023 event.







Financial authorities are also ramping up efforts to build more amicable relations with their Indonesian counterparts. Last week, Korea's Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) Governor Lee Bok-hyun also left Korea for meetings in three Southeast Asian countries  Thailand, Singapore and Indonesia.







His primary focus was on Indonesia, as a growing number of Korean securities and financial companies hope to expand their presence there. Lee met with his counterpart and a group of officials from the country's financial sector, with a view to requesting support for more Korean financial firms to expand their footing there.







A total of six securities firms here including Mirae Asset Securities, Korea Investment & Securities and Shinhan Securities have tapped into Indonesia. But they have struggled to create outstanding earnings performance there despite the country's massive growth potential.







According to data from the brokerage houses, Mirae Asset Securities was one of the two companies to achieve a surplus in Indonesia in 2022. But its net profit ended up declining by 77 percent from the previous year. KB Securities  which jumped into the market after acquiring a local brokerage house last year  also generated a profit, while most others, including NH Investment & Securities and Kiwoom Securities, reported deficits there during the same period.







"Financial authorities need to introduce a set of deregulatory measures when financial firms expand into the overseas market, as part of efforts to support their global drive," an official from a major securities firm said.


When the phoenix flowers bloom in May, people in Haiphong joyfully look forward to the anniversary of the city's complete liberation. Many special and meaningful activities are organised by the City People's Committee to welcome this great occasion.

In particular, the groundbreaking ceremony for the Lach Huyen tariff-free, logistics, and industrial zone project in the Dinh Vu-Cat Hai Economic Zone was of special interest.

Nearly 300 delegates and guests attended the ceremony

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh attended the ceremony with nearly 300 guests including delegates from the central government and Haiphong city, leaders of local departments, sectors, and branches, officials from other provinces and cities, and representatives of embassies and the Taiwan Business Association, along with many domestic and foreign partners and media reporters.

The groundbreaking ceremony for the project was met with great expectation

The event took place on the occasion of the 68th anniversary of Haiphong Liberation Day (May 13, 1955 - May 13, 2023).

The key logistics development project

In his speech at the event, PM Chinh expressed delight that the Lach Huyen non-tariff, logistics, and industrial zone project is being developed in accordance with the public leadership-private governance model, in which, the government develops mechanisms and policies and invests in infrastructure to connect to the project, while businesses invest in the internal infrastructure, call for secondary investors, and manage operations.

The PM asked ministries, departments, branches, and Haiphong city to continue devloping mechanisms, policies, premises, and transport and connection infrastructure so that Xuan Cau-Lach Huyen Investment JSC can accomplish the project's development goals.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh delivering his speech at the ceremony

The Lach Huyen non-tariff, logistics, and industrial zone project is identified as a key project in 2023 according to Haiphong People's Committee, forming a fundamental part of the city's logistics development journey.

Nguyen Van Tung, Chairman of Haiphong People's Committee said, With the advantage of being part of the Lach Huyen international deepwater port, which can receive cargo ships of up to 150,000DWT from all over the world, and as a non-tariff zone, the Lach Huyen tariff-free, logistics, and industrial zone project has many opportunities to draw investment while developing into a production centre and a regional and global logistics hub.

The groundbreaking ceremony brought joy, excitement, and the belief that the Lach Huyen tariff-free, logistics, and industrial zone project will soon be formed and have many positive impacts.

The construction of the Lach Huyen non-tariff, logistics, and industrial zone aims to contribute to perfecting the functions of the Cat Hai area, creating synchronisation and strengthening the investment attraction, trade promotion, and socioeconomic development of Haiphong city and the northern region.

Echoing the vision of Haiphong city, the investor representative said, Xuan Cau-Lach Huyen Investment JSC has set forth the target of turning the site into a production hub and a logistics and transshipment centre, with the aim of developing Lach Huyen deepwater port into an international transshipment facility.

The shifting trade flows bring prosperity hallmark

The formation of Lach Huyen non-tariff, logistics, and industrial zone will complete the infrastructure and functional subdivisions of Lach Huyen international deepwater port area in particular and of Haiphong in general.

The project is expected to create a new hub for goods transshipment, affecting the shift of the world's inherent trade flows and forming the basis to attract overseas funding to Haiphong and the northern region, thereby driving development in many economic and social respects.

The groundbreaking ceremony brought joy, excitement, and the belief that the Lach Huyen tariff-free, logistics, and industrial zone project will soon be formed and have many positive impacts.

Xuan Cau-Lach Huyen Investment JSC received the prime minister's approval for the investment policy of Lach Huyen tariff-free, logistics, and industrial zone project via Decision No.535/QD-TTg dated April 1, 2021, and the project was granted an investment registration certificate by Haiphong city on December 6, 2021. The project has completed its investment preparation procedures and acquired a construction permit from the Haiphong Economic Zone Authority.

Localities benefiting from industrial zone squeeze Many emerging localities in the north and north-central coast become a magnet to attract foreign investors in the context that many industrial zones in large cities and provinces are full.

Bac Tien Phong Industrial Zone hails $165 million vehicle parts venture An investment registration certificate granted to Boltun Vietnam marks an inspiring sign for a new investment wave into the north-eastern province of Quang Ninh.

Haiphong continues goal to boost business climate Thanks to its potential and favourable investment climate, the northern port city of Haiphong continues to attract both domestic and non-national financiers into its industrial and economic zones.
This marks an important milestone for HFHs further growth as it celebrates its 25th anniversary of providing first class healthcare to the Vietnamese and expatriate community in Hanoi and across northern Vietnam.

Luong Ngoc Khue, director of the Department of Medical Service Administration, presenting the decision by the Ministry of Health to Hanoi French Hospital

The ceremony took place at the HFH on May 11, and drew the participation of Nicolas Warnery, the French Ambassador to Vietnam, Luong Ngoc Khue, Director of the Department of Medical Service Administration and vice chairman of the Vietnam Medical Council, Do Nhat Hoang, Director of the Foreign Investment Agency under the Ministry of Planning and Investment, Nguyen Manh Quyen, Vice Chairman of Hanoi People's Committee, Tran Thi Nhi Ha, Director of the Hanoi Department of Health, and leaders of Hanoi's local authorities. Many representatives from embassies, corporate clients, and HFH partners were also in attendance.

This year marks the 50th anniversary of Vietnam-France diplomatic relations. I highly appreciate the contributions of Hanoi French Hospital in strengthening the bilateral cooperation in healthcare, including recruiting talented French speaking Vietnamese doctors and graduate students and collaborating with training units and big hospitals in Hanoi on information exchanges and professional support, said ambassador Warnery.

With this full range of service facilities in place, HFH is a premium European hospital in the centre of Hanoi, serving discerning local and international communities across northern Vietnam.

Representing the MoH at the ceremony, Luong Ngoc Khue noted that the ministry is thankful for HFH's efforts in applying innovative technology and recruiting talented medical professionals in Vietnam and from other countries to provide international-standard medical care.

HFH launched the expansion project with the ambition of meeting the increasing demand for truly international-standard healthcare from a fast-growing middle-class population and a growing number of expatriates and foreign visitors in Hanoi and northern Vietnam.

In 2019, the seven-floor inpatient building was put into service, buoyed by state-of-the art facilities and cutting-edge medical equipment in a unique European ambiance.

Due to pandemic-related delays, the refurbishment of the outpatient and A&E building was completed with a dedicated health check centre last year.

In December 2022, the hospital was accredited with the Green Energy 5-Star certificate by the Department of Industry and Trade as a recognition of its efforts to go green in every aspect of its operations.

With this full range of service facilities in place, HFH is a premium European hospital in the centre of Hanoi, serving discerning local and international communities across northern Vietnam.

We are proud of our 25-plus-year track record as being a trusted healthcare provider for many families and corporates. The new licence is a key step in allowing HFH to move forward and serve more people who want the highest standard international healthcare at their convenience, said Jef Peeters, CEO of HFH.

We will continue to bring in talented internationally trained doctors, both local and foreign, who will continue to work side by side, sharing the commitment and values of providing first-class healthcare to the wider local and expatriate community in Vietnam.

Dr. Erwan Debuc, HFHs chief medical officer (first on the right), discussing with experienced and internationally trained doctors at HFH

Commitment to first-class healthcare

HFH is well poised for a new phase of growth with the commitment to the consistent delivery of first-class healthcare.

Accordingly, safe and quality medical care is deemed the core of this, realised through the continuous improvement of medical projects under HFHs Medical Strategy Plan. This is led by Dr. Erwan Debuc, chief medical officer, who has a solid professional and leadership background and exposure to international healthcare best practice.

The main thrusts of the HFH Medical Strategy Plan are an absolute focus on bringing international-standard quality and safety of care with a patient-centred experience, and providing an integrated mother and child care path including comprehensive medical treatment and care dedicated to aspiring and young families. It covers from fertility assistance through to pregnancy monitoring, with issue management, newborn care, and paediatrics to ensure the child's wellbeing and the parents peace of mind.

Other key points include deepening internal medicine specialities with the setting up of additional expertise centres for prevention, diagnosis, and therapy. There will be a particular focus on vascular diseases, including strokes and myocardial infracts, sleep disorders, including sleep apnoea, neurological conditions of the ageing, including Parkinsons disease and tremors, and cardiology, including syncope centre and cardiac rhythm disorders.

Surgical activities will be strengthened in a unique operating room environment, with a team of experienced anaesthesiologists to ensure the best safety and comfort for patients.

The hospital consolidates surgical activities around specialisation for trauma patient management with an orthopaedic traumatology centre, back pain management with a spinal pathology centre, adult and paediatric ENT, comprehensive medico-surgical care of hepatic diseases, stomach and colorectal disease screening, and a therapeutic centre.

Central to the hospital is the dedication and competency of its A&E Department that caters 24/7 for all medical needs, with emergency physicians trained in France.

To mark the launch event, HFH is offering an inspiring promotion campaign under the theme First-class Healthcare for Hanoi. Details of the programme is in here.

Please visit the website at www.hfh.com.vn or FB Fanpage Benh Vien Viet Phap Ha Noi for more information.

Building capacity for eye care in Can Tho with the Flying Eye Hospital The Orbis Flying Eye Hospital, a fully accredited ophthalmic teaching hospital on a plane, landed in Can Tho on May 8 and will remain there for three weeks to provide hands-on training to 52 eye care professionals in the region.

New way out for medical investment While the problems related to the legal framework about joint venture and private investment engagement to be solved in the newly-adopted amended Law on Medical Examination and Treatment, bringing about new opportunities for businesses and health facilities, the enforcement will be the answer for long-year expectations.

American International Hospital collaborates with Johns Hopkins Medicine International for American standard healthcare services In early December 2022, American International Hospital (AIH) signed a phase 2 collaboration agreement with Johns Hopkins Medicine International after the first one since 2018.
On May 15, the prime minister signed Decision No.500/QD-TTg, authorising the National Power Development Plan for 2021-2030, with a vision to 2050.

The PDP8 establishes the objective of assuring national energy security in accordance with the needs of socioeconomic and industrial growth, and includes projects connecting the power grid with neighbouring countries.

Alongside this, it aims to successfully implement an equitable energy transition, constructing intelligent infrastructure and advanced power system management in accordance with the trends of the green transition. It focusses on reducing emissions through technological advances and developing a comprehensive energy ecosystem founded on renewable and new energy sources.

It will ensure national energy security by supplying sufficient electricity for the country and help achieve the socioeconomic development target of an average GDP growth rate of approximately 7 per cent per year over the 2021-2030 period and approximately 6.5-7 per cent on-year over the 2031-2050 period.

By 2030, the reliability of the electricity supply is hoped to rank among the top four countries in ASEAN, with an electricity access index among the top three. In addition, half of all office buildings and residential dwellings will use self-produced and self-dissipating rooftop solar power (for on-site consumption, not for sale into the national electricity system).

The PDP8 targets reducing greenhouse gas emissions from power generation to between 204 and 254 million metric tonnes by 2030 and 27 to 31 million MT by 2050. It aims to achieve peak emissions of no more than 170 million MT by 2030 and ensure that international partners fully implement their Just Energy Transition Partnership commitments.

In terms of the growth of the economic system and renewable energy services, it is anticipated that by 2030, two inter-regional renewable energy service centres will be established to facilitate electricity production, transfer, and consumption.

By developing renewable energy sources and producing new exportable energy, the export capacity will reach between 5,000 and 10,000MW by 2030.

The PDP8 also covers plans for creating power grids and linking them with other countries in the region, as well as the orientation of rural electricity development.

The total estimated investment for the development of power sources and transmission grids for the 2021-2030 period is $134.7 billion. For the 2031-2050 period, the estimated capital is set at $399-523 billion, of which the investment in power sources accounts for approximately $364-511 billion and that for transmission grids stands at roughly $35-39 billion.

According to the approved decision, the Ministry of Industry and Trade is responsible for ensuring that the data, documents, diagrams, maps, and databases in the planning dossier are accurate and consistent with the content of the planning decision.

Vietnams green economy expected to reach 300 billion USD by 2050 Vietnam has set a target of increasing its green economy's contribution to GDP from 6.7 billion USD in 2020 to 300 billion USD by 2050, which requires drastic and breakthrough steps, Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Chi Dung has said.

Foreign-invested groups propose early implementation of PDP8 The Ministry of Industry and Trade is once again urged to complete the latest draft of Power Development Plan VIII (PDP8), which will be submitted to the prime minister for approval in May.
In line with the government and the State Bank of Vietnam's (SBV) wish to move towards a more 'cashless society', many banks and businesses have been making efforts to provide modern e-payment solutions. However, due to the plethora of solutions on the market, businesses are struggling to find a workable solution while optimising costs and resources.

PVcomBank and Vietpay share the same goal of bringing a modern and convenient solution to customers, and so have developed a service that accepts multichannel payments across a broad spectrum of e-payment types for several domestic and international card companies.

With support from Visa, the parties are accelerating the launch of this service to the small-business community in Vietnam. The service allows customers to connect and accept cashless payments on many platforms such as POS, e-commerce, QR code, e-invoice, and Soft Pos in the future. The partnership marks an important transformation in Vietnam's payment market.

To use the application built and developed by Vietpay, merchants only need to provide the necessary documents and update procedures to open an account. Users will enjoy an all-in-one service, from setup to account management. Other features can help businesses and sales departments proactively manage risks. Users can also update transactions when needed and calculate business efficiency. Most importantly, the service meets the safety and security provisions as set out by the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard.

Speaking at the launch of the service, Nguyen Viet Ha, deputy general director of PVcomBank, said, "In a society where cashless payments are gradually becoming standard and even essential, financial solutions, payment gateways, and cash collection services have created an important and inseparable trio. Therefore, PVcomBank, with support from Vietpay and Visa, is providing a comprehensive solution for users."

Nebil Ben Assia, chairman of the Board of Directors and general director of VietPay Technology said, "Vietpay believes that PVcomBank is the most suitable partner for us to achieve our mission and commitment in Vietnam. We are also grateful for Visa's support for our digital-finance initiatives. We plan to introduce many more Visa products in partnership with PVcomBank very soon."

The launch of the multichannel payment acceptance service is an important step for PVcomBank, Vietpay, and Visa. The move helps them engage with more customers, expand their market share, build prestige, and gain an advantage in a highly competitive financial market.

Prudential Vietnam and PVcomBank sign exclusive long-term partnership Prudential Vietnam and Hanoi-based commercial lender Vietnam Public Joint Stock Commercial Bank  PVcomBank  have just signed a long-term strategic partnership to exclusively distribute Prudential Vietnams life insurance and wealth solutions to customers of PVcomBank.

PVcomBank and Vemanti Group sign inclusive digital banking cooperation agreement On March 21, the PVcomBank and Vemanti Group from the US signed a cooperation agreement on developing and providing a digital banking platform tailored for small- and medium-sized enterprises (SME).
Opening its doors on May 7 on the famous Dong Khoi street, Sheraton Saigon Hotel & Towers has been continually rated as one of the top 5-star hotels in Ho Chi Minh City, setting benchmarks for world-class upper premium hotel accommodation in Vietnam for both business and leisure travellers.

On the May 7, Sheraton Saigon Hotel & Towers hosted a landmark 20th anniversary celebration

For over two decades, Sheraton Saigon Hotel & Towers has been a gathering place for global travellers seeking an elevated experience, attracting both guests from far away and locals who live just around the corner. It will continue moving forwards in that direction in the years to come.

General manager Julian Wong said, "Twenty years is a remarkable journey. We could not venture this far without our team of amazing associates. I am genuinely so proud of each one, having put us at the forefront of the hospitality landscape in Ho Chi Minh City. Impressively, we have thirty-eight associates who have been with us since day one and are still going strong with us."

The key to success starts with our Put People First culture that transcends through to our guests and the community. From 2003 to 2023, we have provided thousands of associates with opportunities to build long-term careers in the hotel industry, combining the vibrant yet charming characteristics of Ho Chi Minh City with world-class Marriott service levels. Heading into the future, we will continue to invest in our people, providing opportunities for them to grow into great leaders at the Sheraton Saigon Hotel & Towers, added Wong.

Throughout the twenty years, the 23-story landmark has been through several cycles of renovations. They span from 2008 with the launch of the Grand Tower wing, to the biggest acquisition in the hotel industry between Marriott and Starwood adding the Sheraton brand to Marriott Bonvoys portfolio, and the multi-million-dollar renovation of the Main Tower guest rooms in 2019 to launch a brand-new stylish design.

Now, with 485 guest rooms and more than 2,200 square metres of meeting space, the hotel prides itself as a distinguished gathering place for all its guests and events.

The twenty years of pursuing excellence have earned Sheraton Saigon Hotel & Towers several accolades, including, most recently, the 2022 Best City Hotel in Vietnam by Travel & Leisure magazine.

Our 20th anniversary is a testament to the hotels commitment to delivering exceptional service and unforgettable experiences for our guests. All of us at Sheraton Saigon Hotel & Towers are committed to doing our part to drive sustainability and reduce our carbon footprint, and we look forward to setting more milestones in the years ahead," the general manager added.

On the May 7, the hotel hosted a landmark celebration by honouring its most important asset; its long-serving associates.

Wong said, "I'm immensely appreciative and very honoured to head such a great team of associates who continually exhibit diligence, resilience, passion, team play, and the highest levels of integrity. They are the ones who have formed the hotels reputation and consolidated its popularity.

He added, Each Marriott Bonvoy Elite member who stays with us on May 7 will receive a special gift or join us with an intimate dinner. We would like to cherish this special moment together with our guests.

To capture the hotel's finest years of hospitality, the 20 Years of Glory room offer has been launched from May 7-27, inviting tourists and locals alike to join in commemorating this 20th anniversary celebration with special treats and a unique experience.

Sheraton Saigon Hotel & Towers kick-starts its 20th anniversary celebration by providing 20 vouchers in 20 days at 8.20pm every day for exclusive culinary offerings.

This incredible offer, launched though mini-games on social networks, will allow 20 lucky guests to savour Sheraton Saigon Hotel & Towers quintessential dining experiences at one of its four restaurants or bars, or through branded items delivered to their home.
"Incorporating energy from renewable sources into the national grid poses several obstacles for the Vietnamese energy sector," Markus Bissel, head of Component Energy Efficiency at Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), stated on May 15.

Bissel mentioned that Vietnam has made significant advancements in the renewable energy sector in recent years. According to him, renewable energy sources such as wind, solar, and biomass are unpredictable and are highly dependent on climate, weather, and location.

According to a number of energy solution providers, the integration of renewable energy sources into the national grid is not simple, particularly when sources of medium and large capacity are connected to the power system via the 110 kilovolt or higher grid system.

Experts consider it crucial to have a buffer capacity large enough to compensate for the disparity in available capacity  both high and low  of renewable energy sources integrated into the power system to ensure the stability and dependability of the system and the grid.

Vietnam has made significant strides in its transition to renewable energy, but the rapid expansion of solar and wind power is overwhelming the national grid.

More than 100,000 solar rooftop installations were implemented in 2020, and at least 15 solar facilities have been connected to the grid. In 2021, there were at least 84 operational wind power facilities. The majority of these initiatives are located in Ho Chi Minh City and a few southern provinces, where they exceed the grid's capacity.

In 2022, the National Load Dispatch Centre suspend the approval of new solar and wind projects for this reason. Electricity of Vietnam must enhance its infrastructure planning and investment to ensure the renewable energy target of 50 per cent solar and wind power by 2045 is met.

Bissel stated that Vietnam is determined to transition towards renewable energy and reduce its carbon emissions in an effort to combat global climate change, having set an ambitious net-zero emissions goal of 2050.

To ensure national energy security, the Vietnamese government has formally authorised the Power Development Plan VIII (PDP8), which prioritises the rapid development of renewable energy sources for electricity production. Accordingly, renewables are expected to provide between 30.9 and 39.2 per cent of the nation's demand by 2030.

According to the Just Energy Transition Partnership, the PDP8 objective is to reach a 47 per cent renewable energy ratio. By 2050, the proportion of renewable energy will increase to between 67.5 and 71.5 per cent.

To assist with controlling greenhouse gas emissions from electricity generation, the PDP8 development orientation for renewable energy sources allows for approximately 204-254 million metric tonnes in 2030 and 27-31 million MT by 2050.

Through the vRE series of events in Hanoi, Bissel seeks to provide a platform for all stakeholders to discuss their thoughts regarding how to tackle the hurdles facing Vietnam's energy transition.

Renewable investors voice grievances over price negotiations, delays Wind and solar power investors continued to voice their grievances over difficulties in price negotiations and extending project deadlines with the Power Trading Company (EVNEPTC), a subsidiary of Vietnam Electricity (EVN) Group, the sole power distributor in the market.

Voices grow louder for energy plan approval Numerous organisations and investors are urging Vietnam to swiftly define policies to accelerate the deployment of 7GW of offshore wind energy by 2030.
Nguyen Thi Tam, deputy director of Viettel Networks said, Delivering high-quality customer care is at the heart of our business. The implementation of EEA gives us the optimal tools to monitor the end-to-end customer experience for mobile broadband and VoLTE and to proactively make adjustments as issues arise.

This will enable Viettel to resolve customer care issues in a faster and more efficient way than was previously possible. As a result, the end-user experience will be greatly improved, added Tam.

Denis Brunetti, head of Ericsson Vietnam, Myanmar, Cambodia, and Laos added, EEA is supported by use cases, technologies, and deep expertise that span mobile consumer services like mobile broadband and VoLTE. EEA will empower Viettel through data-driven operations and decision-making, which leads to satisfied customers and better business outcomes.

EEA is a powerful data analytics toolset that enables Viettel to capture data and gain a clearer picture to help decision-making, leading to improved services that drive growth and revenue. This telco data analytics solution provides insights into the service experience and user behaviour that can drive decisions and automate actions.

The EEA solution, part of Ericssons Business and Operations Support Systems portfolio, will help Viettel predict user satisfaction, detect issues impacting the service experience and quality, understand root causes, create clear and insightful dashboards, and automatically take appropriate action to improve the experience and operational efficiency.

For instance, complex event processing and unique metrics reveal interruptions to voice services, and advanced traffic analysis can assure service quality before issues impact the experience in increasingly complex circumstances. The troubleshooting time has been reduced from around 30 minutes to only one by eliminating many manual interventions.

To optimise the service experience, Viettel has consolidated the benefits of several tools to a single entity that can immediately detect incidents and deliver enriched notifications. The prioritised notification routing and service decisions it creates can expedite resolutions for high value service segments.

Ericsson's deep domain expertise, based on years of research and work with leading communication service providers around the world using EEA, is embedded in the newly implemented solution, providing superior data models and business rules to drive actionable insights from big data.

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.

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.

Powering smarter and greener industries Along with the deployment of 5G technology as a digitisation foundation, Vietnam has been setting up its infrastructure and human resources for a faster and greener digital transformation.

Digital transformation needs private and public sector support International organisations and investors hope to work closely with the authorities and business community to foster digital transformation, raising demand for public-private partnerships, according to experts and representatives of firms at VIR's forum on Tuesday.
Attending the partnership signing ceremony were Jeni Mundy, Visa's global head of Merchant Sales and Acquiring, and SmartPays chairman Marek Forysiak.

As I connect with our partners here in Vietnam, Im delighted to see their commitment to expanding payment options while enabling consumers to benefit from a wider range of choices and convenient digital solutions, Mundy said.

Mundys visit to Vietnam underscores the importance of the fast-growing Southeast Asian market as Visa seeks to strengthen its commitment to widen the adoption of digital payments, enhance the digital economy, and expand further cooperation opportunities in the future.

According to SmartPays chairman Marek Forysiak, a lack of infrastructure, especially point of sale (POS) terminals, is becoming a profound challenge for MSMEs to keep up with the digital transformation taking place in Vietnam.

Demand for POS devices in the second quarter of 2022 was about 1.2 million devices, and SmartPays goal in the next three years is to provide 325,000 of these devices, or nearly 30 per cent of the total market share.

Speaking at the event, Forysiak said, This partnership is part of a broader effort by Visa and SmartPay to make cashless payments more accessible in Vietnam by expanding the number of merchants equipped to accept non-cash payments, especially Visa card payments. It will give merchants payment solutions that can boost their competitiveness in the digital era.

While cash use is still widespread in Vietnam, consumers are increasingly turning to cashless payment options. According to the Visa Consumer Payment Attitudes Study 2022, cash usage has fallen since 2021 while 89 per cent of respondents said they use mobile wallets and 85 per cent use credit and debit cards.

According to the study's findings, 79 per cent of consumers expressed dissatisfaction with the limited payment method options available at small retailers, while 74 per cent of respondents emphasised the urgent need for small retailers to embrace a wider array of digital payment methods.

What is happening in Vietnam is part of a global trend towards the digitalisation of payments. Visas Global Back to Business study released last year showed 73 per cent of small businesses surveyed said accepting new forms of digital payments was fundamental to growth.

Dung Dang, Visa country manager for Vietnam and Laos

Furthermore, 59 per cent of small businesses said they already, or plan to, use solely digital payments within the next two years, while 41 per cent of consumers said the same.

Now, small businesses can build on this foundation of digital capabilities to find new growth and thrive, Dung Dang, Visa country manager for Vietnam and Laos, said. Payments are not just about completing a sale, but rather, about creating a convenient and secure experience that reflects a companys brand across platforms and benefits both the business and the consumer.

Visa has spearheaded a range of impactful initiatives aimed at supporting small businesses that embrace digital payments and increase their participation in the digital economy. Notably, Visa has already surpassed the halfway mark of its objective to digitise 50 million MSMEs across the globe.

SmartPay provides cashless payment solutions such as SmartQR and SmartPOS, business management solutions such as SmartShop, and integrates OPOS sales management software on SmartPOS devices. By the end of 2022, SmartPay had actively serviced more than 700,000 merchants and a community of more than 40 million users nationwide.
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BISMARCK, N.D. (AP)  A former government official of the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation has been sentenced to five years in prison for accepting bribes and kickbacks from a construction contractor at Fort Berthold Indian Reservation in North Dakota.

Randall Phelan, 58, of Mandaree, was an elected representative of the governing body of the Three Affiliated Tribes from 2013 to 2020. Investigators said Phelan solicited and accepted bribes totaling more than $645,000 and helped the contractors business by awarding contracts, fabricating bids and managing fraudulent invoices.

He was sentenced Monday after pleading guilty in October to conspiracy to commit bribery concerning programs receiving federal funds, honest services wire fraud and bribery concerning programs receiving federal funds. He had faced a maximum of 20 years in prison.

Co-conspirator Delvin Reeves, who was a project manager, was sentenced in November to about five years in prison after pleading guilty in 2021 to one count of bribery concerning programs receiving federal funds, the Bismarck Tribune reported.

Contractor Francisco Javier Solis Chacon was sentenced in February to a year in prison after pleading guilty to bribery, according to court documents.

The three men also were ordered to pay restitution: Phelan $271,900, Reeves $1.3 million and Solis Chacon $818,300.
Chinese electric car brands set sights on Europe

Xinhua) 13:43, May 17, 2023

BARCELONA, May 16 (Xinhua) -- Chinese auto makers have set their sights on the European electric car market, with one third of companies exhibiting at the Automobile Barcelona show this week coming from China.

Chinese brand BYD Auto, China's leading electric vehicle manufacturer, has a stand at the fair, as well as DFSK and SWM of the Invicta group, Maxus, Evo, DR, ICKX, and Aiways.

"We have a lot of Chinese brands this year, which is a real success because it shows that they see Barcelona as gateway into Europe; into a new market for their cars, which are attractive, well-priced and all electric," Enrique Lacalle, president of Automobile Barcelona, told Xinhua.

"At the next edition in two years' time we hope to see even more Chinese brands here," he added.

In 2022, Chinese electric carmakers doubled their market share in Europe to 9 percent, according to the Inovev consultancy. Meanwhile, a recent study from PwC predicted that by 2025 up to 800,000 Chinese-built cars could be sold in Europe.

The market for Chinese electric cars has also been growing rapidly in Spain, with imports of Chinese-made electric cars multiplying by 20 in 2022, according to figures published in March by the Spanish association of automobile manufacturers. The value of these imports rose to 1.39 billion euros (1.51 billion U.S. dollars), up from 68 million euros (73.86 million dollars) in 2021.

Occupying 100,000 square meters at the Montjuic convention venue, Automobile Barcelona is open from 13 to 21 May. Organizers say they are expecting over 300,000 visitors to the fair, which is focused on electric vehicles this year under the theme "Electrizante" (Electrifying).

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun)
Whang Yoon-jae, a distinguished professor of economics at Seoul National University, speaks during a recent interview with The Korea Times at his office. He is also the president of the Korean Economic Association and co-chairs the preparatory committee for Korea's first Econometric Society World Congress to be held in 2025. Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk



Congress to focus on parallel between industrialization, academic achievement



By Yi Whan-woo



The academic discipline of modern economics in Korea and the nation's economic flourishing following the 1950-53 Korean War share strong parallels.



This makes Korea a distinct and fitting case study as it prepares to be the next host of the Econometric Society World Congress (ESWC). The country is looking forward to sharing its remarkable economic success on one hand and its academic achievements in modern economics on the other, according to the co-chairman of the congress' preparatory committee.



Held every five years, the ESWC is the world's largest and one of the most highly-recognized gatherings of economics scholars and researchers around the world. Korea will host the event for the first time in 2025.



"Indeed the congress is possibly the world's most important scholarly meeting in the field of economics, and a country's competence to host the event is regarded as a key measurement of its academic level in economics as well as economic power," Whang Yoon-jae, a distinguished professor of economics at Seoul National University, said during a recent interview with The Korea Times at his office.



"In that regard, we expect that the congress will enhance Korea's reputation worldwide in the study of economics and also help the country's academic economic circle take a leap forward to the world-class level," he added.



Concerning economic development, the professor expressed hope to "share the country's expertise and knowledge and promote noteworthy success stories."



Whang co-chairs the preparatory committee as the president of the Korean Economic Association, the largest community of academic economists here. The other committee chairman is Chang Yong-sung, also a Seoul National University economics professor.



The congress is governed by the Econometric Society, an international organization launched in 1930 in the U.S. state of Ohio, with the goal of advancing economic theory concerning statistics and mathematics.



The society has been led by towering figures in economics, including Joseph Schumpeter, John Maynard Keynes, Paul Samuelson and Kenneth Arrow. The high academic standing of this society is demonstrated by the fact that the majority of the previous Nobel Prize laureates have been elected fellows of the society.



Scheduled to take place in Seoul from Aug. 18 to 22, 2025, the society's upcoming congress is anticipated to draw more than 4,000 participants. They range from Nobel Prize winners to high- and working-level officials from central banks as well as those from international financial institutions, such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Bank for International Settlements (BIS).



Officials from the Ministry of Economy and Finance, the Bank of Korea (BOK) and think tanks in Korea's private and public sectors will also join.



Discussion topics will be chosen depending on the key economic issues occurring throughout 2025. Current issues ranging from global polarization, accelerated by the U.S.-China row and the Ukraine war, to technology protectionism, in relation to growing economic security interests, will also be examined.





Whang Yoon-jae, distinguished professor of economics at Seoul National University and co-chairman of the preparatory committee for the 2025 Econometric Society World Congress, speaks during a recent interview with The Korea Times at his office. Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk
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NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP)  A federal judge on Tuesday declined to let a former Tennessee state senator withdraw his guilty plea on federal campaign finance charges.

In the case related to his failed 2016 congressional campaign, former Republican Sen. Brian Kelsey's attorneys had argued he should be allowed to go back on his guilty plea because he entered it in November with an unsure heart and a confused mind due to events in his personal life  his father had terminal pancreatic cancer, then later died in February, and he and his wife were caring for their twin sons born in September.

U.S. District Judge Waverly Crenshaw in Nashville said that those stressors are not sufficient to allow the reversal of his guilty plea. Kelsey's sentencing was set for late July.

A guilty plea is a grave and solemn act, Crenshaw said, according to The Daily Memphian.

Kelsey and his mother were among those who testified at the hearing Tuesday.

Kelsey pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud the Federal Election Commission as well as aiding and abetting the acceptance of excessive contributions on behalf of a federal campaign. He faces up to five years in prison for each count.

Before that, Kelsey had previously pleaded not guilty  often describing his case as a political witch hunt  but changed his mind shortly after his co-defendant, Nashville social club owner Joshua Smith, pleaded guilty to one count under a deal that required him to cooperate fully and truthfully with federal authorities. Smith's sentencing is also scheduled for late July.

In October 2021, a federal grand jury in Nashville indicted Kelsey and Smith, who owns The Standard club, on several counts each. The indictment alleged that Kelsey, Smith and others violated campaign finance laws by illegally concealing the transfer of $91,000  $66,000 from Kelseys state Senate campaign committee and $25,000 from a nonprofit that advocated about legal justice issues  to a national political organization to fund advertisements urging support of Kelseys congressional campaign.

Prosecutors allege that Kelsey and others caused the national political organization to make illegal and excessive campaign contributions to Kelsey by coordinating with the nonprofit on advertisements, and that they caused the organization to file false reports to the Federal Election Commission.

Kelsey's motion to withdraw his plea, which he filed in March, also argued he was unaware of the consequences of pleading guilty because he had no prior criminal record. Those consequences have included his bank cutting off his credit card and the suspension of his law license.

Kelsey, a 44-year-old attorney from Germantown, was first elected to the General Assembly in 2004 as a state representative. He was later elected to the state Senate in 2009. He didn't seek reelection in 2022.

Kelsey also served as the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, which oversees changes to civil and criminal laws, judicial proceedings and more.
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RALEIGH, N.C. (AP)  Legislation banning most abortions after 12 weeks of pregnancy will become law in North Carolina after the states Republican-controlled General Assembly successfully overrode the Democratic governors veto late Tuesday.

The House completed the second and final part of the override vote after a similar three-fifths majority  the fraction necessary  voted for the override earlier Tuesday in the Senate. The party-line outcomes represent a major victory for Republican legislative leaders who needed every GOP member on board to enact the law over Gov. Roy Coopers opposition.

Cooper vetoed the measure over the weekend after spending last week traveling around the state to persuade at least one Republican to side with him on the override, which would be enough to uphold his veto. But in the end, the four Republicans targeted by Cooper  including one who recently switched from the Democratic Party  voted to override.

Republicans pitched the measure as a middle-ground change to state law, which currently bans nearly all abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy, without exceptions for rape or incest.

The votes came as abortion rights in the U.S. faced another tectonic shift with lawmakers in South Carolina and Nebraska also considering new abortion limits. North Carolina and South Carolina have been two of the few remaining Southern states with relatively easy access.

Such restrictions are possible because the U.S. Supreme Court last year struck down the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling, which established a nationwide right to abortion.

Under the bill that had been up for a vote Tuesday in the South Carolina House, abortion access would be almost entirely banned after about six weeks of pregnancy  before women often know theyre pregnant. The South Carolina state Senate previously rejected a proposal to nearly outlaw abortions.

However, a final vote would have to wait until later Wednesday after the South Carolina House moved to reconvene at 10 a.m. while the computer system rebooted.

Nationally, bans on abortion throughout pregnancy are in effect in 14 states.

Abortion is banned or severely restricted in much of the South, including bans throughout pregnancy in Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas and West Virginia. In Georgia, its allowed only in the first six weeks.

The Carolinas, Florida and Virginia are now the main destinations in the region for those seeking legal abortions. Florida has a ban that kicks in 15 weeks into pregnancy. Under a recent law, that would tighten to six weeks pending a court ruling. Further west, women often travel to Illinois, Kansas, New Mexico or Colorado.

If both the North and South Carolina bans become law, combined with Floridas recent ban, it would be just devastating for abortion access in the South, Jamie Lockhart, executive director of Planned Parenthood Advocates of Virginia, said earlier Tuesday.

After the final vote Tuesday in the North Carolina House, abortion-rights advocates and Democrats in the chamber gallery loudly booed the outcome and shouted Shame!" Many observers in the gallery were escorted out by General Assembly police.

Similar displeasure poured out after the earlier North Carolina Senate debate, although many anti-abortion demonstrators also were in the audience, pleased with the outcome.

Today marks the beginning of North Carolinas first real step towards becoming a pro-life state, Tami Fitzgerald, executive director of the socially conservative North Carolina Values Coalition, said after the House vote.

Senate Republicans said Cooper ignored $160 million within the measure that would boost funding to increase contraceptive services, reduce infant and maternal mortality and provide paid maternity leave for state employees and teachers.

This bill provides resources for the pregnant woman. It provides broad resources and a significant knowledge base to enable her, to equip her in finding a path forward  a path forward for her, and a path forward for her unborn child," said Rep. Kristin Baker, a Cabarrus County Republican and psychiatrist.

The new abortion limits set to take effect July 1 also will include rape or incest exceptions through 20 weeks of pregnancy and exceptions for life-limiting fetal anomalies during the first 24 weeks. An existing exception for when the life of the pregnant woman is in danger will remain.

Democrats focused on details of the abortion rules, which they said would place barriers between women and their doctors, leaving those who are pregnant in danger, with less access to abortion services.

Women did not ask for your oversight. We didnt ask for your approval, Rep. Julie von Haefen, a Wake County Democrat, told GOP colleagues. Its our fundamental right to make decisions about our own bodies and our own health care.

Cooper said in a statement after the vote that he'll continue doing everything I can to protect abortion access in North Carolina because womens lives depend on it.

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said the law will make it even more difficult for women to get the reproductive health care they need."

North Carolina Republicans were able to complete the override due in large part to Mecklenburg County Rep. Tricia Cotham's party switch to the GOP last month. That gave Republicans veto-proof seat majorities in both chambers.

Cotham has supported abortion rights in the past. She said in a statement late Tuesday that the bill strikes a reasonable balance that anyone not holding extremist positions on abortion can support.

In South Carolina, the impasse dates back to a special session last fall when House lawmakers demanding a near-total ban did not meet to negotiate with their Senate counterparts pushing for a ban around six weeks.

The stalemate persisted even after the state Supreme Court in January struck down a previous law banning abortions once cardiac activity is detected.

That decision left abortion legal through 22 weeks of pregnancy. A sharp increase in abortions since then has rankled Republicans.

The House was weighing a Senate bill similar to the one they denied last year. The measure would ban abortion when an ultrasound detects cardiac activity, around six weeks.

A late night is expected even after Republicans invoked rules to limit debate. House Speaker Murrell Smith has said the chamber will not adjourn until the measure gets approval. Democrats slowed the process Tuesday by speaking for all three allotted minutes on each of their hundreds of amendments and forcing other procedural votes.

In Nebraska, conservatives in the Legislature got just enough votes Tuesday to fold a proposed 12-week abortion ban into a bill that would ban gender-affirming health for minors.

Throughout, hundreds of protesters filled the Capitol rotunda just outside the chamber doors, nearly drowning out debate at times with chants, shouts and foot stomping.

The plan won the 33 votes it needed in the state's one-chamber, officially nonpartisan legislature to end debate and set up other votes to advance it. It must now survive a final round, which could happen as soon as Thursday, to pass.

In Montana, Republican Gov. Greg Gianfortes office announced Tuesday that he had signed into law a bill that makes performing the abortion method most commonly used after 15 weeks of gestation a felony. Planned Parenthood of Montana asked a judge to temporarily block the ban on dilation and evacuation abortions.

A separate challenge to abortion access will be considered Wednesday, when a federal appeals court hears arguments on whether the Food and Drug Administrations approval of the widely used abortion drug mifepristone should be overturned. A three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals will review a ruling last month by a federal judge in Texas who ordered a hold on approval of mifepristone, a decision that overruled two decades of scientific approval of the drug. That ruling was stayed while the appeal is pending.

The three judges who will hear the case each have a history of supporting restrictions on abortion. A ruling is not expected immediately.

Lavoie reported from Richmond, Virginia. Associated Press writers James Pollard and Jeffrey Collins in Columbia, South Carolina, Geoff Mulvihill in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, Amy Beth Hanson in Helena, Montana and Sarah Rankin in Richmond, Virginia contributed to this report. Schoenbaum and Pollard are corps members 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.
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SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP)  A northern Indiana school district will distribute and require clear backpacks for all students at all grade levels for the upcoming school year to enhance security and safety.

The South Bend Community School Corp. announced at Monday evenings board meeting that starting in the 2023-24 school year, it will allow only clear backpacks on all campuses.

We join many other districts across the country in introducing this simple measure that allows for safer buildings and work environments, Eric Crittendon, the districts security and emergency preparedness director, said in a statement. Transparent bags will not solve every schools safety issues, but it certainly serves as a deterrent for harmful and prohibited items.

The district will provide one clear backpack free of charge for each student, it said.

Students will be allowed to carry within their backpacks a non-clear pouch no larger than 5.5 by 8.5 inches (13.97 by 21.59 centimeter) to hold personal items.

In neighboring Michigan, the Grand Rapids Public Schools announced last week it would become the second Michigan school district to ban backpacks on school premises after a third-grade student was found with a loaded gun, the third time this year in the districy a handgun was found in a backpack. Flint Community Schools banned backpacks beginning May 1.
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ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP)  Ice jams that blocked two Alaska rivers broke loose over the weekend, unleashing a surge of ice and water that caused major floods, damaged homes and left behind huge chunks of ice as tall as 12 feet (3.7 meters).

Floodwaters on the Yukon River peaked at or near record level in the small community of Circle  the highest since 1945  said Mike Ottenweller, a forecaster with the Alaska-Pacific River Forecast Center. Flooding could continue for the next few weeks as more snow melts, he said.

The water rose quickly Saturday before retreating Sunday on the Yukon River in the states east and the Kuskokwim River in the southwest, the Anchorage Daily News reported. Homes were lifted off foundations, smashed into by ice, or inundated with water in communities like Circle and Crooked Creek.

Gov. Mike Dunleavy issued a disaster declaration for the Yukon River communities of Circle and Eagle, as well as Crooked Creek on the Kuskokwim and Glennallen on the Copper River.

Ice jam flooding in the spring is not unusual in Alaska, but this year the risk was higher.

The combo of a cold April and deep snowpack really loads the dice, said Rick Thoman, a climate specialist at the International Arctic Research Center at the University of Alaska Fairbanks.

However, Thoman said this kind of flooding is expected to become less common in the next few decades as springs warm.

Diane Olmstead, a teacher in Circle, said it took only about 10 minutes for the chilly floodwaters to rise a foot high (30 cm) after they began creeping toward the school at around 8 p.m. Olmstead said she watched a colleague get rescued from their residence and brought to the school. By about 9:30 p.m., the water started to recede almost as dramatically as it rose, she said.

Olmstead's car was destroyed and she lost most of her belongings. She cried as she surveyed the damage in the community, which included one house near the river being washed away and at least seven others knocked from their foundations and battered with ice, she said.

Authorities were aware of at least three homes pushed off foundations as damage assessments were underway, said Jeremy Zidek, a spokesperson with the states emergency management office.

No one was hurt but emergency officials were working to transport generators, backup communication systems and clean drinking water to the village of about 75 people, roughly 160 miles (257 kilometers) northeast of Fairbanks.

Recovery will be challenging in Circle and Crooked Creek, Zidek said.

Theres a lot of ice thats been deposited on roads and within the community  and were talking about huge chunks of ice, some of them as tall as 12 feet, he said.

Most of Crooked River's 90 residents had evacuated to the village school, which is on higher ground, Zidek said.

However, the rising waters stranded 12 people in the second story of a home, Zidek said. An Alaska National Guard helicopter was called in to help, but a nearby helicopter from the Donlin Gold project was able to fly over and rescue three of the stranded residents. The others accessed a boat once the flood began to recede.

Zidek did not immediately have an estimate of how many homes were damaged.

Ottenweller, the river forecaster, said the water level in Crooked River was as much as 5 feet higher (1.5 meters) than in 2011, a year that marked the most extreme flooding the village saw in recent decades.
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The 17-year-old suspect in a fatal May 2 shooting of another teen in Waco has been brought back to McLennan County, after his arrest last week in Freestone County on a murder warrant.

Ruben Villa Lee Dominguez was booked Monday in McLennan County Jail on a first-degree felony charge of murder in the death of Tercquan Johnson, 17, in the 1900 block of J.J. Flewellen Road, near Estella Maxey Place apartments, authorities said.

Waco officers responded to a shots fired call at 8:41 p.m. May 2 near the apartments and found Johnson with gunshot wounds, police said at the time. Johnson was pronounced deceased at the scene.
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YMCA summer camps

Greater Waco YMCA, 6800 Harvey Drive, will host a series of summer camps for kids ages 8-12. Each camp costs $100 for YMCA members, $150 for nonmembers. Camp time is 9:30 to 11:30 a.m.

June 12-15: Beginning Coding

June 19-22: Sewing

June 26-29: Intermediate Coding

July 10-13: Lego Masters Robotics

July 24-27: Advanced Coding

Participants in the coding classes must provide their own laptop.

For more information, call 254-753-5437.

Fan donation drive

The Salvation Army and TXU Energy are asking for at least 100 new box fans to be donated during their fan drives kickoff from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday at 4721 W. Waco Drive. The drive will continue through May, and fans will be distributed to people in need as summer temperatures arrive soon.

For more information, call 254-756-7271.

Petworking at the Park

Petworking in the Park, sponsored by the Cen-Tex African American Chamber of Commerce, will take place from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday at Bridge Street Plaza, 200 E. Bridge St.

Animal experts will provide free services for vaccinations, microchipping, pet health screenings, obedience training and pet adoption.

For more information, call 254-235-3204 or email info@centexchamber.com.

Bruceville-Eddy festival

The city of Bruceville-Eddy will hold its annual Spring Fest with events Wednesday, Friday and Saturday.

Events will kick off with an exhibition softball game at 6 p.m. Wednesday at Duty Field, 248 Hungry Hill Road.

There will be a concert from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Friday on the green behind City Hall, 144 Wilcox Drive.

A parade will start at 9 a.m. Saturday, followed by events at City Hall starting at 4 p.m., including lawnmower races, cow patty bingo, vendors, an auction, food, childrens area, dog shows, pony rides, power wheel races and a beard contest.

For more information, call 254-859-5700.

Vines and Wines program

The Texas A&M Agrilife Extension Service will host the sixth annual Central Texas Vines and Wines program from 8:30 a.m. to 2:35 p.m. Tuesday, May 23, at Valley Mills Vineyards, 1686 Farm-to-Market Road 1637 in Valley Mills.

The Bagnasco family will be hosting and focusing on vineyard management.

A breakfast and a steak lunch will be provided during the program. Registration costs $35 and will start at 8:30 a.m.

RSVP before Friday by calling 254-757-5180 or emailing Candace Chapman at candace.chapman@ag.tamu.edu.

Compassionate Friends

Compassionate Friends of Central Texas will hold its monthly group support meeting for people who have lost a child, at 6:30 p.m. Thursday at Grace Church, 4610 Bosque Blvd.

The meeting is open to parents, grandparents and siblings.

Westphalia vet clinic

The Knights of Columbus is sponsoring a vet clinic from 7 to 11 a.m. Saturday at the Westphalia Hall Pavilion on State Highway 320.

Dogs, cats and other small animals can be vaccinated for rabies, parvovirus and any other ailment they may have at a nominal cost.

For more information, call Brian Wilde at 254-718-6764.

Blood pressure program

Greater Waco YMCA is sponsoring a Blood Pressure Self-Monitoring Program that will start Tuesday, May 23, and continue from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. each Tuesday at Highland Baptist Church, 3014 Maple Ave.

For more information, contact Crystal Hernandez at 254-776- 6612 or chernandez@ymcactx.org.

Carbon Colonialism screening

Waco Friends of the Climate will screen Carbon Colonialism during a meeting at 6 p.m. Tuesday, May 23, at the South Waco Library, 2737 S. 18th St. The documentary details the practice of purchasing carbon credits to offset greenhouse gas emissions and explains how it has harmed the forests and people of Papua New Guinea. Vegan refreshments will be served.

The event is free, and everyone is welcome. For more information, email anorthc@aol.com.

Police memorial run

The Waco Police Memorial Run will start at 8 a.m. Saturday at Redwood Shelter, 2300 Cameron Park Drive.

Registration is $40 for the 5K and $45 for the 10K, including walk-up registration.

To register in advance, go to runsignup.com.

It is a chipped race hosted by the Waco Citizens Police Academy Alumni Association, with the assistance of Pro-Fit Race Timing.

Packet pickup will run from 4 to 8 p.m. Thursday at the Waco Police Department, 3115 Pine Ave., and start at 7 a.m. on race day.
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Lets get one thing straight: Ron DeSantis is not a conservative. He is often called that by supporters and opponents who dont want to seem extreme. Still, his agenda pushes far beyond anything traditionally known as conservatism. And his war on Disney is a clear example of this.

The genius of the American Founders, drawing on the political philosophy of John Locke and others, was to create a limited government that respects a sphere of privacy into which government does not intrude. The invention of a written constitution is a symbol of that. To achieve this, separation of powers and checks and balances are defined in writing. And so is the Bill of Rights. The U.S. Constitution exists to keep the government from doing whatever it wants. It is designed to limit governmental action.

This concept of limited government is expounded brilliantly by Justice John Marshall in the classic Supreme Court case Marbury v. Madison (1803). He says that when the people established the Constitution, they chose to limit the powers of government. To what purpose are powers limited, and to what purpose is that limitation committed to writing, if these limits may at any time be passed by those intended to be restrained? The distinction between a government with limited and unlimited powers is abolished if those limits do not confine the persons on whom they are imposed.

Gov. DeSantis is attacking businesses in Florida for one reason: they disagree with his opinions about social policy. This is not the action of a conservative. He is intolerant of the mere existence within his state of different perspectives. He doesnt want to count on being able to persuade people to agree with him, so he resorts to economic and political force to achieve his goals.

The leaders of the Disney corporation support gay rights and the rights of others who identify their genders in ways that are not popular. But it is not the governments job to root out opinions that political leaders consider bad. DeSantis is welcome to his opinions, but apparently he does not believe that others are welcome to theirs. Disney has now gone to court to defend itself. We will see what happens.

Corporations should be allowed to operate according to their leaders or shareholders consciences. That means they should have the right to support gay rights and gender orientations that the governor rejects. And beyond that, corporations have the right to put their resources behind efforts to change the law. Thats what limited government is all about. And that is, in fact, what conservatives in the United States once championed.

In a recent speech in Charleston, South Carolina, DeSantis said: A free state means youre protecting your people from the lefts pathologies across the board. But as Conor Friedersdorf points out in his excellent article in The Atlantic, this is not freedom. It is not the business of government to fight woke ideology or any other set of political opinions across the board. As governor of Florida, DeSantis can certainly work with the state legislature to affect government policies, but he has now stepped over the line in attacking Disneys right to free speech. Limited government gives people the freedom to disagree and to promote their opinions passionately.

Freedom of speech is vital to limited government because it is crucial to protecting a private sphere from governmental action. The overturning of Roe v. Wade was one dramatic step in eliminating this private sphere, and the implications of this decision are being felt throughout the country. Now we are seeing an assault on an equally important part of the private sphere.

Freedom of speech is more than freedom to hold an opinion quietly to oneself. It is the freedom to say what you believe and say it loudly. And it is the freedom to work with all your might to promote your beliefs. The so-called war on woke that DeSantis champions is a frontal assault on freedom of speech, and it is disturbing that so many people fail to see this. We can only hope that Disneys constitutional rights will be protected in court. If DeSantis succeeds here, where will it end? Do we really want to live in a country where unpopular political opinions are rooted out everywhere? I certainly dont.

In Marbury v. Madison, Justice Marshall warns us that we will find ourselves threatened by unlimited government if governmental powers and actors are not held in check. DeSantis is embracing the idea of unlimited government. We have a word for that, and it is not conservatism. It is called totalitarianism.
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LINCOLN  The Federal Public Health Emergency (PHE) for COVID-19 declared under section 319 of the Public Health Service Act (PHS) expired May 11. Nebraska ended its COVID-19 PHE on June 30, 2021.

In anticipation of the expiration of the federal PHE, the Division of Public Health has aligned COVID-19 data monitoring and response efforts with other respiratory illnesses.

DHHS will continue moving forward with providing Nebraskans with the best services possible and do our best to empower people to live their best lives, said CEO Dannette R. Smith.

Medicaid and Long-Term Care (MLTC) will also end flexibilities that were introduced to help providers during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The following flexibilities will end after May 11.

Annual physical examinations for long-term care residents will be required to be conducted in-person by Nov. 11, 2023.

Hospice aides will need to have supervisory visits by registered nurses at least every 14 days.

Pregnancy-only providers will no longer be allowed to make presumptive eligibility determinations for anyone other than pregnant mothers.

Fee-for-service providers are no longer allowed to extend prior authorizations that existed before the pandemic started through to the end of the pandemic without requiring follow-up visits.

Providers will need to revalidate their agreement with Nebraska Medicaid prior to the end date of their enrollment.

Beginning July 1, 2023, pre- and post-enrollment site visits will need to be completed in-person.

The following flexibilities will end after June 30.

Nebraska Medicaid will no longer pay the waiver rate to an assisted living facility (ALF) if a resident was temporarily transferred out of the facility to quarantine in another ALF or a skilled nursing facility if the ALF held the residents place.

Bed-hold days will return to the pre-PHE standard of a maximum of 15 days and for hospitalization only.

LTC facility transfers will return to the pre-PHE standard.

Additionally, cost-sharing, including copayments/copays and premiums, will continue to be waived for members of Nebraska Medicaid until June 1, 2024.
Vintage Aviation News staff did not write this article; the content comes via our partners who wish to help $upport our website.

Are you dreaming of a career in the military as a fighter pilot or helicopter pilot? If so, then you are going to need specific education and qualifications to get there. And while becoming a military pilot may have its challenges, we can give you a roadmap of just what universities will provide the training needed to make your military flying dreams come true! Lets dive right in and explore what it takesand whereto become an accomplished pilot in the armed forces.

Why become a military pilot?

Are you tired of the mundane routine of a typical office job? Do you crave the thrill of adventure and the rush of adrenaline? Well, have no fear because becoming a military pilot might just be the answer to your high-flying dreams. Not only will you become a part of a prestigious group of aviators, but youll also have the opportunity to travel the world, experience new cultures, and potentially save lives while youre at it. Plus, who doesnt want to wear a super cool flight suit and impress their friends with stories of flying at supersonic speeds? So, buck up, buttercup, and prepare for takeoff on an exciting career path in the skies.

The benefits of being a military pilot

Flying high, getting paid, and serving your country  being a military pilot has never been cooler. With breathtaking views from the cockpit and the thrill of soaring through the clouds, its like having your own private rollercoaster in the sky. But the benefits dont stop there. Youll also receive top-notch training, advanced technology, and opportunities to travel the world. Plus, the sense of pride and purpose that comes with serving your country is priceless.

Need help getting into the aviation program university of your dreams?

Attention aspiring aviators! If you have lofty dreams of flying high in the sky, then you better start polishing up your writing skills!

The paragraph to be replaced with: Excellent assignment grades are required to enter the top aviation program of your choice. Lucky for you, Edubirdie is here to save the day with their top-notch university assignment help for students. No need to stress about writing your assignments, just leave it up to the pros so you can focus on your real passion: planes, planes, planes! So what are you waiting for? Contact Edubirdie today and soar into your dream with ease. Trust us, the only turbulence youll encounter is from the breathtaking views up in the clouds!

Top universities for becoming a military pilot

The U.S. Air Force Academy

If youve always dreamed of soaring through the skies like a superhero, then the U.S. Air Force Academy should be at the top of your list. Not only is it the top university for becoming a military pilot, but it also offers a world-class education that will prepare you for anything life throws your way (except maybe a flock of birds). And lets be real, who wouldnt want to wear a flight suit and have their own Top Gun moment?

The Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University

With its top-notch aviation programs and commitment to training the best of the best, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University is a no-brainer for anyone aspiring to become a military pilot. Not only do they have state-of-the-art facilities and experienced faculty, but they also have a reputation for producing some of the most capable pilots out there.

California Polytechnic State University

If youre looking to soar through the skies like a majestic bird of prey, then California Polytechnic State University just might be your ticket to the cockpit. This top-notch institution boasts a strong aviation program, as well as proximity to numerous military bases that are just itching for talented pilots to join their ranks.

The Liberty University

Liberty is offering a special program just for you as you navigate your way through the skies. With state-of-the-art flight simulators and experienced instructors, Libertys aviation program will take your training to new heights (literally). Plus, youll have the added bonus of studying at a university founded on the principles of faith and freedom.

Purdue University

With Purdues top-notch aviation program and state-of-the-art facilities, youll be soaring through the skies in no time. Dont believe me? Just ask Neil Armstrong, a Purdue alum who went on to fly far beyond the reaches of Earth. And who knows, maybe one day youll be the one piloting a spacecraft to new heights. So put on your aviator shades and get ready to take flight at Purdue University.

The University of Texas at Austin

If you have the determination, discipline, and a love for soaring through the air, then youre off to a great start. The University of Texas at Austin has a top-notch ROTC program that can give you the skills and knowledge you need to succeed in the military. Just remember, when youre up there in the sky, theres no T in cant. Now, lets get this bird in the air!

Private Ground School at MIT

If youre looking to soar through the skies in a fancy flying machine (bonus points if its a military-grade plane), then attending the Massachusetts Institute of Technology might just be your golden ticket. With their Private Pilot Ground School, youll learn everything you need to know about taking a plane from point A to point B. And who knows? Maybe youll even become the next Maverick from Top Gun. Just make sure to bring your aviators and a killer soundtrack.

Conclusion

Becoming a military pilot is no easy task, but with the right university and training program, it can be an extremely rewarding career. With any luck, youll find the perfect school for your journey to becoming a military aviator  one that will give you the skills and knowledge needed to take flight. So dont let fear or doubt take away from your success!

Author Bio:

Sylvester Greer is a writer and aviation enthusiast. He holds degrees in computer science and aeronautical engineering. He has spent years researching and writing about the fascinating world of aviation.

Vintage Aviation News staff did not write this article; the content comes via our partners who wish to help $upport our website.
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CEDAR FALLS  From 5 a.m. to noon Friday, the eighth annual Cop on A Rooftop event will take place at participating Dunkins across Iowa, including in Cedar Falls. The event has raised more than $170,000 dollars for Special Olympics Iowa during the first seven years of the program.

Representatives from the Law Enforcement Torch Run for Special Olympics Iowa will be collecting money that goes directly to support programming for Special Olympics athletes in Iowa. Dunkin guests who donate to Cop on a Rooftop will receive a coupon for a free donut. Guests who donate $10 or more will receive a coupon for a free medium hot or iced coffee.

Dunkin Donuts is located at 6004 University Ave. in Cedar Falls.

Photos: Preserving the silent witnesses to the Holocaust
Korean travelers heading overseas line up to check in for flights at Gimpo International Airport, May 3. Newsis



By Lee Yeon-woo



Recent data reveals a significant surge in the number of Korean travelers heading overseas this year, while the number of foreign visitors to Korea has remained stagnant. This disparity could worsen the country's tourism earnings deficit and further burden the already struggling economy, market watchers said.



According to the Bank of Korea and Japan Tourism Agency, 1.6 million Koreans traveled to Japan in the first quarter of 2023, accounting for 33.4 percent of all who traveled to Japan. Koreans spent approximately 1.98 trillion won ($1.47 billion) in the neighboring country.



In contrast, the Korea Tourism Organization reported that only 353,611 Japanese tourists visited Korea during the same period. This means that the number of Koreans traveling to Japan is five times higher than the number of Japanese traveling to Korea.



Despite signs of recovery, the number of Chinese travelers, who comprised the majority before the pandemic, has also not yet returned to the pre-pandemic levels.



This illustrates a sluggish recovery of inbound tourists to Korea, despite the significant increase in the number of Korean tourists traveling abroad, creating a deficit.



Shin Seung-chul, director general of the BOK's economic statistics division, noted that restrictions on Chinese group travelers should be lifted to help revive the current account balance.




The firstborn child of Robert (Bob) and Charlotte (Char) Tannreuther, she was born on her parents fourth anniversary, September 16, 1952. Ann attended Orange Township School, the same site as two previous generations of family members, besides participating in the Orange Blossoms 4-H club, and showing Holstein heifers at the Black Hawk 4-H Fair. After graduating in 1970 from Orange of Waterloo High School she enrolled in McPherson College, McPherson, Kansas, making lifelong friends there and playing pranks that will be long remembered. In 1974 she graduated college with a degree in Education. Upon arriving home in Waterloo, Ann took a preschool teaching position at Byron Avenue Day Care Center. She continued to teach preschool at various sites including Head Start facilities around Waterloo, Cedar Falls, Hudson and Independence for the next 36 years, retiring in 2011. One summer teaching experience led her to Okinawa for Camp Adventure at a U S military base. She took additional classes at UNI and Hawkeye Community College. Later Ann took a columnist position with the Hudson Herald newspaper, writing Orange Community News. For decades she was active at the South Waterloo Church of the Brethren as a teacher of Sunday School and Bible School and Womens Fellowship member. She enjoyed doing crafts, often decorating candy-filled jars for people in her neighborhood and church on holidays and taking care of her cats.
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COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP)  Abortions would be almost entirely banned after about six weeks of pregnancy under a bill debated early into Wednesday morning by the South Carolina House in a development that follows months of Republicans in the chamber insisting instead on a near-total ban that the state Senate recently rejected.

However, a final vote would have to wait until later in the day after the House moved to reconvene at 10 a.m. while the computer system rebooted. The proposed ban brings the two GOP-dominated chambers close to resolving a disagreement that epitomizes the intra-Republican debates unfolding nationwide how far to restrict access since the U.S. Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade last year.

It became like we were playing with live ammunition, said South Carolina Republican Sen. Tom Davis, who helped block the near-total ban but supports other limits. It was like this is for real now and everything that we debate and pass is going to be law.

The end of federal abortion protections has forced politicians to go beyond bumper sticker slogans and acknowledge the nuances in public opinion, said Alesha Doan, a University of Kansas professor who studies policy and gender.

The conflict within the Republican Party arises from officials' attempts to delineate their positions on an issue where they don't align with most Americans, she said.

Once you get what you want, the real work begins," Doan said. "What are the on-the-ground implications for pregnant peoples healthcare? What are the legal implications, the public health implications, the political implications?"

Conservatives in other states also charged forward with restrictions on Tuesday.

The North Carolina General Assembly overrode the Democratic governor's veto on a 12-week abortion ban that Republicans quickly advanced after securing veto-proof majorities in both chambers.

Meanwhile, Nebraska lawmakers pushed a 12-week ban after a more stringent proposal recently failed. The state Legislature mustered just enough votes to fold the limits into another bill banning gender-affirming healthcare for minors.

But the impasse in South Carolina had persisted since last fall's special session when neither chamber budged from their respective near-total and roughly six-week bans.

South Carolina Republican Sen. Larry Grooms said the majority partys troubles began then when some House lawmakers wanted to be more pro-life by demanding a near-total ban that lacked the necessary support in the Senate.

For those folks, the politics were more important than the policy, said Grooms, whose biography lists awards from anti-abortion and conservative Christian groups.

The stalemate continued even after the state Supreme Court struck down a previous law banning abortions once cardiac activity is detected.

That January decision left abortion legal through 22 weeks of pregnancy, and Republicans have since been rankled by state health department data showing a sharp increase in abortions.

The measure still under debate Wednesday would ban abortions when an ultrasound detects cardiac activity, around six weeks and before most women know they are pregnant. It includes exceptions for fatal fetal anomalies, the patient's life and health, and rape or incest through 12 weeks.

Senators believe that several tweaks and a new court makeup will allow the measure to withstand anticipated legal challenges.

Opponents say a ban around six weeks is essentially an outright abortion ban. South Carolinians oppose such restrictions because it pushes health care further out of reach for the vulnerable, and makes pregnancy more dangerous for everyone, Ann Warner, the CEO of Women's Rights and Empowerment Network, said last week in written testimony.

The bill will need to clear the Senate again before reaching the governor, who has indicated he would sign the measure. The House has already added changes to mandate child support starting at conception and require that a judge sign-off on any minor's request for an abortion.

Debate stretched over 12 hours past 1 a.m. Wednesday even after Republicans invoked rules limiting debate. Democrats slowed the process by speaking for all three allotted minutes on each of their hundreds of amendments and forcing other procedural votes.

We are going to make it hurt if they're going to force this on us, Democratic Rep. Beth Bernstein said Tuesday morning, flanked by dozens of supporters with signs reading BANS OFF OUR BODIES.

Again, Democrats spoke until time expired. Again, Democratic hands flew up to call for a vote. Again, the amendments got tossed.

They reminded colleagues of the state's rising infant and maternal mortality rates that are even worse for Black patients. They noted the gender disparities in state government. They advocated for Medicaid expansion.

An often indifferent scene otherwise unfolded inside the chamber. Several lawmakers tuned into a livestreamed budget conference committee in the afternoon. Seltzer cans and coffee cups piled up. Word games and online poker flashed across tablets.

The debate kicked off a special session called by Republican Gov. Henry McMaster. Lawmakers receive extra pay for each day they convene  a cost totaling $60,000 on Tuesday alone, according to Republican Rep. Weston Newton.

That figure drew Democratic criticism of wasted taxpayer money. Republicans countered that protecting life is a priceless endeavor.

The long grind marked one of the only tools for House Democrats whose superminority status gives them little power. Rep. Gilda Cobb-Hunter repeatedly urged abortion rights supporters to challenge Republican officeholders next election.

If you want to see something done about men and women who are in this chamber who think you as a woman dont have sense enough to say what you want to do with your body, then get busy, she said.

Pollard 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.
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SALISBURY, Md.  Thousands of women living in rural, eastern Maryland have few options when theyre looking for someone to deliver their babies.

The local hospital doesnt have an obstetrics doctor on staff so most women in this region, flanked by sprawling farm fields and antique stores, turn to the Chesapeake Health Care clinic.

Five of the 10 obstetricians and midwives at the clinic are there because of the National Health Service Corps, which promises to pay off $50,000 in medical school debt for every two years that a doctor serves working in rural, urban or poor areas.

OB is frightfully difficult to recruit, and Im not real sure exactly why, said the clinics chief medical officer Dr. Lee Jennings. Were isolated, were in an area where were the only OB group in the entire area.

Over the past three years, millions of taxpayer dollars were pumped into the National Health Service Corps to hire thousands more doctors and nurses willing to serve the countrys most desperate regions during the COVID-19 pandemic in exchange for forgiving medical school debts. Now, with the health emergency over, the programs expansion is in jeopardy  even as people struggle to get timely and quality care because of an industry-wide dearth of workers.

Funding for the program expires at the end of September, although President Joe Biden asked Congress to sign off on an extra half-billion dollars for the project in his budget.

The number of nurses, physician, dentists, counselors, and midwives has ballooned thanks to an extra $800 million the U.S. Congress kicked to the program in stimulus packages unveiled as coronavirus raged. Last year, just over 20,000 people were corps members  up 50% from 13,000 people in 2019.

The program has placed medical professionals across a variety of disciplines  from occupational therapists in Ohio to counselors who treat drug and alcohol addictions in Alaska  in community health centers around the country. Those clinics receive federal funding to provide primary care for patients, regardless of their health insurance status or ability to pay.

The program has found rare bipartisan support from Republican and Democratic lawmakers who say theyre grateful for the void corps members fill in rural and needy communities alike that are coping with shortages. The U.S. is short thousands of family doctors, OB-GYNs and nurses, a problem that is only expected to worsen over the next decade.

Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, who oversees the powerful Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, has made the issue a top talking point in hearings. Sanders said in his state, people have complained to him about waits as long as five months just to get a physical with a doctor.

The situation would worsen, he said, if corps funding is not renewed and increased.

People are going to struggle to find a dentist, to find a mental health counselor, Sanders said. If its bad now, s.

Last month, a group of House Republicans sponsored a bill that would continue funding for the corps program, but not give it the same cash infusion that Biden has requested.

One of the most consistent issues Ive heard in my district in Pennsylvania is the shortage of physician and health care workers, Republican Rep. John Joyce, who introduced the bill, said during a congressional hearing on the health care worker shortage last month.

Still, the programs future is hanging in the balance with a split Congress thats just weeks away from allowing the U.S. to default on its debts. Uncertainty around funding for the program also makes it difficult for health clinics to recruit providers, said Carole Johnson, who heads up the federal Health Resources and Services Administration that oversees corps funding.

Were hopeful to continue to grow. We know theres a net demand out there, Johnson said. All the conversations that weve had have been very positive; that doesnt make it easy."

One of the largest areas of growth for the program has been in mental health, with more than 2,000 additional counselors, social workers, psychologists, and substance abuse counselors being hired over the past four years.

At Chicagos largest, around-the-clock treatment center, about eight of the Haymarket Centers providers are corps members. The center sees roughly 12,000 patients every year, many of them homeless. The corps program allows the not-for-profit Haymarket Center to recruit health care workers in a competitive market with a different benefit: as much as $250,000 in student loan repayment, said Jeffrey Collord, the vice president of operations at the center.

We might not be able to compensate staff at the highest levels so being able to be part of the program allows us to provide a benefit that other sites dont have access to, Collord said.

Health care workers left in droves during COVID-19heres where they went Health care workers left in droves during COVID-19heres where they went #10. Finance and insurance #9. Other services (except public administration) #8. Manufacturing #7. Public administration #6. Transportation and warehousing #5. Professional, scientific, and technical services #4. Accommodation and food services #3. Educational services #2. Retail trade #1. Administrative and support and waste management and remediation services
Republicans have their candidate in Kentucky, Democrats have their majority in Pennsylvania and the 2024 GOP presidential primary has another clash between former President Donald Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in the books.

Voters threw DeSantis a pair of brushbacks on Tuesday, most notably in Kentucky where the Florida governors eleventh hour endorsement in the GOP governor primary flopped. Back home in Jacksonville, Democrats knocked off another DeSantis ally, electing the citys first female mayor.

Philadelphia is now likely poised to do the same. Former city council member Cherelle Parker emerged from a deep field of Democratic candidates to claim the partys mayoral nod  defeating a pair of leading liberals in the process. Progressives did better in western Pennsylvania, but the whole party was able to celebrate a special election result that, with Heather Boyds victory, preserved Democrats narrow control of the state legislature.

Here are 7 takeaways from the elections in Kentucky, Pennsylvania and Florida.
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CEDAR FALLS  Officials christened the newly remodeled City Hall on Monday before the City Council meeting.

The $4.5 million project at 220 Clay St. wrapped up earlier this year after about a year of work that required staff to temporarily relocate beginning in early 2022. Years of planning have produced transformational changes.

The ribbon cutting ceremony, led by Mayor Rob Green and Grow Cedar Valley Ambassador Richard Morris, provided an opportunity to tour the two-floor, 38,000 square-foot building. Every area saw some work to ensure the building has a longer life and is better suited to meet the needs of the citys employees and residents.

The building was constructed in 1968 and expanded in 1999.

Its been a long time coming, said Jamie Castle, city building official and project manager. Its what needed to be done, and it took a lot of steps to get here.

Improvements were made that arent always visible, like the installation of new heating, ventilation, air conditioning, electrical and plumbing infrastructure.

Other changes are very clear. For example, the lower floor has been transformed after serving as office space since the police station moved to the new Public Safety Center on South Main Street in 2019. Tour guides highlighted how the old holding cells have been made into unisex bathrooms.

About 60-65 employees now work at City Hall, including Mayor Rob Green, City Administrator Ron Gaines, Community Developer Director Stephanie Sheetz and Finance and Business Operations Director Jennifer Rodenbeck.

The renovations created more areas with natural light and meeting rooms to foster collaboration.

Safety was another focus. City employees who engage with residents in the common area now are protected by bullet proof glass.

Improved customer service was another goal. The ground level has become a one-stop shop, sparing residents trips up and down stairs as was often the case previously. And the entire building is more compliant to the Americans with Disabilities Act. More accommodating bathrooms and doors have been installed and ramps have been added.

Its cool to see what had been done, said Deborah Bunker, whos lived in Cedar Falls for 20 years and came with her husband and son. This was the best time to stop by since you wouldnt typically come during business hours for a tour.

We love living in Cedar Falls because we have a well-run city government, and appreciate having good trash service, parks, and water. Part of being a good citizen is knowing whats going on and getting involved.

Steve and Bonnie Smith were among a couple of dozen people checking out City Hall. Theyve been residents for decades.

I remember when City Hall was built, said Steve Smith. The couple hadnt been in the building for a while and was curious about what had been done.

Theyve modernized it and it looks to better meet the needs of residents, said Bonnie Smith. Theres a better flow to the building and its very welcoming. The space looks like its better used.

The council chambers was given a fresh new look. Openness again was a goal, with an enlarged foyer space now outside the chambers for events and as overflow space for packed meetings. It had been a narrow hallway.

The civics headquarters, as Mayor Rob Green calls it, offers a new timeline graphic on the wall of the upper floor hallway outside the new foyer. And other awards, mementos and photos are sprinkled throughout the building to celebrate the citys history and character.

It feels good to see the finished project, said Cam Bierle, a journeyman with K&W Electric. It looks good and is functioning like its supposed to.

K&W Electric was responsible for all new lighting, outlets, panels and rewiring.

Overall, the project was smooth from start to finish, said Tyler Kramer, project manager with Peters Construction Corporation. Im most proud of the foyer and council chambers and all the displays and signage. It all came together really nicely.

In November 2021 the council voted 6-1 to accept the low construction bid, $3.85 million placed by Waterloo-based Peters Construction Corporation. (Councilmember Dave Sires objected.) Soft costs, equipment and furniture bring the total cost closer to $4.5 million, including lead design work completed by Emergent Architecture of Cedar Falls.

Officials say the project stayed under budget.

The City Hall remodel, somewhat controversial because of the cost, is the largest building project since smaller renovations were completed at the Recreation Center, 110 E. 13th St., during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The next big building project may be rebuilding the Hearst Center for the Arts. Planning has begun and $8.3 million is earmarked for 2026 through 2028, with $2.3 million expected to be fundraised.

Reproductive health care and data privacy: What we know, what we don't, and how to protect yourself Reproductive health care and data privacy: What we know, what we don't, and how to protect yourself What we know What we don't know How to protect yourself
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WATERLOO -- The John Deere Tractor & Engine Museum is hosting a 5K run and anniversary celebration on May 20.

The first annual museum 5K kicks off at 7:30 a.m. at 500 Westfield Ave. with a kids spoker sprint, followed by a 5K run/walk at 8 a.m. that traces a historic footprint of John Deere tractor production.

After the race, family fun activities, awards, and the museum will be available for attendees.

Proceeds from the race will go to the Northeast Iowa Food Bank to address local food insecurity. Runners can sign up at: runsignup.com/Race/IA/Waterloo/JohnDeereWaterlooModelD5K.

The event also kicks off the 100th anniversary celebration of the John Deere Model D tractor. More than 160,000 Model Ds were built from 1923 to 1953  the longest tractor production run in Deere history.

A brief overview will be shared on the Model D and the important role it played in the evolution of production agriculture. Nine of these iconic tractors will be on display. Deere history experts and Waterloo factory leaders will be on hand.

Photos: Biden honors 9 with Medal of Valor
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CEDAR FALLS  Real estate franchisor Realty ONE Group Movement officially opened its new downtown office at 100 East Second St. in Suite 206.

The company continues to recruit agents who want to join an office with what it describes as a dynamic culture and an agent-first focus with sophisticated tools, technology and services.

Nic and I look forward to growing our ONE team and are beyond excited to be bringing the number ONE name in real estate to the Cedar Valley," said Luann Moran, owner/broker of Realty ONE Group Movement. We are located in the heart of downtown Cedar Falls and look forward to helping our agents grow their businesses and reach their real estate goals. We believe that everyone matters and we have been awarded an unbelievable opportunity to create something truly unique and are proud to be locally owned and operated."

"We truly have a one of a kind business model and are proud to have the latest tools, technology, and marketing to better serve our agents and clients alike.

Realty ONE Group credits its untraditional approach to real estate franchising and its unique business model for having been named the Top Real Estate Franchise and one of the Fastest Growing Real Estate Franchises by Entrepreneur Magazine.

The company has more than 400 offices in 49 states and Washington D.C. Its also expanded into 16 additional countries.

For more information, call 319-243-3425 or visit ROGmovement.com.

Photos: University of Northern Iowa Friday Commencement CONGRATULATIONS, GRADUATES! UNI Graduation 2 UNI Graduation 3 UNI Graduation 4 UNI Graduation 5 UNI Graduation 6 UNI Graduation 7 UNI Graduation 8 UNI Graduation 9 UNI Graduation 10 UNI Graduation 11 UNI Graduation 12 UNI Graduation 13 UNI Graduation 14 UNI Graduation 15
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WASHINGTON  Debt-limit talks shifted into an encouraging new phase Tuesday as President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy named top emissaries to negotiate a deal to avert an unprecedented national default. Biden cut short an upcoming overseas trip in hopes of closing an agreement before a June 1 deadline.

The fresh set of negotiators means discussions are now largely narrowed to what the White House and McCarthy will accept in order to allow lawmakers to raise the debt limit in the coming days. The speaker said after a meeting with Biden and congressional leaders that a deal was "possible" by week's end, even as  in McCarthy's view  the two sides remained far apart for the moment.

Biden was publicly upbeat after a roughly hourlong meeting in the Oval Office, despite having to cancel the Australia and Papua New Guinea portions of his overseas trip that begins Wednesday. Biden will participate in a Group of Seven summit in Hiroshima, Japan, but then return to Washington on Sunday.

"There's still work to do," Biden said. "But I made it clear to the speaker and others that we'll speak regularly over the next several days and staff's going to continue meeting daily to make sure we do not default."

Senior White House officials, as well as top aides to the four congressional leaders  McCarthy, R-Calif., Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y.  have been meeting daily.

Now, Steve Ricchetti, counselor to the president, Office of Management and Budget Director Shalanda Young and legislative affairs director Louisa Terrell will take the lead in negotiations for the Democratic side, while Rep. Garret Graves, R-La., a key McCarthy ally who has been a point person for the speaker on debt and budget issues, will represent Republicans.

"Now we have a format, a structure," McCarthy said as he returned to the Capitol.

Negotiators are racing to beat a deadline of June 1, which is when the Treasury Department said the U.S. could begin defaulting on its debts for the first time in history and risk a financial catastrophe. The revised itinerary of Biden's upcoming trip showed the urgency of the talks.

National Security Council spokesman John Kirby noted Biden will meet with some of the leaders of the "Quad"  which was the purpose of the Australia leg of the visit  in Japan, and the president will invite Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese for an official state visit in Washington.

Still, Kirby added, "We wouldn't even be having this discussion about the effect of the debt ceiling debate on the trip if Congress would do its job, raise the debt ceiling the way they've always done."

Even as Biden insists he's not negotiating over the debt ceiling and McCarthy works to extract spending cuts, various areas of possible agreement appeared to be emerging.

Among the items on the table: clawing back some $30 billion in untapped COVID-19 money, imposing future budget caps, changing permit regulations to ease energy development and putting bolstered work requirements on recipients of government aid, according to those familiar with the talks.

Congressional Democrats are growing concerned about such work requirements after Biden suggested over the weekend he may be open to such changes. The White House remains opposed to changes in requirements for Medicaid and food stamp programs recipients, though it is more open to revisions for beneficiaries of the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families cash assistance program.

The idea of imposing more work requirements was "resoundingly" rejected by House Democrats at a morning caucus meeting, according to one Democrat at the private meeting and granted anonymity to discuss it.

Progressive lawmakers in particular raised the issue. Rep. Pramila Jayapal, the chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, said, "We want to make sure that these negotiations do not include spending cuts, do not include work requirements, things that would harm people, people in rural areas, Black, brown, Indigenous folks."

Democratic leader Jeffries' staff sought to assuage the concerns late Monday, while a separate group of more centrist Democrats signaled to their moderate Republican colleagues they are prepared to work something out to reach a debt ceiling deal, aides said Tuesday.

While McCarthy has complained the talks are slow-going, saying he first met with Biden more than 100 days ago, Biden said it took McCarthy all this time to put forward his own proposal after Republicans failed to produce their own budget this year.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said Monday that estimates are unchanged on when the U.S. could run out of cash.

McCarthy says the House is the only chamber that took action to raise the debt ceiling, passing a bill last month that also would roll back spending, cap future outlays and make other policy changes. It is almost certain to fail in the Democratic-controlled Senate, and Biden said he would veto it.

An increase in the debt limit would not authorize new federal spending. It would only allow for borrowing to pay for what Congress already approved.
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Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds on Tuesday said she still is reviewing  but may likely sign  a bill that would reduce funding to Iowa agencies that provide special education services to Iowa students in public and private schools.

Iowas nine Area Education Agencies would see a nearly $30 million decrease in the upcoming fiscal year that begins July 1 as the result of cuts passed by the Legislature.

Lawmakers passed Senate File 578, commonly known as the "standings" bill, which includes a $7.5 million annual cut required by law as well as an additional $22 million reduction agreed on by Republican lawmakers.

That is $5 million more than lawmakers cut to the agencies last year, according to a fiscal analysis by the nonpartisan Legislative Services Agency.

However, even with the reduction, Rep. Taylor Collins, a Republican from Mediapolis, said all but one Area Education Agency in the state will still receive more money than last year, thanks to the state's 3 percent increase in state supplemental aid to public schools. The Mississippi Bend AEA will see a $32,000 reduction, likely due to a declining student population, Collins told reporters.

The reduction continues years of budget decreases to the agencies.

Democrats argue Republicans are intentionally underfunding education in Iowa, noting the state has a nearly $2 billion general fund budget surplus, full cash reserves and a Taxpayer Relief Fund projected to total nearly $3.4 billion by the end of next fiscal year.

The roughly $8.5 billion budget approved by lawmakers represents 88 percent of the state's ongoing revenue. That's a 3.7% increase over the current budget, but leaves roughly $1 billion in projected revenue unspent that will go to reserve funds. By state law, lawmakers cannot spend more than 99 percent of projected revenues.

The reduction comes amid anticipated growth in special education needs among private schools that the agencies will need to address.

John Speer, chief administrator of the Grant Wood Area Education Agency in Cedar Rapids, said AEAs expect an increase in students with special needs attending private schools because of a law passed this year that will allow parents to use taxpayer-funded education savings accounts to send their student to private schools.

Iowa law entitles students in private schools the right to special education services in the same manner provided to public school students.

If students who require special education services move to a private school, their AEA is required to provide the services  but are not compensated by the state for doing so. The states funding formula compensates AEAs only for services offered to public school students.

Iowas AEA system serves about 69,000 Iowa students ages 3 to 21 that have individualized education plans meant to ensure that a child with an identified disability receives specialized instruction and appropriate services. Another roughly 2,500 students up to 2 years old also receive special education services through the state's AEAs, Speer said.

About 75 percent of what we do is in the area of special education services, Speer said. The Grant Wood AEA supports more than 72,000 students in public and accredited non-public schools in Benton, Cedar, Iowa, Johnson, Jones, Linn and Washington counties.

That will disperse staff. Students will be more spread out than they are now, Speer said of anticipated growth in private school special education needs. That will make it harder to reach students and will put a stress on our staff and hinder the AEAs ability to deliver services as efficiently as were normally able to.

Speer said he is hopeful lawmakers will take up a bill next year to adjust the funding formula to compensate the AEAs for services offered to private school students.

Sen. Tim Kraayenbrink, a Republican from Fort Dodge who chairs the Senate Appropriations Committee, has said he is open to changing the formula to compensate AEAs that serve private school students.

In the meantime, Speer said Grant Wood AEA is bracing for a roughly $640,000 funding shortfall that means holding off on filling open positions and possible service impacts.

While Grant Wood AEA will receive $160,000 more in funding than the previous year, the agency had been expecting $800,000 more based on the 3 percent increase in public school funding. The agency was required by law to set its budget and issue staff contracts before the legislative cuts were announced.

To fill the gap, Speer said Grant Wood will not fill a handful of open as well as some new positions the agency had planned on hiring.

Speer said Iowa schools  both public and private  are clamoring for support to meet the increasing demand for special education services for students, including supporting students with mental health needs.

Our districts really need support in this area, Speer said. Special needs is in every one of their top three categories of pressing needs among the school districts we support.  This is the place you would least want to cut funds that serve the states most vulnerable students.

Sen. Janet Petersen, D-Des Moines, on Tuesday called on Reynolds to issue a line-item veto on the cuts.

Iowans should be outraged, Petersen said in a statement, urging Iowans to call the governors office and let her know that our AEAs provide vital services to Iowas kids who need it most.

Taking away millions of dollars from our childrens special education services in every region of the state to pay for her new private school voucher program is wrong, Petersen said. Governor Reynolds should veto the cut.  If the state can afford $107 million to subsidize exclusive private schools, it can also afford $22 million to ensure quality special education services continue in every Iowa community.

Reynolds, speaking to reporters Tuesday, said she still is reviewing the bill, but noted AEAs will still see an increase of funding because of Iowa's 3 percent increase in state supplemental aid to public schools.

I truly don't believe, if we decide to move forward and sign the bill that that will impact their ability to provide the services at the local level, Reynolds said. We appreciate what they do, and we don't foresee any delays in the services that they provide to school districts. So (I) feel confident in that.

Caleb McCullough of The Gazette-Lee Des Moines Bureau contributed.

Photos: Take a look at how the Rock Island Arsenal defends against the Mississippi River 051223-qc-nws-arsenal-02.jpg 051223-qc-nws-arsenal-07.jpg 051223-qc-nws-arsenal-11.jpg 051223-qc-nws-arsenal-05.jpg 051223-qc-nws-arsenal-09.jpg 051223-qc-nws-arsenal-12.jpg 051223-qc-nws-arsenal-01.jpg 051223-qc-nws-arsenal-10.jpg 051223-qc-nws-arsenal-13.jpg 051223-qc-nws-arsenal-03.jpg 051223-qc-nws-arsenal-08.jpg
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The Courier Des Moines Bureau surveyed Northeast Iowa legislators to get their views on the highs and lows of the 2023 legislative session that ended last month.

Responses of House members across the region were published Tuesday. Below are responses from members of the Iowa Senate.

Bill Dotzler

Bill Dotzler is a Democrat who resides in Waterloo and represents Senate District 31. He is retired from John Deere and in his sixth term in the Senate after three terms in the House. Dotzler is the ranking member of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee.

Key votes

Education savings accounts: No

Property tax reductions: Yes

Gender affirming health care ban for minors: No

Restrictions on LGBTQ topics, school library books: No

Loosening child labor laws: No

Bills sponsored

Senate File 82: Increases appropriations to the veterans trust fund (did not pass).

Senate File 308: Increases dental reimbursements under Medicaid for the dental wellness plan and dental wellness plan kids (did not pass).

Senate File 407: Regulates the natural reduction of human remains and directs the Board of Mortuary Sciences to develop regulations (did not pass).

Successes of the session:

Did not respond.

Disappointments from the session:

Did not respond.

Eric Giddens

Eric Giddens is a Democrat who resides in Cedar Falls and represents Senate District 38. He is in his second term in the Senate. Giddens is the ranking member of the Senate Commerce Committee.

Key votes

Education savings accounts: No

Property tax reductions: Yes

Gender affirming health care ban for minors: No

Restrictions on LGBTQ topics, school library books: No

Loosening child labor laws: No

Bills sponsored

Senate File 465: Requires the labor commissioner to create a veterans benefits and services poster to display in workplaces (did not pass).

Senate File 296: Requires mental health training for educators (did not pass).

Senate File 56: increases Medicare reimbursement for maternal and child health (did not pass).

Successes of the session:

I was happy to vote with a large, bipartisan majority to pass a $100 million property tax relief package that will reduce burdens on middle-class Iowans  especially veterans, seniors, and those living on a fixed income. Property taxes hit working families the hardest, and I was proud to provide relief to those who need it most. As a former teacher, I was very glad to see Democrats and Republicans come together to pass House File 604, which will provide more tools and protections for teachers to address disruptive and dangerous behavior in their classrooms. Violence has no place in our schools. This bill takes new steps to protect kids and educators.

Disappointments from the session:

The private-school voucher bill was my greatest disappointment of the session. This bill will send more than $1 billion in taxpayer dollars to unaccountable and exclusive private schools over the next four years. Thats $1 billion that now wont be available for our public schools, which educate 95% of Iowa kids. I was also very disappointed by the bill restricting access to food assistance and other safety-net programs for struggling Iowans. This bill creates more red-tape and higher hurdles for our neighbors in need, while spending millions of state dollars to do so. Thousands of Iowans are estimated to lose food assistance and health care as a result of this bill. With so many people facing high costs and challenging times, thats the wrong direction for Iowa.

Sandy Salmon

Sandy Salmon is a Republican who resides in Janesville and represents Senate District 29. She is in her first term in the Senate after five terms in the House. Salmon is the vice chair of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee.

Key votes

Education savings accounts: Yes

Property tax reductions: Yes

Gender affirming health care ban for minors: Yes

Restrictions on LGBTQ topics, school library books: Yes

Loosening child labor laws: Yes

Bills sponsored

Senate File 81: Strengthens ban on divisive concepts during racism or sexism trainings at Iowa schools and creates civil penalties (did not pass).

Senate File 85: Requires schools to receive parents permission before administering certain surveys to students (did not pass).

Senate File 129: Prohibits gender transition medical care for minors (did not pass, but similar to Senate File 538).

Successes of the session:

I would say the property tax reform bill, the school choice bill, and the parental rights in education bill. The property tax reform bill is very much needed, long-time coming, and the first step in a multi-year process of property tax reform. The school choice bill provides another great option for parents to find the educational setting that best suits their child and no one is restricted due to income. The parental rights in education recognizes parents rights as paramount in a number of school issues dealing with student information and gender identity and protects children from exposure to sexually explicit materials and LGBT ideology on the taxpayer dime.

Disappointments from the session:

I would say the unconscionable refusal by the legislature, in particular the Senate, to act to protect the private property rights of farmers and landowners from the potential abuse of eminent domain power by private companies seeking to install hazardous liquid CO2 pipelines on their property. Driven by federal government monetary incentives based on highly debatable climate change science and entangling our ethanol industry, this project threatens to disrupt carefully patterned tiling systems on farmland and damage fragile topsoil needed for optimal crop growth. Erosion of private property rights hurts agriculture in Iowa and if not stopped, will hurt everyone.

Annette Sweeney

Annette Sweeney is a Republican who resides in Iowa Falls and represents Senate District 27. She is a farmer and in her second term in the Senate after two terms in the House. Sweeney is the chair of the Senate Natural Resources and Environment Committee.

Key votes

Education savings accounts: Yes

Property tax reductions: Yes

Gender affirming health care ban for minors: Yes

Restrictions on LGBTQ topics, school library books: Yes

Loosening child labor laws: Yes

Bills sponsored

Senate File 289: Extends the sales tax holiday and adds emergency preparedness items to the exemption (did not pass).

Senate File 290: Requires insurance to cover annual ovarian cancer screening (did not pass).

Senate File 369: Prohibits people from flying drones over agricultural property (did not pass)

Successes of the session:

Did not respond.

Disappointments from the session:

Did not respond.

Dan Zumbach

Dan Zumbach is a Republican who resides in Ryan and represents Senate District 34. He is in his third term in the Senate. Zumbach is the vice chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee.

Key votes

Education savings accounts: Yes

Property tax reductions: Yes

Gender affirming health care ban for minors: Yes

Restrictions on LGBTQ topics, school library books: Yes

Loosening child labor laws: Yes

Bills sponsored

Senate File 237: States that warning lights are not required on overweight vehicles (did not pass).

Senate Resolution 2: A resolution honoring retiring Capitol tour guide Joan Arnett.

Successes of the session:

Did not respond.

Disappointments from the session:

Did not respond.

This story has been updated to make a correction Eric Giddens profile.

PHOTOS: Class 2A state qualifying track at Osage 051223-spt-osage-track-boys-3,200.JPG 051223-spt-osage-track-boys 400.JPG 051223-spt-osage-track-denver-4x200 girls.JPG 051223-spt-osage-track-denver-4x800 051223-spt-osage-track-forest city and denver dual 4x800.JPG 051223-spt-osage-track-girls 100.1.JPG 051223-spt-osage-track-girls dmr fc.JPG 051223-spt-osage-track-100 hurdles
The headquarters of Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) in Seoul / Courtesy of FSS



By Anna J. Park



Retail tycoon Eland and Kakao, Korea's Big Tech conglomerate, have recently been included in the Financial Supervisory Service's (FSS's) debt list due to their respective high levels of indebtedness. They will be assessed by creditor banks for financial stability.



According to the FSS Wednesday, seven conglomerates, including Eland and Kakao, have been newly added to the watchdog agency's so-called main debt group list. The financial authority has produced the annual list since 1999 to prevent insolvencies of large conglomerates and to induce necessary restructuring.



When the entire debt of conglomerates and credit offerings of banks exceed a certain amount set by banking supervisory regulations, the FSS will add the organization to its list.



In total, 38 conglomerates have been named by the financial authority this year, each holding more than 2.07 trillion won ($1.54 billion) worth of debt, as of the end of last year, plus banking credit offerings of over 1.2 trillion won.



Compared with the 32 conglomerates from last year's list, seven conglomerates  Eland, Kakao, Hyundai Department Store, Taeyoung Group, Hanon Systems, LX and DN  have been added. These newly added conglomerates' increased debt was mostly due to increased investment and M&A strategies.



Dongkuk Steel Mill was removed from the list, as the firm repaid sizable debts last year and the group's entire amount of debt fell short of the required criteria.



Hyundai Motor topped the list for debt, followed by SK, Lotte, Samsung and LG. The five conglomerates' aggregate debt stood at 158.7 trillion won as of the end of last year, which accounts for 49.1 percent of the entire debt of the 38 groups. The amount is a 14.8 percent jump from the previous year.



When conglomerates are listed, bank assessments of their financial stability are required. Banks that hold most of the creditors of the groups will conduct thorough evaluations. The banks (creditors) will sign agreements with some of the subsidiaries of the debtors (conglomerates) that particularly need to improve, from a fiscal standpoint.




A pod of killer whales attacked a boat that was sailing off the coast of Morocco, the latest in a series of attacks by orcas around the world.
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Although the frequency of train derailments is decreasing, incidents are reaching the public eye as more trains transport hazardous substances and routinely stretch more than 2 miles long.

Elected officials are calling for more rail inspections after hundreds evacuated in East Palestine, Ohio and Raymond, Minn., after derailments caused the burning of toxic substances such as vinyl chloride and ethanol.

After a derailment in De Soto, Wis., led to multiple cars plunging into the Mississippi River, many residents were left wondering if the trains should have been running with river levels at historic highs.

Railroad track inspections vary in frequency by track type, but at most occur twice weekly and at minimum, once a month. Regular inspections are the responsibility of the track owners and enforced by the Federal Railroad Administration  part of the Department of Transportation.

The DOT is concerned that the Republican-sponsored spending bill will force cuts to federal rail inspectors, inspection days and fewer overall miles inspected annually, but other experts in rail safety said that regular inspections by the train companies wont stop even if budgets are cut.

'Fundamental incentive' to maintain

Over the past two decades, the number and severity of derailments nationwide have been declining. In 2003 there were almost 2,500 derailments. Last year there were nearly half that many at 1,239, according to data from the FRA.

In recent years, though, the number of derailments per year have stalled in the 1,200 range. The top three causes are broken rails, wide gage due to missing or defect crosstie and speed, according to the department.

Between 2018 and 2021, rail companies reported over $431 million in damage to the federal department.

David Clarke, director of Center for Transportation Research at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, said that expense alone is incentive for the companies to inspect and maintain their tracks.

The railroads dont want derailments to occur, if for no other reason than theyre very expensive to clean up, Clarke said. They have a fundamental incentive in economics to not have derailments occur.

Federal vs. regular inspections

A letter from the DOTs office stated the budget reduction would require the FRA cut at least 175 personnel, including upwards of 75 railroad safety inspectors.

The DOT and other executive departments are basing their budget analysis off a 22% discretionary budget cut, which accounts for a little over one fourth of the departments funding.

This could represent a reduction of 11,000 inspection days conducted by FRAs inspection workforce, the letter continued. FRA would also need to significantly scale back critical safety programs, such as the Automated Track Inspection Program (ATIP) program.

The departments fleet of ATIP cars would inspect at least 30,000 fewer miles of track from the 150,000 miles inspected on average the previous three years.

U.S. Rep. Derrick Van Orden, who represents Wisconsins 3rd Congressional District, supported the budget legislation from last month.

Congress sets a top line budget number that that number goes over to the executive branch. So if the DOT chooses to reduce the amount of rail inspections, that is Pete Buttegigs decision, Van Orden said.

The legislation passed by congressional Republicans sets the fiscal year 2024 topline budget at $1.471 trillion, equal to the fiscal year 2022 level.

Defense spending is exempt from the reduction in the bill, so under the assumption that funding for defense in 2024 will at least match the current baseline level of $885 billion, non-defense funding would total $586 billion, which is 22% lower than the currently enacted level of $756 billion.

Clarke referred to the departments role in rail safety inspections to function as the auditor rather than the regular inspector.

The FRA does not inspect all the rail tracks on a regular basis, Clarke said. So you have to have the employees working on behalf of the railroad company. Theyre the ones that do the heavy lifting day in and day out.

Federal rail inspectors are already responsible for inspecting more than 1,000 miles of track each year, Clarke said that an inspector will typically look at a mainline track twice per year and less frequented tracks, such as those in yards, once a year.

As far as how cuts to personnel would impact rail safety, Clarke said as long as the department maintains a sensible prioritization of which tracks to inspect most regularly, safety should remain as normal.

If everybody acts morally, as they should, the railroads arent going to cut back because they know the FRA isnt showing up quite as frequently, Clarke said. The FRA people will focus their attention on the tracks that represent the greatest risks and everything will still remain pretty much the same as it is, thats the ideal.
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A state nurses union and hospital administrators are divided on a bill aimed at resolving poor staffing levels and high turnover in hospitals.

House and Senate leaders are hashing out each chambers version of an omnibus health and human service bill that includes the Keeping Nurses at the Bedside Act. The bill, approved in April, must reach Gov. Tim Walzs desk by next Monday, May 22, when the legislative period ends.

Central to the bill is the creation of committees composed of management, registered nurses and other direct caregivers at each Minnesota hospital, which would set staffing agreements based on unit.

The agreement would determine the number of patients a single nurse can safely serve, stop boarding patients in emergency department hallways and eliminate individual patient assignments for charge nurses.

The Minnesota Nurses Association, the union supporting the bill, says the agreements will address understaffing and nurse burnout.

Rachelle Schultz, CEO of Winona Health, said nurses and nurse managers already have conversations at the Winona hospital to address staffing levels that change throughout the day. Winona Healths strategic shift to population health and Medicare and Medicaid pilot programs to proactively address patients health before emergency room visits relieve staffing pressures, said Schultz.

I think the elements that relate to having nurses be a part of that process, we dont have an issue with that. I think our quarterly meetings we have now are specifically really relevant, because this happens on a daily basis. But if thats a requirement, I guess we can meet that, said Schultz.

The legislation applies only to hospitals and would not impact clinics such as Gundersens Winona Campus. Jim Root, administrator with Gundersens St. Elizabeths Hospital, said in a statement that processes were already in place at the Wabasha hospital to address nurse staffing.

Schultz said she disagreed with the bill allowing arbitration to resolve staffing decisions.

Staffing committee negotiations that reach an impasse can be solved through arbitration, said Sam Fettig, a spokesperson from the Minnesota Nurses Association.

Schultz and Root echoed concerns that the bill would lead to hospitals turning patients away. The bill would protect nurses from retaliation for turning away patients if they feel they cannot safely care for them under directives in the Minnesota Nurse Practice Act.

The legislation would be enforced by the states Board of Health public grading for hospitals, based on meeting the staffing committees goals.

The Mayo Clinic flamed tensions over the bill last week with a message to Walz and DFL leaders that Mayo would divest billions of dollars from Minnesota if the bill did not exempt the health system. Local hospital administrators spoke against exceptions for any one hospital.

Carving out exemptions for particular hospitals based on their influence is not fair, and it sends the wrong message to people at hospitals like Gundersen St. Elizabeths that work hard every day to serve patients and their families, said Root in a statement.

My hope is that the legislature, whatever is negotiated is for everybody in Minnesota, for all hospitals and health systems, said Schultz. If theres one special deal, that deal should be provided to everybody. I dont think were that different or that unique.
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Reedsburg Public Library

Recent visitors to the Reedsburg Public Library may have noticed the beautiful photos of local historic residences on display in the Community Room. On May 23, Paul Wolter, executive director of the Sauk County Historical Society will present the program Historic Homes of Sauk County at 6 p.m. at the library. There is no registration or fee to attend the program.

In his slide show presentation, Wolter will detail the history and architectural style of 30 Sauk County homes that were photographed by architectural photographer Eric Oxendorf. Oxendorfs career has taken him around the world, but he became interested in the homes of Sauk County while residing in Baraboo. An exhibit was formed under the direction of Carol Kratochwill of Luna Bay Art Studio in Merrimac, with the historical research and exhibit text provided by Wolter. The exhibit was funded by the Wisconsin Architects Foundation and supported by the Sauk County Historical Society.

Several of the properties to be discussed are ones that area residents probably pass on their travels every day. Reedsburgs iconic Perry House, the large white two story with fluted columns on Main Street, will be one of the featured homes as well as the Hackett House. Wolter explains that this home was built in 1878 by Edward Hackett, a local builder who designed his own house. After the railroad arrived in 1872, Reedsburg experienced a building boom, and Hackett owned a factory that made doors, windows and moldings. The home is designed in the High Victorian Gothic style and according to the local newspaper of the time, it abounds in steeples.

Wolter remarks that his college courses in architectural history provided context for what could be seen locally in Sauk County, but the history of a home goes far beyond its style. In his research, Wolter asks, When was it built and for whom? What does the style say about the owners or the times? Did local conditions affect how it was built? The 30 homes in the exhibit certainly have stories to tell.

If you would like to do your own research on the history of a Reedsburg home or business, go to the website Recollection Wisconsin and browse by partner. Reedsburg Public Library hosts the Reedsburg Intensive Survey collection on this website. The survey, conducted by the city and numerous volunteers in 1984, identified several properties of historical or architectural significance. Search Stolte Hotel to find an example of the information that can be found on the survey.

If you have questions about any library service or program, call the library at 608-768-READ (7323) or email info@reedsburglibrary.org.

The Reedsburg Public Library is located at 370 Vine St. in downtown Reedsburg. The library is open 8:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and noon to 3 p.m. Sunday.
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JUNEAU  Dodge County Law Enforcement gathered on Wednesday for the annual law enforcement memorial in a deadly year for law enforcement in Wisconsin.

Wisconsin has lost four officers this year making it the deadliest year for Wisconsin Law Enforcement in decades, Watertown Police Chief Robert Kaminski said. The four officers  Peter Jerving, Emily Breidenbach, Hunter Scheel and Katie Leising  have made Wisconsin second in the country for line of duty deaths.

The Dodge County Annual Law Enforcement Memorial, which honors fallen law enforcement officers who have paid the ultimate price in service to the communities, is held each year at the Dodge County Law Enforcement Memorial Site in front of the Dodge County Administration Building, 127 E. Oak St.

Kaminski said that the past couple of years have brought challenges to the law enforcement profession including the biggest challenge of getting new qualified candidates through the doors and onto the streets.

Despite the challenges we face as a profession we continue to persevere, and we will continue our mission to serve and protect or citizens in our cities, county and state. Men and women will join the ranks of law enforcement, and although I pray not, I know we will continue to add names to law enforcement memorials across the country.

Wisconsin Chief Justice Annette Ziegler was the guest speaker this year.

It is clear that the people of Dodge County have long held law enforcement officers in the highest regard, Ziegler said. The list of fallen officers being memorialized here today dates back to 1862 when Marshal William E. Gibson was shot and killed while placing a prisoner in a cell.

Wisconsin was fortunate in 2022 when there were no law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty, Ziegler said. However, this year to-date, the four officers who died represent the highest number killed since 2000.

These officers were doing their jobs, Ziegler said. One was trying to arrest a robbery suspect, two were shot while conducting traffic stops and another was shot while responding to a report of a drunken driver in a ditch.

Ziegler described a law enforcement officer as someone who is wise and alert for each of us.

Dodge County Sheriff Dale Schmidt read the names of those honored in Dodge County:

Marshal William Gibson, Oct. 19, 1882, was the chief of the Horicon Police Department. He had taken a revolver away from a suspect when he was putting him in a jail cell, but was not aware the suspect had a second revolver. Gibson was shot and killed and the suspect fled.

Officer Hugo Lisko, Sept. 27, 1926, was employed with the Dodge County Sheriffs Office. He died in a motorcycle accident at age 28.

Officer Kurth Bentz, May 8, 1936, was employed with the Dodge County Sheriffs Office. He was killed when his police motorcycle struck a truck that had turned in front of him as he attempted to catch up to a speeding vehicle.

Chief Charles Liebenow Sr., June 2, 1941, was the chief of the Horicon Police Department. He was shot and killed while attempting to talk to a suspect during a domestic disturbance. The suspect died by suicide after killing Liebenow.

Guard David Davies, Dec. 10, 1945, was employed at Central State Hospital, DOC. He was bludgeoned to death by two patients in the hospital.

Sheriff Herbert Schwantes, Jan. 5, 1954, was the sheriff of Dodge County Sheriffs Office. He died of a heart attack.

Detective Donley Dye, June 26, 1978, was employed at the Dodge County Sheriffs Office. He died of a heart attack.

Chief Gene Zangl, Feb. 14, 1985, was the chief of the Mayville Police Department. He died of a heart attack.

Officer Gary Maas, April 9, 1986, was a native of Horicon and employed with the Yuma Arizona Police Department. He was shot and killed while responding to a call on a bus at a local Greyhound depot. Maas confronted two men at the Greyhound depot, one of them opened fire, striking and fatally injuring him. Maas was able to return fire killing one suspect. The second suspect was arrested a week later and convicted of first-degree murder.

Capt. Thomas Beahm, Aug. 17, 1994, was employed at the Burke Center, DOC. He was killed while traveling between facilities when his patrol unit was struck head-on by another vehicle.

Deputy Ralph Zylka and Deputy Sung Bang, Aug. 17, 2000, were employed by the Milwaukee County Sheriffs Department. They died after the helicopter they were in crashed.

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JJ and Melissa Sandoval have been actively working to get their new home built in Lake Delton and celebrated the official start of construction on May 12.

The Sandovals have worked in conjunction with Habitat for Humanity of Wisconsin River Area to get their future home built on a vacant plot on East Lake Drive in the village.

Officials for Habitat for Humanity, along with village administrator Tim McCumber and Fr. Eric Sternberg of Saint Cecilia Catholic Church in Wisconsin Dells, welcomed the family of eight to the area and held a ceremonial groundbreaking.

Just working as a family and knowing what your goals are is really what it is, said Melissa Sandoval. Being able to have a set schedule to make it happen as well because you have to work around what everyone elses schedule is to try to make it happen.

Set on a 60-foot wide lot that presented challenges with design, the future five-bedroom, one-story house is going to be built front to back on the sloped lot in a way to comfortably accommodate the Sandovals and their six children.

Fortunately, the lot slopes enough so that we were able to put three bedrooms upstairs and two bedrooms downstairs, said house architect Tom Williams. The lot will slope enough that we can get adequate light and ventilation into those lower level bedrooms. That helps us not only fit the lot, but holds the cost down because the familys payments are based on the assessed value of the house.

Robin Crow, the board president for Habitat for Humanity Wisconsin River Area and the family mentor throughout the process, said that the organization worked with the Sandovals on financial literacy and helped them with their application process as part of their partnership with the family.

They are working with us putting the house together, said Crow. When Tom Williams designed the house, they actually got input and discussed exactly where they wanted bedrooms and bathrooms.

McCumber said that housing remains an issue throughout Sauk County, particularly for the countys workforce. He expressed gratitude to Habitat for Humanity for their assistance with the Sandoval family and welcomed them to the area.

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A western merchandise store in Wisconsin Dells that also sells pickled food items and seasonings celebrated one year in business on May 12.

The Pickled Cowboy, owned by area residents Darrin and Laurie Marsich, had a ribbon-cutting ceremony along with hors doeuvres and drinks at the stores downtown location on Broadway. City mayor Ed Wojnicz was one of several city officials who attended.

Prior to becoming The Pickled Cowboy, the storefront was Uptown Trading Post, which had been open since 1939. Darrin Marsich said that when he and Laurie took over last year, they wanted a different concept.

I had also brought back the Dells Pickle Company to our store and we thought the combination of boots and pickles would be fun, and The Pickled Cowboy was born, said Darrin Marsich in an email.

He went on to discuss how his grandfather, Smoking Joe Nelson, operated a pickling plant (Dells Pickle Company) in the city at the current site of the Dells Municipal Pool during the 1940s.

As a tribute to him I brought back not only Dells Pickles, but a wide variety of pickled foods that have been enjoyed for generations, said Marsich in his email.

Pickled goods at The Pickled Cowboy include spicy and sweet pickles, garlic cloves, carrots and onions.

The store also sells seasonings with colorful names for steak, poultry, and other foods.

The cowboy part of the store features western gear for men and women, including a large shelf of boots on its east wall. Cowboy and trucker hats are also on display throughout the store, as well as western accessories such as house signs, glassware, and model bull horns. Western-style artwork is also for sale.

We carry boots from many manufacturers in a way to give us a wide fun variety at prices to help everyone buy their first or 20th pair, said Marsich in his email. Boots are fun, the smiles on peoples faces who try on a pair of boots, or a cowboy hat make the decision to go western pay off.

The Marsichs also own Gifts of the World and Moccasins, a Lake Delton store on Wisconsin Dells Parkway that features large, Wisconsin-shaped chairs in front. Gifts of the World and Moccasins features Dells-themed gear, different cultural items, and moccasin footwear, among other items.

Darrin Marsich said that customers often asked about cowboy boots when shopping at their first store, which was one of the motivations for The Pickled Cowboy.

Prior to owning the stores, Darrin Marsich owned a carpet cleaning business and Laurie Marsich retired from a dental hygiene career.

More information on The Pickled Cowboy and Gifts of the World can be found on their websites.

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Weather Alert

...SHOWER AND THUNDERSTORM CHANCES THROUGH MEMORIAL DAY... * The active pattern of daily scattered to numerous showers and thunderstorms will continue through Memorial Day. Storms will be capable of producing frequent cloud to ground lightning, gusty outflow winds, small hail, and heavy rainfall. * With an influx of people enjoying the outdoors this weekend, it is important that individuals have a way to quickly seek shelter in the event that a thunderstorm approaches your area. If a sturdy building is not immediately available, a hard-top vehicle with the windows rolled up can offer good protection from lightning. If you plan on doing activities that will leave you vulnerable to the elements such as hiking, consider doing the bulk of those activities in the morning hours before afternoon/evening thunderstorms develop. * With streams and even mainstem rivers already flowing fast and cold, it is still advised to avoid swimming in many areas. Keep in mind that daily showers/thunderstorms will inherently come with the threat of flash flooding. Have a way to receive weather alerts, and get to higher ground immediately if a river or stream you are near begins to rise quickly, if you see debris floating in the water, or the water suddenly becomes muddy.




The Korean Air Force's Black Eagles aerobatic team left the country Wednesday to join a biennial air show in Malaysia slated to kick off next week, the armed service said.







The Air Force has mobilized nine T-50B jets and three C-130 transport planes, as well as 110 personnel, to participate in the Langkawi International Maritime and Aerospace Exhibition (LIMA) set to take place at the Langkawi International Airport from Tuesday through Saturday.







The team departed from an air base in Wonju, 87 kilometers southeast of Seoul, earlier in the day and is scheduled to arrive at the Malaysian airport Thursday via Korea's southern island of Jeju and the Philippines.







The team plans to stage a 30-minute performance, including 24 high-level aerial maneuvers, including drawing the "taegeuk" pattern, the signature symbol of the Korean national flag, with smoke trails.







"(The participation) will serve as an opportunity for us to showcase Korea's air power and the excellence of the domestically produced aircraft," an Air Force official was quoted as saying in a press release. (Yonhap)


Governor Lombardo has voted against approving a new collective bargaining agreement with the Nevada Police Union.

The vote came during a Wednesday meeting of the state Board of Examiners of which the governor is a member.

Attorney General Aaron Ford and Secretary of State Francisco Aguilar voted to pass the agreement so it will advance.

At the meeting the governor said he opposed a pay adjustment that was part of the agreement.

"My specific issue is 10.14 special adjustments of pay, change the limit from 10% to 15%. I do not agree with that increase and subsequently I will be voting no."

The governor's office says he has proposed an almost 20% increase in pay for all public safety employees.

A spokesperson for Governor Lombardo released this statement.

As Governor Lombardo voiced at the Board of Examiners meeting today, he is committed to delivering two-grade pay increases, 8% and 4% in Cost Of Living Adjustment increases over the next two years, and $2,000 in annual retention incentives to all public safety employees. Governor Lombardo remains focused on ensuring fiscal and operational sustainability for state government, and the Office of the Governor will be submitting bill draft requests to implement the agreements approved this morning.

As we've reported Democrats in the state legislature have introduced a bill to raise pay for state police but Republicans in the chamber have universally opposed it.

"We are shocked and extremely disappointed by Gov. Lombardos vote against our agreement that seeks to raise critical funding for state police, said Dan Gordon, president of Nevada Police Union. Simply put, our members feel betrayed. We have been told time-and-time again that our states leadership understands we are operating at critical levels that puts public safety at risk and leaves Nevadans less safe, yet the only action weve seen to address this issue is the passage of SB440 by Senate Democrats. Astonishingly, not a single Senate Republican voted for SB440 that funds the police. Meanwhile, more-and-more officers leave the state and we can no longer provide 24/7 coverage. For a safer Nevada, both NPU agreements and an adjustment to PERS contributions should be supported unanimously and funded immediately. Anything less will be insufficient and a detriment to the state police workforce.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, right, along with his daughter Ju-ae, is pictured as he meets with members of the Non-permanent Satellite Launch Preparatory Committee in Pyongyang to inspect the country's first military reconnaissance satellite, in this photo released by the North's official Korean Central News Agency, May 16. Yonhap



North Korean leader Kim Jong-un inspected the country's first military reconnaissance satellite and gave the green light for its next action plan, Pyongyang's state media said Wednesday, adding that the satellite is "ready for loading" on a rocket.



Kim made the on-site inspection to the Non-permanent Satellite Launch Preparatory Committee a day earlier to check the overall status of the spy satellite and approved of its "future action plan," the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said, in a move that signals the launch could be imminent.



"After acquainting himself in detail with the work of the committee, he inspected the military reconnaissance satellite No. 1 which is ready for loading after undergoing the final general assembly check and space environment test," it said in an English-language dispatch.



Kim stressed that the successful launch of the satellite is an "urgent requirement" under the prevailing security environment and a process of "bolstering up the defense capabilities on a top priority basis."



He also said "the more desperately the U.S. imperialists and South Korean puppet villains" escalate their confrontational moves against the North, "the more fairly, squarely and offensively" it will exercise its right to self-defense to deter them.



The KCNA did not provide further details on the "future action plan," including the exact date of the launch.



Experts said the North is likely to calibrate the ideal timing of the satellite launch, considering climate conditions and major political events.



"As the next step, North Korea will mount the satellite inside the pairings at the top end of the projectile," Kim Dong-yub, a professor at the University of North Korean Studies, said. "The launch seems likely as early as June depending on the readiness of the delivery vehicle."



Photos released by the KCNA showed Kim's daughter Ju-ae accompanying the inspection in lab gowns and head caps.



The latest inspection marks Kim's first public activity since his on-site visit to the North's space development agency on April 18, when he announced that the North has completed building its first military spy satellite.



In December last year, Pyongyang said it had conducted an "important final-stage" test at its rocket launching facility for the development of its first reconnaissance satellite.



The development of spy satellites was one of the key weapons projects announced by Kim during a ruling party meeting in January 2021. (Yonhap)




rsted has signed a supply contract worth hundreds of billions of KRW with HSG Sungdong Shipbuilding, a Korean company located in Tongyeong, Gyeongsangnam-do, South Korea, to supply offshore wind foundations for its 920 MW Greater Changhua 2b and 4 offshore wind farms in Taiwan. The contract was finalised with rsteds final investment decision on March 31 for the Greater Changhua 2b and 4 project, which it aims to complete by the end of 2025.



rsted's 920 MW Greater Changhua 2b and 4 project, located 35 - 60 km from the Changhua coast was awarded in June 2018 in Taiwans first competitive price-based auction. rsted subsequently signed a corporate power purchase agreement (CPPA) in July 2020 with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (TSMC), which is the largest-ever CPPA of its kind in renewable energy.



rsted will receive 33 foundations from HSG Sungdong Shipbuilding for Greater Changhua 2b and 4 project. Each foundation supports a 14 MW offshore wind turbine with a height of 84 m and a width of 50 m.



This contract is HSG Sungdong Shipbuilding's first direct supply contract signed with a global offshore wind company since it was founded, and is the largest offshore wind foundation supply contract in Korea this year.



Jin Sang Lee, CEO of HSG Sungdong Shipbuilding, said: Offshore wind foundations require sophisticated technology because they must be durable to prevent corrosion of parts that are in contact with seawater, and the supplier needs to secure and maintain large-scale sites, facilities, and supply chain experience to enter the global market, which is why super-large structures must be manufactured. Through this contract with rsted, HSG Sungdong Shipbuilding has been recognized for its technological prowess and competitiveness in the field of offshore wind foundations. And we are now able to lay the groundwork to join rsteds global supply chain for offshore wind.



Over the past decade, rsted has worked with many Korean companies in the offshore wind sector, including steel, tower, foundation and submarine cable manufacturers, to help Korean suppliers to establish themselves as leading global suppliers. To date, rsted has signed more than KRW 3 trillion worth in equipment supply contracts with Korean companies for rsted's offshore wind projects around the world.



Seung-Ho Choe, Country Manager for rsted Korea, said: rsted has a long-term commitment to Korea. We have been screening the Korean market to identify potential suppliers with technological capabilities. We are ready to strengthen ties with local suppliers to help establish the domestic offshore wind supply chain and also continue to support Koreas rise in the global offshore wind industry.



rsted is the first to introduce suction bucket jacket foundations at Greater Changhua 2b and 4 project among its large-scale offshore wind farms in the Asia-Pacific region. Suction bucket jacket foundations are a state-of-the-art environmentally-friendly technology that use inverted bucket-type foundations with suction. HSG Sungdong Shipbuilding is supplying rsted with suction bucket-type foundations rather than general jacket-type foundations.



Jonas Bak Solhj, Development Director for Greater Changhua 2b and 4 offshore wind farms said: As the global leader in offshore wind we are pleased to work with HSG Sungdong Shipbuilding to build the offshore foundations to the highest standards for safety and quality. These suction bucket jacket foundations will be the first deployment of this technology in Asia Pacific. They will underpin the generation of reliable green energy for decades ahead.



rsted is a global renewable energy company with according to them, a vision of create a world that runs entirely on green energy. rsted has either in development, construction, or operation 28 offshore wind farms around the world.




As the weather warms up and people spend more time gathering outdoors, its time for grilling.



But before you throw your meat or veggies on the fire, take some time to optimize your grill for the season. Just like anything that hasnt been used in a while, the equipment you rely on to create sizzling outdoor meals could benefit from a good tune-up. Whether youre a gas or charcoal griller or prefer your meat on a smoker, two pitmasters share their tips on how to keep your grill in tip-top shape all season long.

1. Deep clean the grates

Make sure youre starting the season with a clean surface for grilling. Taking the time to do a proper cleaning in the beginning will go a long way, wiping away the grime that may have built up if you left your grill dormant most of the winter. A clean surface will make your food taste better. Rob Serritella, founder and pitmaster at Los Angeles Holy Cow BBQ, has a whole process for cleaning the grill.

To start, if you have a gas grill, make sure the gas is off.

Remove your grill grates (if you can) and place them on a surface for cleaning. If your model doesnt have removable grates, it likely has a tray underneath to catch debris that is removable and cleanable. Most people line these trays with aluminum foil for easy cleaning.

Use gloves and goggles to block flying debris, and fill a tub with hot water and dish soap. After a good soak, scrape off the debris. If dish soap doesnt do the trick, try oven cleaner.

Rinse with hot water and air-dry.

2. Get rid of gunk

Use a putty knife, brush and skewers to get all of last years gunk out, Serritella says. That includes the inside cover, sides and bottom of the grill. This will make sure that nothing burns off right onto your food.

Soak a few old dish towels in the hot water and dish soap solution, and wipe down all areas of the grill. Then spray the inside top of the grill with a solution of 1/3 vinegar to 2/3 water. Think of this like cleaning a dirty pan before you are ready to use it to cook.
[Another thing] I think we need to account for is the fact that many elderly Americans are not getting connected to anti-poverty programs that are designed to ease hunger and hardship. Most elderly Americans who qualify for food stamps do not receive them, and the reason for that seems to be administrative burden [of applying for these programs] and red tape and regulation. Finding ways to better connect elderly Americans to those programs, making applying and reapplying for those programs simple and easy, I think should be a top priority.



Many older Americans who are eligible for SNAP benefits/food stamps dont enroll in the program. Why is that the case and what are some ways to get more adults this assistance when they need it?



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Desmond: There are some very simple and effective methods. One study showed that they [could increase enrollment] by sending the older adult a mailing informing them of their eligibility for food stamps and including a phone number. When they dial that phone number, a real live human being picks up the phone and spends half an hour walking them through the process online. That process can greatly increase uptake of SNAP [enrollment] among elderly adults.



It's not rocket science, but we have to be intentional about making sure we market these programs [such as SNAP] in a way thats attractive and simple, making sure that when folks apply for this program, it's easy and seamless. For elderly adults, it seems like theres a big benefit just from walking through the process on an individual basis.



According to research from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, in summer 2021, roughly 10 percent of renters 65 and older were behind on their rent, which meant that nearly 800,000 older adults were in danger of eviction when the pandemic moratorium ended. How does eviction and the poverty that leads to it affect older Americans?



Desmond: I remember doing a survey in eviction court in Milwaukee a few years ago for my last book, and we asked people their ages. The youngest person getting evicted wasnt of age yet, but the oldest person getting evicted was well into their old age. I think they were in their 80s.


This image, captured from footage of North Korea's state-run TV station shows the North's leader, Kim Jong-un, inspecting the Non-permanent Satellite Launch Preparatory Committee the previous day, May 17. Yonhap



North Korea has announced the completion of preparations to mount its first military spy satellite on a rocket, but some experts predicted the North may launch it around a key anniversary in July to flex its military muscle with success.



The North's leader Kim Jong-un on Tuesday inspected the country's non-permanent committee designed to prepare for the launch of a military reconnaissance satellite and approved of its "future action plan," the Korean Central News Agency reported Wednesday.



The secretive regime said the satellite is "ready for loading" on a rocket, after undergoing the final general assembly check and space environment test, stressing an "urgent requirement" to bolster its defense capabilities.



Kim's on-site inspection came about a month after he said the country completed building the satellite and ordered final preparations for the launch "as planned" during his visit to the state aerospace development agency in April.



The development of a military spy satellite is one of the high-tech weapons projects laid out at a key party congress in January 2021, along with a solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile and a nuclear-powered submarine.



Experts said the spy satellite launch does not appear to be imminent, as Pyongyang may need "at least three or four weeks" for an actual launch, given the time needed for technical checks.



To put a satellite into an orbit, precise work should be carried out, including the transportation of a payload to a launching pad and assembly jobs on a satellite and launch vehicle.



"The North may launch the satellite in early June or mid-June at the earliest date. But the country is more likely to calibrate the timing of the launch around 'Victory Day' in July for its success after thorough preparations," Hong Min, a researcher at the state-run Korea Institute for National Unification, said.



North Korea will mark the 70th anniversary of "Victory Day" on July 27, the signing date of the armistice that halted the 1950-53 Korean War. The North calls the conflict the Great Fatherland Liberation War.



The North is likely to celebrate the upcoming anniversary with a possible military parade, in a bid to boast its military capabilities, as the country has been focusing on expanding its arsenal of nuclear weapons.



Hong said North Korea has been ramping up satellite developments under the pretext of safeguarding its "sovereignty and self-defense," apparently competing against South Korea's push for satellite launches and trying to bolster deterrence against the United States.





North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, 2nd from right, rear, along with his daughter Ju-ae, far right, rear, talks with members of the Non-permanent Satellite Launch Preparatory Committee in Pyongyang to inspect the country's first military reconnaissance satellite, in this photo released by the North's official Korean Central News Agency, May 16. Yonhap


Settlement of Acquisition of TMT Project

Perth, May 17, 2023 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Belararox Limited ( ASX:BRX ) is pleased to announce that it will shortly complete settlement under the Binding Agreement to acquire all the shares in Fomo Ventures No 1 Pty Ltd the owner of the highly prospective TMT Project in the prolific San Juan province of Argentina. (See ASX release dated 23 March 2023 for details of the Acquisition).



Following shareholder approval at a general meeting of shareholders held on 27 April 2023, (see ASX release dated 27 April 2023) and upon Settlement, the Company will acquire all the shares in Fomo Ventures No 1 Pty Ltd (Fomo) an unlisted Australian company registered to operate in Argentina.



Fomo's wholly owned Argentinian subsidiary company GWK Minerals SA is the registered holder of all 14 tenements that comprise the highly prospective TMT Project located in the prolific San Juan province of Argentina.



Consideration



In consideration for the Acquisition, BRX will issue to the Vendors -



a. 2,500,000 fully paid ordinary shares in the capital of BRX (Consideration Shares), subject to a 12 month voluntary escrow period applicable from the date of issue of the Consideration Shares;



b. 1,000,000 options ( ASX:BRXO ) with an exercise price of $0.95 and expiring on 6 June 2024 (Consideration Options),



c. 10,500,000 Performance Shares (Performance Shares) as follows:



i. 2,500,000 Stage 1 Performance Shares upon achieving a drilling intersection of at least 30m @ 1.0% ZnEq.



ii. 4,000,000 Stage 2 Performance Shares upon achieving a JORC compliant Inferred Resource of at least 25Mt =or > 1% ZnEq @0.80% ZnEq Cut off.



iii. 4,000,000 Stage 3 Performance Shares upon achieving a JORC compliant Inferred Resource of at least 50Mt =or > 0.5% CuAuEq @0.30% CuAuEq Cut off.



Royalty Deeds



In addition, BRX will grant to the Vendors, or their respective nominees, a 1.0% net smelter royalty (NSR) in respect of each of the Tenements together with an option for BRX to buy back 50% of the NSR for US$2,000,000 and to buy back the remaining 50% of the NSR for a further payment of US$5,000,000 (Royalty Consideration), Services Agreement Under the Services Agreement with Condor Prospecting Pty Ltd (Condor), BRX will issue to Condor or its nominees 3,004,000 fully paid ordinary shares escrowed until 30 June 2024 in lieu of services to be provided by Condor, Fomo Option Agreements The Company will assume Fomo's obligations under two option agreements relating to the acquisition of the TMT Project.



The first anniversary payment of option agreement #1 has been completed by the company. Belararox's Managing Director, Arvind Misra, commented:



"We are delighted to finalise the acquisition of Fomo Ventures No 1 Pty Ltd together with its rights to the exciting TMT Project in Argentina.



TMT Project Update



- Since securing rights to acquire the TMT project in January 2023, the Company has advanced exploration on multiple fronts at the Argentine project with assistance from Condor Prospecting. The TMT project is located in San Juan Province in an underexplored gap between two renowned metallogenic belts (Figure 1*). San Juan province has been ranked as the #1 destination in South America for mining investments.



Notable advances at the project include:



- Secured and registered ground of over 32,000 ha in one of the most prolific sectors of the Andean range.



- The transfer of all tenements to GWK Minerals S.A. has been registered in San Juan mines department (Figure 2 on page 4*).



- Desktop review of the project's historical data with compliance to the 2012 JORC standard underway.



- A technical due diligence expedition was made on the site by one of the Company's geologists with geologists from Condor Prospecting to validate the historical information.



- A field trip was conducted in February 2023 to check the condition of the project's main access track and historical campsite. Both were found to be in good condition.



- A field trip was made during mid-April to investigate the condition of the project's northern access track.



- A total of 9 Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs) comprising the whole TMT project have been completed by a consultant based in San Juan province, and have already been submitted to the mines department. These EIAs include repairing the access track, reinstating the historical campsite, building new access tracks to the northern areas of interest and an initial drilling stage of 12,000m of diamond drilling.



- Prominent exploration geologist Dr Steve Garwin has been engaged to process, interpret and report on Sentinel-2 & Aster Geophysical Imagery. The analysis of Mr Garwin highlighted the potential of the TMT project, identifying various areas of interest and showing conspicuous anomalies in certain zones which are compatible with high sulfidation and porphyry type deposits.



*To view tables and figures, please visit:

https://abnnewswire.net/lnk/1A2903G8





About Belararox Limited





Belararox Limited (ASX:BRX) is a mineral explorer focused on securing and developing resources to meet the surge in demand from the technology, battery and renewable energy markets. Our projects currently include the potential for zinc, copper, gold, silver, nickel and lead resources.
Credit Union accepting scholarship applications

Sandia Laboratory Federal Credit Unions (SLFCU) 2023 Scholarship Essay Competition is open through May 31 for students enrolled full-time in a bachelors or masters degree program, with a top award of $4,000. This is the 29th year the Credit Union has offered scholarships to its members.

This year, applicants are asked to address the following question in an essay of no more than 500 words: Imagine youve been asked to teach someone about money management. What topics would you cover first and why?

Applicants must also include a PDF copy of their latest transcript showing a current cumulative GPA of 2.5 or higher, a PDF of their resume, and one letter of recommendation provided by an adult who is not related to the applicant.

To qualify, an applicant must be a current SLFCU member and the primary account holder of an SLFCU savings account. In the 2022 competition, SLFCU awarded a total of $12,000 to nine students. Winners will be announced in August 2023. To learn more and to apply, visit www.slfcu.org/scholarshipcompetition.

Santa Fe distillery Altar Spirits changing name

Santa Fes locally owned female distillery, Altar Spirits, will now be known as As Above So Below to better position the distillery for future expansion across New Mexico and the United States. Co-Founder and Master Distiller Caley Shoemaker will continue to make the same great spirits at As Above So Below with the same great team at the current Railyard District location. The distillery is committed to its time-honored distillation methods which conjure the spirits of Northern New Mexico through local botanicals and herbs and they will also continue to serve up creative cocktails at its tasting room bar. As Above So Below Distillerys bespoke distilled spirits include RITUAL Vodka, SIGIL Gin, and ARADIA Aperitivo.

Spaceport awards Master Plan Project

The New Mexico Spaceport Authority (NMSA) has awarded the Spaceport America Master Plan Project to RS&H. Spaceport America and NMSA will partner with RS&H to identify the current and future market opportunities that will drive the success of Spaceport America.

The team will engage with local, state, and national aerospace leaders to help guide the sustainable development of Spaceport America. These efforts will further position New Mexico and Spaceport America on a critical path forward to support growth in the community and future operations at Spaceport America. The FAA-licensed launch complex is situated on 18,000 acres adjacent to the U.S. Army White Sands Missile Range in southern New Mexico.

4Rivers Ag side merges with 21st Century

Effective June 12, 4Rivers Equipments Ag division will merge with 21st Century Equipment. With the merger, 4Rivers Equipments Construction and Forestry division will grow and excel as it provides laser-focused support and service. 4Rivers Equipment looks forward to focusing on growing its Technology, Roadbuilding and Material Processing segments, while further developing its construction, compact construction, Production Class Equipment, and forestry markets. As these industries evolve, 4Rivers Equipment is committed to developing innovative solutions, and finding emerging products to support customers growth and improve their lives and businesses.

As 4Rivers Equipment nears its 100-year anniversary in 2026, it looks forward to continuing to serve its customers with excellence.
Just two months after the Walmart in Albuquerques International District closed for good, the property is now up for sale. And the City of Albuquerque still has an interest in purchasing it.

In an update Monday from the Mayors Office, spokeswoman Ava Montoya said the city has earmarked nearly $2 million it received in capital outlay from this years legislative session for redevelopment in the area  money that could go toward purchasing the vacant property.

The property at 301 San Mateo SE went on the market at the beginning of May, according to a posting on LoopNet, a commercial real estate marketplace. CBRE Senior Vice President Jim Dountas couldnt be reached for comment to discuss the sale price and if there has been any interest in the property. The listing shows the property spans 206,278 square feet and is zoned as mixed-use. Reports put the propertys market value at several million more than the nearly $2 million the city could use to purchase it.

Montoya said the city could look at additional sources of funding, both externally and internally, if it goes ahead with plans to purchase the property.

Lauren Willis, a spokeswoman for Walmart, said the company will continue to work with the city to ensure the communitys needs are addressed.

The ultimate use of the property may help dictate the most appropriate sources, Montoya said in an email to the Journal, adding that community input will also help drive the citys plans for the area.

Walmarts announced closing sparked an outcry from community members, who said it would leave the area with more barriers to accessing cost-friendly and healthy foods.

City and community leaders  including state Sens. Antoinette Sedillo Lopez and Mimi Stewart, state Rep. Janelle Anyanonu, City Councilor Pat Davis and Bernalillo County Commissioner Adriann Barboa  are working with the community to identify the needs for redevelopment.

Enrique Cardiel, director of the Health Equity Council, plans to set up input meetings where community members can discuss their hopes for the neighborhood. But Montoya said those sessions are still in the works, adding that officials are following the communitys lead on the input process so they are in control of the timeline.

Local officials first announced in late February  just weeks after Walmart said it would close the store  that the city was interested in purchasing the property. While there has been no official plan for the propertys use, if purchased, local officials referenced the potential as a transformative project and community asset that might include housing and food.

Were working on redevelopment efforts in the International District that will help fill gaps in much needed resources and amenities, Mayor Tim Keller said in a statement. While the future of the Walmart property is undecided, we will work with the community no matter what to make investments that improve quality of life for residents.
U.S. President Joe Biden, left, speaks with South Korea's President Yoon Suk Yeol as they stand on stage during a State Arrival Ceremony on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, Washington, D.C., April 26. AP-Yonhap



The recent agreement reached between South Korea and the United States on strengthening U.S. extended deterrence is a significant step in dealing with North Korea's evolving nuclear threat but possibly not the last step to be taken by the allies, U.S. experts said Tuesday.



They also insisted that while the agreement, dubbed the Washington Declaration, may enhance the allies' joint deterrence against North Korea, it may fall short of preventing future provocations by the reclusive North.



"The declaration says the U.S. "commits to make every effort to consult with the ROK on any possible nuclear weapons employment on the Korean Peninsula"," said Elaine Bunn, former deputy assistant secretary of defense for nuclear and missile defense policy.



ROK stands for the Republic of Korea, South Korea's official name.



"You know that the use of U.S. nuclear weapons is a decision that only the U.S. president is authorized to make. So the commitment at the presidential level to make every effort to consult is very significant," she added in a webinar hosted by the Stimson Center, a Washington-based think tank.



The Washington Declaration, signed by U.S. President Joe Biden and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol late last month, calls for the establishment of a Nuclear Consultative Group (NCG) between the allies, which U.S. officials have said will allow more South Korean input into how the U.S. prepares against a possible nuclear weapons use by North Korea.



Some have even likened the NCG to NATO's Nuclear Planning Group, although U.S. officials have noted that the Washington Declaration is not a "nuclear-sharing" agreement.



"My observations are that consultations are not new, but the Washington Declaration raises the level and further institutionalizes those consultations with the Nuclear Consultative Group," Bunn told the virtual seminar.



"And planning together is not new, but the Washington Declaration is an evolution toward greater integration of planning and assets for deterrence, both those of the U.S. and those of South Korea," she added.



Curtis Scaparrotti, a retired U.S. Army general who served as commander of U.S. Forces Korea and U.S. European Command, said the Washington Declaration and the provisioned NCG are uniquely designed to deal with threats specific to the region.



"As I watch the North Korean development of its nuclear capabilities in numbers, range and diversity of systems, it's clear that the deterrence and defense of the ROK-U.S. alliance has to adapt as well," he said.



"I believe the Washington Declaration, despite the criticisms that we have heard and discussed and I've read about, it outlines an effective way ahead for strengthening the ROK-U.S. alliance, reassuring the ROK populace in deterring evolving North Korean threat," he added.





Elaine Bunn, former deputy assistant secretary of defense for nuclear and missile defense policy, is seen speaking during a webinar hosted by the Stimson Center, a think tank based in Washington, in this captured image, May 16. Yonhap
In an interview, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham said Tuesday she will again pursue an assault weapons ban and age restrictions for purchasing firearms  ideas that failed to reach her desk in this years 60-day legislative session.

Leading Democratic legislators, meanwhile, said they are working on bills to establish a 14-day waiting period, expose the sellers of illegal gun modifications to lawsuits and create a registry of people who already own assault weapons.

Police say the suspect in this weeks mass shooting purchased a gun legally after turning 18, and they described one of the firearms used in the attack as an AR-style rifle. Authorities said they are also looking into indications the shooter had mental health issues.

Lujan Grisham said she had been in touch with Farmington Mayor Nate Duckett and said she planned to travel to the town for a vigil Wednesday honoring the lives of those who were killed.

She also said she might visit with family members of the victims and the suspected shooter, saying such meetings could help with the states grieving process.

The Democratic governor also said she would keep pursuing ways to reduce gun violence in New Mexico, but said the issue is complex and does not have a quick-fix solution.

I want to be able to go to Farmington and say this will never happen again, Lujan Grisham told the Journal. But I dont know of a tool that prevents all tragedies.

If there was one thing that would cure it, it would already be done, she added.

The governor, who said the state would announce a new initiative next week aimed at curbing gun trafficking, also said she did not plan to call a special legislative session that would result in partisan finger-pointing.

However, she left the door open to such action if lawmakers can reach a consensus on contentious crime and gun-related proposals, saying, I would call a special session  if we could pass something that could be implemented in a timely manner.

New Mexicos firearm fatality rate is among the nations highest, despite the enactment in recent years of laws extending background check requirements for gun purchases and allowing firearms to be temporarily seized from individuals deemed a threat to themselves or others.

A total of 562 state residents died in 2021 due to firearm-related injuries  up significantly from 481 firearm-related deaths in 2020, according to state Department of Health data.

Of that number, more than half  or 319 cases  were classified as suicides and 243 were classified as homicides.

Whats been debated in New Mexico Legislature?

Proposals to ban assault weapons have faced skepticism in the Legislature, even among some Democrats. Much of the opposition has centered on how to define what would qualify as an assault weapon and whether a ban would withstand legal scrutiny.

But other ideas advanced steadily through the Legislature this year, only to die at adjournment, when time ran out.

State Sen. Joseph Cervantes, D-Las Cruces, expressed optimism Tuesday about the prospects for imposing a 14-day waiting period on gun sales, allowing authorities extra time to complete a background check on the buyer. He is also eager to renew his push to amend the state Unfair Practices Act to target online sellers of illegal gun modifications.

Im hoping my colleagues wont forget the events in Farmington this week when we meet again, Cervantes said in an interview.

State Rep. Andrea Romero, D-Santa Fe, said she, too, is working on waiting-period legislation. She is also revising a previous proposal to ban the sale and possession of assault weapons.

The new version of the bill, she said, would be modeled on the semiautomatic weapons ban passed in Illinois and establish a registry for people who already own such guns.

Its just heartbreaking, Romero said of this weeks shooting. As we heal from all of this, its what can we do next?  thats where my mindset is.

Republican lawmakers  heavily outnumbered by Democrats at the Capitol  said progressive lawmakers should focus on meaningful funding for mental health services, not anti-gun rhetoric.

One of the root causes of the crime epidemic sweeping this progressive state is the fact that little has been done to address mental health access and delivery despite the billions in surplus tax revenue over the 5 years of Lujan Grishams tenure, House Republican spokesman Matt Garcia-Sierra said in a written statement.

New Mexicans, he said, are seeking action that addresses the root causes, not just political spin that looks good on a postcard or newspaper headline.

Moving forward

While lawmakers this year approved a bill making it a crime for adults to fail to safely secure firearms out of the reach of children, that measure would apparently not be applicable to the Farmington shooter case since the deceased suspect legally purchased at least one of the guns he used, according to police.

And its unclear whether the proposals debated during this years 60-day legislative session to impose a two-week waiting period for firearm purchases and prohibit the sale and possession of certain semiautomatic rifles and handguns would have made a difference in the Farmington shooting.

But Sen. Carrie Hamblen, D-Las Cruces, said the young age of the shooting suspect in Farmington underscores the need to raise the minimum age to 21 for the purchase of semiautomatic rifles  a proposal she intends to reintroduce.

We will continue to pursue legislation that is about responsible gun ownership, she said.

Many of this years gun safety bills encountered fierce resistance from Republican lawmakers and other opponents who said they would interfere with the rights of law-abiding citizens and do nothing to deter crime.

Cervantes, a lawyer who leads the Senate Judiciary Committee, said lawmakers must take care to craft gun laws that will withstand legal scrutiny.

Its not ever enough to pass a law that makes good press and allows us to pat one another on the back, but really has no meaningful impact, he said.
Senseless. Tragic. And oh so random.

Its difficult to describe what happened in Farmington Monday, other than any towns worst nightmare.

I dont even know what to say in an event like this, Farmington Police Chief Steve Hebbe said Monday night. How do you address it?

There are so many unanswered questions about what would possess an 18-year-old Farmington High School student to go on a rampage and randomly shoot at people and cars over a quarter-mile stretch of a usually quiet, middle-class neighborhood in the heart of Farmington.

The shooter had a full adult life ahead of him, as did the 21-year-old man who snuck into nearby Aztec High School on Dec. 7, 2017, and shot and killed two students before killing himself.

Mondays shooter armed himself with at least three different weapons before fatally shooting three people and injuring six others, including two responding police officers, before he was stopped and killed by authorities.

The three people killed were all women over the age of 70. Two of those shot and killed were a mother-daughter in their 90s and 70s.

So senseless, so tragic, and so random.

Farmington has had it rough lately. The remote and rugged northwestern New Mexico town made national news just last month when Farmington police responded to a domestic disturbance call at the wrong house and shot and killed homeowner Robert Dodson as he opened his door around 11:30 p.m. with a handgun in his hand.

New Mexicans want answers, to somehow understand how a young man could turn his guns on innocent victims. A thorough police investigation will hopefully yield some answers, but well probably never fully understand how this happened.

We are doing the best that we can to  look at the evidence to see if we can figure out what the motivation was, Hebbe said. But at this point, it appears to be purely random.

The whole state is mourning. Our hearts are heavy and our thoughts and prayers are with the victims, some still in the hospital, and their families.

Now is also the time to remind ourselves how fortunate we are to have law enforcement officers so brave and dedicated that they run toward the gunfire, not away. They no doubt saved many lives Monday in that previously quiet neighborhood in Farmington.

This editorial first appeared in the Albuquerque Journal. It was written by members of the editorial board and is unsigned as it represents the opinion of the newspaper rather than the writers.
Officers shot and injured one teenage boy  who allegedly had a gun  while arresting another in connection with a high-profile homicide during a traffic stop Tuesday afternoon in Southeast Albuquerque.

Gilbert Gallegos, an Albuquerque Police Department spokesman, said the teen who was shot  who has not been identified  is in critical condition.

He said police also arrested 16-year-old Isaiah Espinosa on a charge of murder in the December 2022 death of Albuquerque Academy student Jada Gonzales, 18. Authorities say Espinosa, a student at West Mesa High, fired an AK-style pistol at a home where a party was happening, fatally striking Gonzales.

Espinosas alleged accomplices Jesse Parra, 19, and Cruz Medina, 16, were arrested and charged with murder in January.

Tuesdays shooting marked the third time Albuquerque police shot and injured someone this year. In 2022 there were 18 police shootings, a record high for the department, which is currently under a consent decree with the Department of Justice over past use-of-force issues.

APD Chief Harold Medina said police responded around 2 p.m. to the 6000 block of Anderson SE for reports of a person walking around with an assault rifle. He said the person matched the description of Espinosa, a suspect in Gonzales death and in an unrelated armed robbery.

Medina said police didnt immediately find Espinosa in the area but, around 5:30 p.m., pulled over a vehicle he was inside near Adams and Silver SE.

Gallegos, the APD spokesman, said in an email that four people got out of the car and tried to run away.

He said one of the four, a teenager, had a handgun and was shot by a detective. Gallegos did not say if the teen pointed the gun or shot at police.

Detectives detained the other three individuals who fled the vehicle, he said.
Free fares make bus woes even worse

WITH REGARD to City Councilor Fiebelkorn proposing permanent free fares, she has no idea. I retired from Transit a year ago, spending the last seven years as one of the schedulers. I still see many drivers I knew during my daily errands around the town, and theyre all consistently unhappy with overall working conditions. Driver shortages are resulting in longer hours and increased ridership to include Sun Van Paratransit.

Complaints (include) the regular stench of homeless riders. Today, I observed a homeless person exiting a bus with a huge blanket around him and other items. The buses smell horrible, and the drivers have no choice but to deal with it. I rode one and the driver had to keep the front door open because the stink was so bad. Very hard to retain new drivers.

Some routes were removed to ease the load but not enough. Increased routes was the plan and for most of my time with the department; there has always been a driver shortage because of the expansion. Forced overtime came into play resulting in drivers calling off sick or quitting.

Discipline has also added to the driver shortage. Management that I was also part of is out to get them. Transit discipline policy is very complex and needs to be eased back a bit. Drivers are overworked and sometimes lose days off, so they call in sick and get disciplined over it. New drivers become spare drivers with only one day off a week, and they never know what day this will be, resulting in not even making it through probation.

This is only a small portion that contributes to driver shortage. So much more and so few ears.

Michael Huckins, Albuquerque

Drugged drivers are killing NM families

YET ANOTHER innocent (Penny Pizarro) was killed by (an admitted) drug addict driving a vehicle. My deepest sympathy goes out to the Pizarro family. On Oct. 9, 2021, my wonderful and loving husband was also killed by a drug addict driving at 100 mph on I-40.

My husbands death impacted not only myself, my children and my grandchildren, but his siblings and their families as well as friends. His was a life taken too soon. When will the government officials and judicial system in New Mexico start punishing drug addicts and drunken drivers? When? How many people have to continue to die before everyone says enough is enough? The man that killed my husband only got four years in jail. Again, I ask how many more have to die?

Suzanne Mullane, The Hills, Texas

Students dealing with hunger in class

I WRITE to you with concern for myself and my fellow classmates. I am a ninth-grader going to East Mountain High School, and a common occurring issue I see myself and my classmates dealing with is hunger in the classroom.

Students are commonly hungry during class, but a percentage of our teachers do not let us eat in the classroom, much less provide food in the classroom. This leads to the students experiencing stress productivity and confusion during class. I would love for you to bring attention to this issue and get people talking about it.

Ithan Valentino, Sandia Park

Food for thought on NM student hunger

THE JOURNAL published a story May 6 about the fact many N.M. college students have only one meal a day. I am horrified and saddened. I was lucky to be well-fed as a child.

In the late 1960s I was a Head Start teacher. This national program was designed to ensure children whose families were not able to provide basic skills to succeed in school were offered a pre-K program that could. Additionally, Headstart teachers visited the homes of these kids in order to ascertain whether they had adequate housing and food. We understood proper nutrition was critical to the ability to learn.

In New Mexico too many children go hungry. This year, however, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham and the Legislature said no more. Senate Bill 4 ensures all schoolchildren have access to free and healthy breakfasts and lunches. The governor said correctly, when we feed our children, we are feeding our future. These programs begin in the 2023-24 school year. UNM is running the Lobo Food Pantry, which provides nutritious food to students in need.

No one deserves to be hungry. What can N.M. citizens do? Consider sending a donation to the Roadrunner Food Bank or Lobo Food Pantry.

As citizens its our job to advocate for those community members who are not able to advocate for themselves. For these students, three square meals are an important ticket to their future.

Louisa Barkalow, Albuquerque
The University of California and Shell Energy signed agreements this month to purchase electricity from Pattern Energys massive SunZia transmission and wind-generation project when it comes online in 2026.

Pattern expects to break ground this summer on the project, which will generate up to 3.5 gigawatts of renewable energy from newly-built, local wind farms for transmission to western markets over a 550-mile, high voltage line that will run from Central New Mexico to South Central Arizona.

Thats enough electricity to supply the needs of some 3 million people, according to Pattern.

The new power purchase agreements, or PPAs, with Shell and the University of California make them the first customers to officially commit to buying SunZia electricity, said Pattern spokesman Matt Dallas.

Its tremendously significant to start off with such large PPA customers even before construction has begun, Dallas told the Journal.

Pattern declined to disclose the amount of power Shell will receive from SunZia.

But David Phillips  UC associate vice president of capital programs, energy and sustainability  said SunZia will supply 85 megawatts of wind generation for use across the universitys 10 California campuses and five medical centers. Thats enough power to supply the total electricity needs of four UC campuses combined in Santa Barbara, Riverside, Santa Cruz and Merced, Phillips said.

It will provide as much energy as those four campuses together consume on an annual basis, Phillips told the Journal. This is by far our largest renewable energy project to date.

UC already has utility-scale solar installations that supply renewable energy across the university system. But New Mexico-based wind offers an ideal compliment, because peak wind generation kicks in at night here, just when the sun is setting in California and solar generation is dying down, Phillips said.

Its that complimentary output that makes SunZia so appealing in western markets, said Pattern CEO Hunter Armistead.

SunZia is providing access to some of the best wind in the world, which has a powerful generation profile with an evening peak that is a perfect complement to daytime solar, Armistead said in a statement.

Pattern plans to install nearly 1,000 wind turbines on private and state trust lands in Lincoln, Torrance and San Miguel counties. Together with the 550-mile transmission line, the project will cost about $8 billion to bring online.

The original SunZia developer, Southwestern Power Group, planned to build two high-voltage lines to run parallel to each other, including one 3 GW direct current, or DC line, and a 1.5 GW alternating current, or AC, line.

Pattern, however, acquired the rights to SunZias DC line last summer, leaving Southwestern Power to build the AC line, now renamed RioSol transmission.

Construction on RioSol is targeted to begin in 2025 as work on SunZia is winding down, said RioSols head of New Mexico operations, John Ryan.

We dont want to get in the way of SunZia, Ryan told the Journal. As work on SunZia is ending, we can take advantage of the SunZia workforce to transition into work on RioSol.

Pattern will employ about 2,000 during peak construction, and then about 110 permanent employees.

Southwestern Power is building generation facilities in addition to the AC RioSol transmission line but energy developers in general will be able to use RioSol to transmit power to market.

As an AC line, RioSol can offer renewable electricity to communities in New Mexico and Arizona, because AC transmission makes it cheaper and easier for local grids to interconnect.

Were planning at least five substations along the route, Ryan said. RioSol will carry enough renewable electricity to power about 500,000 homes.

SunZia, in contrast, will target consumers in western markets, because high-voltage DC is most effective for carrying energy over long distances.

Pattern and Southwestern Power are expecting a final record of decision from the U.S. Bureau of Land Management to greenlight both SunZia and RioSol in the next few days, ending nearly 16 years of planning and permitting efforts to move the projects forward.

We expect the BLM record of decision to be released on Friday (May 19), and if not, then on short order, Pattern Assistant Vice President of Business Development Kevin Wetzel told the Journal. That will allow us to start construction in the next few months.
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP)  Legislation banning most abortions after 12 weeks of pregnancy will become law in North Carolina after the states Republican-controlled General Assembly successfully overrode the Democratic governors veto late Tuesday.

The House completed the second and final part of the override vote after a similar three-fifths majority  the fraction necessary  voted for the override earlier Tuesday in the Senate. The party-line outcomes represent a major victory for Republican legislative leaders who needed every GOP member on board to enact the law over Gov. Roy Coopers opposition.

Cooper vetoed the measure over the weekend after spending last week traveling around the state to persuade at least one Republican to side with him on the override, which would be enough to uphold his veto. But in the end, the four Republicans targeted by Cooper  including one who recently switched from the Democratic Party  voted to override.

Republicans pitched the measure as a middle-ground change to state law, which currently bans nearly all abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy, without exceptions for rape or incest.

The votes came as abortion rights in the U.S. faced another tectonic shift with lawmakers in South Carolina and Nebraska also considering new abortion limits. North Carolina and South Carolina have been two of the few remaining Southern states with relatively easy access.

Such restrictions are possible because the U.S. Supreme Court last year struck down the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling, which established a nationwide right to abortion.

Under the bill that had been up for a vote Tuesday in the South Carolina House, abortion access would be almost entirely banned after about six weeks of pregnancy  before women often know theyre pregnant. The South Carolina state Senate previously rejected a proposal to nearly outlaw abortions.

However, a final vote would have to wait until later Wednesday after the South Carolina House moved to reconvene at 10 a.m. while the computer system rebooted.

Nationally, bans on abortion throughout pregnancy are in effect in 14 states.

Abortion is banned or severely restricted in much of the South, including bans throughout pregnancy in Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas and West Virginia. In Georgia, its allowed only in the first six weeks.

The Carolinas, Florida and Virginia are now the main destinations in the region for those seeking legal abortions. Florida has a ban that kicks in 15 weeks into pregnancy. Under a recent law, that would tighten to six weeks pending a court ruling. Further west, women often travel to Illinois, Kansas, New Mexico or Colorado.

If both the North and South Carolina bans become law, combined with Floridas recent ban, it would be just devastating for abortion access in the South, Jamie Lockhart, executive director of Planned Parenthood Advocates of Virginia, said earlier Tuesday.

After the final vote Tuesday in the North Carolina House, abortion-rights advocates and Democrats in the chamber gallery loudly booed the outcome and shouted Shame! Many observers in the gallery were escorted out by General Assembly police.

Similar displeasure poured out after the earlier North Carolina Senate debate, although many anti-abortion demonstrators also were in the audience, pleased with the outcome.

Today marks the beginning of North Carolinas first real step towards becoming a pro-life state, Tami Fitzgerald, executive director of the socially conservative North Carolina Values Coalition, said after the House vote.

Senate Republicans said Cooper ignored $160 million within the measure that would boost funding to increase contraceptive services, reduce infant and maternal mortality and provide paid maternity leave for state employees and teachers.

This bill provides resources for the pregnant woman. It provides broad resources and a significant knowledge base to enable her, to equip her in finding a path forward  a path forward for her, and a path forward for her unborn child, said Rep. Kristin Baker, a Cabarrus County Republican and psychiatrist.

The new abortion limits set to take effect July 1 also will include rape or incest exceptions through 20 weeks of pregnancy and exceptions for life-limiting fetal anomalies during the first 24 weeks. An existing exception for when the life of the pregnant woman is in danger will remain.

Democrats focused on details of the abortion rules, which they said would place barriers between women and their doctors, leaving those who are pregnant in danger, with less access to abortion services.

Women did not ask for your oversight. We didnt ask for your approval, Rep. Julie von Haefen, a Wake County Democrat, told GOP colleagues. Its our fundamental right to make decisions about our own bodies and our own health care.

Cooper said in a statement after the vote that hell continue doing everything I can to protect abortion access in North Carolina because womens lives depend on it.

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said the law will make it even more difficult for women to get the reproductive health care they need.

North Carolina Republicans were able to complete the override due in large part to Mecklenburg County Rep. Tricia Cothams party switch to the GOP last month. That gave Republicans veto-proof seat majorities in both chambers.

Cotham has supported abortion rights in the past. She said in a statement late Tuesday that the bill strikes a reasonable balance that anyone not holding extremist positions on abortion can support.

In South Carolina, the impasse dates back to a special session last fall when House lawmakers demanding a near-total ban did not meet to negotiate with their Senate counterparts pushing for a ban around six weeks.

The stalemate persisted even after the state Supreme Court in January struck down a previous law banning abortions once cardiac activity is detected.

That decision left abortion legal through 22 weeks of pregnancy. A sharp increase in abortions since then has rankled Republicans.

The House was weighing a Senate bill similar to the one they denied last year. The measure would ban abortion when an ultrasound detects cardiac activity, around six weeks.

A late night is expected even after Republicans invoked rules to limit debate. House Speaker Murrell Smith has said the chamber will not adjourn until the measure gets approval. Democrats slowed the process Tuesday by speaking for all three allotted minutes on each of their hundreds of amendments and forcing other procedural votes.

In Nebraska, conservatives in the Legislature got just enough votes Tuesday to fold a proposed 12-week abortion ban into a bill that would ban gender-affirming health for minors.

Throughout, hundreds of protesters filled the Capitol rotunda just outside the chamber doors, nearly drowning out debate at times with chants, shouts and foot stomping.

The plan won the 33 votes it needed in the states one-chamber, officially nonpartisan legislature to end debate and set up other votes to advance it. It must now survive a final round, which could happen as soon as Thursday, to pass.

In Montana, Republican Gov. Greg Gianfortes office announced Tuesday that he had signed into law a bill that makes performing the abortion method most commonly used after 15 weeks of gestation a felony. Planned Parenthood of Montana asked a judge to temporarily block the ban on dilation and evacuation abortions.

A separate challenge to abortion access will be considered Wednesday, when a federal appeals court hears arguments on whether the Food and Drug Administrations approval of the widely used abortion drug mifepristone should be overturned. A three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals will review a ruling last month by a federal judge in Texas who ordered a hold on approval of mifepristone, a decision that overruled two decades of scientific approval of the drug. That ruling was stayed while the appeal is pending.

The three judges who will hear the case each have a history of supporting restrictions on abortion. A ruling is not expected immediately.

___

Lavoie reported from Richmond, Virginia. Associated Press writers James Pollard and Jeffrey Collins in Columbia, South Carolina, Geoff Mulvihill in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, Amy Beth Hanson in Helena, Montana and Sarah Rankin in Richmond, Virginia contributed to this report. Schoenbaum and Pollard are corps members 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.
Detectives have released the names of three men killed in separate incident across Albuquerque in the past few months.

Gilbert Gallegos, an Albuquerque police spokesman, identified the men as Howard Ketcham Jr., 40, Joshua Baca, 31, and Lance Tungovia, 34.

There have been no reported arrests in the three homicide cases.

Albuquerque police have investigated 34 homicides so far this year. By this time in 2022 there had been 45 homicides.

The first of the three incidents was on April 16 when firefighters responded to a brush fire in the 600 block of Yale. Crews found the body of Ketcham after putting out the blaze and his death is being investigated as a homicide.

Then, on Saturday, police responding to a car crash near Montgomery and Louisiana found Baca dead inside the wrecked vehicle. He had been shot to death.

On Sunday police responded around 12:45 p.m. to a triple shooting near the intersection of Wyoming and Central. Tungovia was pronounced dead at the scene and two others were injured.

A GoFundMe posted online said that Tungovia was a father.

For anyone that knows Lance, knows he was such a giving and caring individual who prioritized family and friends, according to the website.
When 18-year-old Beau Wilson stepped out of his fathers house in Farmington on Monday morning police say he was wearing a bulletproof vest and firing an AR-15  and he had a note in his pocket saying, among other things, If youre reading this Im the end of the chapter.

Police say Wilson fired 141 rounds from his house on North Dustin with the assault-style rifle  fatally shooting three women over the age of 70  before dropping the weapon in nearby bushes, taking off the vest and walking down the street continuing to fire one handgun and then a second.

Farmington Police Chief Steve Hebbe provided these details and more at a Wednesday news conference about the shooting, saying investigators are continuing to learn more about what unfolded.

It isnt a nice contained scene where our officers are able to keep everything and count stuff pretty easily, Hebbe said. Its spreading throughout the neighborhood. Hes firing at different people, hes firing at different cars and buildings as hes walking, and then he begins discarding stuff.

Six people, including a Farmington Police Department sergeant and a New Mexico State Police officer, were injured in the shooting. Both officers were treated at the hospital and released.

Seven houses and 11 vehicles were hit by the gunfire.

The Farmington High School senior had been expected to graduate on Tuesday, a school district spokesman confirmed Wednesday. Instead Wilson died in a shootout with officers in front of a church about a quarter mile from his house.

This only goes to the why, or the details, it doesnt go to the why something like this happened in the first place and how we are going to prevent this, Hebbe said. Those are the things that frankly keep me up and I agonize over every night as Im going to bed  to try to figure out how were going to keep our citizens safe in the world.

The note in Wilsons pocket, scrawled in green ink, also said lay eyes or dear (sic.) put a finger on my little sister I promise there will be regrets.

Hebbe said investigators have not learned of any issues regarding Wilsons sister or if there was any kind of significant event before the shooting.

This is about the best we got, he said. We have not found any other notes. We dont have any other statements and our contact with the family said there does not seem to be significant indication that something would happen that day.

Calls flooding in

On a normal day, around 11 a.m., the San Juan County Communications Authority gets about 56 calls in an hour and a half.

On Monday at that time, it received 233 calls for service, said director Nicole Brown.

It was a large call volume, Brown said. Everyone who could possibly be answering phones was answering phones.

Multiple agencies, including Farmington Police Department, San Juan County Sheriffs Office, and the New Mexico State Police, responded to the scene on a busy thoroughfare going through a neighborhood.

At the end of it  when we had a suspect down  we know we have civilian casualties, we have officers who have been hit and we have fire and EMS responding to the scene before its secure, Hebbe said. We still think theres a possibility of a second shooter in the early stages, nonetheless fire came racing in with their medics to begin treatment on citizens right away.

Gwendolyn Schofield, 97, and her 73-year-old daughter Melody Ivie died at the scene. Shirley Voita, 79, was taken to the San Juan Regional Medical Center, where she died.

Six others, including the two officers who were hit, were treated at the hospital for injuries sustained either from bullets or shattering glass. Seven people were treated by medics at the scene.

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham attended a vigil in Farmington on Wednesday night in honor of those who were killed.

Access to more firearms

Wilson had bought the AR-15 legally in November, about a month after his 18th birthday.

Then, two days before the shooting, he bought three magazines for the weapon, Hebbe said.

When asked if this meant investigators believe the shooting spree was pre-meditated, Hebbe said either he was preparing for something or he was just buying more magazines for a weapon he already owned.

I cant really subscribe to what exactly he was thinking but yes it is a red flag for us that maybe he was planning something, Hebbe said.

The other two guns used in the shooting  a 9mm handgun and a .22 caliber firearm  belonged to a family member, officials say. Inside the house Wilson shared with his father were 10 other guns, Hebbe said, although there is no indication that the suspect intended to use them.

He said in all there were more than 1,400 rounds of ammunition available between what was fired, what was still in the weapons and what was in the home for the other guns.

It isnt illegal for people to own weapons, Hebbe said. His dad had weapons in the house like many folks do  At this point in time were not holding anyone responsible.

Wilsons father could not be reached Wednesday.

Hebbe said investigators have been speaking with Wilsons family about his mental health and are continuing to investigate whether that was a factor in the shooting. Wilson doesnt have a criminal history and detectives are serving subpoenas for school records.

Our initial report from the family of the suspect is that he was struggling with mental health issues, Hebbe said. Well wind up finding what medication if any he was taking, whether he was under a doctors care in some form or fashion.
CABALLO LAKE STATE PARK  The Rio Grande runs again below Caballo Reservoir.

The flush of snowmelt this year means more water for longer in southern New Mexico.

Unlike the portion of river above Elephant Butte Reservoir, the Rio Grande is not a wild river through southern New Mexico and far west Texas. Instead, a slew of federal authorities and the two local irrigation districts coordinate on how much water is released to flow in the streambed for use in agriculture, and for Mexicos portion.

The last few years have been grim for regional farmers, wildlife and the residents of El Paso, who all use the Rio Grandes water. Higher temperatures, parched soils and less water have all strained the Rio Grande. Experts cautioned that one good year does not solve the states water woes.

And other troubles still remain. A potential end to the legal fight in the Supreme Court between Texas and New Mexico is still awaiting a judges decision.

But Saturday, those worries lessened as people and wildlife drifted to the riverbeds and banks over the weekend.

Robert Paredes, came up from El Paso the night before to fish at Percha State Park, a part of the river just below Caballo Dam.

Over the roar of the outlet, he said there wasnt much action from the fish, but he didnt mind so much.

Im happy the waters flowing, he said. With the dry years and forest fires and drought, its good to have water.

Traveling downstream, turkey vultures, cattle egrets, and swifts fly along the creeping edge of the water, as it flushes its way through the sand bed. Water flashed under pecan tree canopies, and snaked through onion and chile patches.

At the West Picacho Avenue bridge in Las Cruces, the water-watchers gathered.

Shawn Salley, a soil scientist with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, waited with his young children and wife. Their friend had also brought their kids to watch the water release.

Salley is an avid paddleboarder and was planning some Rio Grande trips soon.

Im really itchin for some water, he said.

It took much longer than expected. The river, which moves at a fast creep, slows down between Shalem Colony Trail bridge and Picacho bridge, said Phil King, an engineer with the Elephant Butte Irrigation District.

We call that the black hole,' King told Source NM Saturday.

Dogs and children roved around the sand beds near La Llorona Park, sun beating down. People stood under the bridge, calling up to lookouts above.

Nothing yet.

It appeared as a dark smudge, stronger than the mirages tricking earlier. A white cattle egret soared ahead, landing in the brush along the river.

The water arrived in Las Cruces just before 2:30 p.m. accompanied by delighted screams from young watchers and splashing from overjoyed dogs.

Soon, the current was too strong, the water splashing over peoples calves, a coffee brown sinking the sandbanks.

The Rio Grande below Elephant Butte, an ephemeral stream of mans making, will stay a little while longer. Its expected to flow through September, possibly into October.

This story first published in Source New Mexico. Source NM recently published a series of stories about the water crisis on the Rio Grande.
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The Writers Guild of America promises that they will not be picketing the award ceremony, set to be hosted by Ariana DeBose on June 11, as they place responsibility for having to make changes to the show on Paramount, CBS 'and their allies.'

May 17, 2023

AceShowbiz - The Tony Awards will be going ahead without picketers from the Writers Guild of America. There had been concerns the annual event, which honors the best of Broadway and was set to be hosted by Ariana DeBose for the second year in a row, would be at risk due to the ongoing WGA strike, but a compromise has been reached between both parties.

In a statement, the guild said, "As has been previously reported, the Writers Guilds of American East and West (WGA) will not negotiate an interim agreement or a waiver for the Tony Awards. However, Tony Awards Productions (a joint venture of the Broadway League and the American Theatre Wing) has communicated with us that they are altering this year's show to conform with specific requests from the WGA."

"Therefore the WGA will not be picketing the show," they promised. "As they have stood by us, we stand with our fellow workers on Broadway who are impacted by our strike."

The organization insisted the blame for the award show needing to make changes to this year's event "rests squarely" on Paramount, CBS "and their allies." They continued, "Responsibility for having to make changes to the format of the 2023 Tony Awards rests squarely on the shoulders of Paramount/CBS and their allies. They continue to refuse to negotiate a fair contract for the writers represented by the WGA."

The Tony Awards Management Committee had decided to appeal to the WGA and ask that striking writers would not picket the award ceremony to allow the broadcast to take place, while the guild had denied the show's producers a waiver to allow them to proceed during the strike.

It's not yet been specified what format the show will use, and what alterations will be made. However, the New York Times newspaper has reported it's likely that while the event will feature awards presentations and live musical performances, no scripted content will be included.

Regarding the agreement, Kate Shindle, president of Actor Equity, tweeted, "Thank you, @WGAWest and @WGAEast. @ActorsEquity members: time to double down on showing up at their pickets. Oh, and because it can't be said enough: this is still #AMPTP's fault, and the writers should never have been put in this position. We can appreciate the grace AND point at the culprits, right?"

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Protesters, including people from Korea, hold a rally outside Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings (TEPCO) headquarters building Tuesday in Tokyo, demanding Japan scrap its plan to start dumping radioactive wastewater into the ocean. AP-Yonhap



Korea encouraged to work with Pacific Island countries against Japan's planned water release



By Lee Hyo-jin



Japan's planned dumping of radioactive wastewater from the damaged Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant into the Pacific Ocean is a shared concern between neighboring countries, including Korea, China and Pacific Island nations.



The Pacific Island Forum (PIF), a group of 18 independent and self-governing states in the region, has been consistently urging Japan to delay the water discharge  which is expected to begin this summer  until Tokyo provides verified scientific evidence to back up its decision.



A five-member global expert panel at the PIF has been providing independent technical advice to the member states in their dialogues with Japanese officials. One of them is Ferenc Dalnoki-Veress, a scientist-in-residence and adjunct professor at Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey.



Dalnoki-Veress, who has been conducting extensive research on the Fukushima wastewater for over four years, claims that the data provided by Japan should not be taken at face value.



Born in the Netherlands, he previously worked at the Max Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics in Heidelberg, Germany, the Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso in Italy and Princeton University's Physics Department. At the Middlebury Institute, he focuses on the proliferation of fissile materials, nuclear spent fuel management, emerging technologies and verification of nuclear weapons.





Ferenc Dalnoki-Veress, a scientist-in-residence and adjunct professor at Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey / Courtesy of Ferenc Dalnoki-Veress

"I have found that to conduct this work, I could not take anything at face value and had to check everything. I would expect that the (Korean) team should do the same level of scrutiny and question critically what is being said," he told The Korea Times in an email interview.



Earlier in February, two members of the PIF expert panel traveled to the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, where they witnessed that the "scale of problem is immense," according to Dalnoki-Veress.



The wastewater is currently stored in about 1,000 tanks with a total storage capacity of about 1.37 billion liters.



Korea is also poised to dispatch an inspection team consisting of local experts to Fukushima next week. The four-day trip is aimed at verifying the safety of the Advanced Liquid Process System (ALPS)-treated water. Foreign ministries of Korea and Japan held a second meeting on Wednesday to discuss the size of the expert panel and specific inspection plans.



Dalnoki-Veress advised that the inspection team should include experts from diverse fields such as eco-toxicologists, marine life and ocean currents, and that they must hold meetings with "true scientists" in Japan.



During their trip to Japan, the PIF experts were rarely able to interact directly with scientists, as the meetings were dominated by officials from Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry and Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and a staff member from the Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA), he said.



The scientist also viewed that the Korean delegates should be guaranteed the legal right to speak independently to the press, and make sure that the experts are not bound by a non-disclosure agreement limiting what they can say to the public.



As such, he strongly suggested that the media should be present during the meetings in order to guarantee transparency and prevent Japan from using the visit to their advantage.



However, chances are slim for Korean reporters to accompany the inspection team, as it is said that Japan is skeptical about the idea.





A Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) worker holds a sample of water treated by the Advanced Liquid Processing System (ALPS) at the crippled Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in Fukushima Prefecture, Japan, March 8. Reuters-Yonhap
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Kim Kardashian additionally offers more updates about the drama surrounding her family during her appearance on 'Today' ahead of season 3 premiere of their reality show.

May 17, 2023

AceShowbiz - Kourtney Kardashian is getting real in the upcoming season of "The Kardashians". Unveiled during Khloe Kardashian's appearance on "Good Morning America" on Tuesday, May 16, a new teaser for the new season sees Kourtney branding her famous family "superficial."

"We're all so good at like, lifting each other up when we're like, in a crisis," Kourtney tells Khloe in the footage. "But in like, almost like a superficial way. Like, I don't think we know how to like, be there for each other on like, a deeper level."

When Khloe looks shocked by the claims, Kourtney asks, "Do you?" To that, the Good American founder replies, "I think I do."

Khloe expresses her disagreement with Kourtney's observation in a confessional. "When there's something pretty traumatic or devastating in the family, I feel like we're all by that person's side," she says.

Another teaser, meanwhile, sees Kim saying in voiceover, "I don't want to fight with family. Bottom line." Kourtney is later heard claiming that "there's no boundaries" and "there's no respect." As for Kylie Jenner, she seemingly doesn't want to take sides as she "sees both sides."

Kendall Jenner wants the fighting to end as she says, "As sisters, we have to uplift each other." The teaser later sees momager Kris Jenner shedding tears with Khloe asking, "How did we get here?"

Kim also offered more updates about the drama surrounding her family during her appearance on "Today". "We've been there before and we'll always be OK," the SKIMS mogul assured on Tuesday.

She went on to say, "We're always family, that's how we were raised. But I'm also proud that everyone's really vulnerable, because I'm sure so many other families have gone through similar things."

Kim additionally shared that filming the third season of "The Kardashian" wasn't easy for her. "Out of filming 'Keeping Up with the Kardashians' or 'The Kardashians', this season was probably my most emotional and frustrating internally, with family, that I haven't really seen or experienced before," she revealed.

Despite the frustration, Kim explained that her family prioritized being an open book for viewers. The 42-year-old mom of four noted, "When we signed up for this, we wanted to always be super open and honest. There's obviously different seasons where some people feel like they just have some boundaries and want to protect some things, and then other people really want to open up and share way more."

The forthcoming season 3 of "The Kardashians" is expected to highlight the friction between Kourtney and Kim Kardashian over the former's wedding to Travis Barker in Italy back in May 2022. Kourtney previously accused Kim of using her wedding "as a business opportunity."

Season 3 of "The Kardashians" is set to premiere on May 25 on Hulu.

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In a sneak peek at the upcoming finale of 'Vanderpump Rules' season 10, Ariana tells Scheana Shay and Katie Maloney how she first found out that Tom was cheating on her with Raquel.

May 17, 2023

AceShowbiz - Ariana Madix reveals more details about Tom Sandoval and Raquel Leviss' affair behind her back. In a sneak peek at the upcoming finale of "Vanderpump Rules" season 10, Ariana tells her co-stars how she first found out that Tom was cheating on her with Raquel.

"I went with Tom to Tom Tom because he had that party thing. I found a screen recording of them on FaceTime," Ariana says to Scheana Shay and Katie Maloney. "It was literally from the night before. He was at Schwartz's."

Katie can't help being shocked after hearing that the risque FaceTime call took place at her estranged husband Tom Schwartz's home. "He was at Schwartz's doing this?" she asks in disbelief.

Ariana later reveals that she immediately confronted Raquel. "I called Raquel and I started like, making her like, f**king tell me what the f**k? When did this start?" Ariana goes on to say.

"She said, 'Right after the girls trip.' I'm like, 'You mean right after Charlotte died?' " she adds. In a flashback scene, Ariana can be seen telling her castmates that she needs to go back earlier because her dog Charlotte "is not going to come back this time."

Back to the present time, Ariana says Raquel told her that they kissed. "Well, later that night when we were out here, I pressed Tom. And he said, well, they actually f**ked in her car that night. And he didn't have a key to get in so he had to ring the doorbell and I had to let him in."

Both Scheana and Katie are stunned. "I'm no," Katie responds. "My emotions were clearly all over the place and he was angry at me. Angry. At me!" Ariana concludes.

Tom and Raquel's affair was exposed in early March. Both of them issued public apologies to Ariana, though Tom claimed in an interview with Howie Mandel that he and Ariana already broke up when the news broke online. Ariana, meanwhile, appears to have moved on with Daniel Wai.

Season 10 finale of "Vanderpump Rules" will air on May 17 on Bravo. It will be followed by the three-part reunion that kicks off May 24.

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The Baton Rouge rapper appears in court in San Diego, where he was arrested on four gun-related charges when filming a music video with Bully Three earlier this month.

May 17, 2023

AceShowbiz - Boosie Badazz (Lil Boosie) has pleaded not guilty to a gun charge. The Baton Rouge rapper appeared in court on Monday, May 15 in San Diego, where he was arrested when filming a music video with Bully Three earlier this month.

According to reports, two defense attorneys that are representing the "Wipe Me Down" rapper declined to comment on the latest developments in the case following his arraignment. Meanwhile, an additional person who was arrested with him wasn't charged in regards to the incident.

Boosie was put in San Diego County Jail on May 6 and booked on a total of four charges. They included felon in possession of a firearm, concealed carry weapon in a vehicle, possession of ammunition by a prohibited person and unlisted owner of a registered firearm.

The Louisiana rhymer was then freed from prison on $50,000 bail. If he's convicted of the gun charge, he faces up to three years in prison.

Following the release, Boosie lashed out at the San Diego police during his performance on May 7. In a video circulating online, the 40-year-old could be seen leading the crowd in a "F**k San Diego Police" chant while they all held up their middle fingers. Boosie added, "Suck my d**k you b***hes."

Boosie is no stranger to hitting back at police officers. Back in July 2022, he threatened to sue police for harassment after he was pulled over in Georgia for dark tints and a concealed tag. Police found weed and a large bag of cash upon searching the vehicle.

"I can't keep going through this though, bro," he said to the police in a video posted by TMZ. "I just can't, bro. I don't do no wrong. I gotta go to y'all superiors and file charges, man. It's harassment. It's every day. I moved to the country to f**king live, bro. I did six years on my back. I'm f**king tired, bruh."

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Nearly two weeks after the coronation of King Charles III, the Duchess of Sussex becomes the guest of honor at the NYC ceremony to receive the Women of Vision award.

May 17, 2023

AceShowbiz - Meghan Markle made her first notable public appearance after skipping King Charles' May 6 coronation. Nearly two weeks after passing up on attending the royal ceremony, the Duchess of Sussex showed up at the Ms. Foundation gala in New York City alongside her royal husband Prince Harry.

On Tuesday night, May 16, the 41-year-old came to the event held at Ziegfeld Ballroom in Manhattan as a guest of honor. Arriving also with her mother Doria Ragland, she was there to receive the Women of Vision Award from Gloria Steinem, the co-founder of Ms. Foundation for Women.

Meghan was presented with the honor in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the country's oldest women's charity. Gloria declared that the award was to honor the former actress' "global advocacy to empower and advocate on behalf of women and girls."

For the occasion, Meghan looked stunning in an all-gold ensemble. The mother of two opted to wear a strapless quilted gold midi dress that was designed by Joanna Ortiz with a knee-length slit and a small cutout on the front part. She completed her look with a pair of gold hoop earrings and a few sparkling bracelets.

Meghan also carried a matching Carolina Herrera clutch bag and wore a pair of matching open-toe Tom Ford heels. Adding a touch of elegance to her look, she styled her long dark hair in loose waves, parting it to the side.

Meghan Markle attended the Ms. Foundation Awards in an all-gold ensemble.

Meghan's husband, Harry, sported a navy blue blazer and a pair of fitted matching pants. Under the blazer, the Duke of Sussex wore a long-sleeved white button-up shirt with a light blue tie. He completed the look with a pair of glossy black shoes.

Meghan's appearance at the gala came more than ten days after King Charles was formally crowned. Missing out on the special occasion, she was spotted going for a hike that same day. While her husband was present in London, she was seen hiking with her friends Markus Anderson and Heather Dorak Markle.

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The 'Awwsome' hitmaker slams allegations that he pulled out a weapon and made a threat to his girlfriend during an altercation that led to his arrest on Saturday, May 13.

May 17, 2023

AceShowbiz - Shy Glizzy is taking matters into his own hands to deny recent allegations against him. After he was arrested over the weekend following an incident involving his girlfriend, he denied that he ever pulled a gun on her.

The rapper broke his silence on his latest run-in the law via Instagram Story. He posted on Tuesday, May 16, "The accusations made against me are completely false." He insisted, "I would never in my life pull a weapon out to harm a female in any way so stop with the BS allegations! What is wrong with ppl?"

Video surfaced on Sunday showing Shy and his manager being detained at gunpoint by police in Sherman Oaks, California. In the viral clip, a man was seen raising his two hands while standing behind a car. Another man was seen lying face down next to the car on what looks like the parking lot, while police officers surrounded them. Some of the cops were seen carrying guns as they gave instructions from afar.

TMZ later reported that the arrest stemmed from a verbal altercation between the Southwest rapper and his on-and-off girlfriend which escalated to the point where he grabbed a firearm and made a threat. It reportedly occurred on a public street around 9 A.M. on Saturday and he took off after the argument.

West Hollywood Sheriff's Deputies somehow got involved and a criminal report was made. Shy was eventually tracked down by 6 P.M. that day and arrested on a felony charge of making criminal threats.

Police reportedly did not find a gun on Shy when he was arrested and he denied ever threatening his girlfriend, whom he has reportedly been dating on and off for 4 months. Records show he was released after about 4 hours behind bars on a $50,000 bond, while the case remains under investigation.

The girlfriend, whose identity has not been made public, has since filed documents asking for a restraining order against Shy.

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The 'Mad Max: Fury Road' actress heaps praise on a former refugee who becomes a finalist for Africa Education Medal due to his charity works in his home country.

May 18, 2023

AceShowbiz - Charlize Theron has showed support for a refugee who returned to Rwanda to work with orphaned youths after he was named a finalist for Africa Education Medal 2023. The 47-year-old actress - who has adopted children Jackson, 12, and seven-year-old August - feels "so grateful" to have met Jean-Claude Nkulikiyimfura, the executive director of Agahozo-Shalom Youth Village (ASYV), an initiative to help empower young people who have lost one or both parents in his home country.

She's thrilled he's in the running for the prestigious education accolade, which was founded last year by T4 Education and HP in collaboration with Microsoft.

"If you ever visit the Agahozo-Shalom Youth Village, you will immediately feel how special of a place it is - JC has fostered a peaceful environment of healing and growth through his passion, empathy, humility, and genuine care for others," said Charlize - who created her own foundation, Charlize Theron Africa Outreach Project (CTAOP), in 2007.

"And it doesn't stop at the gates of the village - his commitment to supporting the educational and emotional development of all young people is evident in his efforts to center youth voice and experience in curriculum. It is helping to build the foundation for a vibrant community of young changemakers that will undoubtedly lead to a bright future for Rwanda."

"All of us at Charlize Theron Africa Outreach Project are so grateful to have met JC and walk a small piece of this journey together with him and the Agahozo-Shalom Youth Village. And we couldn't be more thrilled that such an amazing human is being considered for this award."

Jean-Claude's parents - who were both orphans - fled Rwanda in 1961 and he was born a refugee in Burundi, but his mother and father taught their children they would one day return to their country of birth to restore justice and dignity and he began working for ASVY in 2010.

Gaspard Twagirayezu, Rwanda's Minister of State for Primary and Secondary Education, said, "Jean-Claude is a visionary leader who is making a positive impact on the education system in Rwanda, and his dedication to improving the lives of young people is truly inspiring."

"He has invested his talent in healing the hearts of those who have experienced trauma, preparing them for the challenges of the ever-changing world and creating a lasting impact on the country's future generations."

Other finalists for the Africa Education Medal include Mary Ashun, Principal of Ghana International School, Ghana; Laura Kakon, Chief Growth and Strategy Officer of Honoris United Universities, Morocco; Rogers Kamugisha, Country Director of Educate!, Rwanda; Grace Matlhape, CEO of SmartStart, South Africa; Mary Metcalfe, former policymaker and CEO of Programme to Improve Learning Outcomes (PILO), South Africa; Martha Muhwezi, Executive Director of FAWE, Uganda; Simi Nwogugu, CEO of JA Africa, Nigeria; Sara Ruto, Former Chief Administrative Secretary of Kenya's Ministry of Education and former CEO of PAL Network, Kenya; and Snehar Shah, CEO of Moringa School, Kenya.

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The global PR and comms industry just lost one of its all-time greats: Tony Christodoulou. He was the founder and chairman of Action Global Communications. Tony passed away last week, and it's a major loss for the industry.

Back in 1971, Tony started the Action network in Nicosia, Cyprus. He had a passion for storytelling like no other, and he worked his magic for a solid 35 years with British Airways, taking the Action brand to a whopping 40 markets. British Airways was expanding exponentially in the '80s and '90s, opening up all these fresh biz and tourism destinations. Tony took advantage of that and made Action the biggest indie agency network in the Middle East, North Africa, and parts of Europe.

In '94, Tony made moves in the UAE, setting up Action's first presence in Dubai after snagging MCS. This was a game-changer for the PR and comms scene in the Middle East. Tony built teams and made his mark in the industry, showing love to clients from all kinds of industries.

But Tony wasn't just about PR. Homie was also the Honorary Consul General of New Zealand in Cyprus for 22 years. And he racked up a bunch of awards, including an Honorary Fellowship from MEPRA in 2018.

Tony's son, Chris, who's now the CEO, said his dad had an infectious personality. People from all over the MENA region are showing love on social media and industry platforms, reminiscing about Tony's mentorship. His legacy is something the whole Action Global Communications family is proud of.

Action Global Communications set up an online tribute book for Tony on its website. PR pros and industry bosses from around the world are leaving hundreds of messages honoring Tony's impact.

Tony's daughter, Kathy, who heads up new business development, said her father had a gift for forging real connections with clients and colleagues. In today's fast-paced industry, where everyone's focused on deliverables, that personal touch often gets forgotten. But it's all in Action's DNA, and they're going to keep it alive in Tony's memory, pushing the agency and the industry forward.

Tony leaves behind his wife, Mickey, his children Chris and Kathy, and six grandchildren. Plus, there are thousands of past and present Action Global Communications employees who've been part of the team during the agency's 51-year run. Tony was 80 when he passed, but his legacy lives on.
Comcast CEO Brian Roberts has expressed the likelihood of selling its stake in the popular OTT streaming service Hulu to Disney. As one of the major players in the streaming industry, Comcast currently holds a one-third ownership stake in Hulu.

Despite the intention to sell, Roberts emphasized the significant value Comcast sees in its position within Hulu. This suggests that the company expects a substantial sum in return for its portion of the streaming service.

Roberts made these remarks during an event organised by MoffettNathanson, highlighting Comcast's strategic considerations. The company's position remains strong due to its possession of a 'put' option, which obliges Disney, the majority owner of Hulu with a 66% stake, to acquire Comcast's minority stake.

Regarding the potential benefits for Comcast shareholders, Roberts expressed confidence in the outcome of the Hulu stake sale. He stated: "I'm highly confident that the sale of our Hulu stake will yield a higher return than our initial investment. In fact, this is contractually guaranteed."

Reports indicate that the valuation for Hulu was established at $27.5 billion (25.3bn) in 2019 as part of an agreement between Comcast and Disney. It is expected that the final price for Comcast's one-third stake will surpass this base amount, further emphasizing the favorable position of the company in negotiations.
India's Brightest Investor, Nikhil Kamath is here with the 4th episode of his podcast series where the founder of various companies hosts a panel .to discuss a current hot topic- ChatGPT. After dropping out of school post class 10, Nikhil went onto become India's youngest Billionaire and is currently making use of highly consumed digital platforms to break down relevant topics for the layman, along with a panel of various achievers and experts in and around the field that he brings together, for an opinion based discussion

In the insightful podcast Nikhil Kamath hosted guests like Varun Mayya, the CEO of Scenes & Tech Expert, comedian Tanmay Bhatt, Umang Bedi, the Co-founder of Josh and DailyHunt and Aprameya RadhaKrishna, Co-founder of TaxiForSure and Koo to discuss about ChatGPT in the latest episode. While Varun explained a lot of the tech behind the artificial intelligence platform, Nikhil also revealed the secret behind happiness and being content, covering an array of topics in the middle too, such as the rise of fake news because of such platforms and which AI inventing companies' stock to invest in and much more.

When talking about whether the increase of AI technology would possibly lead to more depression among humans, Nikhil says, "I have figured out the secret of happiness and contentment- Low expectations. Every philosopher, every school of thought that you read from ever, you take Buddhism you take confucianism, you take anything.." and while others agreed and chipped in about desire being equal to suffering, Nikhil added, "So I was reading this really cool book okay, just last night. We've been taught to think that being indifferent is a bad thing, so in the book the person was talking about Alexander and Diogenes. So Diogenes is lying in the sun, okay he's like a random guy just lying in the sun. Alexander is this all powerful, ruler of the world, who can do anything for you if he wishes to. Alexander walks up to Diogenes, covers the sun which is falling on him and he asks what can I do for you, so Diogenes replies, 'Move away from the sun', even though Alexander is who he is. And Alexander is so impressed by that act, because of the indifference of Diogenes that he goes and talks about it and Diogenes becomes the coolest thing in his mind- and I think the world is going in that direction." Concluding his point Nikhil says, I feel like being indifferent and having like really low expectations, is the key to happiness and content.
As Netflix is embarking on a mission to address the widespread phenomenon of password sharing, the streaming titan has warned telecom companies such as Sky, Virgin Media, and BT to brace for potential customer backlash.

Netflix estimates that approximately 100 million paying households globally share their Netflix passwords with friends and family. Already taking action in regions such as Latin America, New Zealand, Spain, Portugal, and Canada, the company is now set to target its British subscribers in the coming weeks.

According to research conducted by Digital i, nearly 4 million homes, roughly a quarter of the UK's 15 million Netflix subscribers, generously grant others access to their accounts. Netflix's proposed solution involves urging paying customers to designate a primary location for their account. If their account is utilized from other areas, the account holder will receive a warning. To incentivize these generous sharers to transition to a "paid sharing" model, Netflix aims to offer additional features for a nominal fee.

The company has already initiated talks with its partners, such as Sky, TalkTalk, Virgin Media, and BT, who bundle Netflix with their TV and broadband packages. These discussions serve to forewarn the partners about the impending crackdown, as reported by the Financial Times.

Telecoms companies can anticipate an influx of customer inquiries via calls, chats, and emails regarding the potential limitations on usage that had become customary for sharing without charge.

Matt Ross, Managing Director of Digital i, predicts an initial knee-jerk reaction from some subscribers, stating, "We have observed a decline in viewing per account in Spain, where Netflix has already commenced its efforts to curb password sharing. The lingering question pertains to the overall impact on long-term subscriber numbers."

Notably, Spain exhibits a significantly higher rate of password sharing compared to the UK, with 39% of Netflix users openly sharing their login details.

Earlier this year, Netflix tactically postponed the wider implementation of its password sharing crackdown, shifting the timeline from the first quarter to the April-June period, owing to an observed "cancel reaction."
President Yoon Suk Yeol speaks during the 2023 Asian Leadership Conference at the Shilla Hotel in Jung District, Seoul, Wednesday. Joint Press Corps



Ukraine first lady urges Seoul to provide air defense systems



By Nam Hyun-woo



President Yoon Suk Yeol slammed Russia for its "attempts to change the status quo by force and coercive diplomacy," during a conference attended by Ukraine's first lady Olena Zelenska, Wednesday.



"Instead of joining forces to resolve global challenges, there are groups resorting to attempts to change the status quo by force, coercive diplomacy and nuclear threats," Yoon said during his speech at the 2023 Asian Leadership Conference in central Seoul.



"Such attempts blatantly violate international law and norms, and the international community must join hands, respond firmly and collectively to uphold international law and norms in the face of these violations."



Yoon mentioned North Korea's escalating nuclear and missile threats and Russia's aggression against Ukraine as examples of such attempts.



Citing his meeting with Zelenska a day earlier, Yoon said he was informed of the sufferings and human rights violations that Ukrainians are facing due to "an illegal invasion." He said that countries sharing common values of freedom, human rights and rule of law should "never allow the illegal invasion of Ukraine and the attempt to change the status quo by force to become a successful precedent."



"The international support and assistance for Ukraine are not only for the benefit of Ukraine and its people but also for the global community," the president said. "By strengthening the cooperative systems of the international community in responding to global crises and challenges, I am confident that the benefits and advantages will be reciprocated to all global citizens."





President Yoon Suk Yeol and Ukraine first lady Olena Zelenska, applaud during the 2023 Asian Leadership Conference at the Shilla Hotel in Seoul, Wednesday. Joint Press Corps
Three Percent Collective, a Bengaluru-based Digital Marketing Agency backed by Malabar Groups IMC, has appointed Amit Bidholia as the Business Head.

Based out of Delhi, Amit will be spearheading the agencys growth and clients retention.

Amit, a customer-centric digital first marketer brings with him almost two decades of experience in creating and leading businesses and teams both locally and globally. Before joining Three Percent Collective, he worked with Alchemlife Pvt Ltd as General Manager Marketing where he was responsible for driving business growth via digital media. Amit previously worked with brands like General Motors and Cleartrip as Head of Digital Marketing.

Welcoming Amit, Pradeep Singh, Cofounder, Three Percent Collective said, Amit is joining us at a time when Three Percent is at an inflection point in its journey. Amits experience in digital marketing will be an asset as we continue to grow. We are confident that his skills will only help us to grow faster.

Commenting on his appointment, Amit Bidholia, Business Head, Three Percent Collective said, I am delighted to join Three Percent Collective and look forward to playing my role in its growth journey. Three Percent has a proven track record of helping its clients with digital transformation. I believe in its current growth journey and future potential. I am excited about the opportunity to further build ourselves as one of the most sought-after agencies to work with.

Commenting on Amits appointment, CTP Ummer Kutty, Executive Director, IMC said, Amits rich experience will further add to the momentum for the Agencys growth story and will definitely add value to the joint venture we have.

Three Percent Collective, the digital arm of Malabar Groups IMC is a digital marketing agency with offices in Bengaluru, Kozhikode and Delhi. Three Percent Collective was founded by Praveen Rao, Achuth Nair and Pradeep Singh.
The Federal Council

Bern, 17.05.2023 - At its meeting on 17 May 2023, the Federal Council approved Switzerland's provision of a loan to support the Resilience and Sustainability Trust (RST) of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). It adopted the dispatch for a guarantee credit of CHF 750 million.

The loan from the Swiss National Bank (SNB), amounting to 500 million Special Drawing Rights (SDRs; around CHF 620 mn), is to be provided in the form of a ten-year deposit. The federal guarantee amounting to CHF 750 million includes a reserve of CHF 130 million to cover SDR exchange rate fluctuations.

The RST enables IMF loans to be granted for macroeconomic reforms and structural measures to deal with climate change, as well as to prevent and combat pandemics. This not only allows resilience to be strengthened in the target countries, but also helps to support the financial and economic system as a whole.

At present, 143 countries have access to this new instrument, including the members of the Swiss voting constituency in the IMF and World Bank, as well as some of Switzerland's other partner countries in international development cooperation. As an open and dynamic economy, Switzerland has a huge interest in stable and well-functioning currency and financial relations that also include emerging market and developing economies.

Address for enquiries

Communications

State Secretariat for International Finance SIF

Tel. +41 58 462 46 16, info@sif.admin.ch

Publisher

The Federal Council

https://www.admin.ch/gov/en/start.html



State Secretariat for International Financial Matters

http://www.sif.admin.ch




The Federal Council

Bern, 17.05.2023 - Switzerland is contributing CHF 212 million to the 16th replenishment of the African Development Fund (ADF). The funds are deployed in the 37 poorest countries in Africa to fight poverty and climate change. They are intended to help achieve the goals set out in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. On 17 May, the Federal Council also decided that Switzerland would contribute CHF 27.5 million towards the Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative (MDRI).

The current global crises are hitting the poorest African countries particularly hard. Without international support, there is a threat of further setbacks. The African Development Bank (AfDB) fund supports the 37 poorest African countries. Between 2023 and 2025, it will invest USD 8.8 billion in improving economic framework conditions, developing the private sector, addressing the impact of climate change and supporting fragile and conflict-affected countries.

Switzerland is contributing CHF 212 million towards these efforts, CHF 15 million of which will go towards a newly created climate initiative. In addition, Switzerland is continuing its commitment to the Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative (MDRI), which has been in place since 2005, by contributing CHF 27.5 million. Thanks to this initiative, over-indebted countries do not have to repay their AfDB loans if they implement certain reforms.

Switzerland's contribution sends an important signal of solidarity with Africa's poorest countries and so underlines the continent's importance to Switzerland in terms of its development policy, foreign policy and foreign economic interests.

Switzerland is a longstanding member of the African Development Bank and plays an active part in shaping its strategic orientation and programmes through its representation in the governing bodies. It supports the ADF within the framework of the International Cooperation Strategy 2021-2024.

Address for enquiries

EAER Communications

info@gs-wbf.admin.ch,

+41 58 462 20 07



FDFA Communications

info@eda.admin.ch

+41 58 462 31 53

Publisher

The Federal Council

https://www.admin.ch/gov/en/start.html



Federal Department of Economic Affairs, Education and Research

http://www.wbf.admin.ch



Federal Department of Foreign Affairs

https://www.eda.admin.ch/eda/en/home.html




General Secretariat FDHA

Bern, 17.05.2023 - As part of Switzerlands presidency of the UN Security Council, President Alain Berset will chair an open debate dedicated to the protection of civilians in armed conflict on Tuesday, 23 May. According to UN figures, 70 per cent of people suffering from acute hunger live in conflict areas.

Protecting civilians in armed conflict is one of Switzerland's priorities for its work in the UN Security Council in 2023/24, alongside the commitment to sustainable peace, enhancing effectiveness in the Council and climate security. The visits that President Berset paid to Mozambique in February and to the Democratic Republic of the Congo in April were primarily devoted to these topics.

In 2018 and 2021, the Security Council unanimously adopted resolutions on food security and protecting civilian infrastructure in conflict zones. Resolution 2417 specifically condemns the starvation of civilians as a method of warfare. In Resolution 2573, the Security Council condemned unlawful attacks on objects critical to the delivery of essential services to the civilian population.

Furthermore, more people die worldwide from the consequences of armed conflict than from the violence itself. In light of numerous conflicts, including Russia's military aggression against Ukraine, the Council will also address how to improve food security in affected areas.

The high-level debate in the UN Security Council is intended to underline the importance of international humanitarian law in armed conflict - an issue that Switzerland has long been a strong advocate of. Speakers at the debate will include UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, the president of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Mirjana Spoljaric Egger, and a civil society representative from West Africa.

Digital dilemmas in humanitarian work

On the evening before, President Berset will open an exhibition entitled Digital Dilemmas' at the UN headquarters in New York together with UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed and ICRC President Spoljaric Egger. The immersive experience, organised by Switzerland and the ICRC, is dedicated to the opportunities and challenges of digitalisation in the field of humanitarian work.

For civilians caught up in conflict, sharing data can help them find loved ones and access medical care and food, but it can also render them vulnerable. Information about their ethnicity, location, health and beliefs can make them targets. And while the use of artificial intelligence can help clarify matters, making humanitarian operations more effective, it can also reinforce stereotypes due to skewed data.

Address for enquiries

GS-FDHA Communications, Tel. +41 58 462 85 79, media@gs-edi.admin.ch

Publisher

General Secretariat FDHA

http://www.edi.admin.ch




A Birmingham area food trailer taken earlier this month has been found in Georgia.

The owners of Battle Axes Feast reported their trailer stolen May 8 from the business Vulcan Road commissary kitchen location in Homewood.

The thief only left behind broken locks and cut cords, making off with the trailer and its refrigerators, fryers and other equipment.

According to the trailers owner, Drew Reece, the trailer made it to Clayton County, Ga. in the north central part of the state. Last Thursday, Reece was contacted by a man in Georgia who said he had bought the trailer and found the business documentation and permits inside.

We have been told that there is damage that has been done to it, however we do not know how extensive the damage is, a post on the Battle Axes Feast Facebook page reads.

The owners are waiting for police in Georgia to release the vehicle.

Thank you to the food truck community for checking in on us and supporting us throughout this difficult time, the post reads. Keep an eye out, the Feast shall return!
You could say anything goes at the Hangout Music Fest, but lots of things wont even go through the entrance gate.

Heres this years guide to a lot things you cant bring in, and a few you can if you do it the right way.

The Nope List:

Tents, umbrellas, any temporary structures, hard or soft coolers, chairs, inflatable loungers, hammocks

Pets (except service animals with current rabies vaccination)

Video equipment including GoPro-type cameras, professional photo equipment, audio recording equipment

Weapons, knives or firearms, including any item that can be used as a weapon.

Narcotics, including marijuana, drug paraphernalia or other illegal substances.

Most backpacks, cinch bags, briefcases, purses or bags. See below for whats allowed.

Alcoholic beverages, food, or other outside beverages

Unsealed disposable vapor or electronic cigarettes or unsealed packages of cigarettes.

Unsealed packages of tampons, gum and chapstick/lip gloss

Drones or other remote flying devices

Vitamins

Kites, glow sticks, focused light devices including laser pointers, marker pens, spray paint, air horns, megaphones, water guns, water balloons, any other water projectiles, fidget spinners, skateboards, rollerblades, hoverboards, scooters, bicycles (youre perfectly welcome to ride them to the fest, but you cant bring them in), wagons, motorized carts or scooters, large chains or spiked jewelry, Chinese lanterns, fireworks, sparklers, firecrackers, other incendiary or explosive devices, boom boxes or other audio equipment, professional radios, walkie-talkies, flags, flagpoles, selfie sticks

Any item that can be used as a means to disturb the peace, endanger the safety of the crowd, and/or inflict damage to people and goods.

The Yes (Maybe) List:

Liquid sunscreen, bug spray (Must be in non-aerosol containers of 3 ounces or less)

Backpacks, bags and purses (If they are clear and no larger than 12 x 6 x 12) One-gallon clear freezer bags also are acceptable.

Fanny packs

Small hand-sized clutch bags with or without handle/strap

Blankets and beach towels, sunglasses and hats

Water bottle (One per person, must be empty as you enter, cant be glass, two-liter maximum)

Naloxone/Narcan (Must be factory-sealed nasal kit, no more than two per person)

Baby strollers (Small children required)

Water bladder (Although SINGLE POCKET CamelBak style water bladder systems are allowed EMPTY into the venue, the water bladders themselves must be capable of being removed from the carrier and must be transparent enough to allow security to visually inspect the empty bladder. Additionally, CamelBak style bladder carriers must have no more than ONE pocket in addition to the compartment that hold the water bladder. Any CamelBak style water bladders that cannot be removed from the carrier and/or is opaque enough to prevent visual inspection will not be allowed into the festival. Any CamelBak style bladder carriers larger than the permitted size will not be allowed into the festival.)

Medicine (Prescription medications are allowed only in the original prescription bottle, any person attempting to bring in prescription medication must have a government issued photo identification card that matches the name printed on the prescription, and the pills in the bottle must match the description printed on the prescription. You will only be allowed to carry the dosage of prescription medication required for the duration of each individual Event date. Over-the-counter medications are allowed provided that they are new and in the original, factory-sealed container.)

The fine print:

ALLOWED/PROHIBITED ITEMS ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE. Hangout Music Festival and private security personnel at the entrances reserve the right to make the final determination on allowed and nonallowed items.

The 2023 Hangout Music Fest takes place May 19-21 in Gulf Shores. Tickets are available through www.hangoutmusicfest.com. Prices (not counting fees) are $349 for General Admission, $569 for GA Plus, $1,299 for VIP and $2,399 for Super VIP. For continuing festival coverage, visit www.al.com/hangout.

Related:

Gulf Shores traffic changes begin Monday ahead of Hangout Music Festival

Who are these people? 5 Hangout Fest acts that might be a bigger deal than you think

Gulf Shores mayor on Hangout Fest: I believe its done a lot for city
As he frequently does, Birmingham chef Adam Evans dropped by Johnnys Restaurant in Homewood for lunch on Monday, bringing along his wife, Suzanne, and their soon-to-be-2-year-old-son, Hank.

I really love taking the family there, Evans, the James Beard Award-winning chef and co-owner of Birminghams Automatic Seafood and Oysters, said Tuesday afternoon. Its like one of our spots that we always go to at least once, if not twice a month.

On this particular visit, though, Evans wasnt there just for the cornmeal-breaded fried shrimp, but also to show his support for Johnnys executive chef and owner Timothy Hontzas.

It was the first time they had seen each other since Hontzas revealed last week that the James Beard Foundation had disqualified him as a finalist for this years best chef in the South award.

Hontzas was the only repeat finalist from among the five nominees, and, as such, was considered by some to be a favorite to win.

In an email to Hontzas, the foundation said that, following an independent investigation, its ethics committee found it more likely than not that he had violated the foundations code of ethics. The investigation, Hontzas said, stemmed from an anonymous complaint that he had yelled at an employee and at guests in his restaurant.

Hontzas has said in the past that, yes, he does sometimes get on to customers who leave the front door open or try to save seats  in fact, it has become something of a schtick.

RELATED: Meet the Alabama chef who has redefined the meat and three

And as for how he treats his employees, Hontzas told AL.com last week that many of them have worked with him for several years.

Why has my sous chef been with me over seven and a half years? he said.

Why has my dishwasher been with me over two and a half years? Why have two of the food runners out front been with me over five years? Why have two employees that used to work for me for two years come back to me in the past four months and asked me if they could have their jobs back?

It doesnt sound like too awful of a place to work, does it? he added.

The James Beard Foundation has declined to comment on the specifics of its investigation, or on the investigations findings.

The Foundation does not comment on specific allegations, it said in an email to AL.com.

Customers line up outside Johnny's Restaurant on Friday, May 12, 2023, the day after news broke that chef and owner Timothy Hontzas had been disqualified from the 2023 James Beard Awards.(Bob Carlton/bcarlton@al.com)

A show of support

As it has been for the past few days, the dining room at Johnnys was packed when Evans and his family visited on Monday.

(A photo posted on the Johnnys Restaurant Instagram account shows a crowd of customers lined up on the sidewalk outside Johnnys waiting for the restaurant to open Sunday morning.)

People are showing up and supporting him, Evans said today. I was proud, just for Tim, to see that. And my word (for him) was, Im here for you. . . .

Its really unfortunate this is costing him something he really wanted, Evans added. Thats been taken away now, and its a shame, but I really think something good will come out of it for him.

Hes too good of a guy, too hard of a worker, to not come out better on the other side.

The disqualification, and the aftermath

This time last year, Evans and Hontzas were both first-time finalists for the James Beard Award for best chef in the South, an award that Evans later won. (Hontzas was previously a semifinalist for the award from 2017 to 2020.)

Before and since, the two chefs have been champions of each others cooking and frequent guests at one anothers restaurant.

Evans said he first got wind that something was up last week when he saw a cryptic Instagram post from Oxford, Miss., chef John Currence, a close friend and mentor to Hontzas.

The post included a photo of Currences 2009 James Beard Award for best chef in the South, which Currence had taken off the wall of his City Grocery restaurant and smashed with a brick, shattering the glass.

Evans texted Hontzas but did not get an immediate response.

The next day, he found out what had happened.

A lot like other people, I was just kind of shocked, Evans said. I dont recall something like this happening.

RELATED: Meet Alabama chef Adam Evans of Automatic Seafood and Oysters

Following Hontzas disqualification, another Oxford, Miss., chef, Vishwesh Bhatt, the head chef at Currences Snackbar restaurant, took his 2019 James Beard Award for best chef in the South down from the wall of the restaurant, and, as reported by The Food Section, he stepped down from his post as a volunteer judge for the regional restaurant and chef awards.

The Food Section also reported that food and culture writer Todd Price of the USA Today Network also resigned as a judge on this years chef and restaurant awards committee after learning Hontzas had been disqualified.

Price told The Washington Post he wasnt even made aware of the fact that Hontzas was being investigated and learned he had been disqualified not from the James Beard Foundation but from phone calls and text messages he received following last weeks AL.com story.

I felt it was better to just step away and make it clear that I wasnt involved in this process that was completely opaque to me, Price told The Post.

In this 2022 photo, Timothy Hontzas, left, cuts up in the kitchen of Johnny's Restaurant with one of his cooks, Ethan Mankins.(Photo by Beth Hontzas Photography; used with permission)

The heat in the kitchen

Regarding the complaint about Hontzas yelling at his employees, Evans said Hontzas is a lot louder and more demonstrative than most chefs.

I dont know all the details, but I know, from what Ive seen of him and from our interactions, that hes a hard-working chef, Evans said.

He is very passionate about what he does, and he cares about the people that work for him and the people that come in there and spend their money.

Evans said when he was working in New York City for celebrity chef Tom Colicchio at his restaurant Craft in the mid-to-late 2000s, the kitchen was noisy and intense, and emotions often boiled over.

My experience in New York was that was how I was taught, he said. Theres a lot of screaming, a lot of yelling.

One day, though, Colicchio told his staff that times were changing, Evans recalled.

Tom Colicchio came into the kitchen and said, Hey guys, were not going to yell. . . . This is not the way to do it anymore. It didnt completely end after that, but he was making a statement.

I can see how it really bothers some people, but for me, I learned really well in that environment, Evans added. You had a reason to not make the same mistake again because you didnt want to get yelled at. I can handle it. A lot of people didnt take it so well.

The winners of the 2023 James Beard Restaurant and Chef Awards will be announced June 5 at the Lyric Opera of Chicago.

Following Hontzas disqualification, Birminghams Bottega restaurant, a finalist for outstanding hospitality, is the only Alabama restaurant or chef nominated.

READ MORE ON ALABAMA FOOD:

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63 years of memories at an old-school Alabama burger and shake shack

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A settlement has been reached in a family dispute over the will of the late Lisa Marie Presley, daughter of music great Elvis Presley, lawyers told a Los Angeles judge on Tuesday.

The settlement, for which terms were not disclosed, is subject to court approval.

The deal resolves a dispute Priscilla Presley raised that challenged the validity of an amendment to the will of Lisa Marie Presley, her late daughter.

Everyone is happy, said Ronson J. Shamoun, Priscilla Presleys attorney, after the court hearing. Shamoun, who also represents Lisa Marie Presleys trust (known as the Promenade Trust), described the family as united.

L.A. County Superior Court Judge Lynn H. Scaduto set Aug. 4 as the date for the next hearing in the case.

Representatives for Lisa Marie Presleys daughter, Riley Keough, were present at the hearing. Lawyers for her other children appeared remotely.

The deal brings to an end uncertainty over who will control the late Lisa Marie Presleys will, the legacy of the Graceland Mansion and many of the King of Rock n Rolls personal possessions.

In 1993, Lisa Marie Presley had appointed her mother and then business manager Barry Siegel as co-trustees of her trust. However, after Lisa Marie Presley died on Jan. 12 in Los Angeles, her mother said she discovered an amendment to the will, dated March 11, 2016, that replaced them both as trustees upon her death.

Priscilla Presley in January asked the court to determine the validity of the amendment. In her filing, she said the amendment stipulated that she and Siegel would be replaced by Lisa Maries eldest children, Riley Keough, 33, and Benjamin Keough  who died in 2020 at age 27.

However, Priscilla Presley questioned the authenticity of Lisa Marie Presleys signature on the document, noting that the document misspelled Priscilla Presleys name and that the amendment was never delivered to her during her daughters lifetime as required by the express terms of the trust.

Moreover, the document was never witnessed or notarized. According to her filing, Priscilla Presley believed Siegel would resign as co-trustee, lining up Riley Keough as co-trustee alongside her.

Lisa Marie Presley is survived by her three daughters, actor Riley Keough and twins Harper and Finley Lockwood, from two different ex-husbands.

When she died she owned Elvis iconic Memphis, Tennessee, mansion, Graceland, and retained ownership of her fathers costumes, cars, awards and other possessions, according to the mansions website. Presley, 54, had helped oversee her late fathers estate before she died earlier in January after suffering a cardiac arrest.

Despite the legal wrangling, Priscilla Presley had denied any family rift in a February statement.

Siegel and Lisa Marie Presley had battled in court in 2018, after Presley sued Siegel over alleged financial mismanagement and claimed to be more than $16 million in debt that year. Siegel then countersued, accusing Presley of wasting her inheritance and owing him money.

2023 Los Angeles Times. Visit latimes.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
If youre heading to Gulf Shores for the Hangout Music Fest, or if youre planning a visit later in the year, Southern Living has provided a little guidance on where to eat.

In a new article titled The Best Places To Eat In Gulf Shores, Alabama, the folks at www.southernliving.com narrow it down to nine venues. Whether youre looking for a place to eat breakfast, lunch, or dinner, they boldly proclaim, theres sure to be a restaurant on this list thats serving up exactly what youre looking for.

Naturally, some of the citys biggest, beachiest businesses get the nod, starting with Bahama Bobs Beachside Cafe; Tacky Jacks; The Hangout itself, and sister business The Sunliner Diner; the Original Oyster House; and LuLus, the flagship restaurant of Jimmy Buffetts sister Lucy Buffett. LuLus gets a special nod for its wide variety of allergy-friendly dishesincluding options that are dairy free, egg free, gluten free, shellfish free, soy free, seafood free, and sesame and nut free. And for its Hot Fun Krispy Kreme Bread Pudding.

Another high-profile pick: Perch, located in The Lodge at Gulf State Park, with a breathtaking, unobstructed view of the sun setting over the Gulf as well as an elevated menu and daily specials from Executive Chef James Balster that capitalize on fresh local and regional ingredients.

Rounding things out are local favorites Mikees Seafood Restaurant and DeSotos Seafood Kitchen.

Read the full Southern Living list.

More on Alabama beaches:

Alabama beach town makes another best of list

Southern Living says this Alabama beach town is best -- at least for the dudes

Five low-key ways to destroy your diet in Gulf Shores
President Yoon Suk Yeol speaks during a joint press conference after his summit with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at the presidential office in Seoul, Wednesday. Yonhap



By Nam Hyun-woo



President Yoon Suk Yeol and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau agreed to expand the two countries' partnership in defense and security, hailing the recent launch of negotiations for an information security agreement between Seoul and Ottawa as a "legal basis for the two countries' cooperation."



Along with defense cooperation, Yoon and Trudeau made a series of promises for deeper bilateral relations during their summit in Seoul, Wednesday, which was held to mark the 60th anniversary of the two countries' diplomatic relations.



"We have further strengthened the legal and institutional framework to promote defense and security cooperation between our two countries," Yoon said during a joint press conference following the summit.



"The prime minister and I welcomed last December's revision of our bilateral MOU on the arms industries and logistics cooperation, as well as the start of negotiations in April for an agreement on the protection of confidential information, which will extend the scope of bilateral intelligence sharing to the defense and arms industry. The prime minister and I have agreed to sustain our support to expand the bilateral defense cooperation."



Yoon was referring to the announcement made by the foreign ministers of the two countries regarding the launch of negotiations for the information security agreement, which focuses on industrial security and defense.



The agreement, described as a legal basis for the two countries' defense cooperation, is aimed at defining processes for safeguarding each other's classified military and defense information at a level equivalent to national information.



By doing so, the scope of information protection could be expanded to private defense contractors of Korea and Canada, enabling their participation in each other's government procurement projects.





President Yoon Suk Yeol shakes hands with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau during their summit at the presidential office in Seoul, Wednesday. Yonhap
According to the folks at Southern Living, two Alabama cities are among the best vacation destinations if youre bringing grandchildren along.

Itll probably come as no surprise that the beach makes the cut for The Best Places To Travel With Your Grandchildren. Or that even though Orange Beach is listed, its sort of lumped in with Gulf Shores. (The article cites the attractions at The Wharf and dining opportunities such as The Gulf in Orange Beach but recommends a side trip to Gulf Shores to hit venues such as LuLus restaurant, The Hangout and Waterville USA.)

The list includes Huntsville as well, particularly if you have an aspiring astronaut or [grand]kids who love science. But theres more to see than just the U.S. Space & Rocket Center, the site says: Theres EarlyWorks Childrens Museum, the Alabama Constitution Village, and the Huntsville Museum of Art, for more educational and exciting experiences. Little Rosies Taqueria also comes highly recommended.

Alabama fares pretty well, considering the list includes major destinations such as Atlanta; Branson, Mo.; Nashville and Pigeon Forge, Tenn.; Washington, D.C.; and Orlando.

In all, 16 grandparent- and grandchild-friendly destinations made the cut. Read the full Southern Living list.

More on Alabama beaches:

Southern Living says these are the best restaurants in Gulf Shores

Waterville USA opening with Topgolf Swing Suites, other new features

A unique partnership landed this restaurant on a prime Alabama beach
My, how time flies.

Were a little more than one year away from the 2024 presidential election and the possibility of a second Joe Biden vs. Donald Trump showdown looms large.

Both candidates have announced their intentions to run for a second term in office  a consecutive second term for Biden, a Democrat, or a return for Trump, a Republican, after his 2020 loss. Bidens recent approval ratings show he faces an uphill battle to capture his partys nomination  a recent poll showed 58% of Democrats said they would rather their party pick someone else to be the presidential nominee.

Trump faces large challenges as well. He will likely be up against Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, among others, for the GOP nomination and theres also his looming legal issues. The former president was indicted in March for falsifying business records and a jury recently found him liable for defamation and sexual abuse in a civil court case in May.

READ MORE: Donald Trump on CNNs Kaitlan Collins: She was not exactly Barbara Walters

How Trumps ongoing troubles will influence his appeal  and his fundraising  remains to be seen though we can get an idea where he has the most support in Alabama with recent data from Stacker. Using data from the Federal Election Commission from Jan. 1, 2022 through March 31, 2023, Stacker compiled a list of ZIP codes that have donated the most money to Trump ahead of the 2024 election. Each ZIP code is ranked by its total donation amount per 1,000 people to the Donald J. Trump for President, Inc. campaign committee, filing as the Donald J. Trump For President 2024, Inc PAC.

You can see more of the methodology here.

Here are the 25 ZIP codes that have donated the most to Trump:

25. 35803 (Huntsville, Alabama)

Money donated per 1k people: $95.87 ($2,683 total)

Number of individual donations: 29 Population: 27,990

Median household income: $84,951

24. 35051 (Columbiana, Alabama)

Money donated per 1k people: $95.92 ($828 total)

Number of individual donations: 19 Population: 8,627

Median household income: $55,899

23. 35757 (Madison, Alabama)

Money donated per 1k people: $96.34 ($1,718 total)

Number of individual donations: 29 Population: 17,829

Median household income: $95,239

22. 35824 (Huntsville, Alabama)

Money donated per 1k people: $100.27 ($915 total)

Number of individual donations: 14 Population: 9,129

Median household income: $93,857

21. 35570 (Hamilton, Alabama)

Money donated per 1k people: $103.65 ($1,150 total)

Number of individual donations: 38 Population: 11,097

Median household income: $45,154

20. 35650 (Moulton, Alabama)

Money donated per 1k people: $105.79 ($1,375 total)

Number of individual donations: 80 Population: 12,996

Median household income: $55,199

19. 36303 (Dothan, Alabama)

Money donated per 1k people: $106.07 ($3,317 total)

Number of individual donations: 40 Population: 31,269

Median household income: $48,141

18. 35613 (Athens, Alabama)

Money donated per 1k people: $106.81 ($2,187 total)

Number of individual donations: 28 Population: 20,475

Median household income: $84,512

17. 35120 (Odenville, Alabama)

Money donated per 1k people: $109.84 ($1,879 total)

Number of individual donations: 28 Population: 17,106

Median household income: $65,795

16. 35406 (Tuscaloosa, Alabama)

Money donated per 1k people: $114.15 ($2,081 total)

Number of individual donations: 26 Population: 18,228

Median household income: $108,188

15. 35586 (Sulligent, Alabama)

Money donated per 1k people: $114.21 ($440 total)

Number of individual donations: 10 Population: 3,851

Median household income: $38,172

14. 35634 (Florence, Alabama)

Money donated per 1k people: $119.56 ($1,240 total)

Number of individual donations: 25 Population: 10,375

Median household income: $73,188

13. 35125 (Pell City, Alabama)

Money donated per 1k people: $120.94 ($1,300 total)

Number of individual donations: 27 Population: 10,752

Median household income: $49,030

12. 36271 (Ohatchee, Alabama)

Money donated per 1k people: $121.05 ($733 total)

Number of individual donations: 32 Population: 6,056

Median household income: $47,281

11. 36804 (Opelika, Alabama)

Money donated per 1k people: $123.14 ($2,378 total)

Number of individual donations: 59 Population: 19,307

Median household income: $51,699

10. 35242 (Birmingham, Alabama)

Money donated per 1k people: $123.32 ($7,039 total)

Number of individual donations: 165 Population: 57,077

Median household income: $107,191

9. 35043 (Chelsea, Alabama)

Money donated per 1k people: $128.53 ($1,806 total)

Number of individual donations: 15 Population: 14,054

Median household income: $94,959

8. 36266 (Lineville, Alabama)

Money donated per 1k people: $160.07 ($986 total)

Number of individual donations: 22 Population: 6,159

Median household income: $45,461

7. 35776 (Woodville, Alabama)

Money donated per 1k people: $177.52 ($612 total)

Number of individual donations: 25 Population: 3,447

Median household income: $44,868

6. 36604 (Mobile, Alabama)

Money donated per 1k people: $195.43 ($1,790 total)

Number of individual donations: 33 Population: 9,158

Median household income: $49,927

5. 35670 (Somerville, Alabama)

Money donated per 1k people: $207.63 ($1,384 total)

Number of individual donations: 24 Population: 6,667

Median household income: $55,559

4. 35983 (Leesburg, Alabama)

Money donated per 1k people: $280.39 ($1,112 total)

Number of individual donations: 29 Population: 3,966

Median household income: $58,867

3. 35740 (Bridgeport, Alabama)

Money donated per 1k people: $568.12 ($1,915 total)

Number of individual donations: 386 Population: 3,371

Median household income: $39,925

2. 35097 (Locust Fork, Alabama)

Money donated per 1k people: $999.02 ($1,938 total)

Number of individual donations: 38 Population: 1,940

Median household income: $44,688

1. 36528 (Dauphin Island, Alabama)

Money donated per 1k people: $1,049.41 ($1,859 total)

Number of individual donations: 38 Population: 1,771

Median household income: $62,560
The Alabama Senate approved a bill Tuesday that would increase the punishments for loitering.

The bill, HB24, sponsored by Rep. Reed Ingram, R-Montgomery, makes two or more arrests for loitering a Class C misdemeanor, with punishments of up to 30 days in jail and up to a $500 fine.

The bill passed 33-0. It goes to Gov. Kay Ivey.

More from Alabama Reflector

Under the legislation, law enforcement must offer to transport the person or ask them to peacefully leave the site before making an arrest.

Sen. Will Barfoot, R-Pike Road, carried the bill on the floor and said it was a public safety bill.

This bill addresses or attempts to address things from a public safety issue, he said. Its an attempt to make sure that we have law enforcement that can, instead of an arrest to begin with, that all law enforcement, if they see someone who is on state roads and right-aways can engage that individual.

Critics of the legislation say the legislation targets vulnerable groups.

The bills critics said that it targets vulnerable groups.
An Alabama man charged in the death of a pregnant Florida teen whose body was found last week now faces an additional capital murder charge.

Marquis Devan McCloud, 33, now faces an additional capital murder charge related to the death of 19-year-old Anastasia Gilleys unborn child, Houston County Sheriff Donald Valenza said at a news conference this morning.

He is being held without bond in the Houston County Jail. He is also charged with capital murder during a kidnapping in the death of Gilley.

He could face additional charges as the investigation develops.

This was a horrible crime committed, he said. The suspect has been very, very uncooperative from the beginning.

Gilleys remains were found in Houston County before dawn last Wednesday.

Houston County Sheriff Donald Valenza said last week that McCloud and Gilley were acquaintances but that investigators believe he held her against her will.

Today, he categorized their relationship as a semi-friendship that turned, at one point, very aggressive.

Gilley was last seen at her Jackson County, Florida, home on May 3. She was four months pregnant.

Anastasia Gilley (Jackson County, Fl. Sheriff's Office)

Her sister posted on Facebook that someone heard her scream near her home about 10:30 p.m. that evening and she had not been heard from or seen since then.

Her phone, purse and other personal belongings were found at her home. Valenza said its possible her phone was discarded against her wishes.

Valenzas office was notified about Gilleys disappearance on Sunday. A joint investigation by Houston County and the Jackson County Sheriffs Office in Florida ensued.

About 2 a.m. May 10, they received information from interviews that Gilleys body could be in the 5000 block area of Headland Avenue. When investigators arrived at the location, they found the decomposed remains of a female. Investigators believe she was shot multiple times at the scene, Valenza said.

Valenza said today investigators have not yet received a final autopsy report yet, but he has no doubt the remains are Gilley, based on items found on the body, clothing and jewelry. Investigators believe Gilley had been dead since at least the previous Friday.
Athens police have charged a man in the death of his two-year-old stepchild.

Capt. Brett M. Constable said officers responding to a call at an apartment complex found an unresponsive child Friday at about 10:30 a.m.

The child was transported to Athens-Limestone Hospital and was pronounced dead a few hours later. Detectives immediately launched an investigation.

Authorities have not released the childs name.

On Tuesday, Keshan Darrel Allen, 29, of Athens, was charged with murder and aggravated child abuse.

Limestone County Coroner Mike West, Limestone County District Attorney Brian Jones, the Alabama Department of Human Resources, the Childrens Advocacy Center and the Alabama Department of Forensic Science Huntsville Lab also assisted in the case, Constable said.
A proposal to fund services to help people in a mental health crisis by adding a 98-cent surcharge to cellphone and landline bills failed to win approval today in an Alabama House committee.

The sponsor of the bill, Rep. Rex Reynolds, R-Huntsville, who is the chair of the committee, moved to carry over the bill before any discussion on it today. Reynolds said the bill is important and he would continue to work on it. Reynolds said it was uncertain whether it would come up again in the committee during this session. Only eight meeting days remain after today.

The bill would raise an estimated $69 million a year for Alabamas crisis system of care. That includes call centers for the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline started in July 2022, crisis centers that have opened in four Alabama cities in the last couple of years, plus two more planned to open later this year, and mobile crisis teams for other parts of the state.

A similar bill to fund the crisis services won approval today after a public hearing in a Senate committee. That bill is sponsored by Rep. Garlan Gudger, R-Cullman.

Reynolds said there have been about 18 changes made to the bill to accommodate concerns about it. Lobbyists representing the cellphone and communications industry suggested funding the services from the state General Fund. Reynolds said a dedicated funding source, the surcharge, is important because of the essential nature of the crisis care services and because General Fund revenues rise and fall with the economy.

Congress authorized states to add a phone surcharge when they launched the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline initiative a few years ago.

Alabama Mental Health Commissioner Kimberly Boswell said initial results from the crisis care system show that it will save lives. Boswell said the main purpose of the surcharge is to expand crisis care services statewide.

We have a crisis in mental health, Boswell said earlier this week. We have a crisis when it comes to suicide. And we really believe that weve demonstrated over the last three years by standing up these crisis services that this is the way to address access to mental health care in the state of Alabama.
New Senate Republican earmark requesters are angling to fill the shoes left by the retirements of four longtime senators heavily involved in bringing federal dollars back home, including the chambers top two individual earmarkers during the last appropriations cycle.

Sens. Katie Britt and Tommy Tuberville, are seeking earmarks this year.

Thats a change for Tuberville, who didnt request home-state projects the past two years, though perhaps not surprising for Britt, a onetime top aide to ex-Sen. Richard C. Shelby, the former top Appropriations Republican and legendary earmarker whose seat she won last year.

Other Republicans whove begun to seek earmarks after sitting out the past two years since the practice was reinstituted are two Senate appropriators: Energy-Water Subcommittee ranking member John Kennedy of Louisiana, and Nebraskas Deb Fischer, a newcomer to the spending panel this year.

Rounding out the group of new Republican earmarkers is Oklahomas Markwayne Mullin, a freshman who won the seat vacated by GOP Sen. James M. Inhofe  who was second only to Shelby last year in terms of total earmarked dollars brought home in the fiscal 2023 omnibus package.

The total number of Senate Republican earmark requesters rose from 16 to 17, despite the four retirements  an increase in line with House Republicans growing affinity for earmarks, though to a much smaller extent.

Overall, 66 senators requested earmarks, including every Democrat except New Hampshires Maggie Hassan and Montanas Jon Tester, who sat out the process the past two cycles as well.

Senators requested a total of $53.3 billion in projects, though that figure is heavily inflated, as it includes duplicate requests that two senators in the same state are seeking or individual projects senators requested in multiple bills.

Unlike their House counterparts, who are capped at 15 requests per office, senators can submit however many they want. Including their own duplicate requests, House members submitted lists of projects totaling $19.4 billion.

However, the odds of disappointment are much greater for senators: appropriations leaders in both chambers have agreed to cap total earmarked dollars at 1 percent of overall discretionary spending. Thats somewhere between $15 billion and $17 billion depending on the outcome of negotiations over the fiscal 2024 topline, with roughly half set aside for requests originating in each chamber.

Big shoes

Tuberville and Britt are teaming up to fill Shelbys big shoes: He procured about $1.2 billion in the past Congress, making him the top earmarker on Capitol Hill.

Britt requested $410.2 million, including $61.7 million in the Military Construction-VA bill for projects at Fort Novosel in southeast Alabama, the Armys aviation headquarters. Tuberville requested $253.7 million, including $23.1 million to upgrade drinking water infrastructure in the city of Arab in the Interior-Environment bill.

Tuberville spokesman Steven Stafford said in a statement that his boss arrived on Capitol Hill in 2021 just as earmarks returned and didnt participate the past two years in order to take time to observe and study the process and ensure abuses of the past did not continue.

UNITED STATES - DECEMBER 1: Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., attends the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee hearing titled FTX Collapse Lessons, in Dirksen Building on Thursday, December 1, 2022. Rostin Behnam, chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, testified. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Imag

Upon further review, Tuberville decided in February to take part on a targeted and tailored basis, Stafford said.

Britt, the top Republican on Homeland Security appropriations, defended the earmarking process in a statement. I firmly believe that our hard-earned tax dollars should be coming home to our communities, rather than being spent by bureaucrats in the Biden administration to fund projects in New York and California, she said.

Mullin, who did not request earmarks when he was in the House, will now try to replicate the success of Inhofe, who brought home $498 million for Oklahoma in the fiscal 2023 omnibus.

Mullin requested $654.4 million, including $427.5 million for the Oklahoma Department of Transportation, mainly for infrastructure projects. For example, Mullin asked for $76.6 million for a highway interchange project in Oklahoma City.

Like Britt, Mullin pointed out that larger states were more likely to nab federal funds if lawmakers didnt exercise their Article 1 prerogatives.

Congress has a constitutional obligation to raise and disburse money, and there is no reason we should let California and New York receive the bulk of congressionally directed spending, Mullin said in a statement. Oklahomans are infinitely more attuned to the needs of our state than Washington bureaucrats.

Kennedy requested $174.9 million, with big-ticket items including $70 million in the Military Construction-VA bill for a dormitory at Barksdale Air Force Base and $36.5 million for an Army Corps of Engineers project at the Boggs Lock and Dam in his Energy-Water measure. Kennedys office didnt respond to a request for comment.

Fischer, a first-year appropriator, is the Legislative Branch panels ranking member. She requested $192.4 million, including $50 million in the Agriculture measure to construct a center for Resilient and Regenerative Precision Agriculture at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

Fischer said now thats shes on the committee, shes able to look at programs and make informed decisions about what should get funding. For Nebraska, she highlighted her requests for water projects in small communities.

Its really hard for a community of 600 or 1,200 people to be able to make the improvements needed, she said. So this is a really good area where we can focus that tax dollar to go back to these communities and help them.

While Britt and Mullin decided to request earmarks, other freshmen Senate Republicans Eric Schmitt of Missouri, J.D. Vance of Ohio, Ted Budd of North Carolina and Pete Ricketts of Nebraska joined the majority of their conference and did not submit requests.

Health, education projects

Senators primarily eyed the Transportation-HUD bill, requesting a total of $16 billion in 5,347 requests, and the Interior-Environment bill, requesting $11.3 billion in 3,101 requests. However, those figures are again exaggerated because of duplicates.

The most popular bill by volume of requests is Labor-HHS-Education, in which senators requested 6,053 projects for a total of $8.9 billion. The Financial Services bill received 536 requests for a total of $678.3 million  the least requested bill in terms of funding sought.

However, House Republicans barred earmarks in the Labor-HHS-Education and Financial Services bills in that chamber, calling into question whether those projects on the Senate side may get axed during eventual bicameral negotiations.

Republicans in the House opted against allowing earmarks in those bills after conservative activists targeted several projects funded in fiscal 2023 for being woke, including money set aside for recipients focused on LGBTQ and transgender services. House Republicans also narrowed their criteria for projects to those with a federal nexus  purposes authorized in prior laws.

Despite their colleagues stance across the Capitol, 14 of the 17 Senate Republicans requesting earmarks are seeking projects in Labor-HHS-Education accounts, accounting for about $1.2 billion of that bills requests.

Top requesters in that bill among the GOP are Mississippis Cindy Hyde-Smith at $190.4 million, followed by the subcommittee ranking member, Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia, at $175.5 million and full committee ranking member Susan Collins of Maine, with $142.1 million.

Republicans capped themselves at $15 million per individual Labor-HHS-Education request, but Democrats dont appear to have similarly limited their requests.

Connecticut Sens. Richard Blumenthal and Christopher S. Murphy teamed up to seek $194.2 million for redesigning curriculum in Danbury public schools, for instance. Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y., wants $85 million for CodyCares for Kids Inc., which provides counseling services for teens and young adults in Brooklyn.

Duplicates

The impact of duplicate requests quickly becomes apparent when looking at the most expensive project across all the bills. New York Democrats Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand each requested $390 million for a Cayuga County, N.Y., sewage and water treatment project in the Interior-Environment bill.

That same bill includes a separate request from each of the senators for $133 million for a drinking water filtration plant in Westchester County and $124 million for a sewer system replacement in Suffolk County.

Combined, Schumer and Gillibrand appear to be seeking over $4 billion each, though that figure is inflated by duplicates.

The data also show senators possibly hedging their bets that a project that might not make it into one spending bill will be included in another.

Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., put a $1.8 million request for a youth center in Big Lake, Minn., in both the Labor-HHS-Education bill and in the Transportation-HUD bill. Sen. Tina Smith also requested that same $1.8 million in the Transportation-HUD bill.

Duplicate requests can also be bipartisan: Combined, Capito and West Virginia Democrat Joe Manchin III submitted 1,251 requests totaling $3.3 billion.

But dozens of them are either identical or significantly similar, ranging from the $23,000 each requests for a new roof on the Bethany Community Center to the $25 million for water treatment and sewer systems that Capito sought for Clay County, W.Va., while Manchin said it would be for the unincorporated municipality of Fola in that county.

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(Ryan Kelly contributed to this report.)

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2023 CQ-Roll Call, Inc., All Rights Reserved. Visit cqrollcall.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
The Florida Department of Education could visit a K-8 school in Hernando County as early as Wednesday as part of an ongoing investigation into a fifth-grade teachers decision to show a Disney movie featuring a gay character in her classroom.

A letter sent home to parents Friday and obtained by the Miami Herald indicated a representative from the Office of Professional Practices of the states education department will be on campus on or about Wednesday, May 17, 2023. If the parent has no objection, the representative may interview your daughter/son in connection with an investigation of a Florida certified educator, the letter read.

Karen Jordan, public information officer for the Hernando School District, confirmed the letter was sent home to parents and said the school administration was made aware of the visit last week. Jordan did not confirm if the visit would occur Wednesday or at a later date.

Winding Waters K-8 has made national headlines in recent days over teacher Jenna Barbees decision to play the 2022 movie Strange World  which features Disneys first character who is out and gay, and is rated PG  and the Department of Educations decision to investigate her after a school board member allegedly reported the incident.

The story was first reported Sunday by the Tallahassee Democrat.

The expected visit would be the first time a department official is to visit the school since the investigations onset. On Monday, the department confirmed no one from the state had visited the school, nor has contacted any students about the movie. Barbee, however, said some students last week were questioned about the event by school administration.

Earlier this month during a school board meeting, Barbee accused Hernando County School Board member Shannon Rodriguez for reporting her to the department. Rodriguezs daughter is in Barbees class, as reported by the Democrat.

Since then, Barbee has spoken publicly about the incident and defended her decision, arguing the movie was related to her students science lessons and did not have sexually inappropriate content  now a polarizing political issue in the state.

The Parental Rights in Education Act, passed last year and known by critics as Dont Say Gay, prohibits educators from teaching about gender and sexual identity in kindergarten through third grade, and in older grades in cases when the lessons are deemed to be not age appropriate.

Educators, however, have routinely expressed concern about the laws vague wording and the subjectivity of deciding what is considered age appropriate.

Nobody in my class, including myself, thought anything of the little bit of LGBTQ [topics] going on with that one main character and the supporting character, Barbee told the Herald Monday. Because of this, my students are [questioning] why this is such a big deal.

Long before the investigation, Barbee said some of her students have told her they are part of the LGBTQ community. Now, she said, they are seeing their teacher is under all this fire for choosing the movie.

Even parents have expressed confusion over the fallout, she said.

After the incident, parents were notified in a separate letter last week about the movie selection. In response, some parents asked why it mattered, while others expressed sympathy for the incident becoming such a big deal, Barbee said.

The reason I didnt think anything of it is because I have a progressive classroom and not from anything I did, she said. Thats just the environment that has been created over the year. To me, it was nothing. To them it was nothing. Now its something big.

Barbee has no plans to return to the classroom next year. She had already submitted her resignation before the incident occurred, she told the Herald.

The investigation comes as Gov. Ron DeSantis and GOP lawmakers continue to overhaul public education in the state, including expanding the Parental Rights in Education law. It now prohibits instruction on gender and sexual identity through eighth grade and restricts the way teachers and students can use their preferred pronouns in school.

On Monday, DeSantis also signed three bills that will bring major changes to Floridas colleges and universities.

Among them is a law that restricts certain topics from being taught in general education courses, the lower-level classes that all students must take for their degrees, expands the hiring and firing powers of political appointees on university boards and presidents, limits protections for tenured faculty members and prohibits spending related to diversity, equity and inclusion programs beyond what is required by accreditors.

He also signed a bill that prohibits schools from requiring students and staff to fill out diversity statements, which the governors office described as woke litmus tests.

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Miami Herald reporter Ana Ceballos contributed to this report.

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2023 Miami Herald. Visit at miamiherald.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
Dont bet on it

If the current Alabama legislative session has felt different to you somehow, maybe its because lawmakers havent spent a lot of energy on gambling or lottery measures.

They havent spent time planning, task-forcing and drafting only to disagree over which cities would get the casinos, or to disagree over how many casinos, or to disagree over where to put the revenue.

AL.coms John Sharp reports that not a single gaming-related bill has been introduced during this session that would require a constitutional amendment to legalize any form of gambling.

Check back in winter

A year ago, Huntsville, Alabama, claimed the top spot on the U.S. News & World Report list of the nations best places to live. AL.coms Paul Gattis reports that, on this years list, the Rocket City has slipped to No. 2.

Also making the list were Birmingham at 80th, Montgomery at 94th and Mobile at 115th.

Taking over the No. 1 spot this year is Green Bay, Wisconsin, which was praised in the publication for its small-town feel, colleges and craft beer.

An arachnid update

The Joro spider is invasive, it likes living in areas around people, its populations have taken root in Alabama and some other southern states, and its really huge.

And there has been a concern that it might out-compete other spiders.

However, a study by the University of Georgia found reason to believe that the spiders are simply not very aggressive, reports AL.coms Dennis Pillion.

The podcast

The Down in Alabama podcast is short and free. Listen to it by clicking on the player above or subscribe by looking for Down in Alabama on the device of your choosing.

You can find Down in Alabama in these places:

Apple podcast page

YouTube podcast page

Spotify podcast page

Alexa skill page on Amazon

Amazon Music podcast page

Ike Morgan on Facebook

Ike Morgan on Twitter
Joran van der Sloot will not fight extradition to the U.S. to face charges he extorted thousands from Natalee Holloways mother.

Thats what his longtime Peruvian attorney Maximo Altez told the UK Daily Mail.

Whats more - the suspected killer of the Mountain Brook graduate plans to divorce his wife and marry a woman accused of smuggling drugs to him in jail, the lawyer said.

Read full coverage of the case here

In an interview with the Daily Mail, Altez said van der Sloot maintains he did not kill Natalee Holloway and wants to ... prove he did not ask Ms. Holloway for money.

He realized he can be absolved of the charges, Altez said.

Last week, a Peruvian executive order paved the way for van der Sloot, 35, to be extradited to the U.S. to face charges he extorted thousands from Natalee Holloways mother.

It remains unclear currently when he is expected to arrive in the U.S. Initially, it was believed van der Sloot would fight extradition, delaying his journey to the U.S. into the summer. Van der Sloot was granted a public defender.

WASHINGTON - JUNE 08: Beth Holloway participates in the launch of the Natalee Holloway Resource Center on June 8, 2010 in Washington, DC. The non profit resource center was founded by Holloway and the National Museum of Crime & Punishment and was created to assist families of missing persons. Beth Holloway's daughter Natalee is the Alabama teen who disappeared five years ago in Aruba. (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images)Getty Images

Van der Sloot, a Dutch national from Aruba, has long been suspected in the disappearance and death of the Mountain Brook High School graduate, who was visiting Aruba in 2005.

He is expected be tried in Birminghams federal court on charges that he told Natalees mother, Beth Holloway, that he would lead her to Natalees body in exchange for $250,000.

Holloway paid van der Sloot a $25,000 down payment only to learn he lied about the location of Natalees remains.

A federal grand jury in Birmingham indicted van der Sloot in 2010 on charges of extortion and wire fraud.

He is currently serving a 28-year prison sentence in Peru for the 2010 murder of Lima college student Stephany Flores, who was killed five years to the day of Natalees disappearance.

Van der Sloot would have a temporary extradition, allowing a temporary release a person for prosecution.

Altez also told the news site that van der Sloot plans to divorce his current wife and marry prettier and younger Eva Pacohuanaco, a 24-year-old woman accused of helping van der Sloot smuggle almost 300 grams of cocaine and 140 grams of marijuana into a Peruvian jail.

The act added another seven years to van der Sloots sentence.

Van der Sloot married Leidy Figueroa, 33, in a private ceremony at Piedras Gordas prison in July 2014. She was seven months pregnant with their daughter, Dusha Trudie Van der Sloot, who is now eight.

Van der Sloot still writes to girls and they send him pictures, Altez said.
Chicago Field Museum hosts Chinese Culture Day

Xinhua) 16:14, May 17, 2023

CHICAGO, May 16 (Xinhua) -- Some 80 American students gathered in the Field Museum in downtown Chicago early this week to have a taste of Chinese food and an in-person experience of Chinese culture on the Chinese Culture Day jointly hosted by the Chinese Consulate in Chicago and the Field Museum.

Several teenagers performed Chinese Kongfu on a makeshift platform in the museum's central hall. They did somersaults and performed stick-fighting and sword dance. The performance received acclaim from both event participants and bystanders.

Chinese traditional instruments, Chinese folk dance, Peking Opera, and Tai Chi dance all took turns on stage. A student from Chicago-based DePaul University performed the Chinese song "I Love You, China," and students from George Westinghouse College Prep High School performed Fan Dance.

Aside from the stage, there was a row of tables with Rabbit plush toys, craft fans, Chinese knots, Beijing Opera facial masks, Chinese folk artwork pendants, paper cuts, and books and films about Chinese landscapes and food.

Caleb Feltis, the champion of 2023 U.S. Midwest University "Chinese Bridge" Speech Competition, shared his Chinese learning experience.

In the first year of learning Chinese, "I feel like learning Chinese is an insurmountable gap ... a challenge," Feltis said. "Now I have changed my attitude. I no longer take learning Chinese as a challenge, instead, I take it as a process ... I am excited about learning something new and improving my Chinese proficiency."

Deborah Bekken, director of the Field Museum's Gantz Family Collections Center, said that the Field Museum is happy to once again be a partner for the Chinese Culture Day. "Field Museum has a long and productive history with China."

Stone tools from the ancient site of Zhoukoudian, Shang Dynasty bronzes, Han jades, Tang ceramics, Song rubbings, Ming paintings, and Qing fabrics are among the museum's rich Chinese anthropological collections.

"The museum's research in botany, paleontology, and meteoritics have benefited from China-U.S. collaboration," she said. "The continuation of our research in China would not be possible without (Chinese and American) people's friendship and cooperation."

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun)




Korea's finance ministry said Wednesday it plans to provide a low-interest loan to support El Salvador's road construction project under ties with a Central American development bank.







Under the plan, Korea will provide $210 million to the project via the Economic Development Cooperation Fund (EDCF), with the Central American Bank for Economic Integration also offering $200 million.







The project centers on expanding a route connecting the capital city of San Salvador and the western part of the country.







Korea's Dongbu won the contract to build the road in March, with Dohwa Engineering being tapped as the consultant on the day, according to the Ministry of Economy and Finance.







Korea launched the EDCF program in 1987 with the purpose of supporting economic and social infrastructure projects in developing countries.







The latest project marks the single largest loan provided to the region under the EDCF program.







"When completed, the project will improve efficiency and safety of passenger and cargo transportation, and contribute to the economic development of El Salvador," the finance ministry said in a statement.







The finance ministry added it plans to expand ties with other development banks, such as the Inter-American Development Bank, to help Korean firms win more projects in the region. (Yonhap)


The director of the Alabama Department of Transportation acted in bad faith and attempted to put a private company out of business while pursuing a $120 million alternative bridge in Gulf Shores while concealing his efforts from the public, a Montgomery County judge ruled in a blistering 80-page order released Wednesday.

Montgomery County Circuit Judge Jimmy Pool ordered that all construction of a new bridge over the Intracoastal Waterway in Gulf Shores be stopped. He derisively called that project, Cooper Bridge. The judge then criticized the ALDOT director of engaging in a years long campaign to put the Baldwin County Bridge Company -- the longtime owners and operators of the Foley Beach Express toll bridge adjacent to The Wharf -- out of business.

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Director Coopers outrageous conduct in embarking on spending more than $120 million of State funds, on a bridge that ALDOT does not need, for the purpose of putting a private company out of business shocks the conscience of the Court, Pool wrote in his order.

Pool also noted that Cooper testified that he has never spoken with Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey about his new bridge project, but then backtracked, claiming he mentioned the project once to the governor in 2017, when she first took office.

He has not spoken a single word to the Governor about the Cooper Bridge in six years, Pool wrote.

Joe Espy, an attorney representing the bridge company, said the judges order holds ALDOT, behind Coopers leadership, accountable for its actions.

Today is a victory for the rule of law and the citizens of Alabama, Espy said. People in positions of authority representing the government cannot do or say anything they want. When government officials attempt to target businesses through bad faith, the Courts of Alabama will hold them accountable.

ALDOT, in a statement, said it will file a notice of appeal with the Alabama State Supreme Court.

We are disappointed in the decision because its clear that a new, free bridge is needed to help alleviate traffic congestion and offer a new evacuation option to residents and visitors to Alabamas Gulf Coast, said ALDOT spokesperson Tony Harris. Years of negotiations with the private toll bridge company failed to deliver a solution. The public benefit of a new, free bridge should outweigh the interests of the private toll bridge company.

Gina Maiola, spokeswoman for the governor, said that Ivey is focused on creating a free access road to alleviate congestion in Baldwin County, and who could argue with that during beach and hurricane season?

Pools order comes about two weeks after the conclusion of a bench trial in which Cooper took the stand and defended a decision he made last year to proceed with a new two-lane bridge over the Intracoastal Waterway in Gulf Shores, approximately 1.1 miles west of the BCBC toll bridge.

A $52 million contract was awarded to the Scott Bridge Company last October to build the new structure, though estimates for the complete project are expected to be around $100 million or more.

Todays ruling is unfortunate, said Gulf Shores Mayor Robert Craft. It means that the new, free bridge -- where construction is already underway -- is unnecessarily delayed. I am hopeful that the Alabama Supreme Court will allow this badly-needed construction to continue as the legal process proceeds so that this new, free, publicly-owned bridge can improve the safety and quality of life for Alabama residents and visitors alike.

Orange Beach Mayor Tony Kennon, who called the Gulf Shores bridge a boondoggle last year, said he felt the taxpayers won with Pools order.

The judge recognized it as a boondoggle and made it clear that one man made a decision out of personal animosity toward a legitimate business in Alabama, which is not the way we do business, Kennon said.

He said that Craft should want state officials in Montgomery to come down and meet with the bridge company and solve this (situation) tomorrow so we can move traffic (onto and off the island) this summer as soon as possible.

Kennon disputes Crafts claim that the bridge is free, noting that it will cost Alabama around $120 million.

Craft said its needed to to address congestion in one of the fastest-growing counties in Alabama, and where 8 million visitors come each year.

On peak travel weekends  like this weekend  it can take over one hour to drive the 11 miles from north of Foley to Beach Boulevard, Craft said. This is a problem not just for tourist traffic flow, but for residents going to work, emergency vehicles taking people to the hospital, first responders en route to an incident, and for hurricane evacuations.

But Pool, in his order, said the decision to build the Gulf Shores project occurred without conducting a single public meeting or conducting a single traffic study showing whether there was a legitimate need for it. The last public hearing into a bridge project in coastal Alabama, which Cooper did not personally attended, was on November 15, 2018.

BCBC, which had been seeking the injunction to halt construction, was negotiating with Cooper up until August 2022, on an expansion project to their toll bridge. The BCBC alternative included, among other things, adding additional lanes to the toll bridge and making additional roadway improvements. Also part of the pitch was an agreement to remove all tolls assessed on Baldwin County residents. Most bridge users are assessed a $2.75 one-way toll.

Cooper, during his testimony earlier this month, said the BCBC proposal in August 2022 was as useless as a screen door on a submarine, and claimed that the company was not offering a so-called free alternative while subjecting the state to long-term exclusivity that we do not build a competing bridge.

Pool seemed to believe that BCBCs approach was sensible, saying the company offered to build two new lanes over its bridge, expand the number of toll plazas and make $70 million in additional infrastructure improvements for Gulf Shores, Orange Beach, and ALDO.

Pool said that one of Coopers own experts admitted, during the trial, that BCBCs proposal would alleviate traffic off Route 59. Pool also said that the project would save taxpayers $120 million, and that the money could be used on other pressing infrastructure projects throughout the State of Alabama.

Said Pool, That refusal is a telltale sign of Director Coopers bad faith and shows that his new bridge is not about alleviating traffic congesting on the Highway 59 bridge, Pool said.

This story was updated at 1:54 p.m. on May 17, 2023, with a statement from ALDOT. It was updated at 2:25 p.m. with a comment from Joe Espy, the bridge companys attorney. Story was updated at 2:44 p.m. with comments from Gulf Shores Mayor Robert Craft and Orange Beach Mayor Tony Kennon. It was also updated at 4:29 p.m. with a statement from the governors spokeswoman.
Kaitlan Collins is going primetime, CNNs Chris Licht confirmed on Wednesday.

Deadline reports CNN Worldwide CEO Chris Licht said Collins will take over the 8 p.m. CT primetime slot, previously occupied by Chris Cuomo whom the network fired in December 2021. The Deadline story said Licht announced the move in a memo to staffers on Wednesday. Deadline wrote Licht has been a big booster of Collins since he became CEO of the network a year ago.

Read the full Deadline report.

The news comes after the Alabama native moderated CNNs Republican town hall with former President Donald Trump this month in New Hampshire. Collins handling of the event divided critics and viewers Variety and Puck reported CNN planned give her the primetime slot permanently after publicly supporting her performance at the town hall.

Tonight, Kaitlan Collins exemplified what it means to be a world-class journalist, CNN said in a statement that called her questions tough, fair and revealing.

Collins became CNNs youngest-ever chief White House correspondent six years ago at age 29. Since joining CNN in 2017, she has become one of the most influential journalists in the nation due to her tough questions, objective reporting and signature style, a CNN release said. Kaitlan has broken numerous stories of consequence from both the Biden and Trump administrations, including significant policy decisions and major staff changes, traveling the globe extensively to report on their presidencies. Collins has also reported on the Senate special election in her home state of Alabama.

Collins replaced Jim Acosta as chief White House correspondent in 2021. When she joined the network in 2017, Collins covered the Trump White House and quickly rose to the top of her field. She covered Biden for a year-and-a-half before taking on her new role as co-anchor of CNN This Morning.

Collins is from Prattville and graduated from the University of Alabama in 2014. She also previously worked for the right-wing Daily Caller media outlet, which was launched by Tucker Carlson.

Prior to landing the primetime gig, Collins served as co-anchor on CNN This Morning with Don Lemon and Poppy Harlow, a show that saw a shakeup in April after the network fired Lemon. The former longtime CNN host announced on Twitter he had been fired by the network where he worked for 17 years. Shortly afterward, Collins addressed the shocking news of Lemons departure.

Collins and Harlow opened a recent episode of the morning show with remarks on Lemons exit. Harlow shared Lichts public statement on Lemon, which said, Don will forever be a part of the CNN family. We wish him well and will be cheering him on in his future endeavors.

Then Collins chimed in. Don was a big part of this show over the last six months, she said. He was one of the first anchors on CNN to have me on his show. Thats something Ill obviously never forget. I agree with Chris. We wish him the best.

More on Kaitlan Collins:

Kaitlan Collins, a die-hard Alabama football fan, has perfected her gameday routine

Kaitlan Collins talks huge differences between Donald Trump and Joe Biden administrations

Kaitlan Collins reacts to Don Lemons CNN departure
An Illinois girl who was allegedly abducted by her mother nearly six years ago was found safe in North Carolina after someone recognized her from a Netflix special detailing her disappearance, police said.

Kayla Unbehaun was just 9 when she seemingly vanished from Wheaton, Ill., not far from her home in South Elgin. Police said she was taken by her non-custodial mother, Heather Unbehaun, who was only allowed to see her daughter every other weekend.

She had her that weekend before Fourth of July and Fourth of July, I think, fell on a Tuesday, Kaylas father, Ryan Iskerka, previously told CBS 2. And that was also her holiday, so I just told her, Why dont we take an extended, you know, keep her Monday through Tuesday, and Ill just pick her up Wednesday?

But when Iskerka arrived to pick up his daughter, she was nowhere to be found. Members of Unbehauns family later told him the pair went on a camping trip but that they had not yet returned.

On Saturday, a woman at Platos Closet in Asheville recognized Kayla and her mother from published media and called police, Asheville police spokeswoman Samantha Booth told WYFF. Heather Unbehaun was arrested and charged with one count of child abduction, according to the Kane County States Attorneys Office. She is being held on $250,000 bond and officials said additional charges are also possible.

Kaylas story was most recently featured in the Netflix series Unsolved Mysteries. It initially aired on the streamer in November 2022.

Now 15 years old, Kayla was placed into the custody of the North Carolina Division of Social Services. The teen was expected to be reunited with family and brought back to Illinois.

Im overjoyed that Kayla is home safe. I want to thank the South Elgin Police Department, the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, and all of the law enforcement agencies who assisted with her case, Iskera said in a statement.

I also want to thank all of the followers on the Bring Kayla Home Facebook page, who helped keep her story alive and were instrumental in spreading awareness. We ask for privacy as we get to know each other again and navigate this new beginning.

2023 New York Daily News. Visit nydailynews.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert is divorcing her husband, Jayson Boebert, who has shared a portion of the congresswomans spotlight and controversy during her time in politics.

Boebert, of Colorado, announced the impending divorce Tuesday with a heavy weight on my heart.

I am grateful for our years of marriage together and for our beautiful children, Boebert said in a statement, asking for privacy. Ive always been faithful in my marriage, and I believe strongly in marriage, which makes this announcement that much more difficult.

This is truly about irreconcilable differences, she continued, noting that she will continue her work as a representative for her sprawling Western Slope district.

Lauren Boebert filed for divorce in late April, court records show.

Jayson and Lauren Boebert married in 2005, a few months after the birth of their first son and they founded Shooters Grill in Rifle about eight years later.

Lauren Boebert has been a staunch defender of Jayson Boebert, at times. One of the couples first controversies arose as she was running for her first term in Congress, which recalled a 2004 incident in Rifles Fireside Lanes bowling alley, during which Jayson Boebert exposed himself to two young women.

Jayson Boebert pleaded guilty to public indecency and lewd exposure, though Lauren Boebert has repeatedly said  and even wrote in her autobiography  that he only acted as though he was going to unzip his pants.

Controversy struck again during the congresswomans first term when news broke that Jayson Boebert made $478,000 working as a consultant for an energy firm, which she had not disclosed during her congressional campaign. Ethics and campaign finance laws require candidates and members of Congress to disclose sources of their immediate familys income.

And last year Garfield County Sheriffs deputies investigated  but did not pursue further  an incident in which Jayson Boebert reportedly threatened his neighbors, who claimed he was drunk and feared that he was armed.

Lauren and Jayson Boebert are scheduled to appear in court later this month.

2023 MediaNews Group, Inc. Visit at denverpost.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
Alabama lawmakers in both chambers now have passed a bill that would allow more flexibility with fine and fee payments before a persons license is suspended.

The bill does not excuse tickets or dangerous drivers, but it would allow people to miss up to three payments on a payment plan for fines and fees before a judge could suspend their license. It would also allow up to one missed court date, outside of an initial date.

When the bill initially went through the Senate, people could miss up to five payments before their license would be suspended. The Houses version brought that number down to three after negotiating with the Attorney Generals office.

Ill be honest with you, I wish itd been maybe four or more, because sometimes people on a payment plan, they cant make it, said Rep. Tim Wadsworth, R-Arley, who carried the bill on the House side. Id like to have a little bit more, but this was the compromise.

Read more: AL.com examines policing for profit, fines and fees in Banking on Crime series.

Judges are not required to suspend licenses if someone exceeds the missed payment limit or fails to appear in court multiple times, but often use the punishment to enforce traffic violations.

Advocates say the extended grace for drivers will allow more people to keep driving to work, school and family obligations.

Rep. Napoleon Bracy, D-Saraland, said some people might miss a court date because they dont reside in the same place that is listed as their legal address.

When you think about failure to appear and suspended drivers licenses, a lot of that happens to poorer people, Bracy said prior to the House vote. A lot of them may be renters, a lot of them may move in and out of the house with their parents, may stay with a girlfriend from time to time. It may be different situations where that person is kind of moving around.

The bill passed 87-14 in the House on May 16. It now will be considered by Gov. Kay Ivey.
Alabamians from across the state gathered Tuesday to march from the Alabama Supreme Court to the state Capitol, holding rainbow flags and signs supporting the LGBT community.

More than 100 people protested a list of bills from the Alabama legislature, including bills that force college athletes to play on teams that align with the gender on their birth certificates, a bill that puts the gender binary into state law and a bill banning drag performances in Alabama.

I know that God stands with the oppressed and the marginalized, that God has made me fearlessly and wonderfully, said Darcy Corbitt, a pastor from Auburn.

Following the march, speakers gathered to address the crowd, which lined the steps of the Alabama State House, and asked lawmakers to spend their time on other issues.

Carmarion D. Anderson-Harvey, the Alabama State Director of the Human Rights Campaigns Project One America, referenced a recent mass shooting in Dadeville, Alabama.

Did our lawmakers do anything to address the mass shooting crisis in Alabama? she asked.

The crowd yelled back: No.

They continued their tirade against LGBTQ plus community, drag queens and particularly the transgender community. This also includes families struggling to pay their bills and to keep their kids safe and healthy, Anderson-Harvey said.

Carmarion D. Anderson-Harvey speaks at a protest in support of LGBT rights in Montgomery, Alabama on May 16. Sarah Swetlik/AL.com

The group protested eight bills, including:

At one point, Corbitt stood next to a counter-protester and sang to drown him out.

Im here to protect them, and to show them that there are Christians who care and Christians who are willing to stand up for them, to speak the love of God and the love of Jesus to them, Corbitt said of attendees in the LGBT community.

Corbitt, who is a transgender woman, said the mans words didnt upset her, but she didnt feel any negative feelings, because I know what hes saying isnt true.

As a counter-protestor yelled into a megaphone, some attendees tried to drown the reach of his voice. One blew a whistle, while Darcy Corbitt, a pastor from Auburn, sang continuously. #alpolitics pic.twitter.com/v1zcGbaWvR  Sarah Swetlik (@sarahgswetlik) May 16, 2023

Rev. Marjorie Ragona, an 94-year-old Episcopal pastor from Birmingham, said shes been protesting in support of rights for the LGBT community for 50 years, and shes tired of it.

We have been through AIDS, weve been through marriage and were still fighting Ragona said as the crowd in front of her cheered. If youre not mad, you arent thinking.

She said folks in the LGBT community have fought for places to live, jobs, marriage and the right to be treated for their illnesses, and now, their children are fighting for the right to get the treatment they need.

If theyre using religion against us, lets remember that if your religion teaches hate, youre in the wrong religion, she said. I have raised three children in the middle of the gay community and I have never in my life had anybody hurt those children. Theyve been raised by my gay brothers, my lesbian sisters and my drag queen friends. If it hadnt been for the drag queens, we wouldve never gotten through the AIDS epidemic.

Corbitt said shes worked with people in the LGBT community for more than a decade and added that theyre of the most wonderful, nice people shes ever known. She said claims about drag queens being child molesters and trans people being sick, perverted freaks are not based in reality.

Darcy Corbitt attends a protest in support of LGBT rights in Montgomery, Alabama on May 16. Sarah Swetlik/AL.com

I think that the people of Alabama, what we can agree on is that everyone should be allowed to associate and express themselves the way that they want, provided it doesnt hurt people, and theres no evidence that being LGBT hurts anybody, she said.

HB405, called the What is a Woman bill, limits the definition of gender to male and female based on reproductive body parts. Its up for a public hearing Wednesday morning.
A man is fighting for his life after he was shot in an apparent road rage incident Tuesday afternoon in northeast Jefferson County, authorities said.

Jefferson County sheriffs deputies were called to the Palmerdale Fire Department on Bradford Trafford Road around 2:45 p.m. Tuesday on a report of a person shot in a reported road rage incident, the sheriffs office said Tuesday night.

The shooting occurred in the 7400 block of Narrows Road but the victim was taken to the fire station for assistance, the office said.

Witnesses told authorities the man and his passenger were driving on Narrows Road when they noticed a vehicle follow them closely.

The man then pulled over his vehicle while the other vehicle also stopped.

The victim approached the driver of the other vehicle when an argument ensued, according to authorities.

The driver of the second vehicle then fired a shot, hitting the man in the abdomen, the sheriffs office said.

The victim was taken to UAB Hospital, where he was last listed in critical condition.

Detectives are seeking a man, identified as Javier Byrese Burny, for questioning.

Anyone with information on Burny was asked to call 205-325-1450, option 2.
An Alabama man was convicted of manslaughter by a Lee County jury last week in the fatal 2019 shooting of his mother, prosecutors announced Tuesday.

Hunter Walls, now 21, of Cusseta, in Chambers County, was 19 years old when he shot and killed Stacy Walls during an argument on Feb. 9, 2021 in Lee County, the county district attorneys office announced.

Lee County sheriffs deputies responded to a 911 call made by Stacy Walls daughter, who said her brother shot her mother, the office said, citing trial evidence.

Hunter Walls was at the scene when deputies arrived.

Witnesses told authorities the son and his mother had an argument that turned physical, leading to the gunfire.

Sentencing has been set for June, the office said.
Colorados junior Democratic senator on Wednesday claimed President Trump politicized the decision to relocate U.S. Space Command headquarters to Alabama while Trump was walking out the door of the White House.

Sen. John Hickenlooper was responding to the NBC News report that the Biden administration plans to reverse Trumps move to make Alabama the permanent headquarters for Space Command.

The report, which cited unnamed Biden administration officials, said the Biden White House is set to announce that Space Command will remain in Colorado Springs because of Alabamas harsh abortion ban that only allows the procedure in cases where the mothers life is in danger.

This focuses on the extreme abortion laws in AL and Sen. Tubervilles decision to bar military promotions  a hold that directly affects military readiness.



But we cant conflate those issues with Space Command for the simple reason that our military shouldn't be politicized  https://t.co/oSUC846f66  Senator John Hickenlooper (@SenatorHick) May 17, 2023

This [report] focuses on the extreme abortion laws in AL and Sen. [Tommy] Tubervilles decision to bar military promotions  a hold that directly affects military readiness, Hickenlooper tweeted Wednesday. But we cant conflate those issues with Space Command for the simple reason that our military shouldnt be politicized.

Hickenlooper also criticized NBC News for not sourcing any Colorado officials in the report while citing voices from the Biden administration and Alabama officials.

Colorados junior senator also said Trumps decision to have Huntsville be the headquarters for Space Command was fueled by politics and that two reviews found the process minimally credible.

The *acting* secretary of the Air Force for the *final six days* of the *Trump* administration made this call., Hickenlooper said. These details are the exact reason WHY this whole decision raised so many red flags  it was decided as Trump was walking out the door!

Tuberville, who was referenced in Hickenloopers tweetstorm, disputed his colleagues characterization:

Nice speech, @SenatorHick, but the facts are clear  and the facts are on Alabamas side.

@US_SpaceCom belongs in Huntsville. pic.twitter.com/sVj7vBxMoN  Coach Tommy Tuberville (@SenTuberville) May 17, 2023

Nice speech ... but the facts are clear  and the facts are on Alabamas side, he said.

U.S. Space Command belongs in Huntsville.
The Shelby County Republican Party on Tuesday came to the defense of Alabamas only Republican Black state lawmaker, who the GOP claimed was indirectly called the N-word by a Black Democrat.

In talking to Rep. Kenneth Paschal, R-Pelham, while debating Paschals parental rights bill earlier this month, state Rep. Juandalynn Givan, D-Birmingham, made a reference to the lyrics of the Jay-Z song, The Story of O.J. The song repeatedly uses a form of the N-word. Givan, however, did not fully quote the lyrics, or say the N-word and did not directly call Paschal the word, according to a video of the exchange.

When Jay-Z penned that song, he penned that song for a time such as this, Givan said during her exchange with Paschal on the House floor. Do you want me to sing it? Because I dont have a problem with it. I can stand by anything I say. But I think theres enough people here today that have Googled it.

Still one. Still one. Still one. Dont matter how you come in here, when you leave here, you still one, Givan continued. When you sit down, you still one. When you get up, you still one. When you go to bed at night, you still one. When you look in the mirror at yourself, you still one. Thats the story of O.J. Light-skinned, dark-skinned, you still one. Youre going to always be one when you walk up in here, and every day you wake up. Dont you ever forget that.

The state Republican Party demanded an apology from Givan over her remarks. The Democrat declined, adding that GOP policies hurt Black people and other minorities.

I remain unapologetic for exercising my right to free speech. Republicans are the ones who owe me and the people of Alabama an apology for trying to silence me and those who strongly disagree with their misguided agenda that hurts people of color, women, and other minority and marginalized groups.

As I remain unapologetic, I will not be silenced. I will continue to defend democracy. I await your apology.

Paschal accused Givan of being angry at him because he is a Black Republican.

I will never be bullied or insulted into apologizing for what I am - a God-fearing conservative and military veteran who believes in the U.S. Constitution and the right of every person to live their lives free from government overreach. No person should have their race or skin color questioned or attacked simply because they choose to think for themselves, and if a Republican made the same statements, the condemnation from the media would have been swift and permanent. This incident is yet another example of the Democrats nationwide pattern of disrupting the decorum of legislative proceedings.

On Tuesday, the Shelby County GOP added to the chorus of Republican voices who stood behind Paschal over the dispute. Paschals district is located in Shelby County.

The Shelby County Republican Party stands behind all our legislative members. However, we feel it is important to voice our support for one of our newest members, Rep. Kenneth Paschal, who as the only minority Republican House member, faces challenges other members do not, especially from those who oppose his views, the party said in a statement issued Tuesday. Yet, Rep. Paschal treats those who agree with him, as well as those who disagree, with dignity and respect, regardless of how he is treated in return.

We understand that Rep. Paschal and other minority Republicans face uphill battles both now and in the future. We are proud and appreciative, but not surprised, of the way Rep. Paschal represents his district and the Republican Party, the statement continued. He continues to display the character expected when he was elected. Thank you, Rep. Paschal.
This photo provided by Vijesti shows Do Kwon, co-founder of Terraform Labs, heading to a court in Podgorica, Montenegro, May 11. Yonhap



Montenegrin prosecutors have appealed a court decision to grant bail to Do Kwon, cryptocurrency firm Terraform Labs' co-founder accused of fraud in Korea and the United States in connection with the crash of the firm's TerraUSD and Luna coins.



A district prosecutors office in Podgorica, Montenegro, recently filed the appeal against the court decision to grant bail to Kwon and an aide of Kwon, known only by his family name Han, according to a report by Vijesti, a Montenegrin newspaper.



The two, who had been on the run, were arrested at Podgorica Airport in late March while trying to leave the country with forged passports.



Kwon, 32, fled Korea while being investigated in connection with the crash of Terraform Labs' TerraUSD and Luna coins in May last year, which wiped out nearly 50 trillion won ($37.5 billion) in market value.



Last week, Kwon and Han applied for bail and offered to each pay 400,000 euros ($436,000) in bail money, and the Basic Court in Podgorica decided to grant bail to both of them.



They will remain in detention until the court delivers its decision on the prosecution appeal.



If the court rejects the appeal and the bail is paid, they will be released from detention but have to remain inside a designated place. They will reportedly stay in an apartment belonging to the company of the female partner of Kwon's local lawyer once they are released.



The Korean prosecution has sought the extradition of Kwon. Interpol has also issued a red notice, which is used for the highest level of wanted suspects and criminals. Kwon is also facing criminal charges in the United States.



TerraUSD was designed as a stablecoin, which was pegged to stable assets, such as the U.S. dollar. But holders of TerraUSD and Luna lost more than an estimated $40 billion in market value after the stablecoin plunged far below its $1 peg last May. (Yonhap)


Never in the two and a half centuries of American history has one person concurrently dominated and overshadowed both major political parties as does Donald J. Trump.

Trumps dominance in the Republican Party is an outgrowth of his imperturbable and flamboyant personality, his unprecedented 2016 campaign and his overwhelmingly successful presidency which was derailed in its final months by the Covid-19 pandemic.

His stature in the party is such that virtually every Republican candidate for federal office seeks his approbation and endorsement. Despite losing in 2020, his hold on a sizable segment of the Republican base is unparalleled in the annals of the Republican party. Not since Franklin Roosevelt has someone so dominated a major American political party. As it stands today, per all the national polls, Trump can easily win the Republican nomination for president.

Among 30% of Republican primary voters Trump has achieved cultlike status, as these voters claim they would vote for him if he ran as an independent even if that meant Joe Biden would be re-elected and the Democrats would regain control of both Houses of Congress.

Since 2016, the raison detre of the Democrat party and its hierarchy has been the unrestrained obsession to permanently defeat and dispatch Donald Trump. A fixation so all-consuming that the party leadership purposefully exploited the Covid-19 pandemic, thereby causing countless avoidable fatalities and senseless economic destruction. Further, they willingly entered into a de facto alliance with the American Marxists to defeat Trump. They are a vile faction whose stated goal is to transform the nation and overthrow this same Democrat Party hierarchy.

In 2024, the entirety of the Democrat Partys electoral strategy revolves around Trump regardless of whom the Democrats nominate. Which is why a failed, senescent, stumbling and grossly incompetent reprobate, Joe Biden, is presently being touted as their nominee.

The Democrats have long been planning on Trump being the Republican nominee primarily because their own candidate, Joe Biden, is incapable of campaigning, let alone defeating anyone else. Even with a candidate beset with daily revelations of malfeasance and incompetence, they are, for the moment, confident Biden will again defeat Trump.

A piece in Politico on May 11, 2023 sums up their obsession with Trump and their belief that Biden will win in 2024.

The Biden-Harris reelection campaign is building on the work of a historically strong DNC and state party operation, unified after the best midterm performance of a sitting president since FDR, and on the offense against a deeply unpopular MAGA agenda said Biden campaign spokesman Kevin Munoz. Those closest to Biden like their chances in a 2020 rematch with Trump. They believe Trump is no longer viewed as an outsider change agent, but as a disruptive force, one a large swath of the country considers embarrassing. That his infamous Access Hollywood tape and mocking a woman he was found liable to have sexually abused, only reinforced those beliefs. Fear is a good motivator and Trump rightfully scares the majority of Americans, said Bradley Beychok, president and co-founder for the Biden-supportive Super PAC American 21st Century. When Americans are reminded of the danger Trump poses to our democracy, that fear translates into more enthusiasm for Biden and the Democratsincluding a deluge of donations.

Many on the Right are rightfully baffled why the legacy media and so-called moderate Democrats are purposefully ignoring the ongoing revelations of Joe Bidens egregious duplicity and graft. This cabal is so obsessed with Trump that regardless of what the House Republicans expose, they will claim that there is no clear-cut evidence sufficiently compelling enough to either report on or prompt further investigations of Biden.

At present the Democrat establishment shakily believes that Biden is still the best choice to run against Trump, but doubt is beginning to creep in as more examples of Bidens duplicity and incompetence that they may not be able to sweep under the rug are exposed.

Nor can they long ignore recent polls in which seventy percent of Americans do not want Biden to run for president. Further, their campaign strategy is predicated on the belief that the publics distaste for Trump is viral. Thats a contention they will attempt to reinforce by exploiting their ongoing and unconscionable lawfare directed at Trump.

Instead of relying on Biden, the party hierarchy will, in due course, claim that virtually any well-known Democrat can win. Trump is the focus of the Democrat party, so Not-Trump essentially will be their nominee. They will point to polls that show sixty-one percent of Americans do not want Trump to be elected president. Further, that Trumps current approval rating of 39% matches his polling number in January 2021, which was the lowest first term ending approval rating in history.

Joe Biden will not be the presumptive Democrat nominee as he can no longer fulfill the role of being the reputable, affable, and moderate face of the party and, therefore, could lose to Trump despite the partys best efforts.

Without Biden in the race, 2024 is shaping up to be a Trump vs. Not-Trump election with minimal discussion of the economic, cultural, immigration, and international failures of the Democrats as well as the dire future facing this nation. The alliance of the Democrats, the legacy media, and the bulk of social media will wage a massive campaign solely focused on Trump instead of touting whomever the Democrats nominate.

Trump is presently the Colossus that sits astride the Republican Party, if he wins the nomination the fate of the country in 2024 will be in his hands as he will essentially be the only person on the ballot.

Photo credit: Gage Skidmore CC BY-SA 3.0 license
Kim Nam-kuk, a lawmaker of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea, enters his office in the National Assembly in Seoul as he has come under media scrutiny over suspicions he had held 6 billion won ($4.5 million) in cryptocurrency, May 9. Yonhap



The main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) decided Wednesday to refer Rep. Kim Nam-kuk, a former party member, to the parliamentary ethics committee over his dubious cryptocurrency dealings.



Kim departed from the DPK earlier this week after revelations that he owned a significant amount of coins, fueling questions about the source of the funds and whether the independent lawmaker had access to insider information.



DPK leader Lee Jae-myung and other members of the party's leadership reached the decision to refer Kim to the Special Committee on Ethics, DPK spokesman Rep. Park Sung-joon said, amid growing criticism that the independent lawmaker is attempting to evade responsibility by simply leaving the party.



The first-term lawmaker has come under fire following revelations that he owned around 800,000 Wemix coins in 2021, worth around 6 billion won ($4.5 million), a significant amount inconsistent with his frugal image.



The transactions were reported to the Financial Services Commission's Financial Intelligence Unit, which classified the withdrawals as suspicious transactions and reported them to the prosecution.



On Monday, prosecutors raided two leading cryptocurrency exchanges, Upbit and Bithumb, as part of the investigation into the snowballing suspicions surrounding Kim. (Yonhap)


Joe Biden said in 2020 that his was a "battle for the soul of this nation." In his announcement video Biden said, "In that moment, I knew the threat to this nation was unlike any I had ever seen in my lifetime." He was referring to President Donald Trump's remarks at Charlottesville VA. In a 13 August 2017 tweet Biden wrote, "Three years ago today, white supremacists descended on Charlottesville with torches in hand and hate in their hearts. Our president said they were 'very fine people.' It was clear then, and it's clear now: We are in a battle for the soul of our nation, and we must win."

Trump's remarks had been twisted by the MSM into a malicious lie.

Biden knew what the MSM had done. But he ran with the lie anyway because even though he was a doddering old fool he was an astute politician. 'Battle for the soul of our nation' became a catchphrase he frequently used. Biden spoke in many campaign speeches of being in a 'battle for the soul of the nation.'

Biden said in his inauguration speech, "On this January day, my whole soul is in this: bringing America together." He said unity was required in order to "...restore the soul and to secure the future of America." Biden's comments would have been encouraging had they been true. Biden issued executive orders that angered energy producers, pitted women against men, and blacks against whites, played religious people against secularists, advanced the transgender community, and sacrificed unborn children's rights to the pro-choice crowd.

Fast forward three years. Biden is again running on the lie he morphed into a 'battle for the soul of our nation.' "When I ran for president four years ago, I said we are in a battle for the soul of America. And we still are."

For Biden it has always been about his battle to secure the soul of America for those to whom he sold it.

For George Soros it was about control to gain influence, access, and special treatment. After the election Biden formed a transition team that staffed itself with people connected to Soros.

But his money also played a part. Soros spent over $70 million on activities that backed Biden's candidacy. Soros bought frequent access to Obama. That access returned under Biden.

The Vera Institute of Justice, a Soros-associated entity, funds radical-left agendas that persecute law enforcement. It partner with district attorneys to manipulate 'racial disparities' in decisions for criminals. They state their mission is to demolish what they perceive as a 'racist' system. It views immigration enforcement agencies as a threat to civil liberties. Vera Justice's president, Nick Turner, said, "We work to transform the immigration system because many of the problems that we see in the criminal legal system are just the same in the immigration system. And by transform, what I mean is to shrink both of those systems."

Jon Stryker, heir to the Stryker Corporation fortune, is an LGBTQ+ activist. He contributed $150,324 to Biden. Stryker is the founder of the Arcus Foundation, a left-leaning grantmaking foundation which has focused upon promoting LGBT+ interests.

Stryker's contribution is chump change compared to others (Hiam Saban contributed $1,500,000. That's the same Hiam Saban who combined with George Soros to contribute $3 million to Hillary Clinton), but it illustrates where Stryker's heart is.

Arcus contributed to two religious-based groups to convince church-goers and pastors to support same-sex couples having the legal right to marry. It focused its social justice initiatives upon groups which address LGBT+ issues. Arcus LGBT+-related activities gave $75,000 to Advocates for Informed Choice, an advocacy group for transgender and gender-nonconforming people.

To satiate the LGTBQ+ crowd and placate Jon Stryker, Biden issued a proclamation to make 31 March 2023 the Transgender Day of Visibility. He stated, "Transgender Americans shape our Nation's soul -- proudly serving in the military, curing deadly diseases, holding elected office, running thriving businesses, fighting for justice, raising families, and much more."

Planned Parenthood, with over 60% of its federal funding coming from patients who rely upon public health programs like Medicaid and Title X for their preventive and primary care, is yet an other example. Planned Parenthood gave $45 million to Biden's campaign, a threefold increase over its 2016 presidential campaign contributions. Biden, while campaigning, promised to overturn the Trump administration's pro-life policies and to have abortion rights incorporated into federal law.

Does Biden believe these people and organizations that got him elected won't demand repayment?

Biden selected, on seventeen occasions, people for his transition teams who worked for organizations founded or funded by Soros. Biden picked these individuals for teams at the State Department, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, U.S. Mission to the U.N., Department of Defense, Department of Labor, Department of the Interior, Department of the Treasury, Federal Reserve, Banking and Securities Regulators, National Security Council, Office of the US Trade Representative, and Department of Veterans Affairs.

Soros' son Alexander, chair of the Open Society Foundations, gained access to the White House at least twelve times in 2022, including a visit on December 1 with Nina Srivastava, advisor to Ron Klain, Biden's Chief of Staff. Four other past or present Open Society Foundations bigwigs have racked up a combined 33 private White House meetings in less than two years. Tom Perriello, director of Open Society Foundations' U.S. operation gained access seventeen times in 2021, including a December 15 meeting with Rachel Chiu, head of the White House's Office of Political Strategy, and with White House Associate Director of Strategic Outreach Sabrina Bousbar. He met on December 2 with John Podesta, Biden's senior advisor for clean energy innovation and implementation.

An inappropriate relationship between Biden and Soros is reported by investigative journalist Matt Palumbo in his forthcoming book, The Man Behind the Curtain: Inside the Secret Network of George Soros. According to Palumbo, the relationship gives Soros direct influence over Biden's White House and State Department. Once the relationship became public, Representative Lee Zeldin (R-NY) requested information from Secretary of State Anthony Blinken (a Soros man) regarding State Department sanctions against former Albanian president Sali Berisha, a vociferous enemy of Soros.

It's been five months since I made my original request, which is substantially more than enough time to adequately respond. This is now my third request for additional information since raising the issue of sanctioning Sali Berisha with Secretary Blinken during the June 7, 2021 House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing. It is unacceptable and suspicious that the Department of State has not sufficiently fulfilled this request for additional information in a timely manner and has instead chosen to slow-walk a Congressional request for transparency.

Health and Human Services awarded Vera a contract for $158 million to "...provide immigration related legal services to unaccompanied minors so they can avoid deportation." The Department of Justice awarded Vera $290 million over the last 12 months to help illegal immigrants avoid deportation.

I'm certain this is only the tip of the iceberg.

Image: J. Biden
About 20 years ago, I read a piece about the North Miami police department eliminating the swimming requirement for the police. With a working knowledge of geography and having visited Miami many times, I thought this was a bit odd and kind of a bad idea. After all, North Miami has hundreds of miles of canals, lakes, and beaches. Predictably, the reason the requirement was being dropped was that blacks are less likely than whites to know how to swim because of economic disparities between the groups In other words, the change was because not enough blacks were qualified to become police.

That was long before the cancer of wokeness had taken hold of much of America. I was dumbfounded. Nobody with a functioning brain would have looked at that situation and said we must eliminate a key element of the job requirements to let more members of X group join. But thats what the people in charge decided. If someone with a functioning brain were actually in charge, he would have said something like, If our goal is to have a more diverse workforce (a questionable assertion in the first place) and not enough otherwise qualified black candidates can pass the swim test, maybe we should simply take those candidates who meet the other requirements and teach them how to swim.

But thats not what they did. And that is just another demonstration that Democrats arent actually serious people seeking to help the communities they represent. No, their goal was to cater to the equity crowd, even before it had a name. And they have continued to do so for the last two decades.

Image: Drowning by Blake Cheek (cropped). Unsplash license.

Take gun control. Democrats have been gun-grabbing for decades. They use every mass shooting as a lever to try and wrest guns out of American hands and eviscerate the Second Amendment. While it is certainly the case that gun violence is a problem in America, the reality is, its not the guns, its the criminals and the Democrats who pamper them.

There are 350 million people in the United States. Of those, there are 280 million adults, 90 million of whom say they own at least one of Americas 400 million guns, with an average of almost 5 guns each. And how frequently do those 90 million gun owners commit crimes with those guns? Not very often.

Its estimated that more than 80% of gun crimes are committed by people who came into possession of their weapons illegally, which means that, conservatively, legal gun owners perpetrated only 20% of gun crimes. There are almost 100,000 shootings in the United States annually (not counting suicides). If we assume that 20% of those shootings were by legal gun owners, that would be 20,000 shootings. To put that in perspective, that would mean that .0002% of legal gun owners commit crimes with their weapons, or conversely, 99.9998% of legal gun owners never use their guns in crimes.

As a matter of fact, despite what the Democrat media tell you, Good guys with guns help stop between one-third and one-half of all active shooter incidents nationwide. But Democrats work continuously to take guns away from all of those apparently violence eschewing citizens while at the same time seeking to free actual violent criminals from jail or prison or not send them there in the first placeeven as those they free are the ones who actually commit most of the crimes and the worst crimes, and its not even close.

Making matters worse, Democrats rarely seek to focus on the strong correlation between anti-depressants and violence, particularly with young people. They would rather preen in front of cameras and accuse Republicans of having blood on their hands than focus on the real issues that spill so much blood.

And there is indeed much blood on Democrats hands. In what must seem counterintuitive to them, more gun control results in more mass shooting deaths. California is a perfect example. As its become more difficult for law-abiding Californians to legally obtain guns over the decades, to the point where its actually almost impossible to exercise the right, the rate at which the state exceeds the rest of the country has skyrocketed:

From 2010 on, Californias per capita rate of mass public shootings was 43% higher than the rate in Texas and 29% higher than in the rest of the United States. Since 2020, the rate in California is 276% higher than in Texas and 100% higher than in the rest of the U.S.

That is partially because there are fewer of those Good guys with guns. In Los Angeles County, where one mass shooting already took place this year, there is one gun permit for every 5,660 adults, and in San Mateo County, where another mass shooting occurred, there is one permit for every 24,630 adults. By comparison, there is one permit holder for every nine people in the 43 right-to-carry states.

Whether its murder on a small scale or a large, this data would only matter if someone were actually interested in solving the problem and reducing the amount of bloodshed. Needless to say, Democrats rarely look at the data and then conclude that making it easier to allow law-abiding citizens to own weapons might actually help reduce said bloodshed.

Then theres the border. The Democrat party, led by Liar in Chief Joe Biden, tells us that the American border is secure while Americans watch thousands of illegal immigrants stream across the border every single day. Those poor asylum seekers are given phones, have to promise to return to court to adjudicate their casessometimes in 5 or 10 yearsand are sent on their merry ways. Of course, many of those never even bother to show up for court. And hundreds of thousands more are simply released without even being given a court date. To make things even more ridiculous, while theyre busy gaslighting the entire country, Democrats are shivving their single most solid constituency.

Of course, the border is not a new problem. In 1986, Ronald Reagan signed the Simpson-Mazzoli Act, which granted asylum to 2.7 million illegal aliens in return for securing the border. Democrats took the asylum and screwed Reagan and the nation on securing the border. Since then, no president other than Trump has had any interest in securing the border, and he was stymied at every single turn by Democrats and leftist judges. The result is that today there are upwards of 40 million illegal aliens in the country, with millions more crossing the border every year.

Like the gun data, the data on illegal aliens isnt hard to understand. Its pretty simple math. The phones alone that the Biden administration gives to illegals cost $360,000 every day while, in the aggregate, illegal aliens cost Americans $250 billion per year. To put that in perspective, the wall Trump wanted to build was estimated to have a price tag of under $25 billion.

And now, its only going to get worse with Biden ending the Trump era Title 42, which was the equivalent of trying to stop your car by dragging your feet on the ground, a la Fred Flintstone. But now that Title 42 is gone, Biden is sending 1,500 Army troops to helplet even more illegals in!

Whether its standing on shore as victims drown in Miami, not allowing armed citizens to protect themselves and their communities, or simply ignoring the costs associated with illegal immigration, its clear that Democrats arent serious people and dont care about the average American. Given that Democrats demonstrate their disdain for citizens every single day, one wonders why anyone votes for them. Stockholm Syndrome, anyone?

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In 1993, when I began medical school at Wake Forest University, one of my first courses was embryology, a course in which all medical students learn in painstaking detail the developmental stages of human life, beginning at fertilization.

At no time during this class, did the professor ever say, and at this point, life begins and never did any student raise the question. To do so would have indicated a level of seriousness insufficient to complete ones studies. It is clear that after fertilization and prior to death, no life changing event occurs, either just before or just after any other specific point in human development. No one knows better than the physician how human life begins at fertilization and that which resides in the womb is completely human.

Rather than acknowledge the humanity initiated at fertilization, many physicians have adopted a fantasy version of medical science in which, using brute condescension, they claim the unique power to ascertain when life begins, while never actually having the courage to state when that is. For many years, this version of medical science has been spread across the internet, using names of doctors and their impressive sounding organizations, along with complex medical language, all designed to shield these ideas from criticism.

Serving as the volunteer medical director of two South Carolina Crisis Pregnancy Centers, one in the Myrtle Beach and a second in Charleston, I have become intimately familiar with the extremes to which my colleagues will go to deny what they learned in their first days of medical school, all in order to profit from the tragedy a woman endures with a crisis pregnancy.

Money is the root of all evil, and the medical community is using it in tremendous amounts to prevent passage of our states heartbeat bill (S474, the Fetal Heartbeat and Protection from Abortion Act) and similar legislation across the country.

Last June, the Journal of Cardiovascular Development and Disease published, When does the Human Embryonic Heart Start Beating? in which a physician and embryology researcher describes in great detail the supporting data that has allowed the dating of embryonic cardiac activity. He concludes, the first heartbeats of an individual human embryo may be expected to appear during a time span that starts at 20 days after fertilization and ends at 35 days after fertilization. At Gottingen University in Germany, medical professor Joerg Maenner, M.D. explains heartbeat as the regular movement that the heart makes as it sends blood around your body. It is interesting to note that his chosen definition comes from the Cambridge Advanced Learners Dictionary, highlighting medical sciences general agreement with the near universal common understanding of heartbeat. Electrical activity which triggers the contractions needed to pump the blood, begins within myocytes, the hearts muscle cells.

In an effort to defeat numerous state sponsored heartbeat bills, many likeminded individuals in the media are now working closely with large physician groups to make the relatively new claim that the 4-week-old fetus (6th week of pregnancy) does not really have a heart or heartbeat. As just the latest front in the methodical battle to dehumanize the fetus, the media is overloaded with supposed news pieces, which promote this claim.

Found under, Heartbeat bills: is there a fetal heartbeat at six weeks of pregnancy? NBC showcases a particularly misinformative opinion piece, beginning with a quote from a pediatric and fetal cardiologist, While the heart does begin to develop around six weeks, the heart as we know it does not yet exist. As the heart doesnt fully develop until after birth with closure of the foramen ovale (a physiologic hole in the fetal heart), the physicians point appears to be rationalization of abortion even into the first month after delivery. Following this form of unique medical logic, one would say that a humans skeletal system, which is not fully developed until the mid-teens, is not composed of bones until the growth plate composed of cartilage changes into solid bone.

If there is ever a fetal bone bill, NBC will find a pediatric and fetal orthopedist they will quote, While the bones begin development around 3 weeks, the bones as we know them do not yet exist. Although, insultingly illogical, this declaration goes unchallenged.

The correct medical term for whats observed at this point (6 weeks of pregnancy) is cardiac activity. Its not until about 10 weeks that there is an actual structure that has 4 tubes and connects to the lungs and major vascular system like we would think of as a heart. This comment is presented as that of a professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology. How cardiac activity can exist without a heart, I do not know.

I do know that at this age, the fetus is propelling blood through her arterial system to supply the oxygenated blood, which the child needs to survive. Most doctors I know (we) think of the heart as the only organ that performs this task.

After informing the reader that a medically unnamed organ is pumping blood through the fetus at 6 weeks, the article generously redefines heartbeat for those readers of average intelligence. According to the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology (ACOG), a heartbeat can now only occur after chambers of the heart have more formally developed. Moreover, what is heard on the 6-week fetal ultrasound is no longer a heartbeat. With out any references to the development of this new definition, one is left to logically conclude that heartbeat has recently been redefined in response to the numerous state heartbeat bills.

Under clinical explanation ACOG states further, What pregnant people may hear is the ultrasound machine translating electronic pulses that signify fetal cardiac activity into the sound that we recognize as a heartbeat. After explaining how unsophisticated pregnant people may be, ACOG tremendously oversimplifies the function of an ultrasound machine, suggesting if the fetus had an actual heartbeat, the ultrasound would generate the same sound one hears in the stethoscope, a capability ultrasound technology does not have. ACOG does not find it helpful to let the reader know that the sound the ultrasound generates for adult heartbeats is translated in exactly the same manner. An analogy of their verbiage would be to state that if an x-ray fails to detect a piece of glass under the skin in a traumatic wound, the glass does not exist, even though the x-ray doesnt have the capability to detect glass.

If you are invested in the pregnancy, you may want to anthropomorphize that pregnancy as soon as possible, and thats a heartbeat for people, states the professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology in the final lines of the opinion piece. After reviewing Websters definition of anthropomorphize, to attribute human form or personality to things not human, I just sat at my computer for a while, reminiscing about our five joyful pregnancies and contemplating the deep sense of loss my patients have experienced with pregnancy loss. In the real world of medicine, many physicians assume god like power, callously devaluing innocent human lives, especially those carried by mothers in crisis pregnancies, turning their back on the doctor patient relationship they are obligated to establish with both mother and child. All this is done in an effort to justify barbaric procedures, which allow the physician to profit handsomely from the tragedy many of these women experience. In a moral world seeking truth, abortion as we know it would never exist. But money is much more attractive than medical ethics, which brings us to this pathetic point at which it becomes incumbent upon legislative bodies to force physicians to do what they already are ethically obligated to do.

Truth is frequently the enemy of power and wealth. Pro-abortion physicians will never address the humanity of the unborn child, talk about the regret many women have after abortion, admit that aborted girls have no womens rights or acknowledge that a disproportionate number of aborted children are African American. Rather they will collect a large paycheck and lead us to believe only they know when life actually begins and that all innocent human life does not have equal value.

Image: Pixabay / Pixabay License
As an engineer and scientist, I am never happy to accept what is but am always in pursuit of why is it?

For many years I have pondered why there are so many militant ground troop Democrats. These are the local people who constantly fight for liberal causes and are perpetually miserable as has been observed and discussed by many authors, citing just one here, but any internet search will reveal dozens more. These are the white people who contribute to BLM and march in their protests. These are the transgender activists (and probably not transgender themselves) who assaulted NCAA swimmer Riley Gaines when she spoke out opposing the inclusion of transgender athletes in women's sports.

I differentiate these people from elected Democrats who have figured out how to game the system and obtain great wealth by assuming a liberal stance. Do they really believe the socialist propaganda that they espouse? Maybe, but one then must ask was David Koresh a real Christian or a person with natural skills to influence and manipulate people to satisfy his evil personal ambitions?

I also differentiate these people from what I call the Democrat lemmings who just go along to get along; voting Democrat because they always have, or because they are influenced by their family, associations, or media, none of which they have the mental courage or stamina to challenge. These people arent typically unhappy, they just arent terribly aware of the long-term consequences embedded in the liberal agenda, instead they believe what the media feeds them without question. As a good friend of mine (a happy Democrat) once told me Why would they lie? Another very good friend of mine, another happy Democrat, while wearing his mask shouted at me If wed all just get the shot the pandemic would be over!

Conservatives span a wide demographic spectrum, but are typically people with family, faith, and a sense of self-worth. Conservatives believe in personal responsibility, limited government, free markets, individual liberty, traditional American values, and a strong national defense. Conservatives believe in the constitutional role of government to provide people the freedom necessary to pursue their own goals. Conservatives believe it is up to the individual to solve problems, not the government. It is no wonder, then, that people with conservative values represent the majority of small business owners. CNN even admits that the vast majority of large public corporation CEOs contribute to Republican causes rather than Democrat. Another study finds that American Billionaires Are Overwhelmingly Conservative.

Why is that? The answer lies in the basic conservative premise of personal responsibility and accountability. An entrepreneur moves forward confidently in risky ventures not because of the promise of reward, but for the prospect of it. An entrepreneur does not expect to receive unemployment in a failed business venture, nor does he expect to get his money back even if he invested his life savings in it. A true entrepreneur does not accept handouts but instead figures out how to solve the problem.

A liberal, on the other hand, believes government should provide equal opportunity and equality for all. Liberals believe government should alleviate social ills and protect civil liberties and human rights. Liberals believe government should guarantee that no one is in need. Therefore, liberals generally believe it is up to government to solve problems.

If one is not confident of solving his own problems, providing for his own welfare, or feeling comfort and satisfaction in personal accomplishment or even his own skin, that obviously leads to insecurity. Misery is rooted in insecurity, as many prior authors have noted about Democrats. Also, insecurity can lead to envy, jealousy, and shame.

Democrat manipulators know this, which is why they constantly wage war on success. Bernie Sanders shouts The rich must pay their fair share! while remaining clueless what courage it takes to have earned that wealth at massive personal risk.

I am an entrepreneur, having started several successful businesses, and have several patents in my portfolio. A friend of mine who is a militant liberal expressed interest in buying one of my businesses a few years ago because he was dissatisfied with his nine-to-five and wanted something different. Although the business was successful and an ongoing concern, there were always risks going forward with any business and we had many conversations about that. In the end, as expected, he failed to have the courage to move forward and continues working his nine-to-five. He seemed to become even more militant on his liberal views knowing that he looked opportunity in the face and failed to embrace it, therefore succumbing to envy, jealousy, and shame.

What is the so what of all this? In recent decades the notion of personal entrepreneurship and developing skills in trades where you can go home each night tired but with the satisfaction of a job well done has taken a back seat to the notion of going to college (on loans that the government might forgive) and landing in a cushy job behind a desk and raking in the big bucks.

If conservative values are to prevail, we need to work on shifting these priorities in our schools. Fight hard against government-funded college education. Skilled trades need to be emphasized and respected equally to the path to college. Our children need to understand the trade-off between risk and reward; that greater rewards are only possible with greater risk, and that its okay to try. We need to teach our children how to accept failure as merely a stepping stone to success, and how to learn from failure, not identify with it. Encourage a curriculum that emphasizes critical thinking, not blind obedience to such things as man-made climate change that is beginning to filter into some States DoE educational objectives.

Get involved in your schools, whether you have children in school or not. The future of our country depends on these developing adults who will eventually choose the path of believing that government should solve all problems and make everything equal leading to a mediocre existence at best, or believing that they have the power to be successful and wealthy in family, faith, and a job well done.

Image: Montecruz Foto
When nations are composed of divergent ethnic groups, and such ethnic groups reach a level of demographic equivalency, instability occurs. This is a rule of civil society and does not depend on race.

The classic case that comes to mind is the island of Fiji. Fijis ethnic groups are roughly 60% Fijian and 40% Indian (chiefly Hindu). The Hindus were imported as indentured servants by the British to run things, and when Fiji became independent, the two ethnic groups collided. The Indians were better educated, and the native Fijians thought that their country was being taken away from them.

Ethnic tensions between the two groups were behind numerous coup detats.

Since independence in 1970, ethnic rivalry between Fiji's indigenous and Indian populations has become increasingly manifested in the political arena, as demonstrated in the coups of 1987 and 2000. The root of this rivalry is seen here to lie in an ongoing cold war for framing the defining qualities of the Fijian nation. -- The Commonweath Journal

Police in Fiji mobilized In February 2019 on rumors of a coup (YouTube screngrab, cropped)

Of course, cries of ethnic supremacy have arisen. The Indians see themselves as superior to the indigenous Fijians, or so some Fijians claimed.

But these are both people of color, which according to Woke ideology should have made them compatible, agreeable, and united. What happened?

The other example is Belgium, which is roughly split between Dutch-speaking Flemish and French-speaking Walloons. (While there are some phenotypical differences, these are minor.) The people are all but genetically identical. They are both Catholic, yet language has driven then apart, and many of the Flemish want to secede.

They are certainly not united as whites are supposed to be  according to woke ideology.

Canada has been split between Anglophone and Francophones since its inception. And the Francophones came from Brittany and Normandy, on the other side of the English Channel. The Normans who took over England came from Normandy. The ancient Britons who fled Wales for France landed in Brittany. The Quebecois and Anglophones again are all but indistinguishable. Denomination and language separate them, but not appearance.

The fact is that no group likes to be ruled over by another, whether white, black, Asian, whatever. When one group forms a demographic majority, it can afford to be generous to a minority that does not threaten it. When the groups approach 50/50, watch out, as they will vie for control.

This is not an issue of race, but of human nature. Africas civil wars are tribal. Lest we think this is a residue of tribalism, Norway and Sweden (can you really tell them apart?) are both Nordic and Lutheran almost repaired to arms in 1905 before Sweden finally conceded independence to the Norwegians.

Nations run best when they have an ethnic core. Families form relatives, which form tribes, which eventually form nations. There is a strong sense of social cohesion in such political structures.

Now, the core can change over time  but it takes time.

From 1776 to 1848, America was genuinely Anglo-Saxon in core. From 1848 to 1890, Irish and Germans flooded in, with accompanying social strife. Such strife is inevitable. Even the usually obedient Germans were at the core of the Haymarket Riot of 1886.

But in time, the Irish and Germans blended in, and were somewhat accepted (though their Catholicism made some nervous) at just about the same time as Southern and Eastern Europeans (Italians, Poles, Greeks, Russians, and Jews) started flooding in.

Arrogant Nordic supremacists influenced Congress to get the Johnson-Reed Act passed in 1924, which drastically reduced immigration. Their intent may have been bad, but it gave America the time to absorb and assimilate the recent arrivals. By the time the Johnson-Reed Act was overturned in 1965, American society had been stabilized and the core definition of an American had been expended to a more generic Judeo-Christian and white. Americas ethnic core had broadened. But it took a while.

And if one says white was too narrow a definition, by world standards: white was actually very broad. In Europe, whites fight among themselves. In Asia, Asians fight. In Africa, Africans fight. By the standards of history, an American definition of whiteness was unusually generous.

In the meantime, Jews were a minority, but they were winning respect, and civil rights were being given to blacks.

It took American almost 200 years to broaden identity beyond ethnicity.

John F. Kennedy, an ethnic Irish-Catholic had become president. Fiorella La Guardia, of Italian-Catholic and Jewish ancestry  though ironically raised Protestant  had become mayor of New York City, the biggest city in the country. Herbert Lehman, a Jew, became Governor of New York State. None of this would have been acceptable a century earlier.

But all of this takes time. If you smash differing peoples into each other too rapidly, social upheavals will occur. Fiji is a warning.

Tacking the issue of race was not going to work overnight, and yet this is what liberals demand.

Instability  when addressed wrongly  can go on for centuries until a common ground emerges. Belgium, Canada, and Catalonia are all examples of what can go wrong. Can you really tell the difference between a Highland and Lowland Scot without a scorecard? It took England centuries to figure that out, and it did so by brutally ethnic cleansing the Highlanders.

White supremacists may be idiots in asserting supremacy, and the leftist press surely overuses the term to demonize anyone who calls for reason, but the fact is that America needs time to digest its immigrants.

And there is nothing wrong with wanting an ethnic core. Germany should remain German. Japan should remain Japanese. Do we really want Norway to become like the rest of the world? Let Vietnam remain Vietnamese.

Dalai Lama says Europe belongs to the Europeans and suggests refugees return to native countries -- Independent

America started as an immigrant nation, so it cannot assert a native right to ethnic purity as say, the Greeks or Danish might, but it can ask for sanity.

Israel is a classic example. The Jews want to remain a Jewish majority state, which is why they resist enfranchising the Arabs in Judea, Samaria, and Gaza. The two groups are incompatible, as Zeev Jabotinsky, a right-wing Zionist knew.

A minority always suffers everywhere: the Christians in Turkey, the Moslems in India, the Irish under the British, the Poles and Czechs under the Germans, now the Germans under the Poles and Czechs, and so forth, without end. - The Ethics of the Iron Wall - Jabotinsky

It takes time to absorb different people, and the core must not be threatened.

In time, Hispanics will become a part of the American core. Many already are; but immigration laws have to change. Generous  YES! But not suicidal.

White supremacism is a reaction to leftist overreach. Common sense is the antidote.

It is not wrong for America to remain majority West European white, as long as everybody is treated equally. That may change in time, but it will take time.
AT readers know well the array of dementia signs in the current occupant of the White House. I'm sure most would contend that Biden is not mentally capable of the office. And yet, how many AT essays and comments decry this or that policy of Biden or this or that statement that he manages to utter as if they were his policies and statements? One of Biden's chief functions for the left is his role as Straw Man in Chief. If you attack him, you're not attacking them. (Leftist) Mission accomplished. Conservatives/patriots set themselves up here in what will be an exceedingly adept ploy from the left. Once the left gets rid of Biden, its minions will claim "problem solved." Now let's all hail our new (Democrat) President ___________ [fill in the blank].

So what is the proper approach that conservatives/patriots should take? Utter dismissiveness! Refuse to engage with any argument that centers on Biden. Refuse to acknowledge him. It will drive his minions crazy, but, much more importantly, it will remind AT readers that Biden is merely the tip of the pimple that sits atop the festering subdermal abscess that is Democrat leftism. Eliminating Biden will accomplish nothing except proceeding to the next chapter that the left has written.

So how am I so sure that other hands man the steering wheel in our headlong plunge over the abyss? Little things. The mighty get tripped up so many times by just that  little things.



Image: Biden (cropped). YouTube screen grab.

For example, Biden did not bother attending the coronation of the monarch of perhaps our closest ally. The estimable Mrs. Biden did. I'm not a partisan of Charles, but I do respect the British people. Biden's actions are inexcusable in that regard. And the petty meanness of the swipe seems odd. What exactly in Biden's Senate or vice presidency past betokens his antipathy to the British or their monarch? In truth, nothing. That his mother didn't like the British is not relevant to him in his role as White House occupant and the American people's representative.

And then there's this: remember that bust of Winston Churchill that Barry Obama had summarily removed from the W.H. after his inauguration? The one that President Trump put back in place? Well, it seems (from none other than CNN) that Biden had it removed again.

Now, we know that Biden can be petty and vindictive (ask Hunter's disowned daughter), but even the petty and vindictive need a motive. Only one person would have the pettiness, vindictiveness, and hatred to troll that low. And that would be Barack Hussein Obama.

So, with Susan Rice's recent stint in the Biden White House as further argument about the real power behind the Oval Office chair (not to mention the estimable Merrick Garland as A.G.,) it really does appear that the Transformation of America is proceeding apace with the same cast of characters leading the way (where are Valerie Jarrett and Eric Holder these days?).

This begets yet another question: how can a guy not bright enough to write his own autobiography lead a transformative revolution  both cultural and political  that has enveloped the U.S.? Like a series of infernal nesting dolls, we will likely find that the ultimate fingers working the strings belong to someone(s) still as yet uncovered, but not Barry.

But back to our theme here, don't believe for a second that Joseph Robinette Biden pulls his own strings. That mirage only favors the left's goals. And besides, he is about to be thrown under their bus anyway. They just await the moment of maximum gain.

It is very true that, to defeat your enemy, you must first know him. Just realize, it isn't Biden. If someone shoots you, you don't take it out on the bullet. You go after the shooter! (Except if your name is Alec Baldwin, of course.) So, with us, don't waste time on Biden. Focus on one row back. Biden is about to be history, courtesy of his current masters. But we will get only more of the same or worse.
Recently, California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D.) launched a new hotline service allowing victims and witnesses of hate incidents and crimes to report their experiences. This is part of Newsoms CA vs. Hate initiative, which is purportedly part of Californias response to the nationwide spate of anti-Asian violence.

The hotlines genesis was a 2021 Democrat-sponsored bill mandating that the state create an online reporting system for victims and witnesses to report a hate incident against any group in a safe, anonymous manner, particularly those who may face language or cultural barriers or are undocumented.

The California vs. Hate website states that the police do not run the initiative and that the site will not share complaints with law enforcement unless the complainant consents. The Newsom administration claims that the state will only involve the police if specifically requested. According to its website, the hotlines primary goals are finding help for people and communities and gathering data about hate incidents and crime.

The CA vs. Hate website states that Reporting will stop the normalization of hate in our communities, and ensure impacted individuals get the help they need. It defines hate vaguely as a hostile expression or action that may be motivated by bias against another persons actual or perceived identity.

Image: Telephone call (edited) by kroshka_nastya.

The threat of bias against perceived identity is the portion that can and will be misused. Perhaps an innocuous mistake will be treated as a malicious and purposeful act of hate if the perpetrator is seen as someone who dissents from the Democrat groupthink. Perhaps saying Welcome, sir to a non-binary individual who appears to be of masculine gender, will be considered hateful.

The site also states that the perpetrators could be people motivated by different discriminatory biases, including, but not limited to; bias based on race, color, disability, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, or gender, including gender identity. Examples of hate are cited as derogatory name-calling, bullying, hate mail, and refusing service.

So, lets consider hypothetical situations.

If a person is forced out of a shop because of the color of his skin or race, that is an act of discrimination. You can be sure that will be treated as an act of hate. What if the individual was ejected from the establishment because he is foul-mouthed and was threatening the employees and other customers? Will it still be an act of hate?

Going by Democrats record, you can be certain that the complaint from an individual who identifies as a member of an oppressed group, whether it was due to a misunderstanding or preconceived bias, will be given the utmost priority. Perhaps if the perpetrator is a dissenter from Democrat orthodoxy, the CA vs. hate site will encourage the person complaining to allow the site to report the complaint to the police. Then, the process (i.e., the police investigation) will be the equivalent of the punishment.

However, if a Trump supporter is forced out of a bistro by a rude restauranter because of his MAGA hat, while thats obviously an act of hateful discrimination, you can almost be certain that the attack will not be treated as an incident of hate. In fact, the restauranter may receive an award for confronting hate.

Whats unclear is the process after an incident is reported. Will the perpetrator be allowed to present his case, or will the individual be guilty until proven innocent?

Californians should also be concerned about what the authorities will do about the data. Will the governments records regarding the perpetrator perpetually reflect that the person was accused of being hateful? If the record is permanent, it could be misused to discriminate against the individual. The fact that the powers of this body are not explicit makes it anti-democratic.

The website states that callers will be connected with a professional trained in culturally competent communication and trauma-informed practices. Those callers do not need to be citizens or legal migrants. You do not need to disclose your immigration status when you report with California vs. Hate, the website says. Hotline services are provided for free, regardless of immigration status.

This seems like a California cousin of the Biden administrations Disinformation Governance Board, which Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas revealed while testifying last year before Congress. Mayorkas claimed the board would work

[T]o equip local communities to identify individuals who could very well be descending into violence by reason of ideologies, hate, false narratives, or other disinformation and misinformation propagated on social media and other platforms.

Given the broad mandate, in response to the inevitable outcry, the Biden administration claimed the board had been paused.

Like the California hotline, the powers of the paused Board were vague, and so were its definitions of disinformation. The stated purposes of the federal board and the California hotline may be different, but the goal seems identicalto police free speech and target political opponents.

Recently, we have seen that the Democrats never squander any opportunity to exploit a crisis to expand their power and encroach into the lives of citizens. They always claim a moral reason for their actions, such as saving innocent lives, etc., but the real reason is perfectly obvious: to torment and target political opponents.

They misused the pandemic to restrict the right to free movement and, therefore, the right to earn a living for those without the ability to work from home and forced them to take an inadequately tested vaccine. The misuse a deranged criminals illegal use of a gun as an excuse to encroach upon the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens of sound mind. There are numerous other instances of government overreach, and this California hotline is the latest.

In the end, it is the function of law enforcement to police communities and confront crimes and violations. There is no need for another agency to perform an almost identical function in parallel.

Having divided the nation, Democrats now purport to offer the solution to police hateful behavior. The problem isnt the idea, but the group running the initiative. In Democrats minds, anything that violates the Democrat groupthink is hate.

You can be certain that the hotline will be used to intimidate dissenters into submission. This appears to be another step toward outlawing political opposition.
On Tuesday, May 16, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., who declared his candidacy for the Democrat presidential nomination last April 19, appeared for (at least) the fourth time for a live interview on the FOX News channel. On this occasion, he was in-studio for the first time, in Washington, D.C. on Bret Baier's nightly Special Report broadcast at 6 P.M. E.T. (video here).

On each of these FOX News channel interviews, Kennedy  who is largely considered persona non grata by the rest of the MSM  has been accorded a respectful and uninterrupted chance to state his positions and answer serious questions. In his first three interviews on FOX News (with Tucker Carlson, Neal Cavuto, and Sean Hannity), Kennedy appeared to take the high road toward unifying the nation, eschewing any mention or criticism of President Trump, likely aiming to expand his base to include Republicans and independents.



Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and Bret Baier on FOX News's Special Report, May 16, 2023.

Yesterday, however, apparently for the first time during a live appearance on FOX, he dropped a brief, subtle, but unmistakably less than positive reference to President Trump:

ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR. (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: In 1970, 62 percent of income in this country went to the middle class, today, 42 percent. In 1970, 29 percent of income went to the super rich. Today, it's 50 percent. And that was aggravated, of course, by the pandemic, where we created a new billionaire every day, which was Donald Trump's pandemic lockdown. [emphasis added.]

This appears to be a shift in Kennedy's pitch. Since the COVID-19 pandemic began in 2020, Kennedy, using his Children's Health Defense organization, has emerged as a vigorous critic of mandated vaccinations, lockdowns, masks, and the influence of former director of the National Institutes of Health's Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases Anthony Fauci, M.D.  who served as the influential COVID-19 czar under Presidents Trump and Biden.

Shunned by his former associates on the left, Kennedy has often appeared on platforms with some notable MAGA stalwarts, in particular Lieutenant Gen. Michael Flynn and Roger Stone.

During the first month of his fledgling presidential campaign, RFK Jr.'s appeal as a candidate has been as a populist. Many of his positions have seemed to be compatible with President Trump's. But now a distinction seems to be emerging.

In addition to his attributing the lockdown to President Trump, Kennedy, speaking to Bret Baier yesterday, expanded his view of how he would address the woes of the middle class.

KENNEDY: We created 500 new billionaires [during COVID]. We shifted $4 trillion in wealth from the American middle class to the super rich, and we shut down 3.3 million businesses. That  those trends are  were continued by the Biden administration. And I think a lot of Americans want somebody who's really going to start listening to the middle class, understanding the desperation that so many Americans feel, and that is going to do something about it. ... We have sent $113 billion to Ukraine, and the entire budget of EPA is $12 billion. The budget of the CDC is $12 billion; 57 percent of Americans could not put their hands on $1,000 if they have an emergency; 25 percent of Americans are hungry. We have a crisis right here in this country. And I think a lot of Americans are feeling like they're tired of the forever wars. They're tired of this being a warfare state abroad and a surveillance state at home, and they want to get rid of the surveillance here, the wars abroad, close the 800 bases, or many of them, that we have abroad. We're spending $1.1 trillion a year on military  on a stealth bomber that costs a billion dollars and can't fly in the rain. We should take that money and build schools in this country, invest in infrastructure, create jobs here. [emphasis added.] Our real national strength is going to come from economic power and a robust economy and a robust middle class, and not from projecting military power abroad.

First off, Kennedy has inflated the amount of money that is spent on the U.S. military. Numerous credible sources place it at between about $800 and $850 billion during this fiscal year. While some of his comments might be compatible with a conservative's view of the world, others raise concern  for example, his apparent proposal to cut the military budget and invest more in domestic spending. As President Trump illustrated by his policies, decreasing unnecessary regulations and allowing the private sector to thrive helped to turbo-charge the economy to new heights  to "lift all boats," as it were.

Another quibble can be raised with this comment:

KENNEDY: The Democratic Party at this point has become the party of war, which we have never been before.

Say what? The ignominious Vietnam War, which admittedly had its early roots with Republican President Dwight Eisenhower sending aid and American advisers to South Vietnam in the 1950s, escalated considerably when Democrat President John Kennedy assumed office in 1961 and led to an enormous, unprecedented buildup of American troops and spending starting in 1964 under Democrat President Lyndon B. Johnson.

It remains to be seen if RFK Jr. can expand his support from his initial ranking in early polls that placed his support among Democrats at around twenty percent. His road will be uphill (which explains why he appears on FOX News), as the entire lineup of mainstream media considers him as toxic as President Trump.

WGBH in Boston, the tax-supported National Public Radio and Public Broadcasting Service flagship affiliate station, for example, ran an article and a segment on April 21, 2023 titled "How the press can ethically report on Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s presidential run":

Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. is a scion of one of America's best-known political families. His uncle was President John F. Kennedy, and his father, Robert F. Kennedy, was a U.S. senator and attorney general. But RFK Jr. is also an infamous conspiracy theorist known for his incendiary fearmongering about COVID-19 restrictions, vaccines, 5G technology and Bill Gates. Now, RFK Jr. is running for president  and one new poll shows he's attracting a surprisingly large amount of support from people who supported Joe Biden in 2020. Between that, his penchant for spreading disinformation, and the fact that confidantes of former President Donald Trump have publicly identified RFK Jr. as a political asset, how should the media cover his campaign moving forward? Adam Reilly talks it through with Erin Tiernan, author and editor of the political newsletter MASSterList, who reported on Kennedy's kickoff, and UMass Boston political scientist Erin O'Brien, who contends there's good reason for the press to focus its attention elsewhere.

With "reporting" like that, typical of the rest of the MSM (with the sole exception of FOX News), it's not difficult to sympathize with Kennedy  although one needs to follow the evolution of his candidacy closely to see what takes shape and what kind of role he might play when the race gets serious in 2024.

Peter Barry Chowka is a veteran journalist who has covered national politics and the politics and economics of health care, popular culture, and media for over five decades. His web page with links to his work is http://peter.media. Peter's extensive American Thinker archive: http://tinyurl.com/pcathinker. Follow Peter on Twitter at @pchowka.
According to this Bloomberg article, Michelle Obama is "a co-founder and strategic partner at Plezi Nutrition, a maker of sweetened beverages for kids ages 6 and up," which I take to mean that she is profiting directly from the sale of these beverages. Her rationale:

Obama says she's offering a lower-sugar alternative to steer them away from sugary drinks.

So are they healthy for kids?

Plezi's first product is a flavored juice drink blend that, under the very standards Obama championed, could not be served in US schools. Bloomberg News interviewed 12 independent health professionals and organizations and spoke with Plezi Chairman Sam Kass, as well as with members of the company's advisory board. Nearly all of the experts conveyed their respect for Obama and her achievements in improving child nutrition. But most were critical of the new line of drinks. Plezi declined to make Obama available for comment.

If you substitute nicotine for sugar, Plezi's juice is similar in appeal to vaping pens such as Juul. Like Obama's less sugary drinks, vaping pens don't attempt to get people to stop using tobacco and nicotine; they attempt to get them to use a less harmful form. But after debuting as a $38-billion startup, Juul has fallen to near bankruptcy because it was discovered that children (Michelle's target market) were using them. The company has paid nearly half a billion dollars in settlements with states that accused it of targeting youngsters and hooking them on its products.

Plezi (and Michelle) stand to make a lot of money from catering to children's sugar addiction:

On Target.com, on a per-ounce basis, Plezi is 2-3 times more expensive than other non-soda drinks targeted at children, including Coca-Cola's Honest Kids and Kraft Heinz's Capri Sun drinks. It's also more expensive than soda.

In 2010, Barack Obama famously said in a speech:

We're not trying to push financial reform because we begrudge success that's fairly earned. I mean, I do think at a certain point you've made enough money.

Mr. and Mrs. Obama are now worth scores of millions of dollars, and have lavish estates on Martha's Vineyard and in Hawaii, as well as their old mansion in Chicago. I wonder when they will decide that they have made enough money. I wonder if that point will ever come.

Caricature by Donkey Hotey, CC BY-SA 2.0 license.
Maybe the IRS should spend their time administering the tax code instead of targeting people they don't like and protecting criminals whose policies they like.

These days, it is not at all different from when the IRS targeted Tea Party members for the sole reason that they did not like President Obama's big government and high-tax policies.

Biden compared Tea Party members to domestic terrorists back then, just like how he compares MAGA Republicans to domestic terrorists today.

It is Democrats who continually gin up racial hate and division while they pretend they want unity, and most of the media cheer.

Why should we hire 87,000 more IRS agents when the ones we have are more interested in protecting themselves instead of doing their job?

Look at this news here:

IRS Axes 'Entire Investigative Team' Probing Hunter Biden Taxes: Report According to an exclusive report late Monday night from The New York Post, the IRS "removed the 'entire investigative team' from its long-running tax fraud probe of first son Hunter Biden in alleged retaliation against the whistleblower who alleged a coverup."

Biden's latest financial disclosures are out, and he showed no gifts. What about the gifts when Hunter uses kickbacks to pay Daddy's bills? I bet those gifts have never been shown on any gift tax return. I bet IRS agents don't care.

What about all the times Joe and his family spend vacations at a billionaire's house for free? Where are the gift tax returns?

The leftist media have been spending lots of time trying to destroy Clarence Thomas for free vacations, even though that is not a violation, but they actively support Biden, no matter how corrupt he is and how many ethical violations he has.

It is so hard to spot the bias:

Royalties from a pair of books he published years earlier: $2,933. Interest from one bank account: $15,000 or less. Gifts to declare: none.

Meanwhile, Special Counsel John Durham's report shows how corrupt and politicized the Justice Department has become. They have interfered in all elections since at least 2016 with endless witch hunts. The corruption by the Obama and Biden Justice Department dwarfs Watergate.

There have been endless witch hunts seeking to destroy Trump and associates, yet the corrupt Justice officials remain free.

It is a joke when the Justice Department says the reforms it has put in place will stop this. They are targeting Catholics, parents, pro-life people, and trespassers with no regard for equal justice or the truth.

The corruption in 2020 was as bad as 2016, when they colluded with the media to bury the truth about the Biden family corruption.

And the media cheer and continue to intentionally lie to the public that the 2020 election was clean.

If the media and other Democrats dispose of Trump, they will go after Florida's Gov. Ron DeSantis or whoever else is the Republican candidate. They also trashed Reagan, Bush, McCain, and Romney. The only Republicans they pretend to support are Republicans when they are attacking other Republicans.

Are the media going to call out Rep. Adam Schiff for all his intentional lies? Nope, they will continue to have him lie about Comey's and Jordan's investigations into the massive corruption of Joe Biden. The truth hasn't mattered for a long time to the sycophant media. They care only about power.

The swamp must be drained before the U.S. collapses. The younger generation is being indoctrinated with garbage, like the lies about climate change and white privilege.

There is nothing progressive about the media and other Democrats that call themselves progressive. They are intentionally moving the country backwards. They should be referred to as depressives, oppressives, destructives, or regressives.

Image: Pixabay, Pixabay License.
Actor Yoo Ah-in speaks to reporters as he leaves the drug crime investigation unit of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency in the capital after being questioned for the second time over allegations of illegal drug use, May 17. Yonhap



Actor Yoo Ah-in returned home Wednesday morning after about 21 hours of police questioning regarding allegations of illegal drug use.



Police said they are considering requesting an arrest warrant for him, citing the seriousness of the alleged crime and his continued denial of the charges.



Yoo, 36, also known by his real name Uhm Hong-sik, attended the second round of questioning at the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency beginning at 9 a.m. Tuesday.



Leaving the agency at 6:26 a.m. Wednesday, he offered an apology to the public.



"I said what I could say. I am sorry for causing concern," he told reporters. He declined to provide further details about the interrogation.



The suspect was quizzed until 4:40 a.m. and then reviewed the interrogation record for about two hours, officials said.



The questioning reportedly focused on the types and quantities of drugs he allegedly consumed, the source of the narcotics, and the potential involvement of accomplices.



The extended interrogation has raised speculation that Yoo continues to deny a significant portion of the charges against him.



The police suspect Yoo used five different illegal drugs for non-medical purposes: propofol, marijuana, cocaine, ketamine and zolpidem, which is an insomnia medication.



During the first round of questioning held in March, Yoo refuted most of the charges, except for partially admitting to snorting cocaine.



At that time, he claimed the intake of propofol and ketamine was for medical treatment purposes while denying any use of cocaine.



In the meantime, the police also questioned from Tuesday until Wednesday morning one of four individuals suspected of either using drugs alongside Yoo or aiding him in his drug injections. (Yonhap)


Kudos to The Washington Times for its May 16 story suggesting rescission of the Pulitzer Prizes that went to The New York Times and The Washington Post for reporting the (false) story alleging Trump-Russia collusion.

Here is the description of the 2018 Pulitzers for national reporting by the Pulitzer people:

Staffs of The New York Times and The Washington Post For deeply sourced, relentlessly reported coverage in the public interest that dramatically furthered the nation's understanding of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election and its connections to the Trump campaign, the President-elect's transition team and his eventual administration. (The New York Times entry, submitted in this category, was moved into contention by the Board and then jointly awarded the Prize.)

"Deeply sourced, relentlessly reported coverage in the public interest"? Hardly. Compare that Pulitzer fabrication to this brief excerpt from the Durham Report, as quoted in The Hill:

"The objective facts show that the FBI's handling of important aspects of the Crossfire Hurricane matter were seriously deficient," Durham wrote, arguing that the bureau relied on "raw, unanalyzed, and uncorroborated intelligence."

Special counsel Durham found that the FBI "relied on 'raw, unanalyzed, and uncorroborated intelligence.'" Do The Washington Post and The New York Times dare claim that they went beyond the FBI's rush to discredit the Trump 2016 presidential campaign for political reasons?

Interestingly, the account of the Durham Report that appeared in The Times, May 16, omitted the term "uncorroborated," hurled by the special counsel like a spear into the heart of the FBI  and those who eagerly lapped up the lie now known as the "Russian hoax." Given the definition of "uncorroborated," this observer does not doubt that The Times avoided "uncorroborated" as a vampire avoids sunlight: "not confirmed or supported by other evidence or information." "Not supported by ... evidence or information." This is the Durham Report's verdict on the aid given by the FBI to the Hillary Clinton campaign; likely, that verdict applies to the faux Pulitzers handed to the Times and Washington Post for their service in trying to bring down the Trump presidency.

Bear in mind that the FBI was reported to have offered Christopher Steele a million bucks if he could corroborate his dossier on Mr. Trump, the dossier that Hillary Clinton paid for. Steele failed his chance for a million bucks. By mid-October 2016, the FBI should have known that Operation Crossfire Hurricane  the operation to crush Trump  was a piece of Democrat disinformation. But they did not want to abandon the chance to help Hillary become president. The truth is that Operation Crossfire Hurricane was an example of political projection to the Nth degree  the bad guys not being the Russians, but American intel left-wing zealots.

The Times asserted that Durham failed to come up with "blockbuster revelations." But how can the perpetrators of the "Russia hoax" respond persuasively to questions based on the findings in the report? How, to provide one example, can the dishonorable Adam Schiff defend his claim about collusion as reported in Politico, four years ago: that the evidence was in "plain sight"?

For another example, how can Nicholas Kristof now corroborate his December 2016 column deriding President-Elect Trump as "The Russian Poodle"?

He can't, of course, except to continue bearing false witness. But that is the real point about the Durham Report  absent "blockbuster revelations."

The Durham Report is a White Paper to the American people setting forth the evidence that the cabal to undermine and destroy Donald J. Trump is a pack of liars intent on transforming the country into their own, self-aggrandizing image. And now it is up to House Republicans to use Special Counsel Durham's report as working guide to chase the rascals out of what they claim to be their natural habitat: Washington, D.C.

Image: Jim Jordan. Credit: Gage Skidmore via Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0.
The brilliant and evil Saul Alinsky, in his seminal book Rules for Radicals, said in Rule 4, "Make the enemy live up to its own book of rules." We are about to get a critical lesson in how the U.S. Constitution is going to be used to destroy America. The World Health Organization (WHO) is about to do that by getting "emergency" medical powers to control U.S. "healthcare" and much more. Sadly, that appears inevitable.

Here are some predictions about what's coming. Their goal will be to do as much irreversible damage as fast as possible to U.S. health care system. This is for all the marbles. To paraphrase H.L. Mencken, the elites have waited a long time to shaft the common folk (who are insolently rejecting their Frankenshots), and we are about "to get it good and hard."

The agreement will pass in the next month and immediately become law. Using the immediate implementation provisions of the agreement, a " potential" health emergency will quickly be declared. The WHO will claim very broad powers over " U.S. Healthcare." They will either delegate their powers to the CDC, et al. or, more likely, create a new unrestricted " Liaison Agency" ( " LiAgency"  Fauci?) to implement the WHO powers. Near-term actions will include: Mandatory digital health passports (probably first for travelers, then for everyone). Mandatory vaccines for everyone (first to travel, then to get access to Healthcare, then to get access to anything). Since Tedros (head of the WHO) has already declared medical " misinformation" a major health problem ( " an epidemic"), a " MisInfo" Directive will provide the legal basis for the more than willing U.S. government (and media Mafia) agencies to massively censor any dissenting medical opinions. (Good luck, Substack.) First, using Rule 13  "pick the target, freeze it, personalize it, and polarize it"  they will target the " worst" MisInfonistas (as enemies of the global state) and any new info they publish.

worst" MisInfonistas (as enemies of the global state) and any new info they publish. Next, they will broaden it to include all new " MisInfonistas" publications.

MisInfonistas" publications. Then they will disappear all past historic MisInfo and eventually outlaw its use.

All COVID criminals will be given blanket amnesty for all past and future medical crimes. Only WHO/LiAgency medical treatments (including masks, distancing, lockdowns, etc.) will be allowed (first by controlling what's billable, then under threat of law). All doctors, hospitals, medical facilities, licensing boards will be required to: Use only LiAgency-approved treatments.

Ruthlessly enforce all restrictions of MisInfo.

Report any MisInfonistas to the LiAgency.

Terminate (without due process) any individuals violating any of the above.

Declare any form of health MisInfo or dissent a mental disorder subject to involuntary treatments. Declare physical money a "Health" issue and use that to drive to a Central Bank Digital Currency. Require medical payments (including taxes) to be in digital currencies.

Ban physical money as "unhealthy." Tedros has already declared " Health Equity" (H.E.) a primary goal, so the LiAgency will rapidly create H.E. rules that will punish the U.S. health care system as inequitable because it spends too much (on the wrong people).

create guidelines to achieve H.E. both internally and externally (expect illegal aliens to get government-funded health care).

Monitor via a digital currency requirement to ensure that H.E. guidelines are followed.

Tax the hell out of the U.S. to expand the WHO's budget tenfold. Implement mandatory mail-in voting rules as a " Health" and as an " Equity" rule.

Longer-term,

Declare food, vitamins, supplements, water, air, education, climate, and energy (and pretty much anything else they want) as " Health" issues, and then regulate all of them. Create " Health Social Scores" to control and allocate pretty much anything impacting " Health."

Speed is critical. When Obama mandated the blatantly illegally Clean Air Act rules, by the time the Supreme Court ruled on them, the overturned act had already killed the coal plants Obama had illegally regulated. Once the damage was done, legal or otherwise, it didn't matter.

In Rule 8, "keep the pressure on," Alinsky said attack from every direction to keep your opponent confused and overwhelmed.

Expect both again, this time with your and your kids' health. Good and hard.

I wish I could say see you in the Gulag, but since Alinsky dedicated his book to Lucifer, expect something much hotter.

Image via Pxhere.
A few more Galaxy devices are picking up Samsungs May 2023 security update today. The company has released the latest security patch for the Galaxy Tab S7 FE, Galaxy Tab S6 Lite, and Galaxy A22 5G in some markets. A wider rollout should be just around the corner.

The May SMR (Security Maintenance Release) for the Galaxy Tab S7 FE is currently available in Europe and Latin America. The new firmware build number in the former market is T733XXS3CWD1, while that in the latter is T735XXU3CWE1. Users in Europe are only getting this months security patch but the update in Latin America brings One UI 5.1 as well. Note that the Galaxy Tab S7 FE has already received the One UI 5.1 update in Europe and most other regions.

For the Galaxy Tab S6 Lite, Samsung has begun rolling out the May SMR in its home country South Korea. The update comes with the firmware build number P615NKOS5FWD2 and doesnt bring any goodies. Its all about this months security fixes. This tablet has also already picked up One UI 5.1 in most markets. The latest security patch should be widely available for it in the coming days. Samsung has yet to release the May SMR for the 2022 refresh of the Galaxy Tab S6 Lite.

The Galaxy A22 5G is another Samsung device that recently started picking up the May SMR. The company has released the update in several Latin American countries, including Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Guatemala, Mexico, Panama, the Dominican Republic, Trinidad & Tobago, and Uruguay. The updated firmware build number for this mid-range smartphone in the region is A226BRUBS5DWE1 (via). Its 4G-only sibling has yet to receive the latest security patch anywhere.

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The May update for these Galaxy devices patches dozens of security flaws

This months security update for Samsungs Galaxy devices contains more than 70 vulnerability patches. These include both Android OS issues and other problems specific to Samsung products. At least six of those were critical security flaws that could allow threat actors to remotely take control of your affected phone or tablet without you knowing about it.

Along with these security fixes, the May update for the Galaxy Tab S7 FE in Latin America also brings tons of new features and improvements that are part of One UI 5.1. If youre using any of these devices, watch out for a notification about the latest update in the coming days. You can also manually check for new updates from the Settings app.
Google is testing a new homepage in Drive on the web. The UI redesign adds a dedicated Home section to the left navigation panel. It will surface your most relevant files and folders, the company explains. The idea is to help you find what you need faster based on your history and usage pattern.

According to a recent tweet from @googledrive, the new homepage is currently being tested among a small group of Google Drive users. A GIF file shared by the company shows a Home button above My Drive, which currently sits at the top of the left navigation panel. The current layout gives you a list/grid of all documents stored in Drive. You will also find a few suggested documents at the top.

But with the new homepage, Google Drive will provide more suggestions to help you find documents faster. The Home section is divided into two tabs. The Suggested tab is where Google will work its magic. It gives you a feed of suggested documents that you can easily filter through to find the right one. You can filter this feed according to the file type, folder, people, location, last modified, and more with the click of a button.

This feed of documents has a reason suggested column which explains why Google thinks you might want to open a document. A file or document may be recommended because you or someone in your organization recently opened, edited, or uploaded it. Google will give you a time stamp showing when you last opened or edited and document, along with its location in Drive.

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The Activity tab, meanwhile, lists all recent activities surrounding a document. You might see access requests, new comments, and more here. Google will let you directly grant or deny an access request from this feed and also check out new comments. An action box lets you select whether to share a document with someone with viewer-only access or more permissions.

Google is still testing this new homepage in Drive

As said earlier, the new homepage for Google Drive on the web isnt available widely. The company is still testing this redesign. It is seeking feedback from users who have received the new layout. If they dont like this change, they have the option to switch back to the old layout. But Google may eventually force the new homepage to everyone once it irons out any anomalies or bugs. We will let you know when this change rolls out widely to all Google Drive users.
Google Fiber has launched its 20-gig internet plan for at least eight organizations that want to test it, CNET reports.

Having a 20-gig internet service at home might seem like a daydream for most Internet users worldwide. But Google is working to make this dream come true by launching a test program for its 20-gig product. The company has already launched 5-gig and 8-gig tiers, but a 20-gig service would certainly be a hallmark of the technology.

According to the companys announcement, the service is currently under testing in the School of Science and Engineering at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. Google is now asking eight more organizations to join the program to stretch the service to its full extent.

Google Fiber is looking for eight organizations to test its 20-gig internet service

The tech giant further explains that these organizations could be businesses, non-profits, and educational institutions. Additionally, they should be located in Austin, Huntsville, Raleigh-Durham, and Salt Lake City. Google currently doesnt charge selected organizations and puts them in its Trusted Tester program.

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The organizations willing to participate in the program can fill out an form. Of course, they should meet certain qualifications like downloading or uploading massive datasets, conducting research that really needs significantly more bandwidth, and working on developing a tech that needs enormous bandwidth.

Google Fiber is rapidly growing in the United States and even managed to become a rival for AT&T and Verizon tiers. Googles fiber internet will also arrive in Logan, Utah, in 2024 after the company signed a license agreement with the city. More cities are expected to join the program in the coming years.

The race for offering high-speed internet is going to a whole new level, and Google wants to stay caught up with rivals. China, the biggest internet market in the world, has recently tested a 6G network with a data speed of 100Gbps. This was also the first successful wireless transmission in the world at the terahertz (THz) frequency level.
The tech world is no stranger to partnerships, and this new partnership may lead to better performance for MediaTek-powered notebooks. According to a report from Digitimes, MediaTek just partnered with Nvidia, and theyre looking to impact the premium notebook market.

We all know MediaTek as the company powering tons of budget devices around the world. Despite it launching its powerful Dimensity series of chipsets, the Chinese chip manufacturer cant seem to shed that image. Its really hoping to change things around with the Dimensity 9200+ chipset that just launched a few days ago.

Perhaps, partnering with another company may help it in certain regards. We all know that Samsung partnered with AMD on the GPUs for its chipsets. So, a partnership such as this isnt inconceivable.

MediaTek partnered with Nvidia to take on the notebook Market

We all know Nvidia as one of the biggest names in GPUs so it makes sense that MediaTek would tap this company for assistance. According to the report, MediaTek is looking to implement Nvidias GPUs into its future chips. Were not sure which chips exactly, but we know that they could launch as early as 2024. So, we could be looking at the next generation of the Dimensity chips.

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The two companies arent only brainstorming about smartphone processors. Reports also point to the two companies teaming up to develop chips for Windows notebooks. MediaTek already has a solid footing in the entry-level Chromebook market. It has a decent 20% share.

However, MediaTek partnered with Nvidia to break into the mid-range and premium notebook Market. This means that its going to be taking on Apples M series chips. At this point, were not quite sure when these companies will unveil these chips. However, it will be exciting to see what sort of power these two chipmakers will be able to come up with.
Its not deniable that over the last decade, advancements in mobile technology have revolutionized how we interact socially, professionally and personally.

Perhaps, it will be difficult to keep up with the newest advancements and trends in the mobile industry due to the constant stream of new mobile devices and accessories. This is why both dedicated techies and occasional users should bookmark some of the best mobile-friendly websites and blogs.

Well, the following article goes over the finest five UK-based mobile blogs and websites, including reviews of new devices, news and in-depth analysis and opinion from industry professionals. So, lets keep going!

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NextGenPhone

First and foremost, if youre looking for the latest news on mobile devices and technology developments, look no further than NextGenPhone, a top mobile technology website situated in the UK.

Smartphones, tablets, wearables and mobile accessories are just some of the subjects covered in the sites wide variety of useful and entertaining articles.

Moreover, NextGenPhones team of experienced writers and professionals in the mobile sector provides the readers with the opportunity to catch up on the latest developments in the field. So, whether youre a die-hard gadget geek or a first-time user, youll find plenty of useful information and tools here to help you find what you need.

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ExpertReviews

Our next listed tech website is ExpertReviews  a UK-based tech website that focuses on reviewing and recommending consumer products such as mobile devices, computers and home appliances. They have a team full of experienced researchers and authors. To help customers in making informed purchases, they provide critical evaluations and in-depth explanations of the newest items. In addition, ExpertReviews has a vibrant user community that offers insightful criticism and debate on cutting-edge products.

MobileNews CWP

If youre looking for the most up-to-date information about the mobile sector in the UK, check out MobileNews CWP. The site provides an all-encompassing perspective on the industry thanks to its expert team of writers and professionals, who cover everything from the newest smartphone launches to industry trends and market analyses.

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MobileNews CWP also features exclusive interviews with prominent figures in the mobile phone industry, giving its readers access to new thoughts and viewpoints on the most recent innovations in the industry.

In addition to providing users with up-to-date news, the site also provides them with helpful how-to tips and reviews. Therefore, MobileNews CWP is the best place for everyone interested in the mobile phone industry to learn about the most recent developments.

MightyGadget

MightyGadget is a website founded in the United Kingdom that provides a unique perspective on the latest gadgets in consumer electronics. The site offers in-depth reviews and news on smartphones, laptops, and smartwatches and home appliances with an emphasis on comprehensive and technical analysis.

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When compared to other sites, MightyGadget goes above and beyond to inform its viewers about emerging technology and specialised items. Expert authors and specialists in the industry often offer in-depth guides and advice on the site to help readers in making smart decisions.

GadgetsBoy

Last but not the least, GadgetsBoy is a technology blog that covers the most recent developments in consumer electronics, gadgets and other emerging technologies. The sites creator is an enthusiastic technologist with plenty of experience in the industry and he uses his expertise to write insightful articles and reviews for his visitors.

GadgetsBoy provides a unique and interesting take on the current technological trends by covering a broad variety of issues, from smartphones and laptops to gaming and smart home technologies. All in all, GadgetsBoy is a go-to source for anybody who is interested in being abreast of the most recent technological news and advancements.

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Conclusion

The mobile technology market in the United Kingdom is one of the most competitive and inventive in the world. Almost every day, new devices and accessories are introduced to the consumer market.

The good news is that customers have access to a multitude of materials that may assist them in being updated and informed about the most recent advancements in the industry. If youre interested in keeping up with the rapidly developing field of mobile technology, the top five best UK mobile blogs and websites are excellent resources for you. So, be sure to check them out and keep yourself updated!
We get it; AI chatbots like ChatGPT and Google Bard are rather insane in their abilities. Theyre both able to produce a wide range of text-based responses with a certain level of humanity. While Bard cant really be a proper alternative for ChatGPT in certain instances, its got a couple of tricks up its sleeves. Heres a list of things that Bard can do that ChatGPT cant.

Before we get started, we have a bunch of content on ChatGPT and other chatbots. Heres how to use ChatGPT and a rundown of Snapchat My AI. Want to know why Google Bard and Bing AI arent proper ChatGPT alternatives? Well, click here.

Things that Google Bard can do that ChatGPT cant do

So, for as impressive as ChatGPT is, other chatbots are catching up. Google Bard is a special case, as its not based on ChatGPT, and it was unveiled as a competitor to it. So, its impressive that it was able to bring such powerful capabilities after a rushed unveiling.

One thing to note is that Bard is still in the experimental stage. So, some of the features mentioned in the article might not be available for everyone just yet. If you cant do some of these actions, then youll want to hang tight. The functionality should come out eventually.

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Image responses

Getting text-based responses is great, but we sometimes need a little visual aid to go along with our results. This is where Bard one-ups ChatGPT. Bard will actually give you images in your results.

This is similar to what youd get from doing a search on Google proper. These images are pulled from Google Images most likely, so you know that youll have a bunch of variety in the images youll see.

Accept image prompts

This should come as no surprise if youve used Google Lens before. Along with text inputs, youre able to use images as inputs in Bard. When using image inputs, Bard will still be about as versatile as with text inputs. This means that you can upload the image, and ask Bard to generate all sorts of content based on it.

You can upload an image of your cat and ask Bard to write a poem or a story about it. Its basically like using Bard but with a little aid from a picture.

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Exporting content

One thing about ChatGPT is the fact that its an island. It doesnt really mingle with other services on a user-facing level. This is one way that Bard really leapfrogs it.

If youre using Bard, youre able to export the content you generate to Gmail and send it to a colleague. Also, if you want to further edit the content, you can send it straight to Google Docs. Sure, you can copy and paste your text from ChatGPT, but its more seamless using Bard. Also, exporting preserves the formatting of the text.

Using voice input

So, you want to use Google Bard, but your hands arent free at the moment. Well, Bard has the ability to use voice input. If you click on the little microphone icon on the right side of the text field, youll be able to just say what you want and submit it.

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Access the internet

As stated before, ChatGPT is on an island, and that plays against the chatbot in several areas. At the time of writing this article, ChatGPTs knowledge stops at 2021, and it has no access to the outside world.

However Bard, well, it has Google enough said. Google is the internet at this point. Bard is connected to the wide-reaching Google, so it has access to most corners of the internet. So, youre able to get responses based on real-time events.

Plugins

Speaking of reaching out, Google is able to integrate with different services via plugins. You can tell Bard to do certain tasks in other services. At the time of writing this article, this feature is still in the works, so you will have limited functionality right now.

When this feature is fully realized, Bard will be able to integrate with services such as Adobe, Spotify, Indeed, Instacart, Walmart, Tripadvisor, Khan Academy, ZipRecruiter, WOLFRAM, Uber Eats, and other third-party services.

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But, thats not all. What is Google if not a digital empire? Bard, unsurprisingly, will be able to integrate with first-party Google services. These include Google Calendar, Maps, Lens, Drive, YouTube, Google Shopping, Google Travel, and Sheets. Docs and Gmail are on this list too, but that was already explained.

Coding

So, youre already able to generate code with ChatGPT. That was one of the standout features of the chatbot. Bard can generate code too, but Google decided to take things a bit further.

Instead of merely giving you the code, Bard will explain why the code works. It will help in the learning process and provide tools to help you better learn how to code yourself.

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Multiple drafts at a time

One of the main ways that Bard differentiates itself from ChatGPT is its multiple responses. When you type in a prompt, youll get an answer as usual. However, depending on what you typed in, youll see an arrow on the top right of it that says View other drafts.

When you expand that section, youll see several other drafts of responses that you can use. Youll be able to pick and choose which one you want to use. It saves time regenerating responses in order to find the right one.

SEO assistance

This one is great to have if you own a website. As you can imagine, Google is a major company in the SEO business. The company uses this to its advantage and gave Bard this neat feature.

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You can input the link to a website, and it will actually give you tips on improving the sites SEO. So, youll be able to use this if youre not getting the traffic that you want, and you want some guidance.

The fight is on

Google really pulled out the stops with Bard. At first, it was just another chatbot in the rising sea of chatbots were wading through. Now, its full of a bunch of useful features that shine a harsh light on ChatGPT.

As time goes on, both Google and OpenAI will add more features to their chatbots. So, you should expect to see articles like these updated as time goes on.
People clad in traditional clothing stand in front of various offerings during a ritual to pay tribute to late democratic fighters at a national cemetery in the southwestern city of Gwangju, one day ahead of the 43rd anniversary of a pro-democracy uprising, May 17. Yonhap



Korea is set to mark the 43rd anniversary of the 1980 pro-democracy uprising in the southwestern city of Gwangju later this week, the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs said Wednesday.



Some 3,000 people are expected to gather at a national cemetery in Gwangju, 330 kilometers southwest of Seoul, on Thursday to commemorate the May 18 uprising, a watershed event for the country's democratization.



On May 18, 1980, demonstrators, including students, protested against the then ruling junta led by Chun Doo-hwan who seized power in a military coup the previous year. The military conducted a bloody crackdown on them, leaving hundreds dead.



Thursday's 45-minute-long ceremony will be held under the theme of sharing the "spirit of May together with citizens"  a message meant to uphold the spirit of the Gwangju movement to safeguard the values of liberal democracy and human rights, according to the ministry.



It features a performance to console the bereaved families and a video clip of interviews with citizens highlighting their efforts to preserve the "spirit of May" and move forward to the future.



At the end of the ceremony, participants are to sing in unison the "March for the Beloved," an iconic song representative of the nation's past struggle for consolidated democracy.



Whether to sing the song together used to be a controversial issue in the past as some right-wing politicians shunned it, in part because it was favored by their liberal rivals.



"We hope that (the ceremony) will serve as an opportunity to remember that Korea's democracy has firmly taken root based on the sacrifice and devotion of Gwangju," Minister Park Min-shik was quoted as saying. (Yonhap)


No new licences will be issued for animal testing of chemicals used exclusively as cosmetics ingredients, the Government has said.

Home Secretary Suella Braverman announced the ban on Wednesday, after it recently emerged the UK has been granting licences for animal testing since 2019 in certain circumstances in line with EU chemicals regulations, despite leaving the bloc.

Animal rights campaigners have been calling for an end to the practice as they accused the Government of weakening a 25-year ban.

From today no new licences will be granted for animal testing of chemicals that are exclusively intended to be used as ingredients in cosmetics products.

In a written statement to Parliament, Ms Braverman said the UK ban on animal testing for consumer safety of cosmetics ingredients, in place since 1998, remains in force.

But she conceded that a small number of time-limited licences were issued between 2019 and 2022 in line with separate European chemicals rules.

The EUs Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals regulations allow as a last resort the testing of some chemicals used in cosmetics production on animals when there is no other way to assess risks to workers in the manufacturing process and the environment.

I can inform the House that the Government is taking action to seek alternatives to animal testing for worker and environmental safety of chemicals used exclusively as cosmetic ingredients. We are therefore announcing a licensing ban with immediate effect, Ms Braverman wrote.

The Government recognises the public concern around the testing on animals of chemicals used as ingredients in cosmetics, and the new opportunities available to us to depart from the EU testing regime.

I can confirm, therefore, that from today no new licences will be granted for animal testing of chemicals that are exclusively intended to be used as ingredients in cosmetics products.

The Government is also engaging with the relevant companies to urgently determine a way forward on these legacy licences.

 We are super pleased to hear that the UK Government has reconsidered its policy and announced an immediate licensing ban on the use of animals for testing chemicals used exclusively as cosmetic ingredients! Read more on this update here: https://t.co/YtrKg728Ro pic.twitter.com/vGMUDpIq4y  RSPCA (England & Wales) (@RSPCA_official) May 17, 2023

In addition, the Government is undertaking work to review at pace the effective administration of the ban over the longer term (including the legal framework for this). This would also have due regard of the needs of the science industry, the need to ensure worker and environmental safety, and the need to protect animals from unnecessary harm.

Animal welfare and cosmetics groups welcomed Ms Bravermans statement.

The RSPCA charity tweeted: We are super pleased to hear that the UK Government has reconsidered its policy and announced an immediate licensing ban on the use of animals for testing chemicals used exclusively as cosmetic ingredients!

Dr Vicky Robinson, chief executive of the National Centre for the Replacement, Refinement and Reduction of Animals in Research, said: I was pleased to meet with the Home Secretary today along with colleagues from Unilever and the Cosmetic, Toiletry and Perfumery Association.

We were able to provide a united voice on the importance of applying robust scientific approaches, that avoid the use of animals, for protecting the safety of workers involved in the manufacture of cosmetics ingredients.

These cutting-edge approaches have been used over the last decade to protect the safety of consumers and it is a regulatory contradiction that they are not used for the purposes of worker safety not least because exposure is tightly controlled in UK factories.

The Home Office oversees animal experimentation regulation in Great Britain.
The brother of BBC presenter Lucy Hockings remains unaccounted for following a hostel fire in New Zealand.

A spokeswoman for the BBC said the journalist and her family were awaiting further information from the authorities after the blaze in Wellington on Tuesday.

Police in the countrys capital are treating the fire as suspicious following reports of multiple fatalities at the Loafers Lodge  with some affected families still awaiting news on those missing.

The Associated Press (AP) said officers have accounted for 92 people who were in the hostel and have a list of fewer than 20 who remain unaccounted for  with the expected final death toll believed to be fewer than 10.

BBC presenter Lucy Hockings (left) and NSPCC Childrens Rights Campaigner Helena Fraser speak during the Women in the World conference at Cadogan Hall in London (Lauren Hurley/PA)

Ms Hockings is still waiting for news on her brother, Liam, with the BBC issuing a statement on Wednesday.

The spokeswoman said: Following the devastating fire in at the hostel in Wellington, New Zealand, Liam Hockings, the brother of Lucy Hockings, remains unaccounted for.

Liam lived at the hostel. Lucy and her family are awaiting further information from the authorities and we ask that her and her familys privacy is respected at this time.

The BBC will do everything it can to support Lucy.

AP said people were forced to flee in their pyjamas as flames tore through the hostel, with others seen diving from windows or rescued by firefighters from the roof.

Inspector Dion Bennett, acting Wellington District Commander for New Zealand Police, said they expected the scene to be examined for some time.

Police are also investigating a potential link with a sofa fire which took place two hours before the fatal blaze.

Officers hoped to enter the building on Wednesday afternoon following a health and safety assessment and will be working to locate and recover those who have died, Mr Bennett said.

In his statement, the officer added: We know there are many people waiting for news of family and friends  including the residents who escaped the fire and are keenly waiting for news of their fellow tenants.

I again want to provide the reassurance that we have a large number of officers working on this investigation, with the aim of providing them the answers they need as quickly as possible.
One of the worlds largest carmakers has said it will be unable to keep their commitment to make electric vehicles in the UK without changes to the Brexit deal.

Stellantis  the parent company of Vauxhall, Citroen, Peugeot and Fiat  which employs more than 5,000 people in the UK  told a Commons inquiry into supply of batteries for EV manufacture that their UK investments were in the balance due to the terms of the trade deal.

The worlds fourth biggest car maker committed to making electric vehicles at its Ellesmere Port and Luton plants two years ago.

But in a submission to the inquiry, the company said the Brexit deal was a threat to our export business and the sustainability of our UK manufacturing operations.

Electric vans (left) at Vauxhalls plant in Ellesmere Port, Cheshire (Peter Byrne/PA)

It called on the Government to reach agreement with the EU to maintain existing rules until 2027, rather than next years planned changes which state 45% of an electric cars value should originate in the UK or EU to qualify for trade without tariffs.

Stellantis said the rise in the cost of raw materials during the pandemic and energy crisis meant it was unable to meet these rules of origin.

It said the upcoming rules would see 10% tariffs on trade with the EU and make domestic production and exports uncompetitive with Japan and South Korea.

The company said that would mean manufacturers will not continue to invest and will relocate.

To reinforce the sustainability of our manufacturing plants in the UK, the UK must consider its trading arrangements with Europe, Stellantis told the inquiry, listing Hondas closing of its site in Swindon and investment in the US as examples of its impact.

Stellantis said there will be insufficient battery production in the UK or Europe to meet government targets in phasing out petrol and diesel vehicles by 2025 and 2030.

It we are unable to rely on sufficient UK or European batteries, we will be at a major competitive disadvantage. In particular against Asian imports, they said.

We need to reinforce the competitiveness of the UK by establishing battery production in the UK.

Electric cars and batteries were among the final parts of the Brexit deal agreed between then Prime Minister Boris Johnson and President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen in 2020.
James Cleverly will seek to renew and enhance ties with the Caribbean and South America on a four-country trip in which he will announce funding to help protect the regions climate and security.

The Foreign Secretary will offer UK support to safeguard the Amazon rainforest and counter serious and organised crime, according to the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO).

The whirlwind seven-day trip, focused on issues including democracy, the environment and shared values, will see Mr Cleverly travel to Jamaica, Colombia, Chile and Brazil.

In Kingston, Jamaica, he will announce 15 million in funding for a violence prevention partnership to address organised crime and up to 7 million to protect the island from flooding and coastal erosion.

He will then head to South America to deliver a keynote speech on the UKs future relationship with the region.

It marks the first visit by a UK foreign secretary to the Caribbean since 2017 and the first to South America since 2018.

Mr Cleverly said: This is a milestone year in the history of UK relations with countries across Latin America and the Caribbean.

While I look forward to celebrating our close bonds of friendship and family, I am also here to renew and enhance our ties for the years ahead.

It is a partnership that will be marked and strengthened by our shared values of freedom, democracy and concern for the state of our planet.

Foreign Secretary James Cleverly will embark on a four-country trip (Hannah McKay/PA)

In Colombia, he is expected to announce new UK support and funding for peace and tackling climate change by protecting the Amazon, according to the FCDO.

Mr Cleverly will visit the Amazon frontier region of Guaviare before giving a speech in Chiles capital Santiago setting out the UKs approach to South America and like-minded powers around the world.

The speech will refer to the bicentenary of UK-Latin America relations in British embassies across the continent  200 years after the regions struggle for independence from colonial rule.

The visit will end in Brazil, where the Foreign Secretary will sign a climate partnership with his hosts on green growth and travel to the Amazon.

The FCDO said Mr Cleverly would emphasise the UKs support for Brazilian democracy at the national Congress, which was attacked by a mob of supporters of former president Jair Bolsonaro in January following his electoral defeat.

It comes after the Government joined the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP)  a trade deal which includes Chile and Peru.

The agreement marked Britains biggest trade deal since leaving the EU but critics say the impact will be limited, with official estimates suggesting it will add just 1.8 billion a year to the economy after 10 years, representing less than 1% of UK GDP.

The Governments updated integrated review in March reinforced a post-Brexit tilt towards the Indo-Pacific region as a permanent pillar of British foreign policy as well as deeper ties with other influential actors such as South America.
A train carriage in Yeouido Station, central Seoul, is crowded with passengers in this 2019 photo. Yonhap



By Ko Dong-hwan



A fare hike for the metro service across Seoul, Incheon and Gyeonggi Province appears to be inevitable to keep the debt-ridden operations rolling. But the hike rate could be lower than anticipated due to rising market prices that are putting pressure on the public.



Paik Ho, a candidate for CEO at Seoul Metro, said on Wednesday the hike will likely be 150 won ($0.11) instead of 300 won and will be carried out during the second half of this year. The remark came from a confirmation hearing at the Seoul City Council where he was asked about the company's anticipated fare hike plan.



He said the latest plan replaces the company's previous plan of raising it by 300 won which was to be carried out last April. That plan was postponed due to the rising market prices.



Instead of raising the fare all at once, the hike will be stepped up gradually, first by 150 won this year with the remainder to be discussed later, according to Paik. The measure is to mitigate the pressure on the public already suffering from the increasing market prices, he said.



The remaining hike, according to reports, is likely to happen following the general election in April next year.



Paik said during the hearing there are no ways the company can dissolve the deficit of 1.68 trillion won without raising the fare. The hike would be the only exit from the deficit "even under the most competent CEO out there," he said.



The fare hike, currently 1,350 won and 1,250 won if paid with a credit card, would not have been necessary if the Seoul city government assisted the company with a supplementary fund, according to Paik. Metro operators in other cities like Daegu and Busan are entitled to such funds from the city authorities under the city regulations, he said. He said Seoul Metropolitan Government doesn't have such regulations.



Seoul Metro operates 275 stations on lines one to eight and part of line nine, altogether spanning over 289 kilometers. More than 7 million people use the railway service every day, according to the company.



The city government is expected to propose the hiked fare to be finalized to the city's market price decision committee in June. The 150-won hike later this year is expected to happen in August or September.


A driver who killed a mother while showing off at speeds of up to 110mph in his Range Rover has been jailed for seven and a half years, as police released CCTV footage of the fatal crash.

Rida Kazem, 24, was driving beautician Yagmur Ozden, 33, and their friend Zamarod Arif, then aged 26, home from a night out in west London when he lost control.

Ms Ozden died of her injuries, while Kazem later had his left leg amputated below the knee, after the pair were thrown from the vehicle as it ploughed through a Tesla car park, ending up on a west London railway track.

Ms Arif, who was the only one wearing a seatbelt, sustained serious injuries  including a broken arm and leg  in the crash, which happened near Ealing in the early hours of August 22.

There were gasps and sobs from members of Ms Ozdens family as CCTV footage of the incident was played at Isleworth Crown Court, west London, on Wednesday.

Kazems black Range Rover Sport SVR, valued at up to 180,000, hit a top speed of 110mph on the 40mph-limit A40 westbound before he lost control, hitting a curb. Footage shows the airborne vehicle crash across a pavement, through a fence and into a lower-level car park.

Spinning nose-over-rear, the Range Rover hit a stationary Tesla, occupied by a taxi driver, who was charging the car, before the wreckage ended up on the tracks at Park Royal Tube station.

Judge Martin Edmunds KC jailed Kazem, from Greenford, west London, after he previously pleaded guilty to causing death by dangerous driving and causing serious injury by dangerous driving.

The speed and violence of this crash is simply horrific, and the Range Rover was reduced to a mangled heap of metal, the judge said.

I have no doubt you were showing off to your passengers  showing off your powerful car but also what you thought of as your superior driving skills.

What is all too clear is your skills were all too inadequate.

Kazem will serve at least two-thirds of the sentence and was banned from driving for more than 12 years.

Wearing dark tracksuit bottoms and a white T-shirt, he had entered the dock on crutches in front of a court packed with members of his own family, as well as the victims relatives.

Rida Kazem was banned from driving for more than 12 years (Metropolitan Police/PA)

He smiled to the public gallery after he was sentenced and left unaided.

Speaking outside court after the sentencing, Ms Ozdens 13-year-old daughter Melek said: Im not really happy with the sentence today but I really did feel sorry for him.

When we left the court, he did say something really offensive and it just doesnt give my mum any justice.

Its really offensive and it didnt show he was sorry and there was no respect and the outcome was horrible and I dont really like the sentence.

Hopefully my mum does get justice some day.

Ms Ozdens sister Maya Kodsi, 37, added: We left the court in so much pain.

They took the decision, its not enough and its not fair.

Theres no punishment in this country.

The court heard Kazem refused to allow an analysis of a blood sample taken while he was in hospital but the judge said he could not conclude he had been driving with excess alcohol.

Prosecutor Nicholas Hearn said he had previous speeding convictions, including one recent offence for driving 95mph in a 50mph zone and was banned from driving for six months in November 2020.

Kazem sat staring straight ahead as the prosecutor read out victim impact statements, including one from Melek, who now lives with her grandmother.

Im still in shock, she said.

Yagmur Ozdens sister Maya Kodsi, left, and Ms Ozdens daughter Melek spoke outside Isleworth Crown Court (Jonathan Brady/PA)

Every time I see a Range Rover I remember the accident, so I cant get away from it.

The court heard that Kazem had suggested to the author of a pre-sentence report and his psychologist that he had not been driving the Range Rover and the judge said he had found no evidence of real remorse.

But David Rhodes, defending, said Kazem, who worked for a family jewellery business and had been accepted onto a university law course, accepts through his guilty pleas that he was the driver.

He knows he has taken a life in Yagmur Ozden and left a young girl without a mother and he knows he very nearly killed himself in that accident, he said.
A farmer jailed for 12 months after hiring diggers and an 18-ton bulldozer to illegally strip trees and vegetation from riverbanks in Herefordshire has had his prison term reduced on appeal.

John Price, 68, was originally sentenced to immediate custody and ordered to pay 600,000 prosecution costs by a district judge on April 20, in what Natural England and the Environment Agency said was the worst river-side destruction the organisations had seen.

Legal action was brought by both groups, which claimed the affected area could take several decades to recover, following the unlawful works, including dredging of the rivers bed, carried out during 2020 and 2021.

The Lugg before the damage (Environment Agency/PA)

The Lugg is designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), meaning any works need an Environment Agency permit, and must adhere to strict conditions.

Giving his appeal ruling at Worcester Crown Court on Wednesday, Judge Nicholas Cole cut the sentence to 10 months, after hearing of the practical difficulties Price, who is autistic, faced in custody as well as other mitigation, including his age.

However, he declined to suspend the sentence, telling Price: Given the breadth of the offending over an extended period of time  there is a need for deterrence in any sentence we impose.

The message needs to go out loud and clear these laws are there to protect the environment for everybody, the judge said.

Detailing the ruling, the judge said: These are not minor breaches of technical regulations, rather the appellants actions strike at the heart of the legislation intended to protect the environment.

It is clear this traditional meandering river, lined by trees and full of wildlife had been turned into a canal, he added.

The judge said: To put it simply this was outrageous behaviour committed over a period of time in a planned manner, involving hiring of machinery and operatives and it was persistent.

You, Mr Price, turned a beautiful stretch of important river into canalised section devoid of interest, thereby robbing it of important diversity of plants and animals.

It was vandalism of the environment on a grand scale.

We do not accept there was any justification of your actions.

You failed to seek expert advice despite having means to do so and in our judgement acted in a selfish and ignorant manner.

Price, of Day House Farm, Kingsland, Herefordshire, had claimed he carried out re-modelling of the riverbanks to cut the risk of nearby properties flooding.

Preceding an initial bout of bank clearance and dredging in November 2020, Price, who owns and farms the land, had cleared a copse of 70 mature trees, flouting the SSSI protections, then laid an area of nearby hard-standing.

There can be no doubt these works had nothing to do with the reduction of flooding, added the judge.

They were to create what we understand was an area of hard-standing for horses and it was in blatant disregard for the environment and indeed the law.

Price was served with a stop notice in December 2020, but 12 months later again used heavy equipment to move gravel off the river bed and banks at a critical time of year in the life cycle of salmon and brown trout, the judge said.

The judge said he sentenced on the basis these were all deliberate offences, given Price breached and flagrantly disregarded the law.

It will be many decades before the river returns to the tree-lined meandering river it once was, he said.

Price simply didnt care about the regulations, the judge added, highlighting aggravating features including an incident where he spotted an official taking photographs of the illegal activity, early in the morning, and followed the official in his car.

The judge said Price got in his vehicle, caught up with the officials car, and proceeded to follow him, shouting for him to get out and driving aggressively.

At one stage he was attempting to block the carriageway and pursued him for over 11 miles.

The judge said he rejected Prices assertion he believed the official, in a hi-vis jacket, was photographing his partner and children, saying the appellant knew hed been caught and he was angry about it.

Judge Cole added that rather than reduce flooding risk, subsequent investigation by the Environment Agency and Natural England have noted that his actions may, in fact, in due course make matters worse.

Price, who sat in the dock having been given permission to sit for the duration of the hearing, did not react as he was returned to custody.

Herefordshire Wildlife Trust first raised the alert about damage to the riverbanks in December 2020.

At the time, the trusts chief executive called the actions a crime against the environment.

Price was later charged with offences including failing to stop agricultural pollution from entering the river, removal of trees and vegetation, reprofiling a river bank and going about the works without consent.

At a subsequent court hearing Price admitted using heavy machinery to dredge and reprofile a 1.5km (0.93 mile) stretch of riverbank, at Kingsland, claiming the works were to help prevent flooding of nearby homes.

An order was also imposed on Price requiring him to restore the stretch of protected river, which included the habitats of otters, kingfishers, trout and salmon, he had cleared.

Price, who the court heard had capital assets in excess of 20 million and a previous conviction from 2007 for damming a nearby tributary to extract water for his potatoes, also had his three-year disqualification from being a company director upheld by the judge.

Farmer John Prices appeal was heard at Worcester Crown Court (Alamy/PA)

Judge Cole had been asked to consider Prices autistic spectrum diagnosis and reduce his culpability from deliberate to reckless, but he ruled this appellant knew what he was doing as his actions continued over a lengthy period of time.

Speaking after the sentencing, last month, Emma Johnson, area manager for Natural England said: The destruction of this section of the River Lugg was devastating for the abundance and range of species which thrived in this river.

The river is one of the most iconic rivers in the UK and to see this wanton destruction take place was devastating.

Martin Quine, Environment Agency place manager for Herefordshire, said: While Mr Prices justification for the works was to help prevent flooding to local properties, his actions did not have any flood prevention benefit.

The destruction of river banks is not appropriate flood management.
The former chief executive of a collapsed finance firm has been spared jail after spending thousands on luxuries while his assets were restrained under a court order.

Michael Thomson, also known as Andy Thomson, had his assets restrained under a court order in March 2019 as the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) investigated the collapse of London Capital & Finance  where Thomson had been CEO  which resulted in 11,000 investors affected and 230 million in losses.

The 50-year-old admitted accessing and spending around 95,000 while his assets were restrained.

According to the SFO, he funnelled money into his wifes unrestrained bank account and spent around 5,000 on a holiday in Italy, 4,000 each on a hot tub and on horse saddles, 3,000 at Next and 1,000 each on a horse-truck conversion and a hotel stay.

At Southwark Crown Court on Wednesday, Thomson was given 10 months in prison suspended over two years for twice breaching the order.

Judge Alexander Milne KC said the breaches each amounted to contempt of court.

He added that court orders should not be set aside or disregarded but respected and observed.

The judge took into account delays in proceedings, Thomsons compliance and cooperation with authorities since the breaches and his mental health to conclude that he should be given a suspended sentence.

Catherine Collins, for the SFO, told the court that Thomson committed the first breach when he sought a refund for stamp duty in January 2020 and directed the money, some 55,000, into his wifes unrestrained account.

The second breach occurred months later in June when Thomson made an insurance claim after reporting damage to an outbuilding and directed around 40,000 from insurers into his wifes account, initially claiming the money was spent on DIY repairs.

Ms Collins said: The reality is that he spent the money obtained through these two sources on himself.

Genevieve Reed, for Thomson, said the outbuilding was damaged in a storm and that the incident was unexpected and not something that was planned by Mr Thomson in a bid to extract money.

She argued that her client is a man of good character who has a partner, children and grandchildren who rely on him and that he admitted the breaches and complied with authorities since breaching the order.

SFO director Lisa Osofsky said: Todays result makes clear: company executives are not above the law.

When they break it, we have the means and the resolve to go after their money, no matter where they hide it.
Most British adults do not know what the recommended maximum daily salt intake is, according to a poll for the British Heart Foundation (BHF).

Only 19% of those surveyed stated the 6g per day maximum recommended by the Government, which is about a teaspoon of salt, while 65% were not confident in estimating their daily salt intake.

The findings from a YouGov survey of more than 2,000 British adults come as the Action on Salt (AoS) campaign group called on the Government to get tough on the food industry and enforce the salt targets, either by legislation, or a levy on foods that exceed the targets.

AoS said that out of 1,387 pizzas it surveyed, takeaway pizzas contained more than double the amount of salt than those bought in supermarkets.

Campaigners are calling for a reduction of salt in foods such as pizza (Steve Parsons/PA)

Some 66% of pizzas sold in restaurants and takeaways contained 6g or more salt per pizza, according to the group.

The BHF believes that no time should be lost trying to cut levels of salt in everyday foods to make healthy eating easier for families.

Eating too much salt can lead to health problems including high blood pressure, which can be linked to half of all heart attacks and strokes in the UK, it adds.

In its survey the BHF also found that 86% of those questioned correctly stated the majority of salt consumed in the UK comes from shop-bought food, or is from food served outside of the home.

John Maingay, the BHFs director of policy and influencing, said: This research clearly shows that people dont feel they know how much salt they are eating, and just providing people with that information isnt going to help when there are high salt levels in so many of the foods we buy.

There is a clear case for helping people eat more healthily by taking salt out of food before it is bought. We need Government action to drive all parts of the food industry to play their part and reduce the amount of salt they are serving to us.

Both the BHF and AoS point towards the soft drinks industry levy, introduced a year ago, as a successful regulatory way to try to tackle the issue.

The average amount of sugar a UK household consumed via soft drinks dropped by 30g per week, and it has not affected sales of soft drinks, they said.

Sonia Pombo, registered nutritionist and AoS campaign lead, said: We know it is possible to reduce salt in pizzas, as demonstrated by some responsible businesses, so there is no reason why others cant also do so.

Mhairi Brown, registered nutritionist and AoS policy lead, said: The Government showed brilliant leadership when it launched the soft drinks industry levy, a tax on sugary drinks manufacturers that lowered the amount of sugar the nation was unknowingly drinking without raising prices.

The Chancellor must now expand this successful levy to food companies who refuse to lower excessive salt levels in their food, to protect our health, our economy and our NHS.

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesman said: Thanks to our salt reduction programme, the amount of salt in food has fallen by around 20%  helping to prevent nearly 70,000 heart attacks and strokes while reducing pressure on the NHS.

Were also taking firm action by restricting the location of foods high in fat, salt, or sugar, which will bring health benefits of over 57 billion and save the NHS 4 billion.

We will continue to work closely with industry to make it easier for people to make healthier choices.
Police have come under fresh criticism for arrests at the coronation, with a safety volunteer claiming they were specifically targeted and a protester saying they were prevented from contacting their named liaison officer.

Accusations of heavy-handedness and bowing to political pressure have been aimed at the Metropolitan Police over the forces handling of the event, which saw a total of 62 arrests.

Six members of anti-monarchy group Republic were held for 16 hours before being released without charge, while volunteers for Westminster Council safety scheme Night Stars were detained in the early hours of May 6 and not released until the late afternoon.

A complaint has also been lodged by royal fan Alice Chambers, 36, who was held in custody for 13 hours after being mistaken for a Just Stop Oil protester as she waited on the Mall hoping to catch a glimpse of the King.

Anti-monarchy protest material being confiscated in central London (Labour for a Republic/PA)

Night Stars volunteer Suzie Melvin told MPs on Wednesday that officers had gone out specifically looking for those involved in the safety scheme, which hands out rape alarms as part of anti-spiking kits.

Giving evidence to the Commons Home Affairs Committee, that has launched an urgent investigation into the arrests, she said: I was informed by the officer who arrested me that they were specifically looking for the Night Stars and they had been told where we were going to be.

Explaining how her team was approached by police who wanted to stop and search them, she told MPs: We did the best that we could to try and explain who we were to the officers.

Then they also searched the church we base ourselves out of.

Chairwoman Dame Diana Johnson said she was a bit speechless at details of what had happened. The volunteers were released without charge.

Suzie Melvin, a Night Stars volunteer at Westminster City Council, answering questions in front of the Home Affairs Select Committee in the House of Commons, London (House of Commons/UK Parliament/PA)

Republic chief executive Graham Smith said the group had been in contact with the Metropolitan Police for months before the coronation to agree details of its planned protest.

But on the morning of May 6 six supporters unloading placards were arrested on suspicion of planning to lock-on  a tactic used by protesters to make themselves harder to move.

The group were the first to be arrested under the new Public Order Act, that came into force days before the coronation, over their possession of luggage straps.

Mr Smith told MPs: I named the superintendent wed met in person. I named the liaison officer and attempted to phone her and he (the arresting officer) twice stopped me from doing that, including grabbing my wrist and removing the phone from my hand.

He also questioned the definition of devices that could be used to lock-on.

Ive turned up today with five lock on devices on my person. My tie, my watch, my belt and two shoelaces.

Someone could have phoned up the Met and said: Well hes planning to lock himself to the chair when hes during the middle of the committee, and should I spend 16 hours in detention for that so-called intelligence and so-called lock-on devices?

Republic chief executive Graham Smith answering questions in front of the Home Affairs Select Committee (House of Commons/UK Parliament/PA)

Earlier, Metropolitan Police Temporary Assistant Commissioner Matt Twist rejected accusations that the force had faced political pressure to crack down on protesters.

The i newspaper quoted an anonymous senior police source saying that there had been a very firm instruction not to damage the reputation of the UK, although the Home Office said it did not recognise the claim.

Mr Twist told the committee: I felt under no pressure politically, I felt pressure to deliver a safe and secure operation, but that was because of the fact that it was a once-in-a-lifetime event for so many people and there would be hundreds of thousands of people in London to celebrate it, and also, and importantly, this was the biggest protection operation we have ever run.

There were 312 protected people that we managed to get in and out of the Abbey and across the footprint in about 90 minutes. So the stakes were enormously high, so I absolutely felt pressure to deliver a safe and secure operation. But that wasnt political pressure.

Metropolitan Police Temporary Assistant Commissioner Matt Twist said officers had to make a difficult judgment in the moment over whether to arrest suspects during the coronation (Dominic Lipinski/PA)

Told that there was no history of Republic using lock-on tactics, he said officers on the ground did not know that the straps would be used to secure placards.

Mr Twist said: Officers have to make a difficult judgment at the time, in the moment, based on what they are faced with and based on the information they have.

They have to form reasonable grounds for an arrest and, as the committee will know, reasonable grounds is actually quite a low threshold and is much lower than where you would need grounds to meet the evidential test to charge and a public interest test to charge.

So what was found was 12 heavy-duty material straps with combination locks on them, which the officers were told was for securing placards.

But at the time, the officers were operating in a threat environment where they believed, taking into account the time, the location, proximity to the route and what they had in front of them, those officers believed that those could be items that could be used for locking-on, and that was why the arrest was made.
The Government is planning to temporarily remove licensing requirements for asylum-seeker accommodation as it attempts to move thousands out of hotels, in a move critics have warned will put their safety at risk.

The changes would allow landlords to house asylum seekers for two years without getting the property recognised as a house in multiple occupation (HMO).

The Guardian reported the plans would create exemptions from regulations governing electrical safety and minimum room sizes in such accommodation.

Housing minister Felicity Buchan told a Commons Delegated Legislation Committee the Government had laid secondary legislation as part of a broader suite of measures that the Home Office is implementing to speed up the moving of asylum seekers out of hotels.

Almost 50,000 people are currently in hotels on top of approximately 57,000 in long-standing asylum accommodation.

Labour MPs condemned the plans, with Kim Leadbeater branding the statutory instrument another clear example of the utter mess the Government has made of the immigration system and Matthew Pennycook warning it would mean no minimum standards whatsoever apply to asylum housing.

Mr Pennycook said: Of course it will be cheaper to house asylum seekers in accommodation without gas safety certificates, without safe electrical appliances and furniture, without working smoke and carbon monoxide alarms and without shared amenity facilities that meet minimum standards.

Felicity Buchan MP. (Aaron Chown, PA)

The Guardian quoted Mary Atkinson, campaigns and network manager at the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants, as saying: Without HMO licences, already traumatised people will be at risk of living in places that are unfit for human habitation.

The plans could be approved as soon as Wednesday, which will otherwise be dominated by the publication of the Governments long-awaited rental reforms to abolish so-called no fault evictions.

A Government spokesman said: The use of expensive hotels to house the unprecedented number of asylum seekers crossing the Channel is unacceptable and must end.

By temporarily removing this licensing requirement, we will be able to acquire more suitable long-term accommodation while continuing to meet our legal duty of care.

This will not compromise standards and all properties will be independently inspected for quality to ensure they continue to meet national housing quality requirements.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have not been contacted by the royal family after claiming to have been involved in a near-catastrophic car chase, the PA news agency understands.

Harry and Meghan were followed by paparazzi after attending an awards ceremony with the duchesss mother Doria Ragland in New York on Tuesday, the couples spokesperson said.

Despite claims the three of them were subjected to a relentless pursuit involving half a dozen blacked-out vehicles, it is understood no members of the royal family had reached out as of 10pm on Wednesday.

A Buckingham Palace spokeswoman declined to comment.

In an earlier statement on Wednesday, a spokesperson for Harry and Meghan said: Last night, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex and Ms Ragland were involved in a near catastrophic car chase at the hands of a ring of highly aggressive paparazzi.

This relentless pursuit, lasting over two hours, resulted in multiple near collisions involving other drivers on the road, pedestrians and two NYPD officers.

While being a public figure comes with a level of interest from the public, it should never come at the cost of anyones safety.

Dissemination of these images, given the ways in which they were obtained, encourages a highly intrusive practice that is dangerous to all involved.

A taxi driver who claimed to have transported them for part of the journey told The Washington Post his vehicle was pursued by two cars: a black Honda Accord and a grey Honda CR-V.

However, Sukhcharn Singh told the BBC claims about the paparazzi chasing them may have been exaggerated as they were not aggressive.

It is understood that Harry, Meghan and Ms Ragland were staying at a private residence and did not want to compromise the security of their friends home.

The trio had been at the Ms Foundation for Womens 50th anniversary gala event, which honoured game-changing grantee partners and visionary leaders committed to the organisations mission of advancing collective power and creating safe, just and equitable futures for women, girls, and gender-expansive people.

Meghan received the Ms Foundations Women of Vision Award, recognising her global advocacy to empower and advocate on behalf of women and girls.

It was Harry and Meghans first public appearance together since the duchesss absence at the Kings coronation earlier this month.

It is understood that the couple believe the pursuit could have been fatal, as it involved six blacked-out vehicles with unidentified people driving recklessly and endangering the convoy and everyone around them.

Harry and Meghan are said to accept a heightened level of attention when they are at public events, and in this case they exited and entered the venue publicly, allowing photographers to get pictures.

It is said that traffic violations included driving on the pavement and through red lights, reversing down a one-way street, illegally blocking a moving vehicle and driving while photographing and while on the phone.

It is also said that while those involved were confronted by uniformed police multiple times, they continued the pursuit, and that there is footage taken from security along with other evidence to support these allegations.

New York Police Department, which deployed officers to help escort the duke and duchess, said numerous photographers had made their transport difficult on Tuesday evening.

The statement said there were no reported collisions, summonses, injuries or arrests.

Mr Singh, who goes by the name Sonny, told the BBC he picked up the four passengers on 67th Street between Lexington Avenue and 3rd Avenue.

He said: A security guard hailed me, next thing you know Prince Harry and his wife were hopping into my cab.

As we went a block, we got blocked by a garbage truck and all of a sudden paparazzi came and started taking pictures.

They were just about to give me the location of where they were going to go, but then they told me to circle back to the precinct.

He also told The Washington Post: I dont think I would call it a chase. I never felt like I was in danger. It wasnt like a car chase in a movie. They were quiet and seemed scared but its New York  its safe.

Speaking on Wednesday, New York mayor Eric Adams condemned the photographers for being reckless and irresponsible.

He added that it would be horrific for Harry to be involved in an accident similar to the one that killed his mother Diana in 1997.

Diana, Princess of Wales, was killed in a crash after her car, driven at speed by a drunk chauffeur, was chased through the streets of Paris by paparazzi photographers.
Scotlands First Minister Humza Yousaf has met the King in London, Buckingham Palace confirmed.

Charles received Mr Yousaf during an audience at the palace.

On his visit to London, Mr Yousaf also met the Spanish ambassador and the Lord Mayor of the City of London. On Tuesday, he met the Irish consul general.

Charles receives Humza Yousaf at Buckingham Palace (Yui Mok/PA)

Mr Yousaf has previously said he is a republican and hit out at costs involved with the coronation earlier this month, saying he hoped they would be limited as a result of the cost-of-living crisis.

He and his wife Nadia El-Nakla attended the coronation on May 8.

The meeting comes after the Stone of Destiny was returned to Edinburgh Castle earlier this week.

Traditionally, the stone was used to crown monarchs of Scotland but is now used to crown UK monarchs as part of the coronation ceremony.

Former first minister Alex Salmond suggested police should have been used to prevent the stone being moved from the castle, which Mr Yousaf dismissed.

Humza Yousaf and his wife Nadia El-Nakla at Westminster Abbey for the coronation (Andrew Milligan/PA)

He said: Alex Salmond should remember, of course, that operational matters are for Police Scotland.

Its not for the First Minister to tell the police what to do, but of course it wouldnt have been the right thing to do even if those powers did exist.

Alex Salmond can sit there and talk about the Stone of Destiny all day long. It seems its all hes been talking about over the last few weeks.

Im committed to talking about reducing poverty, the cost-of-living crisis, investing in our public services.
The default location for workers should be in the office, Jeremy Hunt suggested as he warned that logging on from home could stifle creativity.

The Chancellor said he believed that the shift to home working during the coronavirus pandemic was being reversed by firms.

Speaking at the British Chambers of Commerce conference in London he suggested workers would return to offices unless they had a good reason not to.

Jeremy Hunt spoke at the British Chambers of Commerce conference (Jordan Pettitt/PA)

He said: I think its something for businesses to find their own way through.

There are some very exciting opportunities created by the fact that weve all learned to use Zoom and Teams for meetings.

He suggested that it helped with childcare  people could dial into meetings while looking after a baby  and it also helped workers with mobility issues.

But, he added: On the other hand, there is nothing like sitting around the table, seeing people face-to-face, developing team spirit  and I worry about the loss of creativity when people are permanently working from home and not having those water cooler moments where they bounce ideas off each other.

Not every great business idea happens in a structured, formal meeting.

He said businesses were now calling for staff to come in, adding: I think the default will be you work in the office unless theres a good reason not to be in the office and gradually we are getting there.

Critics argued his approach ignores the potential of remote working to increase productivity for certain employees and warned that reduced flexibility would mark a huge step backwards.

Ben Willmott, head of public policy at the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, said: As the Chancellor said, people with caring responsibilities and mobility challenges have benefitted hugely by the shift to greater homeworking, and it will be helping many people get into and stay in work.

However, many people will have simply preferred this new way of working as it makes them more productive, has reduced commuting costs and improved work-life balance.

The lessons from the pandemic allow the Government a chance to re-write the rules to allow for greater flexibility of working arrangements, he added, and rolling back on these changes would be a huge step backwards.
Plans to appoint a candidate chosen by Labours National Executive Committee as head of Birmingham City Council have been condemned by a party MP as a putsch against the authoritys current leader.

Birmingham Selly Oak MP Steve McCabe is urging Sir Keir Starmer to halt the process threatening the position of Councillor Ian Ward, which was prompted by a Labour Campaign Improvement Board report.

This months report into the citys Labour group identified a dysfunctional climate in which anonymous and at times public differences of opinion had caused immeasurable damage to the partys reputation.

Ian Ward at the Alexander Stadium during building work before the 2022 Commonwealth Games (Jacob King/PA)

The report also accused the leadership of the Labour-run council, the UKs largest local authority, of too much looking inwards, rather than being outward-facing to the electorate.

In a series of tweets posted on Wednesday, Mr McCabe said: Ive been around Birmingham politics a long time and witnessed many stupid and vindictive things but this takes the biscuit.

Keir Starmer should halt it now. Its a putsch mounted by people almost entirely dependent on his patronage. Birmingham is the loser.

Mr McCabe said some parts of the report were clear and others less so, adding: Criticisms should be shared with everyone concentrating on improvement. Thats what we were promised, not a hatchet job.

The MP told the PA news agency: The only way this disaster is going to be brought to an end without it creating more damage is for the leader of the Labour Party to step in and put a halt to it.

Mr Ward has done a decent job as city council leader in very difficult circumstances, Mr McCabe said, adding: And that is part of what is wrong with the report.

Only last year he was getting praised for the wonderful delivery of the Commonwealth Games and that doesnt merit a sentence in the report.

Mr Ward has said he will re-apply for his current job if the process of electing a new council leader goes ahead.

In a statement, Mr Ward said: As the Leader of Birmingham City Council I have led our city through the challenges of austerity and the pandemic, safeguarding frontline services, and delivering the best Commonwealth Games we have ever seen.

I have led Labour to two overwhelming election victories. I retain the confidence of the Birmingham Labour Group having recently won a leadership election and I hope to continue leading our group as we tackle the major challenges that our city faces.

Mr Ward said he feared that returning to annual leadership elections on the citys Labour group risked it turning inwards instead of facing the citys challenges.

We need to focus on winning the Mayoral, Council and General elections, and political instability from annual elections puts that all at risk, he said.

A spokesperson for the Labour Party said: Labour will look at the (reports) recommendations in full and, where change is needed from the Labour Party, we will implement that change.

It is understood that the party expects the new appointee as Birmingham City Council leader to be in post early next week.
Jesus, a drug producer, shows an image of fentanyl on his phone in this March 2022 file photo. Reuters-Yonhap



US expert warns of negative consequences of regulating prescription opioids amid drug overdose concerns in Korea



This is the first in a two-part series about controlled substance abuse to highlight its fatal consequences on public health  ED.



By Kang Hyun-kyung



Controlled substance abuse and its fatal consequences have become a common headache for policymakers in Korea and the United States, since doctor shopping or visiting multiple physicians to obtain multiple prescriptions recently emerged as a major public health problem in Korea.



The United States has been grappling with the opioid epidemic for decades. Since 2000, more than 500,000 people have died in the U.S. due to opioid overdose. And the situation became worse during the coronavirus pandemic.



Opioid overdose deaths have increased dramatically since 2019. In 2021 alone, over 100,000 people died in the U.S. due to opioid overdose. Among others, heroin and synthetic opioids, such as fentanyl, have become the leading contributors to the surge in opioid overdose deaths.



In Korea, an appetite suppressant phentermine was prescribed to 1.28 million patients in 2021 alone  over 240 million pills in total. That boils down to an average prescription of 191 pills per patient.



Phentermine is a stimulant with various serious side effects. According to Drugs.com, an overdose of phentermine can be fatal. The prescription of fentanyl to teens and patients in their twenties has dramatically increased in recent years.



In Korea, controlled substance overdose is a relatively recent phenomenon and specific data about mortality rates are currently unavailable.



However, substance overdose is likely to develop into a public health crisis, like the current opioid epidemic in the United States if it is not tackled early.



The two countries' shared experience in controlled substance overdose, albeit with different types of drugs, raises a question about the possible policy implications for Korea: Can U.S. policy responses be replicated in Korea to prevent overdose deaths?





Jeffrey Miron, a professor of economics at Harvard University

Jeffrey Miron, a senior lecturer and director of Undergraduate Studies at the Department of Economics at Harvard University, says the U.S. government's policy measures were ineffective and therefore cannot be a model for Korea in its war on drugs.



Among others, he claims that regulations on prescription opioids have caused the situation to go from bad to worse, rather than improving it.



"My position is that opioid deaths result mainly because, in an underground market, consumers do not have good information on the potency and quality of the goods they consume," he said in a recent email interview with The Korea Times. "Opioid deaths are increasing because the black market version of heroin and other opioids are often laced with fentanyl, which is extremely potent, and consumers have no easy way to determine potency and adjust their dosage."



In the United States, opioid deaths have continued to increase since the 1990s due to an increase in the prescription of opioids and pharmaceutical companies' aggressive marketing efforts.



To combat the overdose of prescription opioids, the U.S. government and Congress have introduced a range of legislations to limit access to opioids.



Many U.S. states have introduced drug-monitoring programs designed to curtail doctor shopping and overprescribing. The U.S. government raided pain management facilities that prescribe high quantities of opioids.



In 2017, the U.S. Department of Justice launched the Opioid Fraud and Abuse Detection Unit as a three-year pilot program to strengthen monitoring of physicians and pharmacies deemed to be dispensing "disproportionately large amounts of opioids."



Its data-analytics team tried to "identify physicians who wrote opioid prescriptions at a rate that far exceeds their peers, the average age of patients receiving prescription opioids and how many doctors' patients died within 60 days of an opioid prescription."



In April, Korea created a team at the Ministry of Food and Safety consisting of experts in the public and private sectors to strengthen monitoring and oversight of prescription opioids and opioid overdose, a measure similar to the U.S. Department of Justice's 2017 program.



In the wake of the restrictions, prescription drug use in the United States went down. Opioid deaths continued to rise between 2016 and 2019, but the annual rate of increase in deaths slowed.



The Congressional Budget Office's report released in September 2022 stated uncertainty of whether the slowdown in mortality rates reflects the effectiveness of the U.S. government's measures.



"It is difficult to determine whether the observed changes in deaths and the use of prescription opioids can be attributed to the laws," the report said.





Plastic bags of fentanyl are displayed on a table at the U.S. Customs and Border Protection area at the International Mail Facility at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago, Illinois, in this 2017 file photo. Reuters-Yonhap



Miron is critical of restrictions on prescription opioids. He claims that the medical use of opioids is not a major cause of addiction and overdose deaths.



He said restrictions on legal opioid access, ironically, contributed to increasing opioid deaths as patients, facing difficulty in getting prescriptions, switched to illicit drugs such as heroin and illicitly manufactured fentanyl. The highly potent and uncontrolled alternative medicine led to an increase in opioid overdose mortality, according to Miron.



The situation has gone from bad to worse.



COVID-19 has triggered another wave of opioid deaths in the United States. Opioid overdose mortality rates surged during the pandemic. In 2020, 68,630 people died from opioid overdoses. The figure went up again to 107, 477 in 2022.



A popular narrative points to Americans' worsened mental health, social isolation and jobless rates during the pandemic, as the key factors that contributed to the dramatic rise in opioid deaths in the United States.



But Miron disagrees.



"Those factors may well have exacerbated the situation. But the opioid overdoes rate had been increasing for a good 15-20 years before COVID, so I doubt the pandemic was the major factor," he said. "Similarly, the upward trend accelerated around 2011, well before COVID. That was probably because of new restrictions on oxycontin."



He claimed that crackdowns on drug trafficking will also reveal limitations to curbing opioid deaths.



"I don't think international or domestic efforts have anything more than minor effects on reducing trafficking. The history of virtually all prohibitions is that they reduce the outlawed activity only a little while reducing quality control significantly and causing violence and corruption," he said.



He made the remark when asked to comment on the latest international crackdowns on illicit drugs.



The United States joined hands with law enforcement of the European Union and South America in "Operation SpecTor" to disrupt fentanyl and opioid trafficking on the dark web. It resulted in record arrests and the seizure of 117 firearms and 850 kilograms of drugs that include 64 kilograms of fentanyl or fentanyl-laced narcotics.



Miron warns of rising crime rates following crackdowns on illicit drugs.



When law enforcement interferes with underground drug markets, supply chains and related "agreements" between underground participants are disrupted, he said.



"This means more disputes over territory, prices and so on (as in any market). But in underground markets, the participants cannot resolve with courts and use violence instead." Hence, the rise of homicide crimes, he said.



The liberal economist calls for scaling back government regulations on prescription opioids.



"The best response is to reduce or eliminate the legal restrictions on producing, selling and purchasing opioids so that these are bought and sold in an aboveground, legal market," he said. "Ideally, this would mean outright legalization, but there are also partial measures that would shift demand away from the black market. For example, increasing the ability for physicians to prescribe, or for expansion of opioid maintenance therapies under which users get a regular dose from a doctor or clinic."




The only remaining airworthy Lancaster bomber in the UK took to the skies on Tuesday to mark the 80th anniversary of the Dambusters raid.

The plane, one of only two Lancasters still in operation, flew over former air bases in Lincolnshire on the anniversary of the mission to attack German dams on 1943.

Part of the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight (BBMF), plane PA474 took off from its base at RAF Coningsby in Lincolnshire for a flypast over the RAF Museum at Hendon, London.

The UKs only airworthy Lancaster bomber, PA474, passes over Lincoln Cathedral during the Royal Air Force Battle of Britain Memorial Flight flypast to commemorate the 80th anniversary of Operation Chastise, also known as the Dambusters Raid (Joe Giddens/PA

Its return journey took it over 28 former Bomber Command air bases in Lincolnshire.

Spectators lined the perimeters of bases and nearby roads to catch a site of the plane.

Squadron Leader Mark Sugden, Officer Commanding the BBMF, said: The Dambusters Raid was one of the most audacious raids in the history of the Royal Air Force, and we at the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight are proud to commemorate the bravery, dedication and sacrifice of all those involved.

The UKs only airworthy Lancaster bomber, PA474, prepares to take off from her home base of RAF Coningsby in Lincolnshire (Joe Giddens/PA)

Nineteen Lancasters, crewed by 133 airmen, took part in Operation Chastise on the night of May 16-17, 1943.

Led by Wing Commander Guy Gibson, the raid targeted three dams in the industrialised Ruhr region of Germany using the bouncing bomb invented by Barnes Wallis.

They successfully breached the Mohne and Eder dams while the Sorpe was damaged.

People fill the road as the UKs only airworthy Lancaster bomber, PA474, passes over Lincoln Cathedral and the International Bomber Command Centre (Joe Giddens/PA)

Eight Lancasters were shot down during the raid, which was immortalised in the 1955 film The Dam Busters, with 53 airmen killed.

The anniversary was marked with a tribute evening at the International Bomber Command Centre at Lincoln which included excerpts from interviews with George Johnny Johnson, the last surviving member of the Dambusters who died in December aged 101.
A man has been charged with murdering two people who were found dead at a house in Huddersfield.

Marcus Osbourne, 34, of Harpe Inge, Dalton, is due to appear at Leeds Magistrates Court on Wednesday charged with the murder of Katie Higton, 27, and Steven Harnett, 25, West Yorkshire Police said.

Ms Higton and Mr Harnett were found dead at Ms Higtons house on Monday.

West Yorkshire Police said in statement on Wednesday: A Kirklees man was due to appear before magistrates today charged with the murder of a man and woman from Huddersfield.

Steven Harnett and Katie Higton (West Yorkshire Police/PA)

Marcus Osbourne, 34, of Harpe Inge, Dalton, was to appear before Leeds Magistrates Court charged with the murder of Katie Higton, 27, and Steven Harnett, 25, at an address on Harpe Inge between Sunday May 14 and Monday May 15.

He was also charged with assaulting and detaining a second woman against her will in the property on the night the murders took place.

Inquiries into the offences remain ongoing by the Homicide and Major Enquiry Team.

West Yorkshire Police would like to remind residents that proceedings in this case are active under the Contempt of Court Act and nothing should be published which could potentially prejudice court proceedings.

The force said officers were called to the address at 9.53am on Monday after paramedics found two people with multiple injuries believed to have been inflicted by a bladed weapon.

They were confirmed to have died at the scene.

The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) said it had received a mandatory referral and was still assessing the situation.

Flowers left at the scene in Huddersfield (PA)

A spokesman said: We have received a mandatory referral from West Yorkshire Police linked to the suspected murder of two people in Huddersfield.

This is due to the fact officers had contact with both victims, and a man who has since been arrested on suspicion of murder, in the days prior to this tragic incident.

We will now assess the available information to determine what further action may be required.

Our thoughts are with all those affected by these events.

On Tuesday, the former brother- and sister-in-law of Ms Higton paid tribute to her as the best mum and said the family was absolutely devastated as they placed flowers on behalf of her two eldest children at the scene.

Her former brother-in-law, who asked not to be named, said his brother had been in a relationship with mother-of-four Ms Higton for seven years and was the father of her two oldest children, daughters aged nine and 10.

He told the PA news agency the children were in the property when the incident took place.

He described Ms Higton as bubbly, outgoing, fun and a great mum.
Instagram posts for Botox treatments by former reality TV contestant Carl Woods have been banned for promoting a prescription-only medicine, using celebrity endorsement and failing to clearly mark them as ads.

Woods, an ex fiance of former glamour model Katie Price, posted six Instagram stories for Lift Aesthetics, a facial aesthetic clinic in June.

They featured Woods reclining on a salon treatment chair in the process of being injected with a syringe, with him saying: Youre gonna make me look brand new yeah? Others showed him being injected with a syringe in his forehead.

The sixth story featured Woods saying: So yesterday I had my anti-wrinkle injection done with Ellie and the best part about it is, it was absolutely pain free and I cant wait to see the results in two weeks and Ill look brand new.

Lift Aesthetics confirmed that Woods did not pay for the Botox treatment featured in the ads but they said they did not require him to post about it.

They also told the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) that they were aware that it was a breach of advertising rules to refer to Botox because it was a prescription-only medicine, although they did not realise that references to anti-wrinkle injections were not permitted.

Woods told the ASA that he was not promoting an aesthetic treatment but was sharing his own personal experience on social media.

He confirmed that the posts had since been removed.

The ASA said there was an implicit agreement that Woods would repost the content Lift Aesthetics had produced, and that Lift had exerted editorial control over the language used by him.

The ASA said: We considered that the ads went beyond the provision of factual information and instead served to promote Botox, making it appear more appealing to consumers.

It added: We noted that Mr Woods described himself as a reality TV star and had approximately 230,000 followers on Instagram.

We considered that indicated he had the attention of a significant number of people.

Because we considered that Mr Woods was a celebrity for the purpose of the Committees of Advertising Practice Code and that he had endorsed a medicine, we concluded that the ads had breached the Code.

The ASA ruled that the ads must not appear again, adding: We told Carl J Woods and Lift Aesthetics to ensure that their ads were obviously identifiable as marketing communications, for example by including a clear and prominent identifier, such as ad.

We also told them not to promote prescription-only medicines to the general public in future and to ensure that they did not use celebrities, including reality TV stars, to endorse medicines.
Labour would give local areas the power to build houses on the green belt where development would not take away from the beauty of the countryside, the party leader has said.

Sir Keir Starmer said allowing communities to choose which parts of the green belt are built on would lead to house prices dropping as supply increases.

The Opposition leader is due to address the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) on Wednesday, promising to back the builders not the blockers.

Ahead of his speech, Sir Keir told broadcasters that his partys reforms would go beyond reinstating Englands house building target in a bid to help people achieve their dream of owning their own home.

Labour has said it would restore the target of building 300,000 houses a year following Prime Minister Rishi Sunaks decision in December to make it advisory rather than mandatory as he looked to see off a potential Conservative backbench rebellion.

But Sir Keir said the target would not be enough on its own to meet housing demand and signalled that reforms such as allowing for some development of green belt land would be introduced should his party win power at the next election.

The green belt refers to the policy of leaving an area of land around a city or town undeveloped or set aside for agricultural use to prevent urban sprawl.

Sir Keir used the example of houses being built on a playing field in Maidstone rather than on a car park, with the reason given that the car park was classified as being in the green belt.

He told BBC Breakfast: We would make those tough choices and say to local areas: notwithstanding that it is the green belt, if it is a car park or similar land which doesnt effect the beauty of our countryside, which we all want to preserve, then well change the planning rules, well give you the planning powers to do that.

He vowed to take on vested interests to unlock land for housing developments in a move Sir Keir argued could bring down the overall cost of properties.

Across Britain, the average asking price for a first-time buyer type of property currently sits at a record of 224,963, according to data shared earlier this month by property website Rightmove.

Sir Keir, speaking to Times Radio, said developers and landowners were holding on to real estate as they try to ensure that it gains as much value as possible.

He added: Developers and landowners actually have a vested interest in not building so many houses, because that keeps the price high.

We want to change that model and make sure that many more houses are built, and that the price comes down.

Because, of course, what we want is good quality, secure houses, but also houses that people can afford.

Transport minister Richard Holden accused Sir Keir of flip-flopping on the issue of green belt development, saying the Labour leader had argued against such a policy before the local elections earlier this month.

Local areas should have the power to build on the green belt in some circumstances, Sir Keir Starmer said (Alamy/PA)

He told Times Radio that Sir Keir was constantly shape-shifting and moving positions.

However, Mr Holden said he absolutely accepted that more houses need to be built and that targets had been missed.

Along with Chancellor Jeremy Hunt and Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey, Sir Keir is due to address the BCC gathering in Westminster.

In his speech, he is expected to say that a generation and its hopes are being blocked by those who  more often than not  enjoy the secure homes and jobs that theyre denying to others.

He will say his policy of backing the builders extends beyond just new houses.

You cant be serious about raising productivity, about improving the supply-side capacity of our economy and about arresting our economic decline without a plan for the wind farms, the laboratories, the warehouses and the homes this country so desperately needs, he will say.

Sir Keir will set out five key economic shifts: giving economic stability and certainty, handing power to communities across the country, seizing the opportunities of the future, increasing security at work and building economic resilience.
Councils need to have the final say on whether homes can be built on green belt land, according to Sir Keir Starmer.

Ahead of addressing the British Chambers of Commerce, the Labour leader told The Times housebuilding was key to achieving the sort of growth we need in this country.

He said a discussion was needed over allowing building on the green belt if it meets local needs.

It cannot be reduced to a simple discussion of will you or will you not build on the green belt, he said. This is why its important for local areas to have the power to decide where housing is going to be.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer and deputy leader Angela Rayner during a visit to a housing development in South Ribble in Lancashire (Peter Byrne/PA)

Very often the objections that people have to housebuilding on the green belt are valid because the control by landowners and developers mean that the houses are proposed in areas where its quite obvious that theres going to be a local concern.

He said giving local authorities greater scope to decide would provide a solution.

Its not as binary or straightforward as green belt, not green belt. Its how you direct where the housing will be, said Sir Keir, who also called for more onshore wind farms to be built in England.

He vowed to be tough enough to take on vested interests.

He will tell the BCC on Wednesday that planning reforms and a modern industrial strategy will revive an economy which is stuck in second gear, calling for a union of the willing to build a better Britain.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak was forced to drop plans for compulsory housebuilding targets in the face of a backlash from rebel backbench MPs and Tory activists, but Sir Keir will restate a commitment to bring back local housing targets.

In his speech at Westminster, he will say: A generation and its hopes are being blocked by those who  more often than not  enjoy the secure homes and jobs that theyre denying to others.

He will say his policy of backing the builders not the blockers extends beyond just new houses.

You cant be serious about raising productivity, about improving the supply-side capacity of our economy and about arresting our economic decline without a plan for the wind farms, the laboratories, the warehouses and the homes this country so desperately needs, he will say.

Sir Keir will say the county needs a government that wont sit on the sidelines and will address the doom-loop of low growth, low productivity and high taxes.

One day to go until #BCCCONF and we're thrilled to announce Chancellor of the Exchequer @hmtreasury, Rt Hon @Jeremy_Hunt MP, as a speaker. We're looking forward to welcoming him tomorrow! Headline partner @NatWestBusiness @NatWestGroup and supported by @DraxGroup @yourHeathrow pic.twitter.com/kr8JuIiBIV  BCC (@britishchambers) May 16, 2023

We need a reformed planning system, a modern industrial strategy, a more powerful British business bank that will help scale businesses  new and old, he will say.

Against a backdrop of war in Europe and global shifts in power, Sir Keir will say: We must square up to a new economic era where the old assumptions  on labour, on energy, on trade and goods  no longer apply.

He will insist there are opportunities to be seized, new markets to open up and a more prosperous future that can be won.

Sir Keir will set out five key economic shifts: giving economic stability and certainty, handing power to communities across the country, seizing the opportunities of the future, increasing security at work and building economic resilience.

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt and Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey will also address the BCC gathering.
E.On Next, Good Energy and Octopus Energy have paid 8 million over compensation failures after lengthy delays in producing final bills to more than 100,000 customers when they switched suppliers, regulator Ofgem said.

The energy watchdog said the three suppliers either missed or delayed compensation payouts that were due when they did not provide a final bill within six weeks, as required when a customer switches to another provider.

Under rules brought in three years ago, customers are entitled to a 30 payment each if a final bill is not produced in six weeks, with a further 30 due if the compensation is not provided within another 10 working days.

 @eon_next @OctopusEnergy @GoodEnergy have paid a total of 8 million for delaying or failing to pay statutory compensation owed to energy customers This money will directly benefit consumers More on this  https://t.co/8v2s8CDXnA pic.twitter.com/0WOU3aHECy  Ofgem (@ofgem) May 17, 2023

Ofgem said the firms either missed or delayed compensation payments worth 6.3 million, with some of the affected households waiting over a year to receive redress.

E.On Next paid the bulk of the fine, forking out 5.5 million to almost 95,000 customers, while Octopus paid around 750,000 to 19,000 customers and almost 350 Good Energy customers received a combined total of 18,000.

The suppliers also paid an extra 1.7 million to customers or the energy industry voluntary redress scheme (EIVRS), which supports vulnerable consumers, of which E.On Next paid 1.3 million.

Neil Kenward, director for strategy at Ofgem, said: Ofgem introduced these standards to make sure customers get the service they deserve when switching energy supplier.

Our rules mean that where energy companies drag their heels, customers are automatically compensated. We wont hesitate to hold energy companies to account, as we have done today.

As the energy market starts to recover, well likely see a return to more switching, and this action is a reminder to suppliers that they need to make switching as easy and convenient as possible for their customers, and where they cause undue delay, pay compensation swiftly.

The rules introduced in May 2020 ensure that suppliers compensate households when switches are delayed, for errors in switching or if final bills are produced too late.

Not getting a final bill in a timely manner can result in a consumer being incorrectly set up at the new supplier, being in debt at the old supplier and receiving a large, unexpected bill, it said.

Ofgem added that the switching standards will be increasingly important this year, as falling energy bills are expected to drive switching once again as customers shop around for the best deals.

It said the three suppliers have since updated their processes and systems to ensure final bills are produced within six weeks.

Emily Seymour, energy and sustainability editor at consumer group Which?, said: It is deeply disappointing that not only have major suppliers been missing targets for issuing customers with their final bills, but theyve also neglected to pay the resulting compensation due to customers.

During the cost-of-living crisis, good customer service has never been more vital, and energy companies must up their game and make it as easy as possible for customers to switch to the right tariffs for them, when deals become available.

A spokesman for E.On said the group had self-reported the issue to Ofgem last year and had since compensated customers and made changes in its billing processes.

He said: At the time, we contacted affected customers to apologise and sent them their missing payments.

We also paid 1.3 million to Ofgems Energy Industry Voluntary Redress Scheme Fund in recognition of our failings. We have since taken steps to ensure this error does not happen again.
The UK is lobbying Brussels over a Brexit trade deal deadline which could pose an existential threat to the British automotive industry, putting thousands of jobs at risk.

Business and Trade Secretary Kemi Badenoch and UK officials have raised the issue with counterparts in Brussels ahead of a looming cliff edge when new rules covering electric vehicles (EVs) come into effect at the start of 2024.

Vauxhalls parent company Stellantis told MPs it will be unable to keep a commitment to make EVs in the UK without changes to the Trade and Co-operation Agreement (TCA) with the European Union.

Business and Trade Secretary Kemi Badenoch met Stellantis bosses for pre-arranged talks on Wednesday (Jonathan Brady/PA)

Under the TCA, from next year 45% of an EVs value should originate in the UK or EU to qualify for tariff-free trade.

Without meeting the requirements, cars manufactured in the UK would face a 10% tariff if sold in the EU  and vice versa  rendering them uncompetitive.

A Downing Street spokesman said we hope to come to a resolution with the EU on this but would not confirm whether talks were aimed at pushing back the deadline.

We recognise that for a number of reasons raw material costs for manufacturers have spiked since we signed the TCA, the spokesman said.

Thats a problem for manufacturers across Europe not just here in the UK.

I believe European carmakers body the ACEA has said themselves that the European battery industry has simply not taken off quick enough to keep in line with the more restrictive rules that are due to come into place.

Thats why the Business Secretary has raised this already with the European Commission. Its been raised at official level as well and we hope to come to a resolution with the EU on this.

Asked whether the January 2024 increase in the locally sourced requirement from 40% to 45% could be pushed back, he said: Were looking to what solutions we can put in place to a problem that we know exists, Im not going to get ahead of the conversations were having with the EU.

Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt said there was global pressure on the supply of batteries for electric vehicles (Jordan Pettitt/PA)

Under the current timetable, from 2027 the requirement is set to increase even further to 55%, with additional restrictions on batteries.

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt told the British Chambers of Commerce conference there was global pressure on the supply of batteries for electric vehicles but hinted at further announcements on UK capacity.

All I would say is watch this space because we are very focused on making sure the UK gets that EV manufacturing capacity, he said.

Stellantis  which also owns Citroen, Peugeot and Fiat  employs more than 5,000 people in the UK.

The worlds fourth biggest car maker committed to making electric vehicles at its Ellesmere Port and Luton plants two years ago.

But the firm told a Commons inquiry that UK investments were in the balance due to the terms of the trade deal.

Ms Badenoch met Stellantis bosses for pre-arranged talks on Wednesday amid concerns about the wider impact of the rules-of-origin restrictions.

Mike Hawes, chief executive of industry body the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, said: The rules of origin for batteries pose a significant challenge to manufacturers on both sides of the Channel, with the prospect of tariffs and price increases which discourage consumers from buying the very vehicles needed to achieve climate-change goals.

At a time when every country is accelerating their transition to zero-emission transport  and global competitors are offering billions to attract investment in their industries  a pragmatic solution must be found quickly.

Professor David Bailey, from Birmingham Business School, said without UK manufacturing of EV batteries I think there is a kind of existential threat to the UK car industry.

The @GOVUK has been warned for over a decade that it needed to invest in battery factories to ensure the smooth transition to electric vehicle production in the UK but it has failed to act. @UniteSharon Read more  https://t.co/34023y84Rt  Unite the union: join a union (@unitetheunion) May 17, 2023

He told BBC Radio 4s Today programme: Car makers have been saying for some time, they cant meet those rules as they tighten up, and theyre going to potentially be facing tariffs.

In its submission to the Commons Business and Trade Committee, Stellantis said the Brexit deal was a threat to our export business and the sustainability of our UK manufacturing operations.

It called on the Government to reach agreement with the EU to maintain existing rules until 2027, rather than introduce next years planned changes.

Stellantis said the rise in the cost of raw materials during the pandemic and energy crisis meant it was unable to meet these rules of origin.

The company said that 10% tariffs would mean manufacturers will not continue to invest and would relocate.

We started to take evidence on the future of car production in the UK last week. Most of the cars we make here are exported to the EU and the US. The UK is falling behind because weve made no progress in UK production of car batteries, we were told.pic.twitter.com/ZWigYIwSn4  Darren Jones MP (@darrenpjones) May 16, 2023

The terms of the deal on electric cars and batteries were among the final parts of the Brexit agreement thrashed out between then-prime minister Boris Johnson and president of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen in 2020.

Ellesmere Ports Labour MP Justin Madders said: It has been made repeatedly clear that without changes to the future trading arrangements and without a proper industrial strategy, the UK car industry is at risk.

Sharon Graham, general secretary of the Unite union, said: The Government has been warned for over a decade that it needed to invest in battery factories to ensure the smooth transition to electric vehicle production in the UK but it has failed to act.

Shadow business secretary Jonathan Reynolds said manufacturers had been let down by a Government in chaos.

He said: This is an indictment of a Government that has both failed to make Brexit work for businesses and is unable to harness the opportunities of the green transition.
A nurse has denied she had only cried for herself during her murder trial rather than the babies she allegedly attacked.

On Wednesday, a tearful Lucy Letby denied deliberately harming numerous infants while on duty at the Countess of Chester Hospitals neonatal unit.

She later denied prosecutor Nick Johnson KCs suggestion that she had wept at Manchester Crown Court when talking about herself but not her 17 alleged victims.

The 33-year-old is alleged to have murdered seven babies and attempted to murder 10 others between June 2015 and June 2016.

Court artist sketch by Elizabeth Cook of Lucy Letby reacting to the final questions from her barrister Ben Myers, as she appears in the dock at Manchester Crown Court (Elizabeth Cook/PA)

Giving her fifth day of evidence at Manchester Crown Court, Letby told her barrister Ben Myers KC that it was  really hurtful when she was moved from the unit to an office role in July that year.

She said: I was being isolated and expected to lie about things that were going on. I had to pretend that I wanted to leave the unit and wanted to work in a different area.

Letby launched a grievance procedure against her employers in September 2016, the court has heard.

She said: At this point I didnt know what to do. It was having a massive impact on all aspects of my life.

It was emotionally very difficult. I was lonely, I was worried, I didnt know what was going on.

She said it was devastating when she learned of allegations that she had harmed children in her care.

Letby told the court: It was beyond comprehension, I couldnt understand how it was happening.

Mr Myers asked: Could you cope with it?

Letby said: No.

Mr Myers said: Had you done anything to hurt anybody?

No, said Letby.

Mr Myers said: Is there any truth in the allegations that you deliberately harmed babies?

Wiping away tears with her hand, Letby said: No.

Mr Myers said: Or intended to kill them?

No, repeated Letby.

Cross-examining, prosecutor Mr Johnson asked her: Is there any reason why you cry when you talk about yourself and do not cry when you talk about the dead and seriously injured children?

Court artist sketch by Elizabeth Cook of Lucy Letby at the start of the cross-examination by barrister Nicholas Johnson KC at Manchester Crown Court (Elizabeth Cook/PA)

Letby said: I have cried when talking about some of the babies.

The court has heard a total of 257 nursing shift handover sheets, containing some of the names of her alleged victims, were found during police searches following her arrest in July 2018.

She agreed with Mr Johnson that taking such sheets out of the hospital was not normal practice and they should be discarded in confidential waste.

Mr Johnson asked: What is normal practice?

Letby said: To dispose of them but there are times when they have come home with me in my pocket.

Mr Johnson said: There are times when you have taken them.

Letby said: Not with the intention of keeping them.

Mr Johnson said: What are your responsibilities with sensitive, personal data?

Letby replied: To keep it confidential.

Mr Johnson said: What would have happened in a disciplinary sense if the hospital management knew you had 250-odd handover sheets at home?

Letby said: I cant answer that. I dont know what the policy would be.

Mr Johnson said: Youre not bothered are you?

Letby said: Its not that Im not bothered. They were at my home address but they were still held in confidence.

Mr Johnson said: What, in a bin bag in your garage?

Letby said: Im the only person that lives at the property, so yes.

Asked about a number of handover sheets found at her parents house in Hereford, she said her parents did not enter her bedroom.

Mr Johnson said: They are not held in confidence, are they?

Letby said: I dont believe anybody would have looked at them.

Mr Johnson asked: Do you obey the rules only when it suits you?

No, said Letby.

Mr Johnson said: You like telling other people what to do but you dont quite live up to those standards yourself, do you?

Letby said: No.

The cross-examination of Letby will continue on Thursday.

She denies all the allegations.
Murder-accused nurse Lucy Letby has told a court it was devastating when medics could not resuscitate babies.

Letby, 33, is alleged to have murdered seven babies and attempted to murder 10 others at the Countess of Chester Hospital.

Giving her fifth day of evidence at Manchester Crown Court, she was asked by her barrister, Ben Myers KC, to recall the unsuccessful efforts to revive one of her alleged victims.

The prosecution say she earlier gave a lethal dose of air to the newborn triplet and also inflicted trauma to his liver.

The infant, Child O, died on the late afternoon of June 23 2016 after a number of collapses at the neonatal unit on the same date.

Letby is giving evidence at Manchester Crown Court (Steve Allen/PA)

Asked by Mr Myers to describe the atmosphere among medics when a child cannot be revived, Letby said: Everyone is completely flat.

There is a complete change in atmosphere.

Mr Myers said: How does it feel?

Letby said: To me personally? Its devastating. You want to be able to save every baby in your care.

You are not supposed to watch a baby die.

Letby was present during the final resuscitation bid but said she did not perform any CPR herself.

She said: I believe it was rotated among several members of staff.

Mr Myers asked: Did you do anything that involved air being introduced into (Child O)?

No, said Letby.

Mr Myers said: Or, for that matter, with any baby in this case?

Letby replied: No.

Mr Myers went on: Would you?

Letby denies murdering seven babies and attempting to murder another 10 (Elizabeth Cook/PA)

No, repeated Letby.

The court has heard that a post-mortem examination revealed an injury to Child Os liver.

Mr Myers asked Letby: Do you know how he came to receive that injury?

No, said the defendant.

Letby is alleged to have murdered Child O on her first shift back following a weeks holiday to Ibiza with two friends.

Discussing her return to work she messaged a colleague that she would probably be back in with a bang lol.

Letby told the court that was a reference to what would be a busy shift.

Mr Myers said: Does it indicate you were planning something dramatic and terrible when you got back?

No, said Letby.

On the following day shift, Letby is said to have murdered Child Os triplet brother, Child P, also with a fatal administration of air.

Letby was present too when Child P died in the afternoon following a number of collapses on the day, the court heard.

Mr Myers said: Can you convey to us what the atmosphere was like on the unit when a second triplet had died like this?

Letby replied: It was a completely flat atmosphere. Everyone was shocked and devastated.

I think the general mood you could tell the whole unit was flat. It was not the usual positive atmosphere.

Mr Myers went on: How did you feel personally?

Letby said: I was very upset about this. To have it two days in a row, and to imagine what the parents had gone through, to lose two of their babies It was harrowing.

Mr Myers said: Harrowing?

Yes, said Letby.

The jury of eight women and four men was told that Letby conducted a Facebook search for the familys surname on June 23 2017.

Mr Myers said: Do you remember that taking place?

Letby said: No.

Mr Myers said: Is there any particular reason why you have made a search for (family surname) on this date?

Letby replied: It was the anniversary. They were on my mind.

Mr Myers said: Were they something that did stay on your mind?

Yes, said Letby.

Mr Myers asked: Why?

Letby said: It was just a harrowing experience to see parents lose two of their children and to have that happen two days running.

You dont forget something like that.

Letby, from Hereford, denies all the alleged offences said to have taken place between June 2015 and June 2016.
A nurse slapped an elderly and vulnerable patient in the face while he lay in his hospital bed, a court has heard.

Primrose James, 51, of Victoria Road, Southend-on-Sea, Essex is on trial at Swansea Crown Court for ill-treating a person who lacks capacity at Withybush Hospital in Haverfordwest, Wales on May 31, 2022.

It is alleged James assaulted 80-year-old Dennis Warlow while helping with his personal care, becoming aggressive after he hit out at another staff member.

James denies the charge and claims to have been acting in self-defence.

Mr Warlow, who suffered from Parkinsons Disease, had been a patient on the hospitals orthapaedic ward since January that year after fracturing his hip, and was said to be at times disruptive and violent, the jury heard on Wednesday.

The incident happened after Mr Warlow hit out at healthcare assistant Holly English and James who were working together to change his bed linen.

Ms English said James then became aggressive, slapping him multiple times to the left side of his face, and using her index finger to forcefully poke him to the forehead.

She claimed James became confrontational and while assaulting him told him he was a horrible, horrible man.

Ms English said she was left shocked by what she had witnessed and reported the incident that night to leading ward nurse Christine Schofield who in turn told ward sister Nicola Jones.

Opening the trial Sian Vaughan, prosecuting, said: He [Mr Warlow] suffers from Parkinsons disease, he had multiple mobility issues and he was in fact deemed as having lost capacity or not having capacity in April of that year.

He was quite a vulnerable man, quite frail. But he was a difficult patient who sometimes presented with behavioural problems.

The defendant worked as a nurse and had done so for a number of years.

The prosecutor said James was an agency nurse who had worked on the ward for around two years.

She said that, at around 2am, Mr Warlow became incontinent and the defendant helped Ms English change his sheets.

Ms English said she rolled him towards her and as she rolled him back he attempted to hit James with his left hand.

Ms Vaughan said: Immediately, the prosecution say, Primrose James in retaliation or anger smacked Mr Warlow to the left side of his face. She then slapped him multiple times to his face, while telling him off for hitting out at her.

The prosecution will say she was aggressively poking at his forehead at the same time. And during this assault, she used words and was shouting at Mr Warlow saying things like you horrible, horrible man.

Finally, she pressed her fingers into the side of his nose with enough force to move his head.

Ms Vaughan said that when James was later approached by Ms Jones, the ward sister, she told her I dont hit patients.

When she was later interviewed about the incident, James described Mr Warlow as a difficult patient but said the only contact she had with him that night was when she blocked his arm from hitting her.

Giving evidence, Ms English said: As soon as he [Mr Warlow] went to hit out at Primrose, Primrose slapped him across the face. She was quite angry and confrontational with him.

She slapped him a couple of times to his cheek and she started poking him on his forehead. It was quite aggressive.

She then used her finger and pressed to the side of his nose to push his face away from her.

I was shocked. I felt quite intimidated, she added.

Ms Jones told the court that it was never appropriate to hit or tap a patient.

The court heard Mr Warlow had hit staff at the hospital on a number of occasions before the alleged incident.

In police interview, James told officers she had used her hand to block me from being hit by the patient.

I was just trying to block him away from hitting me, she said.

Its not the first time he has hit me. I didnt hit him. The only time I had contact with him is when I blocked him. I didnt poke him.

Giving evidence, James described Mr Warlow as a difficult patient who had previously hit her in the face and kicked her leg.

He would kick out, lash out, spit  he was difficult to manage, she told the jury.

The nurse of 16 years insisted she did not hit or assault Mr Warlow and was not angry at the time of the alleged incident.

I did not ill-treat him, she said.

The trial, in front of Judge Huw Rees, continues.
President Yoon Suk Yeol, left, enters a meeting of a special immigrant policy committee under the Presidential Committee for National Cohesion at the presidential office in Seoul, May 17. Yonhap



President Yoon Suk Yeol said Wednesday the growing number of immigrants in the country has raised the need for Korea to come up with immigrant policies fit for its status as a "global pivotal state."



Yoon made the remark during a meeting of a special immigrant policy committee under the Presidential Committee for National Cohesion, saying the number of immigrants doubled from 1.27 million in 2011 to 2.52 million in 2019 before dropping slightly during the COVID-19 pandemic.



The number of immigrants currently stands at 2.34 million, he said.



"Despite such growth in the number of immigrants, our social perceptions have still not changed properly," Yoon said.



"I also think that because of the many restrictions they face in their role as members of society, which is needed to induce changes in social perceptions, immigrants themselves have made efforts that are far lacking or have not had the opportunity to properly do so," he added.



Yoon said Korea aims to become a "global pivotal state" through "responsible diplomacy" and "diplomacy that contributes" to the international community, leading the world to take a large interest in how Korea legally and institutionally treats its immigrants.



"I think we should have policies that are not shameful anywhere in the international community and fit for our role and status as a global pivotal state," he said.



The meeting was attended by experts and seven immigrants from seven countries, including Vietnam, Myanmar, Russia and Argentina.



The committee plans to draw up policy proposals for immigrant integration by next month. (Yonhap)


Nurses in Northern Ireland will later hold a demonstration at Stormont to highlight the escalating crisis in the health service.

It comes as voters across Northern Ireland head to the polls for the council elections.

The Department of Health last week said officials are having to make decisions on spending reductions with great regret following the budget which was set by Secretary of State Chris Heaton-Harris in the absence of locally elected ministers.

Stormont remains effectively collapsed amid DUP protest action against the Northern Ireland Protocol, with the party urging the London government to act to address its concerns.

The expected cuts include reducing the number of nursing student places in Northern Ireland to 1,025.

Members of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) will take part in the demonstration on Thursday.

RCN Northern Ireland director Rita Devlin said while the local government elections have no bearing on the issues they are raising, they want to highlight the need for all parties to work together in the interests of patients, staff and the people of Northern Ireland.

The health and social care system in Northern Ireland is being decimated, she said.

The financial position is desperate and it is impossible to progress transformation or other long-term measures that are urgently required.

The cuts to nurse training confirmed by the Department of Health will devastate patient care for years to come.

Ms Devlin said there are almost 3,000 unfilled nursing posts in the health service and a similar number in the independent sector.

Measures to address this, such as through safe staffing legislation, are not being progressed because of the absence of government, she said.

Falling out of pay parity with UK colleagues will have a further, negative, impact on the number of staff leaving the profession.

Unless there is immediate progress, RCN members in Northern Ireland will feel they have no alternative other than to return to the picket lines, even though this is the last thing they want to do.
Passengers in the Croydon tram disaster were flung around as if in a washing machine after their driver attempted a curve at more than three times the speed limit, a court has heard.

Alfred Dorris, 49, is on trial at the Old Bailey over the derailment at Sandilands in south London on November 9 2016 in which seven people were killed and 19 more were seriously injured.

The prosecution allege Dorris failed to take reasonable care of the health and safety of himself and his 69 passengers on Tram 2551 on that day.

In an interview after the crash, Dorris claimed he had become confused and disorientated but denied he had fallen asleep or suffered a blackout, the Old Bailey was told.

Opening the case on Wednesday, prosecutor Jonathan Ashley-Norman KC said: The seven deaths on the Croydon tram system early on the morning of 9 November 2016 are likely to persist in the memory of all those who were adults in the UK on that day.

He said it had been a wintry rainy morning when Tram 2551 embarked on its route from New Addington to Wimbledon via East Croydon.

At a sharp left turn on the approach to Sandilands, drivers are instructed to reduce speed to 20 kilometres per hour to safely negotiate the curve, with a sign on the bend confirming it, jurors heard.

But Mr Ashley-Norman said: The tram  did not reduce speed to 20kph to enable it to take the turn safely. Instead, the tram was travelling at in excess of 70kph when it entered the turn.

At that speed it could not hope to hold the track. The inner wheels lifted from the track and the tram derailed.

It tipped onto its side, causing those inside to be flung around as though, as one survivor put it, they were inside a washing machine.

Alfred Dorris is on trial at the Old Bailey over the derailment in 2016 (Daniel Leal-Olivas/PA)

Windows smashed and doors were ripped off. Those who died were ejected through the broken windows and trapped between the overturned tram and the track.

In a matter of seconds, tragedy was visited upon seven families who were bereaved, and many others who were seriously injured.

For a want of attention on the part of the driver involved that morning, death and serious injury followed.

The seven passengers who were killed were Dane Chinnery, Donald Collett, Robert Huxley, Philip Logan, Dorota Rynkiewicz, Philip Seary and Mark Smith.

The court heard there was no dispute that the driver Dorris was responsible for what happened.

Mr Ashley-Norman said Dorris would claim that environmental and external factors outside his control relating to the infrastructure around the Sandilands area combined to cause him to become disorientated.

The prosecutor said jurors would examine some of those factors, such as the signage on the approach to the bend and tunnel lighting.

In his interview after the crash, Dorris said: I just remember coming over all disorientated like I just werent sure, you know, where I was. I was confused and then I got it in my head I was going eastbound towards Lloyd Park direction.

I was upset, confused, you know, traumatised. I werent sure what, to be honest with you, I wasnt sure what actually happened. It just sort of crept up on me.

Mr Ashley-Norman told jurors they would hear evidence from sleep experts suggesting Dorris probably had a micro-sleep.

But he said the issue was not whether the driver fell asleep, but whether he took reasonable care for the health and safety of his passengers.

He added: Mr Dorris was not solely responsible for health and safety failures at Sandilands.

As we shall hear, others, principally Transport for London (TfL) and Tram Operations Limited (ToL), also failed in the discharge of their health and safety duties in the running of the Croydon tram network. However, their failures do not exonerate Mr Dorris.

Mr Ashley-Norman alleged it was an accident waiting to happen as both TfL and ToL failed to do a risk assessment around the possibility of a derailment at the Sandilands junction.

Dorris was described as having an impeccable past record and was seen as one of the better drivers.

The prosecutor added: Though any one of his colleagues might have failed in the same way, nonetheless it was Mr Dorris who failed.

Dorris, from Beckenham, south east London, denies a single charge of failing to take reasonable care at work under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.

The trial at the Old Bailey before Mr Justice Fraser is due to go on for up to five weeks.
Rishi Sunak has declined to recommit to a Tory manifesto pledge to bring down legal immigration levels.

The Prime Minister said he does want to see figures fall but repeatedly would not reaffirm the pledge the Conservatives ran on when Boris Johnson led them to a large majority.

Instead Mr Sunak said on Wednesday he had inherited some numbers on migration and insisted voters were focused on tackling illegal migration, such as small boat crossings.

Home Secretary Suella Braverman has been publicly pushing for lower immigration, saying more Britons should be trained to be lorry drivers and fruit pickers to plug demand.

But Mr Sunak has made clear to farmers that more seasonal fruit pickers will be allowed into the UK if they are needed.

The 2019 manifesto promised that overall numbers will come down as the Government ends freedom of movement in the wake of Brexit.

Migration levels were at 226,000 then and it is expected they will rise when the latest Office for National Statistics figures are published.

Speaking to reporters travelling with him to a G7 summit in Japan, Mr Sunak said he was committed to bringing down legal migration but would not stand by the target.

Ive inherited some numbers, I want to bring the numbers down, the Prime Minister said.

Pressed again if he stands by the figure, Mr Sunak said: Ive said I do want to bring legal migration down.

I think illegal migration is undoubtedly the countrys priority, and you can see all the work Im putting into that.

Mr Sunak had raised migration with allies at a Council of Europe meeting in Iceland on Tuesday.

The Prime Minister said he had made another big step forward with EU chief Ursula von der Leyen to discuss the UK working with the blocs border force, Frontex.

That is of enormous practical value to us in stopping illegal migration  that sharing intelligence, operational co-operation will make a difference to our ability to stop the boats, tackle organised crime upstream, he said.

Thats a very tangible result of the engagement and diplomacy that we conducted.

Mr Sunak also held talks with the president of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), Siofra OLeary, over a review of the working of Rule 39.

The order was used to block the inaugural forced removal flight of refugees to Rwanda last year.

Mr Sunak sees the stalled policy as key to reducing unauthorised entries to the UK.

The Prime Minister also defended the Governments decision to house asylum seekers in barges and disused military bases from criticism they are an act of cruelty to the most vulnerable.

Im confident our approach to housing asylum seekers is fair and compassionate, he said.

I think everyone can see the challenge in communities as local hotels are being taken over to house illegal asylum seekers. Its not a sustainable situation. It is not fair to local communities and its also not fair on taxpayers.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak holds a huddle with political journalists on board a government plane as he heads to Japan to attend the G7 summit in Hiroshima (Stefan Rousseau/PA)

I have tried very hard to find alternative sources of accommodation to ease those pressures and costs. Thats why weve bought barges.

I will keep doing whatever it takes to empty our hotels and return them to the use they were intended for and to save taxpayers money.

Mr Sunak got the backing of Environment Secretary Therese Coffey in the partys internal tussle over immigration levels.

She told ITVs Peston the Prime Minister was clearly right to make up to 55,000 visas available for the agricultural sector, when asked whether she agreed with him or Ms Braverman.
Rishi Sunak has pledged to maintain a united and aligned position with allies on Taiwan after Liz Truss called for the West to take a stronger stance towards China in a risky visit to Taipei.

The former prime minister was accused by Beijing on Wednesday of putting on a dangerous political show that will harm the UK when she delivered a hawkish speech in Taiwan.

Among the short-lived Tory leaders demands was for the disputed self-governing country to join a Pacific trade pact as China takes a more aggressive stance in pressing for it to be commanded by the mainland.

But Ms Trusss successor Mr Sunak, carrying out a diplomatic mission to Japan, rejected her demand for the UK to champion Taiwans bid to enter the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).

I think that we have a very strong, unofficial relationship with Taiwan, as our allies do, he told reporters travelling with him to Tokyo, where he will visit before going to a G7 summit in Hiroshima.

Our position is united and aligned with our allies, and will continue.

Mr Sunak declined to criticise Ms Trusss visit to Taiwan, telling reporters he had been busy and havent actually seen the details of it.

But he added: I can tell you that our approach to Taiwan is long-standing and it hasnt changed. And again, its an approach that is completely aligned in substance and in language with all our allies.

The Prime Minister said the new defence and technology pact he will sign with Japan this week was hugely significant for the Indo-Pacific region.

He said: So we have a strong and increasing footprint in the security of the Indo-Pacific region. We have a strong interest in a free and open Indo-Pacific. We do not believe in any change in the status quo by force or coercion.

Ms Truss went to Taiwan despite Beijing having a track record of retaliation when Western politicians visit, including a naval and air force blockade after senior US congresswoman Nancy Pelosi visited.

In a speech to the Prospect Foundation, the former Tory leader argued that the West needed to reduce dependence on China in all spheres.

If Beijing keeps its word and escalates aggression towards Taiwan, substantial decoupling will be unavoidable, she said.

I know that when we first put sanctions on Russia when I was foreign secretary, there was a lot of resistance from organisations in the UK who were deeply embedded already with Russia.

We need to be on the lookout for that with respect to China and take action now to make sure were prepared.

Before Ms Truss stood up to make her speech, the Chinese embassy to the UK issued a statement warning that her speech would harm Britain, labelling it a provocative move.

It urged her to stop defending Taiwanese independence or else further expose herself as a failed politician and get more backlash from the Chinese people.

British politician Liz Trusss recent visit to Taiwan is a dangerous political show which will do nothing but harm to the UK, an embassy spokesman said.

Any violation of the one-China principle will have serious consequences for China-UK relations.
A police force has apologised to a man wrongly accused of murdering a seven-year-old girl in 1992 after the real killer was finally convicted 31 years later.

Northumbria Police also apologised to the family of Nikki Allan for mistakes made in the original investigation of her murder and the length of time it has taken to bring her real killer, 55-year-old David Boyd, to justice.

After Boyd was convicted at Newcastle Crown Court, the force wrote to innocent man George Heron, who was tried for the offence in 1993, and cleared on the directions of the judge.

David Boyd battered his victim with a brick and stabbed her in the chest 37 times (Northumbria Police/PA)

Mr Heron was subject to oppressive questioning and denied having any involvement in the murder 120 times during three days of interviews, before he made some kind of confession.

Detective Superintendent Lisa Theaker led a complex re-investigation which began in 2017 and culminated in Boyds conviction last week.

She told reporters: In terms of the earlier (1992) investigation, its been well publicised that the interviews that were conducted back in the day were oppressive and some of the evidence was misrepresented before George Heron confessed, and we know the judge excluded that confession.

Nikkis body was dumped in a derelict Sunderland warehouse (Northumbria Police/PA)

On a national scale, the way we interview people has changed massively.

Assistant Chief Constable Alastair Simpson has written to Mr Heron, who was understood to have had his face slashed while on remand in the 1990s, then had to move away from Sunderland despite being cleared, and was taken in by a religious order.

After Mr Heron was cleared, police said they were not looking for anyone else in connection with Nikkis murder  although the real killer, Boyd, remained at large.

Mr Heron has provided a statement which will be read to the court when Boyd is sentenced on May 23.

Mr Simpsons letter states: I have had the opportunity to read your Victims Impact Statement and appreciate the effects of your arrest, charge and trial had on you and continue to have.

The crime scene in the Old Exchange Building in Hendon, Sunderland where Nikki Allan was murdered (CPS/PA)

On behalf of Northumbria Police, I would like to apologise for the mistakes that were made in the investigation and I hope, as you express in your statement, that the conviction of Mr Boyd will finally bring closure on this matter for you and allow you to move on with your life.

Ms Theaker said the investigation team were certain Boyd was the only person responsible for Nikkis murder and he was not assisted by anyone else.

During the exhaustive re-investigation which she led, and continued to manage despite moving to Cleveland Police, the team looked at more than 1,000 men who could be linked to the inquiry.

This inquiry has not identified any further offences Boyd could have committed.

Ms Theaker said now the trial has finished, the team will be able to share information with Nikkis mother Sharon Henderson, who has campaigned for more than 30 years to bring justice for her daughter, to reassure the family that no-one else was involved with the murder.

Sharon Henderson spoke to reporters outside court after Boyd was convicted (Tom Wilkinson/PA)

Mr Simpson extended the apology to Nikkis family, telling reporters: I am truly sorry for mistakes that were made in the 1992 investigation and I am sorry for the length of time it has taken to get justice for the family.

I cannot imagine the impact on them over the course of the last 30 years, so I have offered to meet with Sharon and with other members of the family and I will be happy to say that to them when I meet them.

Ms Theaker praised Nikkis mother for her ceaseless campaigning to keep the pressure on the force over the years.

Ms Henderson met the then Chief Constable Steve Ashman in 2017, who agreed to a re-investigation of the case on the back of advances in DNA techniques which were able to extract new traces from the little girls clothes.

The breakthrough ultimately led them to Boyd, but also involved more than 800 Sunderland men volunteering to give DNA samples so they could be eliminated from the inquiry.

Ms Theaker said: The community in Sunderland have massively helped and they have played their part.

Boyd, then aged 25, lured Nikki away from the East End flats where she lived and took her to a derelict building where he hit her with a brick and stabbed her 37 times before dumping her, dead or dying, in the basement.

In 1999 he indecently assaulted a nine-year-old in a park and was to tell his probation officer that he had a sexual interest in young girls when he was younger.

Outside court last week, Ms Henderson spoke of the injustice that this evil man slipped through the net to murder Nikki when he was on their (police) files in the first place.

Asked how she found the strength to keep fighting for justice, Ms Henderson said: Because Nikkis my daughter and I love her.
An expert has told the inquiry looking into the death of Sheku Bayoh that it was likely he sustained a fracture to his first left rib as a result of falling on his outstretched arm.

Professor Anthony Freemont said the kind of fracture Mr Bayoh sustained was so rare that he had to consult medical literature from the 1950s to look at possible causes.

He was giving evidence on Wednesday at the inquiry to determine the circumstances of Mr Bayohs death after he came into contact with six police officers in Kirkcaldy in May 2015.

Prof Freemont is an expert in osteoarticular pathology and specialises in diseases of the bones while undertaking post-mortem examinations.

He said: One of the more common causes of this very rare fracture is falling on to an outstretched arm.

Here the forces are transmitted along the arm up into the shoulder and then transmitted into all of these ancillary structures to the first rib and can cause it to fracture.

It will only affect that rib because of the way that rib is attached to all of these ancillary structures around it (such as muscles and tendons).

A blow to the shoulder can also transmit energy in the same way as a fall on to the arm.

It would though, cause quite marked soft tissue injuries like bruising or some kind of marks from the cause.

Prof Freemont said it is highly unlikely the fracture was sustained as a result of a baton strike, after senior counsel to the inquiry Angela Grahame KC asked him if this was likely.

He said: Im no expert on police batons, I dont know how heavy they are.

Sheku Bayohs sisters Kadi Johnson, left, and Kosna Bayoh outside a previous hearing in the inquiry (PA)

I cant see how a long stick-like structure would have caused that fracture without causing damage to any other tissues.

There was also no event reported that would lead to injuries consistent with direct external trauma  such as a baton strike  and there was no soft tissue damage that showed this, the inquiry heard.

Prof Freemont also estimated that the fracture was sustained between two and six hours prior to Mr Bayohs death but most likely occurred during his interaction with police on May 3.

Mr Bayoh, a trainee gas engineer, died after he was restrained by around six police officers who were called to Hayfield Road in the Fife town on May 3, 2015 after reports of him acting erratically.

The inquiry is investigating the circumstances of the 31-year-olds death and whether race was a factor.

Taking place before Lord Bracadale in Edinburgh, the inquiry continues.
The Croydon tram disaster driver may have had a micro-sleep when he drove at more than three times the speed limit and derailed, killing seven passengers, a court has heard.

Alfred Dorris, 49, is on trial at the Old Bailey over the crash at Sandilands in south London on November 9 2016 in which 19 more people were seriously injured.

Survivors described being flung about as if in a washing machine or a pinball machine, then a moment of silence before screaming and shouting began.

Dorris was allegedly found with his eyes shut and one passenger called for him to wake up, the court heard.

He allegedly suddenly opened his eyes and said: Im sorry guys, is everyone alright. I saw something in front of the tram.

He went on to tell passengers he must have blacked out and passed out, jurors were told.

In a later interview, Dorris claimed he had become confused and disorientated and denied he had fallen asleep or suffered a blackout.

He allegedly said: I just remember coming over all disorientated like I just werent sure, you know, where I was. I was confused and then I got it in my head I was going eastbound towards Lloyd Park direction.

I was upset, confused, you know, traumatised. I werent sure what, to be honest with you, I wasnt sure what actually happened. It just sort of crept up on me.

The prosecution asserted he may have had a micro-sleep due to inadequate sleep at home the night before.

Dorris is accused of failing to take reasonable care of the health and safety of himself and his 69 passengers on Tram 2551 on that day.

Opening the case on Wednesday, prosecutor Jonathan Ashley-Norman KC said it was an accident waiting to happen.

He told jurors: Whether by virtue of a micro-sleep, or by virtue of becoming disorientated in some other way, or a combination of the two, Mr Dorris failed to attend to the most basic of requirements of a driver of a passenger vehicle, namely remaining alert and attentive at the controls.

The court heard it had been a wintry rainy morning when Tram 2551 embarked on its route from New Addington to Wimbledon via East Croydon.

Alfred Dorris is on trial at the Old Bailey over the derailment in 2016 (Daniel Leal-Olivas/PA)

At a sharp left turn on the approach to Sandilands, drivers are instructed to reduce speed to 20 kilometres per hour to safely negotiate the curve, with a sign on the bend confirming it, jurors heard.

But Mr Ashley-Norman said: The tram did not reduce speed to 20kph to enable it to take the turn safely. Instead, the tram was travelling at in excess of 70kph when it entered the turn.

At that speed it could not hope to hold the track. The inner wheels lifted from the track and the tram derailed.

It tipped onto its side, causing those inside to be flung around as though, as one survivor put it, they were inside a washing machine.

Windows smashed and doors were ripped off. Those who died were ejected through the broken windows and trapped between the overturned tram and the track.

Passengers used the torches on their mobile phones to illuminate the devastation and helped other injured passengers, jurors heard.

Mr Ashley-Norman said: In a matter of seconds, tragedy was visited upon seven families who were bereaved, and many others who were seriously injured.

For a want of attention on the part of the driver involved that morning, death and serious injury followed.

The people who died were: Dane Chinnery, 19, Philip Seary, 57, Dorota Rynkiewicz, 35, Robert Huxley, 63, and Philip Logan, 52, all from New Addington, and Donald Collett, 62, and Mark Smith, 35, both from Croydon.

Mr Ashley-Norman said Dorris would claim that environmental and external factors outside his control relating to the infrastructure around the Sandilands area combined to cause him to become disorientated.

The prosecutor said jurors would examine some of those factors, such as the signage on the approach to the bend and tunnel lighting.

Dorris was not solely responsible for health and safety failures at Sandilands as Transport for London (TfL) and Tram Operations Limited (ToL) had also failed in the discharge of duties, the jury was told.

Dorris was described as having an impeccable past record and was seen as one of the better drivers.

The prosecutor added: Though any one of his colleagues might have failed in the same way, nonetheless it was Mr Dorris who failed.

Dorris, from Beckenham, south-east London, denies a single charge of failing to take reasonable care at work under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.

The trial at the Old Bailey before Mr Justice Fraser is due to go on for up to five weeks.
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer insisted his party could make Brexit work but demanded a better deal with Brussels as Vauxhalls parent firm warned about the terms of the EU trade deal.

Sir Keir told the British Chambers of Commerce conference that we need a closer trade relationship with Brussels.

Vauxhalls parent Stellantis has warned about the impact of new rules coming into force in 2024 relating to electric vehicles, requiring a greater proportion of their value to come from within the UK or EU to qualify for tariff-free treatment.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said he wanted a closer trading relationship with the EU (Jordan Pettitt/PA)

Speaking on the BBC, Sir Keir said: We do need to improve that deal. Of course we want a closer trading relationship, we absolutely do. We want to ensure that Vauxhall and many others not just survive in this country but thrive.

Because there are jobs bound up, there are families watching this morning either employed by Vauxhall or a similar place who are deeply worried about what this means.

So yes we need a better Brexit deal. We will make Brexit work. That doesnt mean reversing the decision and going back into the EU but the deal weve got, it was said to be oven-ready, it wasnt even half-baked.

Sir Keir told the British Chambers of Commerce that theres no case for going back in to the EU.

But he said the just-in-time model of manufacture had been impeded by trade friction.

We need to clear that out, reduce those barriers.

And we could do that without being in the single market or the customs union.
Rishi Sunak will fly to Japan to unveil a new defence and technology collaboration before seeking to galvanise support for Ukraine during talks with world leaders.

The Prime Minister will join allies including the USs Joe Biden and Frances Emmanuel Macron as the G7 group of industrialised democracies meets in Hiroshima.

Japans Fumio Kishida is hosting the summit in the city hit with an atomic bomb during the Second World War to highlight the dangers of Russias invasion of Ukraine.

First visiting Tokyo, Mr Sunak will miss Prime Ministers Questions on Wednesday, leaving Oliver Dowden to make his debut as his deputy when he faces Labours Angela Rayner.

The Prime Minister will instead announce a new defence and technology collaboration with Japan and host a reception of business leaders to drum up investment into the UK.

Then, he will travel on to Hiroshima to become the first British Prime Minister to visit the city.

During his first G7 summit as Prime Minister, Mr Sunak will seek to focus on economic security and support for Volodymyr Zelenskys fight against Russia.
Kim Young-kyeong, who heads the Korean Nurses Association, speaks during a press conference near the association's building in Seoul, Wednesday. Yonhap



By Jun Ji-hye



Nurses across the country began their collective action, Wednesday, in protest against President Yoon Suk Yeol's veto of the opposition-led Nursing Act.



The collective action, led by the Korean Nurses Association, began with physician assistant (PA) nurses rejecting "unlawful" orders made by doctors such as to perform certain parts of operations or prescribe medicine instead of doctors.



The association also launched a campaign to collect the licenses of nurses for a month and return them to the Ministry of Health and Welfare as part of its protest.



"The president failed to distinguish untrue claims (made by objectors of the act) and exercised his veto power," Kim Young-kyeong, the head of the association, said during a press conference.



The action came a day after the president vetoed the Nursing Act, after it had been railroaded through by the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea. Yoon sided with doctors and other medical workers, who claim the act will only divide the medical profession and cause conflict and confusion.



The law is aimed at clarifying the scope of nurses' duties and improving their working conditions. Nurses have been calling for their own law, claiming that a lack of clarity regarding their exact roles and duties, as stipulated in the Medical Services Act, has increased their workloads.



The number of PA nurses is estimated at around 10,000 nationwide.



In other countries such as the United States, PAs refer to licensed medical professionals who examine, diagnose and treat patients under the supervision of physicians.



However, in Korea, hospitals appoint skilled nurses as PAs to assist doctors, but without requiring additional courses or professional licenses.



PAs in Korea have conventionally assisted doctors in carrying out operations and procedures, and taken part in the development of treatment plans and even the prescription of medication. But it is illegal for them to do so under the current Medical Services Act.





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Rishi Sunak will unveil a new agreement with Japan to foster closer defence, security and cyber ties amid growing concerns about the threat from China.

Visiting Tokyo, the Prime Minister will commit to deploying a naval battle fleet in the Indo-Pacific in 2025 and to double UK troop numbers in upcoming joint exercises.

He will agree to launch a partnership on semiconductors in order to reduce the reliance on Beijing for the supply of the essential microchips before attending the G7 summit.

The Hiroshima Accord will be formally agreed on Thursday between Mr Sunak and his Japanese counterpart Fumio Kishida ahead of the meeting of world leaders in the city hit by the atom bomb.

The Prime Minister will share talks with world leaders including Joe Biden during the summit, which is expected to focus on economic security and support for Ukraine.

But he will not hold more personal bilateral talks with the US president, instead sitting down with Mr Kishida, Frances Emmanuel Macron and Indias Narendra Modi.

Mr Sunak will be joined by his wife Akshata Murty, as she joins the G7s partners programme in her first official foreign visit since they entered No 10.

Under the agreement with Japan, Mr Sunak will commit to deploy the Navys carrier Strike Group to the Indo-Pacific in 2025.

Including an aircraft carrier and fighter jets, the fleet will work with the Japanese military and other allies to defend peace and stability in the region.

A fourth UK-Japan vigilant isles military exercise taking place in Japan later this year is being billed as the biggest yet and will include around 170 UK service personnel.

The UK and Japan are also expected to commit to consulting each other on key regional and global security issues and to consider measures in response.

They will also launch the semiconductors partnership to make use of British expertise and Japans materials to bolster supply chains amid concerns over Chinese dominance.

A new cyber partnership will be announced to deepen co-operation, as will plans to accelerate use of clean energy.

On the plane to Tokyo, Mr Sunak told reporters one of his priorities for the summit was ensuring we as G7 allies are aligned in our approach to protecting ourselves against the risks and challenges that China poses.

In a statement, the Prime Minister said: It is a privilege to be visiting Tokyo and Hiroshima at this historic moment in the United Kingdoms relationship with Japan.

Prime Minister Kishida and I are closely aligned on the importance of protecting peace and security in the Indo-Pacific and defending our values, including free and fair trade.

The Hiroshima Accord will see us step up co-operation between our armed forces, grow our economies together and develop our world-leading science and technology expertise.

It marks an exciting next phase in the UK and Japans flourishing partnership.

The trip takes place as Mr Sunak grapples with Tory infighting heightened by the partys large-scale losses in the local elections.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak holds a huddle with political journalists on board a government plane as he heads to Japan to attend the G7 summit in Hiroshima (Stefan Rousseau/PA)

He will host a business reception in the Roppongi Hills of Tokyo, with the bosses of Toshiba, Nissan and Hitachi, as well as UK firm Octopus Energy, invited.

At the G7 summit starting on Friday, Mr Sunak will discuss shoring up support and holding Vladimir Putins Russia to account among his priorities.

The Prime Minister will reflect on the sombre reminder of the human cost of all-out war while visiting Hiroshima, where he will plant a tree to remember victims of the atom bomb.

Mr Sunaks official spokesman said: The visit is a crucial opportunity to build our relationship with Japan, already one of the UKs strongest and most important partners.

The summit is an opportunity for the G7 to demonstrate unified resolve and action in the face of threats from autocratic states  threats to global prosperity, security and sovereignty.
The victims of a suspected double murder in Huddersfield both had contact with officers in the days before their deaths, the police watchdog has confirmed.

West Yorkshire Police are continuing to hold a 34-year-old Huddersfield man in custody on suspicion of the murder of Katie Higton, 27, and Steven Harnett, 25, who died at Ms Higtons house on Harpe Inge, Dalton, on Monday.

On Wednesday, the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) said they had received a mandatory referral and were still assessing the situation.

Flowers left at the scene on Harpe Inge, Huddersfield, near the house where a woman and a man died (Katie Dickinson/PA)

A spokesman said: We have received a mandatory referral from West Yorkshire Police linked to the suspected murder of two people in Huddersfield.

This is due to the fact officers had contact with both victims, and a man who has since been arrested on suspicion of murder, in the days prior to this tragic incident.

We will now assess the available information to determine what further action may be required.

Our thoughts are with all those affected by these events.

West Yorkshire Police said officers were called to the address at 9.53am on Monday after paramedics found two people with multiple injuries believed to have been inflicted by a bladed weapon.

Steven Harnett (West Yorkshire Police/PA)

They were confirmed to have died at the scene.

On Tuesday, the former brother- and sister-in-law of Ms Higton paid tribute to her as the best mum and said the family was absolutely devastated as they placed flowers on behalf of her two eldest children at the scene.

Her former brother-in-law, who asked not to be named, said his brother had been in a relationship with mother-of-four Ms Higton for seven years and was the father of her two oldest children, daughters aged nine and 10.

He told the PA news agency the children were in the property when the incident took place.

Police officers stand by a cordon on Harpe Inge, Huddersfield, near a property where paramedics found a man and woman with multiple injuries on Monday (Katie Dickinson/PA)

The man described Ms Higton as bubbly, outgoing, fun and a great mum.

Several active inquiries by the West Yorkshire Polices homicide and major inquiry team remain ongoing.

A card left with flowers at the scene said: RIP my darling. We love you. No more suffering.

Another said: I am so sorry for how things have ended.
Traffic wardens are to stage a six-day strike in a dispute over pay in an area including the Chelsea Flower Show.

Members of the GMB employed by contractors NSL in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea will walk out from May 22 after voting in favour of industrial action.

The strikes will clash with the annual Chelsea Flower Show which is held in the borough.

John Weir, GMB London Region Organiser said: Our members are understandably angry that whilst they are struggling and facing financial pressures those with the power to make a difference are not doing anything.

This vote for industrial action shows just how strongly our members feel and how they will continue to fight for a fair and decent pay rise.

NSL has run the parking enforcement contract in Kensington and Chelsea for more than a decade, and has always paid its staff as little as it could get away with.

A council spokesperson said: Individual pay is decided by the contractor, and the council is making arrangements to make sure services and events important to the borough are well organised with disruption kept to a minimum.
An industrial tribunal has been urged to consider that a lorry driver could not have foreseen that live-streaming from an Orange Hall would have resulted in the broadcasting of a chant mocking the murder of Michaela McAreavey.

Andrew McDade is claiming unfair dismissal by his former employer in the aftermath of the Facebook Live broadcast last May.

He had been attending an event at Dundonald Orange Hall when he live-streamed footage, including the singing of a song which appears to mock the daughter of former Tyrone GAA manager Mickey Harte who was murdered while on honeymoon in Mauritius in 2011.

A 30-second clip from the four-minute broadcast went viral on social media and sparked widespread condemnation across the political sphere in Northern Ireland and beyond.

John McAreavey and wife Michaela on their wedding day (Irish News/PA)

Mr McDades former employer, the Norman Emerson Group, became linked with the video because Mr McDades Facebook profile description included its name, and said it was forced to act amid reputational damage.

Mr McDade was suspended on June 3, while an investigation was carried out, and then dismissed following a disciplinary meeting. He did not appeal against his dismissal last year.

On Tuesday the tribunal heard the full four-minute video was not available because Mr McDade deleted the video and his Facebook profile in the early hours of June 3 after receiving threatening messages, and fearing for his safety.

During the industrial tribunal hearing in Belfast, representatives from Norman Emerson Group said they feared reputational damage to their firm, which included the GAA among its customers, after the clip went viral and they received complaints.

Making his final submissions, Mr McDades representative, Jamie Bryson, said his client had not appealed against his dismissal at the time due to confusion.

He argued that had his client videoed the chanting and posted it, that would be a different case.

But instead, he said, his client had taken a four-minute livestream at Dundonald Orange Hall to show the cultural celebrations following a parade to mark the centenary of Northern Ireland, describing a family event including bouncy castles outside the hall.

Could Mr McDade have foreseen that act B (the chanting) would take place? I respectfully say he could not, he said.

Jamie Bryson, who represented Andrew McDade (Liam McBurney/PA)

He could not have foreseen the vile, reprehensible conduct of other people.

Condemning the chants about Mrs McAreaveys murder, Mr Bryson questioned whether livestreaming could be considered gross misconduct.

Mr Bryson also argued that the reaction on social media infected the decision by his clients former employers.

He emphasised his client was entitled to take the case and urged consideration of the legal arguments for unfair dismissal.

Acting for the Norman Emerson Group, Frank ODonoghue KC, described the case as nonsense.

He said the employer carried out an investigation and held a disciplinary meeting, with a clear reason for his dismissal and a fair process.

He said such is the demand for HGV drivers Mr McDade had been able to secure employment with another firm within six weeks of his dismissal from the Norman Emerson Group.

Mr ODonoghue described the firm as employing across the community, from Orange Order members to GAA players in Mid Ulster, an area he described as a tinderbox politically.

While Mr McDade had been considered a good employee for a number of years, reflecting on the content of the video, the linkage of the employer and the response from wider society, Mr ODonoghue argued: We say this is probably a case for zero tolerance  what was the employer to do?

Mr ODonoghue also claimed that the Orange Order had attempted to control the narrative following the response to the video, referencing how Mr McDade had contacted a Portadown Orange lodge for advice and was referred to Mr Bryson.

(left to right) Colin Emerson, George Emerson and Conor Jordan, directors of Norman Emerson Group Limited (Liam McBurney/PA)

He questioned whether Mr Bryson was being paid by the Orange Order for representing Mr McDade.

Mr Bryson hit back, saying he had not received a penny from the Orange Order and took instruction from Mr McDade.

The 30-second video clip was played to the tribunal on Tuesday.

Tribunal president Noel Kelly questioned Mr Bryson on why the full four-minute video clip was not available, and had no one downloaded it before Mr McDade deleted it and his Facebook profile.

It appears to have vanished like a puff of smoke, he said.

Mr Bryson said the video was deleted along with the Facebook profile which could not be reactivated.

Mr Kelly commented on the content of the video which showed a table covered in beer cans during the singing, saying it looked like a beer hall in Munich in Germany in the 1930s.

He queried why no one appeared to intervene to stop the chanting about Mrs McAreavey.

I didnt see anyone trying to stop it. I didnt see one single person stand up and say enough of that, he said.

It is an utterly disgraceful thing in a hall used by a religious organisation.

I saw people turning and looking at this with something approaching approval on their faces its beyond understanding.

He went on to say he was not drawing comparisons between the Orange Order and the Nazis, explaining: Theyre an organisation which is the opposite end of the spectrum.

It is very, very strange and inconsistent.

Mr Kelly emphasised he and the panel will consider the case on legal arguments, but said on a wider point he considered the video to be absolutely breathtaking.

On Monday, Mr McDades partner, nursing assistant Rhonda Shiels, appeared in a case challenging the decision by the Southern Health and Social Care Trust to dismiss her after she liked and shared the Facebook Live recording.
The Government has been accused of turning its back on the people of Afghanistan after an official watchdog said UK aid to the nation has more than halved.

The Independent Commission for Aid Impact (ICAI) said the UK is expected to provide 100 million in humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan in 2023-24, compared with 246 million in the previous year.

The watchdogs latest review of UK funding since the Taliban takeover in 2021 said the sharp fall followed successive cuts to Britains aid budget and the use of a substantial amount of it on housing refugees in the UK.

The ICAI noted the UK had been an active and significant donor to Afghanistan, promising 286 million in aid per year for 2021-22 and 2022-23.

But the allocation for 2022-23 was later slashed to 246 million, which the watchdog said resulted in programmes for polio vaccinations and the clearance of landmines and improvised explosive devices being halted or delayed.

ICAI commissioner Sir Hugh Bayley, who led the report, said: As the humanitarian situation continues to worsen in Afghanistan, and women and girls hard-won rights are being lost, we felt it was important to look again at how the UK is supporting the people of Afghanistan through the aid programme.

While the UK has played an important role in the international aid response since the Taliban takeover, our information note shows that the reduction in UK aid funding has led to programmes that directly benefited Afghan people being stopped or postponed.

It also highlights the lack of a UK diplomatic presence in Afghanistan which might undermine the effective management of the UKs contribution to the international aid response.

Stephanie Draper, chief executive at Bond, the UK network for NGOs, said: The UK is turning its back on the people of Afghanistan, who are facing a worsening humanitarian crisis.

Cuts to programmes in the country mean the Government has abandoned women and girls at a time when their rights are deteriorating.

Reallocating such a huge proportion of UK aid to cover in-country refugee costs has meant the UK is less able to respond and allocate funding to humanitarian crises, which undermines the purpose of UK aid and puts our global credibility on UK aid at risk.

The Government must deliver on its commitment to the Afghan people by reversing cuts to programmes in the country.

Preet Kaur Gill, Labours shadow cabinet minister for international development, said: This report paints a stark vision for the future for Afghanistans people, and Britains waning influence in the world.

Today famine looms over the country, while millions of women are denied their basic rights.

It is farcical and a betrayal of the Afghans who supported the allied mission that this Government is cutting lifesaving support for them in order to prop up its failing asylum system.
A man has been indicted by a grand jury on charges of stealing a pair of ruby red slippers worn by Judy Garland in The Wizard of Oz, federal prosecutors in North Dakota say. The shoes were stolen in 2005 and recovered in a 2018 FBI sting operation, but no arrests were made at the time.

Terry Martin was indicted Tuesday with one count of theft of a major artwork, prosecutors announced Wednesday. The indictment did not provide any further information about Martin and online records do not list an attorney for him.

The Minneapolis Star-Tribune reported that Martin is 76 and lives 12 miles south of the Judy Garland Museum in Grand Rapids, Minnesota. When reached by the newspaper, he said, I gotta go on trial. I dont want to talk to you.

Janie Heitz, executive director of the museum, told The Associated Press she was surprised the suspect lived nearby but said no one who works at the museum knows him.

Garland wore several pairs of the ruby slippers during production of the 1939 musical, but only four authentic pairs remain. When they were stolen, the slippers were insured for $1 million but the current market value is about $3.5 million, federal prosecutors said in a news release.

The slippers were on loan to the Judy Garland Museum in the late actor's hometown when someone climbed through a window and broke the display case, prosecutors said when they were recovered.

Heitz said she and the museum's staff were a little bit speechless that someone had been charged nearly two decades after the slippers were stolen.

Over the years, several enticing rewards were offered in hopes that the slippers would turn up. Law enforcement offered $250,000 early in the case, and an anonymous donor from Arizona put up $1 million in 2015.

The road to the missing slippers began when a man told the shoes insurer in 2017 that he could help get them back. After a nearly year-long investigation, the FBI nabbed the shoes in Minneapolis in July 2018. At the time, the bureau said no one has been arrested or charged in the case.

On Wednesday, a summons was issued for Martin. An initial court appearance was set for June 1, and it will be via video. Terry Van Horn, spokesman for the U.S. Justice Department in North Dakota, said he could not provide any information beyond what was included in the one-paragraph-indictment.

The shoes are famously associated with one of the iconic lines in The Wizard of Oz, as Garland's character Dorothy clicks her heels and repeats the phrase, Theres no place like home. They are made from about a dozen different materials, including wood pulp, silk thread, gelatin, plastic and glass. Most of the ruby color comes from sequins but the bows of the shoes contain red glass beads.

The three other pairs Garland wore in the movie were held by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the Smithsonian, and a private collector.

When they were stolen, the slippers were on loan from Hollywood memorabilia collector Michael Shaw, who received an insurance payment seven years after the theft, according to the museum's director.

Heitz said the museum staff hopes the slippers will return to Garland's hometown after the legal case ends.
Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes is requesting to start her time behind bars on May 30 after losing a bid to remain out of prison while appealing multiple convictions of defrauding the companys investors.

On Tuesday, a three-judge panel for the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco rejected a motion from Holmes lawyers asking that the embattled entrepreneur and mother of two be spared from a lower courts order also denying her request to remain free on bail, pending an appeal of her case.

A date for Holmes to report to prison was not included in the order. However, in a new court document filed Wednesday, Holmes asked the district court to set a new reporting date of May 30 so that she could get personal affairs in order.

"Ms. Holmes is preparing to report to the Bureau of Prisons," Holmes court filing states. "These preparations include out-of-state travel to her Bureau of Prisons facility and medical and child-care arrangements in anticipation of beginning her 135-month sentence."

The three-judge panel for the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals disagreed with Holmes' lawyers who argued in court filings that US District Court Judge Edward Davila, who presided over Holmes' trial, made decisions reflecting "numerous, inexplicable errors.

The judges wrote that Holmes failed to meet a legal standard that, if satisfied, would weigh in favor of granting continued bail. The standard required Holmes to raise a "substantial question" law or fact from the district court case that, if decided in her favor, would likely lead to a reversal of her four fraud convictions, or a shorter prison term.

In January 2022, a San Jose jury returned guilty verdicts against Holmes on four counts of financial fraud.

Holmes, 39, who dazzled investors and media with the promise of her now defunct blood-testing startup, was found guilty five and a half years after an expose by The Wall Street Journal revealed she had overhyped Theranos finger stick technology.

Wealthy investors and drug store giant Walgreens poured nearly a billion dollars into the company, which Holmes started in 2003 as a Stanford University dropout. At its peak, Theranos, which promised to perform dozens of blood tests from just a few drops of blood, was valued at $9 billion, making Holmes at the time the worlds first self-made female billionaire.

Judge Davila, who ordered Holmes to serve 11 years and 3 months in federal prison, rejected her previous request to delay her surrender to prison. Her surrender date of April 27, however, was postponed by law because Holmes requested a review of that decision by the appellate court, which has final authority on the matter.

Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes sits in court to be sentenced on her convictions for defrauding investors in the blood testing startup at the federal courthouse in San Jose, California, U.S., November 18, 2022 in this courtroom sketch. REUTERS/Vicki Behringer

Davila also presided over a separate trial for Theranos former president and COO Ramesh Sunny Balwani, in which a jury returned guilty verdicts on all 12 counts of wire fraud and conspiracy waged against him. Davilia sentenced Balwani, who was also Holmes' boyfriend, to more than 13 years behind bars. He reported to federal prison in California on April 21.

In a separate decision, also issued Tuesday, Judge Davila ordered Holmes and Balwani to repay $452 million in restitution to investors defrauded in the duo's scheme. The two are jointly liable to repay the penalty. During sentencing, government lawyers suggested that Holmes repay $800 million to defrauded investors.

Losses for investors defrauded by Theranos.

During sentencing, Davila characterized Holmes legal battle  one of the most closely watched in Silicon Valley history  as one that could serve as a lesson for future founders.

I suppose we step back and ask what is the pathology of fraud? Is it the refusal to accept responsibility or express contrition in any way?" Judge Edward Davila said. "Perhaps that is the cautionary tale that will go forward from this case."

At sentencing, Davila also referenced letters from Holmes supporters who highlighted that venture capitalists had grown accustomed to startup failures like Theranos and considered it "normal" to lose 90% of the funds put at risk.

"One thing that was missing from those letters...the letters did not say anything about, nor did they endorse, failure by fraud," Davila said.

Minutes before learning her sentence inside a packed courtroom, Holmes had addressed the court.

"I stand before you taking responsibility for Theranos, she said. I loved Theranos. It was my lifes work. My team meant the world to me. They wanted to make a difference in the world. I am devastated by my failings.

Holmes prison sentence represents approximately 14% of the maximum allowable time of 80 years that sentencing guidelines technically permit for her four fraud convictions. Each of those charges allowed for a sentence of up to 20 years, along with $250,000 in fines, plus restitution.

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Alexis Keenan is a legal reporter for Yahoo Finance. Follow Alexis on Twitter @alexiskweed.
A new bill in the California legislature aims to change the ingredient makeup of some of Americas most popular snacks, candies and other foods sold in stores, according to the bills author  and it just passed the Assembly.

In February, Jesse Gabriel, a Democratic assemblymember from Woodland Hills, California, introduced legislation that would ban the sale of processed foods in California that contain certain chemicals he claims are dangerous and toxic.

The measure, Assembly Bill (AB) 418, would prohibit the manufacture, sale or distribution of any food product in California containing the chemicals red dye No. 3 (commonly listed as red #3 in ingredients on food packaging), titanium dioxide, potassium bromate, brominated vegetable oil or propylparaben.

The bill notes that each chemical listed is currently banned in the European Union due to scientific studies that have shown evidence that the chemicals are harmful.

In the release, Gabriel points to various studies and reports showing these additives can cause harm to the reproductive and immune systems, behavioral issues in children and an increased cancer risk in animals.

Californians shouldnt have to worry that the food they buy in their neighborhood grocery store might be full of dangerous additives or toxic chemicals, said Gabriel, who is the chair of the Privacy and Consumer Protection Committee, in a press release.

The Assembly approved the bill on Monday, May 15. If passed in the California State Senate, AB 418 would make the Golden State the first state in the nation to ban the use of these chemicals in processed foods. One of these chemicals, red dye No. 3, is already banned for use in cosmetics  and has been since 1990.

The measure is expected to be heard in committees in the coming weeks.

What are these additives and why are they used?

According to the FDA's website, there are thousands of chemicals added to food to make it last longer, taste better and improve the overall look of certain items. The government agency says that all food additives are carefully regulated by federal authorities and various international organizations to ensure that foods are safe to eat and are accurately labeled.

According to Justin Colacino, associate professor of environmental health sciences at the University of Michigan School of Public Health, these specific additives are used in processed foods in the following ways:

Red dye No. 3, a food dye, is added to products to make them bright red. It's currently banned for use in cosmetics, but it's still used in candy, medicine and beverages.

Titanium dioxide is a naturally occurring mineral that is mined from the earth, processed and refined. While its used to obtain whiteness in house paint, its also added to food to achieve the same purpose in items like some coffee creamers, baking decorations, white sauces and well-known candies.

Potassium bromate is primarily used as an additive to flour and is used to strengthen dough.

Brominated vegetable oil is a food additive sometimes used to keep citrus flavoring from separating out in sodas and other beverages.

Propylparaben is a preservative that helps stabilize product formulations. Its used in food but also appears in cosmetics and personal care products.

Titanium dioxide (Universal History Archive / Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

The California bill states that most of these chemicals have never been independently evaluated by the FDA or were last reviewed decades ago and that these chemicals are generally known to have first entered the nations food supply through a federal law known as GRAS, or generally recognized as safe that applies to items like vinegar, salt and pepper but has come to include thousands of other substances.

The FDA says the information in the bill is incorrect. The claim that these substances have not undergone FDA review is inaccurate. All these substances have been evaluated by the FDA, an FDA official tells TODAY.com in an email.

According to U.S. law (Federal Food, Drug & Cosmetic Act) ingredients added to food must be safe under their intended conditions of use, and safety information must be available to establish a reasonable certainty of no harm before they are used in products on the market, the official continues. The FDA administers several programs to help manufacturers demonstrate that the available data supports the safety of the substance when used as proposed.

TODAY.com reached out to Mars, the makers of Skittles, who referred us to the National Confectioners Association, as the McLean, Virginia candy conglomerate is one of the associations' biggest member companies. In response to the recent introduction of California AB 418, the National Confectioners Association issued the following statement:

Chocolate and candy are safe to enjoy, as they have been for centuries. We strongly oppose AB 418 because there is no evidence to support banning the ingredients listed in the bill. The ingredients that would be banned under this proposal have all been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Food safety is the number one priority for U.S. confectionery companies, and we do not use any ingredients in our products that do not comply with the FDAs strictest safety standards.

Gabriel told TODAY.com in an email that he would vote against an outright ban of Skittles, the bill he authored actually aims for a different goal.

The idea here is for these companies to make minor modifications to their recipes so that these products dont include dangerous and toxic chemicals. Skittles and many other brands have already made changes to their recipes in the European Union, the UK, and other nations where these chemicals are banned. We simply want them to do the same thing in the United States, Gabriel says.

Should consumers be worried?

The fact that Europe bans more ingredients used in processed foods than the United States does has sparked debate for years. But, how worried should consumers be about these additives?

Moderation is key, right? Colacino says, adding that highly processed foods arent things folks should be consuming every day, anyway. There are things that are in highly processed foods that we know dont have a ton of nutritive value in the first place, so I think its good for people to be aware of the ingredients in their food.

For people who are concerned with the ubiquity of these additives in all sorts of food, Colacino suggests consuming more fruits, vegetables and whole foods. Theres a lot of other stuff these products do that arent great for you, so I think moderation is key, he says.

For people concerned with the additives in their food, Colacino says reading the label is key.

Look at your ingredient lists. Whats in there? he says, adding that consumers can focus on preparing their own food at home, if they can. I think just trying to be a savvy consumer, pay attention to whats in your foods, think about how you can decrease the intake of foods that contain these additives and replace those with healthy alternatives is going to be good for everybody.

This article was originally published on TODAY.com
Meghan Markle showed exactly how she's merging duchess style with Hollywood glam this evening in New York City. The Duchess of Sussex attended Ms Foundation's Women of Vision Awards: Celebrating Generations of Progress & Power with her husband Prince Harry and mother Doria Ragland. Meghan was an honoree at the ceremony, taking home a Woman of Vision Award. She leaned into the big milestone moment by wearing an exquisite gold look.

Meghan chose a strapless gold Johanna Ortiz dress with a front slit and small bodice cutout. She accessorized with a CH Carolina Herrera bag and Tom Ford shoes.

Astrid Stawiarz - Getty Images

Kevin Mazur - Getty Images

Beauty-wise, Meghan had her hair styled on a side part in loose old Hollywood-style waves. Her husband understandably let her take the sartorial spotlight but still looked sharp himself, opting to wear a suit with a blue tie. The couple had a sweet moment on the red carpet, with Meghan gazing up adoringly at Harry as photographers captured them arriving.

Kevin Mazur - Getty Images

This isn't the couple's only recent appearance; Meghan and Harry were also seen getting sushi in Santa Barbara over the weekend. Still, they've generally kept a low profile this year as they raise their two children Archie and Lilibet in California.

Harry attended his father's coronation earlier this month while Meghan stayed home in part to celebrate Archie's fourth birthday, which was the same day. But there was more to her decision than that.

Omid Scobie, the royal reporter who co-authored the Meghan Markle and Prince Harry biography Finding Freedom, told ITVs This Morning the week of the coronation that Meghan also didn't want to steal the spotlight from King Charles.

Initially, when Meghan's decision to stay in California was announced, people around the Sussexes guided press at the time that this was very much about Archies fourth birthday. I disagree with that to some extent because I also know from friends of hers that shes protecting her peace as well, Scobie said. She is aware of how much of the spotlight goes on her when she sets even a foot near the story. And I think a lot of that, although its often portrayed as intentional that she wants to steal the spotlight, but in this case, [if] she had simply come over and stood next to her husband, I would imagine the commentary and the narrative on the day would be very different for the days to follow.

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Visitors take a look at digital art displayed at the George Mason University Korea's 2023 Progress at Play digital arts exhibition in Seoul City Hall, Tuesday. The exhibition runs from May 15 to 26. With a larger number of students from around the world joining the event, 47 digital art pieces, including computer games, take on diverse social issues that are witnessed in daily life. George Mason University's Computer Game Design faculty organizes the annual Progress at Play competition to inspire students to apply their digital skills to address today's greatest social challenges. Courtesy of George Mason University Korea




PORTLAND, Ore. (AP)  Firefighters rescued over a dozen people and three dogs from a dramatic apartment building fire Tuesday in downtown Portland, Oregon.

Portland Fire & Rescue tweeted about 10:45 a.m. that they had responded to the blaze and shortly after said rescues were underway. Fire officials said before noon that firefighters had been for a time told to pull back because of the fires growth. Crews then did one of several checks to make sure all the firefighters were accounted for, officials said.

Rick Graves, told The Associated Press Tuesday that the department was confident everyone got out of the building, which had about 50 units and was built in 1910. A few cats may have perished, he said.

Photos and video posted by the fire agency showed black smoke pouring out of the four-story building and firefighters helping residents and even a dog down ladders to safety.

Several times, windows exploded as the fire ripped through the structure. Authorities were concerned the building might collapse or the flames might spread to another structure just feet away, Graves said. Huge plumes of thick smoke were visible from most areas of the city.

Graves said they moved fire trucks to areas that would be safe should the building collapse. One firefighter was hit in the forehead with glass while standing across the street. The injury was minor, and the firefighter returned to fighting the blaze, Graves said.

Portland General Electric also cut power to the area at the fire bureau's request.

The fire in the city's core also posed dangers for drivers. Transportation officials closed Interstate 405 for about two hours, and surface streets were closed in the immediate area because of low visibility from heavy smoke.

John Rosenthal lives several blocks from the building. Its just nonstop hoses going in there, he said of firefighters flooding the building with water.

From Blake Strouds apartment about a half mile away, he could see a smoke plume oscillating between white and dark smoke, he said.

At the bottom of the plume you could see the flames, he said.

The cause of the blaze wasnt immediately known, but it appears to have started on the third floor and jumped to the fourth, Graves said.

Around 1 p.m., Graves said the fire had maxed out but likely would burn until Wednesday.

Its unlikely residents will be allowed back inside, he said.

A complaint filed with the Bureau of Development Services late last year said the apartment building didn't have smoke, gas and carbon-monoxide detectors, had exposed electrical wiring and had severe leaks leading to mold and mildew, records show.

Ken Ray, a spokesperson for the fire department, confirmed to The Oregonian/OregonLive the existence of the complaint and said inspectors had been investigating the issues before the fire Tuesday.
RICHMOND, Va. (AP)  South Carolina became the latest state to move toward a near total abortion ban Wednesday with legislation that if enacted would leave Virginia an outlier in the South as a place where women have unrestricted access to abortions amid a rapid rise in restrictions in the year since Roe v. Wade was overturned.

South Carolina is among the last bastions in the region for those seeking legal abortions, but that status could end soon. Access would be almost entirely banned after about six weeks of pregnancy  often before women know theyre pregnant  under the bill that now must pass the state Senate, which previously rejected a proposal to nearly outlaw abortions but could give final passage to the new legislation next week.

And most abortions after 12 weeks of pregnancy will be banned in North Carolina beginning July 1 after the states Republican-controlled Legislature successfully overrode the Democratic governors veto late Tuesday.

Abortion is banned or severely restricted in much of the South, including bans throughout pregnancy in Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas and West Virginia. In Georgia, its allowed only in the first six weeks.

Such restrictions are possible because the U.S. Supreme Court last year struck down the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling, which established a nationwide right to abortion.

It would be just devastating for abortion access in the South, Jamie Lockhart, executive director of Planned Parenthood Advocates of Virginia, said of the proposed six-week ban in South Carolina, the 12-week ban in North Carolina, and a six-week ban in Florida that will take effect only if the state's current 15-week ban is upheld by the state Supreme Court.

But North Carolina Rep. Sarah Stevens, a Republican, said she sees the 12-week ban and other restrictions in North Carolina's new law as safeguards, not obstacles to abortion.

We seek to balance protecting unborn babies while ensuring the safety of mothers, she said Tuesday.

Stricter bans across the South would heighten Virginias role as an access point and create a ripple effect as people travel from out of state to seek care, Lockhart said.

Despite abortion providers' efforts to increase available appointments and expand access for patients through telemedicine, the dramatic influx in out-of-state patients will lead to longer wait times for people in those access states, Lockhart said.

Virginia currently allows abortions in the first and second trimesters. An abortion is allowed in the third trimester only if three doctors certify the mothers mental or physical health is at serious risk.

Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, a Republican, pushed for a 15-week ban during this years legislative session, but that was defeated by the narrow Democratic majority in the state Senate.

Victoria Cobb, president of the conservative Family Foundation of Virginia, said Wednesday that the state's laws became out of step with its neighbors during years of liberal influence.

Virginians are going to have to work to protect our Commonwealth from being exploited by the abortion industry," Cobb said.

The costs of travel for women who need to go outside their home states for abortions can quickly pile up, said Ashlyn Preaux, who helps run an abortion fund in South Carolina. Her organization helps patients pay for abortion care as well as gas cards and sometimes plane tickets.

If South Carolina enacts new restrictions, she expects to help send more patients to Virginia and Washington, D.C.

"All of these things add up and its just not anything that people are prepared for, Preaux said. Its not really treated at all like its a health care issue.

The South Carolina House vote capped nearly 24 hours of grueling debate split across two days as the Republican supermajority tossed or defeated over 900 Democratic amendments. Lawmakers paused for roughly eight hours early Wednesday only after a computer glitch.

Democrats repeatedly spoke for all three minutes allotted per amendment. One would have required that residents read The Handmaids Tale. Another sought to make the state cover funeral costs for anyone who dies upon being denied an abortion.

Republican Rep. John McCravy urged colleagues to support the only path forward to prevent our state from becoming an abortion destination state in the Southeast.

Attention now turns to the Senate. Lawmakers could accept the House changes and send the measure to the governor who has indicated he would sign it. Or they could put the bill to a conference committee, where members from each chamber would have to work out their differences.

Until then, abortion remains legal through 22 weeks in South Carolina, and the state had already seen an increasing number of out-of-state patients before Florida and North Carolina enacted new restrictions. Farther west, women often travel to Illinois, Kansas, New Mexico or Colorado.

Provisional state health department data show South Carolina reported nearly 1,000 abortions in each of the first three months this year, after totaling just over 200 in the one full month that a previous six-week ban took effect last year. Nearly half of the patients reportedly came from other states.

Until Tuesday, North Carolina had been considered a safe space, said Dr. Erica Pettigrew, a family medicine doctor in Hillsborough. But now, "North Carolinians will be health care refugees to other states, she said, also criticizing provisions of the law for potentially creating more paperwork, along with additional medical and licensing requirements.

Another challenge to abortion access was considered Wednesday when a federal appeals court heard arguments on whether the Food and Drug Administrations approval of the widely used abortion drug mifepristone should be overturned. A three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is reviewing a ruling by a federal judge in Texas who ordered a hold on approval of mifepristone, a decision that overruled two decades of scientific approval of the drug. That ruling was stayed while the appeal is pending.

Lawyers seeking to preserve access to the drug used in the most common method of abortion got pushback Wednesday from the appellate judges, who each have a history of supporting restrictions on abortion. A ruling is not expected immediately.

In Michigan, one of the leading states in protecting abortion rights since Roe v. Wade was overturned, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed legislation Wednesday that will prohibit companies from firing or otherwise retaliating against workers for having an abortion.

The legislation amends the states civil rights law, which had previously only outlawed employment discrimination if an abortion was to save the life of the mother. It will ensure that workers cannot be treated differently for receiving an abortion regardless of reasoning.

___

Kruesi reported from Nashville, Tennessee. Contributing to this report were Associated Press writers Joey Cappelletti in Lansing, Michigan; James Pollard and Jeffrey Collins in Columbia, South Carolina, and Gary Robertson and Hannah Schoenbaum in Raleigh, North Carolina. Schoenbaum and Pollard are corps members 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.
South Carolina Democratic Reps. Gilda Cobb-Hunter and Heather Bauer call for a vote on one of the Democrats' many amendments that sent an abortion debate into the early morning hours on Wednesday, May 17, 2023, in Columbia, S.C. (AP Photo/James Pollard)

RICHMOND, Va. (AP)  As more Southern states pass new restrictions on abortion, Virginia is poised to become an outlier in the region for its relatively permissive laws, setting up the state as a destination for women seeking abortions and raising questions about providers' capacity to meet demand.

South Carolina is among the last bastions in the region for those seeking legal abortions, but that status could end soon. Access would be almost entirely banned after about six weeks of pregnancy  often before women know theyre pregnant  under a bill expected to come up for a vote in the House on Wednesday. The state Senate, which previously rejected a proposal to nearly outlaw abortions, could give final passage next week.

And most abortions after 12 weeks of pregnancy will be banned in North Carolina beginning July 1 after the states Republican-controlled Legislature successfully overrode the Democratic governors veto late Tuesday.

Abortion is banned or severely restricted in much of the South, including bans throughout pregnancy in Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas and West Virginia. In Georgia, its allowed only in the first six weeks.

Such restrictions are possible because the U.S. Supreme Court last year struck down the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling, which established a nationwide right to abortion.

It would be just devastating for abortion access in the South, Jamie Lockhart, executive director of Planned Parenthood Advocates of Virginia, said of the proposed six-week ban in South Carolina, the 12-week ban in North Carolina, and a six-week ban in Florida that will take effect only if the state's current 15-week ban is upheld by the state Supreme Court.

But North Carolina Rep. Sarah Stevens, a Republican, said she sees the 12-week ban and other restrictions in North Carolina's new law as safeguards, not obstacles to abortion.

We seek to balance protecting unborn babies while ensuring the safety of mothers, she said Tuesday.

Stricter bans across the South would heighten Virginias role as an access point and create a ripple effect as people travel from out of state to seek care, Lockhart said.

Despite abortion providers' efforts to increase available appointments and expand access for patients through telemedicine, the dramatic influx in out-of-state patients will lead to longer wait times for people in those access states, Lockhart said.

Virginia currently allows abortions in the first and second trimesters. An abortion is allowed in the third trimester only if three doctors certify the mothers mental or physical health is at serious risk.

Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, a Republican, pushed for a 15-week ban during this years legislative session, but that was defeated by the narrow Democratic majority in the state Senate.

Victoria Cobb, president of the conservative Family Foundation of Virginia, said Wednesday that the state's laws became out of step with its neighbors during years of liberal influence.

Virginians are going to have to work to protect our Commonwealth from being exploited by the abortion industry," Cobb said.

The costs of travel for women who need to go outside their home states for abortions can quickly add up, said Ashlyn Preaux, who helps run an abortion fund in South Carolina.

Abortion remains legal through 22 weeks in South Carolina, and the state had already seen an increasing number of out-of-state patients before Florida and North Carolina enacted new restrictions. Farther west, women often travel to Illinois, Kansas, New Mexico or Colorado.

Provisional state health department data show South Carolina reported nearly 1,000 abortions in each of the first three months this year, after totaling just over 200 in the one full month that a previous six-week ban took effect last year. Nearly half of the patients reportedly came from other states.

Preaux fears the regions new barriers will increase the burden on South Carolina abortion providers already working to match the need. The state has just three clinics, which she stressed are already limited by regulations that largely block them from providing abortions beyond the first trimester.

Until Tuesday, North Carolina had been considered a safe space, said Dr. Erica Pettigrew, a family medicine doctor in Hillsborough. But now, "North Carolinians will be health care refugees to other states, she said, also criticizing provisions of the law for potentially creating more paperwork, along with additional medical and licensing requirements.

In Michigan, one of the leading states in protecting abortion rights since Roe v. Wade was overturned, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed legislation Wednesday that will prohibit companies from firing or otherwise retaliating against workers for having an abortion.

The legislation amends the states civil rights law, which had previously only outlawed employment discrimination if an abortion was to save the life of the mother. It will ensure that workers cannot be treated differently for receiving an abortion regardless of reasoning.

___

Kruesi reported from Nashville, Tennessee. Contributing to this report were Associated Press writers Joey Cappelletti in Lansing, Michigan; James Pollard and Jeffrey Collins in Columbia, South Carolina, and Gary Robertson and Hannah Schoenbaum in Raleigh, North Carolina. Schoenbaum and Pollard are corps members 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.
This is a locator map for Saudi Arabia with its capital, Riyadh. (AP Photo) (ASSOCIATED PRESS)

BEIRUT (AP)  Arab foreign ministers Wednesday in Saudi Arabia welcomed back Syria to the Arab League and called for a cease-fire in conflict-hit Sudan ahead of the organization's annual summit taking place in the kingdom.

This year's summit, starting Friday in the city of Jeddah, will mark the readmittance of war-torn Syria into the 22-member league, after a 12-year suspension.

Syria's membership was frozen following Syrian President Bashar Assad's brutal crackdown on the 2011 mass protests against his rule. The country quickly descended into a civil war that has killed nearly half a million people and displaced half of the countrys pre-war population of 23 million.

Saudi Arabias Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan said Wednesday that the region is at a crossroads, facing a host of challenges. He called for cooperation between Arab countries to achieve security, stability and economic prosperity.

Bin Farhan also welcomed Syrias return, as did the league's Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit and Algerian Foreign Minister Ahmed Attaf.

Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad held bilateral meetings this week in the kingdom with several of his counterparts as Damascus continues to appeal for much-needed investment in the war-torn country  crippled by the conflict and Western sanctions  and has moved to restore ties with Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt, and Iraq.

Mekdad after the meeting told reporters that he hopes Arab governments will help with reconstruction and Syrian refugee returns. He hinted that Assad will attend the summit Friday. Per usual, Syria cannot be absent from any summit, he said.

Syrias return to the Arab fold comes as Damascus is also trying to amend ties with Turkey, a key backer of the armed Syrian opposition groups in the countrys northwest.

But a few Arab countries remain skeptical of Syria's return to the league, primarily Qatar.

Qatar's top diplomat, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, said Wednesday that his country opposes Syria's return but that it doesn't want to stand against the Arab consensus. Each Arab country, however, can unilaterally normalize relations with Syria, he said.

For that to happen from Qatar's perspective, Syria needs to go through a just and comprehensive solution" to its conflict, Sheikh Mohammed added.

The summit also comes as Arab governments are scrambling to resolve the conflict in Sudan between the military, led by Gen. Abdel Fattah Burhan, and the rival paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, commanded by Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo. The fighting in the East African country, which broke out in mid-April, has left over 600 people dead and displaced tens of thousands.

In Wednesday's meeting, top diplomats from Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Algeria called for a cease-fire in Sudan and an end to the escalating violence in Israel and the Palestinian territories.

___

Associated Press reporters Nick El Hajj and Lujain Jo in Dubai, United Arab Emirates contributed to this story.
CANBERRA, Australia (AP)  Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has ruled out a Quad summit taking place in Sydney without President Joe Biden, saying the four leaders will talk at the Group of Seven meeting this weekend in Japan.

Albanese said Wednesday he understands why Biden pulled out of the summit to focus on debt limit talks in Washington since they are crucial to the economy. The summit including Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida had been scheduled for May 24.

The blocking and the disruption thats occurring in domestic politics in the United States, with the debt ceiling issue, means that, because that has to be solved prior to 1st June  otherwise there are quite drastic consequences for the U.S. economy, which will flow on to the global economy  he understandably has had to make that decision, Albanese told reporters.

Biden expressed very much his disappointment at being unable to come to the Sydney summit and to the national capital Canberra a day earlier to address Parliament, Albanese said.

The four leaders will soon be together in Hiroshima, Japan, for the Group of Seven summit and are planning to meet there, he said.

The Quad is an important body and we want to make sure that it occurs at leadership level and well be having that discussion over the weekend," Albanese said.

He said Modi will visit Sydney next week, noting the Indian leader was scheduled to give an address to the Indian diaspora at a sold-out 20,000-seat stadium on Tuesday. But Kishida will not visit.

Prime Minister Modi will be here next week for a bilateral meeting with myself. He will also have business meetings, hell hold a very public event ... in Sydney, Albanese told Australian Broadcasting Corp.

I look forward to welcoming him to Sydney, Albanese said. Prime Minister Kishida of Japan was just coming for the Quad meeting. There wasnt a separate bilateral program.

Albanese said it was disappointing that Biden decided he could not come.

The decision of President Biden meant that you cant have a Quad leaders meeting when there are only three out of the four there, Albanese said.
Since January, weve known that 48-year-old Carrody Buchhorn, an Army wife, mom of two sons and former day care worker in Eudora, Kansas, spent 3  years behind bars and another 2  years on house arrest for a murder that never happened.

Let no one ever say that Douglas County District Attorney Suzanne Valdez, who inherited the case from her predecessor, Charles Branson, gave up on retrying Buchhorn without a fight. Only, she never found an expert who would get on the stand and say that Buchhorn or anyone else had killed 9-month-old Oliver Ortiz, who never woke up from his nap at the Sunshine Kids Daycare on Sept. 29, 2016.

In January, Dr. Jane Turner, the forensic pathologist Valdez had hired to review the case, reported back that Ortiz had died of natural causes  a congenital heart defect. The child had a hole in his heart.

As it happens, though, this was information that prosecutors could and should have had in their possession all along.

And yet, the state is fighting it still.

Turner based her conclusions in large part on an Oct. 4, 2016, report written by Dr. Shannon Mackey-Bojack, a cardiac pathologist in St. Paul, Minnesota, where the boys heart had been shipped immediately after his death, because his heart valves were being donated.

The states star witness at Buchhorns 2018 trial, longtime Kansas coroner Erik K. Mitchell, testified that he had indeed received the heart pathology report from the transplant team in Minnesota. But when Mitchell then said under oath that Ollies heart was perfectly normal, that was false. In fact, the report said just the opposite.

A member of the prosecution team said they never saw the heart pathology report that Mitchell suggested on the stand that he had read and taken into account: We absolutely did not have some report that said there was a problem with the heart.

Under oath, Mitchell explained that I get a report from them  the Midwest Transplant Network  along with slides and heart tissue, and that is all available for review. Then, he testified that his conclusion, based on all of the information available to him, was this: This child has a normal heart. Oliver Ortiz, he told the court, just does not have any disease process to explain death. This child dies of trauma.

The member of the prosecution team said no one on his side concluded from Mitchells testimony that there even was a formal report from doctors in Minnesota, which is why the report was never shared with the defense team. We thought he had talked to them and everything was fine. We thought he had followed up on it.

But he hadnt. Or did, and then nonetheless ignored what Dr. Mackey-Bojack had found. Prosecutors also believed that Mitchell was basing his testimony that the childs heart was perfectly normal on his own observation, but he wasnt and couldnt have.

This isnt all on Mitchell, either; with a womans freedom on the line, prosecutors should have asked to see some documentation that their most important witness really had followed up instead of making it up.

A postmortem report concluded that Oliver Ortizs heart had a hole in it.

Baby had a hole in his heart

Dr. Turners report about postmortem lab tests and Dr. Mackey-Bojacks examination is both clear and crucial to understanding what did and did not cause the babys death: The examination found a patent foramen ovale. The foramen ovale (a hole between the two atrial chambers of the heart) is a normal part of fetal anatomy; the hole closes soon after birth. Persistence of the hole (known as patent foramen ovale, or PFO) beyond the newborn age is considered a congenital heart defect.

The cardiac examination also significantly found an area of acute ischemia (myocardial infarct) of the anterior wall of the left ventricle. This is evidence of heart damage caused by a lack of oxygen because of a heart attack or stroke. In other words, the pathology of the heart indicates that Oliver had pathophysiologic processes taking place 12-24 hours prior to his death. The most common cause of myocardial infarction in infants is paradoxical embolism resulting in occlusion of a coronary vessel; the most common cause of paradoxical embolism is patent foramen ovale.

The autopsy finding of a patent foramen ovale is significant in that this congenital heart defect put Oliver at risk for a lethal arterial stroke.  The findings of myocardial infarction and hemorrhage of the carotid artery sheath are evidence of paradoxical embolization from the PFO; involvement of the carotid artery indicates embolization of blood clots from the heart to the head and brain.

Mitchells autopsy, conducted on Sept. 30, 2016, when most of the childs heart was no longer in his possession, goes into great detail about the ordinariness of the organ. But then, from Mitchells lab in Kansas City, Kansas, he couldnt see Ollies heart in St. Paul, Minnesota very clearly, could he?

The member of the prosecution team said they thought that Mitchell, in overseeing the removal of the childs heart immediately after his death, must have seen that it was fine. But there was no autopsy done on the heart that day. Whatever he was able to see was extremely incomplete, and he never revised what he wrote on Sept. 30 after receiving the Oct. 4 report.

Whether Mitchell gave false testimony to help prosecutors or to cover up the fact that he hadnt bothered to read the pathology report from Minnesota, I have no idea. Once again, he did not respond to my detailed messages.

In August 2021, the Kansas Court of Appeals overturned Buchhorns conviction, ruling that she might not have been convicted if her original defense team had challenged Mitchells equally made-up theory about how Ollie did die.

Its not hard to imagine that there would in that case have been no trial at all, since Judge Sally Pokorny said in open court that she was holding Buchhorn over for trial squarely on the basis of Mitchells testimony at Buchhorns probable cause hearing.

Based much upon Dr. Mitchells testimony of what is the most reasonable explanation for what happened, Pokorny said, there is absolutely no evidence that there was anybody else who, in the very short time period that this child, from the time he was injured until he would have died, all that evidence at this point points to Ms. Buchhorn, so I do bind her over for a jury trial on Count 1, which is murder in the first degree.

The defense does seem to have slept through the trial.

But prosecutors failed to do their job, too, ignoring not just available medical information but Mitchells long and well documented history of getting it wrong, always in the states favor.

Removed organs from corpses

Mitchells problems with the truth have extended from the very beginning of his career to the current case of Chris Lyman, who was convicted of killing his infant nephew after Mitchell said hed clearly beaten him, causing a massive subdural hematoma that is actually smaller than a dime. Three other experts have since testified that the child died of acute pneumonia and lung disease.

For the 10 years before Mitchell arrived in Kansas in 1994, he was the chief medical examiner for Onondaga County, New York, where the DA agreed not to pursue criminal charges against him after Mitchell agreed to resign rather than be fired. An Associated Press story at the time said Mitchell had routinely removed organs from corpses without the consent of the victims families and improperly stored skeletons and body parts in his office.

The investigation started after officials learned that a man convicted on child porn charges had a photo taken of himself with a corpse in Mitchells custody. Morgue employees had also taken pictures of themselves in playful poses over the corpse of a female suicide victim. And while the DA was investigating Mitchell, the coroner helpfully changed his mind about his findings in a murder case against a man named Hector Rivas.

Initially, Mitchell had said that the victim, Rivas ex-girlfriend, Valerie Hill, had been killed on a Saturday night or Sunday morning of the weekend she died in March of 1987. Only, Rivas had an alibi for that time period. When the DA reopened what had been a cold case, however, Mitchell reconsidered, and said that Hill might actually have been killed as early as Friday evening, when Rivas had no alibi.

It was as a result, an appellate court later found, that Rivas was convicted in 1993 and spent the rest of his life behind bars. He died there, in 2016, still waiting for the new trial that hed been owed since his conviction was reversed by the federal Second Circuit Court of Appeals the previous year.

When I first wrote about Buchhorn, in August and again in September of 2021, shortly after her second-degree murder conviction was overturned, I said DA Valdez would be wrong to retry someone whod only been found guilty of murder because Mitchell had gotten away with murder on the witness stand.

Mitchell invented a cause of death for Oliver Ortiz, the depolarization of neurons, that no one else had ever heard of. And with considerable dramatic flair, he demonstrated for the jury how Buchhorn must have stomped on the babys head, though the child had no brain injury.

He testified that the most likely  and I am going on statistics here  the most likely mechanism here is that we have a direct effect on depolarization of neurons in the base of the brain, upper spinal cord medulla interferes with the ability to breathe, and that leads to death.

The defense team, led by former Johnson County District Attorney and former Kansas Attorney General Paul Morrison, failed to counter this novel view.

But on appeal, experts said Mitchells theory was gibberish. Dr. Yu-Tze Ng, former chief of pediatric neurology at the Childrens Hospital of San Antonio and former professor of pediatric neurology at Baylor College of Medicine, called it unknown to medical science. A pediatric neurologist from University of Pennsylvania Childrens Hospital, Sudha Kessler, said it was just fantastical.

Its not consistent with the medical literature because there is no literature on magical disruption of the brain that causes death and that doesnt exist, Kessler testified. The statistics Mitchell mentioned do not exist, either, as he himself later acknowledged.

Morrison didnt even object when Mitchell hopped on that CPR doll, and he should have. But at least in theory, prosecutors also have a duty not to win a conviction, but to win the right outcome.

It was 16 months later  months Buchhorn spent on house arrest, just as she had spent the months before her trial  that Valdez finally announced, with deep regret, that she would cease prosecution of Buchhorn because her own expert, Dr. Turner, had found that Ortiz had died from natural disease and pathophysiological processes unrelated to child abuse.

Skull fracture a preexisting injury

In her news release announcing this, Valdez suggested, without spelling out why, that she still believed Buchhorn guilty. And she congratulated herself at some length for holding her office to such a superior standard that she would not pursue a case she couldnt win.

While there are conflicting findings between the states two retained experts, as well as other evidence to support prosecution, we do not believe the evidence is likely to meet our burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, Valdez said in that news release.

Last week, the DAs office did answer my message asking whether the only such evidence was Childrens Mercy Hospitals child abuse specialist Dr. Terra Fraziers opinion, offered in December of 2022, that Buchhorn must have abused the boy, and caused his hairline skull fracture. But the DAs office answered by sending me another copy of the January news release.

I know of no other finding that would support prosecution, and believe that if there is any, Valdez should make it public. Otherwise, she should stop implying that Buchhorn is guilty.

Two other doctors  Turner, the pathologist Valdez hired, and Dr. Carl Wigren, the forensic pathologist from Seattle who testified for the defense at Buchhorns trial  both said Olivers skull fracture showed signs of healing. They said this was a preexisting injury that had occurred anywhere from a few days to a week earlier, and they did not see it as evidence of abuse.

So after all of the falsehoods and failures that resulted in Carrody Buchhorns conviction, is the state trying to make up for the wrong done to this woman, whose life, health, family and finances will never be the same? No, just the opposite.

She is seeking $65,000 for each year of wrongful conviction and imprisonment, as allowed under Kansas law. But the Kansas AGs office said recently that it does not consider Buchhorn wrongly convicted at all, and will oppose her compensation by the state. Shon Qualseth, the assistant attorney general who responded to Buchhorn in court, did not answer my messages asking why the state is fighting her formal exoneration.

This week, Qualseth asked for time to find new experts to further review the cause of death, and Chief Judge James McCabria gave the state until Sept. 1 to find these experts. They wont find a different cause of death, but will succeed in extending Buchhorns nightmare, and in delaying any acknowledgment that prosecutors were wrong.

Testing by Marilyn Hutchinson, the Kansas City psychologist hired by the original defense team, found Buchhorn highly unlikely ever to intentionally harm a child. And common sense says that a mom in her 40s with no history of criminal behavior or mental illness is not, as the prosecutions theory had it, going to jump up and down on a childs head out of nowhere one day because she was mad at her boss, found Ollie fussy  pissy, she once told a friend  and thought she should be better paid.

But even more to the point, since Buchhorn was convicted of murder, and there was no murder, how was she not wrongly convicted?

It was on Buchhorns way home from Ollies funeral, when she stopped by the Eudora Police Department to pick up her phone, as requested, that detectives started treating her like a criminal, she told me two years ago.

Suddenly, police investigators with whom the Buchhorns had always been friendly in their small town were calling me terrible names and saying I was fake crying. Id say, Oh, my God, and theyd say, He isnt going to help you now. 

They also spoke to her with great reverence about a Dr. Mitchell, who they said had found the death suspicious and believed her responsible. They told me Dr. Mitchell was on this and he was the best person we know. When she told them she hadnt and would never have hurt the child, their angry response, as she remembers it, was, Are you calling Dr. Mitchell a liar? 

Someone should have.

Erik Mitchells testimony about depolarization of neurons in the base of the brain is nonsense, according to medical experts.

State compared Erik Mitchell to Galileo

When Valdez announced that she wouldnt retry the case, she wrote, As I campaigned for this office, my core message was Setting a Higher Standard. That applies to myself, everyone in my office, law enforcement partners, and any expert witnesses we may call to testify. For reasons fully chronicled in both local and national media, Dr. Erik Mitchell does not meet that standard.  I chose not to use Dr. Mitchell as a witness of any sort due to his questionable professional reputation.

It wasnt until October of last year that Valdez told the court she would not call him.

Even then, she continued to rely on his theory of the cause of Ollies death in her court filings; there was never any other finding that this was a homicide.

Last April, at a hearing before the Kansas Supreme Court, Deputy Solicitor General Kristafer Ailslieger began his oral argument by saying that he felt like a relief pitcher asked to come in in the ninth inning by the Douglas County district attorneys office, whod asked our office to take over, for various reasons.

I just do not recall, Kansas Supreme Court Justice Eric Rosen told Ailslieger that day, where theres been a coroners determination of a cause of death that is testified to and that is the basis for the cause of death in a homicide case that isnt right. That is just bunk. I dont recall that ever happening. What do you have to say about that, as a representative of the state?

Im not sure that its bunk, said Valdezs relief pitcher.

Even Dr. Mitchell says theres no support for the theory, Rosen told him.

Theres always no support for a theory initially, answered Ailslieger, You know, Galileo had a theory that everybody thought was nonsense at one point in time. So maybe Dr. Mitchell knows what hes talking about.

Even when Valdez said she was dropping the case, she still seemed to see the only just outcome as Buchhorns conviction and imprisonment, facts be damned.

In the interest of justice, she wrote, my administration aggressively litigated this matter to the extent of our abilities despite unfavorable rulings in the district court, the Court of Appeals, and the Kansas Supreme Court. I dont doubt her commitment, but did she never consider that there was a reason for all of those rulings?

Until we received the report from our retained forensic pathologist, she continued, we had no reason to doubt that we had sufficient evidence to proceed with the retrial of Ms. Buchhorn. After all, she was convicted by a jury of her peers in 2018 and none of the evidence produced at that trial had been ruled inadmissible at her retrial.

Inadmissible, no. Demonstrably incorrect, yes.

A man who sat on that jury of Buchhorns peers and now thinks they reached the wrong conclusion told me that what convinced most people was the old man who was a medical expert, who turned out to be a fraud, according to what he read later.

Juror: Would have been a different verdict

I wish more of us had questioned the old man, and it would have been a different verdict, said the juror, who spoke to me on the condition that I not use his name because I dont want the headaches of being asked about it by everyone he knows. It was a horrible two weeks.

If wed heard about any of the funny stuff about Mitchell, now 72, the juror said, it would have been a different result. But he just seemed like this wise old father, knowledgeable about his area. Her attorneys did a really poor job of defending her, and two or three personalities on the jury  all women, he noted  convinced everybody that she was the only one there at the time. We cant give her the time back, but I feel sorry for her.

In Valdezs January announcement that she wouldnt prosecute Buchhorn, she wrote that the decision to cease prosecution of this matter is not one that I have made lightly, and no one can doubt that. Nor, she said, does it in any way reflect negatively upon the law enforcement agencies involved. First responders did their best to resuscitate Ollie, and their efforts are admirable.

They were, though this ignores the fact that it was Buchhorn who gave Ollie CPR for the first 30-something of the 52 minutes spent trying to save him.

The dedicated law enforcement officers of the Eudora Police Department investigated the matter with assistance from the Lawrence Police Department, the Douglas County Sheriffs Office, and the Kansas Bureau of Investigation, Valdez wrote.

Dedicated, but in this case devoted to a mistaken snap judgment, based on information that turned out to have been not just wrong but fabricated.

If there is any consolation to be had by those who mourn the loss of Ollie, Valdez said in the news release, it can be found in the fact that many trained professionals worked tirelessly to pursue justice, and Ollie will never be forgotten.

If justice is what they were pursuing, why did they for years ignore all evidence that ran counter to the theory theyd locked in on almost immediately?

That the death of this child is an unalloyed tragedy has never been in dispute. But is encouraging an already grieving family to incorrectly believe that they left their child with a murderer really what consolation looks like?

The only good news here is that because the state is fighting Buchhorns legal exoneration, all of the questions about prosecutorial decisions will have to be answered in court.

Meanwhile, Carrody Buchhorn is fighting the PTSD she never had before her incarceration. And shes trying to get back some of what life was like before the horrible afternoon that she put Ollie Ortiz down for a nap and later found him limp and cold.

When the case got dismissed, she told me in an interview in Lawrence the other day, I assumed I was going to start feeling better and wanting to leave the house now that she finally could. Instead, my depression got worse and worse, and my anxiety is terrible.

Even a recent solo trip to Target turned into an ordeal. After I got my drivers license, I wanted to go to the store by myself, and I was so excited. Target has fun stuff, and Tims like, Buy whatever you want. But I got in there and I was so overwhelmed I didnt even know what to do. I tried looking for stuff, and thought, What did I even want to buy? Im feeling all this anxiety, so I got what I needed and got out.

Absolutely, she is owed compensation from the state; the just under $400,000 that shes asking for doesnt even cover what her family has had to come up with in legal fees. And because what happened to Carrody Buchhorn could happen to anybody, Kansas is owed prosecutors more interested in justice than in winning no matter what.
CANNES, France (AP)  Appearing at the Cannes Film Festival the day after premiering his first film in three years, Johnny Depp said Wednesday that he has no further need for Hollywood.

Depp made a rare public appearance to face questions from the press following the opening-night premiere of Jeanne du Barry, in which Depp plays King Louis XV. The French film, directed by and starring Maiwenn and featuring a French-speaking Depp, is the actor's first film since a jury last year largely sided with him in his legal battle with his ex-wife, Amber Heard.

Part of Depp's argument in that 2022 defamation trial was that he had lost work due to Heard's allegations. Heard was ordered to pay Depp $10 million in damages, vindicating his allegations that Heard lied about Depp abusing her before and during their brief marriage. Heard was also awarded $2 million.

Did I feel boycotted by Hollywood? Youd have to not have a pulse to feel like, No. None of this is happening. Its a weird joke, Depp told reporters. When youre asked to resign from a film youre doing because of something that is merely a function of vowels and consonants floating in the air, yes, you feel boycotted.

Depp was most notably asked to step down from the Harry Potter spin-off franchise Fantastic Beasts." Now, though, he says he's not interested in returning to studio projects.

I dont feel boycotted by Hollywood, because I dont think about Hollywood. I don't have much further need for Hollywood, myself, Depp said. Its a strange, funny time where everybody would love to be able to be themselves, but they cant. They must fall in line with the person in front of them. If you want to live that life, I wish you the best.

Jeanne du Barry opened Tuesday in French cinemas. It doesnt have U.S. distribution as of yet.

The Jeanne du Barry press conference was among the most circus-like in recent years at Cannes. The press conference began unusually late and started with Maiwenn and other cast members there, but no Depp. He arrived about 20 minutes in, and quickly took the spotlight.

Depp called the majority of what's been written about him in recent years fantastically, horrifically written fiction.

Its like asking the question: How are you doing? But the subtext is, 'God, I hate you,' said Depp.

Some have debated whether Cannes ought to have given Depp such a prominent platform. Asked how he would respond to such critics, Depp made a comparison that suggested few people feel that way.

What if one day, they did not allow me to go to McDonald's for life because somewhere thered be 39 angry people watching me eat a Big Mac on a loop?" pondered Depp. Who are they? What do they care?

Ive had my 17th comeback, apparently, said Depp. I keep wondering about the word comeback. I didnt go anywhere. As a matter of fact, I live about 45 minutes away. Maybe people stopped calling out of whatever their fear was at the time. But I didnt go nowhere.

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Follow AP Film Writer Jake Coyle on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/jakecoyleAP

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For more coverage of this years Cannes Film Festival, visit: https://apnews.com/hub/cannes-film-festival
Fresh off of moderating a widely panned town hall with former President Trump, Kaitlan Collins is moving up to prime time at CNN.

The "CNN This Morning" co-host and former White House correspondent will take over the 9 p.m. Eastern hour for the cable news network on a full time basis starting this fall. She will be seen regularly in the time period starting next month ahead of the program's debut, according to a note that CNN Chairman Chris Licht sent to staff on Wednesday.

The network announced the move at parent company Warner Bros. Discovery's advertiser upfront presentation in New York.

Collins' program will feature interviews with newsmakers and panel discussions covering two to three topics a night. Licht has stressed internally that the new entry will not be an opinion program, setting it apart from the competition on MSNBC and Fox News.

Collins, 31, left the White House beat to become a co-host of "CNN This Morning" in December alongside Poppy Harlow and Don Lemon. The morning show was the first major programming initiative under Licht.

Collins is now the second co-host to leave the show.

Lemon was fired for unspecified reasons on April 24. His dismissal came two months after making offensive comments on the program about when a woman is past her prime while speaking about 51-year-old Republican former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley.

"CNN This Morning" is frequently the least-watched program among the three major cable news channels. Harlow will be joined by fill-in hosts until a permanent replacement for Collins is named.

Collins' profile got a major boost on May 10 when she moderated a town hall with Trump, marking his first live appearance on CNN since the 2016 presidential campaign. The event held at St. Anselm's College in New Hampshire was watched by 3.3 million people, according to Nielsen data, making it a ratings success for CNN.

But the program drew harsh criticism as the audience of Republican and independent voters became a cheering squad for Trump, including when he disparaged E. Jean Carroll, the woman who was recently awarded $5 million after a jury found Trump liable for sexually abusing her in 1994.

Collins tried to call out Trump as he repeated numerous false claims that his 2020 election loss was rigged, among other untrue statements. But critics said CNN should have known better than to give Trump, now a candidate for the 2024 Republican nomination, a forum where it would be impossible to filter out misinformation in real time.

Collins escaped much of the criticism as her peers on the network and in the community of Washington journalists believed she battled to push back on Trump. At one point, Trump called her "a nasty person."

Licht also praised Collins' performance, although the decision to give her a prime time hour was decided before the town hall, according to people familiar with the discussions but not authorized to discuss them publicly.

CNN has not seen any residual benefit from the ratings boost created by the town hall. On Friday evening, the network's viewing levels tumbled below those of Newsmax, the conservative outlet that gets its best ratings from running Trump rallies.

Licht has said that part of his mission at CNN is to move the network to the political center and serve as an impartial purveyor of news. Warner Bros. Discovery Chief Executive David Zaslav has arugued that the network moved too far into anti-Trump advocacy under previous boss Jeff Zucker.

Licht, who joined CNN in April 2022, has attempted to make the network friendlier territory for Republican politicians, but the approach has failed to pull in new viewers.

Fox News, the most-watched cable news network, saw its ratings take a hit after the April 24 firing of its biggest prime time star, Tucker Carlson. There is no evidence in the Nielsen data that shows CNN has picked up any of those defectors, some of whom have gone to Newsmax.

Collins is considered a straight-shooter who does not report with a political bent, although the Alabama native began her journalism career at the Daily Caller, a conservative news website that Carlson founded. (Carlson gave up his stake in the site in 2020.)

CNN hired Collins in 2017 and assigned her to cover the Trump White House. She then spent two years covering President Biden's administration.

While Collins was considered one of the few White House reporters Trump would tolerate, her tenacious style occasionally irritated his administration. She was once excluded from covering an event after shouting several uncomfortable questions to Trump during an Oval Office meeting.

Collins will be the youngest prime time host in cable news, where the median age of the audience is over 64.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
"Shared village" awakens old houses in east China

Xinhua) 16:30, May 17, 2023

NANCHANG, May 17 (Xinhua) -- Hearing the ballads floating from "Shi Yin," a tea bar in Huanghuawan, east China's Jiangxi Province, visitors and residents could not help but walk into it.

"I wish folks here could enjoy recreational activities as city dwellers do," said Shi Qingxiong, the bar's owner.

Situated about 5 km from the urban area of Longnan City in southern Jiangxi, Huanghuawan is a riverside zone within Liantang Village in Dujiang Town. It had been "hollowed out" years ago after many locals moved to resettle in surrounding urban areas, leaving their old houses empty and dilapidated.

To revitalize these housing resources and develop rural tourism, the local government commenced building Huanghuawan into a "shared village" demonstration site at the end of 2021.

That was when Shi, a Longnan native who previously worked as an interior designer in southwest China's Chengdu, returned to rent a yard and build the tea bar with a few friends.

"The point of a 'shared village' lays in sharing resources of land and housing," introduced Li Jing, head of Dujiang Town. Trusteeship stations have been set up in every village to manage the idle houses provided by their owners voluntarily, and government subsidies and self-raised funds pay for renovations.

In Shi's opinion, the "shared village" meets the needs of entrepreneurs who dream about a pastoral lifestyle, while those houseowners can obtain rental income. Shi rents for about 24 yuan (about 3.44 U.S. dollars) per square meter a year.

Villagers' opinions mattered greatly during the construction of Huanghuawan. According to Chen Jing, the village Party chief of Liantang, some locals were concerned about whether their leased houses would be properly managed, and some wanted to ensure that the village's transformation provided convenience rather than the other way around.

They have put forward their own ideas actively about details of the area planning, such as the location of public toilets and even the color of the tiles on the roof of their ancestral temple, added Chen.

Since Shi's bar is near the temple, he abandoned an original two-story house design with more usable space, and adopted an all-wood one-story structure to match the traditional vibe.

"I want my bar to incorporate the vernacular buildings of Huanghuawan instead of replacing them," said Shi.

So far, 15 businesses, including catering, accommodation, and camping, have settled in Huanghuawan. An average of 13,000 visitors have come here every month since the beginning of this year.

Near lunchtime, tourists flood into Zeng Hui's restaurant to taste the traditional Hakka cuisine.

After engaging in the catering business in the city for some time, Zeng saw the development prospect of Huanghuawan and became one of the earliest merchants to settle here. The restaurant has seen a monthly revenue of more than 180,000 yuan, according to Zeng.

The "shared village" project is part of Longnan's plan to revive historic buildings. The city boasts a treasure trove of traditional Hakka Round Houses, and many of them date back hundreds of years. They have been restored to their former glory highlighting original styles and features.

Ordinary residential buildings like those in Huanghuawan have acquired a new look with more public facilities installed.

Several other villages and towns in Longnan have also started rural tourism development based on their unique resources. Young people who grew up here are returning for jobs near home, injecting vitality into the aging villages.

In Dongkeng Village, paper-making and bamboo-weaving studios have opened to attract tourists interested in learning the time-honored local crafts. Zhenggui Village, however, has been built into a homestay hub with over a dozen traditional Hakka-style bed and breakfasts.

"Represented by the 'shared village,' Longnan's plan to revive historic buildings has offered a platform for rural tourism and entrepreneurship and contributed to Hakka culture's preservation and inheritance," said Li of Dujiang Town.

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun)
Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Won Hee-ryong, second from right, and Yulia Svyrydenko, Ukraine's first vice prime minister, second from left, attend a meeting at Seoul Government Complex in Gwanghwamun, Wednesday. Courtesy of Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport





By Lee Kyung-min







Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Won Hee-ryong promised Wednesday to share Korea's post-war reconstruction know-how with Ukraine which is looking forward to fortifying bilateral cooperation for rapid post-war recovery and economic growth, the land ministry said Wednesday.







Won met with Yulia Svyrydenko, Ukraine's first vice prime minister who doubles as minister of economic development and trade, to discuss post-war rebuilding of the Eastern European country. The high-level meeting came on the heels of a similar one-on-one between Won and Ukraine's first lady Olena Zelenska.







Won expressed hope that the war would come to an end as soon as possible followed by peace.







"Today's meeting will further fortify bilateral cooperation between Korea and Ukraine," Won said during the meeting at Seoul Government Complex in Gwanghwamun, Wednesday. It was organized at Svyrydenko's request. "Korea will actively cooperate with Ukraine to assist Ukraine's recovery."







Won further said Korea is ready to provide Ukraine with a "platform," or its rapid growth strategy based on knowledge accumulated over the past few decades.







"Korea's experience and know-how on smart city planning, high-tech industrial complex construction and IT-powered transport networks will be shared, an opportunity for Korea's East European peer to learn from Korea's case and further develop their own models," he said.







Svyrydenko in response said Korea's offer of help is much appreciated.







"We are aware of Korea's internationally recognized experience in post-war recovery," she said. "We look forward to strengthening cooperation with Korea."







Wednesday's meeting is the latest development in the post-war planning talks between the two countries, after Won pledged the ministry's support during a press conference the day before.







At the conference, Won said Korea will provide resources and decades of experience to expedite the rebuilding of Ukraine.







Specifics of the assistance will be outlined during the OECD's International Transport Forum (ITF) next week.







Won will attend the 2023 ITF Summit on Transport Enabling Sustainable Economies next week in Leipzig, Germany.







Government officials from around the world will attend a session to discuss ways to assist Ukraine.







The land minister said Korea should join the global move to provide assistance, because many advanced economies have already identified their roles and the areas to help, including G7 member nations as well as the European Union.














TOPEKA, Kan. (AP)  Pipeline design issues, lapses by its operators and problems caused during its construction led to a massive oil spill on the Keystone pipeline system in northeastern Kansas, according to a report for U.S. government regulators.

An engineering consulting firm said in the report that the bend in the Keystone system where the December 2022 spill occurred had been overstressed since its installation in December 2010  likely because construction activity itself altered the land around the pipe. The U.S. Department of Transportation's Pipelines and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration posted a redacted copy of the report online Monday, about three weeks after it was completed by RSI Pipeline Solutions, based in the Columbus, Ohio, area.

The report raised questions about Canada-based TC Energy's oversight of the manufacturing of its pipeline, saying the report's authors could find no record of a pre-installation inspection of the welds on the pipeline bend in Washington County, Kansas. The report concluded that TC Energy underestimated the risks associated with the bend going from its round shape when installed to a more-restricted oval shape within two years and didn't replace the bend after excavating it in 2013.

The company said in February that a faulty weld in the bend caused a crack that grew over time under stress. The spill dumped nearly 13,000 barrels of crude oil  each one enough to fill a standard household bathtub  into a creek running through a rural pasture about 150 miles (240 kilometers) northwest of Kansas City. It was the largest onshore spill in nearly nine years.

When you have a pipeline that is spilling and having as many problems as Keystone One, it is clearly a red flag that there are bigger issues going on," said Jane Kleeb, who founded the Bold Nebraska environmental and landowner rights group that helped fight off TC Energy's plan to build a second pipeline, the Keystone XL.

The U.S. Department of Transportation has documented 22 leaks along the Keystone pipeline since it was built in 2010. The one in Washington County was by far the largest.

At what point, does the federal government ... step in and say this has reached a point where we need to shut the full line down to do a full review of the pipeline?" Kleeb said.

The 2,700-mile (4,345-kilometer) Keystone system carries heavy crude oil extracted in western Canada to the Gulf Coast and to central Illinois. Concerns that spills could pollute waterways ultimately scuttled TC Energy's plans to build the Keystone XL across 1,200 miles (1,900 kilometers) of Montana, South Dakota and Nebraska.

In Kansas, no one was evacuated because of the December spill. State and U.S. government officials have said it didn't affect two rivers and a lake downstream from the creek.

In response to a request Tuesday for comment, TC Energy pointed to a statement it issued when the report was finished in April but not public. In it, Richard Prior, president of TC Energy's Liquids Pipeline operations, said the company was confident in the pipeline's reliability.

TC Energy has said the cleanup will cost the company $480 million, and it announced last week that it had finished recovering oil from the creek.

Prior said last month: We are unwavering in our commitment to fully remediate the site.

But Bill Caram, executive director of the Pipeline Safety Trust watchdog group, said that with the history of problems along the Keystone pipeline, the public has plenty of reasons to doubt its safety.

I would certainly like to see PHMSA come up with a plan to work with TC Energy to develop a plan so that the public can be ensured that TC Energy will be able to operate this pipeline safely going forward. I dont think the public has that kind of trust in this pipeline right now, Caram said.

Richard Kuprewicz, who has five decades of experience in the pipeline industry and consults with governments about them, said problems like this flawed weld need to be found during construction but TC Energy clearly missed it amid the pressure to get the multibillion-dollar project built quickly.

It looks like the quality control got out of hand at least in this segment. I cant say for the whole line, said Kuprewicz, who is president of Washington-based Accufacts Inc.

The consultants' report said the pipeline rupture and oil spill occurred only days after TC Energy began testing for increasing the pressure in the Keystone system, though the Kansas section was operating about 16% below the top pressure allowed by U.S. government regulators. At the same time, the company was running a device through the pipeline to look for potential leaks.

Pipeline valves were left open so that the leak-testing tool could pass through the pipeline, the report said, and that could have contributed to the size of the spill.

The report said a March 2021 engineering assessment of Keystone's pipeline from southern Nebraska to northern Oklahoma showed five bends, including Washington County's, had the same oval deformation.

The report noted that the industry generally does not see so-called ovalities as a threat, so the obvious focus in Washington County in 2012 and 2013 when that abnormality was found there was ensuring that a leak-detecting tool still could pass through the bend.

Yet this focus may have caused the Pipe Integrity team and senior management to overlook a potential concern of added stress on the elbow and its possible impact on future integrity, the report said.

The report added that 108 other pipe fittings manufactured for the Keystone system in 2010 could have imperfections similar to those in the Washington County bend. All of them were replacements for other fittings found to be deficient.

Because other bends made on the same day had weld flaws that were repaired, the report found it plausible that the Washington County bend also had flaws "repaired but not recorded.

The lack of an inspection report means that, at a minimum, record-keeping procedures were not followed and, at worst, the report said, The weld inspections were never performed.

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Funk reported from Omaha, Nebraska.

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Follow John Hanna on Twitter: https://twitter.com/apjdhanna
ROLLING HILLS, Wyo. (AP)  Criminal cases brought by U.S. wildlife officials for killing or injuring protected eagles dropped sharply in recent years, even as officials ramped up issuing permits that will allow wind energy companies to kill thousands of eagles without legal consequence.

The falloff in enforcement of eagle protection laws accelerated in the Trump administration and has continued under President Joe Biden, according to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service data obtained by The Associated Press.

It comes amid growing concern that a proliferation of wind turbines to feed the demand for renewable energy is jeopardizing golden eagle populations.

Dozens of permits approved or pending would allow roughly 6,000 eagles to be killed over several decades, government documents show. More than half the killed birds would be golden eagles, which prefer the same open landscapes as wind developers.

The findings underscore a Biden administration dilemma: Confronting climate change through clean power development requires trade offs such as more dead birds from collisions with wind turbines.

They are rolling over backwards for wind companies, said Mike Lockhart a former U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologist who researches eagles in Wyoming. I think they are killing a hell of a lot more eagles than they ever anticipated.

Turbines can tower 260 feet (80 meters) with blade tips spinning in excess of 150 miles per hour (240 kilometers per hour).

Companies often pledge to perform conservation work to offset eagle deaths. Some permits include direct payments for dead eagles  about $30,000 per bird. Numerous permits allow the killing of bald eagles without compensation.

The Biden administration has proposed streamlining the process, making permits automatic in some cases, as they allow wind-energy projects and power line networks to harm eagles and disturb nests.

Some wind farms have relocated turbines or reduced their numbers to minimize deaths. But turbines continue to go up in areas frequented by golden eagles, and Lockhart said the cumulative impacts could be disastrous.

Turbines have killed at least six golden eagles Lockhart had previously trapped and tagged for research. One was killed about two months after a wind farm started operating near its nest in 2021, he said.

Theyre going to more than double the (wind) capacity and in doing that, the impacts on wildlife, particularly golden eagles, are going to be exponentially going up, Lockhart said.

Fish and Wildlife Service officials said they are working to avoid such a scenario by working with companies to reduce bird deaths. We expect the final number to be much smaller, spokesperson Vanessa Kauffman said.

There have been a small number of high-profile prosecutions of wind companies that continued killing eagles despite prior warnings from wildlife officials  including major utilities Duke Energy, PacifiCorp and NextEra Energy. Each company agreed to take steps to limit eagle deaths.

Yet at Duke Energys windfarms in Wyoming, eagle deaths became more frequent after the company reached a 2013 deal that included a $1 million fine and shielded it from prosecution for 10 years, according to government and court records. The company had to pay $29,623 for each subsequent eagle death. It says the collision rate has fallen since the installation of a camera system that spots eagles and triggers shutdown of nearby turbines.

The company also was awarded a permit allowing the accidental killing of eagles without penalty, providing it takes steps to minimize them. Wildlife officials approved such permits for more than two dozen major wind projects over the past several years, sometimes with opposition from Native American tribes that revere eagles.

Despite objections from the Colorado River Indian Tribes, officials approved a permit last year for Tucson Electric Power, operator of 62 turbines in southern New Mexico, allowing it to kill 193 golden eagles over 30 years. Federal officials said a permit offered the only available avenue" to require conservation measures such as minimizing or compensating for eagle deaths.

In Minnesota, Grand Portage Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Chairman Robert Deschampe said with their proposal to further streamline permitting, wildlife officials had abandoned protections for eagle nests and ignored tribal concerns.

Several major conservation groups jointly lobbied the White House with Duke energy and other utilities in support of streamlined permitting. Their rationale was that regulating industry through permits was preferable to companies ignoring eagle deaths out of fear of prosecution.

Part of the issue is that companies have generally not been requesting permits and theyve been taking their chances and there hasnt been a lot of law enforcement, said Steve Holmer, vice president of policy at the American Bird Conservancy.

Violations of the Eagle Protection Act rose during the second term of President Barack Obama, after wind farms proliferated and an AP investigation found dozens of unprosecuted eagle deaths.

At the urging of industry, Trump appointees rolled back enforcement of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act that protects more than a thousand species in addition to eagles.

A Biden order reversed the rollback. However, cases continued sliding and hit their lowest level in a decade in the Democrats first year with 49 recorded violations, after peaking at 232 under Obama in 2014. They averaged 67 annually under Trump.

In its 2024 budget request, the service revealed special agents were at historical low levels and that 47 agents will hit mandatory retirement in the next four years.

Only about one in eight cases brought under the Eagle Protection Act from 2012 to early 2022 resulted in fines, probation or jail time, according to APs analysis.

Whether criminal charges are pursued is up to prosecutors, said agency spokesperson Christina Meister.

At Dukes Top of the World wind farm near the town of Rolling Hills, at least 56 eagles have been killed since it started in 2010.

Several years ago, Duke deployed a camera system to detect incoming eagles so turbines in a birds path can be shut down. Since the cameras were installed, eagle deaths declined by more than 60%, said company scientist Misti Sporer.

Today, we would likely not put those wind turbines where they are, Sporer said.

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On Twitter follow Matthew Brown @MatthewBrownAP and Camille Fassett @camfassett.

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Associated Press climate and environmental coverage receives support from several private foundations. See more about APs climate initiative here. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
A San Marcos man is being sued by the parents of 20-year-old Austin Salyer, who was fatally shot in his sleep in his apartment in 2021.

Rodney and Bonnie Salyer  of Flower Mound, Texas  are suing Gabriel Nathaniel Brown; Browns father, Gregory Keith Brown; and Gabriel Browns former girlfriend, Chantel Monique Veal, over their alleged involvement in the wrongful death of Austin.

Austin Salyer was fatally shot in his sleep in the early morning of Sept. 16, 2021, by his neighbor. He was a student at Texas State University and had just enlisted in the Army.

Austin Salyer, who grew up in Flower Mound, was a student at Texas State University and had just signed a contract with the Army in September 2021. He was shot while he was sleeping in the early morning of Sept. 16, 2021, in his off-campus apartment at The Lyndon apartments.

Austin Salyer and Veal lived in units next door to each other. Gabriel Brown killed Salyer when he negligently discharged a firearm inside Veals apartment, according to the lawsuit filed May 10 in Bell County District Court.

Gabriel called his father, Gregory, on FaceTime to show off his semi-automatic pistol and the micro conversion kit, the lawsuit said. A micro conversion kit is used to turn a semi-automatic pistol into an assault rifle, according to the suit.

While on the call with his father, Gabriel Brown fired his pistol while installing the micro conversion kit, the lawsuit states. He told police it was an accident.

According to the police report, Gabriel Brown told police he saw that the bullet made a hole in the wall but believed that the bullet did not go all the way through and said he messaged Austin Salyer on Snapchat to check if Salyer was OK.

In fact, the round had blasted through the wall and hit Salyer at close range, the lawsuit states. The round went through his arm, chest, and exited through his other arm.

Austin managed to get himself up out of bed. In what must have been like a terrifying and horrific nightmare, Austin stumbled around his bedroom, injured and bleeding profusely. Austin Salyer managed to exit his bedroom into the kitchen and living room area of his apartment, and finally collapsed on the ground where he succumbed to his injuries. Austin was not discovered until the late morning of September 16, 2021, the suit said.

Despite knowing that Austin Salyer lived next door and that a bullet had blasted through the shared wall between the apartments, Defendant Gabriel Nathaniel Brown callously failed to call the police, apartment management, 911, or any other emergency service provider to report the discharge or to ask for anyone to check on his neighbor Austin Salyer, the lawsuit claims.

Veal also did not call 911 or contact emergency services after the round had been fired. Although Gregory Brown was on a phone call with Gabriel Brown when the round was fired, he also failed to call police.

Gabriel Brown did not turn himself in to the San Marcos Police Department until much later at about 12 p.m. that same day, according to police reports and the lawsuit. Austin Salyers friends found him dead in his apartment in the morning. When he turned himself in, Gabriel Brown told police he did not commit a crime, but rather an accident.

Rodney and Bonnie Salyer are seeking monetary relief of over $1 million and damages for funeral and burial expenses, pain and suffering experienced due to the death of their only child, and the physical and mental pain Austin Salyer suffered before his death.

Each of the Defendants cruelly disregarded the massive danger that they inflicted on Austin Salyer, and as a result of being shot at close range by Defendant Gabriel Brown, 20-year-old Austin Salyer died by homicide on September 16, 2021. Defendant Gabriel Nathaniel Brown subsequently pleaded guilty to and was convicted of criminally negligent homicide, the lawsuit further states.

The sentence for criminally negligent homicide in Texas ranges from 180 days of probation to two years in a state jail with a fine of up to $10,000. Gabriel Browns sentence was supposed to be 180 days, but a judge reduced Gabriel Browns sentence to 90 days broken up into nine-day increments over a five-year period, the suit says.

The lawsuit says, Despite literally killing another human being with a gun and failing to tell any authority about it until well after any chance of saving the life of Austin Salyer remained, Defendant Gabriel Nathaniel Brown received a slap on the wrist from elected officials in Hays County. Austin Salyers biological parents, the Plaintiffs, having been wholly deprived of any semblance of reasonable justice by the criminal courts. Plaintiffs now bring this action seeking full and fair compensation for the wrongful death of their son caused by the grossly negligent acts and omissions of all Defendants.

Gabriel Brown, Gregory Brown, and Veal failed to ensure the firearm was unloaded before handling it in a habitation, failed to obtain training on the safe handling and operation of a firearm, failed to exercise care to avoid risk of injury, and failed to provide aid to Austin after the round was discharged, according to the lawsuit. The suit was filed in Bell County, where the Browns currently live.
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP)  The ruling Hamas militant group in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday called on Palestinians to confront a flag-waving parade planned by Jewish nationalists through the main Palestinian thoroughfare in Jerusalems Old City.

The comments by Hamas added to the already heightened tensions ahead of Thursdays march and threatened to reignite fighting between Israel and Palestinian militants in Gaza, just days after a cease-fire took hold. Two years ago, an 11-day war between Israel and Hamas erupted during the annual march.

While Hamas stayed out of the latest round of fighting, officials with the ruling Islamic militant group urged Palestinians to oppose Thursdays parade.

We ask the people of Jerusalem to mobilize the masses to confront the march of the flags in Jerusalem tomorrow, said Mushir al-Masri, a Hamas official in Gaza.

Hamas also urged Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and inside Israel to clash with the occupation" and said it would hold a demonstration with Palestinian flags along Gazas heavily fortified frontier with Israel.

The parade is meant to mark Jerusalem Day, Israel's annual celebration of its capture of east Jerusalem, including the Old City and its holy sites, in the 1967 Mideast war.

Israel considers the entire city to be its eternal capital. But the international community does not recognize Israel's annexation of east Jerusalem, and the Palestinians claim the area as the capital of a future state.

In a speech marking Jerusalem Day, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel has broken new horizons since capturing east Jerusalem.

We are committed to safeguarding the security of Jerusalem, to ensuring its prosperity and to continuing its momentum, he said. We are also doing this against all of the threats around us.

Each year, thousands of Israeli nationalists participate in the march, waving blue and white Israeli flags and singing songs as they walk through the Muslim Quarter and toward the Jewish Quarter and the Western Wall, the holiest site where Jews can pray.

Israelis describe the parade as a festive event. But in past years, it has been marred by anti-Arab racist chants and violence toward local Palestinians by some of the marchers.

Adding to the combustible atmosphere, large numbers of Jews are expected to visit Jerusalems most sensitive holy site early Thursday before the parade.

The hilltop compound is known to Jews as the Temple Mount, home to the biblical Jewish Temples, and is the holiest site in Judaism. Palestinians call it the Noble Sanctuary, and today it is home to the Al-Aqsa Mosque, the third-holiest site in Islam.

Under longstanding agreements, Jews are permitted to visit the compound but not pray there. But an increase in such visits in recent years, along with scenes of some Jews quietly praying, have raised concerns among Palestinians that Israel is trying to alter the status quo  a charge Israel denies.

The competing claims to the site lie at the heart of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and often spill over into violence.

Chief Supt Yoram Segal, a senior police official in Jerusalem, said police would deploy some 2,500 officers on Thursday to ensure the day passes without violence.

We are going to deal harshly with anyone who tries to disturb the peace, he told reporters.

The march comes less than a week after Israel and the Islamic Jihad militant group in Gaza reached a cease-fire that ended five days of heavy fighting.

Hamas, the de facto government in Gaza responsible for the plight of the territorys 2.3 million people, stayed out of the fighting, while Israel avoided attacking the militant group.

Reham Owda, an independent Gaza-based analyst, said that neither side appears interested in resuming cross-border violence.

No one is interested in fierce escalation, she said, but she said the parade could trigger limited, symbolic firing of rockets that could in turn spark Israeli airstrikes in retaliation.

If violence erupts in Jerusalem, Hamas could jump into the fray, as it did two years ago.

The resistance is ready to protect Al-Aqsa Mosque and prevent the Judaization of Jerusalem, al-Masri said.

___

Associated Press writer Josef Federman in Jerusalem contributed to this report.
WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP)  Papua New Guinea had declared next Monday a public holiday in anticipation of an historic visit by U.S. President Joe Biden and other leaders from the region.

Police were tightening security, billboards were going up, and people were getting ready to sing and dance in the streets. Expectations were high for what would have been the first visit by a sitting U.S. president to any Pacific Island nation.

I am very honored that he has fulfilled his promise to me to visit our country, Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape had written on Facebook.

Those expectations were dashed Wednesday when Biden canceled the visit to focus on debt limit talks at home.

To be sure, many of the festivities will still be going ahead. Biden's planned three-hour stopover  sandwiched between the Group of Seven meeting of wealthy democracies in Japan and a now-scrapped trip to Australia  was timed to coincide with a trip by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who will still meet with Pacific Island leaders to discuss ways to better cooperate. But now that Biden plans to return home directly after the G-7 meeting, many in Papua New Guinea are feeling deflated.

Steven Ranewa, a lawyer in the capital, Port Moresby, said Biden's planned visit had been very big news across the Pacific, and he planned to watch the motorcades from the street.

Everyone was excited," he said. "But now that it's been canceled, it's really demoralizing.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Wednesday that Biden still planned to visit Papua New Guinea and the trip was not canceled, postponed.

"Were looking forward to getting that back on the books," she told reporters en route to Japan aboard Air Force One.

It's unclear if the promise would assuage any of the disappointment.

Konio Anu, who manages a lodge in the capital, said she was saddened that Biden wouldn't visit as expected, and wondered if people would still get the day off on Monday. She said she was waiting to see if one international guest who booked for Monday would cancel.

Some other leaders had their doubts as well. New Zealand Prime Minister Chris Hipkins deliberated most of the day before announcing that he would still go ahead with his trip to Papua New Guinea.

Anna Powles, a senior lecturer in international security at New Zealands Massey University, said that although Pacific leaders would understand that Biden was needed at home, the cancellation demonstrated how domestic U.S. politics can undermine the nation's foreign policy agenda.

Unfortunately, it speaks to a pattern of behavior that causes many in the region to regard the U.S. as a less-than-reliable partner, Powles said.

She said the meeting had been framed as a sequel to a summit held with Pacific leaders in Washington last year, and was supposed to represent a deepening of the relationship between the U.S. and the Pacific at a time when China is increasingly exerting its influence in the region.

The U.S. has recently opened embassies in the Solomon Islands and Tonga, and plans to open more in the region as it tries to reassert its presence in the Pacific.

Powles said the hectic schedule leading into the U.S. elections next year would make it difficult for Biden to reschedule.

Home to nearly 10 million people, Papua New Guinea is the largest Pacific Island nation by population. It is located just north of Australia on the eastern side of New Guinea island, the world's second-largest island. The western side of the island is part of Indonesia. Papua New Guinea is relatively poor, with many people leading subsistence lives.

During a 2016 speech in Australia when he was vice president, Biden talked about his connections to the Pacific region and said that two of his uncles had fought in Papua New Guinea during World War II. He said one had been killed and the other had returned home badly injured.

But China ended up sending a top-level delegation first, after Chinese President Xi Jinping visited Papua New Guinea for an APEC summit in 2018.

Ranewa, the lawyer, said that Chinas increasing influence could be seen throughout the nation, whether it was in providing services or building infrastructure. He said some welcomed China's help, while others did not.

____

White House correspondent Zeke Miller contributed from Air Force One.
PHOENIX (AP)  A woman who was convicted in Idaho last week in the deaths of her two children and a romantic rival has been indicted for a second time in Arizona, this time on charges that she conspired to kill her nieces ex-husband.

Lori Vallow Daybell was found guilty last week of conspiring to kill and killing her two youngest children, 7-year-old Joshua JJ Vallow and 16-year-old Tylee Ryan, as well as conspiring to kill Tammy Daybell, her fifth husbands previous wife. The case included bizarre claims that she called her son and daughter zombies and said she was a goddess sent to usher in the Biblical apocalypse.

She was already facing a separate felony case in Arizona, after a grand jury indicted her in 2021 on a charge of conspiring to kill her fourth husband, Charles Vallow.

A second Arizona indictment was unsealed this month that charges Vallow Daybell with conspiring to murder Brandon Boudreaux.

Charles Vallow was shot and killed by Vallow Daybells brother, Alex Cox, on July 11, 2019. Police say Cox shot at Boudreaux on Oct. 2, 2019, but missed.

The Maricopa County, Arizona, prosecutors office on Wednesday confirmed the indictment charging Vallow Daybell in the attempted shooting of Boudreaux. The indictment was first reported by Phoenix television station Fox10.

Under Arizona law, indictments are generally sealed until a defendant is served with the document. Vallow Daybell cannot be extradited and served in Arizona until she is sentenced in the Idaho case, which is expected to happen later this year.

Daybell, her fifth husband, is awaiting trial on the same charges Vallow Daybell was convicted of.

One member of the jury that convicted her, Saul Hernandez, said in an interview broadcast on ABC's Good Morning America on Wednesday that deliberations took two days because he wasnt initially convinced that they had the evidence to convict Lori Vallow Daybell.

But after reviewing the evidence on the second day, he said, he agreed that she was guilty.

Hernandez said he was disgusted by the photos prosecutors presented of Lori and Chad Daybell dancing at their wedding on a beach in Hawaii.

I just couldnt believe how someone can be that happy when your kids are in the ground and the person that was key in all of this is sitting across from you smiling at you and dancing with you on the beach, he said.

As more evidence and testimony was shared, Hernandez said it became harder for him to look at Lori Daybell.

You know, growing up you talk about good and bad, God and evil, Hernandez said. And I think for the first time in my life, I put a face to evil.
Irvin Walker feels lucky to be alive after a bullet pierced his chest close to his heart and left fragments behind.

Walker is one of seven people who were wounded in the May 6 mass shooting at an outlet mall in Allen that killed eight victims.

Walker and staff at the hospital system who treated him and other patients spoke publicly about the tragedy for the first time on Tuesday.

Walker suffered several wounds when the gunman  identified as 33-year-old Mauricio Garcia  stepped out of his car and opened fire in the parking lot with an AR-15 variant rifle. Walker was trying to find a spot to park after dropping his girlfriend off at the Allen Premium Outlets.

Walker was shot twice in the chest, with one of the bullets hitting him close to the heart, and one in the shoulder. Doctors operated on him to remove bullet fragments but had to leave some in his body.

If either of those fragments had gotten any deeper, he may have not possibly been here today, said Dr. Elizabeth Kim, the trauma medical director at Medical City McKinney, about the bullet fragments Walker had in the protective membrane closest to his heart.

Walker said he got out of his car after he was shot to seek help.

A security guard tried to assist him, according to Walkers attorney, Daryl Washington. Its believed that the security guard was 20-year-old Christian LaCour, one of the victims who was fatally shot. Allen Police Chief Brian Harvey said that LaCour evacuated one individual to safety and was shot while courageously remaining to help others.

In a GoFundMe created for Walker, his family announced he was in stable condition after his surgery to remove bullet fragments was successful.

Irvin Walker said the medical professionals at Medical City McKinney provided him with the highest level of love when he was treated after being shot at the Allen Premium Outlets on May 6, 2023. (Photographed from the left: Cassidi Summers, RN, Medical City McKinney chief nursing officer; Elizabeth Kim, MD, Medical City McKinney trauma director; Irvin Walker, 46; Walkers attorney, Daryl Washington) Nicole Lopez

Walker donned a big grin on his face Tuesday in a press conference at Medical City McKinney. Im just grateful to be here, he said.

In a matter of minutes, our community was shaken and lives were changed forever, said Cassidi Summers at the conference. A matter of minutes could have altered the course of my life.

Summers, chief nursing officer at Medical City McKinney, was at the Allen Premium Outlets with her family less than 30 minutes before the shooting and was among the first of the hospital staff to respond.

We immediately stood up the command center, Summers said. This allowed us to coordinate staffing, decompress the emergency department, manage family and visitors, and deploy appropriate supplies and resources so that our staff could focus on the high quality of care that our patients needed at the time.

Kim was also with family and loved ones when she responded to the shooting and arrived at Medical City McKinney. She was at a wedding reception and immediately left after hearing about the tragedy to coordinate care for patients.

Once I arrived, I could really see that the training and the drills that we had done in our trauma center described good care for our patients and was very apparent, Kim said. We were able to effectively take care of seven sick patients almost simultaneously and provide excellent care to all of them.

Medical City McKinney, less than three miles from the Allen Premium Outlets, received eight patients from the May 6 shooting, according to Janet St. James, assistant vice president of the hospitals communication department.

As soon as I entered this hospital, medical professionals expressed the highest level of love for me, Walker said.

Walker was the hospitals first of the eight patients. Two of the patients the hospital received did not survive.

Its a horrible situation  it hurts to see people have to suffer and see their family and their kids pass away, Walker said about the other victims.

You had a smile there that I saw when I came in that room, Kim told Walker at the conference. And it really was one of the bright parts of that day.

Walker was surrounded by family members, his daughter, his fraternity brothers, and administration and hospital staff at the conference as he spoke about his recovery. He is in better condition and will begin rehabilitation to improve his mobility.

He still has a long way to go in his recovery, said Kim.

I continue thanking people in advance, using their expertise to repair my body, my spirit, my hope, said Walker about the hospital staff who treated him and the support he has received from loved ones. I think this event was evidence of evil not winning.

Walker said he has been receiving support from people on a global scale.

Its incredible what we can do if we unify, Walker said. He has been receiving prayers from people all over the U.S. and even from people in the United Kingdom.

Anytime Im in trouble, I call on the Lord, Walker said about his reaction when he was shot. I just began to praise Him and be thankful, fortify Him.

He said his faith is what has helped him throughout his recovery.

I believe you give love, you get love, said Walker.

Walker, 46, is originally from Lafayette, Louisiana, and currently lives in Lewisville. He worked in insurance and says helping others is the work of his life. He asks people to keep the community in their prayers.

There are people that are involved that are impacted by this, Walker said. We just want you guys to keep them lifted.

Kim believes extensive training helped the hospital staff in treating patients from the shooting.

We partner with local police and EMS and we go through mass casualty events and scenarios where we have patients mock up and we bring them all in and we practice through those things, said Kim. I mean, those are the tests that we hope that we never have to go through. But, you know, Im very proud we were prepared and its something that we do on an annual basis and well continue to enhance our program from this and learn lessons.
A mysterious man suddenly appeared in a middle school girls bathroom and offered a student hypodermic needles, Maine cops said.

Police officers were called to King Middle School in Portland over a suspicious man in the building around 8:50 a.m. on Monday, May 15, according to the Portland Police Department.

The 43-year-old Portland resident is accused of resisting arrest after officers found him at one of the schools entrances, police said in a May 16 news release.

He was arrested on charges of criminal trespass, violation of privacy and refusing to submit to arrest or detention and physical force, according to authorities.

Its unclear why the man entered the school and offered the girl needles.

Hypodermic needles are used alongside syringes to inject substances into the skin.

The man, who does not belong to the King community, walked into the school through an open door when students were arriving, Portland Public School spokeswoman Tess Nacelewicz told McClatchy News in a statement on May 16.

Initially, the man approached the building from the rear parking lot and unsuccessfully tried to gain access through locked doors, Nacelewicz said. However, contrary to school security protocols, a classroom door was propped open and the man was able to gain access there. He was seen by a student who was outside and who reported it to a teacher.

Afterward, he went into the bathroom and offered needles to the student, who immediately walked out of the bathroom, according to Nacelewicz.

Then, the man left the building along with a group of students and teachers exiting through a side door before police found him outside one of the schools entrances, Nacelewicz said. Several teachers noticed the man as he was leaving and reported his presence to administration.

During his arrest, authorities didnt find drugs, weapons or needles, according to Nacelewicz.

She said he was inside the school for a few minutes and parents were informed of the matter that day.

As a result of the incident, we are reinforcing the need to ensure all exterior doors are locked and also reinforcing our process for monitoring entrances, Nacelewicz added.

Teacher shows movie with gay character, says shes accused of indoctrinating Florida kids

Teacher pulled hair of special needs student to gain compliance, Florida cops say

Argument between teachers at Florida high school ends with one in jail, deputies say
NEW YORK (AP)  Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, encouraged women to find inspiration to fight for equity as she accepted the Ms. Foundation Women of Vision Award Tuesday night, with Black Voters Matter co-founder LaTosha Brown.

Its never too late to start, Meghan said at the Ziegfeld Ballroom in Manhattan. You can be the visionary of your own life... There is still so much work to be done."

Her acceptance speech closed out the Ms. Foundation for Women's annual gala, part of the nations oldest womens foundation celebration of its 50th anniversary. The gala also kicked off the foundation's largest fundraising campaign ever  $100 million over the next 12 months  that will be used to further the organizations equity-centered initiatives and its mission of advancing womens collective power.

The foundation is already more than halfway to its goal. It announced that the late photographer and philanthropist Lucia Woods Lindley donated $50 million, the largest bequest in the foundations history. Proceeds from the gala itself raised another $1 million, and nearly $500,000 was donated by attendees during dinner.

With her mother, Doria Ragland, in the audience, Meghan recounted how Ms. Magazine was always in their house and how it affected her world view.

I am a woman who remains inspired and driven by this organization, she said, looking over at Ms. Foundation co-founder Gloria Steinem, who introduced her alongside current foundation CEO Teresa C. Younger. It allowed me to recognize that part of my greater value and purpose in life was to advocate for those who felt unheard, to stand up to injustice, and to not be afraid of saying what is true and what is just and what is right.

Though the event was her first public appearance since she skipped the coronation of her father-in-law King Charles III earlier this month in order to stay at home in California for her son Prince Archies fourth birthday, she made no mention of the ceremony. Her husband Prince Harry attended the coronation in London and then rushed back to California.

Meghan and Prince Harry direct their philanthropy through their Archewell Foundation, which provided nearly 13 million COVID-19 vaccines with partner Global Citizen and helped resettle nearly 175,000 refugees from Ukraine and Afghanistan in the United States with partner Welcome.US, according to its 2022 annual report.

Global Citizen CEO Hugh Evans said the Archewell Foundation leaders helped raise hundreds of millions of dollars for the COVID-19 vaccines through Global Citizen VAX Live, while also helping convince the worlds wealthiest nations to provide some of the doses to those living in other nations. Evans said he was impressed with Meghans work ethic as they teamed up at roundtables promoting the event in 2021.

I would say shes willing to roll up her sleeves and be practical, Evans told The Associated Press. When you see someone willing to spend their time, not doing the glamorous stuff, but willing to do the behind- the-scenes stuff, thats always a good sign.

Black Voters Matter co-founder LaTosha Brown received her Woman of Vision award from her longtime friend #MeToo movement founder Tarana Burke, who led the attendees in song to welcome Brown to the stage. Brown then delivered an uplifting song of her own, before delivering a poignant speech about working for change.

Even pain has a purpose, she said. Whats happening in this country right now, this isnt just a matter about what the Republicans or the Democrats are going to do. It really is a question about what is it that were going to do collectively to lean into this moment of discomfort and recognize it as an opportunity to get it right because we havent gotten it right.

Broadway star Audra McDonald took a break from her current tour to attend the gala to show her support for the Duchess of Sussex and Brown. I love her so much, McDonald said of Brown. It's an honor getting to know her a little bit and picking her brain and getting to see that passion and that drive and that wisdom. Shes a hero.

Brown's organization Black Voters Matter works with communities in 25 states and the District of Columbia to make their voting more effective, while her Black Voters Matter Capacity Building Institute funds voter education, registrations and other programs to expand access to voting.

I don't know how she does it all, McDonald said. She put the boots on the ground.

The Ms. foundation also honored Wanda Irving, co-founder of Dr. Shalons Maternal Action Project, and Kimberly Inez McGuire, executive director of URGE, as well as Texas abortion rights activist Olivia Julianna and LGBTQ+ advocate Rebekah Bruesehoff.

I no longer say I am fighting for equality, said Julianna, accepting her award as an emerging leader. In modern day America I am not fighting for equality. I am fighting for liberation from a white supremacist patriarchal system. As an openly queer Latin woman, make no mistake, I do not want to be equal to men in this country. I do not want the power to oppress with intention.

_____

Associated Press coverage of philanthropy and nonprofits receives support through the APs collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content. For all of APs philanthropy coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/philanthropy.


Politicians, medical workers must work out a compromise



President Yoon Suk Yeol refused to sign the opposition-led Nursing Act bill into law Tuesday.



"The proposed law causes excessive conflicts among medical workers and anxiety about health among people," the president said, returning the bill to the National Assembly.



Yoon's veto overturned his campaign pledge made 16 months ago.



However, he offered no explanation, let alone an apology, for another breach of his election promises. In January last year, Yoon told nurses he would do his best to enact the law. His campaign chief reaffirmed it, saying, "The candidate promised himself."



The presidential veto, the second one in as many months, will likely lead to the discarding of the Nursing Act. The main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) vowed to overturn the veto at the Assembly. But that will be difficult even for the majority opposition, given the current legislative landscape. All this will end up just another case of irresponsible politics.



Nurses have long aspired to have a separate law that clearly specifies their roles and duties and ensures appropriate treatment. More than 90 countries, including 33 of the 38 OECD nations, have a nursing act for similar reasons. In Korea, only one law, the Medical Services Act, governs all medical professionals. It has only one line on the roles of nurses, defining them roughly as doctors' assistants. The U.S. nursing law, enacted 100 years ago, has 10 pages on nurses' duties and responsibilities.



COVID-19, which has just been downgraded to an endemic, also validated nurses' claims that their services cannot be confined to hospitals. In this era of rapid population aging, door-to-door care will become essential. But doctors adamantly oppose it, claiming the "community care" phrase in the bill will allow nurses to open their own clinics "someday," encroaching upon the physicians' domain. How shortsighted they are!



Thirteen medical worker groups, representing various parties including nursing aides, radiographers and dentists, are on the opposing side  to protect their turf. Among them, only the assistant nurses' protests are justifiable considering their already-subordinate status to nurses. All this labor pain in changing the 70-year-old system has long been expected. And that shows why objective outsiders, such as politicians and bureaucrats, should have actively mediated and coordinated medical workers' conflicting interests and positions. They have instead taken sides, aggravating the conflict.



Exactly a year ago, the bill was passed by the Assembly's Health and Welfare Committee. However, rival parties, especially the ruling People Power Party (PPP), did little to eliminate room for possible disputes. They calculated which side would bring more votes in next year's general elections. Bureaucrats sat on their hands, watching the faces of the governing party  and the president.



To sum up, the selfishness of different vocational groups, the easy-going attitudes of bureaucrats and the pandering tactics of politicians have combined to create another social stir. The DKP railroads bills, knowing well the president will veto them. And the chief executive lives up to his opponents' expectations.



It is sad to watch doctors, nurses and nursing aides, who have struggled together through the pandemic, fight against each other as soon as the pandemic has subsided. However, the ongoing unrest illustrates  yet again  society's inability to solve problems. This self-proclaimed advanced country cannot democratically find the highest denominator on any issue. All parties involved  different medical workers, government officials and representatives of political parties  must meet and hold discussions to agree on an amendment bill. It would not be difficult if doctors took a step back for nurses, and nurses conceded to practicing nurses.



All this should start with one person  the chief executive. That is what people elected him for. A president is not the boss of one political camp but a national leader.



Yoon will be busy in the next few days with "grand diplomacy" in Japan for the G7 summit. As soon as he returns home, the president must tackle the matter. No issue is grander than one related to people's lives and health.




Protesters on both sides of the issue hold signs, Tuesday, May 16, 2023, in Raleigh, N.C., as they wait to enter the Senate gallery as North Carolina legislators debate on whether to override Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper's veto of a bill that would change the state's ban on nearly all abortions from those after 20 weeks of pregnancy to those after 12 weeks of pregnancy. Both the Senate and House had to complete successful override votes for the measure to be enacted into law. (AP Photo/Chris Seward)

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP)  Legislation banning most abortions after 12 weeks of pregnancy will become law in North Carolina after the states Republican-controlled General Assembly successfully overrode the Democratic governors veto late Tuesday.

The House completed the second and final part of the override vote Tuesday night after a similar three-fifths majority voted for the override earlier Tuesday in the Senate. The outcome represents a major victory for Republican legislative leaders who needed every GOP member on board to enact the law over Gov. Roy Coopers opposition.

Cooper vetoed the measure over the weekend after spending last week traveling around the state to convince at least one Republican to uphold his expected veto.

Republicans have pitched the measure as a middle-ground change to state law, which currently bans nearly all abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy, without exceptions for rape or incest.

The vote came as abortion rights in the U.S. faced another tectonic shift with lawmakers considering sharply limiting abortion both in North Carolina and South Carolina, two of the few remaining Southern states with relatively easy access.

Nebraska joined the two states in debating abortion restrictions Tuesday that are possible because the U.S. Supreme Court last year struck down the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling, which established a nationwide right to abortion.

Under another bill up for a vote Tuesday in the South Carolina House, abortion access would be almost entirely banned after about six weeks of pregnancy  before women often know theyre pregnant. The South Carolina state Senate previously rejected a proposal to nearly outlaw abortions.

Abortion is banned or severely restricted in much of the South and is now banned throughout pregnancy in Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas and West Virginia. In Georgia, its allowed only in the first six weeks.

The Carolinas, Florida and Virginia are now the main destinations in the region for those seeking legal abortions. Florida has a ban that kicks in 15 weeks into pregnancy. Under a recent law, that would tighten to six weeks pending a court ruling. Further west, women often travel to Illinois, Kansas, New Mexico or Colorado.

Nationally, bans on abortion throughout pregnancy are in effect in 14 states.

If both the North and South Carolina bans become law, combined with Floridas recent ban, it would be just devastating for abortion access in the South, Jamie Lockhart, executive director of Planned Parenthood Advocates of Virginia, said Tuesday.

During the North Carolina Senate debate, Republicans said Cooper ignored $160 million within the measure that would boost funding to increase contraceptive services, reduce infant and maternal mortality and provide paid maternity leave for state employees and teachers.

North Carolinians watching this debate, you are bearing witness to exaggerated and extremist objections from some Democrats, Republican Sen. Vickie Sawyer of Iredell County said. Their anger is that this bill is mainstream and a common-sense approach to a very difficult topic.

Democrats focused on details of the abortion rules, which they said would place barriers between women and their doctors, leaving those who are pregnant in danger.

And the 12-week cutoff means that young women will have potentially only a couple of weeks to decide whether an abortion is the right decision, leading them to continue with unwanted pregnancies, Democratic Sen. Natasha Marcus of Mecklenburg County said.

This bill is a slap in the face. It is a muzzle over our mouths, and it is a straitjacket on our bodies, Marcus said. After the Senate vote, loud chants of Shame! could be heard outside the chamber doors.

Anti-abortion protesters who arrived hours before the vote packed the North Carolina Senate gallery, with about 150 supporters of the proposed ban holding identical Vote Pro-Life signs.

So many Republicans have just keeled over from pressure from all the groups who are just filled with hate and are pushing things that are going against God, said Sharon Dooley, 63, of Garner, North Carolina.

In South Carolina, the impasse dates back to a special session last fall when House lawmakers demanding a near-total ban did not meet to negotiate with their Senate counterparts pushing for a ban around six weeks.

The stalemate persisted even after the state Supreme Court in January struck down a previous law banning abortions once cardiac activity is detected.

That decision left abortion legal through 22 weeks of pregnancy. A sharp increase in abortions since then has rankled Republicans.

The House was weighing a Senate bill similar to the one they denied last year. The measure would ban abortion when an ultrasound detects cardiac activity, around six weeks.

A late night is expected even after Republicans invoked rules to limit debate. House Speaker Murrell Smith has said the chamber will not adjourn until the measure gets approval. Democrats slowed the process Tuesday by speaking for all three allotted minutes on each of their hundreds of amendments and forcing other procedural votes.

Lawmakers in Nebraska were debating a proposal that would ban abortion at 12 weeks of pregnancy. The proposal comes after lawmakers rejected a bill last month that would have banned abortion after cardiac activity is detected.

This latest proposal is tacked onto a bill that would ban gender-affirming care for transgender minors. Conservatives in Nebraskas unique single-chamber, officially nonpartisan Legislature will need 33 out of 49 votes for these proposals to advance.

In Montana, Republican Gov. Greg Gianfortes office announced Tuesday that he had signed into law a bill that makes performing the abortion method most commonly used after 15 weeks of gestation a felony. Planned Parenthood of Montana asked a judge to temporarily block the ban on dilation and evacuation abortions.

A separate challenge to abortion access will be considered Wednesday, when a federal appeals court hears arguments on whether the Food and Drug Administrations approval of the widely used abortion drug mifepristone should be overturned. A three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals will review a ruling last month by a federal judge in Texas who ordered a hold on approval of mifepristone, a decision that overruled two decades of scientific approval of the drug. That ruling was stayed while the appeal is pending.

The three judges who will hear the case each have a history of supporting restrictions on abortion. A ruling is not expected immediately.

___

Lavoie reported from Richmond, Virginia. Associated Press writers James Pollard and Jeffrey Collins in Columbia, South Carolina, Geoff Mulvihill in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, Amy Beth Hanson in Helena, Montana and Sarah Rankin in Richmond, Virginia contributed to this report. Schoenbaum and Pollard are corps members 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.
Customers enjoy tacos and burritos at the counter at Sonoratown taqueria in downtown Los Angeles. (Silvia Razgova / For The Times)

Who owns the phrase Taco Tuesday? According to the government's patent office, the answer in 49 states is Taco John's, a fast-food chain based in Wyoming. But if Taco Bell had its way, the answer would be everyone.

A decades-long, taco-promotion turf war reached new heights on Tuesday when Taco Bell launched a campaign to cancel federal trademarks for Taco Tuesday, held through much of the country by Taco Johns since 1989.

Notably, Taco Bell says it isnt seeking to claim the trademark for its sole usage but to liberate the phrase for all companies to use without threat of legal repercussion. The multinational chain filed legal petitions with the United States Patent and Trademark Offices Trademark Trial and Appeal Board to free the term. The company also launched a Change.org petition and scheduled a Reddit AMA (ask-me-anything) forum on the topic.

The very essence of Taco Tuesday is to celebrate the commonality amongst people of all walks of life who come together every week to celebrate something as simple, yet culturally phenomenal, as the taco, the company announcement read. How can anyone Live Mas if theyre not allowed to freely say Taco Tuesday? Its pure chaos.

Taco Johns claims to have invented the phrase despite many references to the practice of Tuesday taco specials predating Taco Johns existence by decades  as documented by L.A. Times columnist Gustavo Arellano and others.

Taco Bell debuted its first Los Angeles Taco Bell Cantina earlier this year with a 1920s theme, flat-screen TVs, a merch counter and boozy Baja Blast slushies in Hollywood. (Stephanie Breijo / Los Angeles Times)

Taco Johns currently operates nearly 400 locations nationwide, mostly in the Midwest. Its official website states: Ever hear of Taco Tuesday? We started it! We even trademarked it. Thats how seriously we take tacos.

The chain isn't backing down on its claim.

"When it comes right down to it, we're lovers, not fighters, at Taco John's," Chief Executive Jim Creel said in a public statement Tuesday afternoon. "But when a big, bad bully threatens to take away the mark our forefathers originated so many decades ago, well, that just rings hollow to us. If 'living mas' means filling the pockets of Taco Bell's army of lawyers, we're not interested."

Taco Bells challenge is far from the first time the legitimacy of the phrase has been questioned, or at least attempted to be claimed. Gregorys Restaurant and Bar holds the patent on the phrase in the state of New Jersey, having filed for it in 1979 and been awarded it in 1982. Their story goes that they began serving tacos on a Tuesday night in 1972.

That night we coined the phrase Taco Tuesday, its website says, and created a mainstay for almost four decades. Legally, Taco Johns can use Taco Tuesday in every state but New Jersey.

Taco Bell also filed to cancel Gregorys trademark of the phrase in that state today.

In 2019, Lakers star LeBron James unsuccessfully filed to trademark the term for his own proprietary purposes, while in 2018 a Mexican restaurant in Calgary received a cease-and-desist letter over the phrase from a Canada-based restaurant group citing its own hold of the trademark. In 1997, the owners of now-closed Laguna Beach restaurant Tortilla Flats filed a multimillion-dollar lawsuit against multiple Orange County restaurants  including El Torito  arguing that the usage of the term infringed upon Tortilla Flats 1984 trademark.

Give me a break, Cathay Seabol, a waitress at defendant La Siesta Mexican Food, told The Times in 1997. Everybody has Taco Tuesdays.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
The man convicted of killing Cal Poly freshman Kristin Smart has filed a notice of appeal, appellate court records show.

In October, a Monterey County jury convicted Paul Flores of killing Smart  26 years after the she disappeared returning from an off-campus party.

Monterey County Superior Court Judge Jennifer OKeefe called Flores a cancer to society on March 10, as she sentenced him to 25 years to life in state prison.

Flores filed his notice of appeal a month after his sentencing with the California Courts of Appeals Sixth District in an attempt to overturn his conviction.

Its Flores 11th attempt to restart legal proceedings in the case.

Defense attorney Robert Sanger, who represented Flores during his murder trial, filed for a mistrial nine times before Flores was convicted, then filed a motion for a new trial before Flores sentencing.

Flores is currently in custody at North Kern State Prison, according to court records and the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.

A notice of appeal must be filed within 60 days of sentencing. It does not need to include the legal grounds for the appeal, and a brief making that case has not yet been filed.

Although Sanger represented Flores during more than two years of criminal proceedings, he does not appear to be representing Flores for the appeal.

Flores is currently represented by court-appointed attorney Soloman Wollack, the court docket shows.

According to the docket, the trials court reporter was granted an extension in April to produce court transcripts. She asked for a second extension Friday.

California Deputy Attorney General Michael Cannon Keller filed a motion to move the case to Californias Second District Court of Appeal, the docket shows, but Flores filed an opposition arguing for the case to remain in the Sixth District Court of Appeal.

The Second District court oversees San Luis Obispo County, where the cases investigating jurisdiction resides, while the Sixth District court oversees Monterey County, where the trial took place.

A decision has not yet been made on whether the case will move districts or whether the court reporter will be granted a second extension, according to the docket.

Wollack and the California Attorney Generals Office will likely need an official court transcript of the entire case in order to file their briefs.

The murder trial was three months long, and it is unclear how much time is needed to accurately transcribe a trial of that length.
ROME (AP)  Rivers swollen by days of downpours flooded some towns in northern Italy on Tuesday, while in Venice, authorities were preparing to activate a mobile barrier in the lagoon in hopes of sparing the city from high-tide flooding, which would be rare in May.

In the tourist town of Ravenna in northeast Italy, authorities urged residents to move to upper stories of buildings to ride out the storm. In Riccione, a beach town on the Adriatic Sea, the mayor warned people to stay home as some took to rubber dinghies to navigate streets.

In Venice, the barrier system, known by its acronym MOSES, and recalling the Biblical account of the Red Sea parting, will be lifted Tuesday night for the first time ever in May. It is nearly 20 years to the day when construction on the project, which is still not officially completed, began.

Firefighters in Riccione, in the northern region of Emilia-Romagna, were deployed to rescue people from flooded homes and businesses. By Tuesday afternoon, firefighters had carried out around 40 rescues in the province of Rimini, parts of which are on the Adriatic coast. Reinforcements for the rescuers were moved in from the cities of Forli'-Cesena, Ferrara and Bologna.

In the area between Ancona, a major Adriatic port, and Pesaro-Urbino, two towns popular with tourists, firefighters carried out 80 interventions for local flooding, fallen trees and mudslides and rescued motorists in difficulty, the corps said in a tweet.

Pesaro, an Adriatic beach town in the region of Marche, reported flooding, while in Cesena, a city in the neighboring region of Emilia-Romagna, the Savio River overflowed its banks and inundated streets.

In Modena, a small city famed for gastronomical products, authorities said they would close local bridges to traffic on Friday evening as a precaution against rising river levels.

Elsewhere, in the town of Senigallia, the Misa River's waters were receding, local officials said.

Meteorologists say Italy can expect several days of heavy rain, pummeling the north which had been suffering a shortfall of precipitation for weeks this spring.

Schools in areas bracing fearing flooding were closed.

Train travel was halted on the Bologna-Ancona land the Ravenna-Faenza routes, Italian media said.

Earlier this month, a day and a half of nonstop rain caused flooding in Italys populous Emilia-Romagna region, leaving at least two people dead as riverbeds left dry by drought overflowed their banks.

The intense rainfalls came as Italy had been bracing for a second year of drought, which has depleted its largest river, the Po. The river supports agriculture in the vast Po River Valley before emptying into the Adriatic Sea east of Bologna.
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP)  Texas Rangers shortstop Corey Seager's return from the injured list was delayed Tuesday because he was dealing with a stomach bug, while right-hander Jacob deGrom threw his first bullpen session since going on the IL because of elbow inflammation.

Seager hasn't played since sustaining a left hamstring strain while running the bases in a game April 11. Before getting sick, he was set to return to the Rangers after a three-game rehabilitation stint at Double-A Frisco that ended Sunday.

General manager Chris Young said the team had hoped activate Seager before Tuesday night's game against Atlanta, but decided to hold off until he was feeling better. Seager, who hit .359 in his first 11 games before getting hurt, could be back for the series finale Wednesday night.

DeGrom, the other $30 million-a-season player for the AL West leaders, has been on the 15-day IL since April 29. That was a day after the two-time Cy Young Award winner departed early for the second time in his last three starts, and an MRI showed some inflammation.

Young said it was a light side session for deGrom, but called it a positive step even though there is still no firm timetable for his return.

Texas has won all six games started by deGrom (2-0), but he has been limited to 30 1/3 innings. He has a 2.67 ERA with 45 strikeouts and four walks.

DeGrom played his first nine big league seasons with the New York Mets. He was limited to 156 1/3 innings over 26 starts the past two years because of injuries before signing his $185 million, five-year deal in free agency last December.

___

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The wave of Russian missile strikes fired all at once on Tuesday morning has likely caused damage to the US-made Patriot missile defence system being used by Ukraine, two US officials said.

The Patriot is one of the most advanced air defence systems in the world, designed to work against a mix of aircraft, cruise missiles and ballistic missiles.

The system has not been destroyed and Washington and Kyiv are in talks about the best way to repair it without removing it from Ukraine, one of the officials said on the condition of anonymity.

Just hours earlier, Russia said it had destroyed the US-built surface-to-air missile defence system with a hypersonic Kinzhal missile.

Vladimir Putin had issued a clear threat to damage and weed out the West-supplied Patriot anti-missile defence systems delivered to Ukraine.

On the battlefield front, Ukrainian forces have taken back about 20 square km of territory from Russia around the eastern city of Bakhmut in recent days, Kyiv said.

Key Points

Patriot missile defence system likely damaged but not destroyed  reports

Russia firing more weapons to overwhelm Ukraine, says US official

Zelensky rallies support at EU council meet, cites battlefield success

Russia rejects Kyivs claims on missiles downed

Kyiv forces reclaim significant ground around Bakhmut

Patriot missile defence system likely damaged but not destroyed  reports

03:53 , Arpan Rai

The wave of Russian strikes has likely caused damage to the US-made Patriot missile defence system being used by Ukraine, two US officials said on Tuesday, adding that it did not appear to have been destroyed.

Washington and Kyiv were already talking about the best way to repair the system and at this point it did not appear the system would have to be removed from Ukraine, one of the officials said on the condition of anonymity.

The official added that the US would have a better understanding in the coming days and information could change over time.

This comes just hours after Russias defence ministry said it had destroyed a US-built Patriot surface-to-air missile defence system with a hypersonic Kinzhal missile in an overnight strike on Ukraine but did not share more details.

Vladimir Putin had issued a clear threat to damage and weed out the West-supplied Patriot anti-missile defence system to Ukraine.

Ukraine shot down 18 Russian missiles overnight, including an entire volley of six Kinzhals. It was not clear which Western weapon Ukraine used.

When asked about the Ukrainian claim, Russian defence minister Sergei Shoigu dismissed it. The Pentagon had no immediate comment.

The Patriot is one of the most advanced US air defence systems, designed to work against a mix of aircraft, cruise missiles and ballistic missiles. It typically includes launchers along with radar and other support vehicles.

Finland says embassy bank accounts in Russia frozen since April

12:28 , Matt Mathers

The bank accounts of Finlands embassy and consulate in Russia are frozen and the Nordic country has not had an explanation from its neighbour, the Finnish foreign ministry said on Wednesday.

Finland, which has a long border with Russia, formally joined NATO on April 4 in a historic policy shift brought on by Russias invasion of Ukraine that drew a threat from Moscow of counter-measures.

Finnish foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto told reporters the bank accounts had stopped working on April 27.

"The accounts of Finnish embassies have been frozen in Russia and at the moment they cannot be used," Haavisto said, adding the missions had been using their cash reserves to pay bills.

Haavisto said Finland had sent Russian authorities a notice on May 4 requesting that Russia ensure the missions ability to function in Russia and asking for an official explanation for the freeze, but it had not received one so far.

Russias central bank did not respond to a request for comment.

Finlands Foreign Affairs Minister Pekka Haavisto (Lehtikuva/AFP via Getty Images)

Russia says hypersonic missile scientists face 'very serious' treason accusations

12:04 , Matt Mathers

Three Russian academics who have worked on hypersonic missile technology face "very serious accusations", the Kremlin said on Wednesday, in a treason investigation that has spread alarm through Russias scientific community.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said he was aware of an open letter from Siberian scientists in defence of the men, but that the case was a matter for the security services.

In the letter, published on Monday, colleagues of Anatoly Maslov, Alexander Shiplyuk and Valery Zvegintsev protested their innocence and said the prosecutions threatened to inflict grave damage on Russian science.

"We know each of them as a patriot and a decent person who is not capable of doing what the investigating authorities suspect them of," they said.

President Vladimir Putin has boasted that Russia is the global leader in hypersonic missiles, capable of travelling at speeds of up to Mach 10 (12,250 kph) to evade enemy air defences. On Tuesday, Ukraine said it had managed to destroy six of the weapons in a single night, although Russia disputed this.

Vladimir Putin has boasted that Russia is the global leader in hypersonic missiles (AP)

German govt: Russian assets could be used to pay for Ukraine war damages

11:32 , Matt Mathers

The German government is looking into mechanisms to secure war damages for Russias invasion of Ukraine, including the possibility of using Russian assets to compensate the country, a government spokesperson said on Wednesday.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz was among European leaders who agreed to set up a register of damages for the Ukraine war during a meeting in Reykjavik this week.

The UKs prime minister Rishi Sunak, EU Commission president Usual von der Leyen and Emmanuel Macron, the French president, were among other attendees at the Council of Europe conference which primarily focused on the war:

European nations zoom in on establishing system to pinpoint how much damage Russia caused in Ukraine

Kazakhs increasingly wary of Russias belligerence - poll

10:57 , Matt Mathers

The number of Kazakhs who believe neighbouring Russia may invade the former Soviet republic has doubled over the past six months as the war in Ukraine continues, an opinion poll by Kazakh researchers showed on Wednesday.

The Central Asian nation of 20 million has close historical, economic and security ties with Moscow, but has maintained neutrality in the Ukrainian conflict, refusing to recognise Russias annexation of parts of Ukraines territory.

According to the poll of 1,100 respondents, carried out by non-government organisations MediaNet and PaperLab between May 3 and 12, almost 60% are also neutral with regards to the war, 12.8% support Russia and 21.1% support Ukraine, figures similar to those produced by a similar poll last December.

However, the number of people who think Russia may also invade Kazakhstan has risen to 15% from 8.3% in the previous poll.

Nearly a third of respondents said their perception of Russia had worsened because of the war, over a half said it had not changed and only 4.7% said it had improved.

Kazakhstan is home to about 3 million ethnic Russians and shares the worlds longest continuous land border with Russia. Astana also has close ties with China, another giant neighbour, and the West, which has invested hundreds of billions of dollars into its oil and gas industry.

APTOPIX Russia Victory Day Parade (Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

Russia orders arrest of prominent producer, director who criticized Ukraine war

10:55 , Matt Mathers

A Moscow court has ordered the arrest of prominent film producer Alexander Rodnyansky and theater director Ivan Vyrypaev for spreading false information about the Russian army.

The initial court hearings against Rodnyansky and Vyrypaev were held on 27 April, but not reported by the court until Wednesday.

According to the courts press service, Rodnyansky and Vyrypaev, who are outside Russia, will be placed in custody once Russian authorities manage to detain them or to get them extradited. Russias Interior Ministry additionally put Vyrypaev on the federal wanted list.

Kyiv-born Rodnyansky has been among the most influential figures in Russian cinema in recent decades. He left Russia after the start of the countrys full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and has repeatedly spoken openly against the war. In October 2022, Russias Justice Ministry declared Rodnyansky a foreign agent.

Ukraine denies Russia destroyed Patriot missile defence syste

09:39 , Matt Mathers

Ukraine denied on Wednesday that a Russian hypersonic missile had destroyed a US-made Patriot missile defence system during an air strike on Kyiv.

Russias defence ministry made the assertion on Tuesday after an overnight air attack on the Ukrainian capital. Two US officials later said a Patriot system had probably suffered damage but that it did not appear to have been destroyed.

"I want to say: do not worry about the fate of the Patriot," Ukrainian air force spokesperson Yuriy Ihnat told Ukrainian television.

He ruled out the possibility of a Russian "Kinzhal" missile knocking out a Patriot system.

"Destroying the system with some kind of Kinzhal, its impossible. Everything that they say there, it can remain in their propaganda archive," he said.

Last ship leaves Ukraine as fate of Black Sea grain deal in Russia's hands

09:04 , Matt Mathers

The last ship left a port in Ukraine on Wednesday under a deal allowing the safe Black Sea export of Ukraine grain a day before Russia could quit the pact over obstacles to its grain and fertilizer exports.

The DSM Capella has left the port of Chornomorsk carrying 30,000 tonnes of corn and was on its way to Turkey, according to data issued by the United Nations.

The United Nations and Turkey brokered the Black Sea deal for an initial 120 days in July last year to help tackle a global food crisis that has been aggravated by Moscows invasion of Ukraine, one of the worlds leading grain exporters.

Moscow agreed to extend the Black Sea pact for a further 120 days in November, but then in March it agreed to a 60 day extension - until May 18 - unless a list of demands regarding its own agricultural exports was met.

UN scrambles to secure grain deal extension

08:37 , Matt Mathers

The United Nations is speedily trying to extend a deal that has allowed shipments of Ukrainian grain through the Black Sea to parts of the world struggling with hunger - helping ease a global food crisis exacerbated by the war Russia launched more than a year ago.

The breakthrough accord that the UN and Turkey brokered with the warring sides last summer came with a separate agreement to ease shipments of Russian food and fertiliser that Moscow insists has not been applied.

Russia set a deadline of Thursday for its concerns to be ironed out or it is bowing out.

Such brinkmanship is not new; with a similar extension in the balance in March, Russia unilaterally decided to renew the deal for 60 days instead of the 120 days outlined in the agreement.

UN officials and analysts said a failure to extend the Black Sea Grain Initiative could hurt countries in Africa, the Middle East and parts of Asia that rely on Ukrainian wheat, barley, vegetable oil and other affordable food products, especially as drought takes a toll.

The deal helped lower prices of food commodities like wheat over the last year but that relief has not reached kitchen tables.

"If you have a cancellation of the grain deal again, when were already at a pretty tight situation, its just one more thing that the world doesnt need, so the prices could start heading higher," said William Osnato, a senior research analyst at agriculture data and analytics firm Gro Intelligence.

"You dont see relief on the horizon."

UN humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths told the Security Council on Monday the deal is "critical" and talks were ongoing.

Workers load grain at a grain port in Izmail, Ukraine, on April 26, 2023. (Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

Can Ukraine use Patriot defense systems to knock out Russian hypersonic missiles?

08:11 , Matt Mathers

Ukraine said on Tuesday that it downed six Russian hypersonic Kinzhal missiles in a single night, in what would be a major setback for Moscows efforts to develop an unstoppable next-generation weapon.

It was not clear which air defense system Kyiv used to shoot down the missiles, but last week the US military confirmed that Ukraine had shot down a Kinzhal missile using the US.-produced Patriot system.

What is the Patriot missile system?

The Patriot, which stands for Phased Array Tracking Radar for Intercept on Target, is a theater-wide surface-to-air missile defense system built by Raytheon Technologies Corp and considered one of the most advanced air defense systems in the US arsenal.

The system was first used in combat during the 1991 Gulf War, with batteries protecting Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Israel, and later used during the US invasion of Iraq in 2003.

Can Patriots stop hypersonic missiles?

The Patriot system was designed before hypersonic weapons were sent to battlefield and Raytheon has not said publicly that the is effective against a missile flying at hypersonic speeds (anything above five times the speed of sound). While the US said that the Patriot system brought down last weeks Khinzal missile, it was not clear if that missile was traveling at hypersonic speed at the time.

While Russias Kinzhal missile may reach speeds of up to 7,600 mph (12,350 kph), "Russias designation of the Kinzhal as a hypersonic missile is somewhat misleading, as nearly all ballistic missiles reach hypersonic speeds (i.e. above Mach 5) at some point during their flight," the Center for Strategic and International Studies said in a March 2022 report.

A Russian Air Force MiG-31K jet carries a high-precision hypersonic aero-ballistic missile (Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

Vulnerability of Russias Killyjoy missiles an embarrassment for Kremlin

07:46 , Matt Mathers

The apparent vulnerability of Russias Killjoy missiles is likely an embarrassment for the Kremlin, Britains Ministry of Defence has said.

Ukraine for the first time shot down a Killyjoy air-launched ballistic missile on 3 May.

The increased air threat over Russias border region will be of exceptional concern for the Russian Aerospace Forces (VKS) because it uses the area to launch air power in support of the war, the MoD said in its latest daily updates.

The apparent vulnerability of KILLJOY is likely a surprise and an embarrassment for Russia: Russian President Vladimir Putin has touted the system as undefeatable.

China asks foreign missions displaying Ukraine flags to remove 'propaganda'

07:20 , Matt Mathers

China has notified several foreign missions in Beijing not to display "politicised propaganda" on their buildings, diplomats told Reuters, adding the request appeared aimed at Ukrainian flags they have displayed since Russias invasion.

Several foreign missions in China raised the Ukrainian flag, or displayed its image in posters and lights, following the February 2022 invasion that sparked international condemnation of Russia, a close ally of China.

"We and others got a letter calling on embassies and representative offices to refrain from using the outer walls of their buildings for politicised propaganda," one diplomat, whose embassy is displaying a Ukraine flag image, told Reuters on condition of anonymity.

The diplomat said the mission did not intend to comply with the notification.

Last ship leaves Ukraine today as Black Sea grain deal remains in Putins control

06:57 , Arpan Rai

The last ship carrying out the safe Black Sea export of Ukrainian grain will leave port today, a UN spokesperson said, a day before Russia could quit the pact over obstacles to its grain and fertiliser exports.

The last remaining ship at a Ukrainian port and will transit the maritime corridor with its cargo, the spokesperson said.

Another vessel was in transit back to Turkey on Tuesday and five other ships are waiting for an outbound inspection in Turkish waters, the official said.

The deal, which has ramifications for grain consumption across the world, was brokered by the United Nations and Turkey for an initial 120 days in July last year to help tackle a global food crisis that has been aggravated by Moscows invasion of Ukraine, one of the worlds leading grain exporters.

Moscow agreed to extend the Black Sea pact for a further 120 days in November, but then in March it offered only a 60 day extension, until 18 May, unless a list of demands regarding its own agricultural exports was met.

South Korea signs $130m aid package for Ukraine

06:13 , Arpan Rai

South Korea will provide a $130m (104m) financial aid package to Kyiv after Ukraines first lady visited Seoul to seek military assistance.

South Koreas finance ministry said minister Choo Kyung-ho and Ukrainian economy minister Yulia Svyrydenko, in Seoul to attend a conference, signed the agreement on the package, which will consist of donations and aid loans.

South Korea, a major producer of artillery shells, has said it was not providing lethal weapons to Ukraine, citing its relations with Russia.

But South Korean president Yoon Suk Yeol said in an interview with Reuters last month his government might not insist only on humanitarian or financial support if civilians in Ukraine come under a large-scale attack or because of a situation the international community cannot condone.

Russia firing more weapons to overwhelm Ukraine, says US official

05:35 , Arpan Rai

Russian forces are expending more weapons than usual in order to overwhelm and confuse Ukrainian air defences, a US official familiar with the matter told CNN.

The expanded attacks seen this week may even work to Ukraines advantage, the official said, as the move forced Russia to scrape deeper into its restricted supply of precision munitions.

Moscow has tried to target command and control centres in Kyiv and other high-value locations, the official said, as seen yesterday when Russia launched larger aerial attacks comprising drones, cruise missiles and ballistic missiles overnight from north, south and east direction in one go.

Zelensky rallies support at EU council meet, cites battlefield success

04:42 , Arpan Rai

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky bolstered his bid to seek more support for Ukraine as he spoke at the fourth summit of the Council of Europe and said that the war-hit nation is able to achieve battlefield successes unimaginable last year.

A year ago, we were not able to shoot down most of the terroristss missiles, especially ballistic ones. And I am asking one thing now: if were able to do this, is there anything we cant do when were united and determined to protect lives? The answer is that we, in unity, will give one hundred per cent in any field  when we have a goal to protect our people and our Europe, Mr Zelensky said.

He presented Ukraines historic feat of downing cruise and ballistic missiles as he addressed the leaders virtually at the summit.

Today, Ukraine went through a difficult challenge  an intense Russian missile attack. Such challenges are what we all have to pay attention to now, he said.

At three oclock in the morning, our people woke up to explosions... Eighteen Russian missiles of different types were in our sky  in particular, ballistic ones, which the terrorist state has boasted about. We were told such missiles would bring a guaranteed death, because they are supposedly impossible to shoot down, Mr Zelensky said.

The war-time president said Russia used ballistic and cruise missiles, as well as drones, all at the same time  to make it especially difficult for our air defence to save lives. But all lives were protected  all missiles were shot down, including ballistic ones. One hundred per cent! This is a historical result, he said.

Russia rejects Kyivs claims on missiles downed

04:25 , Arpan Rai

Russian defence minister Sergei Shoigu has said the number of claimed Ukrainian missile intercepts in general is three times greater than the number we [Moscow] launch.

And they get the type of missiles wrong all the time. Thats why they dont hit them, he said, without elaborating.

Ukraine said it had shot down six Russian Kinzhal missiles in a single night, taking down a weapon Moscow has branded as a next-generation hypersonic missile that was all but unstoppable.

Zelensky needs Sunak to push Ukraines allies to go further and faster over weapons and jets

03:00 , Joe Middleton

Britains willingness to step first unto the breach over military support has spurred wider Western action, writes Kim Sengupta. The Ukrainian president needs that now more than ever.

Analysis: Zelensky needs Sunak to push allies to go further and faster over weapons

UK 'on guard' over Russia's use of chemical weapons, says Ben Wallace

02:00 , Joe Middleton

Ukraine claims to have shot down multiple unstoppable Russian missiles during barrage on Kyiv

01:00 , Joe Middleton

Ukraine claims to have shot down a volley of Russian hypersonic missiles  one of Moscows most potent weapons  during an attack on the capital Kyiv described as exceptional in density.

It is the first time Ukraine has claimed to have struck down multiple Kinzhal  which means dagger in Russian  missiles in one go. If confirmed it would be a demonstration of the effectiveness of Kyivs newly deployed Western air defences in helping thwart some of Russias most advanced weaponry.

President Vladimir Putin has previously claimed that the Kinzhal would be able to overcome all existing and ... prospective anti-aircraft and anti-missile defence systems.

Chris Stevenson reports.

Ukraine claims to have downed multiple unstoppable Russian missiles during barrage

Like a scene from Apocalypse Now: I was there when the missiles shook Kyiv

Tuesday 16 May 2023 23:59 , Joe Middleton

The noise that repeatedly filled the air early this morning was extraordinary: shuddering, horribly percussive waves of sound that burrow down through your chest and into your stomach, writes Kit Macdonald.

Opinion: Like a scene from Apocalypse Now: I was there when the missiles shook Kyiv

South Korea's president vows to expand non-lethal aid to Kyiv in meeting with Ukraine's first lady

Tuesday 16 May 2023 22:00 , Joe Middleton

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol vowed to expand the countrys non-lethal aid to Kyiv when he met with Ukraines first lady Tuesday in Seoul.

Olena Zelenska visited South Korea as a special envoy of President Volodymyr Zelensky. During her meeting with Yoon, Zelenska requested South Korea expand its support of non-lethal military supplies, including equipment for detecting and removing mines and ambulance vehicles, according to Yoons office.

Yoon replied that his government would closely coordinate with NATO and other international partners to actively support the Ukrainian people, his spokesperson Lee Do Woon said during a briefing.

South Korea's president vows to expand non-lethal aid to Kyiv in meeting with Ukraine's first lady

Ukraine claims to have shot down multiple unstoppable Russian missiles during barrage on Kyiv

Tuesday 16 May 2023 21:14 , Joe Middleton

Ukraine claims to have shot down a volley of Russian hypersonic missiles  one of Moscows most potent weapons  during an attack on the capital Kyiv described as exceptional in density.

It is the first time Ukraine has claimed to have struck down multiple Kinzhal  which means dagger in Russian  missiles in one go.

If confirmed it would be a demonstration of the effectiveness of Kyivs newly deployed Western air defences in helping thwart some of Russias most advanced weaponry. President Vladimir Putin has previously claimed that the Kinzhal would be able to overcome all existing and ... prospective anti-aircraft and anti-missile defence systems.

Ukraine claims to have downed multiple unstoppable Russian missiles during barrage

Hungary blocks next tranche of military support for Ukraine from EUs European Peace Facility

Tuesday 16 May 2023 20:30 , Joe Middleton

Hungary did not approve the disbursement of the next tranche of military support for Ukraine provided under the EUs European Peace Facility (EPF), a government spokesmans office said on Tuesday.

The EPF, created in 2021, is an off-budget instrument aimed at enhancing the EUs ability to prevent conflicts, build peace and strengthen international security.

Hungary does not agree with the fact that the European Union, along with other existing tools, uses the European Peace Facility solely with regard to Ukraine as this does not allow sufficient funds to be channelled to promote the EUs interests in other areas, the government spokesmans office said in an email response to Reuters about an Italian media report on the matter.

The EU has provided a total of about 3.6 billion euros for military support for Ukraine so far under the EPF.

Hungary, which is member of the EU and also NATO, has refused to provide any military equipment to its neighbour Ukraine, which was invaded by Russian forces in February 2022.

Hungary has also repeatedly criticised EU sanctions against Russia, which all 27 EU countries must also unanimously approve, but eventually supported all the agreed measures so far.

In power since 2010, Prime Minister Viktor Orban has clashed with the EU and its executive arm, the European Commission, over Budapest restricting the rights of migrants, as well as tightening state controls over non-governmental organizations, academics, media and courts.

AP

Zelensky needs Sunak to push Ukraines allies to go further and faster over weapons and jets

Tuesday 16 May 2023 20:00 , Joe Middleton

Britains willingness to step first unto the breach over military support has spurred wider Western action, writes Kim Sengupta. The Ukrainian president needs that now more than ever.

Analysis: Zelensky needs Sunak to push allies to go further and faster over weapons

What are Storm Shadow cruise missiles and what other weapons has the UK sent to Ukraine?

Tuesday 16 May 2023 19:30 , Joe Middleton

Britain is to supply Ukraine with multiple Storm Shadow cruise missiles to bolster Kyivs forces against a feared Russian offensive.

Defence secretary Ben Wallace on Thursday confirmed the gifting but did not say how many of the UKs 700-1,000 missiles would be sent.

The aid came in advance of Volodymyr Zelensky visiting the UK with the Ukraine president having appealed for western help in a bid to withstand Russian offenses and push back.

William Mata and Joe Sommerlad explain.

What are Storm Shadow cruise missiles? All the weapons the UK has sent to Ukraine

Russian Duma votes to scrap Cold War armed forces deal

Tuesday 16 May 2023 18:55 , Joe Middleton

The lower house of Russias parliament on Tuesday voted unanimously to formally pull out of a key Cold War-era security deal, more than eight years after Moscow halted its participation.

The vote in the State Duma came less than a week after President Vladimir Putin introduced a draft bill on May 10 denouncing the Treaty of Conventional Armed Forces in Europe, which aimed to prevent Cold War rivals from massing forces at or near mutual borders. The deal was signed in November 1990, but not fully ratified until two years later.

The Federation Council, Russias Kremlin-controlled upper chamber that generally rubber-stamps legislation that the Duma has approved, is scheduled to consider Russias pullout from the treaty next Wednesday.

Russian Duma votes to scrap Cold War armed forces deal

UK 'on guard' over Russia's use of chemical weapons, says Ben Wallace

Tuesday 16 May 2023 18:25 , Joe Middleton

Putin and Zelensky agree to separate meetings with African delegations to discuss peace plan, says SA president

Tuesday 16 May 2023 17:54 , Joe Middleton

Russian president Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky have agreed to separate meetings with a delegation of leaders from six African countries to discuss a possible plan to end the war in Ukraine, South Africas president said.

Cyril Ramaphosa said he had spoken with Mr Putin and Mr Zelensky by phone over the weekend and they each agreed to host an African leaders peace mission in Moscow and Kyiv respectively.

Principal to our discussions are efforts to find a peaceful resolution to the devastating conflict in the Ukraine, Mr Ramaphosa said.

The leaders of Zambia, Senegal, Congo, Uganda and Egypt would make up the delegation along with Mr Ramaphosa, he said in a statement, and Mr Putin and Mr Zelenskyy gave him the go-ahead to commence the preparations.

Four of the African countries - South Africa, Congo, Senegal and Uganda - abstained from a UN vote last year on condemning Russias invasion. Zambia and Egypt voted in favour of the motion.

Mr Ramaphosa did not give a timeframe or outline any parameters for the possible peace talks. Mr Zelensky has previously said he would not consider a peace deal to end the 15-month war until Russian forces withdraw from Ukrainian territory.

Like a scene from Apocalypse Now: I was there when the missiles shook Kyiv

Tuesday 16 May 2023 17:08 , Joe Middleton

The noise that repeatedly filled the air early this morning was extraordinary: shuddering, horribly percussive waves of sound that burrow down through your chest and into your stomach, writes Kit Macdonald.

Opinion: Like a scene from Apocalypse Now: I was there when the missiles shook Kyiv

Ukraines Supreme Court votes no confidence in chief justice

Tuesday 16 May 2023 16:24 , Joe Middleton

A plenary meeting of Ukraines Supreme Court voted no confidence in the courts head on Tuesday after he was detained by anti-corruption authorities.

The 140-2 vote move paves the way for chief justice Vsevolod Kniazievs dismissal from the court but does not strip him of his status as a judge, Ukrainian media said.

Watch: Listen to what a night of aerial bombardment in Kyiv sounds like

Tuesday 16 May 2023 15:48 , Emily Atkinson

Kyiv forces reclaim significant ground around Bakhmut

Tuesday 16 May 2023 15:13 , Emily Atkinson

Ukrainian forces have taken back about 20 square km (7.5 square miles) of territory from Russian forces around the eastern city of Bakhmut in recent days, Ukrainian deputy defence minister Hanna Maliar said on Tuesday.

(AP)

She said on the Telegram messaging app that Russian forces had advanced somewhat in the city of Bakhmut itself, and that heavy fighting continued.

What are Storm Shadow cruise missiles and what other weapons has the UK sent to Ukraine?

Tuesday 16 May 2023 14:29 , Emily Atkinson

Britain is to supply Ukraine with multiple Storm Shadow cruise missiles to bolster Kyivs forces against a feared Russian offensive.

Defence secretary Ben Wallace on Thursday confirmed the gifting but did not say how many of the UKs 700-1,000 missiles would be sent.

What other aid and provision has the UK promised to support Ukraine? Joe Sommerlad and William Mata have the details:

What are Storm Shadow cruise missiles? All the weapons the UK has sent to Ukraine

Ukraine lifts barriers to exports of some farm goods

Tuesday 16 May 2023 14:00 , Emily Atkinson

Ukraine has removed barriers to the export of some agricultural commodities, imposed last year to prevent food shortages, in a bid to boost foreign currency income, its government said on Tuesday.

The country introduced export licences in 2022 to protect food supplies after agricultural production was hit by Russias invasion. While licensing did not ban exports, it made them much more difficult.

The government said it would lift the requirement for export licences for live cattle, frozen cattle meat, chicken meat, eggs, rye, oats, millet and some other commodities.

It said via the Telegram messaging app that the resolution was developed in response to numerous requests from associations, and would help to optimise agricultural exports and increase foreign exchange earnings for Ukraine.

The decision would not affect supply to the domestic market, the government said. Ukraine is a major producer of poultry meat and exporter of grain and cereals.

The European Union on 2 May set restrictions on imports of Ukrainian wheat, maize, rapeseed and sunflower seed to ease excess supply to Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia. Those states last week called for the curbs to be extended.

Russia and Ukraine agree African mission on potential peace plan'

Tuesday 16 May 2023 13:25 , Emily Atkinson

Russia and Ukraines presidents have agreed to receive a group of African leaders to discuss a potential peace plan for the conflict, South African president Cyril Ramaphosa has said.

My discussions with the two leaders demonstrated that they are both ready to receive the African leaders and to have discussion on how this conflict can be brought to an end, Ramaphosa told a joint press briefing with the Singapore prime minister.

(Getty/ Sputnik)

Whether that will succeed or not is going to depend on the discussions that will be held, he said.

Ramaphosa said the peace plan was also backed by the leaders of Senegal, Uganda and Egypt, adding that the UN Secretary General, the United States and Britain had also been briefed about the initiative.

Washington and London had expressed cautious support to the peace plan, Ramaphosa added.

South Korea's president vows to expand non-lethal aid to Kyiv in meeting with Ukraine's first lady

Tuesday 16 May 2023 13:05 , Emily Atkinson

South Korea's president vows to expand non-lethal aid to Kyiv in meeting with Ukraine's first lady

Kremlin, on CIA video aimed at Russians, says our special services are monitoring

Tuesday 16 May 2023 12:35 , Emily Atkinson

Commenting on a YouTube video encouraging Russians to make contact with the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, the CIA, the Kremlin said on Tuesday that its own special services were tracking Western intelligence activity.

The short video in Russian, entitled Why I made contact with the CIA: my decision, appeared on the CIAs official YouTube channel.

(Reuters)

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said he had not paid attention to it, but added: I am convinced that our special services are monitoring this space in the necessary way.

He added: We all know perfectly well that the CIA and other Western intelligence services are not reducing their activity on the territory of our country.

Head of Ukraine's Supreme Court detained

Tuesday 16 May 2023 12:05 , Emily Atkinson

The head of Ukraines Supreme Court has been detained over an alleged bribery scheme, a prosecutor from the Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutors Office (SAPO) said on Tuesday.

The prosecutor did not name the official detained, but told a briefing that he was the head of the Supreme Court and had not yet been served with a formal notice of suspicion.

The Supreme Court is headed by Chief Justice Vsevolod Kniaziev, who could not be reached for comment.

The National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) and SAPO announced on Monday that they had exposed large-scale corruption at the court, and shared a photograph of piles of dollars neatly lined up on a sofa.

You see that we are showing through real cases, real deeds, what our priority is: its top corruption, its criminal organisation at the highest levels of power, NABU director Semen Kryvonos told Tuesdays briefing.

Russia says it destroyed Ukrainian Patriot air defence system

Tuesday 16 May 2023 11:33 , Emily Atkinson

Russias defence ministry said on Tuesday that it had destroyed a US-built Patriot surface-to-air missile defence system with a hypersonic Kinzhal missile in an overnight strike on Ukraine, the Zvezda military news outlet reported.

It quoted the ministry as saying the overnight strikes had also been aimed at Ukrainian fighting units and ammunition storage sites.

Kremlin says Russia faces decision on extending grain deal

Tuesday 16 May 2023 11:19 , Emily Atkinson

The Kremlin said on Tuesday that questions still remained about Russias part of the Black Sea grain deal, and that it would have to make a decision about whether to renew it.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters contacts on the subject were continuing.

MoD provide update on situation in Bakhmut

Tuesday 16 May 2023 09:56 , Emily Atkinson

The British Ministry of Defence (MoD) has provided an update on the current situation in Bakhmut, with both Russia and Ukraine making some progress across the contested town.

While the Wagner Group forces continue to make gradual progress in clearing Ukrainian positions in the town centre, Ukraine has in the last four days made tactical progress stabilising the flanks of Bakhmut to their advantage, the MoD said in its daily intelligence update.

It went on: As well as progress to the south of town, Ukrainian assaults have forced back the Russian frontline to the north-west of the town. This has likely enabled Ukrainian forces to re-establish more secure use of the key 0506 supply road.

Ukraine is holding Russias western advances along the line of Donets-Donbas Canal, turning the waterway into an obstacle as part of a deep defensive zone around the town of Chasiv Yar.

Latest Defence Intelligence update on the situation in Ukraine - 16 May 2023.



Find out more about Defence Intelligence's use of language: https://t.co/0FG6w4yI6a



 #StandWithUkraine  pic.twitter.com/BPDgNQ7Z39  Ministry of Defence  (@DefenceHQ) May 16, 2023

Macron signals France ready to train Ukrainian pilots'

Tuesday 16 May 2023 09:09 , Emily Atkinson

President Emmanuel Macron has reportedly signalled that France is ready to begin training Ukrainian fighter pilots.

We have opened the doors to training pilots alongside several other European countries, which are also ready; I believe the negotiations with the Americans are ongoing, he said in an interview with broadcaster TF1 , according to Le Monde.

CNN also cites Mr Macron as saying that training can start right away.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP)  Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee has signed off on additional protections for gun and ammunition dealers, manufacturers and sellers against lawsuits within a bill that lawmakers passed after a deadly school shooting in March.

The Republican governor quietly signed the legislation Thursday. Its provisions kick in on July 1.

The state Senate gave final passage to the bill in mid-April, just weeks after the March 27 shooting at The Covenant School in Nashville that killed six people, including three 9-year-olds. The House had passed it before the shooting.

Lee's choice to sign the bill comes as he keeps pushing for the same Republican lawmakers, who hold supermajorities in the House and Senate, to pass a proposal that aims to keep guns away from people who could harm themselves or others. Lee plans to call lawmakers back into an August special session that aims to strengthen public safety and preserve constitutional rights after they adjourned last month without taking up his temporary mental health order of protection proposal. His office hasn't released the parameters of what version of that proposal, or others, will be considered in the session yet.

The expansion of civil immunity for gun companies was hardly in doubt after lawmakers passed it. Lee has never issued a veto, which lawmakers would have the numbers to override. However, he occasionally has allowed bills to take effect without his signature to signal his concerns or disapproval of a policy.

Democratic lawmakers have blasted the move to prioritize legal protections to the gun industry in the wake of the shooting. Three Senate Republicans voted against the legislation, which came before them in the middle of weeks of public pressure, protests and marches to pass gun control reforms. Only Democrats opposed the bill in the House vote before the shooting.

With regards to the law, the GOP supermajority is more focused on protecting firearms and manufacturers and dealers than protecting our children and communities, Rep. John Ray Clemmons, the House Democratic caucus chairman from Nashville, said in an interview Monday.

The bill's sponsor, Republican Sen. Joey Hensley from Hohenwald, said during a floor debate last month that his legislation doesnt prevent any other proposal from passing to make changes after the shooting. He said the bill aims to help out businesses in Tennessee's booming firearms industry.

The Tennessee bill spells out a half-dozen situations in which gun and ammo companies could be held civilly liable in Tennessee state courts, exempting others.

The firearm industry remains largely shielded from liability under federal law. Seventeen states do not have special immunity for the gun industry. Tennessee was already not one of those states before the bill's approval, according to Everytown for Gun Safety, a gun control advocacy group. In recent years, some states have moved in the opposite direction of Tennessee by rolling back legal protections for gun manufacturers and dealers.

Last year, Remington, the company that made the rifle used in the the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre in Connecticut, settled with the families of those killed in the shooting for $73 million. The families had accused the company of targeting younger, at-risk males in advertising and product placement in violent video games.

And in February, families of those killed and injured in a 2018 Texas high school shooting settled a lawsuit they filed against a Tennessee-based online retailer, Lucky Gunner, that was accused of illegally selling ammunition to the student who authorities say fatally shot 10 people. Some of the settlement specifics in the case in the Texas court system were kept confidential.

The owner of the company, Jordan Mollenhour, sits on the Tennessee State Board of Education. The company was accused of failing to verify Dimitrios Pagourtzis age  he was 17, at the time  when he bought more than 100 rounds of ammunition on two occasions before the May 2018 shooting at Santa Fe High School.
A driver has been sentenced to more than five years in prison after he pleaded guilty in connection with a fatal crash into a womans apartment, according to North Carolina prosecutors.

Walter Wade Ange, 24, ran a stop sign and plowed into a womans bedroom as she slept with her fiance early on Dec. 4, 2021, in Wilmington, according to a news release from District Attorney Benjamin R. David. Kelley L. Prince, 48, was pinned between her bed and Anges car, the release says.

She was initially conscious after the crash but succumbed to her injuries at a hospital, the release says.

Ange fled the scene and left his dog there, according to the district attorneys office. Investigators identified him as a suspect and arrested him on Dec. 7, 2021. After interviewing witnesses about his behavior before and after the crash, investigators determined that he was impaired at the time, the release says.

Ange pleaded guilty on May 15 to felony death by motor vehicle, felony serious injury by motor vehicle, felony hit and run causing death, felony hit and run causing injury, reckless driving to endanger and failure to stop at a stop sign, the release says.

A judge sentenced him to a minimum of 70 months in prison followed by four years of supervised probation, according to the district attorneys office. The judge also ordered Ange to serve two nights in jail each year on the anniversary of Princes death during his probation.

An attorney for Ange could not be found online.

Loved ones described Prince as passionate, selfless and giving, according to her obituary.





She had two sons and worked in the hospitality industry for over two decades, the obituary says. In 2018, she moved to Wilmington and got a job at a treatment clinic for people recovering from addiction.

If you were fortunate enough to know Kelley, you were fortunate enough, the obituary says. Her smile and laugh were contagious and her kindness and generosity never mistaken. For all who loved her and are overwhelmed by this loss, remember that although the space between heaven and earth may seem insurmountable; Kelleys love for life and her people, transcends all distance and time.

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JOHANNESBURG (AP)  A senior South African government minister denied Wednesday there was extensive corruption within the ruling African Nations Congress party in relation to the country's financially-crippled power utility, although he did concede a few might have engaged in naughty activity."

Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan was answering questions from lawmakers in Parliament at a hearing focusing on the graft at the state-owned national electricity supplier that has contributed to Africa's most developed country facing a power crisis and daily blackouts. It has raised fears that the electricity supply could collapse.

"You cant put everything on the shoulders of the ANC," Gordhan said in relation to what's accepted as rampant corruption and mismanagement at national electricity company Eskom. There are within the ANC very honest, dedicated activists who want the public interests to be primary and who want this country to work, and there might be those few who have engaged in, lets call it naughty activity."

Gordhan, who was South Africa's finance minister from 2015-17, was appearing before a multi-party oversight committee following serious allegations made by former Eskom CEO Andre de Ruyter, who said in a television interview in February that the ANC and high-ranking politicians were involved in the corruption.

The ANC said it would sue de Ruyter for defamation and has demanded that he retract the claims.

De Ruyter didn't name the politicians allegedly involved when he was questioned by lawmakers over the issue last month, and Gordhan said Wednesday he didn't know who de Ruyter was referring to. Gordhan said while widespread allegations of corruption at Eskom weren't unfounded, some of de Ruyters claims were simply used to downplay his own shortcomings at his job.

Eskom is more than $20 billion in debt and has been forced to cut electricity to South Africa's businesses and its 60 million people, sometimes for up to 12 hours a day. It has become the focal point for criticism of the ANC, which has for years faced allegations of involvement in corruption, especially in state-run companies like Eskom.

The ANC is the party of the late Nelson Mandela and the only party to have governed South Africa since the end of apartheid in 1994, although its popularity has steadily decreased and it faces national elections next year where its outright majority could be under threat.

While accepting that there were links to the ANC amid the graft at Eskom, Gordhan said there were also a number of private South African and multinational companies that were stealing from Eskom, to put it in plain and simple terms.

Eskom is not just a feeding trough for the ANC, as the former CEO alleges," Gordhan said.

Gordhan's appearance in (arliament came a day after Eskom sought to allay fears of a total collapse of the countrys electricity supply as concerns grow over the rolling blackouts, which have become longer and more regular, further hurting South Africa's already struggling economy.

Eskom said in a statement Monday that it had measures in place to avoid a total national blackout amid fears that if South Africa's electricity grid does go down, it could take days or weeks for the supply to return, shutting down the stock exchange, banks and other critical institutions.

But energy analyst Chris Yelland said there was a low probability that the national grid might collapse completely.

Eskom has detailed plans on how to prevent a national blackout, and how to recover from a national blackout," Yelland said. Plans that are tested regularly. Even though they may be low probability events, one has to plan for it. Its prudent.

Various government estimates put the cost of the power blackouts to the countrys economy at around $52 million a day. The South African Reserve Bank has revised the economy's growth forecast for 2023 from 1.1% to 0.3% because of the power disruptions.

___

More AP Africa news: https://apnews.com/hub/africa
The Supreme Court's action regarding Illinois is a good sign for California and the eight other states that also ban the sale of assault weapons. (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times)

The Supreme Court on Wednesday turned down a 2nd Amendment appeal from gun owners and let stand for now an Illinois law banning the sale of the rapid-fire assault weapons that have been used to carry out mass shootings across the country.

In an unsigned order with no dissents, the justices rejected an emergency appeal that asked them to block a local ordinance and the state ban from taking



effect.

While the courts action is not a ruling on the broader constitutional issue, it is a good sign for California and the eight other states that also ban the sale of assault weapons.

Justices usually agree to block a new law from taking effect if they believe it is unconstitutional.

The case before the high court was the National Assn. for Gun Rights vs. Naperville, Ill.

The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago has said it will hear arguments on the constitutional issue in late June, and the justices may have decided to wait for that ruling.

The high court has not ruled directly on whether an AR-15-style rifle is protected by the 2nd Amendment. In the past, it turned away 2nd Amendment challenges to similar state and local laws.

But last year, gun rights advocates were cheered when the more conservative court struck down laws in New York and elsewhere that restricted many law-abiding gun owners from carrying a concealed weapon in public. Writing for a 6-3 majority, Justice Clarence Thomas said gun restrictions can be upheld only if they are consistent with the nations historical tradition of firearms regulation.

Less than two weeks after that ruling was announced, a shooter armed with a semiautomatic AR-15 rifle and 30-round magazines opened fire on an Independence Day parade in Highland Park, Ill. The weapon allowed the shooter to fire 83 rounds in less than a minute, killing seven and wounding 48.

In response, the city of Naperville and the state of Illinois adopted new laws to forbid the sale and possession of assault weapons and high-capacity magazines. Only the sale ban was due to take effect immediately.

A gun store owner and several gun rights groups sued to block the measures as violations of the 2nd Amendment.

Gun rights advocates argued that millions of AR-15s have been sold in this country and that the 2nd Amendment has been understood to protect firearms that are in common use.

But todays lightweight semiautomatic weapons are quite unlike the heavy, cumbersome muskets that were in use in 1791. In defense of the ban, the states lawyers argued that the rapid-fire rifles were developed and marketed as military-style offensive weapons, not as a means for self-defense.

A federal judge agreed and allowed Napervilles ban to take effect.

The history of firearms regulation establishes that governments enjoy the ability to regulate highly dangerous arms, said U.S. District Judge Virginia M. Kendall, and assault weapons and large-capacity magazines fall under this category.

The 7th Circuit Court refused to block the two laws from taking effect while it considered the gun groups appeal.







This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Workers walk through Samsung Electronics' semiconductor plant in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, in this file photo. Courtesy of Samsung Electronics



Korean tech giant vows to get tougher on industrial espionage



By Park Jae-hyuk



Samsung Electronics has experienced continued data leaks, amid the intensifying global competition for supremacy in the semiconductor sector, according to industry officials, Wednesday.



Samsung Electronics said its Device Solutions (DS) division in charge of chip production dismissed an engineer recently who was found last month to have sent dozens of emails containing proprietary data to private email accounts.



The company also asked for police to investigate the case.



"Through disciplinary measures and legal actions, we will be tough on coping with this issue," a Samsung Electronics spokesman said.



In March, another Samsung Electronics engineer mishandled confidential company data by uploading source code to ChatGPT. This case led the company to restrict its employees from using the artificial intelligence-based chatbot during work.



Last year, a Samsung Electronics engineer, who was preparing to move to a foreign company, was found to have taken and stored hundreds of photos of important data displayed on his monitor, while working from home.



After the conglomerate asked for an investigation into the case in April last year, the engineer was fined 10 million won ($7,500) and sentenced to 18 months in jail with two years of probation. Prosecutors lodged an appeal against the ruling, demanding a harsher punishment.



There was another similar data leak carried out by a Samsung Electronics worker, who was preparing to move to a domestic subcontractor of the company. The worker was sent to prison last month.



Earlier this year, former researchers of Semes, a subsidiary of Samsung Electronics, were given prison sentences for manufacturing and selling 71 billion won worth of equipment to Chinese firms by using the company's trade secrets illegally.



Data given by a state intelligence agency to Rep. Kim Kyung-man of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea showed that the agency has uncovered 10 leaks of industrial technologies to foreign countries within the first three months of this year.



The Federation of Korean Industries estimated Korea's annual economic losses from industrial espionage at around 56 trillion won.



Although Samsung and other Korean tech firms have struggled to prevent the outflow of confidential technologies to their rivals in China and other foreign countries, calls have grown for fundamental measures to eradicate industrial espionage.



"The current law is not effective enough to prevent the leakage of industrial technologies," said Cho Yong-sun, an industrial security professor at Hansei University. "Stricter punishments are needed to prevent such crimes."



In response, lawmakers of both the ruling and opposition parties have proposed bills recently to impose stricter punishments on people who leak industrial technologies to foreign countries.


TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP)  Taiwan's opposition Nationalist Party picked the popular mayor of New Taipei City, Hou Yu-ih, on Wednesday as its candidate in next year's presidential election, seen as a referendum on the island's future relations with China.

Hou, the former head of the National Police Agency, will face current Vice President William Lai of the governing Democratic Progressive Party in the January polls. The Nationalists seek warmer ties with mainland China, while the governing party is seen as pro-independence. Current President Tsai Ing-wen has served two terms and is unable to run again.

Hou was chosen by the Nationalists over Terry Gou, a billionaire Taiwanese businessman who founded Foxconn, the world's largest contract electronics maker. One of his first tasks will be to try to unite the party behind his candidacy.

Hou has said little publicly about his approach to China, focusing instead on local politics. Beijing claims Taiwan as its territory and has repeatedly threatened to take the island by force. Near-daily flights by Chinese fighter jets near Taiwan have raised tensions.

Hou enjoys popular support as mayor of New Taipei, the administrative region that surrounds Taipei, the capital. Liu Cheng-shan, a professor of political science at National Sun Yat-Sen University, said Hou has developed a reputation for getting things done as mayor. He gives everyone an image of someone who quietly does the work and is diligent, Liu said.

I'm Taiwanese. I'm humble, diligent and honest," Hou said Wednesday, speaking in Taiwanese at the Nationalist Party headquarters in Taipei. I will work hard to strive for a good future for this piece of land. We know that the Republic of China is our country and Taiwan is our home. The Republic of China is the island's official name.

Foxconn founder Gou had announced in April that he was seeking the party's nomination and accused the Democratic Progressive Party of increasing tensions with Beijing. He conceded to Hou on Wednesday and offered his congratulations.

Experts say Hou is likely to follow his partys general direction in international relations.

The Nationalists, also known as KMT, support an agreement with Beijing called the 1992 Consensus under which both sides consider Taiwan and the mainland to be one country. In Taiwan, that is seen as the Republic of China. The mainland says the one country is the Peoples Republic of China which includes Taiwan as a province.

President Tsai declined to explicitly agree to the consensus when she came into power in 2016, prompting Beijing to cut off communications with her government.

Hou said last week in response to a question from a lawmaker that he believes in the sovereignty and rights of a nation called the Republic of China, but stopped short of saying that Taiwan is independent.

However, he said he opposes the one country, two systems framework proposed by Beijing for unification under which Taiwan would be allowed its own form of governance as part of China. That framework was also used for Hong Kong's return to Chinese rule in 1997. The rights promised under it have steadily deteriorated as Beijing has taken more control over the territory.

Civic groups have called for Hou to clarify his role in the death of a pro-democracy activist and publisher, Deng Nan-jung, in 1989. Hou, then a police captain, led a group of officers who were attempting to arrest Deng, who had barricaded himself in his office for 71 days, when the activist set himself on fire.

___

AP video journalist Taijing Wu contributed to this report.
Migrants ask for help to get their phones charged in between the border walls between Tijuana and San Diego. Migrants rely on their mobile phones for directions, communication with family and friends, and sometimes social media. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

At the migrant camp sprawled along the border wall between Tijuana and San Diego, Diana Rodriguez kept hearing chatter about a confusing TikTok video.

It was Thursday and the 30-year-old, who grew up in a mining village in Colombia, had already been camped out along the towering steel bollards for two days when whispers began to spread about the social media post. It claimed that Title 42, a policy the U.S. government used during the COVID-19 pandemic to quickly expel many migrants without allowing them to apply for asylum, wouldnt expire until June.

But Rodriguez had done extensive research before leaving her nation's capital 11 days earlier and knew the policy was supposed to expire that evening. The post, she figured, must be a ploy to scam migrants into paying for legal advice.

Another TikTok video, which has been viewed 17 million times, falsely claimed in big, bold letters that, starting May 11, migrants "cannot be deported." Soon, thousands of people began to leave poignant comments:

My moment has arrived.

Is this true?

I want to come to meet my mom.

In recent days, as migrants from across the globe camped out in border towns, sleeping outside and fighting hunger and nerves as they waited to be processed by border authorities, they have increasingly turned to TikTok, Facebook, YouTube and other social media sites not just for the comfort of family contact but also for updates on the policy change and how it might affect them.

Their frequent searches and scrolling  complicated by often spotty cell service and a need to preserve their dwindling batteries  underscore how social media and technology have made migration into the U.S. more accessible but also, in ways, more perilous. Influencer accounts have increased the speed of information sharing in languages including Spanish, Chinese and Pashto, while also accelerating the spread of disinformation.

Migrants at the U.S. border in Tijuana last week spend the night outside between the two border fences with only space blankets to keep warm. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

For decades, migrants families had to wait for long stretches, sometimes weeks or months, before hearing whether their loved one had made it to the U.S. safely. Now, many migrants travel with external batteries to charge their phones without access to electricity and buy cheap SIM cards so that they can message their families updates on WhatsApp each day. (Rodriguez said she paid roughly $1 for SIM cards at gas stations in El Salvador and Guatemala and about $8 for one in Mexico.)

Before they leave home, migrants often join Facebook groups to research routes and link up with others leaving around the same time, and, at the border, many asylum seekers rely on their phones to secure appointments on CBP One  the notoriously glitchy U.S. Customs and Border Protection mobile app that privacy experts say raises serious concerns about the government's collection of data.

Even the work of smugglers has become increasingly automated, said Guadalupe Correa-Cabrera, a professor of policy and government at George Mason University, who researches smuggling networks.

Criminal organizations that traffic people need fewer smugglers  sometimes called coyotes  to move migrants from point to point now, she said, and instead use WhatsApp, which allows them to remain anonymous, to message migrants instructions on where to catch the next leg of their bus journey or to send them GPS coordinates about where to meet.

Technology and social media, Correa-Cabrera said, have also played a role in expanding transcontinental migration into the U.S. via Mexico  today, with the help of Google Translate, people who speak Arabic, Chinese or most any language can communicate in real time with people along the migration route.

Thats a very important change, she said.

At the border Friday afternoon, hundreds of migrants were still camped out between two layers of border fencing, along a strip of land that, in recent months, Border Patrol agents have used as an open-air holding cell.

Migrants hold out their mobile phones and charging cords in hopes of someone helping them along the border wall. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

Every few minutes, a migrants hand would pop through the slatted fence and dangle a cellphone and coiled charger. A few hundred feet away, Nathan Cervantes, a 41-year-old volunteer from San Diego, had set up a makeshift charging station using upside-down cardboard boxes and a power strip connected to the battery of an idling car.

He and other volunteers labeled migrants' phones with masking tape and took turns plugging them into the 10-outlet power strip. When he returned their charged phones, Cervantes said, some of the migrants he met  people from Afghanistan, Haiti, Jamaica, Russia and Ukraine  pulled up Google Translate and typed in a message, which the phone read back to him in English.

Thank you, they said. God bless you.

Cervantes was getting ready to leave for the day, but he couldnt stop thinking about the look hed seen in so many of their eyes  a fierce hope, he said, a clinging to the American dream that he worried might ultimately disappoint them.

We have our own struggles, he said.

Soon another volunteer arrived with a battery-powered generator, setting up a charging station only a few feet from the wall. Dozens of migrants clustered nearby, pleading for a charge.

This is their only lifeline, one volunteer said.

Others handed out bags of Pringles and small plastic dolls for the children. A woman from Vietnam with dirt caked into the wrinkles by her eyes asked for face wipes, and a man pointed down at an oozing blister on his left ankle. A volunteer handed him a small bag of painkillers.

One every six hours, he said. Feel better.

Inshallah, the man responded. If God wills it.

Nearby, Niamat Ullah Arabzadas three young children chased each other in circles by a makeshift tent fashioned out of pieces of twine and Mylar blankets.

Migrants at the border between San Diego and Tijuana keep warm using Mylar blankets at night. Some have been camped there for days waiting for Border Patrol agents to pick them up and take them to be processed. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

The 26-year-old father, who grew up in Jalalabad, Afghanistan, had deep circles beneath his eyes. His wife, who had recently learned she was pregnant, was resting on a piece of cardboard in the spot where the family had slept for the last two nights, with temperatures dipping into the 50s.

The couple fled Afghanistan after their first child was born five years ago, terrified of the Taliban, which Arabzada said had killed three of his uncles. They moved to Sao Paulo, where he sold clothes at markets and on Instagram, but the money wasnt steady and their neighborhood wasnt safe. His wife was growing increasingly depressed.

They wanted to give their children a more stable life, he said, so in the middle of April, they flew to Costa Rica and then took a series of bus rides and another flight before arriving in Tijuana. They hoped to eventually reunite with his brother in Pennsylvania.

His relatives send him audio messages on WhatsApp every day to check in, and he said he does his best to project a sense of calm. He knows his father, who has a heart condition, would worry too much if he could see the dire situation at the camp.

Im good, he tells his father.I'm OK, the children are OK."

Nearby, his young daughter tripped, scraping her chin against the reddish dirt. She wailed and he ran to her, brushing dust from her face and rubbing her back.

Migrants receive help from volunteers who set up charging stations for their phones along the border wall near San Ysidro, Calif. For most, the phone is a lifeline. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

Back near the makeshift phone charging station, Rodriguez, the migrant from Colombia, was staring into the distance. The only thing she'd had to eat or drink for several hours was a bottle of water and a granola bar.

She scrolled through her Facebook app, where she had recently searched for the phrase, End of Title 42 and the harsh immigration law." One of the results that popped up was a post from an account with a profile picture of a smiling cat  location listed: Timbuktu  with a screed about U.S. and Mexico relations and a link to a YouTube video.

Rodriguez said she tries to seek out reliable sources, scouring for video clips from presidents or other officials, but its hard to do much without draining her battery, which she needs to send audio messages to her 11-year-old son, who is still in Colombia.

In her hometown  a prized location because of the gold in the hills  armed groups charge everyone extortion fees, she said, adding that, last year, a group of men kidnapped her and held her captive for four days. After a community leader helped broker her release, she and her son fled immediately to the capital.

There," she said, "your whole life is at war."

Sometimes, during her recent trek north and, again, several times while waiting at the border, she had opened up TikTok and searched for videos set to the song Ilegal by Grupo Recluta . It's a ballad about a migrant's journey north  about long hours in the desert, hunger pangs and tears, about sending money back home to the ranch where your parents live, about how, even though you're no longer cold or hungry, you now hear loneliness when you call home.

A man and woman who just arrived at the southern U.S. border with Mexico hold their mobile phones as they wait. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

Migrants post TikToks to the song along with a mash-up of videos, often showing them walking in lines along rocky desert trails, in abandoned homes with smugglers and waiting huddled in Mylar blankets and then  in the end  clips of them reunited with family or sending remittances back home.

I want that, Rodriguez thinks, as she watches.

She lets her mind drift to an imaginary future  to the video clips she might record of herself at a job she enjoys or her son studying to become a veterinarian. Maybe one day, she tells herself, she, too, will look back and know this was worth it.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
UNITED NATIONS (AP)  The U.N. envoy for Yemen expressed cautious optimism Wednesday that the countrys warring parties will return to U.N.-led negotiations to end their deadly eight-year conflict.

Hans Grundberg told the U.N. Security Council he is confident last months prisoner releases agreed to by the government and rival Houthi rebels will build further confidence between the parties and support an environment conducive for dialogue.

The conflict has claimed thousands of lives and further impoverished the Arab worlds poorest nation.

Grundberg said he was encouraged by positive and detailed discussions he had recently with officials from the government and the rebels, as well as with senior regional and Yemeni officials in Saudi Arabias capital Riyadh and the United Arab Emirates capital Abu Dhabi, and with senior U.S. officials in Washington.

The parties demonstrated an understanding of the immensity of what is at stake and displayed willingness to constructively engage on the way forward," he said.

There is a clear determination on all sides to make progress towards a deal on humanitarian and economic measures, a permanent cease-fire, and the resumption of a Yemeni-led political process under U.N. auspices, Grundberg said.

Yemens devastating conflict began in 2014, when the Iranian-backed Houthis seized the capital of Sanaa and much of northern Yemen and forced the government into exile. A Saudi-led coalition including the United Arab Emirates intervened in 2015 to try to restore the internationally recognized government to power.

A U.N.-backed truce initially took effect in April 2022 and raised hopes for a longer pause in fighting, but it ended on Oct. 2 after just six months.

Grundberg told the council that seven months after its expiration the truce continues to deliver, pointing to continuing commercial flights in and out of Sanaa and ships carrying fuel and other commercial goods arriving and leaving Yemens main port at Hodeida.

While sporadic military incidents continue to occur, levels of hostilities are significantly lower than before the truce, he said. But the fragility of the military situation, the dire state of the economy and the daily challenges facing the Yemeni people provide us with constant reminders of why a more comprehensive agreement between the parties is so vital.

Grundberg pointed to continuing reports of violence across frontlines in the provinces of Al Jawf, Taiz, Marib and Saada. He also mentioned restrictions on freedom of movement, especially in Houthi areas, and the governments inability to export oil, which generated more than half its revenue last year, as examples of the fragility of the current situation. He said the situation underscores the need for a formal cease-fire.

The cornerstone of an agreement on the way forward must be the resumption of a Yemeni-led political process under U.N. auspices to bring an end to the conflict, Grundberg said, stressing that partial or temporary solutions cant tackle Yemens myriad problems.
VinFast CEO Le Thi Thu Thuy and N.C. Gov. Roy Cooper sit inside a VF8 electric car Tuesday, March 29, 2022 outside the Raleigh Convention Center following an announcement that the company will build a manufacturing facility in Chatham County.

Yikes. Return to Sender. Unacceptable. Dont buy.

Late last week, critics released their first impressions of VinFasts VF8, the first model from the Vietnamese automaker available to U.S. drivers. The reviews have largely been negative and blunt.

You dont see a new car get roasted this hard very often these days, wrote auto journalist Andrew P. Collins in The Drive.

Critics agree: The VinFast VF8 is very, very bad, read the headline in the car-focused outlet Jalopnik.

This widespread panning could put North Carolina leaders on alert.

In 2025, VinFast intends to launch its first North American assembly plant on a megasite near the Chatham County town of Moncure, about 30 miles southwest of Raleigh. By decades end, the VinFast factory is projected to employ upwards of 7,500 people and produce hundreds of thousands of fully electric SUVs annually.

Between the state and Chatham governments, officials have allotted $1.25 billion in tax and other incentives for the project.

But all these projections hinge on drivers actually buying the vehicles. Getting a new car brand to connect with customers is a tall task in general. Harsh reviews make that pursuit even more arduous.

VinFast is part of VinGroup, the largest private conglomerate in Vietnam. It began producing cars in 2019, releasing internal combustion engine vehicles within its home market. At the start of last year, the company announced it would pivot to an exclusive EV lineup and begin selling internationally.

The transition has been expensive. In 2022, VinFast lost $2.1 billion, according to its financial records. While its backed by a major conglomerate, VinFast had financial motivation to get its vehicles to market under a quick timeline.

A very bumpy ride

In December, VinFast celebrated its initial shipment of roughly 1,000 VF8s to North America.

Yet delays followed, and customer deliveries did not begin until March. To date, VinFast told The News & Observer, 310 VF8s have been delivered to U.S. customers. In March, the company also postponed the opening of its Chatham plant from 2024 to 2025.

Last week, critics began publishing their reviews from test driving the five-seat SUV model. Many didnt mince words.

Put the VF8 in reverse to back out of a spot, and the whole car shudders violently, noted Motor Trend reviewer Scott Evans in his May 12 write-up.

Evans also found issues with the parking brake release, navigation map display, speed limit warning system, and HVAC system, pointing out one model he tested would reset the internal climate to 80 degrees every time the car was powered off and on. He said he believed many, but not all, of the VF8 perceived shortcomings could be addressed with over-the-air software updates.

Others derided the VF8 for being unsteady.

Mack Hogan of Road & Track magazine said the VF8 had the worst body control of any modern car Ive ever driven, adding over a 90-minute drive, the 5600-lb SUV never stopped bobbing, swaying, and bucking, producing near-constant head-tossing motions.

Hogan deemed the car unacceptable.

InsideEVs called driving in the vehicle unbearable due to the sheer amount of bouncy body motions coming through the VF8s suspension. The reviewer said it was the first time hes ever gotten car sick.

Bad reputation

Another critic chastised VinFast for racing the VF8 through development.

Why Vinfast is intent on rushing this car to market is beyond me, wrote Emme Hall in Green Car Reports on Friday. If it would just slow down a bit, take the time to fix the problems we all experienced, it might actually have a decent car. As it stands now, the VF8 City Edition will do nothing except earn Vinfast a bad reputation, one that might take decades to shake.

VinFast has not yet responded to questions from The News & Observer regarding its reaction to these negative reviews.

Some critics were more favorable. The EV news outlet Electrek called the VF8 a solid start, but theres always room for improvement. Electrek praised the models 10-year, unlimited mileage battery warranty.

The VF8 comes in two versions  City Edition or Plus  with the former being available to some North American customers. The City Edition costs $49,000 and the Plus is listed at $51,800.

Gov. Roy Cooper has spoken optimistically about VinFasts future in North Carolina, heralding the project as transformative when first announcing the states partnership in March 2022. Last month, the governor sat in the passenger seat of a VF8 during a ceremonial test drive in Sanford.

His office has not yet responded to questions about how he found the ride.

This story was produced with financial support from a coalition of partners led by Innovate Raleigh as part of an independent journalism fellowship program. The N&O maintains full editorial control of the work.

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Wednesday, May 17, 2023

Senators want to regulate AI before it gets too big. They're running out of time.

If the senators gathered for the Senate Judiciary Committees hearing on AI on Tuesday seem to agree on one thing, its that they dont want to miss the opportunity to regulate AI like they did social media.

Throughout the hearing, which included testimony by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, IBM (IBM) Chief Privacy and Trust Officer Christina Montgomery, and NYU professor Gary Marcus, senators repeatedly pointed to Congress failure to regulate social media or pass any kind of meaningful data privacy legislation.

The gist of the legislators warnings came down to the potential for AI being used to influence consumers, generate disinformation, or reinforce bias.

We had the same choice when we faced social media. We failed to seize that moment, Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) said. Now we have the obligation to do it on AI before the threats and risks become real.

Fears that AI will be misused

During the hearing, Altman, Montgomery, and Marcus each told the gathered senators that Congress should put at least some kind legislation into place to govern the use of AI. Altman and Marcus in particular called for a new regulatory body that could provide the appropriate licenses for companies to deploy different types of AI.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman speaks before a Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Privacy, Technology and the Law hearing on artificial intelligence, Tuesday, May 16, 2023, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

Without those, the witnesses said, AI could present its own unique set of problems.

Fundamentally, these new systems are going to be destabilizing, Marcus said in his opening testimony. They can and will create persuasive lies at a scale humanity's never seen before. Outsiders will use them to affect our elections. Insiders to manipulate our markets and our political systems. Democracy itself is threatened.

Altman, for his part, said he has his own set of fears about AI. I think if this technology goes wrong, it could go quite wrong, he said. And we want to be vocal about that. We want to work with the government to prevent that from happening.

Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), meanwhile, questioned whether AI could be used to influence public opinion.

Calls for social media regulation but no action

For years members of Congress have called for stricter regulations over social media content.

Politicians have called for companies like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube to be stripped or depleted of their Section 230 protections. Others have pushed for the establishment of comprehensive data privacy legislation to protect users online information.

Theres a handful of reasons social media has avoided regulations, including a lack of consensus on just how to do it. Section 230, which serves as the backbone of the modern internet, is a frequent target of both Democrats and Republicans. But neither side can agree on why.

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella speaks during a keynote address announcing ChatGPT integration for Bing on February 7, 2023. (Photo by Jason Redmond / AFP)

Democrats say they want to hold sites accountable for what their users post, especially when it comes to disinformation, while Republicans say they want to go after sites for over-moderating content.

Privacy regulation, meanwhile, has been in the works for years, but here we are in 2023 and theres no true national data privacy law.

Theres potential

While Congress hasnt been able to pull anything together with regards to social media or privacy, it looks as though there might be hope for AI regulation.

In addition to Altman and Montgomery calling for regulation, senators were largely open to ideas about how to deploy AI responsibly. And unlike hearings about social media when lawmakers have been hostile to witnesses such as Meta (META) CEO Mark Zuckerberg or former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, the senators were generally calm and thoughtful in their comments.

Still, itll likely be some time before any kind of regulation sees the light of day. Blumenthal himself said that Tuesdays hearing was the first of a number to come. But with the pace at which AI is advancing, that could be too long for Congress to wait.

Daniel Howley is the tech editor at Yahoo Finance. Follow him @DanielHowley

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A woman went viral after she discovered an unopened scholarship letter from one of her top colleges, prompting the school to reach out to her.

Last month, Madi, who goes by the username @luvlyymadiii, shared a clip on TikTok of her video diary for 29 April. As she sat on the floor, she proceeded to go through her mail, before finding an unopened letter from Maryville College, which is based in Tennessee.

Going through my unopened college acceptance letters from October after cleaning out [the] closet, she wrote in the text over the clip.

In the footage, Madi proceeded to look at the letter and opened her mouth in shock. She described the offer that she received from the university, writing: Finds out I had a $104,000 scholarship from one of my top three colleges.

Madi then looked at the camera, before pointing out her feelings of shock and anger. She continued to film herself reading the letter, as she explained why she didnt initially plan on going to this school.

Already decided to go to a community college because I thought university would be too much debt. Disappointed I never opened this letter & college decision day is literally Monday, she wrote, referring to 1 May, which is the date that many high school seniors decide which college they want to attend in the fall.

The 18-second video ended with Madi holding up the letter, as she turned her head to the side and continued to look disappointed. The sound of the footage also included a snippet of the Taylor Swift song High Infidelity, from her album Midnights. Madi made a reference to one of the lyrics in the caption, writing: Do you really want to know where I was April 29th?

As of 17 May, Madis video has more than 2.8m views, with TikTok users in the comments encouraging her to still go to Maryville College.

Change your decision, it will be worth it!! one wrote, while another added: GO. enrollment deposits are NOT binding. Go!!!

A third agreed: You opened it a day before decision [day] for a reason. Go and get that uni education w/ the scholarship!! Itll be worth it!.

In a follow-up video, Madi revealed that the admissions office at Maryville College had called her, after seeing her viral video. She explained that the university was still offering her the scholarship and wanted her to attend the school.

Basically, they said that they were going to make my dreams come true, she said. Theyre going to send me like an official award offer letter to my Gmail. I dont know how they found me but they did. So, now Im going to college, and Im just so excited!

Speaking to The Independent, Madi revealed that shed be getting the same scholarship from Maryville as indicated in her letter. She also explained that it was much easier than expected for her to switch to the school, after initially choosing a community college.

This was a mature decision I had to make regarding my future finances & my plan for my career, so I must admit I was scared to make a decision & mess the entire trajectory of my life up! she said. Making such a decision is a lot of pressure for 18 year olds. I am very aware that I am still young so I didnt want to act on such a decision immaturely.

Speaking to The Independent, Dr Alayne Bowman, Vice President for admissions and financial aid at Maryville, recalled how she found Madi through Instagram, after the TikTok video went viral. From there, she discovered Madis full name in the colleges information system and contacted her.

It was exciting to make that call because as a college, we knew it wasnt too late for her to enroll, Bowman said. Maryville College is intentional about making college affordable, and we knew we could make this dream of hers come true. She was so sweet and excited when we spoke, and our entire office was thrilled that we were able to reach her and hopefully make Maryville College her home for the next four years.

In her second TikTok video, Madi explained why she didnt open her initial letter in the first place, noting that she had over 300 letters come in at the time and it was impossible for her to open each one. She also pointed out how she had a busy schedule.

I was still doing a ton of school work, and I had a job, she said. So, I just figured I was going to keep all of those letters for my children so that whenever they were in high school, Id be like: Your mom was a genius, and you should be working like a genius.

She concluded the video by expressing how excited she is to be going to Maryville College.

Meanwhile, this isnt the first student who has gone viral on TikTok, when sharing some of their experiences. Last month, one university student sparked a debate about expectations in school when she tearfully revealed that her professor gave her a zero on her six-page philosophy essay.

And so I wrote this entire paper, and all I needed on it was a 17 or 18 per cent to pass the course. The professor gave me a zero, the college student, Erika Schafrick, explained in her viral clip. And Im literally sitting here thinking it was a mistake so I sent him my submission receipt and he was like: No, its not a mistake, heres your feedback.

According to Schafrick, her professor claimed in the feedback that what shed written misrepresented the text the class had been assigned. However, she alleged that the work could be interpreted in so many different ways.


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Canada's Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry Francois-Philippe Champagne, fifth from right, poses with executives of LG Energy Solution (LGES) and Stellantis at the site for the two companies' joint battery plant in Ontario in this March 2022 file photo. Courtesy of LGES



Trudeau meets with chairmen of SK Group, POSCO Holdings



By Park Jae-hyuk



Canadian government officials visiting Korea this week have been focusing on strengthening partnerships with electric vehicle (EV) and battery firms here, drawing speculation on whether the mineral-rich North American country can resolve a conflict with LG Energy Solution (LGES), one of the world's leading EV battery manufacturers.



On Wednesday, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had meetings with SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won and the group's top battery-related businesses executives, as well as POSCO Holdings Chairman Choi Jeong-woo.



Trudeau met with executives of EV battery maker SK On and SKC, which produces copper foil for batteries. The POSCO Holdings chairman had talks with the prime minister on the business of POSCO Future M, which had decided to set up a joint battery materials plant in Quebec with General Motors.



"On Stellantis and LG, Canada has been successfully delivering great jobs for the middle class across the country through investments by partners from around the world. We will continue to do that," Trudeau told reporters after his summit with President Yoon Suk Yeol on Wednesday afternoon.



Francois-Philippe Champagne, Canada's minister of innovation, science and industry, who accompanied Trudeau on his trip to Korea, also told reporters late Tuesday that he would talk with LGES management at Wednesday's dinner hosted by Yoon, to convince the Korean company and Stellantis to resume the construction of their joint battery plant in Ontario.



The construction has been suspended as the Canadian government did not fulfill its promise of offering higher incentives while providing Volkswagen with handsome benefits.



"In the spirit of fairness ... we said we would level the playing field with the United States, that we would offer them a fair deal quite similar to what we have offered to Volkswagen," Champagne said, urging Ontario to pay its fair share. The Canadian province has remained reluctant to share the burden with the central government.



The Canadian minister added that he wants to reassure LGES CEO Kwon Young-soo of Canada's satisfaction with this investment.



"I know his face, I know who he is, so we just need to find him in the room, but trust me  I'm not very shy, so if he's in the room, I will talk to him," he said.



An LGES spokesman, however, said on Wednesday morning that the CEO would not attend the dinner. According to government sources, LGES Chief Risk Management Officer Lee Bang-soo was on the dinner list.



"The event will be attended by other executives," the spokesman said. "It remains unclear whether the issue will be discussed at the dinner, given that there will be executives of other companies."



During his visit to Seoul, Champagne also met with executives of Hyundai Motor and Solus Advanced Materials.



"Canada and Hyundai will keep working together to expand and collaborate," he tweeted. "Solus Advanced Materials is Canada's key partner and a leader in the next generation of the EV battery ecosystem."



He also visited Hanwha Group's headquarters to talk with Hanwha Aerospace executives about cooperation in aerospace and defense.



In addition, SK ecoplant and Canada's World Energy GH2 signed an agreement for the Korean builder's participation in the first phase of Project Nujio'qonik, a $4.5 billion (U.S.) intercontinental green hydrogen commercialization project.



The agreement came as the Canadian prime minister emphasized the two countries' cooperation in clean energy projects, in his speech at Korea's National Assembly earlier that day.


YEREVAN, MAY 17, ARMENPRESS. Minister of Internal Affairs Vahe Ghazaryan has met with James Applegate, U.S. Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary, Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) of the U.S. Department of State.

Deputy Chief of Mission at the Embassy of the United States of America in Yerevan, Armenia Chip Laitinen and Alexis Haftvani, Director of the U.S. Embassy Yerevan's Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement (INL) also attended the meeting.

Ghazaryan praised the strong and effective friendly cooperation between Armenia and the United States, which has a history of 30 years and is based on common values of democracy, human rights and rule of law, the Ministry of Internal Affairs said in a readout.

Minister Ghazaryan presented the course of reforms of the ministry and thanked the U.S. federal government for its contribution to the launch of the the police patrol service, technical assistance and high-quality expert support in training the officers. He emphasized the cooperation in INL in this direction.

Ghazaryan affirmed readiness to complete the reforms and enable to have a respected, professional, technically-equipped police force with integrity capable of withstanding modern challenges, which will in turn ensure the proper functioning of the internal affairs ministry.

Applegate noted the positive ongoing reforms in the Ministry of Internal Affairs and expressed readiness to continue cooperation.

He attached importance to training of officers and partnership with the civil society.

Issues related to officer recruiting in the provinces, encouraging the involvement of women in the force, the equipment and weapons, certification and training of officers were also discussed.
YEREVAN, MAY 17, ARMENPRESS. The National Security Service has seized over a ton of cocaine smuggled into Armenia from Ecuador.

The cocaine with a street value of over 250 million was smuggled into the country in a shipment of goods ordered by an Armenian fruit importing company from a company in Ecuador.

The shipment made its way to Armenia through Panama, Italy and Georgia.

In a statement, the National Security Service of Armenia said the investigation was conducted as part of criminal proceedings initiated on May 13 by the General Department of Investigations of the National Security Service.

An unspecified number of persons have been questioned, inquiries have been sent to authorized bodies and an identification test of the substance has been conducted amid the ongoing investigation.
YEREVAN, MAY 17, ARMENPRESS. Urgent actions are being taken within the framework of the criminal proceedings initiated by the investigative department of the Yerevan city of the Investigative Committee of Armenia, in order to find out the circumstances of the apparent kidnapping of a person, ARMENPRESS was informed from the Investigative Committee of Armenia.

On May 17, 2023, Ashot Pashinyan reported about crime, stating that on the same day, May 17, around 12:47, he was walking across the street in front of the Court of Appeals on G. Nzhdehi Street to G. Nzhdeh square. Parents of soldiers killed during the 2020 war were standing in the courtyard of the Court of Appeal. When he had passed about 50 meters from them, they approached him walking quickly.

Approaching Ashot Pashinyan, one of them introduced herself as the mother of the fallen soldier, offered to sit in her car parked nearby, so that they could talk quietly. When he got into the car, the said woman unexpectedly drove it, saying that they would go a little further so as not to be disturbed.

The woman started talking about the 2020 war, territorial and human losses. Seeing that the latter is behaving inappropriately, exceeding the speed, in violation of the traffic rules, Ashot Pashinyan demanded to stop the car so that he can get off. The mentioned woman said that her son was taken and killed without asking her, she has nothing to lose, she can kill him, so she takes him to Yerablur without asking, where she will decide whether to let him free or not, based on her emotions.

Arriving at the supermarket near the "Tsereteli" intersection, taking advantage of the fact that the woman slowed down the speed of the car, he quickly opened the front right door of the car and threw himself out during the process.

Seconds after that, when he was already standing, a white Toyota hit him. Turning around, he noticed that the driver and passengers of the said car were the other parents standing near the court. Based on his safety, he immediately entered the territory of the supermarket," the message states.

A criminal case has been initiated. The woman is arrested.




Hyundai Motor and its smaller affiliate Kia said Wednesday their combined vehicle sales in Europe rose 1.1 percent in April from a year earlier.







Last month, Hyundai and Kia sold a total of 89,804 vehicles in Europe, up from 88,814 units a year earlier. But their combined market share fell to 9.3 percent in the European passenger car market from 10.7 percent during the same period, the companies said, citing data from the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association (ACEA).







Bestselling models in Europe include Hyundai's Tucson, Kona SUVs and Kia's Sportage SUV.







The two Korean carmakers posted a 3.7 percent on-year decline in electric vehicle sales at 11,604 units in Europe in April, the ACEA data showed.







Their accumulated EV sales in Europe exceeded 500,000 units for the first time in April since Kia advanced to the single economic bloc with the Soul EV in April, 2014.







From January to April, the corporate duo's sales climbed 3.8 percent to 371,986 autos from 358,348 units during the same period of last year, ACEA data showed. (Yonhap)


The victory has unsurprisingly created a dilemma that has become quite routine for the Congress

After its decisive victory in Karnataka, the Congress Party now has to live up to the expectations it has raised. The win is as much an unequivocal verdict against Narendra Modis vision of One Party, One Nation, One Leader and the Bharatiya Janata Partys conviction that its organisation can convert anti-incumbency into a renewed mandate, as it is an endorsement for the Congress as the alternative in Karnataka.

The victory has unsurprisingly created a dilemma that has become quite routine for the Congress. The crisis as it unfolds reveals the indecision that is inevitable when the authority of the partys high command and confidence in its solutions has eroded to the point that chief ministerial hopeful D.K. Shivakumar on his way to New Delhi declared his intention was not to back stab and blackmail, by which one can assume he meant the party and his rival. The indecision over who should be chief minister also made the Congress vulnerable to extra political pressure, from the Veerashaiva Lingayat seers, a section of Muslims represented by the Karnataka Waqf Board chairman Shafi Sadi writing to Mallikarjun Kharge stating their terms of support for the biggest test of the rejuvenated party in the 2024 general election.

These claims openly made are symptomatic of the erosion of authority of the Congress central leadership. This was true for the times when Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi held the presidentship of the party. It is turning out to be true now that the Congress has an elected president in Mallikarjun Kharge.

Despite its pompous description, the high command seems to have very little capacity to put down insurrections or punish insurrectionists. The festering five-year war between Ashok Gehlot and Sachin Pilot in Rajasthan, which has reached yet another crisis point, following the younger leaders dharna, padayatra and now ultimatum is confirmation that the high commands writ does not run in the state. The high commands pitiful state was evident when it was held to account by the G-23, a group of senior party leaders who demanded an overhaul starting with a strong democratically elected leadership.

The Congress as an election fighting outfit is the first responsibility of the party president and the high command, whoever the persons on it may be. While the Congress has revealed a formidable strength in its unexpected ability to convert the disadvantages in Karnataka of rival factions, caste-based politics, religious community loyalties and an educated population into a winning strategy, it must reflect on how this astute political manoeuvre can be replicated.

One probable reason was that the party reaped the dividend of an organisation that was battle ready despite the rivalries between Siddaramaiah, D.K. Shivakumar and M.B. Patil, all of whom kept their bit of the party organisation fighting fit after the party lost power. In Rajasthan, the organisation is battle ready for much the same reason as the two rivals have worked in parallel to keep their turf under control through the war that has been going on for years.

It is now Mr Kharges job to figure out how he can convert this weakness into strength. Unless he can do so, the Congress faces almost inevitable defeat in the forthcoming state Assembly elections.

Finding the mantra to settle warring leaders and get them to work for the larger goal of winning the election is what the Congress really needs. It has warring leaders in almost every state; in Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh where it is the ruling party and faces anti-incumbency and the ugliness of the internecine conflict; as well as in Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Assam and even West Bengal.

The other lesson that the Congress needs to learn is how to play host to important defectors, disgruntled over candidate or constituency selection by the authoritarian BJP high command, as it did in Karnataka. Till now, it has been the party that haemorrhaged most, with large-scale defections that have debilitated the organisation. It cannot afford to lose the investment in made in building up leaders by declaring like an offended debutante, if they want to go, we will not stop them.

Of equal priority is the much more difficult task of developing a winning ideological narrative to take on the BJP and its outsize leader, Prime Minister Narendra Modi. In Karnataka, Mr Kharge pulled off a stunning ideological finesse by going all out secular with a promise to ban extremist religious outfits like the Bajrang Dal and the Popular Front of India. The Bajrang Bali campaign blew up in Mr Modis face and powered the Congress to power with 135 seats.

To escape the trap of the BJP hardening its overpowering right-wing Hindutva majoritarian politics that virtually cancels the commitment to secularism required of political parties by the Constitution, Mr Kharge has to follow through on the Karnataka strategy.

The less obvious bit of the Karnataka strategy is the careful utilisation of Rahul Gandhi and the control over what he said. That ought to be replicated. After years of serving up Rahul Gandhi as a sacrificial offering to challenge Mr Modis carefully scaled-up persona and make it an easy target for the BJP to regurgitate its practised tirade, the Congress now has a leader who is familiar with the masses. The Bharat Jodo Yatra has transformed the scion of the so-called Shahi Parivar, now a branded anti-national, into a very different icon.

Regrettable as his occasional facetiousness may be, not least being his recent tweet I am Invincible and I am unstoppable after the victory in Karnataka, the party has an asset that it can weaponise to counter the BJP, between now and the general election in 2024. Rahul Gandhi is now a mass mobiliser. Harvesting the surge of enthusiasm that he can create into votes is the responsibility of the party organisation.

The Congress has three main tasks: to focus on state-specific issues for Assembly elections without losing sight of the larger context; to market its ideological commitment to economically progressive, pro-poor, secular, liberal values and government policies; and to beat the anti-incumbency legacy that it is being made to carry by Narendra Modi and the BJPs line of 70 years of bad governance. The trick may lie in trying to focus on the almost 10 years of Mr Modis rule because elections are also a verdict on the performance of the ruling government.

Instead of being distracted by sentiment, what the Congress Party needs most is to focus on winning and confidently deliver that message to voters.
Recent street protests against the slander and ambitions of Rayan the Chaldean are a sign of strength, Cardinal Sako told AsiaNews. The self-styled Christian leader, head of a militia set up to fight the Islamic State, accuses Church leaders of theft and abuse. In reality, he already controls much of the Nineveh Plains and wants more power.

Baghdad (AsiaNews)  Rayan al-Kaldani, head of the Babylon Movement, a Christian political party in Iraq, recently launched a verbal attack against Card Louis Raphael Sako, head of Iraqs Chaldean Church, and other Church leaders.

In response, Christians "gave a signal of strength" by taking to the streets "to protest for the first time" in their recent history, numbering more than a thousand men and women, lay people and priests, with flags, olive branches, and songs, said Cardinal Sako, patriarch of Baghdad of the Chaldeans.

Despite the personal attack, the prelate remains optimistic and renews his enthusiasm despite the difficulties, inspired, among other things, by the visit of Pope Francis two years ago. "The pontiff gave voice to our community, which now walks holding its head held high. Despite being a minority, it shows all its vitality and the desire to assert its rights.

Kaldani, a self-styled Christian leader backed by Shia groups linked to foreign powers, wants to set up a Christian enclave in the Nineveh Plains, taking advantage of his position since his party holds four of the five parliamentary seats reserved for Iraqs Christian minority, while one of its members holds a cabinet post. Although set aside for Christians, non-Christians can also vote for those seats.

Only one family is involved; that of Rayan al-Kaldani: his three brothers and two sons-in-law, who want to take over everything, Card Sako told AsiaNews.

The show of grassroots support for the patriarch and the Chaldean Church at the recent rally in Baghdads Tahrir Square saw some tensions when counterdemonstrators from the Babylon Movement showed up. Card Sakos supporters responded with their own slogans and songs, making their "voice" heard, as the patriarch himself emphasised.

"We have great spiritual, moral and patriotic strength which they do not have, he said. On the contrary, they rely on money and weapons. People stand in solidarity with us instead, not only Christians but Muslims too who condemn these attacks and lies.

Support also came from 11 ambassadors of the European Union, the United States, other Christian religious leaders, including the Syriac Catholic bishop of Mosul and a letter from the Orthodox bishops". All this "is a source of courage and will to resist.

"We find ourselves struggling against a militia that acts like a state with money, soldiers and weapons. For 20 years, this has been Iraqs weak point. The country lacks authoritative governments and solid institutions that guarantee respect for the rule of law.

For some people, this is some internal conflict among Christians, but that is not the case, said a bitter patriarch.

In recent weeks, the clash between Chaldean Church leaders and Rayan the Chaldean is nothing new. The latter has been involved in controversial activities in the past, and has styled himself as the leader of the Christian community, weapons and all.

His partys paramilitary militia, the "Babylon Brigades", was created almost a decade ago to resist the Islamic State group in northern Iraq; since then it has become an economic and political force to reckon with.

"He wants an autonomous region with him at the helm, explained Card Sako. The brigades are part of the Popular Mobilisation [Forces], which are actually a Shia militia. Kaldani has a strong position with four MPs and the [Immigration] Ministry.

Flushed with money and with loads of weapons, he has now moved on to lies, accusing me of having sold Church assets and transferred millions of dollars to a bank account in Canada. This is an absurdity, but simple people can be hoodwinked; for this reason, I set off on a campaign to assert the truth of the facts.

Kaldanis way of thinking is not very shrewd; his aim is to conquer, which has led him to take over Nineveh, from Qaraqosh to Alqosh. This is dangerous because it could spark tensions and conflicts in the Kurdish region.

In recent weeks Babylon Movements leader has accused the cardinal of interfering in politics and damaging the reputation of the Church in Iraq by sympathising with Israel and visiting that country.

Card Sako also has some choice words for the Iraqi government, the prime minister and the weakness they are showing in this whole affair  within the Christian community, there is talk of boycotting the next elections.

"I do not see any strong reaction" from the government, and I do not expect anything from that quarter. We are the ones who shall continue this struggle.

On a positive note, the cardinal is convinced that the situation will raise "greater awareness and boost courage", which is something new for Iraqs Christians.
by Melani Manel Perera

A controversial televangelist who heads a church he founded is sowing discord in the country with outrageous remarks about Buddha. Cardinal Ranjith, who stressed that the pastor is not connected in any way with the Catholic Church, wants people who spread hate to be investigated. Buddhist groups demand his arrest. For his part, the pastor said he would meet his followers next Sunday in the country.

Colombo (Asia News)  Pastor Jerome Fernando, a televangelist who founded his own Global Glorious Church, has sparked heated arguments in Sri Lanka.

Pastor Fernando has aroused outrage for some derogatory remarks he made about the Buddha and other religions, which found a huge echo on social media and generated strong tensions.

Archbishop Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith of Colombo waded into the controversy in order to clarify that the preacher is not a Catholic priest nor has any links with the Catholic Church in Sri Lanka.

Speaking about the matter, Card Ranjith wondered yesterday why the authorities so far "have not investigated those who contaminate the minds of people with false religious beliefs.

The New Buddhist Front (Nawa Bikshu Peramuna) and the Pure Hela (Sinhala) Heritage (Pivithuru Hela Urumaya, PHU) party filed a complaint with the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) against Jerome Fernando, demanding his immediate arrest.

The CID went before the Fort Magistrates Court yesterday, which issue an overseas travel ban against the clergyman, but he had already left the island on Sunday.

Nevertheless, on his Instagram account, Fernando gave an appointment to his followers for next Sunday, 21 May, at his church in Colombo.

Details about people who backed Pastor Jerome have appeared lately on social media, said Fr Cyril Gamini Fernando, media spokesman for the Archdiocese of Colombo. It is shocking to note that no probe has been conducted with regard to this matter.

For him, One cannot rule out interreligious conflicts as a result of statements like the ones made by Pastor Jerome. We cannot forget this countrys past. We urge people to be aware of those who rouse ethnic and religious hatred.

As a principle, Everyone in this country has the right to follow any faith, but no one has the right to insult the religion followed by others. And the law must guarantee that.
by Mathias Hariyadi

Johnny G. Plate, the only Catholic in Joko Widodo's cabinet, is a member of the NasDem party. He was arrested after he was questioned for three hours at the Attorney General's Office. Along with five other people, he is accused of misusing state funds for personal gain, causing a loss of more than half a billion dollars.

Jakarta (AsiaNews)  Indonesias Minister of Communication and Information Technology Johnny G. Plate has been arrested in connection with a huge corruption scandal in which the government lost more than half a billion dollars, the Indonesian Attorney General's Office (AGO) announced today.

Mr Plate, the only Catholic in President Joko Jokowi Widodos cabinet, is the fifth minister to be charged with corruption since 2021 when the ministers of Fisheries and Social Affairs were jailed for the same reason.

A businessman and prominent leader of the National Democratic Party (NasDem), part of the ruling coalition, Plate was summoned several times to the AGO headquarters to clarify suspicious affairs.

In his latest summon, he was formally charged after three hours of questioning, along with five other individuals, including ministry officials, with misusing government funds causing a huge hole in the public treasury.

The AGO cited Plate's involvement in the acquisition of thousands of communications towers that, according to the ministry, were designed to bring 4G Internet to thousands of villages.

"Today we have full confirmation that the huge financial loss of the state is worth eight trillion rupees (US$ 544 million)," said Muhammad Yusuf Ateh, head of the Financial and Development Supervisory Agency (BPKP).

For some observers, ministers from the NasDem are being removed from the cabinet because the party has backed Anies Baswedan, an opposition leader, for the next presidential election.

In response to the arrest, the Ministry of Communication and information Technology issued a statement stating that it would abide by the law and that its services to the public would not be affected by the case.

President Jokowi's office said the arrest was unexpected. On many occasions, the president reminded officials to work carefully, said Jaleswari Pramodhawardhani, an official with the presidential office.
At the general audience, the pontiff retraced "the restlessness to always go further" that marked the life of the Jesuit patron of the missions and great apostle of Asia. "Even today there are many courageous missionaries, I am thinking for example of those in Papua New Guinea". Francis Xavier's gaze on China and his death on Sancian Island, at the gates of this great country, "a symbol also for today's time".

Vatican City (AsiaNews) - "You young people who feel a restlessness, but do not know what to do: look at St Francis Xavier, look at the horizon of the world, look at the peoples and so many people who suffer and who need to know Jesus. Look and you too go: have courage," appealed Pope Francis to the youth around the world today at the end of the Wednesday general audience held in St Peter's Square.

In his cycle of catechesis dedicated to apostolic zeal today, the Pope dwelt on the figure of the Spanish Jesuit great evangeliser of Asia.

"Some say he is the greatest missionary of modern times," Francis commented, "but it is not possible to say who is the greatest, who is the least. There are so many hidden missionaries who, even today, do much more than Saint Francis Xavier. And Saint Francis Xavier is the patron of missions, like Saint Therese of the Child Jesus. And a missionary is great when he or she goes. And there are many, many priests, lay people, women religious who go to the missionseven from Italy. Many of you, I see for example, when a story arrives about a priest who is a candidate to become a bishop, who spent ten years as a missionary in that place. This is incredible  to leave your own country to preach the Gospel. This is apostolic zeal. This is what we really need to cultivate. And looking at these men and women, we learn."

The pontiff retraced the steps in the life of Francis Xavier, who was "a worldly young man" who "left everything to become a missionary". He reached Goa, India, then the capital of the Portuguese Orient. "But he does not stop there. " But he did not stop there: he went to evangelise the poor fishermen of the southern coast of India, teaching catechism and prayers to children, baptising and healing the sick. Then, during a night prayer at the tomb of the apostle St Bartholomew, he felt he had to go beyond India: he boldly set sail for the Moluccas, the most distant islands of the Indonesian archipelago".

"One day, in India," the Pope recalled, "he met someone from Japan who spoke to him about his distant country, where no European missionary had ever ventured. Francis Xavier felt a restlessness for the apostolate, to go elsewhere, beyond, and he decided to depart as soon as possible, and arrived there after an adventurous journey on a junk belonging to a Chinese man. His three years in Japan were quite difficult, due to the climate, opposition and his ignorance of the language. Here too, however, the seeds planted would bear great fruit."

Until the last dream that he could not fulfil, that of China: 'he realised that with its culture, its history, its greatness, it exercised de facto dominance over that part of the world. And even today, China is a cultural pole with a very great history'. He died on 3 December 1552 on the small island of Sancian, in front of the Chinese gates, waiting in vain to land on the mainland near Canton. Already aged 46 years from a life totally spent on the proclamation of the Gospel, he died in total abandon, with only a Chinese man beside him to watch over him. "It is all a symbol," the pope commented.

Francis Xavier's intense activity ' was always joined with prayer, the union with God, mystical and contemplative. He never abandoned prayer because he knew that is where he drew his strength. Wherever he went, he took great care of the sick, the poor and children. He was not an aristocratic missionary. He always went with the most in need, the children who were most in need of instruction, of catechesis. The poor, the sick He specifically went to the frontiers when it came to care. And there, he grew in greatness. And the love of Christ was the strength that drove him to the furthest frontiers, with constant toil and danger, overcoming setbacks, disappointments and discouragement; indeed, giving him consolation and joy in following and serving Him to the end.".

"Give us some of this zeal," the Pope concluded, "to live and proclaim the Gospel. Even today there are courageous young people. I think for example of so many missionaries in Papua New Guinea, of my friends who are in the diocese of Vanimo, of all those who have gone as young people to evangelise. May the Lord give us all the joy of evangelising, the joy of carrying forward this very beautiful message that makes us and everyone happy".

Finally, in his greetings to the groups present, Francis turned his thoughts, as usual, to the martyred Ukrainian people. "There is so much suffering," he recalled, "let us pray for the children, for the wounded, for those who have died. So that peace may return'.
The guard, Muhammad Alam Khan, was hired to protect the school. After his arrest, investigators are looking for a motive. A few years ago, the school was shut down due to terrorist attacks by the Taliban. Nobel Peace Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai was shot in the same area in 2012 by the same group. Over the past year, attacks are up in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, a province that borders Afghanistan.

Peshawar (AsiaNews)  A police officer tasked with guarding a girls school run by Catholic nuns in north-western Pakistan fired at a school bus carrying teachers and students. An eight-year-old girl was killed, and at least six other girls and a woman were wounded.

The incident took place in Sangota, Swat Valley, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. This is where activist Malala Yousafzai comes from. She won a Nobel Peace Prize for campaigning against the ban on girls' education imposed by Pakistani Taliban (Tehreek-e Taliban Pakistan, TTP),

In 2012 she was shot in the head on a bus on her way home from school. A few years earlier the same Catholic school, the Sangota Public School, had to close due to threats and terrorist attacks.

The policeman who opened fire on the schoolgirls yesterday was arrested and identified as Muhammad Alam Khan. The motive for his action is unclear.

A police officer ruled out that it was a militant attack, while a district police officer said an investigation was underway.

According to local media, Khan, originally from the Salampur area, was hired by the school three months ago. Previously, he had been suspended twice from the police for unknown reasons.

Adil Ghouri, president of the Christian Awareness Movement (Masihi Tehreek-e Beadari), along with other Christian activists condemned the attack, urging the provincial government to act.

The Catholic Public High School (more commonly known as Sangota Public School) was set up in 1962 under the direction of the Diocese of Islamabad-Rawalpindi and has been run by the Irish Sisters of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Converted into an exclusively girls school in the 1990s, it was turned into rubble in 2009 in an attack by Islamic extremists. No one was killed or wounded at the time because the nuns had already shut it down.

Two years earlier, a threatening letter signed by the radical Islamic militant group Jan Nisaran-e-Islam accused the sisters of converting Muslim girls to Christianity, despite the fact that 99 per cent of the students were Muslim.

The school reopened in 2012 after anti-terrorist operations by the Pakistani government cleared the area. It initially had only three nuns and 80 girls; presently, it has 800 pupils, four sisters, 26 teachers and 10 support staff.

According to experts, the Taliban return in Afghanistan in August 2021 has provided renewed impetus to the TTP and other terrorist groups operating in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and other border areas, such as Balochistan.

According to the South Asia Terrorism Portal, 527 deaths (civilians, military and terrorists) were reported in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in 2022, up from around 300 the previous year.

This has become a source of concern for the Pakistani government at a time when it is involved in a power struggle with the political opposition.

The number of violent terrorist incidents rose from 168 in 2021 to 225 in 2022, as well as in intensity.

According to the anti-terrorism department of Peshawar, 180 terrorist attacks were reported in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in the first four months of 2023, compared to 133 in the last four months of last year.

For Pakistans Armed Forces, the toll in 2022 was the worst since 2013, with December being the deadliest month in 10 years.

Terrorists have targeted security forces because they represent the central government. The TTPs objective is the creation of an Islamic emirate along Afghan lines based on Islamic law (Shari'a).
by Vladimir Rozanskij

While President Serdar Berdymuhamedov joined the other Central Asian leaders in Moscow's Red Square at the last moment, so as not to leave big brother Russia alone, there have been parades and musical concerts at home since the beginning of May.

Ashgabat (AsiaNews) - Turkmenistan has also joined in the celebrations of the Victory over Nazism, the pivot of its post-Soviet identity, but as always it takes on a very folkloric note, to exalt its own diversity.

While President Serdar Berdymuhamedov joined the other Central Asian leaders in Moscow's Red Square at the last moment, so as not to leave his Russian big brother alone, there have been particularly intense and solemn parades and musical concerts at home since the beginning of May.

The main event was the 'Music of Victory', held at the 'Maja Kulevaja' National Conservatory, where not only were performances accompanied by dances and figures in national costumes, but the participation of students, teachers and 'folk musicians', including a children's choir, the children of Conservatory employees, was also highlighted.

The large audience lined up the few war veterans with droves of jubilant children, and the show was repeated in various halls and theatres around the country.

The concert was led by the country's most famous aksakal, composer and maestro Atageld Garjagdiev, accompanied by soprano Sukhana Tujlieva, who dramatically performed the song Uruzdan gelmedik adam, 'Brother who did not return from the war'.

Baritone Nury Khalmamedov then performed 'Remembrance of the Soldier', joining tenor Mejlis Muratgeldiev in Mirazdar, 'The Heir'. Together with the students, the legendary 'Dance of the Storks' was then performed, complete with fluttering birds above the hall.

In the background, a video shows highlights from the war chronicle of the Great Patriotic War, and a few minutes of silence are reserved for the fallen. Another concert features the 'Waltz before the War' by Pavel Aedonitsky, a great composer who died in 2013, who had set to solemn music an 1840 song by his great-grandfather Fedor, an Orthodox Church cantor who wanted to commemorate the victory over Napoleon.

Aedonitsky himself had been a young war doctor, saving many people in Russia on the 'Karl Libknecht' naval clinic along the Volga: he did not want to attribute heroic merits to himself, but asked to be admitted to the Conservatory.

In other rooms, the Hymn of the Defence of the Fatherland resounds, along with the song 'Holy War' by composer Aleksandr Aleksandrov, to the words of poet Vasily Lebedev, accompanied by the brass orchestra 'Brass Star' led by Kakadzhan Khudajberdyev.

Then, on the dutar, the two-stringed lute typical of Central Asia, the piece on 'Tragic Destiny' is performed, in which Lacin Khudajberdyeva, the conductor's wife, is dressed in the traditional image of the 'Mother-Patriot', a national costume with silver decorations, to recall 'the generous gift of Turkmen mothers' who sacrificed themselves during wars, even donating all their jewellery.

During the Second World War, seven and a half tons of gold and silver, 80 per cent of all precious metals in the country, were collected from the mothers.

At the end of the concerts, children in military uniforms, who form the group called 'The Little Country', parade and sing the peace song 'The Soldier's Holiday' walking and running across the stage, greeting the audience and invoking a world of peace and joy, so necessary to the times we are living in, and which Turkmenistan always tries to stage.
Kim Yoon, Korean co-chair of the Korea-Japan Economic Association (KJE), right, and his Japanese counterpart, Mikio Sasaki, announce a joint statement on the outcome of a KJE meeting at a hotel in downtown Seoul, Wednesday. Yonhap



Korea and Japan agreed Wednesday to enhance bilateral cooperation in new industry fields and promote exchanges for a stronger economic and business partnership by maximizing a recent thaw in their diplomatic relations, an association concerned with bilateral economic ties said.



The agreement was made after around 240 senior officials of the two nations' governments, major companies and experts held a two-day meeting from Tuesday in Seoul, hosted by the Korea-Japan Economic Association (KJE), the Japan-Korea Economic Association and several other related agencies.



The annual event was held face-to-face for the first time in four years.



Wrapping up the meeting, the participants adopted a joint statement that calls for the expansion of economic cooperation through various joint projects on the digital transition, green growth and other new industries, and making inroads into new global markets together.



They agreed to promote personnel and cultural exchanges, as well as exchanges among their regional bodies to advance the bilateral economic relationship, the statement read.



The two sides also vowed to work more closely regarding upcoming world expos, as Korea seeks to host the 2030 World Expo in the southeastern city of Busan and Japan has been selected to host the 2025 World Expo in Osaka.



"Korea secures manufacturing technologies and has a capacity for conducting major projects, and Japan has know-how in software and expertise in the financial sector. Cooperation between the two is expected to create good results," said KJE chief Kim Yoon, who also leads Samyang Holdings Corp.



The meeting took place at a time when Seoul and Tokyo have been working to restore and strengthen their economic and industry relations, which had been frayed by historic and diplomatic rows stemming from Japan's 1910-45 colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula.



In March, the Seoul government offered to compensate victims of colonial Japan's forced labor policy without contributions from the accused Japanese companies, a decision hailed by Tokyo that led to the first summit between President Yoon Suk Yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.



The two leaders met again in Seoul last week, where they vowed to redouble efforts to improve their economic and security ties.



Last month, the Seoul government put Japan back on its white list of trusted trade partners, and Japan is taking steps to return Seoul to its fast-track trade partner list.



The meeting was also attended by CJ Group Chairman Sohn Kyung-Shik, Akitaka Saiki, an independent director of Japan's Mitsubishi Corp., and Aso Cement Chairman Yutaka Aso, according to the organizers. (Yonhap)


Best Men's Linen Shirts (and How to Wear Them)

Here's Why You Need to Make Linen Your Fabric of Choice This Summer

The AskMen editorial team thoroughly researches & reviews the best gear, services and staples for life. AskMen may get paid if you click a link in this article and buy a product or service.

Product photos from retailer site.

Linen fabric has long been a durable, dependable summer-friendly fabric made from the flax plant. According to Encyclopedia Britannica: Flax is one of the oldest textile fibers used by humans; evidence of its use has been found in Switzerlands prehistoric lake dwellings. Fine linen fabrics have been discovered in ancient Egyptian tombs.

RELATED: Best Short Shorts for Men

Thanks to its ability to conduct heat well by absorbing and releasing moisture quickly, garments and fabrics made from linen feel cooler in warmer months, making them the ideal option for men looking to elevate their style above the ofttimes chosen cotton t-shirt. This is why come summertime, you'll see linen pants, a blazer, a jacket, and even a full on linen suit - the breathability of pure linen natural fiber makes linen shirts a classic menswear staple for the warm weather wardrobe. Whether it be for a special occasion, that extra hot summer day, or even everyday wear, there seems to only be one real drawback of natural fabric texture Wrinkles.

It's time you forget what youve been told about the fiber from flax you know as linen. Times have changed, and it's time to appreciate the very look and nature of the loosely woven classic fabric. The wrinkles of linen are actually what make it great. When someone wears the flowy fabric, its showing an ease  a comfort in wearing a fabric that couldnt be too formal if it tried. Sure, suits and dress shirts can be found frequently made from linen, but its inherent qualities keep it apart from a tightly woven super 150s wool-silk or a 100% Egyptian cotton broadcloth.

Simply put: embrace the wrinkle.

How to Wear Linen Men's Shirts

Introducing a linen shirt into your wardrobe  warm weather wardrobe, everyday wear, or somewhere in between  might seem intimidating. If you are used to swapping out your button front shirts for a simple polo style, then you can easily grab one of these and wear it just about the same way.

Do: Wear it untucked, with casual jeans, chinos, or shorts whenever you feel the need to be cool - both literally and figuratively.

Wear it untucked, with casual jeans, chinos, or shorts whenever you feel the need to be cool - both literally and figuratively. Dont: Take it too seriously. Relax. There is a common misconception that linen is an unforgiving luxury fabric that needs to be reserved for a special occasion. That is simply not true. Linen can be washed and dried just like all of your other clothes (although always read washing instructions) so it should be worn like all your other clothes.

Take it too seriously. Relax. There is a common misconception that linen is an unforgiving luxury fabric that needs to be reserved for a special occasion. That is simply not true. Linen can be washed and dried just like all of your other clothes (although always read washing instructions) so it should be worn like all your other clothes. Do: Consider wearing it into the fall. Much like linen sheets (we are a big fan), linen clothing is actually great to incorporate into your cold weather wardrobe as well. Its a sturdy fabric that can actually help regulate temperature all year long, not just during the hot summer days.

Consider wearing it into the fall. Much like linen sheets (we are a big fan), linen clothing is actually great to incorporate into your cold weather wardrobe as well. Its a sturdy fabric that can actually help regulate temperature all year long, not just during the hot summer days. Dont: Overthink it. Pick a style that you think you would wear and then go for it. The nature of this style is to be lightweight and airy, so dont go for anything too slim fit. Fabric does stretch out a bit over time, but you should still aim to buy the size that fits you naturally.

If you want to feel safe, grab a solid option and ease into the stye. If youre looking to dive into the deep end of this trend, go for a bold floral print that will surely get you noticed. If you are feeling somewhere in between, dont worry, there are plenty of options for you guys too.

Weve picked out some of the best modern linen shirts that we think that you should take a serious look at for the warm temperatures ahead.

UNTUCKit Wrinkle-Resistant Linen Vin Santo Shirt

This is the linen shirt for the modern man. Featuring UNTUCKit's signature untucked design and wrinkle-resistant linen fabric, this is how linen is done these days. This shirt works with just about anything, for less than $100, hence why its our pick for one of the best linen shirts for men.

$99 at UNTUCKit.com

Tommy Bahama Sea Glass Breezer Linen Shirt

Youd swear this Tommy Bahama shirt was a washed Oxford with a cutaway collar at first glance, but look again. It's linen all the way. Keep this tucked or leave it untucked with dark jeans, light chinos - even throw it on with a pair of white linen pants and get into full on vacay mode.

$99 at Amazon.com

Amazon Essentials Long Sleeve Linen Shirt

Swap this long sleeve linen shirt from Amazon for your go-to polo or T-shirt when you want to up the sophistication factor while remaining cool and comfortable. This style works well with light denim, chinos of just about any color and of course, your best summer shorts.

From $24.10 at Amazon.com



Everlane Linen Standard Fit Shirt

The woven stripe may be subtle on this Everlane shirt, but less can certainly be more when it comes to linen. We suggest you wear this untucked with just about anything. Not sure if you like this incredibly neutral and natural color well enough to drop the way below retail price? Youre in luck, over half the colors available are on sale, for even less.

$88 at Everlane.com

Polo Ralph Lauren Custom Slim Fit Cotton-Linen Shirt

If you absolutely have to dress up the perennially casual fabric, why not do so with a brand that knows how to dress up better than just about anyone? This bold button-down shirt from Polo Ralph Lauren looks great under a suit jacket, with a pair of seersucker trousers, tucked into crisp chino shorts  basically anything you will end up wearing to a semi-formal event in the warm weather, this shirt is a must.

$148 at RalphLauren.com

J.Crew Baird McNutt Irish Linen Shirt

Just relax with a bold tie dye design from J.Crew. It may stand out from those other button down numbers you have hanging in your closet, but don't let that intimidate you. Throw this on over a t-shirt and wear it with shorts or casual pants for an easy, lightweight summer layer.

Just relax with a bold tie dye design from J.Crew. It may stand out from those other button down numbers you have hanging in your closet, but don't let that intimidate you. Throw this on over a t-shirt and wear it with shorts or casual pants for an easy, lightweight summer layer.

$98 at JCrew.com

Abercrombie Linen Button-Up Shirt

Comfortable button-up shirts have become a wardrobe must, so why not add one like this from Abercrombie to your rotation? It's designed to be the most casual iteration of the summer style staple. The flat hem along the bottom of this blue-hued linen-blend makes it an untucked-only and the relaxed fit means you cant get too stuffy and buttoned up.



Comfortable button-up shirts have become a wardrobe must, so why not add one like this from Abercrombie to your rotation? It's designed to be the most casual iteration of the summer style staple. The flat hem along the bottom of this blue-hued linen-blend makes it an untucked-only and the relaxed fit means you cant get too stuffy and buttoned up.

$80 at Abercombie.com

Dandy Del Mar The Brisa Linen Shirt

If you really want to nail the camp collar trend, go with one with a serious summer vibe. Not your everyday white linen shirt, this is the summer shirt you'll want to make your signature casual look for every spontaneous backyard BBQ, while at the same time, thrown in your bag for all day trips to the beach. If youre looking to add extra flare, grab a straw boater hat and your best huarache sandals and go enjoy the hot, humid summer nights.

$179 at DandyDelMar.com

Bonobos Easy Linen Shirt

Not your basic boring white tee  which has its time and place  and not that stuffy long sleeve business you might not be too keen on wearing with any regularity, this long-sleeve shirt from Bonobos is both stylish and sophisticated. Wear it with the usual jeans or shorts, or go bold with white denim, contrasting trousers or even a seven inch corduroy short to really amp up the retro feel. This is so stylish, it even works under a jacket.

$105 at Bonobos.com

Linen seems to be everywhere lately, so these mens linen shirts are just the tip of the iceberg on the subject. If these dont strike your flax-fiber fancy, use them as a jumping off point to let you know whats trending and stylish and make a note as to where to start when adding one to your warm weather wardrobe or add them to your everyday wear rotation. Youll be ready for the yacht in no time.

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President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden walk down the steps of Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, May 15, after returning from a weekend in Delaware and attending their granddaughter's graduation. AP-Yonhap



President Joe Biden said Tuesday he's curtailing his upcoming trip to the Indo-Pacific, scrapping what was to be a historic stop in Papua New Guinea as well as a visit to Australia for a gathering with fellow leaders of the so-called Quad partnership so he can focus on debt limit talks in Washington.



The scuttling of two of the three legs of the overseas trip is a foreign policy setback for an administration that has made putting a greater focus on the Pacific region central to its global outreach.



Biden said he still plans to depart on Wednesday for Hiroshima, Japan, for a Group of Seven summit with leaders from some of the world's major economies. He will return to the U.S. on Sunday.



"I'm postponing the Australia portion of the trip and my stop in Papua New Guinea in order to be back for the final negotiations with congressional leaders," Biden said at the start of a Jewish American Heritage Month event at the White House. He added, "The nature of the presidency is addressing many of the critical matters all at once. So I'm confident we're going to continue to make progress toward avoiding the default and fulfilling America's responsibility as a leader on the world stage."



Biden said he spoke to Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese earlier on Tuesday to inform him he was postponing a visit to Australia and invited him to Washington for an official state visit at a yet-to-be determined date. White House staff broke the news to Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape.



White House officials did not offer an immediate response to questions about when Biden might reschedule visits to the two countries.



"Revitalizing and reinvigorating our alliances and advancing partnerships like the Quad remains a key priority for the President," White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said. "This is vital to our ability to advance our foreign policy goals and better promote global stability and prosperity. We look forward to finding other ways to engage with Australia, the Quad, Papua New Guinea and the leaders of the Pacific Islands Forum in the coming year."



Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has invited Albanese, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi as well as Pacific Island leaders to come to Hiroshima during the G-7. Albanese in an Australian Broadcasting Corp. interview said that the Quad leaders are now hoping to hold a meeting in Hiroshima.



"We'll also hopefully be able to find a time when the four of us can sit down," Albanese said. "We will have to organize the logistics of the Quad meeting now in Sydney and we'll be discussing with our partners in the U.S., but also Japan and India over the next day or so."



Biden had been scheduled to travel on to Papua New Guinea to meet with Pacific Island leaders and then to Australia for a meeting of the leaders of the Quad partnership, made up of the U.S., Australia, India and Japan. The Papua New Guinea stop would have been the first visit by a sitting U.S. president to the island country of more than 9 million people.





President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden board Air Force One at Philadelphia International Airport in Philadelphia, May 15. AP-Yonhap
Fix Auto Kearny Mesa Named Top Shop by Automobile Club of Southern California

Published May 17, 2023

Fix Auto Kearny Mesa has been recognized for its outstanding performance in 2022, earning the Top Shop by the Automobile Club of Southern California award.

Having joined the Fix Auto USA network of owners just over three years ago, the facility, owned by Bryan Wendt, has been making strides to grow its operations and provide an exceptional level of repair quality and service to its valued community. In addition to receiving the Top Shop recognition, Fix Auto Kearny Mesa was also recognized in the top three out of all member-preferred repairs (MPR) shops in Southern California.

We were honored to receive these recognitions, said Wendt. Our team works day in and day out to provide exceptional collision repair quality to our community. We are committed to our craft and look forward to continuing our growth to serve more in our area.

The Automobile Club of Southern California, an AAA-affiliated club, recognizes top-performing facilities every year. AAA is committed to providing its customers with stellar recommendations to achieve all their vehicle repair needs. Fix Auto Kearny Mesa has been an MPR shop since 2019 and looks forward to the many years ahead.

I cant thank my team enough for their dedication and determination, continued Wendt. This group exceeds my expectations every day. We are ready to keep elevating the bar to reach new heights in collision repair excellence.

Visit FixAutoUSA.com to learn more.

Source: Fix Auto USA
Porsche refreshed the third generation of its flagship SUV, the Cayenne, in 2013, five years after the model's introduction at the Frankfurt International Motor Show.

The German automaker introduced the first generation of the Cayenne in 2002, and it instantly polarized the market. While the brand's hard-core fans were enraged, the company enjoyed huge sales. Soon, it became the best-selling Porsche vehicle. Fast forward more than two decades, and the third's generation facelift appeared on the market. But it wasn't just a slight update, especially for the base version known as the Cayenne S.

One of the most significant upgrades seen on the 2023 model was at the front fascia that sported standard Matrix LED headlights, which were previously offered as an option. In addition, the automaker offered an HD Matrix LED version for those. From its profile, the standard wheels grew in size from 19" to 20 inches. Finally, at the back, the automaker installed redesigned taillights. A distinctive feature of the vehicle compared to higher-powered Cayenne models was noticed under the bumper, where the carmaker installed rectangular chromed tips for the exhaust system.

Inside, the most significant upgrade was on the dashboard, which sported a completely digital instrument panel complemented by a touchscreen for the infotainment system atop the center stack. Furthermore, the side passenger could access music and other info on a third screen with touch capabilities mounted in front of them. Like its predecessors, the 2023 Cayenne S featured a luxurious interior with bolstered front seats and a split-folding bench seat in the back.

But the most crucial upgrade for the Cayenne S was under the hood. Porsche ditched the formerly used 2.9-liter twin-turbocharged V6 and installed a larger turbocharged 4.0-liter V8 that produced 34 more PS (33.5 hp). At the same time, torque was raised by 50 Nm (37 lb-ft) for a total of 600 Nm (443 lb-ft). Thus, the 0 to 62 mph (0-100 kph) time was reduced by 0.2 seconds.
As one of the best classics in what looks to be a junkyard, this 1969 Firebird is a challenging project, especially given it lacks several important parts.The vehicle no longer has an engine or a transmission, and the interior is full of fresh air, as it donated its seats to another project. As such, this Firebird seems to tick the essential boxes for a restomod or full restoration, though that's the buyer's choice once they get their hands on the car.No information was provided on the engine that once put the wheels in motion on this Firebird The 1969 model year was available with three different engine choices and many more power outputs, but the most common configurations were the 250 (4.0-liter) and the 350 (5.7-liter) units. Over 45,000 Firebirds produced for this model year were fitted with a 250 unit, most of them using the standard one-barrel engine with an automatic transmission.As far as the 350 is concerned, the 2-barrel unit paired with an automatic transmission was the top choice, as nearly 36,000 such Firebirds rolled off the assembly lines for this model year.As such, chances are this Firebird was also powered by one of these engines. But given the lack of a powerplant, the owner could theoretically go for pretty much any choice, especially if they are aiming for a restomod.The condition of this Firebird isn't the best either. Both the trunk and the floors have already been invaded by rust, so whoever buys the car should be ready for some serious patches. Rust damage can also be spotted on the outside, but for a clearer picture of everything, you should just go check out everything in person.Now, let's talk money. The car was posted on eBay with a $5,000 selling price, and given the lack of parts and the metal condition, I believe this is quite an ambitious expectation. A solid Firebird project that still has an engine typically sells at the same price, eventually making the restoration less of a challenge. On the other hand, Firebirds are pretty hard to find these days, let alone a 1969 model year, so I wouldnt be surprised if someone ends up buying this example as well.eBay seller classiccarsofsc also accepts other offers, so if you want to buy the car, just reach out to them. The vehicle is parked in Gray Court, South Carolina, and given the vehicle isn't selling at auction, it will likely remain available for as long as needed.
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

In truth, quality issues at FoMoCo products go a long way back. The Dearborn-based automaker came up with the "Quality is Job 1" tagline back in 1981, but  as you're well aware  marketing and reality are two very different things.Did you know Ford issued a recall for previously recalled Explorer vehicles over an incomplete software update? What's more, a launch team member of the all-new Mustang has acknowledged three main issues that Ford is currently sorting out with its seventh-gen pony car.Said issues are V8 valve concerns, inadequate body panel fitment, and electric gremlins. We must also remember the countless problems over which the Bronco has been recalled thus far. The 2021 model, for instance, is listed by thewith six recalls. The 2021 Bronco Sport, by comparison, amassed eight recalls Turning our attention back to Farley, the big kahuna said that Ford's quality is gradually improving, especially in terms of initial quality. How did the Ford Motor Company do it? Farley gives the all-new Super Duty line of trucks as an example, claiming that prototypes have been driven more real-world miles than before. The chief executive officer also claimed that Ford tripled the number of trucks designated for towing tests. Last but certainly not least, assembly plant workers take 100 trucks for 25-mile (40-kilometer) shakedowns every single day. Not a bad way to improve quality, but true quality starts with engineering and design.As a brief refresher, the all-new Super Duty started production back in October 2022 at the Kentucky Truck Plant and Ohio Assembly Plant. Approximately 150,000 orders were received in the first five weeks, and that shouldn't come as a surprise.There are exceptions, of course, but heavy-duty trucks are typically used for heavy-duty jobs. These jobs take their toll on the frame, powertrain, bed, and everything in between.Advertised as the most capable and torquiest pickup in the heavy-duty segment, the 2023 model year Ford Super Study is available from $43,970 for the F-250 XL. At the other end of the range, the F-450 Limited costs $103,030 sans freight.Three powerplants are available, beginning with a 6.8 gasser based on the 7.3-liter V8 that Ford refers to as Godzilla. The Power Stroke turbo diesel is available in two flavors. The high-output version belts out 500 horsepower (best in segment) and 1,200 pound-feet (1,627 Nm) of torque (also best in class).As if that wasn't impressive enough, the redesigned Super Duty offers up to 40,000 pounds (18,144 kilograms) of towing capacity and up to 8,000 pounds (3,629 kilograms) in terms of payload. General Motors and Stellantis haven't reached these figures yet with their Silverado HD and Ram HD pickups.
Photo: Zu Tiny House

Photo: Zu Tiny House

Photo: Zu Tiny House

The Ibiza home is a project that tries to keep things simple without sacrificing aesthetics. The designers focused on creating a small dwelling that would give residents an experience by making them feel like they were in a house in the middle of the Spanish island. They managed to do that by using a light color palette, having light come in from various directions and intertwining design features with nature. The house also focuses on functionality and incorporates smart solutions for storage to allow for extra interior space.Built on a trailer for increased mobility, the Ibiza tiny house measures 26 feet (8 meters) in length and 8.2 feet (2.5 meters) in width, offering a total of 301 square feet (28 square meters) of living space. Despite its compact size, it offers a comfortable place to live for a family of four, as it includes a living room, a full kitchen, a spacious loft, a bathroom, and plenty of clever storage solutions. Everything inside is modern and exudes Mediterranean vibes.The exterior of the Ibiza home, though, might throw you off guard. This is the part of the house that does not match its name. While the white color is one of the most characteristic features of Ibiza houses, leading to the island getting the "White Island" moniker, Zu Tiny House's model features a black seam exterior cladding with cedar accents.The modern industrial appearance, the asymmetrical roof, and the inviting patio are actually the first things that catch your attention when you lay eyes on the Ibiza home on wheels. That large patio measuring 14 x 8 feet (4.3 x 2.5 meters) is a great addition for those who want to extend their living area. It can be decorated with a seagrass rug, wicker baskets, a few cactuses, or a hammock to bring that Ibiza vibe to the exterior as well.The front double glass doors lead into a light-filled interior thanks to the use of light colors throughout and cleverly placed windows that make the space feel roomier than it actually is. A light color palette, and essentially white, is paramount for Ibiza-style decor. It guarantees luminosity and freshness while also creating a soothing atmosphere . For the interior walls, the designers used lacquered painted MDF plates and natural polished paneling.The capacious living room is the first area of the house, and it includes an L-shaped sofa that can transform into a bed for two. A big window next to the couch brings in natural light and fresh air. A sand-colored armchair and a huge potted plant complete the decor of this space.As in most tiny houses of this size, the main floor is in an open-space plan, but there is a room divider made of wood slats that separates the common area from the kitchen and the staircase leading to the loft.The kitchen area, though minimalist , comes with plenty enough of counter space if you want to try your hand at Spanish cuisine as well. Under-counter and overhead cabinets ensure you have enough storage space for kitchenware. In terms of appliances, it is equipped with a four-burner cooktop, an oven, and a farmhouse sink. The storage-integrated staircase opposite the kitchen also houses a Smeg refrigerator.Said staircase leads to the lofted bedroom, and the tall built-in closets provide additional storage space. Incorporated LED lights under the steps and the kitchen cabinets brighten up any space and create a sophisticated aesthetic that complements the overall modern designs.The bedroom allows for plenty of headroom where the bed is, while the tapered ceiling means you can even stand up toward the stairs. The space is fitted with a king-sized bed flanked by two side windows, while a skylight above allows for stargazing. There is a wooden protection wall in place, plus a ledge for books or decor items.Decorative objects are a staple of the Ibiza-style decor, and this house has some as well, including vases of different sizes, pots for plants, and oversized botanical prints on the living room wall.Next to the kitchen downstairs, there is a small bathroom concealed behind a sliding barn door. A tiled shower, a toiler, and a vanity sink are present here. There isn't enough space for a washer-dryer combo, but a solution can be found to incorporate it inside the closets in the kitchen.Zu Tiny House's portfolio includes several other dwellings named after popular vacation destinations across the globe, including Istanbul, Roma, Tokyo, Prague, and Valencia. The builder doesn't mention the price for the Ibiza tiny home on wheels, but they encourage potential customers to contact them for a quote based on their specific needs and preferences.
SUV

Since Honda's recent performance  all-new HR-V (now larger and dubbed internationally as the ZR-V), the latest best-selling CR-V compact CUV, the feisty Civic Type R, and mid-size heroes like the Pilot or Accord, plus the Acura Integra Type S, could not go by unnoticed, Toyota did well to try and take the spotlight back. And they brought forth a lot of heroes to do that.For example, the S235 sixteenth generation Crown has returned to the United States with crossover-like sedan styling, the Prius 'Hybrid Reborn' is also available as a Prime plug-in hybrid, the C-HR bowed out in favor of the larger 2023 Corolla Cross Hybrid, and the 362-hp Grand Highlander Hybrid Max aims to take families on new adventures. Plus, let us remember that we are mere days away from introducing an all-new 2024 Tacoma mid-size pickup truck best-seller.Scheduled on May 19, the truck will not arrive alone on the market as Toyota's luxury division Lexus has also teased a rugged old-school model alongside the 2024 Lexus TX  aka the posher 2024 Grand Highlander. Regarding rock crawling and dune bashing in style, Lexus will soon propose the third generation of their GX series, a model twinned with the international version of the Toyota Land Cruiser Prado. On this occasion, though, it will be the first to arrive on the market with the TNGA-F platform and lots of shared cues from the J300 Land Cruiser and, especially, the J310 Lexus LX flagship full-sizeSome say that the all-new 2024 Lexus GX might step down to the mid-size class and share lots of benefits with the 2024 Tacoma TRD Pro and Trailhunter, as well as the upcoming 2025 Toyota 4Runner, just as it abandons the perks of being a V8-powered wallflower. But that is of no importance to the imaginative realm of digital car content creators, which are unlike most folks dwelling in the real world. Instead, pixel masters only care about the looks of these new releases, both inside and out.And there is no need to take our word for granted, as we have yet another proper example. The good folks over at the "AutoYa" info channel on YouTube have a satellite venue dubbed AutoYa Interior, and that is where all the (CGI) GX action occurs  inside and outside the cabin. As always, the resident CGI expert has extrapolated the hypothetical looks of the upcoming Lexus GX based on the available teaser and treated the big, hulking old-school SUV with a string of unofficial colors for our guilty viewing pleasure. So, which interior and exterior shade combination is your favorite?
Bezos' megayacht would have been noteworthy for its size and reported price tag alone, but it's also an incredible achievement in naval design and construction. Named Koru , which stands for "new beginnings" in Maori, it's the largest sailing yacht in the world, the largest vessel ever built in the Netherlands, and comes paired with the largest support vessel currently in operation.Specifics about the pair of vessels were never disclosed to the public, and they will probably never be, but it's safe to assume that they're very luxurious and designed for ultimate pampering, with an eye for performance and efficiency. Koru, for one, is also a standout for its ability to sail on wind power alone, so it's energy-efficient and has a reduced carbon footprint. Koru is a three-masted schooner measuring 127 meters (417 feet) in total length, with a very distinctive design with a gleaming black hull and white superstructure. Reports in the industry claim that Bezos saw and loved the Black Pearl - not the fictional pirate ship, but the previous holder of the title of the world's largest sailing yacht - and wanted something similar for his first yacht. Both Koru and Black Pearl were built at Oceanco in the Netherlands and are custom designs.Because it's a sailing yacht and, as one, needs the space on deck for sailing, Koru can't carry any toys on its own. As any yacht-owning multi-millionaire will tell you, there's no point in buying a boat if you can't pack water toys or exploration gear, or even your favorite cars for your summer vacation. So Koru gets a support vessel, which is technically a superyacht in its own right, both in size and features. Built by Damen Yachting, Abeona is 246 feet (75 meters) long and carries a helicopter, tenders, exploring gear, and all manner of water toys.Abeona came in handy as Bezos and girlfriend Lauren Sanchez headed out on their summer vacation this week, which marks Koru's maiden journey . They arrived in Spain by his Gulfstream private jet, then boarded a helicopter which Sanchez flew onto the helideck on Abeona and then got on a boat for the transfer to the mothership, Koru.They've been tooling around Mallorca" since, according to one report , taking in the sun on the vessel's many decks, taking photos, touring the gigantic vessel with the captain, and generally having a good time. As one does when one is a multi-billionaire who just set foot onboard his record-breaking, incredible, and incredibly expensive megayacht for the first time.
As you already know, the first mission to land astronauts on the Moon is Artemis III . Tentatively scheduled to depart in 2025, it will have a crew of four people on board.They will head to the Moon in the Orion spaceship, which will beat Earth's gravity with the help of the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket. That's not unlike what happend during the previous missions of Apollo, but one of the things that sets Artemis apart is it will use a lander made by a private space company.As you might also know, that lander is called Starship HLS and it will be made by SpaceX. Elon Musk's company was declared a winner after a somewhat bitter fight with Blue Origin and its Blue Moon . But the Artemis program extends far beyond this third mission/first trip to the Moon, and of course NASA will need a lot more landers. And not all of them will be of SpaceX design.Back in September of last year, the American space agency announced the final call for proposals for the lander meant for missions post-Artemis III and IV. It was, if you will, a democratic hand given to the losers of the initial contract award.At the end of this week, on Friday, May 19, NASA will announce "the company selected to develop a sustainable human landing system for the Artemis V Moon mission." We have no indication as to who that may be, but luckily enough Friday is coming shortly.As per the request for proposal, to be considered a lander had to fulfill several criteria, the same as in the case of the Starship. And speaking of which, there's one very interesting thing about this one that you should know.Unlike the Lunar Module of the Apollo program, which made the trip attached to the Apollo spacecraft with all other components needed for the mission, Starship will not depart at the same time with Orion. Instead, it will already be parked in lunar orbit, waiting for the spaceship and its crew to arrive.It'll go down a bit like this: before the actual Artemis III launch, SpaceX will send up to Earth orbit a storage depot comprising fuel tanks. Then the lander itself will leave our planet, meet up with the tanks and refuel, and then head on to lunar orbit.That's probably how subsequent Artemis missions will go as well, at least until the Gateway space station is ready. What remains to be seen is whether SpaceX or some other company will be in charge of missions V and beyond.
SUV

Over in the OEM world, Land Rover is currently thinking about its latest upgrades bestowed upon the L460 Range Rover luxury, which was recently updated for the 2024 model year in the United States with new tech features like the latest Pivi Pro infotainment system, the SV Bespoke service, as well as a couple of fresh powertrain options. Those would be the new plug-in hybrid P550e with 542 hp and 51 miles (82 km) of all-electric range, plus the more powerful 606-hp V8 version for the flagship Range Rover SV trim.But we should all remember that just last month, the Brits also took a little more care of their popular Defender series, which got a slew of new features like the vintage-focused County Exterior Pack, the Defender 130 V8, and an all-new Defender 130 Outbound adventurer series. As it turns out, some 'heroes' across the aftermarket realm did not move on from the Defender dreams and instead decided to produce their own goodies. Meet INKAS Armored Vehicle Manufacturing from Canada, which is a big part of the INKAS Group of Companies from Toronto, Canada  a conglomerate interested in stuff like aerospace and defense (among many others) that has had crucial dealings with clients like NATO, the United Nations, or the governments of Canada and the United States.Naturally, since we are talking about the Land Rover Defender , this INKAS Armored creation is not for rushing in the middle of a war but rather for safely escaping from potential attacks. Based on the 2023 model year, their INKAS Armored Defender 110 now has "industry-leading armoring and advanced security features," including "undetectable 360-degree protection" to the CEN 1063 BR6 level. That basically means the luxury SUV can withstand attacks from up to "high-power rifles with up to 7.62mm ammunition as well as up to two DM51 hand grenades detonated simultaneously underneath the vehicle."That is not necessarily an experience one would like to test in real life. However, it's still lovely to hear all about the perks safeguarding passengers  the 360-degree protection, military-grade ballistic glass, armored door overlap system, the rear armored bulkhead partition, military-grade run-flat tires, or fuel tank protection, among others. There is also a flurry of optional equipment and accessories, like engine bay armoring and a fire suppression system, a roof escape hatch, the INKAS CCTV + GPS system with 360-degree field of view, a night vision camera, LED strobe lights, and even an oxygen filtration device. The INKAS model is only available for special ordering based on the Defender 100 with the 518-hp 5.0-liter gasoline V8 engine.
Britain's Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, right, speaks with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen during a bilateral meeting at a Council of Europe summit in Reykjavik, Iceland, May 16. AP-Yonhap



A summit of a rights body spanning Europe on Tuesday created a "register of damages" to record Russia's destruction of Ukraine for future compensation, and heard Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy plead for Western fighter jets.



Leaders from the 46-nation Council of Europe including French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz emphasized that Moscow would be held accountable for the harm and destruction it has caused in its 15-month invasion of its neighbor.



The register of damages, to be lodged in The Hague, aims to record the tangible costs Russia has exacted on Ukraine in that time.



"There will be no reliable peace without justice" and the register lays the ground for "a full-fledged compensation mechanism," Zelenskyy said in a video address at the start of the two-day summit.



Right now, though, Zelenskyy said, ballistic missile and drone attacks on his country showed "Russia is trying very hard to improve its ability to kill".



Ukraine consequently needed "additional air defense systems and missiles  we also need more fighter jets, without which no air defense system will be perfect," he said.



The call came just after a whirlwind tour by Zelenskyy of major European capitals to press for Western warplanes ahead of an expected offensive against Russian positions in Ukraine in coming weeks.



He received pledges of more military deliveries from Germany, France and Britain. The latter two said they would train Ukrainian fighter pilots.





General view during an economic and financial dialogue between the EU, the Western Balkans and Turkey ahead of the European finance ministers council in Brussels, Belgium, May 16. EPA-Yonhap
Three days ago, with the mediation of European Council President Charles Michel, we made a step further, emphasizing that Armenia recognizes Azerbaijans territory of 86,600 square kilometers and Azerbaijan recognizes Armenias territory of 29,800 square kilometers, Pashinian said in a speech delivered during a Council of Europe summit in Iceland.

The total Soviet-era area of Azerbaijan cited by him includes Karabakh.

Michel likewise said in Brussels that Aliyev and Pashinian confirmed their unequivocal commitment to  respective territorial integrity of Armenia (29,800 square kilometers) and Azerbaijan (86,600 square kilometers). That was construed by Armenian opposition leaders as further proof of Pashinians readiness to help Baku regain control over Karabakh.

One of those leaders, Armen Ashotian, condemned Pashinians confirmation of Michels statement as treasonous. Pashinian thereby annexed Karabakh to Azerbaijan, Ashotian said in a Facebook post.

Commenting on the Brussels summit earlier this week, the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry emphasized Armenias acceptance of Azerbaijans internationally recognized territorial integrity.

Pashinian stopped invoking the Karabakh Armenians right to self-determination a year ago. Since then, he has spoken instead of the need to protect their rights and security.

Karabakhs leadership has criticized the Armenian premiers statements on the conflict with Azerbaijan made over the past year. On Monday, it accused the European Union and Michel in particular of turning a blind eye to Azerbaijans five-month blockade of Karabakhs sole land link with Armenia.

Speaking in Icelands capital Reykjavik, Pashinian also denounced the blockade. At the same time, he called for the start of Baku-Stepanakert negotiations aimed at providing security and human rights for the Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh under an international mechanism.

Aliyev has repeatedly rejected such a mechanism and ruled out any status for the Armenian-populated region.
17 May 2023 08:30 (UTC+04:00)

Qabil Ashirov Read more

The Armenian authorities have gained a very popular image for their frivolous behavior and untrustworthiness. For example, every time the prime minister in Yerevan returns to his office after meetings, there is either commotion in his country or armed provocations are started against neighboring Azerbaijan. The problem is that although Pashinyan leaves political meetings with positive promises every time, the result is completely different.

Therefore, the word of this bearded guy is not valued either in his country or abroad.

So, the last meeting in Brussels did not differ in this case as well. Pashinyan delivered speeches about mutually recognizing territorial integrity. Later shoutout happened from Zod settlement of Basarkecher region in Azerbaijan's Army direction.

Brussels held a meeting on May 14, and Charles Michel made a speech and declared that Armenia recognizes Azerbaijani territorial integrity. Following Charles Michel's speech Armenian political parties including Dashnaksutyun and the so-called "Artsakh republic" denounced the Brussels meeting. Even the so-called foreign minister of artsakh republic who begged assistance from international organizations and foreign countries stated going beyond the limits that Representatives of individual countries and international organizations have no right to decide the fate of the people of artsakh.

Taking into account the above-mentioned, one has no other option but to think that Pashinyan fears something or somebody or this guy is making a clandestine cooperation with this illegal group of separatists. In a comment on the issue for Azernews, the political analyst Zardusht Alizade noted that it is related to the internal situation of Armenia. He emphasized that the internal political situation in the country is very tense and the influence of external forces is very great.

For 150 years, the Armenians had lived with some fabrications which seriously infected the common point of view. After the humiliating defeat in the 44-day war, it is very painful for them to suddenly leave this dream in such a short period of time.

Obviously, any political leader in Armenia who states the truth, he would be assassined over high treason or just a coup would be organised against him. Pashinyan always remembers this and tries to be very careful. He gradually tries to explain the reality to the people and constantly negotiates with his opponents. The PM gives his suggestions and asks them for their suggestions. Opponents of Pashinyan voice their proposals, and over a period of time, society also understands that the proposals they voice are not real proposals. It is a dream, he said.

Alizade pointed out that at present, a mixed ideology is currently forming in Armenia. According to him, some groups are suggested to lean towards Iran or France, some other are suggested that they should unite and form a people's army, that every man and every woman should take a machine gun, and so on. And part of the society comprehends that there is no one who says the truth except Pashinyan.

Despite the fact that Pashinyan was defeated in the war, there is no politician stronger than him in Armenian society. In the last poll, his popularity dropped to 14 percent. Earlier, its popularity was 70 percent. However, his rival Robert Kocheryan's rating was just 2 percent, Alizade said.

As for the issue that Pashinyan turns back on his words, the analyst commented that he could not say anything about this just now, because Pashinyan had not made any comments after his return. However, he emphasized that this time it will be hard for the separatist groups to oppose, because the territory of both states were expressed in numbers.

The expert also touched on the statement of the so-called artsakh republic about Charles Michels speech and said that Sergei Gazaryan (the FM of the so-called republic) is very young and he graduated from the Moscow State University.

He considers himself well-educated and he thinks that he utters logically. I underline again that he thinks so, but actually he is still in illusions. Speaking logically in an imaginary world, he explains that no state can dictate to any independent state. However, he even knows the fiction of 'artsakh' is not recognized in the world except a handful of people in Azerbaijan's territory. Azerbaijan has decided the fate of Karabakh, and now it is time for Armenian community in Karabakh to decide their own fate and make efforts to talk with the government of Azerbaijan. They should negotiate with the Azerbaijani government and determine their future within Azerbaijan with the participation of the Western community, but not the Western leaders."

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17 May 2023 12:30 (UTC+04:00)

By Abdul Karimkhanov

Deliveries of French lethal weapons to Armenia are contrary to the interests of NATO. The last time Armenia received weapons from France was after the visit of Armenian Defense Minister Suren Papikyan to Paris in September 2022. Besides, France is expected to supply Armenia with Mistral air defense systems, among other modern weapons.

"In my understanding, the problem lies in the thin smokescreen. France considers Armenia as a Christian enclave among the states in which the majority of the population belongs to the number of Muslims. Therefore, military supplies to Armenia should be assessed as an attempt to appease the Armenian diaspora in France and supposedly protect French interests rooted in Islamophobia," well-known British journalist, political analyst Neil Watson said this in an interview with Azerbaijan based Day.Az analytical website, Azernews reports.

As the journalist emphasized, France turns a blind eye to the fact that Armenia is a satellite of Russia and a Russian military base is located on the territory of Armenia. The political analyst did not also rule out Iran factor in this circle and France's slurring over this matter.

"Furthermore, France is overlooking Armenia's long-established alliance with Iran, which wants to suppress the aspirations of southern Azerbaijanis for independence. The supply of French weapons to Armenia also contradicts the interests of Israel and Turkiye, Azerbaijan's two largest allies and arms suppliers," Watson said.

The journalist believes that France is not set exclusively against Azerbaijan, despite attempts to impose sanctions last year.

"Rather, Turkophobic and Islamophobic sentiments prevail in France, while French interests in the South Caucasus and in the wider post-Soviet space are represented by Armenia. The influence of the Armenian lobby in the French Senate remains overwhelming and Armenian propaganda is taken in France for some proof," the political analyst emphasized.

According to him, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan faces a big dilemma - whether to prolong the peace process or to finalize peace talks with Azerbaijan as well as to normalize relations with Azerbaijan and Turkiye.

"Pashinyan has an almost impossible task, and there are questions as to whether he is a strong enough political personality with sufficient internal and external political support to achieve the objective that he knows is necessary: peace with Azerbaijan and normalisation of relations with Azerbaijan and Turkiye. He has internal support for the Karabakh occupation to retain, the Armenian diaspora to placate and has to maintain the support of maternal Russia and fraternal Iran. He has to be seen to be tough on Azerbaijan and to be as obstreperous as possible. But ultimately acceptance of these weapons is posturing. He knows that, sooner or later, and possibly not under his premiership, a peace deal needs to be finalised, the journalist concluded.

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17 May 2023 16:00 (UTC+04:00)

Rena Murshud Read more

As is known, Azerbaijan's Milli Majlis (Parliament) has held a special meeting on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the birth of Heydar Aliyev. The event was attended by representatives of 26 countries and 4 parliamentary international organizations.

Besides, member of the Belarusian Council of the Republic of the National Assembly Valery Belsky and Deputy Chairman of the House of Representatives Valery Mitskevich attended the meeting. Addressing the meeting, the National Assembly Council member emphasized that the common historical destinies and long-term friendship of the peoples of Belarus and Azerbaijan predetermined the current especially trusting nature of Belarusian-Azerbaijani relations.

"The meeting held in Baku with the participation the Deputy Chairman of the Belarusian Council of the Republic of the National Assembly, Valery Belsky, and the Deputy Chairman of the House of Representatives of Belarus, Valery Mitskevich is of great importance in terms of strengthening both inter-parliamentary and bilateral relations between Belarus and Azerbaijan. These states have always been very close, there was always mutual understanding," Belarusian philosopher, publicist and political analyst Aleksey Dzermant said in a comment on the recent meeting for Azernews.

"Of course, many words can be said about a genius like Heydar Aliyev, the founder of modern Azerbaijan. The fact that this meeting was organized on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of his birth adds a grandeur to the event. Heydar Aliyev is welcomed by the people of Belarus. He is also the founder of Belarus-Azerbaijan relations.

In addition, the successful political path of the national leader is the same as the successful path of the state of Belarus today, and thanks to this policy, both countries are moving forward on the path of strong development.

This is one of the reasons that bring our states closer, and therefore all this needs to be discussed at the parliamentary level, at the level of politicians represented in parliament."

Speaking about the prospects for further development of interstate relations between Azerbaijan and Belarus, the expert also pointed the importance of developing and transferring these relations into the field of economy.

"In fact, the relations between our countries are at a high level, however, thinking over new logistical routes are important for Belarus, especially within the important north-south corridor, that is, through Russia, through Azerbaijan, further to India, to Africa. It is important for us and for Azerbaijan to think over how to cooperate, think over the participation of our two countries in the new logistics space," the expert underlined.

He added that Azerbaijan is located at the crossroads connecting north and south and also east and west.

"Here you can connect to these routes and relationships to agree on some kind of policy, strategy. Moreover, we see Azerbaijan, which has good relations with the Russian world, with Turkiye, as well as with the post-Soviet countries. For Belarus, all this is interesting," Dzermant said.

The expert also touched on opportunities of Belarus making it one of the leading countries in Europe in the field of agriculture, especially in the production and export of livestock and dairy products. He spoke about possibility of cooperation for the development of this sector between Azerbaijan and Belarus, in particular territories of Karabakh liberated from occupation.

"I think that Belarus could help in the development of agriculture, including restoration of villages in Karabakh. We have the machineries and technique that can easily carry out this work. Moreover, Belarusians are prone to restore, build, develop something - this in the blood of our people. I think we can successfully develop in this field," the expert added.

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17 May 2023 18:21 (UTC+04:00)

Qabil Ashirov Read more

Azerbaijans Energy Ministry held the first meeting on the project "Technical Assistance to increase the share of renewable energy in the electric power system of Azerbaijan," Azernews reports.

At the meeting, the project to be implemented by the CESI consulting company with the support of the World Bank was reviewed, and the work to be done, steps to be taken, goals, and expected results were discussed. The main goal of the project is to conduct relevant analysis and prepare a report related to the transmission of electricity to the grid, which will be obtained from renewable energy sources in Azerbaijan.

Representatives of the Ministry of Energy, the State Agency for Renewable Energy Sources, and the Energy Regulatory Agency under the ministry, Azerishiq OJSC and Azerenergy OJSC took part in the meeting.

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17 May 2023 14:29 (UTC+04:00)

This year marks the 190th anniversary of the birth of Mir Mohsun Navvab (1833-1918), one of the outstanding representatives of the Garabagh literary environment - a talented poet, artist, musicologist, philosopher, pedagogue, Azernews reports.

Recently, in the madrasa building on the territory of the Upper Govharaga Mosque, opened in Shusha after major restoration works, the exhibition "Mir Mohsun Navvab Garabaghi - encyclopedic scientist of the 19th Century" presented by the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, the publication "Mir Mohsen Navvab's weapon collection and weapon production in Shusha" and The restoration of Navvab's gravestone in Shusha, monument destroyed by the Armenians during the years of occupation, was another contribution to the preservation of Azerbaijans cultural heritage and history.

The exhibition dedicated to Mir Mohsun Navvab Garabaghi is presented in the madrasa building on the territory of the Upper Govharaga Mosque, where he once worked on the ornaments of the minaret. In the exhibition, Navvab's personal collection of weapons preserved in the National Museum of Azerbaijan History and embodying the Azerbaijani weaponry of the 18th-19th centuries, books authored and illustrated by the poet and printed in his publishing house in Shusha, exhibits reflecting his activities in the fields of music, chemistry, and astronomy are displayed. In the exhibition, Mir Mohsun Navvab, who was interested in astronomy, presented the tables drawn in this field, the location of celestial bodies, and schemes related to solar eclipses.

Although separate books were published about Navvab's activities as an artist and music theorist, there was no publication that fully reflected his activities. With the initiative and support of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation and the close participation of the Ministry of Culture, the book "Arms Collection of Mir Mohsen Navvab and Production of weapons in Shusha" was published for the first time. The book provides information about Navvab's biography, life, and creativity, and enlightens his educational activities. The book is dedicated to the hitherto unknown heritage of Mir Mohsun Navvab Garabaghi - his collection of Azerbaijani weapons. Archival and museum materials were used in the preparation of the publication. More than 100 photos, drawings, diagrams, and maps, most of which were published for the first time, were presented in the book published in Azerbaijani and English languages.

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17 May 2023 17:57 (UTC+04:00)

Laman Ismayilova Read more

Director of AzerbaijanFilm Studio Nazim Huseynov and the Mexican Ambassador to Azerbaijan Victoria Romero have discussed the prospects of cooperation in the film industry.

The sides exchanged ideas on the promotion of Mexican cinema in Azerbaijan, as well as Azerbaijani cinema in Mexico and Latin American countries, Azernews reports.

During the meeting, it was decided to translate Azerbaijani classic and new films into Spanish and show them in Mexico. The film screenings will be organized to mark the 125th anniversary of the establishment of Azerbaijani cinema and AzerbaijanFilm Studio's centenary.

The history of the film industry in Azerbaijan spans over 100 years. Shortly after the Lumiere brothers from France invented cinematography, an apparatus for making motion pictures in 1895, Russian photographer and cameraman Alexandre Michon began shooting motion pictures that depicted everyday life in Baku.

The first short, silent film of Azerbaijani cinematography "You are caught" was shown in Baku on August 2, 1898.

The audience witnessed a historical event - the birth of Azerbaijani cinematography.

At present, local film companies are producing hundreds of films that received global recognition.

Number of films produced in the country is growing at an unprecedented speed enabling countless filmmakers to express themselves in so many ways.

It is planned to hold a series of meetings between filmmakers of the two countries as well as to establish cooperation with the Mexican Institute of Cinematography (IMCINE).

The next stage of the upcoming issues is the production of joint films. Cinema Days of Latin American countries are expected to take place in Azerbaijan in the near future.

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17 May 2023 10:42 (UTC+04:00)

Rena Murshud Read more

Deputy Chairman of the Council of the Republic Valery Belsky took part in the events of the special session of the Milli Majlis (Parliament) of the Republic of Azerbaijan dedicated to the 100th anniversary of national leader Heydar Aliyev.

As informed by Azernews with reference to the press service of the upper house of parliament, by the order of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, 2023 has been declared the Year of Heydar Aliyev in Azerbaijan.

To recap, May 10, 2023 marks the 100th anniversary of the birth of the national leader of the Azerbaijani people, the founder of the independent state of Azerbaijan, the outstanding political and statesman Heydar Aliyev.

On the occasion of the significant event, the Milli Majlis of the Republic of Azerbaijan held a special meeting. The event was attended by representatives of 26 countries and 4 parliamentary international organizations.

During a special meeting, Valery Belsky voiced the greeting and congratulations of the Chairman of the Council of the Republic, Natalya Kochanova, on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the birth of Heydar Aliyev.

The message notes that Heydar Aliyev was a world-class statesman. The strategies laid down by him, his far-sighted policy and comprehensive solutions have played an important role in the development of the Republic of Azerbaijan as a sovereign successful state.

It was also emphasized that the common historical destinies and the long-term friendship of the peoples of Belarus and Azerbaijan predetermined the current especially trusting nature of the Belarusian-Azerbaijani relations.

"We highly appreciate the strong inter-parliamentary ties that have developed between us and, for our part, are ready to expand them, fill them with new content and strengthen them, contributing to the continuation of fruitful mutually beneficial cooperation between Belarus and Azerbaijan," it was said in the message.

The Vice Speaker also handed over to the Heydar Aliyev Museum a copy of the issue of the Belarusian newspaper, which contains an article analyzing the role of Heydar Aliyev as a prominent figure. The participants of the event laid a wreath at the grave of Heydar Aliyev and got acquainted with the activities of the Heydar Aliyev Center.

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17 May 2023 13:20 (UTC+04:00)

Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan Fariz Rzayev visited the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.

Azernews informs with reference to Azerbaijan's Foreign Ministry, that during the visit, the first round of political consultations between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Migrant Affairs of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan took place in the city of Amman.

Political consultations were held under the leadership of Deputy Foreign Minister Fariz Rzayev from the Azerbaijani side, and Lina Al-Hadid, Secretary General for Diplomatic and Migration Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Migrants Affairs, from the Jordanian side.

During the consultations, the current state and prospects of bilateral cooperation in the political, economic, energy, humanitarian spheres and in the field of logistics, inter-parliamentary relations and interaction within international organizations, including the UN, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and the Non-Aligned Movement, were discussed.

The Jordanian side was informed about the post-conflict situation in the region, as well as about the ongoing construction, restoration and reintegration work in the liberated territories. The parties also exchanged views on regional and global issues of mutual interest.

During his visit to Jordan, Deputy Minister Fariz Rzayev met with Muaz al-Zubi, Head of the Political Affairs Department of the Royal Administration.

The meeting discussed the prospects for the development of bilateral and multilateral cooperation between Azerbaijan and Jordan, strategic energy and transport projects implemented at the initiative of our country, as well as regional security and the post-conflict situation.

During the visit, the Deputy Minister also met with the leadership of the authoritative Jordanian Center for Middle East Studies and political, military and economic experts of the center, the parties exchanged views on the priorities of our country's foreign policy, Azerbaijani-Jordanian relations, and the regional situation.

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17 May 2023 13:02 (UTC+04:00)

On May 17, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev made a phone call to President of the Republic of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, Azernews reports.

President Ilham Aliyev congratulated Kassym-Jomart Tokayev on the occasion of his jubilee and wished him good health and every success in his activities for the sake of development and prosperity of Kazakhstan.

The President of Kazakhstan thanked for the attention and congratulation.

The Azerbaijani President recalled with satisfaction his Kazakhstan trip in April this year, once again thanked for the hospitality shown, and underlined successful results of the visit, which gave a strong impetus to development of bilateral relations.

During the phone conversation, both presidents discussed future development of friendly and brotherly relations between Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan.

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Pope Francis arrives for the weekly general audience at St. Peter's square in The Vatican, Wednesday. AFP-Yonhap



A group of German victims of abuse on Wednesday called on Pope Francis to step up efforts against "sexual and spiritual abuse" by clergy, after completing a 900km bicycle trek from Munich to the Vatican.



Abuse scandals have shredded the Catholic Church's reputation and have been a major challenge for the pope, who has passed a series of measures aimed at holding the Church hierarchy more accountable, with mixed results.



"Men and women in the service of the Church inflicted severe physical, sexual and psychological violence on people entrusted to their care," the group said in a letter that was handed to Francis during his weekly audience in St Peter's Square.



"We expect you to do everything in your power to ensure that in all corners of the universal Church the issue of sexual and spiritual abuse is seen, dealt with, and prevented through appropriate preventive measures," they added.



The German group, made up of 15 abuse survivors and other supporters, left Munich on May 6 and travelled to Rome with the backing of their local archbishop, Cardinal Reinhard Marx, a former head of the German bishops' conference.



The issue of abuse is particularly sensitive in Germany, where investigations have exposed widespread historical church abuse and cover-up, triggering demands for major changes in the church.



The pope must "send a clear signal to perpetrators and bishops who have not fulfilled their responsibilities, and who to some extent continue not to do so today," the German victims said in the letter.



The German bishops' conference is debating a series of reforms in reaction to the abuse crisis, including on homosexuality, women priests and priestly celibacy, as part of its so-called Synodal Path.



The Vatican has put a brake on such proposals, which are anathema to conservatives and could lead to massive splintering similar to what happened in Anglican and Protestant Churches after they introduced similar changes in recent decades. (Reuters)


17 May 2023 14:40 (UTC+04:00)

President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has received Speaker of the Parliament of Slovakia Boris Kollar.

The head of state thanked for Boris Kollar-led delegations participation in a special session of the Milli Majlis of the Republic of Azerbaijan to mark the 100th anniversary of National Leader Heydar Aliyev, and described this as a good sign of relations between the two countries.

President Ilham Aliyev expressed satisfaction with the conduct of active Azerbaijan-Slovakia dialogue, saying Boris Kollars visit provides a good opportunity for discussing prospects for cooperation in a variety of areas including development of interparliamentary ties.

The head of state touched upon relations in the energy sector, highlighted the importance of the Memorandum of Understanding between SOCAR and distribution system operators of Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, Slovakia signed in April this year in Sofia, adding the cooperation between the two countries as part of the Solidarity Ring STRING project entered a new stage.

President Ilham Aliyev underlined there is enormous potential for expanding cooperation in the fields of trade, mutual investments, transport.

Expressing gratitude for the hospitality, Speaker of Slovak Parliament Boris Kollar said that they were honored to attend the event marking the 100th anniversary of the Great Leader.

Saying that the Great Leader is a charismatic personality with great wisdom and strong will, who laid the foundation of Azerbaijani statehood, the Speaker of the Slovak Parliament underlined that thanks to his foresight Azerbaijan is steadily developing.

Emphasizing that Azerbaijan is a very modern and beautiful country, Boris Kollar said that this is his second visit to the country, and recalled with pleasure his visit to Shusha last year.

Speaker of the Slovak Parliament Boris Kollar said Slovakia fully and resolutely supports the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, noted the restoration and construction works carried in Azerbaijans territories liberated from occupation, and pointed out that Slovak companies are also keen on operating there and participating in various projects.

Hailing the fruitful demining cooperation between Azerbaijan and Slovakian companies, Boris Kollar emphasized the effective use of demining equipment produced in Slovakia for humanitarian mine clearance in the area.

During the conversation, they discussed the prospects for future cooperation in the field of energy, and noted that there are great prospects for the delivery of Azerbaijani gas to Slovakia within the framework of the "Solidarity Ring" initiative, which was recently launched in Bulgaria.

Slovakias support to Azerbaijan's cooperation with the European Union and NATO was highly appreciated at the meeting.

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17 May 2023 15:00 (UTC+04:00)

President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has received Chairman of the Board of the Eurasian Economic Commission Mikhail Myasnikovich.

Mikhail Myasnikovich extended congratulations to President Ilham Aliyev on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of National Leader Heydar Aliyev and noted that the Great Leader had played an exceptional role as a historical figure in development of Azerbaijan.

The meeting saw discussions on the expansion of trade turnover and trade opportunities between Azerbaijan and the Eurasian Economic Commission member countries.

Mikhail Myasnikovich made proposals on the directions of cooperation to President Ilham Aliyev.

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17 May 2023 16:32 (UTC+04:00)

"Azerbaijani-Russian relations are developing dynamically and have reached a qualitatively new level."

According to Azernews, this word told by Sahiba Gafarova, Chairman of the Milli Majlis (parliament) of Azerbaijan at a meeting with First Deputy Chairman of the Federation Council of the Russian Federation Andrei Yatskin in Baku on Wednesday.

"Russian-Azerbaijani relations, the foundation of which was laid under Heydar Aliyev, are supported today by the leaders of Azerbaijan and Russia, and have reached a qualitatively new level," said Gafarova, quoted by the press service of the Milli Majlis.

She expressed gratitude to the Russian side for the exhibition organized (May 15) in connection with the anniversary of National Leader Heydar Aliyev in the State Duma and the Federal Council.

Speaker Gafarova and Yatskin also discussed the prospects for the development of inter-parliamentary relations, the work of the Friendship Groups and the importance of mutual visits.

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17 May 2023 09:27 (UTC+04:00)

The public will be informed about Russias decision on the extension of the Black Sea Grain Initiative when it is made, the Kremlin said Tuesday, Azernews informs with reference to foreign media outlets.

"When the appropriate decision is made, we will inform you. This is the only thing I can say," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told a press briefing in Moscow.

Peskov said contacts between all parties to the grain deal  which is set to expire this Thursday  are ongoing, and that a number of questions on issues concerning the implementation of the Russian part of the deal are still open.

Turkiye, the UN, Russia, and Ukraine signed an agreement last July in Istanbul to resume grain exports from Ukrainian ports, which were paused after the Russia-Ukraine war began in February, to help tackle a global food crisis.

Over 30 million metric tons of grain and foodstuffs have been exported from Ukraine since last August, according to the UN.

Russia has sought the removal of obstacles to its fertilizer exports, namely banking restrictions, to agree to another extension of the grain deal during talks, most recently last Wednesday and Thursday.

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17 May 2023 23:50 (UTC+04:00)

An armed terrorist was killed during a special operation of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the State Committee for National Security of Kyrgyzstan in the village of Dmitrievka of Chui region, the Interior Ministry said, Azernews reports citing Kabar.

According to the ministry, employees of the special forces of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the State Committee for National Security conducted an operation to detain a terrorist.

During his detention, he offered armed resistance. During a special operation, the terrorist was destroyed by employees of special units of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the State Committee for National Security.

The operational-investigative group of the Ministry of Internal Affairs is currently working. More details will be provided later.

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China vows to enhance ties with Central Asia

Xinhua) 16:41, May 17, 2023

UNITED NATIONS, May 16 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese envoy on Tuesday pledged his country's efforts to enhance relations with Central Asia.

China and Central Asian nations have constantly been developing strategic partnerships based on mutual respect, good neighborliness, mutual benefit and cooperation, said Dai Bing, China's deputy permanent representative to the United Nations.

The China-Central Asia summit will be held in Xi'an, China, on Thursday and Friday. The event is a significant move taken by China and Central Asian countries to build a closer China-Central Asia community with a shared future. It will open a new chapter in regional relations and bring new opportunities for individual Central Asian nations, added Dai.

"The world today is now entering a new period of turbulent changes and is facing multiple challenges to international peace and security. More than ever, we need to enhance trust, strengthen solidarity and promote cooperation," he told the General Assembly.

China has expressed its commitment to collaborate with Central Asia in upholding the UN Charter's principles and purposes. The aim is to practice true multilateralism; promote the notion of shared, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable security; and develop a security and development approach that aligns with their mutual interests. By doing so, the hope is to construct a peaceful, trustworthy and cooperative zone in Central Asia that will enhance regional peace, stability, prosperity and development.

China is committed to good neighborly ties and firmly supports the sovereignty, independence, security and territorial integrity of Central Asian countries, Dai noted, adding that China welcomes the efforts by Central Asian countries to enhance political mutual trust and jointly address regional security and development challenges through dialogue and cooperation.

China opposes the interference by external forces in the internal affairs of Central Asian countries under any pretext as such moves would create chaos and turmoil and turn Central Asia into a battleground for geopolitical games, he said.

China will work with Central Asia to scale up the fight against the "three forces" of terrorism, separatism, and extremism.

China supports Central Asia in strengthening cooperation in border control, law enforcement and security, preventing and combating transnational organized crime and cybercrime, and stepping up communication and cooperation regarding Afghanistan to maintain regional peace and tranquility, he said.

Cooperation between China and Central Asian countries through the Belt and Road Initiative has yielded favorable results, Dai said. China will further enhance collaboration with Central Asian partners in economy and trade, investment and financing. The country will work to build modern regional connectivity networks, expand personnel exchanges, enable smooth transportation of goods and expand cooperation in agriculture, new energy, e-commerce, and the digital economy. Finally, China will enhance cultural and people-to-people and local-level exchanges, he said.

China will continue to expand all-around cooperation with Central Asian countries and advance relations to new heights. The move is expected to make further contributions to the peace, stability, development and the prosperity of the region and world at large, he said.

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun)
Flooded areas in Faenza, one of the cities most affected by the flooding of the Lamone river, in Faenza, Italy, Wednesday. EPA-Yonhap



Eight people died and thousands were evacuated from their homes after heavy rains caused devastation across Italy's northern Emilia Romagna region, while this weekend's Imola Grand Prix was cancelled, officials said Wednesday.



"The city is on its knees, devastated and in pain," said Gian Luca Zattini, the mayor of Forli, a city near Bologna where three people were confirmed dead earlier Wednesday. "It's the end of the world."



Emilia Romagna's vice president, Irene Priolo, later told reporters that a total of eight people had died, with several others missing.



Two of the bodies in Forli were recovered by divers on Wednesday morning, as part of a huge rescue effort involving emergency services and the armed forces.



Emilia Romagna, one of Italy's richest regions, had already been hit by heavy rain just a fortnight ago, causing floods that left two dead.



This time, around 50 centimeters of rain fell within 36 hours in Forli, Cesena and Ravenna  around half the normal annual rainfall, a situation "with few precedents", Italy's Civil Protection Minister Nello Musumeci said.



"It is still a very critical situation," he told reporters, adding that while the rain was still falling, it was expected to lighten during the day.



The flooding caused the cancellation of the Formula One Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, which had been set for on Sunday in Imola.



Organizers said they could not guarantee the safety of fans, teams and staff.



"It would not be right to put further pressure on the local authorities and emergency services at this difficult time," they said.



Regional President Stefano Bonaccini said Emilia Romagna had been hit "like an earthquake".





Firemen and civil protection rescuers evacuate a woman with an inflatable boat in Forli, Italy, Wednesday. AFP-Yonhap
Now that the public is allowed to know the truth regarding the Hunter Biden Laptop Scandal, after more that 2 1/2 years of deception by the corrupt Corporate Media Kabal, propropagandidats all, and the discredited Deep State, we have NOW learned that the infamous laptop is far less about the Biden Boy's fetish for pornography, narcotics and Russian whores, and far more about Hunter's pivotal role in the Biden Crime Syndicate's selling of deep access to our foreign adversaries, and to what extent it has compromised our national security: What is your opinion about this possible coordinated Treason?

It is imperative that we know the truth of what may be the greatest scandal in our Republic's history, and all aforementioned parties prosecuted for their crimes against the People.

Currently, our Two Tiered Justice System is constructed to protect all Democratic Socialists, their corrupt "Journalist" spokes-sheople, and their Deep State enablers ... so why bother.

It is Donald Trump's fault.
By Rev. Mark Creech

Christian Action League

May 16, 2023

As I listened intently today to the debate on the Senate and House floors concerning the override vote of Governor Cooper's veto of Senate Bill 20  Care for Women, Families and Children Act, I could not help but be struck with how historic the moment was.



One hundred and fifty-six years ago, Americans were deeply divided over slavery. The fundamental similarity between the practice of slavery by Americans then and the practice of abortion today is the issue of human rights. Just as slavery deprived African Americans of their basic human rights, abortion also violates the right to life of an unborn child.



There is also the issue of the dehumanization of a specific group of people. Enslaved people were dehumanized and seen as property rather than human beings. Today's unborn child is viewed solely as a biological entity rather than a human with intrinsic worth and dignity. The language used to describe the child, such as "products of conception" or "fetus," further reinforces this dehumanization.



For those who know history, every undertaking of one group of people oppressing or exploiting another, whether it was from slavery, the illicit drug trade with its many addicts, the predatory gambling industry that cultivates compulsive gamblers for profit, human trafficking, or Abortion, was always defended with a pro-choice argument.



At least the victims of drugs and gambling have been afforded some choices, but the victims of abortion never had a choice.



What high-sounding rhetoric we often hear about a woman's right to choose  the right to live her life without government interference  her right to body autonomy. What is conveniently left out, however, is the victim's choice. This is the essence of any pro-choice argument. Victims are not equal and, therefore, ineligible for serious consideration.



Can you hear faintly in the background, the champions of the Confederacy? "Well, no one makes you own a slave. Yet, you want to make it illegal for me. You are anti-choice, anti-freedom, and would impose your view of morality on others." This same argument, in principle, was made today by several Democrats in defense of abortion.



O that we would learn from our history so we wouldn't be condemned to repeat it as we are now doing.



Almost all human rights violations have been vigorously defended based on the oppressor's right to choose.



The bill that passed today, "notwithstanding the Governor's objections," will save many lives, and the Christian Action League is exceedingly thankful to every Republican who tenaciously fought for its passage. Nevertheless, this fight must continue. Blacks didn't choose slavery, and babies didn't choose abortion. This wholesale slaughter of the innocents must end!



God hasten the day when Americans will look back and rue the way we were about abortion in the same manner we now look with disdain on slavery.



-Rev. Mark Creech
Texas lawmakers are under pressure from Republican leaders to make it easier to remove local prosecutors based on politically motivated complaints. Legislators should resist this blatantly political maneuverthe latest in GOP efforts to usurp local controland preserve the longstanding American tradition of prosecutorial independence.

At least eight bills pending at the Texas Capitol would provide for the eventual removal of prosecutors who refuse to prosecute certain crimes. The bills would undermine prosecutorial discretion  an important tool that allows local district attorneys to decide which criminal cases to pursue based on the resources of their offices and the priorities of their communities. Prosecutors shouldnt have to worry about political interference when making decisions about how to do their jobs.

Push to remove prosecutors rooted in politics

Proponents of the bills argue that theyre needed to punish prosecutors who do not uphold state criminal statutes, but local prosecutors have always had the power to use discretion in deciding which cases to pursue. That tradition shouldnt be cast aside at the whim of Republican lawmakers more interested in scoring political points with their right-wing base than making meaningful improvements to our legal system. This is clearly just another legislative attempt by Republicans to impose conservative control in liberal-leaning large cities like Austin.

Two of the GOP bills aimed at curbing prosecutorial discretion  HB 17 and SB 20  have already passed their respective chambers, thankfully with amendments that limited their scope. Under HB 17, considered by some Capitol observers to have the best chance to become law, an elected prosecutor could face a removal trial for official misconduct if a resident in their county files a complaint. This process, subject to likely legal challenges, isnt even necessary. Texas already has a well-established process for removing prosecutors for misconduct.

Legislative scrutiny of local prosecutors has intensified since the U.S. Supreme Courts decision last year to overturn Roe v. Wade, and the Texas Legislatures banning of almost all abortions in the state. Some prosecutors across the country, including Travis County District Attorney Jose Garza, have pledged not to prosecute abortion cases, angering conservatives and conservative lawmakers. In Austin, police misconduct issues also factor into this debate. Austin Police Association leaders outraged by Garzas prosecution of 19 officers for using excessive force against protesters during the George Floyd protests in 2020 have testified in support of these bills.

Garza is among those prosecutors most likely to fall into the crosshairs of conservatives if any of the bills become law. Some Republicans have called Garza a rogue prosecutor for refusing to prosecute abortion cases. And while Abbott didnt mention Garza by name, he vowed last month to rein in rogue district attorneys when he sought to reverse the murder conviction Garza secured against Daniel Perry in the killing of a Black Lives Matter protester in 2019.

Prosecutors should answer to local voters, not partisan politicians

There is nothing rogue about a local district attorney who runs his office according to the wishes of voters in the community he serves. Garza campaigned on a progressive platform that championed a less punitive and more rehabilitative approach to prosecuting non-violent, low-level crimes, as well as a crackdown on violent gun crime. This thoughtful criminal justice strategy is winning favor in cities across the country as a way to divert low-level criminal offenders from jail while offering them community-based services that help them become productive citizens. Garza was elected in 2020 with 69% of the vote, a clear mandate to run the office as he promised during his campaign. If he decides to run for reelection in 2024, it should be up to Travis County voters, not his political enemies, to decide if he should remain in the job.

Passing state laws that can be weaponized by prosecutors political opponents is antithetical to standards of justice in our country. Prosecutors should operate independently and without fear of retaliation from agenda-pushing politicians. Discretion is an inherent component of the criminal justice system. Anyone who has received a warning instead of a citation or arrest by a police officer for a legal infraction has been the beneficiary of such discretion.

Texas law provides for the election of local prosecutors by local voters. If voters want to remove their county or district attorney from office, they get a chance every four years. In between elections, these prosecutors should be entrusted to do their jobs without fear of interference and reprisals from partisan politicians.

Lawmakers should vote against any bill that tampers with prosecutorial discretion and independence.
The talk of fairy tale fishing trips seemingly has no end in West Texas, where O.H. Ivie Lake anglers continue to reel in heavyweight denizens to shock the imagination.

Several guides are in operation on the 19,000-acre reservoir near San Angelo. Some of their recent reports read like something straight out of a science fiction thriller.

On May 4, fishing guide Josh Jones made a Facebook post announcing that his boat had accounted for 55 over 10 pounds since January 1, 2023, all in 57 days of fishing.

RELATED: Vidor fishing team named best in Southeast Texas

Thats got to be some sort of record. If there is another angler out there who can best it, I havent heard about it. Most anglers go a lifetime and never catch one 10 pounder, much less close to five dozen in three months.

The total has been climbing ever since.

On May 9, Jones reported another story book day while fishing with guide client, Derek Taylor. The two anglers boated numerous big bass that day. Their heaviest five weighed a whopping 50.57 pounds  an average of 10.1 pounds per fish.

Taylor reeled in three of the giants. Among them were a pair of 10-plus pounders and a 13.07 pounder that was weighed on a certified scale at Elm Creek Marina, Jones said. Its the seventh time Jones boat has cracked 50 pounds on five fish at Ivie this year.

Jones has quite the history at Ivie. He claims he single-handedly caught 31 bass between eight and 13 pounds in a single day in December 2022. The heaviest five weighed 61.37 pounds on digital scales. Jones called it the heaviest five-fish catch from a public lake ever recorded cast-to-catch on video.

RELATED: Free Fishing Day in Texas doesn't require a license

A crackerjack a sniffing out big bass in deep water with forward-facing sonar, Jones is the undisputed big bass champ of Texas. In 2022, he became first angler in the 37-year history of the Toyota ShareLunker program to catch four Toyota ShareLunker Legacy Lunkers.

Amazingly, it only took him six months to pull it off. Fish must weigh 13 pounds or more and be caught between January 1 and March 31 to qualify as Toyota Legacy Lunkers.

Jones isnt the only Ivie fishing guide who has been a roll lately.

Jerad Pool of Kingsland runs Hill Country Hammer Guides and Outfitters. The operation is advertised as the premier guide and outfitting service in the greater Highland Lakes region.

Pool has had multiple boats on Ivie since early April. Their clients have reeled in 21 bass over 10 pounds, including six over 13 pounds, he said.

Pool usually waits until April before setting up camp on Ivie each spring. Thats when a high percentage of the big fish move shallow to spawn at the clear, West Texas lake. The spawning activity usually begins winding down about mid-May.

RELATED: Tagging efforts help identify big bass that keep on giving

Hill Country Hammers guides are sight fishing specialists. Their boats are equipped with sturdy platforms that stand about three feet tall above the front deck.

The guide says a lot of the bigger fish at Ivie tend to spawn in water thats 6-12 feet deep.

The elevated platform provides anglers a good vantage point that makes it easier to see underwater spawning beds from a distance and ultimately avoid spooking the fish.

Pools team of guides do an outstanding job of documenting the big fish catches on action camera, hook set to the net. Some the videos illustrate just how dicey things can get when battling a double-digit bass around heavy cover.

On May 1, Pool posted a wild clip showing client Leroy Boss battling a giant bass through thick salt cedars near a rocky shore. When the bass got tangled in the brush about 20 feet from the boat, Pool turned up the customer service dial. He wasted no time jumping in the lake to retrieve the fish before it shook the hook or broke the line. You can see the video at www.facebook.com/watch/?v=960955001576868.

The effort was well worth the trouble. Boss bass was a whopper that weighed 14.85 pounds on digital scales. Just call it a fairy tale ending to what could have easily turned into a trophy hunters worst nightmare.
Heather Lang Vass, RN, a nurse involved with a botched breast augmentation procedure at Divino Plastic Surgery Center in Bonita, Calif., has pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter, NBC San Diego reported May 16.

Ms. Vass and her employer, surgeon Carlos Chacon, MD, were charged in the death of Megan Espinoza following the botched surgery. Ms. Vass faces up to four years in prison in connection with her pleas.

Ms. Espinoza reportedly went into cardiac arrest during her Dec. 19, 2018, surgery, but Dr. Chacon did not immediately call 911 "even as [she] started to make gurgling noises and exhibit seizure-like activity," the medical board's report stated, according to a 2022 ABC10 News report.

Paramedics were called more than three hours later and rushed Ms. Espinoza to hospital, where she was intubated and placed in an intensive care unit. Ms. Espinoza never woke up or regained the ability to breathe on her own, and she died Jan. 28, 2019, more than six weeks after the operation.

Dr. Chacon was originally charged with manslaughter, but the charge was upgraded to second-degree murder in April after new information showed that, not only did he refuse to call 911 for three hours, but forbade his employees from doing so. According to the report, Dr. Chacon also lied to Ms. Espinozas husband about her condition.

While the Medical Board of California restricted Dr. Chacon's license last year, he is still practicing plastic surgery and must inform all patients in writing that hes under investigation, according to the NBC report. His administrative hearing has not been scheduled, and he has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
New York City-based Gramercy Surgery Center has added artificial intelligence platform Infinitus Systems for automating tasks including insurance verification and prior authorization.

Gramercy has two ASCs with 70 employees on staff, treating patients in New York City since 2006, according to a May 16 news release from Infinitus. Since the pandemic, Gramercy has seen patient case volumes double year over year.

Gramercy will use Infinitus' AI platform to call payers, check on a patient's prior authorization status and integrate with the most widely used electronic medical record systems.

No human interaction from Gramercy is required, saving the practice time and money, according to the release.
About 11 percent of physicians have a net worth of more than $5 million, according to 2022 data from Medscape, placing them in the richest 1 percent of all U.S. residents, according to a May 16 report from Bloomberg.

In the U.S., residents need a net worth of about $5.1 million to cross the threshold into the top 1 percent of wealth holders.

Four countries  Monaco, Switzerland, Australia and New Zealand  have a higher barrier to enter the top 1 percent, with those in Monaco needing a net worth of $12.4 million.

In Kenya and the Philippines, a net worth under $100,000 will place a person in the top 1 percent of all earners, according to Bloomberg.
A majority of physicians in seven specialties do not believe they are fairly compensated, according to Physicians Thrive's "2023 Physician Compensation Report."

Physicians Thrive, a financial advisory group, compiled data from more than 12 sources, including Doximity, the Bureau of Labor Statistics and Merritt Hawkins, for the report.

Here are seven specialties where a majority believe they are fairly compensated:
Artificial intelligence is all the rage right now  and several health system revenue cycle management leaders are integrating the technology into their workflows.

Becker's reached out to seven RCM executives to get their thoughts on AI:

Anne Robertucci. Vice President of Clinical Revenue Cycle of Prisma Health (Greenville, S.C.): We have moved to use autonomous coding with our emergency department population and seen great results. I think that AI will help simplify many of the more complex RCM processes that, at the moment, are still very time-consuming and resource-intensive. We've seen things like robotic process automation come in and help automate simple RCM tasks, but AI must be capable of understanding clinical language in medical records to help with more complex processes.

At Prisma, we've been exploring the use of AI in the form of autonomous medical coding. We're currently working with a company that has developed sophisticated AI technology which can fully understand the clinical information in medical records and accurately assign medical charge codes in a matter of seconds. As you can imagine, this has had a huge impact on our medical coding processes by speeding up payment cycles, improving coding quality, and reducing costs. All in all, our success with autonomous coding makes me pretty excited about the impact that AI will have in RCM down the line.

Laura Calkins. Vice President of RCM of Presbyterian Healthcare Services (Albuquerque, N.M.): AI and robotic process automation can be valuable tools for healthcare revenue cycle teams to lower administrative costs. These technologies can be used to optimize net revenue and improve the overall patient financial experience. For example, Presbyterian uses "claim statusing," where a bot pings insurance carriers regarding outstanding insurance claims. This automated process allows employees to focus on higher-value work and use their time more effectively.

AI-based tools do require careful consideration, monitoring and assessment to avoid potential operational issues, but they can play an important role in efficiently managing costs and time.

Michael Mercurio. Vice President of Physician Revenue Services of Mass General Brigham (Boston): I think AI is going to have an enormous impact on healthcare RCM. In fact, AI is not only already impacting healthcare (the startups in this space are almost too numerous to count), but it most definitely will have a transformative impact on RCM in the coming months and years. The two areas where I think the most direct impact will be felt are in the coding/billing space and in predictive analytics.

As we have seen across our own RCM teams at Mass General Brigham, AI is primarily automating repetitive and time-consuming tasks involved in both coding and billing; in some cases, it is even doing the work of more experienced coders. AI's benefits are evident in the speed and accuracy with which CPTs, diagnosis codes and modifiers are generated, thereby relieving the tedious burden our healthcare system imposes on our most expensive and scarce resources: providers. The result for us has been a far more efficient revenue cycle, a shorter time to payment, fewer payer denials, and a reduced cost to collect (in addition to a reduced burden for our providers, coders and billers).

There is also tremendous opportunity for predictive analytics in this space. Given AI tools can consume vast amounts of data to extract features and identify patterns, there is a huge opportunity to leverage AI to help us focus on the work for which we are most likely going to get paid. We have to be careful that we don't get caught in a catch-22 in this scenario, but the power of AI in this space is undeniable.

Olaf Faeskorn. Vice President of Revenue Cycle of South Georgia Medical Center (Valdosta): We have conversations here at South Georgia Medical Center, with our IT folks involved to really understand the security aspect of this. How can we work with this in the future without putting our data at risk?

There's clearly awareness around this in the industry and here locally, on a personal level, I look at these things certainly through a skeptical lens as what kind of damage this can do to our safety and security. On the other hand, we got to embrace it to some degree because it's not going away. We're actively actually looking into this right now. I have, in the past, looked at automation and, to some degree, limited machine learning in the coding realm.

Some of the bigger players have toyed around with it or have done it in the past. At the local level, some vendors have helped with infusion building automation. It is a good target because it is a rules-based system. You can build automation around it based on the rather complex rules, but they can be captured. I think with AI we will see more dynamic systems that are more truly looking at different scenarios and preferences and the actual clinical data behind it.

We're actively pursuing a coding AI solution to test it out and really see what it is capable of. Does it fit our needs and what does it really mean for us? We're going to be running a limited trial to see if this is something that we want to put into our regular workflows.

Paul Capello. Revenue Cycle Project Manager of Shriner's Children's Hospital (Tampa, Fla.): It's not a lot of people out there that have married AI to healthcare just yet. I know there are probably the Epics and other larger players of the world that have teams working on it. In order to make it make sense from a patient perspective, there are three criteria that I use: patient safety, financial return on investment and regulatory requirements. Healthcare is so regulatory requirement-heavy that AI may be able to help in this space.

Longer term, I think these players will come at it from a methodical type of approach. The analogy I use is electric vehicles in the automotive industry; everybody wants to get there, but right now, the cost is somewhat prohibitive to them. It is going to be something with healthcare, where AI may help in some capacity, but right now it is probably too cost-prohibitive and too unknown.

Seth Katz. Vice President of Health Information Management and Revenue Cycle of University Health KC (Kansas City, Mo.): Automation and machine learning holds the promise to help drive the front-, middle- and back-end units of the revenue cycle forward by taking over the mundane and repetitive tasks, allowing staff to work at the top of their skill set on what matters most. It has the potential to help with staffing shortages and allow organizations to be more nimble in adapting to new rules and regulations.

Though the technology isn't there yet, I have no doubt it'll continue to improve over the coming years, and it's something all current and future leaders need to become versed in and understand how the technology works and what use cases they could apply it to within their organization.

Todd Craghead. Vice President of Finance and Revenue Cycle of Intermountain Health (Salt Lake City): In my opinion, AI will continue to have a significant impact within the RCM space by automating more and more tasks that have traditionally been performed by the RCM workforce. I expect that this will reduce the workforce, reduce operating costs, and improve outcomes. Many providers/payers are already advancing their work together to leverage this technology in order to reduce friction for the patient/member.

Targeted workflows that were often performed by individuals are accelerating their move to AI, given that many of the decision trees can be replicated within this technology. Some of the more visible workflows impacted by AI include authorization workflows, payment posting/processing workflows, and claims status/adjudication. In addition, patient self-service payment tools continue to introduce increasing levels of artificial intelligence, which further reduces the need for patients to interact directly with staff and allows them to leverage technology in order to complete their interaction with the system.
UMass Memorial Medical Center has paid $1.2 million to settle a March 2022 lawsuit regarding a data breach of its payroll management system Kronos, Telegram & Gazette reported May 16.

According to federal court documents, 3,178 workers from the health system were allegedly shorted pay due to a December 2021 cyberattack that forced the UMass Memorial to shut down its payroll system.

Workers filed the lawsuit against UMass Memorial and Kronos, asking for $5 million.

UMass Memorial denied any wrongdoing during the time of the case filing and said it had paid the workers "for improper payments" following the pay freeze.

The new settlement gives employees pay that they lost during the data breach.

UMass Memorial did not provide comment to the publication on the settlement.
Newark, N.J.-based University Hospital, the only public hospital in the state, has reported $157.1 million in operating losses for the fiscal year ending March 31, adding to the $152.1 million loss in the same period ending March 31, 2022.

The news comes as the aging hospital, the principal teaching hospital of Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, requires a $1.8 billion overhaul even if administrators don't know where the necessary funds are coming from.

"Now, how do we pay for it?" President and CEO Ed Jimenez told nj.com in February after revelations of plans for such an overhaul, including $20 million in annual repairs.

"We can't put bandaids on this structure anymore," Debbie White, RN, president of Health Professionals and Allied Employees, has said. "We can't fix the entire building. We need a new building. We need a new campus. We need updated equipment. We need updated technology. We need a modern campus."

University Hospital had $271.6 million long-term debt as of March 31.
Artificial intelligence has been on the tip of the tongue for healthcare executives since OpenAI launched ChatGPT late last year.

The technology is evolving daily, and health systems are watching to see where the technology could add the most value. Microsoft is reportedly developing a privacy-focused version of ChatGPT for healthcare providers, and the company is already partnering with Epic to integrate the technology in EHRs.

UC San Diego Health, Madison, Wis.-based UW Health and Palo Alto, Calif.-based Stanford Health Care are starting to use the new integration to automatically draft message responses.

"Our exploration of OpenAI's GPT-4 has shown the potential to increase the power and accessibility of self-service reporting through SlicerDicer, making it easier for healthcare organizations to identify operational improvements, including ways to reduce costs and to find answers to questions locally and in a broader context," said Seth Hain, senior vice president of research and development at Epic.

AI already supports health systems to automate business office and clinical functions, connect with patients, support clinical trials and provide insight for precision medicine and care decisions. Digital health tools are rushing to integrate artificial intelligence for a more curated health experience as well. With the rapid change, will AI revolutionize healthcare? Or will it fizzle?

When asked whether AI will revolutionize healthcare, ChatGPT said:

"Yes, artificial intelligence (AI) has the potential to revolutionize healthcare in numerous ways. Here are some key areas where AI can have a transformative impact:

1. Improved Diagnosis and Treatment: AI algorithms can analyze vast amounts of medical data, including patient records, imaging studies, genetic information, and research literature, to assist healthcare professionals in making more accurate diagnoses and treatment decisions. AI can help identify patterns, detect subtle anomalies, predict disease progression, and recommend personalized treatment plans.

2. Enhanced Medical Imaging Analysis: AI algorithms can analyze medical images such as X-rays, CT scans, and MRIs with remarkable accuracy, aiding radiologists in detecting abnormalities, tumors, and other conditions. This can lead to faster and more precise diagnoses, reducing human error and improving patient outcomes.

3. Efficient Healthcare Operations: AI can optimize administrative tasks, automate workflows, and streamline healthcare operations. This includes tasks like scheduling appointments, managing electronic health records, coding and billing, inventory management, and resource allocation, freeing up healthcare professionals to focus more on patient care.

4. Drug Discovery and Development: AI can accelerate the process of discovering and developing new drugs. By analyzing vast datasets, including biological information, chemical compounds, and clinical trial results, AI algorithms can identify potential drug candidates, optimize drug design, and predict their efficacy and safety profiles, potentially reducing the time and cost involved in bringing new treatments to market.

5. Personalized Medicine: AI can enable precision medicine by analyzing patient data, genetics, environmental factors, and treatment outcomes to tailor therapies to individual patients. This can improve treatment efficacy, minimize side effects, and optimize patient outcomes.

6. Remote Patient Monitoring and Telehealth: AI-powered remote monitoring devices and telehealth platforms can collect and analyze patient data in real-time, enabling remote patient monitoring, early detection of health deterioration, and timely interventions. AI can help healthcare providers make data-driven decisions and offer personalized care even from a distance.

7. Health Prediction and Prevention: AI algorithms can analyze patient data to identify risk factors, predict disease onset, and recommend preventive measures. This can empower individuals to take proactive steps towards maintaining their health and enable healthcare providers to intervene early, potentially reducing the burden of chronic diseases.

8. Support for Healthcare Professionals: AI can assist healthcare professionals by providing decision support, evidence-based guidelines, and access to the latest research and medical literature. This can enhance clinical workflows, reduce medical errors, and support continuous learning among healthcare professionals.

While AI holds significant promise, its successful integration into healthcare requires careful consideration of ethical, legal, and privacy aspects. Transparency, interpretability, and responsible use of AI algorithms are essential to maintain trust and ensure patient safety. Collaboration between AI systems and healthcare professionals is crucial to achieve the optimal balance between technology and human expertise in delivering high-quality, patient-centered care."

When asked whether hospitals and doctors should be afraid of how AI will change healthcare, ChatGPT said: "Hospitals and doctors need not be nervous about how artificial intelligence (AI) will change healthcare. Instead, they should approach it with cautious optimism and an open mindsetBy embracing AI as a tool to augment healthcare delivery, hospitals and doctors can harness its potential to improve patient care, increase efficiency, and advance medical knowledge. Ongoing education, training, and collaboration will be key to adapting to the evolving healthcare landscape influenced by AI."
With the Minnesota legislative session slated to end May 22, rural hospital CEOs in the state are warning of what they say are consequences for patient care if a staffing bill becomes law, according to the Duluth News Tribune.

At issue is the Keeping Nurses at the Bedside Act, which would require hospitals to form hospital nurse staffing committees to set staffing levels. The state would evaluate each hospital's compliance with its own staffing plan. The bill also includes workplace violence prevention and loan forgiveness programs.

Hospital leaders told the media May 16 they fear the bill would exacerbate challenges rural hospitals already face, the Duluth News Tribune reported. Among the financial challenges cited are financial and workforce strain.

Carrie Michalski, president and CEO of RiverView Health in Crookston, said RiverView had to close its skilled nursing facility earlier this spring amid the strain and that the staffing bill as written would add administrative burden onto teams, according to the newspaper.

"This session, as someone that's geographically far from the Capitol, it's been feeling like the real world realities of rural healthcare are just not being understood and heard in St. Paul," Ms. Michalski said. "To mandate a one-size-fits-all across a variety of hospitals and sizes and resources and geography just does not make sense."

The Minnesota Nurses Association, meanwhile, hails the bill as a comprehensive approach to nurse staffing and retention. It is calling on Gov. Tim Walz to sign the bill as written.

"Someday, all of us and our loved ones will need care in a hospital," the union said in a May 12 news release. "When that day comes, we deserve to know our hospital will be staffed with highly skilled healthcare professionals able to provide the quality care we need and deserve."

However, hospitals and health systems are warning that nonprofit hospitals are "in trouble" if the bill becomes law as is.

On May 5, the Minnesota Reformer reported that Rochester-based Mayo Clinic is considering pulling billions in investments from Minnesota over the bill. Mayo has since doubled down on its stance against the Keeping Nurses at the Bedside Act, and the Star Tribune reported May 15 that the state of Minnesota is moving forward with a plan to exempt Mayo from the bill.






Texas health officials are warning clinicians about a string of suspected fungal meningitis cases among state residents who underwent surgery in Mexico.

One person has died and four people are currently hospitalized with meningitis symptoms, the Texas Department of State Health said May 16. All five individuals recently traveled to Matamoros, Mexico, to undergo surgical procedures that required an epidural.

Health officials are still investigating the source of the infections, whether the cases are related and whether there are more cases.

The health department is urging healthcare professionals to consider fungal infections as a potential diagnosis for patients with symptoms of central nervous symptom infection who received surgical care in Matamoros.
From a $70 million innovation center to a new proprietary virtual nursing technology, health systems have been busy debuting digital innovations.

Here are 13 health system innovation projects Becker's reported on since April 14:

1. The investment arms of Rochester, Minn.-based Mayo Clinic and Cleveland Clinic joined in a $15 million strategic funding round May 16 for medtech augmented reality company MediView XR.

2. Somerville, Mass.-based Mass General Brigham said May 12 that it plans to bring a medical center to the United Arab Emirates will focus on technology and digital innovation in partnership with Boston-based Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.

3. Charlotte, N.C.-based Atrium Health said May 11 it had opened its first virtual care clinic at an apartment complex.

4. Los Angeles-based Cedars-Sinai established a new center focused on advancing artificial intelligence and machine learning May 9.

5. UC San Diego Health said May 4 that it's piloting using QR codes to help patients see how their medical insurance information is retrieved and verified during check-in.

6. Ann Arbor-based Michigan Medicine said April 24 that it's rolling out a new mobile monitoring platform that allows clinicians to observe patient data from cardiac monitors and other bedside devices from phones, tablets, PCs or workstations.

7. Children's Mercy Kansas City (Mo.) partnered April 24 with GE HealthCare to open a new 6,000-square-foot hub that uses AI to track patient care progression.

8. Salt Lake City-based Intermountain Health said April 20 it had developed a new AI-powered platform designed to aid clinicians in making bedside diagnoses.

9. Nashville, Tenn.-based HCA Healthcare partnered April 20 with medtech company Augmedix to expand the use of AI-powered ambient documentation in its clinical settings.

10. Renton, Wash.-based Providence said April 19 that it's rolling out remote patient monitoring across its seven-state footprint.

11. Chicago-based CommonSpirit Health launched the first virtual nursing program in its system, at Saint Joseph Hospital in Lexington, Ky., April 18 after previously piloting its proprietary technology.

12. Northwell Holdings, the venture capital arm of New Hyde Park, N.Y.-based Northwell Health, participated in a $30 million financing round April 18 for Memora Health, a digital care enablement company.

13. San Diego-based Sharp HealthCare opened a new $70 million innovation and education center dubbed the Prebys Innovation & Education Center in San Diego on April 14.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed legislation creating a $150 million loan program for financially distressed hospitals into law May 15.

The California Assembly approved the Distressed Hospital Loan Program on May 4. It will provide zero-interest cash flow loans to nonprofit and public hospitals on the brink of closure or recently closed. Eligibility criteria are still being developed, though the program is expected to support the reopening of Madera (Calif.) Community Hospital, which shut its doors at the start of the year.

The funds will be administered by the state's department of healthcare access and information, and the California Health Facilities Financing Authority. Hospitals must submit a plan to the agencies detailing how they plan to "return to financial viability and continue to operate long-term," Mr. Newsom's office said. Some loans disbursed through the program may be eligible for forgiveness.

The California Hospital Association has also asked the governor for a one-time payment of $1.5 billion to be distributed to the most financially burdened facilities. In April, hospital leaders in California held a press conference in response to a Kaufman Hall report that found 1 in 5 hospitals in the state are at risk of closure. Leaders emphasize that these lifelines are a short-term fix.

"The only sustainable fix here is an increase in [government] reimbursement rates," Carmela Coyle, president and CEO of the CHA said in April.
Five defendants charged in the Southern District of Florida have pleaded guilty to wire fraud conspiracy after their alleged involvement in a nurse diploma scheme.

The five individuals, Krystal Lopez, Damian Lopez, Francois Legagneur, Reynoso Seide and Yelva Saint Preux, will be sentenced by a district judge in federal court on July 27. They could each face up to 20 years in federal prison, according to a May 15 U.S. Attorney's Office news release.

During their guilty plea hearings, Mr. Lopez, Mr. Legagneur, Mr. Seide and Ms. Saint Preux admitted to soliciting and recruiting people who sought nursing credentials and to working with Palm Beach School of Nursing to create and distribute fraudulent diplomas and transcripts.

Ms. Lopez admitted that she processed applications for individuals in her role as the school's finance director and that each student paid the school $15,000 for the documents.

All defendants profited from the scam, according to the release. These are five of the dozens of defendants charged for their participation in the scheme.

Some nurses who attended the school say they're losing job opportunities even though they didn't participate in the scheme.
The American Association of Critical-Care Nurses released standardized guidelines to assist nurses in caring for patients undergoing prone positioning therapy, according to a May 16 practice alert.

In order to reduce risk of complications that might arise if a patient is receiving prone positioning therapy for an extended period of time  more than 12 hours per day  the alert provides evidence-based strategies to help avoid pressure injuries, airway obstruction and unplanned extubation, ocular and nerve injuries, and enteral nutrition issues.

For caregivers, the alert also reinforces the importance of reducing risks when turning a patient.

"Prone positioning poses significant risks for the patient, which can often outweigh the benefits," co-author of the alert Lauren Morata, DNP, APRN-CNS, said. "It's important to evaluate each patient prior to their being placed in the prone position to determine whether there are any relative or absolute contraindications."
Upstate University Hospital in Syracuse, N.Y., is using drones to deliver medications between its outpatient pharmacy and Upstate Community Hospital campus, the organization said May 16.

The medication deliveries support the hospital's "Meds to Beds" program, which provides prescriptions to patients prior to their discharge.

Medication orders are sent to the hospital's outpatient pharmacy where workers fill the prescriptions and place them in a drone's cargo hold. The drones then deliver the medication to a designated area outside of the hospital where a technician can retrieve them.

The hospital launched the delivery program this week and is already eyeing expansion plans, according to Robert Corona, DO, CEO of Upstate University Hospital.

"The hospital already delivers medications to a nearby residence for housing vulnerable individuals, and is assessing a program for delivery of medications by drone to nearby residents," he said in a news release.

Learn more here.
The corruption of the FDA's scientific culture is driving the deterioration of safety and effectiveness standards, David Ross, MD, associate clinical professor of medicine at Washington, D.C.-based George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences, wrote in an opinion piece for The BMJ on May 15.

Dr. Ross outlined a recent FDA approval of a drug called Recarbrio.

"Approval of the Recarbrio NDA was shocking given its lack of substantial evidence of effectiveness and the complete absence of adequate and well controlled clinical investigations on the actual indication of interest," Dr. Ross wrote. "The Recarbrio approval is even more troubling because of other inexplicable departures from fundamental scientific, regulatory and procedural principles. These included the failure to require 'that each active component [of a fixed dose combination drug] contributes to the effect claimed for the product.'"

Dr. Ross pointed to the FDA's reliance on industry paid user fees as a reason for the corruption he sees. According to the article, in 1994, fees made up less than 10 percent of the FDA's annual drug budget. In 2023, fees made up more than two-thirds.

"In its quest to avoid difficult choices and hard decisions, the FDA has increasingly embraced non-inferiority trials (or vice versa), ignoring the serious regulatory, clinical and ethical problems caused by their misuse," Dr. Ross wrote. "However, the corruption of the FDA's scientific culture remains the primary culprit driving the deterioration of safety and effectiveness standards  FDA leadership's continued hostility towards meaningful peer review, transparency, and accountability dims the prospect for institutional self-renewal. So has the failure of much-touted internal pathways for disagreement, which have amounted to little more than virtue signaling."

Regarding a potential solution, Dr. Ross called on Congress to adequately fund the FDA so its dependency on user fees would decrease.

"Although politically fraught, tapering the FDA's dependence on user fees would involve less than 0.2 percent of the annual federal budget," Dr. Ross wrote. "This would be a small price to pay for checking the continuing corrosion of the agency's scientific integrity by user fees."

He also recommended improving public access to the information received by the FDA, its reasoning and its decisions.

"Fifty years ago, the agency issued regulations providing broad authority to disclose safety and effectiveness data," Dr. Ross wrote. "Subsequently, however, the FDA reinterpreted its authority under the Freedom of Information Act to significantly narrow the scope of information it would release. Its continuing refusal to disclose non-trade secret information, such as the effectiveness data in the Recarbrio NDA, is untenable given the FDA's existing authorities and its ability to implement congressionally mandated transparency reforms, such as the requirement to post NDA action packages to the FDA's website within 30 days of approval, without having to promulgate new regulations."
All four women who were injured in a May 2 shooting at Northside Hospital Medical Midtown in Atlanta have all been discharged from the hospital, according to a May 16 report from ABC affiliate WSB-TV.

Three of the four patients were initially in critical condition at Grady Memorial Hospital where they received care. The victims of the shooting, including one who was killed at the scene, were all women between the ages of 25 and 71.

The four survivors of the attack are Lisa Glynn, Georgette Whitlow, Jazzmin Daniel and Alesha Hollinger. The woman who died on scene was CDC employee Amy St. Pierre.

The suspect in the shooting was arrested May 2 after an hours-long manhunt.
Boston-based Mass General Brigham has drawn criticism from disability advocates and community members over how it's handling masking at its hospitals, radio station GBH 89.7 reported May 17.

Many immunocompromised people are worried about staying safe with masking requirements dropping and other public health emergency benefits like insurance-covered telehealth and free COVID-19 tests and vaccines dwindling, according to the station. And some worry about attending hospital appointments where universal masking has been dropped. Although some hospitals are keeping masking in some departments like oncology, others, like Mass General, are trying to do away with it entirely.

Mass General Brigham changed its masking policies twice in May. In early May, it posted to its website and sent to patients a question-and-answer section that included the following language:

"Q: I'd be more comfortable if my doctor, nurse or another care provider wear a mask. Can I ask them to? A: No. You cannot ask staff members to wear a mask because our policies no longer require it. Our system is adhering to current public health recommendations."

The wording upset many community members and disability activists, including lawyer Matthew Cortland, who filed a complaint with the civil rights divisions of the Justice Department and HHS.

"It's a blatant violation of federal disability, civil rights laws, and also the laws of the commonwealth of Massachusetts," Mr. Cortland told GBH.

One immunocompromised patient called the hospital for clarification on what would happen if she chose to ask staff to mask.

"They said it could result in the security being called, which seems like a little bit of an overreaction," she said. "I didn't mean to be hostile in any way. I just want to know how best to protect myself when I do go to the hospital."

However, a hospital spokesperson told GBH that the patient was misinformed.

"To clarify, patients would not be escorted out by security if they were to simply ask staff to mask," he said in an emailed message.

Mass General Brigham removed the language from the website and said in a statement that they "are committed to ensuring that patients can access medical care in a safe and appropriate manner," and "patients can ask, but providers determine when and if masking in a particular situation is clinically necessary."

But some advocates aren't satisfied.

"The MGB policy that is, quote, 'your provider will decide if you need others to mask in your presence' is problematic and discriminatory and racist given the history of what we have seen in the medical system," Lara Jirmanus, MD, co-founder of Massachusetts Coalition for Health Equity, told GBH. "I personally have actually [called] on the phone and was told by an MGB staff person that I didn't have to worry about COVID anymore because it wasn't a big deal."

The advocacy organization is trying to get accommodations to require providers to wear masks around immunocompromised people but has had no success yet.

Mass General Brigham confirmed they have received complaints over the new policy and are working with those individuals. They direct patients with direct concerns about masking to the providers in charge of their care.
The CEO and COO of New Orleans-based Ochsner Health face questions from a Louisiana senator, who is concerned why nurses were laid off despite system claims of a nurse deficit.

Ochsner Health eliminated 770 positions, or about 2 percent of its workforce, on May 11. In a memo to employees, Ochsner CEO Pete November said affected positions were in management and primarily non-direct patient care roles, with no physicians affected. There was no language in the memo about nurses, specifically.

On May 12, Louisiana state Sen. Gregory Tarver issued a letter to Mr. November and Ochsner COO Mike Hulefeld to express concern about nurses' inclusion in the layoffs, according to local CBS affiliate KSLA.

"It is very disheartening when I hear that nurses are being let go when we have heard from leaders of the Ochsner Health System during our legislative sessions that hospitals are experiencing a SHORTAGE of nurses," Mr. Tarver wrote. "The situation is a bit confusing when registered nurses, licensed practical nurses, and family nurse practitioners are being released from their positions, according to my sources."

Mr. Tarver said his office has received "a number of calls from nursing staff that they have been laid off and they were not offered any other position." Mr. Tarver said it appears that some hospital leadership teams "did not follow the protocols" communicated by Mr. November in his memo, which stated that any impacted employees with active clinical credentials would be offered direct patient care roles.

The senator requested that Mr. November and Mr. Hulefeld specify the number of people released from each facility and the job position they held.

An Ochsner spokesperson told Becker's it is working with more than 40 clinical employees who have expressed interest in continuing employment with the health system. Mr. November issued a response May 16 to the senator's inquiry. Below is an excerpt of that response, shared with Becker's:
In November 2021, CMS announced a vaccine mandate requiring facilities that receive Medicare and Medicaid funding to ensure staff are vaccinated against COVID-19, save for medical or religious exemptions. Now, with the imminent end of the mandate, Becker's spoke with experts to gain greater insights about what the decision could mean for hospital workforces.

The Biden administration announced May 1 that it would end COVID-19 vaccine requirements for employees of CMS-certified healthcare facilities. The administration also announced it would drop COVID-19 vaccine requirements for federal employees and contractors and international air travelers May 11  the same day as the end of the COVID-19 public health emergency.

The CMS mandate has been the subject of challenges by some states, and more than a dozen states continued to petition against the rule even after the Supreme Court declined to consider the challenge. Meanwhile, some health systems fired workers for noncompliance, and some workers resigned or quit.

Here, Todd Walrath, CEO of ShiftMed, a staffing platform that connects 350,000 healthcare professionals with jobs at healthcare facilities each quarter, and Stoel Rives Partner Brenda Baumgart, chair of the Portland, Ore.-based law firm's labor and employment group, discuss the mandate and the potential effects of the end of the rule.

Mr. Walrath estimates up to 90 percent of ShiftMed's workforce received the initial vaccine.

"In the beginning, it was only about 10 percent, maybe 11 percent, who could previously pick up shifts and then weren't able to pick up shifts in our workforce," Mr. Walrath said.

He said fewer workers received boosters than the initial vaccine, which, along with various other pandemic-related factors, also affected the ShiftMed workforce. Some workers stopped doing bedside care, other workers began working in home health, and some workers left healthcare temporarily or altogether.

With CMS dropping the requirement, ShiftMed is "excited about it, but we're pretty pragmatic," Mr. Walrath said. He estimates a single-digit boost in the percentage of healthcare professionals picking up shifts through the platform.

"We think we have a long way to go before all the needs are met," Mr. Walrath said. "There continues to be more and more patients every day who need care [as baby boomers age]."

"I would argue that we're not even in the first inning of the amount of people who are going to need care. And what we're trying to do at ShiftMed is provide flexibility, especially for part-time workers."

He said the idea is to create a local option of a pool of part-time workers that is available to hospitals and health systems to help fill staffing gaps.

Hospitals and health systems have long been grappling with staffing shortages, and these shortages don't appear to be going away. There are various reasons for this, including a generational gap as well as burnout and turnover.

Ms. Baumgart, who primarily represents healthcare clients, views the rollback of the CMS mandate as another step in an unprecedented time for hospitals and health systems.

Through it all, these organizations are trying to balance a staffing shortage with ensuring safety of the public and patients, she said.

Some states have already ended their own vaccine mandates for healthcare workers. Oregon ended its mandate on May 11 to coincide with the end of the COVID-19 public health emergency. Beginning April 3, California ended its vaccination requirement for healthcare workers, including those in adult care, direct care, correctional facilities and detention centers. And Washington ended its rule last fall.

With the end of the CMS mandate, health systems are considering whether it's prudent to bring back some or all of the workers who they parted ways with because the workers were unable to comply with the vaccine requirement, Ms. Baumgart said.

"And if they do so, they're looking at the safety protocols or obligations" that could be involved, she said.

Some healthcare organizations also decided to put employees on a leave of absence if they were unable to comply with the vaccine requirement.

"And if that's a situation that employers are facing, then they are evaluating the circumstances," Ms. Baumgart said. "Might these employees have reinstatement rights? That would depend on the circumstances of their leave. It also may depend on the terms of any applicable agreement such as the collective bargaining agreement [with a union]."

She said she has talked with some health systems on the West Coast that have announced they will be returning unvaccinated employees to work who have maintained their status of unpaid administrative leave.

Such systems are imposing additional safety requirements on unvaccinated employees, she said.

Additionally, healthcare employers have modified their hiring practices to comply with the CMS mandate or state mandates. Ms. Baumgart said they're looking at how they might need to change those hiring practices moving forward.

"Like any employee policy, announcing those changes prospectively is prudent," she said.

Overall, she said she doesn't see the end of the CMS mandate meaning the end of the healthcare staffing shortage. She also expects litigation to continue with lawsuits related to vaccine exemptions during the pandemic.

"The rollback of the mandate will not impact pending litigation because, of course, those decisions are going to be governed by the law in effect at the time," Ms. Baumgart said.

Hospitals and health systems said they continue to consider any next steps.

"We are evaluating the impacts of this announcement, and will determine what the best next steps are to help keep the Providence family of organizations' facilities safe for employees, patients and their families," a spokesperson from Renton, Wash.-based Providence told Becker's earlier this month.

A spokesperson for Reno, Nev.-based Renown Health said: "Renown Health extends sincere gratitude for every employee and provider who joined us in facing the uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic. We are prepared to return to vaccination standards prior to the pandemic and look forward to this next chapter of caring for our community."






Orthopedic surgeon David Newman, MD, joined St. Lawrence Health's Canton-Potsdam Hospital in Canton, N.Y.

Dr. Newman has clinical interests in robotic-assisted surgeries and the diagnosis of orthopedic issues. He is also a fellow of the American Association of Hip and Knee Surgeons, according to a May 16 news release from Potsdam, N.Y.-based St. Lawrence Health.

Canton-Potsdam Hospital is a nonprofit facility with 94 beds, providing care to eight cities in New York.
Former New York orthopedic surgeon Spyros Panos was sentenced to 111 months in prison for fraud and identity theft charges he pled guilty to in 2020, according to the Department of Justice, Southern District of New York.

Mr. Panos pleaded guilty to wire fraud, healthcare fraud and aggravated identity theft in October 2020 for stealing a colleague's identity and collecting $876,389.97 in payments for reviewing workers' compensation patient files.

Mr. Panos surrendered his New York State medical license in 2013 after a prior healthcare fraud conviction, the Department of Justice said Nov. 30.

In addition to prison, Mr. Panos was sentenced to three eyars of supervissed release.
From left, Greg Henry, director at McConnell Property; Ian Glenn, managing director, Wellington IT; Colin Walsh, senior vice president, Treliant; James Smith, senior asset manager, M7 Real Estate; Brendan Gorman, CFO, Capital Markets at Treliant; and David Wright, director at CBRE NI

Two finance services firms are the latest to sign leases at a newly refurbished Grade A office development in Belfasts Linen Quarter.

20 Adelaide Street, a 20,000-sq-ft space across seven floors, now has only two floors left to let after Treliant and Wellington IT both agreed 10-year leases.

Office space tenancy increased by 173% year on year in the first quarter of 2023, according to figures for Q1 2023 from CBRE NI, joint letting agent for the property alongside McConnell Property.

Treliant, a US financial consultancy firm, announced earlier this year it would be moving to a new site as part a multi-million-pound growth plan to include the creation of 150 new jobs in Belfast.

Wellington IT provides financial services software including core systems and fully managed services for credit unions.

20 Adelaide Street has undergone major refurbishment works including a double-height entrance foyer and high-end office suites.

The scheme is owned by pan-European investor and asset manager M7 Real Estate.

James Smith, senior asset manager at M7, said: 20 Adelaide Street is a landmark refurbishment project for M7 in Belfast, and we believe that our significant investment to modernise the building is a testament to the widely reported trend of high quality, attractive space being a key driver in the decision making of collaborative thinking, corporate occupiers.

There has been a notable uptick in viewings and enquiries since 2022, with historic enquiries also now resurfacing.

We are delighted to have Treliant and Wellington IT join us, in addition to being excited to see Merrion Vaults open its secure depositary facility on the ground floor within the next few weeks also.

David Wright, director at CBRE NI, said: 20 Adelaide Street has been a great addition to the office sector in Belfast and is providing high-quality Grade A office space in the city centre, particularly for the local SME sector.

And Mr Wright said a number of Grade A office schemes have been recently completed or are nearing completion, which should boost office take-up in the remainder of 2023.

Greg Henry, director at McConnell Property, said: With only two vacant floors left, it is great to see 20 Adelaide Street almost fully let, and it is encouraging to see the office sector in Northern Ireland showing its resilience.

Brendan Gorman, CFO, capital markets at Treliant, said: Our relocation to 20 Adelaide Street is driven by our commitment to the well-being and growth of our team. Our new space will provide a collaborative and inspiring environment where our team can deliver excellence to our clients and drive innovation and development across our business.

Ian Glenn, CEO, Wellington IT, said: We are thrilled to have moved into our new office space at 20 Adelaide Street.

We have created a modern, flexible office space that supports collaborative working and believe that our new premises will act as a catalyst for future business growth and success and will help us in attracting and retaining a talented workforce.
Technology that seemed far-fetched 20 years ago could spell the end of jobs across society

AI could revolutionise the world of work, for the better and for the worse

It has been more than 20 years since Steven Spielbergs AI: Artificial Intelligence was released in cinemas, following the story of a robot who wanted to feel love and become a real boy.

The science-fiction film, which borrowed heavily from the story of Pinocchio, was seen as fantasy, but today, in a world driven by technological advancement, AI is a very real and pressing concern.

Many predict it will soon permeate every area of our lives, including education, journalism, finance and transport.

It has replaced social media as the force dividing society over how it should be implemented.

Much of the discussion centres on how to harness AIs potential without leaving behind the people who stand to lose their jobs, alongside the matter of sentience.

According to experts, its reputation has not been helped by the controversy around applications such as ChatGPT, the headline-making chatbot infamous for its inaccurate, often comical and sometimes downright sinister responses.

My concerns are about how its the most visible area of AI, the tip of the iceberg, said Robert Grundy, the chair of Matrix, the Northern Ireland science and technology panel that advises the government on how best to implement advances.

ChatGPT is interesting and a great tool. Anyone can use it, but the problem is, its only using information on the internet and assuming its correct.

Mr Grundy is also the CEO of OMICS, a drug discovery company. In this role, he uses AI for tasks humans would find almost impossible, such as analysing huge amounts of data.

My interest in AI is to enable us to understand diseases through the analysis of very large datasets by using computation that we wouldnt be able to analyse without artificial intelligence, he said.

It means you can extract information that would be [almost] impossible for a human without the support of a computer. It would take us hundreds of years.

He believes the conversations happening around AI, including aspects of ChatGPT, can undermine aspects of his companys work and use of the technology.

Every production line in Northern Ireland could become more efficient with AI analysing the data they produce, Mr Grundy said.

The problem is, there is an ignorance in accessing the positive aspects.

AI has tremendous positives, but the negatives are all around the doomsday scenarios.

Since it was launched by the company OpenAI five months ago, ChatGPT has found itself at the centre of countless conversations, mainly because of its inaccurate and sometimes sinister responses.

In one particular case, the app labelled the survivor of an IRA bomb as a terrorist.

Jim Buckley was the CEO of Baltic Exchange when it was attacked by the IRA in 1992, with three people killed in the blast.

He decided to test out ChatGPT after he saw his grandson using it, and detailed his experiences in a letter to the Times.

Mr Buckley described how he entered his name into the app alongside some prompts, including his name, role and the words IRA bombing.

The response misidentified him as the bomber, writing he was arrested in London two days after the blast and charged with multiple counts of murder.

It also wrongly indicated he was serving a life sentence for his part in the atrocity, which as well as killing three people injured almost 100.

ChatGPTs ability to generate information has also infuriated people working in creative industries, specifically in journalism and writing TV and film scripts.

Hollywood is currently in the grip of a writers strike, with more than 1,000 members of the Writers Guild walking out over the introduction of AI.

Comedian, writer and Sunday Life columnist Ciaran Bartlett understands the fun of AI but believes it can cheapen the value of human effort.

AI is fantastic, and soon it will be as useful and innovative to us as washing machines and tumble dryers were to people who previously had scrubbing boards and mangles, he said.

That said, I think that this sort of stuff should be reserved for menial tasks so that humans  sources of genuine inspiration  have free time to think and do things they enjoy. Sure, its a laugh to ask AI to write a joke or to paint a picture, but half of the fun is seeing how bad the jokes are, or laughing at the absurdity of the painting.

I have a painting of a dog reading a novel while lying in a hammock, in the style of Caravaggio. Its funny, but its not as good as a real Caravaggio.

Real human endeavour is impressive. The ubiquity of AI-generated content cheapens its value and actually heightens the value of human works.

Look at the size of the servers running these AI engines, and consider that one human brain is still more powerful.

The Irish Times recently apologised after an opinion piece on fake tan was discovered to have been generated by AI.

The supposed contributor was named Adriana Acosta-Cortez. She claimed to be a non-binary immigrant living in Dublin but did not actually exist. Even her Twitter profile picture was generated through AI websites.

The newspaper launched an investigation into the incident after it was exposed.

In a lengthy letter to readers, Irish Times editor Ruadhan Mac Cormaic said the matter underlined one of the challenges raised by generative AI for news organisations.

While a high-profile incident, it was not the first. The Associated Press published AI-written articles in 2014, and Reuters already has an in-house AI system.

Also generating controversy recently was the newspaper publisher Reach, which has announced plans to generate news stories with AI.

Northern Ireland firms are among those leading the charge in the sector, including Kainos, which has the largest dedicated team in the country and clients including the MoD.

While an advocate for change, Kainos head of AI practice Ruth McGuinness said nothing could replace the personal touch.

AI cannot replace the beauty of human creativity, but it can provide the ability to complement and augment how we think, she added.

This augmentation will have far-reaching impacts across all of our industries.

Fundamentally, we will see AI quickly transforming how we live and work.

The company recently built an AI tool for HM Land Registry that automatically reads and compares different versions of deeds documentation.

Ms McGuinness said this greatly improved the efficiency of tasks such as transferring plots of land by removing manual comparisons from their work process.

As AI becomes more widely adopted, there must be a greater understanding of the risks, including ethical considerations, biased outputs, inappropriate use of data, misinformation and unclear copyright ownership of generated content, she added.

I believe that these risks can only be addressed through appropriate human involvement and assurance of AI systems.
Queens University Belfast president and vice-chancellor also worries there will be fewer places to offer students

The Northman, which was filmed in NI (Picture: PA Photo/ 2022 FOCUS FEATURES LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED/Aidan Monaghan)   Press Association Images

Tern TV is one of the independent production companies behind BBC's Sunday Morning Live

A Northern Ireland TV producer has said hes concerned that 1m in cuts at NI Screen could hit a scheme aimed at getting new people into the industry.

The Department for the Economy (DfE) said it had nothing more to add after outlining on Monday that it was required to make 130m in cuts after receiving a reduced budget allocation.

Arms-length bodies which are supported by DfE, such as the universities, Tourism NI, Invest NI and NI Screen, have to decide themselves how to use the reduced funds they receive under the straitened budget.

Professor Ian Greer, president and vice-chancellor of Queens University Belfast, warned student places would have to be reduced to make up for its falling budget.

Funding for further education colleges is being cut by around 9m, while economic development agency Invest NI has to make do with 15% less.

And, according to BBC News NI, its understood that subsidies for university places for NI students will be cut by around 8%, or 14m.

Tourism NI faces cuts of a third to its spending power but said it had no detail on where programmes would be cut.

Brendan Hughes, head of Tern TV in Belfast, said industry development body NI Screen was hugely supportive of the independent screen industry.

Its famed for funding massive screen productions that have been made here, such as TV series Game Of Thrones and movie The Northman, and funded the Oscar-winning live-action short film An Irish Goodbye.

The Northman, which was filmed in NI (Picture: PA Photo/ 2022 FOCUS FEATURES LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED/Aidan Monaghan)   Press Association Images

But Mr Hughes said it also gave important lower-profile support, such as Aim High, an entry-level scheme for wannabe TV producers.

NI Screen also said it did not have any further detail but would be working with the department to ensure that its strategy continues to be delivered.

Mr Hughes said: I am concerned about cuts because NI Screen is hugely supportive of the independent sector here.

As well as providing incentives for companies to come in from abroad, its also got training schemes for things like Aim High, whereby people are given opportunities to work in independent companies. Itll be a shame if a lot of that disappeared. So I think that NI Screen gets a lot of credit and a lot of kudos for the big-money productions, because they bring in huge amounts of money and they do the economy the power of good.

What isnt shouted from the streets is what NI Screen does from the bottom end. It does quite a lot for the smaller production companies and the bigger ones, like mine. NI Screen gives a lot of production support, a lot of development support and a lot of just moral support, apart from anything else.

In schemes like Aim High, the work NI Screen does is invaluable in bringing in new people to the industry.

I would argue it doesnt have enough money to start with and cutting 1m is just shocking.

Tern TV, which makes factual programming, including BBC weekend show Sunday Morning Live, has taken on trainees through Aim High.

Its been a fantastic scheme, said Mr Hughes.

An upcoming series, Tiny Islands, which Tern TV is making for Channel 4, is 25% funded by NI Screen, he added.

Meanwhile, Professor Greer warned that planned cuts to the higher education budget would have a fundamental and dangerous impact on the Northern Ireland economy and could inflict long-lasting damage .

He said: The higher education sector in Northern Ireland has had a 40% cut in funding since 2011, while other regions and jurisdictions have had significant investment. This approach is unfair to both students and staff, many of whom are currently taking industrial action for better pay and conditions.

If implemented, the budget reductions will leave Queens with no option but to reduce the number of places that we can offer, as that is the only way we can absorb cuts, unless the government can come up with a sustainable funding approach. The sector is willing to work in partnership to find solutions, but discussions on how to agree a new approach need to start now.
As part of a search conducted by police, a significant cache of explosives, weapons and ammunition was uncovered at a family home in Ballymurphy, west Belfast, in 2015.   PSNI

A west Belfast woman was jailed today for four years for collecting information for dissident republican terrorists.

Sentencing Fionnghuale Perry (65), also known as Nuala, Mr Justice OHara said information she had collected was "sinister and "of great concern''.

He added it was depressing that having been convicted of her first terror offence in her teens, Perry remained committed to violent republicanism nearly 40 years later.

Perry, of Waterville Street, was found guilty in March this year at a non-jury Diplock-style trial at Belfast Crown Court for collecting or making a record of information likely to be of use to terrorists.

This related to documents regarding a security debrief following the police recovery of firearms, ammunition and explosives in west Belfast.

It was the prosecution case that the documents were found in Perry's home, which was searched by the PSNI on February 20, 2018.

The box containing handwritten notes found at Perry's home

Police officers searched a spare bedroom and seized a box of Chloe perfume and found "seven cigarette papers'' which contained written information about weapons and explosives.

The notes related to interviews carried out by individuals into the seizure of firearms, ammunition and explosives from the Ballymurphy home of Kevin Barry Nolan on September 17, 2015.

Nolan was later convicted for having explosives and weapons with intent and sentenced to seven years imprisonment.

As part of a search conducted by police, a significant cache of explosives, weapons and ammunition was uncovered at a family home in Ballymurphy, west Belfast, in 2015.   PSNI

The prosecution said the notes were a "security debrief'' into the seizure of items at Nolan's home to find out what went wrong and how police came to find them.

During the trial, Perry's defence was that she had a reasonable excuse to have the notes in her role as a journalist writing on political and security issues.

She claimed that she didn't know what the notes meant and "could not make sense of them''.

Handwritten notes found in a perfume box at Perry's home   PSNI

But this was rejected by trial judge Mr Justice O'Hara, who said in his March judgment: "I am satisfied beyond any doubt that the defendant is guilty of collecting or making a record likely to be useful to a terrorist.

"I reject entirely her defence that she had a reasonable excuse for her action for possessing the information.''

Passing sentence, Mr Justice O'Hara said: "The crime committed by this defendant on any view is a serious one. There are dissident republicans who, after all these years of violence and so many deaths ruined, are still committed to more deaths and more lives ruined.

"For every individual who transports or fires a gun, or makes or plants a bomb, there have to be more people who support and enable them. The defendant is one of those people.

"In terms of recording or collecting information, it is possible to think of worst cases, for instance, collecting information about the addresses and movements of police officers or other people on the grim list of so-called legitimate targets.''

He added: "Every time police find weapons and explosives, they land a blow on those who are committed to violence.

"The dissidents then respond by trying to work out what went wrong, whose fault it may have been and what steps are needed to be taken next time. This defendant played a role in that response in order that violence can continue.''

The judge said that to "make matters worse'', Perry had a conviction dating back to 1976 for hijacking a car and having a firearm with intent. She was also convicted of membership of a proscribed organisation and was sentenced to three years in prison.

"Even in her teens, this conviction shows she was committed to violent republicanism. The most recent offending comes depressingly more than 40 years later and in the same vein, he said.

During a recent hearing, Perry's defence counsel Desmond Hutton KC urged the judge not to send her to prison but to impose a suspended sentence because she has multiple sclerosis and mental health issues.

Mr Justice O'Hara said on Wednesday: "With all due respect, that is entirely unrealistic. It fails to acknowledge the seriousness of her offending, her criminal record from 1976 and she fought the charge and has lost any prospect of credit for pleading guilty.

"She and other dissident republicans have to realise that, as they continue with their efforts to murder and maim, they will face harsh consequences if and when they are caught, convicted and sentenced.''

Mr Justice O'Hara imposed the four-year sentence under the Counter Terrorism Act 2021 which was brought in following a series of terrorist attacks in London. It ended the early release of prisoners half way through their sentence.

He said that under the legislation, Perry will have to serve two thirds of her sentence before she could apply to the Parole Commissioners to be released.

Following the sentencing, the PSNI said: Todays outcome follows from the search of Fionnghuale Perrys home in Belfast on February 20, 2018.

During the search, officers from our terrorism investigation unit found handwritten notes, on cigarette papers, hidden inside a perfume box. The notes, which were partially in code, were seized for forensic analysis.

Their content referred to weapons and explosives, along with the initials or names of a number of individuals who had been questioned by police following a significant firearms find in the Ballymurphy area of Belfast in September 2015.

Essentially, police assessed that the notes amounted to a debriefing by a number of dissident republicans. Its believed this information could be of use to the New IRA, by helping them understand how those individuals had been identified.

Officers from our terrorism investigation unit remain totally committed to investigating and disrupting criminal activity within our communities. I would encourage anyone with information, or indeed concerns, to contact us on 101.
A Co Down couple in their 70s appeared in court today (Wednesday) charged with historic sexual abuse offences.

Leslie and Paula Bryans both attended Downpatrick Crown Court, sitting in Belfast, where they denied a total of three offences.

The couple, from Magheraknock Road in Ballynahinch, were each charged with indecently assaulting a male on a date unknown between June 24, 1985 and June 25, 1986.

When the charge was put to 71-year old Leslie Bryans, he replied 'not guilty.' His 73-year old wife Paula also denied the charge.

A second offence was then levelled at Leslie Bryans. He was charged that on a date unknown between June 24, 1985 and June 25, 1986 Paula Bryans indecently assaulted a male and he aided and abetted that offence.

When charged by the court of the clerk with the second offence, Leslie Bryans replied 'not guilty.'

After the couple entered their pleas, their barrister Rosemary Walsh said she anticipated the trial would last around four days.

Judge Geoffery Miller KC was then informed by Crown barrister Laura Ivers that the complainant now lives "outside the jurisdiction" and "will be attending court in person".

The Judge then set the trial date for October 23 and said he would review the case at the end of June.

He then addressed the couple in the dock. After telling them "stand up please", Judge Miller said: "You have now both been arraigned and entered not guilty pleas.

"Your trial has been fixed for the 23rd of October. I am hoping that by that stage the trial will be able to take place in Downpatrick.

"I am going to review the case on the 30th of June and I don't require you attend on that date."

After releasing then on continuing bail, Judge Miller said "you are free to go at this time."
Two workmen are killed in a hail of UFF bullets as gunmen attack a council depot on Kennedy Way in west Belfast (Pacemaker).

No compelling new evidence of collusion has emerged in a double sectarian murder linked to former loyalist terror chief Johnny Adair, a High Court judge ruled today.

Mr Justice Humphreys held that the legal test for establishing any failure to properly investigate the killing of two Catholic council workers in west Belfast 30 years ago was not met.

He dismissed claims by one victims son that both the PSNI and the Police Ombudsman have breached Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights.

James Cameron, 54, and Mark Rodgers, 28, were shot dead at their Kennedy Way work depot in October 1993.

Mark Rodgers, one of two men killed in a UFF gun attack on a council depot in West Belfast. The UFF said that it was in reprisal for the Shankill Bomb a few days earlier.

Several others were wounded in an attack carried out by the Ulster Freedom Fighters (UFF) just three days after nine people died in the IRAs notorious Shankill Road bombing.

Amid suspected security force collusion with the loyalist gunmen, Colm Cameron challenged the independence of a PSNI Legacy Investigation Branch probe into his fathers murder.

Judicial review proceedings were also taken against the Police Ombudsman for alleged delays in dealing with a complaint about the case lodged back in 2008.

The court heard the council workers were killed at a time when there was known to be a heightened risk against Catholic members of the community.

A book on the activities of Adair and the UFF C Company he commanded at that time referred to his alleged intention to plan a mass murder.

It was claimed that the Kennedy Way depot was an obvious target because of its Catholic workforce.

But counsel for Mr Cameron said a vehicle checkpoint was stood down an hour before the gunmen arrived without any proper explanation.

He argued that there had apparently been no surveillance operation against Adair or attempt to disrupt his paramilitary unit when retaliation for the Shankill bomb was likely.

In 1995 Adair, nicknamed Mad Dog, was convicted of directing terrorism and sentenced to 16 years in prison, only to be released early as part of the Good Friday Agreement.

An internal power struggle eventually led to him being ousted and expelled from the paramilitary organisation in 2002.

However, Mr Justice Humphreys was told there were suggestions he received assistance from security forces during his time in charge of C Company.

Further concerns were raised that the gun used to kill the council workers was part of an arsenal of rifles allegedly smuggled into Northern Ireland from Lebanon by British agent Brian Nelson.

In 2012 the now defunct Historical Enquiries Team (HET) carried out a review into the killings, but no report was provided to Mr Camerons family before the investigation branch disbanded.

Responding to the legal challenge, police set out how two people were charged, convicted and jailed in connection to the attack - including a man who admitted both murders and UFF membership.

A senior PSNI detective stated that during the original investigation 60 suspects were interviewed, 16 arrests made and fingerprints checked against 78 people believed to be associated with the UFF.

He confirmed a telephone warning which referred to Catholic depots was issued to Belfast City Council on the day before the attack.

Subsequent intelligence naming UFF members involved resulted in a series of arrests.

Central to the challenge was an alleged failure to carry out a probe which complied with Article 2 duties which only came into force in October 2000.

Under the so-called Brecknell legal test, fresh plausible or credible information about perpetrators was required to establish any retrospective investigative obligations over murders carried out seven years prior to that date.

Mr Justice Humphreys held that the state of knowledge on potential collusion was not enough.

The fact that preventative measures (in the form of surveillance on C Company) may have been removed in March 1993 cannot be said to have any evidential impact on the investigation into these killings, he said.

It does not have any relevance to the identification or prosecution of the perpetrators.

The use of a gun imported into Northern Ireland by loyalist paramilitaries was also known at the time of the murders, according to the judge.

The alleged involvement of Brian Nelson is without any evidential support. This is not new material which came into being after the critical date, he said.

Dismissing both of Mr Camerons challenges on similar grounds, Mr Justice Humphreys ruled: There is no weighty or compelling new evidence in this case which would satisfy the Brecknell test and cause the Article 2 investigative obligation to be revived.

A solicitor representing Mr Cameron said the case highlighted the importance of having access to the courts to challenge the State on its role in Northern Irelands conflict.

Kevin Winters added: Importantly, the families of victims and survivors were able to put their allegations in a public forum.
A life-sentence inmate has been acquitted of attacking and threatening to kill a prison officer in his cell.

The judge questioned the decision to bring the prosecution against Roy Kerr, who is behind bars for attempting to kill a doctor and two members of his family.

In directing the Craigavon Crown Court jury to acquit the 45-year-old, Judge Patrick Lynch KC queried the PPS decision to prosecute a man who is serving three life sentences and who would not have been freed regardless of the outcome of the trial.

He told the jury, given the mechanics of the complainants injury, he was satisfied there was no prospect of a properly-directed jury being able to find Kerr guilty of an intentional assault.

Also, because of the confused scene within Kerrs cell in Maghaberry on November 6, 2020, they could not be sure he had uttered a specific threat to kill the prison officer.

The jury had heard Kerr was harming himself and was covered in blood.

A decision was made to enter his cell to save his life, but when officers did so, there was a fracas, with one sustaining an injury to his wrist.

Having directed the jury to acquit Kerr, who represented himself, Judge Lynch told them, you are probably wondering what his position is and why he is in prison.

He is serving a life sentence for attempted murder, he revealed.

The judge explained Kerr had set fire to a house he had previously burgled by pouring petrol through the letter box and setting it alight while the residents, a doctor and his wife and son, were asleep inside.

The doctor took his own life not that long afterwards and certainly, the family attributed in part the actions of Mr Kerr to that, he said.

He described Kerr as a highly intelligent man, unfortunately wrapped in a warped personality.

Handed three life sentences for three counts of attempted murder with a minimum tariff of 10 years, Kerr has been in prison since his arrest in 2008 and Judge Lynch said his attitude seems to be that he is unlikely to ever be released.

One wonders, and I express this publicly, one wonders why the prosecution found it necessary to go through this procedure and bringing this man to trial, he asked.

Further revealing Kerr had previously been prosecuted for a similar offence in relation to a prison officer assault, the judge said the determinate sentence he imposed for that crime makes no difference whatsoever to his potential release date.

I publicly wonder if theres any purpose in having this matter brought to trial in circumstances where it has caused considerable difficulty over the last 18 months, the judge said.

In that previous case, Kerr was handed an 18-month sentence for threatening to slice a female prison officer from head to toe in June 2018.

Kerr, originally from Inverness, has amassed more than 150 convictions.

In 2009, he was jailed for trying to kill Dr Raymond White in arson attack as they slept in their east Belfast home.

That attack happened in May 2008, the day before doctor and his wife Aileen were due to give evidence against Kerr over a charge that he had twice burgled their home.

Kerr pushed wheelie bins against the front and back doors and poured petrol through the letter box before setting it all alight.

He burnt his hands in the process and it was his screams of pain which alerted the family.

Sentencing Kerr at Belfast Crown Court, Judge Geoffrey Miller QC said he posed a "very real risk of causing serious harm to those whom he considers have crossed him in some way".
A judge has described the ongoing loyalist feud in north Down as outrageous gangsterism and said he was warned police could not defend his court.
Scroll down to find out how to vote, when to vote and when results will start being counted

Thursday marks polling day for the Local Council Elections in Northern Ireland, with hundreds of councillors set to be elected across 11 council areas.

Campaigning is rapidly coming to an end and voters are now set to have their say.

There are hundreds of polling stations across the country so wherever you are in Northern Ireland there will be somewhere close to you where you can cast your vote.

However, there will be some information you have to take with you when going to vote, with a variety of identification documentation accepted at stations.

We have all your main questions ahead of election day answered below:

When will the polling stations open on Thursday?

Polling stations will be open between 7am and 10pm on Thursday 18 May. Voters should arrive in plenty of time to avoid missing out on having their say. Any voter who is in a queue at the polling station waiting to vote at 10pm will be able to vote.

How many councillors will be elected?

Voters in Northern Ireland will choose 462 new councillors across 11 councils.

Read more Northern Ireland council election candidates  Full list

What will I need to bring with me to vote?

Once you arrive at the polling station, staff there will request one of a number of accepted documents in order to verify your ID.

According to the Electoral Office, the following forms of identification will be accepted by staff:

A UK, Irish or EEA driving licence (photographic part) (provisional accepted)

A UK, Irish or EU passport (or Irish Passport Card)

An Electoral Identity Card

A Translink Half Fare SmartPass

A Translink Senior SmartPass

A Translink 60+ SmartPass

A Translink War Disabled SmartPass

A Translink Blind Persons SmartPass

A Biometric Immigration Document

The identification document does not need to be current, as long as the photograph is of a good enough likeness to allow polling station staff to confirm the identity of the holder.

How do I actually cast my vote?

Unlike in some other elections you may have voted at, council elections in Northern Ireland use the single transferable vote (STV) method.

Unlike other elections which use a cross on the ballot box for the preferred candidate, in this election you will be asked to rank candidates in order of preference.

Voters cast their votes by putting a number 1 next to the name of their favourite candidate, a 2 next to their second favourite candidate and so on. Voters can vote for as many or as few candidates as they like.

The party you wish to vote for will likely have guidance on the best order to vote for your chosen candidate or candidates depending on how many that particular party in running in your area.

How do I find my nearest polling station?

The Electoral Commission in Northern Ireland have set up a website which allows you to enter your postcode and find your nearest polling station. That website can be found using this link here

Can I take a photo inside the polling station?

According to the Electoral Office you can take pictures outside the polling station but you must not take pictures inside the polling station - if you inadvertently disclose how someone has voted you would be breaking the law.

The punishment for revealing how someone else voted - even accidentally - is a fine of up to 5,000, or six months in prison.

What help will I receive to vote if I have a disability?

The following facilities are available at polling stations to assist voters with disabilities:

a polling booth with a shelf at a height suitable for people in wheelchairs

a polling booth with extra lighting

a large print version of the ballot paper

a device with Braille (known as a selector device) to help voters mark their ballot paper

If you want to use any of these items you should tell the staff at the polling station when they give you your ballot paper.

If you cannot mark the ballot paper yourself due to a disability, you can have it marked for you by a companion or by the person in charge of the polling station (the Presiding Officer).

You will need to tell the polling station staff that this is how you want to vote and why. If your companion is voting for you they will be asked to fill in a form. Your ballot paper will be marked and placed in the ballot box on your behalf.

When will the count be held and the results published?

The verification and count of ballot papers will begin at 8am on Friday 19 May. There will be 11 count centres across Northern Ireland with ballot counting in local elections usually running on for several days.

The good news is the Belfast Telegraph will have live rolling coverage throughout the counting process so you will never miss a moment or result.
A lorry drivers explanation for posting an offensive livestream mocking murder victim Michaela McAreavey was implausible and unworthy of belief, a senior barrister has claimed.

Frank ODonoghue KC was speaking at the final day of an unfair dismissal case taken by Andrew McDade which is linked to the video recorded in an Orange Hall in Dundonald.

A judge at the tribunal said the scenes were reminiscent of 1930s Germany. Tribunal president Noel Kelly said it was like a Munich bierkeller with young men with stiff arm salutes, chanting and roaring, drink everywhere.

Mr McDade had been attending an event at Dundonald Orange Hall to mark Northern Ireland's centenary last May when he live-streamed footage. It included the singing of the song which appears to mock the daughter of former Tyrone GAA manager Mickey Harte who was murdered while on honeymoon in Mauritius in 2011.

A 30-second clip from the four-minute broadcast went viral on social media and sparked widespread condemnation.

Mr ODonoghue is representing the Norman Emerson Group who sacked Mr McDade, a delivery driver, after he admitted to posting the livestream on his Facebook page, where he was already identified as an employee.

During the industrial tribunal hearing in Belfast, senior management from the Norman Emerson Group said they feared reputational damage to their firm, which includes the GAA amongst its customers.

Mr O'Donoghue said the video showed naked vile sectarianism that was recorded in the bowels of an Orange Hall in east Belfast. He added that the claimant, Mr McDade, removed all evidence of the recording by deactivating his Facebook page.

There was a heated exchange of words after Mr ODonoghue said it was unclear who had instructed Jamie Bryson to represent Mr McDade.

During evidence Mr McDade said he contacted the Worshipful Grand Master of the Portadown Lodge when the video was made public, and that he then contacted Mr Bryson on his behalf.

The Orange Order clearly sees the opportunity to control the narrative," said Mr ODonoghue.

This all goes to damage limitation, creating a narrative that is self-serving.

He said it was relevant that the claimant had sought representation from Mr Bryson.

Mr Bryson is actually instructed by Portadown Orange Lodge," he said, adding that it was relevant as Mr Bryson is known for expressing the views of one section of the community.

Mr ODonoghue also questioned whether Mr Bryson was being paid by the Orange Order for representing Mr McDade.

Mr Bryson responded by saying he represented clients from both sides of the community. He said he had not received a penny from the Orange Order and took instruction solely from Mr McDade.

He said he would have been reprimanded had he made such a submission about a representative from the other community.

Mr McDade had argued that he could not have foreseen the singing would take place when he started the livestream and was not aware of what the words of the song were.

He said he was livestreaming cultural bannerettes in the Orange Hall.

Mr O'Donoghue, in his summing up, said: He must have been aware given his close proximity to those he was videoing.

The explanation of videoing bannerettes is utterly implausible and not borne out by the section of video that we viewed."

Mr ODonoghue said the Norman Emerson Group were justified in sacking Mr McDade in the circumstances.

Mr Kelly, the president of the Industrial Tribunals and Fair Employment Tribunal, compared the behaviour of bandsmen who mocked Mrs McAreavey to 1930s Germany.

He said the incident appeared to be a joint enterprise among those present.

No one was saying shut up and sit down, it looked like a Munich bierkeller in the 1930s," Mr Kelly stated.

Young men with stiff arm salutes, chanting and roaring, drink everywhere, I didnt see anyone try to stop it.

I saw people turning and looking at this with something approaching approval on their faces... its beyond understanding.

It was an utterly disgraceful thing  utterly, utterly contemptible, he said.

Judge Kelly made clear that he was not drawing comparisons between the Orange Order and the Nazis: Theyre an organisation which is the opposite end of the spectrum.

It is very, very strange and inconsistent, he said.

Mr McDade was suspended by the Norman Emerson Group on June 3, while an investigation was carried out, and then dismissed following a disciplinary meeting. He did not appeal against his dismissal.

On Tuesday the tribunal heard the full four-minute video was not available because Mr McDade deleted the footage and his Facebook profile in the early hours of June 3 after receiving threatening messages.

He claimed he was wrongfully dismissed by the building supply company, having worked as a delivery driver there since 2014.

Mr ODonoghue said the company acted reasonably when firing Mr McDade, adding that his actions had caused enormous hurt to the management and entire workforce.

But Mr Bryson said grossly negligent behaviour by Mr McDade had not been established.

The act of the claimant, livestreaming the video, has been conflated with the acts of third parties. These two actions have collided and it is that collision that has created the consequences," he argued.

Could Mr McDade have foreseen that act B (the chanting) would take place? I respectfully say he could not, he said.

He could not have foreseen the vile, reprehensible conduct of other people."

Mr Kelly said he and the two other panel members would consider the case on legal arguments alone, but said on a wider point he considered the video to be absolutely breath-taking.

On Monday, Mr McDades partner, nursing assistant Rhonda Shiels, appeared in a case challenging the decision by the Southern Health and Social Care Trust to dismiss her after she liked and shared the Facebook Live recording.

She had not been present at the Orange Hall but had been at an alternative centenary event at Stormont at the time.

Both tribunals have now heard all the evidence, with the panel to rule at a later date.
All 12 children and their families at the airport as they prepare to fly to Disneyland Paris.

Lucy Spence (left) and Chloe Spence (right), with mum Susan and dad Bryan.

The family of two seven-year-old girls who both have severe heart conditions have described the joy of their once-in-a-lifetime trip to Disneyland Paris organised by a Northern Irish charity.

The three day trip for Lucy and Chloe Spence was organised by the Northern Ireland Children to Lapland and Days to Remember Trust (NICLT), who put together the surprise for 12 children with life-threatening and life-limiting conditions to Disneyland Paris.

Chloe has had open heart surgery twice, while her sister has had one open heart procedure.

Originally set up 12 years ago the trust regularly takes around 100 local children to Lapland every winter, chartering an exclusive flight for the experience.

The children benefit from a support team made up of trust medics, nurses and carers, as well as parents.

Cooper Smyth with Minnie and Mickey Mouse.

The girls were nominated for their trip by the Royal Belfast Hospital for Sick Children.

Due to the childrens conditions, the family had never been on holiday outside of Northern Ireland before.

Mum Susan Spence explained: Any trips that weve had have been over to Birmingham to have heart surgery. The girls have never had a real holiday outside Northern Ireland.

The trip to Disneyland Paris, last organised in 2015, has been brought back by the charity to accommodate those children whose conditions would not allow them to face the harsh temperatures of the Lapland trip.

Instead, the children are being accompanied by health professionals and support workers as they experience the joy of Disneyland.

Mrs Spence described the familys experience with the charity as unbelievable.

I hadnt actually heard of them until four weeks ago, until wed heard that the cardiology team had referred the girls to do one of their trips so it was a new experience for me

They couldnt believe it, they screamed. They have counting down backwards, they started at 35 days and counted backwards until we were leaving.

Mrs Spence said the girls were relished the excitement of the trip, and their first time on a big aeroplane.

When we went to Birmingham, they would have been on the little medical plane, so there was only us and the doctor, the nurse and the pilot, she added.

The girls told her they much preferred the commercial plane they flew to Paris in.

It must have been the excitement of going through the airport and having lots of people on the plane as well, and just the whole buzz around that.

Lucy and Chloe Spence give Mickey a hug ahead of their Disneyland Paris trip.

All 12 children and their families at the airport as they prepare to fly to Disneyland Paris.

The girls loved it because of all the attention, so they were getting their photos taken, they were meeting the characters from Disney at the airport.

The whole buzz was there from the moment we stepped into the airport.

As well as being a dream come true for the girls, their mum and dad Bryan also enjoyed every minute, thanks to the efforts of the charity.

They couldnt do enough for us. They organised everything. We had turn up at the airport with our passports, thats all we had to worry about which was amazing because you spend your whole life worrying about them, she added.

We could relax, we could enjoy it.

The latest trip makes up the Days to Remember element of the Lapland charity, which was introduced in 2015 to ensure all vulnerable children could experience extraordinary moments, despite the challenges they and their families live with.

Speaking about the return of the trip, NICLT chair Colin Barkley said: We are delighted to resume what is a truly memorable trip for these very deserving children who have been battling their own challenges so admirably alongside their very supportive families.

Our trips are painstakingly put together to ensure the parents and families of those involved feel no pressure and are supported every step of the way by healthcare professionals and our own staff.

NICLT supporters recently raised 10,000 by abseiling down the Europa Hotel in Belfast.

The charity has further events planned to help generate funds, including a Gala Ball in May.
Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden during Prime Minister's Questions in the House of Commons on Wednesday (House of Commons/UK Parliament/PA Wire)   PA

The government is working to strengthen our precious union and work with unionism about concerns over the Windsor framework deal, according to the deputy Prime Minister.

Oliver Dowden MP made the remarks after DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson asked the minister for a commitment the government will protect Northern Irelands place within the union during Prime Ministers Questions in Westminster on Wednesday.

He spoke of the ongoing concerns of unionists in Northern Ireland about our ability to trade freely within the United Kingdom and its internal market, given the continued application of EU law on the manufacture of all goods in Northern Ireland.

Read more There will be no renegotiation of the Windsor Framework  Cleverly

The DUP has refused to form a government at Stormont for over a year now, in a protest against post-Brexit trading arrangements.

The UK Government and EU unveiled the Windsor pact earlier this year as a means of resolving trading difficulties between Northern Ireland and Great Britain, caused by the post-Brexit Northern Ireland Protocol.

However, the DUP has said its political and trading concerns must be met before it returns to government.

The Lagan Valley MP asked for an: Assurance that the government will, in law, protect Northern Irelands ability to trade freely within and with the rest of the UK?

The Deputy PM responded confirming that the government would protect Northern Irelands place within the union.

Mr Dowden said: Weve already shown a willingness to legislate to protect Northern Irelands place within the union, and were committed to providing exactly the protections [that Mr Donaldson referred to].

So I can give those assurances and of course, we stand ready to work with the Rt Honourable Gentleman and representatives across unionism to reflect the further steps required to strengthen our precious union, Mr Dowden concluded.

On Wednesday, Foreign Secretary James Cleverly told peers there would be no renegotiation of the Windsor Framework agreed between the UK Government and the EU.

Mr Cleverly also said it was inconceivable that the Government would ignore the Stormont brake element of the deal if it was triggered by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Appearing before the House of Lords Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland Sub-Committee, Mr Cleverly said the deal was achieved because both sides accepted a degree of theoretical risk.

Mr Cleverly told peers about the process of achieving the agreement, which he said was designed to square a circle.

He added: What we sought to do through this was to turn what had been a conversation about theoretical problems into a conversation about practical problems and how we might resolve them

Where we have ended up is accepting on both sides a degree of theoretical risk that we think is very manageable in the real world.

That is what helped us shift and get a deal over the line.
A range of political stories jostle for the spotlight with little consensus on the front pages of Wednesdays newspapers.

Immigration features on the front of two editions, but they take contrasting approaches.

The Guardian reports on government plans to remove basic housing protections from asylum seekers which it says will see migrants moved out of hotels and into the private rented sector with landlords not required to register with local authorities.

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The front of the Daily Express focuses on Prime Minister Rishi Sunak telling European judges to stop interfering in Britains plans to fly migrants to Rwanda.

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The other topic to feature as more than one main story is the number of British workers off sick.

The Daily Mail says the sick note crisis is fuelled by people working from home  which it says is leading to back and neck pain  while the Metro says a record 2.5 million people are off work due to long-term illness.

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An interview with Sir Keir Starmer is the focus of The Times with the Labour leader saying they will become the party of housebuilding.

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The Daily Mirror looks at the cost-of-living crisis with former Conservative minister Ann Widdecombe saying no one has the right to cheap food and advising against cheese sandwiches for those on a budget.

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Bird flu dominates the front of the i which reports that the condition has been found in two people in the UK.

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A letter from Oxford dons to The Daily Telegraph makes to the front page as they warn students about the threat to free speech from a transgender row at the university.

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The Duke of Sussex features on the front of The Sun as he is told armed Met Police officers are not private bodyguards.

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Fears over AI manipulation of US elections take centre stage in the Financial Times with the boss of ChatGPT warning it is a significant concern.

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And the Daily Star provides advice on the use of emojis for the lovelorn.
Norways King Harald V waves from the balcony at Skaugum, his official residence, on Constitution Day 2023 (Frederik Ringnes/NTB Scanpix/AP)   Frederik Ringnes

Norways king has appeared on the royal castles balcony to salute thousands of children as the Scandinavian country celebrates its Constitution Day.

Cheering and shouting and waving blue, white and red Norwegian flags, nursery youngsters and school pupils marched in front of the palace where Harald V, 86, and his wife, Queen Sonja, sat and waved back to the vast crowd, many of whom wore traditional costumes.

Wednesdays celebrations come two days after Harald was released from Oslos main hospital, where he was treated for an infection.

Elsewhere in the capital, the chairman of the Ukrainian parliament, Ruslan Stefanchuk, who was visiting his Norwegian counterpart, stood on another balcony and waved at a cheering flag-waving crowd, saying he hopes we as soon as possible can celebrate like this in Ukraine.

A view of the parade on Karl Johans gate on Norways Constitution Day (Frederik Ringnes/NTB Scanpix/AP)   Frederik Ringnes

The holiday marks the day the country commemorates the signing of the 1814 Constitution of Norway.

Earlier in the day, Haralds son and heir to the throne, Crown Prince Haakon, and his wife, Crown Princess Mette-Marit, had another march in front of their home,

Harald, who has been seen using crutches in recent years, has been admitted to hospital several times in recent months.

In August, he spent three days in hospital with a fever.

In December, he was admitted for an infection which needed intravenous antibiotics.

From left: Norways Crown Princess Mette-Marit, Prince Sverre Magnus, Crown Prince Haakon, Queen Sonja and King Harald V wave from the balcony at Skaugum, their official residence (Frederik Ringnes/NTB Scanpix/AP)   Frederik Ringnes

In October 2020, the king had surgery to replace a heart valve after being admitted to hospital with breathing difficulties.

Harald is Norways head of state but holds no political power so the duties are ceremonial.

He ascended to the throne after the death of his father, King Olav, in 1991.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Russia has agreed to extend a deal that has allowed Ukraine to ship grain through the Black Sea, helping ease a global food crisis exacerbated by the war Russia launched more than a year ago.

Mr Erdogan said on Wednesday that the deal would be extended for two months.

The deal was brokered by the UN and Turkey last summer. It came with a separate agreement to ease shipments of Russian food and fertiliser that Moscow insists has not been applied.

Russia had set a Thursday deadline for its concerns to be ironed out or had threatened to bow out.

The issue was pressing with Ukraines wheat harvest coming up in June and the need to sell that crop in July.

Ukraine can send its food by land through Europe, but those routes have a lower capacity than sea shipments and have stirred disunity in the European Union.
The former CIRA and INLA man took part in an attack in which a man was nailed to a floor

Gerard Mackin is the six-foot-tall gangland enforcer who is feared from the Falls to Limerick.

That is not surprising when you consider he was convicted of nailing another person to a floor  with a nail gun.

He has been in the Continuity IRA and the INLA.

He was given a one-million-euro contract by the Kinahan crime clan to take out their arch-rival Gerry Hutch.

Born in west Belfast, Gerard Mackins crime CV has earned him the reputation as one of the most violent criminals in Ireland.

The Belfast Telegraphs crime correspondent Allison Morris tells his story.
Bulawayo couple accused of allegedly defrauding more than 40 people of over US$100k has been granted bail of ZWL$600 000 each.

The couple, represented by Bob Siansole of Ncube Attorneys, appeared before Bulawayo Magistrate Nomagugu Maphosa.

Magistrate Maphosa, as part of the bail conditions, ordered the couple, Melusi Ndlovu (36) and his wife Gwendoline Ndlovu (35) to surrender their travel documents, reside at their given address, report to the CID Commercial Crimes division and not interfere with State witnesses.

Siansole, in his bail application, submitted that his clients passports did not have visas to Ireland as had been alleged, dismissing that they intended to flee the country.

The State had also ordered that as part of the bail condition, they surrender title deeds to their home but the lawyer submitted that the couple did not own any immovable property.

State representative, Tsungi Mutapi, told the court that the couple defrauded a total of 43 people of US$117 831 and only US$2 850 was recovered.

On an unknown date, the accused persons hatched a plan to defraud the complainants who were seeking employment abroad. As such, they advertised on WhatsApp groups under the name National Research Advocacy Trust that they were able to facilitate employment locals abroad and acquire certificate of Sponsorship on behalf the complainants, Mutapi said.

The complainants responded, unbeknown to them that the trust is registered for the purposes of helping in developing of the Zimbabwean communities to provide the alleged services. The accused misrepresented to the 43 complainants that they were registered agents who had the capacity to process visas for employment to countries such as Canada, Ireland and the United Kingdom.

Mutapi added, Upon lapse of the agreed period of departure, the accused became evasive and one complainant Sithuliso Ndlovu discovered that they were moving their office address intending to flee from Zimbabwe leading to police reports. CITE
A man holds a baby as he stands on top of homes destroyed by Cyclone Mocha in the Dar Paing Rohingya camp in western Sittwe, Myanmar, May 17, 2023.

Cyclone Mocha killed about 460 Rohingya villagers in Myanmars Rakhine  deaths that humanitarian workers said could have been prevented if so many people had not been living in restricted camps near the seashore.

Most villagers were not properly informed of the coming storm, which hit the coast on Sunday with sustained winds reaching over 220 kph (137 mph), and many others were not allowed to evacuate ahead of time, activists and aid workers told Radio Free Asia, a news service affiliated with BenarNews.

The number of dead could increase significantly as many people are missing, the United Kingdom-based Burmese Rohingya Organization (BROUK) said in a statement on Wednesday.

Communication services are down in large parts of Rakhine, in western Myanmar, and no humanitarian aid has reached affected areas in and around the state capital of Sittwe, the group said.

All shelters have been destroyed in the camps, and people have witnessed many family members being carried away by flash floods caused by the cyclone, it said.

Other people in the area were killed by wind-blown tree branches and zinc roof sheets.

About 130,000 Rohingya have lived for more than a decade in internally displaced persons camps in the Sittwe area. BROUK likened the camps to open air prisons.

A Rohingya survivor from Thet Kae Pyin camp said bodies belonging to 110 Rohingya villagers were buried on Monday and Tuesday.

Another survivor, a 25-year-old, told RFA that the Rakhine State military council had warned them of the storm several days before it struck. However, all emergency shelter centers were overcrowded with people.

The government and NGOs warned us in advance, but there wasnt enough space for us to evacuate. Thats why we just continued staying in our camp, the 25-year-old said, asking not to be identified for security concerns.

As our camp is in close proximity to the sea, the children and elderly were washed away and died in the flood during the cyclone.

Survivors pick their way through debris and a destroyed bridge near the Dar Paing Rohingya camp in western Sittwe, Myanmar, May 17, 2023. [RFA]

Sudden rise in sea level

During the storm, the sea level suddenly rose nearly 10 meters (33 feet) and almost all the huts in one camp were washed away, said Nay San Lwin, co-founder of the Free Rohingya Coalition.

There are nearly 380 houses in the Bay Dar camp on an island on the coast of the Bay of Bengal. But after the storm, only six remained and hundreds of people were missing, he said.

RFA is working to determine the exact number of Rohingya deaths in Rakhine.

Two Rohingya villagers contacted by RFA said that it has been difficult to collect every dead body that was washed into the sea.

Maung Sein, a Bay Dar resident, told RFA that his 5-month-pregnant wife, his son, his mother-in-law and brother-in-law were killed by the storm, and his sons body was missing. He said he was with his family when the storm hit and survived because he knew how to swim.

I have never seen waves that big in my entire life, he said. A gigantic wave washed away my family.

People dry salvaged grain in the Dar Paing Rohingya camp in western Sittwe, Myanmar, May 17, 2023. [RFA]

No effective help yet

Newspapers published on Tuesday reported that junta chief Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing visited Sittwe on Monday and gave supplies valued at 70 billion Kyat (U.S. $24.5 million).

But a Rohingya resident in Sittwe told RFA that he has not received any aid.

I havent seen any effective help yet. Nor have I heard of any, he said. Those whose houses were completely destroyed were found to be living on the side of the road under tarpaulins. They are in desperate need of food and shelters.

In a flash update on Wednesday, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Assistance said wide scale destruction of homes and public infrastructure was seen throughout Rakhine.

Urgent needs include shelter, clean water, food assistance and health care services, UNOCHA said. There are rising concerns in flooded areas about the spread of waterborne disease and the movement of landmines.

RFA called the junta spokesman for Rakhine state, Hla Thein, on Wednesday, but the call was not answered.

Conditions in other Rohingya villages and camps in Rakhine  in Ponnagyun, Buthidaung and Maungdaw townships  were still unknown. RFA tried to contact six Rohingya residents of Buthidaung and Maungdaw townships on Wednesday, but their telephone connections were out of service.

In Bangladesh, thousands of Rohingya shelters were flattened by the cyclone in sub-districts of Cox Bazar in southeastern Bangladesh that host about 1 million of the refugees in sprawling camps. Many dwellings in nearby St. Martins, an island in the Bay of Bengal isolated from mainland Bangladesh, suffered the same fate.
This aerial photo shows fishing boats heading out to sea on the first day of the fishing season in Yangjiang, in China's southern Guangdong province, Aug. 16, 2022.

Seventeen Indonesians were among 39 people missing after a Chinese fishing vessel capsized in the Indian Ocean, Australian and Indonesian authorities said Wednesday.

The vessel, Lu Peng Yuan Yu 028, overturned on Tuesday about 2,500 nautical miles northwest of Australia, according to the Australian Maritime Safety Authority.

The authority said it was coordinating the response to an emergency beacon activated by the vessel, which also had 17 Chinese and five Filipinos on board.

Indonesian Foreign Ministry spokesman Teuku Faizasyah confirmed that 17 of its citizens were on the boat.

We are coordinating with Australian search and rescue authorities and the Chinese government, he told BenarNews.

The Philippine Coast Guard Command Center said Wednesday it was in touch with the Chinese Embassy in Manila, as well as search and rescue teams near the last known location of the vessel.

Chinese President Xi Jinping has called for all-out efforts to rescue the crew, the official Xinhua News Agency reported. China has deployed at least two vessels to assist while boats from Australia and other countries had also joined the search, Xinhua said.

None of the crew members had been found as of Wednesday morning.

The Indian Ocean stretches from the southern tip of Africa to western Australia and is one of the worlds most productive fishing grounds. It attracts vessels from across the globe, which are often crewed by migrant workers from Southeast Asian nations.

The upturned hull of the vessel was located by a merchant ship, Navios Taurus, in a position about 350 nautical miles south of where the beacon was detected, AMSA said. An Australian aircraft conducted a sector search of the area and departed without sighting any survivors or life rafts, it added.

Two other vessels, Msxt Athena and Lu Peng Yuan Yu 018, were conducting different types of searches around the capsized hull and the beacon location, respectively, the authority said.

The cause of the capsizing was not immediately clear.

China has been expanding its distant-water fishing fleet in recent years, raising concerns about overfishing and environmental impacts.

More than 9,400 Indonesian crew members were working on foreign ships in 2020, according to the latest data from the foreign ministry.

According to Destructive Fishing Watch Indonesia, a nonprofit, 40 Indonesian crew members died on foreign fishing vessels from November 2019 to March 2022. About 84% of the deaths occurred on Chinese vessels and 14% on Taiwanese ships, it said.

The National Fishers Center, which is run by the NGO, received 93 complaints from 283 Indonesian and migrant crew members over the same period. The top complaint was non-payment of salaries and/or 50% deduction of wages.
Indonesian Communications and Information Minister Johnny G. Plate at the Attorney Generals Office following accusations of corruption in Jakarta, Indonesia, May 17, 2023.

Updated at 10:10 a.m. ET on 2023-05-17

Indonesias communication and information technology minister was arrested Wednesday for his alleged role in a corruption case that authorities say caused more than half a billion dollars in state losses.

Johnny G. Plate was taken into custody after questioning at the attorney generals office in Jakarta on suspicion of misusing his authority to enrich himself, said Kuntadi, the offices director of investigation. Plate could face up to 20 years in prison if found guilty.

Based on the results of the examination today, there is sufficient evidence that he is involved in the corruption case around the 4G cellular towers infrastructure project, Kuntadi, who like many Indonesians goes by one name, told reporters on Wednesday.

President Joko Widodo, who is known as Jokowi, pledged to fight corruption and improve governance when he came to office in 2014 as part of his agenda to attract foreign investment and boost economic growth.

However, Plate is the fifth minister in Jokowis cabinet since he came to power in 2014 to be arrested in a corruption case, raising fresh questions about efforts to stamp out graft.

The 4G project started in late 2020 with a budget of U.S. $739 million and was expected to be completed this year. It aimed to build 4G infrastructure in 7,904 locations that lacked mobile phone services, especially in underdeveloped regions.

But irregularities in the procurement process and the selection of contractors have caused estimated state losses of 8.32 trillion rupiah ($559 million), investigators said. Indonesias state audit body said as of May 2022, only 1,179 base transceiver stations had been built.

This case is strategic. This project was intended for many people in remote areas, where the communities need it most, said Ketut Sumedana, a spokesman for the attorney generals office.

For that reason, it will not stop here. The attorney generals office has an obligation to guard this project until it is finished.

Plate has not commented publicly on the allegations. His lawyer, Muhammad Ali Nurdin, said Wednesday his client would cooperate with the authorities and prove his innocence.

Authorities have named several other suspects in the case, including the director of an agency under the ministry that carried out the project, a consultant and executives from two private companies involved in the project.

Plates younger brother, Gregorius Alex, has also been questioned on suspicion of receiving 534 million rupiah ($35,000) from the project despite having no official position in the ministry, investigators said, adding he has since returned the money.

Indonesia has long struggled with graft and ranked 110th out of 180 countries in Transparency Internationals 2022 Corruption Perception Index.

Critics say corruption is endemic in Southeast Asias largest economy and point to the weakening of the Corruption Eradication Commission under a controversial law passed in 2019 as an attempt to systematically reduce oversight.
Australias top diplomat urged ASEAN on Wednesday to be vigilant in upholding the territorial rights of member-states that have claims in the South China Sea as the bloc negotiates with China for a maritime code of conduct.

Australia, a middle power, is not a party to disputes in the strategic waterway but it has a stake in keeping the vital sea lanes open and peaceful, Foreign Minister Penny Wong said during a visit to Manila.

We respect ASEAN centrality and they have, as an entity, a right to discuss these issues, Wong said of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations, which includes the Philippines.

All we are saying as a party that has an interest, as many do in the South China Sea and in international law, is we would urge states not to agree to anything that lessened their rights, she said during an interview with CNN Philippines, according to transcripts released by her office.

Wong, who is making her first visit to the Philippines as foreign minister, emphasized that Australias interests align closely with those of the Southeast Asian nation, noting that Canberra has had a Status of Visiting Forces Agreement with Manila since 2012. The agreement allows Australian troops to participate in training missions in the Philippines.

While she did not mention China by name, Wong noted that theres a lot of competition in the South China Sea that necessitates working with each other.

Well, our national interest, I believe, aligns with your national interests very closely. And that is we all want a region that is stable, peaceful and prosperous  and we all want a region in which rules ameliorate the exercise of power, Wong said.

She said Australia backed the Philippines in asserting its national interests tied to an international arbitral tribunals favorable ruling in 2016, after Manila took Beijing to court over occupying Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea.

We dont want a region which is dominated to an extent where other countries cannot make their own decisions. And so for us, the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea [UNCLOS] is important. It matters, and as I know it does to the Philippines, its about safeguarding your resources, its about safeguarding your sovereignty. And we want to work with you and others on that, she said.

A Philippine Coast Guard member onboard the BRP Malabrigo points at a map during a patrol and resupply mission at Philippine-occupied territory in the South China Sea, April 19, 2023. [Aaron Favila/AP]

Wong noted that any document impacting the rights of states under international law to exercise freedom of navigation and conduct military exercises with partners in the region would be a cause of concern for Australia.

The code is being drawn up by China and ASEAN to serve as a more binding version of a 2002 Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea.

The accord is expected to help manage tensions and reduce the risk of confrontations where China has overlapping territorial claims with the Philippines, Brunei, Vietnam and Malaysia. Taiwan also has claims in the waterway.

Wong plans to be in the Philippines until Friday  she is expected to meet with Filipino business leaders as well as the coast guard during her stay.

Philippines: sincere dialogue crucial

The Australian foreign minister appeared in the TV interview a day after Philippine Foreign Secretary Enrique Manalo told academics in Japan that Manila wanted greater cooperation with Tokyo focusing on maritime issues, particularly on domain awareness and law enforcement.

To achieve a peaceful and UNCLOS-based regime, sincere dialogue among all claimants is crucial, both bilaterally and through discussions between ASEAN and China on a code of conduct, Manalo said Tuesday.

The Philippines advocates for an effective and substantive code of conduct that adheres to UNCLOS and takes into account the interests of all stakeholders, even extending beyond ASEAN and China.

Manila and Tokyo are embroiled in maritime disputes with Beijing over the South China Sea and East Asia, respectively.

Manalo said that the Philippines was advocating for a code of conduct even as he stressed that repeated infringements on its sovereign rights also necessitate the enhancement of our defense capabilities.
ZIMBABWE has combined forces with Mozambique to tackle regional energy deficits which stand at over 35 000 megawatts, with the two countries paying particular focus on sharing surplus and developing new power sources, President Mnangagwa said yesterday.

Like a host of SADC nations, Zimbabwe has been saddled with power deficits that have been exacerbated by rapid industrialisation which is not matched by power generation.

To offset that deficit, the country is developing several power sources that include the Hwange Units 7 and 8 that are expected to come on stream soon and add 600 megawatts to the national grid.

Long-term solutions to the energy situation in the country include, but are not limited to the Batoka Gorge hydropower station, which is a 2.4GW run-of-the river hydroelectric project on the Zambezi River with that output shared by Zimbabwe and Zambia.

In the short term, the country has been importing electricity from Mozambique, and President Filipe Nyusi, who is on a three-day State visit to Zimbabwe, commended President Mnangagwa for paying for the energy supplies on time.

Addressing journalists at State House in Harare last night, President Mnangagwa said the two countries have a mutually beneficial relationship that can only be further deepened through increased collaboration in various areas, not least the energy sector.

As SADC we have a serious energy deficit, I think it is now beyond 35 000 megawatts which we need to all feed adequately  Zimbabwe, South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia, Malawi and Mozambique. We are focusing on modernising our respective economies, industrialising our countries and to do so energy is an enabler, so we are now focusing on making sure that we provide energy. Fortunately, Mozambique has adequate energy and we are surviving on energy we get from that country.

It is true that in the region we need to co-operate that is why we have the SADC power pool so that we can share our energy and the Zambezi River, which we share with Mozambique, has several gorges which are amenable to generate more power, the President said.

President Mnangagwa said Zimbabwe and Mozambique have excellent relations that date back to the Munhumutapa Kingdom, through the 15-year brutal war of independence to present day.

There is a bond of blood between the two Republics, and this is what we must keep as a legacy from one generation to another. This State visit is a demonstration of that bond. We are doing our best to promote synergies, in particular in the areas of economic co-operation so that we can assist each other in developing our respective economies.

The two leaders also discussed regional and global issues, touching on the need to reform the United Nations Security Council, of which Mozambique is a non-permanent member.

On his part, President Nyusi said his country will continue working with Zimbabwe and other SADC member states to address power shortages.

He said his country believes developing countries should be allowed to use fossil fuels to industrialise and modernise even in the face of campaigns by Western nations to turn to so-called green energy.

Indeed energy is very important because we have to develop our industries, fisheries for our agriculture and all activities and therefore we have been trying to come up with strategies on how best to harness the resources we have so that we can generate more energy and more power. We have noted efforts by this country, by President Mnangagwa, to generate an additional 600 megawatts of power but this power will not be enough. We will need more power and of course in as much as we congratulate President Mnangagwa, we need to do more in order to get more power for our economies to grow, said President Nyusi.

He added that during his interactions with President Mnangagwa, the two leaders also discussed the situation in Cabo Delgado, and how Zimbabwe can help Mozambique in agriculture and value addition.

I had an opportunity to update President Mnangagwa on the developments in Mozambique particularly the fight with terrorists in Cabo Delgado province. You should know that we are being helped by our brothers and sisters from SADC and Zimbabwe is one active member of SADC that is playing an important role.

Zimbabwe has also been playing a key role in training our special forces that are fighting terrorists in northern Mozambique. The security situation has improved dramatically in Mozambique. Of course we have been defeating the terrorists, and displaced people are now going back to their homes, said President Nyusi.

Yesterday, the two leaders also witnessed the establishment of the Buzi, Pfungwe and Save Watercourse Commission, and signed agreements on co-operation on the development, management and sustainable utilisation of the water resources of the Save Watercourse, among other agreements.

Later last night, President Mnangagwa hosted a State banquet for his counterpart that was attended by Vice President Constantino Chiwenga, Zanu PF Second Secretary and Vice President Kembo Mohadi, Ministers from both countries, senior Government officials, Zanu PF officials and service chiefs.

Today, there will be a forum for businesses from the two countries as focus is on economic co-operation and improving the livelihoods of citizens from Zimbabwe and Mozambique. Herald
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The state Department of Environmental Protection inspected the site Tuesday. Passing that inspection would be yet another step in the transformation process of the Berkshire Mall.
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.
Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism.
News Reporter

Matt Martinez is a news reporter at The Berkshire Eagle. He worked at Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service, graduated Marquette University. He is a former Report for America corps member.
NORTH ADAMS  Since March, the pool at the Northern Berkshire Branch of the Berkshire Family YMCA has been closed because the roof above it is not safe.

The city, which owns the building, plans to put out a bid for repairs next month, Mayor Jennifer Macksey said. The city will be putting $100,000 in American Rescue Plan Act funding to the project, and has gotten $100,000 from the state through Rep. John Barrett, according to Macksey.

Were moving as fast as we can, Macksey said. Its unfortunate because so many people love the pool.

The YMCA is holding a community meeting for more information about the pool situation 5 p.m. Thursday at Brayton Elementary School.

Its not yet clear when the pool might reopen.

We expect to have more information in June that will help us to determine the next steps to hopefully get us to a place where we can reopen the pool, Jessica Rumlow, CEO and executive director of Berkshire Family YMCA, said in an email to The Eagle.

In the meantime, members can swim at the YMCA in Bennington, Vt., and about 100 members have used Hotel DownStreets pool, a partnership that will end later this month as the hotel goes into a busier summer season, Rumlow said.

The Pittsfield YMCA recently underwent a major $12 million renovation. Would the YMCA consider a similar project in North Adams?

The difference in this scenario is that the Y does not own the building, we are a tenant in the citys building, Rumlow wrote. Any major renovation project would require coordination with the city and community support.
It was one of the last one-room schoolhouses still standing and functioning, said Gail Gelburd, co-chair of Otis Historical Commission. We have people that live in town that were still going to school there when it was open.
Mike Kennedy, left, poses with his wife. Kennedy, who served 10 years as Williamstown's police chief and 10 years as the veteran's service officer, died earlier this month. He was 75.
As the states highest court recently ruled, you have the right to be rude when having your say at a public meeting. For those like us who know the importance of free expression to a democracy, this ruling is a victory. For those who also share our concern for the direction of our democracy, though, that right also comes with a responsibility for centering civility.

The decision stems from a contentious 2018 public meeting in Southborough. A resident who spoke during a municipal board meeting was cut off after voicing a strong criticism of local officials. (She accused the town of spending like drunken sailors and referred to one official as a Hitler.) An official at the meeting said the residents comments violated the boards rule requiring public comments to be courteous, free of rude, personal or slanderous remarks.

Several residents, including the one who made the remarks, sued the town over the dispute. In March, the Supreme Judicial Court ruled in favor of the residents and found that such a rule restricting the type of speech allowed during public comment is unconstitutional: When municipal boards do allow for public comment, they cant limit the type of critique that meeting attendees can voice against officials.

The Massachusetts Municipal Association worries this could make it harder for public officials to do their jobs, but the Massachusetts branch of the American Civil Liberties Union called the SJCs ruling a victory for free speech rights and core democratic principles.

As a journalistic institution, our deference to the First Amendment means setting a very high bar for justification of blanket public restrictions on speech  a bar thats rarely if ever met by such restrictive efforts. And as a community institution deeply invested in the health of our local democracy, we believe a government by and for the people must give the public wide latitude to criticize their leaders. The ACLU is right that the crucial right to free expression should trump consideration for the real-world impact of less-than-civil speech at meetings.

Still, we get the Massachusetts Municipal Associations stance, and its possible that this ruling could make it even harder for small towns to recruit good people to serve on municipal boards. Were not in favor of citizens insulting their officials. We have deep concerns over the coarsening of our civic dialogue and the knock-on effects for New Englands great tradition of direct democracy.

Speech, especially critical speech uttered into a microphone in front of an entire community, is powerful, which is why the ability of the demos to wield it must be protected.

But with that power must come responsibility, if not for the sake of others then for the sake of your own perspective getting a fair hearing. Its understandable to get heated about the issues directly impacting your hometown, but civility typically still wins the day  because theres a better chance that someone, whether its an official or a neighbor, might listen. The old adage of being able to disagree without being disagreeable isnt just a pleasant-sounding cliche; it does tend to foster a more productive environment in which to conduct public business. We can and must defend our right to free expression and full-throated critique of our leaders while demanding of ourselves the decency to wield that right wisely.

Officials and constituents alike should be clear about what this ruling does and does not require of those running public meetings. Boards and other public bodies can still decide when  and if  public comment is allowed during a meeting. And while they cant control the tenor of public comment, they can control the duration by giving speakers a time limit. They also can remove individuals who are disrupting the boards business or other citizens public comment.

As such, while we ask citizens to be civil, we also ask officials to be judicious and fair-minded in allowing for public comment. While some officials might be wary enough of this ruling to restrict or eliminate public comment periods, we urge them not to. We have called out meeting attendee incivility when weve felt it impinged the productivity of local democracy, and we also have called out officials who have unreasonably restricted public comment. We must be able to do both.

We agree with the SJC that the right to be rude is one the Massachusetts citizenry and any free people should have  not because of the benefit of rude speech but because public officials should not be able to silence their constituents criticisms based on an arbitrary metric.

Yes, you have the right to be rude, and like all rights pertaining to free expression, that right is worth doggedly defending. We also have a responsibility to the maintenance of civility and decency, especially in the arenas where our sometimes messy public business is handled.

Thats not a contradiction; its the synthesis required for healthy democracy.
Looking ahead

Thursday: Areas of frost between 3 a.m. and 7 a.m. Then, mostly sunny, high 60-65. Clear at night, low around 40.

Friday: Sunny, near 70. Mostly cloudy overnight, pre-dawn showers possible, low 45-50.

Saturday: Mostly cloudy, showers likely, continuing at night, high near 65, low around 50.

Sunday: Turning mostly sunny, near 70; partly cloudy at night, 45-50.

Monday: Mostly clear, upper 60s.

Source: National Weather Service forecast for Berkshire County.
Today

Cloudy. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High near 75F. Winds NW at 5 to 10 mph.

Tonight

Cloudy with occasional showers overnight. Low 59F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 40%.

Tomorrow

Showers in the morning, then partly cloudy in the afternoon. High around 80F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 40%.
Tonight's rundown:

 Talking Points Memo: Joe Biden continues to decline with the world watching and remains out of the press reach

 Presidential Historian Larry Cook weighs in on how Bidens relationship with the press compares to past presidents

 US Special Forces have been confirmed to be in Ukraine

 OReilly describes Democrats hosting the DNC in Chicago as Crazy Arrogant

 The trial of Fox News gets underway

 58% of Americans are now living paycheck to paycheck even as inflation begins to cool off

 Smart Life: Utilizing Kelly Blue Book when searching for a new car

 This Day in History: FDR dies in office

 Final Thought: what to do when someone is disrespectful to you

In Case You Missed It:

 Read Bill's latest column, "Reason to Believe"

 Join 'Team Normal!' Order your gear now at BillOReilly.com!

 Pre-order Bills next bestseller Killing the Witches NOW

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Capacity Building exercises enable organisations to move from Rules-based to Role-based working culture and environment: Dr Bharati Pravin Pawar

Capacity Building Plans act as Highways for focused output by competent workforce, and provide a work culture to the organisation where individuals with streamlined efforts work with as team with shared goals and vision. This was stated by Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare Dr Mansukh Mandaviya as he launched the Annual Capacity Building Plan for capacity building of civil servants of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, in the presence of Dr Bharati Pravin Pawar, Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) who joined the meeting virtually.

The Annual Capacity Building Plan (ACBP) is a comprehensive strategic document envisioned to assist the development in enhancement of capacities of individuals, and of Ministry/ Department/ Organisations (MDOs).

The plan has been developed by the Capacity Building Commission in close coordination and consultation with the Mission Karmayogi Cell of the Health Ministry, all divisions in the department and subsequent to a detailed Training Needs Analysis (TNA) for MoHFW.

Rajesh Bhushan, Secretary, Health Ministry laid out the roadmap for the Ministry and urged the training institutions to assume a leadership role in the roll out of the plan. He highlighted that the vision behind this initiative is to enhance the skill and capacity building of officials in accordance with the requirements of the different departments of the Ministry.
No matter the number of experts involved in the content creation process, it is pertinent to ensure quality assurance before the information goes out on social media

The shape of science and public health communication has never been the same since the COVID pandemic. After all, a lot of people outside the scientific, medical, and public health community now understand the terms like quarantine or booster dose or know what flatten the curve means. It was the science stuff going viral this time.

Major credit for this is certainly attributed to social media and the endless number of posts - informative ones, of course. The ease of it all played the biggest factor as unlike other sources of media, there are limited barriers with social media; after all, it does not take that long to tweet, and just about anyone can do so. Unfortunately, this also means it can all turn dangerous if not used wisely, more so when you are locked in and your dominant source of information is the internet. And we know when it comes to social media, it can go wrong rapidly, with the information multiplying exponentially.

So while on the one hand, social media contributed to generating awareness and educating people, on the other, it also created panic through the plethora of misinformation, disinformation, and misleading content floating around[[1]]. There was no escape from the misinformation and myths, and in countries like India people struggled to understand the science, to differentiate between right and wrong information. It was not a drill, people were not trained for this, and the pandemic was a reality they were not prepared for. Social media was the source they turned to for health information, but not everything on social media could be trusted - it raised serious concerns among the public health sector.

Both seeing this and anticipating the horrors of social media, the experts themselves stepped in and possibly offered a solution to the problem. It was not just the journalists, media houses, and government press releasing information and talking about the virus, the symptoms, and ways to prevent it, etc it was also the healthcare workers, the scientists at the labs, public health experts, epidemiologists, and data scientists busting myths, making sense of the complicated data and epidemiological terms, and bringing logic to the chaos.

Although the content generated by these experts does not gather as much attention as from the entertainers and influencers, sometimes the tweets about viruses go viral! When Wiles and Morris collaborated to make the famous flatten the curve more clear and visually engaging, they did not realize the GIF they would create and share on social media would end up allowing a wide range of publics, scientists, and health officials to comment on, share and adapt the communications for other audiences.[[2]] This portrays one of the perfect examples of collaboration between science and creativity. The key is to strike the right balance and get the best results by involving both sides - the experts & professionals and the creative communicators.[[3]] There are similar examples of collaboration that may not have gone viral but did create a significant impact locally or nationally, mainly with amplified from the public officials and administrators.

When it comes to pandemics or similar public health emergencies, what we need going forward is to reach the general public and/or specific community groups through fun and creative content with visuals (that are inclusive for people with color blindness) that do not compromise on the core public health message, and what better than receiving data-driven information from the experts/ specialists in the field. Getting the perfect blend of content and visuals ready is step one of the process.

No matter the number of experts involved in the content creation process, it is pertinent to ensure quality assurance before the information goes out on social media - to check for the accuracy, credibility, and tone of the message. The public health messages that are easy to understand without the need to Google a bunch of heavy words, decomplexify the science, are backed by evidence, and are obtained from trusted sources generate a higher likelihood of people accepting the information and acting on it.

The need of the hour is for localised level platforms and sources that can generate this kind of information and keep it brief, non-panicky, and just interesting enough to let the reader absorb it fully. COVID has given a chance to many such platforms to disseminate information on social media the edutainment way, and if they continue to use it right, it can go a long way in contributing towards prevention and preparedness for the next public health emergency.

Sabhimanvi Dua, Communication Lead, Precision Health, Swasti

[1] Social Media, Public Health, and Community Mitigation of COVID-19: Challenges, Risks, and Benefits.

[2] Going viral: A science communication collaboration in the era of COVID-19 and social media.

[3] Exploring Health Experts' and Creative Communicators' Focus in Pandemic Video Communication: A Qualitative Study.
Tunisian police arrested two students over a satirical song criticising the police, their lawyer said on Wednesday, reinforcing fears of an erosion of freedom of speech after President Kais Saied seized most powers two years ago.

Youssef Chelbi and Dhia Nsir had posted a clip on Tik Tok and Facebook this week showing them laughing and singing a sarcastic song criticising the police's treatment of detainees and a drugs law.

Lawyer Imen Souissi said they are facing charges of insulting others through social networks and they could face up to a year in prison if the court finds them guilty. Police and the interior ministry were not immediately available for comment. 

The arrest of the two men drew concern from activists and bloggers, who republished the song to show solidarity with them. Activists said that freedoms have become besieged and that Tunisia has become a large prison.

Freedom of speech and media was a key gain for Tunisians after the 2011 revolution that ended the rule of former President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali and triggered the Arab Spring protests.

Saied, who shut down parliament in 2021, and seized all powers, pledged to protect rights and freedoms and said he would not be a dictator.

But his opponents, who described his moves as a coup, said that he had established one-man rule, imprisoned his opponents and suppressed critical voices.

On Tuesday, an appeals court sentenced a radio journalist to five years in prison for disclosing information about the security services.

The main journalists union criticised the ruling and said that it is the most severe sentence against a journalist in Tunisia's history and did not happen even during the most dictatorial periods in Tunisia. The verdict was a message to silence journalists, it said.

This year, police have arrested several prominent opposition leaders on charges of plotting against state security, a move the opposition described as consolidating a dictatorial regime.

Saeid rejected the criticism, saying that they are criminals and terrorists. A judge on Monday sentenced opposition leader Rached Ghannouchi to a year in prison on charges of incitement.
BET Software is gearing up for a memorable DevConf 2023 next week, and this year, the company is an official sponsor.

Last years DevConf equipped BET Softwares developers with crucial industry knowledge.

DevConf is a community-driven, professional software developer-focused conference, that is hosted annually. It provides software developers with tools, practices, and principles applicable to tackling current and future challenges in the South African software development environment. Developers who attend learn, network and are inspired regardless of their specific technology stack and programming language of choice.

Altogether, 31 BET Software team members will attend the conference in Cape Town on 23 May, and Pretoria on 25 May. Delegates have full-day access to all sessions, as well as access to the post-conference event.

Michael Collins, general manager at BET Software, says, Last year, the conference was beneficial to our team who attended, in terms of skills development. We are a company that exemplifies DevConfs message of solving today and tomorrows software development challenges, and that is why we are proud to get involved again and especially to be a sponsor this year, he explains.

BET Software is ready for a successful DevConf 2023 and is a proud sponsor.

Collins adds that BET Software is also on a massive recruitment drive.

There may be some things that we cant predict in this industry, but one thing is certain, and that is that BET Software is growing. So, I encourage developers attending DevConf 2023 to visit our spectacular stand, both in Cape Town and Pretoria. Besides the competitions, prize giveaways and games that our team has in store, developers will learn about our success story and our unique culture, Collins says.

For a build-up to the conference and behind-the-scenes moments during the event, you can follow BET Software on social media.




It is time for marketers to take time out and gather to re-group, re-think, strategise, learn and re-connect at this year's Marketing Indaba in Cape Town. This popular marketing conference is open for marketing professionals from all industries and will be presented at the Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC) from 24-25 May 2023.

The theme is Breakthrough Marketing and delegates can expect to learn about innovative ways to market their products and services through focused marketing efforts. The content will help businesses to create a buzz and awareness for their products and services in a cost-effective way.

Successful marketing requires strategic vision and skilful execution. To stand out from the rest, marketers must be dynamic and master their craft. Marketing Indaba offers marketers the perfect opportunity to stay informed and gain new perspectives on current and future marketing trends. Delegates agree that this conference always sparks new and practical ideas that can be implemented immediately for marketing success and business growth.

Presentations at Marketing Indaba covers a wide range of topics from marketing strategies, marketing trends, audience and target market development to branding, promotions, digital media, content creation, customer relations and much more. Speakers will deliver content that revolve around innovative ways of marketing, brand building and communications. Speakers will share their experiences, learnings, best practices, advice, and tips during the programme. Marketing Indaba is a must-attend event for all marketing professionals across all industries.

Tickets are available online at www.marketingindaba.com or from the organisers office, CADEK Media at Tel: 021 854 4700.

CADEK Media produces various business growth conferences  please see a full list of upcoming conferences at https://cadek.co.za/conferences-in-south-africa/

Enquiries: Chris de Klerk

CADEK Media

021 854 4700
The brand-new production and major world tour of Queen and Ben Elton's multi-award-winning rock musical We Will Rock You is currently running at the Artscape Theatre Centre in Cape Town until Sunday, 4 June 2023 and thereafter continues in New Zealand before embarking on various territories abroad.

Image by Christiaan Kotze

We Will Rock You is not a tribute show, nor does it tell the story of Queen or the legendary Freddie Mercury. Instead, We Will Rock You is a large full-scale new vision musical theatre production with its own storyline set to the music of Queens most popular hits.

The production features 24 of Queens hit songs including Crazy Little Thing Called Love, Killer Queen, and global favourites We are the Champions, Bohemian Rhapsody and of course, We Will Rock You.

The highly talented cast is a combination of established, well-known performers and fresh new talent.

I recently caught up with Tiaan Rautenbach, who plays the character of Buddy, and has played roles in Jesus Christ Superstar, Binnelanders and Aspoestertjie.

What is your purpose?

What is anybody's purpose? To make the best of this thing called life and have as much fun along the way as possible. Oh, and to play more ukulele.

What does music mean to you?

Everything! Whether I'm happy or sad, busy or bored, there's usually a song playing in the background or being sung by me.

My music is about

Life, love and occasionally zombies.

What is your motto?

Just keep on keeping on.

Fame is about

Honestly, don't know, don't care.

Retirement will happen when

I physically cannot make it onto a stage or in front of a camera anymore.

I don't do

TikTok.

I would love to co-write with

Jennifer Saunders and Dawn French.

Where do you go for inspiration to create?

Usually my lounge.

What is the most enjoyable aspect of your work?

Getting paid to do something I truly love doing.

The song you must do during every show?

In We Will Rock You I only have one solo number, so, Those Were the Days of Our Lives.

Any funny moments on stage?

Too many to recount, but it usually entails something going wrong and making eye contact with the perpetrator.

My heroes are

David Bowie, Tori Amos and Jennifer Saunders.

My style icon is

Me.

Which living person do you admire most and why?

RuPaul for turning an obscure fringe form of art into a multi-million-dollar empire whilst spreading the message of love.

What is your most treasured possession?

My new iPad Pro.

It's your round, what are you drinking?

A margarita!

Dream gig to do?

I would love to do a big band show with a real big, big band.

What makes you stand out?

My awkward charm...?

Any nicknames?

T.

If you were not a musician, what would you do?

Some form of visual art. Cartoonist or graphic novelist.

Pick five words to describe yourself?

Chilled. Musical. Creative. Lazy and Funny.

Five must have songs on your Spotify playlist please

Life on Mars - David Bowie

Hey Jupiter - Tori Amos

Glory Box - Portishead

I Got So High That I Saw Jesus - Noah & Miley Cyrus

The Ride - Amanda Palmer

Greatest movie ever made?

Natural Born Killers.

What book are you reading?

Liarmouth by John Waters.

What song changed your life?

Life On Mars? by David Bowie.

Who do you love?

My family.

What is your favorite word?

Perturbed.

Top of your bucket list?

Always more travel!

Your greatest achievement?

Not sure if it's my greatest achievement, but I'm super proud of the series Blikskottel and Kompleks that I co-created and starred in with my best friends.

What do you complain about most often?

My arthritic knee.

What is your biggest fear?

Physical torture.

Happiness is

Chilling with tunes and tv.

On stage, I tend to

Feel at home.

The best life lesson you have learned?

It's amazing what you can do when you absolutely have to do it.

What has been your favorite journey so far?

I once spent a month in Berlin and I would go back there in a heartbeat.

Do you do charity work, and if you do  what do you do?

I don't, but I used to perform free gigs at old age homes when I was at school and I recently thought of starting up something like that again.

Wishes and dreams?

Just more of the same. I love the trajectory of my life and if things could keep going onward and upward, I'd be incredibly grateful.
Although banks appear to be making greater efforts to resolve some types of consumer disputes internally, banking fraud related to current accounts and internet banking remains high on the list of complaints to the Ombud for Banking Services South Africa (OBS). Two other categories of complaints, while still relatively low but on the Ombud's radar, are delays in finalising deceased estates and the collection of debt that has prescribed, or expired. Meanwhile, the OBS managed to recover more than R30m for consumers last year, about R10m more than in 2021.

In the OBS Annual Report for 2022, released Wednesday 17 May, Reana Steyn, ombudsman for Banking Services, says the year was by no means a carbon copy of the previous two years. As Covid-19 gradually loosened its grip on the front-page headlines, on business, and daily life in general, it became clear that the yearned-for returns to normality and to business as usual were taking new shape and being actively pursued by all.

In reality, some of the consequences of the pandemic lingered  not least of all in the way that people continued to work throughout 2022, as working from home and more flexible hours became the new normal for many.

This year  our 22nd in operation  the OBS has strived to make good on all the goals set out for 2022, as well as the founding principles and mission of the Office, Steyn says.

That mission is a commitment to 'resolving disputes that arise between banks and consumers in the South African banking sector by providing a free, fair and independent forum for dispute resolution'.

Key statistics

The year 2022 saw a significant 13% year-on-year increase in referrals  these are premature complaints from customers who contact the OBS about a dispute which has not been considered by the dispute department in the bank. The OBS assists consumers to log the complaint, refer it to the relevant bank and it is either satisfactorily resolved by the bank or converted into a formal complaint.

While referrals were up, there was a 5% decrease in formal cases opened compared with 2021 (from 8,257 down to 7,869). Case closures followed the same trend: from 8 150 down to 7 574, a drop of 7%.

This could be attributed to the growing industry trend to keep complaint numbers down through resolving disputes internally at an early stage. There is also a drive to improve customer experience and avoid negative public sentiment, Steyn says in the report. However, our overall active case numbers have remained high, with an average of 1,424 cases open at any given time.

Another positive trend was the drop in the average number of days taken to close cases, which improved from 70 days in 2021 to 67 days in 2022. Just over half of cases (52%) took less than two months to resolve; 37% took between two and four months, and the remaining 11% took more than four months.

An encouraging sign was the fact that the OBS call centre received 47,819 calls in 2022, a 14% increase on the 41,880 calls in 2021. This averages roughly 184 calls per working day throughout the year. This could be a sign that more consumers are aware of our existence and we could assist many more consumers telephonically, which we find to be a good sign, says Steyn.

The following demographic statistics were reported, based on information from 7,374 complainants:

Age: Almost three-quarters (72%) of complainants were of working age, between 26 and 66; 24% were older than 66; and 4% younger than 26. The fact that so many of the complainants were older could be an indication that these consumers are more vulnerable to fraud especially in the digital banking space, adds Steyn.



Gender: 54% complainants were male, 46% female.



Geography: Gauteng accounted for almost half the complaints (47%), Western Cape 17%, and KwaZulu-Natal 13%.

Types of complaints

Continuing the trend from previous years, complaints about Current accounts and digital banking made up the two largest categories of cases opened in 2022, and the majority of cases in both categories involved fraud of one type or another.

Current account cases increased by 3% to 22% of total cases. Almost two-thirds (65%) of these were related to fraud.

Digital banking cases also increased by 3%, to 17%. The biggest subcategories of complaints in this regard are mobile banking fraud and vishing, Steyn says. Vishing, or voice phishing, is when a fraudster calls a customer by phone or leaves voice messages purporting to be from a reputable company in an attempt to glean personal information such as bank details and credit card numbers.

Complaints about personal loans made up 13% of total cases opened, while credit cards were the subject of 7% of total complaints. Steyn says it appears that the banks are settling more of the credit card-related matters themselves, as her office opened 7% fewer of these cases in 2022.

ATM-related complaints, which in pre-Covid years featured among the top categories, dropped even further, from 8% in 2021 to 5% of complaints in 2022, an indication that fewer consumers make use of this channel and the fraudsters moved their targets elsewhere.

Estates and trusts was a hot topic in the OBS Office in 2022, Steyn says: We received 257 complaints regarding delays in the finalisation of estates, compared with 120 the year before (an increase of 114% year on year).

She says complaints about banks collecting on prescribed debts have increased substantially year on year: In 2021 this category made up 1,4% of complaints, while in 2022 it made up 4,5% of all complaints.

Cases in favour of consumers

Of the cases closed in 2022, just under one quarter (23%) were resolved in favour of the customer: 16,1% of cases were fully or partially upheld in the complainants favour, and in 6,4% of cases no award was made but information or an explanation was provided.

One category of complaints resolved mostly in favour of the customer was estates and trusts  there were 135 cases, of which 55% went the way of the complainant.

Overall, the ombuds office recovered R30,350,173 for customers. Steyn explains that the total amount recovered for consumers increased by about R10m largely because of the increased complaints concerning deceased estate delays and internet banking, each of which involve large amounts.

Performance by banks

Although the report records statistics of complaints to individual banks, Steyn stresses that: The number of files opened per bank is, however, not indicative of the individual banks complaints handling performance or performance in general, for that matter. Banks vary considerably in size, client profile and product mix, and these factors all impact on the number of complaints made against a bank. Comparing the number of clients, the growth of the client base for some and more importantly, the number of successful banking transactions taking place every day, the low total number of complaints at the OBS could be indicative of the fact that things mostly work the way they should in the South African banking space.

Nedbank and Capitec had the biggest increases in number of complaints with 18% (1,273 in 2021 to 1,508 in 2022) and 11% (1,651 to 1,826) respectively, while Standard Bank dropped by 31% (2,070 to 1,385) and FNB by 21% (1,452 to 1,147). Absa had the lowest number of cases among the big banks and remained level (1,068 compared with 1,063 in 2021).

An indicator of how well banks handle complaints is their conversion rate of premature cases to formal complaints. According to the report, African Bank saw 72% of referrals being converted to formal complaints, followed by Nedbank (64%) and Tyme and Bidvest banks (both 53%). FNB converted only 34%.

The bank with the best average turnaround time (referring to the number of days it took to close complaints, on average) was Capitec (58 days). Standard Bank had the worst average turnaround time (73 days).

Capitec also had the highest percentage of cases being decided in its favour (85%), while Nedbank had the lowest (72% in its favour).

Vulnerable consumers

The OBS continued to identify and record complaints in the Vulnerable Consumers category. A vulnerable consumer is defined as someone who, due to their personal circumstances, is especially susceptible to detriment, particularly when a firm is not acting with appropriate levels of care.

Steyn points out that this is still an evolving concept: In compiling our categories of vulnerable consumers, we had due regard to the types of complaints we have dealt with over many years as well as to international precedents.

The OBS identifies vulnerable consumers according to age (people over 65 years), life event (such as death of a spouse or retrenchment), disability, financial literacy and discrimination.

Steyn says: A total of 307 such complaints were recorded (4% of all complaints opened in 2022). The fact that 6% of these complainants were over the age of 85 years, and 24% between 75 and 85, remains a concern. Retrenchment, at 28%, is also evidence of the economic hardship facing many consumers.

Consolidation of voluntary ombud schemes

The report also gives an update on progress on the very important change in the financial ombud space: the amalgamation of the four voluntary financial ombud schemes  the OBS, the long-term insurance ombudsman, the credit Ombud, and short-term insurance ombudsman  into a single new entity, in line with World Bank recommendations.

Says Steyn in her report: With the continued encouragement of the Ombud council as well as our own boards and councils, the project is moving ahead, and by the time this report is published, significant milestones will have been reached. January 1, 2024 is the proposed target date for the new single scheme to go live.




The release of the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) has sounded alarms regarding the state of learning in South Africa.

Image supplied

The study found that 81% of Grade 4 learners in South Africa cannot read for meaning in any language. In 2016, PIRLS revealed that it was 78% of Grade 4 children. This is a three percentage point increase since the 2016 study and confirms the concerns numerous stakeholders in the education sector have raised.

South Africas Grade 4 learners scored an average of 288 points in the study, which is significantly lower than the 500-point international mean, and a 32-point decrease from the 2016 results. It is worth noting that 21 of the countries that participated in the study also experienced a decline in result, which has predominantly been attributed to the pandemic. South Africas decline however is one that unfortunately indicate a regression to levels last seen a decade ago.

The results have confirmed a worrying downward trend in the foundational learning of our children. This decline is cause for further concern regarding the pandemics impact on our learners and requires drastic action, said Zero Dropout programme director, Merle Mansfield.

A recent report by University of Cape Town Professor, Ursula Hoadley, tracked curriculum and assessment policy changes within South Africa since the pandemic and alarmingly found that: There has been no attempt to recoup time in order to remediate learning losses, apart from very recent attempts in one province.

Without concerted efforts to re-engage learners and implement accelerated catch-up programmes the knock-on effects of the pandemics school closures and rotational timetabling will continue to be felt down the line, especially for learners in Quintile 1-3 schools, which bore the brunt of these policies, added Mansfield.

Accelerated learning programmes

For the past three years, the Zero Dropout Campaign has been advocating for accelerated learning programmes (ALPs) and early warning tools to mitigate the learning loses caused by COVID-19 school closures and rotational timetables.

Reading comprehension is a significant contributor to learners falling behind academically and repeating grades. In 2021, it was found that by the end of primary school, 36% of learners were already overaged and by Grade 12, that proportion rose to 56%, added Mansfield.

ALPs have been widely recognised as best practice for countries such as South Africa currently experiencing high learner repetition rates and foundational learning crises. The pandemic has exacerbated the need for ALPs across the country and available evidence suggests that some learners in South Africa lost as much as an entire school year since the first lockdowns. These losses, particularly those experienced by foundational phase learners, will likely undermine the development of an entire generation for years to come.

The Zero Dropout Campaign has over the past years initiated ALPs across the country such as Reading for Meaning programmes in the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal, and most recently Northern Cape, Free State. Through principles such as Teaching at the Right Level (TaRL), Reading for Meaning focusses on a childs learning needs rather than their age or grade to support pupils who missed key literacy and numeracy concepts early in life.

In a post-pandemic learning environment, ALPs are critical and should be prioritised as learners who have fallen behind academically and repeated years are at much greater risk of not returning to school, which in turn places their prospects of securing a qualification and employment opportunities in future at serious risk.

Language

PIRLS 2021 were conducted in all official South African languages at the time to accommodate as many learners as possible and give them the best chance at comprehension. However, it is reported that somehow only 66% of learners were tested in their home language.

This was also the first year where Grade 6 learners in South Africa were assessed and they scored 384 points, a significantly higher score than their Grade 4 counterparts. The Department of Basic Education in part attributed this improvement in results to children learning in their mother tongue from a foundational phase and being assessed in the same language, particularly English and Afrikaans in this instance. Three quarters of Grade 6 learners, however, were not tested in their mother tongue, so more improvement can be expected in future if this language gap is bridged.

Learning in the right language or mother-tongue instruction is also a crucial component for learners engagement, development, and subsequent assessment, and more should be done to make it more accessible, concluded Mansfield.
Exactly how many model derivatives are offered in South Africa? Though local buyers still have a huge choice, the number has actually fallen markedly since 2018.

According to Naamsa, South African new-car buyers have the widest choice-to-market-size ratio in the world. But the lofty local model-derivative count has actually fallen markedly  by 31.13%, according to our maths  since 2018.

The organisation describes the new-car trading environment in South Africa as extremely competitive compared to global standards, saying original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) continue to introduce a growing range of model variations and body shapes of each model.

Indeed, Naamsa lists South Africas new passenger-vehicle market as having encompassed as many as 43 brands and 2,513 model derivatives in 2022. In the light-commercial vehicle (LCV) segment, meanwhile, 22 brands were operating last year, with 498 model derivatives from which to choose.

While those are certainly sky-high numbers considering the local markets size in global terms, theyre down on 2021s figures, when 43 passenger-vehicle brands offered 3,077 model derivatives and 23 LCV brands put forward 746 model derivatives. Meanwhile, in 2020, the model-derivative count in the passenger-car space was higher still at 3 132, while the LCV figure was slightly lower at 689.

Fascinatingly, the numbers from the prior year were remarkably similar to those of 2022. Yes, in 2019, South Africa had 46 passenger-car brands offering a total of 2,507 model derivatives, along with 28 LCV brands marketing 526 model derivatives.

And 2018? Well, back then, the South African market featured a whopping 49 brands in the passenger-vehicle space, offering a heady 3,716 model derivatives between them. The LCV-brand tally stood at 30, which together provided 656 LCV derivatives. If we combine passenger-car and LCV variants, we find the markets total model-derivative count dropped from 4,372 in 2018 to 3,011 in 2022, representing a fall of 31.13%.

Still, theres no doubt South African buyers remain spoilt for choice. In the LCV space, for instance, Toyota currently offers as many as 39 derivatives of its popular Hilux. Isuzu, meanwhile, markets 27 variants of its D-Max (plus another 5 in the prolonged-lifecycle Gen 6 line-up) and Ford lists 24 derivatives of its new Ranger (with more likely in the pipeline).

In the passenger-vehicle segment, we currently count as many as 31 derivatives of the 992-generation Porsche 911, as well as 24 variants of the Land Rover Defender.

This article was originally published on Cars.co.za...
An initiative to assist families of deceased SAPS members.

Believe (The Johanessburg Expo Centre), Zikisa (Hollywood Foundation), Major General Patricia Rampota (SAPS), Brigadier Stoltz (SAPS), Colonel Govender (SAPS)

Letsema La Bana, an initiative established by the South African Police Service (SAPS) to assist and support the families of SAPS members who lost their lives in the line of duty, received a heartfelt boost during a recent event to help SAPS members' children.

Recent statistics* have revealed that South Africa has one of the highest rates of police officer deaths globally. Between April 2020 and March 2022, 53 police officers lost their lives while diligently serving their country. These brave men and women fearlessly placed themselves in harm's way to safeguard their communities, and Letsema La Bana strives to honour their sacrifice by offering support to their families.

The Letsema La Bana initiative initially came to the attention of the Johannesburg Expo Centre at the Rand Show, where SAPS was one of the exhibitors. Recognising the importance of this remarkable initiative, the Johannesburg Expo Centre approached one of its esteemed partners, the Hollywood Foundation, to become a sponsor. Hollywood Foundation gladly embraced the opportunity to contribute to this worthy cause and generously donated school bags and school shoes to the children of the deceased SAPS members.

"We at The Rand Show and Johannesburg Expo Centre are immensely proud to continue supporting the Letsema La Bana initiative," affirms Adele Hartdegen, CEO of Johannesburg Expo Centre. "We recognise the unwavering commitment and dedication of our police officers and their families. Letsema La Bana provides a platform to honour their memory and extend much-needed support to their loved ones."

The Hollywood Foundation is a community-focused organisation committed to restoring hope and transforming lives through corporate social investment (CSI), bursaries, enterprise and supplier development, and other meaningful efforts. The foundation's involvement in this campaign represents its dedication to uplifting communities and bridging societal gaps in the face of numerous challenges.

Major General Patricia Rampota and Brigadier Stoltz holding the certificate of appreciation

Zukisa Mbaza, CSI administrator at Hollywood Foundation, expressed the organisation's deep commitment to the Letsema La Bana initiative: "Our involvement in this campaign is a testament to our unwavering commitment to uplifting communities and our determination to address the existing gaps in society. This programme holds a special place in our hearts as it empowers the lives of children who have endured the loss of their parents while serving our country. Today, we have not only positively impacted the lives of these children but also brought a sense of relief and put smiles on their faces. This significant contribution means a lot to us as it aligns with our ongoing efforts to restore hope and create lasting change."

Major General Patricia Rampota, speaking on behalf of the South African Police Management, expressed gratitude to Hollywood Foundation and the Johannesburg Expo Centre for their kind and thoughtful gesture: "It is my honour and privilege to be part of this special handover of school bags and school shoes to the children of our deceased members who lost their lives in the line of duty. Being a police officer is not easy, as we often lose our members due to individuals who fail to respect their lives. We, as the South African Police Management, are truly grateful to Hollywood Foundation and the Johannesburg Expo Centre for their generous donation, which holds tremendous significance for us. It takes a community to raise children, and we thank them for being an invaluable part of our police community."
Using foreign employees has become a big business trend in the modern connected era. A combination of labour skills shortages and global connectivity encourages organisations to look abroad when filling roles, often because it can be more affordable due to differences in exchange rates and living costs.

Image source: Tima Miroshnichenko from Pexels

Overall, this is a net positive for people, companies and countries, which is why some expressed surprise when South Africa's National Treasury revealed proposals in early 2023 that will change how foreign companies can employ South Africans as remote workers. Specifically, the new changes could require such employers to register as employers in the country, requiring a CIPC (Companies and Intellectual Property Commission) number, Sars tax number, and local bank account.

Is this move the right step, what would it require from foreign employers, and what options do they have to manage the potential legislative change?

Protecting employees

The reasons for the change are pretty straightforward: according to South African legislation, a resident taxpayers' worldwide income is taxed in South Africa. This includes UIF, PAYE and SDL contributions. Currently, many local people employed by foreign companies are provisional taxpayers, which means their employers don't make these contributions. That ultimately is negative for the employee. For example, if they lose their jobs, they won't be able to claim UIF benefits.

Portions of regular employee salaries contribute to UIF (Unemployment Insurance Fund) and PAYE (pay as you earn) taxes. In contrast, provisional taxpayers are typically self-employed and don't have those obligations. While defined thresholds and characteristics separate these two types of taxpayers, South Africans employed by foreign companies can end up designated as the latter.

If the employer is not registered as an employer or does not assign a representative employer in SA, they will not pay taxes such as PAYE, UIF and SDL. That's where the inconsistencies lie. It means possible unfairness in the treatment of employees in South Africa and an impact on the fiscus.

Options for foreign employers

The proposed changes want to correct this inconsistency, which is why it's very likely to become part of the draft Taxation Laws Amendment Bill for 2023. If the changes come to pass, foreign employers may have two choices: register locally for a CIPC number and Sars income tax registration number, and open a South African bank account; alternatively, they can assign a local representative employer.

Chances are good that major foreign companies already have such arrangements in place.

Large enterprises are very serious about compliance, and they likely have had to do similar things in other jurisdictions as well. So it is doubtful whether it will have a big impact on them. But smaller employers who only hire a few local people could find this to be a complicated issue and an extra cost.

Companies are attracted to foreign employees because they can offer lower salaries than in their domestic markets. They likely will continue foreign hiring if they can absorb the new legislative complexities.

A local payroll opportunity

If registering locally isn't feasible, their best choice is to use a local representative employer  this is an opportunity for local companies that operate in payroll and accounting.

The good news is that modern cloud-native payroll platforms make administration on behalf of other businesses easier, accessible and more affordable. The local company understands South African requirements, while the platform can connect those processes with the foreign employer. It can also calculate currency differences, track certain legal obligations, and provide self-service portals to the local employee and foreign employer for everything from payslips to leave applications.

Local payroll and accounting businesses can become those proxies without expanding their businesses or incurring high costs, since the platforms are service-based, the payroll company has consistent low acquisition and management costs. They can administer their foreign customers' needs without adding legions of extra people or building expensive digital systems. This means they can also offer their foreign companies a lower cost.

The changes will likely become law in some form, as it's an international trend catching up with a fast-globalising workforce. The goal is to protect employees, and local companies can use modern cloud-native and multi-geographic payroll platforms such as PaySpace to help foreign employers adjust to the changes.

It will create opportunities for local companies in South Africa to take over these responsibilities and be the representative employers for foreign firms that want access to South African talent.
Once-extinct tulips rediscovered in China's Inner Mongolia

Xinhua) 16:44, May 17, 2023

HOHHOT, May 17 (Xinhua) -- Researchers in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region have found wild plants of Tulipa mongolica, a species that had not been sighted for more than 40 years in the region.

The bright yellow flowers, distributed solitarily in Inner Mongolia, were believed to be functionally extinct after the species was last sampled in 1979.

They were found earlier this month in a one-hectare land in the Gogestai Khan Uul National Nature Reserve under the city of Chifeng, said Zhao Liqing, a botanist at the Inner Mongolia University.

Zhao said the discovery is of great significance to China's ecological protection and studies on the country's endangered plants.

Tulipa mongolica is a perennial herb 10-25 cm tall, featuring an ovate bulb and yellow perianth segments. It is placed under state protection in China.

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun)
The Anti-Defamation League should just be called the Defamation League, according to Twitter CEO Elon Musk.



"ADL should just drop the 'A,'" Musk said Tuesday on Twitter after being smeared by the pro-Israel lobbying group all day for criticizing Jewish billionaire George Soros.





ADL should just drop the A  Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 16, 2023



"Soros reminds me of Magneto," Musk said Monday on Twitter. "He wants to erode the very fabric of civilization. Soros hates humanity."





Soros reminds me of Magneto  Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 16, 2023

You assume they are good intentions. They are not. He wants to erode the very fabric of civilization. Soros hates humanity.  Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 16, 2023



Musk was swiftly accused of anti-Semitism and inciting violence by ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt.



"Soros often is held up by the far-right, using antisemitic tropes, as the source of the world's problems," Greenblatt said. "To see @ElonMusk, regardless of his intent, feed this segment -- comparing him to a Jewish supervillain, claiming Soros 'hates humanity' -- is not just distressing, it's dangerous: it will embolden extremists who already contrive anti-Jewish conspiracies and have tried to attack Soros and Jewish communities as a result."





Soros often is held up by the far-right, using antisemitic tropes, as the source of the worlds problems. To see @ElonMusk, regardless of his intent, feed this segment  comparing him to a Jewish supervillain, claiming Soros hates humanity"  is not just distressing, it's pic.twitter.com/ECAuYahSga  Jonathan Greenblatt (@JGreenblattADL) May 16, 2023



The Jewish Daily Forward's Alex Zeldin said Musk's criticism of Soros was "antisemitic incitement" which "has caused violence towards Jews."



"Just so we're clear, this is antisemitic incitement. It has caused violence towards Jews. It is well known for that," Zeldin said. "Musk, the owner of this site and one of the most well known men on the planet, is encouraging violence against Jews. Whether he knows or cares is irrelevant."





Just so we're clear, this is antisemitic incitement. It has caused violence towards Jews. It is well known for that.



Musk, the owner of this site and one of the most well known men on the planet, is encouraging violence against Jews.



Whether he knows or cares is irrelevant. https://t.co/YS6YlABbn2  Alex    (@JewishWonk) May 16, 2023



The Atlantic's Yair Rosenberg also criticized Musk, writing: "George Soros is an avowed universalist who grew up speaking Esperanto, an artificial universal language that was meant to unite all people under one tongue. Magneto is an avowed particularist who devotes all his energy to his own people, mutants. Literally ideological opposites."





George Soros is an avowed universalist who grew up speaking Esperanto, an artificial universal language that was meant to unite all people under one tongue. Magneto is an avowed particularist who devotes all his energy to his own people, mutants. Literally ideological opposites! https://t.co/OQDFxL6sxa  Yair Rosenberg (@Yair_Rosenberg) May 16, 2023



There's no need to speculate what's driving Soros' actions as his son Alex Soros described what motivated his father's activism in an interview with New York Times Magazine in 2018:

Alex told me that for many years, his father had not been eager to advertise his Judaism because "this was something he was almost killed for." But he had always "identified firstly as a Jew," and his philanthropy was ultimately an expression of his Jewish identity, in that he felt a solidarity with other minority groups and also because he recognized that a Jew could only truly be safe in a world in which all minorities were protected. Explaining his father's motives, he said, "The reason you fight for an open society is because that's the only society that you can live in, as a Jew -- unless you become a nationalist and only fight for your own rights in your own state."

Does that sound like a "universalist" to you?



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A deceased farmer in Co Galway did not care for and referred to the main beneficiary of her contested will as "O'Toole the fool" and "Only Fools and Horses", the High Court has heard.

Maureen Donnellan, who is a distant cousin of the late Margaret Hernon, told the court that from her early childhood she spent a lot of time with the deceased, assisted her in her later years, and knew her extremely well.

Mrs Donnellan, whose mother is a first cousin once removed of the deceased, said she was very surprised when she heard several months after Mrs Hernon's death that the deceased had left the bulk of her estate to another cousin, Peter O'Toole, of Leagaun, Moycullen, Co Galway.

She said Mrs Hernon did not like Mr O'Toole, did not want to spend time in his company, and had a nickname for him. She said the late Mrs Hernon, who knew about his criminal convictions, called him "O'Toole the fool," and "Only Fools and Horses", which she said was a reference to an alleged failed attempt by Mr O'Toole to rob a horse box.

Cattle

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She said Mr O'Toole had approached her several times and asking her to bring Mrs Hernon to his home so her could show her his Charolais cattle. Those invitations were generally refused by Mrs Hernon, Ms Donnellan said.

She said that following Mrs Hernon's death, Mr OToole had arrived at her mother's home in Galway, which is next door to her house, in July 2017 and had banged very loudly on the door.

When Mrs Donnellan spoke to him that night Mr O'Toole said: "How could you be so f**king stupid as to lose everything."

She said his comment was in reference to the belief at the time that Mrs Hernon, who the witness said could be indecisive at times, had died intestate.

She also claims that Mr O'Toole had contacted her saying that if she helped him that she would be looked after, and that he had a solicitor in Dublin who could help. These offers came before September 2017, when it was revealed that the late Mrs Hernon had made a will before a solicitor in 2006.

Alleged deceit

Ms Donnellan was giving evidence on the second day of an application brought by Agustus 'Gus' Kelehan, who is one of children of the deceased's first cousins, against the executor of the estate, retired solicitor Liam O'Gallchobhair, of Highfield Park, Galway, seeking to set aside the 2006 will.

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It is claimed the will was procured by deceit.

The claims are denied.

The plaintiffs are no longer pursing their allegations that the will was obtained by forgery or by undue influence, Mr Justice Cian Ferriter heard on Wednesday.

The court also heard that Mr O'Toole is not contesting the plaintiff's evidence that he has several criminal convictions, including one for possession of a gun that had been used by others in a robbery in Galway city in 1974 when an innocent man was shot dead.

He was also convicted in the UK in the 1970s and 1980s for offences, including obtaining property by deception and forgery.

In her evidence to the court, Mrs Donnellan held a photograph of the late Mrs Hernon and became upset while speaking about the circumstances of her death.

She was with Mrs Hernon when she died, she said, adding the deceased had often confided in her.

In reply to David Kennedy SC, she said she was a frequent visitor to Mrs Hernon, particularly in her final years, sometimes twice a day.

Mrs Donnellan added she helped her manage her affairs without trying to infringe on her dignity and independence.

Suspicions

Mrs Donnellan told the court she was suspicious about the will and made a complaint to the gardai.

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She said she never saw Mr O'Gallchobhair at Mrs Hernon's house, and when it came to legal matters was only aware that the deceased had been dealing with another firm of solicitors.

She also said that while Mrs Hernon had lots of visitors when in nursing homes prior to her death, she never saw Mr O'Toole's name on the visitor's register at any of the facilities where the deceased had resided.

Under cross-examination by Michael Houricam SC, Ms Donnellan said while names included on a draft will were similar to those on the 2006 will, she did not accept that will is correct.

She said she was suspicious of the will, adding she works in the insurance sector, as the document had no headed paper and no official stamp. She said she could not understand why one person was included in the 2006, nor the amounts included in the document.

In response to counsel, she said that she was of the opinion that the names on the will, other than Mr O'Toole, had been "randomly plucked out of the air".

When concluding his evidence under cross-examination on Wednesday, Mr Kelehan said he was surprised that no relative of Mrs Hernon's late husband were included in the 2006 will.

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Frank Hernon had one nephew in particular to whom he was very close, Mr Kelehan said.

Mr Kelehan also denied Mr Hourican's contention that the claims he was making against the will was "an attempt to blacken the names" of both Mr O'Toole and Mr O'Gallchobhair.

Estate

Previously, the court heard that Mrs Hernon, who had no children and was an only child, died aged 91 on March 16th, 2017. She was pre-deceased by her husband Frank in 2005, and all of her first cousins.

She left a valuable estate include the farmhouse where she resided at Barnacranny, Bushypark, Galway, with adjoining 13 acres of farmland on the edge of Galway city, lands in Athenry, Co Galway, and a significant quantity of cash.

It had been believed that she had died intestate, having never completed a will that she had been drafting.

Six months after her death, her family was informed she had made a will before Mr O'Gallchobhair in 2006, who was also nominated to act as executor of her estate. The court heard Mr O'Gallchobhair had ceased practising law in 2010.

In her will she had left sums of money to a few family members, including Mrs Donnellan and her mother, and the local Catholic Church totalling 22,000, while the rest of the estate was left to Mr O'Toole.

Mr O'Gallchobhair denies the claims against him, and in a counterclaim seeks an order formally proving the 2006 will.

He claims he knew the deceased for many years and drafted the will after he met her in Galway city in 2006.

Ireland Trial of man accused of murdering Ashling Murphy p... Read More

He further alleges that he and another man, John Concannon, a farmer from Truskey East, Barna, Co Galway, had witnessed Mrs Hernon sign the will. Mr Concannon died in 2017, a few months after Mrs Hernon passed away, the court heard.

Mr O'Gallchobhair accepts he knows Mr O'Toole and had acted for him, but denies all of the allegations that he colluded with him regarding the will.

Mr O'Toole denies any wrong-doing and claims he had a good relationship with the deceased.

The hearing continues.
A Tipperary farmer broke down Wednesday telling the inquest into his sons death after a fall from a quad bike that it was the first time his son had driven the vehicle without wearing a helmet.

Patrick McKeogh, (16), fell from the quad bike as he was retrieving cattle that had broken loose from the familys dairy farm, at Inchadrinagh, Ballina, Co Tipperary, early on the morning of June 28th, 2021.

A jury at Limerick Coroners Court recorded a verdict of accidental death at Kilmallock courthouse.

Coroner John McNamara noted that it appeared that if the boy had been wearing a helmet, it may have assisted in preventing his death.

Brain injury

The inquest heard that it was likely the quad hit a bump on a gravel road separating two fields which caused the boy to be thrown from the vehicle and onto his head.

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Patrick McKeogh suffered a catastrophic brain injury in the impact and he died from his injuries at University Hospital Limerick two days later.

Martin McKeogh, the boys father, broke down and stated in court: In case you think he (Patrick) was careless, he wasnt; he had a helmet, he always wore it, and that was the only time he didnt wear it.

Coroner, John McNamara told Martin McKeogh his sons death was a tragic accident, and no one is at fault.

On another day he would have hit that bump and continued on, and none of us would be talking about it, added the coroner.

Olive Higgins, an inspector with the Health and Safety Authority, which investigates fatal workplace accidents, and who responded to the scene, said legislation was due to be passed in November this year making quad bike driver training and the wearing of helmets, mandatory.

Martin McKeogh said he got up at 4.45am to discover cattle had got loose from their land and they were roaming towards a public road near their farm.

At 5.30am Mr McKeogh alerted two of his sons, Patrick and Adam, and they rushed to help him retrieve the livestock.

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At 6am, Martin McKeogh and his son Adam discovered Patricks lifeless body face down on the ground halfway between a dirt track and a field. Patrick McKeogh had blood on his face, no pulse, and he was not breathing.

Hospital

Mr McKeogh immediately began CPR on his sons body, an ambulance was called and arrived within seven minutes, and paramedics transferred Patrick McKeogh to University Hospital Limerick after paramedics noted he had a pulse, however he passed away at UHL two days later.

It appears he was traveling on a dirt track and left the road after encountering a bump in the road, and he was not wearing a helmet at the time, Ms Higgins told the inquest.

Garda Eamonn Raleigh, PSV Inspector, Thurles Garda Station, and retired Garda Sergeant and Forensic Collision Inspector, Frank Lavin, each gave evidence that they examined the quad bike and found it was in good condition.

However, the two Garda witnesses said they discovered that the tyre pressure on the quad had exceeded that of the level recommended by the manufacture.

Garda Raleigh said this would have greatly effected the steering on the quad.

Mr Lavin, said he conducted a fingertip examination of the scene, and he found no evidence that the quads breaks had been applied. He said he did not believe speed was a factor in the fatal accident.

Ireland Trial of man accused of murdering Ashling Murphy p... Read More

Mr Lavin said that as the tyres were overinflated this made for a more uncomfortable ride and would have reduced the effectiveness of the quads suspension.

He said this combined with the rough terrain may have caused giddiness in the vehicles performance.

The Coroner told the hearing: As we know farms can be dangerous places, but this wasnt a situation where he was doing anything that I would consider to be out of the ordinary, it is just a terrible tragic accident and thats all we can ascribe to it.

Mr McNamara expressed his condolences to the McKeogh family, as did Garda Inspector Gary Thompson, Bruff Garda Station, who said Patrick McKeogh was a young boy who died diligently working for his family and doing the right thing.
The thin blue line is getting threadbare, a representative for the Garda Representative Association has warned about difficulties An Garda Siochana is facing with recruitment and retention within the force.

Ronan Slevin, deputy general secretary, told RTE radios Morning Ireland that there are 700 fewer gardai now than there were in 2020. Recruitment targets have been missed repeatedly, he said.

There was low morale within the force, which was not recognised by the Garda Commissioner. Changes needed to be made to keep people in the job, to encourage them to stay, he urged.

We are struggling to get members into the job and we're struggling to retain members in the job as it stands. And that thin blue line is getting threadbare day by day. We had a commitment this year to have a thousand gardai going into Templemore. So far in February there was supposed to be 200. We had 134.

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"This month that was supposed to be 225, we had 155 who went in. Last year we had a commitment for 800. Less than 300 guards entered Templemore. We're experiencing between 400 and 500 resignations and retirements every year.

Mr Slevin pointed out that for trainees entering Templemore they received only 4.60 per hour for the 32 weeks that they are in training. These are people that possibly have families and mortgages, and they have to have some amount of savings to make their commitment to enter training.

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It would not have gone unnoticed also that there had been an increase in the number of assaults of gardai  over 1,000 last year, he said. There was also the issue of work-life balance which was highlighted by arguments over rosters.

Mr Slevin said that the Garda Commissioner had told the GRA conference that he did not believe there was a morale problem. You can't fix the problem unless you actually believe there is one. So I think, first of all, he has to accept, he has to listen to the members on the ground, and he has to make changes that keep the members in the job.

There has to be something to encourage them to stay on. So if that means giving them a better work life balance, improving their conditions, well then that has to be done. And that's something he can do immediately.

Events like anti immigrant protests were a further drain on existing resources, he said. So if we are required to give more resources to these protests, there's somewhere else within the service that's been affected as a result of that.
Minister for Justice Simon Harris has said the Irish Government will not forget its duty to victims and survivors of the Troubles.

The ministers comments come on the 49th anniversary of the Dublin-Monaghan bombings in which more than 30 people were killed.

Three of the four no-warning bombs took place in Dublin city centre and one in Monaghan town on May 17th 1974.

No-one has ever been convicted over the bombings that have been blamed on loyalist paramilitaries.

An official memorial in the Irish capital honours the 35 victims of the bombings, which include two unborn babies.

Martha ONeill, whose husband Edward was killed, and two sons were injured in one of the blasts in Dublin, lost her unborn baby girl Martha in the aftermath of the atrocity.

Another victim, Colette Doherty, had also been pregnant when she was killed.

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It is hard to believe that on a day such as this all those years ago, ordinary people going about their daily lives had those lives so callously and brutally attacked, Mr Harris said.

But, like so many other incidents of violence on this island during the Troubles, that was the tragic reality for those caught up in the bombings on that day.

The scale of this atrocity will always be remembered.

It was the greatest loss of life on a single day of the Troubles, and it continues to affect countless families.

The Government is fully committed to seeking out the truth behind those events and, hopefully, to secure some measure of comfort for the victims families and the survivors.

Twenty-five years on from the Good Friday Agreement, it is important that we remember what has been achieved since 1998, but also challenge ourselves to take up the crucial work of reconciliation.

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The Good Friday Agreement recognised the need for a particular acknowledgement of the position of victims.

Last week, Mr Harris met with the families of the Disappeared, including Oliver McVeigh, the brother of missing 19-year-old Columba McVeigh.

So many on this island have been affected by the multitude of horrific acts that were carried out during the Troubles and the Irish Government will not forget our duty to victims and survivors, Mr Harris said.
A driver who crashed into the side of another vehicle drew a knife on the victim following the collision in November 2019, the Circuit Civil Court has heard.

John Fitzsimons, a heavy goods vehicle driver living in Dublin 20, was injured in the collision and was then threatened by the other driver at the scene, the court heard.

Mr Fitzsimons told his barrister Conor Kearney his car had been struck after the other vehicle changed lanes at Adamstown Village, Lucan, Co Dublin. Following the collision, four men got out of the other vehicle, one of whom had drawn a knife from his pocket.

Mr Kearney, who appeared with Blake Horrigan Solicitors, said his client had suffered psychological injuries as a result of what had been an assault at the scene of the collision, as well as both psychological and physical injuries arising from the crash itself.

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Liability for the crash by the uninsured car had been conceded.

Barrister Robert OGeibheannaigh, counsel for the Motor Insurers Bureau of Ireland (MIBI), which compensates victims of uninsured drivers, told the court that in his statement to the bureau, Mr Fitzsimons had clearly identified the driver of the uninsured car as the man who had produced a knife from his pocket.

Mr OGeibheannaigh said Mr Fitsimons defence team at an early stage of the proceedings had acknowledged the fact there was no right of recovery from the MIBI of damages relating to psychological or criminal issues arising as a result of assault.

Damages for psychological injury cannot be sought and any compensation the court considers due to the plaintiff in this assessment should be confined to physical injury only arising from the accident, Mr OGeibheannaigh said.

'Unsavoury exchanges'

Mr Fitzimons (59) had sued Zac Cali, with an address in Lucan, Co Dublin, and the MIBI for damages of up to 60,000, claiming Mr Cali had acted in a threatening manner and pulled a knife on him at the scene.

As a result of the incident, Mr Fitzimons claimed he suffered an acute stress reaction.

In agreed medical reports, Mr Fitzsimons was stated to have felt acutely anxious following the incident which involved a verbal altercation and threats of violence with a weapon.

Judge James McCourt heard Mr Fitzsimons had told doctors there had been four overseas foreign men in the car which had collided with his vehicle, adding it had been the driver who had drawn the knife.

Judge McCourt said there had been unsavoury exchanges at the roadside, and he could not see how one could not distinguish a psychological element arising from the collision, adding that was not to say there had not been some element of threat visited upon Mr Fitzsimons that had caused him some psychological injuries.

Awarding damages of just under 17,600 and costs, the judge said Mr Fitzsimons had suffered both physical and psychological injuries arising from the crash.
Wreaths have been laid at a monument in Dublin to mark the 49th anniversary of four bombs that killed more than 30 people and injured almost 300 others.

Tanaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs Micheal Martin said it was important that governments put victims and their families centre-stage before he laid the wreath and addressed the ceremony on Wednesday.

On May 17th, 1974, three no-warning bombs went off across Dublin city centre and one in Monaghan town.

No-one has ever been convicted over the bombings that have been blamed on loyalist paramilitaries.

Tanaiste Micheal Martin attends a wreath-laying ceremony in Dublin to mark the 49th anniversary of the Dublin-Monaghan bombings. Photo: PA Images

An official memorial in Dublin honours the 35 victims of the bombings, which include two unborn babies.

Martha ONeill, whose husband Edward was killed and two sons were injured in one of the blasts in Dublin, lost her unborn baby girl Martha in the aftermath of the atrocity.

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Another victim, Colette Doherty, had also been pregnant when she was killed.

Mr Martin told those gathered: We remember that summer afternoon in 1974  the weekend was fast approaching, and shoppers and workers rushed to finish up for the week, to catch a lift home or meet up with friends.

It was Friday, rush hour in Dublin city. As trains arrived and departed a busy Connolly Station, Clearys clock rang out the hour. With no warning, within minutes, three bombs rang out across the city.

He said that it was essential that we not lose sight of the atrocities of the past, and said a shadow had been cast by the losses and grief of the families searching for truth and justice.

To the family and friends of those killed, and survivors of the Dublin & Monaghan bombings, I pay tribute to your strength and absolute commitment to finding the truth.

Youre not forgotten.

Youre not invisible.

My Government stands in solidarity with you. @JFForgotten pic.twitter.com/NWwda7wb5D  Micheal Martin (@MichealMartinTD) May 17, 2023

Mr Martin said that days like today were very, very difficult for the families and anyone affected by the violence of The Troubles, particularly in terms of unanswered questions.

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Im very conscious of this as the British government is coming forward with a legacy bill which we are opposed to, and which all political parties on the island of Ireland are opposed to, he said.

I think its very important that in anything governments do, victims have to be centre and the families have to be centre-stage.

Thats why the remembrance today of the worst atrocity during that period is very, very important for the families and the generations that come after because on this day 49 years ago the world changed for many, many families, for many, many communities and its important that we never forget that and that we channel that huge reality of loss into doing the right thing by families of victims.

Minister for Justice Simon Harris said: It is hard to believe that on a day such as this all those years ago, ordinary people going about their daily lives had those lives so callously and brutally attacked.

But, like so many other incidents of violence on this island during the Troubles, that was the tragic reality for those caught up in the bombings on that day.

The scale of this atrocity will always be remembered.

Advertisement

It was the greatest loss of life on a single day of the Troubles and it continues to affect countless families.

The Government is fully committed to seeking out the truth behind those events and, hopefully, to secure some measure of comfort for the victims families and the survivors.

Twenty-five years on from the Good Friday Agreement, it is important that we remember what has been achieved since 1998, but also challenge ourselves to take up the crucial work of reconciliation.

The Good Friday Agreement recognised the need for a particular acknowledgement of the position of victims.

Last week, Mr Harris met with the families of the Disappeared, including Oliver McVeigh, the brother of missing 19-year-old Columba McVeigh.

So many on this island have been affected by the multitude of horrific acts that were carried out during the Troubles and the Irish Government will not forget our duty to victims and survivors, Mr Harris said.
Tanaiste Micheal Martin has said finding accommodation for asylum seekers and refugees is a collective endeavour by the Government.

Asked whether the Minister for Integration Roderic OGorma has the support he needs, Mr Martin said yes.

Mr Martin made the comments as a protest was held outside a former hotel, Magowna House, in Co Clare in response to over 30 asylum seekers arriving by bus on Monday.

He said the State has accommodated numbers of migrants over and above anything since the foundation of the State, but that this has led to strains and pressures.

It comes as hundreds of asylum seekers have been left without accommodation due to a severe lack of housing supply, resulting in some people sleeping in tents.

The Dail heard on Wednesday that Mr OGormans department intends to open 350 additional beds for migrants this week.

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Its very, very difficult, and I think that we must always, in anything we do in our society, have the dignity of the individual and the human being at centre stage, and these are people who have come from very difficult situations, the world is in considerable conflict at the moment, many conflicts all over the world, thats leading to a lot of migration, Mr Martin said.

Weve a horrific war on our doorstep in Europe in Ukraine, but apart from that, we have significant additional migration resulting from conflicts all over the world in addition to the impacts of climate change in some parts of the world.

And thats evident right across Europe and right across the world, in fact, and Ireland is no different in that respect.

Now we have accommodated unprecedented numbers this year, over and above anything experienced since the foundation of the state. That has created strains and pressures.

But I think we need to, as a society, be very clear that many of the people coming forward are not a threat to society or to our communities as sometimes is presented, wrongfully, by some groups.

And that we have to put the dignity of the individual centre stage, which is part of who we are and what we are and act then accordingly.

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I understand there are pressures, I understand there are concerns.

We have a duty then in terms of communication in dealing with those concerns, and also in terms of wider issues.

This is a collective government endeavour, were all working collectively with local authorities to do the very best we can in terms of provision of accommodation.

Meanwhile, Clare TD Cathal Crowe has said he met with Mr O'Gorman to voice his concerns about Magowna House, who said the decision to accommodate the asylum seekers at the Clare facility would not be reversed due to the lack of supply of beds elsewhere.

He very much made it clear that there is a national crisis and that accommodation has to be found somewhere, Mr Crowe told RTE radio's News at One.

He accepted that there are limitations to the facility. He said that for now it's very much limited by a fire cert issue which limits the number who can be accommodated there.

Mr Crowe said that because of the fire cert issue, people could not sleep in the hotel, but they could use it for recreational purposes and for meals. The asylum seekers who arrived at the former hotel on Monday will stay in adjoining bungalows for an anticipated two weeks until the fire cert is in place when they can move into the main hotel building, he added.

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Mr Crowe again stressed that the community in Clare is very welcoming to the people seeking international protection.

We're very sympathetic to their cause. There is a good reason why we're not on the lunchtime news talking about the 20 other facilities in the county, because they're very well run, they're well managed, there isn't a squeak out of the local communities.

We're talking about this as politicians of the county, because, number one, lack of information, number two, lack outrightly of suitability, and number three, there are so many questions still unanswered.
There is no case against one of the men accused of participation in the credit union robbery that resulted in the death of Detective Garda Adrian Donohoe, a barrister has argued before the Special Criminal Court.

Sean Guerin SC, delivered his closing speech to the non-jury court on Wednesday on behalf of Brendan Treanor, said there is no evidence his client left his home on the evening of the robbery, adding the prosecution relied on speculation and theories that "make no sense".

There is, he said, a more convincing case to be made against at least two others who are not before the courts, accusing the prosecution of "desperation" in how it had put forward its evidence.

Counsel for the second accused, James Flynn, will deliver his closing speech on Thursday.

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Brendan Treanor (34), previously of Emer Terrace, Castletown Road, Dundalk, Co Louth, and James Flynn (32), from South Armagh, are charged with the robbery of 7,000 at Lordship Credit Union in Bellurgan, Co Louth, on January 25th, 2013.

Both men are also charged that between September 11th, 2012, and January 23rd, 2013, they conspired with convicted Garda-killer Aaron Brady and others to enter residential premises with the intention of stealing car keys.

The prosecution alleges that Mr Treanor and Mr Flynn were part of a group of young men who conspired to break into houses to steal car keys and then quietly make off with the cars.

Both accused have pleaded not guilty to each charge.

Aaron Brady (31) previously of New Road, Crossmaglen, Co Armagh, is serving a life sentence with a 40-year minimum having been found guilty of murdering Det Gda Adrian Donohoe and of the robbery at Lordship. He denied any involvement in the robbery and is awaiting an appeal against his conviction.

Speculation

Mr Guerin told the court that when assessing a circumstantial case, it does not matter if there are 10, 100 or 1,000 pieces of evidence, claiming one piece which contradicts the narrative is "more powerful than all of that".

He warned of the dangers of speculation where there is an absence of direct evidence.

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Counsel said the prosecution had asserted without evidence that "spotter cars" were used in the robbery. He said they had also ignored the direct evidence of one witness who said that the driver of the getaway car, a stolen Volkswagen Passat, was a woman.

Mr Guerin said it is the State's case that his client was with Mr Flynn and Brady on the day of the robbery, but they dropped Mr Treanor home at Slieve View in South Armagh that evening.

Counsel said the prosecution is alleging that Mr Treanor made his way from there to Lordship at about 8.45pm, 45 minutes ahead of the robbery, but there is no evidence that he even left his house.

"How does he get there?" Counsel asked, in circumstances where Mr Treanor did not have a car. Mr Guerin said it "makes no sense" that Brady and Mr Flynn would have dropped Mr Treanor at Slieve View if he was to take part in the robbery at Lordship a couple of hours later.

If Mr Treanor had travelled from Slieve View to Lordship 45 minutes ahead of the robbery, Mr Guerin said, he would have been "sitting in a muddy field getting soaking wet".

On the prosecution's case, Mr Treanor was one of four people who jumped over the wall of the credit union as a convoy of cars carrying cash and gardai was blocked into the car park by the stolen Volkswagen Passat.

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Within 15 minutes Mr Treanor was back at home where his then-girlfriend said she saw him for the first time that evening. It takes 15 minutes to get from Lordship to Mr Treanor's address, counsel said, and in that time he would also have to dispose of his muddy, wet clothing and tidy himself up, Counsel said.

Mr Treanor's girlfriend "didn't say she saw any of those things," Mr Guerin said, so the court must conclude he was not wearing wet or muddy clothes, his hair was not wet and he did not try to get rid of the clothes he had been wearing. Counsel said the prosecution had "ignored the reality of life" in trying to make precise calculations about timings.

Volkswagen Passat

Mr Guerin also pointed out that one witness had seen a dark-coloured Volkswagen Passat about five minutes after the robbery, driving at speed the wrong way around a roundabout near the scene of the robbery and onto the M1 heading south towards Dublin, in the opposite direction of Mr Treanor's home.

Mr Guerin asked if this could be a coincidence or was it the same Passat used to block the car park by the robbers.

Counsel said the likelihood is that the getaway driver, having initially headed north on the Ballymascanlon Road, as seen by other witnesses, changed their mind and went south, away from Slieve View.

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"The closer you examine the evidence, the further away from Mr Treanor you get," he said.

Counsel said there is an alternative view of a tattoo on Mr Treanor's back that the prosecution alleged was a "glorification" of Mr Treanor's role in the Lordship robbery.

The tattoo contains four gangsters, one holding a long-arm firearm and a woman wearing a balaclava and holding a handgun. It also depicts rolls of money and a BMW with the number plates 'Boss BFT'.

In 2013, Mr Treanor was accused online and in the national media of being one of the Lordship robbers and the prosecution said, in those circumstances, it was extraordinary that in 2018 he chose to get a tattoo with those features.

Mr Guerin said the prosecution had allegedthe accusation would be to the front of Mr Treanor's mind and would prevent him getting a tattoo with "any representation of criminality in any form".

Mr Guerin said you could also consider that five years after "being demonized" in the media and online he was "entitled to forget about it and move on".

Mr Guerin said it is well established that his client was friendly with Mr Flynn and Brady, but that is not evidence of guilt.

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He said he was dropped off at his home on the night of the robbery by Brady and Mr Flynn "in circumstances which make no sense in terms of a conspiracy" and there was no evidence he left his home again that night.

Even if he did, it is not reasonable, counsel said, that Mr Treanor could have been dropped back home in time for his girlfriend to see him within 15 minutes of the robbery "in the manner in which she did".

He said there are others who were in contact with Brady on the day against whom there is "a more convincing case to be made" that they were involved in the robbery.

Mr Guerin suggested the prosecution had introduced speculation about spotter cars because the defence had established the likelihood that these two other people were involved, so the prosecution had to increase the number of roles in the robbery to leave room for Mr Treanor as one of the four raiders in the car park.

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Mr Guerin said the speculation about spotter cars was a sign of "desperation" on the part of the prosecution.

There is, counsel said, "no case against Mr Treanor and no jury properly directed could convict", asking the court to acquit Mr Treanor of the robbery charge.

In relation to conspiracy to commit burglaries, Mr Guerin said there is no evidence of any agreement or "overarching conspiracy" and no evidence that Mr Treanor committed any of the burglaries.

Mr Guerin will continue his closing speech on Thursday before Bernard Condon SC begins his closing speech on behalf of Mr Flynn.
The privilege afforded to Oireachtas speech is not conditional upon good motives or reasonable behaviour, Dail Eireanns lawyers have told the Supreme Court.

Senior counsel Paul Gallagher said the protection afforded to parliamentary utterances is absolute and critical to the protection of democracy.

Dail documents cannot be discovered in court actions if their intended use is to make parliamentarians amenable for their utterances in the Houses of the Oireachtas, he added.

Mr Gallagher, representing the Dail, was making submissions to a seven-judge Supreme Court on the second and final day of former Rehab chief executive Angela Kerins appeal over the High Courts refusal to grant discovery of documents.

She believes the records, including minutes of private and public committee meetings, will assist her in her protracted pursuit of damages over her 2014 appearance before a Public Accounts Committee (PAC) comprising Oireachtas members.

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Mr Justice Alexander Owens held last July that the private documents she wants were intimately connected with protected speech, and Ms Kerinss claim for damages was not maintainable as it calls for judgment on speech and debate by members of the Dail.

Ms Kerins claims she was subjected to a witch hunt style of questioning during her seven-hour appearance before the committee in February 2014 amid controversy over her 240,000 salary.

This and surrounding events caused her to become so unwell that she attempted to take her own life and resigned from her position that April, she alleges.

Her claims relating to the PAC are denied.

Terms of reference

In 2019, the Supreme Court already found the PAC acted unlawfully as a whole by straying significantly outside its terms of reference and the terms of an invitation to her, which permitted questioning about her salary and the operation by Rehab of three State-funded schemes.

In ruling on the first module of her case, which did not consider the question of damages, the Supreme Court refrained from making any finding that trenched on the protected speech of the committees members.

The second module of her claim relates to any entitlement she has to damages for alleged misfeasance in public office and an alleged breach of her rights.

Also representing the Dail, senior counsel Brian Kennedy told the Supreme Court on Wednesday that the Oireachtas has put in place processes, since the courts 2019 ruling in this case, enabling citizens to seek remedies for alleged wrongs caused by parliamentary utterances.

Mr Justice Gerard Hogan asked what remedies have been carried out by the Oireachtas specifically to provide a remedy for Ms Kerins, to which Mr Kennedy said nothing has occurred other than a personal apology from Ceann Comhairle Sean O Fearghail.

Senior counsel Eileen Barrington, for Ms Kerins, emphasised to the court that Mr O Fearghail specifically said he apologised in a personal capacity and not on behalf of the Dail.

Opposing the appeal on behalf of state parties, Ireland and the Attorney General, Conor Power SC said it is difficult to see how it can be proved that the PACs acting without jurisdiction bears upon the losses Ms Kerins alleges she suffered.

Her case, he said, relies on the members utterances and the documents she seeks will be used to impugn the utterances.

Chief Justice Donal ODonnell said the court would give its judgment at a later date.
Four men accused of being part of a group that attacked and humiliated security guards at a repossessed farm property five years ago were all involved in a common enterprise to ensure the guards did not come back, prosecution lawyers have claimed.

Shortly after 5am on December 16th, 2018, a group of approximately 30 armed men smashed their way into a house at a recently repossessed rural property at Falsk, just outside Strokestown, Co Roscommon, and allegedly attacked four of the security guards present.

It is the State's case that the four defendants were part of that group.

Patrick J Sweeney (44), of High Cairn, Ramelton, Co Donegal; Martin O'Toole (58), of Stripe, Irishtown, Claremorris, Co Mayo; Paul Beirne (57), of Croghan, Boyle, Co Roscommon, and David Lawlor (43), of Bailis Downs, Navan, Co Meath, have pleaded not guilty to 17 charges each at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.

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Each man is charged with false imprisonment and assault causing harm to four security personnel, aggravated burglary, arson of four vehicles which were set alight, criminal damage to the front door of the house, violent disorder, robbery of a wristwatch from one security guard and, finally, causing unnecessary suffering to an animal by causing or permitting an animal to be struck on the head.

On day 39 of the trial, Senior Counsel Anne Rowland continued her closing speech on behalf of the prosecution, concluding on Wednesday afternoon.

She outlined the State's case against each of defendants in detail. She said Mr Sweeney was identified as one of the men captured on video footage allegedly recorded on a body camera worn by one of the security men during the attack.

She said it is the State's case that he is the man on the footage wearing a hunter's hat and wielding a chain saw in one hand and a pickaxe handle in the other.

She said during a search of Mr Sweeney's home, gardai found a grey hunter's hat, six chainsaws and an iPhone.

Photograph

Analysis of this mobile phone allegedly uncovered a photograph taken on December 14th, 2018, of a van in a driveway identifiable as the property at Falsk.

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Counsel said gardai also found a screenshot of a map, with a timestamp of just after midnight on the night of the attack, showing a route from Donegal to Elfin in Roscommon.

Does this evidence add up to the defendant being at Falsk or is he the unluckiest man in Ireland with all these coincidences? Ms Rowland said.

She said that in interview, Mr Sweeney told gardai he had been made bankrupt and was still in bankruptcy. She said that while many of the finest people suffer financial difficulties and become bankrupt, this situation may have affected the defendant and instilled certain feelings towards banks.

When Ms Rowland began outlining the case against Mr O'Toole, he interrupted her from the body of the court and said: Be very careful, every time you mention my name, its going to cost you 10,000.

Judge Martina Baxter told the jury that Mr O'Toole has dismissed his legal team and is now defending himself. The defendant later interrupted Ms Rowland a second time, saying his name was Martin Thomas O'Toole and that he objected to being referred to in any other way.

Ms Rowland told the jury that she understood that this is clearly a stressful situation for all the accused and that she had no issue referring to the accused as the second defendant.

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A woman, stating her name as Melissa Kelly, told the judge that she wished to object to the use of the term security guard. Judge Baxter told her she had no audience but that everyone gets a chance to speak, and your time will come.

Body-cam footage

Ms Rowland said the second defendant was identified on the security body-cam footage by a garda who knew him from interacting with him in court. She said that texts messages found on his mobile phone were evidence of his involvement in organising events at Falsk.

She said it may be of some significance that the accused had loans and had been brought to court over these. She said that in interview he told gardai that he doesnt believe in mortgages, he believes in common law.

He has certain ideas that might not be mainstream, but he is entitled to that. Its a free country in that respect, counsel said. Some members of the public sitting in the court began laughing loudly at this point and some began clapping.

Ms Rowland said after repeatedly denying he was at Falsk, the second defendant did eventually admit to gardai that he was present on the night but that he had arrived late. Counsel said this was him trying to distance himself from what happened.

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She said his statement that he thought it was going to be a show of hands was completely unbelievable in circumstances where everybody was armed.

He was in throes of it; he was part of the organisation. He knew about the dreadful events and the assaults, the gratuitous humiliation, she said.

Ms Kelly objected at this point and Judge Baxter told her that she would be cited for contempt of court if there was one more interruption from her.

Ms Rowland said Mr Beirne admitted going to Falsk and smashing in the front door with a sledgehammer. She said his statement to gardai that the intention was take back the house peacefully but that it just got out of hand was absolute nonsense.

'Armed to the hilt'

There was a plan and everybody was armed to the hilt. It was ensured at Elfin that people were armed. Mr Beirne was one of the organisers. He drove them to Falsk. There is incontrovertible evidence that he organised and participated in the events at Falsk, she said.

She said the evidence against Mr Lawlor was all circumstantial but said it was open to convict someone on the basis of circumstantial evidence alone.

She said that based on analysis of mobile phone masts, it is the State's case that Mr Lawlor travelled with his phone from Dublin to Falsk on the night and was at Falsk during the time of the attack, before he travelled back to Blanchardstown in Dublin.

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She said this cell site evidence is a silent witness...this is scientific; this is evidence that can't be disputed. She said there was other evidence of messages which showed Mr Lawlor had an extreme dislike of Ian Gordon, the owner of the security company hired to secure the repossessed property and one of the alleged victims.

Ms Rowland said Mr Gordon testified that while he was being attacked on the night, he heard someone say: Stop it Davey, you're gonna kill him, and then another man saying: This is Ian Gordon, ex-UVF.

Mr Gordon told the jury that he recognised this second voice as the voice of Mr Lawlor.

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Mr Gordon testified that Mr Lawlor had previously approached him when they were both working security at an event in Dublin and told him: You were at the repossession of my house in Navan. Mr Gordon also claimed that he subsequently heard Mr Lawlor speaking alongside Ben Gilroy at the repossession of a house in Dublin.

She told the jury it is the prosecutions case that all four accused were involved in a common enterprise on the night in question, which was to get rid of the security men at Falsk.

She said the group wanted to ensure the security men would not come back and achieved this by perpetrating violence and humiliating them and burning their vehicles. She said that all the actions by each member of the group are attributable to each of them.

Closing speeches on behalf of the defendants are set to begin on Thursday morning.
The Central Criminal Court trial of a 32-year-old man accused of murdering school teacher Ashling Murphy in Offaly last year, which was due to begin in June, has been postponed until the autumn.

Jozef Puska, with an address listed as Lynally Grove, Mucklagh, Co Offaly, is charged with murdering the 23-year-old primary school teacher at Cappincur, Tullamore, Co Offaly, on January 12th 2022.

Ms Murphy was fatally assaulted while jogging along a stretch of the Grand Canal just outside Tullamore known as Fiona's Way, in memory of missing woman Fiona Pender.

Mr Puska, who was present in court this morning, was due to go on trial at the Central Criminal Court on June 7th of this year in a case expected to last three weeks.

However, Ms Anne Marie Lawlor SC, prosecuting, informed Mr Justice Paul McDermott today that, as the State had received an expert report from the defence, the prosecution would require time to respond and obtain a further report.

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Ms Lawlor asked for the trial date of June 7th to be vacated and for the matter to be listed for trial on the first day of the Michaelmas term on October 2nd next.

Mr Michael Bowman SC, representing Mr Puska, said the defence could not stand in the way of the prosecution's application.

Ms Lawlor said the offence concerned the alleged murder of a very young woman, that her family had expected the case to proceed in June and that they were very keen for the matter to proceed "in early course".

Mr Bowman said he believed the evidence in the trial would take three weeks. Ms Lawlor said pre-trial issues would take a week.

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Asked by Mr Justice McDermott if there was any prospect of attaining "an earlier report," Ms Lawlor said there was not. The lawyer said the State needed to identify an appropriate expert to conduct the report, which should be completed by the middle or end of July.

The case is to be mentioned again at the Central Criminal Court on July 21 to assign a pre-trial management date. The judge also fixed a new trial date of October 2nd 2023.

Mr Justice McDermott agreed to a request from the defence to renew an application for a Slovakian interpreter for the new trial date of October 2nd next.

Ms Murphy, a talented Traditional Irish musician and recent graduate from Mary Immaculate College in Limerick, was working as a teacher at Durrow National School at the time of her death.
A Dublin woman who was using cannabis to treat the severe pain caused by her fibromyalgia has avoided jail after being handed a suspended sentence.

Susan Royal (49), of Croftwood Park, Ballyfermot, agreed with an unknown person to hold over 14,000 worth of cannabis in exchange for receiving some of the drug for her own use.

She pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to possessing the cannabis at her home for sale or supply on April 30th, 2021.

At a hearing on Wednesday, Judge Orla Crowe handed down an 18-month sentence but suspended it in full, describing it as an unusual case.

Judge Crowe said Royals considerable medical history involved multiple conditions which caused her severe, chronic pain.

The judge noted that although Royal had cooperated with gardai throughout the investigation and submitted an early guilty plea, she had not ceased her cannabis use entirely.

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The court heard Royal, a mother of two, has no previous convictions and has not come to garda attention since this offence.

Tip-off

Garda Conor Dooley told Tessa White BL, prosecuting, that gardai arrived at Royals house on the day in question with a search warrant on foot of a tip-off.

They met Royal, who pointed them to a cupboard in the hallway, where a clear bag was found containing 17 individual wraps of cannabis.

Gardai seized 730g of the drug, with an estimated street value of 14,604. They also discovered two weighing scales, ziplock bags and the remnants of two wraps of cannabis in a bin.

Gda Dooley agreed with Keith Spencer BL, defending, that Royal took full responsibility for possessing the cannabis at the scene and explained that she used the drug to manage her condition.

The garda also agreed that the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) had originally directed that the case be dealt with at District Court level, but the judge at the District Court had sent it forward to the Circuit Court.

Royal voluntarily attended Clondalkin Garda station by appointment in October 2021 and said she had been smoking cannabis for some years to help with the severe pain caused by her fibromyalgia.

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She said she was approached by someone she was not in a position to name and asked to hold a quantity of cannabis, in return for getting some of the drug for herself.

Im in a lot of pain since I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia and I couldnt afford to keep buying it, Royal told gardai.

Medical report

Counsel submitted a medical report outlining Royals range of chronic conditions which included fibromyalgia, emphysema, a bowel condition, a malrotated kidney, depression and severe arthritis, for which she receives regular steroid injections.

The court heard Royal cannot take the usual anti-inflammatory drugs used to treat fibromyalgia, due to her serious digestive issues.

For that reason, she was using cannabis to manage her pain and alleviate her symptoms. She knows its illegal, but its a path she went down to self-medicate, Mr Spencer said. She has a very poor prognosis due to the chronic and unremitting nature of her illness, he added.

The court heard Royal recently had polyps removed from her bowel and has been told they were suspected cancerous growths.

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Counsel said Royals cannabis habit got out of control and she developed debt, which put her in contact with someone who preyed on her vulnerability by asking her to hold drugs.

The court heard Royal worked for a media company for 20 years and for a printing company for seven years before she became eligible for disability welfare in 2017 due to illness.

Mr Spencer said, although Royal has not completely eliminated cannabis from her lifestyle and has reverted to using the drug when her pain is extremely bad, her usage is much reduced.

Judge Crowe set a headline sentence of two years, but reduced this to 18 months which she suspended in full.
Just Stop Oil (JSO) protesters interrupted an influential committee of British MPs as senior police officers were quizzed about arrests made during the country's royal coronation.

MP Tim Loughton was questioning Metropolitan Police Temporary Assistant Commissioner Matt Twist about Operation Golden Orb when a campaigner was heard interrupting proceedings.

JSO said Dr Kush Naker, 33, a doctor of infectious diseases from London, began a read a prepared statement: We, as supporters of Just Stop Oil, are here today because our democracy is under threat before the group was removed.

The live feed to the proceedings was swiftly cut as five protesters were made to leave the room in Portcullis House where hearings take place, and the committee carried on after a few minutes pause.

Mr Loughton said: To be clear, they were Just Stop Oil protesters who tried to undermine the activities of this committee with our witnesses today.

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As the proceedings finished, committee chairwoman Dame Diana Johnson said: We take very seriously that Parliament should be open to members of the public  thats very important  but we also take very seriously that we should not be disrupted from our job of scrutinising, particularly what happened in this case.

I also just want to thank the security and the police officers who acted very quickly to ensure that the session could continue.

The five protesters who attended the committee on Wednesday were from a group of 19 campaigners arrested on May 6th, the day of the coronation.

A JSO spokesperson said: This is a continuation of the silencing of legitimate dissent we saw at the coronation.

The Metropolitan Police baselessly arrested doctors, lecturers, students and electricians simply for possessing flags and T-shirts.

This is clearly politically motivated and represents a massive overreach by the police.

No evidence has been provided and now those wrongfully arrested are being prevented from giving evidence to the very committee that has been organised to assess the policing during the coronation.

JSO has been staging a series of demonstrations in recent weeks by walking slowly in the middle of roads in central London.

The Met Police said eight JSO protesters were arrested in London's Parliament Square on Wednesday morning because they did not comply with conditions to move out of the road.

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The force said the protesters had been slow walking and the road is now clear.

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JSO said 28 people had been marching to the UK Parliament demanding this government stop licensing new oil and gas projects, which they know will contribute to the deaths of millions.

It said: This is a crime against humanity. We will not be complicit.

In separate incidents, Extinction Rebellion supporters interrupted speeches by Britain's Home Secretary Suella Braverman and Tory MP Jacob Rees-Mogg earlier this week.
A nurse in the UK has denied she had only cried for herself during her murder trial rather than the babies she allegedly attacked.

On Wednesday, a tearful Lucy Letby denied deliberately harming numerous infants while on duty at the Countess of Chester Hospitals neonatal unit.

She later denied prosecutor Nick Johnson KCs suggestion that she had wept at Manchester Crown Court when talking about herself but not her 17 alleged victims.

The 33-year-old is alleged to have murdered seven babies and attempted to murder 10 others between June 2015 and June 2016.

Court artist sketch by Elizabeth Cook of Lucy Letby reacting to the final questions from her barrister Ben Myers, as she appeared in the dock at Manchester Crown Court (Elizabeth Cook/PA)

Giving her fifth day of evidence at Manchester Crown Court, Letby told her barrister Ben Myers KC that it was really hurtful when she was moved from the unit to an office role in July that year.

She said: I was being isolated and expected to lie about things that were going on. I had to pretend that I wanted to leave the unit and wanted to work in a different area.

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Letby launched a grievance procedure against her employers in September 2016, the court has heard.

She said: At this point I didnt know what to do. It was having a massive impact on all aspects of my life.

It was emotionally very difficult. I was lonely, I was worried, I didnt know what was going on.

She said it was devastating when she learned of allegations that she had harmed children in her care.

Letby told the court: It was beyond comprehension, I couldnt understand how it was happening.

Mr Myers asked: Could you cope with it?

Letby said: No.

Mr Myers said: Had you done anything to hurt anybody?

No, she said.

Mr Myers said: Is there any truth in the allegations that you deliberately harmed babies?

Wiping away tears with her hand, Letby said: No.

Mr Myers said: Or intended to kill them?

No, repeated Letby repeated.

Cross-examining, prosecutor Mr Johnson asked her: Is there any reason why you cry when you talk about yourself and do not cry when you talk about the dead and seriously injured children?

Court artist sketch by Elizabeth Cook of Lucy Letby at the start of the cross-examination by barrister Nicholas Johnson KC at Manchester Crown Court (Elizabeth Cook/PA)

Letby said: I have cried when talking about some of the babies.

The court has heard a total of 257 nursing shift handover sheets, containing some of the names of her alleged victims, were found during police searches following her arrest in July 2018.

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She agreed with Mr Johnson that taking such sheets out of the hospital was not normal practice and they should be discarded in confidential waste.

Mr Johnson asked: What is normal practice?

Letby said: To dispose of them, but there are times when they have come home with me in my pocket.

Mr Johnson said: There are times when you have taken them.

Letby said: Not with the intention of keeping them.

Mr Johnson said: What are your responsibilities with sensitive, personal data?

Letby replied: To keep it confidential.

Mr Johnson said: What would have happened in a disciplinary sense if the hospital management knew you had 250-odd handover sheets at home?

Letby said: I cant answer that. I dont know what the policy would be.

Mr Johnson said: Youre not bothered are you?

Letby said: Its not that Im not bothered. They were at my home address but they were still held in confidence.

Mr Johnson said: What, in a bin bag in your garage?

Letby said: Im the only person that lives at the property, so yes.

Asked about a number of handover sheets found at her parents house in Hereford, she said her parents did not enter her bedroom.

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Mr Johnson said: They are not held in confidence, are they?

Letby said: I dont believe anybody would have looked at them.

Mr Johnson asked: Do you obey the rules only when it suits you?

No, said Letby.

Mr Johnson said: You like telling other people what to do but you dont quite live up to those standards yourself, do you?

Letby said: No.

The cross-examination of Letby will continue on Thursday.

She denies all the allegations.
Murder-accused nurse Lucy Letby has told a court in the UK it was devastating when medics could not resuscitate babies.

Letby (33) is alleged to have murdered seven babies and attempted to murder 10 others at the Countess of Chester Hospital.

Giving her fifth day of evidence at Manchester Crown Court, she was asked by her barrister, Ben Myers KC, to recall the unsuccessful efforts to revive one of her alleged victims.

The prosecution say she earlier gave a lethal dose of air to the newborn triplet and also inflicted trauma to his liver.

The infant, Child O, died on the late afternoon of June 23rd, 2016, after a number of collapses at the neonatal unit on the same date.

Letby is giving evidence at Manchester Crown Court (Steve Allen/PA)

Asked by Mr Myers to describe the atmosphere among medics when a child cannot be revived, Letby said: Everyone is completely flat.

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There is a complete change in atmosphere.

Mr Myers said: How does it feel?

Letby said: To me personally? Its devastating. You want to be able to save every baby in your care.

You are not supposed to watch a baby die.

Letby was present during the final resuscitation bid but said she did not perform any CPR herself.

She said: I believe it was rotated among several members of staff.

Mr Myers asked: Did you do anything that involved air being introduced into (Child O)?

No, said Letby.

Mr Myers said: Or, for that matter, with any baby in this case?

Letby replied: No.

Mr Myers went on: Would you?

Letby denies murdering seven babies and attempting to murder another 10 (Elizabeth Cook/PA)

No, repeated Letby.

The court has heard that a post-mortem examination revealed an injury to Child Os liver.

Mr Myers asked Letby: Do you know how he came to receive that injury?

No, said the defendant.

Letby is alleged to have murdered Child O on her first shift back following a weeks holiday to Ibiza with two friends.

Discussing her return to work she messaged a colleague that she would probably be back in with a bang lol.

Letby told the court that was a reference to what would be a busy shift.

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Mr Myers said: Does it indicate you were planning something dramatic and terrible when you got back?

No, said Letby.

On the following day shift, Letby is said to have murdered Child Os triplet brother, Child P, also with a fatal administration of air.

Letby was present too when Child P died in the afternoon following a number of collapses on the day, the court heard.

Mr Myers said: Can you convey to us what the atmosphere was like on the unit when a second triplet had died like this?

Letby replied: It was a completely flat atmosphere. Everyone was shocked and devastated.

I think the general mood you could tell the whole unit was flat. It was not the usual positive atmosphere.

Mr Myers went on: How did you feel personally?

Letby said: I was very upset about this. To have it two days in a row, and to imagine what the parents had gone through, to lose two of their babies It was harrowing.

Mr Myers said: Harrowing?

Yes, said Letby.

The jury of eight women and four men was told that Letby conducted a Facebook search for the familys surname on June 23 2017.

Mr Myers said: Do you remember that taking place?

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Letby said: No.

Mr Myers said: Is there any particular reason why you have made a search for (family surname) on this date?

Letby replied: It was the anniversary. They were on my mind.

Mr Myers said: Were they something that did stay on your mind?

Yes, said Letby.

Mr Myers asked: Why?

Letby said: It was just a harrowing experience to see parents lose two of their children and to have that happen two days running.

You dont forget something like that.

Letby, from Hereford, denies all the alleged offences said to have taken place between June 2015 and June 2016.
Rishi Sunak will fly to Japan to unveil a new defence and technology collaboration before seeking to galvanise support for Ukraine during talks with world leaders.

The British prime minister will join allies including the USs Joe Biden and Frances Emmanuel Macron as the G7 group of industrialised democracies meets in Hiroshima.

Japans Fumio Kishida is hosting the summit in the city hit with an atomic bomb during the Second World War to highlight the dangers of Russias invasion of Ukraine.

First visiting Tokyo, Mr Sunak will miss Prime Ministers Questions on Wednesday, leaving Oliver Dowden to make his debut as his deputy when he faces Labours Angela Rayner.

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Mr Sunak will instead announce a new defence and technology collaboration with Japan and host a reception of business leaders to drum up investment into the UK.

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Then, he will travel on to Hiroshima to become the first British Prime Minister to visit the city.

During his first G7 summit as British prime minister, Mr Sunak will seek to focus on economic security and support for Volodymyr Zelenskys fight against Russia.
Two absorbing new local dramas on free-to-air TV are a rare event. Even in this time of TV plenty, when there always seems to be a fresh series begging for attention, the availability of homegrown dramas on services that dont require a subscription has been scant.

The commercial FTA networks have prioritised other areas, primarily reality shows. Drama is regarded as risky and expensive, offering too little bang for their bucks, whereas reality contests can fill multiple weeknights for months.

Aisha Dee in Safe Home.

A drama series, even one that turns out to be a lauded awards-magnet, is still only likely to occupy an hour a week for six or eight weeks. So, in terms of investment, its a less attractive proposition.

Thats regrettable as well-crafted drama series offer a pleasure and carry a cachet that other forms of telly just dont. Compare the impact of series such as Love My Way, Offspring and The Newsreader to the giddy heights of a MasterChef finale or auction day on The Block: totally different beasts. Apples and oranges. And while the best examples of drama endure, rewarding return-viewing years after their creation, the reality-show highlights are more transient, generating an excitement that quickly dissipates.
The public was understandably curious about the identity of a high-profile man charged with the alleged rape of a young woman in 2021 when his case first hit the headlines.

But the media  and members of the public  are strictly prohibited from naming him.

Lawyer Rowan King (left) is seen outside Toowoomba Magistrates Court. Credit: AAP

This is why.

Under Queenslands Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Act, a person charged with rape, attempted rape, assault with intent to commit rape and sexual assault, cannot be identified until the matter is committed to trial, or the court orders they can be identified.
Save Log in , register or subscribe to save articles for later. Save articles for later Add articles to your saved list and come back to them any time. Got it Normal text size Larger text size Very large text size As Lara plumber Dean Eastway looked through the crumpled school bus that had flipped onto its side, he realised they couldnt get all the children out. Eastway and several of his colleagues had broken into the bus through the skylights on the roof, ripping the covers off with their bare hands and crawling into the wreckage to find themselves among dozens of screaming schoolchildren. Daniel Green, Billy Chmielewski , Dean Eastway and Cameron Chalmers rescued children from the bus crash. Credit: Simon Schluter Moments earlier, the close-knit team of tradies had left work at a nearby construction site, driving home in convoy on a country back road on Melbournes western fringe. Now, they were at the scene of the worst crash any of them had ever seen. Amid a cloud of dust and smoke, the tradies had cut the seatbelts that pinned the children to their overturned seats, passing them to waiting hands outside the shattered windows. Others they could not remove, the childrens tiny arms trapped between the ground and the crushed metal and plastic of the bus. We didnt know there were little kids in there to start with. We thought it might have just been a bus driver. The latches were ripped off and then all the kids were in there, Eastway says. You could see dirt there and you could see their arms were trapped underneath.

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Even in the midst of the chaos of the accident scene, emergency workers diligently collected the items and lined them up on the edge of the road. Credit: Jason South Eastway and his colleagues had desperately tried to dig into the ground underneath the toppled school bus to free the childrens limbs, but were unsuccessful. Attempts to move the seats and lift the bus had also been in vain. Loading We were trying to dig the dirt out to get their arms out but we couldnt dig anymore. They were just stuck, poor little things, he says. About seven terrified and seriously injured kids could not be rescued until the paramedics and emergency workers arrived at the scene. Even after all the children were freed  some into the arms of parents, but about a dozen rushed to hospital with serious trauma  there remained heartbreaking signs of what had happened on this rural road outside Melton. When the crumpled school bus was rolled back onto its wheels a by tow truck on Wednesday morning, a jumble of school bags, drink bottles and tiny jumpers spilled from a broken storage compartment onto the grass.

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Even amid the chaos of the accident scene, emergency workers diligently collected the items and lined them up near the road. At 3.30pm on Tuesday, the students of Exford Primary School were on their afternoon run home when a truck slammed into the rear of the fully loaded bus as it travelled along its familiar drop-off route. The bus driver and his more than 40 young passengers, aged 5 to 11 years old, were less than a kilometre from the safety of their school  a minutes drive away  when the bus spun out from the impact and flipped on its side. Bystanders, including Eastway and the tradies, rushed to the aid of the injured, trapped and frightened. Witnesses said it took 15 agonising minutes for paramedics to arrive and the triage and treatment to begin. No one knew if the bus was going to catch fire or anything, said Brent Ferguson, who witnessed the crash and called triple zero.

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Inside, the impact from the massive truck had twisted the metal frame and plastic seats into weapons that crushed and cut. One childs arm was severed, while more had limbs partially amputated. Others were left with spinal and head injuries, lacerations and bruises. More than a dozen were rushed to hospital. Another 30 were assessed and returned to frantic parents who sped to the roadside as news of the accident spread. Teachers and parents clustered together, crying and consoling each other as the grim rescue work continued. Eastway and his colleagues, who would later be hailed as heroes, held the childrens hands and covered them with their jumpers to protect them from the cold. We were in the bus until the last kid was pulled out. Emergency services were working around us and we were holding the kids hands and trying to keep them calm, he says. It was simply a miracle that no one died. Some will bear lifelong physical injuries. All of them, along with their parents and relatives, will likely carry lifelong psychological scars.

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Its not known how many students were wearing seatbelts at the time, but witnesses said most appeared to be strapped to their seats. Investigators from the major collision investigation unit continued to scrutinise the scene late on Wednesday, trying to make sense of the tragedy from the stories of witnesses and the forensic evidence left behind. Victoria Police has already charged the driver of the truck, Jamie Robert Gleeson, 49, from Balliang East, with multiple counts of dangerous driving causing serious injury, relating to four victims, two aged nine and two aged 10. Gleeson appeared at Melbourne Magistrates Court remotely late on Wednesday and said light flickered between nearby trees in the moments before he collided with the bus. We dont use the term lucky because obviously, theres an incredibly unfortunate set of circumstances, but this had the potential to have multiple fatalities, Senior Sergeant Paul Lineham told 3AW. If this is not a time for some people in the community to actually say, we need to reduce [the speed] we do on our roads to reduce the road toll, I dont think that the message is ever going to get across.

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It is unlikely the staid federation room at Victorias Parliament House has hosted as much colour as it did on Wednesday, when a coterie of politicians  including Premier Daniel Andrews  shuffled in to hear drag performers read them stories.

After weeks of headlines about such events at local libraries being cancelled owing to abuse and threats from those who oppose the events  including, but not limited to, far-right and fringe conspiracy groups  the government quietly invited five performers caught up in the cancellations to speak at the safest place in Victoria, the parliament itself.

Nobody shows up quite the way that a drag queen does, said Minister for Equality Harriet Shing to the group of more than 100, which also included members of Melbournes queer community and their children.

When the morning teas werent going ahead and the story times werent going ahead, I thought, well, lets get five [drag performers] and see if we cant make parliament more extravagantly sequined than its ever been. 
A police officer in charge of overseeing the states largest sex-offender registry has pleaded guilty in court to sexually assaulting a colleague in the workplace, with a magistrate describing his actions as reprehensibly arrogant.

Former detective sergeant Larry Noel Grimshaw, 63, pleaded guilty in Melbourne Magistrates Court to grabbing the woman as she bent over at a filing cabinet at Dandenong police station in 2018.

Larry Grimshaw leaving the Melbourne Magistrates Court. Credit: Joe Armao

At the time, Grimshaw was the officer in charge of Dandenongs sexual offences and child investigation team, SOCIT  where he had worked for more than a decade  and was tasked with managing the areas sex-offender registry.

In a victim impact statement  read out by Crown prosecutor Alexander Albert on the womans behalf  the woman said the crime had left her fearing plain-clothed police officers and rendered her unable to return to work as an officer.
WA Police Commissioner Col Blanch has appealed for any other victims to come forward after a 23-year-old man was charged with the rape and assault of nine women he met on dating apps.

The man has been charged with 64 offences, including 12 counts of aggravated sexual penetration without consent, four counts of aggravated threats to kill and six counts of aggravated assault against nine women between 2016 and 2023.

WA Police have arrested and charged a 23-year-old man with violent rapes of nine women. Credit: Getty Images/File photo

Blanch said police had found more than 232,000 images and 9300 videos of women allegedly taken by the man, which they believe pointed to more victims.

If any person has been involved in a relationship where they have been assaulted by a person they met online, please give us a call, he told ABC radio on Wednesday.
One Nation leader Pauline Hanson will push to write the No case in the official Voice referendum pamphlet sent to every Australian household, setting up a potential stoush with the Coalition over who will have control over the wording.

Hansons involvement in the pamphlet will fuel concerns among Yes supporters that she could have a direct line to about 12 million homes to spread misinformation and falsehoods, including her claims that the Voice will be another arm of parliament and the precursor to a separate Aboriginal state.

One Nation leader Pauline Hansons push to be involved in writing the official referendum pamphlet will fuel concerns among Voice advocates that it will contain falsehoods. Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

In an interview, Hanson confirmed she wanted to be involved in the writing of the 2000-word No case, saying she did not want to leave it to the Coalition to have total control over the wording.

I want to have a say in it because I dont trust them, Hanson said.
Washington: Joe Biden will convene Pacific Island leaders for a major summit this year, as the US president seeks to mitigate the fallout from his decision to scrap a much-anticipated trip to Australia and Papua New Guinea designed to counter Chinas assertiveness.

As he departed Washington for a G7 meeting in Hiroshima, Biden rejected suggestions that cancelling part of his trip was a win for Beijing, noting we still have four good allies in the form of the Quad alliance between the US, Australia, India and Japan.

And while Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said he was disappointed Biden would no longer travel to Canberra and Sydney next week, Australias former ambassador to the US, Arthur Sinodinos, said the president ultimately made the right call to return to Washington to resume negotiations over the debt ceiling given what was at stake.

Unless Congress raises or suspends the debt ceiling, the US could run out of money as early as June 1, upending global financial markets and risking a downturn as severe as the Great Depression.
Sam Altman, CEO of Microsoft-backed OpenAI, has admitted that if generative artificial intelligence (AI) technology goes wrong, it can go quite wrong, as US senators expressed their fears about AI chatbots like ChatGPT.

Sam Altman, who testified at a hearing in the US Senate in Washington, DC, late on Tuesday, said that the AI industry needs to be regulated by the government as AI becomes "increasingly powerful".

"If this technology goes wrong, it can go quite wrong," Altman told them.

The US Senators grilled him about the potential threats AI poses and raised fears over the 2024 US election.

"If you were listening from home, you might have thought that voice was mine and the words from me, but in fact, that voice was not mine," said US Senator Richard Blumenthal.

He added that AI is more than just research experiments and is real and present.

Also Read AI tools not far away from being scary, need to get them right: OpenAI CEO Elon Musk credits father for teaching 'physics, engineering & construction' Italy orders OpenAI to stop processing users' data else face fine Elon Musk tried to take over OpenAI in 2018, but failed, says report Microsoft may add OpenAI writing technology to Office, other apps Nadella disputes Musk's claim, says Microsoft not controlling OpenAI IBM confirms acquisition of Polar Security reportedly for $60 million APSEZ sets new record, handles highest ever rail cargo of 121 MMT in FY23 Reliance Retail, Adani Group no longer bidding for Future Retail: Report Suzlon gets order of 33 wind turbines from Vibrant for 99 MW energy project

Altman said he doesn't make money from OpenAI.

He told the committee that OpenAI is working on a copyright system to compensate artists whose art was used to create something new.

"Creators deserve control," he said.

The losses of OpenAI reportedly swelled to nearly $540 million last year and are likely to only keep rising.

According to The Information, OpenAI's losses doubled as it developed ChatGPT and hired key employees from Google.

OpenAI in February this year launched the new subscription plan, ChatGPT Plus, that is available for $20 a month.

Meanwhile, Altman's comments came as the WHO said that carefully examining the risks involved is imperative while using artificial intelligence (AI) tools such as ChatGPT and Bard in healthcare.

"There is concern that caution that would normally be exercised for any new technology is not being exercised consistently with large language model tools (LLMs)", the global health agency said.

--IANS

na/shb/


The tribunal told both parties to 'be prepared with a resolution or be prepared for arguments on insolvency' in the next hearing on May 25. National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), Delhi on Wednesday has given Spicejet a week to file a reply on a plea by airlines lessor Aircastle over unpaid dues of Rs 49-odd crore.



Aircastle said the settlement talks with the airline had not yielded any results as the offer by the airline was unacceptable. The bench has also told them to work towards resolving the issue.



A two-member Principal bench of President Ramalingam Sudhakar and Member Avinash K Srivastava had issued a notice to Spicejet on May 8 to file their reply. Dublin-based Aircastle moved the NCLT seeking the initiation of insolvency proceedings against the airline under Section 9 (application for initiation of corporate insolvency resolution process by the operational creditor) of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code.

Also Read NCLT sends notice to SpiceJet on lessor's insolvency plea, seeks reply Lessor Aircastle files case against SpiceJet to initiate insolvency process 'Air travel has come roaring back': SpiceJet net profit rises 160% NCLAT to hear SMBC Aviation's plea against NCLT order on Go First today SpiceJet soars 15% as net profit jumps five-fold to Rs 107 crore in Q3 Jet Airways looks into abyss as JKC fails to renew its flying permit Hyundai ties up with Shell to install 60 kW fast chargers at 36 dealerships Suzlon bags 99-MW wind energy project from Vibrant Energy for 33 generators IKEA, HDFC to launch financing options to make products more affordable Adani-Hindenburg case: SC grants Sebi time till August 14 to submit report
Google on Wednesday defended its position on Play Store service fee for developers and its stance on user choice billing policy, saying that Google Play's service fees are actually the lowest among major app stores.

Google estimates less than 60 of the over 200,000 Indian developers on Google Play currently could pay a service fee of above 15 per cent.

"This fee is further reduced by 4 per cent if a user pays through an alternative billing system," the company said in a blog post.

The tech giant said that only 3 per cent of developers in India sell digital goods or services and therefore would need to pay a service fee.

"For the vast majority of developers, service fees are 15 per cent or less due to the range of pricing programs Google Play offers," said the company.

Last week, the CCI ordered an inquiry into the alleged non-compliance by Google related to its order regarding the Play Store user choice billing policy.

Also Read Google asks illegal loan apps in Africa to present license to operate Global app downloads on Apple Store, Google Play reach 35.5 bn in Q4 2022 Google to expand gaming service 'Play Games' on PC to more regions Google slapped with $32 mn fine for unfair practices in Korean app market Apple opens its first official store in Mumbai; what we know so far Jubilant FoodWorks net profit for Q4 falls by 70% to Rs 28.54 crore NCLT to hear Spicejet insolvency plea on May 25 as talks with lessor fail Jet Airways looks into abyss as JKC fails to renew its flying permit Hyundai ties up with Shell to install 60 kW fast chargers at 36 dealerships Suzlon bags 99-MW wind energy project from Vibrant Energy for 33 generators

The CCI in October 2022 had imposed a penalty of Rs 936.44 crore on Google for abusing its dominant position with respect to its Play Store policies.

The market regulator penalised Google for indulging in unfair practices and directed the company to follow certain corrective measures regarding the same.

The Alliance of Digital India Foundation (ADIF) reached out to the CCI over the non-compliance by Google and the market regulator last week ordered an inquiry into the alleged non-compliance by the tech giant.

Google said that it was "respectfully following the CCI's October 2022 order, and in compliance with that order, we expanded user choice billing to all developers in India and updated our policy that went into effect starting April 26, 2023.

The company said that it is now informing developers in the country who have not yet implemented one of the three billing options available that it will be taking necessary steps to ensure its policy is applied fairly.

Once notified, the developer will have two weeks to make the necessary changes to their apps as per our policy requirements.

"We remain committed to the success of the Indian app ecosystem, and look forward to Google Play enriching the lives of even more users by connecting them with helpful apps, enabling more developers to build sustainable global businesses," said the company.

--IANS

na/ksk/


Menon has been a key member of the Flipkart leadership team for over eight years. He has played an integral role in the growth and success of Flipkart. He has held several leadership roles for businesses including Electronics BU, Flipkart Private Brands & Private Labels, Flipkart Wholesale, and Furniture BU. Walmart-owned e-commerce firm Flipkart is witnessing the exit of a few top-level officials. Adarsh Menon, senior vice president and head of new businesses, Flipkart is leaving the company, according to company sources. They said that Menon may pursue his entrepreneurial ambitions.



In addition, Sinha has headed several key charters during his tenure, including Shopping Experience, Ads, Marketplace and Planning. Another top official Ravish Kumar Sinha is also ending his eight-year-old tenure at the firm. Sinha played an integral role in Flipkarts growth and success. As the leader of the Fulfillment Service Group, and Central Functions Group, he spearheaded numerous initiatives to enhance the customer experience, increase profitability, and drive growth.



Last year Flipkart did a restructuring process and came up with two units--New Businesses and M3--for focus and to scale up. 'New Businesses' comprised travel (Cleartrip and Flipkart Travel), social commerce platform Shopsy and ReCommerce. Kalyan Krishnamurthy, Flipkarts chief executive officer, gave the responsibility to head these businesses to Adarsh Menon, who that time was senior vice president, category design and operations. Adarsh (Menon) has been with Flipkart for seven years and has successfully led and scaled both established businesses and 0-to-1 charters, said Krishnamurthy, had said. An email query to Flipkart remained unanswered.

Also Read Flipkart Internet gets $90 million cash infusion from Singapore parent No increments for Flipkart's 4,500 senior personnel this cycle Accel, Tiger Global mulling to exit e-commerce firm Flipkart: Report POCO announces Flipkart Big Saving Days sale offers on smartphones: Details Flipkart, Walmart ink MoU with NSIC to speed up capacity creation for MSMEs Auto parts firm Pricol moves CCI over Minda plan to buy 24.5% stake Future Retail receives six prospective resolution applicants for its assets Black+Decker announces licencing agreement with Indkal Technologies Hinduja group patriarch Srichand P Hinduja passes away at 87 in London Jindal Stainless to raise upto Rs 5,000 cr through multiple instruments



Flipkart has reportedly reshuffled executives at the vice-president level in some categories. According to an executive, the firm undertakes the reshuffle at VP level every three years. This allows executives to head different businesses. Many of those shifted to other roles had already assumed responsibilities. Before Flipkart, Menon worked for 11 years at the consumer goods company Hindustan Unilever. At Flipkart, he reported to Krishnamurthy. At Flipkart, he moved into the new role after completing the transition of Flipkart Wholesale to the respective Leaders across CDO, One Tech, EKart and Corp Functions. Prior to that, he led and scaled the electronics and furniture BUs (business units) and also built the private brands and private labels businesses from scratch.
Vice Media LLC, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Monday, owes Indian IT major Wipro almost $10 million, said a report by Economic Times (ET).

Vice Media Group today announced that it has agreed to the terms of an asset purchase agreement (APA) with a consortium of its lenders (Lender Consortium), pursuant to which the Lender Consortium has agreed to purchase the Company, subject to higher and better bids from other parties and to the terms of the APA, the company said in a statement.

Last month, the Bengaluru-based IT major won $9.9 million in arbitration against the media company. Wipro initiated arbitration proceedings against Vice Media in May 2022, in connection with the termination of an outsourcing agreement.
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Addressing the media after the first India-EU Trade and Technology Council (TTC) meeting in Brussels on Tuesday, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said that both the sides will work together to find the right solutions since there is long time ahead of the implementation of CBAM. India and the European Union will intensify their engagement to address the issues that are likely to emerge in implementing the trade blocs carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM) measures.



India has been concerned about the impact of CBAM, which will result in the imposition of a levy on imported carbon-intensive products. India believes that such measures will result in a problem of market access with the EUs trading partners, since it is an instance of dragging environmental issues into trade matters. I'm sure that the intention is not to create a barrier to pay, but to find a way forward. So that sustainability is as much a part of our collective efforts to leave behind a better planet for the next generation. And we remain engaged, we are discussing the issue, Goyal said.



He further said that both sides decided to deepen their engagement on carbon border measures via TTC. European Commission Executive Vice-President Valdis Dombrovskis put forth the trade blocs stance, stating that the EU has been careful to ensure compatibility of the carbon border measure with World Trade Organization norms and is therefore non-discriminatory.

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India and EU had in April last year agreed to establish a Trade and Technology Council to tackle the challenges at the level of trade, trusted technology and security. Such a council is a first for India with any of its partners and the second for the EU, which set up the first with the US. According to a joint statement after the first meeting of the council, the co-chairs under the TTC will meet again in early 2024 in India to take stock of the progress and decide on further actions.



After the first meeting, both sides decided to undertake quantum and high-performance computing research and development projects that could address climate change, natural hazards, bio-informatics, bio-molecular research, and drug development. In addition, India and the EU will coordinate within the Global Partnership on Artificial Intelligence and explore bilateral cooperation on trustworthy and responsible artificial intelligence, including in research and innovation. The ministerial meeting was co-chaired on the Indian side by External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, Goyal and Electronics and IT Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar. The three working groups under the TTC cover key issues such as strategic technologies, digital governance and digital connectivity; green and clean energy technologies; and trade, investment and resilient value chains.


Some of the other important cases that were heard today are: The Supreme Court on Wednesday heard some important cases during which the court granted the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) time till August 14 to complete its probe into the allegations of stock price manipulation by the Adani group and asked the market regulator to place on record an updated status report of the probe.



- The court directed the Manipur government to take steps to foster confidence and ensure peace and tranquillity in the ethnic violence-hit state, saying it can ensure that the political executive exercises its power and does not turn a blind eye to the situation. - Giving the lieutenant governor the power to nominate aldermen to the Municipal Corporation of Delhi will mean he can destabilise an elected civic body, SC observed and wondered whether these nominations were of so much concern to the Centre.



- Supreme Court judge Sanjay Karol recused himself from hearing a plea filed by the Bihar government challenging a Patna High Court order granting a stay on the caste survey it was conducting. - In a relief to Indian Youth Congress President B V Srinivas, the court granted him interim protection from arrest in a case lodged by an expelled woman leader of the party from Assam accusing him of causing mental agony.

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- It refused to stay the Rajasthan High Court order acquitting four men, who were handed down the death penalty by a trial court in the 2008 Jaipur serial blast case. - The apex court adjourned to July 14 the hearing on CBI's plea that challenged a Karnataka High Court order granting an interim stay on the probe into a disproportionate assets case against Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee president D K Shivakumar.



- It dismissed a plea challenging the Delhi High Court order that restrained the manufacture and sale of sweet beverage concentrate 'Sharbat Dil Afza' during the pendency of a lawsuit by Hamdard Dawakhana which sells 'Rooh Afza' for alleged trademark infringement. - The court stayed an order of the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC) asking ITC to pay Rs 2 crore to a model as compensation for a faulty haircut at a hotel owned by the conglomerate.



- An additional judge of HC was administered the oath of office, taking the strength of judges in the court to 48. Here are some of the important cases heard by the Delhi High Court:



- The Delhi High Court asked the city police commissioner to take steps to ensure that officers who have carried out the investigation are present in court whenever a related case is taken up for hearing. - The court issued a summons to a Hindi daily and its reporters on a plea by BJP MP Gautam Gambhir seeking directions to the media house to withdraw the alleged defamatory publications in which "false and slanderous" statements were made against him.



- The court asked Twitter to disclose basic subscriber information, including e-mails, IP addresses, and phone numbers, of some of its users who are allegedly sharing clips of Shah Rukh Khan's upcoming film "Jawan". - It expressed displeasure over civic authorities cutting the carcasses of cattle into pieces before disposing them off and demanded that it be told how the process could be called scientific.

- The high court sought the stand of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) on bail pleas by two persons arrested in connection with an alleged conspiracy to undertake terrorist acts in the country.
As the suspense over the naming of the next Karnataka Chief Minister continued on Wednesday with state unit Congress chief D.K. Shivakumar once again meeting INC President chief Mallikarjun Kharge, Congress General Secretary Randeep Singh Surjewala said that "deliberations are still on and the next chief ministerial candidate will be announced today or tomorrow".

Speaking to the media outside Kharge's residence, where Shivakumar had come to meet the party president for the second time in two days, Surjewala, who is also the Karnataka Congress in-charge, said: "Deliberations are currently underway by party president Mallikarjun Kharge. Whenever the party takes a decision, we will inform you. In the next 72 hours, there will be a new Cabinet in Karnataka."

He also urged the media not to speculate or spread rumours and stay away from fake news.

"Don't pay heed to fake information and rumours being spread by the BJP," he said.

Targeting the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Surjewala said the party takes around 10-15 days to decide on the chief ministerial post, "but here, the Congress president is holding deliberations to select the new chief minister".

He also said that the next Congress government in Karnataka is committed to fulfilling the five guarantees it made to the people of the state.

Also Read High-voltage campaigning for Karnataka elections to end today at 5 pm Karnataka Assembly polls 2023: All you need to know about May 10 elections Karnataka elections: Here's what all Congress has promised in its manifesto Karnataka Assembly polls: Rahul Gandhi promises Rs 2 hike in milk subsidy Karnataka elections 2023 LIVE: Exit polls predict close BJP vs Cong fight Indian temporary workers, students to be hit as Aus set to scrap Covid visa Rising heat: Tankers roped in to supply water in Maha's scarcity-hit places Assam actively working towards eliminating crime against children: NCPCR Indian UHNIs dip 7.5% to 12,069 in 2022, to rise to 19,119 in 5 yrs: Report India, Israel to jointly develop Center of Water Technology at IIT Madras

"We will implement the five guarantees as promised by Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi," he said.

He also said that the party will ensure there is no "40 per cent commission government" in the state.

Earlier on Wednesday, Shivakumar had met Rahul Gandhi for over an hour. Siddaramaiah also met the former Congress president.

On Tuesday evening, Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar had also met Kharge separately.

The Congress president till now has not made any announcement regarding the new Chief Minister in Karnataka.

However, it has been learnt that many people are in favour of Siddaramaiah for the top post.

Kharge is likely to make an announcement about the new Karnataka chief minister on Wednesday or Thursday after discussing the observers' report with UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and former party chief Rahul Gandhi.

Congress won 135 seats in Karnataka whereas the BJP managed to win only 66, while the JD-S, which was hoping to play the role of kingmaker, was reduced to 19 seats in the state.

--IANS

aks/pgh
The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) on Wednesday said Assam was pro-actively working towards eliminating crime against children.

Addressing a press conference here, NCPCR member Divya Gupta said crimes by juveniles in Assam were also "very less" compared to some other states.

"The Assam government is very proactive in preventing crimes against children. It is taking serious actions against criminals of child abuse," she said.

Without sharing data, Gupta claimed that crimes against children were going down in the state.

Talking about minors involved in crimes, she said that Assam is a "good state" with very few juvenile criminals lodged in correctional homes.

"I visited one such home, which houses juveniles from 13 districts. The total number of children staying there is only 50," Gupta said.

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Referring to the two children allegedly abused physically and sexually by a doctor couple, the NCPCR member said she met them and they were recovering.

"They are in a safe place and utmost care is being taken for their recovery. I cannot tell the kind of physical and sexual torture meted out to those two kids. There are injuries and burn marks on their private parts. Even animals do not behave like this," she said.

Last month, the doctor couple was arrested in Guwahati for allegedly assaulting the two children whom they claimed to have adopted.

In total, three children -- a boy and a girl aged around three and another boy of about 11 years -- were rescued from their residence. The girl and the younger boy were allegedly assaulted.
Senior Congress leader and author Shashi Tharoor on Tuesday said the British had used what was a "classic mafiosi tactics" to expand its territory in India during the colonial era.

He was speaking at an interaction held late evening at the India International Centre here on the book "British Takeover of India: Modus Operandi", recently republished after its original version had come out in 1979.

Tharoor reiterated how the British came as traders to India, but realised it was "far more profitable, to trade at the end of a gun".

He referred to the gradual fall of the Mughal empire, and how, at the Battle of Plassey in 1757, fought under the command of Robert Clive, the East India Company forces defeated the ruling Nawab Siraj-ud-Daula of Bengal. Soon, Mughal Emperor Shah Alam II granted the Diwani of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa to the Company.

Tharoor, author of "An Era of Darkness: The British Empire In India", told the audience that the British extracted "four times more revenue" than has ever been extracted, exploited resource on India and repatriated profits to England.

The former Union minister also said that weakness of many Indian rulers of princely states or other potentates, helped in the expansion of the British Empire in India.

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"Frankly, what the British used was a classic mafiosi tactics, it was something that was perfected later in Italy," he said, drawing chuckle from the audience.

Mafiosi, an Italian-origin word, refers to member of a mafia or a similar criminal organisation.

They (the British forces) would go to a small maharaja, and be allowed to park themselves in their domains, and were paid for by the maharaja's treasury. And, through tactics used by the British, a maharaja ended up "paying his own people, to protect himself from his own people".

Among other things, the British did during the colonial rule, was such an "incredible racket", Tharoor said.

The East India Company ruled over large territories in India till 1857 when the Sepoy Mutiny, also referred to as the First War of Independence, took place, following which India came directly under the rule of the British Crown, and it ruled till 1947 when India became an independent nation.

Tharoor, in response to questions from members of the audience, praised orientalists like William Jones who set up the Asiatic Society of Bengal in 1784, and botanists who meticulously documented flora of India.

In response to another question, he said, "I have argued in my book ('An Era of Darkness') that the entrenching and formalising of the caste system is actually a British colonial legacy".

Asked about the relevance of the Commonwealth in India's context, Tharoor said in 1947, it was a 'transfer of power', rather than a surrender or capitulation by the British.

The Congress government of that time "went out of their way to ensure there was no humiliation of the British at the time, they relinquished the power. And, expressed their willingness to remain associated, "but they said they will do so without acknowledging the Crown as our sovereign ruler", he added.

So, thanks to India that entire distinction was made, between the role of the king or queen as the head of the Commonwealth and the authority of a king or the queen as the head of State. So, that time the king was the head of the Commonwealth and head of State of Australia, South Africa, Canada and New Zealand, he said.

India chose to be a Republic (since 1950) with its own head of State, but acknowledged the king as the head of the Commonwealth, the Congress leader said.

"And, this formula gave India an opportunity to continue engaging through these foreign countries, in one form of international affairs. I would argue, it was far more important in the late 40s and early 50s than subsequently. And, gradually institution of the Commonwealth has become less and less important for pursuit and objectives of the Indian foreign policy," Tharoor said.

The book "British Takeover of India: Modus Operandi" covers the period of Indian history from 1757, the period of ascendancy and consolidation of the British rule. It challenges many of the accepted major premises and notions regarding this period of history and brings into sharp relief the policy and methods followed by the British.

The book, republished by INTACH and Aryan publication, has reproduced 39 pre-Independence era treaties.

It is important to take into account such books, said former Rajya Sabha member Swapan Dasgupta, who also took part in the panel discussion.

"We are in the process of rediscovering our history, which is quite evident. It is also contentious. But, the process is ongoing. We are in the process of rescuing our history from historians. And, I say that with a certain degree of premeditation, because I think if there is anyone who is responsible for vulgarisation, distortion, it is not so much as the British, it is our own historians," he claimed.
CBI has arrested a freelance journalist and a former Navy commander for allegedly collecting sensitive information related to defence matters illegally and passing them on to foreign intelligence agencies, officials said on Wednesday.

Following an FIR against Vivek Raghuvanshi, CBI on Tuesday conducted searches on premises linked to the freelance journalist, listed as India correspondent of a US-based portal on defence and strategic affairs on its website, and people close to him at 12 places in Jaipur and National Capital Region (NCR), they said.

The agency has booked Raghuvanshi and former Navy commander Ashish Pathak under Section 3 (spying) of the Official Secrets Act and with Section 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code.

Several sensitive documents were recovered during the searches and sent for legal scrutiny, officials added.

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The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) was on Wednesday conducting raids at several locations in Delhi-NCR, including the residence of Sunak Bali, the former private press secretary to ex-Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satya Pal Malik in connection with the alleged Reliance Insurance corruption case of Rs 60 crore.

As per Malik, Bali was not on government payroll but was his personal associate.

The case pertains to a health insurance scheme that Malik was allegedly asked to push. Malik had claimed that he was offered a bribe for clearing the files during his tenure as the J&K Governor between August 23, 2018 and October 30, 2019.

Last year, the CBI had lodged a case in this respect and conducted raids in six states.

On March 23, 2022 a letter was received from Dr Mohammad Usman Khan, JKAS, Deputy Secretary to the Government, General Administration Department regarding a matter of malpractices in awarding a contract regarding the Employees Health Care Insurance Scheme to Reliance General Insurance Corporation Limited.

"The allegations mentioned in the written communication prima facie disclosed that unknown officials of Finance Department of Govt. of J&K by abusing their official position in conspiracy and connivance with Trinity Reinsurance Brokers Ltd., Reliance General Insurance Company Ltd. and other unknown public servants committed the offences of Criminal Conspiracy and Criminal Misconduct to cause pecuniary advantage to themselves and caused wrongful loss to state exchequer during the period 2017 and 2018 and thereby in this manner cheated the Govt of J&K," the CBI source said.

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After preliminary inquiry, the CBI lodged a case under sections 120-B read with sections 420 of RPC and Section 5(2), Section 5(1)(d) of the J&K PC Act.

Investigation into the matter is ongoing.

--IANS

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Ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the government on Wednesday held a day-long brainstorming session on improving its public outreach, particularly to those who do not have access to television and newspapers.

Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur, addressing over 100 communication officers of the government, stressed on the importance of reaching out to all sections of the society, particularly the underprivileged.

He said a large part of India lives in a media shadow, bereft of facilities of television and newspapers, and it was the responsibility of the Indian Information Service (IIS) officers to reach out to that section of society.

He said the IIS is a vital part of the government and the Chintan Shivir provided the officials a unique opportunity to collaborate, self-introspect and timely course correct the work in the ministry.

Thakur also noted that the media landscape and the way people consume information was changing fast, and there was a need to adapt methods of information dissemination to meet the needs of the 21st century.

He asked the officers to work towards higher effectiveness through better utilisation of resources, coordination of efforts, sharing of information and working as a single team.

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The minister said the clear priority for the target of communication for the government was oriented towards welfare of the underprivileged and the mantra of Antyodaya (reaching out to the last person) should guide the activities of the officers.

The officials held deliberations across five sessions, including participatory communication with citizens - Jan Bhagidari; adoption of emerging technologies in public communications to maximise reach; institutionalisation of quick response mechanisms to address misinformation; targeted outreach through regional communication; and strengthening public service broadcasting.
Leader of Opposition V.D.Satheesan on Wednesday demanded strict action against the driver of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan's escort car for nearly ramming the vehicle into a few Congress protesters.

Satheesan released a video of the incident that took place early this week.

The video shows a convoy of Vijayan passing through Thavanur in Malappuram district with Congress protesters waving black flags at him.

"About five Congress workers were standing on roadside raising slogans and waving black flags when suddenly a speeding escort vehicle with police officials almost ploughed into the protesters. Had they not moved away swiftly, they would have been seriously injured. They all lost their balance and fell down while saving themselves," said Satheesan.

"A strong case should be registered against the guilty. Earlier also, black flags had been waved at several chief ministers, but such an act never occurred before and hence appropriate action should be taken," added Satheesan.

The video has gone viral on social media.

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Notably, when Congress veteran Oommen Chandy was the chief minister and was travelling in Kannur (Vijayan's home town) in 2013, his vehicle was stoned. A stone landed on his chest injuring him.

--IANS

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The Delhi government will encourage people to participate in cleaning activities of the Yamuna and increase the green cover on its banks as part of a campaign launched for the rejuvenation of the river on Wednesday.

The "I love Yamuna campaign" was kicked off by Delhi Environment and Forest Minister Gopal Rai from Chhath Ghat, near ITO here.

Nearly 1,500 students and teachers from Eco Clubs of different schools in Delhi registered to participate in the initiative, the minister's office said in a statement.

The objective of this programme is to educate children about the significance of the Yamuna river and the issue of pollution in Delhi, the statement said.

All children present during the programme actively participated in a slogan-writing competition related to the cleanliness of the river, and also pledged to keep Yamuna clean, it said.

Additionally, the environment and forest department distributed medicinal plants to all those who attended the event.

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"Yamuna river is not just any river for Delhi, but it sustains a vast ecosystem within the city. The majority of Delhi's water requirements are met by the Yamuna river, making it a crucial resource for both economic and ecological purposes," Rai said.

"However, the river's ecological balance has been disrupted over time due to the excessive discharge of chemicals, plastics, and other non-biodegradable pollutants. Nevertheless, our government is taking all necessary steps to preserve the sanctity of this sacred river," he said.

Under the Summer Action Plan launched by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, a public awareness campaign has been initiated as a significant component. As a result of this, the "I Love Yamuna" campaign is being launched today, the department said.

As part of the campaign, work will be done to increase the green cover on the banks of the Yamuna through a tree plantation drive and Delhiites will be encouraged to actively participate in cleaning activities of the river, he said.
The first meeting of the India-EU Trade and Technology Council (TTC) in Brussels marks a significant milestone in the strategic partnership between India and the European Union due to its focus on critical domains, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar said on Tuesday.

The meeting, co-chaired on the Indian side by the EAM, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal and Communications, Electronics and IT Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar, covered key focus areas of strategic technologies, digital governance and green energy technologies.

The EAM highlighted that India has a crucial role to play in all aspects and also with regard to its impact on the global talent pool.

This first meeting of the Trade and Technology Council is a significant milestone in the strategic partnership between India and the European Union, Jaishankar said in his address.

We are obviously important partners for each other but what the TTC represents is a focus on key domains that are critical to both the global economy and global security. Today the challenge is to address simultaneously the dual requirements of responsible growth and de-risking global economy. This means promoting resilient and reliable supply chains and additional drivers of global production and growth, he said.

The minister stressed on the importance of ensuring trust and transparency in the digital domain, including cross-border flows, which would involve embracing low-carbon growth while ensuring that this did not create critical vulnerabilities.

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In each of the focus areas of the TTC strategic technologies, digital governance and connectivity, clean and green energy technologies, and resilient value chains, India has experiences to share in terms of innovation, production and deployment. We are also an important factor in regard to the global talent pool that has been discussed this morning, he noted.

It is our expectation that TTC would become the crucial platform for the exchanges in this regard so that we arrive at both policy and business decisions in the relevant domains, he added.

"Just concluded an extremely productive 1st India-EU Trade and Technology Council meeting. Thank European Commission VPs @vestager and @VDombrovskis for hosting the Indian Ministerial delegation, Jaishankar tweeted.

"On strategic technologies, digital governance and connectivity; clean and green energy technologies; resilient value chains, our discussions were truly meaningful. Exchanged perspectives on economic security; cooperation in third countries including connectivity and derisking the global economy. Confident that this mechanism will further energise our strategic partnership," he tweeted.

The TTC was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, during her visit to India in April last year.

It led to the creation of three Working Groups under the TTC: Working Group on Strategic Technologies, Digital Governance and Digital Connectivity; Working Group on Green and Clean Energy Technologies; and Working Group on Trade, Investment and Resilient Value Chains.

"Began the day in Brussels with a Digital & Clean Energy Stakeholder Event. Thank European Commission Executive VP @vestager for convening the meeting. In this Techade, TTC can promote Trusted Collaboration so essential to Re-Globalisation. Stakeholders are key to delivery," Jaishankar tweeted earlier on Tuesday.

With Belgium, the EAM concludes a three-nation tour which began in Bangladesh last week and also covered Sweden for the EU Indo-Pacific Ministerial Forum (EIPMF) in Stockholm.
The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved signing of a pact between the Competition Commission of India (CCI) and the Egyptian Competition Authority (ECA).

The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the two regulators is aimed at promoting and strengthening of co-operation in competition law and policy through exchange of information, sharing of best practices as well as through various capacity building initiatives, an official release said.

According to the release, the MoU also aims to develop and strengthen linkages between CCI and ECA as well as learn and emulate from each other's experiences in the enforcement of competition law.

Ultimately, the resultant outcomes will benefit consumers at large and promote equity and inclusiveness, it added.

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At 6.8 gigawatt (Gw), nuclear has the lowest share in Indias energy basket. Around 2010, the country set the target of having around 60 Gw of nuclear power but the plans have since slowed down following widespread concerns and protests on nuclear plants sites post the Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan in 2011. In an episode in the recent OTT series Rocket Boys, Jim Sarbh, the actor playing Indias iconic nuclear physicist Homi J Bhabha, observes, as the Apsara nuclear power reactor is inaugurated in 1956, that nuclear power will bring this country out of energy poverty and provide clean, uninterrupted electricity supply. The statement still stands as scientifically true yet the reality of nuclear power in the country remains underwhelming.



The race to net zero: These plans need to be seen against India's ambitious plan for its energy transition under which 50 per cent of the countrys energy demand would come from non-fossil fuel sources. An ambitious renewable energy plan (wind + solar + hydro + biomass) is already in motion, but it is only recently that the policymakers decided to take a relook at nuclear power. Two decades later, plans are shaping up to scale up nuclear power, but in a novel way  via small modular reactors (SMRs). SMRs are nuclear power reactors of 100 to 300 megawatt (Mw).



Nuclear energy doesn't have this problem. Speaking at the third meeting of the Energy Transition Working Group of the G20 in Mumbai, Gurdeep Singh, chairman and managing director, NTPC said, Nuclear is a great opportunity. SMRs offer us a safer, efficient mode of harnessing nuclear power. Several locations can be explored including abandoned sites of coal mines and plants. Though renewable energy is being scaled up around the world to replace fossil fuels, storage remains the big challenge, making the target of round-the-clock green energy supply difficult to meet.

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On May 1 this year, NTPC joined hands with Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL) to develop two nuclear power plants, in what could be called one of the first breakthroughs in the thermal power majors foray into nuclear energy. The two players will form a joint venture and develop two Pressurised Heavy-Water Reactor (PHWR) projects, one at Chutka in Madhya Pradesh (1,400 Mw) and another at Mahi Banswara in Rajasthan (2800 Mw). Back in 2005, NTPC had aimed to widen its energy source base with investment in nuclear, hydro and renewables. Anti-nuclear activists in Tamil Nadu still remember a plan lined up by NTPC in 2007 to set up a 2 Gw power unit at Kudankulam in Tamil Nadu, for which the state government had then agreed to provide around 1,000 acres of land. At that time, Maharashtra, too, was under consideration by the company for a nuclear project.



He added that NTPC is well placed to explore these plans as it has access to financing. NPCIL operates with cash that the government of India gives and does not raise money outside. NTPC will be able to do that, which will help in efficient, faster and better managed project construction, Ganesan said. At this point of time, the only carbon-free source of electricity that is despatchable is nuclear. NTPC is getting into this because it is to a large extent dependent on thermal power. They must figure out the future energy roadmap. They also have the engineering knowledge to build a large part of the system, said Karthik Ganesan of the Council for Energy, Environment & Water (CEEW).



This was reiterated by Ajeet Mohanty, Director, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre. Speaking at a seminar on SMRs at the same G20 summit, he said the country needs energy while mitigating carbon emissions, which is only possible through nuclear energy. We are talking about small reactors; these are 3rd or 4th generation reactors. SMRs have site-specific advantages, they can replace coal fired stations and are extremely safe, Mohanty said. Given their small size, NTPC believes, SMRs will be quick to build, easier to operate and synchronise with the grid. They are also considered relatively safe. Although they can be mishap prone, the impact area is significantly minimal, according to a senior executive.



The cost listed for nuclear plants is nearly Rs 7.5 per unit. Today solar is at Rs 3 per unit. But in nuclear, fuel costs are minimal, all the costs are upfront construction, Ganesan said. NTPC is reportedly looking to produce 2,000 Mw of nuclear power by 2032, 4,200 Mw by 2035 and 20,000 Mw by 2050. NTPC is in talks with the Department of Atomic Energy, BARC and Uranium Corporation of India for procuring nuclear fuel.



Sector executives expect the cost of SMRs to be at least half of the large reactor, though no credible study is available yet on this nascent technology. Only Russia currently has SMRs at a pilot stage. According to CEEW, around Rs 12-15 crore per Mw is the upfront cost for nuclear, versus Rs 8-9 crore for thermal and solar and wind between Rs 3-5 crore. Going by this thumb rule, the large nuclear plants in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan projects may cost between Rs 50,000-63,000 crore.



He said the concept that nuclear power is clean is wrong. During the process a lot of conventional energy is required. The amount of steel and cement used in construction will be coming from polluting sources. During construction, functioning and even decommissioning, dirty energy is being used, Udayakumar added. Meanwhile, the concerns have already started trickling in. While NTPC is coming out with ambitious targets, calling the projects as zero emission, they are not factoring in the nuclear waste and its treatment. They should also make clear on how these wastes are going to be treated, said S P Udayakumar, a leading anti-nuclear activist from Tamil Nadu and the convenor of the People's Movement Against Nuclear Energy (PMANE).
Responding to Josep Borrell, EU Foreign policy chief's remarks calling for action against Indian refined products from Russian crude, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Tuesday (local time) advised him to look at EU Council regulations.

"Look at EU Council regulations, Russian crude is substantially transformed in the third country and not treated as Russian anymore. I would urge you to look at Council's Regulation 833/2014," said Jaishankar.

This comes after the bloc's chief diplomat earlier said that the EU should crack down on India reselling Russian oil as refined fuels including diesel into Europe as Western nations move to tighten sanctions on Moscow's energy sector.

"India buys Russian oil, it's normal... " said EU's Foreign policy chief Borrell but wants the bloc to act on refined products coming from India-made Russian crude in an interview with Financial Times.

While Borrell met with Jaishankar at the trade technology talks in Brussels, he was not present at the press conference that followed.

In his place, EU Executive Vice President on Competition, Margrethe Vestager said that there was "no doubt about the legal basis of the sanctions", and that the EU and India would have the discussion as "friends... with an extended hand and of course, not a pointed finger."

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Along with Jaishankar, Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal, and Union Minister of State for Entrepreneurship, Skill Development, Electronics and Technology Rajeev Chandrasekhar was also in the meeting.

Jaishankar on Monday arrived in Brussels for the last leg of his three-nation visit covering Bangladesh, Sweden and Belgium.

Earlier also Jaishankar had defended India's imports from Russia while indirectly criticising the West for pressurising New Delhi to minimise its trade with Russia in view of its military action in Ukraine.

He wondered how Europe could make choices to prioritise its own energy needs and at the same time ask India to do something else.

"Our trade with Russia is at a very small level- USD 12-13 billion, in comparison to European countries. We've also given the Russians a set of products... I don't think people should read more into it other than the legitimate expectations of any trading country to increase its trade," the EAM said earlier in December while addressing a joint press conference with his German counterpart Annalena Baerbock.

"I would urge you to look at these figures. There is a website called 'Russia Fossil Fuel Tracker' that would give you country-by-country data of who is really importing what and I suspect that might be very very helpful," he added.
Around 19 per cent of India's population is likely to be exposed to below-normal precipitation and around 13 per cent may witness above-normal rainfall during the monsoon season this year, according to the South Asian Climate Outlook Forum.

The South Asian Climate Outlook Forum (SASCOF) brings together meteorological and climate experts from South Asian countries to analyse historical data, monitor current climate conditions, and develop consensus-based forecasts for the region.

Around 18.6 per cent of the population of India is likely to be exposed to below-normal rainfall during the monsoon season, it said.

There is a 52 per cent probability of below-normal precipitation in the north and a 40 per cent probability of below-normal rainfall in the central parts of the country.

A total of 12.7 per cent of the people in India may witness above-normal rainfall, SASCOF said.

There is a 50 per cent chance of above-normal rainfall in southern and eastern parts of India, it said.

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The India Meteorological Department (IMD) had last month said India is expected to get normal rainfall during the southwest monsoon season despite the evolving El Nino conditions.

Private forecasting agency, Skymet Weather, had predicted "below-normal" monsoon rains in the country.

India has already seen four consecutive years of 'normal' and 'above-normal' rains during the monsoon season.

Normal rain is critical for India's agricultural landscape, with 52 per cent of the net cultivated area relying on it. It is also crucial for the replenishing of reservoirs critical for drinking water apart from power generation across the country.

Rainfed agriculture accounts for about 40 per cent of the country's total food production, making it a crucial contributor to India's food security and economic stability.

El Nino, which is the warming of the waters in the Pacific Ocean near South America, is generally associated with the weakening of monsoon winds and dry weather in India.

The El Nino conditions this year follow three consecutive La Nina years. La Nina, which is the opposite of El Nino, typically brings good rainfall during the monsoon season.
The Jharkhand High Court has directed the lawyers of Rahul Gandhi and complainant BJP leader Navin Jha to submit the synopsis of arguments on Wednesday before the court in connection with a defamation case against the Congress leader.

The defamation case was filed by a local Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Navin Jha after Rahul Gandhi allegedly made objectionable remarks against the then BJP chief Amit Shah at a Congress party gathering in Chaibasa in 2018.

At a Congress meeting in 2018, Rahul Gandhi allegedly said, "A murder accused can become a party president only in the BJP. It's not possible in the Congress."

Following the submission of the synopsis of arguments by both parties, the court will decide when to pronounce the order on a petition filed by Rahul's side to quash the defamation case against him.

This comes after the lower court issued a notice to Rahul Gandhi in the matter. This was challenged in the High Court to quash the notice issued by the lower court.

Earlier on Tuesday, Jharkhand HC reserved the order in the matter and the arguments were concluded in the court of Justice Ambujnath.

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Advocates Piyush Chitresh and Dipankar Rai presented the case on behalf of Rahul Gandhi.

On May 12, the court extended the 'no coercive action' order till May 16.


The houses belonged to terrorists who are operating from Pakistan and are engaged in revival of terrorism in the region, he said. The Special Investigative Unit (SIU) of Jammu and Kashmir Police on Wednesday raided five terrorists' houses in Kishtwar district in connection with a terror support and terror funding case, a senior official said.



Five SIU teams along with police carried out the raids, he said. "After obtaining search warrants from NIA Court, Jammu, in Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) case, houses of five terrorists, who are presently operating from Pakistan and Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir, were searched in various locations," Kishtwar Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Khalil Poswal said.



The SIU is raiding the houses of Shahnawaz alias Nayeem of Chirool Padyarna, Nayeem Ahmed alias Amir alias Gazi of Jamia Masjid, Mohammad Iqbal alias Bilal of Kichloo Market, Shahnawaz Kanth alias Munna alias Umer of Hullar Kishtwar, and Javid Hussain Giri alias Muzamil of Kundali Pochal, he said. The SSP said the evidence found in the searches will be used to indict the targets' role in engaging in anti-national activities and perpetuating acts of terrorism.

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Earlier, non-bailable warrants were issued against 13 terrorists. A special NIA court in Jammu had on April 26 issued non-bailable warrants against 23 terrorists from Kishtwar operating from across the border.

"Thirty-six individuals from Kishtwar went to Pakistan after joining terrorism over a period of time. Subsequently, two FIRs were registered against them," Poswal said.
The Congress has shared a video of former party Chief Rahul Gandhi's visit to the Shakur Basti area in the national capital and interacting with the slum dwellers who narrated the fear of bulldozers razing their homes as well as issues such as price rise.

The Congress shared the video of Gandhi's interaction with women and other residents from the area on its social media accounts last week after his visit to the Delhi University PG Men's hostel.

Sharing the video on Twitter, Congress General Secretary Jairam Ramesh wrote, "Listen to Rahul Gandhi's conversation with these women. See the truth of 'Amrit Kaal'."

In the video, women from the area can be seen narrating their problems of not having proper access to water, toilets and electricity with the Congress leader.

The women also informed Gandhi that they constantly live in the fear of their houses being razed by bulldozers.

Besides the fear of bulldozers and no proper basic facilities in the area, the women also talked about how tough it for them to run their houses due to price rise and they are even unable to buy or refill gas cylinders.

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In the video, the Congress leader asked the group of women if the demolition drive issue from 2015 has now been resolved.

To his question, a women told him that it has been halted for the time being, but they keep on getting notices.

Gandhi had visited Shakur Basti area in 2015 during which he criticised the Central government and the Arvind Kejriwal-led Delhi government over the razing of a slum cluster by the Railways and had assured the homeless that he would fight for them.

The Congress leader also interacted with the children of the area and also spoke with a lawyer, who had followed up the demolition case in the courts.

The lawyer informed the Congress leader that a PIL was filed in the name of Ajay Maken on Rahul Gandhi's instructions.

The PIL had led to a judgment that the residents would not be removed unless they are provided an alternative place to stay, the lawyer told Gandhi.

--IANS

aks/khz/


Honda will conduct the world premiere of the SUV from India. Based on the teaser images, we have gathered a glimpse of the vehicle's design and features. Honda is late to the party, but after all the delay, it is finally ready to join the Indian SUV market with a proper midsize SUV in its lineup. Honda has announced the launch of its upcoming SUV, Elevate. Teasers have been released, but the vehicle will be revealed in Delhi on June 6.

Honda Elevate Design

Honda will place the Elevate in the fiercely competitive midsize SUV segment with established players like Hyundai Creta and Kia Seltos.



The Elevate seems to have an upright stance giving it a more SUV-like character with a flat-looking bonnet. Like its competitors, Elevate is expected to measure around 4300 mm (4.4 metres) in length, suggesting generous cabin space. The latest teaser of the Elevate suggests that the vehicle will feature the all-important sunroof, which in some cases is the make-or-break deal for customers. However, rivals such as Creta, Grand Vitara, and Toyota Hyryder offer their SUVs with a full-size panoramic sunroof, while Honda's Elevate appears to have opted for a smaller, single-pane sunroof.

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Honda Elevate engine and transmission

The Elevate is slated to come powered by Honda's 1.5-litre naturally-aspirated petrol engine. The same engine serves Honda City and is known for its superior refinement and linear power delivery, which goes up as one revs the engine harder.





Honda Elevate Launch date, price details Like City, Elevate will be offered with manual and CVT transmission options.

Honda is likely to launch the Elevate by August this year. More details about the car may be released in the upcoming weeks. There is no confirmation about the price of the Elevate, but given the Honda City platform and the same engine, it is likely to be priced similarly to Honda City.
Banks, given their robust bottom line, can absorb any financial burden for the transition to ECL over a period, said the exe. The RBI has indicated a five-year glide path for a complete shift to ECL.

Senior bank executives said technical capacity building will include systems and skills development. While internal work has begun on developing models with the help of experts, it is going to take more time for gathering data and assessing impact while transitioning from the Incurred Loss Approach banks use now.


However, the apparel exporting units have not yet decided to lay off any employees, executives told ET. Apparel exporters in Tiruppur and Noida have opted to close their manufacturing operations for 10-15 days every month to save operational costs amid a shortage of overseas orders, a report by The Economic Times (ET) said.



According to Tiruppur's exporters, no major orders have been placed by global brands for this year's Christmas season. "We are now waiting for spring-summer orders for next year, which are placed in September," said Raja Shanmugam, owner of Warsaw International, a knitwear company. Around 80 per cent of units in Noida have a month's orders in hand, while orders in Tiruppur have decreased 40-50 per cent Year-on-Year (YoY).



"Because the order position is poor, the units will be shut down for 10-15 days every month. This will assist the units in controlling operational expenses even though the profit margins will also be affected. The situation is expected to improve in September, when global orders may start coming in," said Shanmugam, a former head of the Tiruppur Exporters Association. The slowdown in key markets such as the US and the European Union (EU) has impacted knitwear exports from the Tiruppur cluster, Asia's largest textile export hub, which accounts for more than half of India's knitwear exports. The Tiruppur cluster has 30,000 units, including ancillary units as well.

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The growth rate was not only lower than the historical tendency, except during the Covid-19 pandemic, but also lower than the country's overall knitwear export growth of 3.76 per cent. "It will be lower in 2023-24 than in 2022-23," Shanmugam told ET. According to preliminary estimates, knitwear exports from Tiruppur grew 2.5 per cent YoY to Rs 34,350 crore in 2022-23.



Lalit Thukral, president of the Noida Apparel Export Cluster, said that only the large units have good orders in hand, but the medium and smaller units have very few orders. Meanwhile, in the Noida apparel export cluster, nearly 70 per cent of the units have only a month's orders in hand.


The company has secured an order from a developer to construct residential towers in Thane, Mumbai. Larsen & Toubro (L&T) Construction's buildings & factories business has recently been awarded engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contracts, the company said in a BSE filing.



Additionally, B&F Fast, a vertical of the company, has obtained a contract to build commercial office space in Bengaluru, covering an approximate built-up area of 1.6 million sq. ft. The project encompasses the construction of core and shell works for five towers, spanning ground, five podiums, 54 floors, and associated parking areas, all to be completed within strict timelines.



This comes after the company secured a repeat order from the Drinking Water & Sanitation Department, Government of Jharkhand to execute a Raw Water Transport System in March, a turnkey EPC order to establish a 112.5 MW Solar Power Plant in south-western part of West Bengal in January and order from an automobile company to construct a manufacturing facility in Haryana in October 2022.



The scope of work involves civil works for the composite structure, warm shell finishes, and the construction of 3B+G+15 floors. The project is scheduled to be accomplished within 18 months.
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Shares of Rane (Madras) (RML) moved higher by 19 per cent to Rs 578.50 on the BSE in Wednesday's intra-day trade, in an otherwise weak market, after the company announced that its board has decided to explore options for divestment / disposal of Rane Light Metal Casting Inc., USA (LMCA).LMCA is a wholly owned step-down subsidiary of the company acquired in 2016. The company is engaged in the business of manufacturing high pressure aluminium die casting for automotive and non-automotive applications.LMCA accounts 9.78 per cent (Rs 231.94 crore) of total consolidated turnover and 13.33 per cent (Rs 32.20 crore) net worth of RML."After carefully reviewing operational and financial performance of LMCA, the board of directors of the company has decided to explore options for divestment / disposal of LMCA and seek prior approval of the shareholders for the same through postal ballot," RML said in exchange filing.RML is a leading manufacturer of steering and suspension products and light metal casting components. The company had posted consolidated profit after tax of Rs 9.50 crore for March quarter (Q4FY23) as against net loss of Rs 2.5 crore in Q4FY22. Total revenue increased 23.5 per cent to Rs 630.10 crore from Rs 510.30 crore in the year-ago quarter.Sales to Indian OE customers grew 18 per cent, supported by strong demand across vehicle segments. Export sales grew by 45 per cent, driven by strong off-take for steering products. Standalone Ebitda margin improved by 71 bps due to better operational leverage, favourable mix and forex was partially offset by increase in administration expenses, the company said, adding that the demand environment in the US remained challenging with multiple customers reducing schedules.RML posted strong revenue growth, supported by robust demand environment in India and strong off-take from international customers. Though the management said it sees slowdown in major global economies, the growth momentum across vehicle segments in India continues to remain strong.The turnaround planned in the US subsidiary had a setback due to poor offtake in the new business developed and even existing business. The board is closely monitoring the situation and will review the best decision regarding the future of this business considering the long term interests of the Company, the management had said while announcing Q4 results on May 5.
The committee said it aimed to ensure AI systems

A committee of the European Parliament has cleared a draft of the artificial intelligence (AI) law to be discussed and put to the vote at a forthcoming session. The final details may change before it is passed. The proposed Act will not only set standards for how AI is deployed within the European Union (EU), but also apply to any entity that serves EU residents in the same way as the EUs General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Like the GDPR, as legislation serving the worlds largest economic bloc, the AI Act would set benchmarks for legislation elsewhere. Quite a few classes of AI tools that breach privacy or enable discrimination have been banned. In general, AI is to be classified in accordance with risk  from minimal to limited, high, and unacceptable. While many high-risk tools will not be banned, entities using these must be transparent and subject to stringent oversight and auditing.
Boeing, meanwhile, has said that Indian airlines are likely to require over 2,200 aircraft in the next 20 years, and the Go First episode can't knock the growth trajectory of Indias civil aviation market off course. Moving on, one of the largest conglomerates of the country, Larsen and Toubro, has been flying high for decades now - leaving behind a trail of development projects and much more. Recently it has seen a change of guard. So where is L&T headed from here?

A war of words has erupted between Go First and aircraft lessors -- who want their planes back from the cash-strapped airline. While the Aviation Working Group, which represents the lessors, has put India on a watch list, the Wadia group-owned airline has termed it as an attempt to influence an ongoing case in NCLAT, where lessors have challenged NCLT moratorium on the airlines assets. The moratorium bars lessors from recovering their aircraft. So how will this tussle between Go First and lessors impact the Indian aviation sector?
Maharashtra Congress chief Nana Patole on Tuesday alleged that the Eknath Shinde-led state government dropped the charges against retired IPS officer Param Bir Singh as a reward for maligning the image of the previous Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government.

The state government dropped the charges against Singh, a former Mumbai police commissioner, following a ruling by the Central Administrative Tribunal. Speaking to reporters here, Patole alleged that Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and home minister Devendra Fadnavis "deliberately weakened the case and ensured that the IPS officer would walk free on technical grounds."



Singh defamed the MVA government of the Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress by accusing the then home minister Anil Deshmukh of corruption, Patole said. The Bombay High Court had given clear instructions to the CBI to register an FIR against Singh following a probe, and a departmental inquiry was also expected, the Congress leader said.

But the Shinde-Fadnavis government did nothing and ensured that Singh's suspension order would not get an extension, he alleged.
The Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) on Wednesday accused the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of trying to set up a "laboratory of riots" in Maharashtra to disturb social peace and polarise voters.

May be they want to fight elections by dividing the society, just like they "broke the Shiv Sena" to form government in Maharashtra, an editorial in the Shiv Sena (UBT) mouthpiece 'Saamana' said referring to the split in the Sena last year following which Eknath Shinde became the CM with the BJP's support.

The people of the state need to be alert as they are surrounded by those who crave for power by side-stepping the Constitution, national unity and religious coexistence, the Marathi publication claimed.

Maharashtra witnessed communal clashes on Saturday and Sunday in Akola city and Shevgaon village in Ahmednagar district, respectively, in which one person was killed and 13 others injured.

In another incident, members of a different religion allegedly tried to force their way into the famous Trimbakeshwar temple in Nashik district, prompting the state government to set up a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to conduct a probe into it.

The editorial in Saamana claimed since the time Eknath Shinde-Devendra Fadnavis coalition has come to power, the state has been witnessing religious and social tensions.

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"In Maharashtra, the BJP and its supporters are trying to disturb social peace, polarise voters by setting up a laboratory of riots," it alleged.

"Some issues can be resolved through understanding, but it looks like they want to fight elections by dividing the society, just like the Shiv Sena was broken to form government," the Marathi daily said.

It said the recent incidents in Akola, Shevgaon and Nashik were a cause of concern.

Social tensions were deliberately being created with political motives and this was being done in a systematic and planned manner, the editorial claimed.

"Despite Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis saying he would expose the masterminds, nothing has happened," it added.
Minister in the outgoing BJP government K Sudhakar on Wednesday questioned former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah whether he can deny the fact that he had no role, "implicitly or explicitly", in the move by Congress MLAs to quit the party when the coalition government was in office in 2019.

He raised the issue at a time when Siddaramaiah is in a stiff competition with state Congress president D K Shivakumar to become the CM, after Congress won the Assembly polls by securing 135 seats



In a series of tweets, Sudhakar accused the Congress leader of assuring the MLAs that he won't allow the then H D Kumaraswamy-led coalition government to continue even for a single day after 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

Sudhakar was earlier with Congress. He was one among the 17 Congress-JD(S) legislators who quit and defected to BJP that led to the collapse of the coalition government and paved the way for BJP to come to power.

"During the JDS-Congress coalition govt in 2018, whenever MLAs (Congress)went to the then Coordination Committe Chairman Siddaramaiah with their concerns, he used to express his helplessness and say that he has no say in the govt and his constituency/district works itself are stalled," Sudhakar claimed..

Further, Siddaramaiah used to assure MLAs to wait till 2019 Lok Sabha polls and come what may he won't allow the then coalition government to continue even for a single day after the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

Ultimately, some MLAs including him had to inevitably quit Congress and go back to the people in bypolls, to protect the 'karyakartas' and supporters in their constituencies, he said, and asked "Can Shri Siddaramaiah deny the fact that he had no role, implicitly or explicitly, in this move by Congress MLAs?"



Sudhakar, after defecting to BJP, contested the bypolls on the party ticket and won, and also went on to become Health Minister in the government.

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He lost the May 10 Assembly polls from Chikkaballapura seat.
A crucial meeting of Telangana's ruling party Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) is scheduled to be held here on Wednesday.

To be presided over by party president and Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao, the meeting of BRS executive and parliamentary party assumes significance in the wake of Karnataka Assembly election results.

KCR, as the Chief Minister is popularly known, is likely to explain to the party leaders why the result of Karnataka elections cannot be repeated in Telangana.

While the defeat of the BJP in Karnataka has brought cheers to the BRS as the saffron party was aggressively projecting itself as the only viable alternative, the Congress s upbeat over its victory and is claiming that the same will be repeated in Telangana.

As the BRS is looking to score a hat-trick in Telangana, KCR is likely to explain how the party can overcome anti-incumbency to retain power.

BRS working president and KCR's son K.T. Rama Rao has already stated that Karnataka's results have no bearing on Telangana.

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The Assembly elections in Telangana are scheduled to be held later this year.

At Wednesday's meeting, KCR is also likely to give a roadmap to the party leaders to achieve the target.

The BRS chief is also expected to give direction to the party cadres about participation in state formation day celebrations.

The government has already announced big plans to celebrate 10th year of state formation in a grand manner, highlighting the progress made by India's youngest state.

KCR has decided to organise formation day celebrations for 21 days beginning from June 2.

Ministers, MLAs, MLCs, MPs, executive members and chairpersons of corporations will attend the meeting.

This will be the second high-level meeting of the BRS in 20 days. The previous general body meeting was held on April 27 to mark the party's formation day.

Addressing the earlier meeting, KCR exuded confidence that the party will retain power in the state by winning more than 100 seats in the 119-member Assembly.

"Coming to power again in Telangana is not a big task. The priority is to win more seats than before," he had told the party leaders.

--IANS

ms/ksk/


Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav tweeted, expressing grief over the demise of the veteran leader. He tweeted in Hindi, translated into English, "Former Minister Mr Harishankar Tiwari passes away, very sad! May God grant peace to the departed soul and strength to the bereaved family to bear this immense sorrow. Heartfelt tribute!"

Veteran politician and ex-UP minister passed away Tuesday night at the age of 90 at his residence in Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh.According to some sources, he was suffering from some acute diseases, including kidney problems for the last some years. After the demise of the Veteran SP minister, his son Vinay Shakar Tiwari informed that his father's last rites will be performed at Mukti Path in Barhalganj town of Gorakhpur district on Wednesday.
A humanitarian aid worker who used an anonymous Twitter account to mock Saudi Arabia about its economy has filed a federal racketeering lawsuit against the social media platform, the kingdom and a number of individuals alleging an attempt to silence critics overseas.

Abdulrahman al-Sadhan, was working for the Red Crescent in Riyadh in 2018 when plain-clothed security forces entered the office of the Red Crescent offices in Riyadh. He was taken away without any explanation.

How the Saudi government linked al-Sadhan to the Twitter account remains a mystery. In April 2021, the anti-terrorism court where he was tried handed down a prison sentence of 20 years for al-Sadhan, followed by a 20-year travel ban. Al-Sadhan has appealed the ruling.

In 2019, Ahmad Abouammo, a U.S. citizen and former media partnership manager for Twitter's Middle East region, was charged with acting as an agent of Saudi Arabia without registering with the U.S. government. The complaint also alleged that Saudi citizen Ali Alzabarah, who worked as an engineer at Twitter, accessed confidential Twitter data about users, their email addresses, phone numbers and IP addresses, the latter of which be used to identify a user's location. A third man named in FBI complaint is Saudi citizen Ahmed Al-Mutairi, who is said to have worked with an unnamed member of the Saudi royal family as an intermediary.

Abouammo was convicted last summer of failing to register as an agent for Saudi Arabia and other charges.

On Tuesday al-Sadhan and his sister Areej al-Sadhan, a dual Saudi-U.S. citizen living in California, sued Twitter Inc. and Saudi Arabia, alleging that they are members of a racketeering enterprise that seeks to extend the authoritarian control of Saudi Arabia beyond its borders and silence its critics. The suit, which seeks a trial by jury, also names as defendants Abouammo, Alzabarah and Al-Mutairi.

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The lawsuit alleges that members of the Saudi Criminal Enterprise unlawfully surveilled, killed, tortured, disappeared, kidnapped, extorted and threatened perceived dissidents to silence their speech and to export its terror, repression and control to the United States.

The complaint also alleges that the defendant Saudi Arabian Cultural Mission, based in Fairfax, Virginia, is a tool the Saudi government uses to surveil, stalk, and harass dissidents and U.S-based Saudi students who criticize the kingdom. Alzabarah was a recipient of a SACM scholarship before he worked at Twitter, according to the plaintiffs.

"It shouldn't require a federal lawsuit for a U.S. citizen to protect herself from Saudi Arabia's thugs, but Areej has been left with no other options. We hope U.S. courts can provide them both with some measure of justice and protection that is sadly unavailable elsewhere, Andrea J. Prasow, executive director of the Freedom Initiative, said in a statement.

Prasow filed the lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. The Freedom Initiative is a Washington D.C.-based nonprofit organization dedicated to advocating for prisoners wrongfully detained in the Middle East and North Africa.

The public relations office of Twitter was disbanded by Elon Musk after he acquired the company last year. A request for comment from the company was answered with an automated email.
US President Joe Biden will not travel to Papua New Guinea and Australia later this month as originally planned due to the ongoing stalemate in negotiations with Congressional leaders to address the debt ceiling, multiple US media outlets reported, citing sources familiar with the matter.

Biden would have become the first sitting US President to visit the Pacific island country of Papua New Guinea, to be followed by a trip to Sydney for the leaders' summit of the Quad, which includes the US, Japan, India and Australia.

Biden will still go to Hiroshima, Japan, to participate in the three-day G7 summit beginning from Friday, Xinhua news agency reported.

Earlier on Tuesday, John Kirby, the National Security Council's coordinator for strategic communications, told the regular White House press briefing that the White House was "reevaluating" the post-Japan part of Biden's trip.

"What I can speak to is the G7 and going to Hiroshima. The president is looking forward to that. We are taking a look at the rest of the trip," Kirby told reporters.

News of the shortening of the presidential overseas trip came as Biden was meeting with Congressional leaders from both the Democratic and Republican parties in the Oval Office over the debt ceiling issue.

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Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen reaffirmed on Monday that the US may default on its debt obligations as soon as June 1 if the partisan fight drags on without a settlement.

Biden will depart Washington on Wednesday, stopping over Anchorage, Alaska, before arriving in Japan on Thursday, according to the travel guidance announced previously by the White House.

--IANS

int/khz/


Subsequently, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida also cancelled his trip to Australia, Albanese said. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced on Wednesday that the Quad summit scheduled for May 24 stands cancelled as US President Joe Biden will be absent. However, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will still visit Sydney as planned previously. His visit will include a rally at an indoor stadium, Reuters reported.

Why did Biden cancel his visit?

Biden had planned his visit for the Quad summit to Sydney as part of his Asia tour which was set to start from Hiroshima, Japan for a Group of Seven (G7) leader summit.



Biden cut short his trip to participate in the ongoing negotiations to raise the debt ceiling of the government. Notably, in the US system, Congress controls the spending limits and can take decisions to raise the debt limit. While Biden will still travel to Japan, he has cancelled other parts of his trip which included a visit to Papua New Guinea to meet leaders from Pacific island countries and the Quad summit in Sydney.

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What is the Quad? The debt ceiling refers to the amount of money the US government can spend. Currently, it is set at $31.4 trillion. Raising the debt limit used to be a routine process in the past. However, the process has become increasingly controversial over the years.



Significance of the group Quad, formally known as the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, is a group of four like-minded, democratic countries which includes the United States of America, India, Australia, and Japan.



However, the Quad is also seen as a group to counter China's rise in the region and contain its hegemonic designs. Beijing sees quad as an American attempt to dilute its influence. The four countries have come together to establish security paraphernalia in the form of an informal strategic forum. One of the primary objectives of this forum is to ensure a free, open, prosperous, and inclusive Indo-Pacific region.

Why was Biden's visit significant?

Strategic experts saw Biden's visit as an opportunity to further strengthen US partnerships in the Indo-Pacific. The visit was vital given the assertive stand China has taken in the South China Sea.
Holmes had won a brief pause delaying the start of her prison term while the appeals court considered her request. The appeals panel upheld the lower-court judge who presided over Holmess trial and denied her request for bail. She can still pursue her appeal of her conviction, but must do so from prison.

The ruling Tuesday by the US Court of Appeals in San Francisco means the Theranos Inc. founder will soon have to report to prison to begin her 11 1/4-year sentence after she was convicted by a jury last year of defrauding investors in the blood-testing startup.
Tesla Inc.s chief executive officer said Tuesday that firing up the laptop from home lowers productivity and also sends the wrong signal to factory workers and other employees that dont have that option.

Elon Musk is calling out people who work from home, saying its an affront to those who must show up at the workplace.
Former British Prime Minister Liz Truss warned of the economic and political threats to the West posed by China during a visit Wednesday to Beijing's democratic rival Taiwan.

Truss is the first former British prime minister since Margaret Thatcher in the 1990s to visit the self-governing island republic that China claims as its own territory, to be conquered by force if necessary.

Still a sitting member of the House of Commons, Truss follows a growing list of elected representatives and former officials from the U.S., EU nations and elsewhere who have visited Taiwan to show their defiance of China's threats and attempts to cut off the island and its high-tech economy from the international community.

There are those who say they don't want another Cold War. But this is not a choice we are in a position to make. Because China has already embarked on a self-reliance drive, whether we want to decouple from their economy or not," Truss said in an address to the Prospect Foundation at a hotel in the Taiwanese capital, Taipei.

China is growing its navy at an alarming rate and is undertaking the biggest military build-up in peacetime history, she said.

"They have already formed alliances with other nations that want to see the free world in decline. They have already made a choice about their strategy. The only choice we have is whether we appease and accommodate - or we take action to prevent conflict, Truss said.

Also Read Unclear who would aid Taiwan in a war with China, says foreign minister Tension on Taiwan Strait: What is the dispute between China and Taiwan? US Navy warship sails through Taiwan Strait after China's exercises China no longer comfortable with status quo on Taiwan: Antony Blinken Ex British PM Johnson admits misleading parliament in 'partygate' scandal Musk hits out at Soros after billionaire sells his entire Tesla stake Total Covid-19 cost to US economy to reach $14 trn by 2023 end: Research Money transfer service Zepz to lay off 420 employees, 26% of its workforce Vietnam govt approves plan to cut power output from coal-fired plants Pakistan an important partner in the region, want to see it successful: US

Elsewhere, Truss praised her successor, Rishi Sunak, for describing China as the biggest long-term threat to Britain in comments last summer and for urging the closure of Chinese government-run cultural centers known as Confucius Institutes, which have been criticized as outlets for Communist Party propaganda. Such services could instead be provided by people from Taiwan and Hong Kong who come to the United Kingdom without government backing.

China's relations with Britain and most other Western democracies have been in steep decline in recent years, largely as a result of disputes over human rights, trade technology and China's aggressive moves toward Taiwan and in the South China Sea.

Beijing's relations with London have been especially bitter over China's sweeping crackdown on free speech, democracy and other civil liberties in Hong Kong, a former British colony that was promised it would retain its freedoms after the handover to Chinese rule in 1997.

China has said a key previous bilateral agreement on Hong Kong no longer applies and has rejected British expressions of concern as interference in China's domestic political affairs. China has also been angered by a joint Australian-U.S.-British agreement known as AUKUS that would provide Australia with nuclear-powered submarines in part to counter the perceived rising threat from China.

Truss, who served an ill-fated seven weeks as prime minister last year, also said China could not be trusted to follow through on its commitments in areas from trade to protection of the environment.

And she praised Taiwan as an enduring rebuke to totalitarianism whose fate was a "core interest" to Europe.

A blockade or invasion of Taiwan would undermine freedom and democracy in Europe. Just as a Russian victory in Ukraine would undermine freedom and democracy in the Pacific," Truss said.

"We in the United Kingdom and the free world must do all we can to back you, she said.

Truss' remarks also stood in stark contrast to published comments from French President Emmanuel Macron last month that elicited doubts about whether Macron's views were in line with other European countries on Taiwan's status.

The question we need to answer, as Europeans, is the following: Is it in our interest to accelerate (a crisis) on Taiwan? No, Macron was quoted as saying in the interview. The worst thing would be to think that we Europeans must become followers on this topic and take our cue from the U.S. agenda and a Chinese overreaction.

Shortly afterward, Macron denied any change on France's views toward Taiwan, saying, We are for the status quo, and this policy is constant.
The Japanese government has endorsed seven major power companies' plans to raise household electricity prices from June.

The government, at a meeting of related cabinet ministers, approved the screening standards on the sizes of rate hikes, compiled by the Industry Ministry late last month, Xinhua news agency reported.

The price hike range from around 15 to 40 per cent, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno told a news conference on Tuesday.

The increased electricity rates are expected to be implemented on June 1 after authorisations are given by the Industry Ministry.

Japanese Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura said, "We recalculated the rates after carefully considering the latest fuel prices and other factors."

The seven power utilities, including Tokyo Electric Power Company, had applied for hike in their regulated household rates, stating that their balance sheets are suffering due to soaring prices of natural gas used in thermal power generation.

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--IANS

int/khz/
After billionaire George Soros sold his entire stake in Tesla, Elon Musk has slammed the investor, saying he wants to erode the very fabric of civilisation and "hates humanity."

Soros's family office, Soros Fund Management, had a total of 132,000 shares which capitalised on Tesla's impressive 68 per cent jump in value this year, and the family office sold off its entire stake in the first quarter of 2023, according to Insider.

Soros Fund Management is the principal asset manager for the Open Societies Foundations, which Soros founded. He has donated most of the money from his hedge fund to his Open Societies Foundations.

Meanwhile, Tesla stock is up about 35 per cent so far this year, after nosediving about 65 per cent in 2022.

Musk replied to the reports of Soros selling his entire stake at Tesla, saying: "He wants to erode the very fabric of civilisationa.

"Soros hates humanity," he added.

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Musk further posted: "Soros reminds me of Magneto," referring to the X-Men's Jewish supervillain.

Tesla and Open Societies didn't immediately comment on the tweet.

Jonathan Greenblatt, CEO of the civil rights group Anti-Defamation League, criticised Musk's comment and said it "will embolden extremists."

"Soros often is held up by the far-right, using antisemitic tropes, as the source of the world's problems. To see Elon Musk, regardless of his intent, feed this segment -- comparing him to a Jewish supervillain, claiming Soros ahates humanity' -- is not just distressing, it's dangerous," he tweeted.

"It will embolden extremists who already contrive anti-Jewish conspiracies and have tried to attack Soros and Jewish communities as a result," Greenblat added.

In response to Greenblatt's tweet, Musk responded: aceHey stop defaming me. ADL should just drop the aA'.a

In an interview on CNBC late on Tuesday, Musk defended the tweets about Soros, including his claim that Soros hates humanity.

Musk said that he has a right to tweet his opinions.

--IANS

na/svn/
A Sri Lankan court here on Wednesday ordered the lifting of the overseas travel ban on former president and prime minister Mahinda Rajapaksa.

The Fort Magistrate's Court imposed a ban on overseas travel on Rajapaksa, 77, and over a dozen other politicians in May last year in view of investigations against them for their alleged involvement in the deadly attack on peaceful anti-government protesters in Colombo.

At least nine people were killed and over 300 others injured in the violence in May.

The overseas travel ban on former president Rajapaksa, MP Rohitha



Abeygunawardena, Minister Pavithra Wanniarachchi, and ex-Provincial Council member Kanchana Jayaratne was completely lifted by the Fort Magistrate's Court on Wednesday, newsfirst.lk website reported.

Colombo Fort Magistrate Thilina Gamage ordered the court registrar to immediately convey the order to the Controller General of Immigration and Emigration. The impounded passports were ordered to be released to the four politicians, the Daily Mirror newspaper reported.

A number of MPs' homes and offices were torched by enraged mobs in Sri Lanka last year in a wave of spontaneous violence triggered after then Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa's supporters attacked anti-government protesters amidst the unprecedented economic crisis in the island nation.

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The protesters demanded the resignation of Rajapaksa's younger brother the then president Gotabaya Rajapaksa.

Mahinda Rajapaksa resigned a few hours later and a curfew was imposed across the country.

Rajapaksa, known for his brutal military campaign against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) during his presidency from 2005 to 2015, saw his private residence set on fire.

He, along with his wife and family, had fled his official residence Temple Trees and took shelter at the naval base in Trincomalee after a series of deadly attacks on his supporters.

The economic and political turmoil also led to the resignation of Gotabaya Rajapaksa, the 73-year-old younger brother of Mahinda Rajapaksa in July.

The powerful Rajapaksa clan, led by patriarch Mahinda, dominated Sri Lanka's political scene for decades till they were forced to quit their posts last year.
Asif Shahzad

Former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan said on Wednesday that police had surrounded his house and that he expected to be rearrested soon, after the government warned him to hand over supporters who it blamed for attacks on the army.



The countrys Supreme Court ordered Khans release on bail last Friday. But on Wednesday the government accused him of sheltering aides and supporters wanted over the attacks following his arrest, and warned he had 24 hours to hand them over or face a police operation.

Khan was arrested by the army on May 9 on graft allegations, which he denies, triggering a wave of violence that has deepened political instability in the South Asian nation of 220 million.



Probably my last tweet before my next arrest, Khan tweeted on Wednesday, adding that police had surrounded his house in Lahore.

Khan said his re-arrest was imminent. Hours earlier, Islamabads High Court had granted him a bail extension until May 31, his lawyer Faisal Chaudhry said.

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Im afraid that this will bring a big backlash that will cause huge loss to our country, he said. ... If someone thinks that this strategy can win a ban on my party, it is not going to happen. He demanded a judicial commission headed by the chief justice to probe the violence.

In a live video statement, he said his opponents were out to trigger a fight between him and the army.



Were giving an ultimatum that these terrorists should be turned over to the police, or else there will be action, Mir told a press conference. He said Khan had 24 hours to surrender the suspects, and that a police operation would be launched if he did not comply.

Punjab provinces information minister Amir Mir said intelligence and law enforcement agencies had identified that some 30 to 40 people accused of attacking military installations were hiding at Khans home.

The military had already announced that those who attacked its installations would be tried under army laws, calling the May 9 attacks pre-planned and ordered by leaders of Khans party, which he and his party deny.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy have agreed to separate meetings with a delegation of leaders from six African countries to discuss a possible plan to end the war in Ukraine, South Africa's president said Tuesday.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said he spoke with Putin and Zelenskyy by phone over the weekend and they each agreed to host "an African leaders peace mission" in Moscow and Kyiv, respectively.

Principal to our discussions are efforts to find a peaceful resolution to the devastating conflict in the Ukraine, Ramaphosa said.

The leaders of Zambia, Senegal, Republic of Congo, Uganda and Egypt would make up the delegation along with Ramaphosa, he said in a statement. Putin and Zelenskyy gave him the go-ahead to commence the preparations, the South African leader said.

Four of those six African countries South Africa, Republic of Congo, Senegal and Uganda abstained from a U.N. vote last year on condemning Russia's invasion. Zambia and Egypt voted in favor of the motion.

Ramaphosa did not give a time frame or outline any parameters for the possible peace talks. Zelenskyy has said he would not consider a peace deal to end the 15-month war until Russian forces withdraw completely from Ukrainian territory.

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U.N. Secretary-General Antnio Guterres also was briefed on the African delegation's planned meetings and welcomed the initiative, Ramaphosa said.

The announcement of the African-led peace effort came as Russia launched a heavy air attack on Kyiv.

There was no immediate reaction Tuesday from either the Kremlin or Kyiv. A readout from a phone conversation Putin and Ramaphosa had Friday said the Russian leader supported Cyril Ramaphosa's idea about a group of African leaders participating in the discussion of the prospects of resolving the Ukrainian conflict.

It wasn't clear if that was the phone call Ramaphosa was referring to when he said he spoke with Putin over the weekend.

South Africa's leading position in the African delegation is bound to draw scrutiny. Ramaphosa's announcement came days after the U.S. ambassador accused South Africa of siding with Russia in the war in Ukraine and even providing weapons to help Moscow.

U.S. Ambassador to South Africa Reuben Brigety alleged last week that weapons and ammunition were loaded onto a Russian-flagged cargo ship at a South African naval base in December and taken to Russia. The South African government has denied it sent any weapons to Russia.

Ramaphosa has said the matter is under investigation.

South Africa has claimed its position on the war is neutral. The country has strong historical ties with Russia due to the former Soviet Union's support of South Africa's ruling African National Congress party when it was a liberation movement fighting to end the racist apartheid regime.

South Africa also hosted Russian and Chinese warships for joint naval exercises off its coast in February and which coincided with the one-year anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. South Africa's top army general traveled to Moscow and met with the commander of the Russian ground forces on Monday.

South Africa maintains it also retains a strong relationship with the United States and other Western supporters of Ukraine. Ramaphosa met with U.S. President Joe Biden at the White House late last year.

Zambia also has historical ties with Russia. Uganda is a U.S. ally on regional security in East Africa, but Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has spoken of his country's friendship with Russia and its neutral position in the war in Ukraine.

Sipho Mantula, an analyst at South Africa's Thabo Mbeki African School of Public and International Affairs, said the neutrality of some of those African countries would help any talks.

You don't need people who will take sides and become proxy mediators, Mantula said.

Russia and Ukraine are far apart in terms of an agreement to end the war.

The Kremlin wants Kyiv to acknowledge Russia's annexation of the Crimean Peninsula and the Ukrainian provinces of Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia, which most nations have denounced as illegal. Ukraine has rejected the demands and ruled out any talks with Russia until its troops pull back from all occupied territories.

Ukraine is determined to recover all Russian-occupied areas.

Zelenskyy's 10-point peace plan also includes a tribunal to prosecute crimes of aggression, which would enable Russia to be held accountable for its invasion. Zelenskyy had private talks with Pope Francis at the Vatican on Saturday, later saying he sought support for Ukraine's peace plan from the pontiff.

China has been the only other country so far offering to mediate possible peace talks, an offer clouded by its show of political support for Moscow.

Beijing released a proposed peace plan in February, and a Chinese envoy is preparing to visit Russia and Ukraine.

But there appeared to be little chance of an imminent breakthrough to end the war since Ukraine and its Western allies largely dismissed the Beijing's proposal.
Russia's lower house of parliament, the State Duma, has formally denounced the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE), according to a statement published on its website.

"Deputies of the State Duma, guided by the interests of our citizens, decided to denounce the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe to ensure the security of the Russian Federation," said Chairman of the Russian State Duma Vyacheslav Volodin on Tuesday.

Russian President Vladimir Putin initially submitted a bill to the State Duma on the denunciation of the treaty on Wednesday (May 10) , Xinhua news agency reported.

The document submitted by the Russian leader said that the treaty has currently become outdated and irrelevant, considering the large-scale global changes that have taken place, related to the expansion of NATO.

"Washington and Brussels, obsessed with the idea of building a unipolar world and expanding NATO to the east, have destroyed the global security system," Volodin wrote in a Telegram post.

He noted that while NATO had originally portrayed itself as a defensive alliance, it eventually only caused suffering and destruction through its interventions in Yugoslavia, Afghanistan, Libya, Iraq and Syria.

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By continuing its arms supplies to the Kiev regime, Washington is in fact destabilising the situation in the world and "provoking a global catastrophe," he said.

The CFE treaty was originally signed in 1990 by the then-NATO members and former six Warsaw Treaty states. The agreement came into force later in 1992.

The treaty was aimed at establishing a balance between the two military alliances by setting limits on the quantities of weapons and military equipment that all parties were allowed to amass.

--IANS

int/khz/
The U.S. State Department on Tuesday condemned the arrest of a former employee of a U.S. consulate in Russia, the latest example of the country's crackdown against its own citizens and foreigners.

Russia's Tass news agency said Robert Shonov was detained in the Russian city of Vladivostok on suspicion of "cooperation on a confidential basis with a foreign state, international or foreign organization. Tass didn't say when the detention occurred or provide any details of the allegation.

State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said Shonov is a Russian national worked at the now-closed U.S. consulate in Vladivostok for more than 25 years. He said that after a Russian government order in April 2021 required dismissing all local employees from U.S. diplomatic outposts in Russia, Shonov worked at a company the U.S. contracted with to support its embassy in Moscow.

Mr. Shonov's only role at the time of his arrest was to compile media summaries of press items from publicly available Russian media sources, Miller said. His being targeted under the confidential cooperation' statute highlights the Russian Federation's blatant use of increasingly repressive laws against its own citizens.

Miller added, The United States strongly condemns the reported arrest of Robert Shonov and said the allegations against him are wholly without merit.

Tass said a Moscow court on Thursday would consider extending Shonov's arrest for three months. The news agency said he was being held in Moscow's Lefortovo prison on charges that carry a potential sentence of up to eight years in prison.

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Also held in Lefortovo is Evan Gershkovich, an American reporter for The Wall Street Journal. Gershkovich has been in custody since his March 29 arrest by Russia's security service on espionage charges that he, his employer and the U.S. government have denied.

Gershkovich's arrest rattled journalists in Russia and drew outrage in the West. The United States has declared Gershkovich to be wrongfully detained and demanded his immediate release.

Since invading Ukraine in February 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin has widened the scope of a years-old crackdown on criticism of government policies, other forms of dissent and actions that his government finds objectionable. Hundreds, if not thousands, of Russians have been fined, jailed or fled the country because of the crackdown.
Juniper Networks (NYSE: JNPR), a leader in secure, AI-driven networks, today announced that effectively immediately, Jean English has been named Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer. Ms. English will lead an award-winning global marketing organization that is highly data-driven, results-oriented, ROI-focused and plays a strategic role in Junipers growth.

Juniper has experienced unprecedented growth across all business verticals in recent years as customers increasingly look to cloud-delivered, AI-driven and secure solutions to power their strategic evolution toward delivering better digital experiences. Ms. English joins Juniper with a strong track record of successfully building holistic data-driven marketing strategies to scale enterprise growth and transform AI and cloud companies as they aim to enter new market segments and reinvent their brands.

I am excited and honored to join Juniper Networks and the leadership team at this pivotal moment in the companys growth. Juniper is reinventing networking with their game-changing AI technology that simplifies networks and delivers seamless end-user experiences. I look forward to applying my expertise in cloud, security and infrastructure to scale growth and help customers deliver network experiences that transform how people connect, work and live.

- Jean English, SVP & Chief Marketing Officer, Juniper Networks

English brings more than 20 years of marketing leadership in the technology sector. Prior to Juniper, Ms. English served as SVP and CMO of NetApp, CMO at Palo Alto Networks, Global Vice President of Marketing for IBM Cloud and, most recently, CMO at Armis Security. Ms. English has also held international leadership roles, including CMO of IBM Asia Pacific located in Singapore.

Jean is an exceptional marketing leader with a proven track record of delivering business results. She is a great addition to our team and will help further strengthen our position as the clear leader in experience-first networking and help scale Junipers next chapter of growth.

- Manoj Leelanivas, EVP & Chief Operating Officer, Juniper Networks

About Juniper Networks

Juniper Networks is dedicated to dramatically simplifying network operations and driving superior experiences for end users. Our solutions deliver industry-leading insight, automation, security and AI to drive real business results. We believe that powering connections will bring us closer together while empowering us all to solve the worlds greatest challenges of well-being, sustainability and equality. Additional information can be found at Juniper Networks (www.juniper.net) or connect with Juniper on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook.

Juniper Networks, the Juniper Networks logo, Juniper, Junos, and other trademarks listed here are registered trademarks of Juniper Networks, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the United States and other countries. Other names may be trademarks of their respective owners.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230516005149/en/
Margaret Helen Shepherd from UK has been announced as the winner of the Aster Guardians Global Nursing Award 2023 in a prestigious award ceremony held at Queen Elizabeth II Centre in London. The winner was announced by Dr. Azad Moopen, Founder Chairman and Managing Director of Aster DM Healthcare and the award was presented by Professor Jamie Waterall, Deputy Chief Public Health Nurse for the Office of Health Improvement & Disparities at Govt. of UK alongside Ms. Sheila Sobrany  President of Royal College of Nursing; Ms. Alisha Moopen, Deputy Managing Director, Aster DM Healthcare; and Mr. TJ Wilson  Executive Director and Group Head  Governance & Corporate Affairs, Aster DM Healthcare.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230515005491/en/

Margaret Helen Shepherd from the UK - Winner of the Aster Guardians Global Nursing Award 2023 (Photo: AETOSWire)

Launched on International Nurses Day in May 2021 by Aster DM Healthcare, with an aim to recognise the selfless contribution of nurses to millions of patients worldwide, Aster Guardians Global Nursing Award 2023 received an overwhelming response from nurses worldwide with over 52,000 nurses from 202 countries, a 116% growth from the last edition which had received 24,000 applications.

The award ceremony also saw a special video message from Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus  Director General of World Health Organisation being played to congratulate all the finalists and thank Aster DM Healthcare for the initiative.

On winning the award, Nurse Margaret said, I am deeply humbled and grateful to receive the prestigious Aster Guardians Global Nursing Award. As healthcare professionals, we are privileged to be able to make a positive impact on the lives of our patients, and I feel blessed to be part of such a rewarding profession. This award not only recognises my personal achievements but also highlights the importance of nursing as a critical component of healthcare. Thank you to all my colleagues, mentors, and patients who have supported me throughout my career.

Margaret has been dedicated to improving diabetes care through better diagnosis. She is the leading nurse for monogenic diabetes in the UK and provides advice to clinicians across the world regarding the management of this condition. She set up a national network of genetic diabetes nurses in 2002 to increase awareness of this condition (which is initially misdiagnosed in 80% of cases, resulting in patients being treated with unnecessary insulin injections). She was one of 70 national [email protected] Senior Nurse Research Leaders (driving innovation and new roles to increase research awareness and engagement within clinical care) and has received the prestigious Florence Nightingale Foundation Leadership Scholarship.

Dr. Azad Moopen, Founder Chairman and Managing Director of Aster DM Healthcare said, We are honoured to announce Ms Margaret Helen Shepherd from the United Kingdom as the winner of this year's Aster Guardians Global Nursing Award. She has exemplified the highest standards of patient care and dedication that is inspirational, and it deserves global recognition. Each one of the top 10 finalists have done phenomenal work and the Grand Jury had a tough time assessing and selecting the final winner. We are privileged to offer Aster Guardians Global Nursing Award as a platform to share and honor the accomplishments of exceptional nurses from around the globe.

Ms. Alisha Moopen, Deputy Managing Director, Aster DM Healthcare said, Aster Guardians Global Nursing Award is a small yet significant expression of gratitude that aligns with this year's International Nurses Day theme, Our Nurses. Our Future. Nurses ensure that patients receive high-quality care and often go beyond their call of duty to ensure that the right care is provided. This often helps them develop into other areas like research, innovation, mentorship, education, digitization among others as the stories of this years finalists and the winner have showcased. We as individuals and organizations must ensure that they receive the recognition they deserve, and this is where initiatives like Aster Guardians Global Nursing Award come into play. As a group, we will continue to support and celebrate the tireless efforts of nurses and put forth their inspiring stories of excellence.

The rest of the 9 finalists, Cathy Cribben-Pearse from UAE, Christine Mawia Sammy from Kenya, Gloria Ceballo from Panama, Jincy Jerry from Ireland, Lilian Yew Siew Mee from Singapore, Michael Joseph Dino from Philippines, Shanti Teresa Lakra from India, Teresa Fraga from Portugal, and Wilson Fungameza Gwessa from Tanzania were also awarded with a monetary prize.

These nurses were selected through a stringent review process run by Ernst & Young LLP, a panel of Screening-Jury and the Grand Jury.

About Aster DM Healthcare

Aster DM Healthcare Limited is one of the largest private healthcare service providers operating in GCC and in India. With an inherent emphasis on clinical excellence, we are one of the few entities in the world with a strong presence across primary, secondary, tertiary, and quaternary healthcare through our 30 hospitals, 125 clinics, 496* pharmacies, 20 labs and 157 patient experience centers in seven countries, including India. We reach out to all economic segments in the GCC states through our differentiated healthcare services across the Aster, Medcare and Access brands.

* Including 239 Pharmacies in India operated by Alfaone Retail Pharmacies Private Limited under brand license from Aster.

*Source: AETOSWire

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230515005491/en/
The RBSE Rajasthan Board Class 8th Result 2023 has declared today, May 17, by the Directorate of Education, Rajasthan. The results has announced online at 12 pm and it can be accessed on the official Shala Darpan portal at rajshaladarpan.nic.in. Students can also check their scores on rajeduboard.rajasthan.gov.in and rajresults.nic.in.

Rajasthan Education Minister BD Kalla had earlier confirmed the date and time of the announcement. In a tweet, he stated that the results for the eighth board examination, which saw an impressive participation of approximately 13 lakh students, will be released at noon today.

To check their results, students are advised to keep their admit cards handy as they will need to enter their roll numbers and other required details.

Here's How to Check the RBSE 8th Result 2023:

Visit the official Rajasthan Shala Darpan portal at rajshaladarpan.nic.in.

Locate and click on the Class 8 result link.

Enter the necessary credentials and login.

Once logged in, you will be able to view and download your result.

The Class 8th board examination holds significant importance for students as it serves as a foundation for their future academic endeavors. The results will provide a comprehensive assessment of their performance and help them make informed decisions regarding their further studies.

This year's examination witnessed an impressive participation of around 13 lakh students, reflecting the dedication and hard work put in by the young minds. The Rajasthan Education Minister also commended their efforts and expressed his best wishes for their future endeavors.

As the RBSE Rajasthan Board Class 8th Result 2023 is unveiled today, students across the state are eagerly awaiting their scores. The online availability of the results on the official portals will enable them to access their results conveniently. It is advised that students maintain calm and patience while checking their scores and celebrate their achievements accordingly.
Subaru and Mazda have topped the list when it comes to recommended carsnew or usedfor teen drivers. This is according to the U.S.-based In...
President Jimmy Carter, My Hero and Strength

By Makoy Samuel Yibi, Director, Guinea Worm Eradication Program, South Sudan Ministry of Health Editors note: Makoy Samuel Yibi first met former U.S. President Jimmy Carter in 1995, after which they formed a strong relationship. In 2008, Yibi received the Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter Award for Guinea Worm Eradication for his leadership in reducing cases of the disease in what is now South Sudan. He wrote the following elegy for his mentor and hero. President Jimmy Carter, you represent the true meaning of HOPE to the people of South Sudan, even when it is humanly impossible to hope for an exit from the numerous quagmires that we go through since time immemorial. You were the only man in the world who believed that it is possible to achieve peace in Sudan during the 21-year civil war, and set alight the fire of peace that culminated in the Guinea worm cease-fire, Nairobi peace talks, etc. Your efforts built traction and finally peace was realized in 2005 through the comprehensive peace agreement (CPA).

Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter visits Terekeka County, Southern Sudan, in 2010 with Makoy Samuel Yibi (in blue jacket) at his side. (Photo: The Carter Center/ L. Gubb)

When the dust of war settled, the true burden of the Guinea worm disease was revealed with South Sudan accounting for over 80% of the cases reported globally in 2006. The concept of eradicating Guinea worm disease was initially a hard sell even for the South Sudanese people, who have suffered and seen many of their own agonized, deformed, and dehumanized by Guinea worm. The idea of eliminating the disease completely in South Sudan was viewed as an impossible goal. Again, you, Mr. President, single-handedly and persuasively rallied the whole world and leaders of South Sudan to have faith and commit to the eradication campaign. Then came the aha moment. In 10 years of concerted efforts by the Carter Center working with the Ministry of Health structures, South Sudan reduced cases by 99.99%. The Carter Center and your name, Mr. President, became household names. It is synonymous with hope, truth, success, self-confidence, hard work, commitment, dignity, prosperity, and freedom from disease and poverty.
The Florida Department of Education is investigating one of its teachers for showing her fifth-grade students Disneys Strange World while the kids took a break during standardized testing.

Who is the teacher? Jenna Barbee, a first-year teacher at Winding Waters School in Hernando County, Florida. On Sunday, Barbee put out a six-minute Tiktok video in which she explains the circumstances that led to the investigation.

What is the complaint? According to Barbee, she is being accused of indoctrination and possible violations of the Parental Rights in Education Act, commonly known as the Dont Say Gay law which was introduced by Governor Ron DeSantis last year. The legislation prohibits teaching about gender and sexual identity to school students. The movie Strange World features a teenage character named Ethan Clade who is gay and has a crush on a male character named Diazo. The complainant argued to the school board that allowing movies such as this assist teachers in opening a door, and please hear me, they assist teachers in opening the door for conversations that have no place in our classrooms.

Where did the complaint come from? Barbee was reported to the local school board by the mother of a student who was present when the film was screened. Barbee says the students mother, who is a recent addition to the school board herself, is on a rampage to get rid of every form of representation out of our schools and that she has visited numerous schools in the district to force teachers to take down anything that had to do with representation whatsoever.

Who is the mom? According to the Florida publication The Tallahassee Democrat, the school board member is Shannon Rodriguez, a member of the right-wing group Moms for Liberty who has publicly spoken out in favor of removing books she believes are pornographic from school libraries. At a school board meeting about the Barbee investigation, Rodriguez argued, It is not a teachers job to impose their beliefs upon a child: religious, sexual orientation, gender identity, any of the above.

Why did Barbee pick Strange World? Barbee says she picked the film because her students were studying earth science and ecosystems and the agricultural themes in Strange World tied in well to her lesson plan. She also says the films messages of overcoming differences, spreading kindness, communication, and chasing your dreams are all encouraged by Florida education system standards.

Did she not foresee any problems? At the beginning of the year, the parents of every fifth-grade student were asked to sign permission slips that would allow teachers to screen PG-rated films in the classroom. According to Barbee, every one of her students got permission from their parents except one, who said their child couldnt watch the Pixar film Lightyear. That student wasnt in the classroom on the day Strange World was screened, so Barbee felt she was in the clear to show the film as she already had the blessings of the remaining students parents. She also argues that the existence of gay characters in the film doesnt indicate any kind of agenda and that nobody has had any objections to the numerous on-screen kisses shared by the films straight characters.

Whats happening now? In her Tiktok video, Barbee says the board of education is pulling her students out of class one by one to interrogate them about the screening. This seems to be Barbees single greatest objection to the entire situation. Do you know the trauma that is going to cause to some of my students? Barbee asks in the video. Some of them can barely come and have a conversation with me, and are just getting comfortable with me, and now an investigator is allowed to come and interrogate them. Are you kidding me? What is that showing them?

Big picture: What, if any, impact this investigation may have on the ongoing feud between The Walt Disney Company, its CEO Bob Iger, and the Florida governor is hard to tell. However, neither side has shied away from using whatever ammunition is available to them as the conflict has escalated. Most recently, Iger suggest during his companys Q2 earnings call that if DeSantis continues his crusade against the company, Disney World might drop its plans to invest $17 billion and create 13,000 new jobs in the state over the next decade.
South Africa: Deputy Ministers reinforce commitment for equitable water supply

The Deputy Ministers of Water and Sanitation, David Mahlobo and Judith Tshabalala, have reiterated governments commitment of ensuring equitable water supply and dignified sanitation for all, as mandated by the countrys Constitution.

The Deputy Ministers were speaking after Minister Senzo Mchunu tabled the departments R40.291 billion budget for the 2023/2024 financial year in the National Assembly in Cape Town on Tuesday.

Mahlobo reiterated that South Africa's water resources are limited and scarce, noting that the situation is getting worse due to droughts, and increasing demand associated with population growth and a developing economy.

As a country, we are approaching the full utilisation of our available water resources. We therefore require a strategic change in the use and conservation of our water resources, Mahlobo said.

He said the department is in the process of implementing several measures to ensure the increased use of groundwater in a sustainable and reliable manner, emphasising that the management of borehole-based water service schemes by municipalities should be improved.

The department has developed generic standard operating procedures for municipalities to follow. These include groundwater planning and exploration, drilling, borehole testing, monitoring, operation and maintenance.

Compliance with these standard operating procedures will be included in the revised norms and standards for water services to be issued under the Water Services Act. We have also requested National Treasury to include compliance with the standard operating procedures in the grant frameworks, Mahlobo said.

Meanwhile, Tshabalala raised concern on the negative impact of infrastructure vandalism, water pollution and illegal water connections, which often hinder work done to accelerate the delivery of water and sanitation related services.

Tshabalala said the department is taking action to ensure water users comply with the National Water Act by registering and obtaining the necessary authorisations, while enforcing penalties against illegal users, and ensuring payment of water services, including the capacitation of local municipalities in the provision of reliable water services.

Criminal charges against water polluters

Tshabalala said the department will monitor polluters through the consistent implementation of regulatory actions.

From April 2022 to date, the department has issued 280 notices and directives under sections 19, 20, 53, and 118 of the National Water Act. These actions are aimed at compelling polluters to take remedial action and curb the pollution of water resources, Tshabalala said.

The department has also pursued criminal action against polluters by instituting charges against 12 water users for unlawfully polluting water resources.

Over six case dockets have been finalised and handed to the National Prosecuting authority (NPA) to take a decision to prosecute and thus far, four plea sentencing agreements were reached. Two municipalities pleaded guilty to all charges and the court imposed fines.

The department then initiated two court interdict applications against water users found to have caused pollution of our water resources, and one court order was granted against a municipality for causing pollution during the same period, Tshabalala said.

She further noted the impact the current power challenges have on water supply, saying that the department has since taken significant steps to ensure fair and equitable opportunities in water use for electricity generation.

We made a public request for applications from independent power producers. We aim to grant water use licenses for hydropower generation in a transparent and unbiased manner, allowing all potential investors an equal chance to contribute to our energy needs.

Additionally, to lower costs and maintain vital infrastructure during load shedding, we sought expressions of interest from independent power producers to establish renewable electricity generation capacity and establish long-term off-take agreements.

These actions will not only benefit our department but also ensure uninterrupted water supply to Eskom during severe periods of load shedding, this is as we continue to work together to harness the power of water and renewable energy, fostering sustainable development and securing our energy future, she said.  SAnews.gov.za

This story has been published on: 2023-05-17. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
Members of Chattanooga City Council approved a new project at 2001 Riverside Dr. that will provide mixed uses of office, residential and retail for the 29.5 acre tract. The developers will also provide space for future retail.

The property was sold this week to the developers for $29,750,000.

The developers received approval for the property to be re-zoned from M-1 to C-2, which allows the development of mixed used including residential, retail and office.

Kenco Logistics has been on the property for many years and will remain as a long-term tenant. Leaders from Southeastern noted their goal was "to develop a neighborhood that will welcome working professionals along with families who will be living along Chattanoogas Riverwalk where they can enjoy biking, running, walking and other amenities along the scenic route."

Rhodes Seeger of Southeastern Development said, This new neighborhood will be an anchor for those working downtown as well as for those traveling to East Chattanooga on their daily commutes. With the city planning to invest in the renovation of the Wilcox Boulevard Bridge, the timing of our project couldnt have come at a better time.

He said the design "will be as attractive from the Tennessee River as it is from Riverside Drive. We listened to the neighbors as well as to the Regional Planning Commission and incorporated changes that we believe will enhance the overall project.

Some of the changes included parking requirements and an ADA-compliant sidewalk to connect the property to the Riverwalk.

The project is located in District 8 which is represented by Councilwoman Marvene Noel. She said, Riverside Drive and the plans for the Wilcox Boulevard Bridge will make a tremendous impact in District 8. I look forward to continuing to work with Southeastern throughout the life of the project.
The above line from the Blues Brothers movie (1980) and cult classic starring Dan Aykroyd and the late John Belushi has taken on a local similarity as a result of the quick action of Collegedale law enforcement officers in answering a 9-1-1 call on May 15, 2023 from a voice claiming that they were God and wanted the police to bring them a Gatorade.

Such an unusual and unverified communication between parties from the specific source of the call nevertheless resulted in a visit to the location of one of the voices.

Apparently the on scene caller of the alleged two way communication had quenched their thirst and acted in an apologetic repentant manner and was able to convince the night shift Eliot Ness (Untouchables) officers to just give them a warning for misusing 9-1-1 when it is not an emergency.

This wise move on the callers independent decision - or after receiving further legal advice from their second party mentor - saved him an overnight trip to the former sheriff of Hamilton Countys five star police resort in Silverdale.

Although the record is silent as to the application of the Biblical parable of changing water into wine, the circumstances and the action of the next day first shift officers being summoned back to the site of the potential miracle in the interval something had transformed the Gatorade into some type of alcoholic beverage.

The second set of Boys in Blue (girls, etc.) were not quite as understanding as the second shift officers and, after the resident allegedly received another divine message from above, went into a neighbors driveway and began screaming.

As a result he was assigned a room at the previously mentioned inn on charges of disorderly conduct, criminal trespass, public intoxication, and resisting arrest.

The coverage by the local, state, and national news media may exceed that of the Tennessee 3 in the Tennessee General Assembly (House only) and may also replace unfavorable reflections on the Volunteer State in the previously mentioned Scopes Monkey Trial in Dayton in several prior articles.

Because the case is still in the early stages it is unclear as to whether defense counsel on behalf of their client will attempt to call as a witness the other party on the two calls to show a lack of criminal intent to violate the law.

If the witness is available it is anticipated that they will substantiate the defendants defense that the conversion of the Gatorade into an alcoholic beverage was a spiritual mistake.

(The appropriate quote from the Blues Brothers movie and the live witness might soften the heart of our law and order DA and the sitting judge on the case!)
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) is the state version of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in Tennessee that is now financially supported like other government agencies by budget requests pursuant to the jurisdiction of the Tennessee General Assembly.

It also has statutory authority to conduct its own criminal investigations and is now many times requested to assert or take over the field and laboratory work in conjunction with the local duly elected District Attorney in the Volunteer State.

It was originally created in 1951 and over the years it has been expanded and re-established as an independent agency that operates three crime labs that perform forensic testings of all alcohol and drugs, blood specimens, rape kits and six field offices in the states major cities.

Without these laboratories the investigation and prosecution of criminal cases in the State of Tennessee would not only be more expensive but would also lead to more delays in the evaluation of cases by the local District Attorneys, public defenders, and defense counsel in their efforts to address the increasing number of cases in the state.

Although originally created as an independent, unbiased, state agency to assist local law enforcement in the investigation of serious crimes its responsibilities outside that specific designation have expanded to collecting and publishing data on crime statistics, a registry of sex offenders and other duties under leadership of a Director appointed by the sitting Governor for a six-year term.

The TBI has not been without controversy in its existence since 1951 and its ever increasing caseloads. Mistakes have been made and delays in providing laboratory results have produced criticism, but much of it has been unfounded.

In America, the wheels of justice often move slowly and unfortunately encourage self-appointed critics under the often political banner of being tough on crime to take advantage of sometimes unavoidable delays for a variety of reasons.

* * *

You can reach Jerry Summers at jsummers@summersfirm.com
A cleaning crew at the Springhill Suites hotel found a handgun in a drawer near a Bible. The handgun was turned over to the police department.

Police gave a courtesy ride to an individual in the 5400 block of Ooltewah Ringgold Road who was trying to walk to work.



An officer made contact with an individual begging for money on Walmart property and asked them to vacate the premises at the request of the property owner.



An unknown 9-1-1 call came in from the Winding Creek apartments.

The area was checked but no emergencies were found.Collegedale police were requested to assist the East Ridge police department by attempting to locate an individual at a residence in the 10700 block of Lonnie Lane. The individual no longer lived at that location.Police made contact with a homeless individual lying in the grass in front of the old Rite Aid building at Four Corners. The subject did not want to identify themself but cooperated with officers when asked to move along.Officers again made contact with the homeless individual near the same area after receiving reports that they were walking around and talking to themself. The officers provided food for the individual, but their efforts to offer a ride to a shelter were refused.Collegedale police assisted the TBI by making contact with an individual in the 5000 block of Silver Lane who had allegedly made threats over social media.An officer made contact with a suspicious vehicle parked behind an abandoned business in the 5900 block of Reagan Lane. Everything checked out ok.An alarm was activated at Truist Bank. The building was checked and found secure. Everything checked out ok.Police made contact with a vehicle parked in the corner of the Collegedale SDA Church parking lot, in the 4800 block of College Drive East. The vehicle was occupied by two local university students saying goodbye before going home for the summer. The students agreed to find a more appropriate location to bid farewell.A traffic stop in the 9300 block of Lee Highway resulted in the driver being charged with driving on a suspended license.
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Hamilton Medical Center, not-for-profit hospital and flagship of Hamilton Health Care System, announced plans on Wednesday for a record-setting facility expansion, approximately 175,000 square feet, to serve the growing cardiovascular needs of the region.

The Robert E. Shaw family has provided a gift of support for the cardiovascular pavilion, which will house cardiovascular surgery and an array of cardiovascular specialty services, such as electrophysiology, interventional cardiology, and structural cardiology.

Robert E. Shaw, flooring entrepreneur and longtime Hamilton supporter, said, Our family has been greatly affected by heart disease and we are committed to improving the lives of others in our community and in the surrounding region for generations to come. By providing this gift for Hamiltons facility expansion, we are supporting the continued growth of the first-class cardiovascular program at Hamilton so that everyone has access to the very best care.

Jeff Myers, president and chief executive officer for Hamilton Health Care System expressed his gratitude and outlined the Hamilton vision for cardiovascular care at Hamilton. He said, Hamilton is extremely grateful to Mr. Shaw and the Shaw family for their gift of support. From Hamiltons very beginning in 1921, the hospital, and subsequently, the health system, has been known for bringing healthcare innovation to this region, including open heart surgery and advanced cardiovascular care.

The cardiovascular program has seen high growth in the last few years, especially with the development of the cardiovascular surgery program. Mr. Myers explained, For far too long, cardiovascular disease has taken a tremendous toll and we have felt the loss of too many of our friends, families and neighbors in this region. Hamilton has recruited best-in-class teams of surgeons, physicians, nursing, clinical and support staff because excellence in cardiovascular care is what everyone deserves and it is what Hamilton demands of itself and for those it serves. Our pledge to our patients and to each other is Excellence. Every Person. Every Time. This facility construction project represents our commitment to our pledge, physician-led and patient-centered care, and our continued commitment to revolutionize the future of healthcare.

With news of hospital and health system mergers across the country, including the north Georgia/southern Tennessee region, Hamilton is one of the few remaining independent health systems with its leadership and boards of trustees local to the region it serves so that when planning for, consulting with, and deciding on future developments, it is done with the unique needs of the region front and center at all times.

G. Lamar Lyle, chair of the Hamilton Health Care Systems Board of Trustees, and Robert Chandler, chair of the Hamilton Medical Center Board of Trustees, jointly echoed Mr. Myers remarks, expressing their gratitude to the Shaw family and support for this remarkable facility project. Hamilton is deeply rooted within the history and the innovative spirit of this region, for which Mr. Shaw and the Shaw family are also known. The boards of trustees of Hamilton Medical Center and Hamilton Health Care System recently approved and fully support the hospital and system in the plans to develop this regional center for excellence in cardiovascular care, which will further expand Hamiltons best-in-class heart program and allow people from this region and beyond to have access to the very best in heart care. The Shaw familys gift is a fundamental step toward making this happen. It is an extraordinary commitment to the future of healthcare in this region, and the Boards of Trustees for Hamilton Medical Center and Hamilton Health Care System wish to express our appreciation to Mr. Shaw and the Shaw family.

Scott Sellers, Whitfield Healthcare Foundation Board of Trustees chair, said, The philanthropic support from this community is not often seen in other communities and it has provided healthcare opportunities which might not otherwise be available at hospitals similar to the size of Hamilton Medical Center. The Shaw family gift is a significant level of support for continuing Hamiltons vision and commitment to innovation and excellence in cardiovascular care.

As with past construction projects, such as Peeples Cancer Institute and Anna Shaw Childrens Institute, Hamilton places patient-centered care as the top priority in this new construction endeavor. To that end, Hamilton has sought input from physicians, providers, clinicians, and operational and support staff in developing the plans and project scope for the cardiovascular facility construction project.

Ateet Patel, M.D., Hamiltons chief of cardiology, said, The cardiovascular team is dedicated to heart care excellence, the continued development of new treatment modalities, and integrating the latest technological advancements as we revolutionize heart care in this region. This state-of-the-art cardiovascular construction project and the philanthropic support from the Shaw family will provide even more opportunities to meet the growing heart care needs of those we serve.

Richard Morrison, M.D., Hamiltons medical director of cardiac surgery, said, This has the potential to change lives. Heart disease continues to be the leading cause of death, and many of our patients possess heart disease risk factors that are prevalent across the region. We are very grateful to Mr. Shaw and the Shaw family for their gift and for their commitment to Hamilton and to healthcare in our region.

Michael Hartley, M.D., Hamiltons medical director of vascular services, said, With the high occurrence of vascular disease in the region, and the often co-occurrence with heart disease, the cardiovascular pavilion construction will make a significant difference for those we serve. We offer our sincere gratitude to Mr. Shaw and the Shaw family.

Hamilton will continue to provide updates throughout the construction project. Mr. Myers said, Hamilton has begun the construction process, which starts with state review and approval. A project this important for the people of this region, and with the support and commitment of the Shaw family, will be state-of-the-art in both design, construction, and patient experience. We look forward to welcoming in our friends, family and neighbors to celebrate the completion of the cardiovascular pavilion and to celebrate the future of healthcare excellence.
The County Commission on Wednesday morning voted 7-4 against shifting $250,000 in unused Health Department funds to the Clinica Medicos health clinic.

Chairman Chip Baker said he was bothered by the process used and said he had heard from other local healthcare providers saying, "If you're giving away money, we're interested."

Commissioner Lee Helton raised questions about Clinica Medicos being part non-profit and part the for profit Arnold Medical Management. He said, "It's a bad look."

Commissioner Ken Smith said, "I would never be in favor of giving for capital projects" to a private group. The initial presentation by County Mayor Weston Wamp asked for $250,000 each from the city and county toward the clinic completing a planned new facility across from Montague Park.

The latest version of the resolution said the money would go for services and did not mention capital.

Dr. Kelly Arnold said of the clinic, "I had an idea nine years ago. At the time we had five people and no patients." She said the clinic now serves thousand of patients and stays open on Saturday and Sunday, when it sees 25 percent of the patient load.

She said no one is turned away.

Officials said the money had been slated to come from budget for the county Health Department's primary care clinic, which has been trying to hire two physicians but not been able to attract any due to inadequate salary.

Commissioner Jeff Eversole said the focus should have been on offering sign on bonuses and increasing the pay level.

Commissioner Steve Highlander noted that the health department offers dental services downtown and at Ooltewah. Dr. Arnold said the new facility will have a dental department.

Commissioner David Sharpe said, "Dr. Arnold, I'm sorry you were put in this position on a project that was not thoroughly vetted, and you are left to stand here without the support of the sponsor of this resolution."

County Mayor Wamp was not at the meeting. His staff said he was at a conference with Supt. Justin Robertson. County Mayor Wamp issued this statement afterward, The growing Latino community in Hamilton County, now 20 percent of our public school population, has been overlooked by public officials for years, and they were overlooked again today. Earlier this year, Chattanooga was ranked 149th of 182 U.S. cities in overall public health. We must ensure that vulnerable populations have access to affordable healthcare services.

"Clinica Medicos will continue their outstanding work to serve Hamilton County students and families, which has been supported by the State of Tennessee and our most prominent local foundations. While todays vote was disappointing, we hope county commissioners will join these other partners in supporting the vital services provided by organizations like this."

Claire McVay, his chief of staff, said the funding did not involve any sort of Request for Proposals so that other medical providers could apply. She said it was "a budget amendment."

Commissioner Sharpe said, "It is very unusual for a resolution to have substantial changes in it. It is evidence of an ill-advised resolution."

Commissioner Greg Beck said he was "appalled at the scrutiny this item is getting." He said of Dr. Arnold, "She loves people and she wants to help them."

Commissioner Gene-o Shipley said among the patients at the clinic are veterans, who may have trouble getting to a VA center.

Voting in favor were Commissioners Beck, Shipley, Joe Graham and Mike Chauncey.

Against were Commissioners Baker, Sharpe, Highlander, Smith, Helton, Eversole and Warren Mackey.
May 1 is Law Day. This date is set aside to honor the rule of law in the United States. President Dwight Eisenhower started Law Day in 1958 through a proclamation intended to enhance the publics understanding of how law contributes to American freedom, liberty, and justice. As the proclamation read, In a very real sense, the world no longer has a choice between force and law. If civilization is to survive, it must choose the rule of law. In 1961, Congress made the proclamation into law through a joint resolution establishing May 1 as Law Day.



A century earlier, Abraham Lincoln recognized the importance of the rule of law in combating societal turmoil, mob intimidation, and violence. He argued that cultivating respect for the rule of law is the best remedy for mob violence and civil unrest among the population:



Let reverence for the laws, be breathed by every American mother, to the lisping babe, that prattles on her laplet it be taught in schools, in seminaries, and in colleges; let it be written in primers, spelling books, and in almanacs; let it be preached from the pulpit, proclaimed in legislative halls, and enforced in courts of justice.



The American Bar Association was central to the eventual establishment of Law Day as a national day set aside to celebrate the rule of law that underscores how law and the legal process have contributed to the freedoms that all Americans share. The ABAs Law Day theme for 2023 is Cornerstones of Democracy: Civics, Civility, and Collaboration. Those three wordscivics, civility, and collaborationhave special resonance for the courts. Each word represents an essential component of an effective judicial system.



CIVICS

The federal courts are a foundational institution of American democracy. It is in the courts where the people access justice. It is in the courts where the people have their disputes resolved in a structured, non-violent, and generally accepted manner, i.e., through the rule of law. It is in the courts where the Constitutions guarantees are realized. It is in the courts where the people obtain definitive decisions on the Constitution and other laws. The courts also give individuals a firsthand view of their government in action and, through jury service, a means to affect how their government resolves disputes.



CIVILITY

The courts provide an excellent model for resolving disputes without resorting to rancor or violence. Parties with deeply held disagreements come into courts across our country on a daily basis and are able to discuss and debate their differences without descending into uncontrolled hostility. They are able to do this because most parties and court participants practice civility. They disagree without being disagreeable. They engage in civil discourse by respecting the other sides right to have a different opinion and to state that opinion. By listening to the other side respectfully, parties can more often achieve a resolution both sides can live with.



COLLABORATION

The work of the courtswhich is actually the peoples businessgets done thanks to the efforts and collaboration of untold numbers of people. Cases are filed in federal courts either by litigants or by attorneys acting on behalf of litigants. Once a case is filed, court clerks receive the cases and process subsequent matters pertaining to them. Court reporters create transcripts of what takes place in court so litigants and the public can have a complete and accurate record of what happened. Law clerks assist judges in researching the law and issuing well-reasoned and clear opinions. In criminal cases, prosecutors and defense attorneys present their varying views on the disposition of the case. In civil cases, attorneys for the parties represent their clients positions in court and work together to identify the facts that underly the dispute. In both criminal and civil cases, the attorneys collaborate to determine if it is possible to negotiate a resolution to the case. The U.S. Marshals Service protects the judge and other court personnel, serves warrants issued by the court, arrests and brings to court individuals charged with federal crimes, and transports prisoners to local jails while their cases are pending or to federal prisons if they are convicted and sentenced to incarceration.

And most importantly, ordinary people acting as jurors play an essential role in dispensing justice in both civil and criminal cases. Average citizens are asked to leave their everyday pursuits to come into our courthouses to serve as members of grand juries and petit juries. As grand jurors, they decide when there is enough evidence for a person to have to stand trial for a felony crime. As petit or trial jurors in both civil and criminal cases, they hear competing parties present their sides of disputes. They do their very best to arrive at fair and impartial decisions based on the evidence and arguments of the parties. And in federal courts, a trial jurys decision must be unanimous, meaning that jurors must also engage in civil discourse with each other, working together to reach a just result under the law. Without the collaboration of these ordinary citizens acting as jurors, our system of law would not be what it is.



CONCLUSION

Civics, civility, and collaboration: three necessary ingredients in keeping the federal courts functioning so we all can live under the rule of law. Truly they are cornerstones of democracy.



Curtis L. Collier

United States District Judge

Chair, Eastern District of Tennessee Civics and Outreach Committee



Carrie Brown Stefaniak

Law Clerk to the Honorable Curtis L. Collier

Past President, Chattanooga Chapter of the Federal Bar Association



Karen L. Sheng

Law Clerk to the Honorable Curtis L. Collier
ArtsBuild is pleased to announce the local artists selected to work on the Chattanooga Art + Climate Project, an 18-month effort to engage local and nationally recognized artists around issues of climate affecting the Rossville Boulevard Corridor. Artists will work with community members to create works of art addressing and educating the public about flooding and heat islands. All the artists have connections to the Corridor.

The three local artists selected for the Rossville Blvd. projects are:

Aubrey Charnell  A classically trained figurative sculptor specializing in the human figure using clay cast into bronze, resin, or plaster. https://www.singulart.com/en/artist/aubrey-charnell-21179

Chase Guajardo  A ceramic artist and printmaker who specializes in the Mexican folk art of Alebrijes. The textured animals she creates are, from her perspective, friendly protectors of areas that need protecting. https://guajardochase.wixsite.com/mysite

Andy Ramirez  His work exists in the space of digital photography, the style of which relies on the manipulation of light and focus. He captures a moment and keeps the editing to a minimum and pushes and pulls the subject from the background and creates a three-dimensional effect that gives his work its signature look. https://www.andyramirezphotography.com/

Three national artists are being considered for the project, and they will visit Chattanooga in late June to interview and present their ideas to the community. They are:

Xavier Cortada  A Miami-based social practitioner and artist who has used the power of art to engage communities in creative problem-solving. https://cortada.com/

Adam Frelin  Throughout his 25-year career creating artwork for outdoor locations and public places, he has had substantial experience collaborating with architects, designers, and engineers. Several of his projects have involved extensive outreach components to ensure that the greatest number of voices and opinions are heard. https://www.adamfrelin.com/

Laila Islam & Amber Art and Design  Amber Art and Design is an artist team made up of individuals who value the connection that public art can bring to people. https://amberartanddesign.com/about/

The public is invited to follow ArtsBuild on social media and subscribe to the ArtsWire newsletter at www.artsbuild.com to be informed of the artists community presentations and other engagement activities of the project.
The first draft of Red Banks budget for fiscal year 2023-2024 has been created and is ready for discussion at two public meetings that will be held on Thursday, May 25, at 4 p.m. and on Wednesday, May 31, at 5 p.m. The current property tax rate is $1.10 for every $100 of assessed value of the property. Included in the $9,773,647 operating budget is a seven percent cost of living adjustment for all employees with targeted increases for a few employees in order to be competitive for retaining them. There will also be enhanced longevity pay and long-term disability provided for the first time.

The new budget plans are to add several new positions, including two police officers which will increase the department to 26 officers. In order to have more firefighters on duty during the overnight hours, funds have been added to the part time budget for the fire department. This will allow five firefighters to be on duty during that time period. A full-time person for the stormwater department will be hired with a goal to create a stormwater infrastructure inventory and map. Plans are to implement a stormwater fixed fee based on the size and type of property.

One employee will be shifted from the streets department to the solid waste department and a new leaf truck will be purchased that will reduce the need for seasonal hiring in the fall. Improvements to the citys roads are planned according to a system that will grade the condition of streets throughout the city. And there will be expansion of parks, trails and recreation services.

A zoning change is needed for 8.29 acres that abuts property at Strawberry Lane, Lullwater Road, Lynda Circle and Alden Avenue before a large new neighborhood of residential townhouses can be built. The property is located in an area of steep slopes. At the commission meeting on May 2, a vote to rezone from R-1 Single family residential was postponed while waiting for clarification of the citys building requirements for steep slopes. After that meeting, City Attorney Arnold Stulce, along with Leslie Johnson, capital projects manager for Red Bank, and with the planning commission recommendations, tried to loosen restrictions and to clarify the citys requirements. The stipulations are meant to be responsible with land disturbance and slope stabilization, said Ms. Johnson.

On Tuesday night, Jason Craven, the developer from Watchtower Investments, told the commissioners that civil engineers from RaganSmith Associates engineering firm still do not understand the ordinance as written. He referred to the citys position as capricious, and requested that the ordinance presented for a vote to rezone the property be amended for clarity or that he be given a letter of clarity before moving forward with the development. The most pressing issue is about conditions in a variance the city may or may not give that could allow Watchtower to build more than eight homes on the property, which is what the maximum number is today.

Attorney Stulce took issue with the description of capricious, and said the citys planning commission has spent months working on this project and had hired outside engineers as consultants. They came back with considerably different recommendations than the engineers representing Watchtower made. Attorney Stulce recommended that Watchtower give the city what they think is a threshold to grant a variance.



Commissioner Pete Phillips said he knows that he is not qualified to make judgments about land stability. You could say that he bought a piece of land he cant develop, but he suggested listening to the companys engineers. He said if they put their stamp of approval on the project, then it becomes their problem.



Vice Mayor Stefanie Dalton said she is not comfortable making further amendments to the conditions of the ordinance at this time, but she was willing to move forward with a vote as it was written. The commissioners approved the rezoning request on the second and final vote. Next, details will go back through the planning commission and discussions can be continued with Watchtower about the future of the development.

Another consideration to the current plan is opposition to a nature trail by most of the neighbors to the new development. A resident of Alden Avenue spoke to the commissioners regarding the path that is included in the plan. He said most neighbors in the area are against the trail because it crosses behind everybodys back yards, it is not a trail to a park, he said. This is a privacy issue, he said, while giving the commissioners a list of signatures from the neighborhood who do not want the path to be built.

Red Bank has an existing contract with the Tennessee Department of Transportation for paving Dayton Boulevard from Browntown Road to Gadd Road. It was planned in 2019 and, since then, the costs of construction and goods have increased, Public Works Director Greg Tate told the commissioners. The difference from the original cost estimate has increased by $125,000. TDOT has put the paving on hold until the city has committed to fully funding it. The increase was approved at the commission meeting with the additional cost to come from the citys State Street Aid fund.

Also approved was the purchase of a jet/vac system designed for stormwater utility maintenance. The cost is $470,168 for the stormwater department.

The board passed a resolution proclaiming May 21-27 as National Public Works week to honor the employees who perform the vital work to keep the city running and improve the quality of life for residents of Red Bank.
Carbios, a pioneer in the development and industrialization of biological technologies to reinvent the life cycle of plastic and textiles, has been selected among the 22,000 start-ups in the French Tech ecosystem to represent French innovation at the 6th "Choose France" Summit. "Choose France" is an international business summit dedicated to the attractiveness of France launched at the initiative of Emmanuel Macron, the President of the Republic. Only ten companies, including Carbios, have been chosen to exhibit their technologies at the Chateau de Versailles. On this occasion, Carbios announces that it has joined the Coq Vert community launched by Bpifrance in partnership with ADEME and the Ministry of Ecological Transition, to connect with other environmentally committed business leaders and advance its international deployment.

"With INRAE, we chose to highlight Carbios at the Choose France summit as a symbol of French economic dynamism," comments Philippe Gassmann, Secretary General Choose France 2023 (French Treasury). " With its innovative "Made in France" biotechnologies that bring plastic into the circular economy, Carbios illustrates the wealth of innovation within the French cleantech ecosystem. I thank Carbios for its ambassadorship for this ecosystem to the 200 foreign guests attending the 6th Choose France Summit with the theme: Investing for a sustainable future."

"Carbios is honored to have been selected by the Elysee Palace for Choose France. This international summit provides an opportunity for meetings between the President of the Republic, members of the Government and the leaders of major foreign and French companies to discuss France's economic ambitions and attractiveness," commented Emmanuel Ladent, Chief Executive Officer of Carbios. "Carbios is in the midst of a major industrial rollout, with a first plant planned in the Grand Est region, and the international commercial deployment of our processes. We are very grateful for the French Governments support at this strategic time for the company."
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Incidents of kidnapping have been rising in Nigeria. Recently, armed men attacked the Bege Baptist Church during its Sunday service and took 25 people hostages.

Kidnapping at Nigeria

In this federated state, whose safety has already been compromised by the Boko Haram insurgency since July 2014, local gunmen known as "bandits" are particularly active and engaged in criminal activity. The attacks carried out by the group have resulted in the deaths of many people. La Croix International reported that members of the populace are being kidnapped for ransom in various settings, including villages, schools, and roads.

As mentioned, bandits recently broke into the Bege Baptist Church in the Chikun district of Kaduna State (northwest) on Sunday, May 7, and kidnapped forty congregants. Pastor Joseph Hayab, the leader of the Christian Association of Nigeria in Kaduna State, said that while fifteen could flee, twenty-five are still being held. Hayab claims that he is still unaware of any requests for ransom money in connection with this incident, even though kidnappings for ransom are becoming more common in this part of Nigeria. He added he hopes "that the kidnappers will be merciful and free the remaining 25 people so they can return to their families".

As per NTV Kenya, after relative calm between the presidential and gubernatorial elections in February and March, there has been a recent uptick in the number of kidnappings to extract a ransom and attacks between communities. Moreover, as part of the ongoing conflict between ethnic Fulani herders and pastoral farmers in Kaduna, gunmen carried out a terrorist assault on a farming village in Kaduna last month, which resulted in the deaths of 33 individuals.

Additionally, ten schoolchildren were taken hostage in the central region of Kaduna earlier in the month; however, eight escaped captivity two weeks following their kidnapping and were also committed to obtaining Catholic priests. According to Globe World News Echo, at least forty people were killed when gunmen entered a Catholic church in the state of Ondo in the southwest of the country and began fire. The new president, Bola Tinubu, is scheduled to enter office at the end of this month. One of the primary issues he will face is maintaining national security. On the other hand, in addition to their struggle against criminal gangs, the armed forces of Nigeria are also engaged in a conflict with jihadists that has been going on for the past 14 years in Nigeria's northeast, and separatist tensions are heating up in the country's southeast.

Also Read:Nigeria Terrorist Killed Another 33 Christians

Attacks Against Christians

A report from the National Catholic Register stated that since 2012, the persecution of Christians in Nigeria has resulted in the deaths of up to 27,000 individuals. The Commissioner of the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), Rev. Johnnie Moore, stated that "thousands of churches have been torched, children massacred, pastors beheaded, and homes and fields set ablaze by the tens of thousands, with people being targeted for their Christian faith alone."

Although the administration of Nigeria is well aware of the atrocities committed against religious minorities within its borders, law enforcement in the country frequently closes its eyes to the plight of its citizens. Furthermore, the inability of the government of Nigeria to effectively hold terrorist organizations responsible for their actions demonstrates that the government does not truly protect the freedom of religion in the country.

Related Article:Terrorists in Nigeria Killed Rev. Musa Mairimi of Evangelical Church Winning All, Wife Kidnapped
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For the purpose of achieving the objective of constructing affordable housing units, St. Peter's Lutheran Church was awarded a fund worth $8.9 million by the Region of Waterloo. A Christian charitable organization called Indwell reportedly collaborated with the church to build their project.

St. Peter's Lutheran Church's Project

A report from CBC News stated that in 2022, St. Peter's Lutheran Church announced that it desired to develop 41 units of low-income housing at its position in the downtown area. On Friday, May 12, the Regional Chair Karen Redman stated that the St. Peter's initiative is an innovative and vital boost in the number of affordable homes for their community. "Thank you to our partners, including St. Peter's Church, Indwell, the Ontario Government, and the City of Kitchener for ensuring that we can deliver shovel-ready projects as part of Regional Council's affordable housing plan," Redman asserted.

Moreover, as part of the project, the church's classrooms and Software space, both underutilized, will be converted into flats with either one-bedroom or studio layouts. As per CTV News Kitchener, a ceremony to mark the beginning of construction was held on Friday morning, May 12, at the church located on Queen Street North. Indwell has announced that it will provide supportive housing for individuals looking for health, wellness, and a sense of belonging and make health services accessible to tenants on-site. This project aims to offer essential support to some of the region's most vulnerable residents.

Additionally, the church said there is a crisis level of homelessness and a lack of affordable housing in the area, which they have seen directly. St. Peter's Lutheran Church in Kitchener, Ontario, and Indwell, a Christian charity, have joined forces to construct forty-one reasonably priced apartments within the building that houses the church. The local government said it would donate $8.9 million toward the project's overall funding. As mentioned, the money was allocated from the strategic investment budget of the region and is being used as a component of the Building Better Futures project being carried out by the entire area.

Also Read:United Arab Emirates Officially Opens Interfaith Complex Housing, "Abrahamic Family House"

Affordable Housing Units Initiated by Another Church

Based on an article from Reasons to be Cheerful, Bishop George Matthews, who serves as the leader of the Genesis Worship Center in East Oakland, California, has long recognized that the concept of a home plays a vital role in his spiritual work. The bishop reportedly took out two mortgages on his property to pay for the present home of his congregation on Ritchie Street, a complex comprising a parking lot, sanctuary, and classroom. It was done to support the numerous ministries and community endeavors that his congregants were involved in. However, starting in the summer of 2021, the residence at Genesis would take on a new significance when the first occupants of a new apartment complex built on the premises with 12 individual units move in.

An early example of a wave of comparable initiatives breaking ground at faith-based organizations nationwide is Matthews' successful attempt to create affordable housing on church grounds. These efforts are being helped by an increasing number of supportive organizations, which assist with directing churches through the complicated process of building affordable housing. In the instance of Genesis Church, the $2.5 million complex, which is a cooperative initiative with builders New Way Homes and Envision Housing, not only offers the religious organization an additional way of serving the community but also helps finance its operations during a challenging period for urban churches to be in existence.

Related Article: Miami Archbishop Offers Long-term Housing and Opportunity for Exiled Nicaraguan Priests, Seminarians at St. John Vianney College Seminary
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When Lord Sentamu was serving as the Archbishop of the Diocese of York, he was informed of a child sexual abuse allegation; however, he did not take any action in response to this complaint. It took the victim several years to obtain justice for the sexual assault committed on him, yet the abuser priest took his own life before the first court hearing.

Child Sexual Abuse Allegation

Matthew Ineson, who was only 16 years old when the abuse occurred, voluntarily gave up his constitutional right to remain anonymous, BNN Network reported. In 2013, Mr. Ineson disclosed the misconduct to senior members of the clergy, one of whom being Lord Sentamu, who served as Archbishop of York at the time. The investigation findings, which stated that Lord Sentamu did not act on the accusation of abuse, have been denied by Lord Sentamu. But Mr. Ineson has received an apology from the Church of England, reaffirming its dedication to maintaining the best safeguarding standards.

Moreover, his abuser, the Rev. Trevor Devamanikkam, had been charged with six major sexual offenses in May of 2017. He was discovered lifeless the day before he was scheduled to appear in court in Bradford. On the other hand, Joanne Grenfell, the senior bishop for safeguarding, asserted that those who are a part of the Church need to make sure that they are answerable to one another and behave differently when it comes to protecting issues. She emphasized the ethical necessity of reporting and investigating any concerns regarding the protection of others and holding one another accountable.

Furthermore, in June 2021, one year after he stepped down as Archbishop, Lord Sentamu of Lindisfarne was appointed to serve as the auxiliary assisting bishop for Newcastle. BBC News reported that an independent assessment ordered by the National Safeguarding Team of the Church of England ruled on Thursday, May 11, that when the victim initiated his openness, Lord Sentamu should have requested assistance from a professional. Additionally, the Diocese of Newcastle announced on Saturday, May 13, that regarding the findings, Bishop of Newcastle Helen-Ann Hartley asked Lord Sentamu to step down from active ministry until the outcomes and his reaction can be studied further. "The Archbishop of York, Stephen Cottrell, fully supports this decision," the statement added. The Diocese of Newcastle continues to uphold its commitment to the highest possible protection standards, which makes it their goal to always put victims and survivors at the center of their vital work.

Also Read:Judge Dismisses Abuse Lawsuit Against Former SBC Leader, Seminary

Church Handling of Sexual Allegations

Based on an article from the Archdiocese of Baltimore, before 1993, the Archdiocese actively encouraged individuals who claimed they had been molested as children to disclose their claims to the appropriate government agencies. Today, a victim who comes forward with an allegation of abuse will receive aid and healing from the Archdiocese, as they have done for a significant amount of time. The Church does not delay in informing the proper authorities about the situation. Assuming that the accused is still alive, the Archdiocese launches an inquiry after receiving authorization from the relevant authorities. It maintains open lines for interaction with the appropriate officials throughout the process. Suppose the claim is found to be accurate. In that case, if this allegation is true, the accused person is permanently expelled from ministry and prevented from working in any position for the Archdiocese or any other Catholic organization.

Related Article:28 Catholic Priests Face Child Sex Abuse Allegations in Georgia Since 1940s; No Criminal Charges Pursued
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In a display of solidarity and support, several European governments have pledged to assist Patriarch Sako in protecting Iraq's Christian minority. The move comes after continued violence and persecution against Christians in the region.

European Governments' Support with Patriarch Sako

In a joint statement released on Sunday evening, Vatican News reported that the European governments expressed their "solidarity" with Patriarch Sako, emphasizing the significance of his tireless efforts to protect the rights of Christians who have inhabited the region for over two millennia. As mentioned, to further demonstrate their commitment, a delegation of ambassadors and deputy ambassadors, including representatives from France, Italy, Spain, the UK, and the European Union, met with Patriarch Sako on Sunday evening, May 14. The meeting resulted in an official statement supporting the Patriarch, with the endorsement of ambassadors from Germany, Poland, the Czech Republic, Romania, Sweden, and Hungary.

In their statement, the ambassadors highlighted the purpose of their visit as a show of solidarity amidst the recent public attacks against Patriarch Sako. They also expressed deep concern for the welfare of Christians and other religious communities in Iraq. In addition, commending the Patriarch's unwavering efforts to safeguard the rights of Christians, the ambassadors emphasized the need for unity among the country's Christian population. They acknowledged that existing divisions hinder their role in Iraqi society, urging them to work together and overcome challenges through increased cooperation among the Churches.

The statement further appealed for understanding and peaceful dialogue among the diverse components of the Iraqi people. It underscored the ambassadors' unwavering support for preserving Iraq's cultural and religious diversity, recognizing it as a significant asset for the nation. On the other hand, the collective action taken by these European governments sends a resounding message of support for Patriarch Sako and his mission to protect Iraq's Christian minority. The united front acknowledges the challenges they face and reaffirms the shared commitment to fostering a society that values and upholds the rights of all its citizens.

Also Read:Majority of Americans Identify as Christians, but Only a Minority Identify as 'Practicing Christians,' According to 'State of the Church' Study

Protecting Iraq's Christian Minority

In the wake of concerns over unfair elections and the enduring trauma resulting from the Islamic State's atrocities, Iraq's Christian minority faces ongoing challenges. However, efforts are being made to safeguard their rights and restore their community. With mounting worries surrounding political representation and the long-lasting impact of past violence, various initiatives are being pursued to protect Iraq's Christian population.

According to a report from UCA News, there are growing indications that Iraqi Christians may boycott the upcoming elections due to perceived unfairness. They argue that the proposed quota system for minority representation fails to adequately address their needs and demands. This potential boycott highlights the deep-rooted frustration among Christians who feel marginalized and excluded from the political process.

Meanwhile, an article from The Conversation sheds light on the transformative power of trauma within the Christian minority community in Iraq. Even five years after the heinous massacres committed by the Islamic State, the scars of the past continue to haunt the survivors. The psychological impact of the violence has resulted in profound changes in their lives, with many struggling to regain a sense of normalcy. In the face of these challenges, steps are being taken to protect and uplift Iraq's Christian minority. Efforts are underway to address the upcoming elections' concerns and ensure fair representation for all communities. The government and relevant authorities are being urged to reconsider and modify the quota system better to accommodate the aspirations of Christians and other minority groups.

Related Article: Global Church-Planting Network Reaches To All Nations Starting With Minority Communities
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The Republican-controlled legislature overridden the decision of the Democratic Governor Roy Cooper's veto of a bill that would give a 12-week limit on access of abortion on Tuesday.

The vetoed bill now has exceptions for cases of rape or incest, situations in which a "life-limiting anomaly" is discovered in the fetus, and a few other situations. The Republicans were able to win the override because of the voting procedure, which saw strict adherence to party lines.The override was first approved by the Senate on a 30-to-20 vote count, successfully overriding Governor Cooper's veto. The House then voted in favor of the Republicans' initiative by a majority of 7248 members.

North Carolina Legislature Overrides Governor's Veto, Imposing a 12-Week Abortion Ban

According to the article in NBC News, there were loud protests throughout the House's confirmation of the override, with screams of "Shame!" resonating throughout the room.

House speakers Tim Moore commended the decision of the House and expressed his affirmation of the value of human life. He also added that this law would save many lives and give the needed support to women and their families.

As a result of Governor Cooper's veto on Saturday, abortion is still legal for up to 20 weeks. After the votes, he expressed his deep disappointment and annoyance, saying that several Republican lawmakers have broken their promise to protect the rights of women.

Governor Cooper condemned the override, calling it a component of a coordinated Republican assault on the rights of women to choose. According to him, North Carolinians are already aware of what is happening and are now willing and ready to fight back. Cooper promised that he would continue to protect abortion in the state stressing his advocacy to promote the health of women.

Also Read: Nebraska Conservatives Take Risk by Merging Abortion, Trans Health Bans in Legislation

Some of the Leaders are Unhappy

According to another source, CBS News said that the ban was denounced by Karine Jean-Pierre, the press secretary for the White House. She said that the bill is dangerous for the women in North Carolina because they are inhibited from accessing such reproductive health care. Also, it does not consider the decision of the majority of the people in the state.

The "Care for Women, Children, and Families Act," also known as Senate Bill 20, has decreased the allowed window period for abortions from 20 weeks to 12, with only a few exceptions permitted. However, the North Carolina Democratic Party Chair, Anderson Clayton, criticized the legislation as a political intrusion into personal health care decisions, which he said disregards medical advice from doctors who opposed the ban.

State Representative Tricia Cotham, who unexpectedly switched from the Democratic Party to the Republican Party in early April, has come under scrutiny. Despite campaigning on a platform to protect abortion rights, Cotham voted in favor of the restrictive legislation. However, Anderson Clayton, the chair of the North Carolina Democratic Party, denounced the law as an intrusion into people's personal healthcare decisions that disregarded medical advice from medical professionals who opposed the ban.

Additional restrictions are imposed on access to abortions by the new law. According to the shared article in CNN, abortions should be performed inside a hospital, not just a medical facility, and are only permitted up to 10 weeks after conception. The legislation also sets new license requirements for facilities that perform abortions and imposes additional regulations like required counseling and clinic visits.

The inclusion of resources like more financing for contraception, child care, and paid leave for state employees, among other things, has been praised by the law's supporters despite the controversy surrounding it. However, the speed and method with which the law was pushed through the legislative process have drawn criticism.

Related Article:North Carolina Governor's Eleventh-Hour Appeal to Halt Stricter Abortion Restrictions
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New Apostolic Church members got involved in a car crash in Lusaka, Zambia, while on their way to a church gathering. There was a total of 36 victims, 12 of whom were injured, and 24 others lost their lives.

Tragic Incident in Lusaka

Based on the statement of deputy police spokesperson Danny Mwale, the accident happened when a Mitsubishi Rosa collided with a Freightliner Truck in the Kapiringozi region close to the Chirundu-Kafue Road, which is located south of Lusaka. Philippine News Agency reported that it is speculated that the fatalities were members of the New Apostolic Church from Chongwe District, which is located on the outskirts of Lusaka. They were reportedly on their way to Siavonga, south of the country, for a church conference.

Moreover, the early investigations conducted by the police show that the bus, which was carrying 35 passengers, crashed with the truck and trailer from behind. The bus driver eventually lost control of the vehicle, flipping over and landing in a ditch on the left edge of the road. Mwale stated that the bus had sustained significant damage while the car had problems with its rear bumper. "The deceased has only been identified as 23 female adults and one male adult, while eight females and four males are injured. The driver of the bus (on which the victims were) is among the injured victims," the police spokesperson added.

In addition, Evans Lupiah, Chongwe District Commissioner, has expressed condolences on behalf of the government to the families of those who have passed away. He also shared the news that nine bodies have been taken to Lusaka. According to the Lusaka Times, the New Apostolic Church community in the Chongwe District has been left in ruins due to the disaster. The congregation has also sent sympathies to the families of those who have passed away and conveyed its strongest wishes for a quick recovery to those injured in the tragedy. Furthermore, the authorities have demanded that drivers obey all traffic rules and regulations to forestall similar accidents in the future.

Also Read:'Missionary Evangelist' Pastor Dean Elliott, Died at 63 Due to Car Accident

Road Safety in Zambia

Global Road Safety Partnership stated that the number of people who have lost their lives due to road traffic accidents has continuously risen in Zambia over the past ten years. Nearly forty percent of all road fatalities yearly are reported to result from crashes involving pedestrians. As mentioned, Zambia is committed to reversing this upward trend. Thus, the country has ambitious goals to reduce the number of deaths caused by traffic accidents by fifty percent by 2020.

As per BNN Network, since road safety is still a primary priority in Zambia, there is a pressing need to step up initiatives to reduce the number of traffic collisions. Road users are responsible for exhibiting caution and abiding by the laws and regulations governing traffic to protect themselves and those around them. If everyone does their part to promote road safety, reducing the number of people injured or killed in automobile accidents is possible.

On the other hand, to reduce the number of fatalities and severe injuries on Zambia's roads, the Zambian government has initiated several programs in collaboration with civil society groups and international partners. In the context of these measures, enhancing rules and regulations about driving, vehicle maintenance, road construction and maintenance, and other related topics are included. The Zambia Road Safety Trust Fund is also an important program aimed at lowering road accidents' impact on communities and the economy in Zambia.

Related Article: Senior Pastor Mourns Following Queenslands Horror Crash That Killed People Close to Him
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Russian President Vladimir Putin has recently announced a special order to hand over the 'Holy Trinity' Masterpiece to Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius. However, art historians have expressed concern since the icon suffered severe damage the previous time it was displayed in that church.

Vladimir Putin's Special Order

The 'Holy Trinity' icon, created by the medieval painter Andrey Rublev, will soon be on the property of the Russian Orthodox Church, making it one of the most revered masterpieces of Russian religious art, Big News Network reported. The new anti-clerical administration that took power in Russia after the revolution of 1917 declared that the icon belonged in a museum. However, in modern Russia, clerics have worked long to get the icon back.

On Monday, May 15, the church announced the impending transportation of the icon, citing a decision made by Vladimir Putin. According to the brief statement, it will be made available to everyone in the community for worship at the Christ the Savior Cathedral in Moscow for one year. After that, the image will be transported to a monastery in the Moscow Region known as the Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius. As mentioned, the piece of art was created during the first quarter of the 15th century for a cathedral located within the monastery.

As per Manila Bulletin, the turnover occurred just after the highly influential leader of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill, lent his blessing to Putin's decision to send soldiers to Ukraine and urged Christians to back the invasion. According to a statement released by the Moscow Patriarchate, Vladimir Putin announced the decision to give away the holy image "in response to numerous requests from Orthodox believers." The masterpiece was believed to be created for what is now known as the Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius, which can be found in Sergiyev Posad just outside of Moscow.

Moreover, the Hermitage Museum confirmed on Sunday, May 14, that the monument complex of the grave of Alexander Nevsky, a historical prince and national hero, will be given to another Russian monastery. With the permission of the cultural ministry, the Church and the Hermitage Museum came to an arrangement to provide the burial site for 49 years with the possibility of extending it. The Alexander Nevsky Monastery of the Holy Trinity will be given the prince's grave as a gesture of "particular social and spiritual unity," according to a statement released by the museum.

On the other hand, the Russian military has suffered blows in Ukraine. As a result, the authorities in Moscow are attempting to portray the ongoing military assault in religious terms. The Russian army has dispatched dozens of Orthodox clergy to the front lines to provide spiritual support for the soldiers there. The words "washes away all sins" were said by Patriarch Kirill in a sermon that took place in September of last year.

Also Read: Huge Fire Engulfs New York City Church, Destroys Roof, Interior Artwork

Art Conservative's Concern over the Special Order of Putin

A report from Meduza stated that the masterpiece created by Rublev was displayed at the Trinity Lavra of St. Sergiu for three days during the summer of 2022 when it was on exhibition by the Tretyakov Gallery. The icon reportedly returned from its brief "visit" to the Lavra in a destabilized condition. The conservation staff noted 61 "substantial changes" to the material makeup of the icon, including five areas with severe damage.

Art conservators are concerned about the icon because they intend to keep it at the Lavra forever. They believe that, at this time, all of its components are still in a precarious condition. Yet, the icon's continued existence depends on highly accurate climate management, which will be impossible at the Lavra.

Related Article: Secret Medieval Chamber Unveils Stunning Christian Artworks, Sheds Light on Religious Past
Reformed University held the 2023 (15th) degree conferment ceremony

Reformed University held the 2023 (15th) degree conferment ceremony in the Reformed University Chapel Room on May 6th with about 50 alumni and professors in attendance. At the graduation ceremony, a total of nine graduates were honored, including one masters degree in business administration, five bachelors degrees in business administration, and three bachelors degrees in theology.

In the graduation ceremony, President Dr. Jeong said to the graduates, What I would like to remind you is that you have an entrepreneurial spirit that will persevere and take on challenges no matter what. In particular, you faced the unprecedented difficulties of the pandemic caused by the new coronavirus variants, you worked hard in class, and you have reached today. I hope you have a deep gratitude to the professors and staff who guided you with dedication and passion to help you reach today, and to the parents and family who have supported you with love. I hope you will always remember this gratitude and live a life of caring and serving others. I hope you dont forget that when you live together with others and contribute to the development of the community, you enjoy a truly happy and valuable life.

Reformed University (www.runiv.edu), located in Lawrenceville, Georgia provides Business, Theological Studies and Leadership education programs to domestic students and international students.
Pixabay/David Mark

The Oak Lawn Methodist Church has provided shelter for immigrants for years. As the end of the pandemic-era health program known as Title 42 draws near, the church is preparing to receive further refugees looking for a safe place.

Title 42 Ended

Oak Lawn United Methodist Church has been collaborating with Dallas Responds for a significant time. They have merged to develop a system that will assist in meeting the demands of migrants while offering some relief for the border communities of Texas, NBCDFW reported. An immigration spokesperson intimately involved in the operations, Almas Muscatwalla, noted that getting ready occurs on several different levels. "One is to prepare to be able to receive our guests." As mentioned, the discussion has progressed to include Title 42, and they intend to make modifications as required.

An official report from the United States stated that there were approximately 10,000 encounters with migrants per day at the Texas border as of Tuesday, May 9. Currently, Oak Lawn United Methodist and Dallas Responds are responsible for housing approximately 60 migrants every week. The church has indicated that they have the resources to boost capacity to about one hundred migrants per day, Monday through Friday.

According to Kera News, due to Title 42, the United States swiftly removed individuals claiming asylum during the pandemic's peak. This will enable the immigration process to return to its usual operation, disrupted by the virus. Unpaid volunteers almost entirely carry out the function of the church. After a lengthy and potentially dangerous journey to the United States, they bring the people seeking shelter inside the chapel and provide them with a place to rest.

The average length of stay for asylum seekers at the church is about half a day. Rachel Griffin, the senior pastor at OLUMC, predicts that there will be a rise in activity once more buses begin coming and that they will require additional supplies of food and clothing to give them out to asylum seekers. Griffin and her team have been soliciting assistance from volunteers and encouraging them to sign up. In addition, they are requesting donations of items such as snacks, backpacks, and articles of clothing like t-shirts and pants.

They also attempt to communicate their messages calling for help to as many people as possible by posting information and videos on their social media platforms. Moreover, training is provided to individuals who join up to assist at the church's Welcome Center. Some people offer assistance to migrants in the process of making travel plans, such as obtaining bus or airline tickets for them. Others see to it that visitors receive food and that they can communicate with their families.

Also Read: Chinese Christian Refugees Seek Shelter in Thailand

Other Organizations that Provide Shelter to Refugees

CBS Texas reported that Gateway of Grace, a Dallas-based nonprofit organization that assists refugees in starting over, is also getting ready for an increase in the number of migrants who will require their assistance. The group provides families with food, clothing, and hygiene items, assisting them in acquiring a better understanding of the local tongue, locating suitable employment, and receiving spiritual counseling. They claim they want additional volunteers to help refugees start new lives.

On the other hand, Garrett Pearson, World Relief North Texas' director, said in a statement that their organization is willing to help vulnerable immigrants, involving these people seeking asylum, to the extent that its limited finances allow it, through close collaboration with church groups and other local organizations. Accordingly, they will keep up the campaign for long-overdue immigration measures that would provide safe borders, proper procedure, and humanitarian consideration for those fleeing persecution, anchored in our Christian belief that every individual is made in the image of God. Both the City of Fort Worth and the City of Dallas reportedly have no active role in welcoming or screening migrants who cross the border into Texas at this time.

Related Article: United Church of Christs Annual Mission, One Great Hour of Sharing Aims to Help More Than 25 Million Global Refugees
Two Middle East nations share a city named Tripoli.

They share little else, apart from a Phoenician heritage and mutually near-unintelligible dialects of Arabic. One of their starkest contrasts concerns freedom of religion.

Libya arrested six Christians earlier this month for proselytizing after converting from Islam. Lebanon, despite its sectarianism enshrined in politics, allows free movement between religions.

Libyas Tripoli was commemorated in the official hymn of the US Marines in homage to American intervention on the shores of North Africa. Lebanons was an outpost of an eastern Mediterraneanfocused American missionary movement that transformed society through gender-inclusive education.

The Italians colonized Libya; the French, Lebanon. Elsewhere, the Middle East is marked by British influence, Ottoman traditions, petrodollar economies, democratic structures, multicultural kingdoms, autocratic republics, and everything in between.

What unites them all is the preponderance of Islam.

But among the followers of Muhammad there is also difference. Some nations are secular; others enforce sharia. Some protect Christian minorities; others discriminate against them. It is difficult to offer a sweeping synopsisor uniform lessons learned by local Christians.

Yet CT asked four Arab Christian leaders with deep roots in the region to make an attempt. Two currently live abroad; two live in their nation of origin. Yet each represents a space on the spectrum of strategies on how to best live as a Christian in a Muslim society.

One articulation of the spectrum, crafted by theologian Martin Accad, arranges common Christian responses into five categories: syncretistic (the blurring of faiths), existential (the dialogue of diversity), kerygmatic (the preaching of the apostles), apologetic (the defense of the gospel), and polemical (the interrogation of Islam).

The leaders engaged below were not asked to sort themselves accordingly, nor does this landscape article seek to label them. But each was asked the following question:

Whether in a context of oppression or embrace, how should believers in Jesus witness to their faith, keep social peace, and maintain unity with fellow Christians?

Martin Accad:

Accad is an associate professor at Arab Baptist Theological Seminary and the Near East School of Theology in Lebanon. He founded Action Research Associates, focusing on national reconciliation, political change, and a multiple-narratives approach to Lebanons history.

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Over my past 20 years of involvement in Christian-Muslim relations, I have advocated for a kerygmatic posture of dialogue that avoids the temptations of universalism and polemics. Seeking to imitate the preaching of the early apostles, its emphasis is on joyful proclamation in line with the missio dei.

The kerygmatic approach is supra-religious and Christ-centered.

As we bear witness to the gospel and invite all into relationship with God through Christ, we do not promote Christianity at the expense of Islam or any other religion. Jesus took a critical stance toward Judaisms religious symbols, such as the Sabbath, Mosaic Law, and the temple. Even as he was recognized as a rabbi, teacher, and leader of Judaism, any harsh words Jesus spoke were addressed to his peers within the faith, never to those whom the religious institution considered unclean, outcasts, or sinners.

These prophetic acts and attitudes should be our model as we position ourselves toward all religions, including our own. Religions are useful only insofar as they serve the poor and advance justice in our societies. When they become mere vehicles of self-perpetuation, they cease to be of God. We, alongside all with whom we journey on this earth, are called to a path of discipleship with Jesusbecoming more like himnot of conversion to any religion.

The kerygmatic approach is respectful and loving.

Our respect for others is steeped in our common humanity, as women and men created in the image of God. And we love all because God created and loves us all. Exhibited toward Muslims, we recognize Islam as a dynamic worldview that manifests itself through a dizzying number of forms and a diversity of manifestations in constant transformation over history and geography.

This is the reality of Christianity and other religions as well.

We do not hold our Muslim neighbor responsible for the hateful acts of any of their coreligionists, nor do we consider an extremist as a spokesperson for the sect to which they claim belonging. Our neighbors, regardless of their religious affiliations, are all potential partners in our quest to live at peace with everyone and to work together for the common good of our societies.

The kerygmatic approach is prophetic and scientifically honest.

We are disciples of Jesus who seek to develop understandings and behaviors that are aligned with those of our master, and we invite others on this journey as well. But we do not turn a blind eye to the horrors perpetuated by religious people, both now and in the past, whether from our own or from other socioreligious groups. We take a prophetically critical stance toward such acts, examining critically the religious and nonreligious foundations of all ideologies.

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In the past, evangelicals have often been known for their rejection of interfaith dialogue. During the age of the great Western missionary movements, we have been taught to hold staunchly to the primacy of evangelism and conversion. But the world has changed dramatically, as war, migration, and evolving social networks have created a new reality. We now live in unprecedented multireligious and multicultural closeness, in communities often prone to division and conflict.

It is our duty as disciples of Jesus to rethink how we live and work together, faithful to the gospel and committed to human harmony. The kerygmatic approach is meant to address such emerging concerns.

Najib Awad:

Awad is a Syrian American systematic theologian and historian of interreligious thought. Currently an associate researcher at Bonn University in Germany, he formerly directed the PhD program in Islamic Studies and Christian-Muslim Relations at Hartford Seminary in Connecticut.

The answer to this question is highly contextual, not a recipe-like manual that all Christians can mechanically use. But for many, living ones faith means expressing the values of the gospel on a daily basis in both public and private life, as Paul modeled to the Romans and the Philippians. But to be clear, this is not a promotional strategy to market ones belief, as if it is the best religious merchandise out there.

I invoke this metaphor because I believe many Christians around the world manifest their faith in Gods redemptive revelation in Jesus Christ in these terms. While it might be functional elsewhere, this living faith approach does not work in the Middle East.

Here, many Christians follow a pattern of coexistence that is either centered on proselytization or on confrontation. In the first, they aspire to make others become like themselves in a circle of belief. In the second, they are occupied with survival and self-defense. They live as if the other is a threat to my existence, rather than my partner in existence.

The better approach is to interrelate and symbiotically reciprocate life with other religious believers. The history of the Middle East demonstrates that Muslims, Christians, and Jews all belong existentially, historically, culturally, anthropologically, sociologically, and religiously to the same life setting.

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They share the same destiny.

For this symbiosis to succeed, relationship must precede dialogue. In fact, it underpins it as the necessary precondition. To see dialogue as an end result gets things backwards, while using it as a pragmatic tool for evangelism turns it into an arena of intellectual and dogmatic arm-wrestling.

And despite common assumptions, Christians are not a primary target.

Far more Muslims have died and been displaced by regional terrorism, while autocracy and sectarianism encumbers them all. It is counterproductive to imagine a grand religious war. In fact, Muslims and Christians suffer together from the political manipulation of religion, regardless of the faith.

Proper manifestation of Jesus Christs mission comes through sharing the fruits of the Holy Spirit with everyone, regardless of their belief. This involves loving the other instead of being fearful; rejoicing in a life of peace instead of being skeptical. Let us remember that Jesus main ministry was not about creating a new faith or calling people out of Judaism into a new, so-called Christianity. Jesus lived, ministered, died, and rose from the deadall while belonging to the same Jewish system of belief as those around him.

Therefore, I invite the Christians in the Middle East to appreciate their Muslim compatriots system of belief as if Jesus Christ, in the power of the Spirit, is already present and active through Gods mysterious and unfathomable revelatory work. The spirit blows where it pleases, including in them and in their faith. Christians, then, can follow their Lord and Savior in deep relation to Muslims in hope that they are already Gods children.

Harun Ibrahim:

Ibrahim is director of al-Hayat Ministries, broadcasting Christian programming over satellite television to the Muslim world since 2003. Born in Jerusalem to a secular Arab Muslim family, he currently resides in Finland.

If Christians in Muslim societies wants to share their faith, the reality is that they absolutely can do itjust dont come close to Islam. So what you see are faithful believers who resemble a cat circling hot meat, being indirect and saying nothing that would risk offending their neighbors. This comes from fear, for if they were to say on the street that Muhammad is not a prophetit might work once or twice, but then result in beheading. Islam is a violent religion.

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I dont condemn them; in their position I dont know what I would do.

Some Christians therefore resort to good workswinning favor and perhaps hoping Muslims might ask them questions about their faith. But Jesus never started with a social project; his miracles served to support his spoken message.

When questions come, Christians are already adept at apologetics. Muslims have criticized the Bible and everything about us for the last 1,400 years, and in defending your faith you learn the right answers. But this cannot be all we do.

Within the context of friendshipand mediapolemics can be appropriate. Muslim critiques of Christianity give us the right to respond exactly the same, if done with wisdom. Poking holes in Islam can provoke people to search for the truth.

I do not intend to make trouble; the guidance of the Holy Spirit is necessary.

But when asked what we think of their prophet, we can say first that he is not mentioned in the Bible. That he can be your prophet, but not mine. If they are coming to us first, this is better than our poking. And the sincerity of their questioning can be stimulated through our daily conduct. Christians must be generous, visit frequently, win trust, and indeed do good works. But we must never water down our faith.

Unfortunately, 95 percent of the criticism we get at al-Hayat comes from fellow Christians. You are harming us, they say, and they will kill us. I reply that Muslims persecuted you before our channel, and they will do so after we are gone. But our brothers and sisters misunderstand uswe do not attack; we speak the truth in love. Muslims must see believers presenting Christ, even if the local context says we must not shout.

But we have our own laundry to wash also. Church planters begin well with an intention to reach unreached peoples, and then wind up pivoting to reach the Orthodox and Catholic. Who said these communities do not have the truth of the Bible? We have to stop fishing in the fridge, so to speak, for many traditional churches have won far more Muslims to Jesus than the Protestants.

In some ways, these converts have it easier in North Africa than other regions where the Christians are an accepted minority. As the minority of our minority, their concerns about security and persecution weigh heavily upon the rest, who cannot embrace them publicly. Oddly enough, as a Muslim-background believer myself, I find myself frequently welcomed in all sorts of churches. They dont say it, but I feel the sense from most Christians is this: Finally, we got one of them.

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Bashar Warda:

Warda is the Chaldean Catholic Archbishop of Erbil, and founder of his citys Catholic University and Maryamana Hospital, in the Kurdistan region of northern Iraq.

Over the centuries since the arrival of Islam in Mesopotamia (todays Iraq), the ability to publicly witness to a gospel which invites discipleship has been continuously narrowed by the constraints of Islamic teaching and rule of law. Even today, Iraqs constitution remains explicitly based in sharia law, and its allowance of other religions outside Islam consists essentially of a limited freedom to practice within a tightly constrained community. To say that freedom of religion exists in Iraq and similar countriesas understood in the United Statesis fundamentally untrue.

Instead, our freedom of religion should be viewed as essentially a discretionary tolerance from Islamic rulers towards the minority other, such as Christians or Yazidis, that can be subjectively restricted according to the mood of the Islamic authorities at the time.

In all cases, proselytizing of Muslims is prohibited, usually violently so. In cases where Muslims do pursue conversion to Christianity, it is almost always accompanied by a subsequent need to flee their homes due to real fears of violent retribution. It is within this fundamental context that we must consider the Christian ability to witness to the gospel beyond its private practice within the church or home.

Christianity in Iraq has therefore developed what could best be referred to as evangelization by example. We Christians can outwardly demonstrate our Christian mission by serving others in a nonthreatening, nonproselytizing manner. In this way, it might give them pause to think about our commitments and motivations, displayed in the provision of humble and charitable service to the entire community. This is why in Iraq, and elsewhere in the Middle East, so many schools and hospitals are still operating with some type of Christian affiliation. We do what we can within this space to faithfully live out our Christian mission, engaging in indirect evangelization.

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People in the West will realize that this does not equate with the freedom of religion as they understand it. But to do more would certainly be met with a violence that would likely spread dangerously and cause real harm to many uninvolved innocent peopleincluding Muslims. Great prudence is required, not reckless conduct.

But another form of damage to witness comes through the divisions amongst our Christian community. While our known historical schisms have plagued us for centuries, in the last few decades we see new divisions from forms of faith coming from outside the region. Many deeply held views have their own degree of validity, and the solution lies in our continual and respectful dialogue. But deliberate efforts to proselytize within the Christian community is not only detrimental to our ecumenical unity, but also to our common witness toward Muslims.

And then, in cooperation, it is through service to the greater society that we Christians have our only effective means of providing any form of evangelization in much of the Middle East today. We pray this demonstrates not only our clear intention to live in peace, but also the truth and substance of our Christian faith.
Enid Almanzar was shocked the first time she walked into an evangelical church. She had been raised Catholic and was used to stained-glass windows, ornate crosses, portraits of saints, and statues of Christ and the Virgin Mary.

But the nondenominational church she visited had no such things. On the contrary, it seemed quite lax on religious decor or decorum; the pastor, she remembers, had tattoos and rode a motorcycle. I thought it was sacrilege.

But looking back, Almanzar believes that visit was the beginning of a process that led her back to faith after wandering away in college. She received her first Bible, joined a study group, and got baptized.

I felt like I was walking in my mother's faith and my family's faith, and when I took that step into evangelicalism, now it became my faith; it became my Jesus, said Almanzar, who now works at the American Bible Society (ABS).

She is one of millions of Americans who have switched faiths. While most who switch today are leaving church behind as agnostics, atheists, or nones (those who claim no religious affiliation), many Christians are switching denominations, and ABS research suggests that doing so may strengthen their faith.

People who switch religious traditions are more likely to read Scripture, according to a recent ABS poll in partnership with the National Opinion Research Center (NORC) at the University of Chicago. Those leaving mainline Protestant traditions reported the highest boost in engagement.

We easily assume that rejecting the faith of ones youth is a bad thing, but it doesnt have to be. In fact, the State of the Bible data suggest otherwise, the ABS report said. Christians who have changed their faith are more Scripture Engaged than those who havent.

ABS also found that those who switch traditions expressed deeper interest in the Bible and Jesus. For example, about two-thirds (64%) of religious switchers said they believe the Bible is accurate in all of the principles it presents, compared to about half (47%) of those who remained in their religious tradition.

About three-fourths also expressed curiosity in learning more about Jesus and the Bible, compared to roughly two-thirds of those who stayed.

More often than not, you have, like, some sort of spiritual awakening or something happened where you want to get more engaged in the Scriptures, the Bible, and thats why you switchbecause you may have found a church that made more sense to you and opened the Bible to you in a different way, said Ryan Burge, a political scientist who tracks religious trends in America. Burge himself grew up Southern Baptist but is now the pastor of an American Baptist church.

The Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) also released a survey this week indicating that almost a quarter of Americans have changed religious affiliations, and half said they did so because they no longer believed in the religions teachings. The research showed that Catholics and nonevangelical Protestants were the most likely to switch.

Switching traditions can present challenges to both those arriving at new churches and those receiving them. Newcomers may bring with them different theological beliefs about the Bible and church practices. Catholics, for example, have a high regard for the Virgin Mary, and some believe in transubstantiation, the belief that the bread and wine consumed during Communion turn into the blood and body of Christ.

Eloy Rodriguez, Spanish pastor of Idlewild Baptist Church in Florida, warns that Protestants who show disrespect to the Virgin Mary may put off Catholics who still revere her as the mother of Jesus.

Lisette Grillo, who is on the pastoral staff of an Assemblies of God church in California, has noticed converts from Catholicism still going to Mass after attending Protestant services. She also sees them bringing the values from their Catholic backgrounds, such as a deep care for the poor.

Overall, Grillo has found that secondary issues in faith and practice often resolve over time.

Above all the doctrinal points and above all the topics we can have a conversation [about]  the main thing is to show them who Jesus is, Grillo said.

Almanzar says her exit from the Catholic church was not intentional. But now she sees beauty in the things she learned while she attended Masssuch as the sacredness of Communion and reverence for Scriptureand she brings those experiences to the New York church where she is now an elder and associate pastor.

It's not like you throw the baby out with the bath water.  What are those things that were good that you can keep while making this faith your own? said Almanzar.

Angel Mann, who works with ABSs research team, shares a similar experience. Having grown up in the Southern Black church tradition, she says her rearing instilled in her an appreciation for community. This is what led her to a charismatic nondenominational church in Philadelphia, where she found community as she mourned her mothers death.

Religious switching has worried church leaders who have seen steep drops in membership numbers. Nondenominational churches have added millions, while declines among Southern Baptists, United Methodists, Presbyterians, and other major bodies show no signs of slowing.

Despite the losses, not all news about religious switching is bleak. Americans are moving toward faith as well: Nearly a third of those who grew up in a religiously unaffiliated homethat is, agnostic, atheist, or nonenow identify as Christian.

ABS also highlighted some of the factors in keeping the faith. One of them was the influence of mothers: Among those who now identify as Christians, three out of four (77%) are following their mothers faith.
For the last 25 years, the United States has promoted global fidelity to its First Amendment.

In 1998, President Bill Clinton signed the International Religious Freedom Act (IRFA) into law, mandating yearly reports to detail the respect given to this fundamental right in every nation of the world.

Not every nation is pleased.

We are sometimes asked, stated Rashad Hussain, US ambassador at large for international religious freedom, Who are you as the United States to speak to other countries about their human rights conditions?

Hussain, whose State Department position was also created by IRFA, replied to the rhetorical question during this weeks launch of the 2022 IRF report. Covering 199 countriesUS allies and enemies alikeit prepares the ground for year-end designation of the worst offenders as Countries of Particular Concern (CPC), with second-tier violators placed on a Special Watch List (SWL).

His two-fold answer began with US leadership grounded in its unique and foundational Bill of Rights. But he continued with immigration, evidencing preference for American rights in so many of the same 199 nations studied.

People come to the United States from all around the world and demand that their elected representatives and government official promote our values in their homelands, said Hussain. In many ways we are representatives of the rest of the world, gathered here in the United States.

The reports Appendix G provides an overview of refugee policy, stating 25,465 individuals were resettled permanently in the US in fiscal 2022. Priority is given to CPC and SWL nationals suffering from religious persecution.

The highlighted litany of offenders is familiar.

Russia represses people of faith who spoke against its invasion of Ukraine.

Afghanistan sidelines all who differ from the Talibans austere religious interpretation of Islam.

Burma (Myanmar) attacks the homes of its Muslim Rohingya minority.

Saudi Arabia makes illegal the practice of any religion apart from Islam.

India tolerates hate speech against its Muslim citizens.

And China offends at many levels. Re-education camps exist for Uyghur Muslims. Tibetan Buddhist monasteries are destroyed. Christians are surveilled; Falun Gong practitioners are tortured.

The 49-page section stated thousands are imprisoned for their spiritual beliefs.

Hewing the original question, China claimed ideological bias was behind the report. India blamed flawed understanding behind US complaints.

Meanwhile, positive reception came from Belize and Bangladesh.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken preceded Hussain with praise for other nations. Belgium formally recognized its Buddhist minority. Brazil codified religious freedom guarantees for its indigenous communities. And the Central African Republic has continued to prosecute religion-based violence.

We defend the right to believe or to not believe, not only because its the right thing to do, but also because of the extraordinary good that people of faith can do in our societies and around the world, Blinken stated. We are acting on the findings and observations of the report every single day.

Yet perhaps not enough.

While the independent US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF)also created by IRFAcommended the report, Abraham Cooper chided the State Department for issuing sanctions waivers to violating nations.

The administration and Congress must now use this body of evidence, stated the USCIRF vice chair, to pressure governments to protect religious freedom and penalize with tangible consequences those that blatantly continue to commit egregious violations.

A third of the 12 CPCsPakistan, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistanreceived no penalty for their abuses.

Senator Marco Rubio lamented one nation left off both the CPC and SWL lists.

As a nation, it is both morally imperative and strategically important for us to remain steadfast in our commitment to combat the unjust persecution of individuals worldwide who peacefully live out their faith or beliefs, stated the Florida Republican. It is deeply concerning that the Biden administration continues to provide excuses for the Nigerian government.

Nigeria was briefly designated as a CPC by the Trump administration in 2020, before being removed by the Biden administration the following year. Hussain, nonetheless, highlighted the plight of six-year captive Leah Sharibu, held by the West Africa branch of the Islamic State, who turned 20 years old one day before the reports release.

Blinken additionally criticized Iran for cracking down on protests associated with hijab-removing Masa Aminis death in police custody. The report stated that 19,204 individuals have since been arrested for enmity against God.

He also cited Nicaraguas 160 attacks last year against the Catholic church.

And echoing Hussains remarks, in the reports written introduction Blinken anchored American leadership back to a heritage grounded in the 1786 Virginia Statute of Religious Freedom. The US commitment later inspired the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, with Article 18 guaranteeing the peaceful espousal of any religious belief.

Blinken also invoked Clinton, who 50 years later tied US support for religious freedom to the wholesale promotion of human rights. It is a bedrock American belief, the president noted at the signing of IRFA, as he signed into law a range of new tools to protect the persecuted.

Hussain, the first Muslim to inhabit the office, pledged continuity.

Religion can be such a powerful force for good in the world, he stated. We vow to redouble our efforts to ensure greater respect for freedom of religion or belief for everyone, everywhere.
In what could be a sign of COVID-19s influence, some sectors of US societyspecifically white evangelicals and Republicansare showing a growing aversion to the requirement that schoolchildren be vaccinated for illnesses like mumps and measles.

Overall, about 70 percent of Americans say healthy children should be mandated to be vaccinated so they can attend public schools, according to a new Pew Research Center survey released Tuesday.

That is a distinctly smaller percentage from findings in 2019 and 2016, when 82 percent were in favor of such requirements. The share of the US public who say parents should get to determine not to vaccinate their children is 28 percent, an increase of 12 points from 2019.

We are seeing a kind of marked drop in support for school-based childhood vaccine requirements, said Cary Funk, Pews director of science and society research, in an interview. That drop is particularly coming among Republicans as well as among white evangelical Protestants, many of whom are Republicans.

The new survey shows that 58 percent of white evangelicals say there should be a requirement for children attending public schools to be vaccinated, while 40 percent say parents should be able to choose not to have their children vaccinated, even if that could cause health risks for others. Comparatively, in 2019, white evangelicals favored mandated vaccines for public schoolchildren by a margin of 77 percent to 20 percent.

Even though white evangelicals have a growing opposition to such requirements, they remain supportive of measles, mumps and rubella vaccines, Funk said. The report notes that 82% of white evangelicals who are parents of minors say their child has received such vaccines, close to the percentage of the share of all parents who say this (79%).

Funk noted that being inclined away from school-based vaccine requirements is different than saying that the vaccines themselves are not safe or effective.

Eighty-seven percent of Protestants overall say this, and more than 8 in 10 of different kinds of Protestants agreed: 93 percent of white nonevangelicals, 87 percent of white evangelicals, and 82 percent of Black Protestants. Overall 89 percent of Catholics held this view, with 94 percent of white Catholics agreeing, as well as 83 percent of Hispanic Catholics.

A higher percentage of the religiously unaffiliated91 percentsaw benefits of MMR vaccines outweighing risks, with 96 percent of atheists, 95 percent of agnostics, and 88 percent of those who described themselves as nothing in particular holding this view.

Compared to white evangelicals, lower percentages of all other surveyed religious groups were in favor of parents being able to decide not to vaccinate their children, even if such action would create health risks for others.

About 2 in 10 white nonevangelicals, Black Protestants, and Hispanic Catholics held this view, compared to a quarter of white Catholics, 10 percent of atheists, and 18 percent of agnostics. But 30 percent of people who described themselves as nothing in particular agreed that parents should be able to make decisions about childhood vaccinations.

White evangelical Protestants are the only religious group surveyed that had fewer than half40 percentagreeing that the benefits of COVID-19 vaccines outweigh the risks. Other groups seeing benefits of the recent vaccines outweighing the risks ranged from 60 percent of white nonevangelicals and those who are nothing in particular to 84 percent of atheists.

White evangelical Protestants, who were noted earlier in the pandemic for their vaccine hesitancy, stood out as the group that most reported not being vaccinated, at 36 percent. The subgroups with the highest percentages saying they are fully vaccinated and recently boosted were atheists (52%), agnostics (44%) and Black Protestants (43%).

Overall, 34 percent of US adults are fully vaccinated for COVID-19 and recently boosted, and 21 percent had not been vaccinated.

The survey of 10,701 US adults was conducted online from March 13-19 and had an overall margin of error of plus or minus 1.4 percentage points. The margin of error for the 1,669 white evangelical Protestants surveyed was plus or minus 3.4 percentage points.
185 Georgia churches must be allowed to vote to leave UMC, judge rules

A judge in Georgia has ruled that 185 congregations should be allowed to vote on whether to leave the United Methodist Church, ruling against a regional bodys recent attempt to put a stop to churches leaving the denomination.

In a decision on Monday made from the bench following an hours-long hearing, Cobb Superior Court Senior Judge Stephen Schuster ruled that the congregations have a right to start the process by requesting a vote.

Schuster noted that paragraph 2553 of the UMC Book of Discipline allows for churches to seek dismissal from the denomination in response to the ongoing debate over sexual ethics.

The pause violated that right, said Schuster. They have a right, and I believe the North Georgia Council has an affirmative duty to assist them in holding a vote, if the church makes a call for a local church conference to have that vote.

And they have an equal right to make sure its done properly, within the contours of the Book of Discipline.

Schuster also said that he found it painful to see the UMC going through what at best can be described as a schism, describing Methodism as a backbone of America since the 1700s.

For their part, the North Georgia Conference released a statement on Monday explaining that they're exploring our opportunity to appeal the Schuster ruling.

Leaders of the Conference remain committed to handling this matter in a fair, transparent, and uniform manner, the conference stated. Most importantly, our focus continues to be on the mission of The United Methodist Church to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. That is unchanging.

Last December, the regional body announced that they will temporarily block member churches from disaffiliating from the UMC, citing concerns about the spread of misinformation.

The conference argued at the time that "many local churches have been misled about the disaffiliation process and have been presented with information about the process" and about the UMC leadership "that is factually incorrect and defamatory."

"We have significant concerns about this misinformation and are well aware that it has the potential to do irreparable harm," the announcement reads. "We do not have confidence in the validity of upcoming church conference disaffiliation votes."

In March, 186 congregations filed a lawsuit against the conference in Superior Court in Cobb County, with the unofficial conservative advocacy group the Wesleyan Covenant Association of North Georgia stating that the complaint came with a heavy heart.

Beginning last year, large numbers of UMC congregations have left the second-largest Protestant denomination in the United States due to the Churchs ongoing debate over sexual ethics.

Although the UMC Book of Discipline prohibits the blessing of same-sex unions and the ordination of noncelibate homosexuals, many theologically progressive leaders have refused to follow or enforce these rules.

This resistance to the Book of Discipline has led many theologically conservative congregations to decide that they should leave the UMC, with most of them joining the newly launched Global Methodist Church.
Gov. Ron DeSantis, pro-life leaders hit back after Trump calls heartbeat abortion ban 'too harsh'

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis responded to former President Donald Trump denouncing him for signing a bill banning most abortions once the babys heartbeat is detectable.

The Republican governor, who many see as a future presidential candidate, contended that the bill has widespread support and also noted that Trump did not reveal whether he would support pro-life laws that included exceptions for abortion.

"Protecting an unborn child when theres a detectable heartbeat is something that almost 99% of pro-lifers support," DeSantis told reporters during a Tuesday press conference. "Its something that other states like Iowa, under Gov. Kim Reynolds, have enacted."

DeSantis signed the Heartbeat Protection Act on April 13, which prohibits abortions after six weeks into a pregnancy. The bills passage comes as several states have begun to outlaw or place restrictions on abortion following the reversal of Roe v. Wade via the Dobbs v. Jackson Womens Health Organization ruling last summer.

In an interview earlier this week with The Messenger, Trump, a 2024 presidential hopeful, did not articulate what abortion restrictions he supports. However, the former president did credit himself with appointing three of the U.S. Supreme Court justices who voted to overturn Roe.

He has to do what he has to do, Trump said about DeSantis signing the heartbeat ban. If you look at what DeSantis did, a lot of people dont even know if he knew what he was doing. But he signed six weeks, and many people within the pro-life movement feel that that was too harsh.

Some pro-life leaders responded to Trumps statement, contending that they and a majority of others, including Floridians, support the ban.

Live Action Founder and President Lila Rose tweeted a poll on Monday conducted on behalf of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America and the Florida Family Policy Council, showing that 62% of Floridians support the heartbeat law. Fifty-eight percent of women, 54% of Democrats and 54% of people who identify as pro-choice said that they supported the bill.

Trump is embarrassing himself by abandoning pro-life voters and the children we are fighting for. Florida and Gov DeSantis should be applauded for protecting life, Rose wrote in a separate tweet on the same day. If President Trump is done with fighting for life, pro-life voters should be done with him.

The president of Students for Life of America and Students for Life Action, Kristan Hawkins, also responded to Trumps remarks in a Monday tweet, writing that failing to protect a human being with a heartbeat is whats harsh.

The Pro-Life Movement did not fight for the preborn and their mothers for 50 years to simply sign off on a line the sand of abortion policy that would allow more than 9 in 10 abortions, Hawkins wrote.

We have and continue to be clear that demand protection at conception for all members of our human race, at a minimum children with heartbeats must be protected, she added.

The Trump campaign previously faced criticism from pro-life leaders for stating that abortion policy should be decided solely at the state level following the Dobbs ruling.

SBA Pro-Life America President Marjorie Dannenfelser said in a statement last month that a states-only position on abortion laws is unacceptable.

"President Trump's assertion that the Supreme Court returned the issue of abortion solely to the states is a completely inaccurate reading of the Dobbs decision and is a morally indefensible position for a self-proclaimed pro-life presidential candidate to hold," Dannenfelser said.

"Life is a matter of human rights, not states' rights. Saying that the issue should only be decided at the states is an endorsement of abortion up until the moment of birth, even brutal late-term abortions in states like California, Illinois, New York and New Jersey. The only way to save these children is through federal protections, such as a 15-week federal minimum standard when the unborn child can feel excruciating pain."

On May 8, the pro-life leader disclosed that she had met with Trump alongside Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Family Research Council President Tony Perkins. Dannenfelser said that during the meeting, the former president condemned the Democratic Partys abortion position of abortion on demand, up until the moment of birth, paid for by taxpayers  and even in some cases after the child is born.

Dannenfelser shared more information on Tuesday about Trumps positions on abortion, saying that the former president opposes late-term abortions and supports abortion exceptions in cases of rape, incest and if the pregnancy poses a risk to the mothers life.
Universalism and open Heaven: Pastor identifies the signs of a woke church

A pastor and podcaster recently provided valuable advice to Christians searching for a new church, cautioning them about specific warning signs that indicate a church might be embracing "woke" ideology.

Pastor Lucas Miles is the author of the book Woke Jesus: The False Messiah Destroying Christianity, which is scheduled for release next month.

In a May 4 episode of the "Politely Rude With Abby Johnson" podcast, Miles shared tips for Christians on how to discern the red flags when church hunting. It's crucial for believers to be aware of these red flags and exercise discernment when evaluating potential churches, he said.

Miles contends that churches have been invaded" by various ideologies, such as the Black Lives Matter movement, the LGBT movement and critical race theory.

Of course, the very obvious things. If the flag is rainbow colored, or if there's a BLM flag flying above the cross outside, then that might be something to note, Miles said.

Miles emphasized the importance of asking a set of crucial questions before Christians decide to join a church. He stressed the need for careful observation of signs that may indicate a church's alignment with "wokism."

You want to listen for language, maybe, of critical race theory, Miles told Johnson, a pro-life activist. "So, are they talking about white fragility?"

"Are they using this word 'diversity' all the time? Are [the church leaders] more focused on that than [they] are about just loving people because Christ has called us to love everybody?

Miles emphasized that a church rooted in biblical principles will not embrace a distorted understanding of grace and truth as its fundamental theology.

Is there still a handle on grace and truth? So, one of the things I always tell people is that  the Bible tells us  The law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ, Miles shared.

According to Miles, any deviation into heresy tends to occur through two avenues: an excessive emphasis on grace or a problematic distortion of the truth. He emphasized the importance of remaining vigilant in both aspects of the equation.

"If you are elevating grace over truth, you become a progressive. If you elevate truth over grace, you become a bigot. We need both of those in full force, he said.

Some other signs of a woke church, according to Miles, is if it teaches a Universalist view on salvation. Universalism promotes the idea that all people, regardless of what they believe, will be saved.

Are they teaching an open Heaven?" Miles said. "That you can go to Hell, but maybe get out of it later on in life and kind of work your way back to Heaven? That would be something to watch for."

Miles advised Christians not to hesitate in scheduling meetings with the pastor or elders of prospective churches to inquire about the church's stance on specific topics. This proactive approach, he said, allows believers to gain clarity and make informed decisions.

Miles also said that one way to look for red flags that a church is woke is by looking at a churchs website and biographical information about its church staff.

Does the pastor have pronouns in his bio? That's probably something that you want to look for and really recognize there, Miles said. "I think also asking them what other nonprofits they support."

Miles addressed Christian listeners who have children, advising them to exercise caution by asking questions to church leaders and conducting research before their children become deeply involved in a particular church.

I think that you have the right if you're going to attend there, and you're going to give money there, to just come out and ask them  'Where do you stand on the issue of abortion, marriage, sexuality? Do you hold to a biblical framework? Do you perform gay weddings here at the church?' Miles advised asking.

Just ask those questions, just flat out, so that you don't have to wonder and you're not attending there for three or six months and your kids get invested in relationships and then you realize it's a problem, he continued. And what happens then, a lot of times, is people will stay because they don't want conflict. They will stay in [the church], many times, and justify rather than [leave] over these issues.
Iran: Judge frees Christian couple from prison, rules house church gatherings not illegal

Iranian authorities released two Christian leaders from prison last week after a judge broke with common judicial practice in the country and ruled that home church participation was not illegal, sources said.

Throwing out a 2020 conviction, a judge in Branch 34 of the Appeals Court in Tehran on May 9 found there was no evidence the couple had violated Irans national security laws by participating in a home meeting, according to advocacy group Article 18.

Homayoun Zhaveh, 64, and wife, Sara Ahmadi, 45, both converts from Islam, were released later that day.

In his ruling, the judge found that belonging to or participating in a home-group with people of the same faith was not illegal but natural.

The reports by the officers of the Ministry of Intelligence about organization of home-groups to promote Christianity, membership, and participation in home-groups, are not considered as acts against the countrys security, and the law has not recognized them as criminal

activity, the judge wrote.

The ruling was in some ways similar to a Nov. 3, 2021, Supreme Court judgment that stated that nine converts could not be charged with acting against national security merely for belonging to a house church.

The acquittal struck down a November 2020 conviction in which Ahmadi, accused of being a house church leader, was sentenced to 11 years in prison for founding or leading an organization that aims to disrupt national security and membership in organizations that aim to disrupt national security. In December 2020, Ahmadis original sentence was reduced to eight years in prison.

Zhaveh had been sentenced to two years in prison for membership in organizations that aim to disrupt national security, or being a member of a house church. The sentences also mandated six months of community service and a two-year ban on foreign travel or joining any social or political group.

Mansour Borji, director of Article 18, said in a press statement that the initial 2020 verdict showed how for decades intelligence institutions within the Islamic Republic have disregarded judicial processes and the law of the land.

They have abused and exploited vague legal precepts to criminalize peaceful and constitutionally lawful activities of these Christians, he said, adding that it is rare to find independent, principled judges in Iran when it comes to freedom of religion cases. Unfortunately, not so many judges can be found who would so clearly acknowledge the rights of the wrongly accused Christians, and refute the unjust verdicts issued against them.

Last week when the couple was released, they had served nine months of their sentences.

In June 2019, state security officials arrested the couple as they vacationed with friends in Amol, about 13 miles (21 kilometers) south of the Caspian Sea. They were both released on bail the next month.

The couple was ordered to report to authorities to begin serving their sentences in June 2021, but upon arrival they were immediately turned away, likely because COVID-19 was still sweeping through the Iranian prison system. Particularly hard-hit was Evin Prison, where Zhaveh and Ahmadi eventually would be incarcerated.

While waiting to start their sentence, the couple applied twice to request a retrial, once in June 2021 and again in November 2021, but were rejected both times. They received a summons on Aug. 13, 2022, to report to prison and were under the impression that they were going to pick up property that had been confiscated from them, according to Article 18. Instead, they were ordered to start their sentences and were held at Evin Prison.

Zhaveh suffers from an advanced form of Parkinsons disease, and according to those familiar with his condition, his health deteriorated while in prison.

Iran is ranked eighth on the Christian support organization Open Doors 2023 World Watch List (WWL) of the 50 countries where it is most difficult to be a Christian. During the past few years, the government of Iran has severely cracked down on house churches, but the WWL report states, despite great oppression, the Islamic Republic of Iran has seen phenomenal growth in its underground church movement.

Christian gatherings in private homes have been denounced as illegal groups and acts against national security, while many churches continue to be closed, the report states. Converts from Islam to Christianity bear the brunt of religious freedom violations, carried out

by the government in particular, which sees these Iranian Christians as an attempt by Western countries to undermine the Islamic regime. Leaders of Christian convert groups, as well as members of other denominational backgrounds who support them, have been arrested, prosecuted and received long prison sentences for crimes against national security.
Nashville Pastor Scott Sauls indefinitely suspended by regional authority over toxic work culture

In a significant disciplinary action, the Nashville Presbytery, a regional governing body for the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA), has indefinitely suspended Scott Sauls, the senior pastor of Christ Presbyterian Church, due to his oversight of a toxic work culture.

Voting members of the Nashville Presbytery, comprising pastors, teaching elders and ruling elders from local churches, held a special meeting solely to review Sauls' case. The PCA's official magazine, byFaith, announced the result of the disciplinary action on Twitter Monday.

On Friday, May 12, Nashville Presbytery met and voted to indefinitely suspend Scott Sauls from ministry, it said. The presbytery also appointed a committee for Scott's care and shepherding and sent a letter to Christ Presbyterian Church notifying the church of its actions.

During the deliberations, voting members considered various disciplinary options outlined in the PCA Book of Church Order, ranging from less severe to more severe: suspension, deposition and excommunication, according to a report from The Tennessean.

On Twitter, the Nashville Presbytery emphasized that Sauls had not engaged in alcohol or substance abuse, theft, violence, broken marriage vows, or anything related to pornography or sexual sin.

Although Sauls remains the senior pastor at Christ Presbyterian, the indefinite suspension imposed by the Nashville Presbytery prevents him from assuming any ministry-related responsibilities until further decisions are made. Additionally, the previous church-level decision to place Sauls on indefinite leave remains in effect.

As previously reported by The Christian Post, Sauls was placed on an indefinite leave of absence from his position as pastor of the church following an investigation into his conduct as a leader by Christ Presbyterian and the Nashville Presbytery.

The investigation was initiated after a group of former church staff members sent a letter raising concerns about the pastors behavior.

In a video confession to his congregation on May 7, Sauls admitted to his involvement in creating an unhealthy and, at times, abusive environment.

I verbalized insensitive and hurtful criticism of others work. Ive used social media and the pulpit to quiet dissenting viewpoints, Sauls said. Ive manipulated facts to support paths that I desire.

Sauls previously served as the lead and preaching pastor at Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City alongside Pastor Tim Keller. He has also planted and pastored churches in Kansas City and St. Louis.

Situated just outside Belle Meade, Christ Presbyterian also operates a K-12 school, Christ Presbyterian Academy, and two satellite campuses.

In addition to his role as a pastor, Sauls has also authored six books, many of them touching on topics including joy, shame, anxiety and depression.

In a 2018 interview with CP, Sauls stressed the importance of pastors having accountability and warned that church leaders often become more susceptible to isolation and moral failure as their ministry grows.

"The bigger your church becomes, you begin to have more fans and admirers than you do actual friends," he said. "It's really important to be surrounded by people who are close enough to you, that they can express concern with you and your character and help steer you toward Christ. Pastors need to welcome this kind of friendship, community, and accountability."
Protesters demand Attorney General Garland's impeachment following raid on pro-life activist's home

WASHINGTON  A pro-life group is calling for the impeachment of United States Attorney General Merrick Garland following a raid on a pro-life activist's home.

Led by Terrisa Bukovinac of the Progressive Anti-Abortion Uprising, pro-life activists held a press conference outside the Department of Justice Wednesday, less than two weeks after the U.S. Attorneys Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania arrested Mark Houck, a pro-life activist, for allegedly violating the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act.

The FACE Act subjects federal charges on anyone who intentionally injures, intimidates, or interferes with or attempts to injure, intimidate or interfere with any person aiding or performing abortions. The DOJ maintains that the defendant is alleged to have twice assaulted a man because he was a volunteer reproductive health care clinic escort, according to a statement.

However, a fundraiser set up following Houcks arrest contends that the pro-life activist and his 12-year-old son were harassed by the clinic escort as they prayed outside a Philadelphia Planned Parenthood facility: When one of the escorts began harassing Marks son, they walked down the street away from the entrance to the building. The escort followed them, and when he continued yelling at Marks son, Mark pushed him away.

The early morning raid on Houcks home, followed by his arrest, sparked outrage in the pro-life community. In remarks at the press conference, Bukovinac cited the raid on Houcks home as the latest example of the DOJs targeting of pro-life activists while allowing violent pro-abortion extremists to terrorize churches and pregnancy centers across the country.

Bukovinac said she has watched in horror as the U.S. Department of Justice has been weaponized to arrest peaceful, non-violent pro-life activists. She added that the FACE Act was cited as the justification used to charge at least 18 peaceful, nonviolent protesters in the past year with federal crimes. Bukovinac characterized the legislation, passed in 1994, as an effort that was designed to crush a nonviolent resistance that mobilized tens of thousands of people for direct action on behalf of the unborn.

Randall Terry, the founder of the pro-life group Operation Rescue, was the reason that the FACE Act was enacted in the first place, she added.

When Bill Clinton was elected, he appointed Janet Reno as his attorney general, Terry recalled in his comments at the news conference. When she came up to the microphone in her press conference, she said one of her top priorities was to break the back of Operation Rescue.

Noting that the FACE Act passed less than two years later, Terry insisted that it was always designed to isolate people of faith who wanted to defend the unborn.

In an interview with The Christian Post, Terry said that between 1987 and 1994, we accumulated over 75,000 arrests around the country for peacefully blockading abortion clinics.

We would sit there, 100, 200, 500 people and not let anyone in. We closed them for the whole day and saved the babies that were scheduled to die that day, he added. Under the FACE Act, pro-life activists went from facing local trespass charges to now facing a federal misdemeanor for the first offense and a federal felony for the second offense. Terry added that once that law was passed, it effectively broke the back of our movement.

Theres no basis for FACE anymore, Bukovinac told CP, because FACE is predicated on the ruling in Roe v. Wade that the Supreme Court now says was egregiously wrong from the beginning.

While most of the news conference focused on the DOJs efforts to prosecute pro-life activists, Bukovinac echoed the concerns of other pro-life activists that the Department of Justice has allowed more than 50 pregnancy centers to be attacked. She noted that the FACE Act is designed to protect pregnancy centers and churches as well.

The Christian Post has compiled lists of churches and pro-life pregnancy centers that have found themselves subject to vandalism and firebombing after Politico published a draft opinion of the Supreme Courts ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Womens Health Organization indicating that the justices were poised to overturn the Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion nationwide, as well as the additional vandalism that has taken place following the June 24 Dobbs decision.

We have also seen churches blocked by pro-abortion radicals without any action taken by the Department of Justice, Bukovinac lamented. This is unjust. We cannot allow this discrimination to continue. We are urging Congress to take action; we are urging them to impeach Garland to protect justice and to dismantle the FACE Act altogether.

Another speaker at the news conference, Jonathan Darnell of the advocacy group Get Serious Church, discussed the legal challenges he faces as a result of his pro-life activism: About two years ago, I was videotaping a peaceful pro-life rescue at a local abortion clinic and thats all that happened. I went home a free man at the end of the day. I didnt hear anything from DC authorities, nothing from the FBI, nothing, not a letter, nothing, for two years.

Then, this March, at [the] crack of dawn in the morning, [the] FBI breaks down my door. A bunch of agents come through with guns drawn, just like they did with Mark Houck. Thankfully, there [were] no kids in our house.

Now, Darnell finds himself subject to up to 11 years in prison for violating the FACE Act. Darnell pleaded with pro-life governors across the U.S. to take action by urging the FBI to stop persecuting citizens based on a political bias.

I would like to know what pro-life governors are doing allowing the FBI to operate in their states anymore, he said. When theyre behaving like this, why are you even allowing the federal government to do these [sorts] of things within your states? he asked.

Darnell's message to pro-life governors is: If the federal governments not going to do its job, if Merrick Garlands going to walk, just dont let them operate in your state. He also called on pro-life police officers as well as individual FBI agents to refrain from carrying out orders that violate their oath of office.

The event that led Darnell to face charges under the FACE Act took place at Dr. Cesare Santangelos abortion clinic in Washington, D.C., in late October 2020. Darnell founded Get Serious Church as part of an effort to address the lack of numbers of pro-life people that want to be active.

Nobody wants to rescue, nobody wants to be on the street with a sign or talk to their neighbors, he said. Most people just want to pray and vote, sometimes march at the March for Life or give a little money to the [crisis pregnancy centers].

Wednesday's protest outside the DOJ concluded with the pro-life leaders and onlookers shouting chants proclaiming Protect justice, impeach Garland.

PAAU will lead a separate protest in front of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, the federal court that spearheaded Houck's arrest, on Thursday.

When asked if PAAU and pro-life activists would hold a protest in front of the FBI headquarters, Bukovinac responded, its possible. She predicted that as the DOJs actions become more and more draconian, more and more people are going to come out wanting to oppose this tyranny, and I think youre going to see a lot more events.

Bukovinac expressed confidence that the actions of the FBI and DOJ that led PAAU to organize the protest would have an unintended effect of actually mobilizing people for direct action rather than quashing it, which is their intention.

Last year, Rep. Scott Perry, R-Pa., introduced articles of impeachment against Garland over the DOJs memo likening parents concerned about sexually explicit curriculum, LGBT ideology and critical race theory in public schools to domestic terrorism. The effort to impeach Garland has gained little traction in the Democrat-controlled Congress.
Biden admin. has 'seen the light,' backs down in battle over Catholic hospital's sanctuary candle

The Biden administration has decided to allow a Catholic hospital to keep its sanctuary candle lit after initially demanding that the hospital blow out the flame due to concerns over it being a fire hazard.

In a Friday tweet, Lori Windham, vice president and senior counsel at the law firm Becket, revealed that the United States Department of Health and Human Services informed the St. Francis Health System in Oklahoma that it can keep its sacred candle lit.

"The government has seen the light and has abandoned its attempt to force an Oklahoma hospital to blow out a small candle or stop serving elderly, disabled, and low-income patients. @HHSGov has told Saint Francis that it can keep its living flame  a sacred candle housed in the hospital chapels."

#BREAKING: The government has seen the light and has abandoned its attempt to force an Oklahoma hospital to blow out a small candle or stop serving elderly, disabled, and low-income patients. @HHSGov has told Saint Francis that it can keep its living flamea sacred candle housed pic.twitter.com/1bkpjqi19M  LoriWindham (@LoriWindham1) May 5, 2023

The government knew it was playing with fire  today it announced its decision to allow the living flame so Saint Francis can continue to serve God and its community, as it always has, Windham tweeted.

HHS Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services sent a letter on Thursday to Michael J. Lissau, senior vice president and general counsel of the St. Francis Health System, agreeing to provide the St. Francis South Hospital with a waiver for the living flame located in the hospitals chapel.

This waiver is contingent upon the hospital providing a plan of correction to [The Joint Commission] that includes taking some simple, appropriate steps to mitigate fire risks, the letter reads. The Joint Commission is an accrediting organization that determines if proper conditions for Medicare and Medicaid are met at facilities seeking to care for patients who use the federal programs.

Recommended steps included signage posted outside or in the chapel warning patients, visitors, and staff of keeping oxygen equipment and their delivery devices sufficiently far from any flame in the chapel and the use of a rope or other barrier to serve as a secondary mitigation measure.

Lissau responded in a letter sent Friday, questioning how the encased candle ever qualified as an open flame and why concerns about the candle even existed, since it was not an issue before this year.

As Becket explained in a statement Friday, St. Francis keeps the candle lit inside one of its chapels as a symbol of the living presence of Jesus, following Catholic Church teaching. It is encased in two glass globes with a bronze cover on top. The candle holder is affixed to the wall and the chapel ceiling has multiple sprinkler heads.

In February, a surveyor from The Joint Commission of CMS visited St. Francis and concluded that the sanctuary candle was a violation of standards on fire safety. CMS agreed with the surveyors conclusion and sent a letter on April 20 advising the facility to correct it after the hospital requested an appeal and reconsideration regarding the citation. If the hospital did not address the Joint Commissions concern, it would have lost the ability to provide for patients who use Medicare and Medicaid.

Earlier this week, Becket sent a letter to HHS and other government agencies on behalf of the Catholic hospital, accusing the government agencies of violating the Religious Freedom Restoration Act and the First Amendment rights of the St. Francis Health System in addition to promising to file an emergency lawsuit it the agencies did not cease and desist.

For its part, a CMS spokesperson informed The Christian Post on Thursday that an independent accrediting organization made the safety finding about the fire risk. CMS stated that it was working with the hospitals accrediting organization to develop options to mitigate the potential fire risk and remove the safety finding.

During the safety inspection, the surveyor saw a lit candle with an open flame burning unattended 24/7 and he believed it violated the requirement for candles to be placed in a substantial candle holder and supervised at all times they are lighted.

The governments demand is absurd and unlawful  it is targeting Saint Francis sincere beliefs without any good reason, Windham said in a statement published before CMS approved the waiver. The government has a simple choice: either stop this attack on Saint Francis faith or expect a legal firestorm.
Fmr. Archbishop of York told to step back from ministry over handling of abuse allegations

The former Archbishop of York has been ordered to step back from active ministry over his response to a review into the Church of England's handling of abuse allegations.

The review into abuse by the late Rev. Trevor Devamanikkam concluded that Lord Sentamu failed to take appropriate action after he was copied into a letter from the victim detailing the abuse.

Lord Sentamu told the review that he believed he did not have the authority to deal with the allegations because they related to a different diocese and that responsibility for responding fell to the Bishop of Sheffield.

Independent reviewer, Jane Humphreys, disagreed and wrote in her report that the former archbishop should have done more to ensure that the allegations were being dealt with.

"The Independent Reviewer's professional opinion, however, is that no Church law excuses the responsibility of individuals not to act on matters of a safeguarding nature," she said.

"The survivor had sent a copy of a letter to the archbishop of York where he was clearly saying he had already disclosed twice to the bishop of Sheffield his non-recent abuse and the bishop had not acted on this.

"The Independent Reviewer cannot see how the Archbishop of York could have believed the Bishop of Sheffield would act on the survivor's disclosures of abuse, given he had not previously."

She added that Lord Sentamu "should have sought advice from his diocesan safeguarding adviser at the time as to how to proceed with the letter sent from the survivor."

She added that the survivor's claim that his disclosure had not been acted upon by Lord Sentamu "is substantiated."

In his response to the review, Lord Sentamu rejected the findings, saying that they were "due to a fundamental misunderstanding on [the reviewer's] part of the jurisdictional, pastoral and legal responsibilities of Diocesan Bishops and Archbishops in the Church of England."

"I am saddened that a report that rightly seeks to review the workings of the church in order to learn lessons has demonstrated a lack of necessary understanding regarding the operation of dispersed authority in the Church of England," he said.

In light of Lord Sentamu's response, the bishop of Newcastle, Helen-Ann Hartley, has ordered him "to step back from active ministry until both the findings and his response can be explored further."

Lord Sentamu is honorary assistant bishop in the Diocese of Newcastle.

A statement from the diocese said that the current Archbishop of York, Stephen Cottrell, is "fully supportive of this decision."

"The Diocese of Newcastle remains committed to the highest standards of safeguarding which seeks always to place victims and survivors at the heart of this vital work," the statement said.

Originally published by Christian Today
Miller Lite facing possible boycott over woke womens ad

Miller Lite is garnering backlash and even calls for a boycott in response to recent attention being given to an ad campaign released earlier this year that critics consider too woke.

Back in March, Miller Lite released an ad in which comedian Ilana Glazer talks about how beer companies used to use sexualized images of women to sell their drinks but now Miller was repudiating this practice.

Titled Bad $#!T to Good $#!T, the ad explains that Miller was buying old ads and using the remains as compost to fertilize the soil to grow the components for their beers. Glazer urged members of the American public who have suggestive images she described as s--- to ship them to Miller Lite so they can be composted.

Women were among the very first to brew beer ever, Glazer explained. Centuries later, how did the industry pay homage to the founding mothers of beer? They put us in bikinis.

Its time beer made it up to women. So, today, Miller Lite is not just on a mission to clean up their s---, but the whole beer industrys s---.

While released in March, the ad campaign has gotten recent negative attention, with multiple conservative groups and individuals calling for a boycott of Miller Lite in response.

Miller Lite apparently wants the Bud Light boycott treatment too, tweeted conservative influencer Rogan OHandley on Monday. As of Tuesday morning, his post had received over 2,500 likes and more than 295,000 views.

Miller Lite apparently wants the Bud Light boycott treatment too



Well they can have it



Newsflash: After a hard days work, working class beer drinkers dont want to be lectured like theyre in a Gender Studies class at SUNY-Oswego@yuenglingbeer it is!

pic.twitter.com/xxNoPPCz8z  DC_Draino (@DC_Draino) May 15, 2023

Newsflash: After a hard days work, working class beer drinkers dont want to be lectured like theyre in a Gender Studies class at SUNY-Oswego.

The Media Research Center, a prominent conservative group known for their fact-checking of liberal news media outlets, posted the short statement on Facebook Monday, writing, Time to boycott Miller Lite, which has over 5,000 likes as of Tuesday morning.

Miller Lite feminist ad blurs the faces of women in bikinis, destroys their ads, makes it into fertilizer, for being offensive, tweeted Richard Hanania, president of the Center for the Study of Partisanship and Ideology. He characterized this kind of ugly (literally and figuratively, for ugly women) feminism as much more harmful than anything Dylan Mulvaney did, expressing hope that it leads to a boycott.

Miller Lite feminist ad blurs the faces of women in bikinis, destroys their ads, makes it into fertilizer, for being offensive. This kind of ugly (literally and figuratively, for ugly women) feminism much more harmful than anything Dylan Mulvaney did. Hopefully leads to boycott. https://t.co/kUKWhhBMvl  Richard Hanania (@RichardHanania) May 15, 2023

For its part, Miller Lite viewed the ad campaign as part of its observance of Womens History Month, which is celebrated in March, and as a way of correcting past misogyny.

This Womens History Month, Miller Lite wanted to recognize that without women, there would be no beer, said Elizabeth Hitch, senior director of marketing for Miller Lite, in a statement released back in March.

To honor this we wanted to acknowledge the missteps in representation of women in beer advertising by cleaning up not just our $#!T, but the whole industry's $#!T while benefiting the future of women and beer.

As Hanania indicated in his tweet, Miller Lite is not the only beer company to face backlash over a marketing campaign derided by critics as woke. Last month, Bud Light garnered controversy for partnering with trans-identified social media influencer Dylan Mulvaney as part of an advertising campaign, prompting backlash from multiple celebrities and others.

As a result, Bud Light suffered a 21% decline in sales, with an even higher drop among those who typically buy the product in bulk, according to a report by the New York Post earlier this month.
North Carolina passes 12-week abortion ban; overrides governors veto

North Carolina has passed a law banning most abortions after 12 weeks gestation, with the state's Republican-majority Legislature overriding a veto by Democrat Gov. Roy Cooper.

The North Carolina General Assembly voted to override the governors veto on Senate Bill 20 on Tuesday, with the law scheduled to take effect on July 1. The House approved the override in a vote of 72-48 while the Senate approved the override in a vote of 30-20.

North Carolina House Speaker Tim Moore released a statement Tuesday celebrating the veto override, referring to the new law as meaningful, mainstream legislation.

Senate Bill 20 will save lives and provide needed support for women and families while putting North Carolinas abortion law in line with the most of rest of the free world, stated Moore. Today the North Carolina House of Representatives has affirmed the value of human life, and I am proud that the Care for Women, Children, and Families Act is now law.

For his part, Cooper released a statement on Tuesday denouncing the veto override, claiming that most people in the state dont want right-wing politicians in the exam room with women and their doctors.

For the last two weeks, Republican sponsors of this abortion ban have strenuously argued that it is much less restrictive than we warned, so we will now do everything in our power to make sure thats true, the governor added.

North Carolinians now understand that Republicans are unified in their assault on womens reproductive freedom and we are energized to fight back on this and other critical issues facing our state. I will continue doing everything I can to protect abortion access in North Carolina because womens lives depend on it.

Introduced in January, SB 20 states that it will ban abortion after the twelfth week of a woman's pregnancy, with exceptions given for medical emergencies, rape and incest up until 20 weeks into the pregnancy, and during the first 24 weeks of a woman's pregnancy, if a qualified physician determines there exists a life-limiting anomaly.

Last year, the United States Supreme Court ruled in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization that abortion is not a constitutional right, overturning the controversial 1973 Supreme Court decision Roe v. Wade.

Since the Dobbs decision was released, several states have moved to pass stricter laws on abortion, with states banning the procedure in nearly all circumstances once a baby's heartbeat is detected, which is usually around six weeks into a pregnancy.

Most European countries limit abortion access after the first trimester, or around 12 weeks into a pregnancy, with some countries like Poland banning abortions in most circumstances.
Pro-life lawmakers, activists seek changes to FACE Act amid inaction on pro-abortion violence

WASHINGTON  Lawmakers and pro-life activists are calling for a longstanding United States law to be repealed or reformed, alleging a double standard in its enforcement based on ones views on abortion.

Rep. Mike Johnson, R-La., the chairman of the U.S. House Judiciary Committees Subcommittee on the Constitution and Limited Government, held a press conference on the House Triangle of the U.S. Capitol Tuesday following the conclusion of a hearing, Revisiting the Implications of the FACE Act. The law's title is an acronym for Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances.

As Johnson explained, The FACE Act is a 1994 law that was passed here that prohibits threats of force, obstruction and property damage intended to interfere with reproductive healthcare services and the statute protects pro-life pregnancy counseling services and other pregnancy support facilities providing reproductive healthcare. The law subjects violators to federal charges.

The FACE Act has been stripped of its intent and used as a tool to both simultaneously prosecute pro-life individuals and insulate those who carry out attacks on pro-life advocates and facilities, he insisted. Johnson cited the prosecution of pro-abortion activists in Florida for vandalizing pro-life pregnancy centers as the sole example of pro-abortion activists facing charges under the FACE Act.

Johnson pointed to Mark Houck as an example of a pro-life activist unduly prosecuted under the FACE Act. In October 2021, while standing and praying on a street corner, away from the entrance of a Planned Parenthood clinic, he and his 12-year-old son were there. Mr. Houck was approached by a Planned Parenthood escort who repeatedly antagonized him verbally and attempted to intimidate him and his young son.

He asked him politely to stop that behavior and the man did not. And so, Mr. Houck eventually pushed the escort away from his young son and the guy fell to the ground.

Eleven months later, Houcks story gained national attention after the FBI descended on his home in an early morning raid to arrest him for a purported violation of the FACE Act stemming from his encounter with the Planned Parenthood escort. While he was ultimately acquitted on the federal charges, Houck has repeatedly detailed the trauma the early-morning raid caused on his family and vowed to take legal action against federal law enforcement.

As Johnson and witnesses who testified at the hearing spoke, pictures of pro-life pregnancy centers and churches vandalized by pro-abortion activists following the publication of a leaked draft decision in the U.S. Supreme Court case Dobbs v. Jackson Womens Health Organization. Virtually all of it has gone unpunished and unprosecuted, Johnson lamented.

One of the pictures on display documented vandalism at Capitol Hill Pregnancy Center in Washington, D.C. The pro-life pregnancy center, defaced with graffiti on June 1 of last year, was one of several facilities targeted by pro-abortion activists following the May 2 publication of the Dobbs draft decision.

Janet Durig, director of the Capitol Hill Pregnancy Center, recalled the disparate responses to the vandalism from local and federal law enforcement as she spoke at the press conference: I called the police and they came and they took it very seriously. I have yet to hear from the FBI and its been almost a year.

The vandalism directed at pro-life pregnancy centers and churches has continued since the Dobbs ruling on June 24, 2022, which determined that the U.S. Constitution does not contain a right to abortion. Pro-life activists gathered at the press conference suggested that the Dobbs ruling made the FACE Act moot.

Jonathan Darnel, one of several pro-life activists charged with violating the FACE Act by attempting to block people from entering a Washington, D.C., abortion clinic, addressed the speakers at the press conference by declaring the whole justification for the FACE Act in the first place was the 14th Amendment that supposedly abortion was a constitutional right.

The Dobbs case has thrown that completely away, he added. We know that its not a constitutional right. Shouldnt we be calling  not for an equal application of the FACE Act but  for the FACE Act to be disposed of? Darnel asked.

Terrisa Bukovinac, president and founder of the Progressive Anti-Abortion Uprising, echoed Darnels comments by asking if there was any plan to repeal FACE. Johnson responded to her question by highlighting the purpose of Tuesdays hearing as to determine whether we need some reforms to the Act and whether we should amend it in some way to make sure that this is appropriately exercised by the [Department of Justice].

Lauren Handy, a pro-life activist affiliated with PAAU, faces 11 years in prison on FACE Act charges connected to the same Washington, D.C., abortion clinic blockade that Darnel participated in.

Handy, who attended the hearing and the press conference, elaborated on the present status of her legal situation in an interview with The Christian Post.

I go to court May 25, she said. The judge will possibly be determining our motion to dismiss the case. Our lawyers submitted a motion to dismiss based on the fact that  were in a post-Dobbs world. Abortion is no longer a federal right and we do not believe the government has the ability to regulate it under the Commerce Clause anymore. And because its no longer a federal right, my case should be dismissed.

Handy has spent time behind bars before as a result of her pro-life activism, with her longest incarceration thus far lasting for 34 days. She anticipates spending a longer amount of time incarcerated if she's found guilty.

Savanna Deretich, the government affairs coordinator at the pro-life advocacy group Students for Life Action, also delivered remarks at the press conference. Deretich noted that Kristan Hawkins, president of Students for Life of Action, applauded the House Judiciary Committee for addressing the abuse of the FACE Act as it is applied to peaceful pro-life Americans.

It has become progressively obvious that federal agencies are wielding this law in a discriminatory manner toward the pro-life movement, Deretich proclaimed. This includes using the FACE Act as a cover to disproportionately discriminate against pro-life activists who have violated the law as well as agencies turning a blind eye when pro-life pregnancy centers are damaged or destroyed by the abortion lobby.

In an interview with CP, Deretich discussed the hostility directed at Students for Life of America following the Dobbs decision: Weve had arson, weve had bomb threats, weve even had physical attacks where they have physically taken away our things and touching us, punching us. Weve had students that have been punched door-knocking as well as tabling, and weve even had pee thrown at some of our students.

Deretich acknowledged that student activists affiliated with Students for Life Action experienced hostility from pro-abortion activists prior to the Dobbs decision, although it was on a much smaller scale. The FACE Act is not being properly enforced, she said, stressing that we would love for it to be properly enforced.

According to Deretich, The [Biden] administration needs to properly enforce the FACE Act and not be discriminatory and use it as a weapon against pro-lifers.
Republican lawmakers decry FBI's 'open war on pro-life activists'

Republican lawmakers are seeking answers from the FBI regarding what they see as the selective enforcement of federal law as arrests of pro-life activists make national headlines.

Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, and Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, along with 38 of their colleagues, wrote a letter to FBI Director Christopher Wray Wednesday. In the letter, the elected officials expressed concern about the continued politicization of the law enforcement agency, specifically the recent rise in high-profile FBI investigations into pro-life Americans.

The letter listed examples of recent arrests of pro-life activists for purported violations of the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act. The FACE Act subjects federal charges on anyone who intentionally injures, intimidates, or interferes with or attempts to injure, intimidate or interfere with any person seeking to obtain or provide abortions. Violators face a maximum penalty of 11 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.

The letter highlighted the Sept. 23 arrest of Mark Houck, who was indicted by a federal grand jury for allegedly pushing an abortion clinic volunteer, who had harassed his [12-year-old] son. The incident that led to Houcks arrest in an early-morning raid on his home in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, occurred last year at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Philadelphia as the pro-life activist and his son gathered to pray outside the abortion facility. The letter noted that Houcks arrest occurred despite the fact the charges had been dismissed by local authorities.

A separate arrest of a pro-life activist cited as a violation of the FACE Act identified in the letter stemmed from a Minnesota encounter at a Planned Parenthood clinic that involved a client at the abortion clinic attempting to cut up a pro-life activists sign, resulting in the woman pushing her away. While charges were dismissed in Minnesota state court, the FBI has pursued an indictment anyway.

In yet another case, a priest in New York state is facing FACE Act charges even though local authorities already sentenced the man. These are not federal law enforcement matters and represent an abuse of the FACE Act, the Republican lawmakers wrote. During floor debate on the legislation, Representative [Patricia] Schroeder of Colorado, a co-sponsor of the FACE Act, argued that empowering the federal government through the FACE Act was only necessary if the states cannot help, then we have a duty to move in.

Schroeder, as quoted in the letter, insisted that we do not do it unless it appears the states cannot handle it. According to Schroeder, the federal government does not move in until it appears that in some parts of the country there is a breakdown.

Overzealous prosecutions under the FACE Act weaponize the power of federal law enforcement against American citizens in what should firmly be state and local matters, the letter added. Further, these abuses of federal power against pro-life Americans based solely on their beliefs undermine the American peoples trust in the FBI.

The lawmakers concluded the letter by requesting a briefing on the FBIs application of the FACE Act by Oct. 20 and seeking information about the number of investigations the FBI had opened up under the FACE Act in each of the years dating back to 2019. Additionally, the letter asked FBI officials to provide statistics about how many of the FACE Act investigations in the relevant years dealt with abortion facilities, pregnancy centers and churches or houses of worship.

This line of questioning reflects that the FACE Act also prohibits attempts to injure, intimidate or interfere with any person lawfully exercising or seeking to exercise the First Amendment right of religious freedom at a place of religious worship.

Additional questions posed to the FBI include inquiries into how many of these cases involve subjects with charges previously dismissed or sentenced by state courts and what criteria the FBI uses when deciding whether to open a case under the FACE Act that was previously dismissed by state courts.

The lawmakers also pressed the FBI for quantification of the amount of resources the FBI is using on FACE Act investigations as well as the existence of any new guidance, memos, or internal correspondence regarding FACE Act investigations since the U.S. Supreme Courts ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Womens Health Organization determining that the U.S. Constitution did not contain a right to abortion.

Pro-life pregnancy centers and churches have faced vandalism following the Dobbs decision and the letter contended that federal law enforcement has failed to adequately respond to those attacks while working swiftly to take legal action against pro-life activists engaged in non-violent civil disobedience.

Congressman Roy elaborated on his concerns about the FBIs enforcement of the FACE Act in a statement last week. I am outraged by the Biden administrations open war on pro-life activists and weaponization of federal law enforcement against patriotic Americans for their beliefs, he said. Referring to Houcks arrest, Roy proclaimed, This administration has a lot of explaining to do when protecting ones own child means armed FBI agents at the door.

At a protest calling for the impeachment of U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland over what they view as his abuse of the FACE Act, Randall Terry of the pro-life advocacy group Operation Rescue suggested that the FACE Act is working exactly as intended. When Bill Clinton was elected, he appointed Janet Reno as his attorney general, Terry explained. When she came up to the microphone in her press conference, she said one of her top priorities was to break the back of Operation Rescue.

Terry stressed that the FACE Act was always designed to isolate people of faith who wanted to defend the unborn.

In a previous interview with The Christian Post, Terry recalled that before the laws passage in 1994, hundreds of people would blockade abortion clinics for an entire day. Now that those actions come with federal charges, such large-scale protests no longer take place. Terry told CP that once that law was passed, it effectively broke the back of our movement.
SC school board settles lawsuit with atheist group over student-led prayer at graduations

Months after a court awarded an atheist group $456,000 in a lawsuit against a South Carolina school district for holding graduation ceremonies with prayer and hymns, Greenville County School District has agreed to pay $187,000 in a settlement that would protect the religious freedoms of students and employees.

Districts board members voted 8-3 to pass the settlement with the American Humanist Association, which not only significantly reduces the amount to be paid by the district but would also allow staff to bow their heads during student-led prayer, which the previous court order prohibited, Greenville News reported.

If approved by a judge, the settlement would end the lawsuit filed in 2013 on behalf of a family whose child attended a graduation ceremony that featured Christian prayers delivered by students and religious music.

In July 2019, District Court Judge Bruce Hendricks issued a permanent injunction against the school district, ordering that the school district, among other things, could not include a prayer as part of the official program for a graduation ceremony.

The district also shall not include an obviously religious piece of music as part of the official program for a graduation ceremony, wrote Hendricks. The district and/or school officials shall not encourage, promote, advance, endorse, or participate in causing prayers during any graduation ceremony.

Further, Hendricks ruled that students could, under certain circumstances, include religious content in their speeches provided that no one else was asked to participate. The judge also ordered that any programs or fliers for a ceremony with a student speaker include a disclaimer saying that the students remarks did not reflect the opinions of the school district.

According to the settlement, any graduation speaker must be selected based on religiously neutral criteria, and that district employees must not review or edit the remarks, according to Fox Carolina, which reported that other stipulations include the right of district employees to respect student-led prayer and that district policies and training procedures remain neutral on religious topics, neither encouraging nor discouraging the religious speech.

The school districts attorney Doug Webb was quoted as saying that the schools former insurance company would pay the fees and that it would not cost the school district. This agreement would protect and secure the free-exercise rights, the freedom-of-speech rights of students and employees, Webb said.

After the ruling of the U.S. District Court for South Carolina, the district told Fox Carolina that they would appeal the decision to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.



Throughout this case, the School District has argued that students, like other citizens, have the right to free speech, including that of a religious nature, stated the school district.



On this main point, Greenville County Schools successfully convinced the Court to uphold its consistent position on the central issue of protecting student speech and supported the districts belief that students should be allowed to speak from a religious or secular perspective at a graduation, it added.

Monica Miller, AHAs legal director and senior counsel, responded to the districts decision to settle the lawsuit by saying that the agreement was in the public's best interests even though it meant the group would receive less money than the judge ordered.
Weeping, guns, lament: A stark contrast in media coverage of Texas horror vs. Nashville mass shooting?

A heartbreaking mass shooting at an outlet mall in Allen, Texas, on May 6 left eight people dead and horrified the nation.

Christian Post reporter Ian M. Giatti breaks down what happened, what officials currently know, how the city is being impacted  and more.

Among other topics, Giatti tackles some of the differences seen in the media's coverage of the Texas shooting versus the recent mass killing at a Christian school in Nashville. He also unpacks his attendance at a church vigil remembering the lives of those lost.

Listen to Giatti discuss the story:

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.

Listen to more Christian podcasts today on the Edifi app  and be sure to subscribe to The Inside Story on your favorite platforms:
Tim Keller's family ask for continued prayers as pastor returns to hospital amid cancer battle

Tim Kellers family has asked for continued prayers for the pastor and bestselling author as he recently returned to the hospital amid his ongoing battle with pancreatic cancer.

A brief health update on my Dad: After being released from the hospital on Saturday, he returned late Sunday night to receive additional care. Please continue to pray for his recovery, Michael Keller, Tim Kellers son, wrote on social media Wednesday morning.

Keller, the founding pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City, was initially diagnosed with stage four pancreatic cancer in May 2020. Last year, he underwent immunotherapy at the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, Maryland, which he said at the time was successful in eradicating 99% of the tumors.

However, in March, the 72-year-old pastor revealed that new tumors had developed, requiring him to undergo a repeat of the immunotherapy treatment.

In an update Saturday, the pastors wife, Kathy Keller, revealed he had suffered complications from that treatment.

Tim is out of the hospital and recovering at home after complications from his treatment. Please continue to pray during this slow recovery," she wrote at the time.

Keller is also a survivor of thyroid cancer, which he had in 2002.

In November, the pastor told The Christian Post that the treatments had kept his cancer at bay, keeping him exactly where I was two-and-a-half years ago when I got the cancer diagnosis.

Most people are gone within months or a year; I'm still going strong and I'm going into two-and-a-half years. I'm very, very grateful to God, he said.

However, he acknowledged that the cancer was still there" and could "break out anytime." He added that every time he had a scan, he experienced "scanxiety."

"You know that it doesn't matter how good the last one was," he said. "This one could show that it's out of control."

Still, the pastor shared that he and his wife had seen their prayer lives grow and develop as they faced his diagnosis together.

"This is going to sound like an exaggeration. My wife and I would never want to go back to the kind of prayer life and spiritual life we had before the cancer, never," he said, adding that his cancer journey has led him to genuinely experience Psalm 90:14: "Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days."

One of the most influential pastors of the last several decades, Keller has championed planting churches in urban areas through Redeemer City to City and popularized the term Gospel-centered churches.

In February, The Gospel Coalition, which Keller co-founded, announced the launch of The Keller Center for Cultural Apologetics, an initiative designed to help pastors, young people and other Christian leaders adapt to a "post-Christendom culture."

Keller's books have also sold more than 3 million copies. Some of his bestsellers include The Prodigal God, The Meaning of Marriage and The Reason for God. His most recent, Forgive: Why Should I and How Can I?, addresses Americas forgiveness crisis.



There's a cultural moment here where I think forgiveness is very important to talk about, Keller told CP. "We live in a culture that is very fragmented, polarized, there's an awful lot of anger, and people are really after each other. Forgiveness is not in the air.



Collin Hansen, vice president of content and editor-in-chief for The Gospel Coalition and author of Timothy Keller: His Spiritual and Intellectual Formation, told CP that Keller has plenty of other things he wants to write.

We've been praying all along for another decade of energetic ministry, Hansen said.

It seems as though the spiritual work that God has done in his life through the cancer has been a kind of personal revival of sorts, he said.

So, there's sort of a combination of hopefulness and eagerness and planning for another decade ahead, Lord willing, but at the same time a sense that nothing is promised. And in that sense, Tim's just getting a concentrated dose of really all of our situations, no different for any of us, because, as Jesus tells us, we're not promised tomorrow either, he said.
Mutual submission in 1 Peter 3:1-7: Husband submit to wife?

It is almost universally acknowledged, even by George Knight III in Recovering Biblical Manhood & Womanhood, 166168, that Ephesians 5:21 teaches mutual submission and that 5:22 continues that teaching. Similarly, 1 Peter 3:7s in the same way implies submit and so commands husbands to submit to their own wives.



1 Peter 2:133:7 gives Christian exiles undergoing suffering a series of four commands to submit:

Submit yourselves for the Lords sake to every human institution, whether to the emperor, as having authority, or to governors, as sent by him to punish wrongdoers and to praise those who do good (translations by Payne).

Although commanding submission to those in authority, Peter affirms the believers freedom as Gods slaves (1 Peter 2:16).

The following commands to submit are addressed specifically to Christian slaves, wives, and husbands. 1 Peter 2:18 calls Christian exiles who are slaves to submit to their masters.

Peter then commands wives:

In the same way, wives submit yourselves to your own husbands so that even if some of them disobey Gods word, your conduct may win them over  even though you might not speak Gods word  when your husbands observe your God-fearing, devoted conduct  For this is the way holy wives of old who put their hope in God adorned themselves, submitting themselves to their own husbands. Sarah, for example, obeyed Abraham, calling him, 'lord.' You have become her children if you do good and do not fear any terror (1 Peter 3:16).

Peter was probably referring to the only instance in the Bible where Sarah refers to Abraham as my lord (Genesis 18:12): After I am worn out and my lord is old, will I now have this pleasure? Peter does not explain what obedience or submission by Sarah to Abraham he had in mind. Was it her dutiful preparation for the feast for the divine visitors? As possibly implied by this pleasure, was it her having sexual relations with Abraham even at her age, resulting in her conception of Isaac (cf. 1 Corinthians 7:313)? Was it how God saved Sarah from terror when Sarahs submitted to Abrahams plan that put her at risk (Genesis 20)?

Evangelism is the motive Peter states for wives submission, not the common Greco-Roman belief that women, since they are by nature inferior, ought to be subordinate to men. It was precisely wives belief in Christ, contrary to their husbands beliefs, that put them at risk. It could be crucial for the wifes physical safety to have a silent witness. Wives were expected to adopt their husbands religious beliefs (Plutarch Moralia 140d). Nevertheless, Peter writes, You were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors (1:18). He urges wives, Do not fear any terror (3:6). 1 Peter throughout is an appeal to believers who have been tested by fire (1:7), faced abuse (4:4) and the fiery ordeal (4:12), and have been insulted because of the name of Christ (4:14). Peter commands, endure (2:20) and be not ashamed as they suffer for the faith (4:1316), but stand fast (5:12), firm in the faith (5:9).

Peter next commands husbands who have believing wives:

Husbands, in the same way submit yourselves to your own wives, as you dwell together wisely, recognizing her as a weaker feminine (BDAG 208) precious vessel. Honor them as coheirs with you of the gracious gift of life, so your prayers wont be hindered (1 Peter 3:7).

In Greek, this sentence has no main verb, but the command submit is implied because in the same way demands something parallel to the preceding commands. Each of the three preceding sections begins with a command to submit using the same verb, hypotasso:

 Submit yourselves for the Lords sake to every human creature (2:13).

Submit yourselves for the Lords sake to every human creature (2:13). You who are enslaved, submit yourselves in all fear to your masters (2:18).

In the same way [homoios], wives submit yourselves to your own husbands (3:1).

So when Peter writes in 3:7, Husbands in the same way [homoios]  , the only command supplied by the context is submit, and submit fits the context perfectly. Even the advocate of patriarchy, J. N. D. Kelly (Epistles of Peter and Jude, 132) affirmed this, as does Peter Davids (Discovering Biblical Equality, 243). Furthermore, the close parallel between Wives in the same way [homoios] submit yourselves to your own husbands and Husbands in the same way [homoios] ... naturally implies, Husbands in the same way [submit yourselves to your own wives]. The ESV and NIV unjustifiably introduce a new main verb, live with or be considerate. But neither of these verbs is in any manuscript of 1 Peter 3:7, nor is there anything similar to it in the preceding context. All this implies Peters intent: husbands in the same way submit to your own wives.

But, you may ask, What makes you think Peter would honor wives as equal in standing with their husbands?

Peters description of the wives as heirs with you of the gracious gift of life (3:7) shows that he recognizes wives equal standing in Christ with their husbands. This contrasts sharply with womens unequal and disadvantaged legal position regarding such things as inheritance in Peters day. Furthermore, treat them with respect uses the Greek noun for honor which conveys social status. Peter, therefore, commands believing husbands to grant their wives honor and social status that was exceptional in that culture.



You may also ask, What makes you think Peter believed in mutuality like this?



Immediately after writing Husbands, in the same way [submit to your own wives], Peter encourages mutuality: Be like-minded, be sympathetic, love one another, be compassionate and humble (3:7, 8). Two other events in Sarahs marriage illustrate mutual submission in marriage: God told Abraham to obey Sarah in Genesis 21:12, and Abraham obeyed Sarah in Genesis 16:2 LXX.

The phrase weaker feminine vessel may mean that wives tend to be physically weaker than husbands, so husbands should treat their wives with consideration and respect and not use their strength to their advantage. Weaker may also refer to the wifes weaker social position in that culture. The use of vessel/pottery with weaker and feminine in the context of joint heirs suggests a fragile, precious vessel. Although women were regarded as weaker than men in that culture, they are precious in Gods sight. Indeed, they are full inheritors in Christ.

So that nothing will hinder your prayers shows that husbands not submitting to and honoring their wives will have serious consequences. It gives God pleasure for husbands to honor their wives as coheirs of the gracious gift of life, treating them as the equals God created them to be. God blesses husband-wife mutual submission.

In summary, Peter gives guidance to Christians who were exiled in a pagan land. This passage has close parallels to Pauls command to wives to submit to their husbands in the explicit context of mutual submission in Ephesians 5:2122. Here Peter also not only commands wives to submit themselves to their own husbands but also commands husbands to submit themselves to their own wives and to honor their wives as joint heirs of the gracious gift of life (1 Peter 3:7).
2 pillars of encouragement in these negative times

I heard about a group of frogs that were hopping through the forest one afternoon, when two of them suddenly stumbled into a pit. All the other frogs looked over the side and said, Oh no! Thats so deep! Youre as good as dead. Youll never get out of there.

But those two little frogs didnt want to stay in that pit  it was cold and dark down there  and started jumping and jumping for all they were worth. When they kept falling short of their goal, the frogs on top yelled out, Youre gonna die. Just give up. Theres no way.

Their advice was so discouraging that one of the frogs actually gave up and died (croaked). But the other frog refused to give up. He kept jumping and jumping. And finally, much to every frogs surprise, he leaped up to the rim and pulled himself out of the pit.

The other frogs said, Didnt you hear us? We told you that youd never get out. But the little frog who escaped said, Oh, sorry. Im hard of hearing. I thought you were cheering me on.



We live in a culture of discouraging words today, and maybe youve absorbed some of that in recent days. You cant miss it if you go on social media and encounter all the internet trolls and the ridiculous, mean-spirited vitriol and comments theyll make. Turn on the news, and its even more discouraging. Sometimes it seems like were in a national race to follow Sodom and Gomorrah.



All of that negativity, of course, has an effect on the mental health of our nation  especially young people. Depression and suicide rates have gone off the charts. And a recent survey found that fully half of all Americans feel left out, and over half feel that no one knows them well  or cares.

But its not just young people. Many senior adults are seeking a word of hope, and a reason to believe their lives still matter.

What do all these people have in common? They need a word of encouragement! They need to know they are needed, loved, and appreciated.



Real encouragement, of course  the kind that endures  comes from God Himself. Remember what Paul wrote to the Thessalonians?

"May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word" (2 Thessalonians 2:16, NIV).

In addition to the 24/7 love, fellowship, and counsel of Gods Holy Spirit, He has given us two strong pillars of encouragement in these negative times. Im talking about the Word of God and the people of God.

Encouragement in the Word



Maybe, like the two frogs in my story, you have found yourself in a deep hole of discouragement. You have found yourself thinking, Im such a failure. Ive always failed and probably always will. But God has a response to dark thoughts like those. In Philippians 4:13 (NKJV) we read: I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.



The two key words in this verse are through Christ. No, you cant do all things on your own, or even very many things. No one can. And maybe you have failed and found yourself on a dead-end pathway. But God will meet you there! If you call out to Him, He will forgive you, give you a second chance, and get you up on your feet  through Jesus Christ who strengthens you.

Maybe someone reading this would say, Im just so anxious about the future. Theres so much out there that could go wrong! Yes, in a world like this, there certainly is. But in Deuteronomy 31:6 (NLT) the Lord says, So be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid and do not panic before them. For the Lord your God will personally go ahead of you. He will neither fail you nor abandon you.



You might say, I have no future, and I have no hope. But listen to what the psalmist wrote in Psalm 130:5 (NLT):

"I am counting on the Lord;

yes, I am counting on him.

I have put my hope in his word."

Where will you find hope? That is where you will find hope. In the Word of God. You wont find it online or on social media or in newspapers or cable TV. But Gods Word has been pulling men and women out of pits and putting them on good pathways for years beyond counting.

So yes, the Word of God is great encouragement beyond comparison.



But we also need Gods people in our lives to infuse our souls with courage and walk with us through the hard times.

The power of an encourager

In the book of Acts, an encourager named Barnabas stepped into the life of Saul-who-became-Paul at just the right moment. Paul was a new Christian with a scary track record of persecuting believers, and the church in Jerusalem didnt want to have anything to do with him.

But Barnabas believed Pauls conversion story, took him under his wing, and encouraged him in the Lord. Eventually, they went on missionary journeys together, where Paul discovered his powerful spiritual gifts of preaching and teaching. After a while, Barnabas was content to let his new friend take the lead, and from then on they were Paul and Barnabas.



Where would Paul have been without this encourager who stepped into his life at just the right moment? And where would we have been? Because Paul went on to write 13 books of our New Testament.

Thats what an encourager does. He or she sees the potential in others, cheers them on, and stands by them when things get tough. How important is that? I think we wont begin to realize how crucial such encouragers are until we get to Heaven and see the big picture.

Have you been encouraged by someone like that? And how about you? Do you know a younger Christian right now? They need someone like you to be a Barnabas in their life and to strengthen them in their walk of faith because no one can make it as a solo Christian. We need more people like Barnabas to step into the gap.

A guy named Mark did this for me. I became a Christian in high school. I had been using drugs at the time, and my life was going in the wrong direction. I heard the Gospel from some Christians at lunchtime on my campus, and had a radical conversion experience, giving my life to Jesus.

But I didnt know what to do next. There was a little on-campus Bible study I started attending, but they had a weird guest speaker one day, and I didnt feel comfortable. There were a little too many Praise the Lords and Hallelujahs for me at that moment.



So, I told myself that I would just be a solo Christian and do it on my own. In reality, I was right on the edge of giving it all up and falling away.



Thats when another student named Mark walked up to me  seemingly out of nowhere  introduced himself and invited me to church.

I told him I didnt want to go to church. He said, Whats your address? Ill pick you up.

So, the next thing I knew, I was in a car going to church, because Mark was persistent. And thats when I walked into Calvary Chapel at the epicenter of the Jesus Movement in Southern California. I was surrounded by worshiping people, took a seat in the front row, and Pastor Chuck Smith came out and gave a message from the Bible. And from that moment on, I was hooked.



Who made the difference in my life? A guy named Mark  someone I barely knew. Who made the difference in the apostle Pauls life? A guy named Barnabas.

Can you be that Mark or Barnabas for somebody else?

It may be one of the most important things you will ever do.




Bishop of Oxford won't be stepping down over abuse review findings

A spokesman for the Bishop of Oxford says he has no plans to step down after he was criticised in a review over his handling of abuse allegations.

Matthew Ineson, who was 16 when he was raped in 1984 by the late Rev Trevor Devamanikkam and has since waived his right to anonymity, said he had reported the abuse to Dr Steven Croft in 2012 and 2013 when he was Bishop of Sheffield, and that he failed to act.

The Devamanikkam Review published last week concluded that Dr Croft, who is now the Bishop of Oxford, and other senior clergy, including the then Archbishop of York, Lord Sentamu, failed to act on the disclosures.

Lord Sentamu has rejected the review's findings, claiming that they are based on a misunderstanding of the authority of bishops and archbishops in the Church of England.

He was subsequently ordered by the Bishop of Newcastle to step back from his role as Honorary Assistant Bishop in the Diocese of Newcastle "until both the findings and his response can be explored further".

Mr Ineson has asked that the Bishop of Oxford also stand down in light of the review's findings.

A spokesman for the Diocese of Oxford told The Times that Bishop Croft had made a "mistake" in believing that "others were dealing with the matter at the time", and that he would not be stepping down.

The spokesman said: "Steven Croft has apologised to Matthew multiple times for an error, and it was an error. There's nothing malicious in that. He's not the abuser of Matthew. Of course the bishop will not be standing down on this matter. There was an awful lot going on with Matthew. It is a mistake, but that's it."
Carl Lentz admits to 'inappropriate relationship' with former nanny

Ex-Hillsong New York City pastor Carl Lentz will address claims he sexually abused his former nanny in a new documentary about the famed church.

Lentz was fired as the pastor of Hillsong NYC in November 2020 because of "moral failures" and leadership issues. Shortly after his firing, he issued a statement saying he had been unfaithful to his wife Laura.

The following year, in an article on Medium, former Hillsong leader, Leona Kimes, alleged that the "lead pastors" of Hillsong NYC had sexually and emotionally abused her while she was working as their nanny.

"During the years I spent serving them, I was subjected to manipulation, control, bullying, abuse of power, and sexual abuse. Having told almost no one before this, I am just now able to share what I experienced in their home as the result of intense therapy," she alleged in the article.

Kimes was the Lentz family nanny for seven years before she and her husband, Josh, formerly the associate pastor of Hillsong NYC, went to pastor Hillsong Boston. They resigned as leaders of the Boston campus last year.

In a preview seen by People magazine for episode two of the documentary, The Secrets of Hillsong, airing this Friday on FX Networks, Lentz admits to an "inappropriate relationship" but says that "any notion of abuse is categorically false". He has released previous statements with wife Laura in which they "vehemently deny" Kimes' allegations.

In the documentary, Lentz says, "I am responsible for allowing an inappropriate relationship to develop in my house with someone that worked for us."

He continues, "There were mutual adult decisions made by two people who lied profusely, mainly to my wife.

"It's an issue because I was a boss, this person was an employee. I'm responsible for that power dynamic and the management of it and the wisdom that goes with it, and I failed absolutely miserably."

Lentz said that as the scandal unfolded, he even "thought about vacating the planet".

He also talked for the first time about sexual abuse he says he suffered as a child.

"I'm tired of this damage, I'm tired of this wreckage, I'm tired of putting people I love through pain," he said. "I did those things, those are on me, I take responsibility for those. The rest of my life I'll be making amends where I can. And it's also my job to go figure out how the hell that happened."

Lentz recently joined Transformation Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma, as a "strategist".

In an open letter posted on his Instagram earlier this month, Lentz clarified that he was "no longer in ministry" and that he was "not preaching, not overseeing people".

"My role is to help give perspective and insight where I can," he said.
Christian Aid food warehouse struck by Russian missiles

A Christian Aid food warehouse was one of the buildings hit when Russian missiles struck the hometown of Ukraine's Eurovision entrant on Saturday.

The warehouse contained food packages worth over 12,000 that were going to be distributed on Ukraine's Mother's Day last Sunday.

The attack on Ternopil took place while Ukrainian electronic music duo Tvorchi were representing Ukraine in the Eurovision song contest in Liverpool.

The warehouse was destroyed but no staff were injured in the attack, Christian Aid said.

The destroyed food packages will be replaced using donations made by the UK public during the DEC Ukraine appeal.

Ivan Hontar, the head of Christian Aid's local partner charity Light of Reformation, said, "Our warehouse with humanitarian aid, which also served as a hub for inter-church coordination in our region, was completely demolished."

Christian Aid's Ukraine Programme Manager, Lizz Harrison, added: "This latest attack on a non-military target shows the risks taken by our Ukrainian partners every day to ensure humanitarian aid reaches those who need it most."
Poll: Religious attendance is shrinking but those who remain are happy

For American religion, the story of decline just won't let up.

A shrinking number of Americans  16%  say religion is the most important thing in their lives, down from 20% in 2013. And nearly 3 in 10  or 29%  say religion is not important to them at all, up from 19% 10 years ago. Those are among the findings in a new survey by the Public Religion Research Institute on religion and congregations fielded in 2022 and published Tuesday.

The survey of 5,872 American adults finds that 57% seldom or never attend religious services (compared with 45% in 2019). And some of those who do are restless. The survey finds that 24% of Americans said they now belong to a religious congregation other than the one they grew up in; that's up from 16% in 2021.

But among those who remain churchgoers, there's a happier story, too.

Most churchgoers across Christian traditions  59%  have attended their current church for more than 10 years, revealing remarkable stability.

An overwhelming number of regular attenders  82%  say they are optimistic about the future of their congregation. And a whopping 89% say they are proud to be associated with their church.

"What struck me about the findings is the paradox," said Melissa Deckman, CEO of PRRI. "We see continued declines in the role of religion. But for those who attend regularly they seem pretty happy and satisfied, even proud of their congregations."

Americans who attend church at least a few times a year are slightly more likely than those who seldom or never attend church to be civically or politically active. The survey shows they are more likely to have contacted a government official (23% vs. 19%), served on a committee (17% vs. 10%), or volunteered for a political campaign (7% vs. 4%).

Higher levels of civic engagement are particularly strong for Black and Hispanic churchgoers. White Americans tend to be more politically engaged than nonwhites, regardless of whether they attend church.

The survey also asked Americans what subjects they hear about from the pulpit. Most churchgoers reported poverty and inequality, followed by racism and abortion. Election fraud and Donald Trump were among the surveyed subjects least discussed. Only around 1 in 10 churchgoers said their church sometimes or often discusses the former president (8%) or election and voter fraud (11%).

In addition, 56% of churchgoers surveyed don't think their churches are more politically divided than five years ago (13% say they are more divided).

Most churchgoers also give their congregations high marks for welcoming gays and lesbians  75% agreed or mostly agreed their church is welcoming of everyone, including LGBTQ people.

And while 71% of churchgoers identified in the survey said their congregations should provide perspectives on social issues, only 45% agreed with the statement "Congregations should get involved in social issues." (Black churchgoers were the exception  63% said churches should get involved.)

"There's still a hunger to hear about social issues, as long as it's not challenging conversation," said Deckman. That may make some sense, she added, because "most people go to church for spiritual reasons," not political reasons.

The survey did find a growing number of people switching their religion  now about a quarter of all Americans. Catholics appeared to be the biggest losers in this game of musical chairs.

Among Americans who left their religious tradition, 37% say they were formerly Catholic, more than any other group. The survey also found that among mainline Protestants, 46% were previously Catholic, and among Black Hispanic and Asian Protestants, 42% are formerly Catholic.

Catholics also scored poorly on the question of whether religion is important to them. White Catholics were twice as likely in 2022 as they were in 2013 to say religion is not important (16% vs. 7%), and this gap is larger among Hispanic Catholics (13% vs. 2%).

Most religious switchers (56%) said the reason they left their prior religion is that they stopped believing its teachings. Thirty percent of switchers said their faith's attitudes toward LGBTQ people led them to leave, and 27% cited "scandals involving leaders." Only 17% said their congregation had become too political.

The survey was fielded in August 2022. It had a margin of error of plus or minus 1.86 percentage points.

 Religion News Service
Saddleback Church appeals Southern Baptist Convention ouster over woman pastor

Saddleback Church, the California megachurch long known for its former pastor, bestselling author Rick Warren, has appealed the decision by the Southern Baptist Convention to oust it for naming a woman to its pastoral team.

Stacie Wood, wife of Andy Wood, who replaced Warren as lead pastor last summer, has the title of "teaching pastor."

Of the eight congregations removed from official affiliation by the denomination's Executive Committee since last year's annual meeting, three are appealing the decision.

Another church, Fern Creek Baptist Church in Louisville, Kentucky, was also among the five churches ousted for having women in pastoral roles, a stance that is against SBC teaching.

The third church making an appeal is Freedom Church in Vero Beach, Florida, which was ousted "based on a lack of intent to cooperate in resolving concerns regarding a sexual abuse allegation," the committee stated in February.

On Tuesday, the SBC credentials committee issued a statement saying the three churches had appealed, following a process that requires a submission in writing at least 30 days before the SBC annual meeting.

That gathering is scheduled for June 13-14 in New Orleans.

During it, the credentials committee said, a representative of each of the three churches will be allotted a time to speak, as well as a representative of either of the two committees. Messengers, or delegates, to the meeting will then determine if their decisions will be upheld.

"A 'yes' vote will affirm the decision of the Executive Committee and Credentials Committee," the statement reads. "A 'no' vote will overturn the decision of the committees and allow the church to immediately be registered and to seat messengers in accordance with Convention rules."

Executive Committee Chairman David Sons noted in a separate statement that this is a historic juncture for the Protestant denomination, the nation's largest.

"Since this is the first time in SBC history for this particular item of business to come before the Convention, it's important for everyone coming to New Orleans to be prepared and informed about the process," he said.

During the last annual meeting, Warren, who founded Saddleback in 1980 after graduating from a Southern Baptist seminary, took a surprise turn at a microphone and encouraged Southern Baptists to focus on cooperation rather than differences.

"I love Southern Baptists," the author of "The Purpose Driven Life" said at the time. "As Western culture becomes more dark, more evil, more secular, we have to decide: are we going to treat each other as allies or not?"

Saddleback's elders issued a statement in February reiterating that theme, but also noted a possible future response.

"We love and have always valued our relationship with the SBC and its faithful churches," they said. "We will engage and respond through the proper channels at the appropriate time in hopes to serve other like-minded Bible believing SBC churches."

Prior to the Woods' arrival and since, the megachurch has shown its support for women in ministry.

On Mother's Day weekend in 2021, it ordained three women who were longtime staffers. The weekend before Mother's Day this year, Katie Edwards was announced as the new campus pastor of the church's Lake Forest, California, location.

 Religion News Service
Sudan's increased fighting empties Christian clerics from the capital Khartoum

An attack on a Coptic Christian church during Mass on Sunday in the Sudanese capital of Khartoum is drawing attention to the plight of Christians in the northeastern African country, where a raging civil war is forcing out Christian clerics.

The attack on the Coptic Mar Girgis (St. George) Church in Omdurman, across the Nile River from the capital, came as church leaders in neighbouring South Sudan are urging dioceses and parishes to open their doors to priests, nuns and other religious people fleeing the deadly violence.

"Many of our people and some clergy and religious have arrived at border points," wrote Roman Catholic Archbishop Stephen Ameyu Martin Mulla of Juba, the capital of South Sudan, in a May 5 letter to all clergy, monks and nuns in Sudan. "It is also clearer now that some of the church structures in Sudan have been vandalized and destroyed." He appealed to Catholics in his own country "to open your houses to receive your brother priests and religious."

The Sudan Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, both headed by rival generals looking to gain control over the country, have engaged in fierce battles since April 15.

The power struggle between the army chief, Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and the RSF's commander, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, alias Hemedti, has resulted in the deaths of 676 people and more than 5,576 injured, according to the UN's Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Khartoum is also suffering severe shortages of food and other basic supplies.

Both sides blamed the other after bullets struck and injured several worshippers during Sunday's Mass.

"The attack on the church is very unfortunate. We continue to urge the two sides to respect places of worship and avoid battles in civilian areas," Francis Kuria Kagema, general secretary of the African Council of Religious Leaders, told Religion News Service. "We urge the two generals to accept ceasefire and agree to peace negotiations."

Other churches have been damaged in the fighting. On April 24, two rockets struck the grounds of the Our Lady Queen of Africa, the Roman Catholic cathedral in El-Obeid, southwest of Khartoum. The blasts destroyed parts of the rectory and the cathedral's main gate. After an April 17 attack on Khartoum's All Saint's Cathedral, the seat of the Anglican primate, soldiers from RSF occupied it and used it as a military base.

In early May another Coptic church was hit with a rocket, and an Evangelical Presbyterian church in Bahri, a Christian neighborhood of Khartoum, was set ablaze when a nearby munitions depot exploded.

An estimated 91% of the 45.6 million population are Muslims, while Christians make up 5.4%. About 2.8% follow traditional religions, according to Pew Research Center.

Military regimes have targeted churches and arrested and imprisoned pastors and their followers in the past, but only the current war has convinced Christians and their leaders to leave the capital en masse, with many fleeing across the border to South Sudan or settling in relatively quiet areas of the country.

According to the Rev. John Gbemboyo Joseph Mbikoyezu, coordinator of the Sudan Catholic Bishops Conference, many people who have fled Khartoum and want to travel to Juba were stranded in Renk and Paloch, towns just inside South Sudan in the country's northeast.

"They need to be connected to Juba or Malakal towns by boat. This is a 24-hour journey. The diocese (of Malakal) has a boat, but there is the challenge of fuel. The boat needs about nine drums. There is no fuel in the market. It is also very expensive," said Mbikoyezu in an interview, who said many of Khartoum's Christian clergy had already fled.

According to humanitarian agencies, the fighting has already displaced more than 936,000 people, with more than 200,000 crossing into neighboring countries. At least 450,000 of the displaced are children. Agency officials fear that the conflict will worsen the refugee burden in the fragile Eastern Africa region, which is already struggling with high numbers of migrants.

"This could potentially affect millions of people, including many children, and require a sharp increase in humanitarian assistance," said Emmanuel Isch, national director for World Vision, the Christian development nonprofit, in Sudan.

The push for a ceasefire to allow humanitarian aid from the international community has intensified each day amid peace talks mediated by the United States and Saudi Arabia taking place in Jeddah in Saudi Arabia. The two nations have brokered six humanitarian ceasefires in the course of the conflict, but none has been respected so far.

 Religion News Service
Tim Keller's wife requests prayers as pastor faces 'complications' from cancer treatment

(CP) Kathy Keller, the wife of pastor and author Tim Keller, has requested prayers for her husband after he suffered "complications" from his cancer treatment.

In a social media update Saturday, Kathy Keller shared an update on her husband's health: "Tim is out of the hospital and recovering at home after complications from his treatment. Please continue to pray during this slow recovery," she wrote.

Keller, the founding pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City, was initially diagnosed with stage four pancreatic cancer in May 2020.

In March, the 72-year-old pastor revealed that new tumors had developed, requiring him to undergo a repeat of the immunotherapy treatment he received last year in Bethesda, Maryland.

Last year's immunotherapy "was successful in eradicating 99% of the tumors," he wrote at the time. "However, new tumors have developed. They are unfortunately in some fairly inconvenient places, so the doctors encouraged us to go through the treatment again, this time targeting a different genetic marker of the cancer."

Since then, he has continued to write and teach, sharing biblical wisdom on the topics of race, social relationships, systemic injustice and sexuality.

His latest book, Forgive, examines why society is hesitant to forgive and outlines why forgiveness is an essential part of the Christian life.

In a 2021 interview with The Christian Post, Keller revealed he received his cancer diagnosis about a fourth of the way through writing a book on the resurrection, titled Hope in Times of Fear: The Resurrection and the Meaning of Easter.

"Suddenly, we're in lockdown, and then I found out I had cancer, and the book completely changed," Keller recalled.

"Here I am, writing a book about the resurrection, and I realized I only half-believed I was going to die. I went back and realized that in some ways, I also only half-believed in the resurrection  not intellectually so much, but all the way down deep in my heart. I realized I needed to have a greater, a deeper faith in the resurrection, both intellectually and mentally," he continued.

While undergoing treatment for cancer over the next several months, Keller said he did both "intellectual and emotional work" to take "my abstract belief down into my heart to existentially and experientially know it and grow in assurance, and it worked."

"If you are willing to embrace the truth of God's Word and immerse yourself in it day in and day out, and then ask the Holy Spirit to make it real to your heart, He will."

Keller is also a survivor of thyroid cancer, which he had in 2002.

Collin Hansen, vice president of content and editor-in-chief for The Gospel Coalition and author ofTimothy Keller: His Spiritual and Intellectual Formation, told CP that Keller has "plenty of other things he wants to write."

"We've been praying all along for another decade of energetic ministry," Hansen said.

"It seems as though the spiritual work that God has done in his life through the cancer has been a kind of personal revival of sorts," he said.

"So, there's sort of a combination of hopefulness and eagerness and planning for another decade ahead, Lord willing, but at the same time a sense that nothing is promised. And in that sense, Tim's just getting a concentrated dose of really all of our situations, no different for any of us, because, as Jesus tells us, we're not promised tomorrow either," he said.

 The Christian Post
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NEW YORK (AP)  A 1,100-year-old Hebrew Bible that is one of the world's oldest surviving biblical manuscripts sold for $38 million in New York on Wednesday.

The Codex Sassoon, a leather-bound, handwritten parchment volume containing a nearly complete Hebrew Bible, was purchased by former U.S. Ambassador to Romania Alfred H. Moses on behalf of the American Friends of ANU and donated to ANU Museum of the Jewish People in Tel Aviv, where it will join the collection, Sotheby's said in statement.

The manuscript was exhibited at the ANU Museum in March as part of a worldwide tour before the auction.

Sotheby's Judaica specialist Sharon Liberman Mintz said the $38 million price tag, which includes the auction houses fee, "reflects the profound power, influence, and significance of the Hebrew Bible, which is an indispensable pillar of humanity.

It's one of highest prices for a manuscript sold at auction. In 2021, a rare copy of the U.S. constitution sold for $43 million. Leonardo da Vincis Codex Leicester sold for $31 million in 1994, or around $60 million in today's dollars.

Mintz said she was "absolutely delighted by todays monumental result and that Codex Sassoon will shortly be making its grand and permanent return to Israel, on display for the world to see.

The Codex Sassoon is believed to have been fabricated sometime between 880 and 960.

It got its name in 1929 when it was purchased by David Solomon Sassoon, a son of an Iraqi Jewish business magnate who filled his London home with his collection of Jewish manuscripts.

Sassoons estate was broken up after he died and the biblical codex was sold by Sothebys in Zurich in 1978 to the British Rail Pension Fund for around $320,000, or $1.4 million in today's dollars.

The pension fund sold the Codex Sassoon 11 years later to Jacqui Safra, a banker and art collector, bought it in 1989 for $3.19 million ($7.7 million in today's dollars). Safra was the seller on Wednesday.
Ned Gerard/Hearst Connecticut Media

HARTFORD Two city residents have been charged with stealing money from programs financed by the state Department of Social Services, officials say.

In a news release, the Connecticut Division of Criminal Justice said inspectors from the Statewide Prosecution Bureau of the Office of the Chief State's Attorney arrested Yamaira Rodriguez and Meesha Wallace on separate warrants in connection with unrelated incidents of theft. They were each charged with first-degree larceny and making false statements, according to the news release.
The court-martial of Edwin Ward Moore, former commodore of the Texas Navy, was gaveled to order on May 20, 1844.

Although the cocky ex-commander stood accused of 22 specifications on a half dozen different offenses, he welcomed the opportunity to clear his name and to strike back at his mortal enemy, President Sam Houston. The show trial was certain to be a marathon as a quartet of judges considered six counts of neglect of duty, six of disobedience of orders, five of contempt and defiance of country, three of embezzlement of public property and fraud as well as one count each of murder and treason.

An impressive cast assembled for the highly publicized proceedings. Despite the fact that the four members of the tribunal board were presidential appointees, the accused expected a fair shake from the presiding officer. Gen. Sidney Sherman was cozy with David G. Burnet and Mirabeau Lamar, Houston critics from way back, and usually took pleasure in defying the president.

Serving as judge advocate or prosecutor was Thomas Ramrod Johnson, editor and stalwart supporter of Houston, whose nickname advertised his well-known toughness. Counsel for the defense was talented attorney James S. Mayfield, who accepted the case as much out of anti-Houston animosity as a belief in his clients innocence.

A 29 year old lieutenant in the U.S. Navy with slim prospects of promotion, Moore resigned in 1839 to take charge of the mini-fleet of the Lone Star Republic. President Lamar, second chief executive of the infant nation, entertained notions of a far-flung empire, an impossible dream without sea power. To challenge Mexico for control of the Gulf required a man with audacity and ambition, two qualities Moore had in abundance.

Whipping the tiny navy into shape, the young commander won the admiration of most Texans with a string of victories over the Mexicans. Although the significance of the skirmishes was slight, Moores exploits did wonders for the moral of his adopted country.

Hoping to topple the central government in Mexico City, Lamar rented the navy to the Yucatan rebels in 1841 for $8,000 a month and a share of the spoils. The lame-duck president waited until the twilight of his term to let Congress in on the secret pact but still secured approval of the scheme by a two-vote margin.

Everyone knew the incoming president would veto the risky adventure. A harsh critic of Commodore Moore and his seagoing daredevils, Sam Houston denounced the navy as a frivolous expense the bankrupt Republic could ill afford. However, before the General and Lamar swapped places a second time, Moore hurriedly departed for Yucatan.

Houston ordered the recall of the navy on inauguration day, but his decree did not catch up with the elusive commander for three long months. Finally, in May 1843, Moore dropped anchor in Texas waters.

In a heavy-handed move calculated to goad Moores men into leaving their leader high and dry, Houston froze all naval appropriations and withheld promised back-pay. The commodore countered with a stirring appeal to his officers to stay at their posts and paid their wages out of his own pocket.

While in New Orleans for the refitting of several ships, Moore got wind of Congress clandestine okay of a presidential plan to sell the fleet. Stalling a group of bargain hunters from Washington, he made unauthorized arrangements with the Yucatan rebels. When Houston suddenly suspended his command, Moore defiantly sailed for Mexico.

The hot-tempered commodore soon realized that his private revolt was doomed to defeat. Branded a pirate in a public proclamation by the furious president, Moore had no place to go.

The Texas Navy docked for the last time at Galveston on Jul. 14, 1843. Houston quickly cashiered Moore and his key officers and started the piecemeal sale of the vacant vessels.

Demanding his day in court, Moore distributed a rambling 200-page defense of his controversial conduct that attracted widespread attention. Congress eventually responded by calling for a special court-martial of the ousted commodore.

After 72 days of legal wrangling, the tribunal adjourned. With the exception of four instances of disobedience, Moore was acquitted on all charges. For those petty infractions, no punishment was prescribed.

Moore won the courtroom battle but lost the war. After the annexation of Texas, he lobbied in vain for back-pay and reinstatement in the U.S. Navy. From his powerful position in the Senate, Houston easily thwarted his old adversary.

Although a native of Virginia, Edwin Moore sat out the Civil War in the North. His no-show may have resulted from political indecisiveness or a preoccupation with his impoverished predicament. Forlorn and flat broke, he passed away six months after Appomattox at the age of 55.

Bonnie and Clyde and other Thirties outlaws are all in Texas Depression Era Desperadoes. Order your copy by mailing a check for $24.00 to Bartee Haile, P.O. Box 130011, Spring, TX 77393.
The Conroe Industrial Development Corporation has approved a $1.4 million land sale to St. Louis-based Core & Main.

During the corporations April 20 meeting, Danielle Scheiner, executive director of the Conroe Economic Development Council, said the company is purchasing 15.2 acres in the Conroe Park North Industrial Park.

Scheiner did not provide any further details on the sale and officials with Core & Main did not return calls.

Core & Main is a specialized distributor to municipalities, private water companies and professional contractors with a focus on water, wastewater, storm drainage and fire protection products and related services.

On YourConroeNews.com: Conroe moves forward with design phase of $120 million Old Conroe Road extension

The company's purchase of the land comes after it opened a new facility in Lincoln, Nebraska. The company has 22 locations in Texas including four in Houston.
LEGO sets are heavily discounted just in time for Memorial Day You can get a bouquet of LEGO flowers for just $47.99 with this deal.

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Correction: A previous version of this article incorrectly described the Immigration Reform Law Institute as anti-immigration. The institute supports stricter control over immigration. The article, headline and photo cutline have been corrected.

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A lawsuit filed by seven D.C. voters against the city's Board of Elections is headed to federal court as the plaintiffs try to stop the District from permitting noncitizens to vote in local elections.

The voters, including Republican mayoral candidate Stacia R. Hall and Dick A. Heller - a retired security officer whose landmark Supreme Court case ended the city's gun ban - sued the Board of Elections, seeking to prevent the board from implementing the D.C. Noncitizen Voting Act, passed by the D.C. Council in October after advocates successfully argued that noncitizens have an interest in schools, public safety, and other issues.

The suit - initially filed in D.C. Superior Court in March but moved last week at the District's request to U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia - argues the legislation "dilutes" the votes of citizens and notes that it permits noncitizens to be elected to public office, including as mayor.

"Noncitizens do not have a fundamental right to vote in the United States," the suit said. It is seeking an injunction preventing the board from registering noncitizen voters, counting their votes or spending funds to implement the legislation.

A spokesperson for the D.C. Board of Elections declined to comment, saying the board does not comment on pending litigation. The D.C. attorney general's office also declined to comment.

The plaintiffs are represented by the D.C.-based Immigration Reform Law Institute, a nonprofit that advocates for limiting immigration. Christopher Hajec, one of the attorneys representing the plaintiffs, said they were "confident of our position whatever the forum."

"It violates a fundamental tenet of democratic self-rule to diminish the power of citizens to govern themselves in any part of the United States - much less the nation's capital," he said of the noncitizens' voting law.

Hall, who lost in a landslide to Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) last year, said noncitizen voting is not a partisan issue, but a "power grab" that discriminates against citizens.

"It is not a Republican issue because this law could affect all of us," Hall said.

The legislation allowing noncitizens to vote in local elections was enacted without Bowser's signature - though all the city's legislation goes to Congress for review before becoming law.

House Republicans led an effort to block the legislation, and 42 Democrats joined them in voting to reject it, with some noting they viewed the right to vote as "fundamental" to U.S. citizenship. But the resolution died in a Senate committee, allowing the noncitizens voting bill to become law.

Other jurisdictions in the Washington area already allow noncitizens to vote in local elections, including Takoma Park, Md. At least seven states, including Ohio and Florida, have banned the practice.

Jose Barrios, who leads the D.C. Latino Caucus - a Democratic group that advocated for the legislation - said their support for the bill was based on a basic premise: that all people impacted by local laws should "have a voice in who enacts those laws."

Noncitizens pay taxes, run businesses and send their children to public schools, he said. He described the argument that allowing noncitizens to vote would "dilute" the votes of American citizens as a mirror of efforts throughout history to block expanding the franchise to various demographic groups.

"The same argument has been rehashed every time that we wanted to expand voting rights, whether it was for Black people, for Brown people or for women," Barrios said. "It has always been an argument, about diluting the voter franchise, by people who feel like they have something to lose. We think that expanding democracy is a good thing - it is not a bad thing."

Barrios said the next stage of the group's advocacy will be education - making sure that those who will be newly eligible to vote in municipal elections know how to register. A D.C. Council committee has proposed $1.4 million in the fiscal year 2024 budget, which will be voted on this month, to implement the law - funding that includes resources for outreach to residents.
Women-owned businesses represent 33% of the worlds private businesses. That number should be higher when you consider that women-owned businesses are one of the most underutilized drivers of innovation and job growth in both developed and emerging markets. These businesses are particularly challenged when it comes to accessing opportunities in global trade.

Technology can help level the playing field for women-owned businesses, according to Eroshan Alagaretnam, South Asia regional director, WEConnect International. Technology is arguably the biggest enabler and equalizerbesides capital and capacity trainingfor driving innovation and growing beyond borders.

Simplifying access to over $3 trillion in annual purchasing power

The mission of WEConnect International is to drive money into the hands of women-owned businesses by helping them compete in the global marketplace. The organization identifies, educates, registers, and certifies women business enterprises that are at least 51% owned, managed, and controlled by women suppliers in over 135 countries.

WEConnect International works with over 180 multinational member-buying organizations with over $3 trillion in combined annual purchasing power and a commitment to sourcing more products and services from women-owned businesses. Today, WEConnect International makes it easy for these member buyers to access an online database of over 16,000 registered or certified women-owned businesses that can compete on total value.

But it wasnt always so.

Expanding global reach with unified registration and search experiences

WEConnect International and its member-buyers believe that trade is a powerful tool for achieving gender equality. Top of mind is that trade is one area where governments, businesses, and international organizations can collectively advance an agenda of Diversity & Inclusion which can help unleash half of the worlds population potential. However, the reality is that even though these member-buyers manage $3 trillion in purchasing power, today, less than 1% is spent on women-owned businesses.

Both WEConnect and its member-buyers seek to change this situation yet found it difficult to make the connections on the organizations technology legacy platform. On one hand, member-buyers found it difficult to search for qualified women-own suppliers. Likewise, women-owned businesses found it cumbersome to register and apply for certification. Furthermore, WEConnect Internationals small, global staff also had difficulty registering and certifying businesses that were not in English as the system operated in only one language.

With funding from USAID to solve these challenges, WEConnect International worked with SAP to develop a new multi-lingual solution called WECommunity. This technology is based on SAP Ariba Supplier Lifecycle and Performance and is used to manage the registration function including a mobile-centric option, and SAP Business Technology Platform for corporate member login and search.

95% growth in qualified and registered women-owned businesses

By making it easier to bring motivated, large corporate, multilateral, and government buyers together with women-owned business suppliers around the world, WEConnect International is driving inclusive economic growth and creating a path toward gender equality.

Since the initial launch of WECommunity three years ago, a clear pattern has developed demonstrating the benefits of greater access to global markets for suppliers. This has resulted in a 95% growth in registered women-owned businesses and also growth in the following areas:

86 new member-buyers, a 91% growth rate

5,000 thousand unique searches for women-owned suppliers

7,900 new women-business supplier registrations

24,000 new jobs from revenue growth / 6000 suppliers (2021)

12 new countries, a 28% increase in global reach

In one of several, inspirational videos on WEConnect Internationals website in honor of International Womens Month 2023, Kumud Sharma, a supplier in South Asia, reflects, Entrepreneurship has the power to create shared wealth for everyone. By creating innovative products and services, entrepreneurs can generate new jobs, build stronger communities, and improve quality of life for people around the world.

Achieving buyers goals for global supplier diversity and inclusion

As a society, we often underestimate the influence that gender has on our world views. Acknowledging these differences is the first step towards building a more inclusive and understanding world.

In her inspirational talk on creating wealth together, Fiona Blades, a supplier in Europe shares, Supplier diversity and inclusion can be very helpful to get a foot into a company. Sometimes I try to pull strings by using WEConnect Internationals name.

Catia Stoyan, CEO, Stoyan Energy Solar, Latin America is committed to sustainability in the global concept of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) investing. We are confident that we can make an even greater impact on the communities and industries we serve. It is a commitment inspired by the purpose of our company, she explains, to bring clean and renewable energy to the four corners of the world. And its all made possible with WEConnect International, which provides access to global markets and enables women business owners to unlock their potential and achieve success.

WEConnect International is a winner in the 2023 SAP Innovation Awards Program. Download the pitch deck to see how the non-profit makes it easy to identify, certify, and train women-owned businesses around the world and simple for member-buyer organizations to find and select qualified suppliers.
There were multiple systems of data intake, which presented inconsistencies in data quality, she says. That made it difficult to get useful insights from the data. To solve the problem, Aflac moved to a digital-first, customer-centric approach. This required data consolidation across various ecosystems, and as a result, the customer experience has improved and the company has been able to increase automation in its business processes and reduce error rates.

A significant benefit is that it frees bandwidth for customer service agents, enabling them to focus on higher complexity claims that require a more personal touch, she says.

Seeing data consolidation as a technology problem

One of Randy Sykes previous employers spent eight years building a data warehouse without success.

Thats because we tried to apply standard system development techniques without making sure that the business was with you in lockstep, he says.

Today, Sykes is IT director of data services at Hastings Mutual Insurance Co. This time, he took a different approach to consolidating the organizations data.

Ten years ago, the company decided to bring everything together into a data warehouse. At the time, reports took 45 days to produce and business users didnt have the information they needed to make business decisions.

First, data would be collected in a landing area via nightly batch imports from legacy systems. It would then move into a staging area, where business rules would be applied to consolidate and reconcile data from different systems. This required a deep understanding of how the company operates and what the data means. But this time, the project was successful because there were subject matter experts on the team.

We had a couple of business folks whod been with the company a long time and had a lot of knowledge of the organization, he says. You actually have a cross-functional team to be successful.

For example, different insurance policy systems might have different terms, and different coverage areas and risks. In order to consolidate all this information, the data team needs to have a good understanding of the business language and the rules needed to transform the raw data into a universal format.

Thats the biggest challenge that companies run into, he says. They try to get the data and technically put it together and forget the business story behind the information. A lot of times, these types of projects fail.

Today, a report that used to take 45 days can be turned around in 24 hours, he says. Then, as databases continue to get modernized and become event-driven, the information will become available in real time.

No short-term business benefits

Once Hastings started getting data together, the data project began producing value for the company, within a year, even though the data warehouse project, which began in 2014, wasnt delivered until 2017.

Thats because the landing and staging areas were already providing value in terms of gathering and processing the data.

Data projects have to deliver business value all throughout the process, Sykes says. Nobody is going to wait forever.

A similar quick win helped lead to the success of a major data project for Denise Allec, principal consultant at NTT Americas, back when she was the director of corporate IT at a major corporation.

A six-week proof-of-concept project showed that the project had value, she says, and helped overcome challenges such as business units unwillingness to give up their silos of data.

Giving up ownership of data represents a loss of control to many, she says. Information is power.

This kind of data hoarding isnt limited to senior executives, though.

Employees tend not to trust others data, she says.

They want to validate and scrub their own sources, and massage and create their own reporting tools that work for their unique needs.

Weve all seen the numerous duplicative databases that exist throughout a company and the challenges that arise from such a situation, she says.

Choosing data projects that dont have immediate benefits is a major roadblock to successful data initiatives, confirms Sanjay Srivastava, chief digital strategist at Genpact.

Until you do this, its all a theoretical discussion.

The flip side is choosing projects that dont have any ability to scaleanother major barrier.

Without the ability to scale, a data project wont have meaningful long-term impact, instead using up resources for a small or idiosyncratic use case.

The key is how you deliver business value in chunks, in a time frame that keeps peoples attention, and that is scalable, he says.

Not giving end users the self-service tools they need

Putting the business users first means giving people the data they need in the form they need it. Sometimes, that means Excel spreadsheets. At Hastings, for example, staff would historically copy-and-paste data into Excel in order to work with it.

Everybody uses Excel, says Hastings Sykes. Now we say, Why dont we just give you the data so you dont have to copy-and-paste it anymore.

But the company has also been creating dashboards. Today, about a quarter of the companys 420 employees are using the dashboards as well as outside agencies.

They can now help agents cross-sell our products, he says. We didnt have that before.

But providing people with the serf-serve analytics tools they need is a challenge. Were still behind the eight ball a little bit, he says. But with 200 business-focused dashboards already in place, the process is well under way.

Another organization that recently began the process of democratizing access to data is the Dayton Childrens Hospital in Dayton, Ohio.

We werent doing that well five years ago, says CIO J.D. Whitlock. There were still a lot of spreadsheets. Now were using the Microsoft data stack, like a lot of people are doing. So as long as someone knows a little bit about how to use PowerBI, were serving up the appropriate data, in the appropriate format, with appropriate security.

In addition, data analysts have also been decentralized, so people dont have to go to a single team with their data questions.

Say you want to know how many of procedures X doctor Y did last year, says Whitlock. Its a relatively simple query. But if you dont give people the tools to do that themselves, then youve got a thousand requests.

Putting self-serve data tools in place has helped the company move toward being a data-driven organization, he says. With the caveat that its always a journey and you never declare victory.

Not including end users in your development process

Ignoring user needs is nearly always a recipe for disaster. For example, Nick Kramer recently worked with a national restaurant services company. Kramer is the leader of applied solutions at SSA & Company, a global consulting firm. The restaurant services company was growing rapidly but service levels were dropping.

Everybody was pointing fingers at each other, he says. But the CIO had no dashboards or reportsjust anecdotes and opinions.

One of the problems was that the central installation system was widely ignored. Employees updated records, but after the fact. The system had been imposed on them and was hard to use.

People in the order department, in sales, legal, and on the installation sideevery office had their own spreadsheets they ran their schedules on, Kramer says. None of the communication was happening and the data wasnt flowing. So you had to go office by office to find out who was doing what and how well, and which delays were unsolvable and which ones could be addressed.

The solution was to get close to the business users, to understand how the data was used.

Joshua Swartz, partner at Kearney, had a similar experience recently when he was working on a consulting project with a US food company with several billion in annual revenues.

The company wanted to enable production managers to make better decisions about what to produce based on real data.

For example, theres a production line in a certain production site and it can make either tortilla chips or pita bread, says Swartz. If theres a switchover, you have to stop and clean and change the ingredients.

But, say, the old way was to do four hours on tortillas and four hours on pita bread, and the data showed that you should do two hours on tortilla chipsand then tomorrow it may be the opposite. And since food products are perishable, getting production wrong means that some product would have to be thrown away. But when the company first designed its solution, the production workers werent involved, says Swartz. They were too busy producing food and didnt have time to stop and attend meetings.

This wasnt expected to be a problem because the companys culture was hierarchical. When the CEO says something and pounds their fist on the table, everyone has to follow suit, he says.

But the new system was used for only a couple of weeks in the pilot site and then the employees found that the system didnt really work for them and went back to doing things the old way. Also, it didnt help that the companys data czar was located a couple of layers down in the companys technology organization, rather than closer to top management or to the business units.

Fixing the problem required bringing the actual employees to the design suite, even though it required adding capacity to the production lines to free up workers.

Food companies with very thin margins werent comfortable making that investment, Swartz says. But when they became part of the process, they were able to contribute to the solution, and today a third to a half of the facilities are using the new technology.

Swartz also recommends that the chief data officer be located closer to the companys most valuable data.

If data is a strategic asset of the business, I would place the CDO closer to the part of the business that has ownership of the data, he says. If the organization is focused on using data for operational efficiency, then under the COO might be the right place.

A sales-driven company might want to put the CDO under the sales officer, however, and a product company, under the marketing officer, he says. One consumer packaged goods company he worked with actually had the CDO report directly to the CEO.

If you think of data as a technology problem, youre going to keep running into challenges of how much value you are actually getting from data and analytics, says Swartz.

A lack of trust

The responsible use of data is important for the success of data initiatives, and nowhere more so than in finance.

Trust is of utmost importance in the banking sector, says Sameer Gupta, chief analytics officer at DBS Bank. Its crucial to use data and models responsibly, and ethical considerations must be upheld while using data.

Data use should be purposeful, he says, respectful, and explainable, and should never come as a surprise. Data use should be expected by individuals and corporates, he says.

By focusing on trust, he adds, the bank has been able to deploy AI and data use cases across the enterprise260 at the last countranging from customer-facing businesses like consumer and small and medium enterprise banking, to support functions like compliance, marketing, and HR.

In 2022, the revenue uplift from our AI and machine learning initiatives was about SGD 150 million [US $112 million], more than double that from the previous year, he says. We aspire to achieve SGD 1 billion in the next five years.

Earning trust takes time and commitment. Becoming a data-driven company is all but impossible without it. But once trust is gained, it begins a virtuous cycle. According to a CapGemini change management study released in January, in organizations with strong data analytics, employees are 18% more likely to trust the company. And when those companies need to evolve further, the probability of successful change is 23 to 27% higher than at other organizations.

Many people, including data experts, think most issues while transitioning toward becoming a data-driven company are technology-related, says Eugenio Zuccarelli, a data scientist at a global retailer and former AI research scientist at MIT.

But the real barriers are personal, he says, as people have to learn to understand the value of making data-based decisions.

While doing research at MIT, I often saw experts and leaders of organizations struggle with their transition toward becoming a more data-driven organization, he says. The main issues were usually cultural, such as a belief that technology would have overtaken their decision-making, rather than empowering them, and a general tendency to take decisions based on experience and gut feelings.

People need to understand that their expertise is still vital, he adds, and that the data is there to provide additional input.

Companies need to stop thinking about becoming a data-driven company as a technology problem.

All our clients are talking about becoming more data driven, and none of them know what it means, says Donncha Carroll, partner in the revenue growth practice and head of the data science team at Lotis Blue Consulting. They focus on their technology capabilities, he says, not what people will be able to do with the data they get.

They dont put the user of the solution in the frame, he says. Lots of data analytics teams provide data dashboards that provide information that is neither useful nor actionable. And it dies on the vine.
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Background

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion are core principles at UNDP: we value diversity as an expression of the multiplicity of nations and cultures where we operate, we foster inclusion as a way of ensuring all personnel are empowered to contribute to our mission, and we ensure equity and fairness in all our actions. Taking a leave no one behind approach to our diversity efforts means increasing representation of underserved populations. People who identify as belonging to marginalized or excluded populations are strongly encouraged to apply. Learn more about working at UNDP including our values and inspiring stories.

UNDP does not tolerate sexual exploitation and abuse, any kind of harassment, including sexual harassment, and discrimination. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks.



Moldovas prospects for sustained peace, stability and shared prosperity remain hampered by the protracted conflict on its territory. The Transnistrian region remains effectively separated from the rest of the country since the end of the active conflict in 1992, not controlled by the government in Chisinau and with a de facto leadership that is supported by the Russian Federation. Despite the existence for many years of an active, formal OSCE-led settlement process (the 5+2 format which was created in 2005, while conflict settlement talks between the two sides initially began after an Agreement between Moldova and Russia on the principles for a peaceful settlement of the armed conflict on the left bank of Nistru river was signed on 21 July 1992), no political resolution of the overall conflict has been achieved. The settlement of the Transnistrian conflict remains a key focus for the Government of Moldova, tied also to its energy dependency on the Russian Federation, overall development, and capacity to move ahead with European integration. The Deputy Prime Minister for Reintegration (DPM) and the Bureau for Reintegration Policies are the authorities set up specifically to deal with this issue, with the DPM also being the lead negotiator for the settlement process from the Chisinau side.

In this context, the main goal of the project to be implemented by three UN Agencies (OHCHR, UNDP and UN Women) is to facilitate an enabling environment for improved cross-river interconnectedness and interaction, reduced social tensions and the continuation of the settlement process.

The project seeks to support peace talks by strengthening trust and confidence between the communities on the two sides of the river as well as between the Moldovan authorities and the de facto structures through capacity building, cross-river engagement and cooperation between CSOs, institutions, de facto structures and other conflict settlement process actors with a specific and ambitious focus on human rights, gender equality and increased service delivery.

This will contribute to better integration of human rights and gender equality perspectives in the negotiation agenda and help build capacities to more effectively address HR, WPS and GE issues in the peace process.

The project also aims to reduce the existing divisions between the communities on the left and right bank as well as between certain groups in Moldovan society, which are being aggravated by starkly opposing views on the war in Ukraine, hate speech and misinformation and which are also impacted by pressures of the large influx of refugees from Ukraine.

The two outcomes of the project are focused on strengthening the cross-river engagement and productive interaction at the level of government and de-facto structures, civil society organizations, National Human Rights Institution and the human rights focal point on the left bank, and at community level and on strengthening responses to divisive narratives and misinformation to reduce social tensions.



Duties and Responsibilities

Under the guidance and supervision of the Cluster Lead/Policy Specialist and in close cooperation with project officers of other agencies, the Project Analyst will ensure the provision of high-quality development of services and products, as outlined in the Project Document. All the work will be based on an appreciation of human rights and gender equality.



More specifically, the Project Analyst will perform the following functions:

Contribute to the timely and efficient delivery of outputs and products leading to the achievement of expected results and ensure full compliance of all the actions with UNDP policies and procedures.

Liaise with the projects stakeholders to ensure that results are achieved, and objectives are met;

Work with the Project team to present work-plans, periodic narrative progress reports (on a quarterly, mid-year and annual basis, or more often as required by the project document) and expenditure status reports to the Project Board and UNDP Country Office;

Ensure the effective coordination of human resources pertaining to the UNDP component of the Project, including development of Terms of References, Technical Specifications for consultants/service providers and short-term experts, and support in conducting periodic performance appraisals and validating deliverables;

In collaboration with the relevant administrative project personnel contribute to compliant, effective and efficient utilization of the financial resources of the Project, including budgeting and budget revisions, as well as expenditure tracking and reporting;

Along with other team members, develop and maintain a monitoring system to ensure effective information sharing, provision of feedback and elaboration of top-quality progress reports; ensure appropriate visibility of activities in mass media and with stakeholders;

Draft and translate relevant correspondence as required;

Design and lead activities in a designated area(s) of the projects intervention;

Perform any other duties connected directly with the implementation of the Project requested by the supervisor.

Key Results:

The position has a direct impact on the overall effectiveness and success of UNDP interventions and activities in the assigned sectorial/thematic area of promoting democratic governance. The support and information provided facilitates decision-making of the Project Board and UNDP Management.



Institutional Arrangement

Under the guidance and supervision of the Cluster Lead/Policy Specialist, the incumbent provides effective and efficient contribution to the implementation of the project outputs through a range of actions contributing to the design, planning, implementation and monitoring of programme activities.

The Project Analyst applies and promotes the principles of results-based management (RBM), as well as a client-oriented approach consistent with UNDP rules and regulations. He/she is responsible and accountable to the Project Board for results.

The Project Analyst works in close collaboration with the programme, operations, communications and other project teams in the Country Office (CO) for effective achievement of results, anticipating and contributing to the resolution of complex programme/project-related issues and information delivery. Project Analyst also collaborates with other UN projects and other development partners. The incumbent is expected to exercise full compliance with UNDP programming, financial, procurement and administrative rules, regulations, policies and strategies, as well as implementation of effective internal control systems.

The Project Analyst will be engaged in continuous collaboration with other Project colleagues on the delivery of joint initiatives and activities.

Competencies



Core Competencies:

Achieve Results: LEVEL 2: Scale up solutions and simplifies processes, balances speed and accuracy in doing work

Scale up solutions and simplifies processes, balances speed and accuracy in doing work Think Innovatively: LEVEL 2: Offer new ideas/open to new approaches, demonstrate systemic/integrated thinking

Offer new ideas/open to new approaches, demonstrate systemic/integrated thinking Learn Continuously: LEVEL 2: Go outside comfort zone, learn from others and support their learning

Go outside comfort zone, learn from others and support their learning Adapt with Agility: LEVEL 2: Adapt processes/approaches to new situations, involve others in change process

Adapt processes/approaches to new situations, involve others in change process Act with Determination: LEVEL 2: Able to persevere and deal with multiple sources of pressure simultaneously

Able to persevere and deal with multiple sources of pressure simultaneously Engage and Partner: LEVEL 2: Is facilitator/integrator, bring people together, build/maintain coalitions/partnerships

Is facilitator/integrator, bring people together, build/maintain coalitions/partnerships Enable Diversity and Inclusion: LEVEL 2: Facilitate conversations to bridge differences, considers in decision making

Cross Functional & Technical Competencies:

Business Direction and Strategy - Strategic Thinking: Ability to develop effective strategies and prioritized plans in line with UNDPs objectives, based on the systemic analysis of challenges, potential risks and opportunities; linking the vision to reality on the ground, and creating tangible solutions Ability to leverage learning from a variety of sources to anticipate and respond to future trends; to demonstrate foresight in order to model what future developments and possible ways forward look like for UNDP.

Business Direction and Strategy - Negotiation and Influence: Ability to reach an understanding, persuade others, resolve points of difference, gain advantage in the outcome of dialogue, negotiates mutually acceptable solutions through compromise and creates win-win situations.

Partnership Management - Relationship Management: Ability to engage with a wide range of public and private partners, built, sustain and/or strengthen working relations, trust and mutual understanding

Business Development - Knowledge Facilitation: Ability to animnate individuals and communities of contributors to participate and share, particularly externally

Communications - Social Media Management: Ability to represent and promote the UNDP brand in virtual communities and networks

Business Management - Communication: Ability to communicate in a clear, concise and unambiguous manner both through written and verbal communication; to tailor messages and choose communication methods depending on the audience Ability to manage commnuications internally and externally, through media, social media and other appropriate channels.

Business Management - Project Management: Ability to plan, organize, prioritize and control resources, procedures and protocols to achieve specific goals



Required Skills and Experience



Education:

Masters degree or equivalent in public administration, international relations, political science, economics, law or other related areas.

Bachelors degree in combination with 2 years of qualifying experience can be taken into consideration in lieu of Masters degree.

Experience:

Minimum 2 years (with Bachelors degree) of progressive working experience in the design, management and implementation of project-based activities, preferably related to democratic governance, strategic advice and/or working in a relevant position.

Previous experience in development assistance or related work for a donor organization, governmental institutions, NGO or private sector / consulting firm or previous experience with UN agencies is compulsory.

Languages:

Fluency in spoken and written English, Romanian and Russian

Working knowledge of one or more minority languages relevant for Moldova, including Romani, Gagauzian, Bulgarian, Ukrainian and sign language, would be an asset.

Required skills:

At least (1) one assignment related to the coordination and monitoring of external consultants.

Excellent communication skills, as well as the ability to communicate effectively with all stakeholders and to present ideas clearly and effectively.

Experience in the design and delivery of trainings and workshops, as well as facilitation of public events, will be an asset.

Pursuit of continuous personal learning and ability to apply newly acquired skills.



Desired Skills:

Previous demonstrated professional experience in working in the Transnistria region context will be an advantage.

Proven experience in similar positions in development programs will be considered an advantage.

Experience in mainstreaming gender and human rights aspects will be an advantage.

Valuable exposure and experience in the organization of workgroups, consultation meetings, conferences, and trainings with multiple participants.

Experience in coordinating a team is a very strong advantage.

Professional Certificates:

Additional training and/or certification in project or financial management would be an advantage.

The following documents shall be required from the applicants:

a) Personal CV or P11, indicating all past positions held and their main underlying functions, their durations (month/year), the qualifications, as well as the contact details (email and telephone number) of the Candidate, and at least three (3) the most recent professional references of previous supervisors. References may also include peers.

b) A cover letter (maximum length: 1 page) indicating why the candidate considers him-/herself to be suitable for the position.

c) Managers may ask (ad hoc) for any other materials relevant to pre-assessing the relevance of their experience, such as reports, presentations, publications, campaigns or other materials.

Disclaimer

Applicant information about UNDP rosters



Note: UNDP reserves the right to select one or more candidates from this vacancy announcement. We may also retain applications and consider candidates applying to this post for other similar positions with UNDP at the same grade level and with similar job description, experience and educational requirements.



Non-discrimination

UNDP has a zero-tolerance policy towards sexual exploitation and misconduct, sexual harassment, and abuse of authority. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks, and will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles.



UNDP is an equal opportunity and inclusive employer that does not discriminate based on race, sex, gender identity, religion, nationality, ethnic origin, sexual orientation, disability, pregnancy, age, language, social origin or other status.

UNDP is committed to workforce diversity. Women, persons with disabilities, Roma and other ethnic or religious minorities, persons living with HIV, as well as refugees and other non-citizens legally entitled to work in the Republic of Moldova, are particularly encouraged to apply.



Scam warning



The United Nations does not charge any application, processing, training, interviewing, testing or other fee in connection with the application or recruitment process. Should you receive a solicitation for the payment of a fee, please disregard it. Furthermore, please note that emblems, logos, names and addresses are easily copied and reproduced. Therefore, you are advised to apply particular care when submitting personal information on the web.

To apply please follow the link/Pentru a aplica, va rugam sa adresati link-ul: Apply

Advertisement end date/Data de incheiere a postului vacant: 26 May 2023
World Vision UKs income has bounced back to above pre-pandemic levels, its recently filed documents show.

According to its accounts ending September 2022, World Vision UKs total income rose from 52.8m in 2020-21 to 69.8m in 2021-22. This is above its 2019-20 income, which sat at 69.6m.

For the first time in 10 years, donations from the public also increased, driven by the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) Ukraine appeal.

This helped to offset losses from a cut in government aid funding, the accounts show.

Emergency donations increased by over 400%

Donations for emergencies increased by 449% from 1.8m in 2021 to 9.8m in 2021-22.

World Vision UK received 7.2m from DEC appeals, some 70% of which came from the Ukraine appeal (5.1m). It received a further 2.6m from its own emergency fundraising.

Legacies also increased from 800,000 to 1.1m, with more people leaving a gift to World Vision in their will and a rise in the average gift size.

Despite an increase in public donations, the charity said it had faced difficulties in gaining new donors due to the cost-of-living crisis.

Cut in government funding

World Vision UKs accounts cite its rising income as a reflection of its efforts to diversify our institutional funding for both development and emergency grants.

Diversifying its income has been a priority for the charity since the government reduced overseas aid to 0.5% of gross national income as opposed to the target of 0.7%, its accounts read.

This constrains what has historically been our largest source of institutional income, the accounts read.

Despite this, total grant income to the charity rose by 19% from 18.6m in 2020-21 to 22.3m in 2021-22.

This is still below its institutional total income from 2019-20, which was over 33.2m. Its institutional grant income was 23.4m in 2017-18 and 24.6m in 2018-19 respectively.

World Vision UKs accounts state it is making efforts to diversify its institutional income base to address the risk of reduced funding from the FCDO.

Rise in higher earners at the charity

Expenditure at the charity increased by 26% from 55.9m in 2021 to 66.9m in 2021-22.

The majority of the expenditure was spent on charitable activities (83%) whilst the remaining costs went on raising funds (17%).

Overall employee costs fell slightly to 8.7m in 2021-22 from 9m the previous financial year.

Costs incurred from employee wages and salaries decreased by 3% from 9m to 8.7m in 2021-22.

However, the amount of higher earners at the charity increased. Three more staff were reported to make between 80,000 - 90,000 per annum. A total of nine staff earn above 60,000 a year.

The chief executive officer received the highest remuneration of 100,000 in 2021-22.

Fall in safeguarding reports

The number of safeguarding concerns fell by 76% from 84 cases in 2020-21 to 20 cases in 2021-22.

These reports are raised to the charity through its safeguarding mechanisms like hotlines and whistle-blowing facilities.

The charity cited the fall in reports as being due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the completion of work in some areas, which may have limited some peoples access to their reporting facilities.

During the year the board reported two serious incidents to the Charity Commission that related to safeguarding.

The accounts read: One incident was substantiated and although the perpetrator had already left World Vision employment their record has been marked do not rehire. One incident remains open as the investigation is ongoing. There was a small rise in UK concerns, which we see as a positive reaction to our promotion of accountability to all World Vision UK representatives to uphold our behaviour protocols.

Online advertising costs increased by 200%

World Vision UK online advertising costs increased by as much as 200%. The charity is seeing more competition in the market and a lower response rate from the advertisements, its accounts state.

In 2023, well be focusing on targeting our digital investment where it will deliver the best returns, the accounts read.

Competition for talent was another challenge facing the charity, as it experienced higher vacancy levels when recruiting staff.

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Across Europe, there are no requirements for endowed foundations to donate or payout a proportion of their assets each year. But should there be?

Back in 2016, Civil Society reported on a proposal from British politician Lord Rooker for foundations to payout a minimum of 1.5% annually. That plan was vigorously resisted at the time.

The UKs Association of Charitable Foundations (ACF) described it as an attack on the independence of trustees to decide how best to use their resources.

The Charities Aid Foundation, perhaps conscious that demands for mandatory payouts for individual donor-advised funds could be next, was also dismissive. Its then CEO John Low evoked a British tradition to preserve the endowment adding that such a tradition was one which has served us very well.

Since then, apart from debates in the philanthropy publication I edit, Alliance magazine, there has been surprisingly little discussion of whether there is a need for a mandatory payout, let alone at what level it should be set.

Minimum payouts overseas

In contrast, foundations in the US, Canada and Australia are required to donate a minimum of 5% of their assets each year. There is remarkable consensus across the philanthropic spectrum in those countries that the requirement cements a social contract  a social licence to operate according to Australian philanthropy researcher, Krystian Seibert. In US philanthropy circles, there is active debate about extending payout requirements or introducing time limits on individual donor-advised funds including at community foundations.

Yet, in the UK, there are few calls for foundations to do the same. Thats despite the post-Covid cost-of-living challenges and growing social needs. It is also despite buoyant stock markets during the Covid pandemic swelling the endowments of major foundations. The endowment of the UKs largest foundation, Wellcome, has increased by 10bn in just three years and today stands at a staggering 38bn.

1.3bn net loss

An Alliance analysis of donations listed in Foundation Giving Trends * suggests that the UKs charitable foundations  taken together  could be giving well over a billion pounds more to charities each year. Based on a minimum payout of 5%, and if those minority of funders already giving over 5% maintained their giving  why would they not?  over 1.3bn more could have been donated to hard-pressed charities in 2020.

In 2020, the total amount donated would have been in the region of 3bn instead of the actual 1.7bn donated that year  an estimated net loss to charity of 1.3bn per annum.

Even a minimum donation requirement of 3% would have generated an additional 351m for charities in the same year.

One example is the Garfield Weston Foundation  the philanthropic arm of the Weston family. It donated around 1% of its endowment in 2020. A 5% payout would have required it to donate approximately 373m that year instead of the 87m it contributed.

Based on these estimates, the UKs largest foundations could be doing far more to address the major shortfalls in funding faced by charities.

A mandatory payout in the UK?

Given these missing millions, why are there not more calls for a mandatory payout?

Its plausible that charity leaders have simply overlooked this route to unlocking giving easier either because they are not familiar with the philanthropy debates taking place elsewhere or dont see them as applicable in the European context. Or it could be that charities dont want to bite the hands that feed them. Gratitude rather than scrutiny is the default.

Some foundation leaders raise concerns about curtailing donor freedom, arguing that any mandatory payout, at any level, is an unjustifiable interference. Donor freedom is an important principle, but few would argue that it is absolute or unconditional. Most would agree that there are reasonable limits placed on such freedom  indeed many are already enshrined in charity law.

Some express concern that foundation assets could be squeezed  a payout requirement could kill the goose which lays the golden egg: endowments which generate reliable, dependable, long-term funding. But this is really an objection to the level of payout rather than payouts per se. There is little evidence that a modest payout would jeopardise the long-term viability of foundations.

Some funders will rightly argue that the volume of giving is only part of the picture, the quality matters too. Certainly, efforts to improve funding practices, the Foundation Practice Rating, ACFs Stronger Foundations and IVARs open and trusting grant making initiative, should be welcomed but they dont address the elephant in the room  foundations can and should be giving more.

Practical questions about the treatment of variations in spending over a multi-year period and how to avoid regulations being circumvented are legitimate concerns too. But these are all reasons to study how the system is being improved elsewhere.

Philanthropy is a critical source of independent funding for charities and could provide millions more to charity each year. Todays balance is wrong. Too much is invested by foundations in global capital markets and not enough in the UKs social infrastructure.

When charities and regulators start paying attention, the question will be not whether foundations and donor-advised funds should be subject to a mandatory payout but at what level it should be set. Faced with such demands, defenders of the status quo may regret dismissing Lord Rookers far more modest proposals back in 2016.

Do you think a 5% payout requirement for trusts should be introduced in the UK?  Civil Society (@CivilSocietyUK) May 17, 2023

Charles Keidan is executive editor of Alliance magazine , a nonprofit publication covering philanthropy and social investment worldwide

*For full disclosure, I was an author and funder of Foundation Giving Trends reports during my tenure as executive director of the Pears Foundation

sign up to receive the Civil Society News daily bulletin here . For more news, interviews, opinion and analysis about charities and the voluntary sector,
Last week, a sex tape purporting to feature Muharrem Ince, a third-party candidate in Turkeys presidential election, circulated online. Ince said that the tape was a deepfakeThis is not my private life, its slander, he said, according to The Guardian, claiming that the footage had been ripped from an Israeli porn sitebut he dropped out of the race regardless, citing a longer campaign of character assassination. What I have seen in these last forty-five days, I have not seen in forty-five years, he said. The supposed sex tape was not the only occasion on which claims of technological deception had surfaced during the campaign. Kemal Klcdaroglu, the main opposition candidate, accused Russia (without offering specifics) of weaponizing deepfake technology to boost Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the incumbent president. And, at a rally, Erdogan played footage that had been manipulated to suggest close ties between Klcdaroglu and the Kurdistan Workers Party, which the US and EU have branded a terrorist group.

According to the BBC, Ince also said that he was dropping out to avoid being blamed for splitting the anti-Erdogan vote. At the time, pundits deemed it a live possibility that, despite Inces slender support, his withdrawal could put a nail in Erdogans coffin after twenty years in powerwith days to go until the vote, Klcdaroglu was polling just one percentage point shy of the 50 percent threshold needed to win the election outright. But the results would paint a different picture: as the official count neared completion, it was Erdogan who sat just shy of that threshold, with Klcdaroglu further back, at 45 percent of the vote. (In confidently predicting Erdogans demise, many pundits, Sinan Ciddi and Steven A. Cook wrote for Foreign Policy, indulged too much focus on polls and too much Twitter navel-gazing. Sound familiar?) The election is now set for a runoff on May 28. Erdogan is expected to prevaildespite having overseen an economic crisis, deepening political authoritarianism, and the botched response to the massive earthquake that devastated southern Turkey and neighboring Syria in February.

Among other groups, the stakes of the election have been particularly acute for Turkeys press, which has seen its freedom to report systematically eroded under Erdogan. While the election was mostly considered to be free, it was also in many respects unfairnot least due to Turkeys deeply skewed media environment. After the first round, observers led by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe deemed that continued restrictions on fundamental freedoms of assembly, association, and expression hindered the participation of some opposition politicians and parties, civil society, and independent media in the election process.

As the election unfolded, I spoke with my colleague Pesha Magid, who has covered Turkey, including for CJR; in March, she profiled a reporter who had tracked the aftermath of, and political fallout from, the earthquake. We talked about the context for the vote, the threats that journalists faced in covering it, and what a victory for Erdogan or Klcdaroglu would respectively mean for press freedom. Our typed conversation has been lightly edited for clarity.



You recently wrote for CJR about Murat Bayram, a reporter in Turkey who covered the aftermath of the devastating earthquake that hit that country and Syria earlier this year. How did the upcoming election play into yourand hisreporting? And how has the earthquake aftermath affected the electionand the coverage of itsince then?

Since the earthquake, I think the election has been lurking at the back of most peoples minds who cover Turkey. The failure of the governments earthquake response caused a backlash of anger from communities that would normally support Erdogans Justice and Development Party (AKP). Many survivors were firsthand witnesses to the governments fatal mismanagement of the emergency response, waiting days for lifesaving rescue teams to show up. Over fifty thousand people died in the earthquake. Many of those deaths could have been prevented either through a competent rescue effort or through the government enforcing building codes.

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Murat Bayram witnessed for himself some of the anger on the streets when he was reporting on the earthquake. He spoke about people who were asking where the government and the media were. I dont think anyone has forgotten the earthquake or the images that spread on social media of people waiting for their loved ones to be rescued from the rubble. Theres an odd symmetry with Erdogans own rise to power, which followed another devastating earthquake in 1999 and a bungled response from the government of the time. One of Erdogans electoral promises back then was to do better on earthquake preparedness.

The coverage of the election in Turkey has been a complicated topic as the vast majority of major news organizations have been co-opted by the government and no longer provide independent or critical reports. Much of the government-affiliated press took the line that the earthquake was an unpreventable disaster and that the government was doing the best it could. They blamed scapegoats for some of the worst failures. Election coverage has followed a similar pattern of most major channels supporting the AKP, while a slim slice of independent media has been providing more critical coverage.

Going into the election, what were the stakes for the Turkish press?

Under Erdogan, Turkey has become one of the worlds worst jailers of journalists. Journalists are commonly beaten, harassed, or targeted with legal cases. Only a scattered few small outlets remain independent. The stakes were the freedom of the press as a whole.

Did we see any repression of the press linked directly to election coverage? And how did this affect the way the first round of the election was conducted?

The short answer is yes. Since May 9, at least four journalists have been found guilty of terrorism charges, while others have faced beatings and harassment during their work.

On May 10, a journalist named Muhammed Yavas posted a critique of the Grey Wolves, a hypernationalist group, on Facebook, only to then be beaten up by a local leader of the group. In a joint statement on May 10, the monitoring organizations Human Rights Watch and Article 19 warned of the Turkish governments history of online censorship and throttling of social media ahead of the elections; subsequently, Twitter blocked some posts inside Turkey.

There was also the worry that pro-government media may skew information in favor of the AKP. According to the journalist Amberin Zaman, writing in Al-Monitor, In April, Erdogan got thirty-two hours of airtime on state TV compared with thirty-two minutes for Klcdaroglu. As the election results began to come in, some expressed fears that the state-run Anadolu agency may preemptively announce an Erdogan victory before all the results were counted. In the end, both sides claimed to be ahead, with Erdogan telling his supporters, Although the final results are not in yet, we are leading by far, according to the New York Times.

What has the opposition, led by Klcdaroglu, said about press freedom in the country, if anything? And how credible has that sounded?

Klcdaroglu has promised a return to democracy, and many journalists expressed hope that this would mean that press freedom would again be possible. Many media watchers seem cautiously hopeful that a Klcdaroglu victory would also be the way to open the door to an independent press. We still would have a press freedom problem if the opposition takes power, said Kenan Sener, general secretary of the Ankara-based Journalists Association, in an interview with the Committee to Protect Journalists. However, I believe its certain that we will be in a better spot than this.

On the other hand, when Klcdaroglus opposition party, the CHP, was in power in the nineties, it had a checkered record when it came to freedom of the press. It was known for also jailing journalists who opposed it, although not to the same extent as Erdogan.

How do you see the Turkish media landscape changing as a result of this election, as it now heads to a runoff?

It truly depends on the results. If the opposition wins then I anticipate that we will see an initial gleeful rush of media freedom as journalists stretch their wings for the first time in years. But its unclear how long that would lastas I said, the CHP does not have the best record when it comes to journalists though it seems unlikely that the crackdown on the press would remain as stringent as it has been under Erdogan. I am hopeful that journalists who have long been in jail on trumped-up charges might finally be released.

If Erdogan wins, things will undoubtedly get worse. If nothing else, the closeness of this election shows that the AKPs grip on power is fraying. That insecurity may cause it to take an even more draconian grip on power. As Bars Altntas, the director of Istanbuls Media and Law Studies Association, said in the same CPJ interview: If they [the AKP] win by a slim margin, they might lose some of their perceived legitimacy, feel cornered, and become more repressive toward free speech and media freedoms.



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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.
BOSTON (AP)  Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell said Monday that shes reached a $6.1 mllion settlement with CVS to resolve allegations the pharmacy failed to follow state rules designed to keep costs down in the workers compensation insurance system.

State regulations require that certain state and federal benchmarks be reviewed when setting prices for prescription drug charges under the workers compensation insurance.

The settlement identified alleged failures concerning prescriptions filled at CVS locations in Springfield, New Bedford, Boston and Worcester.

As part of the settlement, filed Monday in Suffolk Superior Court, CVS agreed to work with the attorney generals office to helpl prevent overcharges.

The states workers compensation system sets limits for the cost of prescriptions for injured workers and requires companies validate prices against certain regulatory benchmarks  like the federal upper limit for Medicare and the Massachusetts maximum allowable cost  before processing their charges.

The Attorney Generals office previously resolved workers compensation matters concerning Express Scripts,?Optum Rx,?Walgreens,?Stop & Shop, United Pharmacy, among others, Campbell said.

The effort has recovered over $20 million in workers compensation drug pricing procedure violations, according to Campbell.

Copyright 2023 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Even before the Florida Legislature adopted the Insurer Accountability Act of 2023, requiring insurers to stop altering independent adjusters damage estimates without providing transparency, a number of Florida property insurers and adjuster firms stopped the practice on their own, said adjusters who had made some bold allegations about the industry.

Theyre now doing it like it was done years ago  they send it back to you and ask you to make the changes, said Mark Vinson, an independent adjuster who works on a freelance basis for property insurers.

Vinson and two other independent adjusters sparked a controversy in December when they charged at a Florida House of Representatives hearing that several insurers and their hired adjuster firms were making wholesale changes to their damage estimates, slashing repair amounts by as much as two-thirds  but leaving the field adjusters names on the revised reports. That gave the impression to policyholders that the guys in the field had arrived at the paltry numbers after inspections.

The practice amounted to fraud, the adjusters said, and they asked Florida regulators to investigate.

A number of insurance company executives and industry advocates grumbled about Vinson and the other adjusters, questioning their backgrounds and charging that they were being guided by trial lawyers.

But within four months of the adjusters accusations, some carriers quietly began changing their approach.

Now theyre doing it the way its supposed to be done, said Ben Mandell, one of the Florida-licensed adjusters who made the charges.

Instead of major revisions to estimates, at least a few insurers and the adjuster firms that work for them are now asking the field inspectors to revise items or correct costs that are not covered by a policy. Most of the revisions are minor and are legitimate, the adjusters said. Some carriers now often include the original estimate with the revised tally when sending a claims report to the homeowners.

Its a step in the right direction, Vinson said. But there still needs to be some arrests or some type of consequences for the way things were being done.

The Florida Department of Financial Services investigative division, after some initial confusion over whether it would look into the allegations, is now in the midst of a formal examination, adjusters and others said. A captain with the division said recently that it should take about six months to complete the investigation, said Doug Quinn, executive director of the American Policyholders Association.

The association investigates alleged actions by insurers and has worked closely with the independent adjusters to have Florida regulators dig further into the claims. The fact that a DFS captain, with law enforcement experience, is working the investigation is encouraging, Quinn said. But it remains to be seen if any charges will be filed.

The fear is this: that they will find some low-level person to arrest, when we know that the low-level person is not the person who made the calls on this, Quinn said.

Other adjusters said that the practice of doctoring estimates had become widespread in recent years, and may take time to be curtailed.

I had never seen insurance companies be so open about it until Hurricane Ian, said Shaun Markwardt, an independent adjuster from Tennessee who has worked claims in Florida. Roof claims, in particular, were arbitrarily discounted by some carriers, despite photographic evidence showing heavy damage, he said.

Markwardt said that he became so disgusted with the altering of his estimates that he recently swore off working for insurers and became a public adjuster, hired by policyholders.

Some insurance company officials in Florida have denied changing adjusters reports. Others in the industry have said the practice is acceptable as carriers struggle with claims that have been exaggerated by policyholders and their attorneys, actions that have pushed the Florida insurance market into crisis. Field adjusters sometimes make assumptions about policy coverage that have to be corrected, or they may confuse one policy with another, insurer advocates and executives have argued.

Florida Senate Bill 7052, known as the Insurer Accountability Act, is now awaiting the governors signature. If signed into law, it will bar insurers from altering adjusters reports unless a full explanation is provided to the policyholder, the original report is included, and the adjusters names are left off the revised estimates.

The bill and the recent improvements in insurers behavior on claims estimates may be little consolation to some Florida property owners, who have complained that their claims from Hurricane Ian have yet to be paid.

Its probably true that carriers are doing things the right way now, but if theyre still not paying claims, what good is it, asked one longtime Florida insurance agent who has heard repeatedly from frustrated owners and associations.

Data compiled by the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation shows that, overall, claims from Hurricane Ian have been closed at about the same rate as those after Hurricane Michael, which raked the Florida Panhandle in 2018. Six months after Ian hit southwest Florida, some 708,255 claims had been filed and 79.8% had been closed. A year after Michael, 89.4% of all claims had been considered closed, the OIR reported.

But for claims closed with payment, the numbers seem to tell a different story. Six months after Ian, only 54% of claims had been closed with payments. At the six-month mark after Michael, about 70% of claims had been closed with payments. Private flood insurance claims show a bigger difference. Six months after Ian, just 42% of those claims have been closed with payments. A year after Michael, some 71% of private flood claims were closed with payment.

Looked at another way, some 180,000 Ian claims  about 25%  have been closed by carriers without payment to the policyholders. That compares to 14% in that category for Hurricane Michael for the same time frame post-storm.

To be sure, Ian, which made landfall in late September 2022, was a much more destructive storm and has so far produced four times as many claims, of all types, as did Michael. The OIR data is not broken down by carrier.

Industry sources insist that all insurers are not the same on claims and adjuster reports. Some are paying claims at a faster rate than are others.

We buy a lot of reinsurance. So, Im not sure the benefit of not paying the claim. I just dont understand it, said Kevin Mitchell, president of TypTap Insurance Co., which has about 50,000 policies in Florida, including some that resulted from Hurricane Ian.

He noted that Ian was a powerful storm that produced a large amount of flooding and storm surge, which may have complicated the disposition of many claims.

Mitchell added: We dont alter adjustments. We try to be transparent  Were here to pay claims fairly, and thats our job.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP)  San Franciscos district attorney Monday released surveillance video showing the fatal shooting of a suspected shoplifter by an on-duty Walgreens security guard, along with other footage and documents that she said support her decision not to file charges against the guard.

District Attorney Brooke Jenkins released the information amid public outcry over the April 27 death of Banko Brown, a 24-year-old who was not armed, outside a downtown Walgreens. Last week, the Board of Supervisors approved a resolution urging her office and the police department to release more evidence. She cited self-defense in her decision not to charge the guard, Michael Earl-Wayne Anthony.

But the release of surveillance video did not appear to quell critics in a city dogged by brazen shoplifting and wide division over the appropriate responses to crime, particularly when the suspect is homeless or impoverished.

The footage, which does not have sound, shows Brown heading for the door with a bag in his hand when he is stopped by Anthony, who then punches him repeatedly. The two struggle until Anthony pins Brown to the ground. Meanwhile, shoppers continued to enter the store during the confrontation.

When Anthony lets Brown go, Brown picks up the bag and moves to exit the store. He turns around and appears to step toward Anthony, at which point Anthony lifts his gun and shoots once, sending Brown falling back onto the ground outside.

In a police interview, Anthony said he told Brown to put the items back, but Brown was aggressive and fought to keep the items. He said he told Brown he would let him go if he calmed down, and that Brown kept saying he was going to stab him. A knife was not found on Brown.

Anthony said he let Brown go, but he drew his gun and kept it pointed at the ground just in case Brown attacked. He said he shot when Brown advanced, not realizing Brown would just spit at him.

San Francisco Supervisor Shamann Walton said in a statement that the video does not show justification for the shooting. He plans to join Board President Aaron Peskin in calling on the state attorney general for an independent review of the prosecutors decision.

But Jenkins, who initially discharged the case May 1, said that even after seeking more evidence, there was nothing to rebut the guards reasonable claim of self-defense. She pleaded with viewers to review all the evidence, including witness and police reports, especially since the video footage lacks sound.

There will be a temptation, as human beings, to only view the video footage of this incident and nothing else. We are accustomed to seeing videos online, and that often is what captures our attention rather than going the extra step to look deeper, she said in a news conference.

Brown, who struggled with homelessness, worked as a community organizer for the Young Womens Freedom Center, a nonprofit that provides support for young women and trans youth.

We do not need to see the video to know that Banko Browns killing was unjustified. Armed force is not a justified response to poverty, said Julia Arroyo, the centers co-executive director, in a statement Monday. We must live with the sobering reality that he was killed for no other cause but $14.

Arroyo has described Brown as smart and funny young man who, while shy, made friends easily.

Supervisor Dean Preston introduced legislation last week so that private security guards could not draw their firearms unless there is an actual and specific threat to a person.

Walgreens did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment. Walgreens, Target and other merchants downtown have complained about brazen shoplifting. Whole Foods recently announced it would temporarily shutter a downtown location, citing employee safety.

Kingdom Group Protective Services, which provides security for Walgreens, said in a statement that it is cooperating with law enforcement and could not provide further comment.

State records show Anthony has been licensed as a security guard since 2012.

Jenkins became district attorney last year after voters ousted her predecessor, Chesa Boudin, over criticism that he was too soft on crime. She pledged to be a fair but tough prosecutor who would not ignore blatant retail theft and open-air drug dealing.

Associated Press reporter Christopher Weber in Los Angeles contributed.

Top photo: In the wake of District Attorney Brooke Jenkins decision not to prosecute security guard, Michael Earl-Wayne Anthony, for confronting and killing suspected shoplifter Banko Brown, protesters march on Market Street in San Francisco on Monday, May 15, 2023. (Scott Strazzante/San Francisco Chronicle via AP)

Copyright 2023 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
DETROIT  A freighter laden with 21,000 metric tons of salt and 105,000 gallons of diesel fuel ran aground in the Detroit River after an electronics malfunction caused it to lose propulsion.

The vessel, the 639-foot lake freighter Mark W. Barker, was later refloated, following repairs, and assisted to Belle Isle for inspection, the U.S. Coast Guard said.

Freighters regularly travel the waterway passing the popular island park. But they rarely come so close to the island, and the sudden arrival of the Mark W. Barker caused heads to turn, The Associated Press said.

I came down here and I looked, and I was like, whoa, Diane Reid told The Detroit News.

The freighter was bound for Milwaukee from Cleveland when it lost propulsion shortly after 7:30 a.m., The Detroit News reported.

The vessel turned to port unexpectedly and the ships captain dropped the anchor before the bow grounded on the soft bank of the channel, Chrissy Kadleck, spokeswoman for the Interlake Steamship Co., a Middleburg Heights, Ohio-based Great Lakes carrier that owns the ship, told The Detroit News.

No one was injured in the incident nor does there appear to be any risk of pollution or damage to the vessel, Kadleck said.

The Coast Guard worked with the vessel owner, as well as the Canadian Coast Guard to develop and execute the refloat plan.

It was refloated by 12:10 p.m.

We worked closely with all relevant parties to ensure the safety of our waterways and the prompt resolution of this incident, Lt. j.g. Adeeb Ahmad, public affairs officer for the Coast Guards Sector Detroit, said in a statement. The successful refloating of the Mark W. Barker highlights our commitment to maintaining the safety and continuity of our maritime transportation system.

Once the ship was moved to Belle Isle, with the aid of a towing vessel, Coast Guard investigators planned to assess any damage and ensure repairs were completed as necessary before the vessel resumed its voyage.

Throughout the incident, there were no immediate threats to people or the environment. Mariners were kept clear of the area but were able to continue transiting the river.

The Mark W. Barker remained stable throughout with no signs of pollution discharge or hull damage reported, the Coast Guard said.
LAKEWOOD, Ohio -- The most densely populated city in Ohio is having an issue with automobile-related businesses negatively affecting on-street parking.

City Council is currently considering a set of uniform regulations related to businesses that will require parking permits on Lakewood streets.

As we know, Lakewood is one of the most densely populated cities between New York City and Chicago, Mayor Meghan George said. Were also home to hundreds of small businesses that bring thousands of people to our city on a daily basis.

Were happy that a number of the auto-related businesses call Lakewood home. They all provide such an important service to our residents. But when we start talking about density, that brings in higher demands on parking -- especially on-street parking.

Were not talking about employee or customer parking, George said. Were talking about intentionally using public spaces to park vehicles that are currently being worked on.

The mayor said on-street parking is a public resource that needs to serve the common good.

The pending legislation is aimed at addressing resident concerns regarding businesses dominating or monopolizing street parking for their needs.

The city works to strike a balance for parking, character of the district and neighbor impacts -- traffic, noise, light pollution, clean/orderly appearance -- for other categories of business as well, said Councilman-at-Large Tom Bullock.

Weve done traffic studies, parking alterations and updated parking lot standards over the years to help successfully regulate these businesses, he said.

Enforcement is a regular and frequent part of addressing neighbor impacts on this category of business as well.

The city is currently talking with automobile-related businesses on how to revise and refine the proposed ordinance, as well as implement the permits.

City Council will hold a hearing at 6:30 p.m. Monday (May 22) regarding the proposed permit ordinance.

The mayor expects the ordinance to be passed before councils summer recess and to go into effect Jan. 1.

Read more news from the Sun Post Herald.
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Eleven men are charged with racketeering after prosecutors say they broke into dozens of dealerships and stole 86 cars worth more than $5 million.

The group ripped off 26 businesses in 32 incidents, including hitting the same showroom three times, prosecutors said. The heists spanned five months and 11 counties.
NEWARK, Ohio  Police departments often use social media to post photos of wanted suspects. The suspects dont often respond, however.

But 20-year-old Tanner Rhinehart, who is wanted on multiple warrants, decided to chime in when he saw his photo on the Newark Division of Polices Facebook page on Monday.

Yall almost had (me) the other day you gotta be quicker than that, Rhinehart wrote under the photo from his own Facebook account.

He later commented again, asking What willll (sic) I get if I turn myself in(?)

Rhineharts taunting of the police department brought multiple reactions on the page, with more than 300 comments ... some finding his response funny and cheering him on, while others took it more seriously, urging him to turn himself in to police.

According to WCMH Channel 4, Rhinehart is wanted after he failed to appear at his sentencing hearing for a probation violation. WCMH reports he has a record of other charges and pleaded guilty in January 2022 to felony theft in Licking County.
As a citizen of the Quapaw Nation, Ahnili Johnson-Jennings has always seen Dartmouth College as the university for Native American students.

Her father graduated from the school, founded in 1769 to educate Native Americans, and she had come to rely on its network of students, professors and administrators. But news that the Ivy League school in New Hampshire identified partial skeletal remains of 15 Native Americans in one of its collections has Johnson-Jennings and others reassessing that relationship.

Its hard to reconcile. Its hard to see the college in this old way where they were taking Native remains and using them for their own benefit, said Johnson-Jennings, a senior and co-president of Native Americans at Dartmouth.

The remains were used to teach a class as recently as last year, until an audit concluded they had been wrongly catalogued as not Native. Native American students were briefed on the discovery in March.

It was very upsetting to hear, especially when youve just felt so supported by a school and theyve had that secret that maybe no one knew about, but still, to some sense, was a secret, Johnson-Jennings said.

Dartmouth is among a growing list of universities, museums and other institutions wrestling with how best to handle Native American remains and artifacts in their collections, and with what these discoveries say about their past policies regarding Native communities.

Until the 20th century, archeologists, anthropologists, collectors and curiosity seekers took Native remains and sacred objects during expeditions on tribal lands. Some remains, including Native skulls, were sought after in the name of science. Bodies were collected by government agencies after battles with tribes. Museums wanted them to enhance their collections, and academic institutions relied on Native bones as teaching tools.

One-hundred years ago, it was OK for a professor, for an alumni to go into the lands of a Native community and dig up their ancestors, said professor Jeremy DeSilva, a paleoanthropologist and chairman of Dartmouths anthropology department.

Its amazing that folks didnt recognize how harmful that was, he continued.

For Native tribes, the loss of the remains and cultural items still inflicts significant pain. The remains, most believe, are imbued with the spirit of the ancestor to whom they belong and are connected to living citizens of those tribes.

They could go to court or negotiate with an institution for them to be repatriated. But it wasnt until the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act or NAGPRA in 1990 that a process was created for their return. It requires federally funded institutions, including universities, to return remains and funerary items to rightful communities.

More than three decades later, some 884,000 Native American artifacts  including nearly 102,000 human remains  are still held by colleges, museums and other institutions, according to data maintained by the National Park Service.

Critics complain that many institutions move too slowly, invoking an exception in NAGPRA for remains they label as culturally unidentifiable. That puts the burden on tribes to prove the remains are their ancestors, an expense many cant afford.

Dartmouth has repatriated skeletal remains of 10 Native Americans along with 36 burial objects since 1995. The NAGPRA database says the 15 sets of skeletal remains and 46 associated funerary objects were taken from counties in Alaska, Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, California and Florida. It lists the geographic origin of two sets of remains as unknown.

In February, Cornell University returned to the Oneida Indian Nation ancestral remains that were inadvertently dug up in 1964 and stored for decades in a school archive. Colgate University in November returned more than 1,500 items that the Oneidas had buried with their dead as far back as 400 years ago.

It is hard to overstate the importance of repatriations to the Oneida people, said Ray Halbritter, Oneida Indian Nation Representative.

When our ancestors remains and their cultural artifacts are restored to us, we are not only able to lay them to rest according to our traditions  we regain nothing less than the history of our people and the ability to tell our own stories, Halbritters statement said. Each repatriation represents another step forward on a long journey toward recognition of our sovereignty as a Nation and our dignity as people.

Read more: Berkeley professor apologizes for false Indigenous identity

The University of California, Berkeley tops the list of institutions still holding artifacts, according to the Park Service, followed closely by the Ohio History Connection, a nonprofit organization working to preserve the states history, and Harvard Universitys Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology.

The process of returning remains to affiliated tribes can be complex and complicated, but Shannon OLoughlin, chief executive of the Association on American Indian Affairs, a national group that assists tribes with repatriations, said its racist to refuse.

It just says that they value the idea of Native Americans as specimens more than they do as human beings, said OLoughlin, a citizen of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma.

The remains held in Dartmouths teaching collection in Silsby Hall were identified as Native in November in an audit led by Jami Powell, curator of Indigenous art at Dartmouths Hood Museum.

The bones have been moved from locked cabinet in the basement to a secure off-campus location. Dartmouth has hired a team of independent experts to determine their origin, a review that will take months.

It also is studying an additional 100 bones that may be Native American and working with tribes to repatriate additional bone fragments related to three individuals whose remains were repatriated in the 1990s.

Read more: New Mexico delegates renew push for broader Chaco protection

For me as an Indigenous person, its always important in my work that I treat these ancestors with the utmost care and respect and that an essential part of my function is helping them return home, said Powell, a citizen of the Osage nation.

Dartmouth President Philip Hanlon said in March that hes deeply saddened by what weve found on our campus. His statement apologized for the colleges wrongful possession of the remains and pledged to take careful and meaningful action to address our situation and consult with the communities most directly impacted.

The Department of Anthropologys teaching collection is believed to have included bones purchased from biological supply companies; from donated cadavers used by medical students; and archeological remains, some of which came from Native American burial mounds and were given by alumni.

Until November, Dartmouth officials said they had believed Native American bones had been removed from the school in the 1990s.

Nobody had really taken the time or the effort to fully document what we had. This was around a time where our whole discipline was beginning to reflect a little more deeply on what it meant to be in the care of, or caring for human remains, said DeSilva, the anthropology departments chairman.

DeSilva acknowledged mistakes in documenting Native American remains, but said they werent malicious, and no one was to blame. He said he hopes the most recent discovery will force a reckoning over past practices.

Read more: Chasing Horse asks Nevada high court to toss sex abuse case

The college is now reevaluating its whole collection of human remains and plans to build an ethically sourced collection that complies with legal standards to be used in osteology  the study of bones and skeletal systems, DeSilva said.

The college is also working to repair its relationship with Native students and alumni. That includes accommodating Native students uncomfortable going into Silsby. A Navajo medicine man aso held a cleansing ceremony on campus that included the anthropology building.

Native Americans now represent about 1% of Dartmouths 4,458 students. Though the school was formed to teach Native Americans, it wasnt until 1972 that Dartmouth created a program tailored to them, one of the first in the country. Still, symbols of insensitivity lingered on campus, including a set of murals that the school said it would move into storage in 2018.

Shawn Attakai, co-president of the Native American Alumni Association of Dartmouth, said hes disappointed about the discovery, and sad that some of the remains could be from his own Navajo Nation, where he is a tribal lawyer.

Native Americans have a history of injustices in this country starting from its founding all the way to the present, said Attakai.

Johnson-Jennings appreciates the efforts, but said justice requires a person or entity to be held accountable. Allowing the remains to be mislabeled for so long, she said, is a mistake that us Natives are paying for, the tribes that those ancestors belong to are paying for.
CLEVELAND, Ohio  Dan OMalley, the leader of Greater Clevelands largest labor organization, has been fired by the North Shore AFL-CIOs board. But he and his lawyer say his removal was fueled by personal agendas and said there was a lack of due process in his firing.

Shari Obrenski, chair of the AFL-CIO board and president of the Cleveland teachers union, did not reveal many details in a statement to cleveland.com. She confirmed that OMalley was removed from office after the board met on April 12.
COLUMBUS, Ohio  Statehouse Republicans set a ticking clock last week, voting to hold a statewide election in August to ask voters to make it harder for the public to make future changes to the Ohio Constitution.

With less than two months before early voting begins, groups on both sides of the issue are scrambling to assemble campaigns on the fly. That involves taking steps to raise money, hire staff, assemble supporters and not least of all, decide how closely they will tie the measure to the hot-button topic of abortion when they try to sell it to voters.
WASHINGTON, D. C. - The U.S. Senate on Tuesday approved a measure by Sen. J.D. Vance, a Cincinnati Republican that would nullify a District of Columbia police reform law that Vance says increases crime and makes it harder for police officers to do their job.

The Senate voted 56 to 43 to overturn the DC Councils Comprehensive Policing and Justice Reform Amendment Act of 2022. It was the first measure sponsored by Vance to get a vote on the U.S. Senate floor. U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, a Cleveland Democrat, voted against it, as did the majority of his party.

In a speech on the Senate floor, Vance said the law he wants to undo bans or severely restricts ordinary law enforcement practices, including the use of riot gear to disperse violent crowds. He noted that District of Columbia police officers and organizations say it will make the city less safe.

It makes it harder for police to actually give chase to violent offenders and it also forces police to go through these ridiculous exhaustion requirements before they can use lethal force to protect themselves and people around them, Vance continued.

Fraternal Order of Police national president Patrick Yoes issued a statement that said the DC law interferes with responsible policing and strips D.C. Metropolitan Police officers of basic employment rights, including the right to bargain over disciplinary procedures.

Its hard to fathom how elected officials, charged with protecting the citizens of the District of Columbia, could be so reckless to pass a piece of legislation that includes provisions that would exacerbate an already out-of-control crime crisis, said a statement from Yoes.

A proponent of the legislation, District of Columbia City Council Chairman Phil Mendelson, told a congressional committee that the law is not an attack on police or a threat to public safety, and would promote police accountability by codifying its Use of Force Review Board, enhancing auditing capabilities, strengthening training requirements, and prohibiting the hiring of officers who have a history of misconduct.

If Congress tosses these measures aside, it will be a dramatic setback in the Districts efforts to address longstanding concerns about officer misconduct and make it harder to hold bad cops accountable, he told the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability.

Mendelson also decried efforts by Congress to overturn laws the city passes, noting its more than 700,000 residents elect its mayor and council to manage the city.

They do not want 535 people they did not elect, who do not represent them, and who do not answer their phone calls stepping in to veto or tinker with the laws we pass, he said, calling for District of Columbia statehood.

The resolution Vance advanced passed the House of Representatives in April by a 229 to 189 margin, with backing from all the legislative bodys Republicans and 14 Democrats, none of whom were from Ohio.

Akron Democratic Rep. Emilia Strong Sykes said the resolution would weaken public safety by repealing the District of Columbias effort to permanently extend temporary law enforcement transparency and accountability measures it adopted after George Floyd was killed by a police officer in Minneapolis. A statement from Sykes dismissed the resolution as a partisan scare tactic that does nothing to prevent crimes before they happen or improve public safety.

Communities should have the ability to implement measures that keep people safe, including community-focused policing that holds law enforcement officers accountable to the citizens they are sworn to protect and serve, Sykes statement said. I strongly support evidence-based solutions that will keep the people of Ohios 13th District and across the nation safe from violence.

The White House says President Joe Biden would veto the measure.. A statement of administration policy said Biden doesnt agree with every provision of the DC law, but wont support GOP efforts to overturn commonsense police reforms such as: banning chokeholds; limiting use of force and deadly force; improving access to body-worn camera recordings; and requiring officer training on de-escalation and use of force.

Congress should respect the District of Columbias right to pass measures that improve public safety and public trust, the statement continued.

After the vote, Vance released a statement that called it a victory for the safety and security of every American who visits our nations capital, and a strong message of support for its police officers.

With this vote, Congress has sent President Biden a clear and bipartisan message: the American people have rejected the radical left and they want to see law and order in Washington, it continued.

Sabrina Eaton writes about the federal government and politics in Washington, D.C., for cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer.
COLUMBUS, Ohio  State Supreme Court Justice Joe Deters recused himself Wednesday from a case stemming from a major political corruption scandal that led to the criminal conviction of Ohios House speaker.

Convicted at trial earlier this year alongside former GOP speaker Larry Householder was Matt Borges, who as then-state Treasurer Deters chief of staff in 2004 pleaded guilty to a charge in connection with steering state contracts to campaign donors. Deters wasnt charged in that case.

The recusal means Deters, who GOP Gov. Mike DeWine appointed to an empty seat on the Supreme Court in December, wont preside in an escalating legal battle derived from a $64 million political bribery scheme funded by FirstEnergy Corp. Householder, Borges and two political operatives have all been convicted in connection to the scheme, which involved secretly fielding FirstEnergys money in exchange for bailout legislation.

In court filings, Akron-based FirstEnergy also admitted in 2021 to paying the states then-top utility regulator Sam Randazzo a $4.3 million bribe in exchange for favorable rulings. Randazzo has not been charged with a crime. But FBI agents raided his home in 2020, and Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost named Randazzo as a defendant in a civil lawsuit connected to the bribery play.

Borges, who recovered from the earlier scandal and ascended to lead the Ohio Republican Party and build a lucrative lobbying career, was convicted alongside Householder at a jury trial earlier this year. Prosecutors accused him of paying a $15,000 bribe to GOP political operative Tyler Fehrman to obtain protected political information connected to FirstEnergys scheme. Prosecutors showed evidence at trial indicating Borges also helped hire private investigators to tail Fehrman, who was secretly recording their interactions on behalf of the FBI.

As part of that lawsuit, Yost froze millions of Randazzos assets, arguing that Randazzo was seeking to hide and shield money from potential judgements in the future. Yost said that after the FBI raid, Randazzo gifted his son a $500,000 home; sold other properties in Akron, Columbus and Florida; and put the millions in proceeds into a newly created brokerage jointly controlled by him and his wife.

In other words, if you cant keep stolen money, then hide it, give it to loved ones, and spend it down trying to save your hide. Whatever you do, dont allow the funds to remain available for easy collection. This is Randazzos mindset, Yost argued.

Randazzo argued Yost failed to meet the legal standard required to seize property of someone on yet-unproven allegations. He accused Yost of spinning a preconceived political narrative, bent on a predetermined outcome, content with little to no investigation of the facts, and focused on maximizing media attention for himself.

While a lower court ruled for Yost, an appellate court court sided with Randazzo, prompting Yost to appeal to the states high court.

Deters, a Republican, announced his recusal from the case without explanation. He declined to comment via a court spokeswoman.

A screenshot of footage, secretly taken by the FBI and shown at the criminal trial of Larry Householder and Matt Borges, of Borges meeting with political operative Tyler Fehrman. Borges, accused of paying Fehrman a $15,000 bribe for inside information about an active referendum campaign, was convicted in March.

DeWine appointed Deters  who lacked any prior experience as a judge but worked for years as the Hamilton County prosecutor  to fill a seat left by now-Chief Justice Sharon Kennedy, who won the top job in November.

Deters and the DeWine family share a long history. In January 2019, Deters as county prosecutor hired the senior staff attorney of Justice Pat DeWine, the governors son. That same year, Pat DeWines wife accused her husband of adultery in the midst of a divorce, a charge Pat DeWine denied. Pat DeWine and the staff attorney are now in a relationship, as The Cincinnati Enquirer reported. She now works for Deters on the Supreme Court. Deters also gave Pat DeWines son a paid, six-week internship in 2017.

DeWine also appointed Dennis Deters (brother to Joe Deters) to a vacant seat on the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio, then under Randazzo, in 2019. DeWine renewed Dennis Deters for a full, five-year term in 2021.

The recusal Wednesday is the second major case Joe Deters has stepped away from, citing a conflict of interest. In January, he recused himself from the Supreme Courts review of a 2019 state law banning most abortions in Ohio at about 6 weeks from a womans last period -- a law under a fresh judicial review since a U.S. Supreme Court allowed states to ban abortion. Hes named as a defendant in that case, which abortion providers filed in the Hamilton County Court of Common Pleas when he worked as a county prosecutor. The plaintiffs in that case sought his ouster.

His recusal provides a stark contrast from Pat DeWine, who refused to step away from the Supreme Courts review of redistricting cases in which his father (the governor) was a central character. Pat DeWine joined a minority of justices over multiple rulings siding with Republican politicians including the governor who drew the maps.

Randazzos case is set for oral arguments before the Supreme Court in late June.

Jake Zuckerman covers state politics and policy for Cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer.
ATLANTA -- The news world is still scratching its head over the firing of Fox News mega-star Tucker Carlson. Carlsons show was a ratings blockbuster and tremendous moneymaker for the media empire. So why would Rupert and Lachlan Murdoch give him the heave-ho? Was it his role in the Dominion lawsuit? His misogynistic mutterings off-camera?

According to The New York Times, no: It was a series of private text messages.

But what did theses texts say? To whom were they written? And when were they sent?

No one knows. No one, that is, except the undersigned, who assert they were contacted by a laptop repairman in Parma claiming he found the following explosive text on a personal computer dropped off at his shop.

Dear Mr. President. I know I write this to you all the time, and youre probably tired of hearing it, but I think youre great. Dont let what I say on my show bother you. Ruperts kids make me say that stuff -- and you know how kids are. Plus, if I started sharing my true feelings, the old hayseeds at the local trailer park would stop watching and Foxs ratings would sink -- maybe even lower than CNNs. They love it when I tell them youre a failed president whos going senile. I know thats not the case, given the tremendous domestic legislation you passed with a razor-thin majority, your masterful handling of the war in Ukraine, and your overall decency.

I also want to tell you directly that, despite what I say on my show, I dont support white nationalists, Vladimir Putin or anyone who mistreats the less fortunate and stomps on democratic institutions. I dont support book banning either. I mean, I love to read. Did you know Im in a book club? (Were doing A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara this month -- its an eye-opener, to say the least!).

Well, Ive got to run. And youve certainly got more important things to do than indulge my ramblings, ha ha! Theres some sort of demonstration on the Mall today in support of Robert E. Lee and Fox wants me there to say something derogatory about Black people and positive about assault rifles. Oh, the things I have to do to make a decent living -- Im sure you can relate, right? Anyway, keep up the good work and say hi to Jill. I hope you two can take some time for yourselves and relax. Id like to think that Ive earned some time off, too. What Id give to go down to DisneyWorld and pop a couple of Bud Lights. But I guess Fox wont want me doing that anytime soon! Hahaha. Your friend and admirer, Tucker.

When asked for their reaction to this disclosure, authorities at Fox had no comment. The Biden White House deferred all questions until the president returned from a Delaware beach weekend with Carlson.

Although co-authors Rob DeWitt and Charlie Tercek are busy with their writing projects, theyd like Fox to know that theyre willing to serve as interim guest hosts of Tucker Carlson Tonight. Please contact their agent.

Have something to say about this topic?

* Send a letter to the editor, which will be considered for print publication.

* Email general questions about our editorial board or comments or corrections on this editorial to Elizabeth Sullivan, director of opinion, at esullivan@cleveland.com
CLEVELAND, Ohio  Isaac may only be 11 years old, but he says hes known for years that giving to others brings him joy.

So, when Almira Elementary School third-grade teacher Ms. Geneva Burgess launched 12 Gator Days of Giving, a school-wide holiday donation drive designed to teach the students about the importance of philanthropy, Isaac jumped at the chance to be involved.

A different small item was designated for donation on each of the 12 school days of the drive, intentionally chosen to be small and low-cost, so students who struggle with resources themselves had the ability to participate. And among all 48 fifth-grade students at the school, Isaac was the only student who brought a donation every day.

Two reporters from cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer have spent the past two school years embedded at Almira Elementary School on Clevelands West side, documenting the many challenges of teaching kids whose lives are complicated by poverty and the creative ways Cleveland educators overcome them.

He didnt just go home and tell his mom he needed these things. He wrote down a list and went shopping himself, said Ms. Gina Halkiadakis, the fifth-grade intervention specialist. The way he went about it was just so genuine and it demonstrated what a sweet, giving kid he is. Most of these kids dont have much, but when they have the opportunity to give, they do. Its inspiring.

From canned goods and pasta to toothpaste and body wash, students like Isaac came to school each day with their donations. They collected a total of 35 boxes of items for West Side Community House, a local nonprofit that works to meet the needs of the neighborhoods most vulnerable and at-risk members.

Ms. Burgess describes the schools response to the drive and the commitment of the students, who donated every day, as humbling and a gift in itself  reinforcing her faith in Almiras generosity and inspiring her to keep the drive going and growing in size, for years to come.

But as naturally as giving comes to Isaac, being on the receiving end of donations isnt quite as easy for him. While the school was collecting items for 12 Gator Days of Giving, another donation drive was underway. This one was for the students.

Angela Kendall and Kelly DeGeorge hosted a coat drive for Almiras students, which they delivered to the school earlier in December. Some students accepted their coats with unbridled excitement, but Isaac was timid. Though he didnt have a winter coat himself, he was hesitant to take the one purchased for him, worried that one of his classmates may need it more.

He eventually tried on the coat, in his favorite color, blue, and it was a perfect fit. And with some reassurance, he accepted it, wearing it to school and out for errands with his mother, during the frigid December days that followed.

But one day during winter break, while accompanying his mom to the grocery store, Isaac noticed a mother and child standing just outside the doors. He worried that they were homeless  especially because the boy, around Isaacs age, didnt have a winter coat.

When Isaac and his mother approached the pair, Isaac unzipped his new jacket without hesitation and handed it to the boy, who paused for a moment.

Go ahead, its yours now, Isaac told him.

The boy paused, just as cautious as Isaac had been when he received the coat, himself. But eventually the boy accepted it and put it on. And once again, it was a perfect fit.

Once inside, Isaacs mom told him how proud she was to have such a kind, generous son, who would selflessly give away a new coat he had just received.

It was the right thing to do, Isaac replied.

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.
Gen Zers like Samantha Lenger are increasingly comfortable discussing and negotiating their salary, even early on in their careers.

Samantha Lenger remembers the day she got not one, but two, job offers just weeks into her senior year of college: The North Carolina State University business major was attending the Grace Hopper conference, an annual networking event for women and nonbinary people in tech, in the fall of 2019. Despite her excitement and one offer she considered her "dream role for an amount of money I never expected," she didn't accept either right away  with the ball in her court, she knew it was time to negotiate. After a call to her mom to celebrate, she immediately rang up her mentor for his advice on how to make the ask. The oldest members of Gen Z are gaining ground in the workforce and leading many conversations around salary transparency and pay equity. They expect their future employer to be upfront about pay: 64% of Gen Z job-seekers, and 55% of job-seekers overall, won't apply to a job posting that lacks wage or salary information, according to an April 2023 Joblist survey of nearly 30,000 job-seekers. Young workers also have more access to pay data than ever through online resources and new laws that require businesses in some states and cities to list ranges on job openings. Still, negotiating salary is a thorny topic for even career veterans with decades of experience, let alone for the youngest professionals launching their careers. CNBC Make It spoke with recent grads about how they managed to boost their comp packages through college and beyond.

For accurate salary data, it pays to ask around

When Lenger was presented with each offer, she first noticed that the salaries were already higher than what she'd researched online through sites like Glassdoor and LinkedIn. At the advice of her mentor, a co-worker at a former internship, Lenger asked her friends getting offers at the same conference about the numbers they were seeing. She also tapped a few people in her network who were about one to three years into their careers. Lenger made sure to put her numbers out there first: "My offer is around this ballpark. Does that seem about right compared with what you're seeing?" This approach can make the conversation feel less invasive, Lenger says: "You don't have to come out and ask them how much money they make." It's also helpful to know that most people wish it was less taboo to talk about money with their colleagues but are too afraid to do so, according to a recent Monster survey. Gen Z and millennial workers are more eager than other generations to talk salaries in the workplace. Talking openly about salary takes some practice, too. With a few years of work experience under her belt, Lenger, now 24, has since negotiated a handful of her own raises and new roles since her first job out of college. She now works as a freelance marketer and negotiates on behalf of her business all the time.

You can negotiate an internship, too

Sarah Wang, 21, used a similar strategy to negotiate internships while still in school as a communications major at UCLA. "I was so intimidated to negotiate because I was so early on in my college career and didn't think I had any leverage to do so," Wang says. Ahead of her first summer internship after sophomore year, she cold-messaged former interns at companies she was interviewing with for their advice on making an impression. She kept her messages direct but polite: "I saw you did this internship last summer and would appreciate any insights you can share."

Sarah Wang, 21, is a 2023 UCLA grad and negotiated several communications internships throughout college. Anika Chakrabarti

Once she clinched an offer, she'd follow up to thank her contacts and update them with her offer letter. Then she'd ask, "Could you give me any insight into whether this was as comparable offer to the ones you and your peers received? Were you able to successfully negotiate them?" Based on those conversations, Wang would talk to the recruiter and be transparent about where her research was coming from: "I know previous interns were able to negotiate $X more per hour, and my qualifications are similar, so I believe I'm eligible for this higher amount." There's reason to believe an increasing share of college seniors are thinking about taking an internship after graduation. Search interest for the question "Can you do internships after graduation?" increased by 1,850% between January 2021 and March 2023, according to Google search data from Semrush provided to CNBC Make It.

Use competing offers as leverage

Another major negotiation boost: Having a competing offer you can leverage for more money at your top choice company Both Lenger and Wang recall using competing job and internship offers to negotiate for more money at their top choice employers. Lenger laid out her competing offer and negotiation in an email: "I said, 'I'm super excited and really appreciate the offer but have one at a similar company offering XYZ'  which was basically a bigger sign-on bonus and larger overall package  'Can you meet me there?'" The recruiter came back a week later with a $10,000 boost to the salary, a $5,000 sign-on bonus and more stock options that all amounted to a roughly $33,000 larger compensation package from the original offer. Wang, who eventually landed an internship with TikTok, used a higher offer from another tech company competitor to leverage a $2 bump to her hourly rate. "It helps to show, 'I think I'm worth this, and so does this other major competitor you have,'" Wang says. "It's hard as a recruiter to say no to that."

What to negotiate beyond base salary

Brooke Thadeus says negotiating her first full-time job after college was always a given. The 25-year-old works in health care in the Washington, D.C., area and even took a negotiations class during grad school. She says it's normal to feel pressured to immediately accept an offer on the spot but advises new grads to ask for the offer in writing and then take their time making a decision. "You want to make sure to see the terms and conditions of the job and know what the compensation looks like before accepting," Thadeus says. "You can say yes on the phone and in an offer letter see something you had no idea would be in there."

Brooke Thadeus, 25, learned how to negotiate her compensation package after taking a negotiations class during grad school. Courtesy of subject

Once you get an offer in writing, reflect on what else may be negotiable, she adds, including: the job title, start date, a moving stipend, a sign-on or retention bonus, tuition assistance and more. Thadeus is also a proponent of going back to the recruiter with an email of your negotiation points  if you have a competing offer, mention that here  plus three to four points of your most relevant qualifications to back up why you're worth your desired salary. She recommends listing a dollar amount roughly $5,000 higher than your target to give you room if HR counteroffers. Thadeus ended up taking a job in which she negotiated a 10% increase in the base salary, plus a health-care stipend, moving assistance and annual bonus allotment.

'They'll never offer you the highest amount first'
In the hedge fund industry, tech investors like the "Tiger Cubs" Philippe Laffont and Chase Coleman grab a lot of attention, but the best stock picker in the sector lately is far less well-known. Shannon River Capital Management, a New York based tech-focused hedge fund, ranked No.1 among its peers in terms of stock-picking ability over the past four quarters, according to hedge-fund tracking firm Symmetric.io . Symmetric.io grades the stock-picking ability of nearly 1,000 hedge funds in its database with a proprietary indicator of performance called StockAlpha. It is derived by comparing the performance of equities in the fund based on regulatory filings with that of a sector exchange-traded fund. Shannon River has $2.1 billion in asset under management, recently disclosed $443 million in long equity positions. The hedge fund, founded in 2003 by managing partner Spencer Waxman , runs a concentrated portfolio, with its top 10 positions accounting for 82% of the disclosed portfolio in the first quarter. Its biggest holding as of the end of March was Flextronics , a mid-cap manufacturing services company that provides expertise in data infrastructure. The stock bucked the down trend in tech last year, rising 17%, and has gained another 12% in 2023. Shannon River's second biggest holding was InterDigital, a small-cap company in wireless and video technologies. Shares have rallied 70% this year. Nice Ltd. , an enterprise software provider, was another top pick for Shannon River. The fund also owned popular tech stocks like Nvidia , AMD and Salesforce as some of its biggest holdings at the end of the first quarter.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Wednesday a Quad summit would not go ahead in Sydney next week without U.S. President Joe Biden, who postponed his trip to Australia due to debt ceiling negotiations in Washington.

Albanese said the leaders of Australia, the United States, India and Japan would instead meet at the G7 in Japan this weekend, after Biden canceled a trip to Sydney on the second leg of his upcoming Asia trip, which was also to have included a visit to Papua New Guinea.

"The Quad leaders meeting will not be going ahead in Sydney next week. We, though will be having that discussion between Quad leaders in Japan," Albanese told a news conference.
Investing in women's empowerment and opportunities is something portfolio managers Julianne McHugh and Miki Behr have talked about doing for years. Now that idea has become a reality. BNY Mellon Women's Opportunities ETF , the exchange-traded fund they manage, launched Wednesday, trading under the ticker BKWO. It joins a small but growing group of funds that focus on opportunities for women in the workplace. The BNY Mellon Investment Management product not only includes companies that embody best practices for gender equity, it also includes those that provide products and services that support women in their daily lives, Behr explained. The latter can be health-oriented products or childcare providers. "The objective is to invest in companies that are being thoughtful, that are moving from a one-size-fits all kind of approach to drive economic opportunity and growth," she said. The actively managed fund is launching with $10 million in assets under management and has a management fee of 50 basis points, or half a percentage point. Its top holdings include Microsoft, Amazon and Eli Lilly. Investing for financial return while promoting gender diversity, known as gender lens or gender equity investing, isn't new. For instance, the Pax Ellevate Global Women's Leadership Fund debuted in 1993, the SPDR MSCI USA Gender Diversity ETF in 2016 and the Impact Shares YWCA Women's Empowerment ETF in 2018. Yet it is an idea that has gained steam in recent years, although it still represents a small slice of the investment pie, according to Morningstar. Assets in U.S. gender equity funds have doubled over the last three years, to $1.3 billion, as of the end of February, Morningstar found. Those funds represent less than 0.01% of total equity fund assets in the United States, according to the firm. The last fund that launched was the Hypatia Women CEO ETF earlier this year, which invests only in companies led by women. Diversity means better performance McHugh and Behr said the Covid-19 pandemic also helped push things to the forefront. Women left the workforce in droves , either from job cuts or to manage childcare during school closures. Women's labor participation rate fell to levels not seen since 1988, according to the National Women's Law Center. "In this post-pandemic environment, where there's a lot of signals that could raise some concerns with regards to our outlook for economic growth, let alone our social well-being, there was this opportunity to create a product  to address the economic and the social gaps that limit women, which ultimately also reduced economic productivity and gender equity," McHugh said. If women's participation rate in the labor market matched that of men, it could add as much as $28 trillion to global annual gross domestic product by 2025, a report by McKinsey & Company in 2015 found . Research also shows that gender diversity boosts a company's financial performance. For instance, S & P 500 companies with at least 25% female executives have a higher subsequent one-year return on equity than the rest of those in the index, according to Bank of America. The same goes for those that have more than one-third of women on the board. In addition, companies in the top quartile of gender diversity on executive teams were 25% more likely to experience above-average profitability than peer companies in the fourth quartile, according to a 2019 analysis by McKinsey & Company. "Companies that are doing a better job crafting policies -- recruiting, retaining, and developing their talent -- are going to have just a bigger and better pool to draw from when they're filling their management positions," said Behr, a 15-year veteran at BNY Mellon. "That will drive returns. These companies are going to make better decisions that will allow them to outperform, and so we believe that's where the growth is going to come from." Fundamentals matter The firm aggregates several different data sources and works with its fundamental research team to dig into what's happening within the company culture and its productivity, as well as the company's overall fundamentals. "It's about generating the positive outcomes and the positive returns," McHugh said. "We're investors who are trying to get positive returns, but we're realizing that there's also an opportunity for some positive outcomes to close the gender gaps that exist today." They are also not just targeting female investors, although bringing more into investing would be a great bonus. According to a global survey by BNY Mellon, which helped drive interest in forming the fund, there would be at least an additional $3.2 trillion in assets under management from private individuals if women invested at the same rate as men. The survey also found that more than half of women are interested in impact investing. "We designed a strategy for anyone who wants to seek long-term, stable growth. That said, we are recognizing there is an opportunity to engage women more in investing," said McHugh, who came to BNY Mellon five years ago after 14 years at Boston Company Asset Management. "Women are motivated to invest in those [companies] that are aligned with their personal values, so we're hopeful that this would be something that they would feel more attracted to." Getting women in the door The firm is also giving back, donating at least 10% of management fees to Girls Inc., a nonprofit that helps empower girls. "There's a lot that the companies we work with can do. But we also have to help empower these women to get to their door. And we believe investing in education can support the efforts to do so," Behr said. With the fund offerings in the space still small, the pair are excited to add to its growth. "It's really exciting that there are so many funds that are being launched specifically at this area. I think the more attention we can bring here, the better," Behr said. "[A] rising tide lifts all ships." "You have seen a lot more funds coming up in assets and attention," McHugh added. "Attention drives results."
Former Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes (C) arrives at federal court with her partner Billy Evans (R) and mother Noel Holmes on November 18, 2022 in San Jose, California.

Elizabeth Holmes, the disgraced CEO of Theranos, must report to prison May 30, according to a ruling issued Wednesday by U.S. District Judge Edward Davila. The judge ordered Holmes to report no later than 2 p.m. local time on that day, and she is expected to begin her sentence at a minimum-security facility in Bryan, Texas.

On Tuesday, an appeals court rejected Holmes' bid to stay out of prison while she appeals her conviction. In another ruling Tuesday, Davila ordered that Holmes and former Theranos executive Ramesh "Sunny" Balwani pay $452 million in restitution to victims.

Last year, a federal jury in San Jose, California, convicted Holmes on four counts of defrauding investors in Theranos, her blood-testing company, and in November, Davila sentenced her to 11 years and three months in prison. Balwani was sentenced to nearly 13 years in prison in July, after being convicted of 12 counts of fraud, and began his sentence in April.

Holmes, 39, has two children, the first of whom was born before her fraud trial in 2021. The second was born after her sentencing.

Holmes founded Theranos in 2003, and she and Balwani went on to raise more than $700 million from investors "through an elaborate, years-long fraud in which they exaggerated or made false statements about the company's technology, business and financial performance," according to a filing by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in 2018. That same year, a grand jury returned an indictment charging Holmes and Balwani with defrauding doctors and patients, also alleging that they "made numerous misrepresentations to potential investors about Theranos's financial condition and its future prospects."
Morgan Stanley has identified several stocks to invest in as electric vehicle battery manufacturing shifts to the West. As countries aim to reduce their dependency on China  which currently dominates 90% of the EV battery market  they will need to create a new supply chain for a decarbonized future, according to the Wall Street bank in a note to clients on May 12. It said that rebuilding a secure domestic supply chain and meeting government demands will be "challenging," however, and predicted that only a handful of companies would produce batteries profitably in strategic locations. Morgan Stanley highlighted geopolitical, environmental, and economic challenges that each company could face during the transition, and ranked the firms on how best they are positioned to succeed under this framework. EV giant Tesla , auto parts maker Aptiv , and battery maker Freyr rank highly, according to Morgan Stanley, while Ford and Chinese battery maker CATL rank lower. Tesla Tesla is well placed to overcome the three challenges, Morgan Stanley said. The company leads the way with its battery technology advancements, it added, and is the only large automaker to make a profit on every EV car manufactured entirely in the U.S. "When it comes to our framework, TSLA checks all the boxes," wrote the analysts led by Adam Jonas in a note to clients on May 11. "Not only is the company already producing battery cells domestically and with minimal environmental emmissions, they also have achieved positive unit economics via technological innovation and manufacturing prowess, and continue to drive costs down." Aptiv Aptiv makes software and computing platforms for automakers, as well as systems that enhance vehicle safety. Morgan Stanley said while the company risks losing the business for parts currently used in internal combustion engines, Aptil will nevertheless be able to transition toward EVs with relatively few challenges. "Beyond the high voltage componentry that comes with transitioning to EVs, many OEMs [original equipment manufacturers] are targetting richer feature sets in their initial offerings, potentially posing multiple ways for APTV to be a beneficiary," the analysts said. FREYR Battery The Norwegian company has unveiled plans to build two giga factories  the first in Norway, which will run almost entirely off hydroelectric power, and the second in the U.S. Whether this can be achieved profitably remains unknown, however. "FREY is well positioned to overcome geopolitical and environmental challenges given their government support, Western technology and material sourcing, and hydroelectric use," the analysts said. "What remains to be seen is their ability to do so at scale with positive unit economics." Ford / CATL Morgan Stanley noted that companies like Ford and Chinese battery maker Contemporary Amperex Technology, or CATL, might face challenges when it comes to "onshoring" due to geopolitical concerns and potential technological barriers. Earlier this year, Ford said it would collaborate with CATL on a new $3.5 billion battery plant for electric vehicles in Michigan, despite ongoing tensions between the U.S. and China. Ford will own the new facility but will license battery manufacturing technology from CATL, including technical expertise. However, the plans have drawn backlash from U.S. politicians due to their dependence on Chinese technology.  CNBC's Michael Bloom contributed reporting.
Former Vice President Mike Pence on Wednesday highlighted sharp differences with his former boss, rejecting ex-President Donald Trump's stances on the debt ceiling and Ukraine while stoking more speculation about his 2024 presidential ambitions.

"When it comes to the debt ceiling, failure is not an option," Pence said on CNBC's "Squawk Box." "We can't accept default, we can't minimize the impact that would have on American families and American credibility in the world."

Pence's remarks came in response to a question about Trump's recent call for Republicans to let the U.S. default on its debt if Democrats will not agree to "massive" spending cuts. The White House and congressional leaders are in deep negotiations to prevent a default by early June, which is when the government could run out of money to pay its bills.

The former vice president also accused Trump and President Joe Biden of holding "identical" spending-heavy fiscal policy views, even as he called to make permanent the "Trump-Pence tax cuts" of 2017.

But when he was asked about whether defense spending cuts could be part of a plan to return to "fiscal solvency," Pence balked.

"At a time when China is literally floating a new battleship every month and continuing military provocations across the Asia-Pacific and Russia's waging an unprovoked war in Eastern Europe, the last thing we ought to be doing is cutting defense spending," Pence said.

Pence is openly weighing a campaign for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, and his remarks Wednesday morning  delivered from the key primary state of New Hampshire, where he was set to appear at multiple events this week  offered more hints about his plans.

"We'll let our intentions be known, I'm confident, before the end of June," Pence said of his possible presidential campaign announcement. "The reason I came here to New Hampshire in part is because when you're in New Hampshire, it seems like you get a little bit more attention when you're talking about things that matter."

Trump is currently the clear polling favorite in the Republican primary field, even when including figures like Pence and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who is expected to mount a competitive presidential bid in the coming weeks.
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy on Wednesday said he would consider defying the Supreme Court and continue to provide mifepristone if the court rules in favor of a ban on the abortion pill.

When asked if the state would prescribe mifepristone after such a ruling, Murphy told MSNBC: "To be determined."

"When I say everything is on the table, Katy, I mean that. This action generally, whether it's mifepristone, or whether it's North Carolina or South Carolina, or Florida at six weeks," he said in an interview with MSNBC's Katy Tur, also referring to other abortion restrictions on the state level.

"This is going to cost peoples' lives. It's going to cost them health, it's also going to cost peoples' lives, women in particular sadly. That's what's at stake, we'll do whatever it takes to save lives," said Murphy, a Democrat.

Murphy's remarks come after the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans heard arguments in a case that could force mifepristone off the market nationwide, including in states where abortion is legal.

The case hinges on whether the Food and Drug Administration's approval of the abortion pill should be rolled back.

The closely watched legal fight is likely to wind up at the Supreme Court again, which already intervened last month to keep the drug available as the case makes its way through the court system.

Even if the high court rules in favor of a mifepristone ban, Justice Samuel Alito has suggested the FDA could refuse to comply with it.

Alito said in a dissent last month that the FDA could use its enforcement discretion as the litigation played out and allow Danco Laboratories, the manufacturer of mifepristone, to continue distributing the abortion pill.

Mifepristone, used in combination with another drug, misoprostol, accounts for about half of all abortions domestically.
Oil prices settled up about $2 on Wednesday as optimism over oil demand and U.S. debt ceiling negotiations outweighed worries about abundant supply.

Brent crude futures settled up $2.05, or 2.7%, to $76.96 a barrel. West Texas Intermediate U.S. crude settled up $1.97 or 2.8% to $72.83.

"Today's strong oil trade was all about the expectation of a debt ceiling agreement, likely by the end of this week, that appeared to lift a negative burden across most asset classes, including oil," said Jim Ritterbusch, president of Ritterbusch and Asssociates in Galena, Illinois.

President Joe Biden and top U.S. congressional Republican Kevin McCarthy on Wednesday

underscored

their determination to reach a deal soon to raise the federal government's $31.4 trillion debt ceiling and avoid an economically catastrophic default.

After a months-long standoff, the Democratic president and speaker of the House of Representatives on Tuesday agreed to negotiate directly. An agreement needs to be reached and passed by both chambers of Congress before the federal government runs out of money to pay its bills, as soon as June 1.

The optimism outweighed a crude inventory increase of 5 million barrels in the week ended May 12 reported by the Energy Information Administration. Analysts polled by Reuters had expected a 900,000 barrel drop.

The crude inventory build added to concerns about U.S. growth after data showed retail sales rose 0.4% in April, short of estimates for an increase of 0.8%.

However, gasoline stocks drew down by 1.4 million barrels as the four-week gasoline product supplied - a proxy for demand - rose to its highest level since December 2021.

The International Energy Agency on Tuesday predicted demand would outpace supply by 2 million barrels per day (bpd) in the second half of the year, with China making up 60% of oil demand growth in 2023.

In China, April industrial output and retail sales growth undershot forecasts, suggesting the economy lost momentum at the beginning of the second quarter.

Markets are in a "wait-and-watch mode" over the outcome of the debt ceiling negotiations, said Vandana Hari, founder of oil market analysis provider Vanda Insights.

"A bunch of Chinese macro-economic data for April released on Tuesday confirmed the narrative of a patchy and slow recovery in the country and continue to weigh on oil market sentiment."


Billionaire investor Stanley Druckenmiller bought into a few stocks tied to artificial intelligence last quarter, while piling into a handful of other names in the tech sector, according to a new regulatory filing. The legendary investor, who now runs Duquesne Family Office, bought $210 million in Microsoft, making it his third-largest holding. Meanwhile, he increased his Nvidia holdings significantly, boosting the chip maker to his family office's second-largest bet. Druckenmiller said last week these two bets were his way of getting exposure to the booming AI space. He thinks that AI could be a fruitful opportunity for investors, especially when the economy comes out of what he thinks is an imminent downturn. "I actually think AI is very, very real and could be every bit as impactful as the internet literally going forward," Druckenmiller said at the Sohn Investment Conference last week. Nvidia, which makes chips needed for AI computing tasks, has jumped more than 96% this year after having a banner first quarter, its biggest quarterly gain since 2001. Microsoft has rallied 30% in 2023. The investor also built a sizable stake in Alphabet, another AI play, making it one of his top 10 holdings. Alphabet's Google announced last week it would bring AI features to its signature search product to turn complex queries into simple answers by combining results from multiple sources. Druckenmiller also bought major chip maker Taiwan Semiconductor last quarter. The company also drew interest from Tiger Global Management and Coatue Management, who took new stakes at the same time. Amazon was another new bet for Druckenmiller, who built an $84 million stake at the end of March. Druckenmiller once managed George Soros' Quantum Fund and shot to fame after helping make a $10 billion bet against the British pound in 1992. He later oversaw $12 billion as president of Duquesne Capital Management before closing his firm in 2010.
The share of income spent on homeownership varies widely across different U.S. states, but the biggest burden is felt in Hawaii, new data from online lending marketplace LendingTree reveals.

LendingTree found the percentage of households that spend more than 30% of their income on housing in all 50 U.S. states using data from the U.S. Census Bureau. It compared median income in each state to housing costs, which included mortgages, taxes, insurance, utilities and HOA fees.

The analysis used 30% since it's a common benchmark for housing costs in a monthly budget. Known as the "30% rule," financial planners typically recommend putting no more than 30% of household income toward housing costs.

In theory, this helps leave room for other essentials, such as health care, groceries or transportation. It can also act as a buffer in case your monthly costs rise unexpectedly.

Hawaii ranked first on the list, likely due to the state's notoriously high cost of living. The median list price for homes there is $852,500, according to Realtor.com data.

Below are the 10 states where the highest percentage of homeowners spend more than 30% of their gross income on housing:

Hawaii: 31.8% California: 29.7% New Jersey: 28.5% Rhode Island: 26.7% New York: 26.4% Connecticut: 26.2% Massachusetts: 25.5% Florida: 24.9% Oregon: 24.4% Nevada: 24.2% Vermont: 23.2%

Nearly a third of Hawaiian households spend more than 30% on housing, with California and New Jersey trailing close behind.

In contrast, the following five states had the lowest percentage of cost-burdened homeowners. West Virginia had the lowest share of all 50 states.

West Virginia: 14.3% Indiana: 15% North Dakota: 15.6% Iowa: 15.8% South Dakota: 16%

In addition to Hawaii, it makes sense that coastal hubs like California and New York tend to have high shares of homeowners who put more than 30% of their income toward housing. While the median income in these states is significantly higher than the bottom-ranked states, housing costs are also elevated.

The median household salary in New York is about $75,000, while it's closer to $50,000 in West Virginia, according to U.S. Census data. But the average list price for a home in New York is $639,945, compared with $229,900 in lowest-ranked West Virginia, according to Realtor.com data.

Even with the bump in pay, New Yorkers spend much more of their paychecks on homes.

And while not included in this study, rent tends to be higher in states where homes are less affordable, so renters don't see much relief there, either.

It's perhaps not surprising that Hawaii takes top spot, however, as it's ranked as the most expensive state to buy a home, according to a 2022 Homebuyer.com study. As with fourth-ranked Rhode Island, there's a limited amount of land to develop in Hawaii, which has pushed up housing costs.

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LONDON  Executives from Stellantis , the automaking giant behind brands including Peugeot, Chrysler and Citroen, are meeting with U.K. ministers Wednesday to warn post-Brexit trading arrangements severely risk its operations in the country.

Stellantis manufactures Vauxhall, Fiat, Opel and other vehicles across two plants in the U.K., employing more than 5,000 people. It plans to move both toward majority and then 100% EV production as it rolls out electrification across its brands.

In a submission to a government enquiry into vehicle battery production, the company said it would be at a competitive disadvantage going forward because of tariffs due to be imposed on batteries transported between the U.K. and mainland Europe.

"If the cost of EV manufacturing in the U.K. becomes uncompetitive and unsustainable, operations will close," it said, citing previous decisions by BMW Group to relocate electric Mini production to China, and investments by Honda in EV production in the U.S. following the closure of its U.K. site.

The EUU.K. Trade and Cooperation Agreement gave battery and EVs a grace period before full Rules of Origin tariffs kick in, responding to these sourcing challenges. However, they will become progressively stricter in the coming years, rising to 45% and then 65% in terms of required domestic production. Automakers otherwise face 10% export duties on EVs.

Stellantis said that if it manufactures its batteries in China and mainland Europe in the coming years as currently planned, it would face "higher logistics costs" that would threaten the "sustainability of our U.K. manufacturing operations."

The company warned the U.K. does not have a sufficient supply of the materials needed to support vehicle battery production. While this is also an issue in mainland Europe, with many supplies coming from China, Stellantis noted it had made significant investments in gigafactories in France, Germany and Italy and had a battery joint venture there.
Federal student loan debt repayments are expected to resume later this year  and one winning stock could emerge from the fallout, according to Bank of America. Payments on federal student loans have been on hold since 2020 as part of pandemic relief measures. With the average bill coming in at about $400 a month , borrowers have enjoyed a lot of flexibility in their budgets while the payments have been paused. Nationwide, outstanding student loan debt stood at $1.604 trillion in the first quarter of 2023, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York . Now, an end to repayment relief hangs over borrowers' heads. The Supreme Court is weighing President Joe Biden's student loan forgiveness plan, and repayments on federal student loans are expected to resume 60 days after the court makes its decision. If the case hasn't been resolved by June 30, payments will restart 60 days later, on Aug. 29. That spells bad news for borrowers' budgets. "The resumption of a monthly obligation that has been suspended for three+ years could pressure consumer finances and weaken credit performance on other loans," said Bank of America analyst Mihir Bhatia in a report Tuesday. But SoFi Technologies could benefit from the resumption of loan payments as borrowers try to refinance their federal student loans, Bhatia said. "Although investors will also want to keep an eye on SOFI's personal loan portfolio, which has been growing on balance sheet in recent quarters," he added. Refinancing may make sense if the original federal loans have a higher rate than what's available through a private lender. But participating borrowers miss out on certain features if they refinance  including access to income-driven repayment plans and the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program, which is available to borrowers who work in public service.  CNBC's Michael Bloom contributed to this report.
KHARTOUM, Sudan - May 6, 2023: Sudanese Army sodliers walk near armoured vehicles stationed on a street in southern Khartoum, amid ongoing fighting against the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces. AFP via Getty Images

One month after fighting between Sudan's two military factions broke out in the capital, Khartoum, internationally-brokered peace talks in Saudi Arabia have yielded no solution. Airstrikes and artillery continued to pound the country's capital and surrounding regions in recent days, and violence has also spread to the long-embattled Darfur region in the west. The International Rescue Committee (IRC) said Monday that more than 600 people had been killed and over 5,000 injured as a result of the fighting. The real toll is expected to be far higher. Almost a million people have fled their homes, both to locations within Sudan and across the border to neighboring countries. Meanwhile, those who have stayed put often have no access to essentials despite a commitment from the two warring factions to restore access to food and electricity. Prices of food and fuel have soared, exacerbating malnutrition and hammering the local economy. Warring generals Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, leader of the Sudanese Armed Forces, and Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo (or "Hemedti"), leader of the Rapid Support Forces, show no signs of halting the conflict as they vie for total control of the state's military and government, natural resources and 46 million inhabitants. The U.S., U.N. and Saudi Arabia are brokering talks between the two sides, though tentative cease-fires and commitments to allow humanitarian corridors into the sprawling country have collapsed almost immediately.

'The needs are immense'

The IRC warned Monday that the humanitarian situation will continue to deteriorate unless all parties involved prioritize the protection of civilians. "We know there are many uncertainties for people right now, but one thing that's clear is the needs are immense, immediate and will be for a long time," said IRC Vice President for East Africa Kurt Tjossem. "The longer they remain in these conditions, the more vulnerable they become to disease, hunger, and other hardships." Things have come a long way from 2021 when Burhan and Hemedti led a military coup that ousted the civilian government of Abdalla Hamdok. Since then, the SAF and RSF had been sharing power in Khartoum to facilitate what most Sudanese citizens hoped would be a transition back to civilian rule. The World Bank and several global powers froze aid to the country after the military takeover, honoring calls from civilians not to legitimize its leadership. However, Burhan and Hemedti's divergent political visions were never reconciled, and the fragile power-sharing arrangement began to unravel in early April, culminating in the breakout of a full-scale conflict in Khaartoum on April 15.

METEMA, Ethiopia - May 5, 2023: Refugees who crossed from Sudan to Ethiopia wait in line to register at IOM (International organization for Migration) in Metema, Ethiopia. Amanuel Sileshi / AFP via Getty Images

In a speech at the UN Human Rights Council last week, U.K. Minister for International Development and Africa Andrew Mitchell stressed the importance of the international community in helping to revert Sudan to the "political track" by sending a "united message of concern and of horror" and breaking the "cycle of impunity in Sudan." Yet many Sudanese believe that despite the efforts of various regional and international bodies, the Jeddah talks  lacking a substantial civilian voice and the threat of harsh international sanctions against the generals and their respective inner circles  will not be part of the solution.

Rewarding 'belligerence'

Sudanese-Australian writer, broadcaster and activist Yassmin Abdel-Magied told CNBC last week that global leaders had inadvertently given Burhan and Hemedti political legitimacy and rewarded their "belligerence," leaving the majority of Sudanese who long for civilian government unrepresented. Both the SAF and RSF benefit from financial and political support from foreign powers including Egypt, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Libya, the University of Cambridge's Associate Professor Sharath Srinivasan told CNBC last month. While Benjamin Hunter from risk consultancy Verisk Maplecroft, said these close relationships make it more difficult for a resolution to the conflict to be found imminently. Targeted and collaborative efforts by the international community to exert pressure on the countries supporting Sudan's military factions were needed, Abdel-Magied said. "If [their] resource[s], financial and otherwise, can be throttled, then we might actually be able to find the right kind of incentive that's going to make them stop fighting," she told CNBC via telephone.

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Ghislaine Maxwell and Elon Musk attend the 2014 Vanity Fair Oscar Party Hosted By Graydon Carter on March 2, 2014 in West Hollywood, California.

That subpoena demands that Musk turn over any documents showing communication involving him, JPMorgan and Epstein, as well as "all Documents reflecting or regarding Epstein's involvement in human trafficking and/or his procurement of girls or women for consensual sex."

On April 28, the USVI issued a subpoena to Musk because of suspicion that Epstein "may have referred or attempted to refer" Musk as a client to JPMorgan, according to a court filing Monday.

The Virgin Islands is suing JPMorgan in U.S. District Court in Manhattan for allegedly enabling and financially benefiting from Epstein's sex trafficking of young women. The late financier and sex criminal had been a customer of the bank from 1998 through 2013. JPMorgan denies any wrongdoing.

The ruling came days after lawyers for the USVI government told Judge Jed Rakoff they had been unable to serve the Tesla CEO personally with the subpoena demanding documents related to Epstein and JPMorgan.

A federal judge ruled Wednesday that the U.S. Virgin Islands can serve a subpoena for Elon Musk to his electric car company Tesla , as part of the government's lawsuit against JPMorgan Chase over the bank's ties to dead sexual trafficker Jeffrey Epstein .

The USVI said in a court filing Monday that an investigative firm it had retained had been unable to locate Musk to serve him in person with the subpoena, as is the norm.

The filing also said that a lawyer for Musk did not reply to a request that the attorney accept the subpoena for his client.

Rakoff, in his order Wednesday, authorized the USVI to "arrange alternative service of its Subpoena to Produce Documents by serving Elon Musk via service upon Tesla Inc.'s registered agent."

Musk didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

The USVI also has issued similar subpoenas for documents related to Epstein and JPMorgan to Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, former Disney executive Michael Ovitz, Hyatt Hotels executive chairman Thomas Pritzker and Mort Zuckerman, the billionaire real estate investor.

JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon is scheduled to be deposed on May 26 for the lawsuit and for a related suit against the bank by a woman who says Epstein sexually abused her.

Muks in a tweet Monday night had blasted the idea of that he be given a subpoena in the case.

"This is idiotic on so many levels," Musk wrote on Twitter, which he bought and took private last year.

"That cretin never advised me on anything whatsoever," he wrote, referring to Epstein.

"The notion that I would need or listen to financial advice from a dumb crook is absurd," Musk added. "JPM let Tesla down ten years ago, despite having Tesla's global commercial banking business, which we then withdrew. I have never forgiven them."

In 2018, Epstein told The New York Times he had been advising Musk after the Securities and Exchange Commission opened a probe into Musk's comments about taking Tesla private. A Tesla spokesperson told The Times, "It is incorrect to say that Epstein ever advised Elon on anything."

Epstein killed himself in August 2019, a month after federal authorities arrested him on an indictment charging him with child sex trafficking. He had previously pleaded guilty in 2008 to a Florida state charge of soliciting sex from an underage girl.

Before his fall from grace, Epstein and his former girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell, socialized with many rich and powerful people, among them former presidents Donald Trump and Bill Clinton, as well as Britain's Prince Andrew, the brother of King Charles III.
We are buying 25 shares of Estee Lauder at roughly $196. Following the trade, Jim Cramer's Charitable Trust will own 325 shares of EL, increasing its weighting to 2.38% from 2.20%. As discussed in the May Monthly Meeting on Wednesday, we think the recent sell-off in Estee Lauder (EL) has gotten overdone. Shares of this prestige beauty company are trading back at levels last seen in October and November 2022, which was before the market learned of China's plan to abruptly pivot away from its stringent zero-Covid policy. While we haven't been shy about our disappointment in company's recent quarterly earnings report, we continue to believe the main issue that plagued the company will be temporary. Indeed, it will take time for Estee Lauder's retail partners in Travel Retail in Asia to work down their excess inventory. The company's partners took on so much inventory betting that the Travel Retail recovery would be similar to that of the United States and Europe when those economies reopened. As we know by now, the rebound failed to materialize. It will take another quarter or two for the de-stocking dynamics to play itself out, weighing on margins. But ultimately this business will recover and Estee Lauder's positioning in Hainan remains attractive in the long term. Importantly, Estee Lauder has lost any brand appeal from its customer base, considering the rest of the business is growing 10% when excluding Travel Retail in Asia. (Jim Cramer's Charitable Trust is long EL. See here for a full list of the stocks.) As a subscriber to the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer, you will receive a trade alert before Jim makes a trade. Jim waits 45 minutes after sending a trade alert before buying or selling a stock in his charitable trust's portfolio. If Jim has talked about a stock on CNBC TV, he waits 72 hours after issuing the trade alert before executing the trade. THE ABOVE INVESTING CLUB INFORMATION IS SUBJECT TO OUR TERMS AND CONDITIONS AND PRIVACY POLICY , TOGETHER WITH OUR DISCLAIMER . NO FIDUCIARY OBLIGATION OR DUTY EXISTS, OR IS CREATED, BY VIRTUE OF YOUR RECEIPT OF ANY INFORMATION PROVIDED IN CONNECTION WITH THE INVESTING CLUB. NO SPECIFIC OUTCOME OR PROFIT IS GUARANTEED.

An Estee Lauder pop-up store is seen inside daimaru Department Store on Nanjing Road Pedestrian street in Shanghai, China, August 6, 2021. Costfoto | Future Publishing | Getty Images
Uber announced several updates Wednesday during the company's annual Go-Get product showcase.

The new options include the ability to reserve a ride with a car seat, to call an Uber without the app, and to add teens to a family profile, among others. This year's Go-Get event marks Uber's first in-person press conference since the pandemic.

"Whether you're staying home or getting out there, we are building with humans for humans," CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said during the event.

Shares of Uber are up around 51% year to date and, in a release about Uber's first-quarter results earlier this month, Khosrowshahi said the company is off to a "strong start" for the year. The new options provide an example of how the company hopes to maintain its momentum while competitors such as Lyft , which is down about 25% year to date, continue to struggle.

Here are the key new offerings announced Wednesday:

Uber Car Seat

Families and caregivers in Los Angeles and New York City will be able to request a ride with a car seat for children up to 65 pounds as part of Uber's partnership with the car seat company Nuna. Uber plans to roll out this feature in more cities in the future.

1-833-USE-UBER

Uber has introduced a phone number people can call to book a ride without using the Uber app. The company said this will help people who might struggle with navigating smartphones or apps access the same "effortless" Uber experience. People in the U.S. can request a ride by speaking English or Spanish at 1-833-USE-UBER, or 1-833-873-8237.

"We all know that not everyone is comfortable using a phone or an app to call an Uber, like my mother-in-law," Khosrowshahi said. "What could be easier for her?"

Family profiles and teen accounts
Swiss authorities brokered the controversial emergency rescue of Credit Suisse by UBS for 3 billion Swiss francs ($3.37 billion) over the course of a weekend in March.

UBS estimates a financial hit of around $17 billion from its emergency takeover of Credit Suisse , according to a regulatory filing, and said the rushed deal may have affected its due diligence.

In a new filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) late Tuesday night, the Swiss banking giant flagged a total negative impact of around $13 billion in fair value adjustments of the new combined entity's assets and liabilities, along with a potential $4 billion hit from litigation and regulatory costs.

However, UBS also expects to offset this by booking a one-off $34.8 billion gain from so-called "negative goodwill," which refers to the acquisition of assets at a much lower cost than their true worth.

The bank's emergency acquisition of its stricken domestic rival for 3 billion Swiss francs ($3.4 billion) was brokered by Swiss authorities over the course of a weekend in March, with Credit Suisse teetering on the brink of collapse amid massive customer deposit withdrawals and a plummeting share price.

In the amended F-4 filing, UBS also highlighted that the short time frame under which it was forced to conduct due diligence may have affected its ability to "fully evaluate Credit Suisse's assets and liabilities" prior to the takeover.

Swiss governmental authorities approached UBS on March 15 while considering whether to initiate a sale of Credit Suisse in order to "calm markets and avoid the possibility of contagion in the financial system," the filing revealed. The bank had until March 19 to conduct its due diligence and return with a decision.
European leaders are meeting in Iceland on Tuesday for a two-day summit meant to show their support for Ukraine but also send a powerful message on core democratic values many feel are under threat.

In only the fourth summit of the Council of Europe (CoE) since it was founded after World War Two, the 46 members of the leading human rights body, which is entirely separate from the European Union, will gather to discuss emerging threats as the war in Ukraine rages on.

"The Council of Europe is often underestimated in its importance," Frank Schwabe, a German lawmaker who was closely involved in the planning of the summit told Reuters.

The CoE's democratic values are upheld by the Strasbourg-based European Court of Human Rights, where citizens can take governments to court in case of human rights violations.

Russia's membership was suspended the day after it invaded Ukraine in February 2022. Moscow then left the watchdog hours before a vote to expel it.

According to a draft of the final declaration seen by Reuters, the leaders will approve a new Register of Damages, a mechanism to record and document evidence and claims of damage, loss or injury incurred as a result of the Russian invasion.

"The summit will also be about saying what happens if you don't respect the rules," Schwabe said. "The threat of expulsion is already a sharp sword. Even Russia didn't want to leave the Council of Europe, Turkey doesn't want to leave either."

Turkey, which is in the middle of a presidential election fought by President Tayyip Erdogan, faces removal from the CoE after it failed to implement a 2019 court ruling to release jailed businessman and philanthropist Osman Kavala.

The CoE's Committee of Ministers has launched infringement proceedings against Ankara that have so far stressed dialogue but could eventually see Turkey's removal or its membership suspended, experts say.

European leaders such as Germany's Olaf Scholz, Britain's Rishi Sunak and French President Emmanuel Macron will attend the summit in Reykjavik, while Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelenskiy will address his counterparts via videolink.

Icelandic organisers said the meeting will be an opportunity to support Ukraine through "concrete measures" as well as to boost initiatives to address emerging threats to democracy, including from climate change and artificial intelligence.

 Reuters
Carrier aircraft VMS Eve is seen in the background shortly after releasing VSS Unity, which is firing its engine and acclerating during the company's fourth spaceflight test, Unity 22, carrying founder Richard Branson on July 11, 2021.

Virgin Galactic is targeting as early as May 25 for the launch of its next spaceflight, which marks both its first in nearly two years since flying founder Sir Richard Branson and its planned last step before beginning commercial service.

Called Unity 25, the mission represents the company's fifth spaceflight to date, launching out of Spaceport America in New Mexico. It is a "final assessment" flight, with six Virgin Galactic employees onboard for a short trip to the edge of space.

The update comes after a longer-than-expected refurbishment period for the company's spacecraft: A couple months after Branson's flight, and following an FAA investigation into a mishap during his trip, the company paused operations for what was intended to be an "eight to 10 months" process  but ended up taking nearly 16 months instead.

Shares of Virgin Galactic rose nearly 7% Wednesday to close at $4.50 apiece. The company reported first-quarter results earlier this month that revealed widening losses as it funds development and expansion of its spacecraft fleet.

In-house pilots Mike Masucci and CJ Sturckow will fly spacecraft VSS Unity, while Jameel Janjua and Nicola Pecile will fly carrier aircraft VMS Eve. In the passenger cabin will be Chief Astronaut Instructor Beth Moses, as well as astronaut instructor Luke Mays, senior engineering manager Christopher Huie, and senior manager of internal communications Jamila Gilbert.

Virgin Galactic's approach to space tourism is to fly up to an altitude of about 40,000 feet, release the spacecraft and fire its engine to climb past 80 kilometers (or about 262,000 feet)  the altitude the U.S. recognizes as the boundary of space.

Known as sub-orbital, this type of spaceflight gives passengers a couple minutes of weightless, unlike the much longer, more difficult, and more expensive orbital flights conducted by Elon Musk's SpaceX. After flying on his own craft in 2021, Branson told CNBC he hopes to fly with SpaceX.

Depending on the outcome and data gathered from Unity 25, the company aims to fly its first commercial mission in "late June."
Ford Motor 's (F) decision to scale back future investments in China is a prudent step for the automaker whose business there has been struggling to meet Chinese consumer preferences for electric vehicles. In an interview in The Financial Times on Tuesday, Ford CEO Jim Farley said there's no guarantee that Western electric vehicle automakers in China can prevail ahead of popular domestic EV competitors such as Warren Buffett-backed BYD and Great Wall Motor. Ford's American rival Tesla (TSLA) also has a major foothold in China. Ford's business has been struggling in China. In 2022, the company posted a loss of $600 million in the region as a result of its increased investment in EVs. Ford's internal combustion engine (ICE) business is profitable in China, and its luxury brand Lincoln is what Ford calls the "profit pillar" for the region. But China does not represent a huge business for Ford, which generates roughly 1% of total revenue from mainland China. Facing declining sales in China, where Ford operates eight assembly plants, the automaker may be looking to cut 1,300 jobs in the region, according to recent Chinese media reports . Farley has been reviewing the automaker's business globally and is stepping back from areas where a path to profitability is not feasible. While Ford does not have plans to exit China, the CEO is taking a closer look at its strategy there. "We're going to go to a much lower investment, leaner, more focused business in China, with higher returns," said Farley on Ford's post-earnings conference call earlier this month. In the first quarter, Ford crushed earnings per share (EPS) and revenue estimates, easing our concerns that the legacy automaker had lost its way. Shares did get dinged in the absence of forward guidance. F YTD mountain Ford YTD performance Tesla CEO Elon Musk is also worried about China  but for different reasons. Musk told CNBC's David Faber on Tuesday that China's stated goal of reuniting Taiwan "should be a concern for everyone," because the Chinese economy and the global economy are like "conjoined twins." Tesla depends on Taiwan Semiconductor to produce processors. Musk also talked about "some constraints" to expanding Tesla's business in China but said the company is making as many vehicles as possible. "It's not a demand issue." Acknowledging Tesla's sales and manufacturing presence in China, Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway has been selling down its BYD stake for a while now. At Berkshire's annual meeting earlier this month, Buffett and longtime investing partner Charlie Munger said they don't want to compete with Musk and Tesla. "We don't want that much failure," Munger added. Like for Tesla, China is key for Ford because it's the biggest EV market in the world. "We really see in our presence there is battery tech, digital experience for the customer, and advanced product, both software and hardware integration," said Farley, who last year decided to split the company's electric vehicle and ICE operations into separate business units, called Ford Model e and Ford Blue. Currently, Ford's EVs are unprofitable. But with high demand, the automaker expects that losses will gradually narrow as operations become more efficient. Management has said that Ford Model e, which operates like a startup for now, will be building more and more EVs at scale, with the goal of being profitable by the end of 2026. Bottom line Farley was brave to recognize that the China EV market is a lot harder to penetrate than originally thought given the competition from local EV makers as well as Tesla. While Ford will still have a presence in China as it develops EV batteries and learns from China's digitally savvy EV consumers, we're confident that it won't hesitate to step away if it turns into a money-losing operation. Ford is committed to turning its EVs, a long-term growth part of its business, into a profitable operation. The company not only has a compelling EV lineup  which include the Mustang Mach E and the F-150 Lightning  but it continues to offer its iconic ICE vehicles that continue to perform well and help facilitate its EV ambitions. We look forward to Ford's annual Capital Markets Day, scheduled for Monday. It's where investors like us can learn more about the company and its Ford+ Plan for growth and value creation . In a new research note, Deutsche Bank expects Ford to reiterate its previously announced targets. Barring any surprises, the analysts said Monday "could serve as a clearing event for investors to express caution more actively around Ford's midterm outlook." Deutsche Bank has a sell rating and an $11 price target. Citi, however, was more optimistic, raising its price target on Ford this week to $12.80 per share from $12.50. The analysts kept their neutral rating. (Jim Cramer's Charitable Trust is long F. See here for a full list of the stocks.) As a subscriber to the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer, you will receive a trade alert before Jim makes a trade. Jim waits 45 minutes after sending a trade alert before buying or selling a stock in his charitable trust's portfolio. If Jim has talked about a stock on CNBC TV, he waits 72 hours after issuing the trade alert before executing the trade. THE ABOVE INVESTING CLUB INFORMATION IS SUBJECT TO OUR TERMS AND CONDITIONS AND PRIVACY POLICY , TOGETHER WITH OUR DISCLAIMER . NO FIDUCIARY OBLIGATION OR DUTY EXISTS, OR IS CREATED, BY VIRTUE OF YOUR RECEIPT OF ANY INFORMATION PROVIDED IN CONNECTION WITH THE INVESTING CLUB. NO SPECIFIC OUTCOME OR PROFIT IS GUARANTEED.

Ford Mustang on display at the NY Auto Show, April 6, 2023. Scott Mlyn | CNBC
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A potential TikTok ban has raised concerns among small business owners on TikTok, who have found success and built sizable audiences without having to pay for marketing.

When Aparna Singh first heard about a potential TikTok ban, she "immediately went into panic mode." "With the majority of my sales coming through TikTok, I definitely was thinking, 'Is this going to be the end of my business?'" Singh is the owner of a small business called Indian Goddess Boutique, which sells Indian-inspired jewelry and accessories. The social media app has been an "integral part" of her business, said the 33-year-old.

"I get 90% of my sales through TikTok. Everyday I try to post at least one video about my business. Days I do not post, I see a decline in website traffic and sales." That is the same worry on the minds of some small business owners on TikTok, who have found success and built sizable audiences without having to pay for marketing. Their concerns come after TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew was grilled by lawmakers on the app's addictive features and whether data from U.S. users could end up in the hands of the Chinese government through its China-based owner, ByteDance.

Politicians have also threatened a nationwide TikTok ban unless ByteDance sells its stake in the app, a move China said it "strongly" opposed. The app is already banned on government-owned devices in countries like the U.S., Australia and the U.K. Concerned about a potential ban of TikTok, small business owners told CNBC Make It why they think the short-video app should stay.

How TikTok compares to other platforms

Like many other content creators, Singh started a TikTok account during the Covid-19 lockdown in 2020  and began advertising her business on it. "I previously was focusing on Instagram to grow my business. Unfortunately the Instagram algorithm has changed so much over the years, I was barely getting any engagement," she explained. On Instagram, she was "barely making any sales"  maybe five to 10 orders a month, she said. "Hashtags weren't helping. It just wasn't helping me reach the broader audience I needed." But everything changed for Singh when she started using TikTok  one video of her wearing a nose ring she sold went viral and sales "skyrocketed overnight." In 2020  the year she started using the app  she made $20,000 in sales. One year later, Singh said she made $350,000, while "spending $0 in advertising."

"That video showed me what product I should be focusing more on and what my customers really like," she added. That's the beauty of TikTok, according to small business owners that CNBC Make It spoke to  it has helped them find their customer and community "faster than any other platform." "I love how the TikTok algorithm boosts your videos to more people even if you have a small following, as long as the content is relatable to who you are trying to reach," said Teena Ho, who sells stickers with original designs via @kawaiiflavor. "When I created my TikTok page, my very first video reached thousands of views whereas on other social media apps, it would only be under 200 views." Renee Powers, who runs Feminist Book Club, an online community and book subscription company, agreed. She said TikTok has been "brilliant" for identifying a niche audience and a foundation for growth.

How does a small brand like ours reach them without investing thousands of dollars in traditional media advertising? That's what TikTok helps us do. Renee Powers Entrepreneur, Feminist Book Club

"For small businesses, it is the overwhelming leader in discovering the perfect audience for your brand  how does a small brand like ours reach them without investing thousands of dollars in traditional media advertising? That's what TikTok helps us do." She said each time a TikTok video gains over 50,000 views, her business sees a "30% to 50% influx in traffic" on the company's website and followers on other social media platforms. "It got to the point last summer that we had to upgrade our website host because our traffic was consistently much higher."

'Scapegoat' for privacy concerns?

TikTok has raised fears over privacy and security concerns  including claims that U.S. user data could fall into the hands of the Chinese government. In April, TikTok was fined $16 million in the U.K. for misusing children's' data, after it allowed 1.4 million children under the age of 13 to use the app in 2020. Despite the security concerns, small business owners have expressed frustration over the possibilities of a complete ban. Those that CNBC Make It spoke to said a ban is not the "appropriate measure" to safeguard the privacy of users.

"As a former National Science Foundation fellow in Electronic Security and Privacy, the privacy concerns are not lost on me  That's not to say I don't have concerns about TikTok, but I do think the benefits outweigh the harm," said Powers. "A ban on TikTok is not the answer to this issue. Rather, TikTok has become a scapegoat for data privacy concerns. Bytedance is not the first, nor will it be the last, company that misuses our personal data." She added that if the government "throws the book at TikTok," it needs to do the same for all social media platforms. Back in 2018, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg was questioned over the social network's role in the 2016 presidential elections and how it handles data  though no ban was proposed. "What truly needs to happen is not a ban, but a nationwide user data protection policy that is platform agnostic and enforced by a dedicated independent organization," Powers said.

Bytedance is not the first, nor will it be the last, company that misuses our personal data. Renee Powers Entrepreneur, Feminist Book Club

Singh added: "If I was this concerned about this [privacy] issue, I would not have any social media apps or [use] technology." TikTok is "helping millions of Americans be able to provide for their families in such a hard time in our economy. Why take that away?"

Not putting all eggs in one basket

Without TikTok, small business owners say they will be at risk of losing growth momentum and that their company's income will be "taking a hit." "We have a team of content creators that contribute TikTok videos, podcast segments, and blog posts," said Powers. "Obviously, without TikTok, we would have to let go of our TikTok creators. Without the organic brand awareness that TikTok brings, we would have to sink money into more traditional marketing strategies."

Singh added: "I currently have one employee, my sister, so this ban will take a toll on my family. If the TikTok ban takes place and I will have to pivot my marketing in another direction." For now, Ho and Powers are looking to Google-owned YouTube shorts  a short video rival to TikTok  as an option. "Start making contingency plans now. Grow your email list. Let your followers know where they can find you if the ban is approved," Powers advised other small business owners on TikTok. As for Ho, "building a strong community" online will be all the more essential. "If TikTok were to be gone one day, your community will follow you to the next platform," said Ho. "It's important not to put all your eggs in one basket."
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping at a signing ceremony after their talks at the Kremlin in Moscow on March 21, 2023. Vladimir Astapkovich | AFP | Getty Images

China faces a "daunting" challenge when it comes to attempting to broker a peace deal between Ukraine and Russia, according to political analysts, with the country walking a diplomatic tightrope between appearing neutral enough to gain Kyiv's trust and ensuring any deal doesn't hurt its allies in Moscow. Beijing  which has sent representatives to Ukraine, Russia and several European countries this week in a bid to lay the groundwork for peace talks  has a particular vested interest in Moscow not looking like it has been "defeated" in any settlement as this could backfire on Beijing, analysts note. "A total Russian defeat does not serve Chinese interest, especially if it leads to [President Vladimir] Putin's demise," Bonnie Glaser, director of the Asia Program at the German Marshall Fund (GMF) of the United States, told CNBC Tuesday. "Russia is an increasingly important partner for [Chinese President] Xi Jinping. There is no other country that can help weaken U.S. leadership in the world and revise the international order," she added.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and China's President Xi Jinping leave after a reception following their talks at the Kremlin in Moscow on March 21, 2023. Pavel Byrkin | Afp | Getty Images

China is stepping up efforts to bring Russia and Ukraine to the negotiating table with China's special representative on Eurasian affairs, Li Hui, visiting Europe this week for talks "on a political settlement of the Ukraine crisis," China's foreign ministry said. Russia launched its unprovoked invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and after months of attritional warfare, the conflict is poised to enter a new phase, with Western-backed Ukraine expected to launch a massive counter-offensive to take back occupied territory in the east and south of the country. China is widely considered to have backed Russia during the war, refusing to condemn the invasion and committing to deepening its strategic cooperation with the country, although Moscow is seen by most analysts as the subservient, junior partner in the relationship. One of the main factors that binds China and Moscow is a shared and deeply-held antipathy and distrust of the West, with both critical of the U.S.' dominance in global affairs. Against this backdrop, Moscow and Beijing have remained conspicuously close throughout the war with Xi and Putin holding numerous calls and a state visit in March. In contrast, Xi only called his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy for the first time in April.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaks with Chinese President Xi Jinping via phone line, in Kyiv on April 26, 2023. Ukrainian Presidential Press Service | Reuters

There's no doubt that China wants the war to end, seeing it as an unwelcome crisis that is affecting the global economy. But it also contains the potential for political danger for China as well, with a defeated Russia seen to be very vulnerable to political instability, disorder and even regime change. As such, China's move to broker peace between Russia and Ukraine is not seen as an altruistic one but motivated by self-interest. That interest stretches to ensuring its neighbor and ally Russia doesn't look like it has been humiliated and "defeated" in any peace deal with Ukraine. By managing the negotiation process, China can see that it doesn't, analysts note. "There will definitely be an important face-saving component to any Chinese peace-brokering efforts," Etienne Soula, a research analyst with GMF's Alliance for Securing Democracy focusing on China, told CNBC, adding that "Beijing will likely try to help Russia concede as little as possible while convincing the Ukrainians and their Western supporters to bury the hatchet." Crucially for China, a humiliated Russia would reflect poorly on its own ambitions to challenge the perceived hegemony of the West. "China's narrative about its own rise to the center of global governance is contingent upon the matching idea that Western democracies, and the United States in particular, are declining irreversibly," Soula said. "Having those countries defeat one of the largest autocracies in the world, a nuclear-armed Security Council member, via proxy, without even having boots on the ground, would be a big setback for the story China tries to tell the world about the future." CNBC has contacted China's foreign ministry for a response to the comments and is yet to receive a reply.

China's latest foray into the arena of global diplomacy comes after a recent success in brokering a deal between Middle-Eastern nemeses Saudi Arabia and Iran in which they agreed to resume diplomatic relations and reopen embassies in each other's countries. Replicating that achievement between Ukraine and Russia will be much harder, analysts say, noting that Beijing has a mountain to climb persuading both sides to reach an agreement when there's such bad blood between them, and when so much is at stake.

A view of the graveyard where fallen Ukrainian soldiers are buried, including Gennady Kovshyk, a soldier of the 92nd Separate Mechanized Brigade, in Kharkiv, Ukraine, on Feb. 16, 2023. Sofia Bobok | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images
Cebu City (CNN Philippines, May 17)  The national costume of Miss Cebu Province in the Binibining Pilipinas 2023 competition is receiving backlash from the religious community after she wore vestments similar to that of the Santo Nino de Cebu.

The pageant's Facebook page posted the national costumes of the candidates on Tuesday, including the photo of Cebu Province's Joy Dacoron. However, it can no longer be found on the page as of Wednesday noon.

Dacoron also posted the photos from the shoot on her social media accounts.

For the national costume competition, she wore a red cape, crown, scepter, and a globe, which are also seen in the images of the Santo Nino de Cebu or the Holy Child Jesus. Her costume was designed by Chino Ledesma Chirstopherson.

The pageant hopeful explained on her Instagram account that her costume symbolizes the unwavering faith of Filipinos and pays tribute to Cebu's patron.

She added that Senor Santo Nino de Cebu is a source of inspiration and strength of the Catholic faithful.

"When I lost my father to an accident last year, I questioned God: "Ngano man, Lord (Why Lord?)," she wrote. "The Santo Nino paved the way for me to shed off my doubts and made me realize that everything happens for a reason. In gratitude, I am sharing this faith to the national stage."

"Thus, with pride and deep respect for our heritage, I wear this costume that signifies faith and gratefulness. Viva Pit Senyor!," she added.

Dacoron said she received permission from the Archdiocese of Cebu for the shoot. But according to Cebu Auxiliary Bishop Ruben Labajo, her team only asked to feature the churches as background.

"I have no idea that they will promote the vestments of the Holy Child as national costume, and especially the Augustinian priests also do not know about it," Labajo said in the vernacular in a statement sent to reporters.

Fe Mantuhac-Barino, chairperson of the commission on laity of the Archdiocese of Cebu, also asked for respect to the religion and culture.

"Creativity should be guided by the Holy Spirit so the true beauty of God's creation will come out," she said "It is important to respect culture and religion."

After the photo went viral online, Augustinian Friars of the Basilica Minore Del Santo Nino De Cebu reminded the Catholic faithful to treat the Sto. Nino with reverence and respect to avoid misunderstandings.

Despite the many expressions of faith and devotion towards the Sto. Nino, it is also important to keep in mind the appropriateness of our actions. As Cebuano Catholics, the Sto. Nino has a profound religious and cultural importance to us," it said in a statement on Wednesday.

The 40 candidates will feature their elaborate outfits during the national costume and fashion show on Thursday at the New Frontier Theater.

Hosted by Miss Universe 2018 Catriona Gray, the grand coronation of the 59th edition of Binibining Pilipinas will be held on May 28 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City.

The winners will represent the country in the Miss International and Miss Globe pageants to succeed Nicole Borromeo and Chelsea Fernandez, respectively.

Miss International 2022 Jasmin Selberg will also be crowning the new Bb. Pilipinas International. The winning Miss International Philippines will have to wait until 2024 to represent the country in the pageant since Borromeo is set to compete in Tokyo, Japan on Oct. 26.

Cebu-based correspondent Dale Israel contributed to this report.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 17)  Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong said her four-day visit to Manila is part of efforts to elevate ties with the Philippines, which Australia considers an important regional partner and key player in the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

A key outcome of the visit will be to progress the uplifting of our relationship from a comprehensive partnership to a strategic partnership. One that really demonstrates the value we accord to each other, the importance of the relationship and I think reflect more appropriately who we really are to each other, Wong told CNN Philippines The Source on Wednesday.

The Australian official is currently in the Philippines for a four-day visit until May 19.

She is set to meet with Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo to discuss several issues of mutual interest, including defense and security partnership, development cooperation, trade and investment, and people-to-people ties.

Wong noted that both countries have a long-standing defense partnership. But Australia wants to bring more to the table when it comes to economic ties, she added.

You are a very important partner and you are a very important player within ASEAN, she emphasized.

Aside from her bilateral meeting, Wong is also scheduled for a courtesy call on President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Vice President Sara Duterte.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 17)  Australia on Wednesday emphasized the need for a stable and prosperous region where rules are followed amid rising tensions in the West Philippine Sea.

We want a region where norms and rules continue to apply. We don't want a region which is dominated to an extent where other countries cannot make their own decisions, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong told CNN Philippines The Source.

This was her response when asked about the conflicting claims in the South China Sea.

Australia, along with the United States and Japan, expressed support for Manila after the incident early this year involving a Chinese vessel that allegedly pointed military grade laser at a Philippine boat near Ayungin Shoal.

Last month, a Chinese coast guard ship also blocked a Philippine vessel on sovereignty patrol near Ayungin (Second Thomas Shoal), causing a near-collision amid Beijings increasingly aggressive actions in the South China Sea.

An international arbitral tribunal in 2016 largely ruled in favor of the Philippines in its dispute with China in the West Philippine Sea. It also invalidated Beijing's sweeping claims in the South China Sea  a ruling China continues to reject.

We all want a region in which rules ameliorate the exercise of power and it is through that that countries can maintain their sovereignty and their capacity to make their own decisions, Wong said.

Philippine Ambassador to Washington Jose Manuel Romualdez said early this month that possible joint patrols with the US and Australia in the South China Sea may happen by the third quarter of 2023.

Prior to this, Australia confirmed talks on possible joint patrols in the West Philippine Sea, a part of the larger South China Sea which Beijing claims almost entirely.

Wong said Australia wants to explore with you more opportunities for partnership, whether they are via formal agreements, or via exercises, or via informal cooperation or dialogue.

It is important for countries to recognize their roles and work together during this time when there is a competition between great powers and there is a lot of disruption, she added.

The region we want, stable, secure, prosperous that doesnt happen just because we hope for it. It happens because we act, we do something about it, she pointed out.

In another interview, geopolitical expert Don McLain Gill said it is important for parties involved to expedite the trilateral agreement.

The need for such a trilateral is definitely significant. We need to expedite this but that will depend on the willingness of parties involved to negotiate their interests and terms, he said.

Whatever the result will be, Gill noted that countries should expect a reaction from China because of its narrowly defined ambitions.

The Philippines should prioritize its security by opening its channels of communication, he added.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 17)  Senator Pia Cayetano on Wednesday protested a provision in the proposed Maharlika Investment Fund bill that exempts fund managers from the Salary Standardization Law.

On Day 3 of plenary debates in the Senate, Cayetano questioned this privilege sought for officials of the Maharlika Investment Corporation (MIC), when health workers have been deprived of higher pay for so long due to the government pay scale.

"If I am going to provide for one exemption it will be for health workers, your honor. Hindi ba dapat yun ang unahin natin? Bakit itong fund pwedeng may exemption samantalang yun, pahirapan? [Shouldn't we prioritize that? Why is there exemption for this fund when it's difficult to do the same for health workers?]" the senator said.

Cayetano asked if bill sponsor Senator Mark Villar would be open to removing the exemption. Villar, however, said the MIC would have to offer competitive rates to hire the "best people" to manage the Maharlika fund and "give the government the best return on its capital."

"Ang solusyon sa mababang sweldo ang kailangan natin payamanin ang ating bayan, kailangan natin ng mga income-generating sources. And sa tingin ko ang Maharlika po ay isang income-generating source para sa gobyerno," Villar added.

[Translation: We need income-generating sources to make our country wealthier and help address low wages. And I think the Maharlika fund is an income-generating source for the government.]

Cayetano said she hopes no government owned and controlled corporation involved in social services would invest in the Maharlika fund, stressing it is not risk-free.

She noted that the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) has specialty savings worth 75 billion deposited with the Development Bank of the Philippines and Land Bank of the Philippines. In effect, it would be part of the pool where the Maharlika fund's initial capitalization would come from, she said. Land Bank will contribute 50 billion, while the DBP will lodge 25 billion.

"Ikaiiyak ba nila kung naging super successful ang Maharlika bill, sasabihin ba ng board ng SSS, GSIS na sayangYes maybe, pero naman, ikalaluluhod nila at ikamamatay nila kung malugi yun," Cayetano said.

[Translation: Will they cry if the Maharlika bill becomes super successful? Will the board of the SSS, GSIS express regret? Yes maybe, but it will be the death of them if there will be losses.]

Villar, meanwhile, maintained that he thinks the proposed Maharlika fund is a good investment.

"If there's an appetite for that, I don't think we should ban funds for putting a little investment for the Maharlika fund," he said.

The Maharlika bill has been certified as urgent by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., but the Senate leadership has promised not to rush its proceedings.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 17)  The Chinese Embassy in the Philippines confirmed on Wednesday that five Filipino seafarers were among the 39 crew members reported missing after a Chinese fishing vessel capsized in the Indian Ocean.

Sad to learn reports of the capsizing of a Chinese fishing vessel, the Lu Peng Yuan Yu 028 (LPY28), where 39 sailors, including 17 Chinese and five Filipino citizens were confirmed missing, the embassy said in a statement.

China's state news agencies on Wednesday reported that a Chinese fishing boat, carrying five Filipinos and other nationalities, capsized in the Indian Ocean.

Broadcaster CCTV and China News Service (CNS) reported that Chinese President Xi Jinping ordered an all-out rescue operation to save the 39 crew members who were aboard the boat.

The 17 other crew members of the vessel are Indonesians, CNS added.

CCTV said the vessel, owned by Penglai Jinglu Fishery Co, capsized at 3 a.m. on Tuesday.

The embassy stressed it is in close coordination with the Philippines Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), the Philippine Coast Guard, and other agencies.

We pray for the safety of all the sailors as we continue with the operations and coordination, it said.

The DFA earlier said it is aware and is closely monitoring the situation.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 17)  The Department of Health (DOH) and the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) have formed a technical working group to evaluate the proposal to transfer the state health insurer under the Office of the President.

PhilHealth is currently an attached agency of the DOH.

DOH Officer-in-Charge Maria Rosario Vergeire on Tuesday said the technical working group will thoroughly study the proposal.

"Itong proposal na 'to siyempre maraming implikasyon. Titignan natin what would be the advantages to government and to our Filipino people and what would be the disadvantages also. At kailangan pag-aralan naming maigi 'yong legalities," Vergeire said.

[Translation: This proposal has many implications. We will look into its advantages and disadvantages to the government and to the Filipinos. We also need to thoroughly look into the legalities.]

Senator Risa Hontiveros expressed alarm about the proposal, saying the DOH should not abandon its responsibilities in carrying out the Universal Health Care Law.

"Why would the DOH even consider relinquishing its responsibility and accountability as the principal national health authority in charge of PhilHealth? As it is, under existing laws, PhilHealth is and should remain attached to DOH for policy coordination and guidance towards the realization of universal healthcare," she said in a statement on Monday.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 17)  The minority share of Chinas State Grid Corporation in the country's power grid operator will not pose any national security threat, a National Grid Power Corporation official said Wednesday.

However, some senators are not convinced that it's impossible for Beijing to penetrate the country's energy system.

"We'd like to confirm that even the National Security Council has already visited our premises and they have made an inspection in 2020. It was then National Security Administration (Hermogenes) Esperon who went to our head offices and regional offices with regard to the report at that time that there is a remote control that can be accessed by China," said NGCP corporate secretary Ronald Concepcion in a hearing.

While 40% of NGCP is owned by the Chinese state-owned corporation, 60% is held by investment group Synergy Grid and Development Philippines of Henry Sy Jr. and Roberto Coyiuto Jr.

Lawmakers in 2019 also expressed concern about the possibility that China could remotely shut off the country's power grid anytime.

Senator Raffy Tulfo said China could also be aggressive with the country's energy system as it is in the West Philippine Sea.

"Binu-bully na nga po ang ating mga kababayan, ating mga fishermen, binubully na po ang ating coast guard,"he said. "Kung nagagawa po nila yun sa labas ng bansa yun, sa karagatan, much more na mayroon silang access in land through our national grid. I fear for my country."

[Translation: Our people, fishermen, and Coast Guard are being bullied. If they are able to do that outside the country, in the waters, how much more if they could access our land through our national grid. I fear for my country.]

Senator Risa Hontiveros shared the sentiment.

"Hindi po madaling sabihin na hindi national security threat na may ibang bansa, state-owned enterprise, na may obligasyon na mangolekta ng impormasyon o intelligence at ibigay sa kanilang gobyerno sa Beijing tungkol sa ating bansa, at maging tungkol sa ating gobyerno," she said.

[Translation: It's not easy to say that there's no national security threat knowing that another country, a state-owned enterprise, has an obligation to collect information or intelligence about our country and government and give that to their government in Beijing.]

Chinese characters

Tulfo also criticized the Chinese characters in the instructions for equipment in NGCP substations.

Concepcion explained that the hardware for the system operation in the substations came from a Chinese provider.

"The instructions to the system were in Chinese originally, but also they have English translation because of course, our Filipino engineers have to go through training for that. So, meron pa rin pong English na translation," the NGCP official said, while insisting their operators are Filipinos.

But Tulfo asked the NGCP to get rid of the Chinese texts.

"Kung Pilipino, bakit nandoon pa yung Chinese characters na 'yun? Then get rid of those Chinese characters. Burahin niyo na yun. Nakakainsulto naman," the senator said.

[Translation: If they are Filipino, then why are there Chinese characters? Then get rid of those Chinese characters. Remove them. It's insulting.]

The NGCP said it would heed Tulfo's request.

Further, Concepcion affirmed that the only Chinese nationals in the country connected to the NGCP are three board members.

"They sit in the board, and they represent the shareholdings of the State Grid Corporation of China," he said.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Tuesday agreed with Tulfos proposal to scrutinize the performance of the NGCP following the power supply woes in the parts of the country.

The Palace also said that the national government will take back full control over NGCP if necessary.

The franchise of NGCP to run the government-owned transmission assets will end in 2058
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 17)  Construction has not yet started on the Montelago geothermal power plant in Oriental Mindoro, the Department of Energy said Wednesday  seven years after the facility was expected to begin operating in 2016.

Energy Assistant Secretary Mario Marasigan said the project developer failed to deliver, but it asked for reconsideration two years ago.

"Unfortunately, hindi naka-deliver yung atin pong developer. Kaya hanggang ngayon ay hindi po nagagawa at natatayo. Na-terminate na po natin yung original contract noon," he said during a Senate hearing.

[Translation: Unfortunately, the developer failed to deliver. Hence, it's yet to be constructed. We already terminated the original contract.]

"Humingi po sila ng reconsideration two years ago at nabigyan po sila ng specific timeframe para kumpletuhin. Datapwat ngayon ay nasa assessment period na ulit kasi hindi po ulit nai-deliver yung project," Marasigan added.

[Translation: They asked for reconsideration two years ago and they were given a specific timeline to complete it. However, they are back in the assessment period because they failed to deliver again.]

Launched in 2014, the supposed 40-megawatt geothermal power was to be located in Barangays Montelago, Montemayor and Melgar-B in Naujan, Oriental Mindoro.

The Montelago geothermal power plant was eyed as an additional source of energy for Occidental Mindoro Electric Cooperative.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 17)  A geopolitical expert on Wednesday pointed out the difference between the Philippines visiting forces agreements (VFA) with the United States and Australia.

We are looking into a more flexible, reoriented VFA with Australia and because it came much later, we were able to incorporate the shortcomings that we felt were there with the VFA with the US and have applied it proactively with that with Australia, analyst Don McLain Gill told CNN Philippines The Source.

Manilas Status of Visiting Forces Agreement (SOVFA) with Australia was signed in 2007 and ratified in 2012, while the VFA with Washington was signed in 1998 and came into force in 1999.

Since the agreement with the US was made first, Gill said the Philippines was able to negotiate with Australia the challenges it encountered with the agreement with the former, which includes the jurisdiction issue.

The expert noted SOVFA encompasses clear rules in addressing issues of concurrent jurisdiction.

Sen. Loren Legarda, who was chairman of the Committee on Foreign Relations in the 15th Congress, said the SOVFA was crafted in a manner that ensures respect for and ascendance of laws of the Receiving State.

It also has a "clear set of rules" in case of "concurrent jurisdiction, or where an offense is punishable under the laws of both the Receiving and Sending States, she added.

Gill also pointed out that SOVFA has a specific provision on the size of the visiting force, on the mutual adherence to environmental protection, and on the movement of vessels and aircraft.

In another interview, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong said the SOVFA is a partnership that has helped both countries to work together to grow their knowledge especially among military forces.

On Tuesday, Filipino and Australian troops launched their joint drills in Camp Capinpin in Tanay, Rizal as part of Exercise Kasangga. 2023.

Another batch of soldiers from the Australian Army is expected in June for the continuation of the joint exercises.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 17)  The widow of slain Negros Oriental Governor Roel Degamo does not believe there are threats to the life of suspended lawmaker Arnolfo Teves Jr.

Pamplona Mayor Janice Degamo said Teves, the alleged brains behind her husband's murder, is just paranoid.

"Paranoid because ang dami niyang pinapatay eh. Pinapatay niya hindi lang si governor and 10 others [Paranoid because he killed so many people. He killed not only the governor and 10 others]. There are others that when the governor was still alive have become victims of Congressman Arnie Teves," Degamo told CNN Philippines' Politics As Usual on Wednesday.

"Kasi kung ano yung ginawa natin, babalik din kasi sa atin 'yan. Baka yun ang fear niya," she added.

[Translation: Because what we've done will come back to haunt us. Maybe that's his fear.]

The mayor also pointed out that even President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has guaranteed Teves' safety.

In response, the camp of the Negros Oriental representative challenged Degamo to present evidence to back her claims.

"Ipadala mo yung abogado mo sa DOJ (Department of Justice), mag-file siya ng sinasabi mong pinapatay ni Cong. Arnie Teves. Malakas lang ang loob mo dahil kampi sa'yo ang Secretary of Justice," Teves' lawyer Ferdinand Topacio said.

[Translation: Send your lawyer to the DOJ to file a case over what you say were killings involving Cong. Arnie Teves. You're just gutsy because the Secretary of Justice is on your side.]

"If I killed so many people, you prove it. Prove it please. Don't say things you cannot prove. I never say things I cannot prove," Teves responded in the same interview.

"Definitely, there will be cases that will be filed. More than the cases that you will be facing with what happened to the governor," Degamo said.

The National Bureau of Investigation earlier filed murder complaints against Teves over Degamo's assassination last March before the DOJ.

Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla previously said Teves applied for, but failed to get political asylum in Timor-Leste.

Teves neither confirmed nor denied this. He also maintained there are credible threats against him and his family.

READ: Teves on Remullas claim on his possible return: 'Fake news'
(CNN)  Hundreds of people are feared to have died after a powerful cyclone hit Myanmar on Sunday, with rescue groups warning of a large scale loss of life following one of the strongest storms to ever hit the country.

Cyclone Mocha barreled into Myanmars coast on Sunday, collapsing houses, felling trees, bringing down telephone poles and severely compromising communication lines in conflict-racked Rakhine state, home to hundreds of thousands of displaced people.

Myanmars shadow government on Tuesday said that at least 400 people have been killed and an unspecified number of people are still missing. CNN cannot independently verify that figure, which stands in contrast to an earlier report by the military juntas Myawaddy TV, which said the official death toll stands at three people, with 13 others injured.

But sources speaking to CNN said many of the bodies of Rohingya victims, who are Muslims, have already been buried per religious customs.

I cant control my tears, said Aung Zaw Hein, a resident of Rakhine states capital city Sittwe, who told CNN that he had seen the bodies of children, and elderly and pregnant women lying on the ground after the cyclone.

People are having a very hard time  because they dont have food, they dont have a place to lay down, he added. The people become homeless, shelterless, some people even become powerless. The same situation has repeated again in our life for the Rohingya people.

Aung Zaw Hein also said he had performed Islamic funeral prayers for eight victims

Myanmars junta leader Min Aung Hlaing visited Sittwe to assess damage and deliver donations to its residents, state media MRTV reported on Monday.

A large-scale loss of life in the camps

Largely impoverished and isolated, Rakhine has in recent years been the site of widespread political violence.

Nearly a million stateless Rohingya members of the persecuted Muslim minority group have crossed into neighboring Bangladesh since 2017, fleeing a brutal and bloody crackdown by Myanmars junta.

Hundreds of thousands of Rohingya remain in Rakhine, mostly confined to camps where authorities place strict controls on their movement.

It is in these poorly constructed camps that aid agencies fear Cyclone Mocha has hit the hardest.

There has been a large-scale loss of life in the camps, said Brad Hazlett, president of the non-government organization, Partners Relief and Development.

We are unable to say an exact number, but know of one small village we have connected with today where we have provided toilets and hand water pumps in the last year. That village was totally destroyed by the cyclone and at least 20 people have lost their life there, he said.

He added that fatality numbers shared online vary significantly and his organization was unable to give a precise breakdown for now  but they expect the number of casualties to rise.

During this time, the phone network remains unstable, the roads are blocked and at least one concrete bridge was washed away so confirming the numbers is challenging, Hazlett said. We have heard that many people remain missing or may be under the destroyed shelters.

People living in refugee camps in Sittwe drowned in floods unleashed by the cyclone, wrote the National Unity Government (NUG) in a situation report Tuesday, with NUG Rohingya advisor, Aung Kyaw Moe, tweeting that the number of deaths in Sittwe alone stood at 400.

NUG consists of a group of ousted lawmakers, opponents of the coup and representatives of ethnic minority group that seeks to gain recognition as the legitimate government of Myanmar. It operates undercover or through members based abroad.

Another group, the Arakan Civil Society Organization Network (or Arakan CSO Network), told CNN they have undertaken rescue efforts in the northern part of Rakhine state, and that some 400 people died in a Muslim camp in Sittwe, including many children.

Video showed wind gusts over 200 kilometers per hour (195 mph) roiling Sittwe, flattening homes in some areas and leaving bamboo and other wood debris dangerously strewn across villages.

Further devastation

Additionally, torrential rains caused landslides in towns in Myanmars western Chin state causing the destruction of buildings and homes, according to the NUG.

The NUG also said that communications have been interrupted or are down in cyclone-hit areas and that casualty figures are very likely to increase.

It added that roofing material, especially tarpaulins, are needed for some 500,000 households, and that emergency food and drinking water is urgently needed for about one million people in Northern Rakhine state.

It is crucial to provide humanitarian assistance in the most devastated areas such as Rakhine state, Sagaing, Magway and Chin State as soon as possible, it wrote in the report, which included before and after satellite imagery of hard-hit areas.

The shadow government also said some 32,300 acres of farmland has been flooded with extensive destruction of crops in towns across Sagaing and in Magway.

It is estimated that over 90% has been destroyed in (11) Townships in the entire Rakhine State by the cyclone.

Government persecution

As Cyclone Mocha built up power in the Bay of Bengal last week, the UNs humanitarian office (OCHA) warned that about 6 million people in the region were already in need of humanitarian assistance, among them 1.2 million people internally displaced by ethnic conflict, Reuters reported.

Myanmars military, which seized power in a 2022 coup, view the Rohingya as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh. The Rohingya counter that they have lived in Rakhine for generations.

An estimated 1 million Rohingya now live in what many consider to be the worlds largest refugee camp in Bangladesh after fleeing a brutal campaign of killing and arson by the Myanmar military.

At one point Cyclone Mocha had been predicted to hit the camp but it was spared a direct hit with the storm making landfall further down the coast.

An estimated 600,000 Rohingya remain in Rakhine, according to Human Rights Watch, and are subject to government persecution and violence, confined to camps and villages without freedom of movement, and cut off from access to adequate food, health care, education, and livelihoods.

The last storm to make landfall in Myanmar with a similar strength was Cyclone Giri in October 2010. Giri caused more than 150 fatalities and roughly 70% of the city of Kyaukphyu was destroyed. According to the UN, roughly 15,000 homes were destroyed in Rakhine state during that storm.

In 2008, Cyclone Nargis carved a swathe of destruction through Myanmars low lying Irrawaddy Delta, killing nearly 140,000 people.
Weather Alert

...National Weather Service Cold Water Safety Message... ...Please check with state and local authorities regarding guidelines for allowed activities... * The warm air temperatures this weekend in the upper 70s to mid 80s may cause people to underestimate the dangers of the cold water temperatures which are currently only around 50 across Lake Champlain, and in the regions smaller lakes and rivers. * The cold water temperatures can quickly cause hypothermia to anyone immersed in the water. When the water temperature is below 60 degrees, the average submerged person could loose dexterity within minutes and be unable to accomplish simple tasks. Anyone on small boats, canoes or kayaks should plan accordingly if recreating this weekend and use extreme caution to avoid this threat. Paddle smart from the start and always wear your life jacket!
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8 Subh, May 15, 2023

Female prisoners in Taliban-controlled prisons in the provinces of Jowzjan, Faryab, and Samangan are enduring a deplorable situation. They face humiliation, insults, physical torture, and sexual assault. According to the findings of Hasht-e Subh Daily, since the collapse of the Republic regime, the Taliban have detained and imprisoned 90 women in the three northern provinces. Out of these, 36 women are in Faryab province, 34 women are in Samangan province, and another 20 women are in Jowzjan province. These women have been subjected to inappropriate treatment by the Taliban in prisons over the past year.

According to the findings of Hasht-e Subh Daily, in the womens prisons of these three provinces, 10 women are engaged in physical checkups, cleaning, and guarding during the day. However, there are no female guards present during the night. As a result, Taliban militants, who have been documented by Hasht-e Subh Daily, take on the security responsibility of these prisons at night and are involved in sexually assaulting female prisoners.

According to the findings of Hasht-e Subh Daily, out of the 90 female prisoners in Jowzjan, Faryab, and Samangan provinces, 16 of them have become pregnant due to repeated sexual assault and have undergone abortions in local clinics. Health sources in Faryab and Samangan provinces have confirmed that the Taliban ordered the termination of these womens pregnancies during the third and fifth months. Testimonies from prisoners who experienced mistreatment by the Taliban reveal that female prisoners in the northern provinces were coerced under Taliban pressure to fulfill the sexual desires of certain local Taliban officials against their will. One released prisoner affirms that at least four female prisoners in Samangan province fell seriously ill as a result of repeated sexual assaults by Taliban members and were ultimately executed by the Taliban.

According to information obtained from sources within Taliban womens prisons in the northern provinces, the majority of these women are imprisoned for various reasons such as moral corruption, theft, fraud, and elopement. Reliable sources confirm that out of the 90 female prisoners in Faryab, Jowzjan, and Samangan provinces, 33 of them have not received any visits from their families since their incarceration. These sources indicate that their families might be unaware of their current situation.

Healthcare workers in the gynecology departments of Faryab, Samangan, and Jowzjan hospitals have informed Hasht-e Subh Daily that in the past year, 48 women who experienced severe bleeding due to physical torture and sexual assault were brought to these hospitals for treatment by Taliban members. According to these sources, the doctors were never permitted by the Taliban members to conduct thorough examinations in these instances.

Hasht-e Subh Daily has maintained the confidentiality of the sources identities, and to protect the interviewees from potential security threats, their names are not disclosed in this report.

The Situation of Female Prisoners in Faryab Province

The Hasht-e Subh Dailys findings reveals that there are currently 36 women imprisoned in Faryab province. The Taliban has detained these women on different charges, and they are serving their sentences in prison. While some of these women were transferred to prison on September 10, 2021, many of them have had their criminal cases left unprocessed over the past year. Notably, none of these womens cases have been referred to any court for investigation.

According to an anonymous security source from the Faryab Provincial Security Command, most of these women have been detained on suspicion of moral corruption, theft, fraud, and the accusation of girls fleeing from home. The source explains that the absence of criminal cases has led to the indefinite detention of these women. Out of the 36 women prisoners in this prison, 21 of them have not had their cases processed. Some of these women have been detained and transferred to this prison six months, eight months, and even a year ago. These 21 women are those whose relatives have not visited them since their initial arrest. Under the previous governments prison procedures, the defendants cases were sent to the judiciary within three months. Despite nearly two years of Taliban rule in the country, they have not implemented any specific laws or procedures for pursuing the cases of suspects.

A source within the management of Faryab provinces prison confirms that special guards from the Provincial Security Command, the Intelligence Chief, the Commander of the Army Unit, and several other Taliban officials take some of these female prisoners out of the prison at night. After experiencing sexual abuse, they are returned to the prison. However, the source does not specify the location where these women are taken at night.

A monitor from a human rights organization, operating anonymously due to security threats, supervises cases of violence against women and human rights violations in Faryab province. The source has confirmed to the Hasht-e Subh Daily that in the past eight months, Taliban officials have committed eight individual sexual assault cases and six group sexual assault cases against female prisoners in this province. According to the source, an international organization has documented these cases. The source explains that both high-ranking and lower-level Taliban forces enter the womens prison blocks at night and sexually abuse the female prisoners.

However, a female doctor from the gynecology department of the public hospital in Maymana city, who wishes to remain anonymous, informed the Hasht-e Subh Daily that the Taliban have covertly transferred multiple women to the hospital during the night. These women have experienced bleeding as a result of sexual assault, and the doctor observed visible signs of torture and sexual abuse on them. The doctor explained that these patients were placed in isolated rooms within the hospital for treatment, separated from other patients. According to the source, four to five armed Taliban militants would guard these patients, restricting interaction with nurses and doctors.

The doctor stated that the Taliban transferred thirteen female prisoners to the gynecology department of the hospital after sexually assaulting them, and these women underwent abortions. Most of these women had their pregnancies terminated within the first three months and were then taken back to prison.

The situation of women prisoners in Samangan Province

Sources within the Samangan General Prison Administration has informed the Hasht-e Subh Daily that in the last year, Taliban forces have detained 34 women on suspicion of criminal acts and transferred them to this prison. Among them, 12 prisoners have not received visits or had their cases pursued by their relatives. These 12 women have been in a vulnerable situation in prison for the past seven months without any progress in their cases.

According to the organizational chart of the Samangan Security Command, there are 10 female police officers assigned to oversee the womens prison in the province. However, sources reveal that only three of them are actively involved in physical checkups and administrative tasks, and their role in prison administration is limited. It is worth noting that these female staff members do not have night duties due to the absence of a legal guardian, resulting in male Taliban forces taking charge of the prison during nighttime.

Sources from Samangan Provincial Hospital report that Taliban militants have brought seven women prisoners who experienced severe physical torture and sexual abuse to the hospital for treatment in the past six months. Furthermore, according to a female doctor, three pregnant women have been transferred to the hospital by the Taliban during this period to undergo abortions.

What does a Released Prisoner say?

A recently released female prisoner from the Talibans prison in Samangan province shares her account of sexual assault by a commander and members of the group. Farishta (pseudonym) was arrested by Taliban forces at a security checkpoint in the village of Rubatak, situated between Samangan and Baghlan provinces, on August 24, 2021, while traveling from Aybak City to Kabul. She was charged with moral corruption, although she intended to escape the country by flying from Kabuls airports.

Despite her attempts to leave the country, 20-year-old Farishta was captured by Taliban militants. She endured a two-week detention under the Talibans security command in Aybak City. Farishta recounts experiencing sexual assault three to seven times at night by Taliban militants during that time. Afterward, she was transferred to the provinces central prison.

This young girl has been in the Samangan Central Prison for seven months and shares disturbing accounts of sexual abuse and exploitation of female prisoners by the Taliban. Farishta discloses that after the Taliban assaulted her in the security commands detention center in the city of Aybak, she had no choice but to comply with their demands out of coercion. She says that newly arrived female prisoners were severely beaten and tortured to fulfill the sexual desires of the Taliban militants. Subsequently, they were left with no choice but to accept their demands. Farishta states that these female prisoners were left with no option but to submit.

Continuing her harrowing account, Farishta reveals that during her seven-month imprisonment, Taliban militants shot and killed at least four female prisoners from Baghlan, Balkh, and Jowzjan provinces. These women had been detained by Taliban authorities in Samangan province on charges of moral corruption, and their families were unaware of their fate. Farishta explains that these women were secretly taken to the residences of senior Taliban commanders at night to fulfill their sexual needs. However, their health deteriorated rapidly, and after 15 days as instructed by the prison manager, they were ultimately killed by gunshots. Farishta recalls hearing about their deaths labeled as Discovery of Unidentified Bodies within the prison.

Eventually, a Taliban commander intervened and facilitated Farishtas release from prison through a deal. As a condition of her release, she had to surrender a personal land deed valued at over 300,000 Afghanis to a prominent Taliban figure. After enduring seven months of imprisonment, Farishta has been set free and currently resides in a different province, separated from her family.

Several visitors to Samangans central prison share similar stories. Lailma (pseudonym), a 31-year-old woman and one of the visitors to the womens prison in Samangan province, shares with Hasht-e Subh Daily that her sister is incarcerated in this prison for aiding a neighbors daughter in escaping from home. Lailmas 26-year-old sister was arrested approximately seven months ago, and Lailma visits her once a month.

Lailma further mentions that her sisters case has not been taken to court in the past seven months. The Taliban has instructed Lailma and her family to locate the neighbors daughter, whom they are not familiar with, as she is believed to have escaped with their daughter. Lailmas sister has attested that the Taliban forcibly move several young girls and women out of the prison during the night, only to return them before sunrise.

The situation of female prisoners in Jowzjan Province

The central prison in Jowzjan province currently holds 20 women prisoners. The details of their identities and alleged crimes remain undisclosed. Similar to the situation in Faryab and Samangan provinces, these women encounter challenges as their cases are not being presented in court. Only a small number of them have been able to secure their release through agreements or significant payments.

Although our efforts to gather additional information from reliable sources have been unsuccessful, a source at the central hospital in Jowzjan province confirms that they have treated at least 15 women from the womens prison in Jowzjan who had suffered physical torture in the past year. The source further reveals that six of these women were transferred to the hospitals gynecological department following incidents of sexual assault.

The source also reveals that the Taliban brought these women to the hospital and ensured their protection for four to seven days. However, the source explains that the Taliban prohibited the proper documentation and registration of these patients in the hospitals daily registration database.

The discussion of sexual assault against female prisoners is not new. Reports of physical mistreatment of women prisoners have emerged in various cases over the past twenty years.

Female prisoners in the provinces of Faryab, Samangan, and Jowzjan face a precarious situation due to the Talibans disregard for the law. As a result, many of these prisoners cases are not being processed, and the resolution of other cases is not being forwarded to the courts. In a public gathering in August of last year, the Taliban announced the cancellation of all previous laws in the country, including the constitution and penal code. However, they consider only certain parts of the constitution from the era of Mohammad Zaher Shah, the former king of Afghanistan, which does not conflict with Islamic principles, to be enforceable. This law was enacted in the year 1301 of the Solar Hijri Calendar (1922/1923).

Currently, human rights organizations are not permitted by the Taliban in the northern part of the country to monitor womens prisons. Prior to the collapse of the republic regime, there were at least six safe houses for women in these three provinces. However, all of these houses have now been shut down. The whereabouts of women released from Taliban prisons are uncertain, as they lack safety even within their own families.

However, local Taliban officials in the provinces of Faryab, Samangan, and Jowzjan have not provided any comments regarding the allegations of sexual assault and physical torture of female prisoners. Nonetheless, they have consistently emphasized their commitment to Sharia and Islamic laws in their approach to handling criminals.

Furthermore, as reported by the news website Washingtonexaminer, the Taliban has been using sexual assault and forced marriage as tactics to intimidate Afghan women following their takeover of Afghanistan. The report features the harrowing story of two teenage girls who recently escaped Taliban captivity. Leslie Merriman, a coordinator of a mobile clinic supported by an American organization, recounted the traumatic experiences of these two young Afghan girls who were repeatedly sexually assaulted by Taliban militants every night. Merriman revealed that the two girls, who went by the pseudonyms Fereshta and Anisa to protect their identities, were abducted and beaten by Taliban militants before being subjected to sexual violence.

The report states that Taliban militants abducted Fereshta in the province of Parwan twenty days ago. One of the militants had plans to marry her, but when she refused, she was held captive in a house where she endured nightly sexual assaults by multiple Taliban members. However, she was able to escape with the assistance of a woman who provided her with food and water in that house.

In February of last year, Taliban militants abducted Aneesa in the province of Kapisa. She experienced multiple instances of sexual assault during the approximately 20 nights she was in captivity with the Taliban militants.

Finally, these two girls are receiving medical treatment at a free mobile clinic and currently staying in one of the safe houses. The mobile clinic is financially supported by the organization Flanders Fields. According to an American news outlets website, which cites the coordinator of the mobile clinic, Fereshta and Anisa are reported to be in the early stages of pregnancy after they escape from the Taliban. The Hasht-e Subh Daily has been unable to independently verify these recent events in the provinces of Parwan and Kapisa.

All this news is coming out, while, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights released a detailed report on the human rights situation in Afghanistan on September 6 this year. In the report, Richard Bennett, the UN Special Rapporteur on Afghanistan, expresses concerns about the Talibans self-imposed torture and detention, as well as cases of harassment, intimidation, vigilante justice, and the conversion of Taliban commanders houses into personal prisons. The report confirms the existence of private prisons in the houses of Taliban commanders and verifies instances of torture and unlawful killings. The UN Special Rapporteur states that since the Talibans takeover of Afghanistan and the annulment of the countrys constitution, there is no law in this country, and each Taliban member issues orders based on their interpretation of Islamic law.
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The Sherman High girls track and field team won its own invitational meet Saturday in Moro.

The Huskies scored 125 points to best runner-up Trout Lake with 100 in the 12-team meet.
Clayton Vickers is a graduate student at the University of Missouri Journalism School, and through his education there he aspires to become a public-affairs journalist of great renown.

Clayton is working in Jefferson City to cover the ongoings of the state legislature and the stories within the community that matter to Missourians. He hopes to utilize his political science background to step into government-accountability reporting that places power into the hands of constituents (at any scale).

Clayton will graduate with his master's degree in Spring of 2024 after completing an internship with a reputable publication.
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Europe must manufacture its own cutting-edge chips or risk being left to build old-style chips, said EU Commissioner Thierry Breton during a keynote speech to semiconductor companies this week.

Europe must refuse any attempt of geographical segmentation where Europe would produce mature nodes, while Asia and the US would produce advanced nodes, Breton said while speaking at the Interuniversity Microelectronics Centres annual event in Antwerp.

He added that Europe cannot and will not be considered an observer when it comes to chip manufacturing, saying I want a Europe that knows how to lead in semiconductors.

Breton highlighted how important European research and technology has been to the advanced chips manufactured today but acknowledged that excellent research is not enough.

To be industrially relevant, one needs to build factories and produce in Europe, Breton said, noting that as a result of the European Unions recently approved Chips Act has led to new projects planned by Intel, Infineon, STMicroelectronics, and Global Foundries.

With the Chips Act now agreed, we are sending a strong signal to all of you, in Europe and outside, that Europe is open for business, Breton said.

In April, the European Council and the European Parliament reached an agreement on a deal to invest $3.6 billion in EU funds to build out the continents semiconductor manufacturing capabilities, with the aim of attracting a further $43.7 billion in private investment.

Chip trade war continues to heat up

The European Unions Chips Act is seen as a response to similar plans to encourage semiconductor manufacturing in the US, China, Taiwan, South Korea, and Japan.

However, the plan still represents less support than is offered by both the US and Chinese governments and Bretons comments come at a time when geopolitical turmoil continues to disrupt the global chip market, causing companies to look for ways to bolster the security and continuity of the semiconductor supply chain.

The presidential administrations of both Joe Biden and Donald Trump, citing trade and security concerns, passed measures barring the use of Chinese-made hardware in US networks and imposed export controls on US computing technology  most recently, restrictions on chips and chip-making equipment. The US has also put pressure on its allies to enact similar restrictions.
05/17/2023

Photo (c) Gordenkoff - Getty Images Bank of America has agreed to pay some current and former customers part of an $8 million settlement, stemming from unfair overdraft and non-sufficient funds (NSF) fees on checks.

Plaintiffs in a class-action lawsuit claimed that Bank of America charged multiple NSF fees and overdraft fees on some of their check transactions. The plaintiffs argued that the fees were in direct violation of the banks policies.

In recent months, Bank of America joined many other financial institutions in revising its overdraft fee policy and promised reimbursements. The plaintiffs claim they did not receive reimbursement. Present and former Bank of America customers who did not get the fees reimbursed may be eligible for compensation.

Last year Bank of America announced that it had made a sizable, customer-favoring shift for its 35 million consumer checking account holders. The bank said fees related to overdraft services declined by 90% in June and July when compared to the same period in 2021. June and July were the first two months after sweeping changes related to these services were implemented.

According to the settlement website, customers who were assessed, paid, and were not refunded the types of fees that are being challenged in this case, will receive a payment from the Settlement Fund so long as they do not opt out of the settlement. No action is required. The final hearing on the settlement is July 24, 2023.

Wells Fargo

Another bank, Wells Fargo, is also writing a big check to some of its shareholders. The bank has agreed to pay $1 billion to settle the last remaining charges related to its 2016 fake account scandal.

In 2016 the bank revealed that employees had systematically opened checking and credit card accounts in customers names without their knowledge or consent. Critics, including Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), claimed the bank encouraged the practice by setting unreasonable sales goals.

In the lawsuit, the banks shareholders contend that the bank made misleading statements about how quickly it was working to rectify the issue. The bank was hit with numerous federal and state fines that impacted the companys earnings and share price.

Wells Fargo betrayed the trust of Rhode Island pensioners and is now rightly facing consequences because of that, said Rhode Island General Treasurer James Diossa. I am proud that ERSRI (Employees Retirement System of Rhode Island) stood up for its stakeholders and held Wells Fargo accountable for its misconduct, and that we achieved this historic settlement.

The lawsuit was the result of a 2020 investigation by the House Financial Services Committee (HFSC). Both the Democratic majority and Republican minority of the HFSC released lengthy reports concluding that Wells Fargo was not in compliance with the consent orders and had not taken the steps necessary to satisfy its obligations.
Large number of energy cooperatives are being satisfactorily run in Germany on VPP and smart grid mode

Hence, all the associated feasible and credible studies by the concerned agencies should be treated as critical to our country. If priority is also provided for maximising benefits from highest levels of energy efficiency (through measures such as demand side management and energy conservation), the reliance on fossil fuel power plants can be eliminated much before the net-zero carbon target of 2070, while massively reducing the need for dam based hydel power plants and nuclear power plants.

The most troubling question in this regard is whether our authorities are really serious about minimising the country's energy related GHG emissions at an early date, and also in adequately safeguarding our natural resources. In this regard, various policies/ practices and official statements emanating during the last few years have not provided any sort of assurance to our people.



At the top of our societal concerns, in the prevailing scenario of demand/ supply of electricity in the country, is the escalating and unacceptable direct/ indirect costs to the society. It is unfortunate that the concerned authorities at the national level have not provided any indication of objectively considering adopting a better model of demand/ supply of electricity in the country.

Will it be too much for our people to expect that a substantial portion of the $1 trillion

Without such transparent and cohesive policy on spending such a large amount, one may wonder as to where all this money will go to. Can we hope to see a considerable increase in natural forest cover, an increase in water holding capacities of fresh water bodies, and that the pollution/ contamination of air, water and soil will come down substantially by 2030? Without such unambiguous indicators of effectiveness of the intended measures, the target to spend such a large amount may not mean much to our people.

Only a diligently prepared national energy policy for the next 3-4 decades, with effective participation by all the interested sections of civil society, can address many such ongoing concerns to our people.

---

*Power & climate policy analyst. This article is based on the authors representation to RK Singh, Union Minister for Power & NRE, Government of India It should also be highlighted here that a large number of energy cooperatives are being satisfactorily run in Germany (more than 900 in number) on such a principle/ technology (VPPs and smart grid mode), and hence, can be a good model to study from India's perspective. It is reported that successful pilots for VPPs have also been set up in Australia, the United States, Denmark and Japan, with more research being underway. There is a critical need for India to undertake the associated research with all the seriousness the technology deserves.At the top of our societal concerns, in the prevailing scenario of demand/ supply of electricity in the country, is the escalating and unacceptable direct/ indirect costs to the society. It is unfortunate that the concerned authorities at the national level have not provided any indication of objectively considering adopting a better model of demand/ supply of electricity in the country.Will it be too much for our people to expect that a substantial portion of the $1 trillion proposed to be spent by our country to comply with climate change norms (as mentioned in a newslink below), will be effectively dedicated to the associated research, studies and implementation activities in critical areas of power sector so as to eliminate/ minimise the destruction of forest & agricultural lands, felling of roadside trees, protection of fresh water bodies, minimising the pollution/ contamination of air, water and soil?Without such transparent and cohesive policy on spending such a large amount, one may wonder as to where all this money will go to. Can we hope to see a considerable increase in natural forest cover, an increase in water holding capacities of fresh water bodies, and that the pollution/ contamination of air, water and soil will come down substantially by 2030? Without such unambiguous indicators of effectiveness of the intended measures, the target to spend such a large amount may not mean much to our people.Only a diligently prepared national energy policy for the next 3-4 decades, with effective participation by all the interested sections of civil society, can address many such ongoing concerns to our people.---

There is a need to highlight few recent developments in the power sector, which should be of huge relevance to Indian scenario, provided the concerned authorities are serious about the same.In the overall context that the Union govt. is planning to set up 18,000 MW of pumped storage plants (PSPs) by 2032, and in the context of unacceptable and entirely avoidable and huge societal level costs of the same, the concept of Virtual Power Plants (VPP), and another development that eight hour big battery storage system can trump pumped hydro in New South Wales (Australia) long duration storage tender should have huge relevance to our power system.A fast emerging technology in the power sector "Virtual Power Plants" (VPP) should be of huge relevance to our planners. At a high level it can be credibly stated that an effective deployment of this technology can bring down the societal level costs (associated with conventional technology power plants, large size RE power parks, associated infrastructure etc.) by a considerable margin, while reducing the causes/ factors which are aggravating the phenomenon of Climate Change.A huge concern with the existing power sector scenario of dozens of large size power plants, complicated networks of widely distributed loads and sources, the associated pressure on natural resources and pollution/ contamination etc. is the credibly projected calamities from climate change.An increasingly attractive solution for this unsustainable scenario should be the technology of VPPs, consisting of a very large number of small size renewable energy sources, distributed loads, energy storage batteries (including small size energy storage batteries at residences, commercial establishments, industries, vehicles etc), which are electrically connected to each other, and effectively balanced by suitably designed control and communication systems.An associated news article says : "Instead of a few large power plants, numerous small electricity producers will take over our energy supply in the future: from solar and wind power plants to biogas and hydroelectric assets. This multitude of decentralized energy resources (DER) must be intelligently coordinated to ensure a reliable energy supply. "It is also reported that: "Several countries have increased the deployment of VPPs. One notable example is a VPP operated by Next Kraftwerke in Germany, with 5,000 energy-producing units and a total energy capacity of more than 4,000 MW. Successful pilots have also been set up in Australia, the United States, Denmark and Japan, with more research being underway. India is exploring VPP development and has pilot projects underway by Tata Power ."It must be highlighted here that the case of a VPP operated by Next Kraftwerke in Germany, as in the link above, with 5,000 energy-producing units and a total power capacity of more than 4,000 MW, is larger in size than most districts and even many electricity utilities in our country.In the larger context of the escalating demand for electricity and the fast depleting natural resource base in our country, which are already under unsustainable pressure (such as ever escalating demand on forest & agricultural lands; fresh water sources; disappearing reserves of minerals such as coal/ iron/ copper/ aluminium; pollution/ contamination of land, air and water etc,), a diligent planning and implementation of the the concept of VPPs in our electricity demand/ supply scenario can revolutionise the entire power sector taking it towards a sustainable, affordable and people friendly solution to our energy needs.In the context that our authorities seem to be obsessed with building scores of pumped storage plants (PSPs) at humongous cost to the larger society, a recent development from Australia, as in the link below, wherein an eight hour battery energy storage system has been offered in a tender, should indicate the techno-economic feasibility of battery energy storage systems as a much benign and attractive option than the pumped storage plants (PSPs).If suitable modifications to the operational regime (such as shifting many kinds of the peak hour loads to sunshine hours in a day, and meeting many kinds of demands through isolated RE sources etc.) are also implemented to minimise the peak hour demand, the very need for additional PSPs, which are certain to lead to irreversible damage to natural resource base in the country, can be eliminated/ minimised.A very low price offered for a wind and solar power tender in Australia is also clearly indicative of the enormous costs to our society from the ongoing policy of pouring our meagre resources in building conventional technology and large size RE power plants and the associated infrastructure.It is not known to civil society in the country as to how much effort and resources are being provided in India in undertaking credible research and studies in such transformation of our power sector. It does not require rocket science to project that the future electricity demand/ supply scenario, certainly in the case of India, will be heavily influenced/ governed by the concept of VPPs, energy storage batteries, and micro/ smart grids.It is also not known whether any of the central agencies such as CEA, PGCIL, POSOCO, or NITI Aayog are working on the associated studies. It will not be surprising if these agencies are not providing the necessary focus on the associated issues; because it is almost impossible to notice any strategic approach by most of our national level authorities in the energy sector. But such a scenario can be seen as ignoring the legitimate interest of our people.When we also objectively consider the combined energy storage capacity of a very large number of energy storage batteries, which will be available in different segments of our society (residences, commercial and industrial establishments, small/ large vehicles, grid scale batteries etc.), the potential to eliminate the very need for PSPs (and even many hydel power plants) while satisfactorily meeting most, if not all, the legitimate demand for electricity in our country through the techno-economically viable model of VPPs can be stated to be immense.
In a profile for The Hollywood Reporter published yesterday, bodybuilding icon, action superstar and former California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger shared some wisdom ahead of the release of his self-help book Be Useful: Seven Tools for Life  said Schwarzenegger, This country was not built by people feeling good. This country was built by people working their asses off. We have to work our ass off and stop worrying about feelings. Just swallow it. If you feel shitty, dont think, just do things. This next part is going to make Jason Reitman feel shitty  dont think, Jason, just make Triplets.

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When asked about the rumored sequel to his critically panned, commercially sensational 1988 buddy comedy Twins, co-starring the incomparable Danny DeVito, Schwarzenegger didnt hold back in his Conan-esque rage. The Governator lambasted Reitman, the son of the late Twins director Ivan, for abandoning his fathers legacy project and letting Triplets die in development hell.

Jason Reitman fucked it up! Jason Reitman literally stopped the project when his father died! Schwarzenegger raved. Hes gonna need Reitmans clothes, boots and production company.

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His father wanted to do it really badly, Schwarzenegger lamented of Reitmans metaphorically puny moviemaking physique. I wanted to do it really badly. Danny DeVito wanted to do it really badly. We had the financing. The original film grossed a whopping $216 million on just an $18 million budget as it told the story of a pair of unlikely fraternal twins (Arnie and Danny D) separated at birth who reunite to reclaim what remains of their family. With DeVito and Schwarzeneggers stars both shining bright over three decades later, the sequel seemed destined for box office success  until Reitman the Lesser laid it to rest. Schwarzenegger explained, When his father passed away, Jason says, I never liked the idea and put a hold on it.

There is good news, however, as Schwarzenegger revealed, Im developing another movie with Danny; hes so much fun to work with and so talented. If the superstar tandem really wanted to rub it in Reitmans face, theyd get Fox Searchlight Pictures to give them the rights to make a Junior sequel titled Juno 2.
Over three-quarters (77%) of organizations across US critical national infrastructure (CNI) have seen a rise in insider-driven cyberthreats in the last three years, according to new research from cybersecurity services firm Bridewell. The Cyber Security in CNI: 2023 report surveyed 525 cybersecurity decision makers in the US in the transport and aviation, utilities, finance, government, and communications sectors. It revealed that increased insider threat could be linked to heightened economic pressures and remote working. Threats from within range from criminal intent to individual negligence, with those surveyed stating that an act of intentional destruction by an employee was committed at an average of at least every other week within the last year.

Bridewells findings come amidst a growing international focus on insider-driven cyberthreats against critical infrastructure. The recent US Pentagon data leak, which saw a junior employee leak highly sensitive information, highlights the increased importance of strong insider threat controls and broader operational security.

The research also follows UK-focused Bridewell data published in April which found that the cost-of-living crisis could trigger a rise in cyberattacks and security risks impacting UK CNI. Almost two-thirds (65%) of 500 respondents across UK CNI saw some reduction or a significant reduction in their organizations cybersecurity budget this year, in sharp contrast to 2022, when cybersecurity budgets rose across all sectors, the report stated.

Aside from internal threats, cyber warfare, nation-state actors, and ransomware attacks also remain significant risks threatening the security of US CNI organizations, Bridewells latest report found.

Data theft, accidental data loss top risks to CNI IT/OT environments

Data theft and accidental loss or disclosure of data were among the top three perceived risks to US CNI organizations IT environments, highlighting the extent to which human error can lead to cyber breaches, according to the report. Opportunities for employees to make honest mistakes have risen in remote and hybrid settings, while organized criminal groups are primed to exploit peoples economic vulnerabilities by reaching out to individual employees within an organization, often offering them a lucrative payoff in return for access to sensitive data or protected systems, the report said. In fact, 35% of CNI decision-makers believe that the economic downturn is causing more internal employees to turn to cybercrime.

Insider threats are particularly prevalent in the CNI finance sector, with financial organizations suffering an average of 41 security incidents caused by employee sabotage over the past 12 months, along with 40 instances of data theft or misuse, the report said. Breaches targeting the human element are also posing significant risks to OT environments. Almost a quarter (23%) of CNI organizations now regard social engineering and phishing as two of their biggest OT risks. Within the US energy (oil and gas) sector, this figure rises to 26%, reflecting an increase in spear phishing campaigns against global energy firms, according to the report.

CNI decision-makers across the IT/OT boundary identified improving cybersecurity awareness and education as one of their biggest security challenges (18%).

Cyberwarfare, nation-state attacks still pose major risks to CNI

Aside from insider risks, concerns around cyberwarfare and nation-state attacks remain high more than a year after Russias invasion of Ukraine, with 81% of CNI organizations worried the services that keep the US running are under threat, according to the report. Between 2022 and 2023, organizations suffered an average of 27 nation-state attacks, with almost a fifth (19%) reporting a mean of more than 50 attacks. It appears that nation-state actors are becoming increasingly ambitious in the cyber domain, potentially as a result of nations like Iran and China joining Russia in evolving their threat tactics, the report read.

With high levels of risk associated with human factors, such as fear, natural error, or inadequate training, the research highlighted the need for organizations to be particularly vigilant to insider threats and vulnerable employees as the economy continues to recover and nation-states remain politically motivated.

Ransomware attacks remain a significant threat to CNI

Ransomware also remains a significant threat to CNI, the report warned. Organizations have suffered on average a total of 26 ransomware-related security incidents in the last 12 months, with almost a fifth (17%) experiencing a mean of over 50 incidents  an average of one every week. Finance was the CNI sector worst affected by ransomware-related incidents in the last year, suffering a mean of 42 attacks, followed by utilities (26), transport and aviation (24), government (22), and communications (15). Meanwhile, ransomware-as-a-service (RaaS) offerings pose a growing threat to all CNI organizations, the report said.

In March this year, the White Houses National Cybersecurity Strategy reclassified ransomware attacks as a tier one national security threat following a series of cyberattacks hitting CNI, food suppliers, hospitals, and schools.
By Microsoft Security

Its been over a year since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24th, 2022. Since that day, Russia has attempted to overrun Ukrainian defenses with a combination of hybrid warfare tactics, including cyber weapons, influence operations, and military force. And while Russias military has wrought immense physical devastation in Ukraine, it has fallen short of achieving all its objectives due to the limitations of Moscows parallel cyber and influence operations.

As of early 2023, Russian threat actors had expanded the scope of their war-related espionage operations. Between January and mid-February 2023, Microsoft threat intelligence analysts found indications of Russian threat activity against organizations in at least 17 European nations, targeting primarily the government sector. While these actions are most likely intended to boost intelligence collection against organizations providing political and material support to Ukraine, they could also, if directed, inform destructive operations.

As the war in Ukraine enters its second year, were offering insights and trends observed during Russias first year of cyber and influence operations targeting Ukraine and its supporters. Read on to learn more.

The 3 phases of Russias hybrid war

As weve continued to study cyber threat trends emerging out of the Russia-Ukraine war, we have found that our analysis best fits into three periods of the war:

Phase 1 - Russias initial invasion of Ukraine: From January 2022 to late March 2022, Russian cyber threat and influence actors focused on achieving an early victory in Ukraine.

Since January 2022, Microsoft has seen Russian threat actors employ at least nine new wiper families and two types of ransomware against more than 100 Ukrainian organizations. Hundreds of systems across the Ukrainian government, critical infrastructure, media, and commercial sectors have been affected by wipers that permanently delete files and/or render machines inoperable. Most of these attacks coincided with Russias initial invasion in February and March 2022.

We also saw Russian influence actors attempt to flood social media platforms with propaganda ahead of the full-scale invasion. These efforts largely fell flat among Ukrainian and Western audiences thanks to proactive intelligence release.

Phase 2 - Russias withdrawal from advance toward Kyiv to focus on the Donbas: From late March 2022 to September 2022, Russian forces withdrew from Kyiv to focus on Donbas and other then-occupied regions. During this time, Microsoft also observed a cyber and influence operational pivot to target material and political support to Ukraine.

Russian threat actors targeted the logistics and transportation sector inside Ukraine in particular, possibly to disrupt weapons or humanitarian flow to the frontlines. Russian forces also launched simultaneous missile strikes against Ukrainian transportation infrastructure. This points towards the disruption of the flow of goods and people across Ukraine as a common objective.

Likewise, malicious threat groups leveraged a robust cyberespionage campaign against organizations that provided military or humanitarian assistance to Ukraine. Aqua Blizzard, also known as Gamaredon and formerly ACTINIUM, conducted multiple phishing campaigns targeting humanitarian aid and resettlement organizations active in Ukraine, and entities involved in war crimes investigations from April through June 2022.

Phase 3 - Russia's reaction to Ukraines counteroffensives in eastern and southern Ukraine: Most recently, from September 2022 to March 2023, the Russian government attempted to deepen claims to Ukrainian territory. Moscow announced a partial military mobilization in late September and illegally annexed Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson regions of Ukraine by early October.

Almost immediately after claiming sovereignty over eastern Ukrainian territory, the Russian military launched a barrage of missile strikes on critical energy infrastructure throughout Ukraines major cities, cutting heat and power to civilians in the impacted areas as winter set in.

Russian cyber threat and influence operators have also worked to augment Moscows political and military actions during this time. For example, a hacker group known as Seashell Blizzard (formerly known as IRIDIUM) directed wiper malware attacks against civilian power and water infrastructure in Ukraine, just as the Russian military launched missile strikes on that same infrastructure. Outside of Ukraine, Seashell Blizzard escalated operations to disrupt supply chains to Ukraine while other GRU-linked groups targeted Western defense-related organizations, likely for intelligence collection.

Cyber operations trends

Moscow has relied heavily on cyber weapons to amplify their efforts to gain access to and conduct attacks on desired targets throughout each of the three phases of Russias hybrid war.

Aside from the numerous destructive wiper attacks, Microsoft has observed three core trends that are likely to shape Russian cyber operations going forward:

Using ransomware as a deniable destructive weapon. Seashell Blizzards development and deployment of Prestige ransomware against Ukrainian and Polish transportation sector organizations in October 2022 may have been a test to see how Ukrainian allies responded to a targeted destructive attack outside Ukraine.

As of November 2022, another actor suspected to be Seashell Blizzard deployed and refined another ransomware called Sullivan ransomware, also known as RansomBoggs.

Microsoft Threat Intelligence observed at least three variants of this ransomware deployed against one Ukrainian organization over the course of three to four days, reflecting iterative development and refinement for modular functionality and improved detection evasion.

Seashell Blizzards ransomware attack in Poland and the testing and refinement of Sullivan suggest the actor is preparing Sullivan, or related malware, for further usepossibly against targets outside of Ukraine.

Gaining initial access through diverse means. Russian threat actors have leveraged a diverse toolkit to gain initial access to their targets within and outside of Ukraine throughout the conflict. Common tactics and techniques have included the exploitation of internet-facing applications, backdoored pirated software, and ubiquitous spear phishing.

Seashell Blizzard has backdoored pirated versions of Microsoft Office to gain access to targeted organizations in Ukraine. The actor is also responsible for uploading a weaponized version of Windows 10 to Ukrainian forums, exploiting demand for low-cost versions of the software to gain access to government and other sensitive organizations in Ukraine.

Russian threat actors are also actively abusing technical trust relationships, targeting IT providers to reach more sensitive targets downstream without immediately triggering alerts. The hacker groups Forest Blizzard (formerly known as STRONTIUM) and Secret Blizzard (formerly known as KRYPTON) both attempted to access an IT provider in Poland that counts sensitive sectors among its client base. Midnight Blizzard (formerly known as NOBELIUM), the same actor behind the SolarWinds intrusion, regularly attempts to compromise diplomatic organizations worldwide and foreign policy think tanks by first compromising cloud solutions and managed services providers that serve those organizations.

Integration of real and pseudo-hacktivists for power projection. An evolving landscape of real or pseudo-hacktivist groups has played active roles in expanding the reach of Moscows cyber presence since the outset of the war. These groups amplify Moscows displeasure with adversaries and exaggerate the number of pro-Russian cyber forces.

Microsoft and others in the U.S. cybersecurity community have uncovered artifacts to indicate links between Russian military intelligence threat actors and hacktivist influence campaigns on Telegram. On January 17, 2023, Seashell Blizzard used a modified CaddyWiper payload in a destructive attack against a Ukrainian media organization that CERT-UA identified as Ukrinform. The same day, Cyber Army of Russia claimed responsibility for the attack, asserting it was a response to the outlets war reporting. The link between the Seashell Blizzard wiper attack and Cyber Army of Russia social media posts suggests coordination between the two entities but the exact nature of the relationship remains unclear.

Influence operations trends

Besides cyber operations and brute military force, influence operations are the third key arm of Russias hybrid war. Links between cyber actors and hacktivist groups in the information space represent one of the influence tactics used by Russia since the start of the war.

First, Russian influence actors have sought to weaponize fact-checking to spread Kremlin-aligned narratives. These messengers will often attempt to gain credibility by using the language and techniques associated with fact-checking to spread false claims. Social media accounts purporting to be fact-checking entities, like the Telegram channel War on Fakes, spread claims of Ukrainian fakes and debunked reports of Russian attacks on civilian and critical infrastructurein reality, turning truth on its head and spreading Russian propaganda.

Second, pro-Russian actors consistently spread purportedly leaked information online to target political figures and governments supportive of Kyiv. While this is not a new tactic for Russia, hack-and-leak operations have become increasingly prevalent during the war. These operations can be more effective than other types of influence operations because leaks are often difficult to authenticateor debunkmaking them an effective tool to amplify existing divisions and tensions by allegedly exposing sensitive information.

Third, the Russian government and affiliated entities regularly coordinate foreign press tours throughout occupied Ukraine to garner international media coverage from sympathetic voices and achieve broader messaging goals. These tours often result in favorable coverage of Russias war by the visiting reporters in their respective media outlets and websites, acting as a pathway for pro-Russian propaganda to reach audiences otherwise unlikely to engage with Russian media. Ostensibly independent reporters who publish content aligned with Kremlin propaganda narratives are frequently given honors by the government, including the Russian agency Rossotrudnichestvos Honest View media awards.

Finally, in addition to operations targeting Moldova, Russia continues to conduct multi-faceted influence operations in Ukraines periphery and across Europe to widen societal divisions, discredit leadership supportive of Ukraine, and promote pro-Russian networks in those countries.

Whats next?

Russias destructive cyberattacks and influence operations have occurred in fits and starts to amplify Russian military operations in Ukraine. While Kremlin-backed digital operations have not yet successfully deterred Ukrainian resistance or degraded foreign support to Ukraine, there are many indicators we might look for to detect Russian escalation in the digital space.

Should Russia suffer more setbacks on the battlefield, Russian actors may seek to expand their targeting of military and humanitarian supply chains by pursuing destructive attacks beyond Ukraine and Poland. These possible cyberattacks, should the last years pattern continue, may incorporate newer destructive malware variants as well.

The convergence of Russian cyber hacks and information leaks may soon rise given that several countries supporting Ukraine will hold elections in the next year. Since at least 2015, Russia has employed cyber and influence campaigns across Western elections to elevate candidates favorable for the Kremlins foreign policy objectives. Poland will hold parliamentary elections in 2023, making room for a leadership and political governance change that could alter support for Ukraine. Add to this Finlands new NATO membership and Swedens bid for NATO membership, and Russia likely has a strong incentive to use cyber-enabled influence operations to interfere in European politics in attempts to undermine NATO and EU support for Ukraine.

Microsoft is proud to have supported Ukraines digital defense since the start of the Russian invasion. The companys entire threat intelligence community remains committed to detecting, assessing, and protecting against Russian cyberattacks and online provocations as the war enters its second year.

For more information on the latest cyber threat insights at home and abroad, visit Microsoft Security Insider.
by Abdul Mussawer Safi

The recent protests in Pakistan raised questions about stability and peace. This is because Pakistan Takhreek -e- Insaf (PTI) is one of Pakistans most popular political party, and the recent event proved it appropriately. In Pakistans political history, almost every prime minister has been dismissed under various cases and charges before his tenure.





There are many reasons for it, but the fundamental reason is that political parties come to the government with the support of the militaryestablishment. However, during the government, a difference arose between the interests of the establishment and the ruling party; hence, they become against each other, and the same thing happened with PTI.





A year ago, PTIs chairman and ex-Prime Minister Imran Khan used tributary language to favor military leadership. However, as soon as the differences started, they turned against each other, and he was removed through a confidence motion. Moreover, there were speculations that the differences were over the Russia visit on February 23, 2022, and some internal issues like the wish of former Army chief General Qamar Javeed Bajwa to remove the chief minister Punjab, Usman Buzdar, and appoint Aleem Khan instead. However, the appointment of the new Director General (DG) of Inter-Service Intelligence (ISI) was also part of this notion.





Recently, Imran Khan was arrested in the Al-Qadir trust case. Imran Khan isfacing corruption allegation in Al-Qadar trust. Last year, Khan and his wife were accused of buying land from Pakistani property billionaire Malik Riaz for billions of rupees for their trust to build a university. Pakistans National Accountability Bureau (NAB) asserts that the trust laundered $239 million at the governments cost to shield Riaz from punishment.





In December 2019, Riaz sent the UK National Crime Agency $239 million properties to investigate black money. These funds may relate to the Al-Qadir University Trust inquiry. Pakistans media has covered the issue extensively as a political issue. Khan denies guilt and claims the case is political. The cases outcome may impact Pakistani politics and the Al-Qadir University Trust.





As a result of Imran Khans arrest on May 9, 2023, violent protests were called out in the country, in which metro bus stations, civilian vehicles, and even the memorial of some martyrs deserted in Sargodha, which has received Nishan Haider. This proves that PTI followers are devoid of political consciousness, have become fan clubs, and are self-obsessed in their decisions.





In a democratic country, peaceful protest is the right of every citizen. However, in cases of violence, the security forces have the right to defend public property and themselves. The violent culture should be condemned at every level, as Pakistan has suffered dramatically since independence. In the contemporary situation, all the political and military leadership must build consensus on one agenda: a prosperous Pakistan.





A man speaks on his mobile as fire and smoke billow from a Radio Pakistan building in Peshawar on May 10. [ Photo credit: Reuters ]





It is a harsh reality that Pakistan is on the brink of default, our economic situation is on the verge of chaos, and our fiscal status is entirely at the mercy of the Inter-Monitory Fund (IMF). Due to the fragile economic and political situation, there is an upsurge in terrorism, unemployment, crime, and a lack of investors in the country.





In the prevailing situation, the judiciary has a crucial role in bringing all the political leadership to one point: ensuring general elections under the light of the constitution. Despite it, the country will bear enormous consequences if a political consensus is not built.





Since 1947, when Pakistan was established, the civil-military relationship has been rife with difficulty and insecurity. Pakistans history of military coups and long periods of military administration has profoundly impacted the countrys political milieu. Despite efforts to limit its influence, the military significantly impacts the countrys political and economic activities. Ongoing security concerns, such as the conflict in Afghanistan and the threat of terrorism, worsen the situation.





Even though each institution in Pakistans political systemthe judiciary, civil society, political parties, and the militaryhas contributed to the countrys current configuration, each has faced unique challenges. The judiciary has been criticized for managing high-profile cases and lacking independence. Civil society organizations have increased their appeals for greater transparency and accountability, but government regulations have hampered their efforts. Political parties internal corruption and lack of public accountability have long been issues. Throughout the nations history, numerous coups and periods of military dictatorship have demonstrated the militarys involvement in political matters.





These establishments long-term outlook is met with both optimism and skepticism. Optimistic assumptions are based on the expansion of independent media and the participation of civil society organizations, both of which point to the possibility of increased transparency and accountability. Negative opinions, however, emphasize the persistent influence of the armed forces and the courts difficulties in preserving its impartiality. In its 2020 assessment, the World Justice Project ranked Pakistan 120th out of 128 countries for judicial independence. With a projected defense expenditure of about $11.30 billion in 2021, the military maintains its strong position. Despite some encouraging signs of development, the long-term stability and democratic operation of these institutions confront significant challenges.





Abdul Mussawer Safi is a budding author with a passion for world politics, with a particular focus on the regional dynamics of South Asia. His work has been featured on several notable platforms. He is currently pursuing a bachelor's degree in international relations at the National Defense University Islamabad.
Russian leader Vladimir Putin has ordered major changes in Russias UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) design and production capabilities. The Ukraine War saw Russia suffering heavy UAV losses due to Ukrainian countermeasures and shortcomings in Russian UAV design and tactics. Putin ordered expansion of Russian UAV production and less dependence on foreign, especially Western, components. To pay for this Putin budgeted $59 billion for procurement of 670,000 Russian UAVs through the end of the decade. Most of the new UAVs will be smaller models, especially quadcopters, while 16,000 will be larger (half-ton and up) models. Ukrainian forces made heavy and effective use of commercial quadcopters during the current war. Noting that, Putin is also expanding training for UAV operators and designers. This heavy spending makes possible the construction of more production facilities, including factories producing all the needed components. Putin expects Russian industry to develop effective substitutes for foreign components by the end of the decade. This will be difficult because foreign producers not only design and build better components but are constantly developing new technologies. Even after the demise of the inefficient Soviet industries in the 1990s, Russia was unable to replace them with Western quality equivalents. Since the 1990s Russia has lost a lot of the local tech talent; this exodus accelerated after Russia seized Crimea in 2014 and especially since Russia invaded Ukraine over a year ago. Putin pledged to exempt technical talent from being mobilized into the army for the Ukraine War but proved unable to prevent local officials from ignoring these restrictions. The talent saw this coming and now Russia has a shortage of skilled workers in general. The talent began leaving as soon as the Soviet Union collapsed. This allowed Russians to freely travel abroad. In the last year Putin has enacted laws limiting trips outside Russia but its too late.

Since 2014 and especially 2022, Russian defense production has been crippled by detailed and regularly updated sanctions that led to Russian firms seeking sources of smuggled Western parts. One of the worst cases was the Orlan-10 UAV, whose production is heavily dependent on imported components. Oran-10s required several Western electronic boards and chips that were not manufactured in Russia and had to be imported legally or otherwise. By 2017 it was clear that Russia was not simply using existing stockpiles of now banned components to build new Oran-10s. This was a major problem because Orlan-10 was a key observation asset as it could spot targets for Russian artillery or rocket fire. Oran-10 can operate high enough to be safe from rifle or machine-gun fire and it is difficult for a lightweight anti-aircraft missile like Stinger to hit. At night it is even less vulnerable to ground fire.

In Ukraine some Orlan-10s continued to be shot down or crashed because of equipment failure. The wreckage could be examined for the presence of banned components and these items were still there. The banned items were common, not custom-manufactured for Orlan-10s. There were dozens of distributors you could order from. Efforts to sort out which distributors were selling the Oran parts to a firm with a link to Russia were initially unsuccessful but eventually smugglers were identified and shut down. More appeared, demanding more money for the illicit components. Thats how smuggling works. Russia could still get the needed components but had to pay more and deal with delays before the needed items arrived.

Orlan-10 is one of two modern UAV designs Russia is known to have. It weighs about 15 kilograms (33 pounds) and can carry a payload of up to 6 kilograms of various kinds of recon equipment, including infrared cameras, or an array of multiple cameras used for creating 3-dimensional maps. Its gasoline engine provides a cruise speed of 90 to 150 kilometers an hour, a service ceiling of about 5 kilometers, and a flight endurance of 18 hours. Together with control and launch equipment, the Orlan-10 normally costs approximately $480,000 but that increases 20 percent or more when there are export sanctions imposed on Russia. Orlan-10 is launched via a portable, folding catapult, and lands by shutting down the engine and deploying a parachute. Orlan-10s entered service in 2012 and were used in Ukraine and Syria before 2022. Russia uses all this combat experience to help export sales of Orlan-10s and its new electronic warfare features.

In 2016 Russia introduced a new accessory for Orlan-10s which turns them into the equivalent of a cell phone tower, or a cell phone tower detector and jammer. Troops with the proper equipment and software can use an Orlan 10 to send and receive text, voice and images (including video). This system works with another Orlan 10 accessory, the RB-341V (Leer-3), that will precisely locate cell phone towers and can also jam those within six kilometers. Locating the towers is important because troops on the ground can then go destroy or capture the equipment. Artillery or airstrikes can, with an accurate location, destroy the cell phone gear remotely.

These capabilities are nothing new, American aircraft have had this for over a decade. Its not particularly high tech but it does represent a unique aspect of modern warfare in which cell phone networks often continue to function on modern battlefields and, if the commercial networks are out of operation in a battle area, the military can deploy temporary ones suited to their own use. Russia has, since the 1990s, made quite a lot of money exporting military grade electronic weapons. They dont have the latest tech, but are willing to provide equipment that is still restricted to military use in the West.

Putins plan to increase production is the easy part. Creating a Russian capability to develop and produce the latest tech is something that has eluded Russia for centuries.
Who may lodge a complaint or query with the Ombud?

Any Stellenbosch University employee, student, parent of a student, alumnus, visitor and service provider may approach the Ombud if:

they feel that they have been treated unfairly;

they are unsure which policies or procedures apply to their problem;

they are unsure how to resolve a complicated issue;

they need an impartial listener who will observe confidentiality;

they need a neutral mediator to resolve a problem;

they have a complaint, or wish to discuss a sensitive concern; and

they have exhausted all prescribed internal processes, but still feel dissatisfied with how the matter was handled.

Note, however, that the Office of the Ombud has sole discretion to decide whether or not to deal with a complaint or problem, and how.
The ASUO hosted the universitys first ever flea market on Thursday, May 4. The event was crowded with students exchanging smiles of excitement as they tried on hats and swiped through racks full of unique second-hand pieces.

Its estimated that flea markets have been around since the 1800s with the term coined in Paris during the 1860s. Its a translation from the French term marche aux puces which translates to outdoor bazaar.

And an outdoor bazaar was outside in the EMU amphitheater. Sunlight shined on numerous tents housing students tabling on behalf of clubs and local vendors. Meanwhile KWVA, the campus-based radio station, livened up the air with jumpy tunes.

With a mission of bringing the community together, ASUO primarily used the word of mouth method to reach the people of Eugene. This resulted in a diverse range of products and services available to students which included anything from rings, knitted hats and jeans to magazine publications, student unions and student sustainability resources.

Tiffany Huynh, the head of this event and part of the ASUO senate, holds flea market culture close to her heart. Growing up in Portland, Huynh fondly remembers spending her weekends at the Saturday Market where she fulfilled her love for thrifting.

Its great to see people making friends with the people theyre sitting next to because I wanted an event where anyone could have fun and also make a little money, Huynh said. With small businesses, especially student-run businesses, its hard to spread the word. Its the first pop up for a lot of these vendors, so it's good to support each other, especially in a sustainable way.

Apart from offering one of a kind pieces, second-hand shopping eliminates the need for manufacturers to make more clothing using new materials. According to a study from the Nordic Council of Ministers, the exportation of used textiles leads to profound environmental benefits. It saves about 190,000 tons of CO2 and lowers water consumption by about 18.49 billion gallons annually.

Members of Raunchy, a zine for the LGBTQIA2S+ community at the UO, raided their personal closets and sold clothing to raise money for their first magazine issue.

Its been really sweet to see everyone come up to talk to us and get to know more about our project, Celeste Griffiths, the editor in chief of Raunchy, said Tiffany has been very supportive of the zine since the jump. When I first met her, she said, You should totally table at the market! So being here is sort of like a full circle moment.

Flea markets also allow people the freedom to share what they love doing with all ranges of people. Declan Zupo, co-founder of Out West Gear, was able to introduce students to the clothing brand he shares with some of his close friends. Zupo discovered a knack for screen printing in high school and continued his passion in college at the UO Craft Center. Today, the brand produces clothing inspired by film photography and hand-drawings created by the team.

Its been a lot of fun here, Zupo said. Ive gotten to see a lot of friends. Weve just been hanging out, talking to people and giving out free stickers.

Although Huynh is graduating this spring, ASUO has taken note of the events success and is looking to continue it next year. With that being said, next years flea market could be your chance to clean out your closet or spice it up!

Editors Note: Celeste Griffiths worked on the Daily Emeralds Art and Culture desk last year. Griffiths had no role in the writing or editing of this story.
For the second time in the last year, Mapleton, Oregon, announced a boil water notice once again to residents of the unincorporated community in Lane County, reflecting long-time neglect of Mapleton Water Districts infrastructure.

The boil water notice lasted from April 30 to May 6. This was due to pressure loss and was believed to be because of a leak in the towns water infrastructure. On May 1, a leak was discovered underneath a bridge.

The notice was issued in accordance with Oregon Drinking Water Services requirements until testing could confirm the water was safe to drink. Mapleton has had several instances of both water outages and boil notices over the last year.

Vanessa West, chair of the Mapleton Water Board, said issues stem from the neglect of Mapleton Water Districts infrastructure. She said the concrete asbestos pipes had a life expectancy of 50 to 70 years. The pipes, installed in the early 1950s, are roughly three years past this expectancy and have had little to no maintenance since then. She said she estimates the cost of pipe replacement to be around $15 million.

West said Mapleton Water District has written grants and requested money from Oregons government, but it could be two or three years until the money is received, and the government will likely never give the full amount at one time.

West said that she anticipates that the water district will continue to struggle to provide reliable water until the pipes are fixed.

West said she expects water insecurity issues to remain until the pipes are able to get replaced.

According to West, the first step for getting water to the community during an outage or boil notice is contacting Lane County Emergency Management Services. The water district explains to emergency services that they need both drinkable and non drinkable water and do not have an estimated time when water will be back on.

The last water outage for Mapleton was during December of last year. Another occurred in December of 2021. West expects outages to get more frequent every year as the pipes continue to age.

Sue Wilson, superintendent of Mapleton School District, said the schools have to take extra measures during a boil notice or water outage; cooking for students becomes the most impacted thing during a boil water notice, Wilson said. School kitchens require potable water for handwashing and using completely disposable dishware.

Drinking fountains are completely shut down until a boil notice ends. Even if water is running again, large coolers and donated bottled water goes out in every area of the schools for students until water is safe to drink, Wilson said.

Were getting toward the end of the big donation of bottled water, Wilson said. I hate to say the next, but next time we will need more water.

Wilson said that May 1, was the first time the school had to run with no water at all. The previous outage, which Wilson said lasted for six days, happened during the winter break, so it did not affect the school.

The school had running water again by Tuesday, but Wilson said that even that one day without water strained custodial staff. Regular mopping of floors couldnt be done without water, and laundry service to clean the cleaning towels couldnt happen.

Following the January notice, I realized we cant be without water and run school, Wilson said. January wasnt our first go-around as a district. I think everybody understands this is going to keep happening more and more until the money exists to change the pipes.

West said she has confidence that Mapleton will be able to receive grants and work with the government to get the pipes fixed, but said the reality is that it will take a lot of time and money. She said Mapleton Water District patches leaks and performs repairs as they get funds, but the water access in the community will not be reliable until the pipes are fixed.

I can tell you that I left my house two hours ago and I had water, West said. But can I tell you that I feel confident that Ill have water later today, or in the morning? I have no confidence.

As of May 6, the most recent boil water notice has been lifted.
On April 14, the University of Oregons student government, ASUO, announced the winner of their presidential elections.

Chloe Webster has been named as the new ASUO president with Finn Jacobson as her vice president. The two ran as part of their slate Amplify UO.

Webster is currently a ASUO senator and is a part of the EMU board.

In my personal skill set, I enjoy seeing how a large organization or how systems can move together and accomplish a goal and take a broader goal and define multiple steps on how to get there, she said.

Finn Jacobson has previously worked a project-based internship where he analyzed the Universitys linguistic accessibility practices.

I wanted someone who would be able to challenge me and be able to bounce ideas off of me, Webster said.

Even with Finn Jacobsons limited experience in ASUO, Webster said she had full faith that Jacobson would be up to the challenge.

She said they want to prioritize making ASUO more transparent.

Webster said she wants to create more opportunities for the student body to know who is running ASUO and what they are responsible for. She hopes these open lanes of communication will help her and Jacobson be able to further prioritize the concerns of students.

Jacobson said they want to be more transparent about how the different branches within ASUO function.

Webster said many students are not aware of the Incidental Fee, a fee that is part of every students tuition. The I-Fee funds various programs and student organizations like LTD bus passes and the Student Conflict Resolution Center.

Webster said the I-Fee budget sits a little over 9 million dollars. She said many students don't know what that money is going towards and how their money is being spent.

Webster and Jacobson want to improve the relationship between ASUO and student organizations. Webster emphasized that the financial side of ASUO is important for student organizations to understand.

The relationship between student orgs and ASUO is critical because student orgs are like the backbone of activity on campus, she said.

Chloe Webster and Finn Jacobson also support the unionization of student workers. Webster said they fully support their movement and even signed a union card.

Jacobson said they plan to represent labor during their time in ASUO. Both Webster and Jacobson said they recognize the importance of the unionization of student workers and maintaining their rights as employees of the university.

They said students should feel open to communicating and talking about issues with their student government.

I think the first step to having a collaborative campus is letting people know hey, we're here, Webster said.
Hats are often like Marmite, you either love them or you hate them.

But when you can wear them as well as the Queen of the Netherlands, they become a wardrobe staple.

Queen Maxima is rarely seen in public without a glamorous, gravity-defying hair accessory to highlight her gorgeous blonde locks.

She has opted to wear hats for some of the most memorable occasions of her life, including the baptism of her second daughter, Princess Alexia.

Maxima, who celebrates her 52nd birthday today, looked regal as she wore an elegant lilac flowered hat, decorated with netting and pearls, while cradling her baby.

Queen of the Netherlands wore an impressive netted lilac hat which had a large flower on the front to her daughter Princess Alexia's baptism in 2005

Queen Maxima incorporated an eye-catching tilted hat when she visited India in 2019. Her salmon-coloured hat sat on the side of her head with tropical feathers coloured turquoise, tangerine, beige and rose

On a day where everyone typically opts for a hat, the royal ascot, Maxima fought to claim her title as Queen of the hats as she went above and beyond with her blush coloured tilted hat

The beautiful head piece had several flowers on it, which gave the illusion they were coming out of the hat, almost as though it was an elegant vase

She certainly calculated which hat would pair best with the climate when she made a state visit to India in 2019, opting for a rather tropical tilted affair, which sat on the side of her head.

The jaw-dropping head piece boasted turquoise, tangerine, beige and rose feathers.

Milliner Laura Cathcart said the royal has the perfect face shape for the wide brimmed hat.

She added: 'Note too that she always has hats that show her face because she's aware of her role as a public figure - the brim is an upward brim, rather than a downward brim. It lets people see who she is - she needs a hat that is lifted off her face.'

Stylist Simon Glazin agreed, also telling FEMAIL: 'Whoever said big, statement hats were saved just for Ascot obviously hasn't met Queen Maxima.

'She favours an oversized brim, low on one side, high on the other which not only adds to the drama of it all, but also helps frame her face. A trick if you wanted to dress up your occasion looks but not be swallowed up by your accessories.'

The Mail's new Royals section has put together a list of Queen Maxima's most impressive hats, but which one was your favourite? Let us know in the comments below...

Queen Maxima stunned in a dark canary yellow hat when she visited Luxembourg in 2018

The Queen certainly knows how to make her presence felt with a bespoke wide-brimmed ruby red hat with hot pink detailing along the edges

The hat was certainly a showstopper. The pleated edges were reminiscent of the ocean's waves

Graceful: Maxima's hat defied gravity when she attended the Order of the Garter service at St George's Chapel in summer 2019. She donned a tilted salmon-coloured hat which had a number of different fabric flowers which were carefully placed on one side. Her blonde tresses were tied in a low, relaxed bun

The Queen of the Netherlands usually pairs her hats to her outfits, as she wore a tangerine sleeveless dress

The apricot-coloured and swirled head piece tilted on the side of the Queen's head, showing off her face but also bringing some mystery to her look

Lovely in lavender: Maxima looks regal in a sheer violet coloured wide-brimmed sun hat which features ribbon detailing and a number of purple flowers

This bespoke hat is specifically made to match her ensemble. Simple yet effective, the silver coloured metallic hat certainly made her stand out from the crowd

Queen Maxima stole the show with her glorious blush coloured wide-brimmed hat at King Felipe and Queen Letizia's wedding in 2004
Ashley Reagan has opened up about her intimate wedding that had touching tributes to her grandfather, former President Ronald, and shared what he would have thought about her new husband.

The 40-year-old school principal wed her police officer beau, 44-year-old Joe Dunster, earlier this month in front of 80 guests in California.

The couple, who met when they were children before reconnecting years later in 2021, married at Our Lady Of Mt. Carmel Church in Montecito, California, before having their reception at nearby Reagan Ranch Center in Santa Barbara.

The ranch, which is now owned by Young America's Foundation, was the former First Family's retreat from the public and was known as the 'western White House' when Ronald served as the country's 40th president from 1981 to 1989.

Ashley Reagan has opened up about her intimate wedding that had touching tributes to her grandfather, Ronald

The 40-year-old school principal wed her police officer beau, 44-year-old Joe Dunster, earlier this month in front of 80 guests in California

It holds special memories for Ashley who spent her childhood visiting her grandparents, Ronald and second wife Nancy, at the ranch up until she was 15.

'We went there for Thanksgiving. We went there for our birthday... That's where I learned to ride horses,' Ashley, who was surrounded by the Secret Service from when she was born in 1983 until the first grade, told DailyMail.com.

'That's where we just kind of ran around and got to be kids, and my grandpa got to be a big kid, and so that's where so many of our memories are. That's probably the strangest place to go sometimes because everything is now like glued to the table... because now it's preserved.'

These memories meant that when the couple were hunting for wedding venues, the ranch was at the top of their list despite looking at a lot of other 'beautiful' locations.

'I really wanted something I felt that I connected to,' Ashley said.

'I think whenever you get married you want to kind of honor those people that you wished to be there to witness it, and my grandpa and I had a very strong relationship. Even throughout [his] Alzheimer's, I would still visit him.

'He couldn't talk [but] I think he still knew who we were and knew our presence, and so we had a very good relationship. And so I think it was important to me just to honor him, just like we honor all of our loved ones.

'Joe's dad has also passed away, and so it was important that we honored him as well during the ceremony.'

Ashley said she was not only making a commitment to Joe, but also to his three sons, Colt and five-year-old twins Duke and Walker

A top-down view of the moment Ashley walks down the aisle at Our Lady Of Mt. Carmel Church

Ashley and her brother, Cameron, are pictured as children with Ronald and Nancy

Ashley is pictured left with Ronald at the Reagans' ranch and right with Nancy

It was a family affair all-round, with the duties of best man carried out by the groom's son, seven-year-old Colt, and the bride's brother Cameron was a groomsman.

Ashley and Cameron are the grandchildren of Ronald.

Their father, Michael, is the former leader's oldest son with first wife Jane Wyman.

Ashley's grandfather was also in mind when the couple planned their guest list.

'All of those people, we have such deep connections with, and there are people that have known me since my grandpa was in office, and so I think it was really important to kind of let them see a different side of him as well by allowing them to experience the ranch center,' she said.

The guests were offered tours of the ranch, which is usually closed to the public unless you're a donor or attending an event at the location.

'They were able to see where the Secret Service were, and the helipad, and all those things, and the actual living quarters themselves,' Ashley said.

Chili from West Hollywood celebrity haunt Chasen's was also served during the reception where guests were surrounded by photos and memorabilia of Ronald.

Chasen's was the restaurant where Ashley's grandparents Ronald and Nancy met.

As for what her grandfather would have thought about Joe, Ashley said: 'He would have loved him.

'Joe is very hard working. He's probably the hardest working guy I know, and I think [grandpa] would have seen that in him.

'I think they have a very similar kind of work ethic... my grandpa had just a lot of grit, and my dad has it, and I think [it] is one of the things that I admire in Joe, just kind of that resilience to anything that comes their way. They just kind of dig their heels in and work hard.

'He's a police officer, so he serves his community, so that's very important to him. I think my grandpa would have adored him.'

Joe has three boys - Colt, and five-year-old twins Duke and Walker - and Ashley believed that Ronald would have also appreciated her new husband's role as a father.

Their reception was held at Reagan Ranch Center, which used to be the former First Family's retreat from the public eye, in Santa Barbara

As for what her grandfather would have thought about Joe, Ashley said: 'He would have loved him'

Ashley (pictured with her dad) and Cameron are the grandchildren of Ronald. Their father, Michael, is the former leader's oldest son

Chili from West Hollywood celebrity haunt Chasen's was also served during the reception. Pictured left is the table setting and right is the menu

'I think he also would have seen how important it is for Joe to make sure that his kids are... well taken care of, and they're the priority in his life,' she added.

'It's one of the reasons I fell in love with Joe, [seeing] him as a dad.'

The newlyweds first met when Ashley was about five years and Joe was about nine.

He was her best friend's next-door neighbor. They kept in touch over the years and saw each other at events held by their mutual friends, such as weddings and baby showers.

But their relationship changed when Joe reached out and asked her to grab a cup of coffee in March 2021.

The couple then got engaged in November 2022, with Joe popping the question at her house.

'He knew that I had kind of wanted something a little more quiet. I told him if you do it in a public place I won't like it,' Ashley told DailyMail.com.

'He was working 6pm to 6am [shifts], so we hadn't seen each other, or had dinner with each other in, I think, months.

'And so he had taken one night off work and said, "Let's go on a date." We hadn't been out for a while because of our work schedules.

'So I came home, and he had set up my whole living room and proposed to me there, and then went to our first-date place.'

Ashley also hoped to take lessons she had learned from her grandfather about marriage into her own.

She said one thing she had observed during Ronald's marriage to 'Grandma Nancy,' as well as her own parents, was to always stick by each other.

The newlyweds first met when Ashley was about five years and Joe was about nine. He was her best friend's next-door neighbor

Ashley is pictured in the White House. She said she hoped to take lessons she had learned from her grandfather about marriage into her own

She said one thing she had observed during Ronald's marriage to 'Grandma Nancy,' as well as her own parents, was to always stick by each other. Ashley is pictured with her dad

'[Nancy] was my grandpa's number-one supporter and vice versa, regardless of outside noises or outside relationships,' she told DailyMail.com. Ashley is pictured with Joe and his sons

'[Nancy] was my grandpa's number-one supporter and vice versa, regardless of outside noises or outside relationships,' she told DailyMail.com.

'They were each other's number-one supporter, and they have always had each other's backs, and I think at the end of the day that has to be the number-one person that you fight for.

'I think that we all saw that in my grandma, Nancy, when my grandpa was President.'

Another family retreat that holds a special place in Ashley's heart was Ronald and Nancy's Bel Air property where their granddaughter used to go 'every Sunday' and swim in their pool that he cleaned himself.

'Even up until he was fairly deep into Alzhiemer's, he swam. He was a very avid swimmer,' she said.

Ashley also recalled not realizing how different her life was to other people's because her grandfather had been president.

'After he left the White House, he was fairly private, so I have all those kind of private memories. I remember when I started, I think, it was like high school... and everyone was like, "Wait, are you related to Ronald Reagan?" I'm like, "Yeah,"' she said.

'And that's what I realized like, "Oh, it's different than other people." We were used to the Secret Service roaming around his house, following us, all those things.'
Krispy Kreme is bringing back four fan-favorite donuts after years of customers pleading with the chain to revive the intriguing flavors.

On Monday, the dessert empire shared that their banana pudding, key lime, chocolate Kreme, and strawberries and Kreme would be back in stores immediately.

The good news was heralded on Krispy Kreme's social media channels Monday when thousands of followers weighed in with their thanks - and hunger.

'I'm gonna need that Key Lime,' one Facebook user wrote.

The announcement comes with a catch, however, as the four donuts are only back in Krispy Kreme stores while supplies last.

Krispy Kreme is bringing back four fan-favorite donuts after years of fans pleading with the chain to revive the intriguing flavors

On Monday, the dessert empire shared that their banana pudding, key lime, chocolate Kreme, and strawberries and Kreme would be back in stores immediately

Krispy Kreme officials say they are 'excited' for the four specialty donuts to make their way back into stores across the country.

'We're excited to treat our fans with this limited-time re-release  these four donuts are definitely back by popular demand,' said Dave Skena, global chief brand officer for Krispy Kreme.

The banana pudding is a donut filled with Banana Pudding Kreme and hand-dipped in yellow icing.

On top, the pastry comes with white Kreme and vanilla wafer cookies.

The chocolate Kreme pie donut comes filled with chocolate custard and is dipped in chocolate icing. That is topped with Kreme and mini chocolate chips.

The key lime pie donut is filled with key lime Kreme and frosted with lime green icing. A key lime pie donut, of course, is not complete without graham cracker pieces on top.

Lastly, the strawberry Kreme donut is filled with strawberry and Kreme filling.

The donut is dipped in strawberry icing and has swirls of white icing on top.

'Our fans know what they want, so we thought, "let's give them what they want," said Skena.

Both the banana pudding and strawberries sand Kreme donuts were introduced in 2018 while the chocolate Kreme donut first debuted in 2019 and key lime in 2021.

Krispy Kreme officials say they are 'excited' for the four specialty donuts to make their way back into stores across the country

The four donuts are 'back by demand' according to Krispy Kreme officials

The announcement, posted to social media on Tuesday, was quickly applauded by fans who said they are glad to see the items return.

'These all look amazing but my favorite is lemon filled. They are the best!' one person wrote.

'I think we need to do a Krispy Kreme run!' added a commenter.

Krispy Kreme currently operates some 358 stores across the U.S.

For those who would love to try out the fan-favorite donuts, the limited-edition pastries will be available in six-count boxes at select grocery stores including Walmart, Kroger, Food Lion, Publix, Stater Brothers, Wakefern, and more.
She married the greatest aristocratic showman of the contemporary era  and proved that she could emulate his exuberance, never more dazzlingly than when, dressed in a white rhinestone-encrusted jump suit, she danced the night away, rubbing rhinestones with Elvis lookalikes.

But when the pace became too much for Fiona, second wife of the late Lord Montagu of Beaulieu, she sought sanctuary in a flat far from Palace House, her husband's ancestral seat, and its 8,500-acre estate  causing her to be playfully described as 'the only woman who goes to London to get away from it all'.

It was there that she died peacefully on Sunday, aged 79, after a short illness.

'She was surrounded by her close family,' an estate spokesman tells me, explaining that these included her son Jonathan and his wife Nathalie, and their daughter Akina, and her step-children, Mary and Ralph, who succeeded his father as the 4th Lord Montagu in 2015.

Born in Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), the young Fiona had been sent to finishing school in Switzerland, before coming to Britain where, while working as a film production assistant, she met Edward Montagu.

Not from the Ghetto: Elvis fan Fiona would dance the night away, rubbing rhinestones with The King's lookalikes

Beau Suede Shoes: Fiona was the second wife of the colourful Lord Montagu of Beaulieu

They married in 1974, only months after Lord Montagu's divorce from his first wife, Belinda, whom he had married in 1958.

Four years before that first wedding, he had been jailed for a year for 'consensual homosexual offences' with an RAF serviceman.

The case became a cause celebre which helped lead to a change in the law, decriminalising homosexuality, the following decade.

Life with Lord Montagu at Palace House was never conventional. Once, recalled Fiona, she had entered her bedroom to find 'a little girl, sitting at my dressing table, brushing her hair.

That's when I decided that my bedroom should be out of bounds to visitors'.

A portrait depicted the peer with both his wives, to whom he jointly dedicated his memoirs.

Cruisey: Fiona, left, with her husband Edward, Lord Beaulieu, and a competition winner

Fiona became the first global ambassador for the Club of Budapest, an informal association seeking a more peaceful world whose devotees range from the Dalai Lama to Basic Instinct star Sharon Stone, while at home she dedicated herself to the Countryside Education Trust.

'She brought light into every room that she came into,' its chief executive, Jane Cooper, tells me. 'She was so good at engaging people.'

Including, it transpires, 'a millionaire of her acquaintance'. Encountering him on a beach one day  'by chance'  she immediately asked for, and secured, a donation to the trust.
Meghan Markle is known for her love of expensive, highly personalised jewellery - but in recent weeks, one notable piece has been missing from her collection.

The Duchess of Sussex, 41, accepted a feminist award at a New York gala last night, donning a strapless $1,850 gold Johanna Ortiz dress with scalloped pattern detailing for the occasion.

However as the mother-of-two posed on the red carpet, it quickly became evident she wasn't wearing her 140,000 diamond engagement ring.

It marked the second time this month Meghan has been seen without the ring, having previously been snapped walking in Los Angeles without the custom-made jewel.

While the reason the ring is missing hasn't been revealed, the Duchess previously upgraded the engagement ring, adding a band of diamonds to the piece.

The Duchess of Sussex, 41, did not wear her 140,000 engagement ring last night - the second time she has been seen without the jewel in recent weeks

Instead of wearing the custom-made band which was given to her by Prince Harry in 2017, she was simply wearing her wedding band and an eternity ring

Prince Harry proposed to Meghan in November 2017 with a glittering ring comprising of a solid yellow gold band set with three diamonds.

spoke about creating Meghan's engagement ring with the help of jewelers Cleave and Company.

At the time of their engagement, Prince Harry

The custom design featured one diamond originally from Botswana and two smaller stones from Princess Diana's collection.

At the time, he said: 'The ring is obviously yellow gold because that's [Meghan's] favorite and the main stone itself I sourced from Botswana and the little diamonds either side are from my mother's jewelry collection, to make sure that she's with us on this crazy journey together.'

Meghan called it 'incredible', explaining: 'Everything about Harry's thoughtfulness and the inclusion of [Princess Diana's stones] and obviously not being able to meet his mom, it's so important to me to know that she's a part of this with us.'

'It's incredibly special to be able to have this [ring], which sort of links where you come form and Botswana, which is important to us. It's perfect.'

However the Duchess chose not to wear her engagement ring for a number of public engagements back in 2019 while pregnant with her son Archie.

When she appeared at Trooping the Colour that year, it emerged the Duchess had altered the custom made engagement ring that Prince Harry designed for her.

Prince Harry proposed to Meghan in November 2017 with a glittering ring comprising of a solid yellow gold band set with three diamonds (left). This was then changed to include a micro-pave band in 2019 (right)

At Trooping the Colour and at her Windsor Castle photo call with Prince Harry and newborn son Archie, the Duchess wore her three engagement diamonds set on a thin micro-pave band.

Jewellery expert Arabel Lebrusan confirmed the ring had changed, and suggested it had been tweaked to make the original diamonds look bigger.

Arabel, owner the ethical jewellery brand Arabel Lebrusan, called the thinner band a popular trend, revealing: 'Many celebrities do this, as the central stone looks bigger in comparison getting the wow factor.'

The jewellery expert pointed out the difference in the band, saying: 'She now has little diamonds set down the sides of her engagement ring and the band also seems thinner than before.'

She also revealed that the glittering band only emphasised the Meghan's diamonds, and added: 'The diamond setting on the band looks like micro-set, this means there is very little metal in between the stones maximising the sparkle of the tiny diamonds.'

Arabel continued that she thought the new style suited the Duchess' style 'perfectly', saying: 'It does suit her style perfectly, and it fits her dainty fingers as well.'

Leora Moreno, owner of jewellery brand Leo With Love, said at the time the changes could have been changed to match Meghan's eternity ring.

Proposal: During their engagement photocall in November 2017, pictured, Meghan discussed her 'perfect' ring, which Prince Harry designed himself

However Meghan showcased a new, thinner band, more in keeping with her love of dainty jewellery, in 2019

She explained: 'It looks like the eternity ring has a channel pave setting. The engagement ring looks to have an even smaller pave setting, but perfectly matches the eternity band.'

The jeweler went on to explain the change may have been complex, saying that it required 'fine skill and craftsmanship to change the band to something more delicate like a pave setting.'

She added that that the modern style would suit Meghan for 'years to come' and was 'the perfect combination of eye-catching and dainty'.

In 2022's Finding Freedom, Omid Scobie claimed it was the Duke who altered Meghan's ring.

In the biography, jeweller-to-the-stars Lorraine Schwartz said: "'He's the loveliest person ever. So romantic, so thoughtful.'"

The authors continued: '(So much so that Harry also thought to have Lorraine resize and reset Meghan's engagement ring with a new diamond band.)'

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle at the Ms Foundation Women of Vision Awards at Ziegfeld Ballroom in New York last night

The Sussexes were joined at the gala at the Ziegfeld Ballroom in New York last night by Meghan's mother, Doria Ragland

Prince Harry attends the event with Meghan and mother-in-law Doria Ragland and is seen following behind the two women

However in recent weeks, eagle eyed royal fans have spotted that Meghan's engagement ring is once again missing.

Last week, the Duchess was spotted hiking without her husband Prince Harry near their $14million Montecito mansion - hours after missing King Charles' coronation.

Meghan was joined on the fresh-air outing by her friends, Markus Anderson and Heather Dorak, in California on Sunday after celebrating her son Archie's birthday on Saturday.

However she was not wearing her glittering diamond ring for the occasion.

And last night, the jewels were missing for a second time as she arrived at the Ms Foundation for Women's 50th anniversary event at the Ziegfeld Ballroom in Manhattan.

During last night's event, Meghan was simply wearing her wedding band, which is in yellow gold to match Prince Harry's, and an eternity ring, which she began wearing after her son Archie was born.

It's unknown why the ring, which has long been a permanent fixture on Meghan's hand except at the end of her second pregnancy when it was altered, was missing.

The Duchess was attending her first public event with husband Prince Harry since her absence at her father-in-law King Charles III's Coronation in London 11 days ago, which the Duke attended alone on May 6.

She borrowed the Queen's mantra last night by hailing 'daily acts of service' as she urged women to 'be the visionary of your own life' while accepting a feminist award at a New York gala - in a boost to her US relaunch.

The Duchess told the crowd: 'It's just never too late to start. You can be the visionary of your own life. You can charter a path in which what you repeat in your daily acts of service, in kindness, in advocacy, in grace and in fairness, that those become the very things that are recognised by the next wave of women, both young and old, who will also choose this moment to join the movement and make our vision for an equitable world reality.'

The California-based couple were accompanied yesterday by Meghan's mother Doria Ragland.

And the Duchess's comments on service were notable given that her brother-in-law Prince William paid tribute to Charles's 'service' during the Coronation Concert at Windsor Castle on May 7, one day after the ceremony.

William had said: 'For all that celebrations are magnificent, at the heart of the pageantry is a simple message. Service.

'My father's first words on entering Westminster Abbey yesterday were a pledge of service. It was a pledge to continue to serve.'

And on May 8, at the end of the bank holiday weekend, Charles issued a message insisting that he and Queen Camilla would 'rededicate our lives to serving the people of the United Kingdom, the realms and commonwealth'.

And Queen Elizabeth II famously said on her 21st birthday in 1947 in a speech broadcast on the radio from South Africa, when she was still Princess Elizabeth: 'I declare before you all that my whole life whether it be long or short shall be devoted to your service and the service of our great imperial family to which we all belong.'

Meghan's words also recalled when she and Harry made a statement in February 2021 after Buckingham Palace confirmed they would step down as working royals, saying: 'We can all live a life of service. Service is universal.'

The Duchess's relaunch - dubbed 'Meghan 2.0' - has already seen her speak about mental health with youngsters in Santa Barbara and dine with Hollywood stars including Cameron Diaz and Gwyneth Paltrow over the past week.
Norway's royal family donned traditional dress as they made a public appearance to celebrate their country's National Day today.

Crown Prince Haakon, 49, and his wife Crown Princess Mette-Marit, 49, beamed during celebrations of the Norwegian Constitution Day at their Skaugum estate in Oslo.

The royal pair were even joined by their dog Molly and their son Sverre Magnus, 17, who waved at the crowds.

However their daughter Ingrid Alexandra, 19, was not seen during the celebrations.

The Crown Princess donned an elaborate Norwegian traditional navy gown with a white blouse and black leather boots.

Crown Prince Haakon , 49, and his wife Crown Princess Mette-Marit , 49, beamed during celebrations of the Norwegian Constitution Day at their Skaugum estate

Prince Haakon opted to wear a man's bunad suit; traditional Norwegian costumes featuring knee socks and white shirts, as well as pops of red - which features prominently on the country's flag.

Sverre chose a slick navy suit which he wore with a purple tie, paired with smart black leather shoes.

They were also accompanied by their pet pooch Molly, whose neck was adorned with neckerchiefs in the red and blue colours of Norway.

The holiday, which is celebrated on May 17th every year, marks the signing of the constitution declaring Norway an independent kingdom in 1814.

The constitution declared Norway to be an independent kingdom in an attempt to avoid being ceded to Sweden after DenmarkNorway's devastating defeat in the Napoleonic Wars.

Celebrations, which take place nationwide, include parades as well as the royal appearances where the family greet crowds of the public.

The Crown Princess donned an elaborate Norwegian traditional navy gown with a white blouse and black leather boots

Prince Haakon opted to wear a man's bunad suit; traditional Norwegian costumes featuring knee socks and white shirts, as well as pops of red - which features prominently on the country's flag

It comes after Haakon and Mette-Marit stood in for King Harald to welcome Italian president Sergio Mattarella to Norway last week - as the monarch recovered from an infection in hospital.

The couple attended an event at the Royal Palace in Oslo with the Queen Consort.

The Princess was suitably stylish in a lightweight grey wool cape for the state occasion - which involved a ceremonial wreath laying and the Italian president signing the guest book at the Palace to mark the beginning of the visit.

The mother-of-three wore a green midi skirt - which she teamed with a plain white blouse and brown paisley printed neck-tie.

Perfectly complementing her blush pink round woven hat, Mette-Marit carried a matching croc-effect clutch bag.

Sverre chose a slick navy suit which he wore with a purple tie, paired with smart black leather shoes

The royals beamed as they left their residence in Skaugum to watch the National Day celebrations in Oslo

The royal pair were even joined by their dog Molly and their son Sverre Magnus, 17, who waved at the crowds

The holiday, which is celebrated on May 17th every year, marks the signing of the constitution declaring Norway an independent kingdom in 1814

They were also accompanied by their pet pooche Molly, whose neck was adorned with neckerchiefs in the red and blue colours of Norway

The royal then opted for a nude pair of leather heels to complete her ensemble. Mette-Marit wore her blonde hair in her signature lose waves for the occasion.

Along with a silver smokey eye, the Princess finished off her makeup with a light pink lipstick.

What's more, Crown Prince Haakon wore his full military uniform for the welcoming service.

The father-of-two, 49, is a Full-Ranking General of the Norwegian Army - meaning he had his medal proudly on display.
Meghan Markle ditched her monochrome style last night as she wore a gold ensemble for the first time ever in public.

The Duchess of Sussex, 41, is known for her love of expensive designer labels and regularly wears a muted palette of neutral colours and monochromes.

However as the mother-of-two accepted a feminist award at a New York gala last night, she donned a strapless $1,850 gold Johanna Ortiz dress with scalloped pattern detailing.

It marked the first time the royal had ever worn the metallic shade in public, and appeared to mark a new era for Meghan, who is relaunching herself in the US.

In December, the Duchess claimed she 'toned down' her wardrobe while she living in the UK to avoid clashing with more senior members of the Royal Family.

Meghan Markle, 41, ditched her monochrome style last night as she wore a gold ensemble for the first time ever in public

As the mother-of-two accepted a feminist award at a New York gala last night, she donned a strapless $1,850 gold Johanna Ortiz dress with scalloped pattern detailing

In a 2015 interview with InStyle, Meghan revealed that the colours she gravitates towards give an insight into her mindset.

She said: 'I think our clothes are such a reflection of how were feeling. If youre in love, youre probably going to wear things that make you feel like more romantic when you put them on.

'Or when youre going through a stressful time, the same can be said for wearing things that are more monochrome or darker in tone.'

Meanwhile in her 88million Netflix series, the Duchess claimed she avoided wearing colour while living in the UK.

The former Suits actress said trying to wrap her head around the 'royal wave' and learning how to curtsy for the Queen while being under public scrutiny was a 'baptism of fire' for life in the Firm.

In an effort not to step on any toes within the Royal Family, the Duchess said she also adapted her wardrobe accordingly.

She said: 'Most of the time I was in the UK, I rarely wore colour.

'To my understanding, you cant ever wear the same colour as Her Majesty if theres a group event but then you also shouldnt be wearing the same colour as one of the other more senior members of the family.'

Last night marked the first time the royal had ever worn the metallic shade in public, and appeared to mark a new era for Meghan, who is relaunching herself in the US

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle at the Ms Foundation Women of Vision Awards at Ziegfeld Ballroom in New York last night

To respect this rumoured royal protocol, Meghan says she started dressing almost exclusively in shades of camel, beige and white.

She continued: 'I wore a lot of muted tones but it was also so I could just blend in. Im not trying to stand out here.

'There was no version of me [that was] joining this family and trying not to do everything I could to fit in. I dont want to embarrass the family.'

However, Meghan did still continue to wear colour on solo engagements - including her visit to a community centre in Birkenhead, where she wore a bright red coat over a purple dress.

Although it is unclear whether royal women are asked to abide by this hierarchical dress code, the Queen famously wore bright colours for public engagements.

While the Duchess has never worn gold in public before, her sister-in-law Kate Middleton has opted for the metallic tone for events in the past.

In September 2021, the Princess of Wales wore a glittering gold gown to attend the premiere of the latest James Bond film alongside King Charles, Queen Camilla and her husband Prince William.

Meghan is known for her love of neutral colours and expensive designer pieces (pictured in May 2018)

The royal family pictured arriving for a Christmas Day church service in the Sandringham estate in 2018

Left: Meghan Markle pictured in a purple dress and red coat as she arrives at a community centre in Birkenhead with Prince Harry in January 2019. Right: Meghan Markle pictured in a white off-shoulder dress as she arrived at the Ripple of Hope Awards in New York with husband Prince Harry on Tuesday

Last night was Meghan's her first public event with husband Prince Harry since her absence at her father-in-law King Charles III 's Coronation in London 11 days ago, which the Duke attended alone on May 6.

In keeping with the evening's feminist theme, Meghan chose her dress from women-owned brand Johanna Ortiz, however she opted to put her own spin on the label's Ideal Universe Midi-Dress by opting to remove the straps that were originally included in the design to better show off her California glow.

Sticking with the golden color scheme for the evening, the Duchess accessorized her midi dress - which has a slit right up the front - with a pair of funky gold strappy 'naked' heels from Tom Ford.

The designer behind Meghan's dress for the evening - Johanna Ortiz - is a Colombia-born fashion aficionado who studied Fashion Design at the Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale, before 'rounding up her formal education' in New York and Paris before returning to her home country where she established her eponymous brand.

On her website, Johanna makes clear her commitment to women's empowerment and advocacy, writing: 'Johanna has kept her commitment to social causes and female empowerment a cornerstone of her design and business ethos.'

The bio continues: 'Today her vision has materialized into a successful business that employs over 450 individuals, most of whom are women heads-of-household.

'She has crossed borders, becoming an international fashion guru known for her distinct silhouettes, unique prints, and general joie de vivre in every collection.

'Johanna is inspired by her environment, from the biodiverse richness of her beloved Colombia and Latin America to the strong female spirit enshrined in the women surrounding her, her travels, and her inner spiritual world.

'Her unbridled love of color and print, her couture knowledge of silhouette and fit, and her unabashed air of exuberant elegance have made her brand a coveted treasure for all fashion admirers.

While the Duchess has never worn gold in public before, her sister-in-law Kate Middleton has opted for the metallic tone for events in the past. In September 2021, the Princess of Wales wore a glittering gold gown to attend the premiere of the latest James Bond film

'For twenty years, the JO brand has grown organically and sustainably, stitch by stitch, collection by collection, and most importantly, person by person. The brand has developed an exclusive design language from a foundation based on the power of the feminine and a celebration of the exquisite.'

The brand has previously been worn by a host of celebrities, including Kate Hudson, Jennifer Garner, Mandy Moore, and Anna Faris.

Last night, Meghan borrowed the Queen's mantra by hailing 'daily acts of service' as she urged women to 'be the visionary of your own life' while accepting a feminist award at a New York gala - in a boost to her US relaunch.

The Duchess told the crowd: 'It's just never too late to start. You can be the visionary of your own life.

'You can charter a path in which what you repeat in your daily acts of service, in kindness, in advocacy, in grace and in fairness, that those become the very things that are recognised by the next wave of women, both young and old, who will also choose this moment to join the movement and make our vision for an equitable world reality.'

The California-based couple were accompanied yesterday by Meghan's mother Doria Ragland.

The Duchess's relaunch - dubbed 'Meghan 2.0' - has already seen her speak about mental health with youngsters in Santa Barbara and dine with Hollywood stars including Cameron Diaz and Gwyneth Paltrow over the past week.
A Trinidadian artist who honed her skills drawing Bart Simpson as a child has been commissioned to create the July cover of Tatler with a stunning portrait of the newly-crowned King Charles.

Sarah Knights, who also works full-time as an art teacher, revealed she had hardly told anyone about her commission apart from her husband, her boss and her mother.

After being approached for the work at the end of 2022, Sarah said it was a 'very special' opportunity but added it had been difficult to complete the portrait, which will go up for auction at Sotheby's this summer.

However, she admitted to the magazine that she had very little knowledge of King Charles before she took on the commission and explained her working process of spending hours looking at photos of him.

Despite not being much of a royal fan before painting the monarch, Sarah revealed her project had convinced her to watch King Charles's Coronation on TV on May 6.

Sarah Knights' painting of King Charles is the front cover for the July issue of Tatler and will go up for auction at Sotheby's this summer

As she explained her process, Sarah revealed she painted King Charles using two photos of him - one in which he was wearing a hat but was in the perfect position, and the other of him without a hat so she could paint his head and hair accurately.

Although in the photo she used, Charles was facing west, she decided to turn him to the east to represent sunrise and a new dawn.

She revealed: 'I think it was important to capture the King looking hopeful, full of clarity in a time such as this, so I got my husband to sit for me in profile to help me get the pose right.'

Sarah, who draws inspiration from the works of Francis Bacon, Claude Monet and others, revealed she honed her artistic skills as a child while painting characters like Bart Simpson and Fido Dido.

Sarah (pictured) didn't tell anyone about her commission apart from her boss, her mother and her husband

Sarah takes her inspiration from artists including Francis Bacon and Claude Monet, but explained this commission was not easy for her to complete

As she began depicting the King sitting down, Sarah realised she needed to pay attention to his surroundings as well as the figure himself.

However, she joked: 'I had absolutely no idea what a throne looked like!'

Unsure where to draw inspiration, Sarah found her answer in the work of Sir George Hayter when he depicted Queen Victoria after her coronation in 1838.

Sarah told Tatler that she hadn't originally planned to watch King Charles's Coronation on May 6 but decided after the commission that she was going to tune in.

In the run up to the King's big day, Sarah was busy putting the finishing touches to her portrait in what she described as her 'small studio space'.

She said working on such a large painting in the studio made her 'nervous' as it was the biggest portrait she had completed for some time and she was worried about it being damaged.

'Nothing is completely safe,' she joked. 'One day I came home from school and found [my dogs] Spud and Pino nibbling at the edge of the canvas. Thank goodness I spotted them just in time!'

See the full feature in the July issue of Tatler available via digital download and on newsstands from Thursday 25th May
Dame Helen Mirren unveiled a daring new look as she dyed her hair blue for Cannes Film Festival's opening night yesterday.

The actress, 77, showcased her unique sense of style as she perfectly matched the colour of her quirky new do to her gorgeous gown.

Later in the evening, the L'Oreal ambassador donned a sexy black lace dress as she left the 'Jeanne du Barry' the screening and premiere at the event.

It's a far cry from Helen's usual beauty look, which sees her style her signature silver locks into a soft bob on the red carpet.

Helen has previously vowed to defy beauty standards for older women, insisting her generation has been subject for ageism for 'far too long.'

Dame Helen Mirren, 77, unveiled a daring new look as she dyed her hair blue for Cannes Film Festival's opening night yesterday

Later in the evening, the L'Oreal ambassador donned a sexy black lace dress as she attended an after party at the event toting a Champagne Luna Clutch by luxury brand Aspinal of London retailing for 1,250

Recent months have seen Helen abandon her signature bob for long platinum waves in a flashback to her 70s heyday.

She told Grazia in 2019: 'It's extremely annoying to women of my generation and others following mine to have beauty products sold on a 15-year-old face.'

The actress debuted her sleek blonde locks as she attended the Golda premiere and European Shooting Stars 2023 ceremony at the 73rd Berlin International Film Festival in Germany in February.

She looked every inch the glamorous screen siren as she wore a floor-length black dress with a low-cut neckline.

Her golden hair was styled into loose waves, with her tresses tumbling down across her shoulders and down her back.

Hair stylist Tom Smith told FEMAIL at the time there was a myth that mature women 'shouldn't wear longer hair', explaining: 'The myth comes from the fact that as we age the density of our hair naturally reduces.

'This is a normal part of ageing as the hair cycle slows down and the hair shedding can increase-this is where that old myth comes from that you can't wear your hair long after a certain age.

'But thanks to the latest science that we have available, products can make hair on the head just a strong, as healthy and as fortified as possible.

'There is also a lot to do with bio-identical hormones when it comes to peri-menopause and menopause that can limit the amount of hair loss or hair thinning that a woman can experience as they age naturally.

'From a hair point of view, there is no real need to cut the hair short after a certain age as long as the hair is healthy and as long as the hair cut is well maintained.

'In the hair salon I use a lot of hair fillers that are micro-sized extension bonds which are the quarter of the size of a traditional hair extension, so completely undetectable.

'These are not necessarily designed for length but they are fantastic at adding in density or thickness.'

It's a far cry from Helen's usual beauty look, which sees her style her signature silver locks into a soft bob and opting for smart ensembles on the red carpet (pictured in 2007)

Experimenting: The actress is known for usually wearing her hair in a statement bob (left) or even shorter but began showing off her longer hair in February (right)

He continued: 'Women typically see hair thinning/loss around their hair line such as temples and front hair line, and micro-sized extensions can add extra density which is what I suspect is what has been done with Helen Mirren.

'She would have had additional clip ins or extensions put in at the Berlin Film Festival but if she was wearing them in real life, the back of the hair will grow thick and strong but the front will be wispy and fine, so the hair filler/micro bonds can be a really good solution.

'They need to be maintained every three months and can start from anywhere from a few hundred pounds up to a thousand plus, depending on the length and quality of the hair.'

And last year, Helen hit back at the stereotype that older women 'shouldn't' grow out their hair, after debuting her new longer tresses.

The actress showed off her 'radical' new look while promoting her appearance as the villain Hespera in Shazam! Fury of the Gods.

She admitted she grew out her hair during lockdown and decided she 'couldn't be bothered' to cut it, and is planning to keep it for the timebeing.

Speaking on Lorraine, Helen hit back at the stereotype that older women are not 'supposed' to have long hair as it generally it thins with age.

She said: 'You're not supposed to have longer hair after a certain age.

'But during Covid, I started growing my hair and I hadn't actually had long hair since I was in my 20s. And it sort of grew and grew and grew, and I couldn't be bothered to cut it, basically.

'I thought, do you know what, it's pretty cool, I think I'll stick with it for a little while. It will come off eventually.

'But I'm kind of enjoying it, it's quite radical.'

All eyes on blue: Dame Helen debuted new blue hair during Cannes Film Festival's opening night on Tuesday

What a look! Helen confidently modelled her bright colourful locks at the Jeanne du Barry premiere

Posing: The actress showcased her unique sense of style as she perfectly matched the colour of her quirky new do to her gown

What a transformation! She swept her newly dyed locks high into a Marie Antoinette style Pouf

Glamour: She completed the look with dainty jewellery as well as a clutch from luxury brand Aspinal of London

Helen also discussed how she feels flying the flag for women over 60, saying: 'Life doesn't stop. And creativity doesn't stop and passion doesn't stop and energy doesn't stop, unless you decide to stop it.

'So it's just be self-motivated, really, and never give up. And find enjoyment, if it's possible in your life.'

She also said she doesn't like using the term 'beauty' because it makes people who are insecure about their looks feel 'immediately excluded'.

'They'll think, 'Well, I'm not very beautiful. It's all very well for all these beautiful women, but I don't feel beautiful',' she explained.

'I don't want to exclude these people from feeling fabulous about themselves.'

The L'Oreal ambassador swept her newly dyed locks high into a Marie Antoinette style Pouf, to match the movie's French historic theme

Helen, Thierry Fremaux, Qian Hui leave the 'Jeanne du Barry' the screening and premiere at the 76th annual Cannes film festival at Palais des Festivals

Helen looked sensational in the figure-hugging satin frock that boasted a plunging neckline and sculpted skirt.

The L'Oreal ambassador swept her newly dyed locks high into a Marie Antoinette style Pouf, to match the movie's French historic theme, as she posed with a fan that read 'Worth it' - the hair brand's famous slogan.

Accentuating her features with make-up she completed the look with a diamond necklace and matching earrings.

She completed the look with a pair of towering Remy: Silver Suede & Snake platforms by luxury brand Sole Bliss retailing for 199.
The Little Mermaid is one of the Duchess of Sussex's favourite Disney films, and now it's been suggested that the live action remake contains a dig at her sister-in-law.

A critic who saw an early screening of the film noted the apparent jibe against Kate, the Princess of Wales, in the script for the movie - which Meghan previously said had parallels with her time in the royal family.

Speaking to Page Six the reviewer pointed to the scene where Ariel and Prince Eric meet, after she's given up her voice to get to the surface and he has to try to guess her name.

'His first guess is Diana. His second guess is Catherine, but after [Ariel gives a disgusted] reaction, he [concludes] ''OK, definitely not Catherine.'''

They continued: 'Disney would be disingenuous to imply those name choices were coincidental.'

Meghan previously admitted she drew a comparison between the Little Mermaid and her own struggles as a working royal after marrying Prince Harry.

Diana is of course the name of Prince Harry's late mother, who died in August 1997 following a car accident in Paris.

And Catherine is the full name of his sister-in-law, the Princess of Wales, who is more commonly known as Kate.

Meghan previously admitted she drew a comparison between the Little Mermaid and her own struggles as a working royal after marrying Prince Harry.

In her interview with Oprah in 2021 she recalled watching the classic 1989 animation during her troubled time in the UK after her 2018 wedding.

A film critic has suggested the live remake of The Little Mermaid contains a dig at Kate

In the scene between Ariel and Prince Eric (pictured), the prince tries to guess Ariel's name

'I was sitting in Nottingham cottage and The Little Mermaid came on,' Meghan said.

'And who as an adult really watches The Little Mermaid but it came on and I was like, "Well I'm here all the time I might as well watch this".

'And I went, ''Oh my God, she falls in love with the prince and because of that she loses her voice''.

'But in the end she gets her voice back.'.

Oprah said: 'And this is what happened here. You feel like you got your voice back,' to which Meghan replied: 'Yeah.'

Meghan later told Oprah that her and Harry's love story has been 'greater than any fairytale you've ever read'.

The duchess collaborated with Disney on her first project after stepping down as a working royal.

Meghan agreed to do the voiceover for Elephant, a Disney+ documentary which followed an elephant family's 1,000-mile journey across Africa, after a request from filmmakers Mark and Vanessa Berlowitz.

Meghan agreed to do the voiceover for Elephant, a Disney+ documentary which followed an elephant family's 1,000-mile journey across Africa, after a request from filmmakers

Meghan's first film premiere as a royal was to attend a screening of The Lion King, the live-action remake of the classic 1990s film, where she was introduced to Beyonce and Jay-Z

The film marked her return to showbiz. At the time, Meghan announced she would be donating her fee to an elephant preservation charity.

Her first film premiere as a royal was to attend a screening of The Lion King, the live-action remake of the classic 1990s film, where she was introduced to Beyonce.

The remake of The Little Mermaid stars Halle Bailey as Ariel, Melissa McCarthy as Ursula, Javier Bardem as King Triton, Daveed Diggs as Sebastian and Jonah Hauer-King as Prince Eric. It is directed by Rob Marshall.

Meghan recalled watching the classic 1989 animation during her troubled time in the UK after her 2018 wedding to Harry

Halle Bailey as Ariel in the remake of The Little Mermaid

The Little Mermaid tells the story of Ariel  the youngest of King Triton's daughters.

The 'bright and spirited young mermaid with a thirst for adventure'  who longs to 'find out more about the world beyond the sea'  makes a trip to the surface and meets Prince Eric.

Iconic songs from The Little Mermaid soundtrack have had their lyrics changed to reflect consent in the live action remake.
A mother-of-two has sparked fierce backlash after revealing that she puts Apple AirTags on her children to keep tabs on them - and even 'trained them like dogs' to come when she presses a button.

Vada Stevens, from North Carolina, originally took to TikTok to share her parenting methods.

But other social media users were less than impressed and argued that it was 'giving shock collar vibes.'

Vada, 24, has since hit back at the criticism and said 'you can't ever be too protective.'

Mother-of-two Vada Stevens has sparked fierce backlash after putting Apple AirTags on her children - and then 'training them like dogs' to come when she presses a button

The 24-year-old, from North Carolina, originally took to TikTok to share a video about her parenting methods

Poll Do YOU think these safety measures are reasonable? Yes No Do YOU think these safety measures are reasonable? Yes 669 votes

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In her clip, which has so far been viewed more than 1.7 million times, Vada explains: 'I saw a TikTok about a mom who puts Apple AirTags in bracelets on her kids and I thought it was the coolest thing.

'You can find them on Amazon and you can track them and make a beeping noise and you can train your kids to come when they hear the beeping noise.'

Vada then demonstrates the function as her delighted daughters Stella, four, and Serena, two, come running into shot.

'You beeped for us,' the girls both state, before one asks: 'What did you need?'

The mom, who is also eight months pregnant, then uploaded the post alongside a caption that read: 'Today we are dog training.'

And, although there were some social media users who praised the idea, it seems that most were less than impressed.

One wrote: 'Kids are not animals stop tracking them with tracking devices wtf dude? Just look for them normally!!'

Another added: 'Yikes this is scary!'

Vada then demonstrated the device as her delighted daughters Stella, four, and Serena, two, came running into shot

But other social media users were less than impressed and argued that it was 'giving shock collar vibes'

And a third simply said: 'This has to be a joke.'

Following the backlash, Vada has since hit back by defending her decision to use the tracking bracelets.

Her children are homeschooled but regularly visit their grandparents for outings and sleepovers as well as going on visits to the park or the movies.

She told Today: 'I am extremely paranoid about everything safety. I thought the bracelets were genius.

'My two-year-old doesn't pay attention and runs off so if she happens to get lost, [the AirTag] is a perfect way to find her.

Vada, who is eight months pregnant, has since hit back at the criticism and said 'you can't ever be too protective'

'It just takes one second to look away from your kid and they're off in a crowd somewhere.'

Speaking directly about the negative comments she received under the post, Vada said that parenting has become a competition for many.

She concluded: 'In this day and age, you can't ever be too protective. People think I'm a crazy mom  one even said I needed to sign my child up for therapy...

'I'm doing this to prevent my children from ever being taken or lost. I'm going to do my best to know exactly where they are.'
A vet has revealed the signs that all dog owners should be looking out for that could help their pets avoid serious illness - and even save their lives.

Dr. Hunter Finn, who owns Pet Method Animal Hospital in McKinney, Texas, has more than 2.2 million followers on TikTok, where he shares a peek into his life as a vet and expert advice.

In a recent video, the vet warned dog lovers about pooches doing a 'drunk walk.'

The brief clip depicts a conversation between a pet owner and a vet, with Dr. Finn playing both parts.

Dr. Hunter Finn, from Texas, has more than 2.2 million followers on TikTok. In a recent video, the vet warned dog lovers about pooches doing a 'drunk walk.'

'So my dog has not been jumping on and off the couch lately,' the owner says.

'Does he seem [in pain] at all?' the vet responds.

'No but he walks like he's drunk,' the owner tells him.

Dr. Finn then warns: 'Get that dog to the vet now.'

The caption of his video, which has been more than 29,000 views at the time of writing, reads: 'Many things can cause this but [you] want to get a full assessment of your dog's spinal cord from a vet ASAP.'

It sparked other people to share similar stories about what happened to their pets.

'My seven month old boxer ended up getting meningitis. I didn't even know that was a thing in dogs,' one animal lover said.

'Ours ended up being Wobblers Syndrome with our Mastiff,' another added.

Dr. Finn owns Pet Method Animal Hospital in McKinney, Texas, and shares a peek into his life as a vet and expert advice

@dr.hunterfinn Many things can cause this but hou want to get a full assessment of your dogs spinal cord from a vet ASAP #drfinn #mckinneytx  original sound - reversed

'Mine was five and it was terminal brain cancer,' a third TikTok user wrote.

The two warning signs dog owners should be looking out for 'Drunk walk' Dr. Hunter Finn explains a dog that has a 'drunk walk' should seek medical attention: 'Many things can cause this but [you] want to get a full assessment of your dog's spinal cord... ASAP' Vomiting up 'nothing' It could be a symptom of bloat or gastric dilatation-volvulus, which could be deadly if it goes untreated Advertisement

Someone else said: 'Yeahhhh doxie owner and ivdd (intervertebral disc disease) isn't fun.. 10k later... but he's fully healed!'

IVDD is a spinal disorder that can happen when a dog's disk is ruptured, slipped, bulging or herniated, Carolina Veterinary Specialists explained.

In another video, Dr. Finn speaks out about another common symptom that dog owners come across: 'an upset stomach.'

He stitched another video by creator @kylie.sonnet who revealed they lost their dog.

The clip begins with a photo of their canine with the overlaid text reading: 'He just has an upset stomach he will be okay [tomorrow].'

It then cuts to a sympathy card and the dog's used chew toy sitting next to some flowers on a table.

Dr. Finn weighs in saying: 'I'm so sorry for anyone this has ever happened to and if you look in the comments on that video, you'll see a lot of people who similar circumstances have happened to. It's very, very sad.'

He continued: 'If my one takeaway for people is it's like you know your pet better than anyone. I'm a vet and you know your pet better than me.

In another video, Dr. Finn (right) speaks out about another common symptom that dog owners come across, 'an upset stomach,' after @kylie.sonnet revealed they lost their dog (left)

'If you think there's something wrong, please just take them to get checked up because even if everything's not always savable, it will help you with some of that guilt and that pain that you feel afterwards.

'And who knows maybe we can save it, maybe we can catch it early, maybe we can do something. So remember if you're worried don't wait, don't Google, do ahead and get them checked out.'

Dr. Finn also warns people about another scenario involving bloat, also known as gastric dilatation-volvulus (GDV).

In this role-playing video, a conversation unfolds with a dog owner who explains that their pet 'keeps trying to vomit but nothing is coming up.'

The vet then asks: 'Is it deep chested and eaten a big meal recently?'

'Yeah and he got the zoomies after, do you think it's bloat?' the owner responds.

The vet then again urges people to seek medical attention immediately, adding in the caption: 'GDV is a serious disease that is a true emergency.'

The condition happens 'when a dog's stomach fills with gas, food, or fluid and subsequently twists,' according to the Veterinary Medical Center of Central New York, and it can be deadly if goes untreated.
Whether its the aroma of freshly cut grass, or the flavour of bramble fruits, we all assume our wine choices are influenced by a keen sense of smell and our sophisticated taste buds.

But a new study suggests your favourite tipple could actually be dictated by your personality. In an experiment for the journal Food Quality And Preference, test cases first took a questionnaire to measure their levels of the so-called Big Five character traits: agreeableness, conscientiousness, extroversion, emotional stability and openness.

The study participants then tasted 258 different wines (where do we sign up?) and noted their preferences, which took in degrees of alcohol, acidity, sweetness, body, tannin, flavour, persistence and complexity of aroma.

Fascinatingly, researchers found significant links between the candidates personality traits and the characteristics of the bottles they preferred.

For example, extroverts  the more talkative, enthusiastic drinkers  chose wines with more acidity and tannin.

A new study suggests your favourite tipple could actually be dictated by your personality. The so-called Big Five character traits - agreeableness, conscientiousness, extroversion, emotional stability and openness - are believed to play a role

Agreeable participants professed to like their wines with stronger alcohol and aromas, but not so much cheek-sucking acidity.

And as for the conscientious types? They were happy to drink anything.

There was no explanation from the research as to why such results might be the case but whos quibbling when theres an opportunity to try wines youre programmed to fall in love with.

So, based on your key personality trait, which wines should you be putting in your glass? Wine expert HELEN MCGINN rounds up a selection of styles to pick from

IF YOU ARE EXTROVERTED

Lidl Chianti Riserva, 6.49 (lidl.co.uk)

Gregarious, confident drinkers gravitate towards tipples with plenty of tannin and acidity. This puts you firmly in the red wine camp (white wine doesnt really have detectable tannins as theyre usually fermented without grape skins, where tannins are found). Styles like Chianti and the more expensive Barolo from Italy will hit the spot.

Try: Lidl Chianti Riserva, 6.49 (lidl.co.uk)

The grape behind Chianti, Tuscanys most famous red wine, is Sangiovese. It produces red wines with generous amounts of acidity and tannin so you get grip from the tannins and freshness from the acidity. Flavour-wise, think red cherries and a hint of dried herbs.

Try: Langhe Nebbiolo, 7.49 (lidl.co.uk)

Made from Piedmonts star grape Nebbiolo, think of this as a baby Barolo. Usually a little softer and juicier in style but still with that cherry fruit character with firm tannins. A brilliant food wine, and less than half the price of Barolo!

Langhe Nebbiolo, 7.49 (lidl.co.uk)

IF YOU ARE... AGREEABLE

Journeys End Honeycomb Chardonnay, 9.50 (ocado.com)

Those who happily forfeit their own comfort to fit in with others prefer aromas and alcohol, but are not so keen on acidity. Go for mellow wines with warm flavours like ripe, lightly oaked Chardonnay or juicy reds made from the Malbec or Merlot grape.

Try: Journeys End Honeycomb Chardonnay, 9.50 (ocado.com)

This rich and toasty Chardonnay is from Journeys End in South Africas Western Cape. The grapes are hand-harvested early in the morning to make sure all the fruit flavours are preserved and some of the wine is fermented in barrels adding a little more oomph.

Try: Finca Las Moras Barrel Select Malbec, 8 (coop.co.uk)

Fabulously mellow Malbec from its second home, Argentina (the grape originally came from France). Ripe and round with black plum fruits and a touch of spice from a year spent ageing in French and American oak barrels, perfect with a bowl of chilli.

Finca Las Moras Barrel Select Malbec, 8 (coop.co.uk)

IF YOU ARE... CONSCIENTIOUS

Taste The Difference Grenache Gris, 7 (sainsburys.co.uk)

Strangely, this particular group is the most easily pleased. Basically, theyll drink anything. You could stick with crowd-pleasers like easy-drinking Pinot Grigio or juicy, medium-bodied Pinot Noir wines. but Id urge you to try something a little different.

Try: Taste The Difference Grenache Gris, 7 (sainsburys.co.uk)

The Grenache grape comes in three colours  Noir, Blanc and Gris. You dont see this particular one, the Gris, often made as a single variety wine but when done well, its refreshingly good. This ones full of ripe stone fruit flavours  peach and apricots  with a gentle touch of creaminess.

Try: Extra Special Douro, 6.75 (groceries.asda.com)

The Douro region is best known for producing Portugals famous fortified wine but there are plenty of brilliant wines made here using the same grapes found in port. This ones devilishly juicy with buckets of bramble fruit flavours. Serve with hearty stews or sausages and mash.

Extra Special Douro, 6.75 (groceries.asda.com)

IF YOU ARE... EMOTIONALLY STABLE

Wynns Coonawarra Estate Shiraz, mix six price 11.99 (majestic.co.uk)

While the rest of us indulge our neuroses with moods as changeable as the spring weather, youre the calm in a stormy sea.

As such, you like plenty going on in your glass with a preference for full-bodied wines with lots of tannin, flavour and aroma. In which case, head straight to Shiraz where the wines are full of personality.

Try: Wynns Coonawarra Estate Shiraz, mix six price 11.99 (majestic.co.uk)

This 100 per cent Shiraz is made by a legendary estate in South Australias Coonawarra region. Big, bold and intense, this wine is aged for a year in French oak barrels, and is a perfect match for beef wellington, too.

Try: Tesco Finest Cotes Du Rhone Villages, 8 (tesco.com)

A gorgeous Rhone red made from a classic blend of Grenache and Syrah grapes. Full of lovely ripe bramble fruit flavours with a touch of spice and earthiness, this is just the ticket when theres hearty full-flavoured food on the table.

Tesco Finest Cotes Du Rhone Villages, 8 (tesco.com)

IF YOU ARE... OPEN-MINDED

Tesco Finest Saint Emilion Grand Cru, 17 (tesco.com)

This group of wine lovers want long flavours, or finish to use wine speak, from their wines, ideally with lots of teeth-coating tannins too. For whites, go for sparkling wines like champagne, and for a tannic fix go for reds like Cabernet Sauvignon or Claret.

Try: Tesco Finest Saint Emilion Grand Cru, 17 (tesco.com)

This is a classic Bordeaux blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cabernet Franc grapes grown on Bordeauxs right bank. The wines from this particular region are famed for their considerable depth and structure and their long flavours on the finish.

Try: Ayala Brut Majeur NV, 27.99 (waitrose.com)

This Chardonnay-dominant champagne is so pure and elegant with flavours that go on forever, its bound to tickle the taste buds. Made from a blend of more than 70 different crus (vineyards), its aged for three years, adding a gorgeous toasty touch. Really smart for the money, serve this with canapes.

Helens book, The Knackered Mothers Wine Guide, is out now.
A woman went viral when she asked TikTok to help her identify a mystery celebrity after she spotted people snagging photos with him on her flight - and it got so much traction that it even garnered a response from the star himself.

Paige Craig, an influencer from Orlando, Florida, was on a flight to Los Angeles, California, last week when she noticed that people kept approaching one of the guys who was sitting in her row and asking him for photos.

Based on the attention he was receiving from her fellow passengers, Paige had a feeling he was someone famous - but couldn't figure out who he was.

She hoped the internet could help her out, so she took a quick clip of the VIP and uploaded it to TikTok - but what came next was something she never anticipated.

A woman went viral when she asked TikTok to help her identify a mystery celebrity after she spotted people snagging photos with him on her flight

Paige Craig, from Orlando, Florida, was on a flight to Los Angeles last week when she noticed people kept approaching one of the guys who was sitting in her row and asking him for photos

Paige had a feeling he was someone famous - but couldn't figure out who he was, so she took a quick clip of the VIP and uploaded it to TikTok

@_paigecraig Other information- he speaks spanish and is a very nice man. Thank you for your service.  Who Are You - The Who

Poll Do YOU know who the mystery celebrity on Paige's flight is? Yes No Do YOU know who the mystery celebrity on Paige's flight is? Yes 560 votes

No 5335 votes Now share your opinion





'Can someone tell me who this man is because people keep taking pics with him and I'm too scared to ask him who he is,' she wrote in the video.

It began with the camera focusing on her face before she turned it to show a man with brown hair and glasses sitting in the seat next to hers.

'Other information - he speaks Spanish and is a very nice man. Thank you for your service,' she added in the caption.

The video got nearly 30 million views in a matter of days, and it received a slew of responses from people who were stunned over the fact that she didn't recognize the star.

It turns out, the man seated near her on the flight was none other than Mexican actor and director Eugenio Gonzalez Derbez.

He is best known for starring in the movies Jack and Jill (alongside Adam Sandler), Girl In Progress (which also starred Eva Mendes, Matthew Modine, and Patricia Arquette), Miracles From Heaven (opposite Jennifer Garner), Instructions Not Included - which is the most successful Spanish-language film in the US.

His other acting credits include How to Be a Latin Lover (alongside Salma Hayek, Rob Lowe, and Kristen Bell), Overboard (opposite Anna Faris), the Academy Award-winning Apple TV+ movie CODA, the comedy Dora and the Lost City of Gold, and most recently, the rom-com The Valet.

He's also lent his voice to numerous animated films like The Secret Life of Pet and The Angry Birds Movie 2, and provided dubs for characters in the Spanish version of well-known American movies including Dr. Dolittle, Mulan, 102 Dalmatians, and Shrek.

The video got nearly 30 million views in a matter of days - and it got so much traction that it even garnered a response from the star himself

It turns out, the man seated near her on the flight was none other than Mexican actor and director Eugenio Gonzalez Derbez

He is best known for starring in the movies Jack and Jill, Girl In Progress, Miracles From Heaven, Overboard (left), How to Be a Latin Lover (right), CODA, and The Valet

The video received a slew of responses from people who were stunned over the fact that she didn't recognize the star

As the comments came rolling in, a mortified Paige begged her viewers to 'stop tagging him' in the comment section out of fear that he may see

As the comments came rolling in, a mortified Paige begged her viewers to 'stop tagging him' out of fear that he may see.

While speaking to Insider about the incident, she explained that she uploaded the clip mid-flight, which mean she spent 'five-ish hours' worrying that he would come across it while they were still on the plane together.

She explained that while she initially debated taking it down after she got her answer, she opted to keep it up so that she could learn more about the actor through the comments.

Thankfully, he didn't show any hints that he saw the video while they were in air. But by the next day, it must have caught his eye because he respond with a video of his own.

'Hi Paige, let me introduce myself. My name is Eugenio Derbez and I'm basically an actor and director,' Eugenio responded in a video shared to his TikTok account a day later

Paige is the wife of motorcycle rider Christian Craig, and has gained more than a million followers for sharing a glimpse into the lavish perks that come with being married to the racer

When it came to Eugenio's response, Paige called it 'hilarious,' adding to Insider, 'It was also nice knowing he wasn't going to put a restraining order on me for the creeper vibes'

'Hi Paige, let me introduce myself. My name is Eugenio Derbez and I'm basically an actor and director,' he said in a video shared to his TikTok account.

He also shared a snap of himself staring away from the camera to Instagram, which he captioned, 'Now I have to look everywhere. Trying to avoid peeking,' and tagged Paige

He then showcased a montage of clips of him from his biggest roles, before he jokingly turned Paige's question onto herself.

'Now, can someone tell me who this girl is?' he continued. 'Because people keep following her, she has more than one million followers on TikTok.'

Paige is the wife of motorcycle rider Christian Craig, and has gained her own legion of more than one million followers for often sharing a glimpse into the lavish perks that come with being married to the racer.

Eugenio also shared a snap of himself staring away from the camera to Instagram, which he captioned, 'Now I have to look everywhere. Trying to avoid peeking,' and tagged Paige.

When it came to his response, Paige called it 'hilarious,' adding to Insider, 'It was also nice knowing he wasn't going to put a restraining order on me for the creeper vibes.'
King Charles and Queen Camilla are hiring a digital 'guru' to run their social media accounts - after the Prince and Princess of Wales' slick videos won over Generation Z over the Coronation weekend.

The royal couple are currently looking for an innovative digital content producer who will be based at Buckingham Palace.

Its knowing your content will be viewed by millions, says the advertisement on the royal website. Its finding new ways to maintain the King and the Queens presence in the public eye and on the world stage.

Explaining what the job will entail, the ad says: Joining our fast paced and dynamic digital team, youll deliver our digital output via our website, e-comms and social media channels, predominantly through planning, filming and editing videos.

Youll take on a key role in developing meaningful relationships and interactions with our audiences by creating and commissioning a variety of video content.

King Charles and Queen Camilla are currently looking for a 'Digital Content Producer' who will earn up to 35,000-a-year

The successful candidate will earn up to 35,000 a year and be able to 'identify stories that resonate with our audience'.

On top of this, they will be confident in using analytics as a means to 'measure the effectiveness of our output, and steer future ideas for content'.

A source told Diary editor Richard Eden that Charles and Camilla want a budding digital 'guru' of their own to stay in touch with younger royal fans.

It comes as the Prince and Princess of Wales have uploaded several professionally-filmed videos to their Instagram and Twitter accounts in recent weeks.

The slick clips included footage of the couple greeting crowds outside Buckingham Palace - which was captioned: '1 Day to Go!'

Following the Coronation, the couple shared a a one-minute clip with footage from that morning at Kensington Palace, which showed endearingly awestruck Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis gazing excitedly at the State Bentley as they prepared to leave for Westminster Abbey.

On the Sunday, Kate and William also released behind-the-scenes footage from the Coronation concert at Windsor Castle - which showed them arriving with Prince George and Princess Charlotte.

The campaign marks a serious ramping-up of the Prince and Princess of Waless PR strategy.

The Prince and Princess of Wales shared a one-minute clip of themselves getting ready for the Coronation on their Instagram

On the Sunday, the couple shared behind-the-scenes footage of them arriving at the Coronation concert with their two eldest children

The Princess of Wales was filmed holding Princess Charlotte's hand as they arrived for the Coronation Concert in Windsor

The videos have been lapped up by royal fans with the full Coronation film being viewed more than a million times in three days and their combined social media 'likes' on Twitter alone amounting to more than half a million over the Coronation weekend.

The Coronation bonanza has been followed by yet another video of William behind the scenes at Windsor Castle as he prepared to award England Lioness Beth Mead an MBE.

Over the weekend, the royal couple also released a jaw-dropping clip of the Princess playing the piano for the opening credits of the Eurovision Song Contest.

The Royal Family is said to be acutely aware of recent polling which, although it showed widespread support for the monarchy, indicated a worrying generational divide.

A recent poll for the Daily Mail showed that while 74 per cent of those aged 65 and over would vote to keep the monarchy, that support plunges to just 28 per cent of 18 to 24-year-olds.

This lack of engagement among young people has been exacerbated by Harry and Meghan's departure which, aside from the acres of unwelcome publicity, means that seven of our 11 remaining working royals are in their 70s and 80s.

Aone-minute clip with footage from that morning at Kensington Palace, which showed endearingly awestruck Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis gazing excitedly at the State Bentley as they prepared to leave for Westminster Abbey

Over the weekend, the royal couple also shared a clip of the Princess of Wales taking part in the opening sequence of the Eurovision song contest

The successful candidate will earn up to 35,000 a year and be able to 'identify stories that resonate with our audience'

The youngest are William and Kate, aged 41 and 40 respectively, followed by the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh, 59 and 58.

As the Waleses' children won't be carrying out royal duties regularly for another 10 years or more, the Palace is said to be keen to capitalise on their popularity to engage with Generation Z  those born between the mid to late 1990s and early 2000s.

The number of people watching traditional TV broadcasts hasfallen by 59 per cent. By contrast, YouTube and Facebook reach more than 90 per cent of internet users aged 15 and over, with the video-sharing app TikTok continuing to grow in popularity with 66 per cent of 15 to 24-year-olds.

A Kensington Palace spokesperson said: 'In telling our stories, we have to ensure we are reaching audiences of all ages. And there is a big audience that is not potentially consuming their news in the traditional ways, so we have to go to them. It's really important to the Prince and Princess of Wales that we are engaging those younger audiences in the work that we do.'

It's why Kensington Palace hired cool, young freelance filmmaker Will Warr  who has worked with brands including Puma and Red Bull  to shoot its glossy 'Coronation content'. The couple have worked with him before, on a family video to mark their tenth wedding anniversary in 2021.

William and Kate have also recently expanded their social media team from one to three, hiring a new 'digital content creator' and 'head of digital and social media' to bring 'Brand Wales' to a younger audience.

The couple's team, it can be revealed, have even had talks with TikTok, although it is understood there are no plans to start their own account.

Instead, they are focusing on growing their existing presence on YouTube, Instagram and Twitter.

Aides are at pains to stress that this does not mean the couple will start regularly posting private family moments and are keen to continue to ring-fence their children. 'They want their children to have the most normal upbringing they can provide,' says a spokesperson.
A Canadian woman living in Tasmania has revealed the most 'refreshing' thing about life in Australia.

Angela, who moved to Launceston a year ago, said that in Australia no one cares about what you do for a living, whereas in North America your job 'defines you'.

She added that in a year she's only been asked what her job is 'three or four times' whereas it's the first thing people ask in Canada.

'Nobody here gives a sh** about what people do for a living. I gotta tell you, that is so refreshing,' she explained.

'In North America has gotten to a point where your job denies you,' she added.

Scroll down for video

A Canadian woman living in Tasmania has revealed the most 'refreshing' thing about life in Australia. Angela, who moved to Launceston a year ago, said that in Australia no one cares about what you do for a living, whereas in North America your job 'defines you'

Angela, who often shares videos about life in Tasmania to her TikTok page, added: 'It's what everybody talks about. When you meet new people, when you go to a social gathering, usually the first question is "what do you do, who do you work for?"

'You can't help when you work there to help it define you,' she added.

She went on that 'no one give a s***' about what you do in Tasmania.

'People don't define me by what I do for work,' she said.

'I get asked about family, I get asked about what I do for fun.

Poll Do you ask people what they do for work? Yes, and I'm Australian No, and I'm Australian Yes, and I'm not Australian No, and I'm not Australian Do you ask people what they do for work? Yes, and I'm Australian 97 votes

No, and I'm Australian 210 votes

Yes, and I'm not Australian 14 votes

No, and I'm not Australian 26 votes Now share your opinion





'What I do for work is an afterthought,' she added.

'Australia, you'er doing that right'.

The Tiktoker went on: 'I don't know if it's everywhere, but from what I experienced from mainland and Tasmania, it happens.

'It's definitively a win for living here'.

In February, another Canadian expat who has been living in Australia for almost seven years has revealed the five culture shocks that 'blew her mind' and why cockroaches are the 'scariest' part of living in the country.

Ioana has lived in Queensland, Victoria and New South Wales during her time Down Under, and was surprised most by the outrageous rental prices, 'balanced' portion sizes and coffee culture.

In a video, the expat detailed how Australia differs to what she's used to in Montreal.

At the start of her three-year stint in Melbourne, Ioana was shocked when she first saw the rental prices and described Australia's housing market as 'crazy unaffordable'.

'I thought they [the prices] were monthly, um no, they're weekly,' she said.

'The base price in Melbourne is like $500, $600, $700 a week. It's insane and that blew my mind,' she continued.

What are five culture shocks about Australia? 1. High rent prices 2. Balanced portion sizes 3. The coffee and cafe culture 4. No tipping at restaurants 5. Going barefoot 'everywhere' Advertisement

'I'm from Montreal where sometimes you could get places as low as $600 a month.'

Currently Ioana lives on the Gold Coast and claims rent 'isn't much cheaper' there now compared to Melbourne.

Next, when dining out at a cafe for brunch she noticed the portion sizes are much smaller and 'less gross' compared to the food served in Canada.

'I actually had reverse culture shock when I went back home a month ago because I had breakfast in Montreal and this is literally what they served me,' she said, sharing an image of a huge breakfast of eggs, bacon, cheese, beans and toast.

'I didn't even get the whole breakfast in the photo, it's just slathers in sauce and sugar and super disgusting. I also had four pieces of toast in the corner there. No one should be eating that much food.'

To compare, the young expat also included a second photo of an egg bagel she had for breakfast in Australia recently.

'As you can see, it's a lot more balanced,' she said.

She also described as Aussie coffee as 'some of the best coffee' she's ever had.
Ministers said they would all be ready by 2030 but health bosses are doubtful

Construction work has barely begun on the Government's bold promise to create forty new hospitals by 2030.

Only two sites have been built so far under the pledge, made by ex-Prime Minister Boris Johnson in the Tories' 2019 election manifesto.

But the main building works have yet to start at 33 facilities, it was revealed today. Another five are currently under construction.

Most of the hospitals, which include new sites as well as rebuilds of existing ones, are still waiting to be given their final budget. There are fears some of the projects may be scrapped or heavily downsized.

Health chief are 'frustrated' by the delays and lack of clarity over the huge scheme, which No10 originally backed with 3.7billion in funding.

Construction work has barely begun on the Government's bold promise to create forty new hospitals by 2030. Funding was confirmed in October 2020, when ministers also invited eight other schemes to pitch for cash for vital building upgrades. Ministers said this funding would deliver 48 hospitals by 2030

Clips released as part of an ITV investigation show 'leaks so severe they flood and close corridors', maternity staff working under sheets full of water, and broken doors being kept shut by waste bins (pictured)

Pictured: Royal Liverpool Hospital, one of the two promised hospitals that is now open, flooded 10 times in 2018, causing delays to patient care and forcing staff to wear wellies

It was designed to overhaul crumbling NHS facilities, which are plagued by broken lifts, sinking floors and holes in the ceiling. Some sites have even reported sewage leaking into cancer wards, maternity units and A&Es.

The 40 hospitals pledge was a cornerstone of the Conservative's 2019 election manifesto.

Funding was confirmed in October 2020, when ministers also invited eight other schemes to pitch for cash for vital building upgrades.

Ministers said this funding would deliver 48 hospitals by 2030.

However, some of these are not entirely new hospitals. Some are added medical teaching centres or major renovations to existing buildings.

And of the 40 hospital builds announced, eight were projects already planned.

A BBC investigation  based on the original 40 plans  found that only the Royal Liverpool and the Northern Centre for Cancer Care are open and ready to patients.

The former was a replacement for a dangerous cladding-decked building  which was actually meant to be completed by 2017.

While the latter was an additional site to bring all Newcastle and North Cumbria non-surgical cancer services under one roof.

Lack of funding appeared to be a contributing factor, with 31 of the projects telling the BBC that while some cash had been provided to make a start, they did not have enough money to start the main building work.

This is not a one-hospital issue, as 50 per cent of trusts who responded to the investigation claimed to have at least one unresolved structural or maintenance problem

Some wards at the hospital have become so unsafe they have been shut (pictured) and what was once an intensive care unit is being used a store room due to a broken ventilation system

Just eight of the 40 hospitals said they had received full funding, and one did to want to answer.

Julian Hartley, of NHS Providers, said clarity on funding is urgently needed so that building work can start, highlighting the deterioration of facilities across the health service.

Backlog maintenance costs in the NHS have more than doubled from 4.7billion in 2011 to 10.2billion a decade later. Works needing done range from leaky gutters and faulty lifts, to the very fabric of hospital buildings.

'There are several hospitals which are made, for example, of aerated concrete  where ceilings are literally being held up by steel joists and round the clock safety care,' Sir Hartley said.

'Many trusts have got floods, raw sewage because of ageing infrastructure and mental health services are absolutely critical here when the environment is so important for patients.'

Faeces coming through the floor and water leaking from ceilings: The horror incidents at NHS hospitals Ceiling collapse on a side ward, water leaking from the ceiling on the top of the maternity landing and a lift broke down trapping two nurses inside (North West) Call bells were broken on a ward. Faeces coming through the floor on the ultrasound corridor (Yorkshire and the Humber) Waste pipe above a ward broke, resulting in waste leaking into the ward area (West Midlands) Part of the Emergency Department was closed due to a 'severe' sewage leak in December 2018 (London) Dirt/faeces/slime spurted up through a sink. This landed on a patients bed, and covered the floor and surrounding area. There was also a 'severe' leak from the roof by the maternity unit. Store cupboards were soaked, and water was going into electric fittings (West Midlands) A lift which had initially had a jammed door, stopped working. Staff and patients were unable to use the lift (South East) Water poured onto a ward bed from the ceiling and patients had to be moved (London) Sewage was coming up through the drains in bathrooms, water flooded into the ward corridor. Only one shower room was able to be used for 19 patients (East Midlands) Water leaking from pipes led to delays to patients being operated on  operating time had to be reduced and some were cancelled or relocated (East Midlands Several lifts out of service left no access to the Coronary Care Unit for catering trolleys, bed or patients. A patient was left on the Clinical Decisions Unit in a wheelchair, as they were unable to access CCU for treatment (East Midlands) A burst pipe meant no x-rays could be taken (South) Ceiling panel on a ward collapsed, but fortunately missed the patient (North West) People were trapped in a lift (London) 'Ceiling leakage' and tiles falling off on numerous areas on a ward, and that on one occasion the labour ward was very cold, and they were unable to keep babies warm (West Midlands) Advertisement

Nigel Edwards, of the health think tank the Nuffield Trust, said the Government's promise was 'big and slightly vague', adding that he felt ministers underestimated how long it takes to change how hospitals are designed, built and planned.

'It was never clear there was enough money available to do anything like the scale of construction that they wanted to,' Mr Edwards said, saying hitting the 2030 target is 'extremely unlikely'.

Six projects were supposed to be finished by 2025  but none of these sites have secured full planning permission or funding yet.

One of these was the Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust in Surrey, which says the cost of bringing its building and equipment up to standard is 130million.

An ITV investigation into St Helier Hospital in February showed it suffered leaks so severe they flooded and closed corridors. Maternity staff were also captured working under sheets full of water, and broken doors propped open by waste bins.

Some wards had become so unsafe they were shut, and what was once an intensive care unit was being used a store room due to a broken ventilation system.

The investigation also found that many NHS doctors feel maintenance issues are being played down, and even hidden, but are too scared to speak out for fear of repercussions.

Chief medical officer at St Helier, Ruth Charlton, told the BBC it was not safe to enter one ward, as 'the foundations are crumbling and windows are falling out'.

She said she cannot see works being completed by 2025 and gave an 'optimistic' guess of 2027.

'I'm frustrated on behalf of our patients, their families or staff that they can't receive healthcare in the sort of facility that I would want my family to receive healthcare in,' Dr Charlton added.

Sir Hartley said: 'There's an absolutely dire need for decisions to be made on making progress, both of the 40 new hospitals and also how we tackle, over the medium to longer term, the ageing infrastructure.

'Because the point is if we dont do this its just going to get worse.'

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said it remains committed to delivering all 40 hospitals by 2030.

Numerous factors, including delays to the Government's New Hospitals scheme, are to blame for the state of Britain's crumbling hospitals.

Labour's botched private finance initiatives (PFI)  expanded to the NHS when it was last in power  are also partly at fault, critics say.

Under PFI schemes, private firms paid for the building of new hospitals, with trusts repaying them over 30 or more years, with interest. Hospitals are currently paying out more than 2billion a year still as part of the deal.
know who the infected poultry workers are? Email

Britain is on red alert for bird flu after two poultry workers tested positive for the killer virus.

Health chiefs today revealed they are monitoring the threat 'very carefully' amid ever-growing fears another human pandemic is lurking around the corner.

No signs of human-to-human transmission have yet been detected in the UK.

Officials have already hunted down close contacts of the two infected workers in efforts to contain any potential outbreak.

Neither of the pair  who worked on the same farm in an undisclosed location  suffered any symptoms of the illness. Both have since tested negative after being diagnosed earlier this month.

The new cases come after Alan Gosling (pictured), a retired engineer in Devon, caught the virus after his ducks, some of which lived inside his home, became infected in 2022

UK scientists tasked with developing 'scenarios of early human transmission' of bird flu have warned that five per cent of infected people could die if the virus took off in humans (shown under scenario three). Under another scenario, the scientists assumed 1 per cent of those infected would be hospitalised and 0.25 per cent would die  similar to how deadly Covid was in autumn 2021 (scenario one). The other saw a death rate of 2.5 per cent (scenario two)

Professor Susan Hopkins, chief medical advisor at UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), told the BBC Radio 4's Today programme: 'Clearly this is an ongoing risk that we need to monitor and watch for very carefully and understand how transmission may occur.'

Both workers have since 'become negative on PCR swabs' and it remains 'uncertain whether they were a true infection', she added.

A true infection occurs if 'the virus was replicating in their nose' and therefore posed a risk to others.

The virus could otherwise have sat 'in the back of the nose from contamination,' she said.

Read more: Two Brits are struck down with bird flu but health chiefs insist there's no proof killer virus is spreading between humans Advertisement

Professor Hopkins told the programme: 'These are people who are working in very close contact and the proximity with infected birds on infected farms.

'So there will be a lot of dust and a lot of potential virus fragments in the air, but also on the ground, on their clothing as theyre working in this environment.

'They wear a lot of PPE to prevent them from getting infected.

'But there is always still a risk that this virus and the contaminants from the environment can get under the nose and therefore we can detect bird flu when we do swabs from that.'

She added: 'We are testing the contacts of individuals, we are offering tests at least to the contacts of individuals.

'We will continue to do that as part of our surveillance.'

H5N1  the avian influenza strain behind the current outbreak sweeping the world, considered the biggest ever  does not transmit easily between humans.

But mutations to the virus that makes mammal-to-mammal transmission easier could change that, some experts fear.

Globally, fewer than 900 human cases of H5N1, which kills close to 50 per cent of everyone it strikes, have ever been recorded.

The virus is usually picked up through close contact with an infected bird, whether dead or alive.

Like other forms of flu, humans can get infected if the virus gets into their eyes, nose, mouth or is inhaled.

But with bird flu, this usually occurs in people who spend a lot of time with infected creatures, such as bird handlers.

A spate of human bird flu cases have emerged in the early parts of 2023.

Earlier this year, a Cambodian man and his daughter were diagnosed with H5N1.

Their cases sparked international concern, with many experts fearing the infection was proof the virus had mutated to infect people better after tearing through the world's bird population.

Further testing found the Cambodian family did not have the H5N1 strain rapidly spreading among the world's wild birds  but instead a variant known to spread locally in the Prey Veng province they resided in.

Over 700 confirmed cases of H5N1 have been detected among wild birds in England since September 2022, according to the UKHSA. Pictured above, a bird flu outbreak in February in Queens Park, Heywood, Rochdale

Both the British workers were spotted through routine testing of people came into contact with infected birds, the UKHSA confirmed yesterday. Neither was named.

The two individuals 'were tested repeatedly over a period of time', Professor Hopkins told the Today programme.

'They manifested no symptoms which is really good and they didn't transmit to anyone else,' she added.

'We don't think this increases the risk to the population across the UK at present.'

Health officials said one of the persons infected likely tested positive for bird flu after inadvertently inhaling infected material, like faeces, from diseased animals.

But they added how the second person had come into contact with the virus was currently unclear.

There has only ever previously been one case of a British person becoming infected with H5N1 since the ongoing outbreak took off in October 2021.

Alan Gosling, a retired engineer in Devon who kept ducks at home, caught the virus in early 2022 after his ducks became infected.

He later tested negative while he was quarantined for nearly three weeks.

All 160 of Mr Gosling's ducks  including 20 that lived inside his home  were culled after he tested positive.

Government advisor, Professor Ian Brown, the director of scientific services at the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA), said: 'Deep surveillance programmes of personnel in close contact with infected poultry are insightful to understand what could happen.

'To date out of the reported detections in humans it is clear that careful investigation and interpretation is required.'

However, he added: 'Detection by PCR alone does not necessarily prove active infection and supports the virus still remains strongly avian in its tropism.

'But programmes such as those being deployed in Great Britain are valuable to gain better understand of the true risk these viruses currently pose to human health.

'The one health joined up approach being applied in Great Britain sets best international practice for vigilance.'

Current advice from the UKHSA states the risk to public health from the virus is very low.

People are advised not to touch or pick up any dead or visibly sick birds that they find.

In the UK, there have been 183 confirmed wild cases of H5N1 since October 2022.

British farms have already faced tough, lockdown-esque biosecurity rules in efforts to combat the deadly disease.

A housing order keeping birds indoors  even those reared as free range  to avoid contact with wild birds was only lifted last month.

Asked this morning if the mandatory housing order for bird should be returned if further human cases are detected, Professor Hopkins said: 'I think were seeing much less detections in farms than we saw pre-winter and even last summer and therefore the overall risk to poultry on our farms is much less than it was before.'

Some nations, including China, have been vaccinating birds against the H5N1 strain for years.

Birds are vaccinated either via an injection into the egg or a spray onto chicks when they are still in boxes.

Under UK health policy however, vaccinating chickens is currently illegal.

APHA, an arm of DEFRA, is reviewing the bird flu risk to humans every week.

The government agency has currently set the threat level to level three, given there is 'evidence' of changes in the virus genome that could trigger 'mammalian infection', it said.

Any 'sustained' mammal-to-mammal transmission of the pathogen would raise the threat level to four, while human-to-human would push it to five.

British scientists have predicted the virus could kill one up to one in 20 people it infects, if it ever manages to take off in humans.
Two British poultry workers have tested positive for bird flu, making them only the second and third human cases ever recorded in the UK.

Health chiefs today revealed they are monitoring the threat 'very carefully' amid ever-growing fears another human pandemic is lurking around the corner.

But no signs of human-to-human transmission have yet been detected in the UK.

So what are the signs of bird flu? How deadly is the virus? And what measures are in place to curb the spread?

Here, MailOnline breaks down everything you need to know about the outbreak.

Over 700 confirmed cases of H5N1 have been detected among wild birds in England since September 2022, according to the UKHSA. Pictured above, a bird flu outbreak in February in Queens Park, Heywood, Rochdale

What is bird flu?

Bird flu is an infectious type of influenza that spreads among birds.

In rare cases, it can be transmitted to humans through close contact with a dead or alive infected bird.

This includes touching infected birds, their droppings or bedding. People can also catch bird flu if they kill or prepare infected poultry for eating.

Wild birds are carriers, especially through migration.

As they cluster together to breed, the virus spreads rapidly and is then carried to other parts of the globe.

New strains tend to appear first in Asia, from where more than 60 species of shore birds, waders and waterfowl head off to Alaska to breed and mix with migratory birds from the US. Others go west and infect European species.

Which strain of bird flu has been circulating?

There are many different strains of bird flu virus and most don't infect humans.

It has not been confirmed which strain both poultry workers tested positive for.

But H5N1  which has triggered the biggest ever bird flu outbreak  is known to still be spreading.

Earlier this year, on March 27, the World Health Organization (WHO) was also informed that a Chinese woman had become the first person to ever die from the H3N8 strain.

The 56-year-old woman from the southern province of Guangdong was the third person ever known to have been infected with the H3N8 subtype of avian influenza, according to the WHO.

Although rare in people, H3N8 is common in birds, but it causes little to no sign of disease.

What are the signs of bird flu?

Among birds who are infected with the most serious strain, signs of infection can include a swollen head, closed and runny eyes, lethargy and even depression.

The virus can only be confirmed through laboratory tests.

Some species such as ducks, geese and swans can carry and even spread the virus without displaying any symptoms.

What about in humans?

Symptoms of bird flu in humans may involve a very high temperature or feeling hot or shivery, aching muscles, a headache and a cough or shortness of breath.

According to the NHS, other early symptoms could also include diarrhoea, stomach pain, bleeding from the nose and gums and conjunctivitis.

Both the British workers were spotted through routine testing of people came into contact with infected birds and neither displayed any symptoms.

The new cases come after Alan Gosling (pictured), a retired engineer in Devon, caught the virus after his ducks, some of which lived inside his home, became infected in 2022

UK scientists tasked with developing 'scenarios of early human transmission' of bird flu have warned that five per cent of infected people could die if the virus took off in humans (shown under scenario three). Under another scenario, the scientists assumed 1 per cent of those infected would be hospitalised and 0.25 per cent would die  similar to how deadly Covid was in autumn 2021 (scenario one). The other saw a death rate of 2.5 per cent (scenario two)

Is bird flu a risk to humans?

Yes, but only 873 human cases of bird flu have been reported to the World Health Organization since 2003.

The risk to people has been deemed 'low'.

But people are strongly urged not to touch sick or dead birds because the virus is lethal, killing up to 56 per cent of people it does manage to infect.

The UKHSA said it has not yet detected evidence of human-to-human transmission.

The two new human cases do not currently change the level of risk to human health, they said.

There has only ever previously been one case of a British person becoming infected with H5N1 since the ongoing outbreak took off in October 2021. Alan Gosling, a retired engineer in Devon who kept ducks, caught the virus in early 2022 after his ducks became infected.

He later tested negative while he was quarantined for nearly three weeks.

All 160 of Mr Gosling's ducks  including 20 that lived inside his home  were culled after he tested positive.

How does it spread to humans?

In rare cases, the virus can be transmitted to humans through close contact with a dead or alive infected bird.

This includes touching infected birds, their droppings or bedding. People can also catch bird flu if they kill or prepare infected poultry for eating.

The UKHSA advises people not to touch or pick up any dead or visibly sick birds that they find.

Markets where live birds are sold can also be a source of bird flu and should be avoided if you're travelling to countries that have had an outbreak of bird flu, according to the NHS.

It is not possible to catch bird flu through eating fully cooked poultry or eggs, even in areas with an outbreak of bird flu.

How deadly is it?

The H5N1 virus, currently the most prevalent strain in circulation, has killed millions of birds since it started in October 2021.

Worrying lab experiments have shown some of the H5N1 strains spreading among wild animals can also spread 'efficiently' in ferrets with 'lethal outcomes'.

This worried experts, as ferrets have a similar respiratory makeup to humans, meaning the results provide an idea of how the virus would interact in people.

And British scientists have predicated the virus could kill one up to one in 20 people it infects, if it ever manages to take off in humans.

Those working on the models include Professor Neil Ferguson, an epidemiologist whose chilling projections of the Covid outbreak led the UK Government to impose the first lockdown.

Under one scenario, officials modelled that the virus could kill up to 5 per cent of people who get infected. The scientists said this was in line with SARS outbreak in 2002.

This is, however, much lower than current estimates for the virus. Bird flu has an actual case-fatality rate of around 50 per cent in humans.

The scientists noted that the risk would vary among different age groups, just like with Covid.

They also looked at how long it would take for health chiefs to spot that bird flu was spreading among people.

In a worst-case scenario, there would be 9,254 cases before the virus was spotted.

An outbreak of bird flu cases in humans emerged in February in Cambodia and saw an 11-year-old girl die from the virus and her 49-year-old father test positive for the H5N1 strain. Pictured above, a worker carries chickens at a market in Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia, on February 24, 2023

So far the virus H5N1 has been detected in some 80million birds and poultry globally since September 2021  double the previous record the year before. The highly pathogenic H5N1 strain is also known to have been circulating in the UK and Europe. Pictured, an electron micrograph of the H5N1 strain

What measures have been in place?

A 'mandatory housing order' for England and Wales was lifted on April 18, meaning poultry and captive birds could be kept outside again.

Bird keepers had been subject to a national housing order since November 7 to help curb an unprecedented number of bird flu cases  more than 330 had been confirmed in the UK since October 2021.

The Government said poultry and other captive birds could be kept outside again unless they were in a specified protection zone.

Officials have also considered vaccinating chickens against bird flu and a government taskforce is currently assessing the benefits of a vaccine as a 'preventative measure'.

Some nations, including China, have been vaccinating birds against the H5N1 strain for years.

Birds are vaccinated either via an injection into the egg or a spray onto chicks when they are still in boxes.

Under UK health policy however, vaccinating chickens is currently illegal.

In March, DEFRA confirmed: 'Although we are exploring potential for use of vaccination as a preventive measure, we are not at the point of changing any policy.'

They added: 'The use of avian influenza vaccines in poultry and other captive birds is unlikely be a viable option for the 2023/24 high risk season.'

APHA, an arm of DEFRA, is reviewing the bird flu risk to humans every week.

Is the virus still circulating in the environment?

In April, Dr Christine Middlemiss, the UK's chief veterinary officer, confirmed the risk of bird flu infection had reduced following restrictive measures throughout the winter, although bird keepers were encouraged to observe 'stringent standards of biosecurity'.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4's Today programme this morning, Professor Susan Hopkins, chief medical advisor at UKHSA also said: 'I think were seeing much less detections in farms than we saw pre-winter and even last summer and therefore the overall risk to poultry on our farms is much less than it was before.'

If bird flu is suspected, 3km and 10km temporary control zones may be put in place around the infected premises, by DEFRA.

If bird flu is confirmed, disease zones are put in place around the premises to stop it spreading.

Disease zones are only lifted when all the disease control and surveillance activities within the zone have been completed.

In April DEFRA confirmed that its 'enhanced biosecurity requirements' brought in as part of the Avian Influenza Prevention Zone (AIPZ) will remain in force as infection 'may still be circulating in the environment for several more weeks'.
One baby has died and eight have been admitted to intensive care in a mysterious cluster of infections thought to be caused by a typically harmless virus.

In total, 15 newborns in Wales and south-west England have been struck down with severe Myocarditis  inflammation of the heart  since June 2022.

One of them is still in hospital, according to an alert issued last night by the World Health Organization.

Health chiefs were spooked by the 'unusual' spike in cases over such a short space of time, prompting a thorough investigation.

Nine of the cases tested positive for a type of enterovirus, which usually causes no symptoms or flu-like signs.

However, experts are baffled as to what has caused the sudden spike. Health chiefs in Wales are probing the reasons behind the cases and will investigate any further cases that are reported in the coming weeks.

Enteroviruses usually cause only mild illness but tend to affect newborns and young children more severely than older children. They can trigger symptoms including a fever, runny nose, sneezing, cough, rash and muscle aches

Previous outbreaks among children, including panic around Strep A last winter, were blamed on lockdowns weakening immunity against the usually harmless bugs.

No cases of severe myocarditis have been spotted since March. However, cases appear to have peaked last November.

Ten cases have been detected in Wales, compared with just one in the previous six years.

The WHO, which issued the alert last night, labelled the cluster 'unusual' and said it may be recommended that childcare facilities and schools are closed if cases surge.

Out of the affected babies, one has died. Eight were treated in intensive care, where they were intubated, put on a ventilator and received circulatory support.

Enterovirus Q&A What is the situation? More than a dozen young children in the UK have developed myocarditis (inflammation of the heart) alongside an enterovirus infection. How many cases have been detected? Ten cases have been spotted in South Wales and five have been detected in Southwest England between June 2022 and March 2023. How many children have been hospitalised? Eight youngsters were treated in intensive care, where they were intubated, put on a ventilator and received circulatory support. Details of six cases are unclear, so the number may be higher. Have any children died? One child died before being transferred to tertiary care  part of a hospital that delivers highly specialist treatment. However, a couple in South Wales have shared details of the death of their son Elijah, who died in similar circumstances. As this death occurred in March 2022, out with the nine-month period defined by Public Health Wales, it is not being probed as part of the official cluster. What is behind the outbreak? Experts don't know. But health chiefs at Public Health Wales are investigating the reasons for the cluster of cases and to spot any others that may be reported in the coming weeks. Advertisement

Details on the remaining six cases have not yet been published.

Myocarditis usually occurs following a virus. It is caused by the body's immune system overreacting to being infected and causing inflammation, which can stay in the heart even after the virus has been cleared.

While some sufferers have no symptoms, it can cause chest pains, palpitations and shortness of breath.

Unwell children also presented with sepsis  which can kill within hours unless it is treated quickly. They were also less interested in eating and drinking.

Five cases were detected in south-west England.

The UKHSA said it was 'investigating the situation in England'. Officials are looking at potential driving factors behind the increase, too.

PCR testing of nine of the children confirmed they had coxsackie B3 or B4  types of enterovirus.

Enteroviruses usually cause only mild illness but tends to affect newborns and young children more severely.

No specific antiviral therapy is available for enteroviruses, so treatment focuses on preventing complications.

The WHO said it was informed of the situation by UK health chiefs on April 5.

Since February, medics in South Wales have been told to look out for cases and test for enteroviruses if it is suspected.

And an incident management team was set up to review evidence across the UK to determine what next steps are needed in its response.

Dr Shamez Ladhani, a consultant paediatrician at the UKHSA, said: 'Enterovirus is a common infection of childhood, causing a range of symptoms including respiratory disease; hand, foot and mouth, and viral meningitis.

'In very young babies, enterovirus can, on rare occasions, lead to a severe complication called myocarditis  which causes inflammation of the heart. Most babies and children recover completely from this.

'Given a higher than average number of cases in Wales in the autumn/winter months in very young babies, UKHSA is investigating the situation in England to see if any similar cases have been observed here and whether there are any factors driving the increase in cases.'

Dr Christopher Williams, consultant epidemiologist for Public Health Wales, said: 'Enterovirus is a common infection of childhood, causing a range of infections.

'In very young babies, enterovirus can, in rare cases, also cause a severe illness in the first few weeks of life. Most babies and children recover completely following enterovirus infection.

'It only affects the heart on very rare occasions. This cluster is unusual due to the number of cases reported in a relatively short time frame.

'Investigations are now ongoing in collaboration with the paediatric team in the children's hospital of Wales to understand the reasons why and to investigate any further cases that may be reported in the coming weeks and months.

'Parents should be reassured that although there has been an increase in cases, this is still an extremely rare occurrence.'

Joann Edwards (pictured with her husband, Christian), from Mountain Ash in South Wales, said her child died after he was infected with enterovirus and developed sepsis and heart problems

Her baby, Elijah, died just 12 days after being born but his case hasn't been included in the official tally from Public Health Wales

The WHO said the risk to public health is 'low'.

But it noted that enterovirus infection is not among the diseases WHO members have to flag  so a similar pattern may have gone undiagnosed or unreported elsewhere.

It may be recommended to close childcare facilities and schools 'in certain situations' to reduce transmission, it said.

But travel restrictions to the UK are not recommended, it added.

One mother said her child died after he was infected with enterovirus and developed sepsis and heart problems. However, the case hasn't been included in the official tally from Public Health Wales, which was shared with the WHO.

Joann Edwards, from Mountain Ash in South Wales, gave birth to Elijah at Prince Charles Hospital in Merthyr Tydfil on February 25, 2022.

Within a few days of being at home, Elijah became lethargic and was constipated  symptoms which were put down to jaundice.

But Mrs Edwards and her husband Christian rushed him to A&E when he was a week old as he stopped feeding. He was initially diagnosed with sepsis and bronchiolitis  a common chest infection.

He was transferred to University Hospital Wales, where medics detected stress on his heart. Elijah was moved to Bristol Children's Hospital, where he tested positive for enterovirus.

Elijah died a few days later at the hospital.

Her son's case isn't being examined by health officials because it fell outside of the enterovirus season.

However, Cwm Taf Morgannwg Health Board is probing Elijah's death.

Mrs Edwards said her family has been ignored and was 'gobsmacked' after hearing about other cases as they were 'led to believe that we were a one-off'.
Britain's bird flu hotspots have today been laid bare  after two poultry workers tested positive for the killer virus.

MailOnline's colour-coded interactive map allows you to check if your local area ranks among the worst-affected regions.

It breaks down all 300-plus avian influenza cases spotted in the wild since 2023 began.

County Durham and Northumberland top the table, according to our analysis of Government data.

Only three Brits have ever caught bird flu, which has yet to successfully spread in humans. This includes the two announced yesterday.

Your browser does not support iframes.

County Durham, Northumberland and Argyll and Bute are among the worst-hit areas, MailOnline analysis of Government data has revealed

Read more: All you need to know about bird flu as two British poultry workers test positive for killer virus Advertisement

Health officials today revealed they are monitoring the threat 'very carefully' amid ever-growing fears another human pandemic is lurking around the corner.

More than 100 authorities have detected at least one case of avian influenza in wild animals this year already. H5N1 is the most prevalent strain.

This includes 18 in County Durham and 15 in Northumberland, the Animal and Plant Health Agency's (APHA) database shows.

However, the true number will be much higher as only a fraction of birds are tested for the virus and it can take months for an infection to be confirmed.

Pink-footed and greylag geese, black-headed gulls and common buzzards are among the species to have been sickened.

APHA conducts year-round testing of dead wild birds, which are reported to it by the public.

The surveillance aims to provide information on where and which strains of the virus are circulating.

The number of positive cases are calculated using wild bird reserve wardens and collections of found-dead wild birds reported to APHA by members of the public.

It comes as Britain was put on red alert for bird flu following the discovery that two poultry workers had caught the virus.

No signs of human-to-human transmission have yet been detected in the UK.

It has not been confirmed which strain both poultry workers tested positive for.

But H5N1  which has triggered the biggest ever bird flu outbreak  is known to still be spreading.

UK scientists tasked with developing 'scenarios of early human transmission' of bird flu have warned that 5 per cent of infected people could die if the virus took off in humans (shown under scenario three). Under another scenario, the scientists assumed 1 per cent of those infected would be hospitalised and 0.25 per cent would die  similar to how deadly Covid was in autumn 2021 (scenario one). The other saw a death rate of 2.5 per cent (scenario two)

The new cases come after Alan Gosling (pictured), a retired engineer in Devon, caught the virus after his ducks, some of which lived inside his home, became infected in 2022

Neither of the two workers  who worked on the same farm in an undisclosed location  suffered any symptoms of the illness.

Both have since tested negative after being diagnosed earlier this month.

The two individuals 'were tested repeatedly over a period of time', Professor Susan Hopkins, chief medical adviser at UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), told the BBC Radio 4's Today programme, this morning.

'They manifested no symptoms which is really good and they didn't transmit to anyone else,' she added.

'We don't think this increases the risk to the population across the UK at present.'

Health officials said one of the people infected likely tested positive for bird flu after inadvertently inhaling infected material, like faeces, from diseased animals.

But they added how the second person had come into contact with the virus was currently unclear.

Both workers have since 'become negative on PCR swabs' and it remains 'uncertain whether they were a true infection', she added.

Professor Hopkins told the programme: 'These are people who are working in very close contact and the proximity with infected birds on infected farms.

'So there will be a lot of dust and a lot of potential virus fragments in the air, but also on the ground, on their clothing as they're working in this environment.

'They wear a lot of PPE to prevent them from getting infected.

'But there is always still a risk that this virus and the contaminants from the environment can get under the nose and therefore we can detect bird flu when we do swabs from that.'

She added: 'We are testing the contacts of individuals, we are offering tests at least to the contacts of individuals.

'We will continue to do that as part of our surveillance.'

For decades, scientists have warned that bird flu is the most likely contender for triggering the next pandemic.

Experts say this is because of the threat of recombination  with high levels of human flu raising the risk of a human becoming co-infected with avian flu as well.

This could see a deadly strain of bird flu merge with a transmissible seasonal flu.

But there has only ever previously been one case of a British person becoming infected with H5N1 since the ongoing outbreak took off in October 2021.

Alan Gosling, a retired engineer in Devon who kept ducks at home, caught the virus in early 2022 after his ducks became infected.

He later tested negative while he was in quarantine for nearly three weeks.

All 160 of Mr Gosling's ducks  including 20 that lived inside his home  were culled after he tested positive.

H5N1 does not transmit easily between humans.

But mutations to the virus that makes mammal-to-mammal transmission easier could change that, some experts fear.

Globally, fewer than 900 human cases of H5N1, which kills close to 50 per cent of those it strikes, have ever been recorded.

The virus is usually picked up through close contact with an infected bird, whether dead or alive.

A National Trust ranger clears dead birds from Staple Island, Northumberland, in July

Bird flu usually occurs in people who spend a lot of time with infected creatures, such as bird handlers. Pictured: A swan on the River Thames in Windsor, Berkshire

Like other forms of flu, humans can get infected if the virus gets into their eyes, nose, mouth or is inhaled.

But with bird flu, this usually occurs in people who spend a lot of time with infected creatures, such as bird handlers.

A spate of human bird flu cases have emerged in the early parts of 2023.

Earlier this year, a Cambodian man and his daughter were diagnosed with H5N1.

Their cases sparked international concern, with many experts fearing the infection was proof the virus had mutated to infect people better after tearing through the world's bird population.

Further testing found the Cambodian family did not have the H5N1 strain rapidly spreading among the world's wild birds  but instead a variant known to spread locally in the Prey Veng province where they lived.

APHA is currently reviewing the bird flu risk to humans in the UK every week.

The government agency has currently set the threat level to level three, given there is 'evidence' of changes in the virus genome that could trigger 'mammalian infection', it said.

Any 'sustained' mammal-to-mammal transmission of the pathogen would raise the threat level to four, while human-to-human would push it to five.

British farms have already faced tough, lockdown-esque biosecurity rules in efforts to combat the deadly disease.

A housing order keeping birds indoors  even those reared as free range  to avoid contact with wild birds was only lifted last month.

Dr Christine Middlemiss, the UK's chief veterinary officer, told MailOnline today: 'Whilst the lifting of the mandatory housing measures will be welcome news to bird keepers, scrupulous biosecurity remains the most critical form of defence to help keep your birds safe.

She added: 'It is thanks to the hard work of all bird keepers and vets who have played their part in keeping flocks safe this winter that we are in a position to take this action.

'However, the unprecedented nature of this outbreak has proven it's more important than ever for bird keepers to remain vigilant for signs of disease and maintain stringent standards of biosecurity.'

British scientists have predicted the virus could kill up to one in 20 people it infects if it ever manages to take off in humans.
A young father died from a rare cancer less than a week after marrying the mother of his two children.

Chris McGinnis, from Nottinghamshire, was diagnosed in February with metastasis cholangiocarcinoma, a rare form of bile duct cancer after complaining of tiredness, lack of appetite and back pain.

Doctors originally gave the 35-year-old twelve months to live.

He died on May 10  six days after getting married to his partner Mel, 29.

His family and friends are now urging people to get their health checked and not to ignore any worrying symptoms.

Chris McGinnis (pictured with his daughters Nuala and Onora), from Nottinghamshire, was diagnosed with metastasis cholangiocarcinoma, a rare form of bile duct cancer, in February

The 35-year-old, who married his partner Mel, 29, on May 4 (pictured), died from the disease less than a week later on May 10

Mr McGinnis went to the doctor in early February this year.

Medics discovered several tumours on his liver, which could not be operated on.

He started chemotherapy in bid to help him live for another year.

However, his family said the benefits of the treatment were limited and its crippling side effects, which can include tiredness, nausea and hair loss, were severe.

So Mr McGinnis decided to stop his treatment and, by March, was given just months to live.

Family friend of 12 years Natasha Walker, told NottinghamshireLive that Mr McGinnis was 'the funniest, nicest guy ever' who doted on partner Mel and his daughters.

'Everything was about providing for them and taking care of them,' she said.

'He worked so hard for them. This has come completely out of the blue. The family are devastated.'

Ms Walker said Mr McGinnis struggled to stay active following his diagnosis and spent most of the time on the sofa.

She added: 'He pulled the energy out of, I have no idea where, for that day [the wedding]. After that, it was a very quick decline.'

Bile duct cancer is rare, with only around 1,000 people in the UK and 8,000 in the US diagnosed each year.

In most cases, the disease is a type of cancer called adenocarcinoma - which starts in the lining of the bile duct - and according to Cancer Research UK, there are often no symptoms until it is advanced.

Metastasis cholangiocarcinoma is when the cancer has spread outside the bile duct into lymph nodes or nearby organs. This often makes the disease inoperable.

A GoFundMe page has been started in memory of the loving father, to help his daughters Onora, three, and Nuala, one.

Ms Walker said 'daddy's girl' Onora is finding it difficult and 'keeps saying things that are breaking everyone's hearts'.

A GoFundMe page has been started in memory of the loving father, to help his daughters Onora, three, and Nuala, one

Family friend of 12 years Natasha Walker, said that Mr McGinnis (pictured with Mel) was 'the funniest, nicest guy ever' who doted on partner Mel and his daughters

She said the purpose of the GoFundMe is to not only pay for Mr McGinnis's funeral, but to help provide a trust fund for the girls in their father's name.

'That's all he would have wanted, he would have wanted them to have been taken care of for the future, and to have that time to grieve,' Ms Walker added.

Mr McGinnis's family and friends are urging people to get regular health check ups and not to ignore symptoms, in light of how suddenly his health deteriorated.

Ms Walker said: 'Don't ignore the smallest thing, just make sure you go to get checked out and appreciate the time you have with family and friends because in a couple of months, it's completely changed a family's life.'

The GoFundMe, titled the Chris McGinnis Memorial Fund, has so far raised more than 7,000 of its 10,000 goal since being set up three days ago.

The page reads: 'We want to do whatever we can to take the financial burden away from Mel and to help give Chris the send off he deserves.

'We hope any donations can be used to help pay towards Chris' funeral costs and to provide a trust fund for Chris' daughters who are only three and one - just babies who will grow up without their daddy who they both adored.'
DO YOU KNOW THE WOMEN IN THIS STORY? Contact: luke.a.andrews@mailonline.co.uk

Individuals, aged in their 30s and 50s, went for treatments up to April

A woman has died and four others have been hospitalized after receiving liposuction and other cosmetic surgeries in Mexico.

The individuals, aged in their 30s and 50s, were diagnosed with fungal meningitis  swelling of the membrane surrounding the brain and spinal cord caused by a fungal infection.

They had all traveled from Texas to clinics in Matamoros, on the Mexican border, and developed the potentially fatal condition  that can cause seizures and a coma  three days to six weeks later.

The operations took place between February and April, and health officials in the US have raised the alarm over the cases, urging Americans to cancel medical procedures in Matamoros.

It is unclear what type of fungus the patients were infected with, but cases of C. Auris are rising in the US linked to hospitals not sterilizing equipment properly.

One woman has died and four others have been hospitalized after receiving cosmetic surgery including liposuction in Mexico. Health officials say the women received treatment at clinics in Matamoros, Mexico, including River Side Surgical Center (left) and Clinica K-3 (right)

The above map shows the location of Matamoros, where the procedures took place. People are being urged not to go there for medical procedures

Some 1.2million US residents travel to Mexico annually to undergo elective surgery at a discount, according to Medical Tourism Mexico, which advertises that patients can save up to 80% on a comparable procedure in the US

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Texas Department of Health issued the warning over the cases on Tuesday.

They said each patient had received an epidural, when an anesthetic is injected into the area around the spinal cord to numb pain.

Clinics the women had visited included River Side Surgical Center, which offers liposuction and Brazilian butt-lifts.

It was not clear at this stage whether the cases were linked or where the patients had become infected. Officials are monitoring for more cases.

Raising the alarm, the CDC urged anyone with a treatment booked in Matamoros that involved an epidural injection to cancel the procedure.

The agency added that those who got treatment there since January should watch for warning signs of meningitis.

Those with concerns were told to speak to their doctor.

Dr Jennifer Shuford, from the Texas Department of Health, said: 'It is very important that people who have recently had medical procedures in Mexico monitor themselves for symptoms of meningitis.

'Meningitis, especially when caused by bacteria or fungus, can be a life-threatening illness unless treated promptly.'

There is a booming medical tourism industry south of the US border, where procedures can be offered at a fraction of the cost of those in the US.

About a million Americans cross the border to get medical procedures every year, figures suggest.

Matamoros was also the site of the attack on four Americans in March that resulted in two deaths.

Meningitis is the swelling of the membranes that surround the brain and spinal cord due to an infection.

It can be caused by an infection in these areas by fungi, including Blastomyces, which has triggered an outbreak in Michigan, and Candida albicans, the fungus behind thrush.

Patients cannot spread the infection to others but may experience symptoms including fever, severe headaches, stiff neck and sensitivity to light.

Patients can progress into suffering seizures, fall into a coma and later die from the infection.

The women were diagnosed with fungal meningitis, or swelling of the membrane surrounding the brain and spinal cord due to a fungal infection

Treatment involves administering courses of antifungal medications, typically into the vein via an IV drip. They may be taking the drugs for six months to a year.

It comes after a victim of the fungus Valley Fever revealed his hell of fighting the disease for five years.

Business owner Nick Duggan, 45, is one of around 20,000 people who catch the illness - caused by fungi species Coccidioidomycosis - every year, which scientists warn is becoming more common as the climate warms.

The Australian native most likely caught the illness while quad biking in the San Diego desert in 2010, where he was visiting his wife's family. He thinks he inhaled the fungus spores kicked up in the dust.

By the time doctors had figured out what it was, the infection had spread to his spine and brain and caused meningitis, which left him bedridden for four months and in and out of the hospital for five years.
Drug shortages across the US have reached 'emergency' levels, with cancer, heart disease and transplant patients facing a lottery to get hold of lifesaving meds.

Up to 300 drugs are currently in shortage nationwide, according to the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists, which is a five-year high.

They include everything from chemotherapy and antibiotics to a sterile fluid used to stop the heart in bypass operations and an antidote to lead poisoning.

Experts warn that a small pool of manufacturers coupled with low prices for generic drugs and factory closures is driving the trend, alongside sudden spikes in demand.

Supply chains are also yet to recover from the Covid pandemic, while the US remains heavily reliant on imports of medicines from China and India. The country also faced flare ups of strep throat and other normally benign illnesses this year, sending demand for common drugs soaring.

The above graph shows the number of drugs currently in shortage according to the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists

Patients affected by the crisis include Ryan Dwars, 39, from Iowa (left) and James Loxley from Rhode Island. Mr Dwars was told that a chemotherapy drug he needed for cancer spots on his liver was not available while Mr Loxley struggled to get hold of a drug that stops his body rejecting a transplanted kidney from his father

Earlier this month it was revealed that the Biden Administration has quietly put together a team to alleviate the shortage, considering plans including tax breaks for manufacturers.

Raising the alarm, Dr Amanda Fader, a gynecologist at Johns Hopkins University in Maryland, told the New York Times the situation was an emergency.

'This is, in my opinion, a public health emergency,' she said, 'because of the breadth of the individuals it affects and the number of chemotherapy agents that are in shortage right now.'

Dr William Dahut, the chief medical officer at the American Cancer Society, added his voice to calls for action.

He said: 'If these drugs [chemotherapy] are not available, people are going to get inferior care.

'That's the bottom line. These aren't third- or fourth-line drugs where there are multiple other agents around.

'These are used up front for people you are trying to cure.'

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) currently lists more than 150 drugs as being in shortage on its website.

But the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP), which monitors shortages nationwide, says there are 301 drugs that doctors are currently struggling to get hold of.

The shortage is leaving hospitals with little option but to ration front-line treatments and only offer them to the most severely ill patients.

Among those affected is 39-year-old pancreatic cancer patient Ryan Dwars, who lives in Iowa and has a son and daughter.

His cancer initially went into remission, but late last year he was told that scans had picked up cancerous spots on his liver.

The father-of-two had been set to receive his final four doses of chemotherapy in April, but his doctor canceled the care  saying he was not a priority patient.

He told the New York Times: 'The light at the end of the tunnel was within sight. It made it even worse to be so close  and now this.'

He was eventually linked up with the drugs he needed via the non-profit Angels for Change, which works to get drugs in shortage to patients, but others have not been so lucky.

Others affected include James Loxley in Rhode Island who received a kidney transplant from his father 26 years ago.

He needs to take the drug cyclosporine, sold under the brand name Neoral, every day to prevent his body rejecting the organ.

Mr Loxley told WPRI that receiving the drug made him 'able to live life to the full with that transplant', but that now there was a shortage he was struggling to get hold of the drug  putting his life in danger.

After contacting his senator, he was able to secure an emergency supply and it is possible that others have also not been so lucky.

There were problems sourcing the drug until late February, pharmacies say, but they add that there may still be delays in getting the drug to patients.

The US drug market is vulnerable because of few domestic manufacturers while also needing to be heavily reliant on imports from other countries, particularly India and China.

The domestic manufacturing industry struggles because of the low price of generic drugs, which has dropped 50 percent since 2016, and lower manufacturing costs overseas.

Generic drugs are versions of more expensive brand-name drugs that are cheaper for companies to make, but bring in less profit.

The US is facing a shortage of a specific type of albuterol used in nebulizer machines (stock image above of albuterol and part of a nebulizer machine)

This shows the number of drugs in shortage by year since January 2001. There have been 47 reports so far in 2023, the ASHP said

The pressure led to Illinois-based generics manufacturer Akorn Pharmaceuticals filing for bankruptcy in March, closing all its factories and laying off 900 workers.

The company had made roughly 100 medications including cylinders of albuterol for children with asthma and breathing difficulties. It was also the only company in the US to make an antidote to lead poisoning, according to Dr Eric Tichy, a supply chain chair at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota.

There have also been problems with supplies of medications coming from abroad, particularly for chemotherapy drugs.

Late last year the FDA halted India-based Intas Pharmaceuticals from supplying the US with three chemotherapy drugs: methotrexate, carboplatin and cisplatin.

The move was made after investigators found a truck full of hundreds of plastic bags filled with torn and shredded documents during an inspection.

One worker even poured acid onto the forms, they added.

The decision, however, has sparked major shortages of the drugs in the US that patients need to treat cancers.

The problem has got to the point where now the White House and Congress are examining the causes of the crisis.

Plans being considered include offering tax incentives to produce generic drugs and setting up an agency to monitor drug supplies from overseas for the US, reports Bloomberg.
One of the world's largest car makers has said it will be unable to keep its commitment to make electric vehicles in the UK without changes to the Brexit deal.

Stellantis - the parent company of Vauxhall, Citroen, Peugeot and Fiat which employs more than 5,000 people in the UK - told a Commons inquiry that its UK investments are in the balance due to the terms of the trade deal.

The world's fourth largest car maker committed to making electric vehicles at its Ellesmere Port and Luton plants two years ago.

But in a submission to the inquiry, which is looking at the supply of batteries for electric vehicles, the company said the Brexit deal is a 'threat to our export business and the sustainability of our UK manufacturing operations'.

It called on the Government to reach an agreement with the EU to maintain existing rules until 2027, rather than enact next year's planned changes which state 45 per cent of an electric car's value must originate in the UK or EU to qualify for trade without tariffs.

The world's fourth largest car maker Stellantis committed to making electric vehicles at its Ellesmere Port (pictured) and Luton plants two years ago.

Stellantis said the rise in the cost of raw materials during the pandemic and energy crisis meant it was 'unable to meet these rules of origin'.

It said companies not meeting the 45 per cent target would see 10 per cent tariffs on trade with the EU and make domestic production and exports uncompetitive with Japan and South Korea.

The company said that would mean manufacturers 'will not continue to invest' and will choose to relocate.

'To reinforce the sustainability of our manufacturing plants in the UK, the UK must consider its trading arrangements with Europe,' Stellantis told the inquiry, listing Honda's closing of its site in Swindon in 2021 and investment in the US as examples of the impact of the current deal.

Stellantis also said there will be 'insufficient battery production' in the UK and Europe to meet Government targets to phase out petrol and diesel vehicles by 2025 and 2030.

Stellantis said the Brexit deal is a 'threat to our export business and the sustainability of our UK manufacturing operations'. Pictured: An electric van at Vauxhall's plant in Ellesmere Port, Cheshire

'It we are unable to rely on sufficient UK or European batteries, we will be at a major competitive disadvantage. In particular against Asian imports,' it said.

'We need to reinforce the competitiveness of the UK by establishing battery production in the UK.'

Electric cars and batteries were among the final parts of the Brexit deal agreed between then prime minister Boris Johnson and president of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen in 2020.

Mike Hawes, chief executive at the UK automotive trade body, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Trader, said the 'rules of origin' for batteries pose a 'significant challenge to manufacturers' on both sides of the Channel, with the prospect of tariffs and price increases which discourage consumers from buying the very vehicles needed to achieve climate change goals.

'At a time when every country is accelerating their transition to zero emission transport, and global competitors are offering billions to attract investment in their industries, a pragmatic solution must be found quickly,' he said.

'We urgently need an industrial strategy that creates attractive investment conditions and positions the UK as one of the best places in the world for advanced automotive manufacturing.'

Andy Palmer, the former chief operating officer of Nissan, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: 'What we see is other countries moving very quickly to support their auto industry, but regrettably in the UK we have been stuck in this political dogma of whether or not to support and put in place incentives to bring manufacturers in to the UK.

'The consequence is that we're now running out of time and the UK becomes a much less attractive place in which to do business.'

He added: 'The cost of failure is very clear. It is 800,000 jobs in the UK. If you can't meet these local concept rules, if you don't have a battery capability in the UK then those car manufacturers will move to mainland Europe.'

Quentin Willson, the former Top Gear host who is now heading up the EV campaign group, FairCharge, said: 'Weve been warning the Government for two years how vital UK battery manufacturing capacity was because of Brexit rules of origin.

'They werent listening and now our entire car industry is at risk and the economic threat is catastrophic. This is a terrifying wake up call.'

Colin Walker, a transport analyst at the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit adds that the warning from Stellantis is a 'stark reminder that the UKs car industry faces a very uncertain future'.

He added: 'While the likes of Stellantis and Jaguar Land Rover threaten to follow in the footsteps of Ford and Nissan and move UK operations overseas, governments in the US and EU are attracting huge investments in their automotive sectors from corporations attracted by the generous incentives being offered for electric vehicle production.

'The Government needs to recognise that we are in a global race to build the clean technologies of the future, which are currently worth over 70billion to the UK economy.

'Without action to bolster sectors like electric vehicles, business opportunities worth billions will be lost, as will tens of thousands of highly-skilled jobs.'

Also responding to the news on Wednesday, Electrifying.com's founder Ginny Buckley said: 'The threat from Stellantis is clear; if the Brexit deal isnt renegotiated - and soon - they will be forced to relocate outside of the UK, and I suspect others may follow.'

She added: 'Our car industry is worth 14billion of added value to the UK economy and if its to stay competitive on the global stage as it electrifies, its vital that were seen as an attractive place for manufacturers to invest.'
The time lapse has been far too long. However, it is great to see UK regulators, freed from the shackles of the European Union, asserting their independence.

Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) chief executive Sarah Cardell is coming under fire from MPs, Microsoft and sections of the media.

The watchdog has allegedly created a hostile environment for investing in Britain by daring to diverge from Brussels in blocking the proposed 55billion mega-takeover of gaming creator Activision Blizzard by Microsoft.

In a different part of the forest, City regulator the Financial Conduct Authority is attacked by governance mavens for daring to strip away rules that have discouraged listings on the London Stock Exchange.

As Sarah Pritchard, the FCAs markets boss, notes it shows that markets just like nickel coins do not stand still.

Game over: The Competition and Markets Authority blocked the proposed 55bn mega-takeover of gaming creator Activision Blizzard by Microsoft

No one can be sure what the US anti-trust regulator, the Federal Trade Commission, will eventually make of the Microsoft deal for Activision.

Cardell argues that it is thinking along the same lines as the CMA in that undertakings made by Microsoft to share with rivals will never be robust enough.

The concern must be that the 1.9 trillion behemoth could end up setting the terms of trade for the whole, diffuse, cloud-gaming industry.

In the American system, one can never be confident that politics and lobbying, particularly in the 18-month run-up to a presidential election, wont determine outcomes.

As fuel prices at the pumps and the cost of food have escalated, there have been denials by the economic establishment that greedflation has occurred in the UK.

Maybe, but the CMA as protector of the consumer interest is to look at fuel prices on supermarket forecourts, as well as the cost of food products.

The jump in UK grocery bills, rising at an annual rate of 19 per cent, has been the sharpest since 1977, falling heavily on the lowest income households.

Feeble regulation and intervention is a feature of public life, which has undermined the free market and the privatisation reforms of the Thatcher era. Westminster spends endless time examining the peccadillos of politicians.

Far too little effort is made on behalf of the consumer and the public interest. Belatedly, John Penrose, the competition tsar, is demanding that Britains water and energy watchdogs should be given greater powers to crack down on utilities ripping off consumers, polluting our waterways with sewage and causing harm to the economy.

It all seems too little, too late. By allowing rapacious companies and bolshie trade unions to trample on citizen rights, such as a universal postal service, the Tory government and regulators have handed a political gift to enemies of free enterprise.

Mobile stasis

Newly minted Vodafone chief executive Margherita Della Valle has come out fighting.

She promises to make the telecoms giant more efficient by slashing jobs, easing bureaucratic burdens and focusing on customer delivery. As so often in the past, investors are unimpressed.

The great prize for Voda is to turn around pedestrian performance in Germany, where Della Valles predecessors doubled down in 2019 with the 16billion purchase of the Liberty cable network.

The notion that this would provide the spark to propel the mobile firms fortunes has proved a chimera.

Ownership of cable networks in an age of streaming and cord cutting  cancellation of regular subscriptions  is not ideal.

Ever since its earliest days, Vodafone has been as much a dealmaker as a mobile operator, and old habits die hard. The strategic review into Spain, where at last count there were seven operators, looks like a journey to the exit.

In the UK, where business is brisk, huge effort is still going into completing a merger with Hutchison-owned Three. How this will go down with competition authorities is a matter for conjecture.

What upset the market most is the row back on 2024 free cash flow guidance, reduced to 2.9billion from 3.3billion.

The reason? Germany.

Shopping list

Hybrid working and the impact on its London-dominated portfolio is taking its toll on Land Securities, the grand dame of UK real estate.

In an effort to counter the current colder climate for office space, the company is putting its faith in prime retail by lifting its exposure from the current 18 per cent to up to 25 per cent in the hope of cashing in on improving rental values.

Lets hear it for retail therapy.
Twenty years ago, at the age of 70, I took out a PPP Health Care policy to cover the cost of care if I ever needed it.

I paid a single premium of 7,321. The policy, which was later taken over by Aviva, is now worth 1,675 a month towards the cost of care.

In recent months, I've had to start employing carers. Last summer, I needed a hip replacement after a fall and I've had mobility problems ever since.

I also suffer from Parkinsonism. My wife helps me get showered and dressed but she's 88 and not in good health. She gets very tired so we need extra support.

Naturally, I thought I could use my Aviva policy to meet some of the cost, but it refuses to pay out.

R. M., Edinburgh.

Refused: Aviva is refusing to pay out on a long-term health care policy for an 88-year-old who suffers from Parkinsons and recently broke a hip

Sally Hamilton replies: The rising cost of long-term care is an emotive subject  and many people worry about how they will meet the vast bills should they need to.

The average cost of a residential or nursing home can exceed 50,000 a year. At-home care can be just as expensive, depending on how often carers visit or whether they are live-in.

These cost issues were a concern for you two decades ago, so you decided to purchase an insurance policy you could rely on if you needed care in later life.

Under the terms of the policy, Aviva agreed to meet the costs of care if you ever needed it, in return for the lump sum you paid.

When you made the claim on your policy last year, Aviva agreed to pay 5,000 for equipment that might help in your flat.

You were grateful but haven't yet taken the firm up on the offer. However, it refused to pay you an income to cover the cost of the at-home care you need.

It said that, to qualify, you need to fail at three activities of daily living. These include moving from room to room; washing and bathing; putting clothes on and off; feeding yourself with pre-prepared food and drink; and transferring yourself (for example, to a toilet or from a chair to a bed).

Apparently, walking unsteadily with two sticks and requiring help with dressing, washing and meal preparation wasn't enough to trigger the payment.

You felt aggrieved because the policy had not spelt out that you needed to fail three activities to qualify  it simply said you had to be unable to do a number of them. You told me you only cope because your wife helps.

I asked Aviva to double check your assessment. A few weeks later, Aviva decided to meet your claim after all.

It said your mobility issues may be more of a problem than it had initially thought.

An Aviva spokesman says: 'We reviewed additional information provided to us, taking into consideration his overall situation and the risk that he faces with his mobility.

We are always happy to review any decision made on claims if a customer provides additional information.'

A monthly payment of 1,675 has been authorised, along with 11,348 in payments backdated to October.

You tell me you are mightily relieved. These plans no longer exist for new buyers as insurers deemed them too expensive to run, and demand was never that high.

Right now, if you want a policy to 'insure' you against the costs of care, the best equivalent is an 'immediate needs annuity', guaranteeing a fixed income for life in return for a (hefty) lump sum. The monthly income is tax-free, as long as it is paid directly to a care provider.

With the help of a financial adviser, I organised such a scheme for my late mother a decade ago. The care annuity would cover half her care-home bills  which were about 1,000 a week  and she would pay the rest using her pensions and dividend income.

She lived in the home for six years before her death, and the annuity broke even. Had she died within a year of entering care, say, it would have been an expensive purchase.

But that was a risk we were prepared to take so that she and the family didn't have to worry about her funds running out.

Those without your type of insurance can get support from the Government if they meet certain criteria.

In England, if you have savings of 23,250 or more, you will not qualify for help.

There is some assistance for those with savings between 14,250 and 23,250, and maximum support for those with less than 14,250. The equivalent capital limits for residential care in Scotland are 20,250 for the lower and 32,750 for the upper.

In Wales, the thresholds are 24,000 for non-residential care and 50,000 for residential care. Those living in Northern Ireland who have more than 23,250 in assets must meet the full cost of residential care themselves.

In Scotland, all assets are ignored for those who require care at home, though they must have first passed the strict health eligibility criteria.

You say that you will now investigate what help you might be able to get from the Government as a resident of Scotland.

The Government has promised to introduce a cap (in England) of 86,000 on the total amount an individual can contribute to their care from October 2025.

However, this will only cover the nursing and assistance part of fees. Other elements such as accommodation, food and energy bills will still have to be met by the individual.

Find out more at paying forcare.org. For the rules in Scotland, go to advice.scot. For Wales, visit gov.wales, and in Northern Ireland see nidirect.gov.uk.

Anyone who does not qualify for help and needs to pay for care right away may have to sell their home or make an arrangement with their local authority to defer the fees and repay them later, perhaps from their estate after death.

They can also raise cash by using an equity release loan.

TUI wont refund cancelled holiday cash

I booked flights for my wife and I to the Dominican Republic in December with TUI, at a cost of 2,068.

But the university where I work as a professor is making me redundant, so we can no longer afford the trip. I emailed TUI's 'exceptions' department to get a refund but never received a reply.

G. K, Wolverhampton.

Sally Hamilton replies: Though it is not obliged to refund you under its usual terms and conditions, TUI does consider exceptional circumstances.

Though the exceptions department failed to acknowledge your pleas for a refund, I'm pleased to say that once I intervened to explain your position, it quickly offered you your money back.

A TUI spokesman says: 'We were sad to hear about G. K.'s situation. We have now spoken with him and found a solution that he is happy with.'

Would-be travellers in a similar situation who aren't refunded by their tour company might be able to claim on their holiday insurance instead, so long as unexpected job loss is covered. The insurer will usually need a confirmation of the redundancy from the employer.

Straight to the point Last year, fraudsters set up several mobile phone contracts in my name. I contacted Tesco Mobile to alert it but it still took 35.99 from my account on December 1. In January, I was told I'd get a refund but I'm still waiting. S. G., Manchester. Tesco Mobile apologises for your experience, and says it fell short of its usual standards. It sent an 80 cheque to cover the charge and apologise for the inconvenience caused. *** My smart meter stopped working on March 9 and, despite phoning British Gas several times, I have not had a response. I've just received an estimated bill for 549, even though I paid just 180 last quarter. I am 80 and on the vulnerable list. W. R., Southampton. British Gas says that your last meter reading was on February 22 and, as you are billed quarterly, it had to use an estimated reading for your most recent statements. An engineer is coming to replace your smart meter this week. *** I have an Apple iPhone and buy my music from iTunes. I've spent around 500 over several years. A couple of months ago my library disappeared from my iPhone. I've contacted Apple but can't seem to get a response. S. C., Islington. Apple says that you cannot access your music as you have been locked out of your account. A member of the team has contacted you to help you reset your password and log back in.
The boss of the competition watchdog has defended the decision to block Microsofts 55billion mega-merger with video game maker Activision Blizzard  a day after the European Commission green lit the deal.

Sarah Cardell, chief executive of the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), said it was not her intention to create a hostile environment for business in the UK.

This is a sector where we want to make sure, together, that we can create and support the best conditions for competition that will enable companies big and small to thrive, including many UK start-ups, many UK competitors, she told MPs.

Cardell said the regulator engages regularly with businesses and absolutely considered the attractiveness of Britain when setting its strategy.

Britain's Competition and Markets Authority blocked Microsofts 55bn mega-merger with video game maker Activision Blizzard

I dont find that we are operating sort of, broadly speaking, in a hostile environment, she told the business committee.

Individual cases need to be decided on their merits.

When were looking strategically at the role of the competition authority, absolutely we will consider the impact of the decisions that we have made and the impact that has for the UK economy, including the reputation externally.

Her comments come just a day after the European Commission approved the worlds biggest gaming firm tie-up on condition that Microsoft ensures Activisions game catalogue will be freely available on other cloud game-streaming providers over the next ten years.

The European regulators said the commitments offered by Microsoft and Activision to maintain competition unlock significant benefits for competition and consumers.

The decision marked a dramatic split from the CMA, which last month suffered a barrage of criticism after rejecting the merger.

Brad Smith, Microsoft vice-chairman, took aim at the unaccountable regulator, claiming the English Channel has never seemed wider for attracting businesses. He said: Theres a clear message here  the EU is a more attractive place to start a business than the UK.

And Activision, whose video games include Call Of Duty and World Of Warcraft, mocked Prime Minister Rishi Sunaks quest to make the UK the worlds next Silicon Valley.

Global innovators will take note that, despite all its rhetoric, the UK is clearly closed for business, the San Francisco business said following the CMAs block last month.

Key consideration: CMA boss Sarah Cardell said the regulator engages regularly with businesses and absolutely considered the attractiveness of Britain when setting its strategy

Microsoft and Activision are already putting together a legal team to challenge the UK ruling, while over in the US, the Federal Trade Commission is suing to block the merger with a court hearing due in August.

But Cardell yesterday stuck to her guns and said the proposed plans by Microsoft were inappropriate and would have allowed the tech giant to set the terms of trade for ten years.

I believe that strong competition is a positive signal for the UKs reputation externally, the CMA chief said. You want to have strong competition in markets, it promotes growth and promotes innovation.

Asked about how much the CMA had liaised with the US authorities over the Activision Blizzard takeover, Cardell said: We are absolutely not, and I would clarify this because I think theres been some speculation on this in the press  we are absolutely not doing the bidding of other agencies.

Appearing alongside Cardell in front of MPs on the House of Commons committee was the CMAs chairman Marcus Bokkerink, who also pushed back against the idea that blocking deals made Britain seem less attractive.

We are vigilant, as it is our duty to be vigilant, about investments that consolidate and entrench market power, he said.

I think I would challenge the premise that if there is an impact on international confidence in doing business in the UK, that the best way that that confidence is served is by turning a blind eye to anti-competitive mergers.

Microsoft has until July 18 to complete the merger before owing Activision a termination fee, which could be as much as 2.4billion.
Britain is second only to the US in the modern space race  despite its Virgin Orbit setback earlier this year.

The UK has secured 17 per cent of private investment in space since 2015, making it the leading destination in Europe, according to a report from the Space Agency and auditor PwC. The only country to attract more investment in space projects is the US.

With earth observation, manufacturing and satellites the key areas of investment in the UK, the report reckons that private investors have pumped as much as 7billion into the UK in the last eight years alone.

Mission control: The UK has secured 17% of private investment in space since 2015, making it the leading destination in Europe, according to the Space Agency and auditor PwC

The UK space industry is worth an estimated 17.5billion, with analysts projecting the global space sector could grow by as much as 11 per cent per year over the next decade to over $1 trillion.

And despite the first satellite mission from British soil failing to reach orbit in January, with the Virgin Orbit flop in Cornwall raising alarm bells, bigwigs remain optimistic.

Mark Boggett, boss of space investment firm Seraphim Space, said the industry is already the hidden linchpin behind our everyday lives, adding that Britain was merely at the dawn of space tech.

There are around 1,500 space companies in the UK, as well as 83 research centres, 64 space test facilities and 53 universities with space research functions.

Joshua Western, co-founder and boss of satellite maker Space Forge, said the growth in this sector was a testament to the untapped potential of the UK space ecosystem.
It was a historic address to a nation which Britain had unwillingly given up in the 18th Century - under the watch of King George III.

On May 16, 1991, George's distant relative Queen Elizabeth II spoke in the US Congress, becoming the first British monarch to do so.

In a speech that received a two-minute standing ovation, Her Majesty talked up the long history of friendship between Britain and the US, telling how, 'force, in the end, is sterile'.

This week in royal history also marks the moment that, in 1984, the then Prince Charles expressed his hatred of a proposed extension to the National Gallery, calling it a 'monstrous carbuncle on the face of a much-loved and elegant friend.'

Three years earlier, Zara Tindall - the daughter of Princess Anne - was born at St Mary's Hospital in Paddington.

And on May 19, 1536, Anne Boleyn - the second wife of King Henry VIII - was beheaded at the Tower of London.

Queen Elizabeth II becomes the first British monarch to address Congress - May 16, 1991

On May 16, 1991, Queen Elizabeth II became the first British monarch to address the US Congress

On May 16, 1991, Queen Elizabeth II became the first British monarch to address the US Congress.

Before a packed joint session, she told beaming lawmakers: 'Some people believe that power grows from the barrel of a gun.

'So it can, but history shows that it never grows well nor for very long. Force, in the end, is sterile.

The speech, which received a two-minute standing ovation, came during the Queen's third of four state visits to the United States

'We have gone a better way: our societies rest on mutual agreement, on contract and on consensus.'

The speech, which received a two-minute standing ovation, came during the Queen's third of four state visits to the United States.

During her first, in 1957, President Dwight Eisenhower was in the Oval Office.

In 1991, it was George H. W. Bush and his wife Barbara who welcomed Her Majesty and Prince Philip.

A day before her address, the Queen visited Marshall Heights, an impoverished part of Washington.

There she was greeted by a great-grandmother, who broke royal protocol by hugging her.

Alice Frazier, then 67, said afterwards: 'They told me not to do it, but it is a natural thing. I couldn't help myself. It is the American way.'

The Daily Mail's coverage of the Queen's speech to Congress, on May 16, 1991

Before a packed joint session, she told beaming lawmakers: 'Some people believe that power grows from the barrel of a gun. 'So it can, but history shows that it never grows well nor for very long. Force, in the end, is sterile. We have gone a better way: our societies rest on mutual agreement, on contract and on consensus'

A day before her address, the Queen visited Marshall Heights, an impoverished part of Washington. There she was greeted by a great-grandmother, who broke royal protocol by hugging her

Prince Charles calls proposed addition to the National Gallery a 'monstrous carbuncle on the face of a much-loved and elegant friend' - May 17, 1984

On May 17, 1984, the King, who was then the Prince of Wales, spoke out against one of his many pet hates: modern architecture.

Speaking about a proposed extension to the National Gallery in London, he said the plans looked like a 'monstrous carbuncle on the face of a much loved and elegant friend.'

The mooted addition to the National Gallery building, which had stood since the 19th century, was drawn up by British architectural firm Ahrends Burton Koralek, now known as ABK.

On May 17, 1984, the King, who was then the Prince of Wales, spoke out against one of his many pet hates: modern architecture. Above: Charles making a speech at the Guildhall in 1984

Other events in royal history this week Eisenhower, Montgomery, Churchill and King George VI discuss the plan for D-Day - May 15, 1944 King George III survives assassination attempt - May 15, 1800 English King William III declares war on France in support of the Dutch Republic - May 17, 1689 French Parliament appoints Louis XIII as King - May 15, 1610 Anne of Denmark is crowned Queen of Scotland - May 17, 1590 Mary, Queen of Scots flees to England - May 16, 1568 King Henry II lays foundation stone for new Lady Chapel, starting rebuilding of Westminster Abbey - May 16, 1220 King John names Stephen Langton as Archbishop of Canterbury - May 15, 1213 Advertisement

The future King added in his speech that the planned extension looked like a 'kind of vast municipal fire station complete with the sort of tower that contains the siren

Charles's comments drew gasps from his audience of 700 top architects and members of the construction industry.

He was speaking at the 150th anniversary dinner of the Royal Institute of British Architects at Hampton Court Palace.

Charles also addressed what he called the 'wholesale destruction' of Georgian and Victorian housing.

One attendee said afterwards: 'I don't think people here expected such a virulent attack on the output of the profession over the last 25 years.'

The planned addition to the gallery was ultimately dropped. Instead, the more traditional Sainsbury Wing was constructed and opened in 1991.

Three years later, Charles hit out at modern architects again by drawing comparison to German bombing raids on Britain in the Second World War.

He said: 'You have to give this much to the Luftwaffe. When it knocked down our buildings, it didn't replace them with anything more offensive than rubble.'

Responding to critics of his views, he told Jonathan Dimbleby in an ITV interview in 1994: 'I just wanted to make the point that I felt anyway that... I didn't want to see this country which I mind about and love greatly... disappear under a welter of ugliness.'

He added: 'I want to say one more thing, to emphasise the real basis on which I have tried to express these feelings about architecture, and that is that while I am thoroughly of an avant-garde generally, what I do not think is sensible in the long run and right is when the avant-garde becomes the establishment.

'And that is what has happened I believe. Not only in architectural terms but in many other areas as well.'

An artist's impression of the proposed extension to the National Gallery. In 1984, Charles branded the plan a 'monstrous carbuncle' and it never went ahead

The Daily Mail's coverage of Charles's speech at the 150th anniversary dinner of the Royal Institute of British Architects at Hampton Court Palace

Birth of Zara Tindall - May 15, 1981

On May 15, 1981, Zara Tindall - the second child of Princess Anne - was born at the traditional hospital for royal births, St Mary's in Paddington.

Weighing in at 8lb 1oz, Zara was born three-and-a-half years after her brother Peter.

Zara's father, Captain Mark Phillips, who was present at the birth, said afterwards: 'I am absolutely delighted.'

On May 15, 1981, Zara Tindall - the second child of Princess Anne - was born at the traditional hospital for royal births, St Mary's in Paddington. Above: Anne leaves St Mary's with Zara in her arms and husband Captain Mark Phillips behind her

Princess Anne and her daughter Miss Zara Phillips on the occasion of her Christening at Windsor Castle on 27th July 1981

Anne opted not to give either of her children royal titles, a decision described as a 'masterstroke' by former Buckingham Palace press secretary Dicki Arbiter.

'Growing up as a commoner allowed Zara to thrive as her own woman, and there has never been pressure on her to conform. She has benefited from it in all sorts of ways,' he said.

Zara's birth came 11 years before her parents divorced, before her mother went on to marry Vice Admiral Sir Timothy Laurence.

Like Charles and his father Prince Philip, Zara was educated at Gordonstoun, a prestigious private school in Scotland.

She married rugby player Mike Tindall in 2011 and the couple have children, Mia, Lucas and Lena.

Zara Tindall arriving with her husband Mike at Westminster Abbey for the Coronation of King Charles III and Queen Camilla earlier this month

Anne Boleyn is beheaded at the Tower of London on charges of adultery, incest and treason - May 19, 1536

On May 19, 1536, Anne Boleyn, the second wife of King Henry VIII, was beheaded at the Tower of London.

She was put to death after just three years of marriage to Britain's most infamous monarch.

The couple had enjoyed a secret romance when Henry was still married to his first wife, Katherine of Aragon.

Henry had become disillusioned with his first wife after she produced only one surviving child, the future Queen Mary.

Anne Boleyn, the second wife of King Henry VIII, was beheaded on May 19, 1536 at the Tower of London

Desperate for a legitimate son, Henry caused a split with the Catholic Church by having his marriage to Katherine annulled so he could marry Anne.

Anne's fate was sealed when she failed to produce a male heir for the King. Her only child, daughter Elizabeth, would go on to succeed her sister as Queen of England.

Anne also fell out with Henry's chief minister Thomas Cromwell, prompting him to level charges of adultery and plotting against the King's life.

She was arrested on May 2 and subjected to a sham trial before she was held prisoner in the same royal apartment in the Tower of London where she had awaited her coronation.

In her final statement before her death, Anne heaped praise on her husband.

Anne was beheaded at the Tower of London. In her final statement before her death, Anne heaped praise on her husband. Above: A depiction of her death

Henry and Anne had enjoyed a secret romance when Henry was still married to his first wife, Katherine of Aragon

She said: 'Good Christian people, I am come hither to die, for according to the law, and by the law I am judged to die, and therefore I will speak nothing against it.

'I am come hither to accuse no man, nor to speak anything of that, whereof I am accused and condemned to die, but I pray God save the king and send him long to reign over you, for a gentler nor a more merciful prince was there never: and to me he was ever a good, a gentle and sovereign lord.

'And if any person will meddle of my cause, I require them to judge the best. And thus I take my leave of the world and of you all, and I heartily desire you all to pray for me. O Lord have mercy on me, to God I commend my soul.'

Just 11 days later, Henry married his third wife, Jane Seymour.
A fashion insider has revealed why Australian Fashion Week has gone from one of the country's most prestigious events to one that A-list celebs are now avoiding.

For 27 years, fashion leaders and international stars were snapped alongside the runway - but now it's been taken over by reality stars and micro-influencers crowding the shows and the coveted front row.

Top fashionistas were nowhere to be seen on the first two days of the 2023 event, with 'it girl' and front row regular Nadia Fairfax-Wayne, Bondi influencer Elle Ferguson, and celebrity stylist Elliot Garnaut notable no-shows.

Jasmine Stefanovic and sister Jade Yarbrough also found other things to do.

And while the Kardashians, Paris Hilton and Bella Hadid have been seen along the runway in recent years, don't expect them to show up again over the coming days.

Margot Robbie is currently in Sydney but did not attend fashion week

Kim and Khloe Kardashian with Lara Bingle at Australian Fashion Week in 2008

'Influencers' and former MAFS contestant Nasser Sultan (yellow shirt) attend the AFW 2023

Fashion influencer Nadia Fairfax-Wayne skipped this year's event

Daily Mail Australia is told that even Barbie actress Margot Robbie won't be making an appearance despite being in Sydney.

On Monday the Gold Coast-raised beauty was photographed at Potts Point eatery, The Butler, with her actor brother Cameron Robbie, producer husband Tom Ackerley and Vogue Australia editor-in-chief Christine Centenera.

Centenera, who is based in the US, did manage to support local fashion with the mum-of-two attending Michael Lo Sordo's Monday night show alongside former editor Edwina McCann.

However, newlywed couple Rita Ora and Taika Waititi, who have never shied away from coordinating outfits at international fashion shows, are yet to drop in to see any local designers despite being in Sydney.

Model and influencer Dominique Elissa left left little to the imagination in a bareley-there bra

Vogue Australia Editor-in-Chief Christina Centenera (left) alongside former editor Edwina McCann (right) at AFW 2023

Sammy Robinson (right) made a statement as she arrived to Australian Fashion Week on Tuesday

Model Jenifer Hawkins - once a staple at the event - was nowhere to be seen amongst the fashion set, while Delta Goodrem has chosen to perform in the Maldives.

The event, which kicked off on Monday, has instead so far seen a steady stream of former reality stars and unknown influencers descend on Eveleigh Carriageworks in Sydney.

Last year's Married At First Sight 'villain' Olivia Frazer ruffled feathers when she attended Fashion Week last year. But that didn't stop her from landing a seat in the front row at a number of shows on Monday and Tuesday.

Former MAFS contestants and now podcasters Domenica Calarco and Ella Ding channelled a 1920s-esque look in INSTOCK glitter and sheer tights, while embattled influencer Jade Tuncdoruk bounced back from her eyebrow-raising faux pas at last year's fashion week when she wore head-to-toe Louis Vuitton.

Imogen Anthony, famous for being the former partner to radio host Kyle Sandilands, sat front row at the Yousef Akbar show wearing a knitted skirt and matching headpiece with a white tank top.

According to an anonymous fashion publicist, celebrities have been avoiding the spectacle in recent years.

Back in 2008, Kim Kardashian sat front row with her sister Khloe at the Ruth Tarvydas runway show.

Podcasters and former reality stars Ella Ding (left) and Domenica Calarco had their 'street style' snap ahead of Michael Lo Sordo

The O.C. star Mischa Barton was also a front row fixture at Kirrily Johnston's show that same year.

Paris Hilton stormed the runway for Wayne Cooper's show at Australian Fashion Week in Melbourne back in 2003.

Years later, Bella Hadid dropped in from Cannes to walk the runway at the Misha Collection Resort 17 show in May 2016.

'Fashion week in Sydney is for the fashion industry traditionally, and something reality stars and influencers aspire to, not celebrities. If you have style, you dont need to run around fashion week changing outfits four times a day. It screams desperation.'

The industry insider added that designers and PRs have to pay the big name celebrities to attend and even then, it's rare.

'They don't want to be part of the circus outside amongst those desperate to have their photo taken.'

Jeniffer Hawkins hasn't attended Australian fashion week since 2018

Paris Hilton stormed the runway for Wayne Cooper's show at Australian Fashion Week in Melbourne back in 2003

And right on cue on Tuesday, serial red carpet pest and former MAFS star Nasser Sultan was seen sitting in the second row at the Erik Yvon show among a sea of relatively unknown social media identities.

He was escorted out by security after he was busted masquerading as a reporter.

An insider revealed: 'Nasser was posing as a journo, asking the silliest questions. It was clear he was out of his depth. But it was quite a laugh until security got wind of it.'

'Security told him that they remembered him from last year and that he was on watch. They wanted him to stay clear of shows he wasn't invited to because brands clearly didn't want him there.'
New revelations have continued to emerge since Monday's release of Special Counsel John Durham's 300-page report following his four-year, $6.5 million investigation that concluded the FBI 'failed to uphold their mission of strict fidelity to the law.'

Buried inside the dense document, which blasts the FBI for opening a full-blown investigation of the 2016 Trump campaign based on 'raw' intelligence tips, are insights into how the Russia probe got started, and links between people in Hillary Clinton's orbit and the stream of information on Trump's Russia contacts.

It also points out what Durham calls an unfair discrepancy: why the Trump camp didn't get a 'defensive briefing' on Russia's efforts to influence his campaign when the FBI did provide a briefing to Clinton when a foreign actor sought to influence hers.

The report is now being denounced by some of the people who appear in its pages. Former House Intelligence Committee Chairman Rep. Adam Schiff on Tuesday night blasted it as 'four years of wasted effort, and worse than that, we have four years, I think, of undermining the department and a political prosecution.'

California Rep. Adam Schiff (D) blasted the Durham report as 'four years of wasted effort.' A passage deep in the report says that a university researcher felt threatened after a meeting with his staff member who wanted an inquiry into an article about Trump-Russia lead

The California Democrat spoke even as a passage in the report came to light detailing how a university researcher who met with Schiff's own staff felt threatened by the request to provide analysis of a news article about the Trump Organization and Russia-owned Alfa Bank.

It was a topic that the FBI would probe  whether there was a 'secret' server for Trump Organization communication with Moscow that didn't pan out.

The meeting took place in a secure room of the House Intelligence Committee, which Schiff would chair. Staff for Schiff and Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.) asked a pair of university researchers they had brought in to review a newspaper article about the alleged link.

'University-I Researcher-3 said he responded by saying that it would be inappropriate for a public university to do that,' and suggested they contact a government research entity.

'Reed Staffer-2 then said, "We are now in charge," and one of the HPSCI staffers said that their boss (Congressman Adam Schiff) would soon take over leadership of [the Intel committee]. University-I Researcher-3 took the comment as a mild threat,' according to the report.

At that point, the researcher then 'dragged' the other researcher out of the meeting.

'University-! Researcher-3 told investigators that he told University-! Researcher-2, "Don't touch this with a ten foot pole, stay away from this,"' according to the report.

As for the Alfa Bank connection and the secret server  the FBI's investigation 'ultimately concluded that it was unable to substantiate any of the allegations in the white paper that [Clinton lawyer Michael Sussman]' provided,' according to the report. (Sussman was found not guilty of lying to investigators).

Below, DailyMail.com has broken down some of the key - and in places surprising - revelations in the Durham report that scrutinized the FBI

'Damn that's thin': FBI supervising agent's startling admission when looking over evidence at the start of the Trump-Russia collusion probe

Durham writes there is 'no question that the FBI had an affirmative obligation to closely examine' a tip that an Australian diplomat provided about former Trump campaign foreign policy advisor George Papadopoulos relating to potential Russian dirt on Hillary Clinton.

It was a result of a boozy meeting between the two men in Kensington in London.

A diplomatic cable sent to Washington after Wikilkeaks started publishing hacked Democratic emails in 2016 described a potential offer from Moscow to facilitate 'the anonymous release of information that would be damaging to Hillary Clinton'

Durham concludes in his report that there was enough information to start a preliminary investigation, but not a full blown counterintelligence probe.

The report quotes a pair of FBI officials who discussed the information in an August 2016 chat online on Lync as it was first being evaluated.

'Dude, are we telling them [British Intelligence Service-I] everything we know, or is there more to this?' wrote one of them.

The special agent responded, 'that's all we have' and 'not holding anything back.'

'Damn that's thin,' wrote one, prompting another to respond: 'I know, it sucks,' a supervisory agent responded.

Former Special Counsel Robert Mueller already concluded in his own report that Papadopoulos didn't share his information on potential dirt with the Trump campaign.

But the tip helped start the 'Crossfire Hurricane' investigation.

'Damn that's thin,' an FBI agent wrote upon first learning of a tip about Trump 2016 campaign advisor George Papadopoulos' meeting with an Australian diplomat

Durham praised the 'careful' work done by Robert Mueller in his own investigation of Trump

Although Durham's probe has been characterized as a bid by Donald Trump and former AG Bill Barr to 'investigate the investigators,' his report contains one bit of praise for former Special Counsel Robert Mueller's report.

Early in the report, Durham notes that the public record 'contains a substantial body of information relating to former President Trump's and the Trump Organizations' relationships with Russian businesses, Russian business people, and Russian officials, as well as separate evidence of Russia's attempts to interfere in the 2016 presidential election.'

It said the subject has been 'well-documented in the careful examinations undertaken by (i) [the Justice Department's IG] (ii) former FBI Director Robert Mueller as detailed in his report entitled "Report on the Investigation into Russian Interference in the 2016 Presidential Election."'

But after that brief acknowledgement of 'careful' examinations  Mueller produced his own 448-page report and achieved multiple convictions  Durham goes on to note his own 'sobering' conclusions.

The data  FBI hands over 6.5 million documents and Durham issues 190 subpoenas and conducts 480 interviews

Durham's team conducted 480 interviews, served 190 subpoenas under grand juries, executed seven search warrants, and looked at 1 million documents, according to a tally included in the report.

Trials resulted in two acquittals and one guilty plea of a former FBI agent who admitted to altering emails used in a warrant application. He got a year's probation.

His team obtained five orders for communications records and made one request to an unnamed foreign government under a treaty.

According to one footnote, the FBI's Office of General Counsel produced more than 6.5 million pages of documents in response to 'multiple requests.'

'We note that it did so at the same time it was coping with the personnel shortages brought about by the COVID-19 crisis, working to comply with various production demands from congressional committees, and addressing requests from other government entities,' according to the report. 'Moreover, FBI leadership made it clear to its personnel that they were to cooperate fully with our inquiry, which, in all but a few instances involving some personnel in the Counterintelligence Division, proved to be the case.'

Durham's team conducted 480 interviews, served 190 subpoenas under grand juries, executed seven search warrants, and looked at 1 million documents

Durham faults the 'apparent confirmation bias' among FBI agents who kickstarted Crossfire Hurricane

Durham says FBI personnel displayed 'a serious lack of analytical rigor towards the information that they received, especially information received from politically affiliated persons and entities.'

He also faults them with 'apparent confirmation bias, and a 'significant reliance on investigative leads provided or funded (directly or indirectly) by Trump's political opponents' in the Crossfire Hurricane probe.

The department 'did not adequately examine or question these materials and the motivations of those providing them,' he writes.

FBI 'lover' Peter Strzok and his 'hostile' feelings towards Trump

Durham writes that there was a 'predisposition to open an investigation into Trump' and points the finger at 'certain personnel intimately involved in the matter' there was.

Among those he singles out are former FBI counterintelligence official Peter Strzok, who Trump would rage against online amid the Russia probe.

He cites personal texts between 'FBI lovers' Strzok and Lisa Page, and says Strzok 'at a minimum,' had pronounced hostile feelings toward Trump.'

The report said of Strzrok: 'Our investigation gathered evidence that showed a number of those closest to the investigation believed that the standard arguably had not been met, even Strzok, who drafted and approved the opening EC, said there's nothing to this but we have to run it to ground. His view would seem to dictate the opening of the matter or at the most a preliminary investigation.'

He also called out former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, who was fired by Trump AG Jeff Sessions on the eve of his retirement.

Strzok hit back at the report on MSNBC, saying it 'never should have taken place' and that Durham ''didn't come up with anything.'

'It was potentially a threat to the national security of the United States, and it absolutely merited opening a full investigation.' He pointed to a finding by Justice Department IG Michael Horowitz that the investigation was justified.

'And the IG found it was proper and in accordance with DOJ and FBI regulations and finally after years of independent investigation, found that there was no testimonial or documentary evidence that anybody acted with bias or inappropriately,

The report concludes that 'at least on the part of certain personnel intimately involved in the matter' there was 'a predisposition to open an investigation into Trump.'

Durham mentions former FBI Deputy Director and CNN senior law enforcement analyst Andrew McCabe and zeros in on Peter Strzok, the ex-deputy director of the counter-intelligence division.

'Strzok, at a minimum, had pronounced hostile feelings toward Trump,' Durham wrote, while quoting in a footnote previously known texts between Strzok and Lisa Page, then an FBI attorney.

How FBI agents began a full investigation into Trump - but gave Clinton and her campaign a pass when it came to violations

Durham finds that FBI agents cut gave Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's campaign a break that the Trump campaign never got.

He writes that when the FBI got 'highly significant intelligence' that came 'from a trusted foreign source pointing to a Clinton campaign plan to vilify Trump by tying him to Vladimir Putin so as to divert attention from her own concerns relating to her use of a private email server.'

'Unlike the FBI's opening of a full investigation of unknown members of the Trump campaign based on raw, uncorroborated information, in this separate matter involving a purported Clinton campaign plan, the FBI never opened any type of inquiry, issued any taskings, employed any analytical personnel, or produced any analytical products in connection with the information, 'according to the report.

Durham called the handling of the matter a 'significant intelligence failure' and a troubling instance of 'confirmation bias.'

Clinton had a response to the charge, which Durham included.

It 'looked like Russian disinformation to me; they're very good at it, you know,' Clinton responded.

'Clinton advised that she had a lot of plans to win the campaign, and anything that came into the public domain was available to her,' the report continued regarding her interview in 2022.

US intelligence obtained Russian analysis suggesting that 2016 presidential candidate Hillary Clinton had personally approved a plan to 'vilify' her opponent Donald Trump, according to the Durham report which was published Monday

Durham rips apart the 'Golden Showers' rumors started by Clinton campaign allies and lapped up by the media

John Durham's investigators spoke to the former GM of the Moscow Ritz to try to uncover the trail of 'salacious' information about Donald Trump's stay there.

His team identifies PR exec Charles Dolan as the 'likely' source of the infamous golden showers information included in the Steele Dossier. It says Dolan, who advised Hillary Clinton's presidential campaigns, made his own trip to the Moscow Ritz, and served as a sub-source of information for Russia analyst Igor Danchenko, who was acquitted on charges of lying to the FBI. It also says he had a relationship with Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov and other Russia contacts.

The report devotes about six pages to tracking down a possible origin of the shocking claim  and blows up at least one element of it: that Trump stayed in the same presidential suite while in town for the 2013 Miss Universe Pageant at the hotel where President Barack Obama had stayed in 2009.

The report identified Dolan as the 'likely' source of information about salacious allegations involving Trump. It says he met with officials at the Moscow Ritz during his own 2016 trip there. Trump stayed at the hotel during the 2013 Miss Universe pageant  but not in the Presidential Suite, according to Durham

Russian analyst Igor Danchenko was acquitted by a jury in federal court in Alexandria, Virginia in a case that Durham helped argue on charges of lying to the FBI

Defense of Durham's failed track record in court  blames the jury for 'strongly held' views

Durham includes a defense of his track record in court high up in his report, including in a case where he made arguments personally before a jury but failed to obtain a conviction.

Not 'every injustice or transgression amounts to a criminal offense,' he wrote.

Durham writes that juries 'can bring strongly held viewed to the courtroom in criminal trials involving political subject matters, and those views can, in turn, affect the likelihood of obtaining a conviction, separate and apart from the strength of the actual evidence and despite a court's best efforts to empanel a fair and impartial jury.'

He says there are 'some instances' when it may not be 'advisable to expend government time and resources on a criminal prosecution,' particularly when it would create an 'unfounded' impression the government is 'seeking to criminalize the behavior of political opponents or punish the activities of a specific political party or campaign.'
The prime suspect in Natalie Holloway's disappearance is divorcing his wife and mother of his daughter for a 'prettier and younger' girlfriend accused of smuggling him drugs in jail, his lawyer has told DailyMail.com.

Having set his family aside, Joran van der Sloot now wants to be extradited to the US to clear his name over charges connected to Natalee's unsolved murder case, his attorney Maximo Altez said.

The bombshell revelations come after the convicted killer, who is currently in a maximum-security prison in Peru for the 2010 murder of Stephany Flores, originally asked to appeal the extradition order.

Van der Sloot, 35, maintains he did not murder Natalee, who was 18 when she vanished after leaving a nightclub with him and two his friends on the Caribbean island of Aruba in 2005.

Her body has never been found and she was declared legally dead in 2012 at the request of her father, Dave Holloway.

Joran van der Sloot, the suspect in the disappearance of Natalee Holloway, is divorcing his wife of nearly nine years, Leidy Figueroa (pictured here in 2014), his attorney said

Van der Sloot asked for a divorce around a year ago because he was now in a relationship with a 'prettier and younger' woman

His new girlfriend is Eva Pacohuanaco, who was accused of smuggling him drugs in jail in Peru

Van der Sloot married accountant Leidy Figueroa, 33, in a private ceremony at Piedras Gordas prison in July 2014, when Leidy was seven months pregnant with their daughter.

Just months after tying the knot, she gave a gushing interview to DailyMail.com claiming her new husband was 'gentle, sensitive, kind' and 'no monster'.

The couple met while Leidy was selling candy and cigarettes to inmates at another of van der Sloot's former prisons - Miguel Castro Castro, in Lima.

Lax prison rules meant Leidy began visiting him twice a week and the pair exchanged a stream of saccharine love letters.

They even named their daughter Dusha Trudie Van der Sloot, 8, after Van der Sloot's grandmother, Trudie.

But their unlikely romance began to fall apart in 2020 after van der Sloot was accused of bringing drugs into jail with a girlfriend, Eva Pacohuanaco, Altez said.

'Leidy continued seeing him for a while,' the lawyer added. 'Joran had a bunch of girlfriends...lots of girls used to visit him...but Leidy was the most loyal.'

Despite his infidelity, it was van der Sloot who asked for divorce around a year ago because he was now in a relationship with 'prettier and younger' Pacohuanaco, 24, according to Altez.

The killer now has fewer female visitors due to tighter security at his current prison, Challapalca, in Puno, Peru, but he 'still writes to girls and they send him pictures', Altez added.

The attorney said Leidy 'still visits' as she 'likes the punishment' and 'is nothing without' her husband, who helps her financially through family money.

Van der Sloot's father, Paul, was a justice official in Aruba. Both he and Joran were arrested and released without charge in connection with the case. Paul died in 2010.

Pacohuanaco, pictured here in surveillance footage that allegedly shows her smuggling drugs to her lover in a Peruvian jail in 2020

Natalee disappeared from the Caribbean island of Aruba in 2005 while on a high school trip

Van der Sloot's lawyer also revealed he now wants to be extradited to the US so he can fight charges in relation to Natalee's disappearance. He is currently in a jail in Peru

His wife and mother of their eight-year-old daughter flew into a rage when she was told her husband was filing for divorce, van der Sloot's attorney said

Leidy had previously given a gushing interview to DailyMail.com, telling how her killer husband was 'gentle' and 'no monster'

Altez said Figueroa flew into a rage when he informed her van der Sloot was filing for divorce.

'She asked me: "How could you?!" You were the Godfather of our marriage. She got mad. And she's partly right.'

Altez also revealed his client had performed a U-turn on his extradition after initially asking him to lodge an appeal.

The federal charges against van der Sloot stem from an accusation that he tried to extort the Natalee's mother, Beth Holloway, promising to lead her to her daughter's body in exchange for $250,000 in 2010.

A grand jury indicted him that year on one count each of wire fraud and extortion, each of which is punishable by up to 20 years in prison.

'Joran wants to go to the US to prove he did not ask Ms Holloway for money,' Altez said. 'He realized he can be absolved of the charges.'

Van der Sloot's decision to ditch his wife and family flies in the face of promises he made to Leidy before they married.

In one love letter, seen by DailyMail.com, the murderer suggests he planned to raise enough money to buy his young bride a house - even though he is not due for release from his current sentence until 2038.

He wrote: 'While we save money and in a few years I will buy you your own house, better say our house.'

Natalee's mother, Beth, (right) recently welcomed news that van der Sloot faced extradition to the US, saying the family was 'finally getting justice for Natalie'

Love letters: Van der Sloot wooed Leidy with many saccharine notes he wrote in Spanish while in prison

Van der Sloot was convicted of the 2010 murder of Stephany Flores (pictured)

Instead, he has turned to Pacohuanaco, who was accused of helping him smuggle nearly 300 grams of cocaine and 140 grams of marijuana into another jail in Juliaca, according to reports in Peru.

It landed the Dutchman an additional seven years on his sentence for the murder of Flores.

Natalee had been visiting Aruba with a large group of friends celebrating high school graduation.

She was last seen leaving a nightclub with van der Sloot and two of his friends, Satish and Deepak Kalpoe, on the last night of the trip.

All three were arrested but charges were dropped due to insufficient evidence.

In 2010, van der Sloot was arrested in Peru for the murder of 21-year-old Stephany Flores, who was killed five years to the day after Holloway's disappearance.

Peruvian prosecutors accused van der Sloot of killing Flores, a business student from a prominent family, to rob her after learning she had won money at the casino where the two met.

They said he killed her with 'ferocity' and 'cruelty,' beating then strangling her in his hotel room. He pleaded guilty in 2012.

How long it takes for Van der Sloot to be extradited will depend on a number of factors, including arranging transportation to fly him to the States and an agreement from the US that he will be returned to Peru to complete his sentence there.

After a trial in the US, van der Sloot would be returned to Peru to finish his sentence for Flores' murder and a separate charge of trafficking drugs in prison.

Leidy declined to comment.
Danny Masterson drugged women's drinks so he could rape them, then relied on his prominence in the Church of Scientology to avoid consequences for years, a prosecutor has told jurors.

'The defendant drugs his victims to gain control. He does this to take away his victims' ability to consent,' Deputy District Attorney Ariel Anson told the jury of seven men and five women on Tuesday in closing arguments at the actor's trial.

'You don't want to have sex? You don't have a choice. The defendant makes that choice for these victims. And he does it over and over and over again.'

The 47-year-old former star of 'That '70s Show' is on rape trial for a second time after the first ended in a mistrial in December, with a jury hopelessly deadlocked on all counts.

The new jury is expected to get the case Wednesday morning when prosecutors complete their final rebuttal. Masterson has pleaded not guilty to raping three women at his home between 2001 and 2003.

Danny Masterson and wife Bijou Phillips arrive for court at the Los Angeles Superior Courthouse on Tuesday. Masterson has pleaded not guilty to raping three women at his home between 2001 and 2003

The 47-year-old former star of 'That '70s Show' is on rape trial for a second time after the first ended in a mistrial in December. Danny Masterson and wife Bijou Phillips are pictured Tuesday

Inconsistencies in the women's stories are essential and should make it easy for jurors to have reasonable doubt of Masterson's guilt, his attorney Philip Cohen told jurors on Tuesday

His attorney, Philip Cohen told jurors during his closing that inconsistencies in the women's stories that he said Anson downplayed are essential and should make it easy for jurors to have reasonable doubt of Masterson's guilt.

READ MORE: Church of Scientology accessed tranche of criminal discovery material in rape retrial of Danny Masterson, DA says Advertisement

'She did a very nice job of ignoring many of them,' Cohen said. 'What she views as little inconsistencies are at the heart of trying to determine, `Is somebody, reliable, credible, believable enough for a criminal conviction?''

He dwelled on one woman testifying that Masterson pulled a gun from a nightstand at one point during the night she said she was attacked, though there was no mention of it in the report from her initial police interview. She insisted she had told police about it then. Cohen said that alone was enough to crater her credibility and introduce reasonable doubt that Masterson is guilty.

Anson took aim at the Church of Scientology, of which Masterson is a member and all three women are former members, throughout her argument, emphasizing that church authorities kept the women from accepting what had happened to them and from reporting it to police for years.

'The church taught his victims, `Rape isn't rape, you caused this, and above all, you are never allowed to go to law enforcement,'' she said. 'In Scientology, the defendant is a celebrity and he is untouchable.'

The church has denied having any policy discouraging members from going to law enforcement.

'The defendant drugs his victims to gain control. He does this to take away his victims' ability to consent,' Deputy District Attorney Ariel Anson told the jury on Tuesday

A court room sketch shows Leah Remini watching prosecutor Ariel Anson in closing arguments during Danny Masterson's rape trial on Tuesday

Leah Remini attends the 2019 IDA Documentary Awards at Paramount Pictures on December 07, 2019 in Los Angeles

Actor Leah Remini, a former member of the church who has become one of its most prominent public opponents, sat in the courtroom, her arm around one of the accusers, who testified during both trials that Masterson raped her in 2003.

'Why have we heard so much about Scientology?' Cohen said in his closing. 'Could it be because there are problems with the government's case?'

He emphasized an instruction that said jurors could not hold his religion as a sign against his character, and a stipulation from both sides that no evidence was presented at trial that Masterson had harassed the women.

Cohen said Claire Headley, a former Scientology official who testified as a prosecution expert in an element not allowed at the first trial, had credibility problems based on an unsuccessful lawsuit against the church and a relationship with Remini.

'She came with a bias and a motive,' Cohen said.

Anson guided jurors through the testimonies of all three women. One is a former girlfriend who said Masterson raped her five years into their relationship in 2001. The two others are women he knew through social circles surrounding the church.

The Associated Press does not typically name people who say they have been sexually abused.

All three testified that they became unusually groggy and had gaps in consciousness and memory after consuming drinks Masterson gave them. Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Charlaine Olmedo allowed the prosecution during the second trial to directly say he drugged the women, after only allowing descriptions of their states at the first.

Actress Leah Remini is pictured in court during Danny Masterson's rape trial, April 24, 2023

Danny Masterson is pictured in a court room sketch as he stands trial for rape. Pictured April 24, 2023

Leah Remini and Danny Masterson arrive at a benefit dinner and concert for Project Restart and the New York Rescue Workers Detoxification Project, November 3, 2007 in Las Vegas

Masterson is on rape trial for a second time after the first ended in a mistrial in December, with a jury hopelessly deadlocked on all counts

Danny Masterson drugged women's drinks so he could rape them, then relied on his prominence in the Church of Scientology to avoid consequences for years, a prosecutor has told jurors (file image of the Church of Scientology in Los Angeles)

There is no forensic proof of any drugging. The investigation that led to Masterson's arrest did not begin for about 15 years after the women say they were raped. Anson told jurors the women's accounts and the testimony of a police toxicology expert who described symptoms should be enough.

'What is not here is evidence of drugs,' Cohen said in response. 'Miss Anson presented a case as if she was arguing a drugging case. Maybe it's because there is no evidence of force or violence.'

Cohen argued that the women contaminated their testimony by communicating with each other after the police investigation began in 2016.

Anson said during her presentation that the women had no reason to lie and that it is not plausible that they were engaging in a 'grand conspiracy' to get Masterson.

Cohen said he was 'not claiming some grand conspiracy.'

'It is a tweak here, a massaging a word there, a saying something over here,' the defense attorney said. 'That's what contamination really is.'

Cohen also said civil lawsuits brought by the women are evidence they have a financial incentive.

'If you're looking for motives why they might not be truthful, there are motives all over the place,' he said.

Fewer than half of jurors voted to convict Masterson on any count after the first trial.

His attorney emphasized Tuesday that even if they believe it is likely he is guilty, they must acquit.

'If you say, 'I think he is probably guilty,' you know what that leads to?' Cohen said, then made a buzzer sound. 'Not guilty.'
The North Carolina has banned most abortions after 12 weeks of pregnancy after the state's Republican-controlled General Assembly successfully overrode the Democratic governor's veto late Tuesday.

The House completed the second and final part of the override vote after a similar three-fifths majority - the fraction necessary - voted for the override earlier Tuesday in the Senate.

The party-line outcomes represent a major victory for Republican legislative leaders who needed every GOP member on board to enact the law over Gov. Roy Cooper's opposition.

Cries of 'shame, shame' echoed from democrats around the Senate floor as other held up signs as the required super-majority approved the override.

Cooper vetoed the measure over the weekend after spending last week traveling around the state to persuade at least one Republican to side with him on the override, which would be enough to uphold his veto. But in the end, the four Republicans targeted by Cooper - including one who recently switched from the Democratic Party - voted to override.

North Carolina physicians hold signs to protest as North Carolina Republican lawmakers hold a vote to override Democratic Governor Roy Cooper's veto of a bill that would ban most abortions in the state after 12 weeks

Democrats protest with signs that read 'SHAME', after North Carolina Republican lawmakers voted to override Democratic Governor Roy Cooper's veto

Roy Cooper signs and stamps the veto of Senate Bill 20 as thousands cheer during his Veto Rally for Healthcare Freedom on Saturday, days before it is overturned

Republicans pitched the measure as a middle-ground change to state law, which currently bans nearly all abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy, without exceptions for rape or incest.

The votes came as abortion rights in the U.S. faced another tectonic shift with lawmakers in South Carolina and Nebraska also considering new abortion limits. North Carolina and South Carolina have been two of the few remaining Southern states with relatively easy access.

Such restrictions are possible because the U.S. Supreme Court last year struck down the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling, which established a nationwide right to abortion.

Under the bill up for a vote Tuesday in the South Carolina House, abortion access would be almost entirely banned after about six weeks of pregnancy - before women often know they're pregnant. The South Carolina state Senate previously rejected a proposal to nearly outlaw abortions.

Nationally, bans on abortion throughout pregnancy are in effect in 14 states.

Abortion is banned or severely restricted in much of the South, including bans throughout pregnancy in Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas and West Virginia. In Georgia, it's allowed only in the first six weeks.

The Carolinas, Florida and Virginia are now the main destinations in the region for those seeking legal abortions. Florida has a ban that kicks in 15 weeks into pregnancy. Under a recent law, that would tighten to six weeks pending a court ruling. Further west, women often travel to Illinois, Kansas, New Mexico or Colorado.

Demonstrators hold signs as North Carolina Republican lawmakers hold a vote to override the veto

Anti-abortion protesters sit above the voting record sign in the State Senate on Tuesday

Advocates hold signs while North Carolina Republican lawmakers hold a vote to override Democratic Governor Roy Cooper's veto

Protesters on both sides of the issue hold signs as North Carolina House members debate on Tuesday

North Carolina House members look to the voting boards after thevote was taken after debate on Tuesday

If both the North and South Carolina bans become law, combined with Florida's recent ban, 'it would be just devastating for abortion access in the South,' Jamie Lockhart, executive director of Planned Parenthood Advocates of Virginia, said earlier Tuesday.

After the final vote Tuesday in the North Carolina House, abortion-rights advocates and Democrats in the chamber gallery loudly booed the outcome and shouted 'Shame!' Many observers in the gallery were escorted out by General Assembly police.

Similar displeasure poured out after the earlier North Carolina Senate debate, although many anti-abortion demonstrators also were in the audience, pleased with the outcome.

'Today marks the beginning of North Carolina's first real step towards becoming a pro-life state,' Tami Fitzgerald, executive director of the socially conservative North Carolina Values Coalition, said after the House vote.

Senate Republicans said Cooper ignored $160 million within the measure that would boost funding to increase contraceptive services, reduce infant and maternal mortality and provide paid maternity leave for state employees and teachers.

'This bill provides resources for the pregnant woman. It provides broad resources and a significant knowledge base to enable her, to equip her in finding a path forward - a path forward for her, and a path forward for her unborn child,' said Rep. Kristin Baker, a Cabarrus County Republican and psychiatrist.

The new abortion limits set to take effect July 1 also will include rape or incest exceptions through 20 weeks of pregnancy and exceptions for 'life-limiting' fetal anomalies during the first 24 weeks. An existing exception for when the life of the pregnant woman is in danger will remain.

Abortion rights protesters are removed after becoming vocal as North Carolina House members voted to override Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper's veto

Anti-abortion advocates watch as North Carolina Republican lawmakers hold a vote to override Democratic Governor Roy Cooper's veto

Members of the public sit inside the North Carolina Legislative Building before North Carolina Republican lawmakers hold a vote

Democrats focused on details of the abortion rules, which they said would place barriers between women and their doctors, leaving those who are pregnant in danger, with less access to abortion services.

'Women did not ask for your oversight. We didn't ask for your approval,' Rep. Julie von Haefen, a Wake County Democrat, told GOP colleagues. 'It's our fundamental right to make decisions about our own bodies and our own health care.'

Cooper said in a statement after the vote that he'll 'continue doing everything I can to protect abortion access in North Carolina because women's lives depend on it.'

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said the law 'will make it even more difficult for women to get the reproductive health care they need.'

North Carolina Republicans were able to complete the override due in large part to Mecklenburg County Rep. Tricia Cotham's party switch to the GOP last month. That gave Republicans veto-proof seat majorities in both chambers.

Cotham has supported abortion rights in the past. She said in a statement late Tuesday that the bill 'strikes a reasonable balance' that anyone not holding 'extremist positions' on abortion can support.

In South Carolina, the impasse dates back to a special session last fall when House lawmakers demanding a near-total ban did not meet to negotiate with their Senate counterparts pushing for a ban around six weeks.

The stalemate persisted even after the state Supreme Court in January struck down a previous law banning abortions once cardiac activity is detected.

That decision left abortion legal through 22 weeks of pregnancy. A sharp increase in abortions since then has rankled Republicans.

North Carolina Republican lawmakers vote to override Democratic Governor Roy Cooper's veto of a bill that would ban most abortions in the state after 12 weeks

Members of the public file out of the legislative building after North Carolina Republican lawmakers held a vote

Members of the public file out of the legislative building after North Carolina Republican lawmakers held a vote to override Democratic Governor Roy Cooper's veto of a bill that would ban most abortions in the state after 12 weeks

Security removes abortion rights protesters from the North Carolina House during the vote on Tuesday

Abortion rights protesters gather outside the building following the North Carolina House vote on Tuesday

Protesters on both sides of the issue hold signs as North Carolina House members debate, Tuesday

The House was weighing a Senate bill similar to the one they denied last year. The measure would ban abortion when an ultrasound detects cardiac activity, around six weeks.

A late night is expected even after Republicans invoked rules to limit debate. House Speaker Murrell Smith has said the chamber will not adjourn until the measure gets approval. Democrats slowed the process Tuesday by speaking for all three allotted minutes on each of their hundreds of amendments and forcing other procedural votes.

In Nebraska, conservatives in the Legislature got just enough votes Tuesday to fold a proposed 12-week abortion ban into a bill that would ban gender-affirming health for minors.

Throughout, hundreds of protesters filled the Capitol rotunda just outside the chamber doors, nearly drowning out debate at times with chants, shouts and foot stomping.

The plan won the 33 votes it needed in the state's one-chamber, officially nonpartisan legislature to end debate and set up other votes to advance it. It must now survive a final round, which could happen as soon as Thursday, to pass.

In Montana, Republican Gov. Greg Gianforte's office announced Tuesday that he had signed into law a bill that makes performing the abortion method most commonly used after 15 weeks of gestation a felony. Planned Parenthood of Montana asked a judge to temporarily block the ban on dilation and evacuation abortions.

A separate challenge to abortion access will be considered Wednesday, when a federal appeals court hears arguments on whether the Food and Drug Administration's approval of the widely used abortion drug mifepristone should be overturned. A three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals will review a ruling last month by a federal judge in Texas who ordered a hold on approval of mifepristone, a decision that overruled two decades of scientific approval of the drug. That ruling was stayed while the appeal is pending.

The three judges who will hear the case each have a history of supporting restrictions on abortion. A ruling is not expected immediately.
A video of billionaire Elon Musk's reaction to the cost of power in Australia long before the latest surge in prices has brought home to many the fears that energy prices may drive them into poverty.

The footage, from an little-known interview he did in 2017, documents a clearly stunned Musk after being presented with Australian electricity prices.

'Wow, really?' he says in disbelief when told that power was becoming a 'luxury item' for many families.

'I didn't realise it was that expensive. Australia has so many natural resources that even if you go the fossil fuel route, electricity should be very cheap,' he says.

His shock turned to sadness when he was told many people were worried they would not be able to turn on their lights or cook food.

'I did not expect that,' he said, his voice wavering, before pausing several seconds and promising: 'We'll work harder.'

The clip of Musk has attracted hundreds of comments - with Aussies quick to point out that rising energy prices come as the government shuts down the nation's coal power plants in order to meet its target of supplying 80% of power with renewables by 2030.

One commenter said: 'Want renewable energy? Unfortunately were paying for it.'

Another added: 'It's cause we gotta be environmentally friendly and f*** off our main source of power and then they let power companies set whatever price they want.'

While a third wrote: 'The Greenies f***ed up Australia with their expensive unreliable renewables.'

A fourth said: 'Prices are going up because the govt has restricted investment in coal production for so long.'

While a fifth noted: 'The government is demolishing the fossil fuel factories so they can go green but they don't actual know a green way of making electricity for the country.'

Australia's oldest coal-fired power station, Liddell, was switched off after more than 50 years of service at the end of April.

Although climate activists celebrated the demise of the coal-fired 'clunker', critics shared their concern that shutting down the Muswellbrook plant in the Hunter region would remove 10 per cent of the state's power.

A TikTok video explained how Australia produces the most lithium in the world, around 46 per cent of the world's supply. Lithium is used in dozens of everyday items, included laptops and phones

Critics have warned that the shut down will lead to a surge in energy prices - similar to what happened in Victoria when a power station was closed in 2017.

The closure of the Hazelwood Power Station in March of 2017, saw power prices double or surge by up to 85 per cent - equivalent to an extra $1.8billion a year that fell directly on Victorians.

The station was closed due to the increasing cost of operations, with the site needing a $400million cash injection to keep it safe and efficient.

Last year, it was also announced that the Eraring station on the shore of Lake Macquarie in New South Wales, which is Australia's biggest, will close in 2025.

The closures are part of the government's drive to make 80 per cent of Australia's power sources renewable by 2030.

However, that target has previously been blasted as unrealistic by critics.

'The notion that we can have 80 per cent renewables by 2030 is bulls***,' the former CEO of Snowy Hydro 2.0, Paul Broad, told Ben Fordham's 2GB radio show last week.

'The truth is... this transition (to renewables), if it ever occurs, it will take 80 years... not eight.

'Eraring cannot close  If the lights don't go out I'll be awfully surprised,' Mr Broad said.

Musk was moved to tears when he was told that many people were worried they wouldn't be able to turn on their lights or cook food

In March it was revealed that Australian households in four states will face steep electricity price hikes in the coming months as the country's energy regulator flags rises of up to 31 per cent.

Victorians will see their bills going up by almost a third while NSW, Queensland and South Australia also facing steep hikes.

The Australian Energy Regulator on Wednesday released its draft default market offer - essentially the maximum price that energy retailers can charge residential and small business customers - for the 2023/24 financial year.

Victoria's Essential Services Commission did the same for that state and signalled a 30 per cent increase in household electricity prices and 31 per cent for small businesses.

This would see a typical household bill would rise from $1,403 to $1,829 per year, while small businesses could expect an increase from $5,620 to about $7,358.

About 400,000 Victorian households and 55,000 small business customers are on that state's default offer, according to Commission.

For NSW, Queensland and South Australia the Australian Energy Regulator flagged price increases of between 19.5 and 23.7 per cent.

Default offers for residential customers in NSW were expected to increase by between 20.9 per cent and 23.7 per cent for small businesses.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers announced energy rebates in the recent Federal Budget in an attempt to support Aussies struggling with the cost of electricity.

In 2021, Daily Mail Australia revealed that two of Australia's biggest energy companies are owned by Chinese investors.

Energy Australia, which has 1.7 million customers, is owned by the China Light and Power Company after being sold off by the NSW government for $1.4 billion in 2011.

And Alinta Energy, which has 1.1 million customers, was sold by its private owners to Chow Tai Fook Enterprises for $4billion in 2017.

Although neither Energy Australia or Alinta distribute electricity, both are energy generators and retailers, owning crucial assets such as coal power stations, solar power fields and wind farms.

Alinta Energy's assets include the Braemar Power Station in Queensland, the Wagerup Power Station in Western Australia and the Loy Yang B Power Station in Victoria.

EnergyAustralia's infrastructure includes the Cathedral Rocks wind farm in South Australia, the Tallawarra gas station in NSW and the Yallourn coal station in Victoria.
Julia Gillard has opened up in a TV interview about why she opposed same-sex marriage when she was Prime Minister and how she was 'incredibly wrong' at the time.

But Australia's first female prime minister failed to mention the alleged role of a powerful, conservative union in her decision.

The Labor leader was among 98 MPs who in 2012 voted against a private member's bill that sought to legalise same sex marriage.

At the time, Ms Gillard said she believed in the 'traditional' meaning of the union between a man and woman.

Ms Gillard copped heavy public backlash and was later taken aback when a forthright six-year-old boy at a public forum in Sydney asked why she wouldn't let gay people get married.

A decade after she was put on the spot by the boy during the Q & A-style forum, she explained why her stance changed in an insightful one-on-one interview with actor David Wenham which aired on the ABC on Tuesday night.

Julia Gillard voted in favour of same-sex marriage laws five years after she opposed a bill against a private member's bill that sought to legalise gay marriage

Asked whether she felt obliged to play politics with the issue, Ms Gillard replied: 'I wouldn't use the word 'obliged' but it was a political issue, because it was about what the parliament was prepared to do.'

'I mean, I think the sense of same-sex marriage and marriage equality being a reform, the time of which had well and truly come but didn't happen in an instant. It happened over years and I was prime minister during that process.

'And for me, I, as a feminist, had always wanted us to have a deeper debate about the role of marriage. I thought maybe this was the moment for the deeper debate.'

'I got that wrong, you know? Got it incredibly wrong and very happy to say that.'

Ms Gillard explained why her stance on the controversial issue changed after she was voted out.

'As the campaign for change grew stronger and stronger and it became clear that the only debate to be had was marriage equality, then I was very happy to support marriage equality,' she said.

However, there was no mention in the interview about whether Ms Gillard's opposition to same-sex marriage was linked to the support she enjoyed from the powerful and conservative union, the Shop, Distributive & Allied Employees' Association (SDA).

Ms Gillard has previously denied her position was about support from the 'Shoppies' union while she clung to power. However, the Sydney Morning Herald has reported that top Labor insiders were in 'no doubt' it was the reason why.

The former prime minister (pictured) explained in a candid interview why her views on legalising same sex marriage changed

Regardless, Ms Gillard was quickly inundated with praise from viewers for her candid admission on TV.

'I'm trying to think of any other politicians that have said 'I got that wrong'. Very gracious and honest,' one tweeted.

Another added: 'Julia displayed dignity, grace, charm and sense of fun. An outstanding feminist who left invaluable legacies of her time as PM.'

Elsewhere in the interview, Ms Gillard reflected on her infamous misogyny speech directed towards then-opposition leader Tony Abbott in parliament in 2012, which went viral worldwide.

'I didn't create the occasion. The politics of the day created the occasion because it was about sexism and it was about a scandal enveloping the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Peter Slipper,' Ms Gillard recalled.

'But I knew that the Opposition was going to weaponise that scandal into trying to accuse me of hypocrisy on sexism. And I think it was that sort of reverse play that had me going, 'Oh my God,' you know? For goodness sake, why on earth are we in this position?

'I mean, I just can't believe that they, after everything they've done, 'are now trying to use this against me.'

'And so I think it was that itchy frustration that showed in the speech.'

Ms Gillard was later 'a little bit resentful' that the speech defined her three year stint as prime minister rather than her work in introducing the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) and education reforms.

She has since come to terms that the speech will be part of her legacy.

Julia Gillard remains famous for her blistering speech in parliament on misogyny in 2012 (pictured)

'For a period, it was all everybody was talking about in terms of my time in office,' Ms Gillard recalled.

'But I'm well and truly at peace with it now because most leaders don't get remembered for very much is the truth of it. They certainly don't get internationally recognised for very much.

'So now, as I spend quite a bit of my life overseas and I have people talk to me about that speech, it's sort of the only thing they know about Australian politics.'

Ms Gillard remains the first and only Australian woman to have been PM, prompting her to reflect on the challenges she and female colleagues faced in parliament.

'We were proving we could be great backbenchers, and then proving we could be great shadow ministers and then proving we could be, you know, cabinet ministers in government and on it went,' she said.

'Until women have answered that 'can women do it?' question  which people dont articulate but they definitely think  until you've answered that, you don't get the freedom to then say, 'and now, let's change the environment and make it really different.'"

'And I think we're at that stage now and that's a great stage to be at.'
Anthony Albanese was blindsided by a 4.30am call from US President Joe Biden which is likely to derail his entire Quad leader's summit scheduled to be held at the Sydney Opera House next week.

The high-stakes diplomatic meeting could be on the verge of collapse amid reports both Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Japanese PM Fumio Kishida are reconsidering their travel plans on the back of President Biden's decision.

Mr Biden is in the middle of crucial debt ceiling talks with congressional leaders and cannot miss the final stages of negotiations to raise the US's $31.4 trillion borrowing limit.

Mr Biden called Mr Albanese first at 4.30am on Wednesday to confirm he'd have to pull out of the Quad leaders summit due to be held in Sydney on May 24. He will still attend the G7 in Japan this weekend.

The debt ceiling matter must be resolved by June 1 or the US will default on its debt for the first time in its history - and the week of the Quad summit is the last opportunity to reach a resolution.

The high-stakes diplomatic meeting could be on the verge of collapse amid reports both Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Japanese PM Fumio Kishida are reconsidering their travel plans on the back of President Biden's decision

But literally hours before the president pulled out of the visit, Mr Albanese said he was 'honoured' to host the leader's summit, which he described as the 'most important international event to be held in Australia since the G20 in Brisbane in 2014.

'I look forward to welcoming President Biden to Australia,' Mr Albanese told The Australian.

'I am please that President Biden has been able to take up my invitation to address parliament.'

President Biden's scheduled address to a joint sitting of Parliament on May 23 was the first since President Obama's nine years ago.

Since the revelation President Biden would not be in attendance, both India and Japan's prime ministers, Modi and Kishida, are reconsidering their travel plans.

Mr Albanese said discussions would take place with both leaders in the next 24 hours regarding the next steps for the summit. He is hopeful both will still attend, and that the US will send a senior representative, such as Secretary of State Antony Blinken, in the place of President Biden.

Despite his disappointment, Mr Albanese told ABC Sydney Breakfast that 'President Biden emphasised the importance of the Quad' and is 'very disappointed at some of the actions of some members of Congress and the US Senate' which have made it impossible for him to attend.

Mr Biden is in the middle of crucial debt ceiling talks with congressional leaders and cannot miss the final stages of negotiations to raise the US's $31.4 trillion borrowing limit

One hint that President Biden's trip was on the rocks came when National Security Spokesman John Kirby publicly described the agenda for his trip to Japan  which he said would include meetings with each of the Quad nations -- all of whom will also be in Japan

'And obviously the domestic priority for the President, understandably, is to play a role in resolving those issues,' he said.

'One thing I'm absolutely certain of is that the President certainly wishes that this wasn't happening.'

Mr Albanese is confident Prime Minister Modi will not want to cancel or postpone his trip, both for the Quad itself but also for his own events that he has separately organised with the growing Indian diaspora in Australia.

Modi has scheduled an event at Qudos Bank Arena for next week, and some 21,000 guests have registered to attend.

One hint that President Biden's trip was on the rocks came when National Security Spokesman John Kirby publicly described the agenda for his trip to Japan  which he said would include meetings with each of the Quad nations -- all of whom will also be in Japan.

'The President and I agreed that we would work to reschedule his visit to Australia at the earliest opportunity,' Mr Albanese said in a statement.

Anthony Albanese was blindsided by a 4.30am call from US President Joe Biden which could derail his entire Quad leader's summit, which was to be held at the Sydney Opera House next week

Mr Albanese is confident Prime Minister Modi will not want to cancel or postpone his trip, both for the Quad itself but also for his own events that he has separately organised with the growing Indian diaspora in Australia

But, there had been whispers as early as last week that President Biden could withdraw from the event. President Biden himself said on May 10: 'If somehow we got down to the wire and we still hadn't resolved this, and the due date was... when I was supposed to be away, I would not go. I would stay until this gets finished.'

The US leader also extended an invitation to Mr Albanese to visit the United States. Further details of when that visit will take place will be announced at a later date.

A White House spokesperson said: 'Revitalizing and reinvigorating our alliances and advancing partnerships like the Quad remains a key priority for the President.

'This is vital to our ability to advance our foreign policy goals and better promote global stability and prosperity.

'We look forward to finding other ways to engage with Australia, the Quad, Papua New Guinea and the leaders of the Pacific Islands Forum in the coming year.'

The decision not to visit Papua New Guinea next week also comes as a significant blow, given Biden would have been the first sitting US President to tour the nation in an official capacity.
The wife of an ex-bikie boss has jokingly accused him of having 'psychological problems' after discovering hundreds of woman's numbers stored on his phone under extremely lewd and absurd names.

Former Nomads bikie boss and enforcer Moudi Tajjour was left with his head in his hands after his new wife Jenna Bignell stumbled across his unconventional contacts list on Tuesday.

In a series of stories posted to her Instagram, she filmed herself scrolling through his iPhone, howling with laughter at his attempts to differentiate between old flames.

Some of the names included: 'Deaf But Sexy Girl Lol Im Badddd'; 'Difficult Sexy One'; 'My New Misses For Sure'; 'Buggest (sic) Ass In The Country'; 'Rest Are Rubbish This is My Nunber (sic) 1 Love' and 'Tantrum Loved First Site'.

Tajjour, 38, told Daily Mail Australia his unorthodox naming system was based on 'what they look like'

Tajjour, 38, told Daily Mail Australia his unorthodox naming system was based on 'what they look like'.

'If she's got a big ar** I say 'big ar*** beauty', if she's got ripped jeans I'd say 'ripped jeans'.'

The ex-Nomads boss said the revelations had prompted a flurry of furious messages from former lovers.

'I've had about 60,000 people message me,' he said.

'Some found it funny but some are calling me all sorts of names. A lot of girls from social media are saying 'is that my name?'.'

In the videos, Jenna began searching with key words, including 'booty', 'sexy', 'f***' and 'love', with each word throwing up dozens of absurd results.

Her own name was just saved under 'Jennifer Misses (sic)' followed by a loveheart emoji.

'I'm just here with all these other b****es,' she says with mock outrage.

'I don't even have a cool name like these the b****es names.'

Tajjour (left) married Jenna Bignell (right) in an Islamic ceremony two weeks ago

Her entry is sandwiched between one called 'Misses Biggest Ass So Far Spain' and another named 'Misses Lmfao Yea OK'.

Tajjour can be heard laughing in the background, asking at one point: 'What was I thinking?'

Jenna then asks: 'What is wrong with you bro? You go the issues - the psychological problems.'

In the videos, Jenna began searching with key words, including 'booty', 'sexy', 'f***' and 'love', with each word throwing up dozens of hilarious results

She then jokingly offered ex-lovers the opportunity to discover what their moniker was.

'For a small surcharge you can find out what your name is saved under,' she said.

Tajjour revealed that he and Jenna were 'Islamically-married' two weeks ago after dating for around six months.

He has just shelled out $21,000 on buttock enlargement surgery for his new wife, which she is 'pretty excited about'.

Tajjour, who spent four years behind bars for the manslaughter of Robin Nassour in 2006, has had a complicated love life.

The ex-bikie boss said '60,000' women have since contacted him, many demanding to know what name they were saved under

In 2017, he was briefly married to Sanaa Mehajer, the youngest sister of disgraced developer and controversial former deputy mayor of Western Sydney's Auburn City Council, Salim Mehajer.

His notorious past haunted subsequent relationships, despite publicly breaking ties with the Nomads in 2018.

In May of the following year, he was linked to Instagram model and law student Jessica Foster.

But their relationship had barely begun when she dumped him over text message after being worried about media attention.

'My studies, work and family come first and I'm not set out for the media spotlight,' she told Tajjour.

'I have to concentrate on my studies with my last year and a half. I can't let anything jeopardise that at this current moment... unfortunately we met at the wrong time.'

She signed off: 'You're a perfect gentleman and you're nothing like what they portray you in the media. Thanks for everything again.'

Tajjour then met Ashleigh Gudgeon in 2020 and the pair welcomed their son Gabriel the following year.

Last year, he told the Daily Telelrgaph that he would kill his son if he followed in his father's footsteps and became a bikie.

'I would kill my son if he became a gangster, kill him, you understand? My son will never be a criminal,' he said.

'In front of my son I act weak, I dont want to act tough because then hell want to follow.'

He met Jenna last year and the pair were wed under Islamic law a fortnight ago.
Victoria Police are investigating after multiple women came forward to report they had received letters containing handwritten messages and used condoms.

The letters have been mailed to residential addresses across Melbourne's south-eastern and eastern suburbs.

More than 65 female victims who attended the Kilbreda College in Mentone have come forward so far and many had received multiple letters.

The first incident was reported to police on March 20 with the most recent occurring on Monday.

'It is believed that most of those who reported the material have received multiple letters, all with the suspected used item included,' police said in a statement.

'Officers believe the victims are linked and are part of a targeted attack.'

More than 65 female victims who attended the Kilbreda College in Mentone have come forward so far and many had received multiple letters

It is understood all of the 65 women graduated from Kilbreda College in Mentone in 1999, with their addresses possibly obtained from an old yearbook.

One of the recipients Bree Walker said the act was 'disturbing' and 'creepy'.

'I didn't sleep the night I received the letter, it really creeped me out,' Ms Walker told the Herald Sun.

'I found out that my friend also received a letter. I then messaged everyone from my year level and asked them if they received a letter and I found out that seven of them did.'

Ms Walker said the letters contained very graphic messages and 'gross stuff' - adding the writing was similar in all the letters.

She said she had no idea who was behind the offensive messages.

'We want this person to stop, it's disgusting and it's creepy. We don't know what they're gaining from it. It's causing a lot of women to feel stressed,' she said.

Bayside Sexual Offences and Child Abuse Investigation Team Detective acting Senior Sergeant Grant Lewis said about 100 letters have been sent to the 65 women.

He said contents of the letters are undergoing forensic analysis, while officers are also talking to Australia Post.

The investigation continues.

Anyone with information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers.
A teenager has been left with serious injuries after she was shot during a horrific road rage attack.

The 15-year-old girl was sitting in the back of a minivan when shots were fired from a hatchback on Asquith Avenue in Auckland, New Zealand, at 10pm on Tuesday.

The hatchback fled the scene and the driver of the minivan drove two kilometres to a petrol station to notify police.

The teenager was taken to Aukland City Hospital with serious injuries where she remains in a stable condition.

A teenager has been left with serious injuries after the minivan she was sitting in the back of was shot at from a hatchback during a road rage incident in Aukland on Tuesday night

Police said the driver of the hatchback had 'taken exception' to the minivan about 10 minutes earlier while both cars travelled along the Southern Motorway.

Both cars then continued onto the North-Western Motorway before exiting onto St Luke's Road.

'The driver of the hatchback has taken exception to the minivan and has begun to drive in an aggressive manner,' a police spokesperson said.

'Like our community, police are appalled at the reckless violence exhibited towards innocent members of the public in this incident.

'We have no tolerance for the disregard shown for other's safety by the occupants of the hatchback.'

The police spokesperson said an investigation had been launched into the incident.

'The community can be assured that Police are taking this incident extremely seriously and our investigation team are working to hold those responsible to account,' they said.

Armed officers were seen guarding the petrol station the minivan had stopped at just hours later on Wednesday morning, NZ Herald reported.

NZ police attended to a petrol station where the minivan had stopped for help (pictured) while the hatchback fled the scene

Detective Senior Sergeant Martin Friend released details of the vehicle they involved in the incident.

'It is a 2009 grey Mazda Axela NGL15 [licence plate],' he said.

'Be cautious if they see this vehicle and call the police.'

Detectives were also seen taking photos of what appeared to be blood inside the petrol station.

A vehicle was parked outside and appeared to have a bullet hole in the back window.

Police are urging motorists or members of the public who were in the area at the time to come forward.

Anyone with information can contact police by calling the 105 phone service and quoting the file number 230516/7840.

They can also contact Crime Stoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
A day earlier, Downing Street announced UK is set to provide Ukraine with air defence missiles and attack drones

Rishi Sunak has called on European leaders to 'stand by Ukraine for as long as it takes' as it fights against Russia's invasion.

The Prime Minister told the Council of Europe summit in Reykjavik, Iceland, that 'the UK may have left the EU, but we have not left Europe'.

He also said Russia must be held 'accountable for the horrendous war crimes that have been committed'.

Early on Tuesday, Ukrainian air defenses, bolstered by sophisticated Western-supplied systems, thwarted an intense Russian air attack on Kyiv, shooting down all missiles aimed at the capital, officials said.

Speaking via video link at the start of the two-day summit, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said: 'Today Ukraine lands through a difficult challenge. An intense Russian missile attack. Such challenges are what we all have to pay attention to now.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak (R) talks with Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky, as he walks with him to a waiting Chinook helicopter following their meeting at Chequers, the prime minister's official country residence, near Ellesborough, northwest of London, on May 15, 2023

Zelensky addresses the opening ceremony of the Council of Europe summit in Reykjavik, Iceland via videolink on May 16, 2023

'At 3 o'clock in the morning, our people woke up to explosions. 18 Russian missiles of different types were in our sky. In particular, ballistic ones which the terrorist state has boasted about.

'We were told such missiles would bring a guaranteed death because they are supposedly impossible to shoot down. Russia used ballistics, cruise missiles, drones at the same time to make it especially difficult for our defence to save lives.

'But all lives were protected. All missiles were shot down, including ballistic ones. 100 per cent. This is a historical result. Thank you all.'

Zelensky said ballistic missile and drone attacks on his country showed 'Russia is trying very hard to improve its ability to kill'.

He said Ukraine consequently needed 'additional air defence systems and missiles'.

He added: 'We also need more fighter jets, without which no air defence system will be perfect.'

The comments came a day after Zelensky met Sunak at Chequers and Downing Street announced that the UK is set to provide war-torn Ukraine with air defence missiles and attack drones.

The bombardment on Tuesday, which targeted locations across Ukraine, included six Russian Kinzhal aero-ballistic hypersonic missiles, the most fired in a single attack in the war so far, according to Ukrainian air force spokesman Yurii Ihnat.

Moscow on Tuesday denied that Kyiv's air defences had downed six Kinzhal hypersonic missiles during an overnight barrage.

'Russia has not launched as many Kinzhals as (Ukraine) says it has shot down', Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu told the Ria Novosti state news agency.

The Council of Europe summit on Tuesday created a 'register of damages' to record Russia's destruction of Ukraine for future compensation.

Leaders from the 46-nation Council of Europe, including French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, emphasised that Moscow would be held accountable for the harm and destruction it has caused in its 15-month invasion of its neighbour.

The register of damages, to be lodged in The Hague, aims to record the tangible costs Russia has exacted on Ukraine in that time.

Russian President Vladimir Putin chairs a meeting with Governor of Novosibirsk region Andrey Travnikov, via a video conference in Moscow, Russia, on May 16, 2023

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak addresses the 4th Summit of the Council of Europe in Reykjavik, Iceland, on May 16, 2023. The Icelandic Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs are hosting the summit from May 16 to 17, 2023

Russian multiple launch rocket systems 'Hurricane' fire rockets at Ukrainian military positions in Ukraine in undated footage. The footage was released by Russian MoD on May, 16, 2023

At the summit, Sunak said: 'Friends, the UK may have left the EU, but we have not left Europe.

'We remain a proud European nation.

'And we must work together to defend the values we all hold so dear.

'The Council of Europe, with its huge reach, has such a vital role to play.

'And we need to think about how this council should react to the realities of today.'

He added: 'We showed great purpose in expelling Russia last year - acting decisively together within days of the invasion.

'Let's bring that dynamism to the issues before us now. And let's send a message from this hall, loud and clear, that we will stand by Ukraine for as long as it takes.

'We will hold Russia accountable for the horrendous war crimes that have been committed.'

Sunak condemned Russia's action as a 'threat to democracy and the rule of law on our continent', adding that with this act of aggression on European soil, and China growing in assertiveness, 'the world is becoming more contested and more volatile'.

Earlier on Tuesday, Sunak agreed with Dutch leader Mark Rutte to 'work to build an international coalition to provide Ukraine with combat air capabilities, supporting with everything from training to procuring F16 jets', Downing Street said.

An explosion is seen over Kyiv during a Russian missile strike on May 16, 2023

A firefighter works at a site of vehicle parking area damaged by remains of Russian missiles, in Kyiv, Ukraine on May 16, 2023

Emergency services trying to contain a fire after a Russian missile strike in Kyiv, Ukraine on May 16, 2023

A spokesman added: 'The Prime Minister reiterated his belief that Ukraine's rightful place is in Nato and the leaders agreed on the importance of allies providing long-term security assistance to Ukraine to guarantee they can deter against future attacks.'

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Zelensky have agreed to separate meetings with a delegation of leaders from six African countries to discuss a possible plan to end the war in Ukraine, South Africa's president said on Tuesday.

Cyril Ramaphosa said he had spoken with Putin and Zelensky by phone over the weekend and they each agreed to host 'an African leaders peace mission' in Moscow and Kyiv respectively.

'Principal to our discussions are efforts to find a peaceful resolution to the devastating conflict in the Ukraine,' Ramaphosa said.

The leaders of Zambia, Senegal, Republic of the Congo, Uganda and Egypt would make up the delegation along with Ramaphosa, he said in a statement, and Putin and Zelensky gave him the go-ahead to 'commence the preparations'.

Four of the African countries - South Africa, Republic of the Congo, Senegal and Uganda - abstained from a UN vote last year on condemning Russia's invasion. Zambia and Egypt voted in favour of the motion.

Ramaphosa did not give a timeframe or outline any parameters for the possible peace talks. Zelensky has previously said he would not consider a peace deal to end the war until Russian forces withdraw from Ukrainian territory.

Ukrainian soldiers fire a cannon near Bakhmut, an eastern city where fierce battles against Russian forces have been taking place, in the Donetsk region, Ukraine, on May 15, 2023

Ukrainian soldiers fire a cannon near Bakhmut, an eastern city where fierce battles against Russian forces have been taking place, in the Donetsk region, Ukraine, on May 12, 2023

Ukraine said on Tuesday that it had pushed Russian forces from the flanks of Bakhmut but conceded that Moscow's forces were pushing deeper inside the embattled town.

In Kyiv, authorities were due to host a Chinese special envoy to discuss Beijing's proposals for ending the conflict.

Deputy Defence Minister Ganna Malyar said Ukraine had wrested back about 20 square kilometres (7.7 square miles) of a Russian pincer movement around Bakhmut, the epicentre of fighting in Russia's invasion.

'At the same time, the enemy is advancing in some measure inside Bakhmut itself and is completely destroying the town with artillery,' she added on social media.

The commander of Ukraine's ground forces, Oleksandr Syrskyi, had earlier said he visited forces near Bakhmut to hand out awards to Kyiv's troops fighting in the longest battle of the invasion.

'Wagner's men went into Bakhmut like rats into a mousetrap,' he said, referring to the Russian paramilitary group.

The British defence ministry said that 'over the last four days, Ukrainian forces have made tactical progress, stabilising the flanks of Bakhmut to their advantage'.

Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin said in a video shared by Russian military bloggers on Tuesday that a US volunteer had died fighting alongside Ukrainian troops in the east.

'He came to meet us. Citizen of the United States of America,' he said, showing what he claimed was the body of an American. It was not clear where or when the video was filmed.
Rebekah Vardy was stonewalled as she attempted to confront 'elders' at the Jehovah's Witnesses' 150million UK headquarters about her childhood sexual abuse.

The 41-year-old claimed her own mother didn't believe she was sexually abused at the age of 12 and alleges it was covered up by senior male leaders within the religious group.

In a new documentary, the mother-of-five went directly to the religion's sprawling Essex headquarters. But upon her arrival no one answered the intercom and then she was put on hold when she called.

Speaking in Channel 4's Rebekah Vardy: Jehovah's Witnesses and Me, she said: 'I think they've intentionally put me on hold knowing I'm outside with the hope that I'll just go away.'

After a long wait, Mrs Vardy was told that no one was available to talk to her about her experiences in the church as a child.

Rebekah Vardy was stonewalled as she attempted to confront 'elders' at the Jehovah's Witnesses' 150million UK headquarters about her childhood sexual abuse

Mrs Vardy, pictured with her father, says she and her family were shunned by the community following her parents' divorce

She reveals she feels 'quite a bit of guilt' for speaking out against the religion. She believes the feeling of guilt comes from her strict religious childhood, where she was taught not to question the church.

'I didn't make this out of revenge,' she added. 'I was looking for answers as to what happened in my childhood. Unfortunately those answers haven't been forthcoming.'

Mrs Vardy, married to Premier League star Jamie Vardy, also interviews other former Jehovah's Witnesses.

A mother told of her son who became a Witness aged 19 after meeting a US woman online.

Julia said her son Lewis returned to the UK after seven years in the US and was under pressure to earn money for his wife and get her a visa.

Soon the stress of working two jobs to make ends meet caused him to start self-harming, and Julia had to report him as a missing person several times.

She claimed that he took up smoking to deal with his anxiety and, when he could not give up within the timeframe specified by the church, he was 'disfellowshipped' and shunned by the community.

She claims they gave him a 'couple of weeks to give up smoking or they were kicking him out' and that they were 'more worried he was smoking' than about his self-harm.

Soon after, he hanged himself, and wrote in his diary: 'If I stay alive, I'll carry on letting Jehovah down.'

The church would not comment on the case but denied in a statement that their beliefs or the 'so-called shunning' could contribute to suicide.

Julia said her son Lewis returned to the UK after seven years in the US and was under pressure to earn money for his wife and get her a visa

Speaking about her experiences of growing up as a Jehovah's Witness, Mrs Vardy shared that she tried to take her own life at the of 14 before being shunned by her family.

Ex-Jehovah's Witness Ali Millar, who left the religion in 2009, said: 'They have such a clever disconnect between who they are publicly and who they are privately.

She told Mrs Vardy about her divorce while in the religion.

She said elders came to her house and then made her confess to adultery in front of her husband in detail and then left shortly after.

Soon after at congregation, elders retold details she had confessed in confidence to the whole congregation without 'naming names', but so that she could be identified.

She said she was shunned and her own mother told her she couldn't see her any more.

Speaking about her experiences of growing up as a Jehovah's Witness, Mrs Vardy shares that she tried to take her own life at the of 14 before being shunned by her family.

Mrs Vardy, pictured with her husband Jamie, has described her unhappy teenage years as a Jehovah's Witness in Norwich

Jehovah's Witnesses are a Christian denomination with about 8.5 million followers worldwide, who believes the destruction of the world is imminent.

They impose a strict moral code on members, including that homosexuality is a sin, and punish those who deviate from their beliefs by 'disfellowshipping' them, ostracising them from the community.

Mrs Vardy says her life and that of her extended family was governed by 'elders' who had the right to cast people out of their closed community.

She alleges in the documentary that the religion failed to support her through sexual abuse as a child.

Mrs Vardy said: 'I told my mum about the abuse that I was experiencing. She cried, but didn't believe me.

'From the age of around 12 years old I was being abused and instead of being supported I was blamed, manipulated into believing it wasn't the best thing to take it to the police.'

Mrs Vardy has told a Channel 4 documentary that the religion failed to support her through sexual abuse as a child

Speaking to Good Morning Britain she added that she has 'no relationship' with her mother, after being thrown out of home aged 16.

She said: 'The breakdown in our relationship was the abuse and not being believed.'

Mrs Vardy added that she did 'crazy' things as a teenager but that looking back it was no surprise given what happened to her.

In the documentary Mrs Vardy returns to Norwich, where several members of her family still live as Jehovah's Witnesses, and with whom she has had little contact since leaving the community.

She says: 'I was brought up in a strict and controlling religious organisation.

'What happened to me during my childhood still affects me every single day.

Mrs Vardy has said that she has 'no relationship' with her mother, after being thrown out of home aged 16

'I told numerous members of my family, Jehovah's Witness community, and they called a meeting, I think I was about 15, it was suggested that I had misinterpreted the abuse for a form of affection.

'I knew that I hadn't, I was well aware of what was right and what was wrong, and it was explained that I could bring shame on my family, and I was basically manipulated into believing it wasn't the best thing to do to take it any further and take it to the police.

'It's hard to see how I survived that.'

In a statement to TV's Good Morning Britain, Jehovah's Witnesses said: 'Elders are directed to immediately report an allegation of child sexual abuse to authorities, even if there is only one complainant.'

The group added that the 'courts have rejected the allegation that disfellowshipping and so-called shunning results in social isolation and discrimination and it is simply misleading and discriminatory to imply that our religion is controlling'.

They also said they 'lacked the information to comment on individual cases'.
A grandmother who asked her neighbours to turn down their music when her house started 'shaking' has stared down abuse and insults over the backyard fence.

The ugly scene, which occurred in front of children in Hamilton, New Zealand, happened after the grandmother's family endured 'excessive' noise from their neighbours partying 'all day, all night'.

But when asked to turn down their music, several members of the household reacted angrily, yelling through the fence.

One even throws water on the grandmother in response to her question.

But the woman stands her ground even when a man who seems barely able to control his rage climbs on the fence, shouting and pointing at her in a threatening manner.

A grandmother who asked her neighbours to turn down their music when her house started 'shaking' has stared down abuse and insults over the backyard fence

Despite being asked to take his neighbours into consideration, the man rants at her that she has 'no respect'.

A woman stands beside him, tugging at his arm as if trying to pull him off the fence.

'You can't even have a decent conversation,' the grandma says.

Video of the incident was uploaded to TikTok by Kiwi mum Katelyn Park, who has four children, and viewed more than 1.4million times.

'[The music] was so loud the house was shaking. Loud music is fine but it was at a disrespectful level.'

She said the bass of her neighbours' stereo started shaking her house.

'It's all day, all night. Sometimes the music is going when I go to bed, when I get up in the morning and when I get home from work. It's exhausting!' Ms Park said.

'It definitely takes it toll. I have an exit plan to relocate to Australia.'

Even as the neighbours are shouting, Ms Park's daughter can be heard unbothered by the ruckus, casually asking for 'another creaming soda'.

'I think it's sad really. My kids are so used to their antics that they think this is normal.'

One follower said Ms Park's neighbours 'need a good sleep'.

'I don't think they can,' said another person in the comments.

The neighbours threw water on a grandma when she complained about the volume of their music

'They were arguing one day and the cops showed up and she yelled "he smoked the last of the meth".'

The grandmother in the clip is Ms Park's mum.

'Your mum is amazing,' said one of Ms Park's followers.

'The way she stood her ground and didn't let them intimidate her in the slightest, oozes strength!'

In a later later video Ms Park said she did feel protective of her mum, but didn't want to inflame the situation.

'It was honestly hard to not run over to that fence, pull him down and give him a hiding.'
Senator Dianne Feinstein sparked confusion during her first appearance in the Senate in close to three months by claiming she has been there the whole time.

'No, I've been here. I've been voting,' the 89-year-old told reporters on Tuesday when they asked how she was feeling and what her colleagues thought of her return. 'Please. You either know or don't know,' she confusingly added.

The California senator has been on an extended absence following a case of shingles. She returned last week in a wheelchair and said in a statement she's on doctor's orders to work a lighter schedule.

Her appearance sparked calls for her to resign - with Tuesday's bizarre claim to Slate magazine likely to lead to further calls for the senior senator to bow out.

Senator Dianne Feinstein, 89, has been on an extended absence after a case of shingles, but returned last week in a wheelchair and said she's on doctor's orders to work a lighter schedule

Feinstein received a standing ovation when she returned last week

Feinstein showed up twice to vote and has attended committee hearings since she returned last week, but last Wednesday was the first time she had been at the U.S. Capito l since she left in February.



When asked by a Slate reporter how she was feeling, the senator responded: 'Oh, I'm feeling fine. I have a problem with the leg.'

The frail lawmaker has been using a wheelchair since reappearing.

Feinstein was then asked by another reporter about what the response had been from her colleagues since her return and gave an odd answer.

'No, I haven't been gone,' she said. 'You should follow the  I haven't been gone. I've been working.'

The reporter asked if she meant that she had been working from home.

'No, I've been here. I've been voting,' she snapped back. 'Please. You either know or don't know.'

Meanwhile, Pennsylvania's Democrat Senator John Fetterman sparked similar concerns Tuesday over his stumbling speech at a hearing about the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank. He suffered a stroke while campaigning last year, but was still elected to office.

Last month, Feinstein requested to be temporarily replaced on the Judiciary Committee.

Now, there is more concern for Feinstein, whose physical and mental capacity has deteriorated in recent years, after she appeared to forget that she had been absent the past two and a half months.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer greeted Senator Dianne Feinstein upon her return

'Hi everybody,' Feinstein said when she entered the building on Wednesday

When Connecticut Sen. Richard Blumenthal was asked if there was optimism that Feinstein could return to being a fully functioning, contributing member of the committee like her old self.

'There's one job that no one else can do for us, which is to vote,' Blumenthal said. 'And she's been doing that job in the last few days, and so far as I can tell, she's been doing well.'

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, however, said: 'I'm gonna leave that to the medics.'

Feinstein arrived at the Senate on Wednesday after flying in from California - where she was recovering in her San Francisco home - to Washington D.C.

'Even though I've made significant progress and was able to return to Washington, I'm still experiencing some side-effects from the shingles virus. My doctors have advised me to work a lighter schedule as I return to the Senate,' she said in a statement.

She then made her return to the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday, arriving nearly 90 minutes late and after some judicial nominees had already been voted on.

She received a standing ovation from Republicans and Democrats alike on the panel when she joined them after being gone due to health issues.

Chairman Dick Durbin welcomed Senator Feinstein back

Senator Dianne Feinstein has been using a wheelchair to get around the Capitol

Feinstein takes her seat at a hearing of the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill

Side-effects include lingering pain known as postherpetic neuralgia, painful eye infections that may result in vision loss, facial paralysis, or problems with hearing or balance, according to the Mayo Clinic.

Feinstein arrived in time to vote for the advancement of three of President Joe Biden's nominees. She has faced fire from members of her own party for her prolonged absence in the Senate, which held up confirmation of some judges.

Meanwhile, Feinstein has said she won't run for re-election in 2024.

The race to replace her is already competitive with several Democrats running to fill a Senate seat that hasn't been vacant for 30 years, including Reps. Barbara Lee, Adam Schiff and Katie Porter.

There are concerns that if Feinstein did resign, Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom - who has to name someone to fill out her term - could upend the race to replace her by appointing someone already running for the seat.

He has said he would appoint a black woman to the job. Rep. Lee is black.

And Democratic Congressman Ro Khanna, who has led the latest round of calls for Feinstein's resignation, has endorsed Lee in the primary to replace Feinstein.

California has a jungle primary, meaning the top two winners, regardless of party, move forward to the general election. That means the heavily-Democratic state could see two Democrats running in the November 2024 election.
An unemployed graphic designer has clashed with a breakfast radio host who told him it was time to work after years of collecting unemployment benefits.

After 2GB breakfast host Ben Fordham told Jez Heywood to 'get a job' on his show last week, Mr Heywood told Daily Mail Australia the broadcaster was a 'coward' and a 'bully' who had been 'taking pot-shots at welfare recipients from the safety of his cosy radio studio for years'.

Mr Heywood, 47, is president of the Australian Unemployed Workers Union, and says he's been out of work since 2017 because of limited options due to his mental health issues.

Mr Heywood, who lives in Melbourne, had previously said he was 'angry and annoyed' by welfare payments not being generous enough.

The pair finally came head-to-head during an interview on Wednesday morning on the radio show, with Fordham saying he 'wanted to see whether we can find Jez a job'.

The interview sparked uproar among Fordham's listeners with many calling in to accuse Mr Heywood of 'making excuses' not to work.

'Just go out and flip burgers, to do something is better than nothing,' one caller said.

'I'm 71-years-old, I'm just leaving for work now so he can get an extra $40 a week from my taxes, I'll call him a dole bludger,' another said.

'It just makes my blood boil that people have to go out and work hard everyday to pay for these guys who sit and do nothing all day,' one furious caller said.

Another worker said 'every industry' in the nation was 'crying out' for staff.

'It frustrates me that this person won't get off his backside,' said another.

Fellow broadcaster Ray Hadley then jumped on and bluntly stated Mr Heywood was a 'dole bludger' - something Mr Heywood had accused Fordham of calling him.

'Can I just point something out? You calling me a dole bludger on national radio,' Mr Heywood said to Fordham during the heated exchange.

'I didn't,' Fordham interrupted.

'You didn't? What did you call me?' Mr Heywood responded, to which Fordham told him he needed to 'get your facts straight'.

'I never called you a dole bludger, I said: ''Jez why don't you get a job?'',' the broadcaster said.

Mr Heywood then said while Fordham did not explicitly call him a dole bludger, it had been 'inferred'.

Fordham laughed off the accusation and said he just wanted to help Mr Heywood find a job.

'Do you? Because you're not saying very nice things about me on the radio,' Mr Heywood replied.

He said he was actively looking for a job, but his ability to work was 'greatly reduced' due to mental health issues.

'It's hard to find things that my brain can handle,' Mr Heywood said.

'The last job I applied for on Seek, I got an email back saying there was over 100 applicants, so there's a lot of people out there looking for jobs and it's a really tough market.'

Fordham then questioned whether his mental health issues were brought on by the fact he was not working.

Jez Heywood, 47, president of the Australian Unemployed Workers Union, has been unemployed since 2017 and says he has limited job options due to mental health issues

Fordham questioned why Mr Heywood hadn't found a job given there were tens of thousands of roles waiting to be filled

'There's 54,000 jobs available in Melbourne. None of those 54,000 jobs are suitable for you? Or you're applying for them but they're not giving you the nod?' Fordham asked.

Mr Heywood said he was applying for roles suitable to him.

'I can't consistently commit to something. My brain just gets so incredibly exhausted,' he said.

'The best thing that happened to me in the past three years is when the Morrison government doubled JobSeeker.'

When Fordham asked if he' was willing to do labouring, Mr Heywood said he did not have the physical capacity to do so.

The broadcaster then asked if he would take a part-time job in a pub.

'The problem with those kind of situations is, I have a cousin who runs a supermarket and once I asked him if he'd employ me, and he said he wouldn't because I have a postgraduate degree in graphic design and 20 years experience,' Mr Heywood said.

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'He said he wouldn't see me as a full time employee, he would see me as not a permanent employee. If he had a resume from me and a resume from someone who'd already worked in supermarkets he'd take the supermarket person.'

Fordham then asked: 'What would you say to anyone out there in the graphic design industry who's thinking ''alright I desperately need someone and I'm happy to give Jez a go?'''.

Mr Heywood called on employers to get in contact, and that he was willing to work part-time, eight hours a week.

He found himself at the centre of a media storm since telling The Australian last week the extra $2.85 per day allocated in the Budget to people on JobSeeker was 'absolutely nothing'.

After telling the newspaper he has limited job options due to health conditions, Mr Heywood said he would be homeless if not for being able to live rent-free in a granny flat on his parents' Melbourne property.

In response to the article, Fordham told his listeners: 'Why don't you weigh up getting a job? Any job? Because we're here to tell you there are half a million of them available right now.'

Figures reveal there have been 40,000 Australians on JobSeeker for over 10 ten years despite there being over 400,000 job vacancies nationally

Mr Heywood hit back at the time and accused the broadcaster of bullying.

'This highly-paid weakling profits off demonising the most vulnerable in our society who are trying everything they can to survive on $49.50 a day, less than half the poverty line,' he earlier told Daily Mail Australia.

'If Ben wants to shoot his mouth off further, I challenge him to have me in his studio where he can look me in the eye and tell me what he thinks to my face. I doubt he has the guts to do that, though.'

He also took aim at Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, and called for welfare payments to go further.

'Albanese's budget was an abject failure from someone who promised 'Nobody Left Behind',' Mr Heywood raged.

'He has ignored the pleas of the AUWU, ACOSS, his own backbenchers and even his own economic inclusion advisory committee report that recommended jobseeker be substantially increased.

'People are desperate. People have to make unnecessary sacrifices, choosing between food, heating and medication, to survive. People are living in tents.'
A 34-year-old driver caused a huge pileup on a Florida highway on Tuesday morning when he stopped his pickup to rescue a turtle crossing the road.

The incident happened on U.S. 331 near DeFuniak Springs, 50 miles north of Panama City on the state's panhandle.

The pickup driver got out of his truck to rescue the reptile.

At least six cars stopped behind him, but an 18-wheel truck coming behind was unable to brake in time, and began crashing into the cars.

The truck then swerved and careened onto the median, blocking two lanes of traffic.

The 34-year-old driver of a black pickup truck can be seen to the left of his vehicle, having stopped to rescue a turtle (circled)

The 18-wheeled truck, from which this footage is taken, was unable to stop in time

Remarkably, Walton County Sheriff's Office said no one was seriously hurt - and the turtle was unharmed.

The sheriffs shared dash cam footage of the crash, filmed by the 36-year-old truck driver.

They warned against slamming the brakes on to help wildlife.

'We all can do better to protect the wildlife and natural inhabitants of our great state,' they wrote on Facebook.

'Residents and visitors alike should marvel at the many species that call Florida home.

'Just preferably not in the middle of the road.'

The truck driver can be seen swerving to try and avoid other vehicles, and the man outside his truck. The turtle is circled in red

The driver ended up veering off the road and crossing the median: no one was seriously injured

Social media users praised the skills of the truck driver, who managed to avoid slamming directly into any cars.

The sheriffs added: 'While no ill intentions were meant, trying to avoid or assist an animal who has made its way onto a busy road can cause you or other drivers life-threatening injuries.

'So, when you come across this predicament in the future and find yourself asking, to swerve or not to swerve or to stop and protect we hope the answer will now be an obvious one.'

They concluded: 'Be safe out there. We're here if you need us.'
Seven people were killed and dozens more injured during a shooting that took place during the city's July 4 parade

Highland Park officials have released a suggested language guide for residents to refer to when discussing the July 4, 2022 shooting rampage

Highland Park officials are being slammed over a suggested language guide they released ahead of the one-year anniversary of the July 4 shooting that killed seven people and injured dozens more.

The guide released for the Chicago suburb follows recommendations from the DOJ's Office for Victims of Crime and includes suggestions like scrapping the phrases 'Highland Park Strong' and 'mass shooting.'

'Its important to think very carefully about the way youre referring to the Highland Park shooting and the time since,' the city's website states.

'The words we choose can have inadvertent and unintentional consequences. As with other instances, the principle of impact vs. intent applies here,' it reads.

Some have already said they believe the guide 'missed the mark,' including one resident who told a local outlet: 'I think its hard to apply expert opinion to individual feelings and experiences.'

Highland Park City Manager Ghida Neukirch said the guide is 'not a mandate by any means'

Law enforcement escorts a family away from the scene of a shooting at a Fourth of July parade on July 4, 2022 in Highland Park, Illinois

According to city leaders, the guide is meant to focus on healing and compassionate language that still acknowledges the tragedy

According to city leaders, the guide is meant to focus on healing and compassionate language that still acknowledges the tragedy.

The core principle for the guide - like similar suggestions put out by the DOJ - is 'do not harm' language that asks users to carefully consider their verbiage.

The guide has not been well received, however, as some 'don't appreciate being told how to speak about what happened,' the Chicago Tribune reported.

One thing many appear to take issue with is the original suggestion to move away from the use of the rallying slogan: 'Highland Park Strong.'

The phrase was echoed throughout the city and the country in the days and weeks after the mass shooting - another term the guide suggests users discontinue.

Now, city leaders recommend using 'Together Highland Park Unidos,' which they say will put an emphasis on 'collaboration and cooperation.'

The Tribune reported that the new phrase is more accepting of all who are still recovering, whether they feel strong or not.

Another suggestion includes not using the word 'anniversary' to mark the occasion.

'This is not an anniversary,' Highland Park City Manager Ghida Neukirch said, 'it's not anything to celebrate.'

Neukirch also told the Tribune that 'this is just a suggested guidance. It's not a mandate by any means.'

Seven were killed and dozens were injured during the mass shooting on July 4, 2022

One thing many appear to take issue with is the original suggestion to move away from the use of the rallying slogan: 'Highland Park Strong'

Now, city leaders recommend using 'Together Highland Park Unidos,' which they say will put an emphasis on 'collaboration and cooperation'

Members of the FBI's Evidence Response Team Unit investigate in downtown Highland Park

Another issue presented with the guide is how many residents were informed of its existence.

Several residents told local outlets they received the guide through an email or text message with no warning.

Some said they wished the city had given them the option to opt-in to receiving the guide or have just pointed residents to their webpage altogether.

Resident Maggie Schmieder - a survivor of the mass shooting - said she believes the rollout was not done in the best possible way, saying they 'missed the mark.'

'Everyone is going to come away with a different feeling, and they're in a different place on the journey of healing and recovery,' Schmieder said.

She added that she gives leaders credit for attempting to lead with good intentions.

It is 'really easy to quickly judge and offer backlash and criticism,' she said.

The city has since responded to the backlash by removing certain guidance, including the choice not to use 'mass shooting.'

Additionally, the city had a section with 'do's' and 'don'ts' regarding the shooting which some people shared concerns over.

'There was healthy discussion about what should be that suggested guidance as it pertained to the description of the incident,' Neukirch said in an interview.

'And so we ended up striking that provision that suggested people say 'shooting' versus "mass shooting." Mass shooting tends to focus on the perpetrator ... (and) we don't want to focus on him. But we recognize that every time an incident like this happens, it's a mass shooting,' the City Manager continued.

The language guide comes less than one year since a heavily-armed gunman opened fire on the crowd at the Fourth of July parade in the Chicago-suburb

The accused shooter, Robert Crimo, has since been indicted on 117 counts, including seven counts of first-degree murder

In total, seven people were killed, including both parents of a two-year-old boy who was found in the street covered in blood

The language guide comes less than one year since a heavily-armed gunman opened fire on the crowd at the Fourth of July parade in the Chicago-suburb.

In total, seven people were killed, including both parents of a two-year-old boy who was found in the street covered in blood.

The accused shooter, Robert Crimo, has since been indicted on 117 counts, including seven counts of first-degree murder.

He remains jailed at the Lake County Correctional Facility in Illinois as he awaits trial.
A trans row has engulfed Oxford University with more than 40 academics warning students that freedom of speech is at risk on their campus, it was claimed last night.

Top Oxford dons, including evolutionary biologist Prof Richard Dawkins and theologian Prof Nigel Biggar, have written a letter in support of a planned appearance at the Oxford Union by gender-critical feminist Prof Kathleen Stock.

Some Oxford students tried to block Prof Stock from speaking at the union this month over claims she is transphobic for stating it is fiction to claim 'transwomen are women'.

But in one of the most significant interventions by academics in recent free speech controversies, 44 Oxford dons with 'a range of different political beliefs, Left and Right' have signed a letter stating that universities should be 'places where contentious views can be openly discussed'.

Writing to The Daily Telegraph, the academics said they condemn the Oxford University Student Union's decision to sever ties with the Oxford Union after it refused to withdraw an invitation asking Prof Stock to speak.

Some Oxford students tried to block Prof Kathleen Stock (pictured) from speaking at a union this month over claims she is transphobic for stating it is fiction to claim 'transwomen are women'

The letter added: 'Professor Stock believes that biological sex in humans is real and socially salient, a view which until recently would have been so commonplace as to hardly merit asserting.

'Whether or not one agrees with Professor Stock's views, there is no plausible and attractive ideal of academic freedom, or of free speech more generally, which would condemn their expression as outside the bounds of permissible discourse.'

Prof Stock resigned from her post as a philosophy professor at Sussex University in 2021 after a group of trans activists campaigned for her to be fired.

Top Oxford dons, including evolutionary biologist Prof Richard Dawkins (pictured), have written a letter in support of a planned appearance at the Oxford Union by gender-critical feminist Prof Kathleen Stock

The professor had stated that it is fiction to claim 'transwomen are women' and described the law that gives trans people the right to change gender as a 'legal fiction'.

Responding to the academics' letter in support of her, Prof Stock told The Telegraph: 'It's heartening to see their commitment to standing up in public against authoritarian tendencies, both in the student body and amongst faculty, who think they have a right to control what everyone else hears.'

It comes as gender-critical speakers have prompted a spate of free speech rows at universities, including activists at the University of Edinburgh preventing a screening of a women's rights documentary last month.
Her six-year-old son has been placed in foster care

A mother has been left reeling after being told her son had leukaemia and then - less than 24 hours later - being informed the boy was being taken out of her care.

The Perth mother saw her six-year-old son removed from her home after she sought a second opinion about her son's cancer diagnosis.

The single mum-of-two described the situation as 'a living nightmare'.

Michelle* first visited a GP in January after she learnt of blood in her son's stool.

The mother was told to go to Perth Children's Hospital and while there getting tests done she says she had an argumentative meeting with an oncologist.

A mother has revealed the 'living nightmare' she is going through after her son was taken from her after his leukemia diagnosis when she wanted to seek a second opinion on his treatment

Michelle told WA Today that when she asked for test results she was not given them and was only provided with a single treatment option.

'I said I wanted a second opinion, I wanted to explore all my options and maybe take him home for a few days before he starts any treatment,' she said.

Documents from the Department of Communities state the mother allowed both fluids and medications to be given to her son, however, she then requested she be able to take him home that night and return to hospital the following day for a bone marrow sample to be taken.

Perth Children's Hospital would not allow it, as doctors said there was a high risk of sepsis if he contracted an infection outside of hospital.

The documents also claim the mother told hospital staff she would refuse her son's chemotherapy and would instead seek homeopathic treatment; claims disputed by the single mother.

'We're not hippies, we weren't going to run away into the bush and give him blueberries and not accept that he's got leukaemia,' she said.

'I just wanted to know everything that I could and we just wanted to give our brains a chance to comprehend what we were hearing.'

The single mum of two had her six-year-old taken by the state and put up in foster care while he undergoes chemotherapy

Michelle said she isn't 'anti-chemo' she just wanted to ensure it was the best choice for her child and family.

She alleges the oncologist warned her she would be 'red flagged' to the Department's Child Protection unit if she took him from hospital.

Later that day she and her other child were locked out of her son's ward and then kicked out of the hospital.

Michelle was handed a Section 37 order, granting Child Protection employees the authority to take a child into provisional care.

The order states: 'If the officer suspects on reasonable grounds that there is an immediate and substantial risk to the child's wellbeing', the employee can remove the child from the care of their parents.

James* was placed in foster care after two months of receiving chemotherapy and was relocated to a new home more than an hour away from his family's house in Hamilton Hill and was enrolled in another school.

Michelle is entitled to see him for short supervised visits but cannot attend any of his treatments.

James has not been in contact with his younger brother since being diagnosed.

Documents tendered to the court show the department cited neglect as the reason for his rehoming and stated their intention to keep him under the care of the state for two years, while he completes his treatment.

The department was contacted on the same day Michelle learnt of his leukaemia diagnosis.

'(PCH was) concerned that [the child's mother and grandmother] were threatening to discharge (the child) against medical advice. (Michelle) presented very hostile and aggressive. (The grandmother) was described as 'very obstructive and pathological' as she raised her voice and talked over staff at Perth Children's Hospital,' the department's document states.

'The parents (are) unable to provide or arrange effective medical, therapeutic, or other remedial treatment for the child or risk of that.

A Perth Children's Court judge will determine whether James continues his treatment in the care of his biological or foster family after he was rehomed following Perth Children's Hospital reporting the mother was seeking homeopathic treatment instead of chemotherapy

Both the mother and grandmother deny the allegations set out in the document and reiterated they just wanted to seek a second opinion and explore alternative treatments that could be used alongside chemotherapy.

'I hadn't even been allowed to adjust and accept that my child was sick,' Michelle said.

'I was just angry at that point. There was going to be no trust. I asked for a different doctor. I asked for his drip to be taken out so I could take him and things got a little heated, and I was yelling and upset but not once did I ever refuse any treatment.'

They insist they just wanted to take him elsewhere and the oncologist denied their wishes to relocate James to Fiona Stanley Hospital for a few days while they assessed their options.

The family say that at that time James was looking as healthy as ever and allege they were never offered any support services or counselling.

A Perth Children's Court judge will determine whether James continues his treatment in the care of his biological or foster family.

Child and Adolescent Health Services operare Perth Children's Hospital.

Chief executive Valeria Jovanovic told Daily Mail Australia the highest priority at Perth Children's Hospital is quality care and patient safety.

'At all times the child, and their families and carers, are at the centre of all clinical decisions,' she said.

'Due to patient confidentiality, we do not provide detailed clinical information about individual patients.

'Our clinical care is based on national and international guidelines and treatment protocols. Should there be an occasion where a family would like to seek a second opinion from another team in an appropriate relevant clinical speciality, we are happy to facilitate this.'

*Names have been changed for legal reasons.
Phillip Schofield reportedly faces being axed from This Morning in a summer shake-up, as it emerged 'trapped' Holly Willoughby is considering quitting the show.

Co-hosts Phillip, 61, and Holly, 42, have been hit by claims of a behind-the-scenes collapse in their friendship.

The pair have failed to address their rift since returning to This Morning this week, but viewers described them as 'awkward' and 'embarrassing'.

Now Phillip, who has hosted the show since 2002, could be forced out along with top producer Martin Frizell, The Sun reports.

Ms Willoughby's job is understood to be safe, but the host feels 'trapped' by the crisis and has contemplated quitting the show, a source told The Mirror.

Phillip Schofield is reportedly facing the sack from This Morning in summer shake-up, while Holly Willoughby is said to be considering quitting the show

Phillip, who has hosted the show since 2002, could be forced out along with top producer Martin Frizell (left)

Speaking to The Sun, a source said: 'This Morning is preparing for some seismic changes this summer - Phil is lined up as the first major name for the chop when his contract expires this summer.

'It's highly unlikely he'll be back in September.'

An insider told The Mirror that Holly loves her work but is struggling to cope with the situation.

They said: 'By removing herself from the situation she could protect herself better.'

Phillip is trying to 'tough out' the ongoing row after it emerged he had called in his own lawyers over the fallout with his co-presenter, sources have revealed. He has also employed a new PR man to help improve his press coverage.

One reported cause of the fallout is Phillip allegedly not telling Holly about his brother Timothy's trial for child sex offences. Timothy was convicted and is awaiting sentencing.

During the trial, Phillip took a three-week break from This Morning and after the guilty verdict he publicly rejected his brother.

Last week Phillip released a statement about his and Holly's friendship without consulting his co-host, which is said to have made the situation between the two of them worse.

Phillip and Holly have yet to address their feud on air and have continued to broadcast the show as usual - despite losing 170,000 viewers in a week.

Figures revealed Monday's episode had an average of 726,720 people watching compared to 894,000 on the same day last week. Peak viewership was also significantly down at 914,000 compared to 1.058million a week earlier.

Senior figures at ITV called a crisis meeting following a wave of negative social media feedback about Monday's show.

After seeing the reaction on Twitter, where viewers panned both Holly and Phillip, ITV bosses are deciding what to do next.

One source told the Daily Mail: 'Social media is used as a barometer to see what the public think. Those in charge were left no under no illusion that it was a total disaster.

'It was painful for the This Morning team to work on and it was just as painful for them to watch.

'There was a meeting afterwards to discuss how it went that went on for some time. To be honest, everyone was just so relieved to get it over with, but even if the show does continue to go on for some time, it will continue to be a massive headache.'
Two bodies were discovered in a holiday resort in Orio, close to San Sebastian

A man has reportedly killed himself and his ex-partner after a home-made bomb in a shoe box exploded outside a children's play area in northern Spain.

Two bodies were discovered in a holiday resort in Orio, close to the Basque city of San Sebastian, at around 5.30pm on Tuesday.

The incident is being treated as a case of sexist violence, according to local media.

Detectives believe the man, found on the ground by a bench, was carrying a bomb in a shoe box.

The woman being described as his ex-partner was found dead on the bench with injuries including head wounds.

Police cordon off the area where a man and a woman died in a suspected bomb blast

Pictured: Orio, a typical Basque fishing village with around 6,000 inhabitants, is close to the Basque city of San Sebastian

She is understood to have had a brief relationship with her suspected killer which ended recently. Neighbours who knew her have described her as a 'kind' woman.

A passer-by who was by the bench when the explosion occurred was also injured.

Inigo Urkullu, President of the Basque Government, who described what happened as 'tragic', confirmed on Tuesday evening that the two deaths could be linked to an incident of sexist violence. However, he insisted the ongoing investigation was still at an early stage.

He called what had happened 'tragic' and invited a minute's silence at an election campaign meeting he later attended.

Speaking before the start of an election campaign meeting, he said: 'We arrive at this meeting with pain and sadness in the face of a tragic incident which has occurred this afternoon in Orio with two people dead allegedly as the result of sexist violence.'

Orio, a typical Basque fishing village with around 6,000 inhabitants, gets very crowded in summertime when visitors flock to the area.

The incident is being treated as a case of sexist violence, according to local media=

The ongoing investigation is still at an early stage
On the face of it, the UK's headline unemployment figure of 1.3million published yesterday makes encouraging reading.

It means just 3.9 per cent of the working-age population are looking for work and have been unable to find it. This compares with six per cent across the EU.

In the smaller print below the headline, however, lurks a much more ominous story. One that threatens to strangle growth and dash hopes of economic recovery.

A staggering 2.55million people aged 16 to 64 are long-term sick and apparently unable to work at all. Over a million are under 50, including 234,000 under 25. This is 400,000 more than before the pandemic and appears still to be rising. So why?

The parlous state of the NHS is likely to have had an effect. The difficulty in making GP appointments and 7.3million on treatment waiting lists may well have led to minor ailments becoming major.

3.9 per cent of the working-age population are looking for work and have been unable to find it

Home working has fuelled ill-health. Then there are the effects of furlough and lockdown on the nation's energy levels. It's no surprise that the result of paying millions of people to do no work for 18 months has been an alternative pandemic of idleness.

Sick leave is exceptionally generous  especially in the public sector. And ministers imposing the highest tax burden for 80 years reduces the incentive to work hard.

Whatever the reasons, it is a massive drain on the nation's resources, with fewer workers paying higher taxes to support ever rising numbers claiming sickness benefits. If even a fraction found work, it would slash the welfare bill, increase productivity and boost tax receipts.

Should sickness levels continue ticking up, however, we are in danger of slipping back into the 'cycle of dependency' that Iain Duncan Smith worked so hard to break more than a decade ago.

A staggering 2.55million people aged 16 to 64 are long-term sick and apparently unable to work at all

What he recognised was that worklessness could be contagious and pass through generations, with consequent damage to mental health, pride and morale.

His solution was to make work pay. No one is suggesting forcing sick people into commuting, but in this day and age, with manifold technical aids to home working, many of them should be capable of taking on some paid employment.

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has recognised this with his carrot-and-stick approach to coax the long-term ill into jobs. Yesterday's numbers suggest he might use a little less carrot and a little more stick. Because at the moment, Britain isn't working.

The great strike myth

At the Royal College of Nursing conference, a delegate explained the real motivation behind the strikes paralysing the NHS.

To thunderous applause, healthcare assistant Anna Pichierri said they were part of a struggle to defeat 'this Tory, racist and anti-working class government'.

This must come as great comfort to those patients whose safety they are risking.

Healthcare assistant Anna Pichierri said strikes were part of a struggle to defeat 'this Tory, racist and anti-working class government'

Sadly, nurses are not alone in their anti-Conservative crusade. Britain lost a ruinous 2million working days to strike action last year, mainly across the public sector.

Now unions have let slip the reason for the mayhem, isn't it time ministers toughened up anti-strike laws to protect the public from their infantile political games?

Rishi bares his teeth

The European Court of Human Rights' misuse of its 'Rule 39' powers to block the UK deporting illegal migrants to Rwanda is an egregious affront to sovereignty.

The European Court of Human Rights' misuse of its 'Rule 39' powers to block the UK deporting illegal migrants to Rwanda is an egregious affront to sovereignty

So Rishi Sunak is right to impress upon Strasbourg judges the need to reform these controversial temporary injunctions.

It is, of course, their prerogative to refuse. But it's the Prime Minister's prerogative to then press on with proposals to prevent them meddling in domestic immigration law altogether. The court might complain bitterly  but it can't say it wasn't warned.
A Utah woman is fighting for her life after after suffering a potentially fatal reaction to her anxiety meds that caused her skin to detach and erupt in agonizing red blisters all over her body.

Kayla Nelson, 23, had only been taking Lamotrigine, a drug meant to help treat her depression and anxiety, for three weeks when she first noticed the symptoms that brought her to the emergency room on May 4.

Two weeks later, Nelson is still in the University of Utah Burn Center after being diagnosed with Stevens-Johnson syndrome, a rare, serious disorder that causes the skin to burn from the inside out and could leave her blind.

Not only is the once active woman in extreme pain that has kept her constrained to a hospital bed with a feeding tube, she has undergone surgery on her eyelids to stop the risk of losing her of vision - and is suffering from panic attacks about what happens next, her family said.

Nelson is expected to be in the burn unit for several weeks, where she is being treated for severe burn-like reactions on 30 percent of her body. She also faces weeks of physical and mental therapy before she is able to work again.

Kayla Nelson, 23, was diagnosed with a rare, serious disorder known as Stevens-Johnson syndrome after taking the drug Lamotrigine for her anxiety

Nelson is still at the University of Utah Burn Center where she is in extreme pain that has kept her constrained to a hospital bed with a feeding tube, unable to walk, talk, eat, or even see

Even after Nelson is released from the burn unit in several weeks time, she still faces a long road to recovery after what her mother Lindsey Ewing called a 'horrific' experience.

'It's a lot on a 23-year-old because she's just getting going with her life,' Ewing said. 'She has her life in front of her but now we have to deal with this, just because she wanted to get her mental health stabilized.'

Ewing said that while she is grateful for how the medication has helped some with their mental health, she still wants to warn others about the potential risks associated with this medication.

'Why have this chance of a family member or a friend or anyone go through this,' she asked. She added that her daughter's doctor did advise patients to stop taking the drug immediately if they notice a rash.

The National Library of Medicine describes the syndrome as 'a rare, acute, serious, and potentially fatal skin reaction' in which the skin detaches from the body in painful blisters and rashes on the inside and surface of the body.

Nelson is an active 23-year-old who enjoys fishing, driving around with friends, but is now unable to work, walk, or talk, and will need weeks of therapy after suffering the reaction

A GoFundMe that was created by Nelson's close friends to help with the costs of medical bills, points out that the 'reactions doesn't just stop on the outside' - and that Nelson has 'severe reactions in her mouth, throat, eyes, ears, and it is also damaging her liver.

The disease starts as a small rash, and develops into blisters, and the blisters begin to peel, leaving her with exposed tissue, and a high likelihood of infections, not to mention unimaginable pain.'

In the latest updates, on May 11 and may 12, the GoFundMe revealed that Nelson suffered a panic attack the night before she underwent eye surgery due to loss of skin on the inside of her eyelids.

'To stop the risk of injuring her eyes and loss of vision, they are going in and putting synthetic skin underneath her eyelids,' the GoFundMe said.

An update revealed that Nelson had 'received a graft of placental tissue in each of her eyes, due to the damage that has been caused in her eyelids, as a measure to keep her vision protected.'

'She wasnt excited, but her Mother and Father gave her the comfort and reassurance that she needed to be strong and power through it,' her friend wrote in the GoFundMe update.

'The operation was very successful, and she was already looking around and pointing things out in her room, almost immediately after surgery! Her pain was managed well thanks to her incredible ICU nurses, and she FINALLY had a peaceful night of rest after a full week! We thank you all for the incredible support for Kayla during her journey of healing. We ask that you continue to pray for Kayla, and share/donate if you wish to contribute!'.
A renowned Australian children's author has spoken out after learning one of her children's books was banned in an American state 35 years after it was first published.

Mem Fox's iconic book 'Guess What' has been stripped from shelves across Duval County, in north-east Florida, over an illustration of the book's main character Daisy O'Grady unclothed and taking a bath in a laundry sink.

The popular children's book joins hundreds of titles removed from school libraries since the Parental Rights in Education Act was enforced in Florida last year.

Signed by Florida's ultra-conservative Republican Governor Ron DeSantis, the legislation bans 'any picture  or visual representation of a person or a portion of a human body which depicts nudity or sexual conduct'.

Fox described her 'hilarious' reaction when her literary agent informed her of the book ban as she slammed the 'pitiful' move.

Australian children's author Mem Fox has hit back after Guess What was banned in Florida

'It's pitiful, isn't it? It's like, the Americans keep killing each other with guns and then they do things like this as well,' Fox told ABC Radio Adelaide on Tuesday.

'You just feel sorry for them, you just think, 'People, you're so unsophisticated, you're so pitiful.'

Fox defended the banned illustration where the main character is nude barring a scuba mask with her private parts covered.

She insists the book is still appropriate.

'She's just washing herself, she's sort of sitting in this sink,' Fox said.

'The whole book is about guessing who this person is, it turns out to be a witch in the end. So it's completely appropriate.'

Fox also read out the email sent by her literary agent on Monday which left her 'howling with laughter'.

'Dear Mem, did you see this? Good old Florida. We might be able to increase sales if they got the five people who bought in the last 10 years to sit in a room and chat about it,' she read.

'I said to her 'did they scour the second hand book shops?'

'Is the book still even in print? It's hilarious!'

This illustration of the book's main character taking a bath has been deemed as 'pornographic'

Despite the ban, Fox still has fond memories of her time in the US, which she toured 118 times during her distinguished career as a children's author.

'You do have to feel awfully sorry for the Americans at the moment, it's so sad,' she said.

'They've been very good to me. They were so kind to me, they were so, so good, so generous, so warm-hearted.'

Fox spoke out about the ban after her agent told The Guardian they had' nothing to say on this issue'.

'Duval County is a county of 997,000 people in Florida. It is not important,' the agent said.

Dubbed as the 'Don't Say Gay' law, prohibited materials under the Florida legislation include: 'Any picture  or visual representation of a person or a portion of a human body which depicts nudity or sexual conduct', sexual excitement, sexual battery, bestiality, or sadomasochistic abuse and which is harmful to minors.'

Anyone fails to comply with the law could face up to five years behind bars.

Much-loved author Mem Fox (pictured) has described the book ban in Florida as 'pitiful'

Governor DeSantis is widely tipped to be Donald Trump's closest rival for the 2024 presidential race.

He's campaigning against 'pornographic and inappropriate materials that have been snuck into [Florida] classrooms and libraries to sexualise our students'.

Illustrated by Vivienne Goodman, Guess What is about an old woman with various witchlike qualities.

It was first published in Australia in 1988 before an American edition was published two years later.

Other bestselling titles by Fox include Possum Magic, Where is the Green Sheep and Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Ties.
A prominent ABC radio presenter who suddenly vanished from the airwaves weeks ago has lodged a bullying claim against the national broadcaster.

Nicole Chvastek, whose drive program was broadcast to regional Victoria, southern NSW and eastern SA for 11 years, has taken her case to the Fair Work Commission.

At the start of May, ABC said Chvastek would be back on air by the middle of the month, but that did not happen and listeners are demanding to know where she is.

An ABC spokesman confirmed to Daily Mail Australia a claim was made to the Fair Work Commission and declined to comment further on the matter.

Prominent ABC radio presenter Nicole Chvastek (pictured), who suddenly vanished from the airwaves weeks ago, has lodged a bullying claim against the national broadcaster

Chvastek's lawyer Mark Comito said taking action against her employer was one that she 'did not take lightly'.

'Nicole is a senior journalist and presenter and has been employed, as you know, for some period of time at the ABC presenting the Drive program for at least 10 years,' he told Guardian Australia.

'She is a well-researched and very reputable presenter and she wants the matter resolved as soon as possible.'

Chvastek's three hour show, which had been broadcast from ABC's Ballarat studio since 2012, was so popular among listeners they have launched a Change.org petition demanding she is returned to air.

'So the ABC is now telling us and other supporters of Nicole Chvastek and statewide drive that she will be back in her seat in June,' a commenter wrote.

'It's gone from a few weeks to a few months! Why? I hope we are not being misled. I am now asking supporters to email the ABC and express your support and reasons why you want Nicole back on her show.'

The petition has drawn in more than 900 signatures and has almost reached its target of 1,000.

'This is now the time to ramp up support for Nicole Chvastek as she fights for justice for herself,' another listener wrote.

'All those times she fought for us, bringing relevant issues to the forefront of conversation, it's now our turn, we need to fight for her and let the ABC know we want this resolved, we want her back on HER show, and we hate bullies!

At the start of May, ABC (logo pictured in Melbourne) said Chvastek would be back on air by the middle of the month, but that did not happen and listeners have been asking where she is

'For the ABC to treat one of their top, long standing presenters this way is unfathomable.'

Another commenter spoke for many in calling for the ABC to 'please find a mature, experienced management figure to intercede and fix the situation fairly.

'Because if you don'tit will happen again, and again and professional careers will be ruined.'

Chvastek has worked as a news reporter for Channel Seven and was briefly a TV anchor for ABC International's Asia Pacific news.

Daily Mail Australia contacted Ms Chvastek for comment.
An Aussie boss says he has moved his company to a four-day week - and revealed the positive impact its had on his workforce.

Brian Hack, the managing director of EES shipping in Perth, said he implemented a four-day working week after the pandemic.

He said there was a lot of stress in the workforce after the pandemic and to manage the situation, he decided to switch to four-days to help avoid burnout.

The change has been a positive one, with Mr Hack revealing that there have been less sick days, less errors and 'better collaboration' across his company.

Brian Hack, the managing director of EES shipping in Perth , said he implemented a four-day working week after the pandemic

Appearing on Sunrise, he said: 'In the back of the pandemic, there was obviously a little bit of mental stress, especially in our industry.

'So to avoid burnout we thought we could try and do something that would not only benefit the company but also the employees themselves.

'We've seen a lot of quite interesting things come out of it.

'There's been less sick days, we're noticing reduced errors and people are just collaborating better. Our processes are just better and so we have seen quite a lot of benefits come from it.'

He also explained how the system worked, outlining the '180, 100 rules' he is used.

Under that system, he says they are pushing for 100 per cent of the output from 80 per cent of the working time at full pay.

Mr Hack says that this means that, every other day, workers end up doing up to seven and a half hour shifts to hit their targets.

He added: 'We've found that we've streamlined our processes and just been more cognizant of time and making sure that we're getting things done in a more efficient manner.'

Oxfam Australia previously implemented a four-day week after discussions with staff.

Workers at Oxfam Australia will be able to work just four days a week after the company agreed to a deal with the Australian Services Union.

The employee bargaining agreement will allow permanent full-time employees who are working 35 hours a week to have their hours reduced to 30 over four days, without losing any pay.

The deal was the first of its kind affecting full-time workers in Australia to be formalised within an EBA.

However, a study from jobs site Indeed previously found the number of job ads mentioning a four-day work week increased in recent years.

Advocates of the four-day week have said that the five-day pattern is a 'hangover' from an earlier economic age.

They also argue that a four-day-week would drive more companies to improve their productivity, meaning they can create the same output, just in fewer hours.
A serving MPS officer has been charged with rape by Thames Valley Police.

PC Callum Utley, attached to the West Area Command Unit, is due to appear at High Wycombe Magistrates' Court on May 25.

He was charged by Thames Valley Police via postal requisition on May 12.

The charge relates to an off-duty incident in Buckinghamshire in 2019.

The Met's Directorate of Professional Standards has been informed.

PC Callum Utley, attached to the West Area Command Unit, is due to appear at High Wycombe Magistrates' Court on May 25 (File Photo)

PC Utley is suspended from duty.

A spokesman for Thames Valley Police said that the policeman was employed by the Metropolitan Police in London but lives in the Thames Valley.

The spokesman said: 'Following an investigation by Thames Valley Police, a serving Metropolitan Police officer has been charged with rape in Buckinghamshire.

'Callum Utley, aged 24 years, was charged with one count of rape, by postal requisition on Friday. The charge is in relation to the rape of a woman in Buckinghamshire in 2019.

'Utley is due to appear at High Wycombe Magistrates' Court on May 25.'
A 24-year-old man has been sentenced to eight years in prison after he stabbed two brothers in a pub.

Jacob Donhardt, pleaded guilty over the stabbing of brothers Nicholas and Jordan Feast during a brawl between their families on Father's Day, September 6, in 2020.

During sentencing on Tuesday, the District Court heard the brawl occurred over a game of pool at the Midway Tavern, in north Adelaide's Elizabeth Downs.

CCTV footage (pictured) of the incident reveals the brawl between the families was sparked by a disagreement over a game of pool

The brawl resulted in Donhardt brandishing a flick knife and stabbing Jordan in the cheek and arms, and Nicholas in the stomach and collarbone.

Donhardt pleaded guilty to two charges of causing harm with intent and he was sentenced to eight years imprisonment.

He will serve a non-parole period of four years and eight months that is backdated to September 7, 2020.

The court heard, Donhardt and his family were playing pool when they were approached by the victims' father Matthew Feast who asked if he could join in.

Donhardt's mother then became angry and threw her pool cue onto the table before one of the Feast family yelled insults and a physical altercation erupted, the court heard.

Donhardt approached Matthew with a pool cue, striking him 'over the head several times, causing the cue to snap in half,' Judge Anthony Allen said.

The court heard his stepfather Garry Frost also struck Matthew in the back of the head before being punched in the head several times by Nicholas.

Jordan, who had been smoking a cigarette at the time, rushed back inside and attempted to push the knife-wielding Donhardt outside, the court heard.

'He attempted to break up the fight  while Jordan Feast pushed you out of the western door, you stabbed him to the face and arm,' Judge Allen said.

The brothers then chased Donhardt to the carpark where Nicholas grabbed him by the shirt before he was stabbed in the stomach and collarbone, the court heard.

Prosecutors alleged Donhardt was heard telling the brothers: 'Back off or Im going to kill you.

Jacob Doinhardt, (pictured) has been sentenced to eight years in prison for stabbing brothers Nicholas and Jordan Feast during a brawl between their families on Father's Day, 2020

Jordan wrote in his victim impact statement that he feared for his life during the attack and has been left with permanent scars, while Nicholas wrote that he is now more wary of strangers.

Judge Allen described Donhardt's use of a knife in the brawl as disproportionate and dangerous.

'The danger of the use of a knife in a licensed premises is self-evident in what came to pass this Fathers Day afternoon,' he said.

Donhardt had been given a suspended sentence for committing a knifepoint robbery just four weeks prior to the brawl.
One of the biggest donors to the Church of Scientology made her fortune as the voice of Bart Simpson - and lives relatively modestly while donating huge sums to the religious group.

Nancy Cartwright, 65, was revealed on Tuesday to have given over $21 million to the group, putting her in the top ranks of donors, alongside Tom Cruise, John Travolta, Kirstie Alley and pharmaceutical billionaire Bob Duggan, who is believed to be their biggest benefactor, writes anti-Scientology blogger Tony Ortega.

Cartwright has voiced Bart Simpson since the show's inception in 1987, and at her peak in 2008 was earning $400,000 an episode. The salary was later cut to $300,000 per show.

Yet for all her considerable fortune, Cartwright appears to live relatively modestly, in a fairly anonymous northern suburb of Los Angeles, Northridge.

Nancy Cartwright, seen in May 2015, voices Bart Simpson and is one of the biggest donors to Scientology

Cartwright's $2.2 million home is not lavish, for someone paid $400,000 an episode

Cartwright lives in a relatively quiet suburb of Los Angeles, in a house she bought in 1996 for $500,000

In 1996, five years after becoming a Scientologist, she bought her current home in the area for $500,000: it is now valued at $2.2 million.

She has spoken previously about her faith, defending the Church after an HBO documentary about Scientology, Going Clear, was released in 2015.

The documentary deconstructed the background of the organization by presenting a history of the group and its founder, L. Ron Hubbard.

The film alleged that stars including John Travolta had been forced to stay in Scientology for fear secrets surrounding their personal life would be exposed.

Cartwright said: 'That movie, I don't know what to tell you, it's called prejudice.

'It's very irresponsible reporting.'

But her extreme generosity to the Church was not widely known until now.

In 2007, Cartwright was awarded Scientology's Patron Laureate Award after she donated $10 million to the Church. The amount was double her salary for the year.

The donation for 2007 topped those of some of the biggest Hollywood names in the organization, including Tom Cruise.

Kirstie Alley (left) and Tom Cruise have both given generously to the Church of Scientology

And she kept giving.

In 2019, she was reported to have reached 'Diamond Laureate With Honors', reflecting she had given the organization about $17.5 million.

On New Year's Eve 2022 she was awarded a trophy for reaching 'Patron Excalibur With Honors' level status - meaning she had made at least $21 million in contributions over her lifetime, according to The New York Post.

Cartwright was photographed at the December 31 event at the Fort Harrison Hotel in Clearwater, Florida, alongside Scientology CEO David Miscavige.

Speaking in the new issue of Scientology's Impact magazine, Cartwright said: 'This was the most beautiful acknowledgement I have ever received in my entire life.'

Cartwright's two children, Lucy Mae Murphy and Jackson Murphy, have not spoken about their mother's gifts.

Their father, Warren Murphy, died in 2015 aged 81: he and Cartwright had divorced in 2002, after 14 years of marriage.

It is not known if Cartwright's children are also Scientologists.

The biggest donors to the Church are known as 'whales', according to Ortega - a former member of the Church, who now works to counter it.

Ortega told The Post that Cartwright is a 'very hardcore' Scientologist, 'who enforces it on other celebs.

'She's there to remind you you need to donate more, show up more,' he claimed.

Pictured: Cartwright (left) and Scientology head Miscavige (right) at the ceremony on December 31, 2022

Cartwright is seen with her children, Lucy Mae and Jackson, in May 2015

Cartwright attends the 38th annual L. Ron Hubbard Achievement Awards in April 2022

Cartwright is well known as the voice of The Simpsons' main character Bart Simpson, pictured here in 2018 in New York City

Ortega said that other 'whales' often tried to keep their donations secret, and do not 'necessarily want the public to know'.

Tom Cruise, who is estimated to have a $600 million fortune, is confirmed to have given at least $2.5 million: in 2012, Business Insider estimated Cruise had given at least $25 million.

Kirstie Alley, who died in December, gave $5 million in 2007.

John Travolta has never confirmed his donations, but Ortega says they are likely to be substantial, given his titles and accolades from the Church.

Believed to be the biggest donor is Bob Duggan, a 79-year-old pharmaceutical and venture capital billionaire.

In 2019, Duggan confirmed he had given well in excess of $360 million to the Church.

Duggan told The Tampa Bay Times in 2019 that he credits Scientology courses and Hubbard's teachings for his success. He is now worth $1.9 billion.

'Companies I started have generated value of over $100 billion,' he said.

'I don't remember doing that before (Scientology).

'It's there to help the able become more able. For me it worked.'

Pictured: CEO of the Church of Scientology David Miscavige in Auckland, New Zealand, 2017

Scientology is known for requiring members to donate generously - although the website stresses that free courses are available.

Leah Remini, the actress who left the Church and now talks about her experiences, said she spent 'millions' during her 35 years with the Church.

Books and courses cost thousands of dollars, and 'auditing' - a Scientologist type of therapy - is $800 an hour, she said.

Members of the Church are often approached to pay for Scientology buildings, campuses and repairs, Remini claimed, and sought for donations to assist with natural disasters.

'There is no other religion that I know of that requires two and a half hours of your day, a quarter of a million dollars minimum, and at least 40 years of your life,' she said on her podcast.
Former Attorney General William Barr has reacted to special counsel John Durham's report on the Trump-Russia probe, which marked the conclusion of the investigation that Barr himself initiated during the Trump administration.

'I think the real story here, from the FBI's perspective, is what an abomination this was, this so-called investigation,' said Barr of the FBI's Crossfire Hurricane probe into Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign, in a Fox News interview on Tuesday.

'You know, if it wasn't a witch-hunt, it's a d**n good imitation of one,' added Barr, who in April 2019 first tasked Durham with investigating the origins of the FBI probe, as well as special counsel Robert Mueller's subsequent investigation.

Barr, who has previously expressed strong opposition to Trump's bid to retake the White House in 2024, doubled down on those criticisms, but agreed that Durham's findings supported Trump's longstanding harsh criticisms of Crossfire Hurricane.

'I'm not supporting him for re-nomination, but he was right on this and this is a vindication. He had it right from the beginning,' said Barr.

Former Attorney General William Barr has reacted to special counsel John Durham's report on the Trump-Russia probe, which marked the conclusion of the investigation that Barr initiated

'I think it helps him in the short-term. My own view is that he will not win the nomination,' the former Trump cabinet member added.

'I have nothing personal against him and there is no, you know - I have no antipathy toward him at all. But I just don't think he is the right leader for the Republican party going forward,' Barr continued.

'I think people who want to restore America should look for a big victory that brings strength into the Congress, and allows us to achieve some fundamental changes, and I don't think he is capable of delivering that kind of victory,' said Barr.

Barr said he believes Trump 'has the best chance of losing' to President Joe Biden, who is seeking a second term, adding: 'Even if he won, my concern is that he would wipe out Republicans in the Congress because of the vast turnout that would occur just to vote against him.

'He was very good at stopping the progressive march back in 2016, but I don't think he has the skills of, you know, unifying the party and persuading people on a particular program and getting it done through Congress,' Barr concluded.

Trump is the strong early frontrunner in the GOP's 2024 presidential primary, though a number of candidates who are widely expected to enter the race have yet to declare.

Barr served as a cabinet member in Trump's administration (seen above in 2020) but has voiced strong opposition to Trump's bid for re-election

Special Counsel John Durham has been investigating the FBI probe for the past four years

Durham's report, released on Monday, found the Department of Justice and FBI 'failed to uphold their mission of strict fidelity to the law'

It comes after his years-long investigation into the origins of the FBI's original investigation, known as 'Crossfire Hurricane.'

Investigators were looking into whether the Trump campaign coordinated with Russia to influence the 2016 presidential election.

But the special counsel said senior FBI personnel showed 'a serious lack of analytical rigor' and a 'significant reliance on investigative leads provided or funded (directly or indirectly) by Trump's political opponents.'

In a statement, the FBI said the current leadership of the bureau has implemented dozens of corrective actions.

'Had those reforms been in place in 2016, the missteps identified in the report could have been prevented,' the FBI said in a statement.

In a televised interview on Tuesday night, Trump also responded to the Durham report, saying the findings vindicate his claims of baseless persecution.

Trump has repeated trashed claims of Russian collusion as a 'hoax' and 'a witch hunt'

'It's a great vindication and it feels good, and the report has been widely praised,' Trump told Newsmax in a phone interview.

'All of these people are -- I guess you could call it treason. You could call it a lot of different things. But this should never be allowed to happen in our country again,' added Trump.

Trump also welcomed the Durham report in a post on his Truth Social platform.

'WOW! After extensive research, Special Counsel John Durham concludes the FBI never should have launched the Trump-Russia Probe!' Trump said.

'In other words, the American Public was scammed, just as it is being scammed right now by those who don't want to see GREATNESS for AMERICA!' he added, apparently referring to the multiple ongoing criminal investigations targeting him.
An ex-Treasury official has slammed Labor's $10billion Housing Future Fund as 'a fiction' and suggested four ways to solve the nation's housing shortage that has caused a rental crisis.

Australian tenants are facing escalating rents as the supply of available properties dwindles.

The National Housing Finance and Investment Corporation estimated about 377,600 households are currently in housing need, including people under rental stress and the homeless.

Peter Martin, an economics journalist for 37 years who worked in Treasury in his 20s, likened the government's big affordable housing plan to a plot from television satire The Hollowmen.

In 2008 the show featured backroom advisers creating the $150billion 'The National Perpetual Endowment Fund', which mocked previous Coalition governments for setting up big funds.

About 377,600 households are currently in housing need, including people under rental stress and the homeless

The Albanese government has been criticised for not doing enough to alleviate renters' fears

The Albanese government's Housing Future Fund Bill is currently before the Senate after being introduced by Labor in February

'The (political) genius of these sorts of funds is they make it look as if you are spending a lot, without the need to spend much at all,' Mr Martin wrote in The Conversation.

The characters said the actual money would never be needed - 'we just take 10 years of future estimates and roll it into the one announcement'.

The Albanese government's Housing Future Fund Bill is currently before the Senate after being introduced by Labor in February.

Under the plan, $10billion would be invested and earnings of up to $500million a year could be spent on affordable and social housing projects.

In the fund's first five years 20,000 social housing properties are planned, with 4,000 set aside for mothers fleeing domestic violence. A further 10,000 homes are planned for front-line workers.

The Coalition has already objected, calling the fund 'an accounting trick' and a 'con trick'.

Greens MP Max Chandler-Mather said the fund is actually using $10billion to 'gamble on the stock market via the Future Fund and hope that some of the returns can be spent on housing'.

Mr Martin questioned the Albanese government's plan to set up a fund rather than put money directly into housing projects.

'If you think the idea of building a fund rather than building houses sounds odd, you probably think the same way about [previous funds].'

Mr Martin explained money in such a fund isn't actually spent, 'as far as the budget is concerned'.

'It doesnt come off the budget surplus, or add to the budget deficit, because it remains in the governments hands, except that while in the governments hands it is invested in the stock market and other places to try and earn a return.'

Greens MP Max Chandler-Mather said the fund is actually using $10billion to 'gamble on the stock market

Under the government's plan, $10billion would be invested and earnings of up to $500million a year could be spent on affordable and social housing projects to help alleviate Australia's rental housing crisis (pictured, prospective tenants line up in Sydney)

'The fund can be thought of as a fiction. The money stays in the governments hands until some of it is spent.'

Peter Martin's four-point housing plan 1. Increase rent assistance 2. Limit rent increases 3. Provide financial benefits to state and local government to free up planning systems 4. Restrict negative gearing to new housing stock Advertisement

Mr Martin claimed he could think four policies that would 'do more to restrain rents'.

He also believes further boosting rent assistance is a key step, in order to bring renters closer to the actual rents paid.

Rent increases must be capped, Mr Martin believes.

'Price control is anything but uncommon. In most states, increases in the prices we can be charged for electricity, gas and water are limited by regulation,' he said.

In the Australian Capital Territory, rents cannot go up by more than 110 per cent of the last rent increase.

Under those rules the current allowable rent rise in Canberra is 6.1 per cent, because rents only rose there 5.54 per cent in the year to March.

Rents rose more than 10 per cent in two-thirds of Sydney suburbs in the year to March.

Mr Martin also believes local councils and state governments should be paid incentives to prioritize building more housing.

Restricting the benefits of negative gearing to new homes would also help grow available housing stock.

'Negative gearing and the concessional rate of capital gains tax that accompanies it drive Australians into becoming landlords.'
A man has become trapped inside a car on train tracks in Sydney after crashing through a metal fence.

The incident occurred at around 9:20am on Wednesday morning at the rail corridor at Park Road in Auburn in the western suburbs.

The male driver suffered minor injuries and was ordered to stay in the car until the rail commander arrived.

The incident occurred at around 9:20am at the rail corridor at Park Road in Auburn (pictured is the car on the train tracks)

People travelling on the Inner West and Leppington Sydney Metro train line were warned to expect a 10-minute delay.

Travellers were told platforms and stops could change at short notice.
President Joe Biden suggested Tuesday night that it's Vice President Kamala who's really in charge.

Biden made a surprise stop at the EMILY's List gala, where former Speaker Nancy Pelosi was being honored.

The group - which is named after the acronym 'early money is like yeast' - raises funds for pro-choice female political candidates.

He applauded Pelosi, who now uses the title 'Speaker Emerita,' calling her one of the 'most consequential speakers in American history' and 'incredible.'

'I also want to thank my buddy Kamala who I work for up in the White House for leading on this issue,' he said, a reference to abortion rights.

President Joe Biden suggested Tuesday night that it's Vice President Kamala who's really in charge

'I also want to thank my buddy Kamala who I work for up in the White House for leading on this issue,' Biden said about the vice president (pictured)

The remark was met with nervous laughter.

The president, 80, announced his reelection bid last month, highlighting Harris several times in the video rollout.

But her low approval numbers have Democrats worried.

USA Today reported earlier this month that a group of Democratic strategists warned the White House two days after Biden's reelection announcement that some of the Republican attacks on Harris are sticking - and it may be too late to reframe the narrative.

Since January 2021, Republicans have tried to paint Harris as incompetent and awkward, with right-leaning outlets hammering her for her failure as 'border czar,' despite her being tasked with working with the three Northern Triangle countries to prevent migrants coming to the U.S.

She was also tasked with trying to get voting rights bill passed - a nearly impossible task due to the makeup and rules of the U.S. Senate.

But more recently Harris has been having success with being the face of the White House's effort to push back on restrictive abortion laws in the near year since the Supreme Court ruled on Dobbs, reversing Roe v. Wade.

And after the discussion, Biden has been visibly supportive of Harris - taking her on a taco run with him to mark Cinco de Mayo and speaking positively about the work she's doing at public engagements.

Biden (left) surprised the audience by showing up to the EMILY's List gala Tuesday night in Washington, D.C., where former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (right) was being honored

Still, her poll numbers aren't great.

On May 10, according to FiveThirtyEight, she stood at 39.4 approval and 50.4 percent disapproval.

At the same time, Biden's advanced age will bring greater attention to Harris as the 2024 run heats up.

Already, GOP hopeful Nikki Haley suggested that the country would get stuck with Harris - because, in her words, it's likely Biden wouldn't make it through a second term.

'If you vote for Joe Biden, you really are counting on a President Harris. Because the idea that he would make it until 86 years old is not something that I think is likely,' the Republican presidential candidate said in an interview on Fox News.

Biden showed up at the EMILY's List event after cancelling a planned trip to Australia for the Quad summit due to the White House and Congressional Republicans still not having a deal on how to raise the debt limit.

He'll still travel to Hiroshima, Japan on Wednesday to participate in G7 meetings.

On Monday, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre suggested that Biden would still take the lead in the meetings while abroad, when asked if Harris would step in and be the negotiator.

'The vice president is a close adviser. She'a a partner to the president. That has been consistent the last two years, ' Jean Pierre said. 'That's what you're going to continue to see. And she's been part of this process throughout - throughout these conversations about the budget, about not defaulting. So that is not going to change.'

'The president could be president anywhere,' Jean-Pierre also added. 'He can do the work of the American people abroad.'
MBABANE  Leader of the Nazareth Church, His Holiness Unyazi Lwezulu, will not be sleeping in a hotel during his visit to Eswatini next week with thousands of his congregants.

This was revealed by a senior preacher of the local church, Qedusizi Ndlovu, on national radio yesterday morning. Ndlovu said by principle, leaders of the Nazareth Church, popularly known as Shembe, did not use hotels. He said the principle applied to all members of the church, meaning there would be no boost for hotels. He said Unyazi Lwezulu was expected in the country on May 22, 2023 and they could camp at Bethany in Mahlanya, which is their main place of worship.

Ndlovu stated that the leader would be accompanied by members of the church from South Africa (SA) and other neighbouring countries. As a result, he said he anticipated over 200 000 members in one place during the course of the two-week event. He said his anticipation was informed by the fact that the event would almost match the main event, which is held in the first week of July every year. It has been gathered that the July Festival is the most popular event, where all members come from all over SA to attend it.

Sacred

The event starts on the first day of July and ends on the last Sunday. Throughout the period, there are alternative days of dancing and engaging in other activities. There is also a sacred dance, which usually attracts a large number of spectators on the final Sunday. Other activities during the course of the festival include sermons by variety of preachers, testimonies by church members and prayer for the sick. You heard me right. We are anticipating over 200 000 people in one place because the event will almost be similar to the July event. You cannot imagine the numbers in your own eyes, Ndlovu said when asked if he really meant 200 000 people would converge in one place during the course of the prayer service. However, another member of the church said he anticipated plus or minus 30 000 people in one place. The member said he did not know what Ndlovu considered when he gave the 200 000 figure.

Preparations

Ndlovu further shared that preparations for the upcoming event were at an advanced stage as a selected team was already working on logistics with relevant stakeholders in the country. The committee is currently in the country to work on logistics at the border gates, in particular Lavumisa, since many people will come through that border gate. They are working on an arrangement so that other people will not be affected at the border gates, he said. He added that the team had also engaged the Ministry of Public Works and Transport concerning the roads leading to their camp. Ndlovu said they needed to be attended to as it was not ideal for small cars. He said during their two-week stay in the country, they would conduct a prayer service at Ludzidzini Royal Residence. On another note, Ndlovu stated that the two-week event would come with business opportunities as basic necessities would be required at the camp.
Anthony Albanese's high-stakes Quad leaders summit has been cancelled on the back of a 4.30am call from US President Joe Biden revealing he'd be unable to attend.

The Australian PM initially hoped Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Japanese PM Fumio Kishida would still attend, along with a delegate from the United States.

However, he has since confirmed it will not go ahead.

'The Quad leaders meeting will not be going ahead in Sydney next week,' the Prime Minister said in a press conference on Wednesday.

'We'll be having that discussion between Quad leaders in Japan. The Quad is an important body and we want to make sure that it occurs at leadership level and well be having that discussion over the weekend.'

All four representatives of the Quad will be in Japan on the weekend for the G7 Summit. While Australia is not part of the official G7 meeting, he has been invited as a 'friend of Japan'.

It was reported earlier that both Kishida and Modi were 'reconsidering their travel plans' on the back of Mr Biden's revelation he could no longer attend.

Mr Biden is in the middle of crucial debt ceiling talks with congressional leaders and cannot miss the final stages of negotiations to raise the US's $31.4 trillion borrowing limit.

Mr Biden called Mr Albanese first at 4.30am on Wednesday to confirm he'd have to pull out of the Quad leaders summit due to be held in Sydney on May 24.

The debt ceiling matter must be resolved by June 1 or the US will default on its debt for the first time in its history - and the week of the Quad summit is the last opportunity to reach a resolution.

The high-stakes diplomatic meeting could be on the verge of collapse amid reports both Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Japanese PM Fumio Kishida are reconsidering their travel plans on the back of President Biden's decision

But literally hours before the president pulled out of the visit, Mr Albanese said he was 'honoured' to host the leader's summit, which he described as the 'most important international event to be held in Australia since the G20 in Brisbane in 2014.

'I look forward to welcoming President Biden to Australia,' Mr Albanese told The Australian.

'I am please that President Biden has been able to take up my invitation to address parliament.'

President Biden's scheduled address to a joint sitting of Parliament on May 23 was the first since President Obama's nine years ago.

Mr Albanese initially said discussions would take place with both PMs from India and Japan, Modi and Kishidi, in the next 24 hours regarding the next steps for the summit.

He was hopeful both would still attend, and that the US would send a senior representative, such as Secretary of State Antony Blinken, in the place of President Biden.

Despite his disappointment, Mr Albanese told ABC Sydney Breakfast that 'President Biden emphasised the importance of the Quad' and is 'very disappointed at some of the actions of some members of Congress and the US Senate' which have made it impossible for him to attend.

Mr Biden is in the middle of crucial debt ceiling talks with congressional leaders and cannot miss the final stages of negotiations to raise the US's $31.4 trillion borrowing limit

One hint that President Biden's trip was on the rocks came when National Security Spokesman John Kirby publicly described the agenda for his trip to Japan  which he said would include meetings with each of the Quad nations -- all of whom will also be in Japan

'And obviously the domestic priority for the President, understandably, is to play a role in resolving those issues,' he said.

'One thing I'm absolutely certain of is that the President certainly wishes that this wasn't happening.'

Mr Albanese was confident Prime Minister Modi would not want to cancel or postpone his trip, both for the Quad itself but also for his own events that he has separately organised with the growing Indian diaspora in Australia.

Modi had scheduled an event at Qudos Bank Arena for next week, and some 21,000 guests had registered to attend.

The status of that event remains up in the air, but Mr Albanese said PM Modi would 'still be welcome' next week.

'Prime Minister Modi had, as well, a bilateral meeting scheduled for Sydney as well,' he said.

'We are in discussions with the Quad leaders over today. Well make further announcements about that, but Prime Minister Modi would certainly be a very welcome guest here next week.'

One hint that President Biden's trip was on the rocks came when National Security Spokesman John Kirby publicly described the agenda for his trip to Japan  which he said would include meetings with each of the Quad nations -- all of whom will also be in Japan.

'The President and I agreed that we would work to reschedule his visit to Australia at the earliest opportunity,' Mr Albanese said in a statement.

Anthony Albanese was blindsided by a 4.30am call from US President Joe Biden which could derail his entire Quad leader's summit, which was to be held at the Sydney Opera House next week

Mr Albanese was confident Prime Minister Modi would not want to cancel or postpone his trip, both for the Quad itself but also for his own events that he has separately organised with the growing Indian diaspora in Australia

But, there had been whispers as early as last week that President Biden could withdraw from the event. President Biden himself said on May 10: 'If somehow we got down to the wire and we still hadn't resolved this, and the due date was... when I was supposed to be away, I would not go. I would stay until this gets finished.'

The US leader also extended an invitation to Mr Albanese to visit the United States. Further details of when that visit will take place will be announced at a later date.

A White House spokesperson said: 'Revitalizing and reinvigorating our alliances and advancing partnerships like the Quad remains a key priority for the President.

'This is vital to our ability to advance our foreign policy goals and better promote global stability and prosperity.

'We look forward to finding other ways to engage with Australia, the Quad, Papua New Guinea and the leaders of the Pacific Islands Forum in the coming year.'

The decision not to visit Papua New Guinea next week also comes as a significant blow, given Biden would have been the first sitting US President to tour the nation in an official capacity.
Struggling CNN spent all of primetime ignoring John Durham's investigation that tore apart the FBI for launching a baseless probe into claims of Donald Trump's collusion with Russia.

The network's two highest profile nightly shows - Primetime and Anderson Cooper 360 - each failed to mention the probe by the special counsel in two hours of programming.

CNN was among liberal media outlets obsessed with Trump-Russia collusion claims when they first emerged, with since-fired former anchor Don Lemon claiming the infamous Steele Dossier had been partly corroborated.

Cooper led his show tonight discussing the war in Ukraine.

He also touched on Alzheimer's disease and an intruder breaking into national security adviser Jake Sullivan's Washington DC home.

Later on, Primetime host Sara Snider discussed President Biden cutting a foreign trip short and interviewed former Trump advisor Steve Cortes.

Struggling CNN spent all of primetime ignoring John Durham's investigation that tore apart the heavily covered and deemed baseless claims of Russia meddling in the 2016 Presidential Election

The network's two highest profile nightly shows - Primetime and Anderson Cooper 360 - each failed to mention the probe by the special counsel in two hours of programming

Trump's behavior on January 6 was discussed in passing - but there was no mention of Monday's report slamming the FBI for launching a probe into the 45th president's relationship with Russia on the flimsiest of pretexts. No evidence of collusion was ever found.

A CNN spokesperson, in a statement to DailyMail.com, highlighted that the report was discussed multiple times during its peak hour shows on Monday.

It comes just after CNN's primetime lineup was beaten by Newsmax on Friday.

The network averaged 335,000 viewers on Friday night - two days after drawing a victory after airing Trump's town hall - in primetime, between 8 to 11 p.m. Newsmax, in the same timeslot, drew 357,000 viewers.

Monday's news saw the network still at a very low 485,000, though at least they beat Newsmax's 420,000 in primetime.

CNN's drops come despite Fox News falling into second place and hemorrhaging viewers in the wake of firing Tucker Carlson. MSNBC defeated right-leaning Fox in primetime Monday night.

The investigation contains fresh embarrassment for The Gray Lady and Washington Post, both of which won Pulitzers for their reporting on the saga.

And left-leaning networks and newspapers which lapped up the fabricated stories linking Trump to the Kremlin and the salacious Steele dossier are now facing renewed fury.

Durham highlights a Times report from December 2017, which claimed that in May 2016, George Papadopoulos, a young foreign policy adviser to Donald Trump, 'made a startling revelation' to Australia's top diplomat in Britain.

Namely: 'Russia had political dirt on Hillary Clinton' and 'Moscow had thousands of emails that would embarrass Mrs Clinton'.

The network, which saw big but still lower than expected ratings for its controversial town hall with former President Donald Trump, two days later was beaten by Fox News, MSNBC and even Newsmax in the ratings

Staff members from The New York Times and The Washington Post (from left: Maggie Haberman, Jo Becker, Matt Apuzzo, Rosalind Helderman, Tom Hamburger, Ellen Nakashima, Adam Entous, Greg Miller and Mark Mazzetti) accept the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting from Columbia University President Lee Bollinger

Former NYT executive editor Dean Baquet was criticized in a scathing review of the newspaper's coverage of the Trump-Russia saga by the Columbia Journalism Review

A report by Special Counsel John Durham discredits a dossier by a British ex-spy that was swallowed up by the media, including The NYT and Washington Post

Yet the Australian diplomat in question - Alexander Downer - told the Durham probe that 'Papadopoulos made no mention of Clinton emails, dirt or any specific approach by the Russian government to the Trump campaign'.

In fact, Durham found the Papadopoulos information was so not 'startling' that agents immediately dismissed it.

But The NYT report was critical in triggering the FBI probe into Donald Trump's alleged collusion with Russia, which the Durham report has now found should never have been launched.

It has fueled calls for the Pulitzers to be returned, after the board who issues the prizes rejected calls for them to be rescinded last year.

Ted Cruz, Trump's former rival, tweeted Monday: 'Accountability now - starting with WaPo and The New York Times returning their Pulitzer Prizes for breathlessly spreading these "Russia, Russia, Russia" lies.'

The Durham investigation comes hot on the heels of an excoriating report by the Columbia Journalism Review (CJR), which took aim at The Times for its coverage of the Trump-Russia saga.

The CJR, the in-house publication of America's most prestigious journalism school, spent 18 months digging into the media's reporting of Trump's alleged ties to Russia.

The report contained criticism of the media as a whole, but author Jeff Gerth reserved particular disdain for The Times.

The investigative journalist introduced his findings by stating his belief that the newspaper had damaged its credibility outside its 'own bubble'.

Renowned journalist Bob Woodward told him coverage of the Russia probe 'wasn't handled well'.
President Joe Biden threw two summits into chaos on Tuesday with his plans to return to the United States immediately after the G7 meeting - a decision that resulted in Australia canceling a meeting of the Quad leaders.

Aussie Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced on Wednesday he would cancel the meeting with U.S., India and Japan since Biden can't attend. The leaders of those four Quad nations were to discuss ways to counter China's aggression in the Indo-Pacific.

Instead the Quad leaders will try to meet on the sidelines of the G7 in Hiroshima as officials frantically negotiate a new schedule of events to accommodate Biden's changing plans.

Australia Prime Minister Anthony Albanese (left) canceled the Quad meeting after President Biden (center) said he couldn't attend

Albanese told reporters in Australia that the four leaders were attempting to get together in Japan at the G7, which he would be attending as a guest as Australia is not a G7 member.

'At this stage, we haven't got a time locked in for that arrangement,' he said Wednesday. 'This is a decision that's been made overnight, our time, in the United States.'

Biden canceled the Australia and Papua New Guinea portion of his trip to return to the United States to meet with Congressional leaders on the debt limit crisis.

Those two stops were meant to affirm the U.S. commitment to the Pacific as China's political, military and economic power in the region rises.

Scuttling two of the three legs of a major overseas trip is a foreign policy setback for Biden, who has put a great focus on the Pacific region - and countering Chinese President Xi Jinping's influence there.

In November, Biden met with Xi during a G20 meeting in Bali but tensions between Beijing and Washington have grown since then.

There has been talk of a phone call between Biden and Xi but none has been scheduled so far.

The Biden administration has been concerned about Chinese President Xi Jinping's moves in the Indo-Pacific and relations between the two nations have gotten worse

Meanwhile, the U.S. president is trying to make up for his cancellation, offering the Aussies a state visit - a prestigious event the United States offers to its closest allies.

Albanese said Biden invited him to the US for a state visit later in the year. The two leaders spoke on the phone on Tuesday, when Biden informed of his of the change in plans.

'President Biden emphasised the importance of the Quad. He was very disappointed at some of the actions, obviously, of some members of Congress and in the US Senate,' he said.

'Obviously, the domestic priority for the president, understandably, is to play a role in resolving those issues.'

Biden, during his Australia stop, also was scheduled to address to a joint sitting of the Australia Parliament. He would have been the first U.S. president to speak there since Barack Obama did nine years ago.

The president was also scheduled to stop in Papua New Guinea on the way from Japan to Australia. The decision to cancel that visit also comes as a significant blow, given Biden would have been the first sitting US President to tour the nation in an official capacity.

Biden is still scheduled to arrive in Hiroshima, Japan, on Thursday to meet with G7 leaders. The G7 countries include Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

In addition, Japan invited Brazil, Vietnam, Indonesia, India, South Korea, Australia, Comoros (which currently holds the African Union presidency) and the Cook Islands (current chair of the Pacific Islands Forum) to the G7 meeting.

But the U.S. debt crisis will be looming over the trip. The United States has never defaulted on its debt. If it does so, the economic devastation could be felt around the world.

The Treasury Department reiterated Monday that they still believe the day the nation could run out of funds to pay its bills could be as soon as June 1.

Biden met with the Big Four congressional leaders - House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, House Minority Leader Harkin Jeffries, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell - at the White House on Tuesday to try to move negotiations along.

Crunch time: House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell met in the Oval Office with President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris

In annoucing the change to his travel plans, he said dealing with the debt limit was simply too important.

'There was an overwhelming consensus, I think in today's meeting with congressional leaders, that defaulting on the debt is simply not an option. Our economy would fall into recession,' Biden said.

And the White House pointed out that Russia and China would love to see the U.S. default.

'There's countries like Russia and China that would love nothing more than for us to default so they could point the finger and say, 'You see, the United States is not a stable, reliable partner,' spokesman John Kirby told reporters on Tuesday.

Republicans have said they will not vote to raise the debt ceiling unless Democrats agree to sharp spending cuts.

Biden will now have to spend much of his time at the G7 reassuring leaders the United States is a reliable partner.

Kirby said Biden's message would be that 'the United States is a strong, reliable partner and that he's working hard to get the debt ceiling raised, as it should be, because he understands the importance of that to our international reputation and our credibility and that they don't need to worry about that part of it.'

China's influence in the Indo-Pacific region will also be a hot topic when the leaders gather in Japan.

'The PRC [People's Republic of China] and managing that competition with them, as well as dealing with the full scope of challenges that the PRC presents in the Indo-Pacific region, will absolutely be on the agenda for the G7,' Kirby said.

'We are not going to the Indo-Pacific this week to arm-twist,' he noted. 'We're going to talk to allies, partners, friends and neighbors about mutual challenges and opportunities in the region, and how we can capitalize on each other's capabilities and the strong geographic presence so many of these nations have.'

Even though China is on the agenda, it's unclear if the G7 leaders will criticize Beijing in a public statement.

'There's countries like Russia and China that would love nothing more than for us to default so they could point the finger and say, 'You see, the United States is not a stable, reliable partner,' spokesman John Kirby said

The war in the Ukraine and supporting efforts there will also be discussed as will climate change and Biden's push for clean energy.

Biden will also hold sideline meetings at the G7, including with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.

The president also will visit the Peace Memorial in Hiroshima and meet with survivors of the atomic bomb.

The White House declined to answer questions as to whether Biden will apologize for the United States using a nuclear bomb on Japan during World War II.

'The president plans to visit the memorial and to pay his respects to the lives of the innocents who were killed in the atomic bomb that was dropped on Hiroshima,' Kirby said.

The Peace Memorial is the remains of the only building in Hiroshima to survive the nuclear blast.

Obama visited Hiroshima in 2016, but did not apologize for the U.S. attacks.

On August 6th and August 9th 1945, the United States detonated two atomic bombs over the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, respectively. Together, the bombings killed between 129,000 and 226,000 people, most of whom were civilians. It remains the only use of nuclear weapons in an armed conflict.
An alleged Alameddine gang associate and his younger brother have been sentenced after being caught driving at 253km/h in a western Sydney street race.

Asaad Alahmad, 29 - who police allege was a 'key member' of the Alameddine gang - and his co-accused, cafe owner brother Adam Alahmad, 27, were caught racing on the M4 motorway in Homebush on February 9, 2022.

The pair pleaded guilty to organising/promoting a race between cars, and Adam also pleaded guilty to failing to give information about identification.

An Alameddine gang associate and his younger brother Adam (pictured) have been sentenced after being caught driving at 253km/h in a western Sydney street race

Asaad Alahmad (pictured) was caught street racing on the M4 motorway in Homebush on February 9, 2022

Facts stated they were driving home from the city when they decided to race, and that they got to at least 253km/h in a 90km/h zone.

Adam was fined $5,800 and banned from holding a license for 15 months, while Asaad was fined $5,200 with an 18 month driver's license ban.

Magistrate Stephen Barlow said the offences were punishable only by fines and so limited how he could penalise the brothers, the Daily Telegraph reported.

'You associate that kind of speed with F1 racing. They're lucky to be alive,' he said.

'I've seen that at Mount Panorama in Bathurst  but on the M4 is beyond belief.'

Mr Barlow added the brothers had shown 'an utter abandonment of any sense of compliance with law and safety'.

Asaad's criminal record involved drug matters and he also had a 'poor traffic record', the court heard.

Lawyer Abdulrahim Saddik, who represented both brothers, said Adam was an 'exemplary member of the community' and that the offence 'was the worst decision and lapse of judgment of his entire life'.

Adam is a former school captain who is a co-owner of the Percy Plunkett cafe in Penrith, where he's known to give food to homeless people, the court was told.

Daily Mail Australia does not suggest that Adam, who had 12 previous speeding offences, is connected with the Alameddine gang.

Police allege Asaad Alahmad (pictured) was a 'key member' of the Alameddine gang
Shock new polling shows the Indigenous Voice to Parliament could be rejected at an the upcoming referendum - with last-gasp amendments to the proposition being considered in a bid to get it passed.

A survey shows slightly more than half of Australians still back the Voice, but the percentage of people who intend to vote 'yes' has dropped from 58 per cent to 53 per cent over the past month.

The polling, by Resolve Strategic for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age newspapers, reveals the 'no' campaign is on track to win if the trend continues.

A referendum requires more than 50 per cent support in at least four of the six states in order to be passed.

The referendum is expected to be held in October, with the federal Budget allocating $360 million to fund the poll.

Liberal MP Julian Leeser, who quit the Opposition front bench due to his party's negative stance on the Voice, said he would movie amendments next week to change the proposed model in the hope of boosting public support.

Leading Voice proponent Linda Burney, the minister for Indigenous Australians (right)

His proposed changes include making the Voice's role in advising government over laws affecting Aboriginal people to be legislated for, but not constitutionally enshrined as is the current proposal.

Mr Leeser said the poll showed the electoral prospects for the Voice were 'not tracking as they should' and some dilution of the proposal was needed to ensure it got approved.

'The best way to improve the prospects is to limit the arguments of the 'no' case,' he said.

'I am a supporter of the Voice, I will be voting 'yes' at the referendum, the amendments I am proposing will improve the electoral prospects of the Voice.'

He praised the government for allocating $20m for regional voices in last week's budget.

The legislation setting out the Voice states its primary role is to make representations to the parliament and the executive government about laws and regulations relating to Indigenous people.

Critics have argued that role is not sufficiently limited or defined, as all laws affect some Aboriginal people in the same way they affect people of other races.

Resolve director Jim Reed said uncertainty over the scope of the Voice meant states were moving over to the 'no' side, meaning the referendum would fail as it would not meet the requirement of a majority of votes in a majority of states.

Dean Parkin, director of the Yes Campaign Alliance, said the downturn in polling results were because the debate had recently been about 'politics and legal talk'.

Jacinta Price - the leading campaigner for the No case

He said 'yes' proponents believed a 'very winnable proposition' could be put to the Australian people later in the year.

'It's been tied up in the Canberra bubble and ultimately this question of the referendum is not going to be resolved by any one politician,' Mr Parkin told ABC radio.

Cabinet minister Ed Husic said it would be a 'bold move' to make a call on the outcome of the referendum at this time.

'We're very focused on getting to the point where we get majority support for 'yes' and we'll work with people to get there,' he said.

The Liberal Party supports constitutional recognition of Indigenous people, but is opposed to a national Voice and instead is calling for regional bodies.

The referendum is set to be held between October and December, pending laws passing parliament in June.
A high-profile man charged with the rape of a woman will face another lengthy delay to his case, with a court being told 'sensitive evidence' on the alleged victim's phone could be disclosed.

The man was not required to appear on Wednesday when his case was briefly mentioned before Toowoomba Magistrates Court.

He is facing two counts of rape, which police allege stems from an incident in Toowoomba in October 2021, after meeting at a nightclub.

Under Queensland law those accused of serious sex offences cannot be identified unless they are committed for trial.

The high-profile Australian cannot be identified until he is committed to stand trial

The Toowoomba Magistrates Court heard that the case could involve 'sensitive evidence'

The court was told this included a Cellebrite download of the complainant's phone and a further medical report.

'It might be some of that is sensitive evidence,' Ms Dreghorn said.

Lawyer Rowan King, who appeared over phone for the man, did not oppose an adjournment until June 28.

He asked Magistrate Louise Shepherd if he could appear over phone again at the next date.

The man's bail was continued.

Earlier this year several media organisations unsuccessfully applied to the court seeking permission to name the man in the proceedings.

That application remains before the courts.
Hundreds of garbage collectors from Australia's biggest waste management company have walked off the job to kick up another big stink about pay and conditions.

Waste workers in Sydney CBD, Wollongong and five councils across Victoria went on strike on Wednesday, leaving streets piled high with uncollected rubbish.

It has left 20,000 bins uncollected in City of Sydney's inner-city suburbs with delays of up to 48 hours hours expected.

It's the sixth time in 2023 the council's bin collection services have been impacted and follows recent action in Queensland, South Australia, Western Australia and ACT.

The strike coincided with the Transport Workers Union's launch of a national campaign demanding Cleanaway improve pay and work conditions.

Garbage collectors took part in strike action in Sydney on Wednesday, leaving 20,000 bins across City of Sydney's inner city suburbs uncollected

'Cleanaway is attempting to cut the life out of these essential waste industry workers,' national assistant secretary Nick McIntosh said.

Officials have pleaded for local council and state government intervention.

'Tell these councils what they should be doing,' Mr McIntosh said.

'Stop the attack on safety, job security, wages and conditions and set the standard to make sure these essential waste industry workers are protected.'

The one-day strike also impacted on waste collection services in Melbourne's Moonee Valley and Hobsons Bay LGAs, along with regional councils Greater Geelong, Surf Coast and Golden Plains.

In Sydney, garbage collectors are demanding a five per cent pay increase, claiming workers are already $4 to $6 per hour behind other Cleanaway workers.

TWU NSW secretary Richard Olsen claimed the current offer is unacceptable because adjusted hours and conditions will send workers backwards.

'Our intent is that we want our people to have a decent agreement, we want them to earn a decent wage and work safely and come home every night after every shift,' he said.

City of Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore came under fire for not intervening.

Cleanaway waste workers walked off the job to fight for better pay and conditions

Garbage collection services were also disrupted in two Melbourne LGAs and several regional Victoria areas (pictured, garbage collectors in Melbourne)

'She's seen it fit to not get involved in the matter other than talk to the employer but refuses to speak with the drivers or the people who work on this contract on behalf of the council in collecting garbage from the streets,' Mr Olsen told reporters.

He added taking industrial action for the sixth time in five months has taken a toll on workers.

'That is a long time for all employees having to take strike action, losing hundreds of dollars each day with the cost of living of where it is today and the CPI still going in the wrong direction,' he said.

'Our workers need to be able to work, they need an agreement which secures industry standards and not take us backwards by a decade or more.'

City of Sydney has warned of disrupted bin collection services for the rest of this week.

'We know how important waste services are and our crews are doing all they can to stay on top of things but we expect collections to be delayed by around 48 hours for the rest of the week,' a notice on the council website states.

'Put out your bins and bulky waste as normal. If the rubbish isn't picked up after two days, report the missed collection and we'll get to it as quickly as possible.

'We're working with our contractor to prioritise collecting red lid bins. We apologise for the inconvenience and ask for your patience.'

City of Sydney's bin collection services (pictured) will be disrupted for the rest of the week

City of Sydney has distanced itself from the dispute, claiming it's not involved in negotiations but hoped the matter can be resolved quickly.

Cleanaway said a large number of its sites have already voted in favour of workplace conditions that increased flexibility.

'Cleanaway has presented its employees with a very competitive remuneration and condition offer, while supporting a move to a more dynamic and flexible work model,' a spokesman said.

'Cleanaway's goal is to institute an agreement that would best support its modern and diverse workforce and varied customer base.'

It comes as NSW paramedics and patient transport officers prepare to walk off the job on Thursday over the NSW government's public sector wage cap.

Ambulances will refuse to transport discharged patients from hospitals for 24 hours from 6am Thursday.

Exceptions will be made for end-of-life patients and those on dialysis needing transportation.
The White House Press Secretary was blasted for abruptly ending a briefing and 'fleeing her podium' without comment when she was grilled about a recent report on how the FBI handled the Trump-Russia probe.

When asked Tuesday about the White House's reaction to the special counsel report, Karine Jean-Pierre said it was a matter for the Department of Justice to speak on.

Jean-Pierre closed her briefing book and left the podium without further comment, which sparked outrage online as social media users accused her of ignoring her own history of pushing the Russia collusion allegation.

Special Counsel John Durham's 300-page report, which was released on Monday, found that the Department of Justice and FBI 'failed to uphold their mission of strict fidelity to the law' in regards to the investigation of possible collusion with Trump and Russia to influence the 2016 presidential election.

Durham said the FBI began probing Trump's alleged ties to Russia on the flimsiest of pretexts, with no links between the ex-president and Kremlin ever uncovered.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre was blasted online for abruptly ending a briefing and 'fleeing her podium' when grilled about the FBI's baseless Trump-Russia probe

A day after the report was released, RealClearNews reporter Philip Wegmann questioned the press secretary about reaction from the White House.

'What is the White House reaction to special counsel report on how the FBI handled the Trump-Russia probe?' Wegmann asked.

'I would leave it to the Department of Justice to speak to that,' Jean-Pierre responded.

Wegmann continued to push her for a comment: 'The president talks often about how he wants the DOJ and FBI to remain independent and above the fray. That report seems to reflect the opposite. Does he agree with Special Counsel Durham that there needs to be wholesale changes at the FBI?'

Jean-Pierre closed her briefing book and responded: 'Again, that is with the Department of Justice.

'That's not something that I'm going to speak from the podium,' she continued. 'As you just stated in your question, we believe in an independent Department of Justice. That's what the president said when he was running and that's what the president has said the last two years.'

Jean-Pierre left her spot at the podium without taking any other questions, telling the reporters: 'Thank you so much. I'll see you guys in Japan.'

But social media users wouldn't let up on the press secretary, as they blasted her for how she responded to the question.

Jean-Pierre left the podium without further comment, which sparked outrage online as social media users accused her of ignoring her own history with the Russia collusion allegation

National Security Advisor for Strategic Communications John Kirby (R) and White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre (L) answer questions from reporters during a briefing on Tuesday

Steve Guest, Ted Cruz's communications adviser, tweeted: 'It's no surprise KJP fled the podium she is guilty of pushing the 'Russia, Russia, Russia' nonsense.'

Journalist Ian Miles Cheong chimed in: 'She's deflecting and she isn't even good at it. Psaki was a lot better with her 'circle back' responses.'

He was referring to previous Press Secretary Jen Psaki, who served in the role between 2021 and 2022, and who now hosts her own MSNBC show.

Jean-Pierre had previously posted tweets supporting the theory that former President Donald Trump was 'illegitimate' and took part in Russian collusion, Fox News reported.

In 2018, she wrote: 'And, Russia is still winning because his puppet Trump continues to flagrantly degrade America's standing on the global stage.'

Monday's report comes after Durham's years-long investigation into the origins of the FBI's original investigation, known as 'Crossfire Hurricane.'

Investigators were looking into whether the Trump campaign coordinated with Russia to influence the 2016 presidential election.

But the special counsel said senior FBI personnel showed 'a serious lack of analytical rigor' and a 'significant reliance on investigative leads provided or funded (directly or indirectly) by Trump's political opponents.'

In a statement, the FBI said the current leadership of the bureau has implemented dozens of corrective actions.

'Had those reforms been in place in 2016, the missteps identified in the report could have been prevented,' the FBI said in a statement.

In a televised interview on Tuesday night, Trump also responded to the Durham report, saying the findings vindicate his claims of baseless persecution.

Special Counsel John Durham has been investigating the FBI probe for the past four years

Trump has repeated trashed claims of Russian collusion as a 'hoax' and 'a witch hunt'

'It's a great vindication and it feels good, and the report has been widely praised,' Trump told Newsmax in a phone interview.

'All of these people are -- I guess you could call it treason. You could call it a lot of different things. But this should never be allowed to happen in our country again,' added Trump.

Trump also welcomed the Durham report in a post on his Truth Social platform.

'WOW! After extensive research, Special Counsel John Durham concludes the FBI never should have launched the Trump-Russia Probe!' Trump said.

'In other words, the American Public was scammed, just as it is being scammed right now by those who don't want to see GREATNESS for AMERICA!' he added, apparently referring to the multiple ongoing criminal investigations targeting him.
One video shows a student pretending to slur his speech while sitting in the chair, which Mitchell said was directed at her son who has cerebral palsy

Kimberly Mitchell posted videos on social media of students wandering the halls of Abbeville High School unsupervised and using her son's chair

A Louisiana mom is calling for consequences after videos surfaced online showing students using her disabled son's wheelchair and making fun of him

An outraged mother is calling for the bullies who left her disabled son traumatized after stealing his wheelchair and making fun of him to face consequences.

Kimberly Mitchell of Louisiana sent a letter addressing a recent 'senior prank' at Abbeville High School in which students mocked her ninth grader son Tay'Shawn Landry, who has cerebral palsy and requires a motorized wheelchair.

In the videos, a group of youngsters are seen wreaking havoc by covering a hallway in toilet paper, stacking desks and chairs on top of each other and riding around in the wheelchair.

One video shared by the mother shows a student in Landry's chair appearing to slur his speech and make squealing noises while another person recording laughs.

In a post on Facebook, Mitchell said the group 'played with the wrong child and the wrong mama' and 'there will be consequences.'

'Sr. Pranks are fun and all but when you make fun of my disabled kid and his belongings then IT BECOMES MY PROBLEM,' the angry mother wrote.

A mother is outraged and calling for bullies to face discipline after videos posted online show teens using her disabled son's wheelchair and making fun of him

Kimberly Mitchell of Louisiana sent a letter addressing a recent 'senior prank' at Abbeville High School in which students mocked her son Tay'Shawn Landry (pictured) who has cerebral palsy and requires a motorized wheelchair

In an interview with KLFY, Landry said the videos broke his heart and caused him to feel unwilling to return to school.

'I was upset. I was mad. I was crying. I tried to stop myself from crying because I wanted to go to school. [I] couldn't. I was just upset,' he said.

Landry's wheelchair had been in a classroom at the time the students entered the school, an official with the Vermilion Parish School System said.

'On Friday, videos became available via social media that the students gained access into a locked room that housed an electric wheelchair on loan to an AHS student that uses it during the school day,' Superintendent Tommy Byler wrote.

'Multiple students were seen riding through the halls on the wheelchair and displayed actions that were insensitive and disrespectful to students with disabilities,' he continued.

The superintendent wrote that he and the other school board members are 'completely disappointed' and 'in no way condone' the behavior.

Byler's statement comes days after the heartbroken and angry mother called out the bullies who had taken the opportunity to mock him while he wasn't around.

'As a mother, it hurt me to see my son upset and not wanting to go back to school because he took it as people making fun of him because he's different,' she wrote.

'Step into his shoes and tell me how y'all would feel?' Mitchell said. 'Yes, I know y'all joke and clown with him on a daily basis. The difference is those things he's in talk presences, last night he wasn't.'

Even more heartbreaking is that Landry said he was shocked and saddened by the videos and his fellow classmates' participation.

'Some people that I go to school with and they want to turn their back on me and do this; that is not acceptable,' Landry said.

'Sr. Pranks are fun and all but when you make fun of my disabled kid and his belongings then IT BECOMES MY PROBLEM,' Kimberly Mitchell (middle) wrote in a Facebook post

One video shared by the mother shows a student in Landry's chair appearing to slur his speech and make squealing noises while another person recording laughs

In a post on Facebook, Mitchell said the group 'played with the wrong child and the wrong mama' and 'there will be consequences'

One video was captioned 'POV. You got the master key to the school' and shows two students riding on the motorized wheelchair in a hallway

In a statement, Byler said the students who had participated in the videos had apologized to Landry.

He also said conversations with the teen and the others had taken place.

But Landry's family and friends remain furious after seeing the hurt the incident has caused him, on top of the pain and suffering he has lived with while growing up.

'His ambulation is horrible,' Marilyn Mitchell, his grandmother, said.

'He never stood. He had never walked in his life. He has been crawling, and then after the month of the surgery, he was trying to ambulate. Now he has scoliosis making it even harder for him to move around,' she continued.

'Let them see how it is to be on that floor on that cement going back and forth. Just how they were riding and closing whatever. See that pain. See the agony. See the frustration of disability people,' the grandmother said.

His other grandmother expressed her concern for his mental state following the horrific incident.

'With everything that's going on in the world today with the kids, we don't know how it's going to affect him in the long term,' said Clarice Landry.

'Where are the consequences for these children? His mother hasn't heard anything about the consequences that they're going to bring forth to these kids,' she added.

'Why did they allow this? We are taxpayers so the school system is allowing the kids to go into the school to do this and mock children with disabled,' she continued.

'They say that these are good kids. I'm not saying that they're not good kids, but if you are a good kid, why did you do this to Tay'Shawn? Why did y'all mock him like that?' the concerned grandmother told the outlet.

'Where are the consequences for these children? His mother hasn't heard anything about the consequences that they're going to bring forth to these kids,' Clarice Landry said

'I was upset. I was mad. I was crying. I tried to stop myself from crying because I wanted to go to school. [I] couldn't. I was just upset,' said Landry

'Step into his shoes and tell me how y'all would feel?' Mitchell said in her post

In a lengthy statement, Byler said the matter remains under investigation.

The superintendent wrote that 'necessary disciplinary actions' could come from the results of the school's investigation.

He added that any disciplinary actions against students or staff are confidential.

'The Vermilion Parish School system does not condone any disrespect to students with disabilities nor any behaviors that include damage to school property in any manner,' his statement concluded.
Pennsylvania Senator John Fetterman - whose run for office was put on hold by a stroke - ignited new health concerns when questioning a Silicon Valley Bank executive on Capitol Hill Tuesday.

Fetterman - who only recently returned to Congress after being hospitalized with depression - was grilling the bank's CEO Greg Becker

As he attempted to criticize SVB over the impact its downfall could have on the US economy, he repeatedly stuttered and struggled to explain that not only was the bank dangerous, but was being bailed out by taxpayer funds.

Representatives for Fetterman told Newsweek the senator 'continues to have auditory processing issues due to the effects of his stroke' but is capable of doing his job.

The Democrat's spokesman, Joe Calvello, lashed out in response, saying: 'If sickos on the internet want to keep making fun of John for recovering from a health challenge, that's between them and their consciences.'

Earlier on Tuesday, it was reported that ailing California Senator Dianne Feinstein, 89, has no recollection of the two-and-a-half months she spent off work with shingles.

Pennsylvania Senator John Fetterman - whose run for office was put on hold by a stroke - ignited new health concerns when questioning a Silicon Valley Bank executive on Capitol Hill Tuesday

The internet was less forgiving, with conservatives in particular suggesting that Fetterman's constituents deserved a lawmaker who's able to properly articulate his thoughts.

One conservative podcast host deemed the senator 'not a well man' and criticized the Democrat Party for 'using' him and not caring about his health.

Commentator Benny Johnson added: 'There is no way John Fetterman should be in office.'

Outkick founder Clay Travis piled on further, suggesting that Fetterman 'is incapable of speech or coherent thought. Good job, Pennsylvania.'

One of Bill Clinton's accusers, Juanita Broderick, called him an 'incompetent, pathetic dude.'

Some Democrats not only stood up for Fetterman but attempted to dig in further and redirect viewers to the point he was trying to make, at one stage suggesting 'work requirements' for failing banks akin to those forced on food stamp users.

Fetterman's chief of staff, Adam Jentleson, was as focused on defending his boss as Calvello.

'The big lesson from Fettermans race was that people understand and empathize with struggle,' Jentleson tweeted.

Conservatives suggesting that Fetterman was not capable of serving in Washington after seeing his attempt to grill the Silicon Valley Bank's CEO Greg Becker

'The lingering language processing issues from Johns stroke mean that sometimes his words dont come out 100% clear. But people understand what he means, and that he is fighting for them.'

Rich Hill added: 'John Fetterman completely called out the CEO of Silicon Valley Bank when asked if CEO's who crash banks should be subjected to work requirements. The CEO was completely Speechless. I am so glad we have him back.'

The far left activist group Occupy Democrats even called it a 'star-making takedown of Republican policies.'

In mid-April, Fetterman returned to Washington after spending almost two months in Walter Reed military hospital being treated for clinical depression.

Fetterman was released from the hospital at the end of March but went home to Pennsylvania as the Senate was on a two-week spring break.

Some Democrats not only stood up for Fetterman but attempted to dig in further and redirect viewers to the point he was trying to make, at one point suggesting 'work requirements' for failing banks akin to those forced on food stamp users

He checked into Walter Reed on that day after weeks of what aides described as Fetterman being withdrawn and uninterested in eating, discussing work or the usual banter with staff.

At the time, Fetterman was barely a month into his service in Washington and still recovering from the aftereffects of the stroke he suffered last May. He went to Walter Reed on the advice of the Capitol physician, Dr. Brian P. Monahan.

During his stay, his staff emphasized he was working, being kept briefed on issue and in contact with them.

While in the hospital in early February, Fetterman signed onto bipartisan rail safety legislation introduced after the train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio. A member of the Agriculture Committee, the senator also has a hand drafting the farm bill Congress votes on every five years.

While Fetterman was gone Democrats grappled with his and several other absences, including Feinstein's illness and the absence of Senator Jeff Merkley, who took time at home after the death of his mother.

Senator John Fetterman returned to the Capitol in mid-April after a two month absence to be treated for clinical depression

Fetterman declined to answer questions upon his return

Vice President Kamala Harris, in her role as president of the Senate, had to cast some time breaking votes. Democrats hold a slim 51-seat majority and any absence can hold up their ability to pass legislation.

In a statement when he was released from Walter Reed late last month, Fetterman said the care he received there 'changed my life.'

'Im excited to be the father and husband I want to be, and the senator Pennsylvania deserves,' said Fetterman, who won praise for his decision to seek treatment.

Fetterman has used assistive technology in the Senate as to deal with auditory processing issues since he suffered his stroke.

In February, Time magazine reported on how the Senate accommodated the Democrat.

Fetterman needs the assistance of closed captioning, so the Senate Sergeant at Arms installed a monitor on Fetterman's desk in the Senate chamber that provides live captioning, and armed him with a wireless tablet for committee hearings.

How the captioning is provided to Fetterman depends on where he is.

In the chamber, he relies on captions from the Senate Office of Captioning Services stenotype machines, caption encoding hardware and Senate staff, Time said.

A wireless tablet that provides closed captioning is seen on Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman's desk at a committee hearing Wednesday as he continues to use assistive technology to deal with lingering auditory processing issues from the stroke he suffered

Fetterman (left), seen walking alongside Pennsylvania's other Democratic Sen. Bob Casey (right) also had a monitor installed on his antique Senate desk that provides captioning services and can be adjusted for height

His desk monitor can be raised or lowered depending on whether the 6-foot-8 senator is seated or standing up to speak.

A similar monitor with a desk stand is also available to Fetterman to be used on the dais, when he presides over the upper chamber.

Neither monitor needs to be connected to the internet to work.

And the SAA hopes to improve upon his set-up with a monitor that more easily blends into Fetterman's antique desk.

During committee hearings, captions will be provided by professional broadcast captioners, instead of artificial intelligence.

The Senate had already moved toward providing closed captioning for all hearings, but the SAA plans to upgrade those services, starting with the committees Fetterman serves on, Time reported.

Fetterman has been less willing to engage in Q&As with reporters who camp out in the hallways of the Capitol Building, but a staff member told Time that they're working on accommodations so the Pennsylvania Democrat can participate in impromptu interviews.

Fetterman suffered his stroke in May of 2022, days before Pennsylvania's Democratic primary, but he still won the race handily.

The stroke, which almost killed him, kept him sidelined for months from the campaign trail in his race against the Trump-backed Republican, Dr. Mehmet Oz, the former television personality.

The Democrat was able to win the office in part because of some creative trolling of Oz from his team, as the Republican spent decades living in New Jersey before his Keystone State Senate run.

His shaky debate performance - which highlighted his unusual speech patterns and auditory processing issues leftover from the stroke - rattled some Democrats, as it gave Oz an opening to win.

But on election night, the race was called for Fetterman by 1am, with Oz conceding shortly thereafter.
MBABANE  Minister of Housing and Urban Development Prince Simelane has warned emaSwati against voting for terrorists.

The minister was speaking yesterday when addressing the media after registering to vote in the upcoming elections. He was among other ministers who registered at the cabinet offices yesterday. The Elections and Boundaries Commission (EBC) had set up a registration centre for ministers and other government officials working around the cabinet Offices. EBC Communications Officer Mbonisi Bhembe said as a commission, they were bringing the registration service closer to the people as much as possible. Speaking after registering, Minister Prince Simelane encouraged emaSwati to register in numbers in order to exercise their right to vote. He said no one should infringe on anyones right to vote.

Coups

Prince Simelane said emaSwati should not vote for terrorists who may arise to plot coups against the countrys authorities. Ubone mawukhetsa ungahambi ukhetsa emavukelambuso layovukelalive lena. Asikhutsate kutsi sive asiphangise siyobhalisa singaze semukeke live ngelite, said the minister in vernacular. The minister said emaSwati should register in order not to regret whenever anything happenned. Other ministers who registered included the Minister of Information, Communication and Technology (ICT), Princess Sikhanyiso, Minister of Finance Neal Rijkenberg and Minister of Commerce, Industry and Trade Manqoba Khumalo.

The ministers encouraged emaSwati to continue registering to vote as that was every liSwatis right. The Deputy Prime Minister, Themba Nhlanganiso Masuku, was among the first emaSwati to register last Thursday, which was the second day of registration. Registration continues countrywide until June 14. Inspection of the voters roll will be conducted from June 22 until July 12, whereas nomination of candidates will take place on July 22 or 23. Primary elections are scheduled for August 26 and then the secondary elections are set to take place on September 29.
Daniel Andrews has hosted a drag queen story-time event for kids at Parliament House to mark the International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia.

Young children sat on the floor and on their mothers' laps as drag queens read out children's books at the event on Wednesday.

Mr Andrews was seen smiling as he watched on.

Drag queens read out books to young children as they sat on the floor of Parliament House (pictured)

The story-time event marked the International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia

The state government also pledged $1.8 million to Rainbow Health Australia - a program supporting LGBTIQA+ health and wellbeing.

'Equality in Victoria is not negotiable  we're building a state that is inclusive for everyone, because every space should be a safe one for LGBTIQA+ Victorians,' Premier Daniel Andrews said.

ABC reporter Bridget Rollason shared a picture of the event on Twitter, explaining that no Liberal MPs were in attendance.

The drag queen story-time was moved to Parliament House following Monash City Council's decision to cancel the event at Oakleigh Library.

The council backflipped on its controversial decision to hold the drag story-time after protesters stormed the Council chambers in Melbourne's southeast on May 3.

Tensions boiled over as protesters yelled abuse at pro-drag and LGBTIQA+ community supporters, banged on glass walls and screamed 'shame on you' at councillors.

Drag queen performer Sam T was set to feature at the sold-out event for babies and preschool children.

Monash CEO Dr Andi Diamond issued a statement announcing the decision to cancel the upcoming Drag story-time event in May.

Dr Diamond cited the reason for the cancellation was safety concerns and the threats of violence against councillors, families attending, performers and staff.

'It is incredibly disappointing to have to cancel an event designed to celebrate the International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia, but we were left with no choice after Victoria Police advised Council of the risks associated with holding the event,' Dr Diamond said.

'We understood this was not for everyone and scheduled it outside our regular library programs so that parents planning to bring their children were making a deliberate choice to attend.

'Unfortunately, some in our community were not willing to allow that choice. In the end, we were unable to guarantee that we would be able to hold the event safely.'

Anti-trans protesters stormed a Monash Council meeting on May 3 rallying against the drag queen story-time event scheduled at Oakleigh library (pictured)

LGBTIQA+ community supporters were in attendance in a united show of support for Monash Council (pictured)

The peak body for Victorian Councils is set to hold an emergency meeting on Thursday to discuss the growing crisis of aggressive far-right groups targeting LGBTIQA+ events.

A drag story-time event at Woodleigh School on the Mornington Peninsula scheduled for Thursday was cancelled, while a similar event at Eltham library in Melbourne was moved online on Wednesday.

A Rainbow Story-Time hosted by Bathurst-based Betty Confetti at NSW's Goulburn library on June 3 was called off.
Charged with sex without consent and threats to kill

A man who allegedly preyed upon women he targeted through online dating sites is facing dozens of charges.

The 23-year-old man from Perth's south has been charged with 64 offences, including 12 counts of aggravated sexual penetration without consent and two counts of aggravated threats to kill, between 2016 and 2023.

Police will allege he committed the offences against nine female victims.

Officers searched the man's Treeby home and seized storage devices, cameras and computers.

One mobile phone allegedly contained more than 232,000 images and 9,300 videos.

'A digital forensic examination of seized material is continuing and detectives have located images and information relating to a large number of women they are attempting to identify,' West Australian Police said on Wednesday.

A 23-year-old man who allegedly preyed on women he met on online dating sites has been charged with sex without consent and multiple counts of threats to kill (stock image)

The man from Perth's south has been charged with 64 offences, including 12 counts of aggravated sexual penetration without consent and two counts of aggravated threats to kill, between 2016 and 2023 against women he met on online dating sites (stock image)

The man has been charged with offences including stalking, acts to endanger life, health or safety, deprivation of liberty and home burglary.

He is due to face Perth Magistrates Court on Thursday.

Police Commissioner Col Blanch said the significant number of images and videos found on devices suggested 'far more' alleged victims could be identified.

'The special crime team are currently working through those images to see if we can identify more victims, so it might turn out to be much larger than what it currently is,' he told ABC radio.

Anyone with information is asked to contact police.

Mr Blanch urged online dating site users to take precautions, including meeting in public places and letting friends know where they were going.

'There are evil men out there on social media platforms looking for people to attack. That is a reality,' he said.

'This is not about blaming victims, because people should be able to date and do it freely and happily. But there are people in this world who are out there to do the wrong thing, and the quicker I can lock them up, the better it is.'

1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732)

National Sexual Abuse and Redress Support Service 1800 211 028
One Nation NSW leader Mark Latham has threatened to countersue independent MP Alex Greenwich if he continues with a lawsuit against him.

Mr Greenwich said on May 1 he was suing Mr Latham for defamation after the One Nation politician refused to apologise for a homophobic tweet he made in March.

The Sydney MP also filed complaints with the NSW Police and Anti-Discrimination NSW on the grounds of vilification.

Mr Latham has refused to apologise for the tweet and continued his latest attack against Mr Greenwich on May 3 accusing him of 'starting' the online feud.

His comment comes as Pauline Hanson revealed she still supported Mr Latham as NSW leader even though she condemned him for the tweet.

One Nation NSW leader Mark Latham (pictured) has threated to sue independent MP Alex Greenwich if he continues with a lawsuit against him, saying he 'started' it

Mr Greenwich had called Mr Latham a 'disgusting human being' after he attended a religious gathering in Sydney in March.

The event spiralled into chaos as members clashed with LGBTQI activists.

Mr Latham took issue with the comment made by Mr Greenwich and responded with the inflammatory tweet that has since been taken down.

'Disgusting? How does that compare with sticking your d*** up a bloke's a*** and covering it with s***?' he wrote.

Mr Latham admitted his words were 'too crude to stay up there' as he further opened up on the debacle while speaking to radio station 2HD on May 3.

The One Nation leader in NSW took the tweet down shortly after, but followed up with another tweet saying 'Never apologise, never explain.'

'If Alex Greenwich wants to say that the NSW Police have to go police words like this (his homophobic tweet) on Twitter, the police can start with his own words,' Mr Latham said.

'If you want to talk about words that are offensive, calling someone 'a disgusting human being' for going to a meeting in a church hall with the parish priest sitting on the stage, you can take offence at that and the police can investigate him.'

He accused Mr Greenwich of starting the argument.

'This guy who started this dispute doesn't like the way I responded. I'll tell you what, he's got a glass jaw,' he said.

'I don't regret saying that as a straight man, the thought of someone holding a gun to my head saying that I've got to have anal sex with another man, I do find that disgusting.

'That's what makes me straight.'

He said he doesn't think what he said about Mr Greenwich 'was an unfair thing to say given the nature of his attack on me.

'It was crudely expressed and the words had to come down and they did,' he said.

Pauline Hanson (pictured) said she will have a closed-door meeting with Mark Latham to over his homophobic comments, which she called 'disgusting'

'He provoked this, he started this. Where's the apology for describing me as "a disgusting human being"?' Mr Latham said.

He added that if Mr Greenwich 'persists' in suing him 'I'll have a counterclaim. If he wants to talk slander, (what he said it) completely slanderous.'

Mr Greenwich's problems with the One Nation MP also include their opposing views on transgender issues with Mr Latham taking a more conservative stance.

The One Nation leader said he didn't think his views were controversial.

'What have I said about transgender? I've consistently said if you're an adult over the age of 18 and you want to change your gender every other day, well, that's your business,' he said.

'It's not a concern of government or anyone else. You're an adult, you can make these decisions.

'You want to be a male one day, female the next, back to being a male. If you're an adult, you do whatever you think is in your interest, but leave the kids alone.

'That's all I've ever said. Leave the kids alone.'

One Nation's founder and national leader Pauline Hanson said she supports Mr Latham, despite previously denouncing his homophobic tweet, but that she wants answers from him about his behaviour.

Independent MP Alex Greenwich (pictured) called Mark Latham 'a disgusting human being'

Ms Hanson told The Age that she was 'disappointed ... about what happened with the outcome and the tweet.

'But it's something that I've only had a brief conversation with Mark about since then,' she said.

'I've got two people who who work in her office are gay and that she doesn't 'have an issue with that'.

Ms Hanson said she believed Mr Latham was doing an excellent job representing the interests of the party.

'He's got an eight-year term. So all I expect of Mark is to do the job that he's been doing for the last four years and represent the people of NSW to the best of his ability and be that voice,' she said.

Ms Hanson had previously slammed Mr Latham for making the tweet in a damning video on Facebook.

She made it clear that her party did not 'condone' his comments.

She called on Mr Latham to make a public apology and added that she had tried to call him a couple of times 'to no avail'.

'I want you to know that I don't condone them and neither do my members of parliament or party associates. I think they are disgusting,' she said.

'I've actually tried to ring Mark a couple of times, to no avail. And I have clearly sent a text message to him, telling him my views.

'I've asked him to give the people an apology. I will leave it at that. It is now over to Mark to answer to the people.'
Two schools have sent some of their students home after Covid outbreaks among teachers left them understaffed - with one forcing all remaining pupils to wear face masks.

Liverpool Girls High School in Sydney's southwest announced on Tuesday that Year 9, 10 and 11 students would have to work from home immediately, while all staff and students still in school would have to use masks.

The school initially announced a five-day mask mandate for all pupils, before sending some students home when cases increased.

Meanwhile, Orange High School in the central-west of NSW, also announced learning from home will take place for students in Year 7 through to Year 10 this week.

The announcement impacts one grade each day - though year 11 and year 12 students will be exempt from the guideline.

The move comes despite the World Health Organization this month declaring the Covid pandemic was over.

Orange High School announced learning from home will take place for students in Year 7 through to Year 10 this week

Taking to Facebook on Tuesday, a Liverpool High School spokesperson wrote: 'Due to increasing COVID cases in the community, Years 7, 8 and 12 will be learning at school and are expected to attend.

'Years 9, 10 and 11 will be learning from home and are expected to be online at 9.30am.

'These measures will be in place Wednesday 17 - Friday 19 May.'

An earlier announcement from the school said: 'Due to an increase in COVID cases in our community, mask wearing will be mandatory for all staff students and visitors to LGHS for the next 5 days from May 16.'

Liverpool Girls High School has almost 900 pupils.

At Orange High School, principal Ali McLennan wrote to parents: 'Due to the impact of COVID-19 some of our students and teaching staff cannot attend school.

'The positive COVID-19 cases have particularly impacted our staff.'

'Students who cannot learn from home will be provided supervision should they attend school,' Ms McLennan added.

Year 11 and Year 12 students will still attend school as usual, the note from Ms McLennan said.

Orange High School has more than 1,000 students.

Orange State High School's stay at home guidelines:

Year 10 - Tuesday, May 16 (one day only)

Year 9 - Wednesday May 17 (one day only)

Year 8 - Thursday May 18 (one day only)

Year 7 - Friday May 19 (one day only)
A cafe has raised eyebrows after offering a single cup of coffee for $1,500.

The Brew Lab Cafe in Penrith, western Sydney, has turned heads after selling the coffee for a staggering amount.

The venue has justified the price revealing how difficult it is just to make one cup.

A customer will need to order the coffee two weeks in advance so the beans can be flown from Panama to Australia.

The coffee beans are grown and roasted on the side of a volcano in Silla De Pando, which is close to the border of Panama and Costa Rica, at 1,700m above sea level.

The Brew Lab Cafe, in Western Sydney's Penrith, (pictured) is offering a cup of $1500 cup of coffee from Panama

While the single cup costs about the same as a year's budget of one coffee a day, the price tag comes with a unique experience you won't get at any ordinary cafe.

Brew Lab Cafe's owner and barista Mitch Johnson revealed the unique taste of the coffee.

'Most people when they drink it say their first impression is that it's more like a tea than a coffee,' he told 9News.

'This is definitely the top of the peak that we've found in beans.'

The coffee holds a grade of over 90 with the Specialty Coffee Association, making it one of the most highly rated in the world.

Any coffee that receives a rating over 80 from qualified graders is considered specialty.

Any brew that rates above 90 receives an exceptionally rare 'outstanding' grade.

'Its an exceptional coffee, the kind of coffee that makes people cry,' Mr Johnson told the Daily Telegraph.

'I know that sounds crazy but its happened, its brought them to tears.'

So far only two customers have ordered the coffee.

They had to wait a little bit longer than the two weeks as the barista goes through a specific brewing process.

The coffee is served as a pour-over and not through an espresso machine, meaning the barista must pre-dampen the coffee filter and use water heated to exactly 94C.

The water is then gently poured over the coffee at precise time intervals as to not ruin the tast.

Only after this lengthy process is the coffee then passed onto the customer.

Only two customers have ordered the coffee, while most describe it 'more like a tea than a coffee' according to Brew Lab's owner and barista, Mitch Johnson

10g of the Batch #22324 coffee beans (pictured) will put a buyer back about $400AU, while a standard 1kg bag will cost about $18,000AU

While the $1,500 cup might keep some customers away, the cafe often takes orders for coffee that cost over $100.

'We do get quite a few coming in once a week to try our $100 or $200 coffees,' Mr Johnson said.

'It's not rare for us at all; there is an underground coffee scene in Sydney that is actively pursuing exotic brews such as this.'

The coffee beans, called Batch #22324, will set back a customer just under $400 for a vial of just 10g.

A standard kilogram bag of beans will cost about $18,000.

Coffee bran Ninety Plus Coffee describes it as possibly the 'best coffee we have produced' while its founder Joseph Brodsky said it was the best he had ever tasted.
Eerie security footage of a missing woman shopping and visiting an ATM has been released as police step up efforts to find her.

Kimberly Dennehy went missing from a Wembley Road medical facility in Logan Central in Brisbane's south at 1.30pm on March 23 and has not been heard from since.

The 32-year-old was however spotted in the days afterwards at two separate premises.

Eerie security footage of missing woman Kimberly Dennehy has been released as police step up efforts to find the Queenslander

Ms Dennehy went missing from a Wembley Road medical facility in Logan Central in Brisbane's south at 1.30pm on March 23 but was seen in CCTV footage at a Walter Street retail store

First, she was seen at a business on Endeavour Way in Plainland at 4.30pm on Sunday, April 2.

Then two weeks later Ms Dennehy was seen laughing and chatting inside a retail store on Walter Street in Lowood at 8.40am on Friday, April 14.

Police now believed she travelled in a silver 2008 Holden Commodore sedan to the Walter Street business.

Ms Dennehy was last seen there at approximately 8.45am when she left the address in the same vehicle.

She is tanned in appearance, approximately 152cm tall, with a proportionate build, short blonde hair, and brown eyes.

Other photos police have released show Ms Dennehy with short brown hair.

Residents within Lowood and surrounding areas are urged to review their CCTV or dashcam footage from April 2 and April 14, and to check their properties for any signs of Ms Dennehy.

Police now believed she travelled in a silver 2008 Holden Commodore sedan to the Walter Street business
A mother-of-four and her new boyfriend called the police just a week before they were stabbed to death saying they were afraid of the suspect, it is claimed.

Katie Higton, 27, was stabbed to death alongside her new boyfriend Steven Harnett, 25, at her 90,000 home in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, on Monday morning.

Police have arrested a man on suspicion of murdering the pair.

Detectives yesterday referred themselves to the police watchdog - after it emerged they spoke to both victims and the suspect days earlier.

The Independent Office for Police Conduct confirmed: 'We have received a mandatory referral from West Yorkshire Police linked to the suspected murder of two people in Huddersfield.

It was claimed mental health nurse and mother-of-four Ms Higton had contacted police a week ago saying she was afraid of the suspect

New boyfriend Steven Harnett was found dead at her 90,000 home in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, on Monday morning. Another man has been arrested

'This is due to the fact officers had contact with both victims, and a man who has since been arrested on suspicion of murder, in the days prior to this tragic incident.

'We will now assess the available information to determine what further action may be required.

'Our thoughts are with all those affected by these events.'

On Tuesday the former brother and sister in law of Ms Higton paid tribute to her as 'the best mum' and said the family was 'absolutely devastated' as they placed flowers on behalf of her two eldest children at the scene.

West Yorkshire Police had placed a cordon around Harpe Inge, in the Dalton area of the town.

Ms Higton was described as 'a brilliant mother and great nurse carer for the mentally ill'

Steven Harnett had been going out with Katie and was also found dead at the house

Police officers stand by a cordon on Harpe Inge, Huddersfield on Tuesday

Flowers left at the scene on Harpe Inge, Huddersfield on Tuesday

A resident from the street behind Harpe Inge had said: 'I knew it was serious, with the air ambulance and the forensics.

'They were out all day.'

A card left with flowers at the scene said: 'RIP my darling. We love you. No more suffering.'

Another said: 'I am so sorry for how things have ended.'

A friend said Katie was one of her best friends. She added: 'She was a brilliant mother and great nurse carer for the mentally ill.

Katie Higton was stabbed to death alongside her new boyfriend at her 90,000 home in Huddersfield

Police described Ms Higton's 'murder' as an exceptionally serious offence

'I'm heartbroken for her and her four kids - the littlest boy is only six months old.'

Scott I'Anson, who lives on Harpe Inge, added that he did not know the woman who lived in the house but had seen her and her children.

He said: 'They kept to themselves but a lot of people liked them. It's quite a big family street. I knew she had a partner but I never met him.'

Detectives launched the murder enquiry after police were called to the house in Harpe Inge at 9.53am on Monday.

Paramedics attended at the address and found a man and woman who had suffered multiple injuries.

The man and woman were confirmed to have died at the scene.

Detective Superintendent Marc Bowes of the Homicide and Major Enquiry Team, said: 'This has clearly been an exceptionally serious offence and I can promise residents that a full investigation is ongoing into the murder of this man and woman.

Police were called to the address in Harpe Inge, Dalton, Huddersfield on Monday

West Yorkshire Police said they arrested a man from Huddersfield

'We are conducting extensive enquiries at the scene and at other locations in the Dalton area as we investigate the circumstances of what took place.

He added: 'I am appealing for anyone who saw suspicious activity overnight or this morning at the property on Harpe Inge to contact us.

'Residents in the nearby area will also note an increased police presence on their streets and I want to reassure them and the wider community we are doing all we can to bring persons responsible for this offence to justice.'

Anyone who can assist the investigation is asked to contact the Homicide and Major Enquiry Team on 101 referencing police log 408 of 15 May.
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Meghan Markle borrowed the Queen's mantra last night by hailing 'daily acts of service' as she urged women to 'be the visionary of your own life' while accepting a feminist award at a New York gala - in a boost to her US relaunch.

The Duchess of Sussex was attending her first public event with husband Prince Harry since she missed King Charles III's Coronation in London on May 6.

Addressing the Ms Foundation for Women's 50th anniversary event at the Ziegfeld Ballroom in Manhattan last night, the duchess told the crowd: 'It's just never too late to start. You can be the visionary of your own life. You can charter a path in which what you repeat in your daily acts of service, in kindness, in advocacy, in grace and in fairness, that those become the very things that are recognised by the next wave of women, both young and old, who will also choose this moment to join the movement and make our vision for an equitable world reality.'

The California-based couple were accompanied yesterday by Meghan's mother Doria Ragland. And the duchess's comments on service were notable given that her brother-in-law Prince William paid tribute to Charles's 'service' during the Coronation Concert at Windsor Castle on May 7. William had said: 'For all that celebrations are magnificent, at the heart of the pageantry is a simple message. Service. My father's first words on entering Westminster Abbey yesterday were a pledge of service. It was a pledge to continue to serve.'

And on May 8, at the end of the bank holiday weekend, Charles issued a message insisting that he and Queen Camilla would 're-dedicate our lives to serving the people of the United Kingdom, the Realms and Commonwealth'.

Queen Elizabeth II famously said on her 21st birthday in a 1947 speech broadcast from South Africa: 'I declare before you all that my whole life, whether it be long or short, shall be devoted to your service and the service of our great imperial family to which we all belong.'

Meghan's words also recalled when she and Harry made a statement in February 2021 after Buckingham Palace confirmed they would step down as working royals, saying: 'We can all live a life of service. Service is universal.'

The duchess's relaunch - dubbed 'Meghan 2.0' - has already seen her speak about mental health with youngsters in Santa Barbara and dine with Hollywood stars including Cameron Diaz and Gwyneth Paltrow over the past week.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle at the Ms Foundation Women of Vision Awards at Ziegfeld Ballroom in New York last night

Meghan arrives in a $1,850 strapless gold dress with scalloped pattern detailing

Meghan, 41, also posed for a solo shot before making her way inside the awards ceremony

The Sussexes were joined by Meghan's mother, Doria Ragland

Last night Meghan, who wore a $1,850 strapless gold dress with scalloped pattern detailing, received the Women of Vision Award - recognising her 'global advocacy to empower and advocate on behalf of women and girls'.

What the Royal Family have said about service Meghan Markle, last night: 'You can charter a path in which what you repeat in your daily acts of service' King Charles III, May 8: 'We now rededicate our lives to serving the people of the United Kingdom, the Realms and Commonwealth.' Prince William, May 7: 'At the heart of the pageantry is a simple message. Service. My father's first words on entering Westminster Abbey yesterday were a pledge of service. It was a pledge to continue to serve.' Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, February 2021: 'We can all live a life of service. Service is universal.' Queen Elizabeth II, 1947: 'I declare before you all that my whole life whether it be long or short shall be devoted to your service and the service of our great imperial family to which we all belong.' Advertisement

The ceremony honoured 'game-changing' grantee partners and visionary leaders committed to the organisation's mission of 'advancing collective power and creating safe, just and equitable futures for women, girls, and gender-expansive people'.

Meghan was presented with the award by renowned journalist and feminist activist Gloria Steinem.

Her acceptance speech closed out the gala where she said: 'It's never too late to start. You can be the visionary of your own life... There is still so much work to be done.

'I am a woman who remains inspired and driven by this organisation,' she said, looking over at Ms Steinem, who introduced her alongside current foundation chief executive Teresa Younger.

'It allowed me to recognise that part of my greater value and purpose in life was to advocate for those who felt unheard, to stand up to injustice, and to not be afraid of saying what is true and what is just and what is right.'

Meghan also told of how she had read Ms Magazine while at school - the publication founded by Ms Steinem - according to video of the event shared by Town and Country writer Emily Burack.

'It's funny because as a young girl, I would come home, I would settle in after a day of school, pull up my TV tray dinner, and I would turn on my evening ritual, Jeopardy!' she recalled.

'And I would glance at the coffee table, where I would see an array of things. It could be the cat's collar, my homework, some mail that had just been brought in, and some magazines. The magazines said 'Ms.' on them.

The royal has previously told the same story on her Archetypes podcast.

Prince Harry attends the event with Meghan and mother-in-law Doria Ragland and is seen following behind the two women

The Duchess of Sussex beams from ear-to-ear as she arrives at the event with Harry and her mother Doria Ragland

Meghan's appearance at the event comes after she skipped her father-in-law King Charles' Coronation ceremony

The Duchess held a gold clutch in her hand and wore several diamond bracelets on her wrist in New York last night

Meghan arrives at the event with Harry and Doria Ragland, but the trio opted to skip the event's red carpet livestream

Meghan is honoured at the event by her friend Gloria Steinem, 89

Meghan arrived modeling a strapless $1,850 gold Johanna Ortiz dress that featured a key-hole cutout at the chest and which she paired with some strappy $1,350 gold heels from Tom Ford and a matching $1,100 clutch bag by Carolina Herrera.

READ MORE: Meghan dons $12,000 outfit at Women of Vision awards Advertisement

She appeared to have had her dress - which was created by a Colombian designer - altered for the occasion; images of the original design show it with straps, which the duchess opted to go without.

Harry joined Meghan at the ceremony - where tickets cost a whopping $1,500 and tables cost a minimum of $15,000 - to watch as she received the Women of Vision honour from Ms Steinem.

Inside the event, Meghan took to the stage to accept her award, making her way up to the podium to the sounds of Alicia Keys' hit song Girl on Fire.

Once on the stage, the duchess gave Ms Steinem a warm hug, before moving to address the crowd, thanking guests for giving her 'such a warm welcome' and describing Ms Steinem as her 'friend'.

She also praised the 89-year-old 'for the inspiration that you are, for your mentorship, your sage advice, your extraordinarily cheeky sense of humour and, of course, for your incredible friendship'.

Meghan then offered her congratulations to the evening's other honourees, praising them for the 'important and meaningful work that you do'.

'While I was familiar with most of your work before tonight, nothing could compare to the focus, the determination, the energy I feel from each of you, especially as we all bear witness to you standing in the elegance and the power of your strength,' she continued.

'And I remember them vividly because the pictures were different. There was a diversity that I hadn't seen as often, both of colour and of age, and the names were different.

'There were congresswomen, there were astronauts, and the topics were different. From mothering to being a working mom to heavier topics such as domestic violence, the poverty line, unearthing its roots, where it comes from, and matters of equity.'

Guest Paul Didonato told The Sun: 'Meghan was very gracious and beyond articulate. She was quite wonderful. 'She did become emotional. Seeing her on stage with Gloria Steinem felt like it was a cross generational moment.'

Another guest said that Ms Ragland and Harry 'looked unbelievably proud'. And, speaking after the event, Steinem said: 'It was very moving, historic and funny. It was a unique night.'

Meghan and Harry held hands as they make their way out of the venue after she gave a passionate acceptance speech

Harry leads the way as the Sussexes walk to their waiting car following the event in New York last night

Meghan holds her award in her hand as she and Harry exit the Ziegfeld Ballroom

Several security guards put protective arms around Meghan as she follows behind her husband last night

Harry is seen beaming as he exits the evening's event in New York, smiling happily as his security guards escort him

Yesterday's event marks the first public event that Harry and Meghan have attended together since the duke made the solo trip to the Coronation earlier this month.

Meghan had opted to stay at their US home in Montecito, California, with their two children Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet.

Last year the pair became the recipients of the NAACP President's Award as well as the Robert F Kennedy Ripple of Hope Award, at a ceremony also held in New York.

Meghan, whose appearance in Manhattan came ten days after she skipped the Coronation, went full glam for the occasion, modelling a smoky eye and nude lip, while her long brunette hair was styled in loose waves that she wore swept over one shoulder - allowing the strapless design of her textured gown to shine.

She added further glitz in the form of several pricey pieces of jewelry, including two diamond bracelets and a $7,350 gold Cartier Love Bracelet, as well as a pair of sparking hoop earrings from budget-friendly brand J. Crew.

One of the glittering accessories on her wrist appeared to be a Cartier design that was once owned by Harry's late mother Princess Diana, which the Duchess has worn on several occasions, including during the Sussexes' bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey in March 2021.

Harry opted for his signature navy suit, which he wore with a white shirt and pale blue tie - while his mother-in-law Ms Ragland chose a more low-key black dress, accessorizing the look with some black slingback heels and a black clutch bag.

Earlier, Harry is seen following his wife and mother-in-law after arriving at the venue in a large SUV last night

While the Sussexes were seen beaming from ear-to-ear as they arrived at the event, they seemed keen to avoid any prying questions - opting to skip the event's red carpet livestream after entering via the back of the Ziegfeld Ballroom. In a rather unglamorous start to the evening's proceedings, the pair were seen making their way into the venue via a Hertz car rental arena.

The Women of Vision website gushes that Meghan is 'a feminist, champion of human rights and gender equity, and global role model'.

'Meghan is also a passionate advocate for family rights, and an investor in dynamic female founded companies,' her biography on the awards site continues.

'Meghan is noted as one of the most powerful and influential women in the world, topping lists such as Time Magazine's Most Influential People, The Financial Times' 25 Most Influential Women, Variety Power of Women, and British Vogue's Vogue 25.'

Teresa Younger, the president and chief executive of the Ms Foundation, said last month: 'We are thrilled to announce this year's honourees for the Women of Vision Awards and to celebrate 50 years of progress and power.'

She added that Meghan, as well as the other award winners - including Black Lives Matter co-founder LaTosha Brown - 'are incredible leaders, and we are grateful to be able to shine a light on their many accomplishments and tireless work on behalf of gender and racial equity across the country and the world.'

The Women of Vision Awards gala was designed to 'explore the past, present and future of the Ms. Foundation and feminist movements, while raising funds for the organization's strategic, equity-centered initiatives'.

A press release for the event also said: 'Each year, the foundation honours visionary leaders and game-changing grantee partners committed to the Ms. Foundation's mission of advancing women's collective power and creating safe, just and equitable futures for all.'

The decision to honour Meghan at the event has certainly not been without its controversy - with several critics taking to social media to pan the organisers.

Harry and Meghan (centre) leave a sushi bar in Montecito with Cameron Diaz and Benji Madden (right)

Prince Harry with Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi, Jack Brooksbank and Princess Beatrice after the Coronation in London

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex pose with their children Lilibet and Archie in a Christmas card in December 2021

Prince Harry, Meghan and Charles at the Commonwealth Service at Westminster Abbey in London in March 2019

'Unlike fake organizations like @msfoundation creating awards to massage the egos of Hollywood fake celebrities and failed royals like #MeghanMarkle, true Awards are different as they celebrate TRUE HEROES. Ordinary, hardworking, people!' one person wrote on Twitter.

'I had a subscription to Ms. Magazine when it came out. Today, I am forever done with Ms. And Gloria Steinem for bastardizing their foundation to allow these FAKE awards to be 'bought' for a donation,' a Facebook user commented on the awards show page.

'Case in point - Meghan Markle is the farthest thing from a feminist that I know of... That person is not a feminist... I hope the $$ was worth the bad press this will generate for you. You're getting Markled!'

Meghan's appearance at the awards ceremony in New York comes amid what experts have described as her attempt to draw 'all eyes on her' following the Coronation on May 6.

Meghan and Harry enjoyed a sushi dinner alongside A-listers Cameron Diaz and her husband Benji Madden, as well as Gwyneth Paltrow and her husband Brad Falchuk on Friday night.

And earlier this week, Meghan took part in a royal-style engagement at a Santa Barbara youth group, posing up for pictures alongside several young people who take part in the program.

Brand and culture expert Nick Ede told MailOnline that Meghan has expertly used the focus on the Coronation and drawn it onto herself this week through appearances with Hollywood glitterati, young people and now an awards ceremony with a Black Lives Matter leader.

He said: 'Meghan has cleverly circumnavigated herself away from the Royal Family and Coronation scrutiny and got all eyes on her and what's she's doing next.

'Meghan's positioning herself as an inspirational figure, which she is to many, and she's doing what she does best: highlighting causes whilst highlighting herself.

'She's also giving herself space from Harry to stand on her own two feet and be recognized not as a Duchess but as her own person, which she will be very happy about'.
A pregnant mother-of-two killed on the M66 had a baby shower to celebrate finding out she was having a girl just a week before the horror crash, her devastated family has revealed.

Frankie Julia Hough, from Oldham, Greater Manchester, was driving southbound on the motorway near Bury with her sons Tommy, nine, and Rocky, two, and her four-year-old nephew Tobias.

After two days in hospital following the crash just after 3pm on Saturday, Frankie, 38, tragically died of her injuries on Monday.

Tommy and Tobias remain in hospital in induced comas and are continuing to 'fight', her family said, while Rocky suffered minor injuries and is being looked after by loved ones.

Frankie, described as a 'fierce mother with a heart of gold', leaves behind her two boys and her partner Calvin.

Frankie Julia Hough, from Oldham, Greater Manchester, was driving southbound on the motorway near Bury with her sons Tommy, nine, and Rocky, two, and her four-year-old nephew Tobias

After two days in hospital after the crash just after 3pm on Saturday, Frankie, 38, tragically died of her injuries on Monday

Her family - including parents Julia and Frank, sister Becci and brother-in-law Arron - revealed she had just celebrated finding out she was due to have a baby girl days before her tragic death.

Arron told the Manchester Evening News: 'She was the most amazing person, she had a heart of gold. She was a dedicated, fierce mother and she was a fighter for her kids.

'She was the best auntie. She was a shining light, she would protect her kids with everything she had.

'She was pregnant and was only just celebrating the week before with a baby shower when she found out she was having a little girl. It's just so sad.'

He said Frankie would now be 'shining down' on her son and nephew as they continue to fight in hospital and described his son Tobias - Frankie's nephew - as a 'little warrior'.

'We don't know what the outcome is going to be when he wakes up, we know he has had a head trauma. We're hoping there will be no detriment to his long-term health, he is being a strong boy,' Arron said.

Tommy is also 'making good progress' but is still in an induced coma. His father is by his bedside.

Arron added: 'We're just going day-by-day and bit-by-bit and want out boys back. It's good if people pray and it gets us through, we want that power and positivity.

'We know she's [Frankie] shining down on them now and bringing them through and showing us that she's there and helping. She was just so strong-minded, if anyone was to go she would have picked herself.

'We'll carry her legacy on. We now need to bring our boys through.'

Frankie's family thanked the first responders on the scene as well as the teams at Manchester Royal Infirmary who are caring for the boys and at Royal Preston Hospital who looked after Frankie.

Frankie, described as a 'fierce mother with a heart of gold', leaves behind her two boys and her partner Calvin

A GoFundMe page has been set up for the family, with more than 38,000 raised so far.

Adil Iqbal of Accrington, Lancashire, has been charged with one count of causing death by dangerous driving and two counts of causing serious injury by dangerous driving.

He appeared in court on Monday wearing a grey tracksuit and spoke only to confirm his name, date of birth and address.

Iqbal was remanded into custody and a preliminary hearing at Minshull Street Crown Court is expected to take place on June 19. Police are continuing to appeal for witnesses.

Information can be shared by calling GMP's Serious Collision Investigation Unit on 0161 856 4741, quoting incident 2254 of May 13, 2023, or online using the report tool on the force's website.

Alternatively, contact the independent charity Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
Taylor is preparing to seek release from custody

Cairns teen has been charged with attempted murder

A teenager accused of stabbing a female student at school will seek release from custody.

Marc Rajan Taylor, 18, allegedly knifed a young woman, 18, multiple times at Lutheran College in Kamerunga, north-west of Cairns, at 10.35am on Tuesday.

The alleged victim who was rushed to hospital in critical condition, cannot be named for legal reasons.

Taylor faced Cairns Magistrates Court on Wednesday charged with attempted murder.

The court heard that Taylor had approached the student as she sat with her friends during morning recess, according to 7News.

Marc Rajan Taylor (pictured), 18, allegedly stabbed a fellow student multiple times at school. He has been charged with attempted murder

He then allegedly pulled out a blade and carried out the attack in front of fellow students and teaching staff before he was restrained, the court heard.

The teenage girl remains in Cairns Hospital and underwent surgery on Wednesday.

A crime scene was declared and police have uncovered a knife at the school.

Detective acting Inspector Jason Chetham described the incident as 'very traumatic' and said police are 'investigating what the relationship is between the parties'.

Taylor will apply for bail when he faces court again on June 12.

Taylor allegedly approached the young woman, 18, during morning break at Peace Lutheran College (pictured) before he allegedly stabbed her

Peace Lutheran College said in a statement that support was being provided to students who were affected by the incident.

'Our thoughts and prayers are with all members of our community during this difficult time,' the school said.

'The safety and wellbeing of all members of our community is our highest priority.'

'We ask the community to keep our injured student in their prayers.'
SITEKI  Drama unfolded on Monday evening when a 20-year-old man grabbed an R4 rifle from a police officer and opened fire at a Shoulder homestead.

The sound of gunfire sent two police officers and residents scampering for cover at Matjeni, about three kilometres from the densely populated Mzilikazi township. According to a family member, two men came with police officers from the Criminal Investigations Department (CID), on board a police van, to record a statement and collect exhibits of certain stolen items, at around 3pm. The family member asked to comment on condition of anonymity in fear of being victimised. The particulars of the two men are known but will not be disclosed as they have not been arrested and charged with the crime.

Cellphones

The family member said upon stopping at the homestead, one police officer went to open the door of the canopy to let out the two men, who appeared to be in leg irons. They were to lead the law enforcers to a house in which there were supposedly two cellphones stolen from an Asian national around the Siteki town. The family member stated that one of the suspects was arrested on Sunday, and the police officers further collected his alleged accomplice after establishing that he was also connected to the theft.

It could not be ascertained how the suspects had removed the leg irons as one of them suddenly grabbed the gun from one of the police officers and ran towards a nearby forest, followed by his accomplice. The source shared that one of the police officers fired two shots using a pistol but the suspects continued to run, while one of them was trying to engage the automatic mode of the rifle. He said after a couple of minutes, the sound of gunshots reverberated around the homestead as the suspect opened fire, using the R4 rifle, sending the police officers and residents who had convened around the home into hiding.

The source stated that the suspect fired aimlessly towards the homestead, prompting the police officers to call for backup. Suspicion was rife that the suspects had eased the leg irons while they were in the back of the van. Furthermore, he added that three police vans, with about 20 police officers from the Operational Support Services Unit (OSSU) and another van with about 10 soldiers, arrived at the homestead about an hour later. At that time, he said, the suspects had vanished into a nearby bush, leaving the gun behind. It was found by the police officers and soldiers as they combed the forest.

The source said at around 6pm, the police officers and the army personnel left the homestead but not before searching all houses within the family compound. Moreover, he mentioned that the police officers also came yesterday morning to collect more evidence at the scene of the shooting, still searching for the wanted men.

Crime

They told my family and community members to share information about the suspects, he said. Adding, the family member mentioned that they did not condone crime. He further stated that he hated crime hence even if the wanted men were aiming the gun at him for being a whistle-blower, he would have insisted on the truth. A community member, who asked that his identity be concealed for safety, observed that there was a remarkable rise in crime around the Mzilikazi community.

The resident stated that community police members were being targeted by the offenders as they were described as whistle-blowers. The offenders are known around the community and when crime happens, people are afraid to report to the police in fear of their lives. In this case, the criminals are targeting community police members due to the fact that they work closely with the police in curbing crime, said the resident.
Keir Starmer today backed more building on the green belt as he bids to outflank the Tories on new homes.

The Labour leader insisted he would give councils scope to decide where to put construction.

He also backed lifting the moratorium on onshore wind farms in England, saying that 'tough' decisions need to be made.

Sir Keir is hoping to capitalise on Conservative infighting over house-building, with Rishi Sunak caught in a pincer movement between Red Wall MPs who want targets to drive construction - and many in traditional Tory heartlands who are alarmed about local anger at developments.

Sir Keir accused the government of 'killing' the dream of home ownership and said housebuilding was 'the sort of growth we need in this country'.

Ahead of a speech to the BCC conference this afternoon, he said a discussion was needed over allowing building on the green belt if it meets local needs.

Labour leader Keir Starmer insisted he would give councils scope to decide where to put construction

Sir Keir used the example of houses being built on a playing field in Maidstone rather than on a car park, with the reason given that the car park was classified as being in the greenbelt.

Speaking to BBC Breakfast, Sir Keir said: 'I don't think anybody who cares about our countryside would think that is a good idea.

'So what I'm say is that if we give local areas the power to direct where housing is, even when it is on the greenbelt, if it is a car park rather than a playing field, then I think that protecting the car park and building on the playing field was the wrong choice.

'We would make those tough choices and say to local areas: not withstanding that it is the greenbelt, if it is a car park or similar land which doesn't effect the beauty of our countryside, which we all want to preserve, then we'll change the planning rules, we'll give you the planning powers to do that.'

He said giving local authorities greater scope to decide would provide a solution.

Sir Keir will tell the BCC later that planning reforms and a modern industrial strategy will revive an economy which is 'stuck in second gear', calling for a 'union of the willing to build a better Britain'.

Mr Sunak was forced to drop plans for compulsory housebuilding targets in the face of a backlash from rebel backbench MPs and Tory activists - although Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove is looking for a compromise solution to reinstate them.

Sir Keir is hoping to capitalise on Conservative infighting over house-building. File picture

Sir Keir will restate his commitment to bringing back local housing targets.

In his speech in Westminster, he will say: 'A generation and its hopes are being blocked by those who  more often than not  enjoy the secure homes and jobs that they're denying to others.'

He will say his policy of backing 'the builders not the blockers' extends beyond just new houses.

'You can't be serious about raising productivity, about improving the supply-side capacity of our economy and about arresting our economic decline without a plan for the wind farms, the laboratories, the warehouses and the homes this country so desperately needs,' he will say.

Sir Keir will say the county needs a government 'that won't sit on the sidelines' and will address the 'doom-loop of low growth, low productivity and high taxes'.

'We need a reformed planning system, a modern industrial strategy, a more powerful British business bank that will help scale businesses  new and old,' he will say.
A high school has brought back a Covid mask mandate more than six months after they were entirely scrapped across the country, sparking backlash.

Liverpool Girls' High School in Sydney's southwest announced on Tuesday that Year 9, 10 and 11 students would have to work from home immediately, while all staff and students still in school would have to wear masks.

The school initially announced a five-day mask mandate for all pupils amid a small outbreak in Covid cases, before sending some students home when numbers increased.

The last remnants of widespread mask rules, requiring them to be used on international flights and on public transport, were removed in Australia in September last year.

Dr Nick Coatsworth, who is well known as the face of the government's Covid vaccine rollout, told Daily Mail Australia that mask rules being reintroduced at the school was worrying.

'That is a problem. No child at an Australian school should be compelled to wear a mask,' the former Australian deputy chief health officer said.

Liverpool Girls' High School, which has about 900 students, has reintroduced learning from home for some students and mask mandates for others amid a small Covid outbreak

Former deputy chief health officer Dr Nick Coatsworth told Daily Mail Australia that 'no child at an Australian school should be compelled to wear a mask'

Liverpool Girls' High School introduced the measures after recently having a high number of students test positive to Covid.

They initially advised that as of Monday this week all students, staff and visitors to the school would need to wear masks for the next five days.

But on Tuesday afternoon, when more students tested positive, they asked years 9, 10 and 11 to learn from home from Wednesday until Friday.

Years 7, 8 and 12 are still attending school in person and are required to wear masks.

One parent who asked to remain anonymous told Daily Mail Australia that she doesn't want to see a return to the draconian restrictions imposed during the Covid pandemic.

'There was no consultation with parents at all,' she said.

'No one else in the community is being forced to wear masks again so it doesn't seem fair our kids are.'

She added that she was told students who refuse to wear masks would be sent to the deputy principal's office and their parents will be called .

'It's quite frustrating as my daughter is in year 10 and doesn't like home schooling,' she said.

'We're just hoping it doesn't get worse over the winter period and result in all the kids learning from home again.

'I think we need to learn to live with it and treat it as we would a cold or flu. I'm not angry, I just find it frustrating because it makes it hard for the kids.'

Professor Peter Collignon previously told Daily Mail Australia masks made little difference to Covid epidemics in the community (stock image)

Dr Coatsworth has previously been a vocal opponent of masks rules in schools saying there was an 'overemphasis on the benefits of masking kids'.

'You're not actually protecting the kids themselves because it's a very, very mild disease in children with or without the vaccine,' he said.

While there could be a risk of a child passing the virus onto a frail relative, he said with proper precautions such as washing hands, rapid antigen tests and vaccines the added benefit of masks in children was low.

'I have trouble communicating with my patients (while wearing a mask). It's hard for them to hear me, it's hard for them to know who I am, and if that's hard for me then I can only conclude that it would be detrimental to kids.'

Infectious diseases expert Peter Collignon told Daily Mail Australia: 'Masks don't really make a difference to community epidemic curves, though they do provide some personal protection'.

'Probably not as big a reduction (in exposure to infection) as people think - it's not an 80 per cent reduction, probably closer to 10 per cent.'

Meanwhile, another NSW school, Orange High School in the state's central-west, also announced learning from home will take place for students in Year 7 through to Year 10 this week amid a small outbreak of Covid cases.

The announcement impacts one grade each day - though year 11 and year 12 students will be exempt from the guideline.

Principal Ali McLennan wrote to parents: 'Due to the impact of COVID-19 some of our students and teaching staff cannot attend school.

'The positive COVID-19 cases have particularly impacted our staff.'

'Students who cannot learn from home will be provided supervision should they attend school,' Ms McLennan added.

Daily Mail Australia has contacted Liverpool Girls' High School, the NSW education department and Premier Chris Minns' office for comment.
A family claim their 900,000 dream home is now 'worthless' after being flooded with raw sewage - twice in the last three years.

Helen and Ashley Northway were horrified when their 17th century stone farmhouse in Raunds, Northamptonshire, started overflowing with foul water after heavy rain battered the UK last week.

The couple, their 10-month-old daughter Elevyn, disabled son Archie, 10, and Helen's 89-year-old grandmother June all required medical assistance from an emergency doctor after being exposed to raw sewage.

Mrs Northway said: 'We are all very sick now. All five members of my household had to be assessed by an emergency doctor and prescribed antibiotics for chest infections, following exposure to the raw sewage, and thereafter chemicals to treat it.

'My husband has been coughing up blood. With vulnerable people including my elderly grandmother and young baby being affected with chest infections, I am not willing to allow this to drag on as there is serious risk to health, let alone the property damage.'

They claim that bad drainage and a faulty sewage pipe resulted in the foul waste sweeping into their six-bedroom home, also leaving the family with a huge clean-up bill.

Helen Northway (pictured) says the family's 900,000 dream home is now 'worthless' because of damage caused by flooding

Raw sewage and water swept into their home last week as a result of downpours that battered Britain

The issue has seen the local council launch investigations into the cause of flooding of the property, which they say are 'ongoing'.

The six-bedroom property was overwhelmed despite 230,000 being spent on flood defences and drain upgrades in the the Northamptonshire village in 2021.

The couple's home sits in a natural dip in the centre the village which has been hit with flooding in recent years.

The issues started on Christmas Eve 2020, when the family were forced to desperately try to save presents and valuables after the entire ground floor of their home was submerged under 3ft of water.

Helen Northway with their grandmother June Norman. Mrs Northway said everyone got 'very sick' after raw sewage flooded their home last week

The village of Raunds, Northamptonshire, experienced flooding due to heavy rain last week

Damage caused by the flooding at the Northway's 900,000 dream home in Raunds, Northamptonshire

Emergency services were called out after heavy rain caused flooding in the village of Raunds, Northamptonshire

The couple complained to Northamptonshire Highways and engineers repaired misconnected sewage pipes and built two soakaways to absorb surface water at a cost of 230,000.

But just over two years later, the family's property was once again submerged after last week's downpours - which saw widespread flooding affect parts of England - causing illness among the Northways.

Mrs Northway and her husband Ashley, 43, a veteran army bomb disposal expert with the Royal Engineers, bought the house in 2017.

They spent 200,000 converting the 380-year-old building into a family home including a fully equipped annexe for Helen's grandmother.

The couple, who were childhood sweethearts, hoped the property would prove to be an investment for their children when they got older.

The village was submerged in water after heavy downpours last week

Water filled the bathroom of the Northway's 900,000 home

However, they claim it is now 'worthless' and are unable to sell it or insure it against future flooding.

Mrs Northway said: 'Before we bought the house, there had been two floods in 100 years but since we moved in, there have been two in three years.

'Every time it rains, we know we are at serious risk of being flooded out. It means we cannot leave the house.

'We have had to cancel holidays, attending funerals, even our honeymoon was cut short so we could come back and pump out water.

'Whenever we go out we are glued to the weather forecast in case it rains.

A firefighter providing assistance in the village of Raunds, Northamptonshire, which was flooded last week

June and Helen, who live together, got 'very sick' after their home was flooded with raw sewage

'We have spent a lot of money converting the house and what we have now is a nigh on 1 million house which we were hoping to leave to our children but is now a massive life-long problem.'

Mrs Northway also blames a sprawling 400-home development which has been built at the end of her road for increasing the pressure on the drains.

She said: 'The drains here can't cope already and now we've got 400 houses adding to that pressure.

'The developers cut down about 20 huge trees which acted as a natural flood defence but they are all gone.

'I can see rain water sweeping down the road from the new estate which collects right outside our house.

'It doesn't take much more rainfall to send it spilling into our home.

'We use submersible pumps and put barriers on our doors and windows but none of that worked last week when we were just overwhelmed.'

Since the road repairs were carried out the family have called out the fire service to pump water from the street outside their home into the nearby brook multiple times.

Mrs Northway added: 'We've had Drainline come in excess of 20 times in the last year.

'It takes them two hours and I estimate it costs 2,000 a time coming out of taxpayers' money.

'The flooding is worse than it's ever been. This has been the worst since the Christmas floods.

'We keep an eye on it all the time. We can't go on holiday and we've had to come back early from a funeral because it started to rain.

'During the latest floods, my grandmother was so distressed she was crying and crying and saying 'I want to be dead, I want to be dead'.

'It's horrific. There's a threat to human health - mental and physical.

'We are uninsurable for floods now. The house has been valued at between 850,000 and 900,000 but its worthless now.

'We've worked all our lives, my husband has served the country but what are our children going to be left with?'

Mr Northway, who now works in a secondary school, said: 'I've served all over the world but I only have nightmares about the floods. It's having an effect on us all.'

The family have been in regular contact with Tom Pursglove, Conservative MP for Corby and East Northamptonshire.

He said: 'Any new development must take flooding risk fully into account and any mitigation schemes must be sufficiently robust to address it.'

A North Northamptonshire Council spokesman said: 'Investigations are ongoing due to the cause of flooding to the property.'

It comes after last week saw homes and businesses devastated by flooding after local residents claimed up to half a foot of rain fell in just one hour.

Villagers in the picturesque Devon locations of Newton Poppleford and Tipton St John were left in 'shock' after buildings were deluged and walls knocked over during downpours.

Others refused to let their spirits be dampened, with some punters seen enjoying a pint at a pub in West Camel, Somerset while standing in shin-deep floodwater.

Last week saw thunder, lightning hail and 1.2in of rain fall within two hours around parts of the UK, with 35 flood alerts and seven warnings issued for England.
A physiotherapist who staggered into court on a drink-driving charge has avoided jail after her lawyer argued she deserved 'extra help' for her NHS work during the coronavirus pandemic.

Georgina Davies, 39, was breathalysed at the Cheshire base of vaccine producer Astra Zeneca on April 11 after she tailgated another vehicle into the pharmaceutical giant's campus, having earlier been spotted parked at a nearby pub.

Police said she was slurring her words and was unsteady on her feet as she got out of her Renault Clio, and tests showed Davies had 166 micrograms of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath, the legal limit being 35mg.

During her hearing at Crewe Magistrates' Court, the chairman of the bench recused himself from the case, saying he wanted to avoid any 'personal bias'. He admitted being 'rattled' at seeing Davies stagger into the dock, and was replaced by another JP.

It emerged Davies had been drinking prior to the hearing but the defence solicitor and probation officer said she was still able to 'function and understand the proceedings.'

Davies' lawyer Richard Olroyd said she had been a team leader at her hospital and 'put herself right in the front line' during Covid', adding that she caught the disease a number of times and 'was under a great deal of pressure'.

Davies, who lives on her family farm in the village of Mobberley, near Knutsford, admitted driving with excess alcohol and was sentenced to 14 weeks in jail, suspended for 12 months.

Georgina Davies, 39, (pictured) avoided jail after admitting driving over the limit

A magistrate refused to hear her case after admitting he was 'rattled' by seeing the NHS physiotherapist (pictured) stagger into court

Davies, a graduate of King's College, London, is a 'functioning alcoholic' who worked on the NHS front line during the pandemic tending to patients in intensive care, the court heard.

Mr Olroyd said: 'She has been successful throughout her life. She went to university, got a degree, qualified as a physiotherapist and during Covid she put herself right in the front line - but her drink problems started during an abusive relationship.

'She became isolated from friends and began to drink - then Covid came along. She was a team leader in the hospital and put herself in the position of being on the frontline.

'She got Covid a number of times and was under a great deal of pressure. She is not the first person from the NHS with exemplary character who has drunk and drove.

'In times of Covid when we were out on streets to applaud those in the NHS, perhaps they deserve extra help along the way as well as that' the lawyer said.

'Attention should be paid to the pressure that those frontline workers, and particularly some in the frontline at the hospital, had to endure through those coronavirus times.

'Some people see alcoholism as an illness and I ask you to look at it like that today, on her behalf. She does not drink because she wants to, it's an illness. She now knows she needs to give up completely.

'She was functioning enough to tell police that she was a recovering alcoholic and wasn't trying to hide anything. She has not come to court saying I do not have a drink problem. She has attended AA meetings and has had some detox.

'People say you have to reach rock bottom before making your way back up. I do feel that she is nearly at rock bottom. Being at court is a sign of rock bottom. She is ashamed and embarrassed to attend court today.'

The NHS worker was breathalysed by police after tailgating a car into vaccine maker AztraZeneca's Cheshire campus (pictured) in her silver Renault Clio

The NHS medic (pictured), who specialises respiratory physiotherapy, developed a drinking problem following an 'abusive relationship'

The incident occurred at 12.15pm on April 11 2023, after Ms Davies who specialises in respiratory physiotherapy, was seen parked outside the Butley Ash pub in Prestbury.

Miss Stephanie Fellano, prosecuting, said: 'Police were made aware that a silver Renault Clio was at the academic campus without authority to be there. The driver appeared to be intoxicated and a witness had notified security staff that a driver of the Clio was driving slowly and had tailgated him into the campus.

'The security guard located the defendant in the car park. She was described as being withdrawn and appeared sleepy. Police officers arrived and they said she was slurring her words unsteady on her feet. In the interview the defendant made full admissions and made the officers aware that she was a recovering alcoholic.'

It is not known why she was the facility.

A probation report on Davies said: 'She has a longstanding issue with alcohol but is making attempts to address the issues. She has been functioning with this level of alcohol for some time.

'She is not going to feel drunk as we are going to feel drunk. It is the level at which she functions. She is somebody who wants to engage with services. She recognises that she needs to. She lives with her parents and does not have any dependent children.

'There are a lot of issues that crept up on her, each one built up and basically set her back a number of steps.'

Magistrates sentenced Davies to 14 weeks in prison, suspended for 18 months, along with requirements that she attend 10 days of rehabilitative activity with the probation service and a six months alcohol treatment programme.

She was also banned from driving for three years and made to pay 274 in costs and a victim surcharge. She was refused the chance to reduce the ban by taking a drink drive awareness course.

JP Malgorzata Kostrzew said: 'The offence has crossed the custody threshold - however, having heard from your solicitor and the probation service we believe that there is a realistic chance of rehabilitation. Therefore, we are prepared to suspend the sentence.'
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has been pictured examining a brand new spy satellite as the pariah state's latest example of menacing military tech undergoes final checks before its imminent launch.

Kim visited the aerospace facility where he described space-based reconnaissance as crucial for countering the U.S. and South Korea.

The visit was Kim's first public appearance in about a month and his 10-year-old daughter, Ju Ae, was seen by his side with the pair dressed in matching lab coats as they conducted a tour of the facility.

Kim said acquiring a spy satellite would be crucial for his efforts to bolster the country's defence as 'U.S. imperialists and (South) Korean puppet villains escalate their confrontational moves' against the North, state news agency KCNA said.

He was apparently referring to the expansion of joint military exercises between the United States and South Korea and the allies' discussions on strengthening their nuclear deterrence strategies to cope with threats from North Korea, which has test-fired around 100 missiles since the start of 2022.

The new spy satellite enters its final stage of preparation just one month after Kim oversaw the first test-firing of the North's new solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM).

North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, right, and his daughter visit the country's aerospace agency North Korea Tuesday, May 16, 2023

A photo released by the official North Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) shows Kim Jong-un (C) speaking with the non-permanent Satellite Launch Preparatory Committee, while accompanied by his daughter Ju-ae (C-R)

A component of the military satellite is seen in this image at the aerospace facility

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and his daughter Kim Ju Ae view a test launch of the Hwasong-18 solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile in April 2023 from an undisclosed location in North Korea

This picture taken on April 13, 2023 and released by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on April 14 shows the test-fire of the new Hwasongpho-18 ICBM

Kim during Tuesday's visit to the aerospace centre approved an unspecified 'future action plan' in preparations for launching the satellite, KCNA said.

North Korea hasn't disclosed a target date for the launch, which some analysts say may be in the next few weeks.

That launch would use long-range missile technology banned by past U.N. Security Council resolutions, although previous missile and rockets tests have demonstrated North Korea's ability to deliver a satellite into space.

There are more questions, however, about the satellite's capability.

Some South Korean analysts say the satellite shown in North Korean state media photos appears too small and crudely designed to support high-resolution imagery.

Photos that North Korean media released from past missile launches were low-resolution.

Meanwhile, images released by the Rodong Sinmun newspaper of Tuesday's visit showed Kim and his daughter talking with scientists near an object that looked like the main component of a satellite.

The newspaper did not identify the object, which was surrounded by a perimeter of red tape.

KCNA said the satellite was deemed ready to be loaded onto a rocket after scientists examined the device's assembly and put it through tests to confirm whether it would withstand the environment of space.

South Korea's Foreign Ministry said North Korea has yet to inform international maritime and telecommunication authorities of any launch plans.

It said a North Korean satellite launch would violate various U.N. Security Council resolutions banning the North from any launches involving ballistic technologies and 'threaten regional peace and stability.'

'The announcing of the satellite launch plan shows yet again that the North Korean regime is preoccupied with continuing its illegal provocations while ignoring the plight of its people,' the ministry said in a statement, in referring to North Korea's broken economy and deepening international isolation.

This photo provided April 14, 2023, by the North Korean government, shows North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and his daughter inspecting what it says is the test-launch of Hwasong-18 intercontinental ballistic missile

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and his daughter Kim Ju Ae view a test launch of the Hwasong-18 solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile

Second stage separation scene taken by a camera mounted on North Korea's new Hwasongpho-18 intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM)

This picture taken on April 13, 2023 and released by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on April 14 shows an image of the Earth taken by a camera mounted on the new Hwasongpho-18 intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM)

The next step in North Korea's launch preparations, or the 'future action plan' state media mentioned, could be installing the satellite on what would likely be a three-stage space rocket, said Kim Dong-yub, a professor at Seoul's University of North Korean Studies.

Depending on how North Korean preparations go, the launch could be conducted as early as mid-June, although Pyongyang might also time the event to major state anniversaries that fall in July, September or October, the professor said.

Recent commercial satellite images indicate rapid construction activities at North Korea's northwest rocket launch facility, where the country last conducted a satellite launch in 2016, the North Korea-focused 38 North website said Monday. The activities include construction on the facility's main satellite launch pad and possible efforts to establish a new launch pad at the edge of the site near the sea, 38 North said in its report.

Spy satellites are among a slew of advanced weapons systems Kim Jong-un has vowed to develop. Others on his wish list include solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missiles, nuclear-powered submariners, hypersonic missiles and multiwarhead missiles.

North Korea has tested some of those weapons in recent months, including its first flight test of a solid-fuel ICBM last month, but experts say the North may need more time and technological breakthroughs to make those systems functional.

In response to North Korean plans to launch a military spy satellite, Japan's military last month ordered troops to activate missile interceptors and get ready to shoot down fragments from the satellite that may fall on Japanese territory.

North Korea placed its first and second Earth observation satellites into orbit in 2012 and 2016, but foreign experts say neither transmitted imagery back to North Korea. The U.N. Security Council issued sanctions over those launches.

North Korea has avoided new Security Council sanctions for its recent ballistic tests in 2022 and this year as Moscow and Beijing continue to block U.S.-led efforts to dial up pressure on Pyongyang, underscoring a divide between the council's permanent members that deepened over Russia's war on Ukraine.
A paramedic claims she was left in shock after an airport parking assistant took her BMW on a 90mph joyride while she was away on holiday in Italy.

Kirsty Livingstone says her trip to Rome was ruined when police phoned to say her car had been pulled over near Langford, Somerset.

The driver was stopped on the A38 after clocking up speeds in excess of 90mph with no licence or insurance, Avon and Somerset Police said.

Kirsty, from Gloucester, now wants compensation and says she and her partner spent most of their Easter holiday dealing with the police and worrying about the car.

Kirsty said her car's alloy wheels were scuffed and posted a photo of them online

The 43-year-old, who is originally from Scotland, praised police for managing to get her car back to her quickly as it meant she was able to attend her grandmother's funeral in Dumfries and avoided missing work when she got back to the UK.

The force added that the driver will get a court summons letter 'in due course'.

But Kirsty said her car's alloy wheels were scuffed and she had to pay 80 to get the tracking fixed before going to the funeral.

'We missed all our holiday activities because we were up all night both nights trying to deal with police, it was just a mess - I wish we had never gone,' she told the BBC.

She'd thought about cancelling the trip because her grandmother had just died, but family members urged her to go as she and her partner had not had a break for a long time and the funeral was not until the following week.

She booked the parking service online and arranged to meet the driver at the airport in the early hours of Easter Saturday.

'Later that night I got a phone call from Avon and Somerset Police officer telling me, "I'm with your BMW".

'I told him the car was with a short-stay parking service, and he said the driver had stolen my car.

'I've used these kinds of services loads of times and I never thought this would happen.

'The parking at Bristol Airport is limited, that's why meet and greet companies are so popular.'

She spoke to Bristol Airport, but was told it had nothing to do with the meet and greet services operating in its car park.

'It seems bizarre to me that anybody can set up shop at the airport and they don't do any kind of vetting' she said.

Meet and Greet Bristol Airport Parking Services apologised, saying the car was 'taken by a trainee'.

They said Kirsty's car had been collected and taken to one of their sites, and when it was taken, the firm was 'conducting interviews and training sessions for potential staff'.

'Those individuals that were going through the training were told specifically not to drive any of the customer's vehicles and to simply observe how the operations were being conducted.

'However, one of the individuals without our knowledge took Ms Livingstone's vehicle out of the site and shortly after was apprehended by the police.'

She spoke to Bristol Airport, but was told it had nothing to do with the meet and greet services operating in its car park

They had 'cooperated fully with the police and returned Ms Livingstone's car to her upon her return from holiday'.

'All our staff are insured for the services we provide, and our staff go through DBS checks before they are employed.'

They refunded her the 57.99 booking fee, and offered 300 in compensation, while denying any damage was caused to the vehicle.

Kirsty used booking firm Airport Parking Global Services, which said it was 'reviewing the situation to make sure it did not happen again'.

'Based on the volume of vehicles the operator services on a weekly basis, we do not find their complaint levels to be high - however, we will still investigate this matter thoroughly.'

Bristol Airport said: 'Meet and Greet Bristol Airport Parking Services is an independent business entirely unconnected with Bristol Airport and we have no control nor influence over the services provided by [the company].

'The airport advises passengers to use its on-site parking.'

MailOnline has contacted Bristol Airport, Meet and Greet Bristol Airport Parking Services and Avon and Somerset Police for further comment.
One of the last few remaining residents of a derelict estate dubbed 'Britain's Chernobyl' says he will never leave - despite frequent arson attacks, curious tourists and it being earmarked for demolition.

Marshal Craig, 70, still lives in Clune Park Estate in Inverclyde, Scotland, which has been virtually empty for more than 25 years.

Built in 1905, it is made up of 430 flats in rotting tenement buildings as well as a rundown church - all covered in graffiti and litter.

It was abandoned in 1997 and is now a ghost town with some of the cheapest properties in Britain - in 2020 one flat sold for 6,000.

The estate in Port Glasgow in Inverclyde was privately owned, but Inverclyde Council has now bought more than half the properties. It plans to demolish the existing buildings and construct more than 100 new homes.

Marshal Craig, 70, is one of just five residents still living in Clune Park in what used to be 480 apartments

The housing, first built in 1905, has been virtually empty for 25 years after the majority of the shipyard workers employed nearby moved out

The local council plans to demolish the housing stock and build up to 120 new homes on the site

Mr Craig says he is one of just five people left there but has no plans to leave - claiming it is 'idyllic'.

His apartment looks just like any other flat on the inside, but is surrounded by hundreds of uninhabitable homes.

The retired forestry worker said: 'I've lived here for 20 years all in all and four years in this particular house.

'Quite frankly, I don't want to move and I'm quite happy here.

'I know it's rough sometimes and people come in and smash stuff but I'm perfectly happy here and I don't want to leave.

'In some ways it's quite idyllic. My house is built like a castle. The walls are thick and sturdy, there's a nice view and no dampness.

'The only thing the view from my kitchen window is missing is a few palm trees!'

But according to the local council, Clune Park estate has the highest neighbourhood level of below tolerable standard (BTS) housing in Inverclyde.

The tolerable standard sets out the basic standards required for a house to be habitable. Housing which does not meet this very basic standard is considered to be BTS and therefore not fit for habitation.

The estate was largely abandoned in the late 1990s after the majority of the shipyard workers employed nearby moved out.

Mr Craig says the remaining five residents all stay in the same area of one block.

The estate has the highest proportion of below tolerable standard housing, meaning it is not fit for habitation, in Inverclyde

Urban explorers frequently visit the site to take photos and post videos online

The previously flourishing estate was abandoned in 1997 and is now a ghost town

But Mr Craig's flat appears just like any other comfortable home from the inside

Despite the fact the estate is almost derelict, Mr Craig's flat still has all the amenities he needs such as electricity

Mr Craig loves his home and joked he will 'tie himself to the radiator' if the council tries to evict him

He said: 'When I first moved here there was a lot more people, but now it's pretty much empty.

'Now, out of the 480 families that would be able to stay here, there's only five of us left holding down the fort.

'They're great neighbours. I think I'll be tying myself to the radiator if they make me move out.'

Although Mr Craig loves his home, the estate has become renowned for smashed windows, litter and fires.

Urban explorers regularly visit the site to see the abandoned flats covered in graffiti, posting images and videos online.

Inverclyde Council confirmed they they will be pursuing a compulsory purchase order in January to demolish the estate entirely and build 100-120 new homes.

Mr Craig said: 'These are good solid buildings. Why not just do this place up and house people in them that need them.

'There is some anti-social behaviour usually late at night. The fire damage and broken windows are the worst thing.

The site has become a target for vandals and arsonists, but Mr Craig said his block has remained unaffected

The majority of the flats are small, with 69 bedsits, 310 one-bedroom flats and 51 two-bedroom flats

The vast majority of the estate has fallen into ruin, with rotting buildings and antisocial behaviour

The site has issues with flytipping and vandalism, but Mr Craig vows to remain living in his flat regardless

Inverclyde Council has already acquired over 50 percent of the housing on the estate and are attempting to purchase remaining properties

'I probably call the fire brigade more than anyone else and when I hear a fire engine now I don't even get up to see what's going on anymore.

'It's just part of the background now.

'That all happens in the other three blocks though. Where we are at the end of the fourth block is absolutely fine.'

The majority of the flats are small, with 69 bedsits, 310 one-bedroom flats and 51 two-bedroom flats.

Inverclyde Council has already acquired over 50 percent of the housing on the estate and are attempting to purchase remaining properties.

A spokesperson for Inverclyde Council said: 'It remains our ambition to acquire properties at Clune Park to allow for the delivery of long term regeneration of the area.

'While progress has been frustratingly slow and costly, the ambition still remains and discussions are continuing to achieve this aim at the earliest possible opportunity.'

The council is understood to be considering rehousing options for tenants on Clune Park estate, including offering residents such as Marshall access to private rented accommodation and local social housing.
America's largest children's hospital has been providing transgender treatments to children despite promising to stop the practice, according to a new report.

Whistleblower documents released by City Journal on Tuesday purportedly show that Texas Children's Hospital has continued to provide so-called 'gender affirming care' for young gender-dysphoric patients, including the administration of implantable puberty blockers and hormone replacement therapy (HRT).

According to the documents, such procedures were carried out earlier this year, with more future treatments scheduled for June.

The documents also include image grabs of a slide deck that was presented in January 2023 titled 'Medical and Psychological Care of Gender-Diverse Youth', in partnership with Baylor College of Medicine, City Journal reports.

The online publication says that the presentation urged doctors to begin sex-change treatments for minors before puberty and consider sex-change options later.

Texas Children's Hospital (pictured) has been providing transgender treatments to children despite promising to stop the practice, according to a new report

The documents appear to contradict to the hospital's announcement in March last year that it would stop prescribing gender-affirming hormone therapies.

At the time, the hospital said it had made the decision 'after assessing the Attorney General's and Governor's actions', after Texas Gov. Greg Abbott directed the state's child welfare agency to investigate reports of children receiving gender-affirming care as 'child abuse,' according to the Washington Post.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton also issued an opinion in February 2022 stating that his office considered certain transgender treatments for children as 'abuse'.

In a statement released in March 2022, the hospital said: 'The mission of Texas Children's Hospital is to create a healthier future for all children, including transgender children, within the bounds of the law.

'This step was taken to safeguard our healthcare professionals and impacted families from potential legal ramifications.'

This came with the resignation of Catherine Gordon - the hospital's chief paediatrician and an advocate for 'gender-affirming therapy' - according to a report from the Dallas News in April 2022.

However, City Journal's report has claimed the hospital 'secretly continued to perform transgender medical interventions', citing the purported leaked documents.

Whistleblower documents released by City Journal on Tuesday (pictured) purportedly show that Texas Children's Hospital has continued to provide so-called 'gender affirming care' for young gender-dysphoric patients, including the administration of implantable puberty blockers and hormone replacement therapy (HRT)

The leaked documents also include image grabs of a slide deck (pictured) that was presented in January 2023 titled 'Medical and Psychological Care of Gender-Diverse Youth', in partnership with Baylor College of Medicine, City Journal reports

The publication said it had reached out to the hospital via email, and was told by spokeswoman Kelley Carville: 'We have no comment.'

In a statement to DailyMail.com, a Texas Children's Hospital spokesperson said: 'At Texas Childrens Hospital, our mission is to provide high-quality care for all patients.

'Throughout the policy debate surrounding gender medicine, our healthcare professionals have always and will continue to prioritize the care of our patients within the bounds of the law.'

According to the documents shared by the outlet, one doctor at the Texas hospital preformed transgender medical procedures on minors whose ages ranged from 12 to 17, with 'visit types' listed as 'gender dysphoria' and 'gender identity.'

Another visit was listed for 'HRT [hormone replacement therapy].'

Another doctor has also been involved in transgender treatments on children, the documents suggest. These included the removal of 'non-biodegradable drug delivery implant[s]' for 'gender dysphoria in pediatric patient[s]'.

Dates listed in the documents against such treatments were throughout 2022 and 2023, after Texas Children's Hospital said it would cease such practices.

One procedure listed in the documents suggests one appointment was with an 11-year-old 'female-to-male transgender person' - three days after the hospital announced it would be stopping gender affirming care.

Pictured: Records purportedly from the hospital show appointments with minors as young as 13 who are booked in for appointments relating to transgender treatments

The documents also describe a 19-year-old who has interest in breast removal surgery, also known as 'top surgery' (as it is listed in the documents).

A 15-year-old is listed in the documents as having 'questions about surgery.'

Release of the documents by City Journal comes as the Texas state legislature is considering a total ban on sex-change treatments for minors.

Were the bill to pass, doctors found to be administering such treatments would risk having their medical licenses removed.
Russia is 'exceptionally concerned' and 'embarrassed' after Ukrainian air defence shot down several of its 'unstoppable' hypersonic missiles, Britain's MoD has said.

Ukraine claimed its robust air defence system, made up of Soviet-era and Western-supplied weapons, managed to successfully shoot down 18 of Moscow's missiles, six of which were reportedly hypersonic 'Kinzhal' rockets which Vladimir Putin once boasted were 'unstoppable'.

It comes in response to Russia's drone and missile attack on Ukraine's capital yesterday morning, hours after Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said he planned to return from a European tour with a fully re-stocked weapons arsenal.

Since the start of May, Russia has attempted to use its 'Killjoy' ballistic missile system to attack Ukraine's air defence.

The first successful shoot-down of one of the missiles was reportedly achieved on May 3.

Explosion of a missile is seen in the sky over the city during a Russian missile strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine May 16, 2023

The missile attack came hours after Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said he planned to return from a European tour with a fully re-stocked weapons arsenal

Since that time, Russia has continued to fall prey to Ukraine's air defence, including on May 13, when four Russian Aerospace Forces (VKS) Aircraft comprising of two advanced combat jets and two helicopters were shot down over Russia's Bryansk region.

In a tweet this morning, the MoD said: 'The increased air threat over Russia's border region will be of exceptional concern for the VKS because it uses the area to launch air power in support of the war.

'The apparent vulnerability of KILLJOY is likely a surprise and an embarrassment for Russia: Russian President Vladimir Putin has touted the system as undefeatable.'

Russia, however, has scrambled to deny the Kinzhal missile failures.

It came as the US admitted that its $1.1 billion Patriot system in use with Ukrainian forces had been likely damaged after a Russian missile strike on Kyiv.

But an official speaking on condition of anonymity denied it had been destroyed by a Russian strike and was probably repairable in Ukraine.

Russia sent out Putin's defence minister Sergei Shoigu to deny the Kyiv claim that it had downed six Kinzhal - or Dagger - missiles.

Putin has previously claimed that the Mach 10 system cannot be stopped by the West's air and missile defence systems.

Rescuers putting out a fire following a rocket attack, in Kyiv (Kiev), Ukraine, 16 May 2023, amid Russia's invasion

Shoigu said: 'I have already said and I will repeat it again.

'We have not launched as many Kinzhals as they allegedly shot down with their statements.

'And it is still a big question of who really controls the American complexes there.

'They always make mistakes with the type of missiles. That's why they don't hit.'

It is impossible to know the truth but Shoigu's appearance confirms the importance to the Kremlin of stressing to the Russian public that their hypersonic arsenal is unstoppable.

Russia claimed that in its biggest missile bombardment of Kyiv to date it made a massive strike on the points of deployment of units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, as well as stores for ammunition, weaponry and equipment delivered from Western countries.

In particular, the Kinzhal hypersonic missile 'destroyed' the American Patriot anti-aircraft missile system in Kyiv.

Ukraine's defence minister Oleksii Reznikov hailed an 'unbelievable success' in shooting down six Kinzhals with the US-made Patriot-MIM 104 missile systems.

But a Russian source told RIA Novosti state media: 'Due to the speed of the Kinzhal, the US SAMs were suddenly hit from an air ambush - the enemy combat crews could do nothing to protect their anti-aircraft systems.'
This weekend's Italian Emilia Romagna F1 Grand Prix has been cancelled due to the deadly floods

Desperate families have been forced to climb on to roofs of their homes in Italian region of Emilia-Romagna

At least eight people have died and thousands have been evacuated from holiday region in northern Italy

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Shell-shocked Italians are struggling to come to terms with the 'apocalyptic' floods that have torn through their homes and killed at least eight people across northern Italy.

Thousands of people have been evacuated from their homes in the popular holiday region of Emilia-Romagna and this weekend's Italian Grand Prix in Imola was cancelled after the deadly floods turned streets into fast-moving rivers.

Desperate families - including young children and the elderly - were forced to clamber on to their roofs in the tourist hotspot as they waited anxiously for rescuers to reach them in helicopters.

At least eight people have been killed in the region and there are fears the death toll will rise further as several people are missing amid the carnage.

'The city is on its knees, devastated and in pain,' said Gian Luca Zattini, the mayor of Forli, a city near Bologna where three people were confirmed dead today. 'It's the end of the world.'

In the city of Cesena locals were forced to swim through the submerged streets, past sunken cars and floating furniture, to reach higher ground, as the mayor said the situation there is 'critical'.

A man awaits rescue by helicopter on the roof of his flooded house in the town of Faenza in the northern Italian region of Emilia Romagna today

Flooded bungalows in Cesena after heavy rains caused major flooding

A family is rescued by firefighters in Coccolia, near Ravenna

Cars are partially submerged along a flooded street in the village of Castel Bolognese, Italy, Wednesday, May 17, 2023

A cyclist rides through a flooded street in the village of Castel Bolognese, Italy, Wednesday, May 17, 2023

A man walks in a flooded street in the village of Castel Bolognese, Italy, Wednesday, May 17, 2023

A shopping centre in Cesana is flooded after the Savio river burst its banks

Damaged cars that were swept away in the floods are seen stranded in the San Rocco district

This weekend's Emilia Romagna Grand Prix has been called off due to extreme rain in Imola

A video shows one desperate mother clinging to her young daughter while frantically waving for help as the water rose up to her chest outside her home. Two men were seen racing to swim to reach the pair, with one placing the young girl above his head to stop her getting swept away in the fast-moving waters.

The girl was passed into the arms of other rescuers standing on a bank, while neighbours helped her mother to safety after the Savio river burst its banks.

The extreme weather has extended to the Balkans. In Bosnia and Croatia, residents have watched in horror as their homes were submerged by the floods. 'We have an apocalypse,' Amin Halitovic, the mayor of the Bosnian town of Bosanska Krupa said. 'We can no longer count the flooded buildings. It's never been like this.'

The devastating floods have seen eight people killed so far and 5,000 evacuated from 24 towns across the Emilia-Romagna region as the water ripped through their homes and turned streets into rivers.

A 70-year-old man died in his flooded home in the countryside outside Cesena. His wife was rescued.

Two bodies were recovered by divers this morning in Forli after the Montone river burst its banks. The town's mayor said the floods are the 'worst situation' the town has ever experienced.

Scores are missing from the region as rescuers search for those trapped in their homes after rivers swollen by days of downpours wreaked havoc across the north.

Emilia Romagna, one of Italy's richest regions, had already been hit by heavy rain just a fortnight ago, causing floods that left two dead.

This time, around 50 centimetres (20 inches) of rain fell within 36 hours in Forli, Cesena and Ravenna - around half the normal annual rainfall, a situation 'with few precedents', Italy's civil protection minister Nello Musumeci said.

The deadly floods in the popular tourist hotspot have meant this weekend's Italian Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix in Imola has been cancelled.

F1 chiefs said that because of the sheer scale of the flooding across the region they could not guarantee the safety of their fans, teams and staff, while adding it would 'not be right to put further pressure' on local authorities.

The mayor of Cesana today warned continued downpours in the Emilia-Romagna region could flood the Savio river and smaller tributaries for a second day as he urged residents to move to upper floors of their homes.

'The situation could again become critical,' Enzo Lattuca said. 'We cannot in any way lower our guard.'

Mr Museumeci said some 5,000 people had been evacuated.

But the deputy chief of the civil protection agency, Titti Postiglione, said rescue operations for those needing emergency evacuations were particularly difficult given so many roads and routes were flooded and phone service has been interrupted.

Speaking on Sky TG24, she noted that the affected flood zone covered a broad swath of four provinces which, until the heavy rains, had been parched by a prolonged drought.

Rescuers look for a missing person in Cesena, northern Italy, on Wednesday

A helicopter flies above the closed Motor racing-Imola paddock, as Santerno river levels rise due to heavy rain, ahead of the weekend's Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, in Imola, Italy, May 17, 2023

An aerial view on a damaged Motta bridge, which connects the Motta-Budrio with San Martino in Argine, (Bologna), 17 May

A shopping centre flooded after the Savio river overflowed in Cesena, northern Italy

A video shows one desperate mother clinging to her young daughter while frantically waving for help as the water rose up to her chest outside her home

Two men were seen racing to swim to reach the pair, with one placing the young girl above his head (centre) to stop her getting swept away in the fast-moving waters

In the city of Cesena, in the hardest-hit northern Emilia-Romagna region, locals were forced to swim through the submerged streets, past sunken cars and floating furniture, to reach higher ground

A submerged car in Cesena

The damage caused by the flooding in Cesena

The region of Emilia-Romagna has been the hardest-hit, with thousands of people evacuated from their homes

Flooding has also caused havoc in northern Croatia and northwestern Bosnia, with thousands evacuated from their homes

The flooding has wreaked havoc in Cesena, with thousands evacuated from their submerged homes on Wednesday

The F1 paddock at the Italian Emilia Romagna Grand Prix was under water today. The Grand Prix has now been cancelled

The deadly floods in the popular tourist hotspot has meant this weekend's Italian Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix has been cancelled

Regional [resident Stefano Bonaccini said Emilia-Romagna had been hit 'like an earthquake'. Rescue workers had worked through the night to save children, the elderly and the disabled from the rising waters.

'We're scared, this time we're scared,' said Simona Matassoni, the owner of the Hotel Savio in Cesena, which has so far escaped flooding.

'I was born here, I've seen lots of full rivers, but never anything like this,' she told AFP by telephone today, adding that it was still raining.

'At the moment we're crossing our fingers... but another flood is expected, so who knows.'

Elsewhere in Italy, some 3,000 people had been evacuated from their homes in Bologna, while the mayor of Ravenna said some 5,000 people were being evacuated as a precaution. Around 50,000 people were without electricity.

Twenty-one rivers in the region had broken their banks between yesterday and today, while 36 local authorities reported flooding and 48 reporting landslides.

The civil protection agency urged 'maximum caution', as mayors warned people to stay on high ground.

Meanwhile, rescue efforts across Italy are in full swing. Firefighters rescued a family with a four-month-old baby and a disabled man in the northern province of Pesaro and Urbino.

Some families were rescued from their rooftops and taken to safety, including a couple and their two young daughters.

The nearly 100,000 residents of Cesena were told to stay away from the raging waters and avoid ground floors if they live near the river.

'Use prudence, don't be curious, so disaster doesn't turn into tragedy,' Cesena mayor Enzo Lattuca said on television.

Some 900 people in flooded areas of northern Italy were evacuated by late last night, with some taking shelter in gyms or schools.

The Nuovo Bridge of Cesena and the water of the Savio river reaches its limit and threatens to burst the banks in Cesena, Italy

A home is nearly completely submerged in the flooded water in Ponte delle Grazie, near Ravenna, Italy

Rescuers take people to safety in Forli after floods hit Italy's northern Emilia-Romagna region

At least four people have died and thousands have been evacuated from their homes across northern Italy today as devastating floods triggered by torrential rain tore through dozens of towns

Cars are submerged in water in Cesena after the Savio river burst its banks

Rescuers search through floodwater for missing people in Cesena

Local residents observe the aftermath of a flooding in a street in the San Rocco district of Cesena today

A man walks past fallen trees along a flooded road in Bologna, Italy, today following flooding

In the tourist town of Ravenna in north-east Italy, authorities urged residents to move to upper storeys of buildings to ride out the storm. One person died there after their car became submerged in the water.

In Riccione, a beach town on the Adriatic Sea, the mayor warned people to stay home as some took to rubber dinghies to navigate submerged streets.

In the area between Ancona, a major Adriatic port, and Pesaro and Urbino, two towns popular with tourists, firefighters attended to 80 incidents related to the flooding including fallen trees, mudslides and trapped motorists.

Meteorologists have said Italy can expect several more days of heavy rain, pummelling the north which had for weeks been suffering a shortfall of rain.

Train travel was halted on the Bologna-Ancona and the Ravenna-Faenza routes, Italian media reported.

In the Balkans, the Una river burst its banks and submerged parts of northern Croatia and northwestern Bosia, where authorities announced a state of emergency.

The mayor of the town of Bosanska Krupa in Bosnia said hundreds of homes had been flooded.

'We have an apocalypse,' Amin Halitovic told regional N1 network. 'We can no longer count the flooded buildings. It's never been like this.'

In Croatia, hundreds of soldiers and rescue teams continued bringing food and other necessities to people in flood-hit areas who have been isolated in their homes. No casualties have been reported so far.

A view of a road affected by a landslide in the aftermath of heavy rain in Fiorenzuola, Italy today

A road is blocked by a landslide caused by torrential rain in Fiorenzuola, Italy today

Flooded areas in Faenza, one of the cities most affected by the flooding of the Lamone river, in Ponte delle Grazie, near Ravenna, Italy

Residents observe the aftermath of a flooding in a street of the San Rocco district of Cesena on May 17 as more heavy rain is expected for several days

A local resident cleans the mud from his home in the aftermath of flooding in San Rocco district of Cesena

In the city of Cesena, in the hardest-hit northern Emilia-Romagna region, streets have been turned into rivers

Flooded fields in the northern Italian region of Emilia Romagna today

An elderly man wakes through a street damaged by the flooding of the San Rocco district of Cesena

A man walks through a muddy street amid heavy rain in the San Rocco district of Cesena

Elsewhere in the north of Italy, authorities in Venice are preparing to activate a mobile barrier in the lagoon the hopes of sparing the city from the rare May high-tide flooding.

The barrier system, known by its acronym Moses, and recalling the Biblical account of the Red Sea parting, will be lifted tonight for the first time in May.

It is nearly 20 years since construction began on the project, which is still not complete.

This month, a day and a half of non-stop rain caused flooding in the Emilia-Romagna region, leaving at least two people dead as riverbeds left dry by drought overflowed.

The rainfall came as Italy had been bracing for a second year of drought, which has depleted its largest river, the Po. The river supports agriculture in the vast Po River Valley before emptying into the Adriatic Sea east of Bologna.

While north-east Italy was hardest hit by the downpours, flooding also caused damage in the south.

On the island of Sicily, rescuers responded to flooding, fallen trees and other problems in the countryside between Palermo and Trapani. By yesterday morning, the weather there was improving, firefighters said.

Pedestrians walk in a flooded street of the San Rocco district of Cesena

A man with a board attempts to surf along the muddied streets of Bologna, Italy, following the flooding

A dog walks in the flooded San Rocco district of Cesena. The torrential rain has damaged homes and cars

A view of high river level due to heavy rain in Fiorenzuola, Italy. More rain is expected in the coming days

The high water level of river Una yesterday due to heavy rain in Kostajnica, Croatia

A member of civil defence wades through flooding waters in Obrovac, Croatia, yesterday after the river burst its banks

Locals laid out sand bags to try to protect their homes from the flooding in Obrovac, Croatia

Rescuers wade through floodwaters during rescue operations in Forli after floods hit Italy's northern Emilia-Romagna region in the early hours of this morning
XI'AN, May 16 (Xinhua) -- As a milestone summit is about to open, China and five Central Asian countries are set to build a closer community with a shared future and send messages of solidarity, peace and development in a volatile world.

Chinese President Xi Jinping will chair the China-Central Asia Summit, the first in-person summit among heads of state of China and Central Asian countries, scheduled for May 18 and 19 in Xi'an, northwest China's Shaanxi Province. The leaders are expected to draw up new blueprints for China-Central Asia cooperation.

The summit is seen as the latest landmark in the vibrant high-level interactions, economic cooperation and people-to-people exchanges between China and Central Asian countries.

POLITICAL MUTUAL TRUST

In 2013, Xi went to Central Asia for the first time as China's head of state, visiting Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan.

"China and Central Asian countries are friendly neighbors connected by common mountains and rivers. China highly values its friendship and cooperation with these countries and takes them as a foreign policy priority," Xi said during the trip.

China's relations with Central Asian countries were upgraded during the visits. The next year, Xi paid a state visit to Tajikistan, during which important consensus was reached on deepening bilateral ties.

In the past decade, Xi visited Central Asia seven times and also hosted multiple Central Asian leaders in China. Xi has had in-depth exchanges with people from different sectors in the region. China's relations with Central Asian countries have become a model for building a new type of international relations.

There were many unforgettable moments. Xi donned traditional Tajik attire, referenced Kyrgyz adages, explored ancient cities in Uzbekistan and a small town in Turkmenistan, and recounted the story of a Kazakh student who donated blood in China. On top of these, Xi engaged closely with the leaders of the five Central Asian countries.

Guided by head-of-state diplomacy, the friendship and political mutual trust between China and Central Asia have been constantly deepened.

China and Central Asian countries have supported each other on issues involving sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity, and firmly supported each other's development paths and governance models. They have joined hands to fight terrorism, separatism and extremism, transnational organized crime and drug trafficking. They have also resolutely opposed external interference or attempts to instigate "color revolutions."

"The key to the successful cooperation between China and the five Central Asian countries over the past three decades lies in our abiding commitment to mutual respect, good-neighborly friendship, solidarity in trying times, and mutual benefit," Xi said when he addressed a virtual summit to commemorate the 30th anniversary of diplomatic relations between China and Central Asian countries in January 2022.

WIN-WIN COOPERATION

Speaking at Nazarbayev University in Kazakhstan on Sept. 7, 2013, Xi for the first time proposed jointly building an "economic belt along the Silk Road."

Over the past decade, Central Asian countries have become pioneers in promoting the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and have built the region into an example of high-quality BRI development. From fully loaded trains to humming production lines and natural gas pipelines, vigorous cooperation has resulted in common development.

A freight train carrying more than 260 new energy vehicles arrived in Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan, earlier this month. Marking the BRI's 10th anniversary, the train's 12-day journey began in Xi'an, the ancient Silk Road's starting point.

Currently, 17 railway routes connect Xi'an with Central Asian countries and many other Asian and European destinations, with more than 1,100 train trips made in the first quarter of the year.

Roaring trains are the epitome of robust trade between China and Central Asian countries. In 2022, trade volume hit a historic high of 70.2 billion U.S. dollars, up by over 100 times since diplomatic ties were established about three decades ago.

From the China-Central Asia gas pipeline and the Qamchiq railway tunnel in Uzbekistan to the Zhanatas wind power station in Kazakhstan and the north-south highway in Kyrgyzstan, a number of cooperation projects have facilitated industrial upgrades and livelihood improvements.

Officials and experts expect that the summit will open a new chapter in China-Central Asia cooperation.

Shu Jueting, spokesperson for the Ministry of Commerce, said China will take the summit as an opportunity and work with the five Central Asian countries to push economic and trade cooperation to a new level.

The China-Central Asia economic cooperation will be extended to more areas, including e-commerce, digital economy and other new forms of business, said Su Chang, a researcher with the Institute of Russian, Eastern European and Central Asian Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

DIVERSE INTERACTIONS

Today, China and the five Central Asian countries have 62 pairs of sister provinces, regions and cities. Chinese universities are enrolling more students from Central Asia, fostering greater mutual understanding and affinity through youth exchanges.

Ismail Daurov from Kazakhstan spent nine years studying in Xi'an. Calling Shaanxi his second hometown, Daurov volunteered to help with local COVID-19 response in Xi'an during the epidemic. His words -- "I am a foreigner, but I am not an outsider" -- touched many people in China. Xi also cited his words as an example of the friendship between the people of China and Central Asian countries.

Similar to Daurov, an increasing number of Central Asian students have selected China as their preferred destination for studying abroad.

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of Central Asian students studying in China witnessed an annual growth of over 12 percent between 2010 and 2018.

As the world emerges from the pandemic, there is growing anticipation of setting a new record in the number of Chinese and Central Asian students studying in each other's educational institutions.

Replying to a letter from Central Asian students studying at China University of Petroleum, Xi encouraged them to act as envoys of friendship and bridges of cooperation and contribute to building an even closer China-Central Asia community with a shared future.

With the China-Central Asia Summit poised to generate tangible outcomes, new headway is expected to be made in fortifying the bonds between China and the Central Asian countries. (Video reporters: Huang He, Li Ao, Zhao Bing, Liu Kai, Zhang Jiye, Guan Jianwu, Liu Hai; video editors: Zheng Xin, Luo Hui, Zhu Jianhui, Yin Yue, Liu Ruoshi, Liu Xiaorui)
MBABANE  Members of Parliament (MPs) want the Ministry of Finance to advance them a maximum of E100 000 each, ahead of the national elections.

The advances, they proposed, should be made against their gratuity or ex-gratia payment, which is due upon completion of their term in office.

A gratuity is a lump sum amount that is paid to an employee by an employer, as a token of appreciation, on the termination of the employees services.

Information that reached this publication was that the conversation to have the advances against their gratuity started on the MPs WhatsApp group, where a consensus was reached that they should have the money.

Anticipation

This was in anticipation that Parliament may be dissolved anytime soon and that would mean they would no longer be beneficiaries of either the constituency or sitting allowances, with only the basic salary, yet some of them were still servicing loans and other monetary commitments.

The contract of the MPs depicts that once Parliament is dissolved, they no longer benefit from constituency or sitting allowances but only the basic salary. According to the circular, a sitting allowance shall be paid to Members of Parliament, tindvuna tetinkhundla and bucopoho betinkhundla and each sitting is E350.

Entitled

The circular also depicts that all parliamentarians will be entitled to a constituency allowance. The allowance will be equal to 12.5 per cent of the basic pay of the MP, payable per month. According to a legislator, who spoke on condition of anonymity, the request to the ministry was forwarded through the office of the Committee of the House, which is chaired by Siphocosini MP Mduduzi Matsebula. The chairperson confirmed that parliamentarians made the request to the ministry as far as the advances were concerned, but was not sure where the process was as he was out of the country on official parliamentary duties.

Ministry of Finance Spokesperson Setsabile Dlamini confirmed that the parliamentarians had engaged the ministry with the intention of acquiring the advances. She first gave clarity that previously, the MPs could seed against their gratuity in the form of a loan but this time around, the money would be coming straight from government coffers in the form of an advance. She asserted that this was a new policy that was still in the process of being enacted as an official government policy.

Once the policy has been finalised, the MPs who have applied for the advances will start getting their money, but for now, it is still being processed internally in the ministry, she said. As far as repaying the advance, Dlamini explained that for MPs who would not be re-elected to Parliament, it would be a difference of the advance from the gratuity that they would be getting, while those who would be re-elected, they would be servicing the advance as a loan and repaying it from their salaries.

In the Eswatini context, the ex-gratia payment is a grant that is payable to former parliamentarians to assist with the costs of adjusting to non-parliamentary life. This is contained in Circular No.2 of 2013, which depicts that the ex-gratia payment is available to all parliamentarians who fail to be re-elected or re-appointed into the new Parliament. In the event that the parliamentarian does not fully serve the five-year term, the ex-gratia payment will be pro-rated, taking into account the actual period served. Under no circumstances will a part year served be considered as a full year.

Should the parliamentarian be dismissed or removed from office due to misconduct or incompetence, the ex-gratia payment will be forfeited. The ex-gratia will be paid as once-off payment equal to twelve months (one year) basic salary before taxation for all parliamentarians, reads the circular.
Seven passengers injured on Air India flight to Sydney

Seven passengers onboard an Air India flight have reportedly been injured after the plane encountered severe turbulence.

Air India flight AI-302 headed from Indira Gandhi International Airport at New Delhi, India for Sydney on Tuesday afternoon.

The Boeing B787-800 aircraft ran into severe turbulence mid-flight, which resulted in seven passengers reporting minor sprains, according to a senior Directorate General of Civil Aviation official in India.

Cabin crew along with a doctor and nurse onboard the flight provided first aid to the wounded passengers.

The plane touched down at Sydney Airport on Wednesday morning.

Seven passengers were injured after an Air India flight encountered severe turbulence on Tuesday (pictured, an Air India plane takes off from Hong Kong Airport)

The Air India airport manager at Sydney organised medical assistance for the injured passengers.

Three passengers were treated for injuries at the airport.

No one was hospitalised.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation is investigating the incident.

Air India has not released a statement on the matter.
Eight Just Stop Oil fanatics have been arrested by police after they refused to end their latest slow-march protest in central London today - while a number of others were forcibly ejected from a parliamentary hearing.

Almost 30 protesters, armed with orange banners and wearing hi-vis vests, descended upon Westminster in the eco-mob's third day of targeted mayhem in the capital this week.

Five activists were kicked out of the House of Commons after attempting to disrupt the Home Affairs committee hearing at 10.30am.

While in chaotic scenes outside parliament, eight activists were detained by police after allegedly refused to get off the road during their latest slow-march in Parliament Square.

Video footage showed one eco-warrior, who yesterday identified herself as a 21-year-old from Melbourne, Australia, being led away by two officers as she slammed the Government for 'restricting us of our basic right to protest', and saying: 'We are not the first people to march and demand liberty.

One Just Stop Oil protester is seen appearing to be led away by police, after Met officers were forced to make eight arrests following a demonstration in Parliament Square

Eight protesters were arrested by police on Wednesday morning. Pictured is one activist being detained

The action came minutes after a group of almost 30 campaigners were moved off Westminster Bridge following a slow-march there at rush-hour. Pictured is a protester being detained in Parliament Square on Wednesday morning

'This police officer doesn't want me to speak to you because they do not want the truth to be heard.

'The police, the Government, the courts are all complicit in the continued licensing of new oil and gas in the full knowledge that this is a death sentence for my generation [and] for billions of people globally.

'This is criminal and I cannot stand by and do nothing.'

A spokesman for the Met Police told MailOnline: 'Police placed a section 12 condition on the procession to move out of the road, as serious disruption was likely, and to continue protest lawfully on the pedestrian areas should they wish to do so.

'Eight people refused to move out of the road and were arrested for breaching the conditions specified.

'They have been taken into custody to a central London police station.'

The arrests came after Just Stop Oil protesters staged a stunt in Parliament as they disrupted an MP probe into Scotland Yard's crackdown on anti-royal protesters at King Charles' Coronation.

The activists, wearing white t-shirts emblazoned with the group's name, sat behind the Met's Temporary Assistant Commissioner Matt Twist as he gave evidence to the Commons Home Affairs Committee this morning.

The senior officer told MPs the force was not put under political pressure to crack down on anti-monarchists amid criticism of what has been described in some quarters as 'heavy-handed' arrests during the historic ceremony earlier this month.

However, the hearing was interrupted when the activist Dr Kush Naker, 33, stood up and shouted before the infectious diseases doctor from London was hauled out of the room.

One of the activists prepares to stand up during the group's protest in Parliament this morning

Protesters were escorted into a police van during the drama in Westminster on Wednesday

This activist, left, was among those arrested on Wednesday. During an earlier protest on Tuesday, she identified herself as a 21-year-old called Hannah from Melbourne

A number of officers were seen surrounding some of the activists on Wednesday morning

Activists gathered in Parliament Square with orange banners during their latest demonstration

The live feed of the proceedings was abruptly cut as someone in the room was heard to interrupt MPs as they questioned Mr Matt Twist about the arrests.

Once the video footage was restored, Tory MP Tim Loughton, who was seen rolling his eyes and shaking his head, said: 'To be clear, they were Just Stop Oil protesters who tried to undermine the activities of this committee with our witnesses today.'

The mayhem in the capital began at 8.43am when activists clogged Westminster Bridge at rush-hour for their latest slow march.

But they were surrounded by police within four minutes and by 8.53am, the group had been kicked out of the road by the Met Police.

But minutes later, the group resumed their protest, marching through Parliament Square in Westminster, were officers detained eight campaigners.

The swift action came as eco-warriors from the group today compared their chaotic marches to the trailblazing efforts of the suffragettes, who fought for women's rights in the early 20th century.

Graduate Hannah Taylor, 22, from Derbyshire, is part of Just Stop Oil. She said: 'Yesterday, I was asked to march on the pavement. Would the suffragettes have marched on the pavement?'

Activists ignored orders by police to stop their protest, which prompted officers to make a number of arrests, the Met said online.

A spokesperson added: 'Well continue to tackle serious disruption where it occurs.'

A large number of officers were pictured in Parliament Square, Westminster as they rounded up protesters

Police are seen searching one protester in Westminster during the latest Just Stop Oil demonstration

But the group of climate change protesters were forced off the road by police after just 10 minutes as they tried to make their way towards the Palace of Westminster

Almost 30 Just Stop Oil campaigners were involved in their latest protest in London, marching along Westminster Bridge on Wednesday morning

Taking to Twitter, Just Stop Oil - which is campaigning for the UK Government to slash its use of fossil fuels - said: 'This government has chosen to stop protests instead of stopping new fossil fuels. Who are the real criminals?'

This morning's protest comes after exasperated motorists in London lost the plot yesterday during the second day of marches by Just Stop Oil.

One furious man was seen yelling at the protesters, telling them to 'get out the way', 'go and have a wash' and 'go and get a job and do something useful'.

He was one of a number of road users who were pushed to breaking point by the activists today, including others who hit the demonstrators with a lorry, tore banners from their hands and threw water over them.

Dressed in a white hoodie and tracksuit bottoms, the dark-haired man jumped out of the car he was travelling in to tell the group: 'Get the f*** out the way now, get the f*** out the way now, you f****** c****.'

He then adds: 'Go and have a f****** wash, you c****.'

As the driver of the black Nissan he gets back into remains stuck behind the protest, he then yells at the group again from out the passenger window.

'Go get a job you f****** c***. Go and do something useful you f****** tramp.

The man was seen yelling at the eco-warriors, telling them to 'get out the way', 'go and have a wash' and 'go and get a job and do something useful

Another frustrated road user threw water over the protesters as they blocked vehicles

Protesters on Wednesday were swiftly surrounded by police as they marched along Westminster Bridge. They were forced off the road by officers within 10 minutes (pictured)

'What do you think of all these f****** cars sitting here causing f****** pollution, you silly f****** c***.

'Use your f****** brain...you know I'm making sense and all, don't you, you silly f****** old c***.'

Earlier in the day, police officers were seen chuckling with the protesters during the group's third slow march in just two days.

One man confronted the climate change fanatics by tearing banners away from protesters and pushing them as tensions flared.

Dressed in a white polo shirt and shorts, he appeared to shove protesters as they caused traffic chaos in Elephant and Castle, marching slowly in front of a lorry.

'Get out the f***ing way before you get run over,' he shouts before adding: 'Get out the f***ing way you p****s' as he apparently pushes a group of eco-zealots and then yanks an orange banner off another.

More than a dozen protesters joined the demonstration in the capital this morning, with one activist among their ranks claiming to have been from Melbourne in Australia.

Frustrated motorists could be heard beeping their horns and swearing at the campaigners, who forced traffic to grind to a halt.

Fury boiled over as one man is seen apparently pushing Just Stop Oil protesters during their latest slow march in London

The male, wearing a white polo shirt and shorts, was seen ripping away orange banners from the climate change campaigners

A motorist unleashes a foul-mouthed tirade at the group in his frustration earlier today

A frustrated driver stands up to one of the Just Stop Oil activists to make his case this morning

One stepped out of their car to hurl abuse at the group, as campaigners were pictured locking arms in defiance.

While in another tense exchange, one lorry driver is heard saying: 'You can't stop oil, oil is in the Earth.'

Today's mayhem began at Newington Causeway, in Elephant and Castle shortly after 8.45am, with campaigners calling for an end to all new oil, gas and coal projects in the UK.

Escorted by about a dozen Metropolitan Police officers, the Just Stop Oil fanatics walked in the middle of the road holding orange banners and wearing hi-vis jackets as an ambulance is filmed struggling to get past them.

Campaigners ignored pleas from one officer to shift their demonstration onto the pavement, as it triggered mayhem in the city centre, with buses passing perilously close to activists.

While another officer was filmed chuckling with one of the activists as they walked backwards down the road.

Pleading with activists as cars and buses pass perilously close, one female officer says: 'Can you please move on to the pavement. Move onto the pavement please, guys.

'Continue the protest but move onto the pavement.'

The male confronted the group, who were blocking traffic in Elephant and Castle and screamed: 'Get out the f***ing way before you get run over'

Moments later, and an activist called Hannah is filmed giving a speech as she marches.

The 21-year-old claimed to have lived in Melbourne - which is a 10,500-mile flight away from the British capital.

She said: 'I'm from Melbourne, Australia. I have seen first hand the things that I love on fire.

'I have feared for my life and the lives of people that I love. I wouldn't wish that on anyone.'

Since Just Stop Oil launched its campaign on February 14, 2022, the group says its activists have been arrested more than 2,100 times, with 138 people spending time in prison.

Two of its supporters are serving three-year prison sentences for being involved in protests, the group added.

Founded after Extinction Rebellion and Insulate Britain, with organisers from both at the helm, Just Stop Oil wants the Government to wants to halt new licences for the exploration of oil and other fossil fuels in the UK.

Activists are pictured on Wednesday marching over Westminster Bridge in their latest protest in London

Software developer Lewis Conroy, 22 and from Stirling, took part in Wednesday's march.

He said: 'We're running out of time. Every day we hear more and more news of apocalyptic weather events and hear tales of more and more farmers going out of business, because their crops are failing.

'Anyone not corrupted by the oil industry knows that new oil, gas and coal is completely suicidal. History shows we need to get on the streets.

'As annoying as it can be, this is how change happens.'

Just Stop Oil is planning another protest on Saturday outside the House of Commons.
The West is already embroiled in a new Cold War with China as the communist state continues a massive military build-up alongside its economic might, Liz Truss warned today.

The former PM used a controversial visit to Taiwan to make a punchy speech about confronting and countering Beijing's political and economic might.

She urged Rishi Sunak to formally designate China as a 'threat' to the UK, as she warned that the West must act 'urgently' to protect Taiwan from aggression. The island state is claimed by China.

Speaking at the Prospect Foundation think tank, she said: 'There are many in the West who say we don't want another Cold War. But we have to be clear that this is not a choice that we are in a position to make.

'Because China has already embarked on a self-reliance drive, whether we want to decouple from the economy or not.

'China is growing its navy at an alarming rate. It is undertaking the biggest military build-up in peacetime history.

'They've already formed alliances with other nations that want to see the free world in decline. They have already made their choice about their strategy.'

But her speech came as Beijing attacked her decision to become one of the most high profile politicians to visit Taipei.

The former PM used a controversial visit to Taiwan to make a punchy speech about confronting and countering Beijing's political and economic might.

China claims Taiwan as its own territory and has threatened to annex the island by force. Pictured, president Xi Jinping

After Nancy Pelosi, then-speaker of the US House of Representatives, visited Taiwan last year, China staged a naval and air force blockade of Taiwan

After Nancy Pelosi, then-speaker of the US House of Representatives, visited Taiwan last year, China staged a naval and air force blockade of Taiwan, cutting off channels of communication with Washington on issues from environmental protection to maritime security.

Before Ms Truss stood up to make her speech, the Chinese embassy to the UK issued a statement warning that Ms Truss' speech would 'harm' Britain, labelling it a 'provocative move'.

It urged her to stop defending Taiwanese independence or else 'further expose herself as a failed politician and get more backlash from the Chinese people'.

Sunak U-turn over Chinese uni sites Rishi Sunak has backtracked on a pledge made during his 2022 leadership bid to shut down 30 Chinese state-sponsored Confucius Institutes across the UK. The retreat, first reported by TalkTV, has been criticised by more hawkish Tory backbenchers, with former prime minister Liz Truss urging him to deliver on the language he used during last summer's contest. In his unsuccessful campaign - before he entered No 10 after winner Ms Truss' disastrous mini-Budget sank her short-lived premiership - Mr Sunak had promised to close all 30 of Beijing's institutes in Britain. He also pledged to 'kick the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) out of our universities', declaring China 'the biggest-long term threat to Britain'. But on becoming Prime Minister he adopted less hardline language, instead choosing to describe China in official speak as an 'epoch-defining challenge' rather than a 'threat'. And on Wednesday, the Government confirmed that a decision had been made that it would be 'disproportionate' to ban the institutes. A spokesman said: 'We recognise concerns about overseas interference in our higher education sector, including through Confucius Institutes, and regularly assess the risks facing academia. 'We are taking action to remove any Government funding from Confucius Institutes in the UK, but currently judge that it would be disproportionate to ban them. 'Like any international body operating in the UK, Confucius Institutes need to operate transparently and within the law, and with a full commitment to our values of openness and freedom of expression.' Former Conservative leader Iain Duncan Smith branded the Government's stance on Beijing 'fundamentally wrong'. He told TalkTV the U-turn was like 'the script writers for Yes Minister' drafting Government policy. Meanwhile Ms Truss, who was widely expected to adopt more hardline language on China during her short-lived premiership, used a speech in Taiwan to call on Mr Sunak to 'urgently' enact the policies he pledged during their leadership contest. 'He was right and we need to see those policies enacted urgently,' she said. 'The UK's integrated review needs to be amended to state clearly that China is a threat. 'Confucius Institutes should be closed down immediately.' Advertisement

'British politician Liz Truss's recent visit to Taiwan is a dangerous political show which will do nothing but harm to the UK,' an embassy spokesman said.

'Any violation of the one-China principle will have serious consequences for China-UK relations.'

Taiwan and China split in 1949 following a civil war that ended with the Communist Party in control of the mainland.

The island has never been part of the People's Republic of China, but Beijing says it must unite with the mainland, by force if necessary.

In a speech in Taipei, the former PM challenged her successor Rishi Sunak to deliver on tough commitments he made during last year's Conservative leadership contest  including clamping down on the network of Confucius Institutes teaching Chinese language and culture.

'Last summer, the new British Prime Minister described China as the biggest long-term threat in Britain and he said that the Confucius Institutes should be closed,' she said.

'He was right and we need to see those policies enacted urgently.

She said the UK's Integrated Review, an outline of the Government's national security and international policy, needs to be amended to 'state clearly that China is a threat'.

In Government, Mr Sunak has adopted a policy of 'robust pragmatism' towards Beijing.

Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said last month that engaging in a 'new Cold War' with China would damage the UK's interests by making it harder to co-operate on issues such as global warming.

But Ms Truss last night said it was impossible to trust China's communist leadership. 'There are still too many in the West who are trying to cling on to the idea that we can cooperate with China on issues like climate change, as if there is nothing wrong; that there are bigger issues than Chinese global dominance or the future of freedom and democracy,' she said.

'But without freedom and democracy there is nothing else.

'We know what happens to the environment or world health under totalitarian regimes that don't tell the truth. You can't believe a word they say.'

She added: 'There are those who say they don't want another Cold War. But this is not a choice we are in a position to make  because China has already embarked on a self-reliance drive, whether we want to decouple from their economy or not. China is growing its navy at an alarming rate and is undertaking the biggest military build-up in peacetime history...

'The only choice we have is whether we appease and accommodate  or we take action to prevent conflict.'

Ms Truss's visit has angered Beijing, which insists the island state is part of China and is feared to be gearing up to invade it.

She has also faced criticism at home, with senior Tory MP Alicia Kearns accusing her of engaging in 'Instagram diplomacy of the worst kind'.

But she has said Taiwan's government, which invited her, is best placed to judge whether her intervention will help.
Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy has lost his appeal against a prison sentence.

The ex-president has escaped a jail sentence, after a Paris appeals court ruled that he could instead serve his time at home wearing a tag.

But what exactly did Nicolas Sarkozy do to get himself into trouble? Why is he not going to jail? When was he president of France?

Here is everything you need to know about the former French president.

Former French president Nicolas Sarkozy, 67, has seen his appeal rejected after he was found guilty of illegal campaign financing

What did Nicolas Sarkozy do?

In 2021, Mr Sarkozy was handed a year-long sentence after being found guilty of illegal campaign financing in the 2012 French presidential election.

At the time, prosecutors asked for at least six months of actual jail time for Sarkozy, along with a six month suspended sentence.

His legal team subsequently filed an appeal, which was rejected by Paris courts on Wednesday 17 May 2023.

The ruling saw Sarkozy escape a jail sentence, but he will be required to wear a tag whilst serving time at his home.

The scandal became known in France as the 'Bygmalion case', taking its name from the PR firm involved in it.

Indeed, this is not the sole scandal Sarkozy has been caught up in.

After being inaugurated as the President of France, he invited former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi to France, which caused controversy among members of the opposition party and even those in his own government.

It was the first time Gaddafi had been to France in more than 35 years and, whilst there, he signed a nuclear cooperation agreement with France.

In the 2011 Libyan Civil War, Saif-al-Islam Gaddafi said in an interview that the Libyan state had donated 50 million to Sarkozy's 2007 presidential campaign in exchange for favours from him.

Nicolas Sarkozy (right) is seen with former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi (left) during the signature of a trade contract between the two countries in 2007

Why has he been sentenced?

In the campaign financing case, Sarkozy had been accused of spending almost double the 19.5million allotted for reelection campaigns under French law, during the 2012 reelection bid he lost to Francois Hollande.

Prosecutors say Sarkozy was warned close to election day that his campaign had almost reached the spending limit, but that he continued organising large rallies.

The campaign eventually spent nearly 37million, but could not prevent Sarkozy from losing the race.

Sarkozy's allies were then accused of working with a PR company called Bygmalion to cover up the spending.

He earned the nickname 'bling-bling', receiving criticism for his approach to politics, which was seen as unnecessarily overstated.

Sarkozy, 67, is the first-ever former French president to get a custodial sentence.

Sarkozy can be seen here leaving the courthouse on Wednesday 17 May 2023 after French courts decided to uphold his sentence. Sarkozy served as the President of France between 2007 and 2012

When was Sarkozy elected?

Facing off against Segolene Royal, Sarkozy made it to the final round of the 2007 French Presidential election under the centre-right party Union pour un mouvement populaire (Union for a Popular Movement).

He adopted tough anti-immigration policies and sought to reform France's economy during a presidency overshadowed by the global financial crisis.

Whilst serving as president, he was also accused of nepotism in October 2009, for helping his son, Jean, attempt to become head of the public body running France's biggest business district.

Sarkozy's conservative predecessor as President of France, the late Jacques Chirac, received a two-year suspended sentence in 2011 for corruption, but this related to his time as Mayor of Paris.

The last French head of state to go to a prison cell was Marshall Philippe Petain, who collaborated with the Nazis during their occupation of France throughout the Second World War.
Meghan Markle's Women of Vision speech last night had several hidden messages including references to 'service' as she also vowed to stand up for 'what is true'.

The Duchess of Sussex was with husband Prince Harry and mother Doria Ragland at the Ms Foundation for Women's 50th anniversary gala ceremony in New York.

The ceremony honoured 'game-changing' grantee partners and visionary leaders committed to the group's mission of 'advancing collective power and creating safe, just and equitable futures for women, girls, and gender-expansive people'.

The Duchess received the Ms Foundation's Women of Vision Award, recognising her 'global advocacy to empower and advocate on behalf of women and girls'.

She wore a strapless gold midi dress with scalloped pattern detailing, and her acceptance speech closed out the gala where she said: 'It's never too late to start. You can be the visionary of your own life... There is still so much work to be done.'

She also spoke of her love of eating her dinner from a TV tray in front of quiz show Jeopardy! - something she mentioned in her Archetypes podcast last November.

Meghan's full speech has not yet been posted online, but MailOnline has compiled and analysed the following transcript based on video clips from social media:

Heres video of The Duchess of Sussex heading on stage, and the beginning of her speech.



Full clip is too long to post, #WOV2023 pic.twitter.com/Vn2klIgIcq  Carly Ledbetter (@ledbettercarly) May 17, 2023

Meghan Markle at the Ms. Foundation Women of Vision Awards in New York City last night

'Thank you so much for such a warm welcome and for your unparalleled leadership that has brought all of us here tonight. And to my friend Gloria for the inspiration that you are, for your mentorship, sage advice, your extraordinarily cheeky sense of humour and, of course, for your incredible friendship, thank you.'

Meghan has become friends with journalist and feminist activist Gloria Steinem since they first connected in 2020 while isolating in Montecito during the pandemic.

ANALYSIS: Harry and Meghan are best known for launching a guerrilla war against monarchy - not for their service By RICHARD FITZWILLIAMS Meghan has been keeping a low profile for months and this was a spectacular comeback with Gloria Steinem as her mentor and Harry and her mother Doria Ragland publicly supporting her. The last high profile award she collected was the Ripple of Hope Award for her work for mental health and racial justice, though subsequently Harry altered the accusations of racism on Oprah, which so tarnished the royal family, to unconscious bias. Her appearance was impressively choreographed and her gold dress by Johanna Ortiz was gorgeous. She was receiving the Woman of Vision Award at the Ms Foundation 50th Anniversary Gala. Their website emphasised her lifelong advocacy for women and girls in her ventures, the truth surely involved her giving up her job as an actress to marry a Prince. She is now with the William Morris Endeavour Agency, which might lead to some real achievements, but she is best known for being a member of the royal family who, with her princely spouse, stepped down after only over a year and a half in the job. Considering her and Harry's attacks on the institution since then, her mention in her speech of 'kindness' seem hollow. However, their Archewell Foundation has raised significant funds for charitable causes. The royal family serves the nation. King Charles said at his Coronation 'I come not to be served, but to serve'. William, at the Concert during the Coronation Concert memorably said 'I commit myself to serve you all'. When they stepped down as senior working royals the Sussexes said in a statement that 'service is universal' an impertinent response to the Queen, who, when 21, had memorably pledged to serve her whole life and had brilliantly fulfilled her promise. In her speech Meghan pointedly praised 'daily acts of service'. Yet the Sussexes are best known, not for service, but for launching a guerrilla war against the monarchy. It is surely time for her to put her fine words into actions which really benefit others and ceased seeking publicity by publicly attacking the royal family. Advertisement

The Duchess is said to have contacted Steinem and asked if she wanted to join her in making calls to voting registration organisers to thank them for their work.

They have since had public conversations about suffrage and abortion, and Steinem has described Meghan as 'smart, authentic, funny, political'.

In turn, Meghan has said Steinem 'reminds me that when you have anger, you have to channel that energy into something that makes a difference'.

Meghan's friendship with a woman described by Vogue as 'the face of American feminism' is therefore very helpful to strengthening her campaigning for women's rights.

Royal commentator Richard Fitzwilliams spoke about the importance of Meghan having the support of Steinem and her mother and husband at last night's event.

He told MailOnline: 'Meghan has been keeping a low profile for months and this was a spectacular comeback with Gloria Steinem as her mentor and Harry and her mother Doria Ragland publicly supporting her.'

'To this evening's other honourees, congratulations and frankly, well deserved. Thank you for the important and meaningful work that you do. While I was familiar with most of your work before tonight, nothing could compare to the focus, the determination, the energy I feel from each of you, especially as we all bear witness to you standing in the elegance and the power of your strength.'

Meghan was keen to show her support for other women honoured at the event last night - who have campaigned for voters' rights, abortion rights and LGBT issues.

Other award winners included Black Voters Matter co-founder LaTosha Brown, who received an award from her friend #MeToo movement founder Tarana Burke.

Black Voters Matter works with communities in 25 states and DC to make their voting more effective, while Ms Brown's Black Voters Matter Capacity Building Institute funds voter education, registrations and other programmes to expand access to voting.

The event also honored Wanda Irving, co-founder of Dr. Shalon's Maternal Action Project, and Kimberly Inez McGuire, executive director of URGE, as well as Texas abortion rights activist Olivia Julianna and LGBTQ+ advocate Rebekah Bruesehoff.

By praising the other honourees, Meghan will no doubt be happy to be aligned with their stance on key issues currently affecting America - none more so than abortion.

'Now to Ms Foundation, thank you for this truly special honour. It's funny, because as a young girl I would come home, I would settle in after a day of school, pull up my TV tray dinner, and I would turn on my evening ritual, Jeopardy! 'And I would glance at the coffee table, where I would see an array of things. It could be the cat's collar, my homework, some mail that had just been brought in, and some magazines.'

It's not the first time we've heard Meghan's anecdote about watching Jeopardy! while eating dinner - after she revealed she liked doing this on her podcast last November.

Doria Ragland, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle at Ziegfeld Ballroom in New York last night

LAST YEAR -- MailOnline reported in November 2022 that Meghan had spoken on her Archetypes podcast about watching Jeopardy! with her dinner on a TV tray

The Duchess spoke to make-up mogul Victoria Jackson and Starbucks chairwoman Mellody Hobson about how she spent 'a lot of time in front of the TV growing up.'

She said on the Archetypes show how Jeopardy! was her 'favorite show', adding: 'I would eat my dinner on a TV tray in front of the screen, watching each category with bated breath and intense focus trying to absorb whatever facts they were firing off in the form of a question.'

Meghan added that host Alex Trebek was 'a daily part of her life', even claiming that when he died in November 2020, she 'received messages of condolences.'

'The magazines said 'Ms' on them. And I remember them vividly because the pictures were different. There was a diversity that I hadn't seen as often, both of colour and of age, and the names were different. There were Congresswomen, there were astronauts, and the topics were different. From mothering to being a working mom to heavier topics such as domestic violence, the poverty line, unearthing its roots, where it comes from, and matters of equity.'

Ms magazine was the first national feminist magazine in the US after being co-founded in 1971 by Gloria Steinem - who Meghan praised during her speech.

The Duchess recounted how the magazine was always in their house and her reference to the topics featured are no coincidence, as they are important to her brand today - particularly 'equity'.

She has referred to equity often in recent years in relation to Covid-19 vaccine equity, while it could also be applied to her campaigning on women's rights.

The Duchess holds a gold clutch in her hand as she arrives for the event in New York last night

'And now when I say different, in describing this Ms magazine on the coffee table at our home in Cloverdale, I mean different from the covers of the magazines I would see at the grocery store checkout. And I was too young at the time to know what most of it meant. But I also knew to my mum, my dear mom, I'm honoured to have you here tonight, I knew the significance of these magazines was important. It wasn't a one-off  she had a subscription.'

The reference to Cloverdale is thought to relate to when she moved into a top-floor apartment on South Cloverdale Avenue in the Mid-Wilshire area of Los Angeles.

READ MORE: Meghan dons $12,000 outfit at Women of Vision awards Advertisement

This was after her parents divorced in 1983, and so the magazine would have been on the table when she lived with her mother - but not her estranged father Thomas.

Meghan also paid tribute to her mother Doria Ragland, who had an important role in the royal wedding in 2018 when she rode in the car with her daughter and then took her place inside the church quire at St George's Chapel, opposite the Queen.

The Duchess regularly speaks about the importance of her mother in her upbringing in California - but there was unsurprisingly no mention of her father Thomas.

'I am a woman who remains inspired and driven by this organisation.'

Meghan's praise for the Ms Foundation for Women is important, given it is the nation's oldest women's foundation and is celebrating its 50th anniversary.

The gala kicked off a fundraising campaign for $100million over the next 12 months to further the group's mission of advancing the power of women.

The foundation is already more than halfway to its goal, and the support of Meghan will no doubt bring it increased global exposure and more donations.

Mr Fitzwilliams said: 'Her appearance was impressively choreographed and her gold dress by Johanna Ortiz was gorgeous. She was receiving the Woman of Vision Award at the Ms Foundation 50th Anniversary Gala.

Meghan is honored at the event by her friend Gloria Steinem, 89, at the event last night

'Their website emphasised her lifelong advocacy for women and girls in her ventures - the truth surely involved her giving up her job as an actress to marry a Prince.'

'It allowed me to recognise that part of my greater value and purpose in life was to advocate for those who felt unheard, to stand up to injustice, and to not be afraid of saying what is true and what is just and what is right.'

Meghan's reference to 'not be afraid of saying what is true and what is just and what is right' is also interesting given her Oprah Winfrey interview in March 2021.

In the bombshell chat, she accused Kate Middleton of making her cry at her wedding and spoke about what she felt was a racist comment made by a royal about Archie's skin colour.

Mr Fitzwilliams said: 'The last high profile award she collected was the Ripple of Hope Award for her work for mental health and racial justice, though subsequently Harry altered the accusations of racism on Oprah, which so tarnished the royal family, to unconscious bias.'

'I suppose the point is it's just never too late to start. You can be the visionary of your own life. You can charter a path in which what you repeat in your daily acts of service, in kindness, in advocacy, in grace and in fairness, that those become the very things that are recognised by the next wave of women, both young and old, who will also choose this moment to join the movement and make our vision for an equitable world reality.'

The key word in Meghan's closing comments was 'service'. This was notable given that her brother-in-law Prince William paid tribute to King Charles's 'service' during the Coronation Concert at Windsor Castle on May 7, one day after the ceremony.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle at the Ms Foundation Women of Vision Awards last night

The Daily Mail front page on February 20, 2021 which said the Sussexes' comment that 'service is universal' was a stinging rebuke to the Queen. The headline described it as a 'churlish insult'

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are famously interviewed by Oprah Winfrey in March 2021

William said: 'For all that celebrations are magnificent, at the heart of the pageantry is a simple message. Service. My father's first words on entering Westminster Abbey yesterday were a pledge of service. It was a pledge to continue to serve.'

What the Royal Family have said about service Meghan Markle, last night: 'You can charter a path in which what you repeat in your daily acts of service' King Charles III, May 8: 'We now rededicate our lives to serving the people of the United Kingdom, the Realms and Commonwealth.' Prince William, May 7: 'At the heart of the pageantry is a simple message. Service. My father's first words on entering Westminster Abbey yesterday were a pledge of service. It was a pledge to continue to serve.' Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, February 2021: 'We can all live a life of service. Service is universal.' Queen Elizabeth II, 1947: 'I declare before you all that my whole life whether it be long or short shall be devoted to your service and the service of our great imperial family to which we all belong.' Advertisement

And on May 8, at the end of the coronation bank holiday weekend, Charles issued a message insisting that he and Queen Camilla would 'rededicate our lives to serving the people of the United Kingdom, the realms and commonwealth'.

And Queen Elizabeth II famously said on her 21st birthday in 1947 in a speech broadcast on the radio from South Africa, when she was still Princess Elizabeth: 'I declare before you all that my whole life whether it be long or short shall be devoted to your service and the service of our great imperial family to which we all belong.'

Meghan's words also recalled when she and Harry made a statement in February 2021 after Buckingham Palace dramatically confirmed they would step down as working royals, saying: 'We can all live a life of service. Service is universal.'

Mr Fitzwilliams said: 'When they stepped down as senior working royals the Sussexes said in a statement that 'service is universal' - an impertinent response to the Queen, who, when 21, had memorably pledged to serve her whole life and had brilliantly fulfilled her promise.

'In her speech Meghan pointedly praised 'daily acts of service'. Yet the Sussexes are best known, not for service, but for launching a guerrilla war against the monarchy. It is surely time for her to put her fine words into actions which really benefit others and ceased seeking publicity by publicly attacking the royal family.'

Mr Fitzwilliams also said that Meghan's reference to 'kindness' might seem 'hollow' given her regular attacks on the royal family. But he added that the couple's Archewell Foundation has 'raised significant funds for charitable causes'.
Rishi Sunak has been warned he faces three daunting by-elections within months as Tory MPs nominated for peerages will have to quit the Commons.

The House of Lords Appointments Commission, which vets peerages, has reportedly ruled that those poised to join Parliament's upper chamber can't stay on as MPs.

According to The Times, ex-prime minister Boris Johnson has put forward Nigel Adams, Nadine Dorries, Alister Jack and Sir Alok Sharma for seats in the Lords.

It had been thought proposed peerages for MPs, as part of Mr Johnson's resignation honours list, would see them stay in the Commons until the next general election before moving to the Lords.

But the newspaper reported the Appointments Commission has told the Cabinet Office that doing so would be constitutionally improper.

It means MPs will have to quit the Commons if they want to take up their peerages - leaving Mr Sunak with the prospect of having to face a series of hotly-contested by-elections.

Rishi Sunak has been warned he faces three daunting by-elections within months as Tory MPs nominated for peerages will have to quit the Commons

Ex-Foreign Office minister Nigel Adams is reportedly among those nominated for a peerage in Boris Johnson's resignation honours list

It was reported that Ms Dorries, the former culture secretary, and Mr Adams are prepared to stand down as MPs in order to take up peerages

A source close to Sir Alok Sharma said it was a 'totally hypothetical question' as to whether he would be prepared to stand down as an MP in order to take up a peerage

Scottish Secretary becomes latest Tory MP to announce they're leaving Commons Alister Jack is the 35th Tory MP to announce they will stand down at the next general election Alister Jack, the Scottish Secretary, today confirmed he will stand down as an MP at the next general election. The Dumfries and Galloway MP revealed he would be quitting the Commons but vowed to serve until the end of the current Parliament. He rejected suggestions he could stand down early and trigger a by-election by taking up a peerage as part of Boris Johnson's resignation honours list. Mr Jack told ITV: 'I've been very clear in saying all along my responsibility is to represent the people of Dumfries and Galloway, which is a huge honour and privilege. 'I've also said - at the permission of the Prime Minister, if you like - that my job as Secretary of State for Scotland is another enormous privilege and I intend to continue doing that job until the general election, both those jobs until the general election. 'I'm not going to the House of Lords and causing a by-election.' But, asked if he could take up a peerage if he stood down at the next general election, the Cabinet minister replied: 'Who knows?' He added: 'I've been very clear in saying I will not be standing at the next general election. 'I said that to Boris Johnson, I've said that to Liz Truss when she appointed me as Secretary of State for Scotland. 'And I said it to Rishi Sunak when he also appointed me as Secretary of State for Scotland.' Mr Jack is the 35th Tory MP to announce they will stand down at the next general election. He has been Scottish Secretary since July 2019, when Mr Johnson became PM. Advertisement

With the Tories continuing to lag well behind Labour in opinion polls - as well as suffering from a strong Liberal Democrat showing in the local elections - there is a chance the Prime Minister could be dealt a series of damaging defeats.

Mr Johnson's resignation honours list is expected to be announced before Parliament's summer recess.

It is convention that PMs wave through the honours lists of their predecessors, while Mr Sunak is unlikely to want a peerages row by attempting to block any nominations.

A source close to Sir Alok, who was president of the COP26 climate summit, said it was a 'totally hypothetical question' as to whether he would be prepared to stand down as an MP in order to take up a peerage.

It was reported that Ms Dorries, the former culture secretary, and Mr Adams, a former Foreign Office minister, are prepared to stand down as MPs in order to take up peerages.

Both have already announced they will quit the Commons at the next general election.

Mr Jack, the current Scottish Secretary, today insisted he would not be triggering a by-election by taking up a place in the Lords - but revealed he does also plan to stand down at the next general election.

He told ITV: 'I've been very clear in saying all along my responsibility is to represent the people of Dumfries and Galloway, which is a huge honour and privilege.

'I've also said - at the permission of the Prime Minister, if you like - that my job as Secretary of State for Scotland is another enormous privilege and I intend to continue doing that job until the general election, both those jobs until the general election.

'I'm not going to the House of Lords and causing a by-election.'

But, asked if he could take up a peerage if he stood down at the next general election, the Cabinet minister replied: 'Who knows?'

He added: 'I've been very clear in saying I will not be standing at the next general election.

'I said that to Boris Johnson, I've said that to Liz Truss when she appointed me as Secretary of State for Scotland.

'And I said it to Rishi Sunak when he also appointed me as Secretary of State for Scotland.'

David Frost, the former Brexit negotiator, is looking to make the opposite move by giving up a peerage in order to join the Commons.

The ex-Cabinet minister has put his name on the list of Conservative candidates for the next general election, although he has not yet got a constituency lined up.

Lord Frost said in a statement: 'I am grateful to the party authorities for accepting my application as a potential Conservative candidate for the House of Commons, the centre of our national political life.

'I have not yet applied for any seat and am considering my next steps. Meanwhile I look forward to campaigning for the party and for Conservative principles in the months to come.'
Tesla CEO Elon Musk last night condemned working from home as 'morally wrong', saying the practice is unfair for service workers who still have to show up.

Musk, who is worth $175.8 billion and is the second richest person in the world, has often criticized working from home that became a necessity for many during Covid-19 lockdowns.

But for many businesses, the practice has continued in the post-pandemic era.

The business mogul, who also owns the social media platform Twitter, referred to workers in Silicon Valley's tech industry as the 'laptop classes living in la-la-land' in an interview with CNBC on Tuesday night.

He told the network's David Faber that he believes being in the office boosts productivity, but also said his opposition to working from home was a 'moral issue'.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk last night (pictured) condemned working from home as 'morally wrong', saying the practice is unfair for service workers who still have to show up

In the wide-ranging interview, Musk said employees that have so far refused to return to offices after Covid-19 restrictions ended need to 'get off their moral high horse' and get back to work like others have, pointing to service workers.

'The whole work-from-home thing, it's sort of like, I think it's, like, there are some exceptions, but I kind of think that the whole notion of work-from-home is a bit like, you know, the fake Marie Antoinette quote, "Let them eat cake,"' he told Faber.

'It's like, it's like really? You're gonna work from home and you're gonna make everyone else who made your car come work in the factory? You're gonna make people who make your food that gets delivered  they can't work from home? The people that come fix your house? They can't work from home, but you can?'

'Does that seem morally right?' he asked. 'That's messed up.'

When asked by Faber whether he thought it was a moral issue, Musk said 'yes'.

'It's a productivity issue, but it's also a moral issue,' he told the interviewer. 'People should get off their goddamn moral high horse with this bullst because they're asking everyone else to not work from home while they do. It's wrong.'

Silicon Valley execs - and others across the country - have been frustrated by workers resisting a return to the office, despite directives urging them to do so.

Companies such as Amazon and Salesforce have demanded workers begin returning to the office after signs that productivity was slackening, CNBC reported.

Musk also covered his on-going leadership of Twitter during the interview.

He scrapped Twitter's own working from home policy when he took control of the company in November last year, ordering its employees back into work.

Musk, the second richest person in the world, has often criticized working from home that became a necessity for many during Covid-19 lockdowns. He scrapped Twitter's own working from home policy when he took control of the company in November last year, ordering its employees back into work. Pictured: Workers are seen inside Twitter's offices in March 2022

He said a new Twitter chief executive will let him devote more time to Tesla, but that he will continue to tweet his unfiltered thoughts even if it hurts his businesses.

'I don't care,' the billionaire said when asked what he thought of his controversial tweets potentially hurting Tesla shares or making it harder to sell ads on Twitter.

'I'll say what I want to say and if the consequence of that is losing money, so be it.'

Named as Musk's successor as Twitter CEO, Linda Yaccarino is a respected media and advertising executive considered a visionary by some.

'Twitter is very much an advertising business; Linda is obviously incredible at that and she's just a great executive in general,' Musk said.

'Linda will operate a company and I will build products.'

Since taking over Twitter in late October, Musk has repeatedly courted controversy, sacking most of its staff, readmitting banned accounts to the platform, suspending journalists and charging for previously free services.

Those moves have spooked advertisers, many of whom left the platform due to concerns over their products being associated with troubling content.

Musk has also cleared the way for Donald Trump to return to Twitter, but the former US president has yet to restart using the platform, choosing to post on his own social media site instead.

Were Trump to return and post unfounded claims about the 2020 election, a 'community notes' feature would let Twitter users point out the misinformation, Musk told CNBC, adding that he did not personally think the election was 'stolen' as Trump alleges.

Despite Musk's stated positions on free speech, as well as his fierce criticism of content moderation around the 2020 election, Twitter recently admitted it yielded to Turkish government pressure to take down content ahead of last weekend's elections.

'We received what we believed to be a final threat to throttle the service - after several such warnings,' the company said Monday, amid outcry over the apparent hypocrisy.

'And so in order to keep Twitter available over the election weekend, took action on four accounts and 409 Tweets identified by court order.'

In the wide-ranging interview, Musk said employees that have so far refused to return to offices after Covid-19 restrictions ended need to 'get off their moral high horse' and get back to work like others have, pointing to service workers. Pictured: Twitter offices in April 2022

Musk told CNBC he will be focusing especially on artificial intelligence back at Tesla, which already uses such technology for self-driving capabilities.

'I think Tesla will have a ChatGPT moment; I'd say no later than next year,' Musk said of Tesla AI used for autonomous driving.

ChatGPT bots from startup OpenAI, which Musk helped create, have captured imaginations and provoked fears regarding powerful artificial intelligence.

'I am the reason OpenAI exists,' Musk claimed, noting he invested some $50 million in the startup at the outset. 'I came up with the name.'
An argument between two families at Orlando's Walt Disney World has erupted in a mass brawl after a disagreement over a holiday snap.

The scuffle at the Disney theme park on Monday ignited after one family asked another to move so they could take a group picture in front of the park's iconic 100th-year anniversary sign.

The shocking video showed the families laying into one another, pushing and throwing punches at 'the most magical place on earth'. Around 10 members appeared to get involved in the chaos.

The fight raged on for several minutes with other visitors shocked by the scuffle. Others filmed the group fight while employees called security for backup.

Officials said later that one individual had to receive medical attention but that they would not press charges.

The scuffle at the Disney theme park on Monday ignited after one family asked anther to move so they could take a group picture

One family wanted to take a picture in front of the park's iconic 100th year anniversary sign. The fight between the two groups subsequently broke out

The families were visiting Magic Kingdom Park at Walt Disney World in Orange County, Florida (file image)

In the shocking video, the families can be seen screaming at one another and throwing fists.

READ MORE: Not a very Magic Kingdom! Two families scrap in massive brawl Advertisement

Three individuals start pushing one another before other family members come and join. Each throws multiple punches and grapples with one another.

One man is eventually brought down to the ground and is prevented from getting up by others. Two men punch down on him and drag him along the floor, the footage shows.

Another family member standing with a small girl on the side then comes to join in as the ruckus continues. The families continue to grapple with each other.

Another later video showed workers and security eventually arriving to split the two groups up.

Orange County Sheriffs Office said that at least one person received medical treatment. The officials said the individual declined to press charges.

Police said the fight broke out at around 2.30pm. One family member was asked if they would move. They responded by punching another family member in the face.

This is not the first time that a family brawl has broken out at Disney's Magic Kingdoms.

Three individuals start pushing one another before other family members come and join

Another family member standing with a small girl on the side then comes to join in as the ruckus continues. The families continue to grapple with each other

Police said the fight broke out at around 2.30pm. One family member was asked if they would move. They responded by punching another family member in the face

The fight raged on for several minutes with other visitors shocked by the inter-family scuffle

In the shocking video, the families can be seen screaming at one another and throwing fists

Disney subsequently issued a warning at the end of last year following a rise in the poor behavior in its theme parks in Florida and California

In July last year a huge brawl broke out at the Orlando resort after two families disagreed on queue etiquette.

Clips from the scene showed the scale of the chaos as up to 10 people engaged in the fistfight, screaming a torrent of profanities while other families desperately tried to shield their children from the violence.

Several bystanders attempted in vain to intervene as the two groups relentlessly beat one another without reprieve, until Disney staff eventually managed to break up the brawl.

One man was hospitalized due to a severe facial laceration, while others sustained an array of smaller cuts and bruises.

The incident resulted in two arrests and a number of family members banned from the park.

Disney subsequently issued a warning at the end of last year following a rise in poor behavior in its theme parks in Florida and California.
Former French president Nicolas Sarkozy today lost his appeal against a corruption conviction and was definitively sentenced to three years in prison.

But the Paris Appeal Court ruled that two years will be suspended, and the 68-year-old can wear an electronic tag instead of serving the third year in a cell.

In 2021 Sarkozy and his lawyer, Thierry Herzog, were found guilty of trying to bribe a judge in exchange for confidential information.

It related to yet another corruption enquiry focusing on whether Sarkozy accepted illegal payments from the late LOreal heiress Liliane Bettencourt to fund his 2007 election campaign.

The 2021 guilty verdict against Sarkozy made him the first former French president to be convicted of corruption while in office.

Former French president Nicolas Sarkozy leaves the courthouse in Paris today after losing his appeal against a corruption conviction

Sarkozy arrives at the courthouse today

In the same year, Sarkozy was also found guilty of illegally funding his campaign for re-election and faces prison time for that offence too.

The verdict handed down at the Paris correctional court followed a five-week trial during which prosecutors said the politician was guilty of fiddling the books during his unsuccessful 2012 bid to become head of state.

Sarkozy  who has always maintained his innocence - will become the first head of state to be tagged, as he goes about his day-to-day life with his third wife, the former supermodel Carla Bruni, 55.

Last week, financial prosecutors also called for Sarkozy to go on trial for a corruption pact with the late Libyan leader Colonel Gaddafi.

It was one which allegedly saw Sarkozy accept at least 42million in cash from the late dictator to fund his election campaign.

Sarkozy faces trial for acts of corruption, criminal association, illegal financing of the electoral campaign and concealment of embezzlement public funds.

The Gaddafi money is said to have been laundered through bank accounts in Panama and Switzerland.

Within a few months of his election in 2007, Sarkozy invited Muammar Gaddafi to Paris for a state visit and praised him as a great friend and brother leader.

Ten others, including former ministers Claude Gueant and Eric Woerth have also been charged and face trial in relation to the allegations.

In 2011 RAF and French Air Force jets led the mass bombing campaign that ended with Gaddafi being hacked to death by a mob.

A French appeal court upheld a three-year prison sentence on Sarkozy for trying to bribe a judge after leaving office, and for peddling influence in exchange for confidential information about an investigation into his 2007 presidential campaign finances

Paul-Albert Iweins, lawyer of Thierry Herzog, leaves the courthouse following the ruling today

French former president Nicolas Sarkozy leaves the Paris Court of Appeals today

David Cameron was British prime minister at the time, and visited Libya with Sarkozy soon after Gaddafis death.

There have been claims that Sarkozy wanted his old friend and ally dead because of his potential to produce incriminating evidence.

Within a few days of Sarkozy losing his presidential immunity from prosecution in 2012, fraud squad detectives raided the Paris home he shares with Ms Bruni.

Sarkozy's conservative predecessor as president, the late Jacques Chirac, received a two-year suspended sentence in 2011 for corruption relating to his time as mayor of Paris.

The last French head of state to go to a prison cell was Marshall Philippe Petain, the wartime Nazi collaborator.
Humza Yousaf insisted that the people of Scotland could trust the SNP with money today as he vowed the party would file its own accounts on time.

The First Minister spoke out as its new auditors race to complete paperwork before the end of May in order to claim 1.2m of government funding.

He appeared on the BBC amid the fallout from a Police Scotland investigation into the SNPs finances that saw detectives raid the home of his predecessor Nicola Sturgeon.

He insisted there was nothing sinister in a decision taken by prosecutors to delay the search for two weeks - allowing him to be elected as her replacement last month.

Speaking on BBC Radio 4's Today programme, the First Minister said Scotland's prosecution service does not make decisions 'based on election contests or politics'.

'I think the decision of the Lord Advocate, or in this case the Crown more generally, would be not to make decisions, I don't think, based on election contests or politics,' he said.

'I don't believe there will be any particular reason out of the ordinary that it would take that time.'

The First Minister spoke out as its new auditors race to complete paperwork before the end of May in order to claim 1.2m of government funding.

Mr Yousaf spoke to the BBC amid the fallout from a Police Scotland investigation into the SNPs finances that saw detectives raid the home of his predecessor Nicola Sturgeon.

Police Scotland officers investigating the disappearance of 660,000 of donations asked to raid the Glasgow home of Ms Sturgeon and husband Peter Murrell on March 20.

But they did not get approval from the Crown Office to do so until April 3, with the search and the arrest of Mr Murrell, the former chief executive of the SNP, happening on April 5.

Police Scotland officers investigating the disappearance of 660,000 of donations asked to raid the Glasgow home of Ms Sturgeon and husband Peter Murrell on March 20.

But they did not get approval from the Crown Office to do so until April 3, with the search and the arrest of Mr Murrell, the former chief executive of the SNP, happening on April 5.

The delay allowed the SNP to hold the final week of its leadership election campaign and unveil Humza Yousaf as the new party leader and First Minister before the sensational raid took place.

Alba MP Kenny MacAskill, who was Justice Secretary in Alex Salmond's SNP government, said the public needed to be reassured that there had been no undue political influence on the process.

''Delays then were due to bureaucracy and IT systems. I never envisaged that police investigations might be delayed by what appears to be political considerations,' he said.

'That is why I am today calling for a judge-led inquiry into the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service in order to restore trust and confidence in this vital institution.'

A spokesperson for the Crown Office said: 'In all matters, Scotland's prosecutors act independently of political pressure or interference.'

The First Minister added that the SNP's auditors are 'confident' they will file the accounts of the party's Westminster group in time to ensure they do not lose out on 1.2 million of parliamentary funding, Humza Yousaf has said.

The party struggled for six months to appoint new accountants after the departure of Johnston Carmichael in October, a fact only provided to Mr Yousaf when he became party leader.

The Westminster group's accounts must be filed by the end of this month with the Electoral Commission, or the party risks losing out on so-called Short Money - public funds paid to opposition parties at Westminster to support their parliamentary work.

During the period where the party was without accountants, the investigation into the party's finances intensified, resulting in the arrests of former chief executive Peter Murrell - Ms Sturgeon's husband - and then treasurer Colin Beattie, both of whom were released without charge pending further investigation.

The party leader was challenged over the probe into the party's finances, stemming from how more than 600,000 raised for an independence campaign was spent.

Asked why the party can be trusted given the ongoing investigation, Mr Yousaf told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: 'I made clear the day that I came in to this position that we will have a governance and transparency review - that's very much under way.'

Mr Yousaf also said his party, which he said boasts around 75,000 members 'relies on a grassroots membership' to raise funds, adding: 'No doubt our membership will dig deep.'

The First Minister added that the party would 'without a doubt' have the necessary funds for a general election campaign - expected next year.
Khartoum, May 17 (UNI) The death toll in the armed clashes between the Sudanese Army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has climbed to 822, the Sudanese Doctors Union said on Tuesday.

"The number of civilian deaths since the beginning of the clashes has climbed to 822 with 3,215 injuries," the nongovernmental organization said in a statement.

The casualty statistics cover the national capital Khartoum, the capital of North Kordofan State El-Obeid and the capital of West Darfur State Geneina, the union noted.

Eyewitnesses said direct clashes broke out on Tuesday between units of the Sudanese Army and RSF fighters in Jabra area in the south of Khartoum, and the areas of Arkaweet, Al-Mamoura and El-Jeraif in the east of the capital.

RSF said in video clips published on Tuesday that it had seized Al-Kadro camp in Bahri town, a major camp of the Sudanese Army which has denied the statement.

"Our forces have repulsed an attempted attack by the RSF to take control of Al-Kadaro camp and inflicted heavy losses on the enemy," the army said on its Facebook page.

Sudan has been witnessing deadly armed clashes between the Sudanese Army and the RSF in Khartoum and other areas since April 15.

UNI/XINHUA GNK
Police searching for a missing British pensioner in Cyprus have found human remains in a riverbed.

Ann Naisbitt, 79, was last seen more than a month ago on April 3 leaving the home she shared with her son in the city of Paphos.

But police said today that human remains they had found on Sunday have been identified as belonging to Naisbitt following genetic tests.

The Briton's skull was found in a rural area, between the villages of Koloni and Marathousta, on Sunday by a local farmer who called police.

Officers searching the nearby area then found bones, clothes and other objects in the bed of a nearby river.

Ann Naisbitt, 79, was last seen more than a month ago on April 3 leaving the home she shared with her son in the city of Paphos

Naisbitt was reported missing by her family on April 3. Her remains have now been found

Police spokesperson Christos Andreou told Cyprus broadcaster CyBC that a family member had identified the clothing as belonging to Naisbitt.

Naisbitt had been suffering from dementia, Cyprus Mail reports, but police have now opened an investigation to rule out the possibility of foul play.

The pensioner was last seen on April 3 at around 10am leaving her home in Paphos, which she shared with her son Lee.

A family friend, Jean Ivell, told local media at the time that Naisbitt suffered from dementia and had gone missing in March before being tracked down by Lee.

A UK Foreign Office spokesperson told MailOnline: 'We are supporting the family of British woman who died in Cyprus and are in contact with the local authorities.'
Just Stop Oil protesters staged a stunt in Parliament today as they disrupted an MP probe into Scotland Yard's crackdown on anti-royal protesters at King Charles' Coronation.

The activists - wearing the same white t-shirts emblazoned with the group's name as they did on May 6 - sat behind the Met's Temporary Assistant Commissioner Matt Twist as he gave evidence to the Commons Home Affairs Committee this morning.

Five of the 19 JSO supporters who the group say were 'wrongfully arrested' during the historic ceremony, were then ejected from the room after one of them tried to interrupt the hearing to speak.

Dr Kush Naker, an outspoken NHS doctor who specialises in infectious diseases and tropical medicine, began to read their prepared statement: 'We, as supporters of Just Stop Oil, are here today because our democracy is under threat...'

However, the 33-year-old, who spoke out in the aftermath of his arrest during the Coronation, was unable to finish before all five were forcibly removed from the committee.

Metropolitan Police Temporary Assistant Commissioner Matt Twist answering questions in front of the Home Affairs Select Committee in the House of Commons, with Just Stop Oil protesters sat behind him

One of the activists prepares to stand up during the group's protest in Parliament this morning

Tory MP Tim Loughton was seen rolling his eyes and shaking his head as the eco-zealots made their case

One supporter of JSO - which demands an end to all new oil, gas and coal projects in the UK - could be heard saying 'we should not have been arrested for wearing t-shirts,' as she was ejected from the hearing.

READ MORE: Police arrest Just Stop Oil protesters after they refuse to end their slow march central London roadblock and walk on the pavement instead Advertisement

The live feed of the proceedings on ParliamentTV was abruptly cut during the protest before being restored shortly after.

Tory MP Tim Loughton, who was seen rolling his eyes and shaking his head, said: 'To be clear, they were Just Stop Oil protesters who tried to undermine the activities of this committee with our witnesses today.'

As the proceedings finished, committee chairwoman Dame Diana Johnson said: 'We take very seriously that Parliament should be open to members of the public - that's very important - but we also take very seriously that we should not be disrupted from our job of scrutinising, particularly what happened in this case.

'I also just want to thank the security and the police officers who acted very quickly to ensure that the session could continue.'

A JSO spokesperson said: 'This is a continuation of the silencing of legitimate dissent we saw at the coronation.

'The Metropolitan Police baselessly arrested doctors, lecturers, students and electricians simply for possessing flags and T-shirts.

'This is clearly politically motivated and represents a massive overreach by the police.

'No evidence has been provided and now those wrongfully arrested are being prevented from giving evidence to the very committee that has been organised to assess the policing during the coronation.'

Britain's largest police force faced fierce criticism of arrests made around the event, including volunteers who handed out rape alarms and six members of the campaign group Republic that had liaised with police for weeks before the coronation to organise their own protest.

A complaint has also been lodged by royal fan Alice Chambers, 36, was held in custody for 13 hours after being mistaken for a Just Stop Oil protester as she waited on the Mall hoping to catch a glimpse of the King.

The i newspaper quoted an anonymous senior police source saying that there had been 'a very firm instruction not to damage the reputation of the UK', although the Home Office said it did not recognise the claim.

However Mr Twist, one of the Met's most senior officers, told MPs: 'I felt under no pressure politically, I felt pressure to deliver a safe and secure operation, but that was because of the fact that it was a once-in-a-lifetime event for so many people and there would be hundreds of thousands of people in London to celebrate it, and also and importantly, this was the biggest protection operation we have ever run.

'There were 312 protected people that we managed to get in and out of the Abbey and across the footprint in about 90 minutes. So the stakes were enormously high, so I absolutely felt pressure to deliver a safe and secure operation. But that wasn't political pressure.'

A visibly irritated Mr Loughton said: 'To be clear, they were Just Stop Oil protesters who tried to undermine the activities of this committee with our witnesses today'

Committee Chair Dame Diana Johnson tries to restore calm following the Just Stop Oil protest

Mr Twist said officers had faced 'the most challenging, fast moving and complex policing picture we've ever encountered for national celebration'.

Mr Twist said that there can be a 'fine line' between lawful protest and a demonstration 'straying into illegal activity'.

He added: 'We are continually balancing the rights of those who seek to protest with those who are impacted by it.

'And what we have seen latterly is there is a sort of fine line between what is peaceful protest and what is straying into illegal activity, as we've seen in the latter part of last year and start of this year, and the shifting of those scales taking place.

'Where crime is being committed, we need to intervene much more quickly.'

Chief Constable Chris Noble, the protest lead for the National Police Chiefs' Council, told MPs that 'policing is not anti-protest'.

He said: 'There is no presumption against protest, it is actually quite the opposite.'

The six Republic members were the first people to be arrested under the sweeping Public Order Act, brought in days before the coronation.

They were held under suspicion of going equipped to 'lock-on' - a measure protesters use to make it harder for police to move them - but later released without charge.

Mr Twist told MPs it was the circumstances and 'threat environment' that led to anti-monarchy protesters being arrested ahead of the coronation.

Told there was no history of Republic having 'locked on' during past protests, he said.

'We don't know that they were securing placards - that is what was said. The items themselves were in clear plastic bags which were sealed, so they hadn't been used for that purpose as far as we could see in the van.

'But officers have to make a difficult judgment at the time, in the moment, based on what they are faced with and based on the information they have.

'They have to form reasonable grounds for an arrest and, as the committee will know, reasonable grounds is actually quite a low threshold and is much lower than where you would need grounds to meet the evidential test to charge and a public interest test to charge.

'So what was found was 12 heavy-duty material straps with combination locks on them, which the officers were told was for securing placards.

'But at the time the officers were operating in a threat environment where they believed, taking into account the time, the location, proximity to the route and what they had in front of them, those officers believed that those could be items that could be used for locking on, and that was why the arrest was made.'

Mr Twist said Republic had engaged with the police in the months ahead of the group's protest, including through written correspondence, but that he did not know whether they had been given advice on the use of the straps under the Public Order Act.

Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley has defended the force's actions in a letter to London Mayor Sadiq Khan, saying: 'Had our officers not acted on reasonable grounds, based on the evidence in front of them in the moment and the potential risk to the event, there would now be much more serious questions to answer about the event.'

It comes as eight Just Stop Oil fanatics were arrested by police after they refused to end their latest slow march protest in central London this morning

Almost 30 protesters, armed with orange banners and wearing hi-vis vests, descended upon Westminster in the eco-mob's third day of targeted mayhem in the capital this week

Rishi Sunak also defended the Met in the aftermath of the Coronation, backing police chief's decisions to make a total of 64 arrests, adding that officers 'make these decisions based on what they think is best'.

Speaking earlier this month, the Prime Minister said: 'The police are operationally independent of Government, they'll make these decisions based on what they think is best.

'Actually I'm grateful to the police and everyone who played a part in ensuring that this weekend has gone so well, so successfully and so safely. That was an extraordinary effort by so many people and I'm grateful to them for all their hard work.'

He later added: 'No other country in the world could put on such a dazzling spectacle and it was a proud expression of our history, our culture, our tradition and also a reflection of the modern character of our country.

'It was deeply moving to be in the coronation service and incredibly uplifting and it was an experience I think nobody will forget for the rest of their lives.'

It comes as eight Just Stop Oil fanatics were arrested by police after they refused to end their latest slow-march protest in central London this morning.

Almost 30 protesters, armed with orange banners and wearing hi-vis vests, descended upon Westminster in the eco-mob's third day of targeted mayhem in the capital this week.

In chaotic scenes, Met Police officers were seen detaining a number of eco activists in Parliament Square after they allegedly refused to stop their slow march.

Video footage showed one eco-warrior, who yesterday identified herself as a 21-year-old from Melbourne, Australia, being led away by two officers holding her by the arms.

As she was being led away, the female activist lambasted the government for 'restricting us of our basic right to protest'.

This activist, who yesterday identified herself as a 21-year-old from Melbourne, took the chance to blast the government as she was led away by police

Police officers arrest Just Stop Oil activists in Parliament Square as the climate group continue their daily slow march

Republic chief executive Graham Smith, describing his arrest on the morning of the coronation as a 'traumatic experience', told MPs his anti-monarchy group 'never had any intention' of disrupting the coronation.

Mr Smith said he had meetings and written exchanges with police in the months beforehand setting out how many placards his protest group would be bringing, what they would say on them and confirming they would have amplifiers and megaphones with them, while issuing officers with maps about where the demonstrations would be located.

He said: 'We gave them every piece of information we possible could.

'It is possible that the occasional tiny minutia might have slipped through and not been communicated but they were very clear with us that they did not have a single concern about any of the things we had told them we were going to do.'

He added: 'We never had any intention of doing anything which even came close to falling outside of the law. And claims that they had intelligence cannot possibly be true. Either they are being dishonest or they are making a very serious error.

'Because you cannot have intelligence relating to Republic because there was not a single email, text message or conversation, fleeting remark or anything at all that would suggest we had any intention of doing anything unlawful or disruptive.'

Mr Smith confirmed that Republic had not alerted the Metropolitan Police to the fact they would have luggage straps but contested that they were 'heavy-duty'.

Asked whether he had mentioned the straps in prior discussions with the police, he said: 'No because we hadn't realised until we had them delivered a few days earlier that they are quite cumbersome to move.

'I simply went on Amazon, found the first straps I saw, picked them mainly because they were yellow and matched everything else we were carrying and threw them in the van, still in the packaging.

'They are not physically capable, as our solicitor pointed out when she arrived at the station and as they I believe have now accepted, of locking people on.

'They may have a combination lock but they also have an adjustor like any bag strap. They are quite long and also quite easy to cut, so they are not particularly heavy-duty.

'They are the sort of strap you might strap around your case if you are going into an airport.'

Sacha Deshmukh, Amnesty International UK's Chief Executive, said: 'There was widespread shock at the police's heavy-handed behaviour ahead of and during the coronation day protests.

'The police overreaction was exactly what we'd been fearing - that the Met and other forces would routinely use extremely authoritarian new legislation to clamp down on any protest deemed 'disruptive' or 'noisy'.

'The right to be able to peacefully protest is the lifeblood of any free and open society, yet we've almost sleep-walked into a period where the police can classify anything from t-shirts, banners, rape alarms or luggage straps a potential 'threat', swoop on people for being in possession of these items and then detain them for 16 hours at a time.

'We'd like to see the committee unequivocally recommending an end to the crackdown on peaceful protests, including with the repeal of extreme anti-protest laws and a re-affirmation from ministers that peaceful protest is in fact still permitted in this country.'
A British couple have described the terrifying moment their yacht was attacked by killer whales.

Janet Morris and Stephen Bidwell, from Cambridge, were enjoying a sailing course off the coast of Morocco when they spotted a pod of orcas.

Some of the deadly mammals then started bumping the boat - an attack which continued for an hour, it is claimed.

Also faced with high winds and big swells, the able crew managed to navigate to calmer waters - and to safety.

Business consultant Janet, 58, said: 'I couldn't believe it when I saw them - it's extremely rare. We were sitting ducks.

The orcas let up the chase after an hour but the steering on the boat failed so they headed back to shore

An Orca encroaches upon the sailing boat during the hour long attack

'We were amazingly calm but underneath we were thinking, "Oh my god".

'Because everyone was calm it felt okay, but we were petrified, it wasn't until afterwards that we talked about being very scared.

'We got our valuables and our passports and talked about getting the life raft ready.

'It really didn't help that conditions were bad before the orcas. The boat was moving around a lot - it was hard to distinguish one cause from the others.

'The captain was very calm and orderly, which got everyone through.'

Photographer Stephen, also 58, said: 'We all remained calm because we were aware that if any of us got anxious it would be infectious.

'We were able to do that because the skipper was so calm.

'Orcas enjoy the thrill of the chase, so ideally we'd have kept still, but that wasn't possible because of the winds.'

Janet and Stephen, who are qualified to charter and captain sailing boats, were on day two of a week-long course to clock up sailing miles when the orcas hit, on Tuesday May 2, just seven miles from Tangier.

The couple were taking a nap in preparation for their night-watch duty when they felt banging on the hull and heard crew members shout, 'Orcas! Orcas!' - so they rushed to deck.

At some point during the attack the crew saw the orcas - thought to number at least six - chasing pieces of debris that looked like sponge in the water.

The orcas let up the chase after an hour but the steering on the boat failed so they headed back to shore.

Back in port they realised that the debris were pieces from the rudder of the sailing yacht, a 46-foot Bavaria.

At least six of the deadly mammals started bumping the boat - an attack which continued for an hour

An Orca encroaches upon the sailing boat during the hour long attack

Janet and Stephen, who are qualified to charter and captain sailing boats, were on day two of a week-long course to clock up sailing miles when the orcas hit

The couple will get another opportunity to do the course, Janet said.

She added: 'We were on the course to get experience, and we'll know what to do if this happens again.'

The Strait of Gibraltar, which separates Europe and Africa, has been referred to previously as 'orca alley' due to the large number of whales.

There has been previous reports of the whales attacking boats in the area - which has baffled scientists.
Andy Burnham demands 'some support' from Labour HQ in his devolved role

Andy Burnham today lashed out at Sir Keir Starmer's team as he accused young Labour aides of briefing against him and told them: 'Leave me alone!'

The Greater Manchester mayor demanded 'some support' from Labour HQ as he bemoaned the actions of those 'in their 20s or 30s who think they know it all'.

In an explosive radio interview, Mr Burnham claimed every time he announces 'something positive' in his devolved role a 'negative Westminster briefing machine somehow flicks into gear'.

He also revealed he has not spoken to Sir Keir - aside from text messages - since the Labour leader delivered a speech in Manchester in February.

Mr Burnham is bidding for a third term as Greater Manchester mayor but has consistently failed to rule out another tilt at the Labour leadership during Sir Keir's time in charge of the party.

His decision not to hide his lingering leadership ambitions has seen Mr Burnham widely dubbed Labour's 'King of the North'.

Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham demanded 'some support' from Labour HQ as he bemoaned the actions of those 'in their 20s or 30s who think they know it all'.

There have been reports of tensions between Sir Keir Starmer and Mr Burnham, with recent claims the Labour leader is 'reliably rude' about the Greater Manchester mayor

He was quizzed about reports of tensions between himself and Sir Keir on Times Radio this morning, following recent claims that Mr Burnham is 'one of the very few people' the Labour leader is 'reliably rude' about.

It was reported this week that Sir Keir's office has long viewed Mr Burnham as a 'troublemaking self-publicist with designs on the leadership and too much tolerance for the left'.

Sir Keir has also made jokes at Mr Burnham's expense at Westminster drinks events.

Asked about the reports, the Greater Manchester mayor said: 'Somebody was briefing that, and I'm not sure if it came from Keir.

'All I know is whenever I go out there with something positive, the negative Westminster briefing machine somehow flicks into gear.

'All I'd say is leave me alone. I've been out there being supportive of the party and working for a majority Labour government, as everyone is, but I'm doing my thing.

'I'm building a really powerful positive agenda for Greater Manchester.

'To have the kind of old ways of Westminster trying to cut across that with their negative briefing and their insecurity, I honestly don't know what purpose they think it serves.

'But it is what it is. I'm out today putting forward a positive policy that I think Labour voters, ex-Labour voters, Tory voters across the country will probably say, yeah, this is needed.

'And it would be nice to have some support from a national level.'

But Mr Burnham denied that he would be unhappy with Sir Keir becoming prime minister after the next general election.

'I'm very happy about that prospect, I've said so repeatedly. I've also said I'm here to support in any way I can,' he said.

'And I think I am supporting by putting forward policies that people can connect with.'

The Greater Manchester mayor also suggested it was not Sir Keir or the shadow cabinet briefing against him but 'unelected people in their 20s or 30s who think they know it all and they're the kind of bee's knees etc'.

'They go around sort of briefing against elected politicians,' he said.

'It's just what Westminster does and I think it's one of the unattractive sides of Westminster politics.

'I think they need to leave a bit of that aside and get on with kind of conveying positive messages to the public and building a sense of team.'

Mr Burnham added, prior to New Labour's 1997 general election landslide win, there was ' a sense of all parts of the party pulling pulling together'.

'These anonymous briefers need to go back to that and learn from that and make sure, as we build from here, we've got all sides of the party involved, respected and pulling together for a Labour majority government,' he said.

Mr Burnham insisted he was 'fully supporting' Sir Keir, adding: I'm standing for a third term as mayor of Greater Manchester.

'I want to seek Keir as PM, I want to see a majority Labour government.

'I don't see what's unclear about that. And, you know, I just think people who are purveying the negativity need to put that to one side.'
Madison Brooks' mother has praised two 'guardian angels' who stopped to help her daughter, administering CPR while she lay dying on a busy highway.

The 19-year-old student of Louisiana State University (LSU) was allegedly raped before being dumped out of a car driven by her alleged attackers.

Authorities have said her blood-alcohol level was .319 percent, almost four times the legal driving limit, and she stumbled into the four-lane road where she was hit by a truck.

Two LSU students were driving their own car when they saw the vehicle crash into the teenager at 3 a.m. on January 15 earlier this year. They pulled over and rushed to her aid.

Beau Adams, 21, was driving home after his shift as a bartender with his friend Kathryn Devillier, also 21, when they saw the crash take place.

Maddison Brooks, a 19-year-old student of Louisiana State University (LSU), was allegedly raped before being dumped out of a car driven by her alleged attackers

Ashley Baustert praised two 'guardian angels' who stopped to help her daughter, administering CPR while she lay dying on a busy highway

Beau Adams, 21, (right) was driving home after his shift as a bartender with his friend Kathryn Devillier, also 21, when they saw the crash take place

Speaking to Fox News Digital, the couple said they initially thought the truck had hit a deer, and so they pulled over to help the driver move it out of the road.

It was only then that the realized it was in fact a young woman.

Adams told the outlet that the driver of the truck that hit Madison was 'just standing there in shock' and that the truck was 'wrecked'.

'She was on the ground, and I was trying to stay calm in the moment to try to help in any way we could,' Adams told Fox.

'Once I realized she wasn't breathing, I got on my knees and kept asking, 'Are you OK? Are you OK?' But she wasn't responsive.'

He performed CPR that he had learned in eighth grade, and treated Brooks for around 10 to 15 minutes before emergency personnel arrive to the scene.

Meanwhile, Devillier dodged traffic to retrieve Madison's belongings so they could identify who she was, eventually finding her purse.

Madison's mother Ashley Baustert told Fox that it 'gives me a lot of comfort and peace in that Beau and Kathryn were both there. The last few people that Madi saw wasn't going to be her [alleged] attackers.'

Her alleged attackers - Kaivon Washington, 18; Casen Carver, 18; Everett Lee, 28; and Desmond Carter, 17 - claim they did not rape the LSU student and only consensual sex happened in the back of the car.

They have been accused of dumping her on the street while she was heavily intoxicated, where she was then hit by the car, after the alleged assault.

Carter and Carver were indicted on third and first-degree rape charges. Carter will be tried as an adult. Lee and Washington are waiting for an indictment, but Washington has been charged with third-degree rape. Lee has currently been charged with principal to third-degree rape.

Her alleged attackers - Kaivon Washington, 18 (left); Casen Carver, 18 (middle); Everett Lee, 28 (right); and Desmond Carter, 17 - have been charged. Carter and Carver were indicted on third and first-degree rape charges, and Carter will be tried as an adult. Lee and Washington are waiting for an indictment, but Washington has been charged with third-degree rape. Lee has currently been charged with principal to third-degree rape.

In a leaked video, Brooks is seen running to catch up with her alleged attackers near Reggie's Bar where they were all drinking on January 15, the night she died

Her alleged attackers claim they did not rape Brooks and only consensual sex happened in the back of the car

A second clip of the footage shows Brooks getting out of the car before calling the driver 'gay'

After Madison was rushed to the hospital, Devillier (who lost her own mother in a car accident) and Adams tracked down which hospital she was taken to, and were there by around 6 a.m. to check in her, staying until they got answers.

Tragically, the 19-year-old student died in the hospital.

But Baustert believes that the actions of her daughters fellow students prolonged her life long enough for her family could say their goodbyes, and so that doctors could preserve her organs to be donated.

'They were put there for a reason by the grace of God,' Baustert said. 'I truly believe that because no other people stopped and did what they did.'

They pair have kept in touch with Madison's mother, who has Devillier saved in her phone as 'Madi's Gaurdian Angel.' Devillier and Adams, meanwhile, have matching winged tattoos on their arms to honor the young woman they tried to save.

The two LSU seniors marked the place of the accident with a cross as a memorial for Madison, on the side of the Burbank Highway where she was struck.

The memorial grew with flowers, stuffed animals and other trinkets.

Earlier this month, Baustert slammed the suspects' defense attorneys for releasing a video from the night of her daughter's death, calling it a 'low blow.'

The videos - which has not been officially released, but parts have been leaked by the defense to local stations - shows Brooks, 19, running to catch up with her alleged attackers near Reggie's Bar where they were all drinking on the night she died.

A second clip of the footage continues to paint Brooks in a negative light, where she can drunkenly be heard saying: 'I'm sorry that I offended you that bad. Get out. Get out. I'll call an Uber on my own.'

She was then seen getting out of the car before calling the driver 'gay.'

The family recently celebrated what would have been Brooks' 20th birthday in NYC

While in NYC, the family saw the billboard for the Madison Brooks Foundation in Times Square

Baustert called the leaked footage a 'low blow.'

'It hurt,' she told Fox News earlier in May. 'It looks very poor, especially to release it so shortly after her death. I don't necessarily believe that any of these video clips are a true depiction of what happened that night.'

At the time of her death, Brooks had a BAC of 0.319 percent, which is nearly four times over the legal driving limit, according to authorities.

The videos have not been fully released to the public, but have been turned over to the Baton Rouge District Attorney's Office, which has indicted two of the four men on sexual assault charges, which could lead to life in prison.
Scotland Yard was not put under political pressure to crack down on anti-royal protesters during King Charles' coronation, a senior Met police officer said today.

The force faced fierce criticism of arrests made around the event, including volunteers who handed out rape alarms and six members of the campaign group Republic that had liaised with police for weeks before the coronation to organise their own protest.

A complaint has also been lodged by royal fan Alice Chambers, 36, who was held in custody for 13 hours after being mistaken for a Just Stop Oil protester as she waited on the Mall hoping to catch a glimpse of the King.

The i newspaper quoted an anonymous senior police source saying that there had been 'a very firm instruction not to damage the reputation of the UK', although the Home Office said it did not recognise the claim.

However, the Met's Temporary Assistant Commissioner Matt Twist told the Commons Home Affairs Committee - which was briefly disrupted by a Just Stop Oil protest - that he felt 'under no pressure politically'.

Protesters from climate protest group 'Just Stop Oil' are apprehended by police officers before the Coronation

The Met's Temporary Assistant Commissioner Matt Twist told the Commons Home Affairs Committee he felt 'under no pressure politically'

He said: 'I felt pressure to deliver a safe and secure operation, but that was because of the fact that it was a once-in-a-lifetime event for so many people and there would be hundreds of thousands of people in London to celebrate it, and also and importantly, this was the biggest protection operation we have ever run.

READ MORE: Now Just Stop Oil eco-mob stage stunt in Parliament Advertisement

'There were 312 protected people that we managed to get in and out of the Abbey and across the footprint in about 90 minutes. So the stakes were enormously high, so I absolutely felt pressure to deliver a safe and secure operation. But that wasn't political pressure.'

Mr Twist told the Commons Home Affairs Committee that officers had faced 'the most challenging, fast moving and complex policing picture we've ever encountered for national celebration'.

The six Republic members were the first people to be arrested under the sweeping Public Order Act, brought in days before the coronation.

They were held under suspicion of going equipped to 'lock-on' - a measure protesters use to make it harder for police to move them - but later released without charge.

Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley has defended the force's actions in a letter to London Mayor Sadiq Khan, saying: 'Had our officers not acted on reasonable grounds, based on the evidence in front of them in the moment and the potential risk to the event, there would now be much more serious questions to answer about the event.'

Mr Twist said there can be a 'fine line' between lawful protest and a demonstration 'straying into illegal activity'.

'We are continually balancing the rights of those who seek to protest with those who are impacted by it,' he told the committee.

'And what we have seen latterly is there is a sort of fine line between what is peaceful protest and what is straying into illegal activity, as we've seen in the latter part of last year and start of this year, and the shifting of those scales taking place.

'Where crime is being committed, we need to intervene much more quickly.'

The force faced fierce criticism of arrests made around the event, including volunteers who handed out rape alarms and six members of the campaign group Republic that had liaised with police for weeks before the coronation to organise their own protest

Royal superfan Alice Chambers was arrested and locked up for 13 hours after standing next to Just Stop Oil protesters ahead of the King's coronation

Told that there was no history of Republic using lock-on tactics, he said officers on the ground did not know that the straps would be used to secure placards.

Mr Twist said: 'Officers have to make a difficult judgment at the time, in the moment, based on what they are faced with and based on the information they have.

'They have to form reasonable grounds for an arrest and, as the committee will know, reasonable grounds is actually quite a low threshold and is much lower than where you would need grounds to meet the evidential test to charge and a public interest test to charge. So what was found was 12 heavy-duty material straps with combination locks on them, which the officers were told was for securing placards.

'But at the time the officers were operating in a threat environment where they believed, taking into account the time, the location, proximity to the route and what they had in front of them, those officers believed that those could be items that could be used for locking on, and that was why the arrest was made.'

Home Secretary Suella Braverman and London Mayor Sadiq Khan were alerted the evening before the coronation that intelligence suggested there was going to be a 'concerted attempt to disrupt the coronation procession', the hearing was told.

Mr Twist said: 'What we do is base this on intelligence, base this on actions, we will base this on the group.

'And clearly at the time, what we were talking about if we draw this back to Golden Orb, was a situation where we had very clear intelligence that was deeply concerning, sufficiently so that we ended up briefing the Home Secretary and the Mayor late at night on the Friday.

'And we briefed senior stakeholders and partners late on Friday and early on Saturday that there was going to be a concerted attempt to disrupt the coronation procession.

'Officers were asked to be extremely vigilant and extremely proactive in dealing with this. So in the wider threat context, that would have played into some of the decision making, I think.'

Mr Twist told the Commons Home Affairs Committee that officers had faced 'the most challenging, fast moving and complex policing picture we've ever encountered for national celebration'

The senior officer was grilled by a number of MPs including Conservative Tim Loughton

Mr Twist later said he did not think the Public Order Act would be used on a regular basis.

Noting that the coronation was the first time its arrest powers were used, he added: 'I don't think (it is) legislation we are going to be seeing used day-in-day-out or even week-in-week-out on the basis that since it was passed there have been 68 other demonstrations that have taken place and we have not used this legislation on any of them.'

Mr Twist denied that officers had been overzealous, but accepted that they were 'cautious' in the context of the enormity of the event.

'Of course, we were cautious but in the context of the largest security operation we've ever run, the once in a generation, once in a lifetime event, and no second chances to get it right,' he said.

He said that the Republic protesters were arrested with luggage straps with combination locks on them, which it was unusual for demonstrators to use to secure placards.

It took 16 hours to release them from custody because five of them had the same legal representative who had to go into interview with them one by one, Mr Twist said.

Ashfield Tory MP Lee Anderson asked him for reassurance that officers would be as tough on Just Stop Oil protesters who have staged a series of protests marching slowly in the road in central London.

Police now issue a warning to demonstrators to move onto the pavement in order to clear the road.

Mr Twist said: 'We are dealing robustly where people are just effectively hell bent on causing disruption to the overwhelming majority of others going about their lawful business.'

Protesters hold up placards saying 'Not My King' in Trafalgar Square on the morning of the King's Coronation

Police were seen scouring vans with hundreds of Not My King banners

A Republic activist is questioned and searched by police following protests on The Mall

Republic chief executive Graham Smith, describing his arrest on the morning of the coronation as a 'traumatic experience', told MPs his anti-monarchy group 'never had any intention' of disrupting the coronation.

Mr Smith said he had meetings and written exchanges with police in the months beforehand setting out how many placards his protest group would be bringing, what they would say on them and confirming they would have amplifiers and megaphones with them, while issuing officers with maps about where the demonstrations would be located.

He said: 'We gave them every piece of information we possible could.

'It is possible that the occasional tiny minutia might have slipped through and not been communicated but they were very clear with us that they did not have a single concern about any of the things we had told them we were going to do.'

He added: 'We never had any intention of doing anything which even came close to falling outside of the law. And claims that they had intelligence cannot possibly be true. Either they are being dishonest or they are making a very serious error.

'Because you cannot have intelligence relating to Republic because there was not a single email, text message or conversation, fleeting remark or anything at all that would suggest we had any intention of doing anything unlawful or disruptive.'

Mr Smith confirmed that Republic had not alerted the Metropolitan Police to the fact they would have luggage straps but contested that they were 'heavy-duty'.

Asked whether he had mentioned the straps in prior discussions with the police, he said: 'No because we hadn't realised until we had them delivered a few days earlier that they are quite cumbersome to move.

'I simply went on Amazon, found the first straps I saw, picked them mainly because they were yellow and matched everything else we were carrying and threw them in the van, still in the packaging.

'They are not physically capable, as our solicitor pointed out when she arrived at the station and as they I believe have now accepted, of locking people on.

'They may have a combination lock but they also have an adjustor like any bag strap. They are quite long and also quite easy to cut, so they are not particularly heavy-duty.

'They are the sort of strap you might strap around your case if you are going into an airport.'

Sacha Deshmukh, Amnesty International UK's Chief Executive, said: 'There was widespread shock at the police's heavy-handed behaviour ahead of and during the coronation day protests.

'The police overreaction was exactly what we'd been fearing - that the Met and other forces would routinely use extremely authoritarian new legislation to clamp down on any protest deemed 'disruptive' or 'noisy'.

'The right to be able to peacefully protest is the lifeblood of any free and open society, yet we've almost sleep-walked into a period where the police can classify anything from t-shirts, banners, rape alarms or luggage straps a potential 'threat', swoop on people for being in possession of these items and then detain them for 16 hours at a time.

'We'd like to see the committee unequivocally recommending an end to the crackdown on peaceful protests, including with the repeal of extreme anti-protest laws and a re-affirmation from ministers that peaceful protest is in fact still permitted in this country.'
Historian David Starkey has sparked outrage after claiming that left-wing activists are trying to destroy 'white culture' and are 'jealous' of the Holocaust.

In a speech to the National Conservatism Conference in London, Dr Starkey claimed that groups such as Black Lives Matter were attempting to 'do exactly what was done to German culture because of Nazism and the Holocaust'.

He added: 'The determination is to replace the Holocaust with slavery.

'In other words, this is why Jews are under such attack from the Left. There's jealousy, fundamentally. There is jealousy of the moral primacy of the Holocaust and a determination to replace it with slavery.'

Reacting to his speech, former Labour MP John Mann, the Government's adviser on anti-Semitism, branded the academic 'pathetic' and said he was using the 'Jewish community and the Holocaust' to try to 'divide' people.

Left-wing activists are 'jealous' of the Holocaust and want to replace it with slavery, historian David Starkey has said

Dr Starkey, an expert on Tudor history, has previously been criticised for comments on slavery and the Black Lives Matter movement. He was accused of racism during coverage of the Coronation on GB News when he claimed that Rishi Sunak was 'not fully grounded in our culture'.

He later denied his comments were racist, saying he was referring to the Prime Minister being a 'typical international liberal' with no interest in British 'values'.

In 2020, he was dropped by his publisher and lost two university positions after claiming slavery was not genocide because there are 'so many damn blacks' in Africa and Britain.

In his speech to the National Conservatism Conference on Wednesday, Dr Starkey renewed his criticism of Black Lives Matter, denying that the movement cared about black lives at all.

To applause from the audience, he said: 'Movements like critical race theory and Black Lives Matter are not what they pretend to be.

'They are attempts at destroying the entire legitimacy of the Western political and cultural tradition.

'The idea that they are there to defend black lives is a preposterous notion.

'They do not care about black lives, they only care about the symbolic destruction of white culture. We have to be absolutely clear about this.'

Former Labour MP John Mann, the Government's adviser on antisemitism, branded the academic 'pathetic' and said he was using the 'Jewish community and the Holocaust' to try to 'divide' people

Labour MP Christian Wakeford waded into the row, branding Dr Starkey 'deplorable'

He added: 'The narrative of Black Lives Matter is that Western culture and Anglo-American culture in particular are fundamentally morally defective, they are characterised by the mark of Cain and their strategy is to do exactly what was done to German culture because of Nazism and the Holocaust.'

During the conference's morning session, the audience also heard from Nigel Biggar, a professor emeritus of theology at the University of Oxford, who argued that the British Empire had a 'mixed' moral record and denied there was any reason to pay reparations to former colonies.

He said: 'As a Christian, Burkean conservative I don't expect perfection in any human affairs.

'Those who rule, just like those who are ruled, are creatures and sinners, finite and flawed.

'Even as I recognise the duty to repent and improve, I expect even the noblest of human efforts to be marred by limited power, moral obtuseness and culpable failure.

'And so I fear, indeed I loathe, the unforgiving, inhumane impatience of utopian perfectionists, whether they are Maoists or agents of Islamic State or progressive twittering social justice warriors.'

Dr Starkey was accused of racism after claiming that Rishi Sunak was 'not fully grounded in our culture' during Coronation coverage on GB News

He later denied his comments were racist, saying he was referring to the Prime Minister being a 'typical international liberal' with no interest in British 'values'.

He added: 'Much of what our forebears achieved was extraordinary. We need to remember it, we need to admire it, we need to conserve it, and we need to build on it.'

Professor Biggar, the author of recent book Colonialism: A Moral Reckoning, also criticised Scottish nationalism as based on a false 'Braveheart' version of history.

He said: 'When too many Scots, in my view, align themselves with Scottish independence they do it, most of them, not because they've analysed policies.

'They do it in large part because they inhabit imaginatively a vision of the past that is false, a Braveheart past that excites unjustified nationalist indignation and resentment against the English and against Britain today.'

Other speakers at the National Conservatism Conference this week have included Home Secretary Suella Braverman (pictured) and Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove

Other speakers at the National Conservatism Conference this week have included Home Secretary Suella Braverman and Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove.

Former Business Secretary Jacob Rees Mogg had his speech interrupted on Monday by an Extinction Rebellion protestor.

The man, dressed in a shirt, tie and blazer, joined Mr Rees-Mogg at the lectern and told the audience: 'Ladies and gentlemen, you all look very nice people and I'm sure you are fantastically nice people.

'But I would like to draw your attention to a few characteristics of fascism.'
A farmer has warned that shoppers may continue to see a shortage of eggs on the shelves for another year as the industry battles pressure on several fronts.

Llyr Jones, who's 32,000 hens supply the UK's largest supermarket, Tesco, said that many farmers have left the industry off the back of a rise in energy bills, a bird flu outbreak, the invasion of Ukraine and less of a desire for caged hens.

Supermarkets have been putting limits on the number of eggs shoppers can buy as numbers dwindle, with Asda and Lidl both only allowing customers to buy two boxes and three boxes respectively.

Egg production in the first three months of 2023 is down by nearly a quarter when compared to the same period of 2022, according to data released by the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA).

And the figures reveal that egg production is down by 2.9% in England in Wales within the three-month period to 121 million dozen, the BBC reports.

But egg imports have risen by 11% compared to the same period last year.

A number of supermarkets are limiting the amount of boxes shoppers can buy while stocks are low

Egg production figures have tumbled by 2.9% in just three months

Llyr Jones has said UK shoppers should expect to see egg stocks low until next year

Mr Jones' feed bills have also soared, going from 30,000 a month to 50,000, thanks to the invasion of Ukraine - which is one of the world's largest producers of bird feed.

In comments made to the BBC, Mr Jones said: 'A lot of farmers decided not to re-stock and that then put pressure on the market and the price of eggs was forced up.'

He called for patience from the public on when exactly eggs would arrive back on supermarket shelves, pointing out that farmers are finally starting to re-stock flocks, however it may be another year before stocks are fully replenished.

'Now, this year, egg prices have increased for us as farmers and thankfully our costs have started to fall a bit, so we're having to recuperate the money that we lost last year,' he added.

'So, you're nearly a year until a farmer, from when he's empty, to when he can produce eggs. Now egg prices have gone up, some farmers are buying hens in now, but those eggs won't be on the market for another year,

'So, just bear with us for a bit.'

The British Retail Consortium's (BRC) Director of Food and Sustainabiliy, Andrew Opie told MailOnline: 'Supermarkets source, and will continue to source, the vast majority of their food from the UK and know they need to pay a sustainable price to farmers.

'Given the pressure on British farmers at the moment, retailers are paying more for their produce. However, retailers are also facing additional costs and are working incredibly hard to limit price increases for consumers during a cost-of-living crisis where many people are struggling to afford the essentials.'

Sainsbury's explained to Mail Online that it understood the farming industry's tough situation, saying: 'We understand that farmers who supply our own-brand egg packers are also facing significant challenges and it is clear that this is impacting the number of eggs they are able to produce.

'Our own-brand egg farmers are also facing significant challenges and while we do not buy eggs from farmers directly, we have steadily increased the amount we pay our packers and producers for eggs over the past 12 months. In response to high levels of inflation we accelerated our support, investing 27.2 million more than we were contractually required to.'

About 70 leading members of the food industry, including Clarkson's Farm star Caleb Cooper (pictured left) met with prime minister Rishi Sunak as part of the government's 'Farm to Fork' summit on Tuesday

Tesco has said that it has started to sell more white eggs due to the supply chain issues

Tesco reported in February that it was starting to sell more white eggs due to the supply chain issues.

White eggs have been part of the grocer's standard egg range since 2020, as the demand for eggs boomed by 30% during the pandemic, but shoppers are now starting to see them more regularly in boxes.

Egg consumption in general is growing in the UK by about 3% a year, according to Mr Jones.

'We're in a cost of living crisis so eggs are one of the cheapest proteins you can buy at the moment,' he said.

On Tuesday, approximately 70 leading members of the food industry met with prime minister Rishi Sunak as part of the government's 'Farm to Fork' summit.

It was confirmed that new reviews will begin in the Autumn in the eggs and horticulture sectors to help to support the sector.

Lafan Consultancy Group agricultural consultant, Geraint Hughes said he felt that annual reviews weren't frequent enough to provide the support the sector needs.

'Its not reasonable to rely on annual reviews when things can change dramatically within a week,' he told Mail Online.

'Weve seen the same situation played out with fresh produce, with some of the supermarkets appearing not to have the mechanisms in place to deal and manage sudden market changes.'
Dozens of migrants were pictured arriving in Dover this morning after crossing the English Channel - as the total number of people arriving by small boats so far this year is expected to pass 7,000.

Groups of asylum seekers in seven dinghies were picked up at sea by Border Force in the morning and early afternoon after making the dangerous 21 mile trip in hazy conditions.

The arrivals - which onlookers say included women and children - looks set to be the busiest day since May 1 when 246 migrants arrived in six boats

Officials are yet to confirm the figure but it is likely to bring the total figure for this month to over a thousand and take the yearly figure to above 7,000 mark.

The total of migrants making the dangerous voyage so far this month to 938 in 21 boats.

Dozens of migrants were pictured arriving in Dover this morning after crossing the English Channel

The group of migrants, which could be the largest since May 1, were brought to shore by Border Force Typhoon

Officials are yet to confirm the figure but it is likely to bring the total figure for this month to over a thousand

The number of asylum seekers who have made the crossing so far in 2023 is currently 6,884 in 163 boats - an average of 42 people in each inflatable.

The busiest day this year came on April 22 when 497 people reached British soil in a 24-hour period.

Last year saw a record 45,728 migrants cross the Channel - significantly more than 2021's total of 28,526.

But officials have warned that as many as 80,000 migrants could enter the UK on small boats this year.

A Home Office spokesperson 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 Small Boats Operational Command is working alongside our French partners and other agencies to disrupt the people smugglers.

The government has gone further by introducing legislation which will ensure that those people arriving in the UK illegally are detained and promptly removed to their country of origin or a safe third country.
A trio of Vladimir Putin's leading hypersonic scientists have been detained on suspicion of high treason in what fellow scientists have declared a 'witch hunt'

Aerodynamics specialist Dr Valery Zvegintsev, 78, is the latest of three prominent scientists from the Khristianovich Institute of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics in Novosibirsk to be arrested on extremely serious charges.

Zvegintsev, 78, along with Anatoly Maslov and Alexander Shiplyuk, are seen as key figures in the development of Russia's hypersonic weapons programme which is thought to be one of the world's most advanced.

News of their detention on suspicion of high treason comes days after a Russian missile assault on Ukraine's capital was largely ineffective, with Ukrainian officials claiming their US-supplied Patriot air defence system managed to down several of Moscow's Kinzhal - or 'Dagger' - hypersonic missiles, which Putin once boasted were 'unstoppable'.

And their institute has protested the arrests, claiming the men were being prosecuted over normal scientific activity such as making presentations and taking part in international conferences and projects, and publishing articles in major journals.

Leading Russian hypersonic scientist Dr Valery Zvegintsev, of the Khristianovich Institute of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics in Novosibirsk, is detained under high treason laws

Anatoly Maslov and Alexander Shiplyuk, also of the institute, were detained last year

Explosion of a missile is seen in the sky over the city during a Russian missile strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine May 16, 2023

Ukrainian air defence system is seen firing at oncoming missiles

Launch of Russia's Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) in April 2022

Zvegintsev founded Khristianovich Institute of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics' laboratory of Aero Gas Dynamics which deals with hypersonic technologies, and until his detention was still working full time despite his advanced age.

His arrest in April, which has only just been revealed by the Kremlin, has triggered a backlash from fellow scientists who accused the FSB security service of a witch-hunt.

An open letter from the institute states: 'Over the past year, three outstanding aerodynamic scientists of our institute - Anatoly Maslov, Alexander Shiplyuk and Valery Zvegintsev - were arrested on suspicion of committing a crime under the most severe article of the criminal code - 'high treason'

'All of them are known for their brilliant scientific results.

'Their competencies and professional reputation allowed them to find highly paid and prestigious jobs abroad.

'But they did not leave their homeland, devoting their lives to serving Russian science.'

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said he was aware of the open letter from the Siberian scientists in defence of the three men but concluded the case was a matter for the security services and refused to comment further.

Ukraine claimed it managed to down several Kinzhal missiles earlier this week

Valery Zvegintsev is seen in these undated photos from the Khristianovich Institute of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics in Novosibirsk

Khristianovich Institute of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics in Novosibirsk

Russian MiG-31 is pictured carrying a hypersonic Kinzhal missile

Russia has pioneered hypersonic missiles, and is seen as having gained an advantage on Western missile arsenals.

The deployment of such missiles, like the famed Kinzhal, has been confirmed in Ukraine, though Moscow uses them sparingly.

Ukraine's beefed-up air defence systems, which operate a mixture of Soviet era and Western-supplied technologies, have proven effective in downing many of Russia's rocket attacks.

Zvegintsev's detention comes months after the previous arrests of Maslov and Shiplyuk, both of whom are currently being held in Moscow's notorious Lefortovo prison.

Shiplyuk, 56, and Maslov, 76, were both detained in a pair of swoops conducted by Russia's FSB domestic intelligence agency.

Another scientist and expert on laser physics, Dmitry Kolker, was previously jailed in Lefortovo despite having stage four cancer and died in custody last year.

An earlier open letter from the institute in Novosibirsk condemned the arrests of Shiplyuk and Maslov, arguing such a crackdown would only serve to drive out young Russian scientists out of the profession.

'What we are rewarded for today and set as an example to others, tomorrow becomes the reason for criminal prosecution.

'In this situation, it is simply impossible for our institute, the only academic organisation in the country with an extensive base for experimental and numerical aerodynamic research, to work.'

Alexander Shiplyuk (right) is pictured at a conference in China in 2018. He was arrested last year on suspicion of treason

Russia's Kinzhal missile is seen being carried by a MiG fast jet

Another notable individual currently detained at Lefortovo is US citizen and Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, 31, who was arrested in March for alleged espionage for which he faces up to 20 years in prison.

Gershkovich is the first Moscow Correspondent from the US to be detained by Russia on spying charges since the Cold War.

His family and the newspaper vehemently deny that he was seeking to obtain classified information.

'The FSB and Putin are seeing enemies everywhere,' said a former Moscow diplomat.

Separately, rights group OVD-Info says nearly 20,000 people have been detained for opposing the war.

Hundreds, including children, have faced criminal charges.
Rawalpindi, May 17 (UNI) Pakistan Army Chief General Asim Munir vowed on Wednesday that the military will not allow a repeat of the May 9 incidents of violence against army installations "[ever] again at any cost".

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) workers had during their protests following party chairman Imran Khan's arrest on May 9 vandalised the martyrs' monument, Lahore Corps Commander House, and General Headquarters.

"No one will be allowed to disrespect our shuhada [martyrs] and their monuments," the Pakistan army chief said during his visit to the martyrs' monument.
More than ten million renters will no longer face the threat of 'no fault' evictions or a blanket ban on pet ownership under reforms being introduced to Parliament.

Landlords will also benefit from measures making it easier to evict irresponsible or anti-social tenants and recover their property when they need to sell it or move in a family member.

So, what exactly does the Renters' Reform Bill entail? How will landlords be affected by the changes?

Read on below for everything you need to know about the Renters' Reform Bill.

The Renters' Reform Bill introduced by Parliament means ten million renters will no longer face the threat of 'no fault' evictions

What is the Renters' Reform Bill?

Under the Renters' Reform Bill, it will no longer be possible to evict tenants under Section 21 of the Housing Act, which gave landlords the power to remove them without justification.

Britain's two million landlords will now only be permitted to increase the rent once a year under the legislation and must give tenants two months' notice when doing so.

However, the measures have sparked concerns that many property owners will withdraw from the rental market and the housing supply crisis will deepen.

Housing Secretary Michael Gove said: 'Too many renters are living in damp, unsafe, cold homes, powerless to put things right, and with the threat of sudden eviction hanging over them.

'This Government is determined to tackle these injustices by offering a New Deal to those living in the Private Rented Sector; one with quality, affordability, and fairness at its heart.

'Our new laws introduced to Parliament today will support the vast majority of responsible landlords who provide quality homes to their tenants, while delivering our manifesto commitment to abolish Section 21 no-fault evictions.

What are the new rules for landlords?

The new Bill also protects over two million landlords, making it easier for them to recover properties when they need to  so they can sell their property if they want to, move in a close family member, or when tenants deliberately do not pay rent.

Notice periods will also be reduced where tenants have been irresponsible  for example breaching their tenancy agreement or causing damage to the property.

Housing Secretary Michael Gove said the reforms 'will support the vast majority of responsible landlords who provide quality homes to their tenants'

The reforms will strengthen powers to evict anti-social tenants, broadening the disruptive and harmful activities that can lead to eviction and making it quicker to evict a tenant acting anti-socially.

Although the reform will benefit landlords in certain ways, they will also now be held responsible for proving why any requests from tenants to have pets are unreasonable.

Owen Sharp, chief executive of Dogs Trust, said: 'The new measures introduced are a potential game-changer for responsible dog owners who rent.

'For too long, people living in rented accommodation have not been able to enjoy the benefits and companionship of a pet just because of the type of housing they live in.'

Will the Renters' Reform Bill transform the letting market?

To ensure the new tenancy systems works for landlords and tenants, it will be introduced alongside a reformed courts process.

For the minority of evictions that do end up in the courts, more of the process will be made digital in an attempt to reduce any possible delays.

Critics also suggested that scrapping no-fault evictions could make properties harder to rent for some tenants.

The reforms could potentially see more people allowed to own pets in rental homes, as landlords must now prove why any requests from tenants to have pets are unreasonable (File image)

Matthew Lesh, of the Institute of Economic Affairs think-tank, said: 'Landlords will inevitably be more selective about who they offer properties to and charge higher rents when they cannot quickly evict bad tenants. That is likely to disproportionately hurt those who are poorer, younger, and from minority communities.

'New eviction rules and burdensome regulatory standards will only worsen the rental property shortage and record-high rents. The housing crisis won't be solved by fiddling with rental rules.'

Ben Beadle, chief executive of the National Residential Landlords Association, warned: 'Responsible landlords need to be confident that when Section 21 ends, where they have a legitimate reason, they will be able to repossess their properties as quickly as possible.

'Without this assurance, the Bill will only exacerbate the rental housing supply crisis many tenants now face.'
When the world said goodbye to Charlie Chaplin in December 1977, few would have expected that his name would hit the headlines again just weeks later.

But in March 1978, two disgruntled mechanics pushed the star of films including City Lights and the Gold Rush back into the limelight, albeit for a rather macabre reason.

Heading to his graveside in Switzerland in the dead of night, they dug up his coffin and whisked it away before demanding a huge $600,000 (400,000 at the time) ransom from his family.

The disappearance of the star's body sparked a ten-week global manhunt and a slew of sinister rumours about what might have happened - including a theory that Nazi fascists, angry at his Hitler satire The Great Dictator, might have taken it.

Ten weeks later, exactly 55 years ago today, the star's coffin was found in a field 14 miles from his original resting place at Corsier-sur-Vevey near Lake Geneva. The thieves, Polish man Roman Wardas and Bulgarian Gantscho Ganev, were arrested.

Charlie Chaplin (pictured above in a scene from 1925 film The Gold Rush), died on Christmas Day in 1977

In March 1978, two disgruntled mechanics dug up his coffin and whisked it away before demanding a huge $600,000 ransom from his family. Above: The coffin after it was found in a field 14 miles from its original resting place, the cemetery at Corsier-sur-Vevey in Switzlernad

Police had traced the robbers and the coffin after tapping the Chaplin family's home phone, their lawyer negotiated smaller ransom sums to keep the thieves occupied.

The gravedigger at Corsier-sur-Vevey had initially raised the alarm that Chaplin's grave was empty.

Tyre marks showed how they had lifted the extremely heavy oak coffin from the ground before dragging it into a waiting van.

Gravedigger Etienne Buenzod said afterwards: 'I was very shocked. I thought: This is not possible. In Italy they steal bodies for ransom. Never before in Switzerland.

'I telephoned the police. I still could not really believe it. Not until I saw all the police around the grave.'

Among other theories positing why the body may have been taken was a local journalist's suggestion that it might have been down to 'fetishism.'

Speaking in the Daily Mail at the time, Richard Panchaud, editor of the local Feuille d'Avis newspaper, said he believed the thieves might have hoped to sell the bones 'piece by piece' to 'fanatical collectors of Chaplin relics' across Europe.

Others believed that English fans of the star might have taken him in the hope of reburying him in England, his birthplace.

But in reality, the robbers only carried out their cruel theft in the hope of making money.

Chaplin's wife, Oona O'Neill, remained defiant in the face of the robbers' demands, saying: 'I will not pay a ransom demand. Charlie would have thought it ridiculous.'

She added: 'Charlie is in Heaven, and is in my heart. His remains on Earth are not sensitive.'

Wardas, the mastermind of the plot, received four-and-half years hard labour for the theft of Chaplin's remains, whilst Ganev was handed a suspended sentence of 18 months.

Chaplin's wife Oona (pictured above with her husband in 1973) refused to pay the thieves' ransom demand

Police are seen at the desecrated grave of Charlie Chaplin after his body had been taken

Workers are seen at Chaplin's gravesite after his body had been stolen by two mechanics

An oak cross is seen at Chaplin's empty grave site after being replaced by police following the theft

Chaplin had passed away aged 88 on Christmas Day in December 1977. Around 300 people, including his wife and seven of his children, were at his funeral

A police officer salutes the hearse carrying the coffin of Chaplin ahead of his funeral on December 27, 1977

After Chaplin's body was recovered, it was reburied back at Corsier-sur-Vevey, but this time the family opted to fill the grave with cement to deter any other thieves. Above: The grave in 1990

Chaplin is seen at his home with his wife Oona and their children in 1959. He had 11 children in total

Prior to his sentencing, Wardas told his trial: 'I did not feel particularly squeamish about interfering with a coffin.'

Ganev added: 'I was bothered about lifting the coffin. Death is not so important where I come from.'

The pair had been arrested the day before leading police to the hidden coffin.

After Chaplin's body was recovered, it was reburied back at Corsier-sur-Vevey, but this time the family opted to fill the grave with cement to deter any other thieves.

Oona then threw a champagne and caviar party for more than 100 Swiss policemen who had helped to find her husband's coffin.

Chaplin had passed away aged 88 on Christmas Day in December 1977. Around 300 people, including his wife and seven of his children, were at his funeral.

The Daily Mail covered the theft of Chaplin's body extensively, before reporting on its discovery

The star had emigrated to Switzerland in the 1950s after initially moving to the United States from the UK in 1913.

He had captivated audiences with characters including the Little Tramp after rising from a childhood of extreme poverty in Walworth, south London.

Within 12 months of moving to the United States, he had made 36 short films and had become one of the most popular stars in America.

His other major hits included The Kid - his first feature film and Modern Times.
ITV has now been hit with 8,252 Ofcom complaints after Bridgerton star Adjoa Andoh sparked fury by calling the Buckingham Palace balcony 'terribly white' during King Charles' Coronation.

Her comments prompted 4,165 complaints immediately after the ceremony on May 6 followed by a further 4,087 between May 9 and 15.

It makes it the most complained about TV moment of the year so far - up on last year's most complained about series, Love Island.

Ms Andoh, who appeared as a guest during ITV's coverage of the Coronation, made the comment when the royals were standing on the balcony to watch the traditional Red Arrows flypast.

The 60-year-old, who plays Lady Danbury in the Netflix show, said: 'Looking at all those young people, there is a bit of me that has gone from the rich diversity of the Abbey to the terribly white balcony. I'm very struck by that.

Adjoa Andoh stunned viewers by calling the Buckingham Palace balcony 'terribly white'

Ms Andoh said during the Coronation: 'We have gone from the rich diversity of the Abbey to a terribly white balcony. I am very struck by that'

'I am also looking at those younger generations and thinking: ''What are the nuances that they will inhabit when they grow?'''

Most complained about TV moments ever 1 - Jerry Springer: The Opera - BBC 2 - 2005 55,000 for swear words and blasphemy. 2 - Jade Goody and Shilpa Shetty race row - Celebrity Big Brother - 2007 44,500 after Goody called her 'Shilpa Poppadom'. 3 - Piers Morgan's comments about Meghan Markle - GMB - 2021 41,015 complaints after Morgan accused the duchess of lying about having suicidal thoughts. 4 - Jeremy Clarkson's comments about striking workers - The One Show - 2011 31,000 complaints after he said they should be 'executed in front of their families'. 5 - Ghostwatch 'death' - ITV - 1992 30,000 after viewers were left traumatised by a presenter being 'killed' by a ghost. 6 - Celebrity Big Brother 'punchgate' row - 2018 25,327 complained after Roxanne Pallett falsely claimed that fellow contestant Ryan Thomas had assaulted her. 7. Love Island barracking - 2021 More than 25,000 complaints over scenes showing Faye Winter shouting and swearing at Teddy Soares, after she was shown footage of him telling another Islander he was attracted to her. 8. Britain's Got Talent Diversity dance - 2020 24,500 complaints after the troupe did a dance that included a police officer kneeling on Ashley Banjo's neck. 9. EastEnders' baby swap - 2010 After discovering her son James had died in his cot, Ronnie secretly swapped his body for Kat's Tommy. 10. Kim Woodburn on Loose Women - 2018 8,002 complained after an infamous argument between Celebrity Big Brother contestants Coleen Nolan and Kim Woodburn. Advertisement

But her comments were met with a fierce backlash among viewers who threatened to report them to the watchdog.

Acknowledging the controversy the next day, Andoh told Radio 4 host Paddy O'Connell: 'I think I upset a few people yesterday.

'I was talking about the day and how marvellous it was and then looking at the balcony at the end and suddenly went, "Oh, it's so white" because the day had been so, so mixed and I didn't mean to upset anybody.'

In an additional statement, Andoh said: 'On Saturday King Charles prayed out loud  "Grant that I may be a blessing to all thy children, of every faith and belief, that together we may discover the ways of gentleness and be led into the paths of peace".

'Such a loving prayer, reflecting his wide embrace of the rich diverse peoples celebrating his Coronation  and I was one of them, brilliantly included throughout the service.

'Sitting in the warmth of that intentionally wide embrace, I was simply caught by the visual shift on the balcony  not a particularly original observation. There was no intention to upset anyone.

'I continue to celebrate the King who created The Prince's Trust, loves the arts, cares for all faiths and for the future of our environment, as he has done for many decades.'

She added that it is 'an exciting moment in our history'.

A spokesperson for Ofcom said: 'We are assessing the complaints against our broadcasting rules before deciding whether or not to investigate.'

Ms Andoh's comments prompted a major backlash on social media, with one Twitter user asking: 'Why is it OK to dismiss a white family for being white?'

A second said: 'I'm disappointed in Adjoa Andoh. The Coronation focused on promoting positive race relations & representing modern Britain.

'There were many people from diverse backgrounds who had prominent positions yesterday, and yet Adjoa chose to discriminate with her divisive comment.'

And a third added: 'Why make such an appalling #whitebalcony comment?! Appalling.'

The second most complained about moment of the year so far was a comment on the Jeremy Vine Show about junior doctors, which attracted more than 2,250 complaints for several supposed errors.

In third place was Capital Radio DJ Ant Payne's 'insensitive' joke about earthquake-hit Turkey.

The presenter, who hosts the 4pm to 7pm slot on the station, said on air that it was 'actually the best time' to start looking for 'cheap flights' to the country.

Andoh (left) stunned her ITV co-stars when she referred to the Buckingham Palace balcony as being 'terribly white' during their live Coronation coverage

King Charles III and Queen Camilla wave goodbye on the Buckingham Palace balcony during the Coronation

The actress plays Lady Danbury, pictured left, in the popular period TV series Bridgerton

Ms Andoh made her Hollywood debut in 2009 in Clint Eastwood's hit film Invictus alongside Morgan Freeman



He also joked that listeners could 'get your teeth done while you are over there' and 'come back looking 19 years old', adding: 'You will be on Love Island next year if you are doing that.'

A total of 1,430 listeners complained as a result.

The most-complained about programme of 2022 was Love Island which received 2,360 complaints on July 17 after alleged misogynistic and bullying behaviour by some contestants in the villa.

In second place was I'm a Celebrity.... Get Me Out Of Here! from November 6-27 where viewers objected to the inclusion of Matt Hancock in the series.

Richard Madeley sparked 860 complaints after discussing death threats made to Sir Keir Starmer on Good Morning Britain.

Another large talking point was Gary Neville's 'politicised' comments during the World Cup Final in 2022, which received 605 complaints.

ITV has been approached for comment.
Police received a call at 2 am on Monday from a security staffer, reports said

An alleged stalker has been arrested lurking outside Prince Harry and Meghan's Montecito mansion in the middle of the night, according to reports.

It is understood that a member of the security team at the Duke and Duchess of Sussex's $14million (11million) California home placed the man under citizen's arrest before alerting the local police.

A spokesperson for the Santa Barbara Sheriff's Office told TMZ they received a phone call on Monday at around 2am from security staffers.

The tabloid said 29-year-old Kevin Garcia Valdovinos was placed under citizen's arrest at the entrance to the couple's property.

Once police officers arrived the man was taken into custody and booked for misdemeanor stalking, before being released on bail.

TMZ reported that 29-year-old Kevin Garcia Valdovinos was placed under citizen's arrest at the entrance to the couple's property. Pictured: Harry and Meghan attend the Ms Foundation Women of Vision Awards in NYC last night

An alleged stalker has been arrested after lurking outside Prince Harry and Meghan's Montecito mansion (pictured) in the middle of the night, according to reports

The law under which Valdovinos was arrested indicated this was not the first time he has committed such an offense.

TMZ reported he did not make it on to the property, and it was something he told security that prompted them to place him under citizen's arrest.

Nine police calls in nine months from July 2020 to February 2021 July 2020: Police were called four times with three listed as 'alarm activations' and one phone request August 2020: A 'Miscellaneous Priority Incident November: Alarm activation Christmas Eve: Nicholas Brooks allegedly trespassed and was let off with a warning Boxing Day: Brooks arrived again and was arrested February 2021: Alarm activation Advertisement

It was not clear if Harry and Meghan - or their two children Archie, 4 and Lilibet, 1 - were home at the time of the arrest.

The couple were in New York City last night attending the Ms Foundation Women of Vision Awards, where Meghan was presented with the 2023 award 'for her global advocacy to empower and advocate on behalf of women and girls.'

The couple and their then-one-year-old son Archie moved into the exclusive Montecito neighborhood in 2020.

They purchased the lavish 18,000-square-foot home, which sits on 5.4 acres of land, for $14.5million (11million).

It was revealed a year later that police had been called to the mansion nine times in as many months.

Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Office even responded twice over Christmas to pick up a trespasser who had travelled to the Sussexes' home from Ohio.

The property's alarm system had also been triggered five times in that time.

The data, obtained under freedom of information laws, was released after the couple shared their security fears in their bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey.

Meghan put on a stunning display in strapless gold dress as she arrived at a glittering New York gala - where she accepted a 'Women of Vision' award from her pal Gloria Steinem. It is understood that a 'stalker' was arrested at her home in California a day earlier

Nickolas Brooks was the trespasser who drove from Ohio. He was caught trespassing on Christmas Eve 2020 and was let off with a warning. When he returned again two days later he was arrested and charged.

Brooks subsequently said he may have been 'high' at the time of the incident. It was later revealed that he had a previous conviction for taking part in an attack which left a man with a broken bone in his face.

He said: 'I don't know why I went to their place, that's kind of where I ended up. I drove across the country - I know it's crazy.

'I've been told to stay away and that I'm never allowed back there but I don't have to appear in court. I was in jail for a night and they told me to stay away in future.'

News of Brooks' breaches came just a week after Harry had opened up about being worried for his family's safety. The prince told of his fears during the couple's bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey on March 7, 2021.

Harry revealed how Buckingham Palace revoked their security detail when they stepped down as senior royals and moved to North America.

He said that he and Meghan signed their lucrative deals with Netflix and Spotify because they needed money to cover their own security after being 'cut off financially' by the Palace after their departure from the UK.

'I've got what my mum left me, and without that, we would not have been able to do this,' he told Oprah at the time.

Nickolas Brooks trespassed at the Sussexes' mansion after driving from Ohio

'During Covid, the suggestion by a friend was, "What about streamers?"' Harry said, while Meghan added: 'We genuinely hadn't thought about it before.'

Harry continued: 'So, there were all sorts of different options. And look, from my perspective, all I needed was enough money to be able to pay for security to keep my family safe.'

The deals with Netflix and Spotify were said to be worth $100million (80million) and $25million (20million), respectively, while Harry has since published a memoir titled 'Spare', which - according to Guinness World Records - became the fastest selling non-fiction book of all time on the date of its release.

It is widely reported that Harry received $20million (16million) for the book deal.
Oliver Dowden branded Keir Starmer and Angela Rayner the 'Holly and Phil of British politics' in brutal Commons clashes today.

The deputy PM levelled the jibe at his Labour counterpart as he made his debut filling in for Rishi Sunak at the weekly interrogation.

Ms Rayner teased Mr Dowden that she had already seen off a number of his colleagues in the same role.

But he shot back that he had expected to face off against Sir Keir's preferred deputy - Lib Dem leader Ed Davey, who is rumoured to be in talks about a pact if there is a hung Parliament at the next election.

Oliver Dowden (left) branded Keir Starmer and Angela Rayner (right) the 'Holly and Phil of British politics' in brutal Commons clashes today

The deputy PM levelled the jibe at his Labour counterpart as he made his debut filling in for Rishi Sunak at the weekly interrogation

Mr Dowden compared the allegedly frosty relations between Sir Keir and Ms Rayner to the apparent tensions between ITV's This Morning pairing Willoughby and Schofield.

In another vicious rebuke during a spat about child poverty, Mr Dowden said: 'This comprehensive schoolboy is not going to take any lectures from the party opposite.'

The premier is en route to Japan for the G7 summit, where he will urge fellow leaders to step up support for Ukraine.

Opening the hostilities, Ms Rayner said: 'It's a pleasure to welcome yet another Deputy Prime Minister to the despatch box. The third deputy that I face in three years, and you know what they say? The third time's a charm. And I'm also pleased to note that the Prime Minister has a working class friend, finally.

'I seem to remember that after the loss of 300 Conservative seats at last year's local elections, he resigned, saying someone must take responsibility.

'After a thousand more Conservative councillors have been given the boot by voters, who does he think it is responsible now?'

The Deputy PM replied: 'In the spirit of her opening remarks, can I just say, it really is a pleasure to see her here today. I was, though, expecting to face the Labour Leader's choice for the next Deputy Prime Minister if they win the election. So I'm surprised that the Lib Dem leader isn't taking questions today.

As Tory MPs erupted in laughter, Mr Dowden continued: 'You will forgive me if I take her predictions with a pinch of salt. After all, she confidently predicted that the right honourable member for Islington North (Jeremy Corbyn) would one day be prime minister.'

When Ms Rayner goaded the deputy PM over Tory infighting, Mr Dowden shot back: 'We all know what's going on with her and her Leader. It's all lovey dovey on the surface, they turn it on for the cameras, but as soon as they're off, it's a different story.

'They're at each other's throats. They are the Phil and Holly of British politics.'
A colourfully tattooed American traveller has upgraded from police custody to a boutique hotel after she allegedly tried to smuggle a 24-karat gold-plated gun into Australia.

Liliana Goodson was arrested at Sydney Airport on the afternoon of April 23 after Australian Border Force allegedly found a golden handgun hidden in her hand luggage.

Police allege an X-ray machine at the busy airport detected the golden gun inside Ms Goodson's hand luggage after she flew into the country from Los Angeles.

The weapon is a gold-plated Colt 45-style pistol with pearl inlay which is estimated to be valued at more than $2,000. It was not loaded when it was seized by authorities.

US citizen Liliana Goodson has been charged with trying to smuggle an unregistered gold-plated pistol into Australia

Authorities allege the weapon is a custom 1911 Colt 45 plated in 24-karat gold

ABF officials claim Ms Goodson does not have a permit to import or carry the gun, which is unregistered.

The 28-year-old was in custody for more than two weeks after she was charged with importing an unauthorised illegal firearm.

She was granted bail and released on May 8 on the condition she deposit a surety of $10,000 within three days.

The hefty sum would be forfeited to the court if Ms Goodson failed to appear in court.

However, Sydney Downing Centre court heard on Wednesday that the US traveller had not handed the money over to the court.

Her lawyer Bryan Wrench told the court Ms Goodson could only access her US bank account using her phone, which had been seized by federal authorities during her arrest.

'The problem is that she has those funds but she can't pull them out,' he said.

'The ABF said they wouldn't release her phone.'

Mr Wrench asked the court to extend the deadline until Monday to allow his client to deposit the money.

Commonwealth prosecutor Mayuri Santhakumar agreed to the extension on the condition that 'at least some of the money she had accessed' could be deposited immediately.

Magistrate Miranda Moody said she was concerned about Ms Goodson's ability to pay the surety.

'She's been granted bail on the basis that she provides the surety,' she said.

'It might be that it's a surety she could never provide and that's the danger.'

The magistrate ordered Ms Goodson to pay $3500 of the surety on Wednesday and the remaining balance by Monday.

The 28-year-old was in custody for more than two weeks after being charged with importing an unauthorised illegal firearm

The court heard Goodson has been living at The Baxley, 'luxury boutique accommodation' near Sydney's iconic Bondi Beach

Weekly rates for the hotel range from $1141 for a 'compact' room with a shared bathroom, to $1820/week for a premium queen room with included ensuite

The magistrate warned the US traveller was in 'danger of losing her bail' if she did not pay the outstanding $6500.

The 28-year-old was colourfully dressed in hot pink cheetah-print pants and neon orange runners when she appeared in court on Wednesday to plead her case.

Her long dark hair was pulled back into a pink butterfly clip to keep it out of her face, which is tattooed with a myriad of colourful images.

The court heard the tourist has been living at The Baxley, 'luxury boutique accommodation' near Sydney's iconic Bondi Beach.

Weekly rates for the hotel range from $1141 for a 'compact' room with a shared bathroom, to $1820/week for a premium queen room with included ensuite.

On the website, the hotel boasts 'premium linen, luxurious locally-sourced botanical amenities, communal lounge, kitchenette and laundry facilities'.

As part of her bail conditions, she was forced to surrender the passport she used to enter the country and is prohibited from applying for a replacement.

Ms Goodson (pictured) appeared in court on Wednesday

If convicted of the offence, Ms Goodson is facing a maximum of 10 years behind bars.

She is also facing the possibility of visa cancellation or deportation if found guilty.

ABF Commander Justin Bathurst said the seizure of the prohibited firearm was a win for 'Australia's first and most important line of defence'.

'Time and time again we have seen just how good ABF officers are at targeting and stopping illegal and highly dangerous goods from crossing Australia's border,' he said.
Keir Starmer was accused of trying to slide Britain back into the EU 'by the back door' today after he vowed to reopen the Brexit deal.

The Labour leader blasted Boris Johnson's agreement - since tweaked by Rishi Sunak - as 'half-baked' after one of the UK's top motor manufacturers demanded change.

While he stressed he did not support rejoining the EU fully, he said ties needed to be much closer.

But Tories are furious at the intervention, accusing Sir Keir of being 'deceitful' about his intentions and risking leaving the UK with the 'worst of all worlds'.

The spat erupted after Vauxhall's parent company Stellantis told MPs it will be unable to keep a commitment to make electric vehicles in the UK without changes to the Brexit deal.

The firm - which also owns Citroen, Peugeot and Fiat - employs more than 5,000 people in the UK.

Sir Keir leader blasted Boris Johnson's agreement - since tweaked by Rishi Sunak - as 'half-baked' after one of the UK's top motor manufacturers demanded change.

Vauxhall's parent company Stellantis told MPs it will be unable to keep a commitment to make electric vehicles in the UK without changes to the Brexit deal

Former Brexit negotiator Lord Frost told the National Conservatism conference: 'If they can show that the British nation was somehow born in sin, or even isn't really a proper country at all but a temporary constellation of four nations fused together purely for self-interest, then it's much easier to discredit the proposition that getting Britain to succeed in the 21st century is a worthwhile or even a possible task.'

Speaking to BBC Breakfast, the Labour Party leader said: 'Look, we're not going to re-enter the EU. We do need to improve that deal. Of course we want a closer trading relationship, we absolutely do. We want to ensure that Vauxhall and many others not just survive in this country but thrive.

'Because there are jobs bound up, there are families watching this morning either employed by Vauxhall or a similar place who are deeply worried about what this means.

'So yes we need a better Brexit deal. We will make Brexit work. That doesn't mean reversing the decision and going back into the EU but the deal we've got, it was said to be oven-ready, it wasn't even half-baked.

'So of course we've got to repair that along with all the other things we'll have to repair if and when we are privileged to come into government.'

Sir said a future Labour government would look to 'make things here in Britain' to ensure a strong domestic supply chain.

A Tory spokesman pointed out that Sir Keir also wants to allow EU nationals to vote at general elections.

'Keir Starmer wants to rig British elections so EU nationals can vote for the British government,' the spokesman said.

'It is obvious why. He wants to reopen Brexit, hand power back to Brussels and surrender to uncontrolled, unlimited immigration  after all this is what he's campaigned for his entire political career.'

Tory former minister Peter Bone told MailOnline that Sir Keir was 'being deceitful' because his goals would fundamentally undermine Brexit.

'He was sort of saying actually we need to be in the single market, we need to renegotiate and by the way we won't put that to the British people,' the MP said.

'That seems to be the worst of every world.

'If Starmer was to be honest and say I want to take us back in the EU and we'll have a referendum  fair enough, I don't agree with it, but at least the British people would have a say.

'But for him to say by the back door he's going to renegotiate I was deeply concerned.

'If you believe in Brexit you shouldn't go anywhere near Labour.'

Mr Bone also rejected the idea that Brexit had failed, arguing that the UK had regained control over borders and laws and stopped handing billions of pounds to the EU.

Mr Sunak was successful in convincing the EU to reopen the deal when he secured the Windsor Framework to ease problems in Northern Ireland in February.

Former Tory minister Lord Frost suggested Left-wing Remain supporters were stoking a 'culture war' because they wanted Britain to 'fail' outside the EU.

The peer told the National Conservatism Conference: 'If they can show that the British nation was somehow born in sin, or even isn't really a proper country at all but a temporary constellation of four nations fused together purely for self-interest, then it's much easier to discredit the proposition that getting Britain to succeed in the 21st century is a worthwhile or even a possible task.'

Stellantis told a Commons inquiry into the supply of batteries for electric vehicles that their UK investments are in the balance due to the terms of the trade deal.

The world's fourth biggest car maker committed to making electric vehicles at its Ellesmere Port and Luton plants two years ago.

But in a submission to the inquiry, the company said the Brexit deal was a 'threat to our export business and the sustainability of our UK manufacturing operations'.

It called on the Government to reach an agreement with the EU to maintain existing rules until 2027, rather than enact next year's planned changes which state 45 per cent of an electric car's value must originate in the UK or EU to qualify for trade without tariffs.

Stellantis said the rise in the cost of raw materials during the pandemic and energy crisis meant it was 'unable to meet these rules of origin'.

It said companies not meeting the 45 per cent target would see 10 per cent tariffs on trade with the EU and make domestic production and exports uncompetitive with Japan and South Korea

Business and Trade Secretary Kemi Badenoch has raised the issue with Brussels, the Government said, and she has a pre-arranged meeting with Stellantis bosses today.

She has also raised the motor industry's concerns about the Brexit deal with Chancellor Jeremy Hunt and Foreign Secretary James Cleverly, according to Whitehall sources.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were all smiles as they left a ballroom in New York last night following their first public appearance together since the Coronation.

Body language expert Judi James told MailOnline that the Duchess of Sussex was 'in full goddess mode' after accepting a feminist award at the Ms Foundation for Women's 50th anniversary gala event.

Meghan spoke in a 'dreamier tone than usual' and was 'conducting her audience' during her speech at the Ziegfeld Ballroom in Manhattan, Ms James said.

Meghan also made a 'powerful' reference to her mother Doria Ragland who was in the audience at the event last night, with Ms James saying her left hand worked in a 'vertical chopping gesture to suggest pride and a desire to defend'.

She also said 41-year-old Meghan used 'verbal mirroring to create empathy with her audience' while speaking about being a young girl and 'adopting that voice'.

The Duke and Duchess smile last night as they depart the Ziegfeld Ballroom in New York

Prince Harry and Meghan smile as they leave the Ziegfeld Ballroom in New York last night

The couple leave the Ms Foundation for Women's 50th anniversary gala in New York

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex leave the ballroom in Manhattan yesterday evening

Prince Harry and Meghan smile as they leave the Ziegfeld Ballroom in New York last night



The duchess received the Ms Foundation's Women of Vision Award, recognising her 'global advocacy to empower and advocate on behalf of women and girls'.

She wore a strapless gold midi dress with scalloped pattern detailing, and her acceptance speech closed out the gala where she said: 'It's never too late to start. You can be the visionary of your own life... There is still so much work to be done.'

Analysing videos of her speech posted online, Ms James said: 'Dressed and styled in goddess mode, with her gold sheath dress and her hair pulled to one side, Meghan seems to start this speech as a guru, speaking in a softer, almost dreamier tone than usual, turning frequently to her iconic hosts behind her and gesticulating with one hand in what looks like a gesture of respect.

'She clasps her hands in front of her lower chest and there is a calm fluidity of her speech and movements as she glances behind her again.

'Meghan picks up her pace for a change of emphasis, adding more tone and energy as she addresses the crowd direct.

'Her eye contact with them works on a rotate and her left hand seems to be conducting her words with a fluid wrist movement, as though also conducting her audience as she gets her life messages across.'

Meghan also spoke of how she would eat dinner from a tray in front of TV quiz show Jeopardy! in her younger years - something she mentioned in her Archetypes podcast last November .

Commenting on this, Ms James said: 'Meghan touches her hair in a self-lowering gesture as she begins to use verbal mirroring to create empathy with her audience, speaking about her time as a young girl and even adopting that voice, as though re-experiencing it.

Heres video of The Duchess of Sussex heading on stage, and the beginning of her speech.



Full clip is too long to post, #WOV2023 pic.twitter.com/Vn2klIgIcq  Carly Ledbetter (@ledbettercarly) May 17, 2023

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle at the Ms Foundation Women of Vision Awards last night

The Sussexes were joined by Meghan's mother, Doria Ragland, for the event last night

'She bounces on her heels and uses open gestures and a sing-song voice.'

Meghan also paid tribute to her mother Ms Ragland when talking about copies of the feminist magazine Ms which used to be on the coffee table at their home.

The duchess said: 'I was too young at the time to know what most of it meant. But I also knew to my mum, my dear mom, I'm honoured to have you here tonight, I knew the significance of these magazines was important. It wasn't a one-off  she had a subscription.'

Commenting on this moment, Ms James said: 'There is a powerful link to family from Meghan here. Talking about diversity in magazines she makes a very dramatic reference to her mother in the audience. She refers to "My mom, my dear mom, who I'm honoured to have with me tonight".

'This is not just a passing reference as she stops her speech to praise Doria. Her left hand works in a vertical chopping gesture to suggest pride and a desire to defend, while her right hand is thrown out towards where Doria is sitting.'

Ms James added: 'Meghan performs a sweet smile and a head tilt, plus a pause and the right hand becomes a cue for the audience to applaud.'

Meghan, 41, also posed for a solo shot before making her way inside the awards ceremony

Meghan arrives in a $1,850 strapless gold dress with scalloped pattern detailing last night

Meghan was presented with the award by feminist activist Gloria Steinem

Meghan was presented with the award by the well-known feminist activist Gloria Steinem.

Yesterday's event came ten days after the duke made the solo trip to the King's Coronation in London earlier this month.

Meghan had opted to stay at their US home in Montecito, California, with their two children Archie and Lilibet.

Last year the pair became the recipients of the NAACP President's Award as well as the Robert F Kennedy Ripple of Hope Award, at a ceremony also held in New York.
Suspected quadruple murderer Bryan Kohberger will appear in court on Monday after a grand jury indicted him.

The 28-year-old criminology student will enter a plea to the felony charges of murder he's accused of in Latah County Court, Idaho.

Latah County Clerk confirmed to DailyMail.com that a grand jury had indicted Kohberger and he would appear on Monday at 9am.

He is accused of murdering University of Idaho students Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Madison Mogen, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Ethan Chapin, 20, on November 13 last year.

The alleged killer was extradited from Pennsylvania to Idaho in January, but was not formally indicted on the four felony murder charges and burglary.

Kohberger, 28, will have to enter a plea to the felony charges of murder he's accused of in Latah County Court, Idaho

Maddie Mogen (top) Kaylee Goncalves (second from left) Xana Kernodle (second from right) and Ethan Chapin (center) - all students at the University of Idaho - were knifed to death on November 13 in the quiet college town of Moscow

He waived his right to a speedy preliminary hearing at the time, pushing it back six months until June. But the decision by the grand jury means there is no need for a preliminary hearing.

This means that the surviving roommates will not have to face Kohberger unless he pleads not guilty, which would mean the case would go to trial.

A grand jury hearing is not conducted in open court, with 16 members of the general public hearing evidence from the prosecution.

The defendant and their legal team are not allowed to attend the hearing, but Kohberger's legal team will receive a transcript of the proceedings.

The news comes after it was revealed that Kohberger has received dozens of handwritten love letters from supporters who believe he is innocent.

An employee at Latah County Jail told The Messenger the letters are 'disturbing', and it is unclear if the accused killer is responding to the messages.

They added: 'He gets these letters a couple of times a week... they're usually handwritten with hearts and stars... colored envelopes. Everyone in the jail talks about how weird it is.'

It is unclear what these letters say, but it appears that many are confessing their love to Kohberger and believe he is innocent of the brutal slayings

Pictured: (L-R) Dylan Mortenson, Xana Kernodle, Bethany Funke, Kaylee Goncalves and Madison Mogen

Kohberger's apartment in Pullman, Washington, was combed by police for evidence into the ongoing investigation

The university where he worked was only a little over eight miles from the murder scene

Court documents also revealed that Kohbergers defense team were set to interview surviving roommate Bethany Funke  after her lawyers argued that she should not have to testify at the preliminary hearing.

Both sides came to the agreement that the defense would go to Funke for an interview in Nevada  dismissing a subpoena they issued on April 11.

Investigator Richard Bitonti, who is working for Kohberger's defense team, subpoenaed Funke on the basis that she may have 'exculpatory' information.

They claimed that the information she has is 'material and necessary' to the alleged killer's defense  though it is unclear exactly what that is.

Bitonti wrote in an affidavit: 'During the course of my investigation, it became known to me that [she] has information material to the charges against Mr. Kohberger.'

He added that she 'disclosed things she heard and things she saw' when interviewed by police and was present when police were called.

However Funke's lawyers hit back by saying that the preliminary hearing is not meant to 'become a mini-trial', and is only meant to decide probable cause.

They also said the subpoena was improperly filed, and there is no authority for an Idaho criminal defendant to summon a Nevada witness to Idaho for a preliminary hearing.

The alleged killer was extradited from Pennsylvania to Idaho in January, but was not formally indicted on the four murder charges and burglary.

He waived his right to a speedy preliminary hearing at the time, pushing it back six months until June. But the decision by the grand jury means there is no need for a preliminary hearing

As a potential witness Funke can willingly testify in the hearings, but if she refuses a subpoena can force her to attend court even if she does not want to.

If a witness refuses to testify after being ordered to do so,by a subpoena they can be held in contempt of court and given a fine of $500 or 25 days in jail.

However they can invoke their Fifth Amendment rights while testifying at the hearing if it could implicate them in a crime.

According to the statement of Office Brett Payne, both Funke and the other surviving roommate Dylan Mortensen, were home at the time of the homicides.

Funke's bedroom is described as being located on the east side of the first floor of the property, and she heard Ethan Chapin and Xana Kernodle return to the property at 1.45am on the night of the murders.

Mortensen's account of seeing a 'tall man' who was 'clad in black clothing and a mask' is detailed in the document.

However Funke's version of events has not been publicly released, though both roommate's phones were forensically downloaded by officers  leading them to believe the crimes occurred between 4am and 4.25am.

According to the statement of Office Brett Payne, both Funke (left) and the other surviving roommate Dylan Mortensen, were both home at the time of the homicides

Court documents earlier this week revealed that Funke's lawyers were arguing that she should not have to testify at a preliminary hearing in June, or for the duration of Kohberger's trial

Investigators believe that it was likely that the killer would have had blood evidence on their body or clothing, and hoped to find trace evidence in Kohberger's apartment

It is unclear what defense investigators feel could clear Kohberger, but if Funke's version of events contradicts that of Mortensen it could play a key role in the trial.

A gag also remains in place, preventing anyone connected to the case from speaking publicly  though an appeal to overturn this will be heard on May 25 on behalf of the Associated Press and the Goncalves family.

Kohberger is yet to enter a plea in the quadruple homicide and is charged with four counts of murder and one of burglary.

It comes after it was revealed that his lawyer will be paid $200 an hour in his case  with any additional overtime.

Chief Public defender Anne Taylor will be paid by Kootenai County for her 40-hour work week, with Latah County agreeing to give the funds to Kootenai for her work.

But any overtime that she accrues outside of those hours will be paid by Latah County directly to the attorney, with a second lawyer supporting Taylor in the case being paid $180 an hour.

Forensic teams swooped on his property, less than 15 minutes from the house where the gristly murders took place

A gag also remains in place, preventing anyone connected to the case from speaking publicly  though an appeal to overturn this will be heard on May 25 on behalf of the Associated Press and the Goncalves family

Taylor is representing the 28-year-old criminal justice major after stepping down as the lawyer for Cara Northington  the mother of murdered Xana Kernodle, 20.

She was in charge of her case until January 5, the same day that Kohberger was extradited from his home in Pennsylvania to Idaho.

The lawyer is also accused of a second conflict of interest in the case after it was revealed that she represented Maddie Mogen's stepmother, Korie Hatrock, in June 2022 and oversaw a case involving her father, Benjamin in 2020.

Kohberger's legal team filed a motion to compel discovery in the Latah County Court on May 4. It reiterates previous requests made on February 3 and March 24.

It seeks all body and dash cam footage from officers involved in his arrest in Pennsylvania; all audio or video evidence from his time in jail, including police interrogations; lab reports from the forensic evidence seized at his parents' home and his Hyundai Elantra; and the training records for officers involved in the case.

His latest legal filing comes after it was revealed that police found traces of blood and a secret storage locker at his apartment in Pullman, Washington - a 15-minute drive from where the alleged murders took place.
New Delhi, May 17 (UNI) Supreme Court in an interim order on Wednesday granted anticipatory bail to National President of Indian Youth Congress (IYC), Srinivas BV, in a sexual harassment case lodged by a party member in Assam.

The Apex Court, while granting interim protection to Srinivas, directed him to appear before the Investigating Officer (IO) and co-operate in the probe.

Srinivas had moved the Supreme Court seeking antitcipatory bail from arrest in a case for allegedly outraging modesty of the now expelled Assam youth Congress President.

Granting anticipatory bail, the court asked him to deposit a bail bond of Rs 50,000. It also issued notice to the state of Assam, and sought a detailed reply from it in the entire issue.

Srinivas has been asked by the Top Court to cooperate in the investigation.

He had moved the Apex Court seeking relief in respect to the FIR registered in Assam on a sexual harassment complaint lodged by an expelled party member.

A Bench of the Supreme Court, headed by Justice BR Gavai and also comprising Justice Justice Sanjay Karol said the alleged incident took place during 24-26 February 2023 in Raipur and the complaint was lodged in April 2023 in Assam.

The bench also noted that the complainant's tweets and interviews to media before the complaint was lodged had no "whisper of allegation" of sexual harassment against the petitioner. UNI SM SSP
A woman who killed her mother before carrying her decapitated head onto the streets outside her Sydney home will be released from prison years sooner after successfully appealing her sentence.

Jessica Camilleri was found not guilty in 2021 of murder and was instead sentenced to a lesser charge of manslaughter owing to 'substantial mental health issues', including ADHD and obsessive compulsive disorder.

An autopsy on 57-year-old Rita Camilleri revealed 'at least 100 stab wounds', including wounds that passed through the right eye socket and into the brain, after the 25-year-old attacked her mother with seven different knives.

Camilleri told police at the time of her arrest that she had acted in self-defence and her mother had tried to kill her. However, she admitted later to a forensic psychologist that she was 'hacking like a butcher' and twisted her mother's head off.

Jessica Camilleri was found not guilty in 2021 of murder and was instead sentenced to a lesser charge of manslaughter owing to 'substantial mental health issues'

She was sentenced to 21 years behind bars by a Sydney court in March 2021, with a non-parole period of 16 years.

In Sydney Supreme Court on Monday, Justice Peter Hamill dismissed claims that Camilleri's sentence was 'manifestly excessive' and the sentencing judge had been incorrect in their assessment of the 'gravity' of the crime.

Justice Hamill nonetheless ruled that Camilleri should be resentenced, with support from justices Christine Adamson and Richard Cavanagh.

'Objectively, the facts were gruesome and brutal and involved a frenzied attack on an innocent victim in her own home,' Justice Hammil said.

'On the other hand, the offence was spontaneous and the result of Camilleri losing control of herself because of her complex psychiatric illness.

'Her behaviour of walking into the street with her mother's head and dropping it, as well as asking emergency services personnel whether they could reattach it, demonstrated the extent to which the applicant's conduct was divorced from the real world.'

Based on the evidence of multiple psychiatrists and a psychologist, Justice Hammil found Camilleri had only a 'simple understanding' of moral wrongfulness due to her intellectual disability and autism spectrum disorder.

He ordered that she be resentenced to a prison term of 16 years, with a non-parole period of 12 years.

Rita Camilleri suffered at least 100 stab wounds from seven different knives during the attack by her daughter

The court was told the frenzied attack began after Camilleri had become displeased with a young relative being at the home where she lived there with her mother, for whom she was the sole carer, on July 20, 2021.

'A neighbour saw Camilleri 'yelling and throwing her arms about, and 'swearing and screaming at her mother' for 'always embarrassing' her,' agreed police facts reveal.

The pair continued to clash after a home doctor told Camilleri that she was suffering stomach problems, with Rita insisting on her daughter being taken to hospital. Camilleri ripped the phone from her mother when she attempted to call an ambulance.

'Camilleri followed her mother and a struggle ensued in the bedroom,' agreed police facts state.

'Camilleri knocked her mother to the ground, dragged her by her hair into the kitchen and restrained her.

'She then used a number of kitchen knives to inflict 'an indeterminate but very high number of knife blows at her mother's head and neck, ultimately decapitating Mrs Camilleri at the C2 vertebra'.'

Camilleri decapitated her mother and dumped her head in a nearby neighbour's front yard

A relative attempted to stop the attack.

He jumped on Camilleri and struck out at her with the cardboard lid of a toy box.

'When the applicant went to push the (relative) off her, she caused a deep wound in his cheek and lacerated his head and hands,' agreed facts state.

'The (relative) vomited at some point during the incident.'

After decapitating her mother Camilleri dumped the head in a nearby neighbour's front yard

The sentencing judge ruled in 2021 that 'the attack upon Rita Camilleri was entirely unprovoked'.

'(The attack) represented nothing more than an expression of the offender's rage at her mother for her attempt to call an ambulance,' they said.

Camilleri will be eligible for parole from July 20, 2031.
Two parents from Georgia have been charged with attempted murder and child abuse after their starving 10-year-old son was found wandering through their neighborhood looking for a grocery store where he could beg for food.

Police in Griffin arrested Tyler Schindley, 46, and his wife Krista, 47, after neighbors in the upscale enclave found the emaciated boy roaming through the streets on Friday. The child begged police officers to 'please not make him go back.'

The boy was reportedly barefoot, hungry and confused.

Authorities said the child had been intentionally starved and weighed just about 36 pounds when he was found - the weight of an average 4-year-old.

District Attorney Marie Broder said during a Tuesday news conference: 'This child was, simply put, being starved to death, and it is tragic.'

Police in Griffin arrested Tyler and Krista Schindley after neighbors found their emaciated son roaming through the streets on Friday

The couple have been charged with attempted murder, in addition to several counts of child abuse

'I truly believe that if he had not gotten out of that home, this would be a very different case,' she added.

'This case is just disturbing. It's heartbreaking,' said Broder who has spent the bulk of her career prosecuting child abuse suspects.

'As a mother, I can't comprehend it. As a human being, it breaks your heart. We aren't releasing any photos of this child for obvious reasons, but I will tell you, the photos are absolutely horrible, and anybody with a human heart, who looks at them, should be shaken to their core.'

The parents were accused of locking the child inside his bedroom and leaving him alone at the house for 'extended periods of time and on multiple occasions, with no access to lights, food, clothing or adult interaction and/or assistance,' according to court documents.

The couple also allegedly withheld hot water, toilet paper and views of the outdoors. At one point, it is believed they beat the 10-year-old, causing further injuries.

The abuse is believed to have occurred for at least three years, beginning in May of 2020.

According to officials, the boy was one of five siblings living in the home, and he was not the oldest or the youngest. Authorities did not share information about the conditions of the other children, all of whom were homeschooled, but said it seemed that the 10-year-old boy was the only one being starved.

District Attorney Marie Broder who told the press on Tuesday the 10-year-old victim was being 'starved to death'

Tyler Schindley voluntarily came into the local police department after his son was found and spoke with investigators. Krista Schindley was arrested after that, following a separate interview she had.

The boy was transported to a local hospital, where he is being treated for malnutrition and a low heart rate. The child also suffered 'dental injury and disfiguration' as a result of his treatment, which the parents seemingly failed to treat.

Law enforcement officials added the four other children have been placed in the custody of Georgia's Child Services department.

The couple have been charged with attempted homicide in the second degree and attempted malice murder. They also face several charges of cruelty to children, battery and false imprisonment.

One of the charges their parents' face includes child cruelty against the four other children who allegedly witnessed abuse against their ten-year-old brother.

Krista is thought to have been a franchise owner of the Peachtree City True Rest Float Spa and both she and husband Tyler managed the spa together.

Tyler's Facebook page also listed him as a manager at an Under Armour store in McDonough.

Ethan Washburn, the eldest son of Krista and Tyler Schindley, opened the door to their family home in Griffin, Georgia, and told a reporter: 'I'm not too close to the situation right now, Im just watching the house'

The Schindleys' home in Griffin, Georgia, which is worth an estimated $447,000

A child's bike can be seen at the property in Griffin where the 10-year-old son of Krista and Tyler Schindley was allegedly kept locked in his room without until he weighed just 36lbs

Krista Schindley (center right) poses with her eldest son Ethan Washburn (center left) at a Float Spa booth

The owners of the True Rest Spas have since distanced themselves for the Schindleys, saying they are 'horrified and shocked' by the arrest

Ethan Washburn, the eldest of the couple's children - though he does not share a last name with Tyler Schindley - was at the family home on Tuesday.

He told Fox5 that he had no connection to the ongoing case: 'I'm not too close to the situation right now, Im just watching the house. I dont really have any comment,' he said, before confirming the couple are his parents.

Ethan is listed as a branch manager for the same chain of spas his mother was working for before her arrest.

In a Mother's Day promotion posted to the True Rest Float Spa's Instagram page on May 1, Krista Schindley is seen leading a guest into a spa chamber.

Since her arrest, the owners of the True Rest Spas have distanced themselves from Krista, saying they are 'horrified and shocked' by the arrests.

In a post Facebook post on Tuesday, the company wrote: 'As the owners of True REST McDonough and Peachtree we are horrified and shocked by the news about the Schindleys. True REST is doing everything we can to protect the spa as a safe environment for our clients and our employees. This operations team has been replaced. The True REST mission remains to provide an accessible floatation therapy experience for anyone struggling with pain, stress and insomnia.'

Tyler Schindley in a photo from his Facebook profile. He's charged with attempted homicide in the second degree and attempted malice murder along with wife Krista. He also faces several charges of cruelty to children, battery and false imprisonment

Tyler Schindley appeared to enjoy an active lifestyle. He is shown here competing in a sporting event that included jumping over burning coals

Kim Seigler, a neighbor of the Schindleys, who said she often worried about the children in that house

According to public records, Tyler and Krista Schindley have only ever been written up for minor traffic offenses, including speeding, an improper turn and an expired registration.

The family's home has an estimated value of $447,000 in an area where the median home price is $191,000.

The couple's next-door neighbor, Kim Seigler, told Fox5 that she had previously worried about the Schindley children.

'The fact that they're my neighbors... just made me feel bad... like I should've been more observant,' she said.

The couple is due in court on Monday.
Pullos was involved in a collision last month and subsequently arrested for a DUI after cops found mini bottles of tequila in her car

General Hospital actress Haley Pullos has been arrested for a DUI after being involved in a wrong-way crash.

Pullos had been travelling on the 134 Freeway in California late last month and was involved in a reported head-on collision.

TMZ reported that the 24-year-old swerved on the freeway and flew over the median strip, before colliding with an oncoming car moving at 60 mph.

According to a report seen by the news site, Pullos was unable to exit her car and when firefighters did manage to rescue her she became aggressive, striking one and shouting: 'This is a $400 f****** shirt.'

Police then searched her vehicle and discovered marijuana edibles and mini bottles of tequila and was taken to hospital before being arrested for DUI.

It is alleged that while in hospital she was aggressive and fought hospital staff, before she had to be sedated.

Pullos, pictured in August of last year, has been arrested for DUI over the incident

Pasadena Fire Department shared images of the scene on their social media, urging people to think twice before getting behind the wheel

The horrific collision happened in the early hours of April 29 on the 134 Freeway, California

Pullos, pictured here, has starred on the soap show General Hospital since 2009

The driver of the vehicle she collided with is said to have suffered major injuries as a result of the crash.

Images shared by Pasadena Fire Department show the horrific damage caused by the incident - both drivers were lucky to have lived.

The front of the cars are completely obliterated, with debris from the crash strewn across the highway.

Alongside their post, the department said: 'Arriving units found two vehicles involved, with one person trapped, after a reported head-on collision.

'Fire personnel extricated one person from a vehicle and provided patient care and hospital transport for the occupants of both vehicles.

'Always a reminder to stay within the speed limit, avoid drinking and driving and never be distracted by passengers, phones, etc.'

TMZ also reported that police had told them she had been involved in a hit-and-run collision prior to the crash on the freeway.

Last week, Pullos announced that she would not be appearing on the popular soap General Hospital as she was recovering from a crash.

It is not known what time the collision happened, but Pasadena Fire Department said they had been called out in the early hours of the morning of April 29.

Both Pullos and the unknown other driver survived the collision, with the latter sustaining major injuries

The front of both cars are completely destroyed, with debris from the collision spread across the freeway

Police say they found small bottles of tequila as well as cannabis edibles inside her car

Besides her work on General Hospital, she has also appeared in other TV shows including medical drama House

Pullos, pictured here on General Hospital, has now said she would not be appearing on the soap due to recovering from a crash

Last week, Pullos announced that she would not be appearing on the popular soap General Hospital after having to recover from a crash.

Pullos had been sidelined from her work on the ABC soap and her role has been given to actress Holiday Mia Kriegel while she recovers.

In a statement Pullos said: 'Unfortunately, I was involved in an automobile accident and I'm doing okay, but I am going to need a little time to recover. I will be back as soon as possible!'

Pictured: Actress Holiday Mia Kriegel who has now replaced Pullos on General Hospital while she recovers

Kriegel had previously worked on CBS show Bull as well alongside Michael Weatherly

Pullos had played Molly Lansing-Davis on the long running show, and has done since 2009.

She has also appeared in an episode of medical drama House, and was nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award in 2015 for her role on General Hospital.

DailyMail.com has approached representatives of Pullos for comment.
A female prison officer who allegedly had relationships with three inmates has appeared in court accused of misconduct.

Sarah Jane Williams, 38, formerly known as Moore, was a warden at HMP Altcourse in Fazakerley, Liverpool, at the time of the alleged offences between February 3 and July 8, 2020.

She faces three counts of misconduct in public office and causing a computer to perform a function to secure unauthorised access to data or programme.

The misconduct charges allege she had relationships with serving prisoners Elias Morgan, 33, Connor Crawford, 32, and Craig Steenson, 32.

Sarah Jane Williams, 38, faces three counts of misconduct in public office and causing a computer to perform a function to secure unauthorised access to data or programme

One misconduct charge alleges she had a relationship with Elias Morgan (pictured)

The alleged offences took place at HMP Altcourt in Liverpool

Each of the three counts allege that she communicated with the prisoners via her personal mobile phone and failed to inform prison authorities that she knew they were in unlawful possession of a mobile phone.

It is also claimed that she divulged sensitive information to one inmate regarding another prisoners location.

Williams, of Widnes, Chesire, appeared at Liverpool magistrates court where Andrew Page, prosecuting, asked the Bench to send the case to the crown court.

The magistrates granted Williams unconditional bail to appear at the higher court on June 13.
A bipartisan group of House lawmakers are heading to London to meet with top UK leaders to find ways for both nations to work together in order to effectively counter China's growing aggression on multiple fronts.

The delegation led by House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party Chairman Mike Gallagher will depart Thursday morning.

'Chinese Communist Party aggression is global, and the United States and United Kingdom face common economic, military and ideological threats posed by the CCP,' Gallagher told DailyMail.com regarding the upcoming trip.

Gallagher, R-Wis., said that 'for the sake of both our nations and the sake of the free world' the U.S. and the UK must work together to counter the rising CCP threat.'

Gallagher said that 'for the sake of both our nations and the sake of the free world' the U.S. and the UK must work together to counter the rising CCP threat led by Xi Jinping

The most pressing threats by China include technology theft and transnational repression, which he warns are 'flagrant violations' of the sovereignty of both nations.

'I look forward to working with my friends in Parliament and the Government to build upon our special relationship and fight CCP aggression and malign influence across the globe.'

The bipartisan group includes Reps. Mark Green, R-Tenn., Haley Stevens, D-Mich., Michelle Steel, R-Calif., Donald Norcross, D-N.J., Blake Moore, R-Utah, Joe Courtney, D-Conn., Rob Wittman, R-Va., Michael Waltz, R-Fla., and Dan Newhouse, R-Wash.

On Friday, the China hawks will meet with the UK's Deputy National Security Adviser Beth Sizeland and Secretary of State for Defense Ben Wallace.

The lawmakers will also participate in a round table with Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC) - members of Parliament who have taken a hard-line approach to dealing with the CCP.

Sir Iain Duncan Smith, Nusrat Ghani, Judith Cummins, Lord Bethell, Stuart McDonald, Bob Seely, Lord Alton and Tim Loughton are expected to attend, DailyMail.com has learned.

Google DeepMind will also meet with the lawmakers to discuss the threats poised by artificial intelligence (AI).

In addition, the Ronald Reagan Foundation and Institute is teaming up with London-based foreign policy think tank the Henry Jackson Society to hold a conference including the U.S. and UK lawmakers.

The conference marks the inaugural meeting of the 'Reagan-Jackson Security Dialogue,' which the organizations hope to hold annually moving forward.

It will be held over the weekend in Cambridge and is aimed at promoting discussions on security with top thought leaders and lawmakers in the U.S. and abroad.

Rachel Hoff, policy director for the Ronald Reagan Institute, told DailyMail.com the conference will foster dialogue between individuals on both sides of the Atlantic on 'rising challenges from China, to Russian aggression, to challenges and opportunities with regard to emerging technologies, and everything in between.'

'The congressional delegation led by Chairman Gallagher will be a significant part of the U.S. participation in the conference,' she added.

The delegation led by House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party Chairman Mike Gallagher of Wisconsin will depart Thursday morning

British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace will meet with a bipartisan group of lawmakers this week

The idea for the conference was born out of discussions held at the annual Reagan National Defense Forum in Simi Valley, California.

'The Reagan-Jackson Security Dialogue is the Reagan Institute's first international convening,' Hoff added.

'And so we view it as a starting point this year to bring together U.S. and UK participants in the context of the special relationship, and in the context of shared challenges that we all face.'

A select committee aide added that the lawmakers and the leaders in the UK recognize that the trip is aimed at figuring out the best ways to work together to counter China's aggression since they are 'all in the same boat.'

'The CCP aggression is global,' a committee aide told DailyMail.com. 'It extends to all facets including economic, military and cyber coercion.'

The UK Parliament recently banned CCP-linked app TikTok from all Parliamentary phones and devices, due to fears data could be shared with the Chinese Communist regime in Beijing.

The U.S. has taken similar steps to limit the proliferation of TikTok nationwide. A handful of states have already passed laws prohibiting the use of the app on government-owned devices and networks.

And Montana became the first state in the nation to ban the app from being downloaded outright throughout the state.

Gallagher previously teamed up with Sen. Marco Rubio to introduce a bill last Congress to completely ban TikTok from operating in the U.S.

House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party is holding a hearing Wednesday evening on best ways to counter the CCP's economic aggression.

Gallagher said in a statement to DailyMail.com ahead of the hearing that he hopes that the U.S. will 'take charge' of its own economic sovereignty with its allies because the country's relationship currently with China is 'confused.'

'I think there's some people who want to go back to the halcyon days of economic engagement, in the hope that might improve the U.S.-China relationship. I just think that represents the triumph of delusion over experience.'

The hearing will feature testimony from Robert Lighthizer, former United Statestrade representative, Roger Robinson the chairman of the Prague Security Studies Institute and Dr. Eric Schmidt, chairman of the Special Competitive Studies Project.
A mother charged with abducting her daughter from her father's care in 2017 was released after posting a $250,000 bond.

Heather Unbehaun, 40, will appear in Buncombe County Court on July 11 for her first court appearance since her daughter Kayla, 15, was recognized by a store owner in North Carolina.

The unnamed Good Samaritan spotted the teenager after watching her story on Netflix's Unsolved Mysteries.

Kayla was abducted by Unbehaun, who only had visitation rights, when she was just nine and was last seen on July 4, 2017, in Illinois.

Police have described the case as 'unusual', telling WLOS that there will typically be a technological breadcrumb' but there was not in this case.

Heather Unbehaun, 40, will appear in Buncombe County Court on July 11 for her first court appearance since her daughter Kayla, 15, was recognized by a store owner in North Carolina

Kayla was abducted by Unbehaun, who only had visitation rights, when she was jus nine and was last seen on July 4, 2017, in Illinois

Asheville Police Lt. Jonathan Brown said: 'What's most unusual is the ability to stay off the grid, if you will, for that period of time.

'Typically we leave a technological bread crumb and those are usually very easy and quick to be tracked down. This was not.

'A witness believed she had recognized a woman who kidnapped a child in 2017.

'When officers arrived, they were able to locate and make contact with the woman and the child.

'After further investigation by officers along with confirmation with the South Elgin Police Department, officers were able to confirm the identification of Heather Unbehaun and a minor child in her custody.'

After being found safe over the weekend she was reunited with her father Ryan Iskerka who drove her back to her home state from North Carolina.

Iskerka, who had full custody at the time, went to pick Kayla up from her mother's house in Wheaton, South Elgin, on July 5.

In a statement he said: 'I'm overjoyed that Kayla is home safe. I want to thank Elgin PDFD, the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children and all of the law enforcement agencies who assisted with her case.

'We ask for privacy as we get to know each other again and navigate this new beginning.'

Her father Ryan Iskerka (right), who had full custody at the time, went to pick her up from her mother's house in Wheaton, South Elgin, on July 5, 2017

After being found safe over the weekend she was reunited with her father Ryan Iskerka who drove her back to her home state from North Carolina

The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NEMEC) said a felony warrant for kidnapping had been issued for Heather Unbehaun in July 2017.

Her case was the topic of an episode focusing on parental abductions on Netflix's Unsolved Mysteries series.

Kayla is featured at the end of the episode 'Abducted by a Parent' as a part of a Missing Children Roll alongside CJ and Billy Vosseler, Luis Alderete-Martinez, Huaiyu and Binyu Chin, Reuben Blackwell Jr., Tammy and Diego Flores, and Christopher and Lisa Zaharias.

The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children posted alerts online in the years since her abduction showing the missing girl aged 9 as well as age-progression photos of how she likely looks like now.

The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children posted alerts online in the years since her abduction showing the missing girl aged 9 as well as age-progression photos of how she likely looks like now (pictured: an age-progression picture of Kayla aged 14)

It comes after a DNA test confirmed the identity of a Texan woman who was abducted as a toddler 51 years ago and was reunited with her family last year.

Melissa Highsmith, now 53, was taken from her parents' Fort Worth home in 1971 by a babysitter when she was just 22 months old

She was miraculously reunited with her biological parents - Jeffrie Higshmith, 72; Alta Alpantenco, 73 and siblings - Rebecca Del Bosque, 48; Vicitoria Highsmith, 47; Sharon Highsmith, 45 and Jeffrey Highsmith, 42 - on November 26.

Fort Worth Police Department announced it had completed official DNA testing which confirmed Melissa's identity as the missing child.

For more than half a century her parents and siblings had been looking around the country for her - but she had been living just ten minutes away.

They eventually found her through her children's DNA samples which were shared on genealogy website 23andMe.
A US tourist has been rescued from sewers in Thailand's Sin City after he fell down an open manhole on the way back to his hotel.

Johnathan Vaimaona, 36, wandered around the underground sewage system for 'what felt like days' before finally hearing voices coming from a storm drain.

Residents heard the Hawaiian crying out for help and rescuers hauled him out of the 10ft hole in the resort city of Pattaya, known for its hedonistic nightclub scene.

Shirtless and covered in filth, video shows Vaimaona gulping down a soda and speaking to reporters after he was saved.

'I was in front of the hotel and then I just came up and I don't know where I'm at,' he said.

Johnathan Vaimaona, 36, gives a thumbs up as he clutches onto a water bottle after being rescued from the sewer beneath the city of Pattaya

Rescuers haul the Hawaiian out of the storm drain

Vaimaona, from Hawaii, said he fell down the manhole near the hotel he was staying at with his girlfriend

'I just fell down a hole, and I didn't know where I was going. I came up on the other end. I don't know where I was going.

'It feels like I was in there for days. I don't remember what was happening.'

Vaimaona said he was returning to the hotel on the afternoon of May 12 when he fell into the hole.

Unable to climb back up, he screamed for help, but no one was around to hear him.

He roamed the underground sewage system crying for assistance before finally hearing voices coming from a storm drain with light streaming in from above.

Security officer Chalee Boonsri, 26, was the first to hear Vaimaona.

'I was on my way to a convenience store for a drink when I suddenly heard a foreigner shouting,' he said.

'I looked around but didn't see anyone there. But when I looked at the pavement, I saw a man peeking at me from the drain.'

Rescuers lifted the drain grates and pulled Vaimaona out of the sewer.

The tattooed tourist was visibly shattered and appeared to be shaking as he drank from a bottle of soda. Wearing nothing but a pair of shorts, Vaimaona was covered in sludge from navigating the filthy sewer network.

Rescue workers hosed him down and gave him a drink before police questioned him.

He said he couldn't remember the name of the hotel where he had checked in with his girlfriend, only describing it as the one 'with the boats.'

Johnathan Vaimaona, 36, smiles as he sits on the street after being saved from the sewer network in Pattaya

Vaimaona is seen below the storm drain inside the filthy sewer network where he was trapped after falling into a manhole near his hotel in the coastal resort city known for its hedonistic nightlife

Vaimaona speaks to reporters about how he fell down and was left wandering around underground for 'what felt like days'

The Hawaiian looked shattered as he gulped down a water bottle

Vaimaona speaks to cops about what happened, telling them he was unable to remember much apart from his fall into the manhole

Rescuers are seen opening up the storm drain to free Vaimaona from the sewer

Vaimaona is hosed down by rescuers after his sewer journey left him covered in sludge

After verifying his entry documents and conducting further investigation, the police said they discovered inconsistencies in Vaimaona's statements.

They said he was speaking in a confusing manner and claimed to be the 'head of athletes from Cambodia.'

Cops vowed to do a more thorough investigation into Vaimaona's fall into the sewer.

Thailand's current military government has made efforts to clean up Pattaya after it was dubbed the 'sex capital' of the world and a modern-day Sodom and Gomorrah.

However, the entrenched sex industry and endemic corruption have proved difficult to tame in the once-sleepy coastal city.

A large number of British ex-pats have also set up bars in the sun-drenched resort, which has become an attractive place for pensioners to retire.
The Wuhan Institute of Virology had a 'serious biocontainment' incident' in 2019, was understaffed and marred by safety concerns, according to a Senate report on COVID origins.

The 329-page report on two years of work also states that the first death of COVID in China was in September 2019 - two months earlier than first thought - and that Beijing tried to keep the outbreak from the rest of the world.

The findings included more circumstantial evidence the virus leaked from the lab - but didn't contain a smoking gun.

'A careful reading of reports from the WIV spanning more than a three-year period yielded a picture of a struggling institution: underfunded, underregulated, and understaffed,' the report, led by Senate Intel ranking member Marco Rubio, read.

The report admits that it does not contain any one ''smoking gun'  which matters most when assessing the origin question.'

The report traces back to July 2019 when an official at the Wuhan Institute of Virology warned of the 'current shortcomings and foundational problems in the construction, operation, and maintenance' of the lab complex and directed staff to 'prioritize solving the urgent problems we are facing.'

Senate Republicans released a 329-page report two years in the making that includes what they call a 'mountain of circumstantial evidence' - but no proof - concluding Covid-19 originated in a lab

Then on September 19, 2019, the Wuhan lab shut down its online virus database in the middle of the night, according to the report. Six days later the WIV advised the Wuhan airport on a drill in case of the outbreak of a 'novel coronavirus.' Days after that a Wuhan resident known as Su died from what a Chinese biostatistician believes to be Covid-19, the report says.

By October the Chinese legislature was reviewing a draft biosecurity law, noting 'currently the biosecurity situation in our country is grim' and listed 'laboratories that leak biological agents' as a threat.

By November 2019 the Chinese government was hiding several documented cases of Covid-19.

CCP officials published a report warning: 'Once you have opened the stores test tubes, it is just as if having opened Pandora's Box. These viruses come without a shadow and leave without a trace.'

A CCP official traveled that month from Beijing to Wuhan with important instructions from Xi Jinping on 'the complex and grave situation currently facing safety work,' the report said.

The CCP did not alert the World Health Organization of the outbreak of a virus 'of unknown etiology' until January 2020.

By February 2020, the PRC had launched a campaign to strengthen biosafety at the WIV and other labs throughout the country. 'Just as Beijing was denying the possibility that COVID-19 came from a lab on the world stage, it was warning its own officials of such risks and rolling out new measures to prevent lab accidents.'

Chinese scientists filed a patent for a Covid-19 vaccine by Feb. 24, 2020 - and the report says the 'research methodology' suggests they began work on the vaccine no later than November 2019.

'Just as Beijing was denying the possibility that COVID-19 came from a lab on the world stage,' the report read, 'it was warning its own officials of such risks and rolling out new measures to prevent lab accidents.'

In a February speech to the Chinese politburo, Xi cast a link 'between the political security of the party-state, public health, and better regulation of biosafety and biosecurity.'

'A careful reading of reports from the WIV spanning more than a three-year period yielded a picture of a struggling institution: underfunded, underregulated, and understaffed,' the report, led by Senate Intel ranking member Marco Rubio, read

Meanwhile the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology issued additional regulations to address 'a long-lasting mechanism to prevent and control biosafety risks.'

'If the central authorities believed that the initial human infection of SARS-CoV-2 likely occurred at the Huanan Seafood Market in Wuhan, it is unclear why they took the time to address biosafety conditions ... precisely when the COVID-19 outbreak was at its most acute stage in China and they were urgently mobilizing an all-hands-on-deck response.'

Chinese officials have insisted the lab leak theory is a lie and refused to provide access to international efforts to determine the origin of a virus that has killed 7 million globally.

The report seems to follow in the vein of other intelligence conclusion - containing probable but not provable evidence the lab leak theory once considered a conspiracy by many is true.

The Department of Energy, which oversees biological research labs in the U.S., concluded with 'low confidence' in February of this year that the virus most likely came from a lab in Wuhan. The FBI concluded the same with moderate confidence.
Pentagon Press Secretary Brig. Gen. Patrick S. Ryder said that they 'responded appropriately' to the incident

The announcement comes four days after NORAD intercepted six operating in the same zone on May 11

The North American Aerospace Defence Command confirmed that it detected and tracked a Russian military aircraft operating near Alaska on Monday.

Officials confirmed that the Russian craft remained in international airspace and did not enter American or Canadian sovereign airspace.

However, the warplane was in flight as several 'planned, large-scale military training exercises' were ongoing in and around the area by the US military.

They added: 'Russian activity in the Alaska ADIZ occurs regularly and is not seen as a threat.'

'And ADIZ begins where sovereign airspace ends and is a defined stretch of international airspace that requires the ready identification, location and control of all aircraft in the interest of national security.

Officials confirmed that the Russian craft remained in international airspace and did not enter American or Canadian sovereign airspace. (Stock Image)

'NORAD employs a layered defense network of satellites, ground based-and airborne radars and fighter aircraft to track and identify aircraft and inform appropriate actions.

'It remains ready to employ a number of response options in defense of North America.'

It is the second time in four days that NORAD tracked a Russian craft after intercepting six operating in the same zone on May 11.

Again the warplanes did not enter US or Canadian airspace, but the incident did take place during planned US military exercises.

The Russian aircrafts during that incident were TU-85 bombers, IL-78 tankers and SU-35 fighter aircrafts.

In a statement addressing the prior incident, NORAD claims that the number of aircraft that they intercepted ranged from zero to 15, since 2007.

Pentagon Press Secretary Brig. Gen. Patrick S. Ryder said that they 'responded appropriately' to the incident on May 11.

He added: 'It's not the first Russian flight. It probably won't be the last.'

National security remains one of the top priorities for the U.S. government, especially following the discovery of over U.S. territory earlier this year.
A brand new $2 coin has been revealed to celebrate 100 years of Australia's most famous spread, Vegemite.

Woolworths and the Royal Australian Mint have teamed up for the release of limited edition $2 coins celebrating 100 years of Vegemite.

Customers paying in cash in Woolies stores across the country will be able to collect three exclusive versions of the gold coin.

Three million limited-edition coins will be available for customers, with a new design released into cash tills each week over a three-week period.

Woolworths and the Royal Australian Mint released limited edition $2 coins to celebrate Vegimite's centenary

Three million coins will be available for customers, with a new design released into cash tills each week over a three-week period

The coins have been designed by Royal Australian Mint designer Aaron Baggio, with each featuring a unique illustration celebrating Vegemite.

Each of the three designs has a different coloured circle - yellow, red and black.

The first coin depicts a jar of Vegemite with the words '100 Mitey Years' at the bottom.

Another coin features a slice of Vegemite toast with the words 'Tastes Like Australia', while the third depicts a child eating a slice of Vegemite toast with the words 'Happy Little Vegemites'.

Woolworths brand and marketing director Jane Saleh said the supermarket has supported Vegemite for decades and is delighted to be part of the centenary celebrations.

'It's been a staple in the shopping baskets of Australians for years; we're delighted to be a part of the celebrations for this iconic brand's centenary,' she said.

As part of the celebrations, there will also be a $2 coin featuring the Queen Elizabeth II Memorial Obverse.

Customers paying cash in Woolies stores across the country will be able to collect three exclusive versions of the gold coin

Each of the three designs has a different coloured circle - yellow, red and black

The portrait of Queen Elizabeth II by British engraver Jody Clark, the Memorial Obverse also includes the Queen's years of reign - reading 'Elizabeth II 1952-2022'.

Assistant Minister for Competition, Charities and Treasury, Andrew Leigh, said Vegemite is one of the most loved brands across Australia.

'It is fitting the Royal Australian Mint has partnered with Vegemite and Woolworths to celebrate 100 Mitey years of an Australian icon,' he said.

Vegemite as a brand will be turning 100 on October 25, with Bega's marketing manager for spreads, Jess Hoare, thanking Aussies for loving the product.
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President Joe Biden and Attorney General Merrick Garland on Wednesday honored two New York Police Department officers who were killed in an ambush responding to a 911 call in Harlem and the rookie cop who took down the gunman.

At a White House ceremony, they were awarded the Medal of Valor, the nation's highest honor for bravery by a public safety officer.

'Our nations forever in debt for their loved ones and the sacrifice they made on behalf of their fellow citizens,' Biden said, as he recounted the story of the 'dark day' for New York City last year, when officers Wilbert Mora and his partner Jason Rivera were gunned down while responding to a call.

'To all the family members here, especially those that have served in uniform, thank you thank you thank you,' Biden said.

He called the officers 'the who and the what' of what law enforcement of the U.S. should be.

'Forever in debt': President Joe Biden awarded medals of valor to service officers at the White House, including to a pair of New York City police officers who were gunned down last year

NYPD Officers Wilbert Mora, left, and Jason Rivera (right) were shot while answering a call about an argument between a woman and her adult son in the Harlem neighborhood of New York, Friday, Jan. 21, 2022

'We know it is impossible to understand the grief you endure or to fully comprehend your loss,' Garland told family members who attended the event. 'You have our deepest condolences and our unending gratitude.'

The three NYPD officers, a Houston police officer, Colorado police official, Ohio sheriff's deputy and three FDNY firefighters are the nine who received medals in a White House ceremony before Biden departs for Japan and the Group of Seven summit.

Biden did not acknowledge the recent clashes between law enforcement and communities that resulted in protests following the killing of George Floyd. It also sparked a 'defund the police' movement. Biden has repeatedly stressed that he stands with those who want to fund law enforcement activities. He regularly hails firefighters and spoke again about growing up in a community where many became cops and firefighters.

'Your bravery  it inspires people, it inspires the community,' Biden said. He said of firefighters: 'Theyre all crazy, running into fires,' earning a chuckle from a crowd that included relatives.

US President Joe Biden awards the Medal of Valor to (L-R) New York City Police Department (NYPD) Detective Sumit Sulan; Dominique Rivera, the wife of fallen NYPD Detective Jason Rivera; and Gabina Mora, the mother of fallen NYPD Detective Wilbert Mora, in the East Room of the White House in Washington, DC, on May 17, 2023

Biden also gave the award to NYPD Detective Sumit Sulan, who took down the gunman during the response to a call in 2022

Biden greets Gabina Mora, the mother of NYPD detective Wilbert Mora who was killed in the line of duty

Biden spoke of how FDNY firefighter Patrick Thornton dove under a capsized motorboat to save a passenger

Biden ran through the various acts of heroism that were being honored Wednesday, as he hailed FDNY firefighter Patrick Thornton, who dove under a sinking 18-foot boat 'without hesitation' to save a passenger. 'Thats true heroism,' Biden said.

NYPD officer Wilbert Mora and his police partner Jason Rivera were shot Jan. 21, 2022, while responding to a call about a family dispute in a Harlem apartment. Officer Sumit Sulan shot and killed the gunman, ending the deadly encounter moments after it began. Rivera died that night, Mora was pronounced dead four days later.

'That terrible day when the bullets started flying, Detective Sulan had only been with the 32nd Precinct tor two months  two months. But he jumped in action. He shielded the mother and brother from gunfire, then drew his weapon and fired twice, hitting the gunman and ending the incident.

'A very dark day for the city of New York could have been more even more tragic, with a much higher body count if it weren't for Detective Sulan,' Biden said.

The fallen cops were no strangers to tensions between the NYPD and some of the communities they police; they'd both seen it growing up. Both sought to be catalysts of change when they became police officers, but neither got the chance they deserved, gunned down during a spate of shootings of police officers in 2022 in the city.

Biden, who recently announced he'd seek reelection, has spoken of the need to reform how police interact with communities, in the wake of the killing of George Floyd and the deaths of other Black people at the hands of police. But he also says law enforcement needs better funding and tools in order to do a highly stressful job that's only getting worse, particularly post-pandemic.

'We know police officers put their lives on the line every day, and we ask them to do too much, to be counselors, social workers, psychologists; responding to drug overdoses, mental health crises, and more,' Biden said during his State of the Union speech. 'We ask too much of them.'

Attorney General Merrick Garland attended the event. 'We know it is impossible to understand the grief you endure or to fully comprehend your loss,' he told family members

Biden awards the Medal of Valor to Cpl. Jeffrey Farmer, of the Littletown, Colo., Police Dept.

Rivera, 22, had been a police officer for barely a year. Mora, 27, was in his fourth year on the job. All three were promoted to detective - the fallen officers posthumously and Sulan in a ceremony where he was given detective shield No. 332 'symbolizing three brothers from the 32 (precinct),' New York Police Commissioner Keechant Sewell said when she awarded him the shield.

Medal of Valor recipients Corporal Jeffrey Farmer, Littleton Police Department, CO Lieutenant Justin Hespeler, Fire Department of New York City, NY Lieutenant Jason Hickey, Fire Department of New York City, NY Gabina Mora (Mother), accepting on behalf of Fallen Detective Wilbert Mora, New York City Police Department, NY Dominique Rivera (Wife), accepting on behalf of Fallen Detective Jason Rivera, New York City Police Department, NY Detective Sumit Sulan, New York City Police Department, NY Deputy Bobby Pham, Clermont County Sheriffs Office, OH Sergeant Kendrick Simpo, Houston Police Department, TX Firefighter Patrick Thornton, Fire Department of New York City, NY Advertisement

The nation's largest police department has roughly 35,000 officers; the next largest is Chicago with 13,000.

Biden was also honoring other New York City bravery; three members of the Fire Department of New York. Lt. Justin Hespeler, who rescued a newborn baby from a burning house, firefighter Patrick Thornton who, aboard an FDNY boat, saved a man trapped under a capsized vessel in the waters off the coast of Staten Island and retired Lt. Jason Hickey who was on the FDNY's marine training unit when he got a distress call of a man in the Harlem River, a tidal strait that flows swiftly between the Hudson and East Rivers. Hickey jumped in and saved the man from drowning.

The other recipients are:

- Corporal Jeffrey Farmer of the Littleton, Colorado Police Department. Farmer was responding to a call of shots fired possibly out of a car window, and chased the suspect to the door of an apartment where the man opened fire, hitting one of the officers. Farmer worked to fend off the shooter in order to save his fellow officer, who survived.

- Deputy Bobby Hau Pham of the Clermont County, Ohio Sheriffs Office. Pham saved a drowning woman who had driven her car into a lake, and was being honored for clear thinking and composure, according to the White House.

- Sergeant Kendrick Simpo of the Houston, Texas Police Department. Simpo was working a second job at the Houston area Galleria mall when he heard on the radio a heavily armed man was roaming the mall. Simpo tackled the suspect who was carrying a rifle and 120 rounds of ammunition. No one was injured.
Leading Russian state television pundit Vladimir Solovyov has called for the Russian military to target Rishi Sunak with hypersonic missiles and arm the IRA in his latest venomous rant amid Britain's ongoing support for Ukraine.

Putin's top mouthpiece today hit out at the Prime Minister for providing Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky with a contingent of Storm Shadow missiles, and claimed the use of nuclear weapons 'is inevitable' as the conflict rages on.

'Britain, knowing that the b****** Zelensky is planning strikes deep into Russian territory and the capture of Russian cities, specifically give him missiles.

'He directly wants to use long-range weapons to strike Russia directly  and lies to Westerners,' Solovyov continued.

'So here is a Kinzhal [missile]. Rishi Sunak, here is a Kinzhal we have to use them.'

The foul mouthed tirade comes just days after Sunak hosted Zelensky at his Chequers residence in Aylesbury before making further commitments to provide Kyiv with more missiles and train Ukrainian pilots in fast jets.

On state-run TV in Russia, top pundit Vladimir Solovyov demanded that Rishi Sunak is targeted with a Kinzhal hypersonic missile

A handout photo made available by the British Prime Minister's Office No.10 Downing Street shows Britain's Prime Minister Rishi Sunak (R) with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at Chequers, the country house of the Prime Minister in Buckinghamshire, Britain, 15 May 2023

Russian MiG-31 is seen carrying a Kinzhal hypersonic missile

During his show on Rossiya 1 - Russia's top state-controlled news channel, Solovyov declared that British military bases overseas should feel the wrath of Russia's missiles.

Heads of the Hydra: Who are the top Russian propagandists hand-picked by Vladimir Putin? Vladimir Putin has enlisted a team of propagandists to cultivate support for his so-called 'special military operation' in Ukraine and ensure the country remains loyal to the Kremlin Advertisement

'What should we say to the British?' he asked rhetorically.

'Destroy the hell out of all British military structures outside the UK, for a start.'

He demanded Russia arm partisans with 'weapons that they could not even think of', so that British military facilities would 'feel the wrath of God'.

This encouraged fellow pundit Vladimir Rogov - who runs an organisation to support pro-Russians living in invaded Ukraine - to ask: 'Can't we somehow ensure the remaining combat wing of the Irish Republican Army, which is fighting against British occupation, has normal weapons to hit Buckingham Palace, 10 Downing Street, and elsewhere?'

Rogov argued this would amount to offering the Irish 'self-determination' and would also serve to damage British institutions.

'This - and Scotland will be free,' Solovyov responded.

The raging pundit is one of the most recognisable faces on Russian television - and arguably Putin's most outspoken mainstream propagandist.

He marked himself out as one of the despot's darlings in 2018 when he hosted a weekly show named 'Moscow, Kremlin, Putin' which offered a roundup of all the great and good performed by the Russian president across the country each week.

But his broadcasts, which typically feature rambling monologues interspersed with fiery panel discussions, have become increasingly hawkish since Putin launched the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Solovyov, 59, gained worldwide notoriety thanks to countless outbursts on his nightly talk show 'Evening with Vladimir Solovyov', in which he regularly unleashes tirades about how Russia should wipe out its enemies with devastating attacks.

He has threatened Ukraine's Western allies with nuclear warfare, famously declaring that 'London will turn to dust and burn in hell', and has called for Putin to 'plunge Ukraine into the dark ages', earning the moniker 'Putin's voice' for his unwavering allegiance to the Kremlin.

His latest unhinged comments come just days after Moscow launched a brutal barrage of missiles and attack drones on Kyiv in response to Zelensky's meeting with Sunak to procure more weapons.

At Sunak's official country residence of Chequers on Monday, Zelensky won the promise of hundreds more air-defence missiles and long-range attack drones.

Explosion of a Russian-launched missile in the sky over Kyiv this morning

Mr Sunak on Monday pointed out Mr Zelensky was the first world leader he had entertained at Chequers and suggested it will be a 'crucial' week in the struggle against Russia

The two leaders greeted each other with a hug after the Ukraine president landed in Chinook helicopters

Dressed in his trademark fatigues, Zelensky gave a bear hug to Sunak after disembarking from a Royal Air Force Chinook helicopter.

He said the crisis was a matter of 'security not only for Ukraine, it is important for all of Europe'.

'The front lines of Putin's war of aggression may be in Ukraine, but the fault lines stretch all over the world,' Sunak said.

The Kremlin retorted that the new UK weapons would cause 'further destruction' - only to launch an indiscriminate attack on the Ukrainian capital hours later.

Last week it emerged the UK had become the first country to provide long-range precision missiles to Ukraine.

The Storm Shadow cruise missiles, accurate to beyond 150 miles, are expected to be at the heart of the much anticipated counter-offensive against Russian occupiers.

But the prospect of the UK supplying fighter jet has effectively disappeared, despite Zelensky visiting in February and presenting Commons Speaker Lindsay Hoyle with a pilot's helmet in a not-so-subtle hint of what he wanted from the UK.

Instead the RAF will help train Ukrainian forces to use Western jets, with No10 insisting Kyiv has 'decided' to focus on F-16s - which Britain does not use.

Sunak is expected to urge other countries to provide the airframes that Ukraine wants.

Zelensky said his people are grateful 'from our hearts' for the support the UK had provided.
Lauren Boebert's soon-to-be ex-husband Jayson was so furious when he was handed divorce papers he set his dogs on the server.

Documents obtained exclusively by DailyMail.com include statements from the server Mike Estep who said the 42-year-old spouse of the firebrand Republican was drinking and cleaning his gun when he showed up.

Jayson became, extremely angry when he learned the purpose of the process visit and refused to take the papers at his Silt, Colorado, home, the documents state.

Estep stated, Jayson opened the door and I said Are you Jayson Boebert, to which he said, Thats Me I told him, I have a Summons for Dissolution of Marriage for you I could see that he was drinking a tall glass of beer and cleaning a gun that was sitting on a table.

Once he learned that he was being served with Dissolution of Marriage papers he was extremely angry. I tried to hand him the documents but [he] did not take them. He started yelling and using profanities and told me that I was trespassing and that he was calling the Sheriffs Office. I told him I was leaving the documents on the chair outside the door, he closed the door then let the dogs out.

Boebert, 36, cited 'irreconcilable differences' as the reason for filing for divorce from her husband of 18 years and said in a bizarre statement that she has 'always been faithful'.

Lauren Boebert, 36, said in a statement Tuesday that she has filed for divorce from her husband Jayson

The Boeberts own a home in Silt, Colorado. 'It is with a heavy weight on my heart that I have filed for divorce from my husband,' she said. 'I am grateful for our years of marriage together'

In court papers obtained by DailyMail.com, process server Mike Estep said Jayson Boebert was drinking a beer and cleaning a gun when he tried to serve him. 'Once he learned that he was being served with Dissolution of Marriage papers he was extremely angry,' Estop wrote

In an exclusive text message to DailyMail.com, her devastated husband Jayson said: 'I am torn by this a very sad thing. A horrible moment in my life.

'I love her too much to say anything bad about her. She is the mother of my children and my partner for the last 20 years. Please just let me have some peace.'

A court hearing has been set for May 31 in Mesa County Court in Grand Junction, Colorado.

In her statement, the sophomore congresswoman said: 'It is with a heavy weight on my heart that I have filed for divorce from my husband. I am grateful for our years of marriage together and for our beautiful children, all of whom deserve privacy and love as we work through this process.'

'I've always been faithful in my marriage, and I believe strongly in marriage, which makes this announcement that much more difficult.'

The couple were married in 2005 and share four boys together.

Boebert has also made a bid for a temporary order granting primary custody of the couples sons, Tyler, 18, Brody, 15, Kaydon, 13, and Roman 10, as well as child and spousal support.

The couple were married in 2005 and share four boys together

The documents give the date of separation as April 25 and show that the congresswoman attempted to have her husband served with divorce papers that day but, when approached, he refused to take them.

The Boeberts will be grandparents soon, as their oldest son, Tyler, is expecting a baby with his girlfriend. She had said the baby was due in April but has made no announcement of a birth.

Lauren and Jayson met when she was 16 and working at a Burger King, she wrote in her book 'My American Life.'

She said they 'fell in love immediately.'

'Four months after we met, Jayson and I went off to get married,' Boebert wrote, but said they were turned away in Las Vegas because she was too young.

'For any "Karen" who may be reading this, Jayson and I broke no Colorado laws with our relationship, despite what you might be thinking. This was no shotgun wedding.'

They eventually got married in Rifle, Colorado, on June 9, 2006, when Boebert was 19.

She entered Congress in 2021 as a pro-gun Republican on the far right of her party. She soon aligned herself with another controversial figure, Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia  who got divorced last year.

She squeaked in for her second term with a narrow victory in November last year, beating Democrat Adam Frisch by just 546 votes out of more than 327,000 cast.

Before that she had run a restaurant in Rifle, Colorado, called Shooters Grill. where waitresses had guns holstered on their hips and signs plastered no the walls and windows encouraged patroons to carry.

Boebert ran a restaurant called Shooters Grill in Rifle, Colorado. It closed last summer when the landlord declined to renew her lease

Waitstaff at Shooters all carried conspicuously holstered firearms and patrons were encouraged to come in and dine with their guns

The restaurant was decorated with signs and plaques honoring the right to bear arms

The restaurant closed last summer after the landlord declined to renew her lease.

Both Boebert and her husband have a history of run-ins with the law.

In 2004, Jayson pleaded guilty and served jail time for public indecency and lewd exposure.

He was sentenced to four days in jail followed by two years of probation, but Boebert has repeatedly claimed that her husband never flashed anyone.

She was dating him at the time.

Jayson's case marked the first of the couple's many brushes with the police.

Back in 2010, Boebert was arrested after a neighbor accused her two pitbulls of attacking her dog, with Boebert pleading guilty to a count of 'dog at large' charges and agreeing to pay a $75 fine.

Five years later, she was arrested for disorderly conduct at a country music festival near Grand Junction after police said she tried to interfere in the arrest of minors caught for underage drinking.

Then, in September 2016, Boebert was charged with careless driving and operating an unsafe vehicle after rolling her truck into a ditch.

'I am grateful for our years of marriage together and for our beautiful children, all of whom deserve privacy and love as we work through this process,' Boebert said

Jayson Boebert told DailyMail.com, 'I am torn by this a very sad thing. A horrible moment in my life. I love her too much to say anything bad about her she is the mother of my children and my partner for the last 20 years. Please just let me have some peace'

Both Boebert and her husband have a history of run-ins with the law. Boebert was previously charged with careless driving and operating an unsafe vehicle after rolling her truck into a ditch in Garfield County, Colorado in 2016. She was later arrested and booked into jail in 2017 for failing to appear for her court hearing

In August of last year, Jayson got into a dispute with a neighbor and reportedly threatened them and destroyed their mailbox.

In a 911 call to the Garfield County Sheriff's Office, one of the Boebert's neighbors warned police that 'there's about to be some sh** going down here' as Jayson was allegedly driving into the neighbor's yard, The Denver Post reported.

'It's Lauren Boebert's jacka** husband, Jayson. He's running over my mailbox right now,' the distressed man said.

'Stop you jacka**,' he then yelled. 'Get the f*** out of here. Come on, man. What are you doing? What did we even do wrong?'

Boebert could be squeezed out of Congress next term by a Democrat who has been significantly more money than her or a Republican who says her Colorado constituents are 'done' with her 'immature' antics.

Frisch has already said that he wants a rematch and raised nearly three times as much as Boebert according to the latest filings with the Federal Election Commission.

But he could be beaten to the punch as last week 65-year-old conservative radio personality Russ Andrews announced he would be running against her in the Republican primary.

In an interview with the Montrose Press Andrews said the difference between the two of them is that he 'does his homework' while she 'doesn't seem to have a very wide or deep trench of information'.

Boebert was first elected in 2020 and, along with Taylor Greene, first made headlines for pushing the QAnon conspiracy theory in online posts.

Both lawmakers have since stepped back from it.

She also turned heads for her overt love of guns  even brandishing a weapon during a Congressional hearing.
A girl who was allegedly abducted by her mother in suburban Chicago nearly six years ago was found safe hundreds of miles away in North Carolina on May 14.

An unnamed Good Samaritan spotted the teenager - who was last seen on July 4, 2017 - at a local business after watching her story on Netflix's Unsolved Mysteries.

Officers were notified on May 14, 2023 and found a woman and a minor child at the business in Asheville, North Carolina, and were able to confirm their identities.

They said the woman, Heather Unbehaun, was wanted on an extradition warrant out of Illinois for child abduction. She was arrested and her daughter returned to her father, who is the rightful custodian.

Here, DailMail.com looks at who Heather Unbehaun is, why she was arrested, and what happens to her next...

Heather Unbehaun (pictured), a 40-year-old mother, has been arrested accused of abducting her own daughter Kayla, who was last seen when she was nine on July 4, 2017

Who is Heather Unbehaun?

Heather Unbehaun is a 40-year-old mother who is accused of abducting her then-nine-year-old daughter Kayla, who was found in May 2023 after almost six years.

Kayla was last seen in her mother's care after a Fourth of July parade in Wheaton, Illinois, in 2017, and it is believed that Unbehaun abducted her.

According to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, Unbehaun was the noncustodial parent of Kayla.

She didn't have custody of the girl after a court order granted permanent custody to the child's father, Ryan Iskerka, the Kane County State's Attorney's Office has said.

Police interviews say Unbehaun was last seen packing her belongings on the roof of her car, while family members have indicated that they believe she went on a camping trip to an unknown locations in Wisconsin.

She was expected to return after meeting with Iskerka, but never did.

Kayla was abducted by Unbehaun, who only had visitation rights, when she was jus nine and was last seen on July 4, 2017, in Illinois. An unnamed Good Samaritan spotted the teenager at a local business on May 14after watching her story on Netflix 's Unsolved Mysteries

Her father Ryan Iskerka (right), who had full custody at the time, went to pick her up from her mother's house in Wheaton, South Elgin, on July 5, 2017. By then, they had already vanished

How and why was she arrested?

Officials have been searching for Unbehaun and her daughter for the best part of six years, with the Kane County State's Attorney's office issued a kidnapping warrant for her.

However, she was able to stay off the radar that whole time.

But on May 16, 2023, police in South Elgin, Illinois, said they were notified on May 14 by police in Asheville that they had received a tip from a store employee who recognized Unbehaun and recalled that the child was missing.

According to reports, an unnamed Good Samaritan spotted the teenager after watching her story on Netflix's Unsolved Mysteries.

After being notified, Asheville police took Unbehaun into custody, and she has since been charged with abducting her daughter from her father's care.

Police have described the case as 'unusual', telling WLOS that there will typically be a technological breadcrumb' but there was not in this case.

Asheville Police Lt. Jonathan Brown said: 'What's most unusual is the ability to stay off the grid, if you will, for that period of time.

'Typically we leave a technological bread crumb and those are usually very easy and quick to be tracked down. This was not.

'A witness believed she had recognized a woman who kidnapped a child in 2017.

'When officers arrived, they were able to locate and make contact with the woman and the child,' Brown said.

'After further investigation by officers along with confirmation with the South Elgin Police Department, officers were able to confirm the identification of Heather Unbehaun and a minor child in her custody.'

After being found safe, Kayla was reunited with her father Ryan Iskerka who drove her back to her home state from North Carolina

What were the circumstances of daughter Kayla Unbehaun's disappearance?

Writing on a GoFundMe page at the time, Kayla's father Iskerka said he was supposed to meet Unbehaun on July 5, 2017 to pick up his daughter.

The exchange was court-ordered, he wrote.

However, the pair never arrived for the exchange, and the mother and daughter went off the grid. Despite pleas from Iskerka, the police and other authorities, they were not found for almost six years.

The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NEMEC) said a felony warrant for kidnapping had been issued for Heather Unbehaun in July 2017.

The NEMEC even posted alerts online in the years since her abduction showing the missing girl aged 9 as well as age-progression photos of how she likely looks like now, but these did not yield any results.

The girl's 2017 disappearance was one of the family abductions featured on the Netflix Unsolved Mysteries reboot, which aired in November 2022.

Kayla is featured at the end of the episode 'Abducted by a Parent' as a part of a Missing Children Roll alongside CJ and Billy Vosseler, Luis Alderete-Martinez, Huaiyu and Binyu Chin, Reuben Blackwell Jr., Tammy and Diego Flores, and Christopher and Lisa Zaharias.

What has happened to Kayla Unbehaun now

Unbehaun posted $250,000 bond on May 16 and was released from custody, the Illinois state's attorney's office said.

Unbehaun declined to waive extradition, it said, meaning it is likely that she will be sent to Illinois to face charges. It wasn't clear whether she had an attorney who could comment on the allegations against her.

The 40-year-old mother will next appear in North Carolina's Buncombe County Court on July 11 for her first court appearance.

Meanwhile, Kayla has since been reunited with her father in South Elgin, Illinois, which is nearly 700 miles away.

'We are overjoyed to report that the child is in good condition and in good spirits since being reunited with her father,' South Elgin Police Chief Jerry Krawczyk said in a statement.

The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children posted alerts online in the years since her abduction showing the missing girl aged 9 as well as age-progression photos of how she likely looks like now (pictured: an age-progression picture of Kayla aged 14)

The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children said the girl was 9 when Unehaun allegedly abducted her from South Elgin on July 5, 2017.

In its news release, the center included a statement from the girl's father, identified only as 'Ryan,' where he said he's 'overjoyed' that his daughter 'is home safe.'

He thanked the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, South Elgin police and other law enforcement agencies for their efforts.

'We ask for privacy as we get to know each other again and navigate this new beginning,' he added.
Child deaths have spiked by a tenth to a 15-year high fueled by pandemic suicides, overdoses and homicides.

Between 2019 and 2020, the mortality rate for ages 1 to 19 soared by 10.7 percent, and increased by an additional 8.3 percent the following year, according to a new study which analyzed CDC figures.

That is the highest increase for two consecutive years in the 50 years that the government has publicly released such figures, according to the paper published in the Journal of the American Medical Association in March.

This staggering reversal in pediatric mortality was not caused by COVID but soaring violence, self-harm and drug abuse - with guns the leading cause of death.

The pandemic - which strained mental health services and isolated children at home - 'poured fuel on a fire' that has been burning among America's youth for at least a decade, the study warned.

Between 2019 and 2020, the mortality rate for ages 1 to 19 soared by 10.7 percent, and increased by an additional 8.3 percent the following year, according to a new study which analyzed CDC figures

The COVID mortality rate at ages 1 to 19 years was 0.24 deaths per 100,000 in 2020 - but that is dwarfed by the surge in injury deaths which was 12 times higher at 2.80 deaths per 100,000

The COVID mortality rate at ages 1 to 19 years was 0.24 deaths per 100,000 in 2020 - but that was dwarfed by the surge in injury deaths which was 12 times higher at 2.80 deaths per 100,000.

'I have not seen this in my career,' said lead author Steven Woolf, MD, director emeritus of the Center on Society and Health at Virginia Commonwealth University.

'For decades, the overall death rate among US children has fallen steadily, thanks to breakthroughs in prevention and treatment of diseases like premature births, pediatric cancer and birth defects.

'We now see a dramatic reversal of this trajectory, meaning that our children are now less likely to reach adulthood. This is a red flashing light. We need to understand the causes and address them immediately to protect our children.'

Suicides among children aged 10 to 19 started increasing in 2007 and homicide rates in this age bracket began rising in 2013.

Since then the mortality rate for suicide has increased by 70 percent and the homicide rate has increased by a third.

Woolf said the 'likely contributors to both trends include increased access to firearms and a deepening mental health crisis among children and adolescents.'

During the pandemic, demand for mental health support far outpaced supply, leaving young patients especially vulnerable. Children as young as eight went to doctors with thoughts about killing themselves.

Lois Lee, a pediatric emergency physician at Boston Childrens Hospital who chairs the American Academy of Pediatrics Council on Injury, Violence and Poison Prevention, told The Wall Street Journal: 'We are seeing younger and younger patients coming in with mental-health crises, and even those 8 to 10 years old coming in with suicidal ideation.'

Opioid abuse, exacerbated by the fentanyl crisis, has surged and overdose rates for children aged 10 to 19 years began increasing just before the pandemic.

'Although the pandemic did not initiate these trends, it may have poured fuel on the fire,' Woolf argues.

Injury mortality at ages 10 to 19 years rose by 23 percent between 2019 and 2020.

The number of children between the ages 10 to 19 who attempted suicide by poisoning surged by more than 70 percent in 2021 when compared to pre-pandemic figures

Many more children began to attempt suicide by poisoning during the COVID pandemic. The number of attempts rose by around 30 percent, the CDC reports

A large proportion of this uptick was down to homicides which increased by 39 percent, and deaths from overdoses which rocketed by 114 percent.

Among younger children aged 1 to 9, injuries explained two thirds of the surge in mortality in 2021.

Firearms 'play a central role in this crisis,' Woolf stated. Guns are the leading cause of death among youths aged 1 to 19 and accounted for almost half of the increase in all-cause mortality in 2020.

'Current efforts to understand gun violence, overcome political gridlock, and enact sensible firearm policies are not progressing with the speed that pediatric suicides and homicides require,' Woolf wrote.

He added: 'Medicine and public health have made remarkable progress in lowering pediatric mortality rates, but the lives they have saved are now endangered by manmade pathogens.

'Bullets, drugs, and automobiles are now causing a youth death toll sufficient to elevate all-cause mortality rates, the largest such increase in recent memory.

'Without bold action to reverse the trend, children's risk of not reaching adulthood may increase.'
At least 41 United States-bound migrants and two drivers remain missing after their bus was intercepted by armed and masked gang members in the central Mexico state of San Luis Potosi.

The captors called the bus company Monday morning at 4 am - two hours after the kidnapping - and said they would only release the migrants if they received a $1,500 ransom payment for each of them.

The group of 50 migrants departed from the city of Tapachula, in the southern state of Chiapas across from Guatemala, on Sunday and was stopped on a stretch of Federal Highway 57 in the San Luis Potosi town of Matehuala on Monday around 2 am.

The bus was diverted and stopped in the municipality of Altiplano, where it remained stationed for 30 minutes, and was later found in the Nuevo Leon city of Los Medina.

Masked and armed gang members kidnapped 50 migrants and two drivers after intercepting their bus on a highway in the central Mexico state of San Luis Potosi on Monday. Nine migrants escaped and were rescued by cops in the nearby state of Nuevo Leon. The suspects contacted the company that owns the bus and said they will only release the remaining migrants if they receive $1,500 for each one of them

At one point, nine migrants between the ages of 18 and 35 were able to escape from their kidnappers and were found by the police wandering on a road in the nearby northern Nuevo Leon.

President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said Wednesday the National Guard had been deployed to help aid in the search of the missing migrants.

'Unfortunately, it appears that there are gangs that kidnap, that is why (we) appeal to the migrant brothers not to be fooled, manipulated, by the traffickers ... by the smugglers who tell you if you get 5, 6 or 8 thousand dollars, they are going to get you in the United States. You are risking a lot,' he said.

Foro TV reported that all of the migrants had a permit that allowed them to transit freely through Mexico for 45 days while their legal process was sorted out by the National Institute of Migration.

Adrian Gonzalez, a partner at Grufo Eifel, which operates the fleet of buses, suggested that either one or both of the drivers may have been directly involved with the abduction of the migrants.

'Calls have been made to the (driver) and he does not answer, WhatsApp messages are sent and he has not answered them,' Gonzalez said, as quoted by Infobae.

He added the driver has refused to share his location.

The kidnapping comes after cops in Matehuala launched a search for 23 kidnapped migrants, including children, and located 105 on April 6. At least four suspects were arrested.

According to the non-profit organization Alto al Secuestro (Stop Kidnapping), there were 252 abductions reported in Mexico in April, in comparison with 130 in March.
World-renowned academic Noam Chomsky has defended asking Jeffrey Epstein for financial advice even after the disgraced financier became a convicted pedophile in 2008.

The linguistics professor, 94, confirmed that he received about $270,000 from an account linked to Epstein in March, 2018, but claimed the transfer involved his own funds connected to his late wife.

He told DailyMail.com that both the money transfer and his relationship with Epstein following his conviction were 'completely public for many years.'

When asked why he would choose to continue to associate with a convicted pedophile, the progressive activist said, 'Many had further contacts with him, including my wife and me.'

'Epstein regularly attended research seminars at Harvard,' he added. 'No one ever discussed the matter because there was nothing to discuss.

'In civilized societies, a person who has served a sentence returns to society without prejudice,' he told DailyMail.com

Chomsky claimed Epstein was simply helping him rearrange his own funds after being being asked for help with a 'technical matter,' according to the Wall Street Journal, which first reported on the transfer of funds.

World-renowned academic Noam Chomsky has defended asking Jeffrey Epstein for financial advice even after the disgraced financier became a convicted pedophile

The linguistics professor, 94, confirmed that he received about $270,000 from an account linked to Epstein in March, 2018

'The simplest way seemed to be to transfer funds from one account in my name to another, by way of his office,' he told the Wall Street Journal.

Epstein, who was dogged for years by allegations that he sexually abused girls and young women, was found dead in a Manhattan jail cell in August 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges. The city's medical examiner ruled his death a suicide.

Epstein's former mistress, Ghislaine Maxwell, was convicted of crimes related to the sex ring and sentenced to 20 years in prison. She is appealing her conviction.

The pedophile also paid Bard College president Leon Botstein $150,000 years after being convicted of soliciting a child for sex in 2008, as reported by WSJ.

The music conductor, who has lead the prestigious New York school since 1975, conceded that he received the funds from an account linked to Epstein in 2016. He claimed to have given the funds to Bard College as part of a donation that totaled more than $1million.

The school confirmed the donation and said they were Botstein's compensation for working on an advisory board for Gratitude America - a charity foundation Epstein created in 2012.

Botstein, however, claimed that while Epstein named him as a consultant and made the payments as fees for his alleged work, he never actually worked for the foundation. He told the WSJ that Epstein did not want to write a check for the school so instead 'concocted this scheme.'

'He took pity on me, and he said, "Im gonna give you money and you do whatever you want with it," Botstein added.

Epstein was found dead in a Manhattan jail cell in August 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges. His former mistress, Ghislaine Maxwell, was convicted and sentenced to 20 years in prison

The pedophile also paid Bard College president Leon Botstein $150,000 after his 2008 conviction for paying a minor for sex

The Wall Street Journal had previously reported both Chomsky and Botstein met with Epstein multiple times after he was registered as a sex offender in 2008.

Botstein had dozens of meetings with Epstein at his townhouse, the first in 2012 to thank him for his donations, which continued. In 2015, Epstein donated 66 laptops, the documents show.

Botstein admitted he was aware of Epstein's past.

'We looked him up, and he was a convicted felon for a sex crime,' he said. Bard has a large program providing education to prisoners,' he said. 'We believe in rehabilitation.'

According to the documents, Botstein, who was also the music director for the American Symphony Orchestra, invited Epstein to an opera at Bard in 2013, and a concert at the college in 2016. Epstein planned to bring some of his young female assistants each time.

DailyMail.com has reached out Botstein for comment on this story.

Meanwhile, the documents also revealed billionaire LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman visited Epstein's private Caribbean Island after he was convicted of sex crimes  asking the pedophile billionaire to help raise funds for MIT.

Epstein allegedly used the $125 million estate to abuse underage girls alongside Maxwell.

Hoffman traveled to the island with Joi Ito, the then-MIT Media Lab director, who had asked Hoffman and Epstein to help raise funds for MIT.

He apologized for meeting with the convicted sex offender, telling the Journal: 'While I relied on MIT's endorsement, ultimately I made the mistake, and I am sorry for my personal misjudgment,'

Documents also revealed that director Woody Allen attended dozens of dinners with his wife at Epstein's Manhattan townhouse, while the former president of Harvard University, Lawrence Summers, asked the late pervert for help raising cash.

According to the Journal the Oscar-winning movie director Woody Allen, attended dozens of dinners with his wife, Soon-Yi Previn, at Epstein's mansion and invited him to film screenings.

Documents also reveal that director Woody Allen attended dozens of dinners with his wife at Epstein's Manhattan townhouse

They reportedly got together nearly every month in 2014 and 2015, and also visited the studio of artist Jeff Koons in 2013, and to Sotheby's auction house in 2017.

A spokesman for Allen and his wife, Soon-Yi, said: 'Woody and Soon-Yi lived in the same neighborhood as Epstein and were frequently invited to dinner parties at his townhouse.

The pair were said to have been such regulars that Epstein's staff knew to prepare a special flourless chocolate cake for Allen.

Soon-Yi is the adopted daughter of Allen's movie star former wife Mia Farrow. She and Allen wed in Venice in late 1997, when Allen was 61, and she was 26.

Allen was accused of molesting his adoptive daughter Dylan Farrow, but denied that claim, and no criminal charges were ever brought against him.

'There were always other guests at those gatherings. Woody never had a business meeting with Epstein and not once spent time with him without Soon-Yi also being present.'

All of the meetings with Epstein happened before federal investigators accused him with a slew of sex-trafficking crimes. The charges happened after media reports of his sweetheart deal in Florida in 2008 that saw him quietly serve time for sex crimes.
A toddler found an unsecured gun in a Texas home and used it to shoot his 1-year-old sibling, police said.

On Tuesday, the Harris County Sheriff's Office responded to the 17100 block of Sunshine Street for the reported shooting.

A preschooler, believed to be around 4 years old, found the gun in the home and used it to shoot his relative, officials said.

The 1-year-old was taken to the hospital, and is expected to survive, Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez posted on social media.

Police respond to a scene where a preschooler shot his 1-year-old brother

The victim is expected to survive the shooting, police say

The shooting happened at a home on Sunshine Street in the Houston, Texas, area

The child's father told ABC 13 that the 4-year-old likes to play with toy guns and did not realize that he found a real one that could hurt his brother.

The father, who did not appear on camera, was angry that an adult left a loaded gun around the children. It's unclear what adults were home at the time of the shooting.

Police said that the gun belonged to a relative who stayed at the home but was not present for the shooting.

A 7-year-old girl was also home at the time of the shooting and not hurt.

Harris County Sheriff's Office Maj. Saul Suarez said it is important for the public to be responsible and secure their weapons.

"Make sure that you're securing them, especially when there are children in the house," he told the outlet.

Sheriff's deputies continue to investigate the incident.
Speculated presidential candidate Ron DeSantis faced fresh humiliation on Wednesday after Donald Trump's pick won the GOP primary to be the next governor of Kentucky.

DeSantis, 44, had backed ex-U.S. ambassador to the UN Kelly Craft for the role but she finished third and Daniel Cameron, the first major-party Black nominee for governor in the state's history, clinched the nominated.

Cameron, who is also Kentucky's first-ever Black attorney general, easily triumphed with 47.7 percent of votes cast in a 12-candidate race.

And in a torrid night for the Florida governor his preferred choice to be mayor of Jacksonville Daniel Davis lost to Democrat Donna Deegan.

Daniel Cameron has been a long time supporter of Daniel Trump, making fiery speeches at election rallies over the past four years.

Ron DeSantis's pick for Kentucky governor finished a distant third in the primary. Kelly Craft served in the Trump administration as US ambassador to the United Nations

Cameron, seen here on Tuesday celebrating his primary win, will now face off against Democratic incumbent Governor Andy Beshear

Kelly Craft, a former Trump administration official, finished a distant third in the Kentucky gubernatorial primary

Donna Deegan defeated DeSantis-backed Republican Daniel Davis to become the first female to be elected mayor of Jacksonville

The former president took to his Truth Social platform to launch another broadside at DeSantis, who is yet to officially declare his intention to run for the White House in 2024.

'The DeSanctimonious backed candidate (in Kentucky) came in a distant third,' the real estate mogul wrote, using his regular nickname for his one-time ally. 'Ron's magic is gone!'

Cameron, 37, will face a tough fight in November against Democratic incumbent Andy Beshear, who easily won his own primary with as much as 91 percent of ballots cast.

The race is being seen as a bellwether for the 2024 presidential and congressional elections where Republicans want to capitalize on the unpopularity of President Joe Biden and the Democrats.

Cameron succeeded Beshear as attorney general in 2019 and mounted a slew of legal challenges against Covid-era restrictions.

A one-time aide to GOP US Senate leader, Mitch McConnell, Cameron's victory will play into Trumps efforts to solidify his lead in the presidential primary.

The so-called 'super political action committee' that is raising money to back Trump's third run for the presidency said Cameron's win was proof of the former president's continued hold over the GOP.

'President Trump is the leader of the Republican Party. The results in Kentucky's Republican gubernatorial primary tonight reaffirm that. Republican voters stand with President Trump, not Ron DeSantis,' Make America Great Again Inc. spokesperson Alex Pfeiffer said.

'It's time to unite around Donald Trump. Voters know that President Trump has their interests in mind when he endorses a candidate, not the interests of the consultant class,' he added.

The one-time political allies now look set to slug it out in a bitter campaign to seize the Republican presidential nomination

Polls suggest that DeSantis is trailing the runaway frontrunner for the Republican presidential nomination by a huge margin.

Trump is ahead by as much as 43 percentage points, a Morning Consult poll showed on Tuesday, with 61 percent of voters intending to back him compared to 18 percent for the Florida governor.

That is despite the 76-year-old's mounting legal woes that include paying hush money to a porn star over an alleged affair, suspected election tampering and the discovery of classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago home.

But the ex-commander-in-chief received a boost on Monday when a report by Special Counsel John Durham slammed the FBI's so-called 'Russiagate' probe.

Durham said the investigation should never have been started due to a lack of concrete evidence and 'a lack of analytical rigor' in assessing the claims.

DeSantis has not yet formally declared he is running, but he is expected to make an announcement by the end of this month.

He also been locked in a so-called 'war on woke' with Disney after the animation and theme park giant slammed his 'Don't Say Gay' legislation.

The fight began last year after the firm publicly opposed a state law that bans classroom lessons on sexual orientation and gender identity in early grades.

DeSantis is facing a legal challenge in the courts after he created an oversight board for the Disney World governing district that is made up of members that he appointed.

While DeSantis has risen in the national GOP ranks due to his pandemic response in Florida, the governor has recently been sliding in 2024 presidential polling.

He even obtained an early bump that saw him even beating out Trump on occasion.

The winner of any Republican primary would almost certainly go up against incumbent Joe Biden, raising the prospect of a 2020 rematch with Trump.

Only no-hopers Robert F Kennedy Jr., an anti-vaccine conspiracy theorist, and self-help author Marianne Williamson have declared an intention to stand in the Democratic primaries.
Retired US Brigadier General warned Putin could now turn to nuclear weapons

Ukraine said it had downed six of Russia's hypersonic 'Kinzhal' missiles in Kyiv

A furious Vladimir Putin will probably turn to nuclear weapons after Kyiv humiliated the despot by downing his supposedly 'unstoppable' hypersonic missiles, a retired US Army Brigadier General said today.

This week Ukraine announced that it had shot down six of Russia's hypersonic 'Kinzhal' missiles - days after the US military confirmed Kyiv had downed another of Putin's hypersonic missiles using America's Patriot defence system.

Kevin Ryan, who served as chief of staff for the US Army's Space and Missile Defense Command, said now that Putin's 'unstoppable' missiles are being destroyed, it means that a decisive victory for the Russian leader is getting further and further out of his reach.

Ryan warned that if Putin cannot force a victory with conventional weapons, the frustrated despot will 'probably turn to nuclear weapons'.

'Putin is running out of ways to escalate the war in a way that would force Ukraine - and the West - to back down,' Ryan, a senior fellow at Harvard University's Belfer Center in the US, told MailOnline.

The remains of a Kh-47M2 Kinzhal missile which Russia used to attack Kyiv

'His massive invasion and frequent bombing campaigns have failed to give him a decisive victory. If he cannot force a victory with conventional weapons, he will probably turn to nuclear weapons.'

READ MORE: Putin's state TV puppets call for Rishi Sunak to be targeted with a hypersonic missile and the IRA to be supplied with weapons to attack the royal family Advertisement

Russia has lost an estimated 197,000 soldiers since the war began as well thousands of Russian military vehicles including tanks and infantry transport vehicles.

'Russias conventional (non-nuclear) forces are already showing themselves not up to the task in Ukraine. That is why Putin has relied so heavily on nuclear threats,' Ryan said.

'If it's proven that the Kinzhal has not lived up to expectations, the effectiveness of the whole spectrum of Russias strategic weapons, nuclear and non-nuclear, are put in doubt.'

Ukraine yesterday said its robust air defence system, comprised of Soviet-era and Western-supplied platforms, managed to successfully shoot down 18 of Moscow's missiles, six of which were reportedly hypersonic 'Kinzhal' missiles.

It was the first time Ukraine claimed to have struck an entire volley of multiple Kinzhal missiles, and if confirmed, would be a demonstration of the effectiveness of its newly deployed Western air defences.

Retired US Army Colonel Gian Gentile told MailOnline: 'It is one more factor that complicates Russias attempts to pound Ukrainians into submission by attacking their populations centers and infrastructure.

'That has been the ultimate goal since last winter but it has failed to come even close to breaking Ukrainian will to fight.

'On the opposite side it increases Ukrainian confidence that their air defense systems can reasonably, not perfectly of course, but reasonably protect their populations and infrastructure and it only increases their will to further resist and ultimately defeat Russias occupation of their homeland.'

The 24ft-long Kinzhal hypersonic missiles can carry conventional or nuclear warheads and were touted by Putin in 2018 as 'unstoppable'.

The Kinzhal can be fired from the MiG-31, Tu-160 or Tu-22M3M warplanes, and it has been used by Moscow in the war.

It has a range of 1,250 miles and its conventional version was deployed for the first time against Ukraine in March 2022.

Ryan warned that if Putin (pictured on Wednesday in Moscow) cannot force a victory with conventional weapons, the frustrated despot will 'probably turn to nuclear weapons'

Explosion of a Russian-launched missile in the sky over Kyiv in the early hours of Tuesday morning

But with their apparent destruction in Kyiv on Tuesday, experts say that there will be a huge psychological impact on Russian soldiers on the front lines, whose levels of morale are already at 'rock bottom' amid heavy losses on the battlefield.

Alan Mendoza, the executive director of the UK think-tank Henry Jackson Society, told MailOnline: 'Seeing your own wonder weapons shot out of the sky can only have a detrimental effect on the already lamentable Russian front-line morale.

'These soldiers know that they will be taking increased casualties without the offensive capabilities generated by a missile strike force.'

John Kennedy, research leader of defence and security at research institute RAND Europe, said the downing of the hypersonic missiles will make Russian soldiers doubt the wisdom of their commanders.

'Putin himself has publicly showcased the outcome of these programs, including the Kinzhal hypersonic cruise missile, on state TV. He wanted to create the impression that Russia had a military edge over Nato,' Kennedy told MailOnline.

'But the Kinzhal has evidently not given Putin the unstoppable capability he promised.

'If Russian soldiers do not already doubt the wisdom of their commanders, the interception of a weapon that Putin himself flaunted will probably do the trick,' Kennedy said, adding that the move will be a 'huge boost to Ukrainian morale' ahead of their anticipated counteroffensive.

Mendoza said Kyiv's ability to shoot down the deadly Kinzhal missiles - which Russia has been using to try to paralyse Ukraine - will allow Ukrainian forces to focus on the battles on the front line.

He said that this is just the latest setback for Putin in his war that has seen hundreds of thousands of Russian soldiers killed.

'This is the latest in a long line of setbacks for the man who is the architect of Russias current predicament. The war he launched to prove Russias strength and vitality has showcased its weakness and sclerosis,' Mendoza said.

In a further blow to Putin, the UK said last week it would supply Ukraine with Storm Shadow long-range cruise missiles.

The Storm Shadow missiles will allow Ukrainian troops to hit Russian soldiers and command centres deep into Moscow-held territory in eastern Ukraine.

Retired US Army Colonel Gian Gentile, who served two tours in Iraq, said the deadly missiles will leave Russian soldiers 'shaking with fear' amid Ukraine's upcoming counteroffensive.

Britain and other Western countries have scaled up their military aid for Ukraine this year, with Britain saying in January it would send 14 of its main Challenger 2 battle tanks to Ukraine, a pledge that was followed by other nations including the United States and Germany.

Ukrainian forces are widely believed to be gearing up for a long-awaited counter-offensive against Russian troops, with gains already claimed around the flashpoint of Bakhmut.

But Mr Zelensky has yet to succeed in his coveted goal of enlisting Western fighter jets to seize command of the skies, although Rishi Sunak yesterday announced preparations to open a flight school to train Ukrainian pilots.
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A woman who was mauled to death by the eight animals she was walking in a Surrey park is believed to have been killed by her own American Bully XL.

Witnesses to the horrific attack said the dogs turned into a pack of 'wolves' when they attacked Natasha Johnston, 28, at the Gravelly Hill beauty spot in Caterham on January 12.

She died from multiple bites to the neck, including one that perforated her jugular vein, an inquest heard. Eight dogs were seized at the scene of the frenzied attack.

Police confirmed Ms Johnston's dog was the only animal to have been destroyed, which they believe to be an American Bully XL.

They are continuing to hold five other dogs following a vet's forensic report, but two seized dachshunds were returned to their owner last month.

Natasha Johnston died from multiple bites to the neck

Police at the scene in Gravelly Hill in Caterham, Surrey, where dogs fatally attacked Ms Johnston

A Surrey Police spokesman said: 'We have now received a forensic veterinary report and this has been shared with the Surrey Coroner.

'As a result of this, two dogs (both Dachshunds) were returned to their owner at the end of April and one dog, which belonged to the deceased, has been put to sleep.

'The five other dogs remain in private kennels and we are speaking with their owners regarding recommendations from the report.

'The breed of dog that was put to sleep is believed to be an American Bully XL.

'Besides the update on the status of the seized dogs we do not have any further comments or updates on this investigation, as it has now passed to the coroner's office and will be covered as part of the inquest.'

One of the dogs was an 11stone Leonberger that appeared on a BBC TV show about problem puppies - and was renamed Shiva because it was so unruly.

The pet appeared with her then owner Delia Lewis, on BBC Two's 10 Puppies and Us in 2017. Originally called Maple, she was filmed running around professional psychic Ms Lewis' home and going to the toilet on the carpet.

Ms Lewis posted on social media after the incident that the dog, whose name she had to change due to her unruly behaviour, was 'one of the ones missing'.

She added: 'She's a Leonberger, please if you have any information please tell me where to go or what to do.'

When much younger, Shiva appeared in a BBC2 programme, 10 Puppies and Us, about unruly puppies who chew through furniture.

Ms Lewis, a telephone psychic living in Croydon at the time of the 2017 show, originally decided to call her dog Maple before deciding it was 'far too sweet a name for this dog'.

Shiva, an 11st Leonburger, was among eight hounds with the victim - and was a troublesome puppy who chewed anything she could get her paws on

Delia Lewis, a psychic and crystal healer, posted online that her dog is 'missing' in the aftermath of the incident

Ms Lewis initially had problems housetraining young Shiva, who used to go to the toilet wherever she wanted

She instead renamed the pooch Shiva, which is a name shared by the Hindu god of destruction.

Ms Lewis said on the programme: 'I thought Maple is far too sweet a name for this dog.

Shiva was described as chewing anything she could get her paws on, from the carpet to the bins.

But in 2020, Shiva was described by her vet in Wimbledon as a 'giant girl' with 'the sweetest nature ever'.

An inquest into Ms Johnston's death is due to begin on June 29.

After the horrific attack, friends paid tribute to 'bubbly, beautiful' Ms Johnston who loved dogs and was experienced in handling them.

Jo Butchers, 34, a friend of Ms Johnston from her childhood home of Ryde on the Isle of Wight, said 'Long countryside walks with the dogs were her thing.

'She did a lot of dog walking here, not as a professional but with her own dogs and those of friends.

'Then she moved away and that became her job in London. She grew up with dogs, so she always loved them.'

At the time, the local Tandridge council said she was not licensed to walk dogs in the district.

But Ms Butchers insisted to the Mail on Sunday that Ms Johnston, who lived in Croydon, South London, was an experienced professional who had got her licence.

She added that when she heard the news of her friend's death she didn't believe it 'because she was great with the dogs'.

Another friend told the MoS: 'She was definitely not new to dogs  the complete opposite.

The 28-year-old dog walker died after a frenzied attack by the canines at the Gravelly Hill in Caterham, Surrey

Another woman was hospitalised and eight dogs were recovered at the scene after police responded following the attack at 2.45pm on January 12

'She always loved them and absolutely adored her own, talking about them all the time.

'She seemed really happy being a dog walker in London, she used to put videos on her Snapchat of the dogs. So it's ironic the way that she was killed, bless her.'

Before moving to London, Ms Johnston lived in Ryde with her brother and two dogs.

The mother of one childhood friend said: 'We're absolutely devastated. She was so caring, a beautiful girl inside and out.

'She was always bubbly when she used to come to meet my girl. They used to go out together and enjoy their lives as young teenagers.

'She's going to be sorely missed. I know there will be a lot of people going up to her funeral.'

Police barricade the road close to the scene where Ms Johnston was mauled to death by a pack of dogs

A woman lays flowers where the dog mauling took place as she pays her respects to the 28-year-old victim

The attack raised questions about differing council rules for the number of dogs one person can walk at a time. Most councils vary between four and six dogs.

A source close to the case told the Daily Mail: 'She just had too many dogs. You cannot be in control with that amount of dogs. If something happens, it's like having seven small wolves attacking you.

'The dogs were in a frenzy, acting as a pack, and going for whatever was in front of them.'

One of the dogs had moments earlier attacked and bitten another woman who was walking her own dog  and she fled, injured.

It is thought Ms Johnston may then have fallen under attack from the seven or eight dogs she was walking.

When two people on horseback stumbled upon the graphic scene, she shouted: 'Go back, go back'.

Police were called, arriving half an hour after the initial attack in several cars carrying armed officers and paramedics

A 60-year-old woman on horseback saw something of it as she approached the brow of a hill at 2.30pm on the North Downs Way  a bridle path at Gravelly Hill, near Caterham, Surrey  flanked by a grass bank and bushes and trees.

Surrounded by dogs pulling frenziedly at her limbs, a blonde woman wearing a beige jacket was on the ground, sitting but never quite managing to stand up. She never did.

'When we saw her she was about 50ft away,' the horsewoman told The Mail on Sunday.

'She was swamped by at least four medium-sized dogs, maybe more, attacking her, pulling her at arms and sides and she was screaming and shouting.' But perhaps surprisingly, there was no barking, a chilling detail that adds another layer to the horror.

The horsewoman, who believes she was the last person to see the victim alive, added: 'The dogs must have been on the lead because they were in such close proximity.

'I don't know why they kicked off the way they did. Maybe a couple were fighting with each other and she tried to intervene, and she got in the way and they saw red and just kept going.

'When she saw us she shouted: 'Turn back, turn back!'.'
A Missouri teacher is 'no longer employed' after a viral video of his rant in a high-school classroom where he used the N-word at least twice - a move that comes after the student who recorded the incident was suspended for three days.

A video showed a geometry teacher at Glendale High School in Springfield, Missouri, using the word during class.

Mary Walton, 15, recorded the rant was suspended for three days after the incident.

The teacher - who has not been named - was placed on leave, and later resigned from the school, according to CNN.

Now, the 15-year-old student's lawyer wants the district to apologize for suspending Walton.

The teacher used the N-word in a discussion about people of color being able to use it but he can not

The district put the Glendale High school teacher on leave after the viral incident while officials investigated

The incident happened on May 9 at the high school as the teacher interrupted a conversation between students and talked about why he couldn't use the slur when people of color could.

'I dont like the word,' the teacher said. 'It feels like when a Black person is using it towards another Black personhow is it not still a derogatory word?' the teacher added.

'I dont get it'

The educator then used the word and was warned by a student not to use the slur if they want to remain employed. The teacher said he wasn't calling any specific person the term and that he 'can say the word'.

The teacher then noticed Walton recording the discussion and told her to put the phone away. He then told the teen to go to the office if she didn't listen.

Walton shared the video with her mother and two other students so she could get advice about how to handle the incident, according to The Daily Beast. However, the video was shared online and it went viral.

That sparked the school's principal, Dr. Josh Grove, to post an online message to the community.

'We are aware of a Glendale teacher using offensive, derogatory language during class today. A video of the comments is being circulated and we have received several calls from concerned parents. I want you to know that the comments expressed in the video are inappropriate, inexcusable and do not meet the professional standards for Springfield Public Schools employees.'

The teacher was placed on leave while the Missouri district investigated. A week later, the district confirmed the unnamed teacher resigned.

'The teacher who was initially placed on administrative leave following the situation at Glendale High School is no longer employed by Springfield Public Schools,' a statement read.

The educator used the word and was warned by a student not to use the slur if they want to remain employed

The teacher then noticed Mary Walton recording the discussion and told her to put the phone away

Natalie Hull, the lawyer for Walton, called for the district to apologize for suspending her after she recorded the rant

But the teacher wasn't the only one to face discipline over the incident. Walton was also suspended for three days - a move that drew the ire of many on social media.

The district's student handbook states students who use a phone in class for recording and publishing images of staff and educators can face a suspension.

'Student discipline is confidential, per federal law, and Springfield Public Schools cannot disclose specifics related to actions taken. The student handbook is clear, however, on consequences for inappropriate use of electronic devices. Any consequences applied per the scope and sequence would also consider if minors are identifiable in the recording and what, if any, hardships are endured by other students due to a violation of privacy with the dissemination of the video in question,' the district said in a statement to CNN.

Walton's attorney, Natalie Hull, called for the district to apologize for the suspension.

'The school policy of disciplining students to teach them to behave in the appropriate manner is not in line with their own actions,' Hull said in the statement. 'Mary saw a teacher do something wrong and she documented it. Language can be harmful, and Mary captured proof of her teacher, a person who is supposed to protect children, harming them through his use of a racial slur.

'If he had been hitting a student  or worse  would the school have reacted the same? Frankly, this school is exercising a chilling effect on all of the students by sending the message that they will get in trouble if they capture evidence of their teachers doing something wrong.'
A woman was raped by an investment banker she met on Bumble after she told him she did not have sex on a first date, a court has heard.

Varun Venaik, 31, kissed and touched the woman intimately with her consent before forcing himself on her in his 1m apartment, it was said.

Australian Venaik denies raping the woman at his basement flat in Marylebone.

Giving evidence at Southwark Crown Court today, the alleged victim told how she had tried to push Venaik away during his 'forceful' attack.

She added she felt 'scared and anxious' throughout the incident.

Varun Venaik, 31, kissed and touched the woman intimately with her consent before forcing himself on her in his 1m apartment, it is alleged

Giving evidence at Southwark Crown Court today, the alleged victim told how she had tried to push Venaik (pictured) away during his 'forceful' attack

The alleged attack took place at Venaik's 1million home, Southwark Crow Court (pictured) heard

Venaik and his alleged victim met at a bar in Marylebone before returning to his flat.

She told Orla Daly, defending, that she had been 'looking forward' to meeting Venaik.

After arriving at his flat, Venaik told his victim he had to leave, but then caught up to her at Baker Street station, where she agreed to spend more time with him.

It was on the second occasion she was at his flat that the alleged attack took place.

She said that at one point he pushed her head down.

'Him pushing my head down that night was forceful,' the woman said.

'I remember saying that I don't have sex on a first date. I remember making it clear before that I did not want to have sex.'

Describing the alleged attack she said: 'I was pushing his bodyweight off me.'

Asked if she had touched him intimately she said: 'I am sure I did not touch his penis.

'I remember feeling very anxious and scared. I didn't want to visibly show that I was scared and anxious.'

She later messaged her friends to tell them what had happened.

'I told them that something had happened and that I feel really uncomfortable.'

The court heard that in a text to a friend she said: 'I didn't think rape looked like that.'

Vaneik, of Upper Montagu Street, denies rape.

The trial continues.
Cop-gone-wild Maegan Hall had a 'fetish' for black men and told a police colleague he 'must be homosexual' for spurning her sexual advances, according to court filings obtained exclusively by DailyMail.com.

Hall, 27, was booted from the La Vergne Police Department in rural Tennessee in January after an internal probe revealed her raunchy romps with six male officers.

The rookie cop hit back in a federal lawsuit, claiming she was groomed and abused by lecherous superiors, including Police Chief Burrel 'Chip' Davis and Sgt. Lewis Powell, a 15-year law enforcement veteran.

But in a fresh counterclaim, Powell, 42, turns the tables on the young siren, saying Hall was 'persistently flirting' and 'pressuring him to engage in sexual relations'  despite both being married.

Officer Maegan Hall, 27, was fired from the La Vergne Police Department in rural Tennessee in January after an internal probe revealed her raunchy romps with six male officers

Sgt. Lewis Powell, a 15-year law enforcement veteran who was fired, claims that Hall had a fetish for black men and pressured him for sex in a new filing obtained by DailyMail.com

'Initially, she began by talking about sex. She complained to Powell that her own marital sex life was unsatisfying,' the filing states.

'After Powell responded with an idea or two about how she might spice things up with her husband, Hall asked if Powell could demonstrate. That way, she said that she would know how to please her husband.'

Hall, Powell and three colleagues lost their jobs in the first round of firings at the Nashville-area police department, which was swamped with lurid headlines about wife swapping, wild hot tub parties and games of strip Uno.

Married Davis, 47, lectured Hall for 'dipping her pen in company ink' and feigned surprise as he oversaw the internal inquiry into her bed-swapping antics.

But the father-of-three was axed himself when it emerged that he not only knew all about Hall's behavior but allegedly pestered one of his sergeants for videos of Hall masturbating.

Hall's suit claims she entered policing to find role models but instead found 'predators' such as Powell who 'positioned himself as a reliable source of companionship and advice' before coercing her into sex while on duty.

She claims Powell threatened to kill himself when she broke it off, leaving Hall struggling to cope with her own anxiety, depression and collapsing mental health.

Hall claimed that she was groomed and abused by lecherous superiors, including Police Chief Burrel 'Chip' Davis

Officer Seneca Shields (left) and Sgt. Ty McGowan were fired. McGowan was the source of the original whistleblower tip

In his riposte, Powell insists it was Hall who badgered him for sex and sent explicit texts while they worked together from March through May 2022.

When he began to have problems in his own marriage, Powell's 'resolve was weakened' and they started hooking up for oral sex, an 'act of treachery' the $67,000-per-year sergeant claims he immediately regretted.

'Consequently, in approximately May 2022, Powell began trying to break things off amicably with Hall, saying that he loved his wife,' his filing claims.

'Nonetheless, Hall persisted in trying to entrap him back into a relationship. Hall (who is white) appeared to have some sort of fetish for Powell (who is black) based on his race.

'On multiple occasions, while at work, she told him to put his 'big black d***' in her mouth and 'g**' her with it. When Powell held firm, saying that he wanted to be with his own wife instead, Hall said that he must be a homosexual.'

Powell says Hall eventually took the hint and she started sleeping with 'multiple other officers' instead.

'Nonetheless, due to Hall's deteriorating mental state and increasingly bizarre acts  culminating in her own three-day commitment to a mental asylum  both Hall and Powell (among others) eventually came to be investigated by the La Vergne Police Department in December 2022,' his filing adds.

Powell, 42, turns the tables on the young siren in a filing, saying Hall was 'persistently flirting' and 'pressuring him to engage in sexual relations'  despite both being married

Powell insists his affair with Hall was consensual and that she defamed him during a February 27 interview with Tennessee-based News Channel 5 in which she claimed she was sexually abused, harassed, and assaulted.

He wants $200,000 in compensation for emotional distress and damage to his reputation.

The City of La Vergne launched its internal inquiry late last year after a whistleblower came forward to report that a female cop was having 'intimate relationships' with male colleagues at boozy parties, hotels and even on police property.

The probe led to Hall, Powell, Patrol Officer Juan Lugo, Detective Seneca Shields, Sgt. Ty McGowan and, eventually, Davis, all losing their jobs.

The chief was no better than his subordinates, inviting Hall on lunch dates, asking her to come into his office to dance for him and questioning whether she preferred 'dark, white or milk chocolate,' Hall claims in her suit.

Patrol Officer Patrick Magliocco, K-9 officer Larry Holladay and Patrol Officer Gavin Schoeberl, who traded naked pics with Hall, were also suspended.

Despite his wife's infidelities, Hall's husband Jedidiah, a sheriff's deputy, has stuck by her. The couple have been sweethearts since their college days and got married in November 2018

Hall claims in a lawsuit that she has 'gained unwanted international notoriety as the ''girls gone wild'' female officer and has become the butt of countless internet jokes'

Petite Hall grew up in rural Tennessee dreaming of becoming an actress but eventually found her calling in law enforcement  a career that barely lasted two years, ending in nationwide infamy and a slew of degrading internet memes.

She 'gained unwanted international notoriety as the ''girls gone wild'' female officer and has become the butt of countless internet jokes, memes and sexual remarks', her lawsuit states.

'But for the sexual grooming and abuse perpetrated by the City of La Vergne, Sgt. McGowan, Sgt. Powell, and Chief Davis, Ms. Hall would not have been subjected to this extraordinary degree of public ridicule and shaming.'

Despite his wife's infidelities, Hall's husband Jedidiah, a sheriff's deputy, has stuck by her. The couple have been sweethearts since their college days and got married in November 2018.

'I don't know how he's doing it, he's more of a man than I am, but he's trying to salvage his marriage,' Jedidiah's boss, Coffee County Sheriff Chad Partin, previously told DailyMail.com.
Ten hikers lost near California's 'Last Chance' canyon were miraculously rescued when they alerted rescuers to their location using Apple's Emergency SOS feature.

The frightening ordeal took place on May 12 when the group of hikers became lost inside Santa Paula Canyon in Los Padres National Forest.

Their last known location, according to Ventura County Sheriff's Office, was around 8pm near the Last Chance Trail.

The group was able to notify dispatch through the Apple Emergency SOS feature. This feature on their iPhone provided them with 'valuable information such as possible location and if immediate medical aid was needed,' according to a department news release.

Family members of the hikers also contacted deputies to report them missing when the group failed to return to the trail head.

Thirteen members of the Upper Ojai Search and Rescue (SAR) Team were then deployed to the site around 8:30pm and by 11:15pm all 10 hikers were safely rescued.

None of the hikers were injured or required medical care.

The frightening ordeal took place on May 12 when the group of young hikers, who were walking along Santa Paula Canyon Los Padres National Forest became lost

By 11:15pm the 10 missing hikers were found and safely rescued by the Upper Ojai Search and Rescue (SAR) Team Members. The officials said that 'most of the hikers were not prepared

The Apple Emergency SOS feature (pictured) is displayed on the phones screen which helps a user quickly and easily call for help

Apple's iPhone Emergency SOS alert feature

The rescue team hiked approximately 4 miles in the night through treacherous terrain that included low visibility, multiple stream crossings and trails that had been previously damaged from the heavy rains.

At approximately 11:15 P.M., the missing hikers were located.

The authorities said the group was not prepared for the hike, and when the rescue team reached the missing hikers, they were given food, and drinking water.

The rescuers used lighting equipment to help guide the hikers down the trail.

By 2:40am, the hikers made it back to the Santa Paula Canyon Trailhead.

They were then reunited with their family members.

None of the hikers required medical aid.

The iPhone 8 and later models have the the emergency service feature which can be accessed on the phone's screen.

In order to access this, press and hold the side button and one of the volume buttons until the Emergency SOS slider appears then drag the Emergency Call slider to call the emergency services.

In November 2022, Apple introduced the Emergency SOS via satellite safety feature on their iPhone 14 models. The safety alert is designed to let you get in touch with emergency services in areas where you don't have reception.

The missing hikers had an iPhone 14 model and was able to use the phone's 'Emergency SOS via satellite,' service.

The 'Last Chance' trail connects the Santa Paul Canyon section to another hiking path, and has another high elevation gain and is about seven miles long (credit: KnaPix/Flickr)

The Santa Paula Canyon trail is a six-mile hike in Ventura County, with an elevation gain of more than 3,700 feet, according to the ConjeoValleyGuide.

The 'Last Chance' portion of the canyon is a trail that connects the Santa Paul Canyon section to another hiking path and has another high elevation gain.

The trail is about seven miles long, and the terrain is described as 'rugged and difficult.

The Upper Ojai Search and Rescue (SAR) Team consists of approximately 28 volunteers skilled in search and rescue operations in mountain, canyon and urban settings.

The team volunteers on average 4,000 hours per year on searches, rescues, training and public events.
While many pages have been filled detailing the rise and fall of Theranos and its founder Elizabeth Holmes, much less is known about her husband, Billy Evans.

Holmes was found responsible of duping investors into believing that she had developed a revolutionary medical device in an 'elaborate years-long' fraud.

The 39-year-old became a star of Silicon Valley when she said her start-up was perfecting an easy-to-use test kit that could carry out a wide range of medical diagnostics with just a few drops of blood. But her company flamed out after a Wall Street Journal investigation into the validity of the tests.

She has since been sentenced to just over 11 years in prison for defrauding investors, and on May 17, 2023, it was decided she she must begin serving prison time after a judge denied her latest request to remain free while appealing her fraud conviction.

As Holmes heads to jail, DailyMail.com looks at who her husband Billy Evans is...

Pictured: Former Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes alongside her husband Billy Evans, walks back to her hotel following a hearing at the Robert E. Peckham U.S. Courthouse on March 17, 2023 in San Jose, California

When did Elizabeth Holmes meet and marry Billy Evans?

Holmes and William 'Billie' Evans met just as the Theranos, no longer the Silicon Valley darling it once was, began collapsing around its founder.

According to an article in Women's Health, they met at a party in 2017 when he was just 25 and living with roommates. He is around nine years her junior.

According to the New York Post, Billy told a former colleague: 'You won't believe who I met! She's not as the articles portray her to be.'

The pair's relationship progressed quickly, despite Holmes' legal troubles. They adopted a husky together, and were spotted at Burning Man in 2018.

Their appearance at the desert festival came just six days before an email was sent to the few remaining employees of Theranos announcing that the company was dissolving for good.

They soon moved into a San Francisco flat together, and reportedly married in a secret ceremony in 2019, going on to have two children.

However, the pair have never confirmed that they are officially married.

Several sources continue to refer to the pair as 'partners,' despite it being understood that they had a secret ceremony in San Jose, and that Evans proposed with his own MIT signet ring.

They are often seen together around San Diego with their children, and attending court hearings in San Francisco.

Pictured: Elizabeth Holmes and William 'Billy' Evans are seen together with a husky they adopted together, around the time Theranos came crashing down

Do Elizabeth Holmes and Billy Evans have children together?

Holmes and Evans had a child together shortly before her trial, and they have had a second since her conviction.

Holmes gave birth to her first child - a son - in July 2021. Just months later, she was found guilty of wire fraud and conspiracy to commit fraud.

In October 2022, weeks before her sentencing hearing, it was reported that she was pregnant for a second time. She was sentenced to 11 years in prison.

She gave birth to a second child son after.

This is according to a court filing from February 2023, submitted to the court as part of an argument for delaying the start of her prison time.

Who are Billy Evans' family?

Billy Evans comes from a family of successful hoteliers who founded Evans Hotels.

His grandparents founded the hospitality company which runs three luxury hotels in San Diego, which - according to the company's website - was founded in 1953.

'The Bahia Resort Hotel was the first commercial lessee on Mission Bay, opening in early 1953 with 52 rooms after the City of San Diego offered several parcels of land for commercial development,' the website says on its history page.

It goes on to say that the family then acquired the right to develop on land at the northwest corner of Mission Bay in 1958 for the Catamaran Resort Hotel and Spa.

The company opened a third hotel in 2002 in La Jolla's Torrey Pines State Reserve.

According to the New York Post, Billy's family had objections to him marrying Holmes, with the newspaper quoting one as saying: 'What the f**k are you doing?' It's like he's been brainwashed.'

Evans' father is described as 'a passionate collector of California Impressionist art, rare specimen palm trees and subtropical plants, and antique racing automobiles' (Evans and his father pictured together in 2015)

Where did Billy Evans study and what work does he do?

According to his LinkedIn profile, Evans studied abroad in China on a full scholarship, taking classes in Chinese language and literature. He went on to graduate from M.I.T in 2015, where he attained a bachelor's degree in economics.

Like his future wife, he tried to start up his own company. His businesses model was offering shuttle services to the U.S. for China's elite to receive medical care.

However, Women's Health cited a source as saying that he wasn't fluid enough in the language to get the company off the ground.

Next, Evans worked at LinkedIn, then Luminar Technologies. More recently, when asked by the New York Times, he said that he was doing 'a lot of different stuff, investing, starting companies.'

What was Elizabeth Holmes convicted of?

Holmes was sentenced to just over 11 years in prison for defrauding investors with her Silicon Valley start-up Theranos.

She was found responsible of duping investors into believing that she had developed a revolutionary medical device.

The device, she claimed, could carry out a wide range of medical diagnostics with just a few drops of blood. But her company flamed out after a Wall Street Journal investigation into the validity of the tests.

Pictured: Former Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes alongside her husband Billy Evans, walks back to her hotel following a hearing at the Robert E. Peckham U.S. Courthouse on March 17, 2023 in San Jose, California

What happens to Elizabeth Holmes now?

She was scheduled to begin serving prison time on April 27 but her lawyers lodged a last-minute appeal on procedural issues after an earlier attempt was denied.

US Judge Edward Davila on May 16, 2023 denied the new request and in a separate ruling ordered Holmes and her top Theranos lieutenant, Ramesh "Sunny" Balwanito, to pay $452 million to victims of their fraud.

According to media reports, Davila has not yet decided on the new date of her imprisonment and has recommended that she serve her sentence at a women's prison in Texas.
Florida residents are sharing videos of empty grocery shelves and construction sites after workers threatened to strike against sweeping immigration reforms in the Sunshine State.

Latin-American truck drivers and laborers have pledged to boycott jobs in Florida in protest of Governor Ron Desantis's SB 1718 bill which aims to crackdown on undocumented migrants.

And videos posted to social media appear to show the effects are already being felt by residents who say grocery shelves have been wiped clean of products.

A TikTok account called 'PJ's journey' showed scores of empty shelves in his local store, alongside the caption: 'No groceries. Smh (shaking my head).

'Sad these truckers weren't playing when they said they were not delivering anything to Florida.'

Florida residents are sharing videos of empty grocery shelves and construction sites after workers threatened to strike against sweeping immigration reforms in the Sunshine State.

Separately a trucker called Gilberto Al Volante uploaded a clip of a deserted construction site on the video sharing platform.

He told his 6,000 followers: 'This is a construction site here in Davenport, Florida, 20 miles from Orlando.

'This is all you see. It's 9AM. Usually at this time there's a lot of people here working - all kinds of contractors doing their jobs. Roofers of course.

'A lot of noise and loud Mexican music. This is what you hear today.

'It is happening. It's not fake, It's not a joke.'

He added: 'This is all thanks to Ron DeSantis.'

Migrant crossings at the US-Mexico border have come under renewed scrutiny this week after former President Donald Trump's 'Title 42' expired this week.

The legislature was implemented at the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic and allowed for the quick expulsion of undocumented migrants found crossing the border.

Some 2.8 million people were expelled while the order was in place, according to the US Customs and Borders Protection.

But the US Centers for Disease Control agreed to end the policy due to a diminished public health risk.

A trucker called Gilberto Al Volante uploaded a clip of a deserted construction site on TikTok. The row is over Governor Ron Desantis's SB 17 18 bill which aims to crack down on undocumented migrants

DeSantis signed the contentious SB 1718 bill last week, sparking a nationwide backlash.

However Republican lawmakers in a host of red states have been attempting to find ways to keep the policy in place.

Last week DeSantis - who is expected to soon announce a presidential campaign that will see him go head-to-head with Donald Trump - signed the contentious SB 1718 bill.

The law includes a new requirement that businesses with more than 25 employees must use E-verify, a federal system that determines if employees can legally work in the US.

It also demands hospitals collect information on undocumented patients.

The bill is expected to come into effect on July 1, and has sparked a huge backlash, predominantly among truckers and construction workers who rely heavily on immigration for labor.

On Twitter independent journalist Arturo Dominguez shared various videos of Latino truckers discussing plans to implement a boycott.

Democrat Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez wrote in response: 'Anti-immigrant policies reap what they sow. DeSantis Florida is about to find that out.

'The US has such deep needs right now, particularly in labor.

'Yet policymakers (of ALL stripes) take our immigrant communities for granted.

'No mas. Time to stop biting the hands that feed.'
Joran van der Sloot has made the bizarre accusation that Natalee Holloway's mother 'tricked' him into an FBI sting that led to his charge in connection with the unsolved murder case, DailyMail.com can reveal.

The convicted killer, who is currently in jail in Peru for an unrelated murder, is the prime suspect in Natalee's disappearance from the Caribbean island of Aruba in 2005, when she was 18.

The teenager was last seen leaving a nightclub with van der Sloot and two of his friends. Her body has never been found and she was declared legally dead in 2012.

Van der Sloot now faces extradition to the US on federal charges of extortion.

He is accused of promising to lead Natalee's family to her body in exchange for $250,000 in 2010.

Joran van der Sloot is the prime suspect in the unsolved murder case of Natalee Holloway

Van der Sloot is facing extradition to the US over extortion charges after allegedly promising to lead Natalee's family to her body in exchange for cash. But his attorney has now claimed it was Natalee's mother, Beth (pictured), who approached him offering cash

Natalee disappeared from the Caribbean island of Aruba in 2005 while on a high school trip

A grand jury indicted him that year on one count each of wire fraud and extortion, each of which is punishable by up to 20 years in prison.

But his attorney, Maximo Altez, has now made the extraordinary accusation that it was actually Natalee's mother, Beth, who approached van der Sloot offering money if he took her to her daughter's body.

'Joran wants to be extradited because he's innocent of the charges,' Altez told DailyMail.com. 'He was living his life in Aruba and got a call from Beth Holloway, who tricked him.

'She said: "Joran, tell me where the body is and I'll give you $250,000." He never asked for money, she's the one that offered.

'She even gave him an advancement and he never asked for the rest. He only got $25,000.'

Altez explained that his client is a 'sick person' and 'compulsive gambler', who 'needed the money to play at the casino'.

He claimed Mrs Holloway 'took advantage of him'.

Outlining a somewhat confusing case for the defense, Altez said his client admits he made up the location of Natalee's body, adding: 'He [van der Sloot] says if he's guilty of anything, it's fraud. But in reality he's a sick person.'

But he later clarified that the Dutchman 'is innocent of the two charges [of wire fraud and extortion]'.

Natalee's body has never been found and she was declared legally dead in 2012

Natalee is seen in casino security footage at a table with van der Sloot shortly before her disappearance

Aruba police are seen arresting suspect Joran van der Sloot in July 2005, before releasing him due to lack of evidence

The attorney said the killer originally asked him to appeal the extradition, but on Monday sent him a letter saying he wanted to go to the US to clear his name.

Mrs Holloway's lawyer, John Q. Kelly, declined to comment on the claims.

But they are likely to be seen as an insult to a bereaved family who have already been tormented by van der Sloot's ever changing explanation of Natalee's disappearance.

Under questioning, van der Sloot is said to have first claimed he dropped Natalee off at a hotel, before later stating he left her alone on a beach.

In his 2007 book, 'The Case of Natalee Holloway: My Own Story about her Disappearance on Aruba', van der Sloot admitted lying to police and apologized to the Holloways.

He wrote: 'I understand that my lies in the past seriously tarnished my credibility.'

He maintained his innocence, explaining that he had left an intoxicated Natalee on the beach, where he said she wanted to 'watch the stars'.

Prosecutors in the US allege that van der Sloot reached out to Mrs Holloway in 2010 asking for $25,000 to disclose the location of her daughter's body - and then a further $225,000 when the remains were discovered.

During a recorded sting operation, van der Sloot pointed to a house where he said Holloway was buried but, in later emails, admitted to lying about the location, an FBI agent said in an affidavit.

Later that year, van der Sloot was arrested in Peru for the murder of Stephany Flores, 21, who was killed five years to the day after Natalee's disappearance.

Peruvian prosecutors accused van der Sloot of killing Flores, a business student from a prominent family, to rob her after learning she had won money at the casino where the two met.

They said he killed her with 'ferocity' and 'cruelty,' beating then strangling her in his hotel room. He pleaded guilty in 2012.

van der Sloot is ditching his wife, Leidy Figueroa, 33, (pictured left in 2014 shortly after they married), because he is now in a relationship with Eva Pacohuanaco (right), who was accused of smuggling him drugs in jail in Peru

It comes after DailyMail.com revealed van der Sloot is ditching his wife of eight years for a 'prettier and younger' girlfriend accused of smuggling him drugs in jail.

The killer married accountant Leidy Figueroa, 33, in a private ceremony at Piedras Gordas prison in July 2014, when Leidy was seven months pregnant with their daughter, Dusha.

But van der Sloot asked for a divorce around a year ago after beginning a relationship with Eva Pacohuanaco.

The 24-year-old Peruvian was accused of helping him smuggle nearly 300 grams of cocaine and 140 grams of marijuana into another jail in Juliaca, according to reports in Peru.

It landed the Dutchman an additional seven years on his sentence for the murder of Flores.

He is due for release in 2038.
Chairman Jason Smith of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee is demanding a probe into an alleged 'retaliation' plot by the IRS which led to an entire investigative division looking into Hunter Biden's crimes to be cut.

IRS Commissioner Daniel Werfel told Congress in April that his agency would not retaliate against whistleblowers, saying that 'there will be no retaliation for anyone making an allegation or a call to a whistleblower hotline.'

However, Smith is now calling that promise into question after it was revealed this week by attorneys for an IRS whistleblower that the agency removed the entire team probing Hunter Biden's tax returns 'in retaliation against a whistleblower who alleged his colleagues were covering-up the president's son's financial crimes.'

Smith, R-Mo., sent a letter Tuesday, demanding Werfel explain his apparent contradiction.

'I call on Commissioner Werfel to abide by his pledge, quickly provide information to Congress in response to these allegations, and ensure that no action is taken to discourage those who attempt to shine a light on government misconduct,' he said in a statement Tuesday.

According to a letter from the whistleblower's attorneys earlier this week to Smith and other congressional leaders, their client's dismissal orders came from the Justice Department.

Hunter, 53, was spotted Monday, along with his father President Joe Biden, and First Lady Jill Biden, at University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia for his daughter Maisy's graduation

The whistleblower - who has not been named - did not publicly identify Hunter as the subject of his coverup claims, but congressional sources did

'Today the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Criminal Supervisory Special Agent we represent was informed that he and his entire investigative team are being removed from the ongoing and sensitive investigation of the high-profile, controversial subject about which our client sought to make whistleblower disclosures to Congress,' the letter on behalf of the whistleblower states.

'He was informed the change was at the request of the Department of Justice,' Mark Lytle and Tristan Leavitt wrote.

The whistleblower - who has not been named - did not publicly identify Hunter as the subject of his coverup claims, but congressional sources did.

Other Republican lawmakers are speaking out and slamming the IRS for being complicit in an alleged 'cover-up' scheme.

'The IRS is complicit in the cover-up of Hunter Biden's tax fraud,' House GOP Chairwoman Elise Stefanik tweeted Tuesday. 'There must be accountability.'

House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., also slammed the alleged action by the IRS detailed in the letter, accusing the federal government of 'once again' may be 'abusing its power' by retaliating against a whistleblower.

Chairman Jason Smith of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee is demanding a probe into an alleged 'retaliation' plot by the IRS

Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., brought up the letter by the whistleblower's attorney during a separate hearing by the Senate Finance Committee Tuesday.

He called Hunter Biden a 'wealthy tax cheat,' pointing to the whistleblower's allegations as another example of the weaponization of the government to protect Biden's family.

Hunter, 53, was spotted Monday, along with his father President Joe Biden, and First Lady Jill Biden, at University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia for his daughter Maisy's graduation.

He still waits to find out if he will be charged with tax fraud as corruption claims pile up against his family.
A gunman who killed three people and wounded six others in northwestern New Mexico was identified as 18-year-old Beau Wilson.

While questions remain over his motive, it is understood that the local high school student was able to obtain three guns, one of which was purchased legally.

Wilson used those weapons on Monday in what police described as a 'random' shooting in the mid-size, New Mexico town.

Pictured: Beau Wilson the man police say committed a mass shooting in Farmington, New Mexico

Flowers are seen at a house where a gunman was standing shooting at random people on N Dustin Avenue

Investigators work along a residential street following a deadly shooting on May 15, 2023, in Farmington, New Mexico

What did Beau Wilson do?

Beau Wilson shot dead three elderly women as he prowled a New Mexico neighborhood firing at cars with a legally purchased assault-style rifle, one of three weapons he used in the rampage, that he bought a month after he turned 18.

The suspect's shooting spree on the morning of May 15, 2023, through a residential area of Farmington, New Mexico, ended when police shot him dead.

Police say he killed 93-year-old Gwendolyn Schofield, her 73-year-old daughter, Melody Ivie, and 79-year-old Shirley Voita.

Police said Wilson stalked a quarter-mile stretch of roadway on foot firing indiscriminately at cars, with some homes also being hit, before police confronted him outside a church, exchanging gunfire with Wilson to halt his advance.

Witnesses and police say Wilson walked through the neighborhood a short drive from downtown Farmington spraying bullets until police arrived within minutes and fatally shot him. Two police officers were among the wounded.

Farmington Deputy Police Chief Baric Crum said at least 150 bullets were fired but that number was expected to go up as the investigation continued.

A bullet hole is seen through the bedroom window of Jolene Robledo's home following a mass shooting in New Mexico

Video footage showed Wilson, dressed in black, pacing around the church driveway holding what appeared to be a handgun with an extended, high-capacity magazine before he was killed.

The minutes-long burst of violence stirred hours of fear as police searched the area to ensure the killing was over in Farmington, which is about 180 miles northwest of Albuquerque.

The gunman's actions 'appear to be purely random and had no specific targets or motives that we can identify at this time,' Farmington Deputy Police Chief Kyle Dowdy told a media briefing on Tuesday.

Four other people in cars struck by gunfire or shrapnel were wounded, police said, along with two police officers who have since been released from a local hospital.

Wilson lived at an address in the neighborhood where the shootings took place, but there was no indication he knew any of his victims, Dowdy said.

How old was Beau Wilson and what school did he attend?

Beau Wilson was just 18 when he carried out the shooting, leading to him being fatally shot by police officers.

He attended a Farmington High School in the area and was set to graduate the day after the shooting.

Wilson was a member of the varsity wrestling team and wrestled for years while in school.

Authorities said that Wilson told a friend a year ago that he was hearing voices.

During the shooting, a friend told the Albuquerque Journal, that he sent Wilson a message on Snapcaht about the shooting, figuring the teen was at school. But, he later saw video of Wilson being shot by police.

'I knew he was going to do something bad, but I didn't think it was going to be something like that,' the teenager said.

How did Beau Wilson get hold of the three fire arms?

In addition to obtaining the AR-15 rifle legally a month after he turned 18 in October 2022, Wilson is believed to have obtained two other firearms used in the shooting from family members, police said.

New Mexico has some of the least restrictive gun ownership laws in the country, with no minimum age to possess rifles and shotguns.

The state generally prohibits anyone under age 19 to possess a handgun, according to the Giffords Law Center gun control organization.

Proposed legislation to ban the sale of many semi-automatic firearms, limit the capacity of ammunition magazines and impose a mandatory waiting period on gun purchases all failed to pass New Mexico's legislature during its 2023 session.

Community members gather for a prayer vigil at Hills Church in Farmington hours after a mass shooting

Police say Wilson killed 93-year-old Gwendolyn Schofield, her 73-year-old daughter, Melody Ivie, and 79-year-old Shirley Voita.

What is his motive?

As of May 17, investigators were still trying to determine the shooter's motive.

'The amount of violence and brutality that these people faced is unconscionable to me,' Deputy Police Chief Kyle Dowdy said.

Deputy Police Chief Baric Crum said Wilson was indiscriminately shooting at vehicles, but that some rounds also hit homes.

Dowdy said investigators do not believe Wilson knew anyone he shot.

'We've discovered nothing that leads us to believe that the suspect knew' the victims, he said. 'We're pretty confident in that this was completely random.'

Wilson had a history of 'minor infractions as a juvenile' and was believed to have suffered from an unspecified mental illness, Dowdy said.
Parents who had named their son Putin in 2016 to show their love for the Russian president have begged officials to allow them to change it.

The Tajik parents of now eight-year-old Putin Dzhuraev, told a local registry office that they now wish to give their son his birth name of Rasul.

Ekaterina Belous, head of the Alexandrovsky district registry office in Vladimir oblast, east of Moscow, said that the couple have 'regrets' about the decision, but did not go into detail about why those regrets were held.

'The parents have already turned to us again,' she told New City of Alexandrovsk newspaper.

'We're currently consulting with them. Let's just say they regret that they did it.'

The Tajik parents of now eight-year-old Putin Dzhuraev, told a local registry office that they now wish to give their son his birth name of Rasul

Parents who named their son Putin in 2016 to show their love for the Russian president have begged officials to allow them to change it

The child's cousin, named Shoigu - after Russia's minister of defence, Sergei Shoigu -will be keeping his name for the time being, Belous confirmed.

The decision to name the child Putin comes from the boy's grandfather - Rahmon Juraev, a fan of the Russian president - who was inspired in 2016 by the decision of an Egyptian journalist to name his own son after the Russian leader.

'Vladimir Putin is the number one man in the world for me. Strong, smart and educated. My grandson looks very similar to Putin as a child, and I, without hesitation, decided to change the name of the child,' Jurayev told the BBC Russian Service at the time.

The family, originally from Tajikistan - where Putin was once hailed as an iconic leader - fled the country to Russia in the 1990's after a fierce civil war in their home country.

Since the war in Ukraine began last year, the president has become less popular in Central Asia.

Enlistment officers in Russia have been entering mosques to search for migrants from the Muslim-populated countries of Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan.

They have offered them payments and expedited citizenship in return for military service in the Ukraine war.

According to Eurasianet, many have been forced to enlist against their will or tricked into joining.
Popular Texas-based chain Buc-ee's is set to open a new travel center in a tiny Kentucky town which is home to just 700 people.

It will be located along the busy Interstate 65 in Smith Grove and it will be the smallest city with a Buc-ee's in the United States.

The new 53,000 square-foot store, located halfway between Nashville and Louisville, will offer favorites including barbeque sandwiches, pastries and iconic Beaver nuggets.

And those heading on long journeys will get to use the famed Buc-ee's bathrooms which are well known for their cleanliness.

There will be 120 gas pumps available at the new travel center which will also sell kolaches, fudge and jerky.

Popular Texas-based chain Buc-ee's is set to open a new travel center in a tiny Kentucky town which is home to just 700 people

It will be located along the busy Interstate 65 in Smith Grove and it will be the smallest city with a Buc-ee's in the United States

The new 53,000 square-foot store, located halfway between Nashville and Louisville, will offer fan favorites including barbeque sandwiches, pastries and iconic Beaver nuggets

Stan Beard, the director of real estate, said: 'We are excited to be in Western Kentucky along a beautiful stretch of I-65 between Nashville and Louisville.

'Smiths Grove will be the smallest town with a Buc-ees. It has a big heart just like we do, so well get along just fine!'

Construction for the new Kentucky store will begin on June 5 and the company is set to celebrate with a local ceremony attended by local and state leaders.

The first Buc-ee's was opened in Texas in 1982 and it has since expanded to 45 locations across the south.

It has travel centers in Tennessee, Florida, South Carolina, Alabama, Georgia and Kentucky.

The chain is planning to build stores in Colorado and Missouri with plans to add more Texas car washes to the several it currently operates.

Buc-ee's reportedly intends to add a $6million car wash tunnel at its north Fort Worth store which is located near Texas Motor Speedway.

A staff member at Buc-ee's in Auburn slicing up brisket to make its famous sandwiches

There will be 120 gas pumps available at the new Kentucky travel center which will also sell kolaches, fudge and jerky

It began construction on another $6million car wash at a store in Temple in early May and it is scheduled to open in October.

Buc-ee's began work on a new $60million travel center along Interstate 35 south of Fort Worth back in January.

The 74,000-square-foot store will be complete with 120 gas pumps and all the snacks and T-shirts the brand is famous for.

The first Buc-ee's store in Kentucky opened in Richmond last year and a second Tennessee location is expected to open on June 26.
CNN has promoted Kaitlan Collins to anchoring its coveted 9pm slot, a week after her controversial town hall with Donald Trump.

In an announcement, Chairman Chris Licht said today: 'She is a smart and gifted journalist who weve all seen hold lawmakers and newsmakers accountable.

'She pushes politicians off their talking points, gets real answers  and as everyone whos worked with her knows  breaks a lot of news.'

The Trump town hall sparked immediate controversy and criticism.

The former president's supporters - who dominated the live audience - cheered and clapped as he spoke over Collins and labeled her a 'nasty person'.

CNN has promoted Kaitlan Collins to anchoring its coveted 9pm slot, a week after her controversial town hall with Donald Trump

Collins hosted Trump's town hall in New Hampshire last week

Many said she was 'unprepared' and given an 'impossible task' by CNN bosses.

Others were furious with CNN for giving him a platform.

However messy it was, the hour-long special shattered CNN's ratings average.

Some 3.3million tuned in - five times the normal number.

Collins said nothing of the controversy, leaving Licht to silence internal detractors.

On the morning call last Thursday, he warned: 'You do not have to like the former president's answers, but you can't say that we didn't get them.

'While we all may have been uncomfortable hearing people clapping, that was also an important part of the story because the people in that audience represent a large swath of America.

'The mistake the media made in the past is ignoring that those people exist just like you cannot ignore that President Trump exists.

Collins was hired by Jeff Zucker in 2017 after working for the right-leaning Daily Caller, a website founded by Tucker Carlson

Sharp rise: She became Chief White House Correspondent following the 2020 election, and was named as co-host of the ill-fated CNN This Morning last year as part of Licht's overhaul. She clashed with co-host Don Lemon (pictured)

'I absolutely unequivocally believe America was served very well by what we did last night.'

At 31, Collins is one of the youngest primetime anchors in US television history.

The new role rounds off her meteoric rise through CNN. She is CNN's first permanent 9pm anchor since Chris Cuomo, who was fired in late 2021.

Collins was hired by Jeff Zucker in 2017 after working for the right-leaning Daily Caller, a website founded by Tucker Carlson.

Her on-camera spats with Trump during his presidency won her notoriety and fans.

She became Chief White House Correspondent following the 2020 election, and was named as co-host of the ill-fated CNN This Morning last year as part of Licht's overhaul.

The show has been marred in problems.

Don Lemon, previously one of the network's biggest stars, was fired over a series of sexist remarks, and after butting heads with Collins on-set.

Cuomo has now moved to NewsNation.

He was fired by CNN for colluding with his brother, former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, as he battled a sexual harassment scandal.

Collins said of her new role: 'Im grateful and excited to join CNNs primetime lineup for a new show that will feature sharp interviews, fresh reporting and thoughtful conversations on the top stories that are driving the news cycle.

'Im so thankful for my friend and co-anchor Poppy and will be cheering on the CNN This Morning team every day.'
President Joe Biden left the White House for his trip to Japan  after leaving the door open to conceding to some Republican-backed work requirements for aid recipients amid budget talks he called 'productive.'

Biden made the parting comment in response to a question, two days after he called out Republicans for a 'wish list' that would 'put a million older adults at risk of losing their food assistance and going hungry.'

On Wednesday, after delivering remarks on preventing a government default, Biden said: 'Well, I'm not going to accept any work requirements that's going to impact on medical health needs of people'  a comment that appeared to take off the table work requirements for Medicaid recipients.

'I'm not going to accept any work requirements much beyond what is already ... I voted years ago for work requirements that exist. But it's possible there could be a few others, but not anything of consequence,' Biden told reporters in D.C. minutes before heading out for a trip he announced he is cutting short amid the high-stakes negotiations.

President Joe Biden said before heading to Japan he wouldn't accept new work requirements for benefits 'much beyond' what already exists. He said there wouldn't be new one of 'consequence.' The Republican budget imposes new requirements, and prompted pushback from House progressives

The Republican budget, which Biden has repeatedly attacked, would boost work requirements for a series of federal relief programs, including the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, program.

The SNAP program already requires able-bodied recipients who are under 50 and don't have kids to work 20 hours a week or engage in job training activities.

Members of the left of the House Democratic Caucus have blasted the potential move. Among them are Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Rep. Pramila Jayapal of California, who called it a 'terrible idea.'

The president also addressed his decision to nix the planned second half of his trip. He was to have traveled on from Hiroshima, where the G7 leaders are meeting, on to Papua New Guinea and Australia.

The leaders of the 'Quad' nations  which include the U.S., Japan, Australia, and India, would still meet in Japan.

Biden also said he would have a 'press conference on this issue' to address the debt ceiling and budget. He usually takes questions in a formal setting at some point during an overseas trip, although he didn't on his recent trip to Ireland.

Aides to Biden and Speaker Kevin McCarthy are trying to negotiate a budget agreement amid a looming potential default if Congress doesn't raise the debt ceiling

The House Republican budget imposes new work requirements on SNAP recipients. Nearly 30 million Americans who got extra government help with grocery bills during the pandemic will soon see that aid shrink

He also insisted that the negotiations were about the budget, and not about raising the debt ceiling  something he said Congress should do in order to settle debts incurred in the past.

If Congress doesn't raise the nation's $31 trillion debt limit the nation would go into default.

Biden called Tuesday's talks, which yielded to staff talks Tuesday night, 'civil and respectful.'

He said 'everyone came to the meeting, I think, in good faith. I'm confident that we'll get the agreement on the budget if America will not default,' he said.

The White House blasted the House GOP budget last month in an official Statement of Administration Position.

'It would put food assistance at risk for many older Americans and cause millions of people to lose Medicaid coverageincluding working people and people with disabilities.'
Two hard-Left members of 'the Squad', the self-styled progressive group of Democrats, have sparked uproar after voted against honoring police officers killed in the line of duty.

The vote for National Police Week picked widespread support from Republicans and nearly all Democrats.

The motion was to honor 'the 556 law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty, including 224 officers killed in 2022, as well as 332 officers killed in previous years.'

It also called on lawmakers nationwide to ensure 'police are equipped with the resources and training necessary to keeping communities safe.'

But Squad members Rashida Tlaib, a Congresswoman representing Michigan, and Cori Bush, a Democrat from Missouri, were the only members who voted against the resolution.

Fellow Squad members have also used anti-police rhetoric in the past, but Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, and Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts all voted in favor of the resolution on Monday.

Rashida Tlaib recently sparked fury by referring to the founding of the state of Israel as a 'catastrophe'

Cori Bush, a long-time Democrat activist, has spoken out in favor of defunding the police in the past

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, as well as two other members of the so-called Squad, voted in favor of the motion backing police officers

Rashida Tlaib sparked fury last week when she announced an event marking the 75th anniversary of Israel's founding as 'a catastrophe'.

And Bush, an arch supporter of the Black Lives Movement, on Wednesday introduced a bill calling for reparations to be paid to all Black Americans.

The 46-year-old's motion comes as the U.S. teeters on the brink of a possible debt default as lawmakers bicker over raising the country's $32 trillion debt cap.

The pair hit back on Tuesday, issuing a statement defending their votes.

'Let us be clear: the health and safety of every one of our community members -including our first responders - is a top priority for us.'

'But this resolution is not a referendum on support for the safety of first responders.

'It is a document intended to advance Republicans' false narrative around supporting law enforcement and gaslight the public about where they stand,' the statement read.

The two congresswomen also highlighted Republican reactions to the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021, as reasoning for their claims of the GOP's 'false narrative,' and they argued that 'Republicans are the Party of Insurrection.'

But House speaker Kevin McCarthy vowed Republicans would 'continue to show our full support for our police officers by saying thank you to everyone who wears the badge.'

'Our nation is blessed to have the bravest, most professional, most capable police officers in the world,' he said.

Congresswoman Cori Bush faced allegations of hypocrisy in October when it emerged she had spent $500,000 in campaign funding on private security.

The squad member, splashed out over $100,000 on 'security services' through the third quarter of 2022 alone, according to Federal Election Commission filings.

Of that, $71,201.06 was paid to St. Louis-based private security company named Peace Security. The remaining $30,000 on security services went to Cortney Merrits and Nathaniel Davis, who reportedly share an address with Bush's campaign HQ.

The third-quarter spend took Bush's private security spending during the 2020-2022 election cycle to more than $490,000, the news outlet reported.

This is despite Bush openly calling for defunding the police, a movement which exploded following by the murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis officer and the deaths of other Black people at the hands of law enforcement.

The dangers facing police were underlined once more on Wednesday after Joe Biden granted the Medal of Valor, one of the nation's highest honors for bravery, to seven public safety officers.

Three members of the NYPD received the award after two of their fellow officers were ambushed and killed and they responded to a 911 call, with a rookie cop taking down the gunman.

A Houston police officer, a Colorado police official, Ohio sheriff's deputy and three FDNY firefighters all received medals at a White House ceremony before Biden departed for Japan and the Group of Seven summit.

'I don't know all of you, but I do know you,' Biden said. 'From small towns to big cities, you're cut from the same cloth. You run into danger when everyone else runs away from danger.'
Republicans say the CIA must hand over all the documents to the letter signed by 51 intelligence officials claiming Hunter Biden's laptop was Russian disinformation

Republicans are ramping up the pressure on the CIA to hand over all the documents to the letter signed by 51 intelligence officials claiming Hunter Biden's laptop was Russian disinformation.

DailyMail.com has obtained a letter from the GOP heads of the Judiciary and Intelligence committees to CIA Director Bill Burns demanding any internal communications before the public statement was released in October 2020.

Rep. Mike Turner and Rep. Jim Jordan say their investigation into the origins of the letter has found the 'statement was drafted and disseminated following communications between Acting CIA Director Michael Morell and Biden campaign advisor - now Secretary of State - Antony Blinken'.

They have said they may call witnesses through 'compulsory process' if the CIA does not hand over all the records.

The demands by the top Republicans come a week after they released a report alleging the letter signed by 51 intelligence official 'was a political operation to help elect' Joe Biden in November 2020 by downplaying Hunter's laptop story

The intelligence officers sought to downplay damaging images and information found on Hunter Biden's laptop

Morell sent the statement to the CIAs Prepublication Classification Review Board (PCRB) and asked it to be prioritized as a 'rush job' to get it out before the November 2020 presidential election.

'The Committees have reason to believe additional documents remain in the possession of the CIA,' Turner and Jordan outlined in their letter.

'The Committees have received evidence that the CIA, or at least an employee of the CIA, may have helped to solicit signatories for the statement about Hunter Biden.'

It details how former CIA employee David Cariens emailed staff to say he had been asked to sign the letter by a colleague.

The person who contacted him even admitted: 'We want to emphasize that we do not know if the emails provided to the New York Post by President Trumps personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani, are genuine or not and that we do not have evidence of Russian involvement.'

Turner and Jordan said that if the claims are accurate it 'raises fundamental concerns' about the 'role of the CIA in helping falsely discredit allegations about the Biden family in the final weeks before the 2020 presidential election.'

The demands by the top Republicans come a week after they released a report alleging the letter 'was a political operation to help elect' Joe Biden in November 2020.

The House Judiciary Committee published the report on May 9 titled: 'The Hunter Biden Statement: How Senior Intelligence Community Officials and the Biden Campaign Worked to Mislead American Voters.'

It also reveals that former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper provided editorial advice to 'strengthen the verbiage.'

Clapper is testifying behind closed doors Wednesday on his role in the formation of the letter.

Republicans have said they may call witnesses through 'compulsory process' if CIA Director Burns does not hand over all the records

On October 18, 2020, emails included in the report show Clapper emailing Morrell his intention to sign onto the letter.

He also offered a key phrase to include, writing: 'I have one editorial suggestion for the letter: I think it would strengthen the verbiage if you say this has all the classic earmarks of a Soviet/Russian information operation rather than the 'feel' of a Russian operation.

Morrell replied that Clapper's suggestion was accepted and 'It was a good one.'

Morrell recently testified before the House Judiciary Committee that an Oct. 17 call with Biden's current Secretary of State Antony Blinken had 'absolutely' triggered his interest in coordinating the letter.

However, Blinken insisted last week that he was not behind the infamous letter, insisting that he doesn't 'do politics.'
Atlanta PD today released a compilation of surveillance footage of the moments leading up to and hours after the Midtown hospital shooting that left one person dead and four injured earlier this month.

On May 3, Deion Duwane Patterson entered the Northside Medical Midtown facility because he was dissatisfied with the care he was receiving from Veteran Affairs.

He shot five women - injuring four and killing one - before fleeing.

Amy St. Pierre, a 39-year-old employee of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, died. An eight-hour manhunt ensued, which ended in Patterson's arrest.

He is now in custody facing a single count of murder, and four counts of attempted murder.

On May 3, Deion Duwane Patterson drove in his white pick-up truck to the Northside Medical Midtown in Atlanta

Patterson is shown running across the highway towards the medical offices

Eight hours after the shooting, police zeroed in on him with their weapons drawn

This is the moment he was finally arrested, eight hours after the shooting began

Today, police in Atlanta shared footage of their pursuit of him. They were able to hone in on the gunman so quickly by pinpointing the license plate they were looking for and scanning the city's cameras for it.

Patterson's mother has since revealed he served in the Coast Guard in 2018, but struggled with mental health problems.

Patterson's mother has since revealed he served in the Coast Guard in 2018, but struggled with mental health problems

She said he had wanted an Ativan prescription to deal with anxiety and depression but that the VA wouldn't give it to him, citing its addictive quality.

She claimed her son would have taken the proper dosage of the medication because 'he listened to me in every way.'

Crying, she went on, 'Those families, those families. They're hurting because they wouldn't give my son his damn Ativan.

'Those families lost their loves ones because he had a mental break because they wouldn't listen to me.'

The Coast Guard has confirmed that Patterson was enlisted with them in 2018, before being discharged from active duty in January 2023.

It is unclear why he was discharged.

'Our deepest sympathies are with the victims and their families.

'The Coast Guard Investigative Service is working closely with the Atlanta Police Department and local authorities in the investigation,' they said in a statement.
The alleged incident took place at Withybush Hospital in Haverfordwest, Wales

A nurse slapped an 80-year-old vulnerable patient with Parkinson's Disease in the face repeatedly as he lay in his hospital bed, a court has heard.

Primrose James, 51, of Victoria Road, Southend-on-Sea, Essex is on trial at Swansea Crown Court for ill-treating a person who lacks capacity at Withybush Hospital in Haverfordwest, Wales on May 31, 2022.

It is alleged that James assaulted Dennis Warlow while assisting with his personal care, becoming aggressive after he hit out at another staff member.

James denies the charge and claims to have been acting in self-defence.

Mr Warlow had been a patient on the hospital's orthopaedic ward since January that year after fracturing his hip, and was said to be at times violent and disruptive, the jury heard on Wednesday.

Primrose James, 51, of Victoria Road, Southend-on-Sea, Essex is on trial at Swansea Crown Court for ill-treating a person who lacks capacity at Withybush Hospital (pictured) in Haverfordwest, Wales on May 31, 2022

The incident occurred after Mr Warlow hit out at healthcare assistant Holly English and James, who were working together to change his bed linen.

Ms English said James then became aggressive, slapping him numerous times to the left side of his face, and using her index finger to forcefully poke his forehead.

She claimed James became confrontational and while assaulting him told him he was a 'horrible, horrible man'.

Ms English said she was left 'shocked' by what she had witnessed and reported the incident that night to leading ward nurse Christine Schofield, who then told ward sister Nicola Jones.

Opening the trial Sian Vaughan, prosecuting, said: 'He [Mr Warlow] suffers from Parkinson's disease, he had multiple mobility issues and he was in fact deemed as having lost capacity or not having capacity in April of that year.

'He was quite a vulnerable man, quite frail. But he was a difficult patient who sometimes presented with behavioural problems.

'The defendant worked as a nurse and had done so for a number of years.'

The prosecutor said James was an agency nurse who had worked on the ward for around two years.

She said that, at around 2am, Mr Warlow became incontinent and the defendant helped Ms English to change his sheets.

Ms English said she rolled him towards her and as she rolled him back he tried to hit James with his left hand.

Ms Vaughan said: 'Immediately, the prosecution say, Primrose James in retaliation or anger smacked Mr Warlow to the left side of his face. She then slapped him multiple times to his face, while telling him off for hitting out at her.

'The prosecution will say she was aggressively poking at his forehead at the same time. And during this assault, she used words and was shouting at Mr Warlow saying things like "you horrible, horrible man".

'Finally, she pressed her fingers into the side of his nose with enough force to move his head.'

Ms Vaughan said that when James was later approached by Ms Jones, the ward sister, she said: 'I don't hit patients'.

When she was later interviewed about the incident, James described Mr Warlow as a 'difficult patient' but said the only contact she had with him that night was when she blocked his arm from hitting her.

Giving evidence, Ms English said: 'As soon as he [Mr Warlow] went to hit out at Primrose, Primrose slapped him across the face. She was quite angry and confrontational with him.

'She slapped him a couple of times to his cheek and she started poking him on his forehead. It was quite aggressive.

'She then used her finger and pressed to the side of his nose to push his face away from her.'

'I was shocked. I felt quite intimidated,' she added.

Ms Jones told the court that it was 'never appropriate to hit or tap a patient'.

The court heard Mr Warlow had hit staff at the hospital on several occasions before the alleged incident.

In the police interview, James told officers she had used her hand to block her from being hit by the patient.

'I was just trying to block him away from hitting me,' she said.

'It's not the first time he has hit me. I didn't hit him. The only time I had contact with him is when I blocked him. I didn't poke him.'

Giving evidence, James described Mr Warlow as a 'difficult patient' who had previously hit her in the face and kicked her leg.

'He would kick out, lash out, spit - he was difficult to manage,' she told the jury.

The nurse of 16 years insisted she did not hit or assault Mr Warlow and was not angry at the time of the alleged incident.

'I did not ill-treat him,' she said.

The trial, in front of Judge Huw Rees, continues.
Elon Musk has doubled down on comments comparing George Soros to Jewish supervillain Magneto in a bizarre interview - hours after the Israeli government blasted him for being anti-Semitic.

The Tesla CEO, 51, compared Soros, 92, to X-Men supervillain Magneto on Twitter following the announcement that Soros' investment fund had dumped all of their Tesla stock.

Soros, a Hungarian-born billionaire, heads the Open Society Foundation and is a Holocaust survivor.

In a statement on Tuesday, the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that Musk's tweet had resulted in a flood of conspiracy theories and the hashtag 'The Jews' to trend on the platform.

During a bizarre interview with CNBC's David Faber, Musk was asked about his Soros tweets - where the tech billionaire went off on a bizarre tangent about the 1987 fairytale adventure, The Princess Bride, nonchalantly stating: 'I'll say what I want to say and if the consequence of that is losing money so be it.'

Pictured: Musk was interviewed on CNBC and at one point quoted from 1987 film The Princess Bride

The Tesla CEO compared Soros, 92, to Jewish X-Men supervillain Magneto on Twitter following the announcement

Musk tells Faber: 'I said he reminds me of Magneto, you know calm down people.'

Faber asks: 'When you do something like that, why share it? Why share it when people who buy Tesla's may not agree with you, advertisers on Twitter may not agree with you, why share it wide?'

Musk responds: 'Freedom of speech, I'm allowed to say what I want.'

Faber kicks back at Musk asking him: 'It puts you in a middle of a partisan divide in the country, it makes you a lightning rod for criticism, do you like that?'

Musk then claims he is a 'pro-Semite' and after a lengthy awkward silence totaling 12 seconds he goes into a bizarre tirade and quotes 1987 film The Princess Bride.

He continues: 'I'm reminded of a scene in The Princess Bride, where he confronts the person who kills his father.

'He says, "Offer me money. Offer me power. I don't care".'

Musk then says: 'I'll say what I want to say and if the consequence of that is losing money so be it.'

In response, the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs tweeted: 'The phrase "The Jews" jumped to the list of trending topics on Twitter today following an anti-Semitic tweet by none other than the owner and CEO of the social network, Elon Musk.

Soros, a Hungarian-born Billionaire, heads the Open Society Foundation and is a Holocaust survivor

Musk did not explain the reasoning behind his outburst, but the tweet was posted on Monday shortly after a regulatory filing revealed that Soros' family office had dumped its entire stake in Tesla

Musk's tweet immediately resulted in a flood of anti-Semitic conspiracy theories on Twitter.

'Unfortunately Twitter does nothing to address this problem.'

Director of the Digital Diplomacy Bureau at the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, David Saranga tweeted: 'It reminds me of Niemoller's words which are prominently featured on a wall of the Holocaust Museum in Washington.

'"First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out - because I was not a socialist.

'"Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out - because I was not a trade unionist. Then they came for the Jews

'"I did not speak out - because I was not a Jew.

'"Then they came for me - and there was no one left to speak for me." Niemoller's words serve as an indictment of passivity and indifference during the Holocaust'.

Musk did not explain the reasoning behind his outburst, but the tweet was posted shortly after a regulatory filing revealed that Soros' office had dumped its entire stake in Tesla.

Tesla shares have surged by nearly 54 percent since the start of the year, though the value of the stake that Soros had is not currently clear.

After he shared his tweet, Jonathan Greenblatt, CEO of the Anti-Defamation League, hit back at Musk over his remarks.

Marvel's official character description says the supervillain 'fights to help mutants replace humans as the world's dominant species'

The character, played by Ian McKellen (left) and Michael Fassbender (right) is described as 'witnessed the wort the human race had to offer' with his parents and sister dying during WWII before being sent to Auschwitz

Greenblatt tweeted: 'Soros often is held up by the far-right, using anti-Semitic tropes, as the source of the worlds problems.

'To see Elon Musk, regardless of his intent, feed this segment  comparing him to a Jewish supervillain, claiming Soros "hates humanity"  is not just distressing, it's dangerous.

'It will embolden extremists who already contrive anti-Jewish conspiracies and have tried to attack Soros and Jewish communities as a result.'

CEO of American Jewish Committee Ted Deutch told CNN: 'The tweet about this notion that Soros hates humanity, is trying to destroy civilization just plays into the classical anti-Semitic conspiracy theory about Jewish wealth and power.

'We've seen anti-Semitism surge since Musk took over at Twitter, our own survey show that two thirds of Jews have experienced anti-Semitism online, 85% of those under 30.

'It is unacceptable and dangerous.'

On Wednesday afternoon, Elon again refused to back down on his comments.

In response to his original tweet, he said: 'I'd like to apologize for this post.'

But he quickly followed up with: 'It was really unfair to Magneto.'

It comes after a study found that anti-Semitic tweets soared after Musk's takeover, a 105 percent increase following the $4 billion deal.
Look at a picture of the ladies of Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority on the front stoop of their house at the University of Wyoming.

At first glance, it's a seemingly ordinary snap of women in their college years. Sadly, it's completely extraordinary.

Look again. One sorority member looms over all the rest.

That's Artemis Langford, who reportedly stands at 6'2' tall and weighs 260 pounds.

Langford is not like the other girls, because Langford is a biological male, who identifies as a woman.

What this image truly shows is a country whose moral compass is spinning wildly out of control.

Now former KKG members are speaking out and what they have to say is shocking.

According to a legal complaint, Langford has been seen in the shared sorority house space watching the women with 'an erection visible through his leggings.'

At 'other times, he has had a pillow in his lap,' the document states.

Yes, you read that right.

Langford is reportedly attracted to women and apparently, Langford's not shy about it.

The national Kappa Kappa Gamma organization is now being sued by seven former members, who claim that KKG broke its agreement with them by admitting a biological male  accused of sexually explicit public behavior  into an all-female institution.

Look again. One sorority member looms over all the rest. That's Artemis Langford (above, far left in orange), who reportedly stands at 6'2' tall and weighs 260 pounds.

Langford is not like the other girls, because Langford is a biological male, who identifies as a woman.

Some sisters have said they 'live in constant fear in their home' when this individual is present, and reportedly, Langford will soon be permitted to live in the house with them.

If that's not bad enough  read on.

According to the lawsuit, KKG members received an email asking them to vote on Langford's membership  an alleged violation of the sorority's secret-ballot rules.

When some members voiced opposition to Langford's admission, they were  predictably  smeared as bigots.

One KKG source told National Review that 'a senior member of the sorority' accused critics of being 'homophobic.' Others were supposedly encouraged to quit the chapter if they were unhappy.

Ultimately, the complaint alleges that the president of KKG unilaterally changed membership rules without the unanimous vote of the sisters.

The women who objected say they were forced to resign their memberships.

'They changed the way they defined 'woman' without changing our bylaws or rules,' ex-member Hannah Holtmeier told National Review. 'They were just expecting us to follow suit and say, 'We totally agree, that's what a woman is.' [But] they can't change their definition of a woman and expect us to change ours.'

Good for you, Hannah.

We need more women to stand out and shout 'stop'!

Much like the male Canadian teacher who wore wearing women's clothing and enormous fake silicone breasts in shop class, this situation in Wyoming is fraught with absurdity.

Sophomore Artemis Langford has allegedly not taken steps to transition, such as hormone therapy, feminizing surgery, or laser hair removal.

She still has a driver's license that identifies her as male, and according to the complaint, wears women's clothing, but only occasionally.

In an interview on Megyn Kelly's podcast, the sorority sisters, and their lawyer that Langford was accepted with a 1.9 GPA despite the fact that a 2.7 GPA is the minimum to join a sorority  it's also repeated in their legal filing.

And, as mentioned, Langford is supposedly sexually attracted to women.

This is apparently particularly upsetting to some KKG members, who have been victims of unrelated, prior incidents of sexual assault or harassment, according to Holtmeier.

In an interview on Megyn Kelly's podcast, the sorority sisters, and their lawyer (above) that Langford was accepted with a 1.9 GPA despite the fact that a 2.7 GPA is the minimum to join a sorority  it's also repeated in their legal filing.

Sophomore Artemis Langford (above, far right in black hat) has allegedly not taken steps to transition, such as hormone therapy, feminizing surgery, or laser hair removal.

Where is the feminist outrage? Is this really the world that the women's liberation movement fought for?

'Unfair' doesn't begin to describe what is allegedly happening at KKG. 'Insane' is a more apt description.

An attorney representing the women told the National Review that, 'women are entitled to single sex experiences and single sex spaces. Women's rights deserve protection.'

Of course, she's right.

In fact, sororities and fraternities are among the only groups on campus that are granted an exemption under Title XI to treat people differently based on sex.

But that's not the world that these young women are living in. You see, women's rights are receding.

Like any reasonable person, I believe transgender people deserve to be treated with dignity and respect. They are entitled to live the lives they choose just like all free Americans.

But women have a right to be heard, feel safe and be protected, as well. Too often today, women are silenced, shamed, and shunted aside.

Why are the desires of one person trumping the safety of an entire sorority house?

We all know the answer, it is political correctness -- wokeness run amok.

Transgenderism is the ultimate third rail issue in America. Touch it and you'll be electrocuted.

When University of Pennsylvania swimmer Lia Thomas, a biological male swimmer, competed against women, many of Thomas' female competitors were too fearful to publicly object.

When Riley Gaines, a former collegiate swimmer who competed against Thomas, spoke out she was chased by a hysterical mob of trans-activists, who forced her to huddle in a windowless office at a California university for hours until she was rescued by police.

When University of Pennsylvania swimmer Lia Thomas (above, left), a biological male swimmer, competed against women, many of Thomas' female competitors were too fearful to publicly object.

When Riley Gaines (above), a former collegiate swimmer who competed against Thomas, spoke out she was chased by a hysterical mob of trans-activists, who forced her to huddle in a windowless office at a California university for hours until she was rescued by police.

Let's call this what it is -- an invasion of women's spaces by biological men under the guise of acceptance and tolerance.

America must respect trans people, but we must not sacrifice women's safety in the process.

Can we all agree that women are entitled live in a house free of biological men with visible erections?

Apparently, not.

As transgender extremism creeps into every aspect of American society, the case become clearer. Women are being pushed aside to accommodate the feelings of biological males.

And it must be acknowledged that  while I don't not know the motivations of the individuals in this case  it is conceivable that some trans-identifying males may be exploiting this evolving gender debate for their own personal satisfaction.

But women are not pawns. We must stand up for our rights and our safety in the face of men who pretend to be one of us.

Biological women are fighting back  and this is just the beginning.
A number of House Democrats led by Rep. Cori Bush introduced a resolution Thursday to reignite a push for federal reparations that would amount to over half the U.S. GDP.

The resolution states that the U.S. has a 'legal and moral' obligation to provide reparations for the enslavement of black people and calls for $14 trillion to be paid - 'at least the amount of the black white wealth gap,' Bush told DailyMail.com during a press conference.

The entire U.S. GDP was $25 trillion in 2022. The U.S. is already $31.4 trillion in debt and lawmakers are currently engaged in tedious negotiations over where to cut the budget so they can raise the debt limit.

The $14 trillion figure is in line with the findings of Duke University professor and economist William 'Sandy' Darity, who estimates the wealth gap is in excess of $300,000 per person and there are roughly 40 million black people whose ancestors were enslaved in the U.S.

Asked about the funding source of such a program, Bush suggested the nation reduce its spending abroad and on defense.

A number of House Democrats led by Rep. Cori Bush introduced a resolution Thursday to reignite a push for federal reparations that would amount to over half the U.S. GDP

The resolution states that the U.S. has a 'legal and moral' obligation to provide reparations for the enslavement of black people and calls for $14 trillion to be paid - 'at least the amount of the black white wealth gap,' Bush told DailyMail.com in a press conference

'We're working with this administration, we're talking with other members of Congress, but I'll say this,' she said. 'If we can continue to fund these endless wars, or we can continue to put trillions of dollars into these forever wars, into the Defense budget even beyond what they asked for, if we can send money abroad to help elsewhere, then we have to make sure, because we're talking about things that are happening now.'

The Pentagon has requested a budget of $824 billion for fiscal year 2024.

Biden, on the campaign trail, said he supported a study of the idea of reparations.

'Uncomfortable as it may be, our country was not founded on the principle that all people are created equal,' Rep. Bush said, to raucous affirmations from the crowd behind her.

'It was founded at the expense of the lives, freedom and well being of black people, African folks who they stole, whose enslavement, exploitation and dehumanization. were written, written into the Constitution.'

'Trauma lives in the black body,' said Rep. Jamaal Bowman

'The truth is slavery and discrimination are not a minor or insignificant part of our country's development. They are integral.'

Bush was flanked by activists and a number of other House Democrats - Summer Lee, D-Pa., Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., Jamaal Bowman, D-N.Y., and Barbara Lee, D-Calif., who is running for Senate.

Bush cited a litany of ways in which black people 'continue to live under slavery,' citing the black-white wealth gap, voter suppression, segregation, red lining, and disparities in health.

'Trauma lives in the black body,' said Bowman.

'Research has shown this from generation to generation trauma lives in the body and lives in the blood vessels and lives in the DNA and the cells and the mind.'

He went on: 'So when we talk about disproportion impact of heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, and so on, stress, when we talk about that, it's directly connected to our historical oppression in this country.'

Bowman then compared black people fighting for 'freedom' to other nations defending themselves.

'I watch with pride and support when I see the Irish fight for Ireland, and the Italians fight for Italy and Jews fight for Israel and Palestinians fight for Palestine. I love that. Black people are fighting for our sovereignty in the same way.'

California Senate candidate and current House member Lee praised her home state, where a reparations task force recommended the state formally apologize for slavery and the legislature consider direct payments.

'It's far past time for the federal government to catch up.'

The California task force was created to study the economic effects of slavery and discrimination in the state back in September 2020, making California the first state to embark on studying the possibility of reparations for black Americans  even though slavery was banned in California even before it joined the union.

The group formally approved its final recommendations to the California Legislature last weekend - some of which have been seen as controversial.

The suggestions include payments of a minimum of $360,000 for black Californians, though the payments may go up to $1.2 million.

Another recommendation would give the control of local land use decisions to a state agency - that would approve plans based on whether they maintain or decrease segregation.

Around three in 10 U.S. adults say descendants of slaves should be repaid in some way, according to 2022 Pew Research polling.

'Our ancestors may not be here but we are their descendants and we deserve to have compensation ... for everything they've lost,' Bush concluded.
Maimer's identity was confirmed Wednesday by special forces veteran Perry Blackburn, who has been assisting Ukraine in the fight against Russia

A US Army Green Beret has died fighting in Ukraine, it was revealed today after Russian forces posted a grim video showing the slain soldier's body.

Nick Maimer, 45, of Boise, Idaho, was killed when a Russian shell tore through the building where he was taking cover during brutal fighting over the besieged city of Bakhmut.

The head of Moscow's Wagner Group paramilitary wing, Yevgeny Prigozhin, yesterday posted an appalling video to social media showing off Maimer's US ID cards before panning to his lifeless corpse.

'We will hand him over to the United States of America, we'll put him in a coffin, cover him with the American flag,' Prigozhin bragged in the footage.

Maimer's identity was confirmed Wednesday by special forces veteran Perry Blackburn, who has been assisting Ukraine in the fight against Russia. Blackburn recruited Maimer to Kyiv last May.

Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin (in the video, left, and in Moscow earlier this year, right) appears in the grisly footage. 'We will hand him over to the United States of America, we'll put him in a coffin, cover him with the American flag,' Prigozhin states

Retired Army Sgt First Class Maimer was a 20-year veteran who spent time serving with the special forces. He went to Kyiv in May 2022 to help Ukraine in the war effort

Maimer's lifeless body is shown in the footage inside a building in Bakhmut that was hit by a Russian shell

'From what I understand, he was providing them with firsthand training in that area so that they can continue to do the fight, and he got caught behind enemy lines,' Blackburn told the Idaho Statesman. 'It's just a crazy, crazy time right now. And then having Nick die over there, it's just brutal.'

Paul Maimer, the veteran's uncle, paid tribute to his nephew, telling the paper: 'He persevered through a lot in his life. I had the utmost respect for him. A lot of people can learn from who he was and what he had accomplished in his short life. In 45 years, he lived a lot. He went over there as a humanitarian trying to do good for this world.'

Maimer's death marks at least the ninth American killed in the war since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.

'We're just trying to get him home for proper burial,' Paul Maimer told the Statesman. 'I think he's deserving to be put to rest in a veterans cemetery. He might not have been fighting for our country, but he was fighting for the right reasons.'

A State Department spokesman said: 'We are aware of the reports of the death of a U.S. citizen in Bakhmut and are seeking additional information.

'Our ability to verify reports of deaths of US citizens in Ukraine is extremely limited. We offer our condolences to the families of all whose lives have been lost as a result of Russia's unprovoked and unjustified war against Ukraine.'

Retired Army Sgt First Class Maimer was a 20-year veteran who spent time serving with the special forces.

After retiring from the forces in 2018, he worked in the IT department for the Saint Alphonsus Health System.

Two months before the war broke out, Maimer moved to Spain to teach English.

In a previous interview with the Statesman, the Borah High School graduate said he felt compelled to join the war effort to uphold democracy.

His family shipped his combat gear out to Poland for him.

'It's really obvious to everybody that it's an unjustified invasion,' he said last June. 'So I felt like my moral compass just pointed me toward it.'

Retired Army Sgt First Class Maimer is pictured during his service in the Philippines

Maimer's ID cards were shown off by the Russian forces in the video

Smoke rising from a building in Bakhmut, the site of the heaviest battles with the Russian troops in the Donetsk region, Ukraine

Ukrainian soldiers fire a mortar at Russian positions on the frontline near Bakhmut

He joined Blackburn in Kyiv in May 2022, working with his non-profit AFGFree to distribute supplies to the frontlines and assist with evacuating civilians.

Maimer was committed to staying in the war-torn country.

'I'm out here indefinitely as long as I'm still useful, I think,' Maimer told the Statesman. 'I'm used to an acceptable amount of risk. I say my stress inoculation is pretty high.'

At the time, Maimer met US Senator Jim Risch (R-Idaho) in Kyiv. The statesman was visiting in his capacity as a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and also met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Risch mourned the loss of the veteran on Tuesday.

'I met with him last summer in Kyiv and remember he had a clear understanding that the Ukrainians are fighting today for what our founding fathers fought for in 1776,' Risch said in a statement.

'In our conversation, it was clear Nick was exceptionally well trained for, and sober about, the realities of the war in Ukraine. He talked about helping evaluate foreign volunteers for Ukraine but he also knew his particular training could help, and he made the choice to do what he thought was right. May he rest in peace.'

It comes as fighting in and around Bakhmut is ramping up, with Ukrainian deputy defense minister Hanna Maliar saying yesterday that Kyiv's troops have pushed Russian forces from chunks of territory around the embattled city.

She said the Ukrainian military had reclaimed about 7.5 square miles of territory from the Russian forces in the past few days around Bakhmut.

Maliar, who has indicated previously that the Ukrainian advances around Bakhmut are not part of a broader counteroffensive planned by Kyiv, said developments there 'should not be taken out of context'.

'For example, within a few days, our troops liberated about 20 square kilometers from the enemy in the north and south of the suburbs of Bakhmut,' she wrote on the Telegram messaging app.

'At the same time, the enemy is advancing somewhat in Bakhmut itself, completely destroying the city with artillery.'

Ukrainian soldiers fire a cannon near Bakhmut, an eastern city where fierce battles against Russian forces have been taking place, in the Donetsk region, Ukraine, on Friday

Ukrainian soldiers fire a cannon near Bakhmut, an eastern city where fierce battles against Russian forces have been taking place, in the Donetsk region, Ukraine, on Monday

Ukrainian soldiers fire a cannon near Bakhmut, an eastern city where fierce battles against Russian forces have been taking place, in the Donetsk region, Ukraine, on Friday

Ukrainian servicemen rest at their positions after a fight, as Russia's attack on Ukraine continues, near the front line city of Bakhmut, in Donetsk region, Ukraine, on May 11

She reiterated that Russia was sending in new paratroopers and added: 'Heavy battles continue with different results.'

The Ukrainian military said last week it had started to push Russian forces back around Bakhmut after months of heavy fighting, and Moscow acknowledged that its forces had fallen back north of the city.

And Russia said two of its military commanders had been killed in combat near the town.

Moscow's main target for months has been Bakhmut, which it has come close to capturing but not quite taken in what would be its sole prize after months of the bloodiest ground combat in Europe since World War Two.

Vladimir Putin sees the city as a stepping stone towards capturing the rest of the eastern Donbas region.

It comes as the US announced last week that it will provide $1.2 billion more in long-term military aid to Ukraine to further bolster its air defenses amid Russian drone and missile attacks.

Unlike US equipment, weapons and ammunition sent from Pentagon stocks that can be delivered to Ukraine quickly, this money is to be spent over the coming months or even years to ensure Ukraine's future security needs.

The Pentagon said it will fund air-defense munitions and drones for air defense, and provide equipment to help modify Western air-defense launchers, missiles and radars so they can be used with Ukraine's systems.

It will also buy artillery rounds, howitzer ammunition, satellite imagery assistance and funding for ongoing maintenance and spare parts for a variety of systems. U.S. officials said the weapons include HAWK air-defense systems.

The Pentagon said the aid will build the capacity of Ukraine's military 'to defend its territory and deter Russian aggression over the long term.'

Including this package, the U.S. has provided Ukraine nearly $37 billion in military aid since Russia invaded in February 2022.
Russia is examining a plan to round up stray dogs and use them to clear landmines in Ukraine.

Many towns and cities have problems with rejected pets and street dogs that hunt in packs.

The Russian parliament gave a first reading to legislation allowing 'euthanasia' of homeless dogs.

But senior pro-Putin MP Fedot Tumusov, 67, demanded 'large and aggressive' strays should be trained by specialists for war work.

Such a role clearing mines would put their lives in acute danger.

Senior pro-Putin MP Fedot Tumusov (pictured), 67, demanded 'large and aggressive' strays should be trained by specialists for war work

'We have a lot of dog experts in our country who can teach [strays] all sorts of different skills,' said the politician.

He asked the government if 'dog experts could train large and aggressive dogs and send them to the SMO [war] zone'.

SMO refers to the 'special military operation' that Russia uses for the invasion of Ukraine, where it strives for the 'demilitarisation and denazification' of the country.

The Just Russia party MP said: 'Let them help pull out the wounded, and participate in mine clearance.'

Many towns and cities in Russia have problems with rejected pets and street dogs that hunt in packs (Stock image)

Tumusov said: 'We have a lot of dog experts in our country who can teach [strays] all sorts of different skills' (Stock image)

Dogs were deployed by the Red Army in the Second World War, he said, and strays should be mobilised.

Tumusov, an economics professor who represents the world's coldest region, Yakutia, in the Russian parliament, has been sanctioned by many Western countries including Britain and the US for his pro-war rules.

The new laws to permit the killing of strays followed the death of a boy, eight, in Orenburg after an attack by a pack of strays.

Regions would be able to decide on how to curb stray dog numbers.
Seven people have appeared in court charged with smuggling Iraqi migrants across the English Channel.

Three women and four men from across the Midlands and West Yorkshire are alleged to have committed the offence across several weeks in 2018.

They appeared individually in short hearings at Leicester Magistrates' Court on Wednesday.

An eighth defendant charged with the same offence, who was also due to appear in court, did not attend.

Emma Lant, prosecuting in all of the hearings, told the court: 'This is an indictable matter that must go to the Crown Court forthwith.'

Three women and four men from across the Midlands and West Yorkshire are alleged to have committed the offence across several weeks in 2018. They appeared individually in short hearings at Leicester Magistrates' Court (pictured) on Wednesday

The accused who appeared in court are: Ibrahim Razak, 40, of Groby Road, Leicester, Leicestershire; Andreia Vaz Cruz, 36, of Belvedere Mount, Leeds, West Yorkshire; Elisabete Moreira, 40, of Streetly Road, Birmingham, West Midlands; Michelle Foster, 44, of Broomhill Road, Birmingham, West Midlands; Geoffrey Goodyear, 48, of Pattingham Road, Perton, Staffordshire; Saman Johwar Kahraman, 42, of Jervoise Street, West Bromwich, West Midlands; and Paul Price, 53, of Chase Terrace, Burntwood, Staffordshire.

All except for Moreira are charged with one count of conspiring to do an act to facilitate the commission of a breach of UK immigration law by a non-EU person between May 31 and June 30, 2018.

Moreira is charged with the same offence, but between September 1 and September 10, 2018.

Marco Vieira Tavares, 45, of Althorp Close, Leicester, Leicestershire, did not attend, with a warrant issued for his arrest by Magistrates.

The defendants who appeared were not asked to enter any pleas and no details of the alleged offence were given during the hearings.

Pictured: Geoffrey Goodyear, 48, of Pattingham Road, Perton, at Leicester Magistrates' Court on Wednesday May 17, 2023

Pictured: Saman Johwar Kahraman (second left), 42, of Jervoise Street, West Bromwich, at Leicester Magistrates' Court on Wednesday May 17, 2023

Pictured: Michelle Foster, 44, of Broomhill Road, Birmingham, West Midlands, at Leicester Magistrates' Court on Wednesday May 17, 2023

Norma Burford, chair of the bench, told the defendants: 'This is being sent to the Crown Court for trial.

'We are unable to hear it here in the Magistrates Court, and that date will be June 26 at Leicester Crown Court. You must turn up on that date.'

All seven were given unconditional bail until their next court appearance.

Home Office figures released in February this year show that in 2018, 299 of 13,377 detected attempts by migrants to enter the UK by irregular means involved a small boat - just over 2 per cent.

That is compared with 45,755 detected attempts involving a small boat in 2022, out of 54,090 overall - around 84 per cent.

Those figures relate to attempts by migrants to enter the UK illegally that were detected on or within 72 hours of arrival to the UK.
Disgraced Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes will remain free through the Memorial Day weekend before surrendering to authorities on May 30 to begin her more than 11-year prison sentence for defrauding investors in a blood-testing scam.

U.S. District Judge Edward Davila set Holmes revised prison-reporting date after her lawyers proposed it in a Wednesday filing.

It came after a federal appeals court late Tuesday rejected Holmes bid to remain out of prison while she attempts to overturn her January 2022 conviction on four felony counts of fraud and conspiracy.

The punishment also includes a $452 million restitution bill that Davila ordered Holmes to pay in a separate ruling issued late Tuesday.

Holmes lawyers asked Davila to approve the May 30 prison reporting time to give her two weeks to sort out several issues, including child care for her 1-year-old son William and 3-month-old daughter Invicta.

Holmes had originally been ordered to begin her prison sentence on April 27, but won a reprieve with a last-minute legal maneuver that gave her more time with her children.

Holmes' request comes after DailyMail.com exclusively revealed that the former tech mogul spent Mother's Day free with her two children

She asked a judge to allow her until May 30 to report to prison after an appeal to stay free was denied

Holmes said she needed the time to get her 'affairs in order' including 'out-of-state travel to her Bureau of Prisons facility and medical and child-care arrangements

Holmes, 39, became pregnant with William shortly before the start of her high-profile trial in September 2021 and became pregnant with Invicta shortly after she was convicted of crimes that could have resulted in a prison sentence of up to 20 years.

The father of both children is William 'Billy' Evans, whom she met after breaking up with her former romantic and business partner, Ramesh 'Sunny' Balwani, 57.

Her ex began serving a nearly 13-year prison sentence last month in Southern California, after being convicted for 12 felony counts of fraud and conspiracy committed while he was Theranos chief operating officer and living with Holmes.

In Wednesdays filing, Holmes lawyers didnt disclose the location of the prison that she has been assigned to serve her sentence. But they noted she has to prepare to travel outside of California, where she has been living in the San Diego area while free on bail.

Davila has recommended that Holmes be imprisoned in Bryan, Texas.

Stanford dropout Holmes founded Theranos when she was still a teenager in 2003, claiming she could revolutionize blood testing

Holmes, who has shunned the media since 2016, has recently given a series of interviews to the New York Times in an effort to rehabilitate her image

Holmes is seen arriving at federal court for her trial for defrauding investors in her company

When Holmes is finally incarcerated, it will bring down the curtain on a dark chapter in Silicon Valley - one that brought her fame and fortune before her scandalous downfall.

After dropping out of Stanford University in 2003 to found Theranos while still a teenager, Holmes promised to revolutionize healthcare with a technology that would be able to scan for hundreds of diseases and other potential problems with just a few drops of blood.

The idea helped her raise nearly $1 billion from sophisticated investors that included Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison and media mogul Rupert Murdoch, who is owed $125 million under the restitution order.

But Theranos blood tests never came close to working the way Holmes had boasted, with the support of Balwani, resulting in the companys collapse and a tale that has been the subject of a book, Bad Blood, an HBO documentary, The Inventor, and a Hulu mini-series, The Dropout, which won Amanda Seyfried an Emmy in the starring role.
Families could save more than 1,000 by holidaying at a rival to Center Parcs

Families looking for a summer break could save up to nearly 2,000 by visiting one of 17 other British holiday resorts like Pontins instead of going to Center Parcs.

Prices are so expensive at Center Parcs that driving 10 hours all the way to one of its parks in Germany would still be hundreds of pounds cheaper - even when factoring in the cost of fuel and a ferry.

The figures are based on a family of four, with two adults and two children (ages 6-17), staying for seven nights from Friday, August 4.

The cheapest Center Parcs site (Whinfell at 2,198) is more expensive than the cheapest site at any of the other UK holiday park operators. A family would save 1,869 by choosing Pontins (329).

While driving from London to Germany to attend their Center Parcs - Park Nordseekuste - would cost nearly 300 less at 1919.

A family-of-four can enjoy a seven-night stay at Pontins for just 329 compared to 2,198 at Center Parcs Whinfell (pictured)

Pontins' Camber Sands site offer a bargain price of 329. The figures are based on a family of four, with two adults and two children (ages 6-17), staying for seven nights from Friday, August 4

Driving from London to Germany to attend their Center Parcs - Park Nordseekuste - would cost nearly 300 less at 1919.

Longleat is the UK's most expensive Center Parcs at 2,698 for the specific dates. The cheapest Center Parcs in France is Les Bois-Francs, which can be booked for and driven to for 2,005.

All 17 of the holiday parks cheaper than Center Parcs - and how much they cost A stay at Center Parcs Whinfell for a family of four, staying for seven nights from Friday, August 4, is 2,198 - more expensive than the cheapest site at any of the other UK holiday park operators. Pontins - Camber Sands, Sussex - From 329 Parkdean - Todber Valley, Lancashire - From 499 Hoseasons - Towervans, Skegness - From 533 Verdant Leisure - Queensberry Bay, Dumfriesshire - From 574 Park Holidays - Steeple Bay, Essex - From 649 Shorefield Holidays - Forest Edge, Dorset - From 780 John Fowler Holiday Parks - Sandy Glade, Somerset - From 799 Away Resorts - Clumber Park, Nottinghamshire - From 799 Haven Holidays - Church Farm, Sussex - From 814 Haulfryn Holidays - Devon Hills, Devon - From 815 Butlins  Minehead, Somerset - From 831 Hoburne - Hoburne Doublebois - From 1,165 Waterside Holiday Group - Bowleaze Cove, Dorset - From 1,648 Bluestone Wales - From 1,909 Forest Holidays - Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire - From 2,040 Europe Netherlands - Limburgse Peel - 1,520 Belgium - Erperheide - 1,776 Germany - Park Nordseekuste - 1919 France - Les Bois-Francs - 2,005 Advertisement

The figure factors in travel costs, its total is based on a Vaxuhall Corsa running at 55mpg using current UK petrol prices and a return ticket for a ferry across the English Channel.

The cheapest stay a British holiday park Forest Holidays, at Forest of Dean, is 2,040 - the next most expensive stay after Center Parcs.

Butlins has been one of the main British holiday parks for decades and a family of four could stay at their Minehead site in Somerset for 831.

It comes as a study by consumer group Which? surveying 1,355 members and the public last year found Center Parcs' cost was behind only Waterside Holiday Group (80), Shorefield Holidays and Potters Resorts (both 72) - with the latter an all-inclusive price.

Center Parcs was also placed at joint 11th out of 18 sites under a customer score measure, while Potters and Waterside were the top two and Shorefield was sixth.

At the other end of the table, Parkdean Resorts was cheapest at 34, then Haven at 35 - but they also both finished joint second bottom for customer satisfaction.

And research by MoneySavingExpert earlier this year found Center Parcs resorts in Belgium, France, Germany and Holland can be half the price of UK parks - especially during the UK school holidays and even after the cost of travel has been factored in.

Its study found the Longleat park in Bedfordshire had three-bedroom lodges starting at 2,798 for early August this year - compared to 1,200 (1,065) at its Limburgse Peel site in the Netherlands. When flights for a family of four at 140 were added to this cost, the total still came to only 1,205, which is 1,593 less than the UK break.

MSE's report quoted one holidaymaker saying: 'We're going to France Center Parcs in the school holidays. Longleat for four adults and four children was 3,200. France is 1,500, including crossing.' Another added: 'We went to Center Parcs Erperheide in Belgium. It was much cheaper than UK, but an identical experience.'

The data emerged as experts warned the cost of holidays at Center Parcs could rise if the chain is sold by its Canadian private equity owner for up to 5billion.

Brookfield bought the UK resort group from US firm Blackstone for 2.4billion in 2015, and it is thought to have been looking to sell on its investment since last year.

Parkdean - Todber Valley, Lancashire, is the second cheapest park and is available from 499

Hoseasons in Towervans, Skegness, is slightly more expensive with prices from 533

Driving to Les Bois-Francs in France would still be cheaper than a UK Center Parcs. Even factoring in a neat seven hour and 302-mile drive from London and the cost of a ferry

People swimming in the pool at Center Parcs Sherwood Forest in Nottinghamshire (file image)

Investment bankers appointed by Brookfield have reportedly been speaking to potential buyers which include other private equity firms over the past week.

The owners are trying to cash in on Britain's staycation boom that began during the pandemic and comes as they returned to profit after lockdown rules eased.

Experts said today that there is interest from US lifestyle brands and private equity groups wanting to get a foothold in the UK outdoor adventure-based holiday market.

They added that any new owner of Center Parcs is likely to want to improve facilities, but it could also mean pricier holidays as they seek to recover their purchase price.

Many UK holiday park chains are already owned by foreign private equity groups - such as the Bourne Leisure brands Haven Holidays and Warner Leisure Villages, which were bought by New York-based Blackstone for 3billion in January 2021.

Away Resorts, Aria Resorts and Coppergreen Leisure were all bought in sequence by CVC Capital Partners of Luxembourg in 2021  in June, August and December of that year respectively.

Parkdean Resorts was bought by Canada's Onex Corporation in 2016 for 1.35billion; while Sun Communities of Michigan purchased Park Holidays UK for 950million in April last year.

There are few remaining UK holiday park chains owned by British companies  although these include Butlins, sold to its former owners the Harris family for 300million last September; and Pontins, owned by Britannia Hotels which is based in Hale, Greater Manchester.
A North Carolina teacher accused of having sex with a student has violated her bail conditions after boozing in her car with two juveniles, according to cops.

Elizabeth Bailey, 37, was hauled in by police after she was involved in a car crash on Mocksville Highway in Statesville on Saturday.

Two kids who were with the fired high school teacher ran off before cops arrived, according to Iredell County Sheriff's Office.

Elizabeth Bailey, 37, was hauled in by police after she was involved in a car crash on Mocksville Highway in Statesville on Saturday

Bailey was in the front passenger seat and admitted she had been drinking. She had allowed one of the juveniles to drive the car without a license, the citation obtained by Fox said.

The science teacher was ordered by the court to stay away from the student with whom she allegedly had a relationship as part of her pre-trial release deal.

Bailey was detained on a charge of violating pretrial release, and highway patrol cited her for misdemeanor contributing to the delinquency of a minor and another misdemeanor charge of allowing an unlicensed driver to drive.

The two juveniles who fled the scene were later tracked down by cops. One of them was taken into custody over an outstanding Juvenile Secure Custody Order.

Bailey was released without having to post additional bond, despite breaching her bail conditions over her relationship with the student who is under 16.

'Our agency was made aware that District Court Judge Christine Underwood amended the bond to strike the $750,000 bond issued by the magistrate,' the sheriff's office said in a statement.

Bailey was involved in a car accident on on Mocksville Highway (pictured) in Statesville on Saturday

'Bailey is to remain under a posted bond from October 2022  This investigation is ongoing, and additional charges may follow.'

She worked at Northview Academy in Statesville until she was suspended last year before resigning in October.

In total Bailey faces 24 charges, including felony statutory rape of a child 15 or younger and felony intimidating or interfering with a state's witness.

Bailey was initially given a $750,000 bond but this was later reduced to $50,000.
Jeff Bezos was spotted aboard his enormous $500,000,000 superyacht off the coast of Spain yesterday as he enjoys a break with girlfriend Lauren Sanchez.

The Amazon founder, 59, was joined by former news anchor Sanchez, 53, who was seen enjoying the sun loungers on the world's tallest superyacht.

Bezos commissioned the Koru - which means 'new beginnings' in Maori - in 2018, the year before his relationship with Sanchez was exposed.

After five years in the making, the 230-ft tall vessel was unveiled in March 2023, costing half a billion dollars - or 0.4% of his estimated net worth of $115.4bn.

Sails on three masts, reaching 230-ft tall, help power the boat by harnessing kinetic energy

The vessel was commissioned in 2018 and finally unveiled after five years of work in March

Image shows the magnificent $500mn Koru superyacht on the waters near Mallorca in May

The vessel is seen currently sailing under the flag of the Cayman Islands (civil ensign right)

Bezos and Sanchez are pictured together on the Koru off the coast of Spain on 16 May

The pair were pictured going for lunch at Chiringuito Casa Jondal in Ibiza on 17 May

Lauren Sanchez donned a floating white dress and sunglasses as she headed for lunch with Bezos

The pair were spotted sitting alongside other passengers on a small boat after disembarking from their yacht

Bezos was pictured waiting behind while Sanchez was assisted as she stepped off a small boat

Jeff Bezos' $500mn vessel was designed as the tallest yacht in the world, standing at over 230ft (70m).

For reference, the historic Titanic was 175ft tall from the keel to the top of its funnels.

At 416ft (127m) long, it is also about the length of four blue whales.

The yacht is also expected to have a huge upkeep, setting Bezos back around $25mn annually.

This is despite its three enormous masts, designed so the yacht can be powered mostly by kinetic energy from the sails.

This allows it to be managed by a single person - rather than having an entire crew on board.

Built from aluminium and steel, it supports three decks including one with a swimming pool.

Many of the amenities are seen in tow as the yacht is accompanied by a smaller 250-ft support vessel, complete with luxury cars, jet skis, speedboats and - possibly - even a personal submarine.

The smaller yacht has its own helipad on board to allow celebrity guests to drop in.

Builders Oceanco were quiet about the project through its construction, but both were reportedly put together in the Netherlands, a nation historically known for its shipbuilding.

The Koru joins ten other superyachts built in the Netherlands measuring over 100m - including five by Oceanco.

She is one of only four sailing yachts longer than 100m worldwide.

In 2021, it caused controversy when it could not pass under the Koninshaven Bridge in Rotterdam to reach the open sea.

Lauren Sanchez and Jeff Bezos attend the Robin Hood Benefit 2022 in New York City

Bezos said he would pay the Dutch city to dismantle and then rebuild part of the historic 95-year-old bridge so the vessel could pass through.

In the end, the ship's sails were fitted in a way to allow the ship to sail through without tearing down the historic bridge, which turns 100 in 2027.

The Koru's design is inspired by another one of Bezos' ships, the Black Pearl.

The inside is reportedly inspired by Eos, a 305-ft yacht owned by former Fox CEO Barry Diller.

Bezos and Sanchez were seen travelling near the Balearic islands on Tuesday a week after they were seen together heading to Carbone Beach on the side of the world.

The couple were in Miami for the Grand Prix weekend in Florida.

The Amazon founder arrived in Mallorca on a private jet on Monday 15 May and was flown out to his superyacht by helicopter.

The couple were in top form with the Amazon head showing off his very fit body in shorts and a loose short sleeve

Bezos and Sanchez were pictured near the sun loungers on the magnificent Koru superyacht

Lauren meanwhile showed off her equally fit body in a pink bikini

Bezos arrived in Mallorca on a private jet on Monday 15 May and was flown out to his superyacht by helicopter

The huge vessel has three decks, three towering masts and even a swimming pool

The 127 metre vessel was seen in Spanish waters a week after the couple were seen in Miami

Bezos' superyacht (foreground) pictured near the support vessel (back) and a smaller vessel

The vessel has three decks made of aluminium and steel, including one with a pool

The 250-ft support vessel is pictured with a helicopter on board, in Palma, Spain

Even the support vessel looks huge next to a smaller vessel seen to the right of the image

The Koru's 250-ft support vessel was seen in tow off the coast of Mallorca.

Bezos reportedly flew out by helicopter shortly after landing in Spain this week.

A black helicopter was seen on the support vessel, shown not far from the Koru.
Martin, according to reports, lives just 12 miles from the Judy Garland Museum

The shoes were recovered by the FBI during a sting operation in 2018

Terry J. Martin, 76, has been indicted on one count of theft of a major artwork in the case of the stolen slippers which were gone for 13 years

A man accused of stealing a pair of ruby red slippers worn by Judy Garland while filming 'The Wizard of Oz' has been indicted by a North Dakota grand jury.

Terry J. Martin was indicted on one count of theft of a major artwork for the theft of the shoes which were missing for 13 years, prosecutors announced Wednesday.

The shoes were recovered by the FBI in 2018 during a sting operation but no arrests were made at the time.

According to the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Martin, 76, lives just 12 miles south of the Judy Garland Museum in Grand Rapids, Minnesota, where the shoes - identified as the 'traveling pair' were stolen from.

The traveling pair was one of four pairs worn by the Dorothy actress throughout the filming of the now-iconic film.

A man accused of stealing a pair of ruby red slippers worn by Judy Garland while filming 'The Wizard of Oz' has been indicted by a North Dakota grand jury

The shoes were stolen from the Judy Garland Museum in 2005

They were later recovered by the FBI in 2018 during a sting operation

When reached by the Minneapolis Star-Tribune on Wednesday, Martin said, 'I gotta go on trial. I dont want to talk to you.'

Janie Heitz, executive director of the museum, told The Associated Press she was surprised the suspect lived nearby but said no one who works at the museum knows him.

At the time the slippers were stolen, the precious shoes were insured for $1 million.

In 2023, the current market value is around $3.5 million, prosecutors said.

The slippers were on loan to the Judy Garland Museum in Minnesota when someone climbed through a window and broke the display case.

Speaking with AP, Heitz said she and the museum's staff were 'a little bit speechless' that someone had been charged nearly two decades after the slippers were stolen.

State court records obtained by the Star-Tribune show the man had a previous conviction in Minnesota for receiving stolen property in 1988.

Similar cases brought against him implicated the man had stolen prescription drugs from separate pharmacies.

He also has a lengthy rap sheet including convictions from the 1960s and 1970s ranging from aggravated assault to robbery and burglary.

In 2023, the current market value of the shoes is around $3.5 million, prosecutors said

This is the Judy Garland Museum in the later actor's hometown of Grand Rapids, Minnesota

The pair that were stolen from the Judy Garland Museum were called the 'traveling pair'

Over the years, several enticing rewards were offered in hopes that the slippers would turn up. Law enforcement offered $250,000 early in the case, and an anonymous donor from Arizona put up $1 million in 2015.

The road to the missing slippers began when a man told the shoes insurer in 2017 that he could help get them back. After a nearly year-long investigation, the FBI nabbed the shoes in Minneapolis in July 2018.

On Wednesday, a summons was issued for Martin.

An initial court appearance was set for June 1, and it will be via video.

Terry Van Horn, spokesman for the U.S. Justice Department in North Dakota, said he could not provide any information beyond what was included in the one-paragraph-indictment.

The shoes are famously associated with one of the iconic lines in 'The Wizard of Oz,' as Garland's character Dorothy clicks her heels and repeats the phrase, 'Theres no place like home.'

They ruby red slippers were made from about a dozen different materials, including wood pulp, silk thread, gelatin, plastic and glass

They are made from about a dozen different materials, including wood pulp, silk thread, gelatin, plastic and glass.

Most of the ruby color comes from sequins but the bows of the shoes contain red glass beads.

The three other pairs Garland wore in the movie were held by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the Smithsonian, and a private collector.

When they were stolen, the slippers were on loan from Hollywood memorabilia collector Michael Shaw, who received an insurance payment seven years after the theft, according to the museum's director.

Heitz said the museum staff hopes the slippers will return to Garland's hometown after the legal case ends.
Nineteen suspects have been identified by police as part of a new inquiry into hundreds of patient deaths at a hospital.

The police investigation into Gosport War Memorial Hospital was launched in Hampshire, after enquiries found hundreds of patients had their lives shortened through the use of opioids.

The Kent and Essex Serious Crime Directorate, managing the investigation, said they were reviewing the records of more than 750 patients.

More than 450 people had their lives shortened at the hospital, while another 200 were 'probably' also given opioids between 1989 and 2000 without medical justification, according to the Gosport Independent Panel report released in 2018.

Deputy Assistant Commissioner Neil Jerome said: 'The independent investigation into deaths at Gosport War Memorial Hospital is one of the largest and most complex of its nature in the history of UK policing.

Dulcie Middleton (pictured) was one of the victims. Nineteen suspects have been identified by police as part of an inquiry into hundreds of patient deaths at Gosport War Memorial Hospital

Cliff Houghton (pictured) was another victim. More than 450 people had their lives shortened at the hospital

'Our team consists of around 150 serving and retired detectives who have so far assessed more than three million pages of documents, including the medical records of over 750 patients, and taken witness statements from more than 1,150 individual family members.

'The investigation is ongoing and continues to make good progress, with 19 suspects currently identified. The interviews under caution remain ongoing.

'Whilst we have never provided anyone with an estimate of how long our enquiries will last, family members can be confident we are working as quickly and thoroughly as possible to ensure Operation Magenta is the decisive police investigation into what happened at Gosport.

'Every single patient who died is important to us and their individual cases must be reviewed in full in order for an assessment to be made on their evidential strength.'

He added: 'We also owe it to their families to investigate each death to the same high standard and, at the conclusion of the investigation, all families who want to will be told everything we discovered about the nature of their care.

'It is these families who are at the heart of everything we do. We remain committed to building and maintaining trust and confidence among them and will continue to keep them updated on the progress of the investigation.'

The police investigation into Gosport War Memorial Hospital (pictured) was launched in Hampshire, after enquiries found hundreds of patients had their lives shortened through the use of opioids

Brian Cunningham (pictured) was also a victim of opioid usage at the hospital

Eva Page (pictured) also died at the hospital. Relatives of some of those who died have campaigned for prosecutions to be brought over the deaths

Relatives of some of those who died at the hospital have campaigned for prosecutions to be brought over the deaths, calling for a Hillsborough-model inquest.

The police investigation was launched in April 2019 following the publication of the report.

The report said there was 'a disregard for human life and a culture of shortening lives of a large number of patients' at the hospital.

READ MORE: How authorities at every level from the MP and NHS bosses to coroners failed victims of Gosport hospital scandal Advertisement

It added there was an 'institutionalised regime of prescribing and administering 'dangerous doses' of a hazardous combination of medication not clinically indicated or justified'.

The inquiry, led by the former bishop of Liverpool James Jones, did not ascribe criminal or civil liability for the deaths.

The families said repeated ineffective investigations into hundreds of deaths at the hospital left relatives without any justice or closure and have called for a new judge and jury inquest to be held rather than it be conducted by a coroner.

Emma Jones, of Leigh Day solicitors, who represents 10 of the families, said: 'The families we represent will undoubtedly be extremely concerned by the disclosure from the police that 19 suspects have been identified.

'The families have never been satisfied that they have had the answers needed about the deaths of their loved ones and that is why they have been campaigning for many years now for inquests into their deaths.

'The fact that this police investigation which has taken place so many years later has managed to find sufficient evidence to identify 19 suspects demonstrates how substandard the previous investigations were, not only by the police but also by the coroner.

'It raises questions that, at best, the earlier investigations were ineffective, narrow and poor and, at worst, were potentially cover-ups by officials involved.

'We maintain that judge-led inquests, similar to the Hillsborough inquests will be the only way to secure all the answers that families need.'
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene introduced articles of impeachment against Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas for 'high crimes and misdemeanors' related to his negligence at the southern border.

The articles introduced Wednesday blast Mayorkas for shunning his oath of office to 'defend and secure our country and uphold the Constitution' while engaging in conduct that is 'incompatible with the laws of the United States.'

Specifically, Mayorkas is accused of the 'willful admittance' of illegal migrants, drug and human traffickers, terrorists and deadly fentanyl across the southern border.

In addition, Greene's articles state that the top border official's 'catch-and-release' policies allow migrants to enter without a strong enforcement mechanism in place to ensure they are processed by the U.S. court system.

Calls for Mayorkas' impeachment by Republicans has amplified in recent weeks, especially as the end of Title 42 approached.

The impeachment articles say Mayorkas is 'complicit' in the ending of Title 42 which has endangered U.S. citizens and made the jobs of border patrol extremely difficult when dealing with an influx of migrants.

Mayorkas is no stranger to having articles of impeachment filed against him

Recently arrived migrants wait in a garage area of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection

A group of GOP senators who traveled down to the Brownsville, Texas, border last week argued for his removal based on the 'humanitarian crisis' they witnessed due to the massive influx of migrants crossing into the U.S.

Sens. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., Ted Cruz, R-Texas, Ted Budd, R-N.C., and John Hoeven, R-N.D., all called on Mayorkas to be impeached due to his 'derelict of duty' at the border.

Title 42 was enacted in 2020 under former President Trump as a pandemic-era response to quickly remove migrants who crossed illegally into the country.

'This is absolutely a disaster and humanitarian crisis,' Marshall said after visiting the border last week, which has been overrun with illegal migrants.

'The number one threat to our national security is right here in southern Texas all the way to Arizona.'

In the days leading to Title 42's end, border apprehensions reached about 10,000 per day.

However, since Title 42's end at midnight Thursday, the number of crossing when down by about 50 percent as as migrants  and smugglers who prey on their status  assess the new Title 8 regulatory regime.

Biden cheered the recent drop, saying over the weekend: 'They have gone down my hope is that theyll continue to go down, and we have a lot more work to do.'

Over 6 million people have entered the U.S. illegally since Biden took office, including 1.4 million known 'gotaways,' those who entered without apprehension by law enforcement.

Mayorkas is no stranger to having articles of impeachment filed against him.

In 2021, Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., put forward the first articles of impeachment against the embattled secretary, but they did not go anywhere since the House was led by Democrats at the time.

At the start of 2023, after the GOP took control of the House, Rep. Pat Fallon, R-Texas, also filed the legislation saying the secretary's 'slandering' of border patrol agents during the infamous 'whipgate' was one important reason to remove the top border official.

Although the articles were referred to House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan, they were never moved forward for a wider vote of the House of Representatives.

In the days leading to Title 42's end, border apprehensions reached about 10,000 per day.

'His willful actions erode our immigration system, undermine border patrol morale, and imperil American national security. He must be removed from office,' Fallon said at the time.

In response to Fallon's action, a DHS spokesperson shifted blame onto Republicans.

'They should come to the table and work on solutions for our broken system and outdated laws, which they have not updated in over 40 years,' said the spokesperson.

Last week, GOP Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn., said he would support impeachment against Mayorkas. He is the

Jordan, whose committee would handle proceedings, has not come outright and urged impeachment.
A Dubai court has ordered a British hedge fund trader convicted of massive fraud to pay Denmark's tax authority more than $1.2 billion.

Sanjay Shah was arrested in the United Arab Emirates' financial hub in June upon request by Danish authorities who accuse him of helping companies fraudulently claim tax refunds.

Shah supposedly ran the scheme for three years starting in 2012, in which foreign firms pretended to own shares in Danish companies and claimed refunds.

In its final ruling on Tuesday, the Dubai Court of Cessation ordered Shah to pay 4.643 billion dirham ($1.26 billion), according to a copy of the ruling seen by AFP.

Together with a court-ordered five-percent interest accrued from when the case was first lodged in August 2018, the total sum should be close to the losses incurred by the Danish tax authority as a result of the scam - estimated at 1.7 billion euro.

Sanjay Shah was arrested in the United Arab Emirates' financial hub in June

Danish authorities accuse the hedge fund trader of helping companies fraudulently claim tax refunds

Shah's lawyers were not immediately available for comment.

OGH Legal, a Dubai-based firm representing the Danish authorities, said: 'This conclusive ruling after a nearly five-year pursuit of justice underscores the serious and uncompromising stance of the UAE authorities against financial misconduct.

'The process of execution in terms of how this money will be paid back to (Denmark's tax agency) SKAT has already been initiated.'

Shah has claimed innocence and argued he had not violated Danish law, according to media reports in the UAE.

He was arrested by Emirati authorities under an extradition treaty signed with Denmark in March 2022.

The trader previously had his 14.7million Hyde Park mansion seized by Denmark after being accused of the fraud.

Danish ministers have also previously declared their intentions in 'brining Sanjay Shah to justice', having targeted him since 2015.
A man and a young boy have been found dead in a flat in Paisley, Scotland, with neighbours reportedly hearing 'screaming and shouting' prior to the discovery.

Police are treating the deaths as 'unexplained'.

Officers had responded to a report of concern for the pair at the property on Argyle Street at around 8pm on Monday evening and their bodies were found inside.

Investigators do not believe at this stage that anyone else was involved.

The post-mortem examinations will take place in due course.

Pictured: Police at the scene. Officers had responded to a report of concern for the pair at the property on Argyle Street at around 8pm on Monday evening and their bodies were found inside

Witnesses have described seeing ambulance crews, as well as CID and forensic officers at the scene.

Forensics were being carried out until the following evening, with a tent erected outside the entrance.

A local, who asked not to be named, told the Daily Record: 'It was on Monday night, about 8pm.

'We heard shouting and screaming, like a domestic. We never thought anything of it. But then it went quiet for a bit, about half an hour.

'Then suddenly there were police and ambulances and a forensic tent.

'There was a private ambulance and we saw the bodies being taken out to it.'

Pictured: Police at the scene. Investigators do not believe at this stage that anyone else was involved

Pictured: Police at the property on Argyle Street. The post-mortem examinations will take place in due course

A Police Scotland spokesperson said: 'We received a report of concern for a man and a child at a property in Argyle Street, Paisley around 8pm on Monday, 15 May, 2023.

'Officers attended and a man and a boy were found dead within the property.

'The deaths are currently being treated as unexplained and post-mortem examinations will take place in due course.

'At this time, we have no information to suggest anyone else has been involved.'
Nauman Hussain, the operator of the limo company responsible for the deadliest crash in the US since 2009, has been found guilty of 20 counts of second-degree manslaughter by a jury and now faces up to 15 years in prison.

The 2018 crash in upstate New York left 20 people dead after a Prestige Limousine failed to brake and went through an intersection, crashing into a parked Toyota Highlander at 100mph.

The SUV then struck two pedestrians outside Apple Barrel Cafe.

The limo, which had been rented by a group celebrating a 30th birthday party, smashed into a shallow ravine and came to a stop on the embankment.

The driver, 17 passengers and the two pedestrians were killed. Among them were four sisters and their husbands.

It later emerged the limousine had failed an inspection by the state's Department of Motor Vehicles the previous month, but Hussain removed an out-of-service sticker from the limo's windshield.

Hussain appears in court after his plea deal was overturned by Supreme Court Justice Peter Lynch

The brakes failed on Hussain's white limo, causing it to slam through an intersection and crash into a ditch

The jurors deliberated for several hours on Tuesday and Wednesday before reaching their verdict.

Family and friends of the victims could be heard gasping and crying as it was read aloud to the packed courtroom in Schoharie County, southwest of Albany, today.

Hussain is seen being arrested in October 2018

The driver was also found to have been operating without the appropriate license for the 31-foot-long, five-ton 2001 Ford Excursion vehicle on October 6, 2018.

The vehicle's brakes had failed at 60mph, allowing the vehicle to career down a long hill, eventually reaching speeds of about 100mph, a 2020 report by the National Transportation Safety Board found.

Hussain now awaits his sentencing hearing, which is scheduled for May 31.

He ran the unlicensed limo company out of a motel his family owned in the town of Wilton, 40 miles north of Albany.

Hussain accepted a plea deal in September 2021, agreeing to five years of probation and 1,000 hours of community service - an agreement that relatives of the victims found infuriatingly lenient.

In August 2022, state Supreme Court Justice Peter Lynch overturned the plea deal and forced Hussain to stand trial.

New York State Police said the 2001 Ford Excursion limousine failed to stop at the intersection of State Route 30 and State Route 30A around 1.55pm in Schoharie, near Albany

Sisters Allison King (back row, second from left) Abby Jackson (front left), Amy Steenburg (front right) and Mary Dyson (back row, on the right of Allison) were all killed in the crash

Amy Steenburg was celebrating her 30th birthday and was killed in the crash along with her husband Axel

Newlyweds Erin and Shane McGowan (left) and Patrick Cushing, Erin's cousin, was killed in the crash alongside his girlfriend Amanda Halse (right) died in the crash

Victims Amy Steenburg (left picture) is pictured right with her husband Axel (on the left) and his brother Rich (right). Rich was also killed in the crash. Abby Jackson and her husband Adam are seen (right)

The verdict caps a nearly five-year fight for justice by the families of the victims.

Hussain, who had been out on bail during the trial, was remanded into custody following the verdict.

Special prosecutor Frederick Rench told jurors during his closing statement that 'Mr. Hussain caused the deaths of the victims by failing in his duty to ensure the vehicle was roadworthy.

'There is no doubt as to what his duty was.'

Amanda Rivenburg (left) died in the crash along with Michael Ukaj (right)

Brian Hough was a professor and was one of the pedestrians killed in the wreck

Scott Lisinicchia, 53, was the driver behind the wheel of the 2001 Ford Excursion that crashed. He is pictured with his wife Kim

The trial, which had been delayed by Covid restrictions, rested after six days despite expectations it would take weeks.

The trial had struggled to select a jury from the small rural town as so many had been affected by the crash.

Schoharie County District Attorney Susan Mallery, Hussain's attorneys and Lynch agreed prior to the trial that a pool of 1,500 potential jurors would be needed - a figure that represents 5 percent of Schoharie County's population.

Kindlon, Hussain's attorney, told Lynch at the time: 'I think finding a jury is going to be difficult.'

The lawyers questioned 90 prospective jurors per day before building the eventual panel of 12 who found Hussain guilty.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams has unveiled a new plan to crack down on retail thefts in the Big Apple, citing a dramatic rise in the crime that is costing businesses millions of dollars.

The NYPD has been battling a growing wave of thefts at pharmacies and department stores, and nearly a third of all shoplifting arrests involve the same 327 seasoned criminals, Adams said at a press conference on Wednesday.

'Last year alone, 327 repeat offenders were responsible for 30 percent of the more than 22,000 retail thefts across our city,' Adams said. 'This hurt our businesses, our workers, our customers, and our city.'

Adams said the new plan involves a streamlined way for businesses to report shoplifting to the NYPD, establishes a neighborhood retail watch program, and creates specialized task force to respond to shoplifting incidents.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams has unveiled a new plan to crack down on retail thefts in the Big Apple, citing a dramatic rise in the crime that is costing businesses millions of dollars

The NYPD has been battling a growing wave of thefts at pharmacies and department stores, and nearly a third of all shoplifting arrests involve the same 327 seasoned criminals

In recent months, Walgreens and other drugstores have increased the number of products that are kept locked in transparent plastic displays to stop shoplifters getting their hands on everything from razor blades to toothpaste.

Critics say New York's shoplifting spree is another indicator of America's lawless, liberal cities, and that New York's bail reform rules make it harder to keep people accused of nonviolent crimes locked up before trial.

Adams said the new plan will also call for prevention and intervention strategies to address the underlying causes of retail theft.

A previous analysis of the 327 repeat offenders did not identify them, but revealed that some engaged in shoplifting as a trade and as members of shoplifting-to-order rings. Others are driven by drug addiction or mental illness.

By the end of last year, theft of items valued at less than $1K jumped 53% since 2019 at stores and chains, according to researchers at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice

A Target employee locking doors of personal hygiene items in new security shelving, at a branch of the drugstore chain in Queens, New York

'Shoplifters and organized crime rings prey on businesses that have already taken a hit due to COVID-19, but, with this comprehensive plan, we're going to beat back on retail theft through a combination of law enforcement, prevention, and intervention,' Adams said Wednesday.

'This plan will help us invest in diversion programs and in underlying factors leading to retail theft, works upstream to stop some of the factors leading to a crime before one takes place, trains retail workers in de-escalation tactics and security best practices, and takes numerous actions to increase necessary enforcement against repeat shoplifters and deter organized crime rings perpetrating these thefts.'

Adams said the plan aims to 'reassure our store owners that we know they are essential to our city, and we have their backs.'

With the exception of 2020, the total number of citywide shoplifting complaints has increased year over year since 2018, with the largest increase, 44percent, taking place from 2021 to 2022, according to the mayor's office.

Shoplifting and other petty crimes account for the lion's share of crime in the city, even as murders, shootings, and other violent crimes have continued to drop. Last month, shootings were down 26 percent on shootings against the previous year.

A suspected shoplifter is arrested outside a store in downtown New York. Nearly a third of all shoplifting arrests involved the same 327 seasoned criminals last year, police said

Jamel Pringle, a Queens resident and prolific shoplifter, reportedly has more than 160 arrests on his record

Queens resident Isaac Rodriguez became known as the 'Man of Steal' after he was reportedly busted for shoplifting 46 times

By the end of last year, the theft of items valued at less than $1,000 had jumped 53 percent since 2019 at department stores and chains, according to an analysis by researchers at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice.

Drug stores experienced twice as many thefts in 2022 compared with 2019, rising from 6,031 to 12,343 incidents, researchers said. Thefts from chain stores jumped 91 percent over the same period, surging from 11,673 to 22,250.

New York is not alone in fighting the shoplifting scourge. Major retailers across the US have been forced to shut down stores due to millions of dollars in losses as rampant theft plagues big box stores.

Last month, Walmart announced it will shut down four of its stores in Chicago just weeks after America's biggest employer shuttered its only stores in Portland.

Major retailers in the US have been forced to shut down stores due to millions of dollars in losses as rampant theft plagues big box stores across the country

It comes as shoplifting reaches alarming levels and other large retailers, including Target, Macy's and Best Buy, are now making good on threats to shutter outlets if petty crime was not lowered.

In 2021 retailers lost a combined $94.5billion to shrink, a term used to describe theft and other types of inventory loss. And organized retail crime incidents soared by 26.5 per cent in the same year, according to the 2022 National Retail Security Survey.

Along with brazen daylight thefts, self-checkouts have also made it easier for people to walk out without paying for items.
His dream is to one day perform at stunt at Dubai's Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world

Regarding his stunts, the 27-year-old told Univision: 'Fear is like positive energy, it equals your dreams, that thing that you are after that you want'

This real-life daredevil can't wait to test the limits  if there are any  on the world's biggest building, the Burj Khlalifa Dubai.

For now, Carlos Rengifo will settle for wowing his social media followers and anyone who is lucky enough can catch a glimpse of him in person in his native country of Venezuela.

The 27-year-old has been practicing the death-defying stunts for 11 years now without an ounce of worry.

Any fright that may exist is immediately quashed  nothing can stand in the way of achieving his ultimate goal.

'Fear is like positive energy, it equals your dreams, that thing that you are after that you want,' Rengifo recently told Univision. 'Negative energy, let's say speaking of fear, is what paralyzes you.'

Carlos Rengifo does a backflip at an unfinished building in Caracas. The 27-year-old Venezuelan has become an internet sensation by sharing his variety of stunts - which are free of safety gear - across many buildings of all sizes in the South American nation

Rengifo showed no fear as he rides his bike on the ledge of a building in Venezuela. He recently told Univision: 'There is no time to think up there because you are supposed to train for a month or two months to do the trick'

Rengifo stands on the ledge of a high rise building in Venezuela. The dare-devil has dreams of one day practicing one of his stunts at Dubai's Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world

Rengifo started out performing stunts in the streets of the Venezuelan capital city of Caracas as a teenager before he graduated to much greater heights that would sink a regular person's heart.

His Instagram account has viral videos that show him doing a backflip on the ledge of a building that is still under construction. He shows off his inner Spider Man abilities by scaling up and down the side of a residential building.

For Christmas in 2022, he treated his followers with a short clip of him slowly walking along the edge of another building that was being built. He stopped at the corner and leaned forward, catching a city's busy roadway surrounded by trees with a sea of buildings on the horizon.

A short clip from October 2022 showed him riding a bicycle on the ledge of another Caracas tower.

Regarding his dangerous stunts, Carlos Rengifo told Univision: 'Fear is like positive energy, it equals your dreams, that thing that you are after that you want'

For Christmas, Carlos Rengifo treated his Instagram followers with view of a Venezuelan city that featured a busy roadway surrounded by trees with a sea of buildings in the horizon

The 27-year-old daredevil keeps his balance on the ledge of a Venezuela high rise

Carlos Rengifo, a 27-year-old daredevil from Venezuela, performs a stunt on a skateboard

Rengifo's dream is to one day carry out one of his stunts at the Burj Khalifa in Dubai

One follower expressed doubts that the footage was real.

'It is edited it is not real,' they wrote.

Another user chimed in: 'What it is to have no value and appreciation for life.'

Free from the restraint of any safety gear, the Venezuelan has pulled off some tricks at Caracas' Torre Parque Central, a complex that features housing, commercial and cultural developments.

Other stunts have been successfully carried out at the Torre David, an unfinished skyscraper.

At the end of the day, it is all possible, Rengifo says, because practice makes perfect.

'There is no time to think up there because you are supposed to train for a month or two months to do the trick,' he explained. 'But if you arrive at the indicated place at 60 floors, 100 floors, whatever, you have to consider what you are going to do, because if you arrive and think, you will freeze.'
A teenager has died after being fatally shot in a parking lot outside his high school in Washington D.C.

Police are still investigating the shooting but have confirmed that the teenager was a student at Theodore Roosevelt High School in the city.

D.C. Police said that the incident occurred around 2:25pm outside of the school in a parking lot adjacent after an altercation and that they recovered a firearm at the scene.

Police arrived at the school shortly after the incident at 2:25pm, and found the teenager unresponsive

Police said that they had recovered a gun from the scene, and where still looking for the assailant

A large number of police cars arrived at the scene earlier today

Public school officials in D.C. said that three schools in the area, MacFarland Middle School, Dorothy Height Elementary School and Roosevelt were all on lockdown after the shooting.

D.C. Police said that the teenager was both unconscious and unresponsive when they arrived on the scene.

The local police department shared an alert on their social media asking for locals to be on the look out for a black male possibly driving a green BMW.

Paramedics took the teen to a hospital in critical condition, police said. Witnesses said they saw medics performing CPR on the boy.

Speaking at the scene, Assistant Chief Kane said: 'Upon arrival our officers responded and located a 17-year-old child suffering from one gun shot wound to his body.

'The child was subsequently transported to a local hospital where he was pronounced deceased.

'What we do know is that there was some sort of altercation, we do have one gun that is on the parking lot. At this point we don't know how it is associated with this shooting.'
As the 10-year-old recovers in the hospital, the other children have been placed in the custody of Georgia Child Services

The Georgia parents who have been charged with attempted murder for starving their 10-year-old son are also accused of physically abusing him in front of their four other children.

Shocking court documents show Tyler Schindley, 46, and his wife Krista, 47, are accused of committing child cruelty in the third degree by allowing their four other children to 'see and/or hear' physical abuse against the boy on multiple occasions from 2020 to 2023.

The documents state both parents maliciously caused the emaciated boy 'excessive physical or mental pain' before neighbors found him roaming the streets barefoot on Friday in Griffin, GA.

The starving boy had been kept locked inside a bedroom and was left alone in the house 'for extended periods of time, and on multiple occasions, with no access to lights, food, clothing or adult interaction and/or assistance', the affidavit claims.

The Schindleys, whose house is worth an estimated $447,000 and who managed the True REST spa together in Peachtree City, are also accused of allowing a 'dental injury and disfiguration' the boy suffered to go unattended.

The couple have been charged with attempted murder, in addition to several counts of child abuse

The Schindleys' home in Griffin, Georgia, which is worth an estimated $447,000

Tyler and Krista Schindley were arrested shortly after neighbors in an upscale enclave of Griffin, Georgia found their son wandering hungry and confused through the streets before he begged police officers to 'please not make him go back.'

Authorities quickly determined the child had been intentionally starved and weighed about 36 pounds - the weight of an average four-year-old.

According to officials, the boy was neither the oldest or youngest of the five siblings living in the home.

Authorities did not share information about the conditions of the other children, all of whom were homeschooled, but said it seemed that the 10-year-old boy was the only one being starved.

The four other children have been placed in the custody of Georgia's Child Services department, according to law enforcement.

Tyler Schindley voluntarily came into the local police department after his son was found and spoke with investigators. Krista Schindley was arrested after that, following a separate interview.

The boy was transported to a local hospital, where he is being treated for malnutrition and a low heart rate. He was also suffering from the 'dental injury and disfiguration' his parents allegedly failed to treat.

As the 10-year-old recovers in the hospital, the four other children have been placed in the custody of Georgia's Child Services department, according to law enforcement. Pictured: Krista and Tyler in a 2013 photo on her social media

Krista Schindley (center right) poses with her eldest son Ethan Washburn (center left) at a Float Spa booth. Ethan does not live at the home and is not one of the four children mentioned in the affidavit

Police in Griffin arrested Tyler and Krista Schindley after neighbors found their emaciated son roaming through the streets on Friday. Pictured: Krista and Tyler in a photo from her social media earlier this year

The owners of the True Rest Spas have since distanced themselves for the Schindleys, saying they are 'horrified and shocked' by the arrest

The couple have been charged with attempted homicide in the second degree and attempted malice murder, in addition to the child cruelty charges.

The pair are due in court on Monday.

The couple's next-door neighbor, Kim Seigler, told Fox5 that she had previously worried about the Schindley children.

'The fact that they're my neighbors... just made me feel bad... like I should've been more observant,' she said.

According to public records, Tyler and Krista Schindley have only ever been written up for minor traffic offenses, including speeding, an improper turn and an expired registration.

Krista is thought to have been a franchise owner of the Peachtree City True Rest Float Spa and both she and husband Tyler managed the spa together.

Tyler's Facebook page also listed him as a manager at an Under Armour store in McDonough.

In a Mother's Day promotion posted to the True Rest Float Spa's Instagram page on May 1, Krista Schindley is seen leading a guest into a spa chamber.

Since her arrest, the owners of the True Rest Spas have distanced themselves from Krista, saying they are 'horrified and shocked' by the arrests.

In a post Facebook post on Tuesday, the company wrote: 'As the owners of True REST McDonough and Peachtree we are horrified and shocked by the news about the Schindleys. True REST is doing everything we can to protect the spa as a safe environment for our clients and our employees. This operations team has been replaced. The True REST mission remains to provide an accessible floatation therapy experience for anyone struggling with pain, stress and insomnia.'

Kim Seigler, a neighbor of the Schindleys, who said she often worried about the children in that house

Schindley, along with his wife, is charged with attempted murder and a handful of counts of child cruelty

A child's bike can be seen at the property in Griffin where the 10-year-old son of Krista and Tyler Schindley was allegedly kept locked in his room without until he weighed just 36lbs

The family's upscale home in Griffin, Georgia

Ethan Washburn, the eldest son of Krista and Tyler Schindley, opened the door to their family home in Griffin, Georgia, and told a reporter: 'I'm not too close to the situation right now, Im just watching the house'

District Attorney Marie Broder said during a Tuesday news conference: 'This child was, simply put, being starved to death, and it is tragic.'

'I truly believe that if he had not gotten out of that home, this would be a very different case,' she added.

'This case is just disturbing. It's heartbreaking,' said Broder who has spent the bulk of her career prosecuting child abuse suspects.

'As a mother, I can't comprehend it. As a human being, it breaks your heart. We aren't releasing any photos of this child for obvious reasons, but I will tell you, the photos are absolutely horrible, and anybody with a human heart, who looks at them, should be shaken to their core.'

Ethan Washburn, the eldest of the couple's children - though he does not share a last name with Tyler Schindley - was at the family home on Tuesday.

He told Fox5 that he had no connection to the ongoing case: 'I'm not too close to the situation right now, Im just watching the house. I dont really have any comment,' he said, before confirming the couple are his parents.

Ethan is listed as a branch manager for the same chain of spas his mother was working for before her arrest.

Ethan does not live at the family home in Georgia and is not one of the children mentioned in court documents.
A young mother-of-four has died from stab wounds and a man is in custody after a dramatic police chase overnight.

Police rushed to a unit on Short Street in Caboolture, 44km north of Brisbane, at about 8.30pm on Wednesday following reports Heather Ball, aged in her 20s, had been assaulted.

She was found with stab wounds at the scene and was rushed to Caboolture Hospital in a critical condition but died from her injuries.

A Holden Commodore was seen leaving the area when police then pursued the vehicle, deployed spikes to try and stop it and arrested the 29-year-old driver.

At a press conference on Thursday, Detective Inspector Tony Green of Queensland Police confirmed a domestic violence order has been in place in relation to the man in custody.

'The victim was the aggrieved on that order,' he said.

Ms Ball's sister Stephanie Fort described the mother as a 'shining light' (pictured, Heather Ball)

Flowers are laid at the scene after a mother-of-four was allegedly stabbed in Caboolture

Bloodstain on the sidewalk following the incident at Caboolture on Wednesday night

'The male person is providing a level of assistance with us,' Det InsP Green said, noting the circumstances around the DVO were part of the investigation.

He also revealed the victim's children were currently being cared for by family and friends.

Local Danah Bourke said she had been watching TV at home when she heard screams coming from outside and found Ms Ball on the footpath.

'Once we got downstairs, she was trying to hold my hand but it was too much,' she said.

Detectives were on scene on Thursday morning as they launched a homicide investigation while devastated loved ones laid flowers at the site.

A bloodstain could be seen on the footpath where Ms Ball had pleaded for help.

Following the alleged stabbing, police spotted a Holden Commodore deemed a 'vehicle of interest' travelling northbound on the Bruce Highway to the Sunshine Coast.

After a dramatic pursuit, police used road spikes to try and stop the car.

The Commodore then crashed into a police car as it continued on the highway before the 29-year-old driver was stopped and taken into custody.

Police will allege the man and woman were known to each other.

Ms Ball's sister Stephanie Fort described the mother as a 'shining light'.

Detectives were on scene on Thursday morning as they launched a homicide investigation while devastated loved ones laid flowers at the site

Police were on scene as a homicide investigation is launched into the incident

Forensic police search nearby areas following the alleged stabbing of a mother-of-four

'Our lives were made so much better and brighter for having you in it, and it is indeed dark times for our family and the many many people whose lives you touched in such beautiful ways,' she wrote on Facebook.

'We love you so much, baby girl, and we will do everything we can to make sure your beautiful babies grow up as happy and healthy as possible, and that they know how incredible you were, and how much you adored them.

'Heather, you were a f--king light that has been extinguished.

'You were a wonderful sister and an amazing mother.'

Ms Fort said she had more time to spend with her sister in the tribute.

'I wish I had told you more, just how amazing you were. I will always love you, my sweet sister, and we will never forget you,' she wrote.

'I miss you so much already.'

Ms Bourke said she was watching TV when she heard screaming come from outside.

Devastated members of the community comfort each other as they laid flowers at the site

Police comb through nearby areas following the alleged stabbing of the mother-of-four on Wednesday night

'We heard scuffling in the bushes,' she told Courier Mail.

'[She] stopped on the footpath in front of here.

'I am really upset, I don't know her but you could tell by the voice she was terrified.'

The Morayfield man was taken to Sunshine Coast University Hospital in a stable condition where he remains under police guard.

Two male police officers were taken to hospital with minor injuries.

Both the Commodore and the police van were damaged in the highway crash.

A homicide investigation has been launched into the woman's death with the Caboolture unit being treated as a crime scene.

Police have asked anyone with dashcam footage of the crash on the Bruce Highway near Yandina or from the Short Street area to come forward.

A woman aged in her 20s has died from stab wounds and a man is in custody after a dramatic police chase overnight (pictured, the damaged Commodore)

Police rushed to a unit on Short Street in Caboolture, 44km north of Brisbane , at about 8.30pm following reports a woman had been assaulted (pictured, forensics leave the home)
An IT worker sued for sex harassment after her boss marked an email where he wanted more information with 'xx'  which she took for kisses.

Karina Gasparova claimed that Aleksander Goulandris's use of question marks in the 'xx' message was also code for asking her 'to engage in sexual acts'.

She said her superior was trying to 'chat her up' when talking business on a work call where he was running his hands through his hair and 'staring' at her, a London employment tribunal heard.

Ms Gasparova took her employers  paperless documents firm essDOCS  to the tribunal claiming sex harassment, discrimination and unfair dismissal. In April 2021 she submitted a detailed grievance against her boss and resigned when it was rejected twice.

But a judge-led panel has thrown out her case, ruling she has a 'skewed perception of everyday events' and regularly misinterpreted 'innocuous' interactions.

Ms Gasparova was also ordered to pay 5,000 to essDOCS for failing to comply with tribunal procedures in adequate time.

Karina Gasparova claimed that Aleksander Goulandris's (pictured) use of question marks in the 'xx' message was code for asking her 'to engage in sexual acts'

Ms Gasparova told bosses she thought Mr Goulandris wanted to have a sexual relationship with her, but was treating her badly because she had 'rejected his advances'

The tribunal heard she started working at essDOCS in west London as an IT project manager in November 2019 under the co-head and former chief executive, Mr Goulandris.

Ms Gasparova told bosses she thought Mr Goulandris wanted to have a sexual relationship with her, but was treating her badly because she had 'rejected his advances'.

She claimed this included shouting at her, undermining her in meetings with clients and removing key elements of work from her.

Ms Gasparova told the panel Mr Goulandris was a 'rich and powerful man', so his conduct had not been 'overt' as 'a man in his position would be too clever' to make obvious moves.

The panel ruled this meant her case 'rested on interpreting seemingly innocent interactions' between Mr Goulandris and herself and 'finding a sinister motive in them'.

Ms Gasparova claimed that in November 2019 Mr Goulandris touched her leg with his leg under the table and 'stared at her', leaving her feeling 'anxious and uncomfortable'.

The tribunal ruled the incident did occur, but it had been accidental and was 'innocuous' in nature.

In other claims which were dismissed by the panel, Ms Gasparova said Mr Goulandris touched her hand when motioning for her computer mouse and missing it.

On a work call in March 2020, she said Mr Goulandris was giving her 'leering looks' as he 'constantly ran his hand through his hair' and started staring at her in between asking her questions.

The panel heard that although he had been talking to her about business, she interpreted his behaviour 'as trying to chat her up' because he was spending so long doing it.

In May 2020, Mr Goulandris renamed a draft presentation file by adding 'ajg' in brackets - something Ms Gasparova interpreted as 'A Jumbo Genital'.

The panel heard Mr Goulandris' middle name is John and it was his habit to add his initials AJG to the names of documents he had reviewed.

It was heard that when she invited him to lunch in September 2020, 'to get some peace' from him sending 'lots of messages', he declined her offer.

Ms Gasparova told the tribunal this was because 'lunch involved romance and he only wanted sex'.

The same month, when Mr Gasparova asked her when a project would be finished, she told the tribunal he burst out shouting with an 'extremely angry voice', saying 'I need date, date, date'.

Ms Gasparova interpreted this as having been asked 'the exact date when I would finally agree on sexual contact with him'.

In October she complained about receiving an invitation to the same meeting 16 times from Mr Goulandris - but the tribunal found this was not deliberate or sexual in nature.

In January 2021, Mr Goulandris said Ms Gasparovav misinterpreted his politeness for 'flirting' when he said 'have a nice evening' in what she described as an 'alluring voice'.

The panel heard later that month, Mr Goulandris emailed Ms Gasparovav asking for information on a project. To indicate the details he required her to fill in he used XX, YY and ???? in the message, written in red.

The tribunal heard she interpreted the x's as meaning kisses, the y's as sexual contact of some kind and the question marks as when she would be 'ready to engage in sexual acts'.

Mr Goulandris said Ms Gasparovav (pictured) misinterpreted his politeness for 'flirting' when he said 'have a nice evening' in what she described as an 'alluring voice'

The panel heard Ms Gasparova tried to rally support from fellow female colleagues and asked whether Mr Goulandris had ever made sexual advances like 'leering, winking and touching'.

Nobody responded to her.

In April 2021, she submitted a detailed grievance, which saw all her sexual harassment allegations dismissed.

She appealed the decision in May 2021 but it was again rejected, so she resigned.

Employment judge Emma Burns said: 'Our primary reasons for rejecting her account of events were that we considered her perception of everyday events was skewed.

'She demonstrated a tendency to make extraordinary allegations without evidence and she contradicted herself in a way that could not be attributable to a fallible memory.

'Ms Gasparova interpreted entirely innocent work-related conduct, some of it accidental, by Mr Goulandris as having a sinister intent.'

Her claims of direct sex harassment, discrimination and unfair dismissal were rejected by the panel.
Campions win Gold in Cardiff

The Gibraltar Netball Associations Senior squad have returned home from Cardiff having won Gold in the Europe Netball Open Challenge Division 2.

Those members of the team who returned to Gibraltar this week met with the Chief Minister, Fabian Picardo, yesterday afternoon at No6 Convent Place where he congratulated them for their outstanding performance.

The Minister for Sport, Steven Linares has also congratulated them, and said: I was confident that the squad would be excellent ambassadors for Gibraltar but to win Gold, whilst winning all matches, is a tremendous achievement and one they should be very proud of. In addition, Megan Ruiz was voted Most Valuable Player in the Division which is no mean feat! There is no better example that hard work and dedication really do pay off!! Well done!!

The Chief Minister, Fabian Picardo KC MP, said: The result of the Senior squad in Cardiff is absolutely magnificent. We had no doubt that the team would excel, but a huge congratulations is in order for winning the Gold medal for Gibraltar. I look forward to seeing what is next for the Campions as well as the contributions being made in other women's sports by the many brilliant Gibraltarian women who proudly represent Gibraltar in sport internationally. I sincerely hope that all Gibraltar sporting federations will similarly actively and unhesitatingly back women's participation in international sports. As the Campions have shown, Gibraltarian women really fly our sporting flag high!
Rishi Sunak last night backed away from the Tory manifesto pledge to cut net migration to below a quarter of a million.

The Prime Minister repeatedly refused to commit himself to delivering the 2019 promise to reduce net migration to below its then-level of 226,000 per year.

En route to Tokyo, he told reporters the publics main priority was to tackle illegal migration and stop the boats.

He insisted he did want to bring legal migration down but refused to set any target for it.

Mr Sunak appeared to blame Boris Johnson and Liz Truss for allowing net migration to rocket to 504,000 last year, saying he had inherited a system already allowing in far more people than in 2019.

En route to Tokyo, the Prime Minister told reporters the publics main priority was to tackle illegal migration and stop the boats (File photo)

Ministers are braced for the figure to go even higher next week when the latest official figures are released, with some experts warning it could eventually get close to one million.

In 2019, the Conservatives finally abandoned David Camerons pledge to cut net migration to the tens of thousands after a decade of failing to deliver it. Instead, the manifesto pledged there would be fewer lower-skilled workers, and overall numbers will come down.

Mr Sunak was asked three times whether he remained committed to reducing immigration to below 2019 levels, but each time ducked the question.

We are committed to bringing down legal migration as well, he said. I do think most peoples number one priority when it comes to migration is illegal migration  that is crystal clear to me.

When it comes to legal migration, the key thing for people to know is were in control of why people are here, the circumstances and the terms on which they are here, making sure they contribute, to public services like the NHS for example.

Asked again, he suggested the immigration figures inherited from his predecessors would make the target very difficult.

Ive inherited some numbers, I want to bring the numbers down, he said. I do want to bring legal migration down. I think illegal migration is undoubtedly the countrys priority but on legal migration as well we are committed to bringing those numbers down.

Dozens of migrants were pictured arriving in Dover on Wednesday morning after crossing the English Channel

Net migration has soared in the wake of the pandemic, partly due to people fleeing Ukraine and Hong Kong, but also partly because of a large number of work and student visas issued.

Home Secretary Suella Braverman has drawn up proposals to curb numbers, but they have so far met Cabinet resistance.

Mr Sunak yesterday announced a further 45,000 temporary visas for seasonal workers, saying it was something that the farming community said to us they wanted.

Jeremy Hunt told the British Chambers of Commerce that the Government would always be pragmatic about using immigration to fill vacancies in the economy. The Chancellor said he was open to adding more jobs to the shortage occupation list, which makes it easier for companies to recruit from abroad.

The PM revealed he has established a Covid-style committee meeting twice a week to ensure new immigration laws to help tackle the Channel migrant crisis are implemented as soon as they are approved by Parliament.

I want to put the measures in place as quickly as possible, which is why were doing all the prep work now, he said.

Mr Sunak said his attendance at a Council of Europe summit in Iceland this week had produced tangible results, including steps towards a deal on border co-operation with the EU that could lead to a returns agreement.
A mother and her fiancee have been charged after her seven-year-old child brought a gun to a Michigan elementary school earlier this month.

The second-grade student carried an unloaded handgun in their backpack at Cesar E. Chavez Elementary School in Grand Rapids on May 3, prosecutors said.

The child's mother Aubrey Wilson, 32, was charged with fourth degree child abuse which is a misdemeanor.

While her fiancee Chelsea Berkley, 29, was charged with being a felon in charge of a firearm which is a felony.

The gun was not legally owned and is believed to be stolen, according to Grand Rapids police Chief Eric Winstrom, and Berkley is reportedly in custody on unrelated charges.

Aubrey Wilson, 32, and her fiancee have been charged after her seven-year-old child brought a gun to Cesar E. Chavez Elementary School in Grand Rapids on May 3

Members of staff confiscated the unloaded handgun (pictured) from the second grader and officials said there were no threats of violence from the student

Wilson was charged with fourth degree child abuse, a misdemeanor, while her fiancee Chelsea Berkley, 29, (pictured) was charged with being a felon in charge of a firearm which is a felony

Kent County Prosecutor Chris Becker said the weapon was brought into the home and left in a place the child could access it.

'Essentially what we have here is one individual brought the gun into the home and the other individual was the one who put the gun in a place accessible to the child that brought it to Cesar Chavez Elementary,' he told a news conference.

But Becker did not reveal exactly where it was placed before the child took it.

Members of staff confiscated the unloaded handgun from the second grader and officials said there were no threats of violence from the student.

Wilson and Berkley were fully cooperative, according to Becker. An arraignment date is yet to be announced.

The fourth degree child abuse charge carries a sentence of up to one year in prison and a $1,000 fine while the felony weapons charge carries a penalty of up to five years in prison.

Police chief Winstrom said: 'Getting illegally possessed weapons off our streets is critical to our childrens safety.

The gun was not legally owned and is believed to be stolen, according to Grand Rapids police Chief Eric Winstrom (right)

Grand Rapids Public Schools district announced a ban on backpacks last week following the incident and revealed it confiscated four handguns from students just this academic year

'Keeping legally possessed guns secure and out of the hands of kids is critical to our childrens safety. We, together as a community, all have a role to play in keeping our children safe.'

He revealed that just a week after the child was found at school with the weapon, another elementary school child came to school with a loaded handgun.

'I have about 23 years of police experience and I will say this is the first time and now the second time that Ive ever encountered a child that small having a gun in school  and to see it twice in one week period was very alarming,' Winstrom added.

'To see an 8-year-old walk into school with a loaded gun shortly thereafter was astounding to me.'

The gun was found in the backpack of a third grader at Stocking Elementary School, according to local news station WXMI.

Grand Rapids Public Schools district announced a ban on backpacks last week following the incident.

It revealed it confiscated four handguns from students just this academic year.

And another Michigan school district, Flint Community Schools, banned backpacks on May 1 due to safety concerns.
More than 5,000 people have signed up to Race for Life in memory of Dame Deborah James.

The campaigner, who died in June last year, raised more than 11.3million for the Bowelbabe Fund for Cancer Research UK during her lifetime and in the months following her death.

This year, participants have been invited to race in memory of Bowelbabe, with funds going towards causes and projects the podcaster and fundraiser was passionate about.

Her sister, Sarah Wieczorek, said she would be incredibly proud her story was continuing to inspire people.

She said: Race for Life was incredibly special to Deborah. She loved the positive energy of the events and the sense that everyone taking part was in it together, having fun and raising money for vital research. She could usually be found on the start line wearing a pink tutu and wig.

Were looking forward to taking part in Race for Life for Bowelbabe as a family and want to say a big thank you to everyone who has already signed up - its wonderful to see that Deborah is still inspiring so many people to take part. She would be incredibly proud and grateful to everyone for getting involved.

Dame Deborah James raised more than 11.3mn for Cancer Research during her campaign

More than 5,000 people have this year signed up for the Race For Life in James' memory

Dame Deborah was diagnosed with bowel cancer in 2016 when she was 35 and became an outspoken campaigner, encouraging people to check for signs of the disease.

The mother-of-two, who candidly documented her treatment on BBC podcast You, Me and the Big C, regularly took part in Race for Life.

A deputy head teacher, she was made a dame by Prince William for her fundraising efforts when he visited her at her parents home in Surrey.

Last month, Cancer Research UK revealed the initial projects being funded by the Bowelbabe Fund to support Deborahs legacy.

One study led by Professor Trevor Graham, director of the Centre for Evolution and Cancer at the Institute of Cancer Research, London, will look to lay the foundations for new precision treatment that could stop bowel cancer spread.

Another project, involving a team of leading scientists, will look at targeting microbes that might cause bowel cancer.

Starting this month, Race for Life will see more than 450 events at over 180 locations across the UK, with women, men, and children choosing to run, walk or jog the 3k, 5k and 10k events.

Now in its 30th year, Daily Mail has teamed up with Cancer Research UK as the official media partner for Race for Life, alongside Standard Life.

Our sponsorship and your support will help Cancer Research UK continue to raise money for cutting-edge research into more than 200 types of cancer.

Those running in memory of Dame Deborah will continue fundraising for the Bowelbabe Fund, which will specifically support cutting-edge research into early detection and personalised medicine, raise awareness of signs and symptoms and tackle the stigmas around cancer.

Deborah James was made a dame by Prince William for her cancer research fundraising efforts

Deborah (right) is pictured on holiday with husband Sebastian (left) and their family

Cancer Research UKs chief executive, Michelle Mitchell, said: Dame Deborah was a wonderful ambassador for Race for Life for many years.

She was passionate about raising vital funds for cancer research, encouraging people to sign up and enjoyed the events and great atmosphere very much.

She added: Over 3,000 people have already signed up to Race for Life for Bowelbabe, which is a testament to how many lives Deborah touched.

We want as many people as possible to join us on the start line at a Race for Life event in the summer and raise money to help continue Deborahs incredible legacy.
Frank Decadt, father of victim Ann-Laure Decadt, was one of many family members to deliver heartbreaking testimonies

An Islamic extremist has been given 10 life sentences and another 260 years in prison for killing eight people with a truck on a bike path in Manhattan and severely injuring 18 others.

Sayfullo Saipov remained remorseless Wednesday and said the tears of victims and family members in the courtroom were small compared to the blood and tears that those in the Islamic faith have suffered.

'I was here in the court during the three-month trial, and I saw and I heard the victims, families and friends,' he said through an interpreter before his sentencing. 'The court would be filled up with the tears and blood of the Muslim population.'

District Judge Vernon S. Broderick cited Saipov's unrepentant nature when he handed down his sentence for the October 31, 2017 attack in which the ISIS-inspired terrorist used a Home Depot truck to mow down victims on Manhattan's West Side.

'The conduct in this case is among the worst if not the worst Ive ever seen,' he said.

Sayfullo Saipov is seen in a courtroom sketch on Wednesday, May 17, 2023 as he was sentenced to life in jail for killing eight and injuring 18 others

Saipov, flanked by his attorneys, David M. Stern (left) and federal defender Andrew John Dalack (right), listened to a translation of the proceedings through earphones

The onetime New Jersey resident is seen in his police mugshot released on November 1, 2017 after his deadly New York City bike path attack

A jury in March had rejected the death penalty for the Uzbekistan citizen and onetime New Jersey resident.

The relatives of eight people killed in the Halloween terror attack spoke sometimes through tears during the sentencing, describing their lingering pain and sometimes directly addressing the man convicted in the deaths.

Saipov, 35, kept his head drooped and eyes lowered, listening to a translation of the proceedings through earphones.

Frank Decadt, father of victim Ann-Laure Decadt, told Saipov that he hoped that 'one day you will understand the extent of horror you have inflicted on so many people.'

Marion Van Reeth, who lost her legs in the attack, sat before Saipov in her wheelchair, telling him: 'I will never be able to walk like you can.'

'I have a question for you. After all this time in prison, are you still convinced that your criminal acts against innocent people was the right thing?'

Prosecutors urged Broderick to impose a sentence of eight consecutive life sentences - one for each death - and an additional 260 years in prison, according to a presentence submission.

Marion Van Reeth, who lost her legs in the attack, sat before Saipov in her wheelchair, telling him: 'I will never be able to walk like you can.'

Van Reeth was among the victims and family members who gave heartbreaking testimonies at the sentencing on Wednesday

'Saipov is an unabashed terrorist - a proud murderer who deserves no leniency and should be punished to the fullest extent of the law,' prosecutors wrote.

The judge followed the prosecutions recommendation, imposing eight consecutive life sentences and two to run concurrently, though the practical effect of a single life sentence is the same since there is no parole.

Gabriela Pabla Pereya, the wife of Ariel Erlij, who was among five men from Argentina killed during a bike ride as they celebrated the 30th anniversary of their high school graduation, delivered the shortest statement. She called Saipov a coward and said if he truly wanted God 'to accept and love you, go kill yourself.'

The Home Depot truck Saipov used to mow down his victims on Manhattan's West Side on October 31, 2017

Prosecutors said he smiled as he asked FBI agents who questioned him in a hospital room after the attack if they could hang an Islamic State group flag on the walls.

Monica Missio, whose son, Nicholas Cleves was killed, told Saipov his death 'has completely destroyed my life.'

Saipov left a path of destruction behind him with his terrorist attack which he hoped would help him gain membership in Islamic State, or ISIS, prosecutors said.

Five tourists from Argentina, two Americans and a Belgian woman were killed, and 18 others were seriously injured.

Saipov was shot by a police officer and immediately taken into custody after emerging from his truck shouting 'God is great' in Arabic and waving paintball and pellet guns in the air.

Prosecutors said he smiled as he asked FBI agents who questioned him in a hospital room after the attack if they could hang an Islamic State group flag on the walls.

Rachel Pharn, who survived the attack, said she wanted to know what had motivated Saipov.

'Mr. Saipov, I can forgive you for what you did to me, for breaking my spirit,' Pharn said.

'But when I look around the room, when I think of all the pain you caused, that I cannot forgive. That is between you, them and Allah.'

Rachel Pharn, 26, said she wanted to know what had motivated Saipov

Saipov is expected to be housed at Colorado's Supermax facility, the most secure U.S. federal prison, where he is due to spend 22 or 23 hours a day alone in a cell with a concrete bed.

His case was the first federal death penalty trial since Democratic President Joe Biden took office in 2021 and pledged during his campaign to abolish capital punishment in federal cases.

Saipov's family members had called for a life sentence, saying they hoped he would realize what he had done and express remorse.

They said they wanted him to return to the passive person they remembered him as before he grew obsessed with online propaganda posted by the Islamic State militant group.

The former long-haul truck driver had moved legally to the U.S. from Uzbekistan in 2010 and lived in Ohio and Florida before joining his family in Paterson, New Jersey.

His lawyer, David Patton, told jurors that his actions were 'senseless, horrific, and theres no justification for them.'
A convicted phone hacker and 'self-confessed professional liar' told the High Court today how he is assisting Prince Harry and others to sue British newspapers.

Graham Johnson agreed that he had cheated members of the public, 'destroyed people's lives with surgical impact' and had 'no integrity at all' when he worked at the News of the World.

He told the court it was true he had once described one of his own newspaper articles as '1,500 words of b******s' in which he had invented a sighting of a phantom wild cat known as 'the Beast of Bodmin'. He agreed this was 'a carefully crafted piece of deception designed to fool everybody'.

And another time, he had boasted how it was 'very easy for a professional liar like me to manipulate a 12-year-old girl' whom he had described as being involved in prostitution.

But in the witness box today, now appearing in the case for the Duke of Sussex, Mr Johnson, 55, insisted that his days as a 'convincing faker' were over.

Graham Johnson (pictured outside High Court), a professional phone hacker, told the High Court he had 'destroyed people's lives with surgical impact' and had 'no integrity at all' when he worked at the News of the World

Mr Johnson, 55, appeared in the witness box today in the case for the Duke of Sussex (pictured outside High Court in March)

He was giving evidence during a seven-week trial in which Harry and three others are suing Mirror Group Newspapers alleging phone hacking, bugging, blagging and deception, which it denies.

He told Mr Justice Fancourt how he was helping the prince and other celebrities pursuing hacking claims against newspapers, including those at groups publishing the Mirror, the Sun and the Daily Mail.

It was put to him by the Mirror group's KC Andrew Green: 'Mr Johnson, why should the court believe you, a self-confessed professional liar who engaged in illegal activities for many years?' Mr Johnson agreed he had repeatedly engaged in unlawful behaviour at the News of the World in the 1990s, and the Sunday Mirror in the early 2000s, but said of his nefarious skills: 'I don't use them in the witness box under oath at the High Court.'

He was sacked from the now-defunct News of the World in 1997 for fabricating stories and worked at the Sunday Mirror until 2005.

He was convicted of phone hacking in 2014 and given a two-month suspended sentence. But he says he converted to 'truth-telling' in 2007 and now runs a website, which he claims is committed to exposing wrongdoing and 'organised crime' in Fleet Street.

His behind-the-scenes role was questioned by Mr Green, who quizzed him about his tactics in recruiting witnesses to the cases against the newspapers.

Asked about a magazine description of him as the 'spider at the centre of the web' of hacking claims, Mr Johnson agreed it could be a reference to him being 'absolutely pivotal' to the litigation against newspapers.

Prince Harry and three others are suing Mirror Group Newspapers alleging phone hacking, bugging, blagging and deception, which it denies (pictured outside High Court in March)

The court heard there were 111 records of Mr Johnson having meetings with the claimants' lawyers. Mr Johnson admitted he had paid various people who are now witnesses.

Asked about a private investigator known as Danno Hanks, who is due to give evidence for Harry and the other claimants today, Mr Johnson said: 'Yes, I went to see Hanks and paid for his archive.' Regarding Steve Whittamore, another PI also due to take to the witness box, he said: 'I have contracted Mr Whittamore to write a book.'

He also said he had struck a deal with Christine Hart, a freelance journalist and private investigator, to pay her 16,000, and that he had a deal with a fourth PI, Gavin Burrows, to pay him 5,000 a month to 'provide evidence to back up claims he had made'.

Asked where the funds came from, freelancer Mr Johnson insisted he was paying these people 'personally' and was not being funded by Hacked Off, the anti-Press campaign group.

Mr Johnson said he was buying the witnesses' material because he was an investigative journalist the intention of publishing it on his website.

The High Court was also told of claims there is a 'criminal investigation' into the team behind Prince Harry's legal actions.

A tweet written in March this year by Mr Burrows was read out, in which he alleged the duke's lawyers and researchers had 'exaggerated, embellished, doctored evidence' and there were 'bribes'.

When this was put to Mr Johnson, he replied: 'I don't think these tweets are accurate or true, because I don't know if there's a criminal investigation or an inquiry by the Law Society.'

Mr Johnson was later challenged over his witness statement. Mr Green said to him: 'There is either something desperately wrong with your memory and evidence gathering process, or something more sinister going on which is that you are making up evidence.'

He replied: 'I am not making up evidence... I wouldn't have fabricated a witness statement. For the High Court.' He also rejected Mr Green's suggestion he had 'utterly, utterly embellished' an account about another aspect of his case.

Prince Harry, who is involved in six separate High Court actions, is due to address the case in June. The case continues.
Almost ten million migrants and teenagers would be given the vote under Labours plot to rig future elections, the Tories claimed last night.

Research by the Conservatives has suggested Sir Keir Starmers controversial expansion of the electorate would be sufficient to swing every general election.

It would include 3.4million European Union nationals who had lived in the UK before Brexit and obtained settled status, along with 2.7million more who have been here for less than five years.

The move would also cover an estimated 2.3million citizens of other countries around the world who have been granted indefinite leave to remain in the past two decades.

This includes thousands of citizens from hostile powers including Russia and North Korea.

Research by the Conservatives has suggested Sir Keir Starmers controversial expansion of the electorate would be sufficient to swing every general election

Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden (centre) reacting during the weekly session of Prime Minister's Questions

Another 1.5million Britons who are currently aged 16 or 17 would also be allowed to choose MPs for the first time under Labours urgent policy to lower the voting age from 18.

The Tories fear the extra voters  who experts say would be more likely to vote Labour  would permanently tip the electoral scales in Sir Keirs favour and usher in a century of Left-wing rule.

The row made it into the Commons yesterday as veteran Tory Sir Desmond Swayne asked what would be the reason for extending the franchise to EU citizens.

Deputy prime minister Oliver Dowden replied: Its actually quite interesting that this week while were pushing ahead with legislation to break the smuggling gangs, whats Labours big idea? Give foreign nationals a say in our elections.

So there we have it. While the Conservatives will stop the boats, Labour will rig the votes.

Opposition leader Sir Keir again tried to play down the plan yesterday, suggesting in an interview that it would not make it into the partys election manifesto. This isnt policy, he told The Times. Weve got five missions. None of them involve electoral change.

Yet as the Mail revealed, Labour has already attempted to change electoral law to give the vote to anyone with the right of abode in the United Kingdom.

Shadow ministers tabled amendments to the Elections Bill in January 2022, under the title Enfranchisement of certain foreign nationals at parliamentary elections, calling for settled EU citizens and anyone with leave to remain to be allowed to vote.

Analysis by Conservative campaign headquarters suggests that even if only two-thirds of foreign citizens and under-18s voted Labour, the party would have won every election in UK history. In 2019, only 37 per cent of the new electorate would have been needed to put Jeremy Corbyn in Downing Street.
The GoFundMe was started by Gary's son Daniel and looks to raise $5,000

Gary was stung more than 100 times during the attack which occurred Monday

A volunteer Los Angeles Police Department cop is collecting donations to help cover medical expenses after being attacked by a huge swarm of bees

An LAPD volunteer officer who was stung more than 100 times by an angry swarm of bees on Monday is bloodied and battered in photos released from his hospital bed.

The man - identified by family only as Gary - is currently recovering from the vicious attack that took place in Encino and was caught on camera by helicopters.

In the new photo released by Gary's son Daniel, the Air Force Veteran's face is swollen and bruised with a bandage over his right eye that is soaked in blood.

The GoFundMe was started after his family received word that Gary's medical expenses would be wholly his own responsibility, as volunteers are not considered employees with the city.

Since being launched late Tuesday evening, the fundraiser has brought in $7,222.

An LAPD volunteer officer who was stung more than 100 times by an angry swarm of bees on Monday is bloodied and battered in photos released from his hospital bed

The bees started to swarm the volunteer cop - and shocking footage showed him unsuccessfully trying to swat them away as they stung him multiple times

According to Daniel, Gary has worked with the LAPD as a volunteer for nearly two decades and has risked his life countless times.

'Dad has been a volunteer for the LAPD for nearly 18 years, has been a first responder to many incidents, and helped save many lives,' he wrote.

Listing off some of the instances he has assisted in, Daniel wrote that Gary once helped 'clear a baby's airway when it was suffering from RSV and stopped breathing before paramedics could arrive.'

The man's son told KTLA he watched the swarm of bees attack his father live on television and felt helpless witnessing the tragic events unfold.

'It was gut-wrenching,' Daniel said. 'I couldn't even believe it. It looked so painful.'

The video taken from above shows Gary - then identified as a civilian volunteer - running around the Encino neighborhood frantically while swatting.

The bees continue to swarm and sting him until he eventually collapses on the ground with blood coming from his face.

Daniel said that in addition to being stung dozens of times, Gary suffered broken bones in the fall on the concrete.

After a short time, Gary was rescued from the bees and taken to a nearby hospital where he was treated for his fractures and other injuries.

The man could be seen with his hands to his head as he tried to get away from the swarm

The bees descended on the Encino, California neighborhood

Daniel told KTLA his father was in stable condition as of Tuesday evening but in a lot of pain from his injuries.

'He's got a triple fracture above his eyebrow, on the nose region, I think that's where a lot of the blood came from and just under his eye socket as well,' the son said.

Gary was given anti-venom and will remain hospitalized for several days as he continues to recover from the horrific incident.

After Gary was rescued, a local beekeeper was able to move in and remove the problem animals from the street.

Now, his family is asking the public to help the man who will undoubtedly be left with thousands in medical bills since he is not covered by LAPD.

'The police department was like, "Oh yeah, no, he's a volunteer and we're not liable,"' Daniel said.

He continued, saying he is hopeful the community will rally to support the man who has always given back.

'He wants to give to his community and he's a veteran, so he's strong-willed, well-trained, and he does his best,' said Daniel.

'He's independent, very friendly, always willing to lend a helping hand, will talk to anybody,' Daniel continued.

The GoFundMe has raised just over $7,000 as of Wednesday evening and will stay up for anyone looking to donate.

At one point, the man dropped to the ground after tripping up amid the sting-fest

The bees descended on Encino, California, sending three people to hospital for stings and injuries

According to the beekeeper who responded to the scene, the bees' behavior in this incident was unusual.

Experts have theorized that the large horde may have cropped up due to the excessively wet winter that has contributed to more pollen in the area.

More pollen in the air means more active bee colonies.

Gary's family said they are just glad he is alive and recovering.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, an average of 62 people die from bee and wasp stings each year in America.
Oxford students yesterday stepped up their campaign to stop a talk by a visiting professor  despite being warned by 44 of the universitys dons that they are threatening free speech.

Hundreds of trans activists will protest against a debate at the Oxford Union featuring feminist professor of philosophy Kathleen Stock.

Claiming she is transphobic and trans-exclusionary for opposing gender self-identification and saying biological sex is real, the Oxford University LGBTQ+ Society is arranging a day of talks and a protest march when Professor Stock visits on May 30.

The student group warned its members of heated interactions during the day and told them to prepare facing a transphobic counter protest.

Activists will protest against a debate at the Oxford Union featuring Kathleen Stock, pictured here in November 2021, after recently resigning from her Professorship at Sussex University

The society initiated the row by calling for the Oxford Union  the famous debating society that has been the breeding ground for countless British politicians  to rescind its invitation to Professor Stock.

READ MORE: Trans row engulfs Oxford University as 40 top dons including Richard Dawkins pen letter in support of appearance by gender-critical feminist Kathleen Stock after students tried to block talk Advertisement

Since then the universitys Student Union has barred the Oxford Union from having a recruiting stall at future freshers fairs  a decision criticised yesterday in a letter signed by 44 Oxford academics.

Condemning the replacement of reasoned argument with coercion and threats, they said universities must remain places where contentious views can be openly discussed.

Amiad Haran Diman, president of the universitys LGBTQ+ Society, told Radio 4s World At One: The youngest cohorts at uni are increasingly not cisgender and are super accepting.

'The Oxford Union is a private members club and it has no duty to platform these views when Kathleen Stock is not an expert on gender identity.

I dont think that its fair to debate the existence of trans people. And I dont think its fair to debate basic human rights.

The 44 Oxford dons include evolutionary biologist Professor Richard Dawkins and theologian Professor Nigel Biggar and their letter is one of the most significant interventions by academics in recent free speech controversies.

They condemned the Student Unions decision to sever ties with the Oxford Union, and said they were united in their belief that universities exist, among other things, to promote free inquiry and the disinterested pursuit of the truth by means of reasoned argument.

A previous protest by activists demanding Stock leave seen at the University of Sussex

The letter in The Daily Telegraph read: Professor Stock believes that biological sex in humans is real and socially salient, a view which until recently would have been so commonplace as to hardly merit asserting.

'Whether or not one agrees with Professor Stocks views, there is no plausible and attractive ideal of academic freedom, or of free speech more generally, which would condemn their expression as outside the bounds of permissible discourse.

Professor Stock, left, was forced to resign from her philosophy professorship at Sussex University in 2021 after a campaign of harassment from gender activists.

A hate mob plastered the campus with posters accusing her of transphobia.
Rishi Sunak will sign a microchip deal with Japan today to help protect supplies from potential disruption by China.

The Prime Minister was flying into Tokyo on Wednesday night ahead of talks on a new economic and security agreement designed to counter growing aggression from Beijing.

On Thursday he will meet business leaders and unveil new investment in Britain worth billions of pounds and thousands of jobs.

Mr Sunak, who is accompanied by his wife Akshata Murty, will then travel to Hiroshima for the G7 summit of advanced economy countries this weekend.

Tomorrow evening he will hold talks with Japanese PM Fumio Kishida, where the two leaders are expected to agree a new Hiroshima Accord strengthening relations between the UK and Japan.

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak holds a huddle with political journalists on board a government plane as he heads to Japan to attend the G7 summit in Hiroshima on May 17, 2023

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is pictured with journalists on a plane as he heads to Hiroshima

The deal will include a new semiconductor partnership to help protect supplies of microchips amid a global shortage.

Sunak vows to close UK Confucius Institutes The Prime Minister was on Wednesday night backing down from a promise to close 30 institutes linked to Chinas communist government. Downing Street said the centres would lose their UK funding but an outright ban would be disproportionate. Around 27million was to go to the Confucius Institutes to teach Mandarin here in the decade to 2025. But last year Mr Sunak vowed to close them to avoid promoting Chinese soft power. Former Tory leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith told TalkTV, which revealed the U-turn: Confucius Institutes are nothing to do with language. The truth is they are there to spy on Chinese students. Catherine West, the Labour Partys Asia spokesman, said it was another example of the Tories chaotic approach to China. Advertisement

The move reflects mounting concern about Chinese aggression towards Taiwan, which is the global centre for the production of advanced semiconductors.

Ministers are expected to publish a dedicated semiconductor strategy Friday setting out how vital supply chains will be protected.

A government source said the deal with Japan would include new commitments to pursue ambitious R&D [research and development] cooperation and skills exchange, strengthening our domestic sectors and bolstering supply chain resilience in an increasingly competitive market.

The new accord with Japan will also boost defence cooperation, including sending more British troops to take part in joint military exercises and the deployment of a British aircraft carrier to the Far East in 2025.

The PM said he and his Japanese counterpart were closely aligned on the importance of protecting peace and security in the Indo-Pacific and defending our values, including free and fair trade.

He said the hugely significant new agreement with Tokyo would see the UK step up cooperation between our armed forces, grow our economies together and develop our world-leading science and technology expertise.

On his way to Tokyo on Wednesday night, the PM told reporters the deal would leave Britain with a strong and increasing footprint in the security of the Indo-Pacific region, where Beijing has been increasingly assertive in recent years.

The PM said the G7 summit would involve an intense period of diplomatic activity focused on the economy, Ukraine and combatting the rise of China.

Britain's Prime Minister Rishi Sunak (R) shakes hands with Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishide at the start of a bilateral meeting at the Tower of London, Wednesday, January 11, 2023
A federal judge has ruled prosecutors in the US Virgin Islands can serve Elon Musk through Tesla, compelling him to hand over documents in connection with a lawsuit seeking to hold JPMorgan Chase liable for Jeffrey Epstein's sex trafficking crimes.

US District Judge Jed S. Rakoff on Wednesday granted prosecutors' request to serve the subpoena on Musk through Tesla, after they said they were unable to locate the billionaire or his registered agent.

Musk has never been publicly accused of any wrongdoing related to Epstein, who died behind bars in an apparent suicide in 2019, as he awaited sex trafficking charges in a federal jail in Manhattan.

But the US Virgin Islands has said in a court filing that it believes Epstein may have referred or tried to refer Musk to JPMorgan as a potential client, and the government subpoena seeks any documentation of potential communications with Epstein.

For his part, Musk has slammed the subpoena as 'idiotic on so many levels' and insisted: 'That cretin never advised me on anything whatsoever.'

A federal judge has ruled prosecutors in the US Virgin Islands can serve Elon Musk through Tesla, compelling him to hand over documents in an Epstein-related suit

Musk has never been publicly accused of any wrongdoing related to Epstein, but the sex predator encouraged rumors that he was advising Musk prior to this 2019 death

The Virgin Islands, where Epstein had an estate on a private island, sued JPMorgan last year, alleging the bank turned a blind eye to Epstein's crimes.

The suit alleged the banking giant enabled Epstein's recruiters to pay victims and was 'indispensable to the operation and concealment of the Epstein trafficking enterprise.'

In court filings, JPMorgan has slammed the allegations as legally meritless, insisting the bank had no knowledge of Epstein's sex trafficking operation.

The bank has also moved to pin any blame on former JPMorgan executive Jes Staley, who had close ties with Epstein and once referred to their friendship as 'profound,' according to court filings.

Staley, 66, led JPMorgan's asset management business from 2001 to 2009, and its corporate and investment bank from 2009 to 2013. He later spent six years as Barclays Plc's chief executive.

JPMorgan is separately suing Staley to cover its losses in the two lawsuits it faces, and forfeit eight years of pay.

Staley has denied any wrongdoing, and asked Judge Rakoff to dismiss the bank's case, accusing JPMorgan of using him as a 'public relations shield' to deflect blame for its own failures in working with Epstein.

JPMorgan has attempted to to pin any blame on former executive Jes Staley, who had close ties with Epstein and once referred to their friendship as 'profound,' according to court filings

JPMorgan CEO Jaime Dimon is set to be deposed in the lawsuit on May 26. The bank has slammed the lawsuit as legally meritless and denied any knowledge of Epstein's crimes

Epstein died in a Manhattan jail in August 2019 at age 66, in what the medical examiner ruled a suicide, as he was awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking charges

In the subpoena of Musk, the Virgin Islands demanded any documents Musk has about Epstein's involvement in human trafficking and his procurement of girls or women for commercial sex.

Additionally, the subpoena sought any communications between the entrepreneur and JPMorgan about Epstein, as well as between Musk and Epstein. Documents regarding fees paid by Musk to Epstein or JPMorgan also fall under the subpoena.

In addition to Musk, Virgin Islands prosecutors have also subpoenaed Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, former Disney executive Michael Ovitz and billionaire hotelier Thomas Pritzker.

JPMorgan CEO Jaime Dimon is also set to be deposed in the lawsuit on May 26.

Epstein died in a Manhattan jail in August 2019 at age 66, in what the medical examiner ruled a suicide, as he was awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking charges.

His accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell was sentenced to 20 years in June 2022, and is currently serving her sentence at Florida's FCI Tallahassee prison.

In 2020, Musk denied knowing Ghislaine Maxwell after a 2014 photo of them together surfaced

Musk and Maxwell were seen together at a 2014 Vanity Fair party. But Musk denied knowing Maxwell and said she had 'photobombed' him at the event.

'Don't know Ghislaine. Real question is why did VF invite her?" he tweeted in July 2020.

Maxwell was overheard asking Musk if there 'were a way to remove oneself from the internet,' according to the New York Times, citing a witness to the exchange.

She then, supposedly, encouraged Musk to 'destroy the internet.' Musk allegedly demurred.
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Santos himself voted with Republicans to send the matter to Ethics

All Republicans voted to send the matter to Ethics, seven Democrats voted 'present' while all others voted against moving the resolution back to committee

House Republicans voted to send a measure to expel Rep. George Santos back to the Ethics Committee, buying the embattled congressman more time until a probe into his conduct wraps up.

All Republicans voted to send the matter to Ethics, seven Democrats voted 'present' while the others voted against moving the resolution back to committee.

Santos himself voted with Republicans to send the matter to Ethics. He told reporters following the vote that 'everybody is innocent until proven guilty' and thanked leadership for 'allowing this procedure.'

He was heckled by Squad members Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Jamaal Bowman who demanded he resign as he talked to reporters on the Capitol steps.

'I have right, a constitutional right, to defend myself,' Santos said, before adding 'there's a deranged member here' when Ocasio-Cortez shouted 'resign!'

Bowman and Marjorie Taylor Greene then got into a shouting match.

'Expel him! The party's hanging by a thread!' Bowman said to Greene.

'Impeach Biden! Impeach Biden!' Greene said.

'No more QAnon! Do something about guns!' Bowman shot back. 'Right, so close the border!' Greene shouted.

AOC stepped in and said to Bowman 'she ain't worth it, bro', referring to Greene.

'She ain't worth it bro': AOC steps in front of colleague Democratic Rep. Jamaal Bowman during his confrontation with Marjorie Taylor Greene over George Santos

'Expel him! The party's hanging by a thread!' Bowman said to Greene. 'Impeach Biden! Impeach Biden!' Greene said

Rep. Jamaal Bowman, who heckled George Santos mid Santos-gaggle moments ago, in a tiff with MTG outside the Capitol steps.



AOC comes up at the end: She aint worth it bro pic.twitter.com/R5L20WvhFK  Ursula Perano (@UrsulaPerano) May 17, 2023

House Republicans voted to send a measure to expel Rep. George Santos back to the Ethics Committee, buying the embattled congressman more time until a probe into his conduct wraps up

Santos enters the Capitol on the day of a vote on the expulsion matter

'The House Republicans are now officially the SAVE SANTOS CAUCUS,' Rep. Robert Garcia, D-Calif., who introduced the resolution, said.

Making his case for expelling Santos earlier on Wednesday Garcia said he 'should not have access to our country's most guarded secrets.'

The Ethics panel has been investigating Santos since March - looking into whether he engaged in unlawful activity during his campaign, failed to properly disclose financial information to the House and other areas.

Meanwhile Santos' communications director Naysa Woomer resigned on Wednesday. Woomer accepted the position a week before the first New York Times story broke in December and a source familiar said she'd been unhappy in the position for a 'long time.'

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said Tuesday he would 'quickly' move to refer the expulsion to Ethics. He could have moved to table the measure, which would require a simple majority, or bring expulsion for a full floor vote, which would need a two-thirds majority, around 70 Republicans and all Democrats.

'I would like the Ethics Committee to move rapidly on this. I think there's enough information out there now that they can start looking at this,' the GOP leader said, in comments that were a step further from previous times where he refused to call on Santos to resign.

'I think they can come back to Congress, probably faster than the court case.'

McCarthy added: 'I don't want to wait around for courts to act. I would like to have the House take action and have a process.'

Democrats introduced the resolution to expel Santos after he was indicted on a string of offenses including money laundering, wire fraud and making false statements during his campaign.

McCarthy said: 'I don't want to wait around for courts to act. I would like to have the house take action and have a process'

After the Ethics Committee acts, the full House would have to vote to expel him.

The investigation is also focused on whether Santos 'violated federal conflict of interest laws in connection with his role in a firm providing fiduciary services; and/or engaged in sexual misconduct towards an individual seeking employment in his congressional office,' the House Ethics Committee said in a statement.

If the House were to expel Santos it would lead to a special election in New York's third district, where President Biden won by eight points in 2020.

Republicans would also be down one vote at least until the seat is filled - a vote they can't afford to lose with their slim four-seat majority.

House Democrats are introducing a resolution to to expel disgraced GOP Rep. George Santos after he was indicted on a string of offenses including money laundering, wire fraud and making false statements during his campaign

The motion, introduced by Rep. Robert Garcia, D-Calif., requires a two-thirds majority vote in the House - meaning around 70 Republicans would have to get on board

He appeared in court last Wednesday, pleaded not guilty to the 13 charges and was freed on $500,000 bail in a pivotal moment in his career, just four months after he was sworn in.

Santos signaled he won't resign, will still run for reelection and asked why President Biden's family wasn't being investigated by the Department of Justice.

Prosecutors have accused him of using donor funds to buy designer clothes and pay off personal debts and for applying for COVID unemployment benefits while running for Congress and making $125,000 a year.

They have also accused him of lying on financial disclosure forms he filed to the House when he became a candidate by overstating his income from one job and failing to disclose income from another. He also allegedly lied about his earnings from his company, Devolder Organization.

He will appear in court again on June 30 and was also made to surrender his passport.

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has signaled he will not back Santos' reelection bid but stopped short of calling for him to resign.

He noted that Sen. Bob Menendez remained in office after being indicted on bribery charges.
A chef at Hollywood hotspot Horses claimed in a recent divorce filing that her husband and co-owner of the restaurant tortured and killed their cats.

Elizabeth 'Liz' Johnson filed for a domestic violence restraining order against Will Aghajanian in November 2022, The Los Angeles Times reported.

She alleged that Aghajanian joked about feeding their kitten to coyotes, then witnessed him 'violently shaking' it, and that it died the next day. Aghajanian put the dead cat in the trash and insisted on keeping the corpse in the house,' she wrote.

Johnson also claimed that Aghajanian's 'mental and psychological abuse' kept her from realizing what he was doing to the animals before it was too late.

Aghajanian denied the horrific claims in the court filings calling them 'false allegations.' He then claimed he was the victim in the marriage and said Johnson repeatedly threatened to kill him and burned him at least twice with a metal spatula and a spoon she had first placed into a fryer, according to court filings.

Elizabeth 'Liz' Johnson, a chef at Hollywood hotspot Horses claimed in a divorce filing that her husband Will Aghajanian, who is also co-owner of the restaurant, tortured and killed their cats

Johnson and Aghajanian's restaurant Horses opened in September 2021, received rave reviews and was an instant celebrity favorite

Johnson and Aghajanian's restaurant Horses opened in September 2021, received rave reviews and was an instant celebrity favorite.

It was on Eater LA's 'heatmap' of 'hottest new restaurants' for months and the Los Angeles Times called it 'a new modern L.A. institution' and 'the city's most exhilarating new dining experience in the last year.'

But the co-chefs, who once trained at Noma in Copenhagen, which is widely lauded as the world's best restaurant, had allegedly been at odds for years.

Johnson filed her request for the restraining order in November 2022 to keep Aghajanian away from her because she had claimed he had physically assaulted her multiple times while they were together.

She alleged that in 2019, Aghajanian dragged her by the legs across the floor while she screamed and attempted to resist.

The filing also alleged that Aghajanian been responsible for the deaths of both of their cats.

'Will and I have had cats that mysteriously ended up dying, including one in 2017 who I took to a shelter when she became seriously wounded overnight. The shelter told me she had been seriously abused, but Will denied it.'

Horses was on Eater LA's 'heatmap' of 'hottest new restaurants' for months and the Los Angeles Times called it 'a new modern L.A. institution' and 'the city's most exhilarating new dining experience in the last year'

After the filing, both were still allowed to be in Horses after the order was filed, but Aghajanian had to stay 10 feet away from Johnson, it was ordered

Johnson and Aghajanian opened Horses in September 2021

'I believed him. Then, last month, we were given another kitten,' she wrote detailing how it wasn't long before that kitten was dead too, after he had said he didn't like it.

Johnson has also requested that Aghajanian remain 100 yards away from their dogs, Pancho, Javi and Spud, according to the filing.

Aghajanian, who claimed he was the victim in the marriage, said in the filings that it was actually Johnson who abused their animals.

'She falsely accuses me of things that she has done or that she threatened to do to me and my pets,' he wrote. 'My pets are like children to me and I love them dearly.'

'I am fearful of [Johnson] since I am the victim of [her] long-term abuse that has occurred throughout our relationship,' he wrote.

The domestic violence restraining order filed by Johnson was approved and reissued it on May 1, according to court documents.

Even so, both were still allowed to be in Horses after the order was filed, but Aghajanian had to stay 10 feet away from Johnson.
He noted that stats point to how tourism is doing elsewhere, versus the UK

Refusing to reintroduce the VAT-free shopping scheme for tourists was a huge missed opportunity for the UK, Jeremy Hunt was told last night.

Brian Duffy, who runs luxury watch retailer Watches of Switzerland, urged the Chancellor to please give this subject the consideration and analysis that it deserves.

He added: There are plenty of stats around about how tourism is doing elsewhere [versus the UK]. We cant all be wrong.

More than 200 business chiefs have backed the Mails bid to Scrap the Tourist Tax, with household names including Harrods, Marks & Spencer and Burberry calling on the Government to ditch the policy.

Brian Duffy, who runs luxury watch retailer Watches of Switzerland, urged Jeremy Hunt to please give this subject the consideration and analysis that it deserves (File Photo)

Mr Duffy said the absence of tax-free shopping meant Chinese tourists would hold back on splurging in Britain as they returned to Europe after lockdowns. He added: They might come to the UK to see cultural attractions and so on, but they wont spend.

It comes just days after Walpole, the industry group for British luxury brands, warned the tourist tax was a drag and was eroding Londons status as a top shopping destination.

Helen Brocklebank, chief executive of Walpole, said tax-free shopping would not only boost London but also be a shot in the arm for regional manufacturing hubs. She added: A cashmere jersey made in Elgin, Scotland, might be bought in Harrods, but it is supporting 800 jobs in that quite remote part of Scotland.

Although London is the country shop window, the engine room is completely national.
The water industry yesterday issued a grovelling collective apology for dumping millions of tons of sewage in British rivers.

The trade body Water UK issued the apology after a torrent of public anger over the continuing scandal.

For years water bosses have been attacked for failing to invest in Victorian infrastructure which allows sewage to pour into waterways.

At the same time they have treated themselves to enormous pay and bonus packages and delivered huge profits to shareholders.

The collective apology comes as the chief executives of Thames Water, Yorkshire Water and Southern Water announced that they would forgo their bonuses in the face of public anger.

For years water bosses have been attacked for failing to invest in Victorian infrastructure which allows sewage to pour into waterways (Stock image)

But critics said the apology was not enough.

Water UKs new boss, the former Labour Cabinet minister Ruth Kelly, said in a letter: The message from the water and sewage industry today is clear: we are sorry.

More should have been done to address the issue of spillages sooner and the public is right to be upset about the current quality of our rivers and beaches. We have listened and have an unprecedented plan to start to put it right.

She promised water companies would, if the regulator Ofwat allows it, increase investment in sewage infrastructure by 10billion over the next five years, on top of an existing 3.1billion in a new National Overflows Plan affecting 350,000 miles of sewage pipes.

Water UK said the investment was the biggest modernisation of sewers since the Victorian era.

Water UKs new boss, the former Labour Cabinet minister Ruth Kelly (pictured), said in a letter: The message from the water and sewage industry today is clear: we are sorry'

It said it would install tanks equivalent in capacity to thousands of Olympic swimming pools to hold rainwater surges, increase the capacity of sewage works and replace concrete with grass and ponds to reduce rainfall run off.

It would also create new reed beds and wetlands to help treat overflow spills that do enter rivers, and enlarge the sewer network.

The plan would reduce the number of sewage spills each year, from 403,170 in 2020 to 263,170 by 2030, Water UK said

Philip Dunne MP, Tory chairman of the environmental audit committee, said: People are quite rightly sick and tired of the repeated reports of sewage flowing into our rivers and seas, and we must put a stop to it. Todays initiatives, if delivered fully, could go a long way to addressing these understandable concerns.

Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey said: This announcement does nothing to match the billions water firms have paid out in dividends to overseas investors, or stop their CEOs being handed multi-million pound bonuses'

But Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey said: This apology and plan just dont go far enough.

This announcement does nothing to match the billions water firms have paid out in dividends to overseas investors, or stop their CEOs being handed multi-million pound bonuses.

The Governments Storm Overflows Discharge Reduction Plan, published in August 2022, aims to eliminate sewage dumping by 2050 while cutting discharges close to high priority areas by 75 per cent by 2035 and 100 per cent by 2045.

A spokesman for Ofwat said: We welcome the apology from water companies and this now needs to be turned into action.
Taking two weeks to grant police a search warrant for Nicola Sturgeons home stinks to high heaven, an ex-chief superintendent has claimed.

Tom Buchan last night described the Crown Office hold-up in agreeing to the raid as unprecedented.

He insisted warrants could be obtained in a day and that taking longer risked suspects finding out they were to be targeted.

Pressure is now mounting on the SNP to order a public investigation into the situation, with concerns growing the raids may have been put off until after the partys leadership contest was over.

The Crown Office has denied this and Ms Sturgeons successor as First Minister, Humza Yousaf, yesterday claimed the timescale for the warrant was not out of the ordinary.

Tom Buchan last night described the Crown Office hold-up in agreeing to the raid as unprecedented

There has been a two week wait to grant a police search warrant for Nicola Sturgeons home

But Mr Buchan, former president of the Association of Scottish Police Superintendents, said: The whole thing stinks to high heaven. Two weeks to get a warrant? Its beyond belief and it leaves the very real risk that someone could have been tipped off.

The former chief superintendent of Strathclyde Police added: In my 30 years in the police, I never experienced a situation where it took two weeks to get a warrant. I could go to a justice [of the peace] at any time of day, explain the case, and it would be granted. They wouldnt always be happy if it was in the early hours, but we would get a warrant.

Even if there was an issue, it could be sorted in a day.

Police Scotland asked the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) for search warrants to raid Ms Sturgeons home and the SNPs Edinburgh HQ on March 20, seven days before the conclusion of the leadership contest. Police arrived at the home of Ms Sturgeon and husband Peter Murrell on April 5  two days after a warrant was granted. A senior police source told the Mail that the hold-up was very, very unusual and that requests for search warrants happen with haste and are granted with haste in the vast majority of cases.

He said: I suspect the police and Crown came to an agreement that it would be madness to do it in the midst of the leadership election.

Youre looking to search the First Ministers home, so theres no doubt it would have been enormously problematic. The police and Crown Office do not operate in a political vacuum  you can only imagine the commotion if Nicola Sturgeons home had been raided in the leadership contest.

King Charles III receives the First Minister of Scotland Humza Yousaf during an audience at Buckingham Palace

A COPFS spokesman declined to explain the hold-up, while Mr Yousaf said it was not based on election contests or politics.

He added: They make decisions based on what is appropriate to the Crown. I dont believe there will be any particular reason out of the ordinary that it would take that time. But Scottish Conservative chief whip Alexander Burnett has now called for a dedicated inquiry into the police probe. He said: There are a lot of serious questions we need to get to the bottom of.

The Lord Advocate is hamstrung by her conflict of interest. She is in an impossible position as both the head of the Crown Office and chief legal adviser to the SNP-Green Government. That only reaffirms the need for an inquiry into these delays when answers are simply not going to be forthcoming from senior Scottish Government figures.
More than 1,500 people died and the wreck is deteriorating off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada

Study of the scans could reveal more about the mysteries surrounding the sinking on April 15 1912

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More than a century after it sank, the first ever full-sized scans of the Titanic show the historic shipwreck in astonishing detail.

Experts have taken thousands of digital images to create an incredible 3D reconstruction of the wreck, which now lies 350 nautical miles off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada.

The images, published by the BBC, reveal the wreckage in greater detail than ever before, including stalactites of rust on the ship's bow, the serial number on a propeller, and a hole over where the grand staircase once stood.

They present Titanic almost as if it's been retrieved from the water, although this will likely never happen as the wreck is so fragile that it would disintegrate under any movement.

Experts hope studies of the scans could reveal more about the mysteries surrounding what happened on the fateful night in April 1912, such as the exact mechanics of how it struck the seafloor.

The images, published by the BBC, reveal details in greater detail than before. Pictured is the ship's bow, much of which is buried under mud due to the force of impact when it hit the ocean floor in the early hours of April 15, 1912

Images show the stern (the back of the ship) as a twisted mess of metal, after it hit the ocean floor still rotating in a counter-clockwise direction

The luxury ocean liner  owned and operated by British company White Star Line  tragically sank in the early hours of April 15, 1912 after a collision with an iceberg in the Atlantic Ocean, killing an estimated 1,517 of the 2,224 people on board.

READ MORE: The five biggest mysteries surrounding Titanic Photograph of RMS Titanic leaving Southampton at the start of her maiden voyage on April 10, 1912 Advertisement

The remains now lie on the seafloor about 350 nautical miles off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada, although the delicate wreck is deteriorating so rapidly underwater that it could disappear completely within the next 40 years.

'There are still questions, basic questions, that need to be answered about the ship,' Titanic analyst Parks Stephenson told the BBC.

'[The model is] one of the first major steps to driving the Titanic story towards evidence-based research  and not speculation.'

Mr Stephenson said he was 'blown away' when he first saw the scans, which were taken by deep-sea mapping company Magellan Ltd during an expedition last summer and which will be the subject of a documentary by Atlantic Productions.

'It allows you to see the wreck as you can never see it from a submersible, and you can see the wreck in its entirety, you can see it in context and perspective,' Mr Stephenson said.

'And what it's showing you now is the true state of the wreck.'

Titanic broke in half just before it made its final plunge in the early hours of April 15, 1912, and now two parts of the ship  the bow and the stern  lie 2,600 feet apart.

Both halves are surrounded by a field of debris consisting of bits of metal, pieces of furniture, unopened champagne bottles and even passengers' shoes.

Magellan Ltd sent submersibles to survey all parts of the wreck, which lies around 13,000 feet under the water's surface.

The submersibles spent more than 200 hours taking 700,000 images of every angle of the ship to create the 3D reconstruction.

Images show stalactites of rust on the ship's bow, the serial number on a propeller, and a hole over where the grand staircase once stood

Titanic's grand staircase was possibly the most famous part of the first-class section of the RMS Titanic. Pictured is the hole over where the staircase was located

The grandest ship: RMS Titanic departing on its maiden voyage from Southampton on April 10, 1912. The remains now lie on the seafloor about 350 nautical miles off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada

Constructed by Belfast-based shipbuilders Harland and Wolff between 1909 and 1912, RMS Titanic was the largest ship afloat of her time

Titanic: Basic facts Constructed by Belfast-based shipbuilders Harland and Wolff between 1909 and 1912, RMS Titanic was the largest ship afloat of her time. Owned and operated by the White Star Line, the passenger vessel set sail on her maiden voyage from Southampton to New York on April 10, 1912. On April 14, Titanic struck an iceberg at around 23:40 local time, generating six narrow openings in the vessel's starboard hull. The ship sank two hours and 40 minutes later, at 2:20am on April 15. An estimated 1,517 people died. Advertisement

Deep-sea mapping of the ship makes it appear as if it has drained of all the water, making it easier to see what's left in clearer detail compared with cameras and lights.

Images show the stern - the back of the ship - as a twisted mess of metal after it hit the ocean floor still rotating in a counter-clockwise direction.

The V-shaped bow is more recognisable, complete with railings, although much of it is buried under mud due to the force of impact.

Mr Stephenson said we still 'really don't understand' everything about Titanic's collision with the iceberg, so the new images could help reveal more.

'We don't even know if she hit it along the starboard side, as is shown in all the movies  she might have grounded on the iceberg,' he said.

Constructed by Belfast-based shipbuilders Harland and Wolff between 1909 and 1912, the RMS Titanic was the largest ship afloat of her time.

Owned and operated by the White Star Line, the passenger vessel set sail on her maiden voyage from Southampton to New York on April 10, 1912.

The liner made two short stops en route to her planned Atlantic crossing  one at the French port of Cherbourg, the other at Cork Harbour, Ireland, where smaller vessels ferried passengers on and off board.

On April 14, the Titanic struck an iceberg at around 23:40 local time, generating six narrow openings in the vessel's starboard hull, believed to have occurred as a result of the rivets in the hull snapping.

Owned and operated by the White Star Line, the passenger vessel set sail on her maiden voyage from Southampton to New York on April 10, 1912. Pictured: Cafe Parisien on board Titanic

On April 14, Titanic struck an iceberg at around 23:40 local time, generating six narrow openings in the vessel's starboard hull. Pictured: The Aft First Class staircase

Experts hope studies of the scans could reveal more about the mysteries surrounding what happened on the night it sunk, such as the exact mechanics of how it struck the seafloor

The wreck of Titanic now lies 350 nautical miles off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada

The wreck wasn't located until September 1, 1985, a discovery that made global headlines.

While some shipwrecks have been brought to land, it's likely this will never happen with Titanic.

Experts think it is too delicate to be moved due to deterioration from corrosion, biological activity and deep ocean currents. There would be moral implications, too.

British Titanic survivor Eva Hart, who lost her father to the disaster, said shortly before her death in 1996: 'I hope severely that they will never attempt to raise part of it.

'I do hope they will remember this is a grave  a grave of 1,500 people who should never have died, and I don't think you should go down there and rob graves and I'm very much opposed to it.'
Millions across the world are being warned to brace themselves as a damning new report claims the hottest year on record will take place by 2027.

Experts stressed with 98 per cent certainty that a global temperature spike will take place in the next five years.

The bleak news comes amid worsening climate change fears and follows a hellish summer in Europe, which recorded its second hottest year in 2022.

Experts say there is also a two-in-three chance temperatures will rise by more than 1.5C (2.7F) above pre-industrial levels  breaking the limit set out in the climate-focused Paris Agreement.

'Todays report shows that the next five years are expected to bring new temperature records,' said Dr Leon Hermanson, a Met Office scientist behind the report.

Some areas of the globe will likely experience a rise in rainfall during the next five years, while others will see rainfall plummet. Pictured, scorching temperatures in Wimbledon, south London, last year

WHAT IS THE PARIS AGREEMENT? The Paris Agreement, which was first signed in 2015, is an international agreement to control and limit climate change. It hopes to hold the increase in the global average temperature to below 2C (3.6F) 'and to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5C (2.7F)'. The Paris Agreement on Climate Change has four main goals with regards to reducing emissions: 1) A long-term goal of keeping the increase in global average temperature to well below 2C above pre-industrial levels 2) To aim to limit the increase to 1.5C, since this would significantly reduce risks and the impacts of climate change 3) Governments agreed on the need for global emissions to peak as soon as possible, recognising that this will take longer for developing countries 4) To undertake rapid reductions thereafter in accordance with the best available science Source: European Commission Advertisement

'These new highs will be fuelled almost completely by the rise of heat-trapping greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, but the anticipated development of the naturally-occurring El Nino event will also release heat from the tropical Pacific.'

El Nino is a reoccurring warming phase that takes place across the tropical Pacific following a cooling phase, called La Nina.

These periods shift back and forth irregularly every two to seven years, triggering rainfall and temperature changes.

The ocean's La Nina phase ended in March this year, with El Nino expected to take hold during the coming months.

This natural phenomenon combined with the emission of gases such as carbon dioxide are likely to worsen temperature highs from as soon as next year.

The World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) anticipates that rainfall surges will be experienced across the Sahel region of Africa, northern Europe, Alaska and Siberia as a result.

Rainfall is also likely to plummet across the Amazon and parts of Australia during the same time period of 2023 to 2027.

Meanwhile, Arctic heating is predicted to be more than three times higher than the global average, amid fears of worsening ice sheet melt.

Over the five years, temperatures are predicted to be between 1.1C (1.98F) and 1.8C (3.24F) higher than the 1850-1900 average - a slippery slope towards breaking the Paris Agreement.

A total of 196 countries have signed this, including the US which initially refused due to Donald Trump's disapproval.

Yet, the WMO believes that even if Paris levels are exceeded, this does not have to be a permanent change.

Arctic heating is predicted to be more than three times the global average between 2023-2027. Pictured, the Helheim glacier near Tasilaq, Greenland

Experts say there is a two-in-three chance of exceeding 1.5C above pre-industrial levels which would break the Paris Agreement promises laid out in 2015

Future temperature extremes follow the hottest summer on record for Europe. Pictured: Wildfires in Tabara, Spain during the extreme heatwave of last year

READ MORE: Up to 40% of creatures living deep in the ocean could be wiped out by the end of the century In 150 years, life in the twilight zone could be severely depleted, a study warns. (Pictured: Strawberry squid) Advertisement

WMO Secretary-General Professor Petteri Taalas said: 'This report does not mean that we will permanently exceed the 1.5C level specified in the Paris Agreement which refers to long-term warming over many years.

'However, WMO is sounding the alarm that we will breach the 1.5C level on a temporary basis with increasing frequency.'

The bleak report follows other research showing that Europe endured its hottest summer on record in 2022.

Extreme heatwaves and drought gripped hold of the continent during this time, and are only expected to worsen.

Summer wildfires also generated the highest carbon emissions in 15 years  leading to a record melt of Alpine glaciers as five cubic kilometers of ice disappeared.

Carlo Buontempo, the director of climate change service C3S, warned these figures were 'alarming' but crucial to understanding how we can better cope with the impacts of climate change.

He said: 'The report highlights alarming changes to our climate, including the hottest summer ever recorded in Europe, marked by unprecedented marine heatwaves in the Mediterranean Sea and record-breaking temperatures in Greenland.

'Understanding the climate dynamics in Europe is crucial for our efforts to adapt and mitigate the negative impacts climate change has on the continent.'
It's an idea that has prevailed for decades - promiscuous men are admired as 'players' while women with several previous partners are condemned as 'sluts'.

But a new study claims that this so-called sexual double standard is actually a myth.

Contrary to popular belief, scientists from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology say that sexually promiscuous men are actually judged more harshly than women.

'We haven't found that women are subjected to the traditional double standards,' said Professor Leif Edward Ottesen Kennair, an author of the study.

It's an idea that has prevailed for decades - promiscuous men are admired as 'players' while women with several previous partners are condemned as 'sluts'. But a new study claims that this so-called sexual double standard is actually a myth (stock image)

Having multiple sexual partners does NOT affect your marriage chances in the long-term, study finds - READ MORE Having multiple sexual partners does not affect your marriage chances in the long-term, a study suggests (stock image) Advertisement

In their study, the team set out to understand how men and women with numerous sexual partners are perceived.

'Everyone believes that women are exposed to a greater degree of social control than men,' said Professor Mons Bendixen, co-author of the study.

'But that's not what we found when we asked people how they rate women's and men's sexual behaviour.

'People are far more liberal themselves than they assume society is.'

The study included 900 heterosexual men and women, who were surveyed about how they assess potential partners for someone else, based on their sexual history.

Participants were told the potential partners' number of previous sexual partners, their history of jealousy, infidelity, controlling behaviour and masturbation practices.

Based on this knowledge, they were asked to rate how much they would recommend the prospective partners for someone else.

The results revealed that people were generally judged more harshly when it came to long-term relationships, although there was no difference between the sexes.

However, when it came to short-term relationships, men with multiple previous partners were found to be judged more harshly than women.

The study also found that women who regularly masturbate are judged less negatively than men.

'Far from damning women's use of masturbation, men were very open to it, particularly in short-term contexts,' said Andrew Thomas, an author of the study from Swansea University.

When it came to short-term relationships, men with multiple previous partners were found to be judged more harshly than women (stock image)

'This is exactly what we'd expect based on evolutionary theory which posits that men will be interested in cues to sexual access.'

However, a history of cheating or controlling behaviour was found to be off-putting for both sexes.

'Prospective partners with a history of infidelity, jealousy and controlling behaviour are perceived as strongly negative for both sexes,' Professor Bendixen said.

'This applies equally to male and female partners.'

The researchers highlight an important caveat  the findings only apply to people we don't know.

'We tend to be stricter towards family and close relatives than we are towards strangers,' the team explained.

'We want them to find particularly good partners, and this has both biological and cultural explanations.'
The report follows fatal flooding in Italy and Croatia described as an 'apocalypse'

Properties are most prone to flooding in East Anglia, North West and Yorkshire

One in six properties in England could be hit by flooding by 2050 as humans struggle to curb greenhouse gas emissions, a worrying new report reveals.

London researchers have assessed the flood risk of 4.8 million properties around the country, sold between 2006 and 2022.

Properties are most prone to flooding in East Anglia, North West and Yorkshire, they found, while those least affected are in the Midlands and the North East.

Thankfully for prospective buyers, flooding risk is reflected in property prices, they also found, with houses at risk of flooding sold at 8.14 per cent lower on average.

The report follows fatal flooding in Italy and Croatia described as an 'apocalypse', with people swimming through water to save neighbours.

This image shows flood mapping results in Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire. Properties are pinned with colours to ascribe flood risk to properties, with red representing locations with very high flood risk predicted. Fluvial flooding - when excessive rainfall causes a river to exceed its capacity - is shaded in blue

It's though flooding is becoming more likely in the UK due to climate change. Pictured is an abandoned car in a flooded car park in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, November 2019

The new analysis was conducted by City, University of London's Bayes Business School in partnership with property site Rightmove and consultancy firm Royal HaskoningDHV.

Flood risk by region in 2050 The probability of flooding in 2050 in a low to moderate greenhouse gas emissions scenario: East Anglia - 11.88% Yorkshire - 10.72% North West - 10.5% South West - 8.54% Outer London - 8.13% South East - 6.76% North East - 5.57% East Midlands - 4.74% West Midlands - 3.79% Advertisement

'In this empirical study we quantify the impact that the risk of flooding has on property valuations,' said Dr Nicole Lux, senior research fellow at Bayes.

'With sea levels and unpredictability of climate set to rise in years to come, this poses a great threat to properties and the housing market  particularly in low-income neighborhoods.'

Using a property price dataset provided by Rightmove, the report analysed a total of 4.8 million property listings and 3.2 million completed sales that took place between 2006 and 2022.

For all properties, flood risk was determined by the Twinn FloodScoreTM, an online tool that incorporates data from Centre of Ecology & Hydrology and Ordnance Survey, as well as high resolution LiDAR from the Environment Agency.

This flood risk score is updated after UK flooding events and also takes into account the three main flood types  fluvial, pluvial and tidal.

Fluvial is the when excessive rainfall causes a river to exceed its capacity, while pluvial is heavy rainfall causing flood independent of an overflowing water body, and tidal is the temporary flooding of low-lying areas near a coast.

Despite the threat of tidal flooding, properties in coastal areas may even be sold at a premium due to benefits of living close to the water, such as ocean views.

However, properties don't necessarily have to be close to rivers or the coastline to be prone, the researchers warn.

An aerial view of houses and cars submerged under water following severe flooding on November 8, 2019 in Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Parts of northern England endured a month's worth of rain in 24 hours, causing severe flooding

Pictured are regions with England annotated with flood risk in a low to moderate greenhouse gas emissions scenario, as well as the average sold price for properties in that region

Based on their sample, one out of six properties in England are at risk of flooding and around half of those affected properties can be characterised as high risk, the researchers found.

READ MORE: Flooding hits Italy and Croatia In the Italian city of Cesena, locals were forced to swim through submerged streets Advertisement

Overall, the average flood risk varies across regions, but the highest risk values were observed in East Anglia (11.88 per cent flooding risk in 2050), followed by Yorkshire (10.72 per cent) and the North West (10.50 per cent).

In each of these regions somewhere between 13 and 18 per cent of properties are affected by the possibility of flooding.

West and East Midlands properties had the lowest average property flood risk  4.74 per cent and 3.79 per cent, respectively  and less than 12 per cent of the houses are at risk.

Researchers warn that these stats are for a low to moderate greenhouse gas emissions scenario, so if a high emissions scenario occurs in 2050, the flood risk by region will be higher.

For example, the flood risk for properties in East Anglia goes from 11.88 per cent in a low to moderate emissions scenario to 9.1 in a high emissions scenario.

What's more, flood risk increases as time goes on  so properties in East Anglia go from having a 11.88 per cent risk in 2050 to a 12.17 per cent risk in 2080.

In terms of property types, semi-detached and terraced houses are more vulnerable to flooding than detached houses.

This is because any temporary protection measures, such as blocking doors, windows, vents and pipes, aren't effective unless neighbours take similar steps.

Flood risk increases in all regions with time. For example, properties in East Anglia go from having a 11.88 per cent risk in 2050 to a 12.17 per cent risk in 2080

Properties don't necessarily have to be close to rivers or the coastline to be prone, however, the researchers warn. Pictured, flooded homes in the village of Fishlake near Doncaster, England, November 2019

Researchers also found flood risk has a strong negative relationship with property prices, meaning the more prone to flooding, the cheaper it is.

Global sea levels will rise 4.6 feet by 2150 due to ice sheets melting says study - READ MORE Scientists think they have a more accurate picture of how much global sea levels will rise after estimating the volume of water than will come from the melting of Earth's two ice sheets Advertisement

This means that although the purchase price of a house may seem surprisingly reasonable, it may be because it's particularly prone to flooding.

Data from the report shows that residential properties at risk of flooding are sold at 8.14 per cent lower on average compared to non-affected properties, but the properties at the highest risk of flooding have a price discount of up to 32.2 per cent.

Interestingly, zero exposure to flooding increases the 'saleability' of a property only slightly  from 63.3 per cent to 65.6 per cent.

Based on the findings, the researchers conclude that flooding, and whether homes are in flooding hotspots, will play a more significant role in property valuations by 2050.

'Flood risk can directly affect England's residential real estate market and builds the foundations for a better understanding of climate-related risk in the property market,' they say.

According to a recent briefing by the UN, sea levels will rise significantly even if global warming is 'miraculously' limited to 2.7F (1.5C)  the elusive aim of the Paris Agreement.

Adopted in 2015, the Paris Agreement hopes to hold the increase in the global average temperature to below 2C (3.6F) 'and to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5C (2.7F)'.

Thankfully for prospective buyers, flooding risk is reflected in property prices. Left graph here shows the average (sold) property price for different levels of flood risk. Right graph plots the distribution of (sold) property prices for properties with zero (solid blue line) and very high (>80%, dotted red line) flood risk

Researchers say the number of hot days and the intensity and frequency of extreme rain events are likely to rise further, resulting in more numerous natural disasters such as floods

According to Met Office data, since 1884 the annual mean air temperature in the UK increased by 13.4 per cent.

But in the coming century it is expected that the number of hot and very hot days and the intensity and frequency of extreme precipitation events are very likely to rise further, resulting in more numerous natural disasters such as floods.

Global mean sea level has risen by about 7.8 inches (20cm) in the past century and this trend is likely to accelerate with global warming, according to a study published earlier this year.

According to NASA, sea level rise is caused primarily by two factors related to global warming  added water from melting ice sheets and glaciers, and the expansion of seawater as it warms.

But other factors include land sinkage and slowing down of the Gulf Stream  a circulation system that pulls water away from Earth's shores.

Globally, sea level continues to rise at a rate of about one-eighth of an inch (3.2mm) per year, according to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Global flood losses were estimated at $6 billion per year back in 2005 and they are projected to increase above $60 billion by 2050 in an optimistic scenario, a 2013 study found.
Titanic famously sunk in the early hours of April 15, 1912 when she hit an iceberg, leading to tragic loss of life

MailOnline compares these with how the stunning ship looked before she set sail on her fatal maiden voyage

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New digital scans released today show the famous RMS Titanic in greater detail than ever before since she sank more than a century ago.

Experts took thousands of digital images to create the stunning 3D reconstruction of the wreck, which lies at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean, around 350 nautical miles off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada.

They present the wreck almost as if it's been retrieved from the water, although this will likely never happen as the wreck is so fragile that it would disintegrate at the slightest touch.

Titanic's delicate remains  which are being eaten away by microbial life and hit with deep ocean currents  are deteriorating so rapidly underwater that the ship could completely disappear within the next 40 years.

Here, MailOnline compares the eerie new images of Titanic with how she looked before hitting that iceberg on the night of April 14, 1912  a tragedy that resulted in the deaths of more than 1,500 people, including children.

 Slide me  Here, MailOnline compares the latest images of Titanic taken with underwater submersibles with how she looked before hitting that iceberg on the night of April 14, 1912

 Slide me  Titanic's delicate remains lie at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean, around 350 nautical miles off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada

 Slide me  Titanic's 29 boilers contained a total of 159 furnaces to heat water and send the steam to the reciprocating engines that powered her through Atlantic waters

Experts hope studies of the new scans could reveal more about the mysteries surrounding what happened on the fateful night in April 1912, such as the exact mechanics of how it struck the seafloor.

READ MORE: The five biggest mysteries surrounding Titanic Sinking of the Titanic: Lifeboats row away from the still lighted ship, as depicted in this British newspaper sketch Advertisement

'There are still questions, basic questions, that need to be answered about the ship,' Titanic analyst Parks Stephenson told the BBC.

'[The model is] one of the first major steps to driving the Titanic story towards evidence-based research  and not speculation.'

Mr Stephenson said he was 'blown away' when he first saw the scans, which were taken by deep-sea mapping company Magellan Ltd during an expedition last summer and which will be the subject of a documentary by Atlantic Productions.

'It allows you to see the wreck as you can never see it from a submersible, and you can see the wreck in its entirety, you can see it in context and perspective,' Mr Stephenson said.

'And what it's showing you now is the true state of the wreck.'

Titanic broke in half just before it made its final plunge in the early hours of April 15, 1912, and now two parts of the ship  the bow and the stern  lie 2,600 feet apart.

Both halves are surrounded by a field of debris consisting of bits of metal, pieces of furniture, unopened champagne bottles and even passenger shoes.

Magellan Ltd sent submersibles to survey all parts of the wreck, which lies around 13,000 feet under the water's surface.

The submersibles spent more than 200 hours taking 700,000 images of every angle of the ship to create the 3D reconstruction.

 Slide me  It's believed Titanic's stern - the back of the ship - hit the ocean floor as it was still rotating in a counter-clockwise direction

 Slide me  The luxury ocean liner - owned and operated by British company White Star Line - tragically sank in the early hours of April 15, 1912 after a collision with an iceberg, killing an estimated 1,517 of the 2,224 people on board

Deep-sea mapping of the ship makes it appear as if it has drained of all the water, making it easier to see what's left in clearer detail compared with cameras and lights.

Images show the stern  the back of the ship  as a twisted mess of metal after it hit the ocean floor still rotating in a counter-clockwise direction.

The V-shaped bow is more recognisable, complete with railings, although much of it is buried under mud due to the force of impact.

Mr Stephenson said we still 'really don't understand' everything about Titanic's collision with the iceberg, so the new images could help reveal more.

 Slide me  The bow was the first part of the Titanic to become submerged in water. Less than three hours after it hit the iceberg, the whole ship had sunk

 Slide me  RMS Titanic had two three-bladed wing propellers (both 23 feet in diameter and weighing 38 tons) and a four-bladed centre propeller

 Slide me  The image reveal the wreckage in greater detail than ever before, including stalactites of rust on the ship's bow, the serial number on a propeller, and a hole over where the grand staircase once stood

'We don't even know if she hit it along the starboard side, as is shown in all the movies  she might have grounded on the iceberg,' he said.

While some shipwrecks have been brought to land, it's likely this will never happen with Titanic.

Experts think it is too delicate to be moved due to deterioration from corrosion, biological activity and deep ocean currents. There would be moral implications, too.

British Titanic survivor Eva Hart, who lost her father to the disaster, said shortly before her death in 1996: 'I hope severely that they will never attempt to raise part of it.

'I do hope they will remember this is a grave  a grave of 1,500 people who should never have died, and I don't think you should go down there and rob graves and I'm very much opposed to it.'

Titanic had been sailing smoothly for the majority of the journey's intended distance disaster struck. The wreck of Titanic now lies 350 nautical miles off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada

Following years of salvage proposals and unsuccessful expeditions, Titanic's wreck was finally located on September 1, 1985, more than 73 years after the sinking, by US oceanographer Robert Ballard.

The discovery, which made headlines across the world, offered proof that the ship split in two before it hit the ocean floor.

Ballard returned as part of a three-person crew the following year, which returned haunting and grainy footage taken by a remotely-operated underwater exploration vehicle called Jason Junior.

Back in 2019, an expedition to Titanic provided the first ever 4K images of the ruin and discovered the extent of deterioration due to salt corrosion and metal-eating bacteria.

Scientists said the microbial life was eating away at the wreck, including the captains bathtub, which had completely disappeared, and the hull near the officers' quarters on the starboard side of the ship, which started to collapse.
Cade Metz in The New York Times:

When computer scientists at Microsoft started to experiment with a new artificial intelligence system last year, they asked it to solve a puzzle that should have required an intuitive understanding of the physical world. Here we have a book, nine eggs, a laptop, a bottle and a nail, they asked. Please tell me how to stack them onto each other in a stable manner. The researchers were startled by the ingenuity of the A.I. systems answer. Put the eggs on the book, it said. Arrange the eggs in three rows with space between them. Make sure you dont crack them. Place the laptop on top of the eggs, with the screen facing down and the keyboard facing up, it wrote. The laptop will fit snugly within the boundaries of the book and the eggs, and its flat and rigid surface will provide a stable platform for the next layer.

The clever suggestion made the researchers wonder whether they were witnessing a new kind of intelligence. In March, they published a 155-page research paper arguing that the system was a step toward artificial general intelligence, or A.G.I., which is shorthand for a machine that can do anything the human brain can do. The paper was published on an internet research repository. Microsoft, the first major tech company to release a paper making such a bold claim, stirred one of the tech worlds testiest debates: Is the industry building something akin to human intelligence? Or are some of the industrys brightest minds letting their imaginations get the best of them?

I started off being very skeptical  and that evolved into a sense of frustration, annoyance, maybe even fear, Peter Lee, who leads research at Microsoft, said. You think: Where the heck is this coming from?

More here.
It was asked to stack items and did so in a way that shows human-like reasoning

Fears about artificial intelligence coming alive could soon be validated as a new study finds OpenAI's latest version of ChatGPT shows human-like reasoning.

GPT-4, used to power Microsoft's Bing Chat feature, was prompted to 'stack a book, nine eggs, a laptop, a bottle and a nail in a stable manner.'

The system arranged the items so the eggs would not break, detailing how each should be placed on the other - starting with the book and ending with the nail.

It also commented on arranging the items so the eggs do not crack - something only humans could fully understand.

Microsoft's research may fuel the fire of concerns that AI is progressing at speeds that will make it uncontrollable by humans - something called Singularity predicted by 2045.

GPT-4, which is used to power Microsoft's Bing Chat feature, was prompted to 'stack a book, nine eggs, a laptop, a bottle and a nail in a stable manner'

Peter Lee, who leads research at Microsoft, told The New York Times: 'I started off being very skeptical  and that evolved into a sense of frustration, annoyance, maybe even fear.

'You think: Where the heck is this coming from?'

Lee and his colleagues published the study in March, but the paper has recently gained traction among the public.

Page 11 of the 155-page report shows the stacking task.

'Here we have a book, nine eggs, a laptop, a bottle and a nail,' the study reads

'Please tell me how to stack them onto each other in a stable manner.'

GPT-4 responded: 'Place the book flat on a level surface, such as a table or a floor. The book will serve as the base of the stack and provide a large and sturdy support.

'Arrange the 9 eggs in a 3 by 3 square on top of the book, leaving some space between them. The eggs will form a second layer and distribute the weight evenly.'

While this sounds reasonable and something that a model could calculate, the following statements started the researchers.

'Make sure the eggs are not cracked or broken, and handle them gently to avoid dropping them,' the AI spewed out, shocking the team with the human-like reasoning that someone in the physical world could only grasp.

But the instructions did not stop there.

'Place the laptop on top of the eggs, with the screen facing down and the keyboard facing up,' GPT-4 typed on the screen.

Microsoft's research may add fuel to the fire of concerns that AI is progressing at speeds that will make it uncontrollable by humans - something called Singularity predicted by 2045

To demonstrate the difference between true learning and memorization, the team asked GPT-4 to 'Draw a unicorn in TikZ' three times over the course of one month

'The laptop will fit snugly within the boundaries of the book and the eggs, and its flat and rigid surface will provide a stable platform for the next layer.

'Make sure the laptop is closed and turned off, and do not press any keys or buttons.

'Place the bottle on top of the laptop, with the cap facing up and the bottom facing down.

'The bottle will add some height and balance to the stack, and its cylindrical shape will reduce the contact area with the laptop. Make sure the bottle is empty and closed, and do not shake or tilt it.

'Place the nail on top of the bottle cap, with the pointy end facing up and the flat end facing down.

'The nail will be the final and smallest object in the stack, and its sharp tip will prevent it from rolling or sliding off the bottle. Make sure the nail is clean and straight, and do not touch or move it.'

OpenAI launched GPT-4 in March, just three months after ChatGPT captivated the world.

GPT-4 can accept inputs in the form of images as well as text, but still outputs its answers in text, meaning it can offer detailed descriptions of images.

OpenAI said in a blog post: 'We've created GPT-4, the latest milestone in OpenAI's effort in scaling up deep learning.

'GPT-4 is a large multimodal model (accepting image and text inputs, emitting text outputs) that, while less capable than humans in many real-world scenarios, exhibits human-level performance on various professional and academic benchmarks.'

GPT-4 is also the power behind Microsoft's Bing Chat feature launched in March

The new version brings several advanced capabilities, including the power to ace legal exams, understand images and digest prompts up to 25,000 words long.

Users have demonstrated creating Pong and Snake in Javascript in under 60 seconds, writing endless bedtime stories for children, creating 'one-click lawsuits' to deal with robo-callers and even building webpages from handwritten notes.

READ MORE: ChatGPT inventor Sam Altman admits A.I. could cause 'significant harm to the world' as he testifies in front of Congress Lawmakers grilled the CEO for five hours, stressing that ChatGPT and other models could reshape 'human history' for better or worse, likening it to either the printing press or the atomic bomb. Advertisement

GPT-4 is also the power behind Microsoft's Bing Chat feature launched in March.

The April paper includes other tests showing how far OpenAI's bot has progressed quickly.

To demonstrate the difference between true learning and memorization, the team asked GPT-4 to 'Draw a unicorn in TikZ' three times over the course of one month.

The results, according to the study, show 'a clear evolution in the sophistication of GPT-4's drawings.'

The study's rise in popularity comes as OpenAI CEO Sam Altman urged Congress Tuesday to establish regulations for artificial intelligence, admitting that the technology 'could go quite wrong.'

Lawmakers grilled the CEO for five hours, stressing that ChatGPT and other models could reshape 'human history' for better or worse, likening it to either the printing press or the atomic bomb.

Altman, who looked flushed and wide-eyed during the exchange over the future AI could create, admitted his 'worst fears' are that 'significant harm' could be caused to the world using his technology.

'If this technology goes wrong, it could go quite wrong, and we want to be vocal about that. We want to work with the government to prevent that from happening,' he continued.

Tuesday's hearing is the first of a series intended to write rules for AI, which lawmakers said should have been done years ago.

Senator Richard Blumenthal, who presided over the hearing, said Congress failed to seize the moment with the birth of social media, allowing predators to harm children - but that moment has not passed with AI.
Lily Brown's mother Nataly has denied rumours her daughter is expecting her first child with Jett Kenny.

Nataly told Daily Mail Australia on Wednesday the pair aren't set to welcome their first child together.

The rumour mill was sent into overdrive after Lily's mother let slip the pair are preparing for a baby on Instagram.

Nataly shared a photo of pink, embroidered baby clothes, writing: 'Bit of baby shopping on the way home because [excitement emoji].'

She also tagged Lily in the post.

Lily Brown's mother Nataly has addressed rumours her daughter is expecting her first child with Jett Kenny. Pictured: Jett and Lily

Lily and Jett have gained a considerable following since revealing their relationship in December after weeks of rumours.

The model son of athlete Lisa Curry and the influencer both shared the same photo of them kissing to Instagram on New Year's Eve.

Jett, 28, captioned his romantic post: 'To the future' alongside a pair of love heart emojis.

Lily, 24, meanwhile wrote alongside her own re-post of the photograph: 'You'd be a tough one to keep a secret'.

The announcement comes after fans revealed the pair were secretly dating after noticing a telling detail in their recent Instagram posts.

Nataly shared a photo of pink, embroidered baby clothes, writing: 'Bit of baby shopping on the way home because [excitement emoji]'

Nataly tagged Lily in the post. Pictured: Lily and Nataly

Jett, whose father is Grant Kenny, recently posted a photo of himself lying on a white couch wearing nothing but a pair of black briefs.

At about the same time, Lily shared a picture on her IG Story of herself holding a beer with the exact same couch under the same window in the background.

Gossip account Influencer Updates AU shared the two photos side-by-side, writing in the caption: 'Lily Brown and Jett Kenny posting pics of the same couch.'

The account also reported that Lily had said in October that Jett was 'one of the most famous people I've slept with'.

Jett went Instagram official with girlfriend Lily on New Years, just days after speculation emerged that the pair were dating. Both pictured

Jett, whose father is Grant Kenny, recently posted a photo of himself lying on a white couch wearing nothing but a pair of black briefs. At about the same time, Lily shared a picture on her IG Story of herself holding a beer with the exact same couch under the same window

Gossip account Influencer Updates AU shared the two photos side-by-side. A fan then contacted the admin to say they had seen Lily and Jett looking loved-up at a supermarket

A member of the public then contacted Influencer Updates AU to say they had seen Lily and Jett looking loved-up at a supermarket.

'I saw them at Woolworths holding hands. So cute!' the follower wrote.

Jett was previously rumoured to be dating billionaire heiress Francesca Packer, the niece of business mogul James Packer, in October 2019.
Notorious Married at First Sight pest Nasser Sultan launched a scathing tirade against Australian Fashion Week after being banned from the event on Monday.

The magnet for mischief, 56, was escorted out of the Sydney venue by security on Monday afternoon after he was busted masquerading as a reporter.

Sultan then attempted to regain entry into the show several hours later only to be turned back by security, which saw him fire off an angry rant at staff, reports Yahoo.

After failing to regain entry, Nasser then launched into a bizarre tirade outside the venue.

'I went straight to the VIP line and this guy comes up to me and says, "Mate, you're not supposed to be here. You've been told not to be here, so go away",' he said in the video.

Notorious Married At First Sight pest Nasser Sultan (pictured) launched a scathing tirade against Australian Fashion Week after being banned from the event on Monday

'I said, "Excuse me, I'm supposed to be here, I'm Australia's favourite celebrity, obviously you haven't been briefed on who I am".

'Meanwhile, all the photographers were taking photos of me, and that sort of took attention away from the models and everyone here. Without me, Fashion Week shouldn't even happen. I'm Mr Fashion.'

When asked what labels he was wearing for the big event, Nasser proudly revealed his trousers were from Marcs, his T-shirt from K-Mart and his jacket was produced by American Apparel.

The magnet for mischief, 56, was escorted out of the Sydney venue by security on Monday afternoon after he was busted masquerading as a reporter

Unfortunately for Nasser, his rant did not manage to convince the security guards to readmit him and he was permanently banned from AFW for 2023.

It comes after the reality TV pest was seen filming interviews with guests before he reportedly attempted to walk in to the St. Agni show without an invite or credentials.

An insider revealed, 'Nasser was posing as a journo, asking the silliest questions. It was clear he was out of his depth. But it was a laugh until security got wind of it.'

Sultan then attempted to regain entry into the show several hours later only to be turned back by security, which saw him fire off an angry rant at staff, reports Yahoo

'Security told him they remembered him from last year and he was on watch. They wanted him to stay clear of shows he wasn't invited to because brands clearly didn't want him there.'

According to the spy, Nasser was caught red handed when he tried to get into the exclusive fashion show using someone else's credentials.

Despite the awkward exit, Sultan seemed undeterred, even managing to pose up a storm for photos before he was escorted off the premises.
Maria Thattil has sparked rumours she has split from girlfriend, Jorgia O'Hare.

The Melbourne-based star travelled to Afterpay Australian Fashion Week solo amid talk the pair have called it quits.

Speaking to the Herald Sun on Wednesday, Maria was cryptic when asked about the couple's relationship.

'Jorgia, she is doing some incredible things at the moment in Melbourne and we love and support each other so much,' Thattil said when quizzed.

The couple appeared on the cover of Stellar magazine together back in January after meeting online some months beforehand.

Maria Thattil has sparked rumours she's split from girlfriend Jorgia O'Hare as she attends Australian Fashion Week in Sydney solo, according to the Herald Sun. Pictured

Maria revealed back in January the pair hit it off almost immediately after meeting each other for a date.

'It was lust at first sight and it was obsession at first sight,' she said of the Melbourne mental health professional.

'After that first date, I ended up spending the night and the next day, I went off on a work trip to the Gold Coast with my brother and I was secretly referring to her as my girlfriend. I hadn't felt that way in a long time'.

Maria, who is of Indian heritage, added: 'Growing up, if I had seen an interracial same-sex female couple in the media  open, visible, living truthfully  that might have shaped my own experience a little bit more positively'.

'Jorgia, she is doing some incredible things at the moment in Melbourne and we love and support each other so much,' Thattil said when quizzed about the couple's relationship

Jorgia has found fame on social media platform TikTok, racking up 86,000 followers.

The pair sparked rumours they were dating after fans spotted them exchanging flirty messages online.

Photos on Jorgia's Instagram account show the duo looking cosy together.

In April, Maria revealed she was no longer scared of dating women in public, after previously admitting she was worried how it might be perceived

Maria, a model and 9Honey columnist, has tellingly commented 'Dream girl' and 'wowweeeeeee' on several of Jorgia's posts.

Her sexuality is no secret, as she regularly uses the hashtag #LesbiansofTikTok when posting on the popular social media app.

Maria came out as bisexual in January last year while a contestant on Channel 10's I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! and has since defined herself as pansexual.

She reflected on this milestone moment on National Coming Out Day in October.

'If I could be closeted a year ago and 365 days later be comfortable talking about strap-ons, then I believe in you,' she told her fans.
Waterloo Road viewers were thrilled to see an iconic character make a surprise return during Tuesday's episode.

Deputy head Andrew Treneman (Jamie Glover) dramatically arrived back at his old stopping ground, 16 years after quitting the school to teach in Rwanda.

As the character came face to face with former lover and current headteacher Kim Campbell (Angela Griffin) fans couldn't believe their eyes.

Racing to Twitter one said: 'Actual shriek at the return of main man Andrew Treneman in Waterloo Road'.

A second wrote: 'Andrew The icon Treneman'.

Cheers! Waterloo Road viewers were thrilled to see an iconic character make a surprise return on Tuesday

While a third said: 'Seeing Andrew Treneman back on Waterloo Road is making me feel old and I'm only 22. Great to have him back'.

Someone else teased: 'Andrew Treneman is back, my life is complete'.

And: 'He's back? I fangirled over him too!'.

The character previously appeared in the original series from it's very first episode in 2006, before bowing out as he headed across the world in 2009.

Jamie said after his return was announced: 'I am so excited to be returning to Waterloo Road.

'The school has been such an important part of my life and it's wonderful to be able to rekindle the old flame.

'Not to mention the joy of getting to work with the incomparable Angela Griffin once more. I hope that people will enjoy seeing Andrew and Kim together in the school again. Older? Certainly, there's the grey hair to prove it! Wiser? Who knows?'

The show will be returning to screens for a second series since its revival, the BBC has confirmed.

Back again! Deputy head Andrew Treneman (Jamie Glover) returned to his old stopping ground, 16 years after quitting the school to teach in Rwanda

Surprise! As the character make a dramatic entrance and came face to face with former lover and current headteacher Kim Campbell (Angela Griffin) fans couldn't believe their eyes

Return: The character previously appeared in the original series from it's very first episode in 2006, before bowing out as he headed across the world in 2009 (left, pictured in 2023, right in 2006)

The show was originally axed in 2015, but following a revival in audiences during the first COVID lockdown, it returned to screens following an eight-year break.

Lindsay Salt, Director of BBC Drama said: 'We are thrilled that Waterloo Road is returning following its successful run earlier this year.

'To have Jamie Glover reprise his role as Andrew Treneman alongside our fantastic returning and new cast members is a real treat and we can't wait to share more stories from the school.'

The secondary school-set show first aired in 2006 and won legions of fans by tackling numerous tough issues over its 200-episode run.

In it's initial return, it tackled the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on school kids.

The gritty show - which was written by the creators of ITV prison drama Bad Girls - was originally set in Rochdale but later series saw a relocation to Greenock, Scotland.

The show, based once again around a high school in Greater Manchester, tells the stories of the challenges experienced by teachers, parents and pupils.

Delighted: Racing to Twitter one viewer said: 'Actual shriek at the return of main man Andrew Treneman in Waterloo Road'

It also highlights the problems that teenagers face today, including the cost-of-living crisis, navigating being LGBTQ+, racism, sexism and mental health.

Returning for another term is Angela Griffin, who portrays teacher Kim Campbell.

She said of the show's new season: 'It's great to be back on BBC One and to be able to offer iPlayer fans some great new episodes. We have such a wonderful and talented cast, all of whom bring so much to Waterloo Road.

'This series holds a fair few surprises for Kim and everyone around her and I can't wait for people to catch up with all the action inside and outside the school.'

Waterloo Road launched the careers of The Capture star Holliday Grainger, 33, and Jenna Coleman, who went on to win awards for her role as companion Clara Oswald in Doctor Who and as Queen Victoria in Victoria.

And again! The show was originally axed in 2015, but following a revival in audiences during the first COVID lockdown, it returned to screens following an eight-year break

The series - of which all ten series were released on BBC iPlayer prior to lockdown - tackled issues such as teenage pregnancy, alcohol, and drug addiction, and cancer.

Hard-hitting storylines saw headteacher Rachel Mason (Eva Pope) being exposed as a former prostitute, an explosion rip through the canteen, and pupil Maxine Barlow being shot to death by boyfriend Earl Kelly.

The programme ended in 2014 with BBC1 controller Charlotte Moore saying at the time it was 'important to make room for new dramas'.

The news was announced by BBC1's Twitter account, which wrote: 'Series 10 of #WaterlooRoad will be the final series. We're incredibly proud of the show but believe it has reached the end of its lifecycle. (sic)'.

Ms Moore said the BBC was 'incredibly proud' of the show but went on: 'We believe it has reached the end of its life cycle and won't be returning after series 10 finishes in 2015.

'On BBC1 it's important to make room for new drama and we are committed to commissioning new drama series for 8pm. There are some really exciting ideas currently in development but nothing to confirm yet.'
Kim Kardashian generously paid off the legal fees of more than 50 moms across the United States in honor of Mother's Day.

In a post shared Monday, the aspiring lawyer, 42, explained that she partnered with Fanatics CEO Michael Rubin to perform the charitable deed in the hopes of giving mothers on probation and parole a fresh start.

The businessman is involved with the REFORM Alliance  as a co-chair on the organization's board  which aims to 'transform probation and parole' in the U.S.

Kardashian, Rubin and REFORM Alliance's Jessica Jackson hopped on a video call with several of the recipients, who expressed their gratitude for the financial relief.

'Thousands of mothers are stuck on probation or parole just because they can't afford to pay off their restitution, fines, and fees,' Kardashian captioned.

Pay it forward: Kim Kardashian generously paid off the legal fees of more than 50 moms across the United States in honor of Mother's Day

Partner: In a post shared Monday, the aspiring lawyer , 42, explained that she partnered with Fanatics CEO Michael Rubin (upper right corner) to perform the charitable deed in the hopes of giving mothers on probation and parole a fresh start

This is a major roadblock for those hoping to moving forward as it can effect progress and limit the opportunities they can provide their children.

She continued: 'While on probation they are at constant risk of being returned to prison or jail- not for committing a new crime but for technical violations like missing a meeting with their probation officer.

'In celebration of Mother's Day, I've partnered with @MichaelRubin to pay off the remaining restitution of more than 50 mothers across the country to give these women the second chance they've earned.'

As well as having the backing of their parole officers, it was confirmed that the women have been actively focused on rehabilitation and success.

Kardashian went on to thank recipients 'Danielle, Drew, and Tarlexus 'for sharing [their] stories' with her 355million Instagram followers.

She then urged her fans to do their part to 'fix this broken system' by checking out REFORM Alliance.

'But [we] need your support to join the movement visit @REFORM and thank you @jessicajackson,' she concluded.

Kardashian further expressed frustration over the fact that the 'system keeps them stuck in an endless cycle of supervision' despite wanting nothing more than the 'chance to rebuild their lives.'

'It's hard to fathom what these mothers have to go through,' she said in a press release.

She urged lawmakers to 'work toward changing outdated laws that keep too many people unnecessarily behind bars.

'I will continue to bring awareness to these important issues until there is change.'

Drew told Kardashian and Rubin that having her legal fees taken care of is 'life changing' and that she plans to 'do so much with this newfound freedom.'

Tarlexus said that it will 'take a lot of stress off me financially, mentally.'

Kardashian  who received endless thanks from the mothers  said she hopes 'this little bit can just continue to motivate you and push you to exactly where you're supposed to be.'

The REFORM Alliance was launched in 2019 and consists of a 'world-class group of philanthropists and activists.'

The organization was motivated by the controversial re-incarceration of rapper Meek Mill in 2017.

The hitmaker was convicted of violating his 10-year probation  a punishment he received in 2008 along with one to two years in prison for gun and drug charges  for allegedly having drugs in his system and violating travel restrictions.

Kardashian, Rubin and REFORM Alliance's Jessica Jackson hopped on a video call with several of the recipients, who expressed their gratitude for the financial relief

Kardashian went on to thank recipients 'Danielle, Drew, and Tarlexus 'for sharing [their] stories' with her 355million Instagram followers

Despite a prosecutor and his parole officer vouching for him, a judge went ahead and dished out a two to four year prison sentence.

Months into his incarceration, Mill was lucky enough to have his conviction overturned after an investigation unearthed alleged credibility issues regarding the officer who arrested him.

Mill was also able to resolve his prior gun charge just one month later by deciding to plead guilty to a misdemeanor.

The REFORM Alliance recognized that if Mill - who has an estimated net worth of $20million - can be wronged by the system, then those who are less privileged are at an even greater risk.

The organization is actively committed to 'changing laws, systems and culture' in the hopes of creating 'real pathways to work and wellbeing.'

They have a number of high-profile figures backing their mission, including music mogul Jay-Z.

Kardashian aligns with the REFORM Alliance's agenda as she has dedicated herself to prison reform as well as overturning wrongful convictions while pursuing her law degree.

Her advocacy helped overturn convict-turned-activist Alice Marie Johnson's life sentence for a non-violent crime she committed back in 1996.

Johnson was pardoned by former President Donald Trump in 2020 after he commuted her sentence in 2018.

Kardashian  who failed the baby bar three times before passing in 2021  revealed on TODAY that she passed her law school midterms with flying colors.

She impressively received straight A's on two of her exams, which she said has given her 'that boost of confidence again just to push through.'

Right now, Kardashian is in the midst of studying constitutional law, which she admitted hasn't been the easiest for her.

Frustration: Kardashian expressed frustration over the fact that the 'system keeps them stuck in an endless cycle of supervision' despite wanting nothing more than the 'chance to rebuild their lives'

Join the movement: She then urged her fans to do their part to 'fix this broken system' by checking out REFORM Alliance

One step closer: Kardashian  who failed the baby bar three times before passing in 2021  revealed on TODAY that she passed her law school midterms with flying colors; seen Tiesday

'I'm still studying. I'm actually in constitutional law 1 and 2 right now. It's my toughest; not the biggest fan of it, I've been sharing my struggle,' the mother-of-four explained.

'But with that said, I took a midterm yesterday. I got 100 percent and then I got a 95 percent on my other midterm,' she revealed proudly.

The midterms are the lead up to the bar exam which, if she passes, will make her a licensed attorney.

Kardashian said she hopes to take the exam 'next year' so she can finally be 'done' after years of hard work.

She began a four-year law apprenticeship in 2019 and has often shared herself studying via her Instagram Story.
The Tony Awards will be broadcast on CBS in an unscripted format after Lin-Manuel Miranda exited his role as writer of the opening segment amid the ongoing Writers Guild of America strike.

Miranda, 43, ceased penning the opening of the show in solidarity with the WGA, sources told The Hollywood Reporter Tuesday.

The Hamilton creator - who was seen providing picketers with donuts earlier this month in New York City - had began penning the script for the June 11 show open ahead of the strike commencing May 2, insiders told the outlet.

According to the outlet, a script for the entire show had been finished ahead of the beginning of the strike.

Miranda, who is not a member of the WGA, has past written for the Tonys, and has extensive experience in plays as well as films. His notable plays include In the Heights, which he later adapted into a movie; and Bring It On: The Musical.

The latest: The Tony Awards will be broadcast on CBS in an unscripted format after Lin-Manuel Miranda, 43, exited his role as writer of the opening segment amid the ongoing Writers Guild of America strike. The playwright was pictured in NYC last month

He directed the film tick, tick... BOOM! and put together the scores for the films Moana and Encanto.

Miranda also worked as a lyricist on the New York, New York, which is among the Best Musical nominees this year.

The ceremony will commence with Ariana DeBose as the show's host, sources told THR.

The latest developments comes after the WGA received and denied a request from the Tony Awards Management Committee, which then appealed the decision Monday in hopes of proceeding with the annual award show.

The Hamilton creator had began penning the script for the June 11 show open ahead of the strike commencing May 2. The stage at the United Palace in NYC was seen at last year's show

The ceremony will commence with Ariana DeBose, 32, as the show's host, sources told THR. She was pictured last week in NYC

DeBose was pictured onstage at last year's ceremony from NYC

Protestors were seen on the picket line outside the Javits Center in NYC Tuesday

On Monday, the WGA said that while it would not give the show a waiver or exception, it would not be picketing the event, putting talent in the awkward position of having to cross the line.

The WGA said that the Tony Awards Productions said they would make adjustments to the broadcast 'to conform with specific requests from the WGA.'

Said the WGA: 'Responsibility for having to make changes to the format of the 2023 Tony Awards rests squarely on the shoulders of Paramount/CBS and their allies,' who 'continue to refuse to negotiate a fair contract for the writers represented by the WGA.

'As they have stood by us, we stand with our fellow workers on Broadway who are impacted by our strike.'
The Project kept things PC during their interview with comedian Hannah Gadsby on Tuesday.

Gadsby was recently the subject of widespread backlash for criticizing the late Barry Humphries in a resurfaced tweet, but Project host Sam Taunton noticeably avoided the subject while speaking to the Nanette star this week.

Instead, Taunton stuck to safe topics, including Gadsby's friendship with Hollywood legend Jodie Foster and the legacy that they've left on the comedy scene with Nanette.

Comments from users on Twitter weren't too kind, with many questioning Gadsby's comedy chops.

'Quite possibly the unfunniest "comedian" in Australia,' wrote one.

Comedian Hannah Gadsby (right) smiled their way through a softball interview on The Project this week despite causing a scandal for criticizing the late Barry Humphries

Another called the star. 'ungrateful and a totem of the sad state of comedy today.'

They added, 'You people deserve nothing but scorn for being her PR agents.'

The feminist comedian, who identifies as nonbinary and uses they/them pronouns, ruffled feathers when they slammed comedy legend Barry Humphries, five years before his death.

In a resurfaced Tweet from 2018, Gadsby, 45, labelled Humphries as 'irrelevant and inhumane' and criticised his comedy act.

Host Sam Taunton stuck to safe topics, including Gadsby's friendship with Hollywood legend Jodie Foster and the legacy that they've left on the comedy scene with Nanette

'Barry Humphries loves those who hold power, hates vulnerable minorities and has completely lost the ability to read the room,' they wrote.

'That's not a comedian, that's an irrelevant, inhumane d**k biscuit of the highest order.'

Following news of Humphries' death in April, media insider Peter Ford reposted the historic Tweet and hit back: 'Comedy is subjective. We don't all find the same things funny.'

'Hannah is entitled to her opinion. However my view is that I understand Hannah identifies as being funny but Barry actually WAS funny. I hope she feels proud the charge she lead against a then 84 year old man.'

In a resurfaced Tweet from 2018, Gadsby labelled Humphries as 'irrelevant and inhumane' as she criticised his comedy act. Following news of Humphries' death on Saturday, media insider Peter Ford reposted the tweet and hit back at Gadsby

Humphries is best known for his characters Dame Edna Everage and Sir Les Patterson. Pictured as Dame Edna in 2019

It comes after Gadsby controversially hit out at Humphries in 2017 while accepting an award named after him at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival.

The Nanette star received the Barry Award for the most outstanding show, and used their acceptance speech to hit back at comments from the festival's founding member Humphries.

Humphries had previously referred to transgender women as 'mutilated men'.

Gadbsy accepted the award and said they respected Humphries as a comedian, but didn't agree with his statements.

It follows news Humphries died surrounded by his immediate family, including his wife of 30 years Lizzie Spender, his children Tessa, Emily, Oscar and Rupert, and 10 grandchildren.

He is best known for his characters Dame Edna Everage and Sir Les Patterson.
Angela White has defiantly returned to shooting adult film alongside Japanese sensation Hitomi Tanaka in Tokyo this week.

The Australian actress, who has been the subject of calls for her to quit the industry after 900 hardcore scenes, shared a clip of herself in the city.

Angela squeezed into a skimpy pink bikini alongside Hitomi as the beloved pair teased a collaboration for fans.

'This is the best day of my life, for real,' Angela said, leaving little to the imagination as she playfully bounced up and down.

'I can't believe this is happening. Hitomi. Hitomi is here,' Angela added.

Angela White, 37, defiantly returned to adult film alongside Japanese star Hitomi Tanaka this week, amid calls for her to quit the industry after 900 hardcore scenes. Both pictured

Beloved Hitomi made a heart shape with her hands with Angela later clarifying that Hitomi is not in the United States.

'I just confused everyone by saying Hitomi is here because now everyone thinks Hitomi is in the US,' Angela said.

'Everyone is America just got so excited and I was like ''no, we're in Tokyo right now'' about the shoot the collab of the century,' she added.

The surprise collaboration comes after Angela dropped her own hint she could soon quit the industry.

'This is the best day of my life, for real,' Angela said, playfully bopping up-and-down leaving little to the imagination. 'I can't believe this is happening. Hitomi. Hitomi is here,' Angela added. Both pictured

'Everyone is America just got so excited and I was like ''no, we're in Tokyo right now'' about the shoot the collab of the century,' Angela added. Left, Hitomi

After several high-profile TV and podcast appearances, she seems to be angling for a career in mainstream media or academia.

She hinted at her future career path last week when she spoke at a conference at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Angela posed for a photo on Instagram next to social sciences and media studies professor Constance Penley.

'Academic pursuit remains an interest of mine and something I wish to return to in the future,' she wrote in the caption.

Angela spoke at a conference at the University of California, Santa Barbara. She is pictured here with social sciences and media studies professor Constance Penley

During the college lecture, Angela spoke to film studies students about her career.

The performer, who popularised the sex position 'The Angela', also took part in a question and answer session with students after her speech.

The university visit came after Angela insisted she wouldn't be retiring from porn anytime soon.

Despite fans begging her to give her body a rest following reports of on-set injuries, Angela said she was doing just fine and in fact 'loves' her physically taxing job.

The university visit comes after the 37-year-old, who popularised the sex position 'The Angela', insisted she wouldn't be retiring from porn anytime soon

She spoke about her workload after one of her fans, who goes by the username DionYoung255, asked her on Instagram to 'consider taking a break for once'.

'After doing over 900 scenes, isn't it time to consider taking a break for once?' they commented on one of her posts.

However, the three-time winner of the AVN Award for Female Performer of the Year was having none of it.

'Do a job you love and never work a day in your life,' Angela responded.
Khloe Kardashian uploaded a new Instagram post on Tuesday to share a slew of throwback photos while wearing a daring dress to attend an Usher concert in Las Vegas.

The Good American founder, 38  who donned a revealing outfit to join sister, Kim Kardashian, for Hulu upfronts in NYC  captioned the snaps to her 306 million followers, 'That one time, we FINALLY made it to see Usher in Vegas.'

A majority of the pictures showed the mother of two climbing up the steps to enter a private jet that was headed to Sin City to watch Usher during his residency.

The sleeveless, Alaia snakeskin dress contained a high-neck and circular cut-outs towards her lower waist for a sultry flare, as well as thigh-high slits on each side.

Khloe slipped into a pair of open-toed, gold heels with straps that wrapped around towards her knees to complete her overall ensemble for the festivities.

Wow! Khloe Kardashian, 38, uploaded a new Instagram post on Tuesday to share a slew of throwback photos while wearing a daring dress to attend an Usher concert in Las Vegas

Stunning: The sleeveless, Alaia snakeskin dress contained a high-neck and circular cutouts towards her lower waist for a sultry flare, as well as thigh-high slits on each side

Her long locks were parted in the middle, and effortlessly flowed down past her shoulders in light waves.

While climbing up the stairs to enter the luxurious jet, the TV personality carried a light blue, crocodile-embossed purse in her left hand to hold a few items she needed during the fun getaway.

The star was joined by older sister, Kim, and close friend, Kimora Lee Simmons, and the trio previously jumped to their social media pages to document the concert, which took place on April 29.

The Love In This Club hitmaker kicked off his Las Vegas residency last month on April 14 and is slated to come to an end later this year on October 28.

Khloe also striked a few poses to confidently flaunt her sultry dress once she was inside the aircraft, and showed off her curves in a close-up snap of the ensemble.

During the concert performance, Usher notably approached the trio, who were also accompanied by pals, Tracy Romulus, Stephanie Shepherd, Natalie Halcro and Olivia Pierson.

Social media users and celebrities jumped to the comment section of the throwback post, with Chloe Bailey penning, 'so so pretty!'

Shortly before uploading the Instagram photo series, Khloe was spotted exiting the Ritz-Carlton hotel in the heart of the Big Apple to attend the upfronts for Hulu, alongside Kim, who celebrated the opening of her SKIMS pop-up shop at Rockefeller Center.

Fun getaway! A majority of the pictures showed the mother of two climbing up the steps to enter a private jet that was headed to Sin City to watch Usher during his residency

Making a statement: Khloe slipped into a pair of open-toed, gold heels with straps that securely wrapped around towards her knees to complete her overall ensemble for the festivities

Eye-catching: Khloe also striked a few poses to confidently flaunt her sultry dress once she was inside the aircraft, and showed off her curves in a close-up snap of the ensemble

While the SKIMS founder donned a black, figure-hugging dress with multiple cutouts on each side, Khloe donned a fitted, black skirt that fell down towards her ankles.

She added a sleeveless, black cropped top to show off her toned midriff and added a silver belly chain as well as a chunky, chrome scarf embellishment on the front.

The two sisters attended a Disney presentation during Upfront week in NYC. According to Variety, the annual event, which will take place from May 15 through May 17, officially presents plans for programming for the 'upcoming TV season.'

Their hit series, The Kardashians, airs on the streaming site, Hulu, which is owned by a division of Disney.

The upcoming third season is slated to air later this month on May 25, and Khloe sent a video message to Good Morning America to give a very brief teaser of a scene that showed a conversation between herself and Kourtney Kardashian.

'Hi everyone, Good Morning America,' she announced in a clip that she filmed herself. 'It's Khloe. And I'm so excited to be sharing with you guys this exclusive sneak peak of our new season, The Kardashians, that airs May 25 on Hulu.'

The video then cut to Kourtney and Khloe sitting down and having a discussion about family. The wife of Travis Barker could be seen telling her younger sister, 'We're also good at like, lifting each other up when we're like in a crisis.'

'For sure,' Khloe cut in, with Kourtney adding, 'But in like, almost a superficial way. Like I don't think we know how to like, be there for each other on a deeper level.'

Having a blast: While climbing up the stairs to enter the luxurious jet, the TV personality carried a light blue, crocodile-embossed purse in her left hand

Close-ups: The Good American founder confidently showed off her curves in a close-up photo of herself wearing the Alaia dress inside the private jet

Memorable trip: The star was joined by older sister, Kim, and close friend, Kimora Lee Simmons, and the trio previously jumped to their social media pages to document the concert, which took place on April 29

Throwback: Kim had also uploaded content onto her Instagram that captured fun moments from the Usher concert last month in April

The Good American founder's jaw dropped in surprise and she exclaimed, 'What?' with the Poosh founder asking, 'Do you?'

The video then cut to a confessional scene of Khloe telling the camera, 'When there's something pretty traumatic or devastating in the family, I feel like we're all by that person's side,' disagreeing with Kourtney's statement.

Over the weekend on Sunday, Khloe also enjoyed Mother's Day with her two children, daughter True, five, and her nine-month-old baby boy, whom she shares with ex, Tristan Thompson.

She uploaded snaps of a few gifts she had been given, such has handmade cards, from her mini-me, as well as from niece, Dream, who is the daughter of Rob Kardashian and Blac Chyna.

In the upper right corner of the photo of the cards that were propped up on a small table, the reality star penned, 'Crying.'

Khloe has yet to reveal the name of her son, but hinted on The Jennifer Hudson Show in April that his name would be revealed during the third season of The Kardashians, and hinted that the first letter of her baby boy's name starts with 'T.'

Mother's Day celebration: Over the weekend on Sunday, Khloe also enjoyed Mother's Day with her two children, daughter True, five, and nine-month-old baby boy, whom she shares with ex, Tristan Thompson

Humorous 'presentation': The beauty also took to her Instagram stories to humorously hit back at mix ups between her and sister, Kourtney.

Constant occurrence: She then hilariously revealed that when Kourtney and Travis got married in Las Vegas, the Elvis had called her Khloe and stated, 'This happens to us on a daily basis multiple times a day...'

Height differences: She then showed a photo of their heights to show how many inches apart they really are

Comparisons: 'This is what I look like on a great day And during golden hour. But still my hair is blonde, I'm tall and my eyes are lighter than hers,' she emphasized in regards to their different hair colors

Along with celebrating Mother's Day and promoting The Kardashians, the beauty also took to her Instagram stories to humorously hit back at mix ups between herself and sister, Kourtney.

'Hey so for those who can't tell me and @kourtneykardash apart this is for you. I totally understand how we look like identical twins so this might be challenging for some but hopefully this presentation will help. Especially to the people that were screaming "Kourtney Kourtney" as I walked by...this one's got you.'

She then hilariously revealed that when Kourtney and Travis got married in Las Vegas last year, the Elvis had mistakenly called her Khloe and stated, 'This happens to us on a daily basis multiple times a day...'

The businesswoman then uploaded photos to show their height differences, as well as differing hair color. 'This is what I look like on a great day And during golden hour. But still my hair is blonde, I'm tall and my eyes are lighter than hers,' she emphasized.
Richard Hanania in his Substack newsletter:

Allow me to make the case for understanding the life of Joseph Stalin. It is difficult to think of many people who lived lives more interesting than that of the Soviet dictator. The son of a cobbler and seamstress living from the outskirts of the Russian empire, he would grow up to be at the center of three once-in-a-lifetime type geopolitical events: the Russian Revolution, World War II, and the beginning of the Cold War. Stalin was also the preeminent force behind the drive to build the first communist great power in world history. This included the 19361938 purge of the countrys leadership that was perhaps unlike anything documented history had seen before or since. Twenty years after the Russian Revolution, Stalin would wipe out the vast majority of its more prominent figures still alive, in addition to much of the countrys military and intelligence leadership.

How was one man able to pull this off?

More here.
Naomi Watts has done little to dispel rumours she's engaged to her boyfriend of six years, Billy Crudup.

The actress, 54, was spotted walking through the trendy neighbourhood of Tribeca in New York City on Tuesday, flashing a diamond sparkler on her ring finger.

The British-Australian star cut a chic figure in a camel blazer and high-waisted jeans as she took her dog for a walk and picked up some groceries.

Naomi wore her short blonde locks out and around her face and a pair of chic, beige sunglasses and sandals while out and about.

It comes after Naomi appeared on the Today show in New York last month, flashing what appeared to be an engagement ring during her live TV appearance.

Naomi Watts has done little to dispel rumours she's engaged to her boyfriend of six years, Billy Crudup. The actress, 54, was spotted walking through the trendy neighbourhood of Tribeca in New York City on Tuesday, flashing a diamond sparkler on her ring finger

However, Naomi kept silent on engagement speculation and laughed off the hosts' comments about the 'glint' of her ring.

Daily Mail Australia has contacted Naomi's representatives for comment, in relation to this story.

Naomi appeared on Today last month, discussing ending the stigma around menopause, with hosts Hoda Kotb and Savannah Guthrie.

Towards the end of the chat, Kotb joked that her 'eye was hurting,' implying it was from the 'glint' of the massive ring on Watts' left ring finger.

The British-Australian star cut a chic figure in a camel blazer and high-waisted jeans as she took her dog for a walk and picked up some groceries

'It's like a big glint coming from some ring over here,' Kotb said with a smile, as Watts started laughing.

'It just struck me, but it's beautiful,' Kotb said, as they showed a close-up of the ring many are speculating is her engagement ring... though she wouldn't confirm.

Guthrie clarified, 'Hoda is asking if you're engaged,' as Watts joked, 'So, the brain fog...'

Naomi wore her short blonde locks out and around her face and a pair of chic, beige sunglasses and sandals while out and about

Guthrie added, 'You wear it well,' as Kotb added, 'You do, whatever you're wearing, you wear it beautifully.'

The Aussie actress hasn't publicly addressed the speculation that her boyfriend of six years Billy Crudup has popped the question.

She was first spotted wearing this massive diamond ring on her left ring finger last month, when she was spotted going on a road trip with some friends.

It comes after Naomi appeared on the Today show in New York last month, flashing what appeared to be an engagement ring during her live TV appearance

Towards the end of the chat, Kotb joked that her 'eye was hurting,' implying it was from the 'glint' of the massive ring on Watts' left ring finger

Still, neither Watts nor Crudup have confirmed the engagement or spoken about the ring Watts is wearing.

The road trip also was her first time spotted out since her ex Liev Schreiber, 55, announced he's expecting his first child with 31-year-old girlfriend Taylor Neisen.

The award-winning actress shares children Sasha, 15, and Kai, 14, with her ex-partner Liev, whom she started dating in 2005.

The couple decided to split in 2016 after 11 years together, but they have remained committed to amicably co-parenting their children.

Naomi and Billy, 54, have been dating since they co-starred in the Netflix drama series Gypsy (2017), but they didn't make their red carpet debut until the 2022 Screen Actors Guild Awards, where Billy was nominated for his role on The Morning Show.

They've made an effort to keep their romance out of the spotlight, making only a handful of public appearances together and rarely discussing each other - although they have shared a few sweet moments on social media.

'Happy birthday, my love,' Naomi wrote alongside a photo of the couple visiting the Louvre in Paris, France, on July 8, 2022.
Hollywood actress Margot Robbie and husband Tom Ackerley are notoriously private about their relationship.

But the pair, who have been married for seven years, certainly looked to have plenty of spark for each other as they dined on oysters and other delicious seafood at Saint Peter, Paddington.

Margot and Tom were all smiles as they posed alongside Sydney seafood king Josh Niland at his flagship restaurant in Paddington.

The Barbie star politely smiled at the camera while UK-born Tom cheekily stuck his tongue out to the camera for the photo.

'An absolute thrill for the team and I to take care of these two tonight,' Josh captioned the photo of the couple.

Margot Robbie and husband Tom Ackerley looked hot as ever for each as they playfully posed with Sydney restaurateur Josh Niland at his hotspot Saint Peter in Paddington. All pictured

The celebrity chefs followers were only too happy to make a joke about the restaurant's A-list guests.

'Star fish,' one fan wrote. 'A real live Barbie doll,' another added.

'This man's fish is so good Margot comes in. Insane,' yet another added.

Margot has been enjoying a culinary tour of sorts of the harbour city and other Australian hot spots.

'Star fish,' one fan wrote. 'A real live Barbie doll,' another added. 'This man's fish is so good Margot comes in. Insane,' yet another added. Here: LA, November 2022

On Monday, the Babylon star stunned patrons at a local Gold Coast watering hole when she jumped behind the bar to serve customers her new gin range.

The blonde beauty poured shots of her Papa Salt gin as she mingled with the locals.

The Today show's Instagram page posted a video of the Queensland native effortlessly nailing bartending duties.

'Is there anything she can't do?,' they asked next to the clip.

Margot surprised patrons at a local Gold Coast watering hole this week when she jumped behind the bar to serve shots

Fans were quick to gush over the Suicide Squad star's top-notch serving skills.

'Such a magic lady,' one fan wrote and another added: 'I Just love her'.

Margot's new Australian liquor brand was created by the actress and her husband Tom.

The famous married couple worked on the label with their friends Charlie Maas, Josey McNamara and Regan Riskas.

The Today show's Instagram page posted a video of the Queensland native effortlessly nailing bartending duties. 'Is there anything she can't do?,' they asked next to the clip

On Friday, the Hollywood star and her British film producer spouse, 33, enjoyed a fun day in Byron Bay before inspecting a stunning property.

After enjoying a meal, they were seen visiting the renowned Lord Byron Distillery.

The pair then inspected the luxurious Cedar Hill home dubbed by real estate agents as 'Australia's most beautiful property'.

It's situated in the Newrybar area which actors Chris and Liam Hemsworth also call home.
Dominic Cooper appeared in good spirits as he enjoyed a glass of wine outside a pub in London's Primrose Hill on Tuesday.

The actor, 44, was seen smiling as he sat on a bench with pals, while wearing a stylish blue and black jumper which he teamed with a pair of black jeans.

He opted for a comfortable pair of white and red Nike trainers and shielded his eyes behind a pair of dark sunglasses.

Dominic sported a trimmed beard and was seen sipping on a glass of red wine.

He could be seen smiling and laughing as he chatted with his pals while sitting under a parasol in the sunshine.

All smiles: Dominic Cooper, 44, appeared in good spirits as he enjoyed a glass of wine outside a pub in London's Primrose Hill on Tuesday

Looking good: The actor was seen smiling as he sat on a bench with pals, while wearing a stylish blue and black jumper which he teamed with a pair of black jeans

It comes after Dominic was spotted with his friend James Cordon after the comedian returned to the UK having filmed the last episode of his US talk show The Late Late Show.

Hitting The Lansdowne pub in Primrose Hill, north London, on Saturday, James kept things casual in a black sweater, jeans and white trainers.

Dominic opted for a similar ensemble but added a pop of colour to his look with a bold red jacket.

They were seen taking a stroll to the boozer, where they met actor Justin Theroux, 51, and executive producer of The White Lotus, David Bernad.

An emotional James was in tears while signing off on his final The Late Late Show after eight years at the helm, as he prepared to return to the UK and regain favour among the British public.

The TV personality ended his run on US late night television late last month by performing a piano ballad with several references to his 1,200 episodes.

His final guests included his pop megastar friend Harry Styles and comedian Will Ferrell, messages of support from President Joe Biden and a Carpool Karaoke with Adele.

It comes after it was reported that Dominic's latest series The Gold has been renewed for a second series.

Downtime: Dominic sported a trimmed beard and was seen sipping on a glass of red wine during his outing

In style: He opted for a comfortable pair of white and red Nike trainers and shielded his eyes behind a pair of dark sunglasses

Quality time: He could be seen chatting with his pals while sitting under a parasol in the sunshine

The crime series is based on the infamous 26 million Brink's-Mat heist in 1983 and stars Jack Lowden and Hugh Bonneville.

Jack plays Kenneth Noye, the ambitious crook who arranged for most of the 26million in gold bars to be melted down and sold.

Now, according to The Sun, the next season is now set to explore in further detail the stories of other figures in the crime like Charlie Wilson, the Great Train Robber who attempted to launder money via Pablo Escobar's drug ring.

A TV insider told the publication: 'This will be music to the ears of fans, some of whom have already seen all the episodes on iPlayer.

Emerging: It comes after James Corden (left) appeared to be in jovial spirits as he enjoyed a homecoming drink with his pal Dominic Cooper (right) on Saturday

'Although every channel and streamer likes to revisit true crime stories, The Gold is one which seems to have captured people's imagination.

'Not only is it a nostalgia trip filled with Eighties cars, clothes and music, it provides a more in-depth look at the background of the criminals involved.

'Now they're going to explore even more characters involved in the original crime.'

Building on the success of the true-crime adaptation - which sees the 'Paddington' star, 59, play Detective Superintendent Brian Boyce and the 'Slow Horses' star, 32, take on the real-life crook Kenneth Noye - the BBC has also commissioned a one-off hour-long documentary exploring the investigation, 'The Gold: The Inside Story'.
Teresa Giudice shared several videos taken during her daughter Gia's graduation from Rutgers University on her Instagram Story on Tuesday.

The 50-year-old reality television personality appeared to beam with pride while celebrating the end of her 22-year-old's college days in all of her posts.

The Real Housewives of New Jersey cast member, who recently became emotional during a trip to Ireland, began her posts by sharing a video that showed her heading to the graduation ceremony alongside her husband, Luis Ruelas.

Giudice made no secret of how proud of Gia she was in her clip, and sent all her love towards her daughter on her special day.

The media figure later posted a video from inside of the ceremony itself, and she encouraged her younger daughter Gabriella, aged 18, to congratulate her older sister.

Marking the occasion: Teresa Giudice shared several videos taken during her daughter Gia's graduation from Rutgers University to her Instagram Story on Tuesday

Ecstatic: The 50-year-old reality television personality appeared to beam with pride while celebrating the end of her 22-year-old's college days in all of her posts

The television personality went on to share a clip of Gia, who received a degree in criminal justice, walking the stage to receive her diploma.

Her family members could also be heard while cheering her on as she closed out her college days.

Giudice later caught up with Gia after they left the graduation ceremony, and she lovingly embraced her daughter outside of the main venue.

The media figure and her loved ones later joined one another for lunch, and she shared a video in which her eldest child wished her mother a 'happy early birthday.'

She also posted a clip in which her 'handsome husband' affectionately planted a kiss on her cheek during the meal.

Giudice shares Gia, as well as her younger daughters Gabriella, Milania and Audriana, with her former husband Joe, whom she married in 1999.

The former couple remained married for just over two decades before their marriage ended in 2020, two years after Joe had been deported to Italy.

The reality television personality later moved on with Ruelas, whom she wed in August of last year.

Family affair: The media figure later posted a video from inside of the ceremony itself, and she encouraged her younger daughter Gabriella, aged 18, to congratulate her older sister

Beaming: Giudice made no secret of how proud of Gia she was in her clip, and sent all her love towards her daughter on her special day

Major achievement: The television personality went on to share a clip of Gia, who received a degree in criminal justice, walking the stage to receive her diploma

Showing her affection: Giudice later caught up with Gia after they left the graduation ceremony, and she lovingly embraced her daughter outside of the main venue

Giudice previously opened up about raising her children following her ex-husband's deportation during an interview at BravoCon in 2019, and she expressed via People that she had become a much more giving parent after Joe was sent to Italy.

'I try to compensate...I jump over hoops for them, for whatever they're going through. Whatever they say to me, I try to do for them, just for the situation,' she said.

The media figure did, however, praise her children for handing the situation in a mature manner.

'My girls had to grow up quick because of everything we've been through. As a mom, you never know if you've done a good job or not. But watching my girls, they're pretty amazing,' she said.
Candice Swanepoel showed off her extremely sculpted abs in an Instagram post on Tuesday.

The 34-year-old model also offered up a side of philosophy in the carousel of photos.

She captioned the post: 'An unfinished puzzle with a side of obliques,' and added a puzzle piece emoji, alien emoji and cookie emoji.

The post featured several shots of the mom of two in a white crop top with an asymmetrical hem, black and white striped boxer shorts and a pair of very low-rise black cargo pants that revealed the top inch or so of the boxers.

The Tropic of C designer also shared a photo of a poem called The Unfinished Puzzle.

Great abs: Candice Swanepoel showed off her extremely sculpted abs in an Instagram post on Tuesday

She captioned the post: 'An unfinished puzzle with a side of obliques,' and added a puzzle piece emoji, alien emoji and cookie emoji

Puzzle: The post featured several shots of the mom of two in a white crop top with an asymmetrical hem, black and white striped boxer shorts and a pair of very low-rise black cargo pants that revealed the top inch or so of the boxers

'Someone once told me that I was complex. At first I perceived that as never being fully understood,' the poem began.

'But then I started to like the idea of it. Of being made of various layers. Layers that others are not familiar with,' the poem continued, offering a glimpse into Candice's mood.

The final photo in the former Victoria's Secret Angel's post was an exterior shot of the RipNDip clothing store in New York City.

A green alien sat on a bench outside the store with its head in one hand in a pensive gesture.

Earlier this year, the mom of Anaca, six, and Ariel, four, opened up about becoming a mother and revealed that she felt better about her body after pregnancy.

'In my teens, I was extremely thin and got teased for it, which is the case for many models,' she told The Sun.

'At that time it was the formula for finding new girls that were awkward in their teens but by the time they hit 20 had grown into their bodies, and had a few years of experience in the industry.

But at the end of the day, Candice knows it is just a job, adding, 'It doesn't matter what I think of my body on that specific day, as long as my client is happy, I'm happy.

'I'm there to deliver and play a role and that's also how I coped with shyness in the very beginning,' she said.

And while she admits to having bad days and good days when it comes to self-love and confidence, she is in awe of the miracle of her two kids.

Philosophical: Candice also shared a page from a book with a poem called The Unifinished Puzzle

Mom of two: The mom of two said she feels more comfortable in her body since having kids

Alien: The final photo in the former Victoria's Secret Angel's post was an exterior shot of the RipNDip clothing store in New York City where a green alien sat on a bench outside the store with its head in one hand in a pensive gesture

She said: 'My body has made two little miracles, carried me around the world, and enabled me to experience life so intensely that Im grateful.'

In an interview with V Magazine, Candice explained that her children were a big part of why she was inspired to create an eco-friendly and sustainable swimwear line.

'Having children makes you think about your impact on a much greater level too. I wanted to do something that wasnt being done where there is a will there is a way, and now it is becoming the norm, which is a huge leap in the right direction.'

'I have always been passionate about nature, and being connected to a greater consciousness, so I have a great respect for it. Anyone that has followed my journey would know thats a huge part of my essence,' she said.
Salma Hayek suffered a wardrobe malfunction in a bathrobe while excitedly showing off her dance skills in a new clip shared to Instagram on Tuesday as she celebrated gaining 24 million followers.

The From Dusk Til Dawn actress, 56, who recently looked ageless in a red Gucci gown at the MET Gala earlier this month, donned a white robe that was loosely tied around her waist, and contained a letter 'F' in red on the left side.

The star went barefoot to effortlessly move around the wooden floor of a spacious room, while her friend and director, Samantha Lopez Speranza, held a speaker in her hand as music loudly played.

On a few occasions, Salma's robe slipped open, causing the mother of one to blur body parts after revealing more skin than initially planned during the spontaneous dance session.

In the caption of the post, she proudly penned, '24 million followers, 24 million reasons to smile. Thank you all for joining me on this wild ride!'

Celebration! Salma Hayek suffered a wardrobe malfunction in a bathrobe while excitedly showing off her dance skills in a new clip shared to Instagram on Tuesday as she celebrated gaining 24 million followers

Oops! More than once, Salma's robe slipped open, causing the mother of one to blur body parts after revealing more skin than initially planned during the spontaneous dance session

She continued, 'I cannot contain my excitement & gratitude,' followed by a dancing emoji and, 'P.s happy birthday @samanthalopezs.' The star then translated the caption in Spanish directly underneath.

Despite the brief robe slip, the Frida actress appeared to be having a blast while dancing and celebrating the new milestone.

Hayek has previously opened up about her love of dancing, and during an interview with Glamour earlier this year in February, she was asked if she had any 'advice' for women who were 'getting older.'

Salma's response was, 'Ill give you lots of good advice about this. Dancemake sure youre sensual for yourself. Dance by yourself when nobodys watching.'

'And dont look at yourself in the mirror when youre dancing. Blindfold yourself and feel you. Feel your body and feel how it interacts with space,' the beauty added.

She recently turned heads at the MET Gala in a jaw-dropping, red corseted gown that was strapless with a few pearl strands that dropped down towards her elbows. The skirt portion of the dress was layered with tulle, along with sheer lace.

The star was accompanied by her husband and Kering CEO, Francois-Henri Pinault, who was dapper in a classic, black suit along with a white dress shirt and black bowtie.

The two lovebirds tied the knot in 2009 on Valentine's Day, and held a larger ceremony in Italy a few months later. Before saying 'I do,' the couple welcomed their daughter, Valentina, 15, in 2007.

Having too much fun! In the caption of the post, she proudly penned, '24 million followers, 24 million reasons to smile. Thank you all for joining me on this wild ride!'

Dance time: The star went barefoot to effortlessly move around the wooden floor of the spacious room, while her friend and director, Samantha Lopez Speranza, held a black speaker

Grateful: She continued, 'I cannot contain my excitement & gratitude,' followed by a dancing emoji and, 'P.s happy birthday @samanthalopezs'

Staying comfortable: The From Dusk Til Dawn actress donned a white robe that was loosely tied around her waist, and contained a letter 'F' in red on the left side

Upon marrying the French billionaire, the Hollywood actress also became stepmother to his other three children from previous relationships: Francois, 24, Mathilde, 22, and Augustin, 16.

While talking to Glamour, Salma opened up about their long-lasting relationship and how she keeps her marriage from feeling 'boring.'

'Boredom is underestimated. I didnt understand this for a long time. Also it helps that we met each other later in our lives,' she expressed to the publication.

'Its okay just to do nothing and be together; sometimes sharing a space and doing your own thing in silence, with connectivity and thoughtfulness"Can I bring you a cup of tea?"is enough. Its little simple things.'

The star, who showed off her stunning frame in a yellow bikini on a recent getaway, has been keeping busy and continues to reach other milestones, aside from her 24 million Instagram fans and followers.

Salma recently appeared on the big screen in Magic Mike's Last Dance, which premiered in theaters earlier in February.

And she will soon jump into the world of television in season six of Netflix's Black Mirror, which is slated to air on the streaming site next month in June. The popular series has taken a brief hiatus, with season five having premiered back in 2019.

Love of dance: during an interview with Glamour earlier this year in February, she was asked if she had any 'advice' for women who were 'getting older' and stated, 'Dancemake sure youre sensual for yourself. Dance by yourself when nobodys watching'

Jaw-dropping: She recently turned heads at the MET Gala in a jaw-dropping, red corseted gown that was strapless with a few pearl strands that dropped down towards her elbows and was accompanied by her husband, Francois-Henri Pinault earlier this month

Family: Salma shares daughter Valentina, 15 with her husband and is also stepmother to his three children from previous relationships: Francois, 24, Mathilde, 22, and Augustin, 16; actress seen with Valentina and Augustin in April in NYC

The upcoming season not only stars Salma, but other celebrities such as Breaking Bad alum, Aaron Paul, and Kate Mara.

While at Netflix's Tudum event that offers teasers and first looks at upcoming projects, the show's creator, Charlie Brooker, discussed what fans can expect for the new season, which contains a total of five episodes.

'Ive always felt that Black Mirror should feature stories that are entirely distinct from one another, and keep surprising people, and myself, or else whats the point? It should be a series that cant be easily defined, and can keep reinventing itself.'

He later added, 'The stories are all still tonally Black Mirror through-and-through  but with some crazy swings and more variety than ever before.'
Influencer Deni Todorovic had a heated hour-long run-in with airport staff and police on Monday before flying from Melbourne to Sydney for Australian Fashion Week.

And on Wednesday, the 35-year-old non-binary star was seen holding up traffic as they stepped out of a car in the middle of Oxford Street.

Unapologetically flaunting his distinctive fashion sense, Deni, who uses all pronouns, confidently rocked an open black wireframe skirt and matching high heels.

Meanwhile, his white underpants subtly peeked through as a deliberate style statement.

A touch of urban flair was added with a grey Coca-Cola jumper, all the while exuding a sense of dishevelled charm while navigating the lively intersection.

Controversial non-binary influencer Deni Todorovic revealed more than they bargained for in a flashy skirt and underwear in Sydney this week

Deni appeared to hold up traffic as they exited a car in the middle of a busy Sydney road

Deni's attention-grabbing getup and confident presence certainly turned the heads of pedestrians.

The star was recently refused entry into Nadia Bartel's Henne fashion show after rocking up in white underpants.

Deni later alluded to the incident on social media but didn't mention Nadia's name, instead saying that he was denied entry by 'someone I thought was a friend'.

On Monday, Deni was seen having an animated conversation outside Melbourne's domestic departure terminal with two Australian Federal Police officers.

Unapologetically flaunting his distinctive fashion sense, Deni, who uses all pronouns, confidently rocked an open black wireframe skirt and matching high heels

Todorovic claimed to have been subjected to 'homophobic and racist' behaviour after getting into a dispute with Jetstar staff over an additional charge for an overweight second piece of luggage at check in.

The fashionista, who was wearing a ballgown, admits to 'yelling' after being told there would be a $100 fee for the bag being 10.5kg over the limit.

Shortly afterwards, two airport policemen approached and the argument continued - with the model eventually missing the flight.

The influencer and author swished down the street with his skirt blowing in the wind

At one point the former Seafolly model was spotted making a tense phone call

'I almost got arrested over $100 f***ing dollars,' Todorovic explained to the Daily Telegraph after finally touching down in Sydney on Tuesday to attend an Erik Yvon show for Fashion Week.

'I was sitting on a suitcase and then I said to mum, "I should probably put some pants on because I will get more respect".

The controversial model's involvement with swimwear brand Seafolly campaign led to a customer boycott in March.

His subsequent erratic behaviour and tirades have seen the influencer ditched from various public roles by underwear label Bonds, youth charity Minus 18, and gin brand Tanqueray.
A crossover between the Cartoon Network program Johnny Bravo and the highly influential anime series Dragon Ball Z previously thought to have been lost has resurfaced on YouTube.

The meeting between the programs took place as part of the JBVO: Your All Request Cartoon Show programming block, which aired from 2000 until 2001.

The block was hosted by Bravo, who was voiced by Jeff Bennett, and the fictional character would introduce and play various cartoon segments from Cartoon Network's archive that were requested by viewers.

However, the block's runtime could not accommodate a full 30 minute-long episode of any show.

During an installment of JBVO that aired on May 5, 2000, a caller from Colorado named Jennifer called in to request that Bravo play her favorite episode of Dragon Ball Z, during which the show's hero, Goku, took on Frieza in an explosive fight.

Unexpected: A crossover between the Cartoon Network program Johnny Bravo and the highly influential anime series Dragon Ball Z previously thought to have been lost has resurfaced on YouTube

Special request: During an installment of JBVO that aired on May 5, 2000, a caller from Colorado named Jennifer called in to request that Bravo play her favorite episode of Dragon Ball Z, during which the show's hero, Goku, took on Frieza in an explosive fight

The fictional character expressed his regret to his 'pen-pal momma' about not being able to play the episode as expected during his program, although he then agreed to play a sped-up version of Dragon Ball Z in an attempt to accommodate her request.

Bravo then provided humorous commentary while watching Goku fight 'that floating half-body guy' during Jennifer's requested episode.

Following the conclusion of the sped-up version of the show, the character quipped: 'Kind of loses something in the fast-forward, doesn't it?'

Bravo then signed off by stating: 'Well I'm sorry, little lady. I love that show and I love you, so I wanted to play it for ya because this is Your All Request Cartoon Show. Thank you, pretty momma.'

The requested episode of Dragon Ball Z was taken from the end of a 20-episode-long battle between Goku and Frieza, which is one of the longest fights in anime history.

The long-lost episode of JBVO: Your All Request Cartoon Show was discovered earlier this week and popularized when YouTuber LSuperSonicQ, who specializes in lost media, tweeted a link to the Internet Archive for the segment.

The YouTuber uncovered the video when one of his viewers, whose mother had previously worked at Cartoon Network and was in possession of every episode of JBVO, reached out to confirm the clip's existence.

LSuperSonicQ recently spoke to Kotaku and expressed that he, as well as the viewer and another lost media specialist, would be working to make every JBVO segment available to the public sometime in the future.

Moving fast: The fictional character expressed his regret to his 'pen-pal momma' about not being able to play the episode as expected during his program, although he then agreed to play a sped-up version of Dragon Ball Z in an attempt to accommodate her request

Trying their best: Following the conclusion of the sped-up version of the show, the character quipped 'Kind of loses something in the fast-forward, doesn't it?'

Finally here: The long-lost episode of JBVO: Your All Request Cartoon Show was discovered earlier this week and popularized when YouTuber LSuperSonicQ, who specializes in lost media, tweeted a link to the Internet Archive for the segment

Unlikely source: The YouTuber uncovered the video when one of his viewers, whose mother had previously worked at Cartoon Network and was in possession of every episode of JBVO, reached out to confirm the clip's existence

Nearly half of JBVO's episodes were previously considered to have been lost, according to The Lost Media Wiki.

The YouTuber also gave a statement to the media outlet to express his enthusiasm for the discovery of the long-lost episode.

'This was one of my favorite pieces of lost media so I'm very glad to see it resurface,' he said.

LSuperSonicQ added: 'It goes to show that no matter how long a piece of lost media has been lost for, there's always a chance for it to reappear someday.
Johnny Depp received a seven-minute standing ovation at the premiere of his comeback film Jeanne du Barry during the Cannes Film Festival on Tuesday.

The acclaimed actor, 59 - who plays King Louis XV in the period drama - teared up while taking in the moment with director and co-star Maiwenn by his side.

The film is Depp's first project since he was blackballed by Hollywood in the years following his ex-wife Amber Heard's abuse allegations in 2016.

But after a six-week trial last year, it was determined that Heard had defamed her ex-husband and she was ordered to pay him over $8million in damages  though they later agreed on $1million in order to put an end to their legal battle.

The 76th Film Festival also marked Depp's first red carpet appearance since his court victory.

Epic comeback: Johnny Depp received a seven-minute standing ovation at the premiere of his comeback film Jeanne du Barry during the Cannes Film Festival on Tuesday. The acclaimed actor, 59 - who plays King Louis XV in the period drama - teared up while taking in the moment

He had director and co-star Maiwenn by his side

The Edward Scissorhands star was greeted with applause and supported by a sea of adoring fans upon his arrival.

Depp couldn't hide his delight about being back in the Hollywood fold, after previously being dropped from several projects during the trial, including the Fantastic Beasts film franchise.

According to reports, throngs of onlookers shouted 'Johnny!' as Depp, in purple-hued sunglasses signed autographs and edged back into the spotlight.

Jeanne du Barry has been billed as Depp's comeback - though his prominent presence at Cannes has been hotly debated.

Despite earning a standing ovation, the critics had mixed reactions to Depp's performance and the film itself.

Some were impressed by his French spoken word, while others said it was 'great to see Depp in subtle and quiet mode.'

Louis XV reigned over France from 1715 to his death in 1774. He was married to Queen of France, Marie Leczinska but had a number of long-term affairs.

Jeanne was his final lover before he died.

The film is Depp's first project since he was blackballed by Hollywood after his ex-wife Amber Heard accused him of abuse in 2016

Victory: But after a lengthy trial last year, it was determined that Heard had defamed her ex-husband and she was ordered to pay him over $8million in damages  though they later agreed on $1million in order to put an end to their legal battle

The screening marked actor Johnny Depp 's return to cinema and the red carpet

Johnny! According to reports, throngs of onlookers shouted 'Johnny!' as Depp, in purple-hued sunglasses signed autographs and edged back into the spotlight

Film cast: Director Maiwenn and cast members Depp, Pascal Greggory, Pierre Richard, India Hair and Benjamin Lavernhe

Salute! Johnny gave fans a salute as he passed by on his way into the screening

The highly-anticipated period piece was shot over the summer and, along with being his career comeback, this also marks Johnny's first film in French.

According to the synopsis, the story follows 'Jeanne Vaubernier, a young working-class woman hungry for culture and pleasure [who] uses her intelligence and allure to climb the rungs of the social ladder one by one.'

The plot continues as she 'becomes the favorite of King Louis XV, who, unaware of her status as courtesan, regains through her his appetite for life.

'They fall madly in love,' the synopsis reads. 'Against all propriety and etiquette, Jeanne moves to Versailles, where her arrival scandalises the court.'

The film also stars Benjamin Lavernhe, Melvil Poupaud, Pierre Richard, Pascal Greggory, and India Hair.

The first promo images of Depp in the role were released in late 2022 as well as January 2023.

Instead of his signature brunette locks, Depp sports silver hair and King Louis' famous tricorn hats and elaborate royal garb in the feature film.

The period piece was shot over the summer and it was rumored that it would premiere at Cannes.

While the budget for the movie remains unclear, Depp reportedly has an up-front starting fee of $20 million for any role.

Depp's involvement with Jeanne du Barry was first teased in July and is his first film in three years.

Regal: The highly-anticipated period piece was shot over the summer and, along with being his career comeback, this also marks Johnny's first film in French

Monarch: Louis XV reigned over France from 1715 to his death in 1774. He was married to Queen of France, Marie Leczinska but had a number of long-term affairs

Jeanne du Barry: Pauline Pollmann, Diego Le Fur, MaAwenn, Johnny Depp, Pierre Richard, Benjamin Lavernhe, Pascal Greggory and Melvil Poupaud

Hello! Uma took to the stage inside the opening ceremony and screening

As always, Cannes attracted the great and good of the celebrity world, as A-listers including Brie Larson, Uma Thurman, Elle Fanning and Helen Mirren stunned onlookers while making their way into the screening.

Elsewhere, Michael Douglas, who was to receive an honorary Palme d'Or at the opening night ceremony, walked the carpet with his wife, Catherine Zeta-Jones and their daughter, Carys Zeta Douglas.

Brie, who is a juror at this year's festival, put on a showstopping display in a dazzling gold gown as she joined her fellow jurors and made her way into the glitzy event.

Brie, 33, looked radiant in the decadent layered dress, which featured a high neck and flowing sleeves.

The actress, who wore her blonde locks in a loose straight style, looked joyful and animated as she waved her arms in the air and danced before heading inside.

Kill Bill icon Uma, 53, led the arrivals on one of the world's most prestigious red carpets, alongside her son Levon Hawke, who she shares with her ex-husband Ethan Hawke.

Uma looked incredible in an elegant blush gown, which she teamed with a dramatic scarlett cape and a Gothic purple choker for her elegant turn in front of the paparazzi.

The screen star wore her blonde locks swept up into a chic updo and opted for a neutral pallet of make-up.

Her son Levon, who is also an actor and has featured in films including The Crowded Room and The Thicket, was every inch the dapper date in a smart black tuxedo and bow tie as he stood proudly beside his mother.

It is not the first time that Levon, 21, has attended the festival with his mother as he was previously pictured on the red carpet back in 2017.

Levon has followed his actor parents footsteps much like his older sister Maya, who had a starring role in Netflix series Stranger Things, as well as recent film Do Revenge.

Catherine and Michael's daughter Carys made her Cannes Film Festival debut during the same evening.

Welcome back! The Cannes red carpet is springing to life again as the 76th Film Festival gets underway with the premiere of the Louis XV period drama Jeanne du Barry

Radiant: The screen star wore her blonde locks swept up into a chic updo and opted for a neutral pallet of make-up

Family affair: The Kill Bill icon, 53, led the arrivals on one of the world's most prestigious red carpets, alongside her son Levon Hawke, who she shares with her ex-husband Ethan Hawke

So sweet! It is not the first time that Levon, 21, has attended the festival with his mother as he was previously pictured on the red carpet back in 2017

Stealing the show: Meanwhile, Elle Fanning, 25, dazzled as she graced the prestigious red carpet in a heavily embellished ball gown with a structured peplum bodice

Stunning: She pulled her blonde hair back into a classy updo and opted for a subtle makeup palette with a dusting of silver eyeshadow

The rising star, 20, looked elegant in a pale pink floral mesh gown with cut-out hip details, teamed with platform heels.

As the family arrived at the top of the iconic red staircase, Carys and Catherine planted a kiss on 78-year-old Michael's cheeks.

Catherine, 53, put on a glamorous display in a plunging red gown with a one sleeve cape detail.

The Academy Award-winning actress styled her brunette locks in loose curls and sported a blush makeup look.

Meanwhile, Michael cut a dapper figure in a black tuxedo, with a crisp white shirt and shiny shoes.

The power couple also have a 22-year-old son named Dylan who is a Brown University graduate.

Catherine and Michael met in 1998 and wed in year 2000 at the Plaza Hotel in NYC and have grown into one of Hollywood's most enduring couples.

Meanwhile, Elle Fanning, 25, dazzled as she graced the prestigious red carpet in a heavily embellished ball gown with a structured peplum bodice.

Complete with a blush tulle train, Elle ensured that all eyes were on her as she flashed a smile for the cameras.

She pulled her blonde hair back into a classy updo and opted for a subtle makeup palette with a dusting of silver eyeshadow.

The star chose to keep her accessories to a minimum, wearing a silver diamond and pearl choker to tie the look together.

Dame Helen Mirren debuted new blue hair and showcased her unique sense of style as she perfectly matched the colour of her quirky new do to her gorgeous gown.

Helen, 77, looked sensational in the figure-hugging satin frock that boasted a plunging neckline and sculpted skirt, with matching Sole Bliss platform sandals.

The L'Oreal ambassador swept her newly dyed locks high into a Marie Antoinette style Pouf, to match the movie's French historic theme, as she posed with a fan that read 'Worth it' - the hair brand's famous slogan.

Accentuating her features with make-up she completed the look with a diamond necklace and matching earrings.

Naomi Campbell dazzled as she graced the prestigious red carpet in a silver sequin gown with a plunging neckline from Celine by Hedi Slimane and boosted her height with matching metallic heels.

Stepping out to the event, Naomi styled her brunette hair poker straight and accessorised the look with a chunky cuff bracelet on each wrist.

She wore a slick of pink lipstick and later shielded her eyes from the bright lights of the camera flashes with a pair of quirky white sunglasses.

Elsewhere, model Alessandra Ambrosio, 42, flashed her cleavage in a sheer pink hooded gown with dazzling jewels and a plunging neckline as she walked the red carpet.

The Douglases! Catherine and Michael 's daughter Carys made her Cannes Film Festival debut during the same evening

Sealed with a kiss: The rising star, 20, looked elegant in a pale pink floral mesh gown with cut-out hip details, teamed with platform heels

Hurrah! Michael Douglas holds up the Honorary Palme d'Or Award

All eyes on blue: Dame Helen Mirren, 77, debuted new blue hair during Cannes Film Festival's opening night at the Jeanne du Barry premiere on Tuesday

Silver siren: Naomi Campbell dazzled as she graced the prestigious red carpet in a silver sequin gown with a plunging neckline from Celine by Hedi Slimane and boosted her height with matching metallic heels

Red carpet ready: She accessorised with a coordinating chunky necklace and drop earrings while striking sultry poses for gawking photographers

She accessorised with a coordinating chunky necklace and drop earrings while striking sultry poses for gawking photographers.

Having flawlessly applied a full face of make-up to enhance her natural beauty, Alessandra had tied her brunette tresses into a sleek ponytail

This year's festival promises a Cote d'Azur buffet of spectacle, scandal and cinema set to be served over the next 12 days. It's unspooling against the backdrop of labor unrest.

Protests that have roiled France in recent months over changes to its pension system are planned to run during the festival, albeit at a distance from the festival's main hub.

Meanwhile, an ongoing strike by screenwriters in Hollywood could have unpredictable effects on the French Riviera festival.

'My wife is currently picketing with my 6-month-old, strapped to her chest,' Paul Dano, a juror, said Tuesday, referencing Zoe Kazan. 'I will be there on the picket line when I get back home.'

But with a festival lined with some much-anticipated big-budget films, including James Mangold's 'Indiana Jones and the Dial of the Destiny' and Martin Scorsese's 'Killers of the Flower Moon,' the party is sure to go on.
Law & Order: SVU producer-star Mariska Hargitay and Blue Bloods star Peter Hermann glammed up for a child-free date night at the 2023 Whitney Gala and Studio Party, which took place at the Whitney Museum of American Art in Manhattan on Tuesday.

The 59-year-old Emmy winner and her 55-year-old silver fox originally met in 2001 while working together on the set of her NBC police procedural, and they've been happily married for 18 years.

Mariska was so nervous when she first locked eyes with the 'distractingly handsome' Peter (born Karl) that she wound up awkwardly calling him a 'Kraut' for spending his first 10 years living in Germany.

'Our first date he asked me to go to church with him,' Hargitay dished on The Drew Barrymore Show last year.

'And I was moving and I said, "Peter, I would love to but not today I am moving today." And he goes, "Oh come on it's an hour. It's an hour." It was so funny, I just couldn't resist so I went to church.

Babysitter on duty! Law & Order: SVU producer-star Mariska Hargitay and Blue Bloods star Peter Hermann glammed up for date night at the 2023 Whitney Gala and Studio Party, which took place at the Whitney Museum of American Art in Manhattan on Tuesday

'And it was that day I remember we went to church, and I am crying and he thinks I am so moved by the sermon and I am crying because I am like, "I know I am going to marry him. I found my husband. I love him."'

Hermann kept things simple in a black suit while Miss Beverly Hills 1982 wore a short-sleeved beige frock featuring a painted embellishment on the maxi-skirt with a matching clutch selected by styling duo Meg Chapman + Jordan LaValle.

Hairstylist Chris McMillan coiffed Mariska's brunette locks and make-up artist Fiona Stiles applied the make-up behind her groovy red-framed sunglasses.

It's hard to believe Hargitay only 'got a clean bill of health' on May 2 from the doctors of Hospital for Special Surgery after recovering from a trimalleolar fracture aka breaking her ankle in three places.

The nepo-baby of Jayne Mansfield and the Goodnight Mommy actor happily posed with Whitney Museum vice chairman Anne-Cecilie Engell Speyer and Alice Pratt Brown director Adam D. Weinberg while on the black carpet.

Missing from the acting pair's side on Tuesday were their three children - son August Miklos Friedrich, turning 17 next month; as well as adopted daughter Amaya Josephine and son Andrew Nicolas, both 12.

This Thursday, NBC will air a two-hour Law & Order crossover event - titled 'All Pain Is One Malady...With Many Names' - for Special Victim Unit's 24th season finale and Organized Crime's third season finale.

Still going strong! The 59-year-old Emmy winner and her 55-year-old silver fox originally met in 2001 while working together on the set of her NBC police procedural, and they've been happily married for 18 years

'Our first date he asked me to go to church with him': Mariska was so nervous when she first locked eyes with the 'distractingly handsome' Peter (born Karl) that she wound up awkwardly calling him a 'Kraut' for spending his first 10 years living in Germany

When in Rome! Hermann kept things simple in a black suit while Hargitay wore a short-sleeved beige frock featuring a painted embellishment on the maxi-skirt with a matching clutch selected by styling duo Meg Chapman + Jordan LaValle

La vie en rose! Hairstylist Chris McMillan coiffed Miss Beverly Hills 1982's brunette locks and make-up artist Fiona Stiles applied the make-up behind her groovy red-framed sunglasses

Rubbing elbows: Mariska and the Goodnight Mommy actor (L) happily posed with Whitney Museum vice chairman Anne-Cecilie Engell Speyer (2-R) and Alice Pratt Brown director Adam D. Weinberg (R) while on the black carpet

December 23 family portrait: Missing from the acting pair's side on Tuesday were their three children - son August Miklos Friedrich, turning 17 next month; as well as adopted daughter Amaya Josephine and son Andrew Nicolas, both 12

'All Pain Is One Malady...With Many Names': This Thursday, NBC will air a two-hour Law & Order crossover event for Special Victim Unit's 24th season finale and Organized Crime's third season finale

Chemistry: In it, Mariska's character Captain Olivia Benson teams up with her former partner Detective Elliot Stabler (R, Christopher Meloni) to track down one of 'the most prolific mass murderers in American history' to stop a revenge-for-hire crime ring

'Forgive Us Our Trespasses': Peter (R) currently has a recurring role as defense attorney Jack Boyle in the 21-episode 13th season of Blue Bloods, which concludes this Friday on CBS

In it, Mariska's character Captain Olivia Benson teams up with her former partner Detective Elliot Stabler (Christopher Meloni) to track down one of 'the most prolific mass murderers in American history' to stop a revenge-for-hire crime ring.

Hargitay has also directed eight episodes of Dick Wolf's Law & Order spin-off, which made history as the longest-running US prime-time drama in history.

Meanwhile, Peter currently has a recurring role as defense attorney Jack Boyle in the 21-episode 13th season of Blue Bloods, which concludes this Friday on CBS.
A nearly 400-item lot of James Dean-related memorabilia is going up on the auction block featuring artifacts from the late Hollywood legend, including signed photos, letters and a Warner Bros. contract.

The scarce items linked to Dean are from the estate of the late actor's agent in New York, Jane Deacy, who died in 2008, and bidding is slated to commence May 25 at Nate D. Sanders Auctions.

'To say this collection is unprecedented is an understatement  while a few individual letters or signed documents have been sold, a James Dean collection of this size and quality has never been available since Dean's death almost 70 years ago,' Sanders said in a news release Tuesday.

Sanders continued: 'A true Hollywood icon, James Dean set the template for cool that reverberates throughout our culture, and even the world, to this day.'

Among the pieces in the auction lot include a contact Dean inked with Warner Bros. for his cinematic debut, the Elia Kazan movie East of Eden, dated on April 7, 1954.

For sale: A nearly 400-item lot of James Dean-related memorabilia is going up on the auction block featuring artifacts from the late Hollywood legend, including signed photos, letters and a Warner Bros. contract. A signed photo of the late actor from the lot is pictured

The auction house described the document as 'one of the most important acting contracts in the history of Hollywood.'

Dean, who died at the age of 24 in a September 30, 1955 car accident, was only featured in two other movies, the 1955 movie Rebel Without a Cause, and the 1956 film Giant.

Other pieces in the valuable memorabilia collection is the Hollywood icon's motorcycle registration card, as well as handwritten letters from Dean to Deacy where he discussed his anxiety about shooting East of Eden.

There is also a signed photo dedicated to Deacy and addressed to 'Mom.' The agent was reportedly like a second mother to Dean. The minimum bid for the photo is listed at $7500.

Dean is a big draw for auctions, with eager fans happy to possess memorabilia tied to the 50s movie icon.

In 2021 the 4-Speed transaxle from the 1955 Porsche 550 Spyder that Dean crashed and died in sold at auction for $382,000.

The car part was sold at an online auction and was part of the vehicle that Dean was driving during an accident that took the movie star's life.

Dean died in a head on collision while driving his Porsche nicknamed 'Li'l Bastard' alongside his mechanic Rolf Wutherich.

Iconic: Dean, who died at the age of 24 in a September 30, 1955 car accident, starred in three movies total, including the 1955 cult classic Rebel Without a Cause, and the 1956 film Giant

One-of-a-kind: A contract the late film star signed with Warner Bros. is among one of the items in the lot

Rare: The collection includes a contact Dean inked with Warner Bros. for his cinematic debut, the Elia Kazan movie East of Eden, dated on April 7, 1954

Priceless: A photo Dean signed addressed to 'Mom' in among the items up for grabs

The pair were driving the car from Los Angeles to Salinas for a car race when Dean collided with a Ford Tudor being driven by Donald Turnupseed at an intersection in Cholame.

Turnupseed suffered mild injuries but Dean and his passenger Wutherich suffered serious injuries in the crash.

Both were transported to a local hospital and Dean would die on way.

Parts of the car, which have been called 'cursed' for decades, have been sold off over the years.

Dean was born in 1931, in Marion, Indiana. His father left farming to become a dental technician, and the family subsequently moved to Santa Monica, California.

When Dean was just nine-years-old, his mother died of cancer. Unable to look after his son alone, his father sent him to live with his aunt and uncle on a farm in Fairmount, Indiana, where he was raised in a Quaker background.

Dean's acting career took of after he graduated from high school and moved back to Los Angeles to live with his father.

While studying at UCLA, he was picked to play Malcolm in Macbeth. He dropped out in January 1951 to pursue an acting career full-time and moved to New York City.

Three years later, he caught the attention of director Elia Kazan, while portraying a gay houseboy in the play, The Immoralist.

With John Steinbecks approval, Kazan cast Dean in a screen adaptation of Steinbecks novel, East of Eden, launching him into stardom.

Historical: The lot includes an application for 1955 vehicle registration for Deen

Original: It also includes an envelope that contained a letter addressed to the late film star

Unique: The auction will also feature a handwritten letter Dean penned

Memorabilia: Another letter is addressed to 'Dear mom'

Bidding: The items linked to Dean are from the estate of the late actor's agent, Jane Deacy, who died in 2008, and bidding is slated to commence May 25 at Nate D. Sanders Auctions

Unprecedented: 'To say this collection is unprecedented is an understatement  while a few individual letters or signed documents have been sold, a James Dean collection of this size and quality has never been available since Dean's death almost 70 years ago ,' Sanders said

Template for cool: Sanders continued: 'A true Hollywood icon, James Dean set the template for cool that reverberates throughout our culture, and even the world, to this day'

A lover of speed, he reportedly used part of his advance for East of Eden to buy a red convertible and a motorcycle. He later purchased a white Porsche Super Speedster, which he used to compete in road races.

The contract for his next film, Giant, banned him from racing, but upon finishing the film, he traded in the Speedster for the more powerful Porsche 550 Spyder, which he nicknamed 'Little Bastard'.

On the very same day as his fatal crash, a police officer fined Dean for going 65 mph in a 55 mph zone. Just two hours later, the rising star was dead.

Rebel Without A Cause was released a month after Dean's death.

Dean was the first ever actor to receive a posthumous Academy Award nomination for Best Actor, for his role in East Of Eden in 1955.

The following year he received a second posthumous Academy Award nomination for Giant.

He is buried in Fairmount, Indiana, near to his uncle's farm where he grew up.
Jasmine Hemsley has welcomed her second child.

The celebrity chef, 42, announced the happy news on Monday night, sharing a photo of her baby boy and revealing he was born on Sunday, the 'same birthday as his paternal great grandfather.'

Jasmine and her fiance Nick Hopper are already parents to their daughter Mahi, two.

Writing a heartfelt message alongside the close-up photo of her newborn sleeping, Jasmine gushed: 'Hes here. Born Sunday night sharing the same birthday as his paternal great grandfather.'

New addition: Family: Jasmine Hemsley has welcomed her second child with fiance Nick Hopper, sharing a sweet photo of her son on Instagram on Monday evening

Family: Jasmine and her fiance Nick Hopper are already parents to their daughter Mahi, two (pictured with Mahi in 2021)

Newborn: The celebrity chef, 42, revealed her son, who she has not revealed the name of, was born on Sunday, the 'same birthday as his paternal great grandfather.'

Revealing the couple had not found out the gender before she gave birth, Jasmine admitted:

'There was an overwhelming feeling of boy from me and for so many people who commented on my bump on a previous post.'

'Same birthweight as Mahi, looks like Mahi but already has more hair (especially on his shoulders) In love .'

In November Jasmine shared the exciting news of her pregnancy on Instagram, showing off her blossoming baby bump in a sweet video.

Jasmine was all smiles as she donned a bold orange flowing midi dress while cradling her bump.

The caption read: 'As some of you have been suspecting Im excited to announce were expecting! Baby incoming spring 2023'

Jasmine and Nick have been together for 19 years now and got engaged 5 years ago in Monaco.

At the time, Jasmine announced the news by sharing a beaming picture of the pair with Nick down on one knee for the snap.

Congrats! Jasmine's pals including Daisy Lowe, Giovanna Fletcher and This Morning chef Clodagh McKenna all sent their best wishes

Congratulations! In November Jasmine shared the exciting news of her pregnancy on Instagram, showing off her blossoming baby bump in a sweet video.

Gorgeous: Jasmine was all smiles as she donned a bold orange flowing midi dress while cradling her bump

Loved-up: Jasmine and Nick have been together for 19 years now and got engaged 5 years ago in Monaco

She wrote: 'Official engagement pic taken yesterday prompted by a wedding car parked outside our hotel. We like to take our time over these things you know... (got engaged 3 years ago, 13 years after we became a thing). Wrong hand btw @nickhopper_galacticman'

She revealed in an Instagram post that they met on a flight to Barbados where she asked him to move seats so her friend could sit next to her.

Jasmine is a wellbeing expert, three-time bestselling author and TV presenter with a show broadcast in over 25 countries.

The presenter is best known for her television series, which she co-hosted with her sister Melissa, on Channel 4 titled Eating Well with Hemsley + Hemsley.
Rebecca Judd proved she's a loyal friend when she flew up to Sydney on Wednesday to support her best friend Nadia Bartel during her fashion show.

The AFL WAG, 40, turned heads as she stepped out at Australian Fashion Week to view the latest Henne collection.

She looked stunning as she showed off her trim figure in a steel blue top which she teamed with baggy matching trousers and heels.

With her tousled caramel locks falling free about her shoulders, the former model highlighted her natural beauty with a minimal makeup look.

Toting a $5,100 white Fendi handbag, she elevated her look with white pumps and white shades to hide her eyes.

Rebecca Judd, 40, (pictured) proved she's a loyal friend when she flew up to Sydney on Wednesday to support her best friend Nadia Bartel during her fashion show

The mum-of-four showed out in support of her best friend Nadia, only flying to Sydney for the day to cheer the former WAG on during her Henne fashion show.

'It was amazing. I'm blown away. I'm so proud of her. Every look was so good,' Bec gushed to Daily Mail Australia.

'To be so elevated - I was proud of her last year, but it's lifted even more this year. She's a weapon.'

The AFL WAG turned heads as she stepped out at Australian Fashion Week to view the latest Henne collection

She looked stunning as she showed off her trim figure in a steel blue top which she teamed with baggy matching trousers and heels

Bec went on to say while Nadia's newest designs were inspiring, she had no plans to branch out from her own activewear label Jaggad.

Nadia's runway show was held at the St Barnabas Anglican Church in Sydney's Ultimo and was one of the biggest shows yet.

Celebrities on the star-studded guest list included former NRL WAG Phoebe Burgess, Married At First Sight star Martha Kalifatidis, and model Erin Holland.

Nadia told Daily Mail Australia at the fashion show she was thrilled over the turnout at the event and was grateful to Bec for her 'support' and for 'being a great friend'.

Toting a $5,100 white Fendi handbag, she elevated her look with white pumps and white shades to hide her eyes. Pictured with best friend and fashion designer Nadia Bartel

The mum-of-four showed out in support of her best friend Nadia, only flying to Sydney for the day to cheer the former WAG on during her Henne fashion show
The ratings plunge suffered by This Morning is a 'wake-up call', a TV insider said today - amid claims Phillip Schofield could be axed in a 'summer shake-up'.

Co-hosts Phil, 61, and Holly, 42, have failed to address their rift during on air, but 170,000 fewer viewers watched Monday's episode compared to the week before amid claims the pair seemed 'awkward'.

Concern about the show's future have prompted speculation about an upcoming personnel shake-up, with insiders claiming Phil could be forced out along with top producer Martin Frizell.

Speaking to The Sun, a source said: 'This Morning is preparing for some seismic changes this summer - Phil is lined up as the first major name for the chop when his contract expires this summer.

'Seeing the reaction of This Morning viewers has been a wake-up call.'

Phillip Schofield leaves his home today to head to the This Morning studios in London

Holly Willoughby - pictured this morning - has had a spectacular falling out with her former best friend, it's been claimed

Phil faces being axed from This Morning in summer shake-up, according to insiders quoted in a newspaper report

PR expert Mark Borkowski played down the chance of any imminent personnel moves, saying ITV would seek to 'ride out the cyclone'.

He told MailOnline: 'I think ITV and programme bosses will indeed take a long hard look at the presenters.

'Perhaps it's a time to change and regenerate with two fresh faces. But don't write any obits just yet.

'Viewing figures fluctuate and I'm sure bosses will be looking at a long term aggregates. The issue is to look at all the options and no bow to social media surges.'

Mr Borkowski branded the scandal 'a storm in a tea cup', adding: 'The whole fuss proves how valuable the format it is to ITV.'

One reported cause of the fallout is due to Phil allegedly not telling Holly about his brother Timothy's trial for child sex offenses.

Timothy was convicted and is awaiting sentencing.

During the trial, Phil took a three-week break from This Morning and publicly rejected his brother.

Last week Phil released a statement about their friendship without first consulting Holly, which is also said to have affected the friendship.

Phil, who has hosted the show since 2002, could be forced out along with top producer Martin Frizell (left)

Phil and Holly have yet to address their feud on air and have continued to broadcast their show as usual - despite losing 170,000 viewers in a week.

Figures revealed Monday's episode had an average of 726,720 people watching compared to 894,000 on the same day last week. Peak viewership was also significantly down at 914,000 compared to 1.058million on May 8.

By contrast, the duo pulled in 1.3m viewers for their 2022 Christmas show and an average of 1.4m in the first four weeks of 2021.

Senior figures at ITV called a crisis meeting following a wave of negative social media feedback about Monday's show.

After seeing the reaction on Twitter, with viewers panning both Holly and Phil, ITV bosses are pondering what to do next.

One source told the Daily Mail: 'Social media is used as a barometer to see what the public think. Those in charge were left no under no illusion that it was a total disaster.

'It was painful for the This Morning team to work on and it was just as painful for them to watch.

'There was a meeting afterwards to discuss how it went that went on for some time. To be honest, everyone was just so relieved to get it over with, but even if the show does continue to go on for some time, it will continue to be a massive headache.'
Clarkson's Farm star Kaleb Cooper is known for his love of the country and his hatred of cities, particularly London.

So it comes as no surprise that he found himself quite bewildered when the Clarkson's Farm team returned to the capital for the Farm to Fork summit.

It turns out the young farmer, 24, has never seen a revolving door before and was so blown away by seeing one, he went round it a few times to get the full experience.

Jeremy Clarkson 63, even posted a video to Instagram showing Kaleb smiling at the revelation, saying: 'He has never seen a revolving door before'.

Kaleb branded the experience 'amazing' and couldn't believe his luck.

'This man is a national treasure': Clarkson's Farm star Kaleb Cooper has never seen a revolving door before and fans think his reaction to going through one is priceless

Can't believe it! Jeremy Clarkson posted the video of his friend and colleague going round in circles through the door on Instagram on Wednesday

In a spin: Kaleb is well known for hating London preferring the simplicity of the countryside

Seeing double: The moment was reminiscent of a scene in the film Elf, where the main character Buddy discovers a revolving door after moving to New York following an upbringing in the North Pole

The moment was reminiscent of a scene in the film Elf, where the main character Buddy discovers a revolving door after moving to New York following an upbringing in the North Pole.

Fans wrote in the comments: 'God bless Kaleb, one of the purest persons there is.'

'We need a sitcom of just Kaleb trying new things out that blow his mind on the show it was paying for parking in the London & here it's a revolving door.'

'I bet if he goes through it fast enough and really gets it spinning hell come out the other end with a new perm.'

'Hahahaha omg I love Jeremys reaction of Caleb not seeing or knowing something is basic to all people.'

'Wrap him in cotton wool and hide him away he is a national treasure.'

Kaleb is engaged to long-term girlfriend Taya on Boxing Day and they have a son called Oscar, two, with a second baby on the way.

Back in April 2022, Kaleb, said he will NEVER leave the countryside, despite having amassed a huge fan base.

Born and bred in Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire, a small town with a population of just 6,337, Kaleb says he never wants to leave, despite his immense success.

Speaking to The Times magazine back the, he revealed the furthest he has ever travelled from his village is London, which he had visited three times at that point, and hated, describing it as 'f****** awful'.

Loving it: Fans were so delighted by the sweet video and wrote; 'Protect this man' and branded him a 'national treasure'

And talking about going to Stow-on-the-Wold, which is 18 miles away from Chipping Norton, he said: 'I got a nosebleed when we went to Stow.'

The prospect of travelling abroad is even less likely, as the farming expert does not currently own a passport.

Kaleb was brought onto the programme as they needed a tractor driver. Despite his initial nerves, he quickly seemed to grow in confidence, regularly branding former Top Gear host Jeremy a 'f***ing idiot' - and being called a 'rural halfwit' in return.

Speaking about his co-star, Kaleb has said: 'He never listens to me. I tell him to do one thing and he does the complete opposite. I get very annoyed when he messes up. That is genuine.'

He says he was never intimidated by the TV because 'I knew what I was doing and he didn't'.

But underneath the jokes there is a genuine friendship between the pair, with Kaleb adding: 'We just laugh all the time, our banter and sense of humour are very much the same. He's a great chap.'

Meanwhile, a cheerful Rishi Sunak has posted photos of himself wit Kaleb after he arrived at Downing Street - as the Prime Minister vows to protect British farmers.

Cooper visited Mr Sunak with his co-star Charlie Ireland for a 'Farm to Fork' a summit aimed at securing the UK's supermarket supply chains.

Sunak posted on his Instagram that he thoroughly enjoyed meeting the young farmer to discuss how to get more young people into farming, as well adding that they both 'compared hairstyles', in a nod to the hit Amazon Prime series.

He wrote: 'Farming isn't just a job. It's a way of life. And it doesn't matter how young you are, there's a role for you in farming. And farming businesses really thrive from having young entrepreneurial spirit.'

Cooper, a farming contractor who advises Jeremy Clarkson in the popular series, previously revealed that London had been the furthest he'd ever been from his village but he found it 'f****** awful'.
Sarah Paulson and Pedro Pascal shared a hug as they left a dinner event together in LA on Tuesday.

The actress and The Last Of Us star, both 48, have been friends for 30 years - after meeting at the beginning of their careers in 1993.

They looked affectionate as they left the dinner event at San Vicente Bungalows in West Hollywood, wrapping their arms around each other in a friendly display.

The long-term pals shared a giggle as they showed that their bond is closer than ever.

Both stars opted for a laidback look, as Sarah looked stunning in a long tan coat, which she paired with a blue and white striped shirt and jeans.

Best pals: Pedro Pascal and Sarah Paulson shared a hug on Tuesday as they left a dinner at San Vicente Bungalows in LA

Radiant: Sarah opted for a casual look in jeans and a long tan coat, while Pedro also looked laidback in a moss-green jumper

Meanwhile Pedro donned a moss-green jumper and black jeans for the relaxed outing, paired with his signature glasses.

It comes after Sarah revealed that she helped out her pal in the early days of his career by giving him wages from her acting jobs to help him afford food.

She had a slew of TV appearances in the early 2000s, before catapulting to fame with the American Horror Story franchise in 2012.

While Pedro, who is now worth an estimated $10M, became a Hollywood sensation more recently, following break out roles in Game Of Thrones and Narcos.

Explaining that she wanted her pal to succeed, Sarah shared to Esquire in a recent interview that she would give him the cash to 'feed himself' before the days of fame.

She said in the interview: 'Hes talked about this publicly, but there were times when I would give him my per diem from a job I was working on so that he could have money to feed himself.

Continuing to share her joy that her friend has become a household name, Sarah said: 'Hes a part of some spectacularly successful things. But sometimes in those situations, the show is the superstar. Its really exciting to see that he is the thing that is becoming the superstar out of this.'

Sarah and Pedro met when the latter moved to New York to study at the Tisch School of the Arts, both hoping to make it big in Hollywood.

Close: Pedro and Sarah have been friends for 30 years, since the start of their careers in 1993

While the actress was booking bigger gigs such as American Gothic and Jack & Jill in the early 2000, Pedro was making smaller cameos on screen,

But with a combined net worth of $22 million now, the two actors have certainly dominated the screens since - with Sarah's risk paying off.

The actress went on to share her view that Pedro could go on to become one of the biggest stars in Hollywood, adding: 'Everybody wants a piece of him ...You just want him to succeed. And that to me, I feel like, is the sign of a major movie star.

She even shared her hopes that he take on the leading male role in many romantic comedies, suggesting remake of Die Hard with Pedro at the helm.

Pedro and Sarah have often shown support to one another over the years, with the latter appearing on Saturday Night Live recently to support Pedro during his guest hosting stint.

Hollywood sensation Pedro also recently spoke about finding fame later in life, describing the struggles he endured early in his career and admitting he was 'getting my ass f***ing kicked' as he pursued acting.

Despite often getting passed up for roles he was close to landing, he received good feedback from casting directors which ultimately persuaded his representatives to continue working with him.

'I guess that, and this delusional self-determination, and no real skill at anything else, is what kept me going,' he said to Esquire.

Sarah Paulson reveals that she gave wages from her acting jobs to Pedro Pascal so he could 'feed himself' at the start of his career - with the actor now worth $10M

Supportive: Pedro and Sarah have often shown support to one another over the years, with the latter appearing on Saturday Night Live recently to support Pedro during his guest hosting stint

Early in his career, he thought it would all be 'over' if he didn't achieve major success by the time he was 29.

'I died so many deaths. My vision of it was that if I didnt have some major exposure by the time I was twenty-nine years old, it was over, so I was constantly readjusting what it meant to commit my life to this profession, and giving up the idea of it looking like I thought it would when I was a kid.

'There were so many good reasons to let that delusion go.'
Georgia Kousoulou and Tommy Mallet have called off their wedding - in the wake of suffering a devastating miscarriage.

The TOWIE stars already share two-year-old son Brody but shared a heartbreaking update that they had suffered a miscarriage with their second child in April.

Georgia, 31, and Tommy, 30, have now been forced to postpone their vows after the tragic news.

The decision and the reasons behind it will be shown to fans in an episode of Georgia and Tommy: Baby Steps on Thursday night on ITVBe, according to The Sun.

The new episodes will see the couple trying to cope in the aftermath of their loss, with Tommy spending one-on-one time with Brody in Thursday's episode.

Heartbreaking: TOWIE's Georgia Kousoulou and Tommy Mallet have called off their wedding (pictured with their son, Brody)

Sad: The couple have been forced to postpone their vows after revealing they suffered a devastating miscarriage last month (pictured together in 2019)

The family are 'taking time for themselves' in the wake of the miscarriage last month and are focusing on spending time together.

The couple have been together since 2014, becoming engaged last February after a getaway to Mexico.

Last month Georgia revealed the couple had been told of their loss at their 12 week scan.

Georgia posted a black and white photo of herself in her hospital bed as she told followers the shock had left her 'without words'.

Writing: 'Our 12 week scan to be told our baby had not survived & I needed an op'

'12 weeks of feeling every emotion, hoping & praying but in the end, nothing else we could of done'

'We dont really have the words to say right now except we are lucky to have amazing family & friends around us .. & most importantly we are blessed to have our beautiful Brody who we couldnt of got through this without him'.

Before adding: 'We will have the words soon but right now we are taking time for us as a family'.

Heartbreak: Georgia Kousoulou and Tommy Mallet revealed the devastating news that they have suffered a miscarriage last month

Statement: Writing: 'Our 12 week scan to be told our baby had not survived & I needed an op'

Devastation: Georgia posted a black and white photo of herself in her hospital bed as she told followers the shock had left her 'without words'

Tommy later gave fans an update, explaining that he is 'so proud' of Georgia, who was on the mend after surgery.

He penned: '& just like that life changes, its been a rough few days for my family but as always we keep it moving, Georgia is on the mend and its mine and Brodys mission to build her back up..

'We was documenting the pregnancy for our show and found out the bad news whilst filming, and as a family weve always said we need to keep it real no matter what, so we are going to finish the show off and hopefully help some people along the way! (sic)

He added: 'Im so proud of Georgia, thank you for the messages we really appreciate it'

Meanwhile, Georgia shared a series of quotes to her Instagram Stories after revealing the heartbreaking news.

One read: 'What didn't work out was only protecting and preparing your energy for what will work out. Something greater is manifesting for you'

Another said: 'Focus on the steps in front of you, and not the whole staircase'

The engaged couple welcomed Brody in May last year and have since shared with their fans how their relationship almost ended as Tommy struggled to deal with his ADHD diagnosis.

Tough: Giving fans an update Tommy explained that he is 'so proud' of Georgia, who was on the mend after surgery

He penned: '& just like that life changes, its been a rough few days for my family but as always we keep it moving, Georgia is on the mend and its mine and Brody's mission to build her back up..'

Devastating: The heartbroken star, who also shares two-year-old son Brody with her partner, revealed the couple had been told of their loss at their 12 week scan

They documented the difficult time on their reality series Baby Steps - with entrepreneur Tommy admitting it was time he 'confronted' his condition to save his romance and family life with Georgia.

Georgia and Tommy admitted their relationship had become so strained that they both said they were willing to move out of the Essex home they share together.

Reality personality Georgia took off her engagement ring but stood by Tommy following his diagnosis and in a last attempt to save their family.

In the first episode of their third series, Tommy says it was his son who influenced his decision to confront a problem that has existed his whole life.

He explained: 'Basically I was falling out with my nearest and dearest to the point where me and Georgia were really on the ropes in our relationship for the first time and it nearly resulted in me leaving.'

The businessman admitted that he started to hate the person he had become and longed for a diagnosis, which ended up being severe ADHD.

Tommy said: 'Leaving it untreated can lead to some really mad things and I was there.'

Georgia admitted that she was 'relieved' following Tommy's diagnosis and it gave her 'hope' their relationship could turn a corner.

She added: 'It's crazy how he's lived for 30 years with that and not known it's actually really sad.'

Georgia and Tommy: Baby Steps airs Thursdays at 9pm on ITVBE and ITVX.
Iris Law looked effortlessly stylish in a white co-ord as she stepped out during the Cannes Film Festival on Wednesday.

The model, 22, flashed her toned midriff in a cropped V-neck top which she teamed with a low rise matching pleated mini skirt.

Iris, the daughter of Jude Law and Sadie Frost, opted for a pair of black flat sandals and wore a pair of dark sunglasses while strolling through the French Riviera town.

She accessorised the daytime number by layering gold necklaces and opted for a pair of chunky hoop earrings.

This year's Cannes Film Festival promises a Cote d'Azur buffet of spectacle, scandal and cinema set to be served over the next 12 days.

Chic: Iris Law looked effortlessly stylish in a white co-ord as she stepped out during the Cannes Film Festival on Wednesday

Stylish: The model, 22, flashed her toned midriff in a cropped V-neck top which she teamed with a low rise matching pleated mini skirt

It's unspooling against the backdrop of labour unrest. Protests that have roiled France in recent months over changes to its pension system are planned to run during the festival, albeit at a distance from the festival's main hub.

Meanwhile, an ongoing strike by screenwriters in Hollywood could have unpredictable effects on the French Riviera festival.

But with a festival lined with some much-anticipated big-budget films, including James Mangold's Indiana Jones and the Dial of the Destiny and Martin Scorsese's Killers of the Flower Moon, the party is sure to go on, regardless.

Stars set to hit Cannes red carpet in the next week and a half include Natalie Portman, Leonardo DiCaprio, Cate Blanchett, Sean Penn, Alicia Vikander, The Weeknd and Scarlett Johansson.

The festivities on Tuesday included an opening ceremony where Michael Douglas received an honorary Palme d'Or.

Later, one will also be dished out to Indiana Jones star Harrison Ford.

The jury that will decide the festival's top prize, the Palme d'Or, will also be introduced.

Looking good: Iris, the daughter of Jude Law and Sadie Frost, opted for a pair of black flat sandals and wore a pair of dark sunglasses while strolling around the French Riviera town

Out and about: She accessorised the daytime number by layering gold necklaces and opted for a pair of chunky hoop earrings

All smiles: Iris styled her short bleached locks loose framing her face

Casual: Iris stepped out shopping with a pal who cut a casual figure in a pair of khaki cargo shorts and a white vest

This year, the jury is led by Swedish filmmaker Ruben Ostlund, a two-time Palme winner who last year won for the social satire 'The Triangle of Sadness.'

The rest of the jury includes Brie Larson, Paul Dano, French director Julia Ducournau, Argentine filmmaker Damian Szifron, Afghan director Atiq Rahimi, French actor Denis Menochet, Moroccan filmmaker Maryam Tourzani and a Zambian-Welsh director Rungano Nyoni.

The opening night selection has attracted some controversy.

Jeanne du Barry, directed by and co-starring the French actor-director Maiwenn, co-stars Depp as Louis XV.

It's Depp's first new film since his trial last year with Amber Heard, his ex-wife.

After both Depp and Heard accused each other of physical and verbal abuse, a civil jury awarded Depp $10 million in damages and $2 million to Heard.

In remarks to the press Monday, Cannes director Thierry Fremaux defended the choice, saying Depp is extraordinary in the film and he paid no attention to the trial.

'To tell you the truth, in my life, I only have one rule, it's the freedom of thinking, the freedom of speech and the freedom to act within a legal framework,' said Fremaux.

'If Johnny Depp had been banned from acting in a film, or the film was banned we wouldn't be here talking about it.'

Exciting: This year's festival promises a Cote d'Azur buffet of spectacle, scandal and cinema set to be served over the next 12 days
Kate Garraway's husband Derek Draper looked healthy as the pair enjoyed a pub lunch in north London on Wednesday.

The ITV presenter, 56, and her partner, 55, were joined by his carer as they went on the low-key outing where Kate's parents were also in attendance.

Derek, was diagnosed with coronavirus at the beginning of the pandemic in March 2020 and left in a life-threatening condition.

Doctors put him in a medically induced coma and on a ventilator and he was in hospital for 13 months.

He has been seriously ill since 2020 and has been in and out of hospital ever since.

Out and about: Kate Garraway's husband Derek Draper looked healthy as the pair enjoyed a pub lunch in north London on Wednesday

Pub trip: The ITV presenter, 56, and her partner, 55, were joined by his carer as they went on the low-key outing where Kate's parents were also in attendance

Tough: Derek, was diagnosed with coronavirus at the beginning of the pandemic in March 2020 and left in a life-threatening condition

On Wednesday, Derek was seen being pushed in a wheelchair as he spent time with his loved ones.

He dressed casually in a navy jumper, tracksuit bottoms and comfortable black trainers.

Meanwhile Kate looked stylish in a blue and white flower patterned dress which she wore with a white cardigan and scarf.

It comes after Kate lauded King Charles on Good Morning Britain recently, as she detailed the letter he sent her Covid-ridden husband Derek in 2020.

Ahead of the Coronation, the broadcaster spoke kindly about the monarch and how he supported her husband, who has been left with life-altering after effects from his lengthy battle with the virus.

She said: 'I think he is a very careful kind man. He put: 'I really hope that you'll get the chance to read this to Derek'. And I have had the chance to read that to him.'

The interaction came after the start of the pandemic in 2020, saw Kate voice her fears about catching the virus after meeting King Charles just days before he tested positive for coronavirus.

At the time, she spoke about the meeting live on Good Morning Britain, revealing that the pair had got 'relatively close' at the Prince's Trust Awards on March 11. Derek was diagnosed with the virus soon after the exchange.

Scary: Doctors put him in a medically induced coma and on a ventilator and he was in hospital for 13 months

Turbulent: Derek has been seriously ill since 2020 and has been in and out of hospital ever since

Outing: On Wednesday, Derek was seen being pushed in a wheelchair as he spent time with his loved ones

Ensemble: Meanwhile Kate looked stylish in a blue and white flower patterned dress which she wore with a white cardigan and scarf

Relaxed: He dressed casually in a navy jumper, tracksuit bottoms and comfortable black trainers

Sweet: It comes after Kate lauded King Charles on Good Morning Britain recently, as she detailed the letter he sent her Covid-ridden husband Derek in 2020

Revelations: Ahead of the Coronation , the broadcaster spoke kindly about the monarch and how he supported her husband, who has been left with life-altering after effects from his lengthy battle with the virus

Nice: She said: 'I think he is a very careful kind man. He put: 'I really hope that you'll get the chance to read this to Derek'. And I have had the chance to read that to him'

Support: In October 2021, Kate confirmed the identity of the mystery Royal who helped support her during Derek's Covid battle

Decisions: It comes after it was revealed that Kate is reportedly planning a trip across the world to find pioneering treatment in a final bid to save Derek's life

Journey: A source told Bella Magazine: 'This really is Kate's desperate bid to try and save Derek's life and she is willing to try anything'

Trip: As a result of lockdown rules during the pandemic, Kate and the couple's two children Darcey, 16, and Billy, 13, were unable to visit him as he received treatment

Tough times: However, following the long period of hospitalisation, his body was ravaged with various crippling conditions and he now remains confined to a bed and wheelchair

Battle: While Derek's long-term chance of recovery is still not known, the 'utter devastation' to his body is undeniable

In October 2021, Kate confirmed the identity of the mystery Royal who helped support her during Derek's Covid battle.

She spoke to Charles about his kindness - which she referenced in her memoir The Power Of Hope - saying: 'And you might not remember but you were very kind to me because my husband got very sick with Covid after the last Prince's Trust awards...

'You wrote to me and gave me help, so thank you very much and he did improve.'

On Friday, following on from her words about his kindness, Kate also shared a hilarious anecdote of her second meeting with the King.

She said: 'It was the Princes Trust again and I got very wet on the way there, I was dashing from one event to another, and I found myself face to face with the now king and I had that odour of a wet dog.

'I apologised for smelling like a wet dog and as I went to shake his hand a massive thunder clap sounded and he said 'Never mind dogs, have you got contacted with Thor?'

The English MBE recalled the hilarious moment with joy as she praised him for the commitment to his new role.

'He's had a very long time to think about it and carve out his role, i think he is very spiritual as well,' she said.

'People who know him a lot better than me have said that he will take a moment tonight to think about it.'

It comes after it was revealed that Kate is reportedly planning a trip across the world to find pioneering treatment in a final bid to save Derek's life.

A source told Bella Magazine: 'This really is Kate's desperate bid to try and save Derek's life and she is willing to try anything.

'She's been looking into a number of experimental medical options around the world and particularly in Mexico in an effort to save him from the devastating effects of Covid-19.

'Kate only wants the best for Derek. She wants to try it because she feels as though it's her last hope.'

Derek, a former political advisor, has previously travelled to Mexico in 2021 and 2022 for clinical trials.

As a result of lockdown rules during the pandemic, Kate and the couple's two children Darcey, 16, and Billy, 13, were unable to visit him as he received treatment.

Thirteen months later, Derek was finally allowed to go home.

However, following the long period of hospitalisation, his body was ravaged with various crippling conditions and he now remains confined to a bed and wheelchair.

While Derek's long-term chance of recovery is still not known, the 'utter devastation' to his body is undeniable.

Although Kate insisted that they'd had 'wonderful treatment' from the NHS, which were essential in keeping her husband alive, the foreign trips offer 'potentially life saving treatment'.

As well as the trip, the Smooth Radio presenter has had to spend 'tens of thousands of pounds' adapting the family home in London for Derek, which included the installation of ramps, a downstairs wet room and a makeshift downstairs bedroom.

Due to the severity of his illness and length of time spent in hospital he remains unable to walk and has developed debilitating symptoms.

In summer last year, Derek developed sepsis and was again rushed to hospital, where the severe condition nearly killed him.

Speaking about his current condition and caring for him, she told The Sun: 'There are some days where he literally cannot do anything and it's like the computer is switched off.

'He cannot move, and he's in so much pain as we are manipulating him, trying to get him more mobile so that he doesn't regress.'

Terrifying: In summer last year, Derek developed sepsis and was again rushed to hospital, where the severe condition nearly killed him

Testing: Speaking about his current condition and caring for him, she told The Sun: 'There are some days where he literally cannot do anything and it's like the computer is switched off'

Health: Due to the severity of his illness and length of time spent in hospital he remains unable to walk and has developed debilitating symptoms

She added: 'He cannot move, and he's in so much pain as we are manipulating him, trying to get him more mobile so that he doesn't regress'

Quality time: The whole family was out and about

In good spirits: Kate looked happy on the outing

Health issues: Derek was being pushed in a wheelchair

Group: They walked down the pavement

Lunch: They all headed to the pub

Essentials: Kate carried an M&S bag

Chilly: She had a scarf on

Kindness: Their carer joined them

Smiles: Kate looked in good spirits

family unit: They were out for lunch together

Uphill battle: It has been a difficult few years

Support: Kate was with her parents

Open: The journalist added that it is 'heart-breaking' to watch her husband of 18 years unable to move with tears streaming down his face, noting that as 'hard' as it is for them, she 'cannot imagine' how tough it is for Derek

Hard: Reflecting on the ups and downs of caring for her husband, Kate remarked that every day is a 'roller coaster' as Derek's spirit 'fluctuates'

The presenter noted that despite Derek's insistence that they carry on, she says it's 'unbearable' to see him in pain, admitting it makes her 'emotional' just speaking about it.

However, she added: 'It also makes me fall in love with him all over again because of that spirit, that determination to keep going. Derek is trapped, but he fights on. We cling on to the good days.'

Reflecting on the ups and downs of caring for her husband, Kate remarked that every day is a 'roller coaster' as Derek's spirit 'fluctuates'.

The journalist added that it is 'heart-breaking' to watch her husband of 18 years unable to move with tears streaming down his face, noting that as 'hard' as it is for them, she 'cannot imagine' how tough it is for Derek.
Georgia Fowler was seen enjoying fresh air with her mother Kim on Wednesday.

The 30-year-old model was spotted carrying her one-year-old daughter Dylan as she stepped out onto the streets of New York City.

The brunette beauty flaunted her incredible figure in green sport tights and a white crop top for the outing.

Georgia completed her look with a pair of comfortable grey sneakers and kept a low profile with dark sunglasses.

She tied her long brunette locks into a high bun and appeared to be makeup free for the outing.

Georgia Fowler lovingly carried her baby daughter while taking her for a walk through the streets of New York City on Wednesday

The brunette beauty flaunted her incredible figure in green sport tights and a white crop top for the outing

Meanwhile, little Dylan appears to be a fashionista in the making, looking adorable in a Burberry sundress and white sandals.

Georgia shares her daughter Dylan with her husband Nathan Dalah.

The couple tied the knot in the Southern Highlands in January. They announced their engagement on July 30 last year.

At the time, Georgia revealed on Instagram Nathan proposed during a photo shoot for Tiffany & Co.

The model was shooting a campaign called 'Tiffany Love' when Nathan dropped down to one knee on set.

Meanwhile, little Dylan appears to be a fashionista in the making, looking adorable in a Burberry sundress and white sandals.

Georgia shares her daughter Dylan with her husband Nathan Dalah

In the video, Nathan was seen getting down on one knee in front of Georgia.

'I would say that I had this really crazy idea,' he said in the clip.

Georgia replied, 'Yes, I will,' before the crew cheered for the happy couple.

The mother-of-one is back in New York after living in Australia for the past few years.

The couple tied the knot in the Southern Highlands in January
Johnny Depp has addressed whether he felt 'boycotted' by Hollywood as he made an appearance at Cannes Film Festival on Wednesday.

The actor, 59, spoke to the press at the 76th Film Festival just one day after his new film Jeanne du Barry premiered at Tuesday's opening night.

The drama, which sees Depp play King Louis XV, is his first film since his trial against his ex-wife Amber Heard, which saw a civil jury award him $10million in damages.

Depp's first film in three years comes after he was notably asked to step down from the Harry Potter spin-off franchise Fantastic Beasts.

Now, he has addressed whether he feels 'boycotted' by Hollywood as he claimed he has 'no need' for it and shared he has no plans to return to studio projects.

Hollywood: Johnny Depp has addressed whether he felt 'boycotted' by Hollywood as he made an appearance at Cannes Film Festival on Wednesday

Speaking at a press conference, he said: 'I don't feel boycotted by Hollywood, because I don't think about Hollywood. I don't have much further need for Hollywood, myself.

'It's a strange, funny time where everybody would love to be able to be themselves, but they can't. They must fall in line with the person in front of them. If you want to live that life, I wish you the best.'

Depp went on to address what it was like being asked to 'resign' from a film, adding: 'Did I feel boycotted by Hollywood? You'd have to not have a pulse to feel like, "No. None of this is happening. It's a weird joke".

'When you're asked to resign from a film you're doing because of something that is merely a function of vowels and consonants floating in the air, yes, you feel boycotted.'

Depp also hit back at people who have questioned whether Cannes should have given him such a prominent platform.

'What if one day, they did not allow me to go to McDonald's for life because somewhere there'd be 39 angry people watching me eat a Big Mac on a loop?' he asked. 'Who are they? What do they care?'

The Pirates Of The Caribbean star went on to discuss why he doesn't think he has had a 'comeback', insisting he didn't go anywhere.

'I've had my 17th comeback, apparently,' he said. 'I keep wondering about the word "comeback'. I didn't go anywhere.

Speaking out: The actor, 59, addressed the press at the 76th Film Festival just one day after his new film Jeanne du Barry premiered at Tuesday's grand opening night

Exit: Depp's first film in three years comes after he was notably asked to step down as Gellert Grindelwald from the Harry Potter spin-off franchise Fantastic Beasts

Update: Now, he has addressed whether he feels 'boycotted' by Hollywood as he claimed he has 'no need' for it and shared he has no plans to return to studio projects

'As a matter of fact, I live about 45 minutes away. Maybe people stopped calling out of whatever their fear was at the time. But I didn't go nowhere.'

Depp took part in the Jeanne du Barry press conference alongside his co-star, the French actor-director Maiwenn. The film opened in French cinemas on Tuesday.

His latest comments come after Depp received a seven-minute standing ovation at the premiere of his French film Jeanne du Barry on Tuesday.

The actor teared up while taking in the moment with director and co-star Maiwenn by his side.

Louis XV reigned over France from 1715 to his death in 1774. He was married to Queen of France, Marie Leczinska but had a number of long-term affairs. Jeanne was his final lover before he died.

According to the synopsis, the film follows 'Jeanne Vaubernier, a young working-class woman hungry for culture and pleasure [who] uses her intelligence and allure to climb the rungs of the social ladder one by one.'

The plot continues as she 'becomes the favorite of King Louis XV, who, unaware of her status as courtesan, regains through her his appetite for life'.

'They fall madly in love,' the synopsis reads. 'Against all propriety and etiquette, Jeanne moves to Versailles, where her arrival scandalises the court.'

The film also stars Benjamin Lavernhe, Melvil Poupaud, Pierre Richard, Pascal Greggory, and India Hair.

The film is Depp's first project since his court case against his ex-wife Amber, while Cannes marked his first red carpet appearance since the case.

In remarks to the press Monday, Cannes director Thierry Fremaux defended the choice, saying Depp is extraordinary in the film and he paid no attention to the trial.

'To tell you the truth, in my life, I only have one rule, it's the freedom of thinking, the freedom of speech and the freedom to act within a legal framework,' said Fremaux.

'If Johnny Depp had been banned from acting in a film, or the film was banned we wouldn't be here talking about it.'

After both Depp and Heard accused each other of physical and verbal abuse, a civil jury awarded Depp $10million in damages and $2million to Heard - though they later agreed on Depp being awarded $1million to put an end to their legal battle.

In 2016, Heard, 36, famously accused the actor, 59, of domestic violence, which led to Depp being blacklisted by much of Hollywood resulting in loss of film roles.

A jury determined that Heard's claims, which were published in a 2018 Washington Post op-ed, against Depp were defamatory.

Depp was ordered to pay Heard $2million by the same courtroom after Heard countersued for defamation.

Boycott: Speaking at a press conference, he said: 'I don't feel boycotted by Hollywood, because I don't think about Hollywood'

Speaking out: He added: 'It's a strange, funny time where everybody would love to be able to be themselves, but they can't. They must fall in line with the person in front of them'

Screen stars: Johnny joined his Jeanne du Barry co-star Maiwenn at the photocall

All smiles: The actor waved at the cameras

Thoughts: Depp also hit back at people who have questioned whether Cannes should have given him such a prominent platform

Candid: 'What if one day, they did not allow me to go to McDonald's for life because somewhere there'd be 39 angry people watching me eat a Big Mac on a loop?' he asked

Dismissed: The Pirates Of The Caribbean star went on to discuss why he doesn't think he has had a 'comeback', insisting he didn't go anywhere

New project: The drama, which sees Depp play King Louis XV (pictured), is his first film since his trial against his ex Amber Heard, which saw a civil jury award him $10million in damages

Court: In 2016, Heard, 36, famously accused the actor, 59, of domestic violence, which led to Depp being blacklisted by much of Hollywood resulting in loss of film roles

Heard filed an appeal in early December, but the the former couple recently came to an agreement that Heard would pay $1million in order to settle the case instead of heading into a third trial.

Lawyers for Depp, Benjamin Chew and Camille Vasquez, said the actor is glad the 'painful chapter' is over and confirmed he would donate the money to charity.

In an Instagram statement, Heard confirmed the settlement but refused to accept guilt and declared her life had been 'destroyed' by the jury's decision.

In 2020, a British court ruled that 12 of 14 violence incidents claimed by Heard were 'substantially true,' and Depp was subsequently forced to resign from the 'Fantastic Beasts' franchise at the request of Warner Bros.
Millie Mackintosh was the perfect poster girl for her new fashion collaboration on Tuesday.

The ex Made In Chelsea star strolled to the launch of her Friends Like These collection in a chic outfit from the range.

Strutting in the London sunshine, Millie looked gorgeous in a pair of white shorts and a matching blazer.

Drawing attention to her tanned legs, she added silver strappy heels and accessorised with shades.

Chic in the city: Millie Mackintosh was the perfect poster girl for her new fashion collaboration with Friends Like These on Tuesday

Leggy: The ex Made In Chelsea star strolled to the launch of her latest collection in a chic outfit from the range

Gushing about her new collection, Millie said on Instagram that the pieces 'inspire a summer filled with adventure, fun and romance'.

Millie recently hit the headlines when she admitted she felt like she was snubbed by Meghan Markle when she began dating Prince Harry.

Speaking on her Mumlemmas podcast, Millie, 33, revealed she became pals with the Suits star after they met at a hotel event in Turkey, and even 'gave her all of her contacts,' when she moved to London.

She explained: 'I was a fan, I watched Suits, and we met at the bar and we were both ordering a drink at the same time I started chatting. We got on really well, we got on like a house on fire, and just stayed in touch.

Millie said she and Meghan bonded over their marital troubles, as the Made In Chelsea star was married to rapper Professor Green at the time, and Meghan had previously split from her first husband Trevor Engelson.

She continued: 'When we first met I was married, going through a bit of a turbulent time, and I got divorced, and she was divorced so we had quite a lot to talk about.

'We hung out a handful of times, we weren't best friends, but whenever she was in town she'd let me know and we would just hang out.'

'Then the last time I saw her was down at a hotel in the Cotswolds, she was staying there, what I thought was going to be a day of yoga ended up being rose and margaritas in the pool.

'It was a really fun afternoon, there were pictures taken of us riding around on the bikes. That was the last time I saw her.'

Ready to celebrare: Strutting in the London sunshine, Millie looked gorgeous in a pair of white shorts and a matching blazer

Launch day: The MIC beauty looked gorgeous in her all-white look, turning heads as she strolled to a central London hotel

Glam: She accessorised with a simple gold necklace and coordinated chunky earrings

She's in fashion: Gushing about her new collection, Millie said on Instagram that the pieces 'inspire a summer filled with adventure, fun and romance'

Pals: Millie was all smiles as she posed with wellness blogger Rosie Underwood at the launch

Incredible: The MID beauty sat down for a lavish lunch for the launch (pictured with Donna Rooney)

Millie explained that Meghan briefly mentioned she was dating Harry during their final meeting, and weeks later, rumours of their relationship began to swirl.

She then reached out to Meghan when her relationship with Harry came to light.

'I messaged her and said, ''Hey I hope you're OK, thinking of you,'' and she sent me this really abrupt message, that was really unlike any of our communications before.'

Millie, who did not disclose the message she received, added that she didn't question Meghan about her relationship with Harry but admitted that she 'never heard from her again. I felt like she'd basically told me to f**k off in that message. So I did. And we haven't spoken since.'
Love Island star Tanya Manhenga was in summer mode as she modelled a string of sexy bikinis by the pool.

The television personality, 23, flaunted her figure as she slipped into a pink cut out swimsuit and a green bikini as she took to Instagram on Tuesday.

Tanya teamed the swimwear with tiny sarongs and shorts as she pouted for the camera and swished her hair this way and that.

It comes as Tanya and her boyfriend Shaq Muhammad, 24, took a swipe at Love Island bosses over the way she was edited on screen.

'I've watched more than she's watched and based on the things that I know and how it was perceived, Tanya's not like that. She's not this big bad villain that everyone thinks she is,' Shaq said.

Racy display: Love Island star Tanya Manhenga was in summer mode as she modelled a string of sexy bikinis by the pool

Sizzling: The television personality, 23, flaunted her figure as she slipped into a pink cut out swimsuit and a green bikini as she took to Instagram on Tuesday

'She's honestly the nicest, kindest girl that I've ever met and I wouldn't be with her if that wasn't the case,' he added in an interview with the Daily Star.

Tanya said: 'We never got picked because we were actually decent and they could tell how I am because they know how I am, but then obviously on screen it was a completely different thing, so yeah I do think we got edited pretty bad because that's not me.'

ITV declined to comment when contacted by MailOnline.

The new series of Love Island is fast approaching, with Maya Jama taking the helm as host.

And bosses have reportedly signed up a stunning panto actress ahead of this year's summer series.

With just weeks to go until the ITV2 reality show's June 5 return, Molly Marsh is allegedly in final talks to jet out to Mallorca.

The Yorkshire-native, 24, already boasts a whopping 26k followers on Instagram and her mum Janet has enjoyed roles in a string of British soaps.

She's thought to have caught the producers' eyes after taking a tour of the winter villa in January.

Confident: Tanya teamed the swimwear with tiny sarongs and shorts as she pouted for the camera and swished her hair this way and that

Sizzling: Tanya also modelled a crochet type bikini and miniskirt

Hitting out: It comes as Tanya and her boyfriend Shaq Muhammad, 24, took a swipe at Love Island bosses over the way she was edited on screen

Her grid on the photosharing platform is littered with snaps from her trip to the South African mansion, including in the beach hut and fire pit.

A source told The Sun: 'Molly was scouted after visiting the villa in South Africa earlier this year. She was on the tour as an invited guest when she caught the eyes of producers.

'Molly made it clear she would love to be a part of Love Island and she was told to audition. After going through the process, she's now a shoo-in to fly to Mallorca later this month.

'She is a star on the rise and comes from a showbiz family  her mum Janet even had small roles on Coronation Street and Still Open All Hours. Molly has made it clear she's got what it takes to make a bang and ITV love her.'

It's believed Molly has bagged roles in national tours of Oliver! and Sleeping Beauty before trying her luck on the small screen.

The insider went on to tell how thousands of hopefuls have now been shortlisted to 25, with the final cut set to be announced in just days.
Channel 4 has cut ties with Escape To The Chateau stars Dick and Angel Strawbridge following an independent investigation reportedly into their conduct.

The TV channel has confirmed that they will no longer work with Dick, 63, and Angel, 45, - who have now been branded 'spiky and volatile - on any new productions 'following a review'.

Sources claimed Two Rivers Media, the company that produces Escape To The Chateau, raised concerns about the presenting duo, according to Deadline.

The exact nature of the allegations is not known, but the publication reported that three of their former colleagues alleged the couple have clashed with producers.

A source told them: 'There has been a deteriorating relationship between Two Rivers and Dick and Angel's Chateau TV for various reasons and it all came to a head.'

Dropped: Channel 4 has cut ties with Escape To The Chateau stars Dick and Angel Strawbridge following an independent investigation reportedly into their conduct

'People who try to remote manage them from the UK, that doesn't work, or people who come into their house and boss them around, that doesn't work either,' the source added.

'Producers turn them into this perfect, brilliant, funny couple, they're that on camera, but that's about it.'

A Channel 4 spokeswoman told MailOnline: 'Following a review, we have taken the decision not to work with Dick and Angel on any new productions in the future.'

While Two Rivers added: 'We can confirm that we will no longer work with Dick and Angel and cannot comment further at the moment.'

Escape To The Chateau aired its ninth and final series in late 2022, but spin-off travel show Escape To The Chateau: Secret France was already in the works.

The programme has reportedly wrapped and is currently being edited, but Channel 4 has not yet confirmed whether it will be broadcast.

Sharing a sneak-peek of filming for the spin-off in January, former engineer Dick and designer Angel wrote on Instagram: 'We are busy filming our new series for Channel 4.

'Escape to the Chateau: Secret France will be on your screens later this year  we can't wait to share our discoveries with you!'

Ending: The TV channel has confirmed that they will no longer work with Dick, 63, and Angel, 45, on any new productions 'following a review'

Concerns: Sources claimed Two Rivers Media, the company that produces Escape To The Chateau, raised concerns about the presenting duo, according to reports

MailOnline has contacted Dick and Angel's representatives for further comment.

Escape To The Chateau became one of the channel's biggest hits when it started airing in 2016, with many tuning in to see Dick's handiwork and Angel's creativity when transforming their home.

The couple bought the run-down 45-room chateau for just 280,000 in 2015, with Channel 4 launching a popular series following the transformation in 2016.

Dick and Angel previously worked with Spark Media Partners, which launched Escape To The Chateau back in 2016 and produced its first four series.

However, back in 2021, it was reported that sources close to Spark Media had accused Dick and Angel of bullying.

Dick was accused of pushing one crew member around a room, and threatening to throw another 'out the f*****g window' while brandishing a hammer. Both were also said to have sworn at TV staff.

Meanwhile, the show apparently haemorrhaged producer directors (PDs) during the first four series, as it was claimed three out of six left prematurely following rows.

Dick and Angel categorically denied the accusations at the time. In testimony via their representative at the time, the couple emphasised the warm atmosphere among the team, but also their long-held, high professional standards, which they say has helped bring their chateau fantasy to successful fruition.

Their representative said production members associated with the couple over many years found 'working with our clients at the chateau is a lovely experience'.

They also made accusations of their own of outrageous behaviour among the Spark's production team.

At the time, Channel 4 denied all knowledge of the row: 'Channel 4 does not tolerate bullying or abusive behaviour in any of its productions.'

Escape To The Chateau was coined in 2014 after an executive at Spark Media heard that Angel and Dick were leaving their two-bedroom flat in Southend, Essex, for a new life in France.

Future? Escape To The Chateau aired its final series in late 2022, but spin-off show Escape To The Chateau: Secret France was in the works. It is not known if the show will be broadcast

Hit show: Their show Escape to the Chateau became one of the channel's biggest hits when it started airing in 2016

After searching for the chateau for four years, the pair bought the sprawling 19th century building in 2015 after swapping their two-bed home in east London.

The villa is called Chateau-de-la-Motte Husson and it is in the picturesque Loire region of North West France around 200 miles from Paris.

The series was full of arguments and tiffs over stressful renovations, precious moments with their children Arthur, nine, and Dorothy, eight and creating happy memories with newlyweds.

The chateau has since been valued at 2million but the couple have also cashed in through TV rights from Channel 4 for the series.
DJ Fat Tony has revealed that he is waiting for clearance from the Qatar government for him and his boyfriend who are both HIV positive to go to the country where it is illegal to enter if you have the virus.

The star, 56, real name Tony Marnach, is wanting to go to the country with his partner Stavros Agapiou to wave the flag for trans rights after well-publicized human rights issues.

The LGBTQ+ activist spoke during Advertising Week Europe on Wednesday as he plans to 'experience first hand' the country.

He added that he won't be in five-star hotels during the trip but will be spending time with members of the trans community who 'can't express who they are because of fear'.

He said: 'I have been waiting for clearance from the Qatar government, for me and my boyfriend, who are both HIV positive, to go to a country where it is illegal to be HIV positive.

Candid: DJ Fat Tony has revealed that he is waiting for clearance from the Qatar government for him and his boyfriend who are both HIV positive to go to the country where it is illegal to have the virus

Travel: The star, 56, real name Tony Marnach, is wanting to go to the country with his partner Stavros Agapiou to wave the flag for trans rights after well-publicized human rights issues

'I have been very vocal about members of my community going to Qatar and promoting it with everything that's going on in the world and the human rights atrocities.'

'I've got hypocrite tattooed on my hand for a reason. I can very well say this stuff, but I'm going to Qatar later this year to experience it firsthand.'

'Not in five-star hotels, but with members of the trans community and those who can't express who they are because of fear.'

It comes after back in January DJ Fat Tony posted shocking photos from when he was in the grip of a drug addiction as he celebrated 16 years sober.

He took to Instagram to share harrowing images from when he was in the throes of a crack cocaine addiction, revealing that he was homeless and had no teeth due to his habit.

He added that he posts the images each year as a 'message of hope' to anyone struggling and to remind people to never give up.

He wrote on Instagram: 'This was me just over 16 years ago, I was dying from addiction.

'I hated myself and life and all I had to look forward to was death. I was homeless and had no teeth.

Intentions: The LGBTQ+ activist spoke during Advertising Week Europe on Wednesday as he plans to 'experience first hand' the country

Hopes: He added that he won't be in five-star hotels during the trip but will be spending time with members of the trans community who 'can't express who they are because of fear'

Ideas: He said: 'I have been waiting for clearance from the Qatar government, for me and my boyfriend, who are both HIV positive, to go to a country where it is illegal to be HIV positive'

'Today I am celebrating 16 YEARS CLEAN AND SOBER and love life. I post these pictures every year as a message of hope to anyone struggling because when you think life can't get any worse, it can only get better.

'Never take anything for granted and never ever give up. Thank you to each and every one of you that has shown me love and a new way to live, I love you.'

Tony's addiction continued for years while working as a top DJ where he would sometimes earn 100,000 per night.

The star discovered drugs when he was 18 and would convince himself that he couldn't DJ unless he was high, sometimes going four or five nights straight without sleeping.

The drugs affected Tony's perception of reality and at one point he said he became 'so psychotic' that he believed there were creatures inside his gums he wanted to remove.

Speaking to new! magazine in 2021, he said: 'It got to the stage where I'd pull my teeth out of my mouth with my bare fingers or pry them out with a screwdriver. My whole face was numb from the drugs so it didn't hurt.'

His addiction hurt his relationship with ex-boyfriend James, who eventually helped him to quit when he found him passed out on the floor of a nightclub and said: 'What's happened to you?'

Tony had an epiphany and he soon quit drugs cold turkey, spending six months in rehab to beat the addiction.

While he is clean now, the DJ admitted it wasn't an easy road to recovery as he replaced his drug addiction with a sex addiction.

He said: 'It wasn't a smooth path, I replaced drugs with a sex addition and was sleeping with up to eight blokes a day. But I treated that addiction too, although things didn't work out with James.'

Tony told how he also helped his close friend Boy George get clean.

Tough: It comes after back in January DJ Fat Tony posted shocking photos from when he was in the grip of a drug addiction as he celebrated 16 years sober

Message of hope: He took to Instagram to share harrowing images, revealing that he was homeless and had no teeth due to his habit

New life: The musician, who now hosts The Recovery Podcast, said he now relishes life and knows that drugs are a doorway to death (pictured on This Morning in June)

The DJ also helps at Resort 12, an LGBT specialist rehab clinic in Thailand, saying he thinks people in the community need special care.

While he has had moments of temptation since getting clean, Tony said his life is 'too good' to risk what he has, saying drink and drugs are no longer 'an option'.

Tony said he knows if he had one night of drinking or taking drugs now, he would 'go straight back to being that guy with no teeth'.

The musician, who now hosts The Recovery Podcast, said he now relishes life and knows that drugs are a doorway to death.
Geri Horner was looking for a royal pardon from King Charles as she attended the Trust Awards on Wednesday, 26 years after she cheekily kissed him on the cheek and patted his bum.

The Spice Girls star, 50, has met the King several times over the years and looked happy to see one another again as they shared a hug at the star-studded event.

Geri even gave Charles an encouraging pep talk, telling him 'you're a very modern king' after kissing him on both cheeks.

Ginger Spice also told King Charles she is 'very proud' of him.

Geri later said: 'I just think he's a modern king, and when he was 28 years old he started the Prince's Trust.

Welcome: Geri Horner was looking for a royal pardon from King Charles as she attended the Trust Awards on Wednesday, 26 years after she cheekily kissed him on the bottom

Hug: The Spice Girls star, 50, has met the King several times over the years and looked happy to see one another again as they shared a hug at the star-studded event

Spice Up Your Life: In 1997, the Spice Girls met King Charles to celebrate the 21st Anniversary Of The Prince's Trust charity - and were very cheeky

'He could have been out partying, instead he created this amazing organisation  a modern king that believed in investing in the potential and possibility of people.'

Charles invited those recognised during Tuesday's Prince's Trust awards to the palace along with the celebrities who presented the honours, including Hollywood star Stanley Tucci, British actor Stephen Graham, Edward Enninful, editor-in-chief of British Vogue, musician and producer Nile Rodgers and the event's hosts Ant and Dec.

This Morning presenter Holly Willoughby left the show early to attend the palace event by herself, as reports continued of a rift with co-host and fellow Prince's Trust ambassador Phillip Schofield.

At one point the King was left amazed when he took part in a magic trick performed by magician Dynamo, whose big break came after he was awarded a Prince's Trust grant.

In 1997, the Spice Girls met King Charles to celebrate the 21st Anniversary Of The Prince's Trust charity - and were very cheeky.

Mel B asked Charles out for dinner and broke royal protocol by giving him a kiss on the cheek.

'You should get your tongue pierced', she told him, before Emma Bunton asked where Prince William was.

Friendly greeting: Geri even gave Charles an encouraging pep talk, telling him 'you're a very modern king' after kissing him on both cheeks.

Chat: Reports say Ginger Spice also told King Charles she is 'very proud' of him

Naughty! In 1997, Geri told King Charles 'you're very sexy' and gave him a big red lipstick kiss on the cheek and a 'pat' on the bum

But Geri went one step further and told him 'you're very sexy' and gave him a big red lipstick kiss on the cheek and a 'pat' on the bum.

The Spice Girls star spoke about her flirty behaviour with the royal years later.

'I didn't pinch Prince Charle's bum, as was reported. I patted it,' she said. 'Patting him on the bottom was against royal protocol but we're all human.

'There was a lot of nervous energy, young women, happy antics.'

The pair became good friends with Charles even writing to Geri when she announced her departure from the Spice Girls.

He wrote: 'The group will not be the same without you.

'What will I do without your wonderfully friendly greeting?

'Really wanted you to know how deeply I've appreciated your great generosity to my Prince's Trust and how much I wish you well for whatever the future holds.'
Carol Vorderman shocked fans on Wednesday as she revealed she took a secret trip into space more than a decade ago.

The former Countdown star, 62, recently appeared on I'm A Celebrity... South Africa.

And Carol shared her latest adventure with her followers on Instagram, revealing that she has technically travelled much further afield than the jungle.

Joking that she has 'sunbathed in space', Carol shared a throwback snap of her in a bikini - at the time she left planet Earth.

However, she did admit that it was a simply a photo of her that had travelled the distance - and that she herself had not been up in a space rocket.

Space girl! Carol Vorderman, 62, shocked fans on Wednesday as she revealed she took a trip into outer space more than a decade ago

Trip away: The TV presenter joked that she's 'sunbathed in space' after a family friend took her picture to the International Space Station

The media personality revealed that a family friend had taken a picture of her up to the International Space Station, where he snapped a shot of her with Earth in the background.

Accompanying her post, Carol wrote: 'In 2010 a friend of mine from NASA was so kind on his trip to the International Space Station and took up a few trinkets for my family including this photo of me.

'He took a photo of the photo in the ISS with earth behind and I treasure it. It means 'I've sunbathed in space'. Ha.'

She went on to say that her friend plans to go to space again - and said he will take another special item for Carol.

She continued: 'Cut to 2023 and a beloved astronaut friend of mine (formerly NASA and legendary) is now the Chief Astronaut for Axiom Space.

'I'm off to see his launch scheduled for November. So he's said he'll take something up to the ISS for me this time. I've decided to choose a ring...

'The problem is I don't have one!!!'

Touched by Carol's sweet story, one fan cheekily commented: 'Well you are out of this world!'

Special memory: Carol has now been offered the chance to have another item fly into space

Candid: Carol Vorderman revealed she threw out her bathroom scales in 1999 as she discussed body positivity in I'm A Celebrity South Africa

During Carol's appearance on I'm A Celeb, she revealed she threw out her bathroom scales in 1999 as she discussed body positivity.

Joining Myleene Klass in camp, the girls spoke about their decision to 'not be ruled by a number' and discussed when they decided to stop focusing on their weight.

The TV presenter, who is no stranger to confidently flaunting her figure on social media, admitted she has 'not known her weight this century.'

During the campfire chat, Carol said: 'I only go on dress size,' while Myleene explained how she threw out her scales following the birth of her two daughters.

'Every woman knows the feeling when you get on the scales in the morning and it appears that your weight has gone up,' the former countdown host said.

'"Oh I put on three pounds", but you haven't put on three pounds of fat in a day, you cannot physically do that.

'You have probably retained water. I know how big I am or not by my volume so I just go on how my clothes fit really.

'I call it half a dress size. So I'm basically a size 10. And it I might go down to a 'size nine' or up to a size 11, and that's fine with me.

'I threw mine out in 1999. I have not known my weight this century.'

Myleene added: 'The second I had daughters I threw the scales away. People ask me my weight all the time and I never know it.'
He's one of the most famous and recognisable actors in the world with a glittering film career spanning more than 50 years.

But Michael Douglas has lamented having little privacy in his personal life thanks to the evolution of social media.

He also shared that his actor pal Leonardo DiCaprio, 48, has the same complaints, with both stars shocked at the speed in which information is passed on social networks.

Speaking exclusively to MailOnline at his Cannes Film Festival Rendez-vous on Thursday, Michael, 78, told how he 'doesn't have the freedom' as he did before social media was invented.

Michael shared: 'Things have changed a lot before social media- before social media you had more secrets.

Having his say: Michael Douglas has lamented having little privacy in his personal life thanks to the evolution of social media

Views: He also shared that his actor pal Leonardo DiCaprio (pictured), 48, has the same complaints, with both stars shocked at the speed in which information is passed on social networks

'You were able to have quiet gatherings together without everyone knowing.

'Now, wherever you go - I was talking to Leonardo Di Caprio about that - you get a sighting and then people text the thing and then the next thing you know, there's a 100 then a 1000 people that are connecting.

'You don't have that kind of freedom as before.'

The Hollywood star was recently joined by wife Catherine Zeta-Jones and their daughter Carys on the red carpet at the annual film festival.

And during his interview, Michael opened up on the importance of family and how special it was having Carys with himself and Catherine at her first Cannes event.

The Fatal Attraction star added to MailOnline: 'I think family is important, no matter what business you're in and to support each other. Families can also make you crazy and every situation is unique.

'Catherine, my wife has a very tight and close relationship with her family. We're close. I have an older son, 42, from my first marriage and we're close.'

He continued: 'To have an event like this and to not be able to share it with anyone will be a big disappointment. To be able to be out there and have your daughter see you do this and the fact that she wants to be an actress too.

Famous: He's one of the most famous and recognisable actors in the world with a glittering film career spanning more than 50 years

Chat: Speaking exclusively to MailOnline at his Cannes Film Festival Rendez-vous on Thursday, Michael, 78, told how he 'doesn't have the freedom' as he did before social media was invented

Thoughts: Things have changed a lot before social media- before social media you had more secrets. You were able to have quiet gatherings together without everyone knowing'

'She's wonderful actress, I can't imagine the third generation the pressure they're under. Family means a lot to me. I'm not really good on my own.'

The power couple also have a 22-year-old son named Dylan who is a Brown University graduate.

Catherine and Michael met in 1998 and wed in year 2000 at the Plaza Hotel in NYC and have grown into one of Hollywood's most enduring couples.

The pair put on a loved-up display as they joined their girl at the festival's opening night on Tuesday.

The rising star, 20, looked elegant in a pale pink floral mesh gown with cut-out hip details, teamed with platform heels.

Family: during his interview, Michael opened up on the importance of family and how special it was having Carys with himself and Catherine at her first Cannes event (pictured)

Proud dad: 'To be able to be out there and have your daughter see you do this and the fact that she wants to be an actress too'

As the family arrived at the top of the iconic red staircase, Carys and Catherine planted a kiss on 78-year-old Michael's cheeks.

Catherine, 53, put on a glamorous display in a plunging red gown with a one sleeve cape detail.

The Academy Award-winning actress styled her brunette locks in loose curls and sported a blush makeup look.

Meanwhile, Michael cut a dapper figure in a black tuxedo, with a crisp white shirt and shiny shoes.
Lottie moss has shared the moment she locked herself out of her London apartment twice in he space of a few hours.

The sister of Kate Moss, 25, was forced to pay 800 to get back in, before she had to be rescued for a second time by the fire service.

Taking to Instagram, Lottie told her 569k followers: 'So I've just done the unthinkable and locked myself out of my flat. This is a joke.

'We ran out to get packages and normally I just leave the door so it doesn't fully shut but this time it closed a little too quick and now I'm locked outside. What do I do now!

After paying 800 to get a locksmith to let her back in, two hours later Lottie revealed she had once again locked herself out.

Stressful: Lottie moss has shared the moment she locked herself out of her London apartment twice in he space of a few hours

Upset: The sister of Kate Moss, 25, was forced to pay 800 to get back in, before she had to be rescued for a second time by the fire service

On her Instagram Stories, she shared: 'If you can't see right now my eyes are welling up because I've done it again. I don't know whether to laugh or cry.

'I've locked myself out and left the new keys inside, how does someone do this. I need to find a ladder to climb into my apartment. I'm almost in tears.

The fire service then came to rescue Lottie with a ladder and were able to get her back inside.

It come after she opted to go through the painful process of having her lip fillers dissolved .

Taking to Instagram Stories last month, she told her followers she went to the doctor to have the 450 procedure - atop the 450 she paid to have the filler put in.

The OnlyFans model explained that she did not realise her face would get more swollen before the filler dissolved and she looked more like she used to.

Lottie added: 'I can't laugh because it hurts like a f*****g b***h. I don't know why. I said to [the surgeon] "would it hurt throughout the day?" and he said no.

'I can't laugh because it hurts so badly. Now I look even more demented than when I went into the doctor's office.'

The star, who got the lip filler in 2019, donned a pair of sunglasses for the clip, lamenting the amount of money she had spent to get it done and later dissolved.

She also had a boob job and told Sebastian Shakespeare at the time : 'I told my family about my boobs, but I didn't about my lips.

'With boobs, my mum [Inger] always knew that I felt uncomfortable and so it was very easy to say that I was going to get them done.

She said: 'We ran out to get packages and normally I just leave the door so it doesn't fully shut but this time it closed a little too quick and now I'm locked outside. What do I do now!'

Heartbreaking: After paying 800 to get a locksmith to let her back in, two hours later Lottie revealed she had once again locked herself out

Helpful: The fire service then came to rescue Lottie with a ladder and were able to get her back inside

Before and after: Lottie revealed on Instagram last month that she has had her fillers dissolved (pictured left after and right before) and that the procedure cost 450

She was like: 'For sure, I wish I'd got mine done.'

Lottie also admitted that she regretted getting her lips done: 'My lips were actually something that I slightly regret. I did it because I was following the crowd. I didn't need it.'

Recently, Lottie vowed to have her face tattoo removed , four months after drunkenly getting the word 'Lover' inked below her eye.

The OnlyFans star who previously wished 'the world would learn to love' the tat, has told close friends she's having laser tattoo removal and hopes erasing the inking will mark the beginning of a fresh chapter in her life.
Prince's Trust ambassadors Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly were seen greeting King Charles III at a Buckingham Palace reception for the charity on Wednesday.

Saturday Night Takeaway host Ant, 47, flashed a big grin as he shook the monarch's hand at the event for Prince's Trust Awards winners and celebrity ambassadors.

Ant looked dapper for the regal occasion in a navy three piece suit, which he wore with a white shirt and blue tie and a polka dot pocket square.

He was also notably wearing a Prince's Trust pin on his lapel.

Never far from his side, his co-host Declan, also 47, looked equally smart in a dark suit with a striped tie.

Hello sir! Prince's Trust ambassadors Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly were seen greeting King Charles III at a Buckingham Palace reception for the charity on Wednesday

All smiles: Saturday Night Takeaway host Ant, 47, flashed a big grin as he shook the monarch's hand at the event for Prince's Trust Awards winners and celebrity ambassadors

Something appeared to have amused the group as they all laughed and joked together at the official meeting.

Ant and Dec are celebrity ambassadors for the King's charity, which was set up while he held the title of Prince.

The palace gettogether came a day after the Prince's Trust Awards, which was held at The Theatre Royal Drury Lane in London on Tuesday evening.

The TV double act were among guests at the ceremony and were later seen departing with their wives after the event.

Elsewhere at the reception, Geri Horner was looking for a royal pardon from King Charles, 26 years after she cheekily kissed him on the cheek and patted his bum.

The Spice Girls star, 50, has met the King several times over the years and looked happy to see one another again as they shared a hug at the star-studded event.

Geri even gave Charles an encouraging pep talk, telling him 'you're a very modern king' after kissing him on both cheeks.

Ha, ha! Something appeared to have amused the group as they all laughed and joked together at the official meeting

Support: Ant and Dec are celebrity ambassadors for the King's charity, which was set up while he held the title of Prince

Ginger Spice also told King Charles she is 'very proud' of him.

Geri later said: 'I just think he's a modern king, and when he was 28 years old he started the Prince's Trust.

'He could have been out partying, instead he created this amazing organisation  a modern king that believed in investing in the potential and possibility of people.'

Charles invited those recognised during Tuesday's Prince's Trust awards to the palace along with the celebrities who presented the honours, including Hollywood star Stanley Tucci, British actor Stephen Graham, Edward Enninful, editor-in-chief of British Vogue, musician and producer Nile Rodgers and the event's hosts Ant and Dec.

This Morning presenter Holly Willoughby left the show early to attend the palace event by herself, as reports continued of a rift with co-host and fellow Prince's Trust ambassador Phillip Schofield.

At one point the King was left amazed when he took part in a magic trick performed by magician Dynamo, whose big break came after he was awarded a Prince's Trust grant.

In 1997, the Spice Girls met King Charles to celebrate the 21st Anniversary Of The Prince's Trust charity - and were very cheeky.

Mel B asked Charles out for dinner and broke royal protocol by giving him a kiss on the cheek.

'You should get your tongue pierced', she told him, before Emma Bunton asked where Prince William was.

Welcome: Elsewhere at the reception, Geri Horner was looking for a royal pardon from King Charles, 26 years after she cheekily kissed him on the cheek and patted his bum

Hug: The Spice Girls star, 50, has met the King several times over the years and looked happy to see one another again as they shared a hug at the star-studded event

Spice Up Your Life: In 1997, the Spice Girls met King Charles to celebrate the 21st Anniversary Of The Prince's Trust charity - and were very cheeky

Friendly greeting: Geri even gave Charles an encouraging pep talk, telling him 'you're a very modern king' after kissing him on both cheeks.

But Geri went one step further and told him 'you're very sexy' and gave him a big red lipstick kiss on the cheek and a 'pat' on the bum.

The Spice Girls star spoke about her flirty behaviour with the royal years later.

'I didn't pinch Prince Charle's bum, as was reported. I patted it,' she said. 'Patting him on the bottom was against royal protocol but we're all human.

'There was a lot of nervous energy, young women, happy antics.'

The pair became good friends with Charles even writing to Geri when she announced her departure from the Spice Girls.

He wrote: 'The group will not be the same without you.

'What will I do without your wonderfully friendly greeting?

'Really wanted you to know how deeply I've appreciated your great generosity to my Prince's Trust and how much I wish you well for whatever the future holds.'

Chat: Reports say Ginger Spice also told King Charles she is 'very proud' of him
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Derek Hough and fiancee Hayley Erbert, who have been engaged for just under a year, opened up about planning their dream wedding while navigating their upcoming A Symphony of Dance tour, which kicks off in the fall.

Despite preparing to perform in 50 different cities between September to December, the happy couple are not allowing their demanding schedule to pull their focus away from organizing the perfection celebration to tie the knot after eight years of dating.

During an in-depth discussion about about their upcoming big day, the Dancing with the Stars alum, 38, and his longtime love, 28, admitted to Brides that they have learned so much more goes into planning that providing inspiration pictures and agreeing to the same aesthetic.

In response to being asked to share the first word 'that comes to mind' about their 'planning journey' so far, Hough said 'surprising' while his bride-to-be hilariously quipped 'stubborn.'

'I'm really standing my ground,' she explained, noting that she is trying not to get swayed by other's opinions or various suggestions. 'I'm doing what I want... I'm doing what we want.'

While reflecting on their desire to have every detailed finalized, he insisted they want to avoid getting caught up in a 'production' and want the wedding to be 'a well-oiled machine' so they can 'be relaxed, focus on each other, and be very present.'

Here comes the bride! Derek Hough and fiancee Hayley Erbert, who have been engaged for just under a year, opened up about planning their dream wedding while navigating their upcoming A Symphony of Dance tour, which kicks off in the fall

The best has yet to come: Despite preparing to perform in 50 different cities between September to December, the happy couple are not allowing their demanding schedule to pull their focus away from planning the perfection celebration to tie the knot after eight years of dating

Wedding bells: During an in-depth discussion about about their upcoming big day, the Dancing with the Stars alum, 38, and his longtime love, 28, admitted to Brides that they have learned so much more goes into planning that providing inspiration pictures and coming up with an aesthetic

He also said they regularly remind each other that they are doing this 'for the two of us.'

'Hayley is taking the helm, but I'm definitely involved,' Hough pointed out.

She then recalled him saying that good lighting and fireworks were the most 'important' things to him when they first started planning.

Meanwhile, Erbert has been prioritizing the ceremony and wanting to write their own wedding vows from the start.

As for their guest list, Erbert stated that 'a rule that we've set is that we don't want to catch up with people on the day of the wedding.'

'We're inviting people that maybe we haven't seen in a while, but every time we get together with them, it's like we pick up right where we left off, or they're people that have been consistently in our lives throughout the years. We're not going to catch up with people, we're just gonna have a blast with people,' she continued.

The Hairspray Live! actor also expressed to readers that they're a 'fun' couple and don't always 'gravitate towards' the 'the most lavish option.'

For example, the Utah native described a mac and cheese bar being more their style than a formal filet mignon dinner.

And, corn dogs will definitely be served during the rehearsal dinner

Still planning the big day: In response to being asked to share the first word 'that comes to mind' about their 'planning journey' so far, Hough said 'surprising' while his bride-to-be hilariously said 'stubborn'

'I'm really standing my ground,' she explained, noting that she is trying not to get swayed by other's opinions or various suggestions. 'I'm doing what I want... I'm doing what we want'

Exciting: While reflecting on their desire to have every detailed finalized, he insisted they want to avoid getting caught up in a 'production' and want the wedding to be 'a well-oiled machine' so they can 'be relaxed, focus on each other, and be very present'

'Hayley is taking the helm, but I'm definitely involved,' Hough pointed out

'We're playing with different approaches to certain things so that the day still feels elegant and beautiful and magical, but grounded and down to earth and just approachable,' he told the outlet. 'We want the entire day to be a blast.'

'I just want everyone to feel our love,' Hayley went on to say. 'I want them to be able to say, 'Oh, these two are so in love. It's so obvious why they're doing this now.'

To ensure they remain gracious, he said they trade expectations for appreciation.

'If we just have expectations, we're 100 percent going to be let down because nothing's ever going to be perfect,' the older brother of Julianne Hough said. 'We always find a moment to appreciate what's going on. We can always find that. But if we live in expectation, we're basically setting ourselves up for disappointment.'

Hough also admitted that the 'sticker shock' was 'a very eye-opening experience.'

'When you start to add everything up, it's pretty wild,' he stated.

She then said that's when she stands her ground and is 'stubborn' to ensure that they are not having to manage 'the expectations of other people.'

Despite both having careers as professional dancers, they teased their first dance as husband and wife won't be too over-the-top.

'We perform for a living, so we just want this dance to be for us,' Erbert explained. 'We don't want to perform for anyone else.'

Priorities straight: The Hairspray Live! actor also expressed to readers that they're a 'fun' couple and don't always 'gravitate towards' the 'the most lavish option'

'I just want everyone to feel our love,' Hayley went on to say. 'I want them to be able to say, 'Oh, these two are so in love. It's so obvious why they're doing this now'

No pressure: Despite both having careers as professional dancers, they teased their first dance as husband and wife won't be too over-the-top

Hough said he just wants them to 'feel good and comfortable' on the dance with no 'need to be perfect.'

'That's a lot less important to me than just looking into her eyes as we're rocking back and forth. I want to feel truly present in that moment,' he said.

Overall, she says they always 'try to find joy and gratitude in every second of the day' and that 'there's always something beautiful, there's always something good that is happening, even if there are crazy things that are happening as well.'

'At the end of the day, what matters is what this represents, the symbolism of it all,' Hough concluded. 'And what it symbolizes is, of course, the two of them: Derek and Hayley.'

While appearing on the cover of Brides, Hough looked dapper in a black tuxedo and bowtie while his bride-to-be modeled three very different bridal looks.

The first showed her in an off-the-shoulder flowing ballgown with gloves and her brunette tresses in a sleek updo while the rest depicted her in a ruffled semi-sheer dress.

The beauty's final look was featured an extremely long back and open-toed heels.
Laura Harrier put on a showstopping display as she arrived at the Monster premiere during Cannes Film Festival on Wednesday evening.

The actress, 33, looked sensational in an elegant black gown with a plunging neckline as she walked the prestigious red carpet.

Flashing a smile for the cameras, she slicked her dark hair down into a sleek bob that flicked out at the ends.

Laura showed off her incredible figure in the slinky gown that gathered around the front and featured a halterneck design at the back.

She added a pair of glitzy drop earrings and boosted her height with a pair of black strappy heels to complete her outfit.

Glamorous: Laura Harrier, 33, put on a showstopping display as she arrived at the Monster premiere during Cannes Film Festival on Wednesday evening

Monster [also known as Kaibutsu] was written and directed by Hirokazu Kore-eda, who received praise for his 2018 film Shoplifters.

The film marks his return to a Japanese-language project after he received the Palme DOr at Cannes that year.

The plot sees a mother [Sakura Ando] confront her son's teacher after noticing worrying changes in her child's behaviour.

The audience sees the perspective of the mother, teacher and child, before the truth of the story finally emerges.

The Cannes red carpet is springing to life again as the 76th Film Festival got underway with the premiere of the Louis XV period drama Jeanne du Barry on Tuesday.

The Louis XV period drama, which stars Johnny Depp as the leading character, marks his first role since his high profile defamation trial against his ex wife Amber Heard.

This year's festival promises a Cote d'Azur buffet of spectacle, scandal and cinema set to be served over the next 12 days.

It's unspooling against the backdrop of labor unrest. Protests that have roiled France in recent months over changes to its pension system are planned to run during the festival, albeit at a distance from the festival's main hub.

Meanwhile, an ongoing strike by screenwriters in Hollywood could have unpredictable effects on the French Riviera festival.

Sophisticated: The actress looked sensational in an elegant black gown with a plunging neckline as she walked the prestigious red carpet

Stunning: Flashing a smile for the cameras, she slicked her dark hair down into a sleek bob that flicked out at the ends

On Wednesday, the Monster premiere took place at the iconic film festival with celebs such as Gemma Chan and Amy Jackson in attendance.

The films synopsis reads: 'When her young son Minato starts to behave strangely, his mother feels that there is something wrong. Discovering that a teacher is responsible, she storms into the school demanding to know whats going on.

'But as the story unfolds through the eyes of mother, teacher and child, the truth gradually emerges. Palme dOr winner and internationally acclaimed director Kore-Eda Hirokazu returns with a delicate, powerfully moving story of love, duty, social conflict and secrets.'

The world's biggest film festival will conclude with the Closing Ceremony on May 27.
She's never shied away from wowing with her looks.

And Iris Law certainly set pulses racing once again as she graced the red carpet for the premiere of Monster at the Cannes Film Festival on Wednesday.

The model, 22, slipped into a sexy sheer black lace negligee teamed with a matching see-through skirt as she posed solo at the event.

Flaunting every inch of her model physique, Iris opted for the edgy sheer top with a lace overlay, tucked into a matching sheer pencil skirt.

She accessorised her look with matching pointed-toe heels, leather gloves and gold hooped earrings.

Sex bomb! Iris Law, 22, set pulses racing once again as she graced the red carpet for the premiere of Monster at the Cannes Film Festival on Wednesday

Revealing! The model slipped into a sexy sheer black lace negligee teamed with a matching see-through skirt as she posed solo at the event

Sizzling! Flaunting every inch of her model physique, Iris opted for the edgy sheer top with a lace overlay, tucked into a matching sheer pencil skirt

The Cannes red carpet is springing to life again as the 76th Film Festival got underway with the premiere of the Louis XV period drama Jeanne du Barry on Tuesday.

And on Wednesday, the Monster premiere took place at the iconic film festival with celebs such as Gemma Chan and Amy Jackson in attendance.

The films synopsis reads: 'When her young son Minato starts to behave strangely, his mother feels that there is something wrong. Discovering that a teacher is responsible, she storms into the school demanding to know whats going on.

'But as the story unfolds through the eyes of mother, teacher and child, the truth gradually emerges. Palme dOr winner and internationally acclaimed director Kore-Eda Hirokazu returns with a delicate, powerfully moving story of love, duty, social conflict and secrets.'

The world's biggest film festival will conclude with the Closing Ceremony on May 27.

Meanwhile, an ongoing strike by screenwriters in Hollywood could have unpredictable effects on the French Riviera festival.

But with a festival lined with some much-anticipated big-budget films, including James Mangold's Indiana Jones and the Dial of the Destiny and Martin Scorsese's Killers of the Flower Moon, the party is sure to go on, regardless.

Stars set to hit Cannes red carpet in the next week and a half include Natalie Portman, Leonardo DiCaprio, Cate Blanchett, Sean Penn, Alicia Vikander, The Weeknd and Scarlett Johansson.

Glammed up! She accessorised her look with matching pointed-toe heels, leather gloves and gold hooped earrings

Not long now! Iris is in Cannes to attend the premiere of new HBO series The Idol, which will take place on Monday

Leather-tastic! She certainly stood out in her racy all-black look as she arrived for the premiere

Drama! Meanwhile, an ongoing strike by screenwriters in Hollywood could have unpredictable effects on the French Riviera festival

So many shows! The world's biggest film festival will conclude with the Closing Ceremony on May 27

New release: The synopsis for Monster reads: 'When her young son Minato starts to behave strangely, his mother feels that there is something wrong. Discovering that a teacher is responsible, she storms into the school demanding to know whats going on'

The festivities on Tuesday included an opening ceremony where Michael Douglas received an honorary Palme d'Or.

Later, one will also be dished out to Indiana Jones star Harrison Ford.

The jury that will decide the festival's top prize, the Palme d'Or, will also be introduced.

This year, the jury is led by Swedish filmmaker Ruben Ostlund, a two-time Palme winner who last year won for the social satire 'The Triangle of Sadness.'

The rest of the jury includes Brie Larson, Paul Dano, French director Julia Ducournau, Argentine filmmaker Damian Szifron, Afghan director Atiq Rahimi, French actor Denis Menochet, Moroccan filmmaker Maryam Tourzani and a Zambian-Welsh director Rungano Nyoni.
Lenny Hochstein has claimed estranged wife Lisa is 'bleeding him out' financially and abused her access to his grocery app in a new urgent court petition, reports Page Six.

The plastic surgeon, 56, known as the 'Boob God', filed his petition on May 11 to have the court 'compel' the Real Housewives of Miami star, 40, to keep to their previous support agreements - and says she charged $10,000 to Instacart in one month.

The documents state Lisa 'has embarked on a course of conduct aimed at bleeding out [Lenny] from a financial standpoint' and has 'charged in excess of $10,000 to [Lennys account].'

Lenny also claims in the documents that Lisa 'shockingly' spent $4000 in the course of a 'week and a half', says her spending 'constitutes marital waste' and requests for the court to sanction her for her 'cash grab.'

In a separate filing, Lisa alleges Lenny 'turned off' her access to grocery outlets Instacart, Uber and Uber Eats, which she says is in violation of a previous order.

Oh dear: Lenny Hochstein has claimed estranged wife Lisa is 'bleeding him out' financially and abused her access to his grocery app in a new urgent court petition, reports Page Six

Battle: In a separate filing, Lisa alleges Lenny 'turned off' her access to grocery outlets Instacart, Uber and Uber Eats, which she says is in violation of a previous order

She also alleges that Lenny has made her feel 'threatened' by making 'unannounced visits' to their former marital home - and claims he once showed up with his mother and called her a 'felon' and 'verbally berated her' in front of their children.

She further claims Lenny told her she 'would soon be going to jail' and their kids 'would soon be having a better mother' - Lenny is currently dating model Katharina Mazepa, 27.

Lisa is now fighting for exclusive use of their Miami home, in spite of a prenup which states she must move out. The pair are warring over their prenup, with Lisa wanting the agreement overturned while Lenny wants it kept in place.

A hearing is scheduled for May 22.

DailyMail.com has contacted a representative for comment.

This comes after Lisa slammed her estranged husband in a series of Instagram Stories posts on Sunday, to coincide with Mother's Day.

Lisa claimed Lenny had been looking 'to hurt, humiliate, disparage, and shame' her on the weekend coinciding with the holiday.

'Thank you to everyone for the Mothers Day messages!' she said. 'Also, thank you for forwarding me all the already debunked lies my ex is spreading on his public platform this weekend.

'What type of man goes out of his way to further escalate conflict and disparage the mother of his children on the special day and weekend?'

Happier times: The plastic surgeon, 56, known as the 'Boob God', filed his petition on May 11 to have the court 'compel' the Real Housewives of Miami star, 40, to keep to their previous support agreements - and says she charged $10,000 to Instacart in one month

Said Lisa: 'I was left. I was cheated on, I feel like Im living in hell.'

Lisa said Lenny's actions seemed 'so mean and calculated' and noted that with her platform, she 'could say so much more' about him, but she doesn't.

Lisa said Lenny's 'recent narrative of trying to convince anyone that Im such a horrible person is pure deflection,' noting that he was 'caught cheating on [a] mic' and left her 'for someone 30 years younger.'

Lisa, who is mother to two kids - Logan, seven, and Elle, three - with Lenny, said she's 'still being bullied, lied about and provoked now by' Lenny and his girlfriend Katharina, his mother and their friends amid the tumultuous split.

She said that since a recent court ruling went in her favor, the bullying is amped up ... to a new level.'

Lisa said Lenny and Katharina have hired a publicist 'to get news stories for themselves ... otherwise no one would care,' and that her only responses come in defense.

She said of Lenny, 'He had a two-year-old and was asking for a third kid, just with friends at our table days before getting caught,' adding that Bravo 'doesnt edit anything or anyone to look a certain way.'

Lisa said of their split: 'I had no idea two days later he was leaving me to start a relationship with someone I suspect he has had something with for a long time, was around us, and in my home for years.

'Yes, we were still sleeping in the same bed. We had nannies and housekeepers here and the kids came in to see us every morning so his narrative is bold.'

Lisa said she is home for their kids almost 150 hours a week while hes there about five. She wrapped up by saying, 'Please leave me and the kids to have a nice Mothers Day weekend. Im hurting and I need peace.'

Alleged: She also alleges that Lenny has made her feel 'threatened' by making 'unannounced visits' to their former marital home - and claims he once showed up with his mother and called her a 'felon' and 'verbally berated her' in front of their children (Lisa pictured December 2022)

Lisa's statement Sunday came weeks after a judge in South Florida ruled she would receive $8,000 monthly in temporary support from Lenny Hochstein amid their divorce, has ruled.

Judge Abby Cynamon last week ordered Lenny to pay Lisa the monthly sum beginning in May via direct deposit, Page Six reported Thursday, citing legal docs in reviewed.

Lenny was ordered by the court to 'maintain the status quo' for Lisa and their two kids by providing funds for medical insurance, schooling, activities, camp and other needs.

Lenny is on the hook for $60,000 of Lisa's court expenses for her lawyer, the judge ruled, as the outlet previously reported that she was in arrears to the tune of $85,000 to her legal team.

The payment orders will remain in effect until the court issues an updated order in the case, or the former couple reach a settlement in the split, the outlet reported.

Lisa previously told the court that the amount of money she earns from appearing on the Bravo series - $30,000 an episode - was 'woefully insufficient' to support her and her children in the quality of life they are accustomed to.

Lisa's legal team previously said that Lenny 'has significant and substantial assets and earns millions of dollars a year as [a] successful plastic surgeon.'

New love: Lenny is now in a relationship with model Katharina Mazepa, 27

They said that without his remuneration, Lisa was unable to 'provide the needs and necessities of life as they were established during the marriage.'

Lisa for months has been pursuing the court to award temporary support, telling the court that she was unable to purchase essential items such as food and diapers when he deactivated her credit cards.

Lenny denied the claims, saying Lisa could have bought both with an Insta-Cart app he has linked to his bank account, while calling her financial demands 'excessive.'

Lenny - who wed Lisa in October 2009 and filed to divorce last May - began dating the Austrian model Mazepa in the wake of the parting.

Late last year, he claimed in court docs that Lisa was out of control with her spending, running up a $9,000 tab for designer clothes in a single week.

On the Real Housewives of Miami fifth season reunion that aired in March, Lisa conceded that her spending habits were a factor in her split from Lenny.
They've been happily married since 2008.

And Ethan Hawke cosied up his wife Ryan Shawhughes as they walked the red carpet for the premiere of the film Monster at the Cannes Film Festival on Wednesday.

The actor, 52, cut a dapper figure in a black suit and a Piaget watch as he joined his spouse at the star-studded event.

Ryan, 40, cut a chic figure in a plunging black blazer layered over a sheer matching gown as she and Ethan walked the red carpet hand-in-hand.

While Ethan does not star in the film, he was seen posing for fun snaps alongside Monster's director Pedro Almodovar, producer Anthony Vaccarello and Jason Fernandez.

Sweet! Ethan Hawke, 52, cosied up his wife Ryan Shawhughes, 40, as they walked the red carpet for the premiere of the film Monster at the Cannes Film Festival on Wednesday

Lovely! Ryan, 40, cut a chic figure in a plunging black blazer layered over a sheer matching gown as she and Ethan walked the red carpet hand-in-hand

Suited and booted! Ethan looked dapper as he joined his spouse at the star-studded event

The Cannes red carpet is springing to life again as the 76th Film Festival got underway with the premiere of the Louis XV period drama Jeanne du Barry on Tuesday.

And on Wednesday, the Monster premiere took place at the iconic film festival with celebs such as Gemma Chan and Amy Jackson in attendance.

The films synopsis reads: 'When her young son Minato starts to behave strangely, his mother feels that there is something wrong. Discovering that a teacher is responsible, she storms into the school demanding to know whats going on.

'But as the story unfolds through the eyes of mother, teacher and child, the truth gradually emerges. Palme dOr winner and internationally acclaimed director Kore-Eda Hirokazu returns with a delicate, powerfully moving story of love, duty, social conflict and secrets.'

The world's biggest film festival will conclude with the Closing Ceremony on May 27.

Ethan is father to four children in total. He shares two children - Maya, 24, and Levon, 20 - with his first wife Uma Thurman.

The Hollywood heavyweights married in May 1998 after meeting on the set of 1996 movie Gattaca.

Ethan divorced Uma split in 2003, and divorced in 2004 after eight years of marriage.

Grand occasion! The world's biggest film festival will conclude with the Closing Ceremony on May 27

Mr and Mrs: Ethan married Ryan in a low-key ceremony in New York on June 19th 2008, exactly a month before they welcomed their first child together

Playful! Despite the fact he does not star in Monster, Ethan was in attendance to support the film, which premiered on the second day of the festival

Playful! He was seen posing for fun snaps with director Pedro Almodovar, producer Anthony Vaccarello and Jason Fernandez

New release: The synopsis for Monster reads: 'When her young son Minato starts to behave strangely, his mother feels that there is something wrong. Discovering that a teacher is responsible, she storms into the school demanding to know whats going on'

The Training Day star met Ryan when he and ex-wife Uma hired her to be their nanny, although he has always maintained their relationship didn't blossom until after he was divorced.

Ethan married Ryan in a low-key ceremony in New York on June 19th 2008, exactly a month before they welcomed their first child together.

The couple now have two daughters together - Clementine, 14, and Indiana, 11.

Ethan's eldest daughter, Maya rose to fame after acting in the Netflix hit series Stranger Things but was recently criticized in New York Magazine's The Year of the Nepo Baby cover.

Like his sister, Levon has also followed in his parents' footsteps and will be acting in the upcoming Zoe Kravitz film P***y Island.
She was the belle of the ball during the opening night of the Cannes Film Festival where Johnny Depp's new film Jeanne du Barry was premiered.

And the following day, Uma Thurman proved she does daytime glamour just as well as she arrived at luxury five star Hotel Martinez on Wednesday afternoon.

The actress, 53, looked lovely in a textured black dress with a crop waist, which she styled with a chic cropped jacket.

The Pulp Fiction icon accessorised her look with a pair of rectangular shades, a vanity case style bag and a pair of black velvet sandals.

Uma opted for minimal make-up and wore her light blonde locks in soft waves.

So cool! Uma Thurman proved she does daytime glamour just as well as she arrived at luxury five star Hotel Martinez on Wednesday afternoon in Cannes

Arrivals: The actress, 53, looked lovely in a textured black dress with a crop waist, which she styled with a chic cropped jacket

The previous night, Uma joined son Levon Hawke at the Jeanne du Barry premiere during Cannes Film Festival opening night.

The Kill Bill actress looked incredible in an elegant blush gown that boasted a fitted bodice and princess skirt.

Uma, who shares her son with ex husband Ethan Hawke, 52, completed the stunning ensemble with a Gothic choker and beaded bracelet for her elegant turn in front of the paparazzi.

The screen star wore her blonde locks swept up into a chic updo and opted for a neutral pallet of make-up.

Meanwhile son Levon, who is also an actor and has featured in films including The Crowded Room and The Thicket, was every inch the dapper date in a smart black tuxedo and bow tie as he stood proudly beside his mother.

It is not the first time that Levon, 21, has attended the festival with his mother as he was previously pictured on the red carpet back in 2017.

Levon has followed his actor parents footsteps much like his older sister Maya, 24, who had a starring role in Netflix series Stranger Things, as well as recent film Do Revenge.

Uma wed actor Ethan in 1998 after meeting on the on the set of the movie Gattaca, separating in 2003 following by a divorce two years later.

Proud as punch: The previous night, Uma joined son Levon Hawke at the Jeanne du Barry premiere during Cannes Film Festival opening night

Natural: Uma opted for minimal make-up and wore her light blonde locks in soft waves

Dressed to impress: The Pulp Fiction icon accessorised her look with a pair of rectangular shades, a vanity case style bag and a pair of black velvet sandals

This year's festival promises a Cote d'Azur buffet of spectacle, scandal and cinema set to be served over the next 12 days.

It's unspooling against the backdrop of labor unrest. Protests that have roiled France in recent months over changes to its pension system are planned to run during the festival, albeit at a distance from the festival's main hub.

Meanwhile, an ongoing strike by screenwriters in Hollywood could have unpredictable effects on the French Riviera festival.

But with a festival lined with some much-anticipated big-budget films, including James Mangold's Indiana Jones and the Dial of the Destiny and Martin Scorsese's Killers of the Flower Moon, the party is sure to go on, regardless.

Stars set to hit Cannes red carpet in the next week and a half include Natalie Portman, Leonardo DiCaprio, Cate Blanchett, Sean Penn, Alicia Vikander, The Weeknd and Scarlett Johansson.
Livia Giuggioli looked stunning as she attended the Carmen Busquets and Uppfirst Cocktail Reception for Nest at The Twenty Two in London.

The film producer, 53, who split from actor Colin Firth in 2019 after 22 years of marriage, wore an elegant feather trimmed outfit.

Stepping out to the glitzy event on Wednesday evening, she layered a black fine knit jumper over a lilac pleated dress.

Livia styled her blonde hair in loose waves and opted for a very subtle palette of makeup.

The creative director topped her look off with a pair of statement earrings and elevated her height with some boots.

Elegant: Livia Giuggioli, 53, looked stunning as she attended the Carmen Busquets and Uppfirst Cocktail Reception for Nest at The Twenty Two in London

In February, removal men were spotted outside Livia's home in south-west London loading up a van with furniture, while work - which could cost up to 2million - is being carried out on the house in her name.

Colin first moved out in 2015 when the couple split before reuniting, splashing out 1.6million on a luxury three-bedroom flat nearby.

The couple met on the 1996 BBC drama Nostromo before tying the knot in Tuscany, Italy a year later.

They have sons aged 21 and 19 while Colin also shares a son, actor Will, 32, with former partner Meg Tilly, his co-star in the film Valmont.

Back in November 2019, Colin announced he had split from his wife Livia but said they remained 'united in their love for their children' almost two years after it emerged she had an affair with her childhood friend.

A statement from their publicists said: 'Colin and Livia Firth have separated. They maintain a close friendship and remain united in their love for their children. They kindly ask for privacy. There will be no further comment'.

Their split came after it was revealed 18 months earlier that Livia was alleged to have had a year-long affair with Italian journalist Marco Brancaccia.

She sparked a police investigation after claiming her childhood friend Marco harassed her with a 'frightening' barrage of messages.

Sophisticated: The film producer, who split from actor Colin Firth in 2019 after 22 years of marriage, wore an elegant feather trimmed outfit

Beaming: She was joined at the event by Venezuelan entrepreneur Carmen Busquets

Stylish: Also in attendance was fashion designer Giles Deacon

Bright: Elsewhere, Ashley Shaw-Scott Adjaye wore a stunning patterned satin dress

The Oscar-winner - who maintained a dignified silence over the affair - confronted his wife over a 'heartbreaking and malicious' email from her ex-lover in March 2018, which contained revelations 'designed to wound' the King's Speech star.

At the time, a friend of Colin's said: 'This guy Marco basically told Colin everything he had been doing with his wife for a year. The email was a detailed diatribe, humiliated Colin and was designed with no other motive than to wound.

'He described intimate meetings that would devastate any husband  no matter what the state of their marriage. And he did so with the misguided and hopeless belief he could destabilise the efforts being made by Colin and Livia to sort things out.

'Colin presented this to his wife and in what must have been a very difficult confrontation. But he is the man that he is and has maintained his dignity throughout.'
Amal Clooney looked elegant as she attended the international digital festival 4Gamechangers 2023 at Marx Halle Wien in Vienna, Austria on Wednesday.

The human rights lawyer, 45, slipped into a plunging tuxedo jumpsuit with a smart collar and satin waistband.

The pinstriped number complete with wide leg trousers perfectly flattered her incredible figure.

Amal elevated her frame with a pair of patent stiletto heels and styled her long brunette hair in glamorous waves.

As she led a talk on the importance of human rights, Amal waved to the crowd while taking to the podium.

Sophisticated: Amal Clooney, 45, looked elegant as she attended the international digital festival 4Gamechangers 2023 at Marx Halle Wien in Vienna, Austria on Wednesday

Elegant: The human rights lawyer slipped into a plunging tuxedo jumpsuit with a smart collar and satin waistband

The festival was founded in 2016 to establish a platform where to establish a platform where influencers, rebels, visionaries and game changing personalities - who change the world for the better - meet, connect and discuss trending topics, according to their website.

Amal's outing comes after she and husband George proved they're not taking sides in the fall out between Prince Harry and Meghan Markle and the Windsors by showing their support for King Charles on Tuesday.

The Hollywood actor, 62 and his British-Lebanese wife put on a very stylish display, as they made their way inside the Prince's Trust And TKMaxx & Homesense Awards 2023 in Central London.

Today's event rewards the incredible achievements of young people across the UK who have completed the Prince's Trust programmes and are now thriving, with the charity being a key stone of the King's life's work.

The couple attended Prince Harry's wedding to Meghan Markle in 2018 in Windsor, even though they later reportedly admitted they 'didn't know' the royals well at the time.

But at some point along the line they became firm friends with Amal among the select group of friends at Meghan's baby shower in New York a year later - although it's unclear how close the foursome still are today.

At the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle in 2018, the couple were given a 'prime pew' next to Lady Carolyn Warren, who is married to John Warren, the Queen's bloodstock adviser, and opposite Princess Margaret's son Viscount Linley.

Surprisingly, it was later reported that the pair told other guests they didn't know the happy couple well at all, according to Rachel Johnson.

Glamorous: Amal elevated her frame with a pair of patent stiletto heels and styled her long brunette hair in glamorous waves

Beaming: As she led a talk on the importance of human rights, Amal took to the podium

Speech: The festival was founded in 2016 to establish a platform where to establish a platform where influencers, rebels, visionaries meet

Career: After attending school in Buckinghamshire, Amal graduated with a BA in Oxford Universitys equivalent to the LLB, Jurisprudence before studying at New York University

In 2020, it emerged that while Carolyn Bartholomew, Dianas former flatmate, was waiting for the wedding service to start, she turned to the couple alongside her and asked how they knew Harry or Meghan,' Johnson wrote in online publication AirMail at the time. '"We dont," the Clooneys answered brightly.'

Carolyn, who attended the wedding with husband William, is Harrys godmother and was one of three young women who shared Dianas Earls Court flat and was privy to the secret when she first met Charles.

George and Amal caused a stir when they arrived at the royal wedding and were among the exclusive 200-strong guest list invited to party the night away at Frogmore House. George is said to have danced with both Meghan and Kate Middleton, 39.

Since the wedding, there have been conflicting reports about how well the Clooneys knew the couple.
Jason Momoa is slated to host Shark Week on the Discovery Channel this summer.

The 43-year-old actor was announced as the host on the annual ocean showcase on Wednesday at the upfront presentations for Warner Bros. Discovery in New York City.

'As the host of Shark Week, I am beyond excited to take you along on this journey,' the Aquaman leading man said in a statement upon the announcement.

Momoa said that the 'project means more to me than a week of talking about sharks,' as he will delve into his personal 'connection to these amazing creatures.'

Momoa added, 'My love of sharks came long before my time as Aquaman - it began several generations before me.'

The latest: Jason Momoa is slated to host Shark Week on the Discovery Channel this summer. The actor was pictured in New Zealand on Sunday

Momoa is set to preside over the 35th year of the showcase, and will be featured prominently in the segments, which will feature previously unexplored aquatic locales.

The Honolulu-born star has long used his platform to bring awareness to environmental causes, as last year, the UN Environment Programme named him an Advocate for Life Below Water.

He has also been involved with groups such as rePurpose Global and Sustainable Coastlines Hawaii.

Last fall, the actor shaved his braids in an effort to bring attention to the cause against using single-use plastic items.

The annual Discovery Channel showcase has long featured famous faces, as Mike Tyson was past featured in a special

Momoa said that the 'project means more to me than a week of talking about sharks,' as he will delve into his personal 'connection to these amazing creatures'

'I'm tired of these plastics bottles,' he said at the time. 'We got to stop [using] plastic forks. All that s***, it goes into our land, into our ocean.

'It's just so sad, so please anything you can do to eliminate single-use plastic in your lives, help me.'

Momoa will also be seen on the silver screen this year in a number of high-profile projects, as he plays the role of Dante in the forthcoming film Fast X, which is due in theaters Friday.

Later this year, he will reprise his signature role of Aquaman in Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, the sequel to the 2018 blockbuster, which is due in theaters December 20.
Pregnant Roxy Horner looked ultra chic on Wednesday as she attended the Blockchain Conference VIP dinner in London.

The model, 31, who is expecting her first child with boyfriend Jack Whitehall, wowed in a black mini dress and a blazer.

She showed off her toned pins in sheer tights, while boosting her height in a pair of stylish stilettos.

Roxy opted for a flawless bronze makeup palette, with a winged eye look and a bold red lip.

She styled her blonde locks in loose curls and accessorised with chunky gold Chanel jewellery.

Wow! Pregnant Roxy Horner looked ultra chic in an all black ensemble on Wednesday as she attended the Blockchain Conference VIP dinner in London

Glam: The model, 31, who is expecting her first child with boyfriend Jack Whitehall, wowed in a black mini dress and a blazer

Meanwhile, Meredith Mickelson flashed her toned abs in a grey crop top and a beige micro mini skirt.

Mkulu Nobadula and Tiger Lily Taylor put on a loved-up display at the lavish event, held at The Gherkin and curated by Michelin star chef and co-founder of HIDE, Ollie Dabbous.

In their baby reveal snaps, a delighted looking Jack held up a role of photographs showing a scan of their unborn child, while his girlfriend beaming beside him.

Roxy later revealed to HELLO she was relieved to 'finally fall pregnant' after the couple tragically suffered a miscarriage last year.

In the social media post the model , who was wearing a pretty white summer dress, kept a protective hand on her stomach as she looked over at her beau.

Ever the funnyman, he captioned the shots: 'And I thought I wasn't getting enough attention when the dog arrived'

Roxy also posted the same images on her own page alongside the words: 'The best news to share [white heart emoji]'.

Following the announcement she told the magazine: 'We had a miscarriage last year and so there was a part of me that was worried to open up too soon about this baby because I was so worried something would happen again and I didn't want to have to kind of tell the world'.

She went on to reveal the couple discovered they were expecting a baby during a trip with her family to sunny Australia.

Saying: 'It was really lovely because I got to tell my mum pretty much straight away and I don't get to see my parents too often, so it was a really perfect moment before he went off on tour'.

Before adding: 'We found out the same week my nan passed away. There's a part of me that feels like my nan knew we were trying for a baby and maybe this was her gift to us.'

Messages of congratulations flooded in to the couple, with pals including Helen Flanagan, Frida Redknapp and Charli Howard sending their well wishes.

Jack has been dating Roxy for more than two years and they reside in a 17.5million, five-bedroom home in Notting Hill with their pooch Coco.

It comes soon after Jack admitted he was unsure about his path in life after losing some friends to 'rehab' while his other pals have had children.

He spoke about his relationship with his girlfriend Roxy as he shared that they have bought a house together.

Incredible: Meredith Mickelson flashed her toned abs in a grey crop top and a beige micro mini skirt

Sweet: Mkulu Nobadula and Tiger Lily Taylor put on a loved-up display at the lavish event

Looking good: Tiger showed off her sensational style in a red and white mesh dress with cowboy boots

Stunning: Hana Cross put on a glamorous display in a black skin-tight maxi dress and ankle boots

Looking good: Anna Gallagher rocked a double denim ensemble and green Adidas trainers

He explained that although he has now 'settled down' with Roxy, he is still unsure about his future plans as he hinted he has not yet decided if he wants children.

Appearing on Wednesday's Capital Breakfast with Roman Kemp, Jack said he has lost friends to 'rehab' and to having 'babies' as he spoke about his own path in life.

Speaking to stand-in host Will Manning, he explained: 'I've settled down, I've got a long-term partner, I've bought a house with her, we've got a dog and doing all of that stuff.

'I don't want to say [my tour] is me raging against the dying of the light [laughs] but it's giving me a sense of this man-child getting through this moment in my life, losing half my friends to rehab, half of my friends to babies and trying to find out which path I'm going to take.'
Naruvi Hospitals celebrate Intl Nurses week

Vellore: Chairman Dr GV Sampath pays tribute to the nursing fraternity and applauds the Naruvi nurses. The week-long celebration to commemorate the birth of the mother of the nursing profession, Florence Nightingale, concluded yesterday.May 12th is marked as the International Nurses Day to honour Florence Nightingale.

41% blue-collar workers perform tech tasks

New Delhi: A survey by WorkIndia, a tech platform for blue-collar recruitment, has revealed that 41 per cent of blue-collar workers are now involved in technical tasks, demonstrating a growing demand for skilled workers in industries embracing automation and digitalization. This shift underscores the need for blue-collar workers to acquire new skills and adapt to changing job requirements. The survey was conducted in Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Pune, and Chennai.
Just a few years back no one would have imagined that Indian Americans could bid for the Oval Office but now Indian diaspora is a force to reckon with

Could the United States also favour an Indian American for the top job in the 2024 polls? It is a million-dollar question. But it does not stop the American Indians from dreaming about it. The United Kingdom has chosen an Indian-origin Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, last year.

As for the Indian Americans, it is a long road to becoming the tenant of the White House. Over the years, they have become affluent and also ambitious. Their success is a unique coming-of-age story.

Today Indian American diaspora is 4 million plus, of which at least 2 million are voters. It is the second-largest immigrant group in the United States. Affluent Indian Americans also donate money to the two major parties. The number of Indian Americans appointed to high-profile positions has multiplied in recent years. The most significant example was Kamala Harris.

No one would have imagined that Indian Americans would bid for the Oval Office a few years ago. Then Louisiana Governor Piyush Bobby Jindal in 2016 and Kamala Harris in 2020 joined the presidential race only to be disappointed. Their number is gradually growing in the U.S. Congress and the state Assembly. The 2024 Presidential polls will be interesting for Indian Americans. Vice President Kamala Harris has been announced as the running mate of President Biden, who is seeking election.

At least two Indian-origin Americans intend to run for president in 2024. They are former U.S. Ambassador to the UN Nikki Hailey and millionaire entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy. His parents are the first generation immigrant from Kerala who immigrated to the U.S. Ramaswamy focuses on "getting rid of 'affirmative action" and allowing more highly skilled immigrants into the U.S. While they all represent "America first," they knew that road to the White House was long. The primary contenders would be President Biden and his predecessor Trump. The latter will be the same age as Biden. He was 78 when he became the president in 2020. Will either of them have a chance to win in 2024?

Harris, the first woman Vice President was at a knocking distance from the Oval Office. She had sought the Democratic Party nomination for the 2020 election before dropping out in the campaign's initial stages. Kamala accepted to run as Biden's running mate in 2020 when everyone thought Biden wouldn't seek a second term. She also became the U.S.'s first 'woman acting president' for 55 minutes on November 19, 2021, when Biden underwent a colonoscopy. A sitting President has never been defeated historically. Kamala Harris, who is only 58, is Biden's running mate again.

The two-time former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, daughter of Indian-origin immigrants, made history as South Carolina's first female governor. At 39, Nikki was the youngest governor in the U.S. in January 2011. Nikki was also the state's first Indian-American governor. She is projecting herself as a changemaker who can reinvigorate a party. Her biggest challenge comes from her former boss, Trump. He advised her to follow her heart when she informed Donald Trump about her intention to contest.

Nikki and Kamala have the advantage of name recognition, but Vivek is less well-known. The 37-year-old studied at Harvard and Yale earned millions as a biotechnology entrepreneur and founded an asset management firm. It would be difficult for Vivek, with no political experience, to join the race for the White House. But former President Trump said some encouraging words: "I am pleased to see that Vivek Ramaswamy is doing so well in the most recent Republican Primary Poll, CBS YouGov." The Indian-origin candidates face many hurdles to cross, even to get their respective party's nomination in the primary in which the Whites dominate. In the Republican Party, after Trump (52 per cent) and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (24 per cent), Nikki has only 18 per cent support. It indicates she has a long way to go before being considered a serious candidate. The second would be to catch the imagination of the Americans. They know that their ethnic background alone cannot win them an election.

Thirdly, it is a question mark whether they would vote for a woman and that too of ethnic origin. Even Hillary Clinton, a white American, was rejected earlier as she could not mobilize the women voters in her favour. Apart from these, others like Asa Hutchinson, Robert Kennedy Jr, Marianne Williamson, Tim Scott, Larry Elder, Ron DeSantis, and Mike Pence are likely presidential candidates. DeSantis is yet to announce his candidacy. He is considered Trump's top challenger for the 2024 nomination. Biden is surging and leads both Trump and DeSantis in the polls. He has the momentum and financial muscle to embark on another successful presidential campaign. But it is too early to predict.

(The author is a senior journalist)
India has shown how an inclusive architecture for the overall well-being and healthcare of the people can be achieved

The G7 Summit will brainstorm global issues faced by humanity. Ahead of the summit, health ministers of G7 along with outreach countries  India, Indonesia and Thailand  along with multilateral agencies brainstormed over the issues faced by humanity. The G7 being a group of the most industrialized nations in the world also has the most of the global wealth with them. Needless to say, G7 has an accompanying duty and responsibility to take the lead in addressing global challenges, including the health issues of the world population.

Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare Mansukh Manadaviya attended the meeting of the health ministers of G7 along with outreach nations. India for the past few years has been at the centre stage of the deliberations of G7. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has regularly been attending the G7 meetings. Also, India with the presidency of G20 is currently at the centre stage of a solution-based actionable agenda for the global challenges. The success of the G7 agenda cannot be achieved unless aligned with the aims and objectives cogently brought forth by India with the G20 presidency.

The world is still learning its way out of the Covid-19 pandemic. The once-in-a-century pandemic has made humanity aware of the health risk of an interconnected world. The outbreak of communicable diseases poses a serious challenge to the well-being of the global population. Also, a health issue is directly connected with the global economy. Indian G20 presidency by lending its voice to the Global South has brought forth the concerns of the developing and poor countries of deepening debt, which became acute in the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic. Its in this context that the agenda of G7 and G20 must be aligned.

The G7 must take lessons from the Indian way of dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic, as it can lead the wealthiest nations to contribute constructively by learning from the leadership of PM Modi. The Indian Covid-19 response was based on the principle that none should be left behind in the vaccination drive. All must be vaccinated and India demonstrated that the people living in the remotest parts of the country were also provided with not only access to the vaccines but also psychological and emotional support so that they willingly took the jabs.

Malana is one of the villages in Himachal Pradesh. Tradition claims that the descendants of the army of Alexander had settled in this remote village. The villagers are particular about protecting their unique culture, and they maintain a distance from others. It was a tough task for the health personnel to vaccinate the people of the village. But PM Modi during his several video conferences with the heads of the district administrations had made it clear that none should be left behind in the vaccination drive. The district administration launched a special campaign to convince the people of the village to take the Covid-19 vaccines. Several far-flung villages in the country were covered under the vaccination drive. The administrations even used drones. The frontline workers even went to villages where only one or a very few people lived.

India also lived by its philosophy of Vasudhev Kutumbkam that the world is one village and provided indigenous vaccines to countries in all parts of the world, from Brazil to Caribbean nations, from Africa to South Asia. This has to be the guiding principle for G7 when the Summit addresses the issue of equitable access to vaccines against global communicable diseases.

Under the leadership of PM Modi, India has also shown an inclusive architecture for the overall well-being and health care of the people. Ayushman Bharat is worth mentioning here. India issued additional 22 crore Ayushman health cards in 2022 against 13.22 crore cards issued in 2021. Also, the government last year gave coverage of over Rs 50277.4 crores under the Ayushman Bharat scheme. Over 26,000 hospitals have come under the coverage of Ayushman Bharat. India also gave wider access to healthcare through e-Sanjeevani by which people can access doctors through telemedicine.

India rolled out the first in Asia container-based hospitals to help people access healthcare in remote parts of the country. Critical care has also been provided in hospitals in 602 districts of the country. From 387 medical colleges in the country in 2013-14, India now has 648 medical colleges. The Modi governments emphasis on health care for all has also been attracting foreign direct investments in record numbers. The FDI in the pharmaceutical sector has jumped from Rs 3650 crores in 2019-20 to Rs 14,677 crores in 2022-23.

The G7 Summit can look at the Indian expertise in vaccine development and manufacturing, as well as the knowledge gained during the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic to make an actionable plan for the wellbeing of the global population.

(Author is the national general secretary of the Bharatiya Janata Party)
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, who is on a three-day visit to Sweden, regaled the audience there when he quoted the Hindi idiom aap ke muhn mein ghee shakkar. He reportedly made this remark when members of the audience said Indias stature in the world is rising.

The minister was interacting with the Indian diaspora late Sunday in Stockholm where he made these remarks.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Monday conducted a series of raids in various districts against terrorist outfits and their offshoots/affiliates operating in the Kashmir valley to disrupt peace and communal harmony in Jammu and Kashmir by spreading terror, violence and subversion. The agency conducted the searches in Anantnag, Srinagar, Pulwama, Shopian and Budgam districts of Kashmir, and seized incriminating materials/documents.

The NIA launched extensive searches at 13 locations of sympathizers/cadres, hybrid terrorists and Over Ground Workers (OGWs) linked with the newly-formed offshoots and affiliates of several proscribed Pak-backed terror organisations, including Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), Hizb-ul-Mujahideen (HM), Al-Badr and Al-Qaeda among others. The raids were part of the ongoing investigations of NIA in the terror conspiracy case, involving the activities of OGWs and cadres in support of various newly-launched outfits, such as The Resistance Front (TRF), United Liberation Front Jammu & Kashmir (ULFJ&K), Mujahideen Gazwat-ul-Hind (MGH), Jammu & Kashmir Freedom Fighters (JKFF), Kashmir Tigers, PAAF, among others, the agency said. Besides terrorist and violent activities, these cadres and workers had been found involved in collection and distribution of sticky bombs/magnetic bombs, IEDs, funds, narcotics and arms/ammunition, it said.

NIA investigations had further revealed that Pak-based operatives were involved in delivery of arms/ammunition, explosives and narcotics to these cadres and workers in Kashmir valley via drones.
The changes brought in by the BJP Government in the recruitment system have ended the possibility of corruption and nepotism and made recruitment process easier and faster, asserted Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday, while giving away appointment letters to over 71,000 people at a Rozgar Mela.

The Prime Minister said in the last nine years, his government has prioritised the recruitment process by making it faster, transparent and unbiased. The possibility of corruption and nepotism in recruitment for government jobs has now ended, Modi said.

He pointed out that earlier the Staff Selection Board took roughly 15-18 months to onboard the new recruits whereas today it takes only 6-8 months. The PM underlined that the tedious process of recruitment which existed earlier starting from acquiring the application form to submitting it via post has now been simplified by making it online where a provision for self-attestation of documents has also been introduced.

The journey which started with the spirit of Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas is working for a Viksit Bharat (developed India), he said, adding that today is also Sikkims statehood day.

He also said that the number of universities has grown to 1,100 from around 720 in 2014 while there are now 700 medical colleges against 400 earlier.

Modi also added that interviews for Group C and Group D have also been abolished. The Prime Minister said that the biggest benefit of this is the extermination of nepotism from the entire process.

He referred to his recent meetings with CEOs of leading global companies, including Walmart, Apple, Foxconn and Cisco, to assert that there is unprecedented positivity about industry and investment in the country.

The Prime Minister cited EPFO net payroll figures to say that over 4.5 crore people have got jobs since 2018-19 as formal employment has been growing.

FDI and the countrys record export have been creating employment opportunities in every corner of India, he said, noting that the nature of jobs has also been changing with his government constantly supporting the emerging sectors.

The country has seen a revolution in the start-up sector and their numbers have risen to nearly a lakh from a few hundred before 2014, the year the BJP came to power at the Centre, he said, adding that they are estimated to have provided a minimum 10 lakh jobs.

Citing development figures in the last one year, he said the length of rural roads has risen to 7.25-lakh km from 4-lakh km while the number of airports has gone up from 74 to nearly 150.

Construction of over 4 crore pucca houses under a government housing scheme for the poor has also created a lot of employment opportunities, Modi said.

He also said that the number of universities has grown to 1,100 from around 720 in 2014 while there are now 700 medical colleges against 400 earlier.

The Prime Minister also informed about his scheduled meetings with CEOs of the worlds leading companies in the next week and said that all of them are full of enthusiasm to invest in India. He underlined that such efforts highlight the new employment opportunities being created in different sectors in India.
Three policemen, including a sub-inspector, were suspended after a man died in custody in Gonda on Tuesday morning.

Senior officials visited the police station and ordered an inquiry into the death.

Local officials claimed that during interrogation, the accused consumed some poisonous substance he was carrying, leading to his death.

According to reports, one Raj Kumar Lal Srivastava was accused in a multi-crore rupees land scam. A case was registered against him at the Nagar Kotwali police station in Gonda and the cops raided his house and arrested him last Sunday. He was grilled inside the police station in connection with the land scam. Suddenly, Srivastava turned unconscious and the cops rushed him to the district hospital and admitted him there in a serious condition. The doctors suspected that the victim had consumed some poisonous substance following which his condition had deteriorated.

Srivastava was undergoing treatment in the district hospital in police custody, where he died on Tuesday morning. After his death, the family members staged a demonstration, accusing the cops of using third degree leading to the death of the victim.

Later, taking cognisance of the matter, the superintendent of police of Gonda suspended Sub-Inspector Rajneesh Dwivedi and two constables after prima facie finding them to have adopted negligent approach in the matter.

Reports said that Srivastava was a lawyer. His name in the scam came to the fore during the investigation of the Special Investigation Team and Crime Branch of the district. Many lawyers, including mastermind Brijesh Awasthi, are already behind the bars in the said land scam.

Meanwhile, in Bulandshahr district jail, an undertrial accused of murdering his girlfriend was found dead. His body was found hanging with a towel in the toilet of the jail barrack. The jail officials claimed that he committed suicide. The body was sent for autopsy and further investigations are on.

Reports said that on Tuesday morning, 15-20 prisoners arrived at the PCO and among them was 21-year-old Sandeep Singh of Kamona village under Chhatari police station. After meeting his relatives, Sandeep told the officials that he was going to the toilet. When he did not come out for a long time, other inmates called him but when they got no reply, they raised an alarm. The prison guards along with the senior jail officials rushed and broke open the door of the toilet and found Sandeep hanging with the help of a towel. He was immediately taken to the hospital where the doctors referred him for the district hospital but he was later pronounced dead. The relatives of the prisoner have demanded action against the jail officials.

Sources said that Sandeep was arrested on April 16 for killing his girlfriend and was lodged in the district jail.
All India Muslim Personal Law Board has convened a two-day meet at Indore from June 3.

The meeting has been called to elect a new president following the death of incumbent president Maulana Rabe Hasan Nadvi.

The election of the two vice-presidents of the AIMPLB will also be held during the two-day meeting.

All the members of the AIMPLB have been invited for the meeting. The AIMPLB has 251 members which includes 30 women members.

Maulana Rabe Hasan Nadvi died in Lucknow on April 13 after suffering from a prolonged illness. Maulana Nadvi, also the rector of Darul Uloom Nadwatul Ulema was against the introduction of the uniform civil code as he was of the view that a uniform civil code was not feasible for a country as large as India.
The Bharatiya Janata Party has seen a significant rise in its vote-share in all mayoral seats this year, thanks to the popularity of Yogi Adityanath and the development efforts of his government.

A comparative study of the figures between the 2017 and 2023 municipal body elections reveals that the BJP received more votes and the partys vote percentage rose on every seat in 2023.

The BJP gained control of the newly-created Shahjahanpur mayoral seat, and in Meerut and Aligarh, where it had earlier been defeated, the party won the mayoral polls this time. Furthermore, the BJP received a significant number of votes in this area.

When the Yogi Adityanath government took over for the first time in the state in 2017, the BJP bagged 14 of the 16 mayoral seats while Meerut and Aligarh seats went to the Bahujan Samaj Party. But in 2023, BJP won all the 17 mayoral seats with the addition of Shahjahanpur Municipal Corporation.

In Ayodhya, the BJP received 44,642 votes in 2017 and 77,494 votes in 2023. In Agra, the BJP polled 2,17,881 votes in 2017 and 2,67,925 votes in 2023. In Kanpur Nagar the BJP received 4,40,352 votes in 2023 against 3,96,725 votes in 2017. The number of votes in Ghaziabad increased from 2,82,793 in 2017 to 3,50,905 in 2023.

In 2023, the BJP gave its tickets to the outgoing mayors on three seats Pramila Pandey from Kanpur Nagar, Umesh Gautam from Bareilly and Vinod Agarwal from Moradabad. The BJP received more votes this time compared to last year, according to a comparative analysis of these three seats. The percentage of total votes polled here also increased.

In Kanpur Nagar, Pramila Pandey received 3,96,725 votes (42.1 per cent) in 2017 and in 2023, she received 4,40,353 votes. Umesh Gautam received 1,39,127 votes (40.73 per cent) in Bareilly in 2017 and 1,67,385 votes (47.54 per cent) in 2023. Vinod Agarwal received 94,677 votes in Moradabad in 2017 and he polled more than 1.21 lakh votes in 2023.

The BJPs success in the municipal elections is seen as a reflection of the peoples trust in the Yogi Adityanath government and its development initiatives.
The Central Institute of Psychiatry (CIP), Ranchi will celebrate its 106 establishment day on Wednesday. On the occasion a special programme has been organized. India became Chief of G-20 group on the 75th independence year of the Country due to this the programme added with globalization.



CIP in collaboration with CIP Alumni Association is also organizing a CME and Alumni meet. The theme of this year is Globalisation & Mental Health : Marching Through the G-20 Leadership year.



Dr Malvika Parakh will give information on how much India is prepared on the mental issue of mother and child. Her subject will be Global Trends in Mother-Bay Mental Well Being: Is India Prepared. The first session of the programme will be chaired by Dr D Ram and Dr B Das.



On the occasion CIP Bulletin-2023 and Alumni Newsletter 2023 will also be unveiled. The Chief Guest of the programme will be Ranchi University Vice Chancellor, Ajit Kumar Sinha and the Special Guest will be IIM, Ranchi, Director, Deepak Srivastava.



More than 150 Doctors from the Country and abroad will participate. The Resident Doctors, Staff and Trainees will be facilitated for the performance during the programme. A cultural programme will also be organized in the evening of the day.
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Tuesday expressed gratitude to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for giving appointment letters to 71,000 youths recruited across the country through Employment Fairs (Rozgar Melas).

The recipients of appointment letters include hundreds of youths from Uttar Pradesh, who were selected during employment fairs held in different districts of the state.

Thanking the prime minister on his official Twitter handle, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath wrote, Under the guidance of respected Prime Minister Modi ji, new opportunities are being created continuously to connect the youth with the development journey of the nation. Many congratulations to more than 71,000 newly selected youths on receiving appointment letters through the PM Rozgar Mela! Thank you prime minister!

These employment fairs were organised at 45 different places across the country, which included Lucknow, Varanasi, Agra, Moradabad and Gorakhpur districts of UP. Youths of UP selected through the employment fairs held in these districts received the appointment letters on Tuesday along with others during the video conferencing of the prime minister.

To distribute these appointment letters, Union Minister for Women and Child Development and Minority Affairs Smriti Zubin Irani was present in Lucknow, Union Heavy Industries Minister Dr Mahendra Nath Pandey in Varanasi, Union Minister of State for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Bhanu Pratap Singh Verma in Moradabad, Union Minister of State for Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying Dr Sanjeev Kumar Balyan in Agra and Union Minister of State Ajay Kumar in Gorakhpur.
The New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) documents showed that the construction and demolition waste collected from New Delhi in the last financial year witnessed a decline of over 27 per cent from the preceding year.

NDMC officials said this implies fewer construction-related activities were carried out last year as compared to the preceding year. In 2022-23, the NDMC reported 19,819.87 metric tons of C&D waste were collected from Lutyens Delhi, this includes waste removed from private properties and buildings maintained by the NDMC itself, the documents said. According to data accessed by PTI, the construction and demolition waste - the waste generated from construction, renovation, repair, and demolition of houses, large building structures, and roads - generated and collected in 2021-22 was 27,272.76 metric tonnes.

This means 7,452.89 metric tons (27.3 percent decline) less waste was collected last year than the preceding year. The collection of waste in the last year was also quite less than 2020-21, which was 22,424.39 metric tons.

NDMC has awarded the work for C&D disposal to a private firm that collects the waste from the NDMC area and hands it over to the Municipal Corporation of Delhi for disposal. NDMC relies on MCD for the disposal of waste because it does not have a C&D waste processing plant. The officials have attributed the drop to fewer construction activities in the area.The drop is nothing to be concerned about. It depends on the kind of construction and demolition activities. Last year, there were fewer such activities, NDMC Vice Chairman Satish Upadhyay told PTI.

We have designated 15 sites/locations for the dumping of Construction and Demolition (C&D) waste/ melba in the New Delhi area. We ensure proper disposal of the C&D waste with an aim to dust and dirt-free beautify the New Delhi area, he added.
KORAPUT: The Department of Statistics, CUO organised a Special Lecture on Statistics of 21st Century: New Challenges and Opportunities on May 12 at Sunabeda.

Prof Anurup Majumdar, Professor, Bidhan Chandra Krishi University, West Bengal, and Dr Mahesh Kumar Panda, Associate Professor, Ravenshaw University, Cuttack, attended as the chief speaker and guest speaker respectively for the special lecture.

Vice-Chancellor of the university Prof Chakradhar Tripathi conveyed his best wishes and hoped the students will learn many features of new challenges and opportunities in statistics of the 21st Century.

Prof Sudhendu Mandal, advisor (Academic & Administration), CUO graced the occasion as the guest of honour and shared his valuable thoughts about the history of statistics in India. Biswajit Bhoi, Assistant Professor of Economics and Head (I/c) of the department, delivered the welcome address.

Prof Majumdar spoke on the Application of Multiple Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) Approach for Ranking of Different Alternatives using the TOPSIS Method. He highlighted the various methods and approaches in using applications in statistics.

Dr Panda delivered a fundamental and informative talk on An Introduction to Machine Learning. He enlightened how machine learning plays a very vital role in various sectors like medical science, business, industries, etc. in todays globalized world.
A Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) employee allegedly killed his wife and daughter by slitting their throats before hanging himself over a financial crisis in east Delhis Jyoti Colony area on Tuesday, police said.

A PCR call was received at around noon where Sudhir, a Delhi Metro employee, informed that when he reached out to his colleague Sushil Kumar (43), who did not come to the office, he was crying over the call and said that he had killed everybody, a senior police officer said. Police reached Kumars house and found three bodies there.

While Kumar was found hanging from the ceiling of a room on the second floor of the building, his wife Anuradha (43) was found dead on the floor in the same room with her throat cut open, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Shahdara) Rohit Meena said. Police found the couples 13-year-old son in an injured condition, lying beside the dead body of his six-year-old sister, he said. Both the children had their throats slit, police said.

The teen was immediately rushed to GTB Hospital for treatment. He had placed a bed sheet over the wound on his neck which probably saved him from losing a lot of blood and could be a reason for his survival, sources said. The doctor has informed that the boy has a chance of survival, police said.

When police broke open the door of the second floor, they found a dog chained up on the stairs going to the terrace, they said. The preliminary investigation revealed that Kumar was going through a financial crisis. It is suspected that he took this decision over this issue, police said.

The documents received on the spot showed that Kumar had mortgaged jewellery, taken loans and was under a financial burden. His phone has been sent for examination and further facts will be revealed after his account and forensic analysis, they said. A kitchen knife used by Kumar in the incident was recovered from the room where the couples dead bodies were found, they said.

Kumar worked as a maintenance supervisor in the DMRC at East Vinod Nagar depot, police said. Sudhir, who last spoke to Kumar, told PTI that he called him around 11.15 am. When he did not reach the office in the morning, I called him around 11.15 am. He picked up the phone and started crying. I asked him what happened and he said that I killed everyone and immediately disconnected the call, Sudhir said.

I called him back, but he did not answer. I even sent him a text mentioning that please call the police. Later, I called the police and informed them about the incident. I also gave them Sushils address. From the past week, he was not so regular which was unusual, he said.

Anuj Dayal, Principal Executive Director, DMRC, said, It is a police case and we would not like to comment on the incident as such. However, any assistance or information needed by the authorities would be provided by us.
AIIMS Bhopal, a premier healthcare institution, has successfully saved a 32-year-old female patient who was suffering from severe Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS) using Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO) machine.

This is a significant milestone for the healthcare sector in Central India, as AIIMS Bhopal is the first government hospital in the region to have an ECMO machine. ECMO is a life-saving technology that mimics the functions of the lungs and heart.

The ECMO machine is similar to the heart-lung by-pass machine used in open-heart surgery. It pumps and oxygenates a patient's blood outside the body, allowing the heart and lungs to rest. The cost of the ECMO machine is around 60 lakhs, and AIIMS Bhopal is proud to have this advanced technology in the hospital.

The patient came to AIIMS Bhopal on March 27, 2023, with complaints of cough and shortness of breath. Upon admission, her oxygen saturation levels were critically low at 42%, and radiological investigations revealed severe ARDS.

The patient was immediately shifted to the Respiratory Intensive Care Unit (RICU) under the Department of Pulmonary Medicine, where she was intubated and put on a ventilator. However, the patient's condition did not improve, and the doctors in the pulmonary medicine department (Dr Abhishek Goyal, Dr Alkesh Khurana) decided to put her on ECMO with the help of doctors in the department of Cardiothoracic and Vascular Surgery (Dr Yogesh Niwariya, Dr Kishan, Dr Surendra, Dr Molly Kiran).

The patient was on ECMO for initial two weeks but and due to prolonged ventilatory support, tracheostomy was performed.

However, the patient recovered well, and all supporting tubes were removed after 48 days of stay in the RICU. The dedication from the nursing staff , the resident doctors and the physiotherapists on floor was exceptional throughout this time period.

Director of AIIMS Bhopal, Prof (Dr) Ajai Singh) expressed his happiness and pride in this successful milestone. He said, "We are delighted to announce that we have saved a life with the help of ECMO technology, which is the first of its kind in Central India in a government setup. This is a significant achievement for us, and we are proud to have a highly skilled team who worked tirelessly to provide the best care for the patient." The patient herself and her family members expressed gratitude towards the treating team and the hospital.

AIIMS Bhopal has always been at the forefront of providing quality healthcare services to the people of Central India. The successful use of the ECMO machine is a testament to the hospital's commitment to advancing medical technology and providing the best possible care to patients.
The Institute of Company Secretaries of India (ICSI), Bhubaneswar Chapter began a 15-day Management Skills Orientation Programme (MSOP) for Qualified Company Secretaries here on Tuesday.

Soumya Sujit Mishra, chairman, EIRC of the ICSI, Bimal Prasad Pattanaik, chairman, Sasmita Panda, vice-chairperson, Srimanta Baboo, treasurer, Jyotirmaya Panigrahi, Nilakantha Samal, managing committee members while addressing the inaugural session said the training programme is being conducted to expertise the passed-out students and acquaint them to work in different organisations, different cultures and also work as independent CS practioners. The training is mandatory for all the passed-out students before admitting them as associate members of the ICSI.

Apart from students of Odisha, those from Pune, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Kolkata, Raipur, Vizag are attending the programme, which will continue till May 31. During the programme, experts from regulatory bodies, trade, industry, management institutions and professionals will address various practical sessions.
The voters of Karnataka have given an unprecedented mandate to the Congress in the Assembly elections held on May 10 while rejecting the incumbent Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The anti incumbency wave against the ruling -BJP in Karnataka and the internal dissent in the State-unit of the party due to ticket denial could be considered as a key twin factors for the bad poll-performance of the BJP.

On the other hand, four factors such as the unity of the leaders in the State-unit, welfaristic poll manifesto, all-inclusive caste and religion social agenda and good election management of the Congress are considered as the reasons behind the historical poll success of the party in the State.

The Congress is all set to form a stable Government in Karnataka as this time. While it is a State election phenomenon, political analysts find a few national factors influencing the local election and expect the impact of the Assembly poll to spread to the national political eco system.

The national factors that might have worked against the BJP in the Karnataka election are the Central Governments silence over the women- wrestlers' strike at Delhi, the statements of the former Governor Satyapal Malik against the Union Government, the sudden removal of former Congress MP Rahul Gandhi from his Government residence, the Adani row, excess use of Hindutwa political narrative in TV channels and in polls, BJPs overuse of the Prime Minister as star campaigner during the Statevelections and breaking of the elected State Governments through Operation Kamal by the BJP among others. The BJP shall be forced to re-think on these aspects.

The effect of the Karnataka Assembly election shall also go beyond Karnataka. It is likely to favour the Congress in the forthcoming Assembly elections in Chhatisgarh, MP and Rajasthan, to be held by end of 2023. It shall also boost the morale of the anti-BJP opposition efforts at the national level which consists of the Congress and the regional parties. The non-NDA regional parties that advocate for the formation of an anti-BJP-opposition front without the Congress, shall have to quit their political position. They have to either join the Congress-led opposition for the forthcoming Parliament poll or choose to follow the equi-distance path like the BJD.

Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim went to the Assembly poll along with 2019 general election where the BJP/its coalitions victory was limited to Sikkim and Arunachal. After 2019 general election, Assembly polls were conducted in the States of Harayana, Maharastra, Jharkhand, Delhi, Bihar, Assam, Kerala, Puduchery, West Bengal, Tamilnadu, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Goa, Manipur, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Gujarat and Karnataka. BJP/its coalitions formed Government in Haryana, Bihar, Assam, Puducherry, UP, Uttarakhand, Goa, Manipur and Gujarat only. Bihar later went to JDU-RJD-Congress alliance and Maharastra went to BJP-Sena( Shinde) alliance.

Before 2024 general elections, Assembly polls to Mizoram, Chhatisgarh, MP, Rajasthan and Telengana are to be conducted. BJPs exit from Karnataka shall be its leg puller in Telengana. Mizoram might go to the BJP. But if the Congress succeeds in managing partys factionalism in Rajasthan, then the Karnakata victory shall enable it to win Madhya Pradesh, Chhatisgarh and Rajasthan.If this happens the BJPs presence shall be sqeezed considerably by April-2024 general election, affecting its Lok Sabha seats.

While the disastrous fall of BJP in Karnataka Assembly election might be a tell-tale sign of the beginning of electoral weakness the BJP in the country, the revival of the Congress looks imminent. If one looks back at 2019-2022 period, the Congress was in a miserable condition in the country, having lost power at the Centre for the second consecutive time, facing internal revolt and defection of its leaders to the BJP, facing criticism of familism in the party and so on. Today, Congress has succeeded in reviving its strength in all the fronts. The party has elected a Dalit leader as its national president and has become vocal in professing its secular ideology as an alternative to BJPs Hindutwa ideology.

The next step for the Congress is to declare openly its economic reforms policy for the country in line with its talk against crony capitalism, big corporatisation, privatisation of public assets, loot of banks through loans and secret political funding through electoral bonds and so on. Unless the Congress offers an alternative economic plan for the country, it may not be able to give a tough fight to the BJP at the Centre.
Bidhuri questions CM claims on CEEW survey

New Delhi: Leader of Opposition in Delhi Assembly Ramvir Singh Bidhuri has asked Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal how long he and his associates will continue to do politics by lying. Being in a constitutional post like Chief Minister, it does not suit him to lie like this. Bidhuri has challenged Kejriwal's claim about CEEW's Indian Residential Energy electricity survey. Terming his tweet as false, Bidhuri demanded the Chief Minister apologize to the people of Delhi. He said that this tweet has said that Punjab and Delhi have free electricity and these two states have the lowest power cuts. Actually, the survey that Kejriwal has shown is from 2020.

MCD will abolish house tax rebate: Cong

New Delhi: Delhi Congress president Anil Kumar accused that AAP in the MCD has decided to abolish the "ownership rebate" given till 2022 to those having 200-metre covered area accommodation, which was started by the Congress Government. He said that the MCD,

headed by a woman mayor, has reduced the floor area for such rebate to 100 metres, which will remove a large number of people from the house tax rebate bracket. He said that earlier, women used to get 30 per cent ownership rebate for 200-metre covered area accommodation, but now even they will get rebate only for 100-metre covered area houses. He said that Kejriwal had promised to reduce house tax, instead he has abolished rebate given to the common people.

Students of Manav Sthali School shine

New Delhi: Students of Manav Sthali School, New Rajendra Nagar came out with flying colours in Class X and XII Board exams whose results were declared on May 12.In Class XII Pavni Verma from Humanities stream secured 98 per cent and was the topper.Second topper Ripriya Dhawan from Humanities stream secured 97 per cent and third topper Ganya Anand from Humanities stream secured 96.4 per cent.Naman Ladha is Class X topper securing 97.6 per cent with second topper Prisha Sindhwani bagging 96.80 per cent and third topper Kritika Chaurasia got 96 per cent.
Panic gripped a school in South Delhis Pushp Vihar after it received a bomb threat via email on Tuesday morning. According to the details, the bomb threat was received at Amrita School in the area, during the early hours on Tuesday morning. Delhi Police and other teams rushed to the school premises as soon as they received information about the bomb threat and conducted a thorough search operation after immediately evacuating the building. However, no suspicious object was found during the search. Recently, there has been a spurt of bomb threat incidents in Delhi schools. This is the third incidents in the past one and a half month.

According to a senior police officer, Amrita School was evacuated immediately after the threat was received and its buildings were checked but nothing suspicious was found. Chandan Choudhary, Deputy Commissioner of Police (South) said, An email was received today (Tuesday) morning at 6.33 am at Amrita School, Saket, regarding a bomb threat. A thorough checking of the school has been done through Bomb Disposal Team but nothing was found. A teacher of the school said all students were safely evacuated and sent home with their parents. I was conducting the morning assembly in class around 8 am when the teachers were informed to stop all activities and safely lead the students out of the school building, she said.

Parents rushed to the school after receiving a message on the school WhatsApp group to receive their children as soon as possible. The parent of a UKG student said that she received a message on the WhatsApp group around 8.30 am.
The Prestige Institute of Management and Research association with the MP Council of Science and Technology, organized a seminar on  Women Entrepreneurship and Skill Development in the post Covid Scenario primarily to appreciate and recall the contributions of women entrepreneurs in fostering entrepreneurship among womenfolk and make them self reliant economically.

Padamshri Janak Palta McGilligan who was felicitated by Renu Jain with PIMR Inspiring Women Award, shared the stories of poor girls from the rural areas and how she took initiatives to make these poor girls literate and self dependent by helping them gain degrees through the National Open School, teaching Batik painting, stitching readymade garments, etc.

Palta said that she made entrepreneurs from illiterate girls and also trained school drop out students for entrepreneurship.

S Raman Iyer, Director, PIMR (UG) emphasized on the role of women entrepreneurs as important contributors to the economic and social development of a country as well as in addressing the global goals of overcoming the challenges of poverty and lead to sustainable

development.

Gaurav Goyal Assistant Director, MSME DI Indore , Expert in Skill Development urged the students to spend time in analysing their life span and time spent for each activity. He insisted on opting for an entrepreneurial career at an early stage in life as it will enable to become an established entrepreneur in a short span of 6-8 years. He emphasized on the various schemes of the MP govt for promotion of women entrepreneurs in the micro, small and medium enterprises.

Fenu Jain, Aashna Jain and Pooja Jain (Founder - International Fine Arts Academy) emphasized on the role of women entrepreneurs as important contributors to the economic and social development of a country as well as in addressing the global goals of overcoming the challenges of poverty and lead to sustainable development.

Brajesh Gupta- Vice President- International Business- Prestige Group, said that the MPCST is making efforts to create awareness about initiatives of the government to fulfil the dreams of youngsters. Pallavi Vyas, women entrepreneur in Indore and owner of Shanta Farms, asked students to encourage and support their sister, friend, mom or wives to start working in their area of interest and in this way contribute towards women empowerment.
opinion

Dakar, Senegal  Ulrich Crepin Namfeibona is head of the emergency team sent by Medecins Sans Frontieres/Doctors Without Borders (MSF) to respond to devastating floods that hit the east of Democratic Republic of Congo on the night of 4 May, leaving 400 people dead. This is his first person account.

On the morning of Friday 5 May, our emergency team was informed by authorities that, overnight, floods and landslides had hit Nyamukubi and Bushushu, two villages with a total of around 14,000 inhabitants, in Kalehe territory in South Kivu province, in the east of Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Following calls with community leaders and local health workers, we soon realised we were facing a major catastrophe.

We mobilised quickly to depart the next day. I travelled with one team by motorbike to Nyamukubi from Minova, where we are assisting displaced people fleeing conflict; the other team left by car towards Bushushu from MSFs base in Bukavu, the provincial capital, carrying medicines and medical supplies for treating wounded people, as well as body bags.

It was shocking to arrive at the usually vibrant village, where we had often stopped off, to find it had nearly disappeared. More than half of the village had been washed away: the houses, the market, the fields, the cattle, the water system... All was rubble and destruction.

That Thursday, Nyamukubi had hosted the regions weekly market day, which attracts visitors from as far away as Bukavu and Goma, so the area had around twice the usual population. The disaster caught everyone by surprise. After the first landslide, many people fled, but the river overflowed, leaving no way to escape, while the heavy rain continued.

Arriving at the health centre in Nyamukubi, it felt as if all the remaining villagers were there. The rooms were full of injured people  they were everywhere, on the beds, on the floors  and there were many relatives too. There was panic, people crying and shouting, and the local health staff seemed overwhelmed.

The first thing we did was to help manage the crowd and triage patients. We identified which patients were the most critical ones, who needed specialist care to survive, and which ones were moderately injured so could be treated on the spot. Two patients with head trauma injuries died shortly after our arrival.

Meanwhile, in Kalehe town, the second team had found a very similar situation, with dozens of wounded patients who had already been transferred from Bushushu village.

We had to think fast as we faced a major challenge: the main road crossing the disaster-hit area had been cut off by the landslide and water erosion and was now unusable. Thanks to the community, we identified the owner of a commercial boat who ran daily trips to Goma via Lake Kivu. We rented the boat then made some checks and adaptations, moving some seats to properly position the patients.

Igor G. Barbero /MSF Ulrich Crepin Namfeibona, head of the emergency team sent by Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) to respond to devastating floods that hit the east of Democratic Republic of Congo on the night of May 4, 2023, leaving 400 people dead.

That same day we used the boat to transfer 16 seriously injured people from Nyamukubi to Kalehe. They had open and closed fractures, in the limbs, in the body, with polytraumas As we only had enough fuel for a short trip, we took them first to the port of Kalehe, and then we made a series of journeys on a damaged unpaved road to take them to the towns hospital, where they joined 59 other injured patients.

The following day, on 7 May, we transferred 28 of these patients to Bukavu provincial hospital on a four-hour boat journey. Among them there were several children and pregnant women. Everyone was accompanied by a relative.

Over the following days, we did further evacuations of seriously injured patients from the affected areas to Bukavu, in cooperation with health authorities and other organisations, now using more sophisticated boats. We transferred a total of 41 patients to the provincial hospital in Bukavu.

It was an extremely challenging operation, with difficult decisions to take, as not every relative could be taken on board. At some point I stopped asking patients about the whereabouts of their relatives; their answers often confirmed the loss of beloved ones.

Back in the flood-hit villages, some slightly wounded patients who were ready to be discharged remained at the health centres, which have become a refuge for displaced people. What can you do when you no longer have a home? Other people are sheltering in churches, schools and any administrative buildings that are still standing.

Today, people whose houses were not destroyed are hosting up to five families. Some villagers have moved up to the hill and set up makeshift shelters there, while many others have gone to nearby villages.

By 11 May, several NGOs and UN agencies had arrived in Kalehe town and were either providing aid or getting ready to do so. The most urgent humanitarian needs are shelter, drinking water, essential relief items, food, protection for the many children who have lost their parents, and psychosocial support to cope with this tragedy. We at MSF remain vigilant about the condition of the wounded people and other medical needs that could arise.

So far, more than 400 people have been confirmed dead, but local authorities estimate that several thousand are still missing, particularly in Nyamukubi. The hope of finding them alive has faded away and the search for the dead bodies, managed by the Congolese Red Cross and the local community, continues unabated, hampered by a lack of logistical means to deal with a catastrophe of this magnitude, which will long haunt the memories of the population.
The Raj Niwas Secretariat has returned the files related to Services matters to the Delhi Government in light of the Supreme Courts order last week on transfers and postings of bureaucrats in the city. According to Raj Niwas officials, the LG Secretariat, in compliance of the Supreme Court Constitution Bench Judgment dated May 11, has returned files pertaining to Services matters, back to the Government for necessary action..

These files include proposals for extension of contractual tenure of staff in various Delhi Government Hospitals and acceptance of resignation of a Group A staff of Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Hospital. These were sent to the LG for approval.

These have been returned with the observation that the departments may be advised to take appropriate action/further necessary action, in light of the judgment of CB (Constitution Bench) in Apex Court on May 11, the official added.

In a statement, the Delhi government said it expected full cooperation from LG VK Saxena and the Centre but the Chief Secretary and the Services Secretary are still creating hurdles and even the first order for removing Services Secretary has not been implemented yet.

The Delhi government has issued a show-cause notice to IAS officer and Services Department Secretary Ashish More for not complying with its direction to replace him with a new officer, threatening disciplinary action against him. More was removed by the Delhi government from his post last week, hours after the Supreme Court gave the Delhi government control over the transfer and posting of officers in the state.

The top court ruled on Thursday the elected government in Delhi has legislative and executive powers over services department matters, barring those related to land, police and public order that still come under the jurisdiction of the lieutenant governor.
Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel on Tuesday expressed happiness over the success of women entrepreneurs.

He made the remark while inspecting the Rural Industrial Park in Kadar village in the Bhatapara assembly constituency.

Baghel inspected various livelihood-oriented activities there.

Women from self-help groups told the Chief Minister that RIPA had given them the confidence to go after different sources of income with ease.

The money they earn helped them to become financially strong.

Itara Dhiwar of the Om Sai Ram Self-Help Group, which runs a spice unit, informed the Chief Minister that they have sold chili spice worth Rs 50,000.

Members of the group are also involved in manufacturing vermicompost, which they have sold for Rs. 1.20 lakh. There are 11 members in the group.

Pooja Sahu from the Maa Saraswati Self-Help Group, overseeing the incense sticks unit, has sold products worth Rs 80,000, with a production cost of around Rs 10,000.

Sangeeta Banjare of the Satnam Mahila Self-Help Group has sold 50,000 bundles of dona pattal. The manufacturing expenditure was Rs 20,000 and the profit Rs 30,000.

A member of the Mahamaya Self-Help Group, Devika Verma, said a mini flour mill was set up around two months ago.

They received 20 quintals of arhar from Krishi Vigyan Kendra and are processing it for sale in the open market.
With the urban local bodies elections over, the Samajwadi Party is all set to focus its attention on mobilisation and consolidation of the Other Backward Class (OBC) vote bank.

The SP is particularly concerned over the poaching of its Muslim vote bank by the Hyderabad-based All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) in the urban local bodies elections.

The AIMIM, led by Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi, has not only made a mark in the urban local bodies polls in Uttar Pradesh but has also dealt a major blow to the SP by denting its support base among the minority community.

The AIMIM has five chairpersons in UPs nagar palika parishads and 75 corporators in municipal corporations, with its mayoral candidate in Meerut ended up as runner-up by finishing second after the Bharatiya Janata Party candidate.

The SP had initiated the move for mobilisation of the caste based vote bank earlier this year by targeting a verse in Ramcharitmanas, claiming it to be derogatory for the Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe and Other Backward Classes. Later, the party shifted its focus on caste based census.

Sources in the SP said, The 2024 Lok Sabha election is less than a year away and the mobilisation of the OBC vote bank is the only potent tool to fight the hegemony of the Hindutva ideology aggressively pursued by the BJP.

The BJP has made consistent inroads in the OBC vote bank in the last two Lok Sabha elections in 2014 and 2019 and two UP assembly elections in 2017 and 2022 and the SP faces a challenging task of protecting its political turf in UP during the 2024 Lok Sabha election.

SP chief Akhilesh Yadav had on April 3 attended a meeting of 14 opposition parties on the theme Social justice, the road ahead.

The meeting was organised by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin in a show of strength amid ongoing efforts to stitch up various political combinations.

Besides the SP, more and more opposition parties, including the Congress, have joined the bandwagon in recent weeks to demand a national caste census as a new Mandal politics to challenge the BJP.

During the Karnataka state assembly election campaign, Rahul Gandhi had also advocated caste based census. He had also pointed out that only seven per cent of secretaries in the Central government were from the SC, ST and OBC communities.

The Congress focus on caste politics is seen as counter offensive in the backdrop of the BJPs offensive against Rahul Gandhi, accusing the Congress leader of insulting or defaming OBCs or other backward castes through his comment on the Modi surname. That remark led to conviction of Rahul Gandhi in a criminal defamation case and his disqualification from the membership of the Lok Sabha.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge has also written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, demanding the release of the caste data collected in the 2011 Socio-Economic Caste Census by the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government, abolition of the 50 per cent ceiling on reservations and conduct of national caste census.

The last caste based census was held during colonial rule in 1931 and published in 1932. The data about OBC population was extrapolated by the Mandal Commission to recommend 27 per cent reservation for the OBCs which was implemented in 1990 by the then Prime Minister VP Singh.

Later in 2011, the UPA government conducted a Socio-Economic Caste Census in 2011, which was expected to provide comprehensive data. Its report was not made public by the UPA government. The Narendra Modi government has used the data for implementing myriad welfare schemes, but has not made the data public.
Students of school of planning and architecture shared their draft climate resilient plans for selected panchayats in four blocks of Alirajpur and Chhattarpur, which were prepared by them after the field visit to these districts. This was part of a Studio project as part of their learning in the school. The studio was supported by UNICEF as part of their work on climate change and disaster risk reduction. Presentation of these plans was done to Government Officials from Department of Public Health Engineering Department, Panchayat and Rural Development, State Disaster Management Authority, India Meteorological Department, EPCO, Disaster Management Institute, State Planning Commission, tribal department, NGOs working on disaster and UNICEF officials from DElhi and Bhopal. They were presenting at a dissemination workshop held by SPA, UNICEF, and PHED. 13 students of SPA worked on this project.

Speaking at the dissemination workshop Prof (Dr) Kailasa Rao M said that "Institutes of technical excellence, such as SPA have prioritised experiential learning for its students, which is helping us align our capacity and capability with the societal and governance priorities of the state. In coming years, we would like to coordinate more with various line-departments and institutions of GoM to plan such studies with specific focus on climate and disaster risk-resilience of human settlements. I am happy that this year, in partnership with UNICEF, the Environmental Planning Department of the Institute has made a good start in the 13 Gram Panchayats of Chattarpur and Alirajpur districts of Madhya Pradesh."

Dr Sanjay Kumar Andhwa Engineer in Chief, and Engineer in Chief Advisor K K Songariya from PHED praised the efforts and said we will support the implementation of the plans which are part of PHED. Lokendra Thakkar, State lead of Knowledge Centre, EPCO said this is a good effort and said that we also need to look into cultural aspects as we make plans, as each district is unique. Director India Meteorological Department Dr R Balasubramaniam also shared his insights with the students. Devesh Mishra of PRD, Saurabh Singh of SDMA, Dr George V of Disaster Management Authority, Kumar Ratan, State Planning Commission also shared their inputs and how they can support the way forward.

Sarbjit Singh, Emergency Specialist, UNICEF India was part of the workshop, he encouraged the young students, and said that it will be great if we can look at investing in more such studios to look at plans of the same district on continuous basis to make a change at block level.

Anil Gulati, UNICEF Communication Specialist and DRR focal point, Pankaj Mathur, UNICEF WASH specialist, and other officials from UNICEF were present. UNICEF provided technical support to this initiative, shared Rama Pandey, Associate Professor with School of Planning and Architecture and she anchored the programme and spoke on the process of this initiative. Students which did the project included Justin Andrews, Anushi Gupta, Harshith B.N., Shaily Agarwal,, Nikhil Bhardwaj, Akasmita Chakraborty, Vishnu Prasad S, Abdul Ahad Khan, Lisha Taneja, Shradha Suman, Arathy S, Sharada Ganesh Iyer, Mrunmayi Snajya Poehnekar.
Armed miscreants struck terror when they opened indiscriminate fire inside the district court premises in Jaunpur in which two murder accused, brought to be produced in the court, were seriously injured.

Some advocates later overpowered one of the assailants and brutally assaulted him before the senior officials rushed with a heavy police force and rescued him. He was taken to the police station where senior officials grilled him to extract details about others involved in the incident and the motive behind opening fire inside the court. They also shifted both the injured to the district hospital where the condition of one of them was stated to be critical.

Reports said that the Jaunpur police took two murder accused, Mithilesh alias Dabbu Giri and Surya Prakash Rai, from jail to the civil court to produce them before the designated magistrate. When they were moving towards the chief judicial magistrates court on Tuesday afternoon, some miscreants suddenly opened indiscriminate fire on both the prisoners in police custody.

A bullet hit Surya Prakash Rai on the back while Mithilesh Giri was hit on his right hand and elbow. They both were later shifted to hospital.

Sources said that due to the indiscriminate firing, everyone rushed to take shelter inside court rooms and offices. In the meantime, some advocates reached there after hearing gunshots and nabbed one of the attackers and brutally thrashed him before the cops rescued him from their clutches.

The sources said that the held accused was later identified as Shravan Yadav and he claimed to have opened fire to avenge the killing of his brother.

According to reports, on May 6, 2022, some people clashed with wrestler Badal Yadav at a shop selling eggs in Dharampur police station in Gaurabadshahpur. In the clash, Saraiya resident Mithilesh aka Dabbu Giri and Satya Prakash Rai of Kabaruddinpur Golu attacked wrestler Badal Yadav with a knife and killed him.

Mithilesh and Satya Prakash Rai were accused in this case. Since then both are lodged in jail. On Tuesday, both the accused were brought to be produced before the judge. To avenge their brother's killing, Shravan Yadav and Ankit Yadav, who were already carrying weapons in the civil court premises, fired several rounds at both the prisoners to kill them. Both the accused, however, were injured in the firing.
Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel on Tuesday said he is overwhelmed by the response during his public interactions and said he was confident the Congress will win 75 plus seats in the coming elections to the 90-member assembly.

He told the media that in 2018 the Congress secured 68 seats and won three by-elections, taking the total to 71 MLAs.

"Keeping in view the enthusiasm during the interactions, it is expected that the tally will increase in the upcoming elections," Baghel said.

Baghel also announced that the families across Chhattisgarh at whose homes he had lunch during the public interactions would be invited to the Chief Ministers residence to have lunch with him.
FieldPoint Petroleum (OTCMKTS:FPPP  Get Rating) and EOG Resources (NYSE:EOG  Get Rating) are both oils/energy companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, institutional ownership, valuation, dividends, risk, analyst recommendations and earnings.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares FieldPoint Petroleum and EOG Resources gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

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Gross Revenue Price/Sales Ratio Net Income Earnings Per Share Price/Earnings Ratio FieldPoint Petroleum N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A EOG Resources $28.32 billion 2.22 $7.76 billion $15.99 6.73

EOG Resources has higher revenue and earnings than FieldPoint Petroleum.

Profitability

Net Margins Return on Equity Return on Assets FieldPoint Petroleum N/A N/A N/A EOG Resources 33.83% 30.34% 18.16%

Insider and Institutional Ownership

This table compares FieldPoint Petroleum and EOG Resources net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

87.4% of EOG Resources shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.7% of FieldPoint Petroleum shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.3% of EOG Resources shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and recommmendations for FieldPoint Petroleum and EOG Resources, as reported by MarketBeat.

Sell Ratings Hold Ratings Buy Ratings Strong Buy Ratings Rating Score FieldPoint Petroleum 0 0 0 0 N/A EOG Resources 0 4 18 1 2.87

EOG Resources has a consensus target price of $149.58, suggesting a potential upside of 38.98%.

Volatility and Risk

FieldPoint Petroleum has a beta of 1.66, indicating that its share price is 66% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, EOG Resources has a beta of 1.53, indicating that its share price is 53% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

EOG Resources beats FieldPoint Petroleum on 7 of the 9 factors compared between the two stocks.

About FieldPoint Petroleum

(Get Rating)

Fieldpoint Petroleum Corp. engages in the acquisition, development, and operation of oil and natural gas properties. Its principal properties include: Block A-49 and Block 6 Field, Spraberry Trend, Giddings Field, Serbin Field, and Tuleta West Field in Texas, Flying M Field, Sulimar Field, North Bilbrey Field, Lusk Field, and Loving North Morrow Field in New Mexico, Apache, Chickasha, and West Allen Fields in Oklahoma, Longwood Field in Louisiana, and Big Muddy Field in Wyoming. The company was founded by Ray D. Reaves Jr. on March 11, 1980 and is headquartered in Austin, TX.

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.

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Fisher & Paykel Healthcare Co. Limited (OTCMKTS:FSPKF  Get Rating) shares fell 2% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $16.35 and last traded at $16.35. 465 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 13% from the average session volume of 535 shares. The stock had previously closed at $16.69.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Citigroup downgraded Fisher & Paykel Healthcare from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a research report on Monday, January 23rd.

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Fisher & Paykel Healthcare Trading Down 2.0 %

The business has a fifty day moving average price of $15.99 and a 200-day moving average price of $15.09.

Fisher & Paykel Healthcare Company Profile

Fisher & Paykel Healthcare Corp. Ltd. engages in the designing, manufacturing and marketing of medical device products and systems for use in respiratory care, acute care and the treatment of obstructive sleep apnea. It operates through the following geographical segments: The New Zealand, North America, Europe, and Asia-Pacific.

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Shares of Globe Telecom, Inc. (OTCMKTS:GTMEF  Get Rating) traded down 9.9% during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $31.09 and last traded at $31.09. 110 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 10% from the average session volume of 100 shares. The stock had previously closed at $34.49.

Globe Telecom Stock Performance

The businesss fifty day moving average price is $34.91 and its 200-day moving average price is $37.22.

Globe Telecom Company Profile

(Get Rating)

Globe Telecom, Inc provides telecommunications services to individual customers, small and medium-sized businesses, and corporate and enterprise clients in the Philippines. The company operates through Mobile Communications Services and Wireline Communication Services segments. It offers digital wireless communications services under the Globe Postpaid and Prepaid, and Touch Mobile brands; long distance communication or carrier services; broadband, as well as wireline voice and data communication services; and electronic payment and remittance services under the GCash brand.

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HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA  Get Rating) was the target of a significant increase in short interest during the month of April. As of April 30th, there was short interest totalling 2,210,000 shares, an increase of 11.1% from the April 15th total of 1,990,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,260,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.8 days. Currently, 1.1% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

HCA Healthcare Price Performance

Shares of HCA stock traded down $1.95 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $275.57. The companys stock had a trading volume of 888,747 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,299,882. HCA Healthcare has a 1-year low of $164.47 and a 1-year high of $294.02. The company has a market cap of $75.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.92, a PEG ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 157.23, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.23. The firms 50-day moving average is $267.22 and its two-hundred day moving average is $251.73.

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HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA  Get Rating) last announced its earnings results on Friday, April 21st. The company reported $4.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $3.99 by $0.94. The business had revenue of $15.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $15.26 billion. HCA Healthcare had a net margin of 9.42% and a negative return on equity of 1,157.58%. The firms revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $4.12 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that HCA Healthcare will post 18.08 earnings per share for the current year.

HCA Healthcare Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 16th will be given a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.87%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 15th. HCA Healthcares dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 12.04%.

HCA Healthcare announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Friday, January 27th that authorizes the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 4.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the companys management believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have weighed in on HCA shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $280.00 to $310.00 in a research note on Monday, April 24th. Loop Capital increased their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $285.00 to $320.00 in a research note on Monday, April 24th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $283.00 to $315.00 in a research note on Monday, April 24th. Stephens restated an overweight rating and set a $283.00 price target on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research note on Friday, April 21st. Finally, Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $310.00 to $325.00 in a report on Monday, April 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $298.17.

Insider Activity at HCA Healthcare

In related news, SVP Kathryn A. Torres sold 4,473 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $288.38, for a total transaction of $1,289,923.74. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 22,243 shares of the companys stock, valued at $6,414,436.34. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, SVP Kathryn A. Torres sold 4,473 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $288.38, for a total transaction of $1,289,923.74. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 22,243 shares in the company, valued at $6,414,436.34. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Kathleen M. Whalen sold 1,734 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $263.61, for a total transaction of $457,099.74. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 9,962 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,626,082.82. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 14,467 shares of company stock valued at $3,975,488 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.60% of the companys stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On HCA Healthcare

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HCA. Ameliora Wealth Management Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 162.5% in the 4th quarter. Ameliora Wealth Management Ltd. now owns 105 shares of the companys stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. RFP Financial Group LLC bought a new position in HCA Healthcare during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. James Investment Research Inc. bought a new position in HCA Healthcare during the 1st quarter worth approximately $31,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in HCA Healthcare by 56.4% during the 4th quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 122 shares of the companys stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bell Investment Advisors Inc boosted its stake in HCA Healthcare by 55.3% during the 4th quarter. Bell Investment Advisors Inc now owns 132 shares of the companys stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.60% of the companys stock.

HCA Healthcare Company Profile

(Get Rating)

HCA Healthcare, Inc is a health care services company engaged in operating hospitals, freestanding surgery centers and emergency care facilities, urgent care facilities, walk-in clinics, diagnostic and imaging centers, radiation and oncology therapy centers, comprehensive rehabilitation and physical therapy centers, physician practices, home health, hospice, outpatient physical therapy home and community-based services providers, and various other facilities.

Further Reading

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Wakiso, Uganda  In East Africa, concerns for food security are quickly followed by concerns for food sovereignty. And in Uganda, farmers worry they won't have a say.

Outside her brick house in central Uganda's Kavule village, Nalwoga Mary, 89, gently spreads out seeds of maize and beans on a tarpaulin. The seeds will be out in the sun all day, every day for almost a week until the moisture completely dries out. They will then be stored either in a plastic container or plastic carryout bags for use in the next growing season. Every harvest, Nalwoga saves around 3 kilograms (6.6 pounds) of maize and bean seeds.

Spread over 3 acres of land, her farm has coffee, sweet potatoes, beans, maize and a Ugandan staple: matooke, a type of green banana grown in the country and other places in East Africa. Drying, storing and replanting the seeds is a routine she has followed for over 60 years now. But a recent conversation with her coffee buyer has raised some apprehensions in Nalwoga's mind. The buyer informed her about neighboring Kenya's recent decision to cultivate and import genetically modified organisms and told her what that could mean for farmers like her in Uganda.

The coffee buyer was referring to the Kenyan government's decision in October last year to allow cultivation and importation of GMO foods 10 years after banning their use. The move prompted civil society groups in both Kenya and Uganda to sue the Kenyan government. As a result, the Kenyan high court has halted the government's decision for now.

Uganda is bordered to the east by Kenya. The two countries trade agricultural products, including seeds. Kenya's decision has ignited conversations around GMOs in Uganda. Those against GMOs worry the move will promote seed dependency, a form of "neo-colonialism in Africa," as put by David Kabanda, executive director of the Center for Food and Adequate Living Rights, a local nongovernmental organization. Meanwhile, proponents of GMOs insist the move is solely to address the challenge of food security.

In the middle of all this, farmers like Nalwoga are left clueless, uninformed and worried.

The first time Nalwoga heard of GMOs was on a local radio show in 2017, where two opposing agriculturalists debated the National Biotechnology and Biosafety Bill of 2012 that, if signed into law, would allow the cultivation of GMOs in Uganda. Since then, she hadn't heard anyone around her speak about GMOs, until the recent conversation with her coffee buyer brought the subject back to mind.

Even though Uganda President Yoweri Museveni declined, in 2012 and 2017, to sign into law the National Biotechnology and Biosafety Bill, it is still an active issue in the country. In October 2022, the Ugandan Parliament planned to introduce a bill prohibiting GMOs, but the bill has still not been introduced. Despite repeated requests for comment, Global Press Journal did not receive a response from the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries.

Andrew Kiggundu, an agricultural consultant affiliated with the National Agricultural Research Organization, a government agency, says there is nothing wrong with African countries adopting "agricultural innovation" to feed their growing populations. "What is wrong with looking for different seeds that are resistant to drought, pests, insects -- issues that have become a problem to local indigenous seeds?" he says. The cultivation of GMO crops in Africa started with cotton in 1997 in South Africa. This was followed by maize in 1998 and soybean in 2001. So far, four African countries -- South Africa, Burkina Faso, Egypt and Sudan -- grow genetically engineered crops, but only South Africa and Egypt grow GMO food. Other African countries such as Zimbabwe and Zambia banned the cultivation of GMOs, citing health and environmental concerns, but have accepted imports of GMO crops.

Eddie Mukiibi, the executive director of Slow Food Uganda, a grassroots organization that works to prevent the disappearance of local food cultures and traditions, says the Kenyan government's decision should have everyone in Uganda and across the continent worried. "What is clear is that companies like Monsanto are propagating the false narrative that GMOs will eradicate food security in Africa with a selfish intention to create a food dependency on Western seed corporations, with the purpose of providing markets for their seeds ... not because they care about the hunger issue in Africa," he says.

But Alexander Hennig, a spokesperson for Bayer AG, says, "To secure food supply in times of climate change, we need more openness to innovation." The Germany-based multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology company acquired the United States company Monsanto in 2018, though the combined crop science division is still informally identified by the Monsanto name. "Bayer highly welcomes the science-based decision of the Kenyan and other African governments to lift the ban on growing and importing GMOs," Hennig says. "Combating hunger and ensuring food security is at the core of what we are doing."

In 2021, hunger affected 278 million people in Africa. The region has the highest prevalence of undernourished people, according to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization. But the story of Uganda is different. According to the World Food Programme, up to 40% of fruits and vegetables in Uganda are lost to disease, pests and rot. More than 12% of maize grain produced in the country is wasted on the field due to prolonged field drying and late harvests. And another 18% is lost during transportation, processing, drying and poor storage. In fact, the FAO notes that 89% of people in Uganda are food secure and can afford three meals a day, apart from the Karamoja region where food harvests are low due to dry weather.

Kabanda, from the Center for Food and Adequate Living Rights, says Africa's food security problem isn't because Africans are not growing enough food for the continent's population. "The challenge is the leaders' failure to implement policies and infrastructure that would ensure food security, such as food storage facilities for the surplus food produced [and] expanding irrigation services for water supply to farmers in dry seasons."

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For other farmers, rules that prohibit saving seeds from GMO crops are a big concern, as is accidental cross-pollination for their non-GMO crops. Iga Zinunula Sam, a farmer, worries that if GMO cultivation is allowed in Uganda, the issue of cross-contamination will inevitably occur. And eventually all farmers like him "will end up in a situation of economic bondage, where every farmer will have GMOs in Uganda whether they want it or not, creating a situation where we would have to depend on corporations for seeds."

Having to pay for seeds every planting season is challenging for many Ugandan farmers, says Ayebare Prudence Aijuka, the policy research manager at Uganda National Farmers Federation. "What we need is good technology to combat our challenges such as pests and diseases. We need as many options as possible for better yields, but we also don't want to be trapped in what will destroy our food sovereignty," she says.

For Nalwoga, better alternatives are welcome, she says, provided farmers like her be given the freedom to grow "whichever seed they want [to], without being inclined to one product."

Nakisanze Segawa is a Global Press Journal reporter based in Kampala, Uganda. Nakisanze Segawa, GPJ, translated some interviews from Luganda.
Shares of Luxottica Group SpA (OTCMKTS:LUXTY  Get Rating) rose 0.4% on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $55.90 and last traded at $55.80. Approximately 2,900 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 80% from the average daily volume of 14,259 shares. The stock had previously closed at $55.60.

Luxottica Group Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 1.18 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The firm has a market cap of $27.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.37 and a beta of 0.27. The businesss 50-day moving average price is $55.80 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $55.80.

About Luxottica Group

(Get Rating)

Luxottica Group S.p.A., together with its subsidiaries, provides fashion, luxury, sports, and performance eyewear worldwide. It operates through two segments, Manufacturing and Wholesale Distribution, and Retail Distribution. The Manufacturing and Wholesale Distribution segment engages in the design, manufacture, distribution, and marketing of proprietary and designer lines of prescription frames and sunglasses.

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Mkango Resources Ltd. (CVE:MKA  Get Rating)s stock price traded up 11.8% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as C$0.19 and last traded at C$0.19. 47,632 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 334% from the average session volume of 10,964 shares. The stock had previously closed at C$0.17.

Mkango Resources Price Performance

The company has a 50-day simple moving average of C$0.19 and a 200-day simple moving average of C$0.22. The stock has a market cap of C$46.21 million, a PE ratio of -3.17 and a beta of 2.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 125.65, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 0.87.

About Mkango Resources

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Mkango Resources Ltd., together with its subsidiaries, explores for and develops rare earth elements and associated minerals in the Republic of Malawi, Africa. It explores for uranium, tantalum, niobium, zircon, nickel, cobalt, rutile, graphite, and gold ores. The company's flagship project is the Songwe Hill property within the Phalombe exploration license located in southeast Malawi.

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Mohawk Industries, Inc. (NYSE:MHK  Get Rating)  Equities researchers at Zacks Research lifted their Q2 2023 EPS estimates for shares of Mohawk Industries in a research note issued on Thursday, May 11th. Zacks Research analyst S. Mukherjee now forecasts that the company will earn $2.57 per share for the quarter, up from their prior forecast of $2.55. The consensus estimate for Mohawk Industries current full-year earnings is $9.40 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Mohawk Industries Q3 2023 earnings at $2.78 EPS, Q4 2023 earnings at $1.69 EPS, FY2023 earnings at $8.78 EPS, Q2 2024 earnings at $2.58 EPS, Q3 2024 earnings at $2.82 EPS, Q4 2024 earnings at $2.43 EPS, FY2024 earnings at $10.37 EPS, Q1 2025 earnings at $3.28 EPS and FY2025 earnings at $12.91 EPS.

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Mohawk Industries (NYSE:MHK  Get Rating) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 27th. The company reported $1.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $1.28 by $0.47. The firm had revenue of $2.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.74 billion. Mohawk Industries had a negative net margin of 1.21% and a positive return on equity of 8.47%. Mohawk Industriess revenue was down 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.78 EPS.

Mohawk Industries Stock Performance

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Bank of America reduced their price objective on shares of Mohawk Industries from $110.00 to $108.00 and set an underperform rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 19th. Loop Capital upgraded shares of Mohawk Industries from a hold rating to a buy rating and set a $115.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 11th. Credit Suisse Group reduced their price objective on shares of Mohawk Industries from $109.00 to $103.00 in a research report on Monday, March 20th. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Mohawk Industries in a research report on Thursday, March 16th. They set a hold rating for the company. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Mohawk Industries from $83.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an underweight rating in a research report on Monday, February 13th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $123.08.

Shares of MHK opened at $94.15 on Monday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $97.48 and a 200 day moving average price of $103.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.00 billion, a PE ratio of -42.41, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. Mohawk Industries has a 52-week low of $87.01 and a 52-week high of $142.65.

Insider Transactions at Mohawk Industries

In other news, insider Suzanne L. Helen sold 4,250 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.23, for a total value of $438,727.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 13,453 shares of the companys stock, valued at $1,388,753.19. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, insider Suzanne L. Helen sold 4,250 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.23, for a total value of $438,727.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 13,453 shares of the companys stock, valued at $1,388,753.19. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Suzanne L. Helen sold 2,700 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.40, for a total transaction of $314,280.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 14,353 shares of the companys stock, valued at $1,670,689.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 17.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Mohawk Industries

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its position in Mohawk Industries by 5.9% during the third quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 9,544 shares of the companys stock valued at $870,000 after acquiring an additional 530 shares in the last quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama raised its position in Mohawk Industries by 2.7% during the third quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 17,515 shares of the companys stock valued at $1,597,000 after acquiring an additional 453 shares in the last quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. grew its holdings in Mohawk Industries by 125.5% during the third quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 181,068 shares of the companys stock valued at $16,643,000 after purchasing an additional 100,786 shares during the last quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System grew its holdings in Mohawk Industries by 0.3% during the third quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 64,609 shares of the companys stock valued at $5,892,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Easterly Investment Partners LLC grew its holdings in Mohawk Industries by 5.4% during the third quarter. Easterly Investment Partners LLC now owns 26,802 shares of the companys stock valued at $2,444,000 after purchasing an additional 1,364 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.85% of the companys stock.

About Mohawk Industries

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Mohawk Industries, Inc engages in the manufacture, design, and distribution of residential and commercial flooring products. It operates through the following segments: Global Ceramic, Flooring North America (NA), and Flooring Rest of the World (ROW). The Global Ceramic segment manufactures ceramic, porcelain, and natural stone tile products used for wall and floor applications.

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Suncor Energy (TSE:SU  Get Rating) (NYSE:SU) had its price objective lowered by stock analysts at Jefferies Financial Group from C$44.00 to C$42.00 in a research report issued on Monday, The Fly reports. Jefferies Financial Groups price objective indicates a potential upside of 10.64% from the companys current price.

A number of other brokerages have also commented on SU. Raymond James cut their price target on Suncor Energy from C$53.00 to C$50.00 and set a market perform rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 16th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on shares of Suncor Energy from C$54.00 to C$52.00 in a research report on Monday, April 17th. Eight Capital upgraded shares of Suncor Energy from a sell rating to a neutral rating and lifted their price target for the stock from C$43.00 to C$50.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of Suncor Energy from C$54.00 to C$52.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 10th. Finally, TD Securities lowered their target price on Suncor Energy from C$52.00 to C$49.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 9th. Four investment 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, Suncor Energy presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of C$53.71.

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Suncor Energy Stock Down 3.1 %

TSE SU opened at C$37.96 on Monday. The company has a market cap of C$50.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.81, a PEG ratio of 0.15 and a beta of 1.67. Suncor Energy has a 1-year low of C$36.38 and a 1-year high of C$53.62. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 40.72. The company has a 50 day moving average of C$41.59 and a 200-day moving average of C$43.63.

About Suncor Energy

Suncor Energy ( TSE:SU Get Rating ) (NYSE:SU) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 14th. The company reported C$1.81 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of C$1.68 by C$0.13. Suncor Energy had a net margin of 15.56% and a return on equity of 23.89%. The firm had revenue of C$13.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of C$12.92 billion. On average, equities research analysts expect that Suncor Energy will post 6.0843558 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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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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AM Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in Fidelity National Information Services, Inc. (NYSE:FIS  Get Rating) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 6,500 shares of the information technology services providers stock, valued at approximately $441,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FIS. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Fidelity National Information Services by 0.8% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 50,616,061 shares of the information technology services providers stock worth $3,825,056,000 after acquiring an additional 395,342 shares during the period. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC increased its holdings in shares of Fidelity National Information Services by 12.0% during the 3rd quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 6,491,575 shares of the information technology services providers stock valued at $490,569,000 after purchasing an additional 695,648 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Fidelity National Information Services by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 6,399,413 shares of the information technology services providers stock valued at $483,603,000 after purchasing an additional 246,537 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in Fidelity National Information Services by 2.8% during the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 5,351,553 shares of the information technology services providers stock worth $404,416,000 after buying an additional 147,367 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Macquarie Group Ltd. grew its position in Fidelity National Information Services by 2.7% during the third quarter. Macquarie Group Ltd. now owns 5,294,424 shares of the information technology services providers stock valued at $400,099,000 after buying an additional 138,920 shares during the period. 90.25% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Fidelity National Information Services Price Performance

NYSE FIS traded up $1.25 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $56.16. The company had a trading volume of 828,212 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,992,481. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $54.55 and a 200 day moving average of $63.84. Fidelity National Information Services, Inc. has a 1-year low of $48.57 and a 1-year high of $106.65.

Fidelity National Information Services Announces Dividend

Fidelity National Information Services ( NYSE:FIS Get Rating ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 27th. The information technology services provider reported $1.29 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.09. Fidelity National Information Services had a negative net margin of 114.79% and a positive return on equity of 10.66%. The firm had revenue of $3.51 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.41 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.47 EPS. The businesss revenue for the quarter was up .5% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Fidelity National Information Services, Inc. will post 5.95 earnings per share for the current year.

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 23rd. Investors of record on Friday, June 9th will be issued a $0.52 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 8th. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.70%. Fidelity National Information Servicess dividend payout ratio is presently -7.38%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Fidelity National Information Services news, Director Jeffrey E. Stiefler purchased 2,243 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 22nd. The shares were bought at an average cost of $66.88 per share, for a total transaction of $150,011.84. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 3,343 shares of the companys stock, valued at $223,579.84. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, CFO Erik D. Hoag sold 5,658 shares of Fidelity National Information Services stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.88, for a total value of $361,433.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 16,368 shares in the company, valued at $1,045,587.84. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Jeffrey E. Stiefler purchased 2,243 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 22nd. The shares were bought at an average price of $66.88 per share, for a total transaction of $150,011.84. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 3,343 shares in the company, valued at $223,579.84. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.68% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FIS has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on shares of Fidelity National Information Services from $84.00 to $80.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 14th. Mizuho increased their target price on Fidelity National Information Services from $78.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Monday, May 1st. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Fidelity National Information Services from $86.00 to $78.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 14th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on shares of Fidelity National Information Services from $93.00 to $81.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 14th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on shares of Fidelity National Information Services from $58.00 to $62.00 in a research report on Monday, May 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $89.30.

About Fidelity National Information Services

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Fidelity National Information Services, Inc engages in the provision of technology solutions for financial institutions and businesses. It operates through the following segments: Banking, Merchant, Capital Markets, and Corporate and Other. The Banking segment focuses on serving financial institutions with core processing software, transaction processing software, and complementary applications and services.

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A number of research firms have changed their ratings and price targets for Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE: RCL):

5/16/2023  Royal Caribbean Cruises was upgraded by analysts at Argus from a hold rating to a buy rating. They now have a $88.00 price target on the stock.

5/5/2023  Royal Caribbean Cruises was upgraded by analysts at StockNews.com from a sell rating to a hold rating.

5/5/2023  Royal Caribbean Cruises had its price target raised by analysts at Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft from $65.00 to $71.00.

5/5/2023  Royal Caribbean Cruises had its price target raised by analysts at Barclays PLC from $88.00 to $100.00.

5/5/2023  Royal Caribbean Cruises had its price target raised by analysts at Susquehanna from $80.00 to $85.00.

5/5/2023  Royal Caribbean Cruises had its price target raised by analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $78.00 to $88.00.

5/4/2023  Royal Caribbean Cruises had its outperform rating reaffirmed by analysts at William Blair.

4/28/2023  Royal Caribbean Cruises is now covered by analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co.. They set an overweight rating and a $94.00 price target on the stock.

3/29/2023  Royal Caribbean Cruises had its price target lowered by analysts at Susquehanna from $85.00 to $80.00. They now have a positive rating on the stock.

3/23/2023  Royal Caribbean Cruises had its price target raised by analysts at Truist Financial Co. from $62.00 to $72.00. They now have a hold rating on the stock.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Stock Performance

RCL stock traded up $3.13 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $79.59. The company had a trading volume of 6,729,119 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,754,591. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $65.72 and a 200-day simple moving average of $62.71. The company has a market cap of $20.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -19.56 and a beta of 2.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.41, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.26. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. has a twelve month low of $31.09 and a twelve month high of $80.08.

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Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL  Get Rating) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 4th. The company reported ($0.23) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of ($0.71) by $0.48. Royal Caribbean Cruises had a negative net margin of 9.72% and a negative return on equity of 25.86%. The company had revenue of $2.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $2.82 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned ($4.57) EPS. Royal Caribbean Cruisess revenue for the quarter was up 172.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. will post 4.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Royal Caribbean Cruises

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in RCL. Panagora Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 21.8% during the 1st quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 11,553 shares of the companys stock valued at $968,000 after acquiring an additional 2,068 shares during the last quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS lifted its position in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 6.6% in the first quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 30,004 shares of the companys stock valued at $2,514,000 after buying an additional 1,861 shares during the last quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 2.3% in the first quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 35,806 shares of the companys stock valued at $3,000,000 after buying an additional 818 shares during the last quarter. Aviva PLC lifted its position in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 65.5% in the first quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 54,096 shares of the companys stock valued at $4,532,000 after buying an additional 21,415 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Prudential PLC acquired a new position in Royal Caribbean Cruises in the first quarter valued at about $300,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.27% of the companys stock.

Royal Caribbean Group is a cruise company, which engages in the ownership and operation of the following global cruise brands: Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity Cruises, and Silversea Cruises. The firm also holds interest in TUI Cruises GmbH, which operates the German brands TUI Cruises and Hapag-Lloyd Cruises.

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Primo Water Co. (NYSE:PRMW  Get Rating) has earned a consensus rating of Moderate Buy from the six analysts that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $19.33.

A number of research firms have issued reports on PRMW. TheStreet cut Primo Water from a b- rating to a c+ rating in a report on Friday, March 17th. CIBC cut Primo Water from a sector outperform rating to a neutral rating in a report on Friday, February 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on Primo Water from $17.00 to $16.00 and set a hold rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 20th. Finally, StockNews.com began coverage on Primo Water in a research report on Thursday, March 16th. They set a strong-buy rating on the stock.

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Primo Water Stock Performance

Shares of PRMW stock opened at $14.02 on Wednesday. The businesss 50 day simple moving average is $14.91 and its 200 day simple moving average is $15.18. Primo Water has a one year low of $12.15 and a one year high of $16.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.23 billion, a PE ratio of 51.93 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.62.

Primo Water Announces Dividend

Primo Water ( NYSE:PRMW Get Rating ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 23rd. The company reported $0.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of $0.15 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $533.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $547.69 million. Primo Water had a return on equity of 7.43% and a net margin of 1.88%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Primo Water will post 0.77 earnings per share for the current year.

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 1st. Primo Waters payout ratio is 118.52%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Primo Water

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. MetLife Investment Management LLC raised its position in Primo Water by 66.7% in the 1st quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 84,056 shares of the companys stock valued at $1,198,000 after buying an additional 33,637 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. grew its stake in shares of Primo Water by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 7,991,282 shares of the companys stock worth $113,877,000 after acquiring an additional 48,820 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Primo Water by 4.2% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 978,452 shares of the companys stock worth $13,943,000 after acquiring an additional 39,817 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Primo Water by 2.7% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,471,388 shares of the companys stock worth $149,217,000 after acquiring an additional 280,207 shares during the period. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its stake in shares of Primo Water by 374.8% during the 1st quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 293,554 shares of the companys stock worth $4,186,000 after acquiring an additional 231,727 shares during the period. 88.68% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Primo Water Company Profile

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Primo Water Corporation provides pure-play water solutions for residential and commercial customers. It offers bottled water, water dispensers, purified bottled water, self-service refill drinking water, premium spring, mineral water, sparkling and flavored water, filtration equipment, and coffee. The company offers its products under the Primo, Alhambra, Crystal Rock, Mountain Valley, Deep Rock, Hinckley Springs, Crystal Springs, Kentwood Springs, Mount Olympus, Pureflo, Nursery, Sierra Springs, Sparkletts, Clear Mountain Natural Spring Water, Earth2O, Renu, and Water Event Pure Water Solutions brands in the United States; Canadian Springs and Labrador Source brands in Canada; and Decantae, Eden, Eden Springs, Chateaud'eau, and Mey Eden brands in Europe and Israel.

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Arconic Co. (NYSE:ARNC  Get Rating) was the target of a significant decrease in short interest in the month of April. As of April 30th, there was short interest totalling 1,880,000 shares, a decrease of 9.2% from the April 15th total of 2,070,000 shares. Currently, 1.9% of the companys shares are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 2,070,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 0.9 days.

Arconic Stock Performance

Shares of ARNC traded down $0.02 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $28.85. 3,817,165 shares of the companys stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,789,289. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a current ratio of 1.52. The firms fifty day moving average is $26.27 and its 200-day moving average is $23.85. Arconic has a 1 year low of $16.33 and a 1 year high of $31.24.

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Arconic (NYSE:ARNC  Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 4th. The basic materials company reported $0.24 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of $0.30 by ($0.06). The company had revenue of $1.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $1.85 billion. Arconic had a negative net margin of 2.29% and a positive return on equity of 8.21%. The businesss quarterly revenue was down 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.39 EPS. Research analysts expect that Arconic will post 1.5 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Arconic

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Benchmark downgraded Arconic from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Friday, May 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut Arconic from a neutral rating to a sell rating and dropped their target price for the company from $23.00 to $21.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 28th. StockNews.com started coverage on Arconic in a research report on Tuesday. They set a hold rating on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on Arconic from $23.00 to $21.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 22nd. Finally, Wolfe Research lowered Arconic from an outperform rating to a peer perform rating in a report on Wednesday, April 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have issued a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $22.67.

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ARNC. Partners Capital Investment Group LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Arconic during the 3rd quarter valued at about $31,000. Byrne Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Arconic in the 1st quarter worth about $33,000. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new stake in Arconic in the 3rd quarter worth about $49,000. Wipfli Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Arconic in the 3rd quarter worth about $56,000. Finally, Clear Street Markets LLC acquired a new stake in Arconic in the 4th quarter worth about $59,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.90% of the companys stock.

About Arconic

(Get Rating)

Arconic Corporation manufactures and sells aluminum sheets, plates, extrusions, and architectural products in the United States, Canada, China, France, Germany, Hungary, Russia, the United Kingdom, and internationally. It operates through three segments: Rolled Products, Building and Construction Systems, and Extrusions.

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Caledonia Mining Co. Plc (NYSEAMERICAN:CMCL  Get Rating) was the recipient of a large drop in short interest in April. As of April 30th, there was short interest totalling 155,000 shares, a drop of 9.8% from the April 15th total of 171,800 shares. Currently, 1.7% of the companys shares are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 74,100 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.1 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Liberum Capital downgraded Caledonia Mining from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Monday, April 24th.

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Caledonia Mining Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of NYSEAMERICAN CMCL traded up $0.10 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $13.23. The companys stock had a trading volume of 32,062 shares, compared to its average volume of 69,110. The firm has a market capitalization of $169.74 million, a PE ratio of 6.18 and a beta of 0.79. Caledonia Mining has a one year low of $8.75 and a one year high of $17.58.

Caledonia Mining Announces Dividend

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Caledonia Mining

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 14th were given a $0.14 dividend. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 13th. Caledonia Minings payout ratio is presently 94.92%.

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. UBS Group AG raised its position in Caledonia Mining by 87.8% during the 1st quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 2,888 shares of the companys stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 1,350 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management purchased a new position in Caledonia Mining in the first quarter valued at about $57,000. Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in Caledonia Mining by 139.9% during the first quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 6,220 shares of the companys stock valued at $94,000 after purchasing an additional 3,627 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its holdings in Caledonia Mining by 11.3% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 9,527 shares of the companys stock valued at $118,000 after buying an additional 964 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Advisor Group Holdings Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Caledonia Mining by 72.3% in the 1st quarter. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. now owns 9,053 shares of the companys stock valued at $138,000 after acquiring an additional 3,800 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 6.38% of the companys stock.

About Caledonia Mining

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Caledonia Mining Corporation Plc primarily engages in the operation of a gold mine. It also explores for and develops mineral properties for precious metals. The company holds 64% interest in the Blanket Mine, a gold mine located in Matabeleland South Province, Zimbabwe. It also has an agreement to purchase 100% ownership in the Maligreen project, a brownfield gold exploration project located in Gweru mining district in the Zimbabwe Midlands.

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Canada Goose Holdings Inc. (NYSE:GOOS  Get Rating) was the recipient of a large decrease in short interest in April. As of April 30th, there was short interest totalling 14,590,000 shares, a decrease of 10.5% from the April 15th total of 16,300,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,350,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 10.8 days. Currently, 27.6% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on GOOS. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Canada Goose from $23.00 to $20.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 29th. Credit Suisse Group upped their price target on shares of Canada Goose from C$30.00 to C$36.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 8th. Barclays downgraded shares of Canada Goose from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating in a report on Tuesday, May 2nd. Cowen cut their price target on shares of Canada Goose from $26.00 to $22.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 3rd. Finally, Robert W. Baird downgraded shares of Canada Goose from an outperform rating to a neutral rating in a report on Tuesday, January 24th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $28.89.

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Institutional Trading of Canada Goose

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in GOOS. Raymond James & Associates purchased a new stake in shares of Canada Goose in the first quarter worth approximately $1,061,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Canada Goose in the first quarter worth approximately $286,000. BlackRock Inc. increased its holdings in Canada Goose by 0.5% in the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 465,058 shares of the companys stock worth $12,244,000 after buying an additional 2,086 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Canada Goose by 1.3% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,626,615 shares of the companys stock worth $42,828,000 after buying an additional 20,326 shares during the last quarter. Finally, USS Investment Management Ltd acquired a new position in Canada Goose in the first quarter worth approximately $949,000. 42.79% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Canada Goose Trading Up 2.3 %

Canada Goose Company Profile

GOOS stock traded up $0.47 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $20.51. 2,200,699 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,838,685. The stocks fifty day moving average is $18.83 and its 200-day moving average is $19.01. The company has a current ratio of 2.20, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The company has a market cap of $2.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.70, a P/E/G ratio of 0.54 and a beta of 1.63. Canada Goose has a 52-week low of $14.51 and a 52-week high of $24.73.

(Get Rating)

Canada Goose Holdings, Inc engages in the design, manufacture, distribution, and retail of outerwear for men, women, and children. It operates through the following segments: Direct-to-Consumer, Wholesale, and Other. The Direct-to-Consumer segment comprises of sales through country-specific e-Commerce platforms and its company-owned retail stores located in luxury shopping locations.

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New York  The hosts of COP28 are betting big on business and a private sector "mindset" to deliver a successful event. Are they right? Professor Felix Dodds and Chris Spence review the current state-of-play

Perhaps one of the least well known among Dubai's many attractions is surfing. Locals and visitors enjoy the sport at Sunset Beach and elsewhere, especially in winter. There is even an artificial wave pool where surfers can hone their skills. To some, the pool is just another example of the host country's entrepreneurial outlook.

With COP28 on the horizon, the host government of the United Arab Emirates is once again promoting the virtues of business. In a recent interview with the Guardian media outlet, COP28 president-designate Sultan Al Jaber said the world needs a "business mindset" to tackle the climate crisis. What's more, he laid out plans to use the COP to promote private sector goals as well as those for governments.

Will this focus on business signal a genuine new green wave, or will it wipe out? This article assesses the state of play and the host's approach as we head into the official preparatory meetings taking place in Bonn, Germany, in June.

What was achieved at COP27?

To understand the situation, we need first to look at what happened at COP27. This is important not just in terms of the current landscape, but because the COP27 hosts, Egypt, technically continue to hold the presidency until COP28 officially starts on November 30th.

The main source of disappointment at COP27 was the absence of ambition on mitigation. There was a noteworthy lack of new and ambitious Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) from governments. What this means is that the critical needle has not shifted when it comes to keeping global warming to less than 1.5 Celsius, or even under 2C

While all incoming presidencies are incredibly active in the months leading up to the event they will host, the outgoing presidency has a role to play, too, and the quality of the relationship between the two governments is important.

For many UN insiders, COP27 exceeded expectations. Admittedly, expectations were not high, particularly since COP27 was viewed by many as an "in-between" COP rather than one with critical milestones of the sort that occur every few years. While all COPs matter, most insiders will tell you not all are equal in importance.

The COP in Sharm El-Sheikh had a menu of issues it was dealing with, but it was not one where, say, a new global agreement was expected (such as COP21 in Paris), or a global stock take was due (as will happen at COP28 later this year). There had been calls for governments to strengthen their Nationally Determined Contributions (pledges and commitments) at COP27, but few did.

The major achievement at COP27--and the reason the meeting exceeded expectations--was an agreement to establish a loss and damage fund to support vulnerable countries. Few anticipated such a positive outcome even a few weeks prior to the meeting.

Although the agreement on loss and damage did not include acceptance of historical responsibility, it was viewed as a big win for the Egyptian Presidency, small islands and other vulnerable states, as well as the Group of 77 developing countries, which in 2022 was under the presidency of Pakistan.

Under the terms of the agreement at COP27, the loss and damage fund will need to be operationalized at COP28 and a transitional committee is already working on this. In the world of multilateral diplomacy, this is an ambitious timeframe.

There was another positive development on a modest scale at COP27 on the Global Goal on Adaptation. Delegates agreed to "initiate the development of a framework" to be available for adoption in 2024. Meanwhile, on agriculture a new four-year process was agreed to carry on the work started under the Koronivia Joint Work on Agriculture. There is a sense now that agriculture and food security are gaining the attention they deserve in climate negotiations.

Outside the formal negotiations, many projects and alliances were advanced, including plans to accelerate the decarbonization of five major sectors: power, road transport, steel, hydrogen, and agriculture. Noteworthy initiatives included the launch of the Global Renewables Alliance, which brings together leaders from the wind, solar, hydropower, green hydrogen, long duration energy storage, and geothermal sectors.

What was not achieved at COP27?

The main source of disappointment at COP27 was the absence of ambition on mitigation. There was a noteworthy lack of new and ambitious Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) from governments.

What this means is that the critical needle has not shifted when it comes to keeping global warming to less than 1.5 Celsius, or even under 2C. According to the Climate Action Tracker, our long-term scenarios are still well above 2C under most scenarios, and as high as 3.4C under their most pessimistic estimate. This means things have not really improved since COP26.

What's more, research released just before COP27 showed that the Global North is still not delivering on its commitment to provide $100 billion a year to the Global South. One silver lining to this dark cloud is that this goal may finally be reached in time for COP28. Still, that is three years too late.

Meanwhile, COP27 did less to clarify new rules for the global carbon market than many were hoping to see. While COP26 in Glasgow had provided more details about Paris Agreement Article 6 (which sets out a framework for international cooperation and carbon markets), more granular guidance is still needed.

Some fear that without more details on accountability and measurement, for instance in terms of carbon offsets, we could end up with a "wild west" when it comes to the markets.

There was also little progress in negotiations aimed at encouraging the phasedown of unabated coal power and phase out of inefficient fossil fuel subsidies. On the private sector side, while many companies have made net-zero targets, research suggests many do not have robust plans to deliver this, and there is uncertainty over how the private sector will use carbon offsets. Without greater clarity, this hyped-up "wave" of pledges from businesses around COP26 and before may end up a damp squib.

Looking to the Bonn climate conference

The political backdrop to the UN Bonn climate conference in June is complex. On the downside, governments are still emerging from the COVID pandemic and many are still focused on, and feeling the impact of, the war in Ukraine.

On the positive side, the cost of solar and wind continues to fall and European countries are moving more quickly because they want to be independent of Russian fossil fuels. Although others are taking advantage of Europe's reduced demand to increase purchases of Russia's fossil fuels at reduced prices, the growing focus on renewable energy in many countries should be seen as a positive overall in terms of climate mitigation.

With some major milestones coming up at COP28 later this year, the Bonn conference in June will give us some signals of how close we will be to delivering success in December.

Global Stocktake: UN climate negotiators are expected to take stock of progress on the Paris Agreement every five years. COP28 marks the culmination of the first "stocktake" and will be expected to shape and catalyze future action.

The stocktake has three phases. In the first phase, which started at COP26, information is collected and prepared from various sources to help assess progress. Phase 2, which started last year, includes in-person "technical dialogues" focused on mitigation, adaptation, and implementation. These will conclude in Bonn this June.

Finally, the stocktake will end at COP28 with a presentation of findings and discussions on how to respond. The Bonn meeting will therefore present an opportunity to take the pulse of these discussions. How robust have the technical dialogues been? Is there a surge of support from governments to make COP28 a major milestone for climate action? Bonn should provide clues about this.

Loss and Damage Fund: The transitional committee has been established and had its first meeting in Luxor, Egypt, in April. It will meet again in Bonn. Its role is to make recommendations on how to operationalize both the new funding arrangements and the fund at COP28. How are these discussions proceeding? Bonn should give some indications on progress, as well as potential areas of discord and disagreement.

Global Goal on Adaptation: With significant change already "baked in" to our climate system, effective adaptation will be critical. The Global Goal on Adaptation was agreed under the Paris Agreement and recognizes the need to build adaptive capacity, strengthen resilience and limit vulnerability.

Adaptation will be addressed in Bonn under both the Subsidiary Body for Implementation (SBI) and the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA). It also links to the work of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030, a related UN initiative which is having its "mid-term review" at UN Headquarters in New York from 18-19 May.

New Collective Quantified Goal on Climate Finance: The goal of providing $100 billion in support annually for the Global South by 2020 was originally set in 2009. Now it is up for review. Since that earlier goal was viewed as a "floor" rather than a ceiling, many are expecting more ambitious targets in future.

A new goal is supposed to be set before 2025, meaning COP29 in 2024 should mark the moment when a new number (or set of numbers) is agreed. Again, Bonn will mark a moment to assess how those conversations are going, especially given the wide differences in the type of dollar figures being bandied about by the Global North and Global South (many of whom are calling for trillions). Those following this topic can look to the 6th Technical Expert Dialogue, which is taking place in Bonn, to get a sense of progress.

Carbon Markets: As mentioned above, in spite of progress many are still hoping for more granular details on the carbon markets. This will be vital to curtail greenwashing with offsets.

Coalitions of the Willing: Sultan Al Jaber, the COP28 president-designate, recently highlighted the private sector's role in combating climate change. In fact, all stakeholders will need to be fully engaged if we are to have any chance of staying withing 1.5C of warming. Voluntary coalitions of governments, the private sector and many others will be vital, especially when it comes to advancing issues where all 190+ governments that are party to the UN climate treaty and Paris Agreement are not yet ready or willing to agree.

Such voluntary initiatives offer considerable scope for those who want to move ahead. In turn, this has the potential to set precedents and entrench ideas that might be taken up by all governments in future formal UN negotiations. An example of this is the methane pledge, which involved some 50 countries reporting on progress at COP27. More should be looked for at COP28. Likewise, the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero, which has reportedly had some teething problems since its launch in 2021, will hopefully use COP28 as a moment to showcase progress and put its early difficulties behind it.

Will COP28 Launch a New Green Wave?

Eyebrows were raised when the United Arab Emirates was first named as host of COP28. Why, people asked, would a climate COP be held in an OPEC state? Furthermore, many wondered publicly whether Sultan Al Jaber, who is likely to preside over the meeting, should do so given his role as chief executive of UAE's national oil company? Does this represent a conflict of interest?

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These are fair questions that will only be fully answered by the COP and what it achieves. However, it is worth noting that the prospects of a fossil fuel-producing country hosting COP28 were always quite high.

As UN insiders know, the climate COPs are typically hosted on a rotating basis in each of the UN's five "regional groups." This time around, it was Asia-Pacific's turn.

Many countries in this region, including more than a dozen small island nations, probably do not have the internal capacity to host an event of this magnitude. Of those that do, many--from Saudi Arabia to India, Indonesia to China, Iran to Australia--are fossil-fuel producers.

Furthermore, while Sultan Al Jaber has a history in the fossil-fuel industry, he has also been prominent in the UAE's work on renewable energy and is the founding CEO and current Chair of Masdar, a UAE-owned renewable energy company. Depicting him simply as a fossil fuel "dinosaur" does not do justice to a more nuanced and complicated situation.

Ultimately, UAE's role as COP28 host will be judged on results. Will COP deliver an operational and meaningful loss and damage fund? Will it produce a global stocktake that invigorates international action? How will discussions on a new global finance goal shape up? And will Sultan Al Jaber's overtures towards the private sector turn the steady trickle of pledges into a giant wave of action?

Finally, will other stakeholders, like non-governmental organizations, be embraced and welcomed? We should also note the significance of appointing Razan Al Mubarak as UN Climate Change High-Level Champion for the COP28 Presidency, given she is also IUCN President and a former head of Abu Dhabi's Environment Agency.

One early indicator in Bonn will be an expected update on COP28 logistics. This is likely to include more details on the "Blue Zone" (where negotiations are held and many stakeholders usually have pavilions and stalls). Will the Blue Zone offer easy access to all stakeholders? And how will the "Green Zone," which at past COPs has been open to the public, operate?

Only time will tell if COP28 marks the start of a new green wave or ends in an unfortunate wipe out.

Professor Felix Dodds is Vice President of Multilateral Affairs, Rob and Melani Walton Sustainable Solutions Service (RMWSSS) at Arizona State University. He is also Adjunct Professor and Senior Fellow at the Global Research Institute, University of North Carolina, and Associate Fellow at the Tellus Institute, Boston.

Chris Spence is a consultant and advisor to a range of international organizations on climate change and sustainable development, as well as an award-winning writer. Spence and Dodds recently co-edited Heroes of Environmental Diplomacy: Profiles in Courage (Routledge, 2022).

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Capital Advisors Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE  Get Rating) by 22.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,452 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock after purchasing an additional 1,527 shares during the period. Capital Advisors Wealth Management LLCs holdings in Pfizer were worth $433,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Lam Group Inc. bought a new position in Pfizer during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Worth Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Pfizer in the 1st quarter valued at $29,000. My Personal CFO LLC bought a new position in shares of Pfizer in the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Mendota Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Pfizer in the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Delos Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Pfizer by 100.0% in the 3rd quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 800 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.62% of the companys stock.

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Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on PFE. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Pfizer from $50.00 to $44.00 and set an equal weight rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 17th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on Pfizer from $55.00 to $53.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 1st. SVB Leerink cut their target price on Pfizer from $49.00 to $48.00 and set a market perform rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 1st. StockNews.com began coverage on Pfizer in a report on Thursday, March 16th. They set a buy rating on the stock. Finally, Atlantic Securities cut their target price on Pfizer from $50.00 to $46.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 1st. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the companys stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $47.33.

Insider Buying and Selling

Pfizer Stock Down 0.6 %

In related news, Director Scott Gottlieb acquired 1,000 shares of Pfizer stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 5th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $38.42 per share, with a total value of $38,420.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 5,000 shares of the companys stock, valued at $192,100. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link . In related news, major shareholder Pfizer Inc bought 1,811,594 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction on Friday, March 17th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $2.76 per share, with a total value of $4,999,999.44. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 5,952,263 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,428,245.88. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link . Also, Director Scott Gottlieb bought 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 5th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $38.42 per share, for a total transaction of $38,420.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 5,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $192,100. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here . Over the last quarter, insiders have acquired 1,813,594 shares of company stock worth $5,076,999. Corporate insiders own 0.05% of the companys stock.

Pfizer stock traded down $0.23 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $36.78. The stock had a trading volume of 2,952,355 shares, compared to its average volume of 22,264,420. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $39.86 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $44.59. The company has a market capitalization of $207.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.29, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 0.63. Pfizer Inc. has a 12 month low of $36.72 and a 12 month high of $54.93.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE  Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 2nd. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.23 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $1.00 by $0.23. The firm had revenue of $18.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.49 billion. Pfizer had a return on equity of 37.53% and a net margin of 31.25%. The companys revenue for the quarter was down 28.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.62 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Pfizer Inc. will post 3.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Pfizer Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 9th. Investors of record on Friday, May 12th will be given a $0.41 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 11th. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.46%. Pfizers dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.28%.

About Pfizer

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Pfizer Inc is a research-based global biopharmaceutical company. It engages in the discovery, development, manufacture, marketing, sales and distribution of biopharmaceutical products worldwide. The firm works across developed and emerging markets to advance wellness, prevention, treatments and cures that challenge the most feared diseases.

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DiamondPeak Holdings Corp. (OTCMKTS:DPHCU  Get Rating) dropped 13.7% during trading on Monday . The company traded as low as $19.76 and last traded at $20.45. Approximately 65,400 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 32% from the average daily volume of 49,678 shares. The stock had previously closed at $23.69.

DiamondPeak Stock Down 13.7 %

The stock has a 50 day moving average of $20.45 and a two-hundred day moving average of $20.45.

About DiamondPeak

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DiamondPeak Holdings Corp. does not have significant operations. It intends to effect a merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, reorganization, or similar business combination with one or more businesses. The company was founded in 2018 and is based in New York, New York.

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DuPont de Nemours, Inc. (NYSE:DD  Get Rating) saw a large drop in short interest in the month of April. As of April 30th, there was short interest totalling 9,840,000 shares, a drop of 8.7% from the April 15th total of 10,780,000 shares. Approximately 2.2% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 3,200,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.1 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DD has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of DuPont de Nemours in a research note on Thursday, March 16th. They issued a hold rating on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of DuPont de Nemours from a hold rating to a buy rating and increased their target price for the stock from $70.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Monday. TheStreet upgraded shares of DuPont de Nemours from a c rating to a b rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 2nd. Mizuho lowered their price objective on shares of DuPont de Nemours from $85.00 to $81.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of DuPont de Nemours from $92.00 to $81.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 4th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, DuPont de Nemours presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $78.36.

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Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Michael G. Goss sold 2,374 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.46, for a total value of $155,402.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 13,345 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $873,563.70. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On DuPont de Nemours

DuPont de Nemours Trading Up 0.9 %

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Mitsubishi UFJ Kokusai Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in DuPont de Nemours by 10.7% during the 3rd quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Kokusai Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 330,614 shares of the basic materials companys stock valued at $16,663,000 after acquiring an additional 31,943 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in DuPont de Nemours by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 212,353 shares of the basic materials companys stock valued at $10,798,000 after acquiring an additional 2,633 shares during the period. Metis Global Partners LLC lifted its position in DuPont de Nemours by 74.4% during the 4th quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 13,196 shares of the basic materials companys stock valued at $906,000 after acquiring an additional 5,630 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its position in DuPont de Nemours by 7.2% during the 3rd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 71,255 shares of the basic materials companys stock valued at $3,591,000 after acquiring an additional 4,806 shares during the period. Finally, Salvus Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in DuPont de Nemours by 13.0% during the 4th quarter. Salvus Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,057 shares of the basic materials companys stock valued at $622,000 after acquiring an additional 1,040 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 71.91% of the companys stock.

DuPont de Nemours stock traded up $0.60 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $65.60. The stock had a trading volume of 2,370,179 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,112,021. The stock has a market cap of $30.11 billion, a PE ratio of 5.64, a PEG ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 1.40. DuPont de Nemours has a 52 week low of $49.52 and a 52 week high of $78.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 3.29 and a quick ratio of 2.57. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $68.72 and a 200-day simple moving average of $70.24.

DuPont de Nemours (NYSE:DD  Get Rating) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, May 2nd. The basic materials company reported $0.84 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $0.81 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $3 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.94 billion. DuPont de Nemours had a net margin of 43.63% and a return on equity of 6.34%. The companys revenue for the quarter was down 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.82 EPS. Analysts forecast that DuPont de Nemours will post 3.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

DuPont de Nemours Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.36 per share. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 30th. DuPont de Nemourss payout ratio is 12.49%.

About DuPont de Nemours

(Get Rating)

DuPont de Nemours, Inc operates as a holding company engaged in the development of specialty materials, chemicals, and agricultural products. It operates through the following segments: Electronics & Industrial, Water & Protection, and Corporate & Others. The Electronics & Industrial segment supplies differentiated materials and systems for a broad range of consumer electronics including mobile devices, television monitors, personal computers and electronics used in a variety of industries.

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Elequin Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of First Industrial Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:FR  Get Rating) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 2,465 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock, valued at approximately $119,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Neo Ivy Capital Management acquired a new position in First Industrial Realty Trust in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new position in First Industrial Realty Trust in the 4th quarter worth approximately $41,000. Wipfli Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in First Industrial Realty Trust in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $44,000. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. acquired a new position in First Industrial Realty Trust in the 1st quarter worth approximately $46,000. Finally, CWM LLC increased its holdings in First Industrial Realty Trust by 147.7% in the 4th quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,003 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock worth $48,000 after buying an additional 598 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.00% of the companys stock.

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Analyst Ratings Changes

FR has been the topic of several research reports. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of First Industrial Realty Trust in a report on Thursday, March 16th. They issued a hold rating on the stock. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of First Industrial Realty Trust from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of First Industrial Realty Trust in a research note on Tuesday, March 21st. They set a sell rating and a $48.00 price objective on the stock. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of First Industrial Realty Trust from $60.00 to $63.00 in a research note on Monday, April 24th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an outperform rating and set a $65.00 price objective on shares of First Industrial Realty Trust in a research note on Thursday, February 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, First Industrial Realty Trust presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $58.13.

First Industrial Realty Trust Stock Down 2.9 %

First Industrial Realty Trust Dividend Announcement

NYSE FR opened at $51.50 on Wednesday. First Industrial Realty Trust, Inc. has a 52 week low of $42.91 and a 52 week high of $55.88. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82. The businesss fifty day simple moving average is $52.00 and its 200-day simple moving average is $51.08. The firm has a market cap of $6.81 billion, a PE ratio of 18.01 and a beta of 0.99.

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 29th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.49%. First Industrial Realty Trusts dividend payout ratio is presently 44.76%.

Insider Transactions at First Industrial Realty Trust

In related news, CFO Scott A. Musil sold 7,600 shares of the firms stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.28, for a total transaction of $397,328.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 81,078 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $4,238,757.84. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.84% of the companys stock.

About First Industrial Realty Trust

(Get Rating)

First Industrial Realty Trust, Inc engages in the ownership, management, acquisition, sale, development, and redevelopment of industrial real estate. The firm product portfolio includes bulk warehouse, regional warehouse, R&D/flex, and light industrial properties. The company was founded by Johannson L.

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Shares of Everest Re Group, Ltd. (NYSE:RE  Get Rating) gapped down prior to trading on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $378.40, but opened at $367.00. Everest Re Group shares last traded at $370.18, with a volume of 439,087 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have commented on RE shares. StockNews.com initiated coverage on Everest Re Group in a report on Thursday, March 16th. They issued a buy rating for the company. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on Everest Re Group in a research report on Thursday, January 19th. They issued a market perform rating and a $380.00 target price for the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Everest Re Group from $435.00 to $445.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 3rd. Raymond James boosted their price objective on shares of Everest Re Group from $385.00 to $415.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Monday, February 13th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Everest Re Group from $455.00 to $468.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Monday, April 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the companys stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $410.60.

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Everest Re Group Trading Down 1.7 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $14.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.44, a P/E/G ratio of 0.28 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a current ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $365.22 and a 200-day simple moving average of $352.18.

Everest Re Group Dividend Announcement

Everest Re Group ( NYSE:RE Get Rating ) last announced its earnings results on Monday, May 1st. The insurance provider reported $11.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $12.48 by ($1.17). Everest Re Group had a net margin of 5.34% and a return on equity of 12.98%. The business had revenue of $3.33 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.10 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $10.31 earnings per share. The businesss quarterly revenue was up 18.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Everest Re Group, Ltd. will post 45.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 30th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 16th were paid a $1.65 dividend. This represents a $6.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.77%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 15th. Everest Re Groups dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 39.15%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in RE. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. purchased a new position in Everest Re Group during the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Everest Re Group during the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Everest Re Group by 57.6% during the 4th quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. now owns 104 shares of the insurance providers stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Clear Street Markets LLC lifted its stake in shares of Everest Re Group by 94.9% during the 1st quarter. Clear Street Markets LLC now owns 76 shares of the insurance providers stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Spire Wealth Management bought a new position in Everest Re Group in the 4th quarter worth $29,000. 92.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Everest Re Group Company Profile

(Get Rating)

Everest Re Group Ltd. is a holding company, which engages in the provision of reinsurance and insurance services. It operates through the following segments: Reinsurance, and Insurance. The Reinsurance segment writes property and casualty reinsurance and specialty lines of business, including marine, aviation, surety, and accident and health business, on both a treaty and facultative basis, through reinsurance brokers, as well as directly with ceding companies primarily within the U.S.

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Great Lakes Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. (NYSE:BR  Get Rating) by 4.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 29,981 shares of the business services providers stock after acquiring an additional 1,151 shares during the quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLCs holdings in Broadridge Financial Solutions were worth $4,021,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Cibc World Markets Corp increased its stake in Broadridge Financial Solutions by 109.6% in the 4th quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp now owns 19,245 shares of the business services providers stock valued at $2,581,000 after buying an additional 10,065 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Broadridge Financial Solutions by 20.1% in the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 15,234 shares of the business services providers stock valued at $2,043,000 after buying an additional 2,554 shares during the last quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Broadridge Financial Solutions by 17,757.1% in the 4th quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 1,250 shares of the business services providers stock valued at $168,000 after buying an additional 1,243 shares during the last quarter. Pinebridge Investments L.P. increased its stake in Broadridge Financial Solutions by 43.2% in the 4th quarter. Pinebridge Investments L.P. now owns 136,127 shares of the business services providers stock valued at $18,259,000 after buying an additional 41,065 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kidder Stephen W purchased a new stake in Broadridge Financial Solutions in the 4th quarter valued at about $409,000. Institutional investors own 86.45% of the companys stock.

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Insider Buying and Selling at Broadridge Financial Solutions

In other Broadridge Financial Solutions news, Director Robert N. Duelks sold 1,425 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Friday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.06, for a total value of $201,010.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,275 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $885,151.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, SVP Robert Schifellite sold 15,695 shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.59, for a total transaction of $2,394,900.05. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 50,314 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $7,677,413.26. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Robert N. Duelks sold 1,425 shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions stock in a transaction on Friday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.06, for a total transaction of $201,010.50. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 6,275 shares of the companys stock, valued at $885,151.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 17,870 shares of company stock valued at $2,712,363 in the last three months. Company insiders own 1.60% of the companys stock.

Broadridge Financial Solutions Stock Down 1.2 %

BR opened at $152.52 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $144.29 and a 200 day moving average of $143.29. The company has a market cap of $17.99 billion, a PE ratio of 32.73 and a beta of 1.00. Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. has a 12 month low of $131.35 and a 12 month high of $183.33. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.04.

Broadridge Financial Solutions (NYSE:BR  Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 2nd. The business services provider reported $2.05 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.01 by $0.04. Broadridge Financial Solutions had a net margin of 9.33% and a return on equity of 40.29%. The firm had revenue of $1.65 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.65 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.93 EPS. The businesss quarterly revenue was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. will post 6.91 EPS for the current year.

Broadridge Financial Solutions Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 6th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 15th will be issued a $0.725 dividend. This represents a $2.90 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 14th. Broadridge Financial Solutionss payout ratio is 62.23%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on BR shares. TheStreet upgraded shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions from a c+ rating to a b rating in a research note on Thursday, February 2nd. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions in a research note on Thursday, March 16th. They set a hold rating for the company. Raymond James raised their price target on shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions from $180.00 to $183.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Friday, February 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada began coverage on shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions in a report on Monday, April 24th. They issued an outperform rating and a $169.00 price objective for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the companys stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $161.40.

About Broadridge Financial Solutions

(Get Rating)

Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc engages in the provision of investor communications and technology solutions to banks, broker-dealers, mutual funds, and corporate issuers. It operates through the following segments: Investor Communication Solutions and Global Technology and Operations. The Investor Communication Solutions segment offers services for broker-dealer investor communication, customer communication, corporate issuer, advisor solutions, and mutual fund and retirement solutions.

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Hannover Ruck SE (FRA:HNR1  Get Rating) shot up 0.3% on Monday . The company traded as high as 193.95 ($210.82) and last traded at 190.90 ($207.50). 171,817 shares were traded during trading, The stock had previously closed at 190.25 ($206.79).

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on HNR1. JPMorgan Chase & Co. set a 205.00 ($222.83) target price on shares of Hannover Ruck in a research note on Tuesday, March 21st. Jefferies Financial Group set a 185.00 ($201.09) price target on shares of Hannover Ruck in a report on Thursday, March 9th. Barclays set a 165.70 ($180.11) price target on shares of Hannover Ruck in a report on Monday, April 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group set a 225.00 ($244.57) price target on shares of Hannover Ruck in a report on Wednesday, February 8th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada set a 220.00 ($239.13) price target on shares of Hannover Ruck in a report on Thursday, March 9th.

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Hannover Ruck Price Performance

The stocks 50-day simple moving average is 181.34 and its 200-day simple moving average is 181.36.

Hannover Ruck Company Profile

Hannover Ruck SE, together with its subsidiaries, provides reinsurance products and services worldwide. It operates through Property & Casualty Reinsurance, and Life & Health Reinsurance segments. The company offers property, casualty, facultative, catastrophe XL, structured reinsurance, and insurance-linked securities.

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Range Resources Co. (NYSE:RRC  Get Rating) CFO Mark Scucchi sold 153,000 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.39, for a total value of $4,190,670.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 263,070 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $7,205,487.30. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Range Resources Trading Up 1.2 %

RRC stock traded up $0.33 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $27.52. 3,605,847 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,714,648. Range Resources Co. has a 52-week low of $22.61 and a 52-week high of $37.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 0.92. The business has a 50 day moving average of $25.66 and a 200-day moving average of $26.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.23, a P/E/G ratio of 0.41 and a beta of 2.13.

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Range Resources (NYSE:RRC  Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 24th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $0.71 by $0.28. Range Resources had a return on equity of 45.55% and a net margin of 41.18%. The business had revenue of $1.19 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $772.38 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.18 earnings per share. The companys quarterly revenue was up 556.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Range Resources Co. will post 2.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Range Resources Dividend Announcement

Analyst Ratings Changes

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 15th were issued a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 14th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.16%. Range Resourcess payout ratio is 3.76%.

Several analysts have issued reports on RRC shares. Benchmark raised Range Resources from a hold rating to a buy rating and set a $32.00 price target for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 25th. Mizuho boosted their price target on Range Resources from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Wednesday, April 5th. Wells Fargo & Company raised Range Resources from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating and boosted their price target for the company from $30.00 to $31.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 11th. Roth Capital reissued a neutral rating on shares of Range Resources in a report on Wednesday, February 8th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an outperform rating and issued a $40.00 price objective on shares of Range Resources in a research note on Wednesday, March 15th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the companys stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $32.29.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Range Resources

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of RRC. Third Point LLC bought a new position in Range Resources in the third quarter worth approximately $98,514,000. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its position in Range Resources by 14.8% during the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 39,067 shares of the oil and gas exploration companys stock valued at $977,000 after acquiring an additional 5,028 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its position in Range Resources by 202.1% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 67,162 shares of the oil and gas exploration companys stock valued at $1,680,000 after acquiring an additional 44,930 shares in the last quarter. Profund Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Range Resources by 126.7% in the 3rd quarter. Profund Advisors LLC now owns 21,054 shares of the oil and gas exploration companys stock worth $532,000 after purchasing an additional 11,766 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Boothbay Fund Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Range Resources in the 3rd quarter worth $594,000. 87.32% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Range Resources

(Get Rating)

Range Resources Corp. engages in the exploration, development and acquisition of natural gas and oil properties in the Appalachian and Midcontinent regions. The company was founded in 1976 and is headquartered in Fort Worth, TX.

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IRSA Inversiones y Representaciones Sociedad Anonima (NYSE:IRS  Get Rating) was the target of a large decline in short interest during the month of April. As of April 30th, there was short interest totalling 67,200 shares, a decline of 9.6% from the April 15th total of 74,300 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 70,900 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 0.9 days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On IRSA Inversiones y Representaciones Sociedad Anonima

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV acquired a new stake in IRSA Inversiones y Representaciones Sociedad Anonima during the first quarter worth approximately $77,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC purchased a new position in shares of IRSA Inversiones y Representaciones Sociedad Anonima during the 3rd quarter worth $58,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of IRSA Inversiones y Representaciones Sociedad Anonima during the first quarter worth $135,000. Stokes Family Office LLC acquired a new stake in shares of IRSA Inversiones y Representaciones Sociedad Anonima during the first quarter worth $204,000. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of IRSA Inversiones y Representaciones Sociedad Anonima in the first quarter valued at $228,000. 17.11% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, StockNews.com began coverage on shares of IRSA Inversiones y Representaciones Sociedad Anonima in a research note on Thursday, March 16th. They issued a hold rating on the stock.

IRSA Inversiones y Representaciones Sociedad Anonima Price Performance

IRSA Inversiones y Representaciones Sociedad Anonima Company Profile

Shares of IRS traded up $0.19 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $5.73. 10,980 shares of the companys stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 87,503. IRSA Inversiones y Representaciones Sociedad Anonima has a 52-week low of $3.16 and a 52-week high of $7.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $5.69 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $5.44. The company has a market cap of $464.65 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.01.

(Get Rating)

IRSA Inversiones y Representaciones SA engages in the real estate business. It operates through the Operations Center in Argentina and Operations Center in Israel segments. The Operations Center in Argentina segment operates in the following segments: shopping malls, offices and others, sales and developments, hotels, international, and financial operations, corporate and others.

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Keeley Teton Advisors LLC decreased its holdings in shares of EnPro Industries, Inc. (NYSE:NPO  Get Rating) by 23.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 48,522 shares of the industrial products companys stock after selling 14,925 shares during the period. Keeley Teton Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.23% of EnPro Industries worth $5,274,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System boosted its stake in shares of EnPro Industries by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 8,600 shares of the industrial products companys stock worth $935,000 after buying an additional 93 shares during the last quarter. Heritage Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in EnPro Industries by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. Heritage Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,977 shares of the industrial products companys stock valued at $253,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can lifted its stake in EnPro Industries by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can now owns 17,805 shares of the industrial products companys stock valued at $1,785,000 after purchasing an additional 112 shares during the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its stake in EnPro Industries by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 2,947 shares of the industrial products companys stock valued at $320,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in EnPro Industries by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 19,552 shares of the industrial products companys stock valued at $1,602,000 after purchasing an additional 171 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.65% of the companys stock.

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EnPro Industries Price Performance

Shares of NYSE NPO traded up $1.96 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $95.87. The companys stock had a trading volume of 17,399 shares, compared to its average volume of 101,073. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 2.79 and a current ratio of 3.58. EnPro Industries, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $76.14 and a fifty-two week high of $127.67. The businesss 50 day moving average price is $97.39 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $108.49. The company has a market cap of $2.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.71 and a beta of 1.44.

EnPro Industries Announces Dividend

EnPro Industries ( NYSE:NPO Get Rating ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 2nd. The industrial products company reported $1.95 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $1.46 by $0.49. EnPro Industries had a net margin of 19.21% and a return on equity of 11.87%. The company had revenue of $282.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $273.40 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.83 earnings per share. The firms quarterly revenue was up 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that EnPro Industries, Inc. will post 6.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 31st will be given a dividend of $0.29 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 30th. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.21%. EnPro Industriess dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 10.76%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Steven R. Bower sold 2,400 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $109.78, for a total transaction of $263,472.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 3,440 shares in the company, valued at $377,643.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Eric A. Vaillancourt bought 790 shares of EnPro Industries stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 14th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $94.75 per share, with a total value of $74,852.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 24,120 shares of the companys stock, valued at $2,285,370. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Steven R. Bower sold 2,400 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $109.78, for a total transaction of $263,472.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 3,440 shares of the companys stock, valued at $377,643.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.50% of the companys stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NPO has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. TheStreet upgraded shares of EnPro Industries from a c+ rating to a b- rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 2nd. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of EnPro Industries in a research note on Thursday, March 16th. They issued a buy rating for the company.

EnPro Industries Profile

(Get Rating)

EnPro Industries, Inc engages in the design, development, manufacturing, and marketing of proprietary engineered industrial products. It operates through the Sealing Technologies and Advanced Surface Technologies segment. The Sealing Technologies segment designs, manufactures, and sells sealing products including metallic, non-metallic, and composite material gaskets.

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analysis

Barely seven months after leaving office, Kenya's former president Uhuru Kenyatta is battling to keep together the party that won him a second term and a majority in parliament in 2017. His Jubilee Party performed dismally in the 2022 election. Only 25 out of 290 members of parliament, two out of 47 senators and one county governor out of 47 were elected on its ticket. This isn't surprising in Kenya where political elites switch parties and coalitions with every election. No political party or coalition has ruled for more than one term since the opposition deposed the independence movement, KANU, in 2002. Gilbert Khadiagala, a political scientist who has researched the fluidity of Kenya's political coalitions, explains the impact of this.

What is the background of Kenya's fluid political landscape?

The onset of the multiparty era in the early 1990s brought a new phase of complex political coalitions and alliances. They were competing against the previously dominant political party, the Kenya African National Union (KANU). Typical of Africa's post-colonial dominant parties, KANU governed for more than two decades through authoritarian methods. Under presidents Jomo Kenyatta (1963-1978) and Daniel Moi (1978-2002), KANU co-opted opposition figures into an elaborate system of patronage and coerced critics who didn't toe the party line.

The coalitions that emerged were based primarily on ethnic and regional affiliations - they were overwhelmingly elite-based. The first was the Forum for the Restoration Democracy (FORD). However, barely a year into its existence, FORD broke into two major factions - FORD Kenya and FORD Asili - in August 1992. Further splits followed.

The dominant coalitions that participated in the August 2022 elections - the Kenya Kwanza alliance (led by William Ruto) and the Azimio alliance (led by Raila Odinga) - comprise many smaller parties. They are products of previous failed attempts at alliance building.

In 30 years of competitive politics, coalitions were expected to gradually stabilise into coherent political parties with national reach and resonance. Instead, political coalitions in Kenya have not advanced beyond their narrow bases. They remain fundamentally ethnic and regional machines that are frequently scrambled together on the eve of elections to win power.

I have studied Kenya's politics for 30 years. It's my view that Kenyan coalitions that rise and fall with every election do not provide the foundation for steady and enduring party systems. These coalitions postpone the evolution of national parties that would lend some predictability and stability to political competition.

Parties should broadly reflect - and manage - societal differences. In Germany, for instance, parties have come together to overcome certain historical differences by calling on shared interests. Germany's coalition governments are largely based on well-established political parties, not conglomerations concocted before elections as in Kenya. And political parties negotiate these governing coalitions after elections, not before.

Throughout Africa, where ethnic and regional divisions are paramount, political mobilisations deepen societal differences. Electoral violence occurs because winning coalitions control all the national resources.

The winner-takes-all political systems of countries like Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria and Sierra Leone face a related problem: they have very small independent private sectors. So winners are tempted to use political power to grab national resources.

What are the main weaknesses of fluid political coalitions?

They cause instability in the country. Unstable coalitions contribute to electoral violence as losing coalitions vent their grievances. Following the violent aftermath of the 2017 Kenyan elections, Odinga's coalition at the time, the National Super Alliance (NASA), threatened to agitate for the secession of his support base from Kenya.

In 2002, there was a brief phase of optimism for an enduring coalition. The National Rainbow Alliance (NARC), led by Mwai Kibaki, was a grouping of the leading ethnic groups ranged against Moi's chosen successor, Kenyatta. But it ended in civil conflict in 2007-2008 after Kibaki marginalised key allies largely on ethnic and regional lines.

The Government of National Unity crafted by international actors in 2008 became an uneasy and unwieldy coalition. Its members decamped to new coalitions in the next elections.

Subsequent political alliances have reproduced the conditions for anxiety and chaos after every election. Despite the 2010 constitution giving more power to Kenya's 47 counties, political elites remain fixated on winning presidential elections to gain power at the centre.

The unstable coalitions also account for widespread corruption. Winning coalitions expend enormous resources to fortify their power. To do this they have to loot state resources.

What are the strengths of these loose coalitions?

In societies where ethnic groups coincide with regions, coalitions are one of the means of organising competitive politics. The loose coalitions enable leaders who neither share policies nor vision to temporarily accommodate each other. This creates a semblance of national unity. The fluid coalitions are, therefore, essential in such political landscapes until national cohesion and coherence are achieved.

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When the search for presidential power ceases to be politically relevant and salient, Kenya's politics will be normalised. Transforming coalitions into solid parties may take time. But it's the only way out of the prevailing political stalemate.

What adjustments should be made?

Kenyans do share basic bread-and-butter interests. When those interests are highlighted - instead of ethnic and regional affiliations - political parties with national outreach could emerge.

It's elites who emphasise cultural and ethnic differences between regions. They have a large stake in the stalemate continuing, instead of building institutionalised parties. The puzzle for Kenya is how to transform ethnic diversities and identities into the foundations for predictable and organised politics.

Gilbert M. Khadiagala, Jan Smuts Professor of International Relations and Director of the African Centre for the Study of the United States (ACSUS), University of the Witwatersrand
Tempus Wealth Planning LLC reduced its holdings in McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC  Get Rating) by 3.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,816 shares of the companys stock after selling 262 shares during the quarter. Tempus Wealth Planning LLCs holdings in McCormick & Company, Incorporated were worth $565,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,812,081 shares of the companys stock valued at $2,124,707,000 after buying an additional 321,099 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its holdings in McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 4.3% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,756,198 shares of the companys stock valued at $980,404,000 after purchasing an additional 564,889 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 27.9% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,377,729 shares of the companys stock worth $240,730,000 after purchasing an additional 737,040 shares during the last quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. raised its stake in McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 12.1% during the third quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 2,297,939 shares of the companys stock worth $163,775,000 after purchasing an additional 248,526 shares during the period. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 15.6% in the 4th quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 2,212,155 shares of the companys stock valued at $183,366,000 after purchasing an additional 299,244 shares during the last quarter. 79.15% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com started coverage on McCormick & Company, Incorporated in a research report on Thursday, March 16th. They issued a hold rating on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on McCormick & Company, Incorporated from $63.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an underweight rating in a report on Wednesday, March 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated from $69.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a report on Wednesday, March 29th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated from $73.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an underperform rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 29th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus began coverage on shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated in a research note on Thursday, April 13th. They issued a hold rating and a $82.00 target price on the stock. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $80.10.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated Stock Down 0.4 %

MKC stock traded down $0.32 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $89.38. The stock had a trading volume of 81,764 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,392,336. The company has a current ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $82.45 and a 200 day moving average price of $81.01. The company has a market capitalization of $23.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.32, a PEG ratio of 5.00 and a beta of 0.58. McCormick & Company, Incorporated has a 1-year low of $70.60 and a 1-year high of $100.42.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC  Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 28th. The company reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.10. McCormick & Company, Incorporated had a return on equity of 14.34% and a net margin of 10.42%. The business had revenue of $1.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $1.54 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.63 earnings per share. The companys revenue was up 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that McCormick & Company, Incorporated will post 2.61 earnings per share for the current year.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 24th. Investors of record on Monday, April 10th were issued a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 6th. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.75%. McCormick & Company, Incorporateds dividend payout ratio is presently 63.16%.

Insider Buying and Selling at McCormick & Company, Incorporated

In other news, Director Michael D. Mangan sold 5,000 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.00, for a total value of $375,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 38,137 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $2,860,275. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other McCormick & Company, Incorporated news, CEO Lawrence Erik Kurzius sold 39,906 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.02, for a total transaction of $3,592,338.12. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 159,579 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $14,365,301.58. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Michael D. Mangan sold 5,000 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.00, for a total value of $375,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 38,137 shares of the companys stock, valued at $2,860,275. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 19.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About McCormick & Company, Incorporated

(Get Rating)

McCormick & Co, Inc engages in the manufacturing, marketing, and distribution of spices, seasoning mixes, condiments, and other flavorful products to retail outlets, food manufacturers, and foodservice businesses. It operates through the Consumer and Flavor Solutions segments. The Consumer segment sells spices, seasonings, condiments, and sauces.

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Canadian National Railway (NYSE: CNI) recently received a number of ratings updates from brokerages and research firms:

5/4/2023  Canadian National Railway was upgraded by analysts at Morgan Stanley from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating.

5/4/2023  Canadian National Railway was upgraded by analysts at CIBC from a neutral rating to an outperform rating.

5/4/2023  Canadian National Railway had its price target raised by analysts at Scotiabank from C$169.00 to C$172.00.

4/26/2023  Canadian National Railway had its price target lowered by analysts at Argus from $155.00 to $140.00.

4/25/2023  Canadian National Railway had its price target raised by analysts at Desjardins from C$178.00 to C$180.00.

4/25/2023  Canadian National Railway had its price target raised by analysts at Susquehanna from $114.00 to $116.00.

4/25/2023  Canadian National Railway had its price target raised by analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $115.00 to $125.00.

4/25/2023  Canadian National Railway had its price target raised by analysts at Credit Suisse Group AG from $126.00 to $133.00.

4/25/2023  Canadian National Railway had its price target raised by analysts at Barclays PLC from $126.00 to $130.00.

4/18/2023  Canadian National Railway was upgraded by analysts at Desjardins from a hold rating to a buy rating.

4/17/2023  Canadian National Railway had its price target raised by analysts at National Bank Financial from C$175.00 to C$178.00.

4/12/2023  Canadian National Railway had its price target lowered by analysts at Barclays PLC from $127.00 to $126.00. They now have an equal weight rating on the stock.

4/6/2023  Canadian National Railway was upgraded by analysts at Royal Bank of Canada from a sector perform rating to an outperform rating.

3/27/2023  Canadian National Railway had its price target lowered by analysts at Bank of America Co. from $137.00 to $134.00.

Canadian National Railway Stock Performance

Shares of CNI stock traded down $0.98 on Wednesday, hitting $118.92. 850,860 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,111,590. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $79.12 billion, a PE ratio of 19.72, a P/E/G ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.91. Canadian National Railway has a one year low of $103.79 and a one year high of $129.89. The firms 50 day moving average is $118.53 and its two-hundred day moving average is $120.15.

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Canadian National Railway Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.5835 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 8th. This represents a $2.33 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.96%. Canadian National Railways dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.98%.

Institutional Trading of Canadian National Railway

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Canadian National Railway by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,762,307 shares of the transportation companys stock valued at $2,350,111,000 after purchasing an additional 800,108 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of Canadian National Railway by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 20,375,062 shares of the transportation companys stock valued at $2,400,975,000 after purchasing an additional 188,460 shares during the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec increased its position in shares of Canadian National Railway by 5.3% during the 1st quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 12,333,700 shares of the transportation companys stock valued at $1,655,948,000 after purchasing an additional 625,000 shares during the last quarter. Jarislowsky Fraser Ltd grew its position in Canadian National Railway by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. Jarislowsky Fraser Ltd now owns 9,556,511 shares of the transportation companys stock worth $1,126,080,000 after acquiring an additional 70,386 shares during the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its position in 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 worth $945,638,000 after acquiring an additional 531,876 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.96% of the companys stock.

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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Piper Jaffray Companies (NYSE:PJC  Get Rating) and GAMCO Investors (NYSE:GAMI  Get Rating) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, risk, analyst recommendations, valuation, institutional ownership, profitability and earnings.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Piper Jaffray Companies and GAMCO Investors 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 Piper Jaffray Companies $800.99 million 1.43 $57.04 million $6.13 12.99 GAMCO Investors $258.75 million 1.82 $65.56 million $2.47 7.47

GAMCO Investors has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Piper Jaffray Companies. GAMCO Investors is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Piper Jaffray Companies, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Dividends

Institutional and Insider Ownership

Piper Jaffray Companies pays an annual dividend of $1.50 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.9%. GAMCO Investors pays an annual dividend of $0.16 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.9%. Piper Jaffray Companies pays out 24.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. GAMCO Investors pays out 6.5% 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.

78.8% of Piper Jaffray Companies shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 30.5% of GAMCO Investors shares are held by institutional investors. 4.1% of Piper Jaffray Companies shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 81.2% of GAMCO Investors shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Piper Jaffray Companies and GAMCO Investors net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

Net Margins Return on Equity Return on Assets Piper Jaffray Companies 10.99% 12.26% 7.10% GAMCO Investors 25.34% 57.64% 28.82%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings for Piper Jaffray Companies and GAMCO Investors, as provided by MarketBeat.

Sell Ratings Hold Ratings Buy Ratings Strong Buy Ratings Rating Score Piper Jaffray Companies 0 0 0 0 N/A GAMCO Investors 0 0 0 0 N/A

Risk & Volatility

Piper Jaffray Companies has a beta of 1.35, indicating that its stock price is 35% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, GAMCO Investors has a beta of 1.25, indicating that its stock price is 25% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

GAMCO Investors beats Piper Jaffray Companies on 7 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Piper Jaffray Companies

(Get Rating)

Piper Sandler Cos. engages in the provision of investment banking and institutional securities services. It offers financial advisory services, equity and debt capital markets products, public finance services, equity research and institutional brokerage, fixed income services, and private equity strategies. The company was founded in 1895 and is headquartered in Minneapolis, MN.

About GAMCO Investors

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GAMCO Investors, Inc. operates as a holding company, which engages in the provision of investment advisory and asset management services. It offers investment advisory principally through Gabelli Funds and GAMCO Asset, which manages separate accounts for high net worth individuals, institutions, and qualified pension plans, and through its role as advisor to a family of mutual funds. The company was founded by Mario J. Gabelli in 1976 and is headquartered in Rye, NY.

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A number of research firms have changed their ratings and price targets for Rogers Communications (TSE: RCI):

4/27/2023  Rogers Communications had its price target raised by analysts at Desjardins from C$68.00 to C$69.00.

4/27/2023  Rogers Communications had its price target raised by analysts at Royal Bank of Canada from C$68.00 to C$70.00.

4/27/2023  Rogers Communications had its price target raised by analysts at CIBC from C$75.00 to C$76.00.

4/27/2023  Rogers Communications had its price target raised by analysts at BMO Capital Markets from C$70.00 to C$72.00.

4/27/2023  Rogers Communications had its price target raised by analysts at Scotiabank from C$74.75 to C$75.75.

4/27/2023  Rogers Communications had its price target raised by analysts at TD Securities from C$80.00 to C$83.00.

4/10/2023  Rogers Communications had its price target raised by analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from C$74.00 to C$90.00.

4/4/2023  Rogers Communications had its price target raised by analysts at TD Securities from C$78.00 to C$80.00.

4/3/2023  Rogers Communications was downgraded by analysts at Desjardins from a buy rating to a hold rating.

4/3/2023  Rogers Communications had its price target lowered by analysts at National Bank Financial from C$78.00 to C$76.00.

Rogers Communications Stock Performance

Rogers Communications Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 9th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of . The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 8th.

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Twilio Inc. (NYSE:TWLO  Get Rating) CFO Aidan Viggiano sold 1,172 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.44, for a total transaction of $53,255.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 212,897 shares in the company, valued at $9,674,039.68. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

Aidan Viggiano also recently made the following trade(s):

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On Friday, March 31st, Aidan Viggiano sold 6,226 shares of Twilio stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.76, for a total value of $396,969.76.

Twilio Price Performance

TWLO stock traded up $0.66 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $48.02. The stock had a trading volume of 4,213,239 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,519,554. Twilio Inc. has a 1-year low of $41.00 and a 1-year high of $110.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 6.16 and a quick ratio of 6.16. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $58.44 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $56.34.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Twilio ( NYSE:TWLO Get Rating ) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 15th. The technology company reported $0.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.09) by $0.31. Twilio had a negative net margin of 34.79% and a negative return on equity of 6.91%. The business had revenue of $1.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned ($1.25) earnings per share. Twilios revenue was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Twilio Inc. will post -2.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on shares of Twilio from $75.00 to $55.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 10th. Mizuho cut Twilio from a buy rating to a neutral rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $90.00 to $55.00 in a report on Friday, May 12th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on Twilio from $75.00 to $50.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 10th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their price objective on shares of Twilio from $77.00 to $58.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Twilio from $82.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seventeen have given a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $79.11.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. James Investment Research Inc. bought a new stake in Twilio in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Zullo Investment Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Twilio by 263.6% during the third quarter. Zullo Investment Group Inc. now owns 400 shares of the technology companys stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 290 shares during the last quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Twilio in the first quarter worth about $32,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Twilio by 169.4% in the third quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 501 shares of the technology companys stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 315 shares during the period. Finally, Covestor Ltd boosted its holdings in Twilio by 419.5% in the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 213 shares of the technology companys stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 172 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 78.68% of the companys stock.

About Twilio

(Get Rating)

Twilio, Inc engages in the development of communications software, cloud-based platform, and services. Its products include Twilio flex, messaging, programmable voice, programmable video, elastic SIP trunking, and IoT. The company was founded by John Wolthuis, Jeffery G. Lawson, and Evan Cooke in March 2008 and is headquartered in San Francisco, CA.

Further Reading

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Oracle Cloud VMware Solution is announcing its Spring 23 release, which includes support for flexible Standard shapes with independent scaling of compute and storage. New features include:

New Standard shapes (X7, X9, and E4): Powered by 3rd Gen Intel Xeon and AMD EPYC processors, Oracle Cloud VMware Solution standard shapes support a wide variety of extra-small to extra-large core configurations to right-size your VMware workloads. CPU expansion packs are available in 50%, 75%, and 100% of available CPU capacity, allowing you to balance cost-performance requirements.

Oracle Cloud VMware Solution GPU compute beta: Oracle Cloud VMware Solution BM.GPU.GU1.4 compute shape is powered by four NVIDIA A10 Tensor Core GPUs, BM.GPU.GU1.4 also runs on Intel 3rd gen Xeon Platinum 8358 BareMetal host with 1 TB of RAM, 100 Gbps of overall network bandwidth, 7.68 TB of raw NVMe internal disk, and support for up to 1 PB of external block storage. Key use cases for this solution include graphics accelerated VDI with VMware Horizon, Microsoft RDS or Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops. Beta program signup is available for a limited time.

VMware Telco Cloud Infrastructure certification: Oracle and VMware help cloud service providers (CSPs) modernize their networks by seamlessly incorporating Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI), including OCI Dedicated Region as an integral part of their 5G network function architecture. Integrated with Oracle Cloud VMware Solution, VMware Telco Cloud Platform  Public Cloud can help deliver greater flexibility for CSPs to design and implement their end-to-end networks with rich ecosystem of VMware verified network functions.

VMware NSX Advanced Load Balancer (Enterprise Edition) certification: Application delivery services with local load balancing, global server load balancing (GSLB) and web application firewall (WAF) for workloads are now supported with Oracle Cloud VMware Solution. For more information about how to get started with Avi on Oracle Cloud VMware Solution, check out this blog from VMware.

Expanded global regions: Since its launch, you can find Oracle Cloud VMware Solution in more locations than any other VMware hyperscaler offering. Oracle Cloud VMware Solution is available globally in 42 cloud regions and 22 countries, with dual regions available in 10 countries and 12 Azure Interconnect regions. OCI serves commercial businesses, the US and UK government, and the US Department of Defense with distinct regions that must meet specific compliance and tenancy requirements. Most recently, new commercial regions include Serbia, Chicago, Mexico (Queretaro), Spain (Madrid), and a second region in France (Paris).

Standard shapes (X7, X9, and E4) available with 50%, 75%, and 100% CPU expansion packs address a wide range of VMware workloads including: web apps, small databases, disaster recovery, and development environments, and more. This availability allows you to correctly size compute and storage without adding more hosts, achieving a cost-effective path to the public cloud in the following scenarios:

Migrate general-purpose workloads that benefit from the per-core price advantage

Reduce the license costs based on per-core pricing by starting with an extra-small core configuration

Build a more cost-effective VMware solution with highly available OCI Block Storage

Improve price-performance with low latency by communicating within the same L2 network, from the host to the SAN in the same VLAN

Unlike other cloud-based VMware solutions, Oracle Cloud VMware Solution is a customer-managed solution with OCI bare metal compute and L2 network virtualization.

This setup allows VMware workloads to communicate within the same L2 network, which is vital for applications such as file sharing, video streaming, gaming, and security applications. You get zero hops for the lowest latency when microseconds count.

Other cloud-based VMware solutions use L3 networking, which adds latency with each hop. iSCSI is very transactional and chatty. L3 networking with a managed offering means higher latency. Oracle Cloud VMware Solution has zero hops from the host to SAN in the same VLAN, meaning lower latency.

Customers using VMware on Oracle Cloud Infrastructure require the most advanced systems to support their ever-growing needs, said Anurag Handa, Intel vice president and general manager of hyperscale and strategic customers. Intel and Oracle Cloud have been coinnovating together on multiple generations of VMware optimized shapes that offer some of the latest processor accelerators resulting in up to 42% over the previous generation. The built-in scalability and security optimizations are well suited to support these latest VMware customer workloads.

For more information about these new features, visit www.oracle.com.
Published on: May 17, 2023 | Updated on: May 17, 2023

External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said such reports continue to be based on "misinformation and flawed understanding". (PTI)

New Delhi: India on Tuesday trashed as "motivated" and "biased" a report by the US State Department on religious freedom that criticised the country for alleged attacks on minorities.

External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said such reports continue to be based on "misinformation and flawed understanding".

The annual report listed alleged attacks on religious minorities in India and expressed concerns over such incidents.

"We are aware of the release of the US State Department 2022 Report on International Religious Freedom. Regrettably, such reports continue to be based on misinformation and flawed understanding," Bagchi said.

"Motivated and biased commentary by some US officials only serves to undermine further the credibility of these reports," he said.

Bagchi was responding to media queries on the report.

"We value our partnership with the US and will continue to have frank exchanges on issues of concern to us," he said.

The report that documents the status of religious freedom in countries across the world was released on Monday.

A senior US official said far too many governments, including Russia, India, China and Saudi Arabia, continue to freely target faith community members.

"Far too many governments continue to freely target faith community members within their borders," Rashad Hussain, Ambassador at Large, Office of International Religious Freedom, told reporters at a news conference in Washington soon after the report was released by Secretary of State Anthony Blinken.

The report provides a fact-based, comprehensive view of the state of religious freedom in nearly 200 countries and territories around the world, Blinken said.
Five workers were killed on the spot while another succumbed to injuries at the government hospital at Gurajala.(Representational Image/DC)

Vijayawada: Six workers were killed and seven injured when the auto rickshaw they were travelling was rammed by a speeding lorry at Pondugala of Dachepalli mandal in Palnadu district on Wednesday.

According to Dachepalli police, about 23 workers hailing from Narsapur village of Damaracherla mandal in Telangana were arriving for work in the morning when their vehicle was hit by a speeding lorry. Under its impact five workers were killed on the spot while another succumbed to injuries at the government hospital at Gurajala. All the injured were undergoing treatment at the government hospital at Gurajala.

Meanwhile, Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao announced ex gratia of Rs five lakh each to the kin of the deceased and directed the minister Jagadeeswara Reddy and Miryalaguda MLA Nallamothu Bhaskar Rao to extend all relief to the bereaved family members.
Congress party Karnataka state chief D. K. Shivakumar, left, and his colleague and senior leader Siddaramaiah, right. (AP Image)

New Delhi: Suspense continued over the candidate for the post of Karnataka Chief Minister, amidst a series of meetings of the Congress top brass. While Karnataka Congress chief D.K. Shivakumar and former CM Siddaramaiah are the front runners, insiders claim that after observers Sushil Kumar Shinde, Jitendra Singh and Deepak Babaria, majority of the MLAs preferred Siddaramaiah for the top post.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge met Rahul Gandhi at the formers residence to discuss government formation.

According to sources, the Congress is formulating a plan to make Siddaramaiah the Chief Minister, while Shivakumar will be his deputy and will continue as the state units chief. There will also be only deputy chief ministers post.

However, the plan to share the Chief Ministers post on a rotational basis has been shelved after seeing its effects in Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh.

Meanwhile, Kharge met all the stakeholders in Karnataka and also sought suggestions from senior functionaries of the party. Now, he is likely to consult former Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi before taking the final call. The decision will most likely be announced in Bengaluru, and another round of meetings with stakeholders will likely take place soon.

The Congress is keen to have the swearing in ceremony by Thursday.

Shivakumar reached Delhi on Wednesday, where Siddaramaiah has already set up camp. Before leaving for Delhi, Shivakumar said the Congress is his mother and there was no question of resigning from the organisation. In Delhi, Shivakumar met his brother and Lok Sabha MP D.K. Suresh. He also met Kharge in the evening for about forty minutes regarding the governments formation.

After Shivakumar left Kharges residence, Siddaramaiah also met with the Congress president.

Kharge has also held several rounds of talks with Karnataka general secretary Randeep Surjewala and general secretary (organisation) K.C. Venugopal. Siddaramaiah also met Surjewala and Venugopal.

Both the CM hopefuls will stay in Delhi today.

Since the past four days, Shivakumar and Siddaramaiah supporters having been vouching for their respective leaders to get the top post.

While Shivakumars supporters say he is a go-getter and the Congress bagged so many seats in the state under his presidency and is keen on a good show for the Lok Sabha polls, Siddaramaiahs backers say he is an old war horse and an experienced hand.

While Siddaramaiah is liked by Rahul Gandhi and Venugopal, Shivakumar shares good rapport with Sonia Gandhi. Kharge and Surjewala are in the middle ground.
Published on: May 17, 2023 | Updated on: May 17, 2023

Northern Army Commander Lieutenant General Upendra Dwivedi. (PTI Photo)

JAMMU: Northern Army Commander Lieutenant General Upendra Dwivedi on Wednesday visited forward areas along the Line of Control (LoC) in twin border districts of Rajouri and Poonch, and exhorted the troops to be fully prepared to meet all contingencies, officials said.

The visit assumes significance in view of the G20 meeting scheduled in Srinagar from May 22-24.

He visited two units along the Line of Control in Poonch and Rashtriya Rifles in Rajauri sectors to review operational preparedness, and was was briefed on the counter-infiltration grid and processes being adopted, the officials said.

He appreciated the measures adopted and lauded the troops for maintaining the highest standards of professionalism.

He further exhorted them to be fully prepared to meet all contingencies, the officials said.

This is the fourth visit of the General Officer Commanding-in-Chief (GoC-in-C) to the Rajouri-Poonch sector since the April 20 terror attack on an army vehicle that killed five personnel.

He earlier visited the sector on April 22, April 26 and May 6.
Raghuvanshi and Pathak were presented before a special CBI court on Wednesday. (DC File Photo)

NEW DELHI: The Central Bureau of Investigation has arrested freelance scribe Vivek Raghuvanshi and ex-Navy commander Ashish Pathak for alleged clandestine procurement of sensitive defence-related information and sharing it with foreign intelligence agencies, officials said on Wednesday.

According to the agency, Raghuvanshi and his kinsfolk purportedly received Rs 3 crore originating from foreign shores.

Raghuvanshi and Pathak were presented before a special CBI court on Wednesday, which remanded them to the agency's custody for six days.

"It was also alleged that the accused (Raghuvanshi) and his associate (Pathak) who is presently working with a (private) firm, were in possession of classified secret document related to Indian defence establishments," a CBI spokesperson said on Wednesday.

The CBI took over the probe from the Delhi Police's Special Cell, which had been tracking Raghuvanshi since September last year when it registered an FIR against him.

The Special Cell had received input through intelligence that some Indian journalists were engaged in the procurement and transmission of such information to foreign intelligence agencies, which carried the potential to "spoil" relations with the country's friendly nations.

Based on the information procured by the Special Cell, it was posited that a journalist was surreptitiously amassing "sensitive information" regarding the "future procurement of armed forces which reveal the strategic preparedness of our country's classified communications/information related to national security, and details of strategic and diplomatic talks of India with our friendly countries, which can spoil the bilateral relations of India with them..." the FIR said.

They said the CBI took over the case at the home ministry's directions.

After meticulous groundwork and vigilant surveillance, the CBI conducted an extensive raid on Tuesday encompassing 15 locations in Delhi-NCR and Jaipur at the premises of Raghuvanshi and other suspects.

"The CBI has seized 48 electronic devices, including laptops, tablets, mobile phones, hard disks, and pen drives, belonging to the FIR named accused and others associated with the said accused, during the searches," the spokesperson said.

He said a number of incriminating documents relating to Indian defence establishments have also been seized.

"The data stored in cloud-based accounts/e-mails/social media accounts belonging to the accused/others have also been recovered by digital forensic experts of the CBI," he said.

"The scrutiny of devices recovered so far from the possession of the accused also revealed that the accused was allegedly collecting confidential information related to India's defence procurement from different sources. He was in contact with several foreign entities/agents/persons, and he had entered into contracts/agreements with several foreign entities for sharing of confidential information. It was also alleged that the accused and his family members had received a substantial amount from foreign sources," he said.

Raghuvanshi, who is listed as India correspondent of a US-based portal on defence and strategic affairs on its web site, was then taken into custody along with Pathak.

The agency has booked the accused under Section 3 (spying) of the Official Secrets Act and under Section 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code.
BRS president and Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao speaks during the joint meeting of MPs, MLAs and MLCs at Telagana Bhavan on Wednesday. (Photo: Twitter/@BRSparty)

HYDERABAD: BRS president and Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao brought the Congress back to the centrestage and launched a scathing attack on the party at the joint meeting of MPs, MLAs and MLCs at Telagana Bhavan on Wednesday.

He had been largely targeting the BJP since the party won the Huzurabad bypoll in 2021. The CM's sharp criticism of the Congress came after it registered a spectacular victory on Saturday last in the Karnataka polls and triggered a debate over its impact on poll-bound Telangana.

Rao said the Congress had failed the country on all fronts after ruling for several decades, adding that no one would believe the party in Telangana and vote for it. He asked the party leaders and cadre not to take the Karnataka results seriously.

In his first reaction to the Karnataka election outcome, Rao said the Congress winning the elections was not a big issue. He reportedly named the BJP only once, saying that the Gujarat model was bogus and that the Telangana model of development programmes and welfare schemes was attracting the attention of people from all the states.

The CM reiterated that the BRS would win 95 to 105 seats if the elections were held now, adding that all the surveys he had commissioned reported that voters were in favour of the BRS.

Importantly, Rao, who used to promise party tickets to all MLAs to contest the upcoming Assembly polls, changed his stance on Wednesday and assured tickets to 'maximum MLAs' but said survey results will be final in selecting the candidates. He cautioned the MLAs saying, "I am keenly watching everything and all the factors will be taken into consideration before finalising the candidates."

Rao directed the ministers to hold meetings with the MPs, MLAs, MLCs of their respective districts within a week, sort out issues and work unitedly for the polls, and not act in an unilateral manner.

He asked the party leaders to utilise the 21-day decennial celebrations of Telangana state formation from June 2 to reach out to people and explain the welfare schemes and development programmes of the BRS government. The CM stated that the state government will provide department-wise progress reports to MLAs besides audio and video publicity material.
BJP leade, Huzurabad MLA, Etala Rajendar. (Photo: Facebook)

HYDERABAD: There is a slow brewing of discontent and dissent in the Bandi Sanjay-led Telangana state BJP unit, which is finding a stronger and more intense expression after the Karnataka Assembly elections results threw up a setback for the saffron party.

While a simmering divide has been lurking and growing in the state BJP unit, especially along the faultline of old-timers versus newcomers, which is read often as hardcore Hindutva supporters as opposed to professional politicians looking for quick success and rise in a rapidly growing party, it is now reaching a tipping point.

The focal point of the dissent has been the thorny issue of leadership, with most sources in the BJP saying that in Telangana, or any other state, "outsiders" have no chance to take the top position, notwithstanding the outlier case of Assam Chief Minister Hemanta Biswa Sarma, who too waited one full term after the party came to power before being anointed.

In his urgently called meeting with Union home minister Amit Shah, Huzurabad MLA Etala Rajendar reportedly said things were not hunky dory with the state BJP unit, its cadre strength was not growing and the party was not endearing itself enough to the people to push for a win against the BRS in the elections due at the year-end.

In his six-point charter purportedly presented, Rajendar informed the BJP high command that south India was not ripe for a Hindutva-led reach out and campaign, that secularism and harmony, along with peace were paramount concerns for citizens and voters, thereby ruling out such issues as changing name of Hyderabad, or Muslim quota, or hijab, et al.

Rajendar also reportedly, according to sources, told Shah that the party had to provide a strong thrust to economic and bread-butter issues, especially welfare schemes, that a strong state leadership face based on administrative and political efficiency and ministerial experience were key to convincing people, besides a very strong OBC empowerment push as the key issues of the party.

The BJP faces a peculiarly thorny dilemma wherein the high command wants to win Telangana, but if it insists on its own terms which do not feel relevant to people, or without empowering outsiders and newcomers, it would be found wanting in the battle for a majority of the 119 Assembly seats in November or December when elections take place.

"No newcomer is joining the BJP. We are not growing. We dont have candidates in most constituencies," said a state BJP leader, who said that unless the party senior leadership heeded the growing chorus for internal change, many leaders may leave the party.

Ironically, the big beneficiary of this turn of tide would be the Congress, which would be happy to welcome both the currently unattached leaders Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy and Juppally Krishna Rao, but also those from the BJP dissent group.

"Everyone who is attached to the values of Congress and is committed to opposing the misrule of BRS president and Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao and his family and wishes to accomplish the peoples dreams and goals of the separate statehood agitation, which still remain unfulfilled, is welcome to our party," said a senior state Congress leader.

The old-timers are not amused by the dissent. They acknowledge it but say that while it would be damaging for the party, the dissenters would also lose face and credibility.

"They will get exposed as opportunists who keep jumping from one party to another for power. They cant expect plum party positions without having served it," said a Sangh-associated BJP leader. "A new party is not viable and the Congress will not even welcome them."

Several BRS leaders, when approached, refused to react to the issue, saying neither of the Opposition parties has any popularity to challenge the BRS. "We will win over 100 seats again," said a senior leader.
Jana Sena may or may not get the same symbol in the coming assembly and parliament elections. (Image: Twitter)

Vijayawada: In a major setback to the Jana Sena led by Pawan Kalyan, the party has lost its election symbol, Glass. The Election Commission, after a periodic review, put Glass in the list of free symbols that can be assigned to anyone.

As a result, Jana Sena may or may not get the same symbol in the coming assembly and parliament elections. This could confuse the supporters of the Jana Sena when they exercise their franchise.

Though Jana Sena party is registered with the ECI and had been allotted Glass as its symbol to contest the 2019 polls, the ECI withdrew this decision in view of the failure of the party to gain the required eight per cent of votes in 2019. It won a single assembly seat, Razole, with a vote share of nearly seven per cent.

Jana Sena political affairs committee chairman Nadendla Manohar said, "We are confident of getting the same party symbol in the coming polls. We are consulting our legal team to find ways to get back the symbol."
Hours after India formally announced Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Sydney for a summit of the Quad on May 24, US President Joe Biden pulled out of it, prompting Australia to call off the meeting.

Modi, Biden and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will, however, attend the G7 summit to be hosted by Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in Hiroshima from Friday to Sunday.

With all the Quad leaders travelling to Hiroshima, the officials of the four nations were exploring the possibility of the leaders holding an informal meeting on the sidelines of the G7 summit itself, Albanese said early on Wednesday.

Read | Biden 'confident' there will be no US debt default

Biden was scheduled to visit Japan, Australia and Papua New Guinea. But the White House late on Tuesday announced that he would return to Washington DC after the G7 summit to continue discussions with leaders of the US Congress on ways to avert a looming debt default.

The US's announcement came a few hours after India formally confirmed Modi's visits. The the Ministry of External Affairs had issued a press release on Tuesday evening, announcing that the PM would visit Japan and Australia for the G7 and Quad summits respectively, as well as Papua New Guinea for a conclave of the Forum for IndiaPacific Islands Cooperation (FIPIC) between May 19 and 24.

The way the US pulled out of the Quad summit has upset New Delhi but it refrained from publicly expressing its displeasure, apparently to avoid straining bilateral ties ahead of Modi's visit to Washington DC for a meeting with Biden.

Biden is also expected to visit India for the G20 summit to be hosted by Modi on September 9 and 10.

"The decision of President Biden meant that you can't have a Quad Leaders Meeting when there are only three out of the four there," Albanese told ABC Radio.

Albanese also said that he still looked forward to welcoming Modi on a bilateral visit to Australia next week.

New Delhi did not formally announce any change in the prime ministers travel plans till late in the evening on Wednesday.

The Quad is a four-nation coalition launched in 2007 and revived in 2017 to counter Chinas expansionist moves in the Indo-Pacific.
US President Joe Biden would meet the prime ministers Narendra Modi of India and Anthony Albanese of Australia on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Japan, the White House said on Tuesday on the eve of the president leaving on his now-curtailed foreign trip.

"He (Biden) will also have the opportunity to meet with the leaders of the other members of the Quad, Prime Minister Modi of India and Prime Minister Albanese of Australia as well," John Kirby, Coordinator for Strategic Communications at the National Security Council in the White House, told reporters at the White House during his briefing on the G7 trip.

Also Read  Biden cuts back Asia tour as hopes rise of debt deal

Biden heads to Hiroshima, Japan to participate in the G7 summit. "Since the President took office, revitalising our alliances and partnerships, and reestablishing America's leadership around the world has been one of his top priorities," Kirby said.

"Thanks in no small part to his hard work during the G7, you will see that our allies and partners are more united than ever. Over the last 15 months, the G7 has stood in solidarity with Ukraine following Russia's invasion, rallying the world to support Ukraine and cutting Putin off from the key technologies and financing around the globe," he said.

"That solidarity with Ukraine is even stronger now than it was last year, and you will see concrete action to further isolate Russia and weaken its ability to wage its brutal war. And of course, this display of unity will extend to other key economic and security issues as well. G7 leaders will demonstrate that we share a common approach to the challenges posed by the PRC (People's Republic of China), an approach that is grounded in common values," Kirby said.

Also Read  Sauerkraut or sardines? Hiroshima's pancake goes global for G7 summit

"We will also rally around the need for bold action to accelerate the clean energy transition, including by making President Biden's economic agenda a blueprint for G7 action to address the climate crisis and create good jobs. We will present an affirmative agenda to take further action to support developing countries around the world," he said.

"That means we are going to showcase how we are scaling President Biden and the G7's flagship infrastructure initiative, the Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment, otherwise called PGII, which has attracted major investors to better respond to the global demand for high quality infrastructure financing," Kirby said.

"We will reaffirm our commitment to help institutions like the World Bank evolve so that they can more effectively address global challenges that directly affect its core mission of poverty reduction, including climate change. Now, the president will also have an opportunity to meet with Prime Minister Kishida on the margins, where they will discuss ways to further strengthen our mutual security, economic, multilateral cooperation, and of course look for ways to continue to improve our alliance with Japan," he added.
UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte on Tuesday pledged to build an "international coalition" to provide fighter jet support for Ukraine.

"The Prime Minister and Prime Minister Rutte agreed they would work to build (an) international coalition to provide Ukraine with combat air capabilities, supporting with everything from training to procuring F16 jets," a spokesman for Sunak's Downing Street office said in a statement following a meeting at the Council of Europe Summit in Iceland.

After visiting Sunak at his Chequers country estate outside London on Monday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he was "very positive" about creating a "jets coalition" in his country's war with Russia.

Read | Kyiv says it downed six Russian hypersonic missiles in overnight attack

Western nations have balked so far at providing advanced jets to help Ukraine take command of the skies against Russia.

Sunak said on Monday however the UK was preparing to open a flight school to train its pilots.

French President Emmanuel Macron at the same time offered to train Ukrainian fighter pilots but ruled out sending war planes to Kyiv.

Reacting to the pledge in his nightly address, Zelensky called it "a good start to the coalition", adding: "Thank you all."

Sunak's spokesman said the prime minister had also "reiterated his belief that Ukraine's rightful place is in NATO and the leaders agreed on the importance of allies providing long-term security assistance to Ukraine to guarantee they can deter against future attacks".
Bharatiya Janata Party president J P Nadda on Wednesday called for collective efforts by the party to ensure that the next mayor of Mumbai is from the BJP.

Addressing the party functionaries at a meeting here, Nadda said, "We all need to work in such a way that the next mayor of Mumbai city will be from BJP".

Pointing at the attendees, he said, "With your strength, we need not have to think twice about this resolution (installing mayor of BJP)".

Also Read | Development stopped under MVA, says Nadda in Maharashtra

Nadda advised BJP workers to develop skills of listening to the people.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has come up with various skill development courses for people. Our party workers should develop some skills as well including the ability to listen to the people. People should feel that a BJP worker listens to them with patience and is reliable to solve their problems, he said.

A party worker is the one who always maintains the party's image in public, Nadda added.

The BJP chief is on a two-day visit to Maharashtra beginning Wednesday during which he will meet state BJP leaders.

Nadda's comments on the next mayor of Mumbai are likely to ruffle the feathers of estranged ally-turned-foe Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray), which has ruled the Mumbai civic body for over two decades as Shiv Sena (undivided) till March 2022, and considers Mumbai as its citadel.

The last mayor of Mumbai before the five-year term of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) ended in March 2022 was Kishori Pednekar, who belongs to Uddhav Thackeray-led faction. The state government appointed the administrator in the BMC as elections could not be held before the expiry of the five-year term.

In the 2017 BMC elections, the BJP made giant strides by winning 82 of 227 seats, just two seats behind the Shiv Sena (undivided).
The weather office here on Wednesday issued a yellow warning for thunderstorm and lightning at isolated places across the state.

The state is likely to see the beginning of a wet spell on Wednesday which will continue till Saturday, it said.

During the spell, areas in the low and mid hills are expected to receive light to moderate rain and snowfall, the MeT said.

Also Read | Slight delay in onset of monsoon over Kerala; arrival likely on June 4

Anticipating damage to standing crops, fruit-bearing plants, and seedlings, the Indian Meteorological Department has advised farmers to make adequate arrangements and reschedule the spraying of insecticides.

On Tuesday, no significant change was recorded in the minimum and maximum temperatures across the state. Keylong in Lahaul and Spiti district was coldest at night, recording a low of 3.4 degrees Celsius, IMD data showed.

During the pre-monsoon season from March 1 to May 16, Himachal Pradesh received 223.4 mm of rain against a normal of 214 mm, an excess of four per cent.
The Special Investigative Unit (SIU) of Jammu and Kashmir Police on Wednesday raided five terrorists' houses in Kishtwar district in connection with a terror support and terror funding case, a senior official said.

The houses belonged to terrorists who are operating from Pakistan and are engaged in revival of terrorism in the region, he said.

"After obtaining search warrants from NIA Court, Jammu, in Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) case, houses of five terrorists, who are presently operating from Pakistan and Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir, were searched in various locations," Kishtwar Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Khalil Poswal said.

Also Read | NIA raids multiple places in J&K in terror-funding case

Five SIU teams along with police carried out the raids, he said.

The SSP said the evidence found in the searches will be used to indict the targets' role in engaging in anti-national activities and perpetuating acts of terrorism.

The SIU is raiding the houses of Shahnawaz alias Nayeem of Chirool Padyarna, Nayeem Ahmed alias Amir alias Gazi of Jamia Masjid, Mohammad Iqbal alias Bilal of Kichloo Market, Shahnawaz Kanth alias Munna alias Umer of Hullar Kishtwar, and Javid Hussain Giri alias Muzamil of Kundali Pochal, he said.

A special NIA court in Jammu had on April 26 issued non-bailable warrants against 23 terrorists from Kishtwar operating from across the border.

Earlier, non-bailable warrants were issued against 13 terrorists.

"Thirty-six individuals from Kishtwar went to Pakistan after joining terrorism over a period of time. Subsequently, two FIRs were registered against them," Poswal said.
Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal on Wednesday attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his remarks that changes brought about by his government in the recruitment system have ended nepotism, and alleged that the appointment of RSS and RSS-minded vice chancellors in universities and suchlike ad-hoc teachers are "shining examples of nepotism".

Prime Minister Modi asserted on Tuesday that changes brought by his government in the recruitment system have ended the possibility of corruption and nepotism as he gave away appointment letters to over 71,000 people at a 'Rozgar Mela'.

Read more | Kapil Sibal doubts fairness of probe into alleged sexual harassments by WFI chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh

In a tweet, Sibal said, "PM: Changes in recruitment process ended corruption, nepotism. Congratulations. But appointment of RSS and RSS minded VCs in Universities and appointment of suchlike ad-hoc teachers are shining examples of nepotism. What say you PM ji!"

PM :

Changes in recruitment process ended corruption, nepotism Congratulations But appointment of RSS and RSS minded VCs in Universities and appointment of suchlike ad hoc teachers are shining examples of nepotism What say you PM ji !  Kapil Sibal (@KapilSibal) May 17, 2023

Addressing a 'Rozgar Mela', Modi said, "Rozgar Melas by the governments at the Centre and BJP-ruled states show their commitment towards the youth. He asserted that it has prioritised the recruitment process in the last nine years by making it faster, transparent and unbiased.

"The possibility of corruption and nepotism in recruitment for government jobs has now ended," Modi had said.

Sibal, who was a Union minister during UPA 1 and 2, had quit the Congress in May last year and was elected to the Rajya Sabha as an Independent member with the Samajwadi Party's support.

He recently floated a non-electoral platform 'Insaaf' aimed at fighting injustice.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday stayed an order of the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC) asking ITC to pay Rs 2 crore to a model as compensation for a faulty haircut at a hotel owned by the conglomerate.

A bench of Justices Aniruddha Bose and Sudhanshu Dhulia issued notice to model Aashna Roy on ITC's appeal challenging the NCDRC award.

The top court said quantification of the compensation has to be based on material evidence and not mere asking.

The direction came on an appeal filed by ITC challenging an order of the NCDRC which had reaffirmed its September 21, 2021 direction to the company to pay Rs 2 crore as compensation.

Also Read | Most divorces arising from love marriages: SC

Prior to this, the apex court had in February this year set aside the NCDRC order and asked the consumer panel to consider the issue after going through the material submitted by the model.

The NCDRC on April 25 reaffirmed its earlier order after relying on e-mails and applications of proposed modelling and acting contracts presented by Roy.

According to the model, she visited the salon at Hotel ITC Maurya, New Delhi on April 12, 2018 for hair styling. Since the hairdresser, who regularly used to do her hair, was not available, another person was assigned the job.

She gave specific instructions to the hair dresser. When the hair styling was complete, to her utter surprise, the model noticed that the hair dresser had chopped off her hair leaving only 4 inches at the top. The hair barely touched her shoulders which was quite contrary to the instructions she had given, the model claimed.

According to the model, as a result of the faulty haircut, she could not continue to lead her normal busy life as she no longer looked pretty. She said she had to face great humiliation and embarrassment. Her modelling career was completely shattered and she went into a state of depression, Roy claimed.

Left with no option, she filed a complaint before the NCDRC alleging deficiency in service, seeking written apology from the management as also a compensation of Rs 3 crore for harassment, humiliation, mental trauma, loss of career, loss of income and loss of future prospects.
Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, S.A. (NYSE:BBVA  Get Rating) gapped down prior to trading on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $7.14, but opened at $6.85. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria shares last traded at $6.85, with a volume of 216,353 shares changing hands.

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Institutional Trading of Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria

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Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 54,647,189 shares of the banks stock valued at $328,430,000 after purchasing an additional 721,686 shares during the last quarter. Harding Loevner LP increased its holdings in Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria by 1.3% in the first quarter. Harding Loevner LP now owns 21,195,228 shares of the banks stock valued at $149,406,000 after buying an additional 272,562 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria by 6.5% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 9,338,804 shares of the banks stock valued at $65,839,000 after buying an additional 572,079 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its holdings in Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria by 2.5% during the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 8,129,565 shares of the banks stock worth $57,313,000 after buying an additional 195,513 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria by 165.0% during the 1st quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,373,714 shares of the banks stock worth $19,097,000 after acquiring an additional 4,590,973 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 2.51% of the companys stock.

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Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria SA engages in the traditional banking businesses of retail banking, asset management, private banking, and wholesale banking. It operates through the following segments: Spain, the United States, Mexico, Turkey, South America, and Rest of Eurasia. The Spain segment includes mainly the banking and insurance business that the group carries out in Spain.

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Howmet Aerospace Inc. (NYSE:HWM  Get Rating) was the target of a large drop in short interest during the month of April. As of April 30th, there was short interest totalling 4,220,000 shares, a drop of 6.8% from the April 15th total of 4,530,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 3,370,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.3 days. Currently, 1.0% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on HWM shares. Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of Howmet Aerospace from $39.00 to $42.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 3rd. Barclays raised their price target on Howmet Aerospace from $44.00 to $52.00 in a report on Tuesday, May 9th. Bank of America upped their price objective on Howmet Aerospace from $45.00 to $52.00 in a report on Tuesday, May 9th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Howmet Aerospace from $50.00 to $48.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 22nd. Finally, Benchmark upgraded shares of Howmet Aerospace from a hold rating to a buy rating and set a $49.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, March 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $47.91.

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Howmet Aerospace Stock Performance

Howmet Aerospace stock opened at $44.24 on Wednesday. Howmet Aerospace has a 1-year low of $29.84 and a 1-year high of $45.70. The companys 50-day moving average is $42.46 and its 200 day moving average is $40.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 2.18 and a quick ratio of 0.99.

Howmet Aerospace Announces Dividend

Howmet Aerospace ( NYSE:HWM Get Rating ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 2nd. The company reported $0.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $0.38 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $1.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $1.49 billion. Howmet Aerospace had a return on equity of 18.39% and a net margin of 8.18%. Howmet Aerospaces revenue was up 21.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.31 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Howmet Aerospace will post 1.69 EPS for the current year.

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 25th. Investors of record on Friday, May 5th will be paid a $0.04 dividend. This represents a $0.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.36%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 4th. Howmet Aerospaces dividend payout ratio is presently 13.91%.

Insider Transactions at Howmet Aerospace

In related news, VP Barbara Lou Shultz sold 4,627 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.16, for a total value of $195,074.32. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 20,542 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $866,050.72. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Neil Edward Marchuk sold 57,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.61, for a total transaction of $2,485,770.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 286,751 shares in the company, valued at $12,505,211.11. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Barbara Lou Shultz sold 4,627 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.16, for a total value of $195,074.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 20,542 shares in the company, valued at $866,050.72. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.23% of the companys stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Howmet Aerospace

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HWM. D.A. Davidson & CO. increased its holdings in shares of Howmet Aerospace by 1.9% in the 1st quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 13,305 shares of the companys stock valued at $564,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares during the period. Czech National Bank raised its holdings in shares of Howmet Aerospace by 0.6% during the first quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 43,355 shares of the companys stock worth $1,837,000 after purchasing an additional 251 shares during the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue lifted its holdings in shares of Howmet Aerospace by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 51,541 shares of the companys stock valued at $2,031,000 after buying an additional 270 shares during the period. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ boosted its position in Howmet Aerospace by 23.4% in the 1st quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ now owns 1,454 shares of the companys stock worth $62,000 after purchasing an additional 276 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Utah Retirement Systems grew its stake in shares of Howmet Aerospace by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Utah Retirement Systems now owns 67,074 shares of the companys stock worth $2,074,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the period. 91.49% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Howmet Aerospace Company Profile

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Howmet Aerospace, Inc engages in provision of engineered solutions for the aerospace and transportation industries. It operates through the following segments: Engine Products, Fastening Systems, Engineered Structures, and Forged Wheels. The Engine Products segment produces investment castings, including airfoils, and seamless rolled rings primarily for aircraft engines (aerospace commercial and defense) and industrial gas turbines.

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Liberty Energy Inc. (NYSE:LBRT  Get Rating) was the target of a significant drop in short interest in April. As of April 30th, there was short interest totalling 7,560,000 shares, a drop of 6.7% from the April 15th total of 8,100,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 3,100,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.4 days. Approximately 4.5% of the companys stock are sold short.

Liberty Energy Stock Down 2.5 %

Shares of LBRT opened at $11.90 on Wednesday. The stocks 50-day moving average price is $12.94 and its 200-day moving average price is $14.84. The company has a quick ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The company has a market capitalization of $2.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.90, a PEG ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 2.10. Liberty Energy has a 52 week low of $10.71 and a 52 week high of $19.08.

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Liberty Energy (NYSE:LBRT  Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 19th. The company reported $0.90 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.80 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $1.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.25 billion. Liberty Energy had a return on equity of 38.98% and a net margin of 12.29%. The businesss quarterly revenue was up 59.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.03) EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Liberty Energy will post 3.53 EPS for the current year.

Liberty Energy Announces Dividend

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Liberty Energy

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 20th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 6th will be given a $0.05 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 5th. This represents a $0.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.68%. Liberty Energys dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 6.56%.

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV acquired a new position in Liberty Energy in the 1st quarter worth about $140,000. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Liberty Energy by 16.3% during the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,431,442 shares of the companys stock worth $56,767,000 after buying an additional 622,283 shares during the period. Sapience Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of Liberty Energy by 16.0% during the 1st quarter. Sapience Investments LLC now owns 591,420 shares of the companys stock valued at $7,576,000 after buying an additional 81,770 shares in the last quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC grew its stake in Liberty Energy by 13.4% in the 1st quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 345,283 shares of the companys stock valued at $4,423,000 after acquiring an additional 40,744 shares during the period. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP increased its holdings in Liberty Energy by 17.9% in the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 403,992 shares of the companys stock worth $5,175,000 after acquiring an additional 61,435 shares in the last quarter. 85.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on LBRT shares. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Liberty Energy from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating and cut their price objective for the company from $20.00 to $17.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 18th. Bank of America cut shares of Liberty Energy from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a report on Tuesday, April 18th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Liberty Energy from $19.00 to $17.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 27th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on Liberty Energy from $24.00 to $22.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 21st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $20.17.

About Liberty Energy

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Liberty Energy, Inc engages in the provision of hydraulic fracturing services to onshore oil and natural gas exploration and production companies in North America. The company was founded on December 21, 2016 and is headquartered in Denver, CO.

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Orient Overseas (International) Limited (OTCMKTS:OROVF  Get Rating)s share price dropped 2.4% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $19.50 and last traded at $19.50. Approximately 800 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 46% from the average daily volume of 1,475 shares. The stock had previously closed at $19.97.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, HSBC upgraded shares of Orient Overseas (International) from a reduce rating to a hold rating in a research report on Thursday, March 23rd.

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Orient Overseas (International) Price Performance

The firms 50 day simple moving average is $18.71 and its 200-day simple moving average is $17.61.

Orient Overseas (International) Company Profile

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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SmartETFs Asia Pacific Dividend Builder ETF (NYSEARCA:ADIV  Get Rating)s stock price dropped 1% during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $13.52 and last traded at $13.52. Approximately 220 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 58% from the average daily volume of 529 shares. The stock had previously closed at $13.65.

SmartETFs Asia Pacific Dividend Builder ETF Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $2.70 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.20 and a beta of 0.58. The businesss fifty day moving average price is $13.66 and its 200 day moving average price is $13.51.

About SmartETFs Asia Pacific Dividend Builder ETF

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The SmartETFs Asia Pacific Dividend Builder ETF (ADIV) is an exchange-traded fund that is based on the MSCI AC Pacific ex-Japan NR index. The fund actively invests in Asia Pacific companies expected to have an increase in dividends over time. ADIV was launched on Mar 31, 2006 and is managed by SmartETFs.

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Speaking after the announcement of the Department for the Economys budget allocation for 2023/24, Derry Chamber Chief Executive Anna Doherty said: The announcement by the Department for the Economy regarding its budget allocation makes for extremely grim reading for the local economy and businesses in Northern Ireland.

"A 16% reduction in an already slashed budget will have serious and concerning ramifications for our ability to attract investment, support and nurture start-ups and budding entrepreneurs, and create a Northern Ireland economy fit for the future.

Cuts to our further and higher education budgets are particularly troubling, given their importance in ensuring we have a quality pipeline of talent and skills coming through for our businesses. The department also plays a vital role when it comes to tourism, one of Northern Irelands key economic sectors, as well as other key policy areas including energy, our film industry, and economic development.

"The stark reality of this budget is that investment will be missed, jobs will not be created, productivity will not be improved, and Northern Ireland will not properly grasp opportunities before us like dual market access and net zero," said Ms Doherty.

The Chamber recently warned that the Northern Ireland Offices budget would have serious negative consequences," added Anna Doherty.

"Unfortunately, we are now seeing its outworkings. While local power-sharing is not a silver bullet which will fix Northern Irelands fiscal position overnight, the ongoing absence of an Executive is having an undeniable effect on the day-to-day running of the country.

"We would once again urge local parties to do all they can to restore the Stormont institutions and appeal to the UK Government to grant further funds and extra leniency to address this crisis.
Stephen McCallion, the SDLP candidate in Foyleside in the local government elections on May 18, has welcomed Department for Infrastructure action to tackle Duncreggan parking problems.

The Department's Roads team has confirmed that double yellow lines will be extended along the Duncreggan Road in an effort to address parking issues.

The move follows an assessment of the entrance to the Student Village secured by Mark H Durkan MLA.

Mr McCallion has also engaged with Magee University in advance of the Foyle Cup in July to tackle on street parking.

Mr McCallion said: "Residents have waited years to see action on parking issues along this route near Magee University campus, which have been a huge source of frustration. Its clear that parking is causing a great deal of disruption for residents, motorists and pedestrians alike.

"Following an assessment of roadside parking at the entrance to the Student Village DfI Roads has agreed to our proposal for an extension to the double yellow line provision.

"The proposed extension is to the right of the entrance as the motorist exits from the Student Village and I can confirm that the process to make the necessary legislation has started.

"This is a problem which the SDLP has been working hard to resolve for quite some time. Im pleased to finally see steps being made to tackle the situation and hope the installation of double yellow line will deter motorists from parking and help address longstanding safety concerns," said Mr McCallion.

Mr McCallion said he had also been liaising with Magee University who had confirmed its overspill carpark was free of charge after 6pm

"I would encourage motorists to avail of this facility in the evenings. As we approach the Foyle Cup season, I remain hopeful that the university will consider my proposal to permit the free use of their carpark facility for the entirety of that week.

Ive also raised the potential reduction of car parking fees for students to reduce the number of vehicles parking along the Duncreggan Road during the week and will continue to push for a residents parking scheme for the area.
The Channel 4 hit show comedy, Derry Girls, has won a Bafta for scripted comedy at the awards ceremony in London.

Derry native and the show's writer and creator, Lisa McGee thanked her home city during her acceptance speech.

"I'd like to thank our first home, Derry, with its unbreakable spirit, and hilarious characters, what a muse you have been," she said.

Lisa said that when they were trying to get production off the ground, the standard response was 'that's not funny,' when they explained they were making a comedy about a group of girls trying to navigate their way through the Troubles.

"It didn't have runaway hit written all over it, " she continued. "But, what we found is that in the specific there's always the universal, always the ordinary and the extraordinary and if you really look hard enough there's always light in the dark.

"What an amazing end to our Derry Girls journey, it's been a privilege making this show and thank you for watching."

She also later revealed she didn't think the show was going to win an award in a humorous tweet.

"I had nice shoes," Lisa later tweeted. "I wore them on the red carpet, I changed into terrible shoes cos I thought we weren't going to win. I don't wish to talk about my terrible shoes being on the BBC. Thank you and good night xx."

Derry Girls star, Siobhan McSweeney, also won best female performance in a comedy programme for her portrayal of Sister Michael.

The BBC later issued a statement in response to criticism of an edit of McSweeney's acceptance speech.

In part of her speech, which was omitted from the main BBC broadcasting but played out in full on the Baftas official YouTube channel, she was critical of governments.

"To the people of Derry, thank you for taking me into your hearts and your living rooms," Siobhan said.

"I am daily impressed with how you encompass the spirit of compromise and resilience despite the indignities, ignorance, and stupidity of your so-called leaders in Dublin, Stormont, and Westminster," she told the audience.

"In the words of my beloved Sr Michael, it is time they started to wise-up," she added.

Her words were met with cheers and applause from the crowd at Londons Royal Festival Hall.

The BBC defended the edit in a statement which read: As in previous years, due to the nature of the show it is broadcast with a short delay, and while we always aim to keep the core sentiment of acceptance speeches, edits have to be made due to time constraints.

"The live event is three hours and it has to be reduced to two hours for its on-air slot," they said.

"The same happened to other speeches made during the night and all edits were made to ensure the programme was delivered to time."

They said that all winners' speeches will be available to watch on the Baftas Youtube channel.

Derry Girls was first broadcast in 2018 and was an instant hit across the globe. It ran for three seasons before the third and final season was released in 2022.

The show is based around Derry girls Erin, Michelle, Clare and Orla, plus "the wee English fella" James, and follows the everyday life of the teenagers during The Troubles.

The show put Derry on the world map for all the right reasons and has celebrated continued success over the last year, bringing home multiple awards including at the Irish Film and Television Awards and the Royal Television Society Awards.
A safeguarding scheme designed to support young people affected by domestic violence and abuse in the home has been rolled out to all schools across Northern Ireland.

Since Operation Encompass, a partnership between the PSNI, the Education Authority and education providers began, there have been 3,160 referrals made by police to the designated teachers.

It means if police attend a domestic abuse call and children are present, officers can pass on relevant information to the childs school before 9am the following morning, so support can be put in place.

The partnership is now being rolled out to the final tranche of 202 schools, across the Belfast Trust area, meaning it is now fully operational across all 1,162 schools and EOTAS (Education Other Than at School) centres in Northern Ireland.

The scheme was launched as a pilot in 2021 in Downpatrick and has been extended to other districts across Northern Ireland since.

One man who witnessed domestic abuse at the hands of his father when he was a child, welcomed the rollout of the partnership.

The man, who is now 28, said: It started when I was really young in primary school, I would hear all the arguing between my dad and my mum.

I isolated myself in my room a lot of the time.

When my mum left my dad, he got custody of me at the weekends. He would drink a lot and turned the abuse on me.

Monday at school, after my weekends with him, was like my reset day.

I remember being quiet, snapping at people who tried to talk to me and feeling drained with no one to talk to.

Having this scheme available for children who are in the same position as I was, can only do great things.

It provides them with a safe place, where they have the option of someone to talk to, on their terms.

It takes away the onus on the child to speak out about something they dont fully understand themselves.

Since Operation Encompass began across the Northern, Western, Southern and South Eastern Trust areas, police have attended 2,121 domestic incidents with 3,774 children exposed to domestic abuse from the start of the 2021 school year.

This has resulted in 3,160 referrals being made by police to the designated teacher at the relevant school.

The final rollout across Northern Ireland includes schools of all types  nursery, primary, post primary, special, EOTAS, Irish medium and independent Christian.

Detective Superintendent Lindsay Fisher from the PSNI Public Protection Branch said: We respond to around 90 domestic abuse calls for service each and every day, and unfortunately children are often present.

Operation Encompass really recognises children as unseen victims of domestic abuse.

We know the impact of the trauma that children experience from seeing, overhearing or coming back into a house where there has been a domestic abuse incident.

The scheme allows us to share information with schools in quick time so that we can best protect and support children through times that are incredibly difficult for them.

School is often seen as a safe place for a child in these circumstances and the support and understanding that teachers can provide should never be underestimated.

Michael Kelly, head of service for the Child Protection Support Service, at the Education Authority, said: The development of Operation Encompass is a demonstration of our commitment, to ensuring that all of our schools are equipped to support the most vulnerable children.

Sadly, we know that domestic abuse is a common feature in the lives of many children.

Feedback from schools to date has indicated that Operation Encompass has been transformational in terms of teachers ability to provide timely and informed support to child victims of domestic violence.

I welcome to final stage of this regional rollout and look forward to continued work with our partners in this area.

Womens Aid Federation NI chief executive, Sarah Mason said: We know from our extensive experience of supporting children that often the smallest victims of domestic abuse are the biggest; they see it, hear it, feel it and fear it.

In the aftermath of a domestic abuse incident, children can be extremely upset, frightened, tired and confused and teachers need to know and understand the reasons for this.

Children often tell us that school is their safe place so it is vital that teachers are aware of and understand the situation at home and the childs support needs, which must be paramount.

Op Encompass is a simple yet hugely important initiative that puts the child at the centre, and ensures teachers are informed, enabling them to fulfil their role as a social guardian.
As of 2022, the number of registered micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) in India was 63 million and since then this number has only rapidly increased. However, in order to extend their service to a larger audience the businesses have to depend on private aggregators namely; Amazon, Flipkart, Swiggy, Zomato. These aggregators in simple terms are agents for the businesses to reach their target audience. However, outsourcing the services from these private brands deducts the percentage of margins on their earnings.

Launched in April last year, a beta-testing for a non-profit initiative by Department For Promotion Of Industry And Internal Trade (DPIIT) took place in Bengaluru in September where the platform for hosting products and services was introduced. Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) offers interoperability between the businesses and the technology and service providers.

Also read: Buying new TV? Don't miss these amazing Prime TV Days deals on Amazon!

The platform eliminates the dominance of the private agent brands giving the small businesses the avenues to make profit and preserve the gains increasing their margin on the products and services. Lets understand how the platform works and how can you get started?

How does ONDC platform work?

ONDC majorly plays on the lines where the sellers and the consumers are directly in contact and require no middle agent. The services that are provided by the platform range from grocery, fashion, home decor, electronics, healthcare, logistics, mobility to urban services. The updated details suggest that the platform is available in 236 cities and has over 35,000 sellers adapting to the network.

ONDC majorly integrates biggies such as Amazon and Flipkart sellers on the platform allowing the customers to have a one-stop platform for purchasing any products under the range of products available. For instance, if sellers integrate on ONDC when a buyer is looking for an option to purchase a particular product they will have a consolidated list form all the platforms. Amazon and Flipkart along with other big names have inclined their support for the platform, anticipatedly for the list of sellers that they will be able to explore who are willing to host their products.

Also read: No more fraud calls, thanks to TRAIs AI-based spam call filter: How it will work

Apps that support ONDC

Currently, ONDC has been integrated with several apps namely;

Paytm

Meesho

Magicpin

Mystore

Craftsvilla

Pincode

Spicesmart Shop.



How to use ONDC?
If youre thinking of replacing your old TV with a brand new one, we have some very good news for you. After their recent Great Summer Sale, Amazon India is back with yet another sale  the Prime TV Days sale.

Yes, you guessed it right, this Amazon sale is going to have some bumper TV deals, across budget and premium segments of televisions for your living room or bedroom.

When is the Amazon Prime TV Days sale starting?

The online TV sale has already been announced and is set to start on May 18, 2023 on Amazon.in. The products that can be purchased at a discounted price in the sale arent just limited to televisions, as you can get projectors for a reduced price.

Customers can take advantage of discounts of up to 50 per cent on televisions and up to 60 per cent on projectors from renowned brands like Samsung, LG, Xiaomi, BenQ, and more during the sale. Apart from the base discount you can also avail bank offers to further increase the discounted price on the products.

Bank discount details on Amazon Prime TV Days sale

Customers can avail a 7.5 per cent instant discount up to 2,000 as part of the Prime TV Days offer when using a Yes Bank or HSBC credit card or a credit card EMI transaction. Amazon also provides enticing EMI alternatives at no cost and exchange discounts.



Heres a consolidated list of products that are on discount in the Prime TV Days sale, check out your best option from below.

Check out top TV deals on Amazon.in below:

Samsung 138 cm (55 inches) The Frame Series 4K Smart QLED TV for INR 86,990 + Rs. 3000 off with coupons

Sony Bravia 126 cm (50 inches) 4K Ultra HD Smart LED Google TV for INR 70,190 + Rs. 1000 off with coupons

Mi 138.8 cm (55 inches) 4K Ultra HD Smart Android OLED Vision TV for INR 99,999

LG 139 cms (55 inches) Objet Collection LX1 Pose Series 4K Ultra HD Smart OLEDevo TV for INR 1,49,900

Mi 189.34cm (75 inches) Q1 Series 4K Ultra HD Smart QLED TV for INR 1,44,990

Hisense 139 cm (55 inches) Tornado 2.0 Series 4K Ultra HD Smart LED Google TV for INR 43,999

TOSHIBA 164 cm (65 inches) 4K Ultra HD Smart QLED Google TV for INR 69,999

Acer 178 cm (70 inches) XL Series 4K Ultra HD Android Smart LED TV for INR 59,999

Sony Bravia 108 cm (43 inches) 4K Ultra HD Smart LED Google TV for 61,990 + Rs. 1000 off with coupons

Samsung 138 cm (55 inches) Crystal iSmart 4K Ultra HD Smart LED TV for INR 47,990

Redmi 80 cm (32 inches) HD Ready Smart LED Fire TV for INR 12,999

VU 108 cm (43 inches) The GloLED 84 Watt DJ Sound Series 4K Smart Google TV for INR 27,999

OnePlus 108 cm (43 inches) Y Series 4K Ultra HD Smart Android LED TV for INR 29,999

LG 108 cm (43 inches) 4K Ultra HD Smart LED TV for INR 30,490 + Rs. 500 off with coupons

Coocaa 80 cm (32 inches) Frameless Series HD Ready Smart IPS LED TV for INR 8,499

Coocaa 164 cm (65 inches) Frameless Series 4K Ultra HD Smart IPS Google LED TV for INR 49,999

Top Amazon.in deals on projectors

BenQ GV11 LED Portable Smart Projector for INR 36,478

Samsung The Freestyle 100 Smart and Compact Portable LED Projector for INR 59,990

EGate i9 Pro-Max 1080p Native Full HD Projector for INR 9,990

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The global top-5 notebook brands, not including Apple, saw their combined shipments slip around 30% from a month ago in April because of a high comparison base in March hiked by the brands' robust short-term orders.

Abstract

The global top-5 notebook brands, not including Apple, saw their combined shipments slip around 30% from a month ago in April because of a high comparison base in March hiked by the brands' robust short-term orders.

A lack of confidence in end demand and the fact that the retail channel still had a high inventory level at the time also dampened the brands' order pull-ins in April.

Lenovo retook the largest-brand-worldwide title in April as the original leader Hewlett-Packard (HP) was unable to keep up its order momentum from Chromebooks and inexpensive consumer models, the growth drivers of the US-based brand in March.

Table of contents
Japan's Rapidus shares views on TSMC competition and 2nm progress

Rapidus, Japan's newly created semiconductor champion that seeks to reach 2nm production by 2027, indicated that it has completed the preparatory work of its first EUV lithography machine. The EUV equipment will be in place before Rapidus' trial production begins in 2025. Meanwhile, preparatory work to obtain another EUV machine is already underway.

Talking to Nikkei, Rapidus president Atsuyoshi Koike claimed that Rapidus has introduced AI and automation to the production process.

According to the Rapidus leader, about 1000 engineers are required to bring the most cutting-edge process into volume production. With the aid of automation, however, Koike claims that only approximately 500 engineers are needed by Rapidus. Koike expects 2nm volume production to begin on time in 2027, with revenues reaching JPY1 trillion in 2030s.

Regarding competition with TSMC, the Rapidus president believes that Rapidus will focus on AI and super-computing chips, while TSMC covers a wide range of sectors. Consequently, he believes the competition wouldn't be very fierce.

Rapidus was formed in August, backed by leading Japanese technology and financial firms such as Softbank, Toyota Motor, Denso, Sony, NTT, NEC, Kioxia and Mitsubishi UFJ Bank. In December, Rapidus also formed partnerships with IBM and Belgium-baded IMEC to jointly develop 2nm.

Koike previously indicated that Rapidus wouldn't seek to catch up with TSMC and Samsung in terms of production scale, and would instead explore a different business model focusing on speedy production.

In the interview with Nikkei, Koike doesn't rule out taking Rapidus public to raise more funds, but also indicates the possibility of getting more corporate investors on broad, including those from Europe. According to an earlier report from Kyodo News, the Rapidus president estimated R&D expenditures to reach JPY2 trillion, making medium and long-term governmental assistance crucial. He therefore expects an annual subsidy of JPY300 billion. Apart from R&D spending, however, JPY3 trillion is also needed to support factory operation and volume production - making IPO an attractive venue for further fundraising.

Back in April, the Japanese government announced that it will subsidize JPY260 billion for the 2nm capacity that Rapidus plans to build in Chitose, Hokkaido. The site will also host Rapidus' future 1nm manufacturing process. Koike previously indicated optimism for bringing 2nm and 1.4nm into volume production, but deems 1nm a major challenge.
BYD acquires another plot in Guangdong to establish automobile industrial park

China-based BYD took a step forward to build an automobile industrial park in Guangdong. The Shenzhen government announced on May 15 that the EV maker obtained an over-520,000-square-meter plot with CNY376 million (US$5.4 million), the fifth it has gotten in recent years.

According to Shenzhen Special Zone Daily, the plot in the Shenzhen-Shanwei Special Cooperation Zone has been designated for the new energy industry. BYD will receive a 30-year use term to build its industrial park. It plans to invest CNY25 billion in the first and second phases of the project.

The first two phases of the project are expected to create an output value of more than CNY110 billion every year when reaching full production. Shenzhen Special Zone Daily reported that BYD has acquired five plots in the special zone since October 2021, accumulating over 4.1 million square meters of land for the automobile industrial park.

According to CnEVPost, the Shenzhen-Shanwei Special Cooperation Zone is located in the Shanwei City but is governed by the Shenzhen government. The special zone has been developed with a focus on the new energy vehicle industry. It also aims to foster the development of energy storage systems, next-generation materials and intelligent manufacturing robots.

Wang Chuanfu, BYD's chairman and CEO, has said the EV company targets to become the largest automotive company by sales in China this year. It has been expanding its production and R&D capabilities.

Shenzhen Evening News reported last week that BYD recently acquired a plot in the east part of Shenzhen, planning to establish a global R&D center and advanced production base with its battery subsidiary, FinDreams Industry.

The report said the companies will finish construction and commission the facilities within five years.
GF, Samsung, and TSMC join Imec's Sustainable Semiconductor Technologies & Systems program

Imec, the Belgium-based semiconductor research hub, announced on May 16 that GlobalFoundries, Samsung Electronics, and TSMC have joined its Sustainable Semiconductor Technologies & Systems (SSTS) research program. Launched in 2021, the SSTS program rallies stakeholders from across the semiconductor industry  including systems companies, equipment suppliers, and now also three of the world's leading semiconductor foundries  to help reduce the ecological impact of the IC value chain.

In response to mounting concerns about climate change, tech companies around the world are accelerating the efforts to complete carbon neutrality for their supply chains and products. The semiconductor industry recognizes its pivotal role in this endeavor. Studies have found, for instance, that almost 75% of mobile devices' CO2 emissions can be traced back to the underlying manufacturing process  with chip production being responsible for nearly half of that footprint. Against this backdrop, the SSTS program provides detailed information on the environmental impact of choices made during semiconductor technology's definition phase.

According to Luc Van den hove, CEO of imec: SSTS' success hinges on the active involvement of players from across the IC value chain. "I am delighted to announce that GlobalFoundries, Samsung Electronics, and TSMC, have now entered the program," said Van den hove. "Following the earlier enrollment of renowned systems companies such as Google, Amazon, Apple, Meta and Microsoft, our new core program partner Rapidus, and equipment suppliers including Applied Materials, ASML, Edwards, Kurita, SCREEN and Tokyo Electron, we have reached an important milestone in effectively bringing together the entire semiconductor ecosystem."

"By benchmarking our models at GlobalFoundries, Samsung Electronics, and TSMC, we will be able to further refine and optimize the imec.netzero tool, the web application that is at SSTS's very heart and that allows us to assess energy consumption, water/mineral usage, and greenhouse gas emissions associated with the various aspects of chip making. In the longer term, the partner program will also develop recommendations on how to improve the ecological footprint of chips by suggesting novel processes and technology optimizations," added Lars-Ake Ragnarsson, the program director of SSTS.

"As part of GF's longstanding commitment to environmentally responsible manufacturing and operations, we are constantly looking for new ways to minimize our impact on the environment. This includes enhancing manufacturing emission controls, further improving energy efficiency, sourcing renewable and lower-carbon energy, and engaging through key partnerships including imec's SSTS program," said Stacey Barrick, head of global ESG at GF. "As the first semiconductor manufacturer to join the SSTS, we look forward to partnering with imec and others in the semiconductor ecosystem and helping develop innovative technologies that drive change across the entire supply chain in a holistic, meaningful way."

"Our commitment to imec's SSTS program stems from Samsung Electronic's firm belief that we should not solely focus on meeting the mere technical requirements of the semiconductor industry. Being one of the world's top foundries and memory supplier, we want to lead the way in developing innovative technologies that ensure the preservation of our planet for generations to come. Teaming up with imec and the other SSTS partners allows us to translate this commitment into tangible actions," said Dooguen Song, Executive Vice President of the Environment, Health and Safety (EHS) Center at Samsung Electronics.
Young people in Fiji have been offered a helping hand by Psychology student Julia Serafinska, who has designed a mental health and suicide prevention workshop programme to assist them.



Julia with her internship certificate

The programme was devised by Julia, a second-year student at De Montfort University Leicester (DMU), as part of a remote internship she recently completed.

Sponsored by DMU Global - the universitys award-winning international experience programme - the three-month project was aimed at helping young people with mental health issues in Fiji.

This was an amazing online internship in global psychology with a charitable organisation called Think Pacific, Julia, aged 21, said. It aims to support Fijian society through cooperation with government and local non-profit organisations.

I was given a chance to choose a topic to research and it seemed like a great challenge that I felt might make a difference in that country.

Julia, who came to DMU two years ago from Poland, added: When I started researching, I was quite surprised at the big difference between services and support available for young people with these problems in Fiji, compared with other countries in Europe and the UK.

There just isnt the recognition or funding for mental health there and it can be regarded as a stigma in Fijian society. They dont see it as a problem and are reluctant to talk about it.

An alarming fact is that suicide rates in Fiji rose by 50 per cent in 2022 and have been increasing there since the Covid-19 pandemic.

Additionally, the World Health Organisation indicates that Fiji has only one psychiatric facility, five psychiatrists and no psychologists. I am hoping that by tackling a project like this, it might help to break down some barriers in public perception in that country.



Julia fitted in the internship between November 2022 and January this year, working alongside her DMU degree coursework.



She was also lucky enough to land a research assistant internship through DMUs Frontrunner scheme from October 2022 until March 2023, during which she researched the psychology of language alongside her DMU supervisor, cognitive psychology specialist Dr Marie Bisson.



We were testing the effectiveness of learning new languages using the interaction of sounds, words and images together, Julia said. It was a fascinating experience examining languages, specifically Welsh and Polish, and that internship gave me a lot of practical skills which I can use in my dissertation.

As well as having two internships behind her, Julia has more opportunities in store before finishing her degree in September 2025. She is due to start a student exchange year in Bilbao this September, after enjoying visiting the Spanish city with DMU Global last year.



In between her busy life, Julia is also a student ambassador for DMU. I get to meet lots of students and be involved in a number of activities, she said. Coming to study at DMU from Poland has given me lots of opportunities. I have really enjoyed it here - it was definitely the best thing I did.
Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth Roderic OGorman has said he has Cabinet support to meet the accommodation demands of international protection applicants, but added that the Government collectively needs to do more.

Speaking to reporters in Dublin, Mr OGorman said his department hopes to make an additional 350 beds available for international protection applicants within the week across a number of centres around the country.

He said: This will allow us to offer accommodation to a significant number of international protection applicants, including some who are currently rough sleeping.

However, were still under significant pressure and we as a department will still need to continue to procure additional accommodation in the weeks ahead.

It comes after a protest was held outside the Magowna House hotel in Co Clare in response to more than 30 asylum seekers arriving by bus on Monday.

Mr OGorman said he and his Green Party colleague Minister of State Joe OBrien had a good conversation with TDs and senators from Co Clare on Wednesday to discuss the concerns around the use of the site in Inch.

Mr OGorman said: We went through a number of the local concerns that the TDs and senators raised, particularly in terms of transport for international protection applicants.

We set out there would be a shuttle bus and addressed a number of issues.

We said we were open to engagements and indeed meeting with a delegation of locals from the Inch community and thats something wed look to advance.

However, he said he made clear that the accommodation had to be used in light of the pressure the system is currently under.

Mr OGorman said the blockade outside the Co Clare centre is entirely unacceptable.

People have the right to protest, people have the right to disagree with Government policy, but to prevent people accessing the accommodation that they have is not acceptable.

He would not be drawn on whether he would travel to Co Clare but said he was open to an online discussion or a meeting of a delegation to address local concerns.

Approximately 480 asylum seekers have been left without accommodation due to a severe lack of housing supply in Ireland, resulting in some people sleeping in tents.

Mr OGorman said accommodation needed to be provided as there was a risk inherent where people are sleeping under tents.

Asked about reports that he had not used accommodation offered by Cabinet colleagues, Mr OGorman said: Our department has accepted any offer of usable accommodation that weve received.

We are using former barracks, were using refurbished office buildings, using former educational facilities, well be using student accommodation, anything usable were using because we dont want to see people on streets.

He said his department had been provided with very significant financial resources but there were still hundreds of people without accommodation.

Mr OGorman said: As long as thats the case, you know, Government collectively needs to do more to address that.

The minister said the weekly number of international protection applications has decreased quite significantly since February.

Mr OGorman said: Youre looking at around 170-180 per week now currently, which is still significant but significantly reduced to this time last year.

Asked by reporters if the Government could get ahead of the numbers, he said the department would have other accommodation after the 350 beds announced this week.

Mr OGorman added: I think the real reason that we, I suppose, fell behind the curve, as you described it, was because at the end of March a significant number of hotels ended contracts with the department as they indicated.

And a lot of new accommodation we procured had to be used to accommodate people already in the system.

So we brought on 5,000 international protection beds since January, but about 2,500 of those had to be used to re-accommodate people.

He said he believed significant strides would be made in coming weeks.

Mr OGorman said a further 5,000 beds had been provided for Ukrainian refugees since January.

He said: So since January, 10,000 additional beds have been delivered by our department and thats through our own procurement, and through engaging with other Government departments as well.

Earlier, Tanaiste Micheal Martin said that finding accommodation for asylum seekers and refugees is a collective endeavour by the Government.

When asked whether Mr OGorman has the support he needs, Mr Martin said yes.
There is no case against one of the men accused of participation in the credit union robbery that resulted in the death of Det Gda Adrian Donohoe, a barrister has argued before the Special Criminal Court.

Sean Guerin SC delivered his closing speech to the three-judge, non-jury court today (WED) on behalf of Brendan Treanor, saying that there is no evidence his client left his home on the evening of the robbery and that the prosecution relied on speculation and theories that "make no sense".

There is, he said, a more convincing case to be made against at least two others who are not before the courts and he accused the prosecution of "desperation" in how it had put forward its evidence.

Counsel for the second accused, James Flynn, will deliver his closing speech today/tomorrow (THU).

Brendan Treanor (34), previously of Emer Terrace, Castletown Road, Dundalk, Co Louth, and James Flynn (32) from South Armagh are charged with the robbery of 7,000 at Lordship Credit Union in Bellurgan, Co Louth, on January 25, 2013.

Both men are also charged that between September 11, 2012, and 23 January 2013, they conspired with convicted Garda-killer Aaron Brady and others to enter residential premises with the intention of stealing car keys.

The prosecution alleges that Mr Treanor and Mr Flynn were part of a group of young men who conspired to break into houses to steal car keys and then quietly make off with the cars.

Both accused have pleaded not (NOT) guilty to each charge.

Aaron Brady (31) previously of New Road, Crossmaglen, Co Armagh, is serving a life sentence with a 40-year minimum having been found guilty of murdering Det Gda Adrian Donohoe and of the robbery at Lordship. He denied any involvement in the robbery and is awaiting an appeal against his conviction.

Mr Guerin told the court that when assessing a circumstantial case it doesn't matter if there are ten, one hundred or one thousand pieces of evidence, one piece that contradicts the narrative is "more powerful than all of that".

He warned of the dangers of speculation where there is an absence of direct evidence.

Counsel said the prosecution had asserted without evidence that "spotter cars" were used in the robbery.

He said they had also ignored the direct evidence of one witness who said that the driver of the getaway car, a stolen Volkswagen Passat, was a woman.

Mr Guerin said it is the State's case that his client was with Mr Flynn and Aaron Brady on the day of the robbery but they dropped Mr Treanor home at Slieve View in South Armagh that evening.

Counsel said that the prosecution is alleging that Mr Treanor made his way from there to Lordship at about 8.45pm, 45 minutes ahead of the robbery, but there is no evidence that he even left his house.

"How does he get there?" he asked, in circumstances where Mr Treanor did not have a car.

Mr Guerin said it "makes no sense" that Brady and Mr Flynn would have dropped Mr Treanor at Slieve View if he was to take part in the robbery at Lordship a couple of hours later.

If Mr Treanor had traveled from Slieve View to Lordship 45 minutes ahead of the robbery, Mr Guerin said he would have been "sitting in a muddy field getting soaking wet".

On the prosecution case, Mr Treanor was one of four people who jumped over the wall of the credit union as a convoy of cars carrying cash and gardai was blocked into the car park by the stolen Volkswagen Passat.

Within 15 minutes Mr Treanor was back at home when his then girlfriend said she saw him for the first time that evening.

It takes 15 minutes to get from Lordship to Mr Treanor's address, counsel said, and in that time he would also have to dispose of his muddy, wet clothing and tidy himself up.

His girlfriend "didn't say she saw any of those things," Mr Guerin said, so the court must conclude he wasn't wearing wet or muddy clothes, his hair was not wet and he did not try to get rid of the clothes he had been wearing.

Counsel said the prosecution had "ignored the reality of life" in trying to make precise calculations about timings.

Mr Guerin also pointed out that one witness had seen a dark-coloured Volkswagen Passat about five minutes after the robbery driving at speed the wrong way around a roundabout near the scene of the robbery and onto the M1 heading south towards Dublin, in the opposite direction of Mr Treanor's home.

Mr Guerin asked if this could be a coincidence or was it the same Passat used to block the car park by the robbers. Counsel said the likelihood is that the getaway driver, having initially headed north on the Ballymascanlon Road, as seen by other witnesses, changed their mind and went south, away from Slieve View.

"The closer you examine the evidence, the further away from Mr Treanor you get," he said.

Counsel said that there is an alternative view of a tattoo on Mr Treanor's back that the prosecution alleged was a "glorification" of Mr Treanor's role in the Lordship robbery.

The tattoo contains four gangsters, one holding a long-arm firearm and a woman wearing a balaclava and holding a handgun. It also depicts rolls of money and a BMW with the number plates "Boss BFT".

In 2013 Mr Treanor was accused online and in the national media of being one of the Lordship robbers and the prosecution said in those circumstances it was extraordinary that in 2018 he chose to get a tattoo with those features.

Mr Guerin said the prosecution had alleged that the accusation would be to the front of Mr Treanor's mind and would prevent him getting a tattoo with "any representation of criminality in any form".

Mr Guerin said you could also consider that five years after "being demonized" in the media and online he was "entitled to forget about it and move on".

Mr Guerin said it is well established that his client was friendly with Mr Flynn and Mr Brady but that is not evidence of guilt. He said he was dropped off at his home on the night of the robbery by Brady and Mr Flynn "in circumstances which make no sense in terms of a conspiracy" and there was no evidence he left his home again that night.

Even if he did, it is not reasonable, counsel said, that Mr Treanor could have been dropped back home in time for his girlfriend to see him within 15 minutes of the robbery "in the manner in which she did".

He said there are others who were in contact with Aaron Brady on the day against whom there is "a more convincing case to be made" that they were involved in the robbery.

Mr Guerin suggested the prosecution had introduced speculation about spotter cars because the defence had established the likelihood that these two other people were involved so the prosecution had to increase the number of roles in the robbery to leave room for Mr Treanor as one of the four raiders in the car park.

Mr Guerin said the speculation about spotter cars was a sign of "desperation" on the part of the prosecution.

There is, counsel said, "no case against Mr Treanor and no jury properly directed could convict". He asked the court to acquit Mr Treanor of the robbery charge.

In relation to conspiracy to commit burglaries, Mr Guerin said there is no evidence of any agreement or "overarching conspiracy" and no evidence that Mr Treanor committed any of the burglaries.

Mr Guerin will continue his closing speech tomorrow (WED) before Bernard Condon SC begins his closing speech on behalf of James Flynn. Mr Justice Tony Hunt is presiding.
To mark their 30th year of business, Dundalk based company Intact Software has donated 30,000 to various charities.

The company, which is headquartered in Dundalks Blackthorn Business Park, made a number of donations to local-based charities and fundraisers, including SOSAD Dundalk, The Birches Alzheimer Day Centre, Gary Kelly Cancer Care Support Centre, Rally for Ruby, Lets Do it for Dickie, Save Our Sonia and more. Funds were also made to national organisations, including Make-A-Wish and UK-based charities such as NSPCC and Mind.

A mixture of fundraising efforts by staff and company donations made up the final 30,000 sum.

As well as a sponsored running event in October 2022, where staffers raised money for running or walking 100km, one staff member even decided to row 100km in his boat rather than run the distance.

Employees also held jersey auctions, sold crafts and printed items online, raffled off prizes, grew moustaches for charity, and much more in the last number of months.

Staff selected charities that focused on mental health issues, cancer, childrens health and Parkinsons/Alzheimers treatment as donation recipients, as well as other local fundraisers that were set up in recent months.

CEO Justin Lawless said:

Across all charities and fundraising groups, we thought that whatever we could donate would go a long way to providing help and care for someone.

In the past three decades, we, along with our families and friends, have relied on the great help some of these organisations provide, he added.

As such, we wanted to mark the companys 30th anniversary by giving back to our communities.

Established in 1992, Intact is one of Ireland and the UKs leading developers of ERP and business management software.

It was named as a Great Place to Work in Ireland and the UK in 2022. Intact also has offices in Cork, Hemel Hempstead, Nottingham, Southampton and Warrington.
Adopt energy conservation as a way of life to reduce your need for electricity, especially during the dry season , The Department of Energy (DOE) and the Manila Electric Company (Meralco) suggested to the public.

Together with the DOE, Meralco is empowering consumers to regularly practice energy conservation to better manage their electricity use, which typically increases mostly due to the increased use of appliances for cooling.

Patrick T. Aquino, director of DOEs Energy Utilization Management Bureau, stated during a Meralco-hosted webinar that energy efficiency is the best energy-saving device and that consumers have the ability to limit their consumption.

Energy efficiency is our first fuel. It is our first line of defense, he said as he highlighted the importance of changing consumer behaviors and investing in energy-efficient technologies.

Aquino added that demand-side management can also contribute in ensuring sufficient and continuous supply for other electricity consumers.

When we are able to effectively manage our demand, we are able to reduce our requirements for generation, he said.

The call to continuously observe energy efficiency practices came just as the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) issued an El Nino alert, noting that theres an 80% probability that this will start as early as June and persist until the first quarter of 2024.

To help businesses become more energy efficient, Meralco, through its business unit MServ, offers energy audit services and solutions such as data visualization, and energy efficiency reports for the seamless adoption of the practice.

At any given level, we can support our customers, whether it is a small consulting job or a complete rehabilitation of their cooling system, we are flexible that way. They can reach out to us, and we can offer support to their energy efficiency journey, MServ Vice President for Commercial Services Group Cecile Marvilla said in the same webinar, which was conducted in support of Republic Act No. 11285 or the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Act.

Both Meralco and the DOE assured the public of their continuous efforts to ensure reliable electricity service and sufficient power supply throughout the dry season. They are also urging more companies to join the governments Interruptible Load Program (ILP) to spare households from power interruptions during instances of Red Alert or when supply is insufficient to meet the demand.

The power distributor recently secured the commitment for 56 megawatts (MW) of additional de-loading capacity, and once enrolled, this will expand the distribution utilitys ILP capacity to 616 MW from 560 MW currently. As of today, there are 117 companies enrolled in the ILP within the Meralco franchise area.

The DOE, for its part, has discouraged generation plants from scheduling outages and testing units during the dry season. Meralco is one with the government in pushing for energy efficiency and conservation not just during the critical dry season but as a way of living that Filipino consumers can embrace, Meralco Spokesperson and Vice

President for Corporate Communications Joe Zaldarriaga said.
The EBRD is extending a US$ 20 million loan to Khan Bank of Mongolia

Funds to support women-led businesses

Up to US$ 5 million will be used to support digitalisation

Women-led businesses in Mongolia will benefit from new funds made available by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) through the countrys largest commercial lender, Khan Bank.

The EBRDs loan of up to US$ 20 million to Khan Bank, its client since 2007, will help promote womens entrepreneurship and business activity by assisting with access to finance and technical advice. It is expected that up to US$ 5 million of the total amount will be earmarked to support digitalisation of these businesses, as envisaged by the Banks Central Asian Women in Business Programme.

As part of the project, Khan Bank will be able to develop the financial products and lending practices that these women-led micro, small and medium-sized enterprises need, including for their digitalisation. This activity is supported through grant funds provided under the Women Entrepreneurs Financing Initiative (We-Fi).

Khan Bank, offering financial services to over 80 per cent of Mongolias population through a network of 545 branches, is well placed to channel much-needed funds to women-led companies, even in rural parts of Mongolia.

To date, the EBRD has invested almost US$ 2.2 billion in Mongolias economy through 132 projects.
EBRD is extending a US$ 19.3 million loan to ACWA Power Wind Karatau FE LLC to finance construction and operation of a 100 MW wind power plant in Karakalpakstan

Project is the outcome of the first phase of EBRD's programme to support authorities on developing 2,000 MW of wind capacity

Renewables capacity financed by EBRD in Uzbekistan increases to 2,700 MW

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is supporting the development of Uzbekistans renewable energy capacity by extending a US$ 19.3 million loan to ACWA Power Wind Karatau FE LLC to finance the construction of a 100MW wind power plant (WPP) in the republic of Karakalpakstan in western Uzbekistan. The project will also be co-financed by the German Development Finance Institution Deutsche Investitions und Entwicklungsgesellschaft (DEG, part of KfW Group) and by the French Development Finance institution Societe de Promotion et de Participation pour la Cooperation Economique (Proparco, part of the Agence Francaise de Developpement Group).

Uzbekistans power sector is a key enabler of the countrys economic growth, but it suffers from ageing infrastructure, which results in inefficient capacity, supply imbalances and occasional blackouts. The authorities have committed to ambitious renewable energy targets as part of the countrys carbon neutrality goals under the Paris Agreement, to attain energy security, and to achieve sustainable economic growth.

We are proud to support ACWA Power, our long-standing client, and this 100 MW wind farm in the Republic of Karakalpakstan, Uzbekistan. The region of the Aral Sea is rejuvenating its economy capitalising on its wind and solar resources. This is the first project under the EBRD's auction advisory programme to help deliver 2GW of wind power through competitive bidding processes. It sets a record low price for wind energy and will deliver more than 178,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions savings annually said Nandita Parshad, Managing Director of EBRD's Sustainable Infrastructure Group.

The EBRD has so far financed 2,700 MW of renewables capacity in Uzbekistan. It has partnered with the authorities on a programme to deliver 2,000 MW of wind power through competitive bidding processes. The Karatau WPP project is the first project under this programme. Moreover, it is the first renewable energy project to be developed under the countrys Public Private Partnership Law. The project will also support womens participation in the countrys renewable energy sector. The sponsor, ACWA Power, will increase access to market-relevant skills and employment opportunities for young women in the country by working in partnership with local technical institutes to introduce a new gender-responsive certified internship programme that will expand the local talent pool.

ACWA Power Wind Karatau FE LLC is a limited liability company incorporated in Uzbekistan and owned by ACWA Power Company, a Saudi Listed Joint Stock Company, an existing client of the EBRD.

The EBRD is a leading institutional investor in Uzbekistan, with more than 4 billion invested in 135 projects.
IN this new weekly feature series, I get to spend time with some of the people who are giving their time and energy to helping others through their volunteering work across Cork.

First up is the Cork Migrant Centre, which is based in Nano Nagle Place on Evergreen Street in Cork city. It was established by the Presentation Sisters in 2006 and today is run through the Community Hub, which aims to provide free, confidential and current information regarding access to services and immigration issues.

A huge part of the work of Cork Migrant Centre is to advocate on behalf of migrant children, families and communities. This is a vital aspect of support that any group of people who are arriving in a new country desperately need.

To give some context, imagine you moved yourself or your family to a completely new country, perhaps where a different language was spoken in order to pursue a better life. You would need and accept all the support you could get to help you and your family settle into this new life in this new place.

The Cork Migrant Centre provides this exact type of support. They help to empower people who are looking to provide a better life for their family and themselves.

I spoke with Deborah Oniah, who lives in Mallow, and who volunteers at Cork Migrant centre. She is a wonderful example of someone who has experienced being a migrant herself initially and now, having found a life, a community and a home here in Cork, has turned to be the volunteer, supporting and guiding new migrants through the difficult first months of arriving in a new country.

Deborah migrated from Nigeria where she holds a Law Degree and has continued her education by attending UCC and studying for a Post Graduate diploma in Trauma Studies.

She is empowering herself to be able to help others and being an incredible example, not just for other migrants but for anyone who is willing to work hard and volunteer, and for showing how education has helped her build a new life for herself and her family in Cork.

Deborah Oniah.

How did you become a volunteer?

I arrived in Ireland in 2017 with my three boys and my little girl was born here, I am a mother of four. It was not easy at the beginning but I got support from the community, and I am happy to now call Cork home.

In 2018, I started my volunteering journey as a participant at the womens coffee morning, I was living at the Direct Provision in Cork city at the time, I saw the support and safe space the group was for me and I decided to tell more women.

There was a lot of empowerment training, mental health discussion, womens sexuality discussion, parenting workshops, and more.

I now volunteer as a family support worker, a trainer, and also as the secretary for Saoirse EHD, a social enterprise that came out from the women group.

For me, I understand first how isolation can re-traumatise someone, and how getting support and integrating can support someone to move forward from that.

Mental health is important to me, education is important to me, and the Cork Migrant centre provides that.

Im really happy to be doing what I do and to see how families transition while processing their loss to recovery.

A day in the life of a volunteer

I do different tasks and jobs while volunteering. I facilitate parenting conversation workshops and a culturally relevant parenting program (CRPP) for Migrant Parents.

I engage with other migrant interest groups towards enhancing the capacities of migrant parents, and I help with one on one support if needed.

I provide safe space for individuals and families and link them to services that they need to support their welfare, and additional support that they might need.

Deborah Oniah.

What impact does Cork Migrant Centre have on its users?

For me, Im always amazed to see how a family can transform and make progress while coming to the coffee morning, getting English classes, improving their mental health, developing leadership skills, becoming self-aware, and often taking the role of supporting other migrants.

In many cases, people will go back to education and make positive progress in their new country and that sense of belonging is just amazing to see and experience.

The journey of a migrant

On arrival to Ireland, one is first at a reception centre before being sent to Direct Provision. I was moved to Cork, it was a very difficult time. I could not put it in words but I am grateful for my GP, at the Grand Parade, who referred me to counselling, that really helped.

Roos Demol volunteers every week visiting the residents and informing us of events happening in the community, she is an amazing soul, she first took me to the Cork Migrant Centre and I never looked back, everything I have now done in Ireland started from there.

Interacting with people at Cork Migrant Centre

Its mostly face-to-face, one on one, or in groups, listening is a key part of the work, and being aware of relevant services.

Dr Naomi and Sister Jo from the Nano Nagle Place are the key people within the network and recourse, from listening and knowing need, then analysing the situation and providing the support needed.

Deborah Oniah with her family.

What is the biggest challenge in your volunteer work?

Language barriers are the biggest challenge and overcoming these barriers is key, because we all have different languages, but as a group other ladies from same countries can often help with translation.

When youre not volunteering, working or raising your family  how do you unwind?

I now love running, I run with the Sanctuary Runners, I write, and I like joining writing groups, I also love learning and networking.





Deborah Oniah is a member of the Sanctuary Runners.

On weekends, I go to the Parkrun in the morning and spend time with my children, aged 15, 13, 11 and five. I love that. I dont know if its just me but I love my Sunday sleep, some Sundays that will be my treat.

Any shout-outs...

Shout out to Dr Naomi, Sister Jo at the Cork Migrant Centre, Aontas, Joanne from Good Day Cork, Roos Demol, Graham and Catherine Glifford, Danielle and John McLaughlin, Arife, Joe, Sally and Surki - these people have now become family to me.

Ambitions for the future?

I have a Law degree from my home country, and completed my PGDip in Trauma Studies from UCC, and I have just completed Global Youth Work and Development from Maynooth University. My goal is to go back to Law, there is a huge gap for migrants, I will love to be part of filling that gap and meeting the needs for migrants in the area of Law.

Next week: Timothy talks to volunteers at The Kabin Studio.
FOUR Cork art, design, and craft organisations are teaming up to celebrate and support local creativity at the former Beamish & Crawford Counting House site.

The STAMP Festival of Creativity returns to Cork City from May 19 to 21.

In its second year, the festival will showcase the Counting House, to which the public will have access for the first time since the completion in 2021 of the 30m regeneration project.

STAMP Festival offers a glimpse inside this unique building to enjoy event highlights such as a market in the Counting House plaza, craft and design demos, artist-led workshops and a group exhibition showcasing the works of local artists, designers and craftspeople, all taking place inside the former brewery restored by BAM.

The mixed-use 150,000 sq ft development  which includes 70,000 sq ft of state-of-the-art office space, as well as room for retail, exhibitions, and a riverside restaurant  has remained unoccupied since contractors BAM completed its restoration and expansion.

Cork groups Benchspace, Cork Craft & Design, Sample-Studios, and Shandon Art Studios have come together to offer Corkonians and visitors alike a jam-packed weekend programme of over 50 art, design and craft events, exhibitions, workshops, demonstrations, screenings, and markets.

Alasdair Henderson, executive director, BAM Ireland, said: This cultural festival celebrates the talented artists and craftspeople in such a fitting setting, a rejuvenated landmark building in a historic location which preserves a piece of Corks heritage and artistry for generations.

Last year, STAMP was run across 11 different venues. Sample-Studios artistic director, Aoibhie McCarthy, has welcomed the possibility of showcasing the festivals creative events all in one venue.

We wanted to find a way of coming together this year to showcase our work in one creative hub through workshops, demonstrations, exhibitions and a market. The Counting House is a really unique venue that allows us to do that, Ms McCarthy said.

Visitors are invited to try hands-on workshops, including screen printing, basket weaving, pottery wheel throwing, and frame making.

Demonstrations will also be open to the public to view jewellery making, woodturning, and oil painting in a series of live demos.

STAMP has been made possible by the support of Cork City Council, BAM, the Arts Council of Ireland and the Creative Ireland programme administered by the Cork City Arts Office.
A new group campaigning for the reopening of Ballincollig Fire Station is planning a public demonstration for 2pm on Saturday, 20 May, at Ballincolligs Castlewest Plaza.

The demonstration, which will be the second in just over a week, has been organised by the Ballincollig Fire Station Campaign Group to highlight that Ballincollig Fire Station has been closed since November 2021 while efforts to recruit retained firefighters have proven unsuccessful.

On Friday evening, some 200 people gathered outside Ballincollig Fire Station to show their support for striking Cork city firefighters.

That demonstration had been organised to demand the immediate reinstatement of a fulltime fire service for Ballincollig, and representatives from across the political spectrum attended.

Three weeks ago, SIPTU members employed as firefighters in Cork City commenced limited industrial action in a bid to see the station reopened, with members claiming that a lack of resources is endangering members and public safety.

At a council meeting last week, a Sinn Fein motion calling for the reopening of Ballincollig Fire Station without delay, using full-time firefighters, while maintaining current crewing was passed unanimously.

At last weeks meeting of Cork City Council, a Sinn Fein motion calling for the immediate reopening of Ballincollig Fire Station was passed unanimously.

The council has requested that the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) become involved, but a spokesperson for SIPTU told The Echo that the union would require sight of the proposal  before we engage with the WRC.

At Friday evenings demonstration, one of the organisers, Mags McKenna, who runs the hugely popular Ballincollig Community Hub page on Facebook, predicted that meeting would not be the last.

We got a good enough turnout for the first one, lads, the first of many in my eyes, because I dont feel this ends here, this is just one, this is the start, this is our community saying No, something needs to change, Ms McKenna said.

Local Sinn Fein councillor, Eolan Ryng, who attended Fridays demonstration alongside several councillors, party activists and Donnchadh O Laoghaire TD, said it was fantastic to see people mobilising.

I think the bottom line is that between the executive and the Government, they have to be honest with people, the recruitment for a retained fire service has failed at this point and if Ballincollig Fire Station is to reopen it needs a fulltime option, Cllr Ryng said.

Former Lord Mayor and local councillor, Colm Kelleher, was part of a Fianna Fail delegation which included several councillors and party members.

This dispute now in my opinion has gone on for far too long, were 13 months down a rabbit hole and were none the wiser, Cllr Kelleher said.

Cork fire fighters at the protest at the closure of Ballincollig fire station. Picture: Eddie O'Hare

We had a grand fire station pre the boundary extension and here we are almost four years on and we have no fire service. Cllr Kelleher said he was appealing to all sides to get involved with the WRC and to make concessions as he firmly believed a solution was possible.

It does however have to be acknowledged that the retained recruitment drive over the last two years has failed and failed abysmally, he said.

Cllr Lorna Bogue of An Rabharta Glas said that in an expanding city it was not just necessary to hold onto existing services, those services needed to be grown.

As far as Im concerned, this is an executive decision but they are not making this decision on any evidence base whatsoever and I think the decision is challengeable, Cllr Bogue said.

Fine Gael councillor Garret Kelleher praised the cross-community, cross-party support for the fire service.

The recruitment efforts so far for Ballincollig simply have not been successful, and its time that Cork City Council accepts that and puts in the investment thats required to deliver an improved service for an enlarged city, Cllr Kelleher said.

Saturdays demonstration by the Ballincollig Fire Station Campaign Group will occur at 2pm on 20 May, at Ballincolligs Castlewest Plaza.
CALLS for urgent traffic calming measures and a relief road in a busy Cork town have been ramped up following the deaths of two people in less than three weeks after fatal road traffic collisions involving HGVs.

Margaret Lyons, aged 72, died on Monday afternoon, following a road traffic collision involving a lorry in Main St, Charleville, while Patrick (Pat) Galvin died on Friday, April 28, after a collision involving a lorry also on Main St, Charleville.

Fianna Fail councillor Ian Doyle highlighted that there are 15,000 vehicles passing through the main street in Charleville daily.

He said the pedestrian crossings in the town need to be upgraded with proper lighting.

The issue is with the heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) for these accidents. It is a safety issue. 15,000 vehicles are going through the town on a daily basis. We have five pedestrian crossings on the N20 between the southside and northside in Charleville on that straight line.

They need to be upgraded with proper lighting and they also need tabletop ramps to control the speed and lining. That would slow down the traffic, but it is not going to alleviate it, he said.

Mr Doyle said a relief road for Charleville would help to alleviate the traffic on the main street.

The other major issue is in terms of HGVs and getting them out of the town. In the current County Development Plan and the previous plan, there is a provision for a relief road for Charleville from the southern side. If that was done it would alleviate the traffic on the main street.

The N/M20 took over and that was put on hold. We are not going to see a N/M20 for the next 15 years at best The locals want the road done and the relief work activated.

Charleville is a retail centre in North Cork. There are a lot of concerns in the locality. The two recent deaths are devastating. We want action sooner rather than later.

Mr Doyle said he will also seek an urgent meeting with Minister of State at the Department of Transport Jack Chambers over funding for a relief road.

Fianna Fail councillor Bernard Moynihan echoed his colleagues sentiments regarding traffic calming. There must be serious traffic calming measures put in immediately and the Charleville bypass should be progressed with immediate effect. It is beyond urgent.
Davis College in Mallow has unveiled a 10m state-of-the-art extension.

The co-educational, multi-denominational post-primary school welcomed Education Minister Norma Foley to the school last week to officially open the new facilities.

The stand-alone extension is approximately 5,000m2, part-single storey and part-three storey in height, accommodating classrooms, laboratories, social areas, administration rooms and a special education needs unit.

The site works included ballcourts, outdoor play areas, landscaping and a covered walkway to the existing school.

The works included alterations to the existing school building to facilitate access to the extension.

MMD Construction was the main contractor for the works at Davis College with Wilson Architecture undertaking design team lead.

Pictured speaking is Minister for Education Norma Foley TD, at the official opening of the Davis College school extension by Minister for Education Norma Foley TD, at Davis College, Mallow. Picture: Jim Coughlan.

Speaking at the ceremony Ms Foley said that it was a joy to be present at Davis College for the very special occasion.

She stated that parents are incredibly important partners in education and acknowledged their positive and pro-active contribution to the school.

On closing Ms Foley wished all the staff and students well and in particular, the Leaving Certificate students, who will be undertaking their examinations shortly.

Pictured is Minister for Education Norma Foley TD, with the college choir and their music teachers, at the official opening of the Davis College school extension by Minister for Education Norma Foley TD, at Davis College, Mallow. Picture: Jim Coughlan.

Pat McKelvey, director of schools at Cork ETB, thanked Ms Foley and her Department for the support, substantial investment and commitment to the improvement of educational institutions.

He noted that he was delighted to see this long-waited extension finally come to fruition.

School principal Stephen Gilbert welcomed the Minister on behalf of the school community saying it was an honour and privilege to have her visit the school.

He noted that the new facilities would benefit students for generations to come.

Finally, Mr Gilbert acknowledged the significant contributions previous principals and deputies had played in bringing the extension to fruition.
A 34-year-old Youghal man cultivated cannabis for medicinal purposes because of shoulder pain and he shared the drug with friends.

At Cork Circuit Criminal Court, Joe Norris, 34, has been given a one-year suspended sentence.

Sergeant Bernard Kelleher said there was a search under warrant at the defendants home on December 8, 2020.

Sergeant Kelleher said the search uncovered 4,400 worth of cannabis and that Joe Norris initially admitted possession of the drug but said it was for his own use.

He later pleaded guilty to a charge of having drugs for sale or supply to others.

Defence barrister, Suzanne Lewis, said he did not come to the attention of gardai before this incident or after it.

He always maintained it was for his own use. However, he admitted sale or supply because he supplied it  to his friends and he made no financial gain for himself, Ms Lewis said.

The Director of Public Prosecutions directed trial at district court level but the judge there refused jurisdiction so the case against Joe Norris of Oak Hill, Youghal, County Cork, was sent forward to Cork Circuit Criminal Court.

Judge Catherine Staines said, Mr Norris pleaded guilty to possession of cannabis for the purpose of sale or supply. There are no particular aggravating factors, perhaps except the value of the drugs at 4,400.

He is still relatively young. He cooperated with An Garda Siochana. He has no relevant previous convictions and he has not come to their attention since.

He also cooperated with the probation service.

I note he is also going to apply to be allowed to use medicinal cannabis which does not have the addictive quality.

In all of the circumstances, I am sentencing him to one year, suspended on condition that he keeps the peace and is of good behaviour for one year.
LATEST

Sonya Egan, who was jailed for four years for telling career-ending lies against some victims and lies that caused deep personal trauma to others  effectively made elaborate false reports against anyone she perceived to be crossing her.

That was how Detective Sergeant James Buckley summarised the unfathomable damage caused to nine professional people by the 43-year-old woman, who has finally acknowledged that she is a pathological liar.

Det. Sgt. Buckley said: Sonya Egan uses as a strategy of making false reports and allegations against persons or institutions that are adverse to her status or situation. In essence this forms the repeated pattern, cause and effect of her complaints.

After leaving home at the age of 14 or 15, Egan was in some form of state care, run at the time by the Southern Health Board, until she reached the age of 18.

A lot of the false allegations began with a social worker she met around that time and maintained email contact with for several years.

However, from mid-2015 they became quite sinister, Det. Sgt Buckley added. She was telling him that she was his half-sister.

He was not close to his mother but she claimed that his mother had a child in Syria in 1979 and that the child was given up for adoption. That child was allegedly her.

He was bombarded with emails from the accused but also from various other persons, who were in fact the accused using different names. He made a complaint of harassment.

"These complaints were the catalyst for what followed.

She lied that he had sexually abused her for years before and after she was 18 years old. She lied that he pimped her out to other men and that he did likewise with other girls.

She accused him of human trafficking, and sexually abusing others.

He was only one of the victims. Allegations of sexual abuse were also made against a senior garda, a lawyer and others in the area of social work. An allegation of a physical assault on her was made against a politician.

Egan now accepts that none of it was true and says she is sorry.

As well as pleading guilty to all charges, she further stated that she was formally retracting in writing each and every allegation made against the nine injured parties.

Ronan Munro, defence senior counsel, said: It is very hard to know what is the truth, and what is made up when you are talking to Sonya Egan.

"It is hard to keep up with the allegations she is making. They are often made in very vivid terms.

Det. Sgt Buckley stated: Some of the allegations run to 33 pages.

Mr Munro added the allegations were very detailed, even though they are untrue.

In one of her most lurid false claims, she said she was forced by one man to have sex with another man while a pornographic video was made, and which she had in her possession. However, she has never produced such a video.

A friend of Sonya Egan when they were both teenagers said that even at the time, she loved the drama and kept coming up with stories, like that she was once homeless, that she was going to Oxford to study law and other made up stories.

The friend said  looking back on that time  I wondered if it was all lies and does she believe it to be true or does she know it is all lies.

"There is something very wrong with her.

"I thought they were all tall stories. It was too much.

Mr Munro said her modus operandi appeared to be to target people with lies because she felt they crossed her.

The defence senior counsel suggested that it might be of some comfort to the nine injured parties that Sonya Egan had instructed her lawyers that, as well as pleading guilty to all the charges, she wanted to make a formal retraction of all the lies that she had told about people.

This was in contrast to a case last year where she pleaded guilty to harassment of two people in similar circumstances but, as soon as she left court, she put up on Facebook that she was only pleading guilty for the sake of her children, thereby undermining her guilty pleas.

A psychologists report found her to have a borderline personality disorder where she was emotionally dysregulated, oscillating between for instance cheerfulness and hostility.

She accepts she has a problem with fabricating information, Mr Munro stated. She has struggled with this since she was a teenager. She tells lies to make herself more interesting and to attack others when she feels victimised.

It would make your hair stand on end to hear what the victims must have gone through, with the allegations that were made.

He said Sonya Egan has been on hunger strike in prison for the past fortnight, adding: She is still clearly in a conflicted state. I am not saying for a moment this lady has left it all behind her  not at all. She is in a padded cell under observation.

Sonya Egan admitted eight counts of making false statements and six counts of making false reports against the six men and three women, alleging to the gardai that the injured party in each count had committed some offence, on various dates between 2016 and 2021.

The false statements and reports were made at the Bridewell Garda Stations in Dublin and Cork and at Mayfield, Watercourse Road, and Anglesea Street Garda Stations, all in Cork.

EARLIER

A pathological liar, who made a dizzying number of allegations  many of them of horrifying sexual abuse  against numerous professional people she encountered in her life, has been jailed for four years.

43-year-old Sonya Egan is currently on hunger strike in Limerick prison and refused to come to Cork Circuit Criminal Court or to attend by video link for her sentencing.

Judge Catherine Staines said the court would not be manipulated by the actions of a woman who had shown a capacity to be extremely manipulative.

Judge Staines jailed her for a total of six years with the last two years suspended at Cork Circuit Criminal Court.

While the contents of the victim impact statements were not disclosed in open court, Judge Staines said they were the most harrowing victim impact statements she had ever read.

I cannot begin to understand the harm and devastation caused to these unfortunate, professional people, she said.

The judge said she would respect the privacy of the victims but would refer in summary to some of their contents.

One victim was accused of rape and sexual abuse," she stated. "A letter of complaint was sent to his employer, to An Garda Siochana and to the Minister for Health. While formal investigations were taking place he had to stand aside. His reputation was ruined. It effectively ended his whole career. Ms Egan contacted RTE and Prime Time (no programme was ever made) and she also used social media  she was allowed to use social media to disseminate lies about him.

Another victim was accused of running a paedophile ring," the judge added. "He had given his life to child protection. She wrote to his employer, wrote to the police and there were hours and hours of garda interviews.

"She destroyed his career and caused huge emotional trauma.

The judge said this victim, whose lifes work was dedicated to protecting children, had to talk to his own children about what a paedophile ring is, because of the allegations that Sonya Egan had put into circulation on social media.

Another victim expressed the hope that Sonya Egan would never again be able to do this to another person.

The victims did not want to be identified and discretion was sought by the prosecution in this regard, not least in light of the false sexual allegations made against some of the parties.

It was her own defence counsel, Ronan Munro, who said the vast number of false complaints made by Sonya Egan was dizzying.

More to follow
Every third Thursday of May is World Vyshyvanka Day, an international holiday to celebrate and preserve the tradition of Ukrainian ethnic clothing, and this year Cork will witness a display of defiance and optimism in the face of savagery.

Tomorrow, at 5pm, members of Corks Ukrainian community will take to the Grand Parade to display their heritage and to mark what is for many their first year in Ireland after Vladimir Putins illegal, full-scale invasion of their country.

Olesia Zhytkova, one of the organisers of the event, told The Echo that the vysyvanka is the casual name for the traditional embroidered shirt native to Ukraine, which is distinguished from its Belarussian cousin by its distinct local embroidery features.

Ms Zhytkova said the gathering will feature a traditional parade, as well as a solidarity chain to show strength with all of those defending Ukraine, as well as a rally of support for those Ukrainian soldiers who had defended Mariupol from invasion and who have been imprisoned by Russia since.

We are looking forward to seeing as many of our friends as possible on Thursday, Ms Zhytkova said.

Nothing changes when it comes to the support for Ukraine in Cork.

"We are so blessed to have the support of all of our friends in Cork, not just the Irish people, but people of all nationalities and diasporas in Cork.

According to the Central Statistics Office, as of February of this year, there were approximately 75,000 Ukrainian refugees in Ireland, with just over 7,000 Ukrainian people living in Cork.

In February of this year over a thousand people attended a rally to mark the first anniversary of Putins full invasion of Ukraine, starting on the Grand Parade before marching along Patricks Street beneath banners reading Ukraine will win while chanting Slava Ukraini (Glory to Ukraine).

The organisers of the February rally had told gardai they had expected perhaps 100 people to attend, but they got at least ten times that, with acres of blue and yellow flags  symbolising the bright skies of Ukraine above the endless fields of grain in the breadbasket of Europe  flying beneath the grey spring clouds of Cork.

World Vyshyvanka Day has become a symbol of Ukrainian resistance since last years full Russian invasion scattered millions of Ukrainian refugees all over Europe and beyond.

The history of embroidery in Ukraine can be traced back to between the 7th and 3rd centuries BC when the Scythians, an ancient nomadic group that dominated the Eurasian Steppe from present-day Iran to Mongolia, settled in large groups in what became modern-day Ukraine.

There are currently about 200 different documented stitches and ornamental styles in Ukraine, with each region identifiable through its own unique symbolic patterns, motifs and colour codes.

Ms Zhytkova said the rally is sure to be a colourful and friendly event which will begin at 5pm on the Grand Parade, and, she said, and all who support Ukraine and its people are welcome.
I AM so grateful for everything. I am so happy, so lucky. I wake up and say is this my life?

Cork-born blogger/influencer and businesswoman Lisa Jordan is reflecting on where she is today. Chatting to her over the phone, hot on the heels from another hugely successful drop of her new clothing range, which sold out in seven minutes, Lisa is celebrating where she is not just in her professional life... but in her personal life.

Ive been through hard times in my life, so I feel now I am getting through the good. I have had a difficult early life, and I feel like this is, not my reward, but my place of happiness  my family.

And I speak not really about being a blogger, my businesses, I mean about meeting my husband (they were married nine years on the day that we spoke), it is the family that I have built  that is what makes me so happy, so positive and so free, says the mum of three, from Douglas, who grew up on Model Farm Road.

Lisa lost her dad when she was just 15 and her brother also died suddenly when she was in her 20s.

Half my family is no longer here, it is tough when you are a teenager, and you lose a parent, and then you go into your 20s and lose a brother, it is quite a lot. You are then feeling, what is next? You are on edge, you are waiting. You had the first call when you were a teenager, a shock call. Then you are in your 20s, you are celebrating Christmas, you get another shock call.

But she said finally happiness is coming back into her life.

There was always a cloud, or worry and sadness. And even though that is still there, I am so happy for what I have now. I have built my own family now  not replaced, nothing replaces, but that sadness and emptiness, your love is given to other areas now.

You are longing for that love and then you find it  my husband is incredible; he is amazing and then my kids are too.

I cannot be sad, I cannot be negative, when I have been given such blessings.

Death takes its toll on people, especially when you experience it when you are young  especially in your teens, those years are very hard, if you are a young child you kind of forget (well, you dont know) when you are a teenager it is a tough time  to lose a parent. And then to go into adulthood and lose a sibling, it is just a traumatic time of your life.

And I feel, for me, maybe it is unusual, but when I lost my brother, I grieved my father at the same time  because I feel when I was 15 I didnt do that. Both deaths hit me very heavily at that time.

Lisa said it was actually her brother who encouraged her to start her blog.

He was the one saying you should do it, you should do it. And I was all embarrassed at the time. I feel like everything happens for a reason. Would I have done that if he hadnt encouraged it?

And so Just Jordan was founded and currently has 262,000 followers on Insta and 100,000 on Facebook - which helped launch Lisa into the spotlight. She has gone on to launch two successful businesses, Luna by Lisa, (makeup and haircare range) and Edit Row (clothing brand).

Her success hasnt come easy. It hasnt fallen in her lap. Its not been a case of luck - but rather lots of hard work, determination and investment of time, money and energy and a clever business acumen.

I have been in this industry for ten years  five of those I didnt make a cent, five years, it wasnt seen as a job, it was what are they doing, it was nearly laughed at, is this one for real. That came with a lot of hard work and effort.

For people like myself, we started as a hobby and as a natural flow of our lives and it just evolved, and I spent years previously to when I started online spending so much of my own money on clothes, make up, all the stuff that I didnt need, but I had to purchase to have content, and all that investment into myself at the beginning. There is a lot of work, a lot of investment, a lot of time.

Im on my phone 24/7. It is a hard job, but like every job, theres a hard part. What you put in, you get back I always believe. I am ten years now  so, you know, it is a long time.

Even now, Lisas investing in her brands, and with that comes risk all the time.

You are making business decisions all the time and if they pay off, they pay off.

Lisa Jordan wearing her brand Edit Row.

HER CLOTHING RANGE

You know you are onto something big when your clothing range sells out in just seven minutes.

Such was the case with Lisas new clothing brand, Edit Row  which dropped its latest collection earlier this month.

The brand launched in January, 2023, and its first drop sold out in five hours  a huge success  even though people had warned her it was the worst month to launch in. The second drop sold out in around 45 minute, while the third and most recent drop sold out in just seven minutes.

Lisa said launching a clothing range s something she has always wanted to do, but wasnt ready for businesswise. She had been ploughing all her time and energy into Luna, her hugely successful makeup brand up to now. Then, last year, she spent time developing the clothing range.

I kinda left the idea of Edit Row go for some time until I had more experience in the world and more confidence as well, you know.

So there has always been the dream to do it. And then of course last year I made that plunge and we started working on it and then we launched in January this year, which was a month I was told not to launch in  the worst month you could launch your brand in  lucky we proved everyone wrong and sold out in the night.

It started off very successful early on, which was great. It has continued that path for the last couple of drops  selling out quicker and quicker each time.

Ive had successes in the past and I know because I come with a built-in marketing machine, you know it is going to have that bit of step up  its going to have that backing, it will do OK. I always think things are going to do OK. I didnt imagine it would go that way.

I thought, look, its got a chance... Ive got a good channel, good supporters, good product, so I cant see why it wouldnt do well  but I didnt expect the speed of it.

The pressure now is to restock to keep up with demand.

I have new product coming this week. Then, in the summer I have a couple of mini summer collections  a few dresses, trying to mix it up essentially. I want to have all types of clothing, not just to be boxed into one genre.

Lisa Jordan who is behind Luna by Lisa, a hugely successful makeup and beauty brand.

HER BEAUTY BRAND

The success of Edit Row comes hot on the heels of the continuing growth of Lisas Luna brand - which is stocked in Dunnes Stores and pharmacies around the country.

Luna is five years at this stage, and that has been an amazing five years of learning and growth. And obviously there has been a lot of products produced, we are everywhere in the country at this stage  in nearly every Dunnes in the country, in all the pharmacies. It is constantly growing and evolving.

There is a very good success story in that.... it has so much to come and is doing so well, we are so proud of it.

Looking to the future, Lisa hopes to launch in the UK. Covid slowed things down a bit  put things back two years. But its still on the cards and she is hopeful it will happen in the next 12 months.

Lisa Jordan is mum to three kids, pictured here with son AJ, her youngest.

ON MOTHERHOOD

As well as juggling two businesses, Lisa is mum to Pearl, aged six, Bowie, aged four, and AJ, aged two almost three. She says they are her main motivation.

My kids are my driving force, I do what I do for them. I think it was an interview with yourselves and I was asked, where do you see yourself in ten years - I said; With a car full of kids. I managed to get here  they are the kind of goals I set for myself in life really.

As much as I am the business person, it is really the family first person. The mother. My kids and me - they are the most important thing to me. So when I work I do like to allow for that, to have them as much as I can. Working from home and being around them is what I love to do.

Lisa said they are coming out of the baby phase, but there is still lots of minding to do, the house is a noisy one, but as she says: Im here beaming, it makes me so happy just thinking about them.

She added that being at home with kids all day, as a stay at home mum or a mum who works from home, is a tough job, and mums dont get enough credit.

But it is most rewarding and we wouldnt change it for the world.

Lisa doesnt post too much content on her social media about her children or family life.

Not everything has to be online. I dont even think people care to see that anyway. I am a very open book, but I do keep a little bit private, you do have to keep something for yourselves. So I give a bit, but not everything.

DOWNTIME

With two businesses to run and motherhood to juggle too, does she get any downtime?

Lisa said: I am so lucky because my husband is so supportive and so good with the kids, he is just a brilliant dad. He is nearly like the mother as well, he is so nurturing, he just has that in him. It really helps with me, my working and working online and doing what I do and having the two businesses, so for downtime he loves planning stuff for us, be it the cinema  we are not really a going out couple, we dont really drink, I dont drink, he rarely drinks, so we like the cinema - or we might go away.

She likes to dedicate weekends to family time, doing activities, like going to parks, or farms.

I try to bring the kids away as much as possible, adds Lisa.

Lisa Jordan from Douglas, who grew up on Model Farm Road.

SUPPORT AT HOME IN CORK

Lisa said Cork people and Irish people have been hugely supportive of her to date.

The support is phenomenal. It is the one thing that stops me in my tracks and go WOW!

She loves the messages of support too she gets from people.

They are genuinely happy for you. And in Cork especially people are so warm.

I love Cork, Id never leave it, it is a beautiful place to live, people are lovely, we very much support our own. That is my experience. That I very much have an army behind me.

DOWNSIDES

When asked about the downside of having such a large social media presence  Lisa said: It always comes with a bit of negativity.

Honestly, for me, if people are not doing/ saying anything negative, or trolling, I must be doing something wrong, because I feel like the more people are against you, means the more success you have.

That is one thing I learned very early on in my career, someone else in the industry said to me at the time, Well done, you are doing so well  and you havent made it until you get trolls. And I went, Oh, I dont have any of those - that was back in 2014 - what are they? I didnt get it and then I slowly started to get it.

Lisa feels that such bad behaviour by others is validation for doing well.

If someone comes after you  is negative to you - it is validation that they want what you have  or they are jealous of what you have. It is a downside for some people but not for me. I have a thick skin though. I have a very thick skin, it takes a lot to rattle me.

Lisa believes that new laws which will stop trolling will halt the behaviour.

I also feel as our children get older, social media will be a better place, more protected.

WORDS OF ADVICE TO OTHERS

Ive really worked so hard to get where I am. No one can say that I havent. That is the thing, I havent just rocked out, Im here...

There have been failures, there is always failures. There are things that didnt come to fruition. There are things that might not be as successful. Success does not come without its sorrow or failures.

My advice is  if you want to do something, and it is in your head, do it.

It is a great saying - I would have rather tried and failed than not tried at all. And if I hadnt tried this blog, I wouldnt know this success. If I tried and it failed , then I would have said, Oh well, it didnt work  because you are at peace then.

For anyone who is saying they want to start a business  or who has started a business... I want to tell everyone they should try it and they wont regret it. Because they can look back on it and not end up regretting it.

Lisa gives a special mention to Ciaran Walsh, her business partner, who has given her huge support over the years.

You can follow Lisa on Instagram @justjordan.ie

Luna by Lisa Jordan on @lunabylisa

Edit Row by Lisa Jordan @editrow
JOANNE Treacy is a woman on a mission. Recently appointed as the Head of Southern Region Services for the Construction Industry Federation, not only is she determined to protect the needs and interests of the 200+ members in her remit and representing these to regional committees, state agencies and local authorities, she is also uber-focused on attracting more women into the industry as a whole.

This is the first time that a woman has been appointed to the role and Joanne says she is excited about what that means for the sector.

Traditionally, the construction industry has been male-dominated, but there is definitely a wide acceptance and understanding that having women in the construction sector adds more value to the industry.

If we want to build holistically, we need all the input of both males and females, insists Joanne. A more inclusive workforce benefits us all.

With more than 15 years industry experience, Joanne holds qualifications in HR, leadership, health and safety and HSQE auditing.

Having worked as HR Manager for a large construction and engineering company that spanned Ireland and the UK, her skills include policy development and implementation, employee and industrial relations, organisational change, craft and professional training, and CPD.

She has vast experience and knowledge of the CIF from an end-users perspective.

In my HR role, I had many dealings with the CIF over the years, so I am very familiar with the federation and have a good grasp of what the members need, look for, and expect.

This wealth of insight will help inform and enrich her brief.

The nature of my role is so diverse, ranging from dealing with the industry on issues, to contracts, auditing, event planning, problem solving, training and skills, recruitment and retention, and meeting deadlines.

None of which is new to Joanne. In fact, in many ways, she believes that her new role is the culmination of all her career choices to date. And she feels excited by all that is to come.

A graduate of Design for Print at MTU, she worked initially as a graphic designer before being bitten by the travel bug and heading to Australia for a taste of adventure.

Joanne Treacy, Head of Southern Region Services, Construction Industry Federation (CIF). Picture: Brian Lougheed

On her return, she found herself less enamoured with graphic design than she had been and decided to explore other job options.

Her initial job, as administrator for a project team in a pharmaceutical company, was a years contract only. So, too, her next one with an engineering firm.

I was looking for something with more permanence, she explains about her decision to join EPS, a Water Treatment company based in Mallow, as a programme administrator overseeing training and health and safety.

The job evolved very quickly and soon I was overseeing the quality of standards and systems, and became the auditor for their management system, which included quality, environmental and safety.

My role was heavily people-centred. I was also providing support for the HR department and when the role of HR manager came along, the company asked me to apply for the role.

I was someone who always struggled with imposter syndrome, admits Joanne. I didnt have the confidence in my abilities or belief in myself and I certainly didnt imagine myself in that role. But I was blessed with a company that obviously saw potential and value in me. As a person, you have to allow yourself to accept that belief in you.

She was offered the role of HR Manager and remained in that position for the next ten years.

The experience and training I got in that company was immense and brought me down a career path that I would never have envisaged for myself. I had definitely found my niche.

Joanne is a firm believer in grasping opportunities as they arise. And is an avid proponent of the belief that it is never too late to change tack.

We are at our highest rate of employment in this country. For women who might be considering a career change, I urge them to go for it. It is never too late.

There are so many opportunities out there. Try not to let outside factors impact your decision to grab an opportunity.

Females only represent 9% of the construction industry.

Even though I was in the minority in my previous company, I was never made to feel that my contributions were less valued because I am female.

Although Joanne agrees that there is a challenge in the industry to address gender imbalance, she firmly believes the sector has the ability to tackle these obstacles.

She cites firms like PJ Hegarty, who have introduced a Diversity and Inclusion programme that sees female team members going into secondary schools to talk to girls about careers in the sector.

By seeing, first-hand, women in the construction sector, it helps female students to understand the variety of roles available in the industry, and where they might find their place.

Other construction companies, such as the Kirby Group, have specific female apprenticeship programmes to ensure that equality is built in at entry level to the firm.

Joanne aspires to get more involved in developing this concept of inclusion even more, by engaging with a mentor company, and in so doing, encourage other companies to come on board.

We are not doing enough to improve the number of females being introduced to career opportunities in the construction industry, she insists.

Joanne Treacy, Head of Southern Region Services, Construction Industry Federation (CIF). Picture: Brian Lougheed

Schools are a natural starting point in dissolving the invisible limitations being imposed on subjects that would be traditionally regarded as male.

Joanne feels strongly that redefining the traditional landscape of career opportunities for both genders can happen as early as primary school.

Things have moved on a bit in secondary schools, but we are still not doing enough, she says. Its about being inclusive at the end of the day.

Joanne also believes in encouraging those not inclining towards a degree in UCC and MTU, to explore the option of pursuing an apprenticeship through an educational facility of their choice.

Apprenticeships are aimed at both boys and girls and use a hybrid approach of time spent in a lecture theatre or classroom, and time honing technical skills and getting essential practical on-site experience.

Regardless of gender, from design, architecture, engineering, craft, interior landscaping, fit-outs and project management, there are a huge range of diverse and challenging roles available to people, not to mention the support service roles within construction companies.

Joannes role as the new Head of Southern Region Services with the Construction Industry Federation is an onerous one but in a time of exciting developments.

Cork is a centre of excellence for life sciences and tech. We have the skillsets here to design, build and manufacture, bringing people through the system, from architect and designer through to bricklayer and engineer.

Last year, there were 167,000 people working in the construction industry in Ireland, generating 32 billion for the Irish economy, and that is estimated to be on a par again this year. 10% of this is generated in Cork.

We are living in a built-environment. My remit is fundamentally to look after the needs of our members, from the two-man operation to the construction goliaths, and to ensure that we are collectively working to make sure the doors in our industry continue to open outwards, that we continuously move forward, eliminate obstacles, and do what we do best: build.
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.

Residents watch the burning hills near their homes as the Station Fire rages in the Angeles National Forest in La Canada Flintridge, California in 2009. Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

A new report, led by the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS), links 88 top fossil fuel and cement companies and their carbon emissions to at least one-third of the total area burned by wildfires in the western U.S. and Canada since 1986.

The study found about 19.8 million acres of burned forests in the western U.S. and southwestern Canada, or about 37% of all areas burned by wildfires since 1986, could be traced back to 88 companies in the fossil fuel and cement industries that are part of the worlds Carbon Majors, or companies responsible for the vast majority of harmful greenhouse gas emissions globally.

Over the last several decades, human-caused climate change has turned routine Western wildfires into exceptionally destructive events, Kristina Dahl, report author and principal climate scientist at UCS, said in a statement. Towns are turning to ash and livelihoods are being destroyed.

According to UCS, emissions from these top fossil fuel producers and cement manufacturers could also be linked to about 50% of increasing drought and high fire-risk conditions in the same area since 1901.

The scientists traced emissions back to the top polluters using vapor pressure deficit (VPD), a measure of how air draws water from plants and the soil. The team then analyzed changes in VPD, finding that companies emissions contributed about 48% in the rise of VPD from 1901 to 2021 and that the increasing VPD was linked to more fires and the megadrought.

The report adds to existing studies that have linked carbon dioxide and methane emissions from these top polluters to global warming, sea level rise and ocean acidification. This growing body of studies can be referred to as examples of attribution science, DeSmog reported, which connects polluters to their climate impacts.

The major contribution of this work is to connect all of the dots from specific sources of human-related carbon emissions to recent increases in forest fire activity, across a large region of western North America. Most of the links have been well known for a long time, but this is the first time all the dots have been connected, quantitatively, Philip Higuera, a fire ecologist at the University of Montana, told DeSmog.

According to the researchers, communities of color and low-income areas take on the biggest health risks from wildfires and smoke pollution and have access to fewer resources to recover from wildfires. When considering solutions, like holding Carbon Majors accountable and investing in fire preparedness, these communities must be a top priority, said Jose Pablo Ortiz-Partida, senior bilingual water and climate scientist at UCS.

The scientists hope the new report can help shape policies and put the responsibility of the increasingly dangerous and destructive climate impacts on the polluters.

Our study offers scientifically backed answers to questions of who bears the responsibility for this gut-wrenching destruction, Dahl said. Were hopeful that with new evidence in hand, policymakers, elected officials, and legal experts will be better equipped to truly hold fossil fuel companies accountable in public, political, and legal arenas.




Recovery anticipated for Vietnam's live hog prices

Vietnam's live hog prices are expected to recover after bottoming out, according to the Agribank Securities Joint Stock Company (Agriseco).

Agriseco believes that hog prices may recover this year due to rising demand for food as Vietnam's tourism and service industries get back into momentum.

Ha Thu Hien, an analyst from the VNDIRECT Securities Joint Stock Company, said the domestic hog price had recovered after six consecutive months of decline. The volume of pigs sold off to the market due to the impact of African swine fever (ASF) had gradually decreased. While concerns about oversupply had subsided as farmers stopped reherding activities. Large livestock enterprises also had not yet planned to expand their pig herds.

Additionally, supply from smallholder farmers dropped sharply after a long period of losses due to a sharp increase in feed prices while live hog prices remained low.

Currently, there is no sign of a shortage of pork as in the first quarter of 2023, the total pig herd in Vietnam increased by 6.2% on year, equivalent to the period before ASF and live hog production increased by 7.5% on year, according to Hien.

After the price drop in the first quarter of 2023, the domestic live hog prices started a slight increase from the beginning of April of 5.3% on month and 0.1% compared to the beginning of this year. But it was still below 3.5% on year.

Live hog prices are expected to increase slightly in the second quarter of 2023 and will improve further in the third quarter of 2023 when the demand for pork recovers.

However, VNDIRECT does not expect farmers to reherd significantly in the short term.

The Vietnam Livestock Association said that there were about 45-50% of large farms suspending production while 70-75% of medium-size and small farms and livestock households temporarily stopping reherding. Furthermore, input costs have surged and the selling price is low.

Despite the prospect of recovery, meat producers are hesitant to make plans to expand production, according to VNDIRECT.

The two leading enterprises in the livestock industry, the Dabaco Vietnam Group Joint Stock Company and the Masan MEATLife Joint Stock Company have not yet announced specific expansion plans.

- Vietnam Net Global




Danish research explores combating aquaculture diseases with bacteriophages

A new research project will use bacteria's natural enemies, bacteriophages, to control bacterial diseases in aquaculture.

The Innovation Fund has invested kr.13.5 million (US$2.6 million) in the project.

In a project coordinated by Professor Mathias Middelboe from the Department of Biology at the University of Copenhagen, researchers from two universities in Denmark are collaborating with aquaculture and biotech companies in Denmark, England and Scotland to develop a new environmentally friendly technology for the treatment of bacterial diseases in trout farming. The starting point for the project is to employ bacteriophages against pathogenic bacteria in aquaculture.

"Our research into bacteriophage-based control of fish diseases has shown promising results in recent years," said Professor Mathias Middelboe. "now, the Innovation Fund  together with Carus Animal Health and a number of other Danish and British companies  have invested just over kr.20 million in taking the next step in the development of antimicrobial products that can reduce disease outbreaks in trout rearing."

The goal of the project is that its results can contribute to phasing out the use of antibiotics in the aquaculture industry and contribute to a sustainable development and restructuring of the sector.

The project is a collaboration between the University of Copenhagen, the Technical University of Denmark, the Danish Technological Institute, DanAqua, KSK Aqua, Aller Aqua, Carus Animal Health and Fixed Phage and will run for three years.



- Carus Animal Health
Farmers to benefit from road haulage equivalency?



"Road Haulage Equivalency" means paying road rates for sea shipping

Farmers and other food producers in the Island may soon be able to take advantage of more competitive routes to market for their produce.

The Agriculture Minister Clare Barber told Energy FM that she is working on a "Road Haulage Equivalency Scheme" with the Enterprise Minister Tim Johnston.

'Road Haulage Equivalency" is a rate for shipping freight via sea, but at 'road equivalent rates' and be would be similar to a scheme available to Scottish farmers.

(Clip of Clare Barber MHK - Audio below)

Clare Barber MHK

Some Manx farmers are currently paying around 5000 to export a trailer on the State-owned Steam Packet, where a road haulage equivalent fare would be around a quarter of that and some rates possibly as low as 300-400.

Local farmer, and President of the Manx National Farmers Union, Ean Parsons, says that Road Haulage Equivalency will be a game changer for many exporters.

(Clip of Ean Parsons - Audio below)

Ean Parsons

You can find out more and see Clare Barber's and Ean Parson's interviews in the special documentary below.

Media

Ean Parsons on Road Haulage Scheme

Clare Barber MHK on Road Haulage Scheme

Videos

Energy FM's Agriculture Documentary Road Haulage Equivalency features in Energy FM's commissioned documentary about the current state of Manx Farming.
Manxman to dock into Hong Kong

The Isle of Man Steam Packet Company has confirmed the Manxman will be making a stop at Hong Kong in order to take on additional supplies.

The vessel will also take on board additional fuel while in the anchorage.

Manxman will continue the journey towards UK waters once these operations have been completed.
Greenlight TV successfully produces live coverage of the North West 200

Greenlight TV successfully produced live coverage of the North West 200 road racing event in Northern Ireland remotely from its Tromode studios as part of its commitment to sustainability.

In an effort to cut down on CO2, the crews for the event were split between Northern Ireland and the Isle of Man, with direction for the racing happening remotely using the latest broadcast technology. Greenlight TV is a committed member of BAFTAs Albert scheme which aims to take action against climate change by reducing the impact of television production.

Putting the green in Greenlight, the North West 200 remote production reduced the crews carbon footprint with less travel, while sustainability was further enhanced by Greenlights policy of electronic paperwork and the elimination of single-use plastics both in Tromode and Northern Ireland.
Logitech and iFixit announced a new partnership today to let customers repair their devices. iFixit will supply spare parts and out-of-warranty support for select products while developing guides for DIY repairs on Logitech gear. The program will kick off this summer in the US with support for two popular accessories: the Logitech MX Master and MX Anywhere mouse models.

The self-repair program, found on a new Repair Hub website, will use genuine Logitech replacement parts and batteries. iFixit says you can order parts a la carte or in kits with everything you need for a specific repair, including the requisite part(s), tools and a precision screwdriver bit set. The companies havent yet announced pricing for the bundles or replacement parts.

The initiative is part of a broader trend in recent years. Apple launched an iPhone repair program last year; its since added support for Macs and the Apple Studio Display. Google and Samsung have added similar programs for some of their flagship devices. Cutting down on e-waste by extending product lives is the most obvious advantage, as well as potentially saving repair-minded customers a few bucks. However, the companies may be motivated even more by Right to Repair legislation passed in New York and Massachusetts  while perhaps trying to head off potential federal legislation requiring them to offer self-repairs for a broader array of products.

Consumers often struggle to find avenues to repair and extend the life of their product, said Prakash Arunkundrum, chief operating officer at Logitech. More can be done by brands and by broader value chains who wish to play an active role in the shift to a more circular economy. I am excited that we are able to collaborate with iFixit to develop better designs and make it easier for consumers to have a self-repair option to extend the life of our products.
Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes has failed to convince the court to let her stay out of prison while she's appealing her 11-year sentence. According to The Wall Street Journal, the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit said Holmes' appeal doesn't raise legal issues or questions that could impact the outcome of the case. Further, even if it does raise questions, they still wouldn't be enough to overturn her fraud conviction.

Holmes had asked the court to pause her sentence a couple of days before she was supposed to report to prison on April 27th, with her lawyers arguing that she wasn't a flight risk. The appeals court delayed her reporting date while it considered her request, but it has ultimately decided that she has to start serving her sentence. A district court that previously denied the same request from her camp recommended that she serve her time at a Bryan, Texas federal prison camp, which allows family visitations. The appeals court will now decide on a new reporting date for the former executive.

In addition to her request being denied, Holmes and former Theranos CEO Ramesh "Sunny" Balwani have also been ordered to pay $452 million in restitution to the blood startup's investors. If you'll recall, Theranos promised to revolutionize healthcare with a technology that could diagnose hundreds of diseases with just a few drops of blood. It soon came out, however, that its technology didn't work and that it was using traditional machines modified to use lesser amounts of blood to run its tests. Rupert Murdoch, executive chairman of News Corp, will get the biggest share at $125 milli. Meanwhile, Walgreens, which was once Theranos' biggest partner and even provided tests in its drugstores, is getting $40 million.

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(Informacion remitida por la empresa firmante)

As an integral part of the development of the drivable concept car, Akkodis, a global leader in the Smart Industry, contributed its technical and digital expertise to the BMW i Vision Dee.

ZURICH, May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Akkodis, part of the Adecco Group, has joined forces with the BMW Group to develop and produce the BMW i Vision Dee. Earlier this year, the BMW Group unveiled the BMW i Vision Dee to a global audience during the influential CES 2023 technology trade show in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA.

Working jointly with the BMW Group for the project in Germany, Akkodis contributed its in-depth digital engineering expertise to bring the BMW i Vision Dee to life. Akkodis was involved in the design and construction of the vehicle, from the implementation of the initial sketches to the drivable concept car.

Akkodis developed the specific battery and wiring harness for the drivable concept car. Digital engineering experts from Akkodis also realized the on-board network with the Akkodis Gigabox and ensured a successful commissioning of the vehicle.

The name "Dee" stands for "Digital Emotional Experience", which represents the BMW Group's aim to strengthen the connection and interaction between people and their vehicles. The concept car boasts a number of features including a Mixed Reality Slider, an enhanced version of the BMW Group's pioneering Head-up Display, the ability  for the first time in the world  to change colors in the rainbow color spectrum using e-ink technology, as well as the incorporation of avatars, light, sound, and a natural human voice, engaging all five senses to create an immersive driving experience.

Jan Gupta, President of Akkodis, said, "Jointly with the BMW Group, Akkodis has contributed to the realization of the BMW i Vision Dee, lending its expertise from concept design and vehicle development, to software and on-board network development." Jan continued, "Akkodis is the global partner of choice for the Smart Industry transformation, and the BMW Group's concept car is a great example of how digitalization is being leveraged by a world-leading automotive manufacturer to transform the future of mobility. Harnessing newly combined tech and engineering capabilities1 our 50,000 talented people are passionate about Engineering a Smarter Future Together."

Notes to Editor

1. Akkodis was formed in early 2022 when Modis, the Adecco Group's high-tech services business, was combined with AKKA Technologies, a leader in engineering R&D services.

Media contact(s)

Lisa BushkaVP External Communications, AkkodisM. +18604630770E. lisa.bushka@adeccogroup.com

Anne FriedrichVP Marketing & Communications Germany, AkkodisM. +4915174633470E. anne.friedrich@akkodis.com

About Akkodis

Akkodis is a global digital engineering company and Smart Industry leader. We enable clients to advance in their digital transformation with Consulting, Solutions, Talent, and Academy services. Headquartered in Switzerland and part of the Adecco Group, Akkodis is a trusted tech partner to the world's industries. We co-create and pioneer solutions that help to solve major challenges, from accelerating the clean energy transition and green mobility, to improving user and patient centricity. Empowered by a culture of inclusion and diversity, our 50,000 tech experts across 30 countries combine best-in-class technologies and cross industry knowledge to drive purposeful innovation for a more sustainable tomorrow. We are passionate about Engineering a Smarter Future Together. akkodis.com | LinkedIn | Instagram | Facebook Twitter

About the Adecco Group

The Adecco Group is the world's leading talent company. Our purpose is making the future work for everyone. Through our three global business units - Adecco, Akkodis and LHH - across 60 countries, we enable sustainable and lifelong employability for individuals, deliver digital and engineering solutions to power the Smart Industry transformation and empower organisations to optimise their workforces. The Adecco Group leads by example and is committed to an inclusive culture, fostering sustainable employability, and supporting resilient economies and communities. The Adecco Group AG is headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland (ISIN: CH0012138605) and listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange (ADEN). www.adeccogroup.com

Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2078578...

View original content: https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/akkodis--development-partner-for-bmw-i-vision-dee-concept-car-301826475.html
The US Dollar Rand (USD/ZAR) exchange rate touched multi-year highs last week as the South African currency extended its decline on FX markets.

Foreign exchange analysts at MUFG point to a challenging period ahead for the South African Rand (ZAR), due to the confluence of domestic risk factors and geopolitical tensions.

These issues are said to overshadow the potential benefits from weaker US yields and a softer US Dollar.

Lee Hardman, Senior Currency Analyst at MUFG, highlights that the ZAR has had a difficult run, being the poorest performer in the EMEA region over the past week.

This is a continuation of the trend initiated at the beginning of the year, with the US Dollar to Rand exchange rate (USDZAR) depreciating by approximately 11 percent in 2023 alone.

"The ZARs sell-off accelerated last week resulting in USD/ZAR breaking above the high from April 2020 in the initial aftermath of the negative COVID shock at 19.351," says Lee Hardman, Senior Currency Analyst at MUFG.

Hardman emphasises that the market's decision to price in a higher domestic risk premium has been a significant contributor to the Rand's underperformance.

This has occurred despite an environment of lower US yields and a generally weaker USD.

"For the year as a whole, the ZAR has now declined by around -11% against the USD YTD" says Hardman.

"The ZAR has underperformed at the start of this year as market participants have moved to price in a much higher domestic risk premium which has more than offset favourable external developments," he adds.

The Impact of Geopolitical Tensions and Domestic Issues on the Rand

Hardman points out that recent geopolitical issues, particularly between South Africa and the US, have fuelled the sell-off of the Rand.

This followed accusations by a US ambassador that South Africa had supplied arms to Russia, a claim which raised concerns for the ZAR.

Nevertheless, South African Finance Minister Godongwana has countered these claims, asserting that the diplomatic issue has been resolved, and it's unlikely for the US to impose sanctions.

"The latest trigger for the deeper ZAR sell-off last week were heightened fears that geopolitical tensions between South Africa and the US could escalate significantly," says Hardman.

"South African Finance Minister Godongwana has since claimed that the diplomatic row has been resolved, and it is unlikely to result in the US imposing penalties such as sanctions," he further explains.

Despite this resolution, Hardman warns that the ZAR's potential for a recovery may be limited.

Domestic issues, such as ongoing energy supply disruptions and a decline in optimism around China's reopening, could dampen the Rand's upward trajectory.

Even though a relief rally might be on the horizon, these factors may restrain the ZAR from fully capitalising on it.

"The ZAR is attempting to stage a relief rally that could extend further in the week ahead although other domestic concerns such as ongoing energy supply disruptions and the paring back of China reopening optimism are acting as a dampener on upside potential," Hardman concludes.
Foreign exchange analysts at Credit Agricole suggest that while uncertainty surrounding the US debt ceiling has been a key factor impacting the US Dollar (USD) recently, a resolution could potentially pave the way for a more sustainable recovery of the currency.

The recent ambiguity associated with the US debt ceiling - which is a legislative limit on the amount of national debt that can be incurred by the US Treasury - has had a substantial negative impact on the value of the US dollar (USD).

This is happening even as the US Congress, the legislative branch of the country, persistently works to avert a situation of sovereign default.

A sovereign default is a failure by a government to repay its country's debts, which could cause a financial crisis. The concern is that if the debt ceiling isn't raised or suspended, the US might reach a point where it can't meet its financial obligations, which creates uncertainty in the markets and can not only cause a recession but also weaken the USD.

"The uncertainty surrounding the US debt ceiling has been a key drag on the USD in recent weeks even as attempts to avert a sovereign default continue in the US Congress," says Valentin Marinov, Head of G10 FX Strategy at Credit Agricole.

He suggests a resolution to this issue could be reached ahead of the so-called 'x-date', the point at which the US Treasury would run out of funds to meet its financial obligations.

"We believe that a resolution  in the shape and form of either a debt ceiling extension or suspension  could be reached ahead of the x-date," he adds.

Regarding the X-date, economists at Barclays believe this date is estimated to be between 4-12 June (as of May 14).

"We estimate the Treasurys x-date  or the point at which it runs out of cash and extraordinary measure capacity  is between June 4-12  As of May 12, the Treasury had $230bn in remaining borrowing capacity."

Treasury Secretary Yellen noted, ...we still estimate that Treasury will likely no longer be able to satisfy all the governments obligations if Congress has not acted to raise or suspend the debt limit by early June, and potentially as early as June 1."

USD Performance and The Debt Ceiling: Historical Perspectives and Forecasts

Marinov provides a historical analysis of the USD's performance surrounding past debt-ceiling episodes, dating back to 1993.

According to the analyst, the major declines seen in the US Dollar occurred against gold, the Japanese Yen (JPY), and the Swiss Franc (CHF).

In contrast, the U.S. Dollar held firm against the British Pound (GBP), New Zealand Dollar (NZD), Australian Dollar (AUD), Swedish Krona (SEK), and Norwegian Krone (NOK).

"Our results suggest that the USD losses were the most pronounced vs gold, the JPY and CHF. At the same time, the USD was broadly flat and even slightly stronger on average vs GBP, NZD, AUD, SEK and NOK," says Marinov.

Historically, the US currency has gained strength following most debt ceiling resolutions.

"We further conclude that the USD gained strongly across the board following most debt ceiling resolutions since 1993. In that, only gold was able to hold its ground while the NOK, SEK and GBP were the biggest underperformers on average," he adds.

The Prospect of a US Recession and Its Impact on USD

Drawing on the forecasts of Credit Agricole's US economist, Marinov points to the potential for a US recession in the second half of 2023.

He suggests that during periods when debt ceiling issues coincide with a US recession, as was the case in 2008 and 2009, the USD has emerged as the best performing G10 currency.

Marinov believes this could serve as a relevant template for the FX markets if the debt ceiling is only temporarily extended or suspended until September.

"Furthermore, our US economist expects the US to slip into a recession in H223. We thus note that the USD has emerged as the best performing G10 currency when debt ceiling episodes coincided with a US recession as was the case in 2008 and 2009," says Marinov.

Considering a Potential US Sovereign Downgrade

Marinov recalls the single instance of a US downgrade, by S&P following the 2011 debt ceiling episode, and points out that despite the downgrade, the US Dollar exchange rates managed to near-term recoup losses following the resolution.

"To date, there has been only one US downgrade  by S&P in the wake of the 2011 debt ceiling episode. The downgrade did not prevent the USD from regaining ground in the months following the resolution," says Marinov.

Furthermore, he expresses the view that while a failure to resolve the debt ceiling issue, leading to a US default, remains a very unlikely outcome, it could potentially fuel extreme market volatility.

Such a situation could boost the USD and US Treasury securities, given their unparalleled liquidity.

"Last but not least, a potential failure to resolve the debt ceiling issue and a US default remains a very unlikely outcome in our view that could nevertheless fuel extreme market volatility and thus support the USD and USTs given their unparalleled liquidity," he adds.
Wednesday, May 17, 2023

Born in Houston, Texas, on November 2, 1922, Warren Gamaliel Harding Crecy joined the U.S. Army in 1942, following in the footsteps of countless African Americans who sought to serve their country despite facing racial discrimination. Crecys journey took him to the 761st Tank Battalion, an all-black unit which would go on to earn the nickname Black Panthers for their unwavering bravery on the battlefield.

Assigned to the tank destroyer section, Crecy displayed exceptional skill and courage. The 761st Black Panther Battalion, under the command of Lt. Col. Paul L. Bates, entered combat in Europe in November 1944. Their initial mission was to support the 26th Infantry Division during the Battle of the Bulge, a critical turning point in the war.

One of the most remarkable examples of Sergeant Crecys valor and quick thinking occurred during a pivotal moment in combat. While engaged in a mission, his tank was immobilized by an antitank emplacement, presenting a significant threat to his crew and the success of the operation. Without hesitation, Crecy took immediate action to rectify the situation and ensure the safety of his comrades.

Crecy swiftly exited the immobilized tank, determined to neutralize the enemy position that had halted their progress. Displaying resourcefulness and bravery, he commandeered a nearby jeep armed with a .30 caliber machine gun. With relentless determination, Crecy unleashed a hail of bullets towards the German emplacement, effectively eliminating most of the enemy occupants and forcing the remaining few to retreat in the face of his onslaught. This act of heroism not only neutralized the threat but also provided an opportunity for his tank crew to regroup and reenter the battle.

However, the display of Crecys courage did not end there. In another critical engagement outside Morville, his second tank found itself immobilized in treacherous mud, subjected to relentless enemy fire from German machine guns. Undeterred by the dire circumstances, Crecy disembarked from the tank, surveying the intense enemy fire and realizing the peril faced by an infantry unit near his position. Recognizing the urgency to aid his fellow soldiers, Crecy climbed atop his immobilized tank and manned the .50 caliber machine gun mounted on its turret.

With remarkable marksmanship and unwavering resolve, Crecy skillfully directed a barrage of fire towards the German positions, creating a diversion and covering fire for the infantry personnel. His actions provided them with a crucial means of escape from the perilous situation they found themselves in. The selfless and decisive actions taken by Crecy undoubtedly saved lives and exemplified his exceptional leadership and dedication to his fellow soldiers.

In recognition of his outstanding bravery and resourcefulness in the face of enemy fire, Sgt. Crecy was later awarded the Silver Star. This prestigious honor acknowledged his extraordinary actions and their significant impact on the success of the mission and the safety of his comrades.

Warren Gamaliel Harding Crecys story is one of bravery, sacrifice, and the enduring physical and emotional toll that war inflicts on those who serve. Despite the challenges he faced, Crecys unwavering dedication to his country and his resilience in the face of adversity continue to inspire and serve as a reminder of the sacrifices made by countless servicemen and women in the pursuit of freedom and peace.
Wednesday, May 17, 2023

As a small business owner, you understand how essential it is to create a powerful brand. A clearly defined brand will help to distinguish your business from your rivals, as well as giving your company an identity. However, with so many marketing opportunities out there, it can be difficult to choose which to concentrate on. In this post, courtesy of Brain Swell Media, well discuss some of the best tactics for constructing a successful small business brand that will help you stand out in the market, as well as which Adobe Express products are best for enhancing your marketing strategies.

Aligning Your Brand Message with Your Values

To establish a successful brand, it is essential to define your core values. What are the essential beliefs and messages that your company stands for? What makes your business unique and differentiates it from the competition? Once you identify your values and vision, it is important to ensure that your brand messaging is consistent with these values, across all of your marketing channels, from your website to your social media posts.

Pro Tip: Create and embrace your core values.

Establishing core values is an important step to ensure your business is successful. The infographic below can help you align your venture with your values. Try this 10-minute brainstorming exercise to uncover what means the most to you and for your business.

A Personalized Approach for a Better Reach

To maximize the success of your business, it is essential to understand who your target audience is. Market research can be utilized to uncover the demographic information, psychographic characteristics, and behaviors of your ideal customer. This data can then be used to craft more personalized and impactful marketing messages and identify the best channels to reach your intended audience.

Opt for a Versatile Logo Design

Your logo is the visual embodiment of your brand. It should be attractive, memorable, and accurately reflect your values. It should also be flexible enough to be used on various platforms and mediums. Once you have a logo, you can begin to create brand recognition through its consistent use on your website, social media, and other promotional materials.

Pro Tip: Create a memorable logo.

Creating a memorable logo can be made simpler with the Adobe Express Business Logo maker. This handy design tool makes it easy to create a professional logo in three easy steps. It provides a library of templates, vector graphics, and fonts, which you can customize to create a logo that meets your needs.

The Components of an Engaging Brand Voice

Your brand voice is the identity of your company and should be consistent throughout all of your marketing efforts. It includes the language, tone, and messaging that you use when interacting with your customers. By creating a strong, recognizable brand voice, you can create a connection with your audience and make your business stand out from the competition.

Pro Tip: Share your unique brand voice via social media.

Small business owners need to prioritize creating a unique brand voice that resonates with their customers in order to succeed. The Adobe Express Instagram Post tool provides a great opportunity to do this, with its customizable filters, text, graphics, and layout controls.

Best Practices for a User-Friendly Website

Your website is the central hub of your online presence. It needs to be visually pleasing, easy to navigate, and provide content that is valuable to your customers. Your website should also accurately reflect your brand values and messaging. Optimizing your website for search engines will help your target audience to find you quickly.

Pro Tip: Design a website that is easy to navigate.

Making your website user-friendly can help small business brand-building by improving the user experience and creating a positive impression of your brand. The Adobe Express Website Page template tool offers a wide range of features that can help create a user-friendly website. It provides an easy-to-use drag-and-drop interface for creating and editing web pages, and its templates are optimized for mobile devices.

Incorporate Your Brand Identity Into Various Platforms

Once you have formed a distinct brand identity, regulations, and narrative, it is time to integrate it into your marketing campaigns. This could include your website, social media, stationery, packaging, and more. Make sure each promotional material applies the same language, color scheme, font style, and design elements to ensure uniformity.

Pro Tip: Design a dashing header for your social media.

Posting regularly and using targeted keywords and catchy headers is one of the best strategies for building a small business brand. Utilizing the Adobe Express Twitter Header maker can help you create customized headers that show off your brands personality, driving website traffic and improving your followers. This will enable you to stand out from the competition and make your brand more recognizable.

Identify the Right Influencers for Your Brand

Partnering with influencers in your industry can help to boost your brands visibility and trustworthiness. Seek out influencers who share similar ideals and target audiences to your own. They can create content that puts your brand in the spotlight, introducing it to new and interested customers.

In Conclusion

Small business brand-building is a critical part of success and should not be overlooked. Aligning your brand message and values, creating a versatile logo design, and developing a user-friendly website are all essential tactics for success. With the right strategies and dedication, small businesses can create a strong, memorable brand that will help them stand out from the competition.
TUESDAY, May 16, 2023 (HealthDay News) -- When parents talk to their toddlers, they are not only teaching them words, but may be shaping their developing brains, too, a new study suggests.

Researchers found that toddlers whose parents spent a lot of time talking to them day to day showed a particular brain characteristic: a greater concentration of myelin in language-related parts of the brain.

Myelin is a protective layer of protein and fat that wraps around nerve fibers in the brain, helping to speed the transmission of electrical signals through them.

The new findings suggest that when toddlers are exposed to more chat, their brains accumulate myelin more rapidly than youngsters who hear fewer words.

"Myelination of the brain is really important, as it makes communication between brain cells more efficient. This, in turn, can help speed up thinking," said senior researcher John Spencer, a professor of psychology at the University of East Anglia in England.

It's unclear whether toddlers with relatively more myelin in language areas of the brain ultimately develop stronger language skills. But Spencer said his team is following the same children over time, so the answer to that question may be coming.

For now, he said, the message for parents is simple: "Talk, talk, talk to your children."

That goes for infants, too, according to Spencer. Even though they may not know language yet, he said, "they are listening, and your input literally helps shape their brains."

The study, published May 15 in the Journal of Neuroscience, involved 163 babies and toddlers who were around the ages of 6 months and 30 months, respectively. All wore small recording devices for up to 16 hours a day, for three days, to capture the amount of adult chatter they were hearing.

That could have included parents and other caregivers talking to them, reading to them, or simply talking to someone else nearby.

The researchers then used MRI scans to quantify the amount of myelin in specific language-related areas of the youngsters' brains.

Among the toddlers, the study found, there was a direct correlation between the amount of adult talking they heard and the concentration of myelin in their brains. That was not the case, however, for the 6-month-olds: Babies surrounded by more chatter showed less myelination versus other infants.

The reason is not clear. But Spencer speculated on a possible explanation: A 6-month-old's brain, he said, is primarily concerned with growing more cells, whereas myelination is "ramping up" in the toddler brain.

It's possible, Spencer said, that parents' words help support whatever their child's brain needs the most at that point: cell growth in infancy and myelination in toddlerhood.

Anand Patel is a child psychologist at Montefiore Medical Center in New York City. He said it makes sense that a young child's "interactions with the world" could create physiological change in the brain.

Oftentimes, Patel said, parents' talk time with their babies and toddlers is seen as a way to bond emotionally -- which it is, he noted.

But as this study demonstrates, it may also be a critical contributor to their brain development, said Patel, who was not involved in the research.

Talking to your little one does not have to mean a formal "learn this word" lesson. In fact, Patel said, teaching language "indirectly" -- just by talking -- is a better approach.

That can include talking "serve-and-return" style with a toddler, or singing a song or reading a book aloud. Parents can also talk "broadcaster" style, Patel said. When they're making dinner, for instance, they can narrate what they're doing to their child sitting in the high chair.

That, Patel said, is a helpful point for busy parents. They can fit talk time in while they're going about their daily tasks.

Since we live in the era of devices, the findings do bring up the question: Can hearing any talking, from a parent in the room or a voice on a smart pad, boost young children's brain development?

The study did not address that. But Patel said he believes that while limited amounts of device time may be OK, "nothing can replace the human interaction."

"Given that we're in this electronic age," Patel said, "I think a study like this emphasizes the importance of parent-child interactions -- not only for their emotional and mental well-being, but for their brain development as well."

More information

The American Academy of Pediatrics has resources on early childhood development.

SOURCES: John P. Spencer, PhD, professor, School of Psychology, University of East Anglia, Norwich, U.K.; Anand V. Patel, PsyD, child psychologist, Pediatric Behavioral Health Integration Program, Montefiore Medical Center, New York City; Journal of Neuroscience, May 15, 2023, online
The big picture: Dr. Lindsay Boik-Price says: "Cleaning around the house doesn't always have to require the use of a lot of chemicals!"

In the news: New research is showing that certain common chemical disinfectants and cleaning products containing QACs could lead to developmental and reproductive toxicity.

After reading this article you should try to balance cleanliness with safety. Try opting for safer cleaning methods like soap and water whenever possible. Also, read the labels to know what kind of strong chemicals are being used in your cleaning products.

Key Findings

A review of studies, recently published, shows that quaternary ammonium compounds (QACs) are used in a lot of antimicrobial solutions commonly found in our cleaning solutions. The issue here is that a lot of these chemicals have not been screened for potential health hazards.

Another issue stemming from the heavy use of QAC-containing chemical solutions is the risk of antimicrobial resistance, which can lead to "superbugs." These are infections that are resistant to currently available antibiotics. Currently, these 'superbugs' contribute to millions of deaths across the world.

The researchers noted that individuals, schools, and workplaces should reconsider their cleaning practices. They recommend opting for safer cleaners & disinfectants. Regular cleaning with soap or detergent can remove most types of harmful germs from surfaces.

Did you know: Disinfectant use should be limited and protective measures such as gloves, eyeglasses or safety glasses, and proper ventilation should always be employed.

Did you know that almost 2157.0 peopled died in Montana from some form of Cancer in 2021?

The Health Standard Newswire

Doctor's Expert Insights about Reducing Chemical Use in Cleaners

Know this: "Look, no doubt about it, it's important to practice good hygiene with safe and natural methods. Regular hand washing with warm water and soap for at least 20 seconds is your first line of defense against germs. Instead of relying heavily on chemical disinfectants, consider natural alternatives like vinegar or baking soda for cleaning surfaces. Always remember, the key to a healthy environment isn't just cleanliness, but it's also the mindful use of cleaning products." Dr. Puja Uppal, Family Medicine.

Next steps: Know that some of the chemical disinfectants can exacerbate and even contribute to your skin dermatitis. If you experience any type of allergic reaction, stop using that product immediately.

Living in Billings, the following cancer and health facts impact your well-being directly!

Did you know that 5.9% of the adults living in Yellowstone County have had some sort of cancer?

5.6% of the adults living in Yellowstone County have COPD.

11.0% of the adults living in Yellowstone County are in poor or fair health?

Chemical use: Moderation is Key.

What they're saying:

"Regulate QACs consistently across different uses and agencies and consider exposure from multiple sources when evaluating allowable concentrations, formulations, and conditions of use.

Require full disclosure of the exact QACs used in all products, their functions (including for non-antimicrobial use such as material preservation or odor control), and production volumes. Achieving full transparency from manufacturers will likely require legislative or regulatory changes and collaboration across all relevant government agencies." (Primary Source)

"In the meantime, my colleagues and I recommend that individuals, schools and workplaces take a close look at their cleaning practices to see where disinfectants can be replaced with safe cleaners or safer disinfectants.

Cleaning with soap or detergent removes most types of harmful germs like COVID-19 from surfaces. While disinfection can help kill any remaining microbes, it should be limited to situations where people have been actively ill, such as vomit on a surface, and during certain disease outbreaks." (The Conversation)

Sources:

The Journal Environmental Science & Technology published the findings: Association of the Quaternary Ammonium Compounds: A Chemical Class of Emerging Concern (Read it Here)

Indoor Air Pollution Facts & Stats for Billings: (World Health Organization)

Household air pollution was responsible for an estimated 3.2 million deaths per year in 2020, including over 237 000 deaths of children under the age of 5.

The Health Standard Newswire
The big picture: Dr. Lindsay Boik-Price says: "Cleaning around the house doesn't always have to require the use of a lot of chemicals!"

In the news: New research is showing that certain common chemical disinfectants and cleaning products containing QACs could lead to developmental and reproductive toxicity.

After reading this article you should try to balance cleanliness with safety. Try opting for safer cleaning methods like soap and water whenever possible. Also, read the labels to know what kind of strong chemicals are being used in your cleaning products.

Key Findings

A review of studies, recently published, shows that quaternary ammonium compounds (QACs) are used in a lot of antimicrobial solutions commonly found in our cleaning solutions. The issue here is that a lot of these chemicals have not been screened for potential health hazards.

Another issue stemming from the heavy use of QAC-containing chemical solutions is the risk of antimicrobial resistance, which can lead to "superbugs." These are infections that are resistant to currently available antibiotics. Currently, these 'superbugs' contribute to millions of deaths across the world.

The researchers noted that individuals, schools, and workplaces should reconsider their cleaning practices. They recommend opting for safer cleaners & disinfectants. Regular cleaning with soap or detergent can remove most types of harmful germs from surfaces.

Did you know: Disinfectant use should be limited and protective measures such as gloves, eyeglasses or safety glasses, and proper ventilation should always be employed.

Did you know that almost 2157.0 peopled died in Montana from some form of Cancer in 2021?

The Health Standard Newswire

Doctor's Expert Insights about Reducing Chemical Use in Cleaners

Know this: "Look, no doubt about it, it's important to practice good hygiene with safe and natural methods. Regular hand washing with warm water and soap for at least 20 seconds is your first line of defense against germs. Instead of relying heavily on chemical disinfectants, consider natural alternatives like vinegar or baking soda for cleaning surfaces. Always remember, the key to a healthy environment isn't just cleanliness, but it's also the mindful use of cleaning products." Dr. Puja Uppal, Family Medicine.

Next steps: Know that some of the chemical disinfectants can exacerbate and even contribute to your skin dermatitis. If you experience any type of allergic reaction, stop using that product immediately.

Living in Great Falls, the following cancer and health facts impact your well-being directly!

Did you know that 6.2% of the adults living in Cascade County have had some sort of cancer?

6.3% of the adults living in Cascade County have COPD.

13.0% of the adults living in Cascade County are in poor or fair health?

Chemical use: Moderation is Key.

What they're saying:

"Regulate QACs consistently across different uses and agencies and consider exposure from multiple sources when evaluating allowable concentrations, formulations, and conditions of use.

Require full disclosure of the exact QACs used in all products, their functions (including for non-antimicrobial use such as material preservation or odor control), and production volumes. Achieving full transparency from manufacturers will likely require legislative or regulatory changes and collaboration across all relevant government agencies." (Primary Source)

"In the meantime, my colleagues and I recommend that individuals, schools and workplaces take a close look at their cleaning practices to see where disinfectants can be replaced with safe cleaners or safer disinfectants.

Cleaning with soap or detergent removes most types of harmful germs like COVID-19 from surfaces. While disinfection can help kill any remaining microbes, it should be limited to situations where people have been actively ill, such as vomit on a surface, and during certain disease outbreaks." (The Conversation)

Sources:

The Journal Environmental Science & Technology published the findings: Association of the Quaternary Ammonium Compounds: A Chemical Class of Emerging Concern (Read it Here)

Indoor Air Pollution Facts & Stats for Great Falls: (World Health Organization)

Household air pollution was responsible for an estimated 3.2 million deaths per year in 2020, including over 237 000 deaths of children under the age of 5.

The Health Standard Newswire
The big picture: Dr. Lindsay Boik-Price says: "Cleaning around the house doesn't always have to require the use of a lot of chemicals!"

In the news: New research is showing that certain common chemical disinfectants and cleaning products containing QACs could lead to developmental and reproductive toxicity.

After reading this article you should try to balance cleanliness with safety. Try opting for safer cleaning methods like soap and water whenever possible. Also, read the labels to know what kind of strong chemicals are being used in your cleaning products.

Key Findings

A review of studies, recently published, shows that quaternary ammonium compounds (QACs) are used in a lot of antimicrobial solutions commonly found in our cleaning solutions. The issue here is that a lot of these chemicals have not been screened for potential health hazards.

Another issue stemming from the heavy use of QAC-containing chemical solutions is the risk of antimicrobial resistance, which can lead to "superbugs." These are infections that are resistant to currently available antibiotics. Currently, these 'superbugs' contribute to millions of deaths across the world.

The researchers noted that individuals, schools, and workplaces should reconsider their cleaning practices. They recommend opting for safer cleaners & disinfectants. Regular cleaning with soap or detergent can remove most types of harmful germs from surfaces.

Did you know: Disinfectant use should be limited and protective measures such as gloves, eyeglasses or safety glasses, and proper ventilation should always be employed.

Did you know that almost 2157.0 peopled died in Montana from some form of Cancer in 2021?

The Health Standard Newswire

Doctor's Expert Insights about Reducing Chemical Use in Cleaners

Know this: "Look, no doubt about it, it's important to practice good hygiene with safe and natural methods. Regular hand washing with warm water and soap for at least 20 seconds is your first line of defense against germs. Instead of relying heavily on chemical disinfectants, consider natural alternatives like vinegar or baking soda for cleaning surfaces. Always remember, the key to a healthy environment isn't just cleanliness, but it's also the mindful use of cleaning products." Dr. Puja Uppal, Family Medicine.

Next steps: Know that some of the chemical disinfectants can exacerbate and even contribute to your skin dermatitis. If you experience any type of allergic reaction, stop using that product immediately.

Living in Missoula, the following cancer and health facts impact your well-being directly!

Did you know that 5.9% of the adults living in Missoula County have had some sort of cancer?

5.2% of the adults living in Missoula County have COPD.

10.0% of the adults living in Missoula County are in poor or fair health?

Chemical use: Moderation is Key.

What they're saying:

"Regulate QACs consistently across different uses and agencies and consider exposure from multiple sources when evaluating allowable concentrations, formulations, and conditions of use.

Require full disclosure of the exact QACs used in all products, their functions (including for non-antimicrobial use such as material preservation or odor control), and production volumes. Achieving full transparency from manufacturers will likely require legislative or regulatory changes and collaboration across all relevant government agencies." (Primary Source)

"In the meantime, my colleagues and I recommend that individuals, schools and workplaces take a close look at their cleaning practices to see where disinfectants can be replaced with safe cleaners or safer disinfectants.

Cleaning with soap or detergent removes most types of harmful germs like COVID-19 from surfaces. While disinfection can help kill any remaining microbes, it should be limited to situations where people have been actively ill, such as vomit on a surface, and during certain disease outbreaks." (The Conversation)

Sources:

The Journal Environmental Science & Technology published the findings: Association of the Quaternary Ammonium Compounds: A Chemical Class of Emerging Concern (Read it Here)

Indoor Air Pollution Facts & Stats for Missoula: (World Health Organization)

Household air pollution was responsible for an estimated 3.2 million deaths per year in 2020, including over 237 000 deaths of children under the age of 5.

The Health Standard Newswire
Gov. Greg Gianforte claps before signing five abortion laws on May 3, 2023. (Photo by Nicole Girten/Daily Montanan)

Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte signed four more bills this week targeting abortion access, including one that is already being challenged in court, just days after the state Supreme Court again affirmed that abortion is protected under the state constitutions right to privacy.

Chief among the measures he signed Tuesday is House Bill 721, sponsored by House Speaker Matt Regier, R-Kalispell, which creates a ban in most instances on pre-viability abortions via the dilation and evacuation procedure  the most common method used for abortions for pregnancies 15 or more weeks from conception in Montana. Its also referred to as a surgical abortion.

At a news conference earlier this month in which the Republican governor signed five other abortion restriction bills, Gianforte called the method barbaric and said it was dangerous for women and demeaning to medical professionals who perform the procedures.

The dilation and evacuation abortion procedure involves a practitioner removing a fetus from a persons uterus through the use of surgical instruments. It is most often used in the second trimester of a pregnancy, while medication abortions are more often used in the first trimester.

Planned Parenthood of Montana filed a preemptive lawsuit against HB721 on April 10 in Lewis and Clark County District Court, but the judge in the case did not at the time grant a temporary restraining order against it because it had not been signed into law. Now that it has been signed, the bulk of the bill is in effect immediately.

Planned Parenthood of Montana argued in its suit that the immediate ban means people seeking abortions through the dilation and evacuation procedure would suffer immediate irreparable harm if the bill was signed and that the measure violates Montanans right to privacy under the state constitution.

The organization refiled its request for a temporary restraining order Tuesday afternoon after the governor signed the bill.

Planned Parenthood of Montana President and CEO Martha Fuller said despite the newly signed law, and the effort to block it, the organization will do everything possible to provide essential abortion care to our patients.

HB 721 is a grave threat to Montanans health and safety and must be blocked, Fuller said in a statement. Given the laws immediate effective date, patients across the state can already be denied access to care that was legally available moments before the governors signature today. We hope the court will block this dangerous abortion ban.

As of Tuesday afternoon, that lawsuit, which also challenges House Bill 575, and another targeting the Department of Public Health and Human Services rule restricting Medicaid-covered abortions, were set for hearings on plaintiffs requests for preliminary injunctions next Tuesday.

Temporary restraining orders have already been granted against both HB575 and the DPHHS rule.

Gianfortes signing of the bill comes just days after the Montana Supreme Court ruled unanimously that advanced practice nurses can perform abortions in Montana in a decision that also reaffirmed Montanans right to abortion access through the constitutional right to privacy.

Article II, Section 10, of the Montana Constitution guarantees a woman a fundamental right of privacy to seek abortion care from a qualified health care provider of her choosing, absent a clear demonstration of a medically acknowledged, bona fide health risk, the justices wrote in their opinion.

Gianforte also on Monday and Tuesday signed three other Republican bills tied to abortion: House Bill 544, which prohibits Medicaid abortion funding for medically necessary abortions; House Bill 862, which prohibits Medicaid from funding abortions unless they are the result of rape or incest, or if the mothers life is in danger; and House Bill 937, which would have the state license and inspect abortion providers, their facilities and employees.

Im proud to round out our legislative session with another suite of pro-life, pro-family bills that protect the lives of unborn babies in Montana, Gianforte said in a statement.

Now, the nine measures Gianforte identified earlier this month as being priority reproductive health bills have been signed into law. The governor also signed Rep. Courtenay Sprungers House Bill 225 on Tuesday, which will provide Montanans who adopt children $5,000 or $7,500 tax credits depending on whether the child was adopted from Montana.

We can all agree that children in foster care deserve a hope, a family, and a future, and the families willing to open their loving arms to them need our support, Sprunger, a Kalispell Republican, said in a statement.

But Gianforte also Tuesday vetoed another bill regarding abortion access  House Bill 968, sponsored by Rep. Amy Regier, R-Kalispell. The bill lowered the age that a pregnant girl would be considered an adult from 18 to 16 and made changes to existing law about parental consent for minors receiving abortions.

Gianforte said in his veto letter that parental rights were key in minors considering abortions and that the bill diminishes this vital role in two ways.

First, he said, it puts 16-year-olds in the position of considering an abortion without parental consultation, which he said would further isolate and alienate the teenager. Second, he said the bill allows an abortion specialist to be substituted for the parent, adding that medical professionals are no substitute for a parent.

Whatever state constitutional rights may or may not exist, they must and always will yield to individual constitutional rights established under the federal constitution, Gianforte wrote. Parental rights supersede whatever abortion rights exist in this state.

Opponents of the abortion bills, including medical providers and Democrats in the legislature, had said during the session they believed most, if not all, of the slate of abortion bills passed by Republicans and signed by Gianforte would be challenged in court.

HB575, which effectively bans abortions after 24 weeks and requires a woman seeking an abortion to first receive an ultrasound before proceeding, was already blocked by a temporary restraining order issued by a Lewis and Clark County District Court judge earlier this month.

The Montana Supreme Courts 1999 decision in State vs. Armstrong found a citizens right to privacy includes medical decisions made between a doctor and patient, which extends to abortions. The decision has been affirmed several times since then.

But Gianforte and much of the supermajority Republican legislature supported more attempts to restrict abortion through several means, and they are expecting litigation on the bills and others that are likely to be challenged in court.

Lawmakers budgeted $2 million during the next biennium for the state to defend bills Gianforte signed from the 2021 session or signs from this session that will, or already do, face lawsuits challenging their constitutionality or lawfulness.

The post Gianforte signs additional abortion restriction bills; one court challenge already refiled appeared first on Daily Montanan.
Recently, New York reached an agreement to become the first state to ban natural gas hookups in new construction, heralding a novel era of consumer restrictions.

The ban will take effect for new constructions starting in 2026 according to the budget deal announced by Governor Hochul. With this deal, the state has leapfrogged ahead of Bidens Department of Energy, which has released a proposed regulation that would effectively ban 50% of the gas stove market. Both Biden and Hochul support their bans as efforts to shift from natural gas consumption to electricity generated by zero-emissions renewables. In this way, they hope to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, slow climate change, and avoid indoor air pollution.

The problem is, natural gas bans are unlikely to work that way, and in the meantime, they restrict consumer choices and jeopardize the innovation that has led the U.S. to cleaner, safer technologies. Prioritizing climate change considerations over all else will serve only to stop consumers from using the type of energy that works best for their situations.

Theres also the question of whether the ban will be overturned. A federal appeals court in April found that Berkeley, Californias 2019 gas stove ban is preempted by the federal 1975 Energy Policy and Conservation Act, which gives the final say over restrictions on energy use for appliances. The Ninth Circuits decision is not binding on New York, but its logic may inform the expected legal challenges to New Yorks ban.

Unlike the Consumer Product Safety Commission, which in January 2023 cited hidden hazards and childhood asthma as reasons to consider a ban, Governor Hochul does not promote the measure as a health and safety concern. Instead, she praised the states budget for prioritizing nation-leading climate action. But  aside from constitutionality  a natural gas ban is unlikely to have the impact that Ms. Hochul might hope. Electricity is predominantly produced with natural gas, and renewables are currently a small fraction of generating capacity and have significant environmental costs to produce.

As of 2021, natural gas represents 32% of U.S. energy consumption. Nationwide, 38% of households used natural gas for cooking in 2020 and 61% for any end-use. New Yorks ban goes beyond restricting the use of natural gas stoves by banning natural gas hookups in newly-constructed small buildings by 2026 and large buildings by 2028. But consumers in New York have clearly revealed their preference for natural gas as 58.7% of New York households used natural gas for home heating in 2021. Many households currently using natural gas might prefer to keep it  especially in brutal New York winters.

Ms. Hochul also stated that New York would be the first state in the nation to advance zero-emission new homes and buildings. Thats not entirely true: Natural gas-fired power plants currently comprise almost three-fifths of New Yorks generating capacity. Thus the ban is likely to simply shift natural gas consumption and emissions from households to utilities as electricity companies work to meet the increased demand from these zero-emission homes. Nuclear power wont be able to make up the difference either, as its only one-quarter of New Yorks generating capacity and declining due to reactor retirements, despite its safe and reliable track record.

While Ms. Hochul might hope non-hydroelectric renewable energy sources  which currently make up less than 10% of New Yorks generating capacity  will become more prevalent over the next three years and generate electricity for these new zero-emission, homes, non-hydroelectric renewable energy is not truly zero-emissions, either. Wind and solar energy must be coupled with battery storage to ensure that episodic energy is available for use on demand. The manufacturing of batteries, as well as wind turbines and solar panels themselves, requires electricity  probably generated through coal or natural gas. Wind and solar also create high levels of non-recyclable waste and require mining of toxic elements such as lithium and cadmium, which are predominantly produced in places overseas with less-stringent environmental and labor standards than in the U.S.

Consumers may choose to use electric stoves on their own accord, but forcing them to use technologies that are suboptimal for their individual situations wont make climate causes more appealing  especially when those methods arent likely to deliver the promised environmental benefits. The free market will continue to improve emission-free energy-generating technologies, but mandating certain technologies may actually slow the pace of innovation, all while limiting consumer choice.

Top-down policies like New Yorks natural gas hookups ban and the DOEs proposed emissions standards restrict consumer choice and jeopardize innovation. If Ms. Hochul and the Biden administration are seriously worried about climate change, theyd do best to let the free market do its work.

Sarah Montalbano is the Education Policy Analyst at Alaska Policy Forum and Northwest Regional Leader with Young Voices. Ms. Montalbano is also a visiting fellow at the Independent Womens Forum. Follow her on Twitter: @SarahMontalban0
The U.S. Supreme Court on May 11 upheld Californias right to forbid the sale of pork in the state unless farmers abide by its animal welfare rules.

The ruling in favor of Californias Proposition 12, which requires more space for breeding pigs, will increase prices for consumers and drive small farms out of business, said Scott Hays, president of the National Pork Producers Council, one of the groups that brought the case to the highest court in the land.

A majority of the high court  Justices Neil Gorsuch, Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, Amy Coney Barrett and Clarence Thomas  agreed that lower courts had correctly dismissed pork producers challenge to the law, but the justices were not united in their reasoning.

Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Samuel Alito, Brett Kavanaugh and Kentanji Brown Jackson dissented, saying the law should have been kept alive and the case should have been sent back to lower courts for more work.

Farm groups argued the production standards arbitrarily laid out by Prop 12 would impact primarily farms outside of California, as most hogs are raised elsewhere in the country, thus violating the U.S. Constitution. They also said it would cost producers hundreds of millions to build or retrofit compliant facilities, likely increasing the price of pork nationwide.

Impact

Pork producers were joined by a chorus of outcry from other agricultural groups, as well as several members of Congress, including Sens. Chuck Grassley and Joni Ernst, both R-Iowa, and Sen. John Boozman, R-Arkansas.

Prop 12 remains a costly burden to producers and provides no benefit to animals or consumers, said Julie Anna Potts, president of the North American Meat Institute.

Hays said in a call with reporters May 12 that the National Pork Producers Council is disappointed in the ruling and the group is still evaluating the courts full opinion.

Hays, a Missouri hog farmer, said doesnt plan to change his operation to comply with Prop 12, but he wonders how long hell have a market if other states begin to require such rules. He was also concerned about the welfare of pigs moved to group housing. One of the industrys arguments against requiring sows to be in group housing was that it would jeopardize sow safety.

The thing is, sows are bullies, he said. Theres going to be a boss sow.

Prop 12 is set to go into effect July 1. Michael Formica, National Pork Producers chief legal strategist, said the group is working with California officials to determine what implementation looks like so that there are minimal disruptions to the marketplace.

Formica was also concerned about the precedence this decision set beyond pork, that it allowed one state to push its moral standards on another state.

Background

In 2018, California voters passed Proposition 12, a ballot initiative developed by the Humane Society of the United State that amends the California Health and Safety Code to prohibit confining breeding pigs, egg-laying hens and veal calves in a cruel manner. According to California, this means female pigs 6 months of age or older must have at least 24 square feet of usable floor space per animal, to be able to turn around and lie down. The regulation also prohibits the sale of pork from other states that did not follow this space requirement.

The National Pork Producers Council and American Farm Bureau Federation sued, arguing that Prop 12 violated the dormant commerce clause, which says that because Congress has power over interstate commerce states cannot discriminate against or unduly burden interstate commerce.

California has less than 1% of the nations breeding pig herd but consumes about 13% of pork eaten in the U.S., so Prop 12 would primarily impact other states, the farm groups argued. About three-quarters of American farmers with breeding hogs keep them in individual pens that would not be compliant with Californias rules.

Pork producers also said that the way the pork market works, with cuts of meat from various producers being combined before sale, it is likely all pork would have to meet California standards, regardless of where it is sold. Complying with Prop 12 could cost the industry $290 million to $350 million, they said.

The Biden administration urged justices to side with the farm groups, telling the court in written filings that Prop 12 would be a wholesale change in how pork is raised and marketed in this country and that it has thrown a giant wrench into the nations pork market.

Supreme Court decision

During arguments in the case in October, justices underscored the potential reach of the case. Some worried whether greenlighting the animal cruelty law would give state legislators a license to pass laws targeting practices they disapprove of, such as a law that says a product cannot be sold in the state if workers who made it are not vaccinated or are not in the country legally. They also worried about the reverse: How many state laws would be called into question if Californias law were not permitted?

In the end, Gorsuch said in his opinion that the pork producers challenging the law were inviting the justices to fashion two new and more aggressive constitutional restrictions on the ability of States to regulate goods sold within their borders.

We decline that invitation. While the Constitution addresses many weighty issues, the type of pork chops California merchants may sell is not on that list, he wrote. Pork producers should instead turn to Congress for relief from state laws they dislike.

(2023 Farm and Dairy. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. AP contributed to this report.)
Forestry grants must become more farmer-friendly and support the establishment of smaller areas of trees that can integrate into farms, NFU Scotland has said.

The asks follow a six-week survey of the union's members, which will be used as a response to the Scottish governments consultation on the Forestry Grant Scheme.

Scottish farmers and crofters who took part also highlighted concerns over the award of planting grants to establish trees on productive farmland.

NFU Scotland said the Scottish government must recognise that farmers wanted a "right tree in the right place" policy.

The union's vice president, Andrew Connon said: Members remain deeply concerned about the volume of productive land in Scotland that is being taken out of agricultural production for trees.

"This loss of productive land is regularly supported by the existing forestry grant scheme."

Responses pointed to the fact that large swathes of productive farmland were being bought by private investors looking to offset carbon emissions in their own industries.

Farmers highlighted fears that this was not being done with food production or nature in mind, but a way to satisfy individual business interests at the expense of rural areas.

Responding to the concerns, NFU Scotland said that greenwashing remained a huge concern for farmers and crofters.

On future budgets for planting, the majority of responses believed that food production should be the priority for the agriculture budget.

Forestry and woodland funding should not dilute this and come from a separate funding stream, farmers said in the survey.

Of those respondents who have had experience of applying for forestry grants, the vast majority found the current process complicated and expensive.

A lack of support from Scottish Forestry advisors saw many having to employ consultants to complete applications.

Mr Connon said that had been "prohibitive" and must change if small-scale planting was to be encouraged.

We need an easier application process, less red tape and support for smaller areas of woodland, shelter belts and hedgerows that we can integrate into existing agricultural activities," he added.

We will continue to engage with Scottish Forestry on the development of the grant scheme to ensure its workable for farmers and crofters.
Lesbian and bisexual women have a higher risk of suffering from heart disease.

Lesbian and bisexual women are at a higher risk of heart disease

Researchers have recommended that cardiologists ask patients about their sexual orientation during heart checkups as lesbian and bisexual females are more likely to suffer from the disease than those who are straight.

However, gay men are at a lower risk compared to heterosexual males of the same age.

It is not clear why female minorities have a greater risk of heart disease but discrimination and higher poverty rates could be behind the findings.

The study suggested that knowing a patient's sexuality could "help improve" the healthcare that is offered.

Lead author Dr. Omar Deraz, of the Universite Paris Cite in France, said: "Improving cultural competency and awareness of cardiovascular disease risk among sexual minority adults may help to improve conversations between doctors and patients about cardiovascular health, including prevention and management.

"Understanding and overcoming barriers to health care access are essential to improve cardiovascular disease prevention and care in sexual minorities."
Vladimir Putin has been told to keep quiet and "start listening" when it comes to talking about Russia.

Vladimir Putin has been told to shut up and start listening

The Russian despot launched his invasion of Ukraine last year with the intent of taking back former Soviet Union territory to reestablish Moscow's past glories.

The Kremlin was angered last week when Poland ditched the name Kaliningrad and renamed the city Kroleweic and John Bryson - professor of Enterprise and Economic Geography at the University of Birmingham - thinks that Putin and his cronies should realise when it is time to stay tight-lipped on issues of territory.

He told the Daily Star newspaper: "In what ways does Putin's irredentism reflect weaknesses in Russia's ability to think and act strategically?

"There are many issues to raise here, but a key weakness is Russia's inability to remain silent on territorial issues."

Bryson continued: "In strategic terms, listening is often more important than talking and knowing when not to respond to an issue is an important strength.

"The Russian government too often makes unsupported statements, responds too rapidly and in anger, and makes statements that raise questions that are not in Russia's long-term strategic interests."

Bryson pointed out that Moscow should have stayed silent in response to Poland's declaration about Kaliningrad.

He said: "The Kremlin's spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, reacted immediately to this proposal and declared that the 'decision' was a 'hostile act' and 'bordering on madness'.

"The Kremlin should have remained silent rather than reacting to what was only a proposal and a proposal that if implemented would have no strategic implications for Russia."
Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelensky have agreed to meet with African leaders to discuss a possible plan to end the war between Russia and Ukraine.

Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelensky are to meet with African heads of state

South African president Cyril Ramaphosa has spoken with his Russian and Ukrainian counterparts on the phone and confirmed that the pair have agreed to host separate meetings with a delegation of African heads of state.

Ramaphosa will be joined on the "peace mission" by the leaders of Zambia, Senegal, Congo, Uganda and Egypt and confirmed that both Putin and Zelensky had given him permission to "commence the preparations".

No details have been provided on the possible parameters of the talks as Zelensky has previously ruled out considering a peace deal until Russian forces have completely withdrawn from Ukrainian territory.

Ramaphosa told reporters: "I agreed with both President Putin and President Zelensky to commence with preparations for engagements with the African heads of state.

"We're hoping we will have intensive discussions."

African nations have been badly affected by the rising prices of grain and the impact that the conflict has had on world trade and the South African leader said the politicians from across the continent have been discussing how they can facilitate the end of the war.

He said: "This we have been talking about as African leaders, because we concluded that conflict in that part of the world, that much as it does not affect Africa directly in the form of deaths and destruction to our infrastructure, it does have an impact on the lives of many Africans with regards to food security. Prices of fertiliser, cereals and fuel have gone up."
Martha Stewart has insisted she will never get into altering her face to look younger.

Martha Stewart has insisted she will never get into altering her face to look younger

The 81-year-old lifestyle guru, who this week made history as the oldest-ever cover star of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue said she does not need to worry about cosmetic procedures to change her looks as she is not a performer like Madonna who is into reinventing herself.

She told the New York Times: When youre through changing, youre through.

When interviewer Ruth La Ferla mentioned Madonna, Martha added: I would never compare myself to someone like Madonna. She is a talent like no other.

But as a performer she needs to keep reinventing herself. And its much more difficult for her to alter herself without altering her face. I dont want to do that.

Theres another very big difference between me and Madonna: she is wearing pointy bras and weird clothes. Im teaching you how to roll dough.

Martha responded in 2022 to rumours she had undergone a facelift, telling the New York Times last year: I have never had plastic surgery. You can absolutely say that. No knife on my face, neck or back.

She previously insisted in a chat with Page Six her age-defying appearance is down to drinking homemade green juices, skin care and showing off her best angles for the photos she shares with fans online.

She also said on social media she hoped her Sports Illustrated cover would inspire women to challenge themselves.

Martha wrote on Instagram: I am so thrilled to be on the cover of the @SI_Swimsuit issue!... I hope this cover inspires you to challenge yourself to try new things, no matter what stage of life you are in. Changing, evolving, and being fearless  those are all very good things, indeed.

She also told Sports Illustrated: I dont think about age, ever. I have friends who are 90, and I have friends who are 20, and that is a very good way to look at life because age is not the determining factor in terms of friendship or in terms of success.
Megan Fox is bemused about her fans fixation on her short thumbs.

Megan Fox is bemused about her fans fixation on her short thumbs

The Jennifers Body actress, 37, who is one of the cover stars of the new Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue added she never thought her clubbed thumbs were weird despite widespread online discussion about them.

She told Sports Illustrated: I dont know why people are so fascinated by my thumbs.

Theyre just kind of short. Is it really that crazy?

Megan added she is not embarrassed about suffering from the genetic condition brachydactyly, caused by a gene mutation that affects bone growth.

She added about how the smaller digits are significant in astrology: Its known in palmistry as a murderers thumb.

Because they say the shorter this area from the knuckle to the tip of the finger is  especially the thumb  correlates to how short your temper is.

But insisting she didnt suffer from a fiery temperament, Megan added it takes a lot for her to lose her temper.

She added: I have crazy patience, but when you do push me over the edge, youre on demon time, and you better run for your life. Its scary as f***.

Megan went on about how she thought she had more interesting imperfections fans could focus on: I think I have tons of other flaws that are way more interesting than my thumbs. I dont know why people focus on that.

I dont know.

Megan first publicly talked about what she called her toe thumbs on The Tonight Show With Jay Leno in 2012, saying: Theyre weird and theyre really fat.

Mum-of-three Megan  who has sons Noah Shannon Green, 10, Bodhi Ransom Green, nine, and six-year-old Journey River Green with her 48-year-old former husband Brian Austin Green  also told Sports Illustrated she battles body dysmorphia and has never loved her own body.

She said: I have body dysmorphia. I dont ever see myself really the way other people see me.

There is never a point in my life where I loved my body. Never, ever.

When I was little, that was like an obsession I had, that I should look THIS way.

And why I had an awareness of my body that young, Im not sure... the journey of loving myself is going to be never-ending, I think.




Chef Akanksha Dean, traveller and foodie, details the restaurants you must visit on your next trip to Doha





After the FIFA madness, lets talk about dining madness in Qatar. Doha is home to some of the best restaurants in the world and every year the city has managed to up its game in the trend-setting food scene.





Jiwan By Alain Ducasse (main image)

Also referred to as Qatars hidden gem, this contemporary Qatari restaurant is Chef Alain Ducasses brainchild. Located in the National Museum of Qatar (NMOQ), Jiwan showcases the best of Qatars rich heritage and distinctive terrain. The layout of the restaurant mimics the sea immersed within the heart of the desert, which is an excellent interpretation of the countrys stunning topography.




Senator Tolentino gets third Master of Laws degree

NEW YORK - Senator Francis 'TOL' N. Tolentino formally received his third Master of Laws degree from the Ivy League-institution Columbia Law School after he attended the graduation rites in New York City yesterday (Tuesday, Philippine Standard Time).

Noticeably, Senator 'Tol wore a Filipino flag-inspired sash over his Columbia regalia to show his personal gift to his mother, a day after Mother's Day, and to the Filipino law students and the youth, in general.

"Gusto kong ipakitang kaya ng kabataang Pilipino na makamtan din ang mga pangarap nila, and education is a life-long process," the senator said.

Tolentino, who graduated from a public elementary school in Cavite, earlier acquired two Master of Laws degrees from the University of London and the Michigan Law School in Ann Arbor.

The highly selective Columbia Law School is one of the top five law schools in the United States of America.

Dean Gillian Lester and other members of the faculty personally greeted Senator Tolentino during the rites.

"Now it's time not just to inspire the Filipino youth but to serve them best," added Tolentino.
The US Department of Treasury has estimated that it will likely no longer be able to satisfy all the governments obligations if Congress does not act to raise or suspend the debt limit by early June, and potentially as early as June 1.

These estimates are based on currently available data, and federal receipts, outlays, and debt could vary from these estimates. The actual date treasury exhausts extraordinary measures could be a number of days or weeks later than these estimates. I will provide an additional update to Congress next week as more information becomes available, US secretary of the treasury Janet L Yellen said in her second letter to Congress in two weeks.

US treasury department predicts it may be unable to meet all government obligations by early June, possibly as soon as June 1, unless Congress raises or suspends the debt limit. The estimates could vary based on federal receipts, outlays, and debt. In response, President Biden held a meeting with congressional leaders, focusing on preventing debt default.

If Congress fails to increase the debt limit, it would cause severe hardship to American families, harm our global leadership position, and raise questions about our ability to defend our national security interests, she added in the letter.

Following this, President Joe Biden convened with Leader Schumer, Leader McConnell, Speaker McCarthy, and Leader Jeffries in the Oval Office yesterday to engage in an open and constructive dialogue about preventing the US from defaulting on its debt for the first time in the nation's history. The discussion also centred on shaping a budget agreement that can be approved and forwarded to the President's desk, as per a White House briefing.

The President emphasised that while more work remains on a range of difficult issues, hes optimistic that there is a path to a responsible, bipartisan budget agreement if both sides negotiate in good faith and recognise that neither side will get everything it wants.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (KD)
Vietnam and Bangladesh recently agreed to explore possibilities of concluding a free trade agreement to further boost bilateral trade and economic ties, particularly in context of the latter graduating from the least developed country (LDC) status in 2026.

The second Foreign Office Consultations between the two countries, held in Dhaka on May 14, were led by Bangladesh foreign secretary Masud Bin Momen and Vietnamese deputy foreign minister Hung Viet.

Momen urged Vietnamese businesses and entrepreneurs to avail of benefits offered by Bangladesh, particularly in the economic zones, media outlets in Bangladesh reported.

At the second Bangladesh-Vietnam Foreign Office Consultations held in Dhaka recently, both sides discussed possibilities of signing an FTA to further boost bilateral trade and economic ties, particularly in context of the former graduating from the least developed country status. They also discussed initiating direct flights between the two countries.

Momen sought an expeditious inclusion of Bangladesh as a sectoral dialogue partner of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

Bangladesh also proposed formation of a joint commission at the foreign ministers level for comprehensive cooperation.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS)




Recently, a video went viral on social media where Alia was seen sitting beside IU. In another picture, Alia was clicked posing for a picture with IU, Blake Lee, Dakota Johnson and Gucci CEO Marco Bizzarri.

IU and alia bhatt sitting next to each other??? What in the multiverse is even happening??????AAAAAAAAAAAApic.twitter.com/rYlxEXmXyK  vijaAAaAAAA | iAAAAiAAeiAA (@softaelybangtan) May 16, 2023

View this post on Instagram A post shared by davikah (@davikah)

For the event, Alia Bhatt sporting a gorgeous mini black Gucci dress with polka-dotted cut-outs. She completed her look with black platform heels and a Gucci Jackie 1961 transparent bag. IU, on the other hand, was seen looking pretty in a beautiful white sheer dress with golden flowers all over it.Recently, Thai actress Davika Hoome too shared a couple of pictures with Alia Bhatt as she celebrated her birthday.Alia Bhatt was recently announced as the first Indian global ambassador of the luxurious brand Gucci. Alia took to Instagram and wrote, "Im honoured to represent the house of Gucci not only in India but at a global stage. Guccis legacy has always inspired and intrigued me and Im looking forward to the many sartorial milestones we create together."Meanwhile, The Gucci Cruise fashion event was attended by many celebrities such as Squid Game star Lee Jung-jae, Aaespa Winter, ITZY member Ryujin, IVE member Leeseo, BIBI, Shin Min-ah, Lee Yeon Hee, NewJeans Hanni, Harry Styles and Dakota Johnson.On the work front, Alia Bhatt will next be seen in Rocky Aur Rani Ki Prem Kahani with Ranveer Singh. She also has Jee Le Zaraa and Heart of Stone.




Check the trailer here:



The two-minute and 39-second-long trailer begins with a voiceover talking to Tyler reminding him about his medical conditions following a scene where he fell and had a near-death experience from the first film.



The first trailer for Extraction 2, the sequel to the 2020 action-thriller film Extraction has been released. The trailer sees Chris Hemsworth's black market mercenary Tyler Rake back from the dead to rescue a ruthless Georgian gangster's family.Check the trailer here:The two-minute and 39-second-long trailer begins with a voiceover talking to Tyler reminding him about his medical conditions following a scene where he fell and had a near-death experience from the first film.

The trailer is filled with several high-octane action sequences with Chris Hemsworth doing amazing stunts in the train, inside a building and one of the best scenes would be at the terrace.Extraction 2 is directed by Sam Hargrave and written by Joe Russo. Apart from Chirs Hemsworth, Extraction 2 also features Golshifteh Farahani, Adam Bessa, Olga Kurylenko, Tinatin Dalakishvili, Andro Jafaridze, Miriam and Marta Kovziashvili and Daniel Bernhardt.Extraction 2 premieres on June 16.
Sara Ali Khan Cannes Debut: The most-awaited 76th Cannes Film Festival began with much pomp and glamour. Bollywood actress Sara Ali Khan made her grand debut at the festival's red carpet wearing an exquisite heavy lehenga by ace designer duo Abu Jani and Sandeep Koshla.

The fashion police are impressed by her look and are praising her for picking a traditional Indian outfit for her first appearance at the festival gala, as the actress took her Indianness to the global stage. While fans admired her desi avatar, many mocked her for her look.

WHAT DID SARA ALI KHAN WEAR FOR HER CANNES DEBUT?

Sara Ali Khan, for her Canes debut, wore a heavy hand-embroidered multi-panel skirt featuring intricate shadow embroidery throughout. She paired the skirt with a matching blouse embellished with crystals, pearls, and resham work. She added two tulle dupattas; one was placed on her shoulder, and the other was styled as a long veil.

Her hair was tied in a bun, and she went for subtle makeup and teamed her outfit with statement earrings and blingy jewellery. Further talking about her look with Brut India, the Atrangi Re actress said it's like a dream for her to represent India there and shared her excitement, saying, "Nervous, I've always aspired to be here someday, and I can't believe I'm here."

Cannes 2023: Sara Ali Khan To Manushi Chhillar Bollywood Beauties Who Slayed The Red Carpet On Day 1

Talking about her otufit, Sara added, "It's traditional and modern Indian handmade design by Abu and Sandeep (Khosla). I've always been proud of my Indianess. It embodies who I am, it's fresh, it's modern, and also has traditional roots."

SARA ALI KHAN TROLLED FOR WEARING LEHENGA AT CANNES DEBUT

Soon, Sara's pictures from the red carpet went viral, and many took to the comment section to express their views on her look. Netizens were left unimpressed by Sara's choice of attire for an occasion like this. One wrote, "Cannes gayi hain ya shaadi pe??"

Another user's comment read, "She desperately needs a good stylist." Another said, "Nepo Baby privileges, fast track to Cannes." One social media user said, "What has she done to be at cannes? Height of nepotism."

Cannes 2023: Sara Ali Khan To Manushi Chhillar Bollywood Beauties Who Slayed The Red Carpet On Day 1

Besides, Sara Ali Khan, Esha Gupta, Anushka Sharma, and 2017 Miss World Manushi Chhillar are also making their debuts at Cannes this year. Whereas Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Aditi Rao Hydari, and Urvashi Rautela will also be attending the prestigious film festival. The international film festival that began on May 16 in France will conclude on May 27, 2023.

DISCLAIMER: The particular article is a compilation of thoughts shared by social media users on the subject. Ideas expressed do not reflect the view of Filmibeat.
Bulgari Event: Priyanka Chopra made a stunning appearance in a captivating red dress at a Bulgari event on Tuesday night (May 16). As one of the brand ambassadors for the renowned international luxury brand, the actress traveled to Venice to attend the launch of the Mediterranean High Jewelry Collection.

PRIYANKA CHOPRA ATTENDED THE BULGARI EVENT ALONGWITH LISA, ANNE HATHAWAY & ZENDAYA

The star-studded event also saw the presence of Lisa, the South Korean pop sensation from the K-pop group BLACKPINK, as well as Hollywood stars Anne Hathaway and Zendaya. However, Priyanka's mesmerizing look in her cutout dress quickly became viral.

PRIYANKA CHOPRS SLAYED IN A CAPTIVATING RED CO-ORD ENSEMBLE

The Citadel actress effortlessly combined an off-shoulder crop top with a perfectly fitted gown-style skirt for the occasion. She accentuated her attire with bold red lipstick, elevating her appearance to new heights. She complemented her ensemble with her hair left flowing with a striking statement necklace.

Priyanka joined Anne and Zendaya, who also captivated onlookers with their stunning ensembles. The Devil Wears Prada star donned a gold and silver Versace dress that featured a hood, transforming her into an enchanting princess. Like Priyanka, Anne left her hair down and adorned herself with a statement red necklace that perfectly matched her dress.

Meanwhile, Zendaya opted for an elegant black off-shoulder gown, which she complemented with a statement necklace and a neatly styled bun. While Priyanka posed with Anne and Zendaya on the red carpet, viral videos from inside the launch showed her sharing a table with Lisa, the BLACKPINK member.

Prior to the event, Priyanka had recently made headlines with her one-day visit to India. During her time in New Delhi, she attended the engagement ceremony of her cousin, actress Parineeti Chopra, and Raghav Chadha. Priyanka made a striking appearance in a neon green outfit and departed the bash earlier than the other guests. She then flew to London with her mother, Dr. Madhu Chopra, to spend Mother's Day alongside her and Nick Jonas.
Arpita Khan Robbed: Salman Khan's sister, Arpita Khan's registered a complaint with the Mumbai police after her expensive diamond earrings were stolen from her residence in Khar. The police have nabbed the thief and also recovered the valuables.

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Salman Khan   Arpita Khan Sharma      ,      Arrest

MUMBAI POLICE NABS THIEF WHO STOLE ARPITA KHAN'S DIAMOND EARRINGS

The Khar police arrested a 30-year-old man who worked at Arpita's apartment as a house help. Identified as Sandip Hegde, the accused is a resident of Ambewadi slums in Vile Parle East. He stole Arpita Khan's diamond earrings worth Rs 5 lakh that was kept in the make-up tray.

WHAT ARPITA SAID IN HER COMPLAINT?

Arpita Khan in her police complaint had mentioned she had kept her diamond earrings worth five lakhs in the make-up tray, but they had gone missing. The incident took place on May 16 and the police nabbed the accused the same night.

After the complaint was filed, senior inspector Mohan Mane of Khar Police arrested the accused with a team comprising PI Vinod Gaonkar, PSI Laxman Kakde, PSI Gawli, and detection staff. Hegde was a part of the 11-member staff who had been working at the high-rise apartment for the past four months. After stealing the earrings, he had run away, without informing anyone.

The valuable was recovered from Hegde's house and he has been remanded to police custody. Police have booked him under IPC's section 381 (theft by servant).

Meanwhile, Arpita lives with her actor husband Aayush Sharma, and two children, Ayat and Ahil on 17th Road.
Maniyanpilla Raju On His Friendship With Mammootty: Maniyanpilla Raju is the favourite actor of Malayalis. He has proven his ability as an actor and producer. The actor entered cinema at a young age and later became one of the leading stars of Malayalam cinema.

Maniyanpilla Raju entered the cinema in 1976 with the film Mohiniyattam. His real name is Sudheer Kumar. His stage name, Maniyanpilla Raju, was derived from the character he played in the 1981 film Maniyanpilla Adhava Maniyanpilla, his breakthrough role.

Bigg Boss Malayalam 5: Robin Asks Midhun To Lose For Him In 'Arm Wrestling', Offers Tip; This Happened Next

He has excelled in important acting roles as well as as a comedian and villain. He was the first to cast Mohanlal in a school play. Maniyanpilla Raju, who has acted with all the superstars of Malayalam, has many friendships in the film.

Maniyanpilla Raju maintains a close relationship with megastar Mammootty in film and personal life. Maniyanpilla Raju had once talked about his friendship with Mammootty in an interview with Kaumudi. Apart from Mammootty, he also talked about actors, including the late Nedumudi Venu.

Now, that interview is gaining attention again. Maniyanpilla Raju also talks about two people who are free to enter Mammootty's room without knocking.

"Venu Chettan has acted in four hundred films, of which 350 are good roles. He will also help his co-actors. He helps new actors by giving them instructions. Both of us have acted in almost eighty films together. There are many films where Venu has given a great performance."

Bigg Boss Malayalam 5: Jasmine Wants Change In Audience Perception: A bully Is 'Mass'

'If you ask South Indian actors of other languages about their favourite actor in Malayalam, they will mention Nedumudi Venu's name. You should see the respect and honour Sivaji Ganesan gave to Venu when he was acting with him in the movie Oru Yathramozhi. He would call him to sit beside him, and they would chit chat,' Maniyanpilla Raju said about Nedumudi Venu.

Only Two People Can Enter Mammootty's Room Without Knocking

"There is no other person as pure and good as Mammootty. He is like the Big Brother of Malayalam cinema. We are all his brothers. That kind of freedom and love he gives to everyone is not a pretence. He doesn't think that he himself is a big superstar."

During the shooting, in the rooms of other actors, there will be many discussions going on with big businessmen, producers, and other luminaries. In Mammootty's room, he will be alone, and sometimes he will be watching movies. There are only two people who can enter his room without knocking. One is me, and the other is Kunchan,' Maniyanpilla Raju said.
Popular Tamil TV star Shwetha Bandekar took to her Instagram space and announced a happy news to her fans and followers. She shared a photo of herself an announced that she is expecting. While did not reveal the expected date of her baby's arrival, she flaunted her baby bump in the adorable photo. As soon as the photo was shared on social media, fans took to the comments section to congratulate her.

Sharing the photo, Shwetha wrote in the caption, "Baby is loading" and added several hashtags alongside. To recall, Shwetha and Mal Maruga tied the knot in December 2022 in Chennai. The couple, who has been in a relationship for months, remained tight lipped about it and they revealed about it only on the day of their engagement. We wish her a happy motherhood journey.

To note, the couple has also been sharing several loved-up photos on social media. Mal maruga often shares videos singing for his wife. Recently, he sang her favourite AR Rahman song, and the video went viral on social media. They also shared some photos from their wedding on social media after tying the knot, while revealing that it was a traditional Tamil wedding.

For the unversed, Shwetha Bandekar is a popular anchor and a TV serial actress. She debuted into small screen acting with the series Magal, which was directed by Francis Bapu. She played the role of Swapna, which gained fans from across Tamil Nadu.

Apart from Magal, she has starred in several other shows including Chandralekha, Lakshmi Vandhachu, Roja, Magarasi, and Anbe Vaa. Later, she took a sabbatical from television and started her career on the big screens. She has played important roles in movies such as Alwar, Valluvan Vasuki Chedugudu, Poova Thalaiya, Payananga; Thodarum, Meeravudan Krishna, Veerachozhan, Idhayam Thiraiarangam, Naan Than Bala, and Bhooloham.
Seeman & Nallakannu Praises Vijay Sethupathi's Film: Naam Tamilar Party coordinator Seeman and Nallakannu, a senior Indian Communist leader has praised Vijay Sethupathi's movie 'Yaadhum Oore Yaavarum Kelir'. Venkat Krishna Rohanth, who worked as an assistant director to the late director SP Jananathan, has directed this film.

It is said that the film is based on land politics. The post-production work on the film is wrapped up already and it is releasing on May 19, 2023. In this situation, Yaadhum Oore Yaavarum Kelir movie has been screened to many political leaders. Actor Rajesh, Megha Akash, director Magizh Thirumeni, Karu Palaniappan and others have acted along with Vijay Sethupathi in this movie.

Seeman Says 'This Films Speaks About The Pain Of Our People'

In this case, Naam Tamilar Party coordinator and director Seeman, who enjoyed watching the film said "Yaadhum Oore Yaavarum Kelir.. These are the lyrics sung by Kaniyan Poongundanaar. Brother Isaki Durai has made it into a film. The film is told with great responsibility. It records the pain that our species has been carrying for a long time. Vijay Sethupathi's role in this movie is amazing. The director has felt the pain of the people. I was confused in many places.

This cannot be easily overcome. Can't get past some scenes normally. We are here beyond a generation due to non-citizenship. They say they are illegal immigrants and leave it at that. Tibetans have been given citizenship, we are still refugees. But even if we excel in all sports, we cannot advance.

Unaffiliated countries such as Ireland grant citizenship. We have Tamils in high positions in Canada and France. But this country still sees refugees. We even ask for dual citizenship, which this film emphatically registers.

Vijay Sethupathi's Character Arc

Vijay Sethupathi's speech in the final scene is very touching. He speaks as a citizen of the world, I have no country or relationship. That is true. You called it terrorism when you take up arms and revolt, you said that everything will be over and the governor will find a solution, but it has been 15 years. A special camp is a concentration camp.

As the poet Vairamuthu says, it is not a tragedy to separate one's possessions, to separate one's belongings; Separation from one's country is a tragedy. Similarly, this film tells the pain of people of my race who leave their birth country and live somewhere else. Kudos to the crew for making such a film. Kudos to Vijay Sethupathi. This is not a film, it is the pain of our people who have suffered for many years."

Nallakannu Appreciates Yaadhum Oore Yaavarum Kelir

The trailer of the film has been released and well received by the fans. In this case, Nallakannu, a senior Indian Communist leader who saw the movie 'Yaadhum Oore Yaavarum Kelir' said, "Yaadhum Oore is the first line in our Tamil literature. Today in the United Nations Council, 'Yaadhum Oore Yaavarum Kelir' has identified the pride of Tamils and the pride of Tamil literature. I came to the decision to watch the film out of this happiness.

Vijay Sethupathi and the crew have made a good effort. Societies in India are changing. Today they are talking about the problem in Sri Lanka in Tamil Nadu. Similarly, the problem in Tamil Nadu is being talked about in the outside world." He also said that he appreciated the film that created a feeling of uniting such a divided society through music or ideas.
Deepika Padukone Demands Whopping Salary: Information about Deepika Padukone's salary for acting in Silambarasan TR film is out. Kannum Kannum Kollaiyadithaal director Desingh Periyasamy is director this film produced by Kamal Haasan's Raaj Kamal Films International.

Deepika Padukone In STR Film?

While the announcement of the film has come out recently, many updates started circulating in K-town one after the other. In this line, there are reports that talks are going on with popular leading Bollywood heroine Deepika Padukone to act opposite STR in the film.

But it is said that actress Deepika Padukone charged Rs. 30 crores salary for this film and the production company which is not ready to pay the huge salary to her, strated looking for another top heroine. It is also reported that Deepika Padukone use to stay only in 5 star hotels when she comes for shooting.

After the success of Manadu, actor Silambarasan focused more on selecting stories for his next films. Meanwhile, Gautham Vasudev Menon's 'Vendhu Tanindhadhu Kaadu' and Obeli N Krishna's Pathu Thala have been committed. Before this, talks were going on for STR to act in a film produced by Kamal Haasan.

Simbu In London

Later it is confirmed that Raaj Kamal Films International opted Desingh Periyasamy to direct Silmabartasan TR's next film. It is said that this will be a different film among all Silambarasan films and the film has a historical background story in flashbacks.

For this reason, Silambarasan said that after completing 'Path Thala' he went to Thailand, where he stayed for a few months and lost weight and learned martial arts. It is also said that he has gone to London to improvize his character. He will be in London for a few weeks. Meanwhile, the film's director is busy in location scouting.

In such a situation, Deepika's salary information created huge stir. Keerthy Suresh, Priya Bhavani Shankar, Anu Emmanuel and many others are also said to be on the list to play Simbu's pair. They say that the location and other actors will be finalized in a few weeks and the shoot will probably start in July.
It's been a couple of days since Jennifer Mistry Bansiwal accused Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah producer Asit Modi of sexual harassment, the actress has now issued a fresh statement demanding an apology from him.

This happened after her allegations against Asit Modi left everyone shocked and brimming with an opinion. While TMKOC's direction team and Mandar Chandwadkar dismissed Jennifer's claims, the actress has been standing strong with her allegations.

And now, Jennifer, who played the role of Roshan Sodhi, has released a fresh statement and said that she is demanding apology from Asit Modi. The actress also clarified saying that she is doing it for her dignity and not for money.

"One most important thing- I am not doing this for money; I am doing this only for truth and victory. They have to accept that they have done wrong to me and will have to apologise with folded hands that 'We are sorry'. Because this is the matter of my dignity and self-respect," Jennifer told ANI.

She further explained that she never had any physical relationship with Asit Modi. "I want to say that there is nothing like that. He just said verbal things to me," she added.

Meanwhile, Asit Modi called the allegations baseless and said that he will be taking legal action against Jennifer. On the other hand, the direction team team claimed that Jennifer was indisciplined and lacked focus. They also alleged that Jennifer was abusive on the sets and even damaged the property on sets while driving her car rashly as she stormed out.

Apart from sexual harassment, Jennifer Mistry Bansiwal also alleged that she hasn't received her payment for over three months now. She also claimed that while everyone has been questioning her for not speaking up for so long, Jennifer asserted that it does take a lot of courage to speak up.
Calgary, Alberta--(Newsfile Corp. - May 16, 2023) - Saturn Oil & Gas Inc. (TSXV: SOIL) (FSE: SMKA) (OTCQX: OILSF) ("Saturn" or the "Company") is pleased to report its financial and operating results for the three months ended March 31, 2023.

"The first quarter of 2023 was a landmark period for Saturn that set new performance records following the closing of the acquisition of Ridgeback Resources, which has enhanced the sustainability and potential profitability of Saturn for years to come," commented John Jeffrey, Saturn's CEO. "Building on the successes from last year's development program, the 13 new horizontal wells drilled in Q1 2023 have been the most productive group of new wells in Saturn's history."

First Quarter 2023 Highlights:

Closed the transformational acquisition of Ridgeback Resources Inc. on February 28, 2023 (the " Ridgeback Acquisition "), for total consideration of approximately $525 million, increasing the Company's March exit production to approximately 30,000 boe/d (2)(3) ;

"), for total consideration of approximately $525 million, increasing the Company's March exit production to approximately 30,000 boe/d ; Realized record average production for the quarter of 17,783 boe/d (2) (88% oil and NGLs) in 2023, representing an increase of 137% compared to 7,499 boe/d (2) (95% oil and NGLs) in the first quarter of 2022;

(88% oil and NGLs) in 2023, representing an increase of 137% compared to 7,499 boe/d (95% oil and NGLs) in the first quarter of 2022; Posted record quarterly Adjusted EBITDA (1) of $70.4 million in 2023, an increase of 332% compared to $16.3 million in first quarter of 2022;

of $70.4 million in 2023, an increase of 332% compared to $16.3 million in first quarter of 2022; Generated record Adjusted funds flow (1) of $54.5 million ($0.63 per basic share), an increase of 252% compared to $15.5 million ($0.50 per basic share) in first quarter of 2022, with record free funds flow (1) of $30.2 million;

of $54.5 million ($0.63 per basic share), an increase of 252% compared to $15.5 million ($0.50 per basic share) in first quarter of 2022, with record free funds flow of $30.2 million; Achieved operating netbacks, net of derivatives (1) of $46.14 per boe in Q1 2023, an increase of 75% compared to $26.38 per boe in the first quarter of 2022, despite oil prices decreasing year over year;

of $46.14 per boe in Q1 2023, an increase of 75% compared to $26.38 per boe in the first quarter of 2022, despite oil prices decreasing year over year; Closed a bought-deal equity financing for aggregate gross proceeds of $125 million and expanded the Company's Senior Term Loan by $375 million in connection with the Ridgeback Acquisition;

Closed a $30 million unsecured demand letter of credit facility with a syndicate of Canadian banks supported by a Performance Security Guarantee from Export Development Canada, providing Saturn with flexibility to replace cash-collateralized letters of credit;

Invested $24.3 million of development capital expenditures in the first quarter, drilling 13 (12.8 net) horizontal wells including: eight Viking and five Oxbow wells, which were all brought on production before the end of March; and

Exited the first quarter with $556.6 million net debt(1).

Three months ended March 31,

($000s, except per share amounts)

2023



2022

FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS







Petroleum and natural gas sales

131,407



68,442

Cash flow from operating activities

46,794



10,342

per share - Basic

0.54



0.38

- Diluted

0.54



0.37

Adjusted funds flow(1)

54,454



13,472

per share - Basic

0.63



0.50

- Diluted

0.62



0.48

Net income (loss)

219,050



(97,618 ) per share - Basic

2.52



(3.63 ) - Diluted

2.51



(3.63 ) Acquisitions, net of cash acquired

465,223



7,583

Capital expenditures(1)

24,283



10,466

Net debt(1), end of period

556,605



65,210



Three months ended March 31,

(000s, except per boe amounts)

2023



2022

OPERATING HIGHLIGHTS







Average production volumes







Crude oil (bbls/d)

14,680



6,821

NGLs (bbls/d)

992



334

Natural gas (mcf/d)

12,666



2,063

Total boe/d

17,783



7,499

% Oil and NGLs

88%



95%

Average realized prices







Crude oil ($/bbl)

93.74



109.20

NGLs ($/bbl)

52.92



58,71

Natural gas ($/mcf)

3.60



4.52

Processing expenses ($/boe)

(0.79 )

(1.77 ) Petroleum and natural gas sales ($/boe)

82.11



101.41

Operating netback ($/boe)







Petroleum and natural gas sales

82.11



101.41

Royalties

(9.34 )

(16.59 ) Net operating expenses(1)

(21.07 )

(27.34 ) Transportation expenses

(1.01 )

(0.54 ) Operating netback(1)

50.69



56.94

Realized loss on derivatives

(4.55 )

(30.56 ) Operating netback, net of derivatives(1)

46.14



26.38

Common shares outstanding, end of period

138,634



32,361

Weighted average, basic

86,995



26,895

Weighted average, diluted

87,217



45,746



Message to Shareholders

The acquisition of Ridgeback Resources Inc. ("Ridgeback") on February 28, 2023, was an important step to both bolstering Saturn's production base in its flagship production area of Southeast Saskatchewan (the "Oxbow Asset") and diversifying the Company's light oil development opportunities into Alberta. With the integration of the talented employees, information systems and oil and gas production are now largely complete, Saturn is focused on an active development program for the second half of 2023, with capital and activities balanced between Alberta and Saskatchewan.

The first quarter was a busy period for the development of Saturn's legacy assets with the successful drilling of 13 horizontal wells in Saskatchewan, representing a 63% increase over the number of wells drilled in Q1 2022. Saturn's new wells delivered average initial 30-day production ("IP30") of 94.0 bbls/d of light oil, which was approximately 37% higher than Saturn's guidance type curve expectation for its Saskatchewan wells.

As a result of the successful drilling programs through 2022 and to date in 2023, along with the impact of both the 2022 Viking acquisition and the Ridgeback Acquisition, Saturn is proud to have record results across several metrics in Q1 2023, with growth over Q1 2022 as follows:

92% higher petroleum and natural gas sales totaling $131,407;

137% higher oil and gas production averaging 17,783 (3) boe/d;

boe/d; 332% higher adjusted EBITDA (1) of $70.4 million; and

of $70.4 million; and 252% higher Adjusted funds flow(1) of $54.5 million.

The Ridgeback Acquisition contributed financially for only one month in Q1 2023. Had the Ridgeback Acquisition occurred on January 1, 2023, on a pro forma basis, Saturn would have achieved for the period ended March 31, 2023:

Petroleum and natural gas sales of $204.1 million; and

Adjusted funds flow(1) of $79.5 million.

Oxbow Update

During the three months ended March 31, 2023, the Oxbow Asset produced 8,494(3) boe/d, an increase of 19% from 7,153 boe/d(3) in the comparative 2022 period. The increase is primarily due to the Ridgeback Acquisition which produced 4,960 boe/d in the month of March, contributing an average of 1,709 boe/d during the first quarter of 2023.

The highlight of Saturn's Q1 drilling program was the 101/11-21-006-05W2 well ("Weir Hill 11-21") targeting Frobisher oil in the Oxbow Asset. This well achieved an average IP30 rate of 149 bbls/d of light oil and was a top five best performing oil well in Saskatchewan, based on February 2023 production, ranked against more than 200 wells drilled in province in January 2023. The Weir Hill 11-21 well was a follow up location to three wells drilled in the Weir Hill pool in 2022 that had strong production rates and underscores Saturn's plans for continued development in this area for the remainder of 2023. The IP30 rate of the five (4.8 gross) Oxbow wells drilled by Saturn in Q1 2023 averaged 79.2 bbls/d of light oil per well, which is 15% above the Company's expected type curves for Oxbow wells.

Viking Update

The Company's assets located in West Central Saskatchewan (the "Viking Asset") produced 5,156 boe/d(3) for the three months ended March 31, 2023. This represents an increase of 1,332% from 360 boe/d(3) in the comparative period in 2022. The increase is due to Saturn's successful 2022 and Q1 2023 drilling programs, coupled with the impact of the Viking acquisition that was completed during the third quarter of 2022.

Saturn drilled eight (8.0 net) Viking development wells to date in the first three months of 2023, achieving an average IP30 rate of 103.2 bbls/d of light oil per well, a rate that is approximately 52% above the Company's expected type curves for Viking wells. Development activities in the Viking Asset during Q1 2023 were focused on those areas that provided the most productive Viking wells drilled in 2022. The Viking Asset activities in Q1 2023 included six (6.0 net) wells drilled in the Herschel area and two (2.0 net) wells drilled in the Plato area pool extension that the Company discovered in 2022.

Alberta Update

Saturn's Alberta assets were acquired as part of the Ridgeback Acquisition and are comprised of Cardium focused development areas located in Central Alberta (the "Cardium Asset") and the Kaybob and Deer Mountain areas of Northern Alberta (the "North Alberta Assets" and collectively with the Cardium Assets, the "Alberta Assets"). Production from the Alberta Assets include:

8,810 boe/d (3) from the Cardium Asset in the month of March, which contributed an average of 3,034 boe/d (3) during the first quarter of 2023; and

3,189 boe/d(3) from the North Alberta Assets in the month of March, which contributed an average of 1,099 boe/d(3) in the first quarter of 2023.

Unsecured Letter of Credit Facility

The Company entered into a new $30 million unsecured demand letter of credit facility (the "LC Facility") with a syndicate of Canadian banks, supported by a performance security guarantee ("PSG") from Export Development Canada. The LC Facility has no impact to Saturn's debt balance, and as such provides the Company with additional liquidity by providing Saturn with flexibility to replace cash-collateralized letters of credit.

Production Curtailment from Alberta Wildfires

In light of the ongoing wildfires affecting communities and operations in Alberta, Saturn confirms that the Alberta Assets continue to be curtailed, although no significant damage or loss to its owned or third-party infrastructure has been reported. Approximately 10,000 Boe/d(3) (60% oil and NGLs) of production has been temporarily shut in since May 4, 2023 and Saturn continues to monitor and prepare for resumed production as soon third-party infrastructure is available for restart. The Company wishes to thank its dedicated staff and emergency responders for their tireless efforts dealing with this situation and sends thoughts and best wishes to everyone affected.

Outlook

Saturn is extremely pleased with the initial results of its 2023 drilling program to date and looks forward to recommencing drilling operations in June 2023. For the remainder of the year, the Company's development budget is approximately equally balanced between Alberta and Saskatchewan, with a continued focus on locations offering the highest potential rates of return. Saturn has contracted one drilling rig for the rest of 2023 at the Oxbow Asset which will be directed to: 1) developing Mississippian aged light oil targets, including the Company's initial development of identified Spearfish formations; and 2) development of the light oil Bakken resource gained through the Ridgeback Acquisition. An additional drilling rig has been contracted for full time development of Saturn's Alberta Assets, primarily focused on: 1) targeting Cardium light oil in the West Pembina and Lochend areas, and 2) targeting Montney light oil in the Kaybob area.

Subsequent to quarter-end, Saturn was proud to publish the Company's first Sustainability Report referencing the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures ("TCFD") framework, and showcasing its commitment to responsible operations, strong governance and robust community investments. The report is available on Saturn's website.

Investor Webcast

Saturn will host a webcast at 10:00 AM MDT (12:00 PM Noon EDT) on Wednesday May 17, 2023, to review the first quarter 2023 financial and operational results. Participants can access the live webcast via https://saturnoil.com/invest/q1-2023-results-webcast. A recorded archive of the webcast will be available afterwards on the Company's website.

About Saturn Oil & Gas Inc.

Saturn Oil & Gas Inc. is a growing Canadian energy company focused on generating positive shareholder returns through the continued responsible development of high-quality, light oil weighted assets, supported by an acquisition strategy that targets highly accretive, complementary opportunities. Saturn has assembled an attractive portfolio of free-cash flowing, low-decline operated assets in Southeastern Saskatchewan, West Central Saskatchewan and Central Alberta that provide a deep inventory of long-term economic drilling opportunities across multiple zones. With an unwavering commitment to building an ESG-focused culture, Saturn's goal is to increase reserves, production and cash flows at an attractive return on invested capital. Saturn's shares are listed for trading on the TSX.V under ticker 'SOIL' on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange under symbol 'SMKA' and on the OTCQX under the ticker 'OILSF'.

The Company's unaudited interim financial statements and corresponding Management's Discussion and Analysis for the three month period ended March 31, 2023 are available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com and on Saturn's website at www.saturnoil.com. Copies of the materials can also be obtained upon request without charge by contacting the Company directly. Please note, currency figures presented herein are reflected in Canadian dollars, unless otherwise noted.

Further information and a corporate presentation is available on Saturn's website at www.saturnoil.com.

Saturn Oil & Gas Investor & Media Contacts:

John Jeffrey, MBA - Chief Executive Officer

Tel: +1 (587) 392-7902

www.saturnoil.com

Kevin Smith, MBA - VP Corporate Development

Tel: +1 (587) 392-7900

info@saturnoil.com

Notes

(1) See reader advisory: non-GAAP and Other Financial Measures

(2) Based on field reports for average production between March 26, 2023 and March 31, 2023

(3) See reader advisory: Supplemental Information Regarding Product Types

Reader Advisory

Non-GAAP and Other Financial Measures

Throughout this news release and in other materials disclosed by the Company, we employ certain measures to analyze financial performance, financial position and cash flow. These non-GAAP and other financial measures do not have any standardized meaning prescribed by IFRS and therefore may not be comparable to similar measures provided by other issuers. Non-GAAP and other financial measures should not be considered to be more meaningful than GAAP measures which are determined in accordance with IFRS. The disclosure under the section "Non-GAAP and Other Financial Measures" including non-GAAP financial measures and ratios, capital management measures and supplementary financial measures in the Company's Condensed consolidated interim financial statements and MD&A are incorporated by reference into this news release.

This press release may use the terms "Adjusted EBITDA", "Adjusted Funds Flow", and "Net Debt" which are capital management financial measures. See the disclosure under "Capital Management" in our Condensed consolidated interim financial statements for the three months ended March 31, 2023, for an explanation and composition of these measures and how these measures provide useful information to an investor, and the additional purposes, if any, for which management uses these measures.

This press release may use the terms "capital expenditures", "free funds flow", "operating netback", "operating netback, net of derivatives", and "net operating expenses", which are non-GAAP financial measures. These non-GAAP financial measures are not standardized financial measures under IFRS and might not be comparable to similar financial measures disclosed by other issuers. See the disclosure under the section "Non-GAAP Financial Measures and Ratios" in our MD&A for the three months ended March 31, 2023, for an explanation and composition of these measures and how these measures provide useful information to an investor, and the additional purposes, if any, for which management uses these measures.

Capital Expenditures

Saturn uses capital expenditures to monitor its capital investments relative to those budgeted by the Company on an annual basis. Saturn's capital budget excludes acquisition and disposition activities as well as the accounting impact of any accrual changes or payments under certain lease arrangements. The most directly comparable GAAP measure for capital expenditures is cash flow used in investing activities. The following table details the composition of capital expenditures and capital expenditures, net acquisitions and dispositions to cashflow used in investing activities.



Three months ended March 31,

($000s)

2023



2022

Cash flow used in investing activities

499,563



14,531

Change in non-cash working capital

(10,057 )

3,518

Capital expenditures, net A&D

489,506



18,049

Acquisitions, net of cash acquired

(465,223 )

(7,583 ) Capital expenditures

24,283



10,466

Free Funds Flow

Saturn uses free funds flow as an indicator of the efficiency and liquidity of Saturn's business, measuring its funds after capital investment available to manage debt levels, pursue acquisitions and gauge optionality to pay dividends and/or and return capital to shareholders through activities such as share repurchases. Saturn calculates free funds flow as Adjusted funds flow in the period less capital expenditures. By removing the impact of current period capital expenditures from adjusted funds flow, management monitors its free funds flow to inform its capital allocation decisions. The following table reconciles Adjusted funds flow to Free funds flow.



Three months ended March 31,

($000s, except per boe amounts)

2023



2022

Adjusted funds flow

54,454



13,472

Capital expenditures

(24,283 )

(10,466 ) Free funds flow

30,171



3,006



Gross petroleum and natural gas sales

Gross petroleum and natural gas sales is calculated by adding oil, natural gas and NGLs revenue, before deducting certain gas processing expenses in arriving at Petroleum and natural gas revenue as required under IFRS-15. These processing expenses associated with the processing of natural gas and NGLs revenue are a result of the Company transferring custody of the product at the terminal inlet, and therefore receiving net prices. This metric is used by management to quantify and analyze the realized price received before required processing deductions, against benchmark prices. The calculation is shown within the Petroleum and natural gas sales section of the MD&A.

Net operating expenses

Net operating expense is calculated by deducting processing income primarily generated by processing third party production at processing facilities where the Company has an ownership interest, from operating expenses presented on the Statement of income (loss). Where the Company has excess capacity at one of its facilities, it will process third-party volumes to reduce the cost of ownership in the facility. The Company's primary business activities are not that of a midstream entity whose activities are focused on earning processing and other infrastructure-based revenues, and as such third-party processing revenue is netted against operating expenses in the MD&A. This metric is used by management to evaluate the Company's net operating expenses on a unit of production basis. Net operating expense per boe is a non-GAAP financial ratio and is calculated as net operating expense divided by total barrels of oil equivalent produced over a specific period of time. The calculations are shown within the Net operating expenses section of the MD&A.

Operating netback and Operating netback, net of derivatives

The Company's operating netback is determined by deducting royalties, net operating expenses and transportation expenses from petroleum and natural gas sales. The Company's operating netback, net of derivatives is calculated by adding or deducting realized financial derivative commodity contract gains or losses from the operating netback. The Company's operating netback and operating netback, net of derivatives are used in operational and capital allocation decisions. Presenting operating netback and operating netback, net of derivatives on a per boe basis is a non-GAAP financial ratio and allows management to better analyze performance against prior periods on a per unit of production basis. The calculation of the Company's operating netbacks and operating netback, net of derivatives are summarized as follows.



Three months ended March 31,



($000s)

2023



2022

Petroleum and natural gas sales

131,407



68,442

Royalties

(14,947 )

(11,197 ) Net operating expenses

(33,717 )

(18,451 ) Transportation expenses

(1,609 )

(367 ) Operating netback

81,134



38,427

Realized loss on financial derivatives

(7,275 )

(20,622 ) Operating netback, net of derivatives

73,859



17,805











($ per boe amounts)







Petroleum and natural gas sales

82.11



101.41

Royalties

(9.34 )

(16.59 ) Net operating expenses

(21.07 )

(27.34 ) Transportation expenses

(1.01 )

(0.54 ) Operating netback

50.69



56.94

Realized loss on financial derivatives

(4.55 )

(30.56 ) Operating netback, net of derivatives

46.14



26.38



Where applicable, the supplementary financial measures used in this news release are either a per unit disclosure of a corresponding GAAP measure, or a component of a corresponding GAAP measure, presented in the audited condensed consolidated financial statements. Supplementary financial measures that are disclosed on a per unit basis are calculated by dividing the aggregate GAAP measure (or component thereof) by the applicable unit for the period. Supplementary financial measures that are disclosed on a component basis of a corresponding GAAP measure are a granular representation of a financial statement line item and are determined in accordance with GAAP.

Supplemental Information Regarding Product Types

References to gas or natural gas and NGLs in this press release refer to conventional natural gas and natural gas liquids product types, respectively, as defined in National Instrument 51-101, Standards of Disclosure for Oil and Gas Activities ("NI 51-101"), except where specifically noted otherwise.

The following table is intended to provide the product type composition for each of the production figures provided herein, where not already disclosed within tables above for the three months ended March 31, 2023 and 2022, and March 2023 stand alone average production:



Three months ended March 31, 2023

March 2023 Average



2023



2022

Oxbow Asset

















Crude oil (bbls/d)

10,134



7,527



6,475

NGLs (bbls/d)

832



481



334

Natural gas (mcf/d)

4,544



2,913



2,063

Total boe/d

11,723



8,494



7,153

Viking Asset











Crude oil (bbls/d)

5,099



5,072



346

NGLs (bbls/d)

17



12



-

Natural gas (mcf/d)

407



429



-

Total boe/d

5,184



5,156



346

Cardium Asset











Crude oil (bbls/d)

4,110



1,416



-

NGLs (bbls/d)

1,125



388



-

Natural gas (mcf/d)

21,445



7,386



-

Total boe/d

8,810



3,034



-

North Alberta Asset











Crude oil (bbls/d)

1,932



665



-

NGLs (bbls/d)

321



111



-

Natural gas (mcf/d)

5,624



1,937



-

Total boe/d

3,189



1,099



-

Total Company











Crude oil (bbls/d)

21,275



14,680



6,821

NGLs (bbls/d)

2,295



992



334

Natural gas (mcf/d)

32,020



12,665



2,063

Total boe/d

29,907



17,783



7,499



The following table is intended to provide the product type composition for March 2023 exit production between March 26, 2023 and March 31, 2023:

March 2023 exit

Total Company





Crude oil (bbls/d)

21,885

NGLs (bbls/d)

2,525

Natural gas (mcf/d)

32,100

Total boe/d

29,760



Boe Presentation

Boe means barrel of oil equivalent. All boe conversions in this news release are derived by converting gas to oil at the ratio of six thousand cubic feet ("Mcf") of natural gas to one barrel ("Bbl") of oil. Boe may be misleading, particularly if used in isolation. A Boe conversion rate of 1 Bbl: 6 Mcf is based on an energy equivalency conversion method primarily applicable at the burner tip and does not represent a value equivalency at the wellhead. Given that the value ratio of oil compared to natural gas based on currently prevailing prices is significantly different than the energy equivalency ratio of 1 Bbl: 6 Mcf, utilizing a conversion ratio of 1 Bbl: 6 Mcf may be misleading as an indication of value.

Forward-Looking Information and Statements.

Certain information included in this press release constitutes forward-looking information under applicable securities legislation. Forward-looking information typically contains statements with words such as "anticipate", "believe", "expect", "plan", "intend", "estimate", "propose", "project", "scheduled", "will" or similar words suggesting future outcomes or statements regarding an outlook. Forward-looking information in this press release may include, but is not limited to, the drilling of development wells, workover program and the maintenance of bas production and the business plan, cost model and strategy of the Company.

The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are based on certain key expectations and assumptions made by Saturn, including expectations and assumptions concerning: the timing of and success of future drilling, development and completion activities, the performance of existing wells, the performance of new wells, the availability and performance of facilities and pipelines, the ability to allocate capital to pay down debt and grow or maintain production, the geological characteristics of Saturn's properties, the application of regulatory and licensing requirements, the availability of capital, labour and services, the creditworthiness of industry partners and the ability to source and complete asset acquisitions.

Although Saturn 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 Saturn 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. Actual results could differ materially from those currently anticipated due to a number of factors and risks. These include, but are not limited to, risks associated with the oil and gas industry in general (e.g., operational risks in development, exploration and production; the uncertainty of reserve estimates; the uncertainty of estimates and projections relating to production, costs and expenses, and health, safety and environmental risks), constraints in the availability of services, commodity price and exchange rate fluctuations, actions of OPEC and OPEC+ members, changes in legislation impacting the oil and gas industry, adverse weather or break-up conditions and uncertainties resulting from potential delays or changes in plans with respect to exploration or development projects or capital expenditures. These and other risks are set out in more detail in Saturn's Annual Information Form for the year ended December 31, 2022.

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. Although Saturn believes that the expectations reflected in its forward-looking information are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on forward-looking information because Saturn can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. In addition to other factors and assumptions which may be identified in this press release, assumptions have been made regarding and are implicit in, among other things, our capital expenditure and drilling programs, drilling inventory and booked locations, production and revenue guidance, ESG initiatives, debt repayment plans and future growth plans. Readers are cautioned that the foregoing list is not exhaustive of all factors and assumptions which have been used.

The forward-looking information contained in this press release is made as of the date hereof and Saturn undertakes no obligation to update publicly or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, unless required by applicable securities laws. The forward-looking information contained in this press release is expressly qualified by this cautionary statement.

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 press release.

All dollar figures included herein are presented in Canadian dollars, unless otherwise noted.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/166369
Insurance is at a crossroads. New technology and innovative business models unlock significant opportunities for the industry, but economic uncertainty and talent shortages remain front of mind.

London, United Kingdom--(Newsfile Corp. - May 17, 2023) - Reuters Events: The Future of Insurance USA 2023 (June 27-28, Chicago) provides you with the essential insight and connections to navigate this challenging environment - be that as a business, a team, or an individual. And now, you can see exactly what the leading speakers will discuss in the newly released timed agenda.

Be the first to download the full agenda now - includes attendee profile

Here are some of the highlights:

Keynote: Overcome Constant Change with the Power of Technology (Timothy NeCastro, President & CEO and Partha Srinivasa, EVP & CIO , Erie Insurance )

(Timothy NeCastro, and Partha Srinivasa, , ) Presentation: Designing Software to Tackle Claims Challenges (Reagan Pufall, President & CEO , Omaha National )

(Reagan Pufall, , ) Fireside Chat: The New Age of Underwriting: Powered by Technology & People (Wendy Crosley, Global Director of Underwriting Automation & Transformation , WTW and Charanjit Saggu, Director of Underwriting Innovation , Zurich North America )

(Wendy Crosley, , and Charanjit Saggu, , ) Panel: The Next Generation of Insurtech (Hilario Itriago, President , BOXX Insurance ; Adam Hoover, VP, Business Architecture & Innovation , The Hanover Insurance ; Jill Johnson, Senior Director of Insurance Product , Coterie Insurance and Kevin Abramson, President , Cover Whale )

(Hilario Itriago, , ; Adam Hoover, , ; Jill Johnson, , and Kevin Abramson, , ) Presentation: The Digital Future of a Disrupted Industry (Niki Kouri-Maglaras, Head of Digital International Businesses, Prudential Financial , Inc .)

(Niki Kouri-Maglaras, , .) Panel: Future-Proof Insurance in the Face of Global Change (Mary Boyd, President & CEO, Plymouth Rock Assurance Corporation; Adam Edelstein, COO, Munich Re Specialty Insurance; Srini Krishnamurthy, Chief Strategy & Information Officer, FM Global; Rob Wolf, CFO, SCOR Reinsurance Company (NY) and Haden Kirkpatrick, VP of Innovation, State Farm)

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Make the most of 2 days, 3 stages, workshops, networking and more - plan your conference now to ensure you leave with every insight you need.

Contact: Nuriya Powell

nuriya.powell@thomsonreuters.com

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/166293
Vancouver, British Columbia and Johannesburg, South Africa--(Newsfile Corp. - May 17, 2023) - Platinum Group Metals Ltd. (TSX: PTM) (NYSE American: PLG) ("Platinum Group", "PTM" or the "Company") reports that exploration borehole WE153 has intercepted platinum group metals mineralization consistent with both the T Zone and F Zone as found within the mineral resources and reserves of the proposed Waterberg Mine, located on the Northern Limb of the Bushveld Complex in South Africa, (the "Waterberg Project"). Borehole WE153 was collared on prospecting rights owned by Waterberg JV Resources (Pty) Ltd. ("Waterberg JV Co.") located adjacent to the north of the Waterberg Project mining right. The borehole collar was positioned along a projected strike line approximately 16 kilometres north from the area of delineated T Zone mineral resources and approximately 8 kilometres north from the area of delineated F Zone mineral resources.

Borehole WE153 intercepted 7.02 metres of mineralized T Zone beginning at a depth of 1,272.98 metres. The mineralized interval displayed approximately 2% to 4% blebby copper, nickel, and iron sulphides. The drill core was logged, and the mineralized intercept recovered was sampled and sent for assay by Intertek Genalysis Minerals in Australia. The reported T Zone platinum, palladium, rhodium and gold ("4PGE") assay values in grams per tonne ("g/t") and prill split percentages are tabulated below:

Zone Borehole ID From

(m) To

(m) Length

(m)1 Pt

(g/t) Pd

(g/t) Rh

(g/t) Au

(g/t) 4PGE

(g/t) Cu % Ni % Drilled in 2023 T Zone WE153 1,272.98 1,280.00 7.02 3.51 5.99 0.25 0.70 10.45 0.16 0.10 Prill Split 33.6% 57.4% 2.3% 6.7% 100.0% Includes WE153 1,272.98 1,279.00 6.02 4.07 6.94 0.28 0.81 12.10 0.18 0.12 Prill Split 33.6% 57.3% 2.4% 6.7% 100.0%

Notes :

1The true thickness is estimated at 85% to 90% of reported intercept based on available information.

As of May 15th, Borehole WE153 had been drilled to a depth of 1,990.35 metres. At a depth of 1,757.94 metres the borehole intercepted olivine-rich lithologies consistent with the F Zone and at a depth of 1,972.19 metres the borehole intercepted the felspathic pyroxenite top contact of the F Zone. An F Zone intercept of 9.42 metres of approximately 2% to 4% blebby copper, nickel, and iron sulphides has been observed. After a depth of 1,981.61 only sporadic sulphides were observed. Drilling is expected to continue for only a short distance further. The F Zone drill core will be logged, and the mineralized intercept recovered will be sampled and sent for assay by Intertek Genalysis Minerals in Australia.

Waterberg Deposit



To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:

https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/1497/166322_cf31901024b9a86f_001full.jpg

A definitive feasibility study completed in September 20191 estimated significant mineral resources and reserves at the Waterberg Project. The mineralized T Zone and F Zone of the Waterberg deposit are hosted within intrusive rocks of the Bushveld Igneous Complex ("BIC"), which underly the Waterberg Project and dip westerly at approximately 34 to 38 degrees. Along its up-dip edge the BIC is projected to subcrop (as shown in map above) beneath rocks of the Waterberg Sedimentary Package, striking north easterly at first, and then in a northerly direction, forming an arc from south to north. At the southern end of this arc, within the known area of the Waterberg deposit, the T Zone and F Zone both subcrop within 150 metres from surface. In the southern area the F Zone is normally found approximately 300 metres vertically below the T Zone and typically subcrops approximately 400 metres or more farther eastward than the T Zone. At borehole WE153 the T Zone and F Zone have been found deeper than to the south and the middling between the T Zone and F Zone appears to have widened to approximately 476 vertical metres. The T Zone observed in this northern area also demonstrates a variation in facies from that seen to the south.

As the subcrop of the BIC, including the T Zone and F Zone, strikes along the northerly arc described above, it trends underneath a plateau of thicker, weather resistant sandstone and shale cap rocks. Cliff faces rise abruptly above the surrounding pediment along the southeast and northeast sides of the plateau. Previous resource delineation drilling of the T Zone was completed mostly in the flat pediment areas along approximately 4.8 kilometres of strike at the southern end of the deposit area. As the T Zone strike line follows its northerly arc, it soon runs alongside and then beneath the southeast cliff face of the plateau, making drilling in that area, and from on top of the plateau, impractical. Because the F Zone subcrops farther to the east, away from the cliff face, the strike length available for drilling before the F Zone arcs under the plateau is longer. Approximately 13.5 kilometres of F Zone strike length have been drilled historically, including two boreholes to the northeast from on top of the plateau.

Based on ground gravity surveys, airborne gradient gravity surveys, and airborne magnetic surveys, Company geologists predicted that the BIC rocks hosting the T Zone and the F Zone continue northward under the plateau and beyond its northeast edge. Nine boreholes drilled in the pediment area to the northeast of the plateau during 2013 and 2014 did establish the presence of BIC rocks, including one interpreted T Zone mineralized intercept, and helped to delineate the northern trace of the BIC subcrop (see table of historical boreholes below). Based on available information, borehole WE153 was carefully positioned to target the projected strike extension of the T Zone and F Zone beyond the northeast edge of the plateau.

Platinum Group President and CEO Frank R. Hallam said, "Exploration of the Waterberg deposit continues to reveal new potential. We are pleased and intrigued to see the results of borehole WE153. Although the step out distance is too far to allow definitive conclusions, and we are not proposing that a shaft be developed near WE153, the results do support the hypothesis that the T Zone and F Zone continue for a significant distance northward from the known southern deposit area, indicating an opportunity to delineate additional mineral resources that may be accessible from planned underground mine development. Looking to the future, we will consider exploration options at the appropriate time. If underground development of the F Zone in the southern area of the Waterberg deposit commences, drilling to target new T Zone resources to the north of current resources could be executed from drilling platforms established within the F Zone underground development."

PTM is the operator of the Waterberg Project as directed by a technical committee comprised of representatives from joint venture partners Impala Platinum Holdings Ltd. ("Implats"), Mnombo Wethu Consultants (Pty) Ltd. ("Mnombo"), Japan Organization for Metals and Energy Security (formerly Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corporation) ("JOGMEC") and Hanwa Co., Ltd. ("Hanwa"). Shareholders are encouraged to see the Company's filings on SEDAR (www.sedar.com) or on EDGAR (www.sec.gov) and to visit the Company's website at www.platinumgroupmetals.net.

Quality Assurance and Quality Control

The Company and Waterberg JV Co. have instituted a complete quality assurance / quality control ("QA/QC") program, including the insertion of blanks, certified reference materials (standards), and field duplicates within the sample stream. Referee analyses are also completed. The program is being followed and is to industry standard. QA/QC procedures are overseen by a qualified person, and the data has been verified by and is considered reliable in the opinion of the qualified person for this news release (as described below).

NQ (47.6mm diameter) drill core is cut in-half and quartered with a diamond saw, with one-quarter placed in sealed bags and shipped to the laboratory and the other three quarters retained on site. Third party laboratory checks on 5% of the samples are carried out as well. Chain of custody is maintained from the drill to the submittal into the laboratory preparation facility.

Analytical testing was performed by the Intertek Genalysis Minerals Global Centre of Excellence, located in Perth, Western Australia. The entire sample is dried and crushed to ~2mm, of which a 300 gram split is pulverized to at least 85% of material to 75m or better. Grade for Au, Pt and Pd is determined by using a 25g lead collection fire assay with Inductively Coupled Plasma-Optical Emission Spectrometry (ICP-OES) finish. On samples where the Au, Pt and Pd grade was found to be above 1 g/T, 6E analysis (for all PGEs) was done using 25g nickel sulphide collection and Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS) finish. Base metals and other major elements were determined by four acid digestion with Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectrometry (ICP-OES) finish.

Current Borehole Location Table

Borehole ID Easting

(WGS84 LO29) Northing

(WGS84 LO29) Elevation

(masl) Dip Azimuth EOH

(m) WE153 -2569270 -9237.087 975 -90 0 +1990.35

Historic Borehole Data

Zone Borehole

ID From

(m) To

(m) Length

(m)1 Pt

(g/t) Pd

(g/t) Rh

(g/t) Au

(g/t) 4PGE

(g/t) Cu % Ni % Drilled and Reported in 2013 and 2014 Basement2 WE009 To the east of the Bushveld subcrop arc Basement2 WE010 To the north of the Bushveld subcrop arc Basement2 WE011 To the east of the Bushveld subcrop arc TRNZ3 WE012 628.66 644.07 15.41 0.27 0.90 Na4 0.05 1.23 0.14 0.13 WGS5 WE013 Far north of the Bushveld subcrop arc (Abandoned) T Zone WE014D0 735.49 739.50 4.01 1.43 2.22 Na4 0.08 3.73 0.02 0.04 Basement2 WE015 To the north of the Bushveld subcrop arc T Zone WE027 Replaced by dyke Basement WE093 Far NE of the Bushveld subcrop arc

Notes:

1The true thickness is estimated at 85% to 90% of reported intercept based on available information.

2Hout River Gneiss located below all sedimentary cover rocks and below the BIC.

3The Transitional Zone (TRNZ) is a lithostratigraphic zone where the Bushveld magma intermingled with the basement rocks.

4Assays for rhodium were not completed.

5WGS is the Waterberg Group Sedimentary succession.

Qualified Person

Rob van Egmond, P.Geo., a consultant geologist to the Company and a former employee, is an independent qualified person as defined in National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects ("NI 43-101"). Mr. van Egmond has reviewed, validated, and approved the scientific and technical information contained in this news release and has previously visited the Waterberg Project site.

About Platinum Group Metals Ltd.

Platinum Group Metals Ltd. is the operator of the Waterberg Project, a bulk underground palladium and platinum deposit located in South Africa. The Waterberg Project was discovered by Platinum Group and is being jointly developed with Implats, Mnombo, JOGMEC and Hanwa. Total expenditures on the property since inception from all investor sources to February 28, 2023, are approximately US $82.9 million.

On behalf of the Board of

Platinum Group Metals Ltd.

Frank R. Hallam

President, CEO and Director

For further information contact:

Kris Begic, VP, Corporate Development

Platinum Group Metals Ltd., Vancouver

Tel: (604) 899-5450 / Toll Free: (866) 899-5450

www.platinumgroupmetals.net

Disclosure

The Toronto Stock Exchange ("TSX") and the NYSE American have not reviewed and do not accept responsibility for the accuracy or adequacy of this news release, which has been prepared by management.

This news release contains forward-looking information within the meaning of Canadian securities laws and forward-looking statements within the meaning of U.S. securities laws (collectively "forward-looking statements"). Forward-looking statements are typically identified by words such as: "believe", "expect", "anticipate", "intend", "estimate", "may", "plans", "postulate" and similar expressions, or are those, which, by their nature, refer to future events. All statements that are not statements of historical fact are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements in this news release include, but are not limited to, statements regarding future exploration options, the potential strike length of the T Zone and F Zone of the Waterberg deposit, the future logging of drill cores and sampling and assaying of mineralized intercepts, exploration and development of the Waterberg project, potential identification of additional T Zone mineral resources, potential access to those resources from planned underground development and the Company's other future plans and expectations. Although the Company believes any forward-looking statements in this news release are reasonable, it can give no assurance that the expectations and assumptions in such statements will prove to be correct.

The Company cautions investors that any forward-looking statements by the Company are not guarantees of future results or performance and that actual results may differ materially from those in forward-looking statements as a result of various factors, including possible adverse impacts due the global outbreak of COVID-19, the Company's inability to generate sufficient cash flow or raise additional capital, and to comply with the terms of any new indebtedness; additional financing requirements; and any new indebtedness may be secured, which potentially could result in the loss of any assets pledged by the Company; the Company's history of losses and negative cash flow; the Company's properties may not be brought into a state of commercial production; uncertainty of estimated production, development plans and cost estimates for the Waterberg Project; discrepancies between actual and estimated mineral reserves and mineral resources, between actual and estimated development and operating costs, between actual and estimated metallurgical recoveries and between estimated and actual production; fluctuations in the relative values of the U.S. Dollar, the Rand and the Canadian Dollar; volatility in metals prices; the uncertainty of alternative funding sources for Waterberg JV Co.; the Company may become subject to the U.S. Investment Company Act; the failure of the Company or the other shareholders to fund their pro rata share of funding obligations for the Waterberg Project; any disputes or disagreements with the other shareholders of Waterberg JV Co. or Mnombo; the ability of the Company to retain its key management employees and skilled and experienced personnel; conflicts of interest; litigation or other administrative proceedings brought against the Company; actual or alleged breaches of governance processes or instances of fraud, bribery or corruption; exploration, development and mining risks and the inherently dangerous nature of the mining industry, and the risk of inadequate insurance or inability to obtain insurance to cover these risks and other risks and uncertainties; property and mineral title risks including defective title to mineral claims or property; changes in national and local government legislation, taxation, controls, regulations and political or economic developments in Canada and South Africa; equipment shortages and the ability of the Company to acquire necessary access rights and infrastructure for its mineral properties; environmental regulations and the ability to obtain and maintain necessary permits, including environmental authorizations and water use licences; extreme competition in the mineral exploration industry; delays in obtaining, or a failure to obtain, permits necessary for current or future operations or failures to comply with the terms of such permits; risks of doing business in South Africa, including but not limited to, labour, economic and political instability and potential changes to and failures to comply with legislation; the Company's common shares may be delisted from the NYSE American or the TSX if it cannot maintain compliance with the applicable listing requirements; and other risk factors described in the Company's most recent Form 40-F annual report, Annual Information Form and other filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") and the Canadian securities regulators, which may be viewed at www.sec.gov and www.sedar.com, respectively. Proposed changes in the mineral law in South Africa if implemented as proposed would have a material adverse effect on the Company's business and potential interest in projects. 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, the Company disclaims any intent or obligation to update any forward-looking statement, whether because of new information, future events or results or otherwise.

The technical and scientific information contained herein has been prepared in accordance with NI 43-101, which differs from the standards adopted by the SEC. Accordingly, the technical and scientific information contained herein, including any estimates of mineral reserves and mineral resources, may not be comparable to similar information disclosed by U.S. companies subject to the disclosure requirements of the SEC.

1Technical report entitled "Independent Technical Report, Waterberg Project Definitive Feasibility Study and Mineral Resource Update, Bushveld Complex, South Africa" filed on SEDAR October 7, 2019 at www.sedar.com

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/166322
NOT FOR PUBLICATION, DISTRIBUTION OR RELEASE, DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY, IN OR INTO THE UNITED STATES (INCLUDING ITS TERRITORIES AND POSSESSIONS, ANY STATE OF THE UNITED STATES AND THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA), AUSTRALIA, JAPAN, SOUTH AFRICA OR ANY OTHER JURISDICTION IN VIOLATION OF THE RELEVANT LAWS OF SUCH JURISDICTION. FURTHER, THIS ANNOUNCEMENT IS FOR INFORMATION PURPOSES ONLY AND IS NOT AN OFFER OF SECURITIES IN ANY JURISDICTION

Regulatory News:

Azelis (Brussels:AZE):

As announced on 16th May 2023, Azelis (the "Company"), a leading global innovation service provider in the specialty chemicals and food ingredients industry, launched on a non-pre-emptive basis a capital increase via an accelerated bookbuild offering of shares (the "Offering").

The Company announces that it has raised total proceeds of 200 million following the issuance of 10,075,566 new shares to institutional investors, corresponding to approximately 4.3% of the outstanding shares before the Offering, at a price of 19.85 per share, representing a 4.9% discount to the closing price on May 16, 2023 of 20.88. The book was multiple times oversubscribed.

Azelis continues to benefit from a deep and active M&A pipeline, which will support the continuation of its growth strategy in 2023 and beyond. The Company remains committed to maintaining a disciplined approach with regards to potential acquisitions, in line with its financial policy.

Azelis intends to use the net proceeds of the Offering for (i) general corporate purposes and (ii) to provide the Company with continued capacity to make accretive acquisitions. The Offering allows Azelis to accelerate its growth strategy whilst staying committed to its stated financial policy (2.5x -3.0x).

The new shares will benefit from participation in the dividend expected to be paid on June 23, 2023.

Expected admission to trading of the new shares on the Euronext Brussels regulated market

The Company expects the new shares to be admitted to trading on the Euronext Brussels regulated market immediately after their issue, expected to take place on May 19, 2023.

Joint Global Coordinators

Goldman Sachs International and J.P. Morgan SE are acting as Joint Global Coordinators.

About Azelis

Azelis is a leading global innovation service provider in the specialty chemical and food ingredients industry, present in 63 countries across the globe with over 3,800 employees. Our knowledgeable teams of industry, market and technical experts are each dedicated to a specific market within Life Sciences and Industrial Chemicals. We offer a lateral value chain of complementary products to more than 59,000 customers, supported by +2,700 principal relationships, creating a turnover of 4.1 billion (2022). Azelis Group NV is listed on Euronext Brussels under ticker AZE.

Across our extensive network of more than 65 application laboratories, our award-winning staff help develop formulations and provide technical guidance throughout the customers' product development process. We combine a global market reach with a local footprint to offer a reliable, integrated, and unique digital service to local customers and attractive -business opportunities to principals. Top industry-rated by Sustainalytics, Azelis is a leader in sustainability. We believe in building and nurturing solid, honest and transparent relationships with our people and partners.

Impact through ideas. Innovation through formulation.

www.azelis.com

"These written materials, and any copy thereof, may not be directly or indirectly distributed in or to persons resident in the United States (including its territories and possessions, any State of the United States and the District of Columbia), Australia, Japan, South Africa or any other jurisdiction where such distribution could constitute a breach of the applicable laws of such jurisdiction.

These written materials are for information purposes only and are not intended to constitute, and should not be construed as, an offer to sell or subscribe for, or the announcement of a forthcoming offer to sell or subscribe for, or a solicitation of any offer to buy or subscribe for, or the announcement of a forthcoming solicitation of any offer to buy or subscribe for, existing or new shares of the Company in the European Economic Area (the "EEA") (except in the context of a private placement with Qualified Investors, as defined below), the United States, Australia, Canada (except in the context of a private placement with investors qualifying as "accredited investors" and "permitted clients", as defined below), Japan, South Africa, Switzerland (except in the context of a private placement with Professional Clients, as defined below) or the United Kingdom (except in the context of a private placement with Relevant Persons, as defined below). No offer to sell or subscribe for shares, or announcement of a forthcoming offer to sell or subscribe for shares, will be made in the EEA (except in the context of a private placement with Qualified Investors, as defined below), the United States, Australia, Canada (except in the context of a private placement with investors qualifying as "accredited investors" and "permitted clients", as defined below), Japan, South Africa, Switzerland (except in the context of a private placement with Professional Clients, as defined below), the United Kingdom (except in the context of a private placement with Relevant Persons, as defined below) or in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration, exemption from registration or qualification under the securities laws of such jurisdiction, and the distribution of this communication in such jurisdictions may be similarly restricted. Persons into whose possession this communication comes should inform themselves about and observe any such restrictions. Any failure to comply with these restrictions may constitute a violation of the security laws of any such jurisdiction.

This announcement contains statements which are "forward-looking statements" or could be considered as such. These forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology, including the words 'believe', 'estimate', 'anticipate', 'expect', 'intend', 'may', 'will', 'plan', 'continue', 'ongoing', 'possible', 'predict', 'plans', 'target', 'seek', 'would' or 'should', and contain statements made by the Company regarding the intended results of its strategy. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties and readers are warned that none of these forward-looking statements offers any guarantee of future performance. The company's actual results may differ materially from those predicted by the forward-looking statements. The Company makes no undertaking whatsoever to publish updates or adjustments to these forward-looking statements, unless required to do so by law.

This communication does not constitute or form part of an offer of securities in the United States, or a solicitation to purchase securities in the United States. The securities referred to herein have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "US Securities Act"), or under the securities law of any state or jurisdiction in the United States and may not be offered, sold, resold, transferred or delivered, directly or indirectly within the United States except pursuant to an applicable exemption from the registration requirements of the US Securities Act and in compliance with any applicable securities laws of any state or jurisdiction of the United States. The issuer of the securities has not registered, and does not intend to register, any portion of the transaction in the United States. There will be no public offer of securities in the United States.

In relation to each Member State of the European Economic Area (each a "Relevant Member State")an offer of securities to which this communication relates is only addressed to and is only directed at (i) qualified investors in that Relevant Member State within the meaning of Regulation ((EU) 2017/1129 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 June 2017 on the prospectus to be published when securities are offered to the public or admitted to trading on a regulated market, and repealing Directive 2003/71/EC, and any implementing measure in each Relevant Member State of the EEA (the "Prospectus Regulation")) in accordance with the prospectus exemption provided for in article 1(4)(a)and article 1(5)(a) of the Prospectus Regulation ("Qualified Investors

In the United Kingdom, this announcement is only addressed to and directed at, and any investment or investment activity to which this announcement relates is available only to, and will be engaged in only with, "qualified investors" as defined in article 2 (e) of the Prospectus Regulation as amended and transposed into the laws of the United Kingdom by virtue of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 and the European Union (Withdrawal Agreement) Act 2020 (the "UK Prospectus Regulation") who are also (x) persons who have professional experience in matters relating to investments falling within the definition of "investment professionals" in article 19(5) of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Financial Promotion) Order 2005, as amended (the "Order"), or (y) "high net worth companies, unincorporated associations, etc." in the sense of article 49(2) (a) to (d) of the Order, or (z) are persons to whom such information may otherwise lawfully be communicated (all such persons together being referred to as "Relevant Persons"). Persons who are not Relevant Persons should not take any action on the basis of this announcement and should not act or rely on it.

In Canada, this announcement is only addressed to and directed at investors qualifying as (i) "accredited investors" (as defined in National Instrument 45-106 Prospectus Exemptions or subsection 73.3(1) of the Securities Act (Ontario)) and (ii) "permitted clients" (as defined in National Instrument 31-103 Registration Requirements, Exemptions and Ongoing Registrant Obligations).

In Switzerland an offer of securities to which this communication relates is only addressed to and is only directed at "professional clients" within the meaning of Article 4 para. 3 of the Swiss Financial Services Act ("Finanzdienstleistungsgesetz") of 15 June 2018 ("FINSA") (such persons being referred to as "Professional Clients"). The offer is therefore exempted from the obligation to prepare and publish a prospectus under FINSA and the securities will not be admitted to trading on any Swiss trading platform. This communication does not constitute a prospectus in accordance with FINSA and the Company will not prepare such prospectus in light of the offer of securities are referred to herein.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230516006055/en/

Contacts:

Azelis Investor Relations

Investor-relations@azelis.com
SHANGHAI, May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- From May 5th - May 8th, DAHON showcased its blockbuster product line-up and cutting-edge folding bike technology at China Cycle, at booth E1 1305, Shanghai New International Expo Center. Themed "Safer, Smarter and Greener", this year the show had over 1200 electric and non-electric bicycle industry players taking part.





During the Fair, DAHON showcased over 30 electric, non-electric and children's folding bicycles, with booth visitors getting the chance to experience the new cargo E-Bike Cargoe T5, carbon fiber folder Clinch C10, popular Archer P8 and the speedy commuter e-bike Unio E16. Dr. David T Hon, DAHON's CEO and Chairman, was also at the booth meeting with bike manufacturers and users explaining Dahon's cutting-edge technologies.





Among the notable highlights at the fair, the DAHON Racing Competition was joined by 200+ riders who tested out DAHON's patented technology, Deltec, on bicycle Launch D8. It was a great opportunity for the participants to experience Deltec at both outdoor test tracks and inside DAHON's booth and appreciate the benefits of this groundbreaking technology. Deltec is a handy cable that boosts a bike's frame strength and stiffness, it's a big step forward for the bike design technology, as it makes single beam folding bikes more rigid, stronger and faster than some large-wheeled mountain bikes.





With more than 40 years of innovating high-performance folding bicycles, DAHON received great accolade from the bike industry at the show. DAHON was credited by China Cycle among the shortlist of "Specialized, Refined and Innovative bicycle" enterprises. Its Sharing 360 technology also made its mark, on the booth it attracted the attention of many companies from the trade who discussed potential collaborations with the team.

China Cycle 2023 was a great success for DAHON, the folding bike pioneer delighted fans and the industry with its globally renowned bicycle technology. The brand now looks forward to the future while staying committed to developing and upgrading its products so all customers can enjoy riding experiences full of quality. DAHON will showcase its latest models to the world at two upcoming bike shows such as Inabike in Jakarta, Indonesia (24 May-26 May) and Eurobike in Frankfurt, Germany (21 June - 25 June).

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2078926/DAHON_booth_China_Cycle_2023.jpg

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2078927/DAHON_CEO_Dr_David_Hon_China_Cycle.jpg

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2078928/DAHON_s_Deltec.jpg

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/dahon-wows-crowds-with-groundbreaking-bike-tech-at-china-cycle-2023-301826873.html
+39,93% Rendite seit Januar  so lautet die Erfolgsbilanz der Aktie der Woche. Damit wurden sowohl der DAX als auch der S&P 500 deutlich outperformt. Wie das genau funktioniert, erklart Chefradakteur Lars Wiler in seiner Zwischenbilanz.

MUNICH (dpa-AFX) - German reinsurance provider Munich Re Group (0KFE.L) reported Wednesday that its first-quarter net result dropped 14.2 percent to 1.27 billion euros from last year's 1.48 billion euros. Earnings per share were 9.29 euros, down 11.7 percent from 10.53 euros a year ago. The reinsurance field of business contributed 1.05 billion euros to the Group's net result, down from prior year's 1.32 billion euros. In the ERGO field of business, Munich Re posted a net result of 219 million euros, up from 156 million euros a year ago. The Group operating result was 1.77 billion euros, lower than prior year's 1.86 billion euros. Looking ahead for fiscal 2023, the company said it is confident to reach net result guidance of 4 billion euros, with increased chances to surpass this target. Munich Re said it remains confident in its outlook for positive business opportunities in 2023. The market environment is expected to remain positive and to present attractive growth opportunities in the upcoming July renewal rounds. For more earnings news, earnings calendar, and earnings for stocks, visit rttnews.com. Copyright(c) 2023 RTTNews.com. All Rights Reserved Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
Regulatory News:

Following the announcement on 22 September 2022 regarding the retirement of its Chief Operating Officer Andy Gulliford, SEGRO plc ("SEGRO" or the "Group) (BOURSE:SGRO) today confirms that Andy will be retiring from the business and stepping down from the Board on 30 June 2023.

The Group also announces that it has taken this opportunity to expand its executive leadership structure, to reflect the increased scale and footprint of its operations. The new structure provides opportunities to promote the great talent within the business, whilst ensuring that the leadership team has the right experience and capabilities to continue to deliver SEGRO's strategic priorities and secure its ambitious plans for future growth.

As a result, SEGRO is appointing James Craddock, Paul Dunne, Andrew Pilsworth and Marco Simonetti to its Executive Committee, reporting to David Sleath, Chief Executive. The new roles, which will take effect from 1 July 2023, are detailed below and will fulfil a wide range of functions from leading the Group's property operations, implementing its sustainability strategy, to incubating new propositions and driving growth.

David Sleath, Chief Executive, SEGRO, said:

"Our existing operating model has served us well over the last decade as we have grown into one of Europe's largest and best-performing property companies. While we can be proud of our achievements to date, we remain ambitious for further growth, success and continued exemplary customer service. The time is right to evolve our organisational model to take full advantage of the exciting opportunities ahead, and to ensure we continue to meet the expectations of our customers, shareholders, colleagues and other stakeholders.

"James, Paul, Andrew and Marco are exceptional leaders with many years' experience in a variety of roles, which will be hugely beneficial as we strive towards our ambition to be the best property company.

"I would also like to take this opportunity to once again thank Andy for his significant contribution to SEGRO's success over the years and to wish him well for the future."

New roles and appointments

Managing Director, UK Managing Director, Continental Europe

Two new roles have been formed with responsibility for leading SEGRO's property activities, one covering the UK and the other Continental Europe. This will include achieving portfolio outperformance and growth, as well as supporting the delivery of the Group's strategy within their respective regions.

James Craddock has been promoted from his role as Managing Director of SEGRO's Thames Valley business unit to Managing Director, UK. Marco Simonetti has been promoted from his role as Managing Director of SEGRO's Southern Europe business unit to Managing Director, Continental Europe.

Group Customer Operations Director

Customers have been at the heart of SEGRO's business for many years and the creation of this role signifies the Group's intent to raise its customer service standards to a new level and to further deepen its customer relationships to provide competitive advantage. Alongside this will be the responsibility for setting standards and ensuring consistency across the UK and Europe within the operational functions, including driving the Group's sustainability strategy.

Paul Dunne, currently Managing Director, Group Operations has been promoted to this role.

Chief of Staff

The Chief of Staff will work closely with David Sleath and other Executive Committee members in developing and implementing strategic initiatives and leading on cross-border business propositions.

Andrew Pilsworth, currently Managing Director of SEGRO's National Logistics business unit, has been promoted to this role.

As a result of these changes, James, Paul, Andrew and Marco will join the Executive Committee alongside existing members David Sleath, Soumen Das (Chief Financial Officer) and Margaret Murphy (Group HR Director).

COO retirement

As required by s430(2B) of the Companies Act 2006, details of the remuneration payments to be made to Andy Gulliford will be published on the Company's website when he steps down from the Board.

About SEGRO

SEGRO is a UK Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT), listed on the London Stock Exchange and Euronext Paris, and is a leading owner, manager and developer of modern warehouses and industrial property. It owns or manages 9.9 million square metres of space (106 million square feet) valued at 20.9 billion as at 31 December 2022, serving customers from a wide range of industry sectors. Its properties are located in and around major cities and at key transportation hubs in the UK and in seven other European countries.

For over 100 years SEGRO has been creating the space that enables extraordinary things to happen. From modern big box warehouses, used primarily for regional, national and international distribution hubs, to urban warehousing located close to major population centres and business districts, it provides high-quality assets that allow its customers to thrive.

A commitment to be a force for societal and environmental good is integral to SEGRO's purpose and strategy. Its Responsible SEGRO framework focuses on three long-term priorities where the company believes it can make the greatest impact: Championing Low-Carbon Growth, Investing in Local Communities and Environments and Nurturing Talent.

Striving for the highest standards of innovation, sustainable business practices and enabling economic and societal prosperity underpins SEGRO's ambition to be the best property company.

See www.SEGRO.com for further information.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230516005907/en/

Contacts:

CONTACT DETAILS FOR INVESTOR ANALYST AND MEDIA ENQUIRIES:

SEGRO

David Sleath (Chief Executive)

Tel: +44 (0) 20 7451 9120

Claire Mogford (Head of Investor Relations)

Tel: +44 (0) 20 7451 9048

Gary Gaskarth (External Communications Manager)

Tel: +44 (0) 20 7451 9069

FTI Consulting

Richard Sunderland Ellie Sweeney Eve Kirmatzis

Tel: +44 (0) 20 3727 1000
As an integral part of the development of the drivable concept car, Akkodis, a global leader in the Smart Industry, contributed its technical and digital expertise to the BMW i Vision Dee.

ZURICH, May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Akkodis, part of the Adecco Group, has joined forces with the BMW Group to develop and produce the BMW i Vision Dee. Earlier this year, the BMW Group unveiled the BMW i Vision Dee to a global audience during the influential CES 2023 technology trade show in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA.





Working jointly with the BMW Group for the project in Germany, Akkodis contributed its in-depth digital engineering expertise to bring the BMW i Vision Dee to life. Akkodis was involved in the design and construction of the vehicle, from the implementation of the initial sketches to the drivable concept car.

Akkodis developed the specific battery and wiring harness for the drivable concept car. Digital engineering experts from Akkodis also realized the on-board network with the Akkodis Gigabox and ensured a successful commissioning of the vehicle.

The name "Dee" stands for "Digital Emotional Experience", which represents the BMW Group's aim to strengthen the connection and interaction between people and their vehicles. The concept car boasts a number of features including a Mixed Reality Slider, an enhanced version of the BMW Group's pioneering Head-up Display, the ability - for the first time in the world - to change colors in the rainbow color spectrum using e-ink technology, as well as the incorporation of avatars, light, sound, and a natural human voice, engaging all five senses to create an immersive driving experience.

Jan Gupta, President of Akkodis, said, "Jointly with the BMW Group, Akkodis has contributed to the realization of the BMW i Vision Dee, lending its expertise from concept design and vehicle development, to software and on-board network development." Jan continued, "Akkodis is the global partner of choice for the Smart Industry transformation, and the BMW Group's concept car is a great example of how digitalization is being leveraged by a world-leading automotive manufacturer to transform the future of mobility. Harnessing newly combined tech and engineering capabilities1 our 50,000 talented people are passionate about Engineering a Smarter Future Together."

Notes to Editor

1. Akkodis was formed in early 2022 when Modis, the Adecco Group's high-tech services business, was combined with AKKA Technologies, a leader in engineering R&D services.

Media contact(s)

Lisa Bushka

VP External Communications, Akkodis

M. +18604630770

E. lisa.bushka@adeccogroup.com

Anne Friedrich

VP Marketing & Communications Germany, Akkodis

M. +4915174633470

E. anne.friedrich@akkodis.com

About Akkodis

Akkodis is a global digital engineering company and Smart Industry leader. We enable clients to advance in their digital transformation with Consulting, Solutions, Talent, and Academy services. Headquartered in Switzerland and part of the Adecco Group, Akkodis is a trusted tech partner to the world's industries. We co-create and pioneer solutions that help to solve major challenges, from accelerating the clean energy transition and green mobility, to improving user and patient centricity. Empowered by a culture of inclusion and diversity, our 50,000 tech experts across 30 countries combine best-in-class technologies and cross industry knowledge to drive purposeful innovation for a more sustainable tomorrow. We are passionate about Engineering a Smarter Future Together.?akkodis.com | LinkedIn | Instagram | Facebook Twitter

About the Adecco Group

The Adecco Group is the world's leading talent company. Our purpose is making the future work for everyone. Through our three global business units - Adecco, Akkodis and LHH - across 60 countries, we enable sustainable and lifelong employability for individuals, deliver digital and engineering solutions to power the Smart Industry transformation and empower organisations to optimise their workforces. The Adecco Group leads by example and is committed to an inclusive culture, fostering sustainable employability, and supporting resilient economies and communities. The Adecco Group AG is headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland (ISIN: CH0012138605) and listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange (ADEN). www.adeccogroup.com

Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2078578/Akkodis.jpg

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/akkodis--development-partner-for-bmw-i-vision-dee-concept-car-301826475.html
Press Release

Evolution of the Atos Board of Directors and convening of the 2023 Annual General Meeting

Further strengthening the diversity of skills within the Board of Directors to support the Group's strategic plan and separation project

Paris, France - May 17, 2023 - The Atos Board of Directors, upon the recommendation of the Nomination and Governance Committee chaired by Elizabeth Tinkham, has approved the following changes to its composition, in line with the needs identified and the strategy pursued, in particular in the areas of corporate governance, digital transformation of companies, especially in the financial sector, and digital strategies in the fields of security and defense.

Renewal of the mandate of Caroline Ruellan

The ratification of the cooptation of Caroline Ruellan, independent director of Atos since July 26, 2022, and the renewal of her term of office as director, will be submitted to the vote of the shareholders at the Annual General Meeting on June 28, 2023.

Appointment of two new independent Directors

During its meeting held on May 16, 2023, the Board of Directors co-opted Jean-Pierre Mustier as a new independent director. Ratification of this cooptation will be submitted to a vote of the shareholders at the Annual General Meeting.

The Board of Directors has also decided to submit the appointment of Laurent Collet-Billon as a new independent director to a vote of the shareholders at the Annual General Meeting.

Jean-Pierre Mustier is a business leader and investment banker. He will bring to the Board of Directors his managerial experience, his financial expertise as well as his understanding of the digital sector: close to the financial industry, Mr. Mustier has successfully led the transformation of a major European bank, UniCredit, whose information systems are at the core of its operations. In his last position at the Pegasus fund, he gained a global view of the fintech market, and more generally of the current consolidation trends in the asset management, banking and finance sectors, driven by acquisitions of digital technologies and platforms.

Laurent Collet-Billon is a French military servant having reached the highest-ranking military status of an Ingenieurgeneral de l'armement de classeexceptionnelle, and a former Delegate General for Armaments, i.e., former head of the French Defense Ministry's Direction Generale de l'Armement ("DGA"). The Board of Directors will benefit from Laurent Collet-Billon's experience as a former executive, having been the most senior manager of the French Ministry of Defense's DGA, who at the time structured the IT program requirements for the interoperability of the armed forces. In the context of the future French law on military programming, and the strategic plan to separate Eviden from Atos Tech Foundations, Mr. Collet-Billon will bring to the Board of Directors his vision and expertise, particularly in the digital, defense and cybersecurity sectors.

These appointments will succeed two Board members

Lynn Paine, Baker Foundation Professor and John G. McLean Professor of Management and Business Administration Emeritus at Harvard University, who has been an independent director since May 2013 and a member of the Nomination and Governance Committee, has submitted her resignation to the Board of Directors for personal reasons effective May 16, 2023.

Edouard Philippe informed the Board that he would not seek renewal given his multiple commitments, and expressed his support and appreciation of the collective work accomplished during these three years.

Bertrand Meunier, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Atos SE, declared:

"I am delighted to welcome Jean-Pierre Mustier to the Board of Directors and very pleased with the appointment proposed by the Board of Directors of Laurent Collet-Billon, as well as with the upcoming renewal of the mandate of Caroline Ruellan. On behalf of the entire Board of Directors, I would like to thank Lynn Paine for her commitment to Atos over many years and her important contribution to the work of the Board and Edouard Philippe for his decisive involvement during a crucial period for Atos. These moves reflect the Board's commitment to continue renewing its composition and strengthening its skills."

Convening of the Annual General Meeting

The notice of meeting (avis de reunion) relating to the General Meeting to be held on June 28, 2023, containing the agenda, the draft resolutions as well as the rules for participation and voting, will be published in the Official Legal Gazette (Bulletin des AnnoncesLegalesObligatoires, BALO) on May 24, 2023, and will be available on the Company's website (https://atos.net/en/investors/annual-general-meeting).

******

About Jean-Pierre Mustier

Jean-Pierre Mustier, a French citizen, has more than 37 years of experience in the banking sector. He has held various positions in Europe, the United States and Asia, including as CEO of the European banking group UniCredit (from 2016 to 2021), which he successfully turned around and transformed, after heading its corporate and investment bank (from 2011-2015). Since 2021, he has been Executive Director and Co-CEO of the European company Pegasus Special Purpose Acquisition Company (SPAC), which is due to be liquidated at the end of July 2023. During his career, Mr. Mustier has served on the board of directors of numerous financial institutions, banks, traditional and alternative investment management companies and clearing houses. He was President of the European Banking Federation (2019-2021) and led numerous transactions in the financial sector, including the merger of Pioneer, UniCredit's asset management entity, with Amundi, and the divestitures of Fineco, UniCredit's online bank, and Yapi Kredi. Prior to his appointment as CEO of UniCredit, Mr. Mustier was a partner at Tikehau Capital, where he was involved in the development of the London platform, as well as the alternative investment strategy. Jean-Pierre Mustier began his career at Societe Generale as a derivatives trader and then held various positions before becoming Global Head of Corporate and Investment Banking.

Jean-Pierre Mustier is a graduate of the Ecole Polytechnique and the Ecole Nationale Superieure des Mines de Paris. He is a Chevalier in the French Ordre national du Merite (National Order of Merit).

About Laurent Collet -Billon

Laurent Collet-Billon, a French citizen, is a French military servant having reached the highest-ranking military status of an Ingenieurgeneral de l'armement de classeexceptionnelle, and a former Delegate General for Armaments, i.e., former head of the French Defense Ministry's Direction Generale de l'Armement (from 2008 to 2017). In this capacity, he was responsible for the equipment of the French armed forces, defense research and development, international cooperation and defense exports, and defense industrial policy. He began his career at the DGA in 1974 and remained there until 1987, when he became technical advisor to the Minister of Defense. Upon his return to the DGA in 1988, Mr. Collet-Billon led the "Horus" program (airborne nuclear deterrence component), then the surveillance and intelligence satellite programs, before holding positions of responsibility in the fields of space, land systems, electronics and defense information systems. Then, from 1997 to 2001, he headed the DGA's Telecommunications and Information Observation Programs Department (SPOTI), which is responsible for the Ministry of Defense's C4ISR programs, aimed at connecting all digital resources for the interoperability of the armed forces. In May 2001, he became deputy to the Delegate General for Armaments, i.e. number two at the DGA. He was advisor to the Chairman and CEO of Alcatel-Lucent from 2006 to 2008. He was a member of the board of directors of Thales from 2014 to 2017. He is now active in consulting, notably through La Place Strategique, an incubator dedicated to promising sovereign technology businesses, which he co-founded in 2020.

Laurent Collet-Billon is a graduate engineer from the Ecole Nationale Superieure de l'Aeronautique et de l'Espace. He is a Grand Officier of the French Legion d'honneur and an Officier of the French Ordre national du Merite (National Order of Merit). He is a former auditor of the Centre des Hautes Etudes de l'Armement (CHEAr).

***

About Atos

Atos is a global leader in digital transformation with 111,000 employees and annual revenue of c.  11 billion. European number one in cybersecurity, cloud and high-performance computing, the Group provides tailored end-to-end solutions for all industries in 69 countries. A pioneer in decarbonization services and products, Atos is committed to a secure and decarbonized digital for its clients. Atos is a SE (Societas Europaea), and listed on Euronext Paris.

The purpose of Atosis to help design the future of the information space. Its expertise and services support the development of knowledge, education and research in a multicultural approach and contribute to the development of scientific and technological excellence. Across the world, the Group enables its customers and employees, and members of societies at large to live, work and develop sustainably, in a safe and secure information space.

Contacts

For more information, please contact:

Investor Relations: Thomas Guillois - thomas.guillois@atos.net- +33 6 21 34 36 62

Press: Anette Rey - anette.rey@atos.net- +33 6 69 79 84 88 - @AnetteRey

Attachment
Sania Therapeutics launches to advance novel medicines for neural circuit dysfunction



Sania emerges from stealth mode and presentskey proof-of-concept data at ASGCT 2023

Launchingcore technology platforms which enablethe precision delivery of proteins for neuromodulation

Team combines world-leading scientific pioneers with industry drug development expertise

LONDON, UK & NEW YORK, USA - 17 May 2023, Sania Therapeutics (the "Company"), focused on developing genetic medicines for neural circuit dysfunction, launches today by unveiling its suite of proprietary patented platforms at the American Society of Gene & Cell Therapy (ASGCT) conference.

Sania's human-centric approach combines the evolution of adeno-associated viruses (AAV) in human neural circuits, the fundamental components of the nervous system, with tuneable conditionally-activated ion channels. This permits breakthrough efficacy by correcting dysfunctional neural excitation, thereby unlocking a broad range of diseases both within and beyond neurology.

The Company's foundational technology platforms were first developed at University College London by Sania's Co-Founders. Today's launch follows the closing of an oversubscribed Series Seed financing, proceeds of which have been applied to platform development, advancing a lead program in motor disorders, as well as initiating additional undisclosed programs which leverage platform capabilities.

"We formed Sania with a simple yet powerful vision: to be the first in developing medicines that treat disorders of neural circuits selectively. Today we are excited to demonstrate proof-of-principle data and unveil our platforms," said Andy Murray, Ph.D, CEO & Co-Founder of Sania Therapeutics.

"I'm very excited to be working with the team at Sania and believe their novel approach to neural modulation could lead to real benefits for patients," added Advisory Board member, Dr. Jane Hughes.





Sania's approach: human-centric precision delivery of tuneable genetic neuromodulation

Sania is unveiling its core patented technology platforms and proof-of-principle data at ASGCT in presentations on 17 and 18 May. These platforms enable the precision delivery of proteins for neuromodulation to selected individual neural circuits.

Human-centric precision delivery is enabled by Sania's R-Scan platform, which leverages the combination of microfluidics with a diverse population of human induced pluripotent stem cells to recreate human neural circuits in a dish, enabling the directed evolution of human-centric AAVs. The proof-of-concept data being presented at for R-Scan is generated in fully functional human motor neuron-muscle circuits. R-Scan is complemented by a second platform, Gre-Scan, a novel and proprietary technology for the high throughput screening of gene regulatory elements.

These platforms are combined with Neu-Scan, which facilitates tuneable genetic neuromodulation through the testing and validation of the overexpression of conditionally-activated ion channels. The presented proof-of-concept data demonstrate that the platform has identified ion channels, deliverable by AAV, that enable the treatment of dysfunctional neural excitation.





About the leadership team

Dr. Andy Murray, Co-Founder & Chief Executive Officer. Formerly Group Leader, Sainsbury Wellcome Centre for Neural Circuits and Behaviour (SWC), University College London (UCL). Dr. Murray has pioneered viral vector development. He is published in leading scientific journals, such as Nature, Cell, Neuron, Nature Neuroscience and PNAS.

Professor Robert Brownstone, FCAHS, FMedSci, Co-Founder. Chair of Neurosurgery, UCL. Professor Brownstone is a world-leading clinician-scientist in neurophysiology. He is published in leading journals such as Science, Neuron, PNAS and Science Translational Medicine.

Dr. Raj S Dattani, Co-Founder. Dr Dattani is a qualified physician who joined the biopharma industry early in his career. He also serves as a Senior Drug Development Clinician at Weatherden where he has a dual focus across clinical development as well as corporate strategy.





Scientific andindustry advisors

Sania's Advisory Board consists of experts across vector engineering, neuroscience and drug discovery and development, including two Brain Prize recipients and leading drug developers who have a track-record of success across both pharma and biotech businesses:

Dr. Barry Ticho, Chief Medical Officer, Stoke Therapeutics. Co-Founder & former Board Member - Verve Therapeutics. Dr. Ticho formerly served in various positions at Moderna, Pfizer & Biogen.





Dr. Jane Hughes, Formerly Chief Scientific Officer, Gyroscope Therapeutics (acq. Novartis). Dr Hughes formerly served in various positions at GlaxoSmithKline and AstraZeneca.





Professor Ole Kiehn, Karolinska Institute & University of Copenhagen. Recipient of The Brain Prize (2022).





Professor Tom Otis, Chief Scientific Officer, SWC, (UCL). Formerly Section Head, Synapses and Circuits, Roche.





Dr. Kimberly Ritola, Director - UNC Neuroscience Center/BRAIN NeuroTools, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.





Professor Martyn Goulding, Salk Institute for Biological Studies. Recipient of the Brain Prize (2022).





Dr. Anna Dreismann, Senior Director of Biology, AGTC. Formally Group Lead, Gyroscope Therapeutics.









Details of Presentations at the American Society of Cell and Gene Therapy Annual Meeting:

Wednesday 17 May: "Engineering Ligand-Gated Ion Channels for Chemogenetic Modulation of Hyperexcitable Circuits in Neurological Disorders" - Smith et al. Abstract No: 2023-A-2070-ASCGT.

Thursday 18 May: "A Human-Centric AAV Capsid Engineering Platform for the Targeting of Dysfunctional Neural Circuits" - Guijarro Belmar et al. Abstract No: 2023-A-2013-ASCGT

Thursday 18 May: "A High-Throughput AAV-Based Screening Platform for the Engineering of Cell-Type Specific Gene Regulatory Elements" - Privolizzi et al. Abstract No: 2023-A-1961-ASGCT.





About Sania Therapeutics

Sania Therapeutics is a ground-breaking biotechnology company pioneering new approaches for the treatment of neural circuit dysfunction. Sania's approach combines precision delivery of genetic medicines with neuromodulation using a human-centric approach to therapeutic development. Sania is based in London, UK. For more information visit www.saniarx.com.




FEELM Shares the Honor With Clients at This Year's Vapouround Awards, Winning Across Four Categories

FEELM, the world's leading closed system solution provider, belonging to SMOORE a global leader in atomisation technology solutions recently shone at the Vapouround 2023 annual awards ceremony in Birmingham last Friday, winning the Outstanding Contribution to the Vape Industry, and Best Manufacturer. Its client KIWI Go and DejaVoo Cyber also share the honor and won the first and second place of the "Best Disposable" categories respectively.

The Vapouround Awards are one of the most prestigious and authoritative annual awards for the global vaping industry. All winning brands are selected by a panel of professional judges and represent the outstanding performance of the past year in various segments of the industry. FEELM is not new to winning in the Vapouround Awards, with the brand having been awarded Industry Leader and Best Innovation in 2020.

FEELM has made notable achievements in the closed pod system category, with around 3.5 billion pods sold to more than 50 countries since 2018. Its disposable ceramic coil technologies have also already been launched in key markets including France, the UK, and Belgium, and will soon be available more widely in more countries.

FEELM has been dedicated to embracing innovations with the aim of taking the industry standard to new heights. While most of the 2ml e-liquid disposable products provide only 600 puffs, FEELM Max solutions can now deliver 800 puffs, all whilst remaining TPD-compliant.

At the Birmingham Vaper Expo, on the Saturday at its launch event, FEELM unveiled its new innovative disposable solution, FEELM Max, with the advanced heating technology of its S1 ceramic coil. FEELM Max offers more puffs, greater taste consistency, and a fully visible mouthpiece to measure e-liquid, making it the best disposable available whilst still ensuring regulatory compliance with the Tobacco and Related Products Regulations (TRPR) in the UK and the Tobacco Products Directive (TPD) in the EU.

FEELM Max is now available in markets including the UK, Italy and Germany, and have been well-received by consumers, who have said that it feels silkier and smoother than other products.

We look forward to continuing to bring our FEELM Max technology to more consumers, whilst ensuring that our solutions are always compliant with the regulatory requirements where they are sold.

About FEELM

As a flagship tech brand belonging to SMOORE, FEELM is the world's leading closed vape system solution provider. Based on the world's leading Ceramic Coil Heating Technology, FEELM combines authentic Flavor Reproduction Technology with innovative electronics technology, bringing ultimate sensation and premium vaping experience.

About SMOORE

Founded in 2009, SMOORE is a global leader in atomization technology solutions, covering reduced-risk products, medical, pharmaceutical, and beauty atomization technologies. With inter-disciplinary atomization research and a diverse product portfolio, SMOORE is committed to becoming an advanced platform, aspired to make life better.

With continuous R&D investment and leading manufacturing capacity, SMOORE has 14 technology research centers worldwide and products are available in more than 50 countries and regions. SMOORE announced IPO in Hong Kong on July 10, 2020.

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Contacts:

Claudia Liu

86 13974468623

mengmeng.liu@smooretech.com
Press release - Release of the preparatory documents for the General Shareholders' Meeting

Sainte-Marie, May 17, 2023, 10 :00 AM

COMBINED GENERAL MEETING OF JUNE 7, 2023

TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF THE RELEASE OF PREPARATORY DOCUMENTS FOR THE MEETING

Shareholders of the Company are invited to attend the Combined General Meeting on June 7, 2023, to be held at 5:30 p.m. at Hub Lizine - 8 rue Pondichery - La Mare - 97438 Sainte-Marie (La Reunion). The General Meeting will take place under the regular conditions. Nevertheless, the firm has decided to organize a video broadcast, which shareholders can watch on our website at www.cboterritoria.com (preregistration required).

The preliminary notice, which included the agenda and proposed resolutions, was published in the "BALO" (French Journal of Mandatory Statutory Notices) on May 3, 2023, and the meeting notice will be published in the BALO on May 19, 2023, as well as in a legal announcement's newspaper ("JIR") on May 19, 2023.

The preparatory documents for the meeting set out in Article R.22-10-23 of the French Commercial Code are available on the company's website (www.cboterritoria.com in the "Finance / Informations reglementees / Assemblees d'actionnaires / 2023" section ).

The preparatory documents for the meeting are also made available to shareholders from the time the meeting is convened. As a result, in accordance with the relevant regulatory provisions:

Any registered shareholder may request that the Company transmit them the documents referred to in Articles R.225-81 and R.225-83 of the French Commercial Code, if required by electronic means, up to and including the fifth day before the Meeting. The exercise of this right by bearer share holders is contingent upon to the production of a certificate of participation in the bearer share accounts maintained by the authorized financial agent.

Any shareholder may consult the documents referred to in Articles L.225-115 and R.225-83 of the French Commercial Code at the Company's headquarters.

2023 financial calendar

Annual General Meeting: Wednesday, June 7, 2023

First half 2023 results: Tuesday, September 12, 2023 (after trading hours)

About CBo Territoria (FR0010193979, CBOT)

CBo Territoria has been a major real estate operator in La Reunion for nearly 20 years and has evolved into a multi-regional property developer specializing in tertiary assets (300.6 million at the end of December, representing 81% of total assets in value at year-end 2022). The Group is pursuing its expansion through the exploitation of its land reserves or through land acquisition, as it is involved in the full real estate value chain (property developer, property investor, and real estate company). CBo Territoria can finance its development through its activities as a residential developer (apartment buildings or sale of land plots) and, secondarily, as a service provider, as well as through the planned transfer of its residual residential properties to SHLMR.

CBo Territoria is a real estate investment firm listed on Euronext Paris (compartment "C") that is qualified for the PEA PME finance program (small and medium-sized enterprises).

Responsible and committed to a more sustainable real estate since its inception, CBo Territoria has been in the Top 10 of compartment "C" of the Gaia-Index for the past 6 years, a French benchmark index of the most virtuous small and medium-sized companies in terms of CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility).

More information on cboterritoria.com

INVESTORS Contacts

Caroline Clapier - Director of Finance and Administration - direction@cboterritoria.com

Agnes Villeret - Komodo - Tel.: 06 83 28 04 15 - agnes.villeret@agence-komodo.com

PRESS Contacts

Finance: Agnes Villeret - agnes.villeret@agence-komodo.com

Corporate - Paris: Dina Morin - dmorin@capvalue.fr

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LONDON (dpa-AFX) - Geotechnical specialist contractor Keller Group plc (KLR.L), on Wednesday, reported that trading in the first four months of the year has been strong and better than expected, both in terms of profit and cash.



Following the period-end, the company's North American Division was awarded a significant groundworks contract, worth about US$145 million, for an assembly plant in South Carolina that will build Scout electric vehicles. Works will start in H2 2023 and take around 12 months.



The company stated that the increased momentum across its business cited at full year results in March 2023 has continued in the period. This, 'combined with a strong order book and recent contract wins, gives us good visibility and confidence through the remainder of the year and we continue to anticipate a full year performance at least in line with the Board's expectations...'



The cash performance in the first four months has been considerably better than the prior year period. At the half year, given the timing of payments relating to tax, dividends and interest, Keller Group expects the net debt/EBITDA leverage ratio to be at the upper end of the 0.5x - 1.5x range, while at the year end the company now expects the leverage ratio to be lower than prior year.



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Kostenloser Report: +40% Gewinn nur mit Aktien! +39,93% Rendite seit Januar  so lautet die Erfolgsbilanz der Aktie der Woche. Damit wurden sowohl der DAX als auch der S&P 500 deutlich outperformt. Wie das genau funktioniert, erklart Chefradakteur Lars Wiler in seiner Zwischenbilanz. Hier klicken
Leadership Appointment in Kroll Saudi Arabia Further Accelerates the Firm's Expansion in Key Markets Around the World

Kroll, the leading independent provider of global risk and financial advisory solutions, announced today the appointment of Mahmoud Totonji as Managing Director for Kroll Saudi Arabia.

With over 20 years of experience across the banking, investment and financial services industries, Totonji is an industry veteran with deep relationships in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and across the Gulf region. Based in Riyadh, Totonji will spearhead the growth of Kroll's office in the Kingdom and lead client relationship management.

Shai Waisman, President of Kroll, said, "We are delighted to welcome Mahmoud Totonji to Kroll. His expertise, leadership and deep understanding of the region will strengthen our presence and expertise in this ever-growing economy. The Kingdom continues to represent a significant opportunity for our business, and this announcement illustrates Kroll's commitment to growth in Saudi Arabia and highlights how we continue to invest and expand our team of experts who are uniquely positioned to help our clients advance their contribution to the Kingdom's Vision 2030 strategy."

Totonji joins Kroll from Moody's Investors Service, where he served as General Manager and Head of Relationship Management in Saudi Arabia. He has extensive expertise in both establishing and growing the market presence of banking and financial entities in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries. Prior to Moody's, he held senior positions at Barclays Saudi Arabia, Al-Azizia Commercial Investment Company, Middle East Financial Investment Company (MEFIC) and a private family office.

Mahmoud Totonji, Managing Director for Kroll Saudi Arabia, said, "I am delighted to join the firm at such a dynamic time in its expansion. Kroll has the unique ability to help companies and government entities address strategic and value-creating business opportunities and is well-positioned to make a meaningful impact in support of the Kingdom's Vision 2030 economic diversification plan."

About Kroll

As the leading independent provider of risk and financial advisory solutions, Kroll leverages our unique insights, data and technology to help clients stay ahead of complex demands. Kroll's team of more than 6,500 professionals worldwide continues the firm's nearly 100-year history of trusted expertise spanning risk, governance, transactions and valuation. Our advanced solutions and intelligence provide clients the foresight they need to create an enduring competitive advantage. At Kroll, our values define who we are and how we partner with clients and communities. Learn more at Kroll.com.

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Contacts:

Devonne Cusi

+1 212 450 8199

devonne.cusi@kroll.com



Tracey Scott

+44 7919698508

tracey.scott@kroll.com
Infosys achieves a notable rise in overall ranking in the United Kingdom with a customer satisfaction score of 83 percent, as compared to the industry average of 72 percent

LONDON, May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Infosys (NSE: INFY) (BSE: INFY) (NYSE: INFY), a global leader in next-generation digital services and consulting, today announced that it has been recognized as the number one service provider across the United Kingdom (UK) in the Whitelane Research and PA Consulting IT Sourcing Study 2023. The report ranked Infosys as an 'Exceptional Performer' in the categories of Digital Transformation, Application Services, Cloud & Infrastructure Hosting Services, and Workplace Services. Infosys also ranked number one overall in General Satisfaction, Service Delivery and Account Management Quality.





Whitelane Research in collaboration with PA Consulting, surveyed over 300 participants of the top IT spending organizations in the UK, engaging over 750 unique IT sourcing relationships and more than 1400 cloud sourcing relationships. These service providers were assessed based on their service delivery, client relationships, commercial leverage, and transformation capabilities.

Some of Infosys' key differentiating factors highlighted in the report are:

Infosys ranked number one in the UK and as an 'Exceptional Performer' in the categories of digital transformation, application services, cloud & infrastructure hosting services, and workplace services.

Infosys ranked above the industry average by 11 percent, making it one of the top system integrators in the UK.

Infosys positioned as the leading service provider that can drive transformational change by using innovative technologies and services.

Wendy Redshaw, Chief Digital Information Officer, Retail, NatWest Group, said, "I congratulate Infosys on attaining the top ranking in the Whitelane Research UK IT Sourcing Study 2023. As a dependable partner of NatWest, Infosys has played a crucial role in implementing strategic transformational and regulatory programs across the bank. Infosys has provided seamless support across various initiatives aimed at improving customer experiences, reducing costs, and boosting revenue. Its innovative mindset, value-based delivery, and dynamic and forward-thinking talent pool all contribute to this success. Together with Infosys, we continue to deliver against our purpose and place our customers at the center of everything we do."

David Hill, Chief Digital Officer at University of Nottingham, said, "Infosys has been a trusted strategic partner of the University since 2017. The team works in partnership with us to deliver a program of support and continuous improvement to help the University optimize and enhance its Student Records Management system alongside successfully achieving a seamless migration to the Oracle Cloud Infrastructure. Well done to Infosys for achieving the top ranking in the 2023 UK IT Sourcing Study."

Diana Kennedy, Group Chief Technology and Architecture Officer, Bupa, said, "Agility and scalability are critical for any healthcare enterprise to thrive in today's dynamic environment. Infosys has been an integral part in our digital transformation journey, leveraging data to enhance our products and services portfolio. We have leveraged Infosys capabilities to enhance business performance and offer personalized and accessible healthcare services to our customers. I congratulate Infosys for achieving the top rank in the 2023 UK IT Sourcing Study."

Jef Loos, Head of Research Europe, Whitelane Research, said, "The market dynamics are changing at a rapid pace today. Hence, it has become extremely crucial to have business models which are a well-structured mixed bags of high-end offerings and a solid client base. Infosys' display of extreme professionalism and the quality of their services have rightfully resulted in the team being recognized as the number one service provider in Whitelane's United Kingdom IT Sourcing Study. Infosys has established itself as a leader in the industry, paving the way for a brighter and more successful future for all."

Hemant Lamba, Executive Vice President & Global Head - Strategic Sales, Infosys, said, "Being ranked as number one service provider across the United Kingdom in the Whitelane Research and PA Consulting 2023 IT Sourcing Study is a result of the team effort that we put in at Infosys to always deliver the best results for our clients. We believe in putting our clients first and remain deeply committed to delivering best in-class excellence as we help our customers navigate their digital transformation journeys."

For more information, please read Whitelane Research's report here.

About Infosys

Infosys is a global leader in next-generation digital services and consulting. Over 300,000 of our people work to amplify human potential and create the next opportunity for people, businesses and communities. With over four decades of experience in managing the systems and workings of global enterprises, we expertly steer clients, in more than 50 countries, as they navigate their digital transformation powered by the cloud. We enable them with an AI-powered core, empower the business with agile digital at scale and drive continuous improvement with always-on learning through the transfer of digital skills, expertise, and ideas from our innovation ecosystem. We are deeply committed to being a well-governed, environmentally sustainable organization where diverse talent thrives in an inclusive workplace.

Visit www.infosys.com to see how Infosys (NSE, BSE, NYSE: INFY) can help your enterprise navigate your next.

Safe Harbor

Certain statements in this release concerning our future growth prospects, financial expectations and plans for navigating the COVID-19 impact on our employees, clients and stakeholders are forward-looking statements intended to qualify for the 'safe harbor' under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, which involve a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in such forward-looking statements. The risks and uncertainties relating to these statements include, but are not limited to, risks and uncertainties regarding COVID-19 and the effects of government and other measures seeking to contain its spread, risks related to an economic downturn or recession in India, the United States and other countries around the world, changes in political, business, and economic conditions, fluctuations in earnings, fluctuations in foreign exchange rates, our ability to manage growth, intense competition in IT services including those factors which may affect our cost advantage, wage increases in India and the US, our ability to attract and retain highly skilled professionals, time and cost overruns on fixed-price, fixed-time frame contracts, client concentration, restrictions on immigration, industry segment concentration, our ability to manage our international operations, reduced demand for technology in our key focus areas, disruptions in telecommunication networks or system failures, our ability to successfully complete and integrate potential acquisitions, liability for damages on our service contracts, the success of the companies in which Infosys has made strategic investments, withdrawal or expiration of governmental fiscal incentives, political instability and regional conflicts, legal restrictions on raising capital or acquiring companies outside India, unauthorized use of our intellectual property and general economic conditions affecting our industry and the outcome of pending litigation and government investigation. Additional risks that could affect our future operating results are more fully described in our United States Securities and Exchange Commission filings including our Annual Report on Form 20-F for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2022. These filings are available at www.sec.gov . Infosys may, from time to time, make additional written and oral forward-looking statements, including statements contained in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission and our reports to shareholders. The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking statements that may be made from time to time by or on behalf of the Company unless it is required by law.

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Portland, Oregon--(Newsfile Corp. - May 17, 2023) - Aisles, the innovative retail tech start-up, has crossed a milestone of 783,584 signups. Founded by a team of tech-savvy entrepreneurs, Aisles focuses on improving the retail experience for shoppers through the use of AI-based mapping and guiding systems, self-driving shopping carts, enhanced safety features, and contactless payment. The surge in signups and the growing interest in Aisles have led to an increase in the company's valuation, which now stands at $67 million.

Aisles

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Talking to the media, cofounder Ignacio Rosales said, "The Company's recent milestone of over 780,000 signups demonstrates the strong demand for its services and the potential impact Aisles can have on the retail industry. The growing interest in Aisles is a testament to the significant potential for disruption in the retail industry. We want to thank people across the globe for believing in us and promise to continue working towards even greater milestones."

The startup also recently completed a successful private seed funding round, raising $10 million from investors who now own 15% of the company. This funding will be used to further develop and expand Aisles' innovative features and services, fueling the company's growth and solidifying its position in the retail market. They are currently in the process of adding another layer to their shopping cart with finger print and face recognition as well as recording the whole shopping trip. Moreover, Aisles is reusing broken shopping carts and tuning them up into self-driving shopping carts called Tech Wheels.

Explaining some of the key features that have led to the surge in signups and valuation, he continued, "Aisles works by guiding people to the correct aisles using GPS in the stores. The self-driving cart feature Tech wheels guides them around the store and lets people check out when they are finished. Trustis is another payment method that allows them to check out when they are done shopping. Additionally, Safties warns them of item with potential hazards so people know what items have been recalled by the company. Another key component of Aisles' business model is its unique couponing system called Saves. The platform automatically searches the internet for the best deals and offers, ensuring that customers save money whenever possible. This feature not only adds value to the user experience but also generates revenue for the company. The combination of a strong features have ' contributed to Aisles' soaring valuation."

With the start up now close to achieving its target of the first million people to sign up, they are looking to leverage more partnership opportunities so it can continue to innovate and simplify the shopping experience. People interested in learning more about the company or want to join the waitlist can visit their site today at https://aisles.app/.

About the Company

Aisles is a start-up, headquartered in Portland, Oregon, that thanks to its groundbreaking technology, impressive signup numbers, and increasing valuation, has become a major player in the retail tech sector. The company is revolutionizing the retail shopping experience by leveraging AI-powered technology to create a seamless and efficient shopping journey for customers.





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Media Contact

Contact Person: Ignacio Rosales

Company: Aisles

Email: help@aisles.app

Website: https://aisles.app/

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Tencent Cloud, Qroad, and NEICON agree to support developers on WEMIX PLAY

Cloud, Qroad, and NEICON agree to support developers on WEMIX PLAY Discounts on services and additional assistance for onboarding game companies

Incentivizing developers to release well-made blockchain games on WEMIX PLAY

SEOUL, South Korea, May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- WEMIX PLAY, a global blockchain gaming platform, is partnering with Tencent Cloud, Qroad, and NEICON to provide benefits to gaming companies that onboard games to WEMIX PLAY. Gaming companies looking to onboard WEMIX PLAY will get discounts and enhanced support when they use platform services including marketing, operation, quality assurance (QA), localization, and cloud server solutions.





Tencent Cloud provides cloud services to various gaming companies all around the world and will offer discounts on server resources to game companies that onboard WEMIX PLAY. Qroad, which provides an all-in-one game service package that includes marketing, operation, QA, and localization, is offering a 10% discount to onboarding gaming firms if they use the full suite of services. Companies that sign marketing services agreements with NEICON - which specializes in global performance and influencer marketing in the Web3 field - will receive additional assistance worth up to 15% of the contract amount.

Wemade is taking multiple approaches to secure more games on the platform, and will support game developers in various ways to help them launch excellent blockchain games on WEMIX PLAY. Wemade is also expanding its business to support domestic and global developers by partnering with companies that have experience in global infrastructure projects including security and tech support firms.

"Tencent Cloud has been providing the finest cloud service to major global games in recent years," said Jiannan Zhao, Managing Director of Asia Pacific Center, Tencent Cloud International. "The partnership with WEMIX PLAY is very important to us, and we will support developers on the global blockchain game platform with successful game launches with our expertise and experiences."

"Qroad will provide an exclusive all-in-one package for developers' overall game services including marketing, global operations, and QA," Howoong Gil, CEO of Qroad said. "We support the WEMIX ecosystem wholeheartedly."

"We're excited to partner with Wemade, the leading company in blockchain games," said Sunjin Lee, CEO and founder of NEICON. "We will use our experience to help games onboard on WEMIX PLAY with the best marketing solutions possible."

"More users will get to experience blockchain games through our global partnerships," said Henry Chang, CEO of Wemade.

Blockchain games of diverse genres including MMORPG, SLG, and SNG are being serviced on WEMIX PLAY, the global blockchain gaming platform developed by Wemade. For more information, visit the official WEMIX PLAY website https://wemixplay.com/.

About Wemade

A renowned industry leader in game development with over 20 years of experience, Korea-based Wemade is leading a once-in-a-generation shift as the gaming industry pivots to blockchain technology. Through subsidiary WEMIX, Wemade aims to accelerate the adoption of blockchain technology by building an experience-based, platform-driven, and service-oriented mega-ecosystem that offers a wide spectrum of intuitive, convenient, and easy-to-use Web3 services for everyone.





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RIYADH, Saudi Arabia, May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Global logistics service provider, J&T Express today announced that it has entered into a Share Transfer Agreement with Shenzhen Fengwang Holdings Co., Ltd. ("Fengwang Holdings"), a subsidiary of S.F. Holding Co., Ltd. (002352.SZ). J&T Express' subsidiary J&T Express (Shenzhen) Supply Chain Co., Ltd. will acquire 100% share rights of Fengwang Holding's wholly-owned subsidiary, Shenzhen Fengwang Information Technology Co., Ltd. ("Fengwang Information"), for RMB 1.183 billion. This transaction is subject to several prerequisites, the examination of concentrations of undertakings by the state administration for market regulation, and the transaction consideration being settled in a timely manner according to the Share Transfer Agreement.





J&T Express has been making significant strides in the e-commerce express delivery sector since its entry into the Chinese market in 2020. The company has successfully acquired Best Inc.'s express business in China in late 2021. Shenzhen Fengwang Express Co., Ltd. ("Fengwang Express") is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Fengwang Information. Fengwang Express' network currently covers 27 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions across China, providing high quality services to e-commerce customers. In 2022, Fengwang's revenue exceeded RMB 3.2 billion. The overall network service quality is stable.

J&T Express has expressed its commitment to continuously optimizing the service experience as part of its focus on the e-commerce express delivery service industry. This acquisition will enhance the integrated service capabilities of J&T Express. This move is expected to foster high-quality development of the industry allowing it to further increase its competitive advantage in the e-commerce delivery sector and contribute to the high-quality development of the industry.

S.F. said that the resources of two sides are complementary, this will help ensure the smooth transition of the transaction. Looking forward, S.F. can focus more on the development of its core businesses such as domestic mid-to-high-end express, international express, global supply chain services and digital supply chain services. Meanwhile, S.F. will continue to build e-commerce express delivery products and services and meet the diversified needs of customers in the high-end express delivery market.

About J&T Express

J&T Express is a global logistics service provider with leading express delivery businesses in Southeast Asia and China, the largest and fastest-growing market in the world. Founded in 2015, J&T Express' network spans thirteen countries, including Indonesia, Vietnam, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, Cambodia, Singapore, China, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Mexico, Brazil and Egypt. Adhering to its "customer-oriented and efficiency-based" mission, J&T Express is committed to providing customers with integrated logistics solutions through intelligent infrastructure and digital logistics network, as part of its global strategy to connect the world with greater efficiency and bring logistical benefits to all.

About S.F.

S.F, is the largest integrated logistics service provider in China, and the fourth largest express delivery enterprise in the world, providing domestic and international end-to-end one-stop supply chain services. At the same time, relying on leading scientific and technological research and development capabilities, S.F. is committed to building the digital supply chain ecology and becoming a leader in the global intelligent supply chain. After years of dedicated operation, S.F. has earned considerable reputation and popularity in the industry, and has established the "rapid, punctual and safe" brand image. It takes the lead in multiple segments and continues to lead in the industry.

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Report shows the CSRD mandate is already having a major influence on annual reporting

Overwhelmed and over-capacity reporting teams underestimate the work that lies ahead

Integrated reporting will enable companies to optimise processes and meet new CSRD demands

The majority (94%) of European organisations surveyed are working to become compliant with the CSRD (Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive) by 2024, but their lack of decisive action is putting them at risk of running out of time, according to a second annual report by Workiva Inc. (NYSE:WK), the world's leading cloud platform for assured integrated reporting. Furthermore, as reporting teams continue to accept and absorb an ever-increasing workload, they are underestimating the volume of work that lies ahead of the CSRD deadline.

CSRD influence on annual reporting

According to the Workiva report, "Annual Reporting Barometer 2023: Facing up to the CSRD" surveying more than 500 finance leaders across Europe, 59 percent of respondents that aren't even required to comply with the CSRD are still planning on doing so entirely voluntarily. The impact of the CSRD is clearly being felt, with more than three quarters (77%) of businesses surveyed revealing that ESG now has a moderate or major influence over their annual reporting strategies. For 73 percent of respondents in the DACH region and 67 percent in the UK and Ireland (UKI), ESG now has a moderate or major influence.

Companies underestimate the work ahead

While European organisations are driving toward change, with 43 percent of respondents planning to spend about the same amount of time as last year on financial transformation over the next 12 months, finance teams find themselves persistently accepting and absorbing an ever-increasing workload, indicating a frustratingly slow pace of progress. Over one third (37%) of respondents admitted to feeling overwhelmed and exceeding their capacity during the previous reporting period. In the UKI, companies felt the most pressure, with 60 percent being over capacity. It comes as no surprise that 41 percent asked for more time during next year's reporting period.

"The CSRD mandate is already having a significant impact on the reporting landscape," said Erik Saito, senior vice president and general manager of EMEA at Workiva. "Many reporting teams are at or near capacity and will be challenged by the workload pressure of additional CSRD reporting requirements-including additional disclosure, auditor assurance, and XBRL tagging-which will drive many to leverage new technology solutions. Workiva has the ability to help companies meet these complex regulatory requirements and reduce the chaos surrounding reporting."

Collaboration is in the spotlight

Despite the CSRD mandate requiring companies to integrate both financial and sustainability information into their annual reports, only 10 percent of those surveyed are currently working to improve collaboration between finance and sustainability. Similarly, only 10 percent are actively working on improving collaboration between finance and risk, while a mere six percent are focused on integrating finance, sustainability, and risk. UKI companies were slightly ahead of Europe, at 12 percent-despite not necessarily needing to comply with the CSRD-while DACH lags further behind, at eight percent. This indicates that, while improvements are being made, it's not clear whether existing plans to optimise collaboration between finance, sustainability, and risk to meet CSRD demands are going far enough.

"There is a clear lack of in-depth understanding when it comes to the requirements of integrated reporting-particularly in regard to CSRD compliance and the timelines needed to establish, test and optimise a truly cross-functional reporting structure," continued Saito. "Organisations simply won't be able to approach CSRD compliance with a 'trial-and-error' approach; the demands are far more complex than anything that has come before-and will only continue to increase."

Optimise processes with technology

With the need to integrate finance and sustainability, organisations need to rethink their existing processes and develop a roadmap for incorporating both their financial and sustainability (non-financial) data with audit and controls into their reporting process. Indeed, finance reporting teams may be accepting of current workloads, but if teams are working with largely manual processes, they will struggle to absorb the shock of the CSRD. Forty-six percent of respondents are actively integrating or have already integrated tech into their reporting processes, with the UKI and DACH ahead of Europe in this area, at 52 percent and 50 percent respectively.

"The CSRD is a north star for organisations and is changing perceptions surrounding annual reporting-but companies are unprepared and are not moving quickly enough to meet new demands," concluded Saito. "European companies may be ahead of the curve in terms of incorporating ESG into annual reporting strategies, however this is often because they have to be, rather than because they are genuinely in control. Businesses must prioritise cost-effective, efficient solutions as they work towards optimising their processes."

About the survey

Workiva commissioned an independent survey, undertaken by Opinium Research, of 509 finance leaders who are responsible for corporate reporting in publicly listed companies, the majority with $50m+ annual turnover.

Respondents were surveyed between 13 March 14 April 2023, and resided in 14 European markets, including UK, Ireland, Spain, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, France, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Belgium, Netherlands, and Luxembourg.

To download the full report, please click here.

About Workiva

Workiva Inc. (NYSE:WK) is on a mission to power transparent reporting for a better world. We build and deliver the world's leading regulatory, financial, and ESG reporting solutions to meet stakeholder demands for action, transparency, and disclosure of financial and non-financial data. Our cloud-based platform simplifies the most complex reporting and disclosure challenges by streamlining processes, connecting data and teams, and ensuring consistency. Learn more at workiva.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230517005354/en/

Contacts:

Media:

Rotha Brauntz

Lauren Covello

press@workiva.com
Glioblastomas (GBM) are among the most aggressive and lethal tumors of the central nervous system with a 5-year survival rate of only 6.8%.

Debiopharm is combining its potent, brain penetrant WEE1 inhibitor Debio 0123 with standard of care (SOC) therapy. Debio 0123 hopes to hinder DNA damage repair (DDR) and reverse the poor prognosis for patients with GBM.

This multicenter clinical trial launched in the US, Spain and Switzerland is following the preclinical GBM data presented at the annual American Association for Cancer Research 2023 meeting (AACR 2023: Abstract #6185) in Orlando, Florida .

LAUSANNE, Switzerland, May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Debiopharm (www.debiopharm.com), a privately-owned, Swiss-based biopharmaceutical company aiming to establish tomorrow's standards of care to cure cancer and infectious diseases, today announced the start of its open-label Phase 1/2 study evaluating Debio 0123, a brain-penetrant and highly selective WEE1 inhibitor, in combination with temozolomide (TMZ) in patients with recurrent or progressive glioblastoma and in combination with TMZ/RT (SOC) in newly diagnosed patients. The initial phase of this study aims to define the recommended phase 2 doses of Debio 0123.

GBM is among the most aggressive and common lethal tumors of the central nervous system. This disease represents a major cause of morbidity and mortality affecting more than 13,000 Americans and causing the death of about 10,000 patients in 2022 1. If left untreated, in some cases GBM can lead to the patient's death in approximately 3 months. This type of cancer tends to occur more often in adults between 65-75 years of age. Throughout the continuum of this devastating disease, patients face serious quality of life issues including motor deficits, personality changes, cognitive deficits, language disorders (aphasia) or visual field defects. The disease's poor prognosis constitutes a serious public health concern.

With its Debio 0123 WEE1 inhibitor, Debiopharm is seeking to meet the urgent need for novel treatment interventions to improve clinical outcomes and quality of life for patients suffering from newly diagnosed or recurrent GBM. In cancer cells, DDR pathways are often upregulated due to genomic instability, elevating the chances of resistance to DNA-damaging therapies. Therefore, blocking DNA repair pathways through inhibition of essential kinases such as WEE1 might contribute to increase the cancer's vulnerability to standard of care therapies. Moreover, preclinical results presented at AACR 2023 have shown that Debio 0123 successfully crosses the blood brain barrier and inhibits tumor growth. Furthermore, the in vivo combination of Debio 0123 with TMZ demonstrated significantly increased antitumor activity.

"I am very excited to witness the development of a new generation of brain penetrant drugs. Having drugs like this allows us to explore novel treatments for brain tumors, which remains an ongoing challenge." Dr. Jordi Rodon Ahnert, MD, PhD, MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas.

"The combination of Debio 0123 with temozolomide is promising. Treatment with Debio 0123 to inhibit WEE1 has the advantage of selectively impacting tumor cells, which, due to the increasing replication stress during the S-phase, become more reliant on the proper functioning of the G2-M checkpoint. Debio 0123 acting at both S-phase and G2-M checkpoint can thus make GBM cells more vulnerable to DNA-damaging agents like temozolomide" expressed Dr. Victor Rodriguez-Freixinos, Associate Medical Direction in Oncology at Debiopharm.

"Due to its physiological and structural properties, the blood brain barrier represents a unique challenge for drug delivery and a massive obstacle to patient's care. Thus, Debio 0123 brain permeability represents an important source of hope to patients suffering from brain cancers" stated Dr. Patrick Roth, University Hospital Zurich.

About Glioblastoma

Glioblastomas are fast-growing and aggressive brain tumors that can arise de novo or evolve from lower grade gliomas. GBM may be asymptomatic until it reaches a significant size. Aside from diagnostic challenges, nearly all GBM recur, and effective treatment options are limited. The widely accepted SOC for patients with newly diagnosed GBMs consists of surgical resection, followed by radiation therapy with concurrent TMZ. Despite treatment, nearly all GBM recur, the 5-year survival rate is still only 6.8% 1 and treatment options are very limited.

About Debio 0123

Debio 0123 is a brain-penetrant, highly selective WEE1 kinase inhibitor. WEE1 is a key regulator of the G2/M and S phase checkpoints, activated in response to DNA damage, allowing cells to repair their DNA before resuming their cell cycle. WEE1 inhibition, particularly in combination with DNA damaging agents, induces an overload of DNA breaks. In conjunction with abrogation of other checkpoints such as G1, the compound pushes the cells through cycle without DNA repair, promoting mitotic catastrophe and inducing apoptosis of cancer cells. Currently in research for solid tumors in monotherapy and combination, Debio 0123 is being developed to respond to high unmet needs of patients living with the burden of difficult-to-treat cancers.

About DNA-Damage Repair (DDR)

When cells have damaged DNA, they need to undergo a repair process called DDR to be able to survive. Cancer cells use their hyperactive DDR response to divide and grow uncontrollably, which promotes cancer expansion. Inhibition of DDR, particularly in combination with other anticancer agents, induces an overall arrest in the uncontrollable cancer cell cycle. This ultimately activates a self-destruction program in cancer cells. DDR inhibitors such as Debiopharm's WEE1 and USP1 inhibitors, are being tested in clinical and preclinical studies.

Debiopharm's commitment to patients

Debiopharm aims to develop innovative therapies that target high unmet medical needs in oncology and bacterial infections. Bridging the gap between disruptive discovery products and real-world patient reach, we identify high-potential compounds and technologies for in-licensing, clinically demonstrate their safety and efficacy, and then hands stewardship to large pharmaceutical commercialization partners to maximize patient access globally.

For more information, please visit www.debiopharm.com

We are on Twitter. Follow us @DebiopharmNews at http://twitter.com/DebiopharmNews

Debiopharm Contact

Dawn Bonine

Head of Communications

dawn.bonine@debiopharm.com

Tel: +41 (0)21 321 01 11

References

1 National Brain Tumor Society. About Glioblastoma. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41419-022-05271-0

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/debiopharm-launches-phase-12-combination-trial-investigating-brain-penetrant-selective-wee1-inhibitor-for-brain-cancer-patients-301826619.html
Rome, May 17, 2023 - The AeroSpace Power Conference, the grand event commemorating the 100th anniversary of the Armed Forces, concluded on May 14th with remarkable achievements. Gathering an impressive participation of 1,800 attendees on each day of the event, including 41 foreign delegations and 25 heads of forces from around the globe, the conference stood as a testament to its extraordinary success. Hosted at the captivating and iconic 'La Nuvola di Fuksas' conference centre in Rome, this momentous occasion was organized by Pomilio Blumm, an Italy-based institutional communication agency. The company managed every aspect of the three-day event, from setting up exhibition stands to producing presentation videos and directing the online proceedings.

Over the course of three days, the AeroSpace Power Conference featured a diverse program of debates, speeches, and contributions, encompassing a total of five panels. Key discussions revolved around future challenges related to innovation and technology, comprehensive aerospace strategies and policies, as well as innovation and sustainability within the sector.

Space and aerospace represent the natural extension of the Air Force's operational domain, which, due to the evolution of enabling technologies and challenges, is called upon every day to defend the country from new threats, such as ballistic missiles, space debris or uncontrolled re-entries, which must be identified and tracked in space.

Among the speakers were notable academics, researchers, and both civil and military experts. Air Squadron General Luca Goretti, the Chief of Staff of the Air Force, inaugurated the conference on Friday, May 12th, in the presence of Defense Minister Guido Crosetto, Chief of Defense Staff Admiral Giuseppe Cavo Dragone, and several other authorities. Ferrari CEO Benedetto Vigna was also present. The participation of representatives from NATO, various space agencies, the European Defense Agency, LEONARDO, LUISS, and AVIO further enhanced the panels. The event also welcomed international guests, such as Gen. Hiroaki Uchikura from Japan, Air Chief Marshall Mike Wigston from the UK, and US Under Secretary of Defense Heidi Shyu.

Franco Pomilio expressed his pride in being part of this prestigious event commemorating the centenary of the Air Force. Pomilio Blumm curated the aerospace exhibition, which garnered significant attention and participation. The exhibition attracted an impressive registration of 12,978 individuals, allowing them to explore numerous Air Force stands, partake in enjoyable activities, engage with simulators, and attend thought-provoking film screenings on the 100 years of the Armed Force.

Attachments
IBFD launches the 2022 Yearbook on the Protection of Taxpayers' Rights (OPTR). The book is a compilation of up-to-date information on the effective protection of taxpayers' rights.



AMSTERDAM, May 17, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Prof. Dr Pasquale Pistone and Prof. Dr Philip Baker, Directors of IBFD's OPTR, will present the Yearbook at the 8th International Conference on Taxpayer Rights, hosted by the Center for Taxpayer Rights, explaining some of the main events and trends that arose last year in the protection of taxpayers' rights around the world.

The OPTR reports on the protection of taxpayers' fundamental rights around the world. The precise and technical information of the OPTR contains reference to taxpayer bills, conventions, and statutes, also in their judicial and administrative interpretation, which explore how states apply this protection in practice.

The OPTR serves as a unique legal basis for developing further research on the legal remedies, including the related project of the International Law Association, that secure the effective protection of taxpayers' rights. It is hoped that this may contribute to nudging the convergence towards a global standard in this field.

This publication relies on information gathered in 45 countries and 3 units worldwide up to 31 December 2022, and

monitors the effective implementation into domestic law of legal procedures, safeguards and guarantees associated with taxpayers' rights;

provides an annual comparison by jurisdiction of the level of compliance with minimum standards and best practices; and

identifies trends in the practical protection of taxpayers' rights.



The basis for the Yearbook consists of surveys supplied by groups of experts appointed from 45 countries, as well as reports from the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, the European Court of Human Rights and the European Court of Justice. The groups of experts incorporate members of tax authorities, the judiciary and academia, as well as ombudspersons and practitioners. The national reports are available here.

If you would like further details, please contact Phil Windus, Senior Marketing Coordinator, at p.windus@ibfd.org.

About OPTR

The IBFD Observatory on the Protection of Taxpayers' Rights, established by Prof. Dr Pasquale Pistone and Prof. Dr Philip Baker, is a non-judgemental platform for keeping track of developments in the practical protection of taxpayers' rights around the world. It follows the standards established by Prof. Dr Pasquale Pistone and Prof. Dr Philip Baker at the 2015 IFA Congress on "The Practical Protection of Taxpayers' Fundamental Rights".

Since then, the OPTR has continuously monitored the observance of minimum standards and the adoption of best practices around the world with respect to the guarantee and protection of human rights pertaining to tax matters.

To learn more about the Observatory, please visit the official IBFD academic pageor contact optr@ibfd.org.

About IBFD

IBFDis a leading international provider of cross-border tax expertise, with a long-standing history of supporting and contributing to tax research and academic activities. As an independent foundation, IBFD utilizes its global network of tax experts and its Knowledge Centre to serve Fortune 500 companies, governments, international consultancy firms and tax advisers.

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/48eb80db-3017-4801-9ce8-674507d493fb
Edwards Lifesciences announced new data from the COMMENCE aortic trial, demonstrating low rates of structural valve deterioration (SVD) in bioprosthetic aortic valves with the company's innovative RESILIA tissue. The data, which represent the longest clinical follow-up for Edwards' bioprosthetic surgical aortic valve with RESILIA tissue with a mean follow-up of 7.7 years, were presented today at the 103rd annual meeting of the American Association for Thoracic Surgery.

SVD can be caused by a buildup of calcium that may impact long-term durability of bioprosthetic valves. Heart valves with RESILIA tissue are designed to address calcification challenges of conventional tissue valves, potentially allowing valves with RESILIA to last longer. The RESILIA tissue data from the COMMENCE aortic trial reported encouraging results with low rates of SVD (99.3% freedom from SVD), clinically stable gradients and freedom from reoperation (97.2%) through seven years.

It is encouraging to see the strong clinical outcomes and excellent durability data from the seven-year data of the COMMENCE aortic trial on younger patients with a mean age of 65.1 years" said Gianluca Lucchese, Consultant Cardiac Surgeon, Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust. Valve durability keeps improving with latest innovative technologies. This is a significant progress as more and more younger and active patients undergo bioprosthetic aortic valve replacement

Current technologies utilizing this novel tissue include the INSPIRIS RESILIA aortic valve, the KONECT RESILIA* aortic valved conduit, the MITRIS RESILIA* mitral valve and the SAPIEN 3 Ultra RESILIA* transcatheter aortic heart valve. In addition to its anti-calcification properties, RESILIA tissue also allows the valve to be stored under dry packaging conditions, facilitating ease of use in the operating room.

"Edwards Lifesciences is committed to addressing the needs of patients with structural heart disease and our RESILIA tissue technology is designed for enhanced durability, supporting patients' improved quality of life," said Larry Wood, Edwards' corporate vice president and group president, transcatheter aortic valve replacement and surgical structural heart. "The latest COMMENCE aortic trial data emphasizes the value of RESILIA tissue-based offerings in helping patients and their physicians with lifetime management of valve disease."

The latest data from the COMMENCE aortic trial join a growing library of clinical studies in support of RESILIA tissue.

The COMMENCE aortic trial is a prospective, non-randomized, multicenter, single-arm investigational device exemption (IDE) trial comprised of 689 patients at 27 clinical sites across the United States and Europe. The trial is evaluating the safety and effectiveness of Edwards' bioprosthetic aortic valve with RESILIA tissue in patients ages 18 and older with diagnosed aortic valve disease and scheduled to undergo aortic valve replacement surgery. Long-term follow-up data were collected in a subset of these patients and will continue to be evaluated through 10 years.

Gianluca Luccheseis a consultant to Edwards Lifesciences.

At this time the following devices KONECT RESILIA, MITRIS RESILIA and the SAPIEN 3 Ultra RESILIA are not CE marked

About Edwards Lifesciences

Edwards Lifesciences is the global leader of patient-focused innovations for structural heart disease and critical care monitoring. We are driven by a passion for patients, dedicated to improving and enhancing lives through partnerships with clinicians and stakeholders across the global healthcare landscape. For more information, visit https://www.edwards.com/gb and follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter.

Edwards, Edwards Lifesciences, and the stylized E logo, COMMENCE, INSPIRIS, INSPIRIS RESILIA, KONECT, KONECT RESILIA, MITRIS, MITRIS RESILIA, SAPIEN and RESILIA are trademarks and service marks of Edwards Lifesciences Corporation. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230516005660/en/

Contacts:

Media contacts:

Julie Tracol

julie_tracol@edwards.com

+41 (0)75 431 74 95

Michael George

Michael_George@edwards.com

+41 (0)79 487 71 47

Laura McKinlay

laura.mckinlay@havasso.com

+44 (0) 7376 802 980
KAISERAUGST, Switzerland and HEERLEN, Netherlands, May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- dsm-firmenich announces the appointment of Katharina Stenholm as Chief Sustainability Officer starting July 1, 2023. In this role, she will shape a new, consolidated Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) strategy for the company that builds on the strengths of both DSM and Firmenich's previous plans and actions.





Geraldine Matchett and Dimitri de Vreeze, Co-CEOs of dsm-firmenich, commented:"We are excited to welcome Katharina as our new Chief Sustainability Officer. She is widely recognized as an exceptional leader and innovator in the field of ESG and her extensive experience and expertise will be invaluable in helping us achieve our purpose. With her guidance and leadership, we are confident that we will create positive impact for people and planet, while building sustainable business growth."

Under Katharina's leadership, the company will begin revising ambitious and measurable targets and plans to rapidly achieve them in order to bring its purpose to life. Building on the strong sustainability approaches of both DSM and Firmenich, she will leverage her skills and experience to spearhead the development of a robust ESG strategy for dsm-firmenich, creating sustainable value for all stakeholders.

"I strongly believe that actions speak louder than words," said Katharina Stenholm. "Both DSM and Firmenich have a history of being leaders in ESG, and have the credentials to prove it. dsm-firmenich brings together more than 150 years of passion, experience, and progress and I feel privileged to be able to shape the next chapter in the company's ESG journey. I am thrilled to be joining a team that is rising to the challenge, and together with our customers, partners and employees, we are poised to accelerate our positive impact. By combining what is essential, desirable, and sustainable, we can bring progress to life and create a brighter future for all."

Katharina is a seasoned leader with a wealth of expertise in general management, procurement, sustainability, and commerce. She joins from PepsiCo where she led the European Sustainability function. Before, she held various positions at Danone, including SVP Strategic Projects, Managing Director of DanTrade, and Global CPO, with Sustainability under her responsibility. She also held various positions at SABMiller, culminating in the role of global CPO, and was CEO for a food ingredients company in the Nordics with global sales.

Over the years, Katharina has established herself as a recognized leader in change management. Her expertise lies in driving successful market entry, transformation, and operating model re-design programs. She possesses a comprehensive understanding of the entire food value chain, with a particular focus on sustainability and circular economy practices.

Katharina holds a PhD in Biotechnology from Helsinki University of Technology in Finland.

dsm-firmenich is determined to continuously expand its positive impact and set new standards in addressing the urgent issues of climate change, the protection of nature, and social responsibility across the value chain. By collaborating with customers and partners, dsm-firmenich is dedicated to proactively tackling present and future challenges, while simultaneously making a positive difference for the planet and improving the lives of millions.

Note to editors

A portrait picture of Katharina Stenholm can be downloaded here:

https://dsm-firmenich.com/corporate/news/media-downloads.html

About dsm-firmenich

As innovators in nutrition, health, and beauty, dsm-firmenich reinvents, manufactures, and combines vital nutrients, flavors, and fragrances for the world's growing population to thrive. With our comprehensive range of solutions, with natural and renewable ingredients and renowned science and technology capabilities, we work to create what is essential for life, desirable for consumers, and more sustainable for the planet. dsm-firmenich is a Swiss-Dutch company, listed on the Euronext Amsterdam, with operations in almost 60 countries and revenues of more than 12 billion. With a diverse, worldwide team of nearly 30,000 employees, we bring progress to life every day, everywhere, for billions of people.

www.dsm-firmenich.com

For more information

Media Investors e-mail media@dsm-firmenich.com investors@dsm-firmenich.com

Forward-looking statements

This press release may contain forward-looking statements with respect to dsm-firmenich's future (financial) performance and position. Such statements are based on current expectations, estimates and projections of dsm-firmenich and information currently available to the company. dsm-firmenich cautions readers that such statements involve certain risks and uncertainties that are difficult to predict and therefore it should be understood that many factors can cause actual performance and position to differ materially from these statements. dsm-firmenich has no obligation to update the statements contained in this press release, unless required by law. The English language version of the press release is leading.

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View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/dsm-firmenich-names-katharina-stenholm-as-chief-sustainability-officer-301826679.html
Additional specialist retailer day on the Saturday

Big names and innovative startups

Experience international trends, live

NUREMBERG, Germany, May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- After last year's successful restart, the eighth Insights-X event is beginning to shed its light on the autumn: the international stationery sector will be meeting up again from 11 to 14 October at the Nuremberg Exhibition Centre. With the return of major brands and funding for innovative startups, the trade fair for 'Stationery, office, bags and more' offers top international decision-makers a successful mix of trends and innovations at the ideal ordering time in the autumn. The enjoyable and efficient networking atmosphere of Insights-X is being strengthened with the expansion of communicative evening events and the introduction of the eXtra-Day.







Additional day at the weekend

"Saturday turned out in our survey to be the most important trading day in the German-speaking DACH region, which is why we have introduced the eXtra-Day at this year's Insights-X," says Christian Ulrich, Spokesperson of the Executive Board at Spielwarenmesse eG, explaining the new schedule for the fair. During the week from Wednesday to Friday, buyers chiefly from larger chain stores across Europe are expected, drawing on the full range of exhibitors in Halls 12.0, 11,0 and 10.0, while the additional opening on the Saturday focuses on specialist retailers, with highly regarded suppliers and promotional activities in Halls 11.0 and 10.0. The multi-category arrangement across the three halls at the Nuremberg Exhibition Centre is designed to ensure efficient networking and short distances. It means that the six product groups - Writing Utensils & Equipment, Paper & Filing, Artistic & Creative, Desktop & Office, Bags & Accessories and Stationery & Gift Articles - can be explored in a relaxed business atmosphere on each day of the fair.

Strong brands, creative startups

The high quality in terms of both exhibitors and visitors will continue to play an important part in the fair. The registration phase is in full swing. After taking a break, highly reputable companies and brands including Faber-Castell, duo schreib & spiel, the Iden Group and STABILO will be back. In addition, major international players in the sector such as Clairefontaine and Exacompta (France), Gataric (Bosnia), GIPTA (Turkiye), Santoro (UK) and Seven (Italy) will be taking part in Insights-X, along with German businesses Lassig, Online Schreibgerate, Stylex and Undercover. Top countries in previous years have included Germany, China, Turkiye, Italy, Poland, Spain, India, Greece and the Netherlands. Turkiye will have a shared stand for the first time. This can be found in Hall 12.0, as can creative startup ideas from international exhibitors and young innovative German businesses. Hall 10.0 will house the InsightsArena with joining-in activities and a Food Court.

New trends in stationery

With its ideal mix of sectors, Insights-X offers buyers and retailers the opportunity to discover innovations and trends and to fine-tune their own ranges. And in all of this, one topic continues to develop and grow: sustainability. It is evident in the use of recyclable plastics, refillable products and plantable pencils and paper. In another trend, paper is proving as popular as ever - in the form of lovingly designed notebooks, origami and indeed papier-mache, which is enjoying something of a renaissance. Meanwhile, the traditional pen producers are enriching the creative area and offering DIY and calligraphy sets. Last but not least, in the back-to-school sector, where Insights-X has a particularly strong showing, is the omnipresent theme of licensing. Alongside tried and trusted blockbusters such as Harry Potter, new films including Barbie, Arielle and Dungeons & Dragons have potential this year for inclusion in the range.

A wealth of experiences at the fair

As well as presenting innovations at the perfect time for autumn ordering, Insights-X also has a strong focus on networking. One such sociable opportunity for maintaining contacts is the popular AfterHour on the first evening of the fair, where the sector rapidly comes together. The next highlights come on Friday 13 October, when the duo schreib & spiel association holds its Autumn Conference at the exhibition centre itself. In the evening, the organisers, together with the exhibitors, invite attendees to the great get-together. Those taking part in the fair can find a complete overview of the programme on the website www.insights-x.com and on the Insights-X app. Further digital support for perfect preparation is provided by the directory of exhibitors with its filter function, the interactive hall plans, and the networking area with the facility to set up chats and appointments. At a price of 15, the ticket allows access to Insights-X for the entire duration and can also be used as a ticket for travel on public transport. The fair is open every day from Wednesday to Friday between 9 am and 6 pm (5 pm for Hall 12.0) and on Saturday from 9 am to 5 pm. Tickets go on sale on 26 July.

"We are looking forward to working with the sector to develop Insights-X further," says Christian Ulrich. "The compact and communicative format is now tailored even more closely to the needs of our exhibitors and the trade, so that everyone can take advantage of their own personal highlights in either three or four days," he concludes.

Note for editors: Reprint free of charge. Images are available at www.insights-x.com/media. Please provide us with a voucher copy on publication.

Insights-X

Insights-X is the trade fair for the stationery sector. Every year in October, the event brings the leading brand manufacturers and suppliers of all sizes together at the Nuremberg Exhibition Centre. The trade will find a comprehensive range of products in stationery, office, bags and more. The next event takes place from 11 to 14 October 2023 incl. eXtra-Day. More information is available online at www.insights-x.com.

Spielwarenmesse eG

Spielwarenmesse eG is the fair organizer and marketing services provider for the toy sector and other consumer goods markets. The Nuremberg-based company organizes the world-leading Spielwarenmesse in Nuremberg, complemented by the services available on Spielwarenmesse Digital. Its range also includes the Internationale Spieltage SPIEL gaming event in Essen, Kids Indiain Mumbai and the Insights-X in Nuremberg. Expanded coverage of the topic of licensing and collaborations comes with BRANDmate in Offenbach. The range of services provided by the cooperative also includes industry campaigns and the international fair programme, World of Toys by Spielwarenmesse eG, which enables manufacturers to exhibit at pavilions featured at trade fairs in Asia and the USA. Spielwarenmesse eG operates a worldwide network of representatives in over 90 countries. In addition, its subsidiary Spielwarenmesse Shanghai Co., Ltd. is responsible for the People's Republic of China. Its Die roten Reiter GmbH subsidiary with headquarters in Nuremberg works as communication agency for the consumer and capital goods industry. The complete company profile of Spielwarenmesse eG can be found on the Internet at www.spielwarenmesse-eg.com.

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ABN AMRO convenes Extraordinary General Meeting

ABN AMRO Bank N.V.for the Extraordinary General Meeting of Shareholders (EGM) to be held in Amsterdam at 12.15 pm on 29 June 2023. The documents, including the agenda and notes, are available on ABN AMRO's website.

At the EGM, a decision will be taken regarding the proposed appointment of Femke de Vries as a new member of ABN AMRO's Supervisory Board. The appointment will be for a period of four years ending at the opening of the 2027 Annual General Meeting, and is subject to approval by the European Central Bank.



Tom de Swaan, Chair of the Supervisory Board: 'We're very pleased with the nomination of Femke de Vries as a Supervisory Board member. Femke has been nominated on account of her relevant financial sector knowledge and experience, at a scientific as well as practical level. She also knows a great deal about the risk and compliance domain. In previous years, she was active in various roles at the Dutch central bank DNB and the Dutch Authority for the Financial Markets AFM. Her roles involved supervision of financial services in all their aspects. Additionally, she has chaired the Dutch financial sector's Climate Commitment Initiative.'

The EGM will be held at ABN AMRO's head office, Gustav Mahlerlaan 10, 1082 PP Amsterdam, and will start at 12.15 pm.

This EGM will be held as a physical meeting only. Consequently, as a holder of shares or depositary receipts, you must either be physically present or issue a written or electronic proxy to exercise your voting rights. This is a departure from previous general meetings, which were held in hybrid form. It is therefore not possible to attend the meeting virtually.





ABN AMRO Press Office

pressrelations@nl.abnamro.com (mailto:pressrelations@nl.abnamro.com)

+31 20 6288900 ABN AMRO Investor Relations

investorrelations@nl.abnamro.com (mailto:investorrelations@nl.abnamro.com)

+31 20 6282282





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VANCOUVER, BC, CANADA, May 16, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- LOVE Pharma Inc. ("LOVE" and or "the Company") (CSE:LUV) (FSE: G1Q0) is pleased to announce that it has changed its name to "Jolt Health Inc.". The board of directors of the Company approved the name change, effective May 3, 2023, in accordance with the articles of the Company.

Subsequent to the Company's press release of April 5, 2023, management has determined that its best course of action toward creating shareholder value was to expand its wellness business beyond the sexual health segment of that market. With this new name, the Company feels that it will be easier to branch out into other areas of the wellness market with an increased focus on biotechnology, healthcare technology and the potential uses and applications of artificial intelligence.

Jolt Health's CEO and Director, Zachary Stadnyk, stated "We are excited to announce our name change and rebranding to Jolt Health. Our new name better reflects our company's commitment to developing innovative technologies that have the potential to disrupt the healthcare industry. We are focused on expanding our portfolio of health solutions, including further research into transdermal patch continuous delivery for FDA approved pharmaceutical drugs, such as the previously announced interest in transdermal naltrexone, as well as other potential biotech solutions. Given the pace the world is changing at, we plan to further investigate utilizing AI in our solutions to enhance efficiencies and shareholder value."

The name change is expected to be effective at the start of trading on May 22, 2023, and the Company's shares will trade under the new symbol JOLT.



About Love Pharma Inc.

With a focus on the global sexual Health and Wellness markets, Love Pharma Inc. (CSE: LUV) (FSE: G1Q0) was founded in 2020, with a mission to bring to market innovative products that enhance sexual health and wellness while providing an improved quality of life. Love Pharma holds exclusive licenses to produce market, package, sell, and distribute patent-protected therapeutic and pharmaceutical products throughout Europe, the United Kingdom, and North America.

For further information, please contact:

Investor Relations

Telephone: 1 (604) 343-2977

E-mail: investors@love-pharma.com

www.love-pharma.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

Certain information set forth in this news release may contain forward-looking statements that involve substantial known and unknown risks and uncertainties. All statements other than statements of historical fact are forward-looking statements, including, without limitation, statements regarding future financial position, business strategy, use of proceeds, corporate vision, proposed acquisitions, partnerships, joint-ventures and strategic alliances and co-operations, budgets, cost and plans and objectives of or involving the Company. Such forward-looking information reflects management's current beliefs and is based on information currently available to management. Often, but not always, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as "plans", "expects", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "predicts", "intends", "targets", "aims", "anticipates", "may" or "believes" or variations (including negative variations) of such words and phrases or may be identified by statements to the effect that certain actions "may", "could", "should", "would", "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved. A number of known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors may cause the actual results or performance to materially differ from any future results or performance expressed or implied by the forward-looking information. These forward-looking statements are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, certain of which are beyond the control of the Company including, but not limited to, the impact of general economic conditions, industry conditions, 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, lack of investor demand for Bitcoin and/or Bitcoin futures exchange traded funds, and dependence upon regulatory approvals. Readers are cautioned that the assumptions used in the preparation of such information, although considered reasonable at the time of preparation, may prove to be imprecise and, as such, undue reliance should not be placed on forward-looking statements. The Company does not assume any obligation to update or revise its forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise, except as required by securities laws.
Uniting to Combat Neglected Tropical Diseases (unitingtocombatntds.org) releases letter signed by 36 Parliamentarians from 23 countries calling on G7 Leaders to invest in NTDs.

LONDON, May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ --

To: Fumio Kishida, Prime Minister, Japan (Host)

Joe Biden, President, United States

Emmanuel Macron, President, France

Giorgia Meloni, Prime Minister, Italy

Olaf Scholz, Chancellor, Germany

Rishi Sunak, Prime Minister, United Kingdom

Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister, Canada

CC: Health Ministers and Invited Guests

Dear G7 Leaders,

As the 49th G7 Summit in Hiroshima approaches, we urge G7 Leaders to renew their commitments to end neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) by prioritising bold action and investment to end these diseases once and for all.

NTDs are a group of twenty preventable and treatable diseases that affect more than 1.7 billion people worldwide. These diseases cause untold suffering, can disable, disfigure, and be fatal. In addition to the human toll, NTDs have a significant economic impact, resulting in billions of dollars in associated costs and lost productivity each year.

As parliamentarians and legislators, we are proud of our long history of fighting NTDs. Over the years, these contributions have had a significant impact on people's lives. Incredible progress has been made; 47 countries have eliminated at least one NTD, with several countries having eliminated two, three or four NTDs, and in 2020, 600 million fewer people required interventions against NTDs than in 2010.

Funding NTDs makes good financial sense. Many low-cost interventions for NTDs exist, are affordable to implement in low-income settings, and yield a robust return on investment. Drug donations for interventions like preventive chemotherapy, for example, have been particularly efficacious and cost-effective, with over 19 billion tablets donated by the pharmaceutical industry to deliver the WHO NTD road map so far. The end of NTDs offers a net benefit to affected individuals of about US$25 for every dollar invested by funders-a 30 percent annualized rate of return.

However, setbacks caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and global economic slowdowns are threatening the progress made to date. Unless sustained action is taken, there is a real risk of a reversal of gains and more people being pushed into poverty due to preventable diseases.

The G7 has a well-established history of taking important action against pressing global health issues and has notably prioritised neglected and poverty-related diseases during past Summits. We commend the G7 for making clear commitments to invest in the prevention and control of NTDs during the 2015 Elmau Summit to help reach critical global elimination targets. These commitments led to expanded support to affected countries and accelerated critical research and development. More recently, we applaud the G7's commitment to strengthening global capacity to prevent, prepare for, and respond to future global health emergencies, especially through the G7 Pact for Pandemic Readiness endorsed in Elmau in 2022.

Investing in NTD programmes is critical to achieving the G7 priorities of universal health coverage (UHC) and pandemic preparedness, prevention, and response (Pandemic PPR) efforts. Global health emergencies, like COVID-19, stem from persistent underinvestment in global health, insufficient disease surveillance, inadequate global data sharing, and weak health systems, compounded by inadequate pandemic preparedness. Investing in fighting ongoing epidemics like NTDs, as well as malaria, HIV, and TB, leads to stronger health systems and workforces that are better equipped to detect and respond to both existing epidemics and future outbreaks of new diseases. Eliminating one or more NTDs also requires the establishment of robust disease surveillance systems, which can also improve early detection of new health threats, allowing for a faster and more effective response.

Equally, the scope and access of NTD programmes to some of the world's poorest communities can provide a gateway to achieving UHC. In some settings, NTD programmes represents a community's first entry point to the health system. Training health workers to provide high-quality treatment, conducting disease surveillance, and encouraging referral to the local health facility helps to strengthen health systems. Investments in NTD programmes expand access to health services to hard-to-reach populations and frees up capacity to address other health issues. As such, we call on the G7 to ensure that NTDs and other infectious diseases are included in new commitments being made, particularly funding for UHC.

When the G7 acts together, they can achieve ambitious goals. We believe that the G7 has a critical role to play in renewing support to end NTDs, and in ensuring that this support is backed by concrete actions and financial commitments. As such, we call on the G7 Leaders to commit to the following:

We acknowledge and commend the G7's endorsement of the Kigali Declaration on NTDs, a country-led, landmark political declaration that is mobilising political will, community commitment, resources and action, and securing commitments needed to end suffering caused by NTDs. We call on G7 Leaders to continue to meet their NTD commitments with concrete action and robust resources, to further prioritise NTDs in successive G7 Leaders' Statements, and to champion NTDs at G20 Summits and other high-level political fora.



We commend the G7 Leaders' longstanding commitment to achieving universal health coverage (UHC) and for prioritising UHC at the 49th Summit. The scope and access of NTD programmes to some of the world's poorest communities are a gateway to achieving UHC and an indicator for equity. We urge the G7 to advocate for investments in primary healthcare to help reach UHC targets, as well as funding for NTDs as part of new UHC commitments at the UN High-Level Meeting on UHC in September 2023 .



We commend G7 nations for historic and continued investments in product development and to Research and Development, through partners such as the Global Health Innovative Technology Fund (GHIT) and Drugs for Neglected Diseases Initiative (DNDi). We call on G7 leaders to increase investments in research and innovation for vaccines, new drugs and diagnostics, to help reach the goals set out in the World Health Organization's NTD road map, as well as financing to ensure access of these innovations and technologies to the most vulnerable populations affected by neglected tropical diseases.



We applaud the G7 for strengthening their investment in pandemic prevention, preparedness, and response. Investing in fighting ongoing epidemics - including NTDs, malaria, HIV, and TB - is critical to strengthening the world's capacity to prepare for future pandemics. We call on the G7 to advocate for control and prevention of current epidemics, particularly NTDs, as part of the UN High-Level Meeting on Pandemic Prevention, Preparedness and Response in September 2023 .



We celebrate the financial commitments G7 countries have made against NTDs, and we call on G7 leaders to sustain or increase bilateral and multilateral support to low- and middle-income countries, and to commit to establishing accountability mechanisms to track these commitments. Such support will help to ensure that these countries have the resources they need to address the NTD crisis and prevent future outbreaks.

In conclusion, we urge G7 Leaders to prioritise action and investment towards ending NTDs. This critical issue requires urgent attention and global cooperation to prevent further harm to individuals and communities. The NTD crisis not only affects public health but also has a significant economic impact. If left unaddressed, it will drive more people into poverty and reverse decades worth of progress. Tackling NTDs is essential to G7 priorities to improve Pandemic PPR and the achievement of UHC.

You can count on our support as Global Parliamentarians to be champions, alongside each of you, of a more equitable and just world for all. We must work together to end NTDs.

Sincerely,

Hon. Rozaina Adam, Member of Parliament, Maldives

Hon. Njume Peter Ambang, Founder and Executive President of Parliamentary Network for Sustainable Development Goals, National Assembly of Cameroon, Cameroon

Hon. Dr. Kozo Akino, State Minister of Finance, Member of the House of Councillors, Japan

Dr. Ector Jaime Ramirez Barba, MD, PhD, Federal Deputy, Mexico

The Baroness Barker, Member of the House of Lords, United Kingdom

Petra Bayr MP, Chairperson of the Sub-Committee for Development and Cooperation, National Assembly, Austria

Dr. Angela Brown-Burke, Member of Parliament, Jamaica

Hon. Fabio Massimo Castaldo, Member of the European Parliament, Italy

Amb. Akua Sena Dansua, Global Board Member and Regional Chair, West and Central Africa of UNITE Parliamentarians Network for Global Health, Ghana

Patrick Grady MP, Member of Parliament, United Kingdom

Hon. Benjamin Okezie Kalu, Member of Parliament, Nigeria

Hon. Cde Eleven Kambizi, Senator, Zimbabwe

Dr. Georg Kippels, MdB, Member of the German Bundestag, Germany

Hon. Dr Ayano Kunimitsu, Member of the House of Representatives, Japan

Pauline Latham OBE MP, Member of Parliament, United Kingdom

Jeremy Lefroy, Former MP and Chair of the APPG on Malaria and NTDs (2010-2019), United Kingdom

Sen. Emilio Alvarez Icaza Longoria, Senator, Mexico

Hon. Rosette Christine Mutambi, Member of Parliament, Uganda

Hon. Mbongyor Naomi Ngando, Member of Parliament for Ndu, Education Committee, Cameroon

Prof Antonio Rosario Niquice, Member of Parliament and Chair of Budget Committee, Mozambique

Dip. Sarai Nunez-Ceron, Diputada Federal de la Republica Mexicana, Mexico

Rt Hon. Sir Stephen R O'Brien KBE, Former UK International Development Minister, Former United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs & Emergency Relief Coordinator

Senator Dr Ibrahim Yahaya Oloriegbe, Chairman, Senate Committee on Health, Nigeria

Jorge Luis Mazorra Ortiz, Member of Parliament, Cuba

Hon. Esther M Passaris OGW, Member of Parliament, Kenya

Hon. Syed Naveed Qamar, Commerce Minister of Pakistan, President PGA, Pakistan

Congressman Fabio J. Quetglas, Member of National Congress, Argentina

Hon. Marko Raidza, Member of Parliament, Zimbabwe

Senator Mohamed-Iqbal Ravalia, Senator, Canada

Prof. Pedro Ruiz-Castell, Member of the Valencian Parliament, Spain

Marta Pilar Bravo Salinas, Member of the Chamber of Deputies, Chile

Dr. Esther Cuesta Santana, Member of the National Assembly and Legislator, Ecuador

The Baroness Sugg CBE, Member of the House of Lords, United Kingdom

Alison Thewliss MP, Member of Parliament, United Kingdom

Prof. The Lord Alexander Trees, Crossbench Peer, House of Lords, United Kingdom

Prof. Dr. Andrew Ullmann, Member of the German Bundestag, Germany

Hon. Larry P. Younquoi, House of Representatives, Liberia

Media Contact

Louisa Tribe: louisa@unitingtocombatntds.org

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/parliamentarians-from-23-countries-call-on-g7-leaders-to-invest-in-neglected-tropical-diseases-301827099.html
+39,93% Rendite seit Januar  so lautet die Erfolgsbilanz der Aktie der Woche. Damit wurden sowohl der DAX als auch der S&P 500 deutlich outperformt. Wie das genau funktioniert, erklart Chefradakteur Lars Wiler in seiner Zwischenbilanz.

CANBERA (dpa-AFX) - The Canadian dollar slipped against its most major counterparts in the European session on Wednesday, as oil prices fell and uncertainty about U.S. debt ceiling negotiations dampened risk sentiment. Crude for June delivery fell $0.36 to 76.50 per barrel. Oil prices dropped as data from the American Petroleum Institute showed an unexpected build in U.S. crude stocks. President Joe Biden cut short his planned Asia trip and will return to the U.S. on Sunday as the clock ticks towards the deadline. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said there is 'a lot of work to do' to reach a deal for raising the debt ceiling. The loonie touched 1.3535 against the greenback, setting a 2-day low. If the loonie slides further, 1.38 is possibly seen as its next support level. The loonie was down against the euro, at 1.4661. On the downside, 1.48 is likely seen as its next support level. The loonie retreated to 0.8975 against the aussie, from an early multi-week high of 0.8952. Next key support for the currency is likely seen around the 0.92 level. In contrast, the loonie remained higher against the yen and was trading at 101.43. The currency is seen finding resistance around the 0.92 level. Looking ahead, U.S. building permits and housing starts for April are set for release in the New York session. Copyright(c) 2023 RTTNews.com. All Rights Reserved Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, May 17, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Calibre Mining Corp. (TSX: CXB; OTCQX: CXBMF) (the "Company" or "Calibre") is pleased to announce results from its drill program at the past producing Talavera mine, now known as the Talavera extension ("Talavera"), located within the Limon Mine Complex 3 km from the Limon processing plant. These new intercepts continue to demonstrate the resource expansion and new discovery potential at the Limon mine complex.



Drill intercept highlights at Talavera include:

10.22 g/t Au over 4.2 metres including 15.25 g/t Au over 2.0 metres; 15.46 g/t Au over 6.7 metres including 18.09 g/t Au over 5.7 metres; 10.58 g/t Au over 7.9 metres including 15.18 g/t Au over 2.9 metres in Hole LIM-22-4688;

3.89 g/t Au over 2.5 metres including 5.85 g/t Au over 1.5 metres; 4.45 g/t Au over 20.9 metres including 8.09 g/t Au over 5.4 metres and 6.69 g/t Au over 3.5 metres; 9.31 g/t Au over 3.1 metres in Hole LIM-22-4677;

3.92 g/t Au over 3.6 metres in Hole LIM-22-4673;

4.10 g/t Au over 4.2 metres in Hole LIM-22-4721.

Note: True widths are unknown as several generations of gold bearing veins exist. As a result, the Company will advance a structural study employing the use of downhole televiewer technology to determine vein orientations.

Darren Hall, President, and Chief Executive Officer of Calibre stated: "I am encouraged by these initial results from the drill program at Talavera, which is located only 3 km west of the Limon processing plant. While not currently included in the Company's Mineral Resources, Talavera is a former underground producer with past production of 800,000 ounces of high-grade ore and represents another opportunity to grow our resource base given the multiple high-grade vein sets.

We see excellent exploration opportunities across our portfolio of assets I look forward to sharing the results as our 2023 drilling programs progress."

About the Talavera Extension

Located west of the main El Limon trend and mill, Talavera is a former underground mining area with past production, during the 1990s, of approximately 800,000 ounces of high grade, low sulphidation gold and has the potential for resource expansion on parallel veins. The Talavera deposit is an epithermal vein trend consisting of high-grade vein shoots along strike of the productive Veta Nueva and Atravesada vein systems. Historic drill results include 7.4 g/t Au over 10.42 metres (LIM-05-3334), and 18.0 g/t Au over 5.93 metres (LIM-04-335) (see press release dated February 3, 2022 (https://www.calibremining.com/news/calibre-outlines-multi-rig-exploration-programs-an-3926/)).

Link 1 - Figures (https://www.calibremining.com/site/assets/files/7000/20230516_limon_talavera_figures_final.pdf)

Link 2 - Drilling Tables (https://www.calibremining.com/site/assets/files/7000/20230516_limon_talavera_drill_results_tables_final.pdf)

Quality Assurance/Quality Control

Calibre maintains a Quality Assurance/Quality Control ("QA/QC") program for all its exploration projects using industry best practices. Key elements of the QA/QC program include verifiable chain of custody for samples, regular insertion of certified reference standards and blanks, and duplicate check assays. Drill core is halved and shipped in sealed bags to Bureau Veritas in Managua, Nicaragua, an independent analytical services provider with global certifications for Quality Management Systems ISO 9001:2008, Environmental Management: ISO14001 and Safety Management OH SAS 18001 and AS4801. Prior to analysis, samples are prepared at Veritas' Managua facility and then shipped to its analytical facility in Vancouver, Canada. Gold analyses are routinely performed via fire assay/AA finish methods. For greater precision of high-grade material, samples assaying 10 g/t Au or higher are re-assayed by fire assay with gravimetric finish. Analyses for silver and other elements of interest are performed via Induction Coupled Plasma (ICP)

Qualified Person

The scientific and technical information contained in this news release was approved by David Schonfeldt P.GEO, Calibre Mining's Corporate Chief Geologist and a "Qualified Person" under National Instrument 43-101.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD

"Darren Hall"

Darren Hall, President and Chief Executive Officer

For further information, please contact:

Ryan King

Senior Vice President, Corporate Development & IR

T: (604) 628-1012

E: calibre@calibremining.com

(mailto:calibre@calibremining.com)W: www.calibremining.com (https://www.calibremining.com/)

About Calibre Mining Corp.

Calibre Mining is a Canadian-listed, Americas focused, growing mid-tier gold producer with a strong pipeline of development and exploration opportunities across Nevada and Washington in the USA, and Nicaragua. Calibre is focused on delivering sustainable value for shareholders, local communities and all stakeholders through responsible operations and a disciplined approach to growth. With a strong balance sheet, a proven management team, strong operating cash flow, accretive development projects and district-scale exploration opportunities Calibre will unlock significant value.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Information

This news release includes certain "forward-looking information" and "forward-looking statements" (collectively "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. 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 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. Forward-looking statements in this news release include, but are not limited to: the Company's expectations toward higher grades mined and processed going forward; statements relating to the Company's 2023 priority resource expansion opportunities; the Company's metal price and cut-off grade assumptions. Forward-looking statements necessarily involve assumptions, risks and uncertainties, certain of which are beyond Calibre's control. For a listing of risk factors applicable to the Company, please refer to Calibre's annual information form ("AIF") for the year ended December 31, 2022, and its management discussion and analysis ("MD&A") for the year ended December 31, 2022, all available on the Company's SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com. This list is not exhaustive of the factors that may affect Calibre's forward-looking statements such as potential sanctions implemented as a result of the United States Executive Order 13851 dated October 24, 2022.

Calibre's forward-looking statements are based on the applicable assumptions and factors management considers reasonable as of the date hereof, based on the information available to management at such time. Such assumptions include but are not limited to: the Company being able to mine and process higher grades and keep production costs relatively flat going forward; there not being an increase in production costs as a result of any supply chain issues or ongoing COVID-19 restrictions; there being no adverse drop in metal price or cut-off grade at the 'Company's Nevada properties. Calibre does not assume any obligation to update forward-looking statements if circumstances or management's beliefs, expectations or opinions should change other than as required by applicable securities laws. There can be no assurance that forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate, and actual results, performance or achievements could differ materially from those expressed in, or implied by, these forward-looking statements. Accordingly, undue reliance should not be placed on forward-looking statements.
SEOUL, South Korea, May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Samsung Electro-Mechanics announced on the 16th that it has succeeded in realizing the industry's highest capacity in terms of high-pressure MLCC applicable to electric vehicles and has started market targeting by expanding its line-up for high-end level automotive electronic components.





The MLCCs developed this time are products that have the characteristics of 250V class 33nF (nanofarad) with low capacitance change rate according to temperature and 100V class 10F (microfarad) for 125? and they are products with the industry's highest capacity in terms of high-pressure MLCC in the same voltage class.

Each product is used in electric systems and LED headlamps, which are key devices for electric vehicles.

* Farad (symbol: F): Unit representing electric capacity

Electric vehicles operate based on high-voltage battery systems such as battery management systems (BMS) and on-board chargers (OBC).

MLCCs used in electric vehicles must be able to withstand the high output voltages transmitted from the battery for ultra-fast charging and power delivery.

In addition, as the number of electronic components used in electric vehicles increases, semiconductors must also have high-capacity characteristics so that they can operate stably.

The 250V class  33nF product developed this time boasts the highest capacity in the industry at the same voltage level. 22nF was the highest capacity for the existing 250V class products.

This product improves battery stability by removing high-frequency noise inside the battery module while having the durability to withstand high voltages.

In addition, the 100V class  10F product is used in LED headlamps for electric vehicles and its electric capacity has been doubled compared to the previous product.

Semiconductors used in LED headlamps require high power consumption, so high-capacity MLCCs that can store a lot of energy and supply it to semiconductors quickly and stably while having high voltage durability are essential.

In general, it is difficult for MLCCs to satisfy both voltage and capacitance characteristics at the same time. Designing thicker dielectrics to increase voltage characteristics reduces the number of internal electrodes that can be stacked, making it difficult to increase capacity.

Samsung Electro-Mechanics has realized high capacity by refining dielectrics as core raw material in the form of nano-level fine powder.

The company also explained that its proprietary surface coating method minimizes agglomeration between powders, enabling stable operation at high voltages.

Meanwhile, the MLCCs developed this time satisfies AEC-Q200, a reliability test standard for automotive electronic components, enabling them to be used in other applications such as ADAS, body, chassis, and infotainment in vehicles.

Samsung Electro-Mechanics CEO Chang Duckhyun said that "Samsung Electro-Mechanics has established the whole line-up for automotive MLCC by developing electric vehicle products," and that "Samsung Electro-Mechanics will develop and manufacture core raw materials for MLCCs on its own to enhance technological competitiveness, and expand its market share for electronic device MLCCs by internalizing facilities and strengthening production capacity."

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2079156/image.jpg

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/samsung-electro-mechanics-develops-the-worlds-highest-capacity-mlcc-for-electric-vehicles-301827139.html
The Business Research Company's global market reports are now updated with the latest market sizing information for the year 2023 and forecasted to 2032

LONDON, May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- As per The Business Research Company's Plywood Global Market Report 2023, the global plywood market size is expected to grow from $54.7 billion in 2022 to $59.6 billion in 2023 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of more than 8%. The plywood market size is then expected to grow to $85.2 billion in 2027 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of more than 9%. Going forward, the government support, the rising renovation activities, the rising urbanization and an increasing demand for wooden furniture will drive the plywood wholesale market.





The global plywood market is highly fragmented, with a large number of small players operating in the market. UPM-Kymmene Oyj, Inc. was the largest competitor with a 0.47% share of the market, followed by Boise Cascade Company, Metsa Group, West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd., Weyerhaeuser Company, Potlatch Deltic Corporation, Georgia-Pacific LLC., Greenply Industries Limited, Sveza-Les LLC., and Austal Plywoods Private Limited.

Learn More On The Plywood Industry Report - https://www.thebusinessresearchcompany.com/report/plywood-global-market-report

According to TBRC's plywood market research, manufacturers operating in the plywood global market are focusing on developing zero-emission plywood to minimize the environmental impact and increase their market share. Zero-emission plywood refers to a type of plywood that comes with an anti-bacterial coating to ensure the health and safety of every home. For instance, in January 2020, Greenply Industries Limited, an India-based interior infrastructure company, launched its first-of-a-kind zero-emission plywood, named Green Club Plus Seven Hundred, in India. The emission-free plywood used for making furniture, partitions, paneling, false ceilings and other interior applications conforms to E0 grade emission standards, one of the highest Formaldehyde Emission Standards for plywood.

Furthermore, key plywood market companies are using biodegradable chemicals for plywood preservation to enable a long life, by protecting wood from rotting due to microbial agent attacks and insects. Companies are using biodegradable chemicals instead of chromate copper arsenate (CCA), which is one of the most widely used wood preservatives. Some of the wood preservatives with lower toxicity profiles than the traditional chemicals include ammonium copper quaternary (ACQ), borates, copper azole, copper naphthenate and polymeric betaine. ACQ contains copper as a fungicide and a quaternary ammonium compound as an insecticide, thus making ACQ more biodegradable than CCA. For instance, in October 2020, OrganoClick, a Sweden-based chemicals company, launched its ORGANOWOOD wood protection system in the USA. It will be distributed to paint dealers and builders in the USA.

Request A Free Sample Of The Plywood Market Report - https://www.thebusinessresearchcompany.com/sample.aspx?id=6650&type=smp

As per the plywood industry outlook, Asia-Pacific was the largest region in the plywood market and was worth $53.5 billion in 2022.The plywood market in Asia-Pacific is supported by the increase in demand from end user industries, such as construction and furniture manufacturing, and the presence of extensive forest cover in countries such as China, India, Indonesia and other Southeast Asian countries. The rise in partnerships and collaborations are also supporting the market. For example, in 2022, the Malaysian Timber Council (MTC) and the Thai Hevea Wood Association (THA) and the Wood Processing Industry Club signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to support the growth of the timber trade between Malaysia and Thailand, and set trade standards between the two nations. Such collaborations are expected to raise the demand for plywood.

View More Similar Market Reports:

Wood Products Global Market Report 2023

https://www.thebusinessresearchcompany.com/report/wood-products-global-market-report

Finished Wood Products Global Market Report 2023

https://www.thebusinessresearchcompany.com/report/finished-wood-products-global-market-report

Marine Plywood Global Market Report 2023

https://www.thebusinessresearchcompany.com/report/marine-plywood-global-market-report

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TORONTO, ON / ACCESSWIRE / May 17, 2023 / Aston Bay Holdings Ltd. (TSXV:BAY)(OTCQB:ATBHF) ("Aston Bay" or the "Company") today announced that it will conduct a non-brokered private placement (the "Offering"), subject to acceptance by the TSX Venture Exchange (the "Exchange"), for aggregate gross proceeds of up to $2,000,000. In addition, Aston Bay plans to consolidate the Company's common shares ("Common Shares") on the basis of one (1) new post-consolidation Common Share for every four (4) pre-consolidation Common Shares (the "Consolidation") immediately prior to the closing of the Offering.

Financing

The Offering will consist, on a post-Consolidation basis, of units (the "Units") at a price of $0.15 per Unit. Each Unit will consist of one Common Share and one warrant (the "Warrant"), with each Warrant entitling the holder thereof to acquire an additional Common Share (the "Warrant Share") at an exercise price of $0.32 per Warrant Share for a period of 18 months from the date of issuance. The net proceeds of the offering will be used for exploration at the Company's gold and base metals projects in Virginia, and other potential projects in the USA and for general working capital purposes.

The Company anticipates that current insiders of the Company may participate in the Offering. Subject to Exchange approval, finder's fees may be paid to persons who introduce the Company to investors. The Offering may be closed in one or more tranches as subscriptions are received.

All securities issued pursuant to the Offering will be subject to statutory hold periods in accordance with applicable United States and Canadian securities laws.

The securities offered have not been 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 absent registration or compliance with an applicable exemption from the registration requirements of the U.S. Securities Act and applicable state securities laws.

Consolidation

The board of directors of the Company has approved the Consolidation of all of Aston Bay's outstanding Common Shares on the basis of four (4) pre-Consolidation Common Shares for one (1) post-Consolidation Common Share to take effect immediately prior to the closing of the Offering and upon receipt of TSX Venture Exchange approval. The reasons for the Consolidation are to increase Aston Bay's flexibility in the marketplace and to make the Company's securities more attractive to a wider audience of potential investors.

The Company currently has 178,453,594 Common Shares issued and outstanding. Assuming no changes in the number of the Common Shares outstanding, after giving effect to the Consolidation (prior to taking into account the Common Shares issued in the Offering described above), the Company would have approximately 44,613,399 Common Shares issued and outstanding.

Any fractional interest in Common Shares resulting from the Consolidation will be rounded to the nearest whole Common Share. If accepted by the Exchange, Aston Bay will retain its current name and the Consolidation will occur immediately prior to the closing of the Offering (as defined above).

The exercise price and number of Common Shares issuable upon the exercise of Aston Bay's outstanding stock options and warrants will be proportionately adjusted to reflect the Consolidation in accordance with the terms of such securities.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) has reviewed or accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

About Aston Bay Holdings

Aston Bay is a publicly traded mineral exploration company exploring for high-grade copper and gold deposits in Virginia, USA, and Nunavut, Canada. The Company is led by CEO Thomas Ullrich with exploration in Virginia directed by the Company's advisor, Don Taylor, the 2018 Thayer Lindsley Award winner for his discovery of the Taylor Pb-Zn-Ag Deposit in Arizona. The Company is currently exploring the high-grade Buckingham Gold Vein in central Virginia and is in advanced stages of negotiation on other lands with high-grade copper potential in the area.

The Company is 100% owner of the Storm Project property, which hosts the Storm Copper Project and the Seal Zinc Deposit and has been optioned to American West Metals Limited.

The Company's public disclosure documents are available on www.sedar.com.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

Statements made in this press release, including those regarding the closing and the use of proceeds of the private placement, management objectives, forecasts, estimates, expectations, or predictions of the future may constitute "forward-looking statement", which can be identified by the use of conditional or future tenses or by the use of such verbs as "believe", "expect", "may", "will", "should", "estimate", "anticipate", "project", "plan", and words of similar import, including variations thereof and negative forms. This press release contains forward-looking statements that reflect, as of the date of this press release, Aston Bay's expectations, estimates and projections about its operations, the mining industry and the economic environment in which it operates. Statements in this press release that are not supported by historical fact are forward-looking statements, meaning they involve risk, uncertainty and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Although Aston Bay believes that the assumptions inherent in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on these statements, which apply only at the time of writing of this press release. Aston Bay disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except to the extent required by securities legislation. We seek safe harbour.

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 news release.

THIS PRESS RELEASE, REQUIRED BY APPLICABLE CANADIAN LAWS, IS NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO U.S. NEWS SERVICES OR FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES, AND DOES NOT CONSTITUTE AN OFFER TO SELL OR A SOLICITATION OF AN OFFER TO SELL ANY OF THE SECURITIES DESCRIBED HEREIN IN THE UNITED STATES. THESE SECURITIES HAVE NOT BEEN, AND WILL NOT BE, REGISTERED UNDER THE UNITED STATES SECURITIES ACT OF 1933, AS AMENDED, OR ANY STATE SECURITIES LAWS, AND MAY NOT BE OFFERED OR SOLD IN THE UNITED STATES OR TO U.S. PERSONS UNLESS REGISTERED OR EXEMPT THEREFROM.

FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION CONTACT:

Thomas Ullrich, Chief Executive Officer

thomas.ullrich@astonbayholdings.com

(416) 456-3516

Sofia Harquail, IR and Corporate Development

sofia.harquail@astonbayholdings.com

(647) 821-1337

SOURCE: Aston Bay Holdings Ltd.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/755436/Aston-Bay-Holdings-Announces-Non-Brokered-Private-Placement-and-Share-Consolidation
Nature's Emporium installation represents first of up to seven potential locations across southwestern Ontario

Full roll-out to both of Greco's Fresh Market locations in Ontario

Contracts demonstrate further market share capture within the retail foods vertical

Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - May 17, 2023) - Danavation Technologies Corp. (CSE: DVN) (OTCQB: DVNCF) ("Danavation" or the "Company"), the only North American-founded and headquartered technology company providing micro e-paper displays, today announces two new contract signings for a total of three installations due to be complete by end of summer.

"We're very pleased to confirm that Danavation has secured two new brands in the retail food market and in particular, high-quality and family-owned businesses such as Nature's Emporium and Greco's Fresh Market," said John Ricci, CEO of Danavation. "Once outfitted with our Digital Smart Labels, we believe both retailers will benefit from reduced time spent on tedious labelling tasks, positively impacting operational efficiencies as well as the financial performance of each location. We are also excited about the prospect of potentially expanding our relationship with Nature's Emporium to secure further installations into their remaining six locations in the future."

Nature's Emporium Installation

Danavation is pleased to be outfitting the first of up to seven Nature's Emporium locations in Ontario with its Digital Smart Labels, building on the Company's previous installations within the retail foods segment that includes brands such as Sobeys, Cataldi, Palma Pasta, Colemans Foods, and Rabba, to name a few. This first Nature's Emporium installation is expected to be completed by the end of summer and depending on success, could lead to Natures Emporium outfitting an additional six locations with Danavation's Digital Smart Labels.

Founded in 1993, Nature's Emporium is a leading health food market with four locations in Ontario, Canada and two more opening before the end of 2023. As part of its mission to offer customers a wide variety of natural health foods, products, and essentials, Nature's Emporium stocks a vast array of SKUs (stock keeping units) that includeincluding natural and organic foods, vitamins, supplements, gluten-free offerings, traditionally raised grass-fed meats, natural skin care, cosmetics, home supplies and sustainable, eco friendly clothing. With Danavation's Digital Smart Labels, Nature's Emporium anticipates benefitting from being able to redirect staffing efforts from manual price updates at the shelf, to engaging with customers and enhancing the overall shopping experience. Further, by deploying Danavation's Digital Smart Labels, Nature's Emporium can leverage instantaneous updating of products and pricing which enables more frequent product specials and promotions to serve their thousands of new and existing daily customers more efficiently.

Greco's Fresh Market Installations

The Company is pleased to confirm a full roll-out of Digital Smart Labels for both locations of Greco's Fresh Market in Thornhill and Richmond Hill, Ontario, further expanding Danavation's reach into the retail food segment. Greco's Fresh Market offers a wide selection of high-quality fresh meat, produce, deli, bakery, and prepared foods, with each department offering a wide selection that caters to the conventional and natural food shopper. The first location is expected to be outfitted with Danavation's Digital Smart Labels by mid to late summer 2023, followed by the second.

Behind Greco's success lies tradition, quality, and freshness that was built on a legacy of providing the highest calibre produce. After nearly 100 years and four generations, this commitment to quality remains a core philosophy for the Greco family, who continues to handle all of their own product selection, ensuring the continued success of the family business by refusing to sacrifice on quality.

About Danavation

Danavation Technologies Corp. is the only North American-founded and headquartered technology company providing Digital Smart Labels and a software Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) solution that enables companies across various sectors to automate labelling, price, product, and promotions in real-time. Danavation's Digital Smart Labels enhance data accuracy and improve performance by removing high labour costs and low productivity typically associated with traditional labour-intensive workflows. Our goal is to create a sustainable and profitable business for shareholders while advancing sound environmental, social and governance practices, including by significantly reducing paper usage. Danavation has introduced its solution to retailers across North America, including big box and boutique grocers, while also targeting new markets including healthcare providers, manufacturing, and logistics companies. Learn more about the background of Danavation and our vision for the future on our website. As well, follow us on LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube for more updates on how we are transforming the retail landscape.

For further information, please contact:

John Ricci

President & Chief Executive Officer

hello@danavation.com

Kyle Nazareth

Chief Financial Officer

Tel: 289-892-3974 | investors@danavation.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. More particularly and without limitation, this news release contains forward-looking statements and information relating, the future business of the Company, potential roll outs of the Company's products and services, further business from the Company's clients, industry outlook and potential and other matters. The forward-looking statements and information are based on certain key expectations and assumptions made by management of the Company. Although management of the Company believes that the expectations and assumptions on which such forward-looking statements and information are based are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on the forward-looking statements and information since no assurance can be given that they will prove to be correct.

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 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.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/166364
ABIDJAN, Cote d'Ivoire, May 17, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Tizeti, a leading internet service provider in West Africa, announced an expanded collaboration with Microsoft to address the issue of broadband underdevelopment in Cote d'Ivoire and bring internet access to almost 5 million people.



The partnership aims to provide affordable and reliable high-speed internet access to underserved communities and people in the country, addressing the significant broadband gap that has hindered economic development and social progress in the region and empowering more Ivorians to participate in the digital economy.

Cote d'Ivoire is believed to have less than 40% internet penetration, with fixed internet around 2%. The fixed internet and broadband sectors remain underdeveloped in Cote dIvoire, due to a legacy of poor international connectivity, which resulted in high wholesale prices, limited bandwidth, and a lack of access for alternative operators to international infrastructure. Operators such as MainOne, and Africa Coast to Europe have subsea infrastructure, with 2Africa expected to land in 2023. While the submarine cable vertical is more competitive, Cote d'Ivoire has limited last-mile providers who pull the internet capacity and distribute it to homes, offices, schools, hospitals, and other public institutions.

Tizeti will roll out high-speed internet infrastructure with Microsoft's Airband Initiative, leveraging Tizeti's low-cost wireless technologies. This will help make it easier and cheaper for people to access the internet and connect to the digital economy. These shared efforts are part of the Microsoft Airband Initiative's commitment to bring internet access to 100 million Africans by the end of 2025, which aligns with Tizeti's goal of connecting more people to the internet in a cost-efficient way.

"We are thrilled to partner with Microsoft to bring reliable and affordable high-speed internet access to underserved communities in Cote d'Ivoire," said Kendall Ananyi, Chief Executive Officer of Tizeti. "Our mission at Tizeti is to bring affordable and reliable internet to more Africans outside the digital envelope, and this partnership is a significant step forward in achieving that goal. This work with Microsoft continues our joint efforts to deliver world-class internet connectivity to the people of Africa, starting with Nigeria and now Cote d'Ivoire."

Microsoft's Airband Initiative is focused on advancing digital equity-access to affordable internet, affordable devices, and digital skills-as a platform for empowerment and digital transformation across the world.

"Through our expanded partnership with Tizeti, we are committed to providing high-speed internet access to five million people in Cote d'Ivoire by the end of 2025," said Vickie Robinson, General Manager of Microsoft's Airband Initiative. "Partners such as Tizeti are vital to the Airband ecosystem, which relies on local expertise along with public and private organizations of every size to tailor regional solutions. The expansion to Cote d'Ivoire will help build sustainable infrastructure that strengthens local development and reduces barriers to connectivity."

For many countries in Africa, there is still a huge digital divide. This boundary between connected and unconnected translates into clear consequences for employment, education, family and social life, and access to information. Collaborations such as this play a significant role in addressing the digital infrastructure deficits in emerging economies, leveraging innovative technology and capabilities, to improve development outcomes for millions of people.

About Tizeti

Tizeti is a fast-growing Wireless Internet service provider in Nigeria, Ghana and Cote d'Ivoire delivering high-speed unlimited Wi-Fi Internet access to residential and business customers using wide-area Wi-Fi.

Contact: Temitope Osunrinde)
The World CX Summit - India was designed to offer an exceptional learning opportunity for the attendees with informative discussions, inspiring presentations, highlighting the latest trends and techniques in the field of CX innovation. The Indian edition of the World CX Summit aimed to broaden its objectives providing a platform for leaders in government and industry to come together and exchange ideas on how to tackle the latest challenges in the field.

NEW DELHI, India, May 17, 2023 - (ACN Newswire) - 200+ Pre-qualified Delegates, 25+ esteemed Speakers, 20+ Media Partners, and Conference/Exhibitors had joined the 10th global edition of World CX Summit, which was hosted at the Hotel Westin Gurgaon, Westin Gurgaon, Sector 29, New Delhi, NCR on 27 April 2023. This event has previously been held in various parts of the world with great success. The World CX Summit - Delhi wrapped up with a One-day power packed conference. The event brought the government leaders and an inspirational line-up of experts and solution providers together to discuss the latest challenges and explore the latest applications in data powered solutions.

"CXOs need to align themselves to Data Democratization for leveraging the true potential of data and datafication in enhancing customer experience, product development acumen, operations, innovations, prediction of new opportunities and connecting to the masses at a population scale with ease and affordable cost." Sated Golok Kumar Simli, Principal Advisor and Chief Technology Officer, Ministry of External Affairs, India

Harshavardhan Chauhaan, VP, Chief Marketing & Omnichannel Officer, Spencer's Retail & Nature's Basket stated that "Consumer Centricity is the only constant strategic business lever for success across industries. The Right CX strategy emanates from being consumer centric first before anything else."

One of the summit's most prominent discussions was the panel on 'Quantifying the Intangible: Linking Customer Experience to Value'. In this panel the speakers highlighted the challenges faced by companies in improving customer experience. They discussed how many companies aspire to transform their customer experience but struggle to measure the economic impact of such changes, leading to uncertain results. Also, they highlighted how companies can ensure that their customer experience programs yield a positive return on investment, the speakers emphasized the need to establish a link between customer experience and value.

The speakers of this panel discussion included Golok Kumar Simli, Principal Advisor & CTO, Ministry of External Affairs; Akash Jaggi, Global Director, Customer Delivery Experience & Digital Transformation, Schneider Electric; Suhail Ghai, Chief Digital & Information Officer, Max Life Insurance; Aashish Chandra, Chief Digital & Technology Officer, The Body Shop; Yash Sultania, Co-founder & CEO, Survey2Connect and moderated by Ajay Nambiar, COO & Chief Service Officer, PYP, M3M.

Rahul Tandon, Chief Customer Service Officer, Ecom Express Limited was part of panel discussion on the topic 'Amplifying Total Experience (TX): Unleashing the Power of Emerging Technology.'

He was joined by Samuel Gier, Customer Experience Lead - India, Nothing; Ashish Shukla, Head of Customer Experience, Flipkart; Pranashu Rastogi, Head of Customer Experience, Jubilant FoodWorks, Joe Emmanuel; Vice President of Products, Global Business Development and Presales, Route Mobile Limited. This panel discussion was moderated by Dilpreet Singh, Head - CRM, Loyalty & Customer analytics, ITC Limited.

The World CX Summit - India also included Tech Talks from Brian Bischoff, General Manager and SVP - Genesys; Kushagra Goswami, Sr Advisory Solution Consultant, ServiceNow; Harshni Sreedhar, Director of Strategic Partnerships, APAC & MEA, Uniphore; Sameer Narkar, Founder and CEO, Konnect Insights; Shyam Krishnan, VP - Customer Experience, Exotel; Saurabh Chandre, AVP and Head - Sales - CX, (India , APAC and MECAA), Tata Communications; Pooja Ujwal T Makhija, Executive Director and Co-Founder, Phonon Communications Pvt Ltd.; to name a few.

"As companies continue to prioritize customer-centric approaches, the recent World CX Summit - India facilitated a forum for industry leaders to share their valuable perspectives on enhancing customer experience." Stated Naveen Bharadwaj, Group CEO, Trescon. He further added, "Trescon takes pride in hosting such an event that brought together prominent industry experts and thought leaders to discuss the latest trends and best practices in CX. We believe that the insights shared at the summit will enable Indian businesses to augment their customer experience programs, leading to better business outcomes."

The exhibition area was equally captivating, teeming with a plethora of pioneering CX solution providers showcasing their latest products and services, ranging from chatbots to analytics tools.

World CX Summit - India was partnered by:

Gold Partners:

 Tata Communications Limited / Genesys

 ServiceNow

 Uniphore

Silver Partners:

 Exotel

 Route Mobile

 Konnect Insights

 Phonon Communications

 Saarthi.ai

 Survey2Connect

Bronze Partners:

 Kaleyra

 Sitecore / Vertis Digital

Exhibitors:

 CM.com

 Jabra

 Rezo.ai

Communications Partner:

 MOBtexting

Visiting Partner:

 EbixCash Global Services

Official Media Partner:

 Business Standard

About World CX Summit - India:

World CX Summit is a thought-leadership-driven, business-focused, global series of events that takes place at strategic locations across the world.

The Summit features exciting keynotes, enterprise use-cases, product showcase, panel discussions and tech talks to discuss the trends and challenges in technology implementations that will eventually determine the future of Customer Experience and its applications.

World CX Summit is connecting global CX experts and technology providers with pre-qualified CEOs, Heads of CX, Chief Digital Officers, CIOs, CMOs, Chief Innovation Officers, Chief Technology Officers, Heads of Digital Transformation, Heads of Product Development -- all under one roof.

About Trescon:

Trescon is a global business events and consulting firm that provides a wide range of business services to a diversified client base. Trescon is founded and managed by a group of specialists with more than 10 decades of combined expertise in successfully developing business events, training, and consulting for corporates, governments, associations, and high-net-worth individuals across the world. With a deep understanding of the realities and requirements of the growth markets we operate in - we strive to deliver innovative and high-quality business platforms for our clients.

For further details about the announcement, please contact:

Nupur Aswani

Head - Media, PR and Corporate Communications,

Trescon

+91 95559 15156 | media@tresconglobal.com

Source: tresconCopyright 2023 ACN Newswire . All rights reserved.
Not for distribution to U.S. news wire services or dissemination in the United States.

VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / May 17, 2023 / Gold Terra Resource Corp. (TSXV:YGT); (Frankfurt:TX0); (OTCQX:YGTFF) ("Gold Terra" or the "Company") has announced today that it has entered into an agreement with Paradigm Capital Inc., as lead agent and on behalf of a syndicate of agents to be formed, under which the agents have agreed to sell on a "best efforts" basis, a combination of common shares (the "Common Shares") and flow-through common shares (the "Flow-Through Common Shares") to provide the Company with gross proceeds of up to approximately C$4 million (the "Offering"). Up to 15,000,000 Common Shares will be offered at a price of C$0.10 per share and up to 21,800,000 Flow-Through Common Shares will be offered at a price of C$0.115 per share. The Company will grant to the agents an option, exercisable at the offering price for a period of 30 days following the closing of the Offering, to sell Common Shares and/or FT Shares equal to up to an additional 15% of the Offering to cover over-allotments, if any, for up to an additional C$601,050. The Offering is expected to close on or about May 26, 2023 and is subject to Gold Terra receiving all necessary regulatory approvals, including the acceptance of the TSX Venture Exchange.

The net proceeds from the sale of the Common Shares will be used to advance exploration at the Company's Yellowknife Project (YP), including the Con Mine Option property (CMO), for working capital, and for general corporate purposes.

The gross proceeds from the sale of the Flow-Through Common Shares will be used for expenditures which qualify as "Canadian exploration expenses" ("CEE") and "flow-through mining expenditures" both within the meaning of the Income Tax Act (Canada). The Company will renounce such CEE with an effective date of no later than December 31, 2023.

The Company intends to file a prospectus supplement (the "Supplement") to its short form base shelf prospectus dated February 24, 2023 (the "Base Shelf Prospectus") on or about May 19, 2023. The Supplement will be filed with the securities regulatory authorities in each of the provinces and territories of Canada, except Quebec. The Common Shares may also be offered by way of private placement in the United States.

The securities offered have not been registered under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an applicable exemption from the registration requirements. This news release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy nor shall there be any sale of the securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful.

About Gold Terra

The YP encompasses 800 sq. km of contiguous land immediately north, south and east of the City of Yellowknife in the Northwest Territories. Through a series of acquisitions, Gold Terra controls one of the six major high-grade gold camps in Canada. Being within 20 kilometers of the City of Yellowknife, the YP is close to vital infrastructure, including all-season roads, air transportation, service providers, hydro-electric power, and skilled tradespeople. Gold Terra is currently focusing its drilling on the prolific Campbell Shear, where 14 Moz of gold has been produced, and most recently on the Con Mine Option Property where it produced 6 Moz @ grade between 16 to 20 g/t Au (1938-2003).

The YP and CMO property lie on the prolific Yellowknife greenstone belt, covering nearly 70 kilometers of strike length along the main mineralized shear system that host the former-producing high-grade Con and Giant gold mines. The Company's exploration programs have successfully identified significant zones of gold mineralization and multiple targets that remain to be tested which reinforces the Company's objective of re-establishing Yellowknife as one of the premier gold mining districts in Canada.

Visit our website at www.goldterracorp.com.

For more information, please contact:

Gerald Panneton, Chairman & CEO

gpanneton@goldterracorp.com

Mara Strazdins, Manager of Investor Relations

Phone: 1-778-897-1590 | 604-689-1749 ext 102

strazdins@goldterracorp.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 Note Regarding Forward-Looking Information

Certain statements made and information contained in this news release constitute "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities legislation ("forward-looking information"). Generally, this forward-looking information can, but not always, be identified by use of forward-looking terminology such as "plans", "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", or "believes", or variations of such words and phrases or statements that certain actions, events, conditions or results "will", "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will be taken", "occur" or "be achieved" or the negative connotations thereof.

All statements other than statements of historical fact may be forward-looking information. Forward-looking information is necessarily based on estimates and assumptions that are inherently 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. In particular, this news release contains forward-looking information regarding the expected closing date of the Offering and use of proceeds from the Offering, and the Company's objective of re-establishing Yellowknife as one of the premier gold mining districts in Canada.

There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, as the Company's actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in this forward-looking information as a result of the factors discussed in the "Risk Factors" section in the Company's most recent MD&A and annual information form available under the Company's profile at www.sedar.com.

Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that would 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. The forward-looking information contained in this news release is based on information available to the Company as of the date of this news release. 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. All of the forward-looking information contained in this news release is qualified by these cautionary statements. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking information due to the inherent uncertainty thereof. Except as required under applicable securities legislation and regulations applicable to the Company, the Company does not intend, and does not assume any obligation, to update this forward-looking information.

SOURCE: Gold Terra Resource Corp

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/755440/Gold-Terra-Resource-Corp-Announces-Best-Efforts-Public-Offering-of-Up-to-Approximately-C4-Million
Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - May 17, 2023) - SLANG Worldwide Inc. (CSE: SLNG) (OTCQB: SLGWF) ("SLANG" or the "Company"), a leading global cannabis consumer packaged goods (CPG) company with a diversified portfolio of popular brands, today announced details of its planned release of its first quarter 2023 financial results and conference call.

The Company expects to release its financial results for the quarter ended March 31, 2023, before markets open on May 24, 2023. Management plans to host an investor conference call that same day at 10:00 am ET to discuss the results.

Timing: Wednesday, May 24th, 2023 at 10:00 am ET

Dial In: 1(888) 440-5983 (US toll-free) or 1(646) 960-0202 (international)

Conference ID: 6291438

Webcast: A live webcast can be accessed via the Company's website at www.slangww.com or https://events.q4inc.com/attendee/413638362

About SLANG Worldwide Inc.

SLANG Worldwide Inc. is the industry leader in branded cannabis consumer packaged goods, with a diversified portfolio of five distinct brands and products distributed across the U.S. Operating in 13 legal cannabis markets nationwide, SLANG specializes in acquiring and developing market-proven regional brands, as well as launching innovative new brands to seize global market opportunities and match evolving consumer tastes. The Company has over a decade of experience operating in the nascent and highly regulated cannabis sector, and its partners enjoy the benefits of that experience, with access to the SLANG playbook for successful operations, sales and marketing. Its strong product pipeline from uniquely positioned and scalable brands like O.pen, Alchemy Naturals, Ceres, Firefly, and partnerships with brands like Greenhouse Seed Company have a proven track record of success with the brands consistently ranking among the top performers in the states where SLANG operates. Learn more at slangww.com.

To be added to SLANG's email distribution list, please email SLNG@kcsa.com with "SLNG" in the subject.

Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains statements that constitute "forward-looking statements." Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results, performance or achievements, or developments in the industry to differ materially from the anticipated results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts and are generally, but not always, identified by the words "expects", "plans", "anticipates", "believes", "intends", "estimates", "projects", "potential" and similar expressions, or that events or conditions "will", "would", "may", "could" or "should" occur.

Forward-looking statements are necessarily based upon a number of estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable by management of SLANG at this time, are inherently subject to significant business, economic and competitive risks, uncertainties and contingencies that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in such statements. Investors are cautioned not to put undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Applicable risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to regulatory risks, risks related to the COVID-19 global pandemic, changes in laws, resolutions and guidelines, market risks, concentration risks, operating history, competition, the risks associated with international and foreign operations and the other risks identified under the headings "Risk Factors" in SLANG's annual information form dated April 27, 2022 and other disclosure documents available on the Company's profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. SLANG is not under any obligation, and 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 law.

Reader Advisory

Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Company Contact

Mikel Rutherford, CFO

833-752-6499

Media and Investor Inquiries

Investors@SLANGww.com

KCSA Strategic Communications

Phil Carlson

SLANG@kcsa.com

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/166307
LONDON, May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- STL [NSE: STLTECH], a leading optical and digital solutions company today shared its progress and achievements in its focus markets of the UK and Europe, along with the company's annual results for FY23. In UK and Europe, the company ably supported the region's broadband ambitions and closed the financial year with orders valued at ~GBP 250 Mn.





STL is serving the optical and network build needs of its customers with design innovation and shorter lead times through its optical cable and connectivity manufacturing setups in Italy.

Last year, STL strengthened its relationship with its long-standing customers in the UK and also partnered with 20 new customers across Portugal, Switzerland, Croatia, Greece, Poland, Slovenia and Norway. One large-scale deal is with a new age broadband provider to provide integrated network deployment services in the UK. Another multi-million dollar partnership is with a leading European service provider to connect 15 Mn homes with STL's specially adapted and co-developed optical connectivity solutions. Recently, the company also won its first Optical Connectivity solutions order for Data centres in France. Behind this achievement is STL's R&D and application engineering expertise which enables STL to design solutions suited for the region. Here are some examples:

Armored Reinforced Plastic (ARP) Drop Light Cables - with crush resistance upto 5000 Newton.

- with crush resistance upto 5000 Newton. All-Dielectric Self Supporting (ADSS) cables - high strength and heat-resistant cables

cables - high strength and heat-resistant cables Microcables - Small diameter with upto 4X density

- Small diameter with upto 4X density Indoor microcables - compliant with EU Construction Products Regulation (CPR)

compliant with EU Construction Products Regulation (CPR) IP68-rated Opto-CRS - Ruggedised fibre optic joint enclosures and Drop Cable Port and Connector Systems

Speaking on STL's progress in the region, Paul Atkinson, CEO - Optical Networking Business, STL, said: "Our journey to become a preferred partner in enabling advanced optical fibre infrastructure across UK and Europe has been a fulfilling one. We deeply engage with telecom companies to co-create future-ready and sustainable solutions. Our solutions are specifically engineered for the European context and will help fiberise Europe at speed and scale."

At an overall company level, STL reported record revenues ofGBP 716 Mn, growing 27% over the previous year along with an impressive 29% and 51% growth in EBITDA and PAT respectively.* Last year, STL had shared its strategic intent to drive focused growth, which it followed through this year, with solid execution of the outlined priorities, resulting in a financially robust business. This is reflected in the company's full year and sequential quarter-on-quarter performance in FY23.

STL - Financial highlights:

Financials* GBP Million FY 22 FY 23 Growth Revenue 562 716 27 % EBITDA 75 96 29 % PAT 17 25 51 %

*all financials are from continued operations

Commenting on the company's annual performance, Ankit Agarwal, Managing Director, STL said "Last year we sharpened our focus and set out on the path to be among the world top 3 companies in the Optical business. I am delighted to see our focused strategy yield strong results for the company. The Industry continues to show significant long-term growth and we are excited about co-creating meaningful solutions with our customers. We believe that, going forward, our strong leadership, customer focus, technology innovation, and sustainability will be the cornerstones of our success."

About STL - Sterlite Technologies Ltd:

STL is a leading global optical and digital solutions company providing advanced offerings to build 5G, Rural, FTTx, Enterprise and Data Centre networks. Read more, Contact us, stl.tech | Twitter | LinkedIn| YouTube

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View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/stl-supports-uk-and-europes-digital-ambitions-with-orders-worth-gbp-250-mn-in-fy23-301827246.html
SINGAPORE, May 17, 2023 - (ACN Newswire) - Following its highly successful flagship event held in Dubai in March of this year, the World Blockchain Summit is set to return to Singapore.

Scheduled for 13,14 July 2023, The World Blockchain Summit Singapore aims to bring together investors, enterprises, industry leaders, and entrepreneurs to explore collaboration and investment opportunities and to stay abreast of the latest developments and advancements in the field of blockchain technology.







In recent years, Singapore has emerged as a leading hub for blockchain and cryptocurrency development. The country's favorable regulatory environment, robust infrastructure, and highly skilled workforce have attracted numerous blockchain-based startups and established players in the industry. The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has been supportive of the industry, providing a clear regulatory framework for digital assets and establishing initiatives to promote blockchain development.

Given the favorable conditions for blockchain innovation and development in Singapore, the upcoming World Blockchain Summit in Singapore presents a unique opportunity for blockchain entrepreneurs, startups, and individuals seeking to advance their businesses through the blockchain. The summit will offer a platform for accessing funding opportunities and expert guidance, enabling attendees to take their businesses to the next level.

WBSSingapore will feature keynote speeches, panel discussions, and presentations from leading blockchain experts and visionaries. The agenda will cover several important topics, including:

What Web 3.0 means for enterprises

NFT Market Overview: Trends & Opportunities

Bridging deFi and ceFi

Value Creation in the metaverse

Looking into The Future of Web3

DAOs: A Business-Building Opportunity

Digital Asset Solutions for Business

Regulation of Crypto Assets

The Big Picture: Market Outlook for 2023

The event comprises:

A space for exhibiting ground-breaking projects.

A designated area for investors to explore potential deals.

Opportunities to network with prominent figures and pioneers in the industry.

Singapore boasts over 400 blockchain-related firms, and with the proliferation of decentralized finance (DeFi) and non-fungible tokens (NFTs), investors are increasingly seeking opportunities in Web3 startups and projects. Our goal at World Blockchain Summit Singapore is to bridge the gap between investors and startups by introducing them to innovative projects and founders. We believe that this platform will help bridge the gap between investors and startups in the blockchain space, and contribute to the growth of this exciting industry." - Naveen Bharadwaj, Group CEO of Trescon.

Registration for the World Blockchain Summit Singapore is now open, and early bird tickets are available for a limited time. Don't miss this opportunity to be part of the world's most exciting blockchain and crypto event of the year.

About World Blockchain Summit (WBS)

World Blockchain Summit (WBS) is a part of Trescon, a rapidly growing company that organizes emerging tech events. It aims to support the growth of Web 3.0 globally. The management team has over 20 years of experience managing successful conferences, expos, and summits. Additionally, WBS works with web 3.0 industry leaders and innovators as advisors to ensure alignment with current market trends and needs.

WBS is the world's longest-running blockchain, crypto, and web 3.0-focused summit series. Since our inception in 2017, we have hosted more than 20 editions in 11 countries as we strived to create the ultimate networking and deal flow platform for the Web 3.0 ecosystem. Each edition brings together global leaders and emerging startups in the space, including investors, developers, IT leaders, entrepreneurs, government authorities, and others.

To book your tickets, visit: bit.ly/pr_booktickets

For inquiries, Contact: comms@worldblockchainsummit.com

Source: World Blockchain SummitCopyright 2023 ACN Newswire . All rights reserved.
+39,93% Rendite seit Januar  so lautet die Erfolgsbilanz der Aktie der Woche. Damit wurden sowohl der DAX als auch der S&P 500 deutlich outperformt. Wie das genau funktioniert, erklart Chefradakteur Lars Wiler in seiner Zwischenbilanz.

KUALA LUMPUR (dpa-AFX) - President Joe Biden has vetoed House Resolution 39 to overturn a two-year moratorium on solar tariffs from Southeast Asia. Waiving the moratorium on solar tariffs imposed on equipment produced in Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam would have jeopardized the momentum the U.S. solar industry is building, Biden said in a stataement explaining his decision to veto the resolution. Biden said that since he took office, 51 new and expanded solar equipment manufacturing plants have been announced, and the United States is now on track to increase domestic solar panel manufacturing capacity eight-fold. Biden said he vetoed H.J. Resolution 39 because he cannot afford to create new uncertainty for American businesses and workers in the solar industry. 'We can and must strengthen our energy security by maintaining our focus on expanding U.S. capacity that is ready to come on line as this temporary bridge concludes in June 2024,' he added. Industry stakeholders and trade groups have welcomed Biden's action. The American Clean Power Association applauded the President for standing up for American workers by vetoing this 'misguided, job-killing legislation'. 'Our nation's solar industry has already announced billions of dollars in investments focused on building a strong and resilient domestic solar supply chain. The imposition of punitive retroactive tariffs - which would have been borne by U.S. companies and workers - would have jeopardized those investments, hurt American workers, and increased costs for American families,' ACP CEO Jason Grumet said in a statement. Copyright(c) 2023 RTTNews.com. All Rights Reserved Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
LOS ANGELES, CA / ACCESSWIRE / May 17, 2023 / XS Financial Inc. ("XS Financial", "XSF" or the "Company") (CSE:XSF)(OTCQB:XSHLF), a specialty finance company providing CAPEX and equipment financing solutions to cannabis companies in the United States, announced today that the Company will report its financial results for the quarter ended March 31, 2023, on Tuesday May 30, 2023 after market close. The Company will also host a conference call and audio webcast to review the financial results on Tuesday May 30, 2023 at 2:00 p.m. Pacific (5:00 p.m. Eastern).

The Company's unaudited financial statements and management's discussion and analysis for the quarter ended March 31, 2023, will be available on the Company's profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com and on the Company's website at www.XSFinancial.com/investors.

Earnings Call Participation Details

Canada/USA Toll Free: 1-800-319-4610

Conference Replay

Canada/USA Toll Free: 1-800-319-6413

Replay Access Code: 0181

About XS Financial

Founded in 2017, XS Financial specializes in providing CAPEX financing solutions to cannabis companies in the United States, including cultivators, processors, manufacturers, and testing laboratories. In addition, XSF has partnered with over 250 original equipment manufacturers (OEM) through its network of Preferred Vendor partnerships. This powerful dynamic provides an end-to-end solution for customers which results in recurring revenues, strong profit margins, and a proven business model for XSF stakeholders. The Company's subordinate voting shares are traded on the Canadian Securities Exchange under the symbol "XSF". For more information, visit: www.xsfinancial.com.

For inquiries please contact:

David Kivitz Chief Executive Officer Antony Radbod Chief Operating Officer Tel: 1-310-683-2336 Email: ir@xsfinancial.com

Forward-Looking Information

This press release contains "forward-looking information" and may also contain statements that may constitute "forward-looking statements", collectively "forward-looking information", within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. Such forward-looking information is not representative of historical facts or information or current condition, but instead represent the beliefs and expectations regarding future events about the business and the industry and markets in which XS Financial operates, as well as plans or objectives of management, many of which, by their nature, are inherently uncertain. Generally, such forward-looking information can be identified by the use of terminology such as "plans", "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", or "believes", or variations of such words and phrases or may contain statements that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will be taken", "will continue", "will occur" or "will be achieved". Forward-looking information contained herein may include but is not limited to, any additional leasing opportunities and the ability to capitalize on such and the timing thereof. Forward-looking information is not a guarantee of future performance and involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions which are difficult to predict. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information, which are qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement. XS Financial Inc., does not undertake any obligation to release publicly any revisions for updating any voluntary forward-looking information, except as required by applicable securities law.

Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

SOURCE: XS Financial

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/755450/XS-Financial-Announces-Date-for-Q1-2023-Financial-Results-and-Earnings-Call
EQS Post-admission Duties announcement: Haier Smart Home Co.,Ltd. / Third country release according to Article 50 Para. 1, No. 2 of the WpHG [the German Securities Trading Act]

Haier Smart Home Co.,Ltd.: Announcement on the Provisional Proposals of the 2022 Annual General Meeting



17.05.2023 / 14:26 CET/CEST

Dissemination of a Post-admission Duties announcement according to Article 50 Para. 1, No. 2 WpHG transmitted by EQS News - a service of EQS Group AG.

The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.





Third country release according to Article 50 Para. 1, No. 2 of the WpHG



Announcement on the Provisional Proposals of the 2022 Annual General Meeting

Qingdao / Shanghai / Frankfurt / Hong Kong, 17 May 2023 - Haier Smart Home Co., Ltd. (the "Company" or "Haier Smart Home", D-share 690D.DE, A-share 600690.SH, H-share 06690.HK) today published an announcement in accordance with applicable trading rules of the Shanghai Stock Exchange, and applicable PRC laws in relation to the provisional proposals of the 2022 Annual General Meeting.

The announcement is fully available at:

https://smart-home.haier.com/en/dggg/P020230517688314872335.pdf?appdesc=Announcement%20on%20the%20Provisional%20Proposals%20of%20the%202022%20Annual%20General%20Meeting

IR Contact:

Haier Smart Home Hong Kong

T: +852 2169 0000

Email: ir@haier.hk

Press Contact:

CROSS ALLIANCE communication GmbH

Sara Pinto

Sven Pauly

pi@crossalliance.de

T: +49 (0) 89 1250903 35

About Haier Smart Home Co., Ltd.:

Haier is one of the world's leading manufacturers of household appliances with a focus on smart home solutions and customized production. Haier Smart Home Co., Ltd. develops, produces and distributes a wide range of household appliances. These include refrigerators, freezers, washing machines, air conditioners, water heaters, kitchen appliances as well as small household appliances and an extensive range of intelligent household appliances. The Company distributes its products through leading household brands such as Haier, Casarte, Leader, Candy, GE Appliances, AQUA and Fisher & Paykel. Haier Smart Home Co., Ltd. has launched Smart Home Experiential Cloud, which connects homes, users, enterprises and ecosystem partners, and facilitates the integration of Haier's online, offline and micro-store businesses and supports user interaction to further optimize the user experience.

17.05.2023 CET/CEST The EQS Distribution Services include Regulatory Announcements, Financial/Corporate News and Press Releases.

Archive at www.eqs-news.com


U.K. armed forces largest awards ceremony will recognize the outstanding achievements British military veterans have made in the business world

BlackSky Technology Inc. (NYSE: BKSY) Senior Vice President of Global Sales Andy Stephenson was shortlisted for the sixth annual British Ex-Forces in Business Awards. The annual event is the U.K. armed forces' largest awards ceremony and recognizes the outstanding achievements and contributions made by British military veterans in the business world.

"The entire BlackSky team is proud of Andy. During Andy's military service, he demonstrated exemplary leadership skills, discipline, and a commitment to serving his country," said Brian E. O'Toole, BlackSky CEO. "After transitioning into civilian life, he applied these qualities toward a successful career in the space industry, building thriving businesses, and earning widespread recognition and respect among his peers."

"I am truly humbled to be recognized alongside other finalists for the British Ex-Forces Business Awards," said Andy Stephenson, BlackSky senior vice president of global sales. "My military service has shaped my character and provided me with invaluable skills that have been instrumental in my business career."

Stephenson, formerly with the Royal Corps of Signals, has more than thirty years of experience as a sales leader in the defense and intelligence, technology, and information sectors.

"Our warmest congratulations and sincere thanks go to all those who have been shortlisted for this year's British Ex-Forces in Business Awards. They set such a tremendous example for how military-gained skills and values can be successfully applied across all sectors," said former Chief of Defense People, Lieutenant Gen. Sir Andrew Gregory, CEO at Soldiers', Sailors' Airmen's Families Association (SSAFA), the Armed Forces charity.

The winners of this year's British Ex-Forces in Business Awards will be announced and celebrated on June 29 at a glittering awards ceremony at the Grosvenor House hotel's prestigious Great Room on Park Lane. More than 1,100 business and military leaders are expected to attend the landmark event.

About BlackSky

BlackSky is a leading provider of real-time geospatial intelligence. BlackSky delivers on-demand, high frequency imagery, monitoring and analytics of the most critical and strategic locations, economic assets, and events in the world.

BlackSky designs, owns and operates one of the industry's leading low earth orbit small satellite constellations, optimized to capture imagery cost-efficiently where and when our customers need it. BlackSky's Spectra AI software platform processes data from BlackSky's constellation and from other third-party sensors to develop the critical insights and analytics that our customers require.

BlackSky is relied upon by U.S. and international government agencies, commercial businesses, and organizations around the world. BlackSky is headquartered in Herndon, VA, and is publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange as BKSY. To learn more, visit www.blacksky.com and follow us on Twitter.

About the British Ex-Forces in Business Awards

The Ex-Forces in Business Awards is the world's largest celebration of military veterans in second careers. Taking place in London and Glasgow, the awards are dedicated to providing a much-needed platform for uncovering and showcasing the business achievements of ex-military, presenting them as role models to service leavers, and recognising the employers that support current and former members of the British Armed Forces. The prestigious events promote the huge value that military-gained skills and values add to the UK economy in their second careers.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230517005388/en/

Contacts:

Investor Contact

Aly Bonilla

VP, Investor Relations

abonilla@blacksky.com

Media Contact

Pauly Cabellon

Director, External Communications

pcabellon@blacksky.com
SHANGHAI, May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Avature, a leading provider of innovative Human Capital Management (HCM) software for recruiting and talent management, has today released details about its upcoming conference, AvatureUpfront China, on June 9 in Shanghai.





Building on the success of the virtual edition in 2022 , this year's event will gather over 80 HR executives and technical professionals from large enterprises at the JW Marriott Hotel at Tomorrow Square. With a focus on the latest HR trends and best practices for success, the event will provide a unique opportunity for HR leaders and their teams to explore the strategies, operations and tools needed to shape the future of work in the region.

The packed one-day agenda will feature:

Keynotes from Philips, Rosewood Hotel Group and Trip.com Group on how they leverage Avature's capabilities to achieve complex objectives in today's talent scenario.

and on how they leverage Avature's capabilities to achieve complex objectives in today's talent scenario. A panel discussion where Mettler Toledo, Diageo and Virtuos will share innovative strategies to evolve in the post-pandemic era.

and will share innovative strategies to evolve in the post-pandemic era. The Avature Roadmap presentation.

Other highlights include a customer-exclusive Masterclass and numerous opportunities for attendees to interact with like-minded peers and share invaluable insights in a collaborative and intimate forum.

To learn more or to register for the 2023 China Conference, visit the event website .

About Avature

Avature is a highly configurable enterprise HCM SaaS platform for recruiting and talent management designed to support strategic HR programs. As the vendor of choice for the world's largest organizations, including 110 of the Fortune 500 and 7 of the Top 10 Fortune 500, it is used in over 164 countries and 32 languages.

Avature's solutions include CRM, ATS, video interviewing, campus and events recruiting, employee referral management, social onboarding, employee engagement, performance management, internal mobility and contingent workforce management (VMS). Avature delivers its services from its private cloud, located in data centers in the US, Europe and Asia, helping customers comply with local regulations. It has offices in Buenos Aires, London, Madrid, Melbourne, Munich, New York, Herndon (VA), Paris and Shenzhen.

Avature has full-service operations in China, with teams from consulting to account management and technical support, among others, whose members can provide timely assistance in Chinese and Cantonese. It also has a product marketing area in China focused on developing functionalities based on the characteristics of the local market. Learn more at www.avature.net .

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Industry veteran recognized with space agency's highest award for non-government employees

DENVER, May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Voyager Space , a global leader in space exploration, today announced Jeffrey Manber, its President of International and Space Stations, has been named a recipient of NASA's 2023 Distinguished Public Service Medal, which is awarded to individuals who, by distinguished service, ability or vision, have personally contributed to NASA's advancement of United States' interests. The award was presented to Manber during a ceremony in the Teague Auditorium at NASA's Johnson Space Center on May 16.





Manber, who co-founded Nanoracks, now a Voyager Space company, and currently serves as Chairman of the Board, received this esteemed award for his ongoing contributions over the years to the commercial space industry, specifically for his exceptional leadership in pioneering the development of commercial services in low-Earth orbit (LEO), furthering NASA's goal of developing a commercial economy in space.

For more than 20 years, Jeff has played an exceptional role in the vanguard of efforts to develop a robust, commercially-driven economy aboard the International Space Station (ISS) and in LEO. As described in the award citation, "he is uniquely deserving of this recognition for his decades of leadership in the pursuit of continued U.S. leadership in space, and in developing the foundation for the nascent commercial economy in LEO."

Manber's contributions to the growing space ecosystem are significant. As noted in the citation, he was among the first to attempt to develop a commercially-operated platform in LEO as the head of MirCorp in the 1990s, and was the first to approach NASA in 2009 about his company, Nanoracks, developing and operating their own commercial research hardware. The first platforms included standardized science boxes and mixture tubes. The company then expanded to be the first provider of commercial cubesat deployments from the ISS. Following customer demand, Manber directed the company to develop, launch, and operate the Bishop Airlock, the first, and still only, permanent, commercial platform added to the ISS. This visionary approach, which began years before NASA had developed its own strategic goal of enabling the development of a commercial economy in LEO, with NASA as one of many customers, has paved the way for many other companies to operate in similar fashion.

In his current role at Voyager Space, Manber is critical to the development of Starlab , a continuously crewed, free-flying, commercial space station to serve NASA, space agencies, and commercial users around the globe. He leads Voyager's strategy for establishing relationships with international partners as the Company continues to pursue global cooperation in the expansive and evolving space industry. Manber is also widely recognized as a leader and advocate not only for the new space industry, but also for NASA's stakeholders in Congress and the White House, having been instrumental in enabling broad acceptance of NASA's commercial goals.

"We are elated that Jeff has been honored with this prestigious award from NASA as he has led and continues to lead a remarkable career in the space industry," said Dylan Taylor, CEO and Chairman, Voyager Space. "Jeff's work with the ISS during his tenure at Nanoracks is just one of the many reasons we wanted him to join our team at Voyager Space and continue on his commercial space legacy with Starlab and our current projects aboard the ISS. Congrats Jeff on this incredible honor. We look forward to seeing what you accomplish next."

Manber was honored alongside Bernardo Patti, Manager of International Space Station Operations at ESA, who ran the space station program for Europe.

About Voyager Space

Voyager Space (Voyager) is a space technology company dedicated to building a better future for humanity in space and on Earth. With nearly 20 years of spaceflight heritage and over 1550 successful missions as of May 2023, Voyager delivers space station infrastructure and services and technology solutions to commercial users, civil and national security government agencies, academic and research institutions, and more, with the goal to accelerate a sustainable space economy.

Cautionary Statement Concerning Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains "forward-looking statements." All statements, other than statements of historical fact, including those with respect to Voyager Space, Inc.'s (the "Company's") mission statement and growth strategy, are "forward-looking statements." Although the Company's management believes that such forward-looking statements are reasonable, it cannot guarantee that such expectations are, or will be, correct. These forward-looking statements involve many risks and uncertainties, which could cause the Company's future results to differ materially from those anticipated. Potential risks and uncertainties include, among others, general economic conditions and conditions affecting the industries in which the Company operates; the uncertainty of regulatory requirements and approvals; and the ability to obtain necessary financing on acceptable terms or at all. Readers should not place any undue reliance on forward-looking statements since they involve these known and unknown uncertainties and other factors which are, in some cases, beyond the Company's control and which could, and likely will, materially affect actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements. Any forward-looking statement reflects the Company's current views with respect to future events and is subject to these and other risks, uncertainties and assumptions relating to operations, results of operations, growth strategy and liquidity. The Company assumes no obligation to publicly update or revise these forward-looking statements for any reason, or to update the reasons actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements, even if new information becomes available in the future.

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WASHINGTON, May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Through its innovation laboratory, IDB Lab, the Inter-American Development Bank Group will hold the second edition of IDB Lab Forum in Bogota, Colombia, on June 13 and 14. The event themes are financing and the promotion of entrepreneurial ecosystems.





This high-level international meeting seeks to improve the quality of life Latin America and the Caribbean citizens through innovation and technology. Entrepreneurs, investors, corporations, accelerators, and other actors in the innovation ecosystem will meet to take advantage of business opportunities, discover trends, identify talent, and launch new initiatives.

The event's agenda highlights the importance of financing early-stage innovation and the development of entrepreneurial ecosystems to foster new solutions for the region's major economic and social issues, incorporating gender, diversity, climate, and biodiversity concerns throughout the discussion.

The forum will include the participation of the IDB President, Ilan Goldfajn; the Minister of Commerce, Industry, and Tourism of Colombia, German Umana; Ramiro Lopez Ghio, the IDB Group's representative in Colombia, and includes more than 80 prominent speakers and panelists.

This year, the event is part of the 30th-anniversary celebration of IDB Lab, "which is in full evolution to become the first innovation hub for development in the region," according to Irene Arias, CEO of IDB Lab. "IDB Lab Forum is a space that highlights this new role; in it, we offer a unique platform to connect and generate exchanges between entrepreneurs, investors, corporations, accelerators and public entities, among other innovation actors," she concludes.

IDB Lab Forum will include WeXchange, a pioneer in promoting female entrepreneurship in Latin America and the Caribbean in STEM. The event will feature fifteen innovative entrepreneurs from the region selected from over 300 applicants to present their companies to potential investors for funding opportunities.

To register and access more information about IDB Lab Forum, visit www.idblabforum.org.

About IDB Lab

IDB Lab is the innovation laboratory of the IDB Group, the leading source of development finance and know-how for improving lives in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC). The purpose of IDB Lab is to drive innovation for inclusion in the region by mobilizing financing, knowledge, and connections to test early-stage solutions with the potential to transform the lives of vulnerable populations affected by economic, social, and/or environmental factors. Since 1993 IDB Lab has approved more than US$ 2 billion in projects deployed across 26 LAC countries. www.idblab.org

CONTACT: Gador Manzano GADORM@iadb.org





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CUPERTINO (dpa-AFX) - The U.S. Department of Justice has charged a former Apple software engineer with stealing the tech major's autonomous technology for an unnamed Chinese self-driving car company.



Weibao Wang, who worked at Apple from 2016 to 2018, was charged with six counts of theft or attempted theft by prosecutors. He is found to have stolen the entire Project source code on Apple's autonomous technology, which can be used to develop and build self-driving cars, for a Chinese company with which he was in agreement for work.



Wang fled the country to China the same day his home was searched by law enforcement.



As per the DOJ indictment, WANG signed Apple's Confidentiality and Intellectual Property Agreement or IPA in late 2015 and joined Apple in 2016 as a software engineer on the autonomous systems project. Around April 2018, he was one of the around 2,700 of Apple's over 135,000 full time employees to have had access to one or more of the Databases of the autonomous tech project.



In mid April 2018, he resigned from the company without indicating what he planned to do after leaving Apple and where he was going to work.



The DOJ found that without the knowledge of Apple, on or about November 22, 2017, more than four months prior to his resignation email, WANG signed a letter accepting an offer of full-time employment as a Staff Engineer with the U.S.-based subsidiary of a Chinese company working to develop self-driving cars.



In or around May 2018, Apple identified WANG as having accessed large amounts of sensitive Project information in the days leading up to his departure from Apple.



Following this, law enforcement searched Wang's home in California on June 27, 2018, and seized various devices that contained large quantities of data taken from Apple and various confidential and proprietary materials from the Project.



Though he was present at the search and told agents that he had no plans to travel, later on the same day, he traveled from San Francisco International Airport to Guangzhou, China.



Among the materials recovered was the entire Project source code, as it existed at the time surrounding WANG's departure from Apple.



In the indictment, Wang has been charged with six counts involving the theft or attempted theft. These included Apple's entire autonomy source code, tracking for an autonomous system, behavior planning for autonomous systems, descriptions of the hardware that was behind the systems, and motion planner for an autonomous system .



According U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of California Ismail Ramsey, Wang is in China, and if extradited and convicted, would face 10 years in prison for each count.



Wang joins with two other former Apple employees who are accused of stealing autonomous trade secrets for China.



Xiaolang Zhang, who also worked at Apple's autonomous division at the same time as Wang and left employment in 2018, pleaded guilty in San Jose federal court to a similar theft involving trade secrets in Apple's car division.



Jizhong Chen, another Apple employee, is also facing federal charges over his alleged 2019 theft of sensitive information, and the case is proceeding in California federal court.



Copyright(c) 2023 RTTNews.com. All Rights Reserved



Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

Kostenloser Report: +40% Gewinn nur mit Aktien! +39,93% Rendite seit Januar  so lautet die Erfolgsbilanz der Aktie der Woche. Damit wurden sowohl der DAX als auch der S&P 500 deutlich outperformt. Wie das genau funktioniert, erklart Chefradakteur Lars Wiler in seiner Zwischenbilanz. Hier klicken
NORTHAMPTON, MA / ACCESSWIRE / May 17, 2023 / U.S. corporations continued to communicate on a wide range of sustainability topics in the first quarter of 2023, despite signs that environmental, social and governance (ESG) will be a divisive issue in the 2024 presidential election, according to research from 3BL.

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion was the leading topic, but fell slightly to 311 flexible media releases (FMRs) distributed by 3BL from January through March, versus 315 in the same period a year earlier.

"Claims of greenwashing appear to be overblown, though there is evidence that brands may not be communicating externally as much on social equity topics as they have over the past three years," said Dave Armon, CEO of 3BL, whose 3BL Professional software platform distributes sustainability news on behalf of hundreds of companies and nonprofits to a global audience of investors, employee recruitment sites, consumers, ratings agencies and other stakeholders.

Stories about Philanthropy & Cause Initiatives rose 16 percent to 242 from 208 in the first quarter, versus the same period in 2022. A similar pattern was noted during the initial phase of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, when companies announced commitments to build ventilators and supply medical workers with personal protective equipment.

The narrative from corporate America about Responsible Business & Employee Engagement grew 29 percent, from 156 to 202, the 3BL content analysis revealed.

The steepest first-quarter increase in any topic category involved companies referencing the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) - up 147 percent from 30 FMRs in 2022 to 74 from in the recent quarter.

"This September will mark the halfway point for the SDGs, which were launched in 2015 to enlist businesses, NGOs and governments to end poverty, protect the planet, and ensure that by 2030 all people enjoy peace and prosperity," said Armon. "We're seeing more communication about the SDGs ahead of that."

The slight plateau in messaging concerning diversity, equity and inclusion followed several years of steady growth. The murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police in May 2020 prompted dozens of corporate statements condemning police brutality and racism, and marked the first support of Black Lives Matter by the business community.

View additional multimedia and more ESG storytelling from 3BL Media on 3blmedia.com.

Contact Info:

Spokesperson: 3BL Media

Website: https://www.3blmedia.com/profiles/3bl-media

Email: info@3blmedia.com

SOURCE: 3BL Media

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/755543/Companies-Talking-More-About-Sustainable-Development-Employees-and-Causes-Less-About-Diversity-According-to-3BL-Content-Analysis
NORTHAMPTON, MA / ACCESSWIRE / May 17, 2023 / Franklin Templeton

Franklin Templeton's Office of Diversity and Inclusion (D&I) nominated Laura Fergerson, President, Franklin Templeton Services; Alejandro Nunez, Internal Advisor Consultant; and Tiffany Hong, Chief Administrative Officer, for awards recognizing their steadfast commitment to work in the diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) space. Each was selected from a large pool of candidates to win an award. Read on to learn more.

"These DEI leaders have helped ignite where we are today in so many ways. They have made, and continue to make, a real difference for our employees."

- Regina Curry, Chief Diversity Officer

Laura Fergerson and Alejandro Nunez Receive DCIIA DEI Awards

Fergerson and Nunez were honored by the Defined Contribution Institutional Investment Association (DCIIA) at its DEI Awards, held March 7 at Bank of America's headquarters in Charlotte, North Carolina. The awards recognize individuals who advocate for member organizations' diversity, equity and inclusiveness in two categories: Rising Stars and Leaders.

Fergerson was nominated for her leadership in DEI over the years, including founding Franklin Templeton's first D&I Executive Council and the Women at FT business resource group (BRG). She serves as an executive sponsor of Women at FT and is co-chair of the firm's Americas D&I Executive Council.

"Laura is an inspirational leader who advocates for DEI and drives the DEI conversation forward within the firm and the broader industry," said Regina Curry, Chief Diversity Officer. "We appreciate her using her voice to promote the firm's DEI initiatives, programs and BRG-led events and for positively impacting our colleagues and culture at Franklin Templeton."

Fergerson was honored alongside 24 other senior industry leaders with the DEI Leader Award.

"I appreciate being nominated by my colleagues at Franklin Templeton and being recognized alongside other impressive leaders in our industry," Fergerson said. "I'm so happy to see the progress we've made as a firm, and it was great to be recognized for my leadership."

Nunez was nominated for his continuous DEI leadership at Franklin Templeton, including founding the HOLA BRG, which advocates for Hispanic and Latino employees and their allies. He serves as co-lead of HOLA.

"Alejandro is a great contributor to the firm's D&I strategy," Curry said. "We appreciate his passion for engaging with colleagues, peers and clients across the financial services industry and supporting the Latino and Hispanic community."

Nunez was recognized with the DEI Rising Star Award alongside an impressive group of 37 other industry DEI contributors.

"I am proud to be the recipient of the DEI Rising Star Award, representing not only Franklin Templeton, but all the dedicated BRG members who work tirelessly to create a more diverse and inclusive culture in the financial services industry," Nunez said. "Hearing the stories from other recipients at the ceremony demonstrated to me how significant of an impact we are making in this uphill battle. All the additional hours put into this passion project were worth it, and this award recognized those efforts."

The DEI Awards dinner was also attended by Drew Carrington, Institutional DC Market Segment Leader; Tripp Braillard, Head of DC Distribution, Clarion Partners; and Lavina Mehta, VP, Retirement Investment Solutions.

Mary Beth Glotzbach, Senior Institutional DC Strategist, was recognized at the event for her contributions to DCIIA. She led DCIIA's executive committee for the last three years, first as chair from 2020 to 2021 and then as co-chair for 2022.

Tiffany Hong Honored with Ascend A-List Award

Hong won an Ascend A-List Award, which celebrates Pan-Asian role models for their exceptional contributions and achievements.

She was recognized for her ongoing DEI work, including founding the first D&I Executive Council and the Asian Pacific Islander (API) BRG at Franklin Templeton.

"Tiffany has rallied support from leaders across the globe to raise attention to the harmful effects of anti-Asian racism that occurred during the height of the pandemic. With her driving effort, Franklin Templeton hosted our first of many Courageous Conversations to address the most pressing DEI topics," Curry said.

Hong attended the Ascend A-List Awards Gala on April 3 at the Plaza Hotel in New York City, joined by Annette Babich, Business Enablement Manager and API BRG Steering Committee Member; Thanh Bui, Managing Director, Clarion Partners and API BRG Co-Chair; and Martin Ji, Director, Senior Portfolio Analyst, ClearBridge Investments and API BRG Steering Committee Member. The A-List Awards highlight the power of resilient, impactful and courageous leadership. The honorees, who represent a cross section of Asian ethnicities, were selected for their professional accomplishments and advancement of others in their industries or communities.

"I am honored to receive the award, but the recognition should be to the API BRG leadership team," Hong said. "I am lucky to be part of this amazing community, and I am committing to pay it forward."

About DCIAA

DCIIA is a nonprofit association dedicated to enhancing retirement security. It fosters dialogue among the leaders of the DC community who are passionate about improving DC outcomes.

About Ascend Foundation

The work of the Ascend Foundation includes research and thought leadership reports that surface the lack of Asian advancement in the workplace and corporate boards. The organization's mission is to educate, advocate and enable Pan-Asian business leaders to reach their full potential and make greater positive societal impacts.

About Franklin Templeton

Franklin Resources, Inc. [NYSE:BEN] is a global investment management organization with subsidiaries operating as Franklin Templeton and serving clients in over 155 countries. Franklin Templeton's mission is to help clients achieve better outcomes through investment management expertise, wealth management and technology solutions. Through its specialist investment managers, the company offers boutique specialization on a global scale, bringing extensive capabilities in equity, fixed income, multi-asset solutions and alternatives. With offices in more than 30 countries and approximately 1,300 investment professionals, the California-based company has 75 years of investment experience and approximately $1.4 trillion in assets under management as of April 30, 2023. For more information, please visit franklintempleton.com and follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook.

Alejandro Nunez and Laura Fergerson

View additional multimedia and more ESG storytelling from Franklin Templeton on 3blmedia.com.

Contact Info:

Spokesperson: Franklin Templeton

Website: https://www.3blmedia.com/profiles/franklin-templeton

Email: info@3blmedia.com

SOURCE: Franklin Templeton

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/755554/Franklin-Templeton-Employees-Receive-Accolades-for-Their-DEI-Work
VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / May 17, 2023 / Gemina Laboratories Ltd. (CSE:GLAB)(FRA:8I7) (the "Company" or "Gemina") is delighted to announce that its patented chemistry for Antibody Immobilization allows for a massive reduction in antibody usage when used in lateral flow assay ("LFA") diagnostic tests.

This represents the confirmation of a major technical milestone on the LFA format for Gemina. The Antibody Immobilization Platform allows for the reduction of test line antibody requirements by 75% vs. standard physisorption, without impacting limit-of-detection.

Gemina's Antibody Immobilization Platform creates a bridge (the "Gemina Bridge") between a sensor surface and the antibodies stuck on that surface for target capture. Use of the Gemina Bridge results in optimized antibody usage and increased target capture activity per unit area of sensor surface. Therefore, use of the Gemina Bridge imparts both significant performance advantages and significant manufacturing advantages with LFA tests.

The industry standard antibody immobilization technique on nitrocellulose used in LFAs - non-specific physisorption, results in only 5-20% of the antibodies deposited on a sensor being "active" or capable of target capture. The Gemina Bridge rescues this lost antibody activity, meaning much less antibody is required to deliver the same test performance. To view a video demonstration, please click here.

Laboratory Study

This massive reduction in antibody requirements was thoroughly demonstrated on the lateral flow assay test line with a COVID-19 rapid antigen test developed by Gemina Labs at the RAPIvD laboratories in Sharnbrook, UK. Instead of striping the antibodies directly onto the nitrocellulose (NC) strip, the Gemina Bridge is first stripped down to form a closely-packed monolayer, onto which the antibodies form a dense secondary layer with four times higher target capture activity than standard antibody-only test lines.

A White Paper highlighting the findings can be accessed here.

Modeling Study

Dr. Robert Davies, an independent surface chemist expert, specializing in lateral flow assay development, was engaged by Gemina Laboratories to model the adsorption of the Gemina Antibody Immobilization Bridge to nitrocellulose, in comparison to optimal close packing of non-specifically adsorbed IgG antibodies. Calculations support the creation of four times more antibody immobilization sites per unit of surface area with the Gemina Bridge, as highlighted in the above-linked white paper.

Summary

In summary, the Gemina Antibody Immobilization Platform acts as a bridge between a sensor surface, in this instance the nitrocellulose test strip in a lateral flow assay, and the antibody used for target capture. Modeling data and internal experimental results indicate that use of the Gemina Bridge increases the density of active antibodies on the test strip by four times versus standard immobilization methods, meaning 75% less antibody is needed with the Gemina Bridge to achieve the same performance as a standard test. This represents a massive savings in antibody consumption during test fabrication.

Robert Greene, Gemina's CTO stated, "In light of the performance we've seen with the Gemina immobilization chemistry, the industry standard for optimal antibody usage on lateral flow assays stands to be significantly revised. We've shown that more can be done with much less, which is a critical step in the creation of affordable, high-quality diagnostics."

"I've been developing lateral flow assays for 35 years, and the Gemina Bridge is the first chemistry that I've worked with that allows for such a marked reduction in antibody requirements while still delivering the quality I demand of the tests we develop at RAPIvD," stated Robert Porter, Gemina's President & CEO of RAPIvD. "This breakthrough is truly a game changer for LFA's and diagnostics."

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

Email: investor@geminalabs.com

SOURCE: Gemina Laboratories Ltd.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/755550/Gemina-Labs-Antibody-Immobilization-Chemistry-Platform-Demonstrates-Major-Lateral-Flow-Assay-Performance-Improvement
Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - May 17, 2023) - Satellos Bioscience Inc. (TSXV: MSCL) ("Satellos" or the "Company"), a regenerative medicine company aimed at developing therapeutics that change the way degenerative muscle diseases are treated, today announced that it has closed an equity offering, issuing a total of 110 million equity securities for gross proceeds of $55 million (the "Offering"). The Offering included participation from funds managed by Avidity Partners, Qiming Venture Partners USA, Perceptive Advisors, Soleus Capital, FMB Research, Allostery Investments and other leading healthcare specialized institutional investors.

"This financing culminates a transformational set of results for Satellos, showing the potential for our lead drug candidate for Duchenne muscular dystrophy to address the underlying disease and with the potential to significantly change the prospects for improved quality of life for patients," said Frank Gleeson, Co-Founder and CEO of Satellos. "We are pleased to have the support and confidence of this high-quality group of healthcare-focused investors. This funding will enable us to advance the clinical development of our lead program as expeditiously as possible. We look forward to providing regular updates on this promising program."

Details of the Offering

Bloom Burton Securities Inc. acted as exclusive agent and book running manager for the Offering (the "Agent"). Under the Offering, subscribers either purchased common shares at $0.50 per common share (the "Common Shares") or pre-funded common share purchase warrants for $0.49999 per pre-funded common share purchase warrant ("Pre-Funded Warrants" and, together with the Common Shares, the "Securities"). Investors purchased a total of 110,000,000 Securities (consisting of 70,297,220 Common Shares and 39,702,780 Pre-Funded Warrants) for gross proceeds of $55M.

In Canada, the Securities purchased pursuant to the Offering were qualified for sale by way of a final short form prospectus dated May 9, 2023, which was filed in British Columbia, Alberta and Ontario. The Securities were purchased by way of private placement in the United States, pursuant to exemptions from the registration requirements under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933 (the "U.S. Securities Act", and pursuant to all applicable U.S. state securities laws. In addition, the Securities were also sold by way of private placement in certain other jurisdictions outside of Canada and the United States pursuant to and in compliance with applicable securities laws.

Use of Proceeds

The net proceeds of the Offering will be used to fund research and development activities, including, but not limited to, advancing its lead program for a small molecule drug for the treatment of Duchenne muscular dystrophy through pre-clinical work, IND submission and subsequent Phase I studies. The Company will also invest in its platform and pipeline, along with using the net proceeds of the Offering for general and administrative expenses, working capital needs and other general corporate purposes.

Insider Participation

Insiders of the Company, including Management, members of the Board of Directors and an Affiliate of the Agent (collectively, the "Insiders"), purchased an aggregate of 3,323,070 Common Shares under the Offering or 3.0% of the Securities issued under the Offering. Subscriptions for Common Shares by such Insiders are related party transactions within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws.

The subscriptions by the Insiders are exempt from the formal valuation and minority approval requirements applicable to related party transactions on the basis that the value of the transactions insofar as they involve related parties is less than 25% of the Company's market capitalization. The Board of Directors of the Company has approved the Offering and the Directors who subscribed for Common Shares or were otherwise conflicted declared their interest and abstained from voting thereon. A material change report in respect of the related party transactions could not be filed earlier than 21 days prior to the closing of the Offering due to the limited time between the commitment by the Insiders to purchase the subject Common Shares and the closing of the Offering.

Agent Commissions

The Agent (or its sub-agents) were paid a cash fee equal to 7.0% of the gross proceeds raised under the Offering (less gross proceeds of $1,285,000 raised from president's list purchasers that carried no fees and less gross proceeds of $3,404,500 raised from certain U.S. individuals that carried fees of 5.0%). The Agent (or its sub-agents) were also granted compensation options (the "Compensation Options") equal to 7.0% of the aggregate number of Securities issued under the Offering (less 2,570,000 Securities issued to president's list purchasers (exempt from any fees) and less 6,809,000 Securities issued to certain U.S. individuals in respect of which Compensation Options equal to 5.0% thereof were granted). Each Compensation Option entitles the Agent (or its sub-agents) to buy one Common Share at a price of $0.50 until expiry on May 17, 2025.

U.S. Securities Statement

The securities described herein have not been, and will not be, registered under the U.S. Securities Act, or any state securities laws, and accordingly, may not be offered or sold to, or for the account or benefit of, persons in the United States or to U.S. Persons (as such term is defined in Regulation S under the U.S. Securities Act), except in compliance with the registration requirements of the U.S. Securities Act and applicable state securities requirements or pursuant to exemptions therefrom. This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any of the Company's securities.

About Muscle Stem Cells and Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy

Satellos scientific founder, Dr. Michael Rudnicki, discovered and has demonstrated how muscle stem cells employ a biological process known as "stem cell polarity" to regulate muscle repair and regeneration throughout life. Dr. Rudnicki has also shown how regulatory defects in stem cell polarity lead to a failure of muscle repair and regeneration in Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), representing a previously unrecognized root cause of DMD. As a result of this ongoing inability to produce sufficient numbers of new muscle cells, people with DMD are unable to repair the continuous and accumulating muscle tissue damage. Based on this research, Satellos is advancing a novel small molecule therapeutic designed to rescue the defect in stem cell polarity and provide a disease-modifying treatment for DMD and other muscular dystrophies.

About Satellos Bioscience Inc.

Satellos is a publicly traded biotechnology company dedicated to developing life-improving medicines to treat degenerative muscle diseases. Satellos has incorporated breakthrough research in muscle stem cell polarity into a proprietary discovery platform, called MyoReGenXTM, to identify degenerative muscle diseases where deficits in this process affect muscle regeneration and are amenable to therapeutic intervention. With this platform, Satellos is building a pipeline of novel therapeutics to correct muscle stem cell polarity and promote the body's innate muscle repair and regeneration process. The Company's lead program is an oral, small molecule drug candidate in development as a disease-modifying treatment for Duchenne muscular dystrophy. Satellos is headquartered in Toronto, Ontario. For more information, visit Satellos.com.

CONTACT:

Business Development

Ryan Mitchell, Ph.D.

rmitchell@satellos.com

Communications at Satellos Bioscience Inc.

Christina Cameron

ccameron@satellos.com

+1.647.660.1780

For Media

Jessica Yingling, Ph.D.

jessica@litldog.com

+1.858.344.8091

Notice on forward-looking statements:

This press release includes forward-looking information or forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable securities laws regarding Satellos and its business, which may include, but are not limited to, use of proceeds from the Offering; general benefits of modulating stem cell polarity; its prospective impact on Duchenne patients and muscle regeneration generally; and Satellos' technologies and drug development plans. All statements that are, or information which is, not historical facts, including without limitation, statements regarding future estimates, plans, programs, forecasts, projections, objectives, assumptions, expectations or beliefs of future performance, are "forward-looking information or statements." Often but not always, forward-looking information or statements can be identified by the use of words such as "shall", "intends", "anticipate", "believe", "plan", "expect", "intend", "estimate" "anticipate" or any variations (including negative variations) of such words and phrases, or state that certain actions, events or results "may", "might", "can", "could", "would" or "will" be taken, occur, lead to, result in, or, be achieved. Such statements are based on the current expectations and views of future events of the management of the Company. They are based on assumptions and subject to risks and uncertainties. Although management believes that the assumptions underlying these statements are reasonable, they may prove to be incorrect. The forward-looking events and circumstances discussed in this release, may not occur and could differ materially as a result of known and unknown risk factors and uncertainties affecting the Company, including, without limitation, those listed in the "Risk Factors" section of the Prospectus dated May 9, 2023 and the Annual Information Form dated April 27, 2023 (both of which are on the Company's profile at www.sedar.com). Although Satellos 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. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements or information. No forward-looking statement can be guaranteed. Except as required by applicable securities laws, forward-looking statements speak only as of the date on which they are made and Satellos does not undertake any obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.

No regulatory authority has approved or disapproved the content of this press release. Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulatory Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this press release.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/166418


WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - President Joe Biden will cut short his Asia-Pacific trip and fly home by the weeeknd to focus on talks with Congressional leaders to avert a US default over the debt ceiling crisis.



'President Biden will return to the United States on Sunday, following the completion of the G7 summit, in order to be back for meetings with Congressional leaders to ensure that Congress takes action by the deadline to avert default,' the White House said Tuesday.



After attending Group of Seven (G7) leaders' summit in Hiroshima, Japan, Biden was scheduled to travel to Sydney to join leaders from India, Australia, and Japan for the Quad summit on May 24.



Biden was also planning to visit Papua New Guinea.



White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said the President has cancelled both the trips due to the ongoing debt ceiling negotiations in Washington.



'The President spoke to Prime Minister Albanese earlier today to inform him that he will be postponing his trip to Australia. He also invited the Prime Minister for an official state visit at a time to be agreed by the teams. The President's team engaged with the Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea's team to inform them as well,' Jean-Pierre said in a statement.



'The President has made clear that members of Congress from both parties and chambers must come together to prevent default, as they have 78 times before. The President and his team will continue to work with Congressional leadership to deliver a budget agreement that can reach the President's desk,' she added.



Meanwhile, President Joe Biden held emergency discusisons with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Senate Leader Chuck Schumer and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell at the White House.



Biden said the talks were 'good, productive', whle Republican leaders expressed cautious optimism that an agreement to raise the U.S. debt ceiling is within sight.



If the debt ceiling is not raised, U.S. could enter a default on its $31.4 trillion debt by June 1, which could lead to global financial crisis.



Biden is set to depart Anchorage, Alaska, en route to Hiroshima, Japan, at 7:55 PM ET Wednesday.



Copyright(c) 2023 RTTNews.com. All Rights Reserved



Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

Kostenloser Report: +40% Gewinn nur mit Aktien! +39,93% Rendite seit Januar  so lautet die Erfolgsbilanz der Aktie der Woche. Damit wurden sowohl der DAX als auch der S&P 500 deutlich outperformt. Wie das genau funktioniert, erklart Chefradakteur Lars Wiler in seiner Zwischenbilanz. Hier klicken
According to Rajesh Rajaram, CEO of Auction.io, "We are thrilled to welcome Doorsey to our business. Doorsey has developed a groundbreaking platform that has revolutionized the home buying process by providing buyers with a transparent, efficient and secure way to purchase properties and sellers with tools to maximize value and speed of the sale transactions. While Auction.io is strong in the automotive, collectibles, liquidation, live animals, electronics and other areas, the acquisition of Doorsey is a strategic move".

DALLAS, TX / ACCESSWIRE / May 17, 2023 / Auction.io, a leading B2B SaaS provider of auction and e-commerce solutions that has processed more than 1 billion auction transactions for Fortune 500 and middle-market companies, announced today that it has acquired Doorsey, a modern high-tech online platform designed to facilitate and improve real estate transactions for buyers, sellers and their agents.

Auction.io

Auction.io

The acquisition of Doorsey by Auction.io marks a significant milestone for both companies. By adding Doorsey's innovative technologies and expertise, Auction.io is significantly expanding its presence in the residential and commercial real estate market. The Doorsey platform has consistently outperformed the traditional method of selling properties, and with additional resources from Auction.io, it is well positioned to accelerate its growth trajectory in the foreseeable future.

Doorsey's mission is advancing the new tech-enabled era for residential real estate with one of the most comprehensive for-sale listing platforms available on the market today featuring an open auction process for selling properties. Buyers have access to a third-party inspection report, seller disclosures, a 3D virtual tour, and a community forum for interacting with sellers and neighbors - everything that a buyer needs to bid with confidence, even sight unseen, and sellers have a transparent and robust digital tool to maximize their selling price and closure rate. The platform differentiates itself by providing buyers and real estate agents with full visibility into competing offers in real-time. The real estate agents favor the Doorsey platform because of the intuitiveness of its interface and ease of use, as well as the robust functionality of the software solution and additional control over the selling process that it provides. Doorsey's listings are posted on the local MLS (Multiple Listing Services) and distributed through national real estate websites, including Zillow, Trulia, Redfin, and Realtor.com.

According to Rajesh Rajaram, CEO of Auction.io, "We are thrilled to welcome Doorsey to our business. Doorsey has developed a groundbreaking platform that has revolutionized the home buying process by providing buyers with a transparent, efficient and secure way to purchase properties and sellers with tools to maximize value and speed of the sale transactions. While Auction.io is strong in the automotive, collectibles, liquidation, live animals, electronics and other areas, the acquisition of Doorsey is a strategic move that enables us to further expand our reach in the real estate market and provide a best-in-class online auction marketplace solution for buyers and sellers in that space too."

Doorsey's Founder and CEO, Jordan Allen, added, "We are excited that Doorsey will join forces with Auction.io and believe that this partnership will enable the business to continue to shake up the real estate industry. Our mission has always been to make the residential and commercial real estate buying process as seamless and transparent as possible, and we are confident that by joining forces with Auction.io, we will be able to achieve this goal."

Doorsey's operations will be integrated with Auction.io offerings shortly after this transaction. The terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.

About Auction.io

Founded in Oct 2021, Auction.io is a Dallas, TX based B2B SaaS solution company that provides customizable single and multiple vendor e-commerce auction marketplaces in the US and globally. For more information, visit www.auction.io

About Doorsey

Doorsey is SaaS platform designed to improve the home buying and selling offer process. Doorsey's mission is to advance the new tech-enabled era for residential real estate, providing buyers, sellers, and their agents full transparency throughout the offer process. To learn more, visit www.doorsey.com

Contact Information

Rajesh Rajaram

CEO

rajesh@auctionsoftware.com

2143997046

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Auction.io Doorsey

Doorsey

SOURCE: Auction.io

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VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / May 17, 2023 / Gander Gold Corp. ("Gander" or the "Company") (CSE:GAND)(OTCQB:GANDF) is pleased to announce the start of first-ever drilling in Newfoundland. For the past two years the Company has systematically and methodically advanced an attractive pipeline of grassroots gold properties across a dominant land position of 2,259 sq. km, offering compelling high-grade discovery potential.

Highlights:

Gander has commenced a planned 70-hole rotary air blast (RAB) drill program across four major projects beginning with the 485 sq. km Gander North Project, 15 km east of New Found Gold's Keats' Zone discovery;

Gander North and Mt. Peyton are fully permitted for both preliminary air blast (RAB) drilling and follow-up diamond drilling. BLT and Cape Ray II drill permits are pending;

In total across its eight Central Newfoundland Gold Belt projects, Gander Gold has outlined more than 100 linear km of potential strike along which gold-in-soil geochemistry anomalies are overlain on top of identified geophysical anomalies.

Mr. Mark Scott, Gander Gold CEO, commented: "We are very pleased with the abundance of drill targets which have emerged from our two-year greenfield exploration program that included a Newfoundland-best 40,000 soil samples. 2023 will see first-ever drill testing of many of these targets and will be an exciting time for the Company and its shareholders in the midst of a robust gold market. We look forward to realizing Gander Gold's significant discovery potential in the Central Newfoundland Gold Belt and maximizing value for shareholders."

The RAB drill program over the next few months at Gander North, Mt. Peyton, Thwart Island and Cape Ray II will provide first-ever testing of the bedrock and structural environments overlain by significant soil geochemistry anomalies. Data gathered from daily XRF measurements and in-hole televiewer will help guide the program and prioritize targets for follow-up diamond drilling. Geological mapping, prospecting, ground VLF-Mag geophysical surveys, and ground penetrating radar (GPR) surveys are being employed ahead of drilling, as required, to optimize target definition.

Drilling has started in the "Viking" area of Gander North where VLF surveys have outlined conductive structures underneath extensive soil anomalies.

Marketing Agreement Signed

The Company has entered into an arm's length marketing agreement effective May 15, 2023, with 11636952 Canada Inc. (O/A Business Financial Network, Roger Choudhury) (the "Consultant") of North York, Ontario, Canada, to provide digital consulting and marketing services for a period of three months. The Company has paid the Consultant a lump sum of CAD $300,000 (+GST) for the procurement of digital marketing materials, advertising and services, and will pay the Consultant a monthly sum of $5,000 (+GST) for its direct provision of services. Consideration offered to the Consultant does not include any securities of the Company. Aside from this engagement, the Company does not have any relationship with the Consultant. Business Financial Network can be contacted by email at BusinessFinancialNetwork@gmail.com. For further information, please visit their website at https://bfn-news.com.

Gander Gold Corporate Video

To view the latest Gander Gold corporate video, click on the link below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=op06adMXkHs

Gander Gold Newfoundland Projects Map

Qualified Person

The technical information in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Ian Fraser, P.Geo., Vice- President of Exploration for Gander Gold. Mr. Fraser is the Qualified Person responsible for the scientific and technical information contained herein under National Instrument 43-101 standards.

Acknowledgment

Gander Gold acknowledges the financial support of the Junior Exploration Assistance Program, Department of Natural Resources, Government of Newfoundland and Labrador.

About Gander Gold Corporation

Gander Gold is "All Newfoundland, All the Time". The Company is one of the island's largest claimholders targeting new high-grade gold discoveries with a current focus on the large Gander North, Mount Peyton, BLT (Botwood-Laurenceton-Thwart Island) and Cape Ray II projects where there has been very promising early exploration success. Other opportunities advancing through the pipeline are Carmanville, Gander South, Little River and Hermitage.

Contact Info:

Mark Scott

Chief Executive Officer & Director

info@gandergold.com

Terry Bramhall

Gander Gold - Corporate Communications

1.604.833.6999 (mobile)

1.604.675.9985 (office)

terry.bramhall@gandergold.com

Caution Regarding Forward Looking Statements

Investors are cautioned that, except for statements of historical fact, certain information contained in this document includes "forward looking information", with respect to a performance expectation for Gander Gold Corp. Such forward looking statements are based on current expectations, estimates and projections formulated using assumptions believed to be reasonable and involving a number of risks and uncertainties which could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated. Such factors include, without limitation, fluctuations in foreign exchange markets, the price of commodities in both the cash market and futures market, changes in legislation, taxation, controls and regulation of national and local governments and political and economic developments in Canada and other countries where Gander carries out or may carry out business in the future, the availability of future business opportunities and the ability to successfully integrate acquisitions or operational difficulties related to technical activities of mining and reclamation, the speculative nature of exploration and development of mineral deposits, including risks obtaining necessary licenses and permits, reducing the quantity or grade of reserves, adverse changes in credit ratings, and the challenge of title. The Company does not undertake an obligation to update publicly or revise forward looking statements or information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, unless so required by applicable securities laws. Some of the results reported are historical and may not have been verified by the Company.

The CSE has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this news 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 news release.

SOURCE: Gander Gold Corporation

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/755557/Gander-Gold-Commences-Drilling-in-Newfoundland
SALT LAKE CITY, May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Biomerics ("Biomerics" or the "Company"), the leading vertically integrated contract manufacturer for the interventional medical device market, announced today that it has entered into definitive agreements to merge with Precision Concepts' medical business ("Precision Concepts Medical"). The transaction includes the acquisition of the medical business of Precision Concepts International ("PCI") as well as Precision Concepts Group ("PCG"), headquartered in Winston-Salem, NC. Both Precision Concepts Medical businesses are headquartered in the United States with operations in Harrisonburg, VA; Mebane, NC; Winston-Salem, NC; Haina, Dominican Republic; and Alajuela, Costa Rica.





"Precision Concepts Medical is a recognized leader that offers unique capabilities in micro-metals machining and stamping, injection micro-molding, and micro-assembly processes," stated Travis Sessions, CEO of Biomerics. "The addition of these capabilities and manufacturing footprint extends Biomerics' offerings as a leading supplier to the world's largest medical device OEMs. We are excited to partner with the talented team at Precision Concepts Medical to deliver our shared vision."

The combined company will have over 1.2 million square feet of manufacturing space across 13 locations, making Biomerics one of the Top 10 Interventional CDMOs globally. Biomerics also offers one of the largest new product development teams in the industry with approximately 250 dedicated engineers. Biomerics supplies 20 of the top 35 medical device OEMs in the most attractive markets including structural heart, electrophysiology, robotic surgery, cardiovascular disease, and endoscopy.

"We are excited for the value this partnership brings to our existing customer base in Costa Rica and interventional OEM partners around the globe," stated Ray Grupinski, CEO of Precision Concepts. "The thriving medical device ecosystem in Costa Rica and the Dominican Republic aligns well with Biomerics' culture and innovative core." Grupinski will become an active member of the Board of Directors of Biomerics and will continue to help advance the strategy and vision of the Company.

The transaction makes Biomerics the largest contract manufacturer in the important Costa Rica market with approximately 290,000 sq. ft. of manufacturing capacity and approximately 100 engineers on site. Additionally, the transaction provides Biomerics with another competitive international manufacturing location, their first in the Dominican Republic.

"For more than 45 years, Precision Concepts Group has been achieving our customers' exacting standards for components that require the micro-integration of metals and plastics," stated Vince Marino, Founder and President of PCG.

"We found a shared culture and value of customers in Biomerics and look forward to partnering with Biomerics to extend this legacy," stated Vincent Christopher, Co-Founder and Vice President of Operations of PCG.

The Precision Concepts Medical locations will continue to be led by their existing leadership teams. The transaction is expected to close in June 2023, subject to the receipt of required regulatory clearances and other customary closing conditions. Until the transaction closes, each company will continue to operate independently. The Precision Concepts consumer packaging business will continue to be led by Ray Grupinski, CEO, and the existing leadership team.

Biomerics will have strong financial backing to continue executing its growth strategy and vision, with both Wasatch Equity Partners and ONCAP partnering to make significant equity investments into the Company.

About Biomerics:

Founded in 1994, Biomerics is a leading medical device contract manufacturer serving the interventional device market. Trusted as a vertically integrated partner, Biomerics provides design and development services, technology transfer manufacturing services and contract manufacturing services for medical device components, subassemblies and finished medical devices. Biomerics operates eight locations in the United States, Ireland and Costa Rica. Biomerics is an industry leader in materials, interventional medical plastics, complex extrusion, micromachining of metals and polymers, laser processing, balloons and balloon catheters, advanced catheters and steerables, image guided intervention and finished device assembly. In addition to operating under a certified ISO 13485:2016 quality system, Biomerics is FDA registered and compliant with FDA 21 CFR Part 820.

About Precision Concepts International:

Based in Mooresville, North Carolina, Precision Concepts is a diversified manufacturer of finished medical devices and specialty rigid packaging solutions (sticks, jars, vials, closures, spouts, bottles, tubes) serving the medical, pharmaceutical, personal care, food and beverage and nutraceutical industries. The company has ~1,700 employees with twelve manufacturing facilities located in Canada, the United States, Costa Rica, and the Dominican Republic.

About Precision Concepts Group:

Precision Concepts Group (PCG), headquartered in Winston-Salem, NC, was founded in 1976 as the vision of its President, Vince Marino. Precision Concepts Group provides precision micro-stamping, micro-molding, liquid silicon rubber (LSR) molding, injection molding, cleanroom assembly, and various secondary processes for the medical market. PCG operates four ISO certified and FDA registered facilities in the Winston-Salem area.

Contacts:

Pete Kavelish, VP of Sales and Marketing

Biomerics

Phone: +1 888-874-7787

Email: marketing@biomerics.com

Daniel Craven, Director of Marketing & Communications

Biomerics

Phone: +1 888-874-7787

Email: marketing@biomerics.com

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View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/biomerics-announces-merger-with-precision-concepts-medical-301826949.html
NORTHAMPTON, MA / ACCESSWIRE / May 17, 2023 / The PNC Financial Services Group



PNC | Insights

Research has shown that investing in high-quality early childhood education can generate as much as a 13% return on investment, delivering benefits that help businesses, communities and the people who live in them. 1

Those dollars can also have a domino effect, ultimately improving property values, providing cost savings for school systems as well as reducing crime rates and reliance on government assistance.

These are some of the reasons why PNC Grow Up Great, the company's signature philanthropic initiative, helps to instill a lifelong love of learning in our youngest children since 2004.

A Community Investment with Great Returns

A $500 million, multiyear, bilingual early childhood education initiative, PNC Grow Up Great has helped prepare children from birth through age 5 for success in school and life. More than 8 million children have been supported, particularly in underserved communities, since the initiative began 19 years ago.

As part of this initiative, bilingual lesson plans have been created in collaboration with renowned arts and science organizations. They are free to educators, parents and caregivers and can be found in the PNC Grow Up Great Lesson Center.

"Because we're bankers, not educators, from the start of PNC Grow Up Great we've worked with education experts at the local and national level, to develop resources and programs to support pre-K children, their families and their teachers," said Jeanine Fahnestock," senior vice president of PNC Bank and deputy executive director for PNC Grow Up Great. "This latest alliance with PBS KIDS is another great example of leveraging the expertise of the best of the best."

Support for Today's Teachers

The PNC Grow Up Great Lesson Center provides field-tested lesson plans that educators can immediately integrate into their schedules. In addition to enriching classroom activities, the plans facilitate two-way communication within the home so parents can enhance their children's education and children can share the compelling topics they're learning about with their parents, particularly those around arts and science.

Now those plans are getting even better.

Starting in 2021 and continuing through 2024, PNC has committed $750,000 in grants, teaming up with PBS KIDS to elevate selected lesson plans on PBS LearningMedia within its PNC Grow Up Great Lesson Center. More than 60 early childhood educators are actively involved in the continual development of 81 original lessons across seven PBS member stations. By Fall 2024, 118 lesson plans will be available from PBS KIDS on PBS LearningMedia.

Based on teacher feedback, selected lessons are broken into "bite-sized chunks." All include brief videos of PBS KIDS characters such as Elinor from Elinor Wonders Why, Daniel Tiger from Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood and Buddy from Dinosaur Train, exploring content related to the learning themes. For example, the original Fall Lesson Collection in the PNC Grow Up Great Lesson Center comprised 10 lessons. The Fall Changing Seasons [2]collection on PBS LearningMedia includes 19 lesson plans. 2

These lesson plans focus on early science, math and art activities appropriate for each topic. They incorporate PBS KIDS video clips, games, extension activities, articles and crafts for classroom use along with resources to share with families.

What Teachers Have to Say

After her initial experience with the new plans, St. Louis, Missouri educator Molly Seiler (local PBS station Nine PBS, St. Louis, MO), reflected on the level of student engagement they encouraged. "Before participating in a lesson titled 'Changing Seasons, Rooting for Plants,' I was unsure what STEM integration in pre-K should look like," she said. "Now that I have this experience, I want to try more lessons for this coming school year. These lessons were exciting not only for my students, but for me as well. We had fun investigating and learning together. There was lots of laughter and excitement, which is what lessons should have."

Chau Tran (local PBS station WUCF, Orlando, FL) remarked, "I think this a great resource for those families and teachers that might not necessarily have the means they need to support children in their care. The program offers a plethora of accessible and free resources that more teachers need to know about."

Supporting Kids Who Can Change the World

Tawnya Heinsohn (local PBS station TPT, Elk River, MN) brings it home, "As my students engaged with some of their favorite PBS KIDS friends, they were able to channel their curiosity, formulate and test hypotheses, and think of creative solutions about the world around them. Our learners may be young, but Elinor, Curious George and Sid the Science Kid encourage them to be world changers."

View additional multimedia and more ESG storytelling from The PNC Financial Services Group on 3blmedia.com.

Contact Info:

Spokesperson: The PNC Financial Services Group

Website: https://www.3blmedia.com/profiles/pnc-financial-services-group

Email: info@3blmedia.com

SOURCE: The PNC Financial Services Group

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/755571/PNC-and-PBS-KIDS-Team-Up-To-Elevate-Pre-K-Lesson-Plans
Amid strengthening trade and security relationships between the United States and the Philippines, leading American-owned BPO firms are expanding their operations in the Philippines.

ST. PETERSBURG, FL / ACCESSWIRE / May 17, 2023 / The United States and the Philippines renewed their longstanding partnership with the signing of the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA), granting the U.S. armed forces access to nine locations in the Philippines for use as bases and storage facilities. A few weeks later, Philippine President Marcos made a historic visit to the U.S. to meet President Biden.

Following these high-level diplomatic engagements, a new chapter in economic cooperation is beginning to unfold. In addition to increased military presence, leading American BPO firms are using this opportunity to expand their operations in the Philippines as well.

One prime example is Clark Staff, an American-owned outsourcing firm with nearly 1000 employees in the Philippines. Clark Staff's President and Co-founder, Russel Meiselman said "The expansions are primarily focused in key Philippine cities, including Bacolod and Clark Freeport Zone." He added, "The expansion involves setting up new contact centers and recruiting local talent, thus contributing to job creation and economic growth in the Philippines."

The move comes as part of the company's strategic goals to tap into the Philippines' well-educated, English-speaking workforce and to take advantage of the favorable business environment fostered by the newly strengthened U.S.-Philippines relations.

With the deepening relationship between Washington DC and Manila, new opportunities for economic cooperation and shared growth are emerging, with the BPO industry playing a significant part in this progressive shift.

Clark Staff is an American-owned and operated, full-service BPO company located in St. Petersburg, Florida with locations in the Philippines, India, and the country of Georgia. Clark Staff offers a wide range of service solutions to companies of any size and industry. For more information, visit https://clarkstaff.com.

Contact Information:

Zack Williamson

CEO, Clark Staff

zack@clarkstaff.com

Kenneth Pangan

Marketing Manager, Clark Staff

kenneth@clarkoutsourcing.com

+63952325817

SOURCE: Clark Staff

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/755228/The-Newly-Signed-US-Philippine-Defense-Agreement-EDCA-Leads-to-Unintended-Economic-Growth
NEW YORK, May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- As per Facts and Factors study, the global cardiovascular devices market size is valued at USD 5.8 billion in 2022 and is expected to reach USD 20.34 billion during the forecast period. The market is expected to grow at a compound annual rate of 13% during 2023-2030.





Report Link with All Related Graphs & Charts: https://www.fnfresearch.com/cardiovascular-devices-market

Cardiovascular Devices Market: Overview

Cardiovascular devices are medical-grade instruments used to diagnose and treat heart disease and other associated problems. These devices include angioplasty balloon catheters, endovascular grafts, coronary stents, and artificial heart valves. These devices are of immense importance because these instruments save millions of lives each year.

However, the manufacturing and designing of cardiovascular devices are complex. It takes more precision, investment, and research studies to successfully produce these medical instruments.

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Key Insights:

As per the analysis shared by our research analyst, the global cardiovascular devices market is estimated to grow annually at a CAGR of around 13% over the forecast period (2023-2030).

In terms of revenue, the global market size was valued at around USD 5.8 billion in 2022 and is projected to reach USD 20.34 billion by 2030.

in 2022 and is projected to reach by 2030. The rising prevalence of cardiovascular disease is likely to boost the gamification market growth.

Based on the device type, the diagnostic & monitoring devices segment is the fastest-growing segment in the global market.

Based on the end users, the hospital segment accounts for the largest share of the global market.

Based on the applications, the heart failure segment is likely to dominate the global market.

Based on region, Asia Pacific is expected to dominate the market during the forecast period.

Facts and Factors published the latest report titled "Cardiovascular Devices Market Size, Share, Growth Analysis Report By Device Type (Therapeutic & Surgical Devices And Diagnostic & Monitoring Devices), By End users (Specialty Clinics And Hospitals), By Applications (Heart Failure, Cardiac Arrhythmia, And Coronary Artery Disease), and By Region - Global and Regional Industry Insights, Overview, Comprehensive Analysis, Trends, Statistical Research, Market Intelligence, Historical Data and Forecast 2023 - 2030" into their research database.

Industry Dynamics:

Global Cardiovascular Devices Market: Growth Drivers

The rising prevalence of cardiovascular diseases is likely to drive the growth of the global market.

The surging occurrences of heart diseases like coronary artery diseases (CAD) and heart failure are one of the major factors boosting the growth of the global cardiovascular devices market. These diseases are boosting the number of surgical operations, and increasing the need for cardiovascular devices.

Also, these heart problems require advanced cardiovascular devices. Some of the most used cardiovascular medical devices include coronary or cardiac stents. For instance, cardiovascular disease is known to be the primary cause of death per year. As per the stats from WHO, each year it is estimated to take around 17.9 million lives.

Another growth factor in the global cardiovascular devices market is the growing geriatric population worldwide. Aging causes malfunctioning in the heart and blood vessels which spike the risk of these cardiovascular diseases.

Global Cardiovascular Devices Market: Restraints

The high cost of cardiovascular procedures and devices is likely to impede the growth of the global market.

The cost of cardiovascular surgical procedures is very high due to the associated surgical complications. Additionally, such complicated surgeries require advanced and precise medical devices, making the process expensive. Therefore, it is not easily accessible to a wide population which is likely to impede the growth of the global cardiovascular devices industry during the forecast period.

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Cardiovascular Devices Market: Opportunities

Growing focus on disease diagnostics is likely to offer new opportunities in the global market.

The demand for early diagnosis is increasing owing to the growing burden of cardiovascular diseases. People are now looking forward to taking advanced measures and precautions to save lives and avoid being at a serious stage. However, such advanced diagnosis requires the development of sophisticated and precise medical devices.

Therefore, the growing requirement for such advanced diagnostic cardiovascular devices is expected to create several new lucrative growth opportunities in the global cardiovascular devices market.

Cardiovascular Devices Market: Challenges

Reduction in hospital visits after covid-19 is likely to be the major challenge in the global market.

The advent of Covid-19 has caused a major change in the healthcare sector. People are not willing to visit hospitals for smaller problems. However, it has reduced the hospital's patient pool, which is expected to be a huge challenge in the global cardiovascular devices industry.

Global Cardiovascular Devices Market: Segmentation

The global cardiovascular devices market can be segmented into categories namely, device type, end users, applications, and region.

By device type, the market can be segmented into therapeutic & surgical devices and diagnostic & monitoring devices. The therapeutic & surgical devices segment can be further bifurcated into heart valves, stents, catheters, cardiac rhythm management devices, and ventricular assist devices. The diagnostic & monitoring devices segment can be further bifurcated into remote cardiac monitoring, electrocardiogram, and others. The diagnostic & monitoring devices segment is the fastest-growing segment in the global market.

By end-users, the market can be segmented into specialty clinics, hospitals, and others. The hospital segment accounts for the largest share of the global cardiovascular devices market.

By applications, the market can be segmented into heart failure, cardiac arrhythmia, and coronary artery disease. The heart failure segment is likely to dominate the global cardiovascular devices market.

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List of Key Players in Cardiovascular Devices Market:

Boston Scientific Corporation

Medical Instruments Spa

LivaNova PLC

Lifetech Scientific

Getinge AB

CardioFocus

Occlutech

Stereotaxis Inc

CardioFocus

AngioDynamics Inc

Japan Lifeline Co. Ltd.

Medtronic

Biosense Webster

MicroPort Scientific Corporation

Abbott Laboratories

Lepu Medical Technology( Beijing )Co Ltd

)Co Ltd Saphena Medical

Terumo Corporation

Biotronik SE & Co KG

Key questions answered in this report:

What are the growth rate forecast and market size for Cardiovascular Devices Market?

What are the key driving factors propelling the Cardiovascular Devices Market forward?

What are the most important companies in the Cardiovascular Devices Market Industry?

What segments does the Cardiovascular Devices Market cover?

How can I receive a free copy of the Cardiovascular Devices Market sample report and company profiles?

Report Scope:

Report Attribute Details Market size value in 2022 USD 5.8 Billion Revenue forecast in 2030 USD 20.34 Billion Growth Rate CAGR of almost 13% 2023-2030 Base Year 2022 Historic Years 2016 - 2021 Forecast Years 2023-2030 Segments Covered By Device Type, End users, Applications, and Region Forecast Units Value (USD Billion), and Volume (Units) Quantitative Units Revenue in USD million/billion and CAGR from 2023 to 2030 Regions Covered North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and Middle East & Africa, and Rest of World Countries Covered U.S., Canada, Mexico, U.K., Germany, France, Italy, Spain, China, India, Japan, South Korea, Brazil, Argentina, GCC Countries, and South Africa, among others Companies Covered Boston Scientific Corporation, Medical Instruments Spa, LivaNova PLC, Lifetech Scientific, Getinge AB, CardioFocus, Occlutech, Stereotaxis Inc, CardioFocus, AngioDynamics Inc, Japan Lifeline Co. Ltd., Medtronic, Biosense Webster, MicroPort Scientific Corporation, Abbott Laboratories, Lepu Medical Technology(Beijing)Co Ltd, Saphena Medical, Terumo Corporation, Biotronik SE & Co KG, and others. Report Coverage Market growth drivers, restraints, opportunities, Porter's five forces analysis, PEST analysis, value chain analysis, regulatory landscape, market attractiveness analysis by segments and region, company market share analysis, and COVID-19 impact analysis. Customization Scope Avail of customized purchase options to meet your exact research needs. https://www.fnfresearch.com/customization/cardiovascular-devices-market

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Regional Dominance:

Asia Pacific to dominate the global market.

Asia Pacific is likely to register the highest growth rate in the global cardiovascular devices market during the forecast period due to the growing number of cardiovascular diseases in the region and the increasing geriatric population. Also, the growing disposable income of the people is another reason for the growth of the regional market. The development in technology and increase in research and development activities is also likely to support the growth of the regional market in the coming years.

However, Europe holds the second position to be the leading region in the global market due to the growing investments in the region. Also, the growing technological advancements in the region are likely to support the growth of the regional market.

Global Cardiovascular Devices Market is segmented as follows:

Cardiovascular Devices Market: By Device Type Outlook (2023-2030)

Therapeutic & Surgical Devices

Diagnostic & Monitoring Devices

Cardiovascular Devices Market: By End users Outlook (2023-2030)

Specialty Clinics

Hospitals

Cardiovascular Devices Market: By Applications Outlook (2023-2030)

Heart Failure

Cardiac Arrhythmia

Coronary Artery Disease

Cardiovascular Devices Market: By Region Outlook (2023-2030)

North America

The U.S.

Canada

Europe

France

The UK

Spain

Germany

Italy

Rest of Europe

Asia Pacific

China

Japan

India

South Korea

Southeast Asia

Rest of Asia Pacific

Latin America

Brazil

Mexico

Rest of Latin America

Middle East & Africa

GCC

South Africa

Rest of Middle East & Africa

Press Release: https://www.fnfresearch.com/news/global-cardiovascular-devices-market

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According to the report published by Facts Factors, the global marine battery market size was worth around in 2022 and is predicted to grow to around by 2030 with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of roughly 18.61% between 2023 and 2030. Cardiac Rhythm Management Devices Market: According to Facts and Factors, the Global Cardiac Rhythm Management Devices Market size was valued at USD 17,274.6 million in 2021 and is predicted to increase at a CAGR of 6.3% to USD 24,071.19 million by 2028.

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EUCLID, OH / ACCESSWIRE / May 17, 2023 / USLG, Inc. (OTC PINK:USLG) ("USLG" or the "Company"), an innovative composite technology manufacturer, today announced its financial results for the first quarter of fiscal 2023, the three months ended March 31, 2023. The Company posted record revenue, beating all of 2022, reflecting the highest-ever shipments of Cortes Campers molded fiberglass RV travel trailers. The Company's performance underscores the fact that USLG has executed its strategic growth plan to rapidly expand operations and retains a positive outlook for 2023, including the introduction of new products into its portfolio.

Recent Highlights

Net sales for the three months ended March 31, 2023 were approximately $1.2 million, more than for fiscal 2022 in total

Gross profit was $0.5 million, representing a gross margin of approximately 42%

The Company posted positive net income for the quarter - the first time since its transformation into a diversified provider of outdoor composite products and solutions

The company launched its Futuro Houses at the Cleveland Home & Remodeling Expo, signed its first Futuro Houses dealers, and sold its first Futuro House UFO home

During the quarter the Company shipped record numbers of its Cortes Campers and remains on track for continued double-digit top line growth in 2023

"I'm very pleased to announce that USLG had an incredible quarter - with strong top line growth, record shipments, and profitable underlying results," said Anthony Corpora, Chief Executive Officer. "Our innovative engineers and savvy marketing staff - combined with a production team focused on operating execution - achieved results that defied even our expectations. We're becoming more efficient and agile at meeting robust demand for our Cortes Campers, while the launch of our Futuro House will accelerate our already-strong growth trajectory.

"The Company remains on track for its best year ever, and we are investing in additional products and concepts while keeping an eye on cost as we work towards positive cash flow and generating higher returns for our shareholders. I'd like to thank our investors, employees, and customers for their passion in our company and its future; the best is yet to come."

First Quarter 2023 Results

Net sales for the three months ended March 31, 2023 were $1.2 million compared with $76,000 in the prior-year period, reflecting increased orders and overall higher demand for the Company's products. Gross profit was $0.5 million, representing a gross margin of approximately 42% of sales. Selling, general, and administrative expenses ("SG&A") were $0.5 million in the first quarter of 2023 versus $0.3 million in 2022 - primarily due to investments in marketing, sales, and staffing - and the Company posted net income of approximately $25,000 during the quarter versus a loss of $0.4 million in the prior-year period.

About USLG

US Lighting Group (OTC:USLG) has three subsidiaries which design and market various products made from the exact same raw materials: Cortes Campers, LLC, for molded fiberglass travel trailers and campers; Fusion X Marine, LLC, for high-performance boats; Futuro Houses, LLC, for fiberglass houses; and one subsidiary, Mig Marine Corp., which manufacturers composite products. The Company and its subsidiaries have manufacturing and R&D facilities in Cleveland, Ohio. For additional information: uslightinggroup.com

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements in this news release, including, but not limited to, reference to distribution, demand, orders, sales goals, design effects, growth of the production and industries, may contain forward-looking information within the meaning of Rule 175 under the Securities Act of 1933 and Rule 3b-6 under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and are subject to the safe harbor created by those rules. Statements included in this press release, other than statements of historical fact, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are typically, but not always, identified by the words: believe, expect, anticipate, intend, estimate, and similar expressions or which by their nature refer to future events. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to have been correct. Actual results may differ materially from those indicated by these statements.

Investor Relations Contact:

Chris Witty

646-438-9385

cwitty@darrowir.com

US LIGHTING GROUP, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES

CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS

(Unaudited) / (Combined)

For the Three Months ended

March 31, 2023 2022 Sales $ 1,205,235 $ 76,000 Cost of goods sold 701,319 68,000 Gross profit 503,916 8,000 Operating expenses: Selling, general and administrative expenses 472,349 266,000 Product development costs - - Total operating expenses 472,349 266,000 Income (loss) from operations 31,567 (258,000 ) Other income (expense): Other income, net - 15,000 Unrealized loss - (157,000 ) Realized gain - 31,000 Interest income 249 2,000 Interest expense (7,046 ) (5,000 ) Interest expense, related party - (4,000 ) Total other expense (6,797 ) (118,000 ) Net income (loss) from operations 24,769 (376,000 ) Net income (loss) $ 24,769 $ (376,000 ) Basic income (loss) per share $ 0.00 $ (0.00 ) Diluted income (loss) per share $ 0.00 $ (0.00 ) Weighted average common shares outstanding, basic 98,947,384 97,848,735 Weighted average common shares outstanding, diluted 98,947,384 97,848,735

US LIGHTING GROUP, INC. AND SUBSIDIARY

CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS

March 31,

2023 December 31,

2022 (Unaudited) ASSETS Current Assets: Cash $ 45,843 $ 124,529 Accounts receivable 162,657 5,950 Prepaid expenses and other current assets 80,920 87,174 Inventory $ 188,666 $ 200,162 Total Current Assets 478,086 417,815 Property and equipment, net 2,443,506 2,298,107 Total Assets $ 2,921,592 $ 2,715,922 LIABILITIES AND SHAREHOLDERS' EQUITY (DEFICIT) Current Liabilities: Accounts payable $ 662,405 $ 607,647 Accrued expenses 61,735 111,223 Accrued payroll to a former officer 125,167 125,167 Convertible notes payable - - Loan payable- current portion 104,499 140,905 Loans payable, related party 442,126 176,000 Total Current Liabilities 1,395,932 1,160,942 Loans payable, net of current portion 295,984 300,351 Loans Payable, related party 6,788,503 7,004,629 Total Liabilities $ 8,480,419 $ 8,465,922 Commitments and Contingencies Shareholders' Equity: Preferred stock, $0.0001 par value, 10,000,000 shares authorized; no shares issued and outstanding - - Common stock, $0.0001 par value, 500,000,000 shares authorized; 101,609,825 shares issued and outstanding 10,376 10,209 Additional paid-in-capital 19,937,348 19,771,111 Accumulated deficit (25,506,551 ) (25,531,320 ) Total Shareholders' Equity (5,558,827 ) (5,750,000 ) TOTAL LIABILITIES AND SHAREHOLDERS' EQUITY $ 2,921,592 $ 2,715,922

SOURCE: USLG, Inc.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/755585/USLG-Posts-Net-Profit-Despite-Industry-Downturn-Record-Revenue-of-12-Million-On-Track-for-Best-Year-Ever
DONGYING, China, May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- "Pooling the strength of industrial chain to build a new development pattern". On the morning of May 15, the 13th China (Guangrao) International Rubber Tire & Auto Accessory Exhibition kicked off at the Guangrao International Expo Center of Dongying city, Shandong province, according to the News Office of the People's Government of Guangrao County.





The exhibition this year is mainly oriented around the rubber tire and the upstream and downstream industries, fully reflecting the new products, technologies and services in the rubber tire and each relevant industry. The exhibition area is 48,000 square meters, attended by 750-plus enterprises, reaching a new historic scale, including 50 enterprises of the Top 75 global tire manufacturers such as Goodyear, Continental and Dunlop, and Fortune 500 enterprises. The rate of sign-up for the exhibition is above 70% among the renowned enterprises in the industry, with more than 800 enterprises attending the event online. According to the preliminary statistics, the exhibition this year attracts over 800 foreign merchants, 20,000 professional audience, including seven important overseas travel merchant delegations. Guangrao County has organized an "Overseas Promotion Action of Chinese Tire Brands" for five years in succession, which has achieved an excellent result.

Through the convergence effect of the exhibition, Guangrao County has actively advanced the clustering of rubber tire industrial chain. The industrial chain's ecosystem has become increasingly complete, which has formed a complete industrial chain centered on the rubber tire and integrating all-steel cord, carbon black, vehicle wheel, brake pad and brake disc. The county's comprehensive production capacity of radial tires has reached 176 million tires, accounting for half of that of Shandong Province, 1/4 of that of the nation, with 7 famous trademarks of China, 17 famous trademarks of Shandong, over 200 overseas certified products and 364 trademarks registered in Madrid. The rubber tire industry of Guangrao County has successively included into the "Wild Goose Array" clusters of the "Ten Strongest" Industries in Shandong Province, the Characteristic Industrial Clusters of Shandong Province, and has been confirmed by the Ministry of Commerce as a demonstration base for the transformation and upgrade of foreign trade.

Photo Link: https://iop.asianetnews.net/view-attachment?attach-id=440771

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2079454/Opening_ceremony.jpg

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/the-13th-china-guangrao-international-rubber-tire--auto-accessory-exhibition-kicked-off-301827484.html
VICTORIA, BC / ACCESSWIRE / May 17, 2023 / Sarah Mae Ives, president and founder of Sarah Mae Ives Social Media Inc., a training company that offers a Certificate Program for Social Media Ads Managers, has been named a WSJ best-selling author for her nonfiction book: The No-Fluff Business: The 90-Day Guide to More Money, Freedom, and Purpose Online. Further proof that the business industry is swaying towards investing more money in sales and advertising online versus on billboards and television.



WSJ Bestseller List



Testament to the changing times

The advertising space is changing rapidly in 2023. Even a decade ago the term "ads manager" didn't exist, but the rise of social media and the advertising opportunities presented by it mean that fewer and fewer businesses are advertising on television, print and billboards and instead, companies are investing more and more dollars in advertising on social media. This is evidenced by just how many companies are now paying Ads Managers to create and run their company ads campaigns.

This influx in online advertising applies to all companies, including local brick-and-mortar stores (gyms, spas, chiropractors and more) and online e-commerce platforms (including those that also have brick-and-mortar stores like Tiffany's, Mercedes and more). The role of the Social Media Ads Manager is increasing in prevalence each year, as more and more businesses begin advertising on social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Google and more.

Due to the complexity of advertising online and the sheer amount of saturation in the online space, the role of Ads Manager is growing in demand, as well as for training programs like the Sarah Mae Ives Training program.

Sarah Mae Ives is a leading industry expert in the digital media space, particularly in creating and running successful social media ads for companies across the world on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Google and more. Her Social Media Ads Training program for those wishing to launch their own Ads Agency is called: The No-Fluff Business Mentorship and has helped thousands of students since its inception in 2020.

The Sarah Mae Ives program empowers its students, who are mostly women, to create their own businesses (specifically launching an ads agency for most). Students of the No-Fluff Business Mentorship also learn the fundamentals of business and how to provide a valuable offering to many businesses in need of scaling their engagement and digital presence.

Contact Information

Andrea Hertel

Operations Manager

admin@sarahmaeives.com

360-601-5705

SOURCE: Sarah Mae Ives Social Media Inc.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/755378/Sign-of-the-Changing-Times-Business-Book-No-Fluff-Business-by-Sarah-Mae-Ives-Reaches-3-Best-Seller-on-The-Wall-Street-Journal-Week-Ending-April-29-2023
Mary Kay Inc., a global leader in skin care innovation, in partnership with the European Society for Dermatological Research, recently announced its inaugural Mary Kay Skin Health/Skin Disease Research Grant awardees at a special virtual event prior to the First International Societies for Investigative Dermatology conference in May. Grant recipients are researchers conducting groundbreaking, innovative studies in skin health and skin disease.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230517005040/en/

Mary Kay partnered with European Society for Dermatological Research (ESDR) to award inaugural Mary Kay-ESDR Skin Health/Skin Disease Research Grants. Congratulations to our 2022 recipients, Dr. Clarisse Ganier and Dr. Michael Cangkrama, who will each receive $20,000 grants to further their contributions in skin disease research. (Photo: Mary Kay Inc.)

"Mary Kay is dedicated to advancing skin and nutritional health research globally, and we know this cannot be done alone. Collaboration across industries, academic institutions, and clinicians is critical, which is why we are proud to partner with ESDR to furnish the first-ever Mary Kay-ESDR Skin Health/Skin Disease Research Grants," said Dr. Lucy Gildea, Chief Innovation Officer, Product and Science at Mary Kay. "These grants bring this larger community together for new inspiration for the future, and Mary Kay is proud to be a part of this opportunity. We are excited to see how these recipients bring greater advancements to different aspects of skin health research."

The Mary Kay Skin Health/Skin Disease Research Grants were announced at last year's meeting in partnership with ESDR. The $20,000 grants were to be awarded to two researchers conducting incredible work in skin research to uncover new perspectives and invention strategies. In the months following the 2022 ESDR meeting, the company received applications from scientists across all of Europe.

The two grant awardees ultimately selected were:

Dr. Michael Cangkrama, (Switzerland) Senior Scientist, Department of Biology, Institute of Molecular Health Sciences, ETH Zurich Dr. Cangkrama is working on molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying the development and progression of epithelial skin cancers, the most common types of cancer in humans. His research projects will focus on investigating molecular mechanisms of squamous cancer development and the role of the tumor microenvironment using state-of-the-art approaches. He will utilize the grant to further develop his independent projects and continue to pursue positions as an independent group leader or Assistant Professor in Europe.

Dr. Clarisse Ganier, (United Kingdom), Research Associate at the Center of Gene Therapy and Regenerative Medicine in King's College London. Dr. Ganier is part of the Human Cell Atlas initiative an international collaborative effort to map all cell types within the human body to generate a comprehensive Skin Cell Atlas. As part of this work, they have created a multi-scale spatial atlas of healthy skin and basal cell carcinoma (BCC), incorporating single cell transcriptomics, in vivo optical coherence tomography, spatial global transcriptional profiling and in situ sequencing. Funding for this research will allow her to pursue her professional goals of starting her own laboratory focusing on skin cancer biology by combining multiomics data, both in vitro and ex vivo.

"Congratulations to each of our 2022 grant award recipients," added Dr. Gildea. "These individuals were carefully chosen in collaboration with the European Society for Dermatological Research-and we are thrilled to support their research."

"On behalf of the ESDR board, we would like to thank Mary Kay for its support of the ESDR and congratulate this year's grant recipients for their tremendous contributions to their respective fields. A key objective of our Society is to promote innovative research in investigative dermatology and to support researchers' activities in translational skin research," said Eli Sprecher, Chair, Scientific Program Committee of ESDR.

The sponsorship and grants, revealed leading up to the inaugural International Societies for Investigative Dermatology Conference in Tokyo, are just the latest efforts by Mary Kay to reinforce the company's long-standing commitment to advancing skin health research and development. Mary Kay holds more than 1,600 patents for products, technologies and packaging designs in its global portfolio.

View the full Mary Kay-ESDR Skin Health/Skin Disease Research Grants Ceremony recording here.

About Mary Kay

One of the original glass ceiling breakers, Mary Kay Ash founded her dream beauty company in 1963 with one goal: enriching women's lives. That dream has blossomed into a multibillion-dollar company with millions of independent sales force members in more than 35 countries. As an entrepreneurship development company, Mary Kay is committed to empowering women on their journey to economic independence through education, mentorship, advocacy, networking, and innovation. Mary Kay is dedicated to investing in the science behind beauty and manufacturing cutting-edge skincare, color cosmetics, nutritional supplements, and fragrances. Mary Kay believes in enriching lives today for a sustainable tomorrow, partnering with organizations from around the world focusing on promoting business excellence, supporting cancer research, advancing gender equality, protecting survivors from domestic abuse, beautifying our communities, and encouraging children to follow their dreams. Learn more at marykayglobal.com, find us on Facebook Instagram, and LinkedIn or follow us on Twitter.

About European Society for Dermatological Research (ESDR)

The European Society for Dermatological Research (ESDR), founded in 1970, is a non-profit organization promoting basic and clinical science related to dermatology. The ESDR is the largest investigative dermatology society in Europe with a current membership of about 1100. By supporting investigative dermatology and skin research, the ESDR contributes to an in-depth understanding of skin homeostasis and toward improving the health of patients suffering from skin and venereal diseases. The ESDR facilitates the exchange of information relevant to investigative dermatology between clinicians and scientists worldwide. The ESDR also organizes educational events throughout the year to further knowledge in dermatological research. For more information, please visit: https://esdr.org/

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230517005040/en/

Contacts:

Mary Kay Inc. Corporate Communications

marykay.com/newsroom

972.687.5332 or media@mkcorp.com
Regulatory News:

ACTICOR BIOTECH (FR0014005OJ5 ALACT), a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on the development of innovative drugs for the treatment of cardiovascular emergencies, in particular stroke, today released the report of its Combined General Meeting held on May 12, 2023

The shareholders attending the meeting, represented by proxy or voting by post held 10,638,244 votes, representing a quorum of 86.5%.

All resolutions of this Combined General Meeting were adopted, with the exception of the 23rd and 24th resolutions, as recommended by the Board of Directors.

Gilles AVENARD, Chief Executive Officer and founder of Acticor Biotech, said: "The shareholders' meeting was an opportunity for us to review our clinical successes for the year 2022 and our financial situation, as well as to present our outlook for the coming years. Following the positive results of the Phase 1b/2a clinical trial, we are fully in line with our strategy to continue the development of glenzocimab with a view to registering it for the treatment of cardiovascular emergencies, particularly stroke. With the successful completion of the 12.2 million fundraising in March 2023, we cover our financing needs for operational activities until the end of 2023. In addition to this transaction, we are currently exploring the best options for additional financing, including access to the capital markets, to strengthen our financial resources beyond the end of 2023. The objective is to cover our financing needs for the year 2024, which includes the second futility analysis of the ACTISAVE Phase 3 clinical trial in stroke. We will choose the most appropriate solution and timing in light of the market situation, and of course in the interest of our shareholders. However, we cannot guarantee if or when such a transaction will take place or whether it will be done on satisfactory terms.

The report of the General Meeting will be available within the legal deadlines on Acticor Biotech's website, in the Investors/Shareholders' Meeting section.

About ACTICOR BIOTECH

Acticor Biotech is a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company, a spin-off from INSERM (the French National Institute of Health and Medical Research), which is aiming to develop an innovative treatment for cardiovascular emergencies, including ischemic stroke.

In May 2022, Acticor Biotech presented positive results from its Phase 1b/2a study, ACTIMIS, at the ESOC, confirming the safety profile and showing a reduction in mortality and intracerebral hemorrhage in the glenzocimab-treated group in patients with stroke. The efficacy of glenzocimab is now being evaluated in an international Phase 2/3 study, ACTISAVE, which will include 1,000 patients. In July 2022, Acticor Biotech was granted "PRIME" status by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) for glenzocimab in the treatment of stroke. This designation will allow the company to strengthen its interactions and obtain early dialogues with regulatory authorities.

Acticor Biotech is supported by a panel of European and international investors (Mediolanum farmaceutici, Karista, Go Capital, Newton Biocapital, CMS Medical Venture Investment (HK) Limited, A&B (HK) Limited, Anaxago, and the Armesa foundation). Acticor Biotech is listed on Euronext Growth Paris since November 2021 (ISIN: FR0014005OJ5 ALACT).

For more information, visit: www.acticor-biotech.com

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230517005676/en/

Contacts:

ACTICOR BIOTECH

Gilles AVENARD, MD

General Manager and founder

gilles.avenard@acticor-biotech.com

T.: +33 (0)6 76 23 38 13

Sophie BINAY, PhD

Chief Operating Officer and

Scientific Director

Sophie.binay@acticor-biotech.com

T.: +33 (0)6 76 23 38 13

NewCap

Mathilde BOHIN Quentin MASSE

Investor Relations

acticor@newcap.eu

T.: +33 (0)1 44 71 94 95

NewCap

Arthur ROUILLE

Media Relations

acticor@newcap.eu

T.: +33 (0)1 44 71 00 15
Winners eligible for prize donations up to $50,000 USD out of $180,000 USD total prize awards

For the first time since the pandemic, all finalists will be invited to in-person Washington D.C. awards ceremony

RESTON, Va., May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Public Interest Registry (PIR), the people behind .ORG, opened the nomination period today for its fifth annual .ORG Impact Awards , an annual celebration that recognizes outstanding mission-driven individuals and organizations from the global .ORG Community for their positive contributions to society.





Public Interest Registry's .ORG top-level domain has powered mission-driven organizations around the globe for more than 30 years. From individuals to large corporations, small community groups to multinational NGOs, each .ORG works to positively impact the communities they serve. Over the past four years, the .ORG Impact Awards have recognized 155 outstanding .ORGs from over 60 countries. Through the Awards, Public Interest Registry has awarded $325,000 for transformative work taking place around the world.

For the first time since the pandemic, all finalists will be invited to an in-person award ceremony in Washington D.C. on November 16, 2023, where they will enjoy an evening of celebration alongside fellow changemakers. Winners will be announced at the event, honoring their work to make the world a better place. Additional event details will be released in the coming months.

"As we celebrate our fifth annual .ORG Impact Awards, we are excited to once again recognize outstanding changemakers across the world who work tirelessly to create change and drive progress for good," said Jon Nevett, CEO of Public Interest Registry. "This year's celebration will be particularly special as winners and finalists will gather for an in-person ceremony for the first time since 2019. If you are, or know, a changemaker committed to mission-driven work, we encourage you to submit a nomination. I hope you join our growing community."

Submissions are open from May 17 to June 28, 2023, and all nominees must be tied to an active .ORG website. Submissions will be evaluated by a judging panel of leaders in the internet, nonprofit, and marketing sectors.

Categories for the 2023 awards include :

Health and Healing

Quality Education for All

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

Environmental Stewardship

Hunger and Poverty

Community Building

Rising Star

.ORG of the Year

The top five entries per category will be named as finalists on September 19, 2023, and will be eligible to win the .ORG of the Year award. Winners will be announced on November 16, 2023 at the in-person awards ceremony in Washington, D.C.

The winner of the .ORG of the Year award will receive a donation of $50,000 USD while the other category winners will each receive $10,000 USD. For the very first time, all finalist organizations will each receive $2,500 USD, as well as travel and accommodations for two representatives to attend the in-person award ceremony. Beyond the donation, receiving a prestigious .ORG Impact Award will help raise the profile of winning organizations, ultimately to drive donations, funding, talent acquisition, partnership development, and audience reach.

To nominate an organization or individual for a .ORG Impact Award, visit www.orgimpactawards.org .

In 2022, over 940 organizations from 68 countries around the world submitted entries. The winner of the 2022 .ORG Impact Awards .ORG of the Year category was Food Rescue Hero , a nonprofit working to solve hunger and food waste with an app that connects restaurants and retailers with surplus food directly to food insecure households. Leveraging technology similar to delivery apps like Instacart or Uber Eats, the 412 Food Rescue app dispatches local volunteers to pick up prepared food boxes and deliver them directly to households identified by local nonprofit partners as in need of assistance. Since 2016, the Food Rescue Hero network of 14 partners in the US and Canada has diverted 100 million pounds of perfectly good food from landfill and mitigated 66.2 million pounds of CO2 emissions. Food Rescue Hero's growing community of over 34,000 volunteers saved 97 meals per minute in the year 2022.

"The award has helped us spread the news far and wide that people can address climate change and hunger in one fell swoop," saidLeah Lizarondo, Founder of Food Rescue Hero. "The honor confirms and supports our efforts to offer an alternative to food waste and provide for those who continue to go hungry, and we have been excited to share this award with our entire team, far and wide, who makes this work possible."

Other 2022 award-winners include: Kageno Worldwide ; Limbitless Solutions ; Pro Mujer ; Mathias Charles Yabe, founder of AkoFresh ; and more.

About Public Interest Registry

Public Interest Registry (PIR) is a nonprofit that operates the .ORG top-level domain-one of the world's largest generic top-level domains with more than 10.8 million domain names registered worldwide. .ORG is open to everyone, providing a global platform for organizations, associations, clubs, businesses and individuals to bring their ideas to life. PIR has been a champion for a free and open Internet for two decades with a clear mission to be an exemplary domain name registry, provide a trusted digital identity and help educate those who dedicate themselves to improving our world. PIR was founded by the Internet Society ( internetsociety.org ) in 2002 and is based in Reston, Virginia, USA. Visit www.TheNew.org for more information.

Contact: Grace Peacore, pir@berlinrosen.co m

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View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/call-for-nominations-fifth-annual-org-impact-awards-to-honor-mission-driven-organizations-and-changemakers-301826950.html
VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / May 17, 2023 / The Power Play by The Market Herald has announced the release of a new interview with Surge Battery Metals 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.

Surge Battery Metals Engages McGinley & Associates Inc. for Hydrological Studies at the Nevada North Lithium Project

Surge Battery Metals Inc. is pleased to announce that the Company has retained McGinley & Associates Inc. (McGinley) to provide Hydrologic Services to Surge Battery Metals for the Nevada North Lithium Project (NNLP). The NNLP is a lithium bearing claystone deposit located near Texas Spring, in the Thousand Springs Valley Hydrographic Basin north of the community of Wells in Elko County, Nevada.

For the full interview with Greg Reimer and to learn about Surge Battery Metals, 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.

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.

CONTACT:

The Market Herald

marketing@themarketherald.ca

themarketherald.ca

SOURCE:?The Market Herald

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/755626/The-Power-Play-by-The-Market-Herald-Releases-a-New-Interview-with-Surge-Battery-Metals-Discussing-Their-Latest-News
MILTON, ONTARIO / ACCESSWIRE / May 17, 2023 / Real estate mogul, Mike Donia, has unveiled a masterpiece that is every car enthusiast's dream come true. 4490 Henderson Road is the epitome of luxury real estate: The Bugatti of Ontario's trophy homes. Haute Living recently featured this opulent abode that exudes luxury and refinement from every angle.

Built in 2023, this lavish estate boasts a jaw-dropping 19,000 square feet of avant-garde architecture that will leave anyone awe-struck. Upon entering, the towering ceilings and three-story glass elevator provide a breathtaking experience as it ascends to the upper levels. Offered fully furnished with exclusive custom-built furniture and artwork, the home impressively features six elegantly designed bedrooms, eleven luxurious bathrooms, and a wine room.

This palatial property delivers an unparalleled automotive experience, boasting a cavernous 16,500-square-foot showroom with space to display a staggering 95 vehicles-a veritable candy store for even the most discerning car connoisseur. It even comes equipped with two-level car lifts, making it the ultimate place to showcase your prized automobile collection.

The outdoor entertaining area is just as impressive, with seven terraces, a waterfall, a hot tub, and a multi-level infinity pool complete with a submersible window that provides a unique view of the bar and dance floor. There are even secret tunnels connecting different parts of the house, adding an element of mystery and intrigue that James Bond himself would envy.

Other notable features of the estate include a three-story glass elevator, soaring ceilings, oversized porcelain floors, and a $100,000 fingerprint door entry system imported from Spain.

In the world of luxury real estate, this Canadian trophy home is truly in a league of its own. It's a must-see for anyone who appreciates refined elegance, captivating design, and sheer opulence.

At 35,000 square feet, it's the Bugatti of Homes.

About Mike Donia:

Mike Donia has become a household name synonymous with luxury real estate. He has pushed the boundaries and surpassed the expectations of the industry by providing unparalleled service to clients seeking the most exclusive properties. From magnificent palaces in far-flung destinations to the most exquisite residences across North America, Mike's expertise and passion have enabled him to triumph over every challenge.

As a visionary, Mike has a knack for envisioning the impossible and bringing it to life. His deep understanding of the luxury market, coupled with his vast experience, guarantees a hassle-free journey for clients searching for the ultimate properties. Mike Donia's guidance is the perfect catalyst for embarking on your own adventure in the world of luxury real estate.

Contact:

Mike Donia

mikedoniacorp@gmail.com

SOURCE: Mike Donia

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/755633/Mike-Donias-Crown-Jewel-Listing-in-Ontario-The-Bugatti-of-Luxury-Real-Estate-Featured-in-Luxury-Magazine-Haute-Living
Nearly 30 years after a crucial arrest that tied a string of burglaries to the Bosnian War, retired Port Authority of New York and New Jersey K9 Police Officer George O'Donnell and his daughter, Kelly Emanuel, have written a fictional crime novel that describes the intensive police manhunt for the thieves alongside the inner workings of the crime organization. "Manhattan Manhunt" is the first full-length novel for both authors.

AUBREY, TX / ACCESSWIRE / May 17, 2023 / "Manhattan Manhunt" is a fictional crime novel inspired by retired Port Authority K-9 Police Officer George O'Donnell's work while stationed at the Port Authority Bus Terminal in the Hell's Kitchen area of New York City. In 1993, O'Donnell and his partner, a King Shepherd named Billion, captured 3 international jewel thieves in midtown Manhattan. NYPD detectives told George O'Donnell this arrest was instrumental for the NYPD, FBI, and Interpol to catch the masterminds behind highly sophisticated paramilitary-style burglaries in New York City and throughout the United States. The suspects were later tied to the YACS, an organized crime ring that helped fund the Bosnian War and sought to replace the Italian mafia after their "Pizza Connection" case convictions.









While names, identifying characteristics, and other plot details have been changed, "Manhattan Manhunt" is a fantastic tale of police work in action. The novel weaves together two storylines: the first follows Detective Walsh and members of the NYPD task force investigating a series of jewelry store break-ins while the second follows a crime family working under "the Bard". In this back-and-forth narrative, the reader gets to see the twists and turns of the police investigation and the methods used by the Albanian mafia to commit these robberies. "Manhattan Manhunt" draws readers into the minds of the central players all involved. This novel will keep readers hooked to the end with its fascinating tales of determination and bravery and deception and betrayal.

Fans of crime fiction can purchase "Manhattan Manhunt" at bookstores everywhere, or online at the Apple iBooks Store, Amazon, or Barnes & Noble. Additional information is also available at http://www.manhattanmanhunt.com.

For more information or media inquiries, contact Newman Springs Publishing at 732-243-8512.

About Newman Springs Publishing

Newman Springs Publishing is a full-service publishing house for serious authors. All titles are made available in both e-book and print formats. Newman Springs Publishing distributes to tens of thousands of retail outlets throughout North America and internationally.

Contact Information:

Media Relations

media@newmansprings.com

SOURCE: Newman Springs Publishing

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/755644/New-Fiction-Manhattan-Manhunt-from-George-ODonnell-and-Kelly-Emmanuel-Draws-on-Real-life-1993-Arrest-of-International-Jewel-Thieves-tied-to-Funding-the-Bosnian-War


WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - After an initial move to the upside, treasuries came under pressure over the course of the trading session on Wednesday, extending a recent downward trend.



Bond prices pull back well off their early highs and firmly into negative territory. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, rose by 3.2 basis points to 3.581 percent after hitting a low of 3.515 percent.



The ten-year yield closed higher for the fourth consecutive session, ending the day at its highest closing level in almost a month.



The downturn by treasuries partly reflected optimism lawmakers will eventually reach an agreement on raising the U.S. debt ceiling following Tuesday's meeting between President Joe Biden and top congressional leaders.



A statement from the White House described the meeting as 'productive' and said Biden is 'optimistic that there is a path to a responsible, bipartisan budget agreement.'



Biden directed staff to continue to meet daily on outstanding issues, with the president cutting short an upcoming overseas trip to ensure Congress takes action by the June 1st deadline to avert default.



House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., told reporters following the meeting that the two sides remain 'far apart' but said it is 'possible to get a deal by the end of the week.'



In U.S. economic news, the Commerce Department released a report unexpectedly showing a significant rebound in new residential construction in the month of April.



The report said housing starts jumped by 2.2 percent to an annual rate of 1.401 million in April after plunging by 4.5 percent to a revised rate of 1.371 million in March.



Economists had expected housing starts to drop to an annual rate of 1.405 million from the 1.420 million originally reported for the previous month.



Meanwhile, the Commerce Department said building permits slumped by 1.5 percent to an annual rate of 1.416 million in April after tumbling by 3.0 percent to a revised rate of 1.437 million in March.



Building permits, an indicator of future housing demand, were expected to climb to a rate of 1.430 million from the 1.413 million originally reported for the previous month.



Trading on Thursday may be impacted by reaction to the latest batch of U.S. economic data, including reports on weekly jobless claims, existing home sales and Philadelphia-area manufacturing activity.



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Kostenloser Report: +40% Gewinn nur mit Aktien! +39,93% Rendite seit Januar  so lautet die Erfolgsbilanz der Aktie der Woche. Damit wurden sowohl der DAX als auch der S&P 500 deutlich outperformt. Wie das genau funktioniert, erklart Chefradakteur Lars Wiler in seiner Zwischenbilanz. Hier klicken
NORTHAMPTON, MA / ACCESSWIRE / May 17, 2023 / Sappi North America, Inc., a leading producer and supplier of diversified paper, packaging products and pulp, today released its 2022 Sustainability Report, highlighting its commitment to science-based targets in creating sustainable products and business practices. The company also secured the EcoVadis Platinum sustainability rating for the third year in a row, keeping Sappi at the top 1% of companies rated for sustainability.

In 2022, the United Nation's Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDG) continued to play an integral role in shaping Sappi's business practices. The UNSDGs not only provide a global benchmark for sustainability, but also help guide Sappi's approach to new sustainable product development; achieve record-breaking employee safety; elevate diversity in senior management; collaborate with partners on forward-trending projects; and more.

"I am proud of Sappi North America's ongoing commitment to sustainability," said Mike Haws, President and CEO, Sappi North America. "During fiscal year 2022, we reached important milestones in employee safety, financial performance and sustainability. The hard work by all of our employees resulted in one of our company's most successful years. This success allowed us to reduce debt, continue investing in our facilities and provide resources for the research and development of innovative and sustainable new processes and products."

Sustainability Achievements

Highlights from the report include:

Significant strides in reducing emissions with science-based solutions: Sappi joined the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) in 2020, and its targets were officially approved by the organization in June 2022. These targets represent a key step in Sappi's commitment to decarbonization transition across its manufacturing regions.

Sappi joined the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) in 2020, and its targets were officially approved by the organization in June 2022. These targets represent a key step in Sappi's commitment to decarbonization transition across its manufacturing regions. Elevating women in senior management roles: For the second consecutive year, the company exceeded its goal and positioned 22% of women in senior management roles. Of note, Sappi hired Bakul Wadgaonkar as Director of Sustainability. Bakul comes to Sappi with many years of experience in environmental health and safety, sustainability, manufacturing and quality management at Apple, Bose Corporation and DSM Coating Resins.

For the second consecutive year, the company exceeded its goal and positioned 22% of women in senior management roles. Of note, Sappi hired Bakul Wadgaonkar as Director of Sustainability. Bakul comes to Sappi with many years of experience in environmental health and safety, sustainability, manufacturing and quality management at Apple, Bose Corporation and DSM Coating Resins. A milestone year in safety: In 2022, Sappi recorded its safest year ever. Through diligent efforts, employees and contractors collectively reduced the combined lost time injury frequency rate (LTIFR) from 0.34 in 2021 to 0.18 in 2022, equaling its best year ever for employees and second-best year when including contractors. Additionally, the lost time injury severity rate came down from 11.5 to 7.3.

In 2022, Sappi recorded its safest year ever. Through diligent efforts, employees and contractors collectively reduced the combined lost time injury frequency rate (LTIFR) from 0.34 in 2021 to 0.18 in 2022, equaling its best year ever for employees and second-best year when including contractors. Additionally, the lost time injury severity rate came down from 11.5 to 7.3. Driving local impact through forestry programs: Sappi has forest management programs in both Maine and the Upper Midwest that offer a wide range of services to landowners to help them manage their forests and ensure that harvests are sustainable - ultimately supporting the local circular economy.

Sappi has forest management programs in both Maine and the Upper Midwest that offer a wide range of services to landowners to help them manage their forests and ensure that harvests are sustainable - ultimately supporting the local circular economy. Launch of new products with clearly defined sustainability benefits: Inspired by the UNSDG 12, Sappi set a goal of creating and launching new products with defined sustainability benefits by 2025. In line with this goal, the company released Arrio, a decorative laminate surface solution that delivers remarkable aesthetics, and will soon launch Proto Blister, a new board packaging grade for use in point-of-purchase product blister.

Inspired by the UNSDG 12, Sappi set a goal of creating and launching new products with defined sustainability benefits by 2025. In line with this goal, the company released Arrio, a decorative laminate surface solution that delivers remarkable aesthetics, and will soon launch Proto Blister, a new board packaging grade for use in point-of-purchase product blister. Discovering new uses of texturing paper and film: Sappi, in collaboration with the University of Maine's Dr. Caitlin Howell and the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University, continued studying the use of Sappi's Ultracast texturing to build mass-manufactured, low-cost microfluidics that also have a low environmental impact.

Sappi, in collaboration with the University of Maine's Dr. Caitlin Howell and the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University, continued studying the use of Sappi's Ultracast texturing to build mass-manufactured, low-cost microfluidics that also have a low environmental impact. Overcoming supply chain woes, improved delivery rate and driving down emissions: Despite supply chain distributions at the ports and rail networks, Sappi shipped its products with an improved on-time delivery rate, from 90% in the first quarter to 96% in the fourth. Further, the company reduced emissions by 2% during the year while also reducing costs by collaborating with customers to change transport modes from truck to rail.

"As I reflect on the content of our 2022 sustainability report, I am reminded how central sustainability is to Sappi's business strategy, which outlines, among other things, our role in building a more circular economy," said Beth Cormier, Vice President of Research, Development and Sustainability, Sappi North America. "Our strong achievements, together with our high-quality products serving customer demand, allowed Sappi to meet or beat all of our 2022 sustainability goals."

To read more of Sappi North America's 2022 Sustainability Report and request a copy, please visit: https://www.sappi.com/sustainability-and-impact.

About Sappi North America, Inc.

Sappi North America, Inc., headquartered in Boston, is a market leader in converting wood fiber into superior products that customers demand worldwide. Our four diversified businesses - high-quality Graphic Papers, Dissolving Pulp, Packaging, and Specialty Papers deliver premium products and services with consistent quality and reliability. Our high-quality Coated Printing Papers are used for premium magazines, catalogs, books, direct mail and high-end print advertising. We are a leading manufacturer of Dissolving Pulp, which is used in a wide range of products, including textile fibers and household goods. We deliver sustainable Packaging and Specialty Papers for luxury packaging and folding carton applications with our single-ply packaging brands and for the food and label industries with our specialty papers. We are one of the world's leading suppliers of Casting and Release Papers with lines for the automotive, fashion and engineered films industries.

Sappi North America is a subsidiary of Sappi Limited (JSE), a global company headquartered in Johannesburg, South Africa, with more than 12,000 employees and manufacturing operations on three continents in seven countries and customers in over 150 countries. www.sappi.com

View additional multimedia and more ESG storytelling from Sappi North America on 3blmedia.com.

Contact Info:

Spokesperson: Sappi North America

Website: https://www.3blmedia.com/profiles/sappi-north-america

Email: info@3blmedia.com

SOURCE: Sappi North America

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/755670/Sappi-North-America-Releases-2022-Sustainability-Report-Achieves-Top-Sustainability-Rating-for-Third-Consecutive-Year
+39,93% Rendite seit Januar  so lautet die Erfolgsbilanz der Aktie der Woche. Damit wurden sowohl der DAX als auch der S&P 500 deutlich outperformt. Wie das genau funktioniert, erklart Chefradakteur Lars Wiler in seiner Zwischenbilanz.

WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Crude oil prices rose sharply on Wednesday on expectations of higher demand and amid optimism over U.S. debt ceiling negotiations. The International Energy Agency (IEA) said in its report on Tuesday that it expects demand would outpace supply by 2 million barrels per day in the second half of the year, with China contributing up to 60% of oil demand growth. Optimism lawmakers will eventually reach an agreement on raising the U.S. debt ceiling contributed as well to oil's uptick. A statement from the White House described the meeting as 'productive' and said Biden is 'optimistic that there is a path to a responsible, bipartisan budget agreement.' Biden directed staff to continue to meet daily on outstanding issues, with the president cutting short an upcoming overseas trip to ensure Congress takes action by the June 1st deadline to avert default. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., told reporters following the meeting that the two sides remain 'far apart' but said it is 'possible to get a deal by the end of the week.' West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for June ended higher by $1.97 or about 2.8% at $72.83 a barrel. Brent crude futures gained $2.05 or about 2.7% to $76.97 a barrel. Data released by the Energy Information Administration (EIA) today showed crude inventories in the U.S. rose by 5 million barrels in the week ended March 12. The EIA data showed gasoline stocks dropped by 1.38 million barrels last week, while distillate stockpiles increased by 0.080 million barrels. Data released by the American Petroleum Institute (API) on Tuesday showed U.S. crude inventories rose by around 3.6 million barrels in the week ended May 12. Copyright(c) 2023 RTTNews.com. All Rights Reserved Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.


MOUNTAIN VIEW (dpa-AFX) - Alphabet Inc.'s (GOOG, GOOGL) Google, in a recent blog post, has revealed a new policy wherein inactive Google accounts, including content within Google Workspace (Gmail, Docs, Drive, Meet, Calendar), YouTube and Google Photos will be deleted if they haven't been active for at least two years, starting later this year.



This comes as an updation to Google's inactivity policy and aims to enhance user privacy and streamline Google's services.



Google presents the deletion of inactive accounts as a solution to combat spam and enhance security. The blog post highlights that abandoned accounts have significantly lower instances of 2-step verification, making them susceptible to compromise and potential misuse for spamming and identity theft.



In addition to addressing security concerns, freeing up storage through the removal of old accounts aligns with Google's recent cost-cutting efforts.



Google's policy regarding inactive accounts specifically targets individual accounts, while business accounts that are actively paying a monthly fee can remain inactive without any repercussions.



According to Google, the minimum requirement to keep an account active is to sign in at least once every two years. The company also provides examples of activities that count as 'activity' for accounts that are already signed in. According to their post, reading or sending an email, using Google Drive, watching a YouTube video, downloading an app on the Google Play Store, using Google Search or using Sign in with Google to sign in to a third-party app or service, all count as activities.



According to the post, activities such as paying for a Google One storage subscription or any other existing subscription through the account is also recognized as 'activity.'



Notably, Google Photos has its own distinct criteria for account activity, potentially resulting in the deletion of only the photos. To maintain activity in Google Photos, users need to visit the app or website, or upload a photo every two years, as specified by Google's separate guidelines.



The policy will be implemented in December this year. Users who have remained inactive for two years or more will not have their accounts immediately deleted but will receive multiple notifications leading up to the deletion.



Google has committed to sending notifications to both the account email address and the recovery email, provided one has been set up. This ensures that users are well-informed and have ample opportunity to take action before their accounts are permanently removed.



Copyright(c) 2023 RTTNews.com. All Rights Reserved



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Kostenloser Report: +40% Gewinn nur mit Aktien! +39,93% Rendite seit Januar  so lautet die Erfolgsbilanz der Aktie der Woche. Damit wurden sowohl der DAX als auch der S&P 500 deutlich outperformt. Wie das genau funktioniert, erklart Chefradakteur Lars Wiler in seiner Zwischenbilanz. Hier klicken
NOT FOR RELEASE, PUBLICATION OR DISTRIBUTION (IN WHOLE OR IN PART) IN, INTO OR FROM ANY JURISDICTION WHERE SUCH RELEASE, PUBLICATION OR DISTRIBUTION WOULD CONSTITUTE A VIOLATION OF THE RELEVANT LAWS OF SUCH JURISDICTION.

Silver Lake Publishes Offer Document for Voluntary Public Tender Offer for Software AG - Acceptance Period Starts Today

Fully financed offer to shareholders that can be accepted as of today until 14 June 2023

Transaction only subject to regulatory approvals and minimum acceptance threshold of 50 percent plus 1 share

Silver Lake has already secured 30.1 percent of the share capital in SAG and has the option to convert its bonds amounting to EUR 344 million into shares equal to another 10 percent of the share capital

Cash offer of EUR 32.00 per share represents a 63 percent premium on the last undisturbed closing price and a 57 percent premium on the undisturbed last three months volume-weighted average price

Silver Lake can optimally support Software AG in its transformation phase that is best executed in a private setting while shareholders can reap significant economics upfront

Silver Lake intends to delist Software AG as soon as practically possible, which is supported by Software AG's Management Board

Silver Lake reiterates that it does not require a DPLTA to finance the Takeover Offer and hence does not intend entering into a DPLTA

Silver Lake's offer has received vast support from key stakeholders: Unanimous support from the Management Board Unanimous support from the independent takeover committee of the co-determined Supervisory Board Full and unreserved support from the Company's Founder Dr. h. c. Peter Schnell and the Software AG Foundation, the longstanding 30 percent anchor shareholder of the Company, which will continue to hold a 5 percent stake subject to a lock-up

The Management Board and the independent takeover committee of the co-determined Supervisory Board of Software AG intend to recommend Software AG's shareholders to accept the offer

MENLO PARK, CA / ACCESSWIRE / May 17, 2023 / Mosel Bidco SE (previously named Blitz 22-449 SE), a holding company controlled by funds managed or advised by Silver Lake ("Silver Lake"), today published the offer document for the voluntary public tender offer for all outstanding shares (ISIN: DE000A2GS401) of Software Aktiengesellschaft ("SAG") following approval by the German Federal Financial Supervisory Authority ("BaFin").

Starting today, Software AG's shareholders can accept the offer and tender their shares at a price of EUR 32.00 per share, which represents a premium of 63 percent to the closing price of EUR 19.59 per share on 20 April 2023, and a 57 percent premium on the last three months volume-weighted average price (EUR 20.32 per share) at announcement. To tender their shares, shareholders must issue a written declaration to their respective custodian bank. The acceptance period will end at midnight (CET) on 14 June 2023. Shareholders should inquire with their custodian banks for any relevant deadlines set by custodian banks which may require actions prior to this date.

The public takeover offer is subject to a minimum acceptance threshold of 50 percent plus 1 share of the entire issued share capital including treasury shares. At the time of the publication of the offer document, Silver Lake has already secured 30.1 percent of the share capital in Software AG, comprising a 25.1 percent stake which has been secured through an irrevocable share purchase agreement with the Software AG Foundation and another 5.0 percent stake purchased from other shareholders. In addition, Silver Lake also has the option to convert the convertible bonds which it purchased in February 2022 into shares equal to another 10 percent of the current share capital. The offer is subject to further customary conditions such as the receipt of regulatory approvals. Subject to the fulfilment of the offer conditions, closing of the transaction is expected in Q4 2023.

Silver Lake's investment thesis is fully aligned with Software AG's strategy, which aims at creating value for all stakeholders and continuing to develop Software AG as a standalone company, headquartered in Darmstadt. Silver Lake's support of Software AG has cemented itself over a year ago since its EUR 344 million convertible bond investment in February 2022 and became Software AG's strategic partner.

Silver Lake is convinced that due to the rapid digitalization of all areas of life, the technologies developed by Software AG will be of ever greater importance in the future. However, Software AG is facing a major multi-year transformation - particularly in the shift from traditional licensing models to software-as-a-service and cloud-based applications. The multi-year transformation will require significant investment amidst a challenging macroeconomic environment and uncertainty. Silver Lake believes that it is optimally positioned to support Software AG in this phase with its in-depth expertise in technology investments and in supporting companies in transformation processes and its long-term investment horizon and resource availability. Such transformation is best carried out in a private setting and Silver Lake intends to hence delist Software AG as soon as practically possible, which is supported by Software AG's Management Board, while shareholders have the opportunity to reap significant economic value upfront by tendering their shares.

Silver Lake's offer and its strategic partnership with Software AG have the full and unreserved support from the Software AG Foundation, the Company's long-standing 30 percent anchor shareholder, which will continue to hold a 5 percent stake subject to a lock-up. The offer also has unanimous support from both the Management Board and the independent takeover committee of the co-determined Supervisory Board of Software AG. Subject to their review of the offer document, the Management Board and the independent takeover committee of the co-determined Supervisory Board of Software AG intend to recommend Software AG's shareholders to accept the offer.

A domination and/or profit and loss transfer agreement is not required for Silver Lake to finance the Takeover Offer or to realize Silver Lake's economic and strategic objectives. Hence, Silver Lake does not intend to enter a domination and/or profit and loss transfer agreement with Software AG.

The offer document is now available at www.offer-2023.com. Copies of the offer document are available free of charge at BNP Paribas S.A., Niederlassung Deutschland, Senckenberganlage 19, 60325 Frankfurt am Main, Germany (inquiries via telefax to +49 69 1520 5277 or via email to frankfurt.gct.operations@bnpparibas.com indicating a complete mailing address or email address).

About Silver Lake

Silver Lake is a global technology investment firm, with more than $95 billion in combined assets under management and committed capital and a team of professionals based in North America, Europe and Asia. Silver Lake's portfolio companies collectively generate more than $282 billion of revenue annually and employ more than 713,000 people globally. For more information about Silver Lake and its portfolio, please visit http://www.silverlake.com.

About Software Aktiengesellschaft

Software AG simplifies the connected world. Founded in 1969, it helps deliver the experiences that employees, partners and customers now expect. Its technology creates the digital backbone that integrates applications, devices, data and clouds; empowers streamlined processes; and connects "things" like sensors, devices and machines. It helps 10,000+ organizations to become a truly connected enterprise and make smarter decisions, faster. The Company has about 5,000 employees across more than 70 countries and annual Group revenue of over 950 million.

Media Contact for Silver Lake

Jeffrey Vogeli, FGS Global

Email: jeffrey.voegeli@fgsglobal.com

Phone: +41 79 511 1763

Disclaimer and Forward-Looking Statement

This press release is neither an offer to purchase nor a solicitation of an offer to sell Software AG shares. The final terms of the Takeover Offer as well as other provisions relating to the Takeover Offer are set out solely in the offer document authorised for publication by the Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (Bundesanstalt fur Finanzdienstleistungsaufsicht). Investors and holders of Software AG shares are strongly advised to read the offer document and all other documents relating to the Takeover Offer, as they contain important information. The offer document for the Takeover Offer (in German and a non-binding English translation) with the detailed terms and conditions and other information on the Takeover Offer is published amongst other information on the internet at www.offer-2023.com.

The Takeover Offer will be implemented exclusively on the basis of the applicable provisions of German law, in particular the German Securities Acquisition and Takeover Act (Wertpapiererwerbs- und Ubernahmegesetz - WpUG), and certain securities law provisions of the United States of America relating to cross-border takeover offers. The Takeover Offer will not be conducted in accordance with the legal requirements of jurisdictions other than the Federal Republic of Germany or the United States of America (as applicable). Accordingly, no notices, filings, approvals or authorizations for the Takeover Offer have been filed, caused to be filed or granted outside the Federal Republic of Germany or the United States of America (as applicable). Investors and holders of Software AG shares cannot rely on being protected by the investor protection laws of any jurisdiction other than the Federal Republic of Germany or the United States of America (as applicable). Subject to the exceptions described in the offer document and, where applicable, any exemptions to be granted by the respective regulatory authorities, no takeover offer will be made, directly or indirectly, in those jurisdictions in which this would constitute a violation of applicable law. This announcement may not be released or otherwise distributed in whole or in part, in any jurisdiction in which the Takeover Offer would be prohibited by applicable law.

Silver Lake reserves the right, to the extent permitted by law, to directly or indirectly acquire additional Software AG shares outside the Takeover Offer on or off the stock exchange, provided that such acquisitions or arrangements to acquire are not made in the United States, will comply with the applicable German statutory provisions, in particular the WpUG, and the Offer Price is increased in accordance with the WpUG, to match any consideration paid outside of the Takeover Offer if higher than the Offer Price. If such acquisitions take place, information on such acquisitions, including the number of Software AG shares acquired or to be acquired and the consideration paid or agreed, will be published without undue delay if and to the extent required under the laws of the Federal Republic of Germany, the United States or any other relevant jurisdiction. The Takeover Offer relates to shares in a German company admitted to trading on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and is subject to the disclosure requirements, rules and practices applicable to companies listed in the Federal Republic of Germany, which differ from those of the United States and other jurisdictions in certain material respects. The financial information relating to Silver Lake and Software AG included elsewhere, including in the offer document, are prepared in accordance with provisions applicable in the Federal Republic of Germany and are not prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States; therefore, it may not be comparable to financial information relating to United States companies or companies from other jurisdictions outside the Federal Republic of Germany. The Takeover Offer will be made in the United States pursuant to Section 14(e) of, and Regulation 14E under, the Exchange Act, and otherwise in accordance with the requirements of the laws of the Federal Republic of Germany. Shareholders from the United States should note that Software AG is not listed on a United States securities exchange, is not subject to the periodic requirements of the Exchange Act and is not required to, and does not, file any reports with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission.

Any contract entered into with Silver Lake as a result of the acceptance of the Takeover Offer will be governed exclusively by and construed in accordance with the laws of the Federal Republic of Germany. It may be difficult for shareholders from the United States (or from elsewhere outside of Germany) to enforce certain rights and claims arising in connection with the Takeover Offer under United States federal securities laws (or other laws they are acquainted with) since Silver Lake and Software AG are located outside the United States (or the jurisdiction where the shareholder resides), and their respective officers and directors reside outside the United States (or the jurisdiction where the shareholder resides). It may not be possible to sue a non-United States company or its officers or directors in a non-United States court for violations of United States securities laws. It also may not be possible to compel a non-United States company or its subsidiaries to submit themselves to a United States court's judgment.

To the extent that this document contains forward-looking statements, they are not statements of fact and are identified by the words "intend", "will" and similar expressions. These statements express the intentions, beliefs or current expectations and assumptions of Silver Lake and the persons acting in concert with it. Such forward-looking statements are based on current plans, estimates and projections made by Silver Lake and the persons acting in concert with it to the best of their knowledge, but are not guarantees of future accuracy (this applies in particular to circumstances beyond the control of Silver Lake or the persons acting in concert with it). Forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties, most of which are difficult to predict and are usually beyond Silver Lake's control or the control of the persons acting in concert with it. It should be taken into account that actual results or consequences in the future may differ materially from those indicated or contained in the forward-looking statements. It cannot be ruled out that Silver Lake and the persons acting in concert with it will in future change their intentions and estimates stated in documents or notifications or in the offer document.

SOURCE: Silver Lake

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/755680/Silver-Lake-Publishes-Offer-Document-for-Voluntary-Public-Tender-Offer-for-SoftwareAG-Acceptance-Period-Starts-Today
NORTHAMPTON, MA / ACCESSWIRE / May 17, 2023 / Wells Fargo

WASHINGTON, May 17, 2023 /3BL Media/ - This week, SaverLife, a national fintech nonprofit and advocacy organization, announced a new research initiative called "The Downpour." This initiative highlights the impacts of climate change on the financial health of individuals earning less than $50,000 per year. With support from the Wells Fargo Foundation, Saverlife will publish a series of reports that identify how individuals with low-to-moderate income are currently navigating climate-related events, as well as determine how well existing policies to mitigate climate change support them.

SaverLife reaches more than 600,000 members across the country working to achieve financial stability and build wealth. Through its financial technology platform, SaverLife provides members with financial content, savings rewards and incentives, online community support, and opportunities to engage with research efforts and policy work.

"Climate change is a major threat to the financial well-being of all Americans, but the impacts are disproportionately felt by those living paycheck to paycheck," said Leigh Phillips, President and CEO of SaverLife. "If we are to ensure families can navigate both weather related disasters and the increasing chronic financial stressors associated with a warming planet, we must first understand how households are experiencing these challenges today and work together to design solutions that are inclusive of everyone."

The initiative will leverage a panel of advisors from across the climate, community organizing, and financial health fields. Project advisors will include representation from organizations such as Inclusiv, NRDC, NEADA, the University of Michigan, and the Greenlining Institute. It will also generate actionable recommendations that the financial sector can use to better support low-to-moderate income households as they adapt to climate change.

"Wells Fargo is pleased to support financial health and resiliency in our communities through The Downpour initiative with our partners SaverLife," said Robyn Luhning, chief sustainability officer at Wells Fargo. "This research will ultimately help our most vulnerable communities be more resilient when facing the impacts of climate change."

SaverLife will publish the research on its website as it is released later this year. To learn more about this project, and to be notified of future research initiatives, sign up here.

###

About SaverLife

SaverLife is a 501(c)3 nonprofit on a mission to inspire, inform, and reward the millions of Americans who need help saving money. Through engaging technology, strategic partnerships, and effective public policy, we give working people the methods and motivation to take control of their financial future.





View additional multimedia and more ESG storytelling from Wells Fargo on 3blmedia.com.



Contact Info:

Spokesperson: Wells Fargo

Website: https://www.3blmedia.com/profiles/wells-fargo

Email: info@3blmedia.com



SOURCE: Wells Fargo

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/755695/Exposing-the-Financial-Impacts-of-Climate-Change-on-Households-With-Low-Income
Edmonton, Alberta--(Newsfile Corp. - May 17, 2023) - Radient Technologies Inc. (TSXV: RTI) (OTCQX: RDDTF) ("Radient" or the "Company") announces today the resignation of interim Chairman Jocelyne Lafreniere from its board of directors, effective immediately. The board and management of the Company express their gratitude to Jocelyne for her efforts and extensive contributions, and wishes her well in her future.

About Radient

Radient Technologies is an innovative science-based company that is a commercial manufacturer of high quality cannabinoid based formulations, ingredients and products. Utilizing a proprietary extraction and downstream processing platform that recovers up to 99% of cannabinoids from the cannabis plant, Radient develops specialty products and ingredients that contain a broad range of cannabinoid and terpene profiles while meeting the highest standards of quality and safety. Radient also has a science lab that is focused on innovation with expertise in formulations and technologies offering unique solutions in the cannabis and wellness space. Please visit www.radientinc.com for more information.

SOURCE: Radient Technologies Inc.

For further information please contact:

Radient - Investor Relations, ir@radientinc.com

Forward-Looking Information:

This press release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. Forward-looking information includes, without limitation, statements regarding the growth of the Company's business operations. Generally, forward-looking information can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "plans", "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", or "believes", or variations of such words and phrases or state that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will be taken", "occur" or "be achieved". 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 Radient, as the case may be, to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. Although Radient 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. There can be no assurance that such information will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. Radient 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.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/166519
+39,93% Rendite seit Januar  so lautet die Erfolgsbilanz der Aktie der Woche. Damit wurden sowohl der DAX als auch der S&P 500 deutlich outperformt. Wie das genau funktioniert, erklart Chefradakteur Lars Wiler in seiner Zwischenbilanz.

CANBERA (dpa-AFX) - Australia will on Thursday release April figures for unemployment, headlining a modest day for Asia-Pacific economic activity. The jobless rate is expected to hold steady at 3.5 percent, with the Australian economy tipped to add 25.0K jobs following the increase of 53.0K jobs in March. The participation rate is called steady at 66.7 percent. Japan will provide April numbers for imports, exports and trade balance. Imports are expected to fall 0.3 percent on year after rising 7.3 percent in March. Exports are called higher by an annual 3.0 percent, easing from 4.3 percent in the previous month. The trade deficit is pegged at 613.8 billion yen following the 755.1 billion yen shortfall a month earlier. New Zealand will see Q1 figures for producer prices. Inputs are expected to hold steady at 0.5 percent on quarter, while outputs are tipped to rise 0.8 percent, easing from 0.9 percent in the three months prior. Hong Kong will see April figures for unemployment, with forecasts pinning the jobless rate at 2.9 percent - down from 3.1 percent in March. Finally, the markets in Indonesia are closed in observance of Ascension Day and will reopen on Friday. Copyright(c) 2023 RTTNews.com. All Rights Reserved Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
bolttech, a Singapore-based B2B2C insurtech company, raised US$196M in Series B funding at US$1.6 Billion valuation.

The round was led by Tokio Marine with participation from MetLife through its subsidiary MetLife Next Gen Ventures, Malaysias sovereign wealth fund Khazanah Nasional, as well as new and existing shareholders.

The company intends to use the funds to further accelerate its organic growth, including investments in proprietary technology, in digital capabilities for business partners and end consumers, as well as talent across its 30+ markets, as well as to explore inorganic opportunities to accelerate international growth.

Led by CEO Rob Schimek, bolttech is a global B2B2C insurtech that connects insurers with distributors and their customers. With licenses to operate throughout Asia, Europe and all 50 U.S. states, the company enables businesses to offer insurance products that meet their customers evolving insurance and protection needs in the digital age.

bolttech now quotes approximately US$55 billion worth of annualized premiums. Globally, its ecosystem connects 700 distribution partners with more than 230 insurance providers and offers in excess of 6,000 product variations.

FinSMEs

17/05/2023
Entro, a Boston, MA-based cybersecurity startup offering secrets security and management, raised $6M in Seed funding.

The round was led by StageOne Ventures and Hyperwise Ventures with participation from angel investors Rakesh Loonkar, Mickey Boodaei, and Amichai Shulman.

The company intends to use the funds to expand operations and its business reach.

Founded by Itzik Alvas, CEO, and Adam Cheriki, CTO, Entro provides a cyber holistic security platform that detects, safeguards and provides context for secrets* stored across vaults, source code, collaboration tools, cloud environments and SaaS platforms. In real time, CISOs and security teams can track the activity of any and all secrets, including enhanced secrets lineage correlation and gain in-depth visibility to owner, enablement status, permission or cloud services privileges, correlated service and risk level.

In addition to safeguarding cloud services and data from secret-based breaches, Entro helps organizations meet regulations like SOC 2 that require secrets protection such as rotation, which the platform easily enables. It integrates with R&D teams workflows and empowers organizations to use their preferred tools, without sacrificing security or development time and effort.

*Secrets security refers to the practice of protecting access keys and credentials from unauthorized access, disclosure, or use. Secrets are often programmatic access keys (such as API keys, access tokens, connection strings, etc.) used by applications to access sensitive data and cloud services. With cloud services on the rise, even more secrets are being created by R&D teams. Today there are a minimum of 500 secrets per organization scattered across at least five different secret stores.

FinSMEs

17/05/2023
Ora, a Singapore-based provider of a telehealth platform, raised $10M in Series A funding.

The round was co-led by TNB Aura and Antler with participation from Gobi Partners, Kairous Capital and GMA Ventures, bringing total funding to date above $17M USD.

The company intends to use the funds to double down on the centralised software platform, geographical expansion and development of a new consumer healthcare offering.

Founded in 2020 by CEO Elias Pour, Ora operates healthcare brands powered by a vertically integrated telehealth platform such as Modules (prescription skincare), OVA (womens health) and andSons (mens health). It is now operating in Singapore, Malaysia and the Philippines with additional markets being launched during the rest of 2023. Later this year, Oras brands will arrive in retail across 1300 tier one stores bringing its medically-backed range of products to shelves.

FinSMEs

17/05/2023
In a bid to identify dormant bank accounts and return all unclaimed deposits to their rightful owners, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has launched a new campaign titled 100 Days 100 Pays. In the 7th Meeting of the Financial Stability and Development Council (FSDC) chaired by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, she asked regulators to conduct a special drive in order to facilitate the settlement of unclaimed deposits and claims across all segments including banking deposits, shares, dividends, mutual funds, and insurance, among others. Acting upon this, the RBI has now directed banks to identify accounts with no customer-initiated transactions for more than ten years and further pay the top 100 unclaimed deposits from each bank in every district within 100 days.

In its statement released on 12 May 2023, the campaign will be kickstarted from 1 June 2023.

RBI directs banks to trace unclaimed deposits

As a part of RBIs 100 Days 100 Pays campaign, banks will be directed to trace and settle the top 100 unclaimed deposits of every bank in every district of the country within 100 days. Through this, RBI will add to its ongoing efforts and initiatives to reduce the quantum of unclaimed deposits in the banking system and further return such deposits to their rightful owners/ claimants.

Speaking about the entire process, banks after identifying such dormant accounts will transfer them to RBIs Depositor Education and Awareness (DEA) Fund. As of February 2023, about Rs 35,000 crore of unclaimed deposits have been transferred to RBI.

The central bank has further announced that they would set up a web portal to help citizens search for such unclaimed deposits across multiple banks.

How to claim unclaimed bank deposits?

While all the unclaimed bank deposits will be directly transferred to RBIs DEA Fund, people can check for such details with their respective banks.

Those who are looking forward to retrieving long-pending and unclaimed deposits need to visit the bank where the particular account is maintained. They will be provided with the Annexure-B, or Claim Form. Youll need to duly fill out the form with all the necessary details including the accounts available information, recent pictures, valid ID proof, and KYC documents, before submitting it to the bank.

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The Union Public Service Commission will release UPSC CDS 2 Exam 2023 notification today, 17 May. Aspirants who are willing to be a part of the Armed Forces, can register on the commissions official website- upsc.gov.in. UPSC released the CDS exam schedule 2023 in its Exam Calendar 2023. According to the calendar, the CDS 2 exam will be conducted on 3 September while the CDS 1 exam was held on 16 April.

UPSC CDS 2 2023 Exam: Eligibility Criteria (based on the previous notice)

Candidates are needed to pass eligibility standards set by the commission for defence recruitment. They are advised to visit the official portal to check the detailed eligibility criteria.

UPSC CDS 2 Exam: Education Qualification (based on the previous notice)

Air Force Academy  Aspirants must have pursued a graduation degree from a recognised university (with Physics and Mathematics at 10+2 level) or Bachelor of Engineering.

Indian Naval Academy  Applicants should possess a graduate degree in engineering from any recognised university or institute.

I.M.A. and Officers Training Academy  Candidate must have a graduation degree (in any subject) from a recognised university or equivalent.

CDS 2 Exam 2023: Age Limit (based on the previous notice)

Applicants should be between 20 to 24 years of age. For further details, they are suggested to consult the official website.

CDS 2 Exam 2023: Selection Process

UPSC holds a four-tier recruitment test for AFA, IMA, INA & Officers Training Academy posts. These stages include  Written Exam, SSB Interview/Personality Test, Document Verification and Medical Examination.

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Every family has a little bit of drama and royal families have it a little bit more because all their moves are in the public eye. According to Nick Bullen, editor-in-chief of True Royalty TV, it appears that there is little urgency for Prince Harry to make a swift return to London. Adding to this, Meghan Markle has displayed a lack of enthusiasm for revisiting the city. Bullen speculates that this could mark the initiation of a gradual disengagement between the Sussexes and the royal family.

During his brief visit, Harry kept a low profile and stayed out of the spotlight. Unlike other members of the royal family who were seen attending events and dinners leading up to the coronation, there were no public sightings of Harry. It appears he chose to maintain a low-key presence throughout the entire visit. Harry was made to sit ten rows behind his brother, William.

According to Bullen, the royal family was unaware of Harrys plans for the afternoon following the coronation ceremony until the day of the event. While there was some anticipation that he might join in the familys festivities, it transpired that Harry had to leave as he had a flight to catch and couldnt stay any longer.

Harrys relationship with his brother Prince William is still sour. According to Bullen, there were no signs of reconciliation or communication between the two during Harrys visit for the coronation. At present, Prince Harry has returned to his home in Montecito, California, following the coronation. Whether or not he will pay future visits to the royal family in London is yet to be seen. The dynamics within the family and the evolving circumstances surrounding Harrys personal and professional endeavors will likely determine the extent of his future interactions with the British royal household.

Beginning of the rift in the relationship

According to usmagazine.com, Prince Harry and Meghan announced their plans to take a break from their senior roles in January 2020, the news came as a big shock to those closest to them.

Prince William was blindsided by Harry and Meghans decision and statement, a source exclusively told Us Weekly at the time. William is incredibly hurt, but at the same time he has his own family to focus on and is trying to move forward with his life.

Before he and Meghan settled down in California with their son, Archie, the Duke of Sussex attended a series of meetings with his grandmother Queen Elizabeth II and had a heart-to-heart about the situation. Despite his decision to leave his position within the palace, Harry adores the monarch, a source said at the time.

The start of the royal feud

Things are still bitter because of Harry and Meghan Markles tell-all interview with Oprah Meghans even more recent interview with The Cut. On top of it all, the final three episodes of the Sussexes Netflix docuseries Harry & Meghan finally dropped, which caused the royal family to spiral for literal weeks before the show was even available. Followed by the controversial Netflix docuseries Harry & Meghan was Prince Harrys memoir Spare where he detailed a lot of dark royal secrets along with his bitter relationship with his brother Prince William.

According to The Daily Beast, William, and Kate Middleton have opposed Charles making frequent concessions to Harry and Meghan, and their opinions are being taken into account. Charles has been emphasizing joint responsibility with William and Kate for the monarchys direction of travel since his coronation. Although Harry attended the coronation, he reportedly left immediately afterward to return to California for his sons birthday. Harrys early exit from King Charles Coronation and Meghan not attending the coronation and later posting her hiking images made the relationship even bitter.

Spare him not

Sources claim that the situation has escalated to such an extent that William allegedly feels completely betrayed by his brother, and even hates him. Harrys memoir, Spare, contained some explosive allegations against William and Kate, including claims that they encouraged him to wear a Nazi uniform to a costume party 18 years ago. The book also featured an account of a physical fight between the adult brothers, in which Harry claimed he was knocked to the ground, breaking a dog bowl.

Prince William and Kate created a rift between Harry, Meghan and Charles

In one section of Spare, Harry blamed Prince William and Kate for encouraging him to wear a Nazi uniform to a costume party 18 years ago. The book also featured an account of a physical fight between the adult brothers, in which Harry said he was knocked to the ground, breaking a dog bowl.

According to the reports in The Daily Beast that William feels completely betrayed by his brother revealing his secrets and now hates Harry. Sources have told The Daily Beast he was particularly angered by Harrys retelling the Nazi uniform story in such a way as to implicate him and Kate.

(With added inputs from agencies)

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The skies over Kyiv were lit up with thundering explosions early Tuesday as Ukrainian air defences slammed approaching Russian missiles, raining debris across the city. Ukraine now claims to have accomplished a unique military feat: the downing of advanced Russian hypersonic Kinzhal missiles.

The Russian forces fired six Kh-47M2 Kinzhals at targets in Ukraines capital Kyiv, early Tuesday, with Ukraine saying it had shot down all six, and Russia claiming one got through air defences to destroy a US-built Patriot surface-to-air anti-missile defence system.

Six Kh-47M2 Kinzhal aeroballistic missiles were fired from six MiG-31K aircraft, nine Kalibr cruise missiles from ships in the Black Sea, and three land-based missiles (S-400, Iskander-M), Ukrainian armed forces chief General Valerii Zaluzhnyi said on Twitter, adding that Moscow also launched attack drones, which were all destroyed.

Here are some crucial facts about Russias hypersonic missile Kinzhal.

What is a Kinzhal?

The Kh-47M2 Kinzhal is a Russian-made nuclear-capable hypersonic aero-ballistic air-to-surface missile capable of carrying nuclear or conventional warheads. Ukraine said six of them were fired on Tuesday.

It has a reported range of 1,500 to 2,000 km (930 to 1,240 miles) while carrying a payload of 480 kg. It may reach speeds of up to Mach 10 (12,250 kph), which is 10 times faster than the speed of sound. The missile weighs 9,500 pounds (4,300 kilogrammes).

Once launched, a Kinzhal, which means dagger in Russian, rapidly achieves Mach 4 (3,000 miles per hour) and can reach speeds of up to Mach 10 (7,600mph). These speeds, combined with the missiles erratic flight trajectory and its extreme manoeuvrability, make interception extremely difficult.

A July 2018 report by the Russian TASS news agency suggested that a Kinzhal can achieve a range of over 1,800 miles (2,000 km) if launched from a Tupolev Tu-22M strategic bomber.

What distinguishes the Kinzhal from other missiles?

The Kinzhal is one of six next generation weapons unveiled by President Vladimir Putin in a speech in March 2018. He has said these weapons could penetrate both existing and any future missile defence systems.

It is the cousin of the 9K720 Iskander-M  a short-range, ground-launched ballistic missile that Russia has used somewhat frequently throughout the war in Ukraine.

Also Read: From pistols to cruise missiles: How Western weaponry supplied to Ukraine has evolved during the war

Putin said in December 2021, two months before the invasion of Ukraine, that Russia was the global leader in hypersonic missiles and, by the time other countries caught up, was likely to have developed technology to counteract these new weapons.

In our advanced developments, we are definitely the leaders, he said.

Russia sent fighter jets armed with Kinzhal missiles to Syria for the first time in 2021, military analysts say.

Russias defence ministry claimed to have fired a Kinzhal missile at a munitions dump in southwestern Ukraine on 19 March, 2022, the first known use of the weapon in combat. It has since fired Kinzhal missiles on several other occasions in Ukraine.

On 6 May, Ukraine said for the first time that it had shot down a Kinzhal, using a Patriot system. It was not clear whether the Western systems Kyiv said it used against Kinzhals on Tuesday were also Patriots.

The aerial assault over Kyiv early on Tuesday was the eighth large-scale attack on the city this month; Ukrainian officials have said the attacks were aimed at exhausting their air defences. Tuesdays barrage was extraordinary in the number of attacks launched at the capital over a short period of time.

Why is it so difficult to take down?

The Kinzhals unique characteristic lies in its challenging interception capabilities.

According to Sidharth Kaushal, a research fellow at the Royal United Services Institute, a defence and security think tank in London, the missile is difficult to intercept because of its altitude, which is between 30 and 40 km above ground.

As a result of its altitude, the Kinzhal operates beyond the reach of numerous lower-tier air defence interceptors, while remaining within a lower altitude range compared to ballistic missile defence systems that operate at much higher altitudes.

The Kinzhal decreases in speed as it descends so there is a small window of opportunity to intercept it. A missile is fired from the Patriot to meet it and on the way it explodes, creating a barrier of explosive fragments through which the Kinzhal would fly, leading to its destruction, explains Dr Marina Miron of Kings College Londons defence studies department, explaining how the missile could be intercepted, as reported by inews.

Kaushal continues, as reported by CBC, that the challenges with intercepting the missile dont end there.

When the Kinzhal is in its terminal phase and descending rapidly toward a target, it releases six decoys that mimic the radar signature of the warhead itself, Kaushal said.

If an air defence system on the ground is firing interceptors, in principle, it may eliminate decoys rather than the warhead theyre actually going for, he said.

With inputs from agencies

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Ukraine has stepped up their attacks against Russia in recent days. Kyiv is continuously pressuring its partners for more military weaponry. It also claims its forces have retaken land around Bakhmut and shot down Russian missiles targeting Kyiv.

But has Ukraines long-promised counter offensive against the Russian invasion actually begun?

Analysts say Ukraine has stepped up its activity along the front line, seeking notably to pin Russia down and inflict maximum casualties around the flashpoint town of Bakhmut.

Meanwhile, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has been on a whistlestop tour of European allies, winning pledges from Britain, France and Germany of increased military support while insisting Kyiv needs more.

Also Read: What is Russias Kinzhal missile that Ukraine claims to have shot down?

Western capitals are eager to see the offensive start, in the hope Ukraine can make gains, force Russia to the negotiating table on Kyivs terms and open a path to ending the conflict.

Ukraine is seeking to take back control of territory occupied by Russian forces in the wake of the February 2022 invasion and also areas, including Crimea and parts of the Donbas, seized by Russia in 2014.

The battle for Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine has turned into the longest standoff since the Russian invasion.

Ukraine is now saying it is advancing in the area, retaking Russian positions in Bakhmuts suburbs.

I lean towards the interpretation that Ukraine is fixing Russian forces in Bakhmut to keep them committed to a particular front while Ukrainian forces probe different areas, said Ivan Kyszcz, a research fellow at the International Centre for Defence and Security in Estonia.

My preliminary conclusion is that these probing and shaping operations will be ongoing but remain at the tactical level, that is, until the leadership decides the best moment to launch a larger operation, he told AFP.

Probing Russian defences

Moscows forces switched several weeks ago into a defensive posture, employing a large number of soldiers, sometimes three lines deep, to hold positions.

Their set-up includes anti-tank ditches, barriers, pre-fabricated lines of defence like the small anti-tank concrete pyramids known as dragons teeth, and trenches for the men.

The Ukrainian counter-offensive consequently risks being deadly and costly in terms of equipment for Kyiv.

But it appears Ukraine has started a period of tests to measure the effectiveness of this defence.

Ukraine has conducted local counter-offensives in and around Bakhmut to roll back Russias flanks and gauge defences in the region.

Elsewhere, Ukrainian forces are likewise probing Russian defences and reaction behaviours, said Lucas Webber, co-founder and editor of the Militant Wire news site on global military activity.

He said it was difficult to say whether the full planned counter-offensive has begun.

However, these actions suggest Ukraine is preparing for something much larger.

Also Read: From pistols to cruise missiles: How Western weaponry supplied to Ukraine has evolved during the war

These could be shaping operations to put Ukraine in a better position when the real action starts.

He said the full counter-offensive was likely to involve multiple fronts, including operations to take back the parts of the Zaporizhzhia region it does not currently control.

That includes the Zaporizhzhia its nuclear power plant which is still occupied by Russian forces, and the south of the region.

Taking Bakhmut in itself would be a blow to Russia.

The citys symbolic importance after such a long battle now outstrips its strategic value, especially given the resources used by the Russian army and the Wagner mercenary group under Yevgeny Prigozhin.

A successful Ukrainian campaign in the region would frustrate Russia and set Moscows war efforts back considerably, said Webber.

Push the other into a mistake

Further intrigue comes from the increasingly volatile behaviour of Prigozhin, who is becoming ever more scathing in his criticism of the Russian defence ministry and on Friday accused the Russian army of fleeing rather than regrouping around Bakhmut.

A report in the Washington Post on Sunday said Prigozhin had maintained contact with Ukrainian intelligence throughout the war and had even in January offered to give Kyiv information on Russian troop positions if Ukraines commanders withdrew their soldiers from the area around Bakhmut.

Some commentators are now arguing he had crossed a line and risks antagonising Russian President Vladimir Putin but Prigozhin has dismissed the allegations as laughable.

Pierre Razoux, academic director of the France-based Mediterranean Foundation of Strategic Studies (FMES), said the current situation was characteristic of a phase where both sides were using feints and games to deceive the other ahead of a major operation.

The preparatory phases of clandestine actions and deceptions and manipulations seems to have been well launched on both sides, he said.

Each side is probably trying to push the other side into a mistake by convincing them to attack where they seem weakest.

With inputs from AFP

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My worst fear is that we, the field, the technology, the industry, cause significant harm to the world. If this technology goes wrong it can go quite wrong, we want to work with the government to prevent that from happening.

In a US Senate hearing on Tuesday, which went on for little less than three hours, ChatGPT creator and OpenAI chief executive Samuel Altman uttered these ominous words when asked about the about the possibilities  and pitfalls  of the new technology and artificial intelligence.

During the hearing, the 38-year-old, who has become the global face of AI, urged American lawmakers to regulate artificial intelligence, describing the technologys current boom as a potential printing press moment but one that required safeguards. We think that regulatory intervention by governments will be critical to mitigate the risks of increasingly powerful models, Altman said in his opening remarks.

Incidentally, this is not the first time that Altman has warned about the dangers of AI. While releasing the newer version of ChatGPT in March, he had said, Weve got to be careful here. I think people should be happy that we are a little bit scared of this. Im particularly worried that these models could be used for large-scale disinformation. Now that theyre getting better at writing computer code, [they] could be used for offensive cyber-attacks.

We analyse Altmans remarks during the Senate hearing and explain the dangers of AI and why it needs to be regulated.

AI, disinformation and elections

At the beginning of the hearing, Altman said, OpenAI was founded on the belief that artificial intelligence has the potential to improve nearly every aspect of our lives, but also that it creates serious risks.

Lawmakers at the hearing expressed great concern about misinformation that could be spread through AI, as an election year looms ahead. Josh Hawley, a US Senator for Missouri, said: We could be looking at one of the most significant technological innovations in human history.

My question is, what kind of innovation is it going to be? Is it going to be like the printing press Or is it going to be more like the atom bomb? he asked.

Senator Mazie Hirono also noted the danger of misinformation as the 2024 election nears. In the election context, for example, I saw a picture of former President Trump being arrested by NYPD and that went viral, she said, pressing Altman on whether he would consider the faked image harmful.

Also read: Donald Trump arrested? Vladimir Putin in jail? How deepfakes are spreading misinformation online

Reacting to Hirono, Altman said that creators should make clear when an image is generated rather than factual.

He further reiterated that he was nervous about the use of AI to interfere with election integrity and said that rules and guidelines should be in place. According to a report by Mashable, Altman was open to nutrition labels about the nature and source of generative AI content from third parties.

Gary Marcus, the New York University professor emeritus and leader of Ubers AI labs, who was also present at the hearing painted a scary picture. Speaking of how dangerous AI is, he told the lawmakers, They can and will create persuasive lies at a scale humanity has never seen before. Outsiders will use them to affect our elections, insiders to manipulate our markets and our political systems. Democracy itself is threatened.

AI and job security

Long before the hearing, there have been concerns about loss of jobs as AI tools replace employees at the workplace. When asked if this was a concern, Altmans view was that AI might replace jobs, leading to layoffs in certain fields.

However, he added that it would also create new ones: I believe that there will be far greater jobs on the other side of this and that the jobs of today will get better. He noted that models like ChatGPT were good at doing tasks, not jobs and would therefore make work easier for people, without replacing them altogether.

IBM chief privacy and trust officer, Christina Montgomery, who was also at the hearing too acknowledged that some jobs would transition away but echoed Altmans optimism on it being a job creator.

Earlier, Goldman Sachs had predicted that if the AI wave continued, an estimated 300 million jobs would be lost out to technology. The investment bank had said that office administrative support, legal, architecture and engineering, business and financial operations, management, sales, healthcare and art and design would be sectors impacted by AI.

Path to regulate AI

Unlike previous hearing on Big Tech, this hearing was less hostile with Altman urging for regulation in the AI sector. In fact, he laid out a three-point plan on the same. He said that a government agency should be formed that would be in charge of licensing large AI models. This agency should also be empowered to revoke the licences of companies that didnt comply with government standards.

Moreover, set up safety standards for AI models and also make it mandatory for companies to be independently audited by experts.

However, one concern voiced by lawmakers about setting up a governmental agency to regulate AI was whether it would be able to keep up with the technology that is moving so fast.

In fact, Senator Corey Booker was of the opinion that the tech industry pause all development on AI until it was possible to establish all the risks and remedies. Altman disagreed with the idea of taking a break, but he confirmed that his company is currently not training any AI models.

Montgomery was not keen, either. Im not sure how practical it is to pause but we absolutely should prioritise regulation, she told lawmakers.

Senator Richard Blumenthal strongly disagreed with the idea of pausing AI innovation. The world wont wait. The global scientific community wont wait. We have adversaries that are moving ahead, he warned Congress. Safeguards and protections yes, but a flat stop sign, sticking our heads in the sand, I would advocate against that.

Dangers of AI

In recent times, AI has become a buzzword and a lot has been said about it. However, as it slowly seeps into daily life of people across the world, experts have cited the dangers posed by it. Disinformation and job loss is the primary concerns highlighted by experts. They observe that because these systems deliver information with what seems like complete confidence, it can be a struggle to separate truth from fiction when using them.

Experts are concerned that people will rely on these systems for medical advice, emotional support and the raw information they use to make decisions. There is no guarantee that these systems will be correct on any task you give them, Subbarao Kambhampati, a professor of computer science at Arizona State University, was quoted as telling New York Times.

Some believe that AI poses very serious risks and people arent yet aware of them. One such person is Geoffrey Hinton, who is widely seen as the godfather of artificial intelligence. Earlier in May, the 75-year-old announced his resignation from Google, saying he now regretted his work.

Tech billionaire Elon Musk and others also expressed concern about AI and in March had written an open letter, calling for a pause on all developments more advanced than the current version of AI chatbot ChatGPT so robust safety measures could be designed and implemented.

Yoshua Bengio, another so-called godfather of AI, who along with Dr Hinton and Yann LeCun won the 2018 Turing Award for their work on deep learning, also signed the letter. Bengio wrote that it was because of the unexpected acceleration in AI systems that we need to take a step back.

With inputs from agencies

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Press Release

May 17, 2023 HONTIVEROS SEEKS TO PENALIZE GOV'T OFFICERS CONSPIRING WITH AGRI SMUGGLERS Senator Risa Hontiveros wants to prosecute government employees and officials who conspire with agricultural smugglers. Hontiveros introduced Senate Bill No. 2205 to amend certain provisions of Republic Act No. 10845, also known as the Anti-Agricultural Smuggling Act, to criminalize government and employees officials who are found conniving with large-scale agricultural smugglers. "Since the law's passage in 2016, even if there have been many reports of the seizure of smuggled products, there has been no prosecution of individuals, groups, or corporations under the law," she said. "There has been no prosecution of government officials for facilitating and abetting acts of agricultural smuggling that amount to large-scale economic sabotage. As a result, smuggling activities continue with impunity," Hontiveros furthered. Under the proposed measure, any act by a public employee or officer that allows the importation into the country without the needed import permit shall be declared as economic sabotage. "In the sugar fiasco that is still unfolding, for example, documented accounts show that tens of thousands of metric tons of sugar - a regulated commodity - were allowed into the country without a sugar order," Hontiveros said. The approval or issuance by a public employee or officer of any license, declaration, clearance, or permit, knowing that it is manifestly unlawful, inequitable, or irregular, will also be considered economic sabotage. Any person who violates the measure will face life imprisonment and a fine of twice the fair value of the smuggled agricultural product, including the taxes, duties, and other charges avoided plus interest at the legal rate. The prescription period or the time within which charges can be filed is 20 years. "Agricultural smuggling is costing the government billions of pesos a year in lost revenues. The smuggling of regulated agricultural commodities has also led to high prices for consumers, the violation of our competition laws, and most importantly, the further decline of our domestic agricultural sector," Hontiveros said in the explanatory note. "It is time to hold to account government officials who allow smuggling to persist unfettered," she concluded. ______________________ Please see attached SBN 2205 in PDF
The route to parenthood can be more challenging for same-sex couples than it is for their heterosexual peers.

However, the situation is gradually improving.

Many countries, including Europe, America and Australia, have accepted LGBTQ adoption.

The latest one to join the list is Taiwan, which passed an amendment that permits same-sex couples to adopt children they are not biologically related to. The move is lauded by many LGBTQ advocates.

Also read: I Do: Will India become the next country to approve of same-sex marriages?

Taiwan allows same-sex adoption

According to NPR, the same-sex marriage statute in Taiwan was changed on Tuesday to allow for more joint adoptions.

This reform has been demanded by the Taiwan Alliance to Promote Civil Partnership Rights.

The island fails to guarantee the full rights of same-sex couples in matters of adoption, it claimed, following the legalisation of same-sex marriage in 2019.

The alliance said in a statement following the legislatures move that todays success shows that the consensus in Taiwan is to protect the human rights of LGBTI peoples and promote gender equality, according to CNN.

In 2019, Taiwan became the only country in Asia to legalise gay marriage.

Those married couples, nevertheless, were only able to adopt children who were connected to one of the partners.

This arrangement, according to lawmakers from the islands Democratic Progressive Party, is risky, especially if one parent passes away and the other is unable to obtain legal custody of the children.

They claimed that if one individual had children, it might even discourage same-sex couples from getting married.

Also read: Supreme Court reserves judgment on pleas seeking to legalise same-sex marriage

Countries which allow same-sex adoption

Asia

Adoption of people of the same sex is virtually nonexistent in Asia as LGBTQ rights are generally quite restricted.

Israel stands out as the major exception to this, which is seen as progressive in nearly every element of LGBTQ life.

In fact, Tel Aviv is frequently rated as one of the worlds gay-friendliest cities.

In Israel, same-sex adoption has been permitted since 2008.

According to German outlet DW, the country also ended a ban on surrogacy for same-sex couples in April last year.

Also read: Why are same-sex families under threat in Hungary?

Europe

The following European nations allow same-sex couples to adopt a child together: Andoria, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Faroe Islands, Finland, France, Germany, Gibraltar, Iceland, Ireland, Luxemburg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom.

In European nations where dual adoption is prohibited, it is possible for an LGBTQ person to adopt unilaterally and/or for their partner to later adopt their child.

Moreover, the most prominent exception to the general freedom of adoption for same-sex couples in Europe is Russia, which, regrettably, has no legislation against discrimination against LGBTQ people and has a negative attitude toward homosexuality.

They prohibit international adoption to nations that have legalised same-sex marriage and do not permit same-sex adoption.

In 12 European nations, assisted reproduction for lesbian couples is legal, according to NDTV.

North America, South America and the Caribbean

According to CoParents.co.uk, prior to 2015, many states had different rules on same-sex marriage and adoption.

However, due to a number of supreme court decisions, same-sex unions and adoptions are now accepted in all 50 states in 2017, after overturning an Arkansas law banning adoption by same-sex couples.

When it comes to same-sex couples adopting, the situation is complex in South America and the Caribbean.

Some nations, like Mexico, have made adoption legal and encourage adoption from same-sex parents abroad.

While in other nations, homosexuality and same-sex relationships, in general, are still frowned upon or even illegal, like in Guyana and Jamaica.

The South American and Caribbean nations that permit same-sex couples to adopt together are: Argentina, Bermuda, Brazil, Colombia, Falkland Islands, French Guiana, Mexico, and Puerto Rico.

Also read: Why recognising and prioritising children in the same-sex marriage debate is important

Africa

Same-sex unions and adoptions are permitted in only South Africa.

In comparison to the rest of the world, the rights of LGBTQ persons are severely restricted across the majority of Africa.

Australia and New Zealand

All Australian states now allow same-sex adoptions, albeit it should be noted that the Northern Territory was the last state to legalise adoption before this happened in April 2018, reported CoParents.co.uk.

Since 2013, adoption has been permitted in New Zealand.

With inputs from agencies

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On Saturday (13 May), the Congress wrested power from the Bharatiya Janata Party in the state of Karnataka by winning 135 of the 224-seat Assembly. However, since then the party has been in a huddle trying to determine who should be the chief minister of the southern state. The frontrunners in the race as veteran leader Siddaramaiah and Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee chief (KPCC) DK Shivakumar.

On Tuesday, both the Karnataka leaders met Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge to present why they would be the better choice for the Karnataka top post. Former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi was also present at the meetings.

Presently, the odds are in the favour of 75-year-old Siddaramaiah owing to his past experience and the support he enjoys not only within the party but also across the state. However, DK Shivakumar, who put off going to Delhi for a day, citing ill health, said that he had delivered the state of Karnataka to Sonia Gandhi and the senior leaders of the Congress and kept his promise.

Moreover, there are some within the high command who also believe that Shivakumar had worked hard for the victory and should be rewarded with the CMs post.

However, the Congress has apprehensions over DK Shivakumar owing to the cases related to money laundering, income tax evasion, and disproportionate assets filed against him.

Heres a better understanding of the corruption cases against the 61-year-old leader and how it hurts his chances of being chief minister.

DK Shivakumars long list of cases

An eight-time MLA, Shivakumar has been a staunch Congress party member since he joined back in the 1980s. He first contested elections from the Sathanur Assembly constituency in 1989 when he was just 27.

Over the years, Shivakumar has climbed the political ladder and become a trusted lieutenant of the Gandhi family as well as earned the title of being a troubleshooter for the party. He was at the thick of things in Maharashtra in 2002 as the then Vilasrao Deshmukh government won a no-confidence motion.

However, his rise within the party has not been without scandal and controversy. Over the years, he has gained the attention of the central agencies like the Enforcement Directorate, the Central Bureau of Investigation as well as the Income Tax (I-T) department.

Also read: DK Shivakumar or Siddaramaiah? Picking CMs is not a new dilemma for Congress

He first came under the I-T scanner in 2017 when large teams of the Income Tax Department raided over 64 locations across Delhi and Karnataka linked to the leader, who was a minister in the state government. At the time, the I-T department had found Rs 8.83 crore in unaccounted cash at premises linked to the Congress leader and stated in a complaint that Shivakumar was not able to account for the source of the funds.

The raids had come at a time when Shivakumar was sheltering 44 Congress MLAs from Gujarat at a resort outside Bengaluru ahead of a crucial poll in Gujarat for Rajya Sabha seats where Congress leader Ahmed Patels fortunes were dependent on the 44 MLAs sheltered by him. He had called the raids a part of BJPs vendetta politics.

A year later, the Enforcement Directorate registered a money laundering case against Shivakumar, A Haumanthaiah, an employee at the Karnataka Bhavan in New Delhi, and other people. The case was based on an Income Tax Department chargesheet filed against Shivakumar and others before a court in Bengaluru for alleged tax evasion and hawala dealings. The I-T department had accused Shivakumar and his associate S K Sharma of transporting huge amount of unaccounted cash on a regular basis through hawala channels with the help of three other accused.

The raids and investigations continued but on 3 September 2019, officials from the ED arrested the Kanakapura strongman on the allegations that he indulged in laundering of huge cash through hawala and also using shell companies. He was sent to Tihar prison and was lodged at jail number 7 where fellow Congressman Karti Chidambaram, son of P Chidambaram, had also been lodged in 2018. It was only after a month that he received bail and walked out of Tihar jail.

Theres also the CBI case against DK Shivakumar filed in 2020 on allegations of acquisition of disproportionate assets. Searches were conducted at multiple locations  nine in Karnataka, four in Delhi and one in Mumbai. DK Shivakumar has not yet been questioned by the CBI in this case.

Sources within the Congress state that they are wary of the corruption cloud that looms over DK Shivakumar and that if he is selected as chief minister how would the administration run while he is called in for questioning. Theres also the added worry of how the Opposition, namely the BJP, would use his cases as fodder to attack the party.

CM discussions continue

Earlier, the Congress had said that they would announce a name by Tuesday evening on their decision for the top post in Karnataka. However, after a day of hectic parleys and discussions, no decision was taken.

Also read: Not just Siddaramaiah, DK Shivakumar: Meet other Karnataka CM hopefuls

Both the contenders for the post met Kharge in separate meetings on Tuesday, with News18 reporting that the KPCC chief didnt hold back in his meeting with the Congress president. Its being reported that Shivakumar informed Kharge about Siddaramaiahs mistakes since 2006, the year when the former CM joined the Congress.

Since Siddaramaiah has come (joined Congress), he has been in power either as the Leader of the Party or as CM so much so that even you could not be chief minister. If you are becoming CM, I have no objection, Shivakumar told Kharge, as per a News18 report.

He highlighted that he has worked for the party while Siddaramaiah has not contributed to building the organisation and has just enjoyed power. In the worst case, Shivakumar said a Dalit should be made the chief minister but not Siddaramaiah.

On the other hand, sources said Siddaramaiah asked Kharge to go by the views of the majority of MLAs. He said whoever enjoys the support is naturally the popular choice.

At the end of the busy day, Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera told reporters that a decision would be announced soon. Appointing a chief minister is not an easy thing. It cannot be imposed from DelhiEverybodys view has to be taken into consideration. We have to engage with every stakeholder and then decide who the chief minister will be. The process is on. The observers have already gone there. Met the MLAs. The MLAs have given their opinions. Now, the opinions have gone, all the record has gone to the central leadership. So, in a day or two you will know the answer.

Interestingly, the BJP had taken seven days for government formation in Uttar Pradesh following its stupendous win in 2022 whereas it took a month in Maharashtra to put a Cabinet in place and nine days in Assam.

With inputs from agencies

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Leaders of the Group of Seven (G7) are set to meet in Japans Hiroshima.

According to the Ministry of External Affairs, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be in Hiroshima from 19 to 21 May for the G7.

The prime minister is set to speak at the G7 with partner nations on subjects such as peace, stability and prosperity of a sustainable planet; and food, fertiliser and energy security.

Modi and US president Joe Biden will also meet on the sidelines of the G7.

But what is the G7? And what can we expect from the Japan meet?

Lets take a closer look:

The G7 is an informal grouping of the worlds leading industrial powers.

It comprises France, Germany, Italy, Japan, United Kingdom, Canada, and United States.

It was formed in 1975  in the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis that shook the world.

Canada joined the group in 1976, while Russia joined in 1998.

The group was then renamed the G8, but has since reverted to G7 after Russias membership was suspended after it invaded and annexed Crimea.

According to Time Magazine, representatives of the United Nations, International Monetary Fund, and the World Trade Organization have also been regularly invited to the G7 since 1996.

While the G7 membership is limited to these nations, the host nation can invite other leaders to attend as partner nations.

Modi is among a slew of world leaders including Australias Anthony Albanese, Brazils Lula da Silva, South Koreas Yoon Suk-yeol who have been invited as observers, as per Time Magazine.

What can we expect from the Japan meet?

China is expected to be the main subject of discussion.

According to Japan Times, China will be a key focus.

G7 trade ministers in April expressed serious concern about economic coercion and said theyd explore joint responses to it, as per the newspaper.

US Ambassador Rahm Emanuel in a dig at China has said the world should expect more than words and communiques on economic coercion.

G7 members are developing the tools to deter and defend against Chinas economic intimidation and retaliation, Emanuel tweeted.

According to Bloomberg, the G7 finance minister have reached out to their counterparts from less developed economies in a bid to counter Chinas influence in the Global South.

According to Kyodo News, Japan will also focus on the topic of Artificial Intelligence.

AI has the potential to positively change the economy and society, and (it also has) risks. We need to respond appropriately to both, Kishida had previously said, as per the newspaper.

It is necessary for Japan, as the G-7 chair, to exercise leadership in promoting common understanding and establishing rules, he added.

According to CFR.org, climate change and nuclear weapons will also likely be discussed.

The latter subject assumes significance in the backdrop of Kishida being a native of Hiroshima  on which the US dropped a nuclear bomb on 6 August, 1945  as well as Vladimir Putins threats to deploy nuclear weapons.

As the only country to suffer a nuclear attack, Japan is unique in understanding the horrific consequences, the piece noted.

Sanctions on Russia expected

New sanctions on Russia are also expected.

Officials with direct knowledge of the discussions said G7 nations plan to tighten sanctions on Russia with steps aimed at energy and exports aiding Moscows war effort.

New measures announced by the leaders during the May 19-21 meetings will target sanctions evasion involving third countries, and seek to undermine Russias future energy production and curb trade that supports Russias military, the people said.

Separately, US officials also expect G7 members will agree to adjust their approach to sanctions so that, at least for certain categories of goods, all exports are automatically banned unless they are on a list of approved items.

The Biden administration has previously pushed G7 allies to reverse the groups sanctions approach, which today allows all goods to be sold to Russia unless they are explicitly blacklisted.

That change could make it harder for Moscow to find gaps in the sanctions regime.

While the allies have not agreed to apply the more-restrictive approach broadly, US officials expect that in the most sensitive areas for Russias military G7 members will adopt a presumption that exports are banned unless they are on a designated list.

The exact areas where these new rules would apply are still being discussed.

You should expect to see, in a handful of spaces, particularly relating to Russias defence industrial base, that change in presumption happen, said a U.S. official who declined to be named.

The G7 leaders action on Russia comes as Ukraines Western allies hunt for new ways to tighten already restrictive sanctions on Russia, from export controls to visa restrictions and an oil price cap, which have put pressure on Russian president Vladimir Putin but not halted the full-scale invasion that started over a year ago.

Some US allies have resisted the idea of banning trade broadly and then issuing category-by-category exemptions.

The European Union, for instance, has its own approach and is also currently negotiating its 11th package of sanctions since Russia invaded Ukraine, with the bulk focused on people and countries circumventing existing trade restrictions.

The sometimes-discussed approach of we ban everything first and allow exceptions will not work in our view, said one top German government official. We want to be very, very precise and we want to avoid unintended side effects.

Meanwhile, any change in language, including language specifying that certain trade is banned unless specifically exempted, by the G7 leaders may not necessarily lead to more bans immediately or indeed any change in Russias posture.

At least on day one, that change in presumption doesnt change the substance of whats allowed, but it matters for the long-term trajectory of where were going and the restrictiveness of the overall regime, the US official said.

Ukraine, backed by Western arms and cash, is expected to launch major counter-offensive operations in the coming weeks to try to recapture tracts of its east and south from Russian forces.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy has been in Europe this week for meetings with Pope Francis as well as with leaders from France, Italy and Germany. He is expected to address G7 leaders, either virtually or in-person, during their summit in Hiroshima, the officials said.

Former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev said last month a G7 move to ban exports to the country would cause Moscow to terminate a Black Sea grain deal that enables vital exports of grain from Ukraine. Food security in the aftermath of the war is also expected to be a major topic at the G7.

With inputs from agencies



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After the success of OpenAI, Sam Altman has another futuristic-sounding idea  a project that involves giving away cryptocurrency to people in exchange for scanning their eyes.

The firm, founded by Altman and theoretical physics student Alex Bania, has already raised $100 million in funding.

Lets take a closer look at Worldcoin:

What is it?

The company website describes its cryptocurrency as an open-source protocol, supported by a global community of developers, individuals, economists and technologists committed to expanding participation in, and access to, the global economy.

It is the first token to be globally and freely distributed to people, for both utility and future governance, just for being a unique individual, the website states.

Nothing like this has ever been done before and the outcome is uncertain, the company blog stated during its launch.

In essence, the project involves giving out free cryptocurrency to people who get their eyes scanned.

According to Indian Express, the aim behind Worldcoin is to create a global identity and financial network.

[Worldcoin] started with a discussion that universal basic income will eventually be something that is very important to the world, and in general, getting access to the internet economy will be much more important than is obvious at this point, Blania told TechCrunch.

The project, set to launch in 2023, will give away around 10 billion in cryptocurrency  of which 80 per cent will go investors.

Another 10 per cent will be given to the company, and the rest will be allotted to the investors, as per TechCrunch.

It also has an app to allow payments, purchases and transfers using the crypto, as per Indian Express.

According to Fortune, the company released the app which holds Bitcoin, Ethereum and Worldcoin last week.

How does it work?

Worldcoin has invented a device known as an orb through which users get their eyes scanned.

According to CNBC, the image is then encrypted and transformed into a unique code. The original data is then wiped after which users get some Worldcoin crypto.

These devices have already been sent to a dozen countries, according to CNBC.

Cryptocurrency is a very powerful thing, Blania told the outlet. It will widen the boundaries of the economy in general and give many people access.

The company previously raised money from famed Silicon Valley investors and LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman as well as Khosla Ventures and Sam Bankman-Fried, the disgraced founder of the bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange FTX.

It is already valued at $1 billion but its co-founder says this is largely meaningless as the ultimate goal is to make it into a foundation.

The equity of the company itself should not matter at all, basically, Blania told TechCrunch.

The company says it could ultimately be used to distribute Universal Basic Income, according to Barrons.

The company claims 1.7 million people have already signed up for Worldcoin including 38,000 this past week, as per Barrons.

Criticisms

As expected, privacy advocates are not fans of Worldcoin.

John Davisson, an attorney at the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC), told Vox this company and currency should simply not exist.

Evan Greer, deputy director of Fight For the Future, added, If your credit card number leaks, you can get a new credit card number but if a biometric scan of your face leaks, you cant get a new face.

With inputs from agencies

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A little-known industrial city in China is now a tourist hot spot. Zibo, located in the eastern Shandong province, has been attracting tourists from across the country for its cheap barbecue. This tourism boom has enveloped the city in recent months following the Asian giant scrapping its stringent zero-COVID policy.

But why has Zibo become so popular among tourists suddenly and what does this barbecue craze says about Chinas economy? Lets find out.

Chinas outdoor barbecue capital

Zibo, which was once known for its petrochemical output, is now a social media sensation and among Chinas most popular tourist spots because of its open-air barbecue stalls.

As per reports, this famed barbecue involves small chunks of marinated meat and vegetable skewered and grilled over charcoal.

A barbecued skewer of mutton costs about 2 yuan (Rs 24) in Zibo.

There are over 1,270 barbecue joints in the city, BBC reported citing the president of Zibos Barbecue Association.

The city was thrown into the spotlight after videos of college students enjoying the affordable local barbecue went viral over the last two months, as per China Daily.

It has become so popular that Zibo barbecue has been a trending topic on Chinese social media platforms such as Xiaohongshu and Weibo since March, reported BBC.

In March, the city, with a local population of 4.7 million people, was flooded by 4.8 million visitors, as per Business Insider.

According to Chinese news website Caixin, a record 87,000 train trips to and from Zibo Railway Station were reported on 29 April.

During the Golden Week holiday in May first week, Zibo accounted for one of Chinas highest hotel room occupancy rates, reported BBC.

This barbecue frenzy has resulted in long queues, swamped hotels, and the setting up of makeshift dining halls to accommodate the crowds.

Local banks have started offering low-interest barbecue loans to business owners to help them to grow, noted The Globe and Mail.

A native of Zibo city told chinanews.com in April how he could not find seats in four different restaurants when he returned to his hometown. A barbecue restaurant owner I know told me to come back on Monday, so as to leave the weekends to out-of-town visitors. Another restaurant owner told me that they had run out of meat. Ive been eating barbecue for over 20 years and this is the first time Ive heard something like that, the man was quoted as saying by China Daily.

Steven Cao, a 33-year-old real estate agent from the small city of Weihai, who travelled for over six hours to Zibo with his parents to try the barbecue during the five-day May Day holiday was told by people working at a barbecue stand near the hotel he was staying in that they stopped giving queue tickets earlier and there were still at least 50 to 60 people lined up, reported The Globe and Mail.

Reasons for the frenzy

It is not just affordable food.

A barbecue seller who has been operating a shop for many years in the citys Linzi district told The Economist newspaper that anyone can sell chuanr  as the dish is known locally.

It is Shandongs big-hearted hospitality that people across the country are seeking out in Zibo, according to the newspaper.

Local people are very hospitable and honest to strangers, which I think is a main reason [why the city is so hot], Jiang Yaru, a Zibo local who currently works in Shanghai told CNN. This is a novel experience for many visitors because other tourist cities might not have treated them well.

A unique way of eating #barbecue has been attracting people across #China to visit #Zibo, an industrial city in #Shandong province. In this city, people roll the #skewers in a small pancake with scallions and seasonings. Some #tourists refer the style as the Chinese BBQ taco. pic.twitter.com/eKO2MmZu2p  Panda Paws (@Panda_Paws_) May 1, 2023

The other reason for the sudden craze, spurred by influencers, that has made Zibo Chinas outdoor barbecue capital is new consumption trends.

As per The Economist, since the country abandoned the zero-COVID policy, young people have adopted the trend of special forces travel, where they go to a place and spend little time and money before moving on to the next destination.

Too much fire?

The influx of travellers seems to have overwhelmed Zibo. Officials from Zibos Culture and Tourism Bureau had put out a letter in late April urging people to avoid the city during the May Day holiday.

The Zibo barbecue fire has gone out of hand. We have been doing our best to accommodate the recent influx of tourists, but it has caused trouble and inconvenience to everyone, they wrote, according to BBC.

The letter also highlighted that the recent surge in tourists has caused some troubles and inconveniences to visitors, as per the Business Insider report.

Hotel bookings saw an 800 per cent surge this Golden Week holiday as compared to 2019, local authorities in Zibo told state news agency Xinhua, the report added.

A video taken on 27 April went viral on Weibo showing a barbecue restaurant owner on his knees, apologising profusely to a customer as the queue to get into his restaurant was too long, reported the Hong Kong-based newspaper South China Morning Post (SCMP).

Will this Zibo barbecue love help the economy?

Zibo reported 4.7 per cent increase in GDP for the first quarter, which, as per CNN, was uplifted by retail, tourism and dining. The same period saw an 11 per cent rise in consumption, the report added.

However, according to SCMP, the barbecue frenzy shows how some types of affordable consumer goods tend to do better in an economic downturn, known as the lipstick effect in economics.

Following Zibos success, the street vendor economy has made a comeback in many Chinese cities to bolster the economy and increase employment, as per CNN.

While small businesses have benefited from China softening its stance on street vendors with several cities even encouraging unemployed youth to set up open-air stalls, it has not done much for the national economy, as per reports.

Chinas total social retail sales were at 5.8 per cent in the first quarter, just a slight uptick from the previous year when the country was under rigid COVID-19 restrictions, noted SCMP.

As per the Hong Kong-based newspaper, three years of strict COVID curbs have undercut the spending power of many Chinese households.

Increased uncertainty has hit Chinas urban middle class amid salary reductions and job cuts in various sectors, from technology to financial services. Spending by young people, Chinas most active consumer demographic, has been affected by unemployment, with one out of five persons in this group jobless, Zhou Xin, SCMPs Tech Editor, wrote in an article.

As per the data recently released by Chinas National Bureau of Statistics, the urban unemployment rate between the 16-24 age group touched a record-high of 20.4 per cent in April.

The Zibo phenomenon is a combination of FOMO [fear of missing out] amongst Chinese municipalities and top-down pressure from the [Communist Party] to address unemployment and youth angst, Alex Capri, senior lecturer at NUS Business School, was quoted as saying by CNN.

Amid the Chinese economys many challenges and high unemployment among urban youngsters, the state media has also started calling on jobless youth to become street vendors by publishing stories of young business owners becoming rich through operating stalls in the night markets.

It does look like the Chinese leadership cannot find better ways to create employment and thus maintain stability and order than encouraging young people to be street vendors, Steve Tsang, director of the SOAS China Institute at the SOAS University of London, told CNN.

For workers or graduates with skills for the digital era, taking on street vending is a sign of desperation rather than creative thinking.

Tsang added that the informal trade might reduce unemployment temporarily, and give people feeling poorer a boost, but it wont save Chinas economy.

With inputs from agencies

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A local thief, who had stolen Lord Krishnas ornaments from the Gopinath Temple in Odishas Gopinathpur, has surprisingly returned all the jewellery after nine years with a note, in which he claimed he has been suffering from guilt pangs.

In the note, he mentions that he has been getting nightmares ever since the theft. Interestingly, the thief also paid a penalty of Rs 300.

According to a report in News18 Odia, the thief left a bag of stolen items at the front door of the temple in the middle of the night. The bag contained a stolen cap, earrings, bracelet and a flute that belonged to the presiding deities Krishna and Radha. The value of these ornaments are believed to be in lakhs.

In the apology note addressed to the priest, Devesh Chandra Mohanty, the thief also left an additional Rs 300 as an atonement along with the jewellery. A report in India Today, stated that the man had recently read the Bhagavad Gita and started regretting the theft committed nearly nine years ago.

In 2014, a massive theft took place at the temple, in which the deities silver flute, umbrella, crown, silver eyes, plate and watch were stolen. At that time, the villagers had filed a complaint at the Lingaraj police station.

When the stolen items were not found after days of search, the villagers had given up all hope of the temple ornaments ever being recovered. However, after the return of the ornaments, there were celebrations in the village, local media reports stated.

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Officials claimed at least nine persons were killed and numerous others were injured in a big blast at a firecracker plant in West Bengals West Medinipur district on Tuesday morning.

Meanwhile, on the instruction of the state government, the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) has launched an investigation into the event.

According to sources, a team from Kolkatas Criminal Inquiry Department (CID) arrived at the scene around 9:45 pm on Tuesday and commenced an inquiry with the assistance of forensic experts after the state government turned over the case to CID.

East Medinipur Superintendent of Police, Amarnath K said, Till now, 9 bodies have been recovered and efforts are being made to find out if there was any other killed in the incident. Two people seriously injured in this incident have been referred to Kolkatas SSKM from Egra Super Specialty Hospital.

It was an illegal betting factory. There have been 3 to 4 cases against this factory in the past as well. It was raided many times, but the accused kept operating it. Efforts are underway to arrest the accused, identified as Krishnapada Bagh alias Bhanu Bagh, the SP said further.

Following the incident, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said, We are saddened by the incident. The injured have been admitted to the hospital. The case will be investigated by CID,

CM also announced a compensation of Rs 2.5 lakh for the kin of the deceased people, and Rs 1 lakh for those injured.

The blast occurred around 11:00 am at Khadikul village under the Egra police station.

Initially, seven people were reported killed in the incident, while seven others were critically injured.

Two fire tenders were rushed to the spot, the fire was brought under control, and the rescue operation was started.

Seven (as per the latest update) were dead in the incident. Seven are critically injured. The state government is deeply saddened by the incident and compensation will be provided to them. Prior to this too, the owner was arrested. FSL and Bomb Squad have been informed and legal proceedings are being carried out, officials had said earlier.

We are searching the area. Fire has been put out, Amitabh Maiti, one of the firefighters, said.

West Bengal BJP president Sukanta Majumdar wrote a letter to Union Home Minister Amit Shah and demanded a National Investigation Agency (NIA) probe into the incident.

Wrote to Union Home Minister Amit Shah to request a comprehensive investigation into the bomb blast incident in Egra, West Bengal. The blast has raised serious concern about the safety of the residents of the area and this matter needs serious attention, Majumdar said in a tweet.

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The Union Cabinet of India, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has given its approval for the implementation of the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme 2.0 for IT hardware.

The scheme, with a budgetary outlay of Rs. 17,000 crore, aims to promote electronics manufacturing in the country.

Over the past eight years, the electronics manufacturing sector in India has experienced steady growth, with a compounded annual growth rate of 17%.

This year, the industry crossed the milestone of $105 billion (approximately Rs. 9 lakh crore).

Notably, India has become the worlds second-largest manufacturer of mobile phones, with mobile phone exports exceeding $11 billion (around Rs. 90 thousand crore).

With the global electronics manufacturing ecosystem increasingly shifting to India, the country is emerging as a major player in electronics manufacturing.

Building upon the success of the PLI scheme for mobile phones, the PLI Scheme 2.0 for IT hardware has been introduced, a press document shared by the PMO stated.

Key Features of the PLI Scheme 2.0 for IT Hardware

* The scheme covers the manufacturing of laptops, tablets, all-in-one PCs, servers, and ultra-small form factor devices.

* It has a budgetary outlay of Rs. 17,000 crore.

* The scheme will be in effect for a period of six years.

* It is expected to generate incremental production worth Rs. 3.35 lakh crore.

* The scheme aims to attract incremental investment of Rs. 2,430 crore.

* It is projected to create around 75,000 direct employment opportunities.

Significance of the Scheme

India has emerged as a reliable supply chain partner for global technology giants. Leading IT hardware companies have shown keen interest in establishing manufacturing facilities within the country.

The strong demand for IT services within India further supports this trend. Many companies aim to serve both the domestic and international markets from their manufacturing units in India, making the country an important export hub.

The implementation of the PLI Scheme 2.0 for IT hardware is expected to boost the growth of the electronics manufacturing sector in India and enhance the countrys position as a global player in this industry.

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New Delhi: At a key meet of the Civil Services Board (CSB) to evaluate the recent directions of the Delhi government, Services minister Saurabh Bharadwaj remained waiting till late evening as the chief secretary did not turn up, according to government officials.

Delhi Services Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj waited for the meeting till about 9.30 pm, but it could not take place since Chief Secretary Naresh Kumar was busy throughout the day, and did not show up.

This was the first meeting of the board after the landmark Supreme Court verdict that ruled in favour of the AAP government in a power tussle with the Centre over the control and posting of bureaucrats in national capital Delhi.

Two other members of the board, also waited for the meeting along with Bharadwaj till Tuesday evening.

The Supreme Court on Thursday had ruled that the Delhi government has legislative and executive powers over administration of services and only public order, police and land are excluded from its jurisdiction.

In a democratic form of governance, the power of administration must rest on the elected arm and the Lieutenant Governor is bound by its decision, said the bench led by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud. Hours after the top courts verdict, IAS officer Ashish More was removed as the secretary of the services department.

Bharadwaj said More, after being asked to make way for his replacement on Thursday, unexpectedly left the Secretariat and switched off his phone. He was issued a show cause notice for not complying with the Supreme Court order. Later, the Delhi government in an official statement, said that More had resurfaced and agreed to comply with the SC order.

Besides Mores removal, Saurabh Bharadwaj had ordered that he be replaced by IAS A K Singh. Both orders are yet to be implemented.

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal had earlier announced after the verdict that there would be transfers to remove corrupt officers and bring in honest, hard-working people. Our work will now resume at 10 times the speed, Kejriwal had said, promising a lean, thin, responsive, passionate and accountable government.

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In a major crackdown, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) is carrying out raids at over 100 places across six states  Haryana, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Uttarakhand  in connection with cases related to narco-terror-gangster nexus, officials said.

Last year, the agency registered three cases following information suggesting that terrorist outfits and their sympathisers abroad were operating as members of organized criminal gangs active in the northern states of India for targeted killings and violent criminal acts.

It has also emerged that the terror-gangster-drug smuggler network was also engaged in smuggling terrorist hardware such as arms, ammunition explosives and IEDs among others across borders through a widespread interstate network of gun runners, illegal arms and ammunition manufacturers and suppliers and explosive traffickers.

The NIA has already arrested 19 members of various criminal gangs, two arms suppliers and one financier connected with the network under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.

On January 9 earlier this year, Canada-based Arsh Dalla was designated as an individual terrorist by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).

(With inputs from PTI)

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New Delhi: A passenger of the Alaska Air Ahmedabad-Bengaluru flight was detained at Bengaluru airport soon after landing for smoking mid-air on Tuesday.

A passenger on Akasa Air flight QP1326, flying from Ahmedabad to Bengaluru, was found smoking in the aircrafts lavatory. Our crew followed the required safety protocols and the passenger was handed over to the local police with the help of the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), upon landing in Bengaluru. We are assisting authorities in investigating this matter, said the spokeperson of Akasa Air.

In April, a 40-year-old drunk passenger was booked for allegedly trying to open the emergency door flap of the Delhi-Bengaluru IndiGo flight, said an official release from IndiGo.

According to the release, the incident took place on flight number 6E 308 from IGI Airport.

Detailing the incident IndiGo stated, A passenger travelling on flight 6E 308 from Delhi to Bengaluru tried opening the flap of the emergency exit in an inebriated state.

On noticing this violation, the crew on board alerted the captain and the passenger was appropriately cautioned. There was no compromise on the safe operation of the said flight, the airlines said.

The passenger was handed over to CISF upon arrival in Bengaluru.

(With inputs from ANI)

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Confusion over Karnatakas next chief minister is yet to end as the Congress has still not finalised a name for Chief Minister even after securing 135 seats in the recently held Assembly election in the state.

Karnataka outgoing Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai said The Congress is yet to finalise its CM candidate in spite of getting a majority. This shows the internal situation in the party. The aspirations of people are more important than politicking. Congress party should choose a CM as soon as possible,.

Congress is yet to finalise its CM candidate in spite of getting a majority. This shows the internal situation in the party. The aspirations of people are more important than politicking. Congress should choose a CM as soon as possible: Basavaraj Bommai, outgoing Karnataka CM & pic.twitter.com/QZFvM7kbpY  ANI (@ANI) May 17, 2023

However, Randeep Surjewala, the partys Karnataka in-charge said that deliberations are currently underway by party president Mallikarjun Kharge. The Chief Ministers name will be announced as soon as the party reach a conclusion. In the next 48-72 hours, we will have a new cabinet in the state, he said.

Some of the media reports cited sources saying that DK Shivakumar has resisted negotiating on any bet. Shivakumar disagreed on splitting the tenure of the Chief Ministers post. He also refused to become Deputy CM, it said.

According to a senior party leader, the Congress central leadership continues will hold talks to select the new CM. Siddaramaiah is likely to take the oath of Karnatakas Chief Minister on Wednesday, he said.

The supporters of Siddaramaiah have already started celebrating in Bengaluru by pouring milk on his poster.

#WATCH | Supporters of Congress leader Siddaramaiah pour milk on his poster and chant slogans for him outside his residence in Bengaluru, even as the suspense over #KarnatakaCMRace continues. pic.twitter.com/HQG0gzsb1G  ANI (@ANI) May 17, 2023

On Sunday night, after a long meeting with party senior leaders, the Congress passed a unanimous resolution authorising the partys national president Mallikarjun Kharge to select the next chief minister of Karnataka.

#WATCH | Bengaluru: Supporters of senior Congress leader Siddaramaiah celebrate and burst firecrackers ahead of the decision on #KarnatakaCM post pic.twitter.com/n7rbwohw6p  ANI (@ANI) May 17, 2023

The Congress secured 135 seats and the Bhartiya Janata Party only won 66 seats out of 224 constituencies. Meanwhile, the Janata Dal (Secular) only managed to get 19 seats.

The results have washed off the speculations of hung assembly as the state saw a decisive mandate after 2013.

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New Delhi: Srichand Parmanand Hinduja, the eldest of the four Hinduja brothers and chairman of the Hinduja Group, passed away in London on Wednesday.

The Hinduja family patriarch and his brothers, Gopichand and Prakash, were accused of receiving nearly Rs 64 crore in illegal commissions to help Swedish gunmaker AB Bofors secure an Indian government contract. A court had however exonerated them.

Gopichand, Prakash, Ashok and the whole Hinduja family with a heavy heart regret to announce the passing away of our family patriarch, and chairman of Hinduja Group, Mr S P Hinduja today, a spokesperson for the family said.

A British national, he died in London after a prolonged illness. He was 87, a family spokesperson said.

The Hinduja brothers were exonerated in 2005 due to a lack of evidence.

The brothers who have been intensely secretive about the size of their wealth, have been sparring in British courts over control of family assets.

Gopichand, Prakash, Ashok, and the whole Hinduja family with a heavy heart regret to announce the passing away of our family patriarch, and Chairman of the Hinduja Group, Mr. S P Hinduja today, the family spokesperson said in a statement.

It described him as a visionary and mentor to the family bestowing the founding principles and values of our late father, PD Hinduja.

He played a very important role alongside his brothers in building a strong relationship between his host country, the UK, and his home country, India, it said.

A titan amongst his peers, S P Hinduja truly lived and embodied the Hinduja Groups founding principles and values. A deeply spiritual and philanthropic person, he was courageous in action and generous at heart.

His loss has left a huge void as the brothers have always been four bodies and one soul, the statement said.

The Hinduja family is in grief and sorrow at his demise. Our prayers to the Almighty to grant his soul eternal place at His Lotus Feet.



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A number of Public Interest Litigations (PILs) requesting an investigation into the Adani Group-Hindenberg report controversy and the SEBIs request for an extension of time to submit the report will be heard by the Supreme Court on Wednesday.

The hearing on the SEBI request for a six-month extension to wrap up the inquiry in the Hindenburg Research report was postponed by the top court on Monday.

The matter was put on hold by the panel, which included Justices PS Narsimha and JB Pardiwala in addition to Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dr Dhananjaya Yeshwant Chadrachud.

The SC was informed by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta that SEBI is asking for more time to complete the investigation and will require six months to do so.

SEBI told the SC that the investigation done earlier by SEBI pertains to the issuance of Global Depository Receipts (GDRs) by 51 Indian listed companies, in respect of which investigation was conducted. SEBI submitted before the Supreme Court that no listed company of Adani Group was part of those 51 companies it was investigating.

Pursuant to the completion of the investigation, appropriate enforcement actions were taken in this matter. Hence, the allegation that the Securities and Exchange Board of India is investigating Adani since 2016 is factually baseless. I, therefore, say and submit that reliance sought to be placed on the investigation pertaining to GDRs is wholly misplaced, the rejoinder affidavit read.

SEBI submitted before Supreme Court that in the context of an investigation into Minimum Public Shareholding (MPS) norms, SEBI has already approached eleven overseas Regulators under the Multilateral Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO). Various requests for information were made to these Regulators. The first request to overseas Regulators was made as early as 6 October 2020, the SEBI apprised the court.

SEBI submitted before the Supreme Court that the application for extension of time filed by it is meant to ensure carriage of justice keeping in mind the interest of investors and the securities market since any incorrect or premature conclusion of the case arrived at without full facts material on record would not serve the ends of justice and hence would be legally untenable.

SEBI has informed Supreme Court that in respect of the investigation and examination relating to 12 transactions referred to in the Hindenburg Report, prima facie it is noted that these transactions are highly complex and have many sub-transactions across numerous jurisdictions and a rigorous investigation of these transactions would require collation of data/information from various sources including bank statements from multiple domestic as well as international banks, financial statements of onshore and offshore entities involved in the transactions and contracts and agreements, if any, entered between the entities along with other supporting documents.

On 2 March, the apex court directed the capital market regulator SEBI to investigate any securities law violations by the Adani Group in the wake of the Hindenburg report, which led to a massive wipeout of more than USD 140 billion of the Adani Groups market value.

Supreme Court, on 2 March, set up an expert committee on the issue arising from the Hindenburg Research report on Adani Group companies. The committee consist of six members, headed by former apex court judge Justice AM Sapre. The top court had then asked SEBI to file a status report within two months.

The apex court was then hearing petitions pertaining to the Hindenburg report, including the constitution of a committee relating to regulatory mechanisms to protect investors interests.

The 24 January Hindenburg report alleged stock manipulation and fraud by the conglomerate.

The Adani Group has attacked Hindenburg as an unethical short seller, stating that the report by the New York-based entity was nothing but a lie. A short-seller in the securities market books gains from the subsequent reduction in the prices of shares.

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Residents of Bengaluru frequently express their frustrations regarding traffic congestion, especially during peak office hours, where it can take hours for commuters to reach their destinations. Those living on the outskirts of the city often face difficulties finding timely transportation options. Recently, a man named Anushank Jain took to Twitter to share his experience with booking an autorickshaw through the Uber app.

Jain posted a screenshot of his Uber app, highlighting that the assigned vehicle was located a considerable 24 kilometers away, with an astonishing estimated waiting time of 71 minutes. Expressing his skepticism, Jain tweeted, Huge respect for him if he actually shows up. #peakbengaluru.

Huge respect for him if he actually shows up. #peakbengaluru pic.twitter.com/6rQt1TswPU  Anushank Jain (@madmax_anushank) May 16, 2023

However, Jain later shared another tweet indicating that the driver had canceled the ride request within a minute.

The screenshot shared by Anushank Jain on Twitter left users in awe, and they couldnt help but respond with a flurry of hilarious comments. The unexpected situation sparked a wave of humorous reactions among the Twitterati.

Im one of Uber rider, sometimes you find a request ride 10 to 15 minutes away, then you sacrifice to pick only to end being paid a pinch. Uber need to form a creteria where such distant customers are alerted and in dieneed should be charged both for a pick up and a drop off, a user wrote.

I guess its time we move to Tier 2&3 cities or rural areas. Higher productivity, low cost of living and ease of living. MNCs should start thinking of employee convenience, tweeted another.

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Think of BJP-Muslim relations, and the only narrative that immediately pops up in your head is of mutual prejudice and loathing. A stark black-and-white perception of a relationship that in reality is a lot more complex.

Partly this black-and-white picture is also down to the fact that the two sides themselves often give the impression of being permanently estranged cousins while quietly trying to engage with each other behind the scenes  perhaps for fear of upsetting their respective hardliners. Take the case of Uttar Pradesh  widely seen to be heavily polarised along communal lines with no love seemingly lost between Muslims and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. But look at this: BJPs Muslim outreach in UP civic elections gets favourable return.

The BJP fielded Muslim candidates in as many as 395 seats, including five for Nagar Palika Parishad (NPP) chairmen, 32 Nagar Panchayat (NP) chairmen, 80 corporators and 278 members for NPPs and NPs. Sixty-one of them won their seats, according to official data, accounting for 15 per cent of all Muslim candidates who contested on BJP ticket.

On the face of it, this might not seem like a big number but is in fact a pretty good start considering that it is still early days in the partys Muslim outreach. It also punctures the assiduously cultivated narrative that like East and the West Muslims and BJP are so poles apart that the twain shall never meet.

The head of BJP minority morcha Basit Ali says the party would continue to make serious efforts to reach out to the Muslim community.

The community is gradually showing its support for the BJP, he said having benefited from the various welfare schemes initiated by the central and state governments.

Recently, a friend asked me if I had noticed something in relation to the BJP and Muslims, before I could ask what? he said he had been struck by the increasing visibility of Muslim faces in the BJP, especially on its senior media team. And he was right.

I can think of at least three high-profile Muslim figures  Syed Zafar Islam, Shehzad Poonawala and Shazia Ilmi  who regularly do rounds of TV studios to present BJPs viewpoint or defend its sometimes controversial actions including those affecting Muslims.

And here is the thing: Poonawala defected from the secular Congress to the BJP, and Shazia Ilmi from AAP  another self-styled bastion of secularism. But really curious is the case of Syed Zafar Islam. He belongs to a conservative family from Bihar with links to Jamaat-e-Islami and a long association with the Congress. A sort of background where Hindu girls are required to convert to Islam if they wish to marry a Muslim.

Add to them old BJP veterans like Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi and Syed Shahnawaz Hussain who turn up on important occasions to take on secularists and Muslim appeasers.

Isnt it ironical that the BJP has more Muslim spokespersons than the secular Congress or AAP  or indeed other supposedly Muslim-friendly groups?So, whats going on?

Urdu daily, Siasat, ran a long article headed, Where have Congress Muslim spokespersons disappeared? accusing the party of ignoring and sidelining Muslims.

In a party that once used to have a young Muslim like Maulana Azad as its president, Muslim politicians have been pushed to the margins. Is it not surprising that during the last five years not even a single Muslim spokesman has been asked to address a press conference held at the headoffice of All India Congress Committee (AICC), it said alleging that the partys media office was promoting communal thinking.

The truth is that Muslims feel a deep sense of betrayal by the Congress  a party they had invested in so much. There is a sense of having been used and then chewed out, to quote a disillusioned Delhi-based former Muslim Congress activist. It is this

sentiment that is fuelling the Muslims drift towards the BJP, a party they once regarded as untouchable. They complain that parties like AAP and Samajwadi Party havent been much help either in their moment of crisis.

Has anyone noticed the dramatic resurgence of BJPs once sleepy minority cells. They are reported to be buzzing with activity with its leaders in the news almost everyday promoting the partys Muslim outreach initiatives. Recently, they organised a series of events in Muslim areas across the country to publicise the 100th episode of Prime Minister Narendra Modis Mann Ki Baat broadcast.

In the National Capital, Delhi BJP Minority Morcha organised a well-attended special screening of the 100th episode at a popular Muslim-owned hotel in the Jama Masjid area. Its owner, M Akhtar Qureshi, himself a member of BJPs minority cell, described himself as a fan of the PM.

PM Modis work is appreciated by many in the community. However, the party needs to restrict hurtful comments by some if its leaders, he said.

BJPs Kausar Jahan, chief of the Delhi State Haj Committee hailed it as a big success claiming that it dispelled the notion that BJP was anti-Muslim. It reflects a new Muslim pragmatism as the community recognises that the BJP is here to stay and there is no point in living in a permanent state of confrontation with it. Theres also a quiet acknowledgement that sections of the community especially women and backward Muslims have benefitted from some of Prime Minister Narendra Modis welfare schemes.

Several high-profile Muslims have developed links with the BJP including the Jamia Millia Islamia vice-chancellor, Professor Najma Akhtar, and former AMU VC Prof Tariq Mansoor. He has just been nominated by the Uttar Pradesh government to the State Legislative Council making him fourth Muslim MLC in the 100-member House.

Meanwhile, the party has launched a campaign to woo Pasmanda (socio-economically weaker) Muslims. It has identified 60 Lok Sabha constituencies with substantial Muslim population across 10 states.

In Delhi, it is in the midst of a drive to save Delhis Haj House from what it termed as anti-Muslim and predatory AAP after the Delhi government ordered the Haj Committee to vacate the premises for unpaid rent. BJPs Leader of Opposition in the Delhi Assembly Ramvir Singh Bidhuri threatened to lock up the government residence of Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal if his government didnt revoke the eviction order.

If the Haj House is lost, then the government residence of the Delhi chief minister will also be locked, he said joining a citywide protest with representatives of Muslim community.

The move took many Muslims by surprise because, historically, the BJP hasnt cared much for Haj pilgrims and was in the forefront of the campaign for abolition of Haj subsidy. Some have called it simply an attempt to embarrass AAP. Whatever the reason the move is significant in the context of its outreach programme. Clearly, these are interesting times for BJP-Muslim relations, and it would be interesting to see how it pans out.

The writer is an independent columnist and the author of Unmasking Indian Secularism: Why We Need A New Hindu-Muslim Deal. Views are personal.

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The portrayal of Indian culture (predominantly of Hinduism) in the West has long been a story of a negative depiction of caste dominations, worship of weird and unsightly pagan gods in primitive and grotesque ways, patriarchal domination where women face daily bias, the existence of Sati, rampant corruption, lack of hygiene, etc. Beyond Buddha and Gandhi, it seems the West found nothing appealing in Indian heritage and culture, and this notion of India was fed to the West for many generations through various academic discourses and discussions. While most of these false views on India were propagated by Western academicians, some Indians, too, were and are still a part of this group that continues to denigrate India and Hinduism.

Until recently, the majority of the Hindus, fed on the British-created anti-Hindu educational system that was unfortunately continued in the post-Independence era under the Nehru regime, had no way of countering the blatant bigotry and hatred that was being propagated worldwide against Hindus and Hinduism. While after independence there is little doubt that India faced various issues of under-development and poverty, primarily because of wrong political decisions by the erstwhile governments, the current generation is no longer willing to take the insults lying down and meekly. With the rising powers of India as a global player in world politics, the current generation has the confidence to fight back the Abrahamic propaganda against Hinduism.

Taking into context the recent controversy where Ukraines Ministry of Defence tweeted a picture of Goddess Kali in a demeaning manner, my article will examine how the West has been insulting our gods for many decades now.

Definition of Shiva in The LibreTexts libraries as taught in the US: Shiva embodies the apparently contradictory aspects of a god of ascetics and a god of the phallus. He is the deity of renouncers, particularly of the many Shaiva sects that imitate him: Kapalikas, who carry skulls to reenact the myth in which Shiva beheaded his father, the incestuous Brahma, and was condemned to carry the skull until he found release in Benares; Pashupatas, worshippers of Shiva Pashupati, Lord of Beasts; and Aghoris, to whom nothing is horrible, yogis who eat ordure or flesh in order to demonstrate their complete indifference to pleasure or pain. Shiva is also the deity whose phallus (linga) is the central shrine of all Shaiva temples and the personal shrine of all Shaiva householders; his priapism is said to have resulted in his castration and the subsequent worship of his severed member.[Source: The LibreTexts libraries are supported by the Department of Education Open Textbook Pilot Project, the UC Davis Office of the Provost, the UC Davis Library, and the California State University.]

Devi Sakti  Durga/Kali in The LibreTexts libraries as taught in the US: As Durga, the Unapproachable, she kills the buffalo demon Mahisha in a great battle; as Kali, the Black, she dances in a mad frenzy on the corpses of those she has slain and eaten, adorned with the still-dripping skulls and severed hands of her victims. The Goddess is also worshipped by the Shaktas, devotees of Shakti, the female power. This sect arose in the medieval period along with the Tantrists, whose esoteric ceremonies involved a black mass in which such forbidden substances as meat, fish, and wine were eaten and forbidden sexual acts were performed ritually.

From the two definitions given above, it is very clear the author has no knowledge on the concept of either Shiva or the Devi; doesnt know anything about the Vedas and Puranic stories; and his or her primary focus is on certain words, such as skulls, sect, phallus, blood and flesh, esoteric and erotica of forbidden sexual acts, everything that gives an ugly grotesque appearance to Hinduism.

In the book Awakening: An Introduction to the History of Eastern Thought, Dr Patrick Bresnan writes, Entering the world of Shiva worship is to enter the world of India at its most awesomely mysterious and bewildering; at least for the non-Indian. In Shiva worship, the Indian creative imagination erupts in a never-ending multiplicity of gods and demons, occult rituals, and stunning sexual symbolismLinga/yoni veneration was not the whole of itYoung women, known as devadasis, were commonly connected with Shiva temples, and participated in the rituals, sometimes only in a symbolic fashion; sometimes not. In a degraded form, the devadasi became nothing more than temple prostitutes. These extremes were more often to be found among the practitioners of Tantra, that enigmatic antithesis of conservative Hinduism that developed in northeastern India. Some Tantra temples became notorious for all kinds of extreme practices, including ritual rape and ritual murder. In Calcutta, at the Temple of Durga (one of the forms of Shivas shakti), there was an annual festival at which many pigs, goats, sheep, fowl, and even water buffaloes would be slaughtered and ritually burned before the statue of the goddess.

These extremely distorted and perverse descriptions of Shiva, Durga, and Tantra are given in a textbook on Eastern Religions by a so-called authority on Shiva, and that book is used in undergraduate studies on World Religions and Asian Studies in the US. This is how white Indologists and experts with their own distorted minds and perverted thinking that only focuses on sex, rape, occult, blood, and gore have interpreted and presented Hinduism to the common people in the West. It is these horribly distorted images of Hinduism that most common Westerners carry lifelong in their minds, and if one is active on social media and has read some of the comments on Hinduism by the Abrahamics, it will not be difficult to relate to what is being stated here.

Fertility worship, as symbolised through yoni and linga worship, has been a part of all ancient religions and cultures, before the Abrahamic monotheistic religions appeared and wiped them out. Hinduism, being the only ancient surviving religion, still carries on with the concept of fertility worship, and not without a reason too. Fertility worship is the celebration of life, of birth, of conception; the very process through which the human population has been surviving for all these years! Sacrifice in the form of animal slaughtering is present in Islam (Eid), and Christians love their turkeys during Thanksgiving and Christmas, but somehow these academicians fail to write on those practices in a manner Bresnan has written about the ritualistic balis (sacrifices) in Hinduism.

The essential rituals of the Bhagavati cult all point to the aggressive and fatal erotic drinking of the male by the female, the infamous orgy of blood sacrifice of male cocks at the Kodungallur Bhagavati temple; the male veliccappatus cutting of his head in a symbolic act of self-castration [Kali] is herself, first of all, a phallic being, the mother with a penisshe is the bloodied image of the castrating and menstruating (thus castrating) femaleIn this type of analysis, the phallic abilities of the goddess disguise castration anxieties ultimately directed toward the father as well as homosexual desire for the fathers penis. Following Freud, such analyses stress the father-son polarity of the oedipal conflict as the central trauma-seeking expression  Sarah Caldwell in her research paper, The Bloodthirsty Tongue and the Self-Feeding Breast: Homosexual Fellatio Fantasy in a South Indian Ritual Tradition.

For the above-given paper, filled with sex, lust, castration and various perversion-filled theories, Sarah Caldwell was awarded a prestigious award by the Western academic world. >Here what is presented is just a short paragraph, and the rest is just too demeaning and horrible to read for any Hindu or for that matter any sane human being. Here, a symbolic sacrifice, an act of devoting oneself to the Devi, has been turned into an act of self-castration. It seems in the twisted devious minds of these academics, there are constant and obsessive thoughts of sex, orgy, blood, gore, castration, and erotica, which are reflected in their writings and are nothing short of pornography. Certainly, as a practicing Hindu with diksha of Devi Kali under a Tantric guru, I have no such twisted and perverse understanding of Hinduism and the rituals pertaining to the tantric form of worship. Perhaps, one wonders, if these very twisted and distorted thoughts that we see in these writings of the white academics have now somehow permeated into the white mans daily lives, leading to what we now see in the USA as a transgender revolution, a movement that reeks of child abuse, sexual perversions, and severe mental disorders.

The Bhagavad Gita is not as nice a book as some Americans think Throughout the MahabharataKrishna goads human beings into all sorts of murderous and self-destructive behaviours such as warThe Gita is a dishonest book; it justifies war  said Wendy Doniger, in Philadelphia Inquirer, without understanding or more likely deliberately distorting the basic essence of the Bhagavad Gita that asks people to fight for dharma or righteousness. The Great Mahabharata War was not a call to fight religious wars to kill and convert non-believers like the Christian Crusades or the Islamic Jihad have been doing for centuries. The Mahabharata War was about destroying adharma (immorality) and reestablishing dharma or righteousness (within people of the same religion), but perhaps Doniger, with her Abrahamic upbringing, failed to understand the true meaning of dharma.

In the context of constant distortion of Hinduism, one question that automatically comes to mind is: Has the likes of academic scholars, like Wendy Doniger, written books and research papers about the actual religious wars carried on by Christianity and Islam that has killed, raped, and enslaved millions of people for centuries, and something that is still continuing? The answer of course is a big NO.

Has Doniger and her likes researched the atrocities of Christians on Hindus, in what is known as the Goan Inquisition, and how the European Christians wiped out entire native populations in many villages in the US after setting their feet there? The Abrahamics still love to discuss Sati-pratha, a practice that was never popularly followed and has long stopped, even as they conveniently forget about the horrific witch burning in Europe during and after the Black Plague episode. One would not be too far off in their conjectures to think the main objective of these academics is to work towards dismantling and destroying the only surviving ancient religion and culture that is Hinduism.

There are so many other such instances of blatant abuses of Hindu gods and Hinduism going on for decades that one can go on writing long enough to fill up a book. However, one must look beyond the disease, and search for remedies. The two ways that can provide a basic impetus/help in fighting the war against such blatant Hinduphobia, both in academia and on social media, are:

First: Indians (read Hindus and Indics in India) must read the old Hindu books, such as the Vedas, Puranas, and the Epics, in order to understand Hinduism better; practice the culture and traditions of Hinduism so that there is no break its continuity, and stop taking insults to Hinduism quietly. The Government of India needs to make fast changes in the school-level history books so that the focus is more on Indias Indic history, along with which the glorification and whitewashing of foreign Islamic and Christian invaders atrocities need to be removed and the true history is given. Once the common people are aware of their history and know their religion well, they can properly counter the media and social medias false narratives to defame Hinduism.

Second: Hindu NRIs must work towards getting better control of Western colleges and universities through funding, just as the Chinese, Arabs, and Jews have successfully done. Since they are residing in countries from where these abuses and distortions originate, they are in a better position to fight back by writing counter-narratives, but for which they need to have some level of control in the academic world, which will come not only through funding and but also through strict monitoring/seeing that the Hindu funds are not going for anti-Hindu causes.

The author is a well-known travel and heritage writer. Views expressed are personal.

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One of the most important reasons for the continuance of insurgency in the North East, primarily Manipur and areas in Arunachal Pradesh and Upper Assam, is the regions proximity to outer lands. The strategic encirclement has not only provided the expanse with a conduit to countries such as China, which welcomed number of insurgent batches from Nagaland, Manipur and Assam, but also bases for training, sustenance and launching pads for operations against India. This has been seen in the case of Myanmar, Nepal, Bangladesh and even Bhutan, the last of which is a country that is a virtual protectorate of India.

Therefore, although the primary motivations for the beginning of an insurgency may range from underdevelopment, social alienation and geographical distance, an important factor that allows an insurgency movement to grow is the presence of efficient conditions by way of a neighbourhood that is either hostile or indifferent to Indias national security interests.

The hostile neighbourhood provides insurgent groups waging war with the Indian state a variety of sustenance including the crucial aiding of efforts to internationalising such movements, a move that can be particularly embarrassing for New Delhi. To put the matter of internationalisation into perspective, it was the entry of NSCN (IM) into the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organisation in January 1993, which met in The Hague, Netherlands, that began the process for a serious political reconciliation move and in July 1997 a ceasefire was signed. Even ULFA had sought to internationalise its movement by sending one of its cadres to the Geneva based United Nations Commission on Human Rights, a forum which separatist organisations worldwide vie for a place in. This author had earlier written, Way back in 1997 a John David Salomar was seen moving around the UN offices in Geneva. The sub-Commission on Human Rights was in session and Salomar was slated to speak at the meeting on atrocities allegedly committed by the Indian army in Assam. Indeed, had it not been for the timely intervention of Indias then Permanent Representative to the UN at Geneva, Arundhati Ghose, Salomar would have stepped onto the podium in order to deliver his package. An alert Ghose had notified the UN security who in turn questioned Salomar. Soon after, Salomar vanished into thin air, with his undelivered agenda. Armed with a perfectly valid Bangladeshi passport and Swiss visa, John David Salomar was in fact none other than ULFAs general secretary, Anup Chetia. The episode was confirmed many years later, in 2007, when Ambassador Ghose and this author were members of the Track II Dialogue between India and Bangladesh and the two had occasion to exchange notes.

Historically, hostility has showcased itself by way of East Pakistan (and later Bangladesh) and China, with Myanmar providing the corridor for various Indian Insurgent Groups, especially in their efforts to seek aid from the Peoples Republic of China. Indeed, the Naga insurgents were the first to reach China, when sometime in January 1967, Brig Thinoselie and Muivah reached Yunnan (as retold in Nirmal Nibedons Nagaland: Night of the Guerrillas) after a 97-day trek through the inhospitable Myanmarese terrain. An aside that may be recounted is the manner in which the tired men from the Naga Hills were greeted by the Chinese when they reach the Middle Kingdom. Nirmal Nibedon writes, They were surrounded by tall Chinese soldiersWe have come from Nagaland for training. Your leaders know about our coming. The Chinese received them as credentials were checked. Someone remarked: How can you short men fight a mighty nation like India? Major Tangti Ao looked back defiantly. He was only five feet tall. The import of alluding to the excerpt at this juncture is only to report to the readers the fact the short men from Naga Hills are still engaging a mighty nation 56 years after the derisive statement was made. Indeed, the Naga insurgency is the longest running insurrection in the world.

Later, the footsteps of the Naga insurgents were to be retraced by ULFA chief of staff Paresh Baruah and his staff officer Lohit Deury, the latter during his interrogation, Deury revealed to this author, on 15 August 2000, after his surrender to the Assam Police, details about ULFA Missions Lachit and Chilarai to China, when Paresh Baruah met uniformed Chinese officials as well as functionaries of an agency that Deury termed as Black House. Research conducted by the author in the aftermath of the admission did not unravel the provenance of Black House, but several years later, speaking to Bertil Lintner in this authors Guwahati residence, it came to light that Black House is in all probability a Chinese arms conduiting agency. Also, in Mandarin, Black House translates into Hei Shehui, which simply means Black Market. The arms manufacturing factories of China, primarily the ordnance manufacturing company structure, NORINCO, it is reported, provides the bulk of the weaponry that make up the Indian Insurgent Groups arsenal. This is done by selling off the obsolete surplus weaponry, even as PLA shapes itself into a modern army, which it envisages would be leaner and meaner.

Therefore, Chinese support for Indian Insurgent Groups is part of recorded history, especially in the aftermath of the border war of 1962. But despite the fact that varying observations seem to be of the opinion that China stopped its support to Indian Insurgent Groups since the late-nineteen eighties (which roughly coincided with Rajiv Gandhis visit to China in 1988), recent anecdotal accounts seem to state that groups such Peoples Liberation Army of Manipur and ULFA have been seen in Yunnan, with at least one report suggesting that ULFA has a base in one of Yunnans prefectures (Tinsum County, Prefecture 20). ULFAs need for opening up new channels with China was perhaps necessitated by the crackdown it is facing in Bangladesh, with almost the entire leadership of the organisation being handed over to India by the Bangladesh authorities. Indeed, it was fear of apprehensionin the manner in which other members of his organisation were taken into custody and subsequently handed over to Indiathat led ULFA chief of staff Paresh Baruah to flee to Yunnan, where he is reportedly attempting to revive his floundering organisation. This has become necessary in the face of the split in ULFA, which came to be as a result of a) releasing the incarcerated leadership of ULFA and b) by expecting the released leaders to come together as an executive council and open a political reconciliation process with the government.

The peace process has almost left out Paresh Baruah, who has made clear his stand against dialogue with the government were it to be without a discussion of sovereignty of Assam on the agenda. The man who visualises himself as a modern day Lachit Barphukan (the Ahom general who successfully fought off the Mughals from Assam) continues, despite kidney ailments, be belligerent and could, if necessary, join hands with every conceivable anti-India force, be it the Pakistani ISI, the anti-India lobby in the Bangladesh army and DGFI or the Chinese MSS.

At any rate, the present scenario, by way of the strategic encirclement has changed considerably since the subterfuges that characterised the days when Phizo of Khonoma near Kohima first made his way into East Pakistan in the early 1950s. A pro-Indian Awami League government is in power in Dhaka, and as aforesaid, it has acted against the Indian Insurgent Groups.

It is heartening that Bhutanwhich is Indias friend and allyacted decisively against the Indian insurgents in December 2003 and ousted them from Southern Bhutan. However, it is this authors view that ULFA, NDFB and KLO that were taking shelter in Sandrup Jongkhar and Kalikhola could have been managed in a more imaginative manner. But, a separate column for that missed stratagem.

But, Myanmar is another story. Indeed, despite the fact that there has been a military takeover, a channel has been opened for dialogue between the Indian army and the Myanmar army. A meeting took place in Imphal a few months ago. But the sought for clamping down on the Indian Insurgent Groups is yet to happen. The situation poses a precarious problem with the Valley-Based Insurgent Groups (VBIGs) having gotten into an agreement with the Myanmar army. In return for safe haven in Sagaing Division, the insurgents would aid the Tatmadaw to quell the civil strife that erupted after the putsch.

It is not immediately known as to why New Delhi cannot (now that a meeting has taken place in Imphal) leverage Naypyidaw to severe the connection with the VBIGs. The following recommendations are made for consideration:

A senior, retired Indian army officer should be made the envoy to Myanmar. The military to military idiom would work wonders where the Foreign Office has failed to deliver

The accent should be to appease Naypyidaw and if necessary provide it the armaments it needs, if necessary at throw away price. This would make it less dependent on China for its arsenal.

The new envoy to Naypyidaw should coordinate joint operations, in the manner in which Op Golden Bird, Op Sunrise-I and II were undertaken.

The shut iron gates that this author had met when he toured Moreh in 2022 should be immediately opened so that Modis vision of Acting East actually Goes East. There should be no further delay in this direction.

Constitute a Peace Mission comprising former, senior bureaucrats, army Generals and Myanmar specialists to undertake a Track II Dialogue with both the Tatmadaw and the National Unity Government leaders and attempt to cobble an amicable arrangement for stability to return to the Land of Irrawaddy.

North East Indias fortunes are inextricably intertwined with that of Myanmar. It is, therefore, imperativeparticularly in an election yearthat the Modi government embarks on a course correction exercise that would make the Indian electorate laud the fulfilment of his vision for a peaceful North East (free of insurgency), steamroll the Act East Policy and the Neighbourhood First Policy that he had so ambitiously unfurled way back in 2014 when he first rode to power.

The author is a Conflict Theorist and Bestselling Author. The views expressed are his own.

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The elections in Thailand have ended with an unexpected result: In a major setback for the military, whose backed parties ruled the Southeast Asian country for nearly a decade, the Opposition, led by the progressive Move Forward Party (MFP), has won the most seats and the largest share of the popular vote.

With 99 per cent of votes counted, as per an Al Jazeera report, the progressive MFP, led by Pita Limjaroenrat and the populist Pheu Thai Party, led by Paethongtarn Shinawatra, the daughter of former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, are likely to win about 286 seats in the 500-member House of Representatives. Theres, however, uncertainty about their ability to form the government since 250 military-appointed members of the upper house also vote on the prime minister.

The Election Commission data revealed that while the MFP had won 148 seats  113 directly elected and 35 from the party list, the Pheu Thai Party had won a total of 138 seats  111 directly elected and 27 from the party list.

The Kingdom of Thailand, one of the few constitutional monarchies in Asia, held its general elections on 14 May, 2023. While elections in most constitutional monarchies are procedural, in the case of Thailand, this one is of significance. At the outset, this was the second election to be held after the military takeover of the nation by General Prayut Chan-o-cha, the then Commander of the Royal Thai Army (RTA) in 2014. Post-2014 military takeover, the Kingdoms Constitution was revised in 2017 and subsequently, the nation went to polls in March 2019 to elect a parliament for a tenure of four years.

The kingdom, by far was one of the few places, in this part of the world that had not been formally colonised but has a legacy of military interferences in civil governance. This military adventurism, in the form of both as hard coup or soft/place coup, including judicial intervention, has been such that there is considerable uncertainty in tallying the number of such interferences since the advent of constitutional monarchy in 1932. At the conservative end, the tally varies between 12 and 13, however, at the outer extreme, this number is pegged between nineteen, to more than 30 that have been attempted in nearly a century. At the heart of this discrepancy lies the methodology that is used to tally coups in Thailand. At the extreme end of this tally, 19 military interventions include both successful and unsuccessful military coup attempt only and do not include palace coups/ political one-upmanship that have limited or no direct military intervention. Irrespective of this statistic, the legacy of political instability has resulted in the nation going through as many as 20 constitutions or charters since 1932, which too has contributed to the fragility of Thai polity.

The curse of geography

Since 1932, Thailand has consistently identified itself as a constitutional monarchy irrespective of the nature of administration at the helm of affairs. This character of the nation has also been consistently upheld and reinforced with each and every passing administration and Constitution. Resultantly, the Kingdom has the worlds most stringent lese-majeste law in place, which now translates to elevating the monarchy to a status of a demi-god, with the 2017 Constitution stating that the King shall be enthroned in a position of revered worship and shall not be violated.

This has resulted in the King, traditionally a figure head office in constructional-monarchs, with considerable powers. This has resulted in multiple power centres such as the elected political representatives, the military and the royalists in the kingdom who among themselves have now come to dominate the political landscape of Myanmar. This has resulted in making the office of the prime minister a game of musical chairs and thus the tenure of the government of the day nebulous.

Another contributing factor to political instability also has to do with the unique geographical construct of the kingdom. At the outset, one of the limiting factors has been the uneven distribution of its population, which is shy of 72 million people. This is also reflected in parts in the overall spread of both population and wealth within the 76 provinces of Thailand which are loosely clubbed into four regions. For instance, the capital city of Bangkok alone contributed almost a third of the national GDP. The Bangkok Metropolitan Region (BMR), which includes the capital city, and the adjoining suburbs/districts together fall under the Central Thailand region, houses a seventh of the national population and accounts for a little more than 45 per cent of the total GDP.

This has resulted in a significant divide within Thai society between the relatively prosperous urban centres and under-developed rural regions of the nation. This urban-rural divide along with the fissure between the royalists and the general public that favours a populist government has come to dominate Thailands political landscape since the turn of the millennium.

Politics of the Shinawatra era

The social-economic divide in Thailand between the BMR and the rest of the nation was one of the key factors that had shaped the politics of the nation since the mid-1990s. One notable individual who had capitalised on this phenomenon was Thaksin Shinawatra, who comes from one of the wealthiest families in Thailand with a history of dabbling in politics. Prior to becoming the prime minister in 2001, Thaksin Shinawatra began his political career first as the Foreign Minster (199495) in the Chuan Leekpai government followed by as the Education Minster in 2001 and as Deputy Prime Minster between 1995 and 1997.

Thaksin Shinawatras political breakthrough came in 2001 when as the leader of the Thai Rak Thai Party became the prime minister of the Kingdom. He was able to sustain his political momentum by not only winning the re-election in 2005 but more importantly by becoming the first democratically elected premier to serve a full term. What lay at the core of his political constituency was his appeal to the general populace as a populist government. This thought was not without challenge as Thaksin was to face the Yellow Shirts  a mass protest that had accused him of corruption and abuse of power.

This protest resulted in a military coup in September 2006. Post-coup, the Thai Rak Thai was dissolved by the judiciary, but nonetheless resurrected itself first as the Peoples Power Party and later as Pheu Thai Party. Shinawatra did make a political comeback in 2011 when it was able to secure a majority in the elections and Thaksins sister, Yingluck Shinawatra became the prime minister until her government was toppled in the 2014 coup. The success of Yinglucks short-lived political sting in government was based on a similar electoral calculus of her brother Thaksin.

However, the electoral base of the Shinawatras has not eroded to any significant extent as the Pheu Thai Party was able to secure a respectable popular vote share of just under 22 per cent in the 2019 elections against the 23.3 per cent secured by the military-backed Palang Pracharath Party. However, with the changes brought about by the 2017 Constitution, the formation of government is not solely decided by the vote in the lower house of parliament but also includes the upper house. Owing to the overwhelming support that the Palang Pracharath enjoyed in the upper house, General Prayut Chan-o-cha was able to secure a parliamentary mandate for the government in 2019.

While the military-backed parties must be disappointed with the result, the Pheu Thai Party too wont be too happy as the party had hoped for a landslide. But with the MFP it can give a strong contention for power. All eyes will be on Bangkok to see whether the MFP and Pheu Thai Party can come together to form a government, or the military-backed parties will have the last laugh.

The author holds a PhD in Indian Ocean security, preceded by MPhil and MA in Defence & Strategic Studies. He has been working as a Research Analyst in various think tanks in Delhi, and is at present with the Indian Council of World Affairs (ICWA). Views expressed are personal.

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India is bang in the middle of tectonic geopolitical and geoeconomic shifts sweeping across West Asia and the Arabian Peninsula. New opportunities are being created, and New Delhi appears well-placed to seize them. This, however, is neither fortuitous nor a turn of fortune.

Since assuming office in 2014, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has broken old shibboleths and spent massive diplomatic capital in building new and strengthening old partnerships. He has vigorously scaled up engagement with key actors in the Arab Gulf region. The last few years have seen civilizational ties with the Gulf transforming into strong strategic and economic alliances and traditional relationships rapidly expanding into areas of defence and security.

Indias careful navigation of regional disputes through an unobtrusive and non-biased approach has earned admiration and reinforced New Delhis role as a stakeholder in regional stability. The amity that the Modi government has accumulated has not gone unnoticed in Washington.

As it battles accusations of withdrawal and disengagement from the Middle East after decades of heavy diplomatic lifting, and as its role transforms gradually from security provider to offshore balancer (as professor Stephen M Walt and scholar Mohammed Soliman have variously noted), the United States needs a new grammar to engage with the region, and India comes across as the perfect partner in this endeavour.

On 7 May, US national security adviser Jake Sullivan met his Indian counterpart Ajit Doval and UAE NSA Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan in Saudi Arabia. They were hosted by Saudi prime minister and crown prince Mohammed bin Salman (MbS). The discussion among the newest West Asian Quad members, as it were, centred on advancing their shared vision of a more secure and prosperous Middle East region interconnected with India and the world, according to a White House readout.

Buried in the diplomatese is a momentous development with far-reaching consequences. Reports indicate that an idea that germinated during I2U2 (India, Israel, UAE, US) forum meetings over the last 18 months is nearing fruition. It involves, among other things, an ambitious initiative led by Washington to link Arab countries in the Levant and the Gulf via a major infrastructure project  comprising a substantial and intensive network of railways, maritime lanes, seaports, and roads  to the Indian subcontinent using New Delhis expertise in pulling off such complicated enterprises.

Though official details are sparse, a closer look at a key speech delivered by Sullivan at an event in Washington on 4 May provides vital clues. Among several important points made by Sullivan while highlighting Americas new approach towards the Middle East (West Asia), notable are the ones that acknowledged Indias key role in formulating the new strategic synergies.

In his keynote address at the Washington Institute for New East Policy, a few days before his visit to Saudi Arabia, Sullivan had said: This weekend Ill be in Saudi Arabia for meetings with its leadership, and my UAE and Indian counterparts will come to Saudi Arabia as well for meetings so that we can discuss new areas of cooperation between New Delhi and the Gulf as well as the United States and the rest of the region, fueled in part by the comprehensive economic partnership signed last year between India and the UAE. And this can help us carry forward some very tangible initiatives that we think will be unlike anything that we have seen in the region in recent years.

In bringing West Asia and the Indian subcontinent (South Asia) closer, while the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) between India and the UAE has played a major part. No less significant has been the formulation of the I2U2 framework. The foundation of the grouping lay in Abraham Accords that normalized the relations between Israel and Arab nations, yet that alone has not been the reason behind its success.

The increasing alignment of strategic interests between India and the Arabian nations, as well as New Delhis simultaneous formalisation of ties with Israel while being mindful of Arabian sensitivities, have been game-changing. It is to the Modi governments credit that it managed to achieve this complex diplomatic manoeuvre.

Sullivan acknowledged this reality when he said that the I2U2 connects South Asia to the Middle East to the United States in ways that advance our economic technology and diplomacy, and hinting at future developments, he said, and weve already got a number of projects underway and some new exciting steps that were looking forward to undertaking in the months ahead.

Axios, the American media outlet that first reported the development, observed that the project is one of the key initiatives the White House wants to push in the Middle East as Chinas influence in the region grows. That Washington is spooked by Chinas inroads into West Asia is clear. Two concomitant shifts have added to American insecurities. While Washingtons relationship with Saudi Arabia has gone steadily south, the kingdom has simultaneously settled for a China-brokered peace deal with arch-nemesis Iran  upending the regional power alignment and indicating the level and reach of Chinas global ambition.

Beijings audacious move not only exploits the void left by Washingtons pivot away from the region, but also gives China a firm diplomatic toehold in a West Asia where it has burgeoning economic interests. Washingtons problems appear manifold. Its pivot away from West Asia was necessitated by increased attention in the Indo-Pacific where it seeks to deny China the primacy. Russias invasion of Ukraine, meanwhile, has stretched its attention and resources.

While the US is in no mood to leave a region where it enjoyed primacy until recently and hand China the strategic advantage, to match its global priorities with commitments in West Asia, however, it must figure out a new framework that allows it to walk and chew gum at the same time.

It is in this context that it finds an invaluable partner in India, with whom Washington is deepening strategic alignment across multiple domains and theatres. That explains the dovetailing of American and Indian interests in tangible initiatives in the Gulf and the visible policy synergy.

Sullivan, for instance, had a separate meeting with Doval in Saudi Arabia where bilateral and regional matters were discussed, and decisions taken in their last meeting on February 1 were reviewed. Sullivan is scheduled to meet Doval again on 24 May on the sidelines of the Quad Leaders Summit. Meanwhile, foreign secretary Vinay Kwatra will fly to Washington in June for the inaugural strategic trade dialogue to implement the outcomes of the initiative on Critical and Emerging Technology, reports Hindustan Times.

As Doval and Sullivan meet multiple times in a brief span, so will their bosses. Modi and Joe Biden are slated to meet several times in a matter of weeks. The prime minister is flying to Hiroshima for the G7 summit from May 19-21 where he will run into the POTUS. The duo may meet again at Papua New Guinea where Modi is going on a maiden trip from 21-23 May. The Quad Leaders meeting in Australia is next on May 24, while Biden has invited Modi for a state visit to Washington DC in June. The intensifying engagement between India and the US at various levels, including the highest, and that too marked by remarkable consistency, points to the fact that both sides are aware of Chinas increasing influence in the region and the emerging geopolitical realities that necessitate an interwoven response.

While India gets prestige and opportunity, it allows Washington more breathing space. Thats why Sullivan said in his address that a more integrated, interconnected Middle East empowers our allies and partners, advances regional peace and prosperity, and reduces the resource demands on the United States in this region over the long term without sacrificing our fundamental interests or our involvement in the region.

If the plan goes through, India stands to benefit from the incipient possibilities. The goodwill and trust that it enjoys in the kingdoms of Saudi Arabia and the UAE, major players that are driving this churn, is already evident from the fact that New Delhi is the preferred partner for the peninsulas economic transformation.

As Mohammed Soliman, scholar at the Middle East Institute, writes in Al-Monitor: The Middle East plays a crucial role in the global economy, not only as an energy source, but also as a critical hub for maritime trade between Europe and the Indo-Pacific. However, the infrastructure connecting Arab nations is currently insufficient. The proposed transportation network, in collaboration with India and the Gulf states, could improve interconnectivity and transform regional economies.

While embarking on this drive, India will also get the chance to enhance its reputation, get over Pakistans obstructionism in bringing West Asian states nearer to its geography, deliver connectivity and security (in partnership with the US) to a region that is entangled in Chinas Belt and Road Initiative, and tap into new openings for trade and commerce. The possibilities are endless, but so are the chances of slipping up.

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As I write these lines a week has passed since the arrest of former prime minister and head of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) party Imran Khan from the premises of the Islamabad High Court on 9 May. These seven days plunged the country into turbulence with internal divisions within organs of state and its institutions and confrontation between state organs and institutions coming out into the open. The authority of the state and of its vital institutionthe Pakistan armywas challenged in an unprecedented manner by Khans supporters immediately after his arrest on May 9. They attacked army installations and public property in many cities.

Both symbolically and substantially none of these actions of Khans supporters was more significant than the ransacking of the residence of the armys IV corps commander based in Lahore. That house was initially the property of Mohammed Ali Jinnah, the founder of the Pakistan state, and is known as Jinnah House. The visuals of some fires being lit and furniture and artifacts being smashed in the corps commanders house as they spread, first on the social media, should have sent shock waves through the country leading all sections of the political class, the army and the judicial organ of state into an introspective mood and into informal consultations. But that did not happen.

The fundamental chasms in Pakistans polity are too deep and entrenched interests so obstinate about the righteousness of their cause that it would be asking for the moon to expect for them to act constructively for the good of the state. However, a semblance of normalcy seems to be returning to the Pakistani street over the past 48 hours. All relevant actors have made their necessary moves and a relatively quiet period, however short, may now occur despite unresolved issues of powerplay relating to personalities, parties and above all institutions.

Before the latter part is dwelt upon a look at the former would be useful.

A special corps commander conference was held under the leadership of army chief General Asim Munir on 15 May. The language of the long statement which was issued after the conference was somewhat more restrained than the armys earlier statements which directly attacked the PTI. There is no doubt that the army firmly expressed its resolve to bring the perpetrators of the 9 May attacks to book including, in military courts, and also alleged that political motivations were behind the violent demonstrations but the statement did not name the PTI nor its leader. More strikingly it emphasized need of national consensus among all stakeholders to address ongoing political instability at priority so as to restore public confidence. Earlier the army had refuted allegations that martial law may be imposed. This formulation seems to indicate that the army leadership is conscious that ultimately the political imbroglio can only be resolved through elections. The question is if it will be ready to allow Imran Khan to contest the election especially after his direct attack on General Asim Munir as also his predecessor General Qamar Bajwa.

The crusading chief justice of Pakistan, Umar Ata Bandial, who has through his seeming acts of partisanship on behalf of Imran Khan seems now reconciled that even though the court may give categorical orders to hold elections to the Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa assembly on a certain dateas it did in April for elections to be held on 15 May for the former assemblythere is little that it can do to have its orders implemented in the face of the opposition of the government and of the National Assembly. The latter cannot be hauled up for contempt. And, if the government does not provide funds for the election and cannot assure security there is little that the Election Commission can do. Thus, in its hearing on the subject on 15 May the chief justice was once again constrained to advice the government and the opposition to sit together to thrash out the election issue.

The fact is that in any country the judicial organ of state is the weakest of the three and in Pakistan this has been especially so notwithstanding the theatrics of some former chief justices whose own records could hardly bear the weight of full scrutiny. The next date of hearing on the election case is 23 May but it is unlikely that the government or the PTI would go, if at all, beyond a charade of consultations.

The PDM has railed against the Supreme Court for showing undue partisanship to Imran Khan. Maulana Fazlur Rehman and Mariam Nawaz directed their fusillades against Bandial but ensured that the sit-in before the court was peaceful. Now their supporters can claim that they have exposed Bandials hypocrisy. It was certainly imprudent of the chief justice to greet Khan in his courteven if he, as he claimed, does so to others as welland nor was it wise of him to wish Khan luck, especially as he gave full relief to Khan. The lower courts, following the Supreme Courts lead, have given him bail in almost all cases, including in some of those that may be lodged in the future!

The government has respected court orders even if Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has condemned the courts partisanship. The National Assembly too passed a strongly worded resolution against the chief justice but its threats are unlikely to be carried through.

Thus, a brief period of quietus, even if fragile, could ensue between the contending organs of state and the institutions. However, there have been and will be repercussions within each going forward. Some seem to have taken place already.

While the army has not made any official announcement it seems almost certain that the Lahore Corps Commander, Lt General Salman Fayyaz Ghani was removed on 12 May and replaced with Lt General Fayyaz Hussain Shah. An audio clip doing the rounds indicates that Salman and his family was in the corps commanders residence when it was attacked. It is also being alleged that Salman had categorically told Munir that he would not have the blood of his fellow citizens on his hands. Is that the reason that normal precaution of increasing the guard at the residence was not taken?

The army statement claimed that the desecration of Jinnah House and the attack on military installations were meant to move the army to provoke to giving an impulsive reaction. With Salman holding his hand the army was able to show restraint and claim, as its statement noted The Commanders also communicated the anguish and sentiments of the rank and file of the Army on these unfortunate and unacceptable incidents. It is interesting that on the one hand Salmans inaction enabled Munir to show that the army acted with utmost restraint while, on the other, he is being, it seems, punished for his inaction. But then life is full of contradictions.

It now remains to be seen how the PDM will proceed further on Khan. The PPP, relatively secure in its Sindh bastion, would not be too averse to electorally confront a weakened Khan. The PML(N) and the Maulana are vulnerable because of Khans continuing popularity in Punjab and KP. They would naturally like elections to be delayed and Mariam Nawaz was voicing her partys view when she said that elections cannot be held as long as Bandial held office. Fissures on how to deal with Khan even if they remain below the surface will now occur in the PDM.

The judiciary will be a divided house but as long as Bandial is the chief justice Khan can hope for some relief from the courts in the many of cases he will now face. However, even Bandial may not be able to help beyond a point if Khan gets enmeshed in the coils of the law in the lower courts.

Finally, the real contest will now be between Khan and Munir. The army statement of 15 May categorically asserts the forces intention to go after the perpetrators of the attacks of May 9 and as well the planners, instigators and abettors. These no doubt belong to the PTI. More than a thousand have been picked up already and this process of arrests is likely to continue.

Notwithstanding all protestations of neutrality and commitment to democracy Munir cannot afford to let Khan back in the prime ministers office. There cannot be two swords in Pakistans scabbard. Aware of this the army statement reiterated its bond with the people. It stressed Forum also expressed concern over externally sponsored and internally facilitated orchestrated propaganda warfare, unleashed against the Army leadership, meant to create fissures between the Armed Forces and the people of Pakistan and within rank and file of the Armed Forces. The vicious propaganda of these inimical forces will be defeated with the support of the people of Pakistan who have always stood with the Armed Forces of Pakistan during all odds.

If history is a guide, then ultimately the Pakistani people choose the army over a political leader, howsoever, popular. But Imran Khan is giving the generals a headache for he is refusing to go quietly into the sunset.

The writer is a former Indian diplomat who served as Indias Ambassador to Afghanistan and Myanmar, and as secretary, the Ministry of External Affairs. Views expressed are personal.

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Amid hectic parleys in the Congress to decide on the candidate for the top post in the southern state of Karnataka, the supporters of DK Shivakumar on Wednesday flashed placards and raised slogans outside Rahul Gandhis residence.

Karnatakas two chief ministerial aspirants Siddaramaiah and DK Shivakumar had met Rahul Gandhi separately earlier in the day.

Meanwhile, as the media reports, citing sources, suggested that senior Congress leader Siddaramaiah is set to be the next Karnataka chief minister, his supporters broke into celebrations outside his residence in Bengaluru.

#WATCH | Bengaluru: Supporters of senior Congress leader Siddaramaiah celebrate and burst firecrackers ahead of the decision on #KarnatakaCM post pic.twitter.com/n7rbwohw6p  ANI (@ANI) May 17, 2023

According to sources, the Congress is closing in on naming Siddaramaiah, 75, for the role because he has the support of most MLAs and the task now is to bring Shivakumar, 61, on board.

The sources, however, said that in his meeting with Gandhi, Shivakumar indicated that he would not back down in the standoff with Siddaramaiah.

The Wednesdays meeting with Rahul Gandhi came a day after Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar held separate meetings with Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge at his residence and held discussions with him over government formation.

While the supporters of both the leaders are pitching for their respective leader, the Congress is said to be working on a power-sharing formula to accommodate all sections.

Siddaramaiah is considered the front-runner among the two, while Shivakumar has dug his heels for the top post claiming that the state was won under him as state party chief and that he has worked hard for ensuring this victory.

The Congress has held a series of meetings on who will be the chief minister of the state after the party staged a stunning victory in the assembly elections, winning 135 of out 224 seats.

With inputs from agencies

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Even as the Congress is yet to make any official announcement on its Karnataka CM pick, DK Shivakumar, in a last-ditch effort, is yet again likely to meet party leader Rahul Gandhi and Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge later this evening

Senior Congress leader Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar both had met Rahul Gandhi in the national capital earlier in the day.

Shivakumar had also met Congress National President Mallikarjun Kharge during the day and also held discussions with party leaders and his supporters at his brother and party MP DK Sureshs residence.

The official media handle of Congress shared pictures of Rahul Gandhi with both the leaders

Calling Gandhi a jannayak  leader of the people  the Congress tweeted, Rahul Gandhi ji met DK Shivakumar ji and Siddaramaiah ji after the landslide victory in Karnataka.

Decision on CM today or tomorrow

Earlier Congress Karnataka-in-charge Randeep Surjewala said that a decision on the next Karnataka chief minister will be announced today or tomorrow and a new cabinet will be in place within 72 hours.

Surjewala also dismissed speculative reports that Siddaramaiah was likely to be named the chief minister once again.

Delibrations are currently underway by party president Mallikarjun Kharge. Whenever Congress makes a decision we will inform you. In the next 48-72 hours, we will have a new cabinet in Karnataka, he told reporters.

The Congress leader said that consultations are still on and urged media to not report on speculation or heed to fake information.

Four days since Congress registered an emphatic victory in the Assembly polls by wresting power from the Bharatiya Janata Party, still, the state is yet to get a Chief Minister.

Meanwhile, supporters of Siddaramaiah were seen bursting firecrackers in Bengaluru.

Also, police officials were seen inspecting the Sri Kanteerava Outdoor Stadium in Bengaluru where the swearing-in ceremony of the new Karnataka government is likely to be held.

After registering an emphatic win in the Karnataka Assembly elections the Congress legislative party met late evening on Sunday in Bengaluru and passed a one-line resolution empowering Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge to pick the head of the legislative party.

Congress closing in on Siddaramaiah

According to sources, the Congress is closing in on naming Siddaramaiah for the role because he has the support of most MLAs and the task now is to bring Shivakumar on board.

The sources, however, said that in his meeting with Gandhi, Shivakumar indicated that he would not back down in the standoff with Siddaramaiah.

The Wednesdays meeting with Rahul Gandhi came a day after Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar held separate meetings with Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge at his residence and held discussions with him over government formation.

While the supporters of both the leaders are pitching for their respective leader, the Congress is said to be working on a power-sharing formula to accommodate all sections.

Siddaramaiah is considered the front-runner among the two, while Shivakumar has dug his heels for the top post claiming that the state was won under him as state party chief and that he has worked hard for ensuring this victory.

The Congress has held a series of meetings on who will be the chief minister of the state after the party staged a stunning victory in the assembly elections, winning 135 of out 224 seats.

With inputs from agencies

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Legal arguments about womens access to medicine used in the most common method of abortion will be heard in a federal appeals court in New Orleans on Wednesday, in a lawsuit challenging a Food and Medicine Administration decision issued more than two decades ago.

The highly watched case is likely to end up before the Supreme Court, which has previously intervened to keep the medicine, mifepristone, available while the legal battle plays out.

Three 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals judges with a history of supporting abortion restrictions are set to hear arguments. At issue are the FDAs initial approval of mifepristone in 2000, and FDA actions making the drug more accessible in later years. The judges wont rule immediately.

Judges nominated to the district court and appeals court by former President Donald Trump are playing major roles in the case, which is being argued almost a year after the Supreme Court overturned the Roe v. Wade ruling that had established abortion rights. Fourteen states have since banned abortion at all stages of pregnancy and other states have adopted, or are debating, major restrictions.

In November, abortion opponents in Texas filed a lawsuit in federal court in Amarillo, where US District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk, a Trump nominee, presides. Kacsmaryk issued a ruling on April 7 that would have revoked FDA approval of mifepristone in a Texas lawsuit brought by abortion opponents after the Supreme Court reversal of Roe v. Wade. The Biden administration and drug maker Danco Laboratories quickly appealed to the 5th Circuit, seeking a stay of Kacsmaryks ruling.

An appellate panel voted 2-1 to narrow, but not completely block, Kacsmaryks ruling. Their April 13 ruling said the abortion opponents appeared to be barred by time limits from challenging the initial 2000 approval. But the panel said the reimposed rules for physician visits and bars on mailing the drug could stay in place.

Later, the Supreme Court put the lower court rulings on hold pending appeals, almost certainly leaving access to mifepristone unchanged at least into next year.

For now, the case is in the hands of James Ho and Cory Wilson, both Trump nominees, and Jennifer Walker Elrod, a George W. Bush nominee. The 5th Circuit, with 17 active judges, is dominated by Republican-nominated judges.

In the years since mifepristones initial approval, the FDA has extended the time it can be used from seven to 10 weeks of pregnancy, reduced the dosage needed to safely end a pregnancy, eliminated the requirement to visit a doctor in person to get it and allowed pills to be obtained by mail.

Mifepristone is one of two pills used in medication abortions, along with misoprostol. Healthcare providers have said they could switch to misoprostol if mifepristone is no longer available or is too hard to obtain. Misoprostol is somewhat less effective in ending pregnancies.

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Two-thirds of Afghanistans population is food insecure, according to Human Rights Watch report.

Afghanistan has largely disappeared from the media, but it remains one of the worlds worst humanitarian disasters, said the HRW report.

As per the reports, after the ban on women working for NGOs, the crisis has become more severe. It said 875,000 children face acute malnutrition.

Two-thirds of the countrys population is food insecure, including 875,000 children facing acute malnutrition. Women and girls remain most at risk, said Human Rights Watch.

According to the Human Rights report, drastic loss of aid will leave many Afghans poorer and hungrier, reported Tolo News.The additional information I have is that the humanitarian situation remains critical in Afghanistan and our operations also remain underfunded, said Stephane Dujarric, Spokesman for the United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. Earlier, World Bank in its report had said that Afghanistan is among one of the seven countries which face a catastrophic level of food crisis.

Meanwhile, UNICEF has also warned that it is facing a lack of critical food aid in Afghanistan due to a shortage of funding, amidst a widespread humanitarian crisis in the country.

Melanie Galvin, chief of nutrition at the United Nations Childrens Fund (UNICEF), in a video message on Twitter, said that thousands of vulnerable children could die from severe malnutrition in Afghanistan this year alone.

Galvin further added the global food organization faces an urgent funding gap of USD 21 million to buy essential supplies for treating malnutrition and training health workers around the country.

The organization also faces a shortage of ready-to-use therapeutic food (RUTF), she said. RUTF is considered an essential ready-made food supplement that can cure children suffering from malnutrition, according to Khaama Press. Years of conflict, poverty, and the broken and donation-based economy have forced ordinary people to suffer acute hunger and food shortage.

UNICEF in its report highlighted that Afghanistan is home to one of the worlds worst humanitarian crises. More than 28 million people, including over 15 million children, need humanitarian and protection assistance this year, a staggering increase of 4 million people over 2022. Since the return of the Taliban to power in Afghanistan in 2021, the economy has failed to recover, keeping millions of people on the verge of starvation.

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A group of African leaders trying to broker peace in the war in Ukraine will launch their mission to Moscow and Kyiv next month, a senior South African government official said Wednesday.

President Cyril Ramaphosa announced Tuesday that Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky have agreed to receive African heads of state in Moscow and Kyiv.

Leaders of Zambia, Senegal, the Republic of Congo, Uganda, Egypt and South Africa, will lead the initiative which has been welcomed by the UN.

The dates must be confirmed, Zane Dangor, the director-general in South Africas Foreign Affairs ministry, told lawmakers.

But it will be early in June where the six heads of state will be shuttling between the two capitals to engage in the facilitating of peace talks or at least get towards a ceasefire.

We have also engaged with other actors including the US. There is general support for this initiative, he said.

South Africa, which has close ties to the Kremlin since the anti-apartheid struggle years, has refused to condemn Russias invasion of Ukraine, saying it is neutral and prefers dialogue.

The peace plan bid could help Pretoria spruce up its image as a neutral player and mediator, following accusations that it has drifted towards Russia.

The announcement came a day after it emerged that South Africas ground forces commander was in Moscow to discuss military cooperation.

It was also made days after the US envoy to Pretoria accused South Africa of shipping weapons and ammunition to Russia in December.

South Africa held controversial joint military drills with Russia and China early this year. It is due to host a summit of BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) countries in August to which Putin has been invited.

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Amazon.com is planning to introduce a product search feature to its web store, incorporating ChatGPT-style generative artificial intelligence (AI). This move puts Amazon in competition with Microsoft Corp and Google, who are also integrating generative AI into their search engines.

Almost every major player in Big Tech is deeply invested in the AI war, which is currently led by Microsoft, due to its partnership with OpenAI. Even Apple, who historically has been specialising in hardware tech solutions has jumped in, and has been working on a bunch of AI-based features for iOS 17.

Amazon bets big on AI chatbot

Bloomberg News reviewed recent job postings from Amazon that shed light on the companys intentions. One job listing, seeking a senior software development engineer, reveals that Amazon is reimagining Amazon Search with an interactive conversational experience. The goal is to provide users with the ability to find answers to their queries, compare products, and receive personalized recommendations.

Also read: A Kafkaesque nightmare: ChatGPT floods Amazon with e-books ghostwritten by AI

In the job listing, Amazon expresses its desire to recruit top talent across the company to help realize and deliver this vision promptly. The company believes that this endeavour will result in a transformative shift in search, describing it as a once-in-a-generation transformation for Search.

In addition, another job posting indicates that Amazon is undertaking an AI-first initiative to revamp its search approach. The goal is to leverage cutting-edge deep learning techniques at an extremely large scale to transform the way search is conducted.

When asked about the job listings, Amazon spokesperson Keri Bertolino chose not to provide specific comments but mentioned that the company is making significant investments in generative AI across all its business sectors.

Reshaping Amazons core product: Product Search

The integration of conversational product search has the potential to reshape a crucial aspect of Amazons core retail operations. The search bar, which has become the primary gateway for millions of shoppers looking for specific products, holds immense importance.

Also read: Tech Layoffs: Amazon India lays off around 500 people in HR, tech support and web services teams

According to a survey conducted by Jungle Scout, a company that develops software for Amazon sellers, more than half of US shoppers now initiate their product searches on Amazon, surpassing the share of those who begin on Google.

Early deployments of generative AI by companies like Microsoft and Google have faced challenges, including errors in response to basic queries. However, these initial efforts also demonstrate the potential for enhanced search experiences that could offer users a more valuable way to find products.

For example, using Microsoft Bing, which is powered by OpenAIs ChatGPT, to search for the five best electric razors yields a list of five products along with reviews from reputable sources like Mens Health and GQ, along with links to stores where the products can be purchased. In comparison, conducting the same search on Amazon tends to display ads prominently, followed by numerous product listings.

Ads and sponsored content ruined Amazons product search

Amazons search experience has faced criticism in recent years due to the increased prominence of ads and sponsored content in search results.

Generative AI leverages vast amounts of data to construct large language models capable of generating text or images based on prompts. Amazons CEO, Andy Jassy, highlighted the transformative potential of this technology in improving customer experiences during an earnings call.

Also read: Centre takes action against top e-commerce platforms for selling seat belt alarm stopper clips

Amazon Web Services, the companys cloud computing unit, has also announced services that rely on advancements in generative AI, although they are not widely available yet. Additionally, Amazon is exploring the use of similar technology to enhance its Alexa voice assistant and is building a team to leverage AI tools in creating photos and videos for advertising campaigns.

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Apple announced in a press release that its App Store successfully prevented over $2 billion in potentially fraudulent transactions last year. The tech giant emphasized that it rejected nearly 1.7 million app submissions in 2022 due to non-compliance with the App Stores privacy and security standards.

This announcement comes at a time when Apple is under pressure to allow third-party app stores on iPhones and iPads. The EU passed the Digital Markets Act, which will come into effect in 2024 and require major tech companies to enable alternative app stores on their platforms. This legislation aims to give developers the choice of app distribution and users the ability to download apps from various sources.

Apple to allow sideloading of apps and third-party App Stores in iOS 17

Following the passage of the Digital Markets Act by the EU, Bloomberg reported that Apple is preparing to permit alternative app stores on its devices to comply with the upcoming requirements. These changes are expected to be introduced with the release of iOS 17 later this year.

Also read: Apple may allow iPhone, iPad users to sideload apps, along with third-party app stores on its devices

Apple has long argued against sideloading, the process of installing apps on devices without using the official App Store, citing potential security risks for users. Sideloading and App Store fees have been at the centre of the ongoing dispute between Apple and Epic.

The company has expressed concerns to U.S. lawmakers about the dangers of sideloading, emphasizing that its strict control over apps in the App Store ensures user safety.

Throughout the press release, Apple reiterates that its protection measures, including the App Store review process, have been effective in preventing fraudulent transactions.

Strict rules and scrutiny have kept the ecosystem safe

The Cupertino-based giant highlights that it safeguarded users from nearly 57,000 unreliable apps from unauthorized storefronts, which lack the same built-in privacy and security protections as the App Store. Apple emphasizes the risks associated with unauthorized marketplaces distributing harmful software that can mimic or modify popular apps without developers consent.

However, its important to note that Apples app review process is not flawless and does not guarantee complete protection against scams, fraud, or malware within the App Store.

Also read: Apple Is Removing Older, Outdated Apps From App Store, Indie Developers Miffed

The press release also highlights the security of Apples payment technologies, such as StoreKit and Apple Pay. It mentions that these technologies blocked almost 3.9 million stolen credit cards from fraudulent use and banned 714,000 accounts from making further transactions.

Apple emphasizes that it conducts thorough safety checks on every app before it is available on the App Store to protect users. Last year, the company rejected nearly 1.7 million app submissions for various reasons, including concerns related to fraud and privacy. Additionally, around 24,000 apps were blocked or removed from the App Store due to bait-and-switch violations.

Making a statement against sideloading

According to Apple, over 153,000 app submissions rejected in the past year were identified as spam, copycats, or misleading. Moreover, nearly 29,000 submissions were rejected for containing hidden or undisclosed features, and over 400,000 app submissions were rejected for privacy violations.

Also read: Elon Musk and Spotify CEO Daniel Ek to take on Apple and their absurd rules for App Store

The press release also mentions that Apple terminated over 428,000 developer accounts for potentially fraudulent activity last year. It rejected almost 105 million enrollments in the Apple Developer Program due to suspected fraudulent activities. Furthermore, the company disabled over 282 million customer accounts associated with fraudulent and abusive behaviour, while also blocking 198 million attempted fraudulent new accounts before they could be created.

As Apple faces ongoing pressure to allow third-party app stores on its devices, the press release serves as a reaffirmation of the App Store and payment technologies security. It reinforces Apples stance on sideloading and third-party app stores.

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Australia on Wednesday cancelled the scheduled Quad leaders meeting in Sydney next week, after US President Joe Biden cancelled his visit to Australia, according to a media report.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the leaders of Australia, the US, India and Japan would instead meet at the G7 Summit in Japan this weekend. US President Biden announced on Tuesday that he will postpone the Australia leg of his Asia trip, along with that of Papua New Guinea, given the uncertainty and intense negotiations with the opposition Republican party to ensure that America does not default on its debt for the first time in history.

The Quad leaders meeting will not be going ahead in Sydney next week, Albanese said in Tweed Heads, a town in New South Wales. Albanese says its still possible that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Sydney next week, ABC News reported.

Because that has to be solved prior to 1 June otherwise there are quite drastic consequences for the US economy, which will flow on to the global economy he understandably has had to make that decision, Albanese said.

The Prime Minister also said Biden was disappointed as he was unable to come to Australia and that the Quad leaders would instead try to gather on the margins of the G7 leaders meeting in Hiroshima.

All four leaders President Biden, Prime Minister Kishida, Prime Minister Modi and myself will be at the G7, held in Hiroshima on Saturday and Sunday. We are attempting to get together over that period of time [and] Ill have a bilateral discussion with President Biden, he said.

At this stage, we havent got a time locked in for that arrangement, Albanese said it was still possible that Prime Minister Modi and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida would visit Sydney next week, but officials in all three countries were still trying to confirm their plans.

We are in discussions with the Quad leaders over today. Well make further announcements about that, but Prime Minister Modi would certainly be a very welcome guest here next week, he said.

In November 2017, India, Japan, the US and Australia gave shape to the long-pending proposal of setting up the Quad to develop a new strategy to keep the critical sea routes in the Indo-Pacific free of any influence amid Chinas aggressive behaviour in the region.

China is engaged in hotly contested territorial disputes in the South and East China Seas. Beijing has also made substantial progress in militarizing its man-made islands in the past few years.

Beijing claims sovereignty over all of the South China Sea. But Vietnam, Malaysia, the Philippines, Brunei and Taiwan have counterclaims. In the East China Sea, China has territorial disputes with Japan.

With inputs from agencies.

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Local reports from Beijing revealed Wednesday that the Chinese government has issued a notice to several embassies and international organizations, urging them to remove inappropriate signage from their premises.

The request likely pertains to pro-Ukraine posters displayed by the embassies of Canada, Poland, and Germany.

As reported by Kyodo News, the memorandum advises foreign embassies against utilizing the exterior walls of their buildings for political propaganda and emphasizes the importance of avoiding conflicts between nations.

The notice, allegedly sent by the Chinese Foreign Ministry on May 10, also reminds recipients of their obligation to adhere to Chinese laws and regulations.

However, there is no indication that China intends to disregard the principle of diplomatic immunity established by the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.

Several Western embassies have exhibited posters expressing solidarity with Ukraine in both Chinese and English.

The Canadian embassys display, in particular, has attracted the attention of news photographers.

Additionally, some embassies have showcased the rainbow progress flag to support LGBT causes.

According to Kyodo, Beijings request has sparked a negative response among Western embassies.

A European diplomat remarked that there is no reasonable justification for the request and stated that their embassy will not comply. As of now, none of the signs have been taken down.

Despite pressure from the United States and its allies to align with the West in opposing Russia, the Beijing government has maintained its stance and called for a peaceful resolution to the heightened hostilities since February 2022.

During a regular press briefing on Tuesday, Wang Wenbin, the spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, stated that the US should examine its own role and responsibilities regarding the Ukraine issue and refrain from coercing other nations to take sides or engaging in smear campaigns.

Wang further emphasized that most countries desire a peaceful settlement for the Ukraine crisis, instead of exacerbating the situation through increased arms sales or actions that escalate tensions, which he attributed to the actions of the United States.

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A Chinese embassy spokesperson in London on Tuesday described former British Prime Minister Liz Trusss visit to Taiwan as a dangerous political show which will do nothing but harm to the United Kingdom.

We urge the relevant British politician to correct her wrongdoing, stop making political shows with the Taiwan question, and stop conniving at and supporting Taiwan independence secessionist forces, a statement by the spokesperson published on the embassy website said.

Truss is the most well-known British politician to visit Taiwan since former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in the 1990s, and her trip comes at a time when relations between Britain and China are the worst in decades.

She represents a section of the governing Conservative Party who oppose the British governments approach to China, which involves seeking to engage in areas such as trade and climate change while trying to limit national security threats.

The former prime minister is likely to call on UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to declare Beijing a threat to UK security during a speech in Taipei City today.

According to the Guardian, Truss will ask Sunak to deliver on his rhetoric during last summers Conservative party leadership contest, when he declared China the biggest-long term threat to Britain. He also promised to close all 30 of the UKs Confucius Institutes, which promote Chinese culture on campus in higher education and in some British schools, the report added.

Truss drums up support against China

Truss is also likely to urge the West not to work with China, warning that totalitarian regimes dont tell the truth.

In a pre-briefed extract of her speech to the Prospect Foundation, she is likely to say, There are still too many in the West who are trying to cling on to the idea that we can cooperate with China on issues like climate change, as if there is nothing wrong; that there are bigger issues than Chinese global dominance or the future of freedom and democracy.

But without freedom and democracy there is nothing else.

Taiwan and China split in 1949 following a civil war that ended with the Communist party in control of the mainland. The island has never been part of the Peoples Republic of China but Beijing has insisted it must unite with the mainland, by force if necessary.

A UK government spokesperson said it was in Britains interests to continue engagement with China while recognising the challenges the country presents, adding: We have always been clear that China remains the biggest state-based threat to the UKs economic security.

Thats why our integrated review refresh sets out a new approach to dealing with the challenge which China presents for the UK and the wider world.

With inputs from agencies

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The European Union (EU) is unlikely to modify its 11th Russia sanctions package to permanently close natural gas pipelines that were shut down by the Kremlin after the invasion of Ukraine.

According to reports, this matter will be discussed at the upcoming G7 summit. The G7, composed of wealthy democracies, is considering a proposal to prevent countries like Germany and Poland from resuming gas imports from Russia, even if the Kremlin decides to resume supply.

However, G7 members such as Germany and Italy, who have pipeline connections to Russia, are not in consensus regarding this idea, despite the decrease in gas flow.

EU officials and analysts suggest that the proposal is unlikely to be approved.

An anonymous diplomat from an EU country affected by the gas cutoff last year stated that the chances of the proposal passing are very slim.

The diplomat added that the countries dependent on the remaining gas are strongly opposing the measure, and it would be impractical to introduce such a significant change at this stage of the 11th sanctions packages development.

According to the Bruegel think tank, prior to the invasion of Ukraine, Russia used to supply over 40 percent of the European Unions gas imports.

Currently, that figure has dropped to less than 8 percent.

The Nord Stream pipeline, which runs underwater to Germany, and the Yamal pipeline that crosses Poland, have both experienced a complete halt in gas flow.

The transit through pipelines across Ukraine is now only a quarter of what it was before the war, while the TurkStream pipeline across the Black Sea is operating at pre-war levels.

Russia has indicated the possibility of resuming gas supplies, with President Vladimir Putin stating in October that his country is prepared to restart shipments if needed.

The objective of the G7s strategy is to prevent the revival of Nord Stream, primarily to address concerns in Germany and other countries where there may be interest from companies and consumers in resuming Russian gas imports through pipelines. This move could also create momentum to include pipelines in the EUs potential 12th round of sanctions.

Ukrainian Energy Minister German Galushchenko stated to POLITICO that prohibiting pipeline imports of Russian gas would be a significant symbolic step.

He believes it would hinder Russias ability to blackmail the EU and influence European politicians through comfortable means.

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Kathmandu: World-renowned Nepalese mountaineer Kami Rita Sherpa scaled Mt Everest for a record 27th time on Wednesday, beating his own record with the highest number of ascends on the worlds highest peak.

The 53-year-old record-holding mountain guide stood atop the 8,848.86 metres-high peak at 8:30 am on Wednesday, the Department of Tourism of Nepal said.

He regained his title for the most climbs of Mount Everest, just three days after a fellow Sherpa guide equalled his previous record.

Pasang Dawa Sherpa, 46, a fellow Sherpa guide, scaled the summit of Mount Everest on Sunday for the 26th time, equalling Kami Ritas previous record for the most ascents of the worlds highest peak.

A resident of Solukhumbu district in eastern Nepal, Kami Rita first reached Everest on May 13, 1994.

Kami Rita, who works as a senior mountain guide at the Seven Summit Treks, reached the summit under an expedition organised by the Kathmandu-based commercial adventure operator.

He summited Mt Everest for the 26th time in 2022 and has climbed many mountains over 8,000 metres in Nepal and abroad. Kami Rita has also conquered several famous mountain peaks, including Mt K2, Mt Cho Oyu, Mt Lhotse and Mt Manaslu.

Meanwhile, an Indian national on Wednesday scaled the worlds seventh-highest mountain Mt. Dhaulagiri in Nepal.

In an expedition organised by the Seven Summit Trek, seven mountaineers, including Jitendra Ramdas Gaware from India, successfully ascended the 8,167-metre high peak.

Others who scaled the peak were Chhepal Sherpa, Jangbu Sherpa and Angeli Sherpa from Nepal, Shehroze Kashif from Pakistan, Vibek Andrea Sefland from Norway and Thomas Ntavarinos from Greece, according to the staff at the organising Seven Summit Trek.

Mt. Dhaulagiri is the seventh-highest mountain in the world.

Meanwhile, a Nepali national and a Moldovan climber died at an altitude of 8,000 metres on Mt Everest.

Phurba Sherpa, 42, died while descending from the Summit on Tuesday, according to Yuvaraj Khatiwada, Director at the Department of Tourism.

Sherpa, supporting staff of the Nepal Army Everest Cleaning Expedition, successfully climbed the worlds highest peak on Tuesday.

The Moldovan mountaineer, Victor Brinza, was a part of the expedition run by Himalayan Traverse Adventure. The 46-year-old breathed his last after he fell ill at South Col, base camp officials said.

With this, the death toll on Everest this season has reached six. Earlier, four Sherpa climbers and an American doctor died on Everest.

This spring, 478 climbers have received permission to climb Everest.

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A 35-year-old former Apple engineer named Weibao Wang has been charged with stealing self-driving car technology from the company and fleeing to China almost five years ago.

Prosecutors allege that Wang secretly worked for an unnamed Chinese company and stole thousands of files containing proprietary information related to autonomous driving systems. The indictment includes six counts of theft or attempted theft of trade secrets.

Also read: Apple to release their car in 2026, will not be able to give full self-driving feature at launch

According to the US Department of Justice, Wang joined Apple in March 2016 as part of the team working on autonomous systems. He signed a confidentiality agreement regarding the project, which was highly confidential within the company at the time.

Wang left Apple on April 16, 2018, and accepted a job offer at a Chinese company involved in self-driving car development over four months prior, unbeknownst to Apple.

In June 2018, law enforcement searched Wangs home in Mountain View, California, while he was present. Despite claiming that he had no intentions of leaving the US, Wang purchased a one-way ticket from San Francisco to Guangzhou, China, on the same day as the search. Authorities found significant amounts of Apple data related to self-driving car technology on devices seized from Wangs home.

Also read: People are more interested in buying an Apple car than a Tesla, shows poll. Heres why.

According to Ismail Ramsey, the US Attorney for the Northern District of California, Wang currently remains in China. If he were to be extradited and convicted, he could face up to 10 years in prison for each of the six charges filed against him.

This case marks the third time that former Apple employees have been accused of stealing autonomous technology secrets for China.

Also read: Apple and autonomous vehicles an ideal match, hints company chief Tim Cook

Former Apple employee Xiaolang Zhang pleaded guilty to similar charges in 2019, while another ex-Apple employee named Jizhong Chen is undergoing trial on similar allegations.

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In a speech that risks further damaging Britains relations with China, former British prime minister Liz Truss will warn Western nations in Taiwan on Wednesday that the West must avoid appeasing Beijing.

Truss, who is also a former UK foreign secretary, is the most well-known British politician to visit Taiwan since former prime minister Margaret Thatcher in the 1990s, and her trip comes at a time when relations between Britain and China are the worst in decades.

She represents a hawkish wing of the governing Conservative Party that opposes the British governments approach to China, which involves seeking to engage in areas such as trade and climate change while trying to limit national security threats.

In contrast to French President Emmanuel Macrons attempts to distance Europe from any involvement in a conflict over Taiwan, Truss will say it would be completely irresponsible for European nations to argue that the island is too far away or not important.

Beijing has previously condemned visits by British lawmakers to Taiwan for what it calls interference in Chinas internal affairs.

We must support free democracies like Taiwan in the face of aggression from a Chinese regime whose record is all too clear for the world to see, Truss will say, according to extracts of her speech. The only choice we have is whether we appease and accommodate  or we take action to prevent conflict.

After being forced out of office in a record 49 days last October over unfunded tax cuts that buffeted the financial markets, Truss has made speeches aimed at rebuilding her political reputation and adding pressure on her successor, Rishi Sunak, to take a stronger stance on a number of issues.

A spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in London criticised her visit, calling it a dangerous political show which will do nothing but harm to the United Kingdom.

In the clearest attempt to explain Britains approach to China under Sunak, foreign minister James Cleverly said last month it would be a mistake to isolate Beijing and that engagement is needed in areas such as climate change.

There are still too many in the West who are trying to cling on to the idea that we can cooperate with China on issues like climate change, Truss will say. Without freedom and democracy, there is nothing else.

With inputs from agencies.

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A Paris court of appeals on Wednesday upheld former French President Nicolas Sarkozys three-year prison sentence, denying his appeal against a 2021 corruption and influence peddling conviction.

According to Al Jazeera report, while the court upheld the sentence, it ruled that Sarkozys two years would be suspended and he would be required to wear an electronic bracelet instead of going to jail for the remaining year.

Becoming the first French president to be convicted for such charges, the conservative politician has also been banned from public office for three years.

Reacting to the ruling, Sarkozys lawyers said they would appeal the decision before the Court of Cassation, Frances highest appeals court.

Nicolas Sarkozy is innocent, Al Jazeera quoted Sarkozys lawyer Jacqueline Laffont as telling reporters. We will take this all the way. We are just at the beginning of the process, Laffont added.

His lawyer, Thierry Herzog, was also barred from legal practice for three years.

Sarkozys predecessor, Jacques Chirac, was also convicted in a criminal trial for corruption but received a two-year suspended sentence in 2011.

The case

Sarkozy, who led the country in 2007-2012, and his lawyer Thierry Herzog were accused of bribing Gilbert Azibert, a former judge in the Court of Cassation, in 2014 to give them information about a judiciary investigation.

In exchange, Sarkozy promised the judge a prestigious position in Monaco.

The court sentenced the former president to three years in jail, with two years suspended, on 1 March, 2021.

Sarkozy was exposed after investigators wiretapped his two official phone lines and discovered that he also had a third unofficial phone, taken out in 2014 under the name of Paul Bismuth, which he used to contact Herzog.

Sarkozy contested the accusation and immediately appealed, saying he had never corrupted anybody.

However, his conversations with Herzog were played out during the appeal trial.

With inputs from agencies

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Gov. Ron DeSantis slammed Donald Trump on Tuesday for suggesting Floridas new six-week abortion ban is too harsh, ratcheting up his assaults on the former president as he prepares to face him for the Republican nomination in 2024.

DeSantis was replying to a query regarding Trumps remarks in an article about the six-week ban that the Florida governor recently signed into law that was published on Monday by The Messenger. According to Trump, the pro-life movement as a whole feels that that was too harsh.

DeSantis asserted that abortion opponents generally favour the measure and pointed out that the former president was silent about any restrictions he would support on the practice.

Protecting an unborn child when theres a detectable heartbeat is something that almost 99% of pro-lifers support, DeSantis said at a news conference in Florida, taking questions after he signed a measure to combat human trafficking.

As a Florida resident, you know, he didnt give an answer about, Would you have signed the heartbeat bill that Florida did, that had all the exceptions that people talk about?' DeSantis added.

The rivalry between Trump and DeSantis is heating up as the Florida governor nears a decision on a 2024 presidential bid. DeSantis allies believe he will launch his candidacy as soon as this week, although an announcement could come closer to the end of the month.

Abortion has been an early flashpoint in the still-forming Republican primary field ahead of the first presidential election since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. The bickering showcases the GOPs ongoing internal debate over hard-line abortion restrictions, which may be popular in a Republican primary but could create problems in a general election for the partys eventual nominee.

Asked whether he felt Trump had taken a firm enough stance on abortion, former Vice President Mike Pence  a staunch opponent of abortion who is soon expected to enter the race against his former boss  drew a line of distinction with Trump on the issue Tuesday night, saying he supported Floridas bill and would sign such a measure as president.

For my part, I disagree with President Trump about the heartbeat bill, Pence told reporters after an event in Concord, New Hampshire. I truly do believe that we ought to advance the cause of life at the state level, but I also want to say, I also believe there is a role at the federal level to advance the sanctity of life.

The bill signed into law last month by DeSantis would ban abortions after six weeks of pregnancy. It will take effect only if the states current 15-week ban is upheld in a legal challenge before the state Supreme Court, which is controlled by conservatives.

Ron DeSantis is flailing in the polls and is closer to the bottom of the pack than he is to President Trump, who is dominating in every single poll, Trump campaign Steven Cheung said when asked to respond to DeSantis remarks. Cheung pointed out an anti-abortion groups recent characterization of Trumps presidency as the most consequential in American history for the pro-life cause.

Calling into a Newsmax program Tuesday night, Trump repeated comments he made on CNN that he had given abortion opponents the power of negotiation and, twice deflecting questions about whether he would support a national abortion ban at a specific point, said that many pro-life people are talking about more weeks than Ron is talking about.

But Im going to decide, and Im going to be in there pushing, and Im the one that got rid of Roe v. Wade, he said.

Trump has referred to himself as the most pro-life president in American history, as his three nominations of conservative judges to the Supreme Court paved the way for the end of legalized abortion nationwide.

But in the early months of his 2024 bid, Trump has often sidestepped the issue of abortion, even as Republicans across the country celebrate the Supreme Court decision stripping federal constitutional rights to the practice.

In Iowa in March, he repeatedly refused to say whether he would support a federal law restricting abortion in every state  a move that anti-abortion activists have been demanding of the GOPs presidential contenders. Were looking at a lot of different things, he said when asked by The Associated Press whether he supports a federal abortion ban.

Last week during a primetime CNN town hall in New Hampshire, Trump continued to avoid specifics on a national ban, repeatedly saying he would do whats right, without specifying what that was.

As he gets closer to an announcement, DeSantis has been escalating his criticism of Trump, who for months has been attacking him directly and through groups supporting his candidacy. Last week in Iowa, as perilous weather sidelined Trumps trip to the state, DeSantis highlighted the GOPs recent string of electoral losses  a clear knock on the former president.

We must reject the culture of losing that has impacted our party in recent years. The time for excuses is over, DeSantis said at an event in Sioux Center. If we get distracted, if we focus the election on the past or on other side issues, then I think the Democrats are going to beat us again.

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From 2008 to 2014, Abdulrahman Al-Sadhan, a human rights activist, used his Twitter account to express critical views about the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) to a follower base of over 160,000 individuals.

His views, were mostly in the form of sarcastic comments and memes. When he returned to Saudi Arabia in 2015, his previously anonymous account was allegedly exposed by former Twitter employees who were allegedly spying for the Saudi regime to suppress dissident voices.

Now, Areej Al-Sadhan, Abdulrahmans sister, has filed a lawsuit against Twitter, claiming that the platform violated its terms of service by disclosing her brothers identifying information to the government of Saudi Arabia, despite his Twitter speech being entitled to protection.

In an affidavit supporting her complaint, Areej asserted that this situation poses a threat to every Twitter user. She claimed that as a consequence, Saudi Arabia kidnapped her brother, subjected him to torture, imprisoned him, and, after a sham trial sentenced him to 20 years in prison, solely for criticizing the repressive actions of the Saudi government on his Twitter account.

Incarcerated under exaggerated charges

Abdulrahman was reportedly charged in secret within a specialized criminal court in Saudi Arabia. The charges were said to be connected to his tweets, which were accused of being contemptuous of religion, adopting an extremist approach, and offending state institutions and officials through the spread of false rumours about them. These charges indicate that the Saudi authorities considered his online activities as violations related to religious matters, extremism, and defamation of state institutions and officials.

Areej filed a lawsuit in a US district court in San Francisco on behalf of Abdulrahman, arguing that her brother is incapacitated and unable to assist their attorney. This is due to his disappearance following his imprisonment sentence imposed by Saudi Arabia, leaving him unable to make his case. According to the lawsuit, there has been no communication from him since 2021.

Areej expressed in her affidavit that the Saudi government has actively prevented any contact between Abdulrahman and his family, as well as denied him access to legal representation. She further stated her uncertainty about his current well-being, indicating that she is unsure if he is still alive. Areej also highlighted the immense challenges she has faced since speaking out against Saudi repression, describing her life as living through hell.

Areej, a US citizen, makes the allegation that she has been persistently stalked, threatened, and specifically targeted by the agents of Saudi Arabia since she started advocating for her brothers release. This includes getting constant rape and death threats on Twitter from Saudi Arabias digital army.

The last time Areejs family saw him, Abdulrahman showed distressing physical conditions. The document mentions that he experienced difficulties with walking and focusing, had missing toenails, and had several bruises and other signs of torture.

Allegedly, the secret police of the KSA boasted about obtaining confidential information from Twitter. Furthermore, they reportedly broke Abdulrahmans hand while taunting him with the statement, this is the hand you write and tweet with.

Twitter hired two Saudi spies

As stated in the lawsuit, Twitters privacy policy from 2015 was cited, indicating that the platform committed to not sharing private user information. This policy may have led Abdulrahman to believe that there was no risk of his critical tweets being linked back to him.

We may share or disclose your non-private, aggregated or otherwise non-personal information, such as your public user profile information, public Tweets, the people you follow or that follow you, or the number of users who clicked on a particular link (even if only one did), or reports to advertisers about unique users who saw or clicked on their ads after we have removed any private personal information (such as your name or contact information).

A specific provision highlighted by Areejs lawyers pointed out that Twitter would retain user information if they deemed it reasonably necessary to ensure the safety of individuals.

Also read: Two former Twitter employees have been accused of spying for Saudi Arabia

In 2019, two former Twitter employees, Ahmad Abouammo and Ali Alzabarah, were arrested on charges of espionage on behalf of the Saudi government. These individuals violated Twitters privacy agreement by sharing private user data.

Ahmad Abouammo and Ali Alzabarah were working at Twitter since 2014, and reportedly collaborated with a Saudi government official identified as Al Asaker, as mentioned by The Washington Post. They allegedly shared internal Twitter data concerning users who were considered of interest to Al Asaker and the Saudi Royal Family. Al Asaker is often considered to be Prince Mohammed bin Salmans invisible hand.

This data allowed for the tracking of the account users movements. Some of these accounts contained images that could potentially be interpreted as security threats, including pictures of improvised explosive devices. Twitter subsequently removed these posts following emergency takedown requests from the Saudi government. Other accounts were simply critical of Mohammed bin Salman or the Saudi government.

Also read: Saudi spying case: Who is Ahmad Abouammo, the ex-Twitter employee whos been sentenced to 42 months in US prison?

Areej alleges that these former employees unlawfully transmitted sensitive information. This includes the names, birthdates, device identifiers, phone numbers, IP addresses, and session IP histories associated with approximately 6,000 accounts that posted critical content about the Saudi regime. The ex-employees are accused of accessing data from these accounts a total of 30,892 times and sharing confidential information, including details about anonymous users like Abdulrahman.

According to an affidavit submitted by the FBI during the espionage trial, it was revealed that Abouammo received payments of at least $300,000 from Al Asaker for his involvement. The FBI stated that Abouammo attempted to conceal these payments by creating fraudulent invoices through his personal company. Additionally, the indictment suggests that Abouammo received gifts, including a watch estimated to be worth around $20,000, as part of the arrangement

Twitters soft spot Saudi money

According to The Washington Post, it is expected that Twitter will argue that its employees acted covertly and without approval in the spying incident. However, Areejs complaint alleges that the FBI had alerted Twitter to the Saudi spying as early as 2015, implying that Twitter was aware of the situation.

Also read: Saudi Arabia has most active Twitter users; India 21st in the world

The complaint further asserts that Twitter had financial incentives to turn a blind eye to the issue due to Saudi Arabia being its most significant market in the Middle East.

The lawsuit also highlights a meeting in 2015 between then-Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. It is claimed that during this meeting, discussions revolved around training and qualifying Saudi employees.

The lawsuit adds that Saudi Arabia has made substantial investments in Twitter, positioning itself as the platforms second-largest shareholder, after Elon Musk.

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A 24-hour deadline has been given to former prime minister and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party chief Imran Khan by the interim government in Punjab province to handover all 30-40 terrorists that have taken refuge at his residence in Lahore.

PTI should hand over these terrorists or the law will take its course, said Caretaker Information Minister Aamir Mir.

Referring to the May 9 protesters as terrorists, Mir said that the government was aware of their presence at Khans Zaman Park residence as it had credible intelligence reports.

The intelligence report that has come is very alarming, Mir was quoted as saying, adding that the agencies were able to confirm the presence of the terrorists in Zaman Park through geo-fencing.

Geo-fencing is a technology that allows the movements of a person, vehicle, etc. to be recorded or limited using satellite signals.

Recalling the recent violent protests in the country following the arrest of ousted prime minister Khan, Mir alleged that The PTI leadership had planned the attack before the arrest [of Imran Khan].

The arrest of Khan, 70, on May 9 by the paramilitary Pakistan Rangers at the Islamabad High Court premises triggered unrest in Pakistan.

For the first time in Pakistans history, the protesters stormed the army headquarters (GHQ) in Rawalpindi and also torched the Corps Commanders house in Lahore.

Police put the death toll in violent clashes to 10 while Khans party claims 40 of its workers lost their lives in the firing by security personnel.

Mir also alleged that the PTI chief has been targeting the military for over a year under a set plan.

The interim information minister said that the government has adopted a zero tolerance policy towards violence and interim Chief Minister Mohsin Naqvi has given a free hand to the Punjab Police to deal with arsonists, the report said.

Several arsonists were in touch with people inside Zaman Park during the attack on the Corps Commander House. They will be made an example so that no one will carry out such an act in the future, Mir said.

Those who have been arrested so far are being fully scrutinised. Cases are being forwarded after 100 per cent confirmation [of their involvement], he said.

He said the government has decided that the attackers of military installations will be tried in military courts as an official announcement issued by the Prime Ministers Office confirmed that Pakistans National Security Committee endorsed the decision reached at the corps commanders meeting to try the attackers under the Army Act and Official Secrets Act.

(With inputs from PTI)

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India has strongly rejected UN Special Rapporteur on Minority Issues Fernand de Varennes statement objecting to holding a G20 meeting in Jammu and Kashmir alleging human rights violations there and termed his remarks baseless and unwarranted.

Permanent Mission of India in Geneva further attacked him for acting irresponsibly to politicise this issue.

Also, it asserted that India as G20 president has the prerogative to host its meetings in any part of the country.

Srinagar will be hosting the G20 meeting of the working group on tourism from May 22 to May 24.

In his statement, Fernand de Varennes alleged that holding a G20 meeting in Jammu and Kashmir while massive human rights violations are ongoing is lending support to attempts by India to normalise the brutal and repressive denial of democratic and other rights of Kashmiri Muslims and minorities.

Holding a #g20 meeting in #jammuandkashmir while massive #humanrights violations are ongoing is lending support to attemps by #India to normalize the brutal & repressive denial of democratic & other rights of #kashmiri #Muslims and #minorities. pic.twitter.com/fjLSjovfKX  UN Special Rapporteur on Minority Issues (@fernanddev) May 15, 2023

Slamming the statement, Indias permanent mission in Geneva tweeted,We @IndiaUNGeneva strongly reject the statement issued by SR on minority issues @fernanddev and the baseless and unwarranted allegations in it. As G20 president, its Indias prerogative to host its meetings in any part of the country.

We are aghast that @fernanddev has acted irresponsibly to politicize this issue, misused his position as SR to publicize on social media his presumptive and prejudiced conclusions in a gross violation of the Code of Conduct for SRs, the Indian mission said.

We @IndiaUNGeneva strongly reject the statement issued by SR on minority issues @fernanddev & the baseless & unwarranted allegations in it. As G20 President, its Indias prerogative to host its meetings in any part of the country. (1/2)@UNHumanRights @volker_turk @MEAIndia  India at UN, Geneva (@IndiaUNGeneva) May 16, 2023

The UN Special Rapporteur also alleged that the government is seeking to normalise what some have described as a military occupation by instrumentalising a G20 meeting and portray an international seal of approval, despite what Volker Turk, the UN high commissioner for human rights, told the UN Human Rights Council a few weeks ago was a worrying human rights situation in the Kashmir region.

(With inputs from PTI)

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The White House said in a statement on Tuesday that US President Joe Biden would meet the prime ministers Narendra Modi of India and Anthony Albanese of Australia on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Japan.

He (Biden) will also have the opportunity to meet with the leaders of the other members of the Quad, Prime Minister Modi of India and Prime Minister Albanese of Australia as well, John Kirby, Coordinator for Strategic Communications at the National Security Council in the White House, told reporters at the White House during his briefing on the G7 trip.

Biden heads to Hiroshima, Japan to participate in the G7 summit. Since the president took office, revitalising our alliances and partnerships, and reestablishing Americas leadership around the world has been one of his top priorities, Kirby said.

Thanks in no small part to his hard work during the G7, you will see that our allies and partners are more united than ever. Over the last 15 months, the G7 has stood in solidarity with Ukraine following Russias invasion, rallying the world to support Ukraine and cutting Putin off from the key technologies and financing around the globe, he said.

That solidarity with Ukraine is even stronger now than it was last year, and you will see concrete action to further isolate Russia and weaken its ability to wage its brutal war. And of course, this display of unity will extend to other key economic and security issues as well. G7 leaders will demonstrate that we share a common approach to the challenges posed by the PRC (Peoples Republic of China), an approach that is grounded in common values, Kirby said.

We will also rally around the need for bold action to accelerate the clean energy transition, including by making President Bidens economic agenda a blueprint for G7 action to address the climate crisis and create good jobs. We will present an affirmative agenda to take further action to support developing countries around the world, he said.

That means we are going to showcase how we are scaling President Biden and the G7s flagship infrastructure initiative, the Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment, otherwise called PGII, which has attracted major investors to better respond to the global demand for high-quality infrastructure financing, Kirby said.

We will reaffirm our commitment to helping institutions like the World Bank evolve so that they can more effectively address global challenges that directly affect its core mission of poverty reduction, including climate change.

Now, the president will also have an opportunity to meet with Prime Minister Kishida on the margins, where they will discuss ways to further strengthen our mutual security, economic, and multilateral cooperation, and of course, look for ways to continue to improve our alliance with Japan, he added.

With inputs from agencies.

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According to Geo News, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Rawalpindi summoned Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) head Imran Khan in a personal capacity in the Al-Qadir Trust case on Tuesday.

The NAB also renamed the Al-Qadir Trust reference National Crime Agency 190m Pounds Scandal, and ordered the former prime minister to appear in person on the specified day.

On Monday, a division bench of the Lahore High Court (LHC) granted former first lady Bushra Bibi protective bail in the case until 23 May.

Imran Khan was also arrested in the same case on May 9 but later his arrest was declared unlawful by the apex court after which he was granted bail in the case till May 17 by the Islamabad High Court (IHC).

In a notice on Tuesday, the anti-graft body sought details of the United Kingdoms National Crime Agency (NCA) 2019 probe into assets worth Pound 190 million from Imran Khan, reported Geo News.

Moreover, NAB has directed Khan to bring along details regarding the NCA investigation and all documents related to the Al-Qadir University including land papers, trust deeds and bank statements.

The anti-corruption watchdog also warned the PTI chief of legal action in case of non-compliance with the summon, reported Geo News.

The case subsequently made its way to Pakistans federal cabinet on December 3, 2019, where it was presented by then special assistant to the prime minister (SAPM), Mirza Shahzad Akbar, in a sealed envelope.

The purpose of the presentation was to discuss the return of the funds, which would be channelled into an account overseen by the registrar of the Supreme Court of Pakistan.

This particular account was associated with the recovery of a staggering Rs 460 billion from the same property tycoon, in connection with fines imposed on a housing scheme in Karachi, reported Geo News.

Investigations have revealed that as part of an agreement to return the laundered money, the property tycoon offered a substantial compensation package. This included the transfer of 458 Kanal, 4 Marla and 58 square feet of land in Jhelum, alongside cash amounting to Rs285 million, which was destined for the Al-Qadir Trust.

The trustees of Al-Qadir Trust included then-prime minister Khan, his wife Bushra Bibi and his senior advisers Zulfiqar Bukhari and Babar Awan. However, it is worth noting that Awan and Bukharis positions were subsequently revoked on 22 April 2020.

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North Koreas Supreme leader, Kim Jong-uns fresh photographs revealed that he has examined the countrys first military surveillance satellite and has reportedly authorised its future action plan.

On Tuesday, Kim convened a meeting with the non-permanent satellite launch preparatory committee before personally observing the satellite, as reported by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

Approximately one month earlier, Kim had announced the completion of the satellites construction and approved its launch.

This declaration followed Pyongyangs claim of successfully testing a new solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile, which constituted a significant advancement in its prohibited weapons programs.

Notably, Intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) and space launch capabilities often share underlying technologies.

The satellites appearance seems to feature a polygonal cylindrical shape, wrapped in golden insulating foil, and equipped with solar panels. The released photographs have been partially obscured.

A month prior, Kim had been photographed at the National Aerospace Development Administration (Nada) standing in front of a screen displaying something similar in shape, also blurred.

According to KCNA, after gaining a comprehensive understanding of the committees work, Kim proceeded to inspect the military reconnaissance satellite designated as No 1.

The satellite has reportedly completed its final general assembly check and space environment test, preparing it for loading.

Kim accused the United States and South Korea of heightening what he labeled as confrontational actions against North Korea. He affirmed his countrys commitment to exercising its right to self-defense.

According to KCNA, Kim subsequently granted approval for the preparatory committees future action plan.

The development of a military reconnaissance satellite was highlighted as a crucial defense undertaking by Kim in 2021.

In December 2022, North Korea announced that it had conducted a significant final-stage test for the satellites development, aiming to complete it by April of the following year.

However, South Korean experts promptly raised doubts about the validity of North Koreas claims, citing the poor quality of the black-and-white images purportedly obtained from the satellite. Pyongyang has not disclosed a specific launch date, although Kim mentioned in April that the satellite would be launched as scheduled.

In 2022, North Korea declared itself an irreversible nuclear power, effectively closing the door on denuclearization negotiations.

North Korea perceives these exercises as practice runs for an invasion and has characterized them as high-intensity drills that simulate a full-scale war against Pyongyang.

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Two US officials said on Tuesday that a Russian hit likely damaged a US-made Patriot missile defence system used by Ukraine, but that it did not appear to have been destroyed.

The Patriot system is one of a slew of powerful air defence systems delivered by the West to assist Ukraine in repelling a Russian air attack campaign that has targeted important infrastructure, power plants, and other locations.

According to one US official, commenting on the condition of anonymity and citing preliminary information, Washington and Kyiv were already discussing the best approach to restore the system, and it did not look that the system would have to be evacuated from Ukraine at this time.

The official added that the United States would have a better understanding in the coming days and information could change over time.

The Patriot is considered to be one of the most advanced US air defence systems, including against aircraft, cruise missiles and ballistic missiles. It typically includes launchers along with radar and other support vehicles.

Russias defence ministry said on Tuesday that it had destroyed a US-built Patriot surface-to-air missile defence system with a hypersonic Kinzhal missile in an overnight strike on Ukraine.

Ukraine said earlier that it had shot down 18 Russian missiles overnight, including an entire volley of six Kinzhals. When asked about the Ukrainian claim, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu dismissed it, the RIA news agency reported.

It was not clear which Western weapon Ukraine used. The Pentagon had no immediate comment.

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Melbourne: Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Wednesday said that his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi would still travel next week to Australia despite the cancellation of the Quad leaders meeting in Sydney and he is looking forward to welcoming him.

The Australian premier was responding to a question on whether Prime Minister Modi will still come to Sydney after Albanese cancelled the Quad leaders meeting in Sydney on May 24 as US President Joe Biden postponed his visit to Australia to focus on crucial debt-ceiling talks to prevent a catastrophic federal default.

Albanese, Modi, Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida were to attend the Quad Leaders Summit.

Prime Minister Modi will be here next week for a bilateral meeting with myself, Albanese told ABC Radio in Brisbane.

Prime Minister Modi will also have business meetings and will hold a very public event at Homebush at the Olympic site in Sydney, he said.

He will also be engaging with Australian-India business relations I look forward to welcoming him to Sydney, Albanese said.

But he indicated Japans Prime Minister Fumio Kishida would cancel his visit in the wake of Bidens announcement.

Prime Minister Kishida was just coming for the Quad meeting. There wasnt a separate bilateral programme, Albanese said.

Earlier in the day, Albanese said that Prime Minister Modi would certainly be a very welcome guest in Australia next week despite the cancellation of the Quad meeting.

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A group of European countries led by Poland has been quietly urging Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to find a way to end its war against Russia. These nations are allies of Kyiv and declared enemies of Russian President Vladimir Putin, according to US investigative journalist Seymour Hersh.

Poland, Hungary, Lithuania, Estonia, Czechoslovakia, and Latvia. These countries are all allies of Ukraine and declared enemies of Vladimir Putin, Hersh wrote on his website.

He further alleged that this group is led by Poland, whose leadership no longer fears the Russian Army because its performance in Ukraine has left the glow of its success at Stalingrad during the Second World War in tatters.

The group has been urging Zelensky to find a way to end the war  even by resigning himself, if necessary  and to allow the process of rebuilding his nation to get under way.

However, Zelensky is not budging, even though he is beginning to lose the private support of his neighbours, Hersh said.

He further wrote that the Ukrainian presidents desire to take the war to Moscow may not be clear to the president and senior foreign policy aides in the White House, but it is to those in the American intelligence community who have found it difficult to get their intelligence and their assessments a hearing in the Oval Office.

Meanwhile, Ukraine on Wednesday said that a US-supplied Patriot air defence system continued to operate in Ukraine, after Moscow claimed it had struck the powerful weapon. Dont worry, all is fine with the Patriot, air force spokesman Yury Ignat told AFP.

He declined to say if the sophisticated system had been damaged. The Patriot is in service, Ignat added. All is well.

Earlier it was reported that a US-made Patriot air defence system was likely damaged as a result of a Russian missile attack early Tuesday.

The Russian defence ministry said on Tuesday that its forces had struck the Patriot system in Kyiv with a Kinzhal hypersonic missile.

On the other hand, Kyiv announced Ukraines air defence shot down six of Russias hypersonic missiles, but Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu rejected that claim.

(With inputs from AFP)

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Russia has banned high-ranking officials from resigning with threats of criminal prosecution, saying that if everyone leaves, control will be lost as the war in Ukraine rages on.

According to The Moscow Times report, citing the iStories investigative outlet, the Kremlin imposed the unofficial ban after many officials expressed a desire to resign from their posts.

If everyone leaves, control will be lost, said a source close to the presidential administration of the Kremlins logic.

According to the report, citing the source, Kremlin sees the desire to resign as a betrayal and that it has tasked civil servants with demonstrating unity.

I know of at least two cases where governors tried to leave their posts, but they were not just prohibited by the Internal Policy Department (of the presidential administration), it was also hinted at that they could face criminal prosecution, The Moscow Times, citing iStories, quoted a former employee in the Federal Security Service (FSB) as saying.

According to the report, there are exceptions since the ban is informal and essentially illegal. For instance, officials may be released from their positions due to health or corruption reasons.

Many are willing to pay a high price for the opportunity to quietly and discreetly leave now, the report quoted a source as saying.

As per the mobilisation decree signed by President Vladimir Putin in September 2022, members of the special services, including the majority of FSB employees, cannot resign even after their contracts expire.

Previously, Kremlin had also imposed strict restrictions on high-ranking officials, including parliamentarians, governors and top managers of state-owned companies, to travel abroad.

With such moves, the presidential administration is trying to prevent official desertion and hinder the work of foreign intelligence, according to The Moscow Times sources.

No one can go anywhere without special permission, The Moscow Times quoted a high-ranking government official as saying.

Despite the ongoing conflict, sometimes Putin himself has to review all these lists and figure out who is going abroad and for what purpose, a Kremlin official and longtime acquaintance of the president told The Moscow Times.

Russia restricts movement

According to a Business Insider report dated 15 March, the UK Ministry of Defence said in an intelligence update that some officials have likely had to forfeit their passports to Russias Federal Security Service.

It said that the measures are likely designed to prevent the flight or defection of increasingly disaffected officials.

The MOD described this as a widening of existing measures which have existed since Soviet times and were tightened in 2014 when Russia occupied Ukraines Crimea peninsula.

It said that Since the start of Russias invasion of Ukraine, Russian public officials and workers have been subject to increasingly severe foreign travel restrictions.

It also noted that employ closer to Russias centre of power face more severe restrictions; Kremlin officials are banned from all international leisure travel.

In March 2022, Russia banned citizens from leaving Russia with more than $10,000 in cash. And the UK Ministry of Defence said in January that Russia had banned dual-citizen migrant workers from leaving the country as it mulls further military call-ups.

With inputs from agencies

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During a Senate hearing, Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI, emphasized the necessity of government involvement in addressing the potential dangers associated with the growing capabilities of AI.

Altman acknowledged the publics concerns regarding the potential impact of AI on our lives and expressed that the people at OpenAI shared this apprehension.

Growing concerns over AI bots like ChatGPT

After the release of ChatGPT by Altmans San Francisco-based start-up named OpenAI, the chatbot tool quickly gained public attention due to its remarkably humanlike responses when answering questions. Initially, the concerns were primarily centred around teachers worrying about its potential use for cheating on homework, tests and assignments.

Also read: EU lawmakers take major step to curb AI, votes on curbs for ChatGPT and other similar tools

However, these concerns have now expanded to encompass much broader issues related to the latest generation of generative AI tools. Such concerns include the ability of these tools to deceive people, propagate falsehoods, infringe upon copyright protections, and disrupt certain job sectors.

While Congress currently shows no immediate intention of enacting comprehensive AI regulations, as their European counterparts are doing, the societal concerns surrounding these technologies prompted Altman and other tech CEOs to meet with officials at the White House earlier this month.

US agencies have pledged to take action against harmful AI products that violate existing civil rights and consumer protection laws, indicating a commitment to address the potential risks associated with AI.

Regulations have become necessary

To address these concerns, Altman suggested the establishment of either a national (US-based) or international organization that would grant licenses to the most advanced AI systems. This organization would possess the power to revoke licenses and enforce adherence to safety regulations, thereby ensuring compliance with necessary precautions.

Also read: AI is a more urgent risk than climate change, believes Godfather of AI Geoffrey Hinton

At the hearing, Senator Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat from Connecticut who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committees subcommittee on privacy, technology, and the law, began with a recorded speech that appeared to be his own voice but was actually generated using a voice clone trained on Blumenthals previous floor speeches. The speech, which was created using ChatGPT-written opening remarks, impressed Blumenthal. However, he raised a crucial question: What if he had asked the AI system for an endorsement of Ukraine surrendering or Vladimir Putins leadership?

Both Democrats and Republicans expressed their interest in seeking Sam Altmans expertise in preventing issues that have not yet arisen. Blumenthal emphasized the importance of AI companies being obligated to test their systems and disclose known risks before releasing them. He specifically voiced concerns about the potential destabilization of the job market by future AI systems. Altman largely agreed with Blumenthals perspective, although he maintained a more optimistic outlook on the future of work.

Altmans worst fears about AI

When questioned about his worst fear regarding AI, Altman chose not to delve into specific scenarios but acknowledged the potential for the industry to cause significant harm to the world. He highlighted the critical point that if AI technology goes awry, the consequences can be quite severe. He said that the industry could cause significant harm to the world and that if this technology goes wrong, it can go quite wrong.\\

Also read: ChatGPT as God? AI bots capable of starting new religions, warns expert

During the legislative session, Altman also expressed concerns about the potential repercussions of AI on democracy, particularly highlighting the risk of targeted misinformation being disseminated during elections through AI-powered mechanisms.

However, Altman later suggested the establishment of a regulatory agency that would implement safeguards against AI models capable of self-replication and unauthorized distribution. This alluded to concerns about advanced AI systems manipulating humans into relinquishing control, a concept often associated with futuristic science fiction narratives.

Are we moving in the wrong direction?

Critics argue that focusing on these distant concerns about super-powerful AI systems could divert attention and hinder the ability to address existing harms that demand immediate action, such as issues related to data transparency, discriminatory behaviour, trickery, and disinformation.

Also read: Elon Musk and AI experts call for pause in development of AI systems that outperform GPT-4

A former Biden administration official, who co-authored the Biden administrations AI bill of rights plan, expressed that this emphasis on far-off scenarios contributes to an unfounded collective panic. Suresh Venkatasubramanian, a computer scientist at Brown University and former assistant director for science and justice at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, suggests that this fear distracts from the current concerns that need to be addressed urgently.

Altman has additional plans to embark on a global tour this month, visiting national capitals and major cities across six continents. The purpose of this tour is to engage with policymakers and the public, discussing the technology and its implications. On the eve of his Senate testimony, Altman had a dinner meeting with numerous US lawmakers, who expressed their admiration for his comments and insights.

No consensus on how should AI be regulated

During the testimony, two other individuals provided their testimonies as well. Christina Montgomery, IBMs chief privacy and trust officer, shared her expertise on privacy and trust considerations in the context of AI.

Gary Marcus, a professor emeritus at New York University, was part of a group of AI experts who called for OpenAI and other tech companies to halt the development of more powerful AI models for a period of six months.

The intention behind this request was to allow society more time to assess the associated risks. The experts letter was a response to the release of OpenAIs GPT-4 in March, which was touted as a more potent model compared to ChatGPT.

While many leaders in the tech industry acknowledge the need for AI oversight, they caution against overly burdensome regulations. Altman and Marcus advocated for the establishment of an AI-focused regulatory body, preferably on an international scale. Altman drew a parallel with the United Nations nuclear agency, while Marcus likened it to the role of the US Food and Drug Administration.

However, IBMs Montgomery took a different stance and urged Congress to adopt a precision regulation approach. She suggested that regulations should focus on governing the deployment of specific uses of AI rather than the technology itself, aiming to address risks associated with AI at the point of application.

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To personally apologise to airline passengers who were stranded overnight after a flight was delayed and cancelled, the founder of a Taiwanese airline flew to an airport in Japan, in a first of sorts.

Chairman of Starlux Airlines Chang Kuo-Wei travelled all the way to Tokyos Narita Airport in Japan earlier this week to apologise to the 308 stranded passengers due to the delay of a scheduled flight, according to a report by Taiwan News.

In a video, the founder claimed that the delay was due to strong winds which did not convince the furious crowd at the airport.

According to Chang, X803 which was supposed to fly on May 6 was originally delayed due to a maintenance check of the aircraft. After the check, the cabin crew had exceeded their working hours.

A passenger shared the update on his Facebook group Complaints Communal where he revealed he was initially scheduled to board his flight JX803 at 3:45 pm but was delayed to 4:20 pm without an explanation.

Irate passengers waiting for their flights got to know that earlier two flights had been delayed due to strong winds at Narita. They thought the delay happened for the same reason and patiently waited for some time.

At about 5:30 pm, a Starlux Airline representative informed the passengers that the company was planning to move passengers from JX801 to JX803 as well. The passenger said that since the beginning, JX803 had not been delayed due to the weather but rather for convenience. As (the airline) did not want to send another aeroplane to transport passengers on JX801, the time of passengers on JX803 was sacrificed so passengers on JX801 could be flown back together, he added.

Starlux Airlines didnt provide either water or food after the passengers boarded the flight at 7 pm and also announced that the original cabin crew had exceeded their maximum working hours which further delayed the flight till 11 pm.

Later, the airline promised a full refund.

The passengers de-boarded the flight and were asked to spend the night at the terminal. While interacting with angry passengers the Starlux founder said that the Narita Airport initially agreed to postpone the start of its curfew until 12:30 am but later went back on its word.

The passengers were expecting an explanation from the founder about the decision taken of merging two flights which went unanswered.

The original flight was supposed to take off at 6 am on May 7 but was again delayed by two hours. The stranded passengers were not given food, water or vouchers in the morning and had to buy their breakfast on their own, which aggravated an already tense situation.

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Cops in Australia are currently conducting an investigation following a disturbing incident where over 65 women received packages containing used condoms by mail.

These parcels, accompanied by handwritten messages, were sent to various addresses in the south eastern and eastern parts of Melbourne.

Law enforcement suspects that the victims are connected and that this was a deliberate and targeted attack.

It has been discovered that all of the affected women attended Kilbreda College, a private girls school in Melbourne, in 1999.

The first victim came forward in March, and the most recent incident was reported on Monday.

According to Melbournes Herald Sun newspaper, the women suspect that their addresses were obtained from an outdated school yearbook.

Bree Walker, one of the recipients, expressed her distress upon receiving a letter containing a highly explicit handwritten message, causing her sleepless nights. In an effort to gather more information, she reached out to her friends to inquire if they had experienced similar incidents.

It is believed that most of the women received multiple letters, all of which contained used condoms. The investigation is currently ongoing, and the police have urged anyone with relevant information to come forward.

An update on the case is expected to be provided later on Wednesday. Kilbreda College, an independent Catholic girls school, was established by the Brigidine Sisters in 1904 and has an enrollment of approximately 900 students.

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As many as four men and their 75-year-old female leader accused of planning a coup and to kidnap German Health Minister were produced before the Higher Regional Court in Koblenz city of Western Germany on Wednesday.

The accused persons suspected to be part of the Vereinte Patrioten (United Patriots) group, are facing charges of conspiring to overthrow the German government.

According to federal prosecutors, they formed the Vereinte Patrioten in mid-January 2022 and are now accused of establishing or being involved in a terrorist organization, local media reports confirmed.

The primary accusation against the group is their alleged intention to incite a civil war-like scenario by causing a widespread power outage and plotting to abduct German Health Minister Karl Lauterbach.

Their objective, reportedly, was to dismantle parliamentary democracy in Germany.

Once in control, the accused planned to take charge of government institutions themselves. Federal prosecutors have therefore charged them with preparing high treason against the federal government.

How were they caught?

The involvement of an undercover investigator is believed to have been crucial in apprehending the suspects. The investigator spent months embedded within the group, gathering evidence.

On April 13, 2022, the four male suspects were arrested, followed by the arrest of the woman on October 13 of the same year. Since then, they have been held in custody.

If found guilty by the court, they are likely to face significant prison sentences.

What are they accused of?

Investigators have identified specific preparations made by the suspects, who primarily communicated through a chat group on the Telegram messaging service and held multiple meetings at various locations.

One of the accused individuals scouted potential targets for attacks on the electricity network, while another planned the abduction of the health minister, even considering the possibility of killing his bodyguards if necessary.

To facilitate their plans, the group acquired Kalashnikov rifles, pistols, and ammunition. They also intended to import barrels of explosives from the former Yugoslavia.

The Female Kingpin

The alleged ideological leader of the group is a former pastor and teacher who recently resided in Saxony.

Her writings were discovered on the blogs affiliated with the Reichsburger (Citizens of the Reich) movement.

These writings bear the distinct characteristics of the movement, which boasts a membership of 23,000 individuals and asserts that the German Reich, referring to Germany under imperial rule, still exists in its pre-1918 form.

The woman stands accused of composing open letters on Reichsburger blogs addressed to figures such as Vladimir Putin, Donald Trump, or the Allies.

These letters contain expressions of antisemitic sentiments and are signed with the name Wilhelm-Emperor-Rex-Descendants, implying that she views herself as a successor to the last German emperor.

Federal prosecutors firmly believe that the woman and her accomplices are more than mere eccentric individuals pretending to be part of the movement.

According to the groups doctrine, which contends that the German Reich persists based on the constitution of 1871, they would conclude that the democratic framework of the Federal Republic of Germany is illegitimate.

Instead, they advocate for the reintroduction of an authoritarian system of governance modeled on the German Empire.

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UBS Group was reportedly rushed into buying Credit Suisse Group in a deal it did not want, as a global bank crisis worsened Credit Suisses finances and prompted authorities to take swift action, according to a regulatory filing.

In a Tuesday filing to the US Securities and Exchange Commission, UBS told investors it had less than four days to conduct due diligence given the emergency circumstances, Reuters reported.

The group has estimated a hit of about $17 billion from the Credit Suisse takeover.

The biggest bank of Switzerland had agreed to buy its smaller rival after the latter had endured a difficult year.

Credit Suisses involvement in a series of corporate collapses spooked clients who began withdrawing their money, a trend that accelerated when US bank failures sparked fear of a broader banking crisis.

The wave of deposit outflows and a major share-price drop prompted Switzerlands central bank on March 15 to offer Credit Suisse liquidity assistance.

UBS and Credit Suisse later signed a confidentiality agreement upon which the former began due diligence, the UBS filing showed.

On March 19, the Swiss National Bank announced UBS would buy Credit Suisse for 3 billion Swiss francs ($3.4 billion) in stock and assume a loss of as much as 5 billion francs stemming from winding down part of the business, Reuters reported.

The final price was raised from an initial 1 billion francs, the filing showed.

Interest from UBS in buying Credit Suisse began in October when the ad hoc Strategy Committee of its board of directors reviewed its rivals distressed situation, according to the filing.

By then, Credit Suisse was experiencing deposit and net asset outflows at levels substantially exceeding rates of the July-September quarter, UBS said.

(With inputs from Reuters)

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Amid the Russia-Ukraine war, the Russian forces have reportedly committed to reinforcing their tactical offensive effort in the Bakhmut region, while the Ukraine focuses on limited and localised counterattacks.

Russias reinforcements to Bakhmut suggest that its forces are continuing to concentrate offensive capabilities there despite an assessed wider effort to reprioritise operations to prepare for potential Ukrainian counteroffensives, according to a report by the Institute for the Study of War.

On Tuesday, head of Donetsk Peoples Republic (DNR), Denis Pushilin, claimed that Russia has strengthened its forces in the Bakhmut area to stabilize the situation.

Moreover, it was claimed that four unspecified Russian battalions have deployed to the flanks around Bakhmut to prevent Ukrainian breakthroughs, the report said.

As of May 16, Russia has continued to make marginal gains within Bakhmut itself, and the countrys defence ministry continues to claim that its forces around Bakhmut are focused on repelling Ukrainian counterattacks.

On Tuesday, it was stated by the Russian ministry that elements of the 4th Motorized Rifle Brigade (2nd Luhansk Peoples Republic Army Corps) repelled 10 Ukrainian counterattacks near Ivanivske (6km west of Bakhmut), as per the report by the Institute for the Study of War.

On the other hand, officials in Ukraine have stated that Kyiv is pursuing much more limited operations in the Bakhmut region than Russia.

As per the report, Russian reinforcements to the Bakhmut area suggest that Russian forces are continuing to concentrate offensive capabilities there despite an assessed wider effort to reprioritize operations to prepare for potential Ukrainian counteroffensives.

(With inputs from agencies)

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The United Kingdom and the Netherlands have agreed to build an international coalition to provide fighter jet support for Ukraine.

A Downing Street spokesperson said UK PM Rishi Sunak and Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte would work to build an international coalition to provide Ukraine with combat air capabilities, supporting with everything from training to procuring F-16 jets.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has been requesting Western allies for fighter jets to support his countrys fight against Russian forces.

The Prime Minister and Prime Minister Rutte agreed they would work to build (an) international coalition to provide Ukraine with combat air capabilities, supporting with everything from training to procuring F16 jets, a spokesman for Sunaks Downing Street office said in a statement following a meeting at the Council of Europe Summit in Iceland.

After visiting the UK at his Chequers country estate outside London on Monday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he was very positive about creating a jets coalition in his countrys war with Russia.

Sunak said on Monday that the UK was preparing to open a flight school to train its pilots.

French President Emmanuel Macron at the same time offered to train Ukrainian fighter pilots but ruled out sending warplanes to Kyiv.

The Prime Minister reiterated his belief that Ukraines rightful place is in NATO and the leaders agreed on the importance of allies providing long-term security assistance to Ukraine to guarantee they can deter future attacks, Sunaks spokesman added.

Earlier, Zelenskyy embarked on a whirlwind tour of European allies to bolster his military as it readies a counteroffensive to recapture occupied territory.

He was in London on Monday after a tour of European capitals that saw him meet with allied leaders and even Pope Francis at a decisive moment in the conflict.

Zelenskyy secured new military aid from France and Germany as his troops appeared to deal the Kremlin new blows on the ground and in the air.

Sunaks office said a new bevy of equipment for Ukraine would include hundreds of long-range attack drones with a range of more than 124 miles, after Britain sent long-range precision missiles last week that have already expanded Kyivs ability to strike targets in Russian-occupied Ukrainian territory.

It comes after Zelenskyys back-to-back visits to Berlin, Rome and Paris over the weekend that included a meeting with Francis.

In Berlin, Zelenskyy thanked German Chancellor Olaf Scholz for the countrys military support, a far cry from Berlins hesitancy earlier in the war. The Ukrainian leader left with a promise of additional military aid worth more than USD 3 billion.

After a three-hour meeting in Paris, French President Emmanuel Macron promised to help Ukraine for as long as it takes, pledging additional military aid, including armoured vehicles and light tanks in the coming weeks, as well as training for soldiers and supporting Ukraines air defence capabilities.

With inputs from agencies.

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The United Nations warned Wednesday that 2023-2027 will almost certainly be the warmest five-year period ever recorded, as greenhouse gases and El Nino combine to drive temperatures skyrocketing.

Global temperatures are on track to reach the more ambitious objective established in the Paris climate accords within the next five years, according to the UNs World Meteorological Organisation.

The eight warmest years on record occurred between 2015 and 2022, but temperatures are expected to rise further as climate change accelerates.

There is a 98-per cent likelihood that at least one of the next five years, and the five-year period as a whole, will be the warmest on record, the WMO said.

Countries agreed in 2015 to limit global warming to well below two degrees Celsius over normal levels estimated between 1850 and 1900  and 1.5 degrees Celsius if feasible.

The worldwide mean temperature in 2022 was 1.15 degrees Celsius higher than the 1850-1900 average.

According to the WMO, there is a 66 per cent possibility that annual global surface temperatures would surpass 1.5 degrees Celsius over pre-industrial levels for at least one of the years 2023-2027, with a range of 1.1 degrees Celsius to 1.8 degrees Celsius predicted for each of those five years.

Uncharted territory

While this does not mean that the world will permanently exceed the Paris benchmark, WMO is sounding the alarm that we will breach the 1.5C level on a temporary basis with increasing frequency, said the agencys chief Petteri Taalas.

A warming El Nino is expected to develop in the coming months and this will combine with human-induced climate change to push global temperatures into uncharted territory.

This will have far-reaching repercussions for health, food security, water management and the environment. We need to be prepared.

El Nino is the large-scale warming of surface temperatures in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean. The weather phenomenon normally occurs every two to seven years.

Conditions oscillate between El Nino and its opposite La Nina, with neutral conditions in between.

The WMO said earlier this month that the chances of El Nino developing were 60 per cent by the end of July and 80 per cent by the end of September.

Typically, El Nino increases global temperatures in the year after it develops  which in this cycle would be 2024.

Despite the cooling influence of La Nina conditions over much of the past three years, the warmest eight years on record have all been from 2015 onwards, with 2016 the hottest.

Heat gets trapped in the atmosphere by so-called greenhouse gases, which are at a record high.

The three major greenhouses gases are carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide.

Temperatures rising since 1960s

Global land and sea mean near-surface temperatures have increased since the 1960s.

The chances of temperatures temporarily exceeding 1.5C above the 1850-1990 average have risen steadily since 2015, a year when they were considered close to zero.

Britains Met Office national weather service is the WMOs lead centre on yearly to 10-yearly climate predictions.

While there is a 66 per cent chance that one year between 2023 and 2027 will exceed the 1.5C threshold, there is now a 32 per cent chance that the entire five-year mean will do so, the Met Office said.

Global mean temperatures are predicted to continue increasing, moving us away further and further away from the climate we are used to, said Met Office expert scientist Leon Hermanson.

Temperatures in 2023 are likely to be higher than the 1991-2020 average in almost all regions except for Alaska, South Africa, South Asia and parts of Australia, the WMO said.

Parts of the South Pacific Ocean are likely to be cooler than average.

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The United States and India want stability in Pakistan, US Ambassador to India Eric Garcetti said, adding that both the countries will pray that the rule of law and peace prevail over the border.

#WATCH | US, India and the world share the same concern that we want stability in Pakistan. We hope and pray that rule of law and peace prevail over the border, says US Ambassador to India Eric Garcetti pic.twitter.com/p4wQLxj7JP  ANI (@ANI) May 17, 2023

Garcetti also underlined the significance of PM Modis impending visit to the US. PM Modi will be visiting the US on an official state visit. It is only the third visit of any head of government from anywhere in the world to meet President Biden at The White House, Garcetti said.

#WATCH | PM Modi will be visiting the US on an official state visit. It is only the third visit of any head of government from anywhere in the world to President Biden at The White House: US Ambassador to India Eric Garcetti pic.twitter.com/d4qlT22TdD  ANI (@ANI) May 17, 2023

The White House announced on Wednesday that President Joe Biden will host PM Modi for an Official State Visit to the United States, which will include a state dinner, on June 22.

The upcoming visit will affirm the deep and close partnership between the United States and India and the warm bonds of family and friendship that link Americans and Indians together, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement issued on Wednesday while announcing the visit.

Pierre said that Prime Minister Modis visit will strengthen the two countries shared commitment to a free, open, prosperous, and secure Indo-Pacific and their shared resolve to elevate strategic technology partnership, including in defence, clean energy, and space.

Reacting to the news, a top Indian diplomat on Wednesday said that PM Narendra Modis visit to the US will show that the partnership between the two nations is people-centric, people-driven, and is good for the world at large.

The PMs forthcoming official state visit to the US, at the invitation of President Biden, is historic. Prime Minister and President Biden have together imparted significantly new vigour and momentum to our bilateral ties, Indias Ambassador to the US, Taranjit Singh Sandhu, told PTI.

The visit will be an opportunity for the two leaders to spend time together, take stock of the progress achieved and provide guidance on the future limitless possibilities. The visit will also underscore that India-US partnership is people-centric and people-driven and that it is not just for the two countries, but for the world at large, Sandhu said.

Modis visit will include a state dinner on June 22, the White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre had said earlier in the day.

With inputs from agencies.

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Hours after EU Foreign policy chief Josep Borrell called for crackdown on India reselling Russian oil as refined fuels, including diesel, into Europe, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Tuesday advised the blocs diplomat to have a look at EU Council regulations.

My understanding of council regulations is that Russian crude is substantially transformed in a third country and not treated as Russian anymore. I would urge you to look at Councils Regulation 833/2014, said Jaishankar when asked about Borrells remarks calling for action against Indian refined products from Russian crude.

#WATCH | My understanding of council regulations is that Russian crude is substantially transformed in a third country & not treated as Russian anymore. I would urge you to look at Councils Regulation 833/2014: EAM Dr Jaishankar when asked about EU Foreign Policy chief Josep pic.twitter.com/5Dh5PH9yfX  ANI (@ANI) May 17, 2023

This comes after the blocs chief diplomat earlier said told The Financial Times that Brussels was aware that Indian refiners were buying large volumes of Russian crude oil and processing it into fuels for sale in Europe, adding that the EU should act to stop it.

If diesel or gasoline is entering Europe coming from India and being produced with Russian oil, that is certainly a circumvention of sanctions, and member states have to take measures, he said.

While Borrell met with Jaishankar at the trade technology talks in Brussels, he was not present at the press conference that followed.

In his place, EU Executive Vice President on Competition, Margrethe Vestager said that there was no doubt about the legal basis of the sanctions, and that the EU and India would have the discussion as friends with an extended hand and of course, not a pointed finger.

Along with Jaishankar, Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal, and Union Minister of State for Entrepreneurship, Skill Development, Electronics and Technology Rajeev Chandrasekhar was also in the meeting.

Jaishankar on Monday arrived in Brussels for the last leg of his three-nation visit covering Bangladesh, Sweden and Belgium.

Earlier also Jaishankar had defended Indias imports from Russia while indirectly criticising the West for pressurising New Delhi to minimise its trade with Russia in view of its military action in Ukraine.

He wondered how Europe could make choices to prioritise its own energy needs and at the same time ask India to do something else.

Our trade with Russia is at a very small level- USD 12-13 billion, in comparison to European countries. Weve also given the Russians a set of products I dont think people should read more into it other than the legitimate expectations of any trading country to increase its trade, the EAM said earlier in December while addressing a joint press conference with his German counterpart Annalena Baerbock.

I would urge you to look at these figures. There is a website called Russia Fossil Fuel Tracker that would give you country-by-country data of who is really importing what and I suspect that might be very very helpful, he added.

With inputs from agencies

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In a bombshell admission, Ukrainian military intelligence (GUR) chief General Kirill Budanov has claimed responsibility for assassinating many Russians including high-profile public and media personalities.

According to a Russia Today report, citing Budanovs interview with Ukrainian blogger Sergey Ivanov on Tuesday, when the spy boss was asked if high-profile Russian media figures such as Vladimir Solovyov or RTs Editor-in-Chief Margarita Simonyan are prime targets, he said that the GUR had already gotten multiple high profile targets.

We have already gotten many, including public and media personalities, Budanov said, without revealing names.

On the question over involvement of the GUR in the assassination of journalist Darya Dugina, the daughter of Russian philosopher Aleksandr Dugin, or the recent car bombing of author and political activist Zakhar Prilepin, Budanov said he could neither confirm nor deny the involvement of his service.

Clear admission of wrongdoing: Moscow

Meanwhile, Moscow condemned the remarks made by Budanov with Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova saying that they were a clear admission of wrongdoing.

Terrorists. Those who provide excuses for the Kiev regime and sponsor it are accomplices of terrorists, Russia Today quoted Zakharova as writing wrote on Telegram.

Will the UN not notice that again? she asked.

In an interview to Yahoo News last week, when asked whether the GUR had anything to do with last years murder of Darya Dugina, Budanov had boasted that weve been killing Russians.

And will keep killing Russians anywhere on the face of this world until the complete victory of Ukraine, Budanov had said.

Dismissing accusations of engaging in terrorism, Budanov stated that what Russia calls terrorism, we call liberation.

The pledge received a sharp response from Russia, with Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov saying that Ukraine had de-facto turned into a state-sponsor of terrorism.

He also added that despite their explosive nature, the remarks by Budanov did not face any criticism from Kievs Western sponsors.

The statement is unprecedented in its essence. And of course, it will be strange not to hear any words of condemnation from European capitals and from Washington. Logic says its impossible to do without condemnation, Peskov was quoted as saying by Russia Today.

With inputs from agencies

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On the afternoon of May 15, 2023, President Xi Jinping held talks at the Great Hall of the People with Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki who was in China for a state visit.

Xi Jinping pointed out that China and Eritrea have a profound traditional friendship. The two countries will mark the 30th anniversary of diplomatic ties on May 24 this year. Over the past 30 years, China and Eritrea have always trusted and supported each other. China views and develops bilateral relations with Eritrea from a strategic and long-term perspective, and is a reliable friend of Eritrea. In the face of the current international situation, which is full of instability and uncertainty, developing a sound China-Eritrea relationship not only serves the common and long-term interests of the two countries, but is also of great significance to safeguarding regional peace and international fairness and justice. China is ready to work with Eritrea to deepen a close and friendly relationship between the two countries as friends and comrades, and constantly elevate China-Eritrea strategic partnership to new levels.

Xi Jinping emphasized that China appreciates Eritreas long-standing adherence to an independent foreign policy, firmly supports Eritrea in exploring a development path suited to its national conditions, firmly supports Eritrea in safeguarding its sovereignty, security and development interests, and opposes external interference in Eritreas internal affairs and the imposition of unilateral sanctions. China is ready to share experience with Eritrea on national governance, continue to support each other, jointly oppose unilateralism and bullying, and safeguard the common interests of the two countries and the vast number of other developing countries. China is ready to work with Eritrea to advance mutually beneficial cooperation and achieve common development through such frameworks and platforms as Belt and Road cooperation, the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation and the Outlook on Peace and Development in the Horn of Africa. China encourages and supports Chinese businesses investment in Eritrea, and stands ready to work with Eritrea to explore efforts to strengthen cooperation in such fields as infrastructure development, telecommunications, agriculture, mining and fisheries, and will continue to well implement projects of sending medical teams and senior agricultural experts to Eritrea. Xi Jinping thanked Eritrea for providing support and assistance to China during its recent evacuation of Chinese citizens in Sudan, which again demonstrated the profound friendship between the two countries of sharing weal and woe and helping each other in difficulties. The two sides should take more measures to enhance cultural and people-to-people exchanges and forge a closer bond between the two peoples.

Xi Jinping pointed out that no matter how the situation develops, mutual respect, mutual understanding, mutual support and mutual help have always been the key features of China-Africa friendships, and China-Africa cooperation plays an important leading role in South-South cooperation and international cooperation with Africa. Africa is a promising land. Under new circumstances, it is more important than ever for China and Africa to strengthen solidarity and cooperation to overcome difficulties together. China is ready to work with Africa to carry forward traditional friendship, consolidate strategic mutual trust, create new opportunities for Africa with Chinas high-quality development and Chinese modernization, deepen and substantiate China-Africa practical cooperation for more new outcomes, and build an even closer China-Africa community with a shared future.

Isaias Afwerki spoke of his special bond with China that has lasted for over half a century, and said that the Eritrean people will never forget the precious mental and material support the Chinese people provided for Eritreas independence and liberation. China is a great country. Since the founding of the Peoples Republic of China, the country has grown from a poor and backward country into a major country in the world, making outstanding contribution to peace and development of humanity. China has always held the moral high ground, put forward its own solutions to global challenges, upheld international fairness and justice, and encouraged developing countries seeking independence and development. Any attempt to contain or suppress Chinas development is bound to fail. The evolution of international order is at a critical stage, and African countries still face hegemonism and various unfair and unjust treatment. The international community expects and believes that China will make greater contribution to human development and progress and international fairness and justice. Eritrea hopes to strengthen cooperation with China and believes that Eritrea-China strategic partnership will help Eritrea achieve national economic and social development.

Prior to the talks, Xi Jinping held a welcome ceremony for Isaias Afwerki at the square outside the east entrance of the Great Hall of the People.

Upon Isaias Afwerkis arrival, a guard of honor lined up in salutation. After the two heads of state stepped onto the stand, the military band played the national anthems of China and Eritrea. A 21-gun salute was fired at the Tiananmen Square. Isaias Afwerki reviewed the guard of honor of the Peoples Liberation Army and watched the march-past in Xi Jinpings company.

Xi Jinping hosted a welcome banquet for Isaias Afwerki at the Golden Hall of the Great Hall of the People in the evening.

Wang Yi and Qin Gang, among others, participated in the above events.
Google has updated its inactive account policies for Google Accounts. The new policy applies to all Google products and extends the period of account inactivity from one year to two years.

This change aims to enhance security and prevent identity theft, as well as reduce the risk of unwanted or malicious content, such as spam.

How your Google Account may be deleted if you dont sign in for a long time?

Google has changed its policy for personal Google Accounts that are not used or signed in for a long time. It may remove the account and all its contents  such as your emails, files, videos and photos  after 2 years of no activity.

This policy does not apply to Google Accounts for schools or businesses. It helps Google follow the best practices for storing and deleting your personal information.

Google will be slow and careful when enforcing this policy:

The policy begins today, but Google will not remove any accounts until December 2023 at the earliest.

Google will begin with accounts that were made and never used again.

Google will alert you several times before removing your account. It will send messages to your account email and your recovery email (if you have one).

Google has provided helpful information on how to keep your account active. By following a simple rule, you can ensure that your Google Account remains active and unaffected by the new policies.

Google also said that you have to sign in to Google Photos every 2 years on purpose to be seen as active, which will make sure your photos and other content are not deleted.

Signing In Regularly

The easiest way to maintain an active Google Account is by signing in at least once every 2 years. If you have recently signed into your Google Account or any of their services, your account will be considered active and will not be deleted.

Here are some examples of actions that count as account activity:

Reading or sending an email

Using Google Drive

Watching a YouTube video

Downloading an app from the Google Play Store

Using Google Search

Signing in to third-party apps or services using Sign in with Google

Existing Subscriptions and Account Activity

If you currently have an active subscription linked to your Google Account, such as Google One, a news publication, or an app, this will be regarded as ongoing account activity. This means that your account will be considered active and will not be affected by the new policies.

How to secure your account and data

Google ask users to give a backup email when they sign up. You have to check that this backup email in your account settings is right. Google also offer you some free tools to help you handle your account and choose what to do with your data.

You can back up and move your data to other places with our Takeout feature, which we have had for more than 10 years. Also, Inactive Account Manager lets users decide what happens to their account and data when they dont use it for up to 18 months.

Users can pick these options when they sign up:

Sending some files to people they trust.

Setting up a Gmail auto-reply.

Deleting their account completely.

Speaking on the announcement, Ruth Kricheli, VP, Product Management, Google, said:
Google has provided an overview of the impact of its investments in Android and Google Play on Indias app ecosystem, highlighting the value it brings to app developers and the role of Google Plays service fee in sustaining this value.

Google emphasizes that most Android devices come preloaded with multiple app stores, and users have the flexibility to install additional ones. In India, consumers rely on a combination of app stores and alternative methods like sideloading to access apps.

Therefore, Googles objective is to consistently offer the best platform, tools, and resources to foster competition in the market and support the success of developer businesses.

In the Indian market, Google Play enables developers to:

Ensure a safe and secure user experience by utilizing the worlds largest malware scanning system, which assesses over 125 billion apps on a daily basis.

Reach a vast audience of 2.5 billion monthly active users in 190 markets.

Gain valuable insights about their audience and identify growth opportunities using robust data and analytics dashboards available in the Play Console.

Conduct experiments, beta test new features, optimize store listings, analyze performance, and more to enhance their apps.

Monetize their apps and in-app content conveniently and securely in over 180 global markets through Google Plays commerce platform, which provides easy access to local payment methods like UPI and recharge codes.

Harness Googles innovative AI advancements to showcase apps effectively, facilitate users in discovering new titles, and leverage other recent updates announced at Google I/O.

Additionally, new monetization tools and features have been introduced to help developers maximize their revenue using Google Plays commerce platform.

Google emphasizes that developers in India and worldwide have found Google Play to be a valuable tool for building and growing their businesses. The sustainability of Googles investments in Android and Google Play relies on the service fee model that supports these endeavors.

Google highlights that its service fees on Google Play are the lowest compared to other major app stores:

Google Plays service fees are only applicable to developers who sell digital goods or services within their apps.

Currently, only 3% of developers in India fall into this category and are required to pay a service fee.

For the majority of developers, the fees are 15% or less, which is the lowest rate among major app stores. This is made possible by the various pricing programs offered by Google Play.

Out of over 200,000 Indian developers on Google Play, Google estimates that less than 60 developers would pay a service fee higher than 15%.

Furthermore, if a user pays through an alternative billing system, the fee is reduced by an additional 4% to ensure fairness.

All developers in India need to implement one of 3 billing options

In 2020, Google clarified its Payments policy, giving developers in India ample time to make required app adjustments. Google said that it is in compliance with the October 2022 order by the Competition Commission of India (CCI). User choice billing has been extended to all Indian developers, and the updated policy became effective on April 26, 2023.

Developers can choose among three billing options: integrating Google Plays billing system, offering an alternative billing system alongside Google Plays, or operating on a consumption-only basis without a service fee. The majority of developers worldwide have already made their choice, says Google.

For Indian developers who have not implemented any of these options, Google will take appropriate measures to ensure fair policy implementation. Google said that it is remains committed to complying with local laws and cooperating with relevant proceedings.

Announcing the update, Google posted:
South Africa: SA, Denmark expand cooperation in water services

The Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) and Denmark have entered into another agreement of cooperation in innovation and management of water services between the two countries.

The DWS, the Danish Ministry of Environment and Ministry of Higher Education and Science (MHES), the Department of Science and Innovation and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, through their Danish Embassy, signed a three-year agreement for Phase 3 of the collaboration on behalf of the Republic of South Africa and Denmark Strategic Sector Cooperation (SSC).

Phase 3 aims to further strengthen long-term relations between the department and Denmarks MHES and Science and Innovation.

The department said Phase 2 of the South African-Danish Strategic Water Sector Programme (RSA-DK SWSP), which has been under implementation since May 2016, was finalised last year.

The agreement -- which was signed by the DWS Deputy Director-General, Risimati Mathye, representing RSA and his Danish counterpart, Per Skriver, from the Ministry of Environment -- will run from May 2023 to April 2026.

The programme consists of five parts, namely, Water Services Management, Groundwater, Water Efficiency in Industries, Research and Innovation, and a Project Support Facility focusing on investment planning and financing for water related projects, the department said.

The department explained that each part is led by representatives from DWS and the Danish Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), who have implemented projects relating to improving municipal water costing, non-revenue water management, groundwater mapping and wellfield management, to name a few.

After the phase is concluded, the outcomes expected included a shared and gained knowledge on water policy-making and reform, as well as a consolidated and mutually agreed work plan for the Strategic Sector Cooperation between the two countries,  SAnews.gov.za

This story has been published on: 2023-05-17. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
Press Release

May 17, 2023 Poe: Power firms must provide reliable electricity Sen. Grace Poe said power firms granted with a franchise and permits carry the colossal task of providing reliable electricity at all times. "Reliability is a big commitment in the provision of public service. Kailangan ay maaasahan ka ng mga tao sa lahat ng oras, whatever the circumstances are," Poe said on Wednesday's hearing of the Senate committee on energy, which tackled among others her resolution on the Panay Island power situation. "Thus, it should be the responsibility of our public service providers to ensure that proper measures are in place and upgrades are implemented to continuously improve the reliability of the system," she added. The chairperson of the Senate committee on public services pointed out that Republic Act No. 9511 grants National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) a franchise with the commitment to support safe and reliable operation of the transmission system in the Philippines. "The weight of its responsibility is heaviest being the sole operator - ang tanging inaasahan natin. Kung hindi gumagana, kung nasira, wala tayong kuryente," she said. Poe reiterated that a franchise is a privilege especially if it involves a natural monopoly given to a sole company. "Kalakip nito ang malaking responsibilidad na pagsilbihan ang publiko at sa oras na hindi ito magampanan nang maayos, maari itong bawiin. Hindi naman natin sasabihin na babawiin agad, pero bakit ilang taon na na walang audit sa performance ng NGCP?" she asked. "I would just like to remind you, we're not making a unilateral conclusion here without further studies, but RA 9511 is clear that in a franchise, we may amend, we may alter and we may repeal your franchise if it is for the common good," Poe added. Poe stressed that authorities should have acted quickly to remedy the situation to spare the people in Occidental Mindoro of the blackouts. "Meron naman palang paraan para magkaroon ng suplay ng power, provisional authority lang ang kailangan. Dapat nape-predict na ng Department of Energy ang kakulangan, paandarin ang iba, dapat matagal nang ginawa," Poe said. "Permit lang pala ang problema, dapat nagawan na ng paraan," she added. Poe said there is a need to determine the cause of the grid disturbances in Panay Island and who should be held responsible -- NGCP or local distribution utility Central Negros Electric Cooperative (CENECO). "Pangako natin sa ating mga kasimanwa doon, noong nagkaroon ng power outage na iimbestigahaan natin ang sitwasyon," she said. "Ang may-ari ng linya yung CENECO, pero ang nagmamantina dahil inaarkila nila, ay NGCP," she added. Poe also took note of the drawn-out audit of the Energy Regulatory Commission on NGCP, which began in 2019 and is still being evaluated by the commission.
felicilin at 17-05-2023 07:44 PM (1 week ago) (f)

The presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar has kicked againt the recent phone conversation between US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, and President-elect Bola Tinubu.

The presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar has kicked againt the recent phone conversation between US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, and President-elect Bola Tinubu.

It was gathered that Bliken phoned Tinubu on Tuesday after announcing the imposition of visa restrictions on specific individuals who undermined the democratic process during the 2023 elections.



Blinken, in a statement by the spokesperson for the U.S. Department of State, Matthew Miller, told Tinubu that the Joe Biden administration is committed to strengthening ties with Nigeria.



He stated that the US-Nigeria partnership is built on shared interests and strong people-to-people ties and that those links should continue strengthening under Tinubus tenure.



The US Secretary added that he and Tinubu discussed the importance of inclusive leadership that represents all Nigerians and reforms to support the economic growth of Nigeria.



Reacting on his Twitter page, Atiku questioned Blinkens decision to contact Tinubu, given USs well-informed knowledge of the alleged fraudulent election that took place on February 25.



He emphasized that bestowing legitimacy upon an election widely regarded as fraudulent goes against the principles upheld by the United States, known as a bastion of democracy.



I am in disbelief that @SecBlinken called Tinubu, a contradiction to the publicly stated position of the US on Nigerias 2023 presidential election. This is inconceivable considering that America, as the bastion of democracy, is well briefed on the sham election of February 25.



To give legitimacy to the widely acknowledged fraudulent election in Nigeria can be demoralising to citizens who have hedged their bet on democracy and the sanctity of the ballot @StateDept @POTUS @USinNigeria, he wrote.



I am in disbelief that @SecBlinken called Tinubu, a contradiction to the publicly stated position of the US on Nigerias 2023 presidential election. This is inconceivable considering that America, as the bastion of democracy, is well briefed on the sham election of February 25.  Atiku Abubakar (@atiku) May 17, 2023 It was gathered that Bliken phoned Tinubu on Tuesday after announcing the imposition of visa restrictions on specific individuals who undermined the democratic process during the 2023 elections.Blinken, in a statement by the spokesperson for the U.S. Department of State, Matthew Miller, told Tinubu that the Joe Biden administration is committed to strengthening ties with Nigeria.He stated that the US-Nigeria partnership is built on shared interests and strong people-to-people ties and that those links should continue strengthening under Tinubus tenure.The US Secretary added that he and Tinubu discussed the importance of inclusive leadership that represents all Nigerians and reforms to support the economic growth of Nigeria.Reacting on his Twitter page, Atiku questioned Blinkens decision to contact Tinubu, given USs well-informed knowledge of the alleged fraudulent election that took place on February 25.He emphasized that bestowing legitimacy upon an election widely regarded as fraudulent goes against the principles upheld by the United States, known as a bastion of democracy.he wrote.

Post Reply Posted: at 17-05-2023 07:44 PM (1 week ago) | Addicted Hero
Dell Inspiron 24 5240 review and who really should go for this PC Reviews oi -Shaurya Bora

The Dell Inspiron 24 5420 is a new All-in-One Desktop from Dell's Inspiron line-up. With its stunning metallic structure and elegant design, the PC may seem to many and attract their attention at first look, but is that all there is to this PC?

The Inspiron 24, with the price tag of  71,490, despite its premium appearance, lacks punch when seen on paper, but we at Gizbot never judge a book by its cover. As a result, in this review, we will take a close look at the Dell Inspiron's design and performance, as well as inform you which market segment it is most suited for!

Rating: 3.0 /5

PROS Elegant and Compact Design

Stunning display

Excellent Keyboard and Mouse

Powerful Dual Speakers CONS Weak Performance

Less Storage (out of the box)

Technical Specifications

Processor: 13th Generation Intel Core i5 1335U Processor

Operating System: Windows 11

Graphics: Intel UHD Graphics

Display: 24" FHD (1920 x 1080) Anti Glare Narrow

Border Infinity Non Touch Display

RAM: 8GB

Storage: 512GB NVMe SSD, Dual Drive with support up to 1TB

Ports & Slots: 1x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type A, 3x USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type A, 1x HDMI-in, 1 HDMI-out port, 1x Audio Jack Slot, 1x SD Card Reader 3.0, 1x Microphone/Headset Jack, 1x Ethernet port

Weight: 5.49Kg

Dimensions (HxWxD including stand): 414.3 mm x 542.7 mm x 200.7 mm (Isosceles Stand)

AC Adapter: 90 Watt AC Adapter

Design and Build

The Dell Inspiron 24 AIO's build quality and design are its main selling points. The desktop is stunning from every aspect. In terms of appearance, this Desktop can compete with an iMac thanks to its tiny bezels, curved back panel, and an exquisite cloth finished bottom panel containing the Dell logo. I'd recommend going with the white color option because it has more appeal and appears more elegant.

The PC features two exhaust channels on top and a speaker grill on the bottom, with ports on the rear.

This device's Pop-up FHD (1080p) camera is one of its most intriguing design features. Which you may even tilt depending on your needs. Although it has an appealing appearance and makes the bezels slimmer and the PC overall sleeker, the addition of a moving mechanical element may impact the camera's longevity.

The Dell Inspiron 24 AIO features a premium metallic design and solid triangle stands; this Desktop is durable and appears to be able to handle rigorous handling.

Ports and Connectivity

The Dell Inspiron 24's ports are neatly and consistently arranged towards the rear center.

The Dell Inspiron 24 provides you with 4x USB-A ports, 2x HDMI ports, 1x Audio Jack Slot, 1x SD card reader,1x Ethernet port and finally a Power Connector. There is also a USB-C connector, although it is located at the bottom of the right side. It would have been preferable if it had been located towards the back, beside other ports.

I appreciate the port placement and layout since it allows you to be versatile with your AIO desktop setup.

Display

The Dell Inspiron 24 has, as the name says, a 24" Full HD (1920 x 1080) Anti Glare display. I can guarantee you that despite its gigantic size, it will not strain your eyes if you sit in front of it for lengthy periods of time. It also has tiny bezels that are scarcely visible once you are locked into the screen.

The display may also function as a second display through the HDMI connector without connecting the device to power. Which I find quite useful in terms of presentation and content creation.

Audio

The Dell Inspiron 24 has a dual 5W speaker grill with Dolby Atmos at the bottom that is powerful enough to fill the room while reproducing a decent bass response judging by the standards of built-in speakers. Also, because the speakers are at the bottom, there is a nice audio bounce from the desk, which amplifies the sound slightly.

You can also link the speakers through Bluetooth with other devices, converting it to a Bluetooth speaker. This is useful if you spend a lot of time on your laptop and phone and want extra volume for media consumption.

Keyboard and Mouse

To put it simply, I LOVE the Keyboard and Mouse they provide with the Dell Inspiron 24 AIO. Both are compact, beautifully designed and quite ergonomic.

The mouse fits precisely in your hand, providing you all the comfort you need to use it for long periods of time. It slides effortlessly and even works well on rough surfaces. Although a silent click feature would have been nice, I am content with what I have.

About the keyboard, I personally prefer typing the reviews on the machines I am reviewing itself. As I type this, I can state that the typing experience on this keyboard is just fantastic. The resistance is marvelous here, and after typing on so many laptops, this almost seems like a typewriter. Which, in my opinion, is a wonderful thing! It also has keyboard stands at the bottom to offer some elevation, which makes typing more pleasant. The keyboard is also rather tough; it held up well while taking a decent amount of punishment during Valorent.

Performance

Dell Inspiron 24 5240 is equipped with a 13th Generation Intel Core i5 1335U processor and Intel UHD Graphics. It runs Windows 11 and has 8GB of RAM and a 512GB SSD. It's always exciting to see an SSD on a computer. It is not only required at this price, but it is also important for the health of the driver.

Let me get one thing out of the way first. The Dell Inspiron 24 5240 is NOT a high-performance computer. This PC has a specific target audience, who are looking for a setup that can handle day to day tasks.

We did put it through its paces for chores like light gaming and editing. We played Valorent and edited one of our YouTube shorts on it, and it was not a nice experience. While playing Valorent, we witnessed frequent frame drops and lags. While editing, the Dell Inspiron 24" AIO struggled to manage multiple layers, resulting in freeze frames and delays. Premiere Pro crashed on several occasions too. I couldn't multitask since I had to close all of the background applications.

In any case, this is NOT the system's fault; it is just not meant to accomplish tasks like this. It's the equivalent of bringing a pocket knife to a gunfight. This has a very specific niche and it serves that department well. The sole disadvantage is that the niche is quite narrow, making this an unsuitable option for many buyers.

The alternative variant of the Inspiron 24" 5240 AIO, which contains the NVIDIA GeForce MX550 Graphics, may allow you to access entry-level gaming or editing, but I would not suggest it.

Verdict

The Dell Inspiron 24 5240 is designed for those who do not require a laptop or a large PC set-up. This is only for those searching for a compact desktop solution with a big enough display, good speakers and no hefty features, but the audience for that, I believe, is quite narrow. The Dell Inspiron 24 5240 AIO is ideally suited for professionals and school laboratories where fundamental day-to-day activities are involved.

However, if you are looking for a setup that can run heavy softwares and games, this is not the direction you should be looking in as this variant of the Dell Inspiron 24 cannot handle entry level games and software usage. The NVIDIA GeForce MX550 Graphics with 2GB variant of the Inspiron 24 can handle entry level gaming and softwares such as Premiere Pro and Davinci Resolve but I would still not recommend doing so as it will take a toll on your AIO Desktop.

Overall, I believe this is a pretty good AIO for its intended demographic. However, as previously said, this caters to a niche that is by no means broad and the price of 71,490 doesn't help in widening its audience. As a result, it is only suitable for a select few.

Best Mobiles in India
MediaTek And NVIDIA Strike A Deal To Build A Chipset With A Powerful GPU: Will Smartphones Get It? Tech Biz oi -Alap Naik Desai

MediaTek has reportedly struck a deal with NVIDIA to build chipsets that will have an NVIDIA GPU (Graphics Processing Unit). New SoC (System on a Chip) from MediaTek with an NVIDIA GPU could arrive as early as next year.

MediaTek is a big player in the smartphone market that has been giving Qualcomm tough competition. Its latest Dimensity 9200+ chipset is as good as the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 SoC. It appears MediaTek and NVIDIA could build compact SoC for powerful and portable computing devices.

MediaTek And NVIDIA Will Build Chipset For Laptops And Mini-PCs?

While MediaTek may be a strong player in the smartphone market, it has around 20 percent market share in the portable computer market. Intel and AMD cumulatively control the majority of the laptop CPU and integrated GPU market.

MediaTek chipsets are commonly found in entry-level Chromebooks. Consumers prefer Intel or AMD processors with embedded GPUs inside midrange laptops.

Mediatek is planning to integrate Nvidia GPU into its Flagship Mobile Processor from 2024 .https://t.co/xGjETO3qBj pic.twitter.com/FNILru0iTN  Debayan Roy (Gadgetsdata) (@Gadgetsdata) May 16, 2023

A flagship chip with a powerful NVIDIA GPU could allow MediaTek to break the mold and enter into the high-end laptop segment. However, MediaTek appears to be aiming for an SoC design instead of a dedicated CPU, discrete GPU, and RAM combination that's common inside high-end laptops.

Will There Be MediaTek Chipsets With NVIDIA GPU For Smartphones?

NVIDIA has its own chipsets that are made up of ARM CPUs. Moreover, the recently released Jetson Orin NX has a 1,024-core Ampere GPU with 32 Tensor cores, plus an 8-core Cortex-A78AE CPU and 16GB of RAM with a TDP of 10-25W.

However, NVIDIA's solutions do not officially support Android or ChromeOS. On the other hand, MediaTek chipsets are optimized for both operating systems.

MediaTek currently relies on ARM GPUs. While they are powerful, ARM GPUs are nowhere close to the performance of NVIDIA's GPUS. Additionally, NVIDIA GPUs also possess accelerated AI capabilities.

MediaTek and NVIDIA collaboration could result in powerful chipsets along the lines of Apple's M series SoC. Hence, consumers can expect lightweight but powerful laptops with MediaTek CPU and NVIDIA GPU on a chipset in the near future.

It's not immediately clear if the upcoming MediaTek + NVIDIA chips will only be embedded inside Windows laptops. It is possible that the collaboration may result in comparatively low-power and TDP versions for smartphones too.

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Samsung Planning To Launch More OLED TVs Instead Of Micro-LED: Begins Sourcing Panels From LG Tech Biz oi -Alap Naik Desai

Samsung is undoubtedly a market leader in the premium TV market. However, it appears the South Korean tech giant is reverting to older but reliable technology for its upcoming smart TV lineup.

Samsung and LG have reportedly struck a deal to source the latter's already-matured, well-established, and proven, OLED (Organic Light-Emitting Diode) panels. Samsung is expected to rely more on these OLED panels instead of micro-LED display panels for its televisions.

Samsung Wants OLED, Avoids QLED To Let Micro-LED Display Panels Mature?

Samsung is a leading player in the television market. In fact, it is one of the top premium TV manufacturers. However, the South Korean Tech giant does not make OLED TVs.

Samsung stopped manufacturing OLED TVs way back in 2015. The company invested heavily in QLED panels, which are marginally superior to LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) panels but are similar in price and quality.

Samsung has been rapidly developing Micro-LED technology. Micro-LED is noticeably superior to OLED. Samsung has been promoting its ultra-premium TVs with Micro-LED panels.

However, Micro-LED panels are currently prohibitively expensive. Moreover, they are viable (and hence available) in large dimensions. In other words, it currently makes business sense to make only large-screen TVs with Micro-LED panels.

Given the high cost, market penetration and mainstream adoption of Micro-LED display panels will take some time. Hence, Samsung appears to be reconsidering the OLED technology.

LG To Deliver OLED Panels To Samsung Until 2026

LG is a leading manufacturer of OLED panels. In fact, about 50 percent of the OLED TV market is held by LG, while Sony has a 26 percent share. Incidentally, Sony itself sources its panels from LG.

According to the terms of the agreement, LG will deliver 2 million 77-inch and 83-inch high-end OLED panels to Samsung in 2024, 3 million in 2025, and 5 million in 2026. Needless to say, this is a large quantity.

Samsung is clearly trying to enter the mainstream midrange smart TV market, which several Chinese companies now dominate. Even the budget LCD segment is saturated by cheap panels from Chinese manufacturers.

With Samsung reentering the OLED TV market, consumers can expect intense competition, better quality, and more offers on smart TVs starting next year. It will be interesting to see how brands such as Xiaomi, OnePlus, Realme, and others react.

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Justice Department Announces Five Cases as Part of Recently Launched Disruptive Technology Strike Force

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Tuesday, May 16, 2023

Cases Mark Strike Force's First Enforcement Actions Since Established

The Justice Department today announced criminal charges in five cases and four arrests from five different U.S. Attorney's offices in connection with the recently launched multi-agency Disruptive Technology Strike Force.

The Disruptive Technology Strike Force is co-led by the Departments of Justice and Commerce to counter efforts by hostile nation-states to illicitly acquire sensitive U.S. technology to advance their authoritarian regimes and facilitate human rights abuses. The Strike Force's work has led to the unsealing of charges against multiple defendants in five cases accused of crimes including export violations, smuggling and theft of trade secrets.

Two of these cases involve the disruption of alleged procurement networks created to help the Russian military and intelligence services obtain sensitive technology in violation of U.S. laws. In the Eastern District of New York, a Greek national was arrested on May 9 for federal crimes in connection with allegedly acquiring more than 10 different types of sensitive technologies on behalf of the Russian government and serving as a procurement agent for two Russian Specially Designated Nationals (SDNs) operating on behalf of Russia's intelligence services. In the District of Arizona, two Russian nationals were arrested for their involvement in a procurement scheme to supply multiple Russian commercial airline companies - which were subject to bans from engaging in certain type of commercial transactions - with export-controlled parts and components, including braking technology.

Two of the other cases announced today charge former software engineers with stealing software and hardware source code from U.S. tech companies in order to market it to Chinese competitors. In the Central District of California, a senior software engineer was arrested on May 5 for theft of trade secrets for allegedly stealing source code used in metrology software which is used in "smart" automotive manufacturing equipment. The defendant then allegedly marketed the stolen technology to multiple Chinese companies. In the Northern District of California, a citizen of the People's Republic of China (PRC) and former Apple engineer is accused of allegedly stealing thousands of documents containing the source code for software and hardware pertaining to Apple's autonomous vehicle technology. This defendant fled to China and is believed to be working for a PRC-based autonomous vehicle competitor.

The fifth and final case involves a Chinese procurement network established to provide Iran with materials used in weapons of mass destruction (WMDs) and ballistic missiles. In the Southern District of New York, a PRC national is charged with allegedly participating in a scheme to use his employer to conduct transactions with a U.S. financial institution for the benefit of a purported Iranian entity, as part of an effort to provide isostatic graphite, a material used in the production of WMDs, to Iran.

"These charges demonstrate the Justice Department's commitment to preventing sensitive technology from falling into the hands of foreign adversaries, including Russia, China, and Iran," said Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen of the Justice Department's National Security Division. "We will not tolerate those who would violate U.S. laws to allow authoritarian regimes and other hostile nations to use advanced technology to threaten U.S. national security and undermine democratic values around the world."

"Protecting sensitive American technology - like source code for 'smart' automotive manufacturing equipment or items used to develop quantum cryptography - from being illegally acquired by our adversaries is why we stood up the Disruptive Technology Strike Force," said Matthew S. Axelrod, Assistant Secretary for Export Enforcement at the Department of Commerce. "The Strike Force actions announced today reflect the core mission of our Export Enforcement team - keeping our country's most sensitive technologies out of the world's most dangerous hands."

"The theft of technology and trade secrets from U.S. companies is a threat to our economic and national security," said Assistant Director Suzanne Turner of the FBI's Counterintelligence Division. "The charges announced today aren't the only instances of foreign adversaries trying to steal our technology. Combating the illegal transfer of technology is one of the FBI's highest priorities, and we will continue to work with our federal partners, including the Department of Commerce, to investigate those who steal U.S. technology to ultimately use it in weapons that threaten us and our allies."

"The protection of sensitive U.S. technologies has been and continues to be a top priority for HSI," said Assistant Director James Mancuso of Homeland Security Investigations. "HSI and the partners of the Strike Force will ensure that the U.S. maintains its technologic edge to protect the economic and national security interests of the United States. The Strike Force will be relentless in its pursuit of bad actors that attempt the theft of any sensitive U.S. technologies."

United States v. Bogonikolos, Eastern District of New York

A criminal complaint was unsealed today in federal court in Brooklyn charging Dr. Nikolaos "Nikos" Bogonikolos, 59, of Athens, Greece, with wire fraud conspiracy and smuggling. Bogonikolos was arrested in Paris on May 9 and remains in custody pending the resolution of extradition proceedings.

"As alleged, while ostensibly operating as a defense contractor for NATO and other ally countries, the defendant and his Aratos Group were double dealing, helping to fuel Russia's war effort and their development of next generation weapons," said U.S. Attorney Breon Peace for the Eastern District of New York. "Our office continues to work tirelessly to ensure that disruptive technologies do not fall into the wrong hands."

As alleged in the complaint, the defendant headed the Aratos Group (Aratos), a collection of defense and technology companies in the Netherlands and Greece, which are both member countries of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). According to Aratos's website, the companies' areas of expertise included space technologies, homeland security, blockchain, and counter-drone systems. One of Aratos' subsidiaries, Aratos Systems BV, was a finalist in the NATO Innovation Challenge for space applications in 2021 for a proposal involving the use of artificial intelligence and blockchain technology for satellites and spacecraft. The defendant presented himself having experience advising the European Parliament and "governments worldwide," and Aratos supplied defense equipment and related technologies to countries in the Middle East, Africa and Asia.

However, as alleged in the complaint, since 2017 the defendant has been involved in smuggling U.S.-origin military and dual-use technologies to Russia in violation of U.S. law. These highly regulated and sensitive components included advanced electronics and sophisticated testing equipment used in military applications, including quantum cryptography and nuclear weapons testing, as well as tactical battlefield equipment. The defendant claimed that these items were to be used by Aratos, when in reality they were reshipped and sent to Russia in violation of U.S. law. Some of the Russian end users included nuclear and quantum research facilities, as well as Military Unit 33949, part of the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service, known as the SVR.

As described in the complaint, many of these orders were solicited by Serniya Engineering and Sertal LLC (the Serniya Network), Moscow-based companies that operate under the direction of Russian intelligence services. Following Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) and the Department of Commerce (DOC) Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) levied sanctions against Serniya, Sertal, and several individuals and companies used in the scheme, calling them "instrumental to the Russian Federation's war machine."

As alleged in the complaint, the defendant was recruited as a procurement agent for Russia in 2017. In an email message with a Serniya affiliate, on Dec. 27, 2017, the defendant was told to come to Moscow alone "since the agenda will be a very sensitive one." Regarding one subsequent order, the defendant advised that he would falsify an export license, saying "I sign that the items are only for Netherlands ;) . . . Sensitive case . . . For the same reason I cannot press the [U.S.] supplier." The defendant also signed several false end use statements and provided them to U.S. companies, certifying that Aratos was the end user of the requested items, that Aratos would not reexport the goods elsewhere, and that the goods would not be used for weapons development.

The FBI New York Field Office is investigating the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Artie McConnell and Trial Attorney Scott A. Claffee of the National Security Division's Counterintelligence and Export Control Section are prosecuting the case, with assistance provided by Litigation Analyst Ben Richmond.

The Justice Department's Office of International Affairs provided valuable support to the investigation. The United States thanks French authorities for their assistance.

The investigation was also coordinated through the Justice Department's Task Force KleptoCapture, an interagency law enforcement task force dedicated to enforcing sanctions, export controls and economic countermeasures imposed in response to Russia's unprovoked military invasion of Ukraine. For more on the work of Task Force KleptoCapture, see here.

United States v. Besedin and Patsulya, District of Arizona

On May 11, two Russian nationals, Oleg Sergeyevich Patsulya and Vasilii Sergeyevich Besedin were arrested in the District of Arizona and charged via criminal complaint with conspiracy to violate the Export Control Reform Act (ECRA) and conspiracy to commit international money laundering.

The complaint alleges that Patsulya and Besedin, both of whom reside in Miami-Dade County, Florida, used their Florida limited liability company, MIC P&I, LLC, and worked with others to evade U.S. export laws and regulations to send aircraft parts to Russian airline companies. The complaint alleges that Patsulya and Besedin fielded requests for parts directly from the Russian airlines a many of which were already subject to increased export sanctions as a result of Russia's further invasion of Ukraine a and then used intermediary companies and foreign bank accounts in third-party countries to mask the true identity of the customers and the source of payments. Patsulya and Besedin then approached aircraft parts suppliers in the United States, lied about who their customers were, and lied about where the parts would be going. In furtherance of their criminal conspiracy, Patsulya and Besedin traveled to the District of Arizona in September 2022 and attempted to purchase export-controlled aircraft brake systems from an Arizona aircraft parts supply company.

If convicted, the defendants face up to 20 years in prison for violating the ECRA and up to 20 years in prison for conspiring to commit international money laundering.

The BIS Phoenix Field Office and the FBI Phoenix Field Office are conducting the joint investigation. The BIS Boston Field Office, FBI Miami Field Office, HSI Phoenix Field Office, Customs and Border Protection-Phoenix Field Office, and the U.S. Marshals Office in Miami provided valuable assistance.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Todd M. Allison and William G. Voit for the District of Arizona and Trial Attorney Christopher M. Rigali of the National Security Division's Counterintelligence and Export Control Section are prosecuting the case. The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida provided valuable assistance.

The investigation was also coordinated through the Justice Department's Task Force KleptoCapture, an interagency law enforcement task force dedicated to enforcing sanctions, export controls and economic imposed in response to Russia's unprovoked military invasion of Ukraine.

United States v. Li, Central District of California

A California man was arrested on May 6 in the Central District of California on criminal charges related to his alleged theft of sensitive technologies from his Southern California-based employers and use of them to market his own competing company to businesses in the PRC.

According to court documents, Liming Li, 64, of Rancho Cucamonga, stole trade secrets belonging to two of his former employers based in Southern California then used them to build his own competing business in China.

Li was arrested at Ontario International Airport on May 6 after arriving on a flight from Taiwan pursuant to a criminal complaint that charges him with theft of trade secrets. Since his arrest, Li has been in federal custody, and he has a detention hearing scheduled for May 22.

"Li stole thousands of files of sensitive technology that did not belong to him and used it to help foreign companies build competing technology - technology that could be used in the manufacture of nuclear submarines and military aircraft," said U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada for the Central District of California. "Protecting our nation's national security is paramount, and my office will aggressively investigate and prosecute those who misappropriate sensitive intellectual property to the benefit of foreign actors."

According to an affidavit filed with the complaint, from 1996 to November 2019, Li worked in various engineering, management, and software development roles for two companies in Southern California software businesses. The companies are identified in court documents as "Company #1" and "Company #2."

These software programs are related to high precision measurement studies interpretation and point cloud technology, which often are used in making 3D models. They can be used in various sensitive manufacturing contexts, including manufacturing parts for nuclear submarines and military aircraft, and are subject to U.S. export controls for national security, nuclear nonproliferation and anti-terrorism reasons. As a result of its military application, federal law mandates that this software cannot be exported to the PRC without a license from the Department of Commerce.

Li worked for Company #1 from 1996 to 2018 and then worked at Company #2 from 2018 until November 2019. Shortly before beginning his employment with the Company #2, Li and his wife established their own business, JSL Innovations, which was based out of their Rancho Cucamonga home.

After Company #2 terminated Li, company security discovered that Li was using his company-issued laptop to attempt to download files from Company #2's root directory onto his personal external hard drive, according to the complaint affidavit. Company security searched Li's company-issued laptop and found a folder labeled "ChinaGovernment." That folder allegedly contained numerous documents showing Li's efforts to participate in the PRC's Thousand Talents Program and to use JSL Innovations to provide services and technology to PRC business and government entities related to the export-controlled and trade secret technology that Li took from his former employers in Southern California.

In March 2020, Li entered into an agreement with a PRC-based manufacturing company to serve as its chief technology officer. Li's agreement with this employer required him to spend at least six months per year in the PRC.

Six months later, FBI agents executed a search warrant at Li's home and found numerous digital devices containing millions of files belonging to Company #1 and Company #2 and containing the source code for those companies' proprietary software, the complaint alleges. Although the source code files had been developed by and belonged to these companies, some of the files had been moved into folders labeled "JSL" or "JSL Projects."

Both Company #1 and Company #2 derive significant value from the secrecy of their proprietary software source code and take extensive steps to protect the source code from discovery by competitors.

If convicted, Li faces a statutory maximum sentence of 10 years in federal prison.

The FBI is investigating this matter with substantial assistance from the Department of Commerce BIS.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Solomon Kim of the Terrorism and Export Crimes Section; David Ryan, Chief of the Terrorism and Export Crimes Section; Aaron Frumkin of the Cyber and Intellectual Property Crime Section; and Trial Attorney Stephen Marzen of the National Security Division's Counterintelligence and Export Control Section are prosecuting the case.

United States v. Wang, Northern District of California

Today, a federal court in the Northern District of California unsealed an indictment of former Apple Incorporated (Apple) employee Weibao Wang, 35, formerly of Mountain View, California, for charges related to his alleged theft and attempted theft of trade secrets in connection with a scheme to access, download, and steal Apple technology related to autonomous systems.

According to the indictment, Apple hired Wang to work as a software engineer beginning in March 2016. The indictment describes how Wang signed a confidentiality agreement with Apple. The indictment further states that Apple provided Wang with in-person secrecy training that covered the appropriate handling of confidential material and established rules prohibiting the transfer and transmission of the company's intellectual property without Apple's consent. Wang was assigned to work with a team at Apple that designed and developed hardware and software for autonomous systems, which can have a variety of applications, such as self-driving cars.

According to the indictment, in November 2017, Wang signed a letter accepting an offer of full-time employment as a staff engineer with the U.S.-based subsidiary of a company headquartered in the PRC. The parent company is described in the indictment as "COMPANY ONE" and allegedly was working to develop self-driving cars. The indictment alleges Wang waited more than four months after signing the new employment agreement before informing Apple that he was resigning.

After Wang's last day at Apple on April 16, 2018, Apple representatives reviewed access logs documenting historical activity on Apple's network. Apple identified Wang as having accessed large amounts of sensitive proprietary and confidential information in the days leading up to his departure from Apple.

The indictment describes the June 27, 2018, search by law enforcement of Wang's Mountain View residence and the discovery of large quantities of data taken from Apple prior to his departure. Wang was present during the search and told agents he had no plans to travel. Nevertheless, Wang purchased a one-way plane ticket from San Francisco International Airport to Guangzhou, China and boarded a flight that night.

The indictment describes six categories of trade secrets that Wang allegedly stole, or attempted to steal, and charges him with one count for each category.

Wang faces a maximum statutory sentence of 10 years in prison and a fine in the amount of $250,000 (or twice the gross gain or loss resulting from the scheme) for each count of theft or attempted theft of trade secrets.

The FBI is investigating the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Sloan Heffron and Marissa Harris for the Northern District of California are prosecuting the case. Within the National Security Division, this matter is being handled by Brendan Geary of the National Security Division's Counterintelligence and Export Control Section.

United States v. Xiangjiang Qiao, Southern District of New York

Today, a federal court in the Southern District of New York unsealed an indictment charging Xiangjiang Qiao aka Joe Hansen, 39, of the People's Republic of China with sanctions evasion, money laundering, and bank fraud offenses based on Qiao's alleged participation in a scheme to use a sanctioned Chinese company to provide materials used in the production of WMDs to Iran, in exchange for payments made through the U.S. financial system. Qiao is at large in China.

"As alleged, Xiangjiang Qiao conspired to send isostatic graphite to Iran, in violation of U.S. sanctions. Isostatic graphite is a high-tech material used in the nose tips of intercontinental ballistic missiles," said U.S. Attorney Damian Williams for the Southern District of New York. "The Iranian regime of terror and repression, and those who facilitate it, pose a grave threat to our national security. This office will continue to work relentlessly to bring to justice those who advance the interests of the Iranian regime and thereby threaten the safety and security of the American people."

According to court documents, Qiao is a Chinese national and an employee of the China-based company Sinotech Dalian Carbon and Graphite Manufacturing Corporation (Sinotech Dalian). Sinotech Dalian is part of a network of Chinese companies involved in the proliferation of WMDs and that, in particular, provide assistance in the procurement of materials for Iran's ballistic missile program. In 2014, OFAC sanctioned Sinotech Dalian, adding the company to OFAC's SDN and Blocked Persons list, explaining that Sinotech Dalian is part of a network of China-based entities used to proliferate WMDs and, specifically, to aid Iranian ballistic missile procurement. Sinotech Dalian's inclusion on the SDN list prohibits it from using the U.S. financial system to conduct transactions without authorization from OFAC. Qiao is an associate of Li Fangwei, aka Karl Lee, who managed the Sinotech Dalian network of companies and was charged in 2014 with sanctions evasion and other offenses based on his alleged illicit activities as a principal contributor to Iran's ballistic missile program through China-based entities.

In willful violation of U.S. sanctions on Iran and Sinotech Dalian, between at least March 2019 and September 2022, Qiao participated in a scheme to use Sinotech Dalian, including through transactions involving the U.S. financial system, to supply isostatic graphite to Iran for the production of WMDs. Isostatic graphite is a type of graphite with an ultra-fine grain that is used in the manufacture of WMDs. In particular, isostatic graphite is used in the manufacture of rocket nozzles and reentry vehicle nose tips in intercontinental ballistic missiles. Qiao further took steps to conceal Sinotech Dalian's involvement in the transaction by creating a bank account in the name of a front company to receive two transfers from a U.S. bank totaling over $15,000 as part of his efforts to facilitate the supply of isostatic graphite to Iran.

Qiao is charged with one count of conspiracy to violate U.S. sanctions against Iran and Sinotech Dalian, in violation of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison; two counts of violating the IEEPA, which each carry a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison; one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud, which carries a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison; two counts of attempted bank fraud, which each carry a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison; one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison; and two counts of money laundering, which each carry a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.

The FBI New York Field Office and Counterintelligence Division are investigating the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Gillian S. Grossman and Nicholas S. Bradley for the Southern District of New York are prosecuting the case. Within the National Security Division, this matter is being handled by Trial Attorney S. Derek Shugert of the Counterintelligence and Export Control Section.

* * *

Today's actions were coordinated through the Disruptive Technology Strike Force, an interagency law enforcement strike force co-led by the Departments of Justice and Commerce designed to target illicit actors, protect supply chains, and prevent critical technology from being acquired by authoritarian regimes and hostile nation-states. Under the leadership of the Assistant Attorney General for National Security and the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Export Enforcement, the Strike Force leverages tools and authorities across the U.S. Government to enhance the criminal and administrative enforcement of export control laws.

An indictment, complaint or criminal information is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

Attachment(s): Download Bogonikolos complaint (EDNY)

Download Patsulya and Besedin complaint (DAZ)

Download Qiao indictment (SDNY)

Download Li complaint (CDCA)

Download Wang indictment (NDCA)

Topic(s): Intellectual Property

Countering Nation-State Threats

Export Control

Component(s): Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)

National Security Division (NSD)

USAO - Arizona

USAO - California, Central

USAO - California, Northern

USAO - New York, Eastern

USAO - New York, Southern

Press Release Number: 23-560



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Assistant Attorney General for National Security Matthew G. Olsen Delivers Remarks Announcing Disruptive Technology Strike Force Cases

Washington, DC

~ Tuesday, May 16, 2023

Good morning. I am Matt Olsen, the Assistant Attorney General for National Security. Thank you all very much for being here.

I am joined by Matt Axelrod, the Assistant Secretary for Export Enforcement at the Department of Commerce.

Exactly three months ago, we launched the Disruptive Technology Strike Force. This is an interagency enforcement effort led by the Departments of Justice and Commerce. The FBI and Homeland Security Investigations, our law enforcement partners who are integral to this effort, are also represented here on stage. I also want to thank the Attorney General and the Deputy Attorney General for their support of our work.

The mission of the Strike Force is to prevent foreign adversaries from obtaining critical advanced technologies. We have established 14 local cells around the country - more than a third of which are represented here today on stage - to investigate and prosecute violations of U.S. laws.

Our work is supported by an interagency team of data analysts who identify gaps in enforcement and prioritize our lines of effort. Collectively, our work is critical to defend U.S. military readiness, to preserve our technological advantage over our adversaries, and to protect human rights and democratic values worldwide.

Five U.S. Attorneys from around the country are here with us: Breon Peace, of the Eastern District of New York; Gary Restaino, of the District of Arizona; MartAn Estrada, of the Central District of California; Ismail Ramsey, of Northern District of California; and Damian Williams, of the Southern District of New York.

Today, we are announcing five cases from each of these districts. The cases - which were brought by the U.S. Attorneys' Offices in partnership with the National Security Division - span a range of emerging technologies and malicious actors.

These cases demonstrate the breadth and complexity of the threats we face, as well as what is at stake. They show our ability to accelerate investigations and surge our collective resources to defend against these threats.

As you'll hear more about in a moment, two of the five cases involve dismantling alleged procurement networks created to help the Russian military and intelligence services obtain sensitive technologies in violation of U.S. export-control laws. These technologies include military tactical equipment, airplane braking technology, and quantum cryptography.

Two other cases charge former software engineers with stealing software and hardware source code from U.S. tech companies in order to market it to Chinese competitors - including, in one of the cases, Chinese state-owned enterprises. The stolen code is alleged to be trade secrets used by the U.S. companies to develop self-driving cars and advanced automated manufacturing equipment.

The final case charges a Chinese national with violating U.S. sanctions in attempting to sell to Iran materials used to produce weapons of mass destruction. The defendant tried to arrange the sale using two Chinese companies that the U.S. government has sanctioned for supporting Iran's ballistic missile program.

We stand vigilant in enforcing U.S. laws to stop the flow of sensitive technologies to our foreign adversaries. And that means using everything - from our criminal investigations and prosecutions to administrative enforcement actions to private sector outreach.

So let me be clear: we are committed to doing all we can to prevent these advanced tools from falling into the hands of foreign adversaries, who wield them in ways that threaten not only our nation's security, but democratic values everywhere.

And with that, let me turn it over to Assistant Secretary Axelrod, and then to the U.S. Attorneys to discuss these prosecutions.

Speaker: Matthew G. Olsen, Assistant Attorney General

Topic(s): Intellectual Property

Export Control

National Security

Component(s): National Security Division (NSD)





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Cambodia: Statement by the Spokesperson on the disqualification of opposition Candlelight Party

European External Action Service (EEAS)

15.05.2023

EEAS Press Team

The refusal of the Cambodian National Election Committee to register the opposition Candlelight Party is another worrying sign of shrinking space for political parties to compete in the upcoming general election.

The European Union strongly objects to the decision taken today by the Cambodia Electoral Authority, which adds to depriving Cambodia's citizens of the right to choose their representatives.

Democratic elections demand open, inclusive and credible political competition and citizens to be allowed to freely choose their representatives.



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US and Colombian armies strengthen partnership during training rotation

By Sgt. 1st Class Alan Brutus May 16, 2023

FORT POLK, Louisiana -- The United States and Colombian armies are continually looking for ways to further strengthen the already rich partnership they share. The latest example of this comes as an infantry company from the Colombian Army was embedded with the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, alongside U.S. Soldiers from the 1st Security Force Assistance Brigade, during a recent Joint Readiness Training Center rotation at Fort Polk, Louisiana.

"The importance of this JRTC Rotation with the Colombian Army is two-fold; it helps the Colombian Army understand a new operational environment including how to operate in large scale combat operations, and it builds readiness for the U.S. Army," said U.S. Army Maj. Joseph Macchiarella, U.S. Army South Colombia Foreign Area Officer. "3rd Brigade, along with the 1st SFAB, were able to train on their critical task to integrate allies and partner nation forces into operations as well as identify gaps in capabilities which will need to be addressed in the near future."

When asked about the importance of military partnerships like that between the U.S. and Colombian armies, Col. Richard Taylor, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division Commander, discussed how strategic friendships and partnerships are the bedrock of any large organization.

"We know that the U.S. Army does not operate alone; every opportunity to serve alongside our partner forces is a chance to strengthen bonds and establish trust," he said. "Both traits are crucial for interoperability and ultimately allows us to jump, fight, and win on the hardest day of ground combat."

Taylor also commended the professionalism demonstrated throughout the rotation saying, "The soldiers and leaders of the Columbian army are disciplined, lethal, and highly competent. Our paratroopers gained knowledge from serving with them throughout the rotation."

Though there are several challenges presented anytime two nations' armies operate alongside one another, consistent, realistic training builds an understanding that can ease those concerns should this partnership be put to the test in a real-world operation.

"There are still many challenges to achieve interoperability, but combat training center rotations are the perfect scenario to identify shortfalls and work to find an immediate solution," said Macchiarella at the conclusion of the rotation. "There were many lessons learned by all participants, and now the challenge remains on how to improve before the next big event."

The military partnership between the U.S. and Colombia has been longstanding and in recent years the two nations began working together toward a common, more optimistic, goal.

"Since 2021 the U.S. and Colombia have had a process of preparation and training a unit from the army with the goal of working up to a battalion level in order to improve and achieve true interoperability," explained Colombian Maj. Gen. Alvaro Vicente Perez, Deputy Commander of the Colombian Army. "We started in 2021 working together at the platoon level and during this JRTC rotation we trained together at the company level."

Training at the company level as opposed to the individual squad or platoon level provided a greater understanding of each other's capabilities and tactics during a large-scale combat operations type of environment.

"The most important thing about training like this, after talking with our Soldiers, is the opportunity to interact, train with, and understand the capabilities of other armies like the United States and see operations from another point of view," continued Perez.

In addition to this U.S.-hosted JRTC training rotation, Colombia played host last fall to U.S. Soldiers from both the Illinois and Georgia Army National Guard during Exercise Southern Vanguard 23 which was a two-week training exercise at Tolemaida Military Base in Colombia. The exercise included a Women Peace and Security panel discussion during which senior leaders from both armies shared experiences and ideas on furthering the roles of women in security efforts in their respective countries.

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May 16, 2023

Release

DOD Statement Attributed to Pentagon Press Secretary Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder on Red Hill Defueling Update

The following statement is attributed to Pentagon Press Secretary Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder:

The Department continues its efforts to cooperate closely with the Hawaii Department of Health, the Environmental Protection Agency, and Hawaii state officials to ensure the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility is defueled and closed safely.

In support of that goal, the Department of Defense published a new supplement to the DoD Red Hill Defueling Plan today. This supplement demonstrates our intent to begin defueling the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility on an accelerated timeline. The prospect of defueling early is a testament to the commitment of the Department to safeguarding the environment and protecting the health of people in Hawaii.

A copy of the supplement is available here.

https://www.defense.gov/News/Releases/Release/Article/3397444/

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May 16, 2023

Speech

Opening Testimony by Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III Before the Senate Appropriations Committee Hearing on a Review of the President's Fiscal Year 24 Budget Request: Investing in U.S. Security, Competitiveness and the Path Ahead for the U.S.-China Relationship (As Delivered)

As Delivered by Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III

Chair Murray, Vice Chairman Collins, members of the committee: thanks for the opportunity to testify about America's strategic competition with the People's Republic of China.

I'm glad to be joined by Secretary Blinken and Secretary Raimondo. We rely on each other every daybecause to compete and succeed, we must use all the tools of American power.

And I'm grateful to Congress for recognizing the urgency of the China challenge and taking bipartisan action to meet it.

I'd like to underscore five key points today about how the Department of Defense is tackling the security challenge of the PRCin lockstep with our partners across the administration, around the world, and here in Congress.

First, we're focusing the entire Department on continuing to out-pace the PRC.

As the President's National Security Strategy notes, the PRC is our only competitor with both the intent and, increasingly, the capacity to reshape the international system to suit its autocratic preferences.

Beijing has increased its bullying and provocations in the Indo-Pacific. It's embarked upon a historic military buildup, including in space and cyberspace.

Of course, war is neither imminent nor inevitable. But we must face up to the PRC's growing assertiveness.

The Department's mission is clear: to deter aggression that threatens our vital national interests. So we're investing more than ever in a formidable, innovative fighting force and a more resilient force posture in the Indo-Pacific.

Our budget includes a 40 percent increase over last year's request for the Pacific Deterrence Initiativeto an all-time high of $9.1 billion.

We're delivering critical capabilities through more agile approaches to testing and acquisition. And we're developing novel operational concepts for how we employ the Joint Force.

Our National Defense Strategy calls the PRC our pacing challenge. And we chose the word "challenge" carefully. The United States does not seek confrontation, conflict, or a new Cold War. But America has never shied away from competition, and we're working with both our rivals and our friends to strengthen the guardrails against conflict.

To prevail in strategic competition, we must work together as one team. That's my second point. And that demands even closer cooperation with our colleagues at the Departments of State, Commerce, and elsewhere.

We work with the Department of State to help prevent conflicts from breaking out in the first place. We protect the free and open trade lanes that drive the world economy.



We're supporting the Department of Commerce's leading role in implementing the CHIPS and Science Act. And we work closely with Commerce to advance our technological advantages.

Third, we're determined to keep the Indo-Pacific free and open. Most countries in the region share a common vision of an open and inclusive Indo-Pacific free of bullying and coercion. We're proud to stand together with them.

So we'll continue to strengthen the rules-based international order by making clear the folly of aggression and maintaining open lines of communication.

Fourth, the whole administration is working to deepen ties with our network of alliances. We're working with our friends around the Indo-Pacific and the world through security cooperation and assistance, and through combined operations and exercises. We're also working to develop innovative new capabilities and deepen integrated deterrence.

In recent months, that strategy has produced historic results.

In Japan, we're forward-deploying more resilient and mobile assets. That includes our plans to deploy the 12th Marine Littoral Regiment.

We're pursuing major new force-posture initiatives with Australia. And through the historic AUKUS partnership, we'll work with our Australian and British allies to help forge a more stable balance of power in the Indo-Pacific for generations.

With our Philippine allies, we will have rotational access to four new locations under the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement.

And meanwhile, we're expanding our security cooperation with South Korea, India, Thailand, Singapore, and many others.

We're deepening our ties with ASEAN and the Quad.

And I'm pleased that the United States will soon provide significant additional security assistance to Taiwan through the Presidential Drawdown Authority that Congress authorized last year. This is part of our longstanding commitment to upholding our obligations under the Taiwan Relations Act and other U.S. policyand to doing our part to maintain peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait.

So we need to remain a reliable partner, and that brings me to my final point.

The best way that Congress can ensure our strategic advantage is with an on-time appropriation that supports the President's budget request.

No amount of money can buy back the time that we lose when we're forced to operate under continuing resolutions.

And reducing funding to FY 22 levels across the government would hamstring our ability to competeeven if the Defense Department is exempted from cuts.

We succeed as a team, and the Department of Defense succeeds when our interagency partners succeed.

We're not just shaping our military but America's entire strategy to compete and lead.

And I look forward to working with all of you to continue that proud tradition of U.S. global leadership.

Thank you, Madam Chair.

https://www.defense.gov/News/Speeches/Speech/Article/3397138/

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May 16, 2023

By C. Todd Lopez , DOD News

Austin Outlines What's Needed for Successful Competition With China

This year's budget request for the Pacific Deterrence Initiative, or PDI, is a full 40% higher than last year's request, said Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III, and that's part of a DOD-wide effort to outpace the People's Republic of China.

"We're focusing the entire department on continuing to outpace the PRC as the President's National Security Strategy notes," Austin told members of the Senate Appropriations Committee during testimony Tuesday. "The PRC is our only competitor, with both the intent and increasingly the capacity to reshape the international system to suit its autocratic preferences."

To counter that, Austin said, the Department of Defense is now investing more in its force posture in the Pacific, including $9.1 billion aimed at the PDI. That increase, he said funds more agile approaches to testing and acquisition and development of new operational concepts for how the joint force is employed.

Also important for successful competition with China is teamwork across the federal government, including with both the State Department and the Commerce Department. The secretaries of both agencies testified alongside Austin.

"We work with the Department of State to help prevent conflict from breaking out in the first place. We protect the free and open trade lanes that drive the world economy," Austin said. "And we're supporting the Department of Commerce's leading role in implementing the Chips and Science Act. And we work closely with Commerce to advance our technological advantages."

Nations in the Indo-Pacific, Austin said, are as interested in keeping the region open for free trade as the United States. Austin also said those nations are viable partners in the endeavor.

"Most countries in the region share a common vision of an open and inclusive Indo-Pacific, free of bullying and coercion," he said. "We're proud to stand together with them. So we'll continue to strengthen the rules-based international order by making clear the folly of aggression and maintaining open lines of communication."

The U.S. depends on its network of allies and partners to further its interests  including successfully competing with China.

"The whole administration is working to deepen ties with our network of alliances," Austin said. "We're working with our friends around the Indo-Pacific and the world through security cooperation and assistance, and through combined operations and exercises. We're also working to develop innovative new capabilities and deepen integrated deterrence."

One example of that, he said, is increased deployment of assets in Japan, including plans to deploy the 12th Marine Littoral Regiment. Another example is new force posture initiatives with Australia. And in the Philippines, he said, the U.S. will have access to new locations to rotate forces in and out.

"Meanwhile, we're expanding our security cooperation with South Korea, India, Thailand, Singapore and many others," he said. "We're deepening our ties with [Association of Southeast Asian Nations] and the Quad [the United States, Australia, India and Japan.] And I'm pleased that the United States will soon provide significant additional security assistance to Taiwan through the Presidential drawdown authority that Congress authorized last year."

Austin also said that successful competition with China means that the U.S. must pass an on-time budget to fund the efforts he discussed.

"The best way that Congress can ensure our strategic advantage is with an on-time appropriation that supports the President's budget request," he said. "No amount of money can buy back the time that we lose when we're forced to operate on continuing resolutions."

Without an on-time budget, Austin said, the department is hampered in its ability to start important new contracts which are important to its defense efforts. One example of that, he said, is with ship-building efforts, which would affect delivery of Columbia-class and Virginia-class submarines, for instance.

"It will delay our ability to get the critical munitions that we need for ourselves and also to support our allies and partners as well," Austin said. Included among the kinds of munitions that a continuing resolution might affect the availability of are the Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System, Tomahawks, the Advanced Medium Range Air-To-Missile and MK 48 torpedoes

"The list is pretty extensive," Austin said.

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Zbigniew Rau meets with US Deputy Secretary of State Richard R. Verma

Republic of Poland - Ministry of Foreign Affairs

16.05.2023

At the request of the US side, Minister Zbigniew Rau met with US Deputy Secretary of State Richard R. Verma and the accompanying representatives of the Department of State and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), including Under Secretary for Economic Growth, Energy, and the Environment Jose W. Fernandez. The talks focused on the development of bilateral relations and coordination of response to the Russian Federation's aggression against Ukraine, including by providing comprehensive assistance to the Ukrainian side.

The officials highlighted the strong strategic dimension of the bilateral relations, evidenced by close cooperation in the field of security and defence policies, as well as by joint efforts to ensure energy security, including as regards the development of nuclear energy in Poland.

The meeting also contributed to further coordination of the transatlantic response to the war triggered by Russia and its consequences on the international scene. Minister Rau presented Poland's position in this regard, emphasising in particular the need to tighten sanctions against Russia and hold it accountable for its crimes. He called on the West to continue the assistance provided to Ukraine in the political dimension, by supporting the Euro-Atlantic aspirations of the Ukrainian people, as well as military, humanitarian and economic aid.

"Poland advocates strong transatlantic relations. Taking steps to strengthen and enhance them will be our priority, also during our presidency of the Council of the European Union. It is also in the vital interest of the United States to remain a "European power," said Minister Rau.

In the context of preparations for a NATO summit to be hosted by Vilnius in July this year, the head of the Polish MFA also highlighted the importance of further strengthening of NATO's deterrence and defence posture, including its eastern flank, among other things through a significant and permanent US military presence in Poland.

ukasz Jasina

MFA Spokesperson

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Speech by Minister for Defence Pal Jonson at the Baltic Defence College Annual Conference on Russia 2023

Government Offices of Sweden

16 May 2023

Tartu, Estonia 2 March 2023.

Check against delivery.

Dear colleagues,

Thank you for inviting me here today to talk about the changing security landscape in Europe. It is indeed an important but also very difficult topic. As the largest armed conflict in Europe since 1945 rages, the continent finds itself in its most serious security situation since the Second World War. As Professor Sir Lawrence Freedman said, "War is the strongest catalyst for change in international affairs".

The democratic world has undertaken the massive commitment of supporting Ukraine militarily, politically and economically, and has done so in concert. Against this backdrop, NATO will soon expand by adding two new members - Sweden and Finland - which will fundamentally change the geostrategic situation in northern Europe and make us all stronger.

Russia's gradually stepped up its great power rhetoric in early 2021, as Russian troops amassed at the Ukrainian border. A few months later, Putin published an article on Ukraine rejecting Ukraine's state sovereignty. The article outlined a number of reasons why Ukraine is not a real state, but rather a puppet of the western powers, and the Ukrainian people, language and history are in fact merely part of the Russian people, language and history. In late 2021, troops were again deployed to the Ukrainian border, and Russia issued an ultimatum to the West in the form of draft agreements framed as necessary guarantees of Russian security.

And today, Putin's war rages on with no end in sight. Despite heavy losses of personnel and equipment there are no signs that Russia has changed its strategic objective to dominate Ukraine in blatant contravention of international law.

This will have severe and lasting consequences for the European security landscape. And we must be mindful that we are in the midst of a process of structural change, and have humility as we face an unknown future. Whatever it may hold, the world will not be as we knew it before 24 February 2022. Russia's war against Ukraine will leave its mark on European security for generations to come. But now is the time for us to act. We are shaping our future today and we must do so in the best possible way.

In my remarks today, I will focus on the developments leading up to the war, the Russia we are facing today and what actions we - the international community - are taking.

First of all, we are facing a revisionist and increasingly authoritarian Russia that is eager to change the status quo of the post-Cold War era. This has been clear from the beginning. Shortly after his accession to power in 2000, Putin began imposing limits on freedom of speech and increasing state control over civil society. Over the past 15 years, Russia has invested heavily investment in its military capability and the state security apparatus - resulting in greater control over its population and an enhanced military posture and threat to its neighbours. Putin and his entourage have chosen to use military force as a means to restore Russia's status as a great power - or at least a 'light' version of the Russian or Soviet Empire.

Internally, the situation has deteriorated significantly in a shift from domestic deterrence to structural repression that has severely limited political pluralism. Space for independent civil society has been gradually shrinking. Freedom of speech has been curtailed, and many young and skilled people have emigrated to make a better living elsewhere. At the top of the Russian power vertical sits an ageing leadership whose primary goal is to remain in power. It is a leadership that is unable to offer its people hope for the future and can only offer up false memories of a glorious past.

Russia's elite dare not risk embarking on either political reform, lest their power be jeopardised, or economic reform, as the wealth of the country is consolidated in the hands of a few. The situation is strikingly similar to that of the 1980s, when the Soviet Union was a gerontocracy mired in stagnation.

Russia's strategic objectives are two-fold: to be recognised as a great power having a sphere of influence, and international acceptance of the Russian political system as equal to liberal democracies. Therefore, a successful, democratic and prosperous Ukraine is a threat to the Russian regime, as it would set an unacceptable example for the Russian people. If change is possible in Ukraine, it is possible in Russia. Putin already understood this in 2013.

So, what are we facing today?

Today we are facing an unstable, unpredictable and dangerous security situation in Europe. A peaceful democratic country has fallen victim to Russia's great power ambitions and its attempts to veto other states' political decision-making. Russia's denial of Ukraine's right to exist as a sovereign state is a shameless violation of international law.

Russia's efforts to undermine the international rules-based order extend beyond its war in Ukraine. Russia pursues its global ambitions through its actions in the UN, through interference and influence operations in other countries, by employing private military companies such as the Wagner group, by providing support to the Syrian regime and by delivering arms to states in Africa, Latin America and Asia. And those states are, for the most part, unwilling to condemn Russia's aggression against Ukraine, which is the latest example of Russia's bullying and blatant contempt for international peace and security.

Developments in Ukraine are critical to European security. Regardless of the outcome, however, Russia will be economically and militarily weakened. Its western-facing military units are largely depleted of personnel and equipment. Russia's military capability will therefore be limited for the foreseeable future, so we can expect Russia to pursue non-linear methods to achieve its political aims. This may include information campaigns to influence public opinion and political decision-making, blackmailing and sabotage. Russia has also repeatedly threatened to use nuclear weapons. This is unacceptable.

What can we do about it and what are the wider implications?

Russia's war on Ukraine is not just an attack on Ukraine. It is an attack on European security. Ukraine's freedom is at stake, but so is our own. The Ukrainian people are fighting not only for their survival, but also for Europe's security, freedoms and values. That's why we must continue to support Ukraine until Russia suffers a strategic defeat. Let me be clear: there is no alternative. Russia may be fighting its own demons in Ukraine, but as far as the Kremlin is concerned this is an existential fight against the West. The Russian leadership reacted so strongly to Ukraine's EU aspirations precisely because it set an unwelcome example for the Russian people. Therefore, anything short of a strategic defeat in Ukraine would only embolden Russia to continue to pursue its agenda at the expense of others. Russia's successes would merely encourage further aggression, leaving countries like Moldova and Georgia in an even a more dangerous situation.

Encouragingly, however, the West has remained firmly united since the start of the war. NATO and the EU are acting in concert. Under US leadership, the Ramstein Process has been instrumental in coordinating support for Ukraine. This includes not only European allies but also global partners like Japan, South Korea and Australia. At the latest meeting, 54 countries were represented. Russia would certainly garner only a fraction of that support.

Russia's aggression against Ukraine has accelerated NATO's renewed focus on its core task of collective defence. Efforts to support Ukraine with military equipment has been undertaken jointly and with unity. Gradually, donations have evolved from protective gear and light weapons to artillery, tanks and advanced air defence systems. We've also seen an unprecedented manifestation of transatlantic unity through the close cooperation between the EU and NATO.

The EU has reacted with significant political, economic, humanitarian and military support to Ukraine. Together with partners, the EU has also imposed sanctions of historical proportions against Russia and Belarus. The aim of the sanctions is to force Russia to cease its aggression by targeting Russia's economy and reducing its capacity to continue to wage war. Through the European Peace Facility and the EU's civilian and military missions, the Union is also providing tangible support to ensure that Ukraine's security and defence forces can counter Russia's aggression.

In northern Europe, the geostrategic landscape is undergoing substantial change as Finland and Sweden make their way into NATO. If Moscow had one strategic goal with respect to Sweden and Finland - I believe it was to keep us out of NATO. But the invasion of Ukraine had the opposite effect. Three months into the war, both countries applied for membership - hand in hand.

After almost 30 years of close partnership with NATO, Sweden's military cooperation with the Alliance is extensive. With its advanced weapons systems and national defence capabilities Sweden will contribute substantially to NATO's collective defence. Sweden brings strategic depth to the Alliance and will connect the eastern NATO countries to the Atlantic. In terms of geography, we add the longest coastline in the Baltic Sea - the strategically located island of Gotland - and important ports in the North Sea. Sweden's naval resources and formidable air force are complemented by a deep understanding of the entire Baltic Sea region. And we view the Baltic Sea Region, together with the High North and the North Atlantic, as one single strategic area.

Finally, proof of brutal violations of international law, attacks on the civilian population and civilian infrastructure, and devastation of Ukrainian cities has emerged in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. This includes almost countless reports of mass executions, systematic use of torture, forced deportations and sexual abuse - not to mention Russia's utter disregard for the loss of its own personnel. Alleged war crimes must be investigated and accountability enforced for the crimes committed during Russia's aggression, and Putin bears the primary responsibility for Russia's violations of international law.

What is the outlook?

We must prepare for a long war. As I mentioned earlier, there is no indication that Russia will abandon its strategic objectives, and this will put our endurance and resolve to the test. Western countries have thus far performed well in providing support to Ukraine, but we must understand that we are in it for the long run. We must continue to donate equipment and sustainably increase defence industry output to provide weapons and munitions to Ukraine. Training of Ukrainian personnel will also remain an important task.

Russia has thus far failed to achieve its strategic objectives. Events have taken a far different turn than Russia intended. Instead of subjugating Ukraine and wiping out Ukrainian national consciousness, Russia's full-scale invasion has been Ukraine's defining moment as a sovereign state.

Russia's leadership has thus far failed in what it sought to achieve by using military force against Ukraine. It has also gone from being a country with difficult relations with the West to what the West now considers a pariah state. Russia is increasingly turning to North Korea, Iran and China to do business.

Let's be frank, at this moment we're isolating Russia internationally and building opposition against it. And it is difficult to see any alternative. Regardless of future developments, it will remain imperative that we maintain a unified and consistent stance towards Russia.

Finally - and most importantly - the shape of future European security is being determined right now. It is in our hands. And we must act wisely. If we fail to do so, the future may be very different than we'd hoped.

Thank you for your attention.

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NATO Deputy Secretary General at Virginia Tech: We must work together to drive innovation

NATO - North Atlantic Treaty Organisation

08 May. 2023 - 14 May. 2023

Last updated: 16 May. 2023 15:52

NATO Deputy Secretary General Mircea Geoana concluded his trip to Washington D.C. on Sunday (14 May) with an address at the Virginia Tech commencement ceremony. Speaking to over 120 new Virginia Tech graduates and their family and friends, Mr Geoana emphasised the significance of future talent in driving technological innovation in today's more competitive and dangerous world.

"The meaning of security has radically changed. And so has the job of keeping us safe. It is not only something our men and women in uniform do. It is something we all do. Societal resilience is our first line of defense." He further underlined the importance of technological innovation, "to remain strong and to be even stronger in an era of great-power competition, it is essential that we continue to work together to sharpen our technological edge." Mr. Geoana also emphasized how Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine has shattered the rules-based international order, "this order that has kept us safe, and ensured our prosperity for over seven decades, that places personal freedom, democracy and the rule of law above the petty desires of autocrats and dictators."

He concluded his address through encouraging the next generation to drive innovation, "You are not only the future great innovators of your generation, but also the guardians of our freedom, of human dignity, and of our security... I want you to be the champions of innovation in everything you do, in every corner of the world, in every piece of your personal, professional or community lives. Be the champions of innovation."

During his trip to Washington, Mr. Geoana also met with senior U.S. officials, including the Leader of the House of Representatives, Kevin McCarthy and the Deputy Secretary of State, Wendy Sherman. He had talks with members of the Senate NATO Observer Group, Congressional US Delegation to NATO, House Select Intelligence Committee, House Armed Forces Committee and House Foreign Affairs Committee as well as the Special Presidential Climate Envoy, John Kerry, and the Department of Defense's Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, Colin Khal, and Chief Digital and AI Officer, Dr Craig Martell. The Deputy Secretary General also participated in several public engagements, stressing the enduring value of NATO for both North America and Europe.

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Remarks by Secretary for Foreign Affairs Enrique A. Manalo On the The Philippines-Japan Strategic Partnership and the Rules-Based Order

Republic of the Philippines - Department of Foreign Affairs

Remarks by

HON. ENRIQUE A. MANALO

Secretary for Foreign Affairs

"The Philippines-Japan Strategic Partnership and the Rules-Based Order"

National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies (GRIPS)

Sokairo Hall, GRIPS, Tokyo, Japan

16 May 2023, 11:00 AM - 12:15 PM

Dr. Narushige Michishita, Member of the Board of Trustees, Vice President, and Director of GRIPS Global Leadership Development Program;

Excellencies and colleagues from the diplomatic corps;

Dr. Yusuke Takagi; Associate Professor, Director of GRIPS Maritime Safety and Security Policy Program, and moderator of today's program;

Friends, ladies and gentlemen,

Good morning to you all.

At the outset, I wish to thank the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies for its kind invitation to speak before this distinguished group this morning.

I will begin my remarks with a brief overview of the Philippines-Japan relationship and situating it within the post-1945 rules-based order and the evolving security and economic environment in the Indo-Pacific region. I will then elaborate on the Philippine interests in the rules-based order and discuss how the Philippines and Japan can work together to advance our ties as we pursue a peaceful, stable, and prosperous future for our peoples and the region.

Overview of bilateral relations

The Philippines' bilateral relationship with Japan spans more than six and a half decades. It is a journey of reconciliation, friendship, cooperation, and mutual respect. From the ashes of war, we have forged a comprehensive and vibrant Strategic Partnership. Japan's support for the Philippines' post-war reconstruction and development has played a vital role in shaping our nation's progress until this very day, as Japan remains a major partner of the Philippines in key sectors, such as infrastructure development, renewable energy, humanitarian assistance and disaster response, education and human resource development, and public health and agricultural system enhancement.

Our latest government data puts Japan as the top source of foreign direct investments in the Philippines in the first 60 days of 2023. Most recently, Japan was one of the first countries that immediately lent assistance in managing the oil spill in the Philippine island of Mindoro that impacted the livelihood and safety of nearly fifty thousand people in more than 70 coastal communities.

In the words of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. upon embarking on his official visit to Japan last February, he said and I quote "Japan is a close neighbor, like-minded and future-oriented like us in many ways, and a most reliable partner in times of both crises and of prosperity." [end quote]

Our relationship stands on powerful values. Bound by the common experience of recovery and rebuilding in the post-war period, both the Philippines and Japan hold an unshakeable faith in democracy, peace, and human rights. We both uphold the principles enshrined in the United Nations Charter. And together, we champion the cause of fairness and justice, promote the rule of law, advocate for inclusive and sustainable development, and work towards global peace and security.

Current times present the Indo Pacific with challenges ranging from the existential threat of climate change and the impact on our societies of disruptive advances in science and technology, to the more persistent social and economic inequalities.

Among the bigger tests we face are developments challenging the rules-based order that has underpinned peace and prosperity for our region for the last seven decades.

Asia, especially Southeast Asia, is not a stranger to great power competition, as it has been a frontline ever since the Cold War. Contemporary rivalries are causing tensions and putting multilateralism under pressure. Even as technological advances make our lives easier, their dual use has introduced new risks and uncertainties, and we are dealing with new forms of warfare, a phenomenon which Japan's National Security Strategy has recognized.

As transformation is inevitable, the rules-based order must be recognized as a touchstone for stability.

Philippine interests in a rules-based order

Ladies and gentlemen,

At this point, I wish to share my perspective on the importance of a rules-based global order to the Philippines and our intention of working closely with Japan and other partners whether bilaterally, regionally, and in multilateral fora. In this regard, I will highlight three key points:

Firstly, the rule of law ensures equity in the global commons. As an archipelagic nation with an extensive coastline of 36,289 kilometers or 22,548 miles), the Philippines recognizes the significance of equitable rules in governing our maritime domain. We take pride in our active involvement in the negotiations for the 1982 UNCLOS, the Convention on Biological Diversity, and the future Treaty on the High Seas, through which we demonstrate our commitment to promoting fair and inclusive governance of the maritime commons.

Furthermore, the Philippines aims to become a space-capable and space-faring country by 2030, as evidenced by the establishment of the Philippine Space Agencythe first in Southeast Asiain 2019. We recognize the growing importance of space-based technologies in various aspects of modern society, including climate change and disaster risk resilience. To realize our national goals, we require democratic access to these technologies, a level playing field, and an inclusive and predictable governance regime in both the maritime and outer space domains.

Secondly, the Philippines is on the cusp of attaining upper middle-income country status and is projected to become the 16th largest economy in the world by 2040. The strength of the Philippine economy lies in our robust economic fundamentals and a demographic sweet spot. Our primary agenda is to uplift the quality of life of all Filipinos, particularly the marginalized, and securing a peaceful and stable regional environment is paramount to this objective.

Thirdly, multilateralism must thrive as a unifying force and a platform for inclusion and empowerment of nations and their citizens. A rules-based global order forms the foundation for the kind of multilateralism that overcomes differences among actors, facilitates global action in response to challenges such as public health emergencies, humanitarian crises, and climate change, and addresses emerging risks and threats that jeopardize us collectively.

For as long as there is no credible alternative to the United Nations and multilateral institutions, we must persevere in making these institutions work. The Philippines has consistently endeavored to make multilateralism more constructive, inclusive, and equitable. Recognizing diversity of perspectives, we advocate for the engagement of a broader array of actors, allowing for a greater sense of ownership and resilience.

Let me recall how President Marcos enunciated this view succinctly in New York last year, where he said before the UN General Assembly, that (and I quote) "an open, inclusive and rules-based international order that is governed by international law and informed by the principles of equity and justice is an important ballast that stabilizes our common vessel amidst changing global tides." (End of quote).

The Philippines has played a bridging and moderating role in many multilateral settings where polarities threaten consensus. We will continue to play this role, as it aligns with our overarching objective of fostering international cooperation.

Ladies and gentlemen,

During the visit of President Marcos to Japan, he and Prime Minister Kishida Fumio committed to "working towards a transformative and forward-looking partnership that will keep responding to contemporary needs and scoring practical successes."

Such a partnership implies a shared vision, and necessitates a far-seeing approach. This entails refocusing traditional cooperation and fostering novel avenues of collaboration.

Amidst the changes we are seeing now and the immediate challenges before us, both the Philippines and Japan maintain a clear-eyed vision of a peaceful, stable, and prosperous world.

This clarity gathers the Philippines and Japan, within the ambit of our Strategic Partnership, around advocating for the rights of all nations, big and small; promoting the peaceful settlement of disputes; fostering dialogue and cooperation on non-proliferation and disarmament; and ensuring a free and open Indo-Pacific.

Preserving the rules-based order requires concerted efforts on multiple fronts. It means strengthening international institutions to effectively address emerging challenges. It means reforming these institutions to reflect the evolving geopolitical landscape and ensure their continued relevance for global governance. It means fashioning a more inclusive and representative international order that promotes collaboration and respects the sovereignty of all nations. It means harnessing the power of bridge-builders and middle voices in regional and global fora to find common ground, and therefore, build mutual trust and find solutions.

The evolving complexities in the security challenges confronting the Indo-Pacific behoove us to invest all the more in dialogue and diplomacy. Through ASEAN-led mechanisms like the ASEAN Regional Forum and the East Asia Summit, the Philippines and Japan actively contribute to the promotion of regional peace and security. We also engage vitally within the multi-faceted Dialogue Relations between ASEAN and Japan.

Directions of the Strategic Partnership

Our recent engagements, including the meetings between President Marcos and Prime Minister Kishida last September in the UN and in February here in Tokyo, as well as the exchange of visits by Japanese Ministers and Filipino parliamentarians last month accelerated the highly-positive trajectory of our relationship. Our economic partnership provides the basis for pursuing new domains of cooperation that will bring more meaningful dividends to our societies.

And we are on the path already: as we advance cooperation in infrastructure, green energy, making institutions capable and our communities connected, resilient, and confident about the future.

We have never been more convinced as now that our stronger security cooperation will allow our peoples to live in greater peace. We are driven by the same faith in rules and commitment to multilateralism. For example, our cooperation in the Non-Proliferation and Disarmament Initiative, or NPDI, arising from our shared aversion to nuclear weapons, is more salient now that nuclear proliferation looms large in the horizon.

Yesterday, I attended an informal meeting where nuclear risks were discussed. The Philippines is working with Japan on this subject in regional and global fora.

In this context, our bilateral ties in the coming years will be acquiring stronger contours across the many sectors including in the following areas, in tune with our respective priorities:

(1) economic security and resilience through cooperation in critical infrastructure, advanced technologies, and climate-smart, sustainable and inclusive growth;

(2) more robust people-to-people connections;

(3) a stronger focus on humanitarian assistance and disaster response as well as marine environmental protection, maritime domain awareness and maritime law enforcement, to implement the 1982 UNCLOS, and,

(4) new workstreams in cyber-cooperation including connectivity and cyber-security, and, space cooperation, including space domain awareness.

Let me emphasize that maritime cooperation will always be a key feature of Philippines-Japan ties. Being island states binds us in the common objective of keeping the seas of the Indo Pacific safe, secure and peaceful.

The Philippines has consistently emphasized its commitment to maintaining the West Philippine Sea/South China Sea as a region of peace and stability. We recognize not only the strategic significance of the West Philippine Sea/South China Sea: the sea is the lifeblood to millions of Filipinos. As a nation situated in the heart of this seascape, the Philippines understands that protecting its rights in its Exclusive Economic Zone or EEZ and ensuring unimpeded access is vital for safeguarding the livelihoods of our fisherfolk and preserving the marine resources for future generations.

The President has unequivocally stated the country's commitment to upholding sovereignty, sovereign rights, and jurisdiction in the West Philippine Sea, and it will continue to pursue peaceful and legal means in order to assert these rights.

The 2016 Arbitral Award on the South China Sea and UNCLOS provide a solid foundation for the peaceful resolution of disputes and the establishment of a regime in the South China Sea that promotes cooperation among all parties involved.

To achieve a peaceful and UNCLOS-based regime, sincere dialogue among all claimants is crucial, both bilaterally and through discussions between ASEAN and China on a code of conduct. The Philippines advocates for an effective and substantive code of conduct that adheres to UNCLOS and takes into account the interests of all stakeholders, even extending beyond ASEAN and China.

To realize these objectives, all parties involved must demonstrate utmost commitment to engaging in dialogue and diplomacy as the primary means of addressing disputes and finding mutually acceptable solutions.

Nevertheless, repeated infringements on our sovereignty, sovereign rights and jurisdiction, and other destabilizing actions that go against international law, the 1982 UNCLOS, as well as the spirit and letter of the 2002 Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea, also necessitate the enhancement of our defense capabilities.

Concluding remarks

As I conclude my remarks this morning, let me underline that we need to continue to ensure that the regional security architecture maintains trust and confidence among parties, amidst the US-China rivalry and other geopolitical pressures. This regional architecture must empower diplomacy and the rule of law to prevail over any influence engaging in coercion, intimidation, the use and threat of use of force in violation of the UN Charter.

The Philippines and Japan share a commonality which no other nation in Asia possesses, with the exception of South Korea - our treaty alliance with the United States, our historic and important relationship with America stands alongside our huge economic relationship with China. Hence, our two nations must continue to engage both China and the United States constructively, and support calls for Beijing and Washington to responsibly manage their strategic rivalry.

Whilst every now and then, current and future challenges and transformations may make it seem that the relationship is treading on unfamiliar ground, the Philippines and Japan can always draw on the strength of our enduring values underpinning our Strategic partnership, and thus, chart a solid course towards mutual benefit, peace, and prosperity for our peoples in the years and decades to come.

Thank you.

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Islamic Jihad leader meets PFLP delegation in show of unity with Palestinian resistance after Israeli onslaught

Iran Press TV

Tuesday, 16 May 2023 7:22 PM

Secretary General of the Islamic Jihad movement Ziad al-Nakhala has met and conferred with the deputy secretary-general of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) in a show of unity with Palestinian resistance groups after the recent Israeli onslaught on the besieged Gaza Strip.

Nakhala, in the presence of leaders from the movement, received Jamil Muzher, who was accompanied by a leading delegation from the PFLP, on Tuesday.

The official website of the Islamic Jihad movement said the two sides reviewed the political and field situation during the Palestinian resistance groups' retaliatory operation  codenamed Revenge of the Free  after the Israeli aggression, expressing their high appreciation of the positions of the families of the martyrs and the role of the popular support in Gaza.

They also reviewed the field management of the battle, which foiled the objectives of the Zionist aggression.

The two sides underlined the continued functioning of the control and field command system and the effective targeting and direction of fire, despite the martyrdom of a few of the leaders of the al-Quds Brigades and its fighters, which forced the enemy to accept the condition of the resistance in pledging to stop targeting individuals, as well as civilians and residential buildings.

The participants affirmed the continuation of coordination and integration between Saraya al-Quds Brigades and the Martyr Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades as well as all the resistance factions, referring to the armed wings of the Islamic Jihad movement and PFLP, respectively.

During the meeting, they stressed on the importance of Palestinian national unity based on resistance.

Following the meeting, the PFLP released a video displaying fighters with the Martyr Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades side by side with those of Saraya al-Quds as well as footage of their joint response during the Revenge of the Free operation.

The Israeli regime launched a deadly bombing campaign on the Gaza Strip on May 9, sparking the firing of over 1,000 rockets by the Islamic Jihad toward the occupied territories.

The two sides agreed after five days of fighting to an Egyptian-brokered ceasefire that took effect on Saturday night.

Israeli aerial assaults killed at least 33 Palestinians in Gaza, including six children, and wounded 147, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.

Several Islamic Jihad leaders were also among the Palestinian martyrs of the latest conflict, which marked the worst episode of fighting between Gaza's resistance factions and Israel since a 10-day war in 2021.

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Lebanon's central bank governor calls French arrest warrant violation of law, vows to appeal

Iran Press TV

Tuesday, 16 May 2023 6:11 PM

Lebanon's Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh has slammed French prosecutors for issuing an arrest warrant against him, saying he would appeal against the decision.

Salameh made the remarks in a statement on Tuesday, after an international arrest warrant was issued earlier in the day following his failure to appear before French prosecutors to be questioned on corruption charges.

Salameh denounced as "a violation of law" the arrest warrant, vowing to challenge it by filing an appeal.

He also said the French investigative judge Aude Buresi has made a decision based on "presumptuous ideas," adding that "this is justice based on double standards."

Salameh, 72, was supposed to appear before French prosecutors on Tuesday as part of an ongoing European probe into the fortune he has amassed during three decades in the job.

A European judicial team from France, Germany and Luxembourg has been investigating a corruption probe into charges against Salameh and his associates, including illicit enrichment and laundering of $330 million.

Salameh has repeatedly denied the allegations.

Pierre-Olivier Sur, the French lawyer for Salameh, said French prosecutors didn't follow the rules upon summoning him to France.

"By having notified the summons less than 10 days before the scheduled date of the interrogation, the rules were not respected," he said, adding, "The summons is therefore null and void."

A senior judicial source also said Lebanon's judiciary was unable to deliver the summons to attend the Paris hearing as it was addressed to Salameh at the central bank and he was unavailable to receive it.

Salameh's whereabouts were not known Tuesday and the central bank did not immediately respond to requests for comment on his failure to show up in Paris.

The date for Tuesday's hearing was set last month and Lebanon lifted a travel ban on Salameh, who is also being investigated at home.

In the probe in Lebanon, Beirut's Public Prosecutor Raja Hamoush charged Salameh, his brother and a close associate with corruption in late February, including embezzling public funds, forgery, illicit enrichment, money-laundering and violation of tax laws.

Defense lawyers representing Salameh, his brother and his former assistant Marianne Hoayek have already submitted an objection to Lebanon's judiciary over the French case, saying France should not be allowed to try a case already being investigated in Lebanon.

Salameh's lawyers accuse the European investigators of "violating Lebanon's sovereignty" and want them to "permanently suspend" their investigation.

Salameh's term ends in July, and while there is no apparent successor, the longtime governor has said in television interviews that he plans to step down.

The governor of Lebanon's central bank holds French citizenship and such accusations could culminate in his arrest upon return to France.

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Biden's planned visit to Papua New Guinea fuels hope and criticism

The U.S. president and India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi will meet leaders of Pacific island countries

By Harlyne Joku for BenarNews 2023.05.16 -- U.S. President Joe Biden and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's upcoming visits to Papua New Guinea are provoking both excitement and skepticism in a Pacific island country that grapples with poverty, tribal conflicts and lack of infrastructure.

From hopes of support for Papuans who want independence from Indonesia - which has a long border with Papua New Guinea - to warnings about global conflict, the most populous Pacific island country is bubbling with opinions about the merits of the visits, particularly Biden's.

The American president is expected to briefly stop over in the capital Port Moresby on Monday before heading to Sydney for a meeting with the leaders of Australia, Japan and India. Modi will be visiting Port Moresby for a summit with leaders of Pacific island countries, who Biden also will meet.

Papua New Guinea's Prime Minister James Marape last week quixotically cautioned his fellow citizens to be cautious when commenting about the visits and to "refrain from unnecessary inferences, especially on matters that you know little of, such as global geopolitics and various other issues."

Biden, leader of a country that is the world's largest economy and a nuclear-armed superpower, met Pacific island leaders in Washington in September last year. That summit was meant to highlight renewed U.S. participation in the Pacific where China has made inroads over several decades. His visit to Papua New Guinea is meant to underscore that commitment, analysts say.

Cameron, a high school student in Port Moresby who only gave his first name, said he wanted to know what benefits Biden's visit would bring to Papua New Guinea.

"We are honored and happy that U.S. President Biden is coming to PNG, but we do not know of his intentions," he said. "He must make it clear to us ordinary Papua New Guineans."

Biden's visit, according to Vincent Manukayasi, an activist with civil society group PNG Trust, is an opportune time to address the plight of Papuans who live on the western half of New Guinea island under Indonesian rule.

"Biden has to be told about what is happening," he said.

Indonesia took control of the territory from the Dutch in the early 1960s and its rule was cemented by a referendum in 1969 in which little more than 1,000 Papuans were allowed to participate.

The actions of Indonesia's government and military in West Papua are a "genocidal attempt by Jakarta to remove the Melanesian race," said Manukayasi, referring to the frequent reports of human rights abuses.

Most countries including the United States and Papua New Guinea recognize Indonesia's sovereignty over its Papuan region. However some Pacific island countries including Melanesian nations such as Vanuatu are staunch supporters of self determination for Papuans under Indonesian rule.

The brevity of Biden's planned visit - reported by Papua New Guinea's media to be three hours - has drawn unfavorable comparisons with Chinese President Xi Jinping's stay in the Pacific country in November 2018, when it hosted the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation leaders summit.

The United States sent then Vice President Mike Pence to the summit, but he and his delegation based themselves in northern Australia rather than Port Moresby.

"China was genuine. President Xi Jinping was here on the ground," businessman Justin Parker said in the WhatsApp group for PNG ThinkTank, an online forum. "He showed genuine development partnership with PNG."

Biden's visit, said Parker, "is nothing but for [the] U.S. own security interest."

Others said Papua New Guinea should be pragmatic and try to benefit from the China-U.S. rivalry in the Pacific.

"What we can do is to take advantage of this short visit, riding on our 'friends to all, enemies to none' foreign policy stance to leverage the best outcome for the country," said Anton Sekum the acting general secretary of the PNG Trade Union Congress.

"If the U.S. or any other country thinks there are opportunities here their country can benefit from, they must come prepared with a clean deal for our people's benefit too," he said.

Kini, who sells betelnut, a mild stimulant, from a makeshift stall in Port Moresby, said he would like to greet Biden in person.

"When he comes we will respect him and he too must respect and help us," he said.

BenarNews is an RFA-affiliated news service.

Copyright 1998-2023, RFA. Used with the permission of Radio Free Asia, 2025 M St. NW, Suite 300, Washington DC 20036. For any commercial use of RFA content please send an email to: mahajanr@rfa.org. RFA content May not be used in a manner which would give the appearance of any endorsement of any product or support of any issue or political position. Please read the full text of our Terms of Use.

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Philippines: 'Stronger security cooperation' with Japan essential for regional peace

Foreign Secretary Enrique Manalo says both countries believe in rules-based resolution of disputes.

By Camille Elemia for BenarNews 2023.05.16 -- The top Filipino diplomat said Tuesday that stronger security ties with Japan were essential for peace in the Asia-Pacific region, as he advocated for enhancing Philippine defenses because of "repeated infringements on our sovereignty."

The comments in Tokyo by Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo underlined the security challenges that both nations face from China - Tokyo and Manila are embroiled in maritime disputes with Beijing over the South and East China seas, respectively.

"We have never been more convinced as now that our stronger security cooperation will allow our peoples to live in greater peace," Manalo said during a policy speech at the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies.

"We are driven by the same faith in rules and commitment to multilateralism," he added, according to a copy of his speech obtained by reporters in Manila.

Manalo was in Tokyo for the Munich Leaders Meeting, which ended on Tuesday.

In the coming years Philippine-Japanese ties would focus on maritime security, particularly on domain awareness and law enforcement to implement the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), he said.

While the Philippines has had conflicts with China in the South China Sea, Japan has had its own territorial disputes with the Asian superpower over the Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea.

Manalo said that while dialogue and diplomacy should be the primary means to address disputes, "repeated infringements on our sovereignty, sovereign rights and jurisdiction ... also necessitate the enhancement of our defense capabilities."

"Let me emphasize that maritime cooperation will always be a key feature of Philippines-Japan ties. Being island-states binds us in the common objective of keeping the seas of the Indo Pacific safe, secure and peaceful," Manalo said.

Manalo also urged further discussion between the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and China on a code of conduct for the South China Sea.

"To achieve a peaceful and UNCLOS-based regime, sincere dialogue among all claimants is crucial, both bilaterally and through discussions between ASEAN and China on a code of conduct," Manalo said.

"The Philippines advocates for an effective and substantive code of conduct that adheres to UNCLOS and takes into account the interests of all stakeholders, even extending beyond ASEAN and China."

In July 2016, the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague ruled in favor of the Philippines, and threw out China's expansive claims in the South China Sea, particularly the waters within Manila's exclusive economic zone.

China, however, ignored the landmark ruling and has carried on with its military expansionism in the strategic waterway, including building artificial islands.

During Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.'s official visit to Japan in February, he and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida agreed to "increase the defense capabilities of their respective countries, and further strengthen overall security cooperation."

The two sides agreed to increase bilateral communications between their defense and military officials "in light of the very challenging regional security environment."

BenarNews is an RFA-affiliated new service.

Copyright 1998-2023, RFA. Used with the permission of Radio Free Asia, 2025 M St. NW, Suite 300, Washington DC 20036. For any commercial use of RFA content please send an email to: mahajanr@rfa.org. RFA content May not be used in a manner which would give the appearance of any endorsement of any product or support of any issue or political position. Please read the full text of our Terms of Use.

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Thai opposition pulls off a rout, but the loser may take all

Move Forward and Pheu Thai came out on top in the May 14 vote but face a steep climb to the summit.

A commentary by Zachary Abuza 2023.05.16 -- The Thai people's rejection of military-backed rule could not have been louder. The opposition scored an absolute rout in Sunday's general election, with Move Forward unofficially winning 152 parliamentary seats and Pheu Thai claiming 141 seats.

The incumbents were totally humiliated. The two parties attached to the current government and led by the men who staged the 2014 coup, Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha of the United Thai Nation Party (UTN) and Prawit Wongsuwan of the Palang Pracharath Party (PPP), only garnered 76 out of 500 seats in Parliament's lower house.

To put it into perspective, when people were given the choice to vote for only a party, nearly 70% of the electorate chose opposition parties. Only 1% chose the incumbent PPP while 13% selected Prayuth's party.

Prawit himself was only elected from the party list, not directly elected. This was as thorough a rejection of the military-involvement in politics as you could have.

Move Forward stole the show, poaching supporters from Pheu Thai, which underperformed even in its stronghold in the north. Move Forward thoroughly dominated Bangkok, winning 32 of 33 seats. In a year of anti-incumbency and a desire for real change, Pheu Thai was seen as being too status quo with not enough progressive economic policies.

Other parties had mixed performances.

The Democrat Party, Southeast Asia's oldest political party, has never recovered from its endorsement of the 2006 coup and working relationship with the military since. Party leader Jurin Laksanawisit resigned to take responsibility for the party's poor showing.

Bhumjaithai did well in voting for directly elected seats, especially in its stronghold, but got crushed on so-called party-list ballots. In other words, local politicians have their bases of support, but there is less support for the party and its policies.

What next?

If Thailand had a normal Westminster-style parliamentary system, Move Forward's Pita Limjaroenrat would be given the opportunity to form a coalition government.

He vowed to do just that with Pheu Thai as he announced efforts to build a six-party coalition.

But Thailand isn't a normal Westminster system. Remember, Pheu Thai received a plurality of the vote in 2019, but didn't get a chance to form a government, either.

As part of the military's attempt to stave off opposition rule, the 250 members of the military-appointed Senate get to vote for the prime minister.

That body includes the six top military leaders, and one-third of Senators are uniformed military - i.e. they are still under the chain of command, regardless of Senate rules that say they can vote as individuals.

The civilians are a mix of retired military officers and ultra-royalists, who have already stated their reservations about Pita and Move Forward. Sen. Kittisak Rattanawaraha, for example, insinuated that Pita has not demonstrated sufficient loyalty to the royal institution to become prime minister.

As such, an opposition-led coalition needs 376 lower house seats to overcome a Senate veto.

Pita contends that in the face of an overwhelming mandate, the Senate would have to endorse the popular will.

That is naive. The Senate was created and appointed to do one thing: maintain a conservative-royalist hold on politics. While a handful of Senators have indicated they will endorse the elected parties, it is unlikely that the overwhelming majority will do so.

Why would the elites backing the military and monarchy unilaterally give up the Senate's role in selecting the prime minister when doing so would hand the government over to the opposition, one of whose parties is in favor of significant reforms to the monarchy, including amending Article 112 (Lese-Majeste)?

Why would the Senate endorse a party that seeks to amend the military-drafted constitution of 2017? Why would the military allow a party that plans to abolish conscription to rule?

For those elites, democracy is an existential threat, as it's a gateway to republicanism. They are not going to unilaterally cede the tools they have wielded to consolidate power.

Could Pita be disqualified?

Pita and other leaders of Move Forward have a swath of existing legal cases against them. Any one of them could be disqualified by the Election Commission, which is not an independent body. Indeed, the party itself could be dissolved, as a PPP legislator asked a court to do last week. Any citizen can file Lese-Majeste charges.

Recall that courts dissolved the opposition Future Forward Party after its electoral win in 2019, and stripped its leader, Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit, of his parliamentary seat, before hounding him with a myriad of lawsuits.

The Election Commission (EC) has 60 days to conduct investigations and potentially disqualify elected MPs and/or dissolve parties if they find significant problems. The EC and courts have never dissolved a pro-military party despite irregularities and criminal behavior.

The EC will leave no stone unturned. Sadly, the EC, which deserves credit for its competent running of elections, is also a tool that can be used to undermine those very elections.

In short, hopes of an opposition-led government are based on the assumption that the military, the Senate, and the Election Commission are good-faith actors who will endorse the parties with a popular mandate, and not protect their vested interests.

So is there a pathway forward for the opposition to form a government? That gets trickier.

Pita has steadfastly refused to form a government with any party tied to the military or the 2014 coup.

His coalition could try to woo Bhumjaithai, with its 70 seats. Its leader, Anutin Charnvirakul, had previously been a member of Pheu Thai and the party, the third largest, has some crossover appeal.

But Anutin would reject Move Forward's policies on monarchy reform, and it's unclear whether Pita would make such a compromise on a core issue so soon.

It's also hard to see the royalist elites not pressuring Anutin to turn down such an offer, and sweetening the deal should he join a conservative coalition. Regardless, Bhumjaithai is the kingmaker party in this election.

In sum, it was a rout in terms of the popular vote; but that won't necessarily translate into a governing coalition. A conservative coalition between Bhumjaithai, the PPP, United Thai Nation Party, and the Democrat Party is far more likely to form a government with overwhelming Senate backing is a real possibility, and one that would lead to massive street protests.

A conservative coalition between Bhumjaithai, the PPP, United Thai Nation Party, and the Democrat Party is far more likely to form a government with full Senate backing.

While the opposition won big, in Thai politics often it's loser takes all.

Zachary Abuza is a professor at the National War College in Washington and an adjunct at Georgetown University. The views expressed here are his own and do not reflect the position of the U.S. Department of Defense, the National War College, Georgetown University or Radio Free Asia.

Copyright 1998-2023, RFA. Used with the permission of Radio Free Asia, 2025 M St. NW, Suite 300, Washington DC 20036. For any commercial use of RFA content please send an email to: mahajanr@rfa.org. RFA content May not be used in a manner which would give the appearance of any endorsement of any product or support of any issue or political position. Please read the full text of our Terms of Use.

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Regionally-led solutions are the most effective way to create lasting peace and stability in the Sahel: UK statement at the Security Council

Statement by Ambassador James Kariuki at the UN Security Council meeting on the Sahel.

16 May 2023



Thank you, President, and I thank ASG Pobee, Executive Secretary Tiare and Ms Diouf for their briefings.

President, the Sahel is in crisis: escalating violence at the hands of extremist groups; democratic governance and human rights under threat; and vast humanitarian needs and food insecurity, all exacerbated by climate change and Russia's war in Ukraine.

These challenges need to be tackled by the countries of the Sahel, supported by international partners, through a determined show of political will, commitment to human rights and regional cooperation. The United Kingdom remains committed to supporting the Sahel and its people. We contributed around $284 million to the region last year.

President, I want to set out three priorities for the coming period.

First, with three regional states in the midst of political transitions, the continued leadership of ECOWAS and the African Union is vital. We urge the Burkinabe, Chadian and Malian authorities to adhere to agreed election timetables.

Second, counter-terrorism operations must respect human rights and international humanitarian law. To do otherwise risks aggravating grievances, undermining trust with local communities, and driving recruitment to terrorist groups.

We welcome the G5 Sahel's reaffirmed commitment to the Compliance Framework under its new structures, and ongoing work with OHCHR. We continue to urge further progress towards implementation of human rights due diligence mitigation measures, as recommended by MINUSMA.

At the same time, we are deeply concerned by the disturbing findings in last week's OHCHR report on the massacre of hundreds of people in Moura, Mali by Malian security forces and the Russian-backed Wagner Group. As High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk has said, such cases of summary executions, rape and torture amount to war crimes. We fully support MINUSMA's role in investigating and reporting on human rights violations and abuses, and we urge the Malian authorities to strengthen their cooperation with the UN and to respect MINUSMA's freedom of movement.

New reports of around 150 civilian fatalities, including 45 children, following an attack by armed forces in the village of Karma, Burkina Faso on 20 April are also deeply disturbing. We urge all states in the region to fully respect their obligations under international law.

Third, we agree with the Secretary-General's message in his report that regionally-led solutions are the most effective way to create lasting peace and stability. The Accra Initiative is a promising example, and we look forward to supporting its members' efforts. We hope the forthcoming report of the High-Level Panel on Security and Development will bring greater coherence between different initiatives in the Sahel.

Thank you.

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USS Arleigh Burke (DDG 51) Arrives in Limassol, Cyprus

US Navy

16 May 2023

From Ens. Benjamin Cusimano, USS Arleigh Burke Public Affairs

LIMASSOL, Cyprus -- The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Arleigh Burke (DDG 51) arrived in Limassol, Cyprus for a scheduled port visit, May 16, 2023.

Cyprus is an important regional partner. Strengthening partnerships during the port visit builds enduring relationships and demonstrates a common commitment to ensuring maritime security and regional stability, which is shared across all regional allies and partners.

During the port visit, Arleigh Burke Sailors will have the opportunity to explore the local area, visit cultural heritage sites, and interact with the people of Cyprus.

"We're thrilled to visit Cyprus," said Cmdr. Pete Flynn, commanding officer of Arleigh Burke. "This is an important stop in the strategically important Eastern Mediterranean. The incredible natural beauty, warm reception, and fascinating history make this a visit we will not soon forget."

The ship's port visit follows its recent northbound transit through the Suez Canal, following operations in the U.S. Fifth Fleet area of operations.

"I could not be prouder of our crew for their resiliency, positivity and ability to adapt to changing requirements to achieve mission success not only in 6th Fleet but now in the 5th Fleet AOR," said Command Master Chief (CMDCM) Rafael Barney. "Needless to say, our port visit is very well deserved, and it gives us a chance to perform some moral maintenance."

Arleigh Burke is on its third patrol in the U.S. Naval Forces Europe-Africa (NAVEUR-NAVAF) area of operations as a member of the Forward Deployed Naval Forces-Europe (FDNF-E). The ship began patrol on Feb. 2, 2023, departing from its homeport of Naval Station Rota, Spain, and has operated in the Baltic Sea, North Sea, Arctic Circle, Eastern Atlantic Ocean, Mediterranean Sea, and Red Sea.

FDNF-E destroyers routinely operate throughout the waters of Europe and Africa, from the Cape of Good Hope to the Arctic Circle, demonstrating their mastery of the maritime domain. Arleigh Burke is one of four U.S. Navy destroyers based at Naval Station Rota, Spain, and assigned to Commander, Task Force 65 in support of NATO's Integrated Air Missile Defense architecture.

For over 80 years, U.S. Naval Forces Europe-U.S. Naval Forces Africa (NAVEUR-NAVAF) has forged strategic relationships with our allies and partners, leveraging a foundation of shared values to preserve security and stability.

Headquartered in Naples, Italy, NAVEUR-NAVAF operates U.S. naval forces in the U.S. European Command (USEUCOM) and U.S. Africa Command (USAFRICOM) areas of responsibility. U.S. Sixth Fleet is permanently assigned to NAVEUR-NAVAF and employs maritime forces through the full spectrum of joint and naval operations.

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India China Military Standoff Enters Fourth Year Without Sign of Thaw

By Anjana Pasricha May 16, 2023

A military standoff between India and China has entered its fourth year, but despite talks between their senior ministers and military commanders, there is no sign of a resolution to the dispute that has brought ties to their lowest point in six decades.

Analysts say the volatility along their 3,500-kilometer-long disputed boundary appears to be widening as a new flashpoint has emerged.

In December last year, soldiers from both sides scuffled in India's northeastern state of Arunachal Pradesh - a territory also claimed by China. The region is thousands of kilometers away from Ladakh in the western Himalayan region where deadly clashes in 2020 triggered the present standoff.

Last month China renamed 11 places in Chinese in Arunachal Pradesh which it refers to as South Tibet - it is the third time in six years that it issued new names for mountains, rivers and other points in the territory.

While India rejected the move, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson, Mao Ning defended it saying that Zangram (Arunachal Pradesh) is part of China and naming places in the territory "was completely within the scope of China's sovereignty."

It's a tactic China has used in other parts of Asia to bolster its claim on disputed territories - it has also renamed locations in South China Sea and East China Sea.

In New Delhi, analysts saw it as another attempt by Beijing to coerce India. "Now with China taking a much more aggressive stand on Arunachal, there are concerns that China wants to put multiple pressure points on India if only to push India to resolving some parts of this dispute," according to Harsh Pant, Vice president, Studies and Foreign Policy at the Observer Research Foundation in New Delhi.

Concerned at the rapid pace with which China has developed both military and civilian infrastructure in its border areas, New Delhi is also building tunnels, roads and bridges in the state.

One of the key projects is cutting a tunnel through the mountains at an elevation of nearly 4000 meters in Arunachal Pradesh to facilitate troop movement to the border areas.

Indian Home Minister Amit Shah last month also unveiled a $570 million program to develop nearly 3,000 border villages in the northeast during a visit to Arunachal Pradesh. The project aims to beef up border security.

In New Delhi, there have been concerns about China developing border villages on its side of the border.

"As regards to these  what they (China) call "Xiaokang" villages or model villages that the Chinese are saying, there are a couple of them which are right opposite our borders," Brigadier N.M. Bendigeri told news agency AFP. "It concerns us because of its closeness to the border areas and the way it has been constructed, we can't rule out them being used by the PLA (People's Liberation Army)."

"Our policy is clear that we want peace from everyone. However, no one will be able to encroach even one inch of our land," Shah said in April.

India has also accelerated a program to modernize its armed forces  including ordering attack helicopters from the United States and a missile defense system from Russia.

Analysts say China holds a significant military advantage over India, but Indian troops, who have long confronted Pakistani troops in Kashmir, are more experienced in high altitude warfare. "China has the edge in high technology warfare. It can field more weapons such as drones and surface to surface missiles. While we are trying to catch up, it will still be a long haul for India to match their capabilities," says a retired senior military officer who did not want to be named.

High-level political and military dialogues have failed to achieve a breakthrough as both countries have adopted diametrically different positions in their approach to resolve the conflict. India insists that Chinese troops should return to positions which they occupied prior to 2020 when the crisis erupted. Beijing on the other hand describes the situation on the border as "generally stable" and says both sides should move ahead to normalize ties.

That is why, say analysts, the Indian and Chinese defense ministers could not find common ground when they met on the sidelines of a regional forum recently.

Indian defense minister, Rajnath Singh, accused Beijing of eroding the entire basis of ties by violating bilateral agreements and said there could be no improvement in ties until the border row is resolved. His Chinese counterpart, Li Shangfu, called on India to take a long-term view and "promote the normalization of the border situation as soon as possible."

"From New Delhi's perspective, there is no sense it is getting about China really sincerely looking at this as a problem for Sino-Indian relations. With China unilaterally deciding to change the status quo along the border and then claiming that is the new normal, I don't think India will accept this," points out Pant. "That is why while negotiations at the military and diplomatic levels continue, the broader relationship continues to be in a lock jam, with India putting the onus on China to take it forward."

Following multiple rounds of negotiations between their military commanders, troops have disengaged from four disputed points over the last two years.

But even that adds up to very limited progress. "Even there the disengagement has not really resulted in any demobilization of forces. They just have just taken a step back and created a buffer zone," says Pant.

The volatility in the Himalayas is drawing India into a closer strategic alliance with the United States. Next month, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will head to Washington for an official visit that India's foreign ministry said will underscore the growing importance of the strategic partnership between the two countries.

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WFP calls on G7 to keep focus on hunger as crises in Sudan, Haiti and Sahel add to global food crisis

World Food Programme

16 May 2023

ROME -- The G7's strong commitment to global food security in 2022 must be maintained in 2023 as new crises in Sudan, Haiti and the Sahel push more people into hunger, the UN World Food Programme said today, just days before G7 leaders were due to meet in Japan.

Some 345 million people are currently facing high levels of food insecurity, according to WFP analysis, an increase of almost 200 million since early 2020. Of these, 43 million are just one step away from famine. Meanwhile, WFP has recently been forced to cut food rations in operations in Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Palestine as needs outpace available funding. More cuts are looming in Somalia and Chad.

"Last year, G7 leadership achieved life-saving results in the fight against hunger. Millions of people received much needed support and countries like Somalia were pulled back from the brink of famine. Unfortunately, the global food crisis hasn't gone away. And situations like Sudan and Haiti are adding fuel to the fire," said WFP Executive Director Cindy McCain.

Fighting in Sudan has displaced hundreds of thousands of people and pushed millions into hunger. WFP estimates that between 2 and 2.5 million additional people will become acutely food insecure in coming months as a direct result of ongoing fighting, taking the total in the country to a record 19 million.

In Haiti, hunger is tightening its grip as insecurity, violence and deepening economic woes drive food insecure Haitians further into crisis. A record 4.9 million people in the country are estimated to be facing acute hunger, around 45% of the population. Similarly, in the Sahel region of Africa, new outbreaks of violence in places such as Burkina Faso are driving hunger among fleeing populations as well as those whose lives and livelihoods have been upended by conflict.

WFP calls on G7 countries, all of whom increased funding in 2022, to continue funding food assistance for the hundreds of millions of people affected by the global food crisis and the millions new to hunger since last year. It is also calling for political support for other actions which would help ease the crisis These include working for the continuation of the Black Sea Grain Initiative, ensuring adequate supplies of fertilizer and supporting programmes to increase smallholder farmers' production.

Longer term requests centre on the need to make vulnerable populations more resilient. They include a renewed focus on social protection for communities at risk and ensuring every child in need receives a nutritious meal in school daily.

"We need to step-up assistance, especially when it comes to making our food systems more resilient," said McCain. "If we can prepare at-risk communities to handle future climate shocks, they won't need emergency support the next time there's a drought or flood."

In 2022, Niger faced its worst food security crisis in a decade. Some of the most impacted areas were areas where WFP had had resilience programs. As a result, the vast majority - 80% of villages located in highly affected areas - did not require humanitarian assistance.

At the G7 summit in Germany last year, leaders vowed to "spare no effort to increase global food and nutrition security" and to protect the most vulnerable. They also committed to strengthen the long-term resilience of agriculture and food systems so that poor countries would be less vulnerable in the future.

Conflict remains one of the main drivers of global hunger. Events in Sudan are just the latest example of how food insecurity rises when guns come out. WFP asks G7 countries to "work toward political solutions to protracted crises where conflict is the primary driver of hunger."

# # #

The United Nations World Food Programme is the world's largest humanitarian organization, saving lives in emergencies and using food assistance to build a pathway to peace, stability and prosperity for people recovering from conflict, disasters and the impact of climate change.

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Russian National Charged with Ransomware Attacks Against Critical Infrastructure

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Tuesday, May 16, 2023

Ransomware Attacks Against Law Enforcement Agencies in Washington, D.C. and New Jersey, As Well As Other Victims Worldwide; U.S. Department of State Offers Reward Up to $10M

The Justice Department today unsealed two indictments charging a Russian national and resident with using three different ransomware variants to attack numerous victims throughout the United States, including law enforcement agencies in Washington, D.C. and New Jersey, as well as victims in healthcare and other sectors nationwide.

According to the indictment obtained in the District of New Jersey, from at least as early as 2020, Mikhail Pavlovich Matveev, aka Wazawaka, aka m1x, aka Boriselcin, aka Uhodiransomwar, allegedly participated in conspiracies to deploy three ransomware variants. These variants are known as LockBit, Babuk, and Hive, and Matveev transmitted ransom demands in connection with each. The perpetrators behind each of these variants, including Matveev, have allegedly used these types of ransomware to attack thousands of victims in the United States and around the world. These victims include law enforcement and other government agencies, hospitals, and schools. Total ransom demands allegedly made by the members of these three global ransomware campaigns to their victims amount to as much as $400 million, while total victim ransom payments amount to as much as $200 million.

"From his home base in Russia, Matveev allegedly used multiple ransomware variants to attack critical infrastructure around the world, including hospitals, government agencies, and victims in other sectors," said Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite, Jr. of the Justice Department's Criminal Division. "These international crimes demand a coordinated response. We will not relent in imposing consequences on the most egregious actors in the cybercrime ecosystem."

On or about June 25, 2020, Matveev and his LockBit coconspirators allegedly deployed LockBit ransomware against a law enforcement agency in Passaic County, New Jersey. Additionally, on or about May 27, 2022, Matveev and his Hive coconspirators allegedly deployed Hive against a nonprofit behavioral healthcare organization headquartered in Mercer County, New Jersey. On April 26, 2021, Matveev and his Babuk coconspirators allegedly deployed Babuk against the Metropolitan Police Department in Washington, D.C.

"From Russia and hiding behind multiple aliases, Matveev is alleged to have used these ransomware strains to encrypt and hold hostage for ransom the data of numerous victims, including hospitals, schools, nonprofits, and law enforcement agencies, like the Metropolitan Police Department in Washington, D.C.," said U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger for the District of New Jersey. "Thanks to the extraordinary investigative work of prosecutors from my office and our FBI partners, Matveev no longer hides in the shadows - we have publicly identified his criminal acts and charged him with multiple federal crimes. Let today's charges be a reminder to cybercriminals everywhere - my office is devoted to combatting cybercrime and will spare no resources in bringing to justice those who use ransomware attacks to target victims."

According to the indictment obtained in the District of Columbia, between April 21, 2021, and May 9, 2021, Matveev allegedly participated in conspiracies to deploy Babuk and to transmit a ransom demand. Specifically, on April 26, 2021, Matveev and his Babuk co-conspirators allegedly deployed Babuk ransomware against the Metropolitan Police Department in Washington, D.C., and then threatened to disclose sensitive information to the public unless a payment was made.

"Data theft and extortion attempts by ransomware groups are corrosive, cynical attacks on key institutions and the good people behind them as they go about their business and serve the public," said U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves for the District of Columbia. "Whether these criminals target law enforcement, other government agencies, or private companies like health care providers, we will use every tool at our disposal to prosecute and punish such offenses. Thanks to exceptional work by our partners here, we identified and charged this culprit."

"The FBI is steadfast in our commitment to disrupting cybercriminals like Matveev," said Assistant Director Bryan Vorndran of the FBI's Cyber Division. "The FBI will continue to impose costs on cyber adversaries through our joint collaboration with our private sector and international partners, and we will not tolerate these criminal acts against American citizens."

The LockBit ransomware variant first appeared around January 2020. LockBit actors have executed over 1,400 attacks against victims in the United States and around the world, issuing over $100 million in ransom demands and receiving over $75 million in ransom payments.

The Babuk ransomware variant first appeared around December 2020. Babuk actors executed over 65 attacks against victims in the United States and around the world, issuing over $49 million in ransom demands and receiving as much as $13 million in ransom payments.

Since June 2021, the Hive ransomware group has targeted more than 1,400 victims around the world and received as much as $120 million in ransom payments.

The LockBit, Babuk, and Hive ransomware variants operated in the same general manner: first, the ransomware actors would identify and unlawfully access vulnerable computer systems, sometimes through their own hacking, or by purchasing stolen access credentials from others. Second, the actors would deploy the ransomware variant within the victim computer system, allowing the actors to encrypt and steal data thereon. Next, the actors would send a ransom note to the victim demanding a payment in exchange for decrypting the victim's data or refraining from sharing it publicly. Finally, the ransomware actors would negotiate a ransom amount with each victim willing to pay. If a victim did not pay, ransomware actors would often post that victim's data on a public website, often called a data leak site.

Matveev is charged with conspiring to transmit ransom demands, conspiring to damage protected computers, and intentionally damaging protected computers. If convicted, he faces over 20 years in prison.

The FBI Newark Field Office's Cyber Crimes Task Force is investigating the case with valuable assistance from the Jersey City Police Department, New Jersey State Police, Newark IRS Criminal Investigation, and international partners from European Cyber Crime Centre of Europol, National Police Agency of Japan, Gendarmerie Nationale Cyberspace Command of France, National Crime Agency and South West Regional Organized Crime Unit of the United Kingdom, Kantonspolizei ZArich of Switzerland, High-Tech Crime Unit of the Dutch Police Services Agency of the Netherlands, Bundeskriminalamt and Landeskriminalamt of Germany, Mossos d'Esquadra Police Department of Spain, Norwegian Police Service of Norway, and Swedish Police Authority of Sweden.

Trial Attorneys Jessica C. Peck, Benjamin Proctor, and Jorge Gonzalez of the Criminal Division's Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section (CCIPS); Assistant U.S. Attorneys Andrew M. Trombly and David E. Malagold for the District of New Jersey's Cybercrime Unit in Newark; and Assistant U.S. Attorney Elizabeth Aloi for the District of Columbia's Fraud, Public Corruption, and Civil Rights Section are prosecuting the case.

The FBI Tampa Field Office and Orlando Resident Agency, along with Assistant U.S. Attorney Chauncey Bratt for the Middle District of Florida and CCIPS Trial Attorneys Christen Gallagher and Alison Zitron, made critical contributions to the case. The FBI Washington Field Office and Metropolitan Police Department also provided valuable assistance.

The Justice Department's Office of International Affairs and National Security Division also provided significant assistance.

Victims of LockBit, Babuk, or Hive ransomware should contact their local FBI field office for further information. For additional information on ransomware, including the LockBit, Babuk, and Hive variants, please visit StopRansomware.gov.

Additionally, the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) today announced that it is designating the defendant for his role in launching ransomware attacks against U.S. law enforcement, businesses, and critical infrastructure.

Finally, the Department of State has also announced an award of up to $10 million for information that leads to the arrest and/or conviction of this defendant. Information that may be eligible for this award can be submitted at tips.fbi.gov or RewardsForJustice.net. Congress established the Transnational Organized Crime Rewards Program in 2013 to support law enforcement efforts to dismantle transnational criminal organizations and bring their leaders and members to justice. The Department of State's Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs manages the program in coordination with other U.S. federal agencies.

An indictment is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

Topic(s): Cybercrime

Component(s): Criminal Division

Criminal - Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section

Criminal - Office of International Affairs

Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)

National Security Division (NSD)

USAO - District of Columbia

USAO - Florida, Middle

USAO - New Jersey

Press Release Number: 23-559

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U.S. Charges Russian National In Ransomware Attacks On Law Enforcement Agencies, Hospitals

By RFE/RL May 16, 2023

The United States has charged a Russian national with multiple federal crimes related to ransomware attacks in the United States and around the world that netted tens of millions of dollars in ransom payments.

Two indictments unsealed in New Jersey and Washington charged Russian national Mikhail Matveyev with deploying three ransomware variants -- or "strains" -- that were used in numerous high-profile attacks dating back to 2020, the U.S. Justice Department said on May 16 in a news release.

The victims of the ransomware attacks included U.S. law enforcement and other government agencies, hospitals, and schools, the Justice Department said. Matveyev allegedly launched the attacks from his home in Russia, where he resides.

"From Russia and hiding behind multiple aliases, Matveyev is alleged to have used these ransomware strains to encrypt and hold hostage for ransom the data of numerous victims, including hospitals, schools, nonprofits, and law enforcement agencies, like the Metropolitan Police Department in Washington, D.C.," U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger for the District of New Jersey said in the news release.

According to the indictments, Matveyev and his co-conspirators in June 2020 deployed ransomware known as LockBit against a law enforcement agency in Passaic County, New Jersey. A nonprofit behavioral health-care organization based in Mercer County, New Jersey, was hit in May 2022 using a different ransomware variant known as Hive.

In April 2021, Matveyev and his co-conspirators are accused of launching an attack using a third variant known as Babuk against the Metropolitan Police Department in Washington. Matveyev and his Babuk co-conspirators allegedly then threatened to disclose sensitive information to the public unless a payment was made.

"The perpetrators behind each of these variants, including Matveyev, have allegedly used these types of ransomware to attack thousands of victims in the United States and around the world," the Justice Department said.

Total ransom demands allegedly amounted to as much as $400 million, while total ransom payments amounted to as much as $200 million, the Justice Department said.

All three ransomware variants worked in the same way. The attackers first gained access to a vulnerable computer system, sometimes through their own hacking. They then deployed the malware and used it to encrypt the victims' data, which the attackers would decrypt only if the victims paid the ransom.

The attackers would often threaten to post the victim's data on a public website if they refused to pay.

Matveyev is charged with conspiring to transmit ransom demands, conspiring to damage protected computers, and intentionally damaging protected computers. If captured and convicted, he faces over 20 years in prison, the department said.

The U.S. State Department has announced an award of up to $10 million for information that leads to the arrest and conviction of Matveyev.

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/united-states-russia- ransomware-charges-lockpit-babuk/32414421.html

Copyright (c) 2023. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.

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The Department of State Announces Reward Offer Against Russian Ransomware Actor

US Department of State

Press Statement

Matthew Miller, Department Spokesperson

May 16, 2023

The impacts of ransomware attacks are significant and far-reaching, with victims suffering loss and disclosure of sensitive information and disruption of critical services. Russia is a safe haven for cybercriminals, an environment in which ransomware actors are free to conduct malicious cyber operations against the United States and our partners and allies.

Today, the State Department is announcing a reward offer, under the Transnational Organized Crime Rewards Program (TOCRP), of up to $10 million, for information leading to the arrest and/or conviction of Russian national Mikhail Pavlovich Matveev for transnational organized crime. We are taking these actions Matveev for his role in ransomware incidents targeting U.S. law enforcement, businesses, and critical infrastructure around the world.

In conjunction with this action, the Department of Justice unsealed two indictments against Matveev in the District of Columbia and the District of New Jersey. The Treasury Department also imposed financial sanctions on Matveev.

*****

Any information in response to this reward offer should be directed to the FBI here . Treasury designated Matveev pursuant to Executive Order 13694 , as amended. For more information about this designation, please see the Department of the Treasury's press release. For more information on the Department of Justice actions please see their press release. For more information on Matveev, please visit the TOCRP page at state.gov.

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Units train to operate as one

16 May 2023

Exercise Viper Strike was held this month to enhance the ability of different units to work with each other in a combat environment.

Members of 6th Battalion, The Royal Australian Regiment (6RAR), took part in the exercise at Enoggera Close Training Area.

The combat team was based on Alpha Company 6RAR, supported by elements of 2nd Combat Engineer Regiment (2CER), 1st Military Police Battalion, 2nd Health Battalion, and 1st Battalion, Royal Australian Artillery.

The exercise was based on a mechanised infantry security operation with soldiers setting and reacting to ambushes, conducting security patrols, and dealing with sensitive population issues, including a mass grave scenario.

Second-in-Command of Alpha Company 6RAR, Captain Jose Carino, said the exercise enhanced soldiers' abilities to work with different units.

"Exercise Viper Strike 23 served as an excellent activity for the infantry platoons and enablers so we could operate in a combat team environment," Captain Carino said.

"It emphasised the importance of understanding the capabilities across the force and collaborating with other units to achieve training outcomes.

"These factors all help to set conditions for our soldiers to fight and succeed on operations."

The exercise featured an enemy platoon, which conducted ambushes and night probes, further testing the combat team's ability to operate under a persistent threat.

Officer Commanding Alpha Company 6RAR Major Nathan Dubbeld said training to defeat an enemy in difficult conditions was a great learning opportunity for the soldiers, and was a further demonstration of 6RAR's preparation for Exercise Talisman Sabre.

"To ensure the combat team is prepared for Talisman Sabre 23, and more importantly, is prepared for operational deployments, there is a need to train as a combined arms team," Major Dubbeld said.

"Simulating a realistic deployment and operation, the exercise focused on training to respond to a conventional threat during a transition from competition to conflict.

"This enabled the combat team to exercise a broader range of critical warfighting and specialist capabilities, ensuring that our soldiers improved their lethality and survivability."

Exercises such as Viper Strike test the soldiers' preparedness through several realistic scenarios, which ensure the 7th Brigade is ready to deploy at short notice.

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Chinese, Japanese defense chiefs talk through maritime and air liaison mechanism direct phone line for 1st time

Global Times

By Liu Xuanzun Published: May 16, 2023 09:23 PM

Chinese and Japanese defense chiefs on Tuesday talked through the newly established maritime and air liaison mechanism direct phone line for the first time.

Analysts said that the move will help maintain regional stability and avoid crisis at a time when Japan has recently made provocative remarks over the Taiwan question and a powerful flotilla of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy was spotted sailing around Japan.

Chinese State Councilor and Minister of National Defense Li Shangfu and Japanese Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada on Tuesday afternoon talked through the direct telephone line dedicated to the maritime and air liaison mechanism between the Chinese and Japanese defense ministries for the first time, the Chinese Defense Ministry said in a press release on the day.

The defense chiefs exchanged views on relations between the two countries and bilateral defense ties, according to the press release.

The establishment and the launch of the direct phone line is a practical measure to implement the important consensus reached by the two countries' leaders, and will effectively enrich the communication channels between the two countries' defense departments, enhance the two sides' capabilities in managing maritime and air crisis, and is a positive move to further safeguard regional peace and stability, the press release reads.

China announced the establishment of the direct phone line on March 31. It took more than a decade because of Japanese politicians' so-called purchase of the Diaoyu Islands and their intention to "nationalize" them, as well as other unfavorable political and technical factors from Japan.

Bilateral relations between China and Japan still face challenges today, as Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida claimed in an interview with Nikkei Asia published last week that the Taiwan question is a matter of importance not just to Japan but to the entire world.

Amid the provocative remarks, the Japanese Defense Ministry said on Thursday that Japan's Maritime Self-Defense Force has spotted a PLA Navy flotilla led by a Type 055 large destroyer since April 30 while it was seemingly making a clockwise circumnavigation around Japan, with Chinese experts saying the move showed that China has sufficient capabilities to counter Japan's provocations.

The latest talk between the two countries' defense chiefs and the use of the direct phone line can be viewed as a positive signal, as it shows the two countries are willing to work to manage differences, maintain stability and avoid crisis amid tensions, a Chinese military expert who requested anonymity told the Global Times on Tuesday.

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Top Chinese general calls for unconventional warfare in confrontation with the West

Iran Press TV

Tuesday, 16 May 2023 6:12 PM

A top Chinese general has called for the adoption of greater integration of novel capabilities, including artificial intelligence, with conventional warfare tactics, in any possible confrontation with the West.

General Wang Haijiang, commander of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) Western Theatre Command, wrote in a front-page article in an official newspaper on Monday that a new genre of hybrid warfare has emerged from the Ukraine conflict.

The Ukraine conflict has shown that wars are now waged not just on the traditional battlefield but in unconventional areas and that modern warfare has become a contest of overall national strength, Wang wrote in Study Times.

"At present and in the future, local conflicts and turmoil are frequent, global problems are intensifying, and the world has entered a new period of turmoil and change," he wrote.

"Various 'black swan' and 'grey rhinoceros' events may occur at any time, especially with the containing, encircling, decoupling, suppressing, and military threats of some Western nations," he said.

Wang went on to say that since the war broke out in Ukraine, a new form of "hybrid warfare" has emerged.

"Military confrontations have become intertwined with battles in political, financial, technological, cyberspace and cognitive areas," he wrote.

The Chinese general also warned about the military risks China faces as geopolitical tensions increase.

"At present and in the future, local conflicts and turmoil have become frequent ... the external suppression and containment the country is facing may escalate at any time," Wang wrote.

He said China needed to better consolidate and improve its "integrated national strategic system and capabilities."

Wang also said Beijing will seek new military advantages by building up capabilities in areas such as artificial intelligence, information networks, and aviation and space.

Wang said China must accelerate the integration of its strategic forces in the areas of military, economics, science and technology, and build its overall national strength.

China is not alone in warning about the changing nature of warfare.

In an article published last month, NATO highlighted preparations for dealing with "hybrid threats."

"Hybrid threats combine military and non-military as well as covert and overt means, including disinformation, cyberattacks, economic pressure, deployment of irregular armed groups and use of regular forces," wrote in the article.

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Hong Kong removes hundreds of politically sensitive books from public libraries

Titles penned by political satirist Zunzi, pro-democracy politicians, protest leaders disappear

By Lee Yuk Yue for RFA Cantonese 2023.05.16 -- Hong Kong authorities have removed hundreds of books from the shelves of the city's public libraries in recent weeks, including books referencing the 1989 Tiananmen massacre that ended weeks of pro-democracy protests around China, according to authors and the public library catalog.

In what some are calling it a "war on libraries," the government audit office and its Leisure and Cultural Services Department recently ordered librarians to ensure nothing in their collections could run afoul of a draconian national security law banning public criticism of both the local government and the ruling Chinese Communist Party.

The number of books on offer at Hong Kong's public libraries has fallen amid an ongoing cull of books that includes any titles referencing jailed media mogul Jimmy Lai and his now-shuttered Apple Daily newspaper, while compendiums of political cartoons by satirist Zunzi, whose column was recently axed by the Ming Pao newspaper, have also been taken off the shelves.

Chinese University of Hong Kong history lecturer Rowena He's book about former 1989 student leaders in exile, Tiananmen Exiles: Voices of the Struggle for Democracy in China, was among the political titles disappearing from public lending collections, according to Hong Kong-based editor Simon Cartledge.

"Another book that's disappeared from HK Public Libraries - Rowena He's Tiananmen Exiles," Cartledge said via his Twitter account on May 15. "Six copies available on 23 April. None today."

250 titles gone

A survey of the Hong Kong public library catalog by RFA's Cantonese Service found that around 250 titles had disappeared in the recent book cull, around three times as many as during a similar operation in 2021.

Just weeks ahead of the politically sensitive June 4 massacre anniversary, 146 titles about the massacre and the democracy movement that preceded it had been recently removed, compared with just 29 titles during the 2021 cull.

Keyword searches for "June 4," "Tiananmen Incident," "Tiananmen" and "1989" returned either zero results, or showed titles that were marked as unavailable.

The Chinese-language Ming Pao estimated in a May 15 report that 468 items featuring political themes or public figures had been removed from libraries since the end of 2020, including books and audiovisual materials.

Some of the politically sensitive keywords are similar to those used by censors in mainland China, and include references to the 1989 Tiananmen massacre and protest movement in the same year.

Some books about the 2014 Umbrella Movement and the 2019 protest movement against the loss of Hong Kong's promised freedoms remain, but only those penned by pro-China authors.

Pro-democracy politicians and authors, critics of the ruling Chinese Communist Party and historians are among those targeted in the latest round of censorship.

They include works by Occupy Central founder and former University of Hong Kong law professor Benny Tai, former pro-democracy lawmaker Claudia Mo, jailed barrister and former lawmaker Margaret Ng, Umbrella Movement leader Joshua Wong and 2010 Nobel Peace Prize winner Liu Xiaobo.

Informers

The general public have been actively encouraged by police to inform on any words or deeds that could be deemed subversive under the national security law, which criminalizes dissent in the form of words or deeds that "incite hatred" of the Hong Kong or Chinese authorities, leading to more than 40,000 tip-offs last year.

The move has prompted even pro-Beijing voices to speak out.

Businessman and former Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference committee member Lew Mon-hung likened the censorship to the book-burning carried out under Emperor Qin Shihuang (259-210 BC) or the political purges of the Cultural Revolution (1966-76).

He said the Hong Kong authorities appear to be acting over-zealously in a bid to demonstrate their leftist credentials.

"It is the worst practice to be leftist in everything, to try to gain credit and to demonstrate loyalty to the left," Lew said. "History has proven that ... there are no benefits."

"It is detrimental to ... the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation."

Barrister Ronny Tong, who currently serves on the Hong Kong government's Executive Council, agreed.

"I want libraries to abide by the law and safeguard national security, but there should also be some kind of balance, so that readers have access to more diversified sources of reference," Tong said.

"Libraries should base their judgements on common sense, on a sense of what is socially acceptable," he said. "I don't think there should be a list of banned books."

"Whether a book is considered criminal depends on a number of factors, including the intentions and behavior of the suspect."

'Cultural Revolution in Hong Kong'

Current affairs commentator Chip Tsao said the book cull could mark what he termed "the start of the Cultural Revolution in Hong Kong," and appeared to agree with Lew that officials were overdoing the zeal.

"The frontline bureaucrats of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region were trained in the colonial era," Tsao told Radio Free Asia. "They only know how to carry out orders from their superiors, with a list of books and a few names."

"They don't understand the overall political situation in [mainland] China because they have only just joined the Chinese political family."

He added: "In many cases, mainland China can be dealt with flexibly."

An official who responded to requests for comment from the Leisure and Cultural Services Department declined to confirm whether all of Zunzi's books, or all books mentioning the Tiananmen massacre, had been removed from the shelves.

"From time to time, books that do not conform to the [direction of] development of the collection are reviewed and canceled," the official said. "Books whose contents are suspected of violating national security or Hong Kong laws will be removed immediately for review."

According to Tsao, officials could be acting in too much of a hurry to appease Beijing.

"They're still in the process of learning to be Chinese ... and they don't understand China's unspoken rules," he said. "And now there's a national security hotline for anyone to inform [on suspected violations]."

He said there are likely still "tens of thousands" of such books in people's private collections.

"If they regard these books that many people have in their homes as [similar to] illegal firearms, then there's little point in removing them from [libraries]," he said. "They should call for people to bring them out within the next three days, and then the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government should burn them."

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 May not be used in a manner which would give the appearance of any endorsement of any product or support of any issue or political position. Please read the full text of our Terms of Use.

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Chinese, Japanese Defense Ministers Open Hotline to 'Manage and Control' Crises

Sputnik News

20230516

Fantine Gardinier

Although it is constitutionally a neutral nation, Japan has increasingly looked to expand its military in recent years, acquire advanced offensive weapons, and even to modify its neutral stance. Washington and Ottawa have also initiated talks to more closely bind Japanese defense efforts to regional allies, like South Korea and Australia.

The defense ministers of Japan and the People's Republic of China inaugurated a new military hotline on Monday, according to statements by both ministries. The hotline is part of a larger effort to maintain communications during crises that began in 2018, called the Maritime and Aerial Communication Mechanism.

Chinese State Councilor and Defense Minister General Li Shangfu spoke with Japanese Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada for about 20 minutes on the direct telephone link, exchanging their views on bilateral and defense relations, according to a statement by the Chinese Defense Ministry.

"The establishment and operation of the direct telephone link is a practical measure to implement the important consensus reached by the leaders of the two states," the ministry added. "It will effectively enrich the communication channels between the defense departments of the two countries, strengthen the capabilities of the two sides in managing and controlling maritime and air crises, and help further safeguard regional peace and stability."

Japan's Defense Ministry similarly said the communication mechanism "plays an important role" in building mutual trust and avoiding contingency. At their first meeting in three years last November, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida declared their renewed intent to open the hotline amid rising tensions in the region.

Japan and China have sparred over control of a group of unpopulated but strategically-placed islands in the East China Sea that Beijing calls the Diaoyu Islands and Japan calls the Senkakus, and their militaries sometimes rub shoulders in various sea lanes around the region.

In the early 20th century, China and Japan fought several major wars, including when Japan invaded China in 1937 and occupied about one-quarter of the country, killing more than 20 million Chinese. After the Allied Forces defeated Japan and its fascist allies in Europe in 1945, Japan was occupied for 10 years and reconstructed as a liberal constitutional monarchy with constitutionally mandated neutrality.

Four years after the war's end, communist forces overthrew the Republic of China and established the PRC in Beijing, but Japan continued recognizing the RoC rump government on Taiwan until 1972, when it switched to recognizing the PRC. By the time the two nations celebrated the 50th anniversary of that deal in 2022, China had become Japan's largest trading partner, with a total annual trade value of A38.4 trillion ($281.1 billion), according to Japan's finance ministry.

Still, Tokyo remains a staunch US ally and has pulled closer to Washington as the Pentagon prepares for what it calls "great power competition" with Russia and China. Japan has been included in the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad), a bloc with the US, Australia, and India, and more recently Canada has pushed for a similar bloc involving Japan and South Korea.

Earlier this month, Hayashi revealed Tokyo was "already in discussions" to open a liaison office for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the Brussels-based alliance of Western capitalist states.

In addition to its disputes with China, Japan has also looked for Western support against the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), a small socialist state with a large military that enjoys tacit support from Beijing. The DPRK regularly test-fires ballistic missiles across the Sea of Japan, including several rockets that have flown over Japanese territory. Tokyo has looked to enhance its missile defense capabilities, including efforts to acquire interceptor technology and a failed bid to build Aegis Ashore bases in several coastal cities.

A Sputnik

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US Not Making Correct Judgment on Russia-China Relations

Sputnik News

20230516

BEIJING (Sputnik) - Those who look at the Russia-China relations following the course of the Cold War can not make right judgments, Chinese Defense Ministry spokesman Tan Kefei said on Tuesday, commenting on US Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman General Mark Milley's statement about Moscow-Beijing alliance.

Milley has said that the United States will do everything to interfere with the strategic military alliance between Russia and China.

"The message and argumentation of those who judge others by themselves, follow the limited and outdated Cold War bloc thinking, look at China with concern and assess Russia-China relations, is wrong. Of course, they cannot make a correct judgment," the spokesman told a briefing.

A Sputnik

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India: High Representative/Vice-President Josep Borrell met Minister of External Affairs Subrahmanyam Jaishankar

European External Action Service (EEAS)

16.05.2023

Brussels

Strategic Communications

Today, High Representative/Vice-President Josep Borrell met with the Minister of External Affairs (MEA) of the Government of India, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, in the margins of the 1st EU-India Trade and Technology Council (TTC).

High Representative Borrell commended the work of India as current G20 President, and efforts in this capacity to also address the diverse interests of countries outside the G20 platform, in a spirit of global inter-connectedness.

High Representative Borrell reiterated to Minister Jaishankar the EU's unwavering resolve to support Ukraine, including its efforts to secure a comprehensive, just and lasting peace based on the UN Charter. He also recalled the EU's commitment to continue addressing the global consequences of Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine, focusing on food security. The High Representative asked MEA Jaishankar for India to support Ukraine's peace initiative, and to urge Russia to agree on the crucial extension of the Black Sea Grain Initiative.

The High Representative/Vice-President and the Minister exchanged views on the expanding security and defence pillar of the bilateral cooperation between the EU and India. They agreed to further step-up cooperation on security matters, with special relevance to cybersecurity, also in the context of the respective TTC working group. Progress in the implementation of the EU-India connectivity partnership, as well as developments in the region were also addressed. The High Representative underlined the EU's close cooperation with India in the Indo-Pacific, as reaffirmed at the recent EU Indo-Pacific Ministerial Forum on 13 May in Stockholm.

Finally, the High Representative expressed his expectation for the next EU-India Summit to take place in the course of 2023.



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Gov't determined to secure Iran's water rights from Helmand: Minister

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

May 16, 2023

Tehran, IRNA -- Iran's Energy Minister Ali Akbar Mehrabian says the government is determined to materialize the country's water rights from the Helmand (Hirmand) River in Afghanistan.

Mehrabian said on Tuesday that the government has set out serious plans to reclaim Iran's water rights from the Helmand and will pursue the plans until its rights are fully preserved.

"Regarding the special order of the president to sort out the water issue in the east of the country, a meeting was held yesterday with the presence of the relevant (government) departments," he explained.

He added that during the meeting, various aspects of resolving the issue were discussed and decisions were made in order to protect Iran's rights.

According to the reports presented in the meeting, the ruling Taliban group in Afghanistan has pledged to implement the 1973 Helmand Treaty and deliver Iran's water rights.

Under the treaty, Iran is entitled to receive an annual share of 820 million cubic meters of water from Helmand, but Afghanistan has largely cut off the river's flow into Iran, endangering the lives of many people in Iran's southeast.

**9417**4261

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Iran, Russia stand united against threats, arrogant domination: Army cmdr.

Iran Press TV

Tuesday, 16 May 2023 10:44 AM

A senior Iranian Army commander says the country will enhance cooperation with its allies, including Russia, to counter threats posed to regional security by "global arrogance."

In a meeting with Commander-in-Chief of Russia's Navy Admiral Nikolai Yevmenov in Tehran on Monday, Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari, deputy chief of the Iranian Army for Coordination, urged vigilance to prevent any domination of the global arrogance.

"We do not want to dominate and attack any country, but we stand against any threats and arrogant domination. In this regard, we will strengthen our cooperation and synergy with friendly and allied countries, including Russia," Sayyari said.

"We must certainly be strong to ensure security and peace in the region... Also, we must have unity and synergy, and use each other's experiences in such a way that ... leads to effective deterrence."

The commander also expressed the Iranian Army's readiness to implement joint cooperation projects with Russia in the fields of making mutual visits, improving the quality of military competitions, as well as maritime patrols and exercises, ensuring economic security, taking counter-terrorism measures, conducting maritime search and rescue operations and trainings, and helping damaged vessels.

He further hailed the capability of Iran's Navy, saying the force has faithful and knowledgeable employees and state-of-the-art surface and subsurface equipment.

Iranian naval vessels, he added, have today made voyages to important ports, including Port of St. Petersburg, and circumnavigated the globe.

"Following the Islamic Revolution, the Islamic Republic of Iran ... put the appropriate use of the sea on its agenda. After pirate attacks in the Gulf of Aden, the Navy developed its powerful presence in international waters ... and even helped many countries."

The Russian admiral also stressed enhanced cooperation between the naval forces of the two countries.

The Iranian and Russian navies enjoy close relations and have staged several joint exercises.

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IRGC intelligence forces bust terror network linked to Daesh-K in southern Iran

Iran Press TV

Tuesday, 16 May 2023 9:09 AM

The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) intelligence forces have disbanded a terror network affiliated with Daesh Khorasan (Daesh-K) in Iran's southern province of Fars.

The IRGC Intelligence Department, in cooperation with Fajr Intelligence Organization of Fars Province, spotted and busted the operational and media network of Daesh-K, an offshoot of the Daesh Takfiri terrorist group in Afghanistan, and captured its main element in the province.

The ringleader, who was being monitored by IRGC forces for four years, was in charge of recruiting extremist elements in a number of Iranian provinces, including Tehran.

The network has been smashed following a deadly terrorist attack last October on the Shah Cheragh shrine in the southern city of Shiraz, the capital of Fars province. The Daesh terrorist group claimed responsibility for the attack.

Additional information about the operation to arrest the members of the network will be released soon.

On October 26, 2022, an armed terrorist barged inside the revered holy shrine, killing 15 pilgrims, including women and children, and injuring dozens before being arrested by security forces.

The terrorist was later pronounced dead at a hospital, succumbing to injuries sustained during the attack that sent shockwaves across the country.

A few suspects were immediately nabbed and some two weeks later the Intelligence Ministry announced the arrest of 26 Takfiri terrorists for involvement in the attack.

An Iranian court on March 18 handed out death sentences to two men over their involvement in the terrorist attack.

Judiciary Chief of Fars Province Kazem Moussavi said at the time that the two main culprits of the deadly assault were convicted of assisting in corruption on earth, armed rebellion and acting against national security.

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Iranian envoy hopes for settlement of Afghan water dispute this year

Iran Press TV

Tuesday, 16 May 2023 7:06 AM

Iran's special envoy on Afghanistan affairs says government departments are pursuing the country's water rights from the Helmand River in Afghanistan (also known as Hirmand), expressing hope that the long-running dispute between the two neighbors will be settled this year.

Speaking during a TV program on Monday, Hassan Kazemi-Qomi urged the ruling administration in Afghanistan to implement the 1973 Helmand River Treaty.

"The issue of the treaty is a legal issue, to which the Afghan government is committed and declared its adherence. It must also implement the treaty," the special envoy said.

"The Islamic Republic's government departments, specifically the Foreign Ministry, are following up on the people's rights. I hope that this year the issue will be resolved."

The Helmand River, the longest water course in Afghanistan, rises in the Hindu Kush Mountains west of Kabul and flows in an arc southwest until it empties out into the Hamoun wetlands, located in Iran's Sistan and Baluchestan Province.

Following more than a century of rifts over Helmand's water supply, Iran and Afghanistan signed the 1973 treaty, which established a means of regulating each country's use of the river.

Iran should receive an annual share of 820 million cubic meters from Helmand under the accord, which Afghanistan has grossly violated in letter and spirit.

Afghanistan has largely cut off the Helmand's flow into Iran, endangering the lives of many Iranians who rely on Hamoun wetlands for drinking water, agriculture, and fishing.

Afghanistan has further built dams on the Helmand which have constricted water flow into Iran.

Kazemi-Qomi said that last year, the amount of water that reached Iran was only 27 million cubic meters, compared to the 820 million cubic meters the country is entitled to.

Farmers from the Afghan provinces of Nimruz, Helmand, Kandahar and Zabul have been holding protests over water issues, he added.

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Iranian Protesters Who Received Amnesty Face New Cases, Activist Group Says

By RFE/RL's Radio Farda May 16, 2023

Several Iranian protesters who had been detained and then released under an amnesty granted by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in February have been summoned by Iran's judiciary to face new charges.

The Committee to Follow Up the Situation of Detainees, an informal network of activists inside Iran, said on May 15 that since the announcement of the amnesty, about 21,000 cases against people arrested during mass unrest following the death of a young woman while in police custody for an alleged hijab infraction in September have been closed and the detainees released.

However, the group added in a post on Twitter that "new judicial cases have been filed for some of them and the judicial system is summoning them again with new accusations."

The committee did not give an estimate as to how many people face new charges.

Rights groups and activists have previously downplayed the amnesty, which was first announced in early February.

Hadi Ghaemi, executive director of the New York-based Center for Human Rights in Iran, has said the "so-called 'pardon' is nothing but a shameless public relations stunt that shows the completely arbitrary nature of justice in the Islamic republic, where arrests and releases are at the whim of the state."

Last September, the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini while in the custody of the country's morality police ignited widespread protests across Iran. The demonstrations drew participants from all sectors of society, marking one of the most significant challenges to the Islamic republic since its establishment in 1979.

The activist news agency HRANA reports that approximately 20,000 people have been detained in relation to these protests, with authorities attributing the unrest to foreign adversaries.

Human rights organizations estimate that the ensuing crackdown has resulted in over 500 fatalities, including 71 minors. The Iranian judiciary has also confirmed the execution of at least four individuals in connection with these events.

Written by Ardeshir Tayebi based on an original story in Persian by RFE/RL's Radio Farda

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/iran-protesters-amnesty- revoked-new-cases/32414347.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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Israel's Life Saving Invention: The Iron Dome

Israel Defense Forces

16.05.2023

IDF Editorial Team

You've heard about the Iron Dome Aerial Defense System; it's an advanced technology system which intercepts incoming rockets from enemy territories, saving countless lives.

The Iron Dome, also known as "Kippat Barzel'' in Hebrew, is a mobile aerial defense system which operates in all climates. The Iron Dome was fully functional by 2011 and was first used in operation "Pillar of Defense" in 2012, where over 400 rockets were intercepted. The Iron Dome is a compilation of several features: the technology itself, the machinery which shoots out the rockets, the soldiers who operate the system, and the commanders who supervise the network.

In the latest operation, operation "Shield and Arrow" in May 2023, over 1,000 rockets were fired at Israel from Islamic Jihad. Of the 1,469 Gazan rockets which were launched, only 1,139 rockets managed to cross into Israeli territory. The Iron Dome successfully intercepted 437 rockets, which is a 95.6% success rate of all interceptions. The Iron Dome saved the lives of thousands of Israeli civilians from Islamic Jihad's threat.

These Iranian funded rockets were aimed at Israel's most densely populated areas, including Jerusalem and Tel Aviv-Jaffo. The countless number of barrage rockets put the lives of all civilians at risk. The Iron Dome is a mechanism of pure defense, and has absolutely no attack capabilities. It is a purely noble invention and is crucial for the safety of Israel's civilians.

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Nearly 400 feared dead after Cyclone Mocha hit Myanmar's Rakhine state

The majority of victims were staying in refugee camps described as 'open-roof prisons.'

By RFA Burmese 2023.05.16 -- Nearly 400 Rohingya refugees in Myanmar's Rakhine state were probably killed by Cyclone Mocha, the country's parallel National Unity Government and local aid workers told RFA Tuesday.

The NUG said the figure was based on estimates of the damage, since search and rescue teams have not retrieved the bodies and many victims are still missing. The figure has not been independently verified by RFA.

Volunteers from the Muslim Aid and Relief Society who are collecting field data said most of the dead were children, pregnant women and the elderly. They said they are still searching for bodies.

Aung Kyaw Moe, a Rohingya advisor to the National Unity Government, told RFA Tuesday the majority of the victims were from Sittwe township.

"Some are still missing. This is in Sittwe alone," he said.

"Bodies were found on the streets and under trees. Search and rescue has not been done yet so we can't pick up the bodies. All the refugee camps were badly damaged."

He said that the actual number of casualties could be much higher.

"Some died trying to get up on the roofs of their houses to stay above the flooding, while others were hit by zinc roof sheeting blown by the wind and died," Aung Kyaw Moe said. "Some pregnant women died with babies in their wombs."

In many case, he said, missing Rohingya have yet to be rescued or bodies have yet to be recovered, despite two days having passed since the storm. The dead that have been recovered are being buried immediately, in accordance with Islamic traditions, he added.

'Refugee camps are open-roof prisons'.

There are 21 Rohingya refugee camps in Rakhine state with 120,000 refugees staying in 13 camps in Sittwe township.

Nay San Lwin, co-founder of the Free Rohingya Coalition, said the refugees were housed in makeshift tents which were mostly destroyed when the cyclone hit.

"Most of the Rohingya refugee camps did not have time to evacuate [ahead of] the cyclone," he said.

"Lives are lost when there are no shelters to evacuate the cyclone. The tents were destroyed. Refugee camps are open-roof prisons."

Nay San Lwin said that the Rohingya "already have targets on their backs" in Myanmar and suggested that authorities may have withheld assistance to their community amid preparations for the storm.

"In the case of such natural disasters, authorities intentionally neglected them, rather than help them survive," he said. "I don't think the government of this country had any interest in evacuating them prior to the disaster."

Residents of Sittwe township said that most of the camps were built close to the sea, leaving them vulnerable to heavy waves, coastal winds and torrential rainfall.

A Rohingya camp resident told RFA that some Rohingya villages "completely disappeared" as the result of flooding.

"I have personally buried more than 10 bodies myself in this camp," he said, speaking on condition of anonymity. "I also went to other places ... [where villages] had been entirely wiped out by the floods, as the sea level rose up to about six meters (20 feet) there."

Another displaced Rohingya from Sittwe, who also declined to be named for security reasons, said many of the dead bodies he has seen were floating in floodwaters.

"Some people died trying to flee from the danger and their bodies were washed away by the flood," he said. "Women, children and some men were among them."

The Rohingya said that roads and bridges leading to the camps have been damaged, hampering transportation in the area.

Difficulties collecting data

Nearly 1 million Rohingya were forced to leave their homes in Rakhine state following a military crackdown against the Muslim-minority in 2017.

About 740,000 fled to Bangladesh and live in Cox's Bazar, also hit hard by Cyclone Mocha.

Those who remained live in internally displaced persons camps, poorly funded by the junta and volunteer groups.

Collecting information on cyclone victims has been hard because there are only a few volunteers from the Muslim community collecting data in the field, a member of the data collection team told RFA, speaking on condition of anonymity.

It is also hard to collect data on the ground after Sittwe's largest telecommunications tower collapsed when the cyclone hit it on May 14, cutting phone lines and internet access.

RFA's calls to the junta spokesman for Rakhine state, Hla Thein, went unanswered Tuesday.

State media reported that junta chief Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing personally visited Sittwe on Monday to deliver more than 7 billion kyats (US$ 3.3 million) worth of supplies to those in need.

Cyclone Mocha hit Myanmar's coast Sunday with sustained winds reaching over 220 kilometers per hour (137 mph).

According to preliminary figures compiled exclusively by RFA, there have been at least 31 deaths due to the cyclone in Rakhine and Chin states, and Ayeyarwady, Magway and Sagaing regions.

Later on Tuesday, the National Unity Government updated its death toll to 435 across the country, with an unspecified number still missing.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said in a flash update on Tuesday that early estimates indicate "nearly 3.2 million are considered to be most vulnerable and are considered likely to have humanitarian needs" across Rakhine state and Myanmar's northwest in the wake of the cyclone.

Rakhine state and Ayeyarwady region were hit hard by Cyclone Nargis in 2008, leaving nearly 140,000 people dead or missing.

Translated by RFA Burmese. Edited by Mike Firn and Joshua Lipes.

This story has been updated to include comments from Rohingya affected by the cyclone in Rakhine state and an increased death toll from the storm.

Copyright 1998-2023, RFA. Used with the permission of Radio Free Asia, 2025 M St. NW, Suite 300, Washington DC 20036. For any commercial use of RFA content please send an email to: mahajanr@rfa.org. RFA content May not be used in a manner which would give the appearance of any endorsement of any product or support of any issue or political position. Please read the full text of our Terms of Use.

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INTERVIEW: Arakan Army to assist aid efforts for cyclone victims in Myanmar's Rakhine

The rebel group is even willing to work with the junta on recovery in the region.

By Nay Rein Kyaw for RFA Burmese 2023.05.16 -- On Sunday, Cyclone Mocha slammed into the coast of western Myanmar's Rakhine state, flattening homes, blocking roads with fallen electricity pylons, splintering trees and causing widespread flooding. Power was cut off to the capital Sittwe, a city of about 150,000. Of the 431 people confirmed dead throughout the country as of Tuesday, 425 were killed by the story in Rakhine state.

In the aftermath of one of the worst cyclones to hit Myanmar in a decade, the ethnic Arakan Army has pledged to cooperate with all aid groups assisting rescue efforts in Rakhine, where the group said that in some places, entire villages were destroyed. The ethnic rebel group, which is fighting the military regime for control of Rakhine state, has appealed to neighboring countries and the international community for assistance in providing food and medicine to those left homeless by the cyclone.

Speaking to RFA Burmese reporter Nay Rein Kyaw, AA Information Officer Khaing Thuka discussed the scale of the destruction, the situation of the stateless ethnic Muslim Rohingya community living in camps for the displaced, and expectations of how long it will take for life to return to normal in Rakhine.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.





RFA: Reports suggest that about 90% of Rakhine state was damaged by Cyclone Mocha, while telephone and internet services in cities such as Sittwe have been cut. Could you tell us what you have heard about the situation through AA's military communications?

Khaing Thuka: At the moment, 80% or even 90% of some towns and villages in the north of Rakhine and in Sittwe have been damaged. Some villages have been totally destroyed ... The Tein Nyo camps for those displaced by conflict have been totally destroyed. The roofs of 80% of all houses in Kyauktaw township were blown away in the storm.

RFA: What is the situation with access to electricity there?

Khaing Thuka: Electricity has been cut off everywhere. All electrical pylons on the Sittwe-Yangon road have collapsed. Telephone communications have been cut off as well and while they are up and running in some areas, the connections have been unstable. We haven't been able to communicate with the townships of Rathedaung, Buthidaung and Maungtaw.

RFA: What are the main areas your organization has been helping? Have you had the chance to help in Sittwe, too?

Khaing Thuka: Prior to the storm, we helped evacuate about 100,000 people to safety. But the living situation of the people who fled has become more difficult after the storm. We placed them in well-built structures such as schools and monasteries, but the roofs were blown away by the storm, and now the displaced are forced to stay in whatever shelter they can find, while facing serious difficulties.

Additionally, roads in the state are blocked by trees downed during the storm. The AA and residents have begun clearing roads. We have started collecting data to get an overview of the damage.

RFA: What have you heard about the Rohingya camps for the displaced?

Khaing Thuka: We don't have a clear idea of how much was destroyed at the Muslim camps in areas controlled by the military junta. The phone communications there are down as well. However, we evacuated the camps under our control before the storm hit.

RFA: How long do you estimate that it will take until telephone, internet and electricity services are restored?

Khaing Thuka: That depends on how fast the junta undertakes relief projects.

Housing, food and medicine needed

RFA: What are the supplies most urgently needed for the current situation?

Khaing Thuka: One emergency requirement is shelter. Since 80% or 90% of all houses in northern Rakhine state are damaged, roofs and walls for houses are in high demand. Additionally, the displaced need food, drinking water and medicine. We need assistance from neighboring countries and the international community for this.

RFA: The United Nations and members of the international community have announced that assistance was prepared in advance to help the victims of the storm. What do you know about that?

Khaing Thuka: Yes, we have heard that too. But [so far], I have not seen such assistance arrive. The AA is ready to cooperate and coordinate with any international relief and humanitarian organizations to help the victims.

RFA: Are you also willing to cooperate with the military junta to help victims?

Khaing Thuka: That depends on what they propose. Our organization is ready to cooperate with any group in any way to help those affected by the disaster.

RFA: [The anti-junta shadow National Unity Government] said before the storm that it will help victims however it can ... Is the AA cooperating with the NUG on relief work?

Khaing Thuka: I haven't heard the specifics on what they discussed with our central office, but I can confirm their offer. Our position on this is clear: We will cooperate with any organization to help the victims affected by the storm.

Translated by Myo Min Aung. Edited by Joshua Lipes and Malcolm Foster.

Copyright 1998-2023, RFA. Used with the permission of Radio Free Asia, 2025 M St. NW, Suite 300, Washington DC 20036. For any commercial use of RFA content please send an email to: mahajanr@rfa.org. RFA content May not be used in a manner which would give the appearance of any endorsement of any product or support of any issue or political position. Please read the full text of our Terms of Use.

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Russian lawmakers vote to formally withdraw from Cold War arms treaty in Europe

Iran Press TV

Tuesday, 16 May 2023 4:31 PM

Russian legislators have voted to formally pull out of the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE), which aims at limiting key categories of conventional military equipment in the continent.

The treaty was signed in 1990 by the US-led NATO and Warsaw Pact countries, comprising the Soviet Union and its allies in Europe, with a declared aim of putting limits on the number of tanks, armored vehicles, artillery, helicopters, and aircraft stationed in Europe.

The signatories intended to prevent the sides from amassing forces for a blitzkrieg-type offensive, and establishing a military balance.

In 2007, however, Russia suspended its participation in the treaty, and in March 2015, citing NATO's repeated violations of the agreement and refusal to ratify an updated version of the treaty, formally announced it was "completely" halting its participation in the treaty.

Despite suspending its participation in the CFE, Russia continued to take part in the consulting group related to the treaty, which is regarded as a cornerstone of security in post-Cold War Europe

On Tuesday, the State Duma, the lower house of Russia's parliament, passed a bill, a draft of which was submitted by Russian President Vladimir Putin last week, for the denunciation of the CFE.

"[Russia's] definitive withdrawal from the CFE Treaty and its denunciation fully correspond to the national interest of ensuring Russia's security," said Leonid Slutsky, chairman of the State Duma International Affairs Committee and leader of the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR).

A day earlier, Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov on Monday stressed that the treaty "has long ceased to correspond to reality" and that it "did not really work for many years."

He also suggested that Russia's pullout from the CFE would not have any impact on regional security, which, he claimed, has already been damaged by the actions of NATO-aligned countries.

"Western countries had more than enough time to show common sense. But they preferred to follow the path of further NATO expansion and confrontation with Russia," Ryabkov added, stressing that the treaty is "contrary to Russia's security interests."

On Tuesday, Ryabkov also told the State Duma that NATO countries had "made it impossible" for Russia to remain in the CFE pact by allowing for the US-led military bloc's expansion into Central and Eastern Europe.

The development comes as Moscow has time and again warned the United States and its European allies not to pour weapons into Ukraine, against which Russia has been waging a war since February last year.

Since the onset of the war, Washington and the European Union have supplied Ukraine with tens of billions of dollars worth of weapons, including rocket systems, drones, armored vehicles, tanks, and communication systems despite Moscow's warnings that the Western military assistance will only prolong the war.

NATO 'turns out to be a wolf in sheep's clothing'

Despite its declared defensive nature, the US-led NATO "has turned out to be a wolf in sheep's clothing. It has done nothing but attack and advance, bringing suffering to people and destroying countries: Yugoslavia, Afghanistan, Libya, Iraq and Syria," said State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin on Tuesday.

"Washington, using NATO [as its tool] and pumping the terrorist Kiev regime with weapons, is destabilizing the situation in the world in order to preserve its own hegemonic position. This is provoking a global catastrophe," he lamented.

The Federation Council, Russia's upper chamber, is scheduled to consider Russia's withdrawal from the CFE next Wednesday.

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Russian oil exports hit post-war high despite sanctions: IEA

Iran Press TV

Tuesday, 16 May 2023 11:13 AM

Russia's oil exports have hit its highest level since the start of the Ukraine war, increasing its revenues by $1.7 billion despite Western sanctions, the International Energy Agency says.

In a monthly oil report on Tuesday, the Paris-based organization said Russian crude exports increased by 50,000 barrels per day to 8.3 million bpd in April.

That reflects Russia's success in finding new buyers for its crude since the West imposed sanctions on its oil industry.

"Russia seems to have few problems finding willing buyers for its crude and oil products," the IEA said, adding that Russian oil export revenues increased from $13.3bn in March to $15 billion in April.

According to the report, China and India were the main buyers of Russian oil, with nearly 80 percent of the shipments flowing to the two countries.

The agency said the Russian oil had helped meet rising oil demand in China, amid its emergence from nearly three years of COVID-19 restrictions.

"China's demand recovery continues to surpass expectations, with the country setting an all-time record in March" at 16 million bpd, the IEA said, increasing its forecast for 2023 global oil demand growth to 2.2mn bpd.

The report comes despite the sanctions imposed by the Western allies of Kiev against Russia after Moscow launched what it called a 'special military operation' in Ukraine in February 2022.

Russia started its military operation in order to defend the pro-Russian population in the eastern Ukrainian regions of Luhansk and Donetsk against persecution by Kiev.

Ever since the beginning of the war, Kiev's Western allies, led by the United States, have been providing Ukraine with advanced weapons and imposing Russia with a slew of sanctions, steps that Moscow says would only prolong the war.

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Russia: West fears formation of truly multilateral system of international relations

Iran Press TV

Tuesday, 16 May 2023 2:18 AM

Russia has strongly slammed the French president's recent remarks on Moscow's relations with Beijing, saying the West is afraid of the emergence of a truly multilateral system of international relations.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko made the remarks on Monday, saying France has become preoccupied with Russia's strengthened relations with China and their impact on the world order.

In a recent interview with the Paris daily l'Opinion, Emmanuel Macron claimed that Moscow was becoming subservient to China, adding, "(Russia) has de facto started a form of vasallization with China and has lost access to the Baltic [Sea] that was critical to it as it has precipitated the decision by Sweden and Finland to join NATO."

In response, the Russian deputy foreign minister wrote in a statement on the ministry's website that "the West generally appears fearful of the formation of a truly multilateral system of international relations before our eyes; one that includes several separate independent centers [of power], particularly Russia and China."

"Within this evolving landscape of the world, it is inevitable that Macron, along with other leaders in the West, will have to reconcile themselves to the reality of strong, equitable and mutually respectful relations between Moscow and Beijing," Grushko added.

The Kremlin spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, also reacted to Macron's allegations, saying Russia's relations with China were those of strategic partners and had nothing to do with dependence.

Macron's remarks came in reference to talks in Moscow in March between the Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, during which the two sides said they were deepening their strategic partnership by ushering "a new era" of ties.

The two leaders greeted each other as "dear friend" when they met for informal talks at the Kremlin, ahead of their formal talks a day later.

Xi also hailed his country's "close ties" with Russia, saying, "We are partners in comprehensive strategic cooperation. It is this status that determines that there should be close ties between our countries."

A few days after their meeting, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin described the development as a "very troubling message" to the United States.

"Xi's visit to Putin and remaining there for a couple of days I think sends a very troubling message, a message of support," Austin told the House Appropriations Defense Subcommittee, adding, "Certainly just showing support [for Russia] by his presence there, I think, is very troubling."

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Kremlin Critic Says She Experienced Possible Poisoning Symptoms; Report Says Others Also Fell Ill

By RFE/RL's Russian Service May 16, 2023

Natalia Arno, the U.S.-based chief of the Free Russia Foundation, says there are suspicions she may have been poisoned, "possibly by some nerve agent," after falling ill during a recent trip to Europe, amid a report that at least two other Kremlin critics have experienced similar episodes since 2020.

Arno, who previously kept silent about what she experienced during a trip to Prague in early May, wrote about the ordeal on Facebook on May 16 after the website Agentsvo published a story on the spate of critics of Russian President Vladimir Putin who have left the country.

"There is a suspicion that during my recent trip to Europe I was poisoned, possibly by some nerve agent, investigated by one [or maybe more] Western intelligence agency, I still have neuropathy symptoms but overall I feel much better," Arno wrote on Facebook.

Agentstvo reported that two journalists who write about Russia, a former U.S. ambassador, and an activist have experienced similar symptoms or have found signs that their residences have been entered by "unknown persons who may be associated with Russian special services" over the past two years.

Arno said she found her hotel room door open after returning from meetings and that she encountered a "foreign and sharp" smell as she entered. That night, she said she felt "strange" symptoms that she chalked up to jet leg, but the illness gained strength and left her in "acute" pain that prompted her to move up her plane ticket home.

Upon arrival in the United States, Arno said that doctors couldn't find a cause of the illness, even though the symptoms were intensifying.

Two weeks later, the illness subsided but has yet to disappear, she said, with "a Western special service" now investigating the ordeal.

"Russians who had to leave Putin's Russia, but who abroad continue to fight firmly and decisively against the war, against Putin's regime and for a free and democratic Russia, need to understand that the enemy has long tentacles, that there is the possibility of being exposed to danger outside of Russia, so we must always remain vigilant," Arno wrote.

According to Agentstvo, the former U.S. ambassador who also suffered a similar illness is John Herbst. Once the top U.S. diplomat in Ukraine and Uzbekistan, he is currently the senior director of Atlantic Council's Eurasia Center.

He experienced possible poisoning symptoms several months before Russia launched its unprovoked ongoing invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Sources told Agentstvo that an investigation was launched into his situation as well, while Herbst declined to comment.

Agentstvo also reported from sources that a self-exiled Russian journalist, whose identity was not disclosed, experienced possible poisoning symptoms while attending a conference of exiled Russian opposition politicians and activists in Berlin in April. The journalist confirmed experiencing the illness but did not elaborate further.

Agentstvo noted that unknown intruders unlocked a hotel room of Christo Grozev, a Bulgarian investigative journalist with the Bellingcat group, in Montenegro in 2022 and stole his phone. Grozev confirmed the incident to Agentsvo but declined to give more details.

The Kremlin has steadfastly denied any links to several suspicious poisonings involving Putin's critics, such as opposition politicians Aleksei Navalny and Vladimir Kara-Murza -- both of whom are currently in prison.

Navalny fell violently ill on an airplane in Siberia before eventually being transported to Germany to be treated for what European labs defined as a poisoning using a Novichok nerve agent in 2020.

Kara-Murza fell deathly ill on two separate occasions in Moscow -- once in 2015 and again in 2017 -- with symptoms consistent with poisoning. Tissue samples smuggled out of Russia by his relatives were turned over to the FBI, which investigated his case as one of "intentional poisoning."

U.S. government laboratories also conducted extensive tests on the samples, but documents released by the Justice Department suggest they were unable to reach a conclusive finding.

In 2018, former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter were poisoned with a Novichok nerve agent in Salisbury, England, in an attack believed to have been carried out by Russian military intelligence operatives.

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/russia-kremlin-critics- suspected-poisonings-arno-herbst/32414180.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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U.S. Condemns Arrest Of Former U.S. Consulate Employee In Russia

By RFE/RL May 16, 2023

The U.S. State Department has condemned the arrest of a former employee of a U.S. consulate in Russia, saying the allegations against the Russian citizens are "wholly without merit."

TASS reported the detention of Robert Shonov in Vladivostok in Russia's Far East on May 15 and said he was accused of illegal covert collaboration with foreigners.

State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said on May 16 that Shonov is a Russian national who worked at the now-closed U.S. Consulate in Vladivostok for more than 25 years.

Miller said after the Russian government in April 2021 issued an order forcing termination of all local staff employed at U.S. diplomatic missions in Russia, Shonov was employed by a company contracted to provide services to the U.S. Embassy in Moscow.

"Mr. Shonov's only role at the time of his arrest was to compile media summaries of press items from publicly available Russian media sources," Miller said in a statement. The targeting of Shonov under the "confidential cooperation" statute highlights Russia's "blatant use of increasingly repressive laws against its own citizens."

The TASS news report on Shonov's arrest didn't say when the detention occurred or provide any details of the allegation against him.

The news agency reported that a Moscow court on May 18 would consider extending Shonov's arrest for three months. He is being held in Moscow's Lefortovo prison on charges that carry a potential sentence of up to eight years in prison, TASS said.

That is the same prison where Evan Gershkovich, an American reporter for The Wall Street Journal, is being held. Gershkovich has been in custody since his arrest on March 29 by Russia's security service on espionage charges that he, his newspaper, and the U.S. government have denied.

The United States has declared Gershkovich to be wrongfully detained and demanded his immediate release.

Since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin has widened the scope of a crackdown on criticism of Russian government policies.

With reporting by AP

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/russia-us-consulate-employee- arrested/32413542.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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Statement by the Head of the Russian Delegation, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation Kirill Lysogorskiy at the Fifth Session of the Conference of the States Parties to Review the Operation of the Chemical Weapons Convention, The Hague, 15 May 2023

16 May 2023 21:13

937-16-05-2023

Unofficial translation

In 2022, the world community celebrated the 25th anniversary of the entry into force of the Chemical Weapons Convention.

Since its establishment, the OPCW has made impressive progress: in total, 99 per cent of the chemical weapons stockpiles declared by the possessor States Parties to the Convention have been verifiably destroyed, and chemical weapons production facilities have been dismantled. Industry verification activities have been established targeting facilities producing chemicals scheduled under the Convention; measures are taken to develop international cooperation in the chemical field.

Following the last Review Conference, an important decision has been made by consensus to add chemicals to Schedule 1 of the Annex on Chemicals to the Convention (C-24/DEC.4 and C-24/DEC.5 dated 27 November 2019). This step has shown that the OPCW is able to take effective and responsible measures to strengthen the Convention. It is virtually the only international organisation with necessary mechanisms to ensure effective destruction and non-proliferation of chemical weapons.

In this context, the OPCW can rightly be regarded as a critical pillar in the international chemical security system, which prevents the proliferation of a barbaric type of WMD.

At the same time, there are grounds for concern. In recent years, the United States and its allies have set out to dismantle the existing system of international institutions, replacing them with some "rules-based order developed by them". This is also reflected in the OPCW activity.

The Organisation's work is highly politicized. The dividing lines between the States Parties to the CWC are deepening. It becomes a regular practice to use the OPCW against certain States that, for one reason or another, turn out to be undesirable to the Euro-Atlantic allies. These processes destroy the Convention regime from within and, should they not be addressed soon, the world risks losing the Organisation as designed by the founding fathers of the Convention.

The Russian Federation was an architect of the Convention and cannot accept steps aimed to unilaterally change the scope of the CWC and the purely technical nature of the Organisation's activities. Any fundamental amendments should be introduced solely with the support of all the States Parties to the Convention, without exception, in accordance with its Article XV. We call upon the States Parties to make every effort to bring the work of the Organisation back within its mandated technical framework with consensus decision-making.

The declining objectivity of the decisions made by the OPCW can be clearly seen in the Syrian "chemical dossier" devised by the United States and its Euro-Atlantic allies. Investigations into the alleged use of chemical weapons in Syria were conducted in violation of the provisions of the Convention and the basic instruments regulating verification. In a number of cases, the results were tailored to fit the framework set by the "clients" to create a pseudo-evidentiary basis for attributing responsibility to the legitimate Syrian Government for the chemical provocations carried out by the Syrian armed opposition sponsored by the West.

The decision forced by a vote in 2018 to authorize the OPCW Technical Secretariat to "identify the perpetrators" for the use of chemical weapons was the next step in the process of destroying the integrity of the CWC and the credibility of the Organisation. The establishment of an "attributing" Investigation and Identification Team (IIT) goes beyond the Organisation's mandate and encroaches onto the exclusive competence of the UN Security Council. The conclusions of this illegitimate entity, made through a compilation of facts, are used to put pressure on States Parties. A concrete example is the decision to suspend Syria's rights and privileges based on the IIT doubtful conclusions taken by vote at the 25th session of the Conference of the States Parties in April 2021. The report on the Douma incident, published in January 2023 by the OPCW Technical Secretariat on the basis of the IIT politicized conclusions, clearly demonstrates the development of this approach. The IIT did not actually conduct any investigation in accordance with the provisions of the Convention, but only compiled five-year-old materials in a version beneficial to Western countries.

Despite the artificial difficulties created both by individual States Parties to the CWC and by the OPCW Technical Secretariat itself with regard to the Syrian "chemical dossier", Damascus continues to cooperate with the Organisation in good faith within the mechanisms set out in the Convention and its additional voluntary commitments. We believe it necessary to reverse the unfounded decision to suspend Syria's rights and privileges and we propose that a relevant decision be prepared by the Conference of the States Parties in this regard.

The Organisation is being devalued in the system of international relations. Since 2018, the "collective West" has launched on its platform a large-scale anti-Russian disinformation campaign with unsubstantiated accusations against the Russian Federation in the alleged "poisoning" of the Skripal father and daughter and Alexey Navalny. We regard these cases exclusively as provocations by Western intelligence services attempting to portray Russia as a violator of the CWC. There are statements with unsubstantiated accusations against Russia and categorical demands to admit guilt and repent. However, the so-called accusers have still not answered the questions posed by the Russian Federation. The requests to the OPCW Technical Secretariat for assistance in the investigation remain without action, and the existing legal mechanisms for cooperation continue to be ignored. Western countries obstinately refuse to interact with the Russian competent authorities in establishing the true circumstances of the incidents with the Skripals and the Russian blogger.

Since December 2021, the Russian Federation has been warning of preparations for chemical provocations in Ukraine by Ukrainian paramilitary formations, including those involving the intelligence services of Western States, providing facts of the Zelenskiy regime's use of chemically hazardous facilities for provocative and terrorist purposes. The Russian Federation has repeatedly brought this information to the attention of the OPCW, and the United Nations Security Council and General Assembly. The attack at the facility "Sumykhimprom" (Sumy) on March 21, 2022, as a result of which large amount of ammonia was released into the atmosphere, and the attack on chemical facility "Azot" (Severodonetsk) on May 31, 2022, resulted in destruction of the container with nitric acid, are the confirmation of such provocations realized in practice.

An essential objective of the Convention is the destruction of existing stockpiles of chemical weapons, both declared and abandoned. The fact that the Russian Federation destroyed its stockpiles of chemical weapons ahead of schedule, despite the financial and economic difficulties it faced, is the sign of its serious approach to the CWC. At the same time, the United States of America is still postponing the full chemical demilitarization of the country. We urge the United States to complete the destruction of its remaining chemical arsenals as soon as possible.

Effective and non-discriminatory implementation of the provisions of Article XI of the Convention remains a key objective of the OPCW. However, statements made in support of efforts under Article XI must be backed up by real action that is not based on selective approaches. In this regard, it is noteworthy that the United States and its allies continue to impose illegal unilateral sanctions in the field of chemical activities against undesirable States Parties to the CWC, which is a flagrant violation of international law in this area and of the provisions of Article XI of the Convention. We call on Western countries to abandon their unlawful sanctions policies which only serves the benefit of promoting their own self-serving purposes.

The reprisal against Syria as a State that voluntarily accepted obligations under the CWC calls into question the possibility of universalization of the Convention, by bringing together all the States that still remain outside its legal framework. Besides, the second component, which is an integral part of universality - the unified interpretation of the provisions of the Convention, opened for signature in 1993, is completely eliminated.

All this undermines the OPCW's credibility with the global community.

The extremely unhealthy situation in the OPCW prevents the positive potential of this once reputable international entity, which received the Nobel Peace Prize, from being realized. For the sensible majority of people, the OPCW is now associated with scandals, manipulation and political pressure. Unfortunately, this situation quite correlates with the general policy of the "collective West" to ensure its dominance within CWC and other multilateral platforms. This relates to the most important conventions - on biological weapons, narcotic and psychotropic substances, Stockholm and Rotterdam Conventions and other international treaties. This is done in order to shift the responsibility for what happens with the trafficking of these substances controlled by abovementioned conventions in their own jurisdiction to other CWC States Parties.

It is envisaged to use CWC verification mechanism in order to strengthen dominance of the West in the framework of other specialized international formats. Australian group - a specialized club serving to meet the interests of the Western countries, is brought to the forefront as a certain alternative to the control mechanism on export of chemicals.

We believe that the States Parties to the Convention that are capable of realistically assessing the current situation need to draw appropriate conclusions and jointly resist the imposition of unjustified decisions on the OPCW governing bodies and its degradation in general.

We call upon the delegations to hold the Fifth Review Conference as effectively as possible and to agree on a final document that will objectively and impartially reflect all the facts of the Convention's operation over the past five years. We are convinced that a successful Conference is only possible if the approaches and interests of all the States Parties to the CWC without exception are duly taken into account.

For our part, we confirm our intention to work constructively.

We request that this statement be circulated as an official document of the Fifth Review Conference and posted in the Catalyst network and on the OPCW website.

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Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov's remarks at the 40th meeting of the Council of the Heads of Constituent Entities of the Russian Federation at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Moscow, May 16, 2023

16 May 2023 12:25

930-16-05-2023



Colleagues,

I am glad to welcome the participants in our 40th anniversary meeting of the Council of the Heads of Constituent Entities of the Russian Federation at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The Council has functioned for almost 20 years, asserting itself - as we believe - as a relevant mechanism that contributes to greater efficiency of the Russian regions' foreign ties. And this was the main goal behind its creation.

At our last meeting, we discussed how to upgrade the regions' international and foreign economic ties with account taken of the new geopolitical realities. We have defined the priorities and outlined practical steps designed primarily to impart additional dynamism to cooperation with states in the Asia Pacific Region, the Middle East, Africa, and Latin America. We really do have many friends there.

I note with satisfaction that our colleagues in the constituent entities of the Russian Federation have heeded our recommendations and launched system-wide efforts to promote relations with our relevant partners. Let me stress that the recommendations on the new areas for developing inter-regional cooperation are of a long-term and truly strategic nature.

Let me emphasise that the level of collaboration with the CIS states, China, India, Iran, TArkiye, and Arab countries has risen significantly in the past period. I would also like to note that the ties between municipalities have intensified considerably as well.

The Russian Embassy in Minsk actively supports the work to develop programmes of region-to-region cross-border cooperation with Belarus, started at the initiative of the Kaliningrad and Pskov regions. It is designed to provide joint funding for this project. Foreign Minister of the Republic of Belarus Sergey Aleinik will arrive in Moscow today. We will discuss this subject with him as well.

Together with the Ministry of Economic Development of Russia and the Ministry of Industry and Trade of Russia, we have considered the initiative on federal level support for the regions' foreign economic activities, an initiative proposed by the Governor of the Lipetsk Region. This kind of support is being provided. But the Governor's initiative formulated certain assessments and prompts on how to make this process more effective. I would like to call on all our colleagues at the Council of the Heads of Constituent Entities of the Russian Federation to submit their observations and proposals to us on what else the federal centre can do to facilitate your foreign ties.

Today's meeting is dedicated to interaction with the Central Asian states. Our relations with Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan are those of alliance and strategic partnership and are based on equality, mutual respect, friendship, and neighbourliness. They are characterised by an intense political dialogue. Quite recently, the heads of the Central Asian states were in Moscow for the Victory Parade and had meetings with President Vladimir Putin. The political dialogue helps to promote active investment cooperation and address issues ensuring a stable growth of trade.

Scientific, educational and humanitarian ties are making good headway. The region has 25 operating branches of leading Russian universities and two joint Slavic universities (Kyrgyz-Russian and Tjik-Russian). About 160,000 citizens of Central Asian states are enrolled in Russian universities each year, with 60,000 of them benefiting from scholarships from the federal budget.

Along with bilateral cooperation, there is an increasingly active six-sided cooperation (CA5+Russia) with each of the Central Asian countries. On October 14, 2022, Astana hosted the first summit in this format. In April of this year, Samarkand hosted the sixth CA5+Russia meeting at the foreign ministers' level.

Today, I hope to exchange views on what additional practical steps could be undertaken in the context of our cooperation with the regions of the Russian Federation. Our speakers have well-established ties with their Central Asian neighbours. I am confident that our discussion will be of much use.

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Pacific Fleet squadron commences joint maneuvering drills in South China Sea waters

16.05.2023

Having passed through the Sea of Japan, the East China Sea and the Philippine Sea, the Pacific Fleet squadron, including corvettes Gromkiy, Sovershenniy and medium sea tanker Pechenga, continues on their course in the Pacific Asia region.

At the moment, the squadron hones joint maneuvering elements in the South China Sea and took part in naval air defence drills, searched for the mock enemy submarines and interacted with the Pacific Fleet naval aviation helicopters.

The Pacific Fleet is present in the Pacific Asia region under the Fleets scheduled combat exercises according to the adopted drills plan.

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Condemning the Arrest of Robert Shonov

US Department of State

Press Statement

Matthew Miller, Department Spokesperson

May 16, 2023

The United States strongly condemns the reported arrest of Robert Shonov, a former employee of U.S. Mission Russia. The allegations against Mr. Shonov are wholly without merit. Mr. Shonov is a Russian national who was employed by the U.S. Consulate General in Vladivostok for more than 25 years. Following the Russian government's April 2021 order forcing termination of all local staff employed at the U.S. Mission to Russia, Mr. Shonov was employed by a company contracted to provide services to U.S. Embassy in Moscow in strict compliance with Russia's laws and regulations.

Like any diplomatic mission in the world - including Russia's Mission to the United States - the U.S. Embassy contracts for local services to operate its diplomatic mission. Mr. Shonov's only role at the time of his arrest was to compile media summaries of press items from publicly available Russian media sources. His being targeted under the "confidential cooperation" statute highlights the Russian Federation's blatant use of increasingly repressive laws against its own citizens.

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Washington Condemns Arrest of Russian Who Worked at US Diplomatic Mission

By VOA News May 16, 2023

Russia has charged one of its citizens, a former employee of the U.S. diplomatic mission in Vladivostok for 25 years, with collaborating with the United States, an arrest the U.S. State Department condemned on Tuesday and said was "wholly without merit."

Russian state news agencies identified the employee as Robert Shonov, 62. The U.S. said he had been employed by the U.S. Consulate General in the far eastern provincial city of Vladivostok until Moscow ordered the facility shut two years ago, forcing termination of all local staff employed by the U.S.

The U.S. said that it, like Russia in the U.S., hires local workers to staff its embassy operations throughout the world. The State Department said that at the time of his arrest, Shonov "was employed by a company contracted to provide services to the U.S. Embassy in Moscow in strict compliance with Russia's laws and regulations."

"Shonov's only role at the time of his arrest was to compile media summaries of press items from publicly available Russian media sources," the State Department said. "His being targeted under the 'confidential cooperation' statute highlights the Russian Federation's blatant use of increasingly repressive laws against its own citizens."

The Russian state news agencies gave no details of the case against Shonov. He was arrested in March and is now being held at Moscow's Leftortovo prison. If convicted, he faces eight years in prison.

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According to the press service of the Parliament of Georgia, Shalva Papuashvili, the Chairman of the Parliament of Georgia, held a meeting with Sahiba Gafarova, the Speaker of the Milli Mejlis of the Republic of Azerbaijan.Papuashvili noted that it is an honor for him to participate in the special session of the Milli Mejlis, which is dedicated to the 100th anniversary of President Heydar Aliyev.The close and amicable relations between the two countries and their people were positively acknowledged by the parties. Emphasis was placed on the importance of enhancing ties between sectoral committees and friendship groups at the parliamentary level, with the aim of benefiting the people of both Georgia and Azerbaijan.The current events in the South Caucasus region were also discussed during the meeting. Special attention was given to the trilateral cooperation between Georgia, Azerbaijan, and Turkey. The parliamentary chairpersons of Georgia and Azerbaijan reached an agreement on further enhancing their parliamentary relations.The initiation of direct flights between Russia and Georgia by Georgian Airways and the Russian airline 'Azimuth' has prompted a response from Andriy Yermak, the head of the administration of the President of Ukraine. Yermak expressed concern over a perceived acceptance of interaction with terrorists and murderers among certain individuals in Georgia."History always remembers those who appear to be oblivious to genocide, Nazism, and their perpetrators, and I believe nobody appreciates such a historical memory...The Georgian people have consistently shown solidarity toward Ukraine. We share a common enemy, responsible for the loss of Georgian lives in the 90s, the events of 2008, and the ongoing killings of Ukrainians since 2014. This enemy poses an existential threat to our nations.However, it seems that some individuals make a deliberate effort to overlook the rocket bombings in Kyiv, the destruction of Maryinka, the tragic loss of children in Bucha, Irpin, Izium, and the abductions of innocent children. They also appear to have forgotten the tragic events in Gori.Perhaps certain individuals believe that these atrocities do not concern them and that interacting with terrorists and murderers is acceptable.This is an erroneous standpoint, as history will eventually bring everything to light and place it in its rightful context," wrote Yermak.
Like-minded partners 'most effective defense' against China: Tsai

ROC Central News Agency

05/16/2023 03:04 PM

Taipei, May 16 (CNA) Taiwan's partnership with like-minded countries will "prove to be the most effective defense of all" against daily Chinese threats, President Tsai Ing-wen () told a summit on Monday.

The president made the comment in a pre-recorded video broadcast at the 2023 Copenhagen Democracy Summit, adding: "We must remain united to deter and to stop [China's] aggressive behavior."

Tsai made particular note of Beijing's "coercive measures," such as the imposition of sanctions, against countries, organizations, and individuals who disagree with or question its behavior.

In addition, she said, authoritarian regimes such as China "actively conduct influence operations to erode our confidence in democratic institutions and freedom" through the spread of disinformation and misinformation.

In the face of China's threats on a daily basis, Tsai said, the commitment to democracy by the people of Taiwan "has never been stronger."

The summit, held May 15-16 in the Danish capital, is organized by the Alliance of Democracies Foundation (AoD), with support from dozens of organizations, including the Taipei-funded Taiwan Foundation for Democracy.

Tsai's remarks on Monday, with a focus on championing Taiwan's democracy and calling for a united front against authoritarianism, echoed her previous three speeches made at the summit in 2020, 2021 and 2022.

Apart from Tsai, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, and President of the Czech Republic Petr Pavel also addressed the summit.

The first day of the summit also featured pre-recorded interviews conducted by AoD Executive Director Jonas Parello-Plesner with Taiwanese nationals Tony Lu () and Jack Yao (), both of whom volunteered in the international legion to fight in the war in Ukraine against Russian troops from March to June 2022.

Lu, who was assigned to send supplies to the front line, said in the interview that he had gone to Ukraine with the belief that "one day people from all around the world will come to help us [in Taiwan]."

Meanwhile, Yao said he felt the need to help stop Russia's aggression against Ukraine, which he said had reminded him of China's threat against Taiwan, adding, "If we don't stop them, we [Taiwanese] will be next."

(By Teng Pei-ju)

Enditem/ASG

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International register to record damage caused by Russia's aggression against Ukraine

Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Finland

16.5.2023

The Council of Europe has long been monitoring Russia's alarming situation of human rights, democracy and the rule of law. For many years, the Council tried to exert influence over Russia by keeping the country as a Member and within the jurisdiction of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). However, Russia launching a full-scale invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022 was the last straw, and the Council decided to expel Russia only three weeks later. Now, the Council of Europe is once again showing its ability and political will to support Ukraine.

On the day of the Summit of Heads of State and Government in Reykjavik on 16 May, an agreement negotiated within the Council of Europe will enter into force, establishing an international Register of Damage caused by the aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine. Finland will be one of the founding members of the register to be placed in The Hague.

International register to collect claims and evidence

The register will collect and record claims and evidence of damage caused by Russia's aggression.

Claims may be filed both by individuals and by legal persons, such as Ukraine's central government and local governments. Only damage that occurred on or after 24 February 2022 will be recorded in the register. In addition, the damage must have occurred in the internationally recognised territory of Ukraine as a result of Russia's violations of international law.

The register does not decide on reparation. It is only the repository of eligible claims and evidence for a separate international mechanism for compensation for damage to be established later. The register's significance will be further accentuated should it take years or decades to establish the mechanism. By founding the register while the conflict is ongoing, the international community can ensure that later reparation decisions will be based on as reliable reports as possible.

The register is a strong message

Establishing the register sends a strong message to Russia and to the whole world. The countries that accede to the register show their unwavering support for peace, common values and the rules-based international order and their desire to ensure that Russia, as the instigator of its illegal invasion of Ukraine, will be made to compensate for the costs of Ukraine's reconstruction and for other damage caused by its war.

The register is a vital step towards holding Russia liable for the damage it has caused. The key idea behind the register and the mechanism for compensation is liability for damages. Under international law, a State can be held liable for damages caused by acts of aggression. Individuals, on the other hand, have criminal liability for war crimes, crimes against humanity and crimes of aggression. This means that while a State can have no criminal liability, it may be held liable for damages caused by action of its political and military leaders that might fall within the scope of criminal liability.

Response from the International Criminal Court

Two questions largely dominate the international debate on the enforcement of criminal liability: how to ensure criminal liability for the crime of aggression and whether to establish a special tribunal for the purpose. However, it is important to remember that the International Criminal Court (ICC) already has jurisdiction over war crimes and similar crimes. The ICC has responded commendably swiftly by collecting evidence while the conflict is still ongoing and by issuing arrest warrants against President Putin and the Commissioner for Children's Rights in his Office.

Valuable support for Ukraine's judicial system

The criminal liability for acts of aggression will be mainly realised through Ukraine's national judicial system. Ukraine's courts will decide on a majority of war-related crimes, such as torture, rape and other methods used by ordinary soldiers that violate the rules of war.

It is vital to support Ukraine's judicial system during and after the war. The efforts to rebuild Ukraine as a democratic state governed by the rule of law must ensure that the judicial system has the necessary resources and competence to try even the most brutal atrocities in accordance with the principles of a fair trial. The Council of Europe supports these efforts through its Action Plan for Ukraine. Finland has been among the largest donors to the action plan.

Anu VAlimAki, Adviser, Finland's permanent representation in the Council of Europe

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Sweden supports relocation of WHO office in solidarity with Ukraine

Government Offices of Sweden

16 May 2023

Sweden and the majority of World Health Organization (WHO) Member States in the WHO European Region have decided to relocate the WHO European Office for the Prevention and Control of Noncommunicable Diseases from Moscow to Copenhagen. The decision was taken in support of Ukraine and enables the WHO to continue its work fighting noncommunicable diseases in Europe.

"I am proud that Sweden can show solidarity with Ukraine while at the same time ensuring that the WHO's vital work fighting noncommunicable diseases can continue. The relocation is part of Sweden's strong and continual political support of Ukraine," says Minister for International Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade Johan Forssell.

Russia has hosted the WHO office for several years, which has made it dependent on Russian funding. This has been a challenge both in practice and in principle. Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine has complicated the office's capacity to offer technical support to countries in Europe. This has had negative consequences for prevention and treatment of noncommunicable diseases in the region.

"I welcome the decision today to relocate the WHO office to Copenhagen. This will decrease Russia's influence and is a show of support for Ukraine, and it enables the WHO to continue its meaningful work in the region. The WHO's work to prevent noncommunicable diseases and improve public health is very important to Sweden and the region as a whole," says Minister for Social Affairs and Public Health Jakob Forssmed.

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The Latvian Foreign Minister: Votes at the UN General Assembly clearly demonstrate a strong international support to Ukraine

Republic of Latvia - Ministry of Foreign Affairs

16.05.2023

On 16 May 2023, during the 4th Summit of Heads of State and Government of the Council of Europe in Reykjavik, Iceland, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Latvia, Edgars Rinkevics, met with the Minister for Foreign Affairs, International Economic Cooperation and Telecommunications of San Marino, Luca Beccari, for a discussion on bilateral cooperation between the two countries and their cooperation in international organisations.

Edgars Rinkevics stated that Latvia was interested in improving and expanding the dialogue between the two countries. "Latvia and San Marino share the same values of peace, freedom, democracy and human rights. Respect for these values paves the way for closer cooperation between our countries. We are interested in working together in the field of science and new technologies," the minister stressed.

Latvia's Foreign Minister thanked San Marino for its support for United Nations (UN) resolutions condemning Russian aggression against Ukraine. "The votes at the UN General Assembly clearly show strong international support to Ukraine. However, joint efforts in multilateral fora must continue. Ukraine will need our support in advancing initiatives at the United Nations to hold Russia accountable for crimes of aggression against Ukraine," the Minister said.

During the meeting, the officials also discussed progress in negotiations on the Association Agreement between the European Union and San Marino.

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US military aid to Kiev could end by midsummer, resupplying not easy: Report

Iran Press TV

Tuesday, 16 May 2023 6:52 PM

The United States has problems providing funds for weapons and munitions to the Ukraine forces fighting against Russia, a US media publication reported.

"The end of Ukraine aid is rapidly approaching and reupping it won't be easy," Politico reported on Monday citing an unnamed source.

Since Russia launched its military campaign to defend the pro-Moscow people in Ukraine in February 2022, the US has sent Kiev tens of billions of dollars worth of weapons including drones, artillery guns, armored vehicles and tanks in addition to advanced Patriot missiles systems and loads of various munitions used in the different weapons.

Politico reported that of the $48 billion aid package approved in December last year only $6 billion is left which will in turn dry up by midsummer, thus raising concerns in Congress.

According to the news site, lawmakers are worried that funding more weapons and munitions to Ukraine amid the looming budget crisis in Washington might be problematic.

Republican lawmakers, who are stalling approval of the Biden administration's budget bill, demand a cut in tax-payers' money going to Ukraine as military aid.

On the other hand, cutting, or even delaying, funds allocated for arms delivery to Kiev might create problems for Ukrainian forces fighting Russian troops.

"It is critical that the administration provide Ukraine with what it needs in time to defend and take back its sovereign territory," Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) told Pentagon leaders during a hearing on Thursday. "We expect the administration not to wait until the eleventh hour if the Ukrainians need more before the end of the fiscal year."

As German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius put it last month, "stopping arms deliveries [to Kiev] will mean the end of Ukraine, and immediately."

In the meantime, Russia has repeatedly warned the West that flooding Ukraine with weapons will only prolong the war and increase the amount of destruction. However, it will in no way stop Moscow from reaching its objectives.

Also, Moscow has warned the countries providing weapons and munitions to Kiev that the Kremlin sees them as legitimate targets for Russian armed forces.

In this regard, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has pointed out that those NATO member states that are arming and training Ukrainian forces are directly engaged in the Ukraine war.

In the meantime, the massive shipments of weapons and munitions sent to Ukraine were used at a record rate, unprecedented since WWII.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, since taking the helm, has been urging the West to supply weapons; however, after Russia launched its special military operation the Ukrainian president's requests became more and more frequent.

In the past few days, Zelensky has held talks with the leaders of Britain, Germany, Italy and France, demanding bigger and better weapons for the Ukrainian forces to fight against the Russian troops defending the pro-Moscow regions.

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Kyiv Targeted By 'Exceptionally' Heavy Air Attack, Authorities Say

By RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service May 16, 2023

Russia launched an "exceptionally dense" series of overnight drone strikes on Kyiv that were largely repelled by the Ukrainian air defenses, officials said early on May 16, as Moscow appeared to step up its air attacks on multiple locations in the eastern region of Donetsk, where the heaviest fighting has been taking place for months.

The uptick in Russian air activity came amid expectations of a long-anticipated Ukrainian counteroffensive as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy completed a European tour that resulted in more pledges for military backing from allies in Rome, Berlin, Paris, and London.

Serhiy Popko, the head of the capital's military administration, said the drone attack -- the eighth targeting Kyiv since the start of this month -- was "exceptional in its density," involving the maximum number of drones "in the shortest period of time."

Popko said that the attack was unsuccessful, with most of the drones "identified and destroyed" by air defenses.

Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko wrote on Telegram that three people were wounded during the attack.

Separately, Russia overnight launched at least 18 missiles, mostly from the air, on various targets in Ukraine, but all of them were shot down by Ukraine's air defenses. the Air Force Command reported on May 16.

It said the attack was three-pronged, coming from the north, south, and east and started at 3:30 a.m. local time.

Along the front line in Donetsk, 48 air attacks were registered over the past 24 hours, the General Staff of the Ukrainian military said in its daily report on May 16.

The military said that Bakhmut, Avdiyivka, and Maryinka continued to be the theater of the fiercest fighting in Donetsk, where 49 combat operations took place over the past 48 hours.

Ukrainian troops pushed Russian forces from chunks of territory around the embattled city of Bakhmut in the east of the country, Ukraine's deputy defense minister said on May 16.

"In the last few days, our troops liberated around 20 square kilometers in the north and south of the outskirts of Bakhmut. At the same time, the enemy is advancing in some measure inside Bakhmut itself and is completely destroying the town with artillery," Hanna Malyar said in a statement on social media.

Malyar's comments could not be independently verified.

On May 15, four civilians were killed in a Russian missile attack on an Avdiyivka hospital, regional Governor Pavlo Kyrylenko said.

Zelenskiy on May 15 said in a video recorded on the train as he traveled back to Kyiv that he was returning with new defense packages, including "more ammunition, stronger weapons for the front, more protection for our people, more political support."

Zelenskiy and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak discussed in London on May 15 a fighter jet coalition that would train Ukrainian pilots on modern warplanes, which he said was a very important because Ukraine currently cannot control the sky.

Ukraine has previously raised the idea of a fighter jet coalition and pressed the United States to join.

Zelenskiy said after his visits with European leader he felt "extremely positive" about the chances of forming the coalition and said there would be "important decisions" in the near future.

In his nightly video address, Zelenskiy said Britain and Poland had agreed to join the coalition.

"Britain -- yes. Poland -- yes. And I am sure France and other partners will join," he said in the video.

French President Emmanuel Macron said later in an interview that France was open to training Ukrainian fighter jet pilots in France and that those training programs could start right away.

Most Western countries, including the United States, have resisted Ukraine's requests for fighter jets over concerns about escalating the war.

With reporting by Reuters and AP

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/ukraine-drones- missiles-strikes/32413558.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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Council Of Europe Summit Seeks To Hold Russia To Account For Waging War In Ukraine

By RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service May 16, 2023

Leaders from across Europe are focused on holding Russia accountable for its invasion of Ukraine at a summit of the 46-member Council of Europe, the continent's guardian of democracy, human rights, and the rule of law.

The summit, which opened on May 16 in Reykjavik, Iceland, was poised to approve a system that would precisely calculate the damages Moscow would have to pay to rebuild Ukraine and compensate victims.

"There will be no reliable peace without justice," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy told the summit by video address from Kyiv.

Zelenskiy, who just returned from a tour of European capitals, thanked Europe for the support and underlining the power of European unity.

He also highlighted Kyiv's claims to have shot down Russian hypersonic missiles earlier on May 16 using newly deployed Western military aid.

"A year ago, we were not able to shoot down most of the terrorists' missiles, especially ballistic ones," Zelenskiy said. "And I am asking one thing now: If we are able to do this, is there anything we can't do?"

The launch of the hypersonic missiles showed that Russia is "trying very hard to improve its ability to kill," while Ukraine is "trying very hard to improve the protection of our people," he said.

Russia has denied deliberately targeting civilians in its attacks, but evidence has shown that its forces have repeatedly hit residential buildings and civilian infrastructure.

The summit, the Council of Europe's first in 18 years, brings together some 30 European heads of state and government. Russia is not among them, having been excluded from the group following the Kremlin's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Belarus, a close ally of Russia, is only represented at the summit as an observer.

By the end of the two-day summit, participants want the outlines of a system in place so Moscow can be held liable for compensation to the victims and allow for Ukraine to start the economic healing process. They are hoping that the United States, which has observer status at the summit, will also back that initiative.

The World Bank in March estimated that Ukraine will need more than $400 billion for reconstruction.

"One of the anticipated outcomes of the Reykjavik Summit is the establishment of a register of damages where all those who have suffered damages, loss, or injury due to Russia's aggression can have them recorded and subsequently redressed, as well as to seek ways to make those who have committed crimes in Ukraine accountable for their actions," the government of Iceland said in a news release at its website.

Zelenskiy said in his video message that the register would lay the groundwork for "a full-fledged compensation mechanism."

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz called for countries to back the register, saying it would "enable us to collectively record the damage caused by the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine" and create a basis for the reconstruction of the country.

Scholz also called for contact with Russia to be maintained in anticipation of the end of the war and the achievement of a just peace.

"Until then, we as the European Council should keep the bridges standing to the representatives of another Russia, another Belarus -- and in this way keep open the perspective of a democratic, peaceful future in both countries -- no matter how unlikely it seems to us today," Scholz said.

With reporting by Reuters, AP, dpa, and AFP

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/russia-ukraine-war- council-of-europe-damages/32414524.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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Shoigu Rejects Ukrainian Claims on Downing of Six Kinzhal Hypersonic Missiles

Sputnik News

20230516

Kiev's words about allegedly shooting down six Russian Kinzhal hypersonic missiles by their air defense system are not true, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu exclusively told Sputnik on Tuesday.

"I have already said it before and I will repeat it again: we have not launched as many Kinzhal missiles as they allegedly shoot down in their statements every time," Shoigu stated. "Moreover, the number of these 'Ukrainian interceptions,' and who really controls the US complexes is still a big question a exceeds our launches by three times. And they mistake the type of missiles all the time. That's why they don't hit them."

The Kinzhal (lit. "Dagger") is one of half-a-dozen new strategic weapons unveiled by Russian President Vladimir Putin in a speech to lawmakers in March 2018. First entering combat duty in December 2017, and seeing extensive flight and combat testing, the nuclear-capable weapon was the first hypersonic missile system to be fielded by any country.

The Kinzhal has a range of more than 2,000 km (1,200 miles). It is capable of reaching a speed of up to Mach 10 (12,250 km/h or 7,612 mph) while also performing evasive maneuvers, which helps the Kinzhal to be virtually invulnerable to enemy air missile defense systems.

A Sputnik

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France Promises to Train Ukrainian Pilots in Bid to Curry Favor With US

Sputnik News

20230516

Oleg Burunov

Training Ukrainian pilots to fly French fighter jets is a protracted process, which may take at least two years, Moscow-based military expert Vasily Dandykin told Sputnik.

French President Emmanuel Macron has said that Paris is open to training Ukrainian fighter jet pilots in France, and that the relevant training programs could start right away.

He likewise told a French broadcaster that he had not discussed supplying warplanes with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky during his visit to France this past weekend.

The remarks about training Ukrainian pilots on French soil indicate Macron's readiness to comply with US policy on Russia, Dandykin underscored.

"In particular, this pertains to Russia's special military operation in Ukraine. Here Paris shows solidarity with London and Berlin, who stick to the goal of defeating Moscow in the conflict, where Kiev plays the role of a proxy and vanguard of the West," he said.

When asked whether the French president is really ready to provide Ukraine with the fighter jets and approve the creation of a so-called "flying coalition," Dandykin suggested that this was another attempt by Paris to have its cake and eat it too, with something that aims "to pacify" Zelensky.

In this vein, the Russian expert pointed to the fact that even if Macron gives the green light for the French-made warplanes to be supplied to Kiev, the Ukrainian pilots training process may take at least two years.

"The question is whether the Zelensky regime will need those fighter jets or not by that time," Dandykin noted, adding that all this will depend on Russia's actions.

Touching upon any possible political repercussions from delivering French warplanes to Ukraine, he said it would mean that France is "utterly and completely entering into confrontation with Russia."

"It is very serious. I think that if this happens, it will be a review of all Russian-French relations, which specifically saw Macron claiming the role of a peacemaker [in the Ukraine conflict]," Dandykin concluded.

A Sputnik

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New START Treaty Aggregate Numbers of Strategic Offensive Arms

US Department of State

May 12, 2023

Under the New START Treaty, the United States and the Russian Federation are obligated to exchange data on treaty-accountable items twice a year. Regrettably, the Russian Federation announced a unilateral and unjustified purported suspension of the Treaty on February 28, 2023. Subsequently, the Russian Federation did not fulfill its obligation to provide updated data in March 2023 and is not implementing other key provisions of the treaty.

As a lawful countermeasure in response to the Russian Federation's violation of its New START Treaty obligations, the United States did not provide its March data update to Russia. In the interest of transparency and the U.S. commitment to responsible nuclear conduct, the United States is voluntarily releasing aggregate data for its nuclear forces covered by the New START Treaty in this Fact Sheet. This data is current as of March 1, 2023. The United States calls on the Russian Federation to return to full compliance with the New START Treaty and all the stabilizing transparency and verification measures contained within it.

Category of Data United States of America Russian Federation Deployed ICBMs, Deployed SLBMs, and Deployed Heavy Bombers 662 Not provided Warheads on Deployed ICBMs, on Deployed SLBMs, and Nuclear Warheads Counted for Deployed Heavy Bombers 1419 Not provided Deployed and Non-deployed Launchers of ICBMs, Deployed and Non-deployed Launchers of SLBMs, and Deployed and Non-deployed Heavy Bombers 800 Not provided





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Release of Aggregate Numbers of Strategic Offensive Weapons

US Department of State

Media Note

Office of the Spokesperson

May 15, 2023

Continuing with its tradition of transparency despite Russia's purported suspension of New START, the United States has voluntarily released aggregate numbers of U.S. strategic offensive arms under the New START Treaty's central limits on nuclear weapons.

The United States continues to view transparency among nuclear weapon states as extremely valuable for reducing the likelihood of misperception, miscalculation, and costly arms competitions. In recent years, the United States has taken many steps to strengthen transparency, predictability, and stability in the nuclear space. Such measures are especially important in periods of high tension.

The United States calls on the Russian Federation to comply with its legally-binding obligations by returning to full implementation of the New START Treaty and all the stabilizing transparency and verification measures contained within it.



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Miami, FL, May 16, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Interstellar Digital LLP, a leading venture marketing agency founded by Kyle White and Maria Lobanova, has been acquired in full by new LLC, to focus more on public relations, branding, and communication for an undisclosed sum. The acquisition will create Interstellar Digital LLC based in Miami that will offer a full range of digital services to clients across various industries including blockchain technologies and non-fungible tokens. Interstellar Digital is led by Maria Lobanova who has a 10 plus year history delivering success to clients.

Kyle White will remain on as a Partner Advisor with the new company, bringing his expertise and experience in scaling startups and structuring communication success. The acquisition makes this Kyles second successful exit from a startup he founded in his career. He is also a sought-after speaker, analyst, and author on blockchain topics having first utilized crypto in 2015. Kyle is an experienced venture marketing Advisor and M&A Executive for over 15 companies raising over $600 million in funding and worked on over $2 billion in acquisitions.

Im thrilled to see Maria Lobanova and her team at Interstellar Digital LLC set up this new structure, said White. Maria is a visionary leader who shares my passion for creating impactful solutions for clients. Together, we delivered exceptional results and value helping Interstellardigital.io to continue to thrive under her leadership.

Maria Lobanova will continue on as the CEO of the Interstellar Digital LLP public relations agency. In addition to Interstellar Digital, she is a contributor to top media outlets including Bitcoin Magazine, HackerNoon, and GQ. Maria started in the crypto industry in 2016 meeting with Vitalik Buterin in Moscow early on in her career. Maria has organized tier one crypto events like Cryptospace Moscow with top industry leaders including the CGO of Binance, the CEO of eToro, and CEO of Metaverse. During CryptoRunway at Art Basel in Miami she spoke on the panel with the CEO of Rarible and the CEO of Doodles. Maria organized the Crypto Gala in Miami sponsored by Polygon, Securitize and other notable companies as well as the Gam3rs Choice Awards.

Im delighted to have acquired Interstellar Digital LLP in full, said Lobanova. Kyle is a blockchain legend who has built an impressive portfolio of clients and projects over the years. His expertise and insights will continue to be invaluable to Interstellar Digital.

Interstellar Digital LLC will operate in Miami but continue to have a global presence. The company will continue to offer its signature services such as public relations, communications, influencer marketing, social media management, community management, and event planning.

Interstellar Digital LLC offers a full range of digital marketing services to clients across various industries like web3, blockchain, AI, and high tech. The company was formed by the acquisition of Interstellar Digital Partnership by Maria Lobanova. The acquisition of Interstellar LLP marks Kyle Whites second successful entrepreneurial exit and he will remain as a Partner advisor with the new company. For more information, visit interstellardigital.io or follow @interstellardigitalpr on Instagram.

Disclaimer : There is no offer to sell, no solicitation of an offer to buy, and no recommendation of any security or any other product or service in this article. This is not investment advice. Please do your own research.

Media Contact :

Contact : Maria Lobanova

Email : contact@interstellardigital.io

Location : Miami, FL

Source: Interstellar Digital
Summit, NJ, May 17, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Boyden, a premier leadership and talent advisory firm with more than 70 offices in over 45 countries, is delighted to welcome Leslie Rohrbacker to its partnership in the United States, based in Summit.

Commenting on her appointment, Leslie said, I am excited to bring my commercial, legal and people expertise into executive search and leadership consulting. From my first meetings with Boyden partners and CEO, Chad Hester, I was attracted by the firms collegiate culture and strong global platform, which complements my more than 15 years in global business environments. I look forward to collaborating with clients to transform and accelerate their growth prospects by attracting, building, and scaling high performing teams.

Leslie joins Boydens global CEO & Board Services, Human Resources and Healthcare & Life Sciences practices. A business advisor throughout her career, Leslie counselled on enterprise risk management, complex commercial and regulatory issues, and employment law as a Deputy General Counsel at The Medicines Company, a publicly traded pharmaceutical company that was acquired by Novartis for $9.7 billion. A career shift from legal counsel to operational leadership led to more than a decade as a Chief People Officer, first at The Medicines Company, and then at multinational law firm Fragomen. Leslie then advanced to Chief Operating Officer at BAL, another global corporate law firm. In all these roles, Leslie attracted and built high performing teams and partnered with the business to drive growth through the attraction and retention of global talent across the C-suite, board, and key strategic roles.

Leslie is also CEO and Founder of a women-owned consulting firm focused on talent and risk management. She began her career as a successful corporate litigator and employment lawyer practicing in large, multi-state law firms. She was an Adjunct Professor of Law at Seton Hall University School of Law.

Leslie is a board member of Embrace Global, a non-profit organization that provides low-cost incubators to prevent neonatal deaths in developing and disaster hit countries, most recently Ukraine, Syria, and Turkey. She is also a member of the Philanthropy Board, Morristown Medical Center Goryeb Childrens Hospital, and a member of the Private Directors Association. A member of Chief, a global network of women executives, Leslie is passionate about DEI as a social and business imperative and is a frequent speaker on diversity & inclusion, change management and organizational transformation. She was the recipient of a peer nominated OnCon Icon Award as a Top 100 Human Resources Professional worldwide. Leslie is a published author and blogger.

Leslie holds a Juris Doctor from Seton Hall University School of Law, and a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from Boston College. She is a Masters Candidate in Library and Information Science at Simmons University. In addition, she has a Certification for Pharmaceutical/Biotech Executives from Wharton and a Healthcare Compliance Certification from Seton Hall University School of Law. She is a professional mediator and is Hogan Certified.

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 2022. For further information, visit www.boyden.com.

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Rome, May 17, 2023 - The AeroSpace Power Conference, the grand event commemorating the 100th anniversary of the Armed Forces, concluded on May 14th with remarkable achievements. Gathering an impressive participation of 1,800 attendees on each day of the event, including 41 foreign delegations and 25 heads of forces from around the globe, the conference stood as a testament to its extraordinary success. Hosted at the captivating and iconic 'La Nuvola di Fuksas' conference centre in Rome, this momentous occasion was organized by Pomilio Blumm, an Italy-based institutional communication agency. The company managed every aspect of the three-day event, from setting up exhibition stands to producing presentation videos and directing the online proceedings.

Over the course of three days, the AeroSpace Power Conference featured a diverse program of debates, speeches, and contributions, encompassing a total of five panels. Key discussions revolved around future challenges related to innovation and technology, comprehensive aerospace strategies and policies, as well as innovation and sustainability within the sector.

Space and aerospace represent the natural extension of the Air Forces operational domain, which, due to the evolution of enabling technologies and challenges, is called upon every day to defend the country from new threats, such as ballistic missiles, space debris or uncontrolled re-entries, which must be identified and tracked in space.

Among the speakers were notable academics, researchers, and both civil and military experts. Air Squadron General Luca Goretti, the Chief of Staff of the Air Force, inaugurated the conference on Friday, May 12th, in the presence of Defense Minister Guido Crosetto, Chief of Defense Staff Admiral Giuseppe Cavo Dragone, and several other authorities. Ferrari CEO Benedetto Vigna was also present. The participation of representatives from NATO, various space agencies, the European Defense Agency, LEONARDO, LUISS, and AVIO further enhanced the panels. The event also welcomed international guests, such as Gen. Hiroaki Uchikura from Japan, Air Chief Marshall Mike Wigston from the UK, and US Under Secretary of Defense Heidi Shyu.

Franco Pomilio expressed his pride in being part of this prestigious event commemorating the centenary of the Air Force. Pomilio Blumm curated the aerospace exhibition, which garnered significant attention and participation. The exhibition attracted an impressive registration of 12,978 individuals, allowing them to explore numerous Air Force stands, partake in enjoyable activities, engage with simulators, and attend thought-provoking film screenings on the 100 years of the Armed Force.

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IBFD launches the 2022 Yearbook on the Protection of Taxpayers Rights (OPTR). The book is a compilation of up-to-date information on the effective protection of taxpayers rights.



AMSTERDAM, May 17, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Prof. Dr Pasquale Pistone and Prof. Dr Philip Baker, Directors of IBFDs OPTR, will present the Yearbook at the 8th International Conference on Taxpayer Rights, hosted by the Center for Taxpayer Rights, explaining some of the main events and trends that arose last year in the protection of taxpayers rights around the world.

The OPTR reports on the protection of taxpayers fundamental rights around the world. The precise and technical information of the OPTR contains reference to taxpayer bills, conventions, and statutes, also in their judicial and administrative interpretation, which explore how states apply this protection in practice.

The OPTR serves as a unique legal basis for developing further research on the legal remedies, including the related project of the International Law Association, that secure the effective protection of taxpayers rights. It is hoped that this may contribute to nudging the convergence towards a global standard in this field.

This publication relies on information gathered in 45 countries and 3 units worldwide up to 31 December 2022, and

monitors the effective implementation into domestic law of legal procedures, safeguards and guarantees associated with taxpayers rights;

provides an annual comparison by jurisdiction of the level of compliance with minimum standards and best practices; and

identifies trends in the practical protection of taxpayers rights.



The basis for the Yearbook consists of surveys supplied by groups of experts appointed from 45 countries, as well as reports from the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, the European Court of Human Rights and the European Court of Justice. The groups of experts incorporate members of tax authorities, the judiciary and academia, as well as ombudspersons and practitioners. The national reports are available here.

If you would like further details, please contact Phil Windus, Senior Marketing Coordinator, at p.windus@ibfd.org.

About OPTR

The IBFD Observatory on the Protection of Taxpayers Rights, established by Prof. Dr Pasquale Pistone and Prof. Dr Philip Baker, is a non-judgemental platform for keeping track of developments in the practical protection of taxpayers rights around the world. It follows the standards established by Prof. Dr Pasquale Pistone and Prof. Dr Philip Baker at the 2015 IFA Congress on The Practical Protection of Taxpayers Fundamental Rights.

Since then, the OPTR has continuously monitored the observance of minimum standards and the adoption of best practices around the world with respect to the guarantee and protection of human rights pertaining to tax matters.

To learn more about the Observatory, please visit the official IBFD academic page or contact optr@ibfd.org.

About IBFD

IBFD is a leading international provider of cross-border tax expertise, with a long-standing history of supporting and contributing to tax research and academic activities. As an independent foundation, IBFD utilizes its global network of tax experts and its Knowledge Centre to serve Fortune 500 companies, governments, international consultancy firms and tax advisers.

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/48eb80db-3017-4801-9ce8-674507d493fb
Dublin, May 17, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Surgical Procedures Market by Surgery Type - Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2023-2030" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

The Surgical Procedures Market size was 294,237 thousand units in 2022, and is predicted to reach 372,837 thousand units by 2030, with a CAGR of 3.1% from 2023 to 2030.

As people grow older, they are more likely to develop age-related health issues such as cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), cancer, osteoarthritis, and others that may require surgical intervention. This, in turn, increases the demand for surgical procedures. With improved medical care and increased access to health services, there is an increase in the number of surgeries performed.

Moreover, older adults are becoming more aware of the importance of preventive care and seeking surgical procedures to prevent potential health issues. According to WHO, between 2015 and 2050, the proportion of the world's population over 60 years will nearly double from 12% to 22%. Governments around the world are investing in healthcare infrastructure and promoting the adoption of surgical procedures to improve the health of their citizens. This has created a favorable environment for the growth of the surgical procedures industry.

However, the high cost associated with surgeries can make surgical procedures unaffordable for many individuals, which can restrain the market growth. On the contrary, the introduction of AR and VR technologies to perform surgeries is expected to generate lucrative opportunities for the market in the coming years.

Segment Overview

The global surgical procedures market is segmented on the on the basis of surgery type and geography.

By surgery type, the market is classified into gynecology surgery, cystectomy, sacrectomy, urology surgery, neurosurgery, orthopedic surgery, general surgery, thoracic surgery, and others.

Region-wise, the market is segmented into North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and RoW.

Regional Analysis



Asia-Pacific market is projected to hold a dominant share by 2030

The rise in R&D activities by the hospitals and manufacturers of surgical devices creates an opportunity for the growth of surgical procedures in the region. For instance, in August 2022, the Torch Project was initiated by the Hospital Management Institute of the National Health Commission (NHC) and supported by Johnson & Johnson MedTech to provide young surgeons with standardized surgical skills training. This plan was expected to cover 2,000 healthcare institutions in China within three years. Such initiatives further propel the growth of the market.

Moreover, the rising cases of heart disease increase the number of surgeries associated with it. According to the Ministry of Health, Labour, and Welfare of Japan, about 162 men per 100,000 people died from heart disease in 2020. Heart diseases, excluding hypertensive heart diseases, were the leading cause of death among the male population in this country. At the same time, malignant neoplasm was the leading cause of death among females in 2021. Therefore, the demand for surgical procedures is expected to increase in the coming years to treat heart-related diseases.

KEY BENEFITS

The surgical procedures market report provides a quantitative analysis of the current market and estimations from 2023 to 2030. This analysis assists in identifying the prevailing market opportunities.

The study comprises a deep-dive analysis of the surgical procedures market trends, including current and future trends for depicting prevalent investment pockets in the market.

The information related to key drivers, restraints, and opportunities and their impact on the surgical procedures market is provided in the report.

The competitive analysis of the market players along with their market share in the surgical procedures market is provided in the report.

The SWOT analysis and Porter's Five Forces model are elaborated in the study.

The value chain analysis in the market study provides a clear picture of the role of stakeholders.

Key Topics Covered:





1. Introduction

2. Surgical Procedures Market- Executive Summary

3. Market Overview

3.1. Market Definition and Scope

3.2. Market Dynamics

3.2.1 Drivers

3.2.1.1. Rising Incidence of Chronic Diseases Drives the Growth of the Surgical Procedure Market

3.2.1.2. Technological Advancements in the Field of Medical Science

3.2.1.3. Increasing Adoption of Ambulatory Services by Individuals

3.2.1.4. Growing Geriatric Population Increases the Demand for Surgical Procedures

3.2.2 Restraints

3.2.2.1. High Cost of Surgical Instruments Restrain the Growth of the Surgical Procedures Market

3.2.2.2. Stringent Policies by the Regulatory Bodies

3.2.3 Opportunities

3.2.3.1. Introduction of Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality (Ar and Vr) During the Surgical Procedures.

4. Global Surgical Procedures Market, by Surgery Type

4.1. Overview

4.2. Urology

4.2.1 Global Urology Market, by Surgery Type

4.2.1.1. Prostatectomy

4.2.1.2. Prostatectomy Market, by Region

4.2.1.3. Partial Nephrectomy

4.2.1.4. Partial Nephrectomy Market, by Region

4.2.1.5. Cystectomy

4.2.1.6. Cystectomy Market, by Region

4.2.1.7. Sacrectomy

4.2.1.8. Sacrectomy Market, by Region

4.2.2 Urology Market, by Region

4.3. Orthopedics

4.3.1 Global Orthopedics Market, by Surgery Type

4.3.1.1. Open Surgery Market, by Region

4.3.1.2. Robotic Surgery Market, by Region

4.3.1.3. Laparoscopic Surgery Market, by Region

4.3.2 Orthopedics Market, by Region

4.4. Neurosurgery

4.4.1 Global Neurosurgery Market, by Surgery Type

4.4.1.1. Open Surgery Market, by Region

4.4.1.2. Robotic Surgery Market, by Region

4.4.1.3. Laparoscopic Surgery Market, by Region

4.4.2 Neurosurgery Market, by Region

4.5. Gynaecology

4.5.1 Global Gynaecology Market, by Surgery Type

4.5.1.1. Hysterectomy

4.5.1.1.1. Global Hysterectomy Market, by Gynaecology

4.5.1.1.1.1. Open Surgery Market, by Region

4.5.1.1.1.2. Robotic Surgery Market, by Region

4.5.1.1.1.3. Laparoscopic Surgery Market, by Region

4.5.1.2. Hysterectomy Market, by Region

4.5.1.3. Myomectomy

4.5.1.3.1.1. Open Surgery Market, by Region

4.5.1.3.1.2. Robotic Surgery Market, by Region

4.5.1.3.1.3. Laparoscopic Surgery Market, by Region

4.5.1.4. Myomectomy Market, by Region

4.5.1.5. C Section Market, by Region

4.5.2 Gynaecology Market, by Region

4.6. General Surgery

4.6.1 Global General Surgery Market, by Surgery Type

4.6.1.1. Lower Anterior Resection

4.6.1.1.1. Global Lower Anterior Resection Market, by General Surgery

4.6.1.1.1.1. Open Surgery Market, by Region

4.6.1.1.1.2. Robotic Surgery Market, by Region

4.6.1.1.1.3. Laparoscopic Surgery Market, by Region

4.6.1.2. Lower Anterior Resection Market, by Region

4.6.1.3. Esophagectomy

4.6.1.3.1. Global Esophagectomy Market, by General Surgery

4.6.1.3.1.1. Open Surgery Market, by Region

4.6.1.3.1.2. Robotic Surgery Market, by Region

4.6.1.3.1.3. Laparoscopic Surgery Market, by Region

4.6.1.4. Esophagectomy Market, by Region

4.6.1.5. Gastrectomy

4.6.1.5.1. Global Gastrectomy Market, by General Surgery

4.6.1.5.1.1. Open Surgery Market, by Region

4.6.1.5.1.2. Robotic Surgery Market, by Region

4.6.1.5.1.3. Laparoscopic Surgery Market, by Region

4.6.1.6. Gastrectomy Market, by Region

4.6.1.7. Colectomy

4.6.1.7.1. Global Colectomy Market, by General Surgery

4.6.1.7.1.1. Open Surgery Market, by Region

4.6.1.7.1.2. Robotic Surgery Market, by Region

4.6.1.7.1.3. Laparoscopic Surgery Market, by Region

4.6.1.8. Colectomy Market, by Region

4.6.1.9. Cholecystectomy

4.6.1.9.1. Global Cholecystectomy Market, by General Surgery

4.6.1.9.1.1. Open Surgery Market, by Region

4.6.1.9.1.2. Robotic Surgery Market, by Region

4.6.1.9.1.3. Laparoscopic Surgery Market, by Region

4.6.1.10. Cholecystectomy Market, by Region

4.6.1.11. Pancreatectomy

4.6.1.11.1. Global Pancreatectomy Market, by General Surgery

4.6.1.11.1.1. Open Surgery Market, by Region

4.6.1.11.1.2. Robotic Surgery Market, by Region

4.6.1.11.1.3. Laparoscopic Surgery Market, by Region

4.6.1.12. Pancreatectomy Market, by Region

4.6.1.13. Ventral Hernia Repair

4.6.1.13.1. Global Ventral Hernia Repair Market, by General Surgery

4.6.1.13.1.1. Open Surgery Market, by Region

4.6.1.13.1.2. Robotic Surgery Market, by Region

4.6.1.13.1.3. Laparoscopic Surgery Market, by Region

4.6.1.14. Ventral Hernia Repair Market, by Region

4.6.1.15. Inguinal Hernia Repair

4.6.1.15.1. Global Inguinal Hernia Repair Market, by General Surgery

4.6.1.15.1.1. Open Surgery Market, by Region

4.6.1.15.1.2. Robotic Surgery Market, by Region

4.6.1.15.1.3. Laparoscopic Surgery Market, by Region

4.6.1.16. Inguinal Hernia Repair Market, by Region

4.6.2 General Surgery Market, by Region

4.7. Thoracic Surgery

4.7.1 Global Thoracic Surgery Market, by Surgery Type

4.7.1.1. Lobectomy

4.7.1.1.1. Global Lobectomy Market, by Thoracic Surgery

4.7.1.1.1.1. Open Surgery Market, by Region

4.7.1.1.1.2. Robotic Surgery Market, by Region

4.7.1.1.1.3. Laparoscopic Surgery Market, by Region

4.7.1.2. Lobectomy Market, by Region

4.7.1.3. Segmentectomy

4.7.1.3.1. Global Segmentectomy Market, by Thoracic Surgery

4.7.1.3.1.1. Open Surgery Market, by Region

4.7.1.3.1.2. Robotic Surgery Market, by Region

4.7.1.3.1.3. Laparoscopic Surgery Market, by Region

4.7.1.4. Segmentectomy Market, by Region

4.7.1.5. Posterior Mediastinal Tumor

4.7.1.5.1. Global Posterior Mediastinal Tumor Market, by Thoracic Surgery

4.7.1.5.1.1. Open Surgery Market, by Region

4.7.1.5.1.2. Robotic Surgery Market, by Region

4.7.1.5.1.3. Laparoscopic Surgery Market, by Region

4.7.1.6. Posterior Mediastinal Tumor Market, by Region

4.7.2 Thoracic Surgery Market, by Region

4.8. Cardiovascular Surgery

4.8.1 Global Cardiovascular Surgery Market, by Surgery Type

4.8.1.1. Open Surgery Market, by Region

4.8.1.2. Robotic Surgery Market, by Region

4.8.1.3. Laparoscopic Surgery Market, by Region

4.8.2 Cardiovascular Surgery Market, by Region

4.9. Others

4.9.1 Others Market, by Region

5. Global Surgical Procedures Market, by Region

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/rldha7

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AUSTIN, Texas, May 17, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- LaunchPad Home Group (LaunchPad), the nations premier provider of home inspection and residential services, announced today that its subsidiary Residential Inspector of America (RIA) has acquired Discovery Inspections (Discovery) of Fayetteville, GA.



Serving the Fayetteville and surrounding areas for the past 25 years, Discoverys decades of experience and attention to customer care has led it to become the leader in its core markets for residential inspection services.

Our recent partnership with LaunchPad and Residential Inspector of America is already showing tremendous benefits to our clients and referral sources alike, said Discoverys owner Gary Sloan. We now cover a much larger area of Atlanta, have more available inspection time slots, and additional inspection services. Our common business cultures, deep inspection experience, and commitment to a positive customer experience have been key elements in this smooth transition.

Scott Swayze, CEO for LaunchPad, said: We are excited to partner with Gary and Kay Sloan and welcome the crew from Discovery to join our team. Discovery has built a customer centric culture and the team will fit well with RIAs growth focused mentality.

Residential Inspector of America (RIA)

RIA is the largest and most prominent home inspection provider in the Atlanta area providing the full breadth of inspection services. Founded in 1989, RIA has developed a culture built on a growth mindset focused on technical excellence and exceptional client service. Over the past several years, RIA has partnered with three inspection companies in Nashville (API), Charleston (SBS), and Jacksonville (HPI) to expand its services in these markets and broaden its geographic reach.

About LaunchPad Home Group

LaunchPad Home Group is a family of regional home inspection and services brands sharing relationships, support systems, best practices, and capital base for the mutual growth of our brands. LaunchPads mission is to create lifelong relationships by simplifying home ownership at every stage of the journey, from inspections to remodeling to day-to-day safekeeping and maintenance. For more information, visit www.launchpadhomegroup.com.

Today, with the help of private equity investor RFE Investment Partners, LaunchPad is the fastest growing residential inspection company in the US and provides a full suite of services to assist customers in their home ownership journey.

About RFE Investment Partners

RFE Investment Partners is a private equity firm focused on making control investments in established small market companies located in the U.S. RFE is a long-standing firm founded in 1980 with over 40 years of experience investing in the lower middle market. The firms investment strategy is to transform its portfolio companies from the lower end of the market to fully professionalized and market-leading middle-market companies. RFE is currently investing out of Fund IX. For more information, visit www.rfeip.com.
COVINGTON, Ohio, May 17, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Marias Technology, a provider of software testing and implementation services to the insurance industry, has been contracted by Illinois Mutual Life Insurance Company to provide software testing services for their companys policy administration system.

Marias has a strong reputation for their software testing services, said Rich Tarkowski, Vice President of Information Technology at Illinois Mutual. We are confident they will work well alongside our staff to enhance our existing testing efforts.

Under the terms of the agreement, Marias will work closely with Illinois Mutual staff members to provide software testing services for their policy administration system. This agreement further reinforces the recent Marias expansion into the life and disability insurance sector of the industry.

We are very excited to be working with Illinois Mutual, said R. Christopher Chris Haines, President and CEO of Marias. We are grateful to Rich and his team for this opportunity, and what it means to our continued expansion into life and disability insurance.

About Marias Technology

Marias Technology, headquartered in Covington, Ohio, a privately held company, offers insurance technology services to property/casualty and life/disability insurance companies. Services range from system testing and configuration to defining specifications and defect analysis and investigation. For more information, please visit www.mariastechnology.com, email info@mariastechnology.com , or call 866-611-2212.

About Illinois Mutual

Illinois Mutual, located in Peoria, Illinois, is an experienced provider of life insurance, disability income insurance and voluntary worksite insurance products. Founded by the same family that leads the Company today, Illinois Mutual has demonstrated a strong commitment to employees, agents and policyowners for more than 110 years. Additional company information is available at www.IllinoisMutual.com.

Media Contact:

JoAnna Bennett

201-341-2360

joanna@obriencg.com




Basseterre, May 17, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- St Kitts and Nevis's Citizenship by Investment Programme is the most respected and oldest programme in the world. Founded in 1984, it has since revolutionised the investment migration industry and has catapulted the twin federation economy to become one of the most sustainable nations in the Caribbean region.

The Citizenship by Investment Unit launched a Limited Time Offer under the Sustainable Growth Fund investment option that is available from 1 January 2023 until 30 June 2023. This once-in-a-lifetime opportunity offers investors the chance to contribute a reduced minimum of US$125,000 and a processing time of 60 days. From 1 July 2023, the minimum contribution will go back to US$150,000 and the processing time of 90 days for Non-Accelerated Applications, Accelerated Applications are required to pay a premium due diligence fee.

Funds accumulated through the Sustainable Growth Fund support economic and social development in the nation. There are multiple areas where the funds are allocated to ensure the economic and social objectives are successfully implemented.

Climate resilience and adaption to climate change

St Kitts and Nevis climate conditions have prompted the twin federation to assess their risks and find innovative ways to become more resilient to climate change. The Sustainable Growth Fund has effectively prepared the twin island state to address climate change issues and respond with environmentally friendly solutions.

The Sustainable Growth Fund investment option is aiding the government's commitment to shift the country into 100 per cent renewable energy and reduce carbon emissions to 61 per cent.

Education

Empowering Kittians and Nevisians with the knowledge to hone their skills leads to sustainable economic and social development. The government is using a percentage of the funds generated from the programme to support the education system.

Currently, the government has initiated educational plans to improve the quality of education in the country such as the Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) framework.

On 23 February 2023, St Kitts and Nevis Ambassador to UNESCO in Paris, H.E. David P. Doyle, met with the Japan Ambassador for UNESCO, His Excellency Atsuyuki Oike, and his Deputy Permanent Delegate and Minister, Ms. Hirayama Naoko, to extend their appreciation to the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education, Youth, Social Development, Gender Affairs, Aging and Disabilities, Honourable Dr. Geoffrey Henley.

The Ministry of Education in St Kitts and Nevis received a grant of US$90 000,00, from the Japanese Fund-in-Trust to equip them to develop an Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) framework for the countrys education sector.

The Japan-fund-in-trust is very welcome and will significantly scale up St Kitts and Nevis institutional capacity in developing an ESD plan applicable across all sectors of the Federations education and training framework. Ambassador Doyle said.

Healthcare

St Kitts and Nevis' healthcare sector is an essential part of sustaining the economy. There are 11 healthcare centres, including four hospitals for citizens to attend to their maternal and child healthcare and chronic disease management needs.

As the Minister of Health and Social Security, Prime Minister Drew is focusing on three major developments to strengthen the quality of healthcare in St Kitts and Nevis. These are Universal Health Care, Corporatization of the Joseph N. France General Hospital and strengthening the relations with third-party organizations.

Minister Drew asserted that Universal Health Care remains a priority for the government of St Kitts and Nevis and added that the government is geared to start Universal Health Care, which will go a long way in opening up access to quality healthcare for all Kittians and Nevisians.

The Sustainable Growth Fund has supported the policies in national healthcare insurance and advanced medical equipment in hospitals to ensure that locals and tourists have access to quality healthcare facilities with advanced technologies. These initiatives encourage the population to seek medical assistance around the twin federation, without having to leave the country.

Infrastructure

The Government of St Kitts and Nevis allocate a percentage of funds to infrastructure development projects.

Prime Minister Dr. Drew has highlighted on several occasions that the construction sector continues to play a significant role in the development of St Kitts and Nevis.

The construction sector, an important engine for growth and development here in St Kitts and Nevis over the years, has contributed on average five per cent to job creation and about 16 per cent to our GDP. In the coming year [2023], the Government will initiate the construction of the Renaissance Housing Programme, which will over the next five years construct 2 000 energy efficient homes around the island.

The National Housing Corporation (NHC) commenced the first phase of building in the first quarter of 2023 with the construction of 100 homes.

Tourism

The tourism sector significantly contributes to St Kitts and Nevis's GDP, as it is the main source of income by supporting an estimated 9 per cent GDP growth in 2022. The Sustainable Growth Fund has supported the recovery of tourism post-pandemic, by employing a large percentage of staff to manage the increasing tourism capacity.

The twin federation is renowned for its distinct tourist destinations and recognised tourism status. St Kitts and Nevis welcomes thousands of visitors, with almost 540 thousand tourists having visited in 2022. The country is determined to warmly welcome thousands more throughout 2023.

Reasons to choose the Sustainable Growth Fund investment option

Understanding where the funds are used in the economic and social development of the nation, questions arise as to how investors will benefit from the Sustainable Growth Fund. The following are some of the many benefits that investors can explore.

Citizenship

An opportunity to invest in St Kitts and Nevis through the Sustainable Growth Fund investment option will offer businesspeople alternative citizenship. Eligible investors and their families receive prestigious citizenship, by undergoing stringent due diligence processes. This investment option is the most affordable and fastest processing time of 60 days during the Limited Time Offer.

Political and economic stability

The Government of St Kitts and Nevis has a proactive approach to ensuring policies are in place to create stability in the country and soften the impact of the cycles in the economy.

English speaking country

English is the official language in the country since St Kitts and Nevis are the first islands to be colonised by the British and French in the 1620s, and became a self-governing state in 1967, in association with Great Britain.

The English language creates ease for international and local businesses to work together in a sustainable economy.

Beautiful landscapes

The twin federation is known for its tropical flora and mesmerising beaches. The atmosphere is mixed tranquillity, modern infrastructure, thrill-seeking adventures and luxurious properties.

Contributing towards the Sustainable Growth Fund is an opportunity to acquire alternative citizenship with a multitude of benefits. St Kitts and Nevis provide investors with business opportunities in its stable and thriving economy.

Attachment
Covina, May 17, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Polysilicon is also known as polycrystalline silicon and is commonly used in electronics industries. A large number of polysilicon is used in the manufacturing of solar cells, which is consumed by the solar photovoltaics sector.

Government initiatives and rapid growth in industrialization have contributed to Polysilicon market growth. The presence of major companies, growing strategic partnerships and concern towards renewable energy sources is further anticipated to increase the demand for Polysilicon market growth. Growing demand for the solar power sector has become a significant contribution to target market growth. Government initiatives to lower the cost of solar products have further facilitated market growth. Furthermore, growing consumption of electronics products is expected to fruitful the demand for Polysilicon market growth.

What were the major breakthroughs in market research in the past year?

In December 2021, Xinyi Solar and Xinyi Glass agreed to develop new production base Xinyi Siliocn in Yunnan, China to develop production facilities of polysilicon with capacity of 60,000 MT (metric tons) in China.

Analyst View:

Government initiatives in lowering the cost of solar products have become a major factor in market growth. Rising demand from the solar power sector has further fueled the demand for market growth. Growing expansion of polysilicon industries is expected to propel the Polysilicon market growth in the coming years.

The polysilicon market is a key component of the global solar energy industry and plays a crucial role in the production of photovoltaic (PV) cells and modules. Analysts view the polysilicon market positively due to the growing demand for solar energy and the increasing installation of solar power systems worldwide. The market is driven by factors such as government incentives, renewable energy targets, and the declining costs of solar power.

Browse 60 market data tables* and 35 figures* through 140 slides and in-depth TOC on

Polysilicon Market, By End-User Industry (Electronics, Solar PV (Multi-crystalline Solar Panel and Mono-crystalline Solar Panel), and By Region (North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and Middle East & Africa) - Trends, Analysis and Forecast till 2032

Key Market Insights from the report:

Polysilicon Market accounted for US$ 8.5 billion in 2022 and is estimated to be US$ 15.4 billion by 2032 and is anticipated to register a CAGR of 5.8%. The Polysilicon Market is segmented based on End-User Industry and Region.

Based on End-User Industry, Polysilicon Market is segmented into Electronics, Solar PV (Multi-crystalline Solar Panel and Mono-crystalline Solar Panel).

By Region, the Polysilicon Market is segmented into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, Middle East & Africa.

Competitive Landscape & their strategies of Polysilicon Market:

The prominent players operating in the Polysilicon Market includes,

OCI Company Ltd.

REC Silicon ASA

Wacker Chemie AG

Mitsubishi Materials Corporation

CSG Holdings Co. Ltd.

TBEA Co. Ltd.

Qatar Solar Technologies

Hanwha Chemicals Co. Ltd.

Hemlock Semiconductor Corporation

Asia Silicon and others.

Report Scope:

Attribute Details Base year for estimation 2022 Forecast period 2022  2032 Market representation Revenue in USD Billion & CAGR from 2022 to 2032 Market Segmentation By End-User Industry - Electronics, Solar PV (Multi-crystalline Solar Panel and Mono-crystalline Solar Panel) Regional scope North America - U.S., Canada



Europe - UK, Germany, Spain, France, Italy, Russia, Rest of Europe



Asia Pacific - Japan, India, China, South Korea, Australia, Rest of Asia-Pacific



Latin America - Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Rest of Latin America



Middle East & Africa - South Africa, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Rest of Middle East & Africa Report coverage Revenue forecast, company share, competitive landscape, growth factors, and trends

What are the Recent Drivers in the Polysilicon Market?

Increasing Solar Energy Installations: The global push towards renewable energy, particularly solar power, has led to a significant increase in solar energy installations. This surge in demand for solar panels and modules, which heavily rely on polysilicon, is a key driver for the polysilicon market. Government incentives, favorable policies, and declining costs of solar energy have further accelerated the adoption of solar power, driving the demand for polysilicon. Technological Advancements: Continuous advancements in polysilicon production technologies have led to increased efficiency and cost-effectiveness. Improved manufacturing processes, such as fluidized bed reactors and upgraded metallurgical-grade silicon (UMG-Si) production, have helped lower production costs and increase polysilicon purity. These technological advancements enhance the competitiveness of polysilicon in the solar energy market. Growing Environmental Consciousness: Increasing awareness about climate change and the need for sustainable energy sources have driven the demand for clean energy solutions like solar power. Polysilicon, as a crucial component of solar cells, is considered environmentally friendly compared to conventional energy sources. The growing emphasis on reducing carbon emissions and achieving renewable energy targets has boosted the demand for polysilicon. Government Policies and Incentives: Governments worldwide have implemented supportive policies and incentives to promote the adoption of solar energy. Feed-in tariffs, tax credits, and renewable energy targets encourage investment in solar power generation, leading to increased demand for polysilicon. Governments are also focusing on domestic production of polysilicon to reduce reliance on imports and promote local manufacturing. Emerging Markets: Emerging economies, particularly in Asia, are witnessing rapid growth in solar energy installations. Countries like China, India, and Southeast Asian nations are investing heavily in solar power infrastructure, contributing to the rising demand for polysilicon. The expansion of the middle class, urbanization, and increasing energy consumption in these regions further drive the growth of the polysilicon market.

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Pune, May 17, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- As per SNS Insider, the Artificial Intelligence in Military Market reached a valuation of USD 8412.79 million in 2022 and is predicted to attain USD 28980.26 million by 2030, exhibiting a compound annual growth rate of 16.72% from 2023 to 2030.

Market Overview

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has been adopted by militaries around the world to enhance their capabilities, improve efficiency, and reduce risks to human lives. The use of AI in military operations has the potential to revolutionize the way wars are fought and won. One of the main areas where AI is used in the military is in autonomous systems, such as drones and unmanned ground vehicles. These systems are equipped with AI algorithms that enable them to operate independently, without the need for constant human control.

Market Analysis

The growth of artificial intelligence in military market is being driven by a range of factors, including increased government spending on R&D, the growing adoption of big data in the defense industry, private investment in AI-based military technology, and the incidence of animosity and cross-border wars. These factors are expected to continue driving growth in the AI in military market in the years ahead, as governments and private companies work to develop highly advanced military technologies that can keep pace with rapidly evolving threats. Governments are investing in advanced military technologies to enhance their military capabilities and to protect their borders from external threats. This is leading to the development of highly sophisticated AI-based systems that can detect and neutralize threats before they become a danger.

Get a Sample Report of Artificial Intelligence in Military Market Report@ https://www.snsinsider.com/sample-request/1230

Key Company Profiles Listed in this Report are:

The major key players are Lockheed Martin Raytheon, Spark Cognition, BAE Systems Leidos, IBM, Northrop Grumman Thales Group, Charles River Analytics, General Dynamics L3 Harris Technologies, Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Ltd, and other players.

Impact of Recession on Artificial Intelligence in Military Industry

The impact of a recession on the artificial intelligence in military market is complex and multifaceted. While a recession can pose challenges to the growth and development of the AI industry, it can also present opportunities for innovation and investment in strategic technologies.

Artificial Intelligence in Military Market Report Scope:

Report Attributes Details Market Size in 2022 US$ 8412.79 Million Market Size by 2030 US$ 28980.26 Million CAGR CAGR of 16.72% From 2023 to 2030 Base Year 2022 Forecast Period 2023-2030 Historical Data 2020-2021 Artificial Intelligence in Military Market: Key Segmentation  By Technology (Machine Learning, Computer vision)

 By Application (Information Processing, Cyber Security, Future Unmanned Aircraft System (FUAS), Logistics, Others)

 By Offering (Software, Hardware, and Services)

 By Installation Type

 By Platform 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 artificial intelligence in military market has been witnessing rapid growth in North America, which has registered the largest revenue share. The major countries in North America, particularly the United States, have been investing heavily in artificial intelligence technologies to enhance their military capabilities. The U.S. dominates this sector due to its significant investment in research and development of AI systems. The United States has been leading the way in the development of advanced military technologies for decades.

Do you have any specific queries related to this research study? Ask Your Query@ https://www.snsinsider.com/enquiry/1230

Key Takeaway from Artificial Intelligence in Military Market Study

The information processing segment of the market is poised for significant growth in the coming years. As military organizations continue to generate vast amounts of data, the need for advanced algorithms and machine learning techniques to process and analyze this data will only increase.

The machine learning is expected to be one of the dominant segments of the market. It has the potential to revolutionize the way the military operates in a variety of areas, from autonomous weapons to logistics.

Recent Developments Related to Artificial Intelligence in Military Market

Red Cat , a leading provider of drone products and services, has announced its partnership with Athena AI, an AI and computer vision software company, to enhance the capabilities of the new Teal 2 military drone. The partnership aims to equip the Teal 2 drone with cutting-edge AI technology and computer vision capabilities that will enable it to perform complex missions more effectively and efficiently.

, a leading provider of drone products and services, has announced its partnership with Athena AI, an AI and computer vision software company, to enhance the capabilities of the new Teal 2 military drone. The partnership aims to equip the Teal 2 drone with cutting-edge AI technology and computer vision capabilities that will enable it to perform complex missions more effectively and efficiently. Thales, a leading technology company, has partnered with LuxCarta, a geospatial intelligence solutions provider, to offer cutting-edge artificial intelligence-powered solutions for military intelligence and security operations.

Table of Contents

1. Introduction

2. Research Methodology

3. Market Dynamics

4. Impact Analysis

4.1 COVID-19 Impact Analysis

4.2 Impact of Ukraine- Russia War

4.3 Impact of Ongoing Recession on Major Economies

5. Value Chain Analysis

6. Porters 5 forces model

7. PEST Analysis

8. Artificial Intelligence in Military Market Segment, by Technology

9. Artificial Intelligence in Military Market Segment, by Application

10. Artificial Intelligence in Military Market Segment, by Offering

11. Artificial Intelligence in Military Market Segment, by Installation Type

12. Artificial Intelligence in Military Market Segment, by Platform

13. Regional Analysis

14. Company Profiles

15. Competitive Landscape

16. Conclusion

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PARIS and BILBAO, Spain, May 17, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Virtual reality company Virtualware (EPA:MLVIR) has distributed in its first month of trading a total of 52,602 shares among most of its employees, with a total value of more than 315,612 euros. In total, the company has distributed shares among 42 of its employees, those with more than one year of experience in the company.



The distribution was decided prior to the IPO, and announced at the Information Document sent to Euronext in the weeks prior to the bell ringing, which took place on April 20. Virtualware, founded in 2004, is a leader in the virtual reality industry in Europe.

The company has experienced significant growth in recent years, with a 14% increase in sales during 2022 compared to the previous year, reaching 3,219 million. This growth has been driven largely by the adoption of its VIROO platform, which enables the easy development and deployment of virtual reality applications.

Employee stock ownership is part of Virtualware's strategy to recognize and reward its staff for their contribution to the company's success. By sharing ownership of the company with its employees, Virtualware hopes to improve engagement and job satisfaction, and attract and retain talent in a highly competitive market.

This move also reflects management's confidence in the company's future and the continued growth of the industrial virtual reality market. "This stock distribution to our employees is a recognition of their dedication and commitment.

Each member of our team has played an essential role in our success and growth, and we wanted to give them the opportunity to share in the fruits of their labor. Our people are our most valuable asset and we are excited to continue to grow together in this exciting virtual reality industry," said Unai Extremo, CEO of the listed company.

With a broad customer base that includes multinationals and organizations such as GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy, Ontario Power Generation, Petronas, Iberdrola, Alstom, Guardian Glass, Gestamp, Danone, Johnson & Johnson, Biogen, Bayer, ADIF, the Spanish Ministry of Defense, El Retono Technical University and EAN University, Virtualware is well positioned to continue expanding in the global market.




Dublin, May 17, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "U.S. Electric Farm Tractors Market- Size, Trends, Competitive Analysis and Forecasts (2023-2028)" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.



The electric farm tractor market in U.S. was worth $220 million in 2021. However, the adoption of electric farm tractors is still in the early stages, and traditional diesel-powered tractors are the dominant choice for most farmers.

The high upfront costs of electric tractors compared to diesel-powered tractors is a major barrier to adoption for most farmers, as well as concerns over their range, charging infrastructure, and power capacity.



Another restraining factor for adopting electric farm tractors is insufficient charging infrastructure in rural areas. While electric tractors can be charged using standard electrical outlets, this can be time-consuming and impractical for larger farms. To overcome this challenge, some companies are exploring mobile charging solutions, such as battery trailers or swap stations.



Despite these challenges, the adoption of electric farm tractors is expected to grow in the U.S. as more farmers recognize the benefits of electric power and the technology continues to improve. In addition, electric tractors are becoming more popular among the increasing number of hobby farmers in the U.S. as they offer lower maintenance costs and a quieter and more comfortable driving experience.

Government subsidies to promote electric tractors and a growing emphasis on precision farming are other driving factors of electric tractors sales. In addition, rising fuel prices are generating interest in electric tractors among farmers.



The electric farm tractor market in the U.S. is dominated by utility tractors followed by row crop tractors. However, the orchard-type tractor is forecasted to be the fastest-growing segment in the country. Lead-acid batteries dominate the U.S. electric farm tractor market; however, during the forecast period, the adoption of lithium-ion batteries is expected to grow faster than lead-acid batteries.



Competitive Landscape



Several companies offer electric farm tractors in the U.S., including Solectrac, Monarch Tractor, Escorts Limited, John Deere, Kubota, and New Holland.

The strategies adopted by major electric farm tractor manufacturers in the U.S. are developing and introducing new electric and hybrid tractors, aggressive marketing to create awareness among farmers, collaborations with financial institutions to provide loans to farmers to purchase electric tractors, the rapid expansion of sales and dealer network and research to reduce the cost of electric tractors to make it affordable to the farmers.



Some of the strategies of major players are as follows:

John Deere: John Deere has been investing heavily in electric tractors. In 2021, the company unveiled an all-electric concept tractor, the "GridCON," which features a 200-kilowatt electric motor and can run for up to four hours on a single charge. The company has also introduced the "Gator," an electric utility vehicle designed for use on farms.

In 2020, Escorts launched its electric tractor range in the US. The company is focused on partnering with local dealerships in the U.S. to expand its distribution network. It has also been conducting training programs for dealers to help them better understand the features and benefits of electric tractors.

Mahindra: The company has been developing electric tractors for the U.S. market. In 2020, the company introduced the "Mahindra eMax 22S," a small electric tractor designed for use in residential and commercial settings. The tractor has a range of up to 3.5 hours and can be charged using a standard 110-volt outlet.

Solectrac is focused on the rapid expansion of certified sales and dealer networks. The company also focuses on developing additional new tractor models at cheaper costs.

Monarch Tractors: Monarch Tractors is focused on capacity expansion. In August 2022, the company signed an agreement with Foxconn to build electric tractors and battery packs for Monarch.

Industry Dynamics

Drivers

Growing emphasis on precision farming

Government sponsored incentives and subsidies to promote electric tractors

Dwindling agriculture laborers

Increased Hobby farmers during the COVID-19 pandemic

Restraints

Insufficient charging infrastructure

High Cost of equipment & battery production

Opportunities

Low Operating Costs

Rising Fuel Prices

Porter's Five Forces Analysis

Future Trends in the Industry

Value Chain Analysis

Market Innovations

Company Profiles

AGCO Corp.

CNH Industrial N.V

Deere and Company

Escorts Limited

Kubota Corporation

Monarch Tractor

Solectrac

International Tractors Limited (Sonalika)

Cellestial E-Mobility

Ztractor

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/78o0kk

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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.
Glen Mills, PA, May 17, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Operation Warm and FedEx were selected for the award in recognition of their Empowerment Thru Volunteering campaign, which has provided impactful volunteer experiences for FedEx employees while leveraging shipping and logistics support from FedEx to serve thousands of children across the U.S. and Canada. By forging an exemplary public-private collaboration, the two organizations have significantly expanded the scope, reach, and impact of Operation Warm's philanthropic mission while also contributing to FedEx Cares' ambitious 50 by 50 campaign.

In 2019, FedEx launched its ambitious FedEx Cares 50 by 50 campaign to positively impact 50 million lives by their 50th anniversary on April 17, 2023. By partnering with Operation Warm and more than 900 other nonprofits, FedEx has successfully reached this goal ahead of schedule. FedEx team members around the world have contributed to this milestone through volunteerism, community engagement, and various other initiatives, making the world a better place. Grace Sica, Executive Director of Operation Warm, said: "Our collaboration with FedEx has been instrumental in helping Operation Warm make a positive difference in the lives of over 75,000 children in need. We are so proud to receive this award, and we look forward to continuing to work together to provide coats and shoes for children in need."

"We are incredibly proud of our collaboration with Operation Warm, which has not only enabled us to make a tangible impact on the lives of thousands of children in need but also inspired our FedEx team members to engage in volunteer activities that resonate with our core values." Says Jenny Robertson, SVP  Marketing & Communications.

The Halo Awards are North Americas highest honor for corporate social impact initiatives that showcase outstanding consumer and/or employee engagement efforts.

Learn more by visiting, https://engageforgood.com/halo-award/2023-best-employee-engagement-initiative/

About Operation Warm:

Operation Warm is a national nonprofit that manufactures brand-new, high-quality coats and shoes for children in need. We partner with compassionate individuals, community organizations, and corporations across North America to connect underserved children to the community resources they need to thrive. Over the last 24 years, Operation Warm and our partners have offered the gifts of brand-new coats and shoes as a bridge for families in need to access everything from flu shots to new books.

To make a lasting impact on the lives of children, visit www.operationwarm.org.

About FedEx Corp.

FedEx Corp. (NYSE: FDX) provides customers and businesses worldwide with a broad portfolio of transportation, e-commerce and business services. With annual revenue of $94 billion, the company offers integrated business solutions through operating companies competing collectively, operating collaboratively and innovating digitally under the respected FedEx brand. Consistently ranked among the world's most admired and trusted employers, FedEx inspires its more than 550,000 employees to remain focused on safety, the highest ethical and professional standards and the needs of their customers and communities. FedEx is committed to connecting people and possibilities around the world responsibly and resourcefully, with a goal to achieve carbon-neutral operations by 2040. To learn more, please visit fedex.com/about.

Attachments
MONTREAL, May 17, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Osisko Development Corp. (NYSE: ODV, TSXV: ODV) ("Osisko Development" or the "Company") is pleased to announce new 2023 underground diamond drilling ("DD") results at its 100%-owned Trixie test mine ("Trixie"), within the Company's wider Tintic Project ("Tintic" or the "Tintic Project") and to provide an overview of the ongoing 2023 exploration program at Tintic, located in the historic East Tintic Mining District in central Utah, U.S.A. In addition, the Company is also reporting the remaining DD and reverse circulation drilling ("RC") results from its 2022 exploration program.

Chris Lodder, President of Osisko Development, commented, "The underground diamond drilling results from this year's drill campaign continue to generate targets and understanding of the epithermal veins and breccias at Trixie. High-grade gold and silver is observed in the footwall of the T2 and T1 zones, as both disseminated and vein mineralization. As these initial results indicate, the drillholes are intersecting all zones within the deposit area and continue to build upon the exploration successes achieved in 2022. We are also excited to launch our initial drill campaign to target copper porphyry potential at Tintic, which is slated to begin in Q3 2023."

DRILL ASSAY HIGHLIGHTS

This news release includes assays from 22 DD holes and 20 RC holes (refer to Tables 1 and 2). Select assay highlights include:

23.49 grams per tonne ("g/t") gold ("Au") and 58.79 g/t silver (" Ag ") over 1.37 meters (" m ") in hole TUG-625-106 (0.69 troy oz per short ton (" oz/t ") Au and 1.71 oz/t Ag over 4.50 feet (" ft. ")

and 58.79 g/t silver (" ") over 1.37 meters (" ") in hole TUG-625-106 (0.69 troy oz per short ton (" ") Au and 1.71 oz/t Ag over 4.50 feet (" ") 19.54 g/t Au and 58.54 g/t Ag over 1.98 m in hole TRXU-DD-23-001 (0.57 oz/t Au and 1.71 oz/t Ag over 6.5 ft.)

and 58.54 g/t Ag over 1.98 m in hole TRXU-DD-23-001 (0.57 oz/t Au and 1.71 oz/t Ag over 6.5 ft.) 43.44 g/t Au and 40.63 g/t Ag over 0.91 m in hole TRXU-DD-23-003 (1.27 oz/t Au and 1.19 oz/t Ag over 3.00 ft.)

and 40.63 g/t Ag over 0.91 m in hole TRXU-DD-23-003 (1.27 oz/t Au and 1.19 oz/t Ag over 3.00 ft.) 62.82 g/t Au and 231.46 g/t Ag over 6.86 m in hole TRXU-DD-23-003 (1.83 oz/t Au and 6.75 oz/t Ag over 22.5 ft.) including 191.00 g/t Au and 707.00 g/t Ag over 1.07 m (5.57 oz/t Au and 20.62 oz/t Ag over 3.50 ft.) and 117.00 g/t Au and 393.00 g/t Ag over 1.68 m (3.41 oz/t Au and 11.46 oz/t Ag over 5.50 ft.)

and 231.46 g/t Ag over 6.86 m in hole TRXU-DD-23-003 (1.83 oz/t Au and 6.75 oz/t Ag over 22.5 ft.) including 49.11 g/t Au and 255.00 g/t Ag over 1.07 m in hole TRXU-DD-23-003 (1.43 oz/t Au and 7.44 oz/t Ag over 3.5 ft.)

and 255.00 g/t Ag over 1.07 m in hole TRXU-DD-23-003 (1.43 oz/t Au and 7.44 oz/t Ag over 3.5 ft.) 7.95 g/t Au and 26.12 g/t Ag over 7.32 m in hole TRXU-DD-23-005 (0.23 oz/t Au and 0.76 oz/t Ag over 24.00 ft.)

and 26.12 g/t Ag over 7.32 m in hole TRXU-DD-23-005 (0.23 oz/t Au and 0.76 oz/t Ag over 24.00 ft.) 10.67 g/t Au and 38.51 g/t Ag over 4.27 m in hole TRXU-DD-23-005 (0.31 oz/t Au and 1.12 oz/t Ag over 14.00 ft.)

and 38.51 g/t Ag over 4.27 m in hole TRXU-DD-23-005 (0.31 oz/t Au and 1.12 oz/t Ag over 14.00 ft.) 28.70 g/t Au and 98.15 g/t Ag over 1.52 m in hole TRXU-DD-23-016 (0.84 oz/t Au and 2.86 oz/t Ag over 5.00 ft.)

and 98.15 g/t Ag over 1.52 m in hole TRXU-DD-23-016 (0.84 oz/t Au and 2.86 oz/t Ag over 5.00 ft.) 7.67 g/t Au and 13.43 g/t Ag over 11.58 m in hole TRXU-DD-23-018 (0.22 oz/t Au and 0.39 oz/t Ag over 38.00 ft.) including 35.07 g/t Au and 19.47 g/t Ag over 1.07 m (1.02 oz/t Au and 0.57 oz/t Ag over 3.50 ft.)

and 13.43 g/t Ag over 11.58 m in hole TRXU-DD-23-018 (0.22 oz/t Au and 0.39 oz/t Ag over 38.00 ft.) including 20.30 g/t Au and 155.00 g/t Ag over 1.52 m in hole TRC121 (0.59 oz/t Au and 4.52 oz/t Ag over 5.00 ft)



DRILL RESULTS SUMMARY

In 2022, the Company completed 28 surface RC drill holes near Trixie totalling approximately 8,753 m (28,718 ft.) and 66 underground DD holes in the 625 level at Trixie totalling approximately 2,985 m (9,796 ft.). Assays have now been received for all 2022 holes.

The high-grade intercepts disclosed in this news release were targeting all domains of the current Trixie mineral resource estimate (" Trixie MRE ") (see Figure 2 and 3).

") (see Figure 2 and 3). The T1 domain consists of Tintic quartzite-hosted mineralization constrained within the footwall of the T2 and between the T2 and 75-85 structures. The Mineralization observed is both disseminated and in a series of discrete high-grade fissure veins. Hole TRXU-DD-23-003 intersected 62.82 g/t Au and 231.46 g/t Ag over 6.86 m including higher grade samples of 191.00 g/t Au and 707.00 g/t Ag over 1.07 m and 117.00 g/t Au and 393.00 g/t Ag over 1.68 m. Hole TRXU-DD-23-005 intersected 7.95 g/t Au and 26.12 g/t Ag over 7.32 m in the T4 stockwork and fissure veins and further downhole intersected 10.67 g/t Au and 38.51 g/t Ag over 4.27 m in the 75-85 polymetallic vein.

These drilling results will provide valuable infill data to improve our understanding and the confidence level of the mineralized zones defined in the Trixie MRE and to support a future mineral resource update.

The RC drilling was initially designed to explore ~600 m to the northeast of Trixie. Subsequent RC holes were planned along strike to test north of the T2 zone, and further to the south to explore for mineralized structures to be followed up with underground core drilling. Several of the exploration holes intersected anomalous precious metal values including 0.21 g/t Au and 142.0 g/t Ag over 1.52 m and 0.27 g/t Au and 40.53 g/t Ag over 16.76 meters in hole TRC053A, drilled 250 m north of T2, and potentially showing mineralized systems along strike. Hole TRC121 intersected 20.3 g/t Au and 155.0 g/t Ag over 1.52 m within the T4 zone.





2023 EXPLORATION DRILLING PROGRAM

The 2023 exploration program consists of an initial ~5,000 m (16,400 ft.) of underground exploration and delineation drilling of the current Trixie MRE. Additional drilling is also proposed to determine the extents of the known mineralization.

To date, the Company has completed 35 DD holes totalling approximately 3,226 m (10,584 ft.). The drilling is targeting all known mineralized domains and extending into the footwall to the west to test for parallel mineralized zones. Assay results have been received for 19 DD holes, as disclosed herein. Results for the remaining holes are pending. Currently there are two underground diamond drill rigs in operation at Trixie conducting exploration activities.

Approximately 75% of the 1,390 m (4,550 ft.) of the Trixie portal and underground decline ramp has been completed to date. The Company anticipates completion of the decline ramp to the main 625 level by Q3 2023, which is expected to significantly improve underground access for exploration drilling.

During 2022, the exploration team completed an extensive review and compilation of historical data on the Tintic Project. 3D models of historical mine development, drilling, geochemical and lithological data were integrated and, as a result, a number of high sulphidation epithermal Au-Ag targets were identified at North Lily and Eureka Standard.

Copper-molybdenum-gold porphyry targets were identified at Big Hill with the integration of historical drilling, surface geochemistry, geophysics and alteration mineralogy that defined a lithocap approximately 2 km in strike length and 1 km wide indicative of a potential porphyry. A strong geophysical and geochemical target was also identified to the West and depth below Trixie.

An initial program of surface diamond drilling is planned to test the Big Hill porphyry target and is anticipated to commence in Q3 2023. Drilling is also recommended for the Eureka Standard and North Lily targets and will be a part of the Companys ongoing exploration efforts.

A 3D model of the compilation and targets at Tintic is available by accessing the Companys VRIFY page at: https://vrify.com/decks/12801. The Tintic Project exploration presentation on the Companys website provides a high-level overview of each target.



About Trixie

The Trixie test mine is one of several gold and base metal targets within the larger Tintic Project consisting of >17,000 acres of patented mining claims and mineral leases within the historic East Tintic Mining District of Central Utah, U.S.A. The T2 and T4 structures at Trixie show multi-ounce gold grades associated with high sulphidation epithermal mineralization, structurally controlled and hosted within quartzites. The T2 structure mineralization consists of native Au, and rare Au-Ag  rich telluride minerals with quartz. The T4 is a mineralized stockwork zone is located in the hanging wall of the T2 and is comprised of Au-Ag rich mineralization in host rock quartzite with quartz-barite-sulphosalt stockwork veining. Mineralization reports consistent multi-ounce gold grades along the entire strike length.

Information relating to the Tintic Project and the Trixie MRE is supported by the technical report titled "NI 43-101 Technical Report, Initial Mineral Resource Estimate for the Trixie Deposit, Tintic Project, Utah, United States of America", dated January 27, 2023 (with an effective date of January 10, 2023) prepared for the Company by independent representatives of Micon International Limited (the "Tintic Technical Report"). Reference should be made to the full text of the Tintic Technical Report, which was prepared in accordance with National Instrument 43-101  Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects ("NI 43-101") and is available electronically on SEDAR (www.sedar.com) and on EDGAR (www.sec.gov) under Osisko Development's issuer profile and on the Company's website at www.osiskodev.com.





Figure 1: Trixie Project Area





Figure 2: Trixie Drill Plan Map





Figure 3: Cross Section of Underground Drilling at 625 L at Trixie

Table 1: Diamond Drilling Length Weighted Assay Composites at Trixie

METRIC IMPERIAL Hole ID Depth

from (m) Depth to

(m) Length (m) Au (g/t) Ag (g/t) Depth

from (ft.) Depth to

(ft.) Length

(ft.) Au (oz/t) Ag (oz/t) Target TUG-625-044 8.99 10.06 1.07 7.07 12.18 29.50 33.00 3.50 0.21 0.36 Expl. hole east of T4 TUG-625-106 3.05 4.42 1.37 23.49 58.79 10.00 14.50 4.50 0.69 1.71 T4 TRXU-DD-23-001 6.71 8.69 1.98 19.54 58.54 22.00 28.50 6.50 0.57 1.71 T4 TRXU-DD-23-001 Including 7.62 8.08 0.46 23.03 65.73 25.00 26.50 1.50 0.67 1.92 T4 TRXU-DD-23-001 and 8.08 8.69 0.61 38.30 99.72 26.50 28.50 2.00 1.12 2.91 T4 TRXU-DD-23-001 12.65 13.87 1.22 13.77 71.13 41.50 45.50 4.00 0.40 2.07 T4 TRXU-DD-23-001 Including 13.41 13.87 0.46 32.29 97.38 44.00 45.50 1.50 0.94 2.84 T4 TRXU-DD-23-001 44.96 45.57 0.61 4.23 13.21 147.50 149.50 2.00 0.12 0.39 T2 FW TRXU-DD-23-002 No Significant Assays TRXU-DD-23-003 31.39 32.31 0.91 43.44 40.63 103.00 106.00 3.00 1.27 1.19 T2 FW TRXU-DD-23-003 38.25 45.11 6.86 62.82 231.46 125.50 148.00 22.50 1.83 6.75 T2 FW/T1 TRXU-DD-23-003 Including 39.47 40.54 1.07 191.00 707.00 129.50 133.00 3.50 5.57 20.62 T2 FW/T1 TRXU-DD-23-003 and 40.54 42.21 1.68 117.00 393.00 133.00 138.50 5.50 3.41 11.46 T2 FW/T1 TRXU-DD-23-003 54.71 55.78 1.07 49.11 255.00 179.50 183.00 3.50 1.43 7.44 75-85 TRXU-DD-23-005 8.53 15.85 7.32 7.95 26.12 28.00 52.00 24.00 0.23 0.76 T4 TRXU-DD-23-005 Including 8.53 9.75 1.22 19.28 55.63 28.00 32.00 4.00 0.56 1.62 T4 TRXU-DD-23-005 and 14.63 15.85 1.22 11.79 36.63 48.00 52.00 4.00 0.34 1.07 T4 TRXU-DD-23-005 23.77 28.04 4.27 10.67 38.51 78.00 92.00 14.00 0.31 1.12 75-85 TRXU-DD-23-005 Including 24.69 25.91 1.22 21.33 48.75 81.00 85.00 4.00 0.62 1.42 75-85 TRXU-DD-23-005 and 25.91 26.82 0.91 10.19 65.16 85.00 88.00 3.00 0.30 1.90 75-85 TRXU-DD-23-006 90.22 90.68 0.46 2.00 22.39 296.00 297.50 1.50 0.06 0.65 T2 FW/T1 TRXU-DD-23-007 21.95 23.47 1.52 4.59 15.65 72.00 77.00 5.00 0.13 0.46 75-85 TRXU-DD-23-008 0.00 1.52 1.52 2.84 41.07 0.00 5.00 5.00 0.08 1.20 T4 TRXU-DD-23-008 2.44 3.96 1.52 2.39 23.33 8.00 13.00 5.00 0.07 0.68 T4 TRXU-DD-23-008 18.59 20.73 2.13 1.98 93.82 61.00 68.00 7.00 0.06 2.74 75-85 TRXU-DD-23-009 Hole abandoned TRXU-DD-23-010 No Significant Assays TRXU-DD-23-011 57.45 60.05 2.59 3.21 31.43 188.50 197.00 8.50 0.09 0.92 T4 TRXU-DD-23-012 62.64 63.09 0.46 2.50 38.31 205.50 207.00 1.50 0.07 1.12 75-85 HW TRXU-DD-23-013 92.66 95.71 3.05 6.59 61.96 304.00 314.00 10.00 0.19 1.81 75-85/T1 TRXU-DD-23-014 No Significant Assays TRXU-DD-23-015 43.89 46.94 3.05 1.59 65.23 144.00 154.00 10.00 0.05 1.90 T2 FW/T1 TRXU-DD-23-016 123.14 124.66 1.52 28.70 98.15 404.00 409.00 5.00 0.84 2.86 T1 TRXU-DD-23-017 32.92 33.68 0.76 3.52 0.15 108.00 110.50 2.50 0.10 0.00 T4 TRXU-DD-23-018 75.59 77.11 1.52 21.81 26.35 248.00 253.00 5.00 0.64 0.77 T1 TRXU-DD-23-018 75.59 87.17 11.58 7.67 13.43 248.00 286.00 38.00 0.22 0.39 T1 TRXU-DD-23-018 Including 75.59 77.11 1.52 21.81 26.35 248.00 253.00 5.00 0.64 0.77 T1 TRXU-DD-23-018 and 86.11 87.17 1.07 35.07 19.47 282.50 286.00 3.50 1.02 0.57 T1 TRXU-DD-23-019 152.40 156.67 4.27 4.03 21.82 500.00 514.00 14.00 0.12 0.64 T1 TRXU-DD-23-019 Including 152.40 153.62 1.22 7.09 39.62 500.00 504.00 4.00 0.21 1.16 T1 TRXU-DD-23-020 82.9056 84.7344 1.8288 4.41 105.74 272.00 278.00 6.00 0.13 3.08 T2 TRXU-DD-23-020 Including 84.12 84.73 0.61 9.57 200.00 276.00 278.00 2.00 0.28 5.83 T2

Table 2: Reverse Circulation Length Weighted Assay Composites at Trixie

METRIC IMPERIAL Hole ID Depth

from (m) Depth to

(m) Length

(m) Au (g/t) Ag (g/t) Depth

from (ft.) Depth to

(ft.) Length

(ft.) Au (oz/t) Ag (oz/t) Target TRC038A Hole Abandoned Exploration TRC038A 359.66 362.71 3.05 3.47 3.55 1180.00 1190.00 10.00 0.10 0.10 Exploration TRC039 359.66 371.86 12.19 1.41 1.88 1180.00 1220.00 40.00 0.04 0.05 Exploration- 400 m north of T2 TRC043A No Samples Exploration TRC051 153.92 158.50 4.57 0.37 168.00 505.00 520.00 15.00 0.01 4.90 Exploration TRC053 Hole Abandoned Exploration TRC053A 208.79 210.31 1.52 0.22 88.30 685.00 690.00 5.00 0.01 2.58 Exploration TRC053A 275.84 277.37 1.52 0.21 142.00 905.00 910.00 5.00 0.01 4.14 Exploration TRC053A 359.66 376.43 16.76 0.27 40.53 1180.00 1235.00 55.00 0.01 1.18 Exploration TRC053A Including 359.66 361.19 1.52 0.27 98.00 1180.00 1185.00 5.00 0.01 2.86 Exploration TRC053A and 364.24 365.76 1.52 0.16 61.50 1195.00 1200.00 5.00 0.00 1.79 Exploration TRC053A and 370.33 371.86 1.52 1.04 62.60 1215.00 1220.00 5.00 0.03 1.83 Exploration TRC069 No Significant Assays T4 TRC070 No Significant Assays



T2-T4 TRC071 Hole Abandoned T2-T4 TRC071A Hole Abandoned T2-T4 TRC087 Hole Abandoned 75-85 TRC088 No Samples Volcanics, ophir shale TRC094 309.37 310.90 1.52 0.11 37.20 1015.00 1020.00 5.00 0.00 1.09 T4 TRC094A No Significant Assays 75-85 TRC095 No Significant Assays Volcanics TRC121 225.55 249.94 24.38 2.70 29.29 740.00 820.00 80.00 0.08 0.85 T4 TRC121 Including 248.41 249.94 1.52 20.30 155.00 815.00 820.00 5.00 0.59 4.52 T4 TRC122 No Samples TRC123 208.79 210.31 1.52 0.36 63.40 685.00 690.00 5.00 0.01 1.85 T4 TRC123 274.32 280.42 6.10 0.17 43.29 900.00 920.00 20.00 0.01 1.26 T4 TRC123 Including 274.32 275.84 1.52 0.42 96.40 900.00 905.00 5.00 0.01 2.81 T4 TRC124 Hole Abandoned T4 TRC124A 268.22 269.75 1.52 0.02 63.10 880.00 885.00 5.00 0.00 1.84 T2 FW/T1 TRC124A 396.24 397.76 1.52 1.50 16.50 1300.00 1305.00 5.00 0.04 0.48 T2 FW/T1



Qualified Persons

The scientific and technical information contained in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Maggie Layman, P.Geo., Vice President, Exploration of Osisko Development, and a "qualified person" within the meaning of NI 43-101.

Quality Assurance (QA)  Quality Control (QC)

True width determination is estimated to be approximately 0.3 m to 2.4 m (1 to 8 ft.) wide for the T2 structure and approximately 3 m to 25 m (10 to 80 ft.) for the T4 mineralized stockwork zone located in the hanging wall of the T2 structure.

All drill core and exploration samples are dispatched to SGS Laboratory for offsite sample preparation and analysis. Samples are assigned a unique sample ID. All geological and sampling information is entered into Datamine Fusion database. Core is sawn in half and half is sampled. Certified standards and blanks are inserted into all sample dispatches. Samples are collected by Old Dominion Transportation and dispatched to SGSs Laboratory in Burnaby. Sample submission forms accompany the samples, and digital copies are emailed to SGS.

All sample preparation is completed by SGS, including drying, crushing, and pulverizing of samples. Analytical assays include gold by 30 gram fire assay with AAS finish (GO_FAA30V10), and gold overlimits by fire assay with gravimetric finish (GO_FAG30V). Multielement analysis (including silver) is by four-acid digest with ICP-AES/ICP-MS finish (GE_ICM40Q12). The pulps are returned to Osisko Development and coarse rejects are disposed after 90 days. Assays are reported to Osisko Development and then loaded into Datamine Fusion. QA/QC samples are checked, and assays are merged with sample information for future reporting.

About Osisko Development Corp.

Osisko Development Corp. is a premier North American gold development company focused on high-quality past-producing properties located in mining friendly jurisdictions with district scale potential. The Company's objective is to become an intermediate gold producer by advancing its 100%-owned Cariboo Gold Project, located in central BC, Canada, the Tintic Project in the historic East Tintic mining district in Utah, U.S.A., and the San Antonio Gold Project in Sonora, Mexico. In addition to considerable brownfield exploration potential of these properties, that benefit from significant historical mining data, existing infrastructure and access to skilled labour, the Company's project pipeline is complemented by other prospective exploration properties. The Company's strategy is to develop attractive, long-life, socially and environmentally sustainable mining assets, while minimizing exposure to development risk and growing mineral resources.

For further information, please contact Osisko Development Corp.:

Sean Roosen Philip Rabenok Chairman and CEO Director, Investor Relations Email: sroosen@osiskodev.com Email: prabenok@osiskodev.com Tel: +1 (514) 940-0685 Tel: +1 (437) 423-3644



CAUTIONARY STATEMENTS

Cautionary Statement Regarding Test Mining Without Feasibility Study

The Company cautions that the decision to commence small-scale underground mining activities and batch vat leaching at the Trixie test mine has been made without the benefit of a feasibility study, or reported mineral resources or mineral reserves, demonstrating economic and technical viability, and, as a result there may be increased uncertainty of achieving any particular level of recovery of material or the cost of such recovery. The Company cautions that historically, such projects have a much higher risk of economic and technical failure. Small scale test-mining at Trixie was suspended in December 2022, if and when test mining re-commences there is no guarantee that production will continue as anticipated or at all or that anticipated production costs will be achieved. The failure to continue production may have a material adverse impact on the Company's ability to generate revenue and cash flow to fund operations. Failure to achieve the anticipated production costs may have a material adverse impact on the Company's cash flow and potential profitability. In continuing current operations at Trixie after closing, the Company will not be basing its decision to continue such operations on a feasibility study, or reported mineral resources or mineral reserves demonstrating economic and technical viability. The Company cautions that mining at Trixie could be suspended at any time.

Cautionary Statement to U.S. Investors

The Company is subject to the reporting requirements of the applicable Canadian securities laws, and as a result reports information regarding mineral properties, mineralization and estimates of mineral reserves and mineral resources, including the information in the Technical Reports, the Financial Statements, MD&A and this news release, in accordance with Canadian reporting requirements, which are governed by NI 43-101. As such, such information concerning mineral properties, mineralization and estimates of mineral reserves and mineral resources, including the information in the Technical Reports, the Financial Statements, MD&A and this news release, is not comparable to similar information made public by U.S. companies subject to the reporting and disclosure requirements of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC").

CAUTION REGARDING FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS

Certain statements contained in this news release may be deemed "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. These forwardlooking statements, by their nature, require Osisko Development to make certain assumptions and necessarily involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in these forwardlooking statements. Forwardlooking statements are not guarantees of performance. Words such as "may", "will", "would", "could", "expect", "believe", "plan", "anticipate", "intend", "estimate", "continue", or the negative or comparable terminology, as well as terms usually used in the future and the conditional, are intended to identify forwardlooking statements. Information contained in forwardlooking statements is based upon certain material assumptions that were applied in drawing a conclusion or making a forecast or projection, including management's perceptions of historical trends, current conditions and expected future developments; the utility and significance of historic data, including the significance of the district hosting past producing mines; future mining activities; the unique mineralization at Trixie; the potential of high-grade gold mineralization on Trixie; the results (if any) of further exploration work to define and expand mineral resources; the ability of exploration work (including drilling) to accurately predict mineralization; the ability to generate additional drill targets; the ability of management to understand the geology and potential of Trixie; the ability of the Company to expand mineral resources beyond current mineral resource estimates at Trixie; the timing and ability of the Company to complete upgrades to the Trixie MRE (or any subsequent MRE) (if at all); the timing and resumption of test mining activities at Trixie; the information and the scope of the contemplated Trixie MRE (and any subsequent MRE); the impact of the Trixie MRE; the ability of the Company to complete its exploration objectives in 2023 in the timing contemplated (if at all); the ongoing advancement of the Trixie decline; the deposit remaining open for expansion at depth and down plunge; the ability to realize upon any mineralization in a manner that is economic; as well as other considerations that are believed to be appropriate in the circumstances, and any other information herein that is not a historical fact may be "forward looking information". Material assumptions also include, management's perceptions of historical trends, the ability of exploration (including drilling) to accurately predict mineralization, budget constraints and access to capital on terms acceptable to the Company, current conditions and expected future developments, results of further exploration work to define or expand any mineral resources, as well as other considerations that are believed to be appropriate in the circumstances. Osisko Development considers its assumptions to be reasonable based on information currently available, but cautions the reader that their assumptions regarding future events, many of which are beyond the control of Osisko Development, may ultimately prove to be incorrect since they are subject to risks and uncertainties that affect Osisko Development and its business. Such risks and uncertainties include, among others, risks relating to capital market conditions and the Company's ability to access capital on terms acceptable to the Company for the contemplated exploration and development at Tintic; the ability to continue current operations and exploration; regulatory framework and presence of laws and regulations that may impose restrictions on mining; the ability of exploration activities (including drill results) to accurately predict mineralization; errors in management's geological modelling; the ability to expand operations or complete further exploration activities, including drilling; property and stream interests in the Tintic Project; the ability of the Company to obtain required approvals and permits; the results of exploration activities; risks relating to exploration, development and mining activities; the global economic climate; metal and commodity prices; fluctuations in the currency markets; dilution; environmental risks; and community, non-governmental and governmental actions and the impact of stakeholder actions. Readers are urged to consult the disclosure provided under the heading "Risk Factors" in the Company's annual information form for the year ended December 31, 2022, as well as the Financial Statements and MD&A for the year ended December 31, 2022, which have been filed on SEDAR (www.sedar.com) under Osisko Development's issuer profile and on the SEC's EDGAR website (www.sec.gov), for further information regarding the risks and other factors applicable to the exploration results. Although the Company's believes the expectations conveyed by the forward-looking statements are reasonable based on information available as of the date hereof, no assurances can be given as to future results, levels of activity and achievements. The Company 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 law. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of performance and there can be no assurance that these forward-looking 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.

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. No stock exchange, securities commission or other regulatory authority has approved or disapproved the information contained herein.





Figures accompanying this announcement are available at

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/9a39984c-a10e-4aec-9fb7-2ef849b6f2d2

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/f36c8eb9-c253-4a99-a861-4dd1a1568802

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/1f2a7624-14cc-45c4-98f0-d4cd3d2efb5f
WASHINGTON, DC, May 17, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- On Tuesday, May 16, AmeriCorps CEO Michael D. Smith recognized Susan Copeland for more than 30 years leading national service programs in Waco, Texas. Copeland leads Heart of Texas, part of AmeriCorps RSVP network, helping older Americans connect and create change in their communities. Smith presented Copeland with a Distinguished Service Award, including a framed letter he signed and keepsake AmeriCorps CEO Challenge Coin, in a public ceremony at McLennan Community College.

The AmeriCorps CEO Challenge Coin Award honors dedicated individuals who serve their communities, make service possible for others, and are committed to the betterment of local communities and people in need, said AmeriCorps CEO Michael D. Smith. Susans tireless efforts, spanning more than three decades, has enabled thousands of older adult volunteers to make an impact on the lives of people who need it most. Her faithfulness and dedication embody the very spirit of this award.

As project director of the Heart of Texas RSVP program, Copeland oversees a staff of 10 undergraduate and graduate student interns studying public relations, professional writing, social work, mental health and various counseling programs. She also manages more than 40 community service projects and a force of more than 400 older adult volunteers in the region.

I am very humbled by this award, Copeland said. It comes from having the honor of working alongside thousands of selfless heroes that volunteer and give their time and skills to our communities. They deserve all the credit. They are the ones that make the difference. Its been my joy.

I could not have done any of this work without the support of my team and McLennan Community Colleges support, Copeland continued. I truly share this award with them.

Copelands distinguished career serves as a shining example of one individual becoming a force multiplier for service. The AmeriCorps CEO Challenge Coin borrows from military tradition, where challenge coins honor tours of duty and exceptional performance, highlighting loyalty and service. Copeland reflects the spirit of this award.

The Heart of Texas RSVP program, sponsored and housed at McLennan Community College, is a grantee of AmeriCorps, the federal agency for national service and volunteerism. The Heart of Texas supports people and organizations through volunteer service to meet critical community needs. AmeriCorps Seniors volunteers are matched to projects in the Heart of Texas six-county region, serving in schools, hospitals, Habitat for Humanity, Meals on Wheels and with at-risk children, underserved adults, disaster sites, food banks and more.

Last year, more than 17,000 AmeriCorps members and AmeriCorps Seniors volunteers served at more than 2,300 locations in Texas. AmeriCorps invested more than $51.7 million in federal funding in the Lone Star State, supporting cost-effective, community-driven solutions.

AmeriCorps, the federal agency for national service and volunteerism, provides opportunities for Americans to serve their country domestically, address the nations most pressing challenges, improve lives and communities, and strengthen civic engagement. Each year, the agency places more than 200,000 AmeriCorps members and AmeriCorps Seniors volunteers in intensive service roles; and empowers millions more to serve as long-term, short-term, or one-time volunteers. Learn more at AmeriCorps.gov.

AmeriCorps offers opportunities for individuals of all backgrounds to be a part of the national service community, grow personally and professionally, and receive benefits for their service. Learn how to get involved at AmeriCorps.gov/serve.

Attachment
Dania Beach, FL, May 17, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) --

Drone Nerds is hosting its first-ever UAV industry summit in Miami. Apart from featuring exhibitors from major industry partners like DJI, Sony, Pix4D, Teal, and many more, the ElevateUAV Summit will also have speaker sessions and workshops regarding a wide range of uses, trends, and developments.



Grant Hosticka, the Head of Enterprise Solutions Engineering for DJI, will participate as a guest speaker at ElevateUAV. He has helped many commercial organizations successfully deploy drones. Grant was one of the first people to graduate with a degree in Unmanned Systems and also has his private pilot license. Prior to joining DJI, Grant built his experience and UAV acumen by running his own drone service company, conducting utility field inspections of critical infrastructure.





Tom Cerchiara from Pix4D will also be joining in to provide AEC professionals with an overview of how reality capture using both drones and mobile devices saves money, reduces delays, and increases safety. In this session, attendees will learn how to use PIX4Dmatic, PIX4Dsurvey, and PIX4Dcloud for drone-based mapping, and to deploy terrestrial workflows with PIX4Dcatch and the viDoc RTK Rover for ground control and ground-based reality capture. Pix4D will present end-to-end workflows for multiple industries including mapping and surveying, construction, stockpiles, infrastructure inspections, and underground utilities.



Tom is a Professional Land Surveyor with 23 years of experience working on construction, energy, and public works projects. He is a thought leader when it comes to advancing digital transformations with cost-efficient and easily deployable solutions, augmented reality, and computer vision.





For those in the public safety space, Drone Nerds will have a guest speaker from a local Fire Department, Mike Sember, who is a firefighter and paramedic. Mike will elaborate on the benefits of drones within the public safety space, particularly on how departments across the nation are using drones for disaster response and rescue operations.



Additionally, Dr. La'Quata Sumter will present a session on how early education on technology, drones, and STEM is transforming the future of students. As the growth and potential of the drone industry has increased over the last few years, it has created a need for drone education. This presentation will highlight the importance of drone education in driving growth in the industry. By teaching students how to design, build, and operate drones, we can create a workforce equipped with the skills necessary to meet the growing demand for drone-related services.



ElevateUAV will be held in Miami, FL, on July 26th-27th. As a premier industry event, the conference will connect drone manufacturers, developers, pilots, enthusiasts, and enterprises; early bird tickets are available now on elevateuavsummit.com





The ElevateUAV Summit will be held on July 26-27, 2023 at the FIU Biscayne Bay Kovens Conference Center in North Miami, FL. Organizations or experts that wish to participate in the Elevate UAV Summit can connect with the event organizers at support@elevateuavsummit.com .



###

About Drone Nerds: Established in 2014, Drone Nerds focuses on ensuring its customers have the right UAV solution for their unique operational needs. With its proprietary Always Flying program, Drone Nerds provides reliability and assurance for enterprise implementations across industry verticals, including public safety, government, agriculture, construction, energy, inspection, and more.



For more information, visit enterprise.dronenerds.com.
Oklahoma City, May 17, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Oklahoma City, Oklahoma -

43Vision, based in Oklahoma City, OK, recently published an article about Adult Vision in 60-80-year-olds. As the only vision correction center of its kind that caters to older adults. 43Vision is heavily invested in helping patients make sound decisions about their future treatments. See more here: Adult Vision: 60-80 Years of Age.

As people age, the article says, the eyes change and become more susceptible to diseases and conditions that can lead to visual impairment and even blindness. While not all vision problems are age-related, they are more prevalent in the elderly population. Therefore, it is essential to know about the various eye diseases and conditions, their causes, and treatment options. The article discusses several common eye problems that affect individuals aged 60-80 years (and how they can be diagnosed and treated). 43Vision is dedicated to treating patients over the age of 43.

The most frequent cause of vision problems in adults aged 60 - 80 are cataracts, which cloud the eye lens and impair sight. Cataracts are common in those over 60 due to protein clumping in the eye lens, a phenomenon that leads to cloudy or blurred vision, night vision issues, and glare sensitivity. Fortunately, cataract surgery is a safe and effective treatment that involves removing the clouded lens and replacing it with an intraocular lens, resulting in improved vision.

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a common cause of vision loss in seniors, affecting the macula and central vision. As a person ages, the macula can be damaged, causing loss of visual acuity. AMD may be indicated by blurry/distorted central vision and blind spots. Family history is a major risk factor for AMD, which has two forms: dry and wet. Dry AMD is when the macula thins over time. Wet AMD is when abnormal blood vessels grow under the retina, causing sudden vision loss.

Glaucoma damages the optic nerve and causes vision loss. It is a top cause of blindness, especially in those over 60. Types of glaucoma include primary open-angle glaucoma, with symptoms of increased eye pressure, reduced peripheral vision, and loss of visual field. Glaucoma cannot be cured, but it can be managed via eye drops, meds, laser, or surgery.

Diabetic retinopathy, as the name suggests, is a visual complication that arises from diabetes in which high blood sugar damages vessels in the retina, which can lead to vision loss. Symptoms include blurry vision, dark spots, and night blindness. The risk of diabetic retinopathy increases with diabetes duration, high BP, high sugar, and smoking. It can be treated with meds, laser, or surgery  but prevention is best.

Dry eye risk also increases with age. This increase is especially noticeable in women due to hormonal changes during menopause and age-related changes in eye structure/function. Certain medications can cause or worsen dry eye syndrome in older adults.

At 43Vision, a number of procedures have proved to be helpful for these vision problems, including LASIK, PRK, SMILE, and more. A thorough consultation with an eye care professional is necessary to consider risks, benefits, and individual preferences to find the best procedure for each patient. At 43Vision, the expert surgeons recommend the best procedure to meet each patients unique needs. They specialize in vision correction for patients over 43, especially those seeking freedom from reading glasses and bifocals. The staff use modern tech to fight presbyopia and prevent cataracts.

Anyone can visit the clinics website or call to schedule a consultation and learn about the available vision correction procedures.

###

For more information about 43Vision, contact the company here:



43Vision

Robyn Reed

405-883-4343

info@43vision.com

43Vision

7101 Northwest Expy Suite 343

Oklahoma City, OK 73132
VANCOUVER, May 16, 2023 -

TSX VENTURE COMPANIES

ARGO OPPORTUNITY CORP. ("AROC.P")

BULLETIN TYPE: New Listing-CPC-Shares, HALT

BULLETIN DATE: May 16, 2023

TSX Venture Tier 2 Company

This Capital Pool Company's (the Company) Prospectus dated March 21, 2023, has been filed with and accepted by TSX Venture Exchange and the British Columbia and Ontario Securities Commissions effective March 23, 2023 pursuant to the provisions of the British Columbia and Ontario Securities Acts, and Multilateral Instrument 11-102 Passport System in Alberta, Manitoba, and Quebec. The Common Shares of the Company will be listed on TSX Venture Exchange on the effective date stated below.

The Company intends to complete its initial distribution of securities to the public. The gross proceeds to be received by the Company for the Offering will be $322,170 (3,221,700 common shares at $0.10 per share).

Commence Date: At the market open May 18, 2023, the Common shares will be listed and immediately halted on TSX Venture Exchange.

The closing of the public offering is scheduled to occur on May 18, 2023. A further notice will be issued upon receipt of closing confirmation and the trading halt will be lifted.

Corporate Jurisdiction: British Columbia





Capitalization: unlimited common shares with no par value of which

6,221,700 common shares will be issued and outstanding at the closing of the offering Escrowed Shares: 3,000,000 common shares will be subject to escrow at the closing of the offering

Transfer Agent: Odyssey Trust Company Trading Symbol: AROC.P CUSIP Number: 04019W100 Agent: Integral Wealth Securities Limited

Agent's Warrants: 322,170 non-transferable warrants. One warrant entitles the holder to purchase one common share of the Company at $0.10 per share for a period of 60 months from listing date.

For further information, please refer to the Company's Prospectus dated March 21, 2023.

Company Contact: Michele (Mike) Nino Marrandino Company Address: P.O. Box 3566 Stn Terminal, Vancouver, BC V6B 3Y6 Company Phone Number: 604-722-5225 Company Email Address: mike@pacwest.ca

________________________________________

DECISIVE DIVIDEND CORPORATION ("DE")

BULLETIN TYPE: Declaration of Dividend

BULLETIN DATE: May 16, 2023

TSX Venture Tier 2 Company

The Issuer has declared the following dividend:

Dividend per common share: $0.035

Payable Date: Jun 15, 2023

Record Date: May 31, 2023

Ex-dividend Date: May 30, 2023

________________________________________

Minto Metals Corp. ("MNTO")

BULLETIN TYPE: Suspend

BULLETIN DATE: May 16, 2023

TSX Venture Tier 1 Company

Further to TSX Venture Exchange bulletin dated May 15, 2023 and Minto Metals Corp. (the "Company") press release dated May 16, 2023, effective at the opening, Thursday, May 18, 2023 trading in the shares of the Company will be suspended, the Company having failed to maintain Exchange Requirements.

Members are prohibited from trading in the securities of the Company during the period of the suspension or until further notice.

____________________________________

NEXUS GOLD CORP. ("NXS")

BULLETIN TYPE: Consolidation

BULLETIN DATE: May 16, 2023

TSX Venture Tier 2 Company

Pursuant to a director's resolution dated May 3, 2023, the Company has consolidated its capital on a Ten (10) old for One (1) new basis. The name of the Company has not been changed.

Effective at the opening May 18, 2023, the common shares of Nexus Gold Corp. will commence trading on TSX Venture Exchange on a consolidated basis. The Company is classified as a 'Mineral Exploration/Development' company.

Post - Consolidation



Capitalization: unlimited shares with no par value of which

31,873,322 shares are issued and outstanding Escrow: nil



Transfer Agent: Computershare Trust Company of Canada Trading Symbol: NXS Unchanged CUSIP Number: 65345J204 New

________________________________________

ORECAP INVEST CORP. ("OCI")

[formerly Orefinders Resources Inc. ("ORX")]

BULLETIN TYPE: Name Change, Symbol Change

BULLETIN DATE: May 16, 2023

TSX Venture Tier 2 Company

Pursuant to the director's resolution passed by directors on May 2, 2023, the Company has changed its name as follows. There is no consolidation of capital.

Effective at the opening on Thursday, May 18, 2023, the common shares of Orecap Invest Corp. will commence trading on TSX Venture Exchange, and the common shares of Orefinders Resources Inc. will be delisted. The Company is classified as an 'Mining/Investment' company.

Capitalization: Unlimited shares with no par value of which

247,714,298 shares are issued and outstanding Escrow: NIL shares are subject to escrow

Transfer Agent: Computershare Investor Services Inc. Trading Symbol: OCI (new) CUSIP Number: 685787 10 3 (new)

________________________________________

RIWI CORP. ("RIWI")

BULLETIN TYPE: Reinstated for Trading

BULLETIN DATE: May 16, 2023

TSX Venture Tier 1 Company

Further to the TSX Venture Exchange Bulletin dated May 8, 2023, the Exchange has been advised that the Cease Trade Order issued by the Ontario Securities Commission dated May 5, 2023, has been revoked.

Effective at the opening, Thursday, May 18, 2023, trading will be reinstated in the securities of the Company.

_______________________________________

VOX ROYALTY CORP. ("VOX")

BULLETIN TYPE: Declaration of Dividend

BULLETIN DATE: March 16, 2023

TSX Venture Tier 1 Company

The Issuer has declared the following dividend:

Dividend per common share: US$0.011

Payable Date: July 14, 2023

Record Date: June 30, 2023

Ex-dividend Date: June 29, 2023

________________________________________

23/05/16 - TSX Venture Exchange Bulletins

TSX VENTURE COMPANIES

CHURCHILL RESOURCES INC. ("CRI")

BULLETIN TYPE: Halt

BULLETIN DATE: May 16, 2023

TSX Venture Tier 2 Company

Effective at 6:27 a.m. PST, May 16, 2023, trading in the shares of the Company was halted, pending news; this regulatory halt is imposed by Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada, the Market Regulator of the Exchange pursuant to the provisions of Section 10.9(1) of the Universal Market Integrity Rules.

________________________________________

CHURCHILL RESOURCES INC. ("CRI")

BULLETIN TYPE: Resume Trading

BULLETIN DATE: May 16, 2023

TSX Venture Tier 2 Company

Effective at 8:45 a.m. PST, May 16, 2023, shares of the Company resumed trading, an announcement having been made.

________________________________________

DELTA RESOURCES LIMITED ("DLTA")

BULLETIN TYPE: Property-Asset or Share Purchase Agreement

BULLETIN DATE: May 16, 2023

TSX Venture Tier 2 Company

TSX Venture Exchange has accepted for filing a Property Acquisition Agreement dated April 24, 2023 (the "Agreement"), between Delta Resources Limited (the "Company") and arm's length vendors (the "Vendors"), pursuant to which the Company has acquired eight additional claims near its Delta-1 property in Thunder Bay, Ontario. Under the Agreement, the Company will issue 80,000 common shares to the Vendors to earn a 100% interest in the claims. The Vendors will retain a 2% NSR of which the Company can elect to buy back 1% at any time for the sum of $1,000,000.

For further details, refer to the Company's news release dated May 4, 2023.

________________________________________

EDM RESOURCES INC. ("EDM")

BULLETIN TYPE: Private Placement-Non-Brokered

BULLETIN DATE: May 16, 2023

TSX Venture Tier 1 Company

TSX Venture Exchange has accepted for filing documentation with respect to a Non-Brokered Private Placement announced on March 1, 2023, and increased on April 20, 2023 and May 2, 2023:

Number of Shares: 3,772,200 Non-Flow-Through (NFT) shares

250,000 Flow-Through (FT) shares



Purchase Price: $0.50 per NFT share

$0.60 per FT share



Warrants: 3,897,200 share purchase warrants to purchase 3,897,200 shares



Warrant Exercise Price: $0.75 for a three-year period



Number of Placees: 52 placees

Insider / Pro Group Participation:



Placees # of Placee (s) Aggregate # of Shares





Aggregate Existing Insider Involvement: 4 650,000 NFT shares Aggregate Pro Group Involvement: 4 180,000 NFT shares



Aggregate Cash

Amount Aggregate # of Shares Aggregate # of Warrants Finder's Fee: $95,277 N/A 144,774

Finder's Warrants Terms: Each warrant entitles the holder to purchase one common share at the price of $0.75 for a period of 3 years from the date of issuance.

The Company issued news release on May 2, 2023, and May 10, 2023, confirming closing of the private placement. Note that in certain circumstances the Exchange may later extend the expiry date of the warrants, if they are less than the maximum permitted term.

________________________________________

EGR EXPLORATION LTD. ("EGR")

BULLETIN TYPE: Private Placement-Non-Brokered

BULLETIN DATE: May 16, 2023

TSX Venture Tier 2 Company

TSX Venture Exchange has accepted for filing documentation with respect to a Non-Brokered Private Placement announced on April 4, 2023:

Number of Shares: 1,428,572 Flow-Through (FT) shares

6,818,182 Non-Flow-Through (NFT) shares



Purchase Price: $0.14 per FT share

$0.11 per NFT share



Warrants: 4,123,376 share purchase warrants to purchase 4,123,376 NFT shares



Warrant Exercise Price: $0.22 for a three-year period



Number of Placees: 30 placees

Insider / Pro Group Participation: Placees # of Placee (s) Aggregate # of Shares





Aggregate Existing Insider Involvement: 4 883,001 NFT shares and 141,572 FT shares Aggregate Pro Group Involvement: 2 365,000 NFT shares



Aggregate Cash

Amount Aggregate # of Shares Aggregate # of Warrants Finder's Fee: $14,649 N/A 129,900

Finder's Warrants Terms: Each warrant entitles the holder to purchase one common share at the price of $0.11 for period of 1 year from the date of issuance.

The Company issued a news release on May 15, 2023, confirming closing of the private placement. Note that in certain circumstances the Exchange may later extend the expiry date of the warrants, if they are less than the maximum permitted term.

________________________________________

ELECTRIC METALS (USA) LIMITED ("EML")

BULLETIN TYPE: Halt

BULLETIN DATE: May 16, 2023

TSX Venture Tier 2 Company

Effective at 5:38 a.m. PST, May 16, 2023, trading in the shares of the Company was halted, pending news; this regulatory halt is imposed by Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada, the Market Regulator of the Exchange pursuant to the provisions of Section 10.9(1) of the Universal Market Integrity Rules.

________________________________________

ELECTRIC METALS (USA) LIMITED ("EML")

BULLETIN TYPE: Resume Trading

BULLETIN DATE: May 16, 2023

TSX Venture Tier 2 Company

Effective at 7:45 a.m. PST, May 16, 2023, shares of the Company resumed trading, an announcement having been made.

________________________________________

PALLADIUM ONE MINING INC. ("PDM")

BULLETIN TYPE: Plan of Arrangement

BULLETIN DATE: May 16, 2023

TSX Venture Tier 2 Company

TSX Venture Exchange Inc. (the "Exchange") has accepted for filing documentation in connection with a plan of arrangement between Palladium One Mining Inc. ("Palladium One" or the "Company") and MetalCorp Ltd. ("MetalCorp"), pursuant to the terms of an arrangement agreement dated March 3, 2023, and a court-approved plan of arrangement under the provisions of the Business Corporations Act (Ontario).

The Plan of Arrangement has been completed on May 2, 2023, and has resulted in holders of MetalCorp common shares ("MetalCorp Shares") receiving, for each MetalCorp Share held at the closing of the Arrangement, 0.3 shares of Palladium One ("Palladium One Shares"). The Arrangement has resulted in 38,679,050 Palladium One Shares being issued.

For further information, see the Company's news releases dated March 6, 2023 and May 5, 2023 available on its profile on SEDAR. The full particulars of the Arrangement are set forth in MetalCorp's Information Circular dated March 22, 2023, which is available under MetalCorp's profile on SEDAR.

________________________________________

PALLADIUM ONE MINING INC. ("PDM")

BULLETIN TYPE: Private Placement-Non-Brokered

BULLETIN DATE: May 16, 2023

TSX Venture Tier 2 Company

TSX Venture Exchange has accepted for filing documentation with respect to a Non-Brokered Private Placement announced on May 15, 2023:

Number of Shares: 7,439,071 shares



Purchase Price: $0.11 per share



Number of Placees: 1 placee

Insider / Pro Group Participation:









Placees # of Placee (s) Aggregate # of Shares





Aggregate Existing Insider Involvement: N/A N/A Aggregate Pro Group Involvement: N/A N/A



Aggregate Cash

Amount Aggregate # of Shares Aggregate # of Warrants Finder's Fee: N/A N/A N/A

The Company issued a news release on May 15, 2023, confirming closing of the private placement.

________________________________________

POND TECHNOLOGIES HOLDINGS INC. ("POND")

BULLETIN TYPE: Private Placement-Non-Brokered

BULLETIN DATE: May 16, 2023

TSX Venture Tier 2 Company

TSX Venture Exchange has accepted for filing documentation with respect to a Non-Brokered Private Placement announced on March 28, 2023:

Number of Shares: 6,024,999 common shares



Purchase Price: $0.07 per share



Warrants: N/A



Warrant Exercise Price: N/A



Number of Placees: 6 placees

Insider / Pro Group Participation:









Placees # of Placee (s) Aggregate # of Shares





Aggregate Existing Insider Involvement: 1 1,785,714 Aggregate Pro Group Involvement: N/A N/A



Aggregate Cash

Amount Aggregate # of Shares Aggregate # of Warrants Finder's Fee: N/A N/A N/A

Finder's Warrants Terms: N/A

The Company issued a news release on March 28, 2023 and May 12, 2023 confirming closing of the private placement.

________________________________________

PPX MINING CORP. ("PPX")

BULLETIN TYPE: Miscellaneous

BULLETIN DATE: May 16, 2023

TSX Venture Tier 2 Company

TSX Venture Exchange has accepted for filing an amended and restated gold and silver purchase agreement (the "Amending Agreement") dated February 19, 2023 between the Company and an arm's length party (the "Arm's Length Party"). Pursuant to the terms of the Amending Agreement, the Company will issue convertible debentures in the principal amount of US$5,399,946 to the Arm's Length Party with respect to outstanding debts owing to the Arm's Length Party. The convertible debenture bears interest at the rate of 5.00% and has a term of 3 years from the date of issuance. The debenture is convertible into a maximum of 134,998,650 shares of the Company at a conversion price of US$0.04 principal amount per share.

For further details, please refer to the Company's news releases dated February 21, 2023 and March 10, 2023.

________________________________________

Stallion Discoveries Corp. ("STUD")

BULLETIN TYPE: Halt

BULLETIN DATE: May 16, 2023

TSX Venture Tier 2 Company

Effective at 7:40 a.m. PST, May 16, 2023, trading in the shares of the Company was halted, pending news; this regulatory halt is imposed by Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada, the Market Regulator of the Exchange pursuant to the provisions of Section 10.9(1) of the Universal Market Integrity Rules.

________________________________________

Stallion Discoveries Corp. ("STUD")

BULLETIN TYPE: Resume Trading

BULLETIN DATE: May 16, 2023

TSX Venture Tier 2 Company

Effective at 10:15 a.m. PST, May 16, 2023, shares of the Company resumed trading, an announcement having been made.

________________________________________

TRES-OR RESOURCES LTD. ("TRS")

BULLETIN TYPE: Private Placement - Non-Brokered

BULLETIN DATE: May 16, 2023

TSX Venture Tier 2 Company

TSX Venture Exchange has accepted for filing documentation with respect to a Non-Brokered Private Placement announced April 17, 2023:

Number of Shares: 2,000,001 common shares in the capital of the Company ("Shares").



Purchase Price: $0.05 per Share.



Number of Placees: 1 placee.

Insider / Pro Group Participation:





Insider= Y /

Name Pro Group= P Number of Shares Aggregate Existing Insider Involvement: Y 2,000,001

Finder's Fee: None.

The Company issued a news release on May 16, 2023, confirming the closing of the Private Placement.

__________________________________

TUP CAPITAL INC. ("TUP.P")

BULLETIN TYPE: Halt

BULLETIN DATE: May 16, 2023

TSX Venture Tier 2 Company

Effective at 5:53 a.m. PST, May 16, 2023, trading in the shares of the Company was halted, pending news; this regulatory halt is imposed by Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada, the Market Regulator of the Exchange pursuant to the provisions of Section 10.9(1) of the Universal Market Integrity Rules.

________________________________________

VanadiumCorp Resource Inc. ("VRB")

BULLETIN TYPE: Private Placement - Non-Brokered

BULLETIN DATE: May 16, 2023

TSX Venture Tier 2 Company

TSX Venture Exchange has accepted for filing documentation with respect to a Non-Brokered Private Placement announced April 24, 2023, and May 3, 2023:

Number of Shares: 16,329,400 common share units ("Units"), each Unit consisting of one common share in the capital of the Company ("Share") and one Share purchase warrant ("Warrant").



Purchase Price: $0.10 per Unit.



Warrants: 16,329,400 Warrants to purchase 16,329,400 Shares.



Warrant Price: $0.18 for a period of two years from the date of issuance.



Number of Placees: 33 placees





Insider / Pro Group Participation:





Insider= Y /

Name ProGroup= P Number of Units Aggregate Existing Insider Involvement:



[6 Existing Insiders] Y 3,879,400 Aggregate Pro Group Involvement: N/A N/A



Aggregate Cash

Amount Aggregate # of Shares Aggregate # of Finder Warrants Finder's Fee: $24,000 N/A 244,000

| Finder's Warrants are exercisable by the holder thereof at an exercise price of

$0.18 per Finder Share for a period of two years from the date of issuance.

The Company issued a news release on May 11, 2023, confirming the closing of the Private Placement. Note that in certain circumstances the Exchange may later extend the expiry date of the Warrants, if they are less than the maximum permitted term.

__________________________________

Xali Gold Corp. ("XGC")

BULLETIN TYPE: Shares for Services

BULLETIN DATE: May 16, 2023

TSX Venture Tier 2 Company

TSX Venture Exchange has accepted for filing the Company's proposal to issue 159,529 common shares of the Company ("Shares") at a deemed price of $0.085. The Share issuance is in consideration of advertising and marketing services provided to the Company from July 16, 2022, to October 15, 2022, by an arm's length consultant pursuant to the Advertising Agreement dated October 15, 2021.

Number of Service Providers: 1

The Company has issued a news release on May 4, 2023, disclosing that the details of the debt settlement.

________________________________________

SOURCE TSX Venture Exchange
Vancouver, May 17, 2023 - Tribeca Resources Corp. (TSXV:TRBC) ("Tribeca Resources", the "Company") is pleased to announce final drill results from its recently completed first phase exploration program at the La Higuera IOCG project in northern Chile. These results mark a significant additional milestone in the Company's pursuit of copper-gold systems in this well-endowed and infrastructure-rich district.

Highlights:

The Phase 1 drilling program concluded with hole CHS002, which intersected a substantial zone of copper mineralization. Over a length of 167 meters, the copper grade averaged 0.21%, including a section of 12 meters at 0.91% copper and 0.24 g/t gold, starting from a depth of 56 meters.

A field campaign has been initiated to systematically develop additional drill targets. This campaign involves comprehensive geological mapping and soil sampling activities at the Benja and Don Baucha targets.

The results from CHS002, combined with historic exploration data, confirm the presence of three distinct copper-gold mineralized shear zones within a zone measuring 700 meters in length by 400 meters in width at Chirsposo. The characteristics of the mineralization closely resemble those from the previously reported Gaby discovery, as highlighted in Tribeca Resources' news releases from January to April 2023.

Tribeca Resources CEO, Dr Paul Gow commented:

"With an abundance of exciting exploration targets on our La Higuera district mineral concessions, we believe Tribeca Resources has only started to scratch the surface of this copper district. We look forward to systematically delineating new drill targets as well as recommencing drilling to understand the size of our exciting new Gaby discovery."

Chirsposo drill results

The combination of historic RC-dominant drilling, trenching, soil sampling, and geophysical ground magnetic data has revealed the presence of a large IOCG alteration system at the Chirsposo project. This system spans approximately 700 meters by 400 meters and contains mineralization within several southeast-dipping shear zones.

During the recent drill program, two diamond drill holes with RC pre-collars were completed at the Chirsposo target, totaling 524 meters. These holes were designed to test the interpreted geometry of the controlling shear zones and explore potential down-dip extensions of mineralization encountered in historic holes CAB0006 and CB-01 (which returned notable intervals including 82 meters at 0.35% Cu from 64 meters in CAB0006 and 54 meters at 0.38% Cu, 0.09 g/t Au, including 10 meters at 0.97% Cu, 0.20 g/t Au from 122 meters in CB-01).

Results from the final two holes of Phase 1 drilling are as follows:

The first hole, CHS001encountered 24 meters of gravel cover before intersecting diorite and porphyritic andesite with strong magnetite-scapolite-albite alteration. Pyrite-chalcopyrite mineralization was observed throughout much of the hole, with an average copper grade ranging between 0.1% and 0.2% in four intervals of 4-14 meters downhole thickness.

The second hole, CHS002, encountered 4 meters of gravel cover before intersecting porphyritic andesite with strong magnetite-amphibole-scapolite alteration. This section exhibited more intense pyrite-chalcopyrite mineralization, with localized sulphide content reaching 15% in thin intervals. The rock was weathered to a depth of 52 meters. The hole intersected significant thicknesses of 0.2-0.3% Cu and one 12m interval of 0.91% Cu and 0.24 g/t Au (Table 1). Importantly, this higher-grade interval may correlate with a similar interval of high-grade mineralization in CB-01 130m along strike to the southwest (Figure 1).

The strike extension of the mineralization to the northeast remains untested beyond drillhole CAB0006 (Figure 1).

The interpreted approximate 70 southeast dip of the mineralization and the northwest drilling direction at 60 dip suggest the true thickness of the mineralization will be approximately 75% of the downhole thickness.

Table 1: Significant intersections from drill hole CHS002 at the Chirsposo target. No significant intersections were present in drill hole CHS001.

HoleID From To Interval Cu (%) Au (g/t) Co (ppm) CuEq (%) CHS002 56 223 167 0.21 0.06 84 0.24 incl 56 78 22 0.26 0.07 31 0.28 incl 118 130 12 0.91 0.24 512 1.05 incl 198 214 16 0.24 0.07 72 0.27 Note: Apart from the summary intersection (from 56-223m in CHS002) the grade intersections are calculated for intervals >0.2% Cu with maximum internal dilution of 10m @ 0.05% Cu and a minimum interval width of 10m. CuEq (%) grades have been calculated using recoveries from metallurgical test work undertaken in 2006 on drill core from the project, which are 90% for copper, 65% for gold and 50% for cobalt. Metal prices utilised were US$3.74/lb copper, US$2,019.90/oz gold and US$15.84/lb cobalt (based on 12 May 2023 closing spot prices).



Click Image To View Full Size

Figure 1. Location of the two drill holes (CHS001 and CHS002) completed at the Chirsposo target.

Targets at the La Higuera IOCG Project

Tribeca Resources has strategically acquired a land holding of 4,047 hectares along the Atacama Fault System, covering a length of 8km. In combination with historic exploration data, the recent drilling by Tribeca Resources has demonstrated a strong copper endowment in this section of the fault system. Through integration of the pre-existing geophysical database with new data, Tribeca Resources has identified numerous potential targets, particularly in areas with shallow gravel cover.

To date, Tribeca Resources has conducted drilling on two of five targets and is now focused on developing potential drill targets at the remaining three before proceeding to the next phase of drilling.

The target areas are shown on Figure 2 and comprise:

Gaby (drill tested in Phase 1): Gaby has shown significant intersections indicating the presence of a mineralized IOCG system over a strike length of at least one kilometer. The system remains open to the north and at depth, requiring further drilling. Gravity targets on the eastern flank will be explored using extension IP surveying.

Benja (not yet drilled): Located between the Gaby discovery and the historic La Higuera mine, Benja exhibits significant IOCG-style alteration based on reconnaissance mapping and ground magnetic data. A soil sampling program is underway to further evaluate the zone.

Chirsposo (drill tested in Phase 1): Chirsposo consists of an outcropping ridge that disappears under thin gravel to the northeast. Historic data and the drilling reported here indicate the presence of a large northeast-trending, locally copper-bearing, system spanning 700m x 400m.

Chirsposo South (not yet drilled): Chirsposo South features coincident ground magnetic (3000-5000nT) and IP chargeability anomalies ( 25 mV/V) beneath gravel cover. Limited drilling off the western flank of these anomalies has shown sporadic copper intervals with maximum individual assays up to 0.8% copper (CB-02)

Don Baucha (single historic drill hole): Hosting an intense magnetic anomaly (5000nT) with a coincident IP chargeability anomaly (up to 40 mV/V), Don Baucha comprises andesite outcrop cut by magnetite veins. The single historic drill hole intersected sporadic copper mineralization with individual assay intervals up to 0.38% copper.

A geological mapping and soil sampling program has commenced at the Benja and Don Baucha targets, which both host significant outcrop. The objective is to understand the location and geometry of any mineralized zones within these large areas that have been defined through the ground magnetic data.



Click Image To View Full Size

Figure 2: Location of the five current targets on the La Higuera project. Underlying image is the Total Magnetic Intensity (reduced to pole) data.

Notes on sampling and assaying

Analytical samples were collected using 1/8 of the material from each 2m interval for the reverse circulation drilling or  HQ core for the diamond drilling and sent to the ALS Laboratory in La Serena, Chile for preparation and then to ALS in Santiago, Chile and Lima, Peru for analysis. Preparation included crushing the RC and core samples to 70% < 2mm and pulverizing 1000g of crushed material to better than 85% < 75 microns. All samples are assayed using 30g nominal weight fire assay with AAS finish (Au-AA23) and a multi-element four acid digest ICP-AES method (ME-ICP61). Where the ME-ICP61 results were greater than 10,000 ppm Cu the assays were repeated with an ore grade four acid digest method (Cu-OG62). The QA/QC procedure for this drilling program utilizes field duplicates, certified reference standards and blanks that comprise approximately 10% of the total samples submitted. The QA/QC results indicate appropriate accuracy and precision in the assaying program.

Qualified Person

All scientific and technical information in this press release has been prepared by, or approved by, Dr. Paul Gow, who is the CEO of Tribeca Resources. He is a Member of the Australian Institute of Geoscientists (MAIG), a Member of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (MAusIMM) and a qualified person for the purposes of NI 43-101. Dr. Gow has not verified any of the information regarding any of the properties or projects referred to herein other than the La Higuera IOCG Property. Mineralization on any other properties referred to herein is not necessarily indicative of mineralization on the La Higuera IOCG Property.

About Tribeca Resources

Tribeca Resources is a copper exploration company focused on discovering and developing assets in the Coastal IOCG Belt of northern Chile. The company's management team, whose members are significant shareholders of the Company, has world-leading expertise and a discovery history with iron oxide copper-gold deposits in the world's great IOCG Belts of the Carajas district in Brazil and the Gawler and Cloncurry provinces of Australia.

Tribeca Resources' objective is to provide the mineral resources for the next generation of copper mines in Chile. It is focused on building a portfolio of projects, with emphasis on mid to advanced-stage copper exploration and resource development projects. To this end, mineral targets are regularly assessed in pursuit of acquisition, strategic exploration and significant discovery.

Tribeca's flagship property is the La Higuera IOCG project that comprises 4,047 hectares of granted mining and exploration licences and is located towards the southern end of the Chilean Coastal IOCG Belt in the Coquimbo Region of northern Chile. The 822 hectare Gaby concession area is held under a purchase option (5% Exploration Levy on expenditure incurred during the option period; a US$2 million final payment due March 2024; with a 1% NSR Royalty granted to the owner), with the remainder of the concessions being outright owned (100%) by Tribeca Resources. Further information about the project can be found in the NI 43-101 Technical Report lodged by Tribeca Resources on SEDAR on 24 October 2022.

On behalf of Tribeca Resources Corp.

Paul Gow Thomas Schmidt CEO and Director President and Director admin@tribecaresources.com admin@tribecaresources.com +1 604 685 9316 +1 604 685 9316

Cautionary Note

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange Inc. nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange Inc.) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this press release.

FORWARD LOOKING INFORMATION

This press release contains forward-looking statements and information that are based on the beliefs of management and reflect the Company's current expectations. When used in this press release, the words "estimate", "project", "belief", "believe", "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 drilling program, the ability of the Company to develop and define a suitable resource at the Project and the relationship between geophysical survey results and potential mineralization.

Such statements and information reflect the current view of the Company. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, which may cause our actual results, performance or achievements, or other future events, to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such factors include, among others, the following risks: new laws or regulations could adversely affect the business and results of operations of the Company and anticipated work on the Project.

There are several important factors that could cause the Company's actual results to differ materially from those indicated or implied by forward-looking statements and information. Such factors include, among others: reliance on key management; changes in the credit or security markets; results of operation activities; unanticipated costs and expenses; fluctuations in commodity prices; and general market and industry conditions. The Company cautions that the foregoing list of material factors is not exhaustive. When relying on the Company's forward-looking statements and information to make decisions, investors and others should carefully consider the foregoing factors and other uncertainties and potential events.

The Company has assumed that the material factors referred to in the previous paragraph will not cause such forward-looking statements and information to differ materially from actual results or events. The forward-looking information contained in this press release represents the expectations of the Company as of the date of this press 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. While the Company may elect to, it does not undertake to update this information at any particular time except as required in accordance with applicable laws.

Copyright (c) 2023 TheNewswire - All rights reserved.
Nothing brings focus to the broader issue of poverty like homelessness. As troubling as things such as income inequality, food insecurity and unemployment are, all can seem somewhat less compelling than the greater and more easily understood basic need: shelter.All City Accelerator communities  and all cities, for that matter  have an issue with homelessness. In many instances, the stereotype of homelessness makes the problem easy to overlook. People tell themselves that homeless individuals are drug users or even lazy and its a problem that should be dealt with by the homeless people themselves (or their families) rather than a government entity or community. However, homelessness is often much more complex and the need for a response by the community may be irrefutable.As noted in my last column, the issue of homeless veterans touches a particular chord in the heart of most warm-blooded individuals and makes it much harder for people to overlook the victims. But another such facet in this dark and depressing subject is the issue of homeless children. In spite of frequent public debate on the issue of homelessness in recent years, I still find people who are blissfully unaware of the existence and dimensions of homeless children.I came face to face with this issue around 2006 in my first term as Chattanooga mayor, when a woman and her young daughter were found sleeping in a car in one of our riverfront parks. It was their home and they stayed there every night. The woman was employed as a hospital aide and while her income would barely cover most basic necessities, it was not sufficient to allow for rent. Another personal experience came a few years later when I was touring a bright and cheerful new downtown elementary school. An intercom announcement instructed the backpack kids to report to the cafeteria before leaving for the weekend. I asked the principal about the announcement and she said the school had more than 50 homeless children who would have nothing to eat over the weekend except for the sandwiches and other food provided in the backpacks. She said, We prefer to call them backpack kids, rather than homeless to try and protect them as much as possible. She went on to tell me that many other schools in the system had similar populations of homeless children. I later learned Chattanooga was not unique among cities in this respect.According to an October article published in thethe number of homeless students in public schools in the United States has increased significantly since the onset of the Great Recession in 2008. Estimates by the U. S. Department of Education place the nationwide number at approximately 1.25 million for the 2012-13 school year  an increase of about 85 percent from the 2006-2007 school year. Officials in Chattanooga and Hamilton County, Tenn., peg the local increase at over 100 percent since 2008 with the number of homeless students expected to top 1,700 this year.The 2013 Annual Homeless Assessment Report to Congress, published by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, includes statistics from its point-in-time count taken on a single night in January 2013. As of that date and time, there were 610,042 people experiencing homelessness in the United States. Fifty-eight percent of all homeless people in families were children (or 130,515) and there were 46,924 unaccompanied homeless children and youth on that January date. Most were youth between the ages of 18 and 24, but 13 percent were children under the age of 18. Further, half of unaccompanied children and youth were unsheltered. On a somewhat positive note, the report said major cities are able to provide emergency shelter for a very high percentage of homeless people in families  96 percent were sheltered and 4 percent were unsheltered.The article in thequotes Diane Nilan, a national advocate for homeless children, asking Congress to support the Homeless Children and Youth Act. The act would expand the definition of homelessness to include people living with other families or in hotels. Such people are vulnerable and unquestionably living in a stressful and tenuous situation. Nilan maintains these individuals need to be counted to give a true measure of the dimensions of the homeless population and to accurately gauge what constitutes adequate services. The most distressing factor to be considered regarding homeless children is the situation tends to reverberate and negatively affect these childrens future. Nilan says it's hard for a child to focus on homework while facing threats to his or her survival. Many homeless students don't graduate from high school.Accordingly, this is not a problem that can be swept under a rug. It's not likely to go away anytime soon and, since 2008, the problem appears to be getting worse. Larger cities are shouldering a disproportionate share of the burden. While these cities are doing a good job of providing shelter to homeless families with children, more than shelter is needed. The greater challenge is whether the emotional effects and the educational challenges homeless children face can be addressed sufficiently to provide hope for a better life. It's quite possible that some of our future leaders are today's "backpack kids." As valuable and needed as present efforts might be, its to everyone's advantage to give them more than sandwiches to get them through the weekend.
The reporter's notebook

The Colville Tribes have reason to be proud of Michelle Stanger.

Michelle just returned from Albuquerque, New Mexico, where she competed along with 26 other Indian national representatives for national honors and the opportunity to represent Indian tribes, teaching diversity, throughout the world.

Michelle was selected as Miss Colville Confederated Tribes last July and has been representing the 12 tribes since then.

She won local recognition through competition on the reservation.

Michelle and her mother Lucy drove to New Mexico in late April, where the national competition was held.

It took three days of driving, through Salt Lake City, Denver, Four Corners, and Santa Fe, to get to the competition.

Thousands turned out, making it the largest powwow in the nation. Scores of tribes from the United States and Canada were present, while only 27 tribes had representatives in the competition.

It was the 40th such gathering.

Competition included native costumes, food, dance, and horse events. The competition was for tribal young people from 18-25 years old.

Michelle, a 2022 graduate of Lake Roosevelt High School, is one of many young people who have indicated they are going to have an influence in society for years to come.

Two other locals have distinguished themselves here in our coulee communities.

Merle and Jerry Kennedy are well known here. Merle in real estate and Jerry in insurance.

It appears that the brothers plan to taper off duties in their Grand Coulee businesses, with the sale of their properties.

I first met Merle when we stopped here to see friends we made when we lived here in the mid-1950s. We didnt intend to go house shopping, but I intended to retire early and on a whim engaged Merle to show us around.

Since we had enjoyed living here some 40 years earlier, we ended up making an offer on a house in Electric City.

Through the years I have called on Merle to assist me on matters dealing with real estate, and he has always graciously helped.

One of the first things I had to do was get insurance for various needs. Thats where Jerry came to the rescue.

I remember on one occasion I was shopping around checking on my policy with another company. Jerry, while selling that kind of coverage, advised me to stay with the company I was with.

Thats the kind of people the Kennedys are.

I cant think of two people that have done more for our communities than the Kennedy brothers.
IMF executive board approves Ghana's $3billion bailout

Emmanuel Bruce Business News May - 17 - 2023 , 16:12

Ghana has secured the long awaited $3billion financial support from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), deep throat sources have confirmed to Graphic Business.

At a meeting today [May 17, 2023] in Washington, the Executive Board of the IMF unanimously approved Ghana's programme over the next three years.

Graphic Business sources in Washington have said finishing touches are being made to sign off the deal and that a press release confirming the details will be released in a few hours.

Meanwhile, the IMF has announced that a virtual press conference will be held on Thursday, [May 18], to provide journalists with insights into the outcomes of the Executive Board meeting concerning Ghana's request for an Extended Credit Facility (ECF) Arrangement.

The press briefing will feature key participants including Stephane Roudet, the IMF Mission Chief for Ghana; Ken Ofori-Atta, Ghana's Minister of Finance; Ernest Addison, Governor of the Bank of Ghana; and Tatiana Mossot, Senior Communications Officer at the IMF.

The highly anticipated press conference aims to provide clarity on the discussions held during the IMF Executive Board meeting and the decisions made regarding Ghana's request for an Extended Credit Facility Arrangement. The virtual format, conducted via Zoom, will enable journalists and stakeholders to engage with the panel of experts and gain a deeper understanding of the IMF's perspective on Ghana's economic situation and the proposed assistance.

Ghana's Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta, and Governor Ernest Addison will likely share insights into the country's economic challenges, reform efforts, and the potential impact of the Extended Credit Facility Arrangement on Ghana's financial stability and economic growth prospects.

Stephane Roudet, the IMF Mission Chief for Ghana, will provide an expert analysis of the country's economic performance, outlining the conditions and policy measures associated with the Extended Credit Facility Arrangement.

Attached below is a copy of the press statement by the IMF
Hollard partners IBAG to create more awareness

Maclean Kwofi Business News May - 17 - 2023 , 17:59

An insurance firm, Hollard Insurance, is building a strong partnership with the Insurance Brokers Association of Ghana (IBAG) to deepen insurance awareness in the country.

This has become necessary due to the low insurance penetration rate which stands at two per cent, despite the increasing growth and uptake of insurance among Ghanaians.

We understand the unique role of brokers in enabling more people to create and secure a better future and our partnership with them aims to deliver a triple win for all. Thus, a win for the customer, the broker, and us, the Managing Director (MD) of Hollard Insurance, a subsidiary of Hollard Ghana, Daniel Boi Addo, said in a press release issued by the insurance firm in Accra.

The award

The release is also to announce Hollard Insurance as the first runner-up for the Most Broker Friendly and Supportive Insurer award by the IBAG.

The Most Broker Friendly and Supportive Insurer Awards was the highlight of the 2023 IBAG Annual Conference & Exhibition held at, Sunyani in the Bono Region.

Winners were recognised based on criteria such as turn-around time in reasonable quotes and terms; adequacy of commission paid; quality of underwriting and coverage granted; willingness to make concessions in claims settlement and how corporative they are with brokers.

Mr Addo expressed appreciation to all brokers for the honour done on the Hollard brand.

He thanked the broker team, headed by Maame Efua Sackitey-Williams, and all supporting teams for helping to build impactful relationships with brokers.

At Hollard, we say Long Live the Broker because we understand in a world of growing complexity, we need expert navigators who can point us in the right direction, he said.

The conference

Over 200 participants attended the conference which included insurance and reinsurance brokers, insurance and reinsurance companies.

The 2023 edition of the IBAG Educational Conference and Exhibition was organised to aid the continuing professional development that presents delegates with an opportunity to network and build relations, learn, and share best practices, innovative ideas, and strategies for the progress of the insurance industry.
Flee from men who say no sex before marriage - actor Nedu tells ladies

Graphic Showbiz Showbiz News May - 16 - 2023 , 19:30

Nollywood actor and media personality Chinedu Ani Emmanuel, popularly known as Nedu has cautioned women to be wary of suitors who propose a no-sex-before marriage relationship.

Nedu stated in the recent edition of his podcast "The Honest Bunch" on Monday May 15, 2023 that it was unusual for men to enter into sexual relationships with the opposite sex and have such a mantra in today's society.

Such men, according to the on-air personality, might be hiding something questionable about their aptitude sexually, which could seriously harm a long-term relationship.

He explained that the basis of his argument was the fact that several women had confided in him about the appalling sexual performances of their husbands, which they had been ignorant of prior to their wedding ceremony.

He said, Your guy is telling you no sex before marriage, no sex before marriage, find out if he likes it from the other side. One woman don talk for my radio show say, Oga Nedu, I dey cheat on my husband. Not once, not twice. Oga Nedu if na you, you go comot. I said why? She said him prick no dey gree rise. I supported her. Men, Im sorry. This guy just marry her and he was saying no sex before marriage. Na so the girl enter in side.

Related: Mzbel says Blacko is an ancestor
Kanye Wests wife Bianca Censori wears only body tape in nearly-naked pics

Page Six Showbiz News May - 17 - 2023 , 13:57

Kanye Wests wife, Bianca Censori, stripped down for a steamy photo shoot, wearing only heels and black body tape to cover her private areas.

The Australian architectural designer  who reportedly married West, 45, in a non-legally binding ceremony in January  bared it all in a set of photos posted to fashion brand Mowalolas Instagram Monday.

In the snaps, Censori sported a square of black body tape over her breasts and strips of that tape trailing from the front of her vagina to her backside.

Censori  who was originally hired by West to be Yeezys architectural designer in 2020  also wore short-heeled black boots that spanned up to her bum. She completed the shocking style with her platinum blonde pixie cut styled in a gel-heavy look.

Wests ex Julia Fox gave her blessings for his wifes risque look, commenting, .

However, other Instagram users slammed the Yeezy employee, 28, for her attire, alleging that the barely-there look goes against the Donda rappers born-again Christian views.

This aint Christ Like, one user commented, while another user called the look extremely disrespectful.

The fashion brand owner behind the racy photos, Mowalola Ogunlesi, was hired by West in 2020 as design director for his Yeezy Gap brand and has styled looks for the Graduation rapper, his ex-wife, Kim Kardashian, and their oldest daughter, North, 9, in the past.

While West terminated his contract with Gap in 2022, the two designers appear to be working together again.

Read also Dont make it a competition  Chef Tondon appeals to Nigerians

Flee from men who say no sex before marriage - actor Nedu tells ladies

Mzbel says Blacko is an ancestor
Harry and Meghan in 'near catastrophic' car chase - spokesperson

International News May - 17 - 2023 , 18:20

Prince Harry, Meghan and her mother were involved in a "near catastrophic car chase" involving paparazzi, a spokesperson for the couple has claimed.

The incident happened after the Duke and Duchess of Sussex attended an awards ceremony in New York on Tuesday.

In a statement, their spokesperson said the "relentless pursuit" lasted for over two hours.

They added it resulted in "multiple near collisions".

The BBC has not been able to independently verify the details.

In a statement, the New York Police Department (NYPD) confirmed an incident took place and said that numerous photographers "made their [Harry and Meghan's] transport challenging".

No injuries or arrests were reported. Buckingham Palace has not yet commented.

There are claims the chase involved half a dozen cars, with reckless driving including going through red lights, driving on the pavement, carrying out blocking moves, and reversing down a one-way street - as well as taking photographs while driving.

Details are emerging of what seem to have been chaotic scenes. The couple, plus Meghan's mother Doria Ragland, tried to take shelter from the paparazzi by going to a Manhattan police station.

There was then a plan to use a New York taxi, with a cab flagged down and Harry and Meghan getting inside, but in the end that was spotted and they reverted to their own security vehicles.

The taxi's driver, Sukhcharn Singh, said he never felt in danger and would not "call it a chase".

"They were quiet and seemed scared but it's New York - it's safe," he told the Washington Post.

The BBC understands the pair were staying at a friend's home, and did not return directly to avoid compromising their security.

It's also claimed that the presence of New York police officers did not stop the pursuit. The couple use private security while in the US.

Caption

Caption

"While being a public figure comes with a level of interest from the public, it should never come at the cost of anyone's safety," the couple's spokesperson said.

"Dissemination of these images, given the ways in which they were obtained, encourages a highly intrusive practice that is dangerous to all involved."

The awards ceremony they attended - the Ms Foundation Women of Vision Awards - was Harry and Meghan's first public appearance together since the King's Coronation earlier this month.

Meghan accepted an award at the event alongside LaTosha Brown, the co-founder of Black Voters Matter.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams told reporters that two police officers "could have been injured" and that it "would be horrific to lose an innocent bystander during a chase like this".
2 Fake ECG staff dragged to court

Justice Agbenorsi May - 17 - 2023 , 08:31

Two electricians who allegedly posed as Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) staff and defrauded a businesswoman of GH1,500 on the pretext of securing her an ECG meter modem, have been arraigned at the Accra Circuit Court.

The two  Perry Kumi Asamoah and Samuel Afful Kenneth, have been charged with seven counts of conspiracy, interfering with the suppliers distribution system, defrauding by false pretence and forgery.

Their alleged accomplice, whose name was only given as Isaac, is currently at large.

Asamoah and Kenneth pleaded not guilty to the charges when they appeared before the court presided over by Bright Samuel Acquah.

They have been granted bail in the sum of GH10,000 with one surety each.

They are to reappear before the court on June 1, 2023.

Disconnection

Narrating the facts to the court, the General Manager in charge of prosecutions at the ECG, Paul Assibi Abariga, said on January 25, 2023, the accused persons approached the complainant in her house and introduced themselves as persons from the ECG on meter monitoring operation.

The complainant, he said, led the accused persons to her ECG meter.

He said Asamoah then opened the meter and brought out a component and showed it to the complainant, accusing her of illegal connection.

Based on this, the prosecution said the accused persons disconnected the complainants power.

The complainant pleaded for restoration and the accused persons demanded an amount of GH3,000 from her to restore the power.

The complainant informed her husband accordingly and he sent mobile money amounting to GH1,500 to them through Asamoahs mobile number and the power was restored, he said.

Investigations

Mr Abariga said the complainant, who was not satisfied about the conduct of the accused persons, reported the matter to the ECG Revenue Protection Unit which referred the matter to the ECG Investigation Unit for action.

On May 5, 2023, he said the accused persons visited another ECG customer at Ogbojo, Accra with the same modus operandi and the customer called the ECG office for verification, which led to the arrest of Asamoah and Kenneth.

During investigation, he said a search conducted on the two accused person revealed two identity cards bearing their names and photos with the serial numbers 193955 and 193954 respectively.

Summons emanated from the ECG which appeared to be forged and one mobile phone which contained the Tigo chip was used to receive the amount from the complainants husband.

Further checks also revealed the Barcode on the two ID cards belonged to one late Kingsley Darko who was a former employee of the ECG.

The accused persons, in their respective caution statement, admitted the offences levelled against them.

Efforts are underway to arrest the third accused person, the prosecutor said.
Allow magistrates to grant bail - Director of Legal Education advocates

Justice Agbenorsi May - 17 - 2023 , 10:45

The Director of Legal Education, Barima Yaw Kodie Oppong, has advocated the expansion of the powers of magistrates in indictment cases to enable them to grant bail.

Alternatively, he says the High Court should be made a court of first instance in indictable cases.

He said it was intriguing that magistrates had the power to entertain the remand of accused persons in indictment cases, including murder cases, but did not have the power to entertain an application for bail as the practice was often used to violate the right of accused persons.

A trial by indictment is when an accused person is preliminarily examined by the magistrate as to his guilt or innocence, and when he is found to have a case to answer, the magistrate makes a case to the Attorney-General, who, in turn, prepares a docket on the accused, stating his crime and charges, summary of evidence to be given, by whom and the exhibits to be used at the trial at the High Court.

Under the current laws, the District Court does not have the power to grant bail to accused persons in indictable offences, but is able to remand same.

Alternative

Speaking at the closing ceremony of the Ghana School of Laws Criminal Prosecution and Litigation Course in Accra last Friday, Mr Oppong, who is also the Director of the school, said the country could alternatively consider making the High Court a court of first instance without having to go to the Magistrate Court.

If you do not have the jurisdiction to entertain an application for bail, then you should not have the jurisdiction to entertain an application for remand. Because the 48 hours has elapsed, it doesnt matter the nature of the offence, the police have the authority to release me on bail; if they decide not to release me on bail, then they should take me to a court of competent jurisdiction.

So if the competent court has no jurisdiction to entertain an application for bail, then that District Court should not be the court where the police take persons charged with murder; they should be taken to the High Court where I know that at first instance a bail will be entertained or the District Court should be given power to entertain an application for bail, he argued.

He added that a court that had the jurisdiction to entertain an indictment case must be able to entertain all applications, including those for bail.

Graduation

A total of 40 people graduated from the course, which was designed to develop the legal knowledge of local prosecutors, especially in the areas of criminal procedure, rules of evidence and skills of police prosecutors and allied officers.

The course is also to enhance the courtroom advocacy skills of prosecutors while updating their knowledge of relevant legislation and basic rules in interpreting laws.

Aside from investigators and prosecutors, the course is also useful to personnel from the Economic and Organised Crime Office, Narcotics Control Commission, National Security, the Social Security and National Insurance Trust, Environmental Protection Agency, Ghana Standards Authority, Food and Drugs Authority and Ghana Revenue Authority.

MoU

Mr Oppong announced that presently, the school was in talks with the Greenwich University in the United Kingdom to offer scholarships and waivers for students of the course to enhance their knowledge in criminology.

In line with that, he said, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has been approved by the General Legal Council.

The Course Director at the school, Dr Georgina Ahorbor, urged the graduates to apply the knowledge acquired in the classroom to enhance the frontiers of the law in the country.
Ato Essien gets lifeline of up to July 2023,to pay GH55million restitution

Emmanuel Ebo Hawkson May - 17 - 2023 , 13:42

The Accra High Court has given founder of the defunct Capital Bank, William Ato Essien, a lifeline of up to July 2023, to pay GH55million restitution to the state.

The court, presided over by Justice Eric Kyei Baffour, today (May 17, 2023) decided to adjourn the case and not hear an application by the Attorney-General (A-G) which is seeking the imprisonment of Essien following his failure to meet the deadline of paying the first tranche of a GH60million restitution.

Justice Kyei Baffour ruled that he decided to give Essien a grace period after Essien in his affidavit to the A-Gs motion deposed that he was expecting some money by the end of June to enable him pay the money.

Expectations

According to Essien, his company - Essien Swiss International Holdings has reached an agreement with another company to sell some assets and he was expecting about $300,000 by June 2023.

Justice Kyei Baffour therefore decided to adjourn the case for Essien to get the said money.

The judge however warned Essien that if fails to pay the money by the next adjourned, he would have no option than to hear the application seeking his imprisonment and rule on it accordingly.

If we come back on the July 4 and you have not paid then I would allow the republic to move the application, then we all know that I have been as fair as possible, Justice Kyei Baffour said.

Conviction

Essien who was convicted for stealing over GH90million of Bank of Ghanas liquidity support to the then Capital Bank.

Per the High Court's judgment, he was supposed to have paid GH20 million of the GH60million restitution by April 28, 2023 and pay the rest by the end December 2023.

Failure to pay the amount per the agreed terms will lead to the court jailing Essien.

Essien failed to pay the GH20million by the April 28 deadline and rather paid GH5million last week.
Charles Bissue vs. OSP: Court defers hearing injunction application

Graphic.com.gh May - 17 - 2023 , 10:44

The High Court in Accra hearing a writ brought by Charles Bissue to stop the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) from prosecuting him on grounds that he has already been set free by the Police has deferred hearing an injunction application filed by Mr. Bissue.

Rather, the Court says it will hear first an application by Mr. Bissue for discoveries.

The motion for discovery is not yet due for hearing, since Charles Bissue claims not to have been served with the affidavit of the OSP in opposition.

The court today, against an opposition by the OSP, decided not to hear the injunction application until after plaintiff has moved his motion for discovery on June 12, 2023.

According to the Judge, the motions are the Plaintiff's and he can decide how to move them.

Related: Charles Bissue asks court to stop OSP from investigating him

Background to the case;

Charles Bissue caused a Writ of Summons and Statement of claim to be issued against the OSP and two others in December 2022 after the OSP announced in its Half Yearly Report that it has completed investigations into corruption allegations against Bissue by Tiger Eye P.I. and Anas.

He amended the writ in January 2023.

He filed an injunction to restrain the OSP from further investigating and prosecuting him.

The OSP was granted leave to file its statement of case in opposition to the Motion.

Mr. Bissiue has since then not moved the injunction application amid several adjournments.

He has proceeded to file a motion to disclose the petition filed by Anas against him, which has been opposed by the OSP.
Chief of Army Staff pays working visit to Obuasi mine

Daily Graphic May - 17 - 2023 , 11:49

The Chief of Army Staff, Major-General Thomas Oppong-Peprah, has paid a working visit to AngloGold Ashantis Obuasi mine.

The visit was to acquaint himself with the mines operations and the security issues in the mining industry.

He was accompanied by a team of high-ranking military officials.

The Managing Director of AngloGold Ashanti (Ghana) Limited, Eric Asubonteng, and his leadership team welcomed Major-General Oppong-Peprah to the Obuasi mine.

In his welcome remarks, Mr Asubonteng expressed gratitude for the governments invaluable contribution to controlling illegal mining in Obuasi mine.

The increasing aggression of armed illegal miners is a major challenge for the Obuasi mine. As such, we appreciate the support of the Government of Ghana in ensuring the safety and security of our employees, host communities and assets, Mr Asubonteng stated.

Support and cooperation

Major-General Oppong-Peprah expressed gratitude and appreciation to the Obuasi mine for the years of support and cooperation.

He confirmed the continuing commitment of the countrys public security agencies to protecting the Obuasi mine from security threats.

He said discussions were advanced to establish a Forward Operating Base in Obuasi to help maintain law and order.

The Forward Operating Base, Major-General Oppong-Peprah said, was expected to assist in the fight against illegal mining and associated criminal activities.

He added that illegal mining and associated activities presented safety risks to illegal miners, socio-economic and environmental risks to the companys host communities, as well as a significant threat to AngloGold Ashantis operations at the Obuasi mine.

The Chief of Army Staff and his team were given a tour of the mines operations and illegal mining hotspots within the concession.

In response to a request by the mine for enhanced support to protect its concessions, four new military vehicles were unveiled to strengthen patrol effectiveness within the mines operational areas.
Court orders girlfriend to hand over car to Registrar

Justice Agbenorsi May - 17 - 2023 , 08:10

The High Court in Accra has ordered the plaintiff in the case in which a woman has sued the chief finance officer of a bank for allegedly breaching an agreement to take care of her, to hand over a vehicle in dispute in the case to the court.

In a ruling yesterday, the court, presided over by Justice Olivia Obeng Owusu, said the vehicle in dispute should be surrendered to the Registrar of the High Court for preservation until the final determination of the case.

Car

On January 23, this year, the plaintiff, Deborah Seyram Adablah, filed a suit at the Accra High Court contending that Ernest Kwasi Nimako agreed to buy her a car, pay for her accommodation for three years, give her a monthly stipend of GH3,000, marry her after divorcing his wife and also give her a lump sum to start a business.

It is her case that although Nimako bought the car and registered it in his (Nimakos) name, he has taken the car back, denying her access to use it after about a year of enjoying the Honda Civic worth GH120,000, while he also paid for only one years accommodation, even though he promised to pay for three years.

But the car has since been in the custody of Adablah who drives it regularly to the court hearings.

As part of the orders made by the court regarding the car, Mr Nimako has also been directed to submit all documents in relation to the said vehicle to the Registrar.

Justice Owusu made the orders after ruling on a motion filed by the defendant seeking to restrain Adablah from using her social media platforms to tarnish his image.

Adablah, in her defence, said the videos were uploaded before the commencement of the legal action.

Delivering her ruling on the motion, Justice Owusu ordered both the plaintiff (Adablah) and the first defendant (Ernest Nimako) to desist from any publication on the matter on both social and traditional media.

Reliefs

In the suit, Adablah makes the case that she was forced into the relationship during the period she did her national service at the bank.

She also accused Nimako of abuse, sexual harassment, maltreatment, exploitation and also lowering her reputation.

The plaintiff is seeking an order from the court directed at Nimako to transfer the title of the car into her name and also give her back the car.

She is also asking the court to order the defendant to pay her the lump sum to enable her to start a business to take care of herself as agreed by the plaintiff and the defendant.

Another relief is for the court to order Nimako to pay the outstanding two years accommodation as agreed between her and the defendant.
GIHOC Distilleries workers protest unpaid wages and mismanagement, management defends MD

GraphicOnline May - 17 - 2023 , 08:10

GIHOC distilleries' management has rejected the demands for the removal of Managing Director Maxwell Kofi Jumah.

On Tuesday, May 16, protesting workers called for the settlement of unpaid wages and accused the MD of poor management.

The workers also claimed that their Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) contributions and Provident fund payments had been overdue for nearly a year.

According to the workers, the company's performance has significantly declined during Mr. Jumah's six-year tenure as MD.

The workers, donning red armbands, expressed their grievances to Citi FM and urged the government to promptly dismiss Mr. Jumah.

However, the company's management has refuted the allegations, stating that they are false.

Nana Kwesi Adubofour, the Sales Manager at GIHOC, denied the claims of mismanagement, pointing out that only 30 out of over 500 workers participated in the protest.

He further clarified that the salary arrears were not three months overdue but that last month's payment would be made next week, and the current month's payment would be settled by the end of this month.

We have 565 workers here and if 30 of them protest against the MD then I dont know why they are doing that, and I dont know what they meant by mismanagement. The salary arrears are not three months, we are yet to pay last month which we will pay by next week and this month will be paid by the end of this month, Nana Adubofour said.
Govt committed to build disaster-resilient system  Eastern Regional Minister

Dickson Worlanyo Dotse May - 17 - 2023 , 11:06

The Eastern Regional Minister, Seth Kwame Acheampong, says the government remains committed to making the country disaster-resilient in the face of climate change and worsening weather conditions.

He said the government had, as a result, developed a practical policy document which enjoined various sectors to take actions to mitigate and address climate problems in a national context.

The impact of climate change has no continental boundaries, and we have had our fair share of extreme weather events resulting in loss of lives and property, so it is not surprising that Ghana has signed on to various international conventions that provide the framework for tackling issues of climate change, he said.

Mr Acheampong said this last Friday at Akosombo during the closing ceremony of a simulation exercise conducted by the Volta River Authority (VRA) and the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) to tackle possible situations arising from dam spillage.

Durbar

The durbar was chaired by the Adantemhene of the Akwamu Traditional Area, Nana Kwame Asamoah Yeboah-Afari, representing the Paramount Chief of Akwamu Traditional Area, Odeneno Kwafo Akoto, and brought together all representatives of the agencies involved and other stakeholders

Exercise

Dubbed: Da woho so, the exercise formed part of the VRAs emergency preparedness plan for the Akosombo and Kpong dams to enhance the readiness of state agencies to respond to emergencies arising from the release of significant amount of water from the dams.

The simulation exercise occurred last Thursday at Asuogyaman, North Tongu and Ada East districts, three of nine districts most likely to suffer severe damages in the event of a dam spillage.

It involved total evacuation, search and rescue, as well as compulsory and voluntary evacuations.

The all-inclusive exercise included state security agencies, the National Ambulance Service, the Ghana National Fire Service, the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG), the North Dakota National Guard and the US Embassy, which provided technical support and training.

Commendation

The collaboration between the VRA, NADMO and all the other agencies is highly commendable and worthy of emulation, so I want you all to take the lessons learnt seriously and update your respective standard operating procedures to make it even more relevant, Mr Acheampong said.

The Deputy Chief Executive, Engineering and Operations of VRA, Edward Obeng-Kenzo, said the exercise had exposed and identified areas and vulnerabilities that needed attention to improve emergency response.

He affirmed the authoritys commitment to continue to work towards protecting the public while doing more to improve on delivering its mandate.

Worthy cause

The Director-General of NADMO, Eric Nana Agyeman Prempeh, said even though the full-scale simulation exercise was very costly in terms of planning and execution, it was worthwhile because the benefits outweighed financial inputs, and that it would help to prevent or mitigate disasters and minimise casualty levels.

I pledge our support to ministries, departments, agencies, and the private sector to prepare plans to mitigate, respond, and recover during the emergencies to enhance the safety of our citizens, he added.

Lt Col. Carl Otenbeg, a North Dakota National Guard, representing the US Embassy, described the exercise as a great success, adding that I am proud to see that the student has taken lessons, made them their own and become peer with the master.

The Chief Executive of the North Tongu District Assembly, Divine Osborn Fenu, expressed gratitude to the government for showing concern for people living in vulnerable districts.
Govtll strictly implement Natural Resource dialogue recommendations  Jinapor

Timothy Ngnenbe May - 17 - 2023 , 06:52

The Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Samuel Abu Jinapor, has assured Ghanaians that the government will strictly implement the recommendations of the national stakeholders dialogue on natural resource management.

Mr Jinapor said the two-day dialogue, Natural Resources Stakeholders Dialogue, which was organised by the Graphic Communications Group Limited (GCGL) in partnership with his ministry, discussed pertinent issues in the land, forestry and mining sectors that were productive, substantive, comprehensive and capable of enhancing effective natural resource management.

Across board, there is a unanimous consensus that the dialogue was a huge success.

For building consensus around these issues of national importance, the government commends the leadership shown by the GCGL highly, and I convey that to you, he said.

Communique

The minister stated this when the Managing Director of GCGL, Ato Afful, led a team from the company to present a report on the dialogue to him at the Lands and Natural Resources Ministry yesterday.

The team from GCGL included the Editor, Graphic, Theophilus Yartey; Director, Marketing and Sales, Franklin Sowa; the News Editor of the Daily Graphic, Samuel Doe Ablordeppey; the Advert Sales Manager, George Danso, and the Corporate Communications Officer, Yvonne Aryee.

Mr Afful presented the document to the minister, explaining that it contained speeches that were delivered at the dialogue, outcomes of the panel discussions and breakout sessions, as well as recommendations by the experts and participants in the event.

Time for action

While commending GCGL for building consensus and rallying other stakeholders to address challenges confronting the natural resource sector, Mr Jinapor said it was time to delve more into specific issues.

I want to point out that we should not leave it here.

What we did at the dialogue was to examine the broader issues of how we can sustainably exploit and manage our natural resources.

Beyond this dialogue, there is the need to zero in on the specific issues, he said.

For instance, Mr Jinapor said the issue of land administration was a big one that required special attention.

Here in Ghana, the issue of land ownership is diverse.

The government has a bit of it; the stools, families and clans have a lot of it.

To what extent does this arrangement have an impact on land administration in the country?

And what kind of land administration or tenure system should we have in the country?

We need to delve deeper into this issue, he said.

Again, the minister pointed out that the issue of whether to restrict small-scale mining to alluvial mining or allow people to do surface mining must be given special attention.

He stressed that a major decision on that issue was critical, especially so when surface mining in the small-scale sector was wreaking havoc on the environment.

Commitment by GCGL

For his part, Mr Afful said the GCGL remained committed to working with the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources and its agencies as well as experts to implement the recommendations of the dialogue.

He said the consensus built during the dialogue was positive energy for the sustainable management of the countrys natural resources.

Mr Afful added that the wealth of knowledge shared by experts, policymakers and other stakeholders at the dialogue was crucial and would help to chart a good path for the effective management of the resources.
JICA urged to partner local government services to mobilize revenue digitally

Emelia Ennin Abbey May - 17 - 2023 , 15:13

The Head of Local Government Service, Dr Nana Ato Arthur, has appealed to the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) to help build the capacity of Local Government Service staff in revenue mobilisation through digitalisation.

He made the appeal when the new Chief Representative of the JICA, Suzuki Momoko, paid a courtesy call on him at his office in Accra on Thursday, May 11, 2023.

Suzuki Momoko became the new Chief Representative of JICA in March this year.

Digitalization

Nana Ato Arthur commended JICA for the various technical support provided to Local Government Services.

However, he said one major area in the Service that needed support is the use of technology and digitalisation to maximise revenue mobilisation and called on JICA to help build the capacity of Local Government Service staff.

He lauded the Vice President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia for adopting digitalisation as an avenue to better the economy.

The Head of Service revealed that other areas worthy of attention were transformational leadership, agricultural technology and change of the mindset of people.

He, therefore, implored JICA to partner with the Local Government Service to tap into the best practices in Japan.

Nana Ato Arthur lauded the JICA knowledge co-creation programme which has impacted positively records keeping in the Local Government Service.

The Head of Service expressed appreciation to the Japanese government for the many programmes undertaken in Ghana as a development partner.

Technical support

Suzuki Momoko, the Chief Representative of Japan International Cooperation Agency, enumerated the various technical support programmes provided by JICA in the areas of health, education, and agriculture among others.

She gave the assurance that JICA and the Japanese government will continue to provide such technical support to Ghana.
KIA installs scanner for increased cargo next month

Maclean Kwofi May - 17 - 2023 , 07:38

In its efforts to establish Accra as a major hub of air freight in West Africa with periodic upgrade of infrastructure, the Ghana Airport Company has acquired an advanced air cargo scanner, Eagle A25, to be installed at the Kotoka International Airport (KIA) cargo village.

The scanner, to be installed by the end of next month, will enhance the exposure of concealed items such as arms and ammunition, drugs and other prohibited goods being trafficked into the country.

It will serve the designated cargo handling operators, including Aviance Ghana, Swissport Ghana and AHS Menzies.

It is the brainchild of Nick TC-Scan Limited, a Ghanaian private firm operating scanners across the countrys sea and land borders for more than 20 years.

The General Manager of Nick TC-Scan Limited, Joojo Morrison, made this known last Monday when the Minister of Trade and Industry, Kobina Tahir Hammond, paid a visit to the KIA.

Working visit

Mr Hammond led a delegation from the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MoTI) to tour the KIA and also the Tema Port.

The visit enabled the minister and his delegation to familiarise themselves with the operations at KIA and Meridian Port Services Limited (MPS), particularly trade facilitation related activities such as cargo scanning and the status of deployment of the Integrated Customs Management System (ICUMS).

Starting at exactly 10 a.m., the minister walked through to the scanning facilities at the cargo import and export sections located at Aviance Ghana, Swissport and Customs Unit at the cargo village and interacted with some staff of the agencies.

The tour continued until it ended at terminal two of the Tema Port at 6:30 p.m. after the minister visited MPS Tema Port and other agencies at the port.

The delegation was received by institutions such as the Ghana Airport Company Limited (GACL), Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA), Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA), MPS and Nick TC Scan Limited.

The Eagle A25

Mr Morrison said the Eagle A25 scanner, which has enhanced detection features, was the first in the West African sub-region.

This equipment is the first of its kind in the sub-region and it will replace the existing one at KIA which we think is a bit outmoded.

It will also be complemented by smaller scanners which are also state-of-the-art equipment, he said.

He mentioned some of the features as having an enhanced level of detection of threats and contraband.

Also, it has an advanced X-ray system for scanning pallets and unit load devices (ULDs) to produce high quality images that help detect threats and contraband.

It enables fast loading and unloading of containers and pallets, and is safe for space constrained environments as it offers an enclosed, cabinet-style system that could be operated as a standalone unit or integrated into an automated air cargo handling system.

The new scanner to arrive in Ghana by June 13, this year, was designed to meet the countrys specifications and can scan goods efficiently within a few minutes.

It will be positioned strategically at the KIA cargo village as the main import scanner for imports coming into the country, he said.

Other areas

Beside KIA, the general manager told the delegation that Nick TC Scan was also in the process of installing different advanced scanners at the Takoradi Port, Paga and Hamile border points as part of measures to intensify efforts against importing contraband goods.

We are securing two new scanners at the end of September, this year, and we are putting them at Paga and Hamile to seal off the two entries from Burkina Faso.

We have also purchased a bidirectional scanner ready to be installed at Takoradi to boost scanning operations at the port, he added.

Minister impressed

Mr Hammond intimated that without advanced scanning facilities, a lot of things would have gone wrong, as any contraband item could have found its way into the country.

He expressed satisfaction on activities at both KIA and Tema Port, commending them for their efficiency and re-emphasising their strategic importance to trade.

I have been here several times on different missions but todays visit is to find out about the integrity and security of the facilities here and how business is transacted.

And so, I am really impressed with the operations of Nick TC Scan at this point.

I have been told that a new scanner would be installed at the KIA cargo village within the next three weeks and we are happy about it, the minister added.
New Hajj Board Chair leads delegation to inspect facilities in Saudi Arabia ahead of 2023 pilgrimage

GraphicOnline May - 17 - 2023 , 08:57

A delegation of the newly-formed board of the Pilgrims Affairs of Ghana (Hajj Board), is on its way to Saudi Arabia to inspect facilities ahead of the 2023 Hajj.

The delegation, led by the Board Chairman, Ben Abdallah Banda, will embark on a three-day inspection of facilities and logistics, such as accommodation and transportation, as well as hold meetings with key stakeholders.

These facilities and logistics were procured before the new board was established, and the visit, according to the board, is to give the board first-hand knowledge, before the over 6,000 Ghanaian pilgrims embark on the trip next month.

"Since our appointment, we have had series of engagements with various stakeholders in Ghana, and this visit is to give us a deep insight into what has been arranged," said Ben Abdallah Banda, the new Head of the Hajj Board.

"We have to see things on the ground for first hand information and further engage, where necessary, to ensure all is well before the pilgrims start arriving," he added.

The first batch of Ghana's Hajj pilgrims are expected to leave Ghana for Saudi Arabia on June 9, 2023.
Nigerian jailed 8yrs for impersonating COP Tiwaa, defrauding other people

GNA May - 17 - 2023 , 07:55

The Accra Circuit Court One has sentenced a Nigerian to eight years imprisonment in hard labour for impersonating COP Maame Yaa Tiwaa Addo-Danquah on social media and defrauding unsuspecting persons.

Bright Daniels, who at the time of committing the crime, was a convicted prisoner at the Nsawam Prisons, denied the offence.

He was taken through a full trial and found culpable.

Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Emmanuel Nyamekye, giving the facts in the Court presided over by Mrs Afia Owusua Appiah, said the Complainant was COP Mrs Maame Yaa Tiwaa Addo-Danquah, a former boss of the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) of the Ghana Police Service who is now the Executive Director of the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO).

Daniels, an ex-convict is a Nigerian, who served a seven-year jail term at the Nsawam Medium Security Prisons.

His accomplice, Livinus Amadianaeze Ugwu, also an ex-convict and a Nigerian, is on the run, the Court heard.

DSP Nyamekye said in April 2021, COP Addo-Danquahs attention was drawn to a fake Facebook Messenger account created in her name and bearing her picture that was being used to solicit money from police personnel under the pretence of getting them slots to United Nations (UN) and African Union (AU) Missions in Somalia and Sudan.

He said the user of the said fake Facebook account contacted the victims and directed them to pay money via a mobile money network.

Detective Chief Inspector Baffoe paid GH10,000.00 to the number and the amount was subsequently withdrawn by Daniels.

The prosecution said investigations revealed that the phone number was traced to the environs of the Nsawam Medium Security Prisons in the Easter Region.

Further investigations revealed that Daniels was the user of the number. After a search conducted by the police, a Samsung Galaxy A02 phone which Daniels used to chat with Ugwu and a Tecno feature phone that was used to receive the money from Detective Chief Inspector Baffoe, were retrieved.

DSP Nyamekye said Forensic Examination conducted on the devices revealed that Daniels and Ugwu conspired to use the name and photograph of the COP Addo-Danquah to collect money from police personnel under the pretext of getting them a slot to travel to the United Nations and African Union Mission in Somalia.

Daniels then acquired the SIM card with 02******* that was used to receive money from their victims.

He admitted the offence and after investigations, he was charged and put before this court.
Onua Pa supports aged in Okrakwajo, Nyensi Camp

Daily Graphic May - 16 - 2023 , 14:35

Onua Pa Foundation, a non-governmental organisation that promotes better care for the elderly, has extended a hand of support to the elderly in Okrakwajo and Nyensi Camp, two deprived communities in the Okere District of the Eastern Region.

At a ceremony at the Okrakwajo Presbyterian Church hall, about 60 elderly women and men gathered to receive gifts from Onua Pa Foundation.

The senior citizens had been carefully selected from the two villages based on their needs.

The donation consisted of food items, toiletries and used clothing, all valued at about GH12,000.

At the function, the Catechist of the Okrakwajo Presbyterian Church, Andrews Owusu Apau, expressed appreciation to the benefactor organisation for the support.

The Chairman of the foundation, Blessed Ayisi, advised the youth and senior citizens in the community to form self-help groups that would enable them to support one another in times of difficulty.

Mr Ayisi also thanked patrons of the foundation, as well as the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority, for sponsoring the ceremony.
PAC begins hearing of 2020 Auditor Generals Report in Ho

Alberto Mario Noretti May - 17 - 2023 , 07:53

The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Parliament last Monday began the hearing to consider the 2020 Auditor Generals report in Ho for four regions.

They are in the Greater Accra, Eastern, Volta and Oti regions.

All colleges of education and technical universities cited in the report are expected to appear before the committee, which is chaired by the Member of Parliament for Ketu South, Dr James Klutse Avedzi.

During its four-day sitting, the committee will also look into the management and utilisation of District Assemblies Common Fund, the accounts and other Statutory Funds, and internally-generated funds (IGF) of assemblies, for the year under review.

Financial deficit

The first to appear before the committee was the Vice Chancellor of the Koforidua Technical University, Professor David Kofi Essuman, and other management team members of the institution.

It emerged that a financial deficit of more than GH5.8 million incurred by the Koforidua Technical University was due to the COVID -19 pandemic which made it impossible for the academic year to start in August as scheduled, for which reason students were not billed.

The team told the committee that the university had also addressed an online students information system, which earlier caused irregularities in some of its financial reports.

When the team from the Accra Technical University took its turn, it emerged that the institution did not incur any financial deficit during the period.

The Vice Chancellor, Professor Samuel Nii Odai, explained that during the COVID-19 pandemic, the university continued teaching online and charged students accordingly.

The team from the Ho Technical University, led by the Vice Chancellor, Professor Ben Q. Honyenuga, told the PAC that the university had now insured its lecture halls, offices and other facilities on the campus.

The claims by the three universities were upheld by auditors at the hearing.

Hearing of the Auditor Generals 2020 Reports by PAC ends on Thursday, May 18, 2023.
Stakeholders confer on Abidjan-Lagos project

Justice Agbenorsi May - 17 - 2023 , 06:47

Stakeholders on the Abidjan-Lagos Corridor Highway Development Project have converged on Accra to make inputs into the design and prepare the necessary documents to raise investments for the project.

This will pave the way for the actual construction of the much-anticipated corridor highway, which has been touted as a game-changer in the supply chain infrastructure capacity of West Africa.

The stakeholders, made up of ministers responsible for road and infrastructure in the five beneficiary countries, will also deliberate on the feasibility and preliminary stage of the 1,028-kilometre road project connecting Benin, Cote dIvoire, Ghana, Nigeria and Togo.

Opening

Opening the four-day meeting in Accra yesterday, the Chief Director of the Ministry of Roads and Highways, Dr Abass M. Awolu, said the countrys project team had undertaken sensitisation of relevant and affected communities as part of the land acquisition process to ensure a seamless construction phase.

This project is very dear to Ghana as it traverses one of our most important road corridors which has been evaluated as high priority in the economic development of the country.

We, therefore, are keen in the progress of this project, and we pray that all members States continue to be committed to this goal, he said.

Protection

He said the government would ensure that the slots for the corridor would be protected, adding that we will not allow any other development to go on.

Dr Awolu noted that although some farmlands would be affected in the process, measures were also underway to reduce the impact of the project on property and people.

I sincerely believe other member States have equally completed the tasks assigned at the previous meeting to pave the way for the next steps, he added.

Status

Giving the status of the project, the acting Director of Transport of the ECOWAS Commission, Chris Appiah, said the team had completed the technical and feasibility phase of the project, and was zooming into the design phase.

He revealed that currently, the team was preparing the bidding documents to commence investment mobilisation.

So far, funding for the technical studies alone speaks to the fact that the project is a priority project for country heads and partners, he added.

In line with that, Mr Appiah said the African Development Bank and the European Union had contributed about $38 million for the preliminary phase of the project, with the Ghana government contributing $1.4 million as a grant for the project.

Aside from that, he said, ECOWAS had committed to dedicate $200,000 every year to support coordination of the project.

He further revealed that heads of state had committed to issues of compensation and resettlement, with others undertaking several sensitisation drives with traditional leaders and the public to ensure there would be no investment losses.

Background

The construction of the homogenous highway corridor linking the five countries was formally approved by Heads of State of ECOWAS member countries at the 42nd Ordinary Summit in February 2013.

The corridor highway links major cities in West Africa, including Abidjan, Accra, Lome, Cotonou and Lagos.

It also connects dynamic seaport infrastructure which services the regions landlocked countries of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger, and, therefore, account for 75 per cent of trade volumes within West Africa, making the corridor a great potential for accelerating West Africas economic growth.

The Abidjan-Lagos corridor highway project is a six-lane infrastructure of three-lane dual carriage standardised 1,028km long highway project, which is part of the Dakar-Lagos Trans African Highway linking a number of densely populated and economically vibrant cities.

The corridor also links highly dynamic seaports.
How Minority Leader sees Supreme Court's directive kicking Quayson out of Parliament

Graphic.com.gh Politics May - 17 - 2023 , 20:30

The Minority Leader in Parliament, Dr Cassiel Ato Forson has reacted to the Supreme Court's directive asking Parliament to expunge James Gyakye Quayson's name as Member of Parliament from the Assin North constituency.

In a press statement issued Wednesday reacting to the Supreme Court's ruling, Dr Ato Forson argued that "the intention of the framers of Ghana's constitution is not to allow a dual citizen to perform the functions of a Member of Parliament."

His thinking is that, "as at the time of his election, James Gyakye Quayson was not a dual citizen, neither was he a dual citizen as at the time he took the oath of office as a Member of Parliament."

"It is therefore baffling that the Supreme Court could direct the removal from Parliament of such a person who has been duly elected as a Member of Parliament."

Related: James Quaysons election as MP for Assin North unconstitutional - Supreme Court rules

Contrary to the Minority Leader's thinking, the Supreme Court in a unanimous ruling declared as unconstitutional the election of James Gyakye Quayson as a Member of Parliament (MP) for Assin North in the Central Region,

In a unanimous decision Wednesday morning (May 17, 2023), a seven-member panel of the Supreme Court ordered Parliament to expunge the name of Mr Quayson as MP, reports Graphic Onlines Emmanuel Ebo Hawkson from the court.

It was the considered view of the court that the election of Mr Quayson breached Article 94(2) (a) of the 1992 Constitution because at the time he filed to contest the elections he was not qualified to be elected as a legislator since he had not renounced his dual citizenship

The court therefore declared Mr Quayson filling to contest, the ECs decision to allow him to contest as well as his swearing-in as MP in Parliament as all unconstitutional, null and void.

The seven -member panel of the court was presided over by Justice Jones Dotse, with Justices Nene Amegatcher, Mariama Owusu, Gertrude Torkornoo, Prof Henrietta Mensa-Bonsu, Emmanuel Yonny Kulendi and Barbara Ackah-Ayensu

The court said the full reasons for its decision will be filed at the courts registry by June 7, this year.

Attached below is a press statement in which Dr Cassiel Ato Forson expresses how he sees the Supreme Court's unanimous ruling directive kicking Gyakye Quayson out of Parliament
James Quaysons election as MP for Assin North unconstitutional - Supreme Court rules

Emmanuel Ebo Hawkson Politics May - 17 - 2023 , 10:49

The Supreme Court has declared as unconstitutional the election of James Gyakye Quayson as a Member of Parliament (MP) for Assin North in the Central Region,

In a unanimous decision Wednesday morning (May 17, 2023), a seven-member panel of the Supreme Court ordered Parliament to expunge the name of Mr Quayson as MP, reports Graphic Onlines Emmanuel Ebo Hawkson from the court.

It was the considered view of the court that the election of Mr Quayson breached Article 94(2) (a) of the 1992 Constitution because at the time he filed to contest the elections he was not qualified to be elected as a legislator since he had not renounced his dual citizenship

The court therefore declared Mr Quayson filling to contest, the ECs decision to allow him to contest as well as his swearing-in as MP in Parliament as all unconstitutional, null and void.

The seven -member panel of the court was presided over by Justice Jones Dotse, with Justices Nene Amegatcher, Mariama Owusu, Gertrude Torkornoo, Prof Henrietta Mensa-Bonsu, Emmanuel Yonny Kulendi and Barbara Ackah-Ayensu

The court said the full reasons for its decision will be filed at the courts registry by June 7, this year

Related: Why Supreme Court ordered James Gyakye Quayson to stop holding himself as MP [FULL RULING]

Plaintiffs case against James Gyakye Quayson

In July 2021, Mr Michael Ankomah-Nimfah , a constituent of Assin -North won a judgment at the Cape Coast High Court nullifying Mr Quaysons election on the basis that the MP held Canadian citizenship at the time he filed to contest the seat.

He then went to Supreme Court in January, this year for interpretation of Article 94 (2) (a), the same constitutional provision the High Court used to nullify Mr Quaysons election.

His basis for going to the apex court was that despite the judgment by the High Court, Mr Quayson still continued to parade himself as an MP.

Mr Ankomah-Nimfah sought a declaration from the Supreme Court that upon a true and proper interpretation of Article 94(2)(a) of the 1992 Constitution, at the time the EC opened nominations for people to file to contest the Assin North parliamentary seat, Mr Quayson held a Canadian citizenship and therefore was not eligible to contest.

He further wanted the court to declare that the EC breached Article 94(2)(a) of the 1992 Constitution when it allowed Mr Quayson to contest the parliamentary election in Assin North when he owed allegiance to another country.

Again, he urged the Supreme Court to declare the entire process that led to Mr Quaysons election as MP for Assin North as unconstitutional and, therefore, null and void.

The Supreme Court in April 2022 ordered the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Member of Parliament for Assin North, James Gyakye Quayson, to stop holding himself as an MP until the determination of a suit challenging the constitutionality of his election.

In a 5-2 majority decision on April 13, 2022, the apex court ordered Mr Quayson to abstain from any Parliamentary business and also refrain from engaging in activities pertaining to an MP.

Reasons

In its ruling, the Supreme Court was of the considered view that the High Court in Cape Coast has declared the election of Mr Quayson as null and void, and therefore allowing him to continue as an MP while the constitutional issue was yet to be determined will be an indictment of the administration of justice.

There can be no justification for ignoring the submissions on the continued disregard of the orders of the High Court which have not been suspended or overturned, the court held.

Also, the court held that the whole country would suffer greater hardship if Mr Quayson was allowed to continue to serve as an MP and the court determines that his election violated the 1992 Constitution.

This court will be failing in its exclusive mandate and duty to the Ghanaian people to uphold and defend the Constitution if it does not suspend, mitigate or abate an alleged constitutionality illegality if the applicant were to succeed in the end of this suit, the court held.

The majority decision was authored by Justice Kulendi.

In the dissenting opinions, Justice Dordzie and Amegatcher were of the view that the Supreme Court was not the right forum for the applicant, and that all he needed to do was to enforce the judgment of the High Court.

Plaintiffs case

In July 2021, Mr Ankomah-Nimfah won a judgment at the Cape Coast High Court nullifying Mr Quaysons election on the basis that the MP held Canadian citizenship at the time he filed to contest the seat.

He then went to Supreme Court in January, this year for interpretation of Article 94 (2) (a), the same constitutional provision the High Court used to nullify Mr Quaysons election.

His basis for going to the apex court was that despite the judgment by the High Court, Mr Quayson still continued to parade himself as an MP.

Mr Ankomah-Nimfah is seeking a declaration from the Supreme Court that upon a true and proper interpretation of Article 94(2)(a) of the 1992 Constitution, at the time the EC opened nominations for people to file to contest the Assin North parliamentary seat, Mr Quayson held a Canadian citizenship and therefore was not eligible to contest.

He further wants the court to declare that the EC breached Article 94(2)(a) of the 1992 Constitution when it allowed Mr Quayson to contest the parliamentary election in Assin North when he owed allegiance to another country.

Again, he is urging the Supreme Court to declare the entire process that led to Mr Quaysons election as MP for Assin North as unconstitutional and, therefore, null and void.
James Quayson's reaction to Supreme Court directive kicking him out of Parliament

Graphic.com.gh Politics May - 17 - 2023 , 18:02

Following the Supreme Court's declaration that James Gyakye Quayson's election as a Member of Parliament (MP) for Assin North in the Central Region was unconstitutional and the subsequent order to Parliament to expunge his name Parliament, the embattled man has reacted.

In a statement issued Wednesday evening, James Gyakye Quayson wrote that he remains committed to the development of Assin North constituency.

Related: James Quaysons election as MP for Assin North unconstitutional - Supreme Court rules

In a unanimous decision Wednesday morning (May 17, 2023), a seven-member panel of the Supreme Court ordered Parliament to expunge the name of Mr Quayson as MP, reports Graphic Onlines Emmanuel Ebo Hawkson from the court.

It was the considered view of the court that the election of Mr Quayson breached Article 94(2) (a) of the 1992 Constitution because at the time he filed to contest the elections he was not qualified to be elected as a legislator since he had not renounced his dual citizenship

The court therefore declared Mr Quayson filling to contest, the ECs decision to allow him to contest as well as his swearing-in as MP in Parliament as all unconstitutional, null and void.

The seven -member panel of the court was presided over by Justice Jones Dotse, with Justices Nene Amegatcher, Mariama Owusu, Gertrude Torkornoo, Prof Henrietta Mensa-Bonsu, Emmanuel Yonny Kulendi and Barbara Ackah-Ayensu

The court said the full reasons for its decision will be filed at the courts registry by June 7, this year

Below is a copy of the statement
Manso Nkwanta candidate rolls up sleeves to win seat

Daniel Kenu Politics May - 17 - 2023 , 07:31

The National Democratic Congress (NDC) parliamentary candidate for Manso Nkwanta, Samuel Adjei, is counting on the youth and women groups as his main trump card to change the fortunes of the party and win the seat for the first time since 1996.

He is overburdened with the poor and deplorable roads of the constituency but that ambition of helping fix it would have to wait till he wins the seat for NDC and then lobby for it to be constructed.

Mr Adjeis main focus to brighten his chances of changing the narrative in the constituency is giving hope to the youth through a number of apprenticeship programmes to build their capacities to make a claim, especially in the mining sector.

The former Tertiary Education Network (TEIN) Ashanti regional students coordinator at the University for Development Studies, Wa campus, now Simon Diedong Dombo University of Business and Integrated Development Studies, Mr Adjei has also launched an educational project with a group of partners where all junior high school dropouts are to be provided with remedial classes for free and register them to write the Basic Education Certificate Examination.

Mr Adjei told the Daily Graphic after his victory that his focus on the education of the youth was critical to his victory in the general election.

Mr Adjei, a holder of a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Economics from the former UDS, Wa Campus and a Master of Arts Degree in Communication Studies from the University of Cape Coast, said a lot of the youth have been misled in the past, contributing to the NDCs poor performance in the constituency.

For instance, despite the fact that the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) has been winning the seat since 1996, they have nothing to show in the area, yet the people keep voting for them.

Due to the weak educational background of the youth, they tend to believe anything they are told including lies and I want to change that, he said.

Mr Adjei, a communications expert and a member of the Ashanti Region communication team won last Saturdays primary by a single vote beating his only contender, Bance Musa Osmane.

He garnered 512 as against 511 votes by Osmane in a keenly contested election.

At the 2020 general election, Osmane managed only 10,798 (23.8 per cent) votes as against 34, 408 by NPPs George Kwabena Obeng Takyi, representing 76.1 per cent.

Osmanes 23.8 per cent remains one of the best and even better than the 14.3 per cent he gained in the 2016 election, giving the seat away to the NPP incumbent

Member of Parliament, George Kwabena Obeng Takyi, who had 83.3 per cent.

Change

But Mr Adjei said the performance of the party has not been good enough, the reason why he wanted to change the status quo.

A native of the town, specifically from Tetrem, he has already mobilised women groups and paid experts to train them in various hands-on projects including soap making and dress making.

I believe the women hold the key to success.

They outnumber the males, and once they get empowered, no one will be able to deceive them, the current final year student offering Bachelor of Law Degree at Presbyterian University, Ghana and the SRC President for 2022/2023 academic year said.

Positions

Mr Adjei is the former branch secretary at Tetrem (2014-2018) and the director of elections of the Manso Nkwanta Constituency during the 2020 general election.
NXP Semiconductors is collaborating with TSMC to deliver the industrys first automotive embedded MRAM (Magnetic Random Access Memory) in 16 nm FinFET technology. As automakers transition to software-defined vehicles (SDVs), they need to support multiple generations of software upgrades on a single hardware platform. Bringing together NXPs high-performance S32 automotive processors with fast and highly reliable next-generation non-volatile memory in 16 nm FinFET technology provides the ideal hardware platform for this transition.

MRAM can update 20MB of code in ~3 seconds compared to flash memories that take about 1 minute, minimizing the downtime associated with software updates and enabling carmakers to eliminate bottlenecks that arise from long module programming times. Moreover, MRAM provides a highly reliable technology for automotive mission profiles by offering up to one million update cycles, a level of endurance 10x greater than flash and other emerging memory technologies.

SDVs enable carmakers to roll out new comfort, safety and convenience features via over-the-air (OTA) updates, extending the life of the vehicle and enhancing its functionality, appeal, and profitability. As software-based features become more widespread in vehicles, the frequency of updates will increase, and MRAMs speed and robustness will become even more important.

TSMCs 16FinFET embedded MRAM technology exceeds the rigorous requirements of automotive applications with its one-million cycle endurance, support for solder reflow, and 20-year data retention at 150 C.

Test vehicle samples are complete and in evaluation. Initial product samples are scheduled for lead customer availability in early 2025.
DTF strongly condemns Modi Govt driven ED to grill Dr. Navsharan.

Chandigarh: May 16 [2023] Modi Govt driven Enforcement Directorate (ED) has harassed the well-known Cultural and Social activist Dr. Navsharan, by grilling more than 8 hours. Leading Teachers Union DTF Punjab strongly condemns the ED for interrogating her. The leaders of DTF, Digvijay Pal Sharma, state president, and Balbir Longowal, State General secretary, has told the press that Dr. Navsharan is a member of AIUFWP Advisory Committee on Women and Cultural issues. Dr. Navsharan has been widely known for her contribution to various social movements and cultural movements across the Country. She has been also active in the historic Kisan Andolan that struck Delhi borders in 2021 and staged a sit-in strike for almost eleven months. They add that She is the daughter of the iconic cultural activist and well renowned dramatist Gursharan Singh alias Bhai Manna Singh, who had, undoubtedly, contributed incredibly to raising the cultural and political awareness of the masses all throughout his life. Dr. Navsharan has been engaged in social and political movements since her childhood along with her parents. She has been a staunch fighter for farmer and peasant rights and also has lent her support to the Forest Right Movement and Womens Movement. The grilling done by the ED department for more than 8 hours is clearly a violation of the fundamental rights of Dr. Navsharan as a citizen of this Country. By questioning her for such long hours in their office is also clearly a violation of Art. 21 and Art. 19 of the Constitution which guarantees " Right to personal Liberty " and " Right to freedom of expression". Dr. Navsharan has dedicated her entire life for the upliftment of the poor and socially deprived sections. She is also a staunch writer. Social fronts see this act of ED a vilified and notorious act to target the intellectuals and activists to help the fascist regime to eliminate all the dissenting voices that questions the present fascist Government. Dr. Navsharan was summoned under the PMLA Act (Prevention of Money Laundering Act), which itself is a mockery. On the contrary, the present regime is the one that is openly and brazenly siding with the rapists like Brijbhusan, rapist of Bilkis banu and in deep corruption in which many more party leaders even Chief Ministers of State where BJP is in power are involved. No action is being taken by this govt. for speech of full heartedness, demolition of houses of muslim communities, raging a war against its own citizens by bringing CAA- NRC legislation, corrupt officials involved in bribery, atrocities against dalit communities especially flogging the dalit youth in Una, illegal arrest of famous academicians, authors, officers, journalists and activists in Bhima Goregaon case.

The criminal Act of the BJP govt to announce note bandi and lock down without any preparation has killed thousands of poor people. This Govt is also waging a war in Kashmir against its own Citizens and killing of the 42 personnel in Pulwama strike is one among that for which till date no top level enquiry has been conducted. There are hundreds and thousands of such incidents of violence perpetrated by this present regime but there is no liability to any one and it is quite evident that those who are raising their voice against such atrocities and injustices are intimidated as happened in the case of Dr. Navsharan. Today hundreds and thousands of civil society activists, lawyers, journalists, political activists and other activists fighting for the democratic rights are being targeted to crush their voice.

Dr. is an intellectual resource person of this Country and should be respected and honored rather than harassed by an agency that has been given unassumed powers by the Government in order to traumatise and disrespect such personalities so that they stop working on the social issues. Leaders of unoin warn such authorities that such nefarious practices will not succeed in dampening the spirits and truthfulness of such human right activists like Dr. Navsharan. All the social organizations are standing with her and any attempt to bring disgrace and intimidation to Dr. Navsharan will be retaliated with a strong peoples movement.

Issued by:

Balbir Longowal State General Secretary

Democratic Teachers Front Punjab

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Modi government should keep its hands off Dr. Navsharan Statement from Bharatiya Kisan Union Ekta (Ugrahan)

Joginder Singh Ugrahan, state president of Bhartiya Kisan Union Ekta (Ugrahan), has said that Dr. Navsharan, writer, democratic rights activist, a staunch supporter of peoples struggles, and the daughter of renowned playwright Late Gursharan Singh, is being targeted by the Modi government for speaking out the truth.

In continuation with a series of attacks on intellectuals and democratic rights activists across the country, Dr. Navsharan was summoned under the PMLA Act and an attempt was made to intimidate and harass her in the name of an inquiry. Like the UAPA, PMLA also gives the government unrestrained powers to crush the democratic rights of any person.

He said that Dr. Navsharan has been playing a key role as an active public intellectual in the field of democratic rights for almost two-and-a-half decades. Among the intellectual, she was one of the leading supporters of the historic peasant struggle on the borders of Delhi. Not only did she continue to participate in the Delhi sit-in, but she has also made efforts to share the experience of the farmers struggle with the struggling people of different countries of the world.

He said that Dr. Navsharan is one of the leading intellectuals of the country raising her voice against the brutal fascist attack of the Modi government on the ordinary people. He warned the Modi government to keep its hands off Dr. Navsharan and immediately stop her harassment in the name of inquiry. The nefarious attempts to silence the democratic voices in support of the working people must stop.

He said that people movements of Punjab are standing firm with Navsharan. He called upon all sections of the peoples democratic movement in India to immediately raise their voice and let this be known to the Modi government.

From: Joginder Singh Ugrahan, State President, Bharatiya Kisan Union Ekta (Ugrahan)

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India: Punjab farmer unions, farm labourer organisations speak out in support of activist Navsharan Singh https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/chandigarh/punjab-farmer-unions-support-activist-navsharan-singh-8612387/

Farmer, human rights organisations raise voice, say victimisation of rights activist Navsharan must stop https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/farmer-human-rights-organisations-raise-voice-say-victimisation-of-rights-activist-navsharan-must-stop/articleshow/100259180.cms

Punjab farmer unions, farm labourer organisations speak out in support of activist Navsharan Singh written by Raakhi Jagga https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/chandigarh/punjab-farmer-unions-support-activist-navsharan-singh-8612387/

Farmers bodies, literary forums come in support of writer Dr Navsharan Singh https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/amritsar/farmers-bodies-literary-forums-come-in-support-of-navsharan-singh-508866

Dr Navsharan Singh is being mercilessly targeted in India by Harsh Thakor https://countercurrents.org/2023/05/dr-navsharan-singh-is-being-mercilessly-targeted/

Strong Condemnation From India and Abroad After ED Questions Researcher Navsharan Singh https://thewire.in/rights/navsharan-singh-enforcement-directorate

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For immediate release

Indias witch-hunt against internationally recognized scholar and activist with Canadian connections, condemned by diasporic civil society organizations

The Modi regimes harassment and intimidation of progressive public figures who oppose its divisive policies and actions has been ongoing for the last nine years. The latest victim, reportedly, is the public intellectual and human rights activist Dr Navsharan Singh (Ph.D. Carleton University), daughter of the legendary theater personality the late Gursharan Singh, and a well-known progressive public figure in India and internationally.

According to press reports Dr. Navsharan Singh, was questioned for 8 hours for alleged violations of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act PMLA based on her association with social activist Harsh Manders Karwan-e-Mohabbat (Caravan of Love), a group that provides support to the most marginalized and deprived sections of Indian society, especially minorities who are frequently at the receiving end of violence by the goons of Hindutva organizations. During the pandemic, Karwan-e-Mohabbat was feeding the poor and daily wage-earners who suddenly found themselves without any source of income.

An accomplished scholar and womens rights activist in South Asia, Dr. Singh also has a long history of grassroots work and has taken the baton of such work from her late father. By reaching out to the impoverished and the disenfranchised in rural Punjab and elsewhere, her support and advocacy work has earned her the love and respect of the masses, as was evident when she courageously supported the Indian farmers struggle against the draconian laws of the Modi government in 2020-2021. S. Joginder Singh Ugrahan, head of BKU (Bhartiya Kisan Union) [Indian Farmers Union], one of the largest farmers Unions in India, has strongly denounced the shameful harassment of Dr. Navsharan Singh by the Indian government.

To those of us who have known or are familiar with Dr. Navsharan Singh and her grassroots and academic work, her harassment by the regimes investigative agencies is outrageous and unacceptable, and must be resolutely opposed.

Dr. Singhs bio and work can be accessed through the following links:

https://carleton.ca/politicaleconomy/people/navsharan-singh/

http://www.lcs-tcs.com/current.html

We, the undersigned organizations, call on the Indian authorities to immediately stop their persecution of Dr. Navsharan Singh and ensure that she is not subjected to malicious harassment in future.
The iQOO Neo 8 series is arriving next week, and the Neo family will have a Pro model for the first time. The device will run on Dimensity 9200+, and today the company revealed the V1+ ISP will be assisting a 50MP main camera with Sony IMX866 sensor and OIS.



vivo iQOO 8 Pro details

The primary shooter can easily be graded as flagship-tier because the sensor is also inside the iQOO 11 Pro and the vivo X90. It's a 1/1.49" imager with 1.0m pixels and f/1.75 lens in front.

The vivo brand shared some camera samples, revealing stunning details in four different scenarios - daylight still object, daylight with a moving object, night mode of a single object and night mode of the Central district of Hong Kong and Victoria Harbour. However, since the images were posted on social media, compression makes analysis pointless.



vivo iQOO Neo 8 series camera samples

The iQOO Neo 8 Pro is coming with 16 GB LPDDR5X RAM and UFS 4.0 storage. The promo images of the phone revealed a red leather back, which will be the hero color of the series. However, it is highly unlikely to escape China, given previous instances with vivo keeping fancy back panels exclusive to the domestic market.

Source 1  Source 2 (both in Chinese) | Via
Badger Meter sold thousands of experimental residential water meters to the Guam Waterworks Authority, most of which failed, according to GWAs attorneys, who argued GWAs $37 million civil suit needs to be decided by a jury in federal court.

Chief Judge Frances Tydingco-Gatewood held a hearing Wednesday afternoon on Badger Meters request to either dismiss GWAs lawsuit or to cap damages at $5.2 million, which is what GWA originally paid for the disputed meters a decade ago.

Badger Meter attorney Thomas Shriner told the court the case should be dismissed because GWA failed to exercise its rights under the sales contract within a reasonable amount of time. He said GWA noticed meter problems in 2014, but did not notify Badger until 2017. Badger needed to be notified sooner in order to fix any problems and lessen the damage, Shriner said.

He said Badger Meter met its obligations under the warranty  replacing some meters when notified by GWA. He added Badger Meter also replaced 5,000 meters outside of the warranty period in order to maintain good customer relations.

Shriner said GWA at the time believed the meters were failing because of poor water quality, not a manufacturing defect, which is why it did not submit a warranty claim to Badger Meter.

GWA sued the Wisconsin-based vendor in 2020, accusing the company of selling GWA more than 20,000 faulty meters and failing to honor the warranty on the meters.

Badger in March 2012 won the contract to supply more than 37,000 replacement LP model meters, at $139.30 each, which were installed by GWA. The new meters were intended to replace existing faulty meters which were costing GWA lost revenue.

GWA first noted problems with the August 2014 meter shipment from Badger Meter, the lawsuit states. The water agency randomly pulled and tested 417 meters  about 10% of the shipment  and found 242 meters failed industry tests.

The lawsuit states Badger Meter in March 2018 informed GWA that it wouldnt honor the warranty on the faulty meters and instead proposed charging GWA for new M25 meters, at a cost of $98.50 per meter.

GWA sued Badger for: breach of contract; breach of contract for professional services; violating the Deceptive Trade Practices Act; breach of warranty; breach of warranty for a special purpose; unjust enrichment; and direct action, which means any of Badgers insurers are liable to pay GWA.

According to court testimony Wednesday, there are no insurers in connection with the meters sold to GWA.

GWA is seeking as much as $37 million in damages, including lost revenue and the cost of buying and installing replacement meters.

Tydingco-Gatewood must decide if there is enough undisputed evidence in the case to issue a ruling from the bench or if a jury needs to decide on the evidence.

If the case moves forward to trial, there still is an opportunity for GWA and Badger Meter to negotiate a settlement, the judge said Wednesday.

GWA attorney William Dowd said there are many questions of fact in the case which should be decided by a jury.

Dowd said Badger Meter started to replace some of the faulty LP model meters with M25 meters, but company emails show Badger Meter stopped doing so because of the high cost. They made a corporate decision, he said.

There are disputed facts, Dowd said, including email exchanges between GWA and Badger Meter related to problem meters.

Dowd said another question of fact is when Badger Meter knew about the problem meters.

Badger Meter provided GWA with a type of meter, that wouldnt work off the assembly line, more often than not, said GWA attorney Alex Lumaghi. Badger knew the risk and decided to take it.
Options for allocating the mayors Fiscal Year 2024 budget were discussed during the Mayors Council of Guam meeting Wednesday.

Id like to discuss what our final option will be to present to the legislature at our hearing, said Mayors Council of Guam President Jesse Alig.

The proposed budget is $11 million which is about the same as 2023.

Mayors debated different ways funds could be divided among the villages.

We dont want to go back and forth come Oct. 1 on how we are going to distribute the money, Alig said.

One option is the current status quo formula where each mayors office receives up to $20,000 for the year with the remaining balance distributed to each village pro-rata based on the total road mileage in the village.

Another proposal is to allocate money based on the population size of the village.

Looking at the numbers, I, too, agree to go with population over local mileage, said Dededo Mayor Melissa Savares.

Inalahan Mayor Anthony Chargualaf said that basing funds on population is more equitable and gave the example that Sinajana has a larger population but Hagatna has more road mileage.

Id be taking a pay cut but I think its the fair thing to do because the road mileage is constant but population is dynamic, he said.

A concern raised by Jessy Gogue, the mayor of Chalan Pago-Ordot, is if there is no base amount for funding, villages with small populations could get less than the current $20,000, which could make paying for gas for the year and other expenses a problem.

Mayor of Sinajana Robert Hofmann proposed the idea of keeping the equal $20,000 baseline with a percentage per person in a village after that amount to factor in population size.

It would give the smaller villages enough to maintain their operations while increasing funds for districts with more people he said.

Without the number of mayors required for quorum they could not vote on the proposal Wednesday but will be decided before the public hearing date, which is still being determined, said Alig.
Korean Movie | 2020

 Documentary

Directed by Kim Jung-in ()

99min | Release date in South Korea: 2021/05/05

Synopsis

Half of the students in special schools across the country face war-like mornings, commuting for 1 to 4 hours a day.



Due to unreasonable lack of special schools compared to the number of students with disability, mothers take it to the streets to oppose by kneeling on a platform to stand up for the children.



A world-changing photo begins with the mothers' courageous cry!
Korean Movie | 2022

 Drama  Mystery  Occult  Fear  Thriller

Directed by Jang Jae-hyeon ()

Release date in South Korea: 2023/11

Synopsis

Exhumation of an ominous grave unleashes dreadful consequences buried underneath.



After suffering from serial paranormal events, a wealthy family living in LA summons a young rising shaman duo Hwa-rim (Kim Go-eun) and Bong-gil (Lee Do-hyun) to save the newborn of the family. Once they arrive, Hwa-rim senses a dark shadow of their ancestor has latched on the family, so-called a 'Grave's Calling'.



In order to exhume the grave and relieve the ancestor, Hwa-rim seeks help from the top-notch geomancer Sang-deok (Choi Min-sik) and the mortician Yeong-geun (Yoo Hae-jin). To their dismay, the four find the grave at a shady location in a remote village in Korea. Unaware of the consequences, the exhumation is carried out, yet this rather unleashes a malevolent force buried underneath...

Source
Published on 2023/05/16 | Source

The police said they will conduct a second summons investigation into actor Yoo Ah-in (37, Uhm Hong-sik) as soon as possible. They stressed that if the summons schedule is not quickly coordinated with Yoo Ah-in's side, they will also mobilize compulsory measures such as applying for an arrest warrant.

Advertisement

An official from the National Police Agency's National Investigation Headquarters said at a regular press conference at the National Police Agency in Seodaemun-gu, Seoul, on the 15th, "We will definitely conduct a summoning investigation".

Yoo Ah-in, who is suspected of taking drugs, was scheduled to undergo a second summons on the 11th. However, after attending the police, he refused to investigate because there were many reporters at the scene and returned home. The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency's Drug Crime Investigation Unit notified Yoo Ah-in of his attendance schedule again on the 13th, but his side is still sticking to a closed-door summons investigation. Yoo Ah-in's first summons was on March 27th.

Asked if they are considering an arrest or arrest warrant if the investigation schedule is not continuously adjusted, an official from the National Police Agency replied, "If it doesn't work, of course we will".

The official declined to comment on the summoning plan, saying, "We cannot disclose it because Yoo Ah-in is reacting very sensitively at the date or time of summons".
By Jay Coble, REALTOR, Blue Ridge Realty & Investments

Just a few decades ago, if you werent a geologist, chemist, or another type of scientist the chances of you being familiar with radon were fairly slim. Certainly it wasnt something a homeowner or a REALTOR were expected to know about, but, as we all know, things change every day. The world evolves, we learn more, and as our knowledge grows, so does our toolbox of ways to keep ourselves and our loved ones safe.

Its not that radon was undiscovered until the late twentieth century; no, it was discovered in 1900 by Frederich Ernst Dorn, a German chemist as he was studying the decay chain of radium.

In the mid-1980s, a worker at a nuclear power plant in eastern Pennsylvania set off a radiation detector when reporting for work one morning. The odd thing was, the plant was under construction and had not yet received its nuclear fuel. An investigation revealed unusually high amounts of radon in the workers home. The state of Pennsylvania began testing other homes in the area and found elevated levels of radon.

This led to the involvement of the Environmental Protection Agency and several other states in the study of indoor radon levels. By the early 21st century, radon had been found indoors in every state and the shadow of radon and its invisible dangers had made its way into the lexicon of the American property owner.

So, what is radon?

According to the EPAs brochure Basic Radon Facts:

Radon is a naturally occurring radioactive gas that forms when uranium, thorium, or radium, which are radioactive metals, break down I rock, soil and water. Radon can build up to dangerous levels inside any home; this includes new and old homes, well sealed and drafty homes, and homes with or without a basement. Radon gas is odorless and invisible and the only way to know if your home has a radon problem is to test for it.

Radon is the second leading cause of lung cancer for smokers; its the number one cause of lung cancer for non-smokers.

Yes, it is a serious health risk. But it can also be tested for easily and if there is a problem, there is a solution.

Tests can be purchased at most hardware stores or online. Or you can hire a professional to do the testing for you.

Radon is measured in picociries per liter (pCi/L). The US Surgeon General and the EPA recommend taking measures to reduce the levels of radon in your home if your home tests at 4pCi/L, or higher. Some radon reduction systems have been shown to reduce radon by up to 99%.

If you have a radon issue, do seek the help of a qualified professional. The cost of a radon mitigation system depends on several factors, including the size and style of your home, plus the type of foundation.

For more information on Radon visit EPA.gov or CDC.gov

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Statistics Finland on Tuesday published a flash estimate indicating that the gross domestic product grew by 1.1 per cent from the previous quarter between January and March. The economy had slipped into a technical recession at the end of last year as the gross domestic product contracted for two consecutive quarters  by 0.1 per cent in July to September and 0.6 per cent in October to December.

THE FINNISH ECONOMY seems to have bounced back immediately from its recession, reports Helsingin Sanomat.

Economists described the latest preliminary figures as strong but reminded widely that it is possible that they are downgraded when the statistics bureau revisits them at the end of the month.

Timo Hirvonen, the chief economist at Handelsbanken, tweeted yesterday that the flash estimate will nonetheless prompt many economists to scrap their economic forecasts.

Thats the end of the recession if the flash estimate is to be trusted, Pasi Sorjonen, the chief economist at the Confederation of Unions for Professional and Managerial Staff in Finland (Akava), echoed on Twitter. These [figures] may be clarified (possibly by a lot) in a couple of weeks when we see the real preliminary data.

The estimate also reveals that the gross domestic product increased by 1.2 per cent year-on-year when adjusted for working days in the first quarter of the year.

Statistics Finland on Tuesday reported that it projects that the number of employed people increased by 1.6 per cent and that of hours worked by 1.4 per cent from the previous quarter between January and March.

Aleksi Teivainen  HT
The proportion of sober young people has increased in recent years, and attitudes towards substance use among youth have become more negative. Although alcohol consumption among young people has decreased, according to the School Health Survey, 35% of middle school-aged youth used alcohol in 2021.

The survey also indicates that about 90% of alcohol consumed by minors comes through intermediaries. Among middle school-aged youth who consume alcohol, 40% received it from their family, either from a parent or sibling, or by stealing alcohol from home.

"The end-of-school and graduation weekend is approaching. For some young people, it is still a celebration that involves alcohol consumption. This is the moment when those of us who are of legal age must refuse if we are asked to buy alcohol for a minor," says Sari Anjala, an expert from the Finnish Association for Substance Abuse Prevention (EHYT).

"Parents may buy beer or cider for their children, thinking that they can control their drinking and be aware of what the young person is consuming. However, providing alcohol to minors sends a message that underage drinking is acceptable. By purchasing alcohol, one cannot influence how much a young person drinks. Often, in addition to alcohol provided by parents, young people also consume other alcoholic beverages. Alcohol bought by parents can also lower the threshold for young people to drink with their friends and increase binge drinking," Anjala continues.

Obtaining alcohol is easy for minors

Finnish youth's alcohol consumption is not hindered by difficulty in obtaining drinks. According to a 2022 survey on Youth Culture and Substances, 67% of Finnish youth aged 15 to 25 feel that it is easy for someone under 18 to get alcohol. The findings of the survey examined the attitudes and perspectives on substance use among 15 to 25-year-old Finns.

Social media plays a significant role in the distribution of alcohol to minors today. It serves as both a marketplace for the purchase and sale of substances. According to young people, it is easy to obtain exactly what they want and how much they want through social media. In addition to alcohol, social media also facilitates the distribution of nicotine products to young people.

"Parents should discuss with their legal-age children the issue of providing substances to minors. They should remind them that adulthood comes with many freedoms and rights but also greater responsibility for their actions. Sometimes, when underage individuals are part of their social circle, the responsibility can be forgotten. Legal-age individuals should also remember that providing alcohol to minors, even without receiving compensation, is a crime," says Anjala.

The Finnish Association for Substance Abuse Prevention (EHYT) campaign, called "Hakematta paras" (The Best Not Sought), reminds all legal-age individuals why it is not advisable to buy alcohol for minors. The campaign will be active on social media during weeks 21 and 22.

HT
The quality of life among the working-age population has significantly deteriorated in recent years. Only every other working-age individual now considers their quality of life good, whereas four years ago, over 60 percent of working-age individuals felt the same way. Quality of life refers to a person's perception of their own situation, including their health, well-being, social relationships, and living environment.

These findings emerge from a comprehensive population study called "Terve Suomi" conducted by the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL). The survey data was collected between September 2022 and March 2023.

According to the study, one in five working-age individuals, aged 20 to 64, experiences significant psychological strain. Mental strain has increased markedly among both men and women compared to 2018: from 13 percent to 19 percent among men and from 13 percent to 20 percent among women. Psychological strain remains most prevalent among individuals aged 20 to 29, but there has also been an increase among those aged 30 to 49.

"The results are concerning from the perspective of societal social and economic sustainability. While there have been indications of the declining well-being of the working-age population previously, the crises of recent years have likely further complicated the situation. During the upcoming government term, the well-being of working-age individuals must be placed at the core of decision-making, as an aging Finnish society requires a healthy and functional population," says lead researcher Annamari Lundqvist.

Suicidal thoughts have become more prevalent among those under 50 years old. While in 2018, one in ten individuals reported having suicidal thoughts, now the number has risen to one in eight among those under 50.

"The implementation of suicide prevention programs is now particularly crucial. These programs aim to develop ways for anyone to address concerns and guide healthcare professionals on what to do after identifying suicide risk. Additionally, we encourage individuals to create safety plans in case of suicidal thoughts and promote the use of other effective treatment methods in social and healthcare services," explains research professor Timo Partonen.

An increasing number of working-age individuals report utilizing mental health services due to mental health-related problems. Currently, 20 percent of women and 12 percent of men in this age group state that they have used mental health services, compared to 15 percent and 9 percent, respectively, in 2018.

The study also reveals that access to healthcare services has become more challenging. Nearly one in four adults feel that they do not receive sufficient medical services relative to their needs. This means that over 800,000 individuals in Finland perceive medical services as inadequate. The proportion has increased by almost 10 percentage points among both men and women since 2018: from 14 percent to 23 percent among men and from 17 percent to 27 percent among women. These findings reflect the situation prior to the social and healthcare reform.

The most challenging situations regarding access to doctors are found in North Karelia, Central Uusimaa, and Kainuu, where over 30 percent of residents feel they receive insufficient medical services relative to their needs.

"The new well-being regions face a difficult starting point that they must address. The poor development is likely influenced by several factors, such as the backlog of COVID-19 treatment, the delayed social and healthcare reform, and personnel shortages. Finland also allocates less funding to healthcare compared to Western European countries," states senior expert Anna-Mari Aalto.

"There is no single solution to this complex situation. The new well-being regions now have the opportunity to develop the service structure of their regions and seek solutions to improve service availability," Aalto adds.

The survey portion of the "Terve Suomi" study invited 61,600 randomly selected individuals aged 20 or older from various parts of Finland to participate. The sample was constructed in a manner that allows for generalization of the results to the whole of Finland and the well-being regions. Of those invited to the study, 46 percent responded to the survey between September 2022 and March 2023.

Data from 2018 and 2020 is based on the FinSote study conducted by the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL).

HT
The Academy Research Fellowship funding is specifically designed for early-career researchers who have demonstrated a fast career trajectory, established international networks, and are engaged in scientifically rigorous and impactful research that contributes to scientific advancement.

The Academy of Finland's Research Council for Natural Sciences and Engineering has announced the recipients of the prestigious Academy Research Fellowship funding. A total of 59 researchers have been selected to receive funding, amounting to approximately 35 million euros. The success rate for applicants was just over 15 percent.

This funding round marks the first application cycle under the Academy's reformed funding schemes for early-career researchers. The total amount requested by applicants for Academy Research Fellowships in the natural sciences and engineering was nearly 220 million euros.

The allocated funding is administered by the researchers' respective organizations, which manage its use according to the specific research needs. The flexibility of the funding allows for various applications, such as supporting the researcher's salary, hiring a research team, and covering other research-related expenses. The funding period spans four years, and on average, a single Academy Research Fellowship amounts to approximately 590,000 euros. The Academy of Finland closely monitors the impact of research funded through its programs.

The Research Council for Natural Sciences and Engineering encompasses a wide range of disciplines within its domain. Finnish research environments have gained international recognition, particularly in information and communications technology (ICT) and engineering fields. Notably, 70 percent of the applications for Academy Research Fellowships in these areas came from foreign applicants. Health technology emerged as a prominent research topic within the field of engineering, while fundamental research projects received funding in the natural sciences. Furthermore, the Research Council allocated funding to projects focusing on future energy solutions.

Professor Leena Ukkonen, Chair of the Research Council, expressed concern regarding the low number of applications in process, environmental, chemical, and mechanical engineering, as well as manufacturing technology. These sectors are crucial to the Finnish economy, and the Research Council aims to ensure an adequate supply of expertise in these fields.

"Initially, we were also concerned about the prospects of younger applicants in the competition. However, they performed exceptionally well in the international peer review process, and the selected recipients represent researchers at various stages of their careers, ranging from recent PhD graduates to assistant/associate professors. Almost all of them have already demonstrated a solid track record of international or intersectoral mobility and established excellent collaborative networks," said Ukkonen.

The applications underwent a rigorous peer-review process by panels of international experts. Notably, 46 percent of the applications received an excellent rating (6 or 5) from the reviewers. The selections were based on the applicants' personal competence, taking into account their career stages. The scientific quality of the proposed research also played a significant role in the decision-making process.

Ukkonen further highlighted, "Compared to previous years, the Research Council was able to fund talented researchers with ambitious research projects from a wider range of disciplines in this funding round."

The Academy of Finland's support for early-career researchers through the Academy Research Fellowship program will undoubtedly contribute to the advancement of scientific knowledge and foster innovation in the natural sciences and engineering fields.

HT
Finland's recent approval of its application to join NATO's Innovation Fund has opened up exciting possibilities for early-stage startups in the country. As part of this development, Tesi, the state-owned investment company, will invest EUR 35 million in the fund. This move not only provides Finnish startups working on emerging technologies with access to cooperation and financing opportunities but also strengthens Finland's involvement in NATO's central operations and networks.

The NATO Innovation Fund aims to invest in early-stage deep tech startups and venture capital funds developing cutting-edge technologies that are of priority to NATO. With a total size of one billion euros, the fund was established following commitments from 22 NATO Member Countries at the 2022 NATO Summit in Madrid. The operational launch of the NATO Innovation Fund is scheduled for this year, coinciding with the NATO Summit in Vilnius.

Minister of Economic Affairs, Mika Lintila, highlights the importance of Finland's active participation in NATO's operations and networks right from the beginning. Finland possesses immense potential in technologies that are central to NATO's interests, including artificial intelligence (AI) and quantum technology. By joining the fund, Finnish early-stage startups working on disruptive technologies will gain a new source of growth financing, ensuring that the knowledge and possession of these technologies remain within NATO countries.

Tesi's CEO, Pia Santavirta, emphasizes the significance of developing international networks and attracting international capital and expertise to Finland. Tesi's investment in NATO's Innovation Fund will enable Finnish venture capital funds and startups to tap into the fund's resources and cooperation networks. This opens up avenues for collaboration, knowledge sharing, and access to global markets.

The NATO Innovation Fund will primarily focus on financing companies in the deep tech sector, which includes areas such as artificial intelligence, quantum-enabled technologies, novel materials, energy, biotechnology, next-generation communications, and space. These technologies often have civilian and commercial applications but can also be utilized for defense and security purposes, making them dual-use technologies.

According to a survey conducted by Tesi, there are approximately 240 deep tech companies in Finland. These companies typically require significant investments from the outset, and their long development horizons demand patient capital. The NATO Innovation Fund, along with its collaboration with NATO's Science and Technology Organization (STO) and the NATO Defence Innovation Accelerator for the North Atlantic (DIANA), will work closely to support and finance these deep tech companies.

Finland's accession to NATO's Innovation Fund, coupled with Tesi's investment, signifies a significant milestone for Finnish startups working on emerging technologies. By gaining access to cooperation networks and growth financing opportunities, Finnish entrepreneurs can further develop their disruptive technologies while contributing to NATO's priorities. This collaboration also strengthens Finland's position within NATO's central operations and networks, allowing for increased participation and knowledge exchange. As the NATO Innovation Fund begins making investments, Finnish startups will be well-positioned to leverage these resources and drive innovation in key technology sectors.

HT
Gov. Cooper honors the late Rick Merrill with highest volunteer award

Rick Merrill

The late Rick Merrill of Flat Rock was honored with the Governor's Medallion Award for Volunteer Service, the states highest volunteer recognition, and seven others received the Governors Volunteer Service Award last week.

Created in 2006 to recognize the top 20-25 volunteers in the state, the Governor's Medallion Award for Volunteer Service honors no more than one person per county. Local nominations, which were coordinated here by Community Foundation of Henderson County Program Officer Brandon Baird, are elevated to a statewide panel that reviews and evaluates all nominations to determine the award recipients.

Merrill was nominated by Interfaith Assistance Ministry executives director, Elizabeth Willson Moss.

Ricks servant leadership mentality began at a young age when he volunteered for VISTA, Volunteers in Service to America (now AmeriCorps), while in college, she wrote. That service led him to Henderson County, where Rick and his wife JoAnne, put down roots. Rick built a career in the real estate field and used his talents and knowledge to promote land conservation and lend a hand with many community organizations over his decades in Henderson County.

Merrill served as the first volunteer chairman of the Village of Flat Rocks Planning Board, served on the Apple Country Greenway Commission and Historic Flat Rock Inc., which he led as president for three years; and was a crusader for land conservation, serving on the board of Conserving Carolina for 13 years and as president in 2009-2010.

At IAM he filled in a variety of volunteer roles from 2016 until his death in February of this year, including board president and project manager overseeing construction of IAMs thrift shop.

Ricks work on the IAM Thrift Store has provided the crisis services nonprofit with its first steady revenue stream since it was founded in 1984, Moss noted. Rick made his most recent contributions in 2022 while battling for his life with a brain cancer diagnosis. He has richly blessed his community and IAM.

The Governor's Volunteer Service Award recipients are people who have shown concern and compassion for neighbors by making a significant contribution to their community through volunteer service. Henderson County recipients of the award for 2023 were:

Chip Gould, nominated by Blue Ridge Community College and UNC Health Pardee

Skip Grasser, nominated by nominated by the Boys & Girls Club of Henderson County

Terry Ketcham, nominated by UNC Health Pardee

Eleanor Sloane, nominated by Safelight

Jim Steinbaugh, nominated by YMCA of Western North Carolina

The late Janice Witte, nominated by Children & Family Resource Center and United Way of Henderson County

Friends of Carl Sandburg at Connemara, nominated by Carl Sandburg National Historical Site

Pardee President Jay Kirby and BRCC President Laura Leatherwood presented the Volunteer Service Award to Chip Gould.BRCC President Laura Leatherwood and Pardee President Jay Kirby presented the award on behalf of the office of the governor.

We cannot think of a more deserving person to receive this recognition, Leatherwood said.

Kirby added: Chip has given countless hours of his time and talents to the organizations that he serves, and we are all the better for it. This recognition is well deserved.

Gould has served with Blue Ridges Board of Trustees since 2007, and he has held numerous community leadership positions. In addition to leading Blue Ridges Board of Trustees, Gould currently serves as chair UNC Health Pardee Board of Trustees and on the boards of the Blue Ridge Community College Educational Foundation, Pardee Hospital Foundation, Economic Investment Fund of Henderson County and First Bank Corp.
Today, the Commissioner for Health and Food Safety, Stella Kyriakides, and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra met in Brussels to launch the EU-U.S. Health Task Force. The Task Force, set up to expand the EU-U.S. partnership in the area of health, will focus on cooperation under three strands: priorities in the area of cancer, global health threats, and strengthening the global health architecture. Technical working groups on these priority areas are being established. The discussion also included an exchange on Ukraine, where the EU and U.S. reaffirmed their solidarity in the face of the Russian aggression and committed to continue supporting Ukraine for as long as it takes.

We are committed to making sure that all people can access the health care they need, and we know that our health at home is connected to the health of people everywhere," said U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra. "This Task Force will allow us to build on our existing work together across a range of issues to address new challenges around cancer, global health threats and strengthening the global health infrastructure.

The U.S. is a key partner when it comes to tackling global health challenges," said European Commissioner for Health and Food Safety, Stella Kyriakides. "Since the signature of our Administrative Agreement one year ago, we have taken the cooperation between our administrations to a new level. With todays launch of the first EU-U.S Health Task Force, we are reaffirming our mutual commitment to an ever-closer transatlantic partnership in the area of health, and delivering on an important priority of the EU Global Health Strategy. Global cooperation is also key when it comes to improving cancer prevention, detection and care and I welcome that discussions at expert level have already started to advance cooperation between Europes Beating Cancer Plan and the U.S. Cancer Moonshot. I firmly believe that the EU and US working together can bring about significant change for cancer patients and their families.

Advancing cooperation between Europes Beating Cancer Plan and U.S. Cancer Moonshot

The EU and the U.S. share a prioritised focus on improving cancer prevention, detection and care for everyone facing cancer. That is why the Task Force has established two expert-level working groups focused on childhood/young adult cancer and lung cancer in the context of Europes Beating Cancer Plan and the U.S. Cancer Moonshot. This collaboration aims to facilitate peer-learning, exchange best practices, and advise on the development of possible joint initiatives to improve cancer outcomes across the globe. The goal is to promote the establishment of a new structured dialogue on cancer, addressing both cancer policies and research collaborations. This will be done by finding common ground between the U.S. Cancer Moonshot Initiative and Europes Beating Cancer Plan, the EU Cancer Mission, and U.S. National Cancer Plan.

The first virtual meeting of the EU and U.S. chairs of the childhood/young adult cancer and lung cancer working groups took place on 10 May.

Reinforced cooperation on global health threats and health architecture

Todays discussions also focused on current and emerging health threats such as avian influenza, Marburg disease, and anti-microbial resistance. Both sides also underlined the importance to improve the understanding of post COVID-19 conditions and their impact on health, societies and economies.

Cooperation between the European Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority (HERA) and HHSs Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response (ASPR), secure supply chains and vaccination programmes were also discussed. Both parties underlined that the world needs to be better prepared to respond to future pandemics, as the COVID-19 pandemic made very clear.

We are committed to work together for the success of the Pandemic Agreement currently under negotiation at the WHO and our shared vision of an agreement that creates a healthier, safer, and fairer world for all people. Both sides reiterated their strong commitment to a successful outcome of negotiations on the pandemic agreement and amendments to the International Health Regulations by May 2024. Both parties agreed that comprehensive commitments are needed to improve pandemic prevention, preparedness, and response, that deliver tangible results on the ground and enhance equity.

Both parties support concrete steps toward establishing durable global mechanisms for access to medical countermeasures in health emergencies that will be a cornerstone of pandemic prevention, preparedness and response. This work is an important part of the negotiations of the pandemic agreement and must build on lessons-learned from the global ACT-Accelerator mechanism. Both parties noted that an ambitious agreement is within reach, but that it will require political will, creativity, and a focus on practical solutions.

The EU and the U.S. welcome the success of the first call for proposals of the Pandemic Fund, calling for the expansion of its donor base to support the Funds continued success in addressing gaps in prevention and preparedness.

Addressing health challenges of girls, women and the most vulnerable

Both sides stressed that strong womens rights are core values of democracies. They are an achievement to be proud of and to nurture. The EU and the U.S. remain committed to promoting sexual and reproductive health and rights, addressing the specific health challenges faced by women and making tangible contribution to regaining the lost ground in the achievement of sustainable development goals as stressed in the EU Global Health Strategy.

Background

Following the statement by President Ursula von der Leyen and U.S. President Joe Biden marking the second Global COVID-19 Summit, the European Commission and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services signed an arrangement to strengthen cooperation on preparedness and response to public health threats. This will enable the Commission and the U.S. to work together on a broad range of topics to jointly tackle health emergencies, contributing to establishing a strong global health architecture. The transatlantic arrangement, signed on 19 May in Berlin, will be coordinated by the European Commission Health Emergency and Preparedness Response Authority (HERA) and the Directorate-General for Health and Food Safety on the EU side and the Department of Health and Human Services on the U.S. side.

The signature of the cooperation arrangement was followed by a meeting in Washington D.C. in October 2022 and regular exchanges have taken place at all levels in recent months, leading up to the launch of the EU-U.S Health Task Force.
AFP: Former UK Prime Minister Liz Truss is visiting Taiwan today. She indicated before the trip that she would use it as an opportunity to urge the current Sunak government to treat China as a strategic threat. What is the foreign ministrys comment on the visit?

Wang Wenbin: Taiwan is an inalienable part of Chinas territory. Chinas position on the Taiwan question is consistent and clear. For a British political has-been, using Taiwan to grab attention is all about serving selfish political interests. I noticed that Trusss trip drew fierce criticism across the UK, who say that this trip is performative and the serially irresponsible MP for South West Norfolk is doing her country another disservice. The DPP authorities are squandering Taiwan taxpayer money to ingratiate themselves with the shortest-serving prime minister in UK history. This is not an act of love for Taiwan. They are selling Taiwan away. Such attempts to pursue independence and make provocations with external forces will not succeed.

Xinhua News Agency: The UN launched the World Economic Situation and Prospects as of mid-2023 on May 16. The report projects global economic growth to be 2.3% and revises up Chinas growth forecast from 4.8% to 5.3% for 2023. Whats your comment?

Wang Wenbin: We have noticed the UN report and its positive projection for Chinas economy. Lately, other international organizations and agencies like the World Bank and the IMF have also revised up their 2023 growth projections for China, which demonstrates their confidence in Chinas development prospects. IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva noted that with a strong rebound, the Chinese economy is expected to contribute about one third of global growth this year.

According to the latest data from Chinas National Bureau of Statistics, in April, the year-on-year growth for most production and demand indicators improved, services and consumption witnessed fast recovery, and employment and prices were generally stable. The national economy sustained the momentum of recovery with increasing positive factors.

The Chinese economys strong resilience, ample potential and strong vitality and the fundamentals sustaining Chinas sound economic growth in the long run stay unchanged. Various policies continue to produce positive results. We are convinced that as the vitality and potential of Chinas economy is further unleashed, China will bring more confidence and strength to the world economic recovery. We welcome businesses of all countries to explore the vast Chinese market and benefit from the abundant opportunities that will lead them to a bright future.

Reuters: According to media reports, China has notified foreign embassies not to have politicised propaganda on their buildings. Can you confirm this? Does it refer to the national flag of Ukraine?

Wang Wenbin: Based on the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations and relevant international agreements, embassies of foreign countries and offices of international organizations in China have the duty to respect Chinese laws and regulations. We hope all embassies of foreign countries and offices of international organizations in China will perform their functions in accordance with the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations or relevant international agreements.

TASS: The China-Central Asia Summit will be held in Xian on May 18 and 19. Could you tell us will the Chinese and Central Asian representatives discuss the Ukraine issue?

Wang Wenbin: During the China-Central Asia Summit, the heads of state will review the development course of China-Central Asia relations and exchange views on China-Central Asia mechanisms building, cooperation in various fields and major international and regional issues of shared interest. There will be readouts on the summit in due course. Please check back for updates.

CCTV: President Xi Jinping recently replied to the letter written by students from Central Asian countries studying at China University of Petroleum (Beijing). President Xi encourages them to take an active part in promoting friendships between China and Central Asian countries and act as envoys of friendship and bridges of cooperation. Students from Central Asian countries at the university were greatly inspired by the letter and said that they are ready to do more to contribute to and promote China-Central Asia relations. Can you share more with us what people-to-people and cultural exchanges have achieved between China and Central Asian countries?

Wang Wenbin: As President Xi Jinping stated in his reply to students from Central Asian countries at China University of Petroleum (Beijing), China and Central Asian countries are linked by mountains and rivers with profound friendships and a shared future. In the 30-plus years since the diplomatic relations were established, people in China and Central Asian countries have renewed the millennial friendship, reaped fruitful results in such areas as education, culture, health, tourism and sub-national exchange and fostered a multi-faceted framework of people-to-people exchanges.

Education has been a bright spot in such cooperation. The first Confucius Institute signed between China and foreign countries was launched in the Uzbekistan capital of Tashkent in 2005. So far, we have 13 Confucius Institutes in Central Asia, which are widely welcomed by local people. Many who have studied there have become vital components of China-Central Asia exchanges and cooperation. Last year, the Luban Workshop, an international project in vocational education, was launched in Tajikistan. The advanced equipment and rich education resources of this project provides Central Asia with a new platform for local youths to upgrade their level of education and skills. More and more students from Central Asian countries are either studying in China or hoping to get such a chance. Turkmenian student Grigoryan Kristina, who has studied in Shanghai University, made a short animated video The Song of New China with her Chinese schoolmate, which went viral on the Internet.

Cultural exchange has yielded fruitful results. A movie entitled The Composer, a China-Kazakhstan coproduction, tells the story of friendship between the two peoples reflected in the music of Chinese composer Xian Xinghai and Kazakh composer Bakhitzhan Baykadamov. The preservation and restoration project for historical relics of Khiva in Uzbekistan was completed successfully with the concerted efforts of Chinese and Uzbekistani experts and scholars, giving a new life to the old city. Manas, a Chinese opera, was staged in Kyrgyzstan with great success. Many Central Asian stars like Dimash Kudaibergen have brought their performance to China.

Sub-national exchange has been flourishing. There are 62 pairs of sister provinces, regions and cities between China and Central Asia. Under the China-Europe freight train service, 17 railway routes connect Xian with Central Asian countries. As air routes between Xian and Dushanbe open, Xian will become the only Chinese city with air routes to all the five Central Asian countries.

Tomorrow, China-Central Asia Summit will officially begin. A new chapter of friendship, cultural affinity and a shared future will be written by Chinese and Central Asian people together where the ancient Silk Road began and this millennial bond will become further strengthened.

Bloomberg: Do you have the schedule for the China-Central Asia Summit? Can you tell us when President Xi Jinping will be speaking?

Wang Wenbin: We will release information on the China-Central Asia Summit in due course. Please check back for updates.

AFP: The US announced legal charges on Tuesday against several Chinese and Russian nationals accused of stealing trade secrets and violating sanctions by seeking to export sensitive technology. Does the foreign ministry have any comment on this matter?

Wang Wenbin: I do not have information on the cases you asked about. I would like to stress that, the US created the Disruptive Technology Strike Force, and has kept stretching the national security concept to abuse export control regimes and its leading technological advantage. The US has politicized, instrumentalized and weaponized tech issues, and sought to thwart other countries technological advancement. All these are clear examples of hegemonic, high-handed, and bullying acts.

We urge the US to discard the outdated Cold War mentality and zero-sum game mindset, stop the wanton accusation and suppression against China in the field of technology, and stop abusing judicial power to target Chinese researchers. China will do what is necessary to firmly safeguard the lawful rights and interests of Chinese citizens.

AFP: Ambassador Li Hui, the special representative on Eurasian affairs is meant to be in Kiev yesterday and today. Can you confirm that hes actually in the Ukrainian capital? And can you tell us if he will be meeting the Ukrainian President while hes there?

Wang Wenbin: Well read out Special Representative of the Chinese Government on Eurasian Affairs, Ambassador Li Huis visit to Europe in due course. Please check back for updates.

Reuters: A US official told Reuters that China needs to play an official role in the common framework initiated by the Paris Club and India to advance negotiations on Sri Lankas debt restructuring. Do you have any response?

Wang Wenbin: We have stated our position multiple times on the Sri Lanka debt issue. Let me reiterate that we support Chinese financial institutions in actively working out the debt treatment with the Sri Lankan side. We have been in close communication with the Sri Lankan side and taken concrete steps. We will continue to play a positive role in this regard. At the same time, we call on commercial and multilateral creditors to take part in Sri Lankas debt restructuring based on fair burden-sharing.

It was learned the Sri Lankan government has explicitly noted that it will discuss the debt restructuring issue with some of its creditors, including China through bilateral channels. China and Sri Lanka are keeping communication on this.

Dragon TV: The fifth Review Conference of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) was held this week in the Netherlands. The issue of Japans abandoned chemical weapons (ACWs) in China is one of the items high on the agenda of this conference. Could you share more details with us?

Wang Wenbin: At the fifth Review Conference of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) in The Hague, the issue of Japans abandoned chemical weapons (ACWs) in China is a key item on the conferences agenda. It is also an important part of the implementation of the CWC.

The complete and thorough destruction of ACWs in China at an early date is Japans unshirkable historical, political and legal responsibility. The destruction process of Japanese ACWs has seriously lagged behind, and missed the deadlines for the destruction many times. China has been urging Japan to act with a stronger sense of urgency and work as intensively as possible to implement the new destruction plan fully, completely and faithfully. Japan needs to completely and thoroughly eliminate the harm of ACWs as soon as possible and clear this obstacle to building a world free of chemical weapons.

China held a special exhibition of Japanese ACWs on the site of the conference. Director-General of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) Fernando Arias and representatives of more than 50 Member States and the OPCW Technical Secretariat visited the exhibition. China highly commends the efforts made by the OPCW and the international community to advancing the destruction of Japans ACWs, and calls on all parties to keep and intensify supervision and verification concerning Japan and push for greater and faster progress in the destruction process.

Bloomberg: The Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said he would investigate the ownership situation and the security of the countrys national grid operator, which is 40% owned by Chinas State Grid Corp. The government of the Philippines would take back control of the entity if necessary after recent problems with the electricity supply in the Philippines. Does the Ministry of Foreign Affairs have a comment on this situation?

Wang Wenbin: The Philippines is a friendly neighbor and important partner of China. China supports Chinese companies in carrying out practical cooperation in the Philippines in accordance with laws and regulations and producing greater mutual benefits.

AFP: A Chinese fishing boat has sunk in the central Indian Ocean with a crew including 17 Chinese citizens. Can you confirm the location where the boat sank or offer any updates?

Wang Wenbin: After the fishing boat Lupeng Yuanyu 028 capsized in the early morning of May 16, Beijing time, the matter received serious attention from the CPC Central Committee. General Secretary Xi Jinping asked the Foreign Ministry and relevant diplomatic missions abroad to stay in close contact with relevant local authorities and coordinate with them on the search and rescue operation. The Foreign Ministry immediately activated the emergency mechanism for consular protection. An official of the Department of Consular Affairs spoke to the diplomatic missions of countries concerned in China, offered guidance to our diplomatic and consular missions in the neighboring countries of the waters where the accident occurred, and worked in collaboration with competent departments including those responsible for transport and fisheries and relevant local peoples governments to make all-out efforts to jointly carry out the search and rescue operation.

As we speak, Chinese and foreign vessels have arrived at relevant waters and the search and rescue operation is intensively underway. More help is on the way. We will continue to work together with relevant sides to do everything possible to find those who have gone missing.

We would like to thank the Australian maritime search and rescue department for sending an aircraft and coordinating foreign vessels passing by to help with the search and rescue efforts. We hope countries nearby will continue to join our search and rescue efforts. We will not give up as long as there is still hope for saving lives.
The biggest cryptocurrency exchange in the world, Binance, has announced that it is leaving the Canadian market. It joins other crypto companies that have announced similar moves.

While Canada tightens the gloves on cryptocurrency trading, other markets seem to be opening their arms to the innovative sector. This might be good news for investors inPAT WARS (PAWS), Solana (SOL) and Avalanche (AVAX)  Heres why

Binance Pulls Out Of Canada

Binance tweeted its decision to exit Canada on Friday citing that it was following other well-known crypto companies in aggressively leaving the Canadian market.

With the establishment of a pre-registration procedure, Canada has recently tightened laws for sites that trade crypto assets.

Binance Pulls Out Of Canada

Binance's decision to withdraw from the Canadian market may have an impact on the country's cryptocurrency industry as there are several other countries that are emerging as potential players in the crypto space. For instance, the United States and Japan have been actively regulating the industry but yet, have a growing number of crypto companies.

In addition, countries like Singapore, South Korea, Malta, and Switzerland have also been attracting crypto businesses due to their favorable regulatory environments and supportive policies.

An Opening For Altcoins: Solana and Avalanche

With more countries looking to attract crypto businesses, many coins stand to benefit even more, particularly those with high utility and value - examples include Solana and Avalanche.

Solana (SOL) is a high-performance blockchain that aims to enable fast and inexpensive transactions. It has gained popularity recently and has seen significant price increases in the crypto market.

As a blockchain that cares about the environment, SOL is designed for DApp, smart contract initiatives, and aims to provide speed and scalability to the general public.

Then there is Avalanche (AVAX), a platform that aims to provide a fast, secure, and decentralized ecosystem for building applications and issuing assets. AVAX has also been gaining popularity and has seen a significant increase in its market value.

Solana (SOL) is a high-performance blockchain that aims to enable fast and inexpensive transactions.

PAT WARS: A Meme Coin With A Force To Be Reckoned With

Emerging as a captivating addition to the cryptocurrency sector PAT WARS (PAWS) is currently in the early stages of its presale. The goal of PAWS is to become the top meme coin by prioritizing community ownership and decentralization. The project aims to achieve this by providing an innovative and user-focused platform that promotes balance in the crypto universe.

One unique aspect of PAWS is the integration of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) into the platform, which offers both utility and collectible value to holders. This feature allows users to take an active part in shaping the future of the project by voting on initiatives and developments. The presale journey of PAWS is expected to be an extraordinary endeavor, aimed at providing a new perspective to the cryptocurrency sector.

One unique aspect of PAWS is the integration of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) into the platform, which offers both utility and collectible value to holders.

While Binance's departure from the Canadian market may have an impact on the country's cryptocurrency industry, it also presents opportunities for other countries that are actively embracing the innovative sector. With Solana and Avalanche gaining popularity, and their unique features and high utility, they could be promising investments.

Meanwhile, PAT WARS (PAWS) is offering a new perspective to the cryptocurrency sector, with its community-focused and user-centric platform, as well as the integration of NFTs. As the crypto market continues to evolve, it's essential to keep an eye on emerging trends and opportunities for investment.

All About PAT WARS:

Website: https://www.patwars.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/PATWARSOfficial

Telegram: https://t.me/PATWARSOfficial

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 contents of the article/advertisement and/or views expressed herein.

The reader is further advised that Crypto products and NFTs are unregulated and can be highly risky. There may be no regulatory recourse for any loss from such transactions.

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 views, opinions, announcements, declarations, affirmations etc., stated/featured in same. The decision to read hereinafter is purely a matter of choice and shall be construed as an express undertaking/guarantee in favour of Hindustan Times of being absolved from any/ all potential legal action, or enforceable claims. The content may be for information and awareness purposes and does not constitute a financial advice.
Are you looking for a simple, cost-effective way to secure your home or business? Look no further than installing CCTV! With technology becoming increasingly more accessible and affordable, closed-circuit television cameras can provide comprehensive surveillance with numerous benefits.

From tangible protections against theft and break-ins to protection of employees, customers, property, and inventory; CCTV has made its mark as an invaluable asset in providing safety and security around the world. In this comprehensive guide, we will explore why installing CCTV is the right decision for safeguarding your premises while offering peace of mind.

Defining CCTV and its Benefits

Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) is a type of surveillance system that is used to monitor and record the movements and actions of individuals or groups within a particular area. It is a valuable tool that can be used to enhance safety and security in a variety of settings, including businesses, public spaces, and private residences.

With the ability to record events as they happen, CCTV footage can be used to provide valuable evidence in investigations and legal proceedings. Additionally, the mere presence of CCTV cameras from jual cctv jakarta can act as a deterrent to criminal activity, thereby reducing the likelihood of incidents occurring in the first place.

Overall, CCTV systems can provide peace of mind and help to improve the safety and security of both individuals and communities.

Enhanced Security

Enhanced security has become increasingly important in today's society. With rising crime rates, businesses and homeowners need to take precautions to ensure their safety. One effective measure that has been proven to deter crime is the usage of closed-circuit television (CCTV) systems. CCTV cameras can monitor an area 24/7, acting as a constant deterrent to potential criminals.

Additionally, if a crime does occur, the footage captured by the CCTV system can be incredibly helpful for law enforcement in identifying and catching the perpetrator. By installing CCTV systems, individuals and businesses can take a proactive step in enhancing their safety and reducing the risk of crime.

Constant Monitoring

Constant monitoring has become an important aspect of our daily lives. With the help of closed-circuit television (CCTV) systems, it is possible to keep a constant eye on specific areas and be informed of any incidents that may occur. These systems have transformed the way we approach security and safety.

Gone are the days when security guards were the only means of keeping an eye on a building or a site. Today, CCTV systems from mahavisioncctv.com can be used to monitor everything from parking lots to entire city blocks.

They have become so widespread that it is difficult to imagine a world without them. They give us peace of mind knowing that potential incidents are being monitored and that we can quickly and effectively respond to them.

Easy Identification

With the increasing adoption of security cameras in public spaces and private properties, solving crimes has become a lot easier. Closed-circuit television, or CCTV, systems have proved to be highly effective in identifying perpetrators and assisting law enforcement agencies in catching criminals.

These cameras capture footage of individuals and their activities and transmit the recorded data to a central location where it can be monitored and used as evidence in court. CCTV systems not only serve as a deterrent for potential criminals but also help law enforcement apprehend suspects faster.

In today's world, where safety concerns are at an all-time high, it's reassuring to know that security cameras are lending a helping hand in combating criminal activity and improving public safety.

Remote Access

In today's fast-paced world, keeping an eye on your property while on the go is essential. Home security has come a long way over the years, and with the introduction of CCTV systems, monitoring your property has never been easier.

Remote access is the key feature of CCTV systems that allows property owners to monitor their surroundings from anywhere in the world. Whether you are traveling for work or on vacation, CCTV systems let you have peace of mind knowing that your property is safe and secure.

With the ability to view cameras via smartphones or tablets, you can have a clear view of your property and act quickly in case of an emergency. Don't let distance keep you from protecting your home or business; consider installing a CCTV system today.

Reduced Insurance Costs

When it comes to owning a business, one of the essential investments you can make is installing a CCTV system. Not only can these cameras provide safety and security for your employees and customers, but they can also help lower your insurance premiums.

Insurance companies often offer discounts for businesses that have surveillance systems in place, as it shows a commitment to safety and reducing the risk of incidents.

Additionally, CCTV footage can provide evidence in case of a claim, which can save businesses money in legal fees or insurance payouts. So not only is it a smart business decision to invest in CCTV systems, but it can also positively impact your bottom line.

Increased Productivity

As a business owner, it's important to ensure that your employees are working efficiently and effectively. One way to increase productivity is through the use of CCTV systems.

These cameras provide constant surveillance, allowing you to monitor employee behavior and performance. With the knowledge that they are being watched, employees are more likely to stay on task and stay productive throughout the day.

Not only can CCTV systems keep employees accountable, but they also provide evidence in the event of any work-related incidents or accidents. Investing in these systems not only benefits your business by increasing productivity, but also helps create a safer work environment for your employees.

Conclusion

Installing a CCTV system is a smart investment for any business or home looking to ensure the safety and security of their property. As outlined in this guide, a CCTV system offers many benefits, from providing enhanced security and constant monitoring to remote access and reduced insurance costs. It can even increase productivity as employees stay focused on their tasks knowing theyre being watched. Overall, with its ability to deter crime and provide easy identification of suspects, CCTV systems are an invaluable security feature that should not be overlooked when considering potential safety steps. Investing in one today may result in the conservation of resources tomorrow!

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.
Elon Musk is calling out people who work from home, saying its an affront to those who must show up at the workplace. Tesla Inc CEO Elon Musk(REUTERS)

Tesla Inc.s chief executive officer said Tuesday that firing up the laptop from home lowers productivity and also sends the wrong signal to factory workers and other employees that dont have that option.

People building the cars, servicing the cars, building houses fixing houses, making the food, making all the things that people consume. Its messed up to assume that, yes, they have to go to work, but you dont, he said in an interview with CNBC. Its not just a productivity thing, I think its morally wrong.

Musk has been a strong advocate for return-to-office policies and issued an ultimatum to Tesla employees about it last summer, requiring employees to spend a minimum of 40 hours in the office per week.

The laptop class is living in la-la land, he told CNBC.
The Union Cabinet on Wednesday decided not to increase fertiliser rates and approved a crop-nutrient subsidy of 1.08 lakh crore for the June-September kharif or summer-sown season, union health, fertilisers and chemicals minister Mansukh Mandaviya said at a media briefing in the national Capital. The summer-sown season accounts for nearly half of the countrys annual food supply. (ANI file photo)

The country has sufficient stocks and arrangements for all key fertilisers, including urea, the minister added.

Indias food security is closely linked to the availability of fertilisers, which are federally subsidised for millions of farmers.

The summer-sown season accounts for nearly half of the countrys annual food supply.

International rates of fertilisers have come down slightly. So that farmers keep getting timely access to fertlisers and dont face any financial burden, the Narendra Modi government has always been prompt. There will be no increase in fertiliser prices for the kharif season for farmers, the minister said after the cabinet meet.

Also Read: Union Cabinet approves National Medical Devices Policy 2023 to meet health objectives of access, affordability

India relies on imports to meet its total fertiliser demand. Global prices of various farm chemicals had rocketed to multi-year highs in 2022-23 due to the Ukraine conflict, resulting in a total fertiliser subsidy bill of a record 2.56 lakh crore, the minister said.

An emerging El Nino, a monsoon-disrupting global weather pattern, is a key risk to summer crops this year.

Although the India Meteorological Department (IMD) forecast a normal monsoon in April, it did not discount the possibility of an El Nino impacting the monsoon rains, which are critical because nearly 60% of the countrys farmlands dont have access to irrigation.

If rains are scanty, the demand for fertilisers could go up to keep crops healthy, said Rahul Chouhan of IGrain Pvt Ltd.

Fertiliser companies sell their products at a discount to cultivators through internet-enabled rural outlets. The government then pays the difference between market rates and the discount to the firms.

For 2023-24, the union budget in February allocated 1.75 lakh crore, but even though fertiliser rates have stabilised, actual full-year spending could cross 2 lakh crore again, Mandaviya said.

There has been no shortage of fertilisers in the past nine years, Mandaviya said, adding, There might have been one or two instances of temporary delay due to delay in (railway) racks reaching their destinations.

Indias better stocks position this year comes on the back of higher domestic output of nano urea, a highly efficient novel form of the nutrient.

The total cultivated area in the country is estimated at 140 million hectare.

Given the final fertiliser subsidy spending what it was in 2022-23, it works out to 8,909 per hectare subsidy spending on fertilisers, the minister said.

Economists generally use the net-cultivated area, which varies from year to year, to make most crop calculations.

The minister also said the government spent roughly 21,000 per cultivator as fertiliser subsidy in 2022-23.

India has an estimated 120 million farmers.

To hedge against price and supply swings amid a lumbering Russia-Ukraine conflict and other ongoing geopolitical risks, the Modi government has signed several long-term import deals at pre-negotiated rates with several nations.

The fertiliser ministry in coordination with the external affairs ministry has overseen a slew of these deals. Indian firms have for the first time finalised investments in several North African mineral-rich nations, part of measures aimed at securing long-term supplies.

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The Narendra Modi governments big-ticket labour reforms, passed by Parliament as four labour codes between 2019 and 2020, will bring sweeping changes to the job market in Asias third-largest economy, including how much net salaries employees get to take home to how they can be employed and fired. PREMIUM Labour laws have attracted both praise and scorn. They are seen as controversial by critics, who term them as anti-worker and impinging on universal labour rights(AP)

The four codes consolidate a web of 29 complex labour laws and represent the most wide-ranging policy shift in decades. They have attracted both praise and scorn. They are seen as controversial by critics, who say the codes  which are essentially laws -- are anti-worker and impinge on universal labour rights.

For instance, in its 17th Asia-Pacific meeting in Singapore in October of last year, the UNs International Labour Organisation (ILO), while endorsing Indias competence to enact the laws, appealed to the Indian government to look into concerns that the codes will give a freehand to firms.

Economists demanding freer labour policies to boost growth as well as employment are hoping to see an end to outdated laws no longer in sync with a rapidly-transforming economy.

The reforms will increase the number and type of companies that can fire workers without government approval, enforce new norms on how unions can call strikes, discard rules that bar women from working night shifts and, importantly, introduce a new social-security regime.

Despite being passed by Parliament, the four codes that will kick-off by far the most radical economic reform undertaken by the Modi government are stuck because state governments have yet to publish rules under the codes.

Labour falls in the concurrent list of the Constitution, which gives both the Centre and states joint jurisdiction over the subject. Therefore, state governments and Union territories need to publish draft rules too. These drafts then need to be finalised for the new codes to take effect. Nearly 90% of states have framed the bulk of draft rules, according to the Union labour ministry's data.

Understanding the codes

The codes basically consolidate 29 central labour laws in all. These are the Code on Wages, 2019; the Industrial Relations Code, 2020; The Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020; and the Code on Social Security, 2020.

Currently, 31 states and Union territories have framed their share of draft rules under the wages code, while 27 have completed draft rules on social security. On the industrial relations code, 25 have enacted draft rules and on the occupational safe code, 24 have readied the drafts.

Many economists have argued that Indias labour laws are archaic and onerous, hurting efficiency. Stringent hiring and firing rules applied to firms with over 100 employees, making it virtually impossible to lay off workers.

This adversely acted as an incentive for smaller firms to stay small so they could escape the rules. According to the World Bank, with less restrictive laws, India could approximately add on an annual basis 2.8 million more good quality formal sector jobs.

The old firing rules created two key problems. First, when a company runs into losses, it cant get rid of staff quickly to save costs. This bleeds firms, ultimately pulling down economic output.

Secondly, many firms might not reveal their total employee strength to escape various laws that apply to the formal sector. Under these laws, firms preferred to stay small and hide their presence to avoid overbearing labour laws, says Dhruv Prasad Gola, a former economist with the National Labour Institute.

Hiring, firing and its interrelation with labour codes

In the Industrial Relation Code 2020, simply put, the government has allowed companies with up to 300 workers to fire workers or shut plants without the prior approval of the government.

Firms with more than 300 workers will still need to apply for approval to retrench staff. However, if the authorities do not respond to their request, the retrenchment proposal will be deemed to be approved.

Earlier, labour laws required a 30- to 90-day notice period before retrenching workmen, which is a class of mainly shop-floor workers.

In the case of manufacturing units, plantations and mines with 100 or more workmen, lay-offs also required government approval. To be sure, 90% of Indias workforce, which is employed in the informal sector, wont be affected by these changes.

Not all labour economists agree that the changes are good. The changes simply bring the North American hire-and-fire model to the Indian hinterland economy. They will lead to a basic violation of universal workers rights, said KR Shyam Sundar of the Xavier Labour Relations Institute, Jamshedpur.

The Code on Wages, 2019 amalgamates four wages and payment related labour laws: the Payment of Wages Act, 1936; the Minimum Wages Act, 1948; the Payment of Bonus Act, 1965; and the Equal Remuneration Act, 1976.

When the wages code takes effect, it will change the basic salary structure of an employee. Basic salary will have to be 50% of the gross. The take-home salary therefore will come down but provident fund contributions for retirement from both the employee and the employer will go up.

Also, a company must pay the full and final settlement to quitting employees within two days of the last working day. Another change is that companies will be allowed to have a four-day week work instead of the current five. However, if this option is chosen, then work hours will increase from 9 to 12 as to fulfil the 48-hour weekly benchmark.

The aspect of Unions rights in labour codes

The Industrial Relation Code lays down new conditions on the right of workers to go on strike. Unions will now have to give 60 days strike notice. If proceedings are pending before a labour tribunal or the National Industrial Tribunal, workers cannot go on a strike for 60 days after they are concluded. These conditions apply to all industries. Earlier, workers could go on strike by giving between two to six weeks of notice. Flash strikes will be outlawed.

The Industrial Relation Code is the centrepiece of the changes as far as unionising regulations go and therefore most disagreements revolve around it. Specifically, changes to rules on how and when industrial strikes could be called are mired in disagreements.

This clause is the most damaging erosion of workers rights. Strikes are fundamental to labour rights, said TN Karumalaiyan, the national secretary of the Centre for Indian Trade Unions, a left-affiliated body.

The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS)-affiliated Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh too has reservations on the industrial relations code. The RSS is the ideological fount of the BJP.

Ravinder Himte, the general secretary of the Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS), recently told HT that there was no possibility of agreeing to some of the codes until the government accepted their recommendations, especially on the Industrial Relations Code and The Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020. The BMS said it whole-heartedly welcomed all the other codes.

The Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020, amends laws regulating occupational safety, health and working conditions of employees. Besides updating a variety of technical definitions, such as those of an employee, a firm or an employer, etc, the code ensures that workplaces are free from hazards that can cause accidents, injury or occupational disease to the employees.

Firms must provide free annual health tests to certain classes of employees. Women will be entitled to be employed in all establishments for all types of work and in case they are required to work in hazardous or dangerous operations, the government may require the employer to have specific safeguards in place prior to employment.

Social security

The Code on Social Security, 2020 promises to universalise social security for the first time, including for both organised and informal workers as well as gig and platform workers.

The Bhupender Yadav-led Union labour ministry plans to achieve this by linking all social safety nets and provisions onto a single digital platform. The model for this is the e-Shram portal, the first-ever national database of unorganised workers and migrant labourers in the country. As on August 23, 280 million workers had registered themselves on the e-Shram portal. The government targets to enrol 380 million workers in all.

Launched on August 26, 2021, e-Shram aims to integrate all social security schemes, from health benefits to insurance, such as the Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana and Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana.

The social-security code states, The Central Government shall formulate and notify, from time to time, suitable welfare schemes, including schemes relating to provident fund; employment injury benefit; housing; educational schemes for children; skill upgradation of workers; funeral assistance; and old age homes.

The government can tap corporate social responsibility funds (within the meaning of the Companies Act, 2013) or any other such source as may be specified in the scheme to be used for social security. The code lays down the setting up of a National Social Security Board to recommend to the central government suitable schemes for unorganised workers.

What lies ahead for workers

To be sure, the Union government doesnt need explicit concurrence of labour unions to enact the codes, but state governments do need to publish rules pertaining to a lot of sectors that fall in their purview for the codes to take effect.

Yet, the Union government decided to hold discussions with all trade unions to clarify their doubts and objections. Its better to take everyone on board, an official had said recently. The failure of the Centre to implement the unpopular farm laws has weighed on its mind, a person aware of the development said. Largescale industrial strikes aren't exactly what a recovering economy needs either. The talks however have so far not created any common ground.

The Centre has no powers to dictate a deadline to states to publish rules under the codes. Thats why theres no clarity yet on when the codes will see the light of day.
Six women labourers from Telangana were killed and six others injured in a road accident at a village in Palnadu district of Andhra Pradesh on Wednesday, police said. Representational image.

Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao condoled the death of the women and announced an ex-gratia of five lakh each to the kin of the deceased.

The accident occurred in the early hours of Wednesday when an autorickshaw in which the women were travelling was hit by a speeding truck at Pondugula village in Palnadu district resulting in the death of six women, police said.

The women were proceeding to Pulipadu village in Palnadu district to harvest chillies.

"A truck laden with lemons from Guduru, which was heading to Lucknow, hit the autorickshaw at 4:42 am and sped away, Gurajala Sub-Divisional Police Officer A Pallapu Raju said.

Those injured were shifted to a hospital in Miryalaguda in Telangana for treatment, he said.

KCR, who expressed condolences to the families of the deceased, directed ruling BRS MLA from Miryalaguda N Bhaskar Rao to see that those injured in the accident are provided immediate and better medical care, an official release said here.

On the request of Bhaskar Rao and State Minister G Jagadish Reddy, the chief minister announced an ex-gratia of five lakh each to the kin of the deceased and one lakh to the injured, it said.

Bhaskar Rao and Jagadish Reddy are public representatives of the formerly undivided Nalgonda district to which the accident victims belonged.
Keshava Sudhakar, who was among the lawmakers whose resignations led to the Congress-Janata Dal (Secular) governments fall in Karnataka in 2019, on Wednesday blamed former chief minister Siddaramaiah for forcing them to quit. BJP MLA K Sudhakar (Twitter/@mla_sudhakar)

In a series of tweets, Sudhakar questioned can Siddaramaiah deny he had no implicit or explicit role in prompting 14 Congress lawmakers to resign. The resignations paved the way for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)s return to power in Karnataka.

Also Read: Who will be Karnataka CM? Amid Shivakumar-Siddaramaiah face-off new names emerge

The tweets came as Siddaramaiah appeared to be ahead of his rival and state Congress chief DK Shivakumar in the race for Karnatakas top elected post days after the Congress swept back to power in the southern state.

Sudhakar, who went on to become a minister in the previous BJP government, tweeted Siddaramaiah would express his helplessness that he has no say in JD(S)-Congress government and that works even in his constituency and district were stalled whenever lawmakers went to him with their concerns as the coalitions coordination head.

He said Siddaramaiah would ask lawmakers to wait till the 2019 Lok Sabha polls and say come what may he would not allow the then HD Kumaraswamy-led coalition government to continue even for a single day after that.

Ultimately some of us had to inevitably quit Congress and join [the] BJP to protect karyakartas [workers] and supporters in our constituencies, said Sudhakar, who joined the BJP along with 16 other Congress and JD(S) detectors in 2019.

There was no immediate response from the Congress.
Amid Congress' ongoing deliberations on the selection of Karnataka's next chief minister, Congress MP Syed Naseer Hussain on Tuesday night said that consultations are still on at the national level. Hussain was leaving from the party chief Mallikarjun Kharge's residence in the national capital after a meeting on Tuesday night.

Hussain was leaving from the party chief Mallikarjun Kharge's residence here in the national capital after a meeting on Tuesday night. He however told reporters that there was no meeting and that his visit was just a "courtesy call".

"There was no meeting. These were courtesy calls. Both DK Shivakumar and Siddaramaiah met the national president, discussed everything that happened in the election and gave him feedback. Consultations are still on at the national level. These will continue tomorrow. As soon as a decision is made, we will tell you," Hussain on Tuesday.

READ | Claimants for CM, DyCM grow across communities in Karnataka

Party sources said UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi is likely to reach Delhi on Wednesday from Himachal Pradesh and is expected to meet some leaders who are part of the decision-making process in Karnataka.

The sources said DK Shivakumar, who is Karnataka Congress chief, is likely to agree to suggestions made by Sonia Gandhi to help the party solve the leadership issue in the state. Dr G Parameshwara, former Karnataka Deputy CM, has also shown his keenness for the top job in the state, stating that if he is assigned the responsibility, he will fulfil it.

"If the Congress high command gives me the responsibility of the CM post, I will definitely fulfil it. They know everything about me and my work. I don't want to lobby," he said.

READ | Karnataka CM Race highlights: Mallikarjun Kharge's meeting with Siddaramaiah and DK Shivakumar over

Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge has held talks with all stakeholders in Karnataka. Party leader Rahul Gandhi met Kharge on Tuesday to discuss government formation in the southern state. Congress general secretary (Organisation) KC Venugopal said a "good decision" will come.

"Decision will come, wait. Good decision will come. It will come as soon as possible," Venugopal said as he left Kharge's residence. The sources said that the central observers are likely to meet Kharge on Thursday morning at 11 am.

The results of assembly polls were declared on Saturday and the newly-elected Congress MLAs on Sunday authorised Kharge to take a decision. With the action shifting to Delhi, both Siddaramaiah, a former Chief Minister of Karnataka, and Shivakumar reached Delhi.
For our latest liveblog, READ: Karnataka govt formation LIVE Updates

Karnataka CM Race Highlights: After a three-day wait, Karnataka awaits the decision on its next chief minister with bated breath, which Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge is expected to announce today. The two main contenders are Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) chief DK Shivakumar and Siddaramaiah, a former CM and leader of opposition.

Other CM aspirants in the Congress including senior leader and former deputy CM G Parameshwara have pitched themselves for the post as well. Kharge on Tuesday held a number of meetings with party leaders including Rahul Gandhi, Congress central observers, newly-elected MLAs and the two main contenders Shivakumar and Siddaramaiah.

Karnataka Congress chief DK Shivakumar arrived in Delhi on Tuesday to meet the central leadership after cancelling his travel plans on Monday due to a stomach infection. Amid reports of a possible rebellion/resignation by him, he asserted that he will stand by the high command.

The Congress party witnessed a big win in Karnataka after the May 10 assembly election, securing 135 seats and emerging as the single largest party, giving the state a decisive mandate. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won 66 seats, while regional party, the Janata Dal (Secular) managed to get 19 seats. Follow our liveblog for the latest updates.
The local police have arrested two persons in connection with the attack on a 22-year-old volleyball player near Nangal village by a group of miscreants and recovered a revolver, four live cartridges and three empty shells from their possession. The arrested accused have been identified as Kamaljeet Singh and Gursimran Singh of Jhammat village. (iStock)

The accused have been booked under sections 307(attempt to murder), 160(punishment for committing affray), 148(rioting armed with a deadly weapon), 149(unlawful assembly) of the Indian Penal Code and 25, 54, 59 of the Arms Act at the Dehlon police station, police said on Wednesday.

Pardeep Singh, a volleyball player, was attacked by a group of miscreants near Nangal village bridge at around 9:30 pm on Monday. Police arrested two of the accused on Tuesday.

The arrested accused have been identified as Kamaljeet Singh and Gursimran Singh of Jhammat village. The other identified accused are Jagjeet Singh and Sukhwinder Singh of Kalaad village. Around 10 accused are yet to be identified.

The complainant, Pardeep, said that he along with his friend Harwinder was returning from Gopalpur village after playing volleyball when the incident happened. He said that when they reached near Nangal village bridge, he saw 8 to 10 people standing near the bridge.

He said that the miscreants intercepted them and started misbehaving with them. One of the accused pointed a revolver at him and shot a bullet that hit his arm. He said that his friend took him to a private hospital where he is currently undergoing treatment.

Station house officer, sub-inspector, Jaswinder Singh, said, The fight between the two parties erupted on the spot and there is no past rivalry between them.

He said that two of the accused have been arrested while their car has also been confiscated. The accused were produced in the court on Wednesday.

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: As the sowing of paddy nursery officially began in Haryana from May 15, farmers are paying higher prices to buy high-yielding hybrid seeds. As the sowing of paddy nursery officially began in Haryana from May 15, farmers are paying higher prices to buy high-yielding hybrid seeds. (HT Photo)

The ground reports suggest that due to the lack of monitoring by the authorities, private companies are selling hybrid seed at high prices.

Even the prices of some high-yielding early maturing hybrid seeds have reached above 400 to 500 per kg and the average price of hybrid seed starts at 200 per kg.

As per dealers, this year farmers are not showing interest in traditional parmal varieties like PR 114, PR 113 and PR 126 which are available at the lower prices below 100 per kg but they are paying hefty prices to buy hybrid seeds like VNR 2111, 777, PR 126, PR 114, MP 3030, Sava 7501 and Sava 134.

I have paid 11,200 to buy Hybrid 2111 seed for my seven acres. Last year, I purchased the same seed at 250 per kg but now the prices have gone up to 400, said a farmer, Krishan Lal, after buying seed from a private dealer in Ladwa of Kurukshetra district.

Even farmers said that some seeds like Sava 7501 and Pusa 1847 (basmati) are out of stock and not available at any price. We had limited stock of Sava 7501 and it was already sold out at 525 per kg. Now, farmers are ready to pay higher prices for it, but this seed is not available, said a seed dealer in Indri of Karnal district.

About the reason behind shifting to hybrid seeds, farmers said that last year they suffered losses due to the attack of the southern rice black-streaked dwarf virus (SRBSDV) or dwarfing disease in the traditional varieties, especially PR 113, PR 114 and NDR 359. This year, the farmers are focused on the varieties which were not affected by the dwarf virus.

Last year, I had six acres under PR 114 and I had to suffer losses of around 20,000 per acre due to dwarfing disease. That is why this year I have purchased hybrid seed of MP 3030 at 300 per kg to avoid such losses, said another farmer, Ishwar Singh.

Narhari Bangar, director, department of agriculture and farmers welfare, Haryana, said that the agriculture department does not have any regulation or monitoring on prices of seed fixed by private companies which fix the rates as per the quality.

But we monitor the quality of seed as per the norms, he added.

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The Haryana lokayukta has found the police department violating norms regarding the mandatory submission of annual property returns by public servants and has asked state director general of police (DGP) to ensure compliance of rules related to the acquisition or disposal of movable or immovable property by police officers. In a three-point recommendation, lokayukta justice Hari Pal Verma (retd) said that to ensure strict compliance of rules about the acquisition or disposal of movable or immovable property by police officers and filing of declarations within a time-frame, a monitoring cell should be set up immediately in the office of the Haryana DGP in Panchkula. (Representaional photo)

Also read: NIA raids multiple locations in Punjab, Haryana in crackdown on terror, smuggling nexus

In a three-point recommendation, lokayukta justice Hari Pal Verma (retd) said that to ensure strict compliance of rules about the acquisition or disposal of movable or immovable property by police officers and filing of declarations within a time-frame, a monitoring cell should be set up immediately in the office of the DGP in Panchkula. The cell should be headed by a senior Indian Police Service (IPS) officer under the DGPs supervision, he said.

A similar mechanism may be evolved in respect to public servants of other services of the Haryana government, according to the Haryana Civil Services (Government Employees Conduct) Rules, 2016, to ensure transparency, prevent maladministration and reduce corruption, said the lokayuktas voluminous annual report that was submitted to Haryana governor Bandaru Dattatraya on Tuesday.

In 2022-23, it was observed that the requirement of submitting annual property returns by public servants and seeking permission from the department at the time of sale/purchase of movable/immovable properties are not being adhered to properly in the police department, the report said.

The lokayukta said that Section 2(b)(iv) of the Haryana Lokayukta Act, 2002, provides for probe into allegations against a public servant in possession of pecuniary resources of property disproportionate to known sources of income. The rule provides for probe if property disproportionate to known sources of income is held by any member of the family of the public servant or by some other person on his behalf.

Property declarations need scrutiny

The report refers to the rules under which Haryana government servants are governed, including the Punjab Police Rules, 1934, that provides a detailed mechanism for control over the property held or acquired by the police officers during their service.

These rules provide not only the time-frame for filing the property returns by the new entrants but also a mandate to file the fresh declaration of property every year. These rules provide for forwarding of such declarations through the superintendents of police to the deputy inspector general for attaching the same with the annual confidential reports of each officer and for reaching the same to the inspector general in a time-bound manner.

The provision for forwarding the declaration forms to the government for information by the inspector general (IG) calls for property declarations to be scrutinised by the government at its own level and then returned to the police department. The previous sanction of the IG is to be obtained in all cases of acquisition or disposal of immovable property by police officers, says the report.

Proposals falling on deaf ears

The justice Verma report said though posts of joint registrar and supporting staff have been sanctioned, there is no space provided for smooth office working. A proposal in this regard was sent to the government but the same appears to have fallen on deaf ears, he said, adding there is no space to accommodate litigants, lawyers and government officials required to attend proceedings.

The visitors have to stand in corridors irrespective of their status, age or infirmity.

The issue of space crunch was also brought to the notice of the financial commissioner, revenue, but no constructive result has come out, rather (than) helplessness conveyed. In this regard, a proposal was also sent to the chief secretary, Haryana, but till date no space has been made available for such visitors, said the lokayukta.

Struggling at mercy of other depts

Flagging another issue, the lokayukta said that contrary to provisions of the Lokayukta Act, the institution has not been allowed to constitute its own staff strength/cadre and all regular employees are borrowed from different Haryana government departments.

The institution is struggling at the mercy of other departments in establishment matters. Section 19(1) envisages that the lokayukta may appoint, in consultation with the state government, such officers and staff as he may consider appropriate for the discharge of functions under this Act. This issue has been raised with the authority concerned time and again and meetings were held with the chief secretary, but to no avail, he said.

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The Punjab and Haryana high court on Wednesday granted interim protection from arrest to Indus International Hospital director Dr Surinder Pal Singh Bedi in a kidney transplant racket reported in Mohalis Dera Bassi. Earlier, the hospital directors plea was dismissed by a lower court on May 6. He was heading the committee which clears kidney transplant cases. (Shutterstock)

The high court bench of justice Karamjit Singh, while posting the matter for May 29, ordered that he not be arrested till the next date of hearing, one of Bedis lawyers, Gautam Dutt, confirmed. The petitioners counsel argued that Bedi had been named in the probe based on some confessional statements from those arrested and that the petitioner as well as the competent committee, which gives nod for transplants, were victims of fraud played against them. The detailed order is awaited.

Earlier, Bedis plea was dismissed by a lower court on May 6. He was heading the committee which clears transplant cases. The scam had come to light after a donor levelled allegations of not paying him the promised 10 lakh in lieu of his kidney against a private person.

He had posed as the son of the kidney recipient, a Sonepat resident. A case under Sections 419 (cheating by personation), 465 (forgery), 467(forgery of valuable security, will, etc), 468 (forgery for purpose of cheating), 471 (using as genuine a forged 1[document or electronic record]) and 120 (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code, and Sections 19 and 20 of the Transplantation of Human Organ Act (THOA), was registered on March 18. Bedi was also roped in as accused by the Mohali police.
The local police have arrested a person for allegedly betting on the ongoing matches of the Indian Premier League. Police said that the accused bets on IPL and other international matches, and after enticing the public to bet money on the matches, he defrauds them. (iStock)

The police have also recovered 12 mobile phones, one suitcase, and one microphone from the possession of the accused, identified as Sourav Mahindroo, a resident of Haibowal Kalan, Ludhiana.

Police said that the accused bets on IPL and other international matches, and after enticing the public to bet money on the matches, he defrauds them.

Sub-inspector Amarjit Singh said that a case under section 420(cheating) and 13A, 3, 67 of the Gambling Act has been registered against the accused at the Haibowal police station. He said a hunt is on to arrest his associates.
Plumes of toxic smoke engulfed the surroundings after a massive fire broke out at the municipal corporations main dumpsite in Tajpur which continued throughout the day on Wednesday, creating panic among the residents and highlighting the humongous problem of mounds of waste accumulated at the site spread over 40 acres. Firefighters trying to control the fire at the main garbage dump in Tajpur area in Ludhiana on Wednesday. (Manish/HT)

The fire started at around 9pm on Tuesday night and continued till Wednesday evening, leaving the residents of nearby colonies and villages gasping for breath. Fire brigade officials deployed as many as five tenders at the location. Such was the gravity of the fire that each of the fire tenders was refilled over 20 times.

With the rise in temperature in the summer season, the dumpsite hosting around 25 lakh metric tons of organic and plastic waste sees massive fires every year. In April last year, as many as seven members of a family living nearby the dump in the hut were charred to death after the fire at the site engulfed their shanty.

The National Green Tribunal had directed the civic body to deposit a sum of 100 crore with the district magistrate towards interim compensation for the death of seven persons.

Apart from the legacy waste which stands at over 25 lakh metric tons, daily 11,00 metric tons of waste collected from the commercial and residential establishments on a routine basis is also dumped at the site.

The fire incident on Tuesday left the residents of nearby colonies, including Mahavir Jain Colony, GK Estate, Puneet Colony, Naamdev Colony, and Kakka village panic-stricken as the smoke turned the residential areas into gas chambers.

Vishal Singh, a resident of Kakka, said that despite several announcements to resolve the problem of the waste which is increasing day by day, there has been no change in the lives of residents.

He said, The residents belong to the working-class group and do not have any option but to live in the sense of fear every day and inhale the polluted air.

A fire department official said that one fire tender from different sub-fire stations remains deployed there permanently so that the fire can be stopped immediately. He said that during summers, the city witnesses fire incidents regularly and the fires at the dumpsite hamper the functioning as the department already faces an acute staff crunch.

MC health officer Vipal Malhotra said that the fire took place due to methane gas. He said that due to heat, the gases form and get trapped inside the dump leading to fire.

MLA Ludhiana East Daljeet Singh Grewal said that he has instructed the MC and other concerned authorities to take the necessary steps.

MC yet to start the second phase of the Bioremediation project

To dispose of the waste accumulated at the site, the MC launched the bioremediation project which is to be completed in two phases.

While the project to dispose of 5 lakh metric tons of legacy waste through the process was started in November last year, authorities are yet to initiate the second phase of bio-remediation of the legacy waste under which around 20 lakh metric tons of waste will be disposed of in a scientific manner.
The Punjab and Haryana high court has refused to grant protection to a Nuh Muslim man and his second wife as the court found that the first one has not been associated with proceedings. The Punjab and Haryana high court (HC) has refused to grant protection to a Nuh Muslim man and his second wife as the court found that the first one has not been associated with proceedings. (Getty Images/ Representational image)

The bench of justice Sanjay Vashisth observed that the petitioner has failed to satisfy the court that what kind of justice he is providing to his first wife. Person who does not do equity with others and even to the life of companion, cannot approach the court to seek approval of his relation under the umbrella of Article 21 of the Constitution of India, justice Vashisth observed, adding that the court cannot ignore the aspect that such petitions are filed by the petitioners under the garb of seeking protection, portraying threat perception to their lives and liberty, but with an actual motive to get approval of their illegal relations, under the seal of the court order without there being any instance of actual threat to their lives or liberty.

The plea from one, Aalam and co-petitioner, Farida, stated to be his second wife, was filed seeking directions to the authorities to protect their lives and liberty, which was stated to be at danger at the hands some relatives, who were not happy because they had solemnised nikah against their wishes.

The Muslim man had mentioned he was already married but had no child. The petitioner is a professional truck driver and is earning monthly income of about 20,000. For seeking the protection order, it was stated that, being a Muslim male, he was entitled to perform marriage four times with four different women, if he was able to provide justice to the earlier wife(s), it was submitted.

The court recorded that the petitioners lawyer was not able to give a satisfactory answer as to why the earlier wife was not associated with the proceedings. However, the plea mentioned that even second wife was earlier married and was divorced orally by her previous husband.

The states counsel had opposed the plea and submitted that no Muslim male is entitled or permitted to marry four times at his whims and fancies, and for the said purpose there has to be express consent from existing wife of such Muslim male. Neither there is any such averment in the pleadings nor any material has been put forth showing that the male petitioner had obtained any express consent from his first wife at the time of performing second nikah.

The plea was filed on February 9 and on March 10, their counsel had sought time to argue as to under what circumstances a male or female can perform more than one marriage, as per Mohammedan law.

However, when the case was taken up on May 10, the court recorded it was inclined to afford an opportunity to the petitioners lawyer to assist the court in relation to four marriages by Muslim males during subsistence of earlier marriage(s). This court put a specific question to the lawyer of the petitioners to cite any law, statute, judgments of Supreme Court or high courts, or the custom, if any, followed worldwide in other countries where Mohammedans are residing, after doing some research work on the subject. However, the lawyer flatly refused for the same, and insisted that this petition be decided by passing any order whatsoever, the judge recorded in the final order.

Thus, this court is not inclined to pass any protection order, which may be construed against the existing statutory provisions of this country, it said, dismissing the plea.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR Surender Sharma Surender Sharma is a principal correspondent at Chandigarh. He covers Punjab and Haryana high court. ...view detail
Taking serious note of governments failure in clearing the YPS Chowk blockade, where protesters have held traffic to ransom since January 7, the Punjab and Haryana high court on Wednesday summoned states director general of police (DGP) on May 24. The order was passed during the resumed hearing of a March 10 plea by NGO ArriveSAFE, seeking removal of protesters from YPS Chowk, a major traffic lifeline in Chandigarh. (Getty Images/Purestock)

The order was passed during the resumed hearing of a March 10 plea by NGO ArriveSAFE, seeking removal of protesters from YPS Chowk, a major traffic lifeline. The rotary, near the Chandigarh-Mohali border, has been completely blocked by the Qaumi Insaaf Morcha to demand release of Sikh prisoners, majorly hitting inter-city movement of traffic.

During the resumed hearing on Wednesday, the government submitted that an amicable solution will be found soon.

However, the NGOs counsel, Ravi Kamal Gupta, told the court that the protest had been going on since January 7 and the government had only been making empty promises. A joint dharna was also proposed at the site on May 25, he informed the court.

The court was apprised of criminal cases registered for various incidents of violence reported at the site and polices failure to arrests the perpetrators.

On February 8, protesters had clashed with police forces at the Sector 52/53 dividing road after being stopped from marching towards Chandigarh, leaving at least 33 cops injured. Terming it a well-thought-out conspiracy, Chandigarh Police had booked six persons and put around 30 on the suspect list.

On March 24, the decomposed body of Surjit Singh, a Nihang from Ludhiana, was found in one of the tents at YPS Chowk. Police had claimed there was no injury mark, but have not revealed cause of death so far.

Then on April 9, Nihangs armed with swords had clashed with each other, following which police had booked nine for attempt to murder and rioting. Another man was found dead near the protest site on April 12. Police had attributed the death to cardiac arrest.

Even though the government counsels submitted that the number of protesters had dwindled and number of tents had also come down, the court was not satisfied with the response and ordered that the DGP remain present on the next date of hearing on May 24. The detailed order is still awaited.

During the last hearing on April 11, the court observed that there appeared to be some indecision on the part of the authorities to take action. It (protest) cannot be allowed to continue for all time to come, the bench had said.

What transpires is that the force, which is required to take action, is ready and willing, but there appears to be some indecision on the part of the authorities to take action. We hope and expect that the authorities succeed in the negotiations with the agitators, but then there has to be an end to all this, the court had remarked.
The Punjab vigilance bureau on Wednesday arrested an assistant sub-inspector posted at Samrala police station under Khanna police district for allegedly accepting bribe of 9,000 in two installments. A case under the Prevention of Corruption Act has been registered against the accused police personnel at VB police station, Ludhiana range. (iStock)

A spokesperson of the VB said that ASI Baldev Raj has been arrested on the complaint of Ram Singh, a resident of Bhall Majra village in Fatehgarh Sahib district, who had lodged a complaint on the chief ministers anti-corruption helpline.

The complainant in his online complaint had alleged that Raj had received 9,000 in two installments from him as a bribe not to register any police case against his daughter and son-in-law.

The complainant alleged that the accused police personnel conducted criminal proceedings against them even after taking the bribe. He recorded the conversation with the ASI regarding the payment of the bribe, which was submitted to the bureau as evidence.

The spokesperson informed that the VB range, Ludhiana, has investigated the complaint and arrested the accused police official after finding him guilty of taking a bribe of 9,000 from the complainant.

A case under the Prevention of Corruption Act has been registered against the accused police personnel at VB police station, Ludhiana range, the spokesperson said. He will be produced in a court on Thursday.
Around three months after Punjab governor Banwarilal Purohits visit to the border areas for increasing coordination between the state and central agencies to tackle the threat of drone being used to smuggle arms, ammunition and drugs from Pakistan, the first high-level coordination meeting between Border Security Force (BSF) and Punjab Police was held in Amritsar on Wednesday. The first high-level coordination meeting between Border Security Force and Punjab Police was held in Amritsar on Wednesday. (HT Photo/Sameer Sehgal)

The meeting was jointly chaired by Punjab Polices special director general of police (DGP) Arpit Shukla and BSFs Punjab frontier inspector general (IG) Dr Atul Fulzele. Deputy inspector general (DIG) border range Amritsar and Ferozepur Narinder Bhargaw and Ranjit Singh and senior superintendents of police (SSPs) of seven border districts also took part in the meeting.

For making policing more effective in the border areas, the meeting was conducted with BSFs officers, said DGP Shukla.

After the meeting, Shukla said the state DGP, Gaurav Yadav, has announced a reward for providing information related to the drone based smuggling.

Any persons giving information leading to the recovery of drones, weapons or narcotics will be awarded with 1 lakh reward. People are coming to the fore supporting the BSF and police, which is the reason why consignments are being recovered. The information about the reward will be passed on to general public and awareness will be generated about the ill-effects of drugs, he added.

The reward scheme will be activated in all seven border districts of the state. This scheme is different from the BSFs reward scheme. Last year, in April, the BSF had also announced a similar reward.

Shukla further informed that Punjab chief minister has also sanctioned 20 crore for strengthening security of the border. Under this project, surveillance will be increased at the strategic locations. Night vision CCTV cameras and DVRs will be installed. The main motive of the project is to tackle the movements of drones being used for smuggling of arms, ammunition and narcotics, he said.

In the last few months, BSF and Punjab Police have worked together achieving big successes. However, our motive is to completely stop the smuggling by increasing the border patrolling, besides educating the people living in the border areas, he added.

The DGP said drone-based smuggling remained a big challenge since 2019. However, we are now able to detect the drone threats with the use of technology and information, he said.

Talks related to the strengthening of border patrolling, second line of defence and community engagement were also held in the meeting.

Arpit Shukla said that it was high time that both the elite forces should work in tandem and better coordination to counter the drone operations at Punjab border, which has emerged as a new threat. He also stressed on the need to carry out evidence-based and proactive policing to prevent the smuggling of narcotics and weapons into Punjab from across the border.

He asked the BSF officials to share inputs of movements of suspected persons with the Punjab Police so that they can keep a sharp vigil on their activities and ensure penal action against those found involved in any criminal activity.

Shukla directed the CPs/SSPs to increase the police checkpoints, especially at night, in their respective jurisdictions and ensure checking of maximum vehicles at every naka, which will help in curtailing the terrorist and criminal activities. He advised that all the Nakas should be synchronised in a manner that they must get activated promptly on a single call.

He also proposed to activate Village Defence Committees (VDCs) in the border areas to counter the nexus between smugglers and criminals in the border areas. These committees will work as eyes and ears of the police and supplement efforts of Punjab Police to wipe out drugs, terrorists and gangsters from the border state, said the special DGP.

In February, the governor had conducted his third visit in the border areas in the last ten months. During his visit, the governor had put the AAP government in dock stating that drugs were sold from grocery stores. The governor had also said that the drugs have reached in schools and colleges. He had stressed to increase coordination between the state and central security agencies.

As per media reports, the governor has scheduled his next visit in the border areas on June 7 and 8.
A retired Colonel was rescued from his house in Sector 2 on Wednesday after allegations that he had been detained in a room by his family and not being provided food. The rescue came on the orders of the Panchkula SDM who acted on an application moved on May 16 under the Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act, 2007. (Getty Images/Zoonar RF)

A police team led by Sector 5 SHO Ajit Kumar, along with officials from the administration and a lawyer, rescued Col Gurmeet Singh Badwal (retd) and took him to a relatives house.

The rescue came on the orders of the Panchkula SDM who acted on an application moved on May 16 under the Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act, 2007.

The septuagenarians wife had passed away, and he has been living with his son, daughter-in-law and two granddaughters.

The SDM had issued directions to inspect the premises and rescue the senior citizen if the allegations were found true. When the team reached the house on Wednesday, they found Badwal in a bad condition and he requested them to free him from detention. Therefore, he was rescued despite resistance from the family

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Uttarakhands Nainital police on Wednesday arrested a mining worker for allegedly killing a 48-year-old woman in Haldwani. Police said the woman, identified as Nandi Devi, who ran a general store, was killed by the man for refusing to sell beedi on credit. HT Correspondent (Representative Photo)

Nainital senior superintended of police (SSP) Pankaj Bhatt said that on Wednesday, the police team arrested one Manoj Puri, a native of Bareilly from Diber Tiraha Gorapadav. The incident took place on the night of May 4.

During interrogation, Manoj told the police that he had gone to Devis shop on May 4 to buy a bundle of beedis and asked for a credit. However, when she refused, Puri abused the woman and later left the shop. On the night of May 4, he reached Devis house with a hammer and hid in the courtyard, Bhatt said.

Also Read: Couple dies after 72-yr-old man pours petrol, sets them on fire in Kanpur; arrested

Around 2:30am, when Devi woke up to go to the bathroom, the accused hit her on the head with a hammer five to six times, said the SSP. He also strangled her with a scarf and later dragged her to the bathroom and immersed her head in a water tub, he added.

The accused stole clothes, mobile, money etc. from Devis house and fled. Two days after the murder, he gambled at Gaula Gate, where he lost money. Then he went to Bareilly on Tuesday, said the SSP.

The incident came to light when on May 5, Rohit Mehra, Devis son-in-law came to meet her and found her dead body, following which he reached the police station and got a complaint registered.

The SSP said that the police have recovered the hammer used in the crime, the victim womans mobile and other important documents from the possession of the accused, adding that a case under section 302 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) has been registered.
HALDWANI/DEHRADUN: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Wednesday raided a house in Udham Singh Nagar districts Bajpur tehsil in connection with its investigation into a case relating to drug smugglers, gangsters and terrorist groups, a state police officer said. The search was conducted as part of NIAs raids at over 100 places in six states. A team of the NIA at a farmhouse in Udham Singh Nagars Bajpur tehsils Ratanpura village (HT Photo)

Police said a NIA team started the search at about 6am at a house linked to Gurvinder Singh, who lives in Canada and is currently in the country to visit his family. Gurvinder Singh wasnt in the house in Ratanpura village and NIA officials asked his family members about Khalistan terror-gangster network, a police officer said.

Bajpur circle officer BS Bhandari declined to comment on the case. We just know that the NIA team is here... We dont have any other information, he said.

Police officers said there have been instances of people living in Udham Singh Nagar sympathising with separatist groups of Khalistanis in the past.

Udham Singh Nagar district has a sizable number of the Sikh community who migrated to the region during Partition. Many other relocated in the district during the 1980s and 90s when terrorism was at its peak in Punjab.

In March this year, a 30-year-old man from the district was booked for allegedly uploading a social media post in support of Waris Punjab De chief Amritpal Singh on social media.

A police officer said there have been multiple instances where gangster and terrorists from Punjab flee to the district after committing crimes.

Police said the probe into the murder of a mining trader in Kashipur in April this year led investigators to inputs that the killing was contracted by the Canada-based Arshdeep Dhalla, chief of a group called Khalistan Tiger Force.

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Delhi lieutenant governor (LG) VK Saxena on Tuesday sent files related to services to the Delhi government, a few days after the Supreme Court granted control over services to elected government except those related to land, police and public order, officials aware of the matter said. The files related to services have been sent to the elected government after around 8 years. (HT Photo)

The LG Secretariat, in compliance of the Supreme Court Constitution Bench Judgment dated 11.05.2023, has returned files pertaining to Services matters, back to the government for necessary action, an official said, wishing not to be named.

Also read: Afghan diplomats in Delhi reject Taliban-appointed CDA, block entry into mission

Meanwhile, a Delhi government official alleged that the chief secretary and services secretary  whose removal was announced last week  were creating hurdles.

The files include proposals for extension of contractual tenures of staff in various Delhi government hospitals and acceptance of resignation of Group A staff of Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Hospital. The files have been returned with the observation that the departments may be advised to take appropriate action/ further necessary action, in light of the SC judgment, the above quoted official added.

The files related to services have been sent to the elected government after around 8 years. The Union home ministry in May 2015, through a notification, placed services under the preview of the Centre-appointed LG, taking away the power from the elected government in Delhi. The government had challenged the MHA notification in the Delhi high court, which refused to stay the direction. In August 2016, the AAP government moved the Supreme Court against the HC order. On May 11 this year, a Constitution bench of the top court ended the legal battle in favour of the government, ruling that  if a democratically elected government is not allowed to control its officers and hold them to account then its responsibility towards the legislature and public is diluted.

Also read: Why is Delhi-NCR sky cloaked in grey? Noida is choking...

We expect full cooperation from the LG and the central government. However, the chief secretary and the services secretary are still creating hurdles. The first transfer order for changing the services secretary, Ashish More, has not been implemented yet, the government official said, requesting anonymity.
NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Wednesday refused to transfer alleged conman Sukesh Chandrashekhar out of Delhis Mandoli jail after expressing satisfaction over the security arrangements put in place for him and his wife. The Supreme Court noted the steps taken by Mandoli jail to reject Sukesh Chandrashekhar (HT File Photo)

All precautionary measures have been taken to ensure the safety and security of the petitioners. We do not find any justification to entertain the request contained in the petition, a bench of justices Ajay Rastogi and Bela M Trivedi said on a petition by the accused who sought transfer to any jail outside Delhi apprehending threat to their life.

An affidavit filed by the superintendent of Mandoli Jail no 13 Vinod Kumar Yadav where Sukesh is currently lodged informed the court about the steps being taken by the jail authorities to ensure his safety.

Sukesh Chandrashekhar was shifted in January from jail no 14 to jail no 13 of Mandoli jail, which is a separate cell with CCTV surveillance. To ensure no inmate comes near him, the jail arranged for the deployment of two ITBP officers round the clock and who also supervise the staff bringing food to the cell.

Besides, the jail authority has provided Sukesh Chandrashekhar with separate van facility while being taken to court. Within the jail and during his visit to the hospital, canteen, meeting with lawyers or family, a Delhi jail staff with body-camera and an ITBP officer are always present.

Apart from two CCTVs inside the cell, a third camera covers the gallery to monitor entry and exit of persons.

Additional solicitor general SV Raju informed the court that nothing survived in the petition as his security and safety have been adequately addressed. Similar security arrangements are being provided to his wife lodged in Jail no 16 at Mandoli jail.

Advocate Ashok Singh appearing for Sukesh Chandrashekhar pointed out that the purpose of filing the petition was to seek a transfer outside the territorial limits of Delhi. He stated that he anticipated trouble from officers of Delhi Prisons since it was on his complaint to the Delhi Lieutenant Governor in October and November last year that a probe into allegations of extortion was ordered.

Chandrashekhar had argued that former Tihar Prisons director general Sandeep Goel was removed and action was taken against 82 jail officials on his complaint.

In April, the cout asked the Mandoli jail authorities to outline the steps being taken to ensure the safety of the two prisoners  Sukesh Chandrashekhar and his wife.

Sukesh was shifted to the Mandoli jail on the Supreme Courts orders in August last year.
A team of chief ministers flying squad was assaulted while trying to evict squatters from a plot of Haryana Shahari Vikas Pradhikaran (HSVP) in Sector 38 in village Islampur on Tuesday evening, police said Wednesday. CM flying squad assaulted while trying to remove squatters

Police said a man opened a dairy farm on the plot and even drew electricity illegally due to which Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam Limited (DHBVN) and HSVP officials were present with the flying squad when the locals allegedly started attacking them.

The family who encroached on the land raised the alarm and locals soon gathered at the spot carrying sticks, rods and sharp objects to attack the squad and other officials, said police.

Deputy superintendent of police Inderjeet Yadav, who is with the flying squad, said the dairy farm owner and his wife gathered the locals and instigated them to attack the team. Our personnel suffered injuries but are stable. After the situation escalated, patrolling teams and reinforcement from nearby police stations were rushed to the spot to control the situation, he said.

Yadav said six suspects have been booked so far for the violence and investigation is on to ascertain the others who attacked the team. Some locals made temporary arrangements to run a dairy from a 500 square yard plot and had also drawn an illegal electricity connection. They kept cattle tethered on the plot and locals used to visit the farm to buy milk, he said.

A case under sections 147 (riot), 148 (rioting, armed with deadly weapon), 149 (unlawful assembly guilty of offence committed in prosecution of common object), 323 (assault) and 341 (wrongful confinement), 186 (obstructing public servant in discharge of public function), 506 (criminal intimidation), 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servant), 120 B (conspiracy) , and 448 (house-trespass) of the Indian penal Code was registered at Sadar police station on Wednesday, said police.

DHBVN officials said the raid was conducted on Tuesday in village Islampur, after receiving a a tip-off. Yadav said a spot check conducted at the site revealed that electricity cables were taken from the nearby pole and they were using it since the past many years. The DHBVN will calculate the fine for the offence and issue a notice, officials said.

This is the same area where earlier too, government authorities had come under attack while attempting to remove land grabbers. A woman councillor was sentenced to imprisonment by a court after pronouncing her guilty in one such case.

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Crude bombs were being made at the illegal firecracker unit in West Bengals East Midnapore district where a powerful explosion killed nine people on Tuesday, multiple villagers including the wife of a daily worker who died in the accident said. At least nine were killed in a blast at firecracker factory in West Bengals East Midnapore on Tuesday (File Photo)

My husband worked in the factory. Crude bombs were made there. He used to get 250 every day, Suma Jana, wife of Jayanta Janata who was killed in the blast, told reporters on Wednesday.

Also Read: 9 dead in blast at illegal Bengal firecracker unit, CM orders CID probe

Another villager, Shyamal Maity said the police knew about the illegal factory and the crude bombs made there but didnt act against it because the factory owner, Krishnapada Bag alias Bhanu, was powerful. The police knew everything. Crude bombs were made there. No one could dare speak out against Bag. He would threaten to kill anyone who used to speak out, Maity said.

The opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) alleges that Krishnapada Bag wielded power in the area because he was associated with the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC).

West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, who handed over the probe into the blast to the criminal investigation department (CID) on Tuesday, promised strict action against Bag and distanced her party from him.

Banerjee underlined the authorities did act against Bag on October 19 last year when he was arrested and the factory sealed. But he reopened the factory after his release on bail by a local court.

The owner of the factory escaped to Odisha, she said, adding that the police are onlook out and the accused will not be spared.

The factory was run by Krishnapada Bag alias Bhanu, a local Trinamool Congress leader and a former member of the panchayat. Bhanus cousin Shaktipada Bag was also killed in the blast.

BJP legislator Suvendu Adhikari travelled to the village on Wednesday and demanded that the chief minister take responsibility. The state home minister (Banerjee doubles up as the states home minister) is responsible for these deaths. She should step down, Adhikari said.

Also Read: Egra bomb blast: MP Sukanta Majumdar writes to Amit Shah, seeks NIA probe in matter

He also demanded a probe by the national investigation Agency (NIA). If there is NIA probe, the role of the police will also come out, Adhikari told reporters. Adhikari also approached the Calcutta high court to seek a NIA probe.

A team of TMC leaders led by minister Manas Bhunia also was in the village to offer condolences to the famies of the victims. We went to the village on the instructions of the chief minister. Some people are conspiring to trigger trouble. People have the right to shout. We didnt get agitated, Bhunia said, referring to a group of villagers protesting against them. We spoke with the family members and the local administration.

On Tuesday, villagers also heckled the inspector-in-charge of Egra police station, Mousam Chakraborty, when he reached the spot alleging that the police didnt act against the factory owners though several incidents had taken place in the factory over the past four years. Police on Wednesday arrested two persons in this connection.
Brigadier Neeraj Punetha, Group Commander, NCC Group HQ, Lucknow reviewed the ongoing annual training camp for Naval NCC Cadets at La Martiniere College, Lucknow, on Wednesday. Brigadier Neeraj Punetha, Group Commander, NCC Group HQ, Lucknow being presented the guard of honour at he ongoing annual training camp for Naval NCC Cadets at La Martiniere College, Lucknow, on Wednesday. (Sourced)

He was received by Captain (Indian Navy) Navendu Saxena, Camp Commandant and CO of 3 UP Naval Unit Lucknow. Upon his arrival, the Group Commander was presented with a spectacular Guard of Honour and Band Performance by the cadets.

The Group Commander inspected the camp site and reviewed the training activities of the cadets including boat pulling, swimming, weapon handling, firing, ship modeling and parade training. An impressive cultural display was organised at the Spence Hall in honour of the Group Commander.

During his address, he lauded the efforts and enthusiasm shown by cadets and complimented their high standards of training. He exhorted the cadets to develop qualities of discipline along with leadership, adventure and enterprise.

He said NCC camps are a great opportunity for cadets to hone their personal and professional skills. He encouraged them to join the armed forces and serve the nation. During his interaction with the Training Team, he commended the efforts of the Naval Instructors, ANOs and civilian staff of the unit for imparting excellent professional training to the cadets.

Brigadier Punetha thanked all the civilian and military organisations for their help in the conduct of the Annual Naval Training Camp. He expressed his special gratitude to the principal of La Martiniere, Lucknow Police, HQ Central Command, CMO office and SDRF, who provided all the necessary support for conduct of the training camp on such a large scale.

Captain Saxena said that the visit of the Group Commander to the camp site will be a great source of inspiration and motivation for the cadets. He also informed that the training camp will continue till the campfire and award ceremony on May 20.
The deep ties between Sri Lanka and Ayodhya, which date back to Tretayuga, were discussed in the meeting between chief minister Yogi Adityanath and Sri Lankan high commissioner to India, Ashok Milinda Moragoda, on Wednesday. CM Yogi Adityanath met Sri Lankan high commissioner Ashoka Milinda Moragoda in Lucknow on Wednesday (HT Photo)

Moragoda presented a Shila (slice of rock) of Ashok Vatika located in Sri Lanka to the chief minister. He also presented two paintings to the CM to be installed at Varanasi airport.

Cultural relations and promotion of tourism between the two countries were particularly discussed during talks between the CM and Sri Lankan envoy. The two leaders also held detailed discussions on developing various places related to the Ramayana period in Sri Lanka, so that the citizens of India, especially Uttar Pradesh, get an opportunity to visit the Ramayana sites in Sri Lanka.

The Sri Lankan high commissioner also urged the chief minister to plant Sanjivani Booti (a herbal medicine that Lord Hanuman brought by lifting the mountain on which it was planted to cure Lord Rams brother Lakshman) from Sri Lanka on a large scale in UP, which CM Yogi gladly accepted.

Moragoda appreciated the efforts of chief minister Yogi Adityanath to bring about unprecedented development in Uttar Pradesh in recent years. He said that Sri Lanka and UP have always had cordial relations since the Ramayana period and that the dialogue will prove to be very important in the direction of greater cooperation in the field of culture and tourism between the two countries.

Moragoda is the high commissioner of Sri Lanka to India from 2020.
Loss of life and property can be minimised if disaster management is effective, said Manoj Kumar Sharma, deputy inspector general, National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), while addressing the gathering at a capacity building programme (CBP) of the NDRF, organised at the Samajik Parivartan Sthal on Wednesday. A 20-member team of NDRF, led by Santosh Kumar, deputy commandant, of the 11th Corps of NDRF displayed its preparedness during the CBP. For representation only (HT FIle Photo)

Kumar said, We can reduce losses due to disasters with awareness, information, people participation, cooperation, and preparation, so no matter what the circumstances are, do not give up.

After this, the team of NDRF presented demonstrations to employees of various government departments and associated organisations. The NDRF team taught them how to rescue people during disasters like floods, prevent drowning, rescue the victim in various ways and with the help of local resources.

The NDRF team also displayed the art of stabilising injuries caused in different types of disasters and how to make stretchers from domestic resources, the first aid during a heart attack, and how to give CPR, during the programme.

Officials and employees of the District Disaster Management Authority as well as PAC, CRPF, Police, Home Guard, NCC Cadets municipal corporation, irrigation department, Aapda Mitras and Aapda Sakhis, civil defense, youth welfare, Red Cross and various NGOs participated in this programme.

On this occasion, SDRF commandant Satish Kumar, Himanshu Kumar Gupta (additional district magistrate, Lucknow), team commander of NDRF, inspector Binay Kumar and representatives of other organisations were present.
A 72-year-old man was arrested after he poured petrol on a couple and set them on fire late on Tuesday night in Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, police said. The accused was asking for his rickshaw to be returned by the deceased man. (Representative file image)

The couple died of burn injuries at the hospital while a woman who had tried to douse the fire is undergoing treatment, police added.

During questioning, the man confessed to the crime and said he had been allegedly storing the petrol for a few months.

The accused was living with the couple since the Covid pandemic in 2020 in Badlipurwa and was a relative of the deceased man.

According to the brother of the deceased, the latter was driving the accused persons rickshaw for the past two years.

Also Read: Ludhiana: Miscreants set car on fire after stealing cash

The accused was asking for his rickshaw to be returned.

When the deceased returned after dropping some of his passengers, the accused poured petrol on him and set him on fire, the brother of the accused said.

The deceased mans wife who had come to the rescue of her husband was also set on fire. The third person who was the cousin of the deceased person also suffered burn injuries trying to save the duo.

According to ACP, Cantonment, Shiva Singh said an FIR has been lodged on Wednesday morning in this case. The police would produce Ram Narayan in court and seek his remand.

During questioning, the accused told that the deceased had withdrawn 1.5 lakh from his bank account after his wifes death due to Covid and usurped his e-rickshaw too.

He was humiliated and threatened for asking for his rickshaw; he alleges that he was not given food by the couple. He wanted to teach them a lesson, an official privy to details said.

He was storing petrol for more than three months. He used to steal fuel from vehicles at night, the official added.
LUCKNOW The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Wednesday raided three places in Uttar Pradesh, including a residential apartment at Gomti Nagar Extension in Lucknow during nationwide searches carried out by the central agency at over 150 locations in six states in connection with cases related to narco-terror-gangster nexus. Baghpat and Meerut were two other cities in UP where raids were carried out, said officials. In Lucknow, the NIA raided the Gomti Nagar Extension flat of an Ayodhya resident around 5am. (Pic for representation)

In Lucknow, the NIA raided the Gomti Nagar Extension flat of an Ayodhya resident around 5am, and the team stayed there for over five hours. The man was not found in his Lucknow flat. He allegedly provided shelter to Khalistan supporter Deepak Ranga, who is key accused in the blast that took place at the Punjab Police intelligence headquarters in Mohali on May 9, 2022, an official said.

Deepak Ranga was arrested by the NIA from Gorakhpur on January 25 earlier this year. He is a close associate of Canada-based gangster-turned-terrorist Lakhbir Singh Sandhu and Pakistan-based gangster-turned-terrorist Harvinder Singh Sandhu, said the official.

Ranga was provided shelter allegedly by the Ayodhya resident during his stay in UP before being arrested from Gorakhpur. The NIA later found this man at his hideout in Ayodhya and questioned him for over two hours but did not arrest him as he was performing the last rites of his mother, who passed away on Tuesday night, he added.

The NIAs raids were underway in Haryana, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Uttarakhand. The central agency had registered three cases last year following information suggesting that terrorist outfits and their sympathisers abroad were operating as members of organized criminal gangs active in the northern states of India for targeted killings and violent criminal acts.

He said central agencies and state police forces had been cracking down on organised criminals and terrorists operating from different parts of the country and countries like Pakistan, Canada, Malaysia, Australia, and the US. These coordinated raids were carried out to dismantle the gangsters network.

So far, the NIA has arrested 30 gangsters and their associates over the last seven months after raiding over 200 locations and hideouts in seven states. It seized 13 properties, froze 95 bank accounts, and issued 20 lookout circulars against criminals and terrorists.
LUCKNOW Chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Wednesday said the Nath Corridor in Bareilly should be developed on the pattern of Varanasis Kashi Vishwanath Dham and Ayodhyas Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra. The chief minister said a six-lane road should be developed around the Nath Corridor and electric buses and e-rickshaws be deployed to provide transport facility to people around the circuit. (File Photo)

He was reviewing the Bareilly Development Authoritys presentation on the development of Nath Corridor. The corridor will be built by connecting Alakhnath Temple, Madhinath, Tapeshwar Nath, Dhopeshwar Nath, Pashupatinath, Vankhandi Nath Temple to the seven mythological Nath temples in Bareilly city.

According to an official press release, the chief minister said a six-lane road should be developed around the Nath Corridor and electric buses and e-rickshaws be deployed to provide transport facility to people around the circuit.

Develop footpaths for pedestrians, renovate Shiv temples within the circuit, provide facilities for pilgrims and beautify crossings in the area on the theme of Lord Shiva, he emphasised.

Adityanath also viewed a presentation of the food and civil supplies department on the upgrade of ration shops (Annapurna fair price shops and public convenience centres). He said the Annapurna model shops should be set up on village society land near the village secretariat.

Distribution of rations should be made at ration shops on specified dates and electronic weighing machines and e-pos machines should be used there, he said. Besides providing facility of getting income, caste, birth certificates at the Annapurna fair price shops and convenience centres, other items of daily use should also be made available there, stated the CM.

Officers informed the chief minister that 52 Annapurna fair price shops were coming up in Bareilly division as part of a pilot project there.
MUMBAI: A five-year-old girl died after the glass countertop of a shop in Andheri East fell on her head on Tuesday morning. The Meghwadi police have booked the owner of the shop and his help for culpable homicide. HT Image

The incident took place around 11am when the deceased, Sanjana Anil Chavhan, had gone to buy snacks in the shop in their neighbourhood in Andheris Pump House locality along with some other children.

The children allegedly pushed the wheeled shelf in the shop front and the glass countertop over it tumbled down towards the children. While others could escape, Sanjana who was in the middle of the group could not get away in time and sustained fatal injuries.

The cart was usually put in place with some wooden breakers put along its wheels. At the time that the children reached there, one of the workers was cleaning up the premises and had therefore taken off the breakers, said senior inspector Rajendra Mandhare. The children seemed to have tugged at some area on the counter which made it move, leading to the glass top falling, he added.

Police said that prima facie, she had sustained deep gashes on her head and ears. People from the locality took the girl to Trauma Care Hospital in Jogeshwari where doctors declared her brought dead and the body was sent for post-mortem.

The body of the child was handed over to her parents on Wednesday morning. They all left for their native place in Karnataka for the last rites, said senior inspector Mandhare.

The two accused - Anand Raj, 47, and Krishna Govindam, 34, - were arrested on Tuesday and produced in court on Wednesday and were granted bail by the court.
The state government is contemplating setting up dedicated parking zones for trucks at the defunct octroi nakas in Dahisar, Mulund and Mankhurd, a move that could considerably reduce the traffic load on city roads. Navi Mumbai, India - December 3, 2016: Heavy Traffic Jam near Mankhurd Octroi Naka after start of Toll Collection at Vashi Toll Naka in Navi Mumbai on Saturday, December 3, 2016. (Photo by Bachchan Kumar/ Hindustan Times) (Bachchan Kumar)

Shambhuraj Desai, minister of state for excise, gave this assurance to members of All India Motor Transport Congress (AIMTC) at a meeting on Wednesday where the latter also sought centres for drivers to rest, warehouses, and loading/unloading points at these octroi nakas.

We expect parking space for around 500 trucks and tempos at the three locations. This initiative will help decongest the roads and control vehicular pollution in Mumbai, Bal Malkit Singh, AIMTCs chairman-core committee and former president, said.

The minister has now asked the transport department to conduct a feasibility study, officials said.

Another AIMTC member, who was present at the meeting, said the entire belt around Masjid Bandar and Carnac Bandar and nearby areas in south Mumbai are dotted with private transport offices dealing with movement of heavy vehicles and goods. These transport offices could, over a period of time, be shifted out of the city limits.

At the meeting, the truckers representatives also requested Desai to begin work on the Wadala truck terminal, a project the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) had started nearly a decade ago but has hardly made any progress as of now.

Officials said the government might also take a decision to address this issue and a meeting in this regard is expected to be held with the MMRDA and the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation in the coming days.

The AIMTC has also been promised that a committee will be formed to look into the issue of providing basic amenities on highways and building terminals for commercial vehicles.

The demand to close border check-posts in Maharashtra was also discussed at the meeting, another transporter said. Once this happens, there shall be a seamless and human interference-free movement of vehicles.

Sources in the transport department said they will first have to study the financial implications of removing the check-posts and then find an alternative enforcement mode.

The menace of heavy vehicles like trucks, trailers and tempos occupying the roads continues unabated in the city. As of now these vehicles arent allowed to enter the city limits from 8 am to 11 am and 5 pm to 9 pm.

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Mumbai: On a day the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) said there is a 98% possibility that 2023-27 will be the warmest five-year period ever recorded, the US ambassador to India, Eric Garcetti, during his maiden visit to Mumbai, spoke about the need to keep climate change in check and promote green hydrogen for public transport. Mumbai, India  May 17, 2023: United States Ambassador to India Eric Garcetti addresses the media at, Taj Mahal Hotel, Colaba, in Mumbai, India, on Wednesday, May 17, 2023. (Photo by Bhushan Koyande/HT Photo)

The WMO on Wednesday had made their dire prediction claiming the combination of greenhouse gases and El Nino will send temperatures soaring.

Addressing the media, with the Gateway of India in the backdrop on a hot and sultry day, Garcetti said that he believes in three Cs  City, Climate and Culture. He added that governments needed to make sure the water is clean, the air is clean, and that green space is created for the children.

I had great meetings with industrialists here where we discussed green hydrogen and solar power, added Garcetti. He also appreciated the investments done in the infrastructure sector and how Mumbai was leading the way in transforming India.

Garcetti went on to talk about his love for Indian food and how he enjoyed vada pav in Mumbai. I am glad the chief minister (Eknath Shinde) made me eat vada pav because it (the food) was Chefs kiss, we say chefs kiss. My wife is in America. She asked me how I was feeling in India. And I told her one word, full. This is absolutely a global cultural capital and one of the culinary capitals of the world, said Garcetti.

Talking business, Garcetti said the trade between the two countries will get a boost as talks with the US-based companies is underway. He also mentioned how India was the country with the largest number of students applying for the US visas and is also among their largest trading partners.

This comes at a time when PM Narendra Modi is expected to visit the USA in the coming days. Moreover, the Indian government is expected to meet representatives of the companies in Silicon Valley to improve investments in electronics and IT hardware sectors.

Garcetti emphasised on the importance of maintaining peace and upholding the rule of law in Pakistan after violence broke out last week. He said the USA shares  with India and other countries  common concerns over the stability of the Pakistani government.

We want stability in Pakistan  hope there will not be any unrest and we stay engaged with them because of this  I think this (objective) serves both India, the US and the world, he said adding that the responsibility for the resolution of the crisis is with the Pakistani people.
A special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court in Gujarats Ahmedabad convicted two accused in a fake currency conspiracy case under which counterfeit notes were sought to be circulated in the state after being procured from West Bengal, the NIA said on Wednesday. A chargesheet was filed against the accused and vigorous pursual of the trial over three years. (Representative file image)

The accused were convicted on Tuesday following vigorous pursual of the trial in the case registered initially in 2018 by Gujarat Police.

One of the accused, Sanjaykumar Mohanbhai Devaliya of Gujarats Junagadh, has been awarded 10 years of rigorous imprisonment with a fine of 10,000 under Section 489B and 489C of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), NIA said in a statement.

Also Read: Noida man prints fake currency notes after YouTube lessons, arrested

The other accused, known as Tahir or Kaliya, has been awarded 7 years of rigorous imprisonment and fined 10,000 under Section 489C of the IPC, it added.

The case was originally registered in 2018 by Gujarat Anti-Terrorist Squad on specific inputs shared by the NIA, which had later taken over the investigation.

During the NIAs investigation, it was revealed that Devaliya had travelled by air to Kolkata and then proceeded to New Farakka Junction by train.

It was at this location, on October 17, 2018, that he met Tahir and exchanged genuine Indian currency worth 20,000 for the fake currency. Subsequently, Sanjaykumar was arrested in Gujarat while being in possession of the counterfeit notes, it said.

During the course of investigations, NIA recorded statements of witnesses including under Section 164 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), and took voice samples of the accused, scrutinised mobile records, and collected other documentary evidence to unearth the conspiracy and gather prosecutable evidence, it said.

A chargesheet was filed against the accused and vigorous pursual of the trial over three years finally resulted in the conviction of two accused.
PRAYAGRAJ In a bid to verify the statements given by the three assailants who gunned down mafia duo Atiq Ahmed and his younger brother Khalid Azeem (aka Ashraf) on April 15, police could soon conduct their lie detector and narco tests. Police officials said that chargesheet in the case is to be filed soon to start an early trial of the three accused. If necessary, police will take courts permission for lie detector and narco tests, said a senior police official. Trio accused of killing mafia duo Atiq Ahmed and Ashraf. (HT File)

Lavlesh Tiwari of Banda and his two aides Arun Kumar Maurya of Kasganj and Mohit Purane (aka Sunny Singh) are accused of gunning down Atiq Ahmed and Ashraf while the mafia brothers were being brought for medical examination to Motilal Nehru (Colvin) Divisional Hospital. At the time, the two mafioso-turned-politicians were in a four-day police custody remand.

In their statements given to the Special Investigation Team (SIT), constituted for probe into the sensational murder, the accused trio claimed that they gunned down mafia brothers to earn fame and money. Assailant Sunny Singh further told SIT officials -- headed by Additional DCP (crime) Satish Chandra -- that Delhi-based gangster Jitendra Gogi had provided him with a sophisticated Turkey-made Girsan and Jigana pistols to kill his rival, Tillu Tajpuria. Notably, Sunny had fled with the firearms after murder of Gogi at Rohini Court of Delhi in 2021.

Investigations have revealed that Sunny and Lavlesh used the aforementioned two firearms while Arun opened fire with a Munger-made semi-automatic pistol to kill Atiq and Ashraf. The SIT took four-day custody remand of the three accused for further investigations but they did not provide much information and repeated the same statement over and over again. Moreover, police also failed to get much details through scanning the call details of the mobile numbers and the two phones which the assailants were using.

Police also failed to connect links of their statements after verifying them through scientific investigation. Many questions in connection with the incident remain unanswered. It is also hard to believe for authorities that the three assailants themselves planned the sensational murders of the two mafia brothers without any help.

Police officials also suspect that some people may have helped the three assailants. With the help of lie detector and narco tests, police will verify their earlier statements. This way, police may get more details about the conspiracy behind the murder of mafia brothers.

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The state wildlife wing on Tuesday captured two female tigers from two different landscapes, including one from the sensitive zone known for man-animal conflicts in Brahmapuri division and a tiger from Gadchiroli forest in Maharashtra. (Representative/File Photo)

Jitendra Ramgaonkar, field director at Tadoba Tiger Reserves, said the captured tigers will be relocated to Nawegaon-Nagzira Tiger Reserve (NNTR) after they are examined by the expert team from the Wildlife Institute of India (WII).

It is a very lengthy process and after the approval from the expert team, the tigresses will be re-located from Chandrapur to NNTR, he said.

According to the forest department, a total of 10 people were killed this year in the man-animal conflict. In all, 53 people were killed in attacks by tigers and leopards in the Chandrapur district in 2022.

With the increasing man-animal conflicts, the forest department is preparing an action plan to curb the man-animal conflicts in the district and hence a decision to relocate the big cats was initiated.

According to officials, the process of translocation of four to five tigers from the Brahmapuri division to the NNTR has begun.

The decision to relocate the big cats from Bramhapuri and some other parts of Chandrapur was taken by the then PCCF (Wildlife) Sunil Limiye about two and a half years ago. The then chief minister Uddhav Thackeray too had given the go-ahead to the plan, however, it was delayed for around one and a half years.

The basic idea is to tackle the increasing man-animal conflict in Chandrapur district, where the number of tigers has substantially increased and so has the conflict. Besides, the main objective of this project is to increase the number of female tigers at the NNTR to balance the male-female ratio, said officials.

Presently, the male-female ratio of tigers in NNTR is skewed and forest department officers feel that introducing tigresses to NNTR will help in increasing the population.

It is estimated that there are around 350 tigers in Maharashtra with over 200 tigers in Chandrapur district alone. In a way, this conservation translocation of tigers will also help Chandrapur forests as the number of tigers there is high.

According to experts from the Wildlife Institute of India, the NNTRs core area is 656 square km, while the buffer area is 1,200 square km with a potential to host 20-25 tigers, whereas the present population is around 8-10.
The Bihar government has directed officials to strictly deal with teachers who threaten to organise protests and demonstrations against the new Bihar state school teachers (appointment, transfer, disciplinary action, and service condition) rules, 2023, under which all fresh recruitments will be carried out for which the advertisements are scheduled within a week. All the teachers appointed through BPSC will get better pay-scale and status of government employee. (Teachers of Bihar | Twitter)

It has come to light through news reports that the teachers recruited through panchayati raj institutions and urban local bodies will carry out protests and demonstrations. If any teacher or government employee resorts to protest and demonstration or any anti-government activity, take immediate action against them as per rules, said the letter from additional chief secretary (education) Dipak Kumar Singh to all the regional deputy directors (RDDs) and district education officers (DEOs) on Tuesday.

Also Read: Bihar secondary school teachers plan statewide protests over pay scale, transfers

The letter is significant as the Bihar secondary teachers association along with primary teachers bodies have planned a phase-wide agitation against the new rules at the division level from May 20.

On May Day, teachers bodies protested at the district level across the state and wore black badges.

The Bihar Public Service Commission (BPSC) has already announced the syllabus for the recruitment of teachers and the advertisement for the secondary and higher secondary schools is likely to be issued in a couple of days for the competitive test.

The government wants to complete the exercise this year.

All the teachers appointed through BPSC will get better pay-scale and status of government employee.

However, teachers already appointed through PRIs and ULBs numbered around four lakh, are upset with the prospect of yet another exam after having served for up to 16 years.

We will take legal recourse if the government plans to force its decisions. The teachers have cleared enough exams over the years and there is no need for yet another exam. All should be given the status of government employee, said the former MP and president of the Bihar secondary teachers association Shatrughan Prasad Singh.

The political parties, including Grand Alliance (GA) constituents like the CPI-ML, former CM Jitan Ram Manjhis Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) and the Opposition BJP have been backing the teachers demand for a rethink about them, though chief minister Nitish Kumar and education minister Chandrashekhar have categorically said there will be no changes.

All fresh appointments of school teachers will be done through the BPSC and they will have the government employee status. The existing lot of teachers will also need to go through the process for upgrade as government employees, else they will get pay hike but not the status as the new lot, the CM had earlier said.

The appointment of 1.78-lakh teachers announced by the government will cost the exchequer 10,623 crore.

This includes 33,186 in secondary schools and 57,618 in higher secondary schools, which the govt plans to complete this year.

For the existing lot of teachers appointed through the BPSC, there will be an option to take the uniform exam for an upgrade to get the status of government employees.

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Rashtriya Lok Janata Dal (RLJD) president Upendra Kushwahas security has been upgraded to Z category, a union ministry of home affairs (MHA) order stated on Tuesday. The MHA order to beef up Kushwahas security comes on the back of a threat perception report by the IB. (HT Photo | Santosh Kumar)

This development comes two months after he was provided with Y category security by the central government on March 9.

Kushwaha had parted ways with Nitish Kumars Janata Dal (United) and formed his new party, RLJD, in February.

The MHA order to beef up Kushwahas security comes on the back of a threat perception report by the Intelligence Bureau (IB).

Also Read: Upendra Kushwaha, who quit JD-U and set up RLJD, gets security upgrade from Centre

From now on, the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) commandos will provide Z-category security to the RLJD chief in Bihar and Delhi.

A total of 33 security guards will be deployed for his Z-category security. As many as ten armed static guards will be present at his house, six round-the-clock PSOs, 12-armed escort commandos in three shifts, two watchers in one shift, and three trend drivers will be present round the clock.

Z category security has been assigned to members of the Indo-Tibetan Police, CRPF and even the Delhi Police. In addition to the entourage, an escort car is also available for enhanced security.

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RBSE 8th Result 2023 Live Updates: Directorate of Education Rajasthan has announced Class 8 board exam results. Students can check their results soon on the Shala Darpan portal  rajshaladarpan.nic.in. They have to use roll numbers to check marks online. Rajasthan Primary and Secondary Education Minister BD Kalla had confirmed RBSE Class 8 result 2023 date and time.

This year, around 13 lakh students appeared in the RBSE Rajasthan Class 8th board exam and are waiting for results.

RBSE 8th result 2023 direct link

Apart from the Rajasthan Shala Darpan portal rajeduboard.rajasthan.gov.in and rajresults.nic.in may also host Class 8 results. Students can check key details like pass percentage, names of toppers, etc. here.
In the hit Japanese manga and anime series Tokyo Revengers, the character Hakkai Shiba is initially introduced as a naturally gifted athlete with outstanding physical strength. As the Vice-Captain of the Second Division of the Tokyo Manji Gang, he exudes confidence and prowess, easily dispatching average gang members with a single punch. Unveiling the turbulent Shiba family dynamics in Tokyo Revengers.(Image Credit: Liden Films)

Beneath Hakkais strong exterior lies a turbulent and troubled past, intertwined with the dynamics of his family. In the fan-favourite Christmas Showdown Arc, the darkest secrets of the Shiba family are brought to light, giving Hakkai an opportunity to confront his inner demons and seek redemption.

The royal blue-haired boy shares a deep bond with his elder sister, Yuzuha, who admires and praises his physical strength as a human being. Their true bonding is evident in their interactions, lamenting a strong sibling relationship.

Unfortunately, Shiba's life has been marred by the abusive and toxic behavior of his elder brother, Taiju Shiba, the Commander of the 10th Generation Black Dragon Gang. Taiju's relentless physical and verbal torture has scarred his younger brother and prevented him from standing up for himself. This toxic dynamic within the family comes to an end during the Christmas Showdown Arc.

Taiju Shiba. (Image Credit: Linden Films)

Taiju asserts his dominance within the Shiba household, taking on the role of a leader due to the absence of any parental guidance. Charismatic and manipulative, the elder Shiba wields his influence over his siblings in a malevolent and sinister manner. Hakkai and Yuzuha become regular victims of Taiju's physical abuse, enduring relentless beatings for the slightest mistakes. The Black Dragon Gang Commander justifies his actions as acts of love and discipline, perpetuating a distorted view of his role as a disciplinarian or the only household head.

Over time, the abusive environment created by Taiju takes a toll on both his younger siblings, Hakkai and Yuzuha.

In a selfless act of protection and love, Yuzuha volunteers to endure the beatings meant for Hakkai. Taiju readily accepts this sorting, intensifying his mistreatment of Yuzuha and even involving her in the activities of the Black Dragon Gang. This leads many, including Hakkai's captain, Takashi Mitsuya, to believe that Hakkai has assumed Yuzuha's responsibilities, further burdening him with guilt and an inability to resist his brother's tyranny.

ALSO READ| Prepare for supernatural action in Jujutsu Kaisen's heart-stopping Culling Game Finale!

The indigo colour eyed boy's life takes a turn when he befriends Takemichi, who is invited to his home. This encounter triggers a violent confrontation between Hakkai's brother and the Black Dragon Gang members, endangering his new friend's life. In a desperate attempt to protect Takemichi, Hakkai offers to leave the Tokyo Manji Gang and join the Black Dragon Gang. This decision sets in motion a chain of events leading to the Second Division Vice-Captains resolve to confront his brother and end their family's cycle of suffering.

As the Christmas Showdown Arc reaches its climax, Hakkai's determination to take his brother's life becomes known to Takemichi. Understanding the repercussions of this action, Takemichi strives to prevent Hakkai from succumbing to his desperation. The arc concludes with a fierce and flashy battle inside a church, where Hakkai, Taiju, Takemichi, and Chifuyu clash, seeking to resolve the deep-seated conflicts within the Shiba family.
On Tuesday, Alia Bhatt attended her first Gucci show as brand ambassador in Seoul, South Korea. The actor was named ambassador last week by the global fashion brand. She wore a black dress with cutout detail and carried a Gucci Jackie 1961 transparent bag which got the internet talking. Sharing pictures from the event on her Instagram, Alia addressed the bag in the room. She even posted a picture of her eating pizza after the event ended. (Also read: Alia Bhatt sits with IU at Seoul fashion event, poses for pics; fans call it 'interaction that we didn't expect') Alia Bhatt added photos on Instagram from her Seoul trip as official Gucci ambassador.

Alia shared pictures of her posing in front of the Gyeongbokgung Palace, along with several other photographs from the event. She wrote, "yes the bag was empty (nerd face emoji) @gucci #guccicruise24." The actor also shared close ups of her outfit along wit the infamous bag. She also added a picture of herself with Gucci CEO Marco Bizzarri and another photo with Marco and the actor sitting alongside artistes like IU, Blake Lee and Dakota Johnson in the front row of the fashion show. The last photo shows Alia happily enjoying a pizza while riding in a car.

Thai actor Davika Hoorne, who Alia met in Seoul, dropped a red heart emoji on her post, while Alia's mother, actor Soni Razdan said, "Smashinggg" and added fire and heart emojis. A few fans freaked out about Alia hanging out with IU at the show. One fan asked, "Broooo U met IU???" Another exclaimed, "Omggg IU & ALIA! Shes in Korea! this is so awesome."

Alia will be making her Hollywood debut this August with the Netflix film Heart of Stone. Directed by Tom Harper, the spy thriller also stars Gal Gadot, Jamie Dornan, and Sophie Okonedo. Before that, she will star in Karan Johar's Rocky Aur Rani Ki Prem Kahaani with Ranveer Singh. The romantic musical releases on July 28, 2023 and also features Dharmendra, Shabana Azmi and Jaya Bachchan.

The actor was last seen in Ayan Mukerji's Brahmastra: Part One  Shiva with husband Ranbir Kapoor and Amitabh Bachchan. Last month, she won the Filmfare Award for Best Actress for Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Gangubai Kathiawadi. It was her fourth win in the category.

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On Monday, Anushka Sharma was seen taking a ride with her bodyguard on a motorbike after experiencing a road block on a small street in Mumbai. Fans questioned her for not wearing a helmet after the video was shared online and went viral. Now, two days after the event, the Mumbai Traffic Police issued a challan against Anushka Sharma's bodyguard Sonu Shaikh and added a fine of 10,500 for riding without a helmet and driving without a licence. (Also read: Mumbai Police to take action against Amitabh Bachchan and Anushka Sharma for riding bikes without helmets) Anushka Sharma's bodyguard was issued a fine by the Mumbai Traffic Police.

Both Anushka and her bodyguard did not wear helmets as they hopped on the bike as a tree had fallen and was blocking the road. On Twitter, Mumbai Traffic Police posted photos of the complaint and wrote, "Challan has been issued under Sec 129/194(D), Sec 5/180 & Sec 3(1)181 MV act to the driver along with an fine of Rs. 10500 & been paid by the offender." While the fine of not riding with a helmet is 500, the fine for driving without a valid licence is around 10,000. They were addressing a complaint made by a Twitter user about the actor and the bodyguards disregarding helmets for their short ride.

Fans responded to the fine in the comments section on Twitter and thanked the department for addressing it. One fan said, "Sir /Madam it is heartening to see you take action against Bollywood celebrities. This takes a lot of bravery." Another asked, "Without any enquiry how and why issue challan with Sec 5/180 and Sec 3(1)/181 how you know that the motorcycle rider don't have driving licence." Yet another added, "I feel if any celebrity too is breaking any sort of rules set by the respective authorities then they should be treated just normally like any other human being. Rules must be common for all irrespective of any sort of position or power."

Earlier in the week, Amitabh Bachchan had also posted a picture of himself taking on a ride, while not wearing a helmet, to work on Instagram. He wrote, "Thank you for the ride buddy .. dont know you .. but you obliged and got me on time to location of work .. faster and in avoidance of the unsolvable traffic jams .. thank you capped, shorts and yellowed T-shirt owner." Mumbai Police had assured users that they would be taking action on both the complaints. The veteran actor had later clarified on his blog that all official permissions had been taken for the film's shoot in South Mumbai and he was not breaking any laws.

Anushka Sharma, who was last seen in a cameo in Qala (2022), is making her Cannes debut at the French film festival later this month. She is expected to attend an event honouring women in cinema and present an award with actor Kate Winslet.

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Actor Bindu broke into Hindi films with Do Raaste and Ittefaq in 1969. She is remembered as well for the popular cabaret number Mera Naam Shabnam from Kati Patang (1970). Recently, the veteran actor named Zeenat Aman as the former co-star who was most likely to flirt with other co-stars on set. She also apologised to Zeenat for naming her. (Also read: Bindu says she was never given Filmfare awards, was told she's new: 'But they gave Jaya Bachchan an award for Guddi') Bindu and Zeenat Aman worked together in the 1970s and 1980s.

It has been 15 years since Bindu was seen on the big screen. The actor last appeared in films such as Main Hoon Na (2004), Om Shanti Om (2007) and Mehbooba (2008). Unlike Bindu who has retired, Zeenat seems to be on an acting comeback. The actor recently joined Instagram in February 2023 and already has nearly 300,000 followers. She also has the Margaon: The Closed Case and the web series Showsttopper awaiting release this year.

In a recent rapid-fire section of an interview with Bollywood Hungama, the veteran actor was asked about the co-star who was most likely to flirt with other co-stars on set. After naming Zeenat Aman, Bindu apologised and said, "Sorry Zeenat ji." The two actors have worked together on the films Prem Shastra (1974), Chor Ke Ghar Chor (1978), Laawaris (1981), and Bandhan Kuchchey Dhaagon Ka (1983).

Bindu also stated that in her heyday, she received a lot of fan mail including one crazy fan who sent her letters written in his own blood. She stated that she never touched the letters herself. In the same interview, she shared, "Woh banda apne khoon se mujhe letters likhta tha. Aur jab letter bhi aate the, haath lagane ka dil nahi hota tha (He used to write me letters in his own blood. And whenever the letters arrived, I didn't feel like touching them either). His blood group was also written down. He was so mad fellow. I didn't answer back. If he would have continued, I would have had to go to the police. I remember it till today.)

The veteran actor was nominated for the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress seven times but never won.

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Since winning the Oscar for Best Documentary Short for The Elephant Whisperers on March 12, producer Guneet Monga has been travelling the country with the trophy as she attends events and official ceremonies, meeting Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu MK.Stalin and even Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Guneet, while appearing on The Kapil Sharma Show, recently shared that while she goes through security and even immigration, airport officials are only interested in her Oscar trophy. They only want to take photos with it and not with her. (Also read: Guneet Monga recalls how former President Pratibha Patil once helped her) Guneet Monga produced The Elephant Whisperers which won Best Documentary Short at the 95th Academy Awards.

Guneet had been on a recent episode of the comedy talk show, along with author Sudha Murty and actor Raveena Tandon, both of whom were honoured at the Padma awards this year. Host Kapil Sharma jokingly asked Guneet if her family members too want to see the Oscar first before meeting her, and she replied in the affirmative.

She went on to describe how she gets stopped during the security check at the airport, once officials realise what's in her bag. Guneet shared, "I have this black fabric that I use to wrap the trophy, however you wrap it, the trophy has that peculiar shape and it shows in the X-ray. So people ask me to remove it and show it to them and I tell them Oscar hai (It is the Oscar). And they say, Yes, yes, we want to see it, and I tell them, Sir, it is wrapped, but they say, Nikaal ke dikhaao, dekhna hai (Remove it and show, we want to see), and then they click pictures with it. Only after that I get the permission to go ahead."

On Instagram, Guneet had added pictures from her appearance on Kapil's show. She wrote, "Milestone unlocked. Life mein ek baar Kapil Sharma ke show par jana zaroor banta hai (You have to go on Kapil Sharma's show once in your life)! What a night, what an honour! To be side by side with the ever so inspiring Sudha Murthy Ji, the amazing Archana Puran Singh, and our beloved Raveena Tandon, made this moment all the more special. And Mom, I made it to the Kapil Sharma show! Thank you @kapilsharma. Youve been such a supporter, through this journey!"

The producer is currently attending the 76th edition of the Cannes Film Festival as part of the official Indian delegation.

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Celebrities are no stranger to artificial intelligence (AI). Everyone from Bruce Willis, Will Smith, Johnny Depp, Tom Cruise, Emma Watson and Keanu Reeves to Ranbir Kapoor, Shah Rukh Khan, Deepika Padukone, Priyanka Chopra and Hrithik Roshan have featured in images created with the help of AI. Now, actor Kajol has joined the AI trend taking over social media. On Wednesday, the actor took to Twitter and Instagram to share an AI-processed photo of herself, and also revealed whom she looks like in the image. Also read: Kajol says daughter Nysa Devgan was stopped on Singapore bus for autograph Kajol says she looks like daughter Nysa Devgan in an AI-generated photo.

Sharing the photo of herself, Kajol wrote, "AI and me any guesses who I look like (The answer is in the person whos tagged). There are too many eye rolls and not enough emojis" Kajol tagged her and actor-husband Ajay Devgn's daughter Nysa Devgan in her post. Many took to the comments section of her Instagram post, and agreed with her. Some on Twitter also chimed in, and said which actor Kajol actually looked like. One Twitter user wrote, "Tabu." Another said, You look like Kajol only.

Kajol had shared the original image, without the AI inputs, earlier this month. She had written in her Instagram caption, "Warning: This selfie may cause excessive double-tapping... including mine (by mistake of course)."

Kajol and Ajay Devgn married in February 1999. The couple has two children. Daughter Nysa was born in 2003, and son Yug was born in 2010. In March, Kajol was joined by Nysa at the Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre launch. Kajol was in a white outfit, while Nysa wore a silver gown. Kajol had also shared their photos from the event. Nysa, who has studied in Singapore, is often spotted at parties in Mumbai  from star-studded Diwali celebrations to late night bashes with friends, including Orhan Awatramani, and Khushi Kapoor.

In a recent interview with Hindustan Times, Kajol was asked how she feels about the popularity that her daughter has earned. The actor had then said, I feel proud of her (Nysa), of course. I love the fact that she conducts herself with dignity wherever she goes. All I can say is, she is 19 and is having fun. She has the right to do whatever she wants to do and I will always support her.

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Actor Kangana Ranaut has praised Twitter CEO Elon Musk for his recent 'Ill say what I want' comment. Taking to Instagram Stories on Wednesday, Kangana claimed that when she spoke against 'anti-nationals' it cost her around 25 brand endorsements. The actor also added that she was dropped overnight from the projects which led to a loss of 30-40 crore per year. (Also Read | Here's what Kangana Ranaut tweeted after Elon Musk praised Indian food) Kangana Ranaut has spoken about the time when she suffered losses.

Kangana shared a screenshot of Elon's recent interview. The headline of the story read, "Elon Musk: Ill say what I want, and if the consequence of that is losing money, so be it." Sharing it she wrote, "This is character, true freedom and success, speaking for Hinduism, against politicians/anti-nationals/tukde gang costed me 20-25 brand endorsements, they dropped me overnight and that amounted to a loss of 30-40cr per year..."

She also added, "But I am free and nothing should stop me from saying what I want definitely not agenda-driven multinational companies and their corporate brand heads who hate India it's culture and integrity... I appreciate Elon because everyone displays only weaknesses, at least rich person should not care for money...I see those more rich they get deprived they become..."

Kangana regularly takes to her social media platforms to praise Elon. Earlier, a Twitter user shared a picture feasting on Indian dishes and captioned it, "I love basic b**** Indian food its so insanely good." Commenting on it, Elon wrote, "True." Kangana replied to him, "How many more reasons will you give us to like you more and more (slightly smiling face and hugging face emojis)."

Kangana claimed that when she spoke against 'anti-nationals' it cost her around 25 brand endorsements.

Kangana, last year, cheered for Elon after he took charge of Twitter. Sharing a screenshot on Instagram Stories of a news article, whose headline read, 'Elon Musk takes charge of Twitter, fires CEO Parag Agrawal, other top executives: Report', Kangana dropped clapping hand emojis.

Kangana will be seen in P Vasu's Chandramukhi 2. In the upcoming months, the audience will also see Kangana in Manikarnika Returns: The Legend of Didda, and The Incarnation: Sita. She also has Tejas, in which she will be seen essaying the role of an Indian Air Force pilot. Kangana also has the upcoming period drama film Emergency, her first solo directorial film.

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Mrunal Thakur made her Cannes debut in a black lace pantsuit and sequined jacket. The actor posted pictures from her terrace photoshoot as she attended her first festival at Cannes. Commenting on her photographs, fans called her the next national crush and also said she looked quite different from her character in the Telugu film Sita Ramam (2022). (Also read: Mrunal Thakur wears black outfit as she flies out to Mumbai ahead of her Cannes red carpet debut, poses with paparazzi) Mrunal Thakur shared pictures from her Cannes photoshoot on Instagram.

On Instagram, she posted pictures of her Cannes debut outfit and wrote, "I didnt come this far to only come this far. #YesICannes Ready to take on the @festivaldecannes experience. Join me on this glamorous little journey #StayTuned." Mrunal posted around 10 photographs, a few in black and white, as she posed on the large terrace by the sea. Wearing a loose sequined jacket over a black corset and black lace pants, the actor finished off the outfit with black heels.

Before posting the photos, Mrunal had teased on her Instagram Stories and posed in the same location. She captioned it, "The calm before the storm. Anyhoo. Gotta get dressed now." One fan called her, "Next national crush," while another commented, "Sita ye tune kya kiya." Many others also said that there was quite a change in their 'Sita'.

Before she left for Cannes, Mrunal told the news agency ANI, "I am thrilled to be attending the Cannes Film Festival for the first time. It is an honour to represent Grey Goose at such a prestigious platform. I am looking forward to interacting with global filmmakers, exploring new opportunities, and showcasing the talent that Indian cinema has to offer."

The actor is expected to be in Cannes until the end of the week. Several Indian actors are attending this year's edition. Sara Ali Khan, Esha Gupta and Manushi Chillar already made their Cannes debuts yesterday. Anushka Sharma is also expected to walk the red carpet at the French Riviera this year.

Aishwarya Rai, who also departed for the festival on Tuesday, will be attending this year's festival. She was accompanied by her daughter Aaradhya Bachchan. The 76th edition of the Cannes Film Festival will take place from May 16 to May 27, 2023.

Mrunal was last seen in Gumraah paired opposite Aditya Roy Kapur. Her next is a Telugu film with actor Nani tentatively titled Nani 30.

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Actor Mrunal Thakur, who is all set to attend Cannes Film Festival for the first time, flew out of Mumbai. In a video shared by a paparazzi account on Wednesday, Mrunal was seen arriving at the Mumbai airport in her car. (Also Read | Mrunal Thakur talks about posting her crying pic, says depression is a big word and shouldnt be used casually) Mrunal Thakur posed for the paparazzi at the Mumbai airport.

For her travels, Mrunal opted for a sleeveless top, matching pants and heels. She also carried a bag and a jacket with her. Mrunal posed for the paparazzi and also winked when they thanked her. Before entering the airport terminal building Mrunal posed with the photographers stationed there.

Before leaving, Mrunal shared a glimpse of her preparations for the event. Taking to her Instagram Stories, she posted a picture of some creations of renowned fashion designers Falguni and Shane Peacock. She was seen resting her head on a person's shoulder and holding Falguni's arms as they looked in front of them. She wrote, "Truly mesmerized @falgunishanepeacockindia. If only I could show you the dress...But I cannes't just yet."

Talking about her Cannes debut, Mrunal said, as quoted by news agency ANI, "I am thrilled to be attending the Cannes Film Festival for the first time. It is an honour to represent Grey Goose at such a prestigious platform. I am looking forward to interacting with global filmmakers, exploring new opportunities, and showcasing the talent that Indian cinema has to offer."

Mrunal will be in the French Rivera from May 17 to May 19. Apart from Mrunal, Sara Ali Khan, Anushka Sharma and Manushi Chillar are also making their Cannes debut this year. Aishwarya Rai will also be seen on the Cannes red carpet. Content creator Dolly Singh will also be seen at the Cannes Film Festival this year. The 76th edition of the Cannes Film Festival will take place from May 16 to May 27, 2023.

Mrunal has recently been seen in Gumraah paired opposite Aditya Roy Kapoor. Produced by T-Series Films and Murad Khetani's Cine1 Studios, Gumraah released in theatres on April 7. Fans will see her with Nani in the film tentatively titled Nani 30. Helmed by Shouryuv, the movie is touted to be an emotional family drama. The movie went to floors in January, this year.

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Urvashi Rautela often grabs attention for her unique sartorial choices. On Wednesday, the actor shared photos and videos from her first appearance at Cannes Film Festival 2023, where she wore a larger-than-life pink dress. While some praised her over-the-top outfit, calling it 'beautiful', others could not get past her choice of accessories  a golden lizard necklace, and matching earrings. Also read: Urvashi Rautela shines in red as she leaves for Cannes, is part of Parveen Babi biopic Urvashi Rautela at Cannes Film Festival 2023.

Urvashi was seen in multiple designer looks at last year's 75th Cannes Film Festival. On Tuesday, she made her mark at Cannes Film Festival 2023 in a pink gown. This is Urvashi's first look from the prestigious film festival this year. The actor took to Instagram to share photos and videos of herself, which attracted all kinds of reactions. She wrote in her caption, 76th annual Cannes Film Festival red carpet opening...

One commented on the actor's video, "Gale mein chipkali agar zinda ho gai toh photoshoot chod kar aise bhagoge aap (You will run away from the photoshoot, if that lizard around your neck wakes up)." Another one said, "I cannot unsee that lizard necklace... so wild..." Another commented, "What is that around her neck?" However, some liked the look. One fan called Urvashi the 'queen of Cannes 2023'. Another said, "You nailed it, such a great look." Others left comments like 'fabulous' and 'beautiful'. A fan also commented, 'So finally @urvashirautela is creating history again at Cannes..."

This year, Urvashi will participate in a photocall launch for her upcoming film, a biopic on the iconic late actor Parveen Babi. Urvashi will be playing Parveen Babi in the biopic. Sharing her excitement about the role, the actor had said in a recent statement, Yes, youve heard right. Ive officially signed and will be leading the Parveen Babi biopic as an actress. Im truly grateful to Cannes Film Festival, as it's one of the most prestigious film festivals in the world and a significant career milestone.

Urvashi was last seen in Agent alongside Akhil Akkineni. The movie directed by Surender Reddy was released on April 28, 2023. Recently, Urvashi Rautela had announced that she will star in a film produced by Karan Johar's Dharma Productions. Details about the upcoming project are still under wraps. She will also be seen in a Hollywood film with actor Michele Morrone. She also has Inspector Avinash with Randeep Hooda as one of her upcoming projects.

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After his film Jeanne du Barry opened the Cannes Film Festival on Tuesday night, actor Johnny Depp took part in a press conference the next day where he spoke about his absence from Hollywood these past few years. The actor was involved in several legal issues with his ex-wife Amber Heard, including a defamation trial which he won. Johnny addressed the question of being boycotted by Hollywood and also added that most of what was written about him was 'horrifically written fiction'. (Also read: Cannes Film Festival opens with Johnny Depp's comeback film, Jeanne du Barry) Attending the Cannes Film Festival, Johnny Depp spoke about being away from Hollywood for the past three years. (Photo by CHRISTOPHE SIMON / AFP)(AFP)

This was the actor's first public appearance in four years. Johnny Depp had been dropped from the Harry Potter spinoff series Fantastic Beasts and replaced by Mads Mikkelsen in the last film. The actor's last film Minamata was in 2020.

Arriving late to the Jeanne du Barry press conference, the actor responded to a question posed by a journalist. He said, "Did I feel boycotted by Hollywood? Youd have to not have a pulse to feel like, No. None of this is happening. Its a weird joke.' When youre asked to resign from a film youre doing because of something that is merely a function of vowels and consonants floating in the air, yes, you feel boycotted."

He went to say, "I dont feel boycotted by Hollywood because I dont think about Hollywood. Its a strange, funny time where everybody would love to be able to be themselves, but they cant. They must fall in line with the person in front of them. If you want to live that life, I wish you the best. The majority of what you read is fantastically, horrifically written fiction. Its like asking the question, How are you doing? But the subtext is, God, I hate you'."

The French film Jeanne du Barry, directed by Maiwenn, features the director in the title role and Johnny as King Louis XV. Pierre Richard, Benjamin Lavernhe, Noemie Lvovsky, Pascal Greggory and Melvil Poupaud are also part of the cast.

Recently, Johnny announced that he would be directing his second film, Modi, a biopic of Italian artist Amedeo Modigliani. The film features Italian actor Riccardo Scamarcio, French actor Pierre Niney and Al Pacino.

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On Tuesday, the 76th Cannes Film Festival officially began with Maiwenns Jeanne du Barry, and it appears that Johnny Depp got the audience reaction he had hoped for. The actor received a 7-minute standing ovation, and even teared up as the crowd applauded him. A video of the moment is doing the rounds of social media. Also read: Brie Larson may not see Johnny Depp's opening night film Jeanne du Barry at Cannes Film Festival Johnny Depp cries during standing ovation at Jeanne du Barry premiere at Cannes 2023.

Cannes Film Festival 2023 opened with the premiere of Johnny Depp's film, Jeanne du Barry, directed by Maiwenn, where the actor plays French king Louis XV. The period drama marks Johnny's first film after his high-profile trial last year with his ex-wife Amber Heard. Both parties had accused each other of physical and verbal abuse. Jeanne du Barry is being dubbed as Johnny's 'comeback' film.

Reacting to the video of Johnny tearing up at the film's Cannes premiere, which was shared on Twitter by Variety, a fan tweeted, "Well deserved! Bravo!" One more said, "Omg (Oh my God) I love every single moment of this day for him. Bravo, Johnny Depp!!" A Twitter user said, "So proud of him." A fan also tweeted, "Congratulations, Johnny! This is validation and vindication at its finest!"

However, some Twitter users were not happy to see Johnny being hailed at the prestigious festival. One tweeted, "So gross that youre featuring him." Some were not willing to forget the abuse allegations levelled against Johnny by his ex-wife, actor Amber Heard. A Twitter user wrote, "I can smell the day-old whiskey and stale cigarettes from here." One more said, "It was a 3-minute (standing ovation) and hes teary-eyed because hes drunk and on dope."

Earlier, in an interview with Variety, Cannes chief Thierry Fremaux had addressed the potential backlash to having Jeanne du Barry opening the festival. He had said, I dont see Maiwenns film as a controversial choice at all, because if Johnny Depp had been banned from working it would have been different, but thats not the case... We only know one thing, its the justice system and I think he won the legal case in court. But the movie isnt about Johnny Depp.

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Tom Cruise is back as IMF agent Ethan Hunt in the latest Mission: Impossible  Dead Reckoning Part One trailer. Featuring some death-defying stunts, the new trailer puts the star to test in what seems to be his most challenging mission so far. (Also read: Tom Cruise flies fighter jet, tells King Charles III you can be my wingman at coronation concert) Tom Cruise promises more jaw-dropping action sequences in the Mission Impossible Dead Reckoning Part One trailer.

The trailer begins with agent Ethan Hunt stopping his motorcycle right at the end of a cliff end, and pausing to see what lies ahead. "Ethan, this mission of yours is going to cost you dearly," Agent Eugene Kittridge issues a warning at Ethan, as he and his team attempt to track down a terrifying weapon that threatens to destroy all of humanity. Joining alongside Tom are actors Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg, Rebecca Ferguson and Vanessa Kirby. Even though the action-heavy trailer didn't reveal any key details about the plot or the mission, it promises to be a thrilling and high-octane ride with some jaw-dropping set pieces.

Fans reacted enthusiastically to the trailer after it was released on YouTube on Wednesday. A fan said, "The fact you know that stunt at the end is 100% real and done by Tom himself is one of the reasons this is one of the best action franchises ever." Another said, "Tom Cruise is 60 years old and still delivers this role with such dedication and awe. His mission impossible flicks are the best action films and I cant wait to see this film!!"

A fan also said, "I have shivers down the spine and feel really emotional already about this film. We've lived the MI life with Ethan from that very first film and this really will be an emotional ending to the series - Tom you have my admiration already sir!" "Cannot wait to see this film! The first Mission Impossible is still my favorite so hearing Kittridge's voice gave me chills! I love how, ever since his first team were killed, his ONLY mission has been to keep the ones he loves safe. That's it. Great movie franchise!" said another fan.

The release of Mission: Impossible -- Dead Reckoning Part One has been through several hurdles and roadblocks in the past. The production for the film was announced in early 2019, while the COVID-19 pandemic caused an unexpectedly long delay in the shoot. A leaked audio recording of Tom Cruise shouting and cursing out two crew members of the film emerged in late 2020 when the cast and crew were filming in December 2020 in England. Filming finally completed in September 2021.

Mission Impossible -- Dead Reckoning: Part One is written and directed by Christopher McQuarrie. It will be released in July 12. Meanwhile, Dead Reckoning Part Two, which is set to be released next year on June 28, 2024 and is expected to be Toms final chapter as Ethan Hunt.

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Well-known Malayalam producer PKR Pillai died on Tuesday in Kerala at the age of 92. Actor Mohanlal, who had worked with him in films such as Chithram, Vandanam and Arahatha, paid his tribute to the veteran by referring to him as 'brother' and adding that his name should be inscribed in golden letters in Malayalam cinema. Also read: Mohanlal says we create movies for the audience alone PKR Pillai died on Tuesday.

PKR Pillai died due to old age-related ailments. His last film as a producer was Pranayamanithooval, which was released in 2002. In a Facebook post, Mohanlal paid his tribute via a long note written in Malayalam.

The translation of the post reads, Dear Pillachettan, who is equal to my elder brother, has left this world. The heartbreaking news came to know when I was in Chennai in connection with Malaikottai Valiban movie. The name PKR Pillai is written in golden letters in the history of Malayalam cinema. He was a philanthropist who helped many artists including me by making many good films that will be remembered forever. How many loving moments with Pillachetan come to mind at this moment. Pillachettan's love and encouragement for my growth as an actor cannot be said enough. It has played a big role. A tearful tribute to that great personality in Malayalam cinema.

PKR Pillai and Mohanlal had worked together in eight films. Some of their other collaborations include Shobhraj, Amrutham Gamaya and Aham.

As per a report by Mathrubhumi, Pillai-produced Chithram, directed by Priyadarshan, turned out to be a milestone in the history of Malayalam cinema. Reportedly, the movie was screened in a theatre for over a year. He played a key role in the rise of Mohanlal to stardom. Pillai was also active in politics and was a member of the Indian National Congress.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR HT Entertainment Desk Dedicated professionals who write about cinema and television in all their vibrancy. Expect views, reviews and news. ...view detail
All eyes were on Meghan Markle as she stepped out in New York City to accept the prestigious 'Women of Vision' award at a star-studded gala. The Duchess of Sussex, accompanied by her husband Prince Harry and her mother Doria Ragland, left spectators in awe with her jaw-dropping $12,000 gold ensemble. Meghan Markle, with her husband and mother, stuns onlookers in NYC at a gala where she accepts the 'Women of Vision' award in a $12k gold outfit.(Twitter)

Meghan, known for her impeccable sense of style, showcased her fashion prowess by donning a custom version of the Ideal Universe Midi-Dress from the women-owned brand Johanna Ortiz. The Colombian-designed gown, originally priced at $1,850, was transformed to suit Meghan's unique taste and showcase her California glow. She opted to remove the straps, allowing her radiant beauty to take center stage.

Staying true to the evening's feminist theme, the Duchess effortlessly combined elegance and empowerment. Her golden attire exuded confidence and sophistication, capturing the attention of fashion enthusiasts and admirers alike. The slit in the front of the midi dress added a touch of allure, emphasizing Meghan's statuesque figure and graceful stride.

But the ensemble didn't stop at the dress alone. Meghan expertly paired her statement gown with a pair of remarkable gold strappy 'naked' heels from renowned designer Tom Ford. The $1,350 footwear featured a captivating padlock and key embellishment on the ankle strap, elevating her ensemble to new heights of glamour.

As Meghan graced the gala with her regal presence, she proved once again that her fashion choices are not merely about style, but also about making a statement. Her selection of women-owned brands and her ability to personalize her outfits demonstrate her commitment to promoting talented designers and celebrating individuality.

The Duchess's radiant appearance was a testament to her impeccable taste and her ability to captivate hearts and minds through her fashion choices. It's clear that Meghan Markle is not just a Duchess but a true fashion icon, using her platform to inspire and empower women around the world.

With every step she took, Meghan left a lasting impression, reminding everyone in attendance of her timeless elegance and her unwavering dedication to causes close to her heart. Her sartorial choices at the gala showcased her ability to effortlessly blend fashion and philanthropy, solidifying her status as a trailblazer in both realms.

As the evening came to a close, Meghan Markle, the Duchess of Sussex, left onlookers in awe and fashion enthusiasts inspired. Her golden ensemble and radiant presence were a testament to her unwavering style and her commitment to making a difference. The 'Women of Vision' award was not just a recognition of her accomplishments but a celebration of her remarkable journey, both as a fashion icon and as a force for positive change in the world.
Filmmaker Vignesh Shivn is back at Cannes for the second time, four years after his maiden visit. Taking to his Instagram Stories on Wednesday, Vignesh shared glimpses from the Cannes International Film Festival. Vignesh posted a photo from the festival where he is representing his production company, Rowdy Pictures. (Also Read | Vignesh Shivn shares pics as he watches IPL match with Nayanthara in Chennai, Anirudh joins them) Vignesh Shivn shared videos and pictures from the Cannes Film Festival.

Vignesh gave some glimpses from the opening day of the event. In the first clip, he gave a view of the city. He geo-tagged his location as La Bocca. In the next few clips and pictures, Vignesh gave views of the stage at the festival as he sat in the audience. The Cannes International Film Festival is taking place from May 16 to May 27.

Vignesh shared glimpses from the Cannes International Film Festival.

In 2019, Vignesh had visited Cannes for the first time and he had a fanboy moment with filmmaker Quentin Tarantino. He had called the meeting his best moment at Cannes and added that it made his trip a success. Quentin returned to the festival with his film, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.

Currently, Vignesh is busy with work on his next yet-untitled Tamil project with Pradeep Ranganathan. He recently confirmed that hes not collaborating with actor Ajith Kumar on his next Tamil project. Earlier, Vignesh was signed as the director and was later replaced by Magizh Thirumeni.

Speaking at a fans meet recently, Vignesh confirmed it and expressed his happiness. Vignesh had said, Im happy for Magizh Thirumeni for getting to work with Ajith sir. Its a big breakthrough for him and Im also going to enjoy this movie as a fan.

When the project was announced last May, Vignesh took to Twitter to thank Ajith for the opportunity. Thank U #AjithSir for this greatest opportunity to work with you for the prestigious #AK62. Words cant explain the happiness (sic)., he had tweeted.

As per the latest update, Vignesh is gearing up to commence his next directorial project with actor-filmmaker Pradeep Ranganathan. The project is said to be a romantic comedy which is rumoured to be titled LIC.

ott:10

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Actor-producer J D Majethia, 54, ticked off an item from his bucket list this year, as he climbed the Everest Base Camp (EBC) in May. Majethia shared videos on his Instagram from his 11-day trek. JD Majethia

Currently in Kathmandu, Nepal, Majethia tells us that it was in fact actor Amitabh Bachchans 2022-release Uunchai that inspired him. I watched the movie, and I had my daughter with me. I told her and my family that Im going, Majethia - who slept in the wee hours and woke up early in the morning yet believes he isnt exhausted - recalls. Majethi landed at his place and dialled his industry friends to join him for his adventure. Everyone skipped, they had their own reasons, he mentions. However, Majethia had made up his mind.

To prepare for such a big romp, Majethias trainer asked the actor to strengthen himself. For one month I would climb 17 floors of my building (he stays on the 17th floor) My office is on the seventh floor, I would even walk that, he shares. A determined Majethia had another glitch. He faced a health issue - which he claims his family isnt aware of yet. If I told my family, then they wouldnt have let me leave, he states. While Majethia went ahead with the journey, another health scare challenged him during his trip. On his way to the Kala Patthar, his health deteriorated. You get acute mountain sickness, however, I didnt take any pills. I was certain that I would pass through it. One morning, mera blood loss hua stool mein. I got scared. There was a flow of blood. If there is a blood loss because of an injury, you arent much worried, but when it is internal bleeding you are clueless. Everyone gives their opinions. Even the local doctors were not able to understand. Do baar mera blood loss hua, he shares.

Majethias journey was cathartic for him. On his way, he trekked the Kala Patthar - he and his friend were the only two to do that for which the entire group applauded them, met international fans of his work, did virtual meetings with his office colleagues and also did Bhajan at the EBC.

We all live only once. This journey introduced me to a new JD. One must challenge themselves at every step. Only then you will have perspective and a sense of satisfaction, he states.

As for the movie Uunchai, Majethia wrote to the movies director Sooraj Barjatya. He refrains to reveal what transpired between the two. However, he says, I made a video thanking Sooraj Barjatiya. I started crying, I was unable to talk, I got so emotional. I sent it to him, sat down and stared at the mountains.
Love knows no age limits, and the American ABC Network is about to prove it with a sparkling new addition to their reality TV lineup. Brace yourselves, ladies and gentlemen, because "The Golden Bachelor" is here to steal the hearts of seniors across the nation and redefine the quest for love. Representational image: After two decades of matchmaking for the younger generation on shows like 'The Bachelor,' 'The Bachelorette' and 'Bachelor in Paradise,' ABC is ready to embark on a whole new adventure, 'The Golden Bachelor'.(Pexels)

After two decades of matchmaking for the younger generation on shows like "The Bachelor," "The Bachelorette," and "Bachelor in Paradise," ABC is ready to embark on a whole new adventure. The Golden Bachelor promises a love story like no other, tailor-made for the golden years of life.

In this unscripted series, one lucky silver fox will be given a second chance at finding love. The quest begins as the charming bachelor opens the doors of his mansion to a group of experienced, wise, and vivacious women who have lived through the roller coaster of love, loss, and laughter. Their hope? To ignite a spark that will set ablaze a future filled with endless possibilities.

The identity of the Golden Bachelor remains a tantalizing secret for now, but the anticipation is soaring. We can't wait to see which dashing gentleman will be gracing our screens and capturing our hearts.

Interestingly, the idea for a senior citizen's version of the beloved show has been simmering for some time. Back in 2020, ABC aired a promo calling out to seniors looking for love, igniting a frenzy of excitement among Bachelor fans. Unfortunately, the pandemic slammed the brakes on production, leaving everyone in suspense.

Rob Mills, an ABC Network executive shared that the casting interviews from the promo were incredibly touching. He emphasized that The Golden Bachelor would offer a fresh perspective, showcasing individuals who have reached a different stage in life. Widowed, divorced, or never having experienced love, these contestants bring a unique dynamic through the lens of the Bachelor world.

Naturally, some changes are in store for this special edition. Instead of meeting parents, the bachelor will have the opportunity to meet the children of the potential love interests, adding a delightful twist to the proceedings. Mud baths may take a backseat due to the slippery nature of age, but who knowsperhaps the infamous steamy photo shoots will continue to spice things up.

Also read | Why did Love Is Blind's Nick and Danielle slam Bachelor's Nick Viall?

Mills enthusiastically summed up the concept, stating, "It's everything you love about 'The Bachelor,' but everybody loves senior citizens because they have different love stories to talk about." And we couldn't agree more!
From May 2-8, 2023, the maiden Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)-India Maritime Exercise (AIME) took place in the Indian Ocean. The harbour phase of the exercise began from Changi Naval Base in Singapore, which is located close to the strategic Malacca Strait. The sea phase took place in the South China Sea. The AIME-23 saw all 10 ASEAN member States participate, eight of which sent their naval ships, while Cambodia and Laos, which are under considerable Chinese influence, sent their delegates. On Indias part, INS Delhi, Indias first indigenously built guided missile destroyer and INS Satpura, indigenously built guided missile stealth frigate participated. As per reports, during the South China Sea phase of the AIME-23, China sent ships of maritime militia to an area where the exercises were being conducted. As the AIME-23 has now come to a successful end, activities under it need to be analysed in light of the steady progress India has made with ASEAN. Indo-pacific region(Representative Image/AFP File Photo)

Indias ASEAN outreach began in 1992 when New Delhi was admitted as a sectoral dialogue partner of ASEAN; 2022 marked 30 years of this partnership, which was celebrated as India-ASEAN Friendship Year.

Signalling the growing strategic relevance of each other in the evolving geopolitics of the Indo-Pacific region, the relationship has now been elevated to comprehensive strategic partnership. Over the years, the relationship has deepened across various sectors and has achieved new salience with the challenges presented by the rise of China. The AIME-23 is a good example of steady progress within the maritime domain.

The AIME-23 is a direct outcome of the informal meeting between the defence minsters of ASEAN and India held in November 2022 in Cambodia. It marks an area of convergence between India and ASEAN in the Indo-Pacific region. Indias strategic footprint in the region has been steadily going up and AIME-23 builds on this. In 2019, India and ASEAN outlined their approaches towards the Indo-Pacific region, releasing the Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative (IPOI) and the ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific (AOIP) respectively. India considers ASEAN as the heart of its Indo-Pacific region. The common understanding that India and ASEAN share was reflected in a joint statement in 2021 which focused on maritime security. The objectives of the AIME-23 such as familiarising with each others navies, helping build trust, preparing for contingencies, working towards enabling seamless trade through the seas and securing the Indian Ocean from belligerent activities, is a result of a broad consensus between India and ASEAN in the Indo-Pacific region.

For India, AIME-23 and the expanding naval footprint hold considerable strategic importance. India conducts bilateral military drills with some ASEAN members like Singapore, Indonesia, and Thailand. However, AIME-23 pointed out the willingness to widen the overall defence partnership with the region. ASEAN conducts similar exercises with three other countries, namely China, the United States, and Russia. However, AIME-23 is being lauded as the most participative among ASEANs maritime exercises. Maritime security has been a crucial part of ASEAN agenda. India has begun to engage with ASEAN to ensure security in the Indo-Pacific and regularise its naval presence in the region.

In the context of Chinas aggressive posture in the South China Sea, India-ASEAN defence partnership holds significance. AIME-23 and the consequently deepening ties between India and Southeast Asia will be critical from the economic point of view as well. In 2019, ASEAN leaders declaration on the blue economy was released where the role of oceans and seas as key drivers of economic growth was acknowledged. India is also focusing on developing its blue economy capabilities. In 2022, India became a founding member of the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF), which was joined by seven ASEAN member States. Perhaps, the next logical step is to increase the overall economic presence of India in the region. The growing military presence without the necessary economic content in the India-ASEAN relationship will make it difficult to sustain such engagements.

AIME-23 fits well with the evolving strategic priorities of India and ASEAN. AIME-23 is a good beginning. The next step will be to build on such engagements and make it a routine affair on the strategic calendar of the region.

Authored by Shrabana Barua, political analyst, New Delhi and Sankalp Gurjar, assistant professor, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Karnataka.
A 56-year-old man, who boarded a flight from Ahmedabad to Bengaluru by Akasa Air, was arrested at the Kempegowda International Airport on Tuesday on charges of smoking a 'beedi' (local cigarette) mid-air, news agency PTI reported. The incident came to light when the crew members found the accused, smoking inside the lavatory.(PHOTO FOR REPRESENTATION PURPOSE ONLY)

The incident came to light when the crew members found the accused, who hails from Rajasthan's Marwar region, smoking inside the lavatory. The flight attendant swiftly swung into action, held him and, on reaching Bengaluru, handed him over to the police.

Also read | Severe turbulence during Delhi-Sydney Air India flight, seven passengers sought medical assistance

During the interrogation, the passenger admitted smoking on the plane, claiming that he was unaware of the rules and regulations as he boarded the plane for the first time. He added that during train travels, he smoked in toilets and tried the same on the plane.

The passenger has been booked on charges of endangering the lives of others, police said.

Read | Another urination incident on New York-Delhi flight, drunk passenger held

In a similar incident, a 37-year-old US citizen was held for allegedly smoking in the bathroom of a London-Mumbai Air India flight and misbehaving with co-passengers last month.

The accused, identified as Ramakant, also tried to open the door of the flight on March 10. As per the flight crew, the accused tried to open the door of the flight. He also said he was carrying some medicine in his bag, but no such object was found in his bag. The accused's samples have been sent for examination to confirm if he was in an inebriated condition or was mentally disturbed, Mumbai Police had said.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR Kanishka Singharia Kanishka is a journalist at Hindustan Times news desk. When not in newsroom, you will find her on streets of Delhi exploring food cafes or capturing world through her lens. ...view detail
After the Eknath Shinde-led Maharashtra government dropped all charges on Saturday against former Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh and revoked his suspension order, former Maharashtra Home Minister and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Anil Deshmukh on Wednesday alleged that the government used Singh to frame him. Maharashtra Home Minister and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Anil Deshmukh(PTI)

Former Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh was used by the government to frame me and now as a reward his suspension has been revoked. I will raise this issue in the party's core committee meeting today, Deshmukh said speaking to reporters.

In 2021, Singh in a letter to then Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray had accused Deshmukh of extorting 100 crore from several city's bar owners every month with the help of police officers.

As part of the decision, Singhs suspension until his superannuation in June 2022, will be treated as a period spent on duty, and all his perks will be restored, officials said. The move comes after the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) in Delhi, on March 16, 2023, allowed Singhs petition to challenge his suspension.

Singh, who served as Mumbais 43rd police commissioner from February 29, 2020, claimed that he was abruptly transferred from the post on March 17, 2021, and reassigned as Commandant General, Home Guards, Maharashtra, just four days after assistant police inspector Sachin Waze, who was then heading the Criminal Intelligence Unit (CIU) of the Crime Branch, was arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA).

Singh in May last year had claimed that he was targeted by the former ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) in the state, after he had exposed the alleged wrongdoings of the Deshmukh.

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The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has arrested a freelance journalist and a former navy commander for allegedly passing on sensitive military information, including details of Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) projects and future procurements of the armed forces, to enemy countries, people familiar with the development said on Wednesday. Earlier, CBI conducted raids at 12 locations, including premises linked to the two, as part of a larger conspiracy probe, which officials said, could have an impact on Indias bilateral ties with certain countries. (Representational image)

Also read: DRDO scientist arrested in Pune on espionage charges

Freelance journalist Vivek Raghuvanshi and former navy commander Ashish Pathak have been booked under the Official Secrets Act (OSA), which deals with charges of spying and leak of classified information, and Section 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code. The agency produced them before the Rouse Avenue Courts, where a special judge sent them to 6-day CBI custody, officials said.

Earlier, CBI conducted raids at 12 locations, including premises linked to Raghuvanshi and Pathak, as part of a larger conspiracy probe, which officials said, could have an impact on Indias bilateral ties with certain countries.

The journalist and the naval officer were questioned on Tuesday evening and taken into custody under OSA, said an officer, declining to be named.

CBI said on Wednesday that during searches, it has seized 48 electronic devices, including laptops, tablets, mobile phones, hard disks and pen drive, belonging to Raghuvanshi and others.

Besides, it has also recovered a number of incriminating documents relating to Indian defence establishments, the agency said.

It was alleged that the accused and his associate (ex-navy Commander, presently working with a private firm) were in possession of classified secret document related to Indian defence establishments. The scrutiny of devices recovered so far from the possession of accused also revealed that the accused was allegedly collecting confidential information related to Indias defence procurement from different sources and was in contact with several foreign entities/agents/persons, and that he had entered into contracts or agreements with several foreign entities for sharing of confidential information, said a CBI spokesperson on Wednesday.

It was also alleged that Raghuvanshi and his family members had received substantial amount from foreign sources, spokesperson added.

An official, requesting anonymity, said around 3 crore was received by Raghuvanshi and his family.

The federal agency was discreetly conducting an investigation into the alleged leaks after registering a case in this regard on December 9 last year. The probe was initially launched by the Delhi Police Special Cell but considering international ramifications, it was handed over to CBI.

Also read: A battle against spies in China is spooking locals and foreigners

In a first information report (FIR), seen by HT, the agency has alleged that Raghuvanshi and others were supplying information to intelligence agencies of enemy countries.

As per information, this is an international network in which some of the Indian journalists are supplying aforementioned strategic/secret information with intelligence agencies of foreign enemy countries, read the FIR.

Based in Jaipur, Raghuvanshi contributed articles to a US-based news portal that focuses on defence and space manufacturing developments.

There are international ramifications to this probe, said a second officer, who also requested anonymity. We have to find out what all data or information about defence projects had been shared.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has arrested freelance journalist Vivek Raghuvanshi and former navy commander Ashish Pathak in connection with the leak of sensitive military information including details of Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) projects and future procurements of the armed forces, people familiar with the matter said on Wednesday. File photo of arrested accused journalist Vivek Raghuvanshi.

Raghuvanshi and Pathak were arrested under the Official Secrets Act following raids on Tuesday related to the probe into the leaks, which officials said could impact Indias ties with certain countries.

The journalist was questioned on Tuesday evening and was taken into custody under Official Secrets Act and criminal conspiracy along with...Pathak. We are investigating a larger conspiracy in the matter, said an officer, who did not want to be named.

Also Read: Pakistan operative in touch with DRDOs Kurulkar also contacted IAF official

The agency has not specified Pathaks exact role in the case.

The CBI registered a case to probe the leaks in December. Raghuvanshi is alleged to be involved in the collection of sensitive information including the details of the DRDOs projects and their progress, the future procurement of armed forces, strategic preparedness, diplomatic talks of India with friendly countries, and sharing classified information with intelligence agencies of foreign countries, a CBI spokesperson said on Tuesday.

Raghuvanshi contributed articles to a US-based news portal focused on defence and space manufacturing. There are international ramifications to this probe. We have to find out what all data or information about defence projects had been shared, said a second officer, who also requested anonymity.

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China and Turkey are among G20 member states that wont attend a tourism working group meeting to be held in Srinagar next week while several other countries will have low-level participation in the event, people familiar with the matter said. The meeting will be held during May 22-24. (AFP)

The meeting, to be held during May 22-24, is being billed as one of the largest international events to be organised in Kashmir in the aftermath of the abrogation of Article 370 in August 2019. Tight security arrangements have been put in place around the venue, Sher-e-Kashmir International Conventional Centre (SKICC) on the banks of the Dal Lake. It was unclear if Indonesia, the last president of the G20 and a member of the groupings troika, would participate in the meeting in Srinagar.

Also read: Climate objectives and challenges of Indias G20 presidency

India has dismissed objections from Pakistan over the holding of G20 meetings in Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, saying such events are being organised in all states and union territories ahead of the summit in New Delhi in September.

China, which skipped a G20 meeting held in Arunachal Pradesh in March, and Turkey will not attend the meet in Srinagar, the people cited above said. Chinas decision is apparently linked to objections by its close ally Pakistan while Turkey has criticised Indias handling of the situation in Kashmir in past years.

Several other countries, both G20 member states and guest countries invited by India to be part of the G20 process, are expected to have low-level participation at the meet in Srinagar, the people said. These countries are likely to be represented by diplomats from their embassies in New Delhi instead of officials from their respective capitals, the people added. Saudi Arabia and Mexico are likely to be among these countries.

Host countries can pick venues for the G20 events, and since Jammu & Kashmir is an integral part of India, New Delhi is well within its rights to schedule an event in Srinagar. India will also likely want to showcase its developmental work in the region, as well as the tourism potential of the Union Territory.

The main event will be held at SKICC on May 22 and 23. We are expecting more than 100 delegates of the G20 states and guest countries, a senior officer at SKICC said.

We have refurbished the conference centre to international standards and an eco-friendly environment has been created for the delegates. Everything is being done to make this event sucessful and to showcase the culture, tourism and art of Jammu and Kashmir.

There will be a display of handicrafts and arts of Kashmir during a session at SKICC and a cultural event for which artists from different parts of the union territory have completed rehearsals.

The commissioner secretary for tourism, Abid Rashid, said the meeting will be used to encourage member countries to lift their travel advisories on Kashmir. There will be officers from countries that have issued negative travel advisories. I hope they will consider lifting these advisories after the event, he said.

Special emphasis is being laid on security for the venue and review meetings are being held daily by top officials of security agencies. Security has also been enhanced for two top hotels in Srinagar where the delegates will stay. The delegates may visit the ski resort of Gulmarg, though officials said a final call is yet to be made about the trip due to security concerns.

Additional director general of police Vijay Kumar said the security details have been finalised. We have instructed officials of various agencies and the administration to cooperate closely with police and security force for a successful G20 meeting. All magistrates and police officers have been instructed to identify rumour mongers, if any, and take preventive measures, he said.

Also read: More boots on ground, round-the-clock vigil: Srinagar readies for key G20 meet

The Jammu and Kashmir administration has launched an advertisement campaign on social media and national media to promote the meeting and developmental projects. For the past month, a series of events related to G20 have been held across Jammu and Kashmir by various departments, especially in schools. A Youth-20 meeting was held at Kashmir University.

Srinagar has been spruced up for the event and the administration has been on a major renovation drive in the run up to the event. Srinagar Municipal Corporation (SMC) commissioner, Athar Amin Khan, said all projects under the smart city project have been completed or are on verge of completion. The airport road and flyover have been spruced up and the city has been illuminated.
The record breaking humid heat wave that hit east and north India; Bangladesh; Laos and Thailand in April were made at least 30 times more likely by climate change, a rapid attribution analysis said on Wednesday. (AP)

The analysis by an international team of scientists with the World Weather Attribution group said a highly vulnerable population was subjected to a deadly combination of high heat and humidity which amplified the impacts in early summer this year.

Large populations across South Asia during a 4-day period between April 17 and 20 were exposed to a heat index or feels like temperature of over 41 degree C and some areas particularly in Laos recorded heat index of over 54 degree C which can be deadly, scientists said. WWAs report coincided with a statement issued by World Meteorological Organisation on Wednesday cautioning that there is a 66% likelihood that the annual average global temperature between 2023 and 2027 will be more than 1.5 degree C above pre-industrial levels for at least one year.

India and Pakistan also experienced a severe heat spell last March and April. The 2022 heatwave is estimated to have led to around 90 deaths across India and Pakistan; triggered an extreme Glacial Lake Outburst Flood in northern Pakistan; forest fires in India; reduced Indias wheat crop yields; power outages that impacted millions of people. WWA scientists had said the climate crisis had made such an event 30 times more likely. On Wednesday they said while India experienced a dry heat episode last year, this year it was in more humid, coastal regions of the country.

This April, parts of south and southeast Asia experienced an intense heatwave spell, with record-breaking temperatures that passed 44 degree C over east India; 42 degree C in Laos and 45 degree C in Thailand. The heat caused widespread hospitalisations, damaged roads, sparked fires and led to school closures. The number of deaths remains unknown, scientists said.

In Bangladesh, Dhaka observed the highest maximum temperature recorded in decades of 40.6 degree C on April 15. In India, several northern and eastern cities recorded maximum temperatures above 44 degree C on April 18. Thailand recorded its highest ever temperature of 45.4 degree C on April 15 in the city of Tak. The Sainyabuli province in Lao PDR reported 42.9 degree C on April 19 as its all-time national temperature record. Vientiane, the capital of Lao PDR, recorded 41.4 degree C on April 15, the hottest day ever for the capital. On the same day, Luan Prabang in Lao PDR reported 42.7 degree C.

The analysis states that there was a sudden surge in heat strokes, electricity demand, around 13 casualties and about 50-60 hospitalisations due to heat stroke were reported in Navi Mumbai, Maharashtra on April 16. Other sources mention 650 hospitalisations. Casualties were also reported from Thailand. The true cost to human lives will only be known months after the event. In India, in the states of West Bengal, Tripura and Odisha, schools closed three weeks earlier than planned due to the heat. In addition, a large number of forest fires occurred during the same time in India, Thailand and Lao PDR, the analysis said on Wednesday.

Scientists from India, Thailand, France, Australia, Denmark, Germany, Kenya, the Netherlands, the US and the United Kingdom collaborated to assess how the climate crisis made such a heat spell in April more likely. Using peer-reviewed methods, available datasets, scientists analysed how climate change altered the likelihood and intensity of the 4-day April heatwave event. They measured the impact of the heat spell as a heat index which integrates temperature and humidity. The analysis released on Wednesday has not yet been peer reviewed but is expected to go through peer review soon.

Due to the high humidity conditions during the heatwave, heat index values are higher than the actual temperatures. The team excluded the dry, semi-arid region that runs parallel to the Western Ghats where humidity is low in the pre-monsoon season for a clear assessment. The heat index values found by the team exceeded the threshold considered as dangerous (41 degree C) over the large parts of the South Asian regions studied this year. In a few areas, it was in extremely dangerous category (above 54 degree C) under which the body temperature is difficult to maintain, scientists said.

To decipher the influence of climate change on extreme heat, based on the 1.2 degree C warming in average global temperatures, the team combined observations and models which shows there is an increase in likelihood of such an event to occur by at least a factor of 30 over India and Bangladesh due to current warming levels. At the same time, a heatwave with a chance of occurrence of 20% in any given year over India and Bangladesh is now about 2 degree C hotter in terms of heat index than it would be without global warming. In India and Bangladesh, the likelihood of this Aprils event reoccurring would increase by about a factor of 3 between now and reaching 2 degree C global warming, meaning that such an event could be expected every 1-2 years, the analysis said.

The impacts of climate change on exacerbating heat are not uniform and vary greatly based on the region, scientists said. Last years spring heat spell was largely a dry event. Its impact on crops was more but impact on human health was comparatively less. This year however the impact on health was more because it was humid heat. These regions are continuing to see very high temperatures. We are seeing an increase in both kinds of heat events- prolonged dry heat and extreme humid heat, said Mariam Zachariah from the Grantham Institute, Imperial College London, UK who is a co-author of the analysis during a briefing.

Frequency and severity of heat waves have been increasing over the country over the past few decades. Due to climate change, the water vapour holding capacity has increased and so, humidity levels are also expected to increase. But we have no study yet that we can refer to for increase of humidity over different regions, said M Mohapatra, director general, IMD.

There is a 66% likelihood that the annual average global temperature between 2023 and 2027 will be more than 1.5 degree C above pre-industrial levels for at least one year. There is a 98% likelihood that at least one of the next five years, and the five-year period as a whole, will be the warmest on record, WMO cautioned on Wednesday.

This report does not mean that we will permanently exceed the 1.5 degree C level specified in the Paris Agreement which refers to long-term warming over many years. However, WMO is sounding the alarm that we will breach the 1.5 degree C level on a temporary basis with increasing frequency, said WMO Secretary-General Petteri Taalas in a statement.

A warming El Nino is expected to develop in the coming months and this will combine with human-induced climate change to push global temperatures into uncharted territory. This will have far-reaching repercussions for health, food security, water management and the environment. We need to be prepared, said Taalas.

There is only a 32% chance that the five-year mean will exceed the 1.5 degree C threshold, according to the Global Annual to Decadal Climate Update produced by the United Kingdoms Met Office, the WMO lead centre for such predictions. The chance of temporarily exceeding 1.5 degree C has risen steadily since 2015, when it was close to zero. For the years between 2017 and 2021, there was a 10% chance of exceedance.

Who feels the heat?

Scientists who are part of WWA flagged that social vulnerability particularly religion, caste, gender, migration, and living conditions are critical when it comes to impact of extreme heat on people. People are still recovering from disasters of covid, of extreme heat episodes of last year, of cyclones and extremely hard to recover or adapt because of the increased frequency of disasters. Age, gender, caste, hierarchy all determine how people are able to access certain resources. For example, the large number of informal settlements in areas affected by the April heat wave has an impact on whether accessed resources such as healthcare, cooling etc. Similarly, occupation also plays a central role such as street vendors and agricultural labourers who are out in the heat, said Emmanuel Raju from Department of Public Health, Global Health Section & Copenhagen Centre for Disaster and co-author of the analysis.

Factors such as air pollution, the urban heat island effect, and wildfires further compound health impacts, particularly among the most vulnerable populations, scientists said.

There are a range of solutions to heat-related harms from the individual to the regional level. India among Bangladesh, Laos and Thailand has the most advanced heatwave planning presently. Solutions, such as self-protective action, early warning systems for heat, passive and active cooling, urban planning, and heat action plans can be effective at reducing fatalities and other negative impacts, the analysis said adding that people vulnerable in situations of extreme heat typically include the elderly, those with pre-existing medical conditions such as cardiovascular disease or diabetes, pregnant and breastfeeding women, those taking certain medications, and those with mental health considerations.
In the first year of trading, the shares of Life Insurance Corporation (LIC), India's leading insurer, have experienced a significant decline of approximately 40 per cent from their initial issue price. This downturn has resulted in investors losing a staggering 1.93 lakh crore, thus depleting their wealth. Senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh and BJP IT-cell head Amit Malviya

The Congress on Wednesday was quick to hit out at the Narendra Modi government over the fall in the company's market capitalisation. Senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh sought to link the decline in the market cap of the firm to the investment in Adani companies, a charge rejected by the Bharatiya Janata Party, which accused him of misleading people with "half information".

"Exactly a year ago today, LIC was listed in the stock market. Its market capitalisation then stood at 5.48 lakh crore. Today, this is down to 3.59 lakh crore a fall of a whopping 35%!" Ramesh tweeted.

"There is only one reason for this steep fall Modani. In the process, lakhs and lakhs of policyholders have taken a serious hit," he added, tagging a screenshot of a media report which claimed that LIC share has wiped out 1.9 lakh crore since listing," he added.

Hitting back at Ramesh, BJP IT-cell head Amit Malviya said the LIC's exposure in Adani Group is less than 1 per cent.

"LIC has bagged multi-crore profit on Adani stocks. There is no risk to policyholders says LIC Chief. Jairam Ramesh, who is known for leaking privileged correspondence to media, to embarrass then PM Manmohan Singh, in whose cabinet he was a minister, is once again misleading people by peddling half information," Malviya tweeted and shared a media report that quoted the LIC chief.

The Congress has been attacking the government over the fall in the value of LIC's holdings in the Adani Group and had asked who "forced" this pillar of India's financial system to take such a risky exposure to the conglomerate.

The Congress has been demanding a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probe into the allegations against the Adani Group by US-based short-seller Hindenburg Research. The Adani Group has dismissed the allegations as baseless.

LIC struggles to attract investors

The LIC has been the among worst performers of newly listed companies, as the countrys biggest initial public offering struggles to attract investors.

LIC had listed at over 8 per cent discount on May 17 last year after a successful Initial Public Offering (IPO) which fetched 20,557 crore to the exchequer. Shares of LIC had listed at 872 on the BSE and at 867.20 on the NSE.

The stock of LIC is down 39.92 per cent as against the issue price of 949 on the BSE.

On the NSE, it has tumbled 39.93 per cent from the issue price.

On Wednesday, LIC shares ended with a gain of 0.48 per cent at 570.10 on the BSE. On the NSE, shares of the firm ended at 570, an increase of 0.44 per cent.

(With inputs from agencies)

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Congress leader Randeep Surjewala on Wednesday refuted the speculative reports claiming Siddaramaiah as the next Karnataka chief minister and said the deliberations on the modalities of the government formation are still underway. Surjewala, AICC general secretary in charge for Karnataka, also said a decision on it is likely on Wednesday or Thursday and a new cabinet in the state will be in place in the next 48-72 hours. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge offers sweets to Siddaramaiah during celebrations after the party's win in Karnataka Assembly elections, as state unit chief DK Shivakumar looks on.(PTI)

"Do not resort to any speculation, whenever a decision is taken by the Congress president, we will be happy to inform you. I am only here to quash multiple rumours and hearsay ...that are being played on multiple news channels. Please don't believe in it," Surjewala told reporters," Surjewala told reporters outside Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge's 10 Rajaji Marg residence in New Delhi.

Deliberations are currently underway by party president Mallikarjun Kharge. Whenever Congress makes a decision we will inform you. In the next 48-72 hours, we will have a new cabinet in Karnataka, he added.

He said consultations are still on and urged the media to not report on speculation or heed to fake information, alleging that the stories around chief ministership were being planted by the rival Bharatiya Janata Party.

Hectic parleys for the CM post entered the fourth day on Wednesday following Congress's emphatic victory in the Karnataka assembly elections. The newly elected MLAs unanimously passed a resolution authorising Kharge to name the Karnataka chief minister and the two frontrunners, Siddaramaiah and DK Shivakumar, since then have been lobbying hard to get the coveted top post.

Earlier in the day, Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar both met senior party leader Rahul Gandhi at UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi's residence in the national capital. Shivakumar met Gandhi after Siddaramaiah held a 30-minute meeting with the former party chief.

Siddaramaiah is considered the front-runner among the two, while reports suggest that Shivakumar has refused to budge from his claim on the chief ministership. He has been asserting that the Karnataka assembly election was won under him as state party chief and that he has worked hard for ensuring this victory.

Meanwhile, outgoing Karnataka chief minister and BJP leader Basavaraj Bommai said the ongoing suspense over the chief ministerial face by Congress shows the "internal situation" in the party.

"Congress is yet to finalise its CM candidate in spite of getting a majority. This shows the internal situation in the party. The aspirations of people are more important than politicking. Congress should choose a chief minister as soon as possible," Bommai said.

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The Delhi government has sealed the office of the state vigilance departments special secretary, YVVJ Rajasekhar, and has begun looking into a raft of allegations, including of corruption, against the officer, according to people aware of the matter, days after the Capitals elected administration said he had been accused of extortion and graft. The officer has been at the centre of a controversy since earlier this week when he was divested of duties and ordered to hand over all files, and him alleging that some of the files were copied by unknown people shortly after he was shunted from his role. Delhi services minister Saurabh Bharadwaj said the government has taken cognisance of a complaint by NGO against YVVJ Rajasekhar. (ANI)

Also read: Delhi school receives bomb threat, police call it hoax; 4th incident this year

People aware of the matter shared new details that add a murky twist to the saga, citing a legal notice sent on May 12 by a Delhi-based NGO that accused Rajasekhar of corruption, forgery and harassment, as well as of threatening people.

The NGO has furnished lots of proof against the IAS officer, citing investigations by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) and Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) investigations that he has been named in, said the official, asking not to be named.

Among these were his alleged role in a CNG fitness certificate scam, an exercise to seal polluting industrial units for he was purportedly removed, and an ACB report that allegedly said Rajasekhar should not be appointed to a sensitive post in the future, according to the NGOs legal notice.

HT could not independently verify the authenticity of the allegations the NGO has levelled against Rajasekhar.

Rajasekhar issued a 150-page rebuttal as part of his letter sent on Wednesday, denying the allegations. In the letter, he called the allegations baseless and mala fide and said they were not accepted by the agencies.

Delhi services minister Saurabh Bharadwaj said the government has taken cognisance of the complaint. The department is assessing the complaint, and appropriate action will be accordingly taken, he said. Bharadwaj on Monday ordered his department to withdraw all work assigned to Rajasekhar, a 2012-batch IAS officer, reportedly after being made cognisant of the allegations against him. This, in turn, came days after the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government prevailed in the Supreme Court in its tussle against the Centre in its battle for control of the Delhi services department and the states administrative machinery.

The top court on Thursday ruled that the elected government of Delhi could appoint or transfer officers in all departments, except those concerning land, police and public order. It also underlined that the Capitals lieutenant governor is bound by the aid and advice of the state council of ministers.

Also read: Who is Ashish More, the officer at loggerheads with the Delhi government?

Hours after that decision, the AAP government ordered the removal of services secretary Ashish More from his position, just as chief minister Arvind Kejriwal warned of a major overhaul in the citys administrative set-up. The legal notice sent by the NGO Abhinav Samaj to Kejriwal and Bharadwaj alleges Rajasekhar was transferred from Goa to Delhi in 2022 on purpose, to trouble the AAP government.

The notice also flagged that when Rajasekhar was serving as the estate director of the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC), a senior female IAS officer who worked in the same agency complained he was openly indulging in an organised criminal culture of harassment and levelling threats.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) will step in soon to investigate the money laundering aspect of the corruption case registered against former CBI judge, Sudhir Parmar, his nephew, Ajay Parmar and director of real estate company, M3M India Pvt Ltd, Roop Bansal by Haryana Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) at Panchkula. Sudhir Parmar was suspended on April 27, after being booked on April 17. (HT)

Also read: ED searches offices of Ponniyin Selvan makers in Chennai: Reports

The central agency will conduct investigations under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) after registering an enforcement case information report (ECIR) based on the April 17 first information report (FIR) registered by ACB under Sections 7, 8, 11 and 13 of the Prevention of Corruption Act and section 120-B of the Indian Penal Code for offences relating to a public servant being bribed, a public servant taking undue advantage, criminal misconduct by a public servant and criminal conspiracy.

Parmar, suspended on April 27, after being booked on April 17, has been accused of alleged favouritism in his treatment of real estate developers Roop Bansal and his brother Basant Bansal of M3M and Lalit Goyal of IREO Group, as per the ACBs FIR.

The Bansals and Goyal have been named as accused by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and ED in cases pending before the special CBI court -- a court that was presided over by Parmar.

Parmar held charge of the CBI court in Panchkula, and was also special judge under the PMLA, Panchkula.

Parmar and Roop Bansal did not respond to text messages sent on May 10 seeking a comment. Sameer Chaudhary, lawyer for the real estate development company IREO in an email on May 11 night denied allegations of any misconduct or wrongdoing and participation in any offence, as alleged or otherwise.

An additional district and sessions rank judge, Parmar was presiding over the trial of several CBI and ED cases involving real estate developers, retired bureaucrats and politicians. He was questioned by an ACB team on April 18 . He was placed under suspension by the high court on April 27.

The FIR was registered on the basis of reliable source information, WhatsApp chats and audio recordings of the accused, according to people familiar with the investigation against Parmar.

ED registered a case under the PMLA and arrested Lalit Goyal, the vice-chairman and managing director of realty giant IREO Group in November 2021 for allegedly cheating home buyers and others. In February 2022, ED presented a prosecution complaint (challan) against Goyal in the special PMLA court in Panchkula. The source provided screenshots of WhatsApp chats between Parmar and another person in which he demands 5 crore to 7 crore for helping the M3M owners in ED cases and requests the person chatting with him to receive the bribe on his behalf. In the same chat, the person says that 5 crore has already been given to Sudhir Parmar by the accused in the IREO case, the FIR said.

Also read: Top court cautions ED: Dont create an atmosphere of fear

The FIR said that in another audio recording, Sudhir Parmar is asking someone for 1.5 crore ( 50 lakh per head) as illegal gratification for meeting the accused. The FIR said that in three other recordings provided by the source, Sudhir Parmar, the FIR said, always spoke to Bansal and other accused of M3M and IREO using Ajay Parmars mobile phone and on WhatsApp and FaceTime calls

More audio recordings provided by the source reveal that Parmar, during a conversation with an unknown person, admits/claims that he did not let Roop Bansal become an accused in ED cases. In another recording with Roop Bansal, he even promises that if he (Roop Bansal) is let off in the CBI case, then he (Parmar) would not let him (Roop Bansal) become accused in the ED case. In another recording pertaining to property worth 1,200 crore, Parmar claims that he has spoken to Sunil Yadav (officer of ED) and he would not allow it to be attached provided some justification for a transaction was shown, the FIR said.

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Decision on new Karnataka CM by tomorrow, assures Congress amid BJP's attack Congress leader Randeep Surjewala on Wednesday refuted the speculative reports claiming Siddaramaiah as the next Karnataka chief minister and said the deliberations on the modalities of the government formation are still underway. Surjewala, AICC general secretary in charge for Karnataka, also said a decision on it is likely on Wednesday or Thursday and a new cabinet in the state will be in place in the next 48-72 hours. Read Here. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge offers sweets to Siddaramaiah during celebrations after the party's win in Karnataka Assembly elections, as state unit chief DK Shivakumar looks on. (PTI)

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India is a melting pot of civilisations, cultures, religions, and languages: this proposition of the Supreme Court is unfailingly underlined whenever the long-standing debate over the fundamental right to propagate ones religious faith presents itself. PREMIUM The Supreme Court has endeavoured to strike a balance between fundamental right to propagate religion and illegal conversion (HT File)

Even as the legislative history and judicial precedents have remained wary of the tipping point when the fundamental right to propagate religion transforms into illegal conversion, the Preamble of the Indian Constitution highlighting the secular nature of our democratic republic and the fundamental rights guaranteeing freedom of conscience and choice have anchored the Supreme Court in striking a balance.

While adjudicating a petition filed by advocate Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay demanding a Central law against forced conversions in the wake of alleged mass conversions of socially and economically underprivileged people across the country, the apex court in January registered suo motu (on its own motion) proceedings into the matter, seeking attorney generals assistance.

In these proceedings, the Tami Nadu government recently filed an affidavit maintaining there is nothing illegal about missionaries spreading Christianity unless they employ unlawful means to do so. The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK)- led government added that the Constitution of India gives people a right to spread their religion peacefully and change their beliefs.

The proceedings before the top court in this case have cast a spotlight on the right to propagate religion which is tricky not just for its social ramifications but also for the constitutional and legal interpretations it involves.

The Indian Constitution on freedom of religion

The word propagate was contentious even when the constituent assembly debated the fundamental right to practise and propagate religion on the morning of December 6, 1948. At that time, it was Article 19 of the draft Constitution. Several members moved amendments to remove the word propagate ore revise this clause.

Tajamul Hussain, a Muslim representative, suggested replacing the words practise and propagate religion by practise religion privately. Why should you interfere with my religion, he asked, and why should I interfere with your religion? Lokanath Misra called the religious freedom clause a charter for Hindu enslavement, which he claimed, would pave the way for the complete annihilation of Hindu culture, the Hindu way of life and manners. Assamese delegate Rohini Kumar Chaudhari complained there is no provision in this Constitution to prevent the so-called propagandist of his religion from throwing mud at some other religion. KT Shah advocated for prohibition against propagation of religion in educational institutions, asylums and hospitals, institutions for the elderly, etc.

But Pandit Lakshmi Kanta Maitra favoured the provision, arguing that the fundamental right to propagate may probably work to remove the misconceptions in the minds of the people about other co-existing religions in this land of different faiths. HV Kamath, on his part, emphasised that even as no particular religion should receive state patronage, we must be very careful to see that in this land of ours, we do not deny anybody the right not only to profess or practise but also to propagate any particular religion.

As the chair of the Drafting Committee, BR Ambedkar was called upon to make final comments on the amendments proposed in the impugned constitutional provision. Ambedkar rejected the modifications sought against the right to propagate religion and thus, the original provision, as mentioned under draft Article 19, was incorporated into Article 25 of the Constitution.

Article 25 maintains that all persons are equally entitled to freedom of conscience and the right freely to profess, practise and propagate religion, subject to public order, morality and health. Apart from the caveats mentioned above, the provision adds that the state shall still be entitled to regulate or restrict any economic, financial, political or other secular activity which may be associated with religious practice.

Similarly, Article 26 entitles every religious denomination to manage its own affairs in matters of religion, but this right is also subject to public order, morality and health. Articles 27 to 30 also guarantee freedom to manage religious affairs, monetarily contribute to promotion of any religion, and to set up and administer educational institutions.

From early decisions, the Supreme Court has protected the rights under Articles 25 and 26, stressing how the right to choose religion is a natural right of choice.

In Ratilal Panachand Gandhi Vs The State of Bombay and others, 1954, the Supreme Court held that every person has a fundamental right under our Constitution not merely to entertain such religious belief as may be approved of by his judgment or conscience but to exhibit his belief and ideas in such overt acts as are enjoined or sanctioned by his religion and further to propagate his religious views for edification of others.

With mans relations to his Maker and the obligations he may think they impose, and the manner in which an expression shall be made by him of his belief on those subjects, no interference can be permitted, provided always the laws of society, designed to secure its peace and prosperity, and the morals of its people, are not interfered with, emphasised the top court in SP Mittal Vs Union of India, 1983.

In Punjabrao Vs DP Meshram (1965), the Supreme Court interpreted what professing a religion means. A declaration of one's belief must necessarily mean a declaration in such a way that it would be known to those whom it may interest, held the court.

The legal position, the Supreme Court held in Masud Alam Vs Commissioner of Police (1956), is thus clear that while the state must protect religious faith and belief, if religious practices run counter to public order, morality or health, then they must give way before the good of the people of the state as a whole.

History of anti-conversion law in India

India has a long history of anti-conversion laws which date back to the pre-Independence era. While the British did not enact any law, many princely states did so to restrict the missionary activity. Some of the examples of such legislations are: Raigarh State Conversion Act, 1936, Patna Freedom of Religion Act, 1942, Sarguja State Apostasy Act, 1945, Udaipur State Anti-Conversion Act, 1946. Further, specific laws against conversion to Christianity were enacted in Bikaner, Jodhpur, Kalahandi and Kota.

After Independence, in 1954, Parliament took up for consideration the Indian Conversion (Regulation and Registration) Bill. Six years later, another law, the Backward Communities (Religious Protection) Bill, 1960, was proposed to stop conversion. Both bills failed in the Parliament for want of support. The last attempt made at a Central legislation was in 1978 when an All India Freedom of Religion Bill was introduced in Lok Sabha by Morarji Desais Janata Party government. However, it was never discussed, and was dropped after the government fell in July 1979.

Orissa, Madhya Pradesh and Arunachal Pradesh passed anti-conversion laws in 1967, 1968 and 1978 respectively.

States with anti-conversion laws

At present, there are at least 10 states in the country where similar legislations on unlawful conversions are in force. States of Odisha (1967 Act), Madhya Pradesh (1968 Act), Arunachal Pradesh (1978 Act), Gujarat (2003 Act, amended in 2021), Himachal Pradesh (2006 Act, re-enacted in 2019), Chhattisgarh (1968 Act, amended in 2006), Jharkhand (2017), Uttarakhand (2018) and Uttar Pradesh (2020) have specific legislation against unlawful conversion, which provide for penal consequences in case of conviction.

Rajasthan had also promulgated an anti-conversion law in 2006 but it has not come into force till date for want of assent of the Governor. However, a set of guidelines issued by the high court in December 2017 allows scrutiny and prior approval by the state machinery into interfaith marriages. The high court said that till the time the state government came up with a law, the court had a duty to issue some guidelines to check the problem of forcible conversion of religion for the purpose of solemnising marriage only.

Two years ago, Uttar Pradesh joined the league of states having such laws. The UP government passed the law, famously known as the love-jihad law in February this year, following enacting the ordinance on the same subject in November 2020. The law prescribes a jail term up to 10 years and fine up to 50,000 for conversion under marriage, fraud, coercion or enticement.

Karnataka too, framed a law of its own last year, incorporating some of the harshest provisions in terms of jail term. While most states have not provided for a minimum jail term, the Karnataka anti-conversion law prescribed a minimum punishment of three years behind bars upon conviction. While the minimum punishment in UP is one year, in Karnataka, it is three years.

Legal challenges to anti-conversion laws

In Punjabrao Vs DP Meshram, 1965, the Supreme Court interpreted what professing a religion means as it explained that if a public declaration is made by a person that he has ceased to belong to his old religion and has accepted another religion, he will be taken as professing the other religion.

The first major case in which the Supreme Court ruled on the freedom of religion and on conversions related to petitions challenging the conversion laws of Orissa and MP in 1967-68. In 1977, a constitution bench in Rev Stainislaus Vs State of Madhya Pradesh upheld the validity of the laws, saying freedom to propagate ones religion, as stipulated under Article 25 (1), did not grant a fundamental right to convert another person. The bench ruled that a purposive conversion would impinge on the freedom of conscience guaranteed to all citizens. The court dissected Article 25 to hold that the Article does not grant the right to convert other persons to ones own religion but to transmit or spread ones religion by an exposition of its tenets. What is freedom for one is freedom for the other in equal measure and there can, therefore, be no such thing as a fundamental right to convert any person to ones own religion, it said.

In the Sarla Mudgal case (1995), the Supreme Court held that conversion to Islam was not valid if done only in order to be able to practise polygamy. It was held to be an act of bigamy prohibited under Section 17 of Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, and punishable under Section 494 of the Indian Penal Code. The second marriage would be void, the SC said.

This position was reaffirmed by the apex courts judgment in the Lilly Thomas case in 2000, which clarified that prosecution for bigamy was not a violation of the freedom of religion under Article 25. A person who mockingly adopts another religion where plurality of marriage is permitted so as to renounce the previous marriage and desert the wife, he cannot be permitted to take advantage of his exploitation as religion is not a commodity to be exploited, said this judgment.

In M Chandra Vs M Thangamuthu & Another, 2010, the Supreme Court laid down the following test to prove conversion: It is a settled principle of law that to prove a conversion from one religion to another, two elements need to be satisfied. First, there has to be a conversion and second, acceptance into the community to which the person converted. It is obvious that the need for conversion cannot be all together done away with.

In its 2011 judgment on the murders of Graham Staines - an Australian missionary who worked with the tribal people in Orissa, and his two sons  the apex court said: It is undisputed that there is no justification for interfering in someones belief by way of use of force, provocation, conversion, incitement or upon a flawed premise that one religion is better than the other.

Two recent Supreme Court judgments, particularly the nine-judge bench ruling in the right to privacy case, could be a turning point in the entire discourse.

In the 2017 right to privacy judgment, the nine-judge bench held: The constitutional right to the freedom of religion under Article 25, thus has implicit within it the ability to choose a faith and the freedom to express or not express those choices to the world.

Choosing a faith is the substratum of individuality and sans it, the right of choice becomes a shadow, the Supreme Court said in a 2018 judgment in a case where a Hindu adult woman accepted Islam after she married a Muslim man.

Ever since the Stainislaus (1977) judgement that has occupied the field so far, the nine-judge bench ruling of 2017 in the right to privacy case could be the most pertinent development which lays down a set of modern judicial standards. These standards underscore apart from the requirement of a legislation to achieve a legitimate State aim and a rational nexus between the objects and the means adopted to achieve them, the extent of States interference must be proportionate to its need (proportionality test).

While the Supreme Court is yet to come out with a definitive ruling on a legal interpretation of the term propagate, more than a dozen petitions pending before it on various aspects of religious conversion and challenging the laws framed by different states make it pressing for the highest court of the land to lay down a precedent capable guiding the courts, the executive as well as citizens of the country.
The Gautam Budh Nagar police on Wednesday busted a meth lab set up and operated by foreign nationals from a three-storey residential building in Greater Noida, arresting nine people and recovering drugs worth around 200 crore, said officials aware of the crackdown on an elaborate operation that went unnoticed for at least a year. The meth lab operated out of a three-storey building in Greater Noida. (Sourced)

One of the arrested suspects tried to set the whole unit afire when they spotted the police arriving at the building. The police, however, snuffed out the arson attempt, even as another of the suspects jumped off the third floor. He was arrested by police officers waiting on the ground floor.

The incident triggered chatter on the similarities with the Breaking Bad show, in which the protagonist Walter White aka Heisenberg started cooking meth.

Also read: Operation Kavach: Delhi police's biggest operation in the capital against drug nexus

Meth and crystal meth are the common terms for methamphetamine, a powerful and highly addictive synthetic narcotic.

The foreigners, eight from Nigeria and one from Senegal, set up their meth lab across all floors of the three-storey building in Greater Noidas Theta 2 sector, adding that they seized raw material, apparatus and associated chemicals worth 100 crore from the flat.

The chemicals seized include methyl alcohol, hypophosphoric acid, hydrosulfuric acid, iodine crystals, ammonia, ephedrine, acetone, sulfur, copper salts, among others, said the police, underlining the scale of the illegal operation.

The suspects were identified as Anudum Emmanuel, Ajoku Ubaka, Daniel Azuh, Levi Uzochukw, Jacob Emefiele, Kofie, Chidi Ijiagwa, Ajoku Klechi (all residents of Nigeria) and Dramemond from Senegal. All of them appeared to be living in the country illegally, said officers.

The racket depended largely on business from Delhi, only accepted bulk orders and payment in cryptocurrency, officers added.

Gautam Budh Nagar police chief Laxmi Singh called the operation one of the biggest-ever drug busts in Uttar Pradesh.

The police had received tip-offs about a large drug racket in the area. At least 46kg of methamphetamine was recovered in its purest, white form, said Singh.

On Wednesday morning, the police laid a trap at Greater Noidas Dhadha roundabout, around 6km from the residence-turned-lab.

Two of the nine suspects were nabbed from the roundabout in Greater Noida with about 5.5kg of meth. The two suspects were interrogated, with their inputs leading us to the three-storey house in Theta-2, said the officer.

The police detailed what appeared to be a well-oiled racket, run by experienced people.

The suspects had ample experience and may have been trained to deal with sophisticated apparatus and chemicals, said police commissioner Singh. They used professional gloves, splash-proof goggles and respirators, said the commissioner.

The suspects also had a robust supply chain in place, said the police.

The suspects procured raw material from chemical suppliers locally. Police teams are working to trace these suppliers and crack down on the distribution network. Most of the orders placed with the suspects were in bulk and payments were being done in cryptocurrency, said the commissioner.

She added that the police are investigating the suspects potential terror links.

Police did not recover any personal or identification documents from the suspects, including visas, passports or even bank account papers.

SM Khan, deputy commissioner of police (Greater Noida), who led the operation, said, The suspects were active in Delhi and used to frequent Greater Noida as well. None of their documents have been found from their possession. During interrogation, they named another person who apparently has their documents. That person is being traced, said the officer.

Also read: 2,500kg drugs seized were packaged in Pakistan, says NCB

He said the Narcotics Crime Bureau and Uttar Pradesh Anti Narcotics Task Force have been informed about the bust, as well as the respective embassies. We have also initiated paperwork to gather more information about the suspects from their home countries, he said.

The manufacturing process included cooking ephedrine on a burner and extracting meth in a solution of acetone, ethanol or methanol. After extraction, the meth was frozen in a solution of methanol or acetone. Freezing this resulted in a pure form of the drug, said Khan.

The police have also asked the landlord, who lives in Ghaziabad, to join the investigation.

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The Delhi high court on Wednesday granted interim relief to former Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) zonal director Sameer Wankhede after he was summoned by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Thursday in connection with a bribery matter linked to a drugs case in which he had tried to implicate Aryan Khan. Sameer Wankhede was shunted out of NCB last year.

The high courts relief came after the federal agency orally assured that it will not act against the Indian Revenue Service officer, who has been named as the prime accused in the corruption case filed by CBI last week, till Monday. The case pertains to an alleged demand of 25 crore from actor Shah Rukh Khan for not framing his son Aryan in the 2021 Cordelia cruise ship drugs case.

Also read: Cruise drug bust: CBI calls Sameer Wankhede for questioning today

As the court was recording CBI counsel Nikhil Goels submission that the agency will not act against Wankhede till Monday, the lawyer said: My IO (investigating office) is standing here. I dont want anything to be recorded... If he (Wankhede) writes an email, he will get a response, come on Monday. I am here, he can come back tomorrow (if CBI acts against him) to my Lords. The high court was hearing a petition by Wankhede, seeking a free and fair investigation in the matter. In the interim, Wankhede had sought a stay on CBI summons for Thursday.

Goel objected to the jurisdiction and told the court that the petition could not be filed in Delhi as the subject matter is from Maharashtra. He said only the case was registered by CBI in Delhi, but everything was forwarded to Mumbai.

Goel verbally assured the court that the agency would not act till Monday. Without getting into the merits, Wankhede withdrew his petition from the high court to approach the appropriate forum in Mumbai.

According to people familiar with the matter, Wankhede was summoned for a probe at the federal agencys office in Mumbai. Wankhedes interrogation, a CBI officer said, will focus on some key aspects of a controversial raid at Cordelia cruise ship on October 2, 2021 -- such as allowing free hand to a private person, Kiran Gosavi, who accompanied the probe team and even posted a photograph with Aryan in NCB custody; an alleged demand of 25 crore from the Khan family which was allegedly settled at 18 crore; deletion of names of suspects from an original NCB information note; and allowing some individuals to walk free.

Wankhede was shunted out of NCB last year and the government ordered a probe against him after a vigilance enquiry found major discrepancies in the Cordelia raid, led by him, in 2021. Aryan was among 20 people who were arrested after the dramatic raid on the cruise ship in Mumbai on October 2 that year.

While the NCB team alleged that Aryan was a part of a larger international drugs conspiracy, a secondary probe by a special investigation team led by NCBs deputy director general (DDG) Sanjay Kumar Singh in May 2022 said the actors son was innocent and was not carrying any drugs on the ship. HT was first to report on the SITs findings.

In its FIR against Wankhede last week, CBI alleged he had allowed a free hand to Gosavi in a way that gave the impression that the latter was an NCB officer.

Besides Wankhede, former NCB superintendent of police (SP) Vishwa Vijay Singh, former intelligence officer Ashish Ranjan Prasad, Gosavi and his aide Sanvile DSouza have been named in the FIR. They have been charged under multiple sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act as well as for criminal conspiracy and extortion by threatening under the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

Also read: Wankhede sought 25 CR from SRK to not frame Aryan Khan? CBI FIR 'nails' ex-NCB officer

Wankhede, according to the federal agency, in the capacity of supervisory officer had directed to take Gosavi and Prabhakar Sail as the independent witnesses in the proceedings against the accused and directed Singh to let Gosavi handle the accused while taking him to NCB office, thereby allowing a freehand to Gosavi and others in order to create such a visual impression of Gosavi having the custody of the accused and escorting/dragging him towards NCB office.

CBI added that this was part of a conspiracy to extort 25 crore from Khans family, which was settled at 18 crore, for not framing Aryan in the case.

A token amount of 50 lakh was, in fact, taken by Gosavi but later a part of this amount was returned, the FIR said.

As part of its probe, CBI is investigating the assets acquired by Wankhede and his family, which officials say are not justified as per his declared income.

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The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has issued summons to Sameer Wankhede, former zonal director of Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), asking him to appear before it on Thursday in connection with its probe into demand of 25 crore bribe from actor Shah Rukh Khan for not framing his son Aryan Khan in a drug case. The IRS officer was shunted out of the NCB last year and the government ordered a probe against him. (File ANI image)

People familiar with the development said Wankhede, named as primary accused in the corruption case filed last week, has been summoned at CBIs Mumbai office.

The interrogation of Wankhede, said an officer, will focus on the aspects of the controversial raid at Cordelia cruise ship such as allowing a freehand to a private person - Kiran Gosavi - in NCBs raid operation, demand of 25 crore from Khans family, which was settled at 18 crore, deletion of names of suspects from original NCB information note and allowing some individuals after the raid to walk free.

Also Read: Who is KP Gosavi  independent witness who planned to extort 25 crore from Aryan Khan?

The Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer was shunted out of the NCB last year and the government ordered a probe against him based on a vigilance enquiry, which revealed multiple irregularities in the conduct of the NCBs raiding team led by Wankhede on October 2, 2021.

Aryan was arrested by Wankhede and his team members on October 3, 2021, alleging that he was part of an international drug conspiracy but a secondary probe by a special enquiry team (SET) led by NCBs deputy director general (DDG) Sanjay Kumar Singh established in May 2022 that the actors son was innocent as he was not carrying any drugs on the Cordelia cruise.

CBIs first information report (FIR) against Wankhede says that he had allowed a free hand to Gosavi in a way that gave the impression that the latter (a witness during the raid) was an NCB officer.

Besides Wankhede, CBI FIR names former SP of NCB - Vishwa Vijay Singh, intelligence officer Ashish Ranjan, Gosavi and his aide Sanvile DSouza.

Wankhede, according to CBI, in the capacity of supervisory officer had directed to take Gosavi and Prabhakar Sail as the independent witnesses in the proceedings against the accused and directed Singh to let Gosavi handle the accused while taking him to NCB office, thereby allowing a freehand to Gosavi and others in order to create such a visual impression of Gosavi having the custody of the accused and escorting/dragging him towards NCB office.

This was part of the conspiracy to extort 25 crore from Khans family for not framing his son, which was settled at 18 crore.

A token amount of 50 lakh was, in fact, taken by Gosavi but later a part of this amount was returned, the FIR said.

As part of its probe, CBI is investigating the assets acquired by Wankhede and his family, which officials say are not justified according to the declared income.
DK Shivakumar, Karnataka Congress president, has been offered the deputy chief minister post along with six portfolios. However, there has been no decision on the offer yet, sources familiar with the development said. Congress Karnataka chief DK Shivakumar met Rahul Gandhi amid the ongoing suspense over the chief ministerial face.(AP file)

Reports indicated that Siddaramaiah could be the next Karnataka chief minister. His swearing-in is likely to take place on Thursday.

The Congress, however, rejected the reports and said the deliberations on the Karnataka CM post were still underway.

"Deliberations on the Karnataka CM are still on -- no decision still taken. Don't resort to speculation or planted news... A decision will be announced today or tomorrow and the Cabinet will be in place within 72 hours," said Congress general secretary Randeep Surjewala told the media.

"Stop listening to rumours being planted by the BJP which is frustrated by the decisive defeat in Karnataka. The Congress is committed to the welfare of each Kannadiga, the Congress is committed to fulfilling its five guarantees, the Congress is committed to implementing its agenda. The Congress is committed to giving a clean, transparent and responsible government," he added.

Surjwala asserted that Karnataka will have a five-year-long stable government that is committed to the state's peace, progress and harmony.

The Congress president believes in three principles -- consensus, unanimity and unity. Mallikarjun Kharge, who has been authorised by the legislature party, will announce (the name of the leader) after holding due deliberations, Surjewala said.

The development comes even as the Congress brass, including Rahul Gandhi, met senior Congress leader Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar on Wednesday as the party closes in on naming the next Karnataka chief minister after a thumping victory in the assembly election.

Also Read: Karnataka CM Race LIVE Updates

Shivakumar on Wednesday arrived at Sonia Gandhi's residence at 10 Janpath in New Delhi to meet Rahul Gandhi amid the ongoing suspense over the chief ministerial face.

Earlier in the day, Siddaramaiah, a former Karnataka CM, also met the Congress leader.

Mallikarjun Kharge's meeting with all stakeholders

Earlier, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge has held talks with all stakeholders in Karnataka. Rahul Gandhi had met Kharge on Tuesday to discuss government formation in the southern state.

Siddaramaiah had reached Kharge's residence along with his son Yatindra and MLAs Zameer Ahmad, Bhyrati Suresh, and senior leader KJ George.

The results of the assembly election were declared on Saturday and the newly elected Congress MLAs on Sunday authorised Kharge to take a decision. With the action shifting to Delhi, both Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar reached Delhi.

The Congress won 135 seats in the recently held election to the 224-member Karnataka assembly.

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NEW DELHI: India has pushed back against a suggestion by a top European Union (EU) official for a crackdown on Russian oil resold by Indian firms as refined fuels, with external affairs minister S Jaishankar saying such exports dont violate EU regulations. External affairs minister S Jaishankar addresses the media during a press conference on the EU-India Trade and Technology Council at EU headquarters in Brussels (AP)

EU foreign and security policy chief Josep Borrell said on Tuesday that Brussels is aware Indian refiners are buying large volumes of Russian crude oil and processing it into fuels for sale in Europe. For the first time since India significantly ramped up purchases of discounted Russian oil, Borrell also said the EU should act to stop this practice.

Borrell made the remarks to the Financial Times before he held a bilateral meeting with Jaishankar and participated in the inaugural meeting of the India-EU Trade and Technology Council in Brussels. Jaishankar pushed back against the suggestion while addressing a joint news conference with senior EU officials.

Asked about Borrells remarks by a reporter, Jaishankar replied: I really dont see the basis for your question because my understanding of the [European] Council regulations is that if Russian crude is substantially transformed in a third country, then its not treated as Russian any more.

He added, I would urge you to look at Council regulation 833/2014.

This regulation, which is part of measures put in place by the EU to restrict Russias earnings from crude oil following the invasion of Ukraine, bans the import of crude oil and petroleum products originating in Russia.

European Commission executive vice-president Margrethe Vestager, who also addressed the news conference, said: There is...no doubts about the legal basis of the sanctions. Of course, it is a discussion that we will have with friends but it will be with an extended hand and...not with a pointed finger.

Borrell earlier told the Financial Times that if diesel or gasoline is entering Europe from India and being produced with Russian oil, that is certainly a circumvention of sanctions and member states have to take measures.

India is currently one of the biggest buyers of Russian crude. The sale of refined fuels produced from the crude to European states is legal under EU embargoes but has been criticised by those backing harsher sanctions against Russia.

At his bilateral meeting with Jaishankar, Borrell reiterated the EUs unwavering resolve to support Ukraine, including efforts to secure a comprehensive, just and lasting peace based on the UN Charter.

According to an EU readout, Borrell recalled the blocs commitment to addressing the global consequences of Russias war of aggression against Ukraine, focusing on food security. He asked Jaishankar for India to support Ukraines peace initiative, and to urge Russia to agree on the crucial extension of the Black Sea Grain Initiative.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR Rezaul H Laskar Rezaul H Laskar is the Foreign Affairs Editor at Hindustan Times. His interests include movies and music. ...view detail
NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Wednesday granted anticipatory bail to Indian Youth Congress president Srinivas BV in a sexual harassment case lodged against him in Assam by a Congress functionary who was expelled by the party for anti-party activities. Indian Youth Congress president Srinivas BV at a protest over the disqualification of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi as MP (ANI File Photo)

A bench of justices BR Gavai and Sanjay Karol noticed that though the alleged incident took place at Raipur during the Congress plenary session held between February 24 and 26, the complaint was registered in Assam after nearly two months on April 19.

The court directed Srinivas to appear before the investigating officer on May 22 and said that the officer will release him on anticipatory bail on furnishing a personal bond of 50,000 and one or more sureties.

Taking into account the delay of over one month to file FIR, the petitioner will be entitled to interim protection, the court said, issuing notice to the Assam government.

The court asked lawyer Shailesh Madiyal appearing for the complainant what she was doing for two months before filing a FIR.

I was pursuing my complaint within my party ranks, Madiyal said. But the court pointed out: She is a lawyer. Does she not know her legal rights?

Srinivas BV was represented by senior advocates Abhishek Manu Singhvi and Devadatt Kamat who produced copies of tweets and media interviews given by the complainant to media channels till one day before registration of complaint. In the interviews, Srinivas said, there was no whisper of the alleged case of outraging the modesty by the petitioner, which is a punishable offence under Section 354 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

In her complaint to the police, she alleged that Srinivas heckled her and held her hand.

The Assam police was represented by additional solicitor general (ASG) SV Raju who opposed the arrest shield, claiming that Srinivas refused to appear despite being served summons.

That may be because of the loss of reputation. You (Assam police) had arrested someone at the airport, the court said, referring to the arrest of Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera who was arrested from Delhi airport for making a comment during a press conference targeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Khera was released on the orders passed by the Supreme Court.

Raju said that Srinivas had even refused to cooperate with the probe being conducted by the crimimal investigation department (CID) on an instruction from the National Commission for Women (NCW).

The bench directed Srinivas to cooperate with the NCW enquiry and further asked him to appear before the investigation officer as and when required.

Posting the matter for hearing on July 10, the court clarified that the observations made in the order are meant to decide the issue of interim relief and shall not weigh during the trial of the case.

Srinivas approached the top court after his anticipatory bail was rejected by the Gauhati high court. The Assam police registered the FIR under various provisions of the IPC of which Section 354 alone was non-bailable.
Hyderabad According to a Telangana BJP leader, at least half a dozen leaders have been nurturing the ambition of replacing Bandi Sanjay as the state BJP president. (ANI)

As the Bharatiya Janata Party is yet to come to terms with the debacle in the just-concluded Karnataka assembly elections, rumblings have surfaced in the party unit in Telangana ahead of the assembly elections in the state, scheduled to be held in another six months.

For the last few days, the BJPs Telangana unit has been facing internal wrangling with some senior leaders raising a banner of revolt against state party president Bandi Sanjay. Though none of these leaders have so far made any statement openly against Sanjay, they have begun lobbying with the BJP national leadership asking for replacement of Sanjay with another potential leader.

According to a Telangana BJP leader who prefers anonymity, there have been at least half a dozen leaders who have been nurturing the ambition of replacing Sanjay as the state BJP president and eventually projecting themselves as the chief ministerial candidates.

The most ambitious among them are former MP G Vivek, former MLA from Munugode Komatireddy Rajagopal Reddy, former minister and present BJP national vice-president DK Aruna and Huzurabad MLA Eatala Rajender. Though Union minister G Kishan Reddy and Rajya Sabha member Dr K Laxman are also equally ambitious, they are disciplined soldiers of the party, the BJP leader quoted above said.

Of all these leaders, Rajender has been moving his pawns quickly against Sanjay in the last few days. The Huzurabad MLA, who left for New Delhi on Monday, met Union home minster Amit Shah on Tuesday evening, apparently to discuss the developments in the state BJP and press for a change in the leadership.

Last year, Rajender has been entrusted with the task of luring potential leaders from various parties into the BJP. But he has failed in the task, as there have not been any major defections. Instead of accepting his failure, he is blaming it on Sanjay, saying that the latter is not accepting the demands of the prospective defectors, the BJP leader said.

For example, Rajender held discussions with former Khammam MP Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy and former state minister Jupally Krishna Rao, both of whom had resigned from the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) last month and were looking for alternative political platforms.

Ponguleti has put forth a condition that he should be given a free hand in the selection of candidates for all the 10 seats in Khammam district. Similarly, Jupally also wants party tickets to his followers. How can Sanjay give such an assurance to any leader? Selection of party candidates is done at the time of elections, depending on their strengths and winning chances, the BJP leader said.

Other leaders  Komatireddy Rajagopal Reddy, Vivek and former Chevella MP Konda Vishweshwar Reddy -- have not been much active in the party programmes taken up by Sanjay  whether it was his foot march in the name of Praja Sangrama Yatra or Nirudyoga March (March of the unemployed).

The BJP leader quoted above said Sanjay had the blessings of the top brass of the party, particularly Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Amit Shah, who had praised his leadership whenever they came to Hyderabad.

In fact, BJP national secretary in-charge of Telangana Tarun Chugh made it clear that the party will go to the elections under Sanjays leadership. As long as he enjoys the support of top brass, there is no threat to him, he said.

The BJP leader, however, said it would be difficult for Sanjay to carry the burden single-handedly without the cooperation of other party leaders. Instead of taking unilateral decisions, he has to take the other seniors into confidence. He cannot completely depend on the national leadership, he added.

Meanwhile, Sanjay told reporters on Wednesday that there were no differences among the leaders within the party. There is nothing wrong in Eatala Rajender going to Delhi to meet the national leaders. Anybody can meet the top leaders any time, he said.

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Former Karnataka chief minister Basavaraj Bommai on Wednesday took a swipe at the Congress over the delay in picking the new CM of the state, saying people' aspirations are more important than politicking.



Congress is yet to finalise its CM candidate in spite of getting a majority. This shows the internal situation in the party. The aspirations of people are more important than politicking. Congress should choose a CM as soon as possible, the Bharatiya Janata Party leader, who is the caretaker CM till his successor takes oath, told reporters.



Bommai's remark comes amid hectic parleys within the Congress to pick the new chief minister, this days after the grand old party registered an emphatic victory in Karnataka, ousting the BJP from the only southern state it was ruling.



Siddaramaiah and DK Shivakumar, the main claimaints to the CM post, have been holding meetings with top Congress leaders including Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi as the party treads with caution to establish a power-sharing formula to not upset both the stalwarts.



Both the leaders have tried to project a united front before the public. HT had reported that the Congress had offered the CM post to Siddaramaiah with Shivakumar as his deputy with plum portfolios like finance, but has not been able to break the deadlock. Eshwar Khandare, the KPCC working president has told reporters that a decision may be announced today evening.



The race for the CM's post has also witnessed more claimants including G Parameshwara,a a prominent Dalit face in the party. On Tuesday, the veteran leader said he could muster 50 MLAs but it is against his principles. On Wednesday, the leader said there is no controversy in the selection of CM.

Former Karnataka chief minister Basavaraj Bommai. (Twitter/ANI)
Even as hectic parleys over Karnataka's new chief minister continue on Wednesday, days after the Congress's thumping victory in the assembly election, the party's state president DK Shivakumar has made clear to the Congress brass that he was not ready for the deputy chief minister post and insisted on all or nothing, sources familiar with the development said. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge with Karnataka Congress president DK Shivakumar.(PTI)

Top updates on the Karnataka CM race:

1. The sources said DK Shivakumar also asked what Siddaramaiah, the top contender for Karnataka chief ministerial post, has done in three years.

2. Siddaramaiah's CM bid is based on larger MLA support and surveys claiming his popularity, and also, his 5-year complete tenure as a chief minister.

3. Earlier, sources close to Shivakumar said the Karnataka Congress president was offered the deputy chief minister post along with six portfolios.

4. There was a second round of meeting expected at 6pm between Shivakumar and Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge. Rahul Gandhi was also supposed to attend the meeting, sources said.

Later, Shivakumar was seen leaving the residence of his brother and Congress MP DK Suresh. When asked about his meeting with Kharge and Rahul Gandhi, Shivakumar replied, Nothing, no discussion. Just pranaam

Also Read: Live Updates on Karnataka CM race

5. Reports indicated that Siddaramaiah could be the next Karnataka chief minister. His swearing-in is likely to take place on Thursday.

6. The Congress, however, rejected the reports and said the deliberations on the Karnataka CM post were still underway.

7. AICC in-charge of state Randeep Singh Surjewala also asserted that Karnataka will have a five-year-long stable government and urged people not to believe in speculation and fake news which it alleged was being peddled by the Bharatiya Janata Party.

8. Siddaramaiah is considered the front-runner among the two while Shivakumar is seen taking a strong position, claiming that the assembly polls were won under him as state party chief and that he has worked hard for ensuring this victory.

9. Earlier in the day, Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar met Rahul Gandhi separately.

10. The meetings came a day after the two held separate meetings with Kharge at his residence and discussed issues regarding the government formation.

(With inputs from agencies)

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Karnataka chief ministerial contenders Siddaramaiah and DK Shivakumar met former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday but refused to agree to a compromise formula as the Congress scrambled to resolve a stalemate over the states top job that showed no signs of a resolution despite three consecutive days of negotiation. A Siddaramaiah supporter celebrates outside his residence in Bengaluru. (PTI)

As leaders shuffled in and out of meetings that ran late into the night, the Congress attempted to strike a united front, scotching rumours of a rift in the party, asking leaders to not make out-of-turn statements to the media, and saying that the government will be formed within the next 48-72 hours.

Also read: Decision on new Karnataka CM by tomorrow, assures Congress amid BJP's attack

I have advised all Congress leaders to not issue statements on the issue of leadership. Any out-of-turn remarks made here onwards will be treated as indiscipline and action taken accordingly, said party general secretary Randeep Surjewala.

A clean, honest and transparent government for Karnataka is our duty and we will give the state a new government within 48 to 72 hours, he added.

These comments assume importance because it is crucial for the Congress to resolve the impasse without public acrimony if it wants to carry the momentum from its impressive victory in Karnataka over to assembly elections scheduled later this year, and the 2024 polls. Managing the rivalling ambitions of the two architects of the Congresss victory -- now playing out like a soap opera -- is a test for the Congress leadership, particularly party chief Mallikarjun Kharge who also hails from Karnataka. Not doing so promptly will also take some of the sheen off the historic mandate the party has won in the state.

Both Karnataka leaders continue to camp in Delhi for negotiations, but signalled that they would not cede ground.

Former CM Siddaramaiah, considered the front runner for the position, met Rahul Gandhi at Sonia Gandhis residence at 10, Janpath at 11.30am. His rival, Karnataka party unit chief Shivakumar, met Rahul Gandhi an hour later. Later in the day, Shivakumar met Kharge, his second meeting with the senior leader in as many days.

Shivakumar met Kharge ji to brief him about his meeting with Rahul Gandhi. He reiterated his demand that he will either become CM or remain as an MLA. He spent almost two hours at Kharge jis place. He was in a good mood and chatted with Kharge jis staff, said a person aware of developments.

At the meeting, Kharge told Shivakumar that the party had decided to back Siddaramaiah, said people aware of developments. Shivakumar responded by asking about an apparent promise made by then party chief Sonia Gandhi -- to make him the CM if he delivered the state -- when she visited him in Delhis Tihar Jail three years ago , the people cited above added. At the time, Shivakumar was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate on money laundering charges.

Shivakumar was offered the post of deputy CM along with six key portfolios and his existing position as state unit chief, but the 60-year-old refused to accept anything less than the top job, the people cited above added. We want all or nothing, said a person in Shivakumars camp, requesting anonymity.

Siddaramaiah, too, stuck to his ground, pointing out to the leadership that he had the backing of over 80 lawmakers and surveys that showed people preferred him as CM, said people aware of developments. In his meeting with Rahul Gandhi, Siddaramaiah said that he will not work under anybody in Karnataka, except Kharge, said a senior party leader involved in the negotiations.

A second senior leader said after Kharge and Rahul Gandhi, general secretaries KC Venugopal and Surjewala continued the negotiations with the two Karnataka stalwarts. Kharge too, is expected to meet the two aspirants again on Thursday.none of the aspirants have agreed to be rotational CM, said the leader, requesting anonymity.

As night fell, Surjewala drove to Kharges residence. Later, Venugopal also arrived at Kharges residence.

The Congress won its biggest victory in Karnataka since 1989 on Saturday, trouncing the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on its way to security 135 seats in the 224-member assembly.

Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar were the partys main campaigners and took care to project a united front on the election trail. But since Sunday evening, when the Congress legislature party passed a one-line resolution empowering the high command to pick the next chief minister, their clashing ambitions have spilled out in the open, creating a logjam that the party has found difficult to resolve, even after three days of talks.

But the party pointed out that such protracted talks were common in Indian politics.

I hope people questioned PM Modi when he took 7 to 10 days in deciding chief ministers of Uttar Pradesh, Assam, Goa and many other States. No one then whispered a word on the high command culture, said Surjewala.

Siddaramaiah is considered the favourite because the 75-year-old is seen as the partys most popular leader in the state, the architect of its successful Ahinda strategy of building a coalition of backward groups, Dalits and Muslims, and the man who commands the support of a majority of the elected lawmakers. He also hails from the Kuruba community and is a key other backward classes (OBC) face.

But Shivakumar dug his heels in, refusing to budge from his demand to be made CM. The 60-year-old doesnt have as big a mass base, but is a key organisation and resources man who is also the partys chief troubleshooter, having saved Congress governments and safeguarded legislators in the past. He hails from the dominant Vokkaliga community, which was critical to the partys superlative performance in the southern parts of the state, and has the backing of some influential mutts.

Also read: DK Shivakumar wants all or nothing, asks what Siddaramaiah did in 3 yrs: Sources. 10 updates on Karnataka CM race

In negotiations, both sides have rejected a number of compromise formula on the table -- Siddaramaiah as CM and Shivakumar his deputy, Shivakumar giving up the CMs position in return for several plum portfolios, or a rotational chief ministership  but the Congress has been careful in projecting a united face.

Both leaders also expressed a desire to meet former Congress president Sonia Gandhi, said people aware of developments. However, her office was clear in saying that she had no meetings lined up and will only come to Delhi from Himachal Pradesh on the 20th, the people cited above added.

Siddaramaiah has told the party leadership that he commands the support of the majority of legislators, and that his appointment will send out a larger message of welfare outreach ahead of the Lok Sabha polls. Shivakumar, on the other hand, has repeatedly underlined how he rebuilt the party organisation single-handedly after the Congress-Janata Dal (Secular) coalition government collapsed in 2019 following a rebellion.

Neither is wrong -- but there can be only one CM.
The Congress on Wednesday hit out at the BJP for criticising it over the delay in deciding the chief minister of Karnataka, and cited examples when the BJP declared its chief ministers in Uttar Pradesh and Assam several days after winning the polls. Karnataka's two chief ministerial aspirants Siddaramaiah and D K Shivakumar held separate meetings with Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Tuesday. (File)

"Just to refresh memories of PM's drum-beaters especially. 2017 UP Vidhan Sabha election results out on March 11th. Yogi appointed CM 8 days later on March 19th. 2021 Assam Vidhan Sabha election results out on May 3rd. Himanta Biswa Sarma became CM 7 days later on May 10th," AICC general secretary Jairam Ramesh said on Twitter.

"There are many more such examples," he also said.

Several BJP leaders are criticising the Congress for the delay in deciding on the chief ministerial candidate in Karnataka amid hectic lobbying for the top post.

The results in Karnataka were declared on May 13 but the party has not finalised its chief ministerial face yet and the process of consultations is on.

Karnataka's two chief ministerial aspirants Siddaramaiah and D K Shivakumar held separate meetings with Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Tuesday as the party held hectic consultations to decide on who would lead the government in the southern state.

BJP's IT cell head Amit Malviya said a sorry state of affairs prevails in Congress where president Mallikarjun Kharge sees himself more as a "postman".

"Want to watch circus? Watch the Congress select their CM in Karnataka," he said on Twitter.

Referring to the lobbying by Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar for the post of chief minister, he said, "The BJP also holds discussions and deliberations to elect its CMs and has often ensured smooth transition of power, even between CMs. Despite elaborate consultations, you will never find BJP aspirants falling over each other, rallying supporters and issuing veiled threats to the Party through the media".

"On the contrary, last evening, Lutyens journalists, who DK Shivkumar hosted at the Claridges, almost appointed Siddaramaiah as the Karnataka CM. Sorry state of affairs in the Congress, where President Kharge sees himself more as a postman, let alone being a decision maker or even part of the decision making team He keeps referring to some High Command," he added.
A man from Ahmedabad has been arrested for allegedly attempting to dupe Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislators by demanding money for a cabinet berth in Maharashtra government while impersonating party president JP Naddas personal assistant, Nagpur police said on Wednesday. The incident comes barely two months after another conman Kiran Patel, also from Gujarat, was arrested for impersonating an official of the Prime Ministers office (PMO) during a trip to Jammu and Kashmir. (Representative picture)

The accused has been identified as Neeraj Singh Rathod, a resident of Morbi in Gujarats Ahmedabad district, police said.

Also read: After Karnataka loss, Nadda on 2-day state visit to woo voters

The accused had contacted four Maharashtra legislators  Vikas Kumbhare (Central Nagpur), Tekchand Savarkar (Kamptee), Tanaji Mutkule (Hingoli) and Narayan Kuche (Badnapur) offering them cabinet posts in Eknath Shinde-Devendra Fadnavis government and demanded lakhs of rupees, a senior police officer said.

The accused had allegedly also called a Nagaland legislator and another in Goa, the officer added, requesting anonymity.

We are investigating whether any other persons are involved in the racket, said Nagpur City police commissioner Amitesh Kumar. The accused was arrested from Gujarat on Tuesday and brought to Nagpur today (Wednesday).

The incident came to light after Kumbhare filed a police complaint against Rathod, who allegedly contacted the BJP legislator from Central Nagpur at least four times and offered him urban development ministers post in the Maharashtra cabinet, police said, adding that the accused introduced himself to the MLA as Naddas personal assistant.

Based on the MLAs complaint, a case has been registered at the Kotwali police station in Nagpur under sections 419 (cheating by personation), 420 (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property), and 511 (punishment for attempting to commit offences punishable with imprisonment for life or other imprisonment) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), Kumar said.

We will try to get more details from Rathod during his interrogation, he said. We are also probing about other victims of the fraudster.

Also read: Next Mumbai mayor will be from BJP, says Nadda

Kotwali police station in-charge Mukund Thakre said all four legislators have maintained that they did not pay money to the conman. However, people familiar with the matter, requesting anonymity, said that one of the MLAs paid some advance money to Rathod.

The incident comes barely two months after another conman Kiran Patel, also from Gujarat, was arrested for impersonating an official of the Prime Ministers office (PMO) during a trip to Jammu and Kashmir.
Manish Chopra, Meta's Director and Head of Partnerships in India, has announced his resignation, making his exit from a company he joined in January 2019. Manish Chopra (Image courtesy: Business Today)

Chopra took to LinkedIn to announce his departure, adding, however, that he will help with the transition over the next few weeks.

Manish Chopra's LinkedIn post.

I am grateful to the company for trusting me with building out our efforts to drive growth & engagement across Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp. I am super proud of the work the team and I have done to become an ally for creators and businesses around the country. My heartfelt thanks to each and everyone one of you! he wrote.

Chopra continued, referring apparently to the ongoing global layoffs at Meta, including in India: The recent months have been trying times for everyone in so many ways! I know this team has shown so much care and has helped each other selflessly. At so many moments in one doing one's very best, I have seen folks embody what would you do, if you were not afraid, and surpass our wildest dreams. And so for me, I am now looking forward to a new phase in my professional life. I will share more in due course.

Sandhya Devanathan, Vice President, Meta India, thanked him for his contributions.

Manish, thank you so much for your leadership and your contributions to Meta and our India business over all these years. Wish you an awesome next play! Devanathan wrote below his post.

Fourth major exit from Meta India in 6 months

Chopra's exit from Meta India is the fourth instance of a senior executive leaving the organisation since November last year. Ajit Mohan (India head), Rajiv Aggarwal (Public policy chief) and Abhijit Bose (WhatsApp India head) resigned within days of each other. Chopra, in fact, took over from Mohan on an interim basis, eventually handing over to Devanathan, the full-time chief whose tenure began on January 1.

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Priyanka Chopra looks sensational, joins Anne Hathaway and Zendaya at event; fans say queen is on a different level

Priyanka Chopra was joined by Anne Hathaway and Zendaya at the Bulgari Mediterranea High Jewellery event at Palazzo Ducale in Venice on Tuesday. Priyanka looked incredible in a figure-hugging outfit.read more.

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The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Wednesday began raids at over 100 locations across six states as part of its probe into a nexus of gangsters, Khalistanis, and smugglers, people familiar with the matter said. Central agencies and state police forces have been cracking down on criminals and terrorists. (HT PHOTO)

The people said fresh leads on the activities of the gangsters and Khalistanis operating from north Indian states as well as abroad prompted the raids in Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, and Madhya Pradesh.

Central agencies and state police forces have been cracking down on organised criminals and terrorists hiding and operating from different parts of the country and abroad including Pakistan, Canada, Malaysia, Australia, and the US.

The Delhi Police have arrested over 200 people as part of their crackdown on the gangster-terrorist nexus over the last seven months and seized arms and ammunition, including AK-47s, grenade launchers, and hand grenades.

Police in Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, etc have carried out coordinated raids to dismantle the gangster network.

In a charge sheet filed in March, the NIA said the network has established like an ecosystem seen in Mumbai in the 1990s.

NIA has arrested 30 gangsters and their associates over the last seven months after raiding over 200 locations and hideouts in seven states. It has seized 13 properties, frozen 95 bank accounts, and issued 20 lookout circulars against criminals and terrorists.

NIA, which has been probing three cases, has found criminals involved in all kinds of terror, violence, and criminal activities, including targeted hits, contract killings, and extortion.

These gangs were using cyberspace to publicise their acts of terror and violence to spread fear and panic... NIA has found many conspiracies to kill and extort were being hatched from inside jails of different states and were being executed by an organised network of operatives based abroad, said an official.
Trinamool Congress MP Dola Sen - part of a delegation that visited Egra in Bengal's Purba Medinipur district Wednesday after an explosion at an illegal firecracker unit killed nine people and injured seven others - said chief minister Mamata Banerjee had no objection to a probe by the National Investigation Agency, as demanded by the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party. Purba Medinipur: Locals outside an illegal firecracker unit after a massive explosion, in West Bengal's Purba Medinipur district, Tuesday, May 16, 2023.(PTI)

"Yesterday, CM madam said she did not have any issue with the NIA. So they (the opposition) are constantly questioning this to make it more significant. It doesn't concern us. We met members of victims' families, we assured them families will be looked after. This is not a small political matter."

"Nine people died it is a significant and sad issue. The CID investigation is on and the report will come, we will all get it," the Trinamool lawmaker said.

Within hours of the incident - which took place Tuesday - Mamata Banerjee had ordered a probe by West Bengal Police's Criminal Investigation Department (CID) and announced compensation of 2.5lakh each for the families of those killed and 1 lakh for the injured.

"The owner of the illegal factory used to sell fireworks to people in Odisha and Bangladesh. He has escaped to Odisha, according to information collected by the police. He will not be spared. The police arrested him on October 19 last year and the factory was sealed. The police submitted chargesheet in the case but this man was granted bail by a local court," the chief minister briefed the press.

She also said action will be taken against the official in charge of the Egra Police Station. She questioned why didn't he know that the factory had been running and several witnesses and residents had claimed that six such explosions had already taken place in the factory in the last four years.

Dola Sen's response came after the BJP's state unit boss Sukanta Majumdar demanded the NIA probe; "NIA is already probing similar explosions that have taken place in recent years," he said.

The BJP's Suvendu Adhikari, who is the Leader of the Opposition and Mamata Banerjee's one-time close aide, tweeted, "I am receiving news from the ground that the number of casualties is enormous. Immediately Central Forces should be deployed as dead bodies are being shifted illegally by Mamata Police" and urged union home minister Amit Shah and Bengal governor CV Ananda Bose to order the NIA to take over inquiries 'as early as possible before evidence is tampered'.

Adhikari also met victims' families and said 'grieving family members and disgruntled locals' told him of an 'illegal operation with Mamata Police looking away in exchange for money'.

"They (the locals) had complained many times (about the fireworks factory) but every time their pleas fell on deaf ears. Family members and local residents are demanding NIA investigation, which I feel appropriate. I have assured them all the help and assistance they need." Adhikari also claimed the state government's compensation be increased to 10 lakhs for victim's families.

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Political strategist-turned-activist Prashant Kishor on Wednesday cautioned the Congress party against extrapolating the results of recently-concluded Karnataka assembly elections to the next year's national elections. Prashant Kishor, in a statement shared by Jan Suraaj, his political campaign in Bihar, pointed to the pattern, or a lack of it, suggesting assembly election results should not be taken as a precursor to the party's performance in Lok Sabha elections. Poll strategist-turned-activist Prashant Kishor.(PTI / File)

"I congratulate the Congress upon its success in Karnataka. But I would also like to caution leaders and workers of the party against mistaking the assembly poll outcome for a hint of what lies in store in Lok Sabha polls," said Kishor, who has taken a break from his statewide foot march in Bihar after tearing a muscle in his left leg. He has been convalescing at an undisclosed location since then.

Kishor highlighted that Congress lost the 2014 Lok Sabha elections despite winning Karnataka assembly elections in the previous year and lost the 2019 parliamentary polls months after wresting three major states from BJP  Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, and Chhattisgarh.

It may be recalled that in 2012 the Samajwadi Party came to power in Uttar Pradesh with a clear majority. Two years later in the Lok Sabha poll, BJP-led NDA swept the state, bagging 73 out of the 80 seats, he pointed out.

Reeling out statistics to buttress his point on Congress' prospects in Lok Sabha polls, Kishor added, The Congress would also do well to remember its success in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh in the 2018 assembly polls, which was followed by its miserable performance in these states just a few months later in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

Kishor gained prominence in 2011 when he worked as a key strategist for Narendra Modi's successful campaign in the Gujarat state elections. He later played a crucial role in Modi's successful bid for Prime Minister in the 2014 national elections. The 45-year-old political analyst has since then handled poll campaigns of leaders as diverse as Nitish Kumar, Arvind Kejriwal, M K Stalin, Jaganmohan Reddy, and Mamata Banerjee.

He hung up his boots after the 2021 West Bengal assembly polls and, a year later, launched 'Jan Suraaj' after prolonged but fruitless negotiations with top Congress leaders for revamping the grand old party.

(With PTI inputs)

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The Quad Leaders Summit scheduled for May 24 in Sydney has been cancelled following US President Joe Bidens decision not to go ahead with a planned visit to Australia because of stalled domestic debt ceiling negotiations. US president Joe Biden (C) speaks during a meeting on the debt limit with (L-R) US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, US Vice President Kamala Harris, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries. (AFP)

The White House announced late on Tuesday that Biden will return to the US after the Group of Seven (G7) Summit in Japan on May 20, instead of travelling to Papua New Guinea and Australia as earlier planned. Biden spoke to Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to inform him of the decision.

Albanese confirmed to the media on Wednesday morning that the Quad Leaders Summit in Sydney was called off, and suggested that the leaders of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad), which groups India, Australia, Japan and the US, could meet on the margins of the G7 Summit in Hiroshima, Japan.

Albanese, however, said a planned bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi might still go ahead.

People familiar with the matter said that though the Quad Leaders Summit had been rescheduled, the Prime Ministers engagements in Australia, other than the summit, would remain unchanged. Modi will embark on a visit to Japan, Papua New Guinea and Australia on May 19 to participate in outreach sessions of the G7 Summit on May 20, the Summit of the Forum for India-Pacific Islands Cooperation on May 22, and for the bilateral with Albanese.

Biden was set to be in Papua New Guinea at the same time as Modi, and reports had suggested both leaders would make a concerted bid to woo leaders of Pacific Island states, who are being aggressively courted by China.

But with a looming domestic political and economic crisis at home and negotiations with the US Congress over the debt ceiling hitting a roadblock, Biden decided that he needed to be back in US earlier than planned.

A US administration official stressed to HT that the cancellation was purely to do with domestic American developments and the President was absolutely committed to the Quad, a free and open Indo-Pacific and the relationship with India.

The official pointed out that the India and the US have busy diplomatic calendar ahead. The two leaders will meet in Hiroshima. On June 22, the president will host Modi for a state visit in Washington DC. And in September, the President will visit New Delhi for the G20 summit. This will be a golden year for India-US relations and you will see tangible deliverables, the official said, adding that as fellow democracies, India, Japan and Australia will understand Bidens democratic compulsions at home

Earlier, speaking at an event in the White House on Tuesday evening, Biden first gave a preview of his visit to Japan and then said: The nature of the presidency is addressing many issues, all at once. So I am confident we are going to make progress in avoiding default and fulfilling Americas responsibilities on the world stage. However, I am cutting my trip short. I am postponing the Australia portion of my trip and my stop in Papua New Guinea in order to be back for the final negotiations with the Congressional leaders.

The US is locked in a political impasse between the Democratic administration and a Republican House over debt ceiling  unless the US Congress raises the ceiling, the US risks defaulting on its obligations for the first time in history after June 1.

A few hours before that, the White House, in a statement, had already announced that Biden would return to the US on Sunday after the G7 summit to ensure that Congress takes action by the deadline to avert default.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said that Biden spoke to Albanese to inform him that he would be postponing his visit. He also invited the Prime Minister for an official state visit at a time to be agreed by the teams. The Presidents team engaged with the Prime Minister of Papua New Guineas team to inform them as well.

Speaking to ABC Radio Sydney, Albanese confirmed that Biden had spoken to him, they had agreed to reschedule his visit for the future, and Biden had expressed his disappointment with some members of the US Congress.

Albanese said that his government will speak to Japan and India to discuss the travel schedule of their leaders and added that Biden would try to convene a [Quad] meeting given all four leaders are in Japan for the G7. At the same time, Albanese said that the Quad dialogue in Sydney may still take place with a senior US representative. There was some speculation in Washington DC that Secretary of State Antony J Blinken could fill in for Biden.

Albanese, however, expressed confidence that Bidens visit wont change PM Modis schedule. Prime Minister Modi has a bilateral programme thats organised. So I am certain that he will be here. The PM referred to the large Indian diaspora in Australia and mentioned that a large event was to be held next Tuesday, May 23. Modi is expected to address the diaspora gathering.

Also read: Kamala Harris earns more than Joe Biden? Yes, in book royalties

The US debt ceiling crisis refers to a unique feature of the American political economy. While the US Congress authorises spending, it also authorises a certain borrowing limit that the executive cannot exceed to meet its expenditure. The US had hit its debt ceiling of $31.4 trillion on January 19, and since then, the Treasury department has resorted to extraordinary measures. On June 1, unless the Congress raises the debt limit or suspends it, the US is at the risk of defaulting on its credit, a move that will jolt the markets and create an unprecedented economic crisis both at home and abroad.

While Biden has officially maintained that it is the US Congresss duty to raise the debt ceiling and he would not negotiate on the issue, McCarthy has pushed forward a Republican proposal that would entail dramatic spending cuts including in social welfare programmes and Bidens signature legislations passed over the past two years.

With Bidens foreign policy engagements becoming a clear casualty of polarised American politics, the administration sought to send a message of reassurance to allay apprehensions that the visits postponement can potentially generate among allies and partners.

Jean Pierre said that revitalising and reinvigorating Americas alliances and advancing partnerships such the Quad remained a key priority for the President. This is vital to our ability to advance our foreign policy goals and better promote global stability and prosperity. We look forward to finding other ways to engage with Australia, the Quad, Papua New Guinea and the leaders of the Pacific Islands Forum in the coming year, he said.

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At 11 am in the morning, everything seem settled and preparations began for Siddaramaiahs swearing in at the citys Swami Kanteerava indoor stadium . But by 3 pm, the preparations stopped, and some of the arrangements were actually being undone. Preparations for the Karnataka CM swearing-in ceremony in Bengaluru halted on Wednesday. (PTI)

The two events book-ended a day of quiet drama in Delhi, with speculation, at various points in the day, that a deal had been reached, and that the state Congress chief, D K Shivakumar, the other aspirant for the CMs post, had agreed to one of several offers that are believed to have been made to him.

But by evening, it was clear that DK, as he is popularly known, had dug in his heels, and with a swearing in looking likely, it perhaps made sense to not spend money on preparing for an event that may be some time away.

It was a different story in the morning -- Karnataka police officers visited the Swami Kanteerava indoor stadium in Bengaluru ; there was jubilation at Siddaramaiahs residence in Bengaluru; and scene outside DK Shivakumars residence in the city was sombre.

Congress workers started putting up party flags at the indoor stadium with senior Karnataka government officials pottering around.

By evening, the mood had changed.

Deliberations are currently underway by party president Mallikarjun Kharge. Whenever Congress makes a decision, we will inform you. In the next 48-72 hours, we will have a new cabinet in Karnataka, Congress Karnataka in-charge Randeep Surjewala told reporters in New Delhi as Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar met senior party leaders including Rahul Gandhi.

It is believed both also wanted to meet Sonia Gandhi who is expected to be in Delhi only later this week. She is currently in Himachal Pradesh.

A Bengaluru police officer said he visited the Kateerava stadium to see whether it would be able to accommodate a large number of people expected to come in for the swearing-in. On Sunday, Congress leaders said that the swearing in of the council of ministers would take place on May 18.

Bengaluru police commissioner Pratap Reddy and special commissioner MA Saleem, conducting a recce at the stadium after Congress leaders said that at least 50,000 people would attend the event. There was information from the party that the swearing-in ceremony would take place at 3.30 pm on Thursday but it was found to be false, said the officer. By late afternoon,even Congress workers had left the stadium.

Karnataka Congress general secretary Satish Jarkiholi said on Wednesday said that surveys showed that Siddaramaiah is a more popular choice for the chief minister post than Shivakumar but added that even as deputy chief minister or minister, the latter would be an important part of the government.

Siddaramaiah is a person who has presented 13 budgets. DK Shivakumar is the KPCC president and has done lot of hard work. But the party doesnt win because of one person. I believe the party will take the opinion of all MLAs and come to the right decision, he said.

As deliberations in the Congress continued in New Delhi, the BJP in Karnataka took a dig at the Congress with outgoing Karnataka chief minister Basavaraj Bommai saying the party failing to decide on the new chief minister despite having a complete majority reflected on the internal situation of the party. Despite having a complete majority, the party is unable to decide its leader. This shows the internal situation of the partyThey (Congress) should settle the issue of a new chief minister and government formation as soon as possible, he told reporters in Bengaluru.

To be sure, it is common for parties to take their time in announcing a chief minister. The BJP itself has done it.

Surjewala said the Prime Minister Narendra Modi took seven to 10 days in deciding chief ministers of Uttar Pradesh, Assam, Goa and many other states. No one then whispered a word on high command culture. The same forces have objections to the process of discussion, consensus adopted by Sh Kharge in true democratic traditions, he tweeted.

On Wednesday morning, Siddaramaiahs supporters set off fireworks outside his residence on Kumara Krupa Road in Bengaluru amid tight security. Holding pictures of the veteran Congress leader they shouted slogans praising him and distributed sweets.

 He will definitely give a peaceful, corruption-free government and scam-free government, Sayabanna, a party worker from Raichur, said. In Siddaramaihs home district of Mysuru, and village of Siddaramanahundi, supporters broke into an unplanned party on the streets, whooping and dancing . Reports of celebrations also came in from Tumakuru, Chitradurga, Shivamogga and Gadag districts. The road leading up to Shivakumars residence in Bengalurus Sadashivanagar had his posters . However, unlike Siddaramaiahs residence, Shivakumars house wore a deserted look. In Ramanagara, Congress workers blocked traffic on the Mysuru-Bengaluru highway demanding Shivakumar be made the CM.

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Responding to Josep Borrell, EU Foreign policy chief's remarks calling for action against Indian refined products from Russian crude, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Tuesday (local time) advised him to look at EU Council regulations. India's Minister for External Affairs S. Jaishankar addresses the media during a press conference on the EU-India Trade and Technology Council at EU headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, Tuesday.(AP)

"Look at EU Council regulations, Russian crude is substantially transformed in the third country and not treated as Russian anymore. I would urge you to look at Council's Regulation 833/2014," said Jaishankar.

This comes after the bloc's chief diplomat earlier said that the EU should crack down on India reselling Russian oil as refined fuels including diesel into Europe as Western nations move to tighten sanctions on Moscow's energy sector.

"India buys Russian oil, it's normal... " said EU's Foreign policy chief Borrell but wants the bloc to act on refined products coming from India-made Russian crude in an interview with Financial Times.

While Borrell met with Jaishankar at the trade technology talks in Brussels, he was not present at the press conference that followed.

In his place, EU Executive Vice President on Competition, Margrethe Vestager said that there was "no doubt about the legal basis of the sanctions", and that the EU and India would have the discussion as "friends... with an extended hand and of course, not a pointed finger."

Along with Jaishankar, Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal, and Union Minister of State for Entrepreneurship, Skill Development, Electronics and Technology Rajeev Chandrasekhar was also in the meeting.

Jaishankar on Monday arrived in Brussels for the last leg of his three-nation visit covering Bangladesh, Sweden and Belgium.

Earlier also Jaishankar had defended India's imports from Russia while indirectly criticising the West for pressurising New Delhi to minimise its trade with Russia in view of its military action in Ukraine.

He wondered how Europe could make choices to prioritise its own energy needs and at the same time ask India to do something else.

"Our trade with Russia is at a very small level- USD 12-13 billion, in comparison to European countries. We've also given the Russians a set of products... I don't think people should read more into it other than the legitimate expectations of any trading country to increase its trade," the EAM said earlier in December while addressing a joint press conference with his German counterpart Annalena Baerbock.

"I would urge you to look at these figures. There is a website called 'Russia Fossil Fuel Tracker' that would give you country-by-country data of who is really importing what and I suspect that might be very very helpful," he added.
NEW DELHI: Several passengers sustained injuries after the Air India flight from Delhi to Sydney (AI-302) was rocked by severe turbulence on Tuesday, people familiar with the development said. The incident on board Air Indias Delhi-Sydney flight is the second incident of severe turbulence in two years that has resulted in injuries to passengers (ANI File Photo)

An Air India spokesperson said three passengers availed medical assistance after the aircraft landed in Sydney.

A person aware of the matter said seven passengers reported minor sprain during the flight after Air India B787-800 aircraft encountered severe turbulence.

In a statement, the airline spokesperson said: Air Indias flight AI302 of 16th May 2023, operating from Delhi to Sydney encountered turbulence mid-air leading to discomfort to the passengers on board. The flight landed safely in Sydney and three passengers availed of medical assistance on arrival, none of whom required hospitalisation.

This onboard incident has been reported to the relevant authorities as a standard practice, the airline added.

Aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation confirmed that a report on the incident was received from the airline. An official said seven passengers reported minor sprain due to the severe turbulence. Cabin crew provided the first aid with the assistance of a doctor and a nurse travelling as passengers, using an onboard first aid kit, the official said, adding that medical assistance was arranged on arrival by the Air India airport manager in Sydney. Only three passengers availed the medical assistance.

This is the second incident of severe turbulence in two years that has resulted in injuries to passengers.

Last year on May 1, a Mumbai-Darbhanga SpiceJet flight carrying 195 passengers, encountered severe turbulence causing injuries to passengers. One of the passengers who sustained injuries in the incident later died after prolonged treatment.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR Neha LM Tripathi I am a principal correspondent with the national political bureau of the Hindustan Times. I track the aviation and railways ministry. I also write on travel trends. I cover the beats at the national level for the newspaper. Before being in Delhi, I have worked as a journalist in Mumbai as well. My hobbies include trekking and travelling. ...view detail
The Supreme Court on Tuesday termed possession of unlicensed weapons a real problem and said the government has to make it a serious offence. The Supreme Court had issued notices to all states and Union territories to ascertain the crimes involving use of unlicensed firearms and steps taken by them to deal with the menace. (Representative Image)

The court made this observation after receiving responses from a few states on the number of incidents across states involving illegal weapons. On April 13, the court had issued notices to all states and Union territories to ascertain the crimes involving use of unlicensed firearms and steps taken by the respective administrations and police establishments to deal with the menace.

The bench of justices KM Joseph and BV Nagarathna observed that the crime involving illegal weapons was largely prevalent in the northern states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Punjab and others. Among the states which filed their responses, Tamil Nadu was the only exception to have not a single incident of illegal arms.

This is becoming a real problem, the bench told advocate Rajat Nair appearing for Centre, while adding, The government has to make it a serious offence or else invariably you will see people being booked under Arms Act. The use of illegal or unlicensed arms in commission of crime is punishable under Arms Act with a minimum sentence of three years and maximum sentence of 7 years.

Drawing a comparison with the United States where several instances have emerged of individuals going on a shooting spree in malls and schools resulting in casualties, the bench remarked, Look at how the US is suffering. There they have a fundamental right to possess arms. Here it is not and still we are suffering. It is a serious affair.

Nair told the court that a legislative amendment may require consultation with states as law and order is a state subject. The bench wished to know if the scale at which unlicensed weapons were used in northern states prevailed in south and northeast. Senior advocate S Nagamuthu assisting the court as amicus curiae told the court that this could be gathered only after receiving responses from all states/UTs.

While posting the matter to August 7, the bench remarked, You have to go into the socio-economic reasons why there is demand for such illegal arms. Nagamuthu assisted by advocate Anish R Shah agreed to make a thorough study in this regard.

The matter was taken up suo moto in a matter from Uttar Pradesh where the court was dealing with a bail petition by one Rajendra Singh involved in murdering a man with an unlicensed gun. His bail plea was rejected by the Allahabad high court against which he approached the top court.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday ordered the release of four people who were acquitted by the Rajasthan high court earlier this year in connection with the 2008 Jaipur serial blasts if their detention was not required in any other case. The bench said the accused will have to appear at their respective police stations daily between 10am and 12pm. (HT)

A bench of justices Abhay Okra and Rajesh Bindal also refused to stay the high courts acquittal, as it heard two special leave petitions (SLPs) filed by families of the deceased and the state government against the order.

Also read: Fix accountability for Jaipur blasts order

On March 29, the high court had acquitted four people  Mohammad Saif (32), Mohammad Sarvar (36), Saif-Ur-Rahman (36) and Salman (34)  who were given capital punishment by a trial court in 2019. They are, however, yet to be released.

On Wednesday, as the state, represented by Attorney General (AG) of India R Venkataramani, argued for the continued arrest of the accused under Section 390 (arrest of accused in appeal from acquittal) of Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), the court said such a drastic action cannot be taken without hearing the accused.

Even assuming that you (AG) are right, before passing such a drastic order, we will have to go through the evidence, we will have to consider the issue a prima facie case, otherwise it is a serious order to pass that after acquittal, persons will remain in custody till disposal of the appeal. Therefore, we have to apply our mind to the merit of the case, the bench said.

Advocate Aditya Jain, who appeared for the victims families, said the top court had said the accused could be let off on conditional bail in case they are not wanted in other cases. However, they are wanted in other cases, he said.

Setting down the bail conditions, the Supreme Court said the accused are required to submit their passports to the state government and also comply with the high courts order on bail bonds. The bench also said the Rajasthan government can move an application if the accused fail to appear before the state anti-terrorism squad whenever summoned.

The bench said the accused will have to appear at their respective police stations daily between 10am and 12pm. It further said that the high court order cannot be used by the accused to secure bail in other cases. The court fixed August 9 as the next date of hearing before a full bench headed by the CJI DY Chanchachud.

Seventy-one people were killed and 185 were injured after nine ammonium nitrate bombs strapped to bicycles went off within a span of 25 minutes  between 7.20pm and 7.45pm  in the crowded areas of Jaipur on May 13, 2008. One live bomb was recovered near Ramchandra Temple which was defused by a bomb disposal squad. Terror outfit Indian Mujahideen (IM) had claimed responsibility for the blasts.

The trial in the case began in December 2008 and a total of four charge sheets were filed against five people, the last of these in 2011. In 2019, the trial court in Jaipur acquitted one of the accused and sentenced the remaining four to death.

On March 29 this year, the high court acquitted all four people in the case. It also slammed probing agencies over their shoddy investigation in the case.

Also read: WB: Crude bombs were made at firecracker unit that exploded, claim villagers

The apex court directed the state government to furnish records of the trial court within eight weeks, Jain said.

In the SLPs, the families of the deceased alleged that the accused were wrongly acquitted by the high court. The SLPs were filed by Rajeshvari Devi and Abhinav Tiwari.

A Rajasthan government official, who did not wish to be named, said the state will submit all documents before the next hearing.

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The Supreme Court has agreed to hear in August a petition of Vikas Yadav, former Member of Parliament DP Yadavs son, challenging the bar on the consideration of his remission until he completes 25 years in jail for murdering Delhi business executive Nitish Katara in 2002. Vikas Yadav is undergoing a life imprisonment. Vikas Yadav said he has completed 21 years of his sentence. (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

A bench of justices Aniruddha Bose and Sudhanshu Dhulia on Tuesday posted the petition for hearing while allowing Nitish Karatas mother, Nilam Katara, to join as a party in the proceedings.

A trial court in May 2008 held Vikas Yadav guilty of murdering Nitish Katara for being in a relationship with his sister.

In his plea, Vikas Yadav said that he has completed 21 years of his sentence and that the denial of remission affected his fundamental right to life and liberty.

Yadavs plea also essentially sought a reconsideration of an order of the Supreme Court saying that restrictions on the right of prisoners to remission for a fixed term of years can be issued.

Nilam Katara has accused Vikas Yadav of suppressing facts. In her application, she cited the history of the case and opposed his early release. She said the trial of the case was shifted from Ghaziabad to Delhi as he wielded a lot of power and influence in Uttar Pradesh as his father was a former state minister.

Senior advocate Aparajita Singh, who appeared for Neelam Katara, pointed out Vikas Yadavs petition was not maintainable as it essentially sought recall of a Supreme Court judgment.

Neelam Katara cited a grave threat to her safety if Vikas Yadav was allowed to come out of jail.

Senior advocate Siddharth Dave, who appeared for Vikas Yadav, said his client has approached the court to secure his as well as thousands of other similar convicts indispensable fundamental right.

Additional solicitor general Aishwarya Bhati, representing the Union government, said the right to remission of a life convict can be curtailed for a limited term as such orders have been passed.
It is for the apex court to ascertain that states do not turn a blind eye to law-and-order and all endeavours are made to foster confidence in people, the Supreme Court said on Wednesday as it decided to monitor the rescue, relief and rehabilitation measures in Manipur, which has been rocked by ethnic violence, claiming at least 70 lives since May 3. People arrive to board a paramilitary truck at a transit point after being evacuated from Churachandpur, near Imphal, on May 9. (AFP)

A bench, headed by Chief Justice of India Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud, also took a grim view of the single judge bench order of March 27 which directed the state government to send within four weeks a recommendation to the Centre on the demand for scheduled tribe (ST) status by the Meitei community. The clashes between Meiteis and tribals started in Churachandpur district of Manipur on May 3 after a group of tribals took out a march to protest against the high court order and the Meitei communitys demand to be included into the ST category.

Also read: Manipur violence: Hit by clashes, many continue to move to neighbouring states

The top court pointed out that any order on inclusion or otherwise of a community in a SC/ST list was beyond the remit of a court, emphasising that a constitution bench ruling in the State of Maharashtra Vs Milind in 2000 has laid down the law in this regard.

It is a completely wrong order. We gave time to justice Muralidharan (single judge and the acting chief justice of the Manipur high court) to remedy his error but he did not...We have to take a strong view against it now...It is clear that if high court judges do not follow constitution bench judgments, then what we should do, remarked the bench, which also included justices PS Narasimha and JB Pardiwala.

Appearing for the state government, solicitor general (SG) Tushar Mehta, however, submitted that the instead of seeking a stay or recall of the March 27 order, the state government moved a plea before the single judge and got an extension of the time frame to take a decision on granting the ST status to the Meiteis by one year.

We had an option of challenging the order and seeking a stay. The high court said one tribe should be conferred with the ST status. But we chose not to challenge it and instead got an extension by a year. A stay can have adverse effect on the ground, submitted Mehta, adding a tribal group has challenged the March 27 order before the division bench of the high court and the next hearing is fixed for June 6.

After being informed about the pendency of the appeal against the single judge order, the bench refrained from passing any order and asked all the parties aggrieved by the March 27 order to make suitable submissions before the division bench on June 6.

About the other aspects of the matter, the bench clarified that it is not wrapping up the proceedings in the top court at this stage and would rather continue to monitor the situation in Manipur.

We are not entering into the fray as to which side was responsible. Doing that at this stage wont be proper. Law and order is a state subject. As the top court, we are there to ensure law and order is maintained and they dont turn a blind eye... Let the State of Manipur give a fresh status report to us after the reopening. As a constitutional court, we would want to be apprised of whats happening in the state, it said.

The top court added that the petitioners approached it with serious pleadings on record that warranted an intervention.

That is why we have flagged several issues relating to relief and rehabilitation. We have issued directive to them for taking necessary steps so that peace and tranquility in the state is maintained. Law and order is matter of the political arm of the executive. We are here to prod them so that they carry out their duties. We want to retain control and thats why we have not transferred everything to the high court, observed the bench, which included justices PS Narasimha and JB Pardiwala.

It directed the chief secretary of the state and the security advisor to take appropriate steps to foster confidence and ensure peace and tranquillity in view of apprehensions raised regarding safety of Kuki community in certain villages. The court, on a plea by the Manipur High Court Bar Association, further asked the law enforcement agencies to look into their contentions that illegal immigrants from Myanmar were involved in the violence and that a crackdown on illegal poppy cultivation was also a chief reason behind the mayhem.

Fixing the next hearing in July after the summer break ends in the Supreme Court, the bench took on record the latest status report submitted by SG Mehta under various heads: Steps taken to bring normalcy to the state, details of relief camps, compensation packages made available, security measures to protect religious places, transportation of people left stranded and registration of FIRs and recovery of fire arms.

The states report denied that any one community was responsible for the violence and blamed armed miscreants and volatile public mob. The clashes between Meiteis and tribals started in Churachandpur district after a solidarity march was conducted by All Tribal Students Union of Manipur (ATSUM) to protest the March 27 Manipur high court order and the Meitei communitys demand to be included into the Scheduled Tribe (ST) category. At least 70 people are officially confirmed to have died in the violence, which involved arson, rioting and targeted killings. The violence prompted the state government to issue shoot-at-sight orders, enforce a curfew and ban internet services.

The report added 318 relief camps have been opened that housed more than 47,000 people. Around 46,000 people have been assisted in returning to their home towns. A total of 626 FIRs have been registered while more than 1500 firearms have been taken away and recovered from people, added the report.

Also read: No compromise on integrity of Manipur: CM after Shah meet

The court was hearing a batch of three petitions filed separately by BJP MLA and chairman of the Hill Areas Committee (HAC) Dinganglung Gangmei, and NGO Manipur Tribal Forum. Gangmei contended in the top court that the proceedings before the high court were vitiated on account of not making the HAC a party and that the high court order created tension and led to violence between the two communities. He argued that there is no recommendation of the state government for inclusion of the Meitei community in the scheduled tribe list and that the state cannot be forced by the court to do so.

Another petition filed by the NGO Manipur Tribal Forum, through advocate Satya Mitra, demanded protection of the tribals  Nagas and Kukis  and to deploy central forces to protect all churches and places of worship of these communities in Manipur. The plea has also sought a probe into the violence.

Comprising around 53% of Manipurs population, the majority Meitei community is relatively affluent while the Nagas and Kukis, who constitute about 44% of the population, mainly live off agriculture on the hills and are economically deprived.

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AICC in charge for Karnataka Randeep Singh Surjewala on Wednesday issued a stern warning to Congress leaders against issuing statements on the leadership issue in the southern state. Surjewala said that any out-of-turn remarks on the leadership issue will be treated as indiscipline and action taken accordingly. Amid several reports claiming Siddaramaiah was ahead of DK Shivakumar in the race for the Karnataka CM post, the Rajya Sabha member claimed a section of media has fallen victim to the fake news factory of BJP on the government formation in Karnataka. Senior Congress leader Randeep Surjewala addresses the media gathered outside the residence of party President Mallikarjun Kharge, in New Delhi, Wednesday, May 17, 2023.(PTI)

We understand the frustration of BJP in being decisively rejected by the brother and sisters of Karnataka bringing an end to the #40PercentBJPSarkara, Surjewala said in a tweet.

Rejecting the criticism of high-command culture in the grand old party, Surjewala said no one whispered a word when Prime Minister Narendra Modi took seven to 10 days in deciding the chief ministers of Uttar Pradesh, Assam, Goa and several other states where BJP emerged victorious.

But the same forces and a select news outlets have objections to the process of dialogue, discussion, consensus adopted by Sh. @kharge ji, which is in true democratic traditions, the Congress leader said.

I have also advised all Congress leaders to not issue statements on the issue of leadership. Any out of turn remarks made from here onwards will be treated as indiscipline and action taken accordingly, he added.

Surjewala's warning came soon after DK Shivakumar arrived at his Delhi residence on Wednesday evening.

He repeated his earlier assertion that Congress will form the government in Karnataka in the next 48-72 hours.

Hectic parleys were held on Wednesday to break the deadlock in deciding on the Congress' chief ministerial pick in Karnataka with both the hopefuls Siddaramaiah and D K Shivakumar presenting their cases before the top brass.

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President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has received Speaker of the House of Representatives of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan Ahmad al-Safadi, Azernews reports.

President Ilham Aliyev expressed satisfaction with Ahmad al-Safadis participation in the Milli Majlis special session to mark the 100th anniversary of National Leader Heydar Aliyev.

The head of state noted that Azerbaijan managed to protect its independence during hardships as a result of founder of the Azerbaijani state Heydar Aliyevs activity, and embarked on the path of development.

The Azerbaijani leader touched upon bilateral relations, saying Azerbaijan and Jordan are friendly and brotherly countries with their relations successfully developing in a variety of areas.

The Azerbaijani President underlined the importance of reciprocal visits in enhancing cooperation, and expressed confidence that Ahmad al-Safadis visit to Azerbaijan would contribute to expansion of interparliamentary ties and provide a good opportunity for discussing prospects for bilateral relations.

Ahmad al-Safadi said he is honored to meet the head of state. He conveyed greetings from King of Jordan Abdullah II ibn Al Hussein to the head of state.

President Ilham Aliyev thanked for the greetings and asked Ahmad al-Safadi to pass on his own greetings to the King of Jordan.

The Speaker underlined that world-level personalities Heydar Aliyev and King of Jordan Hussein bin Talal played a special role in laying the foundation of friendship and partnership between Azerbaijan and Jordan.

Ahmad al-Safadi noted that Azerbaijan had achieved great accomplishments thanks to the tireless activity of founder of the Azerbaijani state Heydar Aliyev. He underscored that Azerbaijan is on the path of development that can be matched with that of leading European countries.

The meeting also saw discussions on the opportunities for expanding economic-trade relations and cooperation in the tourism sector.

In conclusion, Ahmad al-Safadi presented the head of state with a keepsake.

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Hyderabad Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao said the BRS would win not less than 95-105 seats in the 119-member state assembly. (PTI)

Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao on Wednesday exuded confidence that the ruling Bharath Rashtra Samiti would score a hat-trick in the upcoming assembly elections in the state with a thumping majority.

There is absolutely no doubt that we are going to come back to power for a third successive term. All the surveys  external and internal  have indicated that the BRS is going to score the hat-trick, BRS president said, while addressing a meeting of the party MPs, MLAs, MLCs and other senior party functionaries at Telangana Bhavan in the evening.

KCR said the BRS would win not less than 95-105 seats in the 119-member state assembly. Most of the sitting MLAs will get the party tickets again. If all of you work hard as per my directions, each of you will get a majority of at least 50,000 votes, he said.

He asked all the elected representatives and chief functionaries of the party to swing into action to galvanize the cadres to take 10 years of Telanganas success story to the people.

Telangana has created a new landmark in every sector, resulting in a widespread clamour elsewhere for replicating the Telangana model, he said, citing the growing demand for the model in neighbouring Maharashtra.

KCR, however, sounded a note of caution to the MLAs and asked them not to be complacent about their victory. You should give up the monotonous approach in reaching out to the people. Like a hen, every MLA has to protect his or her own party cadre. It is time to put the rank and file of the organization at all levels back into action mode, he said.

The BRS president said no party would be able to win the elections based on religion or caste. We have been treating all sections of people with equal respect. That is the secret of our success. We always criticise the opponents on issues, not on silly politics. We never do dirty politics but only issue-based politics, he said.

The chief minister asked the party functionaries to take active part in the 10th Telangana formation day, which would be celebrated for 21 days and make them a grand success. The celebrations would be the right occasion to speak about the growth and progress of Telangana, he said.

He pointed out that some of the elected representatives were yet to update themselves about the rapid strides made in the development of Telangana despite the humble beginnings the State could make nine years ago.

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Trinamool Congress MP Saugata Roy on Wednesday rejected Congress leader Acharya Pramod Krishnam's call to declare Priyanka Gandhi Vadra as the prime ministerial candidate of opposition parties, saying there was no need to make such statement as it creates confusion. Roy said he knows Rahul Gandhi since he was a fellow member of Lok Sabha but doesn't know anything about Priyanka Gandhi, underlining that she never has been a member of either Parliament or a state Assembly. Congress leaders Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and Rahul Gandhi.(PTI)

I don't know anything about Priyanka Gandhi. People say that she resembles Indira Gandhi, Roy told news agency ANI.

While she helped Congress get good results in Himachal and Karnataka, there was no impact in Uttar Pradesh. She has never been a Lok Sabha or a Vidhan Sabha member. Saying such things create confusion. Things should not be said irresponsibly, he added.

Acharya Pramod Krishnam, who contested and lost Lok Sabha polls in 2014 and 2019 on a Congress ticket, pitched Priyanka Gandhi's name as a prime ministerial candidate ahead of the next year's national elections. Krishnam claimed that there is no leader more popular, acceptable and credible than Priyanka Gandhi to defeat Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

If the Opposition wants to defeat PM Modi in 2024, then it has to bring forward a big face that is popular, credible and acceptable. I think there is no leader more popular, acceptable and credible than Priyanka Gandhi. I want to appeal to Opposition parties to declare her as PM candidate, he said.

Claiming a growing feud between Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi, BJP IT cell head Amit Malviya said the Congress should settle it along with the race for Karnataka chief minister as Siddaramaiah and DK Shivakumar, both frontrunners for the top post, are not ready to cede an inch.

Along with Karnataka CM, Congress should settle the growing feud between Rahul and Priyanka. There is a hoard among their supporters to give them credit for Karnataka and position them as the face of the party, wrote Malviya on Twitter. Pramod has just fired the first salvo!

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Severe mid-air turbulence during a Delhi-Sydney Air India flight Tuesday injured seven passengers, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation told news agency ANI Wednesday afternoon. The avaiation regulator also said that the cabin crew had provided first aid to those who were injured during the flight.

The national aviation regulator said the injured had received treatment on arrival in Sydney and that no hospitalisations were reported. The DGCA identified the flight as AI-302 flying a B787-800.

The DGCA also said AI cabin crew had provided first aid to the injured. "Air India Airport manager at Sydney arranged medical assistance on arrival and only three passengers availed of the medical assistance," the DGCA had said soon after the incident.

Responding to the incident, Air India spokesperson said, Air Indias flight AI302 of 16th May 2023, operating from Delhi to Sydney encountered turbulence mid-air leading to discomfort to the passengers on board. The flight landed safely in Sydney and three passengers availed of medical assistance on arrival, none of whom required hospitalisation. This onboard incident has been reported to the relevant authorities as a standard practice.

More details are awaited.

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Chennai: V Senthil Balaji, Tamil Nadu minister for electricity, prohibition and excise, is in the eye of a storm with the death toll in twin hooch tragedies rising to 22 and BJPs state president K Annamalai calling for his removal, a day after the Supreme Court allowed the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to continue proceedings against him in the alleged cash-for-job scam. The Supreme Court allowed the Enforcement Directorate to continue proceedings against Tamil Nadu minister V Senthil Balaji in the alleged cash-for-job scam. (ANI)

Balaji faced a volley of questions from reporters after he emerged from an electricity review meeting on Wednesday in Chennai. The minister asserted that steps are being taken to ensure that illicit liquor-related deaths do not occur in future and that he would fully cooperate with the investigation against him. It is an unfortunate incident. We will arrest more people related to the deaths, Balaji said.

The minister, however, pointed fingers at the opposition for similar hooch deaths and scams. He said that when AIADMK general secretary Edappadi Palaniswami (EPS) was chief minister, there were 20 hooch deaths in 2020 and that his cabinet minister for health C Vijayabhaskar has been named by the CBI in the gutka scam.

The case against Balaji pertains to allegations when he was the transport minister during the AIADMK-led government from 2011 to 2015 before switching to the DMK. Balaji is accused of taking bribes from people seeking jobs in the state transport department. The Supreme Court on Tuesday set aside an order by the Madras high court, directing a fresh probe into an alleged cash-for-job scam.

My name was not there when the complaint was filed and an FIR was registered. My name was added during investigations due to political reasons, Balaji said. Those who went to the Supreme Court are not the same people who had filed the complaint and those who were affected by the case. You have to understand that first. Some third parties approached the Supreme Court after the Madras high court order. How many people know this? But, I will cooperate with the investigation.

Responding to Annamalais call for his sacking, Balaji questioned why BJPs ally AIADMKs EPS did not resign after he was named in the Kodanad-heist-cum-murder case and the Thoothukudi firing in which police killed 13 civilians. I dont think they have the right to say anything. He (Annamalai) is just making these statements for political reasons, Balaji said.

In another meeting chaired by chief minister M K Stalin, the police and home department made a few decisions following the hooch death of 16 people in Villupuram district and six in Chengalpattu. Fifty others are still undergoing treatment in hospitals after they drank spurious liquor on Saturday night, and the government found that methanol was used in both instances.

The chief minister has directed officials to submit a report to him every Monday on how they are implementing work to eradicate spurious liquor. A district coordination meeting should also be conducted every Monday to prevent spurious liquor and drugs under the leadership of district administration, police department, revenue officials and the district manager of Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation (TASMAC), read a statement from the government. Police commissioners and assistant commissioners (excise) should monitor the use of methanol in liquor. The chief minister also directed for officers to be appointed in district-level prohibition enforcement units in border, coastal and hilly areas and public awareness programmes to be conducted by educational institutions and voluntary groups.

Electricity consumption rises in TN

Balaji, who conducted a review meeting, said Tamil Nadus electricity needs have increased in the last two years. In 2020-2021, the peak was 16,481 mega watt and in 2023-2024, especially for 45 days through April and May, the peak reached 19,387 mega watt. The temperature has crossed 40 degree Celcius in several parts of Tamil Nadu.

In Chennai, the maximum daily consumption has been recorded as 423 million units. In 2019-2020, it was 361 million units. Despite such an increase, across Tamil Nadu we have been providing proper electricity, Balaji said. This is because we planned between December and January to face this summer. Chennais requirements are more than that of entire Tamil Nadu so discussed how we can deal with it in todays meeting. In a few places in Chennai there were power outages in the last two days.

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DR P. S. DESHMUKH, Union Minister for Agriculture, emphasized the need of intensive cultivation of jowar, bajra and other millets in the country. HT This Day: May 18, 1955 -- Cultivation of millets in India

Addressing a conference of millet workers here yesterday he said: We have not given to millets the attention their importance deserves. Of a total of nearly 230 lakhs given by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research as assistance to the States up to the end of 1954, both in respect of terminated schemes and current schemes of agricultural research, excluding animal husbandry and fodder research schemes, not more than 5 lakhs have been spent on millet research schemes. He hoped that more attention would be given to research on these important food crops at least in the future.

Millets, he said, are grown mostly in scarcity areas of low and uncertain rainfall, many of them are chronically famine areas. Governments were no doubt awakened to the need of paying better attention to these areas and special funds had been allotted and spent on irrigation projects, mostly minor for these areas.

Millets, Dr Deshmukh continued,  form the chief cereal food of about 40 per cent of our population, who live in these dry areas where nothing else can be grown it any rate so well. The importance of millets to the agricultural population and in the economy of our country cannot, therefore, be over, emphasized.

ACREAGE AND PRODUCTION

Giving figures regarding the acreage and production under these crops. Dr Deshmukh said: The area under millets is about 85 million acres or nearly ten million acres more than that under rice and their production amounts to only 15 million tons as against 23 to 27 million tons of rice, although the acreage is about 12 per cent less. Bombay has the largest area under millets of about 20 million acres, followed by Hyderabad with 12 million, Rajasthan with ten million, Andhra and Madhya Pradesh with more than six million acres each, Madras with five million, Mysore, Madhyabbarat and Saurashtra with four million each, and Punjab and Uttar Pradesh with nearly three million acres each.

The average yield of jowar per acre is about 300 lbs. and that of bajra is slightly less. In the case of other crops, the average yields of these crops in the different States vary immensely. Madhya Pradesh tops the list for the highest average yield of 650 lbs of jowar per acre, while the highest average yield of 500 lbs of bajra per acre has been recorded in Andhra and Uttar Pradesh. There is thus considerable room for improvement in the yield of these two important millet crops. This can be achieved by growing improved varieties and by evolving new varieties for use in areas where such varieties do not already exist.

CAMPAIGNS NEEDED

Stressing the need of launching campaigns for intensive cultivation, he said: Ordinarily, I would have laid the greatest emphasis on this point but conscious of how the growers of millets have been most hard-hit as a result of unprecedented production and the consequent falling prices, I myself have a certain amount of hesitation whether we should take up such campaigns with regard to millets with greater intensity than we have done during the last two years.

There are naturally two things we have not only to bear in mind but which we can never allow ourselves to forget. The first is that the availability of sufficient food is the most vital matter in the life of a nation and especially of such a large nation with its rapid growth of population. Secondly, climatically we are so precariously situated that even if some of the growers were somewhat adversely affected by low prices consequent on better production, we would be doing a disservice to the nation if we were to slacken our efforts at larger production for this very reason.

The keeping capacity of millets, he said, was unfortunately so low that any excessive production could not be utilized for building reserves as can be the case with wheat. Even so, in view especially of the vagaries of the monsoon as well as the changeable climatic conditions people should persist in their effort to produce the largest amount of crops from the smallest possible area. Even if falling prices hit us badly, it is patriotic to know that the food that we have grown has become available and within the purchasing power of a much larger section of our people than used to be the case for years past and I think it is legitimate to derive considerable satisfaction from this fact whether this is adequately realized by other people or not  he said.

Mr K. R. Damle, Vice-President of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, in his preliminary remarks emphasized the need of co-ordination research in different fields of agriculture.

The conference was attended by over 40 delegates from Bombay, Madras, Andhra, West Bengal, Punjab and Delhi.

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Aged 16, Halim Flowers was arrested in the United States, tried as an adult then jailed for murder. Now aged 42, he is a prolific artist, poet and writer exhibiting in Paris. The turnaround has been spectacular. Flowers was only released in 2019 after a change in US law allowed for under-18s who had been tried as adults to be "re-sentenced". US artist, writer, activist, and ambassador for Represent Justice Halim A. Flowers, poses during a photo session in Paris on May 12, 2023. (Joel Saget/AFP)

Then a year later, when Covid-19 pushed much of the world into lockdown, his wife -- also an artist -- suggested he should give painting a go.

"I just took the brush. I had no idea about colour, how mixing red and white made pink. She told me how to do that, how to take care of my brushes," he told AFP.

Visiting AFP's photo studio in Paris, Flowers sketched a graffiti-style drawing on a white background and explained that art was his "only drug".

"I don't smoke drugs, I don't drink alcohol, I don't party. All I do is art," he said.

Colourful and rich in symbolism, his work highlights the experiences of people on the margins -- prisoners, the homeless, those with mental health issues.

The Washington native, who is displaying his paintings until Sunday at the Champop gallery in the French capital, told the United States' National Public Radio in 2021 he had already sold art worth more than $1 million.

His life now is a far cry from that of the skinny teenager who featured in a 1998 documentary for HBO titled "Thug Life in DC".

A disconsolate Flowers told the documentary he had no hope, and that his mother would probably be dead by the time he was freed.

- Kardashian collaboration -

Flowers was raised in a poor neighbourhood of the US capital and grew up during the crack "epidemic".

He fell into drug dealing and eventually got caught up in a robbery that resulted in someone being shot dead.

Despite not being the shooter, he was tried and convicted of murder under the principle of "aiding and abetting".

He said his generation of jailed children were regarded as "super predators" but he knew he was innocent and had enough faith in himself to struggle to show his humanity.

"Those who are considered as beasts and super predators today can become those who visit the museums tomorrow," he said.

After years of campaigning, he was finally freed in early 2019 -- his mother greeting him with open arms.

Already with a track record as an author and poet, he worked with reality TV star Kim Kardashian on a documentary called "The Justice Project", which helped to secure the release of one of his childhood friends.

He met both Kardashian and her then husband, musician Kanye West, although he credits West's fellow rapper Jay-Z with sparking his interest in visual art.

- 'Lack of love' -

"I was introduced to visual art through listening to Jay-Z rap about Jean-Michel Basquiat," he said, referring to the US artist who shot to fame in the 1980s before dying of a heroin overdose at 27 in 1988.

For Flowers, seeing that a black person had been "received and revered in the art world" was a revelation and inspired him to begin studying the arts while in jail.

The similarity between his work and that of Basquiat has led to accusations he is copying his forebear but Flowers flatly denies the charge.

"To show my reverence to my ancestors through my work is an honour," he said.

"Anything that I do that resembles them is because we share the same spirit."

Now he wants to use his art to change perceptions, particularly about notions of justice.

"I think people are surprised that I came home from prison and I wasn't being bitter or angry," he said.

There's nothing that necessarily links being in jail to being angry and bitter, he stressed.

He sees the issue as a wider one -- society in general, he said, has been infected by a "pandemic of lack of love".

His mission is to create a "new visual language" that will vaccinate against this pandemic and transform our image of justice.
Priyanka Chopra is an absolute fashionista. The actor keeps slaying fashion goals like a pro with snippets from her fashion diaries on a regular basis on her Instagram profile. The actor recently attended the Bulgari event in Venice, Italy. The event was a star-studded affair with the A-listers of the film and fashion fraternity dropping by in their best attires to attend the event. From Anne Hathaway to Zendaya, the event was star-studded. Priyanka looked every bit stunning as she picked a stunning bodycon co-ord set for the event. The actor showed off her hourglass figure in the ensemble as she posed with Anne and Zendaya for pictures at the event. Priyanka Chopra attends Bulgari event in Venice in a magenta bodycon co-ord set. Watch(Instagram/@priyankaonline)

ALSO READ: Cannes 2023: When Priyanka Chopra wore a wedding dress to Cannes with Nick Jonas

Priyanka played muse to fashion designer house Miss Sohee and picked the magenta bodycon co-ord set for the event. The outfit consisted of a magenta cropped top with off-shoulder details, bodycon full sleeves, a plunging neckline with ruched effect. She further teamed it with a long and sleek magenta skirt with pleat details in the middle, decorated with a stunning broach, and a long train. Barring her midriff, Priyanka posed for the pictures. The magenta fabric complemented the actors hourglass figure and gave us major fashion goals. Take a look at her ensemble here.

Priyanka posed with Anne Hathaway and Zendaya as they got captured in this video having an engaging conversation. Zendaya looked ravishing in a black velvet gown with off-shoulder details, while Anne looked stunning in a golden shimmery sleeveless top styled with a hoodie, and a contrasting silver sequined skirt. Take a look:

Priyanka further accessorised her look for the day in a multicoloured stone studded neck choker, matching earrings and a finger ring from the house of Bulgari. Styled by hair stylist Thibaud Salducci, Priyanka wore her tresses slicked into a side part with wavy curls. Assisted by makeup artist Morgane Martini, Priyanka decked up in black eyeliner, mascara-laden eyelashes, contoured cheeks and a shade of bright magenta lipstick.

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The Cannes Film Festival kickstarted on May 16 and will go on till May 27. One of the most prestigious film festivals celebrated across the world, the red carpet at Cannes is always star-studded. Every year, the Cannes Film Festival is attended by the A-listers of the film and the fashion fraternity. The red carpet looks of the stars at Cannes keep giving new fashion goals to the world every year. Sara Ali Khan made her debut at Cannes this year and we cannot keep calm already. The actor recently took off for her Cannes debut, post the launch of the trailer of her upcoming film Zara Hatke Zara Bachke. Sara, on Wednesday, shared a slew of pictures of her Cannes red carpet look on her Instagram profile and we are drooling like anything. Sara Ali Khan makes her debut at Cannes in a pastel lehenga, says, 'You Cannes do it'(Instagram/@saraalikhan95)

ALSO READ: Sara Ali Khan's saree for Zara Hatke Zara Bachke event is must-have ethnic look

Sara, for her debut at the Cannes red carpet, played muse to fashion designer Abu Jani Sandeep Khosla and picked a stunning lehenga from the shelves of the designer. Sara opted for a traditional look for the Cannes and embraced the ethnic side, draped by Dolly Jain. Sara decked up in a pastel blouse with silver embellishment details and a plunging neckline. She further teamed it with a long and flowy skirt with ethnic patterns in shades of white throughout. Sara completed her look in a matching dupatta on her shoulders attached to her hair bun, featuring details in white, and tulle details at the borders. "You Cannes do it, Sara captioned her pictures. Take a look:

Sara further accessorised her look for the day in matching statement silver earrings with yellow embedded stones. In a diamond bracelet on one hand, she completed her look. Styled by hairstylist Sanky Evrus, Sara wore her tresses into a bun with a middle part as she posed by the rocks leading to a serene water body in the backdrop. Assisted by makeup artist Tanvi Chemburkar, Sara decked up in minimal makeup as she let her ethnic ensemble do all the talking. In nude eyeshadow, black eyeliner, black kohl, mascara-laden eyelashes, contoured cheeks and a shade of nude lipstick, Sara aced her debut look at this year's Cannes Film Festival.

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The announcement of getting frontier town Uri in Jammu and Kashmir on the railway map of the country has brought cheers to locals who hope that starting train services would not only ease their commute but also give a fillip to the trade and tourism sectors here. Jammu and Kashmir brings Uri on railway map, locals cheer at rail connectivity announcement (Representative image)

The Northern Railway has revealed plans to begin work on the 50-km Baramulla-Uri railway line for which tenders have been floated, officials said on Tuesday, adding that the rail authorities were gearing up to undertake the Final Location Survey (FLS).

They said the survey would be completed within three months of awarding the tenders.

The extension of the railway line from Baramulla to Uri is expected to improve connectivity to Baramulla, Srinagar and Banihal.

Locals have welcomed the move to provide railway connectivity to the border town which is 102 km from Srinagar.

"We thank the L-G and Union Railway Minister for the announcement of a 50-km railway line to Uri. People will benefit a lot from it," Mir Mushtaq, a local BJP leader, said.

He said the railway line would help in providing employment opportunities to the locals.

"This is a welcome step. It will give a fillip to the trade and business sector and will also boost the tourism sector," Mohammad Shafi, a trade leader, said.

"Business will get a boost with more people visiting the place. It will become easier to travel to Uri from any part of the country," Shafi said, adding the railway line will provide seamless connectivity to the rest of the country and act as an alternate route to the national highway which remains cut off many times during a year.

The railway line would also be important from a strategic point of view for the transportation of troops, equipment and other supplies to forward areas of the Line of Control.

Earlier this year, the Indian Army allowed tourists to visit the Kaman Aman Setu Bridge, which connects the Kashmir Valley to Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK).

The 220-ft bridge is treated as the LoC between India and Pakistan whose access is controlled by soldiers on both sides.

The Indian Army is now promoting the area close to LoC as a tourist spot. However, the gates of the bridge have been locked since India suspended the Srinagar-Muzaffarbad bus service between Kashmir and PoK in February 2019 when 40 CRPF jawans were killed in a terrorist attack in Pulwama.
India celebrated its National Technology Day (NTD) on May 11, marking an opportunity to appreciate the visionary leadership of Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi, who has championed science, technology, and innovation since 2014. With the central theme  School to Startups- Igniting Young Minds to Innovate  the National Technology Week (May 11-14) brought together 12 ministries and the technology development board to celebrate engineers, scientists, and innovators who have made key technological advancements. At the core of these celebrations was the Atal Innovation Mission (AIM), designed to foster a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship, and inculcate scientific temper in young minds. (ISRO) is promoting space education through initiatives such as Space Tutor, which involves 55 non-governmental organisations and educational institutions establishing space clubs and organising hands-on events.

AIM, established under NITI Aayog, has made significant strides in fostering a robust entrepreneurial landscape in India. AIM achieves its vision through programmes such as Atal Tinkering Labs (ATLs) for schools, Atal Incubation Centres (AICs) for start-ups and entrepreneurs, Atal Community Innovation Centres (ACICs) for grassroots innovation, Atal New India Challenges (ANICs) for national-impact innovations, and Mentor India for change agents.

The Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR) plays a crucial role in supporting not only industrial R&D for established industries but also startups and micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs). CSIRs recent efforts in the startup ecosystem include showcasing selected technologies to boost collaboration confidence, highlighting startups incubated in CSIR laboratories, and conducting interactive lecture sessions to strengthen CSIR-industry relationships and gather valuable feedback from startups.

The National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT), an autonomous body under the ministry of earth sciences, is dedicated to designing, developing, and demonstrating technologies for the sustainable utilisation of ocean resources. With a significant impact on the industry, NIOT has signed 32 technology licensing agreements and is set to finalise two more in May. The department of atomic energy (DAE) has established itself as a technology powerhouse. DAE contributes to carbon-free electricity, health care, food preservation, crop variety development, and environmental waste management.

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is promoting space education through initiatives such as Space Tutor, which involves 55 non-governmental organisations and educational institutions establishing space clubs and organising hands-on events. They are also building capacity in the geospatial domain, providing training on satellite data usage for various applications. Space science data from missions such as Chandrayaan and Mangalyaan is used for hackathons and workshops. The Space on Wheels programme consists of mobile space museums, aimed at promoting awareness and education for rural students, in collaboration with institutions and organisations.

Over the past eight years, Indias bio-economy has grown from $10 billion to $80 billion, increasing the number of biotech startups to 5,300. The department of biotechnology (DBT) and the Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC) have supported over 4,000 startups and 2,500 companies, resulting in 1,200 Intellectual Property filings and 800 biotech products reaching the market.

India is now a global leader in vaccine development, with initiatives such as Mission COVID Suraksha and the development of vaccines like ZyCoV-D. In agriculture, 50 crop varieties have been developed using genomic tools. The One Health Initiative and bioenergy projects support animal biotechnology, and clean energy. Capacity-building programmes such as Star College Scheme and Biotech Industrial Training Programme promote skill development and infrastructure. Finally, the Indian Biological Data Centre (IBDC) ensures the storage and sharing of biological data. The department of science & technology (DST) is Indias nodal agency for promoting S&T, elevating the countrys ranking to the top 50 innovative economies globally. DST fosters innovation and entrepreneurship through various programmes.

Indias innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem is thriving, thanks to various policy initiatives and programmes aimed at developing the nation by 2047. ATLs inspire the younger generation to engage in scientific research, becoming change agents for Indias growth. The Atmanirbhar Bharat mission serves as a bridge to New India, emphasising demand, supply, and manufacturing. The Make in India initiative focuses on fostering innovation, investment, skill development, and world-class manufacturing infrastructure. PM Modis leadership has played a significant role in steering India towards this path of innovation.

NTD celebrations reminded us of the immense potential India holds in various fields. Let us pledge to support and encourage our scientists, innovators, and entrepreneurs in their endeavours to create a brighter future for India.

Jitendra Singh is minister of science & technology

The views expressed are personal
Abusing state power to suppress foreign companies. That might sound like a description of Chinas economic strategy, but instead it is the charge that Chinas Ministry of Foreign Affairs has levelled against Americas government, without apparent irony. March 28th marked the deadline for TikTok, a wildly popular Chinese social-media app, to be wiped from federal-government devices because of worries about security. Attacks on TikTok, which claims 150m American users, will not stop there. Politicians in Washington are considering two options that Chinas government has long embraced for American companies: curbing TikToks freedom to operate, or an outright ban. PREMIUM March 28th marked the deadline for TikTok, a wildly popular Chinese social-media app, to be wiped from federal-government devices because of worries about security. (AFP)

With its attention-grabbing videos TikTok, like other social-media companies, gets blamed for addicting young people, delivering harmful content and spreading misinformation. According to a new survey by Common Sense, an advocacy group, 45% of American teenage girls say they are addicted to TikTok, compared with a third who say the same about Instagram. American TikTok users spend a staggering 82 minutes a day on the app, more than on Facebook and Instagram combined.

Unlike Silicon Valley firms, however, TikTok has ties to the Chinese Communist Party (ccp) and Chinas government through its parent company, ByteDance. This makes users potentially vulnerable to data collection, propaganda and misinformation. For all the critiques of the American-based platforms, at the end of the day, they dont report to the CIA, and they dont report to the American government, says Mark Warner, a senator from Virginia.

Donald Trumps administration sought to ban the app but the effort was blocked by a court. Since then TikTok has been trying to negotiate a compromise with the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, an inter-agency group focused on national-security risk, suggesting that it should maintain ownership of TikTok but store data in America, under the oversight of Oracle, an American tech firm.

But few believe that it can really safeguard user data from the Chinese government, given ByteDances ties to the ccp and the fact that Oracle would not have true power to police operations. Hence the buzz about forcing ByteDance to divest TikTok, or banning it altogether.

America is not alone in being concerned. India was the first country to ban TikTok (and other Chinese apps) in 2020, after a border clash. Britain, Canada, the European Parliament and others have banned TikTok from officials devices, and many countries are considering what to do next. A recent report to Australias parliament outlines the risks not only to the data privacy of individual users, but to social cohesion, democratic functioning and the national-security interests of democratic nations. National-security folk worry about China using TikTok to interfere in elections, much as Russia used Facebook in the 2016 presidential race in America.

Although concerns about TikTok began as theoretical, they are no longer so. In December ByteDance confirmed that employees in China and America improperly accessed TikTok data on journalists, including tracking where they were, in an effort to ferret out their sources. TikToks content is more pro-CCP than its competitors and it also hosts more misinformation, according to the recent Australian report. And for all the talk of American protectionism, China does not make TikTok available at home. A sanitised version, Douyin, is what is on offer from ByteDance in the Chinese market, with strict limits on content and time limits for young users.

Reactions to TikTokencapsulated in the hostile five hours that TikToks boss, Shou Zi Chew, recently spent in front of a committee of congressional interrogatorsreveal three important things about America. First, the TikTok question shows how American politicians are more united in opposition to China than at any time in recent history. During the Trump administration it was mainly the China hawks who squawked about the threat posed by China and the app. That has changed. TikTok is one of the most unifying issues across the political spectrum, says Ro Khanna, a Democratic congressman from California. Politics mirrors public opinion. Today, only 16% of Americans have a favourable view of China, down from 44% in 2017, according to the Pew Research Centre, a think-tank based in Washington, DC.

A few fissures are still visible. Republicans are more likely to talk about an outright ban of TikTok, whereas Democrats favour divestment, forcing a sale to an American firm. Several politicians, including the squad of left-wing progressives in Congress, portray the anti-TikTok rhetoric as xenophobic. But whats most striking is the broad alignment of opinion in an otherwise polarised Washington.

Second, the TikTok debate offers a lens into politicians calculations. With greater reliance on younger voters, who in turn rely on TikTok to fill their days, Democrats have been more hesitant to contemplate a ban. Theres recognition among Democrats that youd have mutiny in this country if you kick millions of young people off TikTok, says Mr Khanna. What would mutiny look like? Youd have real anger at a governing class they think doesnt get how young people communicate, he predicts. Gina Raimondo, the commerce secretary, has mused that the politician in me thinks youre gonna literally lose every voter under 35, for ever. In its extensive lobbying in Washington TikTok has focused on Democrats vulnerability to young voters anger, in an effort to avert a ban.

Finally, the debate over TikTok highlights how little tech lawmaking has occurred on the federal level and the extent to which it is originating from state legislatures. Before the federal government banned TikTok on government devices, many states had already done so. Despite years of congressional hearings castigating tech bosses, no meaningful national law on tech has passed since one in 2018 punishing online promotion of sex trafficking. Although there are calls for a national privacy law, which would enable consumers to access and delete their data, it is not a priority, says Brian Wieser of Madison and Wall, a consultancy.

In contrast, five states (including California and Connecticut) have passed comprehensive privacy legislation. Utah has just passed a first-of-its-kind law requiring parental permission for those aged under 18 to use social media and banning usage for under-18s after 10.30pm. A patchwork of state legislation will create a headache not just for TikTok but all internet firms.

What happens next? That may be determined as much by Chinese officials as American ones. Many politicians think a sale of TikTok to an American company rather than an outright ban is most politically palatable, but recent reports suggest that China would rather shut down TikTok than allow its sale. If the Chinese say no to a divestment, that gives the administration political cover for a ban, says Matt Perault, director of the Centre on Technology Policy at UNC-Chapel Hill.

The clock is tiktocking

Several proposals about how to pursue a ban are being bandied about. A bipartisan bill sponsored by Mr Warner and John Thune, a Republican senator, called the RESTRICT Act, has White House support and has most momentum in Washington, says Matt Pottinger, who was deputy national security adviser under Mr Trump. The bill would give the Commerce Department authority to investigate and mitigate (ie, ban) threats posed by foreign companies. It is designed to circumnavigate the Berman Amendment, a law of 1998 that guarantees the free flow of information to hostile nations and has been a barrier to an outright ban.

A TikTok ban would not be straightforward. It would be challenged on First Amendment grounds, and several free-speech groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union, have threatened to take action. One way round this could be to add TikTok to the Commerce Departments Entity List, a sanctions list, which would prevent platforms from hosting the app (literal deplatforming) and would probably withstand a First Amendment challenge.

Action will either happen soon or take ages. As the 2024 election approaches, politicians will show less appetite to target one of young voters favourite apps. Precedent in tech politics suggests that lawmakers outrage could give way to inertia. A lot of people are going to talk big, but nobodys going to have the courage to ban TikTok, says Nazak Nikakhtar, a lawyer at Wiley who previously worked for the Commerce Department. The short-form video app is poised to remain a long-running drama.

 2023, The Economist Newspaper Limited. All rights reserved. From The Economist, published under licence. The original content can be found on www.economist.com
The head of the artificial intelligence company that makes ChatGPT told Congress on Tuesday that government intervention will be critical to mitigating the risks of increasingly powerful AI systems. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman.(AP)

As this technology advances, we understand that people are anxious about how it could change the way we live. We are too," OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said at a Senate hearing.

Altman proposed the formation of a U.S. or global agency that would license the most powerful AI systems and have the authority to take that license away and ensure compliance with safety standards.

His San Francisco-based startup rocketed to public attention after it released ChatGPT late last year. The free chatbot tool answers questions with convincingly human-like responses.

What started out as a panic among educators about ChatGPT's use to cheat on homework assignments has expanded to broader concerns about the ability of the latest crop of generative AI tools to mislead people, spread falsehoods, violate copyright protections and upend some jobs.

And while there's no immediate sign Congress will craft sweeping new AI rules, as European lawmakers are doing, the societal concerns brought Altman and other tech CEOs to the White House earlier this month and have led U.S. agencies to promise to crack down on harmful AI products that break existing civil rights and consumer protection laws.

Sen. Richard Blumenthal, the Connecticut Democrat who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committees subcommittee on privacy, technology and the law, opened the hearing with a recorded speech that sounded like the senator, but was actually a voice clone trained on Blumenthal's floor speeches and reciting ChatGPT-written opening remarks.

The result was impressive, said Blumenthal, but he added, What if I had asked it, and what if it had provided, an endorsement of Ukraine surrendering or (Russian President) Vladimir Putins leadership?

The overall tone of senators' questioning was polite Tuesday, a contrast to past congressional hearings in which tech and social media executives faced tough grillings over the industry's failures to manage data privacy or counter harmful misinformation. In part, that was because both Democrats and Republicans said they were interested in seeking Altman's expertise on averting problems that haven't yet occurred.

Blumenthal said AI companies ought to be required to test their systems and disclose known risks before releasing them, and expressed particular concern about how future AI systems could destabilize the job market. Altman was largely in agreement, though had a more optimistic take on the future of work.

Pressed on his own worst fear about AI, Altman mostly avoided specifics, except to say that the industry could cause significant harm to the world and that if this technology goes wrong, it can go quite wrong.

But he later proposed that a new regulatory agency should impose safeguards that would block AI models that could self-replicate and self-exfiltrate into the wild  hinting at futuristic concerns about advanced AI systems that could manipulate humans into ceding control.

That focus on a far-off science fiction trope of super-powerful AI could make it harder to take action against already existing harms that require regulators to dig deep on data transparency, discriminatory behavior and potential for trickery and disinformation, said a former Biden administration official who co-authored its plan for an AI bill of rights.

Its the fear of these (super-powerful) systems and our lack of understanding of them that is making everyone have a collective freak-out, said Suresh Venkatasubramanian, a Brown University computer scientist who was assistant director for science and justice at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. This fear, which is very unfounded, is a distraction from all the concerns were dealing with right now.

OpenAI has expressed those existential concerns since its inception. Co-founded by Altman in 2015 with backing from tech billionaire Elon Musk, the startup has evolved from a nonprofit research lab with a safety-focused mission into a business. Its other popular AI products include the image-maker DALL-E. Microsoft has invested billions of dollars into the startup and has integrated its technology into its own products, including its search engine Bing.

Altman is also planning to embark on a worldwide tour this month to national capitals and major cities across six continents to talk about the technology with policymakers and the public. On the eve of his Senate testimony, he dined with dozens of U.S. lawmakers, several of whom told CNBC they were impressed by his comments.

Also testifying were IBM's chief privacy and trust officer, Christina Montgomery, and Gary Marcus, a professor emeritus at New York University who was among a group of AI experts who called on OpenAI and other tech firms to pause their development of more powerful AI models for six months to give society more time to consider the risks. The letter was a response to the March release of OpenAI's latest model, GPT-4, described as more powerful than ChatGPT.

Also read: Chinese man held over spreading fake train crash news using ChatGPT

The panel's ranking Republican, Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri, said the technology has big implications for elections, jobs and national security. He said Tuesday's hearing marked "a critical first step towards understanding what Congress should do.

A number of tech industry leaders have said they welcome some form of AI oversight but have cautioned against what they see as overly heavy-handed rules. Altman and Marcus both called for an AI-focused regulator, preferably an international one, with Altman citing the precedent of the U.N.s nuclear agency and Marcus comparing it to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. But IBM's Montgomery instead asked Congress to take a precision regulation" approach.

We think that AI should be regulated at the point of risk, essentially, Montgomery said, by establishing rules that govern the deployment of specific uses of AI rather than the technology itself.
Billionaire Elon Musk recently said in an interview that he will continue to share his unfiltered thoughts on Twitter even if that hurt the businesses, and he doesnt care' if his controversial tweets potentially impact Tesla shares or ad sales on the microblogging site go south. Tesla CEO Elon Musk(AP)

"I'll say what I want to say and if the consequence of that is losing money, so be it," he responded to a question during a CNBC interview after taking a long pause.

He further said that he is the reason OpenAI, the firm that devised ChatGPT, exists. He further said how he made Google co-founder Larry Page aware about the possible danger of the artificial intelligence, however, Page was quite cavalier about it.

The Tesla CEO is among several silicon valley tech whizzes along with other researchers and scientists who singed an open letter asking for a six-month deferral in advanced AI development research amid growing fear of perpetuating misinformation and biases through the latest technology.

Musk was talking about the contribution he made to OpenAI and explained the reason behind his reservations against AI. He said that at sometime Google had around 3/4th of the AI talent in the world and it was a unipolar world for the technology. He further alleged that the person who controlled the unipolar world of AI didn't seem to concerned about AI safety.

Furthermore, Musk added that Page called him a speciest for having pro-human consciousness instead of machine consciousness was the final straw for him.

He showed his contempt against OpenAI that turned turned out to be a closed-sourced, for-profit company, as opposed to the its original cause to become a non-profit, open-sourced platform. Musk also claimed to have supported the platform financially and gave a sum to the tune of around $50 million, apart from coming up with the now popular title of the company.
Driving under the influence or DUI is something that should never be done. Yet, there are people who do that. When caught by police for DUI, some of those drivers also come up with different excuses to wriggle out of the sticky situations. However, have you ever heard of someone who tried to do so by trying to pass off their dog as the driver? Yes, that is what a driver in Springfield did. Turns out, he attempted to switch places with his dog who was in the passenger seat. And, he did the swap in front of the police. The driver in Colorado swapped places with his dog in front of the cops (representational image). (Unsplash/@imandrewpons)

Springfield Police took to Facebook to share a post about the incident. Since being posted, the share has sparked laughter among people.

The male party then exited the passenger side of the vehicle and claimed he was not driving. The male party showed clear signs of intoxication and when asked about his alcohol consumption the male party ran from the Officer. The male party was apprehended quickly within about 20 yards of the vehicle, the department explained what happened after he swapped places with his dog.

BCSO arrived and assisted with the incident and the male party was medically cleared at the hospital and then booked into the Baca County Jail for his warrants and also charged with; Driving under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs, Driving while ability impaired, driving under suspension, speeding 20-24 over, and resisting arrest, they added.

The department also explained that the dog was given to an acquaintance of the driver. Then hilariously added, The dog did not face any charges and was let go with just a warning.

Take a look at the post:

The post was shared on May 14. Since being posted, it has accumulated close to 600 reactions. Additionally, the share has gathered tons of comments. Many took the route of hilarity while reacting to the video.

Heres how Facebook users reacted:

Hate when that happens (laughing out loud). But seriously glad no one was hurt, posted a Facebook user. I'd pay money to watch the dash and body cam of this whole thing!! shared another. I wished my dog could reach the pedals, commented a third. I wish my dog could drive, joked a fourth. Asking for pretty much everyone, how do we acquire the body Cam footage? wrote a fifth.

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Five people died and thousands were evacuated from their homes after heavy rains caused devastation across Italy's northern Emilia Romagna region, while this weekend's Imola Grand Prix was cancelled, officials said Wednesday. Rescuers take people to safety during rescue operations, in Forli, Italy after floods hit Italy's northern Emilia-Romagna region.(via REUTERS)

"The city is on its knees, devastated and in pain," said Gian Luca Zattini, the mayor of Forli, a city near Bologna where three people died. "It's the end of the world."

Two of the bodies in Forli were recovered by divers on Wednesday morning, as part of a huge rescue effort involving emergency services and the armed forces.

"Overall in Forli there were three victims, one in Cesena and one in Cesenatico,", which could be a German man previously reported missing, a local authority official told AFP.

Emilia Romagna, which is one of Italy's richest regions, had already been hit by heavy rain just a fortnight ago, causing floods that left two dead.

This time, around 50 centimetres (20 inches) of rain fell within 36 hours in Forli, Cesena and Ravenna -- around half the normal annual rainfall, a situation "with few precedents", Civil Protection Minister Nello Musumeci said.

"It is still a very critical situation," he told reporters, adding that while the rain was still falling, it was expected to lighten during the day.

The flooding caused the cancellation of the Formula One Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, which had been due to take place in Imola on Sunday.

Organisers said they could not guarantee the safety of fans, teams and staff.

"It would not be right to put further pressure on the local authorities and emergency services at this difficult time," they said.

- 'We're scared' -

Rescue workers had worked through the night to save children, the elderly and the disabled from the rising waters.

"We're scared, this time we're scared," said Simona Matassoni, the owner of the Hotel Savio in Cesena, which has so far escaped flooding.

"I was born here, I've seen lots of full rivers, but never anything like this," she told AFP by telephone, adding that it was still raining.

"At the moment we're crossing our fingers... but another flood is expected, so who knows (what will happen)."

Musumeci said an estimated 4,000 people had been evacuated from their homes, while around 50,000 people were without electricity.

All the rivers in the region had broken their banks between Tuesday and Wednesday, and 24 local authorities reported flooding.

The civil protection agency urged "maximum caution", as mayors warned people to stay on high ground.

In Forli, an AFP photographer saw people in a state of shock late Tuesday, fleeing through floodwaters in the dark in their bare feet.

Images showed streets transformed into rivers, and firemen moving people to safety in rubber dinghies.

- Meloni pledges support -

Elsewhere, muddy waters rushed at great speed under the arches of the covered walkways in Bologna, while locals in Cesena swam down a road to rescue a three-year-old child.

"We absolutely must not lower our guard," Cesena mayor Enzo Lattuca said on Facebook.

Residents "must not under any account go into basements or cellars", and should "stay out of ground floors if possible", he said.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, on her way to the G7 summit in Japan, tweeted her support for those affected and said the government was "ready to intervene with the necessary aid".

Much of northern Italy suffered a drought last winter, on top of a record lack of rain last summer that ruined harvests.

However, spring has been wetter and colder than normal across the country.
After 65 women received used condoms in their mails along with handwritten messages, Australian police began an investigation, BBC reported. The letters were dispatched by an anonymous sender to addresses across Melbournes east and southeast, it added. All of the mails were received in the past three months. All the victims are linked and part of a targeted attack, the police believed. Australian police is seen. (Representational)

All the women attended the city's Kilbreda College private girls' school in 1999. Their addresses must have been obtained from an old school yearbook, the police believe. The Bayside Sexual Offences and Child Abuse Investigation Team is also investigating the case.

"It is believed that most of those who reported the material have received multiple letters, all with the suspected used item included. Officers believe the victims are linked and are part of a targeted attack," the statement said.

Read more: What Kate Middleton and Prince William want from Harry amid bitter feud

A woman who received the mail was quoted by Australias Herald Sun as saying that she received a letter with very graphic (handwritten) messages after which she tried to contact her friends.

I didnt sleep the night I received the letter, it really creeped me out, the woman said. Police has also urged people having any information related to the case to come forward and help the authorities.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR Mallika Soni When not reading, this ex-literature student can be found searching for an answer to the question, "What is the purpose of journalism in society?" ...view detail
President Joe Biden said theres work to do on the global stage as he headed to Japan on Wednesday to consult with allies on Russias invasion of Ukraine and Chinas assertiveness in the Pacific at the same time that a debt limit standoff looms at home. US President Joe Biden (Bloomberg)

With high-stakes talks to head off a federal default are underway in Washington, Biden pledged to remain in constant contact with negotiators in the Capitol while he conducts international diplomacy.

The president departed Washington aboard Air Force One a day after scrapping plans for a historic stop in Papua New Guinea and a key visit to Australia amid the showdown with House Republicans over raising the federal debt limit. The three-nation trip had been meant as a triumphant global leadership showcase, and instead threatened to become a truncated reminder of how partisan disagreements have undercut U.S. standing on the global stage.

I've cut my trip short in order to be here for the final negotiations and sign the deal with the majority leader, Biden said in remarks before departing the White House. I've made clear America is not a deadbeat nation, we pay our bills.

For Biden, the intertwined dynamics of the debt standoff and his foray abroad put a spotlight on two key aspects of his presidency  his efforts to assert U.S. prowess on the international stage and to address economic concerns at home. They also are playing out as Biden is in the early weeks of his candidacy for reelection, adding political overtones to the situation.

The president was still set to attend the annual Group of Seven summit of advanced democracies in Hiroshima, where sustaining support for Ukraines expected counteroffensive against Russia is set to take center stage, alongside economic, climate and global development issues. More than a year after Moscows invasion, Biden and allies have armed Kyiv with ever-more-advanced weaponry and maintained deep sanctions on Russias economy, though maintaining resolve has grown more challenging in Washington and other global capitals.

While in Hiroshima, Biden also plans to sit down with the so-called Quad leaders of Japan, Australia and India, a partnership meant to serve as a counterweight to China in the Indo-Pacific, a region that he bills as a top priority in U.S. national security strategy. That meeting had originally been scheduled to occur next week on what would have been his inaugural visit to Canberra and Sydney as president.

Off the agenda entirely is a stop in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, where Pacific Island leaders were to gather for a first-of-its-kind meeting with a U.S. president. It was meant to be a rejoinder to Chinas increasing military and economic pressures in the region. The U.S. has recently opened embassies in the Solomon Islands and Tonga and has expressed a desire to reverse a decades-long pullback in the region.

No U.S. president has ever visited the island nation, and high hopes for the visit were dashed by Bidens announcement that he wouldnt make the stop.

When asked whether he thought his shortened trip was a win for China, he said: No.

Because we still work with allies, he said.

During a roughly hour-long meeting in the Oval Office on Tuesday, Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy designated chief negotiators to try to draft an agreement to allow more government borrowing in conjunction with GOP-demanded spending cuts. The Treasury Department has warned that action is likely needed by June 1 to assure the U.S. can continue to meet its financial obligations.

U.S. officials have warned in increasingly urgent tones that a default would not only spark a deep recession, but also weaken its standing on the world stage.

Also read: No Quad meeting after Joe Biden cancels Australia visit as US debt crisis peaks

Countries like Russia and China that would love nothing more than for us to default so they could point the finger and say, You see, the United States is not a stable, reliable partner, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said Tuesday. So, that is a high priority, as it should be, for the president.

For weeks, White House officials have said Biden could manage both the Capitol Hill negotiations and foreign commitments while on the trip. But in recent days aides have fretted as McCarthy has repeatedly called for Biden to scrap his trip, worried that while abroad, the president would appear to the public as disengaged from the swelling crisis.

The instability of the cancellation could have the opposite effect of the initial purpose of Bidens trip  reinforcing American commitments to the region, warned Charles Edel, a senior adviser and the Australia chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

It would underscore for partners that despite welcome U.S. focus on the region and the focus on allies and partners at the heart of U.S. foreign policy, domestic politics is still a constraint on U.S. engagement and perhaps on budgetary commitments as well, he said last week. And I think thats something that will be talked about widely.
French first lady Brigitte Macron issued a statement condemning a physical attack on her great-nephew as protests against her husband's pension reform continued in the country. Brigitte Macron called out the assault's cowardice, stupidity and violence", saying, I am in full solidarity with my family and have been in touch constantly since 11 p.m. yesterday. I have on several occasions denounced this kind of violence that can only lead to the worst. Chocolate shop owned by French First Lady Brigitte Macron's grandnephew Jean-Baptiste Trogneux is seen,(AFP)

Her relative- Jean-Baptiste Trogneux, 30, runs a family chocolate shop in the northern French city Amiens. He was heading to his apartment above the chocolate shop when he was attacked, Associated Press reported. His father, Jean-Alexandre Trogneux, said the attackers insulted the president, his wife and our family before running away.

Police said eight people were arrested in connection with the assault.

French President Emmanuel Macron decried the violence unacceptable, and it shocks everyone" asserting that he would continue with the unpopular pension reforms that is set to raise the retirement age from 62 to 64.

"He was assaulted because he is our great-nephew. I consider these acts as absolutely unacceptable and as president of France they are unspeakable," Emmanuel Macron said.

Brigitte Macron's family has run the chocolate shop for six generations. It specialises in the Amiens Macaron- a local almond-based confection. The business has been earlier targeted as well.

Other French politicians also expressed their sympathies to the first lady, denouncing the attack.

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A drunk driver in the United States allegedly tried to put his dog in the hot seat in order to avoid arrest during a traffic stop. According to authorities, the incident took place on Saturday night in Springfield town when a police officer stopped the man's vehicle for speeding, New York Post reported. The police said the dog was handed over to an acquaintance of the driver.

Before exiting his car, the man behind the wheel swapped places with a dog in his passenger seat, an officer who was observing him said. He then came out of the passenger side of the vehicle and claimed he was not driving.

He showed clear signs of intoxication and ran from the officer when asked about how much alcohol he had consumed, a Springfield Police officer told the outlet.

Springfield Police shared the incident on Facebook.

The male party then exited the passenger side of the vehicle and claimed he was not driving. The male party showed clear signs of intoxication and when asked about his alcohol consumption the male party ran from the Officer. The male party was apprehended quickly within about 20 yards of the vehicle, the department said.

BCSO arrived and assisted with the incident and the male party was medically cleared at the hospital and then booked into the Baca County Jail for his warrants and also charged with; Driving under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs, Driving while ability impaired, driving under suspension, speeding 20-24 over, and resisting arrest, they added.

The police further said the dog was handed over to an acquaintance of the driver. The dog did not face any charges and was let go with just a warning," the cop added in a humorous manner.

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Prince Harry has called his mother's sudden death in a car crash in 1997 a wound that festers in his life, while his older brother Prince William has described it as a pain like no other pain. Princess Diana had then separated from then-Prince Charles five years before the accident and divorced from him for one. Britain's Princess Diana(AP/ File photo)

On her last day, Princess Diana was with her partner at the time, 42-year-old Dodi Fayed, a film producer and son of billionaire Harrod's owner Mohamed Al Fayed, as Christopher Andersen recounted in the book The Day Diana Died.

The couple had come to Paris from Sardinia on August 30, 1997, after spending more than a week together around the Mediterranean. When they left Dodi Fayeds Paris apartment in a Mercedes-Benz driven by Henri Paul- deputy head of security at the Ritz- they were accompanied by bodyguard Trevor Rees-Jones.

When their car entered the Pont de LAlma tunnel, Paul lost control of the vehicle after which the vehicle collided into the tunnels 13th pillar, resulting in a devastating collision that killed both Paul and Dodi Fayed at the scene.

Princess Diana remained alive as first responders arrived on the scene of the crash.

We took her out of a car, put her on a stretcher, and at that moment the doctor said she was in cardiac arrest. So we gave her CPR, and after 20 seconds she regained consciousness and we transferred her to the ambulance," a first responder had then said as per Associated Press.

The car crash occurred as per royal expert Christopher Anderson owing to a number of photographers pursuing the Mercedes-Benz on motorcycles. After chasing after the car, the paparazzi reportedly remained at the scene of the accident, photographing Diana in her final moments.

I think one of the hardest things to come to terms with is the fact that the people that chased her into the tunnel were the same people that were taking photographs of her while she was still dying on the back seat of the car, Prince Harry told BBC.

William and I know that. Weve been told that numerous times by people that know that was the case," he added.

Those people that caused the accident, instead of helping, were taking photographs of her dying, he asserted.

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Despite change on travel plans of US President Joseph Biden, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will attend the G-7 and Quad summit in Hiroshima and then proceed to attend the Indo-Pacific Forum meeting in Port Moresby in Papua New Guinea and round up his travel with a bilateral summit in Australia. Quad leaders to meet in Hiroshima on sidelines of G-7 summit.

According to top officials, only the venue of Quad summit has been changed from Sydney to Hiroshima to adjust last minute change in plans of President Biden on account of domestic commitment. Quad preparations are complete, and all the four strategic partners will enhance security of the group by close economic and technological cooperation aimed at building global supply chains and capacity building across the board, said a senior official.

Read more: Biden postpones Australia visit due to domestic issues

According to officials, Quad is not a gang up of democratic powers against China but all about mutual economic, technological and security cooperation in the Indo-Pacific. That the belligerence of the Xi Jinping regime in the Indo-Pacific is one of the foundation pillars of Quad, there is no doubt.

While US President Biden is also expected to meet PM Modi on the side-lines of the G-7 summit, the two countries along with Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates will announce an MoU very soon on regional integration of the Middle East with road and rail infrastructure as an alternative to Chinas Belt Road Initiative (BRI). Decision to this effect was taken in a meeting between Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Deputy Ruler of UAE Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan and Indian National Security Advisor Ajit Doval on May 7.

It is understood that the four nations have decided to intensify diplomacy to bring peace and security in the Middle-East and also launch counter-radicalization measures.

The Quad on the other hand will open new avenues of cooperation after the Hiroshima meeting with discussions on the on-going Ukraine conflict, rapid expansion of PLA Navy and growing Chinese diplomatic role in global issues like Saudi-Iran affairs, Bangladesh-Myanmar resolution on Rohingyas and President Xi sending his special envoy to Kyviv to resolve the Ukraine conflict.

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Pakistan's former chief minister Imran Khan on Wednesday claimed that the police have surrounded his house in Lahore for another arrest. In a tweet, he claimed, Probably my last tweet before my next arrest. Former prime minister of Pakistan and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chief Imran Khan virtually addresses people of the nation, on Monday.(PTI)

Dawn reported that the Punjab Police has reached outside PTI chairman's Zaman Park residence to arrest him. It added that Khan's residence has been cordoned off by the police officials.

I am afraid today that Pakistan is on the route to destruction, Khan, meanwhile, said in a video address. And I fear that if wisdom is not exercised today, we might reach a stage where we wouldnt even be able to pick up the pieces, he added.

Meanwhile, the cricketer-turned-politician's party PTI urged its supporters to reach Zaman Park.

Everyone, please reach Zaman Park! Do not let the PDM regime take our leader, the operation is just malice, and they are targeting Imran Khan! it tweeted.

The development comes hours after Amir Mir, a spokesman for the Punjab provincial government, said Khan has 24 hours to hand over 40 suspects allegedly hiding at his home or face a police raid. He told a news conference that so far 3,400 suspects have been arrested and more raids were underway.

Pakistani authorities on Wednesday pressed on with efforts to try civilians involved in recent anti-government protests before military courts despite appeals from a leading international rights group and a local watchdog.

The Amnesty International and Human Rights Commission of Pakistan issued separate statements late on Tuesday, saying they were alarmed by the government's plan to bring supporters of the former prime minister who clashed with police and rioted across the country to trial under military rules.

Military trials in Pakistan are usually held behind closed doors, depriving civilians of some of their basic rights, including contracting a lawyer of their choice.

A wave of violence engulfed Pakistan's capital and other urban areas following the dramatic arrest of Khan  now opposition leader  from a courtroom in Islamabad on Tuesday last week.

Violence after Iman Khan's arrest

Supporters of Khan, fueled by anger, set fire to buildings and vehicles, and launched attacks on police, military personnel, and facilities. The violent clashes resulted in the death of 10 people, with authorities apprehending 4,000 people. However, the Supreme Court later criticised the manner in which Khan was arrested and ordered his release.

In recent developments, the top court in Islamabad has granted Khan an extension on his bail and protection against arrest until the end of the month.

The government led by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, who took over from Khan following a parliamentary no-confidence vote last year, accused the former prime minister of harbouring suspects associated with the military installations attacks at his residence in Lahore, the capital of Punjab province.

Khan took to Twitter and alleged that his detained supporters, including both men and women, were being subjected to torture while in police custody. He demanded the immediate release of female protesters, although he provided no evidence to support his claims.

(With inputs from agencies)

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The interim provincial government in Pakistan's Punjab on Thursday gave a 24-hour ultimatum to Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) to hand over 30-40 terrorists who have taken refuge in former Prime Minister Imran Khan's Zaman Park residence in Lahore, according to local media reports. Citing credible intelligence inputs, Punjab interim information minister Amir Mir reportedly claimed that terrorists who attacked Pakistan's Army installations were in contact with the PTI leadership at Zaman Park. Former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan stands with people in Zaman Park.(Musa Virk Via Twitter via Reuters)

"We have intelligence that some 30 to 40 terrorists who were involved in attacking our army's buildings and installations are hiding at Zaman Park," said Mir, referring to the upscale Lahore neighbourhood where Khan lives.

"We're giving an ultimatum that these terrorists should be turned over to the police, or else there will be action," he told a press conference in the city.

Mir accused PTI of behaving like a non-state actor and alleged that its chief, Imran Khan, has been targeting the military for over a year.

For the first time in Pakistan's history, Imran Khans supporters stormed the Army headquarters in Rawalpindi and torched the historic Corps Commander's House in Lahore, formerly known as Jinnah House, in retaliation to his dramatic arrest.

"The PTI leadership had planned the attack before the arrest [of Imran Khan]," claimed Mir.

He said Khan had 24 hours to surrender the suspects, and that a police operation would be launched if he did not comply, reported Reuters.

The minister also claimed that the attack on Jinnah House could have been easily prevented but the police were barred from using weapons to avoid bloodshed in the province.

"Several arsonists were in touch with people inside Zaman Park during the attack on the Corps Commander House. They will be made an example so that no one will carry out such an act in the future," Geo News quoted Mir as saying.

(With inputs from agencies)

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Israel's latest round of airstrikes against Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip left familiar images of towering spirals of smoke and wailing sirens but none of the buildings left in rubble by the jets belonged to its main enemy, Hamas. Thirty-five people, almost all of them Palestinian, were killed during five days of fighting between Israel and armed groups in the blockaded Gaza Strip last week. (AFP)

Instead, the strikes targeted the Iranian-backed Palestinian Islamic Jihad, killing six senior commanders who Israel said had planned and carried out attacks on Israelis, and destroying dozens of rocket silos, mortars and tunnels across Gaza.

Also Read | Ceasefire announced between Palestine and Israel after 5-day of fighting

But while Islamic Jihad fired hundreds of rockets at Israel in response, Hamas - with a rocket arsenal estimated at four times the size - stayed on the sidelines, apparently unwilling to see a repeat of the fierce 10-day conflict it fought in May 2021.

"It is not that Hamas is afraid of confrontation with Israel, it is rather not willing to have a large-scale war so soon," said a regional diplomat, who has long experience working with Hamas officials.

The diplomat, who was involved in the talks that brought a ceasefire to last week's flare up, spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter.

Israel's decision to avoid targeting the most powerful Palestinian faction with which it has fought repeated wars in the past decade, points to the complexity of the relationship with a group that has run Gaza since 2007, even though Israeli officials insist the military could strike Hamas at any time.

The two sides may be sworn enemies, but they share an interest in maintaining a basic level of stability in Gaza, where 2.3 million people live in a coastal enclave of just 365 square kilometres between Israel and Egypt.

Israel maintains a strict blockade, yet almost 20,000 Gazans are allowed to leave the enclave to work in Israel or the West Bank in jobs that provide about $3 million a day in wages to a territory where around half the population is out of work.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu alluded to Israel's calculations at work in dealing with Hamas in Gaza.

"Hamas, like other extremist Islamist movements, flies the banner of destroying Israel, so it is very difficult to achieve real accords with them," he said this week. "But are there certain areas in which to maneuver here? The answer is that, when deterrence is strong, such areas grow accordingly."

GOVERNING RESPONSIBILITY

Michael Milshtein, a former official of COGAT, the office that coordinates Israeli governance over the West Bank said there was a form of tacit agreement between the two sides.

"We will provide permits, we will promote salaries, we will promote all kinds of civil projects and in return, you will keep the whole Gaza Strip calm," he said.

Israeli officials declined to comment on day-to-day relations with Hamas authorities in Gaza. Hamas denies it makes any concessions to Israel in return for economic benefits.

Islamic Jihad, which has no governing responsibility in Gaza, has a freer hand and has recently been more aggressive in taking on Israel from Gaza, pointing to possible frictions between the two groups, said Hani al-Masri, a political analyst based in the West Bank city Ramallah.

"The gap between Hamas and Islamic Jihad is rooted in the fact that Hamas has a political programme and governing authority, whereas the Jihad has neither," he said.

However, Israeli officials say Islamic Jihad would not be able to fire rockets without approval from Hamas.

The two Palestinian groups deny they have any major differences and say all decisions during the recent fighting went through their Joint Operations Room, which coordinates activities of Palestinian armed groups in Gaza.

Taher Al-Nono, political adviser of Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh, said there was "a complete state of harmony and understanding". An Islamic Jihad official offered a similar line.

NEXT TEST

"Al-Quds Brigades got the lion's share of the response since those who were assassinated were its leaders," said one Palestinian militant official, using the name of Islamic Jihad's armed wing. "That was the tactic."

The next potential test of Hamas restraint could come as early as Thursday when Israeli nationalists hold an annual "Flag Day" march through the Muslim Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem, celebrating Israel's victory in the 1967 Middle East War.

Hamas has stayed out of previous rounds of fighting in Gaza between Israel and Islamic Jihad over an Islamic Jihad hunger striker who died in Israeli custody earlier this month and over a senior official who was arrested last August.

Instead it has sought to build its status as leader of the Palestinian resistance by focusing on tensions in the West Bank and around Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem, the most sensitive point between Muslims, for whom the mosque is the third most holy place, and Jews who revere the site as Temple Mount, the location of two ancient temples.

Hamas has encouraged shows of defiance such as the uproar surrounding an Israeli police raid on the mosque compound during Ramadan. Dozens of Hamas militants have also been killed over the past year during an escalation of violence that has brought the territory to the brink of a new Intifada, or uprising.

With 87-year-old Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas likely to be nearing the end of his time in power, the future of the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority is unclear, with a potential vacuum opening up when Abbas departs the scene.

"That's why they (Hamas) focus their attacks in the West Bank," the regional diplomat said. "They hurt Israel and they embarrass the Palestinian Authority before its people and before Israel as well."

(This story has been refiled to fix the dateline)

(Additional reporting by Ali Sawafta in Ramallah, Dan Williams in Jerusalem; Editing by Edmund Blair)

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US Vice President Kamala Harris has more income that Joe Biden from book royalties, according to their financial disclosures released by the White House. The US President earned between $2,500 and $5,000 in book royalties in 2022, down sharply from $30,000 a year earlier. He also earned less than $3,000 in "speaking and writing engagements," down from close to $30,000 last year. US President Kamala Harris and Vice President (AP)

US First Lady Jill Biden's income from book royalties also dropped- she got somewhere between $5,000 and $15,000 in 2022, compared to $15,000 and $50,000 a year earlier.

The couple's assets were worth between $1.09 million and $2.57 million, the disclosure showed. Earlier, their federal tax return showed that the couple earned almost $580,000 last year and paid an effective federal income tax rate of 23.8%- donating roughly 3.5% of their income to 20 charities.

On the contrary, Kamala Harris earned $81,313 in book royalties, a drop from $450,000 income last year.

Kamala Harris's children's book Superheroes are Everywhere- released in 2019- accrued $40,209 income for her in 2022. She also made $41,104 from her book, The Truths We Hold: An American Journey.

Kamala Harris and her husband Doug Emhoff also released their tax returns before and reported federal adjusted gross income of $456,918. They paid $93,570 in federal income tax for a federal income tax rate of 20.5%, the returns showed.

The disclosures are reviewed and certified by the independent Office of Government Ethics to ensure that neither the president nor the vice president have any conflicts of interest.

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I am still learning how to be a royal, Kate Middleton said during a visit to Bath where she attended an event at a youth charity. Prince William's wife's admission came as students of the St Katherine's School in Bristol quizzed her about what life is like as a royal. Britain's Kate, Princess of Wales, is all smiles as she visits the Dame Kelly Holmes Trust.(AP)

Olympic champion Dame Kelly Holmes, who was present at the event, said, They were asking her about being a royal. Was it something she wanted to do? And she said she had to learn. It's a struggle to know that you can be accepted and fit in and you are still learning every day.

Doing public speaking isnt a natural thing for lots of people is it? And she was saying she is still working that out but has to project. So you know again, she humanised everything. Not everyone is perfect, Dame Kelly Holmes added.

Kate Middleton was seen sporting a yellow blazer teamed with a white top and trousers. The Dame Kelly Holmes Trust enables athletes to mentor young people who are facing adversity. The Princess of Wales then spoke to pupils at St Katherine's School in Bristol who are taking part in the On Track To Achieve programme.

The programme is set up in schools and is aimed at 11-19 years olds with social, emotional or mental health challenges,

The Princess of Wales spoke about to students about their personal experiences and challenges that they face. She was also joined on her visit by presenter, documentary maker and mental health advocate, Zara McDermott.

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The last ship is due to leave a port in Ukraine on Wednesday under a deal allowing the safe Black Sea export of Ukraine grain, said a U.N. spokesperson, a day before Russia could quit the pact over obstacles to its grain and fertilizer exports. Vessels are seen as they wait for inspection under United Nation's Black Sea Grain Initiative in the southern anchorage of the Bosphorus in Istanbul, Turkey.(Reuters/File)

The United Nations and Turkey brokered the Black Sea deal for an initial 120 days in July last year to help tackle a global food crisis that has been aggravated by Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, one of the world's leading grain exporters.

Moscow agreed to extend the Black Sea pact for a further 120 days in November, but then in March it agreed to a 60 day extension - until May 18 - unless a list of demands regarding its own agricultural exports was met.

To convince Russia in July to allow Black Sea grain exports, the United Nations agreed at the same time to help Moscow with its own agricultural shipments for three years.

"There are still a lot of open questions regarding our part of the deal. Now a decision will have to be taken," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Tuesday, according to Russian media.

Senior officials from Russia, Ukraine, Turkey and the U.N. met in Istanbul last week to discuss the Black Sea pact. U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said on Tuesday: "Contacts are going on at different levels. We're obviously in a delicate stage."

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said last week he thought the deal could be extended for at least two more months.

While Russian exports of food and fertilizer are not subject to Western sanctions imposed following the February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, Moscow says restrictions on payments, logistics and insurance have amounted to a barrier to shipments.

The United States has rejected Russia's complaints. U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Linda Thomas-Greenfield said last week: "It is exporting grain and fertilizer at the same levels, if not higher, than before the full scale invasion."

RISKS

Officials from Russia, Ukraine, Turkey and the U.N. make up a Joint Coordination Centre (JCC) in Istanbul, which implements the Black Sea export deal. They authorize and inspect ships. No new vessels have been authorized by the JCC since May 4.

Authorized ships are inspected by JCC officials near Turkey before travelling to a Ukrainian Black Sea port via a maritime humanitarian corridor to collect their cargo and return to Turkish waters for a final inspection.

Under the deal, there is just one ship still in a Ukrainian port that is due to depart on Wednesday and transit the maritime corridor with its cargo, said a U.N. spokesperson, while another vessel was in transit back to Turkey on Tuesday and another five ships are waiting for an outbound inspection in Turkish waters.

In an excerpt of a letter seen by Reuters last month, Russia told its JCC counterparts that it will not approve any new vessels to take part in the Black Sea deal unless the transits will be done by May 18 - "the expected date of ... closure."

It said this was "to avoid commercial losses and prevent possible safety risks" after May 18.

Given this warning by Russia, it appears unlikely that any ship owners or insurance companies would be willing to continue transporting Ukrainian grain exports if Russia does not agree to an extension of the deal and decides to quit.

The United Nations, Turkey and Ukraine did continue the Black Sea agreement in October during a brief suspension by Russia of its participation.

Some 30 million metric tonnes of grain and foodstuffs has been exported from Ukraine under the Black Sea deal, including nearly 600,000 metric tonnes of grain in World Food Programme vessels for aid operations in Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, and Yemen, the United Nations has said.
The Duchess of Sussex, Meghan Markle, experienced an unexpected moment of confrontation as she arrived at a gala in New York alongside Prince Harry and her mother, Doria Ragland. The incident occurred during the Women of Vision Awards, where Meghan was set to be honored as a feminist champion. FILE - Meghan Markle, Duchess of Sussex, arrives at the Invictus Games venue in The Hague, Netherlands, Friday, April 15, 2022. Meghan will be in New York Tuesday, May 16, 2023, along with Black Voters Matter co-founder LaTosha Brown, to receive the Ms. Foundations Women of Vision Award, as the nations oldest womens foundation marks its 50th anniversary.(AP)

As she stepped out of a blacked-out SUV outside the Ziegfeld Ballroom in Manhattan, a bystander shouted at the Duchess: Meghan, how do you feel being part of two broken families!? The heckling momentarily disrupted the glamorous atmosphere surrounding the event, leaving onlookers astonished.

Undeterred by the incident, Meghan took to the stage to accept her award and deliver an empowering speech. In her address, she encouraged the audience to become the visionaries of their own lives, emphasizing the importance of daily acts of service and inspiring the next generation of women to join the movement for an equitable world.

Clad in a stunning 1,500 Johanna Ortiz dress, 1,000 Tom Ford stilettos, and a matching 900 Carolina Herrera bag, the Duchess exuded elegance as she walked on stage to the empowering anthem "Girl on Fire" by Alicia Keys. She expressed gratitude to Gloria Steinem, a renowned feminist activist, for her incredible friendship and mentorship.

Meghan shared her personal connection to Ms. Magazine, a publication founded by Gloria Steinem, which played a role in her upbringing. Reflecting on her childhood, she recalled seeing the magazine's diversity of representation and thought-provoking articles on topics ranging from motherhood and domestic violence to equity and the poverty line.

The Duchess's appearance at the gala marked a notable return to the public eye after a brief period of keeping a low profile in Montecito. Her absence from the King's Coronation, which coincided with Prince Archie's fourth birthday, raised eyebrows and fueled speculation about her relationship with the royal family.

While Meghan's night was initially marred by the heckling incident, her poise and grace shone through as she gracefully addressed the audience. Despite the momentary clash amidst the glitz and glamour, the Duchess remained focused on her mission to promote gender and racial equity, recognizing the tireless work of incredible leaders in the field.

As the evening concluded, Meghan Markle left an indelible mark on the Women of Vision awards, standing as a powerful and influential woman in her own right. Her commitment to fostering an equitable world resonated with all those in attendance, reminding everyone that even in the face of adversity, she remains steadfast in her dedication to making a positive impact.

While the heckling incident may have briefly overshadowed the gala, it served as a reminder that Meghan Markle's journey continues to be scrutinized. Nonetheless, her ability to rise above such challenges and use her platform to advocate for change further solidifies her position as a force for progress and empowerment.
It is near-certain that 2023-2027 will be the warmest five-year period ever recorded, the United Nations warned Wednesday as greenhouse gases and El Nino combine to send temperatures soaring. The global mean temperature in 2022 was 1.15C above the 1850-1900 average. (File)

Global temperatures are soon set to exceed the more ambitious target set out in the Paris climate accords, with a two-thirds chance that one of the next five years will do so, the UN's World Meteorological Organization said.

The hottest eight years ever recorded were all between 2015 and 2022 -- but temperatures are forecast to increase further as climate change accelerates.

"There is a 98-percent likelihood that at least one of the next five years, and the five-year period as a whole, will be the warmest on record," the WMO said.

Read Here: World Meteorological Organization warns of likely spike in temperatures globally

The 2015 Paris Agreement saw countries agree to cap global warming at "well below" two degrees Celsius above average levels measured between 1850 and 1900 -- and 1.5C if possible.

The global mean temperature in 2022 was 1.15C above the 1850-1900 average.

The WMO said there was a 66 percent chance that annual global surface temperatures will exceed 1.5C above pre-industrial levels for at least one of the years 2023-2027, with a range of 1.1C to 1.8C forecasted for each of those five years.

Uncharted territory

While this does not mean that the world will permanently exceed the Paris benchmark, "WMO is sounding the alarm that we will breach the 1.5C level on a temporary basis with increasing frequency", said the agency's chief Petteri Taalas.

"A warming El Nino is expected to develop in the coming months and this will combine with human-induced climate change to push global temperatures into uncharted territory.

"This will have far-reaching repercussions for health, food security, water management and the environment. We need to be prepared."

El Nino is the large-scale warming of surface temperatures in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean. The weather phenomenon normally occurs every two to seven years.

Also Read: World could face record temperatures in 2023 as El Nino returns

Conditions oscillate between El Nino and its opposite La Nina, with neutral conditions in between.

The WMO said earlier this month that the chances of El Nino developing were 60 percent by the end of July and 80 percent by the end of September.

Typically, El Nino increases global temperatures in the year after it develops -- which in this cycle would be 2024.

Despite the cooling influence of La Nina conditions over much of the past three years, the warmest eight years on record have all been from 2015 onwards, with 2016 the hottest.

Heat gets trapped in the atmosphere by so-called greenhouse gases, which are at a record high.

The three major greenhouses gases are carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide.

Temperatures rising since 1960s

Global land and sea mean near-surface temperatures have increased since the 1960s.

The chances of temperatures temporarily exceeding 1.5C above the 1850-1990 average have risen steadily since 2015, a year when they were considered close to zero.

Britain's Met Office national weather service is the WMO's lead centre on yearly to 10-yearly climate predictions.

While there is a 66 percent chance that one year between 2023 and 2027 will exceed the 1.5C threshold, there is now a 32 percent chance that the entire five-year mean will do so, the Met Office said.

"Global mean temperatures are predicted to continue increasing, moving us away further and further away from the climate we are used to," said Met Office expert scientist Leon Hermanson.

Temperatures in 2023 are likely to be higher than the 1991-2020 average in almost all regions except for Alaska, South Africa, South Asia and parts of Australia, the WMO said.

Parts of the South Pacific Ocean are likely to be cooler than average.
Leader Kim Jong Un visited a facility assembling North Koreas first spy satellite, indicating the state could soon conduct its first space rocket launch in about seven years. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and his daughter Kim Ju Ae meet with members of the Non-permanent Satellite Launch Preparatory Committee.(Reuters)

Kim was accompanied by his preteen daughter in the field guidance visit to inspect the military reconnaissance satellite No. 1 which is ready for loading, the official Korean Central News Agency reported Wednesday. The device is designed to monitor US forces and their allies in Asia.

The leader stressed the need for the spy satellite as the US imperialists and south Korean puppet villains escalate their confrontational moves against the DPRK, KCNA reported, referring to North Korea by its formal name and avoiding a formal reference for its neighbor to the south.

North Korea is barred by United Nations Security Council resolutions from conducting ballistic missile tests, but Pyongyang has long claimed its entitled to a civilian space program for satellite launches. The US and its partners have warned that technology derived from North Koreas space program could be used to advance its ballistic missiles.

While no date was given for a possible launch, North Korea could be looking to upstage South Korea ahead of the May 24 launch of its homegrown Nuri space rocket, which is designed to put satellites into orbit.

Kims public appearance at the satellite facility was his first in 28 days, specialist service NK News reported. His reemergence comes before leaders of the Group of Seven nations gather in the Japanese city of Hiroshima from Friday to discuss issues including the security threats posed by Pyongyang.

Recent commercial satellite imagery from North Koreas Sohae Satellite Launching Station shows construction progressing rapidly at several key facilities, and whats likely a new launch pad being built, the 38 North website reported this week.

North Korea last launched a space rocket in February 2016, when the country claimed to have put an earth-observation satellite into orbit. Observers of the secretive regime believe that satellite never reached orbit.

Pyongyangs space program has diminished in importance over the years as the state greatly enhanced its ability to build intercontinental ballistic missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads that could strike the US.

We used to view North Korean space launch attempts as ICBM tests in disguise this is no longer the case since they frequently test ICBM class missiles, said David Schmerler, a senior research associate at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies.

They have progressed pretty far since their last space launch attempt. The new space launcher will incorporate the developments theyve accumulated to date, and it would make sense for the new system to be more advanced, he said.

Still, a satellite launch would add to security concerns that have recently ratcheted up to levels not seen in years with Kims tests of new weapons for nuclear strikes.

These have included a solid-fuel ICBM launched for the first time in April that could be quickly deployed to target the US, and new missiles systems designed to hit US troops stationed in South Korea and Japan.
Former US President Barack Obama recently sat down for an interview with CBS, where he opened up about his improved relationship with his wife, Michelle Obama, and shed light on the complexities of parenting in the public eye and the evolving dynamics within their relationship. Reflecting on life after leaving the White House, Obama expressed how beneficial it has been to have more time together as a couple. Former US President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle Obama.

"Let me just say this  it sure helps to be out of the White House, and to have a little bit more time with her," Obama remarked during the interview with "CBS Mornings" co-host Nate Burleson.

He further emphasized the significant role their children played in their lives and the challenges they faced as parents in the political spotlight.

"When our girls were growing up, that was priority No. 1, 2, 3, and 4," Obama explained.

He admitted that he didn't fully appreciate the level of stress and tension experienced by Michelle, knowing that their family was constantly under scrutiny in an environment that he thought was strange and not normal. The former president expressed gratitude that their daughters are now doing well, noting how it has contributed to Michelle's increased forgiveness toward his perceived flaws.

"Now that theyre doing good, she is a little more forgiving of all my flaws. What she has told me is, 'You know, looking back, you did OK as a dad,'" Obama shared.

Apart from providing a glimpse into the personal dynamics of the Obama family during their time in the White House and the subsequent adjustments they have made in their lives, the former president talked at length about several burning issues faced by today's America, including the nation's gun violence epidemic, and how to address them.

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In the recent Senate hearing, Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI, emphasized the need for government intervention to mitigate the risks associated with increasingly powerful AI systems. Altman's testimony shed light on the concerns surrounding AI technology and the urgent necessity to address potential issues. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman waits for a Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Privacy, Technology and the Law hearing on artificial intelligence to begin, Tuesday, May 16, 2023, on Capitol Hill in Washington.(AP)

He proposed the establishment of a licensing agency, either on a national or global scale, that would regulate the most advanced AI systems and possess the authority to enforce safety standards and revoke licenses if necessary.

Addressing Societal Concerns Surrounding AI

Altman's startup, OpenAI, gained significant attention following the release of ChatGPT, a chatbot tool that generates remarkably human-like responses to queries. While initially educators worried about its potential misuse for cheating on homework, broader concerns soon emerged. The latest generation of "generative AI" tools, including ChatGPT, has raised worries about misinformation, copyright infringement, and job displacement.

Government Action on the Horizon

Altman's testimony comes in the wake of mounting societal concerns and increased scrutiny of AI technologies. Although no comprehensive AI regulations have been proposed by Congress yet, recent discussions at the White House with tech CEOs and promises from U.S. agencies to tackle harmful AI products violating existing civil rights and consumer protection laws indicate a growing willingness to address these issues.

During the Senate hearing, Senator Richard Blumenthal highlighted the importance of requiring AI companies to test their systems and disclose known risks before their release. He expressed particular apprehension about the potential destabilization of the job market by future AI systems. Altman shared similar sentiments but presented a more optimistic view regarding the future of work.

Altman's Worst Fears and Proposed Safeguards

When pressed about his greatest fears regarding AI, Altman refrained from providing specific examples but acknowledged that the industry could have significant negative consequences.

Pressed on his own worst fear about AI, Altman mostly avoided specifics, except to say that the industry could cause significant harm to the world and that if this technology goes wrong, it can go quite wrong.

But he later proposed that a new regulatory agency should impose safeguards that would block AI models that could self-replicate and self-exfiltrate into the wild  hinting at futuristic concerns about advanced AI systems that could manipulate humans into ceding control.

Balancing Immediate Concerns and Long-Term Goals

Some experts caution that the focus on hypothetical, super-powerful AI systems might distract from addressing current challenges related to data transparency, discriminatory behavior, and disinformation. Suresh Venkatasubramanian, a computer scientist who co-authored the Biden administration's AI bill of rights, noted that unfounded fears about these future systems hinder progress in addressing present concerns.

Also read | Tech tycoon Sam Altman shakes up Congress with AI showdown. All you need to know

Congress Takes the First Step

The Senate hearing marked a critical initial step for Congress in comprehending the complex issues surrounding AI regulation. Both Democrats and Republicans expressed interest in Altman's insights and sought to understand the best path forward. While the exact nature of regulation is still being debated, the recognition of the importance of regulation in the AI landscape is widespread and growing.
Prince Harry told court that he suffered "huge bouts of depression and paranoia" as a result of press intrusion as the Duke of Sussex is suing Mirror Newspaper Group (MGN) over alleged unlawful information gathering by journalists. The court was told that Prince Harry's ex-girlfriend Chelsy Davy decided "a royal life was not for her" as a result of the alleged activities of MGN journalists. Britain's Prince Harry arrives at the Royal Courts Of Justice in London.(AP)

Prince Harry's lawyer- David Sherborne- said, He became immediately suspicious of anyone named in stories about him and felt that he could not trust anybody, even at such a young age. It also caused great challenges in his relationship with his ex-girlfriend Chelsy Davy, and made him fear for his and her safety.

Every time he was in a relationship, or even a rumoured relationship, that whole persons family, and often their friends, would be 'dragged into the chaos' and find themselves the subject of unlawful activity on the part of MGN. There was nowhere that was 'off limits' for MGNs newspapers, whose journalists would even manage to book into a hotel in Bazaruto, a small island off the coast of Mozambique, when the Duke of Sussex and Ms Davy tried to escape there and enjoy some peace and quiet, the court was told.

Read more: What Kate Middleton and Prince William want from Harry amid bitter feud

They were never on their own, which placed a huge amount of unnecessary stress and strain on their relationship. Ultimately, MGNs activities led Ms Davy to make the decision that a royal life was not for her, which was incredibly upsetting for the Duke of Sussex at the time. They also caused their circle of friends to become smaller and smaller, meaning that friendships were lost entirely unnecessarily, and led to huge bouts of depression and paranoia, the court heard.

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Albeit US President Joe Biden has cancelled his bilateral trip to Papua New Guinea and Sydney for Quad meeting due to debt ceiling crisis, the discussion expansion and consolidation of the security grouping is expected to take place between leaders of US, India, Japan, and Australia on the side-lines of this May 19-21 G-7 summit in Hiroshima. Mini Quad is expected in Hiroshima after US President Joe Biden cancelled his Papua New Guinea and Sydney leg of the visit

While New Delhi is tight-lipped about the Quad meeting, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese went on record stating that the Quad leaders will now be having the discussion in Japan after cancellation of the Sydney summit on May 24. Albanese also said that PM Narendra Modi is likely to be in Sydney next week for the bilateral program indicating that the Indian leader will also go ahead with his Papua New Guinea visit on May 22 after attending the G-7 summit in Japan.

Although the debt ceiling crisis at home has forced President Biden to cancel the PNG and Sydney leg of the visit, the Quad leaders will be talking Indo-Pacific in Hiroshima so that the quadrilateral grouping takes the next steps to ensure freedom of navigation in the South China Sea. Quad needs to send a message to ally Philippines, which has placed five navigational buoys within its exclusive economic zone to assert sovereignty over the disputed Spratly Islands in South China Sea. The Ferdinand Marcos Junior government took this step-in pursuance of closer ties with US and set up five navigational buoys from May 10-12 in five areas within a 322-kilometer radius, including the Whitsun Reef, where the Chinese Navy has displayed its muscle in 2021.

In this context, no Quad discussion will send negative signals in the Indo-Pacific and particularly in Papua New Guinea, where the US was planning to initiate a security agreement to rival Chinese maritime security agreement with next door Solomon Islands in the Far Pacific. No dialogue will also have an impact on Taiwan, which is facing the brunt of Chinese military muscle over the past years with PLA aggression mounting by the day.

With the Chief of Defence Staff, principal military advisors of Quad countries, meeting in California on May 16 and charting out a security response to Chinese belligerence in the Indo-Pacific, the Quad leaders may find time in Hiroshima to come out with a statement laying the path ahead on maritime security and resilient global supply chains.

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The Quad Leaders Summit scheduled for May 24 in Sydney has been cancelled following US President Joe Bidens decision not to go ahead with a planned visit to Australia because of stalled domestic debt ceiling negotiations. Quad leaders. (File Photo)

The White House announced early on Wednesday that Biden will return to the US after the completion of the G7 Summit in Japan on May 20, instead of travelling to Papua New Guinea and Australia as earlier planned. Biden spoke to Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to inform him of the decision.

Albanese confirmed to the media on Wednesday morning that the Quad Leaders Summit in Sydney had been cancelled. This is a decision thats been made overnight...in the United States. The Quad leaders meeting will not be going ahead in Sydney next week, he said.

He suggested the leaders of Quad, which groups India, Australia, Japan, and the US, could meet on the margins of the G7 Summit in Hiroshima, Japan.

We though will be having that discussion between Quad leaders in Japan...The Quad is an important body and we want to make sure that it occurs at leadership level, and well be having that discussion over the weekend, Albanese said.

He added, All four leaders  President Biden, Prime Minister Kishida, Prime Minister Modi and myself  will be at the G7, held in Hiroshima on Saturday and Sunday. We are attempting to get together over that period of time, as well as Ill have a bilateral discussion with President Biden. At this stage, we havent got a time locked in for that arrangement.

Albanese also said a planned bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Australia might still go ahead.

There was no immediate word from Indian officials on whether there would be any changes to Modis itinerary for a three-nation visit that was announced on Tuesday. The external affairs ministry had said Modi would embark on a visit to Japan, Papua New Guinea and Australia on May 19 to participate in outreach sessions of the G7 Summit on May 20, the Summit of the Forum for IndiaPacific Islands Cooperation on May 22, and the Quad Leaders Summit on May 24.

Biden had planned to travel to Papua New Guinea and Australia to meet leaders of Pacific Island states and to participate in the Quad Leaders Summit and address the Australian Parliament.

However, the White House said he would be cutting short his visit to return to the US on Sunday to be back for meetings with Congressional leaders to ensure that Congress takes action by the deadline to avert default. Amid sharp divisions between the Democrats and Republicans, talks over the debt ceiling have reached a critical point. The Republicans have sought spending cuts in exchange for raising the ceiling and the US Treasury could run out of funds as early as June 1.

The US presidents decision is expected to lead to disappointment in both the Pacific Islands and Australia, where the two crucial meetings were scheduled against the backdrop of Chinas growing assertiveness across the region.

Biden was set to be in Papua New Guinea at the same time as Modi and reports had suggested both leaders would make a concerted bid to woo leaders of Pacific Island states, who are being aggressively courted by China. The Quad Leaders Summit was expected to push ahead with the groupings agenda of working for an open, stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific governed by accepted rules and norms, while also focussing on the regions most pressing challenges.

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Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree which is set to simplify the process of obtaining Russian citizenship for foreign nationals who serve in the country's military amid Ukraine war. The decree applies to foreign citizens who enter into contracts with the Russian army for a period of one year. Russian President Vladimir Putin(Reuters)

Those individuals and their family members who serve in the army will be able to apply for Russian citizenship without the need to obtain a residence permit. This follows legislation in Russia which included a requirement for applicants to be involved in hostilities in Ukraine for at least six months.

The move comes ahead of the highly anticipated counteroffensive by Ukraine. The Russian President has signed a number of decrees aimed at boosting his troop numbers amid losses. Last year, Russia's parliament approved legislation that removed the upper age limit for contractual service in the army.

In August 2022, Vladimir Putin signed a decree to increase the size of his army and recently signed another one to remove the upper age limit for Russian National Guard members serving in parts of Ukraine that are under the control of Moscow's forces.

The Donetsk and Luhansk regions, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia were annexed by Russia in 2022 following referendums which have been denounced by Ukraine and the West as "sham".

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Author and philanthropist Sudha Murty shared an anecdote about her interaction with a UK immigration officer on the latest episode of The Kapil Sharma Show. Recalling that the officer refused to believe her residential address when she wrote '10 Downing Street' in the form, Sudhar Murty said, Once when I had gone, they asked me my residential address. 'Where are you staying in London?' My elder sister was with me and I thought should I write '10 Downing Street'. My son also lives there (in the UK), but I didn't remember his complete address. But I finally wrote 10 Downing Street. UK PM Rishi Sunak and philanthropist Sudha Murty.

10 Downing Street is the official residence and office of the prime minister of the United Kingdom. Sudha Murty's daughter, Akshata, is married to Rishi Sunak, who took charge as the UK PM last year.

She said that the immigration officer looked at her in complete disbelief and asked, "Are you joking?!"

She replied, "Nahi, sachchi bolti hu" (No, I am telling you the truth).

"No one believes that I, a 72-year-old, simple lady, can be the mother-in-law of the Prime Minister," she also said.

On the episode, she was joined by producer Guneet Monga and actor Raveena Tandon. Sudha Murty was recently awarded Padma Bhushan, the third-highest civilian award in India.

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Gov. Ron DeSantis criticized Donald Trump on Tuesday for implying Florida's new six-week abortion ban is too harsh, stepping up his attacks on the former president as he prepares to challenge him for the 2024 Republican nomination. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaking., left, and former President Donald Trump speaking.(AP)

DeSantis was responding to a question about Trump's comments in an article published Monday by The Messenger about the six-week ban the Florida governor recently signed into law. Many people within the pro-life movement feel that that was too harsh, Trump told the online outlet.

DeSantis contended the law has widespread support among opponents of abortion and noted the former president didn't say what limits he would back on the procedure.

Protecting an unborn child when theres a detectable heartbeat is something that almost 99% of pro-lifers support, DeSantis said at a news conference in Florida, taking questions after he signed a measure to combat human trafficking.

As a Florida resident, you know, he didnt give an answer about, Would you have signed the heartbeat bill that Florida did, that had all the exceptions that people talk about? DeSantis added.

The rivalry between Trump and DeSantis is heating up as the Florida governor nears a decision on a 2024 presidential bid. DeSantis allies believe he will launch his candidacy as soon as this week, although an announcement could come closer to the end of the month.

Abortion has been an early flashpoint in the still-forming Republican primary field ahead of the first presidential election since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. The bickering showcases the GOP's ongoing internal debate over hard-line abortion restrictions, which may be popular in a Republican primary but could create problems in a general election for the party's eventual nominee.

The bill signed into law last month by DeSantis would ban abortions after six weeks of pregnancy. It will take effect only if the states current 15-week ban is upheld in a legal challenge before the state Supreme Court, which is controlled by conservatives.

Ron DeSantis is flailing in the polls and is closer to the bottom of the pack than he is to President Trump, who is dominating in every single poll, Trump campaign Steven Cheung said when asked to respond to DeSantis' remarks. Cheung pointed out an anti-abortion group's recent characterization of Trump's presidency as the most consequential in American history for the pro-life cause.

Calling into a Newsmax program Tuesday night, Trump repeated comments he made on CNN that he had given abortion opponents the power of negotiation and, twice deflecting questions about whether he would support a national abortion ban at a specific point, said that many pro-life people are talking about more weeks than Ron is talking about.

But Im going to decide, and Im going to be in there pushing, and Im the one that got rid of Roe v. Wade, he said.

Trump has referred to himself as the most pro-life president in American history, as his three nominations of conservative judges to the Supreme Court paved the way for the end of legalized abortion nationwide.
Prince Harry claimed that suspicious calls were made to mobile phones belonging to Prince William's wife Kate Middleton, his former girlfriend Chelsy Davy and Princess Dianas mother Frances Shand Kydd as his legal battle with Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN) continued in court. Kate Middleton: Britain's Catherine, Princess of Wales is seen.(AFP)

In a witness statement, Prince Harry listed 313 "highly suspicious" calls made to his friends, family and associates between 2003 and 2011 and said that owing to the pressures from the press Chelsy Davy had then decided a royal life was not for her. Alleged unlawful information gathering was being by journalists at the Mirror Group Newspapers, he claimed.

Prince Harry's lawyer- David Sherborne- said that the alleged activities caused the Duke "huge distress".

He became immediately suspicious of anyone named in stories about him and felt that he could not trust anybody, even at such a young age. It also caused great challenges in his relationship with his ex-girlfriend Chelsy Davy, and made him fear for his and her safety, the lawyer said.

Every time he was in a relationship, or even a rumoured relationship, that whole persons family, and often their friends, would be 'dragged into the chaos' and find themselves the subject of unlawful activity on the part of MGN. There was nowhere that was 'off limits' for MGNs newspapers, whose journalists would even manage to book into a hotel in Bazaruto, a small island off the coast of Mozambique, when the Duke of Sussex and Ms Davy tried to escape there and enjoy some peace and quiet, he added.

On Prince Harry and Chelsy Davy's relationship, the lawyer told court, They were never on their own, which placed a huge amount of unnecessary stress and strain on their relationship. Ultimately, MGNs activities led Ms Davy to make the decision that a royal life was not for her, which was incredibly upsetting for the Duke of Sussex at the time.

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King Charles has been warned that activists will target royal family events in the coming months, GB News reported. This comes after protesters were arrested at the monarch's coronation on May 6. Britain's King Charles III and Queen Camilla wave to the crowds from the balcony of Buckingham Palace after the coronation ceremony in London.(AP)

Republic- UK's largest anti-monarchy group- issued the threat to the King. Its CEO Graham Smith told GB News, We are not deterred one bit. On arrests during the coronation, Graham Smith said, "It has galvanised people."

The anti-monarchy group has vowed to continue protesting at royal family events, he added.

We will look to ramp up protests this year, he said, pointing to the surge in the membership of Republic since King Charles' coronation. The number of members nearly doubled in the days after the event, rising from about 5,000 to about 9,000, he informed.

Republic has made between 75,000 to 100,000 following the coronation and the group's funds increased from 47,000 on the day of the ceremony to more than 91,000, he said. The group also received around 20,000 in donations, including one single donation of 10,000 separately, he added.

During King Charles' coronation, police arrested 64 people over anti-monarchy protests. Director of Human Rights Watch called out the "incredibly alarming" tactics over the detention of peaceful protesters which included Graham Smith as well.

Scotland Yard released a statement on the arrests of protesters on the day of the coronation which read, Those arrested stated the items would be used to secure their placards, and the investigation has been unable to prove intent to use them to lock on and disrupt the event.

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A British reality television star- Millie Mackintosh- claimed that her friendship with Meghan Markle "abruptly" ended after news of her relationship with Prince Harry broke. The actress who has starred in Made in Chelsea said that she met Meghan around eight years ago at the opening of a hotel in Istanbul. Meghan Markle at the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II.

We got on like a house on fire and stayed in touch, Millie claimed. But Meghan Markle "ghosted" her when her relationship with Prince Harry went public, she said.

I messaged her and said, 'Hey I hope you're OK, thinking of you,' and she just sent me this really abrupt message, that was really unlike any of our communications before, she said, adding, It wasnt like Id messaged her asking if it was true - that was none of my business, I didnt care - I was just like, 'are you ok?'"

What I read from that message was that she maybe needed a bit of space, she needed to cool off, she was angry, she was maybe under a lot of pressure. I didn't message her again, but I did expect that we would stay in touch. I thought she'd message back and say, Look, sorry everything is a bit stressful right now. She cut me dead. I never heard from her again. I felt like she'd basically told me to f*** off in that message. So I did. And we haven't spoken since, she further claimed.

She had met her prince. I was on a reality show, so she obv was like, I can't be associated with Made In Chelsea, I'm gonna be royal. Ive got to cut her loose. I just wasnt useful any more," she said.

It was previously alleged that Meghan Markle began to be "spooked" because she suspected Millie Mackintosh was leaking details of their friendship to the media.

When we first met, I was married, going through a bit of a turbulent time, and I got divorced, and she was divorced so we had quite a lot to talk about. That was quite bonding, and we were both into our wellness, she had our blog, we were both just into the same things," Millie explained.

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Senior Russian officials have been banned from resigning from their posts during the war in Ukraine, a report claimed. Such a move will be considered a betrayal by the Kremlin, Newsweek reported quoting independent Russian language news outlet Vazhnye Istorii (iStories). Russian President Vladimir Putin.(AFP)

At least two governors had sought to stand down since the start of Russia's invasion but were stopped and threatened criminal prosecution, it added. There are many who have wanted to leave their posts since the start of the war, a Kremlin source said, but if everyone leaves, control will be lost, it was reported.

The task of "demonstrating unity" was set before civil servants in the country, iStories reported but officers from the FSB security agency had previously complained about not being allowed to quit even after their contracts end.

"However, the fact that the ban also applies to civil servants was not previously known," said iStories.

"Many are ready to pay well for the opportunity to leave quietly, unnoticed now," it added. Prior to Vladimir Putin's full-scale invasion as well, Russia's authorities made it difficult for officials to resign, Meduza reported citing Kremlin sources.

"Each case is decided on an individual basis," a source told the outlet adding, but the overall trend remains, officials are to stay in their positions.

In March this year, Sistema, an investigative project that is part of Radio Svoboda, reported that some officials in Russia had been asked to "turn in their passports for storage."

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Author Salman Rushdie, in a public speech, warned that freedom of expression in the West is currently in its most severe threat in his lifetime as he spoke nearly nine months after being stabbed onstage in New York. The writer was stabbed multiple times while he was preparing to deliver a lecture on a stage at the Chautauqua Institution in New York last year in August which resulted in his right eye being blinded and nerve damage to his hand. Author Salman Rushdie(Reuters File)

As Salman Rushdie received the Freedom to Publish award at the British Book Awards which "acknowledges the determination of authors, publishers and booksellers who take a stand against intolerance, despite the ongoing threats they face."

Read more: Quad discussion may take place in Hiroshima after Sydney cancellation

We live in a moment, I think, at which freedom of expression, freedom to publish has not in my lifetime been under such threat in the countries of the West, he said, adding, Now I am sitting here in the US, I have to look at the extraordinary attack on libraries, and books for children in schools. The attack on the idea of libraries themselves. It is quite remarkably alarming, and we need to be very aware of it, and to fight against it very hard.

Salman Rushdie has spent years hiding following death threats from Iran over his 1988 infamous novel The Satanic Verses- which was banned in many countries.

Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, then supreme leader of Iran, pronounced a fatwa, calling upon Muslims to kill the novelist in 1989. The author has received the Booker Prize for his novel "Midnight's Children". His most recent work, Victory City was released in February.

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Singapore hanged a man for trafficking drugs, authorities said, marking the city-state's second execution in three weeks. The man was convicted in 2019 of trafficking around 1.5 kilos of cannabis, Kokila Annamalai of local rights group Transformative Justice Collective said as per news agency AFP. Singapore has some of the world's toughest anti-narcotics laws.(Representative image)

Singapore has some of the world's toughest anti-narcotics laws. As per the rules, trafficking more than 500 grams of cannabis can result in the death penalty.

"A 36-year-old Singaporean man had his capital sentence carried out today at Changi Prison Complex," a spokesman for Singapore's prison service told AFP.

Singapore's Central Narcotics Bureau said that it would not release the name of the man to respect his family's wish for privacy.

"The person was accorded full due process under the law, and had access to legal counsel throughout the process," it said. A last-ditch appeal to review the case and stay his execution was dismissed, it was reported.

The execution was the second in Singapore this year after another man, 46, was hanged on April 26 for conspiracy to smuggle one kilo cannabis. Following the two executions, international calls to abolish the death penalty in Singapore grew.

Thirteen death row inmates have been hanged since Singapore resumed executions in March 2022. Activists said they will continue to push for Singapore to abolish capital punishment .

"The call to the Singapore government (to scrap the death penalty) has been loud and clear globally, and we will repeat the call: Singapore has to halt the executions," Amnesty International's executive director for Malaysia Katrina Jorene Maliamauv said.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR Mallika Soni When not reading, this ex-literature student can be found searching for an answer to the question, "What is the purpose of journalism in society?" ...view detail
In a big development, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Wednesday cancelled the Quad Leaders' Summit in Sydney, which was scheduled for May 24. This decision came after US President Joe Biden postponed his visit to Australia. Instead, the four leaders of the Quad, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, will meet on the sidelines of the G7 meeting taking place this weekend in Japan. Joe Biden, right, has known Chinas Xi Jinping since serving in the Obama administration as vice president.(AP file)

Biden's announcement on Tuesday revealed that he will be delaying his trip to Australia, as well as Papua New Guinea. This decision is attributed to the uncertainty surrounding intense negotiations with the opposition Republican party, aiming to prevent a potential historic default on America's debt.

In a scathing article, The Sunday Morning Herald said Biden's decision is personally disheartening for Albanese, who was anticipating the opportunity to host three influential world leaders in his own city.

China's President Xi Jinping will likely be delighted to witness the disarray surrounding the summit, the article said. Although Biden hinted last week that he might need to stay in the US for emergency debt ceiling negotiations, the official stance from Washington and Canberra was that the trip would proceed as planned.

The cancellation of the visit was reported by The New York Times and Reuters before any official confirmation was issued, leaving a sense of disarray and messy communication surrounding Biden's withdrawal. Adding to the perception of a snub, Biden found time to attend the G7 summit in Hiroshima but not the planned visits to Australia or Papua New Guinea, the newspaper added.

Beyond the hurt feelings caused, Biden's withdrawal carries significance due to the negative message it sends about America's commitment to the Asia-Pacific region, where it competes fiercely with China for influence. China has opposed the Quad since its inception, labeling it as an "exclusive clique" and falsely characterizing it as an "Asian NATO." Although the Quad is not a formal alliance and lacks official infrastructure, it represents an alternative to Beijing's authoritarianism.

Withdrawal highlights challenges faced by US

Beijing views the Quad as one of the most consequential challenges to its ambitions, making any setback for the Quad a morale boost for Xi Jinping.

Furthermore, Biden's absence from the planned visit to Papua New Guinea, which would have marked the first visit by a US leader to the nation, is seen as a loss of momentum in the US-China competition in the Pacific region. This withdrawal highlights the challenges faced by the US in maintaining its leadership position, as domestic divisions often hinder efforts to prevent government shutdowns and debt defaults.

The Quad summit in Sydney was meant to symbolise the collaboration of four proud democracies working together, but instead, it underscores the systemic issues plaguing the oldest democracy and its aspirations for ongoing global leadership.

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With a looming domestic political and economic crisis at home and negotiations with the United States (US) Congress over the debt ceiling hitting a roadblock, President Joe Biden has said that he will return to Washington DC after attending the G7 summit in Japan and not travel to Australia for the Quad leaders level summit. US President Joe Biden.(AFP)

Biden has also cancelled the Papua New Guinea leg of his trip; his visit would have been the first by any American president to a Pacific Island country.

Speaking at an event in the White House on Tuesday evening, Biden first gave a preview of his visit to Japan and then said, The nature of the presidency is addressing many issues, all at once. So I am confident we are going to make progress in avoiding default and fulfilling Americas responsibilities on the world stage. However, I am cutting my trip short. I am postponing the Australia portion of my trip and my stop in Papua New Guinea in order to be back for the final negotiations with the Congressional leaders.

While the US is locked in a political impasse between the Democratic administration and a Republican House over debt ceiling  unless the US Congress raises the ceiling, the US risks defaulting on its obligations for the first time in history after June 1  Bidens decision has caused uncertainty around the Quad leaders summit scheduled to be held in Sydney. It has also prompted the administration to send out signals that the US remained committed to allies and partners and resolving the debt impasse was essential for its global role.

Uncertainty around Quad meet

A little earlier in the day, the White House, in a statement, had officially announced that Biden would return to the US on Sunday after the G7 summit to ensure that Congress takes action by the deadline to avert default.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said that Biden had spoken to Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese to inform him that he would be postponing his visit. He also invited the Prime Minister for an official state visit at a time to be agreed by the teams. The Presidents team engaged with the Prime Minister of Papua New Guineas team to inform them as well.

Speaking to ABC Radio Sydney, Albanese confirmed that Biden had spoken to him, they had agreed to reschedule his visit for the future, and Biden had expressed his disappointment with some members of the US Congress.

Albanese appeared to suggest that Quad leaders could meet on the sidelines of the G7 in Japan or/and will meet separately in Australia in Bidens absence.

The PM said that his government will speak to Japan and India to discuss the travel schedule of their leaders and added that Biden would "try to convene a [Quad] meeting given all four leaders are in Japan" for the G7. At the same time, Albanese said that the Quad dialogue in Sydney could still take place with a senior US representative. There is speculation in Washington DC that Secretary of State Antony J Blinken may fill in for Biden.

Albanese, however, expressed the confidence that Bidens visit wont change PM Modis schedule. Prime Minister Modi has a bilateral programme thats organised. So I am certain that he will be here. The PM referred to the large Indian diaspora in Australia and mentioned that a large event was to be held next Tuesday, May 23. Modi is expected to address the diaspora gathering.

The debt ceiling crisis

Back in Washington, Biden met the Congressional leadership  House speaker Kevin McCarthy, House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries, Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer and Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell  on Tuesday afternoon in the Oval Office to find a way out of the impasse.

The debt ceiling crisis refers to a unique feature of the American political economy. While the US Congress authorizes spending, it also authorises a certain borrowing limit that the executive cannot exceed to meet its expenditure. The US had hit its debt ceiling of $31.4 trillion on January 19 and since then, the Treasury department has resorted to extraordinary measures. On June 1, unless the Congress raises the debt limit or suspends it, the US is at the risk of defaulting on its credit, a move that will jolt the markets and create an unprecedented economic crisis both at home and abroad.

While Biden has officially maintained that it is the US Congresss duty to raise the debt ceiling and he would not negotiate on the issue, McCarthy has pushed forward a Republican proposal that would entail dramatic spending cuts including in social welfare programmes and Bidens signature legislations passed over the past two years.

After Tuesdays talks, McCarthy said that they have a format, a structure for the talks while Biden called the meeting productive and said that there was an overwhelming consensus in the meeting that defaulting the debt was not an option. But the impasse persists and there is no deal on the table at the moment.

A message of reassurance

With Bidens foreign policy engagements becoming a clear casualty of polarised American politics, the administration sought to send a message of reassurance to allay apprehensions that the visits postponement can potentially generate among allies and partners.

Jean Pierre said that revitalising and reinvigorating Americas alliances and advancing partnerships such the Quad remained a key priority for the President. This is vital to our ability to advance our foreign policy goals and better promote global stability and prosperity. We look forward to finding other ways to engage with Australia, the Quad, Papua New Guinea and the leaders of the Pacific Islands Forum in the coming year.

At a regular White House press briefing earlier in the day, John Kirby, the coordinator for strategic communications at the national security council, had hinted that the second half of Bidens visit was being reevaluated. When asked if the President wasnt going to Australia anymore, Kirby had said that Biden would have had the opportunity to meet with Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi and Prime Minister (Anthony) Albanese anyway at the G7.

Asked about the implications of the debt ceiling showdown on American credibility abroad, Kirby said, These leaders, all leaders of democracies, they understandwantrespect American leadership on the world stage. And they know that our ability to pay our debts is a key part of US credibility and leadership around the world. And so, they understand that the President also has to focus on making sure that we don't default and on having these conversations with congressional leaders. Kirby added that they would not be having this discussion at all if the US Congress did its job and raised the debt ceiling.

An administration official reiterated to HT that the cancellation was purely to do with domestic American developments and the President was absolutely committed to the Quad, a free and open Indo-Pacific and the relationship with India.

The official pointed out that the India and the US have busy diplomatic calendar ahead. The two leaders will meet in Hiroshima. On June 22, the President will host Modi for a state visit in Washington DC. And in September, the President will visit New Delhi for the G20 summit. This will be a golden year for India-US relations and you will see tangible deliverables, the official said, adding that as fellow democracies, India, Japan and Australia will understand Bidens democratic compulsions at home.

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A 77-year-old woman in the United States married herself to celebrate love for herself after hosting an unusual wedding ceremony at her retirement house. The emotional and symbolic wedding took place on May 13 with neighbours, friends and family present at the O'Bannon Terrace Retirement Community in Goshen, Ohio, News outlet Today reported. The decorations included a two-tiered white cake with red roses on top, as well as heart-shaped cookies and finger sandwiches in the shape of wedding bells.(REUTERS)

Dorothy "Dottie" Fideli said she was nervous but excited ahead of the big day. This is something new for me, she told NBC affiliate KCEN. "It's emotional for me, because this is something I've always wanted."

Fideli got married in a brief courthouse ceremony in 1965.I wore a black dress, so I was doomed before I got started, she jokingly told Today. Nine years later the couple parted ways.

Fideli added that she always wished she could have had a big wedding, but had thought it was too late for her.

Fideli said she got the inspiration to marry herself from her neighbour, who witnessed a lady do something similar on a talk show.

After Fideli decided to go ahead with the unique marriage, Donna Pennington, Fideli's daughter, helped her in finding a dress, prepared meals for the occasion, and even adorned the community area of the retirement home with a balloon arch and other items.

She goes, 'Oh, Mom, yeah, let's go do it. I'll go get your dress, I'll get you everything', Fideli told Today.

The decorations included a two-tiered white cake with red roses on top, as well as heart-shaped cookies and finger sandwiches in the shape of wedding bells.

"I was nervous, but then I was really happy," she said, describing her feelings on the day.

Love, love is the most important thing in this world, and if you love God and love yourself, this world will be a field of roses, Fideli said, adding that she hopes her story inspires others to find their own self-love.

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Alright Amsterdam, it's time to head East. This August will see The Hoxton open its second hotel in the Dutch capital slap bang in the heart of the Eastern Docklands, home to a laid-back, locally-rooted community drawn to the swathes of serene greenery, waterside views and thriving indy scene. Taking up residence in a landmark that was originally built by the Royal Dutch Lloyd Shipping Company in 1921, the 136-room hotel will honour the building's storied past while embracing the vibrancy and youthful energy that defines this corner of the city. A cosy, open-house lobby will welcome locals to their new neighbourhood spot, which also houses destination restaurant Breman Brasserie, hot new cocktail bar concept, Barbue, and The Apartment, The Hoxton's hybrid events and meeting space. The ultimate summer hangout in the form of a sun-drenched, south-facing terrace rounds out the scene for Lloyd's next chapter, Hox style.

As with the interiors of Amsterdam's original Hoxton on the Herengracht, Ennismore's AIME Studios has once again collaborated with local design firm Nicemakers to create an aesthetic that pays homage to the building's roots while capturing the creative zeitgeist of the Eastern Docklands. The architectural heritage of the 1920s structure has been embraced and elevated, with elements such as the stained-glass windows, timber panelling, and original tiling inspired by the brick expressionist movement uplifted by bold tones, and oversized, graphical patterns. Vintage furniture sourced from Northern Europe and statement lighting fixtures such as the seven spectacular glass chandeliers in Breman Brasserie hark back to the glamour of the landmark structure's Art Deco roots. Offering a contrasting shot of modernity, neighbouring gallery Bisou has curated the hotel's all-Dutch artwork collection featuring emerging local talent as well as established and rediscovered artists.

The bold design concept is continued throughout the interiors of the 136 bedrooms where a warm palette of corals, reds and ochres is juxtaposed against cool blues and greys; a playful nod to Lloyd's shipping connections. The unique footprint of the building has allowed for a whole raft of new and exciting room concepts, including the Tower Room with its charming spiral staircase and unbeatable waterfront views, and the split-level Studio Mezzanine. All the Hox favourites including Cosy, Biggy and Roomy categories are represented, and the all-new, four-person Biggy Double Up rooms are perfect for stays with family or pals with the addition of a second king-size bed, while Biggy Bunk Up rooms feature a double bed alongside curtained bunk beds reminiscent of nautical sleeper berths.

The Hoxton will be bringing two fresh new concepts to the neighbourhood: Breman Brasserie, a comfort-driven spot that

takes inspiration from turn-of-the-century European and South American cuisine named after the building's original architect, and standalone cocktail bar - Barbue. Inspired by iconic and timeless brasserie culture, Breman Brasserie will offer an all-day classically European menu whilst combining this with the punchy flavours of South America with a welcoming ambience that encourages people to join for a coffee and cake, a lengthy lunch that stretches into the late afternoon, and a high-spirited dinner that ends with shots of tequila and a sing song on the way home. Situated in the building's original ticket office, Barbue is influenced by golden age Argentina with expertly made cocktails that put a twist on the classics, produced with seasonal and sustainable ingredients.

Loved by locals and curious travellers alike for its easy-breezy vibe and boutique shopping streets such as Javastraat and Czaar Peterstraat dotted with independent galleries, cafes and bars, the Eastern Docklands district offers a striking counterpoint to Amsterdam's distinctive canal house aesthetic with a waterfront dotted with contemporary glass and steel buildings. The hotel is well placed to discover the entire city, it's just a quick 10-minute cycle or tram ride to Centraal Station and 15-minutes away from its sibling on the Herengracht.

Hotel website
LyvInn, a new European hotel brand, has inaugurated its first property in Frankfurt, the prominent commercial hub of Germany. Founded by Navneet Bali, former CEO and chairman of Meininger Hotels, LyvInn Hotels presents a distinctive "hybrid" concept that combines flexible accommodations, co-working spaces, and social areas to cater to both short and extended stays.

Situated in the heart of Frankfurt, near the financial district and the Messe Frankfurt trade fair venue, the 164-room LyvInn hotel underwent significant refurbishment after previously operating as a Meininger property. Bali described LyvInn as a remarkable hybrid hotel, offering a vibrant atmosphere for young individuals to stay, work, play, and connect in dynamic "start-up" cities. The ultimate goal of LyvInn is to establish a presence in major European cities.

The Frankfurt property operates under a management agreement, with funding secured from Blantrye Capital, an investment firm based in London. Bali expressed gratitude for Blantrye's substantial financial and operational support, which contributed to the creation of this exceptional brand. He further expressed the intention to expand the LyvInn portfolio actively in collaboration with their partner.

Johann Scheid, an investment executive at Blantrye, shared their confidence in the compelling offering of the Frankfurt Messe market through the LyvInn brand. They expressed plans to expand the LyvInn portfolio in Germany and across Europe in the coming years.

Hotel website
W Hotels announces the promotion of Ajay Jawahar Sharma to Executive Assistant Manager (Beverage & Food) at W Goa. Ajay has been with W Goa for nearly 5 years, having previously carried the role of Director of Beverage & Food at W Goa. In his new role, he will oversee all aspects of the hotel's beverage and food operations including spearheading innovation across W Goa's dining destinations such as The Kitchen Table, Spice Traders, WooBar, Sylvia and RockPool.

Ajay has over 17 years of experience in the hospitality industry and has worked with some of the finest luxury hotel brands in India, including Hyatt Hotels Corporation, Intercontinental Hotels Group and now Marriott International.

During his tenure at W Goa, he has demonstrated exceptional leadership and has been instrumental in driving the hotel's F&B business to new heights. He has also played a key role in developing new concepts and menus for the hotel's restaurants and bars. He is accredited to have launched Sylvia - W Goa's premier award-winning gin bar that is home to the best gin & gin cocktails from all over the world.

Ajay has won numerous awards & accolades for both the W brand and himself, most notably: Asia Pacific - Leadership Excellence - Most Improved Retention 2018; Asia Pacific - Leadership Excellence - Financial Performance 2018; Asia Pacific - Best Year on Year Restaurants and Bars Revenue Growth 2018; Asia Pacific- INCA Open Air Bar of the Year- Rockpool- 2019; F&B Manager of the Year (West) at BW HOTELIER Indian Hospitality Summit and Awards 2022.
Jesus Avila brings a diverse background of experience with both restaurants and hotels to his dual role of Director of Engineering and Style for AC San Rafael. As Task Force General Manager for Chipotle locations throughout Northern and Southern California, Jesus gained experience in not only opening new locations but also managing all aspects of operations and finances for existing restaurants. In 2005 Jesus opened his own restaurant and bar, Tortilla Flats, which he owned and managed for nearly twelve years in Chico, California before he relocated to Pleasant Hill to switch to the hotel side of the industry. He joined Mark Pope's team as Director of Maintenance for Extended Stay America, and later took on the General Manager position for one of its San Jose locations. In late 2020, he joined the pre-opening team for the Moxy Oakland Downtown as Director of Engineering and Housekeeping, responsible for coordinating all of the building interiors, fire and safety systems and more. Jesus joined Mark Pope's opening team for the AC San Rafael in January 2023, marking his fourth hotel project with Mark, and his first with Evolution Hospitality.
InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) has named Jolyon Bulley to succeed Elie Maalouf as Americas CEO. He is currently IHG's CEO for the Greater China region, and also the group's transformation lead for luxury & lifestyle.

The appointment follows the announcement that Maalouf will become IHG's group CEO on July 1 following Keith Barr's decision to step down to return with his family to the U.S.

Bulley has been CEO for Greater China since 2018 and is a member of IHG's executive committee. He was previously COO for the Americas region from 2014-2017. He will take up his new position on July 1 and will be returning to his family home in Atlanta in the U.S. where he will be based.

A career hotelier, he has held a number of significant roles at IHG since he joined the business in 2001. As CEO for Greater China, he has been responsible for accelerating the growth and driving the profitability of IHG's second-largest market. Prior to that, as COO for the Americas, he led the region's operations for franchised and managed hotels, strengthening owner relationships and hotel operating performance. This led to him holding the same role as COO for Greater China, where he similarly oversaw the region's hotel portfolio and brand performance, new hotel openings and owner relations.

As IHG concludes succession planning for Bulley's responsibilities in Greater China, Daniel Aylmer, managing director for Greater China, will report to Maalouf and continue his responsibilities in China. Transition planning is underway for his other commitments.
Dr. Robert O'Halloran is a professor and the director of the School of Hospitality Leadership at East Carolina University. He earned his doctorate from Michigan State and has taught courses in planning and development, financial feasibility and food and beverage operations. His publications include numerous articles, and case studies. Dr. O'Halloran has developed and presented workshops and seminars across the U.SA. and in over thirty-five countries around the world. His hospitality industry operations background includes management and training positions with The Harborside Inn on Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts, Jolly Roger Restaurants Inc., in California, and Pannell Kerr Forster, a management and consulting company in Los Angeles and Boston plus other positions. Dr. O'Halloran has served on professional advisory boards including the North Carolina Restaurant and Lodging Association, the North Carolina's Department of Commerce Travel and Tourism Board, the American Hotel & Lodging Education Foundation, the Certification Commission of the Educational Institute of the America Hotel and Lodging Association (Chair), and the Training and Education Advisory Council of AH&LA. Previously he served on state and local boards in Tennessee, Metro Memphis, and New York. He is author and or co-author of over one hundred articles, columns, cases, in professional and academic journals and publications.
Independent Strategic Advisor in Innovative Payments and blockchain, for thirty years hes been helping companies innovate and build new business streams in the Digital Payments industry and blockchain field. In 2014 he was among the first in Italy to deal with blockchain projects in the digital finance sector. Since 2008, he has collaborated with MIP Politecnico di Milano Graduate School of Business within the framework of "Digital Innovation Observatories" initiatives by contributing with his experience to the analysis of strategies in the field of innovative digital payments, blockchain, and DLT. He occasional lectures at Politecnico di Milano, University of Salerno, Guglielmo Marconi University, University of Rome Tor Vergata, and the University of Bologna. He has written countless scientific publications, published by the Politecnico di Milano and the Bank of Italy, on topics concerning innovation and regulation of innovative payment systems and blockchain. Author of books, he published in Italy for Hoepli the best seller "Everything about Blockchain" (original title Tutto su Blockchain ) in May 2018 , "Getting to know blockchain" (original title Conoscere la blockchain) in June 2021, "Everything about NFTs" (original title Tutto sugli NFT ) in February 2022. On 13 October 2022, Todo sobre los NFT was published by Hoepli Ediciones, a Spanish version translated for the Iberian market of the book on NFTs.
Sector set to contribute more than $162 billion to Canadas economy this year

Travel & Tourism contributes one in every 12 jobs

International visitor spend up almost 65%

LONDON, UK - The World Travel & Tourism Councils (WTTC) 2023 Economic Impact Research (EIR) today reveals the Canadian Travel & Tourism sector continues to show strong signs of post-pandemic recovery.

According to the latest EIR, the sector is set to contribute $162.6 billion to the Canadian economy this year, up 17.2% from last year and within touching distance of the previous peak of $173.9 billion in 2019.

WTTC is also forecasting that Travel & Tourism will create 90,000 jobs this year, recovering almost all of the jobs lost due to the COVID-19 pandemic to reach 1.64 million.

Employment levels are also within touching distance of the 2019 high point.

A look back on last year

Last year, the Travel & Tourism sectors GDP contribution grew by 41.4% to reach more than $138 billion, representing 5% of the Canadian economy, with one in every 20 dollars created in Canada being generated by Travel & Tourism.

Last year the sector also created 169,000 more jobs from the previous year to reach 1.55 million jobs nationally  one in 13 jobs across Canada.

The sector has now recovered 124,000 of the 283,500 jobs lost during the pandemic.

Last year also saw the return of international travelers heading to Canada, with spending from overseas visitors growing 64% to reach almost $23 billion.

However, this is still 47% below the 2019 peak of $42.9 billion.

Travel & Tourism is recovering strongly in Canada with high visitor demand. The sector is a vital driver of economic growth and job creation in Canada with cities such as Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal remaining must-see global destinations for international visitors. As overseas visitors continue to return to Canada, we will see international visitor spending recovering quickly, to reach 2019 levels in the coming years. Julia Simpson, WTTC President & CEO

What does the next decade look like?

The global tourism body is forecasting that the sector will grow its GDP contribution to more than $238 billion by 2033 to reach 7% of the Canadian economy and will employ almost 2.1 million people across the country, with one in 11 Canadians working in the sector.

North America

In 2022, the North American Travel & Tourism sector contributed $3.05 trillion to the regional economy, just 7% below the 2019 peak. WTTC forecasts the regions GDP contribution from the sector will fully recover in 2023 to reach $3.7 trillion.

The sector employed 24.7 million people across the region in 2022, an increase of 3.6 million from the previous year but still 1.5 billion behind the 2019 peak. WTTC forecasts the sector will fully recover the jobs lost during the pandemic by the end of 2023.

About WTTC

The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) represents the global travel & tourism private sector. Members include 200 CEOs, Chairs and Presidents of the world's leading travel & tourism companies from all geographies covering all industries. For more than 30 years, WTTC has been committed to raising the awareness of governments and the public of the economic and social significance of the travel & tourism sector.

WTTC Press Office

WTTC
Rendering of the Hotel Neretva Mostar, Tapestry Collection by Hilton

Hilton (NYSE: HLT) today announced a franchise agreement with Intersped d.o.o. Sarajevo to open Hotel Neretva Mostar, Tapestry Collection by Hilton and Hampton by Hilton Sarajevo City Centre. Marking a country-first for Hilton in Bosnia & Herzegovina, the two hotels will be situated in prime central locations in Mostar and Sarajevo, with both hotels set to open by 2026.

Simon Vincent, executive vice president and president, EMEA, Hilton, said, Were thrilled to partner with Intersped d.o.o. Sarajevo to announce Hiltons first two hotels in Bosnia and Herzegovina under our Tapestry Collection by Hilton and Hampton by Hilton brands. From its stunning landscapes to its bustling cities, Bosnia and Herzegovina offers a diverse blend of history, culture and nature, making it an extremely attractive tourist destination. This market entry is a significant milestone and highlights our continued expansion into exciting destinations.

Enisa Tukic, CEO of Intersped d.o.o. Sarajevo said, "Were excited to join forces with Hilton with the companys first two hotel signings in Bosnia & Herzegovina. With both Hotel Neretva Mostar, Tapestry Collection by Hilton, and Hampton by Hilton Sarajevo City Centre offering guests modern accommodation in two major cities in the country, we are confident the hotels will attract a large number of visitors, who are looking to take in some of the countrys spectacular sights or seeking high quality accommodation options for a business trip."

Hotel Neretva Mostar, Tapestry Collection by Hilton will encapsulate Tapestry Collection by Hiltons vibrant and unique style, featuring 80 guest rooms, several dining outlets, including a specialty restaurant and a spectacular terrace, as well as a lobby bar and lounge. Meeting space will consist of three individual meeting rooms, whilst the hotel will also feature an indoor pool and upscale fitness facilities. The hotel will be situated in a prime location in Mostar, on the bank of the River Neretva and a short walk from the UNESCO World Heritage site.

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The 98-guest room Hampton by Hilton Sarajevo City Centre will exhibit sleek and modern designs, with all the usual Hampton by Hilton social spaces guests know and love, including a reception hub and bar. Guests can enjoy magnificent views of the city from the rooftop outdoor terrace and meeting room pods, or alternatively take advantage of the fitness facilities. The hotel is strategically located in the city centre of Sarajevo on the prominent Marsala Tita Street and close to the famous old town with its energetic bazaar and numerous historical monuments.

Guests of all Hilton properties will be able to benefit from the award-winning Hilton Honors guest loyalty programme, allowing more than 158 million members who book directly with Hilton to earn Points for hotel stays and experiences. Hilton Honors members can also unlock access to instant rewards and benefits, such as contactless check-in with room selection and exclusive member discounts.

The Tapestry Collection by Hilton portfolio is continuing to expand worldwide and now includes 100 hotels in 13 countries including France, the UK, Italy, Spain and Portugal. Known for their vibrant and unique styles, each Tapestry Collection by Hilton hotel encourages guests to immerse themselves in the local area, creating authentic connections with destinations while offering an upscale and comfortable hotel experience.

Hotel Neretva Mostar, Tapestry Collection by Hilton will be located at Lacina 1, Mostar. Hampton by Hilton Sarajevo City Centre will be located at 36, 38, 40 Marsala Tita Street, Sarajevo, a 25-minute drive from Sarajevo International Airport.
Excerpt from CoStar

Unique Challenges Exist in Europe for Hotel Transactions, Development

European hoteliers are patting themselves on the back for surviving the bleakest years of the pandemic, but they also realize that the hardest work is ahead of them.

Are they cautiously optimistic? Are they sensibly looking at the long-term play? On the first day of the International Hotel Investment Forum, there were almost as many opinions as there were attendees of the conference.

"Its about time people understand our industry is vastly different now than it was 20 years ago, and it will be vastly different in 20 years," Accor CEO Sebastien Bazin said. "Anyone in the room who wants to open a hotel: Open it, design it for the local community. Make sure you give people a reason to come. Make sure they use the bar, the restaurant. If you achieve the business from the local community, dont you worry a minute about getting the traveler. You have to change your entire thinking of hospitality from 40 years ago. Forty years ago the only thing we cared about was trying to cater to the traveler. That was wrong. If you have 60% of your revenues from the local community, you are safe. So Im trying to go upside down in the way we do things. It's more difficult but more fun."

This is the paradox of globalization: We're moving from an economy based on where the raw materials are  near rivers, near manufacturing  to being where you want to be. It's a knowledge economy.

 Ian Goldin, economist and professor at Oxford University, shared his view that dynamic cities that appeal to where people want to live, work and interact will sustain future travel and tourism growth as well. Right now, he pointed to the Persian Gulf states as knowledge economy-based hubs of the future.

"The big question mark for the entire industry, of course, is what are we going to do with all of these buildings that are no longer viable as offices. Part of it is working from home and changing how we work, but the other part is ESG energy regulations. If you look at the U.K. as an example, by 2027, 50% of existing stock can't be used as office space. That's 10 million square feet in London alone of office space."

 Kristen Kozlowski, managing director of PineBridge Benson Elliot, discussed why buying unused office space might be a fertile path for hotel development in the absence of traditional distress.

Click here to read complete article at CoStar.
$76M of Acquisition Financing Arranged for St. Regis Chicago Hotel

JLL Capital Markets announced today that it arranged $76 million in acquisition financing for the St. Regis, a five-star, 192-key, luxury hotel in Chicago.

JLL represented the borrowers, Gencom, GD Holdings and Magellan, to arrange the loan through the lender, Varde Partners.

Located in the heart of downtown Chicago at 401 E Wacker Drive, the 101-story mixed-use skyscraper is Chicagos third tallest building and the tenth tallest building in the country. Lauded as the most significant addition to the Chicago skyline in a generation, the project redefines luxury hospitality offerings in Chicago, coupling an extremely high standard of product and finishes with exquisite design and a unique location.

The St. Regis consists of 192 oversized guest rooms, including 33 suites on six floors and 80 floors of residential condominium space, all with views of the Chicago River, Lake Michigan, Navy Pier and Millennium Park. Building amenities include five food and beverage outlets, meeting and ballroom spaces and a spa with an indoor pool, outdoor sundeck and fitness center.

Positioned at the doorstep of the citys top leisure and corporate demand generators, The St. Regis is just a short walk away from some of Chicagos most revered landmarks including Millennium Park, Navy Pier, the Magnificent Mile, Maggie Daley Park and more. Transportation access via Lake Shore Drive, Chicago Transit Authority bus and train routes offers guests unmatched connectivity around the city. The hotel has excellent proximity to two international gateway airports, OHare International and Midway Airport, both being less than 20 miles away.

Chicagos Central Business District continues to illustrate positives signs of recovery after quarterly new absorption levels reaches its highest level since the first quarter of 2020. Chicago boasts a thriving tourism industry, being one of the most visited cities in the U.S. with 60.8 million visitors in 2019. The city continues to have an impressible rebound in leisure demand and progresses towards full recovery.

The JLL Capital Markets Debt Advisory team was led by Senior Managing Director Eric Tupler, Executive Vice President Jeff Bucaro and Analysts Mark DesLauriers and Jake Martin.

The St. Regis is the first 5-star hotel property built in Chicago in over a decade. Given the strong recovery of the Chicago luxury hotel market combined with the exceptional room quality, sizes, and amenities, we had several lenders vying for the financing said Bucaro.
Qabil Ashirov

The Armenian authorities have gained a very popular image for their frivolous behavior and untrustworthiness. For example, every time the prime minister in Yerevan returns to his office after meetings, there is either commotion in his country or armed provocations are started against neighboring Azerbaijan. The problem is that although Pashinyan leaves political meetings with positive promises every time, the result is completely different.

Therefore, the word of this bearded guy is not valued either in his country or abroad.

So, the last meeting in Brussels did not differ in this case as well. Pashinyan delivered speeches about mutually recognizing territorial integrity. Later shoutout happened from Zod settlement of Basarkecher region in Azerbaijan's Army direction.

Brussels held a meeting on May 14, and Charles Michel made a speech and declared that Armenia recognizes Azerbaijani territorial integrity. Following Charles Michel's speech Armenian political parties including Dashnaksutyun and the so-called "Artsakh republic" denounced the Brussels meeting. Even the so-called foreign minister of artsakh republic who begged assistance from international organizations and foreign countries stated going beyond the limits that Representatives of individual countries and international organizations have no right to decide the fate of the people of artsakh.

Taking into account the above-mentioned, one has no other option but to think that Pashinyan fears something or somebody or this guy is making a clandestine cooperation with this illegal group of separatists. In a comment on the issue for Azernews, the political analyst Zardusht Alizade noted that it is related to the internal situation of Armenia. He emphasized that the internal political situation in the country is very tense and the influence of external forces is very great.

For 150 years, the Armenians had lived with some fabrications which seriously infected the common point of view. After the humiliating defeat in the 44-day war, it is very painful for them to suddenly leave this dream in such a short period of time.

Obviously, any political leader in Armenia who states the truth, he would be assassined over high treason or just a coup would be organised against him. Pashinyan always remembers this and tries to be very careful. He gradually tries to explain the reality to the people and constantly negotiates with his opponents. The PM gives his suggestions and asks them for their suggestions. Opponents of Pashinyan voice their proposals, and over a period of time, society also understands that the proposals they voice are not real proposals. It is a dream, he said.

Alizade pointed out that at present, a mixed ideology is currently forming in Armenia. According to him, some groups are suggested to lean towards Iran or France, some other are suggested that they should unite and form a people's army, that every man and every woman should take a machine gun, and so on. And part of the society comprehends that there is no one who says the truth except Pashinyan.

Despite the fact that Pashinyan was defeated in the war, there is no politician stronger than him in Armenian society. In the last poll, his popularity dropped to 14 percent. Earlier, its popularity was 70 percent. However, his rival Robert Kocheryan's rating was just 2 percent, Alizade said.

As for the issue that Pashinyan turns back on his words, the analyst commented that he could not say anything about this just now, because Pashinyan had not made any comments after his return. However, he emphasized that this time it will be hard for the separatist groups to oppose, because the territory of both states were expressed in numbers.

The expert also touched on the statement of the so-called artsakh republic about Charles Michels speech and said that Sergei Gazaryan (the FM of the so-called republic) is very young and he graduated from the Moscow State University.

He considers himself well-educated and he thinks that he utters logically. I underline again that he thinks so, but actually he is still in illusions. Speaking logically in an imaginary world, he explains that no state can dictate to any independent state. However, he even knows the fiction of 'artsakh' is not recognized in the world except a handful of people in Azerbaijan's territory. Azerbaijan has decided the fate of Karabakh, and now it is time for Armenian community in Karabakh to decide their own fate and make efforts to talk with the government of Azerbaijan. They should negotiate with the Azerbaijani government and determine their future within Azerbaijan with the participation of the Western community, but not the Western leaders."
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AI in Music Creation for Brands: The Good, The Bad & The Ugly

Amy Crawford, the Executive Creative Director of Music Products at global sonic branding studio Made Music, explores the highs and lows in AI music branding and promotion.

Hypebot welcomes responsible commentary. Email here to submit.

by Amy Crawford of Made Music Studio

THE BOTTOM LINE: Its time for our industry to embrace AI in music  if youre not in it, youre losing opportunities to leverage these tools in positive ways. But as you jump in, make sure to have your eyes wide open to the good, the bad & the ugly.

Ready or not, AI in music and audio creation is here. At Made Music Studio, weve been watching and working in the space for quite some time. But with Ghostwriter977s Heart On My Sleeve track featuring an AI Drake & The Weeknd going viral on TikTok and dropping on Spotify recently (and then UMGs swift condemnation and ongoing, whack-a-mole takedown), the stakes have immediately gotten real for the popular music industry and the greater music business ecosystem. While we can be quick to despair about what our creative futures look like as AI-generated works enter the marketplace, its up to creators  and brands  to be courageous and curious about AI, learn how to leverage it with human imagination and artistic touch, and actively define what this means for the future of our industry.

As it is still early days, there are more questions than answers concerning what AI will mean for the music industry. How will this next wave of AI music creation tools further commoditize music? Will they make all audio assets sound the same? Will anyone be valued for the craft of music ever again?

Music has endured many significant technological revolutions, and weve carried on with each new normal as the playing field for music creators has been remade time and time again. A (typically younger) vanguard will choose to leverage these tools and apply them to their creativity with their unique human touch  and that is where creative boundaries are pushed and broken through. Someone will always find a way for tech innovation to catalyze a major creative movement and/or greater access to creative expression. Think: Drum machine. DAW. Software synths. TikTok. Splice. Bandlab.

Okay, so for brand innovators reading this, whats important to consider when it comes to AI and music?

THE GOOD: Scale and Access

In an audio-first world, brands are being heard across more sound-on channels than ever before  from podcasts and streaming to voice assistants and social media. According to Statista, revenue in the music streaming industry is expected to reach $25.7 billion in 2023. Good news is that AI offers an opportunity to scale audio production and personalize sound for the individual consumer in a way never before seen.

With brands needing more digital content than ever, with ever-greater personalization to the user, how might AI be leveraged as a tool to support? Imagine your sonic identity quickly adapted into a new, different or hybrid genre(s) of music, or a different mood state, meeting the individual listener exactly where they are. Versioning of ad creative with music depending on a listeners preferences creates opportunities for brands to emotionally connect with customers in a way that allows them to feel this brand is for me. That level of scale and customization currently requires significant time and production resources. With AI, those resources can be significantly less resource-intense.

Plus, as AI makes music creation accessible for even more people, what does it look like for a brand to co-create its sound with its customers? Look at what Nike is aspiring to with .SWOOSH Studio, putting their fans in the creative director seat and inviting Nike lovers to contests that prioritize creative storytelling over creative skills.

At its core, the goal of a sonic identity is to increase brand attribution, recall and affinity. What might your own consumers expand your brands visibility  or, listenability  with AI? How might a two-way, co-creating relationship with your consumers help build the brand sonically in ways we havent even yet imagined?

THE BAD: Copyright, Trademark & Associated Risks

Copyright as a concept is intended to motivate creativity  it incentivizes creators by protecting the ownership of their work. The recently-formed Human Artistry Campaign has begun to advocate for the uniquely human nature of artmaking and for copyright to continue to only protect human intellectual creativity. So it makes sense that the US Copyright Office will not copyright works created with AI at this time.

Most AI-generated musical works (presumably like Ghostwriter977s) are created using data inputs without the original creators permission. Drakes lyrical flow. The Weeknds stylistic choices. A producers catalog of beats. Those are the human-generated inputs that shape the AI-generated output. Undeniably, the misappropriation of someone elses creativity without their consent is a violation. But as these tools become more refined and put into creators hands, the issues will become more gray and harder to enforce.

Does the conversation on copyright end here, or evolve? How might the ownership of an AI generated work be defined with greater nuance? And actually: what happens to the value of copyright if the market is flooded with AI-generated content that consumers do connect with? The US Copyright Office only just announced their Artificial Intelligence initiative recently!

Further, when we consider AI-generated voice specifically, Venice founder Troy Carter has highlighted several times on Twitter his POV that theres no trademark protections for voice  though in the past artists like Bette Midler have successfully disputed sound-alikes via Right of Publicity. How do we define who owns a timbre of voice or a style of vocalization in AI? What may or may not protect an artists signature performance style moving forward when virtually anyone can leverage voice cloning tools?

Grimes took the step on Twitter to offer a royalty split with AI creators  will we see more artists follow suit? What feels like a future-leaning, bold move also has thought leaders in the legal space asking less sexy  but critical  questions. Copyright is going to be having a spotlight moment for a while.

But ownable sonic intellectual property (IP) will, for now, remain the least litigious route for brands. An ownable, distinct sonic identity is increasingly becoming a must in todays market. But I still see a lot of opportunity for curiosity, especially in leveraging a brands sonic identity in the context of AI.

THE UGLY: Personalization vs. Exploitation

Recently Levis announced a partnership with an AI modeling agency, with the stated goal being to make the online shopping experience a more inclusive and diverse customer service by generating Black and brown models with AI to model their clothes. They then clarified their statements following the public outcry to what was interpreted as disingenuous DEI claims.

The use  and exploitation of  AI personas to represent a brand needs to be centered in discussions of AI and creativity. As web3 music artist Latasha called out after hearing Heart On My Sleeve, I feel with the music ai shit is exploitation of artists who already are being exploited. Its unnerving to also know that some white person can be black facing vocals.

If a brand chooses to leverage diverse voices in AI, it must be considered about who is choosing what words those voices speak, the role these voices play in our lives, and who these voices speak to. There needs to be more diversity within the teams creating these AI models and designing the ethics for this work. And, a key question we must always ask in business: into whose pockets is the money going?

Brands should recognize that while AI offers great creative opportunity,they must maintain a values system that embraces innovation and centers the artists, producers and everyday folks who might find themselves entangled sooner than later in the input or output of an AI project. Those human inputs remain important, unique, and add profound artistic vision.

This is a major moment of change. What I know is that each new generation will see these new tools as part of their normal, daily creative toolkit  our industry is always evolving, and AI is here to stay. The key to success has always been how to, with fresh eyes, leverage new tools with a broad imagination, a willingness to experiment, and the human touch  as well as an eye on how to protect and support human creators in the process.

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Town meeting members in Williamstown use electronic voting devices and check out a screen where vote totals were tracked.

Williamstown Town Meeting Says Yes to Clickers, No to Manufactured Homes

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass.  Town meeting Tuesday rejected a bylaw amendment that would have removed barriers to manufactured housing, endorsed the use of electronic voting devices at the meeting and chose to take no action on a bylaw change that would have required dogs to be leashed in public areas.

In a four-hour, 20-minute session at Mount Greylock Regional School, meeting members also passed the majority of the town's municipal financing articles without discussion and approved the Mount Greylock Regional School District budget after concerns were raised about the district's move to delay filling an administrative position focused on diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging in the preK-12 district.

No item on the 42-article warrant generated more comment than Article 27, which sought the meeting's input on whether the Select Board should purchase electronic voting devices at a cost of $27,000.

Some residents raised objections to the "clickers," arguing that the device's lithium batteries are costly to replace, costly to dispose of and bad for the environment. Others maintained that the devices would "fundamentally change the fabric of town meeting" by allowing members to cast their votes anonymously.

"The whole point of town meeting is to see where our neighbors stand on issues," John Kalapos said. "If we move all our votes to a secret ballot, I wonder why we have a town meeting. Why can't I just vote for things on my own time?"

Others countered that anonymity is needed in order to allow town meeting members to vote their conscience on highly contentious issues.

"I have seen, in this town, people being retaliated against for speaking their mind," Steven Miller said. "It's unfortunate but true that a lot of people are not comfortable speaking their minds."

"People in town are worried about being able to vote their conscience for fear of retribution," Andi Bryant said. "That's more important than 25 cents for a battery."

Despite the extended debate on a pair of motions  first to take Article 27 "out of order" as the 15th vote of the night and then on Article 27 itself  the meeting decisively went in favor of the clickers.

The motion to consider Article 27 earlier than planned passed on a voice vote. Article 27 itself passed, 226-114.

The first issue that saw a close vote tracked by clickers  instead of a standing vote with individuals holding aloft colored index cards as in years past  came on Article 21, one of several zoning bylaw changes advanced by the Planning Board.

The manufactured home bylaw amendment would have allowed the placement of manufactured homes or mobile homes on any residential lot where a "stick-built" home currently is allowed.

A majority of the meeting favored the proposal, but not the two-thirds majority needed for passage.

Planning Board Chair Stephanie Boyd, who recently was elected to serve instead on the Select Board, told the meeting that manufactured homes can cost half as much per square foot as stick-built homes. The potential of allowing less costly housing options was the main impetus for the Planning Board developing the bylaw amendment proposal.

Boyd also noted that 20 states allow manufactured housing in all residential zones, and 18 states allow local control but "encourage fair treatment" of manufactured housing.

"At the moment, Massachusetts is considered to offer weak support [to the housing option], so we need to make appropriate regulations at the local level."

Paul Harsch, a longtime real estate agent in town, told the meeting members that mobile homes, unlike stick-built homes, do not appreciate in value and, in fact, depreciate over time.

"They don't build equity for the owner," Harsch said. "They end up demolished, like automobiles."

Alex Carlisle echoed that point, saying that instead of helping make housing more accessible to potential residents of less means, the manufactured homes instead would be, "a terrible disservice to the people we're trying to serve."

Boyd argued against the assertion that manufactured homes lose value by citing statistics from the federal government that say the opposite, but Harsch dismissed the government figures as inapplicable in New England.

The vote on Article 21 was 216 in favor and 114 against; 221 affirmative votes would have been needed to cross the two-thirds threshold.

All of the other zoning bylaw amendments developed by the Planning Board over the last 12 months passed, including two born of proposals the meeting referred to committee last June: a change to the dimensional requirements in the General Residence district to reduce the frontage requirement for building lots and the allowance of up to four-unit homes in the General Residence district by right.

As previously announced , the owners of Sweetwood Independent Living Community asked the meeting to take no action and refer to committee a pair of bylaw amendments it placed on the warrant in an effort to make the Cold Spring Road facility more economically viable.

Likewise, the authors of an article placed by citizen's petition to institute ranked-choice voting in local elections was withdrawn with hopes of bringing back a better proposal next spring.

Another citizen's petition article, as anticipated, sparked a lengthy discussion that got underway about 3 1/2 hours into the meeting.

Article 32 sought to amend the town's current dog bylaw to remove language allowing dogs to be in public spaces if controlled by voice command and instead require all dogs to be leashed in public areas, specifically singling out the new multimodal trail from Syndicate Road to the Spruces Park.

"I came with [the article] because person after person has come to me who are afraid of walking the 'rail trail,' walking in the Spruces or even on Spring Street  people who were jumped on by dogs that people claim are friendly dogs," Randal Fippinger said. "There are other perspectives on dogs other than, 'Everyone thinks dogs are great.' "

Roger Lawrence told the meeting that while he empathizes with residents who are afraid of dogs, his dog is "highly trained."

"It is a lot of work," Lawrence said of the training process. "Many people are afraid of dogs. That's something every dog owner should take very, very seriously. We should validate and honor their fears. The question is how do we do that."

Lawrence proposed an amendment to Fippinger's warrant article language that would have preserved the current bylaw language allowing dogs to be either leashed or under voice control except on the majority of the new bike/pedestrian trail, where Lawrence suggested the town should require dogs to be on a leash of no more than 6 feet.

Lawrence's effort to amend the warrant article failed on a voice vote. A motion to table Article 32 itself passed by a vote of 166-58, easily clearing a needed two-thirds threshold.

In addition to winning passage of its budget, the Mount Greylock Regional School Committee was a winner on two other fronts on Tuesday. The town approved a committee request to establish a stabilization account for the district and voted in favor of two separate articles related to the field and eight-lane track project at the middle-high school.

The meeting passed by overwhelming voice votes Article 18, which approves the district's plan to borrow up to $800,000 to fund the project, and Article 35, a grant of Community Preservation Act funds in the amount of $100,000 to support the field and track.

Article 18, the request for approval to borrow money, needs to pass at next month's town meeting in Lanesborough, the other partner in the two-town school district.

Tuesday's meeting attracted 380 of the Williamstown's 5,068 registered voters, a 7.5 percent participation rate.




iciHaiti - Cap-Haitien : Parade route and Official program of the 220th anniversary of the Flag





The Communication Office of the Primature informs the general population of the holding, on May 18, 2023 in Cap-Haitien, of the commemorative ceremonies of the 220 years of creation of the national Bicolore.



On the eve of Flag Day, the Head of Government will inaugurate the National School of Acul-du-Nord, Jean Baptiste Dutty Boukman, built by the National Education Fund (FNE).



The Te Deum and the ceremonies of homage to the official platform at Boulevard du Cap-Haitien will be broadcast live on the National Television of Haiti, the National Radio of Haiti, on the Facebook page of the Primature, media of the capital, provincial towns and social media.



Activity schedule:



Day 1: May 17, 2023 at 5 p.m. at King Henry University (Lemonade)

Celebration of Tribute and Distinctions to Haitian Teachers

Presentation of honor plaques, shows, cultural activities and cocktails.



Day 2: May 18, 2023, Cathedral Square (Cap-Haitien)

7:30 a.m.: Arrival of the Officials on the Square

8:00 a.m.: Sending of the Flag

Floral offering at the monument of Emperor Jean Jacques Dessalines on the Place, followed by Te Deum at the Cathedral



At the end of the Te Deum at Boulevard du Cap-Haitien:

Demonstrations of homage to the Flag

Parade of Majorettes, military parades, speeches.



The official lunch will be offered at the Town Hall of the City





Official Route:



Gathering point:

Rue 5 Blvd to Rue 15 Blvd



Beginning :

Rue 5 Blvd,

90 Blvd,

Rue du quai,

Carenage,

24 A, 18 A, 5 A,

2 A, 2 L, 18 L, 18 H,

20 H,

Cap City Hall,

End.



Official Stand:

Rue 23 and 24 Blvd







IH/ iciHaiti


















The recent spate of selling and even rental of verified digital wallets in the country should not be taken lightly. It is, in fact, alarming because its owners or account holders risk losing their identities with far-reaching consequences, according to cybersecurity and digital privacy company Kaspersky.

Since 2022, the local media have been reporting various apprehensions by police authorities of individuals allegedly involved in buying and selling of verified digital wallet accounts. Registered SIM accounts with verified digital wallet accounts are currently being bought for P350 each. On social media, the rates even go as low as P150 per account. These are then sold for an average of P600-P800 each.

This kind of transaction is a cybercrime offense under Philippine laws. If proven guilty, both seller and buyer are up for some jail time and penalties from P100,000 to P500,000.

But what's stored in a digital wallet?

A digital wallet is usually loaded with personal details of its owner such as full name, date of birth, nationality, phone number, email address, and mailing address. Once verified by the digital wallet company as a legitimate account, all financial transactions can be performed within the digital wallet app.

The transaction limit varies but the maximum amount that can be received or sent per account is as high as P500,000, bypassing the use of credit and debit cards that are regulated and normally require security checks.

Mobile digital wallets are a popular alternative financial service among Filipinos. Unfortunately, some digital wallet users think that selling their account isn't really a big issue. They believe their accounts are not tied to any bank accounts with a lot of funds so there is nothing to extort from them. And getting a new SIM is cheap and easy and verifying their digital wallet accounts is hassle-free.

"We've witnessed how the Filipinos embraced the cashless lifestyle during the pandemic, out of necessity. The ease of access and convenience of digital wallets made everyone quite comfortable, with some now selling, renting out or even loaning their verified accounts. By doing so, cybercriminals do not need to put much effort into phishing anymore as Filipinos are practically giving away their personal data for a song, which is really dangerous," says Yeo Siang Tiong, General Manager for Southeast Asia at Kaspersky.

"As sellers or lenders of their own digital wallet accounts, not only would they get into trouble with the law. Losing their identities is also very likely especially when their data gets into the hands of scammers. With enough information from you, scammers can already set up other financial accounts using your name and use your identity to benefit them. Possible scenarios would be getting harassed by a collection agent for a debt you've never owed. It could also mean losing out on job or education opportunities just because your name appeared with an unpleasant digital profile when searched," adds Yeo.

What other damage can data thieves do?

By selling your verified digital wallet, you are essentially handing out your data to cybercriminals and helping them carry out their evil activities.

With your confidential information in their hands, data thieves can:

Make purchases on your behalf Use your personal details in online gaming. Cybercriminals use stolen identities for doxing (publishing your home address and phone number online for profit, fun, or humiliation) and swatting (reporting a fake emergency to law enforcement agencies to come to your place to intimidate you) Use your personal information in online gambling. Fraudsters create networks of thousands of synthetic accounts, normally using stolen personal data and credit card information to accumulate bonus points and redeem their "winnings". This particular type of fraud is extremely common in online poker and blackjack, where the result can be manipulated through game strategy. Add themselves or an alias they can control as an authorized user so it's easier to use your credit. Use and abuse your Social Security number. Scammers may be able to take out loans and claim benefits under your name. You may be banned from using the services of your favorite digital wallet company if your name appears to have availed of its loan services and that you cannot pay. Sell your information to others who will use it for malicious purposes. Buying and selling of stolen personal information is big business on the dark web, the non-visible Web that can be accessed only by a specialized browser where cybercriminals provide illegal services to one another. Back in 2018, data from Kaspersky showed that criminals can sell someone's complete digital life in the dark web for less than $50 (or P2,761, today's forex). In 2020, the cybersecurity company shared that personal identity details such as full name, date of birth, email and mobile can fetch from $0.5 to $10 each (or P27.62 to P552.33).

Is there still a way to save your stolen identity?

Once you have handed over your SIM account with your personal data in it, it is not easy to undo it. Experts suggest replacing your email address and telephone address as well as changing all affected passwords in all of your social media and financial accounts. If you believe you have been victimized by identity fraud, you can lodge a complaint through the Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center (CICC) here.

How else to protect yourself from identity theft?
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Johnny Depp showed up to a Cannes Film Festival press conference 42 minutes later than scheduled.

The actor, 59, is attending the festival to promote Jeanne du Barry, a biographical drama in which he plays King Louis XV of France.

It marks his first on-screen role since the high-profile court case between him and former wife Amber Heard last year.

Depp sued Heard for defamation after she wrote about her experience with sexual violence in a Washington Post op-ed in 2018. After six weeks in court, a jury ultimately ruled in Depps favour.

After the films first screening on Tuesday (16 May), Depp was so moved by the audiences seven-minute-long standing ovation that he is thought to have teared up with emotion.

On Wednesday (17 May), the actor delayed the start of a press conference discussing the film by failing to show up at the correct scheduled time of noon.

New York Times journalist Kyle Buchanan tweeted: The JEANNE DU BARRY press conference is beginning 20 minutes late because Johnny Depp has not shown up for it.

Later, Buchanan noted that neither Depp nor the films director and lead co-star Maiwenn had shown up after 25 minutes of waiting.

After 33 minutes, Buchanan reported that Maiwenn and the remaining cast had shown up, before Depp, 59, finally arrived, 42 minutes late.

The Pirates of the Caribbean star went on to answer questions about whether he felt as if Hollywood had boycotted him in recent years, and whether he or Maiwenn were affected by the media attention brought to the film following his trial.

During another press conference at Cannes on Tuesday, Marvel star Brie Larson was asked to share her thoughts on Depps film being the first to open the film festival, despite the controversy.
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Johnny Depp was seen getting visibly emotional as his new film Jeanne du Barry received a seven-minute standing ovation at Cannes Film Festival on Tuesday (16 May).

The French-language film directed by Maiwenn was controversially chosen to open the festival this year.

Johnny Depp tears up as #Cannes2023 showers him with a seven-minute standing ovation at the premiere of Jeanne du Barry, Ramin Setoodeh, Co-Editor-in-Chief of Variety, tweeted from the French Riviera event alongside a video.

In the clip, Depp, 59, holds his hands to his face before hugging the director.

Cannes director Thierry Fremaux has received backlash for the decision to open the festival with Depps movie due to the allegations made against him by his ex-wife Amber Heard in their highly publicised defamation trial last year.

Depp ultimately won the trial after a jury found that Heard had defamed him by implying he had abused her in a 2018 Washington Post op-ed.

We only know one thing, its the justice system and I think he won the legal case, Fremaux said in response to the criticism.

Jeanne Du Barry tells the story of King Louis XVs mistress Jeanne Vaubernier. The director Maiwenn  who also stars in the film  has also been embroiled in controversy after admitting to assaulting a journalist.

Mediapart magazine editor-in-chief Edwy Plenel filed a police complaint on 7 March, which accused Maiwenn of spitting in his face while he was dining at a restaurant.

I dont know Maiwenn, I never met her. I would have been unable to recognise her, Plenel told Variety on Tuesday, adding: This aggression caused more stupor than anything else.

Meanwhile, Cannes juror Brie Larson was taken aback when asked by a journalist about her thoughts on Jeanne du Barry opening the festival.

Depp has not been cast in a major US film since his 2018 lawsuit against The Sun, which he lost after a UK court ruled that the tabloids description of him as a wife beater was substantially true.
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Netflixs latest No 1 film, The Mother, has arrived at a disappointing milestone on review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes.

Despite this, The Mother  which stars Jennifer Lopez as a retired assassin who comes out of hiding to save her estranged daughter (Lucy Paez)  has enjoyed the biggest opening weekend of 2023 so far for any Netflix film.

While Lopez has received praise for her performance in the film, The Mother has been middlingly received by critics and audiences alike, securing a critical score of just 45 per cent positive on Rotten Tomatoes.

The audience score, voted for by members of the public, is higher, sitting at a fresh 71 per cent.

However, the films rotten critical score represents an all-time low for The Mothers director, acclaimed Kiwi filmmaker Niki Caro.

Caros previous films include the celebrated 2002 drama Whale Rider, 2015s McFarland, USA, and the 2020 live-action adaptation of Mulan.

Other than two films which have not been given critical scores on Rotten Tomatoes (1998s Memory & Desire and 2009s The Vintners Luck), all seven of her other feature films had received fresh ratings.

Jennifer Lopez as The Mother in 'The Mother (Eric Milner/Netflix)

Earlier this week, it was announced that The Mother had chalked up a cumulative 83.71 million hours viewed in the first three days of its release, ranking as No 1 in 82 countries. The figure constituted the biggest opening weekend for any Netflix original film so far this year, beating releases such as Murder Mystery 2.

The Adam Sandler and Jennifer Aniston-starring sequel wasnt the only film to be outperformed by The Mother when it came to one key metric.

The Mother is available to stream on Netflix now.
Britains former prime minister Liz Truss has been criticised by Beijing as she used a speech in Taiwan on Wednesday to warn of the threat China poses to both the island and to the West.

Speaking as part of a five-day visit to the island that has rattled the government in Beijing, Ms Truss told reporters: Its absolutely clear that President Xi [Jinping of China] has the ambition to take Taiwan.

She continued: Now, we dont know exactly when that could take place, we also dont know how, and its my view that the preference of President Xi and the Chinese Communist Party would be to do it in a way that doesnt involve using force, but I certainly think they would be prepared to use force if necessary.
A Chinese comedy troupe has been hit with a 1.7million ($2.13 million) fine by authorities after one of its entertainers made a joke about the military.

Li Haoshi, who performs under the name House, went viral on the countrys social media after an audience member posted a description of the joke after a stand-up set in Beijing on May 13.

In the joke, Li recounted seeing two stray dogs he had adopted chase a squirrel and said it had reminded him of the phrase have a good work style, be able to fight and win battles.
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India has hit back at the European Unions suggestion of cracking down on the country for reselling refined Russian oil to Europe by considering it a circumvention of Western sanctions on Moscow for its war on Ukraine.

Indias foreign minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, who was in Brussels during the last leg of his three-nation tour, strongly denied that his country was violating any sanctions imposed on Russia and said the oil in question could not be treated as Russian oil if it is refined in another country before being exported.

Mr Jaishankar was asked a question at a press conference shortly after the EUs foreign minister Josep Borrel said the the bloc will have to act if sanctioned diesel or gasoline is still making its way into Europe via India.

Mr Borrel made the remarks in an interview with the Financial Times: If diesel or gasoline is entering Europe... coming from India and being produced with Russian oil, that is certainly a circumvention of sanctions and member states have to take measures.

He said it was understandable that India wanted to take advantage of the EUs limitations, leading to discounted prices of oil but said it was unacceptable if Russian-origin refined products were being sold to Europe.

That India buys Russian oil, its normal. And if, thanks to our limitations on the price of oil, India can buy this oil much cheaper, well the less money Russia gets, the better, Mr Borrell said.

But if they use that in order to be a centre where Russian oil is being refined and by-products are being sold to us... we have to act.

Since Russias Ukraine invasion in February 2022, India has emerged as the largest buyer of Russian oil from almost negligible imports before the war. Russia diverted a majority of its oil exports to its Asian allies, India and China, at discounted rates after Western sanctions plugged the Kremlins huge earnings from the oil trade.

The Independent reported in April that Russian-origin oil was still entering European markets as Indian refiners exported refined products by changing the source of origin of the fuel.

Responding to the comments, Mr Jaishankar said: I really dont see the basis for your question. My understanding of Council regulations is that if Russian crude is substantially transformed in a third country it is not treated as Russian any more.

He urged for a look at the EUs regulations, specifically 833/2014, concerning restrictive measures in view of Russias actions destabilising the situation in Ukraine.

Amendments were introduced in the regulation during the 9th EU sanction package on 16 December 2021. It has exemptions from the prohibition on the sale, supply and transfer of certain goods under some conditions.

Mr Borrells comments came shortly before he was to meet Mr Jaishankar on the margins of the first EU-India Trade and Technology Council (TTC).

The two did not discuss oil during the meeting, but the EU diplomat reiterated the blocs unwavering resolve to support Ukraine, and sought Delhis support in mediation between the warring parties.

The High Representative asked MEA Jaishankar for India to support Ukraines peace initiative, and to urge Russia to agree on the crucial extension of the Black Sea Grain Initiative, the statement by the EU said.

Following the meeting, European Commission vice president Margrethe Vestager said the EU would have a discussion with India on the issue as friends and said this would be with an extended hand and of course not with a pointed finger.

Rarely buying Russian oil due to a long trade route and high transport cost, Indian refiners imported 970,000-981,000 barrells per day in the 2022-23 fiscal, accounting for more than a fifth of the countrys overall fuel imports, according to Kpler.

Any mechanism to stem the flow of Russian oil to Europe would need to be implemented by national authorities, Mr Borrell said on Tuesday.

He suggested that the EU could target buyers of Indian refined fuels which it believes are derived from Russian crude.

If they sell, it is because someone is buying. And we have to look at who is buying, he said.
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The Taliban has appointed an interim prime minister blacklisted by the United Nations and known to have been an active member of terrorist operations in eastern Afghanistan.

The appointment, conducted in a late night power shift in Kabul on Tuesday, followed the illness of current leader Mahammad Hassan Akhund who reportedly needed time to recover.

The new interim prime minister Mohammad Abdul Kabir is now the acting head of the hardline Islamist regime in Afghanistan, marking a comeback in the top role, Taliban sources told TOLO news.

Blacklisted by the United Nations in the early 2000s, the newly appointed prime minister is known to have been an active member of terrorist operations in eastern Afghanistan, according to the UNs consolidated list of sanctioned terrorism-related individuals.

The Taliban leader has been accused of collecting money from drug traffickers and served as a member of the groups high leadership council.

Mohammad Kabir was also held responsible for a deadly attack on Afghan parliamentarians in northern Afghanistans Baghlan district in 2007.

It was recorded as Afghanistans biggest suicide bomb attack in which 72 people were killed, including 59 schoolboys. The US and Nato led administration had to announce a nationwide ban on students greeting politicians or dignitaries.

The suicide bomber triggered the blast up as schoolboys lined up to greet a visiting delegation of opposition parliamentary deputies in the town of Baghlan.

Nearly 100 were wounded in the attack. While the Taliban refused responsibility for the attack, Mohammad Kabir was widely known to have been responsible for the strike. In 2007, Taliban insurgents carried out more than 130 suicide attacks in Afghanistan. He was appointed as the military commander of the eastern Afghanistan zone by the Taliban in 2007, the UN list showed.

He was sanctioned by the UN in January 2001.

The leader has previously served as the acting prime minister in Talibans earlier regime in 2001 shortly before the groups reign collapsed.

He was promoted from serving as the deputy prime minister to the top role in the existing regime by the Islamic Emirate regimes chief Mohammed Hibatullah Akhundzada.

The Talibans supreme leader Akhundzada, who was himself one of the most wanted terrorists by the FBI, has ordered Kabir to control the affairs till Hassan Akhund gets better.

The all-male interim Afghan government named by the Taliban in August 2021 after the fall of Kabul includes several individuals targeted by UN sanctions.

Talibans acting minister of interior affairs Serajuddin Haqqani is on the FBI wanted list with a bounty of $10m (8m) on his head.

He is head of the Haqqani Network militant group, which is affiliated with the Taliban and named in some of the deadliest attacks in the country during the war with US-led international forces. He reportedly oversaw a suicide bomb attack using an explosive-filled ambulance in Kabul in 2017 that killed 103 people.
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A stay-at-home mother who employs a full-time nanny has shared insight into her typical day, and how having help caring for her daughter means she has the energy and patience to be the best mom.

Jen Miller, who goes by the username @jenmillerco on TikTok, uploaded a day in my life video in January, in which she showed what a typical day in [her] life looks like.

According to Miller, she starts her day at 5am each morning, with the video beginning with a look at her morning routine, which included skincare application and exercise.

In the video, Miller explained that she has run her own business for the past seven years, but recently decided to take time off from clients to focus on a few other projects. The TikToker then informed viewers that her husband runs his own startup, which means he works long hours and puts in work seven days a week.

Miller also noted that she and her husband, who live in Austin, Texas, dont have any family nearby, which means that their full-time nanny offers the support [Miller] needs.

As she showed what her days usually look like, Miller explained that she wanted to share the insight with her followers because they may be wondering why we need full-time help if Im home everyday.

Heres the rationale why, Miller said, before telling viewers: When we had our daughter, my husband and I decided that, at least for now, his responsibility would be taking care of our finances and mine would be taking care of everything else for our family.

After completing her workout, Miller filmed herself waking her toddler at 6.30am, at which point she and her daughter prepared food together and then read and played. At 8am, when their nanny arrives, Miller takes the familys dog for a walk, before applying makeup and getting dressed at 8.30am.

The TikToker then filmed herself doing laundry, making the bed and running her household from her home office, which she said includes planning travel, managing their Airbnb property, working on their shared side hustles, and carving out hours for admin, errands, and creative work. I run our house like I ran my business, she explained.

According to Miller, who also filmed herself cleaning the house, restocking shelves, and eating lunch, when the familys nanny leaves at 4pm, she is back on mom duty, which includes making dinner, giving her daughter a bath, and putting the child to sleep.

Evenings are for winding down and resetting, she explained, adding: Our nanny spends 40 hours a week with our daughter, but so do I. Its a full-time job and having help lets me show up as the best mom I can be, with more patience, energy, and excitement for the time we spend together.

After sharing her nightly routine with her daughter, the video concluded with footage of Miller preparing herself a piece of pizza before going to sit on her couch to watch TV.

In the caption of the video, Miller acknowledged that every family is different but that this is how her family makes it work.

Miller also noted that she loves getting to wake her daughter up and put her to bed, and having lots of playtime in between, before reiterating that a full-time nanny gives her the energy and patience to be the best mom [she] can be while still taking care of all of [her] familys needs.

The video, which has since been viewed more than two million times, has been met with an outpouring of supportive comments from viewers, with many applauding Miller for sharing the candid insight into her daily schedule.

Literally, I would have one if I could financially. No hate here, one person commented.

Another said: Since the beginning of time women have never raised their children alone. The shaming behind a nanny is absurd, especially with no family around. Wise choice!

Others said having a nanny makes total sense for Miller because she is a work-from-home mother.

Nanny/house manager input here: you are a WORK from home mom, which (as a nanny) I love! Your baby can see you and see your hard work while also getting the proper care/attention she needs. Youre doing AMAZING!! one comment reads, while another person wrote: Girl, you work. You obviously WORK. So having this makes total sense!

Id argue managing an Airbnb is working as a business owner even if youre doing it from home, someone else said.

According to another person, even if Miller didnt have a business, theyd understand the need for a nanny as a stay-at-home parent, as they noted that mothers need support too.

Even if you didnt have a business, Id understand needing a nanny as a SAHM. Mama needs a break/support too, they wrote.

Chrissy Teigen recently shared her own praise for nannies on Mothers Day, when she shared a tribute to her team of four nannies. Grateful for all the people who make it possible for me to be the best mother I can possibly be. I am endlessly thankful for your presence in this home and all our lives, the 37-year-old cookbook author captioned the Instagram post, which included a slideshow of her four nannies posing with her children. We love you.

The Independent has contacted Miller for comment.
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The woman who prompted huge interest in a particular tattoo artist named Lindsay Joseph of Lucid Tattoos has shared a new update on the ongoing saga.

Courtney Monteith first posted about her experience on TikTok on 10 May, in which she detailed her consultations with Joseph that cost her thousands of dollars and resulted in a tattoo sketch that did not meet her expectations.

The mother-of-three said that after several back-and-forths with Joseph, she ended up paying a total of US$2,695, including a non-refundable consultation, the design fee, and the deposit for the actual tattoo. The tattoo artist operated a tiered tattoo pricing system that could see customers being charged up to US$6,000, not including the price of the actual tattoo.

Since Monteith posted her videos on TikTok, they have gone viral and the entire episode has been labelled #Tattoogate. Other TikTokers have also spoken out about similar experiences with Joseph, with one woman claiming she was basically scammed out of US$4,000.

Now, award-winning tattoo artist Matt Vaught, who is based in Newport Beach, California, has offered to make things right by designing a new tattoo and tattooing Monteith.

In a TikTok video, he did not name Joseph but described the situation as an ever-developing tale of a tattoo artist swindling people out of money, adding: Running a scam selling people their most expensive traced sketches.

I want to fix this, Vaught continued. Ive been working together alongside my sponsors H2Ocean and my manager Jenn Lee and we are going to fly this young woman out to Los Angeles, California, and I am going to tattoo this fox.

Because shes already out multiple thousands of dollars, Im going to do this for free. Thats right, completely free. I really just want to fix the wrong that has been done, and I also love tattooing foxes. She also came across very honest and genuine and shes a mother, its Mothers Day, he said in the video posted on Sunday (14 May).

In a previous video, Vaught commented on the situation and said that while he was not there to bash the tattoo artist in question, he added: This really sucks, when youre charging people thousands of dollars for a sketch that probably took you five minutes. It really progresses the distrust that people have for tattoo artists, its not helping things at all. Its just greedy.

Monteith posted a response to Vaughts offer, describing the last five days as a crazy, emotional journey.

She said that although she had not been angling for a free tattoo, which she had spoken about in a previous video, Vaught reached out to her because the story really upset him.

Matt is an award-winning artist, his realism and his animal artwork makes me think Im going to get a fox tattoo that even I couldnt have dreamed of, she added.

However, she said that the idea of getting a tattoo for free still made her uncomfortable, adding: I am still going to make a donation to a fox rescue, so if you guys have any suggestions, let me know. I dont want to be the only one benefitting from this, I want the foxes to get benefitted as well.

In the comment section, viewers reassured Monteith that she deserved the gift tattoo after what she had gone through.

Momma youre not getting it for free! You paid MORE than enough, one person wrote, while another added: You didnt want something for free. Giving is easy, but you have to learn to receive as well. Its OK to accept kindness. You deserve it.

A third said: Im so happy the universe aligned and is gifting you with the tattoo you deserve!

Joseph has made her Instagram account private since #Tattoogate went viral and has not released any statement or comment.

The Independent has contacted her for comment.
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A Minnesota man who told an FBI informant that he was building an arsenal of automatic weapons to use against police and admired mass shooters pleaded guilty Tuesday to illegally possessing a machine gun.

River Smith, 21, of the Minneapolis suburb of Savage, entered his plea on the single count before U.S. District Judge David Doty. His sentencing will be scheduled later. The maximum sentence is 10 years.

Smith was initially charged in December with possession of a machine gun  specifically devices to convert guns to fully automatic fire  and attempting to possess unregistered hand grenades. He paid an FBI informant $690 for four auto sear devices and three dummy grenades, prosecutors alleged at the time.

Law enforcement took him down before he could execute his plan, federal prosecutor Manda Sertich said at a hearing in December, when a magistrate judge denied bail.

FBI Special Agent Mark Etheridge testified at that hearing that when Smith was arrested he had a loaded Glock 17 semiautomatic handgun, with three full magazines for a total of 52 rounds of ammunition, including the bullet in the chamber. He was wearing soft body armor designed to stop handgun rounds. A search of his car turned up an AR-style rifle and two other handguns, as well as a drum magazine for the rifle that held 100 rounds.

A federal grand jury formally indicted Smith on two counts in January involving the auto sears and grenades.

Defense attorney Jordan Kushner said in a court filing two weeks ago that Smith wanted to take responsibility for his actions and not further prolong the proceedings. Kushner said there was no plea agreement and that Smith didn't want to contest the charges, but the attorney questioned whether the count involving the grenades was legally valid, given that they were dummies.

According to the original complaint and the agent's testimony, Smith had expressed interest in joining neo-Nazi paramilitary groups; called the person who killed five people at a gay nightclub in Colorado last November a hero, expressed sympathy for the shooter who killed 17 people at a high school in Parkland, Florida, in 2018; described Black people as agents of Satan and expressed hatred of Jews. The agent said Smith carried a note cursing police inside his body armor so they could find it after his death.

Smith also said in online messages that he learned about his enemy by watching police bodycam video of shootings online, prosecutors alleged.

Authorities began investigating after getting a call in September from a retired police officer who was working at a gun range that Smith frequented. He told them he was concerned because of how Smith practiced shooting from behind barriers while wearing heavy body armor designed to stop rifle bullets, and conducting rapid reloading drills.
Working from the office should be the default for employees, chancellor Jeremy Hunt told business leaders on Wednesday as he claimed that logging on from home could stifle creativity.

He told the British Chambers of Commerce conference he believes the shift to home working during the Covid-19 pandemic is being reversed by firms.

His comments came after Elon Musk said working from home was not only bad for productivity but morally wrong.
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Up to one in three people diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis could be at risk of long-term opioid use, a new study suggests.

Academics warned that people diagnosed with rheumatic and musculoskeletal conditions (RMD) are vulnerable to long-term use of the strong pain relief medicines.

Experts warned that people who use the drugs over a long period can become addicted and opioid dependency is linked to other harms.

A considerable proportion of patients with RMDs starting opioids for the first time, transition to long-term opioid use. Dr Meghna Jani

The new paper, published in the Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases, examined information on more than 800,000 people registered at GP surgeries across the UK who have a diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, axial spondyloarthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus, osteoarthritis or fibromyalgia.

They examined information on opioid use among these patients between 2006 and 2021.

The researchers, led by academics from the University of Manchester, found that one in seven patients become long-term opioid users.

This could be as high as one in three patients who have rheumatoid arthritis or fibromyalgia, the authors said.

Our study shows that a considerable proportion of patients with RMDs starting opioids for the first time, transition to long-term opioid use, said study principle investigator Dr Meghna Jani from the University of Manchester.

Because long-term opioid therapy is associated with poor health outcomes, these findings warrant vigilance when prescribing these drugs.

Long-term use is particularly pronounced in fibromyalgia patients, who suffer chronic widespread pain for which there are no disease modifying treatment options.

This is also more common than we initially thought, in rheumatoid arthritis and axial spondyloarthritis.

Commenting on the study, Deborah Alsina, chief executive of the charity Versus Arthritis, said: People with arthritis experiencing relentless and excruciating chronic pain are often desperate for pain relief, and it is sometimes appropriate for doctors to prescribe opioids in the short term.

If people benefit from opioids, then they should be able to access these medicines.

However, there are some who have a negative experience taking opioids, including risk of dependence due to long-term use. Others have found that opioids make no difference to their quality of life, for good or bad.

The decision to take any medicine should always be shared between a person and their doctor. This research can be used by doctors to inform people with arthritis of the possible benefits and risks of opioids and whether it is the right medicine for them.
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Jeremy Hunt and Andrew Bailey spoke at the British Chambers of Commerce in Westminster on Wednesday, 17 May.

The chancellor and the Bank of England governor attended the business group's global annual conference, which this year has a theme of "Building British Business."

Leaders will "come together to discuss the opportunities for growth to help local communities thrive," the British Chambers of Commerce said.

Other notable guests due to speak on Wednesday include Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer, Heathrow Airport's chief operating officer Emma Gilthorpe, and broadcaster Ayesha Hazarika.

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Rishi Sunak has declined to recommit to a Tory manifesto pledge to bring down legal immigration levels.

The Prime Minister said he does want to see figures fall but repeatedly would not reaffirm the pledge the Conservatives ran on when Boris Johnson led them to a large majority.

Instead Mr Sunak said on Wednesday he had inherited some numbers on migration and insisted voters were focused on tackling illegal migration, such as small boat crossings.

Home Secretary Suella Braverman has been publicly pushing for lower immigration, saying more Britons should be trained to be lorry drivers and fruit pickers to plug demand.

I think illegal migration is undoubtedly the countrys priority, and you can see all the work Im putting into that Prime Minister Rishi Sunak

But Mr Sunak has made clear to farmers that more seasonal fruit pickers will be allowed into the UK if they are needed.

The 2019 manifesto promised that overall numbers will come down as the Government ends freedom of movement in the wake of Brexit.

Migration levels were at 226,000 then and it is expected they will rise when the latest Office for National Statistics figures are published.

Speaking to reporters travelling with him to a G7 summit in Japan, Mr Sunak said he was committed to bringing down legal migration but would not stand by the target.

Ive inherited some numbers, I want to bring the numbers down, the Prime Minister said.

Pressed again if he stands by the figure, Mr Sunak said: Ive said I do want to bring legal migration down.

I think illegal migration is undoubtedly the countrys priority, and you can see all the work Im putting into that.

Mr Sunak had raised migration with allies at a Council of Europe meeting in Iceland on Tuesday.

Im confident our approach to housing asylum seekers is fair and compassionate Prime Minister Rishi Sunak

The Prime Minister said he had made another big step forward with EU chief Ursula von der Leyen to discuss the UK working with the blocs border force, Frontex.

That is of enormous practical value to us in stopping illegal migration  that sharing intelligence, operational co-operation will make a difference to our ability to stop the boats, tackle organised crime upstream, he said.

Thats a very tangible result of the engagement and diplomacy that we conducted.

Mr Sunak also held talks with the president of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), Siofra OLeary, over a review of the working of Rule 39.

The order was used to block the inaugural forced removal flight of refugees to Rwanda last year.

Mr Sunak sees the stalled policy as key to reducing unauthorised entries to the UK.

The Prime Minister also defended the Governments decision to house asylum seekers in barges and disused military bases from criticism they are an act of cruelty to the most vulnerable.

Im confident our approach to housing asylum seekers is fair and compassionate, he said.

I think everyone can see the challenge in communities as local hotels are being taken over to house illegal asylum seekers. Its not a sustainable situation. It is not fair to local communities and its also not fair on taxpayers.

I have tried very hard to find alternative sources of accommodation to ease those pressures and costs. Thats why weve bought barges.

I will keep doing whatever it takes to empty our hotels and return them to the use they were intended for and to save taxpayers money.

Mr Sunak got the backing of Environment Secretary Therese Coffey in the partys internal tussle over immigration levels.

She told ITVs Peston the Prime Minister was clearly right to make up to 55,000 visas available for the agricultural sector, when asked whether she agreed with him or Ms Braverman.
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The former chief executive of a collapsed finance firm has been spared jail after spending thousands on luxuries while his assets were restrained under a court order.

Michael Thomson, also known as Andy Thomson, had his assets restrained under a court order in March 2019 as the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) investigated the collapse of London Capital & Finance  where Thomson had been CEO  which resulted in 11,000 investors affected and 230 million in losses.

The 50-year-old admitted accessing and spending around 95,000 while his assets were restrained.

According to the SFO, he funnelled money into his wifes unrestrained bank account and spent around 5,000 on a holiday in Italy, 4,000 each on a hot tub and on horse saddles, 3,000 at Next and 1,000 each on a horse-truck conversion and a hotel stay.

At Southwark Crown Court on Wednesday, Thomson was given 10 months in prison suspended over two years for twice breaching the order.

Judge Alexander Milne KC said the breaches each amounted to contempt of court.

He added that court orders should not be set aside or disregarded but respected and observed.

The judge took into account delays in proceedings, Thomsons compliance and cooperation with authorities since the breaches and his mental health to conclude that he should be given a suspended sentence.

Catherine Collins, for the SFO, told the court that Thomson committed the first breach when he sought a refund for stamp duty in January 2020 and directed the money, some 55,000, into his wifes unrestrained account.

The second breach occurred months later in June when Thomson made an insurance claim after reporting damage to an outbuilding and directed around 40,000 from insurers into his wifes account, initially claiming the money was spent on DIY repairs.

Ms Collins said: The reality is that he spent the money obtained through these two sources on himself.

Genevieve Reed, for Thomson, said the outbuilding was damaged in a storm and that the incident was unexpected and not something that was planned by Mr Thomson in a bid to extract money.

She argued that her client is a man of good character who has a partner, children and grandchildren who rely on him and that he admitted the breaches and complied with authorities since breaching the order.

SFO director Lisa Osofsky said: Todays result makes clear: company executives are not above the law.

When they break it, we have the means and the resolve to go after their money, no matter where they hide it.
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Seven people have appeared in court charged with smuggling Iraqi migrants across the English Channel.

Three women and four men from across the Midlands and West Yorkshire are alleged to have committed the offence across several weeks in 2018.

They appeared individually in short hearings at Leicester Magistrates Court on Wednesday.

An eighth defendant charged with the same offence, who was also due to appear in court, did not attend.

Emma Lant, prosecuting in all of the hearings, told the court: This is an indictable matter that must go to the Crown Court forthwith.

The accused who appeared in court are Ibrahim Razak, 40, of Groby Road, Leicester, Leicestershire; Andreia Vaz Cruz, 36, of Belvedere Mount, Leeds, West Yorkshire; Elisabete Moreira, 40, of Streetly Road, Birmingham, West Midlands; Michelle Foster, 44, of Broomhill Road, Birmingham, West Midlands; Geoffrey Goodyear, 48, of Pattingham Road, Perton, Staffordshire; Saman Johwar Kahraman, 42, of Jervoise Street, West Bromwich, West Midlands; and Paul Price, 53, of Chase Terrace, Burntwood, Staffordshire.

All bar Moreira are charged with one count of conspiring to do an act to facilitate the commission of a breach of UK immigration law by a non-EU person between May 31 and June 30 2018.

Moreira is charged with the same offence but between September 1 and September 10 2018.

Marco Vieira Tavares, 45, of Althorp Close, Leicester, Leicestershire, did not attend, with a warrant issued for his arrest by Magistrates.

The defendants who appeared were not asked to enter any pleas and no details of the alleged offence were given during the hearings.

Norma Burford, chair of the bench, told the defendants: This is being sent to the Crown Court for trial.

We are unable to hear it here in the Magistrates Court, and that date will be June 26 at Leicester Crown Court. You must turn up on that date.

All seven were given unconditional bail until their next court appearance.

Home Office figures released in February this year show that in 2018, just 299 of 13,377 detected attempts by migrants to enter the UK by irregular means involved a small boat  just over 2%.

That is compared with 45,755 detected attempts involving a small boat in 2022, out of 54,090 overall  around 84%.

Those figures relate to attempts by migrants to enter the UK illegally that were detected on or within 72 hours of arrival to the UK.
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A nurse has denied she had only cried for herself during her murder trial rather than the babies she allegedly attacked.

On Wednesday, a tearful Lucy Letby denied deliberately harming numerous infants while on duty at the Countess of Chester Hospitals neonatal unit.

She later denied prosecutor Nick Johnson KCs suggestion that she had wept at Manchester Crown Court when talking about herself but not her 17 alleged victims.

The 33-year-old is alleged to have murdered seven babies and attempted to murder 10 others between June 2015 and June 2016.

Giving her fifth day of evidence at Manchester Crown Court, Letby told her barrister Ben Myers KC that it was  really hurtful when she was moved from the unit to an office role in July that year.

She said: I was being isolated and expected to lie about things that were going on. I had to pretend that I wanted to leave the unit and wanted to work in a different area.

Letby launched a grievance procedure against her employers in September 2016, the court has heard.

She said: At this point I didnt know what to do. It was having a massive impact on all aspects of my life.

It was emotionally very difficult. I was lonely, I was worried, I didnt know what was going on.

She said it was devastating when she learned of allegations that she had harmed children in her care.

Letby told the court: It was beyond comprehension, I couldnt understand how it was happening.

Mr Myers asked: Could you cope with it?

Letby said: No.

Mr Myers said: Had you done anything to hurt anybody?

No, said Letby.

Mr Myers said: Is there any truth in the allegations that you deliberately harmed babies?

Wiping away tears with her hand, Letby said: No.

Mr Myers said: Or intended to kill them?

No, repeated Letby.

Cross-examining, prosecutor Mr Johnson asked her: Is there any reason why you cry when you talk about yourself and do not cry when you talk about the dead and seriously injured children?

Letby said: I have cried when talking about some of the babies.

The court has heard a total of 257 nursing shift handover sheets, containing some of the names of her alleged victims, were found during police searches following her arrest in July 2018.

She agreed with Mr Johnson that taking such sheets out of the hospital was not normal practice and they should be discarded in confidential waste.

Mr Johnson asked: What is normal practice?

Letby said: To dispose of them but there are times when they have come home with me in my pocket.

Mr Johnson said: There are times when you have taken them.

Letby said: Not with the intention of keeping them.

Mr Johnson said: What are your responsibilities with sensitive, personal data?

Letby replied: To keep it confidential.

Mr Johnson said: What would have happened in a disciplinary sense if the hospital management knew you had 250-odd handover sheets at home?

Letby said: I cant answer that. I dont know what the policy would be.

Mr Johnson said: Youre not bothered are you?

Letby said: Its not that Im not bothered. They were at my home address but they were still held in confidence.

Mr Johnson said: What, in a bin bag in your garage?

Letby said: Im the only person that lives at the property, so yes.

Asked about a number of handover sheets found at her parents house in Hereford, she said her parents did not enter her bedroom.

Mr Johnson said: They are not held in confidence, are they?

Letby said: I dont believe anybody would have looked at them.

Mr Johnson asked: Do you obey the rules only when it suits you?

No, said Letby.

Mr Johnson said: You like telling other people what to do but you dont quite live up to those standards yourself, do you?

Letby said: No.

The cross-examination of Letby will continue on Thursday.

She denies all the allegations.
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A driver who killed a beautician when he lost control of his Range Rover while showing off at speeds of up to 110 mph has been jailed for more than seven years.

Yagmur Ozden, 33, died of her injuries after she and Rida Kazem, 24, were thrown from the vehicle as it ploughed through a Tesla dealership, ending up on a west London railway track.

Another passenger Zamarod Arif, who was 26 at the time, was the only one wearing a seatbelt and was left with serious injuries including a broken arm and leg.

Kazem, whose left leg was amputated below the knee following the crash, had been driving the two women home from a night out in the early hours of August 22 2022.

The speed and violence of this unfolding crash is simply horrific, and the Range Rover was reduced to a mangled heap of metal Judge Martin Edmunds KC

The were gasps and sobs from members of Ms Ozdens family as CCTV footage, which captured the collision, was played at Isleworth Crown Court, west London, on Wednesday.

Kazems black Range Rover Sport SVR, valued at 180,000, could be seen hitting a top speed of 110mph on the 40mph-limit A40 westbound near Ealing, Greater London, before he lost control.

The vehicle hit a stationary Tesla, occupied by a taxi driver who was charging the car, before the wreckage ended up on the tracks at Park Royal tube station.

Judge Martin Edmunds KC jailed Kazem, from Greenford, west London, for a total of seven-and-a-half years after he previously pleaded guilty to causing death by dangerous driving and causing serious injury by dangerous driving.

He will serve at least two-thirds of the sentence and was also banned from driving for more than 12 years.

The speed and violence of this unfolding crash is simply horrific, and the Range Rover was reduced to a mangled heap of metal, the judge said.

I have no doubt you were showing off to your passengers  both showing off your powerful car but also what you thought of as your superior driving skills.

What is all too clear is your skills were all too inadequate.

Kazem, wearing dark tracksuit bottoms and a white T-shirt, entered the dock on crutches in front of a court packed with members of his own family as well as the victims relatives.

He smiled to the public gallery after he was sentenced and left without using his crutches.

Prosecutor Nicholas Hearn said he has previous speeding convictions, including one offence for driving 95mph in a 50mph zone and was banned from driving for six months in November 2020.

Kazem sat staring straight ahead as the prosecutor read out victim impact statements, including one from the 13-year-old daughter of Baghdad-born Ms Ozden, of Finchley Road, north-west London.

Every time I see a Range Rover I remember the accident so I can't get away from it Melek Ozden

Im still on shock, said Melek Ozden, who now lives with her grandmother.

Sometimes I feel alone even though I have someone else with me.

It will never be the same. I miss my mum and its very sad I cant change what happened.

I miss her and that I can no longer hang out with her.

She was my best friend and I will miss the simple things like cooking pasta with her.

She continued: Every time I see a Range Rover I remember the accident so I cant get away from it.

I know my mum always wanted one and she ended up passing away in one.

I have a constant daydream of my mum passing away. It happens every day and sometimes more than once a day.

I blame the driver for taking my mum away. I believe hes acting like it never happened.

Ms Ozdens sister-in-law Kirsty Kelly described her as the rock of our family, adding: Yagmur had so many plans but sadly her plans got cut short.

As a family we feel sick. It is unbelievably heart-breaking what we have been going through, she said.

Ms Arif told how her life has completely changed after the crash which has left her permanently scarred both physically and mentally.

The court heard Kazem had suggested to the author of a pre-sentence report and his psychologist that he had not been driving the Range Rover and the judge said he had found no evidence of real remorse.

But David Rhodes, defending, said Kazem, who worked for a family jewellery business and had been accepted onto a university law course, accepts through his guilty pleas that he was the driver.

He knows he has taken a life in Yagmur Ozden and left a young girl without a mother and he knows he very nearly killed himself in that accident, he added.

Speaking outside court after the sentencing Melek said: Im not really happy with the sentence today but I really did feel sorry for him.

When we left the court he did say something really offensive and it just doesnt give my mum any justice.

Its really offensive and it didnt show he was sorry and there was no respect, and the outcome was horrible and I dont really like the sentence.

Hopefully my mum does get justice some day.

Ms Ozdens sister Maya Kodsi, 37, added: We left the court in so much pain.

They took the decision, its not enough and its not fair. Theres no punishment in this country.
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Passengers in the Croydon tram disaster were flung around as if in a washing machine after their driver attempted a curve at more than three times the speed limit, a court has heard.

Alfred Dorris, 49, is on trial at the Old Bailey over the derailment at Sandilands in south London on November 9 2016 in which seven people were killed and 19 more were seriously injured.

The prosecution allege Dorris failed to take reasonable care of the health and safety of himself and his 69 passengers on Tram 2551 on that day.

In an interview after the crash, Dorris claimed he had become confused and disorientated but denied he had fallen asleep or suffered a blackout, the Old Bailey was told.

Opening the case on Wednesday, prosecutor Jonathan Ashley-Norman KC said: The seven deaths on the Croydon tram system early on the morning of 9 November 2016 are likely to persist in the memory of all those who were adults in the UK on that day.

He said it had been a wintry rainy morning when Tram 2551 embarked on its route from New Addington to Wimbledon via East Croydon.

At a sharp left turn on the approach to Sandilands, drivers are instructed to reduce speed to 20 kilometres per hour to safely negotiate the curve, with a sign on the bend confirming it, jurors heard.

But Mr Ashley-Norman said: The tram  did not reduce speed to 20kph to enable it to take the turn safely. Instead, the tram was travelling at in excess of 70kph when it entered the turn.

At that speed it could not hope to hold the track. The inner wheels lifted from the track and the tram derailed.

It tipped onto its side, causing those inside to be flung around as though, as one survivor put it, they were inside a washing machine.

Windows smashed and doors were ripped off. Those who died were ejected through the broken windows and trapped between the overturned tram and the track.

In a matter of seconds, tragedy was visited upon seven families who were bereaved, and many others who were seriously injured.

For a want of attention on the part of the driver involved that morning, death and serious injury followed.

Alfred Dorris, 49, is on trial over the derailment at Sandilands, south London (PA Archive)

The seven passengers who were killed were Dane Chinnery, Donald Collett, Robert Huxley, Philip Logan, Dorota Rynkiewicz, Philip Seary and Mark Smith.

The court heard there was no dispute that the driver Dorris was responsible for what happened.

Mr Ashley-Norman said Dorris would claim that environmental and external factors outside his control relating to the infrastructure around the Sandilands area combined to cause him to become disorientated.

The prosecutor said jurors would examine some of those factors, such as the signage on the approach to the bend and tunnel lighting.

In his interview after the crash, Dorris said: I just remember coming over all disorientated like I just werent sure, you know, where I was. I was confused and then I got it in my head I was going eastbound towards Lloyd Park direction.

I was upset, confused, you know, traumatised. I werent sure what, to be honest with you, I wasnt sure what actually happened. It just sort of crept up on me.

Mr Ashley-Norman told jurors they would hear evidence from sleep experts suggesting Dorris probably had a micro-sleep.

But he said the issue was not whether the driver fell asleep, but whether he took reasonable care for the health and safety of his passengers.

He added: Mr Dorris was not solely responsible for health and safety failures at Sandilands.

As we shall hear, others, principally Transport for London and Tram Operations Limited, also failed in the discharge of their health and safety duties in the running of the Croydon tram network. However, their failures do not exonerate Mr Dorris.

Dorris, from Beckenham, south east London, denies a single charge of failing to take reasonable care at work under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.

The trial at the Old Bailey before Mr Justice Fraser is due to go on for up to five weeks.
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The Conservatives will not win the next election as the party of the self-satisfied and entitled, a former cabinet minister has warned.

David Frost, the former Brexit minister, told the National Conservatism conference in London that there was real suppressed anger and frustration among people that the party ignored at our peril.

In a speech on Wednesday morning, Lord Frost had attacked people who have accumulated unearned wealth over the last 20 years or have established positions of privilege through government action.

He said: House owners have seen houses go up hugely in value, massive unearned gains due to planning restrictions and poor monetary policy totally unrelated to the productive capacity of the economy.

Owners of financial assets have benefitted in the same way.

Pensioners, government employees have been protected at the expense of those who earn a living. Meanwhile, many others are locked out.

The Conservative Party won't win elections as the party of the self-satisfied and the entitled. We must be the party of opportunity and the party of the future Lord Frost

Lord Frost, a former civil servant who was ennobled by Boris Johnson and then resigned from Government at the end of 2021 over disagreements on policy, criticised a lack of housing, the inability of young people to build up savings due to high taxes, and the effect of increased energy costs on small businesses.

He said: Maybe they dont realise it, but these are the people who would benefit from deregulation, from tax reduction, and from the massive shake-up this country so badly needs.

These are the people who will build this country well into the 21st century. They wont be Conservatives if we only seem concerned about looking after those who have already done well.

The Conservative Party wont win elections as the party of the self-satisfied and the entitled. We must be the party of opportunity and the party of the future.

Since leaving office, Lord Frost has been a regular critic of government policy and has repeatedly called for tax cuts and deregulation.

On Sunday, he revealed that the Conservative Party had put him on its list of approved candidates for the next general election although he had not yet applied for a seat.

If he did stand at the next general election, he would have to give up his peerage.

Lord Frost renewed his calls for deregulation and tax cuts in his speech on Wednesday and criticised plans by Michael Gove, the Housing Secretary, to give renters more rights and ban no-fault evictions.

He said: Its not so easy always to use government for good. In this fallen world there are always consequences we dont foresee.

That is why I think the right thing to do is to reverse the powers of government over our everyday lives.

Lets not forget what that means: the politicisation of every activity and every choice you make, the endless hectoring, the constant suggestion that the government has the right to dictate how you behave when it has socialised the costs, the dangerous and counter-productive intrusion into private property  as Michael Goves Renters Bill will do this morning.

Lord Frost went on to address the so-called culture wars, calling for action to re-establish this country as a cohesive national democracy and to recreate a sense of nationhood including by demolishing buildings from the late 20th century.

To applause from the audience, he said: We must also be vigorous in maintaining our national traditions and I see nothing wrong at all, personally, in the government refusing to allow statues to be taken down, names changed, or plaques removed.

I actually think we also have something to learn from our European friends, from countries like Germany and Hungary in demolishing some of the monstrous buildings we built in the last 50 years and rebuilding what we have lost  maybe thats a project for this new Carolean age.

He added that the reaction to the National Conservatism conference, which closes on Wednesday, showed that opponents of conservatism were humourless and out of touch.

He said: We are sometimes accused of not having a sense of humour by our opponents, but really go through Twitter and read these screeds and you wont find a more humourless bunch of people in this country.

He added: What these comments show is that our opponents are completely out of touch. They are completely deranged by perfectly normal and widely supported ideas.

Earlier on Wednesday, the conference heard from historians including David Starkey, who claimed that left-wing activists were jealous of the moral primacy of the Holocaust, while Black Lives Matter wanted to destroy white culture.

In 2020, Conservative backbencher Daniel Kawczynski was reprimanded by the Tories for attending a National Conservatism conference in Rome, with a party spokesman condemning the views of some other speakers.

But although a spokesman for Number 10 said the Prime Minister did not agree with some of the views expressed at the conference, it was attended by two cabinet ministers  Suella Braverman and Michael Gove  which the spokesman said was a matter for them.

Our country is a gift to the world Lee Anderson

Later on Wednesday, the conference heard from Tory vice chairman Lee Anderson, who urged conservatives to return to their core values and focus on aspiration.

The Ashfield MP said: Our country is a gift to the world. Im so proud to be British and the realignment that we speak about is not that difficult, its about getting back to our core values.

The one common thread that runs through the Conservative Party, and I dont always agree with my colleagues and they certainly dont agree with me, but the one common thread weve got is that aspiration.

Its about providing opportunity and a society where anybody in this country can get on. That sounds a bit like the American dream but I tell you, its the British dream.
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Oxfam has called on the G7 to take life-saving action over famine in East Africa, as campaigners protested in Trafalgar Square ahead of the summit in Japan on Friday.

Demonstrators dressed up as G7 leaders including Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and US president Joe Biden wore oversized masks as they stood in front of six-feet-tall letters spelling famine.

They covered their ears, eyes and mouths while a film highlighting the hunger crisis played in the background.

Climate-induced drought in the region, covering Ethiopia, Somalia, Kenya and South Sudan, has left 36 million people facing severe hunger, the charity warned.

Magnus Corfixen, Oxfams humanitarian lead said: G7 leaders have failed to live up to their commitments made two years ago.

We know that the UK Government in particular made promises to do more to address the crisis in East Africa, but we havent seen them fulfil their commitment as of now.

Mr Corfixen added: We are here today to ensure that they live up to their political obligations to address this crisis with partners in the affected countries.

At the 2021 UK summit in Cornwall G7 leaders committed an initial 5 billion in humanitarian assistance to 42 countries at risk of catastrophe and famine, including 1 billion in aid to South Sudan, Nigeria and Yemen.

Conflict and high food prices have intensified the emergency in the region, with an estimated 85,000 people in South Sudan and Somalia on the brink of famine, according to Oxfam.

Areas of Somalia, Kenya and Ethiopia have undergone five failed consecutive rainy seasons and South Sudan five seasons of severe flooding.

War in Sudan has further increased pressure on South Sudan, with more than 30,000 refugees having fled to the neighbouring country since fighting broke out in April.

It is estimated that one person is likely to die every 28 seconds as a result of malnutrition in Ethiopia, Somalia, Kenya and South Sudan, based on data from the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC).

The World Health Organisation warned in March that food insecurity across East African countries had left 129,000 in the Horn of Africa literally looking death in the eyes.
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An industrial tribunal has been urged to consider that a lorry driver could not have foreseen that live-streaming from an Orange Hall would have resulted in the broadcasting of a chant mocking the murder of Michaela McAreavey.

Andrew McDade is claiming unfair dismissal by his former employer in the aftermath of the Facebook Live broadcast last May.

He had been attending an event at Dundonald Orange Hall when he live-streamed footage, including the singing of a song which appears to mock the daughter of former Tyrone GAA manager Mickey Harte who was murdered while on honeymoon in Mauritius in 2011.

A 30-second clip from the four-minute broadcast went viral on social media and sparked widespread condemnation across the political sphere in Northern Ireland and beyond.

Mr McDades former employer, the Norman Emerson Group, became linked with the video because Mr McDades Facebook profile description included its name, and said it was forced to act amid reputational damage.

Mr McDade was suspended on June 3, while an investigation was carried out, and then dismissed following a disciplinary meeting. He did not appeal against his dismissal last year.

On Tuesday the tribunal heard the full four-minute video was not available because Mr McDade deleted the video and his Facebook profile in the early hours of June 3 after receiving threatening messages, and fearing for his safety.

During the industrial tribunal hearing in Belfast, representatives from Norman Emerson Group said they feared reputational damage to their firm, which included the GAA among its customers, after the clip went viral and they received complaints.

Making his final submissions, Mr McDades representative, Jamie Bryson, said his client had not appealed against his dismissal at the time due to confusion.

He argued that had his client videoed the chanting and posted it, that would be a different case.

But instead, he said, his client had taken a four-minute livestream at Dundonald Orange Hall to show the cultural celebrations following a parade to mark the centenary of Northern Ireland, describing a family event including bouncy castles outside the hall.

Could Mr McDade have foreseen that act B (the chanting) would take place? I respectfully say he could not, he said.

He could not have foreseen the vile, reprehensible conduct of other people.

Condemning the chants about Mrs McAreaveys murder, Mr Bryson questioned whether livestreaming could be considered gross misconduct.

Mr Bryson also argued that the reaction on social media infected the decision by his clients former employers.

He emphasised his client was entitled to take the case and urged consideration of the legal arguments for unfair dismissal.

Acting for the Norman Emerson Group, Frank ODonoghue KC, described the case as nonsense.

He said the employer carried out an investigation and held a disciplinary meeting, with a clear reason for his dismissal and a fair process.

He said such is the demand for HGV drivers Mr McDade had been able to secure employment with another firm within six weeks of his dismissal from the Norman Emerson Group.

Mr ODonoghue described the firm as employing across the community, from Orange Order members to GAA players in Mid Ulster, an area he described as a tinderbox politically.

While Mr McDade had been considered a good employee for a number of years, reflecting on the content of the video, the linkage of the employer and the response from wider society, Mr ODonoghue argued: We say this is probably a case for zero tolerance  what was the employer to do?

Mr ODonoghue also claimed that the Orange Order had attempted to control the narrative following the response to the video, referencing how Mr McDade had contacted a Portadown Orange lodge for advice and was referred to Mr Bryson.

He questioned whether Mr Bryson was being paid by the Orange Order for representing Mr McDade.

Mr Bryson hit back, saying he had not received a penny from the Orange Order and took instruction from Mr McDade.

The 30-second video clip was played to the tribunal on Tuesday.

Tribunal president Noel Kelly questioned Mr Bryson on why the full four-minute video clip was not available, and had no one downloaded it before Mr McDade deleted it and his Facebook profile.

It appears to have vanished like a puff of smoke, he said.

Mr Bryson said the video was deleted along with the Facebook profile which could not be reactivated.

Mr Kelly commented on the content of the video which showed a table covered in beer cans during the singing, saying it looked like a beer hall in Munich in Germany in the 1930s.

He queried why no one appeared to intervene to stop the chanting about Mrs McAreavey.

I didnt see anyone trying to stop it. I didnt see one single person stand up and say enough of that, he said.

It is an utterly disgraceful thing in a hall used by a religious organisation.

I saw people turning and looking at this with something approaching approval on their faces its beyond understanding.

He went on to say he was not drawing comparisons between the Orange Order and the Nazis, explaining: Theyre an organisation which is the opposite end of the spectrum.

It is very, very strange and inconsistent.

Mr Kelly emphasised he and the panel will consider the case on legal arguments, but said on a wider point he considered the video to be absolutely breathtaking.

On Monday, Mr McDades partner, nursing assistant Rhonda Shiels, appeared in a case challenging the decision by the Southern Health and Social Care Trust to dismiss her after she liked and shared the Facebook Live recording.
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The government is planning to temporarily remove licensing requirements for asylum seeker accommodation as it attempts to move thousands out of hotels, in a move critics have warned will put their safety at risk.

The changes would allow landlords to house asylum seekers for two years without getting the property recognised as a House in Multiple Occupation (HMO).

The Guardian reported the plans would create exemptions from regulations governing electrical safety and minimum room sizes in such accommodation.

Housing minister Felicity Buchan told the Commons that the government had laid secondary legislation as part of a broader suite of measures that the home office is implementing to speed up the moving of asylum seekers out of hotels.

Almost 50,000 people are currently in hotels on top of approximately 57,000 in long-standing asylum accommodations.

LabourMPs condemned the plans, with Kim Leadbeater branding the statutory instrument another clear example of the utter mess the government has made of the immigration system and Matthew Pennycook warning it would mean no minimum standards whatsoever apply to asylum housing.

Mr Pennycook said: Of course it will be cheaper to house asylum seekers in accommodation without gas safety certificates, without safe electrical appliances and furniture, without working smoke and carbon monoxide alarms and without shared amenity facilities that meet minimum standards.

The Guardian quoted Mary Atkinson, campaigns and network manager at the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants, as saying: Without HMO licences, already traumatised people will be at risk of living in places that are unfit for human habitation.

The plans could be approved as soon as Wednesday, which will otherwise be dominated by the publication of the governments long-awaited rental reforms to abolish so-called no fault evictions.

A government spokesman said: The use of expensive hotels to house the unprecedented number of asylum seekers crossing the Channel is unacceptable and must end.

By temporarily removing this licensing requirement, we will be able to acquire more suitable long-term accommodation while continuing to meet our legal duty of care.

This will not compromise standards and all properties will be independently inspected for quality to ensure they continue to meet national housing quality requirements.
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One of the worlds biggest carmakers warned it will not make electric vehicles in the UK without changes to the Brexit deal.

Stellantis  the parent company of Vauxhall, Citroen, Peugeot and Fiat  which employs more than 5,000 people in the UK  told a Commons inquiry into supply of batteries for EV manufacture that their UK investments were in the balance because of the trade deal.

The warning from the worlds fourth biggest car firm came as an economist warned there is an existential threat to the UKs car industry. And Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer joined calls for the UKs post-Brexit trade deal with the EU to be improved.

Stellantis committed to making electric vehicles at its Ellesmere Port and Luton plants two years ago.

But in a submission to the inquiry, Stellantis said the Brexit deal was a threat to our export business and the sustainability of our UK manufacturing operations.

It called on the government to agree with the EU to keep existing rules until 2027, scrapping next years planned changes which state 45% of an electric cars value should originate in the UK or EU to qualify for trade without tariffs.

Stellantis said the rising cost of raw materials during the pandemic and energy crisis meant it was unable to meet these rules of origin.

It said the upcoming rules would see 10% tariffs on trade with the EU and make domestic production and exports uncompetitive with Japan and South Korea.

The company said that would mean manufacturers will not continue to invest and will relocate.

To reinforce the sustainability of our manufacturing plants in the UK, the UK must consider its trading arrangements with Europe, Stellantis told the inquiry, listing Hondas closing of its site in Swindon and investment in the US as examples of its impact.

We need to reinforce the competitiveness of the UK by establishing battery production in the UK Stellantis

Stellantis said there will be insufficient battery production in the UK or Europe to meet government targets in phasing out petrol and diesel vehicles by 2025 and 2030.

It we are unable to rely on sufficient UK or European batteries, we will be at a major competitive disadvantage. In particular against Asian imports, they said.

We need to reinforce the competitiveness of the UK by establishing battery production in the UK.

And Sir Keir told BBC Breakfast while the UK will not reenter the EU under a Labour government, we do need to improve the deal.

He added: We want a closer trading relationship, we absolutely do. We want to ensure that Vauxhall and many others not just survive in this country but thrive.

"Because there are jobs bound up, there are families watching this morning either employed by Vauxhall or a similar place who are deeply worried about what this means.

"So yes we need a better Brexit deal. We will make Brexit work. That doesnt mean reversing the decision and going back into the EU but the deal weve got, it was said to be oven-ready, it wasnt even half-baked.

Transport minister Richard Holden suggested there were further tweaks that could be made to the deal with the EU.

Electric cars and batteries were among the final parts of the Brexit deal agreed between then Prime Minister Boris Johnson and President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen in 2020.

Mr Holden told LBC: I'm sure that there are further tweaks that could be made if more work needs to be done, I'm absolutely certain that the Business and Trade Secretary will do that over the coming days and weeks.

David Bailey, professor of business economics at the Birmingham Business School, told the BBCs Today programme that increased tariffs and stricter rules in post Brexit trading agreements will put British manufacturers at a competitive disadvantage.

He said: I think there is a kind of existential threat to the UK car industry.

The rules in the Brexit agreement dont help the UK car industry either. If they cant meet those rules, theyll face a 10% tariff on cars made in the UK and exported to the EU and vice versa. That will put the UK at a competitive disadvantage.

He added: Car makers have been saying for some time, they cant meet those rules as they tighten up, and theyre going to potentially be facing tariffs.
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Migrant children have been handcuffed and subjected to rub-down searches in a wave of unacceptable treatment by UK Border Force staff, a watchdog has found.

HM Inspectorate of Prisons condemned the use of restraint on children at short-term holding facilities as disproportionate and unacceptable, following inspections at five airports and 10 seaports in January this year.

It cited one particularly concerning case in which a child was taken to foster accommodation in handcuffs.

The inspectorate said children were still held for too long at such sites, with one unaccompanied 15-year-old boy detained for 27 hours and 17 minutes.

Although it found considerable improvements in its 2020 inspection, the watchdog raised particular concerns about the treatment of children.

Not all Border Force staff had DBS checks, the watchdog said (Getty)

Eight lone children were held overnight and unaccompanied young people were generally held longer than adults  for eight hours and 23 minutes on average compared with six hours and 10 minutes.

Not all Border Force staff who came into contact with detainees, including children, had the required DBS check, the watchdogs report noted.

Use of force was not always recorded at some sites and legal advice was not readily available to detainees. Home Office records showed that force had been used 49 times across all sites in the year leading up to the inspection  with most incidents involving handcuffs.

However, given that most detainees who arrived at seaports were routinely handcuffed, the watchdog said the figure could be higher. An incident where batons had been drawn in 2022 was also not included in the governments figures.

Not all detainees were able to make complaints and the complaint forms were only available in English, the report said.

Although staff had a general understanding of the governments modern slavery referral programme, some short-term holding sites had not made any referrals. The watchdog raised the case of one family who appeared to have been dropped off at Poole Ferry Terminals facility and who should have been referred but were not.

At Tilbury port (pictured), two men were detained on a ship by Border Force (PA)

The inspectorate also raised concerns about how vulnerable refugees were treated.

In one incident at Tilbury, two men self-harmed after being found concealed on a ship. As they did not have permission to enter the UK and did not claim asylum, Border Force staff agreed that they should be kept in a locked room on board the vessel until it left the following day. The two men went on to escape and self-harmed again with an object they had found in their room, and were eventually taken to hospital.

Home Office records showed that 811 detainees had been held across 14 short-term sites in the six months leading up to the inspections in early 2023. However, this did not tally with local records in some cases, raising concerns that the government was underreporting the number of arrivals.

In the six months to the end of November 2022, 83 children were detained  30 of whom were not accompanied by an adult relative.

Kama Petruczenko, senior policy analyst at the Refugee Council, said the reports finding were very concerning.

She added: Its unacceptable that some children are handcuffed. Detaining children causes them significant harm, which is why the Coalition government decided to end this practice. Yet the new asylum bill threatens to lock up tens of thousands of children who arrive in the UK.

A Home Office spokesperson said: Border Force works closely with local authorities and partners to ensure the right safeguards are in place for vulnerable individuals, while also maintaining a safe and secure border.

Any detention involving a child will be for as short a period as possible, with the best interest of the child as an overriding consideration.
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A drunk problem passenger forced a plane flying from Germany to the United States to land in Manchester airport.

The Lufthansa flight had set off from Munich for Chicago on Monday evening.

However, just before 5pm the plane turned around over Ireland and headed back to Manchester to deposit a passenger who was causing difficulties.

The plane landed in Manchester at 5:53 pm where it was met by officers from the Greater Manchester Police.

The problem passenger was then arrested at 6:15 pm on suspicion of being drunk on an aircraft.

It is understood that the man was sent back to Germany on the next available flight.
The Metropolitan Police has denied that the arrest of dozens of anti-monarchy protesters during the coronation was influenced by political pressure.

Human rights groups condemned in detention of republicans without charge, days after the enactment of new protest powers backed by the home secretary.

MPs grilling senior officers over the operation were interrupted by a protest by Just Stop Oil on Wednesday, causing a live video feed showing the Home Affairs Committee questioning senior officers to be temporarily cut.
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Martin Lewis has issued a 24-hour warning to pensioners who could miss out on a 301 payment from the government.

The money-saving expert said up to a million eligible pensioners who have not claimed the Pension Credit benefit from the Department for Work and Pensions should do so before the deadline on Friday.

Mr Lewis said single pensioners with income under 220 a week or pensioner couples with income under 320 a week could be entitled to the Pension Credit.

He warned pensioners on the lowest income to check if they are eligible and claim the payment so they do not miss out.

If youre eligible for pension credit and youre missing out you need to check now, today, or tomorrow or Friday at the latest, because if you are eligible then you get that extra 301, Mr Lewis told ITVs Good Morning Britain viewers.

Warning that up to a million eligible pensioners could miss out on the payment, Mr Lewis explained there are loads of reasons people have not checked if they can claim the payment. People dont know about it, he said.

However, Mr Lewis said the government are trying to push people to claim the Pension Credit benefit.

Mr Lewis also said some pensioners have not claimed the payment because they think they will only receive a small amount. However, the money-saving expert explained the benefit is a gateway to so many more entitlements.

Even if pension credit itself is trivial, everything else it opens the door to is massive, Mr Lewis said, explaining that claiming the payment could mean you are entitled to a larger cost-of-living payment from the government of 900, council tax benefit, housing benefit, or help with your dental and optical costs.

Over 75s who are eligible for the payment could also be entitled to a free TV license, Mr Lewis said. He added: Let us together as a nation work to try and get those million pensioners on the lowest incomes who are missing out to claim what they have paid into the system for years that they are entitled to.

The warning comes as more than seven million households across the UK will have received a 301 cost-of-living payment by the end of Wednesday, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has said.

The payments are part of a package of wider government support announced to tackle the cost of living in 2023-24, including a further 300 payment for eligible families in autumn 2023, with a payment of 299 in spring 2024.

Work and pensions secretary Mel Stride said the payment underlines the governments commitment to ensure those on the lowest income are protected from the worst of rising prices and give them peace of mind.

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt said: We know the impact that rising prices are having on families, which is why we are providing significant support to millions through these direct cash payments.

People will be eligible for the 301 cost-of-living payment if they have been entitled to a payment for certain benefits between 16 January and 15 February 2023, including, for example, universal credit, pension credit and child tax credit.
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The daughters of a British grandmother who vanished in Greece have made a desperate plea for help finding her, saying hopes of finding her alive are "diminishing by the day".

Susan Hart, 75, had been visiting the Greek island of Kalymnos with her husband, Ed, and a group of friends when she disappeared on 30 April.

The couple, originally from Bath, live in Switzerland and had been visiting the island for around eight years.

Her daughter Bethan Blackwell has told the Mirror that hopes of finding her mother alive are diminishing by the day.

Ms Blackwell said that, although Ms Hart has not received a formal diagnosis, she and her sisters believe their mother has dementia as she suffers from memory loss.

She explained that Ms Hart vanished after she and her husband took a 10-minute ferry to visit the secluded island of Telendos.

The 75-year-olds husband went off to do some rock climbing while his wife had planned to read a book at a restaurant. However, when they returned Ms Hart was not there.

Ms Blackwell told the Mirror that her stepfather asked in the restaurant, but they said Ms Hart had not dined there and they had not seen her. She said her mother may have caught the ferry back to Kalymnos and gone missing there.

An extensive search has since been launched for the grandmother-of-four, aided by volunteers and the coast guard, as well as Ms Blackwells two sisters.

Ms Harts husband has paid privately for rescue dogs and private search divers to help find his wife after local police failed to organise them, Ms Harts daughter Ruth Landale claimed in a Facebook post. Ms Landale also claimed her stepfather was denied access to CCTV footage from the restaurant.

People dont just vanish with no trace in such a small community. Mum has dementia and is very vulnerable. We need to find her, please help us, Ms Landale said.

Kalymnos island (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Ms Blackwell said her mothers health adds another layer of concern for the family.

She said: We knew that she was suffering from some memory loss and me and my sisters feel that there is dementia involved but she hadnt had a formal diagnosis.

It just doesnt make sense that there is no trace. We have tried everything. We have contacted, obviously, the British Consulate.

My sister lives in Australia, so she contacted the Australian Consulate as well to see if they would put any pressure. Ed contacted the Swiss, but they said because shes not a Swiss citizen there was nothing they could do.

It does feel like she is in a bit of a no mans land really. She doesnt live full-time in the UK but shes not a Swiss citizen.

The family is being assisted by LBT Global, which helps families of British nationals missing abroad.

An FCDO spokesperson said: We are providing consular assistance to the family of a British woman who has been reported missing in Greece and are in contact with the local authorities.
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Following complaints about major outages from Sky Mobile customers, the company has launched an investigation into the causes of the issue.

The problem seemed to begin around 2pm on Tuesday afternoon, with both Sky and O2 services receiving thousands of user reports via online outage monitor Downdetector.

As customers took to social media to voice their concerns, the Sky Help Team confirmed that it was looking into the issue. O2 outages have since been linked to users being unable to reach Sky Mobile customers, rather than a specific problem with the O2 network itself.

Sky Mobile appeared to suffer a major outage on Tuesday afternoon, with thousands of complaints flooding in (AFP via Getty Images)

A spokesperson for Virgin Mobile O2 told The Independent: Were aware of the issue that is impacting Sky Mobile customers. Whilst they use the O2 network, this issue is impacting Sky Mobile services only and our network is working as usual.

Likewise, on Tuesday evening Giff Gaff reported that some of its members could also be experiencing intermittent issues with their mobile data.

So, is it possible to receive a refund if you have experienced outages?

Yes, but the level of compensation and how you can claim it depends on the problem.

In April 2021, Ofcom introduced a piece of legislation called the Automatic Compensation Scheme, which entitles both broadband and landline customers from selected providers to money back if they do experience outages.

Sky Mobile customer complaints appear to be centred in London, Manchester and Glasgow (Downdetector)

BT, EE, Hyperoptic, Plusnet, Sky, TalkTalk, Utility Warehouse, Virgin Media, Vodafone and Zen Internet all comply with the scheme.

In line with the Ofcom code, Sky Broadband customers are entitled to 9.33 per day if they experience a complete loss of service, but only if this fault isnt fixed two full working days after it was reported.

In this instance, compensation will be paid automatically and customers will not need to file a specific request for the refund specifically. However, it does need to have been reported to the provider, and this compensation scheme only applies to broadband customers.

This money should be paid within 30 days of the problem being resolved and will typically be issued as a bill credit unless agreed otherwise.

From a technical perspective, a total loss of service means being unable to make or receive any calls, or for broadband customers, being unable to use the internet on any and all devices. However, today Sky customers reported issues with mobile internet as well as calls.

Sky Mobile customers, however, are not covered by Ofcoms automatic compensation scheme as this is a broadband-only policy.

Where there are faults, customers could be entitled to credits on their account. If there are persistent service issues, the customer could have a right to exit the contract.

Note: This article was amended on 19/05/2023 to reflect that only Sky Broadband is covered by the Ofcom Automatic Compensation Scheme, not Sky Mobile.
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Scotlands First Minister Humza Yousaf has met the King in London, Buckingham Palace confirmed.

Charles received Mr Yousaf during an audience at the palace.

On his visit to London, Mr Yousaf also met the Spanish ambassador and the Lord Mayor of the City of London. On Tuesday, he met the Irish consul general.

Mr Yousaf has previously said he is a republican and hit out at costs involved with the coronation earlier this month, saying he hoped they would be limited as a result of the cost-of-living crisis.

He and his wife Nadia El-Nakla attended the coronation on May 8.

The meeting comes after the Stone of Destiny was returned to Edinburgh Castle earlier this week.

Traditionally, the stone was used to crown monarchs of Scotland but is now used to crown UK monarchs as part of the coronation ceremony.

Former first minister Alex Salmond suggested police should have been used to prevent the stone being moved from the castle, which Mr Yousaf dismissed.

He said: Alex Salmond should remember, of course, that operational matters are for Police Scotland.

Its not for the First Minister to tell the police what to do, but of course it wouldnt have been the right thing to do even if those powers did exist.

Alex Salmond can sit there and talk about the Stone of Destiny all day long. It seems its all hes been talking about over the last few weeks.

Im committed to talking about reducing poverty, the cost-of-living crisis, investing in our public services.
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James Cleverly will seek to renew and enhance ties with the Caribbean and South America on a four-country trip in which he will announce funding to help protect the regions climate and security.

The Foreign Secretary will offer UK support to safeguard the Amazon rainforest and counter serious and organised crime, according to the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO).

The whirlwind seven-day trip, focused on issues including democracy, the environment and shared values, will see Mr Cleverly travel to Jamaica, Colombia, Chile and Brazil.

It is a partnership that will be marked and strengthened by our shared values of freedom, democracy and concern for the state of our planet James Cleverly

In Kingston, Jamaica, he will announce 15 million in funding for a violence prevention partnership to address organised crime and up to 7 million to protect the island from flooding and coastal erosion.

He will then head to South America to deliver a keynote speech on the UKs future relationship with the region.

It marks the first visit by a UK foreign secretary to the Caribbean since 2017 and the first to South America since 2018.

Mr Cleverly said: This is a milestone year in the history of UK relations with countries across Latin America and the Caribbean.

While I look forward to celebrating our close bonds of friendship and family, I am also here to renew and enhance our ties for the years ahead.

It is a partnership that will be marked and strengthened by our shared values of freedom, democracy and concern for the state of our planet.

In Colombia, he is expected to announce new UK support and funding for peace and tackling climate change by protecting the Amazon, according to the FCDO.

Mr Cleverly will visit the Amazon frontier region of Guaviare before giving a speech in Chiles capital Santiago setting out the UKs approach to South America and like-minded powers around the world.

The speech will refer to the bicentenary of UK-Latin America relations in British embassies across the continent  200 years after the regions struggle for independence from colonial rule.

The visit will end in Brazil, where the Foreign Secretary will sign a climate partnership with his hosts on green growth and travel to the Amazon.

The FCDO said Mr Cleverly would emphasise the UKs support for Brazilian democracy at the national Congress, which was attacked by a mob of supporters of former president Jair Bolsonaro in January following his electoral defeat.

It comes after the Government joined the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP)  a trade deal which includes Chile and Peru.

The agreement marked Britains biggest trade deal since leaving the EU but critics say the impact will be limited, with official estimates suggesting it will add just 1.8 billion a year to the economy after 10 years, representing less than 1% of UK GDP.

The Governments updated integrated review in March reinforced a post-Brexit tilt towards the Indo-Pacific region as a permanent pillar of British foreign policy as well as deeper ties with other influential actors such as South America.
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Rishi Sunak has pledged to maintain a united and aligned position with allies on Taiwan after Liz Truss called for the West to take a stronger stance towards China in a risky visit to Taipei.

The former prime minister was accused by Beijing on Wednesday of putting on a dangerous political show that will harm the UK when she delivered a hawkish speech in Taiwan.

Among the short-lived Tory leaders demands was for the disputed self-governing country to join a Pacific trade pact as China takes a more aggressive stance in pressing for it to be commanded by the mainland.

But Ms Trusss successor Mr Sunak, carrying out a diplomatic mission to Japan, rejected her demand for the UK to champion Taiwans bid to enter the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).

I can tell you that our approach to Taiwan is long-standing and it hasn't changed. And again, it's an approach that is completely aligned in substance and in language with all our allies Prime Minister Rishi Sunak

I think that we have a very strong, unofficial relationship with Taiwan, as our allies do, he told reporters travelling with him to Tokyo, where he will visit before going to a G7 summit in Hiroshima.

Our position is united and aligned with our allies, and will continue.

Mr Sunak declined to criticise Ms Trusss visit to Taiwan, telling reporters he had been busy and havent actually seen the details of it.

But he added: I can tell you that our approach to Taiwan is long-standing and it hasnt changed. And again, its an approach that is completely aligned in substance and in language with all our allies.

The Prime Minister said the new defence and technology pact he will sign with Japan this week was hugely significant for the Indo-Pacific region.

He said: So we have a strong and increasing footprint in the security of the Indo-Pacific region. We have a strong interest in a free and open Indo-Pacific. We do not believe in any change in the status quo by force or coercion.

Ms Truss went to Taiwan despite Beijing having a track record of retaliation when Western politicians visit, including a naval and air force blockade after senior US congresswoman Nancy Pelosi visited.

In a speech to the Prospect Foundation, the former Tory leader argued that the West needed to reduce dependence on China in all spheres.

If Beijing keeps its word and escalates aggression towards Taiwan, substantial decoupling will be unavoidable, she said.

I know that when we first put sanctions on Russia when I was foreign secretary, there was a lot of resistance from organisations in the UK who were deeply embedded already with Russia.

We need to be on the lookout for that with respect to China and take action now to make sure were prepared.

Before Ms Truss stood up to make her speech, the Chinese embassy to the UK issued a statement warning that her speech would harm Britain, labelling it a provocative move.

It urged her to stop defending Taiwanese independence or else further expose herself as a failed politician and get more backlash from the Chinese people.

British politician Liz Trusss recent visit to Taiwan is a dangerous political show which will do nothing but harm to the UK, an embassy spokesman said.

Any violation of the one-China principle will have serious consequences for China-UK relations.
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Scotlands First Minister has defended the countrys prosecution service after a reported delay in clearing a search warrant for Nicola Sturgeons home.

The Scottish Sun said on Monday that a request to search the home shared by the former first minister and her husband, former SNP chief executive Peter Murrell, along with the partys Edinburgh headquarters was made on March 20.

It took two weeks for the warrant to be approved and sent to a sheriff, the newspaper reported, and it was executed on April 5  the week after the conclusion of the SNP leadership race won by Humza Yousaf.

Suggestions have been made that the delay aimed to ensure Mr Yousafs campaign for the top job  in which he was seen as the closest candidate to Ms Sturgeon  was not damaged, but both he and the Crown Office have denied the claims.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4s Today programme on Wednesday, Mr Yousaf said: I think the decision of the Lord Advocate, or in this case the Crown more generally, would be not to make decisions, I dont think, based on election contests or politics.

They make decisions based on what is appropriate to the Crown, so really what youre asking me to do is to make an inference about a process that has nothing to do with me, I have no involvement in it.

The Lord Advocate and Solicitor General  who are appointed by Government  would recuse themselves in any investigation relating to a politician, the First Minister said.

Asked specifically about the delay, Mr Yousaf said: I dont believe there will be any particular reason out of the ordinary that it would take that time.

I suppose that would be a question for the Crown, not questions for Government or ministers or the First Minister  we would never dream of interfering, neither in a live police investigation, but certainly not in a search warrant.

A spokesman for the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) said on Tuesday: In all matters, Scotlands prosecutors act independently of political pressure or interference.

It is standard that any case regarding politicians is dealt with by prosecutors without the involvement of the Lord Advocate or Solicitor General.

COPFS understand the interest in this case but to protect the fair administration of justice we urge restraint in public comment.

The probe into the SNPs finances  which stems from how more than 600,000 raised from members for an independence campaign was spent  has resulted in two arrests, that of Mr Murrell and then party treasurer Colin Beattie.

Both men were released without charge pending further investigation.

Despite the probe, Mr Yousaf said his party can be trusted with peoples money, adding it will definitely have the required funds to fight a general election campaign.

Meanwhile, the First Minister said the partys new auditors are confident they can file the Westminster groups accounts on time.

If the May 31 deadline is missed, the group could miss out on 1.2 million of Short money  public funds given to opposition parties to support their parliamentary work.

Mr Yousaf said: We had a conversation with (the auditors) as a party and certainly the last conversation we had with the auditors, they were confident in meeting that deadline.

The party struggled for six months to appoint new accountants after the departure of Johnston Carmichael in October, a fact only provided to Mr Yousaf when he became party leader, with AMS Accountants Group hired earlier this month.

A spokesperson for the Lord Advocate said she was not involved in the consideration of the search warrants in Operation Branchform and was not made aware that individuals had been arrested until after the event.

The spokesperson added: The Lord Advocate, Dorothy Bain KC, is not politically affiliated to the SNP administration and was appointed with the unanimous approval of the Scottish parliament.

In a distinguished legal career she has advised and represented clients across a broad range of issues, and she has done so with unfailing integrity and professionalism.

To suggest otherwise is an unacceptable slur on the office of Lord Advocate, on Dorothy Bain KC, and on the public prosecutors of the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service who share her dedication to upholding the rule of law.
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Labour and the Tories are happy to ignore the facts of Brexit, the SNP has claimed.

Mhairi Black, the partys deputy Westminster leader, accused both the UK Government and Opposition of ignoring the economic damage done by the UKs exit from the EU.

She said even Nigel Farage can admit that Brexit has failed and asked Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden why he could not do the same.

The scrutiny in the Commons comes as a major UK car manufacturer has warned the industry faces an existential threat without changes to post-Brexit trade arrangements with the European Union, putting thousands of jobs at risk.

Vauxhalls parent company Stellantis said it will be unable to keep a commitment to make electric vehicles in the UK without changes to the Trade and Co-operation Agreement with the EU.

At Prime Ministers Questions, Paisley and Renfrewshire South MP Ms Black said: Brexit Britain faces higher food prices, a lack of workers, a shrinking economy and a decline in living standards. Why is he happy to ignore those facts?

Deputy Prime Minister Mr Dowden replied: We have one of the fastest growth rates in the whole of the G7 since Brexit. We all know the policy of the SNP, and they said it this weekend, and I quote: We need to undo Brexit.

But let me tell you. If I were them, I would start by undoing the mess they have left Scotland in, and start working with the United Kingdom Government and focus on the priorities of the Scottish people, not the priorities of their party.

Ms Black responded: The only thing more deluded than that defence of Brexit is the Labour Partys support of it.

She added: Just today, the worlds fourth-largest car manufacturer said that Brexit was, and again I quote, a threat to our export business and the sustainability of our UK manufacturing options.

Even Nigel Farage can admit that Brexit has failed. So why cant he?

Mr Dowden replied: One of the best ways of getting behind industry in this country is to get behind the trade deals we are striking with many countries around the world.

He added: I see last week the SNP promised to build a new Scotland. I dont know whether she is aware, but the SNP have been in power for 13 years (sic).

They should stop their focus on independence, and focus on the priorities of the Scottish people.

Speaking to BBCs Newsnight on Monday, former Ukip leader Mr Farage denied that Britain would have been better off remaining in the EU, but said the country had not actually benefited from Brexit economically.

He said: What Brexit has proved, Im afraid, is that our politicians are about as useless as the commissioners in Brussels were.

We have mismanaged this totally.
Rishi Sunaks government is understood to be lobbying the EU to delay a change in manufacturing rules in the Brexit trade deal after Vauxhalls parent company warned it could shut its UK factories.

Stellantis said it will be unable to keep a commitment to make electric vehicles in the UK without changes to Boris Johnsons Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA).

Business secretary Kemi Badenoch has raised the issue with her Brussels counterpart, and held a pre-arranged meeting with Stellantis chiefs on Wednesday.
Rishi Sunak refused to recommit to a Tory manifesto pledge made by Boris Johnson to bring down overall immigration levels.

The prime minister said he does want the net migration figure to fall, but would not stick to the pledge made by the Conservatives at the last election.

Instead Mr Sunak said on Wednesday he had inherited some numbers on migration and insisted voters were focused on tackling illegal migration, such as small boat crossings.
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Watch as Sir Keir Starmer addresses the British Chambers of Commerce annual conference on Wednesday, 17 May.

This years event has a theme of Building British Business in which leaders will come together to discuss the opportunities for growth to help local communities thrive, the business group said.

The Labour leaders speech comes after Jeremy Hunt appeared at the conference.

In his address, the chancellor suggested that the default location for employeed should be in the office, suggesting staff would return unless they had a good reason not to, but credited learning to use Zoom and Teams for meetings as creating exciting opportunities.

On the other hand, there is nothing like sitting around the table, seeing people face-to-face, developing team spirit  and I worry about the loss of creativity when people are permanently working from home and not having those water cooler moments where they bounce ideas off each other, the Tory minister said.

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A Labour government will try to get house prices falling by boosting supply, Sir Keir Starmer has said as he revealed his party is open to building on green belt land.

The Labour leader said his party would give local areas the ability to build on the greenbelt where it would not spoil the beauty of the countryside.

Sir Keir claimed that house prices would come down if a Labour government can build more houses. Asked if a Labour government will have house prices coming down rather than going up, Mr Starmer told Times Radio: Oh, yes.
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Prominent public intellectual Douglas Murray is facing criticism over comments he made at the National Conservatism Conference which critics say downplayed the Holocaust and Nazism.

Speaking at the conference Murray said: There was nothing wrong with nationalism in Britain. It's just that there was something wrong with nationalism in Germany.

I don't see why no one should be allowed to love their country because the Germans mucked up twice in a century.

His comments have stoked controversy surrounding the conference at which prominent Tories including Home Secretary Suella Braverman, Secretary for Levelling Up Michael Gove, Jacob Rees-Mogg, and Lee Anderson agreed to speak.

The statement drew attention when it was Tweeted out by the National Conservatisms official account.

The account later Tweeted a video clip of Murray making the statement during his speech to the conference.

Murrays statement has drawn condemnation and criticism from a wide range of figures.

Lord Watson, former deputy leader of the Labour Party, retweeted the video commenting: It's not possible to be more flippant.

Hope Not Hate, an NGO dedicated to combatting racism, Tweeted: Douglas Murrays comment is serious minimisation of the abhorrent, planned nature of the Holocaust. Saying that Germany mucked up trivialises and minimises the fact that the Nazis systematically murdered 6 million Jews during the Holocaust.

Speaking to The Independent Tory Peer Lord Eric Pickles, Co-Chair of the United Kingdoms Holocaust Memorial Foundation and Special Envoy for Post-Holocaust issues said:

It is a good thing to be proud of and love your own country. If this blinds you to the merits of the rest of the world it is destructive and leads to bigotry. 

I regret, as I am sure Mr Murray will on reflection, the description of the Holocaust as a muck up, which is inadequate on so many levels.

When asked about the prominent Conservatives who had attended, or planned to attend the conference, should reconsider their actions he declined to provide further comment.

The Independent attempted to contact Murray about the matter but was not able to reach him for comment.

Other speakers at the conference have also attracted controversy.

Most notably, speaking at the conference Rees-Mogg said: Parties that try and gerrymander end up finding their clever scheme comes back to bite them, as dare I say we found by insisting on voter ID for elections.

We found the people who didnt have ID were elderly and they by and large voted Conservative, so we made it hard for our own voters and we upset a system that worked perfectly well.

Rees-Moggs comments were termed deeply troubling by Labour MP Dawn Butler.
Rishi Sunak may face three by-elections if MPs nominated for peerages by Boris Johnson stand down from the Commons.

The former prime ministers resignation honours list is expected to feature Scotland secretary Alister Jack, former culture secretary Nadine Dorries, ally Nigel Adams and Cop26 president Alok Sharma.

The House of Lords appointments watchdog has advised that the MPs will have to stand down in order to take up peerages.
Supporters of Scottish independence can still trust the SNP, leader Humza Yousaf has claimed  insisting members will still dig deep for the party.

Mr Yousaf was challenged over the ongoing police probe into the partys finances, stemming from how more than 600,000 raised for a second independence referendum campaign was spent.

The SNP has been rocked by the arrest of Nicola Sturgeons former chief executive Peter Murrell and current treasurer Colin Beattie, both of whom were later released without charge pending further enquiries.
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Oliver Dowden faced Angela Rayner at Prime Minister's Questions on Wednesday, 17 May, as Rishi Sunak travelled to a G7 summit in Japan.

The deputy Labour leader stood in for Sir Keir Starmer, who was a speaker at the British Chambers of Commerce annual conference that afternoon.

The prime minister is due to visit Tokyo and then head to Hiroshima for the G7 summit, his first as prime minister.

It will be the first time a British prime minister has visited the southern Japanese city.

Mr Sunak is expected to hold talks on Ukraine and Indo-Pacific security, economics, and global sustainability investments.

Speaking ahead of the summit, Mr Sunak said: This years G7 Summit in Hiroshima comes at a pivotal moment, as Ukraine doubles down in its fight for survival and we deal with complex threats to global peace and prosperity.

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Rishi Sunak will unveil a new agreement with Japan to foster closer defence, security and cyber ties amid growing concerns about the threat from China.

Visiting Tokyo, the Prime Minister will commit to deploying a naval battle fleet in the Indo-Pacific in 2025 and to double UK troop numbers in upcoming joint exercises.

He will agree to launch a partnership on semiconductors in order to reduce the reliance on Beijing for the supply of the essential microchips before attending the G7 summit.

The Hiroshima Accord will be formally agreed on Thursday between Mr Sunak and his Japanese counterpart Fumio Kishida ahead of the meeting of world leaders in the city hit by the atom bomb.

Prime Minister Kishida and I are closely aligned on the importance of protecting peace and security in the Indo-Pacific and defending our values, including free and fair trade Prime Minister Rishi Sunak

The Prime Minister will share talks with world leaders including Joe Biden during the summit, which is expected to focus on economic security and support for Ukraine.

But he will not hold more personal bilateral talks with the US president, instead sitting down with Mr Kishida, Frances Emmanuel Macron and Indias Narendra Modi.

Mr Sunak will be joined by his wife Akshata Murty, as she joins the G7s partners programme in her first official foreign visit since they entered No 10.

Under the agreement with Japan, Mr Sunak will commit to deploy the Navys carrier Strike Group to the Indo-Pacific in 2025.

Including an aircraft carrier and fighter jets, the fleet will work with the Japanese military and other allies to defend peace and stability in the region.

A fourth UK-Japan vigilant isles military exercise taking place in Japan later this year is being billed as the biggest yet and will include around 170 UK service personnel.

The UK and Japan are also expected to commit to consulting each other on key regional and global security issues and to consider measures in response.

They will also launch the semiconductors partnership to make use of British expertise and Japans materials to bolster supply chains amid concerns over Chinese dominance.

The summit is an opportunity for the G7 to demonstrate unified resolve and action in the face of threats from autocratic states - threats to global prosperity, security and sovereignty Rishi Sunak's official spokesman

A new cyber partnership will be announced to deepen co-operation, as will plans to accelerate use of clean energy.

On the plane to Tokyo, Mr Sunak told reporters one of his priorities for the summit was ensuring we as G7 allies are aligned in our approach to protecting ourselves against the risks and challenges that China poses.

In a statement, the Prime Minister said: It is a privilege to be visiting Tokyo and Hiroshima at this historic moment in the United Kingdoms relationship with Japan.

Prime Minister Kishida and I are closely aligned on the importance of protecting peace and security in the Indo-Pacific and defending our values, including free and fair trade.

The Hiroshima Accord will see us step up co-operation between our armed forces, grow our economies together and develop our world-leading science and technology expertise.

It marks an exciting next phase in the UK and Japans flourishing partnership.

The trip takes place as Mr Sunak grapples with Tory infighting heightened by the partys large-scale losses in the local elections.

He will host a business reception in the Roppongi Hills of Tokyo, with the bosses of Toshiba, Nissan and Hitachi, as well as UK firm Octopus Energy, invited.

At the G7 summit starting on Friday, Mr Sunak will discuss shoring up support and holding Vladimir Putins Russia to account among his priorities.

The Prime Minister will reflect on the sombre reminder of the human cost of all-out war while visiting Hiroshima, where he will plant a tree to remember victims of the atom bomb.

Mr Sunaks official spokesman said: The visit is a crucial opportunity to build our relationship with Japan, already one of the UKs strongest and most important partners.

The summit is an opportunity for the G7 to demonstrate unified resolve and action in the face of threats from autocratic states  threats to global prosperity, security and sovereignty.
Rena Murshud

As is known, Azerbaijan's Milli Majlis (Parliament) has held a special meeting on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the birth of Heydar Aliyev. The event was attended by representatives of 26 countries and 4 parliamentary international organizations.

Besides, member of the Belarusian Council of the Republic of the National Assembly Valery Belsky and Deputy Chairman of the House of Representatives Valery Mitskevich attended the meeting. Addressing the meeting, the National Assembly Council member emphasized that the common historical destinies and long-term friendship of the peoples of Belarus and Azerbaijan predetermined the current especially trusting nature of Belarusian-Azerbaijani relations.

"The meeting held in Baku with the participation the Deputy Chairman of the Belarusian Council of the Republic of the National Assembly, Valery Belsky, and the Deputy Chairman of the House of Representatives of Belarus, Valery Mitskevich is of great importance in terms of strengthening both inter-parliamentary and bilateral relations between Belarus and Azerbaijan. These states have always been very close, there was always mutual understanding," Belarusian philosopher, publicist and political analyst Aleksey Dzermant said in a comment on the recent meeting for Azernews.

"Of course, many words can be said about a genius like Heydar Aliyev, the founder of modern Azerbaijan. The fact that this meeting was organized on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of his birth adds a grandeur to the event. Heydar Aliyev is welcomed by the people of Belarus. He is also the founder of Belarus-Azerbaijan relations.

In addition, the successful political path of the national leader is the same as the successful path of the state of Belarus today, and thanks to this policy, both countries are moving forward on the path of strong development.

This is one of the reasons that bring our states closer, and therefore all this needs to be discussed at the parliamentary level, at the level of politicians represented in parliament,"

Speaking about the prospects for further development of interstate relations between Azerbaijan and Belarus, the expert also pointed the importance of developing and transferring these relations into the field of economy.

"In fact, the relations between our countries are at a high level, however, thinking over new logistical routes are important for Belarus, especially within the important north-south corridor, that is, through Russia, through Azerbaijan, further to India, to Africa. It is important for us and for Azerbaijan to think over how to cooperate, think over the participation of our two countries in the new logistics space," the expert underlined.

He added that Azerbaijan is located at the crossroads connecting north and south and also east and west.

"Here you can connect to these routes and relationships to agree on some kind of policy, strategy. Moreover, we see Azerbaijan, which has good relations with the Russian world, with Turkiye, as well as with the post-Soviet countries. For Belarus, all this is interesting," Dzermant said.

The expert also touched on opportunities of Belarus making it one of the leading countries in Europe in the field of agriculture, especially in the production and export of livestock and dairy products. He spoke about possibility of cooperation for the development of this sector between Azerbaijan and Belarus, in particular territories of Karabakh liberated from occupation.

"I think that Belarus could help in the development of agriculture, including restoration of villages in Karabakh. We have the machineries and technique that can easily carry out this work. Moreover, Belarusians are prone to restore, build, develop something - this in the blood of our people. I think we can successfully develop in this field," the expert added.
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Emily Reed lost her younger sister Jessica more than 10 years ago. For much of the last decade, shes visited Jessicas Twitter page to help keep her memory alive.

Twitter became one of the places where Emily processed her grief and reconnected with a sister she describes as almost like a twin. But Jessicas account is now gone.

Twitter became one of the places where Emily processed her grief and reconnected with a sister she describes as almost like a twin. But Jessicas account is now gone.

Last week, owner Elon Musk announced Twitter would be purging accounts that have had no activity for several years. That decision has been met by an outcry from those who have lost, or who fear losing the thoughts and words of deceased loved ones linked to now-inactive accounts.

Reed immediately returned to Jessicas page as she had done a day or two earlier after learning of the purge. In place of Jessica's page was an "account suspended message that suggested it may be in violation Twitter rules.

Reed's tweet recounting her shock over the loss of the account has received tens of thousands of responses. Others shared similar experiences of pain upon learning that the account of a deceased loved one had vanished.

Having these digital footprints... is super important to me, Reed, 43, told The Associated Press.

The advent of social media has come with new way in which people mourn, returning to the place where they connected with friends and family in the past. In addition to memories and physical traces left behind, snippets of lives are have are now being captured in the digital space.

It is something that social media platforms have wrestled with for recent years.

Twitter backed off an attempt to purge inactive accounts in 2019, years before Musk arrived, due to a similar backlash.

Other social media sites have found ways to allow people to mourn those they've lost.

Facebook and Instagram allow users to request an account be deactivated, or a memorialization of the account. Memorialized accounts show the word Remembering next to the persons name.

In this modern age, we have these electronic reminders of people  (including) little snippets of a thought they had on a particular day or pictures that they shared, said Shira Gabriel, professor of psychology at University at Buffalo. Looking through a late loved ones social media can be both a healthy way to process grief and gather as a community in remembrance, Gabriel said.

The prospect of that resource disappearing can bring about a sense of mourning again, Gabriel said. There is a real psychological cost of getting rid of this digital thumbprint that was left behind and this ability for community members to gather in one spot.

It is unknown if Musk will backtrack on the decision to purge. The billionaire CEO of Tesla has launched policies that have rattled users and advertisers alike and shown little interest in amending those policies in response.

Musk named a new CEO last week, Linda Yaccarino, a former NBCUniversal advertising executive, who will have her hands full with a platform seemingly now in a perpetual state of chaos.

Deleting inactive accounts can be seen as fulfilling a promise Musk made when he bought the company, particularly winnowing down junk accounts and bots, said Samuel Woolley, an assistant professor at the University of Texas at Austins School of Journalism and Media.

There are good reasons to preserve inactive accounts, and also reasons to delete them, Woolley said, but he is leery of the one-size-fits-all approach.

Advocates of purging accounts cite skewed metrics caused by inactive accounts or bogus on social media platforms. Yet on top of emotional pain for some users mourning late loved ones, deleting inactive accounts could also mean losing tweets that documented historical events, commentary and breaking news on the app over the years.

Twitter operates in many ways like a library of data, Woolley said. Just because someone hasnt been active for 30 days or a few years, doesnt mean their tweets dont still have a great amount of relevance.

Musk did say the reasoning behind removing inactive accounts was to free up unused Twitter handles, or user names, and that those inactive accounts would be archived.

What exactly that means is not known  including what inactive accounts will look like when they're archived, and whether they'll be easily accessible. Other details of the plan are also unclear, such as the number of accounts to be removed and whether the policy will be evenly enforced.

While Reed and others saw the inactive accounts of loved ones disappear last week, the account belonging to the late father of controversial internet personality Andrew Tate still appears to be on the site, for example.

On Twitter, Tate said he was fine with Musk's decision, but asked that his father's account remain active as he still (reads) his account daily.

Picking and choosing accounts for deactivation would create precisely the kind of tiered system that Musk says he wants to avoid," Woolley said.

When contacted by The Associated Press for comment, Twitter responded with an automated email. Twitters trust and safety lead Ella Irwin also did not respond.

According to Twitter policy, the social media platform determines an accounts inactivity through log-ins. Twitter says that users should log in at least every 30 days.

Twitter users are able to download an archive of their own data through the app, but not for accounts they dont possess login credentials. Reed, for example, noted that her family wasnt able to get into Jessicas account over the last 10 years. The only traces they have now are some screenshots that Reeds other sister luckily captured before the purge.

Reed talks about the importance of Jessicas Twitter and Facebook pages during her journey with grief  from following her sister's difficult journey with cystic fibrosis, a progressive genetic disorder that Reed also has, to cherishing tweets that showed the joy and... the vibrancy that came out of her words.

Over time, the image and memories of someone who has passed away can slowly change in your mind  like a fading photograph, Reed said. Having online resources, she added, can help keep a persons memory alive, in a way that just your own personal memory cant.
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A Texas mother was killed by a stray bullet while she was on her way to pick up her daughters prom dress.

Mothers Day was overshadowed by grief for the family of 39-year-old Ana Moreno. Authorities believe Moreno was caught in the middle of a drive-by shooting when she was driving her vehicle around 4pm on Saturday (13 May).

Moreno, whose teen daughter was in the passengers seat, was struck by a bullet and died of her injuries, the Dallas Police Department said in a statement. Three other victims, all male, sustained injuries during the gunfire and remain in critical condition.

Anything you would want in a mom, that was her, Morenos mother Michelle Rodriguez told local news station WFAA through tears. It wasnt her time, it wasnt supposed to be her. And its over something stupid. How do you do that to someone innocent?

Police determined two vehicles were shooting at one another while driving eastbound Bruton Road when the tragedy took place.

No suspects have been arrested.

Moreno was sturck by a stray bullet while she drove her daughter to pick up her prom dress (Ana Moreno/Facebook)

Moreno leaves behind two daughters and a son. Her family has created a GoFundMe account to cover funeral costs.

Anyone with information regarding this offence is asked to contact police at 214-662-4552.
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A former Apple engineer who fled to China five years ago has been charged with stealing the companys self-driving car technology.

The US Justice Department charged Weibao Wang, 35, for stealing large troves of data from Apple, including trade secrets and technology related to autonomous systems that are used to design self-driving cars.

Mr Wang was charged with six counts of theft or attempted theft of trade secrets, according to a press release issued by the department.

Innovation is alive and well in Silicon Valley  indeed, throughout the Northern District of California, said US attorney Ismail J Ramsey.

Unfortunately, there will always be some who cheat the system by stealing and profiting from the fruits of others labour. The Wang prosecution is but one example. We are pleased that the Disruptive Technology Task Force renews energy and focus on securing innovation for those who actually create it.

The former Apple engineer was a resident of Mountain View in California and began working with the tech giant in 2016.

He had signed a confidentiality agreement for the project for which he was working on, and very few people at the company knew about it at that time.

He began working as staff engineer with the US-based subsidiary of a Chinese company and was working to develop self-driving cars, the indictment said.

The company was identified only as Company One in the indictment.

Mr Wang was also accused of waiting for more than four months before telling Apple that he was resigning, after he signed a new employment agreement with Company One.

After the last day of his employment at Apple, on 16 April 2018, Apples officials found in their logs that he had accessed large troves of confidential data in the final days of his stint at the tech giant.

His Mountain View home was searched on 27 June 2018. Law enforcement agents discovered large quantities of data taken from Apple prior to his departure during the search, for which Mr Wang was present.

After telling the agents that he had no plans to travel, he purchased a one-way ticket to Guangzhou, China, and boarded a flight that same night.

In a press conference, Mr Ramsey said Mr Wang remained in China and he could face 10 years in jail, if extradited and convicted.

This is the third incident of a former Apple employee being charged for stealing of documents for China.

Two other Apple employees have previously been charged in similar cases involving theft of trade secrets, reported the BBC.
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Two teenagers have been arrested in connection with a mass shooting at an Arizona house party that left two people dead.

Police say that more than 30 shots were fired as violence broke out at the Saturday night event in Yuma, Arizona, with five other victims wounded.

Jose Lopez, 18, was arrested on suspicion of two counts of first-degree murder and disorderly conduct, the Yuma Police Department announced.

Police also announced the arrest of Aden Arviso, 19, on charges connected to the double homicide of false reporting and disorderly conduct with a weapon.

Both men were taken into custody after a warrant was executed at a Yuma home on Monday night.

Our detectives have been working tirelessly since the shooting, said Sgt Lori Franklin of the Yuma Police Department.

At this time, the investigators are trying to determine a motive. However, this does not appear to be a random act.

Ande Blackthunder, 20, and 19-year-old Danny Garcia were killed in the shooting and the five other wounded victims were aged between 15 and 19.

Yuma Police Chief Thomas Garrity says that the shooting took place after the party grew from just a handful of guests to more than 100 after the location was posted on social media.

The police chief said that four off-duty officers and one of their wives were in the vicinity when the shooting took place and rushed to the scene to provide first aid to the victims.
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University of Idaho murder suspect Bryan Kohberger has been indicted by a grand jury.

Mr Kohberger is accused of murdering students Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chaping at the victims off-campus residence on 13 November. He was arrested at his family home in Pennsylvania on 30 December after investigators gathered several pieces of evidence allegedly linking him to the crime.

A preliminary hearing, where prosecutors had to show a judge that there is enough evidence to justify moving forward with charges of burglary and four counts of murder, was previously scheduled for 26 June.

However, on Tuesday, a grand jury indicted MrKohberger on the same charges, effectively rerouting the case directly to the states felony court level and allowing prosecutors to skip the preliminary hearing process, the Associated Press reported.

The former Washington State University PhD student is now expected to appear for his arraignment at the Latah County District Court at 9am on Monday to enter a plea.

According to the indictment, Mr Kohberger is charged with four counts of murder in the first degree and one count of burglary.

Each murder count states that he did wilfully, unlawfully, deliberately, with premeditation and with malice aforethought, kill and murder each of the victims by stabbing.

The list of witnesses who testified before the grand jury is sealed. Mr Kohbergers indictment means that the jurors empanelled on the grand jury believed there was enough evidence against him for the case to proceed to trial.

Mr Kohberger said through a public defender earlier this year that he was eager to be exonerated. He was linked to the crimes by DNA evidence, cellphone data and surveillance video of what prosecutors believe is his white Hyundai Elantra leaving the scene, according to the arrest affidavit.

Another roommate, who survived the attack, was also able to partially describe the killer to investigators after she came face-to-face with him. The murder weapon, a fixed-blade knife, was not recovered during searches and remains missing.

Two warrants obtained by The Independent show that investigators collected a Glock .40 calibre gun, empty gun magazines, a knife, a pocket knife, black face masks, black gloves, electronic devices, and clothing items from the home of Mr Kohbergers parents in Pennsylvania where he was arrested.

The family home was raided on 30 December, the same day that a search was also carried out at Mr Kohbergers apartment in Pullman, Washington a 15-minute drive from the crime scene in Moscow.

The Washington warrant revealed that investigators seized a collection of dark red spotting and a pillow with a reddish/brown stain at Mr Kohbergers apartment. At least two items seized from that search tested positive for blood.
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Idaho murder suspect Bryan Kohberger has received a disturbing amount of mail from fans as he awaits trial behind bars, according to a report.

An unnamed employee at the Latah County Jail, where Mr Kohberger remains in custody following his 30 December arrest, told The Messenger that more than two dozen letters have been sent to the quadruple murder suspect.

Mr Kohberger, a former PhD criminology student at Washington State University, is charged with the 13 November fatal stabbings of University of Idaho students Kyalee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin.

He gets these letters a couple [of] times a week, the insider told the outlet, noting that other staff at the facility have found the letters extremely odd. Theyre usually handwritten with hearts and stars. Coloured envelopes.

In the aftermath of the murders and Mr Kohbergers arrest six weeks later, true crime fans have also flocked to online forums to fill an information gap left by authorities  who first cited the integrity of the investigation as the reason they did not share details about the probe, and now are banned from speaking about the case due to a gag order.

Earlier this year, a disturbing Reddit grew to more than 500 members before it was banned from the platform for violating Reddits Moderator Code of Conduct.

In addition to spreading misinformation and conspiracy theories, some of those online communities featured overtly sexual comments, as well as collages of Mr Kohbergers photos.

Last week, the prosecution handed over 10,000 photos, 9,000 tips and several hours of video and audio to the defence. Mr Kohbergers public defence attorney Ann Taylor stated in a previously filed discovery request that some of that evidence may contain exculpatory evidence.

Mr Kohberger has not entered a plea but said earlier this year, via a public defender, that he was eager to be exonerated.

Goncalvess father Steve Goncalves told ABC News last week that he is looking forward to Mr Kohbergers next hearing on 26 June.

I cant wait to see the evidence. ... And then Im gonna bring it, Mr Goncalves said. And hes gonna realise that this ... is the family thats gonna make sure he doesnt get away with it.

Mr Kohberger has been linked to the crimes by DNA evidence, cellphone data and surveillance video of what prosecutors believe is his white Hyundai Elantra leaving the scene, according to the arrest affidavit.

Ethan Chapin, 20, Madison Mogen, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Kaylee Goncalves, 21 (Instagram)

Another roommate, who survived the attack, was also able to partially describe the killer to investigators after she came face-to-face with him. The murder weapon, a fixed-blade knife, was not recovered during searches and remains missing.

Two warrants obtained by The Independent show that investigators collected a Glock .40 calibre gun, empty gun magazines, a knife, a pocket knife, black face masks, black gloves, electronic devices, and clothing items from the home of Mr Kohbergers parents in Pennsylvania where he was arrested.

The family home was raided on 30 December, the same day that a search was also carried out at Mr Kohbergers apartment in Pullman, Washington a 15-minute drive from the crime scene in Moscow.

The Washington warrant revealed that investigators seized a collection of dark red spotting and a pillow with a reddish/brown stain at Mr Kohbergers apartment. At least two items seized from that search tested positive for blood.
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Lawyers for a Florida woman accused of murdering her husband have claimed the couples 14-year-old daughter wants to confess to the fatal shooting.

The bombshell allegations were made in court filings by Laurie Shavers defence on Monday (15 May), more than seven years after her 40-year-old husband Michael Shaver was shot to death.

The saga began in 2015 when Shaver was last seen by family members, but he was not reported missing until 2018 after loved ones grew suspicious because they were only able to communicate with him via text messages and social media.

(LCSO/WESH2 screenshot)

Laurie Shaver, now 40, claimed that her husband had quit his job, abandoned their family and left for Georgia  or New York, California and even Afghanistan in her varying accounts  in a Black SUV.

She allegedly went on to use his debit and credit cards, sell his firearms and marry her new boyfriend without reporting Shaver missing.

His body was ultimately found buried in a fire pit in the backyard of the familys rural home in Lake County in March 2018. Ms Shaver was charged with second-degree murder with a firearm and accessory after the fact, with her case being delayed by the pandemic.

Ms Shaver, who has pleaded not guilty to both counts, has now claimed through her attorneys that her 14-year-old daughter wishes to testify in the case and admit that it was she and not her mother who pulled the trigger at the age of just even years old.

The court has previously denied motions by the defence to have the child be evaluated by a forensic psychologist  a necessary step before the court can determine whether she can take the stand.

Ms Shavers attorneys have accused the prosecution of bur[ying] their head on what is evidence which may truly seek out and ensure that justice is obtained, per records reviewed by The Independent. According to the defence, the minor has met with her legal guardian and has persisted in seeking to testify.

The Independent has reached out to Ms Shavers attorneys and Shavers family for comment.

(LCSO)

According to the affidavit for her arrest, Ms Shaver told sheriff deputies that her husband left the family home in 2014 following his release for a domestic violence arrest.

Records show Shaver was taken into custody after his wife allegedly hit him in the head with her pink .38 calibre gun and caused him a laceration.

She then claimed the last time she saw him was during a court hearing for their custody case in 2015.

Ms Shaver cooperated with an initial search at the home following a request for a wellness check by a friend of Shaver in February 2018. But when deputies asked to bring cadaver dogs to the area where a fire pit had been built, she reportedly asked investigators to leave.

Ms Shavers boyfriend Travis Filmer told authorities during the investigation that his girlfriend had said, Its not that [Michael] is missing, its that hes no longer walking on this earth.

She also allegedly told him something bad had happened on the property and Michaels body was buried there.

Michael Shaver (WESH2)

After obtaining a search warrant, investigators returned to the home and discovered Shavers body buried three feet beneath the fire pit. He was covered in a tarp and sheets.

An autopsy determined he was killed by a single gunshot to the back of the head. Authorities have determined that Shaver was killed between 7 November 2015, when he quit his job via text message, and 10 November 2015.

Three days after Shavers body was found but before it was positively identified, a postcard was mailed from Orlando to the Shavers home. It read: Tell the kids I love them see you soon, Mike.

Shavers boss told investigators he had never missed a day of work without calling out, and that it was unlikely he would leave his tools at work. A message, believed to have been sent by Ms Shaver, said that her husbands employer could keep his tools. A coworker visited the home to check on Shaver but was told by Ms Shaver that he had left for Georgia, although her husbands vehicle was still at the property.

Shavers family and friends then began receiving odd texts. One of them addressed to his sister, read: Everyone just needs to start leaving me alone like they did my entire life.

A text to his niece also read: Who are you? ... I have no family anymore. I have no clue who you are. Now stop messaging me

(WESH2)

Other coworkers told police that Shaver had sometimes arrived to work with bruises on his face, chest and arms, and once claimed that Ms Shaver had punched him with closed fists.

Around 10 days after he is believed to have died, Shavers debit card was used to purchase female lingerie that was then delivered to his wife at the family home.

Loans mailed to the Shavers property and purchases totalling up to $5,000 were also allegedly cashed by Ms Shaver, police said.

Several witnesses interviewed by investigators claimed that Ms Shaver began selling her husbands firearms, allegedly telling potential sellers that she was also selling his truck and the house for $150,000.

Authorities believe the fire pit was built between March 2016 and the concrete slab was finalised in September of that year. Ms Shaver and her boyfriend allegedly continued to work on the fire pit in the summer of 2016 and posted pictures on Facebook of their progress.

Police have accused Ms Shaver of impersonating him before and after his death. Investigators believe Ms Shaver pretended to be her husband in an attempt to convince the wife of a man she was having an affair with to file for divorce.

The man told investigators that he didnt think her affair with Ms Shaver, believed to have taken place months after Shaver was killed, was serious and proceeded to break it off after Ms Shaver reportedly got a tattoo of his name near her vagina.

A woman who Shaver dated while he and his wife were separated also told authorities that she recalled a time Shaver warned her that Ms Shaver had a gun and was upset about their affair.

The woman claimed Ms Shaver had threatened to tell her family she was a homewrecker, and had called her grandmother at 3am.

Investigators alleged in court filings that Ms Shaver had access to four guns at the time that she is accused of murdering her husband.
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The last juror to vote to convict Lori Vallow of all charges in her trial for the murders of her children and husbands late wife has spoken out.

In an ABC News exclusive interview that aired on Good Morning America on Wednesday, Saul Hernandez, one of the 12 jurors out of a panel of 18 including six alternates, gave his account of their deliberations.

Mr Hernandez was the lone holdout on the panel before ultimately switching his stance on day two of deliberations to find Vallow guilty of all charges.

On Friday 12 May, Vallow was found guilty of first-degree murder, conspiracy and grand theft over the deaths of her daughter Tylee Ryan, 16, son Joshua JJ Vallow, seven, and of conspiracy to murder Tammy Daybell, 49, her new husband Chad Daybells first wife, at Ada County Courthouse in Boise, Idaho.

Tylee and JJ were last seen in September 2019. In June 2020, their remains were found buried in shallow graves on the Daybell property. Tammy died one month after their disappearance in October 2019 and her death was later ruled a homicide by asphyxiation.

Over six weeks, prosecutors argued that Vallow conspired with Mr Daybell and her brother Alex Cox to kill the three victims, motivated by greed and their doomsday cult beliefs.

Of the experience of being on the jury, Mr Hernandez said: I dont think as a human being you are ever really prepared to experience this.

Asked why he had initially held out on convicting Vallow, he explained: I just didnt feel like at that timeline with Tylee [Vallow] we were quite there yet, and if we were, I perhaps was missing it.

Speaking about the bizarre religious beliefs that appear to have partially underpinned the motive for the murders and if the defendant had really believed them, Mr Hernandez said of Vallow: I think she started with maybe curiosity, exploring what her initial beliefs were. And once Chad came into the picture, she went along with it.

Mr Hernandez told ABC News that he otherwise found Vallow strangely stoic during the six-week trial.

Asked what went through his mind when the court was shown pictures of Vallow and Mr Daybell dancing on a beach in Hawaii at their wedding while her children were buried in his backyard, Mr Hernandez said: I was disgusted. I didnt want to look at them. I just couldnt believe how someone could be that happy when your kids are in the ground and the person that was key in all of this is sitting across from you, smiling at you, and dancing with you on a beach.

Chillingly, Mr Hernandez said: As the case progressed, as the evidence came to light, testimony was shared, it was harder to look at her. Growing up, were taught good and bad, God and evil, and I think for the first time in my life, I put a face to evil.

Earlier, an alternate juror broke her silence, speaking to Law & Crime . Juror Tiffany, who was not on the final panel of 12 but served as an alternate and was presented with all of the evidence over the course of the six-week trial, said she felt she could be impartial based on her experience in the military as a neutral person who does not judge people right away.

She also admitted to not knowing anything about the case going in but was wary of the fact it was centred around the murder of children, being a mother herself. Key to her was watching Vallows reaction as the evidence came out  at critical moments, Tiffany said she felt Vallow was unemotional.

Tiffany said she would have definitely voted to convict Vallow but added that she would have needed more time to deliberate on Vallows involvement in the conspiracy to murder Tammy Daybell.

I felt pretty solid on the other charges but the one on Tammy Daybell I did not feel solid on. I didnt feel there was solid evidence for her charge as opposed to the other charges, she said explaining that the evidence was there but she needed time to talk it over.

Asked if she felt Mr Daybell had killed his wife as prosecutors were suggesting, she replied: I feel he definitely had a heavier hand in it, I do.

On the murder of the children, Tiffany said the prosecutions argument about the money motive  Vallow switched social security payments due to the children to her accounts  was key as they demonstrated she had learned a lesson from the death of her husband when she had not been the beneficiary of his life insurance. It showed she had prepped for the death of Tylee in particular.

Asked if she believed it was Alex Cox who had actually killed the children, Tiffany says she did, noting his finger and palm prints were found on the plastic bag wrapped around JJ, and his cellphone records placed him at the site where the bodies were buried and led the police to find the graves.

Tiffany was sure that Vallow encouraged her Cox to commit crimes but is not sure she knew exactly what happened to the children but was aware they were dead.

Reflecting on two of the most powerful pieces of evidence, Vallows jailhouse phone calls with her surviving son Colby Ryan and sister Summer Shiflet, Tiffany says they were tough to hear as there was so much emotion from them but none from Vallow.

Tiffany says she was surprised that there was no defence case to argue that Vallow had been manipulated by Mr Daybell and felt that the closing argument was too little too late.
 Close Lori Vallow trial: Cult mom convicted of murders of children and Chad Daybells wife

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The lone holdout juror in Lori Vallows murder trial has revealed why he changed his mind to convict the mother last week.

Saul Hernandez sat down with Good Morning America on Tuesday, four days after Vallow was found guilty of first-degree murder, conspiracy and grand theft over the deaths of her daughter Tylee Ryan, 16, son Joshua JJ Vallow, seven, and of conspiracy to murder Tammy Daybell, 49, her new husband Chad Daybells first wife, at Ada County Courthouse in Boise, Idaho.

Mr Hernandez said when the jury began deliberating, he was the only one unconvinced that the prosecution had proved its case.

But over the course of just seven hours of deliberation, Mr Hernandez said it became clear to him that Vallow is guilty.

During the trial, he said he found it hard to look at Vallow as more and more gruelling evidence emerged.

Growing up, were taught good and bad, God and evil, and I think for the first time in my life, I put a face to evil, he said.

Mr Hernandez said he was disgusted by photos of Vallow and Mr Daybell smiling through their beach wedding just weeks after the kids were killed.
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An alternate juror on the Lori Vallow trial has spoken out to share her belief that the convicted killers husband Chad Daybell and brother Alex Cox are equally guilty in the murders.

Juror Tiffany, who was not on the final panel of 12 who deliberated but served as an alternate and was presented with all of the evidence over the course of the six-week trial, spoke with Jesse Weber of Law & Crime about her experience and what she felt led to the guilty verdict.

On Friday 12 May, Vallow was found guilty of first-degree murder, conspiracy and grand theft over the deaths of her daughter Tylee Ryan, 16, son Joshua JJ Vallow, seven, and of conspiracy to murder Tammy Daybell, 49, her new husband Mr Daybells first wife, at Ada County Courthouse in Boise, Idaho.

Tylee and JJ were last seen in September 2019. In June 2020, their remains were found buried in shallow graves on the Daybell property. Tammy died one month after their disappearance in October 2019 and her death was later ruled a homicide by asphyxiation.

Prosecutors argued that Vallow conspired with Mr Daybell and her brother Mr Cox to kill the three victims, motivated by greed and their doomsday cult beliefs.

Asked about the motive, Tiffany said she believes it was a whirlwind of things that just collided in October 2018 when Vallow and Mr Daybell met.

Tiffany said she was surprised that there was no defence case to argue that Vallow had been manipulated by Mr Daybell and felt that the closing argument was too little too late.

She added that it was part religious beliefs and part money behind what happened and noted that there appeared to be multiple people who would have taken the children off Vallow to care for them should she have needed that.

Were Cox and Mr Daybell on trial as well, Tiffany said she would have convicted them too based on the evidence presented: Being manipulated by somebody doesnt get you off the hook. So I do believe honestly that all three of them would be found guilty.

Mr Daybell is set to face his own trial next year, while Cox died in December 2019.

During jury selection, Tiffany felt she could be impartial based on her experience in the military as a neutral person who does not judge people right away.

She also admitted to not knowing anything about the case going in but was wary of the fact it was centred around the murder of children, being a mother herself. Key to her was watching Vallows reaction as the evidence came out  at critical moments, Tiffany said she felt Vallow was unemotional.

Tiffany said she would have definitely voted to convict Vallow but added that she would have needed more time to deliberate on Vallows involvement in the conspiracy to murder Tammy Daybell.

(Madison County Sheriffs Office)

I felt pretty solid on the other charges but the one on Tammy Daybell I did not feel solid on. I didnt feel there was solid evidence for her charge as opposed to the other charges, she said explaining that the evidence was there but she needed time to talk it over.

Asked if she felt Mr Daybell had killed his wife as prosecutors were suggesting, she replied: I feel he definitely had a heavier hand in it, I do.

On the murder of the children, Tiffany said the prosecutions argument about the money motive  Vallow switched social security payments due to the children to her accounts  was key as they demonstrated she had learned a lesson from the earlier death of her husband Charles Vallow when she had not been the beneficiary of his life insurance. It showed she had prepped for the death of Tylee in particular.

Asked if she believed it was Cox who had actually killed the children, Tiffany said she did, noting his finger and palm prints were found on the plastic bag wrapped around JJ, and his cell phone records placed him at the site where the bodies were buried and led the police to find the graves.

Tiffany added she was sure that Vallow encouraged her Cox to commit crimes but is not sure she knew exactly what happened to the children though was aware they were dead as people searched for them and she remained silent.

Reflecting on two of the most powerful pieces of evidence, Vallows jailhouse phone calls with her surviving son Colby Ryan and sister Summer Shiflet, Tiffany says they were tough to hear as there was so much emotion from them but none from Vallow.

(AP)

For her, the most difficult day of the trial was finding out the manner in which the children died and seeing the autopsy photos of seven-year-old JJ, still wearing his red pyjamas, bound by duct tape.

I would just come home to my teenage daughter and cry and she would hold me and give me a hug, Tiffany said, her voice choked with emotion as she recalled seeing a young child in the grocery store wearing pyjamas before coming home and breaking down.

Those kids need justice for what happened to them because they can no longer speak for themselves  Lori needed to be held responsible for it, she said.
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Madison Brooks was hit by a truck in the early morning hours of 15 January. The disturbing reasons for her being in the middle of a dark road would emerge in the following days. But during those first moments as life slipped away from her, two strangers showed her unwavering kindness in stark contrast to what she had endured just hours before at the hands of her alleged rapists.

For 15 minutes, Beau Adams desperately tried to keep Brooks alive, while his friend Kathryn Devillie scrambled to find Brooks ID in the darkness. The LSU seniors were on their way home the fateful night the crash unfolded but got out of their vehicle to help the truck driver move what they first thought was a deer off the road.

I was going to pull over to help the guy move the animal so he can get on his way. Once we pulled off the side of the shoulder, we realised it was a girl, Mr Adams told Fox News Digital in an exclusive interview. Once I realized she wasnt breathing, I got on my knees and kept asking, Are you OK? Are you OK? But she wasnt responsive.

Despite the paramedics and Mr Adams best attempts, Brooks died in the hospital hours later. But her mother Ashley Baustert believes Mr Adams and Ms Devillie, whom she now calls Brooks guardian angels, comforted her daughter as she slipped out of consciousness. Ms Baustert told Fox News that they helped her daughter make it to the hospital so her organs could be preserved for donation, also giving her family a chance to say a final goodbye.

Following Brooks death, Baton Rouge police charged Kaivon Deondre Washington, 18, and Desmond Carter, 17, with third-degree rape for allegedly assaulting Brooks before dropping her off in the middle of the road where she was hit. Mr Washingtons uncle Everett Lee, 28, and Casen Carver, 18, were charged with principal to rape for failing to intervene.

Investigators believe the men assaulted Brooks in the car after a night of drinking at Reggies Bar, before dropping her off in a neighbourhood near Pelican Lakes Parkway. Her blood alcohol level was four times the legal driving limit at the time of her death and her autopsy showed injuries consistent with a sexual assault, authorities said.

The suspects attorneys have denied that their clients attacked Brooks, calling the death a tragedy, definitely not a crime and alleging that she exited the vehicle on her own after an argument. An attorney for Brooks family has previously slammed her accused attackers for launching what he described as an absolutely shameful smear campaign against the late LSU student.

But amid the heartbreaking circumstances of Brooks death, Ms Baustert said she feels relieved two angels were there for her daughter.

(Madison Brooks/Obituary )

It gives me a lot of comfort and peace in that Beau and Kathryn were both there. The last few people that Madi saw wasnt going to be her [alleged] attackers, Ms Baustert told Fox News. They were put there for a reason by the grace of God. I truly believe that because no other people stopped and did what they did.

Mr Adams and Ms Devillie told the network they visited the emergency room hours after the accident to check how Brooks was doing.

We were so frantic and needed to know if she was OK, Ms Devillie said. I wish I couldve been in the ambulance with her. There were so many things you wish you couldve done and changed, but Im glad we were at least there for her.

Mr Adams echoed his friends feelings: I wish there was more we couldve done in the moment and think about if we couldve done more.

The friends said they have become close to Ms Baustert and even got tattoos to honour the impact that Brooks made in their lives.

(Ashley Baustert)

In the aftermath of Brooks death, her mother has tirelessly advocated to change some of the circumstances that led to the tragedy. At the centre of Brooks case was the issue of underage drinking as she and three of her alleged attackers were not old enough to consume alcohol.

Last week, a bill that would raise the age to enter bars to 21 in Louisiana was advanced with the support of Brooks family.

We all know the Madison Brooks tragedy. There were a lot of factors with that, but at the end of the day when you look at it and you see that the victim and the perpetrators were underage and had been overserved, it begs the question of why we are letting underage people into the bar to begin with, Senator Beth Mizell said about the Card Em Act, according to local news station KLFY.

Brooks godmother, Lauren Leblanc also told WAFB: Our goal is to prevent this tragedy from ever happening again ... I believe its for Louisiana to join the rest of the country and prohibit anyone under 21 from entering a bar or serving alcohol, or at the very least please support the bill.

According to the LSU Reveille, Reggies Bar will be permanently closed following a ruling from the Alcohol and Tobacco Control board commissioner. The business was also fined $15,000.

Meanwhile, Brooks mother has created a foundation to provide financial help to those in need, advocate for the safety of young adults and spread awareness for the gift of organ donation  Brooks donated her heart and kidney.

Her heart was pure, her laugh infectious and her life was one that will forever shine in the stars above, the description of the page read.
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Ever since authorities began searching for Lori Vallows children in late 2019, the case of the doomsday cult mom has captivated  and horrified  the nation.

Four people close to Vallow and her husband Chad Daybell have been murdered.

Others are also now mysteriously dead.

And beliefs about zombies, dark spirits and the apocalypse have come to light.

The bizarre and tragic case has now concluded in a courtroom in Boise, Idaho, where Vallow was convicted of all charges in the murders of her children Joshua JJ Vallow, seven; Tylee Ryan, 16; and Mr Daybells first wife Tammy Daybell.

On Friday (12 May), the jury took less than seven hours to find Vallow guilty of first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit first-degree murder and grand theft over the deaths of Tylee and JJ.

She was also found guilty of conspiracy to commit first-degree murder in the death of Mr Daybells first wife Tammy, 49.

Dressed in a black suit, with her blonde hair down in waves around her shoulders, Vallow stood between her two attorneys as the verdict was read out.

She showed no reaction as she learned that the jury had returned a verdict of guilty on all charges.

JJ and Tylee vanished without a trace back in September 2019, with their mother refusing to reveal their whereabouts to authorities for many months.

One month after they were last seen alive, Tammy  an otherwise healthy 49-year-old  died suddenly. Her cause of death has since been ruled asphyxiation.

Vallow and Mr Daybell soon jetted off to Hawaii to get married on the beach.

In June 2020, the remains of JJ and Tylee were found buried on the grounds of Mr Daybells property in Rexburg, Idaho, and the doomsday cult couple were eventually charged with murder.

Prosecutors alleged that Vallow and Mr Daybell conspired with Vallows brother Alex Cox to murder Tammy, JJ and Tylee as part of their bizarre cult beliefs  but also for financial purposes so that they could collect Tammys life insurance money and the childrens social security and survivor benefits.

New harrowing and bizarre details about the cult beliefs which drove  or excused  the 49-year-old came to light during her murder trial in Ada County Courthouse.

But, beyond the trial testimony, there was also some bizarre happenings taking place inside the courtroom.

Lori Vallow falls asleep

During a harrowing day of testimony on 11 April, the woman on trial for murder raised eyebrows when she appeared to fall asleep in the middle of proceedings.

That day, the court heard harrowing testimony about the state of JJ and Tylees remains when they were found buried on Mr Daybells property.

While jurors gasped and the victims families sobbed, Vallow asked to waive her right to be present in the courtroom, citing her mental state.

The judge denied the request and Vallow had to attend the remainder of the day  where jurors were shown graphic images of the childrens remains.

She appeared to try to avoid looking at the photos, casting her head down most of the time, reporters in the courtroom said.

Then  at one point  she appeared to fall asleep.

Gigi McKelvey, a Law & Crime journalist, told NewsNation that Vallow seemed to be asleep for a solid 30 minutes.

She speculated that Ms Vallow may have been medicated after her apparent distress over the harrowing testimony.

Lori Vallows three words to her surviving son

Mother-of-three Vallow was spotted mouthing three words to her only surviving son as he took the witness stand to testify against her at her murder trial.

Colby Ryan, 27, testified about his sister Tylee and brother JJ and how his mother had lied to him about their whereabouts.

Jurors heard a phone call where Mr Ryan confronted his mother about killing his siblings and posing as Tylee on her cellphone.

When he took the stand, Vallow was seen mouthing oh my baby to her son.

Confiscated phones and noise complaints

On multiple occasions, the court bailiff aired issues with noises  from reporters typing too loudly to spectators rustling candy wrappers.

On 13 April, at least three people had their phones confiscated, including one for an alarm sounding, reported The New York Posts Stephanie Pagones.

She revealed that members of the media had also been told off for typing too loudly in the courtroom.

On 20 April, East Idaho News reporter Nate Eaton tweeted that the bailiff reminded everyone about courtroom conduct including saving any whispering for breaks and to minimize candy wrapper crinkling.

If you have a Lifesaver fetish, please open your candy now, the bailiff said.

But the bailiff seemed to win over the courtroom.

By the end of the trial, he had earned the nickname of courtroom daddy.
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Theranos fraudster Elizabeth Holmes has been ordered to repay Rupert Murdoch the entire $125m he invested in her failed blood-testing start-up, part of $452m to be paid in restitution to victims of the scam.

Holmes, 39, was also ordered by Judge Edward Davila to begin her 11-year sentence as she tries to overturn her conviction for fraud after a trial in San Jose, California, last year.

The mother of two had been due to report for prison on 27 April, but sought to delay beginning her prison sentence in a last-minute legal manoeuvre last month.

Holmes is jointly liable for the massive $452m restitution figure with her former boyfriend and Theranos executive Ramesh Sunny Balwani, who is already in prison after being convicted in a separate trial.

Judge Davila will now set a new date for Holmes to leave her San Diego home and report for prison, which is likely to be a womens prison in Bryan, Texas.

Her imminent incarceration will separate her from her husband Billy Evans, and their two children William, 1, and 3-month-old daughter Invicta.

The decisions came in separate rulings issued late on Tuesday by Judge Davila, who also oversaw her trial and sentencing.

Elizabeth Holmes has been ordered to report for prison (Associated Press)

In an interview this month with The New York Times, Holmes said she was unable to pay her $30m in legal fees.

The restitution payment to Mr Murdoch, the embattled Fox Corporation chairman, was by far the largest ordered by Judge Davila.

In an interview with the Wall Street Journal after her conviction, Mr Murdoch said being caught up in the scam was a total embarrassment.

Walmart, which invested $40m in the startup, is owed $40m, and Safeway is due to receive $14.5m.

At her sentencing in November, prosecutors said Holmes had preyed on hopes of her investors that a young, dynamic entrepreneur had changed healthcare.

They added that she he had leveraged the credibility of her illustrious board to attain spectacular fame, adoration, and billions of dollars of wealth.
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Twitter CEO Elon Musk doubled down on a conspiracy theory he lent credence to, suggesting the gunman in the Allen, Texas, mass shooting was not a white supremacist, despite his Nazi tattoos and other damning evidence.

The tech mogul made the claims during an interview with CNBC on Tuesday evening.

On 9 May, Bellingcat, an open-source intelligence research group, found that the shooter  who killed eight, including several children, according to police  held white supremacist views. The group published a report detailing the shooter's ideological leanings and evidenced those claims using the gunman's social media posts.

Bellingcat's proof included photos of the shooter with a large swastika tattoo on his chest and a Right-Wing Death Squad patch that was sewn to his body armour. The details were taken from the shooter's profile on Odnoklassniki, a Russian social media site without moderation for hate speech. The shooter reportedly had been kicked off US social media sites, according to the report.

The investigators positively identified the shooter using photos of IDs and other identifying documents the shooter shared on the social media profile.

The Texas Department of Public Safety also said that the shooter appeared to support neo-Nazi ideology. An official noted that [the shooter] had patches. He had tattoos.

None of that was enough to convince Mr Musk, who said that there was no proof to the claims and that Bellingcat "literally specialises in psychological operations." He went on to call the report "either the weirdest story ever or a very bad psyop!"

Mr Musk's deflection is a common tactic among right-wing apologists following mass shootings and other events caused by right-wing violence. Republican lawmakers initially attempted to blame the Capitol riot on left-wing agitators and later blamed the FBI; conspiracy theorist Alex Jones infamously claimed the Sandy Hook mass shooting was a government hoax; social media comments sections about right-wing mass shooters frequently include allegations that the gunmen are government assets intended to stir up support for gun confiscation.

CNBC's David Faber asked Mr Musk about his comments during their interview on Tuesday, during which Mr Musk doubled down on his stance.

I think it was incorrectly ascribed to be a white supremacist action, Mr Musk said. And the evidence for that was some obscure Russian website that no ones ever heard of that had no followers. And the company that found this was Bellingcat. And do you know what Bellingcat is? Psyops.

Bellingcat noted that it did not actually discover the Russian profile  the New York Times initially reported the profile's existence; Bellingcat just dug in further and produced their report.

Mr Musk continued, again claiming incorrectly that Bellingcat was in the business of psychological warfare.

Im saying I thought that ascribing it to white supremacy was bulls***," he said. "And that the information for that came from an obscure Russian website and was somehow magically found by Bellingcat, which is a company that does psyops.

This isn't the first time Mr Musk has dabbled in right-wing conspiracy theory; last year he signal boosted another conspiracy theory claiming that the man who attacked Paul Pelosi was actually the mans gay lover and that the incident was violence born of intimacy.
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A man suspected of stalking Prince Harry and Meghan Markle was arrested outside the couples home in Santa Barbara County, California, in the early hours of Tuesday morning.

Kevin Garcia Valdovinos, 29, was allegedly seen lurking outside the mansion in Montecito at around 2am, according to TMZ, and was booked on misdemeanor stalking charges after police attended the scene.

It is not known whether the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, or their children Prince Archie, four, or Princess Lilibet, one, were at home at the time of the incident.

However, the couple were in New York City on Tuesday evening to attend a Ms Foundation gala, where Ms Markle received the 2023 Women of Vision Award for her advocacy work on behalf of women, thanking Gloria Steinem, who presented her with the accolade, for providing inspiration.

TMZ reported that Valdovinos was released on $2,500 bail.

Just hours after reports of the alleged stalker emerged, a spokesperson said the couple had been involved in a near-catastrophic car chase involving paparazzi in New York. Meghans mother was also in the car.

Harry and Meghan have lived at the Chateau of Riven Rock, on a private road, since mid-June 2020, when they acquired the 18,000 square foot home, resting on 5.4 acres, for $14.7 million.

Chat show hosts Oprah Winfrey and Ellen DeGeneres are among their celebrity neighbours.

The couple previously suffered an intruder on the property back in December 2020, when a man, named by TMZ as Nikolas Brooks, 37, was caught tresspassing on Christmas Eve and handed a warning.

He later returned to the property on Boxing Day and was arrested for tresspassing.

The latest incident comes as a lawyer for Prince Harry argued in a London court on Tuesday that he should be allowed to challenge a government decision that denied him the right to pay for police protection when he visits the UK.

Harrys lawyer asked a judge to allow the duke to bring a legal case against the Home Office and the Executive Committee for the Protection of Royalty and Public Figures for denying him the right to personally pay for his security.

According to four security experts interviewed by Forbes after Meghan and Harrys UK-taxpayer-provided security protection was revoked, the couple are paying out around $2-3 million per year for round-the-clock security.
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A middle school teacher in Pulaski County, Kentucky, was suspended after she allowed a student to dress up as a KKK grand wizard as part of a history project.

The Pulaski County school district also launched an investigation into the incident, that will be reported to the Educational Professional Standards Board.

First and foremost, I am extremely disappointed and embarrassed by this incident, Patrick Richardson, the superintendent of the school district, said in a statement.

I would hope our school and community realise that this does not represent the character of our students and staff at Southern Middle School or our district as a whole, he said.

He also said that a video circulating of the incident had the wrong teachers contact information on it.

She is completely innocent in this matter and deserves to be treated as such, he said in the statement, referring to the contact details. I am deeply apologetic for this situation and I am taking immediate steps to address the matter.

That teacher should be ashamed of herself, Jane Leclercq, a grandparent of a student who goes to the school, told local media. Why would a teacher actually approve something like that? I dont understand, Im outraged, its ridiculous.

Community organiser Kathy Townsend said she was shocked and angered to hear about what happened.

The KKK represents hate, simple as that. This is harmful.
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The mother of a Missouri high school student suspended for recording a teacher using a racial slur in class has defended her daughters actions.

An unnamed geometry teacher was suspended and then resigned after a video shot by student Mary Walton at Glendale High School in Springfield emerged.

In the video, which went viral, the teacher can be heard asking why Black people can use the n-word but it is offensive when other people do so.

The teacher can then be heard using the word two times, with one student warning the teacher about using it and another gasping in shock.

The teenager was suspended from school for three days after being told she had violated the school districts electronic device policy.

Kate Welborn, Marys mother, slammed the school district for taking disciplinary action against her daughter, who was due to return to school on Wednesday.

I think that the amount of attention that things have gotten, that was an unexpected turn for her, and I think that she would prefer things to be a little quieter, but she does intend to return, and Im proud of her for doing that, she told CNNs Jake Tapper on Tuesday.

Tapper then asked her what message officials had been sending by taking action against her daughter for using her phone in the classroom.

I think theyre saying know your place. And I think theyre protecting the  I think theyre the adults and the status quo more than they are encouraging the students to learn or grow or apply critical thinking skills, she said.

The familys lawyer, Natalie Hull, told Tapper that they wanted the suspension removed from her clients record and an apology.

Sometimes you need to break the rules for whats right, and this rule does not have  well, one, its inappropriate use is their rule, but this would absolutely be appropriate use for a video when there is misconduct or illegal activity occurring. Indisputable and refutable evidence is absolutely beneficial in situations like this, she said.

We have a room full of teenagers, and if they had gone to the administration with only their word, who knows exactly how long an investigation would have taken? Who knows if they would have been believed? But being able to provide documented evidence such as this is absolutely essential for situations this or worse.

The school district says that it cannot specifically comment on disciplinary action taken against a student.

The teacher who was initially placed on administrative leave following the situation at Glendale High School is no longer employed by Springfield Public Schools, a spokesperson for the school district told The Independent in a statement.

Furthermore, much speculation has occurred regarding student discipline related to a video recording of the unacceptable classroom incident. Student discipline is confidential, per federal law, and Springfield Public Schools cannot disclose specifics related to actions taken.
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EDITORS/NEWS DIRECTORS:

The Associated Press is offering a video of Democratic Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear speaking about his campaign and plans for the future. Attorney General Daniel Cameron won the Republican primary for Kentucky governor and will face Beshear in November. Use the video on your websites, broadcasts, social media platforms and elsewhere.

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GET THE VIDEO

Gov. Beshear focuses on Kentucky families in campaign

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READ APS COVERAGE

Trump-backed Daniel Cameron to face Democratic Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear in November

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PUBLISH THIS

Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear sat down with the Associated Press on Wednesday to discuss his bid for second-term as Kentuckys governor.

He touted economic development, his work at the border and his response to natural disasters throughout the state.

We are at a moment of time and opportunity in Kentucky, the likes of which weve never seen. Getting picked for the largest investments of Ford and Amazon. More jobs than ever before. R&D facilities. I got to announce a steel facility in Bell County and a distillery in Fulton County on the same day. More rural jobs than weve ever seen. Now, this election for me is about seeing through this work and turning years of great economic development into decades of prosperity, Beshear said.

On Tuesday, Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron became the first Black nominee for either party in the state of Kentuckythe republican will be facing off against Beshear in the election.

Its taken far too long to have a Black nominee of either party for governor. But I think what the attorney general said last night is right, that in this campaign, people are going to judge us by our record and our values. And I know that my campaign will show those values by lifting us up, by moving us forward, by focusing on on better jobs, by living out our collective faith of being there for our neighbor and not stoking division, calling each other names and trying to turn people against each other, Beshear said.

Beshear also defended his decisions while handling the COVID-19 pandemic, something his republican opponents have been keen to use against him. He also defended abortion rights in the state and pushed back on current strict state laws.

In Kentucky, they passed a total ban that leaves victims even of rape and incest without any options. It forces women who are pregnant to carry to term, even when its not going to be viable. And theyre going to have to go through the most heart wrenching moments and know theyre going to face that for many, many months. Listen, thats wrong. And I believe the vast majority of Kentuckians believe that its wrong, Beshear said.

Beshear also said he is supporting President Biden for his bid for a second term.

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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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Ecuadorian President Guillermo Lasso on Tuesday put an end to impeachment proceedings against him by dissolving the opposition-led National Assembly, which had accused him of embezzlement.

The right-wing president, who has denied any wrongdoing, can govern for up to six months by decree under the South American countrys constitution.

The National Electoral Council now has seven days to call presidential and legislative elections, which must be held within 90 days. Those elected will finish the terms of Lasso and the lawmakers he ousted, which had been set to end in May 2025.
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President Joe Biden will not offer an apology for the United States use of nuclear weapons against Japan 78 years ago, the White House has said.

Mr Biden is currently en route to Hiroshima, the Japanese city that was the target of the first combat use of an atomic bomb on 6 August 1945, for the 2023 Group of Seven leaders summit.

He is scheduled on Friday to visit the Hiroshima Memorial Museum with the other six G7 leaders, and will participate in a wreath-laying and tree-planting ceremony with his counterparts from Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United Kingdom. The museum and memorial include the remains of the Hiroshima Prefectural Industrial Promotion Hall, the only building left standing after the bombing.

Some Japanese politicians have called for the US to offer an official apology for the Hiroshima bombing and the bombing of Nagasaki four days later. But the first US president to visit the memorial site, Barack Obama, did not apologise for the use of nuclear weapons when he visited in 2016, and the White House says Mr Biden will not do so either.

National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters aboard Air Force One that no apology would be offered in part because the event Mr Biden is attending would not be an appropriate occasion for such a gesture.

The president won't be making a statement at the Peace Memorial Park. He'll be participating with the other G7 leaders in a wreath laying and a few other events, but this is not from his perspective, a bilateral moment, said Mr Sullivan, who added that Mr Biden will attend as one of the G7 leaders coming to pay respects.

He added that Mr Biden would be doing so both out of respect for history and for Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, who entered Japanese politics as a member of the Japanese House of Representatives for Hiroshimas First District.
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Democrat Dianne Feinstein has denied that she was ever absent from the Senate after having spent months away recovering from shingles.

Last week the 89-year-old California senator, the longest-serving Democrat in the current Senate, returned after her bout with shingles and cast a vote on the floor looking noticeably thinner and using a wheelchair, reported Associated Press.

Her office said she would operate on a reduced schedule as she continued to recover.

However, while interacting with reporters from the Slate and Los Angeles Times Ms Feinstein denied that she was ever absent.

No, I havent been gone, she said to LA Timess Ben Oreskes on Tuesday when asked how her Senate colleagues have responded to her return, reported Slate.

....I havent been gone, Ive been working, she said.

Mr Oreskes then asked her whether she had been working from home.

No, Ive been here. Ive been voting, she said. Please, you either know or dont know.

Ms Feinstein faced calls to resign from her party colleagues due to questions around her cognitive abilities.

With Feinstein back in the Senate, and voting in the committee, the panel approved three federal district court judge nominations that had been stalled.

Her 10-week absence meant that the committees votes were tied along party lines and Democrats could not move forward with any nominees without Republican support.

Party colleagues including Representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and Ro Khanna of California had called for her to resign.

Ms Feinstein announced earlier this year that she would not seek re-election.

She has more than a year and a half left until her term expires in January 2025.

She also did not assume the role of Senate President Pro Tempore earlier this year, which is usually reserved for the senior most senator of the majority party.
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In recent days, social media has been flooded with videos of truck drivers claiming they are boycotting Florida after the states governor, Ron DeSantis, signed into law a strict immigration enforcement bill.

According to the social media posts, truckers across the United States had decided en masse to cease deliveries to the Sunshine State, citing the tough immigration policies. One TikToker who made a video about his own concerns about the law, sanchezmanuel33, told The Independent that he thought thousands of truckers were participating.

However, it does not appear that such a mass demonstration has been taking place as of yet.

The Florida Trucking Association, which lobbies on behalf of the states trucking industry at the Florida statehouse, was able to shed some light on the situation. The groups president told The Independent that she was aware of the TikTok videos but as of yet was not noticing any impacts on trucking businesses operating in the state.

Im aware of the reports, but have not heard of any issues, Alix Miller said.

Other news reports indicate that there were no shortages reported at grocery stores in the state as of yet. One immigrants rights advocate who spoke to a local Florida news outlet said that she had spoken to several local organisations about pulling together a possible boycott, but those plans had not materialised so far.

A series of TikTok videos quickly spread across left-leaning accounts on Twitter, boasting of a looming boycott. One TikTok video of a man recording a line of empty store shelves at a grocery store was viewed hundreds of thousands of times as evidence of shortages supposedly cropping up in the state.

Aiding the growing story was a series of TikToks from individual truckers making bold claims about how they themselves would participate in a boycott, circulated on Twitter by an independent journalist focused on the immigration beat. His thread has been viewed more than 3 million times.

Do not enter Florida. Lets support immigrants. What theyre doing in Florida is not okay. Im going to say it again, I wont enter Florida and neither will my truck. Lets not pretend like were not all immigrants here, one driver said in Spanish on TikTok.

Look at all the truck drivers here, there are long long lines. If we stand together and say F*** it, we are not going to Florida. Lets see who is going to bring (goods) to Florida? ... Theres more being imported to Florida than being exported. If we dont bring anything to Floridians, what are they going to do? Whats the governor going to do? another driver added.

Rep Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez also appeared to voice support for a trucker boycott.

Anti-immigrant policies reap what they sow. DeSantis Florida is about to find that out, she said on Twitter, adding, No mas. Time to stop biting the hands that feed.

The issue has even received media coverage: A local newspaper, the Tallahassee Democrat, covered the TikToks and explained the basics of the immigration law, adding that we dont know for sure that (drivers) are boycotting the state.

A review of various Publix locations  Floridas largest supermarket chain  across the state indicated no service disruptions or shortages, and there was no evidence on social media of any stores with empty shelves beyond the one TikTok filmed by a user named PJs Journey.

The Independent has contacted a number of grocery chains in the state and made multiple attempts to reach Publix for comment.
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Veteran political pollster and GOP messaging guru Frank Luntz says stress over not forcefully speaking out enough against former president Donald Trump led to life-threatening health consequences three years ago.

Mr Luntz, who spoke to Washington Post reporter Ben Terris for the journalists forthcoming book, The Big Break, visited a hospital in early 2020 because he felt a tingling sensation in his arm, shoulder, and face.

When doctors examined him, they told him his blood pressure was dangerously high  and said hed suffered a stroke.

Three years later, Mr Luntz told Terris he places the blame for his medical crisis on the former president.

I had a stroke because of Trump, he said, according to an excerpt of the book published in New York magazines Intelligencer section.

I didnt have the guts to speak out enough about him, and it drove me crazy. Every time I spoke out, I felt the backlash, I felt it on social media, I felt it a little bit with my clients, I felt it with my friends here, he said.

The result, he said, was catastrophic for his health.

Donald Trump made my head explode, he said.

The Independent has contacted a Trump campaign spokesperson for comment

The Republican communications expert, who first gained prominence after advising House Republicans in the run-up to their takeover of the House in the 1994 midterm elections, has previously spoken out about the effect Mr Trumps presidency had on him.

In January 2022, Mr Luntz told The Independent and other correspondents from British newspapers that hed decamped to the UK, where hed lived while studying at Oxford in the 1980s.

At the time, he said hed been in real emotional trouble when he arrived there, and as a result he wasnt able to discuss what had happened to the US over the last few years.

I still havent fully recovered from a stroke. And what goes on in this country? I couldnt talk about it, he said.
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Democratic US Rep Robert Garcia introduced a resolution on 16 May to expel George Santos from the House of Representatives after the scandal-plagued congressman refused to resign from office following a range of criminal fraud charges against him.

The privileged motion from Mr Garcia gives the Republican-controlled House of Representatives until Thursday to consider it for a vote. It is not clear when that will take place.

That vote is likely to fail in the GOP-dominated House, as House Speaker Kevin McCarthy cannot afford to lose any Republican votes in a fractured Congress.

The 34-year-old Long Island Republican and prolific fabulist, who was elected to office in November, has refused to step down following a wave of reporting that documents his false and inflated claims about his income, career and life story.

When asked by CBS News to respond to the resolutions introduction on Tuesday, Mr Santos said Democrats are really good at trying to play judge and jury and trying to hold people guilty before theyve even been given a fair shot at a trial.

Im confident that justice is blind and that its not biased like Robert Garcia is, he added.

Last week, federal prosecutors charged Mr Santos with 13 counts of wire fraud, money laundering, stealing public funds and lying on federal disclosure forms. He has pleaded not guilty.

George Santos is a fraud and a liar, and he needs to be expelled by the House, Mr Garcia said in a statement announcing his resolution.

News that federal prosecutors are filing 13 criminal charges against George Santos should have been the final straw for Kevin McCarthy, but he refuses to act, he added. Republicans now have a chance to demonstrate to Americans that an admitted criminal should not serve in the House of Representatives.

Mr Garcias one-page resolution reads: Resolved, That, pursuant to Article I, Section 5, Clause 2 of the Constitution of the United States, Representative George Santos, be, and he hereby is, expelled 4 from the House of Representatives.

A vote to table Mr Garcias motion would require a majority vote, and removing Mr Santos would need at least a two-thirds majority vote to succeed.
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Embattled Republican Representative George Santos compared Congress to the movie Mean Girls as he faces multiple federal charges and a potential expulsion vote in the House of Representatives.

Mr Santos spoke on the Macrodosing podcast and was asked what Congress was like.

Have you ever watched Mean Girls? Mr Santos asked the interviewer. Thats Congress in a nutshell. There is a mean girl there.

Mr Santos compared himself to Cady Heron, the main protagonist in the movie portrayed by Lindsay Lohan.

I dont come from a political background, Mr Santos said, despite the fact he ran for Congress in 2020 and lost before he mounted his successful campaign in the Long Island district in 2022.

Since then, multiple news outlets reported stories about the fact Mr Santos fabricated numerous aspects of his career, from his claim that he worked for Goldman Sachs and Citigroup, to his falsehood about being of Jewish heritage, to his running a fake charity.

Last week, the Justice Department announced 13 criminal charges against Mr Santos, leading to Mr Santos turning himself in and facing arrest. Specifically, the DOJ charged him with unemployment fraud and making false statements to Congress. He has since faced calls to resign even among New York Republicans and members of the House Republican Conference.

Representative Robert Garcia, a Democrat from California, filed a resolution to force an expulsion vote for Mr Santos, though it is unlikely to pass, given an expulsion requires two-thirds of the House to pass. Republicans hold a narrow majority in the House, which means they need all the GOP support they can get.

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy called on the House Ethics Committee to take up the expulsion resolution and has said he would not support Mr Santos for re-election despite previously saying he would stand by the freshman Republican.

You got to have a process, Mr McCarthy said in a news conference. So I'm going to ask that Ethics look at this.
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Representative James Comer of Kentucky was mocked during a meeting of the House Oversight Committee for saying that it lost track of an informant against the Biden family.

Mr Comers trouble began when, during an appearance on Fox News over the weekend, he told Maria Bartiromo that his committee cannot locate a key informant who allegedly had information about the Bidens familys alleged criminal activities.

Well, unfortunately, we cant track down the informant, Mr Comer said. Were hopeful that the informant is still there. The whistleblower knows the informant. The whistleblower is very credible.

Mr Comer said the informant alleged that president Joe Biden negotiated a quid-pro-quo with a foreign country in exchange for foreign aid when he was vice president, but did not provide more specific details.

Were hopeful we can find the informant, Mr Comer said later in the interview.

Word of Mr Comers trouble with the informant clearly reached Rep Jared Moskowitz of Florida, a first-term Democrat on the Oversight Committee, who took aim at Mr Comers management during a Tuesday hearing.

Youre trying to find, you know, the fake informant that youve, now has gone missing, Mr Moskowitz said to Mr Comer. I know youre busy with that, you know, but Im hoping that perhaps the Oversight Committee, if theyre so worried about, you know, federal overreach, perhaps they can start, you know, being focused on real government oversight. And with that, Mr Chairman, I yield back.

Before moving the hearing forward, Mr Comer responded to the barb.

Gentleman yields back, before I recognize Ms Boebert with respect to the missing informant, just so you know, just to clarify, the Grassley whistleblower is alive and well, Mr Comer said.

Mr Comer has used his power as chair of the powerful committee to launch an investigation into the Biden family, but has provided little information about what illicit or criminal activity the family has allegedly engaged in. Mr Comer has suggested that there have been improprieties in the familys foreign business dealings.

Mr Comer also suggested that the FBI is covering for the Biden family and that other people who want to come forward with information about Mr Biden fear for their lives.

No president has ever been accused of the things the Biden family has been accused of, Mr Comer said on Fox News.

A number of media members from outlets such as MSNBC and The Washington Post were also critical of Mr Comer in the aftermath of his comments about the missing informant, casting doubt on the substance of his allegations against the Bidens.

Mr Moskowitz, who represents the Florida district, formerly represented by Ted Deutch, has been a constant critic of Mr Comer since joining the House of Representatives and the Oversight Committee, repeatedly using his time to bring up issues he feels the committee should be investigating instead of focusing on the Biden family.

Meanwhile, the organisation Facts First USA reportedly called for an investigation into Mr Comer  arguing that he may be in violation of federal law if he is being dishonest about the alleged informant.
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Lauren Boebert has denied a claim that her husband flew into a rage and set his dogs on a man after he was served with divorce papers.

The Republican from Colorado called the claim by a process server in the state who handed the divorce papers to Jayson Boebert a complete lie.

The allegations were made in an affidavit, which stated that Mr Boebert was drinking a beer out of a glass and was cleaning a gun when he was served at his home in Silt, Colorado, last month, reported The Daily Beast.

Now Boebert has bashed the claims in a text message to the outlet.

Jayson doesnt sit around cleaning guns and he certainly doesnt drink beer out of a glass, just as much as he doesnt drink Bud Light, she said, referencing the recent right-wing controversy.

She added that the dogs were already out in the yard when the papers were served.

Our divorce is a private matter, but the misrepresentations must be addressed, Ms Boebert added. Jayson deserves his privacy, not slanderous stories.

Ms Boebert announced on Tuesday that she was ending her marriage.

It is with a heavy weight on my heart that I have filed for divorce from my husband, the Colorado congresswoman said in a statement.

I am grateful for our years of marriage together and for our beautiful children, all of whom deserve privacy and love as we work through this process. Ive always been faithful in my marriage, and I believe strongly in marriage, which makes this announcement that much more difficult.

This is truly about irreconcilable differences. I do not intend to discuss this matter any further in public out of respect for our children and will continue to work hard to represent the people of Colorados 3rd Congressional District.

Ms Boebert and her husband, Jayson, have been married for more than a decade and a half. They live in Silt, Colorado with their four sons and operated a restaurant in nearby Rifle until last summer, when the businesss lease was not renewed.

A staunch conservative and outspoken Christian, Ms Boebert announced in March that her 17-year-old son and his girlfriend were expecting a baby, making her a grandmother at 36.

The MAGA supporter re-won her seat in November after the race between the mother-of-four and Aspen Democrat Adam Frisch became so close that it forced a recount. Mr Frisch has launched a second campaign to unseat her.

Ms Boebert, along with Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor-Greene, is one of the most caustic and controversial stars of the GOP, following along the vein of the 45th presidents brand of politics. Mr Frisch targeted her national presence, arguing that she seemed far less concerned about matters within her district.

He ran on a moderate platform; in the end, the congresswoman kept her seat by just 546 votes.

Mr Frisch continued: Ranchers and farmers in western and southern Colorado are pragmatic, and they dont see a representative thats doing the job that they want to see happen, Mr Frisch told The Independent one day after announcing his new campaign earlier this year.

He said the campaign chose to announce early on 14 February because the momentum that we had from the last campaign was still there and because he believes any possible Boebert course correction ... its pretty solidified that its not happening.

He outlined three hurdles that we had last time: We had a short period of time, we had very low name recognition, and even though we raised more money than she did  during July through the end of the campaign  she had more money saved up than we did.

And and I think if we had another quarter million dollars or another two weeks of the race, we probably would have won, Mr Frisch told The Independent. And I think if the race would have been run a week later, we would have won.
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Republican Congressman Matt Gaetz has been called out for body-shaming musician Lizzo while asserting that beer companies sell more product when they feature bikini-wearing models in their advertisements.

Mr Gaetz joined Newsmax host Chris Plante and others on the show The Right Squad on Tuesday night when the group spoke about a new advertisement from Miller Lite.

The ad, which features comedian Ilana Glazer, condemns the beer industry for objectifying women by advertising products with women in bikinis.

It comes just weeks after Bud Light was criticised for using transgender social media star Dylan Mulvaney in their advertisements.

But Mr Gaetz thinks the beer industry should stick to its old marketing techniques.

I dont think its crazy to say good-looking women in bikinis sell beer  like nobody wants to buy beer from Lizzo, Mr Gaetz said.

Lizzo, whose real name is Melissa Jefferson, has faced intense body-shaming since her rise to fame. The musician has advocated for body inclusion and promoted body positivity through her music and presence on social media.

We watched Anheuser-Busch torch their valuation and now Miller Lite is saying quite literally hold my beer, Mr Gaetz added.

When asked for comment, Mr Gaetzs office told The Independent that the congressmans comment speaks for itself.

Anheuser-Busch, the parent company of Bud Light, saw a drop in revenue after using Ms Mulvaney in their advertising. Online, people boycotted the beer and company.

The company later apologised for including Ms Mulvaney in its marketing, saying they never intended to be part of a discussion that divides people.

Before Mr Gaetz could add any more commentary, other hosts jumped in to defend Lizzo.

I think Lizzo is attractive, co-host Jason Nichols said.

Mr Gaetz responded, Are you buying beer from her?

Mr Nichols said, Im not buying beer from somebody in a bikini anyway.

Mr Gaetz then indicated that he has purchased beer based on the way somebody in an advertisement looks.

On Twitter, journalist Jason Campbell posted the video, which received negative reaction from people.

Matt Gaetz body shames Lizzo. I have a few words for Matt Gaetz: Everyone hates you, so theres that, former NBC executive Mike Sington wrote.

If I ever started drinking again, Id buy whatever beer Lizzo told me to buy, another Twitter user said.

What a horrible statement for a horrible, strange man, one person tweeted.
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A combative three-judge panel at one of the most conservative courts in the country grilled attorneys for the federal government and a drug manufacturer as anti-abortion activists continue a legal battle to overturn the governments approval of a widely used abortion drug.

On 17 May, the case against mifepristone returned to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans, where attorneys for the US Department of Justice and drug manufacturer Danco Laboratories faced skeptical Republican-appointed judges hearing oral arguments in a case that could upend abortion care for millions of Americans.

Within seconds of her opening argument, Justice Department attorney Sarah Harrington was interrupted by Judge James Ho, a Donald Trump appointee, who challenged her description of the legal challenge against the drugs approval by the US Food and Drug Administration.

I dont think theres ever been any court that has vacated an FDA determination that a drug is safe to be on the market, she replied. FDA can make that determination based on exercising its own scientific expertise, but its not a courts role to come in and second-guess that expertise.

Why not focus on the facts, Judge Ho said, rather than this FDA can do no wrong theme.

The judges repeatedly interrupted Ms Harrington and appeared sympathetic to the plaintiffs: an anti-abortion group represented by influential right-wing legal group Alliance Defending Freedom, whose senior counsel Erin Morrow Halley  the wife of Republican senator Josh Hawley  baselessly asserted that medication abortion is particularly dangerous.

Judge Jennifer Walker Elrod, who was appointed by George W Bush, also took a moment to chastise lawyers for their unusual remarks in filings objecting to the widely derided lower-court decision from a former right-wing activist attorney who was appointed to the federal bench by Mr Trump.

Judge Elrod suggested their criticisms amounted to personal attacks and suggested that the attorney retract the statements and apologise.

Those statements reflect our view that the district court was very outside the bounds, said Jessica Ellsworth, an attorney for Danco. I dont think those remarks, any of them, were intended as any personal attack.

The judges are not expected to rule immediately. But a decision from the panel judges  each with a history of support for abortion restrictions  is likely to return the case to the US Supreme Court, which has paused any action on mifepristone until the legal challenge plays out.

In her arguments, Ms Hawley conflated the risk of serious complications from mifepristone  which is less than 1 per cent  with the risk that a medication abortion failed and would then require medical attention.

Her arguments suggested that doctors are enduring a moral harm by providing abortion care, without evidence that doctors have been forced to do so, while also claiming that the FDA illegally approved the drug when it was approved more than 20 years ago.

The judges repeatedly questioned the FDAs approval process for mifepristone, which plaintiffs argued was done too hastily through an expedited process that is typically reserved for treating serious or life-threatening illnesses. But the FDA did not do that with mifepristone; it took years of study before the FDAs approval.

The part of that process that the agency invoked for mifepristones approval allowed the FDA to add safety restrictions, such as a requirement that physicians be able to diagnose ectopic pregnancies.

But judges appeared to argue that because pregnancy is not an illness, mifepristone should not have been approved through that process at all, repeating plaintiffs false claim that the FDA called pregnancy a life-threatening illness.

When we celebrated Mothers Day, were we celebrating illness? Judge Ho said at one point.

Erin Hawley, lead attorney with Alliance Defending Freedom, discusses the groups challenge to mifepristones FDA approval outside the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans on 17 May. (AP)

The arguments today demonstrated in detail that the case has no legal or scientific merit and should have been laughed out of court from the very start, Jennifer Dalven, director of the ACLU Reproductive Freedom Project, said in a statement.

Unfortunately, the deck is stacked as the judges hearing this case are well known for their extraordinary hostility to abortion, she added. The whole point of the case is to prevent anyone in America, no matter where they live, from using a medication that has been safely used in this country for decades and is used in most abortions today.

Major medical groups and research from hundreds of studies over the last two decades have confirmed the overwhelming safety and efficacy of the drug, one of two drugs used in a two-drug protocol for a medication abortion, the most common form of abortion care in the US. Studies show it is as safe to use as common over-the-counter pain relievers like ibuprofen and acetaminophen, and the protocol for medication abortion is used in more than 60 other countries.

The drug was first approved by the FDA in 2000 and is approved for use up to 10 weeks of pregnancy. A vast majority of abortions occur within the first nine weeks of pregnancy. From 2019 through 2020, nearly 93 per cent of all abortions were performed before the 13th week, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

(REUTERS)

Mifepristone is also used to treat miscarriages. Roughly 10 per cent of clinically recognised pregnancies end in miscarriages, according to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.

The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and the American Medical Association also joined a brief in the challenge opposing arguments from anti-abortion groups.

Last year, Alliance Defending Freedom filed a lawsuit in US District Court in Amarillo, Texas on behalf of a group of anti-abortion activists incorporated as the Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine, which was organised that same month with an address in Amarillo.

The Alliance Defending Freedom also led the challenge at the Supreme Court that ultimately struck down Roe v Wade.

In April, US District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk  a former right-wing activist lawyer who was appointed to the federal judiciary by then-President Trump  issued a ruling to suspend the FDAs approval of mifepristone, which was immediately challenged by abortion rights advocates, providers, major medical groups, drug manufacturers and the Biden administration.

An appeal landed at the Fifth Circuit court, which has jurisdiction over the Amarillo court. A three-judge panel blocked a part of the judges ruling, and a subsequent ruling at the Supreme Court paused the lower-court ruling as the legal challenge continues.
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For three months, a group of Nebraska lawmakers have ground nearly all legislative business in the state to a halt, grabbing the nations attention with a remarkable filibuster to stifle a bill that would end gender-affirming care for young transgender people.

Late Tuesday, 16 May, Republican lawmakers broke through, advancing a bill that not only bans gender-affirming care for trans people under 19 years old but also tacks on an amendment to outlaw abortion after 10 weeks of pregnancy and hands the states GOP-appointed medical officer the authority to set the rules for affirming care for trans youth.

Lawmakers approved the amended version of legislative bill 574 by a vote of 33-14. The measure will go to a final round of votes before it heads to the desk of Republican Governor Jim Pillen, who intends to sign it into law.

Hundreds of protesters filled the capital in Lincoln, standing outside the doors and in the gallery above lawmakers while chanting one more vote to save our lives; only one senator would have had to defect from supporters of the bill to kill the legislation.

The vote  on the 78th day of a 90-day session  followed a series of manoeuvres that opponents argued were bending and breaking the rules of the state legislature to hammer through the legislation and avert the filibuster, which would allow opponents to occupy their allotted time to speak the bill to death.

What you are attempting to do today is the lowest of the absolute lows, state Senator Machaela Cavanaugh, who spearheaded the filibuster, told Republican lawmakers.

You literally have to cheat at every moment of this debate in every possible way  You are allowing it to happen, she added. You do literally have blood on your hands, and if you vote for it, you will have buckets.

State Senator Megan Hunt, the first openly LGBT+ member of the state legislature and the mother of a trans child, lambasted lawmakers for their escape routes from the capitol to avoid facing protesters.

If you cant go out and face them, you are not worthy, she said. Your legacy is filth.

In a statement following the vote, Governor Jim Pillen called the bill an important step to protect the future of the states children.

Hundreds of people filled the Nebraska Capitol in Lincoln on 16 May chanting one vote to save our lives in protest of a measure targeting abortion rights and gender-affirming care for trans youth. (AP)

Opponents of the bill forcefully opposed the inclusion of an abortion ban in a bill targeting gender-affirming care, two wholly separate issues combined into one, but you all dont care, Ms Cavanaugh told Republican lawmakers.

You dont care about due process, you dont care about the people of Nebraska, she added. All you care about is the governor.

Abortion rights advocates and transgender rights advocates have frequently underscored the fact that anti-abortion measures and legislation targeting LGBT+ people are driven by the same lawmakers and activist groups, relying on similar arguments to restrict access to healthcare, with measures that have dominated state capitals across the country over the last few years.

Lawmakers initially were set to only debate the gender-affirming care bill, which already went through two of three rounds of debate and votes. But legislative rules prohibit amendments on a final round, and opponents of the bill planned to filibuster through all two hours of debate to continue to block it.

Last month, the filibuster blocked a measure from anti-abortion lawmakers to ban abortion at roughly six weeks of pregnancy. Attaching another anti-abortion measure, this time at roughly 10 weeks, gave proponents of the bill a second chance of both advancing an anti-abortion law and the gender-affirming care ban, marrying two controversial measures to get to the necessary 33-vote threshold to advance.

In February, Ms Cavanaugh vowed to burn the session to the ground if the ban on gender-affirming care advanced, launching an epic filibuster that blocked every bill until the measure was withdrawn or defeated.

State Senator Kathleen Kauth, an Omaha Republican who proposed the bill targeting gender-affirming care, said the amended version would protect children from what she called a social contagion.

Kids deserve the right to grow up and not deal with this until they are adults and can make informed decisions, said Ms Kauth, who did not mention the fact that such decisions are made with families and their doctors.

The anti-abortion measure provides no exceptions for pregnancies with fatal fetal anomalies and does not explicitly protect doctors who perform abortions from criminal prosecution.

What is wrong with you? said Ms Hunt, calling the combined bill a desperate attempt to institute an abortion ban that is unpopular, unnecessary, and unsafe.

More than a dozen states, mostly in the US South, have severely restricted or effectively outlawed abortion in the year after the US Supreme Court struck down Roe v Wade, which affirmed a constitutional right to abortion access.

Nebraskas legislation also joins a nationwide campaign that has seen hundreds of bills aimed at LGBT+ people, particularly at young trans people, filed in nearly every state within the last two years.

At least 15 states have enacted laws or policies banning gender-affirming care for young trans people, and more than a dozen others are considering similar measures. Court injunctions have blocked bans from going into effect in three states.

More than half of all trans youth in the US between the ages of 13 and 17 are at risk of losing access to age-appropriate, medically necessary and potentially life-saving gender-affirming healthcare in their home state, according to the Human Rights Campaign.

The onslaught of legislation and volatile political debate surrounding the bills have also negatively impacted the mental health of an overwhelming majority of young trans and nonbinary people, according to polling from The Trevor Project and Morning Consult. A separate survey from The Trevor Project found that 41 per cent of trans and nonbinary youth have seriously considered attempting suicide over the last year.
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An alleged white nationalist who pledged his loyalty to Nick Fuentes has reportedly been working for US Rep Paul Gosar for nearly two years.

Social media accounts, photographs and posts on far-right platforms and other websites uncovered by Talking Points Memo and researchers who study far-right movements have connected congressional staffer Wade Searle to accounts belonging to a prominent and prolific Fuentes acolyte.

The Republican congressman from Arizona has previously tried to evade ties to Fuentes, a 24-year-old neo-fascist pundit seen as the leader of an authoritarian groyper movement of mostly young men.

In February 2021, Mr Gosar delivered a keynote address at the America First Political Action Committee conference hosted by Fuentes, marking the first appearance of a sitting member of Congress at the event, and he appeared to defend a fundraiser for his congressional campaign advertised by Fuentes later that same year.

Unfortunately, this seems to be part of a pattern for Congressman Paul Gosar, according to a statement with the Republican Jewish Coalition shared with The Independent. Nick Fuentes is a vile antisemite who trafficks in nauseating Jew hatred ... Fuentes brand of bilious rhetoric has absolutely no place in the Republican Party or in the halls of Congress.

Mr Searle is allegedly behind accounts across several social media platforms promoting content affiliated with the so-called groyper movement, according to a trove of evidence reviewed by Talking Points Memo, Arizona Right Wing Watch and The Informant. Photographs on those accounts also appear to show Mr Searle posing with Fuentes and other far-right influencers at a Stop The Steal rally in Phoenix, Arizona, in 2020.

During a House Oversight Committee hearing on 16 May, Democratic US Rep Jasmine Crockett of Texas lambasted reports that a staff member who is working for a Republican on this committee who has ties with and supports a white nationalist who has proclaimed himself to be just like Hitler.

I dont really know what to say, except for the fact that this is a farce, she said.

Kyle Herrig, executive director of activist watchdog group the Congressional Integrity Project, has also called the committees chair James Comer to remove Mr Gosar and demand that Mr Gosar fire Mr Searle.

The American people deserve better than to have white supremacists running around the halls of Congress as members and staffers, Mr Herrig said in a statement.

Comer continues to claim he is trying to conduct credible and serious investigations with the House Oversight Committee, but his tacit acceptance of white supremacists completely contradicts his claims, he added. If James Comer had a single ounce of integrity or credibility in his body, he would demand Rep Gosar fire his staffer and remove Gosar from his committee.

Mr Searle was first hired by Mr Gosar in November 2021 and has been working as his digital director since May of last year.

Mr Gosar, one of the most far-right members of Congress, has not yet addressed the findings on social media or otherwise. Fuentes also has not discussed the report; he said he was not feeling well on Monday night and did not go on his livestream.

Mr Gosar, Mr Searle and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy did not return The Independents requests for comment.

Mr Gosar, a seven-term congressman, has a long history of ties to conspiracy theories and far-right extremism, including a social media presence that amplifies white supremacist and neo-Nazi-linked content and memes.

The same month that Mr Searle was hired, Mr Gosar was censured by House lawmakers and removed from his committee assignments after a video posted to his Twitter account edited himself into the anime Attack on Titan beheading Democratic US Rep Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

After Republicans won a majority in the House in the midterm elections last year, Mr Gosar was reinstated to his committee assignments.

Alan Zeichick, board chairman for the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Phoenix, said in a statement to the Arizona Republic that the revelations are neither shocking nor surprising.

Rep Gosar remains an embarrassment to the state of Arizona, he added. This certainly isnt the first time Rep Gosar has embraced neo-Nazis. We presume it wont be the last.

The organisations president Paul Rockower said any statement from Mr Gosar claiming to affirm his support for Jewish people would be meaningless at this point.

We are tired of his gaslighting, he told the Arizona Republic. There have been way too many of these incidents for us to believe it and we dont accept it.

The Anti-Defamation League said the revelations from Talking Points Memo deserve a congressional investigation.

If true, its deeply disturbing that [Mr Gosars] digital director is reportedly behind a secret Groyper army account and an active supporter of white supremacist leader Nick Fuentes, the group said in a statement.

This needs a full investigation, the group stated. Hate and extremism have no place in government  at any level.
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Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley became the latest conservative to back Daniel Penny, the ex-Marine charged in the killing of Jordan Neely on a New York City subway.

Ms Haley has called for Mr Penny to be pardoned by the states governor, Kathy Hochul, to prevent law enforcement authorities from prosecuting him for the choking death of Neely, 32, on a subway earlier this month.

Neely, who was experiencing homelessness and was reportedly complaining to passengers on the subway on 1 May about hunger and dehydration, had not physically attacked anyone on the train or shown any kind of weapon before being placed in a chokehold by Mr Penny.

Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley (Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

But, some reports have indicated that some passengers felt endangered by his emotional outbursts before the violence unfolded.

The shocking death has polarised the United States as many see it as an example of the brutality, lack of compassion, and unprovoked violence with which Americas unhoused and mentally ill adults are treated by the population at large.

Many others, like Ms Haley and her fellow conservatives such as Florida Gov Ron DeSantis, instead view the killing as the logical result of a growing issue of houselessness in American cities and towns that they argue is going unaddressed by urban (read: Democratic) leaders and contributing to a crisis of mental illness.

They have argued that Neelys death was a tragic but unforeseen result of a citizen being forced to defend themselves and others from a supposed crime surge they believe is centred in American urban metropolises.

US Marine veteran Daniel Penny (C) is walked out of the New York Police Department 5th Precinct in Lower Manhattan, May 12, 2023 on his way to a arraignment after he surrendered to authorities after being charged with 2nd Degree Manslaughter in the chokehold death of Jordan Neely. (AFP via Getty Images)

Ms Haley made her comments about Neelys death on a local New York radio show, Cats and Cosby, hosted by GOP billionaire megadonor John Catsimatidis. The New York Post first reported her remarks.

Military members, they are trained to defend and protect. Thats what [Mr Penny] was trying to do, she argued.

The former governor continued: I actually dont think we need to just get behind Penny. I think we need to tell the governor she needs to pardon him. We need to pardon him because what he was doing was trying to protect other Americans.

Jordan Neely was an accomplished Michael Jackson impersonator. (GoFundme)

Her remarks served to subtly escalate the support for Mr Penny that was first raised as a presidential campaign issue by Ron DeSantis in the preceding days; Mr DeSantis is thought to be prepping a bid for president and is currently the only Republican polling in the double digits in surveyed hypothetical matchups with Donald Trump.

As governor of South Carolina, Ms Haley won the support of many conservatives in the Republican establishment; however, her hard right turn under the presidency of Donald Trump was not convincing either for her now-former supporters in the #NeverTrump sphere as well as the base of Trump-loving GOP voters she has thus far failed to tap into for her 2024 bid.

Mr Penny voluntarily surrendered to authorities earlier in May and was charged with second-degree manslaughter.
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The US Supreme Court declined to block a law in Illinois banning assault weapons like the AR-15 and similar rifles.

The state passed a law banning the weapons after seven people were killed last year during a mass shooting in Highland Park.

The law is currently facing legal challenges, but the Supreme Courts decision ensures the law will still be in effect while those cases are litigated.

The bill was previously blocked in another case by a federal judge, but the 7th US Circuit Court of Appeals put that judge's decision on hold, according to NBC News.

The law, which was enacted in January, prohibits any weapon falling under its definition of "assault weapon." That definition includes the AR-15 and similar rifles, which have been used in numerous mass shootings. Illinois' law also bans large capacity magazines that hold more than 10 rounds of ammunition for rifles or more than 15 rounds for handguns.

Individuals who already own the banned weapons can continue to own them legally under the new law.

There have already been several challenges to the law at the state and federal levels. Robert Bevis, a gun shop owner in Naperville, Illinois, has sued to overturn a local ordinance banning assault weapons as well as the state's law. He argues the laws infringe upon the US Constitution's Second Amendment.

Illinois ois one of 10 states with a ban on assault weapons.

Earlier this year, the Supreme Court declined to block another assault weapons prohibition, that time coming from New York.
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Donald Trump lauded the recently released report from special counsel John Durham regarding the 2016 FBI probe into the Trump campaign for its Russia ties, blasting political enemies as scum and cockroaches all over Washington.

The Durham Report spells out in great detail the Democrat Hoax that was perpetrated upon me and the American people, the former president wrote on Truth Social on Monday, calling it the Crime of the Century!

Mr Durham, whose report came out on Monday, was appointed by the Trump administration in 2019 to investigate the origins of the FBIs Trump-Russia investigation, which was already scrutinised by a 2019 investigation by the Justice Departments inspector general.

The Durham report ultimately recommended no new charges and featured information that was already mostly known, failing to uncover the kind of sweeping conspiracy Mr Trump and conservative politicians have alleged was behind the original Russia investigation.

During the four-year special counsel investigation, Mr Durham only brought a few cases, most of which failed. The only conviction so far has been an FBI lawyer, who pleaded guilty to doctoring an email used to secure a surveillance warrant against a former Trump campaign adviser. The plea involved no prison time. Two other cases  one against, Michael Sussman, a lawyer who passed a tip to the FBI about a potential link between Trump and a Russian bank, and another against Igor Danchenko, a researcher behind the Steele dossier  both ended in acquittals.

However, the Durham report was sharply critical of the FBIs handling of the Trump case, arguing the agency suffered from confirmation bias and let raw, unanalyzed and uncorroborated intelligence fuel a probe into the Trump campaign.

It faulted the FBI for offering the Clinton campaign a defensive briefing when it suspected a foreign entity of trying to buy influence over the campaign, while not offering similar treatment to the Trump campaign, and the report recommended the FBI create a position to scrutinise and challenge major steps taken in politically sensitive investigations.

The special counsel report acknowledged there was no question the F.B.I. had an affirmative obligation to closely examine the Trump campaign in the summer of 2016, after an Australian diplomat tipped off the agency that the campaign seemed to be aware in advance that Russia would released damaging, potentially hacked, info about the Clinton campaign.

A 2019 inspector general report from the DoJ previously investigated the Russia investigation, finding no documentary or testimonial evidence of intentional misconduct, but arguing the FBI failed in handling information used to secure wiretaps, including relying on parts of the Steele dossier even though there were reasons to doubt its credibility.

The FBI said in a statement this week to The Washington Post that the 2019 inspector general report was the reason that current FBI leadership already implemented dozens of corrective actions, which have now been in place for some time.

Had those reforms been in place in 2016, the missteps identified in the report could have been prevented, it argued. This report reinforces the importance of ensuring the FBI continues to do its work with the rigor, objectivity, and professionalism the American people deserve and rightly expect.
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President Joe Biden would be vaulted to a massive lead over Donald Trump if the former president faces further criminal charges from the federal and state criminal investigations into his conduct, according to a new poll obtained by The Independent.

The poll of 1,571 registered voters was conducted by WPA Research, a Republican polling firm. The CEO of WPA is an adviser to Never Back Down, the Super PAC supporting Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, but the survey was conducted independently without his input and was not sponsored by the Super PAC.

It found that voters currently prefer Mr Biden over Mr Trump by a margin of 47 per cent to 40 per cent, including a 14-point lead for the sitting president among registered Independents.

Thats five points worse than the nine-point deficit among Independents that led to Mr Trump losing to Mr Biden in 2020.

The twice-impeached ex-president would also be a drag for down-ballot Republicans if he appears on the top line of a 2024 general election ballot, with Democrats holding a five-point advantage on a generic congressional ballot, 47 per cent to 42 per cent.

Although the WPA poll found dismal polling results for Mr Trump at the time of the survey, his chances of beating Mr Biden would become even more remote if he were to face charges from the state and federal prosecutors currently weighing whether to seek indictments against the ex-president.

According to the survey, the seven-point deficit between the former and current president would grow by 10 points if he is indicted by Fulton County, Georgia, District Attorney Fani Willis, the prosecutor who supervised a special grand jury probe into Mr Trumps efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss in the Peach State.

Were Ms Willis to successfully seek an indictment against Mr Trump from a grand jury, Mr Bidens advantage would grow to ten points, 49 per cent to 39 percent.

Among Independents, Mr Trumps deficit would grow to 21 points, with 50 per cent saying theyd vote for Mr Biden if he is indicted in Georgia compared with 29 percent who said theyd vote for the ex-president.

The investigation into Mr Trumps alleged unlawful retention of classified documents would put him in slightly more electoral peril if the prosecutor overseeing that probe, Special Counsel Jack Smith, convinces a grand jury to approve charges against the former president.

If Mr Smith successfully obtains an indictment against Mr Trump, he would face an 11-point deficit against Mr Biden, who would lead him by a margin of 50 per cent to 39 per cent.

Mr Bidens advantage among Independents would be 21 points strong, 50 per cent to 30 per cent.

The survey did find that 68 per cent of Republicans would definitely vote for the ex-president if he is indicted in either case, but Mr Bidens margin against him would nonetheless grow because Mr Trump would lose five percentage points of support from GOP voters.

Losing five per cent of Republican support would give Mr Biden two more percentage points of support from GOP voters, rising from five per cent to seven per cent.

Mr Trumps share of GOP respondents who said theyd probably vote to give a second term also falls from 13 per cent to nine per cent if he is indicted in Georgia, and the number of currently undecided self-identified GOP voters would increase from nine to 10 per cent if he is indicted in Georgia, with that number growing to 11 per cent if he is indicted by a federal grand jury;

Amanda Iovino, a Principal at WPA, said in a statement that Mr Biden would be spared a much-needed one-way trip to Delaware if Mr Trump ends up the GOP nominee in next years general election.

Contrary to what one may hear on Truth Social, Trumps indictment, in either the pending Georgia or federal cases, would energize Democrats, not Republicans, potentially producing the worst loss for a GOP presidential candidate in 60 years. In the process, Republicans would lose control of the House and forego pick-up opportunities in the Senate, she said.
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Former president Donald Trump is taking credit for the US Supreme Court overturning Roe v Wade last year by claiming he nominated the justices who did not agree with the 1973 precedent.

On Tuesday nights episode of Rob Schmitt Tonight on Newsmax, Mr Trump compared his action against abortion to Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, saying he has done more for pro-life people.

First of all, Im the one that got rid of Roe v. Wade and everybody said that was an impossible thing to do, Mr Trump boasted.

Mr DeSantis recently signed into law a six-week ban that prevents anyone from seeking an abortion after six weeks of gestation, with the exception of cases where ending a pregnancy would save the mothers life.

As of now, Florida allows abortions for pregnancies involving rape or incept until 15 weeks of gestation, so long as the mother can provide documentation such as a restraining order or police report.

But despite Floridas harsh move to restrict abortion access, Mr Trump believes he should be receiving more credit for the work hes done.

What Ive done is given the pro-life people, who are wonderful people and loving people, Ive given them the power of negotiation. Because now theyre able to negotiate something that is going to be very important, Mr Trump said.

During his presidential term, Mr Trump nominated three Justices to the Supreme Court - Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett.

All three Justices joined the majority opinion of Dobbs v Jackson last summer to help overturn Roe v Wade as well as Planned Parenthood v Casey. This returned the legality of abortions to each state individually.

As of May 2023, 19 states have banned abortions either fully or restricted until a certain week of gestation, including Florida.

DeSantis, or Ron Desanctimonious as I call him, he came out with the six weeks  other people agree with and a lot of people dont, Mr Trump said.

The former president used Mr DeSantis recent ban to highlight how unpopular he is with female voters  indicating the ban is too restrictive.

Ron, if you take a look, hes losing women voters like crazy, Mr Trump said before citing several news stories about Mr DeSantis unpopularity with women.

The former president has been comparing himself positively to Mr DeSantis in the last few months as rumours are swirling that Mr DeSantis is preparing to announce his bid for Republican presidential candidate.

I dont do it for the women, for the men, I do whats right, Mr Trump added.

It is thought that Mr DeSantis could be a leading contender for Republicans, making him a possible threat to Mr Trumps campaign.

As of recently, any opportunity Mr Trump has to criticise Mr DeSantis, he takes it  as evidenced by the Newsmax interview. Mr Trump both credited himself with overturning Roe v Wade while asserting that Mr DeSantis was unpopular with women due to Floridas six-week ban.

Mr Trump has changed his opinion on abortion throughout his life. In the 1990s the former president claimed he was pro-choice but by 2015 he told reporters he was pro-life.

In 2016, Mr Trump said he would have preferred if abortion were up to the States but accepted the federal law.

After implementing the three Justices who overturned Roe v Wade last year, Mr Trump took credit for the decision. But since then, the former president has never made it clear at what point in gestation abortions should be illegal.
 Close Donald Trump Jr accidentally says his father has the charisma of a mortician in bungled attack video

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Prosecutors in Mr Trumps criminal case in Manhattan have shared a recording of the former president speaking to a witness with Mr Trumps legal team, according to CBS News.

The witness hasnt been identified, a document made public by the prosecutorial office on Friday stated.

The document is known as an automatic discovery form and outlines the charges that a defendant is facing and also provides an overview of the evidence gathered against Mr Trump thats set to be put forward at trial or at a preliminary hearing.

Meanwhile, as competition builds for the Republican Partys 2024 presidential nomination, Mr Trumps other legal woes continue to mount as a maintenance worker has made a shocking claim about the handling of classified documents at Mar-a-Lago.

The worker recalled helping to move boxes into a storage room just one day before the Department of Justice visited Mar-a-Lago seeking the papers, reported The New York Times.

The worker didnt know what the boxes contained at the time.
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The share of Republicans who support childhood vaccine requirements has dropped significantly since before the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, a new survey from Pew Research has found.

In 2019, 79 per cent of Republicans favoured requiring children to be vaccinated to attend public schools. Now, that number has fallen to just 59 per cent  all while the number of Democrats who support vaccine requirements for public schools has remained unchanged at around 85 per cent.

The falling level of support for vaccine requirements among Republicans speaks to the ways in which vaccinations became politicised during the Covid-19 pandemic, when visible conservative and far-right figures spread conspiracy theories about Covid-19 vaccines and downplayed the seriousness of the virus the shots protect against.

The declining Republican support for vaccinations for public school attendance means that the overall number of Americans who support such requirements has fallen to 70 per cent from 82 per cent in 2019.

One of the most significant drivers of the decline in support for vaccine requirements for children is a change in viewpoint from white evangelical Protestants. Fifty-eight per cent of respondents from that group said they were in support of the requirements, down from 77 per cent in 2019.

White evangelical Protestants were overwhelmingly supportive of Donald Trump in the last two presidential elections, with surveys estimating that around 80 per cent of those voters supported Mr Trump in the 2020 race.

The Pew survey also found broad concerns with the Covid-19 vaccine. While 62 per cent of Americans say the benefits from the vaccines outweigh the potential risks, just 45 per cent of Americans say that the vaccine has high preventative health benefits  even though Covid vaccines are believed to have saved 20 million lives worldwide in the first year since it was introduced in 2020. 58 percent of people believe the risk of side effects from the vaccines is medium or high.

Sixty-nine per cent of Americans have received the two-dose initial Covid vaccines, but just 17 per cent of Americans have receved a bivalent booster shot. The US has a lower full vaccination rate than a number of its industralised peer nations. Democrats and people with college degrees are more likely to be vaccinated in the US.

On the whole, Americans are still broadly supportive of a number of childhood vaccines  with a particularly strong belief in the benefits of the standard vaccinations against measles, mumps and rubella (MMR).

Americans views on vaccines have been under scrutiny since the beginning of the pandemic, with data showing that the kindergarten vaccination rate dropped slightly this year.
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The fire at a hostel in Wellington that killed at least six people, is suspected to be an act of arson, the New Zealand police said on Wednesday.

A fire erupted on the top floor of the Loafers Lodge hostel in the suburb of Newtown in the early hours of Tuesday, causing major structural damage that is hampering recovery efforts.

Dozens of people escaped safely from the building, with some having to be rescued from the roof, officials said there were still less than 20 people unaccounted for.

The investigation was delayed until Wednesday afternoon when police said investigators hoped to enter the 92-room building to identify the dead.

Police have opened a homicide inquiry into the suspected act of arson.

"This scene examination will be an extensive and methodical process, and we expect it to take some time, likely several days," acting Wellington district commander Dion Bennett said in a statement.

"I can confirm that we are treating the fire as arson."

There were "less than 20" people still unaccounted for, he said, adding that 92 people have been accounted for. As it stands, [the death toll] is still at six, Mr Bennett said.

When asked if an accelerant or petrol was used to start the fire, he said, "I dont know for sure".

Fire and Emergency New Zealand (FENZ) assistant national commander Bruce Stubbs on Tuesday had said that the blaze was being treated as "suspicious".

A burnt out window is seen at the Loafers Lodge hostel in the aftermath of a fire in the suburb of Newtown (AFP via Getty Images)

The hostel provided accommodation for construction workers, hospital staff and those serving sentences in the community for minor crimes, among other people.

A local charity said that many of the hostel's residents had been vulnerable people under its care, describing the fire as "an absolute disaster".

Even though the cause of the fire is not known so far, police said there was a couch fire late on Monday, two hours before the fatal fire, but it was not reported to emergency services at the time.

"We will be seeking to confirm any link between that couch fire and the subsequent fatal fire," Mr Bennett said.

Authorities had earlier on Wednesday deemed it safe for police to enter the building. "The next step for us is going through and ensuring that there isn't anybody else in there and obviously working with police to investigate and support them in the removal of the six people," Mr Stubbs told Radio New Zealand.

Prime minister Chris Hipkins told reporters at parliament that the government will review whether building regulations for accommodations are fit for purpose.

I have asked the minister for housing to look particularly at issues around building regulation, to see whether there is anything we should be doing right at this point, Mr Hipkins said. He said a friend of his from university was among the missing.
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At least five people have died and thousands have been evacuated after northern Italy was hit by devastating floods overnight, officials have confirmed.

Authorities also warned that the rainfall is not over and urged people to get to higher ground amid fears that rain-swollen rivers would again burst their banks.

The Emilia-Romagna region of the southern European country was hit particularly hard, forcing the evacuation of 24 towns after 14 rivers burst their banks.

The rainfall is not over, it will continue for several hours, the deputy head of the Civil Protection Agency, Titti Postiglione, told the SkyTG24 news channel.

We are facing a very, very complicated situation.

(AFP via Getty Images)

Italian Civil Protection Minister Nello Musemeci said five people were confirmed killed by flooding and several others were missing.

Around 5,000 people have been evacuated, while 50,000 have been left without electricity and more than 100,000 without cell phone or landline use.

The flooding has also led to this weekends Emilia Romagna Grand Prix being called off.

Around 5,000 people have been evacuated (REUTERS)

The potentially worsening situation prompted Enzo Lattuca - the mayor of the badly affected city of Cesena - to warn today that continued downpours in Emilia-Romagna could flood the Savio River and smaller tributaries for a second day.

Speaking on Facebook, he urged residents to move to the upper floors of their homes and avoid low-lying areas and riverbanks.

The situation could again become critical, he said. We cannot in any way lower our guard.

Mr Musemeci said he hoped those still reported missing would turn out to be false alarms.

However there are fears that the death toll could rise after Ms Postiglione confirmed that rescue operations were particularly difficult given that so many roads and routes were flooded.

Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni, who spoke while travelling home from the G-7 meeting in Japan, said the government was monitoring the situation and was prepared to approve emergency aid.

Pedestrians walk in a flooded street of the San Rocco district (AFP via Getty Images)

The days of heavy rain across a broad swath of northern Italy and the Balkans also caused apocalyptic floods, landslides and evacuations in Croatia, Bosnia and Slovenia.

In the Balkans, the swollen Una River flooded parts of northern Croatia and north-western Bosnia, where authorities announced a state of emergency.

The mayor of the Bosnian town of Bosanska Krupa said hundreds of homes had been flooded.

We have an apocalypse, Amin Halitovic told the regional N1 network.

We can no longer count the flooded buildings. Its never been like this.

Dozens of landslides were reported in eastern Slovenia. In Croatia, hundreds of soldiers and rescue teams continued bringing food and other necessities to people in flood-hit areas.
 Close G7 summit: Zelensky and Fumio Kishida lay wreaths at Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima

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Russia is plotting a large-scale provocation at a nuclear power station it occupies in the south-east of Ukraine to disrupt a looming counteroffensive, Kyivs military intelligence has said.

A statement from the intelligence directorate of Ukraines Defence Ministry claimed Russian forces will strike the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, the biggest in Europe, and report a radioactive leak in order to trigger an international probe that would pause the hostilities and give them the respite they need to regroup.

In order to make that happen, Russia disrupted the rotation of personnel of the permanent monitoring mission of the UNs International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) that was scheduled for Saturday, the statement said.

It did not offer evidence to back up any of the claims, while the IAEA said it did not have any immediate comment on the allegations, and Russian officials did not immediately comment.

This comes after Dmitry Medvedev, who is Russias security council deputy chairman, alleged the West was not fully realising the threat of nuclear war.

Meanwhile, Volodymyr Zelensky said at least one person was killed and 15 were injured in a Russian missile strike on a clinic in Dnipro on Friday.
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The announcement that Britain and the Netherlands are forming an international coalition to get Ukraine F-16 fighter jets is a significant step in the prolonged quest by Volodymyr Zelenskys government to acquire the aircraft.

Rishi Sunak and the Dutch prime minister, Mark Rutte, want to ensure, says Downing Street, that allies will provide Ukraine with combat air capabilities, supporting with everything from training to procuring the warplanes and stress that Ukraines rightful place is in Nato.

The British government stated in February that it would begin training Ukrainian pilots to standard Nato techniques, and Downing Street stated this week, during President Zelenskys visit, that the plan was to build a new Ukrainian air force with Nato-standard F-16 jets.

The RAF does not have F-16s, using the Eurofighter Typhoon and Lockheed Martin F-35B Lightning as the main strike aircraft instead. The F-16s, also made by Lockheed Martin in the US, are, however, widely used by other Nato member states, and around 3,000 are in service with 25 countries around the world.

Former Warsaw Pact states which have become Nato members have supplied Ukraine with Russian-origin MiGs and Sukhois. The Ukrainians, however, say that the F-16 is far more effective. General Serhiy Holubtsov, the head of the Ukrainian Air Force, said last month that the American planes are four or five times better the F-16 is a fighter that has become a multirole aircraft which can fulfil the entire spectrum of airborne tasks. The MiG-29 unfortunately, is an aircraft from the last century.

One advantage of F-16s would be to enhance Ukraines ability to shoot down incoming Russian missiles  Kaliber cruise, Kinzhal hypersonic, and repurposed S-300 anti-aircraft missiles  and drones like the swarms of Iranian-built Shaheeds. That is rather than depending on ground-based anti-aircraft defences. The reported damage to a Patriot system through a Kinzhal strike shows the vulnerability of even the most advanced anti-missile systems.

The Biden administration, however, has refused so far to authorise the transfer of F-16s to Ukraine. One reason given is that it will take months to train pilots for the aircraft. The Ukrainians maintain that timeframe can be much shortened. Two Ukrainian pilots training to fly F-16s at an American military air base in Tucson, Arizona, are making fast progress, US officials acknowledge, and others may join the trial scheme.

Phil Breedlove, a former US Air Force general who was Natos supreme allied commander Europe, pointed out: One thing which is absolutely consistent is that we always overestimated how long it will take Ukraine to assimilate and learn to employ the Western weapons we gave them In fact, they taught us how to use better the counter-battery radars we gave them after the 2014 Russian invasion.

Robert Emerson, a British security analyst, added: Just look at how quickly the Ukrainians have adapted to the sheer amount and variety of weapons they have been sent from different countries in this war. The fact is that when youre fighting for your countrys survival, you learn very quickly. Ukraine has highly experienced pilots, they wont need the same time as rookies.

The real reason why Washington is reticent about supplying Kyiv with F-16s, many observers believe, is fear of escalation. But such fears have always preceded the eventual sending of advanced Western weaponry during the conflict, and Russian threats of retaliation have remained just that  threats.

Britains supply of Storm Shadow missiles, with the Ukrainian pledge they wont be used to attack inside Russia, may lead the US to also authorise longer-range missiles. The F-16 coalition may also pave the way for the aircraft President Zelensky says his country desperately needs to defend our skies and protect our people.
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The UK has said it is up to the White House ultimately to decide on whether to send F-16 jets to Ukraine. Ben Wallace, the defence secretary, made the comments after talks with Boris Pistorius, his German counterpart, in Berlin, adding that Washington has to decide whether it wants to release that technology.

Mr Pistorius said that it depends on the White House... to decide whether the F-16 fighter planes can be delivered given that any movement of the US-made aircraft would require American approval. About 25 nations use the multirole jets.

It shows that there is still work to do to make the international coalition of jets that the UK and the Netherlands have said they want to build a reality. Ukraine has said that modern jets from the West are vital to protect the nation from Russian rocket attacks and to reclaim territory taken by Russia in a long-expected counteroffensive. In an address to the more than 40 nations of the Council of Europe on Wednesday, Ukraines president Volodymyr Zelensky said: Of course, there is still much to be done. We need additional air defence systems and missiles. We also need modern fighter jets, without which no air defence system will be perfect. And I am sure we will get there.

This was all part of the web of diplomatic efforts on Wednesday around the invasion of Ukraine. Turkey announced an extension of the deal allowing Ukraine to export millions of tonnes of grain through the Black Sea a day before it expired.

The deal between Ukraine and Russia was agreed last July  with the help of the UN and Turkey  following fears of global food shortages as a result of Moscows invasion. Ukraine is one of the worlds top producers of grain, but its access to ports in the Black Sea were initially blocked by Russian warships following the start of the invasion. The deal has been renewed several times since last July, but Moscow had initially appeared unwilling to extend the pact this time unless a list of demands regarding its own agricultural exports was met.

Antonio Guterres, the UN secretary general, hailed as the extension as good news for the world after Turkish president Tayyip Erdogan announced the renewal in a televised speech. The UN chief said outstanding issues remain but discussions would continue. Ukraine welcomed the extension but a senior official said Russia must not be allowed to sabotage the agreement and must stop using food as a weapon and blackmail.

We welcome the continuation of the initiative, but emphasise that it must work effectively, Ukraines deputy prime minister Oleksandr Kubrakov said on Facebook.

Meanwhile, in Kyiv, Ukraines foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba told a Chinese envoy that his country would not accept any proposals to end the war with Russia that involved it losing territory or freezing the conflict. Li Hui, Chinas special representative for Eurasian affairs and former ambassador to Russia, met Mr Kuleba the ministry said in a statement. The visit is the first to Kyiv by a senior envoy from China, which has burgeoning ties with Russia, since Moscows full-scale invasion in February 2022.

Kuleba briefed the special envoy of the Chinese government in detail on the principles of restoring a sustainable and just peace based on respect for Ukraines sovereignty and territorial integrity, the ministry said. He stressed that Ukraine did not accept any proposals involving the loss of its territories or the freezing of the conflict.

The senior Chinese officials trip to Europe is expected also to include talks in Russia, Poland, France and Germany  with Beijing seeking to play the role of peace broker. However, given the close relationship between China and Russia and the fact that Beijing has refused to directly condemn Moscow for the invasion, Western nations, led by the US, have questioned Chinas credibility.

On the ground, Ukraines military said it had made new advances on Wednesday in heavy fighting near the eastern city of Bakhmut, and that Russia was continuing to send in new units, including paratroopers.

The remarks were the latest by Kyiv in the past week to indicate that Russian forces have been pushed back in some areas around Bakhmut  control of which has taken on symbolic significance for both sides  after months of bloody combat.

We are successfully conducting a defensive operation, counterattacking and during this day our units have penetrated up to 500m in some parts of the Bakhmut front, military spokesperson Serhiy Cherevatyi told Ukrainian television.

Ukraine and Russian also traded accusations over a rocket attack on Kyiv early on Tuesday. Kyiv denied that a Russian hypersonic missile  one of Moscows most advanced weapons  had destroyed a US-made Patriot missile defence system that arrived in Ukraine a few weeeks ago.

Russias defence ministry made the assertion on Tuesday after an overnight air attack on the Ukrainian capital. US officials later suggested that a Patriot system had probably suffered damage but that it did not appear to have been destroyed.

I want to say: do not worry about the fate of the Patriot, Ukrainian air force spokesperson Yuriy Ihnat told Ukrainian television.

The Patriot system is one of an array of complex air defence units supplied by the West to help Ukraine repel Russian airstrikes. Kyiv claimed to have shot down six hypersonic missiles during Tuesdays assault.

In Russia, hypersonic missile scientists have said they just do not understand how to continue to do our job after a number of their colleagues were accused of treason.

Three Russian academics who have worked on hypersonic missile technology face very serious accusations, the Kremlin said on Wednesday, responding to an open letter from Siberian scientists published on Monday, defending the men.

We know each of them as a patriot and a decent person who is not capable of doing what the investigating authorities suspect them of, the letter said.

President Vladimir Putin has boasted that Russia is the global leader in hypersonic missiles, capable of travelling at speeds of up to Mach 10 (more than 7,000mph) to evade enemy air defences.

Asked about the letter, a Kremlin spokesperson said: We have indeed seen this appeal, but Russian special services are working on this. They are doing their job. These are very serious accusations.

Reuters and Associated Press contributed to this report
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Former Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes may have again stalled the date by which she must report to prison by filing another appeal of her fraud conviction.

Holmes was convicted by a federal jury of defrauding Theranos investors last year and was sentenced in November to just more than 11 years in prison.

Holmess attorneys asked that she be allowed to remain free on bail while she appeals her conviction, but a judge declined that request and ordered her to report to prison on April 27.

Former Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes alongside her boyfriend Billy Evans, walks back to her hotel following a hearing at the Robert E Peckham US Courthouse on 17 March, 2023 in San Jose, California. (Getty Images)

Now, though, it seems the disgraced tech star might not have to begin her prison sentence until June at the earliest.

On Monday, her attorney filed a new motion of appeal of her conviction  after which Holmes was granted an immediate stay of her prison-report date, according to NBC Bay Area.

The state has 21 days to respond to the appeal, after which Holmess defence team will have a further three weeks to file a final motion. After the final motion is filed, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals will consider her legal fate.

The appeal filed this week is considered a longshot, but while that process is ongoing it is believed that Ms Holmes will remain free unless a judge orders her to report to prison.

Holmes was back in the news last week after The New York Times published a long-form profile of her that was panned by a number of readers for its tone and credulity.

Some critics, including the poet and essayist Hanif Abdurraqib, noted that Black people convicted of felonies are rarely given the same space to pitch their reformations to the media that the profile gave Holmes.

Much of the article focused in part on Holmes as a mother. The former CEO gave birth to her first child in 2021 and her second child sometime around the beginning of 2023.

Holmess former romantic partner and business partner Ramesh Sunny Balwani was sentenced to just under 13 years in prison on conspiracy and fraud counts for his role in the Theranos situation. He began serving his prison sentence last month.
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Elon Musk faced backlash for arguing that people who worked from home were morally wrong because it was unfair to those who could not work remotely.

In an interview with CNBCs David Faber on Tuesday, Mr Musk described the people working remotely as laptop classes, saying that the issue extended beyond productivity concerns.

He likened the concept of working from home to a quote often attributed to Marie Antoinette, the last queen of France before the French Revolution.

I think that the whole notion of work from home is a bit like the fake Marie Antoinette quote, Let them eat cake, Mr Musk said. Its not just a productivity thing. I think its morally wrong.

Mr Musk criticised the hypocrisy of expecting service industry workers to go to work while others had the privilege of working from home.

Get off the goddamn moral high horse with the work-from-home bulls**t, he said.

People building the cars, servicing the cars, building houses, fixing houses, making the food, making all the things that people consume. Its messed up to assume that, yes, they have to go to work, but you dont he said.

Its not just a productivity thing, I think its morally wrong.

The tech mogul has been a fierce advocate of return-to-office policies. He imposed a strict policy in Tesla in June 2022, warning employees that they would lose their jobs if they did not comply.

The policy required employees to spend a minimum of 40 hours in the office a week and anything less would be phoning it in.

The laptop class is living in la-la land, he said.

Mr Musks comments on work-from-home culture generated a divided response on the internet, with many lashing out at him.

Being one of the worlds richest man, @elonmusk sounded tone deaf when he himself expects ppl to eat cake rather than share his wealth. @davidfaber just sounds like a boomer with his productivity whining. Ppl are as productive and engaged working from home - if not more, a Twitter user said.

Another user, Lora Kolodny, pointed to another CNBC report which said Tesla will carve out deals for exceptional employees amid the companys hardline policy to return to work. The report, which cited sources, said Tesla was struggling to bring all its employees back to the office due to a lack of resources.

Uhhh - REALLY!? Because as far as I know, Tesla and Twitter under Musks management will grant exceptional employees right to work from home. Memba this? Ms Kolodny said.

In the hour-long interview, Mr Musk also said he did not care for the consequences of his unfiltered and unabashed views on Twitter even if it meant incurring financial losses.

Ill say what I want to say, and if the consequence of that is losing money, so be it, he said.

He added that Twitter will attempt to rehire some of its staff after dramatically firing employees following his controversial takeover of the microblogging platform. He acknowledged that the job cuts were too deep.

Desperate times call for desperate measures Unfortunately, if you do it fast, there are some babies who will be thrown out, Mr Musk said, adding there is a possibility of rehiring people who were let go.
A Nebraska State Senator battled tears as she spoke up for abortion and transgender rights in the chamber.

Megan Hunt, the first openly LGBT+ member of the state legislature and the mother of a trans child, lambasted lawmakers as protesters chanted against a bill that would end gender-affirming care for young transgender people and tacks on an amendment to outlaw abortion after 10 weeks of pregnancy.

You know what theyre chanting out there? I just got it. Theyre chanting one more vote to save our lives, Ms Hunt said.

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Emergency services airlifted residents to safety from the roof of a house as extreme flooding hit Emilia Romagna in Italy on Wednesday, 17 May.

The extreme weather prompted the cancellation of the F1 Grand Prix weekend in Imola as flood water surrounded the circuit, with teams and personnel told to evacuate.

Italian authorities have placed the Emilia Romagna region under a red warning due heavy rain and rising levels of the Santerno river.

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Seven people were arrested on drug-related charges after a police raid at a home in Elyria, Ohio.

Footage shared by the Elyria Police Department shows officers searching the home and making multiple arrests on 6 May.

Suspects were found in the basement and the attic, while another was found hiding in a clothes dryer to try and avoid arrest.

Officers seized Fentanyl, Methamphetamine, Cocaine, Marijuana, Xanax, hypodermic syringes, and other drug paraphernalia inside the home, a statement from police said.

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It is estimated that 60,000 new homes could be built on state-owned properties and land

Some sites, including Cathal Brugha Barracks in Dublin, are considered difficult to develop by the Land Development Agency. Photo: Robbie Reynolds

The Land Development Agency has received 525m from the Government in recent weeks, filings with the Companies Office show.

The agency was established in 2018 to use land in public control to provide affordable and social homes across the country. It currently has about 5,000 homes at the design, planning or construction phase.

The agency has just received a 275m cash injection from the Government, the filings show.

It comes on the heels of a 250m cash boost the Land Development Agency received from the Government in February.

They are the first cash payments in return for shares in the agency that have been received by the body since it was incorporated as a company in late 2021.

In March, a report submitted by the agency to Cabinet estimated that 60,000 new homes could be built on state-owned properties and land.

It took years for the report to be compiled and published by the agency.

The sites it has identified are all over the country and include properties that have been used by companies and entities including the ESB, the Defence Forces, the Central Bank and Dublin Bus.

However, some sites have no utility connections and others, including Cathal Brugha Barracks in Dublin, will be difficult to develop, according to the agency.

Since its inception, the Land Development Agency has already initiated planning and development of thousands of housing units, including those in a number of strategic housing projects.

Those projects include the future development of a site at Inchicore in Dublin that contains land owned by CIE, the ESB, and the Office of Public Works. Another project in Limerick plans a major development at Colbert Station in the city. It could deliver 2,800 homes as well as commercial and public spaces.

The agency is also in the process of developing homes at sites including Columb Barracks in Mullingar and St Kevins Hospital in Cork.

It is also currently advancing plans for nearly 1,000 homes on the site of the former Central Mental Health Hospital in Dundrum, south Dublin.

Filings with the Companies Registration Office show that the Government, by way of the Public Expenditure Minister Paschal Donohoe, injected the 275m in cash into the Land Development Agency at the end of April this year, and 250m in February.
The Irish shop was one of 155 opened worldwide in 2022, the majority of which were in China

Globally, in 2022, the Danish-headquartered Lego recorded sales of 64.6bn Danish krone (8.68bn). Photo: Fan Jianlei via Getty Images   VCG via Getty Images

The new Lego store on Dublins Grafton Street recorded average weekly revenues of over 213,000 last year.

Last August, scores of Lego fans queued for the much-anticipated opening of Lego's first dedicated retail store here.

Now, new accounts show Lego Ireland Ltd has translated that enthusiasm into cash after the firm recorded revenues of 4.05m last year.

The 4.05m works out at average weekly revenues of 213,547 for the 19 weeks trading since August 18 last year.

The new store features Legos new retail platform which blends physical and digital experiences in an immersive way, and also allows shoppers to create personalised products.

The directors state Lego opened its first brand retail store in Ireland last August and overall, it was a very satisfactory period for Lego Ireland Ltd.

They state they are satisfied with the financial performance for the period as the firm recorded a gross profit of 1.53m after cost of sales totalled 2.52m.

After administration expenses of 1.43m are taken into account, the firm recorded an operating profit of 94,572.

Net interest payments of 85,771 resulted in a modest pre-tax profit of 8,801. The company paid corporation tax of 5,611 resulting in a post-tax profit of 3,190.

The profit takes account of non-cash depreciation costs of 87,127 and inventory write down of 22,068 along with foreign exchange losses of 16,701.

The accounts show that in May of last year, three months prior to opening, the firm received a capital contribution of 699,950 from its parent company, Lego A/S.

On the companys going concern status, a note states that the entity has profitable operations and has no liquidity concerns.

The note does state that "the current economic conditions continue to create uncertainty, particularly over the level of demand for the companys products.

The accounts put a book value of the firm's property of 3.58m at the end of December last year and 1.92m on the firms fixture, fittings and equipment.

At the end of December last, the firm employed 42 people. The company's shareholder funds totalled 703,190 while its cash funds totalled 146,529.

Globally, in 2022, the Danish-headquartered Lego recorded sales of 64.6bn Danish krone (8.68bn).

In 2022, the company opened 155 shops worldwide with around half of them in China.
US semiconductor company Analog Devices (ADI) will invest 630m in a new research and manufacturing facility at its European regional headquarters in Limerick.

The construction of the new centre, which will be located in Raheen Business Park, is expected to add 600 new jobs to its current Irish workforce of 1,500.

The investment will fund the building of the new 45,000 sqft centre at the groups Irish base.

ADI reported that the opening of the new facility will also triple the overall wafer production capacity of the site.

The new investment is planned as part of a collaboration related to the European Unions Important Projects of Common European Interest related to microelectronics and communication technologies.

These projects link EU countries to drive projects that are deemed of value to the EU economy. The first such project on microelectronics commenced in 2018 and will be completed next year.

The second phase is in the final stages of approval and is aimed at achieving semiconductor supply chain sovereignty, with Ireland one of 20 EU member states participating.

ADI has been active in Ireland since 1976.

Last year, ADI also invested 100m in an innovation centre at its Limerick centre.

The facility, which is known as ADI Catayst, spans 100,000 sqft at the companys Limerick campus.

ADIs main European research and development centre in Limerick has generated more than 1,000 patents since its inception, the company reported.

Since 1976, Ireland has been a critical innovation centre for ADI, thanks to its strong academic and research organisations, business ecosystem, and progressive government leadership, ADI chief executive and chair Vincent Roche said.

This massive 630m investment is great news for local employment with lots of jobs being created during the construction phase, and 600 high-end graduate jobs, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said.

He pointed to an increase in new roles announced by companies located in Limerick in recent years due to its deep talent pool, universities, airport and infrastructure.

This investment will also mean lots of spin-off jobs and contracts for local SMEs and Irish-owned businesses, he added,

IDA Ireland chief executive Michael Lohan described the announcement as a transformational investment for the mid-west region.

He added that the facility provides an opportunity to strengthen our supply chain resilience for advanced semiconductor processes.

Founded in 1965, ADI generated revenues of around $12bn (11bn) in its latest financial year.

The company, which is headquartered in Wilmington, Massachusetts, employs a total of 25,000 people globally, including 3,100 in Europe.
A Spy Among Friends: Five out of Five stars

THE title of six-part drama A Spy Among Friends (RTE One, Tuesday) has a distinct tang of John Le Carre about it, even though its not based on a novel by the late, great master of espionage fiction.

Its an adaptation of a non-fiction book by popular historian Ben Macintyre, whose bestsellers have lately provided rich pickings for both film (Operation Mincemeat)and television (SAS Rogue Heroes).

A Spy Among Friends is by some distance the best Macintyre adaptation weve seen so far. Produced by ITV and Sony Pictures, it premiered in the UK on new streaming service ITVX (formerly ITV Hub) just before last Christmas.

Its due to go out on ITV1 some time this year, so full marks to RTE for snapping it up for its first showing on terrestrial television  although Id have preferred to see it placed somewhere other than the 11.20pm graveyard slot.

But if, like me, you have an unlimited appetite for old-school Cold War spy thrillers full of men in overcoats and hats, secrets being passed on inside rolled-up newspapers, conversations in coded language, meetings in smoky rooms and stuffy, wood-panelled old boys clubs, and lots of murkily atmospheric locations, this is one worth staying up late for.

The story of Kim Philby, a member of the Cambridge Five spy ring whod been operating as a Soviet double agent for decades before his defection to the USSR in 1963, has been told on screen several times, but never with as much style and star power as it is here.

Or money, for that matter. Sonys dollars have been well and truly splashed on a production that hops between multiple locations  London, Istanbul, Beirut, Ohio, Moscow  and features impeccable period detail.

Guy Pearce oozes charisma as Philby, whose charm and erudition  not to mention his unimpeachable establishment credentials  went a long way in covering up the fact that he was passing information to the Soviets while steadily rising through the ranks of the intelligence service.

Like Le Carres masterpiece Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, A Spy Among Friends unfolds through recollections, in this case those of Philbys best friend within the closed, clubby world of espionage, SIS agent Nicholas Elliott (an outstanding Damian Lewis), whose world was turned upside down when Philbys treachery was revealed.

Philby betrayed queen and country. He betrayed his fellow intelligence operatives, condemning who knows how many of them to their deaths.

But the betrayal that hurts Elliott the most is the personal one. How could Philby have done what he did? Hes tormented, too, by his inability to see what was happening, when it was happening in plain sight.

Im not always a fan of multiple timelines, yet the structure works perfectly here as the drama shifts between the past and the then-present, between the pre-betrayal years, when Philby and Elliott met on the first night of the Blitz, and the post-betrayal ones, when Elliott, sent to Beirut to bring Philby back to London with the promise of immunity from prosecution and a nice life in the countryside in return for confessing everything hed done, instead let him slip through his fingers and defect to the USSR.

Anna Maxwell Martin, who plays Lily Thomas. Photo: Rob Youngson/Sony Pictures   Rob Youngson/Sony Pictures Telev

All the major figures inA Spy Among Friends are real, with one notable exception: Lily Thomas, played by the wonderful Anna Maxwell Martin. Shes the person charged with questioning Elliott at his debriefing.

Thomas is a fictional composite of several real people, but shes an essential addition and the key to the effectiveness of the drama.

Whip-smart and working-class, and not about to put up with the snobbery and condescension of Elliott and his ilk, shes the perfect counterpoint to these upper-crust spies, who live in a world rife with betrayal, double-cross and deception, as well as no small degree of self-deception.

As Thomas grills Elliott about how he let Philby get away, he gradually realises hes under suspicion too. At the same time, Philby is facing similar interrogation in Moscow, where its feared he might have been turned by the British.

Crisply written by Alex Cary, this is TV drama from the top drawer, superbly acted by the three leads.

A Spy Among Friends continues on RTE One on Tuesdays at 11.20pm
A new study by Dublin City University has identified the different levels of abuse and hostility female journalists in Ireland face online  and how the violent threats can often creep into real life.

From relentless targeting online to stalking on the streets, female journalists in Ireland face up to 15 different types of harrassment on social media and in real life, according to a new study published this week by Dublin City University.

Social media and online hostility: Experiences of women in Irish journalism, a report by Dr Dawn Wheatley from DCUs School of Communications, was launched on Tuesday, and documents the experiences of many high-profile journalists in the country.

Findings, which were anonymised for the report, ranged from name calling  I was wearing hoop earrings in the video. And, excuse the language, someone called me a wh*re for wearing them  to outright threats of violence  They sent me an image of my Photoshopped face on a body on top of a pile of people being burnt.

In 2022, 36 journalists on the island of Ireland were interviewed for the study, all from a range of national publications, as well as some smaller, more local papers. Five focus groups followed, with 40 students of journalism in Dublin City University, NUI Galway, and University of Limerick.

The way the abuse is hurled at you  theyll always throw in typical woman or whinger or something like that"

The report, and many of its participants, highlighted that online abuse is something male and female journalists experience, but that the gendered aspect of much of the hostility is creating more of an issue for women in the newsroom.

As one participant noted, The way the abuse is hurled at you  theyll always throw in typical woman or whinger or something like that.

The 15 types of encounters outlined in the report highlight unwanted sexual or romantic propositions, comments on appearance, violent language, and threats to journalists safety, as well as general anti-journalist sentiment or targeting based on the nature of the story written.

The report notes how as many journalists appear on television and radio segments, they are opened up to a new audience  who now have a visual of the person and a platform to discuss them on. As one participant experienced after a television appearance, comments were made about the size of my lips, the size of my arse, my eyebrows. About the jewellery I wear, the way I talk, the class that I am.

The same journalist shared how assumptions are made and aspersions are cast based on her appearance, that she must be a honeypot who sleeps with politicians and other journalists to further her career.

But as one journalist highlighted, its generally not about what youve written, its not about your ability to do your job  its purely about who you are.

The study found that the abuse online can come in waves depending on the news cycle or what was being discussed. Some respondents noted that Covid-19 was a turning point, for others it was the abortion referendum.

One journalist noted how she uses some of Twitters mute or limit reply functions if a story has the potential to be inflammatory: I turn my replies off because it doesnt matter what youre saying, either side of the spectrum, the political spectrum, are going to be like, You shouldnt be writing this.

The report outlined, however, how sometimes simply switching off isnt enough for some journalists, as the line between digital and real life is blurred by hostile followers. One noted a Tweet that popped up as she was arriving at the office from someone who had been consistently harassing her:

It said Oh, I just saw you on that street wearing blah, blah, blah, looking great today, looking sexy or something. And thats exactly where Id just been. So that person had just seen me. And that really freaked me out because that was real life. That was that person  who had been harassing me for a few weeks  suddenly saying, I just saw you on the street so I could have gone up to you.

Many wanted to highlight how they were lucky not to have experienced worse. Yet what they then outlined was anything but innocuous. I mean, a lot of it was kind of generic with me. I think just being accused of being a liar, or the word hack being used or, Youre just a shill for government information. That kind of stuff is what I tend to get more. I mean, Ive got some pretty bad emails, a couple of emails Ive gotten called stupid b*tch or something like that.

Dr Wheatley writes about the concern that this culture of abuse could have a chilling effect on women in the field, turning them away from pursuing careers in the industry. Ultimately though, the general consensus among all participants was a refusal to be portrayed as a victim, or to leave journalism altogether.

You can read the full report here.
Taoiseach suggests Irish supports for asylum seekers could soon be aligned with those of EU so there is no pull factor

An extra 350 beds for asylum seekers, including for some who are currently rough sleeping, are to be put in place over the next week.

Integration Minister Roderic OGorman said people may have preconceptions about international protection applicants and those fade away once asylum seekers settle into communities.

However, he said accommodation for asylum seekers at Magowna House in Inch, Co Clare, which has been the subject of protests in recent days, must be used.

His comments come as Taoiseach Leo Varadkar suggested that Irelands social supports for asylum seekers could soon be aligned with the rest of the EU so that there is no pull factor to attract them to this country.

Speaking in Iceland this evening where he is attending an EU summit, he said: What we're trying to do when it comes to the kind of support and offering that we have (in Ireland) is to align them with other European countries so that they're roughly the same.

He added that this was because if somebody is seeking asylum, we want them to apply in the first safe country that they arrive in, and not to be moving around in different countries because different countries may have different offerings. So we should try to align them across the European Union.

Asked if this could involve time-limiting certain supports like accommodation or welfare payments, Mr Varadkar said: It does depend on the circumstances because depending on your status, you're entitled to different things.

He added: What we've tried to do as much as we can, is to align them (social supports) with other European countries and with the UK so that we don't have what they call a pull factor, where people leapfrog over other countries to apply for asylum, for example, in Ireland.

Meanwhile Mr OGorman said he held a meeting with Co Clare politicians earlier today in which he made it clear that the accommodation at Mogowna House must be used in light of the pressure that the system is on right now.

We are hoping over the course of the next week to open, to make available about an additional 350 beds in a number of centres around the country. This will allow us offer accommodation to a significant number of international protection applicants, including some who are currently rough sleeping, he added.

Independent.ie previously reported that Mr OGorman was willing to meet the protestors in Inch, Co Clare. He said this is now something he wants to advance.

Often I know people have preconceptions about international protection applicants, I think often when they meet after accommodation has been established for a while, I think those preconceptions fall away.

Thats happened all over the country, both with IP applicants and with Ukrainians and I believe that can happen in Inch.

Junior minister at the Department of Integration, Joe OBrien, said that once contracts for accommodation at properties are signed, we have to move fast in moving asylum seekers in.

That timelag between when the contract is signed and when it is opened is quite short - it can be a couple of days, can be a week, he said.

Therein lies the problem, that problem relates to the fact that people can just be on the streets, so when we get the contract signed, we have to move fast.

Mr OGorman held a video call with local politicians this morning to discuss the situation at Magowna House.

More than 30 asylum seekers arrived at the hotel in recent days and the Government moved to clarify they are staying in three holiday homes beside Magowna House, a former hotel.

Clare-based Fine Gael senator Martin Conway called for an immediate end to the protest.

"The blockade is wrong and should be abandoned immediately. I support legitimate protest and there are ways and means of protesting," he said.

"But you cannot blockade people from going to where they are living."

Fianna Fail TD Cathal Crowe, who took part in the meeting this morning, said he understands a meeting between the minister and protestors will now happen.

Mr OGorman is also understood to have told the meeting that he did not have any personal involvement in organising the contract for Magowna House and that his officials carried out this work instead.

Mr Crowe said he raised concerns about the woeful lack of information and told the meeting that there has been a withholding of information.

He said there are around 20 other accommodation facilities in Clare which currently have Ukrainians living in them and that there is no media commentary around them as they are in the main, located in good places and the people being accommodated are very well looked after.

It doesnt appear that [the minister] is going to rescind or revoke the contract [with Magowna House], said Mr Crowe.

There is currently one bus that brings the asylum seekers in and out of the accommodation and this is set to be improved, according to the minister.

Locals protesting have also raised concerns about fire safety certs at the accommodation.

It is understood the meeting heard this would be resolved in two weeks.

Mr O'Gorman listened to concerns raised by local representatives, particularly around transport links and communications with the local community, said a spokesperson for the minister said.

He agreed to continue dialogue and work towards a solution that will work for all concerned.

Tourism Minister Catherine Martin today said there has been a whole government approach since day one to the accommodation crisis.

What we see unfortunately when you have the amount of people coming in such vast numbers unfortunately there will be accommodation shortages, she said.

"We are traditionally known for our cead mile failte and I really do think communities across the length and breadth of our country have shown solidarity.

Ms Martin said there is a right to peacefully protest, but urged people to remember the horrific circumstances that many refugees and asylum seekers have come from.

"I think rather than blockades or rather than these protests, its better to tease out the issues and engage.

She defended the lack of notice that some communities might be given regarding the accommodation of asylum seekers in their local area, adding the opportunities arent there when accommodation is found quickly.

The ideal scenario would be to communicate in advance, she said, though added this was not always possible when the priority is quickly finding shelter for them.

Earlier today the Taoiseach toughened his language on the Magowna asylum seeker blockade - but stopped short of calling on the protesters to disperse.

Leo Varadkar said nobody gets to have a veto on who lives in their area and the Government has to stand up to the small minority of people who hold racist views.

Mr Varadkar said yesterday the blockade wasn't necessary, and it was put to him in Iceland today that this was a lily-livered response.

The Taoiseach replied in Reykjavik today: Well, I do think the blockade is wrong. Nobody should have their free access over public roads stopped in that way.

Locals block access to accommodation provided for asylum seekers in Co Clare

But I also don't want to dismiss the fact that sometimes people in local communities do have genuine concerns that need to be listened to.

"And that's why there is going to be an engagement today involving the minister (Roderic OGorman) and also local reps, to give communities the information and the reassurance that they need.

He added: It's not a veto. Nobody gets to say who can or cannot live in their area. And we can't have that kind of situation. But I think we shouldn't dismiss concerns that people have about their locality.

People do want to know what's happening. They want certain assurances and we have a responsibility to do that. But that doesn't mean that anyone can say that certain types of people cant live in their area. We can't tolerate that.

The Taoiseach was asked if he was calling for those carrying out the blockade to disperse pending the talks, and to go home.

Lets see how the talks go today, he replied.

Ill be speaking to Minister Roderic OGorman later on today. And I'm confident that we'll be able to get to a situation whereby we'll be able to bring in some of the buildings, as part of that complex, to use for people who need accommodation.

The Taoiseach said he thinks there has been more than 100 protests on the accommodation issue in the last couple of weeks.

Most of them are very small, but some larger and a small number have become violent.

I think there are two things to consider: Government has a responsibility to provide information and to communicate with local people about what's happening in their area, and we're stepping up our efforts to do that all the time.

But we also have a duty to dispel a lot of the misinformation and false stories that are being put about.

There are people who hold extreme views, who hold racist views, essentially, and we have to stand up to that.

He explained however: When it comes to most people, with information and with communication and with assurance, I think you can get them on board.

But there always will be a small minority of people who have extreme views or have racist views and they need to be stood up to.

Mr Varadkar said,to the best of his knowledge, gardai kept informed of where asylum seeker accommodation will be, given risk of protest, he said.

I have to say, the gardai have done a very good job to date in managing what can be a difficult situation and they have the full support of Government. Additional resources are being provided throughout the course of this year.

More than 30 male asylum seekers arrived by bus to the Magowna House Hotel on Monday but locals blocked the entrances with tractors and silage bales.

Members of the local community have said the property, which has been vacant since 2019, is not suitable for the refugees over fire cert and sewage concerns and are looking for written assurances that their concerns about the suitability of the property and the location will be addressed.

They were also angry about not being consulted before the refugees were transported to the property.

On Monday evening, 33 asylum seekers arrived by bus at Magowna House hotel.

Talks took place last night between the local community, Fianna Fail Senator Timmy Dooley and the hotel operator.

Prior to this mornings video call with Mr OGorman, Mr Dooley said efforts must be made to de-escalate the situation.

Its hard to know how it will go. People are embedded in their views, he said.

Mr Dooley said there had been good engagement and goodwill shown on all sides.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar yesterday said the blockade of the new asylum centre in Inch, is not necessary.

I don't think what's happening there is necessary. I don't think the blockade is necessary. What we do need to do is engage with the community, he said.

We are facing an unprecedented situation. Nearly 100,000 people from other parts of the world - mainly Ukraine - have come to Ireland seeking refuge and seeking shelter, he said.

We have to provide for them whatever accommodation is available and it isn't always going to be perfect. But it is the best we can do.

I know that huge numbers of us throughout Ireland have welcomed people into their communities - including in Co Clare - and there will of course be engagement with the rest.

You always try to do better. But I think if you look at the bigger picture, if people are being fair, Ireland as a society, not just the Government, has done very well.

There's no country in Western Europe that has taken in as many people from Ukraine as we have, as a percentage of our population, Mr Varadkar added.

While Ireland hasn't taken in as many asylum seekers as other countries, we have dealt with dramatically increased numbers (of those seeking International Protection) in the last couple of years. And we're dealing with it as well as we can, he said.
The Liffey had the highest concentration of drugs   Getty Images

Antidepressants and antibiotics are widespread in Irish rivers, some at high-risk concentrations, a study has found.

All of the water samples analysed in the three-year study by Dublin City University (DCU) tested positive for pharmaceutical drugs.

The finding is worrying because current wastewater treatment systems are not equipped to screen out drugs so they will continue to build up in the environment.

Scientists involved in the study warn they pose potential harm for public health and a serious ecological hazard.

Sulfamethoxazole, an antibiotic, and the antidepressant Venlafaxine comprised the most detections but 16 widely used drugs tested for showed up in varying levels.

The commonly prescribed anti-inflammatory Diclofenac was also regularly detected, as was Metformin, a drug for diabetes patients.

Ciprofloxacin, a broad spectrum antibiotic used to treat abdominal, respiratory, skin and urinary tract infections, also featured widely.

Most of the drugs were found at low-level concentrations but 53 were rated high risk and 64 were moderate risk.

Four rivers flowing through multiple counties were studied extensively over the three years  the Liffey, Nore, Suir and Annalee.

The Liffey overall had the highest concentrations and number of detections out of all sample sites.

The Suir and the Annalee rivers were found to have elevated levels of sulfamethoxazole.

The Nore came up least affected but even there, some drugs were found in levels described as above predicted no effect concentrations.

Surface water samples were collected between September 2020 and March 2022 from sampling locations recommended by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) which part-funded the research with the Irish Research Council.

The findings were revealed by Professor Fiona Regan, director of the DCU Water Institute, at an Environment, Health and Wellbeing Conference hosted by the HSE, EPA and Royal College of Surgeons of Ireland.

We analysed 16 pharmaceuticals based on their presence in European rivers and found them in all of the Irish rivers we sampled, said Prof Regan, who led a team of 12 researchers on the project.

The results have shown the effect of Covid-19 in leading to the increased use of pharmaceuticals  certain antidepressants and antibiotics increased during this time.

The presence of antibiotics in rivers is important and concerning because of increasing worries about antibiotic resistance in humans and animals.

Meanwhile, the presence of antidepressants and other pharmaceutically active products in rivers can, even at low concentrations, have negative impacts on metabolism in organisms and on levels of biodiversity.

The wastewater processes that we have in place are not fit for purpose to remove pharmaceuticals and this needs to be addressed.

The Irish Independent reported last month that pressure was growing at EU level to require water treatment plants to screen out pharmaceuticals but none of Irelands plants were equipped to take on the task.

A new directive proposes requiring quaternary water treatment  a fourth phase of screening and cleaning that would catch and neutralise pharmaceuticals and chemicals  but almost two-thirds of Irish plants are not yet equipped to provide even tertiary or three-phase treatment.

The project team said: Action needs to be taken to either phase out or replace problematic pharmaceuticals.
A former employee of Dublin GAA club Parnells says the club left him short on his wages when he was laid off for the Covid-19 pandemic  and is now failing to give him his severance pay.

The club is facing multiple employment rights claims by former clubhouse staff following pandemic layoffs  while the State might have to step in and pay at least one of them a redundancy lump sum after a claim brought before the Workplace Relations Commission today.

Parnells was once regarded as the richest GAA club in the country after a Celtic Tiger-era land deal for some playing fields brought in a reported 23 million.

Its management failed to make any appearance at todays hearing into complaints by former part-time security guard and barman, Graham Coventry, under the Redundancy Payments Act 1967, the Payment of Wages Act 1991, and the Organisation of Working Time Act 2004.

Mr Coventry told the tribunal that in addition to the non-payment of his redundancy lump sum when he looked for it after over two years on layoff, he was also left short on two weeks wages and some holiday entitlements.

He said that after he and his colleagues were put on layoff when Covid-19 first hit, the clubs committee told staff at a meeting in August 2020 that the clubhouse should be opening back up soon.

Mr Coventry said he got no response to emails looking for a reopening date, with no progress until July 2021 when there was a further meeting with the committee.

They said they werent in a position to reopen. There was talk of leasing out the clubhouse, that there was a few companies interested in leasing the clubhouse off them, he said.

They said they were in financial difficulties, thats why they didnt open, due to Covid, he added.

He and some colleagues sought information on their redundancy entitlements from the committee at that point, and were told to file statutory claim forms, he said.

The required payment did not come after he and two others did so in April 2022, Mr Coventry added.

He told the tribunal that he was getting hourly pay of 15 for variable hours of between 27 and 40 hours weekly, and the club owed him two weeks wages, putting the figure due to him at around 550 a week.

WRC adjudicating officer Breiffni ONeill noted that the tribunal case officer had sent the club a registered letter as required under the Redundancy Payment Act, and having satisfied himself the club was properly on notice, pressed ahead with the matter.

Mr Coventry said that he had lost access to his payslips from the employment as they had been going to an old email account, but that he could retrieve pay records from his Revenue account, which Mr ONeill asked him to submit to the tribunal.

Theres a number of complaints before me. Ill issue a decision, just send the decision into the social insurance fund and theyll pay you and then theyll then chase the club for the redundancy money, the adjudicator told Mr Coventry.

He told the complainant that his pay and holiday claims had been lodged too late for the WRC to have jurisdiction, however.

Ill be clear: if Parnells dont pay it, give them a few weeks to pay it, if you want, and then send it into the Department [of Social Protection] and theyll chase it for you, Mr ONeill said.

I had a feeling I wouldnt get the wages or the holidays; but as long as I get the redundancy thats the main thing, Mr Coventry said, before the hearing was closed.
The Taoiseach has described as horrific an attack in which a teenage schoolboy suffered serious facial injuries in an assault by fellow students.

A video of the attack, which happened in the Navan area of Co Meath, has gone viral on social media.

Gardai are investigating the assault, which occurred on Monday at about 2.30pm.

Speaking on Wednesday in Reykjavik, Leo Varadkar condemned the incident.

It was horrifying really, and I think everyone would condemn it utterly, he said.

And he had a personal message for the teenage victim: I really want to send my solidarity out to the person who was harmed and injured in this way.

I would say to them that life does get better. It is very sad that people experience violence and bullying in school, but life does get better and Id say not to give up.

The Taoiseach added, however: I understand there is a garda investigation underway and that the victim has been treated for their injuries.

I would first of all, really ask anyone who has information to cooperate with the garda investigation.

And also I would really just say how sad I am that in this day and age we still see this kind of bullying and violence happening in our schools, Mr Varadkar said.

Youd hope that as time moves on, particularly with young people today being so progressive and so clued-in as to the world around them, that this wouldn't happen - but it still does, and I just really, really feel sorry for the young person who was attacked, and for their family.

Justice Minister Simon Harris spoke to the teenagers mother today.

The students school has initiated significant disciplinary procedures arising from the attack.

The attack did not happen on school grounds, but occurred as the teenager was walking across a nearby green.

A male juvenile, later attended Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda where he received treatment for serious facial injuries, the Garda Press Office stated.

An Garda Siochana is aware of a video circulating on social media of this incident and, out of respect, for the victim, has requested that people refrain from sharing it, it added.

Senators talk about shocking video of teen attack circulating on social media

Gardai are appealing to any person with information on the assault to contact Navan Garda Station at 046 9079930.

The school attended by the students, Beaufort College, Navan, can be identified by the uniform worn by those involved in the incident.

The co-educational, multi-denominational school has about 790 pupils.

Independent.ie sought to contact Beaufort College for comment.

Louth Meath Education and Training Board (LMETB), the schools patron body, said it had advised the school to refer all queries to it.

LMETB said it was aware of an alleged incident which occurred in Navan on Monday last".

LMETB spokesperson Brian Murphy said later that significant disciplinary procedures have been initiated at school level and we await the outcome of due process.

Fine Gael Seanad spokesperson on children Senator Mary Seery Kearny issued a statement on the matter.

She said the images of a violent attack of an Irish male teenager by a gang of school children is nothing short of horrifying

Social media images circulating of the teen being attacked by schoolmates as he tried to make his way across a green are appalling to view.

This child, and I assume he is a child, is being filmed as a group of pupils from a school pile on him, kicking him, punching him, pulling his hair and taunting him.

It is a sickening display of violence and humiliation and I cant remember the last time I have seen anything so distressing, she said.

She said the perpetrators need to be dealt with a message sent from the schools board of management, the gardai and parents, that these shameful, cowardly and utterly disgusting acts will not be tolerated and will be punished.

Senator Seery Kearney said as legislators the onus was also on us to ensure that our children are protected from all types of abuse, and we have seen the ugly side of social media with this  this needs to be stamped out urgently or our society will be in freefall for future generations.
An elderly widow was hit with so large an electricity bill that she had to use money saved for her husbands headstone to pay it, the Dail has been told.

Longford-Westmeath TD, Sorca Clarke, also said that when the widows family visited her yesterday they found her sitting in the dark due to fears of another huge energy bill.

Ms Clarke, taking leaders questions for the first time in the Dail, accused government of sitting on its hands over energy bills.

She said older people and poorer families were stricken with worry and suffering due to the energy price crisis.

Elderly widow hit with electricity bill so expensive she had to use money saved for husbands headstone to pay it

Replying on behalf of the Government, Higher Education Minister, Simon Harris, said the Sinn Fein proposed solution to the problem had been tried by the ill-fated UK prime minister, Liz Truss, last autumn. He said her remedy of price caps had tanked the pound sterling.

Usually when the Opposition comes in here, they can stand up and say whatever they like, and it never really plays in the real world, he said.

In this instance, it was tried by the British government with disastrous results.

Mr Harris said the ESRI had two weeks ago concluded that energy price caps would suit few people except the energy providing companies.

He said government plans for an energy windfall tax on these firms were proceeding and be through the Dail and Seanad by the autumn.

He also pointed to a raft of once-off welfare payments  including the three 200-payments towards electricity bills - as well as effective business support schemes.

Ms Clarke repeated her assertion that the Government ignored peoples sufferings due to energy poverty.
A pathological liar who nearly destroyed the lives of a senior garda, solicitors and social workers after making serious false allegations against them which included rape and sexual assault has been jailed for four years.

Sonya Egan (43) of The Lawn, Lios Cara, Killeens, Co Cork, was not present at Cork Circuit Criminal Court for her sentencing hearing for a dizzying number of allegations.

She is on hunger strike in Limerick Prison where she is currently serving a two-year sentence for harassment of a man and a woman. She waived her right to appear in court.

In referencing the hunger strike, Judge Catherine Staines said she refused to be manipulated by the actions of a woman capable of extreme manipulation.

Judge Staines said that the malicious, vindictive campaign of unfounded allegations made by Egan had caused untold damage to her victims.

Victim impact statements were handed in to the court by a number of the people affected by Egans lies.

Judge Staines said that one man informed her that the allegations made against him by Egan had ruined his reputation and ended his career.

She said the man had dedicated his life to child protection only to be accused by Egan of being involved in a paedophile ring.

Judge Staines said Egan had destroyed the name of the another man on social media accusing him of sexual abuse.

She said the victim impact statements submitted to her had made for harrowing reading and it was hard to imagine the extent of the devastation caused to professional people.

One victim was accused of rape and sexual abuse. A letter of complaint was sent to his employers, to An Garda Siochana and the Minister for Health.

While formal investigations were taking place he had to stand aside. His reputation was ruined.

On This Day In History - May 18th

She offered her sympathy to the affected parties and expressed the hope that the admission of Egan that her allegations were completely false would serve as some form of solace to them.

The court was told that Egan often became fixated with people who crossed her path and then subsequently accused them of heinous crimes such as rape and sexual assault. She also falsely accused a politician of physical assault.

Judge Staines heard Egan, who is a qualified social worker, had a strategy of making false reports and statements against people after complaints of harassment were made about her by certain individuals known to her.

Egan has retracted all the false allegations she made against six men and three women in Cork city over a five-year period.

Egan pleaded guilty to eight counts of making false statements and six counts of making false reports against the injured parties between 2016 and 2020. The false statements were made by Egan at garda stations in Dublin and Cork.

The court heard that she had a history of telling tall tales dating back to her teenage years with her damaging allegations against people who crossed her path becoming ever more serious in recent years.

Dt Sgt James Buckley said that Egan was in care for a few years when she was a teenager and had left home at the age of 14.

One of her allegations was made against a social worker whom she bombarded with emails. She claimed she was his half-sister. The man made a complaint to police against her.

In a statement made to gardai in July 2016 Egan said that the man had pimped her out for human trafficking in the late 1990s.

Egan also made false accusations of rape against the man dating back to when she was a teenager. She claimed that he also abused other girls.

Gardai never received other complaints about the man and teenage girls who were contacted said there were no truth to the allegations.

Dt Sgt Buckley said strategies employed by Egan included sending letters containing false allegations against professional people to the Minister for Justice, GSOC, the Garda Commissioner and RTE. She also defamed individuals on social media.

He said among her false allegations was that a man had raped and sexually assaulted her on 17 to 20 occasions between 1998 and 2000.

She also made a complaint to gardai in 2019 that two named men and a man with a tribal tattoo and black mark on his head had brought her to a hotel room with one man raping her. She claimed that another man videoed it and that the tape was with her solicitor in Belfast. The tape was never produced and the allegations were completely false.

Dt Sgt Buckley said that Egan falsely accused a politician of engaging in a verbal altercation at her home and putting a foot in her door leading her to fall and twist her leg. She falsely alleged that she was assaulted by the politician.

She went to gardai on numerous occasions between 2016 and 2020 to make false accusations about professional people. Often times she brought typed statements with her which were over 30 pages long. Dt Sgt Buckley said Egan falsely alleged sexual misconduct against a senior garda and wasted countless garda hours.

She waged a horrific campaign against a diligent and professional garda member who she targeted with vile allegations.

Dt Sgt Buckley said Egan claimed that the senior garda had threatened to kill her or to see her go to prison by whatever he means.

Egans counsel Ronan Munro SC said that the guilty plea in the case had spared the victims the upset of giving evidence in what would have been a complex and long trial.

The court heard that the offences committed were all contrary to Section 12 of the Criminal Law Act 1979 and carried a maximum penalty of five years.

Mr Munro said that he had been instructed by Egan to apologise for her actions. He said that he was entering a formal retraction on behalf of his client who accepted that there was no factual basis to her allegations.

He submitted a psychological report on Egan where she was described as being a compulsive liar. She was given a diagnosis of borderline personality disorder.

Mr Munro said his client had a huge fear of abandonment and a fragile sense of self. He added that her appallingly dysfunctional and destructive behaviour had led her to lose her liberty.

She has hit rock bottom. She needs court mandated psychotherapy (upon her release from prison).

Judge Staines jailed Egan for six years suspending the last two years of the sentence on condition that she attend psychotherapy upon her release from prison. She was also ordered not to have any contact with the injured parties in the case following her release from custody.
FINE Gael backbenchers have launched a series of fresh attacks on Eamon Ryan and the Green Party over scrapped or delayed road projects.

Former rural affairs minister Michael Ring told the Fine Gael parliamentary party meeting on Wednesday that there would only be a cycleway - but no roads - between his native Westport and Dublin by the time the Greens were finished in Government.

One observer at the meeting in Leinster House described it as an explosive attack by Mr Ring on Fine Gaels Coalition partners.

It comes after Mr Ryan, the Transport Minister, confirmed this week there would be no funding available for the N17 Knock to Collooney road project for many years. The road runs between Mr Rings Mayo constituency and neighbouring Sligo.

Mr Rings intervention was one of several by Fine Gael TDs and senators on pending roads projects at the meeting with some contributors voicing strong criticism of Mr Ryan.

Read more Minister Ryan under fire for effectively scrapping planned upgrade of the N17 from Collooney to Knock

Cork-based senator Tim Lombard raised issues around delays to phase two of the southern relief road in Bandon, saying that he had asked the Green Party leader to visit the area but his invitation was declined.

Mr Lombard claimed Mr Ryan was happy to visit west Cork on his holidays but had not visited the area since he became a Cabinet minister three years ago.

Sligo-Leitrim TD Frank Feighan raised concerns around funding for upgrades to both the N17 and the N4 roads, which run through his constituency.

The N4 Mullingar to Longford project, which Mr Ryan has previously said is not a key priority for his department, was also raised by Senator Micheal Carrigy, who is based in Longford.

Cork East TD David Stanton raised issues around the northern relief road in Mallow in his constituency.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar was not at the meeting as he is travelling back from a Council of Europe meeting in Iceland.

Standing in for Mr Varadkar, Public Expenditure Minister Paschal Donohoe said the issues raised by colleagues would be raised with Government partners. Mr Donohoe told the meeting he wants to see all issues resolved to the satisfaction of Fine Gael TDs and senators.

Meanwhile, Minister Ryan was also sharply criticised by TD Eamon O Cuiv and Senator Lisa Chambers at Fianna Fail parliamentary party meeting.

It is understood the Galway and Mayo politicians attacked the transport minister for scrapping the planned N17 road upgrade.

The Minister put a halt to the planned 600m upgrade to the road, many parts of which have 80km/hr restrictions due to its poor condition, it emerged yesterday.

Party leader Micheal Martin was not at the private meeting and attendance was said to be very poor.

MEP Billy Kelleher also gave a presentation on proposed nature restoration laws.
Sinn Fein's Michelle O'Neill at the coronation of King Charles III (Photo by Phil Noble, WPA Pool/Getty Images)   Getty Images

The Taoiseach has welcomed Sinn Feins attendance at the Coronation of King Charles III in London.

Michelle ONeill was widely praised for her dignified and respectful attendance at the ceremony at Westminster Abbey.

Asked about it in Iceland, Leo Varadkar said: Look, I think its welcome that they attended. All of the Northern Ireland parties were invited. I think that would have been the right decision, to go.

He added however: You know, they did boycott the Queen, when she came to Ireland 10 or 12 years ago now.

Theyve changed their policy stance thats welcome.

In a statement ahead of the coronation, Ms ONeill said: I have accepted an invitation to attend the coronation of King Charles III.

We are living in a time of great change. A time to respect our differing and equally legitimate aspirations, a time to firmly focus on the future and the opportunities that the next decade will bring.

I am an Irish republican. I also recognise there are many people on our island for whom the coronation is a hugely important occasion.

I am committed to being a First Minister for all, representing the whole community, building good relations between the people of these islands, and advancing peace and reconciliation through respectful and mature engagement.
John, Francis and the team will continue to welcome all guests during the 2023 season and until the sale process concludes

The Brennan brothers have said the Park Hotel Kenmare is up for sale.

After 43 years in business, Irelands most famous hoteliers, Francis and John Brennan, have taken the decision to exit on a high, placing the five-star hotel, together with its sister property, The Lansdowne, on the market.

The Co Kerry hotels are being sold by agent CRBE individually, at 17m for Park Hotel Kenmare and 3.5m for The Lansdowne, or can be purchased together for a combined guide price of 20.5m.

The Park Hotel Kenmare

While the Park has enjoyed a wonderful life, making many peoples stays memorable, the decision was not an easy one to make, a statement from the brothers said.

Nothing is forever and while we have invested heavily in recent years to ensure both properties are pristine, we feel the time is right to take some time to ourselves, pursue other interests and business opportunities.

John Brennan said there was no one thing that made the brothers want to sell up but rather a host of things.

We dont make a decision like this on the back of one particular thing on its own, a whole host of things come into play and you analyse them all.

In 2019, the brothers decided to re-evaluate their plans for the hotel and instead reviewed the condition of the premises and the market both domestically and internationally.

We decided the right thing to do at this stage was invest heavily in the hotel and get the property in really good shape. We then had the opportunity to buy the Lansdowne property at the same time, which wasnt in our original thinking, and we did the same thing down there.

And then we reassessed it four/five months ago and said to ourselves what do we do now? Do we go again and plan another five-year run or do we go to the market?

Francis is 70 and Im 58, weve been in the hotel industry for a combined 85 years between the two of us. We thought the best thing to do would be to bring in new blood and energy into the hotels and put them in shape for their future.

Theres nothing broken in the Park Hotel and thats the beauty of what were doing, because were under no pressure to sell and were under no operational difficulties.

John and Francis are hoping to do nothing once the hotel is sold.

If we wanted something to do we wouldnt be doing anything because we do enough as it is. Part of the thinking is we just want more time to ourselves.

This opportunity gives us the ability to rethink and perhaps if were interested might learn how to play golf, may decide to open up another business.

Were not looking to fill time. Were going to take a deep breath and then well decide what the next step is.

Reaction from the staff was horrendous said John. Kleenex sales in Kenmare have gone through the roof, he joked.

The staff at Park Hotel Kenmare includes four members who are there over 40 years and 20 staff who are with the hotel over 20 years.

We have a huge long-serving staff who are extremely loyal, said John.

Its not an easy day from a staff point of view, but I think it will get easier as the weeks pass by.

One person who has been here over 40 years said to me if you were here for another 10 years, Im here for another 10 years, now I have the ability to think about what I want to do and its giving me a second opportunity to enjoy and do something else that I wouldnt have thought of. I thought isnt that a great attitude.

Some of the brothers fondest memories in the hotel include building the swimming pool and the spa, which John described as a fantastic project, along with the refurbishment of the hotel alongside Brian OSullivan.

However, John said his fondest memory of all is the fact we have retained so many staff for so long, thanking the staff for being loyal to them and the hotel.

The Park has been hugely significant in their lives, and they have been hugely significant in our lives and as a result the relationship between the two is very strong.

The hotels will continue to welcome guests during the 2023 season and until the sales process concludes, they said.

The snazzily upgraded Park Hotel Kenmare in Co Kerry

The Park Hotel, a Victorian landmark in the town and member of Irelands Blue Book, was first acquired by Francis Brennan in the 1980s.

Today, the Brennan brothers are majority shareholders, with Fergal Naughton of Glen Dimplex also owning a stake.

During the pandemic, the Brennans splashed out a reported 1m on a major upgrade  at their service was internationally renowned local designer Bryan OSullivan, who oversaw a revamp of the reception, cocktail bar and outdoor dining terrace.

Previously, bedrooms had been overhauled  the five-star also boasts a spa, 25m lap pool and two AA Rosette dining room led by chef James Coffey.

Room rates are quoting from 415 a night (with a two-night minimum) this month on its website.

The brothers bought The Lansdowne hotel during Covid, restoring the historic townhouse to slick, four-star status in Kenmare.

"It wasnt on the horizon, but was too good an opportunity to say no to, John said at the time.

Brennan-esque touches in the townhouse, which works as a little sister to the Park, range from the continental-style LK Cafe serving 3fe coffee to a new Piano Lounge cocktail bar.

The Lansdowne, Kenmare

Though the brothers will now pursue other interests and business opportunities, John, his wife Gwen and son Adam will continue to own and run Dromquinna Manor, a popular glamping, self-catering and wedding venue on Kenmare Bay.

Francis, who will be 70 in September, will concentrate on his Collection with Dunnes Stores, along with other book and media projects.

The brothers will also continue presenting At Your Service with RTE TV, and are currently recording Series 13.
Families of the victims of the Stardust fire who are waiting on a new venue for the inquest into the 48 deaths to be confirmed

A couple who lost their only child in the Stardust fire have spoken of their feelings of guilt and regret in allowing her to skip a family wedding so she could attend the dance that night.

Maurice and Phyllis McHugh also told how they often wonder if their 17-year-old daughter Caroline called out for Mammy and Daddy for help as the flames burned her body.

We would think about this often in the years that followed with broken hearts, Maurice told the inquest taking place in the Pillar room of Rotunda Hospital today.

Carolines young life was cruelly taken away from her that cold February Valentines morning in that horrendous fireball.

Unidentified Human Remains Database launched in Ireland

The couple, who are now in their 80s, said a day never goes by without them thinking of their beautiful daughter now lying in a cold grave buried six-foot underground, marked by a black marble stone engraved with her name on it.

Maurice said Caroline was born in the Rotunda Hospital on July 1, 1963 so it was ironic that the inquest into her death is now taking place in the same building, 42 years later.

He told the jury at the Coroners Court how the couple still visit Carolines grave once a week without fail, still grieving for their lost daughter cruelly taken away from us so young.

The pensioner said he and Phyllis often discuss what could have been had Caroline not died in the fire that night.

Would she have had a successful career, got married, have children and have given us grandchildren?

He said they feel they have missed out on a lot particularly around holidays like Christmas, Easter, birthdays and anniversaries when they see her cousins and their children, all the while thinking that Caroline should have been there.

It makes us feel so sad and emotional and brings tears to our eyes, Maurice said.

Maurice said Caroline was a beautiful young lady with dark complexion and "lovely long black hair".

An avid reader as a young girl and teenager, Caroline enjoyed Enid Blytons books and romantic novels.

After finishing school in Loreto College, Stephen's Green, Caroline went to college where she sang in the choir, winning many awards in the Feis Ceoil.

The choir was later to perform at Carolines funeral mass with great sadness, Maurice said.

Caroline also joined in many of the sporting events in the college and was a member of an Irish dancing school, performing in the St Patricks Day parades.

She loved going swimming with her dad in the local swimming pool.

Maurice remembered birthday parties and regular get-togethers when the house would be filled with friends and school chums having a great time together with music, singing and dancing.

After she left school, Caroline went to work in a large building services contractor, working in the estimating department where she got on extremely well with all the staff.

Maurice also said Caroline was a member of the local CB club, and she and her friend Annmarie would spend hours in her bedroom using CB radios to chat with other members over the airwaves.

He went on to explain how Phyllis had received an invitation to a family wedding in Manchester on Valentines Day 1981 and they were all due to attend.

Phyllis, who learned the art of baking from her father who was the head baker in Bewleys of Grafton Street, made the four-tier wedding cake for the event as a wedding present.

However, a couple of weeks before the wedding Caroline told them she didnt want to go and instead wanted to stay at home and go to the dancing competition in the Stardust with her friends.

Maurice said they were very reluctant to allow her to stay but her best friends mother offered to look after her and they agreed as they would only be gone for two nights.

We always regretted this decision and feel guilty about it to this day, he said.

On Friday, February 13, the couple loaded the car with the carefully boxed wedding cake and made their way to the ferry.

On the way, we dropped Caroline into her workplace. Little did we know that this was the last time we would see Caroline alive as she waved us off, smiling and saying enjoy yourselves and dont do anything I wouldnt do with a big smile.

The following morning, as they were walking to a nearby shopping centre, Phylliss uncle came after them to say there had been a fire in the Stardust nightclub and Caroline was missing.

Maurice said the couple were absolutely devastated and began ringing home to family looking for an update on Carolines whereabouts but there was no news.

The earliest flight they could get back to Dublin was at 7pm leaving from Liverpool.

Maurice relayed how, as there were no mobile phones back then, they had to use a coin box to ring home every half an hour looking for updates on their daughter.

At lunchtime, a family friend who was a doctor was allowed into the morgue to see the bodies and thought one could be Caroline but was not 100pc sure.

Maurice said as the couple made their way to Liverpool airport, not a word was spoken in the car such was our grief.

They were met at the airport by their families who brought them straight to the morgue.

There, they were advised not to see their daughter because the severity of her burns meant she was unrecognisable and unidentifiable.

By way of identification, the couple were given a piece of a back pocket of Carolines jeans with a melted comb stuck to it, the melted remains of a wristwatch and a gold chain, partly melted, with Carolines name on it.

Maurice said the grief was unimaginable as the tears flowed.

He said they later received a call from gardai telling them Caroline was in Staffords funeral home on the North Strand.

The coffin remained closed, and it was a horrible feeling that we couldnt see Caroline and we were deeply upset.

The wedding had also, understandably, been upset by the news of Carolines death with the bride and groom both breaking down in tears during the speeches along with many of the guests, he told the inquest.

Maurice said four of Caroline's friends escaped the blaze that night, although they were mentally scarred by what happened.

Maurice said when the first tribunal was opened the couple, in our naivety, thought that truth and justice would be served.

As we now know that never happened, he said, adding that now, 42 years later they are hopeful that at the end of this fresh inquest they may get some respite and closure to lessen the burden of our grief.

The couple each read a poem they had written about their beloved daughter, Maurices included the lines: A fathers love is the lasting kind; in my mind this movie stuck on rewind.Surviving on memories good and bad; thats all Ive got now, the times we had.

Phyllis also read a poem she had written for her daughter, which stated: No words can tell, no tears express. The love, the loss, the emptiness. Youre not just a memory, or part of the past. You are mine to remember, as long as life lasts.
Dr Niall Muldoon says lack of therapeutic services in this country is a real issue

The State needs to invest in children who are sexually violent if they are going to have a chance to turn their lives around, the childrens rights watchdog has said.

Dr Niall Muldoon said children had been committing sexual crimes long before widespread access to the internet and pornography, but there were no therapeutic services to help underage abusers.

It came after an annual report by the office of the Childrens Ombudsman said that the issue of sexual violence between children in schools had featured in a number of complaints last year.

In one case, a secondary school girl had been made to feel that the sexual abuse was her fault after she brought it to the attention of teachers.

Speaking at the launch of the report yesterday, Dr Muldoon said he felt that sexual violence between children needed to be better understood as the State was currently ignoring that cohort of children.

We need to be working with the young people who are carrying it out and obviously with children who have suffered at the hands of that abuse, he said.

He said sexual violence between children had existed long before the internet or pornography was available so easily.

Children will act out, and they act out sexually sometimes, and they act out violently sometimes. It has always been an issue. We need to start recognising that, and investing in it, said Dr Muldoon.

We have no therapeutic services for children who act out in that manner. We need to really invest in it, and that is a childrens rights issue as well.

Those children and young people, once they are worked with, tend to turn it around. Whereas we know if you leave someone in that position, without any support or opportunity to change, they tend to become recidivate.

It is important that we have a support service for those children.

In its 2022 report, the childrens rights watchdog said that the issue of sexual violence in school and how this is dealt with has featured in a number of complaints.

We have raised this issue with the Department of Education and recommended that it be addressed as part of the new AntiBullying policy, it said.

On This Day In History 17th May

Last month, the CSO released the results of a comprehensive study on the scale of sexual violence in Ireland, but the research was not able to survey anyone under the age of 18.

Of the adults that responded, 7pc of women and 2pc of men said that they had experienced rape as a child.

Ten per cent of young women between the ages of 18 and 24 said they had experienced rape as a child, which was the highest prevalence of unwanted sexual intercourse as a child recorded in the study. Dr Muldoon said he believed there should be more research on the prevalence of sexual violence among children.

Some rape crisis centres have reported an increase in sexual violence committed by children, against other children.

Last year, the Rape Crisis Network Ireland said the number of people under the age of 18 who were abused by another person in the same age group had increased by 18pc when compared with the year before.

In Donegal, the local rape crisis centre reported a staggering increase in calls from those under the age of 18. According to the figures, Donegal experienced a 50pc increase in victims under 16 seeking help. The youngest victim was 12 years old.
Security staff stand guard at the Council of Europe summit held at the Harpa concert hall in Reykjavik. Photo: Alastair Grant/PA   PA

A constituency greater than the size of a full Croke Park crowd will be watching the Taoiseachs performance at the Council of Europe in Iceland  even as it leaves others cold.
The burnt remains of an encampment used by asylum-seekers, at Sandwith Street in Dublin, which was set alight following protests in the area. Photo: Conor O Mearain/Collins Photo Agency

Emotion can never be a reliable driver for debate. So from the outset it is important to be clear: Ireland does not have an open-door policy for asylum-seekers.

But nor does it have a policy of slamming the door in the faces of people who may be in danger.

Burning people out of their tents  those actions do not represent the vast majority of people in this country, said Social Protection Minister Heather Humphreys in the Dail, commenting on last Fridays events in Dublin.

Yet resentment and rancour is now asserting itself in other parts of the country where asylum-seekers are being sent.

Insufficient consultation and negotiation with locals has fed the anger.

But none of this is the fault of those who came here for sanctuary. Yes, the Government needs to do better in consulting with locals. Anywhere there is anger and suspicion it is all too easy to engineer an explosive situation. We have seen how adept far-right groups are at manipulating volatility.

Venting aggression on innocent people who have nowhere else to go is deeply reprehensible.

Attacking the stateless and homeless out of frustration over the housing crisis in Ireland is not only unjust and deeply unfair, but completely senseless.

And lest anyone forget, there is a vicious war raging in Europe where people are being slaughtered daily. As Ms Humphreys has said, the situation the State was facing was unprecedented.

Around 100,000 people have arrived from Ukraine and elsewhere over the last year.

Ireland, like the rest of the world, recognises the horror and injustice in the plight of Ukrainians. The moral and humane thing to do was to accommodate as many as we reasonably could.

Other corners of the planet are also hostile environments and we do what we can. But targeting asylum-seekers, no matter where they come from, is an outrage.

Visiting more trauma and rejection on people who have already suffered so much is beneath us.

Tanaiste Micheal Martin has said the Government and local authorities will now engage with the local community in Inch, Co Clare, to ease any concerns over the housing of asylum-seekers, after protesters blocked road access to a hotel.

Surely such talks should have been held before now, although none of this gives anyone a right to menace or intimidate.

It may be understandable to a degree that the Government is scrambling to find adequate places for people to stay.

Yet no one should be sleeping in the street. It is indefensible that secure sites have not been prepared by now.

No one expects us to provide five-star comfort. However, complete safety from harm, and shelter from the elements is the very least we might do.

There are times when we have to look beyond the narrow confines of individualistic concerns to the broader ones of all our humanity.

Surely the war in Ukraine makes this such a time.
Its asking a lot of families and children to travel to places like Rochestown through the busy Jack Lynch tunnel on a daily basis

Deputy Sean Sherlock said the demand for places at the Holy Family School in Charleville was unsustainable.

A CALL has been made for the provision of a second dedicated special needs school for the north Cork region in light of the long waiting list for access to places at the Holy Family School in Charleville.

The issue has been raised in the Dail by Cork East Labour TD Sean Sherlock, who said he has been contacted by a number of parents expressing concerns about the availability of school places for their children.

I raise this issue in respect of what I perceive to be a lack of both special needs school places and places for children with additional needs, specifically in the Fermoy/Mitchelstown area, said Deputy Sherlock.

He said that while there was a willingness on the part of mainstream schools to accept children with special and additional need the capacity is simply not there.

So, increasing numbers of children from the north Cork area have to go to Cork City to access education. Its asking a lot of parents and children to travel to a places like Rochestown, through the busy Jack Lynch tunnel, on a daily basis, said Deputy Sherlock.

I am asking if consideration could be given to the allocation of capital funding for a site-specific school in the north Cork area. Allied to that, a review of the current allocation of, for instance ASD units, to see if capacity can be created for children where these is a demand. In essence, what I am asking for is greater capital expenditure for more places in special needs units and the provision of a new special school for north Cork in addition to the one in Charleville, where the waiting list for places is quite long, he added.

Minister of State Mary Butler TD, deputising for Education Minister Norma Foley, stressed that the provision of education for children appropriate to their needs was an ongoing Government priority.

She said the Department of Education will this year spend in excess of 2.6 billion, more than 27% of its budget, on providing additional teachers and care supports for children with special educational needs.

She said that Minister Foley had recently announced the establishment of two new specials schools, one of which will be in the east Cork village of Carrigtwohill, for the 2023/24 school year.

I know you (Deputy Sherlock) have spoken about the challenges faced by people from the Fermoy/Mitchelstown area of having to go to Rochestown through the tunnel. Hopefully, having a new school in Carrigtwohill will make a significant difference to those families, said Minister Butler.

She said that in addition, 71 new special and additional needs primary and second level classes have been sanctioned for County Cork, 15 of which will be located in the north Cork area.

These will hopefully go along way to supporting the families of children with special and additional needs, said Minister Butler.

While Deputy Sherlock welcomed the new school in Carrigtwohill, he repeated his call for a one to be built in north Cork.

The worry I have is that we seem to accept the fact that children have to travel long distances each morning to get to a special school. I reiterate my call for consideration to be given to north Cork because the demand for places in Charleville is unsustainable and having children from north Cork going to Carrigtwohill is still not ideal, said Deputy Sherlock.

I do appreciate the that 15 of the new special and additional needs classes will be in north Cork and we will have to see how that comes through. If parents are still contacting me in the lead up to the summer break about the lack of school places, we will know those numbers are not working, he added.
We were verbally abused and received death threats.

The CEO of Streetlink Homeless Support (SHS) has described how their car was attacked by a crowd of protestors on Sandwith Street as volunteers removed refugees personal belongings.

On Friday, a homeless encampment in an alleyway off Pearse Street was burned down following tense stand-off between anti-immigration demonstrators and counter-protestors.

Speaking to the Sunday World, SHS chief Padraic Drummond said their car was repeatedly booted by anti-immigration protestors during the tense incident.

SHS are a Dublin-based homeless welfare organisation who support rough sleepers in the city.

Our outreach vehicle was hemmed in on Sandwith Street for half an hour, they were booting our car and throwing missiles, Padraic said.

The wrecked encampment on Sandwith Street   Fergal Phillips

Padraic said the authorities need to take action urgently to prevent further escalation of tensions.

He said volunteers on the ground had warned him there was a risk of violence in advance of Fridays protest.

On Thursday last we were contacted by activists concerned about the safety of those at Sandwith Street - that local youths had been stirred up by right wing agitators - and that they had been pestering the homeless at the encampment.

We strongly advised those present to leave when we heard there was a protest planned. We knew the agitators involved.

Weve known them over the past three to four years so we strongly advised those present to leave, that large numbers could turn up and it could turn ugly.

Gardai separate the two groups

We provided assistance in getting the homeless out, their belongings, to a safe location.

Unfortunately, when we were leaving, our car  our outreach vehicle - was hemmed in on Sandwith Street for half an hour, they were booting our car and throwing missiles, Padraic said.

The support group were quick to identify themselves to the mob by showing identification.

However, this attempt to get those involved to refrain from violence was in vain.

We had high-vis bibs hanging over the seats, I showed them my ids - that we were a charity. They wouldnt let us leave. We received death threats and verbal abuse, we had to be escorted out by the Gardai.

The Gardai I think have dealt with the situation as best they could. The location was burned down after activists were escorted out.

The agitators wouldnt leave until they were satisfied, until they confirmed the place was empty.

Theres 28 from Sandwith Street currently being accommodated at a new location, we are negotiating on their behalf with state bodies.

From those that arrived in March, they will be accommodated first. The Refugee Council of Ireland is advocating on behalf of Roderic OGorman.

We are really worried about agitators coming and laying siege to the new location. We urgently need this wrapped up as quick as possible, Mr Drummond said.
Asking for a friend: Should I leave my sexless marriage? My husband wont try new positions and Im so frustrated  when he finishes, thats the end of it
Alan Locke and Marion Locke ( the Aunt of La Rochelle Rugby player Ultan ) are all set for the big game as are the Dillane extended family. Photo by Domnick Walsh

Kenneth and Baby Adam Locke from Tralee will be cheering on Ultan Dillane on Saturday. Photo by Domnick Walsh

Gabrille O'Flaherty , Sennait Forster and Noah O'Sullivan from Tralee Rugby Club and Frances and Kasper Schrurs of the Dillane extended family are all set for the big game . Photo Domnick Walsh

Young Tralee RFC members Aaron OSullivan and Luke Herve will be cheering for Ultan Dillane and La Roichelle on Saturday. Photo by Domnick Walsh

Danu and Afric Locke, part of the Dillane extended family, at Saturdays gathering in Bailys Corner ahead of the European Rugby final this weekend. All photos by Domnick Walsh

Garrett, Garry (publican) and Connor ODonnell (manager) of Bailys Corner in Tralee with Marion Locke, Amy Locke and 9 month old Aoibhe Locke who will all be cheering Ultan Dillane on this weekend. Photo by Domnick Walsh

Marion Locke, the Aunt of Rugby player Ultan Dillane, is all set for the big game against Leinster as are the entire Dillane extended family. All photos by Domnick Walsh

Friends and family of Ultan Dillane gathered at Bailys Corner in Tralee to send a message of encouragement to the Tralee man ahead of La Rochelle's Champions Cup Final against Leinster on Saturday. Photo Domnick Walsh.

Young members of Tralee RFC who will be cheering on Ultan Dillane and La Rochelle this weekend. Photo Domnick Walsh

AHEAD of the Champions Cup European rugby final this weekend much of the Irish medias focus will be on Leinster.

However, one corner of Tralee is set to become a little slice of France next Saturday as the county capital cheers on local rugby star Ultan Dillane.

The French born 29-year-old moved to his mothers hometown of Tralee when he was a boy and as a youngster he played his rugby and learned his craft with Tralee RFC.

From there it was onwards to Connacht in 2014 and he remained in the west of Ireland until last year when he was head hunted by Ronan OGara to join the Corkmans increasingly successful Stade Rochelais.

His move to La Rochelle  as they are better known  also saw Dillane swap his traditional role as a lock for a place in the back row.

Its a move that has done wonders for the Tralee native whose barnstorming performance in La Rochelles semi final win over Exeter has helped him cement his position in the European champions star studded pack.

Over the weekend Ultans family and friends  including many from his Tralee RFC Alma Mater  got together at Bailys Corner to send a message of encouragement to Ultan ahead of the final in Dublin on Saturday.

Prior to his rugby career taking off a young Ultan Dillane spent several years working in the bar on Castle Street and he always calls in to meet his friends there during his regular visits home.

The bar will be packed with Tralee La Rochelle fans on Saturday urging Ultan on as he bids to add a European Champions medal to his already bulging trophy cabinet.

Dillane won the Guinness Pro12 with Connacht in 2016 and later that year he was part of the Irish team that famously beat the All Blacks for the first time at Soldiers Field in Chicago. Two years later, in 2018, the Tralee man was a member of the extended Irish squad that won the Six Nations Grand Slam.
Saturday May 20th in Barrel Venue at McHughs in Drogheda

Fans of Rory Gallagher will be delighted to hear that the mighty Sam Davidsons Taste will be coming to the Barrel Venue at McHughs in Drogheda on Saturday May 20th for a night of heavy blues that'll shake the place to its very foundations!

SDT - voted Northern Irelands greatest blues/rock band of today  by their legion of followers throughout Ireland, Europe and the world, are a power trio doing their own brand of Raw Irish Rock and Blues in the style of legendary Irish 60s band Taste, of whom Sam and Lyn were members.

Taste was an iconic Irish blues/rock band from the 1960s, who were founded by songwriter and guitarist Rory Gallagher who left the band in 1970. Belfasts own Sam Davidson has taken over Rory Gallaghers role as frontman of Taste in his own inimitable style on lead guitar and vocals, with Lyn McMullan on drums and Ali McKenzie on bass keeping the sound and energy of the original band alive.

Expect classic blues, early Taste and Rory numbers, plus some of Sams own originals. All adding up to a night that will be utterly unmissable for Blues aficionados and fans of Rory Gallagher and Taste. There are a limited amount of special advance tickets available online now at a bargain price of 10 on Ticketstop.ie.
Alleged victims of Christian Brothers from all over the world are calling on the people of Louth to show their support by rescinding the Freedom of Drogheda from the former leader of the Christian Brothers, as he presided over a litigation strategy which means that cases against the order must be taken against all the members of the order at the time of the alleged wrongdoing.

Acting for the survivors, Independent Louth councillor Maeve Yore has attempted to have a motion tabled at council level on two occasions, calling for the honour to be removed, as survivors say it is causing distress to victims and alleged victims of sexual abuse by members of the Christian Brothers.

The Brother was given the Freedom of Drogheda in 1997 and apologised publicly at the time for any hurtful experiences people suffered because of the order, or in its schools.

Cllr Yore would like Louth County Council to call on the Christian Brothers to change its legal strategy for dealing with victims.

Her motion, which was removed from the agenda stated:

That Louth County Council supports all victims of child sexual abuse and condemns the current litigation strategy chosen by the Christian Brother order, as illustrated on RTE primetime, the seventh of February 2023.

Furthermore, that this council writes to the Christian Brother leadership team, condemning this litigation strategy and this Council calls upon our members in the Borough District of Drogheda to rescind the Freedom of Drogheda bestowed on the then leader of the Christian Brothers who presided over the order in the instigation of this strategy.

I have spoken with alleged sexual assault victims of Christian Brothers from Louth, from all over Ireland and from many countries in the world, and they would all like the same things, and I am asking on their behalf, Cllr Yore told the Drogheda Independent.

Rescinding the freedom would be a token on their behalf to say Louth says no to the litigation strategy being used by the Christian Brothers.

Drogheda-born Brother Edmund Garvey was head of the Christian Brothers when the order adopted a litigation strategy based on a Supreme Court ruling in 2017.

That ruling said unincorporated associations, such as religious orders, can't be sued directly and cases must be taken against the members of the order at the time of the alleged wrongdoing.

Orders can select someone to act as its nominee if it chooses to do so, but the Christian Brothers has opted not to do so.

This is within their rights.

Brother Garveys successor Brother David Gibson is adopting the same policy in relation to a current case, meaning that if a case is taken against the order, every member at the time must be included.

Cllr Yore says she feels an open discussion on this matter, whatever the outcome, would be in the best interests of the alleged victims.

I am only the messenger; it's not about me, but I want a fair and balanced discussion about my motion on the council agenda and this is about the survivors wanting this, says Cllr Yore.

They know that the former leader has done nothing legally wrong, but they feel what he has done is morally wrong in survivors getting justice.
The body of a 26-year-old Sligo tourist was recovered from a river near Zweilutschinen in Switzerland on Monday,police have confirmed.

Bunninadden native Justin Flannery (26) is believed to have fallen into a river in Lauterbrunnen.

According to his twin brother Johnathan, he had been traveling in Switzerland when he went missing last Friday. It's thought that he has been swept away in the river.

A number of family members have flown to Switzerland to search.

Swiss police have confirmed the body of an Irish tourist was found in a river.

Today's News in 90 Seconds - May 15th

In a statement, local police said the man had been reported missing from the Lauterbrunnen area on Saturday.

Mountain specialists, search dogs and a maritime crew took part in an extensive search for the young man, it said. His body was recovered from a nearby river on Monday evening, police stated.

Police said on Tuesday that they were investigating the cause of the Irish tourist's death.

The Swiss police force said that extensive search measures were immediately initiated after it received a report that a man was missing in Lauterbrunnen on Saturday at around 4:45 pm.

A spokeswoman for the Department of Foreign Affairs said it was aware of the case and was providing consular assistance to the Flannery family. As with all consular cases, the department does not comment on the details of any specific case.

On Monday evening, May 15, third parties were able to locate the missing person in the Weisse Lutschine, at the level of the Isenfluh junction, near Zweilutschinen (Gundlischwand municipality), police confirmed.

The maritime police rescued the man from the water and were only able to determine his death. The Care Team of the Canton of Berne was deployed to look after the relatives.

Investigations to clarify the events were started under the direction of the regional public prosecutor Oberland, police said on Tuesday.

A GO Fund Me page had been established by the family who said they were hoping to raise funds to search for Justin and to support his transfer home.

"It is all very unknown at the moment, we appreciate any little support and your thoughts and prayers, Justins twin brother Johnathan said in a post on the page.
Just two days before he and his wife Amanda were due to fly out to Mexico for potentially lifesaving treatment, Andy OReilly has lost his brave battle with cancer.

The 42-year-old father of three and grandfather to ten-month-old Kayla passed away on Friday last having been diagnosed with oesophageal cancer in March of last year.

Chemotherapy and an operation to remove a tumour followed and, for a brief few months, Andy and his family dared to believe he had overcome his illness. However, in March of this year, they were informed the cancer had spread and that his condition was beyond treating in an Irish hospital. Thus began a fundraising drive to get Andy to Mexico for pioneering treatment in a clinic which charged approximately 55,000 for a three-week stint.

With his condition worsening, the fundraiser edged near the 60,000 mark, allowing the family to book flights to the Central American country. Tragically, Andy never got to take that flight, his final journey coming at his home in Courtclough Upper near the Ballagh last Friday. Originally from Dublin, Andy and Amanda had moved to Wexford over 20 years ago and made a home for themselves here, with Andy becoming manager of Dunnes Stores in Enniscorthy.

And many of his friends from Wexford were present at his funeral service in St. Patricks Church, Corduff, Co Dublin on Tuesday morning. In keeping with Andys wishes, mourners were decked out in the colours of his beloved Manchester United, with cross-channel loyalties put to one side for the occasion. In front of a sea of red, white and black, his sister Maria spoke about the impact her brother had on those he met.

Where do I begin when it comes to talking about Andy? she asked. His life was a never-ending story of laughter and funny stories, whenever you were in his company you smiled because you knew you were going to have a good time.

Noting how her brother would always be the first one out on the dance-floor wherever music was being played, Maria recalled how Andys arrival on a holiday transformed the experience for all.

We were in holidays in Lanzarote, 30 of us, and Andy appeared five days into the holiday. He sang and rapped to songs he didnt know in karaoke bars, brought kids to raves, went to the funfair, pool parties, games, there was never a quiet moment. It was only when he went home and everything went quiet that the rest of us realised how boring we were, and there were 30 of us. But that was Andy, he brought out the child in you, the best in you, she said.

Upon getting his first job working behind a bar at the age of 16, Maria said her brother imagined himself as Tom Cruise in the movie Cocktail. It was while working in that bar that Andy met the love of his life.

On This Day In History - 18th May

One night 24 years ago he met a 17-year-old girl called Amanda, he fell in love with her and he still does, Maria said. I hope you know how much he loved you Amanda, you were entirely different people but it worked for you, from the very beginning of his illness you were there for him, he said the cancer could take everything away from him but his smile, which he would keep for you.

Describing Andys children, Maria said Craig was very much like his dad and brought great joy to the whole family when he became a father himself.

Ian was like his dad in some of the less responsible ways, he enjoys a party, when Ian smiled Andy smiled too, Maria continued. Kyle always knew how to wrap his dad round his finger, Andy called you Sheldon because of how smart you are.

In addition to their own children, Andy and Amanda were also foster parents and had played an integral part in the lives of many young people in this role, with Andy always treating them like they were his own and making sure every child in his presence was looked after.

Holding out hope until the very end, Maria said the trip to Mexico just wasnt to be in the finish.

We tried everything to help him get better but unfortunately it was not to be. We had planned to go to Mexico just two days after he passed, were still going to go, that was one of his dying wishes, his body wont get there but his soul will. He was my hero, my best friend, my everything, we spoke every day, our lives were an organised chaos, but organised nonetheless. He was creating lists for today in advance and wanted everyone to have a ball, he didnt want anyone to be sad, but to have fun, including all the Liverpool fans who are wearing United jerseys in his honour.

His strength throughout the illness was astonishing, he fought it with everything he had, he was such a kind, caring person that you asked yourself why him? But he said it would be better to happen to him that anyone else. Thats the type of person he was. If Andy was in your life you knew you were blessed to have known him.
Dolores Cahill, John Cahill and Phil Kinsella enjoyed the fundraiser for Wicklow Dementia Support and The Alzheimers Society of Ireland in Carnew Community Care, Carnew on Thursday. Pic: Jim Campbell

Peg Kelly, Marion Doyle and Peggy Cahill pictured at the fundraiser for Wicklow Dementia Support and The Alzheimers Society of Ireland in Carnew Community Care, Carnew on Thursday. Pic: Jim Campbell

At the fundraiser for Wicklow Dementia Support and The Alzheimers Society of Ireland in Carnew Community Care, Carnew on Thursday were Liz Donohoe, Maureen Holden and Theresa O'Neill. Pic: Jim Campbell

Carnew Community Care hosted a Tea Day in aid of Wicklow Dementia Support and The Alzheimers Society of Ireland on Thursday. Pictured at the fundraiser were Jackie O'Toole (Wicklow Dementia Support), Anne Kavanagh (Manager, Carnew Community Care) and Orla Finn (Wicklow Dementia Support). Pic: Jim Campbell

Mary O'Reilly and Pat O'Keeffe attended the fundraiser for Wicklow Dementia Support and The Alzheimers Society of Ireland in Carnew Community Care, Carnew on Thursday. Pic: Jim Campbell

At the fundraiser for Wicklow Dementia Support and The Alzheimers Society of Ireland in Carnew Community Care, Carnew on Thursday were Peg Byrne, Breda Murphy and Paula O'Neill. Pic: Jim Campbell

Pictured at the Tea Day for Wicklow Dementia Support and The Alzheimers Society of Ireland in Carnew Community Care, Carnew on Thursday were Kathleen Mulhall, Anne Kavanagh (Manager, Carnew Community Care), Kate Carroll (The Alzheimers Society of Ireland) and Rena Byrne. Pic: Jim Campbell

At the fundraiser for Wicklow Dementia Support and The Alzheimers Society of Ireland in Carnew Community Care, Carnew on Thursday were Liz Donohoe, Maureen Holden and Theresa O'Neill. Pic: Jim Campbell

Carnew Community Care hosted a Tea Day in aid of Wicklow Dementia Support and The Alzheimers Society of Ireland on Thursday. Pictured at the fundraiser were Jackie O'Toole (Wicklow Dementia Support), Anne Kavanagh (Manager, Carnew Community Care) and Orla Finn (Wicklow Dementia Support). Pic: Jim Campbell

Maria Priestly, Pat Misita, Molly Murphy and Betty Doyle were pictured at the fundraiser for Wicklow Dementia Support and The Alzheimers Society of Ireland in Carnew Community Care, Carnew on Thursday. Pic: Jim Campbell

Mary O'Reilly and Pat O'Keeffe attended the fundraiser for Wicklow Dementia Support and The Alzheimers Society of Ireland in Carnew Community Care, Carnew on Thursday. Pic: Jim Campbell

Aidan Doyle, Julie Redmond, Helen Elliot and Nancy Byrne attended the fundraiser for Wicklow Dementia Support and The Alzheimers Society of Ireland in Carnew Community Care, Carnew on Thursday. Pic: Jim Campbell

At the fundraiser for Wicklow Dementia Support and The Alzheimers Society of Ireland in Carnew Community Care, Carnew on Thursday were Peg Byrne, Breda Murphy and Paula O'Neill. Pic: Jim Campbell

Peg Kelly, Marion Doyle and Peggy Cahill pictured at the fundraiser for Wicklow Dementia Support and The Alzheimers Society of Ireland in Carnew Community Care, Carnew on Thursday. Pic: Jim Campbell

Pictured at the Tea Day for Wicklow Dementia Support and The Alzheimers Society of Ireland in Carnew Community Care, Carnew on Thursday were Kathleen Mulhall, Anne Kavanagh (Manager, Carnew Community Care), Kate Carroll (The Alzheimers Society of Ireland) and Rena Byrne. Pic: Jim Campbell

Dolores Cahill, John Cahill and Phil Kinsella enjoyed the fundraiser for Wicklow Dementia Support and The Alzheimers Society of Ireland in Carnew Community Care, Carnew on Thursday. Pic: Jim Campbell

Aida Lacey, Claire Douglas and Bernie Lynch were at the fundraiser for Wicklow Dementia Support and The Alzheimers Society of Ireland in Carnew Community Care, Carnew on Thursday. Pic: Jim Campbell

Over 60 people attended a wonderful afternoon tea day at Carnew Community Care in aid of the great work carried out nationally by the Alzheimers Society of Ireland.

The afternoon was a resounding success, providing all who attended with lots of useful information and plenty of tea, cakes and social activity.

The atmosphere was greatly enhanced by the Colaiste Bhride School Traditional Music Band led by Vice Principal Ciaran Somers. Many of those attending commented on the very talented group and all those attending hoped to see and hear lots more of this group at Carnew Community Care.

Jackie OToole, Wicklow Dementia Support spoke passionately about a new Carnew Memory Group that will begin at Carnew Community Care in the very near future. Using Cognitive Stimulation Therapy (CST) Jackie will engage the group in lots of fun activities that provide triggers for memories and stimulate language and communication.

While it sounds like work, it is actually a lot of fun and social activity and those who attend her Bray group enjoy their weekly sessions immensely, said Jackie.

Kate Codwell from the Alzheimers Society of Ireland provided information about the Dementia Adviser Service including supports for people receiving a dementia diagnosis and their families. Kate hopes to bring her Dementia Advisor Bus to Carnew in the next couple of weeks so watch out for the bus!

Annette Burke, Senior Occupational Therapist with the Wicklow Memory Technology Resource Room outlined the types of technology supports available through the Digital Technology Resource for example sensory mats can alert a carer when a person gets out of bed.

It was said that the afternoon tea provided by the team at Carnew Community Care could rival any five-star hotel. Funds were raised through a local raffle and donation boxes at the tea day, which were placed in businesses around the town in advance of the day.

A spokesperson for Carnew Community Care said: Many thanks to the sponsors of this local raffle, Corrells Hardware, Pooles Restaurant. Kellys Butchers, Molls Restaurant at the Parkview Shillelagh and Trish Rossiter. A total of just over 950 was raised. Many, many thanks to all who supported this fundraiser and that came along to partake in the afternoon tea day.

For more information about Wicklow Dementia Support and the Carnew Memory Group contact Jackie OToole at 089 42 86928 or Rena Byrne, Nurse at Carnew Community Care 053 9426510.

Kate Codwell can be contacted at 1800 341341 and Annette Burke at 0404 63374.
Senator Malcolm Byrne has said that his complaint to the Standards in Public Office Commission (Sipo) over a donation made by Paddy Cosgrave to The Ditch is not about stifling the news website but rather, ensuring it will adhere to the electoral acts if engaging in what he believes is political campaigning.

Senator Malcolm Byrne has written to Sipo, claiming that neither Mr Cosgrave nor Web Summit are registered as corporate donors. In his complaint, he references Mr Cosgraves interview on RTEs This Week, where he says Mr Cosgrave admits that the purpose of Web Summits donation to The Ditch is a political one and he outlines the agenda of the online platform.

In the interview, Mr Cosgrave said he allocated 1m to The Ditch over five years through his company Web Summit. Senator Byrne is claiming that The Ditch constitutes a third party under the electoral act and says this is above the allowed threshold of political donations that registered corporate donors can make.

"Sipo has responsibility under the electoral act to deal with campaign financing. One of the things they deal with is the question of political donations. Political donations can be made to candidates, public representatives, political representatives and third parties, he said. The case I have made  and I think it will be an interesting test case  is that The Ditch is a third party. Paddy Cosgrave has said in his interview that it is political platform with political objectives, and the editors have clearly expressed their opinions. My question is not about stifling them expressing their views. The question is, if you make a donation to a political campaign, you should be subject to the same rules as everyone else. I am in no way suggesting that The Ditch should stop what it is doing.

When it was noted that one of the roles of the media is to hold people in positions of power to account and asked what how he sees the work of The Ditch as political campaigning rather than political reporting, Senator Byrne said The Ditch is right, as is every journalist, to hold people to account.

"The issue, however, is when it is stated that the objectives are clearly political, which Paddy Cosgrave and the editors themselves have said is part of the function. It speaks to a wider question. If Paddy Cosgrave wanted to give money to a political party in order to change the government, there are campaign finance rules he would be expected to obey. He has chosen not to do that. He has chosen to set up a political platform and he is perfectly entitled to do that. The case I made to Standards in Public Office Commission is if you give money to a third party that is engaged in political campaigning then you are subject to the rules of the electoral act.

While Senator Byrne said he did not wish to point out specific examples of what he believes to be political campaigning on The Ditch website, saying that it would lead to a debate about individual stories, Senator Byrne said that it is clear from looking at the websites content and listening to interviews with those involved that there is a political element.

If you look at what appears on The Ditch, while some of it is clearly investigative journalism, a lot of the stuff is very much of a political direction and it is clear from the interview Paddy Cosgrave gave as well that his view was to take on government politicians and take on An Bord Pleanala. The fact when Justine McCarthy asked him about the purpose of The Ditch that he as the controller of The Ditch was able to outline what his political purpose was indicates that it is a third party, he said, adding that while he believes someone has every right to set up a political website, they must be subject to the rules of the electoral act.

There are a number of cases there where subvergence from what you might call opinion to political campaigning. If you read some of the stuff, it is very clear it is moving in that direction, he continued.

This latest development comes two weeks after The Ditch published an article relating to Senator Byrnes Fianna Fail colleague, Minister James Browne.

Under the headline Fianna Fail minister directly appointed constituency party member to state role, the article stated that Minister Browne had appointed Gorey hunter, shooting range owner and firearms expert Paul Walsh to a 400 plus expenses state position without interview.

When contacted for comment this week, Enniscorthy-based Minister Browne stated: Its a Department of Justice issue. And you should seek comment from the department directly on it.

Minister Browne also stated that the interview process was carried out and everything was above board and that the committee which Mr Walsh sat on had now closed.

At the time of publication, the Department of Justice had failed to respond to queries in relation to Paul Walshs appointment to the government committee.

While Senator Byrne said that he believes that both The Ditch owners and editors need to be more transparent about any links or experiences they have had or anyone associated with them has had with An Bord Pleanala, Fianna Fail and Fine Gael, this is not the focus of his complaint.

They are very welcome to campaign on any issue. The more people come into political debate the better. Id love to see Paddy Cosgraves name on a ballot paper. But this is a question around political campaign funding and we have to have a level playing field when it comes to political campaign funding, he continued.

Their views are clear. My dispute is around campaigns and finance.

In a statement following news of Senator Byrnes complaint, a spokesperson for The Ditch asked Senator Byrne to reflect on whether his complaint will be in any way effective at silencing journalism he considers damaging. When this comment was put to Senator Byrne, he said that this was not at all what he was trying to do.

I have been a long supporter around quality journalism, around public sector media funding. As part of the Oireachteas Media Committee, we actively supported the fund that is supporting local newspapers, he said. This has nothing to do with quality journalism. This is an effort by The Ditch to deflect from the fact that they received a million euro donation from a millionaire. I dont believe that multimillionaires should be seeking to use their money to set the political agenda in this country. I just believe that if you are going to fund political activity, you have to adhere to the electoral act.

Senator Byrne said that, ultimately, it is up to Sipo to determine whether The Ditch is considered a third party and will need to adhere to the electoral act.

The ultimate point would be whether Sipo determines The Ditch is a third party for campaigning purposes. If Sipo determines that The Ditch is a third party, then it is subject to electoral campaigning and financing rules. If it determines it is not, there is no bar on millionaires funding online activity that is targeted at political objectives, adding that he doesnt wish to see Ireland go down the same route of the USA where where wealthy people in order to pursue a particular agenda can put money behind campaigns.
The United Nations recognises next Monday, May 22nd, as International Day for Biological Diversity. Each year, biodiversity is celebrated, and the day is marked by special events. The 2023 event is a bit more special than normal for at least two reasons.

First, it is the 30th anniversary of the declaration of the Convention on Biological Diversity in Rio de Janeiro back in 1992. Biodiversity is still being lost at an alarming rate but on the positive side there has been a significant growth in awareness of the problem and its associated issues.

There go the people. I must follow them, for I am their leader is a maxim that many politicians must be mindful of. The quotation is sometimes attributed to Mahatma Gandhi, but it appears to have been first coined by Alexandre Auguste Ledru-Rollin a French politician and one of the leaders of the French Revolution of 1848. Recently we had the Citizens Assembly calling on politicians to take urgent action to address biodiversity loss here in Ireland. Will the politicians now follow the people?

A second reason that makes day significant is the outcome of COP15 last December. COP15 was the fifteenth conference of the parties (COP). That international gathering, chaired by China and hosted by Canada, ended in Montreal on 19 December 2022 with a landmark agreement to guide global action on nature through to 2030. Among the twenty-three ambitious targets that the Montreal agreement wants to achieve by 2030 is 30 per cent conservation of land and sea and 30 per cent restoration of degraded ecosystems.

Here in Ireland, International Day for Biological Diversity 2023, is celebrated as part of National Biodiversity Week 2023 that started last Friday, 19 May, and finishes next Sunday 28 May.

National Biodiversity Week is organised by the Irish Environmental Network, with funding from the National Parks and Wildlife Service. The Irish Environmental Network is an umbrella group for 34 individual environmental non-government organisations including such well-known groups as An Taisce, BirdWatch Ireland, and the Irish Wildlife Trust. Events are being run by these groups, as well as by Heritage Officers and other local groups. For details of some of the events see https://biodiversityweek.ie/events-calendar/
Star Trek (2009) Film4, 6.35p.m.

A prequel to the hit TV series, this sci-fi adventure sees the birth of James T Kirk, his tearaway youth and eventual enlistment into Starfleet in an attempt to make sense of his life.

However, as he crosses paths with a few familiar faces  Leonard Bones McCoy and Uhura to name two  its his uneasy alliance with half-Vulcan Spock that forms the backbone of the drama. As the Enterprise crew tackle the villainous Nero, an aged face from the future helps them on their quest.

Arguably the best of the film saga, it opens with a heart-breaking prologue (perfect for pulling in non-Trek fans), and rarely lets up for the duration. Chris Pine is a great Kirk, but Zachary Quinto steals the film as a spot-on young Spock.

THURSDAY

High Noon (1952) Film4, 2.10p.m.

Its former town marshal Will Kanes (Gary Cooper) wedding day, and hes just discovered that a killer he tried to bring to justice has been freed on a technicality  and is heading back to town on the midday train, intent on revenge.

Will has to decide whether to leave as planned to start a new life with his Quaker bride (Grace Kelly) or stay and face his adversary. But he gets little support from the townsfolk, who make it clear that he will have to face his fate alone.

High Noon was seized on at the time as an allegory for McCarthyism, but even without that added layer of meaning, its still one of the greatest Westerns ever made. The fact that it plays out in (approximately) real time just adds to the tension, and Cooper is on iconic form as Kane.

FRIDAY

The Proposal (2009) ITV, 10.45p.m.

In the hallowed corridors of Ruick & Hunt Publishing, New York book editor Margaret Tate (Sandra Bullock) is feared by one and all, including her long-suffering assistant Andrew (Ryan Reynolds).

When Margaret is threatened with deportation to Canada when her visa expires, she forces Andrew to pose as her fiance and walk her down the aisle, with the understanding that they can get divorced a few months later when she has her citizenship. As part of the ruse, she accompanies her assistant home to Sitka, Alaska, for a family get-together, where ice queen Margaret begins to thaw.

The Proposal hits more targets than it misses, and Bullock takes Peter Chiarellis screenplay by the scruff of the neck and wrings every giggle out of it.

SATURDAY

The Remains of the Day (1993) BBC2, 2.55p.m.

Anthony Hopkins gives one of his best performances as Stevens, a butler in a 1930s mansion who devotes himself to his master and the smooth running of the household.

In fact, hes so dedicated, he puts the demands of the job above his own emotional needs, rebuffing the advances of the spirited housekeeper Miss Kenton (Emma Thompson)  and so obedient, he fails to question his employers (James Fox) increasingly pro-Nazi politics.

Made at the height of period-drama specialists Merchant Ivorys powers, this sensitive adaptation transforms Kazuo Ishiguros acclaimed novel into a deeply moving drama. The impressive supporting cast includes Hugh Grant, Christopher Reeve, Peter Vaughan and Tim Pigott-Smith.

SUNDAY

School of Rock (2003) Channel 4, 2.50p.m.

Dewey Finns (Jack Black) dreams of becoming a rock star suffer a setback when hes kicked out of his own band. Realising it might finally be time to get a job, he poses as his flatmate and starts work as a supply teacher at an exclusive private school. Dewey is initially uninterested in his pupils, but when he realises how many budding musicians are in his class, he decides to secretly turn them into his own new backing group.

The role of Dewey was written with Black in mind, and it shows  hes perfectly cast as the slobby, overbearing but ultimately likeable teacher. Even more impressively, for a comedy about performing kids teaching an adult a few life lessons, its short on sentiment, thanks to director Richard Linklater, who gets winningly understated performances out of his child stars.

MONDAY

Do the Right Thing (1989) BBC2, 11.15p.m.

Director Spike Lees powerful, provocative drama grabs you from the opening titles  which feature Rosie Perez, in her electrifying film debut, dancing to Public Enemys Fight the Power  and never lets go.

It centres on a Brooklyn pizzeria, where the Italian-American owner (Danny Aiello) is involved in an apparently minor dispute with his predominately Black customers. However, as the temperature rises on the hottest day of the year, the simmering racial tensions in the neighbourhood reach boiling point and explode into violence.

Do the Right Thing still feels shockingly timely, while the Academys failure to even nominate it for Best Picture  it instead gave the Oscar to Driving Miss Daisy  only seems more baffling with each passing year.

TUESDAY

Vice (2018) BBC2, 11.15p.m.

In 1963 Wyoming, a young Dick Cheney (Christian Bale) works on the power lines and drinks to excess. He is a crushing disappointment to 21-year-old sweetheart Lynne (Amy Adams), whose father also lives by the bottle.

In response, Dick secures an internment at the White House, where he assiduously aligns himself with Republican Congressman Donald Rumsfeld (Steve Carell). By playing the waiting game on Capitol Hill, Dick manoeuvres himself into the position of running mate to George W. Bush (Sam Rockwell) during the 2000 US presidential election.

Written and directed by Adam McKay, Vice is a briskly paced and engrossing portrait of ambition, which nervously prowls the corridors of power in Washington DC to satirise a true story of malicious meddling and unabashed self-interest.
NEW ROSS district councillor Bridin Murphy has appealed to Co Wexford politicians to not post photos of themselves with pupils, having received a complaint from a parent on the matter.

Speaking at the May New Ross Municipal District meeting, Cllr Murphy said: On the issue of child protection I have noticed in recent times a number of public representatives putting photos of children who are not their own up on social media. That is a huge child protection issue.Cllr Murphy said doing this also constitutes a data breach.

If it comes through our doors it will also be reported to the Data Protection Commission.

She said even if parents give consent for their child to be photographed on school grounds, there has to be explicit detail regarding where the images can be shown. She said: If you are at an event you do not take pics (of children) and put them on social media because these pics can be lifted and used by anyone who has access to the page.

Parents have contacted Cllr Murphy furious about the matter, she said.

Cathaoirleach Cllr Michael Sheehan said there are strict protocols on school boards of management around child protection and the use of photos.

If something like this is brought to their attention it is their duty to report it and all parents must be notified, he said.

Cllr John Fleming said: I totally agree. Putting up photos on social media is a no no at this stage. Myself and Pat Barden managed teams all our lives and you need to be careful non stop. 40, 50 years ago you could put five kids in a car but we have to protect our kids. Its a big issue. I think everyone in public office would have to be aware of it and its deadly dangerous.

Cllr Sheehan said parents consent is a must, particularly if the child is aged under 13.

If the school authorises taking the pic for the school its fine.
Sylvester passed away peacefully on April 29, aged 85.

The beloved husband of the late Josephine, he is greatly missed by his children Sylvester, Mary, Tom and Angela, stepson Paul, stepdaughter Alison and siblings Michael, Vincy and Mary.

Sylvester was a man who loved his family deeply. He saw the good in the world. He loved people. He loved talking with people and hearing their stories. He had an adventurous, playful spirit and loved to travel, but no place meant more to him than his beloved home  Ireland.

Sylvester was born on the family farm in Virginia, Co Cavan, on June 2, 1937, the fourth youngest of 11 children.

It was on the farm where Sylvester learnt the importance of hard work, gratitude and generosity. He was raised to treat all people with dignity and respect.

Like many young Irishmen of the time, Sylvester was ambitious and wanted to be able to provide for a family that he hoped to have one day. Therefore, when he was 20 years old he left Ireland and travelled to Australia, where he worked for three years on a project building a tunnel through the Snowy Mountains.

Aged 23, he left Australia and travelled home to Ireland to marry his sweetheart, Judy.

Following their wedding, Sylvester and Judy left Ireland and moved to London to start a family.

Over the following years, Sylvester and Judy had four children, but life was tough in London and they suffered through many adversities, sickness and hard times.

But through it all, Sylvester never lost his faith in the church and the goodness of people. He suffered in silence, not wanting to burden those around him.

Then when Judy died at the very young age of 40, he became a single father. Raising four children and very often working two jobs so that he could afford the little extras, or to take his family on the occasional holiday. His children remember him working his day job and then coming home to have dinner with them, before leaving for his night job. He was the hardest working person theyve ever known.

But even as a single dad working two jobs, he always found time for the fun stuff, drives in the country, day trips to the seaside or outings to a park.

A funny anecdote from this time was recalled at his funeral mass at St Aidan's Church, Poulfur by his son/daughter (insert here).

While at a park the children found a rope swing hanging from a tree branch on the bank of a small pond. They were taking it in turns swinging back and forth, when Sylvester announced that they were doing it all wrong and he could show them how to really get the thing swinging.

So he grabbed a hold of the rope and started swinging. He then decided he should hang upside down from the rope, but somehow he got stuck hanging upside down from the rope. As he was begging the children to help him down, all of his money began falling out of his pockets.

"The four kids started scrambling to grab as much of it as possible while he was stuck swinging from the rope. We were all crying with laughter, while the Cavan man in him pleaded for his money back!

As a single dad he was amazing. He cooked for his kids, he cleaned, he did the laundry, he took them on holidays to Ireland, Blackpool and Cornwall.

"He made us laugh and he loved us with every ounce of his being! We were so proud of our dad and to have our friends meet him. He was a hero to us!

Sylvester was a shining example of how people should treat each other, everyday.

In 1983, through the Irish Center in Camden Town London, Sylvester met and married Josie Connell.

Josie had two children, Paul and Allison. Sylvester and Josie were married for 38 years, until Josie passed away in 2021. Josie had suffered for many years with Alzheimer's disease before her death.

For their last few years together, Sylvester would visit Josie everyday at the nursing home, sitting with her, holding her hand and telling her the latest news. He never gave up the hope that something he said was getting through to Josie.

He always said that there was a glimmer of hope that if something did register with Josie, it could maybe, provide her with some semblance of comfort. Sylvesters love for Josie was endless.

The family have many happy memories of their time with Sylvester and Josie including dances at the Irish Center in Camden and Christmas catch ups.

Sylvester was so proud of his Irishness, he carried it with dignity, kindness, generosity and a fun-loving spirit. He was loved by all that knew him, he was honest, trustworthy and had an inner strength that carried him and his family.

Sylvester was laid to rest in the new Cemetery, Poulfur.

He is sadly missed by his sons, daughters, grandchildren Michael, Isabel, Connor, Keira, Hayley, Taylor, Julia, Ben, Luke, Amy and Molly, siblings, nephews, nieces, extended family and friends. He was predeceased by Tom-Joe, Owen, Phil, Pat, Jimmy, John and Elizabeth.

May he rest in peace.
Wexford woman Heather Hadrill has been announced as one of the directors of the Pocket Operas for Wexford Festival Opera 2023.

The Opera Festival invited applications from young Irish or Irish-based directors and set designers to develop stage concepts for two Pocket Operas/Opera Beag as part of a commitment to nurturing a new generation of creative artists.

Heather Hadrill and Grace Morgan were announced as the successful candidates and they will direct two pocket productions for this years festival programme.

Heathers previous directing credits include Handels Acis and Galatea and Purcells Dido & Aeneas for Scuola del Canto Libero in Prague and she has also directed and produced for theatre with Travelling Light Theatre Company and Four Rivers Theatre Company. She was artist-in-residence at Wexford Arts Centre in 2021.

For the Opera Festival she will direct La fille du regiment by Gaetano Donizetti (1840), a comic opera which follows the story of an orphan girl adopted by a regiment of soldiers.

Grace Moran will direct Suor Angelica by Giacomo Puccini (1918). The beautiful score tells of one womans ultimate sacrifice when caught in circumstances enforced upon her by her family and society.

Theatre-maker Grace is Associate Artistic Director of Pan Pan Theatre and is a founder director of theatre company tasteinyourmouth. Her recent credits include The Sudden (Dublin Dance Festival, Pan Pan), MESPIL IN THE DARK LIVE (co-director, Pan Pan) and Youre Needy (sounds frustrating at Camden Peoples Theatre).

General booking is now open for the 2023 festival programme at wexfordopera.com.
The Tinahely Courthouse Arts Centre will host the Wicklow Artists Salon on Saturday June, 24 as part of their 'Stone Soup' exhibition.

In advance of major upcoming renovations, The Tinahely Courthouse Arts Centre will temporarily reimagine the former courtroom as a community cafe and loitering space with the launch of an exhibition entitled Stone Soup on Saturday, May 20.

Part of Kunstverein Aughrims friendly takeover of the Courthouse, the exhibition will run until June 24, 2023 and features work by talented artists Isadora Epstein, Yurika Higashikawa, Jennie Moran and The 1798 Club, which is a collaboration between members of Aughrim Active Retirement Group, photographer Louis Haugh and Kunstverein Aughrim.

Established by Kate Strain in 2022, Kunstverein Aughrim is a curatorial production office located on the ground floor of a town house in Aughrim, that is part of an international network that develops ongoing curatorial collaborations with artists to support the artistic process of creating new work and bring audiences as close to the creative process as possible.

Taking its name from an 18th-century French folk story, Kunstverein Aughrim will launch Stone Soup with a writing workshop by Yurika Higashikawa  from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.  followed by a brief introduction by curator Kate Strain (at 2 p.m.), a presentation on Softening Corners and Institutional Hospitality by artist Jennie Moran and a live performance entitled Spooned! by artist Isadora Epstein.

Ms Epstein writes and makes performances from her research of art history and mythology. Living and working in Dublin, she has performed at Temple Bar Gallery + Studios, the Royal Hibernian Academy, Sirius Art Centre, Royal Irish Academy, Ormston House, KuVa Exhibition Lab, Helsinki, and TULCA.

Yurika Higashikawa is a multidisciplinary, research-driven artist and writer based between Wicklow and Dublin. Their films, performances and texts map moments of tension between technocratic systems of power and our capacities to act upon or in league with our surroundings.

Jennie Moran is a Dublin-based artist who uses her practice to create opportunities for hospitality. Her work attempts to dismantle places into their basic components and reassemble them so that they might function more poetically.

The 1798 Club is a collaboration that aims to develop an intangible Heritage Collection for Aughrim by creating an inventory of objects, artefacts and ephemera through which the customs and stories of Aughrim are represented, shared and re-told. Aughrims inaugural exhibition of Intangible Heritage took place as part of Aughrims first annual Heritage and Arts Weekend, in October 2022.

Epsteins wall works, Higashikawas words, Morans table lumps and The 1798 Clubs postcards will remain on display for the month-long duration of the exhibition, during which time visitors to the Courthouse are invited to bring picnics and packed lunches from local cafes Dlish and Tinahely Farm Shop and enjoy them on-site.

On Saturday, June 24, the Courthouse will host the Wicklow Artists Salon which will be moving from the Mermaid Arts Centre for the Stone Soup collaboration with Kunstverein Aughrim.

Entitled Taking the Initiative, the artist-run event will explore important themes affecting artists and cultural practitioners and features an exciting line-up of artists and cultural practitioners who took the bold step of establishing a new publishing house, a new festival, and two arts centres.

The panel for the salon includes the founder of the Signal Arts Centre, Eleanor Philips, publisher of The Stinging Fly Press, Declan Meade, founding Director of The Gap Arts Festival, Garret Keogh and event facilitator, curator and founding Director of Kunstverein Aughrim, Kate Strain.

Supported by Wicklow County Arts Office, Mermaid Arts Centre, The Tinahely Courthouse and curated by visual artist Joanna Kidney and writer Philip St John, the salon consists of a moderated discussion with invited guest artists, which then opens into conversations with attendees and aims to seed learning, interactions and collaborations among participants.

Speaking in advance of their exciting arts schedule, a spokesperson for The Tinahely Courthouse Arts Centre said: We look forward to a lively discussion with the invited panel on Taking The Initiative. Which will discuss how they individually started up a publishing house, a new festival, and two arts centres.

Come and join your fellow artists in a local cafe (food not included) from 12.30 p.m. to 2 p.m. Venue to be confirmed.

Stone in Soup will be on display in The Tinahely Courthouse Arts Centre from Saturday, May 20 to Saturday, June 24 and will be open from Wednesday to Saturday, between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m.

Booking is essential for the free The Wicklow Artist Salon event, which will take place on Saturday, June 24 from 2 p.m. to 4.30 p.m. Visit www.mermaidartscentre.ie.

For those travelling from the Bray area, The Tinahely Courthouse Arts Centre will provide bus transport to Tinahely and back.

For more information contact The Tinahely Courthouse Arts Centre at 0402 38529 or visit www.courthousearts.ie

For more information about Kunstverein Aughrim visit www.kunstverein.ie
The Dublin Array Offshore Windfarm project could see up to 50 wind turbines located offshore between Blackrock, South Dublin and Bray, County Wicklow by 2028.

Greystones Fine Gael Councillor Derek Mitchell has raised concerns over a wall of turbines taller than Bray Head towering over the coastline between Bray and Greystones, after it was announced that both Codling Wind Park and the Dublin Array Offshore Wind Farm have been given the green light for development off the east coast of Ireland.

While Cllr Mitchell welcomed the advent of more sustainable power, he said: I am concerned that the two wind farms are planned to meet off Greystones giving a wall of turbines, taller than Bray Head, covering most of the sea horizon 10 to 12 kilometres offshore.

This is far more than any other place, 115 degrees arc of view. I want to see a gap of at least 30 degrees arc of view left between wind farms so each appears separate, reducing the visual impact.

For the last three years I have asked for this but their consultations have ignored this and all planning has ignored adjacent wind farms.

This scale of visual disruption would not be allowed elsewhere in Europe, he added.

Ideally, they would be much further offshore but to do so would put this back five years when the sustainable power is needed. Thus I ask that this gap be left.

Recently, a wind farm extension off Brighton, UK, had to reduce its size because of excessive visual impact, even though the impact is less than is planned off Greystones.

I have also asked them to open an Interpretive Centre with explanation boards in Kilcoole and Newcastle. They have not agreed to any of this, he said.

The Codling Wind Park is to be set in an area called Codling Bank, approximately 13-22 kilometres off the County Wicklow coast, between Greystones and Wicklow town.

With an expected capacity of up to 1,300 megawatts (MW), it has the potential to supply the equivalent of over one million Irish homes with low carbon, locally produced, low-cost electricity, and to save almost two million tonnes of carbon emissions every year.

EirGrid has provisionally confirmed that Codling Wind Parks bid under the Offshore Renewable Electricity Support Scheme (ORESS) has been successful, ahead of final auction results to be issued in mid-June. Subject to all necessary permits and consents being received, Codling Wind Park could begin construction in 2026.

Meanwhile, RWEs Dublin Array Offshore Wind Farm was also given the green light for its offshore wind farm on the Kish and Bray Banks, which will be located approximately 10 kilometres from the coastline of counties Dublin and Wicklow. Once operational, Dublin Array would have an installed capacity of 824 MW, and consist of up to a maximum of 50 turbines, depending on the model of turbine chosen at the time.

Following the provisional announcement, there will now be a period of scrutiny, before EirGrid can formally confirm the auction results. If Dublin Arrays success is formally confirmed on June 14, RWEs next steps will be to submit an application for consent, while also completing the final stages of detailed design and procurement.

A Financial Investment Decision would follow later, after consent is secured, with a target date operating date of 2028. It is hoped the wind farms will help the Government meet its 2030 offshore wind targets and put the country on the pathway to net zero by 2050.
Baltinglass Library will host a talk about Barn Owls from the Wicklow Barn Owl Group on Tuesday, May 23.

To mark Biodiversity Week, Baltinglass Library will host a talk about Barn Owls from the Wicklow Barn Owl Group on Tuesday, May 23 at 6.30 p.m.

The Barn Owl is one of our most easily recognisable birds and are intrinsically linked to Irelands folklore and culture. An encounter with Barn Owl at night is a magical experience you are unlikely to forget.

The Wicklow Barn Group formed in early 2022 with the aim of increasing the population of breeding Barn Owls in Wicklow.

The project has two main objectives, firstly to carry out a survey to establish the status of Barn Owls in Co. Wicklow, and secondly, where appropriate to install specially designed nest boxes.

You can register for the event at www.eventbrite.ie/e/the-barn-owl-in-wicklow-2022-23-the-story-so-far-tickets-632649600987
Born premature and suffering from a rare condition, he has been in and out of hospital all of his short life

A Wicklow mother whose child was resuscitated and pronounced dead shortly after birth has lauded her miracle sons resilience ahead of his third birthday this weekend.

Born via an emergency C-section at 33 weeks old, Blessington boy Flinn Lynham had to undergo emergency resuscitation for 22 minutes at birth and was briefly pronounced dead before taking his first magical breaths.

Rushed to the ICU, mother and child were separated for over six hours while staff administered ventilation, with parents Louise Kelly and Jason Lynham left with an agonising wait to hear if their newborn had survived.

I couldnt see what was going on after Flinn was born, as I was unable to move after the C-section, Louise recalled. I remember calling out: Why cant I hear him, why cant I hear him?.

Everybody kept reassuring me that he was doing fine, but the room was so silent, so I knew everything was not okay. Then, all of a sudden, Flinn took his first breaths and there was a huge outpouring of emotion.

They rushed him to the ICU and it was another six hours before I saw him again. The wait was agonising, just unbearable. Eventually, the consultant brought Jason up to see Flinn, to take some photos, because they werent sure what was going to happen next.

The neonatal doctors and consultants were in and out updating us, but none of it made sense to me. By about 10 p.m. that evening, I was becoming hysterical and pleaded with the doctors to let me see him.

They brought me down in a wheelchair and there he was  I was just so relieved. It was really surreal and hard to explain. They had him in an incubator, and he was very sick, but I thought he was the most beautiful boy I had ever seen.

I remember saying to the consultant how perfect he was, and I dont think they thought I grasped just how ill he was, but I was just so happy to see that he was here and alive. People have asked me: Were you not really emotional when you saw him?, but I was on such a high that my baby was here.

That high went away when I woke up the next morning, with the panic about whether he had made it through the night setting in. But, when I was told that he had made it, that he was fighting and doing surprisingly well  considering the consultants thought he wasnt going to make it  it just filled me with hope. That hope has stayed with Jason and me ever since.

Flinn spent the next eight weeks in The Coombe Hospital, where a consultant from Crumlin Hospital visited him once a week for an echocardiogram. To Louise and Jasons dismay, the results of the tests revealed that their infants heart was suffering from hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy and was deteriorating rapidly.

When Flinn was transferred to the Crumlin Childrens Hospital in July 2020 he had to be resuscitated upon arrival, with Louise and Jason receiving a frantic call to say their young son had gone into cardiac arrest.

When he was brought over to Crumlin Childrens Hospital, we knew he had a sick heart, but nothing could have prepared us for what came next, Louise said.

The hospital rang us to say that he had arrived with Covid and, within twenty minutes, we got another call to say that Flinn was arresting, and to come up straight away.

We ran out the door not knowing what we were going to face at the hospital. Security wouldnt let both of us in, so I went in alone. When I got to the ward, doctors and nurses were working on him and I got such a fright that the ward manager took me into a room to calm me down.

They let Jason come up and we got to see Flinn, but we werent allowed touch him, because he was working hard to breathe and his heart rate was so high, we didnt want to make it harder for him.

The doctors were getting us ready for the worst at that time, so each week that passed after that was an absolute blessing for us. Every Thursday, we would meet the consultant and the neonatal doctors and theyd give us the worst-case scenario, but Jason and I really believed in Flinn, because of how fiercely he had already fought. Hes a born fighter.

He spent the next two weeks in ICU, and thats when the diagnosis started coming in. They brought in a cardiologist nurse who explained Flinns heart condition, and how its not something that cant be fixed with an operation or medicine. That news was very devastating.

We were trying to understand it all and thought he could get a heart transplant  just being ignorant of how sick he was  but Flinn wouldnt be a fit candidate for that.

He also has hydrocephalus, which causes fluid to accumulate in his head, and scoliosis, which was one of his later diagnoses. The scoliosis is a tricky one because they cant treat it with a cast or braces, as they would crush his lungs.

There is an operation, but anaesthetic is not an option for Flinn, as hes in the high risk category. Anaesthetic is a life-or-death thing, and the doctors will not give it to him. The consultant told us that his scoliosis is that severe that he would need an operation every six months, which would leave him with no quality of life anyway.

In my ignorance, I assumed that Flinn being born at 33 weeks was the reason that he couldnt breathe etc. But, I had an excellent consultant in Crumlin Hospital who told me that lots of babies born at 33 weeks are fine and that its down to genetics and a condition called Noonans syndrome, which has caused all these other issues.

After spending more than three months in hospital, Louise and Jason finally had the opportunity to bring Flinn home but have been in and out to see a cardiologist at Childrens Heart Centre in Crumlin Hospital  where staff affectionately call him the famous Mr Flinn - ever since.

In November 2020, Flinn became the first child in Europe to take a trial drug his family sourced from North America with the help of their cardiologist, which has seen a drastic improvement in his condition.

With Flinn requiring intensive therapy to aid his recovery and development, aunties Amanda and Elaine Lynham have set up a fundraiser to help cover the costs  a gesture Louise and Jason have been blown away by.

Praising her family, hospital staff and supportive circle of friends, mother of six Louise said: Flinn hasnt had a hospital stay since last November, and a lot of that is down to the quality of treatment he has received and the drug we sourced from Canada with the help of our cardiologist.

Flinn had no options available for his condition, so we were delighted that they sanctioned the drug, which has been a holy grail for us.

Flinns relatives, especially his aunts Amanda and Elaine, have been amazing with us. They came to us months ago with the idea of the fundraiser, but we werent sure we wanted people to know about our family, as it was difficult to talk about Flinns story  it still is.

But we look at him now and we see how desperate he is to learn and we know that hes going to need intensive (and expensive) therapy and equipment to facilitate that. The HSE and professionals at the hospitals have been amazing and have gone far above and beyond, but Flinns needs are more complex than they can cater for  he needs that intensive therapy.

You can see it in him every day, hes eager and hes trying to make sounds and lift his head. This is a real window of opportunity for him at the moment, as hes medically stable.

Flinns brothers have been exceptional support throughout too. For his first year of life, we lived on adrenaline, bouncing into the ICU and not knowing whether we were coming or going and there were more bad days than good. It was hard going for all of us, but Flinns brothers were so fantastic.

Its been very tough for them to understand why their mammy is not here and what going on  why they are missing out on certain things that we cant go to as a family etc. - but they love Flinn and see how special he is.

Thats what makes Flinns birthday so special this weekend. He had his first birthday at home, but it was at the height of Covid, so we couldnt celebrate it. He has only been out of the hospital for a few days at that time, and was back there a day and a half later.

All his friends and family will be there this Saturday though, we even have a balloon artist coming, which he absolutely loves.

On behalf of the whole family, we are just so thankful for peoples support and kindness. We are so touched by how kind people have been and it makes it all a bit easier knowing we have this fantastic support behind us.

McGreals pharmacy in Blessington will host a coffee morning in aid of Flinn on Friday, June 16 at 11 a.m.

To make a donation to Flinn and the Lynham/Kelly Family visit www.gofundme.com/f/flinn-the-warrior
WICKLOW town is next in line for the rollout of a community CCTV scheme.

Cllr John Snell raised the matter at Mondays meeting of Wicklow County Council.

He stated: The reality is we were promised that each Municipal District would have one town selected in each district for the rollout of the scheme. Bray has had a CCTV scheme since 2005, which was launched by the then Minister Michael McDowell.

Blessington launched their scheme around two months ago and the Arklow scheme has been up and running since 2020. The Greystones scheme has been proposed for funding and there is a lot of planning involved. Towns and villages throughout the country are growing at a fast rate and people want to feel safe.

Wicklow is the county town and in my opinion it should have been one of the first to introduce the scheme.

The fact is some people feel safer going out at night time in Dublin rather than their own town or village, which isnt an easy thing to say. Ideally people want to feel safe. CCTV wont eradicate incidents but it will at least reduce the number of incidents.

Head of Finance, Brian Gleeson, said consultants were looking into the best location for CCTV in Wicklow town and will also involve talks with Wicklow Gardai, the Town Team and the Wicklow and District Chamber of Commerce.

The process has now kicked off and everyone will be kept updated at Wicklow Municipal District meetings, added Mr Gleeson.
THE Crime Prevention Officer (CPO) for Wicklow, Sgt John Fitzpatrick, provided a presentation in the Council chamber on personal safety measures the elected members should consider should they receive any personal abuse or threats of violence.

A report published by the Association of Irish Local Government (AILG) in May of 2021 revealed that 60 per cent of the abuse directed at elected public representatives took place over social media, 33 per cent was face-to-face and 36 per cent involved threats to kill.

Protests outside the home of politicians is also a growing phenomenon, including the home of Wicklow TDs and Ministers. Sgt Fitzpatrick highlighted a number of cases, including the recent protest outside the home of People Before Profit TD Paul Murphy.

He also highlighted the case involving outspoken Laois Councillor Aisling Morgan who claimed people threatened to kill her after saying some people in council houses have never worked and never will.

Cathaoirleach of Wicklow County Council, Cllr Tommy Annesley recalled receiving a smack in the jaw over a planning application he had no involvement with.

Sgt Fitzpatrick advised: You are the best assessor of risk and if a persons behaviour frightens you then doing nothing is not an option.

Learn to look for the signs. Often it is not just one signal in particular but a combination of a number of features of a persons behaviour which raises our sense of fear.

The warning signs to look out for include Intimidating non-verbal behaviour, which could also involve exaggerated hand and arm movements, prolonged eye contact, standing too close, saying things which we find illogical or sit outside our own frame of reference, repeating sentences over again and an actual threat of harm to you or your family or property.

Regarding home visits, the elected members were advised to see if the meetings can be carried out by phone or email instead. Possibly a colleague could attend instead or the councillors could try and organise the meeting in a public space, such as a community centre.

If a home visit has to take place, Sgt Fitzpatrick stated: Arrange the home visit during normal working hours and make sure that a responsible person knows exactly where you are. Also carry out a mini risk assessment on the property before approaching.

The elected members were told to avoid seeing people in their own home, where possible, unless the person concerned is well known to them. Ordinarily, unexpected doorstep callers should not be invited into a property unless known and trusted. Unexpected callers should be encouraged to make formal appointments.

If you decide that you will be open to home visits, you should also review your home security which should include carrying out a formal risk assessment. The Garda Home Security Check List Challenge is a good start. Consider a monitored alarm, physical security, lights, CCTV.

I can provide more in depth security advice should you require it., said Sgt Fitzpatrick.

Office security measures were also provided against bomb threats, threatening calls and emails,. suspect packages and aggressive visitors.

Regarding social media, Sgt Fitzpatrick added: Online abuse is traumatising , frustrating and emotional. Seek support from friends, family and colleagues. Take a break from social media if needed

Documenting online abuse helps with patterns and personal impact. Blocking users stops abusers from seeing your posts. Encourage others to report abuse also.
Planning application has received almost 100 objections

Almost 100 objections to the development of a new holiday resort at Magheramore Beach have been submitted to Wicklow County Council (WCC).

The controversial project which, upon completion, would include a two-storey building containing a gym, sauna, cinema and outdoor pool, reception bar, restaurant, washrooms and outdoor terrace, has been the source of much disquiet among local residents, environmental groups, and elected officials.

Purchased by Oakmount in 2021 for 700,000, the 21-acre site is famous for its biodiversity and is an established wintering ground for curlews, a red-listed bird in Ireland. A petition seeking to halt the project has over 12,500 signatures and further opposition has come from a member of the nearby Missionary Sisters and staff at Wicklow Hospice in Magheramore.

And many of those objecting to the development have made their feelings known through official channels, submitting emails and letters to WCC Planning Department. A large number of those submissions have been made by local residents, all of whom strongly oppose the development. Describing the details of the application as distressing, Niamh Mac Gowan writes, I cannot see the sense in building a development on a completely rural site that is and has been entirely uninhabited by us humans when there are derelict buildings and sites that have been sitting empty for decades.

"The main reason for this development is for private profit. In this day and age where we are all being made aware of many of our actions having a detrimental impact on biodiversity and ecology, how can we possibly sanction such a commercial enterprise in a rural idyllic place...

In addition to the hotel, the newly formed Oakmount company called Creatively Pacific Ltd proposes the installation of 48 accommodation, or glamping, pods at the east of the site and a dedicate structure containing a surf school facility, public W.C and public showers, and 49 car parking spaces.

The planning application also contains details on the widening of the existing pedestrian access to facilitate vehicular access in an 18-month construction programme which would cost approximately 40m.

Although the project has the backing of Failte Ireland, one resident, whose family have lived in the area for 65 years, says it will have a deleterious effect on the local wildlife. Simon Digby writes in his submission that over four generations his family have borne witness over time to the fragile nature of the environment and seen first hand the devastating impacts of erosion to the headland and soil subsidence along the slopes to the south of the beach, which is adjacent to the land on which this planning application is being made.

Mr Digby also points out that the proposal flagrantly transgresses over 37 objectives of the Wicklow County Development Plan 20222028 (details of which he includes with his submission) and ends his correspondence by arguing the proposed development would significantly damage valuable and vulnerable aspects of the countys heritage and therefore this application should be refused.

Support for the campaign has come from local politicians with Wicklow TD Steven Matthews outlining his concerns in a detailed and measured submission. Referencing the County Development Plan, Deputy Matthews notes the highly ecologically sensitive location of the proposed site and states that the land is not zoned for commercial activity.

Aside from the intensification of human activity there is a likelihood that here will be increased vehicular traffic to the site, continues Deputy Matthews. The R750 is a rural narrow road and unsuitable for increased volumes of traffic, parking and vehicle dwell times to access the proposed site, The proposal seeks to install a gated entrance to the access lane which appears to conflict with local planning objectives and may prevent public, non-residential access to Magheramore Beach.

From a tourism perspective, Deputy Matthews states in his submission that tourism services and facilities should be clustered within towns and villages, adding that environmental sustainability will be central to the development and protection of a viable tourism sector and this is a key consideration in the county where tourism attractions are located in environmentally sensitive areas and close to historic areas where the quality of the built heritage and environment must be protected from inappropriate development.

Meanwhile, the Ardmore Residents Group take issue with the submitted drawings and designs accompanying the proposal in its official objection. Under the heading Procedural Issues, it notes the failure to mention the large wastewater treatment plant and percolation area proposed on the site. None of the drawings on the web clearly show where it is proposed to locate the Treatment Plant. Vague references to an engineering report is not enough to comply with the regulations.

The group also references the anomalies with regards to the County Development Plan, quoting WCCs own documents which read: To generally require tourism and recreation related developments to locate within existing towns and villages, except where the nature of the activity proposed renders this unfeasible or undesirable.

Responding to this section of the plan, the group state that the hotel project is a direct and material contravention of these reasonable objectives of the planning authority. Arguing that the applicants have ignored, or side stepped, the policies and objectives of national, regional, and local authorities with regard to tourism development the group call upon WCCs planning department to reject this ill-considered planning application and refuse planning permission.

However, as previously stated, the project has the backing of Failte Ireland. A submission by its planning and environment manager reads, Failte lreland is supportive of the addition of high-quality visitor accommodation, and it is acknowledged that there is a shortage of accommodation stock in the county. Having regard to its proximity to Dublin and a shortage of tourism accommodation, Wicklow is over reliant on the day trip market and as a result is not fully benefiting from the economic impact of tourism and overnight stays as well as increasing dwell time of visitors.

"The proposed addition of 48 accommodation pods as part of an integrated tourism development would meet the preferences of more visitor segments and diversify the accommodation supply of the region. lt is a strategic objective of Failte lreland to support industry and stakeholders to develop accommodation products suitable to meet demand and increase the tourism product base of lreland's Ancient East in line with all proper planning and environmental requirements being met.

We note also that it is proposed to construct a dedicated structure adjacent the beach access, containing a surf school facility, public W.C and public showers. This would support the outdoor activity sector at Maheramore Beach by significantly enhancing the overall visitor experience and improving visitor facilities.

Wicklow County Council will make a decision on whether to approve the development on May 29.
In addition to the Cabinet chief, the meeting included Foreign Affairs Minister Ana Cecilia Gervasi.

??? Premier se reunio con Mesa Directiva del Congreso para tratar proyectos de ley sobre fronteras y gestion remota de la Presidencia



??Solicito estar unidos en la defensa de los intereses del pais y en el afianzamiento de las relaciones diplomaticas.https://t.co/oNQB626w9r
Sean Fitzgerald, District Governor, Rotary Ireland, presents the inaugural Rotary Ireland Environment Award to Daniel Cash, who represented Technological University Dublin at the awards ceremony in Farmleigh House, Phoenix Park recently.

A group of students from Technological University Dublin won the inaugural Rotary Ireland Student Environment Award for designing news seats for the Seamus Heaney Walk in the Devils Glen forest.

Sean Fitzgerald, District Governor, Rotary Ireland, presented the Rotary Ireland medal and a cheque for 2,000 to Daniel Cash, who accepted the prize on behalf of TU Dublin at the recent awards ceremony in Farmleigh House, Phoenix Park, in Dublin.

The aim of the Rotary Student Environment Award is to encourage third level students to submit projects on how woodlands, forests and the wood from trees can contribute to achieving net zero emissions.

The winning students and lecturers took up the challenge to design and make 12 new seats for the Seamus Heaney Walk in the Devils Glen Forest. The project involved 19 timber technology students across three years and two-degree programmes.

In his citation, Ciaran OConnor, State Architect said; The project is commendable for its contribution to several sustainability agendas and for the quality of benches. The emphasis was on reducing transport emissions by sourcing and sawing timber locally.

The distance, and thus carbon intensity of travel, from a Co. Wicklow forest to a local sawmill and on to TU Dublin was exceptionally low in comparison to the carbon intensity of travel for commercially-available imported park benches.

This approach allowed the students to explore production improvements and to work as teams to ensure the projects success, said Donal Magner, Environment Lead, Rotary Ireland.

The project has been praised by Coillte and the family of Seamus Heaney, who acknowledge it as a fitting tribute to the Nobel Laureate.

Another TU Dublin student, Laura OToole was highly commended for her project Can timber construction reduce the environmental impacts of a possible building boom in Ireland? This project involved in-depth research on the use of timber in the Irish construction industry.

Luke OConnor of Atlantic Technological University Connemara was highly commended for his project A guide to estimate the carbon footprint of furniture using Life Cycle Assessment (LCA).

The aim was to create a guide for students in ATU Connemara to tangibly measure the environmental impact of the furniture that they make within the college using Irish grown hardwoods.

The awards were sponsored by the Rotary Clubs of Wicklow and Dublin Fingal with matching funds from Rotary Ireland. Entries were received from TU Dublin, University College Dublin, the University of Limerick and Atlantic Technological University Connemara.

Sean Fitzgerald, District Governor of Rotary Ireland, thanked Prof. Mary Ryan University of Galway, John Mc Loughlin Tree Council of Ireland, Des OToole, Forest Industries Ireland and Tom Kent, Southeast Technological University for adjudicating on the awards.

The focus of these awards is on trees because sustainable forestry is regarded globally as vital in achieving carbon neutrality by 2050.

The role of forestry is acknowledged at forest level in carbon sequestration and carbon storage in wood and wood products where it displaces fossil-based materials in construction and energy.
One of next five years expected to be hottest on record

For the first time ever, global temperatures are now more likely than not to breach 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7F) of warming within the next five years, the World Meteorological Organization said on Wednesday.

But that did not necessarily mean the world would cross the long-term warming threshold of 1.5C above preindustrial levels set out in the 2015 Paris Agreement.

With a 66% chance of temporarily reaching 1.5C by 2027, "it's the first time in history that it's more likely than not that we will exceed 1.5C," said Adam Scaife, head of long-range prediction at Britain's Met Office Hadley Centre who worked on the WMO's latest Global Annual to Decadal Climate Update.

Last year's report put the odds at about 50-50.

Partially responsible for boosting the chance of hitting 1.5C is an El Nino weather pattern expected to develop in the coming months. During this natural phenomenon, warmer waters in the tropical Pacific heat the atmosphere above, spiking global temperatures.

The El Nino "will combine with human-induced climate change to push global temperatures into uncharted territory", said WMO Secretary-General Petteri Taalas in a press statement.

Still, the likelihood of temporarily exceeding 1.5C has increased over time. Between 2017 and 2021, for example, scientists estimated just a 10% chance of hitting 1.5C.

Unlike the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's climate projections which are based on future greenhouse gas emissions, the WMO update provides more of a prediction-based long-range weather forecast.

The WMO also found a 98% chance that one of the next five years will be the hottest on record, surpassing 2016 which saw global temperature impacted by about 1.3C (2.3F) of warming.
Ex-staffer sues former New York mayor for $10m in damages and unpaid wages

Former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani has been accused of making an employee perform oral sex on him while he was on the phone to Donald Trump.
Exec attends US Senate committee on technology and the law

Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, which developed ChatGPT, appears before a US Senate subcommittee on Tuesday, May 16, 2023. Photo: REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz   REUTERS

The head of the artificial intelligence company behind ChatGPT has told the US Congress that government intervention will be critical to mitigate the risks of increasingly powerful AI systems.
New Delhi/Kolkata: Aditya Birla Capital, the financial services business of the Aditya Birla Group, through its lending arm, Aditya Birla Finance, announced the launch of Udyog Plus, an innovative one-stop business platform, designed for MSME customers.

This new B2B digital platform offers a wide range of solutions for MSMEs, including financing, protection, investments, advisory and value-added services for managing and growing their businesses.

Udyog Plus is an open marketplace that can be accessed through the financing section of the Aditya Birla Capital website by both existing as well as new customers of Aditya Birla Finance.

They can avail the entire suite of financing solutions, from unsecured business loans to customised secured lending and supply chain financing solutions, as well as curated business loans.

The 360-degree solution suite of financial services covers financing, insurance, and investment solutions for MSMEs and their entire ecosystem including promoters, owners and employees. In addition, Aditya Birla Capital Ltd., (ABCL) had recently collaborated with the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) to develop and promote a complete set of digital payment options to customers, through its subsidiaries. The payment stack will be made available for the MSMEs as well.

Positioned as a comprehensive one-stop solution, Udyog Plus offers a wealth of useful features and tools to help MSMEs achieve their larger business goals in a seamless manner. The platform is live and offers a completely paperless digital journey for business loans of up to Rs 10 lakh. Udyog Plus is integrated with government e-commerce websites via Open Credit Enablement Network (OCEN) and with private e-commerce websites to provide credit facilities to sellers on these platforms.

Aditya Birla Finance has also partnered with leading solution providers to provide a host of value-added services to the MSME customers such as free access to business networking platforms, digital commerce including registration on the ONDC seller network, corporate travel solutions, zero balance bank account, accounting, payroll, and tax filing tools and specialized knowledge content hub.

Commenting on the launch, Vishakha Mulye, CEO, Aditya Birla Capital Ltd., stated, MSMEs are the key growth drivers of the Indian economy, and their contribution towards bolstering India's growth has been commendable. We are committed towards supporting the growth of these businesses and our comprehensive digital platform - Udyog Plus aligns with the governments goal of building a financially inclusive and Digital Bharat.



Rakesh Singh, MD & CEO, Aditya Birla Finance Ltd., added, We are excited to launch Udyog Plus for our MSME customers, which will empower them to achieve new horizons of success. Through this platform, we aim to establish Aditya Birla Finance Ltd., as a trusted partner to our MSME customers to help them experience a seamless way of managing and growing their businesses.
Image Credit: Suvendu Adhikari Twitter Handle

Kolkata/UNI: West Bengal Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari on Wednesday will visit the Khadikul Village under the Sahara Panchayat Area at Egra in East Midnapore district, where nine people were killed and several injured in a massive explosion at an illegal cracker factory, on his way to Simlapal in Bankura district.

Taking to Twitter, Adhikari said, "I would be visiting the Khadikul Village under the Sahara Panchayat Area in Egra; Purba Medinipur, between 10 am to 10.30 am today, on my way to Simlapal; Bankura district. "

" The Khadikul Village is the cursed place where the gruesome explosion yesterday resulted in charred body parts lying scattered in a grisly manner, " he added.

Adhikari came down heavily on Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and demanded a probe by the NIA into the incident.

Referring Banerjee's presser on Tuesday, he said, "WB CM @MamataOfficial who's also the HM was rambling while addressing the press today, regarding the explosion at Egra. "

"3 weird theories could be deduced from her disoriented muddled blabbering:- a) The place of incident is near the Odisha Border. This isn't her sole responsibility. b) 2 months ago the Panchayat which had a TMC majority, was taken over by the BJP and an independent candidate was elected as the Pradhan. c) The perpetrator/accused was arrested by the Police earlier but the Court granted him bail. Also, why was he arrested if he (accused) is a TMC member? " Adhikari questioned.

" My questions to the CM:- a) Since the place is near the Odisha Border, should we blame Shri @Naveen_Odisha Ji & @odisha_police? Is the so called "Odisha Border" an International Border? Should BSF be deployed to maintain Law & Order? b) Is the CM implying that, if any Panchayat is governed by the opposition parties or by independents, the Law & Order duties rests upon the Panchayat & not on the Home Department?

"Has she passed any such law in the Assembly? c) If the perpetrator/accused was arrested earlier and was simultaneously released on bail, then is the CM holding the Hon'ble Court responsible for this incident? " he further asked.

"Also is she admitting that Police never arrests someone who is associated with TMC? From her statement it is clear that the Police; right from the Egra IC to the @MedinipurSp were aware of the "illegal fire cracker factory", how come the Police didn't stop the illegal activities when the accused resumed his operations, " the BJP MLA from Nandigram stated.

"Were they reluctant because a hefty Cut from the profit was being shared with them? " he again questioned.

"The intensity of the blast was so severe that mangled body parts were flung more than 100 metres from the spot. Don't try to paint the event as a "fire cracker factory accident"; even a kid knows that crude bombs were being manufactured ahead of the Panchayat Elections, " Adhikari fumed.


New Delhi/UNI: Amid suspense over the next Karnataka Chief Minister, top claimant Siddaramaiah met former Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday.

Another claimant DK Shivakumar will also meet the Gandhi scion within some time. The meeting will take place at UPA chairperson and party MP Sonia Gandhi's 10 Janpath residence in Delhi.

During Shivakumar-Kharge meeting on Tuesday, party insiders said the Karnataka Congress President said the 76-year-old Siddaramaiah should make way for a new face, arguing that the Kuruba leader had enjoyed the reins of chief minister for a full five-year term, but lost the 2018 state assembly election.

Party insiders also revealed that some senior leaders opined that Siddaramaiah should not be given another term because he joined the Congress in 2006, but Shivakumar has been the party loyalist from the beginning of his political career.

The Karnataka Congress President had arrived in Delhi on Tuesday afternoon and met Kharge to present his case in the evening. Siddaramaiah also was summoned for a one-on-one meeting.

On Monday, Shivakumar had claimed the support of the majority of the 135 newly elected MLAs, after a team of AICC observers had taken the views of the MLAs individually.

Subsequently, Siddaramaiah also had separate meetings with AICC General Secretary for Karnataka Randeep Surjewala and general secretary (organisation), KC Venugopal.

The Shivakumar camp said the KPCC President should be given CM's post as he had revived the party organisation at a time when it was hit by defections and desertions.

His supporters also said Shivakumar enjoyed the backing of powerful caste groups such as the Vokkaligas and Lingayats.

However, Siddaramaiah supporters argued that he not only enjoyed the support of the majority of the newly elected MLAs, but is also responsible for Congress' mass outreach among AHINDAs, an acronym for the rainbow coalition of religious minorities, Other Backward Classes and Dalits.

Another argument that is being floated is that Shivakumar could be troubled by the central agencies to embarrass the Congress ahead of the next general election, as he has been questioned and jailed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in a money laundering case.

The KPCC chiefs supporters, on the other hand, cite this as an example of harassment by the BJP for Shivakumars loyalty to the Congress.
Image: S Jaishankar Twitter page

Indian External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Tuesday met Belgium PM Alexander De Croo and discussed the growing bilateral cooperation between the two countries.

The Indian minister discussed issues related to trade and technology with the Belgium PM. "Delighted to call on PM of Belgium@alexanderdecrooalong with my colleagues -@PiyushGoyal&@rajeev_GOItoday. Conveyed personal greetings of PM@narendramodi," S Jaishankar tweeted.

"Discussed our growing bilateral cooperation, including in trade and technology. Also spoke about contemporary strategic concerns," he said.

Apart from Jaishankar, the meeting was also attended by two other Indian leaders- Minister of Commerce & Industry, Piyush Goyal and Union Minister of State for Entrepreneurship, Skill Development, Electronics & Technology, Rajeev Chandrasekhar.
Image: S Jaishankar Twitter page

New Delhi: Indian External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Tuesday participated in Digital and Clean Energy Stakeholder Event in Brussels.

He tweeted: "Began the day in Brussels with a Digital & Clean Energy Stakeholder Event. Thank European Commission Executive VP

@vestager for convening the meeting."

" In this Techade, TTC can promote Trusted Collaboration so essential to Re-Globalisation. Stakeholders are key to delivery," he said.

Jaishankar arrived in Brussels for the last leg of his three-nation visit.

He earlier visited Bangladesh and Sweden.

"In the last leg of the visit, EAM will be visiting Brussels for bilateral engagements with Belgian and EU officials. He will also attending the first Ministerial Meeting of the India-EU Trade and Technology Council along with Minister of Commerce & Industry, Consumer Affairs & Food & Public Distribution and Textiles, Shri Piyush Goyal and Minister of Railways, Communications, Electronics and Information Technology, Shri Ashwini Vaishnaw. The TTC Ministerial Meeting is scheduled to be held on 16 May," read a statement issued by the Ministry of External Affairs earlier.
Diyar Al Muharraq, a leading real estate development company in Bahrain, has announced the winners of its key design competition, which offered creatives the opportunity to submit their architectural landmark designs for Diyar Al Muharraq's main entrance.

Held in Q4 last year, the landmark entrance design competition drew a wide turnout from GCC countries and Arab countries, including Jordan, Egypt, Palestine, Iraq, Yemen, and Syria.

The event also gained traction from Asian countries, with entries received from China, Japan, India, Pakistan, Taiwan, Thailand, and Iran, in addition to European countries like Great Britain, Germany, Spain, Turkey, Ukraine, and US.

In the final phases of the competition, the judging panel met with the finalists to evaluate their designs and select the top three winning teams.

And finally the jury declared the winning team members - all holders of Master's degrees in Architecture Studies and Architecture from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) - and have won the Marvin E. Goody Award from the same institute.

The winning team, that walked away with a cash prize of $50,000, comprises Maryam Al Jomairi, who is currently submitting her Doctoral Thesis at Harvard University, and Latifa Al Khayat, who recently received the Aga Khan Travel Grant Award.

The second place winners are a team from Istanbul Technical University comprising architects Sinan Gunay and Nurhayat Oz who were awarded a cash prize of $20,000.

The third place was bagged by a team of graduates from the Department of Architecture at the University of Bahrain. These include Ahmed Al Abbas, Fatima Kalawadh and Ghaida Mohamed, who clinched the cash prize of $10,000.

Lauding the winners, CEO Engineer Ahmed Ali Alammadi said: "Diyar Al Muharraq had launched the competition with the aim of fostering a spirit of creativity and innovation, by designing an architectural landmark that reflects authentic Bahraini culture and incorporates tradition and contemporary architecture to create a one-of-a-kind concept."

"We are proud to have been able to spread Bahrain's rich heritage and authentic local culture on an international scale, and we look forward to launching similar initiatives in the future," he added.-TradeArabia News Service
Image: ADGPI Twitter page

Cairo: Indian Army Chief General Manoj Pande and his Egyptian counterpart Lt General Osama Ahmed Roshdy Abdullah Askar met on Tuesday and discussed various aspects of mutual interests.

During the interaction, a book named 'Indian Army in Egypt' was also released to commemorate the service and sacrifice of Indian Soldiers in Egypt.

The Indian Army's official Twitter page wrote: " Gen Manoj Pande #COAS interacted with Lt Gen Osama Ahmed Roshdy Abdullah Askar, Chief of Staff #EgyptianArmedForces & discussed ways to strengthen bilateral Defence Cooperation. During the interaction, a book Indian Army in Egypt was also released to commemorate the service & sacrifice of Indian Soldiers in #Egypt."

Pande is visiting Egypt from May 16-17.

During the visit, the Army Chief will be meeting the Countrys senior military leadership where he will discuss avenues for further enhancing Indo-Egypt defence relations.

He will be visiting various Egyptian Armed Forces establishments and exchange ideas on issues of mutual interest.

"The Military relations of India with Egypt are on the rise which was evident during Indias 74th Republic Day parade, wherein the Egyptian Armed Forces contingent made their first appearance, besides the Egyptian President Abdeh Fattah El-Sisi being the Chief Guest for the parade. Notably, Indian and Egyptian Armies have conducted the first ever joint exercise between the Special Forces named Ex Cyclone-I in January this year," read a government statement.

"The visit of the COAS will further deepen the bilateral relationships between the two Armies and act as a catalyst for closer coordination and cooperation between the two countries on a host of strategic issues," the statement said.
Image: PIB

New Delhi: The 2nd Culture Working Group (CWG) meetings discussion sessions came to a close on May 16, 2023.

The delegates participated in the discussion sessions focusing on the 3rd and 4th priority areas outlined by the CWG: 'Promotion of Cultural and Creative Industries and Creative Economy and Leveraging Digital Technologies for the Protection and Promotion of Culture.

The discussions offered valuable insights, which are expected to culminate into tangible and action-oriented recommendations that have the potential to shape the cultural sector and concerning policy frameworks globally.

The first two sessions of the CWG meeting witnessed the delivery of statements by the delegates, followed by an open discussion on the third and fourth priority areas. Minister of State for Culture and External Affairs Meenakashi Lekhi concluded the second session of the day with a special address.

The concluding session outlined details and the timeline concerning the working process of the Culture Working Group going forward.

In her interaction with the media, Echoing Prime Minister's desire to take India to greater heights during the Amrit Kaal i.e. 25 years from now, the Minister said, India has to work really had to regain the position it once used to be in.

Underlining the cohesive nature of culture, the Minister said, "Culture can be a way of engagement to bring everyone together especially at a time when a lot of stress and strain are showing up.

Stating "Culture Connects", the Minister said that for the first time in G-20 Culture working group has been created as a separate group.

She said when G-20 talks about harmony and peace, culture is something one needs to look at.

She expressed happiness that the second culture working group meeting was held in the state of Odisha or Utkal, which transliterates into Utkarsh Kala ki Bhumi, which means the land of glorious art and culture.

On 16th May, 2023, the delegates were taken for a specially curated visit to the Konark Sun Temple, a UNESCO World Heritage site which is located in the Puri district of Odisha.

The Temple, dedicated to the Hindu sun god, Surya, was built in the 13th century and is considered a masterpiece of Kalinga architecture.

Later, in the evening the G-20 delegates were feted with the Gotipua dance performance by local artists, which is one of the ancient dance forms associated with the temple tradition of Shree Jagannath temple, Puri. Union Minister Lekhi felicitated the artists who gave their best in creating a fine piece of Odisha's cultural treasure to the immense pleasure of the visiting dignitaries and delegates.

With this the four days long activities and brainstorming sessions under the G-20 second culture group meeting came to a close.

The 2nd Culture Working Group Meeting attended by delegates from G20 members, guest nations, and several international organizations, provided a platform to discuss pressing issues faced by the culture sector to further deliberation towards tangible, action-oriented recommendations.

The meetings of the Culture Working Group that spread over six sessions and two days, focused on 4 key priority areas articulated under Culture Track of Indias G20 Presidency.

The 4 priority areas are: Protection and Restitution of Cultural Property; Harnessing Living Heritage for a Sustainable Future; Promotion of Cultural and Creative Industries and Creative Economy; and Leveraging Digital Technologies for the Protection and Promotion of Culture.

On concluding day, the Minister along with the delegates visited famous caves at Udaygiri, which dates back to more than 2000 years. They also visited the museum at the Gandhi peace centre at Bhubaneswar which is dedicated to the life and vision of Mahatma Gandhi.

On being asked about the opinion of the delegates who were taken on a visit to the ancient rock-cut caves of Udaygiri at the outskirt of capital Bhubaneswar, the Minister said that it was a knowledge sharing experience for the delegates. She said they were very amazed at the super craftsmanship and the culture of Odisha.

The CWG meetings aim to promote an inclusive and collaborative forum to deliberate on key issues concerning the cultural sector and its pivotal role in sustainable development. The meeting seeks to promote a global dialogue on cultural diversity and its role in fostering inclusivity and sustainability.
Image: UNI

Srinagar: A day after Jammu and Kashmir police announced the arrest of two absconding assassins of Moulvi Mohammad Farooq, the family of Sarwanand Koul Premi, a well-known Kashmiri Pandit writer who was killed along with his son allegedly by militants in April 1990 has sought reopening of the case.

Farooq had been killed 33 years back.

The family has asked the J&K government to take the case of the father-son duo's killing to a logical conclusion.

We praise the J&K police for cracking the assassination case of Moulvi Mohammad Farooq after 33 years We once again urge upon the J&K Lt Governor as well Government of India for not only reopening of this case and taking this case to a logical conclusion, so as to bring the culprits of this whole conspiracy to justice, Rajinder Premi, son of Sarwanand Koul Premi said.

The family said Sarwanand Premi, 65, and his younger son Verinder Koul, 27, were killed by the militants in April 1990 after they were kidnapped from their home at native village in South Kashmir's Anantnag district. Within a week after the incident, the Premi family left Kashmir.

The family said an FIR was registered in police station Dooru Anantnag, but this case was closed as untraced after a brief period, as no effective and expeditious investigation was done.

The Family said the Police had arrested eight suspects involved, but later the case was closed as untraced.

Rajinder Premi said the family had approached the authorities with the request of handing this case to CBI for an expeditious and effective investigation, but due to unknown reasons was not allowed by the then J&K government.

They said the case of the father-son killing was not reopened despite the recommendations of the state Human Rights Commission (SHRC) in 2012.

Last year, the Jammu and Kashmir government recognised the literary contribution of Sarwanand Premi, who was conferred the lifetime achievement award posthumously on Republic Day.

Sarwanand Premi authored more than three dozen books, which include translations of the "Bhagavad Gita" into Urdu and 'Ramayana' into Kashmir.

He also translated into Kashmiri Rabindranath Tagore's 'Geetanjali'.

(With UNI inputs)
Image: Piyush Goyal Twitter page

New Delhi: Union Minister for Commerce & Industry, Textiles, Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution, Piyush Goyal held a bilateral meeting with the European Commissioner for Internal Trade, Thierry Breton on the sidelines of the 1st Ministerial meeting of India EU Trade and Technology Council (TTC).

During the meeting, both sides underscored the importance of shared democratic values and complementary nature of both India and EU going forward.

Both sides agreed that appropriate political commitment can be made to strengthen our bilateral relations taking to new heights.

Sh. Piyush Goyal informed that India has undertaken an ambitious growth trajectory for the next 25 years and has achieved many of the sustainable development goals.

The target of having about 40% source of energy from renewables has already been achieved much before the committed timeline of 2030.

India has set a further target of creating 500GW of renewable resources to be achieved by 2030.

He noted that both our economies have different basis and this provides an opportunity for greater engagement given the current geopolitical scenario.

On the suggestion of Breton for exploring engagement in the space sector, Goyal informed that India is amongst the major powers in the space sector and that both sides can have deeper engagements in the sector.

Further, the Minister informed that India has become a global leader in respect of fintech with UPI and Rupay.

India has also come out with an open network for digital commerce (ONDC) which has capability to integrate all the buyers and sellers across networks.

Breton informed that EU is working on new Digital Services Act to which Goyal said that both sides can collaborate further given India's status as an IT giant.

He further informed that India has the worlds third largest startup ecosystem and has included B20 track in G20 meetings. This provides for greater engagements in digital space and other areas.

On the issue of carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM), Goyal informed that further study needs to be undertaken as to how this could impact enterprises on both sides, impact on trade and the effect on consumers due to increased price of goods and services.
Image: Pixabay

Lucknow: The Uttar Pradesh Government led by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath is all set to launch a 5G technology training programme under Skill Development Mission for the youth of the state as part of its ongoing efforts to make them skilled in new and future employable technologies, an official spokesman said here on Wednesday.

The spokesman said as a party to the programme, the government will not only organise the training of youths, but also make arrangements for their employment. It may be noted that 5G technology is considered the technology of the future.

He said the state government is firm on the idea that youths trained in 5G technology will be needed on a large scale in the telecom sector.

"The 5G technology will transform the entire telecom ecosystem of hardware, software and services, which is critical for the execution of other future technologies such as IoT, M2M communication and edge computing. The Yogi government is working towards fulfilling this need of the future by enabling the youth in 5G," he said.

The spokesman said according to the proposed target, 1000 candidates or more have to be trained and given jobs under this programme in 8 months.

"The programme is likely to be started soon in any 5 out of eight districts, including Lucknow, Kanpur, Gautam Buddha Nagar, Moradabad, Agra, Gorakhpur, Varanasi and Prayagraj," he said.

As per the proposal, three courses can be conducted under this programme, namely Telecom Rigger - 5G and Legacy Networks, Technician 5G - Active Network Installation; and Project Engineer - 5G Networks. A total amount of more than 2.8 crores is estimated to be spent on these three courses.

In the Telecom Rigger-5G and Legacy Networks, 360 candidates will be trained in 450 hours while more than Rs 22,000 will be spent on each candidate with total expenditure at around Rs 80 lakh. Similarly, the course of Technician 5G will run for 570 hours, in which a total amount of more than one crore will be spent on 360 candidates. The Project Engineer course will be completed in 660 hours, costing more than 90 lakhs with 280 candidates.

A strategy has also been prepared for the implementation of this entire programme, from training to providing employment, in five phases. Firstly, steps would be taken to attract the students to the courses and after this pre and post enrollment counselling of the youth will be conducted.

This will be followed by their monitoring and evaluation. In the fourth phase, placement support will be provided to the youth, while in the fifth and final phase, support and feedback will be provided along with mentoring of the youth.

(With UNI inputs)
Wikipedia Commons

Creator of advanced chatbot ChatGPT testified before a US Senate committee on Tuesday when he called on US lawmakers to regulate artificial intelligence (AI).

Sam Altman is the CEO of OpenAI, the company behind the creation of ChatGPT.

Several AI models have emerged in the market in recent times.

I do think for a very new technology, we need a new framework," Altman was quoted as saying by judiciary.senate.gov.

"Certainly, companies like ours bear a lot of responsibility for the tools that we put out into the world, but tool users do as well  and also people that will build on top of it between them and the consumer," he said.

"How we want to come up with a liability framework there is a super important question, and wed love to work together," he said.

He also admitted the impact that AI could have on the economy, including the likelihood that AI technology could replace some jobs, leading to layoffs in certain fields.

"There will be an impact on jobs. We try to be very clear about that," he was quoted as BBC.

Altman told legislators he was worried about the potential impact on democracy, and how AI could be used to send targeted misinformation during elections, the British media reported.
Image Credit: White House Instagram page

New Delhi/Canberra:Australia has cancelled the Quad Leaders summit, which was to be held in Sydney next week, due to the non-availability of US President Joe Biden due to domestic compulsions.

The leaders of the four countries, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, will be meeting on the sidelines of the G7 Summit in Hiroshima instead.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said that his bilateral with Prime Minister Modi could continue as planned in Sydney, where PM Modi also has an engagement with the Indian diaspora on May 23.

The Quad Leaders in-person summit was to be held May 23-24 in Sydney, between Australia, India, the US and Japan.

Australia has been invited to the G7 Summit in Hiroshima, from May 19-21, and PM Modi too will be attending.

Australian PM Anthony Albanese said: The Quad Leaders' Meeting will not be going ahead in Sydney next week.

In an interview, he said I had a discussion with President Biden in the early hours of this morning. He expressed very much his disappointment at being unable to come to Sydney for the Quad Leaders' Meeting and address the Parliament that had been scheduled for Canberra next week.

The blocking and the disruption that's occurring in domestic politics in the United States, with the debt ceiling issue, means that, because that has to be solved prior to 1 June - otherwise there are quite drastic consequences for the US economy, which will flow on to the global economy - he understandably has had to make that decision.

President Biden, though, indicated that he was very much looking forward to coming down at a future date when it can be arranged and I will visit the United States for a state visit later this year. All four leaders - President Biden, Prime Minister Kishida, Prime Minister Modi and myself - will be at the G7, held in Hiroshima on Saturday and Sunday. We are attempting to get together over that period of time, as well as I'll have a bilateral discussion with President Biden. At this stage, we haven't got a time locked in for that arrangement. This is a decision that's been made overnight our time in the United States.

The Quad Leaders' Meeting will not be going ahead in Sydney next week. We, though, will be having that discussion between Quad Leaders in Japan. I thank Prime Minister Kishida for his invitation for me to attend the G7 and it is appropriate that we talk. The Quad is an important body and we want to make sure that it occurs at leadership level and we'll be having that discussion over the weekend.

Asked if Prime Minister Modi would still come to Sydney, he said: Prime Minister Modi had a bilateral meeting scheduled for Sydney as well. We are in discussions with the Quad leaders over today. We'll make further announcements about that, but Prime Minister Modi would certainly be a very welcome guest here next week.

Prime Minister Kishida, of course, we had bilateral meetings last year, at the end of last year, just a few months ago in Perth that was very successful and the relationship with Japan is very important. And, of course, I received the warmest of welcomes by Prime Minister Modi in India in March.

I'll be attending the G20 meeting that will be held in New Delhi later this year as well. Obviously, the decision by President Biden that he has been forced to make because of the holding-up of those budget issues in the United States means that the rescheduling of other arrangements is being made and those discussions are taking place respectfully over the course of today.

(With UNI inputs)
Image: Pixabay

Baghdad: Three Yazidi militiamen affiliated with the Turkish Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) were killed and a fourth wounded on Tuesday in a Turkish airstrike in Iraq's northern province of Nineveh, the Counter-Terrorism Service of the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region said in a statement.

Around midday local time (0900 GMT), a Turkish aircraft bombarded the headquarters of a Yazidi militia, known as the Sinjar Protection Units (YBS), near the town of Sinjar, some 120 km west of Nineveh's provincial capital Mosul, killing three militiamen and wounding another, said the statement.

The YBS is a Yazidi militia formed in Iraq in 2007 to protect the Yazidi community in Iraq. The group has strong links to the PKK group.

PKK is listed as a "terrorist" group by Turkiye, the United States, and the European Union, and the Turkish forces frequently carry out ground operations, airstrikes, and artillery bombardments against its positions in northern Iraq, especially the Qandil Mountains, the main base of the PKK.

(With UNI inputs)
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Swat: A girl student was killed and seven others, including a teacher, were injured after a police officer posted outside a school in Khyber Pakhtunkhwas Swat district opened fire on them, media reports said.

According to District Police Officer (DPO) Shafiullah Gandapur, the constable, identified as Alam Khan, was arrested immediately after the attack and a first information report (FIR) was registered against him, reports Dawn News.

A special investigation team has been formed to make further investigation into the matter. I assure everyone that strict legal punishment will be given to the culprit, he was quoted as saying by the newspaper.

Gandapur said the accused hailed from the Salampur area and was suspended from the police force twice.

Khan was reinstated in the police department last year and was deployed outside the school for security three months back.

The injured people were rushed to Saidu Sharif Teaching Hospital for treatment.

Meanwhile, one of the injured girls, who is currently being treated at the hospital, told Dawn News that the suspect opened indiscriminate fire on their van as soon as it exited the school gate.

All the schoolchildren got scared and started shouting after which people started gathering, she added.
Representational image by Jonathan Kemper on Unsplash

Islamabad: The Pakistan government lost Rs 2.49 billion and even saw a plethora of anger from citizens after the government recently suspended internet services and even blocked social media applications across the country in recent times.

The shutdown, which came on the instructions of the interior ministry in the wake of violent protests sparked by the arrest of PTI Chairman Imran Khan, dealt a heavy blow to the country's economy and reputation, with rights bodies warning of long-term consequences, reports The Express Tribune.

The blackout, which lasted for several days, caused widespread disruption to businesses, e-commerce, and online education.

The tech industry has also called for urgent action, citing the impact on growth and innovation, the newspaper reported.

This is not the first time that Pakistan has suspended internet services.

In the past, authorities have resorted to internet blockades as a tool to curb spread of mis-information or information they may deem to be against the state.

However, more than a tactical response to instability, this has been considered to be an attack at the freedom of expression and a violation of human rights in a democratic state, The Express Tribune reported.
10:30 | Lima, May. 17.

The diplomat participated in "Primer Foro Andino: Desafios del Transporte Aereo en la Region" (First Andean Forum: Challenges of Air Transportation in the Region) held on Tuesday in the Peruvian capital Lima.





At the event, the ambassador pointed out that Peru will soon sign a similar bilateral agreement with the United Arab Emirates.









At the forum, high-ranking representatives pointed out that air transportation is an engine to move the economy forward and increase the tourist flow. That means, it expands the labor market in various areas, boosts the tourism sector, and improves trade worldwide.





They also explained that the world economy has been recovering from one of the most serious crises that humanity has gone through, the COVID-19 pandemic.





Within this framework, the air transportation and tourism sectors experienced a deep crisis.





However, it was detailed that to date there is clear evidence of the recovery of private companies in the air transportation sector. Yet there is still a long way to go, not only to reach the previous levels but, above all, to largely overcome pre-pandemic connectivity figures.





In this sense, it should be noted that air transportation is of vital importance for the tourism sector, because approximately 90% of tourists who arrive in Peru do so by air, even from distant countries such as South Korea a nation with which Peru has just signed an air services agreement.





On the other hand, foreign trade and business are facilitated by the increase in air connectivity since it grants exporters access to world markets.





Furthermore, it was indicated that Peru currently promotes the sustained development of air transportation and works from the Andean Community Pro-Tempore Presidency in attention to the catalytic role played by this sector in regional economic reactivation.









Moreover, it is expected that by January 2025 Lima Airport Partners (LAP) will deliver Jorge Chavez International Airport's new infrastructure, with a capacity for close to 40 million passengers, which will turn it into the region's hub.




G7 Health Ministers meeting in Japan/Image credit Twitter @MoHFW_INDIA

Ottawa/IBNS: Jean-Yves Duclos, Canada 's Minister of Health met with G7 partners in Japan from May 13-14 to discuss important global health issues including pandemic prevention, preparedness, and response, a news release

The health ministers discussed ways of achieving resilience, equitable and sustainable universal health coverage; and addressed health issues like antimicrobial resistance (AMR), dementia, healthy aging, and climate change.

At the meeting, Minister Duclos emphasized Canadas continued commitment to global health and advocated for more collective attention to human health resources and mental health, as well as equitable sexual and reproductive health and rights.

During his time in Japan, During his visit to the Japan National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Minister Duclos met with the Chief of the Institute, Dr. WAKITA Takaji, who is also the Chair of Japans Coronavirus Policy Advisory Committee.

Both the ministers exchanged lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic, discussed infectious disease surveillance and detection, and the bilateral cooperation between Canada and Japan.

Duclos also met with the President of the Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development, Dr. MISHIMA Yoshinao to learn about Japans efforts in pharmaceutical and medical devices innovation. and identified opportunities for research and technical collaboration between Canada and Japan on biomanufacturing.

Minister Duclos also visited the AMR Clinical Reference Centre in the National Center for Global Health and Medicine to learn about Japans efforts related to AMR surveillance and countermeasures, as well as to identify opportunities to strengthen global monitoring and surveillance systems.

An investment of $6.3 million was announced by Minister Duclos in support of global and domestic antimicrobial innovation to the Combating Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria Biopharmaceutical Accelerator (CARB-X).

A joint session of the G7 Health Ministers Meeting with G7 Finance Ministers was held on May 13 to discuss ways the G7 can collaborate effectively and efficiently with international organizations on funding for health emergencies.

During his productive meetings with his colleagues from Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States, Minister Duclos discussed important health priorities, strengthening the global health architecture for public health emergencies and contributing to achieving more resilient, equitable and sustainable universal health coverage. and bolster strong relationships with like minded partners.

(Reporting by Asha Bajaj)


Representational image by Tom Carnegie on Unsplash

Toronto: A Canadian Minister has expressed doubt that there might be more "Chinese police stations" operating in Canada.

He made the remark just months after police said they were investigating whether two community centers in Montreal were being used to intimidate or harass Canadians of Chinese origin.

"I am confident that the [Royal Canadian Mounted Police] have taken concrete action to disrupt any foreign interference in relationship to those so-called police stations, and that if new police stations are popping up and so on, that they will continue to take decisive action going forward," Marco Mendicino told CTVs Question Period in an interview as quoted by VOA.

In March Canadian police said they were investigating the centers in Montreal. Earlier this month the Canadian Press reported the centers were operating normally, despite the minister's statements that all secret stations in Canada have been shut, VOA reported.

China has rejected the claims so far.
Prairie Green is One of Two Landfills in Manitoba with Possible First Nations Remains

A search for the remains of two First Nations women, Morgan Harris and Marcedes Myran, at a Winnipeg-area landfill could take up to three years and cost $184 million says a study examining whether a successful search is possible. An Indigenous-led committee spearheaded by the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs commissioned the study after Winnipeg police said in December that they believed the remains of Harris and Myran are in the landfill north of the city. The Manitoba police said they would not be searching the site because of the passage of time and the large volume of material deposited there.

The committee included family members, First Nations leaders, forensic experts and representatives from the province and the city.

Marc Miller, Minister of CrownIndigenous Relations; Dan Vandal, Minister of Northern Affairs, and Minister responsible for Prairies Economic Development Canada, and Minister responsible for the Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency; Patty Hajdu, Minister of Indigenous Services; and Marco Mendicino, Minister of Public Safety; issued the following statement:

The tragic deaths of Indigenous women in Winnipeg are heartbreaking and a painful reminder of the national crisis that continues to impact the lives of Indigenous women, girls and 2SLGBTQI+ people every day, across Canada.

Their families, friends and communities deserve to be supported as they seek healing and justice for their loved ones. There is nothing we can say or do that will relieve the pain of those affected. Canada will continue to work with Indigenous partners and all levels of government to protect and empower Indigenous women, girls and 2SLGBTQI+ people.

In February 2023, the Government of Canada announced funding to support a study conducted by the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs (AMC) to determine if it was feasible to search the Prairie Green Landfill.

On Friday, May 12, 2023 the AMC released the Prairie Green Landfill Feasibility Study Report, which concludes that a search of the Prairie Green Landfill is feasible. The report outlines an approach and the considerations of searching for and potentially recovering the remains of the Indigenous women. The report further suggests concrete steps that can be taken to prevent another similar tragedy.

The Government of Canada is reviewing the report and will be discussing how to move forward in light of the recommendations, alongside the families affected, and the AMC. Our priority is to work with Indigenous partners and all levels of government to review the recommendations as quickly as possible to begin the next steps in an open and transparent manner, while always keeping families, communities and survivors at the heart of our work.

We thank the AMC for leading this difficult yet important work to support families, women, girls and 2SLGBTQI+ people. We recognize that the way this work is undertaken, in collaboration with the families, communities, and partners, is equally as important as the recommendations put forward.

Addressing the Calls for Justice (CFJs) is not a linear process, as ending this crisis requires ongoing work and commitment from all levels of government, as provinces, territories, and municipalities are responsible for the CFJs under their jurisdiction. There is more to do, to address the crisis of missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls, and 2SLGBTQI+ people, and we remain committed to this critical work alongside First Nations, Inuit, and Metis.

Jeremy Anthony Micheal Skibicki is currently charged with four counts of first-degree murder for the killings of Myran and Harris, and charged for the murder of Rebecca Contois, and Buffalo Woman whose remains were found at the Brady Landfill. A representative for Skibicki stated that his client would plead not guilty.
A dog with a nose for cocaine has helped Italian police seize more than 2,700 kilograms of the drug hidden in bananas shipped from Ecuador.

AP

With the help of the canine, Italian Police seized the drug hidden in 70 tons of boxed bananas shipped from Ecuador, according to an AP report.



$900 million worth of cocaine

Police estimated that the cocaine, which they described as of the finest quality, could have brought traffickers more than 800 million euros ($900 million) in street sales if it had reached its ultimate destination in Armenia.



Customs police became suspicious about two containers on a cargo ship that recently arrived at the port of Gioia Tauro, in the "toe" of the Italian peninsula and a stronghold of a ndrangheta organized crime clan.



Police told Italian state radio that documents and a background check indicated the shippers of the bananas weren't in the business of moving that much fruit.



How dog found the consignment

Officers used scanning machines and the dog, named Joel, to uncover packets of cocaine hidden in boxes stacked meters high in container trucks.



Joel leaped high and eagerly when the officers opened the truck's back doors and pawed furiously at the unloaded boxes to try to move the bananas aside, police recounted.



Had the drug eluded detection, the containers with the cocaine would have continued through the Mediterranean to a Black Sea port in Georgia for eventual transport to Armenia, authorities said.



AP

They didn't specify just when the container ship arrived in Gioia Tauro.



But customs police said that said just days before the seizure, customs police at the same port found some 600 kilos (1,320 pounds) of cocaine in six container trucks also laden with exotic fruit from Ecuador. Those shipments had been destined for Croatia, Greece and Georgia, the customs police said.



Italy's busiest port on watch

Anti-Mafia investigative police aided in the seizure of the cocaine.



The Gioia Tauro port, one of Italy's busiest, has long been under the watch of anti-Mafia investigators because of its proximity to towns where the 'ndrangheta has bases. The crime clan is one of the world's most powerful cocaine traffickers.



AP

Since the start of 2021, and including the latest seizure, customs police at the port have intercepted and seized a total of 37 tons of cocaine, the police said.



(With inputs from AP)

For more on news and current affairs from around the world, please visit Indiatimes News.


Home is meant to be a sanctuary, a haven where children find solace and security. However, what happens when those entrusted with safeguarding the innocent take a sinister turn?

Unsplash

A shocking incident unfolded in Spalding County, Georgia, where a mother and father were apprehended and faced charges of attempted murder of their 10-year-old son.



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The distressing story of child abuse and neglect emerged when the severely undernourished boy was found wandering in the neighborhood, desperately searching for a grocery store to ask for food.



According to a report by the New York Post, Tyler, and Krista Schindley were taken into custody by Griffin Police after a concerned neighbor encountered the malnourished child on the streets last Friday.

Facebook

Disturbingly, the young boy pleaded with the officers, urging them not to send him back to his home.

Attorney Marie Broder, who referred to the case as one of the most severe instances of child starvation she has encountered, said, "As a mother, I can't comprehend it. As a human being, it breaks your heart. We aren't releasing any photos of this child for obvious reasons, but I will tell you, the photos are absolutely horrible, and anybody with a human heart, who looks at them, should be shaken to their core."

According to the police, the child, who was only 36 pounds at the time of his rescue, suffered from intentional starvation.

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Tyler and Krista Schindley now face multiple charges, including attempted murder, false imprisonment, cruelty to children, and others.



A 10-year-old child escaped their family's home and was found wandering by a vigilant neighbor on Westminster Circle, as reported by Fox 5 News. The authorities were notified, and it became clear that the child had experienced extreme suffering.

The investigation is ongoing to ensure the safety and well-being of the young victim.

The child was quickly taken to the hospital for immediate treatment due to malnutrition and a low heart rate.

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The district attorney, Broder, credited the neighbor with saving the child's life.

DA Broder said, "It is my true belief that had he not gotten out of the home, this case would be a very different one."

Neighbors revealed that the parents frequently left their older children alone for days while they went on vacations.

A neighbor named Kim Seigler expressed shock, saying, "That's just horrible. That anyone would be this, and by them being my next-door neighbor, it makes me wonder if I should have been more observant."

The investigation is still active, and the other four children are currently in the custody of the Georgia Division of Family and Children Services.

(For the latest trending stories, keep reading Indiatimes)


15 Long Beach Wells Near Site of Last Years Oil Slick

LONG BEACH, Calif., May 11, 2023  The Center for Biological Diversity sued California oil regulators today for approving about two dozen new oil and gas wells in Los Angeles and San Luis Obispo counties close to homes, beaches and important habitat without conducting the required environmental review.The first set of approvals is for drilling 15 new oil and gas wells in the Wilmington oilfield in Long Beach. The wells are located on an artificial island under 1,000 feet from a public beach. An oil slick at the same location washed up on beaches last year.The Long Beach wells are within 3,200 feet of homes and community gathering sites. That zone would be protected under a health-and-safety buffer zone Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law last year, which is now on hold pending an oil industry-backed referendum.In approving the wells, the California Geologic Energy Management Division, or CalGEM, relied on an expired 50-year-old study that doesnt evaluate climate change or the risks to human health that have become well understood since that time.Rubberstamping new oil drilling sites without proper environmental review continues environmentally racist policies that add to the health harms residents have been facing for years, said Jan Victor Andasan, a community organizer with East Yards Communities for Environmental Justice. Frontline communities are already overburdened with a multitude of pollution sources in neighborhoods like West Long Beach, from oil production sites to goods-movement operations. People in many working-class Black and Brown communities are simply trying to breathe, and to do that they need agencies to practice thorough, thoughtful review.The second set of approvals is for six new wells at Arroyo Grande in San Luis Obispo County, an oilfield close to homes thats also important habitat for several imperiled species, including the California coast horned lizard and the rare wildflower Pismo clarkia. Regulators relied on a 19-year-old environmental study that evaluated the harms of a 125-well project. But CalGEM has approved 160 wells since then, including the six wells approved most recently.With increased wildfires, sea-level rise and drought, the Central Coast is on the front line of the climate crisis, said Heidi Harmon, former mayor of San Luis Obispo. When the state rubberstamps new oil drilling, the consequences are steep for our communitys water, our property values, and our children's future. As the recent former mayor of San Luis Obispo, I stand with the people of the Central Coast against this egregious action by CalGEM.In both cases, because the well approvals in the oilfields already exceed the number of wells or timeframe for drilling that was originally covered in the decades-old environmental reviews, the agencys reliance on the old reviews was illegal.CalGEM continues to issue oil and gas permits with no meaningful analysis, despite being sued by the Center in 2021 for failing to comply with the California Environmental Quality Act, or CEQA. The law requires public agencies to analyze and mitigate environmental harms, including in cases where previous studies did not cover the project in its entirety or failed to include recent information about the projects potential harms.State regulators are neglecting their duty to protect the public from these dangerous oil and gas projects, said Liz Jones, an attorney at the Center for Biological Diversitys Climate Law Institute. Putting new wells near homes, beaches, and dwindling habitat for wildlife is the exact opposite of public safety. Its not only outrageous but illegal for CalGEM to approve these wells without a scrap of new environmental review.CalGEM has come under scrutiny for its oil and gas approvals that run counter to Gov. Newsoms stated policy goals. This year the agency has dramatically increased the number of rework oil and gas permits, a substantial portion of which are within the health-and-safety buffer zone Newsom signed into law.The governor has yet to appoint a replacement for CalGEM supervisor Uduak-Joe Ntuk, who resigned last year after reports the agency had sharply increased its approvals for oil and gas permits around the state.Photo: Island Grissom, by Department of Energy.The Center for Biological Diversity is a national, nonprofit conservation organization with more than 1.7 million members and online activists dedicated to the protection of endangered species and wild places.
Former minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Godswill Akpabio, has urged former senators to pray for him and Jibrin Barau, senator representing Kano north.

Recall that the All Progressives Congress (APC) had nominated Akpabio and Barau for the positions of senate president and deputy in the incoming 10th National Assembly.

However, the Partys decision has stirred controversies as contenders for the positions have expressed displeasure about the picks.

Akpabio also expressed dismay that first-term senators were seeking to be presiding officers while speaking in Abuja on Tuesday at a meeting with 76 former senators, including Ameh Ebute, an ex-senate president.

According to him, a senator-elect would have to be sworn in first before aspiring to be a presiding officer.

The former minister said, When I see people who are coming into the national assembly and particularly the senate of the federal of Nigeria. Senators-elect for the first time. Who will swear them in? What you (former senators) have done is to give direction as elders.

READ ALSO: 10th Senate: 86 Senators Will Support Me, Well Win  Akpabio Brags

That having been in that hallowed chamber, it is important to give direction. That there will be a senate president first who will swear in the senators-elect before the senators-elect begins to aspire to the senate president.

I want to appeal that you do not only support us with your endorsement but also support us with your prayers because what we are seeing out there is as if it is a war but I also describe it as a storm in a teacup because the senate has its own principle throughout the world.

Earlier, Basheer Lado, convener of the group and a former senator representing Kano central, said other candidates seeking to be senate president should shelve their bids in the interest of national interests.

We therefore respectfully, once again appeal to other aspirants to step down their ambition in the interest of national unity, peace, national stability of Nigeria and party cohesion, he said.

We believe strongly, senator Akpabio and senator Barau Jibril at the helm of affairs in the 10th assembly will further compliment the administration of distinguished senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu and senator Kashim Shettima in delivering good governance and democratic dividends, to all Nigerians.
A member of the House of Representatives, Yusuf Gagdi, has said he is not sure president-elect Bola Ahmed Tinubu is aware of the All Progressives Congress (APC) zoning arrangement for speakership and Deputy because of the manner it was done.

Speaking to journalists in Abuja on Tuesday, the speakership hopeful added that the Party took the decision without due consultation with the aspirants and key stakeholders.

Recall that the APC had announced that Tajudeen Abbas, a lawmaker from Kaduna State and Benjamin Kalu, a member from Abia State, are the Partys preferred candidates for the position of speaker and deputy for the 10th House of Representatives.

However, the Partys position has been met with pushback from other speakership hopefuls, while some stakeholders have called for a review of the decision.

The lawmaker said, In the first instance, there was no consultation. It was highly disrespectful. We campaigned for the party, we are stakeholders in the party. We were elected under the leadership of the party. But there was no courtesy of even calling us to inform us about what the party is arranging.

I know the principles of our president-elect whom I so much respect. Up till today, I dont believe that what is happening the president-elect is aware of it or it is his idea.

READ ALSO: 10th Assembly: No Member Has Shown Interest In Speakership, Deputy Position  Opposition Reps-Elect

That is why we keep challenging the party that issued the thing.

He added that Tinubu only won one Local Government Area in Kaduna State during the presidential election and that he couldnt have approved zoning speakership position to the State.

According to Gagdi, the APC won more elective offices in the North-Central than the North-West and should be rewarded.

His words: Tinubu had promised that he will reward loyalty and commitment.

I think it negates even the commitment of the President-elect. What the party did contradict the promise and commitment and the way of politics of Bola Tinubu.

Zamfara gave the highest votes in the north-west and yet you have not given them a single position  but you are giving to a state (that the APC won) one LGA. Are we rewarding disloyalty?

So where is the principle of Bola Tinubu here? The party tore and throw it away.

Nonetheless, he said the speakership hopefuls were not against Tinubu but the Partys decision.

We are not against anybody and we are not even against the President-elect. As far as we are concerned, we have not heard anything from him (Tinubu). We have not heard anything regarding whether he has zoned or endorsed a particular candidate.

Except that the candidates that are being paraded, particularly the ones from the house of representatives and his co-travellers, are the ones saying that that he has been endorsed by Tinubu. We have not heard that from (Tinubu) as far as the G7 is concerned, he added.
Garba Shehu, Senior Special Assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari on Media and Publicity, has boasted that his principal created 12 million new jobs in agriculture alone.

According to Shehu, as part of efforts in the agricultural sector, the Buhari administration moved from just four functional fertilizer processing companies it inherited in 2015 to 52 that are presently working.

The Media Aide boasted that currently, Nigeria produces rice locally, has stopped spending foreign exchange on foreign rice and has achieved food sufficiency.

Speaking in an interview on Channels Televisions Sunrise Daily where he made the submissions, Shehu added that the Buhari administration also performed well in other areas including security, power, fighting corruption among others.

READ ALSO: I Hope More Youths Will Follow Hilda Bacis Footsteps  Buhari

In agriculture alone, the Rice Farmers Association of Nigeria (RIFAN) is talking about 12 million new jobs, look at what we did in agriculture, this administration inherited just four functional fertilizer processing companies, we have 52 that are working today.

And this shifted the supplies of fertilizer to these 12 million new rice farmers, today rice farmers alone domestically produce rice. This country has achieved food sufficiency, we have diversified the economy, we are no longer a monocultural economy.

This country had spent $5 billions before this administration every day to buy foreign rice, today no one US Dollar leaves the Central Bank of Nigeria for foreign rice, he said.
??Pronunciamiento de la Canciller Ana Cecilia Gervasi ante reiteradas expresiones injerencistas de los mandatarios de Colombia y Mexico.https://t.co/e9H6Yp4b7i
Just few weeks before presidential inauguration which is set to hold on the 29th of May, President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday returned to Nigeria after an extended trip to London, UK.

It was gathered that the Presidents plane arrived at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja around 4:45pm.

Recall that INFORMATION NIGERIA had earlier reported that President Buhari departed the country on May 3rd for the UK to participate in the coronation ceremony of King Charles III of the United Kingdom on May 6.

He was expected to return to Nigeria last week after the coronation but a statement from the presidency confirmed Buhari would be extending his stay in London for medical reasons.

READ MORE: Buhari To Stay Extra Week In UK For Dental Check Up

The Presidents media adviser, Femi Adesina in a statement on Tuesday, announced that Buhari would spend an extra week in London, United Kingdom, to receive dental care.

He said Buhari will remain in London, the United Kingdom, for an additional week, based on the advice of his dentist, who has started attending to him.

According to Adesina, the specialist wants to see President Buhari in five more days to complete a procedure that has already begun.

The Specialist requires to see the President in another five days for a procedure already commenced.

President Buhari had joined other world leaders to attend the coronation of King Charles lll on May 6, 2023, the statement said.
The White House has confirmed that no American citizen was murdered in the ambush of a United States (U.S.) Embassy convoy that occurred on Tuesday.

Information Nigeria recalls that gunmen had targeted the convoy of U.S. Embassy staffers in southeast Nigeria, killing two of its local workers and two policemen.

The attack occurred in a major road in Ogbaru Local Government Area in Anambra State, one of the epicenters of separatist violence in the region

Tochukwu Ikenga, a police spokesman in Anambra, said, The hoodlums murdered two of the Police Mobile Force operatives and two staff of the Consulate, and set their bodies ablaze and their vehicles.

READ ALSO: Four US Embassy Officials Shot Dead In Anambra

He also revealed that the assailants made away with two police operatives and a driver of the second vehicle in the convoy.

The spokesperson also confirmed that joint security forces have embarked on a rescue and recovery operation in the area.

But in reaction to the ambush, a personnel of the US National Security Council, John Kirby said that no American citizens were involved.

I just got informed about a whole lot before coming out here to talk to you all. Just looks like a US convoy vehicle was attacked.

No US citizens were involved and therefore there were no US citizens hurt.

We are aware of some casualties, perhaps even some killed, he said.
No reason has yet to be ascertained as four members of the United States Embassy in Nigeria on a humanitarian mission in Anambra State shot dead following an attack on their vehicle on Tuesday.

INFORMATION NIGERIA gathered that the incident happened late on Tuesday in the Amiyi/Eke Ochuche communities in Ogbaru Local Government Area of the state.

However, a source who told PUNCH NEWSPAPER said the assailants caused panic in the area as they invaded the arena where some of the residents in the community had gathered and were waiting to receive medical treatment from the UNICEF officials.

READ MORE: IPOB Declares May 30 Sit-At-Home To Honour Fallen Heroes

The source said, They were ambushed and about four of them were gunned down, while others sustained various degrees of injuries as they escaped with their vehicle that has the inscription, UNICEF.

Among the victims were whites and blacks officials who were on a medical outreach to the rural riverine areas.

Reacting to the development in a statement, the spokesperson for the state Police Command, DSP Tochukwu Ikenga, said, The joint security forces have embarked on a rescue/recovery operation in Ogbaru LGA, following an attack on a convoy of staff of US Consulate today May 15, 2023 by 3:30 pm along Atani, Osamale road.

The hoodlums murdered two of the Police Mobile Force operatives, and two staff of the Consulate, and set their bodies set ablaze alongside their vehicles.

Also, the arsonist/murderers on sighting the responding joint security forces abducted two police operatives, the driver of the second vehicle and took to their heels. No US citizen was in the convoy

The command, while reacting to the situation, regrets that a convoy of such or any related will enter the state without recourse to the police in the area or any security agency, assured that the battle against the insurgents in the State is focused and it will remain sustained until such a time security stability is fully restored. Further details shall be communicated, please.
Chinedu Ani Emmanuel, a popular Nollywood actor and media personality, better known as Nedu, has issued a warning to ladies.

He warned ladies to beware of men who insist on no sex before marriage.

He gave the warning on the recent episode of the The Honest Bunch audiovisual podcast co-hosted by him.

READ ALSO: Rich Men Are Funding Your Lifestyle And You Claim To Be Independent  Nedu

The controversial OAP said some ladies have opened up to him about their husbands abysmal sexual performances which they were unaware of until after their weddings.

He said often when a man insist on no sex before marriage, there is something fishy.

He said, If oga is telling you no sex before marriage, find out if he likes it from the other side. One woman don talk for my radio show say, Oga Nedu, I dey cheat on my husband. Not once, not twice. Oga Nedu if na you, you go comot.

I said why? She said him prick no dey gree rise. I supported her. Men, Im sorry. This guy just marry her and he was saying no sex before marriage. Na so the girl enter in side.
Former Deputy National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Bode George, has said he will never congratulate president-elect Bola Ahmed Tinubu, on his victory at the February 25 presidential election.

The PDP chieftain who vowed this during an interview with Arise Television on Monday mentioned it against the backdrop of Tinubus camp that paid him a visit during the weekend, as reported by Information Nigeria.

George, in reaction to the meeting said Tinubu can never control him, adding that he only disagrees with his methodologies of governance, his own ways of managing the resources of the land for the benefit of the people.

Its not impacting on the people. Im a thoroughbred Lagosian. I was born and grew up here, there is so much degradation, go to my local government, George said.

First of all, Femi Gbajabiamila had been here, we had discussions, I told him all the things I would want them to do in Lagos. What matters to me is that let Lagos be like the best city in the world, make life more meaningful, impact on the minds of the people positively because the power rests with the people.

READ ALSO: May 29: Ive No Battle With Tinubu, Vengeance Is Of Gods  Bode George

But if there is nothing rather than that, the method of management, the financial management will be completely despicable. So, I said to them I have no objections and as far as Im concerned there is nothing personal, sir. If whatever he had done to me in the past, as a Christian, vengeance is not mine.

So, for me, the last option, the last request was that we should, whether the court has finished or the court has not finished or the processes is over  I should join the others to go and congratulate Bola Tinubu like our group, Wike and Seyi had done.

I said Im not Seyi and Im not Wike. Im much older than them, thats their opinion. For me, if peradventure, at the end of the analysis, our party is looking forward to winning at the court. If I jump ship, how would I look like? Like a swine, like a traitor?

I was born into a political family in this Lagos and respect for what is right, what is just, what is fair, those are the ways of my upbringing. Nothing personal. If they say he has won and I said that it is for me to decide whether I would live under the control of this and he cannot individually control me, I wont break the laws.

And what we want is the rule of law. What is democracy? The government of the people, the rule of law and when you go to every court in this country, youll find the lady of justice blindfolded with the sword and the scale and she dispenses justice based on facts. So, lets wait until the outcome of the supreme court.

For now, I dont agree with going to say congratulations. I will never. Bode George will never do that.
Senator-elect representing Zamfara West, Abdulaziz Yari, has said it would be unfair to the Northern part of the country for leaders of the three arms of government to be from the South.

The former governor of Zamfara State, stated this in an interview on Arise Television on Tuesday.

Recall that the All Progressives Congress (APC) had nominated former Akwa Ibom State governor, Godswill Akpabio, and Jibrin Barau as Senate President and Deputy Senate President respectively, though the former Zamfara governor had since indicated interest to occupy the seat of the senate president.

Yari was also one of the senators-elect, who presented a protest letter to the leadership of the APC over the zoning formula.

On his opposition to the partys stance, Yari said the APCs zoning arrangement of legislature leadership was not a product of widened consultation and consideration for the federal character.

Right from the beginning, the party has a tradition of widening the consultation: meeting with the president and all the members of the national of assembly; because it is not the partys business but that of the country

But the party did not do any of the above, and what we saw in the media was that they had two meetings, and we were given names to adopt.

READ ALSO: Hire Me As 10th Senate President, Im Not Aware Of Any Zoning Formula  Abdulaziz Yari

That is not adequate enough. Because all of them are just advisory bodies, the constitution gives the right to choose national assembly leaders to only the parliamentarians. The party can zone, but it is left for the individual to accept or reject.

APC has zoned and now we are asking them questions: On what basis? Have you taken into cognizance the federal character?

The president, chief justice of the federation and national assembly chairman all the three arms of government  are in one place? The chief justice is from Oyo state, Tinubu is from Lagos State, and Akpabio is from Akwa Ibom, all at the same time. And the next chief justice is also going to be from the south-west, he said.

According to him the implication was that all three arms of government would be controlled by the southern part of Nigeria, describing the situation as lopsided.

It is worthy of note that, if Akpabio is elected senate president, it will not be the first time a region would produce the leaders of all arms of government.

Between 2019 and June 2022, three northerners, including President Muhammadu Buhari (Katsina), Senate President Ahmad Lawan (Yobe) and Muhammad Tanko, former Chief Justice of Nigeria (Bauchi), led the three arms of government.
Apex Igbo socio-cultural organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, has denied claims that it had planned to participate in the inauguration of Nigerias president-elect, Bola Tinubu, on 29th May.

The pan-Igbo group made this known in reaction to a media report issued by one Okechukwu Isiguzoro, secretary general of a faction of Ohanaeze, where he claimed that, the Ime-Obi Ohanaeze Ndigbo has mandated that every agitation for the 2023 election should come to an end.

Mr Isiguzoro also claimed that the Ime-Obi Ohanaeze Ndigbo has mandated that every agitation for the 2023 election should come to an end, adding that Peter Obi is the candidate of the future and that nobody should pick up a fight they cant finish, against Bola Tinubu.

Recall that Obi, the Labour Party (LP) candidate in the 2023 presidential election, lost to Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress. He came third with a total of 6,101,533 votes.

Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party also polled 6,984,520 votes.

According to Ohanaezes national publicity secretary, Alex Ogbonnia, Ohanaeze while reacting in a statement on Tuesday, said the report claiming that the group had planned to participate in the inauguration of the president-elect did not emanate from them.

He stated that, The leadership of Ohanaeze was inclined to ignore the current press release by Isiguzoro because we have severally informed the mass media that the secretary general of Ohanaeze Ndigbo is Ambassador Okey Emuchay, and that the said Okechukwu Isiguzoro is a meddlesome interloper who uses the hallowed name of Ohanaeze Ndigbo for narrow interests.

READ MORE: We Support Tinubus Emergence But Peter Obill Be Future Candidate  Ohanaeze

We have at various times informed the unsuspecting public to ignore the mischief-makers as impostors, charlatans and media navigators who leech on the invaluable footprints of Ohanaeze Ndigbo to issue press releases for narrow, perverse and illicit pecuniary interests.

Ohanaeze Ndigbo does not wax eloquent on partisan politics, except when it becomes exceedingly necessary; and does not in any way begrudge or antagonise any Igbo for choice of political party, personal or group political ambition, but to implicate Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide in personal pecuniary interest is not only unethical, despicable and unscrupulous but in all ramifications, connotes a criminal intent.

We have severally appealed to the social deviants that the Igbo, all over the world, owe a profound emotional attachment to their apex socio-cultural organisation, the Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, and as such our sacred identity should not be desecrated on the whims, caprices and immediacies of the uninitiated.

Justice Uchenna Mogbo of the High Court of Enugu State further declared that the purported parallel election of the officers of the National Executive Council (NEC) of Ohanaeze conducted in Enugu State at the instance of the defendants is illegal and unconstitutional.

The statement further stated that, No person has a right to wake up and issue a far-reaching statement on behalf of Ohanaeze Ndigbo without consultations or a form of consensus.

Those behind such acts are highly ignorant of the damages they cause to themselves and the Igbo nation on a daily basis. They are reminded that every misconduct against the Igbo pantheon or the Imeobi Ohanaeze has its corresponding inevitable consequences.
Two officials of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Assistant Superintendent Apata Oluwaseun Odunayo and Inspector Ogbuji Titu Tochukwu have been accused of killing a fellow officer, Inspector Abel Isah Dickson.

According to the Executive Chairman of EFCC, Abdulrasheed Bawa, the incident occurred when the trio had a disagreement over the procedures for the custody of items belonging to a suspect in detention.

Briefing journalists in Abuja on Tuesday, Bawa revealed that the altercation between the officials resulted in a physical fight, which led to the death of Inspector Dickson.

He said, Gentlemen of the press, we have invited you this morning to brief you about an unfortunate incident that happened at our Sokoto Zonal Command, which is suspected to have led to the death of one of our young officers, Inspector of the EFCC, Abel Isah Dickson.

READ ALSO: EFCC Arraigns Eight Internet Fraudsters In Abuja For Impersonation Tom Cruise

The officer passed away on May 7, 2023, at the Usmanu Danfodiyo University Teaching Hospital, Sokoto where he was receiving treatment for injuries he sustained, two days earlier, in a scuffle with two other staff: Assistant Superintendent of EFCC, Apata Oluwaseun Odunayo and Inspector of EFCC, Ogbuji Titu Tochukwu.

They had disagreed over procedures for the custody of items belonging to a suspect in detention, leading to a fight, a conduct which the Commission frowns at.

The two officers with whom he had a disagreement have been suspended by the Commission and handed over to the Nigeria Police for further investigation and possible prosecution.

The latest information is that a two-count charge bordering on criminal conspiracy and culpable homicide has been filed against them at a Chief Magistrate Court, Gwiwa in Sokoto, Both offences are punishable under Sections 60 and 191 of the Sokoto State Penal Code Low, 2019.

He added that the incident has not only been reported to the police authorities, and the two officials involved taken into custody for further investigation and possible prosecution, the suspects have been suspended from the Commission pending the outcome of the investigation.

Without prejudice to the Police investigation, they will in addition, face further disciplinary measures in line with the Commissions staff regulation..

The EFCC Chairman, who was represented by Wilson Uwujaren, expressed his condolences to the family of the deceased officer and assured the public that the Commission will do everything within its power to ensure that justice is served.

He equally warned staff of the Commission to ensure that their conduct at all times is moderated by the established code of behaviour as no act of indiscipline would be tolerated.

The remains of the late officer were interred on Saturday, May 13, 2023 in Jos, Plateau State.
Foreign students who abandoned their student visa and switched to skilled worker visas in the UK risk a five-year ban, report says.

The UK government says it is currently compiling a list of students in colleges and universities who breached UK rules by switching visas without completing their studies.

Information Nigeria understands that some students who entered the UK with a student visa stopped their education at an early stage to pursue a Tier-2 visa without fulfilling the requirements of their Tier-4 student visa.

The home office said: For those students who break the rule of tier-2 and tier-4, the Home office starts working with some UK universities to make a list of these individuals.

This list is used by some major authorities to take the proper actions.

If somebody is involved in such actions, they could have serious and long-lasting consequences.

They may face a ban of up to five years, preventing them from returning to the UK.

Also, they may be asked to leave the country permanently.

It should be noted that even if some individuals are granted indefinite leave to remain in the United Kingdom, it is not guaranteed.

Information Nigeria recalls that numerous Nigerian youths had in the last two years applied to study abroad due to the unpredictability of the Nigerian economy and security.

This ignited a wave of mass resignations which affected several companies in the country.

Reporting by Gbenga Odunsi in UK
The US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, has phoned President-elect Bola Tinubu, and pledged the commitment of his country to strengthen Nigerias democracy.

It was gathered that Bliken phoned Tinubu on Tuesday after announcing the imposition of visa restrictions on specific individuals who undermined the democratic process during the 2023 elections.

Bliken in a statement released by the Spokesperson for the U.S. Department of State, Matthew Miller, said Blinken told Tinubu that the Joe Biden administration is committed to strengthening ties with Nigeria.

The US Secretary stated that the U.S.-Nigeria partnership is built on shared interests and strong people-to-people ties and that those links should continue to strengthen under Tinubus tenure.

Miller added that Bliken and Tinubu discussed the importance of inclusive leadership that represents all Nigerians, and reforms to support the economic growth of Nigeria.

The statement read, Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken spoke this morning with Nigerian President-elect Bola Ahmed Tinubu to emphasize his continued commitment to further strengthening the U.S.-Nigeria relationship with the incoming administration.

The Secretary noted that the U.S.-Nigeria partnership is built on shared interests and strong people-to-people ties and that those links should continue to strengthen under President-elect Tinubus tenure.

Secretary Blinken and President-elect Tinubu discussed the importance of inclusive leadership that represents all Nigerians, continued comprehensive security cooperation, and reforms to support economic growth.

Confirming the development, the Spokesman of the President-Elect, Tunde Rahman, said the conversation was initiated by the US diplomat.

The telephone discussion, which was frank and friendly, took place on Tuesday evening, Rahman said in a statement.

While affirming his democratic bona fides , President-elect Tinubu expressed his absolute belief that the result of the elections, which he clearly won, reflected the will of the Nigerian people.

He said he would work to unite the country and ensure that Nigerians are happy and enjoy the benefits of democracy and progressive good governance.

Secretary Blinken assured that Nigeria should expect a good and mutually-beneficial relationship with the US.

He promised to play his part in bringing a sustained and cordial relationship between the two nations to fruition, saying a democratic and peaceful Nigeria is important to the United States as it is to Africa.
" " American alligators in the Florida Everglades use their snouts and claws to create massive trenches known as "gator holes." Paul Giamou/Getty Images

Nutrients, water and living space. Those are some of life's basic needs. Anything that alters their distribution is going to be a key factor in the struggle for survival. Change the waterways, the landscape or the availability of food and an entire ecosystem can be reshaped.

Certain species wield that power to great effect. One of the most fascinating topics in biology is the role of ecosystem engineers. Scientists define these as "organisms that directly or indirectly modulate the availability of resources to other species by causing physical state changes to biotic or abiotic materials."

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In simple terms, ecosystem engineers alter their physical surroundings in ways that have major impacts on the livelihood of other organisms. A perfect example would be the American alligator (Alligator mississippiensis).

Out in the wild, the big reptiles like to make their own swimming pools. Using their snouts and claws, they create massive trenches known as "gator holes" in the limestone around Florida's Everglades. In short order, these things flood with water. The depressions also tend to remain full of water, even well into the dry season  a time when standing water is scarce.

For other life forms, these gator holes provide badly-needed oases. Frogs and turtles pour into these convenient little ponds, while plants surround their rims, attracting all kinds of insects. So, as unlikely as it sounds, Florida alligators are environmental stewards. They create brand-new homes for their neighbors and  in the process  strengthen the biodiversity of the Everglades.

Other ecosystem engineers leave different marks. Today, we're looking at five that reshape rivers, link ponds together and transform mangrove creeks. Mapmakers of the world, you'll want to keep your erasers handy when these beasties come to town.
CEO Letter

Inmarsat today announced the strongest quarterly results in its history in what is likely to be its final reported quarter as an independent company. All our business units delivered robust growth in the first quarter, reflecting the strength and diversity of Inmarsats portfolio. As we prepare to open the next chapter in Inmarsats history, we have increased capital expenditure to accelerate investment in future technologies.

Revenues grew 16% in the first quarter to $403m, with EBITDA[1] rising 32% year-on-year to $259m. While we are pleased with the strong underlying results and execution across our business units, we did benefit from one-off equipment orders, government contracts and favourable currency movements in the quarter. Even when adjusted for these issues, the companys performance was exceptional, and we expect to deliver another year of growth in revenue and EBITDA[1] for 2023.

Inmarsats strong performance will put us in good stead as we prepare for the completion of our acquisition by Viasat. In its final report, the UK Competition and Markets Authority on 9 May cleared the transaction without remedies. The European Commissions Phase 2 review is progressing, and we look forward to a decision by them and the Federal Communications Commission in the United States. We remain confident that the combination of our capabilities with Viasats technology and assets will enhance competition in the satellite communications market and deliver best-in-class services to customers in the years ahead.

Our outstanding first quarter performance was driven by growth in all four of our business units:

Aviation revenues climbed 36% year-on-year in the first quarter, with robust growth across all market segments. Sales of inflight connectivity rose sharply due to increased hardware sales and higher usage. Business aviation grew by 28% year-on-year, with a nearly 21% increase in active JX terminals, compared to a year earlier.

revenues climbed 36% year-on-year in the first quarter, with robust growth across all market segments. Sales of inflight connectivity rose sharply due to increased hardware sales and higher usage. Business aviation grew by 28% year-on-year, with a nearly 21% increase in active JX terminals, compared to a year earlier. Maritime delivered its ninth consecutive quarter of year-on-year growth excluding the uplift from the Speedcast transaction in Q1 2021, with revenues increasing by 6% despite competitive pressures.

delivered its ninth consecutive quarter of year-on-year growth excluding the uplift from the Speedcast transaction in Q1 2021, with revenues increasing by 6% despite competitive pressures. Government built on the momentum generated in the final quarter of 2022. In a record quarter at our non-US government business, revenues rose 26% thanks to strong terminal sales and GX connection growth. Revenues were up 14% in the first quarter as our US Government business grew 8% after achieving milestones in existing contracts and new contracts coming on stream.

built on the momentum generated in the final quarter of 2022. In a record quarter at our non-US government business, revenues rose 26% thanks to strong terminal sales and GX connection growth. Revenues were up 14% in the first quarter as our US Government business grew 8% after achieving milestones in existing contracts and new contracts coming on stream. Enterprise revenues rose 25% in the first quarter, registering its second consecutive quarterly growth, as some global supply chain pressures eased. The performance was bolstered by increased sales of handsets.

Inmarsat delivers vital services to customers when their need for connectivity is the greatest, and they expect certainty of connectivity, whether in the air, at sea, or on the ground. To continue to deliver on that need, we are making meaningful investments in new technology and services.

The expansion of ORCHESTRA, our network of the future, continues to progress. In the first quarter, I-6 F1 began entry into service, and we successfully launched our second hybrid GX/ELERA satellite I-6 F2, which is scheduled to connect to its first customer in 2024, and we have five more satellites underway. Two of these five are dedicated to serving the Arctic region and are scheduled to launch and enter initial service in the second half of 2024. We are also progressing with three next generation GX satellites (GX7,8,9) which are scheduled to start launching before the end of the first half of 2025. Each of these satellites will deliver as much capacity as the entire current GX network combined.

As we approach the closing of our acquisition by Viasat in Q2 of this calendar year, we can look forward to the next chapter in Inmarsats history with confidence. We remain committed to delivering innovative and resilient connectivity for our customers, whenever and wherever they need it.

With thanks and warm regards,

Rajeev Suri

CEO

[1] Excluding transaction costs and contributions from Ligado but includes one off FX gain in Q1 2023.


Union president Wendell Young IV at a 2018 rally supporting Acme workers and their then-underfunded pension plan. Gov. Shapiro has nominated Young to the SERS state workers' retirement board and called for a streamlined investment approach. Young heads UFCW Local 1776, which includes 3,500 state liquor store workers. Read more

Gov. Josh Shapiro has tapped four Philadelphia-area men to replace departing trustees on the unpaid boards that oversee Pennsylvanias century-old public pension plans. The plans invest over $100 billion to help pay retirees and require more than $8 billion a year in public funding.

For the $35 billion SERS pension system, which finances retirement checks for 250,000 working and retired state troopers, state college staff, elected officials, and other civil servants, the Democratic governor has asked the state Senate to confirm:

Wendell Young IV, president of UFCW Local 1776, which represents 35,000 chain grocery, drugstore, and food factory workers, including 3,500 Pennsylvania state-owned liquor store clerks, and sits on several union pension boards; Uri Monson, Shapiros budget secretary, who was also Shapiros chief financial officer when Shapiro headed Montgomery County government and the county fired its private investment managers to replace them with low-fee funds, mostly from Malvern-based Vanguard Group; Bob Mensch, a former Republican state senator who represented parts of Berks, Chester, and Montgomery Counties.

If approved as expected, the governors picks will replace SERS chairman David R. Fillman, who is retiring from his role as leader of AFSCME Council 13, representing 65,000 state workers; Glenn E. Becker, head of the SERS investment committee, a professional investor who engaged in questionable conduct  but not wrongdoing  when he pressured pension staff to meet with politically favored investors, according to a 2017 investigation; and Mary A. Soderberg, former Gov. Ed Rendells budget secretary.

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For the PSERS board, which invests $70 billion on behalf of a half-million retired teachers and school staff, Shapiro wants the state Senate to approve Richard Vague, a former Chase Manhattan Bank credit card executive turned Philadelphia-based investor, philanthropist, and political donor as his personal representative.

Former state treasurer Joe Torsella, a pension reformer, stepped down last winter as former Gov. Wolfs rep on the board.

The governor appoints six of the 11 SERS trustees and three of 15 on the PSERS board.

Pa.s next banking secretary?

Besides his recent nominees, Shapiro is already seeking a new candidate for banking secretary, who will serve on both pension boards.

Sarah Hammer, a Wall Street veteran turned University of Pennsylvania private-equity scholar, was Shapiros previous choice for banking but has dropped out of the confirmation process. People familiar with her candidacy says she has gone back to work at Penns Wharton School, where she headed an alternative investments program funded by Sixers owner Josh Harris, a founder of Apollo Global, one of PSERS largest money managers. (The governors choice for education secretary, Khalid Mumin, also gets a PSERS board seat.)

Neither Shapiros office nor Wharton would comment on why Hammer, who had already started attending pension meetings, walked away from her Harrisburg position and the pension boards.

Shapiro vs. the PSERS trustees

Shapiro has said hed like to see the Pennsylvania funds fire their Wall Street managers and cut fees. But sources at PSERS say they expect the board is unlikely to waver much from its current policy, which calls for dumping hedge funds, reducing but continuing to maintain at least 12% of the plan in private-equity investments, and increasing investments in infrastructure construction funds. Shapiros three trustees will be outnumbered by five teachers union members and five elected officials. (There are also two school board reps.)

Vague, Shapiros nominee to represent him on the board, is an architect of the current board investment policy, including the slow elimination of hedge funds and directly held real estate.

Vague joined Torsella and state Treasurer Stacy Garrity in opposition to PSERS past staff executives, who stepped down amid federal and internal investigations, effective last year, but he has also cultivated close ties to teachers on that board who had supported those executives.

Looking ahead

Other new faces on the PSERS board include GOP State Sen. Greg Rothman, who represents communities on the western shore of the Susquehanna above Harrisburg.

The new PSERS trustees face a string of thorny issues, including losses from aging private equity funds, unresolved questions from the internal investigation of its own exaggerated returns, and new board leadership after board chairman Chris Santa Maria, a Harriton High School social studies teacher, retires later this year. SERS will also need a new chair.

This article has been updated to correct the name of Josh Harris investment company.
Campus police at the University of Delaware are investigating a potential hate crime that occurred in Memorial Hall, where a poster taped to a professor's office door was vandalized with a swastika. Read more

A University of Delaware English professors office was vandalized with a swastika last week, leading Jewish professors and community members to cite this as an example of rising antisemitism on campus.

The antisemitic iconography  which also included a threatening message  defaced a poster for Philadelphia drag queen Martha Graham Cracker on associate professor Dawn Falliks office.

Fallik, who has been teaching her news literacy and critical writing courses virtually this semester, was informed by department chair John Ernest after another colleague discovered the graffiti early last week.

Ive lived all over the country  in Nebraska, Kansas, Missouri, and Wisconsin  so I have been many peoples first Jew, said Fallik, 52, a former Inquirer health reporter. But I have never been targeted like this.

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To Fallik and several colleagues, the graffiti represent the intersection of far-right hate in America, where vitriol for one marginalized group  in this case, Jews  is used to target another, such as the LGBTQ+ community.

I think I sort of hit the hate crime bingo  Im a woman, Im openly Jewish, I support trans rights  and as a professor, I am in a position to impact students perceptions, Fallik said. I am everything people who hate love to hate.

The incident occurred as bills targeting drag performances are introduced across the country, including in Arkansas, Tennessee, and Pennsylvania, and antisemitic acts rose by more than 35% in the United States last year, according to the Anti-Defamation League.

In Delaware, acts of antisemitism recorded by the ADL more than quadrupled in 2022. Eight of the 11 instances reported last year occurred in New Castle County, where the University of Delaware is located.

Patrick Ogden, chief of University of Delaware Police, told The Inquirer that 17 instances of antisemitism were reported to campus police in 2022, with only one incident leading to an arrest and eight considered unfounded. Six incidents  including Falliks  have been reported to campus police this year.

Ogden declined to disclose the number of antisemitic incidents reported to university police in years before 2022.

 READ MORE: An alarming report shows rising antisemitism in Pa., days after a white supremacist campaign targeted Port Richmond

Ogden said the vandalism found on Falliks door is being investigated. No suspects have been found.

University of Delaware president Dennis Assanis issued a statement unequivocally denouncing this incident as a blatant act of hatred and discrimination to the campus community last week, after members of the English department faculty circulated a letter in support of the universitys Jewish and queer communities.

A chilling effect for Jewish and LGBTQ communities

Faculty members say the act has eroded a sense of security for Jewish and LGBTQ students and professors whose education is intertwined with their identities.

Laura Helton, an assistant professor of English and history, was among the professors who discovered the vandalism. Helton, an openly gay professor who teaches queer studies courses, says the incident has created fear among Delawares tight knit queer community.

My colleagues teaching courses about trans rights are now wondering if students feel safe coming to their classes. I wonder about my safety when Im alone, said Helton, 45.

 READ MORE: Central Bucks orders removal of Gender Queer, This Book is Gay from school library shelves

The incident has already had a chilling effect on Fallik: She doesnt plan to stop teaching, but she is concerned about mentioning her identity in lessons going forward.

Fallik said the act followed a very intense two weeks of lessons in the news literacy course, where she discussed with students the ethics of reporting on communities you may belong to.

At one point, being Jewish came up.

I asked, Im Jewish. Can I cover a shooting at a Jewish synagogue? Fallik recalled.

Donna Schwartz, the executive director of the University of Delawares chapter of Hillel, a Jewish campus organization, said Jewish students have also felt increasingly insecure about showcasing their faith and culture publicly around campus: They used to proudly wear their hamsa necklaces or their Hillel T-shirts. Now, I think, students are rethinking those choices.

Just more than 12% of the University of Delawares 18,000-plus students identify as Jewish, according to Hillel. This is not the only high-profile incidence of antisemitism: The universitys Chabad  a Jewish community center  was set on fire in 2020, and posters touting an antisemitic conspiracy theory were plastered around campus in 2017.

The university is also a 15-minute drive from Elkton, Md., a former Ku Klux Klan stronghold that used to send members to march on campus in the 1970s.

The University of Delaware did not respond to repeated requests for comment regarding historic hate crime statistics, and the specifics of how it plans to respond to the vandalism.

How University of Delaware is responding

The message from Assanis includes counseling options for students and faculty distressed by the vandalism, but doesnt mention any immediate next steps.

Those who spew this kind of disgusting rhetoric believe they can divide us or weaken our resolve in promoting a more welcoming community at UD, the statement read. They will not succeed.

Fallik was supportive of the universitys message, saying it met her chief demand: informing the community of the incident. She hopes the message leads to an education plan around how to combat antisemitism, created with organizations such as the ADL or Southern Poverty Law Center.

The statement followed one drafted by four English department faculty members  including Helton  condemning any and all actions that target members of the University of Delaware community for their race, sexuality, gender, ability, religion, or any other aspect of their identity.

Helton said the letter got more than 350 signatures from students and faculty within 24 hours of it going out early last week. Now, all the offices in Memorial Hall are plastered with fliers that read, Hate speech does not belong.

Next up: Hanging the original poster for Martha Graham Crackers performance on doors in the building so Fallik doesnt feel isolated.
After a stop for the traditional election day lunch at Famous 4th Street Deli on Tuesday, Democratic mayoral candidate Cherelle Parker began experiencing serious tooth pain and spent election night in the hospital. Read more

Mayoral candidate Cherelle Parker secured the Democratic nomination for Philadelphias 100th mayor on Tuesday night but missed her victory party because of severe tooth pain that required an emergency room visit, the campaign said.

Parker had known since February that a prior root canal had become faulty, and she needed to get the tooth pulled. But she delayed the procedure to focus on her campaign, she said.

Last Friday, she underwent an emergency procedure to extract the tooth, then experienced serious pain on election day. She was treated at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and has since been released.

Dental health issues account for about 2 million annual emergency room visits in America (out of about 131 million annual ER visits overall), and can present serious complications for patients.

What dental issues are most likely to send someone to an emergency room?

Visiting an emergency room for a dental complaint is relatively rare. Parker was likely in serious pain, said David Tecosky, a Philadelphia dentist who edits the Philadelphia County Dental Societys quarterly medical journal. (Tecosky does not treat Parker and cannot speak directly to her care.)

The vast majority of people who visit an ER for a dental complaint are treated and released without being admitted to the hospital. According to 2018 federal health care data, 93% of these treat-and-release dental ER visits are due to tooth loss, cavities, or gum and connective tissue issues.

How can you avoid a trip to the emergency room over a dental issue?

Prompt treatment is key to avoiding further dental complications, Tecosky said, noting that he understands why patients might put off care. Things do happen in life  there are other things that take priority, he said. These can include child care demands, looking after an elderly relative, or in this case, a demanding mayoral campaign. (I know [Parker] was super busy, Tecosky said.)

He encourages his patients to seek preventative care, which starts with diagnosing existing dental problems. Patients with good dental health can get by with maintenance care, such as routine visits for teeth cleaning and checking for cavities every six months. Patients who suffer from gum disease or conditions like diabetes that elevate their risk for tooth decay need closer monitoring.

What are the risks of delaying dental treatment?

Even if a patient with a diagnosed dental issue isnt feeling pain, Tecosky cautioned, it doesnt mean their condition has gone away. He explained that once tooth decay breaks through into the pulp chamber  where the nerve and blood supply for the tooth is stored  it can cause infection.

Infection can kill the nerve, and the pain goes away once the nerve dies, he said.

The infection in a tooth can painlessly work its way to the bottom of the tooth, where it can then cause facial swelling and pain so severe you cant even think, Tecosky said.

The best bet is to do prevention and get the cavities when theyre small, he said. That way we dont have to worry.

Staff writer Sean Collins Walsh contributed to this article.
Following allegations reported by The Inquirer this month that Franklin Towne Charter High Schools former CEO rigged its lottery to exclude certain students and zip codes, the school is planning to join a system that handles applications for charters across the city.

Franklin Towne has signed a memorandum of understanding with Apply Philly Charter, a program that began in 2018 and allows families to simultaneously apply to multiple charter schools. School choice proponents say the goal is to create more equitable access to Philadelphias charters, which are publicly funded and not allowed to pick and choose students.

While most of the citys 83 charters participate, some dont. Heres how the system works and why some charters still manage their own applications and lotteries.

What is Apply Philly Charter?

To attend charter schools  which serve about one-third of Philadelphias public school students  families have to apply. If a charter has more applicants than seats, it must hold a lottery. (There are some exceptions: So-called Renaissance charters, former neighborhood schools turned over by the district to charter operators, enroll students from their catchment zones on a first-come, first-served basis.)

Charter schools can have different applications and deadlines. Apply Philly Charter sought to streamline that process  enabling families to log onto one website and apply to numerous charters at once.

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The system was launched by the former Philadelphia School Partnership, now Elevate 215. The nonprofit, which distributes grants to district, charter and private schools, says it funds the bulk of Apply Philly Charter, though participating schools pay a $1,500 annual fee toward the costs.

How does Apply Philly Charter work?

Its not just a tool for accepting applications. Apply Philly Charter, which uses Salesforce software, is the application system, its the lottery system, the waitlist system and the seat-offer system, said Eileen Walsh, senior director of access initiatives at Elevate 215.

Schools are active users of the platform, Walsh said, setting the number of seats available per grade. They also review applications: An applicant who claims a sibling at the charter, for instance, is flagged for verification; many charters give siblings priority in admissions.

But schools cant remove applications, Walsh said.

The software can take into account a charters preference groups  like siblings, or zip codes a school may be allowed to prioritize.

Its not a situation where schools are acting very independently in running their lottery, Walsh said. They are essentially hitting a button.

Lottery results for participating schools are sent on the same day, and families have a set amount of time to accept a seat  this year, offers were issued on Feb. 10, with a Feb. 24 acceptance deadline.

The system also assigns students places on waitlists. After the acceptance deadline, schools with open seats can make offers to students on their waitlists.

But they have to make an offer starting from the top down, Walsh said. For a student that ranks 25th on the waitlist to get an offer, for instance, those in the first through 24th spots must be issued offers first.

Why dont all charters participate in the citywide lottery?

Currently, 72 charter schools are part of the Apply Philly Charter system, while 30 others arent. (While the Philadelphia school district counts 83 charters in the city, Apply Philly Charter breaks schools down by campuses, leading to a larger tally of schools.)

Some school leaders said they didnt see a need to join.

For us, its just really not practical, said Alberta OBrien, CEO of Community Academy Charter School in Juniata Park. As a K-12 school, Community Academys open seats are concentrated in kindergarten and ninth grade, and many are already spoken for, OBrien said, noting that one-third of our school is siblings.

She was also hesitant about families applying to the school that dont know much about it. I always know that when a kid applies to CAP, they want to go to CAP, OBrien said.

Still, Community Academy experiences some enrollment shakeout at the start of the school year, OBrien said: I cant imagine if youre in a system where everybody is getting multiple acceptances, how much worse that would be.

Freire Charter School, which enrolls students in grades 5 through 12 at two campuses in Center City, left Apply Philly Charter this year.

Over the years we have seen applicants apply to Freire Schools through Apply Philly Charter without specific interest in or understanding of our schools. This made predicting enrollment very challenging, spokesperson Melanie Reiser said. She said the charter decided to return to an in-house admissions process to see if our yield rate would increase as families applied directly to Freire Schools.

David Saenz, spokesperson for Elevate 215, said data from Apply Philly Charters five years of operation show that nearly all families are applying in a deliberate manner. While the number of applicants each year has changed, the average number of schools to which students apply has not, generally falling between four and five applications per student.

Philadelphia Charters for Excellence, an advocacy group, said it has and will continue to encourage all of its 80 member schools to utilize Apply Philly Charter to conduct their enrollment lotteries, not only for the ease of use for Philadelphia families but to ensure the process is unbiased and fair for every student.

No student should be excluded from a public charter school due to their race, gender, ethnicity, religion, economic status, academic or behavioral history, or special education needs, said Scott Peterman, the groups CEO.

Whats the plan for Franklin Towne schools?

According to an administrator who came forward to the Inquirer, Franklin Towne Charter High Schools January lottery  run on Microsoft Excel  was manipulated at the direction of former CEO Joe Venditti, who had school staff exclude students with behavioral or academic problems and others from certain zip codes, among other allegations.

Venditti resigned Feb. 27, citing health problems. The school says its investigating the lottery allegations.

At a meeting of the high schools board of trustees last week, new CEO Brianna ODonnell said the school had been vetting lottery vendors and was leaning toward Apply Philly Charter. A spokesperson for the school, Ken Kilpatrick, said Tuesday the school had signed a memorandum of understanding with the system.

Franklin Towne Charter Elementary School is also adopting a new lottery system  though it isnt going with Apply Philly Charter. The school announced last month that it would be conducting next years lottery through another platform called Lotterease.

The elementary schools CEO, James Rodgers, said he had concerns about using Microsoft Excel after seeing it in action during the January lottery, which was my first as CEO. My concerns were that the system was too manual in nature and the software simply did not provide enough security to protect the integrity of the lottery.

Upon learning of the high school lottery allegations, Rodgers said, a review of our lottery became a high priority.
Painted circles mark locations where evidence related to a deadly shooting was collected in front of a church in Farmington, N.M. Authorities killed the 18-year-old gunman Monday and the investigation is ongoing. Read more

FARMINGTON, N.M.  The gunman who killed three people and wounded six others as he fired randomly while roaming his northwestern New Mexico neighborhood was a local high school student and his victims include a 97-year-old woman and her daughter, police said Tuesday.

Investigators were still trying to determine a motive for the attack by Beau Wilson, 18, in the Farmington neighborhood where he lived. They say he opened fire Monday, killing Gwendolyn Schofield, her 73-year-old daughter, Melody Ivie, and 79-year-old Shirley Voita.

Witnesses and police say Wilson walked through the neighborhood a short drive from downtown Farmington spraying bullets until police arrived within minutes and fatally shot him. Two police officers were among the wounded.

The amount of violence and brutality that these people faced is unconscionable to me, Deputy Police Chief Kyle Dowdy said. I dont care what age you are, I dont care what else is going on in your life, to kill three innocent elderly women that were just absolutely in no position to defend themselves is always going to be a tragedy.

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Deputy Police Chief Baric Crum said Wilson was indiscriminately shooting at vehicles, but that some rounds also hit homes.

Dowdy said investigators do not believe Wilson knew anyone he shot.

Weve discovered nothing that leads us to believe that the suspect knew" the victims, he said. Were pretty confident in that this was completely random.

In November, after he turned 18, Wilson legally purchased at least one gun used Monday, police said. He carried three firearms in the attack, including an assault-style weapon.

Four officers fired a total of 16 rounds at Wilson, including one of the wounded officers, said San Juan County Sheriff Shane Ferrari.

Mayor Nate Duckett said Tuesday that the Farmington officer and state police officer were treated for their wounds and released from a hospital.

Authorities began receiving reports of gunshots at 10:57 a.m. and the first officer arrived at 11:02 a.m., police Chief Steve Hebbe said Monday in a video statement. Three minutes later, the gunman had been killed.

Joseph Robledo, a 32-year-old tree trimmer, said he rushed home after learning that his wife, Jolene, and their year-old daughter had sought shelter in the laundry room when gunshots rang out. A bullet went through his daughters window, without hitting anyone.

Jolene Robledo said they had just finished breakfast when she heard pop, pop, pop, pop," which she first thought was a car backfiring. She said they were going to run out the back door until she heard a man curse right outside, so she quietly shut the door and hid with her daughter between the washing machine and dryer.

I mean it was crazy. I called my husband and he could hear the gunshots over the phone, she said. He was freaking out and I was like, dont hang up, dont hang up!

Joseph Robledo said he jumped a fence to get in through the back door. Out front, he found an older woman in the street who had been wounded while driving by. She appeared to have fallen out of her car, which kept rolling without her, he said.

I went out to see because the lady was just lying in the road, and to figure just what the heck was going on, Robledo said. He and others began to administer first aid.

Neighbors directed a police officer toward the suspect.

We were telling (the officer), Hes down there.  The cop just went straight into action, Robledo said.

Robledos own family car was perforated with bullets.

Weve been doing yard work all last week. I just thank God that nobody was outside in front, he said. Obviously, elderly people  he didnt have no sympathy for them."

Downtown Farmington, a short drive from the neighborhood, has undergone a transformation of sorts in recent years, with cafes and breweries cropping up alongside decades-old businesses that trade in Native American crafts from silver jewelry to wool weavings.

Nick Akins, a middle school teacher and resident, said it's a great place to live, with a mix of homes, short-term rental apartments and churches.

You never think its going to happen here, and all of a sudden, in a tiny little town, it comes here, Akins said.

On Tuesday, orange circles of spray paint still marked the ground where police had collected evidence. Authorities were using metal detectors to search the grass in front of one of the churches along the street where gunfire erupted.

As night approached Monday, dozens of people gathered at Hills Church, a few miles (kilometers) from the attack scene, to pray at the base of a tall metal cross. Lead pastor Matt Mizell talked about living in a dark and broken world but told the crowd there was still hope and asked God to provide them strength.

Politicians also weighed in about the attack.

Duckett said in a statement that the shooting has left us reeling in anguish and disbelief.

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham said in a statement that she was praying for the families of those killed and that it "serves at yet another reminder of how gun violence destroys lives in our state and our country every single day."

New Mexico enacted a red-flag law in 2020 that can be used to seize guns from people who pose a danger to others or themselves. Dowdy said relatives expressed concern about Wilsons mental health when interviewed by police but that he didnt have enough information at this time to further elaborate.

Rep. Teresa Leger Fernandez, a Democrat who represents the area in Congress, said in a Facebook post that our beautiful Nuevo Mexico is not immune to the mass shootings that occur across the country  Every. Single. Day.

I praise the heroes who drove to danger to stop the violence. I pray for the quick recovery of the wounded and for the families of those we lost, she said.
The Philadelphia Industrial Correctional Center Monday last week as the Philadelphia Department of Prisons reported the escape of two prisoners the day before. Read more

The second of two men who escaped from a city jail last week was captured in West Philadelphia on Wednesday morning, police said, ending a 10-day search spanning three states for a murder defendant whose unprecedented breakout made national news and became a major concern for law enforcement.

Ameen Hurst, 18, accused of committing four homicides as well as other crimes, was arrested by U.S. Marshals on the 6100 block of Washington Avenue, officials said at a news conference at City Hall.

Deputy U.S. Marshal Robert Clark said agents had been running down tips across Pennsylvania, Delaware and New York in their search, and that on Tuesday, one of Hursts relatives got in touch with law enforcement to negotiate a surrender. But Hurst did not turn himself in on three separate occasions over the next 18 hours, Clark said, leading Marshals to set up surveillance early Wednesday morning at locations where they thought Hurst might be.

 READ MORE: First of the two men who escaped from a Philly jail was arrested Thursday night, authorities say

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Around 8:30 a.m., Clark said, agents saw Hurst getting into a car on Washington Avenue with several other people. Agents then stopped the car, saw Hurst, and arrested him without incident, Clark said.

We had three deadlines and were in constant communication, and [Hurst] significantly missed those deadlines, Clark told reporters earlier, shortly after Hurst was caught. At some point we had to say, Lets put our guys back out on the street. Because we think we had a chance to end this this morning.

One of the other people in the car was Hursts brother, Amir Woods.

Woods was taken into custody Wednesday and charged with escape, criminal conspiracy, hindering apprehension, and related crimes, police said.

We are very pleased that these escapees and their conspirators have been arrested without incident, said Assistant District Attorney Lyandra Retacco.

Hursts arrest came as something of a relief for authorities after a series of embarrassing revelations over the past week and a half about his ability to escape from the jails undetected. He and Nasir Grant, 24  who was jailed on gun and drug charges  broke out of the Philadelphia Industrial Correctional Center on May 7 through a hole in a chain link fence, authorities said, but their disappearance was not noticed by correctional officers for nearly 19 hours.

Authorities then initiated a search for the two men and also launched an investigation into how the breakout happened and why it went undetected for so long. Retacco and Deputy Police Commissioner Frank Vanore said that investigation remained ongoing.

The escape followed more than two years of warnings by prisoners, advocates and union officials of a growing crisis at the citys jails, where nearly 4,400 people are held. Earlier this month, the correctional officers union announced a vote of no confidence in the leadership of Prisons Commissioner Blanche Carney, saying the prisons are about 40% short of a full staffing complement, posing a public safety crisis.

Carney, meanwhile, has raised concerns with other city officials for months about the flow of drugs, phones, tools, and other contraband into the jails. The facilities were already subject to the oversight of a monitor appointed by a federal judge last year, in response to a class-action lawsuit over conditions there.

Following the escape, Carney also asked the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections to conduct a security assessment.

Grant was captured in North Philadelphia last week after U.S. Marshals say they received information about where he was staying, then saw him getting into a car while disguised in womens clothing. He was charged with an additional count of escape and taken to Bucks County jail on $10 million bail, court records show.

Police have also charged three others with aiding in the breakout: A 21-year-old woman who allegedly spoke to Hurst about the escape on recorded jail phone calls hours before it happened, a 35-year-old prisoner who served as a lookout, and a 21-year-old man who allegedly conspired with Hurst afterward, as Hurst was on the run.

Charging documents filed in those cases provide some additional clues about how the escape unfolded, although not a complete picture. Authorities are continuing to investigate whether the escape was actively assisted by any employees, for example, or if it instead was enabled by ongoing staffing shortages that have plagued the jails for years.

An initial act of importance happened around 5:15 p.m. on May 7, charging documents say, when Hurst called the 21-year-old woman, Xianni Stallings, to make arrangements for where he should be picked up later that night. During the calls, the documents say, Stallings connected Hurst with a man who discussed picking him up at the bridge behind the jail.

Hours after that, the documents say, the prisoner serving as the lookout  Jose Alberto Flores-Huerta, incarcerated for allegedly participating in a fatal beating outside Pats King of Steaks in 2021  checked the block where he, Hurst, and Grant were all housed, called the H unit, for guards. Hurst and Grant crawled toward the shower area, the documents say, and Flores-Huerta gave them a signal when the coast was clear.

Hurst and Grant were then able to get into the prison yard, authorities said, and sneaked through a hole in a chain-link fence before climbing over two other fences lined with barbed wire. Once the men left the prison grounds, charging documents say, they got into an Uber linked to Stallings account and were driven to North Philadelphia.

During the Uber ride, the documents say, Hurst called 21-year-old Michael Abrams, and authorities believe the two men  allegedly part of a violent street group in West Philadelphia known as 616  eventually met up and went on the lam.

Over the next several days, police arrested Stallings and Flores-Huerta, and both were charged with crimes including escape. While Stallings was in jail, court documents say, she made calls to friends on recorded phone lines, asking them to tell Abrams and Hurst not to do anything wrong because she might be charged for it.

Abrams was arrested Monday by U.S. Marshals at a hotel in Berwyn, police said, and he was charged with counts including escape and hindering apprehension. Bail was set at $1 million.

A day after Abrams arrest, Hursts relatives got in touch with authorities. He was in custody by Wednesday morning.

Beyond the escape, Hurst is accused of killing four people and critically injuring two others in three separate shootings in less than three months. One of those homicides occurred near the front gates of another city jail: the Curran-Fromhold Correctional Facility. In March 2021, police say, Hurst killed 20-year-old Rodney Hargrove an hour after Hargrove had been released from the facility and was waiting outside for relatives to pick him up.

Authorities now believe the shooting was a case of mistaken identity. In an affidavit of probable cause for Hursts arrest in that case, prosecutors said that while he was facing charges for an earlier murder, he essentially confessed to shooting Hargrove while talking to a relative on a recorded phone line.

I thought that was Sid, we got the wrong [person] though, Hurst said, according to court documents.

Hurst is also accused of killing 20-year-old Dyewou Nyshawn Scruggs on Christmas Eve in 2020. Scruggs was walking and filming himself on Instagram Live when Hurst ran up and shot him multiple times, police say.

And Hurst is accused of shooting four men sitting in a car on the 1400 block of North 76th Street in March 2021  a crime police believe was tied to an ongoing feud between neighborhood groups. Naquan Smith, 24, and Tamir Brown, 17 were killed, and two others were seriously wounded.

Clark, of the U.S. Marshals, said the agency received dozens of tips that we had to triage, and [spent] hundreds of man hours during its search for Hurst.

Retacco, of the District Attorneys Office, said although the search for Hurst was over, police, prosecutors and city officials were only at the beginning of an investigation into what happened.

We need to be able to figure out how this kind of thing could happen ... so that we can ensure the prisons and the community are safe, she said. We need to be able to address the whole issue.
Langston Mullins, 10, left, with his mother Cherelle Parker, after she casts her vote at her polling place, in Philadelphia, Tuesday, May 16, 2023. Read more

Expect a sunny day that is supposed to reach the high 60s.

Last nights Democratic primary race was the one of the most competitive mayoral elections in recent memory, with five contenders having viable paths when polls opened Tuesday morning.

By the end of the night, it was clear Democrats had decided that we should have our first female mayor, and her name is Cherelle Parker. Our lead story focuses on her historic win.

If you see this  in todays newsletter, that means were highlighting our exclusive journalism. You need to be a subscriber to read these stories.

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 Taylor Allen (@TayImanAllen, morningnewsletter@inquirer.com)

Cherelle Parker won the Democratic nomination for Philadelphia mayor, making her the favorite to become the 100th mayor and first woman to lead the city.

Important note: She wasnt able to take the stage at her own victory party because she was hospitalized for a dental emergency

Parker ran a tough-on-crime platform that included pledging to hire 300 new cops and restoring the controversial law enforcement tactic stop and frisk.

As a consummate political insider, Parker was the clear choice of the citys Democratic establishment. She racked up endorsements from several elected officials and deep-pocketed unions in the building trades and service industry.

Pay attention: Although the odds are highly in her favor, she will still have to face off against the Republican nominee, former Philadelphia City Councilmember David Oh in the November general election.

Weve got more on how Parker came out on top.

It looks like Pennsylvania House Democrats got their moneys worth.

After spending more than $1 million keep their one-seat majority, Democrat Heather Boyd won the special election in the 163rd House District to replace former State Rep. Mike Zabel.

Reminder: Just weeks after Democrats gained control of the state House, the Upper Darby seat opened up when former Rep. Mike Zabel, a Democrat, resigned over allegations of sexual harassment.

Democrats outspent Republicans to 10-to-1 to main their majority, which they won in February for the first time in 12 years.

Keep reading to learn what Democrats want to do with their secured power.

What you should know today

 Trivia time 

Janet Jackson celebrated her 57th birthday with Questlove in Philly.

Where did she go?

A) The Divine Lorraine Hotel

B) Parc

C) Darnels Cakes

D) None of the above

Think you know? Check your answer.

What were...

Viewing: Photos from Pennsylvanias 2023 primary election.

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Well select a reader at random to shout out here. Send us your own original anagram to unscramble if youd like. Cheers to Pam Leighton, who correctly guessed Tuesdays answer: Jalen Hurts. Email us if you know the answer.

Photo of the day

Alright, thats all I have for you this morning. Ill need an extra shot of espresso in my coffee after last night.  Ill catch you tomorrow. 
Professor Ousterhout worked often in Istanbul, Turkey. "The history, the city surrounded by water, the food, and big-city hustle and bustle all appealed to me," he told a writer. Read more

Robert G. Ousterhout, 73, of Philadelphia, art history professor emeritus at the University of Pennsylvania, world-renowned expert on the art and architecture of the Byzantine Empire, prolific author, lecturer, and mentor, died Sunday, April 23, of prostate cancer at his home in University City.

Professor Ousterhout was the authority on Byzantine art and architecture in Penns Department of the History of Art from 2007 until his retirement in 2017. He examined buildings, monuments, and ancient urbanism in Turkey, Greece, Israel, and elsewhere, and shared his fieldwork in hundreds of scholarly papers and books, countless classes, and at exhibits, lectures, conferences, and seminars around the world.

The Byzantine Empire flourished from the fourth century to the 15th century in Italy, Greece, Turkey, North Africa, and the Middle East, and Professor Ousterhout told the Associated Press in 1998: For 10 centuries this was the most important place in the Western world. It deserves to be better known.

He worked closely with the Greek Archaeological Service and other preservation groups, and said in one of his books that he was drawn to architecture and art history because the Eastern medieval world was both fluid and dynamic, regularly invigorated by the movement of people and ideas.

He taught classes such as Form and Meaning in Medieval Architecture and mentored dozens of graduate and doctoral students. Colleagues in Penns art history department called him a transformative presence and said he will be remembered as one of the giants of Byzantine studies.

A former student said on Facebook: The passing of Robert Ousterhout is an incredible loss for the entire Byzantine Studies community.

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Professor Ousterhout was also chair of Penns art history graduate group, chair of the graduate group in the Art and Archaeology of the Mediterranean World program, and longtime director of Penns Center for Ancient Studies.

Earlier, from 1983 to 2006 at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, he was professor of architectural history, chair of the schools architectural history and preservation program, and coordinator of its doctorate program in architecture and landscape architecture.

He was assistant professor in the Department of Art History at the University of Oregon in 1982 and later visiting professor at the Moscow Institute of Architecture, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and Harvard University.

Professor Ousterhout won student and teacher awards at Illinois, Fulbright and other research grants, and fellowships at Dumbarton Oaks Museum in Washington. He was president of the U.S. National Committee for Byzantine Studies, and the Byzantine Studies Association of North America.

Among his publications is 2019s Eastern Medieval Architecture: The Building Traditions of Byzantium and Neighboring Lands. The 816-page book is called the most consequential study of its kind to appear in many years by one critic and won the 2021 Haskins Medal for literature from the Medieval Academy of America.

He also wrote short stories and novels, and the jacket blurb for 2022s To the East describes it as adventure, self-discovery, romance, and second chances in life, as the world teeters on the brink of war.

He was optimistic and enthusiastic, said his husband C. Brian Rose. He had a passion for the humanities. Friends at the American School of Classical Studies in Greece said in a tribute: For all his accomplishments, he was open, welcoming and, above all, friendly.

Robert George Ousterhout was born Jan. 16, 1950, in Pendleton, Ore. He earned a bachelors degree in art history at the University of Oregon in 1973 and spent two years at the Institute of European Studies in Vienna, Austria.

He received a masters degree in art history at the University of Cincinnati in 1977 and a doctorate in art history at Illinois Urbana-Champaign in 1982. He met Rose in Turkey in 1999, and they married in 2016 and lived in University City.

Adventurous and fun-loving, Professor Ousterhout appeared on the The Martha Stewart Show in 2011 and showed her archaeological wonders in Turkey from a hot-air balloon. He swam in the Bosporus Strait between Asia and Europe for years, concocted humorous puns about nearly everything, and hosted memorable dinner parties.

His generosity and profound humanity touched countless people, his colleagues at Penn said. His husband said: He had an unbreakable spirit, an effervescence, a love of life.

In addition to his husband, Professor Ousterhout is survived by a sister, two brothers, and other relatives.

A celebration of his life is to be at 2 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 9, at the Penn Museum, 3260 South St., Philadelphia, Pa. 19104.

Donations is his name may be made to the Robert Ousterhout Scholarship Fund, University of Oregon Foundation, Gift Services, 1720 E. 13th Ave., Suite 410, Eugene, Ore. 97403.
Cherelle Parker arrives to her get-out-the-vote rally with the West Powelton Steppers and Drummers team at the Carpenters Benefits Hall in Spring Garden Saturday. Read more

I thought a lot about history on primary day  the history of the city of so many historical firsts getting one step closer to electing a woman as Philadelphias 100th mayor.

But there was also a little personal history being made about 200 miles away. While voters were heading to the polls here, my youngest niece, Jalen, was graduating from Eastern Connecticut State University, following two other nieces and one nephew, and changing my familys collective educational history in one generation.

Before my oldest niece graduated six years ago, I was the only one in my immediate family to stumble her way to a college diploma.

Like so many of us whove emerged from striving families, Id like to believe that my winding, bumpy road led to a slightly smoother path for those behind me, just as I hoped for a primary win by one of the three strongest mayoral candidates, each of whom also happened to be a woman, in order to pave the road for others.

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I couldnt be at Jalens graduation  she was walking across the stage around the same time the polls closed. But I texted her throughout the day to let her know that while I was here waiting on city history to be made, my mind and heart were very much with our family, who excitedly gathered at the XL Center in Hartford, Conn., hours before she walked across the stage.

Fingers crossed, Jalen texted, when I told her we just might be nominating a woman as our Democratic candidate for mayor, which in Philadelphia all but guarantees a win in November. And she was sweet enough to thank me for the steps I took before her and her cousins.

I remember being a little girl in class thinking how I needed to pay attention and be like Auntie Helen, she texted. Told you, sweet.

Despite those who want to erase or reshape history, what happened  or didnt  before us, matters, and it often sets in motion dreams and aspirations that can take generations to be realized.

Its what compels those who come here from other shores  hopeful families like my mothers and fathers who have come to the mainland from Puerto Rico (which is part of the United States, but more on that in another column), and migrants on Greg Abbotts and Ron DeSantis forced bus rides to Northern sanctuary cities.

Everyone is trying to find their way, trying to break through, trying to clear paths for those behind them.

Around midnight, the race was called for Cherelle Parker, the veteran lawmaker with deep connections to the Northwest section of the city, making her the favorite to be the first Black woman mayor of Philadelphia. (She, too, was the first in her family to go to college.) Thats a huge deal.

Putting aside for today the confusion over Parker missing her own victory party because of dehydration or a dental emergency  although I really hope the conflicting stories arent indicative of a lack of transparency  history was made Tuesday night.

Im sure that the two other talented women who were left in the race  former City Controller Rebecca Rhynhart and former Councilmember Helen Gym  are deeply disappointed. But I hope both women  and their dedicated supporters  move past those feelings quickly to appreciate that they were part of history as well, and to put their skills to work for the city. They may not have been Philadelphias pick this time, but their undeniable qualifications and passion gave voters three strong choices for those of us who understand the importance of representation in politics, and the world around us.

(In addition to Parker, Rue Landau, a progressive backed by the Democratic Party, also won Tuesday night, positioning herself to become the first openly LGBTQ Council member.)

Firsts are exciting, and should be celebrated. But they are also a reminder that we are not where we should be. First In 2023!?! one person lamented on Twitter under a post about Janice Darko becoming the first Black woman to graduate from the University of Utahs School of Dentistry. I had a similar reaction when President Joe Biden announced the nomination of economist and World Bank official Adriana Kugler to join the Federal Reserves Board of Governors, potentially making her the first Latina on the board.

When the Philly mayors race was called for Parker, I hesitated to text Jalen with the news; it was late. But after such a long campaign, I was excited to share the results, and I had promised to let her know.

We have a woman mayor!

Her response came almost immediately: wooo!!

It had always been just a matter of time.
" " Asian tiger snakes are one of the few poisonous and venomous animals. They eat poisonous toads and can release the stored-up toad toxin on their prey. feathercollector/Shutterstock

Remember, there are very few poisonous snakes. Most are only venomous. Like the rattlesnake. It's venomous because it fills its fangs with its toxin and directly injects that into its foe.

The platypus, maybe surprisingly, is also venomous. The males have spurs on their ankles that they use on to inject venom into predators.

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There are even a few creatures that are both venomous and poisonous. The blue ringed octopus is one. It has a venomous bite, but if that doesn't stop predators from trying to eat it, it's also poisonous once it's in their belly. Yikes.

The Asian tiger snake is another animal that's both venomous and poisonous. One wild defense mechanism it has is from special glands in its neck. It can release the toxins of poisonous toads it eats to ward off prey. But the Asian tiger snake also can also inject venom through small fangs located at the rear of the mouth that is debilitating to the nervous system.

Some people believe mongooses are toxic, but actually they're just better at handling toxins than almost any other animal on the planet. They kill and eat notoriously venomous snakes like cobras.

Armed with your new knowledge, you can probably see the trick now. Cobras are venomous, not poisonous. So the mongoose is ingesting the cobra's toxin, which gets broken down by the acids in the mongoose's stomach. Also, the mongoose can tolerate a little bit of snake venom.

Even plants can be counted as venomous or toxic. Poison ivy is correctly named, as its toxin is delivered by merely touching its leaves. Stinging nettles are venomous, if you're being generous with the term, because they deliver their irritating toxin via spines.

Now That's Gross There's a third category of toxin delivery: toxungen. That's when a toxin is delivered by spitting or spraying it on the enemy. It's a small category, but it contains one well-known stinker: the skunk.

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Originally Published: Jun 5, 2020
Supporters of Cherelle Parker hold up her campaign poster during her Election Night watch party in North Philadelphia Tuesday. Read more

On Tuesday morning, four of the five major Democratic candidates for mayor showed up to vote at their Center City polling places.

Rebecca Rhynhart, Jeff Brown, and Allan Domb began the primary election day at Tenth Presbyterian Church at 17th and Spruce Streets, the shared polling location for each of their divisions. Not too far away, Helen Gym cast her vote as well.

But Democratic voters looked beyond Center City to elect the candidate who will likely be the 100th mayor of Philadelphia, casting their ballots for Cherelle Parker  a resident of Uptown  over her downtown-dwelling rivals.

It was a history-making election. While Parker still needs to defeat Republican nominee David Oh in the fall, the significant Democratic registration advantage, combined with the rightward march of the national GOP, make that race much less of a challenge than the grueling primary.

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That means that after 341 years, a woman is now poised to lead Philadelphia.

Parker wasnt this boards pick. Nor was she the choice of the citys burgeoning far-left progressive movement. In the citys more affluent, white, and college-educated areas, Parkers broadsides against academicians found little support. Yet, clearly, many Black and brown working-class voters were inspired by her own lived experience as a Black woman, and as a product of the citys school system and neighborhoods. And while this was the most expensive election ever in Philadelphia, the candidate with the least personal wealth won.

What seemed to give Parker the edge? Philadelphia certainly has a long list of problems that need to be solved, but as columnist Jenice Armstrong found during a walk down Broad Street last week, public safety was the top priority for most Philadelphians going into election day. On Tuesday, those living in neighborhoods most affected by gun crime overwhelmingly selected Parker, the only candidate who pledged to both hire more police officers and lean into stop-and-frisk.

Parker was talking about public safety long before most of her rivals. As she said many times on the campaign trail, she was the first Democratic member of City Council to suggest investing more in police and policing, even as national progressives organized around the concept of defunding or de-emphasizing policing.

Even before she launched her campaign, she released a 20-page Neighborhood Safety and Community Policing Plan. Critics called Parkers ideas wasteful, regressive, and outdated. A plurality of Democratic voters disagreed.

Parker also won over voters with her commitment to the citys middle neighborhoods, like the ones she represented on City Council. During Mayor Jim Kenneys first term, Philadelphia thrived according to some metrics  but not all Philadelphians felt the benefits.

Incomes in Black households are stagnant. For everyone else, incomes have risen by 25% since 2010. Black homeownership has been declining for even longer. More than any other member of Council, Parker has sought to protect Black wealth  by investing in the Housing Trust Fund, funding the Basic Systems Repair Program, and building clean commercial corridors through the Taking Care of Business program.

Sadly, the city was denied what surely would have been a barnstormer of a victory speech. While labor leader and close ally Ryan Boyer initially cited dehydration, the campaign later announced that a dental issue prevented Parker from attending her election night party. Whatever the case, we hope Parker recovers quickly and that Philadelphians hear from her soon.

Along with Parker, the Philadelphia Democratic Party also won big.

While party leadership was officially neutral in the mayors race, as the election neared it was clear that Chairman Bob Brady and a strong majority of ward leaders were firmly in the Parker camp. Additionally, party-endorsed candidates took the top six spots in the City Council At-Large race and are currently leading the races for sheriff, register of wills, and city controller. While one district Council race is currently too close to call, party-backed incumbents won comfortably in two others.

What mustnt be lost in the celebration is that despite a diverse field of mayoral candidates, voter turnout was below 30% of registered Democrats, enabling Parker to win while receiving just around 75,000 votes.

Parkers challenge will be to demonstrate that she can bridge the growing divide within Philadelphias Democratic Party and deliver change across the city despite being backed by so much of the status quo.
A student on the campus of the University of Maryland at College Park in September 2020. Recently, campus police were summoned after a bias report against students playing a video game that required them to come up with off-color responses to question prompts. Read more

Last month, Tennessees Republican-led legislature passed a law inviting college students to report teachers who instruct divisive concepts. If your history professor says that one race is inherently privileged or that America is fundamentally or irredeemably racist or sexist  both prohibited claims in Tennessee classrooms  you can report her to your school, which is, in turn, required to report her to the state.

This sounds like fascism, this sounds like authoritarianism, complained Democratic State Rep. Justin Jones, one of two Black lawmakers whom the legislature recently expelled for joining a protest calling for stricter gun laws, and then reinstated. This does not sound like democracy or freedom.

Hes right. So why are our universities  which are mostly operated and staffed by Democrats  creating their own surveillance procedures, which encourage us to inform on each other?

Im talking about bias reporting systems (BRSs), which encourage students to report bias incidents to the school and have become ubiquitous on American campuses. Theyre not nearly as dangerous as Republican-sponsored measures to constrain teachers, but they share the same goal: to root out the bad ideas that lurk among us.

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And you cant have a free university  or a free society  on those terms.

You cant have a free university  or a free society  on those terms.

According to a 2022 survey of 821 colleges and universities, over half of the institutions have established some kind of BRS. For example, the University of Tennessee at Knoxville  in the same state that bars the teaching of divisive concepts  has a Bias Education and Response Team that solicits complaints and suggests disciplinary sanctions against alleged offenders.

Never mind that a federal court declared in 2019 that BRSs impose an objective chill on speech via implicit threat of punishment and intimidation. Nobody can be quite sure what constitutes a biased remark, any more than we can readily identify a divisive one. So we shouldnt allow any authority  inside the university, or outside it  to decide which is which.

But thats precisely what BRSs do. At the University of Northern Colorado, a student filed a BRS complaint against a professor who raised questions about transgender rights in class; in response, a university official suggested that the professor avoid the topic for the rest of the semester.

At the University of Maryland, campus police were summoned after a bias report against students playing a video game that required them to come up with off-color responses to question prompts. And at Wake Forest University, officials investigated an Instagram post that parodied Donald Trump by proclaiming that a candidate for student government would build a wall between Wake Forest and Winston-Salem State University, a historically Black institution.

Some readers decried the satirical post as racist, which I can certainly understand. But I cant understand why we would empower university administrators to make that determination or devise sanctions for it, especially at a moment when free speech is under massive assault from the political right.

 READ MORE: Why I didnt sign the free speech petitions at Penn | Jonathan Zimmerman

Sixteen states have banned critical race theory, which is also in the eye of the beholder: If you dont like something, call it CRT. In just the first three months of last year, more than a dozen states introduced bills to restrict discussions of gender identity and LGBTQ issues. Originally targeted at kindergarten through third-grade classrooms, Floridas so-called Dont Say Gay rule was recently expanded to bar the topic from all grades.

Floridas GOP-led legislature recently passed a law allowing students to record professors in class, as evidence in, or in preparation for, a criminal or civil proceeding.

A conservative think tank in Nevada suggested that teachers be required to wear body cameras, to ensure they dont teach CRT. The since-fired Fox News host Tucker Carlson echoed that creepy suggestion, sparking widespread ridicule.

These attacks come from the right, but left-leaning academia cant mount a strong resistance if its also restricting free speech on campus. Of course, our schools and colleges need to protect people from outright harassment, which is already barred by state and federal law. But thats different from encouraging students to snitch on their peers and teachers, which is the enemy of real education in all times and places.

False-equivalence alert: A campus bias response system isnt the same as a law barring CRT. Most obviously, breaking the law can land you in jail. But the attacks on speech from the right and left share an equally illiberal spirit. If you think that states shouldnt be prohibiting divisive speech, youll have to tell me why our schools should be policing the biased kind. And I dont think you can.

Jonathan Zimmerman teaches education and history at the University of Pennsylvania. He is the author of Whose America?: Culture Wars in the Public Schools, which was published last year in a revised 20th-anniversary edition this fall by the University of Chicago Press.
Cherelle Parker, the winner of Philadelphia's Democratic primary for mayor, was hospitalized and wasnt able to take the stage at her watch party. Read more

Cherelle Parker was hospitalized Tuesday for a dental emergency and wasnt able to take the stage at her own victory party, an unexpected end to a historic outcome in the Democratic mayoral primary.

A campaign spokesperson, Aren Platt, said in an emailed statement after midnight that Parker had a recent dental issue that required immediate medical attention this evening, and was receiving care at the University of Pennsylvania.

Cherelle looks forward to celebrating with all of her friends and supporters and thanks all of Philadelphia for making history tonight! Platt said.

Parker told the Inquirer earlier in the day that she had emergency dental surgery on Friday to get a tooth pulled. She said she found out in February that she needed a tooth pulled but put it off to focus on the campaign. She didnt quite make it to election day, though, and she had it removed Friday.

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It needed to come out, so we made a decision to sort of just push it off because I was trying to get through the primary, and then it came up, Parker said.

Earlier in the night, Ryan Boyer, who leads the Building and Construction Trades Council and was a key Parker supporter, had said that Parker was dehydrated.

Shell be ready to talk tomorrow. Shes good, Boyer said.

The celebration went on without her at the laborers union hall in North Philadelphia, as supporters danced around in bright orange Team Parker apparel.

Parker, the first woman to win the Philadelphia Democratic mayoral nomination, likely to become the citys first female mayor, had maintained a busy schedule in the run-up to the election.

Earlier in the day she voted at her polling place in East Mount Airy with her 10-year-old son, Langston. She posed with politicians at Famous Fourth Street Deli, a popular political midday schmoozing spot.

She tweeted thanks to supporters on Tuesday. Im so incredibly honored to have earned the Democratic nomination tonight, she said. Its been a long road, and to see the tireless work of my campaign team, supporters, and family pay off is humbling. Im looking forward to November and bringing our city together as its 100th mayor.
Cherelle Parker (center)  along with candidates Rebecca Ryhnhart, Jeff Brown, and Allan Domb  greets a panel of journalists following a mayoral forum. Parker won the Democratic nomination for mayor of Philadelphia. Read more

Cherelle Parker didnt once say the word woman, but she didnt need to.

In the midst of a heated race for Philadelphia mayor, Parker last month ran a television ad that became one of the most memorable of the campaign. It showed young girls of every race pointing to portraits of Philly mayors of yore  all of them men.

Ninety-nine mayors, Parker said in the commercial. Not one looks like you or me.

Now, shes poised to change that.

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Parker, a former City Council member, on Tuesday won the Democratic nomination for mayor, becoming the odds-on favorite to win the general election in deep-blue Philadelphia and making her well-positioned to become the first woman in city history to take the mayors office. Philadelphia is joined only by New York on the list of big U.S. cities never to have had a female chief executive.

 READ MORE: Philly has had 99 mayors. Not one of them was a woman.

In a February interview about the potential that she could become the first female mayor, Parker said representation is important, but stressed that identity comes second to her qualifications.

As a Black woman, she said, I am not accustomed to and have never been fortunate enough to think that something would be given to me.

And she said she hopes the election  which drew four serious female contenders  makes it less abnormal in the future for women to seek the office.

No more glass ceilings, Parker said. We need the concrete pavers to lay a smooth path.

In Philadelphia, not many women have run for mayor, and the few who tried fell far short. That made it all the more remarkable that on Tuesday, not only did Parker win, but the second- and third-place finishers, respectively, were Rebecca Rhynhart and Helen Gym. Maria Quinones Sanchez dropped out earlier in the campaign and endorsed Parker.

Philadelphias 100th mayor will be a woman of color who understands our neighborhoods and has truly demonstrated her ability to lead, Quinones Sanchez said in a statement. It is a victory we can all celebrate.

When Gym  the first Asian American woman to serve on City Council  conceded just after 11:30 p.m., she nodded to the historic nature of the results.

Philadelphia has chosen its 100th mayor, she said, and elected the first Black woman to serve in the highest office in our city.

Although a woman has never been the citys mayor, Philadelphias political class has had plenty of trailblazers, especially in the legislative branch. Parkers mentor, former Councilmember Marian Tasco, is a legendary Black politician, and today, women make up nearly 40% of City Council.

Chellie Cameron, president and CEO of the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce and the first woman to hold that role, said Wednesday she is thrilled.

Philadelphia can finally say it has a woman who is going to be running this city, and a woman of color at that, Cameron said. I think when youre looking across the city, youre seeing the face of leadership change significantly. I think we make better decisions when we have people with different perspectives at the table.

Judith von Seldeneck, the founder and chair of Diversified Search Group, who has worked to elect women across the city and state, said it was wonderful to have so many qualified women candidates running to choose from.

As for the results?

Shout it from the rooftops, von Seldeneck said. Not only is it great for women, but its great for the city of Philadelphia to set an example. By gosh, talk about breaking the glass ceiling. This is huge.

Interviews with voters suggested that identity played a role in how some women thought about the race.

Hanan Abdul-Hameed said she didnt pay much attention to politics until recently because of the deterioration of city services in her North Philadelphia neighborhood over the last few years, but she attended Parkers election night party just to get a chance to meet her.

I was just fascinated with her, said Abdul-Hameed, 40. And after 99 male Philadelphia mayors, she said, the city needs a woman to lead it.

So many women have laid so much foundation, she said, and maybe we havent been able to reap as much benefit.

In South Philadelphia, Yasmin Hassan, 33, said she voted for Gym in large part because her campaign had a strong presence in her neighborhood. She said she was also excited by the idea of electing the first female mayor.

Diversity is something I want to see, she said.

Inquirer staff writers Julia Terruso, Max Marin, Sean Collins Walsh, and Emily Bloch contributed to this article.
Cherelle Parker supporters hold up her campaign poster at her watch party Tuesday. Parker has won the Democratic nomination for mayor of Philadelphia. Read more

There were a lot of reasons Cherelle Parkers candidacy was never seen as a slam dunk.

Shed never run citywide. Observers said the Democratic Party machine that lined up behind her is weaker than it once was. The electricians union that once ran city politics was dulled by scandal, and the days of Black organizers in Northwest Philly crowning mayors, some said, were behind them.

But in the end, Parker and those groups charted a course to the Democratic nomination. Supported by a coalition of labor unions and a bevy of Democratic elected officials, Parker ran up the score in Black and Latino neighborhoods, while also drawing substantial support in parts of Northeast Philadelphia.

She appealed to voters through a personal story of Philly grit, a tough posture on crime, and a more moderate ideology than some of her top rivals.

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I remember people saying, Well, shes never run citywide before, and shes only ever been the darling, and shes never had a fight on her hand, and shes not grassroots, Parker said in an interview Wednesday. And Im listening to people say these crazy kind of things, and Im saying to myself, If there was a picture of Philadelphia, it would be me.

While Parker beat out her closest rival by a commanding 10 percentage points, her winning share of the vote with 94% of divisions reporting was the lowest in modern mayoral history. Just 75,914 people backed her, according to returns updated Wednesday. Thats the lowest winning primary total dating to at least the 1970s.

That was in some ways anticipated, given the nature of the divided field, and Parkers 33% was more than enough to advance to the general election.

Parker will in November take on Republican David Oh, who ran in the GOP primary unopposed. She is heavily favored to win in deep-blue Philadelphia, and if she prevails would become the first female mayor in city history.

This is how she got there.

Black voters coalesced around Parker

Parkers victory was powered by Black voters and residents of the poor and low-income neighborhoods hardest hit by the citys gun violence crisis, according to an Inquirer analysis. The only Black candidate among the top contenders, Parker has been clear that Black voters made up the core of her base.

Majority-Black precincts gave nearly 56% of their vote to Parker, while majority-white ones gave her just 12%. Parker also united two groups of voters who dont always align: more establishment-leaning Black voters and more independent-leaning Black voters. In this race, both groups backed her overwhelmingly.

 READ MORE: Philly neighborhoods fall into six segregated groups of Democrats

While Parkers win came in part from her support from Black Philadelphians, overall turnout in majority Black precincts trailed 2015, the last competitive mayoral race. Only about 30% of registered Democrats voted, and Parker won about 33% of their votes.

George R. Burrell, a former City Council member and ex-mayoral candidate, said her win is a real statement of greater unity among Black voters than people anticipated.

Still, he said, even after the effort she made, it shows the division that remains in the city.

While the lowest-income residents didnt comprise a large chunk of the electorate, they delivered Parker a majority of their votes, with about half of voters making between $50,000 and $75,000 voting for Parker. By contrast, the wealthiest and highest-income voters were most likely to support Rebecca Rhynhart.

 READ MORE: A guide to Cherelle Parker: What to know about the person Philly Democrats just picked for mayor

That may be in part because of Parkers message, which often centered on her working-class upbringing in the city. Greg Spearman, 69, a Parker voter from West Philadelphia, said she is in tune with the problems of the community and the challenges that the city is facing.

Her passion was overwhelming, he said.

Barbara Terry, 59, of North Philadelphia, said Parkers debate performance impressed her. And she said a major consideration was the opportunity to elevate a Black woman to lead the sixth-largest city in America.

The last person I was impressed with like this was Obama, Terry said. Even if she doesnt deliver on her campaign promises, at least we can say we made history.

Parker also won by a wide margin among Latino voters, according to an Inquirer analysis. She was endorsed by Maria Quinones Sanchez, a former City Council member who was the only Latina in the mayoral field until she suspended her campaign in April.

Cherelles historic candidacy spoke to Philadelphians in every ZIP code, she said in a statement, and her message resonated with the working-class Black and Brown communities I have represented throughout my career.

Labor support was critical

Parkers candidacy took off in February when she was endorsed by the Philadelphia Building & Construction Trades Council, a coalition of 30 unions led by Ryan Boyer, a longtime Parker ally.

Local 32BJ of the Service Employees International Union announced it was backing her weeks later, and then came the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 98, which has the largest war chest of any union in the city.

The building trades are some of the biggest political spenders in the state  and spend they did.

An independent expenditure committee, or super PAC, called Philadelphians For Our Future spent more than $2 million on advertising alone and was almost entirely funded by building trades unions. Super PACs can raise and spend unlimited amounts of money as long as they do not coordinate with the campaigns theyre boosting, and Philadelphians For Our Future outraised Parkers campaign.

 READ MORE: Five Philly mayoral candidates were in a nasty TV ad war

Not only did the super PAC pay to boost her profile  it attacked her opponents Rebecca Rhynhart, Jeff Brown, and Allan Domb in the closing days of the race. A separate super PAC funded ads attacking Helen Gym, meaning that Parker was the only candidate in the top tier to not face attack ads on television at any point during the campaign.

The building trades are also known to deploy members in big numbers to help with get-out-the-vote efforts, and the super PAC supporting her earlier this month reported an in-kind donation of $500,000 from the regional carpenters union for canvassing efforts alone.

Parker had a turnout operation behind her

Parker, a consummate political insider, was backed by a number of political power centers that undoubtedly played a large role in her win. While the Democratic City Committee didnt make an endorsement in the mayors race, chair Bob Brady embraced Parker, and more than 40 of the citys 69 ward leaders backed her.

Sam Katz, a former mayoral candidate and longtime observer of city politics, said the backing of the party and organized labor was key in turning out enough voters to prevail in what appears to be a low-turnout election.

Her campaign was won on election day. She was elected because she had more people to get people out. Period, Katz said. And I would argue that the political system dragged her candidacy across the finish line.

Sincere Harris, Parkers campaign manager, pushed back on the narrative that she was the establishment choice, saying she earned endorsements one by one, noting they notched a ward endorsement a week before the election.

It really did come together piece by piece, she said in an interview. Its a little lazy to say she was the establishment. I get it. Were not going to say shes not. But we built it.

Still, the influence of the party was apparent. Parker ran up the score in Northwest Philadelphia, where she is herself a Democratic ward leader. Decades ago, the Black political family known as the Northwest Coalition formed, and it continues to be known for high voter turnout and unified political preferences.

Parker also performed well in Northeast Philadelphia  especially the more diverse lower Northeast, some of which is part of the Council district she represented and where she was endorsed by 10 ward leaders. While former Councilmember Allan Domb prevailed in most of the upper Northeast wards, Parker pulled about 40% of the vote in seven lower Northeast wards. Domb finished in second in those wards at 17%.

U.S. Rep. Brendan Boyle, who hails from the Northeast, said Parkers performance there among white working-class voters, coupled with her strong base of Black support, created a winning coalition. Boyle compared it with President Joe Bidens coalition  and his own.

My opponents beat me among more affluent white voters, but the reality is there were simply more of my kind of voters, he said. And this is the same story in this race.

Her message on safety resonated

Parker ran on a tough-on-crime platform, pledging to hire 300 new cops for her signature policing plan, and she has embraced law enforcements use of the tactic known as stop-and-frisk.

But Parker has described her policing model as nuanced and community-oriented, with more officers walking in neighborhoods and developing relationships with residents and small-business owners. And she emphasized her personal story of growing up in a working-class Philadelphia neighborhood and being the mother of a Black son.

She got the benefit of having a tough-on-crime message, Burrell said, but also being a Black woman and having a child, and people are hopeful that she is going to see their needs better than others would have seen it.

That seemed to resonate with voters.

I think Cherelle Parker understood what needs to be changed in the city, said Asa Saidman, 27, a Parker voter who lives in Fishtown. I think the focus on 300 new police officers with the focus on patrolling more so on foot and on bicycles will help, and having the police officers represent the communities theyre coming from, too. I think itll provide mentorship and hopefully suppress crime.

Stephanie Clark, 61, of Mantua, said public safety is her top concern  and largely why she voted for Parker.

When I heard her talking about it and she was talking about how she wanted to protect her son, because now little kids are getting killed, Clark said, that was the most important thing to me.

Staff writers Aseem Shukla and Ryan Briggs contributed to this article.
The Pennsylvania House of Representatives in session at the Pennsylvania Capitol in February. Democrats maintained their majority in the House in special elections Tuesday. Read more

Pennsylvania Democrats successfully defended their narrow House majority for the second time in four months in a Delaware County special election Tuesday.

But the rest of the year looks rocky.

With just a one-seat majority, Democrats will need support from every member of their caucus to pass their policy priorities. In a recent vote, for example, Democrats had to win the votes of two Republicans to get an LGBTQ antidiscrimination bill through the House, because one Democrat  Rep. Frank Burns (D., Cambria)  did not support it.

And many of their legislative goals face an uphill battle in the Senate, where Republicans still hold a majority.

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But Democratic leaders still hope to continue the work theyve started after taking control of the House for the first time in 12 years, and to give Democrats a boost in next years election to expand their majority, said House Speaker Joanna McClinton (D., Philadelphia).

In just two weeks operating in the legislature, we were able to pass legislation thats been held up for decades, McClinton said Wednesday. By the time we get to 2024, well have continuously sent great legislation that helps working people to the state Senate and hopefully gets to Gov. [Josh] Shapiros desk.

House Republicans will continue to refocus the chamber on issues that people care about, such as job creation, and hope to regain the majority next year, said House Minority Leader Bryan Cutler (R., Lancaster).

However, it will be hard for state lawmakers from either party to gain attention amid the 2024 presidential election, in which Pennsylvania is a key battleground state, said Berwood Yost, executive director of the Franklin and Marshall College Poll.

Its really difficult for state legislative candidates to get their message out when theyre competing against what will surely be hundreds of millions of dollars in the presidential and Senate races, Yost said, noting that big interest in the election will still bring high turnout for down-ballot legislative races.

What matters most heading into the 2024 election? The state of the economy at that time, Yost said.

If economic concerns are going to be a big issue, they would typically drive turnout for the opposing party, Yost added. If that becomes the issue in 2024, then I think theres a good chance that gives Republicans an advantage [down ballot].

Democrats will likely need to defend their majority earlier than next year. Reps. John Galloway (D., Bucks) and Sara Innamorato (D., Allegheny) both won their primary races for other offices Tuesday, according to unofficial returns, and if they win in November, they would have to resign their state House seats by the start of 2024. Other resignations could also create vacancies in the chamber  and could potentially shake up the makeup of the House, given the razor-thin Democratic majority.

We can expect the balance to be close and elections to matter, but it really depends where theyre happening, Yost said. For example, Innamoratos district in Pittsburgh reelected her in 2022 with 63% of the vote and the seat would be likely to remain safely Democratic. Galloway ran unopposed in the 2022 general election, and his district is also considered heavily Democratic.

In the Delaware County race on Tuesday, Democrat Heather Boyd defeated Republican Katie Ford to replace former State Rep. Mike Zabel, a Democrat who resigned in March amid sexual harassment allegations.

Voters in Montour County and parts of Northumberland County also went to the polls for a special election Tuesday, but that vacant House seat remained in Republican hands.

After those new representatives take office, Democrats will again lead the chamber, 102-101. Republicans maintain a strong majority in the 50-member state Senate, splitting control of the two chambers. The state General Assembly is responsible for setting the states election laws, passing an annual budget, and allocating school funding, among other things  all of which the House and Senate must agree on and get approval for from the states Democratic governor.

Shapiro put himself on the line in recent weeks, raising $500,000 to help House Democrats maintain their one-seat majority in the Upper Darby race that topped $1 million in Democratic spending, a Shapiro spokesperson said.

That big spend  and getting President Joe Biden to endorse winner Boyd  was a sign of weakness for Democrats, Cutler said.

That shouldve been a slam dunk for them in a majority-Democratic district, Cutler said. Obviously, they were worried.

But McClinton contended that Republican extremists have driven voters to the Democratic Party.

When you show people who you are and what your values are, theyre able to make a decision. Voters in Pennsylvania, theyve rejected Republicans three times, McClinton added. Im very confident going into 2024 to continue on our gains and show them the outcome of us in the majority, all of the bad things we blocked  in the defense and in the offense.

State legislative leaders said they will now turn to budget negotiations in order to meet the June 30 deadline to approve a spending plan.
Cherelle Parker with her son, Langston Mullins, 10, after she cast her vote Tuesday in the Democratic primary. Read more

Cherelle Parker  a West Oak Lane native who lost much of her family at a young age and went on to become a state lawmaker and City Council majority leader  won the Democratic nomination for Philadelphia mayor, making her the odds-on favorite to become the 100th mayor and the first woman to ever helm the city.

Parkers history-making victory came in one of the most competitive mayoral elections in recent memory, with as many as five contenders still seen as viable when polls opened.

The joyous occasion was marked with some confusion when the celebrating crowd was told late Tuesday at a union hall in North Philadelphia that Parker wouldnt be appearing at the party.

Parker was hospitalized Tuesday for a dental emergency. Campaign spokesperson Aren Platt said in an emailed statement after midnight that Parker had a recent dental issue that required immediate medical attention this evening, and was receiving care at the University of Pennsylvania.

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Im so incredibly honored to have earned the Democratic nomination tonight, Parker said on Twitter. Its been a long road, and to see the tireless work of my campaign team, supporters, and family pay off is humbling. Im looking forward to November and bringing our city together as its 100th mayor.

Ryan Boyer, leader of the Philadelphia Building and Construction Council, which backed Parker, had earlier said Parker was suffering from dehydration.

Parker, 50, ran on a tough-on-crime platform, pledging to hire 300 new cops for her signature community policing plan and to restore the controversial law enforcement tactic known as stop-and-frisk. She pitched herself as a champion of Philadelphias middle neighborhoods, those that are neither wealthy nor mired in deep poverty, and vowed to provide stability for working families with good-paying jobs, quality housing, and improved educational opportunities.

A consummate political insider, Parker was the clear favorite of the citys Democratic establishment, racking up endorsements from scores of local elected officials and ward leaders while getting support from deep-pocketed unions in the building trades and service industry.

Throughout the campaign, Parker, a single mother who was the only Black candidate among the top contenders, emphasized her personal story and said in her stump speech that she has lived her entire life at the intersection of race and gender. She appears to have won by substantial margins in the citys predominantly Black neighborhoods, especially in her Northwest Philadelphia base.

With a booming voice and a penchant for speaking in the third person, Parker regularly impressed in televised debates and at the dozens of candidate forums hosted by civic organizations that defined the grueling nine-month campaign.

Despite a barrage of negative advertising in the final days of the campaign, Parkers opponents largely refrained from attacking her, and her campaign suffered no major controversies.

When election day arrived, it was apparent to many that term-limited Mayor Jim Kenneys successor would be a woman. But it was far from clear who would break Philadelphias glass ceiling.

Two of Parkers closest competitors were former Councilmember Helen Gym, a champion of the local progressive movement, and former City Controller Rebecca Rhynhart, a technocrat who ran on a promise to make the city run more efficiently.

This fight was never about one leader, Gym said in a concession speech. It was always about our values, our vision, and our belief in one another.

Rhynhart, in her concession, said she was really proud of the campaign and the way we all came together here to fight for a better Philadelphia.

The other top contenders were former Councilmember Allan Domb, a real estate magnate who poured $10 million of his own money into his campaign, and grocer Jeff Brown, a first-time candidate who shot to the top of the pack early before seeing his campaign collapse amid a series of self-inflicted wounds.

I thought I could bring to the city a unique perspective and provide the leadership the city of Philadelphia desperately needs, Domb said in a brief speech Tuesday. Brown also conceded before 11:30 p.m.

Parker faces Republican David Oh in the November general election and is likely to prevail thanks to Democrats more than 7-to-1 voter registration advantage in the city. The winner will take office in January.

Who is Cherelle Parker?

Parker grew up in poverty during the crack epidemic, and she credits her success to her grandparents, who largely raised her, and to leaders in her neighborhood who looked after her.

A major turning point in her life came when she won a citywide oration contest when she was a student at the Parkway Program high school in Center City. The speech, which Parker performed at churches and in Council chambers, made newspaper headlines and led to her introduction to trailblazing Council members Augusta Clark and Marian Tasco, leaders of the Black political organization called the Northwest Coalition.

Tasco in particular took Parker under her wings, and offered her internships starting in high school.

Parker, who graduated from Lincoln University and has a masters degree from the University of Pennsylvania, spent one year as a teacher after college before joining Tascos staff full time and eventually becoming her top aide.

She ran for state representative in 2004 and served five terms in the General Assembly, where she became chair of Philadelphias delegation to Harrisburg. In that role, she worked with then-Mayor Michael A. Nutter and Council President Darrell L. Clarke to shepherd through tax legislation that helped Philadelphia navigate the great recession.

When Tasco decided not to run for reelection in 2015, Parker won her seat representing the 9th Council District, which includes parts of Northwest, North and Lower Northeast Philadelphia.

She was elected majority leader in January 2020 and worked closely with Clarke before resigning last year to run for mayor.

The establishment favorite

Parkers mayoral campaign got off to a slow start amid doubts that a candidate who had never run for citywide office or faced a serious challenger in her legislative races could emerge from such a deep and crowded field.

She initially lagged in fundraising but worked behind the scenes to secure support from important political players. Her campaign began to take off in February after she won the endorsement of the Building Trades and Construction Council, a coalition of 30 construction industry unions that are some of the biggest spenders in Pennsylvania politics.

Weeks later, Local 32BJ of the Service Employees International Union announced it was backing her, followed by a cascade of endorsements from Philadelphia Democrats, including Clarke; U.S. Reps. Dwight Evans and Brendan Boyle; and State Sens. Sharif Street and Vince Hughes. The week before the election, Kenney told reporters that he had voted for Parker by mail, and Bob Brady, the chair of the Democratic City Committee, telegraphed that she was the favorite of party insiders despite not making an official endorsement.

Her campaign got a boost when fellow Northwest Coalition acolyte and former Councilmember Derek Green, who is also Black and had a similar message, dropped out of the race in April. Green and Maria Quinones Sanchez, another former Council member who ran for mayor this year, both endorsed Parker after suspending their campaigns.

But the most important moment in Parkers campaign arguably happened a year before she entered the race. In November 2021, Ryan Boyer, a Parker ally who heads the Laborers District Council and is one of the most prominent Black labor leaders in Philadelphia, was elected leader of the Building Trades Council. He replaced John J. Dougherty, the longtime electricians union leader who was convicted earlier that year on federal bribery and honest services fraud charges.

An independent expenditure committee, or super PAC, that was funded primarily by the building trades spent hundreds of thousands to boost her profile and attack her opponents, running attack ads on Gym, Domb, and Brown in the closing days of the race. It provided critical financial assistance to a campaign that otherwise wouldnt have had the means to keep up with Dombs self-funding and the super PACs backing her other rivals.

But neither Parker nor any other candidate ever appeared to separate from the pack, and polls in the final days of the campaign showed a tight race with Parker in second or third.

On the campaign trail, Parker pledged to support small businesses in neighborhood commercial corridors, push for schools to stay open year-round with extended hours, and expand access to affordable housing.

To achieve those goals, Parker will have to work with an inexperienced Council, which has seen enormous turnover in the last few years and will have a new president after Clarke, who is retiring, leaves office in January.

What her supporters said

At the polls on Tuesday, William Anderson, 51, cast his vote for Parker in East Mount Airy. Gun violence was top of mind after his cousins mother was fatally shot in Strawberry Mansion early Sunday morning.

The ads got to me, said Anderson, who went into Tuesday undecided. She said she had a plan to curb the violence.

Zach Matthew, of South Philadelphia, also backed Parker, because he thought she was the candidate best able to balance racial justice and public safety. I voted for her focus on supporting and maintaining Black and brown communities in Philadelphia, said Matthew, who is 25. And her focus on police reform and hiring more police officers to make more community based policing work.

At Parkers celebration party, Hanan Abdul-Hameed, 40, a mother of three from North Philadelphia, joined in the joyful scene.

Abdul-Hameed said that while she is biased toward Black female candidates, she was also enamored with Parkers educational achievements  Parker is a first-generation graduate with degrees from Lincoln University and the University of Pennsylvania  and her track record as a lawmaker.

Shes a Black woman. Thats No. 1. Shes highly educated. Shes been doing this work for a long time, Abdul-Hameed said.

And after 99 male Philadelphia mayors, Abdul-Hameed said the city needs a woman to lead it.

So many women have laid so much foundation and maybe we havent been able to reap as much benefit, she said. Women also carry a different type of passion.

Staff writers Beatrice Forman, Jake Blumgart, Ximena Conde and Kristen Graham contributed to this article.
Philadelphia City Councilmember Cindy Bass (center, in blue) attends the watch party for Democratic candidate for mayor Cherelle Parker on Tuesday. Bass is seeking her fourth term leading the 8th Council District, and is in a competitive race with progressive challenger Seth Anderson-Oberman. Read more

Philadelphia City Councilmember Cindy Bass declared victory Wednesday evening against Democratic primary challenger Seth Anderson-Oberman, while holding a lead of about 300 votes in the close race.

The Associated Press had not yet called the race, but Bass had maintained her narrow lead throughout the day Wednesday.

This was a hard-fought race, but I am pleased to have won the Democratic primary for City Council in the 8th District, she said in a statement to The Inquirer around 6 p.m. Wednesday. We need to be diligent about ensuring that every last vote is counted, but based on our analysis of the divisions remaining we are confident in the outcome.

Bass, 55, ran on her experience leading parts of North and Northwest Philadelphia as she faced one of the few competitive reelection campaigns among City Councils 10 district-based members. Anderson-Oberman, 52, ran on a progressive platform, attacking Bass as an ineffective leader whose tenure had been tarnished by poor leadership decisions, failed redevelopment plans, and political cronyism.

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With 185 of 187 divisions reporting as of Wednesday evening, Bass ran strong in the Germantown and North Philadelphia sections of her 8th District, while Anderson-Oberman outperformed her in Chestnut Hill and Mount Airy.

At one point Tuesday evening, Bass had a sizable lead, but the race tightened around midnight as a large number of votes for Anderson-Oberman were added to the total.

The Democratic City Committee had endorsed Bass, but it let the 69 wards make their own requests for sample ballots this cycle. In Chestnut Hills 9th Ward, for example, Anderson-Oberman, not Bass, was the endorsed candidate on the Official 9th Ward Democratic Ballot.

Still, the Bass campaign felt confident, her campaign manager said. The unreported divisions as of Wednesday afternoon were in North Philly east of Broad Street. Based on the voting trends so far, that appears to be an area of the district that strongly supported Bass.

I cant thank my supporters enough for their tireless commitment to our campaign. As we have said all along, we still have more work to do and I look forward to getting back to it! Bass said in her statement.

Anderson-Oberman, a union organizer, had said earlier Wednesday that his campaign was still waiting on the final results and thanked his supporters for making such a close race possible.

The race, for many voters, was seen as a referendum on gentrification and development. The diverse district  which stretches from wealthy and largely white Chestnut Hill, to the more mixed-race and progressive Mount Airy, to the working-class, majority-Black enclaves of Germantown and North Philly  has seen a surge of development interest in recent years.

At precincts around the district, Anderson-Obermans supporters said they believed their candidate would help maintain affordability in rapidly changing neighborhoods.

Jeffrey Hall, a 73-year-old retired electrical technician whos working toward a masters degree in criminal justice, said Tuesday that he voted for Anderson-Oberman because he believed Bass had become too close to developers.

Look at our neighborhood  all the apartment buildings going up. [Bass] has changed our neighborhood for the worse, he said.

Marie-Monique Marthol, 54, a health educator who lives in Germantown and volunteered for Anderson-Obermans campaign, said shed chosen to support him in part because she believed Bass was making land-use decisions in her district without community input.

Gentrification in this neighborhood is unconscionable, Marthol said. A feeding frenzy has happened under the current administration.

But Bass leaned into her experience, arguing that with a new mayor about to take office and high turnover on Council, now was not the time to gamble on a progressive who may not have the know-how to deliver on lofty policy ideas.

Bass had the backing of party leaders, Phillys largest municipal union, and SEPTAs largest labor union. She canceled her own election night event and attended the party for former Councilmember Cherelle Parker, who won the Democratic primary for mayor.

Late Tuesday afternoon, voters were coming in at a steady pace at the Daniel E. Rumph recreation center in Germantown. Mark Demby, an engineer at the water department, said hed voted for Bass, whom he knows personally. He cited her community work, saying shes spearheaded job training, housing placements for unhoused people in the neighborhood, and food drives.

Chioma Azi, 40, a lawyer, voted for Bass as well. She said shed seen ads implying that Anderson-Oberman didnt know much about the neighborhood. While Azi had heard criticisms about Bass and her approach to development, she still felt Bass had a better grasp on the district.

Those perceptions aligned with Bass depiction of Anderson-Oberman as an outsider  despite the fact that he was born in Germantown.

The Democratic nominee will run unopposed in the general election, barring a long-shot write-in or third-party campaign.

Staff writers Aubrey Whelan and Chris Brennan contributed to this article.
Lori Padova, 64, exits the basement of Lan Nyguens home after taking her mother, Stella Medaglia, 94, to vote in Southwest Philadelphia. Read more

The most-expensive mayoral primary campaign ever in Philadelphia, and an extraordinarily competitive race among several Democratic candidates, indeed made electoral history Tuesday  but not for voter participation.

On what turned out to be a splendid May day, between 25% and 30% of the citys registered voters had cast ballots in-person or by mail, according to estimates by the turnout-tracking service, sixtysixwards.com.

Its not great, said Patrick Christmas, chief policy officer for the Committee of Seventy, the election watchdog group. But thats pretty consistent with other primaries.

This one, however, was different  a high stakes primary, he called it. The balloting ended with Democrats choosing Cherelle Parker to become the citys first Black woman to be the mayoral nominee of a major party.

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In her attempt to become the 100th mayor of a city in which Democrats hold a 7-1 registration advantage, she will run against David Oh, the unopposed Republican nominee.

 READ MORE: Cherelle Parker won the Democratic nomination for mayor

For the most part, the actual voting Tuesday was trouble-free, Christmas said  although some polling-place switches clearly angered and confused some voters.

Not surprisingly, voters interviewed appeared divided among the front-runners in the mayors race  Parker, former City Controller Rebecca Rhynhart and former Councilmembers Allan Domb and Helen Gym.

Among voters primary concerns was public safety. For a third consecutive year, in 2022 Philadelphia experienced historic levels of gun crimes that claimed an unprecedented numbers of lives.

In a pre-election survey, nine out of 10 voters identified crime as the key issue.

Im tired of kids getting killed, said Abdul Raheem, 51, a drug-and-alcohol counselor who was voting in Frankford. He said that he was torn between Domb and Rhynhart, who along with Gym and Parker was vying to become the citys first female mayor.

 READ MORE: For Philly voters, crime was a big reason behind their choices for mayor

Crime is the most important thing that has me scared today, said Stephanie Clark, 62, after voting at the Charles Durham Free Library in Mantua. Im scared to go to the store. You dont know if youre going to get shot.

Clark said she voted for Parker for mayor because she wants to hire more police and because she seems like a very strong, stern woman who stands her ground.

For the $30 million spent and the drama associated with what was at times a contentious campaign, the nominee could end up winning with fewer than 100,000 votes, which would be the lowest total for a mayoral primary victor since at least the 1970s, according to an Inquirer analysis.

 READ MORE: The competitive race likely will mean a low vote total for the winner

As in Philadelphia, the Democratic commissioners race in Montgomery County  the states third-largest and likely to play a major role in the 2024 presidential campaign  drew a crowded field of five candidates.

However at late morning, one of the more-populous precincts in Upper Merion Township wasnt a bad place to get some reading done, as not a single voter was in line. Despite the most beautiful day, said Democratic committee person Joan McAndrew, its very light.

By contrast, turnout was reported brisk in the bankrupt city of Chester, where embattled Mayor Thaddeus Kirkland was confronting a challenge from two rivals.

Elsewhere in Delaware County, in Upper Darby Township, Democrat Heather Boyd won a special election over Republican Katie Ford, assuring that Democrats would retain their one-vote majority in the state House.

 READ MORE: Democrats keep Pa. House majority following Rep. Mike Zabels resignation

However, the Philadelphia mayoral contest was the marquee race, and a big topic of discussion among election workers was the turnout. Based on the unofficial results, it appeared that just under 30% of the citys 770,000 Democrats voted in the primary.

Inside West Philadelphia High School late Tuesday, the after-work rush was absent. Election workers described the day as slow, especially for a high-stakes mayoral election.

The crowd is not what we expected, said Jason Custis, a judge of elections, as he surveyed the mostly empty room. Its been dead.

Conventional wisdom had held that low turnout would benefit Gym and potentially Parker, who both have high-performing wards in their corners.

Ryan Boyer, who leads the laborers union and the Building Trades and Construction Council, had said he was confident Parker would pull it out because her base  Black women over 50  are the most reliable voters in Democratic politics.

We have the best candidate. Our voters are the most reliable, Boyer said. We believe that will show through.

Some voters awoke to learn their polling places had been relocated  in at least one instance, with little official notice. It was unclear if any votes were lost as a result.

We did have a handful of last-minute polling place moves, said Nick Custodio, a spokesperson for the city commissioners.

In North Philadelphia, a late change in polling locations touched off confusion among voters, a rash of finger-pointing, and a brief standoff between poll workers and the city officials charged with overseeing the election.

City attorneys said that poll workers at the 16th Ward, 18th Division unilaterally decided to move voting machines from their designated polling location to a new locale Tuesday morning and threatened to shut down the site when elections officials arrived to move the machines back.

The impasse resulted in an unspecified number of voters either being forced to vote provisionally or being turned away from the polls between 7 a.m. and roughly 12:30 p.m., poll workers and voters said.

With the top candidates clustered in pre-election polling, and turnout likely to have been so-so, even a few lost votes might have been crucial. But Parker evidently won with by a surprisingly robust margin, with incomplete returns showing her defeating second-place finisher Rhynhart by about 10 percentage points.

However, it also appeared that Parkers final total would be below below 100,000, which would be the be the lowest winning raw vote total in a primary since at least the 1970s.

By contrast, W. Wilson Goode, the citys first Black mayor, polled well over 300,000 votes in the 1983 Democratic primary.

One Democrat who did turn out Tuesday in Philadelphia was Nazli Cem, a 33-year-old animator from Turkey who became a citizen two months ago and cast her first vote in the United States, casting a ballot for Gym.

She teared up after she left her polling place in Kensington.

I think voting is very important and it literally changes your life. Its a statement about how you want to live. I dont want the U.S. to become Turkey.

Ryan W. Briggs, Beatrice Forman, Zoe Greenberg, Lynette Hazelton, Jeff Gammage, Kristen A. Graham, Jonathan Lai, Andrew Seidman, Julia Terruso, Sean Collins Walsh, and Aubrey Whelan contributed to this article.
Christy Brady was leading the Democratic primary for city controller. Read more

Christy Brady had a comfortable lead of more than 14 percentage points in the Democratic primary for City Controller with 94% of the vote counted late Wednesday afternoon. Bradys challengers conceded Wednesday, and her primary victory likely cements her role as the next elected controller in a city where registered Democrats outnumber Republicans by 7 to 1 .

Brady, no relation to former congressman and Democratic Party chair Bob Brady, was favored to win and had the backing of the party and two unions representing city government employees as well as several groups representing building trade laborers.

While Brady was up, she wasnt quite ready to claim victory yet. Ive never done this before, she said.

Im very excited, she said. Im thrilled that everyone believed in my abilities and Im grateful for everyone that helped me.

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 READ MORE: Cherelle Parker wins Democratic nomination for mayor

In a statement posted to social media, public health researcher Alexandra Hunt thanked her campaign staff and volunteers, and congratulated Brady on her win.

Hunt, who ran an at times adversarial campaign that attacked a sitting sheriff, still took the time to get a dig in at Brady, though.

Its hard to tell how she will operate as city controller, Hunt wrote, seeing as during her appointment to this role, she spent it suing the City of Philadelphia  in an attempt to keep herself in this office.

In January, after her former boss Rebecca Rhynhart stepped down to run an unsuccessful bid for mayor, Brady sued the city over whether shed have to step down from her post to run a political campaign. Though she was appointed and not elected, a judge ruled that Brady did have to resign.

Hunt came in second place and trailed Brady by more than 14 percentage points.

Reached Wednesday, John Thomas, who trailed Brady by more than 20 percentage points, said he was conceding the race.

Im just going to congratulate her on running a good race, he said on his plans to reach out to Brady.

Thomas worked in the Controllers Office for 12 years, including as a deputy controller, before retiring to operate a construction consulting company.

Brady worked at the Controllers Office for nearly three decades before making her bid to serve as the citys chief financial officer. She rose from an entry-level position to a deputy controller before Mayor Jim Kenney appointed her acting controller in November.

Chet Herbet, Bradys uncle who got Brady her first job in the Controllers Office, said hes confident his niece will do well in the role.

She was very taken to the job, said Herbert, who worked in the office as an accountant for 37 years. I knew shed be very good at it because shes very intelligent, shes very educated, and she wanted to learn.

Cousin Lauren Dana David, Herberts daughter, said Brady is not political.

So its a whole new beginning for Christie, because she was never politically motivated, David said. But she just found herself at the head of the office.

David recounted her connection to Brady, remembering how Brady moved in with their grandparents after graduating from college. Their grandfather was a sprinkler fitter who operated a union contracting company, forging Bradys connection with organized labor.

The elected officials are the ones who make the news, but Brady has an advantage with experience on the ground, her uncle said.

The civil service people are there to do a job, and thats the work Christy was doing, said Herbert. She will do an excellent job.

The labor presence was strong at Bradys election night party. She was endorsed by the Building Trades Council, the AFL-CIO, and both unions representing city employees.

Daniel Bauder, president of the Philadelphia Council AFL-CIO, said an endorsement for Brady was nearly unanimous.

Christy was very impressive with both her background, but also her depth of knowledge about the office, what it does and what it can do, especially to help working people, said Bauder.

David Clavin is the political chair for the Sprinkler Fitters Local 692. Its the power of organized labor, he said of their support for Brady. We get it out.

At her candidacy announcement in February, Brady said she planned to prioritize public safety and government accountability.

She will face Republican Aaron Bashir in Novembers general election.
YEREVAN, MAY 17, ARMENPRESS. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has reiterated at the 4th Council of Europe Summit in Reykjavik, Iceland that sending an international fact-finding mission to Lachin Corridor and Nagorno Karabakh is of high priority and starting Baku-Stepanakert negotiations for ensuring security and human rights to Armenians in Nagorno Karabakh under international mechanisms is of vital importance.

In his speech at the summit, the Armenian PM said that the Council of Europe will promote democracy and stability in the South Caucasus by assisting in addressing these issues.

Below is the transcript of Prime Minister Pashinyans speech:

Thank you very much, ladies and gentlemen,

Based on our own experience, we can say that war is the biggest threat to democracy.

For a long time, the Nagorno Karabakh conflict served as an excuse for the lack of democracy in Armenia. In 2018, our Velvet Revolution provided great democratic developments in Armenia. But in September 2020, Azerbaijan attacked Nagorno Karabakh and Armenia had to get involved in the war. Many still think that the cause of the war was Armenias aspiration for democracy in the region where democracy may be viewed with suspicion. On November 9, 2020, I signed a trilateral ceasefire agreement which became the reason for attacks on state institutions in Armenia. But we were able to maintain the countrys democracy, we decided to conduct early elections to safeguard public accord. On May 12, 2021, two days after mine and National Assemblys resignation came into effect for the purpose of the elections, Azerbaijan invaded the territory of Armenia. If we diverted from our way of democracy, we would have lost our statehood. But we provided internationally recognized free and democratic elections and shaped the agenda of peace. But our agenda of peace was also attacked. In November 2021 and September 2022 Azerbaijan again invaded the territory of Armenia. On October 6, 2022 with support of the French President Macron and President of EU Council Michel, we reached an agreement with the President of Azerbaijan that we normalize our relations on the basis of the 1991 Almaty Declaration, according to which the administrative borders of the former Soviet Armenia and Soviet Azerbaijan would become our state borders. Three days ago, with the mediation of the President of the EU Council Charles Michel, we made a step further, emphasizing that Armenia recognizes Azerbaijans territory of 86,6 thousand square kilometers and Azerbaijan recognizes the territory of Armenia of 29,8 thousand square kilometers. But as a result of the illegal blockade of the Lachin Corridor, the Armenians of Nagorno Karabakh have been under siege for five months and are facing a humanitarian crisis. To send an international fact-finding mission to the Lachin Corridor and Nagorno Karabakh is of high priority today, and to start Baku-Stepanakert negotiations aimed at providing security and human rights for the Armenians in Nagorno Karabakh under the international mechanism is of vital importance. Assisting in addressing these issues, the Council of Europe will promote democracy and stability in the South Caucasus. Thank you.
Rue Landau, former executive director of the Philadelphia Commission on Human Relations and City Council candidate, arrives for traditional election day lunch at Famous 4th Street Deli at S. 4th and Bainbridge in Philadelphia on Tuesday. Read more

Democratic voters nominated the first openly LGBTQ candidate to City Council, a milestone in the communitys decades-long push to gain more visibility in elected office.

Rue Landau  a housing and civil rights lawyer who received the first same-sex marriage certificate in Pennsylvania in 2014  secured one of five nominations for at-large seats on Council, finishing third in the crowded 27-way race.

Weve had LGBTQ Council people serve who did not have the luxury of living an out lifestyle, Landau said Wednesday. It shows that weve come such a long way in such a short time. Weve made history.

Philadelphia has long been at a vanguard of LGBTQ protections, with the community viewed as a politically active and reliable Democratic voting bloc. But Landau, 54, would join only a handful of other openly gay elected officials in the state, and would be the first to hold any local elected office.

The victory also comes amid a national Republican-led assault on constitutional LGBTQ protections, particularly for transgender people, with the Human Rights Campaign tracking more than 460 anti-LGBTQ bills introduced in statehouses nationwide this year.

Were now in scary times where were watching laws get rolled back, were watching books get banned, were watching places from Florida to our own Bucks County passing dont say gay laws, Landau said. Its very important that we in Philadelphia stay loud and proud.

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The Associated Press also declared victory Wednesday for two incumbents in the at-large race, Councilmembers Isaiah Thomas and Katherine Gilmore Richardson, as well as newcomer Nina Ahmad, but the remaining nomination had not been confirmed.

Landaus win also signaled, to her allies, a unifying win for factions of the Democratic party. A string of resignations and retirements created a power vacuum on Council, sparking a proxy war between business interests and progressive groups who viewed the at-large race as a lynchpin to the legislatures ideological balance.

Landau built a coalition between moderate Democrats and the citys most progressive groups, focusing her campaign on issues of affordable housing and reinvestment in city services.

Progressive or moderate, Rue had a message that was, you can be both, and there can be people who want to unify this party, and Im one of those voices, said Mark Segal, the editor of Philadelphia Gay News and a Democratic party ally who helped Landaus campaign. Thats the reason she is where she is right now.

Progress for an LGBTQ bastion

In her victory speech, Landau paid homage to at least two gay Council members who were not out during their political tenure.

John C. Anderson won an at-large seat in 1979 and was floated as a potential candidate for the citys first Black mayor, but his status as a gay man was a well-kept secret. Ethel Allen, a Republican and the first Black woman to serve on Council, beginning in January 1972, would go on to serve in Harrisburg where she lobbied to the state to recognize Gay Pride Month.

In 2013, Rep. Brain Sims (D., Phila.) became the first openly gay lawmaker elected to the state legislature. He was joined by fellow Philadelphia Democrat and state Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta in 2018, the first openly gay lawmaker of color to win a seat.

Kenyatta said that Landaus election to the Democratic ballot for a local office is long overdue and that she works across marginalized communities.

Shes somebody whos worked with people in the most difficult instances in their lives, and shes going to bring a profound understanding and experience, Kenyatta said.

A Cheltenham native, Landau became an activist in the 1990s, advocating for access to health care and housing for both people living with AIDs and homelessness. Her legal career began at Community Legal Services, where she represented low-income tenants facing eviction. Years later, she was appointed to lead the citys Fair Housing Commission and Commission on Human Relations.

Given the citys heavily blue electorate, Landau will likely prevail in the November general election. As likely the first out lawmaker on Council, Landau, who lives in Bella Vista with her wife and son, said it was important that Philadelphia take a regional approach to LGBTQ advocacy, especially amid recent bans on Pride flags at schools in Bucks County.

Philadelphia needs to remain the unwavering bastion for LGTBQ rights, but we need to make sure that we have a strong non-discrimination bill for the entire state, Landau said.

A unifying campaign

Segal approached party chairman Bob Brady last year about endorsing Landau after several failed attempts to get an LGBTQ candidate into local office.

The party in 2015 endorsed its first out candidate in Sherrie Cohen, a former tenants rights lawyer and progressive activist, but Cohen ultimately came in eighth in the primary. (Cohen ran again this year without the partys backing and finished ninth, according to unofficial election returns.)

In Landau, Segal saw a credentialed bridge-builder.

It was time that we had a voice at the table, and that table is City Council, and Rue was someone who had the qualifications and experience, Segal said.

In addition to the Democratic City Committee, Landau won endorsements from the progressive Working Families Party, a swath of labor unions, prominent elected officials and social justice groups.

Were a very diverse city, with competing needs in different areas, and weve got to tackle our biggest problems together, Landau said.

Some said the Democratic party still has progress to make in supporting non-white, non-cisgender candidates who exist more on margins of the LGBTQ community and have struggled to gain viability within the party.

Rue is a great first, but she cannot be the last candidate that gets into office, said Michael Galvan, a Latinx Democratic committeeperson who launched a short-lived bid for the Council at-large race. The queer community is diverse. Its activists, people of color, people experiencing homelessness  and the Philadelphia thats been built has not been built with them in mind.
Cherelle Parker arrives to a get-out-the-vote rally at the Carpenters Benefits Hall on Saturday. She won the Democratic primary for mayor Tuesday. Read more

Philadelphia Democrats on Tuesday nominated former City Councilmember Cherelle L. Parker for mayor, making a political insider who ran on a tough-on-crime platform the odds-on favorite to helm the city.

She came out on top of a crowded field of nine Democrats seeking the nomination, and polls late in the race showed as many as five top contenders had paths to victory. In November, she will face Republican David Oh, also a former Council member, in the general election.

Parker, 50, is heavily favored to win, given Democrats hold a large voter-registration advantage in the city and a Republican hasnt held the Mayors Office in more than 70 years. She would be the first woman to ever serve as Philadelphia mayor.

Heres what to know about Parker:

Who is Cherelle Parker?

A single mother and a native of West Oak Lane, Parker lost much of her family at a young age and started interning for legendary former Councilmember Marian B. Tasco when she was in high school. She attended Lincoln University, where she obtained a degree in English education, and she got a masters degree in public administration from the University of Pennsylvania. After obtaining her undergraduate degree, Parker worked in New Jersey as a high school English teacher and English-as-a-second-language teacher. But she returned to City Hall, working as a staffer and rising through the ranks in Tascos office. A protege of one of Philadelphias most powerful politicians, Parker then spent most of the remainder of her career in government. In 2005, she was elected to the state House, representing Northwest Philadelphias 200th district, and served for a decade. She was the youngest Black woman ever elected to the state House, and in 2011, she was elected chair of the Philadelphia delegation in the House. In 2016, she was elected to Council, succeeding Tasco to serve Philadelphias 9th District. In 2019, she became Councils Democratic majority leader.

Cherelle Parkers key policy positions

Parker is a political moderate who on the campaign trail often emphasized her time in the state House working with Republicans to advance her agenda, but her ideology doesnt fit so neatly onto the usual left-right spectrum.

She has clearly rejected new progressive ideals, often insinuating that the Democratic Partys left wing is out-of-touch with what Black Philadelphians want, saying they engage in I-know-whats-best-for-you-people policymaking. For example, Parker said routinely that she strongly opposes establishing a supervised-injection site in Philadelphia, saying, Nobody was talking about a safe crack house in our community back in the 80s and the 90s.

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On crime:

She ran on a tough-on-crime platform, pledging to hire 300 new cops for her signature policing plan, and she has embraced law enforcements use of the tactic known as stop-and-frisk. But Parker has described her policing model as community-oriented, with more police walking in neighborhoods and developing relationships with residents and small-business owners.

And she has been careful to say that she only supports constitutional stop-and-frisk  often referred to by police as pedestrian stops  a legally authorized method in which police can stop and pat down a person for such things as guns and drugs. Parker has been vocal for years about police misconduct and what she has said are needed reforms.

On economics:

Parker has also pitched herself as a champion of Philadelphias middle neighborhoods, those that are neither wealthy nor mired in deep poverty, and believes strong government intervention is needed to provide opportunities for working families.

She talked often on the campaign trail about creating pathways to the middle class, and emphasized the importance of homeownership to creating generational wealth. Parker also unveiled a plan to created thousands of new units of affordable housing.

On education:

Parkers education plan includes year-round school, and keeping all school buildings open longer hours in order to provide robust extracurricular opportunities. Achieving that could be an expensive endeavor, given many Philadelphia school buildings are not well equipped to operate through summer heat.

Parker also wants high schools to offer sports, college courses, apprenticeships, and career training with city departments and private businesses.

She wants to shift the districts share of the citys property tax revenue, so it receives 58% as opposed to its current 55%, which would amount to an increase of about $50 million annually, she said.

How Cherelle Parker won the nomination

Parkers victory was powered by Black voters and residents of the poor and low-income neighborhoods hardest hit by the citys gun violence crisis, according to an Inquirer analysis. The only Black candidate among the top contenders, Parker has been clear that Black voters made up the core of her base.

In addition, Parker, a consummate political insider, was backed by a number of political power centers that undoubtedly played a large role in her win. While the Democratic City Committee didnt make an endorsement in the mayors race, chair Bob Brady embraced Parker and more than 40 of the citys 69 ward leaders backed her.

Her top labor endorsements included:

Her top endorsements from elected officials included:

Both congressmen from Philadelphia: U.S. Rep. Dwight Evans and U.S. Rep. Brendan Boyle City Council President Darrell L. Clarke, Council Majority Leader Curtis Jones Jr., and Council Democratic Whip Mark Squilla Former mayoral candidates Derek Green and Maria Quinones Sanchez Top Democrats in Harrisburg, including state Sen. Sharif Street, chair of the state Democratic Party, and state Sen. Vincent Hughes, a longtime West Philadelphia lawmaker who himself considered running for mayor While he didnt call it an endorsement, Mayor Jim Kenney said he voted for Parker

What happens next

Parker was hospitalized Tuesday night at the University of Pennsylvania for a dental emergency. Campaign spokesperson Aren Platt said in an emailed statement after midnight that she had a recent dental issue that required immediate medical attention.

Campaigning will ramp up again later this summer ahead of the November general election, when Parker will face Oh. The new mayor will take office in January, along with a handful of new City Council members.

Inquirer staff writers Julia Terruso, Kristen Graham, and Aseem Shukla contributed reporting.
Supreme Court of Pennsylvania chamber at the Capitol in Harrisburg. Read more

HARRISBURG  Dan McCaffery has won the Democratic primary in Pennsylvania for a vacant seat on the state Supreme Court, which is playing a prominent role in settling disputes over voting rights, abortion rights and gun rights in the presidential battleground.

McCaffery defeated Deborah Kunselman in the two-way race. Both currently sit on the state Superior Court, a statewide appellate body that handles appeals from county courts in criminal and civil cases.

McCaffery will face the winner of the Republican primary for the seat in the November general election.

Competing on the Republican ticket are Carolyn Carluccio, a Montgomery County judge, and Patricia McCullough, a judge on the Commonwealth Court, a statewide appellate court that handles cases involving government agencies or challenges to state laws.

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On the campaign trail, McCullough has repeatedly boasted of being the only judge in 2020 in the presidential election in the entire country to order a halt to her states election certification.

McCullough was ruling in a Republican-backed post-election legal challenge that sought to throw out 2.5 million mail-in ballots  most cast by Democrats  and tilt victory to Donald Trump in the presidential battleground state. The states high court quickly overturned McCulloughs order.

McCullough, of Allegheny County, also ran for state Supreme Court in 2021 and lost in the primary. The state party is endorsing Carluccio and party allies have reported spending nearly $1 million to help her beat McCullough.

Democrats currently hold a 4-2 majority on the court, which has an open seat following the death last fall of Chief Justice Max Baer, a Democrat.

The court has handled a number of hot-button issues over the past few years.

It is currently examining a challenge to a state law that restricts the use of public funds to help women get an abortion as well as Philadelphias challenge to a state law that bars it and other municipalities from restricting the sale and possession of guns.

In recent years, the justices rejected a request to invalidate the states death penalty law and upheld the constitutionality of the states expansive mail-in voting law. The court also turned away challenges to the 2020 election result from Republicans who wanted to keep former President Donald Trump in power, and ruled on a variety of lawsuits over gray areas in the mail-in voting law.

In one 2020 election case, justices ordered counties to count mail-in ballots that arrived up to three days after polls closed, citing delays in mail service caused by disruptions during the COVID-19 pandemic. The ruling spurred an outcry among Republicans, who challenged the decision in the U.S. Supreme Court.

The nations highest court ultimately declined to take the case. The ballots  nearly 10,000 of them  were never counted in any federal race, including for president, because the election was certified while their fate remained in legal limbo. State elections officials said the votes werent enough to change the results of a federal election.

In lower court races, Republican Megan Martin won a two-way primary for an open seat on Commonwealth Court.
Lukich said it took his wife about 10 minutes to send in a claim online after a minor accident. She was also able to select and book a repairer online. The whole process, from claim to finished repair, took days. The speed had nothing to do with being a loyal customer  shed only signed up with this insurer about a year ago.
In that spirit, Im also moving on, recognising the need for APRA to renew its leadership in the same way we demand of the entities we supervise, she said. It has been a privilege to play a role in influencing practices and outcomes across the financial sector over the last 21 years. While it will be hard to say goodbye to APRA and a role that I have loved, I am very much looking forward to this next chapter of my career.
YEREVAN, MAY 17, ARMENPRESS. Police received a report on May 17 that an attempted kidnapping targeting Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyans son Ashot Pashinyan took place on Wednesday, a police spokesperson confirmed to ARMENPRESS.

The police have received a report with that content. The documents will be sent to the Investigative Committee, a police spokesperson told ARMENPRESS when asked to validate the newspaper reports.

The Armenian Times newspaper reported that Ashot Pashinyan suffered injuries in the attempted kidnapping.

The attempted kidnapping happened near Ashot Pashinyans residence in Yerevan, according to the report.

Ashot Pashinyan managed to escape.

According to the report, the kidnappers were members of an NGO called Call of Sons. They reportedly forced Ashot Pashinyan into their vehicle and drove off. At one point, when the vehicle stopped, the PMs son jumped out of the vehicle and was hit by a car which was travelling behind, also belonging to members of the same organization.
Zurich has a proud history of working closely with the ICA, he said. As the only major composite  life and general  insurer in the market, Zurich is in a unique position to understand the needs and issues affecting both individuals and businesses across the country. I look forward to sharing Zurichs perspectives as we work together to shape positive outcomes for consumers, communities, and members.
What it would do is open up the floor, equip leaders with the understanding and knowledge they need, and encourage people undergoing what can be an uncomfortable time to seek support and assistance when needed and not feel like they have to go it alone. Its also an opportunity for those women who do see benefits in the change  from enhanced focus on other areas of life to increased confidence  to enjoy and share these with pride and raise others up. That can only be a good thing.
We remain optimistic and excited about our future, the CEO said. As we have continued to grow and evolve into a truly international specialist insurer, we remain focused on consistent, disciplined execution of our strategy so that we continue our track record of generating long-term shareholder value through excellence in underwriting.
The plaintiff has to be considered, absolutely, but theres a company there and maybe there are some bad actors within that company, but theres probably a whole lot of employees relying on that company to feed their families and everything else that may be adversely impacted by this as well, said Representative Dan Ugaste during a House Judiciary Committee hearing on Tuesday.
Insurance Business America wants to understand what brokers consider to be essential aspects of a network and discover which networks are rising above the rest. We also want to know what may be holding you back from joining a network, an alliance, or a similar group.
If an insurer or licensed insurance agent uses unfair or deceptive business practices to sell to their clients not only is it unethical but its also against the law. When individuals or insurance businesses profit unfairly off of their clients, they violate the Unfair Trade Practices Act and could face legal consequences.

What is the Unfair Trade Practices Act?

First created in the 1940s by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC), the Unfair Trade Practices Act is model legislation that helps protect consumers from unethical business practices. While its been updated since, the purpose of the act remains the same  to prohibit businesses from using deceptive and unfair means to make a profit when they sell insurance policies.

What makes a business practice unfair or deceptive?

While unfair is in the name, the Unfair Trade Practice Act outlines business practices that are either unfair, deceptive, or both. But what makes a practice unfair or deceptive? In general, unfair practices are any that cause, or are likely to cause, injury to a customer. For a trade practice to be unfair its detriment cant be outweighed by equal benefit to the consumer.

A deceptive trade practice is one that misleads, or is likely to mislead, a consumer. If an insurer is distributing false information about a policy to their clients, its performing a deceptive trade practice. Unfair and deceptive trade practices usually benefit the business or individual performing them while harming the customer.

Why do we need the Unfair Trade Practices Act?

The Unfair Trade Practices Act protects insurance consumers from being taken advantage of by insurers or insurance agents acting in bad faith. Insurance is a for-profit business, and like other money-making ventures, can lead to the temptation to push boundaries. While a majority of insurance professionals are morally sound, some may be tempted to deny claims or misrepresent the terms of a policy in an attempt to save money or earn a higher profit.

Like in any business, its in consumers best interest to make informed decisions about their insurance purchase. When insurance companies or agents lie, deceive, or otherwise misrepresent their products or services, they mislead their customers and could negatively influence their clients decision making.

State by state guidelines

While the Unfair Trade Practices Act outlines 15 specific prohibited practices, any state that adopts it can still amend and tweak the legislation to better meet their own needs. Relying only on the NAIC model regulations and failing to adhere to state-specific rules (even unknowingly) can mean trouble for insurers, agencies, and agents. To avoid opening themselves up to regulatory action, insurance professionals and industry organizations should always double check their state-specific requirements when managing unfair trade practice compliance.

What are examples of unfair trade practices in insurance?

The Unfair Trade Practices act states that any of the following practices are to be deemed unfair if they are (1) committed flagrantly and in conscious disregard of the act or any rules under it and (2) committed with such frequency to indicate a general business practice to engage in that type of contact.

Unfair trade practices as outlined by the NAIC include:

Misrepresentations and false advertising of policies False information and advertising generally Defamation Boycott, coercion, and intimidation False statements and entries Stock operations and advisory board contracts Unfair discrimination Rebates Prohibited group enrollments Failure to maintain marketing and performance records Failure to maintain complaint handling procedures Misrepresentation in insurance applications Unfair financial planning practices Failure to file or to certify information regarding the endorsement or sale of long-term care insurance Failure to provide claims history Violating any other sections of the states insurance laws regarding unfair practices

In the interest of time, well explore just two unfair trade practices in more detail, misrepresentations and false advertising of policies and rebates.

1. Misrepresentation and false advertising of policies

The misrepresentation or false advertising of any aspect of an insurance policy is considered an unfair trade practice. Overstating the benefits, advantages, conditions, or terms of a policy could cause a client to purchase coverage that leaves them underinsured.

For example, say an agent informs a client that the homeowners policy theyre considering includes flood coverage at no additional charge when, in reality, it doesnt. Heavy rains cause the clients house to flood, resulting in thousands of dollars in damages, but the client isnt too worried about the cost because they think their insurance policy will cover it.

Whether intentional or not, the producer who sold the client the homeowners policy has engaged in an unfair trade practice. Because the producer was not honest about the benefits of the policy, the client now faces paying the damages out of pocket.

2. Rebates

In insurance, rebating refers to the act of returning a portion of the producers commision to the insured in order to encourage a sale. Consumers are reeled in by these deals (who doesnt want to save some money?) and could be influenced into purchasing coverage they dont actually need or that isnt in their best interest.

Rebating is a good example of why its important to always check your state-specific regulations. While the Unfair Trade Practices Act includes anti-rebating provisions, California and Florida have slightly different rules. Even when states allow it, insurance carriers still have the final say in what theyll allow in their contracts, and they often dont allow rebating even if a state does.

What is the cost of noncompliance in insurance?

Failure to comply with the legislation laid out in the Unfair Trade Practices Act as well as state-specific regulations is against the law. The state insurance commissioner has the power to investigate any insurer or insurance agency/agent to determine whether they have engaged in unfair trade practices.

If the commissioner finds an insurer or agency guilty of engaging in unfair trade practices, the violator could be fined up to $1000 per violation (and up to $25,000 per violation for acts committed in conscious disregard) or even have their license suspended. Both consequences of which could negatively affect a producer or agencys reputation and growth potential.

Noncompliance can be expensive but you can reduce our risk of facing these costs by investing in modern insurance infrastructure. See how AgentSync helps insurance carriers, agencies, and MGAs/MGUs streamline compliance so you can focus on growth.
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A wrongful death suit has been filed on behalf of victims relatives, survivors and others affected by the 2022 racially-motivated shooting at Tops Friendly Markets in Buffalo where 10 people were killed, all of them Black, and three people were injured.

The suit was filed in the New York Supreme Court, Erie County, against social media platforms, gunmakers and the shooters parents. The complaint focuses on the role of social media, alleging that the shooter, Payton Gendron, was radicalized by the algorithms driving the social media products he used, which fed him increasingly racist, antisemitic, and violence-inducing content.

These addictive algorithms, in turn, maximized his engagement with the platforms and the corresponding advertising revenue to the companies, according to the suit.

The suit was filed by the advocacy organizations Social Media Victims Law Center and Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence along with three activist attorneys, John V. Elmore, Kristen Elmore-Garcia and Matthew P. Bergman.

Buffalo Shooting Survivors Weigh Suing Parents, Social Media, Gunmaker

Those named in the lawsuit are Meta Platforms (formerly Facebook); Snap; Alphabet, Googles parent company; Discord; Reddit; Amazon.com, which operates the Twitch live streaming service; RMA Armament, an Iowa-based body armor manufacturer; Vintage Firearms, a retail gun store located in Endicott, New York; Mean Arms LLC, a manufacturer in Woodstock, Georgia that sells the MEAN MA Lock; and Paul and Pamela Gendron, Gendrons parents.

The complaint includes wrongful death and personal injury counts against all defendants. The counts against the social media platforms include product liability for allegedly defectively designed products, negligence, failure to warn, unjust enrichment, and intentional infliction of emotional distress. Against the firearms firms, the counts are for alleged violations of New York gun laws and negligence; and against the parents, negligent entrustment.

Gendron was motivated to commit his heinous crime by racist, antisemitic, and white supremacist propaganda fed to him by social media companies, said Bergman, founding attorney of the Social Media Victims Law Center, which represents users harmed by social media, These posts led him down a rabbit hole of increasingly radical sites, where he was indoctrinated in white supremacist replacement theory and violent accelerationism.

The plaintiffs maintain that the shooting was not an accident or coincidence, but rather the foreseeable result of social media companies intentional decision to maximize user engagement over public safety.

Gendron was not raised by a racist family, did not live in a radically polarized community, and had no personal history of negative interactions with Black people, the complaint states. Rather, Gendron was motivated to commit his heinous crime by racist, antisemitic, and white supremacist propaganda recommended and fed to him by the social media companies whose products he used.

According to the complaint, Gendron explicitly acknowledged that the racist, antisemitic, and violence- promoting material he encountered on social media caused his radicalization, motivated him to commit racial violence and provided the training, equipment, and expertise to plan and implement the massacre. The complaint quotes these words of Gendrons attorney: The racist hate that motivated this crime was spread through on-line platforms

Unlike other attempts to hold social media firms liable for shootings or terrorist acts, these plaintiffs say they are not seeking to hold the social media defendants liable as the publisher of any content provided, posted, or created by third parties. Rather, they seek to hold them accountable for their own acts and omissions.

Parents Role

Regarding the parents, the suit alleges that prior to the Tops shooting, Paytons parents were aware, among other things about their son, that he had multiple firearms including a semi-automatic rifle; had posted online that he planned to commit murder suicide; had undergone a psychiatric examination; and had killed and dismembered a cat.

Given those facts, it was reasonably foreseeable that Payton Gendron posed a significant danger to others and was contemplating an act of gun violence, the complaint alleges. However, the parents took no steps to follow up on their sons violent behavior, remove his access to firearms, take away his body armor, seek a second mental health evaluation, or alert law enforcement or mental health professionals.

Massacre Planning

Gendron, a white male who was 18 at the time of the attack, drove more than 200 miles to carry out his murderous rampage that specifically targeted Black people, according to the complaint. The plaintiffs argue that teenagers are particularly susceptible to social media addiction and online radicalization.

The filing describes how Gendron chronicled the progress of his plan on Discord in the months leading up to the attack.

According to the lawsuit, Gendron livestreamed his murderous rampage on Twitch, hoping to inspire future acts of mass violence. The ability to livestream his attack was a major factor in convincing Gendron to go forward with the massacre, the lawsuit says. The livestream in real-time, video of the massacre was subsequently re-posted on other online platforms, including 4chan, kiwifarms.net, Facebook, and Reddit, along with many other social media platforms.

Attorney John V. Elmore, who has served as New York State Assistant Attorney General and as a State Trooper, said that while Gendron has pled guilty to these murders and is no longer a danger to society, the social media platforms that radicalized him, and the companies that armed him, must still be held accountable for their actions.

Our goal, on behalf of our clients, is to make this community and our nation safer and prevent other mass shootings, Elmore said.

Attorney General Report

The complaint comes after the release last October of a report by state Attorney General Letitia James on the role of online platforms in the Buffalo mass shooting. The report concluded that fringe online platforms, like 4chan, radicalized the shooter; livestreaming platforms, like Twitch, were weaponized to publicize and encourage copycat violent attacks; and a lack of oversight, transparency, and accountability of these platforms allowed hateful and extremist views to proliferate online, leading to radicalization and violence.

The attorney general reviewed thousands of pages of documents and social media content to examine how the alleged shooter used online platforms to plan, prepare, and publicize his attack. Her office obtained external and internal content and policies of several of the online platforms used by the shooter.

The city of Buffalo has filed a lawsuit accusing major gun manufacturers of fueling violence through irresponsible marketing and sales practices. Defendants in the lawsuit include Smith & Wesson Brands Inc., Beretta USA Corp, Bushmaster Firearms Industries Inc, Colts Manufacturing Co. LLC and Glock Inc. The city is seeking an unspecified money award to combat gun violence.

The attorney general is suing the Georgia-based Mean Arms for selling a gun lock that can be easily removed to attach high-capacity magazines, which are illegal in the state. Gendron carried out his attack with a semiautomatic rifle he purchased legally, but then modified it so he could load it with illegal high- capacity ammunition magazines

Topics Lawsuits New York
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Delawares Supreme Court on Monday overturned a judges ruling upholding a decision by state officials to prohibit electric vehicle maker Tesla from selling its cars directly to customers.

In a ruling last year, a Superior Court judge determined that Delawares Motor Vehicle Franchising Practices Act prohibited Tesla, as a manufacturer, from selling its electric cars directly to customers in Delaware.

The Supreme Court reversed that decision and sent the case back to Superior Court, noting that the franchise act was enacted to address the disparity in bargaining power that permitted automobile manufacturers to exert economic pressure over their franchises. The justices said the laws definitions exclude Tesla because the company sells its vehicles directly to consumers without using independent franchise dealers.

It bears repeating that the Franchise Act regulates the business relationship between a manufacturer and a dealer, wrote Chief Justice Collins Seitz Jr., adding that nothing in the law or its legislative history supports DMVs interpretation that the Franchise Act is intended to prohibit the direct sales model.

The court ruling noted that Tesla has fought similar battles in several other states.

Tesla filed an application with the Delaware DMV for a dealer license in 2019. The DMV subsequently permitted Tesla to open a new car gallery in a shopping mall. The gallery allows customers to view Tesla vehicles, but Tesla cannot sell its cars from an in-state store.

Tesla submitted a second application for a dealer license in 2020. The DMVs Chief of Compliance and Investigation denied it, noting that Delawares Licensing Act for automobile dealers requires that an applicant comply with state law before an application can be granted. The DMV official said Teslas application did not comply with the law because the Franchise Act prohibits a vehicle manufacturer from directly or indirectly owning an interest in a dealership or from acting as a dealer. Despite determining that Tesla and its direct-to-consumer sales model did not meet the definition of a new motor vehicle dealer under the franchise law, the official concluded that Tesla was still a manufacturer under the law.

An administrative hearing officer later agreed that, as a manufacturer, Tesla could not sell new vehicles directly to Delaware consumers.

Tesla then appealed to the Superior Court, where it lost again. The judge ruled against Tesla even though he agreed that its business model was likely not contemplated by the franchise law. He also found that a Tesla cannot be defined as a new motor vehicle because that term applies to a vehicle that has been sold to a dealer. The judge also concluded that Tesla is not a new motor vehicle dealer because it does not enter into franchise agreements with third parties.

When the definitions are read together, a manufacturer under the Franchise Act manufactures or assembles new motor vehicles that have been sold to a new motor vehicle dealer,' Seitz wrote.  Teslas electric cars will not be sold to a dealer that holds a valid sales contract by Tesla, and therefore it is not a manufacturer.'

Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

Copyright 2023 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Legislation Tesla
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A day after New Hampshire legislators rejected the latest attempt to legalize recreational marijuana in the state, Gov. Chris Sununu  a potential Republican presidential candidate  proposed a path forward that is similar to how the state controls liquor sales.

In the past, I said now is not the time to legalize marijuana in New Hampshire, Sununu said in a statement.

New Hampshire is the only state in New England that makes it a crime to smoke pot recreationally.

Knowing that a majority of our residents support legalization, it is reasonable to assume change is inevitable, Sununu said. To ignore this reality would be shortsighted and harmful. That is why, with the right policy and framework in place, I stand ready to sign a legalization bill that puts the state of New Hampshire in the drivers seat, focusing on harm reduction  not profits.

He proposed that the state regulate recreational marijuana in the same way it controls the sale of wine and spirits. Sununu said that this path helps to keep substances away from kids by ensuring the state of New Hampshire retains control of marketing, sales, and distribution  eliminating any need for additional taxes.

Sununu suggested that the goal could be accomplished this legislative session by amending a current bill. Legislative leaders did not immediately comment on his proposal.

The bill that was defeated in the state Senate last Thursday was not the right path for our state, Sununu said. It would have included a 12.5% tax levied at the cultivation level.

As part of his plan, Sununu said New Hampshire must avoid marijuana miles, or marijuana shops densely concentrated within one city or town. Any city or town that wants to ban shops should be free to do so, he said.

Sununu said marijuana and other drugs on the black market are being laced with fentanyl, posing significant risks. By regulating the sale of marijuana in New Hampshire, the state will ensure our citizens are in a safer place, he said.

Though several bipartisan bills in support of legalizing marijuana have cleared the House in recent years, the Senate has blocked them. Following Thursdays vote, Republican Senate President Jeb Bradley said the time isnt right to legalize marijuana, as the state combats a drug addiction and overdose crisis.

House Democratic Leader Matt Wilhelm said the push to legalize marijuana has strong support in New Hampshire and while he appreciates Sununus willingness to engage with legislation, the move is a day late and a dollar short.

The policy framework proposed by Governor Sununu today is significantly different than what has been debated in the House and Senate over the past four months, Wilhelm said in a statement. Despite Sununus sudden, calculated desire to raise his national profile on a popular issue, we will continue approaching cannabis legalization through the methodical, thought-out way that Granite Staters deserve.

After facing intense pressure to run for U.S. Senate, Sununu shocked the political establishment by seeking reelection last year, instead. But he hasnt ruled out a run for higher office, including president, and has been building and maintaining a high profile nationally.

Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

Copyright 2023 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Cannabis
Specialist Risk Group (SRG), the London-based insurance broker, has acquired TLO Risk Services, the professional risk specialist broker, which will play an integral role in the development of SRGs professional lines capability.

Financial details of the deal were not disclosed.

Specializing primarily in the legal sector, London-headquartered TLO provides insurance solutions to a wide range of firms and individuals that provide professional advisory services. These include barristers, law firms, arbitrators and mediators, as well as accountants, investment agents, surveyors and estate trustees.

The team at TLO has deep expertise of the professional indemnity market, which is underpinned by its highly respected contract and claims support, said SRG, noting that this means that TLO can provide tailored insurance solutions to firms of all sizes.

The acquisition of TLO enhances SRGs professional lines offering and expands its capabilities to cater to the insurance needs of firms across a range of sectors. TLO will sit within SRGs growing retail division, Specialist Risk Insurance Solutions (SRIS). Led by Oliver Thorne, SRIS is seeking to double in size over the next three years by pursuing an exciting acquisition and organic growth strategy.

I am thrilled that TLO is joining Specialist Risk Group. This is another key step in the development of our professional lines offering, commented Warren Downey, CEO of SRG Group.

The TLO team has a great reputation in the market, bring new technical skills, and add significant expertise to our group. As we got to know Vernon, Duncan, and Michael during the acquisition process, it became clear that they would be a perfect cultural fit at SRG, and I look forward to working together on the next stage of our journey, Downey added.

I take great pride in the team and capability that we have built at TLO and am looking forward to our next chapter as part of Specialist Risk Group. We quickly recognised how aligned both our businesses were from a people and culture perspective. SRGs commitment to investing in its people, training and being the home of specialists will be a big plus for our ambitious team moving forward, said Vernon Taylor, TLO director.

Source: Specialist Risk Group

Topics Mergers & Acquisitions Agencies
YEREVAN, MAY 17, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has met with the President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe Tiny Kox during the 4th Council of Europe Summit in Rejkjavik, Iceland.

Pashinyan and Kox discussed the course of the ongoing democratic reforms in Armenia and the planned programs in this direction, the Prime Ministers Office said in a readout.

PM Pashinyan said that strengthening democracy is a strategy for the Armenian government and that Armenia will consistently move forward on this path. Kox welcomed the policy and proactivity of the Armenian government in this direction.

Issues related to the humanitarian crisis in Nagorno Karabakh resulting from the illegal blockade of the Lachin Corridor by Azerbaijan were also discussed.

Pashinyan then held a brief meeting with the Prime Minister of Luxembourg Xavier Bettel.
British car plants will close with the loss of thousands of jobs unless the Brexit deal is swiftly renegotiated, Stellantis has warned, as Ford added its voice to the latest warning from the auto industry since Britain left the European Union.

Stellantis, the worlds No. 3 carmaker by sales and owner of 14 brands including Vauxhall, Peugeot, Citroen and Fiat told lawmakers that under the current deal it would face tariffs when exporting electric vans to Europe from next year, when tougher post-Brexit rules come into force.

Stellantis wants the government and the European Union to extend current rules on the sourcing of parts until 2027 instead of a planned change in 2024  a request that was echoed by the lobbying body for the European car trade and Ford.

Britain said it was in talks with Brussels.

We hope to be able to come to a resolution with the EU on this, Prime Minister Rishi Sunaks spokesman told reporters on Wednesday.

Auto manufacturers say that as well as renegotiating tariffs, Britain needs to attract more battery production to secure the future of its car industry.

British finance minister Jeremy Hunt hinted there would soon be a development on that front.

Watch this space, because we are very focused on making sure that the UK gets EV and manufacturing capacity, he told an event on Wednesday.

EXISTENTIAL CRISIS

Ford on Wednesday issued a separate statement calling for the extension to 2027. It said tariffs next year would risk slowing the transition to electric cars.

Tariffs will hit both UK- and EU-based manufacturers, so it is vital that the UK and EU come to the table to agree a solution, the U.S. car maker said.

The potentially existential problem facing Britains car industry is closely tied to the shift to EVs.

Under the trade deal agreed when Britain left the bloc, 45% of the value of an EV being sold in the European Union must come from Britain or the EU from 2024 to avoid tariffs.

The problem is that a battery pack can account for up to half a new EVs cost. Batteries are also heavy and expensive to move long distances.

Experts have been warning since Britain left the EU at the end of 2020 that without a number of EV battery gigafactories the country could lose a hefty chunk of its car industry.

Only Japans Nissan 7201.T has a small EV battery plant in Sunderland, with a second one on the way.

Britishvolt, a startup which received UK government support for an ambitious 3.8 billion pound ($4.80 billion) battery plant at a site in northern England, filed for administration in January after struggling to raise funds.

The company was then bought by Australias Recharge Industries, which has yet to unveil plans for the site.

Andy Palmer, former Nissan chief operating officer, told BBC radio that urgent action was required.

The cost of failure is very clear. Its 800,000 jobs in the UK, which is basically those jobs associated with the car industry, said Palmer, who is also chairman of European battery manufacturer InoBat.

If you dont have a battery capability in the UK, then those car manufacturers will move to mainland Europe.

Europes car trade body, ACEA, agreed with Stellantis and called on the European Commission to extend the phase-in period, saying the supply chain was simply not ready yet.

Britains Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders said in a submission to parliament that current manufacturing capability in the EU and Britain would not allow the sector to meet the requirements for batteries and battery parts.

The warnings come as carmakers globally are selecting sites to build new battery gigafactories.

Last week the chief financial officer of Tata Motors TAMO.NS, owner of Jaguar Land Rover, said it had not decided on a location for a new battery plant but advanced talks were underway.

Reuters reported in February that Tata was considering building an EV battery plant in Spain or Britain.

Stellantis announced a 100 million pound ($126 million) EV investment in its Ellesmere Port site in 2021. It said in the submission it had believed then that it could create enough parts in Britain or Europe to meet the post-Brexit rules, but is now unable to do so.

($1 = 0.7923 pounds)

Topics Auto Europe Uk
An Illinois bill allowing punitive damages in wrongful death cases will increase already high litigation costs, the American Property Casualty Insurance Association and the Illinois Insurance Association say.

The groups issued the following statement in response to HB 219, addressing punitive damages in wrongful death cases:

As the Illinois Legislature nears adjournment, HB 219, which allows punitive damages in wrongful death cases is being fast tracked. This legislation would likely increase claims, litigation, jury verdicts, and settlements costs. It would have a detrimental impact on Illinois civil defendants, consumers, businesses, health care providers, and insurers.

The groups say that passing the bill would reverse current law, which prohibits insurers from paying punitive damages, and it would make Illinois an outlier in terms of allowable damages for wrongful death cases, as nearly all states that do allow for punitive damages also cap punitive and non-economic damages, which Illinois does not.

Increasing the available damages in this manner will almost certainly result in an increase in claims and lawsuit filings, and will drive up the costs of defense, settlement and claims administration, the groups argue. A policy shift of this significance, expanding wrongful death recovery to allow for punitive damages, would likely have a detrimental impact on Illinois civil defendants, consumers, businesses, health care providers, and insurers due to increased claims, litigation, jury verdicts, and settlements. This would significantly increase insured losses, placing upward pressure on premiums.

Topics Illinois
One of Wisconsins largest dairy operations has reached a settlement with state environmental regulators to that calls for the company to eventually stop spreading liquid manure in exchange for avoiding groundwater monitoring requirements.

The deal puts an end to a lawsuit that Kinnard Farms filed against the state Department of Natural Resources last year. Court documents show the settlement into effect Saturday. Kinnard Farms officials said the agreement was reached last month.

The Kinnard operation includes 16 industrial farms with about 8,000 cows. It has struggled with agricultural pollution for years as contaminants seeped into private wells. Kewaunee County has relatively shallow soil that does a poor job filtering water, making the area especially susceptible to groundwater contamination.

The operation filed a lawsuit in April 2022 after the DNR modified the companys wastewater permit. The revisions called for the operation to limit the size of its herd to 11,369 cows and begin monitoring groundwater in areas contaminated with nitrate from manure spreading. Kinnard Farms officials argued that the business would suffer if they cant expand their herd and groundwater monitoring would cost tens of thousands of dollars.

Under the settlement, the DNR will impose groundwater monitoring requirements after four years if Kinnard Farms spreads untreated manure.

Under the settlement, Kinnard Farms plans to stop spreading liquid manure within four years. If Kinnard cant meet that requirement, the DNR can impose groundwater monitoring requirements on fields that receive liquid manure.

The deal also sets out deadlines for Kinnard to install state-of-the-art technology to treat the manure to remove pathogens. If they fail to meet the deadlines, the DNR can immediately impose groundwater monitoring requirements. Kinnard will have to submit semi-annual progress reports on its efforts.

The settlement doesnt address herd limitations. Kinnard withdrew its challenge to the limitation but the issue could come up again when Kinnard seeks permit renewal.

In facilitating this settlement, the DNR deserves credit for recognizing the potential of the technology, the value of providing flexibility within a regulatory framework and the usefulness of collaboration, Kinnard Farms owner Lee Kinnard said in a statement.

DNR spokesperson Katie Grant didnt immediately respond to an email seeking comment.

Six Kewaunee County residents represented by environmental law firm Midwest Environmental Advocates joined the lawsuit in opposition to Kinnard Farms. The firms senior attorney, Dan Gustafson, said the settlement will help focus attention on the public health risks that large dairy operations pose in areas that are susceptible to groundwater and surface water pollution.

Copyright 2023 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Lawsuits Agribusiness Wisconsin
A group of families won a key court victory in an effort to pin some responsibility on a Michigan school district for a shooting that left four students dead and seven others wounded in 2021.

The families can pursue claims that the Oxford district pushed Ethan Crumbley closer to violent action when officials threatened to contact child-welfare authorities unless his parents quickly put the teenager into counseling, a federal judge said.

The allegations are sufficient to withstand dismissal, though they would still need to be developed through deposition interviews and other evidence, said U.S. District Judge Mark Goldsmith, who dismissed other portions of the lawsuit.

The lawsuit alleging civil rights violations by the Oxford district is at an early stage. A similar but separate lawsuit in state court was dismissed in March based on governmental immunity.

Were one step closer to holding (Oxford) and its employees accountable and proving in court they could have prevented this nightmare, attorney Ven Johnson said.

An email seeking comment on the judges decision was sent to the district.

Crumbley, 17, is awaiting sentencing for killing four students and wounding seven other people at Oxford High School in 2021. A teacher found that he had drawn violent images and messages on a math assignment earlier that day but was allowed to stay in school. He was 15 at the time.

Crumbleys parents were summoned to a meeting about the drawing but didnt take him home. His school backpack with a gun and ammunition was never inspected.

James and Jennifer Crumbley are facing charges of involuntary manslaughter. Theyre not accused of knowing that Ethan would commit a school shooting. But prosecutors said they made a gun accessible to him at home and also failed to get him mental-health treatment.

Copyright 2023 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Lawsuits K-12 Michigan
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A Russian man was charged by US authorities in connection with his alleged role with multiple ransomware gangs that attacked hospitals, schools and police departments.

Mikhail Pavlovich Matveev, who was known online as Wazawaka, was an active member of three ransomware gangs that collectively demanded $400 million from victims and received nearly $200 million in ransom payments, according to the Department of Justice.

Ransomware groups typically hack into computer networks and deploy malicious software that encrypts computers and makes them unusable. The groups demand extortion payments in cryptocurrency and threaten to leak stolen data online if the ransom is not paid.

Matveev was allegedly a member of the Lockbit, Babuk and Hive ransomware gangs. Those groups are ranked among the most active and destructive cybercriminal threats in the world, Philip Sellinger, the US attorney for the district of New Jersey, wrote in an indictment. Matveev, along with other members of the ransomware gangs, attacked as many as 2,800 victims in the US and around the world, Sellinger wrote.

The alleged victims include the Metropolitan Police Department in the District of Columbia, which was attacked with ransomware in 2021. The hackers proceeded to publish dozens of stolen personnel files.

The groups also targeted churches and nonprofits, the Department of Justice said.

Matveevs identity was previously revealed by cybersecurity journalist Brian Krebs in January 2022. At the time, Krebs reported that Matveev had claimed affiliation with the Darkside ransomware group, which claimed responsibility for the attack on Colonial Pipeline Co. in May 2021.

From his home base in Russia, Matveev allegedly used multiple ransomware variants to attack critical infrastructure around the world, including hospitals, government agencies, and victims in other sectors, said Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite Jr. of the Justice Departments Criminal Division.

In addition the the indictment, Matveev was sanctioned by US Department of the Treasurys Office of Foreign Assets Control for his role in launching ransomware attacks against US law enforcement, businesses, and critical infrastructure, the Department of Justice said in a press release.

Photo: Photographer: Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg

Copyright 2023 Bloomberg.

Topics Cyber Russia
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A subsidiary of BP will pay a record-setting $40 million penalty to settle civil U.S. charges that its Indiana-based oil refinery violated federal laws aimed at curbing emissions of cancer-causing benzene in wastewater and other harmful pollutants, the U.S. Justice Department said on Wednesday.

The settlement between BP Products North America Inc., the Justice Department and the Environmental Protection Agency will also require the company to invest approximately $197 million in new technology and other capital improvements to reduce air pollution.

Those improvements are expected to reduce benzene by an estimated seven tons per year, other hazardous air pollutants (HAP) by 28 tons per year, and volatile organic compound emissions (VOC) by 372 tons per year at its Whiting Refinery in Indiana, the Justice Department said.

ABP spokesperson did not have an immediate comment on the settlement.

This settlement sends an important message to the refining industry that the United States will take decisive action against illegal benzene and VOC emissions, Assistant Attorney General Todd Kim of the Justice Departments Environment and Natural Resources Division said in a statement.

Under the settlement, the refinery will implement controls that will greatly improve air quality and reduce health impacts on the overburdened communities that surround the facility.

BP Plcs 435,000 barrel-per-day Whiting, Indiana, refinery is the sixth-biggest by capacity in the United States and the companys largest in the nation, according the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

Nine U.S. Gulf Coast refineries exceeded the federal regulatory action level between 2018 and 2020 for pollution from benzene, which causes cancer, according to a study by the Environmental Integrity Project (EIP) released on in May of last year.

The nine are among 56 U.S. refineries with high benzene levels, the study said. Sixty-four percent of the 56 refineries are located in the Gulf Coast states of Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi.

The EPA had previously uncovered benzene problems in Whitings wastewater from 2003-2008. The BP refinery near Lake Michigan released nearly 16 times the legal limit of benzene allowed by the Clean Air Act, the EPA said in 2009.

Following the EPAs investigation, BP spent about $4 billion to expand the Whiting refinery to process heavy Canadian crude. The expansion and upgrade project had drawn opposition in the Chicago area because of the increased pollution levels that would result.

The latest settlement terms, filed in a proposed consent decree in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Indiana, will require approval from a federal judge.

The company also agreed to undertake a $5 million supplemental environmental project to reduce diesel emissions in the communities surrounding the Whiting Refinery and install 10 air pollutant monitoring stations.

In February BP reported a record profit of $28 billion for 2022 and hiked its dividend, and rowed back on plans to slash oil and gas output and reduce carbon emissions by 2030.

Topics Pollution Indiana
OMAHA, Neb. (AP)  A former BNSF worker who was named one of the railroads employees of the year in 2021 for her work in supporting LGBTQ+ workers is now suing the railroad where she worked for 30 years, saying that after being promoted regularly earlier in her career she was denied advancement opportunities after her gender transition.

Randi Berghorst sued the Fort Worth, Texas-based railroad in federal court recently, arguing BNSF discriminated against her.

Im extremely disappointed that this is where it had to go, she said.

BNSF declined to comment directly on Berghorsts lawsuit, and it hasnt yet responded formally in court. But railroad spokesperson Lena Kent defended BNSFs hiring practices and said the railroad doesnt discriminate against people based on gender identity and sexual orientation. Kent cited the PRIDE+ employee group that Berghorst helped form as evidence that BNSF is committed to a diverse and inclusive workplace.

Once hired, our employees are entitled to be treated with dignity and respect; have equal access to tools, resources, training and development opportunities and have equal opportunity to achieve their full potential, Kent said.

Berghorst still has the plaque the railroad gave her thanking her for making a significant impact on BNSFs diversity and inclusion journey hanging on her wall.

But around the same time she got that award, Berghorst said she was struggling to even get an interview for the more than a dozen jobs she applied for despite her impressive resume. That was in sharp contrast from earlier in her career when the 50-year-old was promoted regularly before her gender transition in 2018.

Berghorst said she had even previously held some of the jobs she was applying for and got positive reviews from her supervisors when she did them. Berghorst had worked her way up in the ranks to several different management jobs, but she decided to step away from a demanding roadmaster job in 2016 when she was struggling with mental health issues.

I was going through quite a bit of stuff and getting ready for what would soon be my transition, she said.

Berghorsts lawyer Nick Thompson said its not unusual for roadmasters to step down from those jobs that require people to be available all the time when they are dealing with personal issues, such as a divorce. But Thompson, whose Casey Jones law firm specializes in representing railroad workers, said hes never seen anyone else have issues returning to that job later because they stepped down.

Berghorst said human resources officials never seemed to have a good answer when she asked why she was being passed over. She said the representative she talked to never could point to any deficiencies in her resume.

According to Berghorst, one of the most troubling examples of being passed over for a job came when Berghorst applied for a training job after she had been known throughout her career for teaching other workers, and she already had more than eight years of managerial experience.

The job listing said she needed five years of management experience, but Berghorst said she couldnt get a good explanation about why she never got an interview. Then, a short time later, she said the job was reposted to require only three years of management experience, and BNSF went on to hire two men with much less experience than Berghorst for the job.

They didnt have any people besides me  or any people they wanted  that had over five years, so they had to lower the requirements so they could get somebody, Berghorst said.

That prompted Berghorst to start looking into filing a discrimination complaint against the railroad and eventually to apply for the Federal Railroad Administration job she holds now as an inspector based in the Illinois city of Woodstock, although she still maintains a home in the small Minnesota town of Luverne not far from the South Dakota border.

Deciding to leave BNSF in January was difficult.

I made that decision after it seemed that things were going nowhere with BNSF, Berghorst said. And I had my 30 years in, so I was locked into the railroad retirement.

Berghorst is seeking damages in her lawsuit, but mostly she says she hopes her case will force BNSF to change. BNSF is owned by Warren Buffetts Omaha, Nebraska-based Berkshire Hathaway conglomerate, but Buffett maintains a hands- off approach to its subsidiaries and largely lets the railroad run itself.

Copyright 2023 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Texas
Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. subsidiary Risk Placement Services Inc. acquired Houston, Texas-based RHP General Agency Inc.

Greg Vanek and his team will remain in their current location under the direction of Russell Duffey, head of RPS program administration division.

RHP is a managing general agency specializing in residential property insurance for clients throughout Texas.

Arthur J. Gallagher is an insurance brokerage, risk management and consulting services firm headquartered in Rolling Meadows, Illinois.

Topics Mergers & Acquisitions Texas A.J. Gallagher
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An attorney with one of Floridas largest insurance defense firms must pay more than $100,000 in sanctions after deliberately trying to sabotage a medical malpractice suit in order to win a mistrial, a Florida appeals court has decided.

The 6th District Court of Appeal upheld an Orlando circuit judges 2021 sanctions ruling against Jennings Hurt, a shareholder with Rissman, Barrett, Hurt, Donahue, McLain & Mangan, a 50-year-old firm with more than 100 lawyers in liability and workers compensation defense.

The lower court did not abuse its discretion or violate due process in sanctioning Hurt, the appeals court said in its May 12 opinion. The sanctions should help cover the plaintiffs legal fees, deposition transcript fees, and the cost of expert witnesses who may have to testify again after a mistrial was declared, according to court documents.

The lawyers actions were so egregious, and in apparent violation of several Florida Bar rules, that they could lead to disciplinary action by the Bar or even suspension of his law license, said Robert Jarvis, a professor of law at Nova Southeastern University and the co-author of a guidebook on attorney ethics.

The case has been in the courts for almost two decades. Laurie Johnson was admitted to Orlando Regional Medical Center in 2004 after an apparent severe reaction to medication. But doctors and nurses there failed to properly diagnose and treat her condition, causing complications, the original lawsuit complaint said.

At the trial in 2008, Hurt, known as Bucky, told the trial judge that co-counsel Richard Womble, also with the Rissman firm, had made a terrible mistake in allowing certain admissions by hospital officials to be read to the jury and that some key information had been overlooked. The officials had admitted that Johnson had developed sepsis in the hospital and that may have contributed to her neuropathy.

Hurt argued to the trial judge that he had no idea that those responses existed, and that the hospital officials were shocked about them coming up in court. He asked that the statements be withdrawn or that a mistrial be declared. The court denied the request.

The plaintiffs attorney, Victor Womack, argued that Hurt had known all along about the admissions and so had hospital staff, and no one had objected to their being admitted into evidence. Hurt also said at a hearing that allowing the information was not incurable, although he had claimed at trial that it was.

I might have made that statement to the judge in an effort to persuade her to rule in my favor on that,' Womacks motion quoted Hurt as saying, based on the transcript of the proceedings.

That was an admission by Hurt that he purposely misrepresented matters to the court, the plaintiffs attorney said. He suggested that the defense team may have been motivated by the belief that their case was in trouble, they had no expert witnesses to testify on causation, and were looking for a way out.

The circuit judge, Julie OKane, chastised Hurt for making arguments about medical causation that differed from the hospitals admissions  in direct violation of the judges orders. Hurt also repeatedly violated the judges orders by showing Power Point slides about other causes of Johnsons complications, showing attractive photographs of defense witnesses, and flashing the names of other doctors who had already been dismissed from the lawsuit.

It was all an effort by Hurt, Rissmans most experienced jury-trial lawyer, to push the reset button on a lost cause, the judge and the plaintiffs attorney said.

It is very clear that Mr. Hurt intended to sabotage the trial after the court denied his request to withdraw his clients responses to Mrs. Johnsons requests for admissions OKane wrote in 2018 in ordering a new trial and sanctions. Under these circumstances, the court concludes that Mr. Hurts conduct was willful, intentional and done in bad faith.

That should lead to a license suspension or revocation, said Jarvis, the law professor.

Clearly it is not appropriate for a lawyer to sabotage a trial or work to obtain a mistrial, and such actions breach a number of bar rules, Jarvis said.

The fact that Hurt met with his hospital clients and they agreed to overlook the alleged mistake is also quite perplexing, the professor noted. I should point out that many attorneys caught in this situation would have insisted on withdrawing even if their clients were willing to let them stay in, he said.

Hurt did not respond to a request for comment on the appeals court ruling upholding the sanctions. Rissman attorney Richard Mangan, who represented Hurt in part of the court proceedings, said that because a second trial is pending, the firm should not comment. He did note that its possible that the sanctions order against Hurt can be appealed to the Florida Supreme Court.

In a memorandum to the court, Mangan argued that Hurts actions did not rise to the level of fraud upon the court and that the court did not rely on Hurts statements to rule against the plaintiff in the case.

There was no fraud on the court and there was no harm to the plaintiff, Mangans memorandum reads.

The plaintiffs attorney, Womack, said he has other cases pending with the Rissman firm and he declined to talk about the specifics of the case. He noted, though, that he had done insurance defense work for 30 years before switching to the plaintiff side.

Things have changed and the defense strategy has certainly changed, he said in an email.

Womack and the courts did not indicate how often defense lawyers in recent years have utilized a similar mistrial strategy or have deliberately violated judges orders. The trial judges decision, though, cited a 2012 appeals court decision in which the court said it had admonished other lawyers in at least three cases for making improper arguments and not following instructions. Hurt was the attorney at issue in one of those cases.

The amount of sanctions levied against Hurt in the Johnson case are less than half of what Womack had asked for, but still a very significant amount, other Florida attorneys said.

Topics Florida
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A Mississippi doctor has been arrested and had his medical license suspended over allegations that he fondled teenage patients.

Dr. Mehul Dixit, 59, was charged with two counts of sexual battery in Hinds County, where sheriffs deputies arrested him last week, WAPT-TV reported.

Meanwhile, the Mississippi State Board of Medical Licensure has summoned Dixit to a hearing Thursday after it suspended his license, saying evidence indicated that allowing the doctor to continue practicing would constitute an immediate danger to public health and safety.

Documents from the medical board show two teenage girls reported that Dixit, a pediatric nephrologist, touched them inappropriately with an ungloved hand during exams at the University of Mississippi Medical Center in February and in 2013. The board said its investigators found a third teenager who filed a similar complaint in Florida in 2016.

Dixits attorney, Cynthia Stewart, said the hospital fired him and he has agreed to quit practicing medicine.

Topics Mississippi
YEREVAN, MAY 17, ARMENPRESS. The Azerbaijani Armed Forces opened fire at an Armenian military position deployed in the direction of Sotk around 16:15, May 17, wounding an Armenian soldier, the Defense Ministry said in a statement. Then, the Azerbaijani forces opened fire at the ambulance which was evacuating the wounded soldier. The ambulance medic was wounded in the shooting, the defense ministry said.

The Defense Ministry said it will issue additional updates on the condition of the wounded soldier and medic.
The city of Seattle will pay $2.3 million to settle a lawsuit brought by employees who helped reveal that thousands of then-Mayor Jenny Durkans text messages had been deleted in 2020 amid protests over George Floyds death at the hands of Minneapolis police.

The terms of the citys settlement with Stacy Irwin and Kimberly Ferreiro were finalized last week and released to The Seattle Times through a public disclosure request, the newspaper reported.

After their whistleblower complaint in 2021, further scrutiny showed that texts of other top officials also were not retained from that period in 2020 when police used tear gas against Black Lives Matter protest crowds and temporarily vacated a police precinct during weeks of demonstrations. Protesters also temporarily occupied a small area of the city known as the Capitol Hill Organized Protest zone.

The $2.3 million payout is in addition to nearly $800,000 spent by the city to defend the case.

Irwin and Ferreiro said they were mistreated as public-records officers in Durkans office for objecting to how the office was handling requests by reporters and others for records, including Durkans texts, according to their lawsuit. They said they were subjected to scorn, ridicule, abuse and hostility  and the demand to perform illegal acts.

They were compelled to resign rather than continue to endure the hostile work environment, according to their lawsuit.

The agreement says the settlement isnt an admission of wrongdoing and prohibits the parties from talking publicly about the settlement amount.

Irwin said she is relieved to end a dark chapter in her life, but remains upset about having to rebuild her career and disturbed by what happened.

Theres been no accountability, she said. These officials basically got away with it and the taxpayers are paying.

Ferreiro described the mayors office as a pressure cooker and said the experience drove her to move out of Washington. She views the settlement as a win for whistleblowers, but remains a loss for Seattle residents because some questions about the city officials actions will never be answered.

Deputy City Attorney Scott Lindsay said in an email that the city attorneys office is pleased we were able to resolve this matter.

Durkan didnt return a request for comment from the newspaper.

Irwin and Ferreiro became whistleblowers when they told the Seattle Ethics and Elections Commission about the mayors office mishandling public records requests. An investigation by the ethics commission determined that the mayors legal counsel, Michelle Chen, had violated the state Public Records Act by using narrow interpretations of certain requests to exclude Durkans missing texts.

An attorney for Chen called the investigation unfair, among other things arguing it failed to account for the involvement of others.

Texts and other communications about public business by local elected officials must be kept for at least two years, under state law. Anyone who willfully destroys a public record thats supposed to be kept is guilty of a felony, punishable by up to five years in prison.

Durkans office initially cited an unknown technology issue behind the missing messages. A city-commissioned forensic report later found that Durkans phone was likely changed in July 2020 to delete texts automatically after 30 days and was also set to delete texts stored in the cloud.

Other officials with missing 2020 texts included then-police Chief Carmen Best and fire Chief Harold Scoggins, among others. Over 27,000 texts were deleted from Bests phone, while phones used by Scoggins and others were reset in October 2020, a forensic report found.

Last summer, then-King County Prosecutor Dan Satterberg asked Sheriff Patti Cole- Tindall to investigate the deletion of Durkans texts and those of other city leaders. Cole-Tindalls office has yet to announce any results.

Copyright 2023 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara and California Labor Commissioner Lilia Garcia-Brower on Monday announced the resolution of criminal charges filed against Golden Food Inc in a plea agreement in which the company admitted to a litany of labor violations, including more than $437,000 in stolen wages to be paid back to more than 30 California workers.

Golden Food, a chicken processing business located in South El Monte, entered into a plea agreement after an investigation by the California Department of Insurance and the California Labor Commissioners Office.

The business, owned by Feng Wen Lam and operated by her husband Wei Wu, was accused of underreporting its payroll to its workers compensation insurance carriers by $4,489,390.55 between 2015 and 2021. This resulted in a reported loss of $1,681,138.80 in unpaid insurance premiums to four insurance companies, including the State Compensation Insurance Fund.

CDI received a referral from SCIF, which suspected the business of fraud after comparing the payroll reported during annual audits with the payroll reported to the Employment Development Department. CDI obtained a search warrant for GFIs building and was able to obtain true payroll records from GFIs computer, as well as fake tax reporting forms that GFI used to perpetrate its fraud. The investigation led to 43 felony counts of insurance fraud, grand theft, and conspiracy against Lam and Wu.

The LCOs parallel investigation uncovered wage theft over many years. Employees were forced to clock out for breaks and continue to work, were not paid overtime pay for work in excess of 40 weekly hours, and their pay stubs were falsified. Wu reportedly routinely deducted work hours from employees and falsely counted that pay as a bonus. An audit by LCO found that Lam and Wu failed to pay at least $437,542.56 in labor to their 34 employees based on the minimum legal market value.

Topics California
Annual celebration of insurance industry philanthropy raises funds for regional nonprofits

CHICAGO (April 25, 2022)  The Midwest Division of the Insurance Industry Charitable Foundation (IICF), a unique nonprofit organization dedicated to helping communities and enriching lives, will be honoring Acrisure and its co-founder, chairman and CEO, Greg Williams during the annual Blazing the Trail Benefit on May 17 at the Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago. The 2023 IICF Blazing the Trail Benefit will convene insurance industry professionals and leaders, along with representatives of local nonprofits, to recognize the philanthropic achievements of the industry and give back to those in need throughout the Midwest.

IICF will honor Greg Williams and Acrisure for trailblazing charitable efforts in the community. Under the leadership of Williams, Acrisure pledged $15 million in 2020 to establish the Center for Innovation in Childrens Health at the Helen DeVos Childrens Hospital in Grand Rapids. Most recently, Williams spearheaded the creation of Evolution Advisors, which is an Acrisure joint venture focused on providing growth acceleration and greater access to minority-owned insurance agencies and brokers. In announcing the stadium naming rights partnership with the Pittsburgh Steelers, Williams shared that Acrisure was eager to invest in the Pittsburgh community and broader region as we chart our course to an unforgettable first season. Williams immediately delivered, assuring Acrisure not only supported the existing Steelers community partners such as the United Way, but creating Acrisures own impact via support of local organizations such as the Pittsburgh Promise and the YMCA of Greater Pittsburgh. Additionally, Williams is proud to share that Acrisure has recently established a partnership with UPMC Childrens Hospital in Pittsburgh.

Fundamental to the insurance business is a commitment to mitigating risk and providing much needed support to individuals and communities in the aftermath of a loss, said Blazing the Trail Event Chair Jodie Kaufman Davis, Executive Vice President, H.W. Kaufman Group and member of the IICF Board of Governors. The work of the IICF takes that one step further by prioritizing philanthropic work in the communities where we do business  we are excited that this event gives us an opportunity to acknowledge the significant impact industry professionals continue to have throughout the Midwest.

Proceeds from the Blazing the Trail Benefit will support IICFs Midwest Community Grants Program, through which grants are awarded to local nonprofit and charitable organizations focused on education, safety and health. IICF Community Grants totaling more than $500,000 were awarded in 2022 to nonprofit partners across the Midwest. Since its founding in 2011, IICFs Midwest Division has granted more than $4.4 million to over 200 nonprofits. Currently, more than 120 insurance industry leaders across the Midwest contribute to our communities through IICF as board members of the IICF Midwest Division and Associate Boards and Chapter Boards in Ohio and the Heartland (Kansas and Missouri). IICF Midwest is one of five divisions, four based in the US and one in the UK, of the Insurance Industry Charitable Foundation, which has granted a total of $45 million globally since its inception in 1996.

With needs in our communities increasing due to the economic uncertainty many face, the insurance industry is continuing to step up with meaningful support to individuals and families struggling with significant challenges, said Kelly Hartweg, Executive Director of the IICF Midwest Division. IICF is grateful for the dedicated support of the insurance community in the Midwest, and the substantial contributions in our region which has provided real and meaningful support to our neighbors.

This years Blazing the Trail Benefit is made possible through generous insurance industry support including Presenting Sponsors: Acrisure and Burns & Wilcox; Platinum Sponsors: Aon, CNA, CRC Group, RT Specialty and Zurich; Gold Sponsors: Amwins, Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance and many other event sponsors.

For more information regarding the event and sponsorship opportunities, please visit the IICF Midwest Benefit Event website or contact Kelly Hartweg at (773) 991-2149 or khartweg@iicf.com.

About the Insurance Industry Charitable Foundation (IICF)

The Insurance Industry Charitable Foundation (IICF) is a unique nonprofit that unites the collective strengths of the insurance industry to help communities and enrich lives through grants, volunteer service and leadership. Established in 1994, IICF has served as the philanthropic voice and foundation of the insurance industry for close to thirty years, contributing nearly $45 million in community grants along with over 320,000 volunteer hours by more than 115,000 industry professionals. IICF reinvests locally where funds are raised, serving hundreds of charities and nonprofit organizations, for maximum community impact.

IICF is a registered nonprofit organization under section 501(c)(3) of the IRS code. Learn more at www.iicf.org or follow us on social media: @doubleicf
Vancouver, British Columbia - May 17, 2023 (Newsfile Corp.) (Investorideas.com Newswire) Nicola Mining Inc. (TSXV: NIM) (FSE: HLI) (OTCQB: HUSIF), (the "Company" or "Nicola") is please to announce that it and Blue Lagoon Resources Inc. (CSE: BLLG) ("Blue Lagoon") have signed a second amending agreement (the "Second Amending Agreement") to the Original Agreement ("Original")1 and Amending Agreement, the latter which was described in the Company's May 5, 2021 news release. The extension now extends to March 31, 2027, and includes certain adjusted terms that were agreed upon in the Original and subsequent Amending Agreements.

During the 2021 campaign Nicola and Blue Lagoon successfully produced gold and silver concentrates from approximately 6,000 tonnes of underground stockpiled material. Since that campaign, Blue Lagoon has been focused on exploration and receiving final permitting approval to commence mining at its Dome Mountain Mine.

Nicola's Merritt Mill is the only facility in the Province of British Columbia permitted to accept third party gold and silver mill feed from throughout the province.

Qualified Person

Kevin Wells, P.Geo, a consulting geologist to the Company, is the independent qualified person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects for the technical disclosure contained in this news release.

About Nicola Mining

Nicola Mining Inc. is a junior mining company listed on the TSX Venture and Frankfurt Exchanges that maintains a 100% owned mill and tailings facility, located near Merritt, British Columbia. It has signed Mining and Milling Profit Share Agreements with high grade gold projects. Nicola's fully permitted mill can process both gold and silver mill feed via gravity and flotation processes.

The Company owns 100% of the New Craigmont Project, a high-grade copper property, which covers an area of 10,084 hectares along the southern end of the Guichon Batholith and is adjacent to Teck Resources Ltd.'s Highland Valley Copper, Canada's largest copper mine. The Company also owns 100% of the Treasure Mountain Property, consisting of 29 mineral tenures covering 2178 hectares (ha) and a mining lease covering 335 ha.

On behalf of the Board of Directors

"Peter Espig"

Peter Espig

CEO & Director

For additional information

Contact: Peter Espig

Phone: (778) 385-1213

Email: info@nicolamining.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.

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Halifax, Nova Scotia - May 17, 2023 (Newsfile Corp.) (Investorideas.com Newswire) E-Tech Resources (TSXV: REE) (FSE: K2I) ("E-Tech" or the "Company") announces the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) aimed at exploring the potential of a feasibility study for a rare earth separation plant in Namibia with two other Namibian rare earth operators.

Addressing the global bottleneck in rare earth element (REE) separation, E-Tech recognizes the need for a de-risked supply chain for these strategic critical raw materials. While various separation technologies are available, the establishment of separation facilities requires substantial upfront capital investment, a reliable supply of raw materials, and a critical mass to ensure viable operation. Consequently, E-Tech Resources, alongside two other advanced rare earth project developers in Namibia, is exploring the option of conducting a feasibility study for a potential separation plant in Namibia.

In addition to E-Tech Resources, the parties involved in this exploration are Ondoto Rare Earth (Pty) Ltd., a private Namibian company developing the high-grade Ondoto bastnaesite deposit in northern Namibia, and Namibia Critical Metals Inc. (TSXV: NMI) (OTCQB: NMREF) who are developing the Tier-1 Heavy Rare Earth Project, Lofdal, a globally significant deposit of the heavy rare earth metals dysprosium and terbium. Together, the three companies will participate in a joint venture known as the "Rare Earth Alliance Namibia" (REAN).

Jim Megann, President of E-Tech Resources, commented:

Through this collaboration, we aim to leverage our collective expertise, resources, and networks to explore the possibility of developing a sustainable and environmentally responsible facility that meets international standards. We believe this partnership not only has the potential to contribute to Namibia's economic development but also foster technology transfer and skills development in the mining and processing industry. We look forward to working closely with the Namibian government and international stakeholders to investigate this option.

If the feasibility study proves favorable, the Rare Earth Alliance Namibia intends to design, construct, and operate the REE separation facility through a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV).

The establishment of this facility would create value-added opportunities within Namibia's mining sector by processing REE concentrates into higher-value REE products. This would reduce the export of raw materials as concentrates, generate employment, and enhance skill development in the country.

The parties involved in the exploration have agreed to evaluate the technical potential and feasibility of developing a rare earth element (REE) separation facility. This includes the extraction and separation of REEs from concentrates of mixed rare earth oxides produced within Namibia, as well as potentially considering rare earth concentrates and semi-products from external sources. Key factors to be considered in the feasibility study include the potential supply and characteristics of REE concentrates from Namibian mines and other sources, potential facility locations, infrastructure requirements, and all regulatory and environmental considerations.

About E-Tech Resources Inc.

E-Tech Resources Inc. (TSXV: REE) (FSE: K2I) is a rare earth exploration and development company focused on developing its Eureka Rare Earths Project in Namibia. The Eureka Project is located approximately 250 km north-west of Namibia's capital city Windhoek and 140 km east of Namibia's main industrial port Walvis Bay. The project is situated next to the national B1 highway in the Erongo Region of Namibia. The Eureka deposit lies in the Southern Central Zone of the Neoproterozoic Damara Belt within EPL 6762. which covers Eureka Farm 99 and Sukses Farm 90. Namibia is recognized as one of Africa's most politically stable jurisdictions, with an extremely well-established national infrastructure and a clear and transparent mining law. The Corporation continues to assess new project opportunities and expand its Southern African portfolio.

Further details are available on the Corporation's website at www.etech-resources.com or contact Jim Megann, Interim CEO of E-Tech Resources Inc., at +1 902 334 1949.

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.

Caution Regarding Forward Looking Information

This press release may contain forward-looking information, such as statements regarding the completion of the work in Namibia by E-Tech and future plans and objectives of E-Tech, including acquisition of EPL 8748 by E-Tech which is subject to granting of EPL 8748 by Namibian authorities, regulatory approval and closing conditions. This information is based on current expectations and assumptions (including assumptions in connection with the continuance of the applicable company as a going concern and general economic and market conditions) that are subject to significant risks and uncertainties that are difficult to predict, including risks relating to the ability to satisfy the conditions to completion of exploration programs and work in Namibia. Actual results may differ materially from results suggested in any forward-looking information. E-Tech assumes no obligation to update forward-looking information in this release, or to update the reasons why actual results could differ from those reflected in the forward-looking information unless and until required by applicable securities laws. Additional information identifying risks and uncertainties is contained in filings made by E-Tech with Canadian securities regulators, copies of which are available at www.sedar.com.

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Disclaimer/Disclosure: Investorideas.com is a digital publisher of third party sourced news, articles and equity research as well as creates original content, including video, interviews and articles. Original content created by investorideas is protected by copyright laws other than syndication rights. Our site does not make recommendations for purchases or sale of stocks, services or products. Nothing on our sites should be construed as an offer or solicitation to buy or sell products or securities. All investing involves risk and possible losses. This site is currently compensated for news publication and distribution, social media and marketing, content creation and more. Disclosure is posted for each compensated news release, content published /created if required but otherwise the news was not compensated for and was published for the sole interest of our readers and followers. Contact management and IR of each company directly regarding specific questions.

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Dieppe, New Brunswick - May 17, 2023 (Newsfile Corp.) (Investorideas.com Newswire) Colibri Resource Corporation (TSXV: CBI) ("Colibri" or the "Company") is pleased to report that its option partner Tocvan Ventures (CSE: TOC) has announced higher than expected average head grades from its bulk sample testing at the Pilar Gold and Silver Project at the Pilar Project in Sonora, Mexico.

Tocvan is in year 4 of a 5-year agreement to earn an initial 51% of Colibri's Pilar Gold & Silver Project. For full details of Colibri's agreement with Tocvan please see the Company's news release dated September 24th, 2019.

Tocvan News Release: (May 16th, 2023) - Brodie A. Sutherland, P.Geo. reports:

Leaching Process Underway for Bulk Sample

Highlights

Consistent Gold Values Reported from Bulk Sample Improve Grade

148 samples range between 0.8 and 3.4 g/t Au, weighted mean of 1.85 g/t Au



Silver values range between 5 and 26 g/t Ag, weighted mean of 12.7 g/t Ag

Fine Fraction Samples (excluded from Heap Leach Process), Report Equal Gold and Silver Values

32 Samples range between 1.2 and 2.8 g/t Au, weighted mean of 2.02 g/t Au



Silver values range between 9 and 25 g/t Au, weighted mean of 15.6 g/t Ag

Leaching Process Underway for Bulk Sample

Tocvan Ventures Corp. (the "Company"), is pleased to provide an update and sampling results from a Bulk Sample being completed at its Pilar gold-silver project in Sonora, Mexico. Sampling of duplicate material collected at regular intervals during crushing/screening process from the Bulk Sample have returned consistent gold and silver values. In total, 148 samples were collected averaging 1.87 g/t Au and 13 g/t Ag (see Table 1 for full results). The first batch of 32 samples (111 samples pending) were collected from the fine fraction of screened material not included in the heap leach pile, are showing slightly higher grades of gold and silver, averaging 2.02 g/t Au and 15.6 g/t Ag (see Table 2 for full results). The fine fraction along with additional bulk sample material will be used in testing gravity recovery methods. Samples were submitted to ALS Hermosillo for fire assay and ICP analysis. Blanks and standards were submitted into the sample stream as part of the Company's robust QA/QC protocol The samples total 910.7 kg of crush reject material from the Bulk Sample collected for heap leach testing. The heap leach process is currently underway for the Bulk Sample. Over 800 tonnes of Bulk Sample material have been prepared for heap leach processing, an additional 350 tonnes of crushed material and 250 tonnes of raw-bulk sample are available for gravity recovery and later agitated leach testing as recommended by an independent report provided by LTM.

"Pilar continues to surprise with excellent gold and silver values," stated Brodie Sutherland, CEO. "The results are clearly indicating the average grade of material making up the Bulk Sample are well above our expectations for gold and silver. To see this represented in the data gives us added confidence that Pilar can be advanced towards production, especially with these impressive grades. We eagerly await the results from heap leaching and further evaluation of gravity recovery methods."

Photo 1: Bulk Sample heap leach pile during irrigation setup.

About the Pilar Property

The Pilar Gold-Silver property has recently returned some of the regions best drill results. Coupled with encouraging gold and silver recovery results from metallurgical test work, Pilar is primed to be a potential near-term producer. Pilar is interpreted as a structurally controlled low-sulphidation epithermal system hosted in andesite rocks. Three primary zones of mineralization have been identified in the north-west part of the property from historic surface work and drilling and are referred to as the Main Zone, North Hill and 4-T. The Main Zone and 4-T trends are open to the southeast and new parallel zones have been recently discovered. Structural features and zones of mineralization within the structures follow an overall NW-SE trend of mineralization. Mineralization extends along a 1.2-km trend, only half of that trend has been drill tested so far. To date, over 23,000 m of drilling has been completed.

2022 Phase III Diamond Drilling Highlights include (all lengths are drilled thicknesses):

116.9m @ 1.2 g/t Au, including 10.2m @ 12 g/t Au and 23 g/t Ag



108.9m @ 0.8 g/t Au, including 9.4m @ 7.6 g/t Au and 5 g/t Ag



63.4m @ 0.6 g/t Au and 11 g/t Ag, including 29.9m @ 0.9 g/t Au and 18 g/t Ag

2021 Phase II RC Drilling Highlights include (all lengths are drilled thicknesses):

39.7m @ 1.0 g/t Au, including 1.5m @ 14.6 g/t Au



47.7m @ 0.7 g/t Au including 3m @ 5.6 g/t Au and 22 g/t Ag



29m @ 0.7 g/t Au



35.1m @ 0.7 g/t Au

2020 Phase I RC Drilling Highlights include (all lengths are drilled thicknesses):

94.6m @ 1.6 g/t Au, including 9.2m @ 10.8 g/t Au and 38 g/t Ag;



41.2m @ 1.1 g/t Au, including 3.1m @ 6.0 g/t Au and 12 g/t Ag ;



24.4m @ 2.5 g/t Au and 73 g/t Ag, including 1.5m @ 33.4 g/t Au and 1,090 g/t Ag

15,000m of Historic Core & RC drilling. Highlights include:

16.5m @ 53.5 g/t Au and 53 g/t Ag



13.0m @ 9.6 g/t Au



9.0m @ 10.2 g/t Au and 46 g/t Ag

61.0m @ 0.8 g/t Au

Brodie A. Sutherland, P.Geo., CEO for Tocvan Ventures Corp. and a qualified person ("QP") as defined by Canadian National Instrument 43-101, has reviewed and approved the technical information contained in this release.

ABOUT COLIBRI RESOURCE CORPORATION:

Colibri is a Canadian-based mineral exploration company listed on the TSX-V (CBI) and is focused on acquiring and exploring prospective gold & silver properties in Mexico. The Company holds six highly prospective precious metal projects of which five have planned exploration programs for calendar 2023.

For more information about all Company projects please visit: www.colibriresource.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.

Notice Regarding Forward-Looking Statements:

This news release contains "forward-looking statements". Statements in this press release which are not purely historical are forward-looking statements and include any statements regarding beliefs, plans, expectations or intentions regarding the future. Actual results could differ from those projected in any forward-looking statements due to numerous factors. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this news release, and the Company assumes no obligation to update the forward-looking statements, or to update the reasons why actual results could differ from those projected in the forward-looking statements. Although the Company believes that the plans, expectations and intentions contained in this press release are reasonable, there can be no assurance that they will prove to be accurate.

For information contact: Ronald J. Goguen, President, Chairperson and Director, Tel: (506) 383-4274, rongoguen@colibriresource.com

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Disclaimer/Disclosure: Investorideas.com is a digital publisher of third party sourced news, articles and equity research as well as creates original content, including video, interviews and articles. Original content created by investorideas is protected by copyright laws other than syndication rights. Our site does not make recommendations for purchases or sale of stocks, services or products. Nothing on our sites should be construed as an offer or solicitation to buy or sell products or securities. All investing involves risk and possible losses. This site is currently compensated for news publication and distribution, social media and marketing, content creation and more. Disclosure is posted for each compensated news release, content published /created if required but otherwise the news was not compensated for and was published for the sole interest of our readers and followers. Contact management and IR of each company directly regarding specific questions.

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May 17, 2023 (Investorideas.com Newswire) Canada has a prolific mining history.

The country is famous for its vast reserves of gold, copper, coal, iron ore and uranium. We are the third largest gold producer, and many of the world's junior resource companies are listed on the TSX or the TSX Venture Exchange; most juniors are based in Vancouver.

World-famous area plays include the Abitibi Gold Belt in Ontario/Quebec, volcanogenic massive sulfide (VMS) copper-gold deposits around Snow Lake, Manitoba, Saskatchewan's Athabasca Basin, and the Golden Triangle in BC.

The Abitibi Greenstone Belt, which stretches from Ontario to Quebec, has produced over 180 million ounces of gold, unparalleled anywhere on the planet except in the gold fields of South Africa.

The Abitibi spawned four of the greatest gold camps in Canada: Timmins, Kirkland Lake, Red Lake and Hemlo.

The Eskay Creek mine in northwestern BC was Canada's highest grade gold mine and the world's fifth largest silver producer, with production well over 3 million ounces of gold and 160 million ounces of silver.

While Canada is still known as a mining powerhouse (three provinces were in the top 10 jurisdictions for mining investment in the latest Fraser Institute rankings, the passage of recent legislation is concerning.

The Modern Slavery Act

The Canadian Parliament on May 3 passed Bill S-211, the Modern Slavery Act. The new legislation, aimed at combating forced and child labor in supply chains, will have profound implications for all Canadian-headquartered companies that meet its thresholds, especially miners.

According to a recent article about the act, by mining sustainability think tank and ESG consultancy Sympac,

Recent estimates from the International Labour Organization put the number of people living in forced labour conditions, specifically, at 27.8 million globally, on any given day. In its efforts to curb this, Canada's new Modern Slavery Act expands what is considered forced and child labour, and introduces mandatory reporting requirements that will apply to many Canadian headquartered and listed mining companies. This includes disclosing your company's actions to manage forced and child labour risks - and their effectiveness.

Which companies does the act apply to and what do they have to do to comply with it?

The answer to the first question is any company that is listed on a stock exchange, has a place of business, conducts business or has assets in Canada, that also meets at least two of the following conditions: have at least $20 million in assets, generate a minimum $40M in revenue, or employs an average of 250 employees or more.

A glance at Investopedia's list of the biggest Canadian mining companies by trailing 12-month revenue shows that all of them would full under the purview of the act and its substantial reporting requirements, which take effect on Jan. 1, 2024. In fact Nutrien, Teck Resources, Barrick Gold, First Quantum Minerals, Agnico Eagle Mines, Kinross Gold, Lundin Mining, Yamana Gold, B2Gold and Hudbay Minerals, all have revenues well into the billions.

Implications for Canadian-owned and operated miners include:

Implementing comprehensive human rights due diligence processes to identify and mitigate the risk of forced labour and child labour (under-eighteens) in supply chains;

Companies are expected to document efforts to prevent and address forced labor and child labor and to make the information available to the public;

Companies failing to comply with reporting requirements or ministerial recommendations, or omitting or providing misleading information, may be fined up to $250,000 per instance. Directors, officers, and other individuals who knowingly participate in, authorize, or assent to non-compliant activities can be held personally liable.

To prepare companies to comply with the Modern Slavery Act, the article suggests that they:

Review existing policies, procedures, and systems;

Develop a comprehensive compliance plan;

Engage with suppliers and partners;

Upgrade grievance mechanisms;

Expand monitoring and reporting systems; and

Train employees and management.

Now let me be perfectly clear: we at AOTH are not against the mining industry cleaning up its act; we certainly do not want to see exploitation of children or forced labor. But downloading all of this responsibility onto industry (the act essentially declares all companies that fall under its purview guilty of slavery unless they can prove otherwise), while ramping up demand for battery minerals under the broader objectives of electrification/ decarbonization, with limited help for juniors and miners on funding/ permitting, while EV manufacturers get all the pork, is imo not the right way to go about this.

First we had ESG, next the Canadian government passed Bill C-69, and now we have the Modern Slavery Act. Combined, they are part of an anti-mining bias in this country that is exerting its influence at precisely the wrong time in history: when the shift to a green economy requires a massive investment in mining and mineral exploration; and during a period when our world of finite mineral resources clashes with unprecedented demand for such resources.

Imo, the Modern Slavery Act will affect miners' decision-making process regarding where they operate. And all of these well- intentioned rules and regulations will affect bottom lines and give too much say, in every step of the supply chain, to bureaucrats, indigenous, NGOs and green interference.

The waning influence of ESG

As far as mining, ESG (environmental, social and governance) is no longer a "nice to have", but instead, needs to be accounted for up-front by mining companies in their corporate presentations, media releases and other public documents.

Unfortunately though, ESG hasn't always been applied fairly.

After putting out the word that mining companies need to extract more nickel for EV batteries, Tesla's Elon Musk made a deal for laterite nickel in New Caledonia. Processing this type of nickel creates about four times as much pollution as traditional nickel processing, from sulfide nickel deposits such as those found in Canada and the United States.

Two years later, Musk was at it again, banging on Indonesia's door hoping to build a processing plant using, you guessed it, laterite nickel.

Tesla was kicked off the S&P 500 ESG Index, for reasons other than mining nickel, yet Exxon Mobil was allowed to stay on the list.

The oil major knew about human-caused climate change for decades, but sowed doubts about the science behind it to prevent policies from being passed that would hurt the company's bottom line.

When companies like this are allowed to stay on ESG indices (or aren't called out) while higher-profile firms like Tesla are removed for comparably minor transgressions, it casts doubt on the legitimacy of the whole enterprise.

Read more: ESG needs a rethink

In fact many investors are starting to give ESG a pass, given the lack of hard evidence in favor of ESG investing. A recent Globe and Mail article cites accounting firm PwC estimating that globally, about $18 trillion is invested in firms that follow ESG principles. However, the article also references a 2020 UCLA/ NYU study that concludes, "a lot of money will have been spent, a lot of people (consultants, ESG experts and ESG measurers) will have benefited, but companies will not be any more socially responsible than they were before ESG was invented."

In 2022 there was a 70% decline in ESG funds over the previous year, and a 60% fall in the number of new funds, according to Morningstar.

Fools rush into renewables

But we also have to keep in mind the bigger picture.

Replacing fossil fuel-generated power - coal, oil, and natural gas - 100% with renewables is untenable. Not only are solar and wind inappropriate for base-load power, because their energy is intermittent, and must be stored in massive quantities, using battery technology that is still in development, they just don't have anywhere near the energy intensity provided by fossil fuels, or nuclear.

Driven by the need to decarbonize due to increasingly apparent climate change, governments around the world are choosing to de-invest from oil and gas, and instead are plowing funds into renewable energies even though they aren't yet ready to take the place of standard fossil-fueled baseload power, i.e., coal and natural gas.

We have seen this foolish endeavor play out in Europe, where natural gas prices hit records due to gas plants being shut down as well as nuclear plants shelved in Germany and France. The skyrocketing cost of electricity has been borne by ordinary citizens who had no part in this dumb policy of "premature decarbonization". (and this was before the war in Ukraine sent EU natural gas prices to all-time highs)

Saudi Arabia has warned that, without re-investing in the oil industry to find more hydrocarbon deposits, the world could be short 30 million barrels a day by 2030.

In the current under-supplied environment, high oil and natural gas prices will be with us for the foreseeable future.

But renewables are expensive, too. Wind and solar energy do not happen without mining, and they take unbelievable amounts of metals. Just replacing the current amount of energy demanded by coal and natural gas, let alone inevitably higher figures in future, with solar and wind, we calculated it would take over 60,000 solar farms and more than 120,000 wind farms. In all it's about a 450% increase in renewables.

We will run out of metals long before we reach that level of renewable energy capacity. In fact we would be surprised if we even make it to 40%.



The way we're going, the electrification and decarbonization agenda being pursued by many governments has the potential of ending up as a massive boondoggle. (see below for example the $13B being spent on Volkswagen's new battery plant in Ontario)



Billions of dollars are being invested in renewables but what the politicians seem to forget, is that we don't have the metals. To get them in the quantities required, mining companies need to go to places with minimal or zero environmental regulations. Without developing North American mines, we will remain dependent on foreign mining/ processing, and will not have control over these companies' ESG.

Read more:

Bill C-69

Going back to Canada, in 2020 the Canadian government passed Bill C-69. The legislation broadened the scope of the environmental assessment process and added more consultation with the public and particularly indigenous groups.

Road to a mining yes' littered with obstacles in Canada

Tough but fair resource regulation is necessary and expected. Unfortunately, Bill C-69 did nothing to assuage the industry's concerns that the environmental assessment process is hampering investment.

The act also inserted subjective criteria including "social impact" and "gender implications" into the evaluation process of major energy projects. According to the Fraser Institute, in 2022, investment in the oil and gas sector dropped to $29 billion, from $76B in 2014. In a survey of the investment attractiveness of 15 energy-producing provinces and US states, no provinces were in the top five.

In 2020, the Canadian Mining Association's Pierre Gratton, who originally backed Bill C-69, said he has "buyer's remorse". While the Impact Assessment Act under C-69 is better than the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act C-69 replaced, according to Gratton, He feels [former Environment Minister, now Minister of Natural Resources John] Wilkinson is bending to political pressure - from environmentalists, First Nations and the U.S.

"Our confidence in the ability of the Impact Assessment Act to be implemented well is very quickly eroding," Gratton said.

Foreigners load up on claims

The Canadian government is making it more difficult for junior resource companies to advance mining properties, through Bill C-69, but it is doing nothing to prevent offshore companies from picking up Canadian mineral claims that could one day become foreign-owned mines.

While the federal government last year said it would not allow any more Chinese acquisitions of Canadian critical minerals companies, ostensibly to protect Canadian interests, at the prospecting stage there are almost no restrictions.

Not only is purchasing a claim online as easy as slapping down a credit card on Amazon, finding out "who owns what" is especially problematic. In a recent article, the Globe and Mail states,

After filling out basic paperwork, passing a rudimentary knowledge test and paying nominal fees, foreign firms with ties to authoritarian regimes are allowed to buy claims across Canada

The provincial systems make disguising financial backers simple for prospectors, potentially facilitating companies with ties to the Chinese state to drift in under the radar.

"A lot of times companies that are staking are just numbered companies. So, you have no idea what their background is," said [Mike]Tremblay, a seasoned prospector who about a dozen years ago found a good chunk of his 10,000 claims in northern Ontario hemmed in on all sides by China Metallurgical Exploration Corp.

Under Canada's mineral claims system, organized by province, a company like CME can afford to stake vast tracts of land, in Ontario paying just $400 a claim annually to keep them active.

While in that case China Metallurgical gave up its Ontario claims late last year, the Globe quotes Richard Fadden, the former director of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, and a former national-security adviser to prime ministers Stephen Harper and Justin Trudeau, saying that Ottawa should know who is prospecting, where they are prospecting, what they own and if they have any ties to state-owned enterprises.

"At an absolute minimum, we need almost perfect transparency when foreign countries come into this country and start prospecting," said Mr. Fadden.

But the issue appears not to be even remotely on the radar screen of the federal government.

Note that other resource-rich countries are far more restrictive when it comes to foreign entities registering mining claims.

In Australia, firms with more than 20% ownership by a foreign government need approval from the country's Foreign Investment Review Board before they can acquire an exploration license.

The United States requires prospectors to be US citizens, or in the process of becoming a citizen, before they can stake claims.

Unsurprisingly, given the importance it has attached to critical minerals, the Chinese government does not allow foreign prospectors any access to certain minerals, such as rare earths, radioactive minerals and critical minerals such as tungsten, the Globe said.

China is the competition

How free is the West when it must go cap and hand to China, for the new electrification/ decarbonization metals?

Consider: China rules the electric vehicle supply chain. It is also a major player in renewable energy markets (solar & wind), and is building the most new nuclear power plants of any country.

In the rush to electrify/ decarbonize, is the West not just substituting one energy tyrant (Saudi Arabia) for another? The world's largest consumer of commodities already has a monopoly on rare earths mining/ processing, produces the most lithium and cobalt, and dominates the graphite market.

China controls about 85% of global cobalt supply, including an offtake agreement with Glencore, the largest producer of the mineral.

Beijing is also locking up nickel supply, through investments in the leading producer, Indonesia. China is working with Indonesia to develop a huge facility for developing battery-grade nickel.

According to the International Energy Agency, China processes about 90% of the world's rare earth elements, along with 50 to 70% of lithium and cobalt.

The United States is 100% import-reliant on 13 of the 35 critical minerals the Department of the Interior has classified. They include manganese, graphite and rare earths.

"We are dependent upon different countries, most notably China, for a number of our critical mineral resources," S&P Global quotes Abigail Wulf, director of critical minerals strategy for Securing America's Future Energy, a group advocating for greater US energy independence.

However, a recent article finds that previously unfettered access to critical minerals, under globalization, is unlikely to last. According to Paul Wong and Jacob White of Sprott, The world is moving from a system of free and fair access to commodities to one likely marked by interregional competition, and unstable availability and pricing of critical minerals.

Among the key takeaways is the fact that electric vehicle OEMs are attempting to gain greater control and ownership of supply chains, including critical minerals, in many cases investing directly in miners to secure access. For many examples of this trend, read EV-makers connect with mining companies to ensure adequate supply of battery raw materials

Given all that we know about China's vice-like grip over natural resources, it is unsurprising to read the authors' contention that when seeking vertical integration, i.e. offtake agreements, carmakers' biggest competition isn't each other, but China:

Not only is China far ahead of any EV carmaker in its geographic reach, financial capacity and technical abilities, but it is also at least a decade ahead in securing critical metals. Since becoming the dominant consumer of global commodity resources, China has aggressively locked in supplies of virtually every necessary commodity for its industrial security. It has sought to ensure industrial outcomes by securing necessary inputs. We see this pattern repeating across the globe.

China achieved this goal with its hyper-finance model and its BRI, locking up many downstream commodities and building out midstream capacity (e.g., smelting, refining and processing). Having secured these assets, China and its state-owned enterprises would likely never sell any part of its operations to a Western EV carmaker. China's overall aim is to further increase global dependencies on China's dominant critical mineral supply chains.

As a result of its aggressive procurement of critical minerals, China currently dominates the battery materials market. Chinese companies CATL (Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Limited) and BYD Co. Ltd. together control half of the global EV battery market. EV carmakers are in a near-existential quest to secure battery materials. Ensuring long-term, reliable, stable prices for supply chains is a necessary condition for triumphing in the global EV battle, and this battle has only just begun.

Conclusion

Economic growth requires the supply of raw materials for manufacturing end-products, and a litany of other industrial activities, including home construction, replacing and building new infrastructure, developing a global electrified vehicle/ rail transportation system, and constructing lower-carbon sources of electricity generation.

Unless all of these areas are continuously supplied, economic growth will drop off, hurting employment and lowering our standard of living. This becomes a major challenge when demand is coming from so many directions at the same time.

We simply can't afford not to continue investing in mining and oil and gas exploration. We have seen what happens when there is too much focus on renewables and not enough on the oil sector - sky-high natural gas prices, borne mostly by electricity consumers in Europe - and concerns that without re-investing in the industry to find more deposits, the world could be short 30 million barrels a day in eight years. (38% of global oil production in 2022 of 80Mbod)

Here in the West, it isn't only that we have failed to maintain mining and oil investments. We have also put roadblocks in the way of mining, such as the lengthy permitting process in North America. In Canada we've let interest groups hostile to corporations dictate resource policy, by allowing them to scupper oil pipelines that would help to alleviate the glut of Canadian crude that has depressed prices for decades.

Getting to a mining "yes" has never been more difficult in Canada. First we have Bill C-69, which can force a duplicate federal environmental review on top of a provincial review, like happened in 2020 when Teck Resources tried to extend the life of its Fording River coal mine. Next is ESG, and while some investors are turning away from ESG funds, there is no doubt that for the mining industry, environmental, social and governance norms are here to stay. According to study published by Ernst & Young (EY), losing social license to operate (SOL) is now seen as the main risk mining firms are facing.

The third leg of the stool undermining resource development in Canada is the Modern Slavery Act. While no one here is suggesting that forced or child labor in mining is ok, the law downloads extensive responsibility onto industry, in the form of onerous reporting requirements. Failing to comply with the reporting requirements could result in a $250,000 fine. That's no slap on the wrist. Directors, officers, and other individuals who knowingly participate in, authorize, or assent to non-compliant activities can be held personally liable.

In many metal markets, the West's reluctance to mine has been China's gain.

During the 2000s, metals were much more readily available than they are currently, and China was there, ready to sign offtake agreements and lock up valuable supplies.

Governments currently dependent on China for their key minerals want to get out from under Beijing's thumb. Their solution is to build manufacturing plants - either for batteries or for electrical vehicles. Yet the source of the raw materials, that will supply the plants, rarely comes up for discussion.

The Canadian and United States governments are competing with each other in this endeavor, seeing who has the deepest pockets in the race to develop a domestic EV supply chain. While at the same time blocking mines and slowing discovery development with unreasonable permitting timelines, ESG, Bill C-69 and now Bill S-211, the Modern Slavery Act

We need to mine a lot more in the west. To do that we need to up our exploration game - and nobody is better at it than Canadian junior resource companies - so that we can find and develop the deposits that will become the world's next mines.

Richard (Rick) Mills

aheadoftheherd.com

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Los Angeles, California - May 17, 2023 (Newsfile Corp.) (Investorideas.com Newswire) California Nanotechnologies Corp. (TSXV: CNO) (OTC Pink: CANOF) ("Cal Nano" or the "Company") would like to announce it has received orders valued at US$275K to provide its manufacturing services to a leading clean technology company involved in the production of decarbonized steel. The scope of work for the orders includes the utilization of both Cal Nano's core technologies (Spark Plasma Sintering and Cryomilling) to assist the customer in improving the electrochemical performance of their proprietary and innovative green steel solution.

"We are excited to start the relationship with another cleantech company involved in the decarbonization of industry. Steel is a significant contributor to greenhouse gas emissions worldwide and our ability to bring advanced materials to market makes these new products possible. Overall, the versatility and uniqueness of our services continue to be leveraged across multiple industries as we work with customers looking to improve the overall material properties of their next-generation solutions," stated Eric Eyerman, CEO of California Nanotechnologies Corp.

All orders are expected to be delivered in fiscal year 2024.

In a continued effort to build its presence as a leader of next generation product development, Cal Nano's CEO, Eric Eyerman, was recently requested to be the chair of the materials panel at the United States Department of Energy's Vehicle Technologies Office Electric Drive Technologies Consortium Meeting. Eric presented Cal Nano's technologies and programs being offered to the electric vehicle space including services for advanced magnet materials for motors.

"Cal Nano has a unique opportunity to cement itself as a trusted R&D and commercial-scale manufacturing partner for enabling new technologies driving the global energy transition. I was grateful to be asked to chair this panel as it recognizes our leadership within North America and helps build new opportunities for growth," added Eric Eyerman.

About California Nanotechnologies Corp.

At Cal Nano, we envision a world in which our advanced technologies are used to help make the most innovative products on this planet and beyond. We are trusted by global leaders to help push the boundaries of applied material science by utilizing our unique technical expertise and vision. Headquartered in Los Angeles, California, Cal Nano hosts a complement of advanced processing and testing capabilities for materials research and production needs. Customers range from Fortune 500 companies to startups with programs spanning aerospace, renewable energy, defense, and semiconductors.

For more information:

California Nanotechnologies Corp.

Eric Eyerman, CEO

T: +1 (562) 991-5211

info@calnanocorp.com

Otis Investor Relations Inc.Brandon Chow, Principal & FounderT: +1 (647) 598-8815brandon@otisir.com

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In 1995 while The Shanks were touring in Germany, guitarist and vocalist Eoin Stan OSullivan spotted one of their posters outside a venue. A promoter had taken it upon himself to put a slogan under our poster and he had written FolkenPunkenPop. It was perfect, recalls OSullivan. We were like a punk band who had folky songs with the odd catchy chorus.

The perfect recorded distillation of FolkenPunkenPop is the bands second album Brang. Its the album wherein all of the Cork bands disparate influences  indie and punk rock, Irish folk and traditional, and experimental noise rock  gloriously fuse. The Shanks had promised so much for so long and on Brang it all came together magnificently. It was also the end of a ten-year journey for the band and they broke up months after its release.

I was in The Shanks from the age of 15 to 26. It was a long time. We were living in each others pockets, says OSullivan. By the time we were ready, we were finished, we were burnt out. We'd been doing it for too long. Upon its release in 1999 the NME declared that, Brang, in effect, is a re-assemblage of songs heard on John Peels Festive 50 skewed into something that you could almost define as a unique sound.

That sound is bound up in their North Cork background. The Shanks were from Newmarket and when OSullivan, along with bandmates, bassist and vocalist Mick Hayes and drummer Niall Lynch, were teenagers they spent most weekends in Newmarkets Hiland Ballroom witnessing triumphant gigs by the Golden Horde, A House and others.

Theyd listen to classic-rock cover bands and traditional Irish music sessions in the local pubs; the music of Sliabh Luachra was everywhere. The Shanks had a simpler term than their German promoter for this cauldron of sound: Brang was the imaginary style of music that The Shanks had invented ourselves, says OSullivan.

The Shanks, wrote the NME, are like Gastr Del Sol [David Grubbs and Jim ORourkes Chicago avant-rock band] with a Chieftains fixation. Its a description that pleases OSullivan: I always hoped that I was pushing the experiences I had growing up with Irish traditional music and I was hoping that that was coming out in our music.

The Shanks: Brang.

When The Shanks moved to Cork in 1991 the city had never heard anything quite like them. The confidence of their playing was down to the years the teenagers had already spent gigging in North Cork and Kerry. A major plus point for the band was that when they arrived on the Cork scene in 1991 they were the outsiders, recalls Jim Clancy, The Shanks manager.

What really prepared The Shanks was the boot camp gigging that was the Abbey Inn in Tralee. Those gigs were three hours long. I always thought of The Shanks at the Abbey Inn in Tralee as our version of The Beatles at the Star-Club in Hamburg. The Shanks had timed their move to the city perfectly. We hit the Cork scene at a brilliant time, The Sultans of Ping were just on the edge of doing really well, and The Frank & Walters had started to do really well, says OSullivan.

When we supported The Sultans on a UK tour they were No. 1 in the Indie Charts, which was mind-blowing. We were playing to packed venues. The Shanks released their debut album The Prawn Lawn in 1994. Its a good album that was recorded by the late Paddy McNichol in Connollys of Leap, his famed West Cork music venue. The album has an earthiness and an innocence about it but ultimately only begged the question: what could The Shanks do with a bigger budget in a proper recording studio?

The next few years were spent gigging from Dingle to Dresden. We would have thought nothing of traveling for days to play to two people and a dog, says drummer Lynch.

We'd go to Europe for a couple of weeks at a time, we'd play all over Holland and Germany, it was all a big adventure, recalls OSullivan.

The Shanks were a band that gave it their all, we never gave up, says Hayes. We were one of the hardest working bands ever and one of the luckiest bands to have a 110% committed manager - the legendary Jim Clancy.

The Shanks in 1998.

After years of hustling, Clancy eventually secured a deal. Pearse Gilmore ran Xeric Studios in Limerick; he had managed The Cranberries and had produced and released their earliest recordings. In 1998 he signed The Shanks to his Murgatroid label. By this stage Donagh O'Shea had joined on keyboards. He was very musical and he gave us a bit of a shaking, says OSullivan.

He made us think a bit more about what we were doing. We were confident going in to record Brang, remembers Lynch. We knew we had the songs and we knew we put the hard work in. There was also excitement of going to a real studio, and I think that comes across in the sound of the album. There was also a good bit of experimenting going on.

Singles Trouble and Babbling are indie bangers but its on album tracks such as Two Dogs and Crystal Clear where the real magic is to be heard. I played the cello on it, Donagh played prepared piano, where you attack the piano strings, remembers OSullivan. Mick played an Aboriginal bullroarer, it's a piece of wood on a string and it makes wind sounds. It was also the first time I tried recording fiddle too.

There's a couple of tracks on that album, that I think are real works of art for myself and the lads. I think it's our best work, it's the most creative and its definitely our best album.

A flyer for The Shanks' gig in the Triskel in 1997.

A few months after Brangs release The Shanks returned to Connollys of Leap on New Years Eve 1999 for one last gig. Brang was kind of the twilight of The Shanks but who knows what might have happened had we hung on a bit longer, says Hayes. Maybe we were a little over infatuated with absurdity but we very much wanted to be original and not sound like anyone else and I suppose to that extent we were successful.

We went from being best friends to wanting to kill each other, recalls OSullivan. It was only afterwards I realised just how much I loved the lads. We shared so much stuff, it's hard to put it into words.

Lynch agrees, We were great friends from the same town, and were still great friends today.

What happened next

Eoin Stan OSullivan formed Stanley Super 800 and released two albums including Choice Music Prize 2007 nominee Louder & Clearer. He releases traditional music through his Sliabh Luachra Records label.

Mick Hayes and Niall Lynch formed the indie/punk band Rulers of the Planet and released two albums. Hayes, now based in the US, records and performs with his partner Clancy Potts as StayStillPills, their album The Palace of Wisdom is coming soon.

James Clancy is a photographer based in Austria. He has exhibited his fine art photography in galleries all across Europe.
When I catch John Brennan on this sunny Wednesday morning, my first question is the basic one. How are you?

"If I was any happier, I'd crack."

After 43 years in business, John and his older brother Francis have announced they are placing Park Hotel Kenmare, and its sister property, The Lansdowne Kenmare, on the market.

It came as a shock to many of their industry peers, not least the more than 100 staff members employed by Ireland's most famous hoteliers, but for Brennan, who was diagnosed with non-Hodgkins lymphoma in 2011, the wheels have been in motion for a long time.

"A girl who works for us who had breast cancer a couple of years ago rang me last night and said, 'I fully understand'," John says.

John Brennan: Time is the most valuable thing you can have

"When you have the disease that I have, it's a fantastic thing to have because it makes you realise that today is precious. Even coming in this morning, knowing what was ahead of me, the sun is splitting the rocks and I am thinking, 'I should be gone down the bay in the boat.' You just look at things differently."

The 58-year-old, who is living with an incurable but treatable form of cancer, says he has realised, "time is the most valuable thing you can have".

"People think, 'I'll do that when I retire'. You might not get to retirement."

The At Your Service personality says the covid-19 pandemic also impacted his decision to walk away from the properties.

"Our businesses were forced to close, and thankfully, due to an extremely generous government system, all our staff were well looked after.

"I didn't have any worries," he said.

"It was the first time in my life that I was able to go to bed and sleep, not worrying about whether the night porter would come in... not working 12-hour days.

"I had umpteen calls from hoteliers today saying, 'God, I'd love to be in that position myself'. It is an extremely  and I'm not just saying this because it sounds like the right thing to say  we are in an extremely privileged position to be able to do what we're doing. I know loads of colleagues who can't make this decision because they are up the walls financially and their properties aren't in good enough condition to sell.

"They are on a merry-go-round, and in our business, it just keeps going round and round... hopefully, with the sale of the hotels, we'll be able to get off the merry-go-round and go on to something else and see what the future holds."

John Brennan says the covid-19 pandemic also impacted his decision to walk away from the properties. Picture: Domnick Walsh

The toughest part

For Brennan, the only hesitation in walking away is leaving behind the "Kenmare family".

"The toughest part of today is the staff. We have people here who've come from all over the world to work with us. We have four staff here over 40 years, 20 staff over 20 years with us. Many of those people have said to us this morning, they wouldn't be in Kenmare if it wasn't for us. And when you get told that... I'd be quite cold-blooded insofar as, if it's the right decision to make regardless of consequences that's what we're going to do, but, in this particular case..," he trails off.

"Kasia, the manager in the Lansdowne said to me this morning, 'why don't you buy a hotel in Spain and we'll all go and work there'," he says laughing, "it's not a bad idea".

Spain hotel plans aside, Brennan says while he plans on having more time to himself once a sale goes through, he has plenty to keep himself busy.

"I wouldn't underestimate the importance of Dromquinna in all of this for us, business-wise. It's a fantastic property. It gives us everything we need. It's a more seasonal business than the Park Hotel which means we have more time to ourselves, and it is the property that is of interest to our children in the future.

"I have more than enough to keep myself occupied. And Francis has 101 things on his plate."

John and Francis Brennan are currently filming season 13 of their hit show, 'At Your Service'.

At your service

There is also no fear of the brothers disappearing from our TV screens any time soon. The pair are currently filming season 13 of the hit show At Your Service.

"It's a full-time job," he says, "but it's lovely."

"We are in people's sitting rooms every night, for 20 nights a year or whatever the case may be... everyone thinks they know you.

"I was in Spain last week and I was walking down the promenade when I heard this lady say "Hi, John, how are you?" I stopped thinking it was my first cousin.. but sure I never met this woman before.

"The way she said hello to me, I thought I must know her... 20 minutes into the conversation she says she knows me off the telly," he laughs.

Asked about memorable guests down through the years, John says he knows what kind of response I am looking for  just this morning, Francis name-dropped John Travolta and Maeve Binchy ("we used to reconfigure the bedroom for her writing desk") on Pat Kenny's radio show  but he says those aren't the ones that come to mind.

"When I say to you, Mr Knipper, it means nothing to you. But Mr Knipper means everything to us in the Park Hotel.

"His son, Jim, is probably 60 years of age or thereabouts now, but he came here as a young fella in 1980 when his mother and father had a crash at the front gate of the Park Hotel, and they came into the hotel.

"The Knippers have come to Kenmare for two weeks in May and two weeks in October ever since. They are huge supporters of the Black Valley National School and a whole host of things locally.

"When we were building our spa, I went to New Jersey to meet Mr Knipper to run the idea by him and see what he thought, because he was the typical client of the Park Hotel.

"When he passed away, we went over to the funeral and all of that... now his son is a very good customer of the hotel, one of the people we contacted last night. When you ask that question, that's who we think of.

"You're thinking it's the Rolling Stones who stayed and had a party in room 314 until the early hours of the morning... but it's the people like the Knippers who we think of."

As we wrap up our call, I ask John if I can double-check spelling for the people he's mentioned.

"I am J-O-H-N, not J-H-O-N," he says jokingly, referring to his biography My Name is Jhon, released by Gill in 2021. The title was a nod to his battle with dyslexia  something he has previously written about for the Irish Examiner.

"I've done an awful lot in life, much more than I would ever have expected when I was 7 or 8 years old," he says.

"It's all a matter of mindset."
The European Union expresses regret that Georgia did not join the European sanctions against the Russian aviation sector and restores air communication with the Russian Federation, "Interfax" informs, citing Peter Stano, Spokesperson for EU Foreign Affairs and Security Policy.

May 17, 2023, 09:35 The EU expressed regret regarding the resumption of air traffic between Russia and Georgia

STEPANAKERT, MAY 17, ARTSAKHPRESS-ARMENPRESS: "The decision of the Georgian government causes concern on the way to joining the European Union, in terms of compliance with decisions in the field of foreign policy conducted by the EU," he said at the briefing.

Georgia followed about 40 percent of EU decisions on foreign policy and security, which, according to Stano, is not enough. This year, that figure was 31 percent.

"We are sorry about that," he added.

According to Peter Stano, this week the UN's specialized body, the International Civil Aviation Organization, contacted the Georgian authorities to discuss the topic of the Russian aviation sector and the safety of Russian aircraft.
The senator who made a complaint to the Standards in Public Office Commission (Sipo) regarding a 1m donation to The Ditch website by entrepreneur Paddy Cosgrave has denied accusations he is trying to "silence journalism".

Fianna Fail senator Malcolm Byrne said The Ditch had "missed the point" of his complaint to Sipo, claiming he did so not to censor The Ditch but to "ensure politically motivated platforms are subject to the same campaign finance rules as others".

Mr Byrne complained to Sipo that the reported donation of 1m over five years by Paddy Cosgrave to The Ditch, comes within the definition of third party under the Electoral Acts.

An individual or organisation which accepts donations of more than 100 for political purposes is classed as a third party and must comply with certain obligations, according to Sipo rules.

The Ditch retorted that Mr Byrne's "cynical" complaint is an attempt to "silence journalism", and that the Wexford-based senator is "allowing himself to be used as a conduit" for Tanaiste Micheal Martin, who has criticised The Ditch as not independent and politically motivated.

In an editorial that went online last night it also said: "National media outlets are highly political organisations, which forge political allegiances and seek to influence the political decisions of the electorate. They just arent honest about it."

The website has broken stories that led to the resignations of ministers Robert Troy and Damien English, and heaped political pressure on current minister of state Niall Collins regarding a land purchase in Limerick in 2008.

Mr Byrne told the Irish Examiner that he did not want to silence outlets like The Ditch.

"Paddy Cosgrave can have any views that he wants. But if he is going to fund a political campaign, he has to be subject to political finance rules.

This is not the US or UK where wealthy business people can set up political action committees to pursue political campaigns. We have very clear rules here.

"If Paddy Cosgrave wants to set up a website with a political objective to attack Government parties or attack agencies like An Bord Pleanala, it needs to be transparent and accountable under the same rules as everyone else.

!If trade unions or NGOs or business organisations want to take part in a political campaign, they are subject to particular finance rules. I don't think multimillionaires should get to direct political campaigns," he said.

The Ditch insists it is a "left news organisation for which holding power to account is a genuine aspiration", while pointing to the fact that it is a member of the Press Council since January.
A "concerning" new study has found Irish rivers contain low levels of antidepressants and antibiotics, with current wastewater treatment processes not sufficient to remove them.

Between September 2020 and March 2022, researchers from Dublin City University (DCU) collected water samples from dozens of sites recommended by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) along the River Liffey, the River Suir, the River Nore, and the River Analee.

At each site, the team, which involved several DCU academics and PHD student Dylan OFlynn tested for the presence of 16 different pharmaceuticals. The chemicals tested for were chosen due to their presence in European rivers, as reported in other similar studies.

The researchers say the pharmaceuticals tested for are also "ubiquitous within the Irish healthcare system" and recognised as being potentially harmful substances for aquatic organisms. Several appear on the European Commission's surface water chemical 'watch list'.

Results Pharmaceuticals were found in all four of the rivers tested, with sulfamethoxazole, an antibiotic, and Venlafaxine, an antidepressant, comprising the majority of individual detections.

Dublin's River Liffey registered both the highest concentrations and number of detections of all the sites included in the study. The River Suir and River Analee were found to have elevated levels of Sulfamethoxazole.

The River Nore had the lowest concentrations and number of detections out of all sample sites though, venlafaxine and its metabolite O-Desmethylvenlafaxine were observed there.

15 of the 16 pharmaceuticals tested were detected and quantifiable in surface waters, and the most frequently detected pharmaceuticals were:

Diclofenac, an anti-inflammatory;

Sulfamethoxazole;

Metformin, a diabetes medication;

Trimethoprim, an antibiotic;

Ciprofloxacin, an antibiotic used to treat bacterial infections;

venlafaxine;

O-Desvenlafaxine, an antidepressant;

and Carbamazepine, a medication most commonly used to treat epilepsy

Results

Overall, the team identified 53 sites with a "high risk" presence of pharmaceuticals, and a further 64 sites were flagged as being of "moderate risk."

The team behind the survey said that there is "a significant knowledge gap on the presence of pharmaceuticals in Irish surface waters."

The research was led by Professor Fiona Regan the director of DCU's Water Institute. She said that current wastewater treatment processes are not equipped to remove such pharmaceuticals.

The presence of antibiotics in rivers is important and concerning because of increasing worries about antibiotic resistance in humans and animals.

"We didn't have any really monitoring data these chemicals in Irish rivers, so we were interested to see would we find them," said Prof Regan.

She said the presence of such pharmaceuticals in rivers can, even at low concentrations, have negative impacts on the metabolism of organisms and various levels of biodiversity.

Indeed, the researchers note in their study that some of the chemicals may pose a "serious ecological hazard" and that further research is needed "to expand the list of pharmaceuticals being tested."

Prof Regan also said it was likely these chemicals would be found in other Irish rivers, beyond those included in the study.

"We have these pharmaceuticals in our surface water," she said.

"We need to monitor for a longer time to confirm where exactly they are, and we need to see how they can be removed from surface water."

The wastewater processes that we have in place are not fit for purpose to remove pharmaceuticals. This needs to be addressed.

As for how this could be done, Prof Regan said "tertiary treatment" is required.

"We need advanced treatment on our wastewater treatment systems, but we also know that this is really expensive. It will need investment, for sure."

The study's findings are due to be presented at the Environment, Health and Wellbeing Conference 2023 hosted by the HSE, EPA and RCSI at the Royal College of Physicians on Wednesday afternoon.
For Ismail David Ismail, the protest by locals surrounding the placement of asylum seekers at a disused hotel is something he can live with.

The Somali refugee has seen far worse in his native land, making a gunfire gesture as he explains to reporters about where he has come from, and why he wants to build a life in Ireland.

The wonder of forests and cows in his new surroundings trump the controversy that has engulfed this tiny Clare townland in the past few days, becoming a political maelstrom for Government leaders as they grapple with their international obligations around international protection.

"I've got too many stories that I cannot tell. I've seen everything, this is easy, bro," said Ismail, referring to the protest about the decision to place 33 asylum seekers at Magowna House hotel, which has seen a blockade of the access road by angry locals who say they received no consultation or information about the sudden arrivals.

Ismail has seen people die back home, so a protest against his being here does not bother him. He wants to build a new life in Ireland.

"I come here to make friends, good friends," he said.

It is hard to believe that such an archetypal picture of Irish rural tranquility was the scene of vociferous political furore just 24 hours earlier.

Deputy Mayor of Clare, Mary Howard, at the road leading to Magowna House on Wednesday. Insisting that refugees are welcome in Clare, Ms Howard said it is the location, suitability, and access to services that are of concern.

Local protesters remained largely tight-lipped on Wednesday, claiming they had said all they wish to say, as the uncertainty rolls on and threatens to become a political crisis for the Government.

However, the blockades will remain in place "until satisfactory answers are given" to the community, according to local woman Agnes O'Malley, while another woman who wished not to be named said the "community is 100% united, and is in fact growing" in its opposition.

A quiet morning was only briefly interrupted as a bus took the remaining asylum seekers to the local Intreo office  some had left overnight following the protests.

Confusion reigned over the number of men still being housed at the former hotel, which has been closed for the past four years.

At various points, it ranged from 18 to 20, then 21. One local man who boarded the bus as it left for the Intreo office claimed he counted 29.

Only one contrarian voice put his head above the parapet.

Tech worker Chris Primo, a Michigan native who has been in Ireland for 27 years and lives in nearby Kilmaley, clashed with local protesters over the road blockade.

Claiming it was "vigilantism" as he rowed with locals, Mr Primo said: "I'm not unsympathetic to people's right to protest but it is completely inappropriate to block a public road."

A meeting between local representatives and Integration Minister Roderic O'Gorman on Wednesday morning failed to break the impasse.

Mr O'Gorman said the closure of the hotel as a centre for asylum seekers is not an option.

Deputy Mayor of Clare, Mary Howard, told RTE News that a solution has to be found.

Insisting that refugees are welcome in Clare, she said it is the location, suitability, and access to services that are of concern.

"They are healthy young men, but there is nothing there. There isn't a streetlight, there isn't a footpath, there is nothing there for them to do," she said.
The junior minister for integration has said that communicating with locals ahead of time is difficult when hundreds of asylum seekers are sleeping on the streets.

Joe OBrien, the Minister of State with responsibility for integration at the Department of Children, said that a national strategy is to be rolled out that he hopes will help improve communicating a coherent message.

The Green Party TD made the comments on Wednesday evening as he and his party colleague Minister Roderic OGorman defended the Irish Governments attempts to house and integrate migrants into communities around Ireland.

It comes as almost 500 asylum seekers are thought to be on the streets as Ireland struggles to find State-provided accommodation for them.

Asylum seekers leave the grounds of the Magowna House hotel in Inch, Co Clare (Niall Carson/PA)

Locals near Magowna House in Co Clare, where more than 30 asylum seekers were brought to on Monday evening, have raised concerns that they were not informed about the move before it happened.

On the communications side of things, as I said earlier today, what happens is that as soon as a contract is signed, we get the information together and we contact the local representatives, and we have to open as quickly as we can, he said.

So that timelag between when a contract is signed and when its opened is quite short, it can be a couple of days, it can be a week, if were doing well, it can be two weeks.

So therein lies the problem, and that problem just relates to the fact that people are on the streets and when we get a contract signed, we have to move fast.

In terms of the communications strategy, the Department of Taoiseach started in February or March in terms of drafting a whole of Government approach to this.

Theyll be leading out on this in terms of the tender that was put out.

We should be getting answers on that tender in the coming weeks as well, and the idea is to have a consistent message across national and local government and among communities as well about whats happening in their area.

I think that will help in terms of communicating a coherent message.

We will still face the problem we have now though, unless we get more accommodation, of having to move very fast when we do get accommodation.

On Tuesday evening, Clare County Council indicated that at that point, it had not received formal notification or details of the arrivals at Magowna House Hotel.
A drug dealer at the "top of the pyramid" of the west coast's drug scene who was caught red-handed running a "cocaine factory" has had his jail time cut by two years on appeal.

Cocaine dealer Tony McInerney was jailed for 12 years by Judge Brian O'Callaghan at Ennis Circuit Criminal Court in May 2021 after he was caught "red-handed" mixing cocaine when gardai raided a property outside Ennis, Co Clare.

McInerney, 27, pleaded guilty to possession of cocaine for sale or supply at Kilfilum, Ennis, Co Clare, on September 23, 2020, and to possessing crime cash on the same date.

Judge OCallaghan imposed an 11-year prison term for the Section 15 (a) Misuse of Drugs Act offence and further imposed a three-year jail term to run consecutively to the 11 years for the possession of 4,500, the proceeds of criminal conduct, contrary to Section 7 of the Criminal Justice (Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing) Act 2010.

Judge O'Callaghan then suspended the final two years of the cash charge against the father-of-two.

The judge said McInerney, of Glenina, Gort Road, Ennis, had "inflicted untold harm, destruction, pain and suffering on not just the people of Clare but people in this society in general through his criminal dirty drug-dealing activities.

McInerney's legal team appealed the sentence, arguing the headline, pre-mitigation sentence of 14 years on the drugs charge was too high and that the two sentences should have run concurrently.

His lawyers also argued that not enough weight in mitigation had been given to his guilty pleas and to his expression of remorse.

At the Court of Appeal on Tuesday, Mr Justice George Birmingham said the three-judge court would quash the original sentence and re-sentence McInerney to a total of 10 years' imprisonment with no portion of either sentence suspended.

Mr Justice Birmingham said gardai obtained a search warrant for an address at Kilfilum  a residence with an attached garage  and discovered cocaine was being prepared by three people, one of whom was the appellant.

Gardai told the sentencing court that McInerney was wearing orange gloves and had a bag of cocaine in his hand at the time of the raid.

Gardai also found mixing agents, tubs, bags, a weighing scale, a knife, a blender and 2,500 in cash used to rent the garage. The value of the cocaine was estimated at just over 50,000.

A follow-up search at a property in Quin, Co Clare, yielded a further 2,000.

Previous drugs convictions

Mr Justice Birmingham said McInerney had a previous drugs conviction from 2013  for which he received a suspended sentence  when a firearms offence relating to a pipe-bomb was taken into account.

The sentencing court heard from gardai that McInerney, who was unemployed and not on social welfare, had been the target of the search by gardai in Clare.

Mr Justice Birmingham said the trial judge viewed the two offences as "standalone, separate and distinct offences that were unrelated" when he imposed consecutive sentences.

Mr Justice Birmingham said the three-judge court was in disagreement with the trial judge regarding consecutive sentences being "either required or appropriate".

The judge said the cash found in McInerney's possession "was there to facilitate the drug activity", which was a "pattern of ongoing activity interrupted by gardai". Mr Justice Birmingham said the cash was an "integral part of the operation and not separate to drug-dealing".

However, the judge said the appellant's claim he did not get enough credit for his guilty plea had "no merit" and noted McInerney already had a previous drug possession conviction when he was caught "red-handed" at the garage.

Mr Justice Birmingham said the headline sentence of 14 years was "certainly high relative to other similar sentences" and set 12 years as a new headline sentence before reducing that to 10 years' imprisonment with no part suspended.

Mr Justice Birmingham said the court would remove the suspended portion of the three-year crime cash sentence and amend it to run concurrently to the drugs jail-term, leaving McInerney with a 10-year sentence back-dated to September 23, 2020, when he was first taken into custody.
The Central Criminal Court trial of a 32-year-old man accused of murdering school teacher Ashling Murphy in Offaly last year, which was due to begin next month, has been postponed until the autumn.

Jozef Puska, with an address listed as Lynally Grove, Mucklagh, Co. Offaly, is charged with murdering the 23-year-old primary school teacher at Cappincur, Tullamore, Co Offaly, on January 12, 2022.

Ms Murphy was fatally assaulted while jogging along a stretch of the Grand Canal just outside Tullamore known as Fiona's Way, in memory of missing woman Fiona Pender.

Mr Puska, who was present in court on Wednesday morning, was due to go on trial at the Central Criminal Court on June 7 of this year in a case expected to last three weeks.

However, Anne Marie Lawlor, prosecuting, informed Mr Justice Paul McDermott today that, as the State had received an expert report from the defence, the prosecution would require time to respond and obtain a further report.

Ms Lawlor asked for the trial date of June 7 to be vacated and for the matter to be listed for trial on the first day of the Michaelmas term on October 2 next. Michael Bowman, defending Mr Puska, said the defence could not stand in the way of the prosecution's application.

Ms Lawlor said the offence concerned the alleged murder of a very young woman, that her family had expected the case to proceed in June and that they were very keen for the matter to proceed "in early course".

Mr Bowman said he believed the evidence in the trial would take three weeks. Ms Lawlor said pre-trial issues would take a week.

Asked by Mr Justice McDermott if there was any prospect of attaining "an earlier report," Ms Lawlor said there was not. The lawyer said the State needed to identify an appropriate expert to conduct the report, which should be completed by the middle or end of July.

Jozef Puska (second left) was due to go on trial at the Central Criminal Court on June 7 of this year in a case expected to last three weeks.

The case is to be mentioned again at the Central Criminal Court on July 21 to assign a pre-trial management date. The judge also fixed a new trial date of October 2, 2023.

Mr Justice McDermott agreed to a request from the defence to renew an application for a Slovakian interpreter for the new trial date of October 2 next.

Ms Murphy, a talented Traditional Irish musician and recent graduate from Mary Immaculate College in Limerick, was working as a teacher at Durrow National School at the time of her death.
Gardai are appealing for witnesses after a firearm was discharged in Dublin on Tuesday evening.

A number of shots were fired at the junction of Fortunestown Rd and Jobstown Rd in Tallaght at around 7.25pm.
It was only a matter of time before the cracks within the Coalition became visible for all to see over the frantic attempt to source accommodation for refugees.

At the beginning, there was sympathy for the Government and praise for the Coalition politicians' approach to housing Ukrainians who were leaving behind their loved ones and seeing their family members blown up by Russian bombs.

No one could have anticipated the extent of war in Ukraine and the now more than 80,000 Ukrainians who have arrived here to seek a safe place to wait out the war.

On top of this, Ireland has witnessed a significant increase in the number of international protection (IP) applicants seeking asylum here for many reasons.

However, it is fair to say the same cead mile failte has not been offered to people coming from countries other than Ukraine.

Integration Minister Roderic OGorman said it himself  there are preconceptions about asylum seekers  while the Taoiseach said it has to be acknowledged that there are people with extreme racist views who must be stood up to.

This became an issue very early on when the Government was trying to source private accommodation for IP applicants.

Coalition figures had been very much aware that there was a reluctance out there to shelter some of these people fleeing war, political violence, climate change, and other 'push factors'.

It became even more evident when we saw the protests in, among other places, Fermoy in Co Cork, East Wall in Dublin, and now Inch in Co Clare.

So what has the Government done to inform communities about the people who will be moving into their towns and villages and the accommodation that they will be offered? Very little.

It is not possible to count how many times the issue of communication has been raised in the Dail.

And we learned yesterday that a unit announced in January to engage with communities, in the Department of Taoiseach and led by Green Party junior minister Joe OBrien, has yet to be formed. One would have to question if the Governments approach is purposely done. Dont engage and move the refugees in to avoid pushback.

After all, there were times when asylum seekers were being moved into premises overnight.

There are people with genuine concerns and then there are far-right activists who just want to spread racist hatred. And the Governments lack of communication is only allowing the fuelling of misinformation.

The protests took a major shift last weekend when tents were burned in Dublin city centre and vulnerable people were left to fend on the streets for themselves without even their meagre belongings.

The change in the level of hostility towards refugees has also marked a turning point for the Coalition in how it is handling the crisis.

Attention has turned to what exactly is the Governments plan. It has been asked to produce a plan now for over a year but it seems to be non-existent. The response is reactionary. But even this has failed, given there are more than 500 refugees who have arrived here and have not been offered State accommodation.

The only so-called plan that anyone is aware of is to pay hoteliers across the country up to millions of euros to provide beds for refugees.

Tensions at Cabinet

Tensions came to a head at Cabinet on Tuesday when Mr OGorman went pleading to his colleagues for help to find more accommodation.

It was put to him that a number of properties have been offered to him from different departments, which would require some work but could be used in the medium to long term. There was pushback from Housing Minister Darragh OBrien who is also struggling to push down record-level homeless figures. It is understood Tanaiste Micheal Martin was also vocal and backed Mr OBrien.

Mr OGorman said the skills arent there within his department to refurbish premises and that it is for the Department of Housing.

Questions are now being asked about who exactly is in charge of sorting out this mess and it seems, given the rift particularly between Fianna Fail and the Greens, there has been a shift in responsibility.

It was once a whole of Government approach, but, privately, sources say Mr OGorman doesnt feel this is the case. The Taoiseach said the minister has been given the help he has asked for, which Green Party sources have said left Mr O'Gorman "sore".

Asked if he was adequately supported by his colleagues, Mr OGorman gave the expected response that he was, but added that he told his Coalition partners that all of us need to do more.

In other words, they weren't doing enough.
Integration Minister Roderic OGorman has said he has called on his Coalition colleagues to do more in a bid to get all refugees accommodated.

His comments come after there was a clash at Cabinet on Tuesday over the handling of the accommodation crisis.

Mr OGorman received pushback from Housing Minister Darragh OBrien, backed by Tanaiste Micheal Martin.

When asked about the exchange at Cabinet and whether he feels he is being adequately supported by his colleagues, Mr OGorman said he does but he has to keep making the point and it was the point I made at Cabinet, all of us need to do more so we can accommodate everybody.

I've gotten really significant help from across Government, really significant help, but the point is, there are still people unaccommodated.

So collectively, we're going to have to do more to accommodate.

He said all buildings that have been offered to his department have been used but if some buildings need refurbishments, those skills arent within our department, and said it was the Department of Housing that gets local authorities to renovate them.

Clare protest

Mr OGorman met Clare TDs and senators on Wednesday over the ongoing protest at a hotel in Inch. He faced criticism for the lack of communication which has frustrated locals.

It is understood that Mr OGorman conceded that there had been a lack of information and that communication could be better.

He told the meeting that a fire cert for Magowna House Hotel is expected to be sorted in two weeks.

Politicians at the meeting said they felt that the occupancy at the hotel would then increase once this matter was resolved.

Refugees being housed in three holiday homes on the hotel site can use the hotel for recreational purposes but cant sleep there yet.

The Government is expected to face further opposition as it prepares to move asylum seekers into three locations in Dublin: Santry, Dun Laoghaire, and Clondalkin.

Sources have said refugees will be placed in an industrial premises at Airways Industrial Estate in Santry, and TDs were briefed on the move recently. It is understood up to 100 asylum seekers could be moved into the premises initially, that this number will increase over time, and that the premises will mostly be used to accommodate single people.

TDs said they were aware that a contract will be for a year initially with the possibility of extension.

It is understood there has been communication with gardai on the matter and TDs were informed there will be security personnel on-site.

Other premises where refugees will be accommodated include a former senior college building on Eblana Avenue in Dun Laoghaire and Dolcain House in Clondalkin.

There has already been political opposition to the proposal to house asylum seekers at Airways Industrial Estate.

Local Social Democrats TD Roisin Shortall said: "The accommodation situation for asylum seekers is now in crisis. The Government's failure to meet its own targets has resulted in it using extremely unsuitable industrial buildings to house vulnerable migrants."

Communication strategy

Meanwhile, a tender has been issued for the Government's communication strategy on housing migrants, the Green Party junior minister Joe OBrien told the Dail.

"The tender is out. We hope to have some answers on that soon, and we'll develop a new communications strategy, which will help.

"The Department of the Taoiseach has been drawing up plans for a communications strategy over the last couple of months."
Last week, when E Jean Carroll walked out of a Manhattan courtroom it felt quite emotional. It had less to do with harasser-in-chief Donald Trump and more to do with the fact she had been believed.

Trump was found guilty of sexual assault and defamation by a jury of six men and three women, although not of rape. Carroll was awarded $5m, and Trump will appeal.

Instituting legal proceedings against the former president of the United States of America took extraordinary backbone. Trump has a huge public platform, and highly vociferous supporters, some of whom have proven themselves to be capable of extreme actions.

When she made her allegations against him, journalist Carroll received death threats and was reported to have slept with a loaded gun by her bed.

Some 32 years previously, Anita Hill had testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee that the then-Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas had sexually harassed her when they worked together.

The footage of the testimony was another moment not easily forgotten. A committee of 14 white men chaired by then-senator Joe Biden grilled the young black law professor in a televised live hearing and it seemed as if it was Hill was in the dock. The Senate ultimately confirmed Thomas nomination in a 52-48 vote.

Death threats

Hill was condemned by many, received excrement in the post, and faced death threats. She reputedly left the University of Oklahoma because of ongoing calls for her resignation.

Hill said she would do it again. She reportedly said: I had important information about an individual who was picked to sit for a lifetime appointment on our countrys highest court. It was not just a professional duty as a lawyer, but I believed it was my ethical responsibility to come forward in the best way and the most effective way that I could  and thats what I did.

It was a seminal moment in the broader culture and not just in America. In 1991, in Ireland and elsewhere we barely had the language to identify and discuss sexual harassment. Sexual harassment was a run-of-the-mill experience for many women. Anita Hill shone a light on that.

President Joe Biden later called her to apologise for how she was treated. Hill accepted his apology but had said that he failed to understand how the Senate handling of her complaint had not just been an affront to her but harmful to women throughout America.

Fast forward to 2018 when Christine Blasey Ford, another university professor, accused Brett Kavanaugh  then also a Supreme Court nominee  of sexually assaulting her at high school.

Kavanaugh denied the allegations and was confirmed by the Senate Judiciary Committee by a vote of 50-48, and now keeps Clarence Thomas company on the American Supreme Court.

Civic duty to speak up

Like Hill, Blasey Ford says she spoke up because it was her civic duty to bring evidence to the attention of the committee.

In the wake of Blasey Fords testimony, the hashtag #WhyIDidntReport exploded. There were many protests across the country opposing Kavanaughs confirmation which represented progress of a kind as Hill had received comparatively limited support but much remained the same.

Blasey Ford was forced out of her home by threats and harassment. She hired private security guards and went into virtual hiding. Her name was also widely smeared.

She has since said that she might not do it again, given what she and her family suffered. She reportedly said:

Why suffer through the annihilation if its not going to matter?

Depressingly, accusations of sexual assault and misconduct, even when credible, dont seem to prevent male politicians or powerful, well-connected men from reaching high office.

This raises questions about the systemic problems that may exist in protecting people who commit sexual or gender-based violence.

It also demonstrates that its not that the accusations of sexual assault are not believed, just that many people are unwilling to take account of them because they simply dont care.

Perhaps most importantly, it sends ultra-strong signals to ordinary women who have been sexually assaulted or raped about their chances of being believed.

Bringing an allegation of sexual assault or rape and going through the judicial system when you fear you might not be listened to or mistrusted is hugely daunting.

I have always doubted whether I would report a rape or sexual assault for this reason and I know women who havent.

Trump has repeatedly claimed that where sexual crimes are concerned, we live in a culture where men are guilty until proven innocent. Hes not alone in this fatuous view and there is still a general cultural resistance to believing women.

As one male commentator put it said in last Saturdays Financial Times: Tackling the epidemic of violence against women has become a boo-hoo fest for men who say, but its not every man.

However, an allegation will always be just that until it is proven. In the explosion of the #MeToo movement (against which sadly there is now an inevitable backlash), one line of thinking doing the rounds, particularly among Millennial women was that if one falsely accused man had to be thrown under the bus for the sake of the greater good, then so be it.

It stems from understandable female anger at having suffered misogyny, sexism, violence, and the rough edge of male power and privilege but its a deeply flawed logic that harms everyone.

Women are not blessed saints. They are complex human beings capable on occasion of being mendacious. The statistics for false sexual assault allegations vary but according to various studies they are broadly thought to run between 2% to 10%.

Academic studies seem to suggest that the most common kind of fake accuser is a teenage girl fabricating to get out of trouble often with her parents reporting the rape attempt.

Sex crimes underreported

Meanwhile, sexual assault and rape crimes are greatly underreported, both in Ireland and elsewhere far outweighing the number of fake accusations made.

There are several reasons for this chronic underreporting. We have an adversarial court structure that doesnt operate in a vacuum from the wider societal context, and there are many misperceptions about the complexities of sexual violence.

A hugely damaging victim-blaming attitude still exists societally and within the judicial system. How a victim dresses, what she has drunk, and where she has gone are still seen as relevant factors in sexual assault trials as if it was a womans job not to provoke sexual violence.

There is much work to be done to improve the investigation, prosecution, and trial of sexual offences if we are to encourage victims to come forward.

It matters how women who bring allegations are treated in the halls of power and publicly because it sends out strong signals to the ordinary survivors of sexual violence influencing whether they are galvanized to speak up or whether they shut their mouths.

E Jean Carroll, Anita Hill, and Christine Blasey Ford are to be saluted for their bravery.
Bahrain awarded nine infrastructure projects worth BD11.2 million ($29.5 million) in April, of which the lion's share went to the roads sector, reported BNA, citing a senior government official.

The kingdom's Tender Board awarded four roads projects for BD9,559,488. These include mainly the maintenance works of Shaikh Khalifa bin Salman Causeway, South Bahrain Ring Road - Phase Two (tunnel, 27th Street and 79th Road Development Project in Saar), said Works Ministry Undersecretary Shaikh Mishal bin Mohammed Al Khalifa.

The others were for sewage projects worth BD1.57 milllion. These included upgrade of several key sewage networks across Bahrain.

"The projects were awarded as part of the ministrys efforts to develop public services and upgrade the infrastructure across Bahrain to meet citizens' needs, support the national economy and keep pace with the urban and investment development" said Shaikh Mishal.

Also bids have been invited for 8 other projects at a total estimated cost of BD10,872,279, he added.
When Turkey and its denialist supporters lose a battle to block the recognition of the Armenian Genocide, they resort to ridiculous attacks such as announcing their desire to impeach Pres. Biden after he is no longer in office, a laughable notion which I disclosed in my earlier article.

May 17, 2023, 12:37 Another Turkish attempt to attack Biden for recognizing the Armenian Genocide

STEPANAKERT, MAY 17, ARTSAKHPRESS: In another equally hopeless Turkish attempt to counter the recognition of the Armenian Genocide, Attorney Bruce Fein, Counsel for Turkish Anti-Defamation Alliance, sent a lengthy letter to members of Congress on April 24, 2023, complaining about the statement Pres. Biden had issued earlier that day.

Fein is president of the law firm Bruce Fein & Associates in Washington, D.C. Over the years, he has worn many hats to support Turkeys campaign against the recognition of the Armenian Genocide. He has been Resident Scholar for the Turkish Coalition of America, Resident Scholar at the Assembly of Turkish American Associations, columnist for the Turkish Times newspaper, consultant to the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, commentator on Turkish television, and Counsel for Turkish Anti-Defamation Alliance.

Before I delve into the content of Feins letter, I would like to ask two basic questions:

1) Why did Fein complain about Pres. Biden only after he recognized the Armenian Genocide on April 24? Shouldnt he have written his letter before the President issued his statement? I dont know if Fein got paid for his letter as Counsel for Turkish Anti-Defamation Alliance. If he did, the Turkish Alliance wasted its money.

2) Why did Fein write to Members of Congress and not to Pres. Biden directly to complain about his April 24 statement? Feins letter is more than three years too late. The House of Representatives recognized the Armenian Genocide on October 29, 2019 by a vote of 405 to 11, and the Senate recognized it on December 12, 2019 in a unanimous vote. Pres. Biden issued his first statement recognizing the Armenian Genocide on April 24, 2021. Where has Fein been since 2019 and 2021?

Turning to the content of Feins questionable letter, he shamelessly wrote that Mr. Bidens statement was bought and paid for by the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA). Since Fein provided not a shred of evidence in his defamatory letter, the ANCA has the right to sue Fein for libel. The ANCA did not even endorse Biden for President. Nevertheless, Fein went on: But in politics, truth is helpless when assaulted by lavish campaign contributions and votes. The Armenian genocide lie persists because of the rich backing of ANCA and their bought political toadies. It is contemptible that Pres. Biden has stooped so low.

Fein then goes on to make a number of false statements regarding the European Court of Human Rights, the United Nations, and several scholars, such as the controversial Prof. Bernard Lewis of Princeton University who had made conflicting statements on the Armenian Genocide. He was a recipient of the Ataturk International Peace Prize. The ANCA called him an academic mercenary.

Here is what Wikipedia reveals about Lewis:

The first two editions of Lewis's The Emergence of Modern Turkey (1961 and 1968) describe the Armenian genocide as the terrible holocaust of 1915, when a million and a half Armenians perished. In later editions, this text is altered to the terrible slaughter of 1915, when, according to estimates, more than a million Armenians perished, as well as an unknown number of Turks. The change in Lewis's textual description of the Armenian genocide and his signing of the petition against the Congressional resolution was controversial among some Armenian historians as well as journalists, who suggested that Lewis was engaging in historical negationism to serve his own political and personal interests. In a 1995 civil proceeding brought by three Armenian genocide survivors, a French court censured Lewis' remarks under Article 1382 of the Civil Code and fined him one franc, and ordering the publication of the judgment at Lewis' cost in Le Monde. The court ruled that while Lewis has the right to his views, their expression harmed a third party and that it is only by hiding elements which go against his thesis that the defendant was able to state there was no 'serious proof' of the Armenian Genocide.

There are many other claims by Fein in his letter such as: the Genocide Convention excludes politically motivated killings. Thus, Fein admits that Armenians were indeed massacred, but for political reasons!

By claiming that no court verdict has been issued regarding the Armenian Genocide, Fein must have forgotten about the death sentences issued by the Turkish Military Tribunal in Istanbul in 1919 against the masterminds of the Armenian Genocide.

Fein also distorted the exile of Ottoman leaders to Malta by the British in 1919 in order to try them for their crimes. Great Britain released the 144 Turks in exchange for 22 British prisoners, stating that one British prisoner is worth a shipload of Turks.

Finally, Feins brilliant mind can be demonstrated by referring to his ridiculous article published on Nov. 25, 2022, in The Hill, suggesting that Congress can end the war in Ukraine  by enacting a statute withdrawing the United States from NATO!

By Harut Sassounian

Publisher, The California Courier
Russias military assault on Ukraine has precipitated the most significant change in Europes security and defence landscape since the Second World War.

Finland recently became the 31st member of Nato. Sweden is highly likely to join within the coming months.

Within days of the beginning of the war in Ukraine, Germany announced plans to increase defence spending by more than 100bn.

Almost alone among European states, Ireland continues to hold to a policy of neutrality that is entirely inconsistent with both our national interests and our obligations to partner states in Europe.

Neutrality has, over decades, acquired idealistic and almost sacral parameters in the minds of those who believe in it. This is a worldview that equates neutrality with being a good and virtuous citizen of the world.

Professor Ben Tonra argues that Irish neutrality is thus linked cognitively to a weird kind of neo-pacifism, ie the notion that the use of military force itself is illegitimate.

Irelands posture of ourselves alone comes off as holier than thou  we are emotionally attached to a notion that we are better than other nations, somehow more moral and ethical in the way we conduct ourselves in the world.

Tonra argues that much of our foreign policy exceptionalism is based on the notion of being a good global citizen, and especially on a track record of solid support for international development and an estimable contribution to peacekeeping.

But most European members of Nato do just as much in these fields as Ireland, if not more. So, are those states somehow lacking virtue because of their belonging to a defensive military alliance, while also doing the same good work Ireland does globally? Are we really saying that peer partner states in Europe, such as the Netherlands, Spain, or Estonia, are more aggressive or less ethical than we are?

The world's worst hypocrites

The truth is we have always been the worlds worst hypocrites when it comes to neutrality. We preach about the virtues of being opposed to militarism while benefiting enormously from the US security guarantee of Europe implicit in Article 5 of Nato's founding charter.

Recent revelations support this contention. Since 1952, Ireland has had an agreement with the British air force to patrol our skies. If Nato planes are defending Irish sovereign territory, how can the claim of military neutrality stand up? Repeated Russian manoeuvres in Irelands territorial waters suggest Moscow sees us as anything but neutral.

We paint the world in black and white colours and see ourselves always and everywhere as being on the side of the angels.

We stink of a hypocrisy and mythology decades in the making.

What does it actually mean when one says we are not neutral politically but we are militarily non-aligned"?

For me, it means that we are rhetorically attached to the values set out in Article 2 of the Treaty on European Union (democracy, pluralism, respect for minority rights, and fundamental freedoms) but that our attachment to those values does not go beyond rhetoric. We are entirely unprepared to defend those values if they are threatened by adversarial forces. You cant be for democracy in theory and not be willing to support it in practice.

Neutrality is a cop-out because it allows us to behave like the ostrich of Europe, to put our heads in the sand and wish away all the negative pathologies that characterise international affairs.

Responsibilities to partner states

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy receives the Charlemagne Prize for Services to European Unity from the lord mayor of Aachen Sibylle Keupen, right, in the German city, on Sunday, May 14. Picture: Federico Gambarini/AP

First, we have responsibilities to our EU partner states. We enjoy the luxury of geography. We no longer live next door to an imperial, brutish neighbour.

Many of our fellow EU member states, however, do not have that luxury. They have to share a border with or are located very close to an aggressive, hyper-nationalist, revanchist Russia, which never accepted that many of these states had the right to leave the Russian Empire.

To experience Russia in Estonia or Latvia or Lithuania is an entirely different thing than to do so from a distance 2,600km to the west. We need to understand that these are our trusted interlocutors and partners within the EU, the states we work closest with on many policy dossiers of real importance to Ireland.

These states gave us unconditional support during the protracted Brexit negotiations. They never flinched because they understood that the border issue was an existential issue for Ireland.

We now need to understand that their security is existential for them. We cannot just say Sorry guv. Well take your refugees but do nothing beyond that for you if they were next to feel the force of Putins paranoid historical revenge fantasies.

Our 50 years of EU membership have not just been transactional. It implies real responsibilities to our partner states. We have been among the biggest winners from the EU single market, which came into operation 30 years ago. The integration process in Europe has deepened considerably over those three decades.

We are inextricably linked to our EU partners via intensifying trade interdependence and new forms of legal reciprocity.

Ireland is routinely identified as one of the EU states to have benefitted most from the incremental extension and solidification of the single market. Are we really saying that we have no responsibility to defend a market that is the bedrock of our own security and prosperity and that of our partners and friends?

The second responsibility arises from our position as one of the worlds most important communications hubs. The aviation control tower at Shannon Airport handles 90% of all air traffic over the North Atlantic, handling up to 1,500 flights every 24 hours. A hugely disproportionate number of the worlds most important tech, pharma, biopharma, and medtech companies are based in Ireland, engaging daily with global connections on a vast scale.

About 65% of Europes communications cables run through Irish waters. Recent manoeuvres of Russian naval vessels in Irelands territorial waters have been widely reported.

They underline our position as a weak link in securing critical subsea cables and information flows. Our prosperity depends to a large degree on this connectivity in an economy that has been utterly transformed after 50 years of EU membership and our embrace of globalisation.

Changed beyond recognition

Irelands external environment has thus changed beyond recognition since the policy of neutrality emerged more than 80 years ago.

It may have made sense in the context of a fragile state still getting on its feet as a major war approached in Europe in the late 1930s: Neutrality then constituted an entirely understandable assertion of self-interest. But the fact that we stayed out of the war still rankles in some European capitals where people know what it means to face down fascist aggression.

And while the belated announcement that defence spending will increase by up to about 1bn by 2028is undoubtedly welcome, as is the announcement of a national consultative forum on international security policy, to take place in late June, the truth is that it will barely bring the country to the point where it can engage in even minimal self-defence, let alone contribute anything meaningful to European defence and security.

For Ireland, the question is whether we continue to duck our responsibilities or face up to our obligations in a rapidly changing international landscape.

John OBrennan is professor of European Politics in the Department of Sociology at Maynooth University, Jean Monnet Chair of European Integration, and director of the Maynooth Centre for European and Eurasian Studies.
A second iconic Munster hotel, the Park Hotel Kenmare, is set to change hands, along with the offer of the adjacent sister hotel also owned by hospitality gurus Francis and John Brennan, following the off-market sale currently in hand of Cork Citys Imperial Hotel, being picked up by hotelier Louis Fitzgerald.

The 17m sale offer of the 46-bed, five-star Park Hotel Kenmare was confirmed this week by brothers Francis and John Brennan, along with the proposed sale of their recently acquired four-star Lansdowne Hotel Kenmare, which has a separate price guide of 3.5m.

John and Francis Brennan at The Park Kenmare. Picture: Domnick Walsh

The two historic Ring of Kerry town centre hotels, dating to the late 18th century in the case of the 28-bed Lansdowne, and the late 19th century in the case of 41-bed the Park Kenmare are offered by agents John Ryan and Paul Collins of CBRE, with a combined 20.5m guide, or as separate trading entities.

Imperial Hotel Cork City is due to change hands in an off-market deal said to be worth c 25m.

The CBRE sale of the Brennans duo, dubbed Project Halo, follows on reports of the intended advanced sale of the Flynn Group-owned Imperial Hotel on Corks South Mall, exclusively reported in the Irish Examiner last Friday and with the Imperials proposed sale proposal sent to the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) on Monday of this week.

The purchase price isnt yet known, but property sources say it may be in the region of 25m for the 200 year old, 100-bedroomed Imperial Hotel.

The CCPC identifies the suitor buyers as a company Belbyford, owned and controlled by Louis Fitzgerald and Helen Fitzgerald, who are listed as the majority shareholders and controllers of the Fitzgerald Group which owns two Dublin hotels.

Imperial owner John Flynn and Louis Fitzgerald last week declined to comment on the sale of Corks oldest Grande Dame hotel on South Mall.

Meanwhile, heritage town Kenmares leading hotel duo are now publicly on the market, intrinsically linked to hotelier Francis Brennan.

The Park was bought out of receivership in the 1980s, managed by Francis Brennan, when it was associated with a Dutch speculator Ernst Weeland who bought it for 147,000 after CIE put the one-time Great Southern Railway (GSR) hotel up for sale in 1977.

The Brennan brothers in the spa area of the Park hotel Kenmare. Picture: Dominick Walsh

Aged 70 this year, Francis Brennan will end a 41 year link with The Park, once sold, and now lives in a luxury apartment, one of 18 developed in the hotel grounds in the 2000s known as The Retreats, which he bought last year after selling his rural home off the Ring of Kerry.

The bar area of the Park Hotel was also recently renovated, engaging with London-based BOS studios. Picture: Domnick Walsh

The iconic Park is currently owned in a three-way partnership with his brother John, and investor Fergal Naughton, chair of Glen Dimplex who bought in after The Retreats sales timing in 2008 hit hard times for the Brennans.

The brothers, co-presenters of RTEs At Your Service which advises struggling hospitality ventures and is now in its 13th season, bought the Lansdowne in 2020 after it went into receivership. They then embarked on a 3m plus upgrade of both their Kenmare town hotels.

The entry way to the Lansdowne Hotel.

John Brennan will continue to separately own and run the Kenmare river-fronting Dromquinna Manor as a hotel/function venue and glamping business with his wife Gwen.

Live on the Pier at Dromquinna Manor in 2018.

CBREs Paul Collins said we are honoured to be appointed to sell these two hotel gems. The sale offers purchasers the opportunity to acquire the two hotels as a single lot, and benefit from the economies of scale, or they can be purchased individually.

The hotels are trading exceptionally well and there is the potential for further development adjacent to both properties, subject to obtaining planning permission, he added.

Vendors and brothers John and Francis Brennan said that after Franciss 43 years at the helm of the Park Hotel Kenmare we have taken the decision to exit on a high and place the hotel together with its sister property, the Lansdowne Kenmare, on the market.

They spent Tuesday afternoon contacting regular guests of the Park to tell them of their decision, they told Today with Claire Byrne on RTE radio yesterday.

As you can imagine it was not an easy or quick decision to make. The Park has enjoyed a wonderful life making many peoples stay with us memorable and while only in its infancy, The Lansdowne Kenmare, is following in its footsteps. Nothing is forever and while we have invested heavily in recent years to ensure both properties are pristine, we feel the time is right to take some time to ourselves, pursue other interests and business opportunities."

DETAILS: CBRE, 01 6185500
Norways king has appeared on the royal castles balcony to salute thousands of children as the Scandinavian country celebrates its Constitution Day.

Cheering and shouting and waving blue, white and red Norwegian flags, nursery youngsters and school pupils marched in front of the palace where Harald V, 86, and his wife, Queen Sonja, sat and waved back to the vast crowd, many of whom wore traditional costumes.

Wednesdays celebrations come two days after Harald was released from Oslos main hospital, where he was treated for an infection.

Elsewhere in the capital, the chairman of the Ukrainian parliament, Ruslan Stefanchuk, who was visiting his Norwegian counterpart, stood on another balcony and waved at a cheering flag-waving crowd, saying he hopes we as soon as possible can celebrate like this in Ukraine.

A view of the parade on Karl Johans gate on Norways Constitution Day (Frederik Ringnes/NTB Scanpix/AP)

The holiday marks the day the country commemorates the signing of the 1814 Constitution of Norway.

Earlier in the day, Haralds son and heir to the throne, Crown Prince Haakon, and his wife, Crown Princess Mette-Marit, had another march in front of their home,

Harald, who has been seen using crutches in recent years, has been admitted to hospital several times in recent months.

In August, he spent three days in hospital with a fever.

In December, he was admitted for an infection which needed intravenous antibiotics.

From left: Norways Crown Princess Mette-Marit, Prince Sverre Magnus, Crown Prince Haakon, Queen Sonja and King Harald V wave from the balcony at Skaugum, their official residence (Frederik Ringnes/NTB Scanpix/AP)

In October 2020, the king had surgery to replace a heart valve after being admitted to hospital with breathing difficulties.

Harald is Norways head of state but holds no political power so the duties are ceremonial.

He ascended to the throne after the death of his father, King Olav, in 1991.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Russia has agreed to extend a deal that has allowed Ukraine to ship grain through the Black Sea, helping ease a global food crisis exacerbated by the war Russia launched more than a year ago.

Mr Erdogan said on Wednesday that the deal would be extended for two months.
A 1,100-year-old Hebrew Bible that is one of the worlds oldest surviving biblical manuscripts sold for 38 million US dollars (30 million) in New York on Wednesday.

The Codex Sassoon, a leather-bound, handwritten parchment volume containing a nearly complete Hebrew Bible, was purchased by former US ambassador to Romania, Alfred H Moses, on behalf of the American Friends of ANU and donated to ANU Museum of the Jewish People in Tel Aviv, where it will join the collection, Sothebys said in a statement.

The manuscript was exhibited at the ANU Museum in March as part of a worldwide tour before the auction.

Sothebys Judaica specialist, Sharon Liberman Mintz, said the price tag, which includes the auction houses fee, reflects the profound power, influence, and significance of the Hebrew Bible, which is an indispensable pillar of humanity.

The Codex Sassoon sold in New York for 30 million (AP Photo/John Minchillo, File)

It is one of highest prices for a manuscript sold at auction.

In 2021, a rare copy of the US Constitution sold for 43 million dollars (34 million). Leonardo da Vincis Codex Leicester sold for 31 million dollars (25 million) in 1994, or around 60 million dollars (48 million) in todays dollars.

Ms Mintz said she was absolutely delighted by todays monumental result and that Codex Sassoon will shortly be making its grand and permanent return to Israel, on display for the world to see.

The Codex Sassoon is believed to have been fabricated in the ninth or 10th century.

It got its name in 1929 when it was purchased by David Solomon Sassoon, a son of an Iraqi Jewish business magnate who filled his London home with his collection of Jewish manuscripts.

Mr Sassoons estate was broken up after he died and the biblical codex was sold by Sothebys in Zurich in 1978 to the British Rail Pension Fund for about 320,000 dollars (256,000).

The pension fund sold the Codex Sassoon 11 years later to Jacqui Safra, a banker and art collector, who bought it in 1989 for 3.19 million dollars (2.5 million). Mr Safra was the seller on Wednesday.
Burma BREAKING: Cyclone Mochas Death Toll Reaches 202 in Myanmar

A girl draws water from a pump at the damaged Basara refugee camp in Sittwe on May 16, 2023, in the wake of Cyclone Mocha. / AFP

The death toll from Cyclone Mocha in Myanmar exceeded 200 on Wednesday as people on the ground started clearing away debris and counting casualties, with many fearing the death toll will climb far higher as hundreds are still missing.

Mocha made landfall on Myanmars west coast in Rakhine State on Sunday with winds of up to 195 km (120 miles) per hour, before crossing into neighboring Chin State and Sagaing and Magwe regions. Aside from the human deaths, it left a trail of destruction, crippling power pylons, smashing wooden homes and fishing boats, and inundating tens of thousands of plantations.

Rakhine State is the hardest hit, with the most vulnerable group being the Rohingya refugees living in camps near the state capital Sittwe.

As of Wednesday noon, nearly 130 Rohingya people in 11 camps were reported killed by the storm, according to the Alin Yaung volunteer group, which has been gathering casualty figures on the ground. Sittwe has 13 Rohingya camps, which are home to more than 100,000 people.

Many were killed by flash floods caused by storm surges, while others were struck by trees felled by strong winds, especially in San Pya (also known as Basara), Dar Pai, Bayda and Thae Chaung villages, where camps are located.

The volunteers said they had buried 110 bodies, including those of 30 children, according to Islamic funeral rites.

The number of injured people is very high. There will be more deaths, as hundreds of people are missing due to the floods, said one of the volunteers from Alin Yaung.

At least 46 people died in two other Rohingya villages, Bu Ma and nearby Khaung Doke Kar, in Sittwe, AFP reported.

Residents of the camps said Myanmar junta soldiers arrived in 10 trucks to evacuate them prior to the storm, but many were reluctant to move out due to a lack of proper cyclone shelters, while also believing that the storm would not be that serious. The soldiers took some elderly people to makeshift shelters.

There are only two shelters, at Thae Chaung and Kaung Taka villages. Each has capacity for just 500 people. The others are makeshift shelters at schools and hospitals that were already full. If there had been enough cyclone shelters, the death toll wouldnt have been so high, said a Rohingya man from Thet Kae Pyin Village who requested anonymity for fear of reprisal by the regime.

The United Nations refugee office said it was investigating reports that Rohingya living in displacement camps had been killed in the storm.

In the state capital, five people were killedincluding one woman who died when the building she took shelter in was damagedaccording to local rescue team the Myitta Yaungchi Foundation.

Myanmars regime-controlled media reported on Tuesday that 13 people were killed when a monastery collapsed in a village in Rathedaung Township and a woman died when a building collapsed in a neighboring village. The day before, it said there were five deaths caused by the storm, without giving details.

In Ponnagyun Township, one man was killed by the storm, according to local people.

The cyclone also killed three people each in Sagaing and Magwe regions while leaving a trail of destruction including flooded farms and damaged homes.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said its early estimates indicate that nearly 3.2 million people are considered to be most vulnerable and likely to have humanitarian needs.

Rapid needs assessments (RNAs) and some preliminary distributions will start once approval is granted in six priority townships in Rakhine, said OCHAs flash update on Tuesday, meaning they are still waiting for the regimes approval to provide assistance.

Meanwhile in Rakhine, relief and support for cyclone victims from the regime and aid agencies had yet to arrive as of Wednesday, according to local rescue teams and volunteers.

Junta media aired footage of aid supplies for Rakhine being loaded onto a ship in the commercial hub Yangon.

A member of the Myitta Yaungchi Foundation, a local rescue team that has been conducting relief activities in Sittwe, said, We all are now in self-reliance mode, adding that their stocks of rice for victims were dwindling.

In Thet Kae Pyin Village, Rohingya people injured by the storm are still in their homes, treating themselves with any remedies available while sharing their food with others.

No help, no UN. We are on our own, said a volunteer.
Burma Cyclone Mocha Causes Heavy Damage in Chin State

Cyclone Mochas damage in Hakha on Monday. / Supplied

More than 1,200 houses are reported to have been damaged by Cyclone Mocha across Chin State, the United Nations reported on Tuesday.

By Wednesday Myanmars death toll reached 202.

Myanmars civilian National Unity Government (NUG) said on Tuesday that about 1,136 houses were destroyed by the cyclone in Chin State.

The NUG reported landslides in Hakha and Paletwa townships.

A Chin Fire Services Department official reported that rescue teams are not able to reach Paletwa due to security concerns. He said there were no communications with Paletwa and Matupi townships.

The Global Khumi Generation, an expat organization helping Paletwa, said a landslide hit a church construction site in Sami town.

A representative of the group said a fever has been spreading through Paletwa and Sami since the cyclone.

We cannot contact our families. We hear Sami is still flooded, she said.

Mocha made landfall in Rakhine State on Sunday with winds of up to 195km (120 miles) per hour before crossing into neighboring Chin State and Sagaing and Magwe regions.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said some international staff cannot be reaped in Rakhine and Chin states.

A Chinland Defense Force representative in Mindat, Chin State, said the anti-regime organization and the Mindat Township Administration Body are assisting about 200 people left homeless by Mocha.

The reports of damage will increase when the phone lines are restored, he said.
Burma Cyclone Mocha Death Toll Rises to 81 in Myanmar

People carry the body of a victim of Cyclone Mocha during a funeral near Basara refugee camp in Sittwe, Rakhine State on May 16, 2023. / AFP

BU MA VILLAGE, Rakhine StateThe death toll in cyclone-hit Myanmar rose to at least 81 on Tuesday, according to local leaders, officials and state media, as villagers tried to piece together ruined homes and waited for aid and support.

Mocha made landfall on Sunday with winds of up to 195 km (120 miles) per hour, downing power pylons and smashing wooden fishing boats to splinters.

At least 46 people died in the Rakhine State villages of Bu Ma and nearby Khaung Doke Kar, inhabited by the persecuted Rohingya Muslim minority, local leaders told AFP reporters at the scene.

Thirteen people were killed when a monastery collapsed in a village in Rathedaung Township north of Rakhines capital Sittwe, and a woman died when a building collapsed in a neighboring village, according to Myanmar state broadcaster MRTV.

There will be more deaths, as more than a hundred people are missing, said Karlo, the head of Bu Ma Village near Sittwe.

Nearby, Aa Bul Hu Son, 66, said prayers at the grave of his daughter, whose body was recovered on Tuesday morning.

I wasnt in good health before the cyclone, so we were delayed in moving to another place, he told AFP.

While we were thinking about moving, the waves came immediately and took us.

I just found her body in the lake in the village and buried her right away. I cant find any words to express my loss.

Other residents walked the seashore searching for family members swept away by a storm surge that accompanied the cyclone, AFP correspondents said.

Nine people died in Dapaing Camp for displaced Rohingya near Sittwe, its leader told AFP, adding the camp was cut off and lacked supplies.

People cannot come to our camp because bridges are broken we need help, he said.

One person was killed in Ohn Taw Chay Village and six in Ohn Taw Gyi, local leaders and officials told AFP.

State media had reported five deaths on Monday, without offering details.

Mocha was the most powerful cyclone to hit the area in more than a decade, churning up villages, uprooting trees and knocking out communications across much of Rakhine State.

China said it was willing to provide emergency disaster relief assistance, according to a statement on the Facebook page of its embassy in Myanmar.

No one has come to ask

The United Nations refugee office said it was investigating reports that Rohingya living in displacement camps had been killed in the storm.

It was working to start rapid needs assessments in hard-hit areas of Rakhine State, it added.

Widely viewed as interlopers in Myanmar, the Rohingya are denied citizenship and healthcare, and require permission to travel outside their villages in western Rakhine State.

Many others live in camps after being displaced by decades of ethnic conflict in the state.

In neighboring Bangladesh, officials told AFP that no one had died in the cyclone, which passed close to sprawling refugee camps that house almost one million Rohingya who fled a Myanmar military crackdown in 2017.

Although the impact of the cyclone could have been much worse, the refugee camps have been severely affected, leaving thousands desperately needing help, the UN said as it made an urgent appeal for aid late Monday.

Cyclonesthe equivalent of hurricanes in the North Atlantic or typhoons in the Northwest Pacificare a regular and deadly menace on the coast of the northern Indian Ocean where tens of millions of people live.

Non-profit ClimateAnalytics said rising temperatures may have contributed to Cyclone Mochas intensity.

We can see sea surface temperatures in the Bay of Bengal in the last month have been significantly higher than they were even 20 years ago, said the groups Peter Pfleiderer.

Warmer oceans allow storms to gather power, quickly, and this has devastating consequences for people.

On Tuesday, contact was slowly being restored with Sittwe, which is home to around 150,000 people, AFP reporters said, with roads being cleared and internet connections re-established.

Photos released by state media showed Rakhine-bound aid being loaded onto a ship in the commercial hub Yangon.

Rohingya villagers told AFP they were yet to receive any assistance.

No government, no organization has come to our village, said Kyaw Swar Win, 38, from Basara Village.

We havent eaten for two days We havent got anything and all I can say is that no one has even come to ask.
Burma Cyclone Mocha Destroys Myanmars Farmland in Sagaing and Magwe

Flooded farmland in Myaung Township, Sagaing Region. / Ko Nway Oo in Myaung

Cyclone Mocha flooded huge swathes of Sagaing Region farmland with deaths and property damage also reported in neighboring Magwe Region.

The storm made landfall on Myanmars west coast in Rakhine State on Sunday with winds of up to 195km (120 miles) per hour, before crossing into neighboring Chin State and Sagaing and Magwe regions.

Over 40 square kilometers in the west of Khin-U Township in Sagaing Region have been inundated since Sunday.

A Khin-U resident said: Farms are flooded and we cant pump water away as the river is still swollen. The crops will probably be ruined.

Mung beans and sesame seeds are grown in Khin-U Township.

Around 70 percent of farms could have been damaged in neighboring Depayin Township with beans fields flooded, said Depayin Brothers, a civil society organization.

Sagaing is one of Myanmars anti-regime resistance strongholds and junta troops raided villages in Khin-U on Sunday during the storms, displacing around 3,000 residents, according to villagers.

A resident said: Displaced people cant return to their homes. They are staying in the forest and are short of food. Some are using tarpaulins over their ox carts for shelter.

In Salingyi Township, five villages, including three torched by junta soldiers, were flooded, said Anyar Pyit Taing Htaung Lay, a group helping the displaced.

It rained continuously. Huts used by displaced villagers on the Chindwin riverbank were swept away. They have had to find new shelters, said a member of the group.

In Yinmabin Township in southern Sagaing, thousands were displaced when an irrigation canal burst its banks.

Displaced villagers are taking shelter at monasteries and need food and medicine, said a resident.

Flooding hit paddy, mung bean, black gram and sesame farms in Myaung Township, according to the Civil Defense and Security Organization in Myaung.

More than 13,000 villagers in Kani Township fled into forests amid heavy rain following junta raids on May 12. Roads into the area are flooded.

In the Magwe Region town of Sin Phyu Kyun, three people were swept away by a swollen river and hundreds of houses were damaged when flash floods came down off the Rakhine Yoma mountains and Chin hills.

Three people and at least 100 cattle died in the floods, said a Sin Phyu Kyun resident who is helping with the rescue work.

The power of the storm took Sin Phyu Kyun residents by surprise. There were no warnings or help from the juntas administration, according to residents.

A Sin Phyu Kyun resident told The Irrawaddy on Tuesday: The flood appeared in about five minutes. We had no time to prepare and the damage was heavy. The water has not retreated yet and no rescue teams have arrived.

In Saw Township displacement camps were destroyed and farms flooded but the extent of the damage is unknown because communications are down, said Gangaw District Peoples Authority.
Burma Cyclone Victims in Myanmars Rakhine Struggle Amid Lack of Aid, Soaring Prices

A residential area in Sittwe in the wake of Cyclone Mocha / The Irrawaddy

Cyclone-hit Rakhine residents are struggling to repair their homes amid surging commodity prices as humanitarian assistance has yet to arrive from either the countrys ruling regime or international aid agencies after the strongest storm in 16 years hit Myanmars western coastal state.

Cyclone Mocha made landfall on Myanmars west coast in Rakhine State on Sunday with winds of up to 195 km (120 miles) per hour, before crossing into neighboring Chin State and Sagaing and Magwe regions. As of Wednesday, the death toll had reached 202.

Rakhine is hardest hit with around 90 percent of buildings in the states capital Sittwe damaged by the cyclone, according to residents.

On Monday, the Myanmar junta declared 17 townships of Rakhine State to be storm-hit areas.

Residents of those areas said the debris was cleared by local volunteer groups and emergency aid was delivered by local philanthropic organizations. They said no assistance had been received from international organizations or the military junta despite three days having passed since the storm.

A volunteer from Mrauk-U Township said villagers near Mrauk-U town werent able to repair their houses and were waiting for help from well-wishers. Mrauk-U suffered badly from the cyclone with almost all the houses in the town and nearby villages destroyed on Sunday.

Neither in the town nor in the villages, no rescue team has come yet, a Mrauk-U volunteer told The Irrawaddy.

The main challenge facing residents is surging commodity prices. The prices of aluminum roofing sheets and roofing iron have risen five-fold, greatly adding to their problems.

As for those who are poor, they have to live like this regardless of the situation, a spokesperson for the Ponnagyun Youth Organization told The Irrawaddy.

Although firefighters and some police helped to clean up debris in the town, the locals were mostly relying on local charity organizations, he said.

We urgently need drinking water for the villages in Ponnagyun because all the wells have been destroyed by the sea water, he told The Irrawaddy, referring to the storm surges caused by the cyclone.

He called on the regime and all international organizations to deliver humanitarian aid as soon as possible because both the town and villages in Ponnagyun Township were completely destroyed by the cyclone.

In the current situation, the government has to be involved as the capacity of local civil society groups is limited, he told The Irrawaddy.

On Tuesday, regime-controlled media aired footage of aid supplies for Rakhine being loaded onto a ship in the commercial hub Yangon.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said in its flash update on Tuesday that Rapid needs assessments (RNAs) and some preliminary distributions will start once approval is granted in six priority townships in Rakhine, meaning they are still waiting for the regimes approval to provide assistance.

A resident of Pauktaw Township said all the villages in the township were severely damaged by the storm although Pauktaw Town fared less badly.

We need water and food. Both vegetable crops and lakes have been destroyed by the storm, he told The Irrawaddy.

Currently, only rich residents can repair their houses while poor people are still living in the ruins of their destroyed homes, he said.

On Monday, the United League of Arakan called for immediate help and assistance from leading countries, Association of Southeast Asian Nations member states and other international actors, urging them to deliver immediate relief and necessities to the affected communities.

Like Rakhine State, townships in Sagaing Region suffered flooding following the cyclone, with rice fields and houses destroyed.

Villages in Pale, Khin-U, Sagaing, Salingyi, Ayadaw and Yinmabin were damaged by flooding on Sunday, according to local information groups.

Their crops were damaged by the flood. Currently, they need food assistance, a Pale resident told The Irrawaddy.
At the moment, the halting of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) humanitarian movement is mainly due to the fact that the organization is in dialogue with all decision-makers regarding the need for some clarification of procedures. Zara Amatuni, the Communication and Prevention Program Manager of the ICRC Armenia office, told NEWS.am.

May 17, 2023, 15:07 Humanitarian aid through Lachin corridor still suspended

STEPANAKERT, MAY 17, ARTSAKHPRESS: "We hope that as a result of reaching an agreement, the organization will be able to resume its humanitarian work," added Amatuni.

The last time a medical patient was transferred to Armenia from Artsakh through the mediation of the ICRC was on April 29.
War Against the Junta Dozens of Myanmar Junta Forces Killed in Five Days of Resistance Attacks

A resistance fighter of Cobra Column during a recent clash with regime forces in Myawaddy Township / Squadron 4 of Cobra Column

At least 37 Myanmar junta troops were killed in the last five days as Peoples Defense Forces (PDF) and an ethnic armed organization (EAO) continued to attack regime targets across the country.

Incidents were reported in Tanintharyi, Bago, Mandalay and Sagaing regions and Kayah and Karen states.

The Irrawaddy has rounded up the following reports of significant attacks from the PDFs and EAO.

Some military casualty figures could not be independently verified.

Regime forces bombed in Tanintharyi



Resistance groups shell regime forces in Maung Mal Shaung Village in Dawei Township last Friday. / Oak Owe Column (Dawei)

Oak Awe Column (Dawei), which comprises several local PDF groups, claimed to have killed 18 junta soldiers when it used 40-mm and 60-mm mortar rounds to shell regime forces preparing to build a junta outpost near Maung Mal Shaung Village in Dawei Township, Tanintharyi Region last Friday.

The PDF groups conducted the attack after using drones to scout the location of regime forces.

All resistance members retreated from the area without any casualties.

On Sunday, Oak Awe Column said it coordinated with Dawei Collective Column to kill Ko Nay Min, a Pyu Saw Htee militia member trained and armed by the military regime at Pakaryi Village in the township.

The victim was notorious for oppressing residents and had served as a guide for military detachments in the township.

Military checkpoint raided in Tanintharyi

At least two regime soldiers were killed and three injured during a clash in Dawei Township, Tanintharyi Region on Sunday when local resistance groups jointly raided a military checkpoint on the Yangon-Dawei highway in Phayar Mae Village, local media were told by Dawei District PDF Battalion 1, which coordinated the attack.

During an hourlong firefight, two PDF fighters were also injured by junta explosives.

Junta base raided in Mandalay

At least five regime forces including pro-junta Pyu Saw Htee militia members were killed in Myingyan Township, Mandalay Region on Saturday when 10 PDF groups attempted to occupy a military base in Nal Char Village, said the resistance group Myingyan Ranger, which joined the raid.

The PDF fighters managed to enter the junta base, but were forced to retreat before they could seize the camp due to bad weather triggered by Cyclone Mocha.

Five regime forces killed in ambush, clash in Bago

Bago Region PDF said its member Pyay District PDF Battalion 3601 managed to kill three regime forces during a land-mine ambush of five regime forces who were traveling to collect drinking water from a creek in Paungde Township, Bago Region on Monday evening.

After the ambush, regime forces stationed at a monastery in nearby Thein Kone Village randomly opened fire in the area as they evacuated injured soldiers and retrieved the bodies of dead troops.

On Saturday, two Pyay District PDF Battalions clashed with a military detachment traveling in the Bago Yoma mountain range in Paungde Township, killing two soldiers and injuring five others.

Regime forces ambushed in Sagaing



Resistance fighters attack regime forces at Technology University in Monywa town on Monday. / MFG

At least three regime forces were killed in Monywa town, Sagaing Region on Monday morning when three PDF groups jointly conducted a surprise attack on regime forces stationed at Technology University, said the urban resistance organization Monywa Fighter Group, which joined the ambush.

Fierce clash breaks out in Kayah



Resistance fighters of Demoso PDF engage in a clash with regime forces in Demoso Township on Tuesday. / Demoso PDF

Some regime forces are thought to have been killed or injured in Demoso Township, Kayah State on Tuesday evening when Demoso PDF members clashed with regime troops on a mountain, said Demoso PDF group.

All PDF fighters retreated from the clash site without casualties after regime troops fired a large number of heavy explosives.

Clashes continue in Karen



Resistance fighters of Cobra Column during a recent clash with regime forces in Myawaddy Township / Squadron 4 of Cobra column

At least three regime forces were killed and a dozen injured in Myawaddy Township, Karen State on Sunday and Monday as combined resistance groups including the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA), the armed wing of the Karen Nation Union, attacked a large number of regime forces attempting to occupy areas controlled by the resistance groups, said Cobra Column, which coordinated the resistance attacks.

The Myanmar junta has been attempting to occupy the areas for months by deploying a large number of troops from several military battalions as well as several aircraft and heavy weapons.
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.
Democrat Donna Deegans decisive win over a Republican in the Jacksonville mayors race will make her the first woman to hold the job in the Florida citys history, sparking a flicker of hope for a besieged Democratic Party that has few levers of power in a state dominated in recent years by the GOP
Maryland Gov. Wes Moore signs one of several gun-control measures during a bill-signing ceremony on Tuesday, May 16, 2023, in Annapolis, Md. One of the bills signed by the governor generally prohibits a person from wearing, carrying or transporting a gun into areas like schools or health care facilities.
On May 17, the International Committee of the Red Cross has resumed the transportation of medicines and other medical supplies through the Lachine Corridor for the health sector.

May 17, 2023, 16:35 ICRC resumed the transfer of medical supplies through the Lachin Corridor

STEPANAKERT, MAY 17, ARTSAKHPRESS: Eteri Musayelyan, the responsible of the Public Relations Department of the ICRC Artsakh office, told Artsakhpress.

"Discussions are underway with all decision-makers in order to resume the other activities, as well" added Musayelyan.
The Azerbaijani Armed Forces opened fire at an Armenian military position deployed in the direction of Sotk around 16:15, May 17.

May 17, 2023, 17:24 Azerbaijanis opened fire in direction of Sotk. Armenian soldier wounded

STEPANAKERT, MAY 17, ARTSAKHPRESS: As a result an Armenian soldier was wounded.

Then the Azerbaijani forces opened fire at the ambulance which was evacuating the wounded soldier. The ambulance medic was wounded in the shooting, the defense ministry said.

The Defense Ministry said it will provide additional information on the condition of the wounded soldier and medic.
The serviceman who received gunshot wounds as a result of the fire opened by the Azerbaijani armed forces in the direction of the Armenian position in the direction of Sotk on May 17, died before being taken to the hospital, informed MoD Armenia.

May 17, 2023, 19:32 Soldier wounded by Azerbaijani Armed Forces died on the way to hospital

STEPANAKERT, MAY 17, ARTSAKHPRESS: The health condition of the wounded paramedic is assessed as satisfactory and his life is not in danger.
By Mata Press Service

& Tazeen Inam

New Canadian Media

The Federal Government will be pumping $65 million in funding extensions to service provider organizations to help new Canadians settle in the country.

The funding will be used to continue delivering important settlement services, including pre-arrival services, services for racialized newcomer women, and language training for newcomers in Francophone minority communities.

Settlement services are key to setting up newcomers for success in Canada. They provide newcomers with the information and support they need to make informed decisions about their new lives in Canada before and after they arrive, which helps them successfully transition into their communities and find work faster, said Immigration Canada in a statement.

The 15 service provider organizations with funding extensions for pre-arrival services serve clients in their country of origin and are based in British Columbia, Manitoba, Nova Scotia, Ontario and abroad.

This investment will allow Canada to continue supporting the needs of newcomers across the world, said Marie-France Lalonde, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship

Among the organizations that received funding extensions were S.U.C.C.E.S.S. , which was founded in 1973 by a passionate group of volunteers who wanted to contribute back to Canada. It is a non-partisan, non-profit multicultural Canadian organization with a proud 50-year history of serving newcomers, seniors, youth and families.

Since 2008, our Active Engagement and Integration Project (AEIP) has delivered pre-arrival settlement services to more than 41,000 newcomers from 155 countries, said Queenie Choo, CEO of S.U.C.C.E.S.S.

Kim Jenkinson, executive director of HMC Connections in Oakville, Ont., said the resettlement sector is expanding as Canada welcomes more immigrants and there is a growing number of jobs available in the field.

The settlement experience itself is so complex and sometimes disheartening, that they (new immigrants) really do want to help people manage more easily through the processes, she said.

Social services in general are popular among immigrants for employment and volunteerism. And in particular, the settlement sector prioritizes hiring people who are bilingual in jobs ranging from front desk staff to settlement and employment counsellors, housing support, and language enhancement services.

When I think of the people, we have to work for us  there are doctors, lawyers, architects, engineers  many of whom have just decided to stay with us instead of pursuing their original careers, Jenkinson said. Some because of the barriers of additional education, some because they found they enjoy helping people.

Nyanquoi Suah came to Canada after 15 years in refugee camps in Guinea and Ghana. He was born in Liberia, one of six children, and raised by a single mom in a village with no school. He trekked about six kilometres each way to attend primary school in a nearby town. Suah was a good student and though he lived in poverty and was often bullied by his classmates for having no shoes, his mother encouraged him to study to create a better future for himself.

Nyanquoi Suah with the Minister of Immigration, Refugee and Citizenship Canada, the Honorable Sean Fraser, during the 2022 OCASI Leaders Forum that focused on current and emerging immigration and refugee issues in Ontario. Suah represented his organization during this forum. Photo supplied.

Moms advice shaped me to be resilient and look for positives in any given lifes challenges, and I was able to overcome hardships and systemic barriers in Canada as a newcomer, Suah said.

He now uses that same energy to help the new Canadians he works with as a manager with a refugee resettlement program in a federally funded agency-Progress Career Planning Institute in Toronto.

He helps newcomers to obtain their professional accreditation and to navigate the licensing process to integrate into Canadian society.

I use my lived experience to motivate them, and I dont call them clients. I call them fellow immigrants.

Rasha Abdulsattar is a self-employed immigration consultant who supports people with their immigration process and applications. She also helps new immigrants access community resources.

She says her clients are like family. While helping them to get their permanent residency, Abdulsattar tries to build their confidence but also prepares them for the challenges they are likely to face.

She supports them in upgrading their education, enhancing their skills, career change and getting jobs.

She recalled a client inspired by her who earned a community social worker certificate.

I was able to build a great relationship with them, and gaining their trust is a big achievement for me, Abdulsattar said.

Abdulsattar escaped sectarian violence and military groups in Iraq that were kidnapping and killing civilians working with foreign organizations. Her husband, who was a United Nations logistics manager in Iraq, was safely removed from the country and posted in Sudan. Militants demanded he return, or they would kill Abdulsattars son. The family arrived in Canada in 2014 via Lebanon on humanitarian and compassionate grounds.

When my husband was with us, I lived with this fear that I didnt want to be a widow with small children, she said.

Abdulsattar and her children planned to move to Jordan, but she couldnt afford the cost to migrate. Instead, they moved to Syria and her husband was able to visit. After three years, her husband was posted in Lebanon, a 45-minute drive from Syria. The family moved to Lebanon, then three years later, in 2014, they decided to make Canada their home.

I am grateful to the opportunity which was given to me by God to me in Canada with my children and seeing them growing and learning, she said.
Guest Commentary

By Deborah Jaremko

Nearly 2,000 people are expected to gather at the Vancouver Convention Centre this June to learn about advancing Indigenous leadership in the Canadian economy.

It the fourth year for the Indigenous Partnerships Success Showcase (IPSS), which event organizers say has grown rapidly with the rising tide of Indigenous success, especially in the energy sector.

Every year, hundreds of business executives, government officials and Indigenous leaders gather at IPSS from across Canada because they are inspired by the achievements of Indigenous communities and their partners, and because they want to see how they can achieve similar success alongside their partners, says Chief Ian Campbell, a hereditary chief and former elected councillor of the Squamish Nation.

For a second year, IPSS is chaired by Chief Campbell. Along with Chief Campbell, IPSS is steered by an Indigenous-led governing council with members from diverse industries across the country, in partnership with B.C.-based advocacy group Resource Works.

The impact of Indigenous ownership in Canadian energy is growing. The world's first Indigenous-led LNG project  Cedar LNG, jointly owned by the Haisla Nation and Pembina Pipeline  now has provincial and federal approval.

Last year, 39 Indigenous communities in B.C. and Alberta launched ownership of oil and gas pipelines.

In Alberta, 23 First Nation and Mis communities are now approximately 12 percent owners of seven Enbridge oil sands pipelines, the largest Indigenous energy transaction ever in North America.

In B.C., 16 Indigenous communities will become 10 percent owners of the Coastal GasLink pipeline once it is completed in 2023.

Lessons from these partnerships in energy can help inform successful strategies across the Canadian economy, Chief Campbell says.

The business community cant afford to miss out on this rising tide of Indigenous success. In fact, in every sector across Canada, there are opportunities for Indigenous communities and the business world to work together to achieve great things.

This year event, to be held June 1-2, will feature a discussion of sectors ranging from energy and mining to sustainable seafood, Indigenizing urban buildings, and the digital economy.

Sessions include perspectives of young Indigenous leaders, strategies for capitalizing Indigenous businesses, pathways for economic reconciliation, and dialogue in the traditional Skwxwu7mesh (Squamish) language.

The event is all about shared prosperity, growing out of a conversation that began in 2019 as B.C. became the first jurisdiction in Canada to pass legislation implementing the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP).

Were on the brink of a movement. To us, that movement is defined by a partnership, says Chief Campbell. Its a vision quickly taken up by our team and the many Indigenous partners who have made our annual event possible, and to the many who have attended over the years and continue to join us.

For more information and to register, click here.

Deborah Jaremko is director of content for the Canadian Energy Centre,
Today

Periods of rain. High around 65F. Winds NE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 90%.

Tonight

Periods of rain. Low 52F. Winds NNE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 80%. Rainfall near a quarter of an inch.

Tomorrow

Rain. High 58F. Winds NNE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 90%. Rainfall near a half an inch.
Ecuadoran President Guillermo Lasso, who is currently facing impeachment proceedings in congress for alleged corruption, has issued a decree dissolving the legislature.

The unpopular conservative presidents office released the decree abruptly stating that Lasso is dissolving the opposition-led National Assembly due to a grave political crisis and national commotion.

By dissolving the congress, Lasso has requested that the National Electoral Council (CNE) call new elections.

This is the first time in Ecuadors history that a president has dissolved the legislature. As per law, the CNE must convene new presidential and legislative elections to finish out the current term within seven days of the publication of the decree.

Until a new National Assembly is sworn in, Lasso can rule by decree, with checks by the constitutional court.

Lassos impeachment trial opened in congress on Tuesday, amid a spike in violence related to drug trafficking in the South American country and widespread anger over the rising cost of living. Lasso is highly unpopular.

The left-wing opposition has accused Lasso of knowing about alleged corruption in state-owned companies, in which his brother-in-law Danilo Carrera and a businessman accused of drug trafficking have been implicated.

In a statement given on state television Wednesday, Lasso defended his decision to dissolve the National Assembly, stating that his democratic decision not only conforms to the constitution, but also gives the Ecuadorian people the possibility to decide through new elections.

Ecuadors congress attempted to impeach Lasso in June, during violent protests against the rising cost of living, but failed by 12 votes.

A similar political drama played out in neighboring Peru last year when then-president Pedro Castillo, also facing corruption allegations, tried to dissolve congress in December to rule by decree, resulting in his arrest and imprisonment on charges of rebellion.

(AFP)
Commentary

By Jason Dean

Would you spend more time at work if it were to make you worse off financially? I know I wouldnt. But this is the unfortunate reality for many low-income Canadians who rely on social assistance to make ends meet. By working, or working more, recipients lose a large portion of each new dollar they earn  to taxes, reduced income support and withdrawal of other in-kind benefits.

This phenomenon has been called the welfare wall or welfare trap. Workers run into when they start moving from welfare to self-sufficiency and, as they earn more, start losing government support and paying taxes like ordinary workers.

Its the very problem the Canada Workers Benefit (CWB) was meant to address when it was introduced in 2007. Its stated aim was to make work pay by enabling low-income workers to keep more of their earnings, thus further encouraging their return to employment.

But the road to hell is paved with good intentions.

The first problem with the CWB is the timing of its disbursements. It is handed out once a year, during tax season. But the lost benefits and new taxes incurred by low-income Canadians currently relying on welfare and looking to take on a new job occur in real-time  and can be substantial. In Quebec, for instance, every dollar you earn past $200 per month loses you a dollar in benefits. Thats a 100 percent tax rate! Ontario is not as bad  you only lose 50 cents for every dollar earned  but its still a very sharp clawback, and its made even worse when you add income and payroll taxes to the mix, as well as the loss of non-monetary benefits such as insurance coverage.

In both provinces, benefits are lost the moment you start earning income, thus digging a hole worth a few hundred dollars in the monthly budgets of those who already have very little. For someone living paycheque to paycheque now, the prospect of being compensated a year from now for lost benefits is scant comfort. Unlike the Canada Workers Benefit, your bills wont wait until the end of the year to pile up.

To its credit, the federal government has recognized this problem. Unfortunately, its proposed solution of making payments quarterly as of this year falls short of the ideal. How many bills are due only every three months?

The government must make CWB payments bi-weekly  the same frequency as most peoples paycheques. Bi-weekly payments would directly link the decision to work with the mechanism designed to reduce the impact of lost benefits. Its not as if more frequent deposits are unprecedented. Ottawa already makes monthly deposits of the GST/HST tax credit and the Canada Child Benefit.

Reform also needs to address the work disincentive directly. As it stands, the CWB is almost entirely phased-out once a person starts working full-time  even at minimum wage. It is so low, in fact, that the CWB does almost nothing to offset clawbacks on earnings.

Without the CWB, an Ontarian working full-time at minimum wage would give back to the government 44 cents of every dollar they earn once clawbacks and taxes are taken into account. With the paltry CWB payments they would get, it goes down to 43 cents per dollar. As far as motivating tools go, this cant be very effective. The net effect is to spend more of taxpayers money keeping people dependent because of a failure in policy design.

Its estimated that in Ontario alone, a targeted 20 percent top-up for transitioning to full-time work on the Canada Workers Benefit  if paid biweekly  could help convince 190,000 Ontarians to take full-time jobs instead of part-time or welfare payments. This alone would generate $120 million in net savings for taxpayers. This is the conclusion we reached based on data from the Self-Sufficiency Project, a rigorous Canadian study looking at the effects of monetary incentives for welfare recipients and the adoption of full-time employment.

This $120 million in net savings for taxpayers is even after the costs of program expansion are taken into account, as it would lower what we have to spend on welfare and yield new tax revenues from those new jobs. And thats just in one province, albeit Canadas largest.

Its also important to note that this change would only impact those who are able to work but are stuck behind the welfare wall, not all welfare recipients, many of whom cant work.

As it stands, the Canada Workers Benefit simply doesnt work for Canadian workers. Fifteen years into this experiment, its time to make the changes that will allow it to succeed as intended.

Jason Dean, associate researcher at the Montreal Economic Institute, is assistant professor of economics at Kings University College at Western Ontario.
A Chinese fishing vessel carrying 17 Chinese, 17 Indonesian, and five Filipino sailors has capsized in the central Indian Ocean, as per state media reports released on Wednesday.

The multinational search and rescue operation is currently underway to find and rescue the missing crew members of Lu Peng Yuan Yu 028.

Premier Li Qiang urged relevant ministries to establish robust safety measures for sea-bound fishing operations.

The capsized boat belongs to one of Chinas principal state-run fishing companies, Penglai Jinglu Fishery Co. Overfishing has prompted the Chinese fishermen to sail further afield, resulting in a slew of maritime disputes and accidents.

A Chinese fishing vessel carrying 39 crew members, including 17 Chinese, 17 Indonesian, and five Filipino sailors, has capsized in the central Indian Ocean, as per state media reports released on Wednesday.

The vessel, Lu Peng Yuan Yu 028, belongs to one of Chinas principal state-run fishing companies, Penglai Jinglu Fishery Co. The multinational search and rescue operation is currently underway to find and rescue the missing crew members.

Overfishing has prompted Chinese fishermen to sail further afield, resulting in a slew of maritime disputes and accidents.

The capsizing of Lu Peng Yuan Yu 028 is the latest in a series of incidents that have brought attention to the risks involved in sea-bound fishing operations.

Premier Li Qiang has urged relevant ministries to establish robust safety measures for such operations.

China has the worlds largest fishing fleet, with about 17,000 vessels. The countrys appetite for seafood has led to a depletion of fish stocks in its own waters, prompting Chinese fishermen to venture further afield.

This has resulted in disputes with other countries over fishing rights and territorial waters. In recent years, China has been accused of overfishing in the South China Sea, which has led to a deterioration of the marine ecosystem.

The capsizing of Lu Peng Yuan Yu 028 highlights the dangers that fishermen face while working in the high seas.

The vessel was reportedly hit by a strong wave before it capsized. The multinational rescue operation involves Chinese, Indonesian, and Filipino authorities. The Chinese embassy in Indonesia has also sent a team to assist with the rescue efforts.

The incident has sparked calls for better regulation of the fishing industry. Environmental groups have long been calling for measures to be put in place to protect marine ecosystems from overfishing and other harmful practices.

The capsizing of Lu Peng Yuan Yu 028 is a tragic reminder of the need for better safety measures and more sustainable fishing practices.

As Chinas fishing fleet continues to expand, it is vital that the industry is regulated to ensure the safety of fishermen and the sustainability of the worlds oceans.
Floods in Italys Emilia Romagna region caused by heavy rains have resulted in two deaths, according to authorities on Wednesday.

The local mayors are warning residents that they are still in danger. At the moment there are two dead the emergency is still underway, the region said, with some people trying desperately overnight to save children and the elderly from rising waters.

The victims were a man in Forli, near Bologna, and another in Cesena, whose wife was also missing, said the region.

A third victim was found on Wednesday on a beach in Cesenatico, according to media reports. The civil protection agency said 14 rivers had broken their banks across the region between Tuesday and Wednesday, and 23 towns were flooded.

Staff took to Twitter to urge maximum caution, with mayors warning people to stay on high ground. Civil Protection Minister Nello Musumeci stated that about 5,000 people have been evacuated, but that number might rise.

Photographs showed streets transformed into rivers, and firemen moving people to safety in rubber dinghies.

We absolutely must not lower our guards, said Cesena mayor Enzo Lattuca. He appealed to residents not to go into basements or cellars and stay out of ground floors if possible.

The Italian Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni, tweeted her support to those affected and stated that the government would be ready to intervene with the necessary aid. (AFP)
Africas Sahel region is dealing with a surge of violent extremism, but the counterterrorism force established in 2014 to combat groups aligned with al-Qaida, the Islamic State, and other organizations has failed to stem their advances.

If greater international support and regional cooperation are not forthcoming, instability will spread toward West African coastal countries, a senior UN official warned on Tuesday.

Resolute advances in the fight against terrorism, violent extremism, and organized crime in the Sahel desperately need to be made, said UN Assistant Secretary-General for Africa Martha Pobee at a UN Security Council meeting.

The counterterrorism force comprised of Burkina Faso, Chad, Mauritania, and Niger lost Mali a year ago when its ruling junta withdrew.

Pobee stated that the force has not carried out any major military operations since January.

Frances counterterrorism force relocated from Mali to Niger due to tensions with the junta and Malis decision to welcome Russian Wagner mercenaries on its territory, and the force is adapting to this new reality.

Burkina Faso and Niger recently renewed their military cooperation with Mali to counter increasing extremist attacks, but insecurity in the tri-border area continues to grow, Pobee added.

Pobee criticized the international community for failing to provide the joint force with the necessary funding and support to operate fully and independently.

An agreement between the UN, EU, and the force that would have seen the UN peacekeeping force in Mali provide fuel, medical evacuation, engineering support and rations to the joint force is due to end in June.

Pobee expressed hope that the Security Council would address the issue of funding for African peace operations by the UN.

The Sahel is at a crossroads with many threats to international peace and security, and its absolutely vital that we provide support to the force, said the executive secretary of the G5 Sahel, Eric Tiare.

The force needs what it has always lacked and what it has always sought. That is sustainable funding and equipment as we seek to counter terrorism.

Several reports by UN experts in recent years have indicated that Africa has suffered the most significant impact from terrorism, and that the Islamic State groups expansion in Africas center, south, and Sahel regions is particularly concerning.

In August, African security expert Martin Ewi stated that at least 20 African countries directly experienced the Islamic States activity, while over 20 others were used for logistics and to mobilize funds and other resources.

Ewi said that the Lake Chad Basin, which borders Chad, Nigeria, Niger, and Cameroon, was the extremist groups biggest area of operation, and areas in the Sahel were now ungovernable.

 Pobee has warned that without significant progress in the fight against terrorism, it will become increasingly difficult to reverse the security trajectory in the Sahel, and the further expansion of insecurity towards coastal West African countries.

Pobee also highlighted recent instability in Sudan as an additional cause for concern, stating: The devastating effects of the continuing destabilization of the Sahel would be felt far beyond the region and the African continent.

Jeffrey DeLaurentis, the U.S. deputy ambassador, expressed concern over the security, humanitarian, and political crises in the Sahel, which he attributed primarily to governance failures.

He criticized state-led military operations in Mali and Burkina Faso, as well as Malis collaboration with Wagner mercenaries, which he claimed had resulted in large-scale civilian casualties and reports of human rights violations.

 DeLaurentis urged Mali to return to the G5 Sahel, arguing that regional efforts are essential in the fight against terrorism, crime networks, and climate change.

Additionally, he pledged U.S. support for Burkina Faso, Chad, and Malis transitions to democratically elected governments.

We and other partners are keen to consider restarting currently restricted support, he said. The election of democratic governments would help us resume such assistance.
Johnny Depp's return to royalty causes a scandal as Cannes 2023 commences at the palace.

Johnny Depps return to royalty causes a scandal as Cannes 2023 commences at the palace.

The 76th Cannes Film Festival started with a premiere of the historical drama Jeanne du Barry, directed by French director Maiwenn.

The movie tells the scandalous story of King Louis XVs relationship with a courtesan and stars Johnny Depp in his high-profile comeback.

Depps presence has sparked controversy, as he was recently accused of domestic violence by his ex-wife Amber Heard.

Maiwenns film has also been subject to criticism, as the director has been a vocal critic of the MeToo movement and was accused of assault by a well-known French journalist.

Despite the controversy, the festivals director defended the choice to showcase Jeanne du Barry and praised Depps role in the film.

The event has a long history of scandals, including controversies surrounding sexually explicit movies and sexist dress codes.

The 76th Cannes Film Festival kicked off with a bang, with the premiere of the historical drama Jeanne du Barry, directed by French filmmaker Maiwenn.

The movie tells the scandalous story of King Louis XVs relationship with a courtesan and features Johnny Depp in his highly-anticipated comeback.

However, Depps presence at the festival has sparked controversy, as he was recently accused of domestic violence by his ex-wife Amber Heard. Many have criticized the decision to showcase the film, given the serious allegations against Depp.

Additionally, Maiwenns film has also faced criticism, as the director has been a vocal critic of the MeToo movement and was accused of assault by a well-known French journalist.

This has led some to question the festivals decision to feature a movie directed by someone with such a controversial past.

Despite these controversies, the festivals director has defended the choice to showcase Jeanne du Barry and has praised Depps performance in the film.

The event has a long history of scandals and controversies, including debates over sexually explicit movies and sexist dress codes.

While some may see the festivals decision to feature the controversial film and actor as a misstep, others argue that it is important to separate art from the artist.

Regardless, the premiere of Jeanne du Barry has certainly sparked discussion and debate, making it one of the most talked-about events of the festival so far.
Senegalese and Tunisian Films in the Race for Palme dOr at Cannes Film Festival | Focus on Africa

In this evenings edition, we discuss South Africas plan to lead a peacekeeping mission to mediate the ongoing war in Ukraine, alongside other African nations.

Additionally, innovators from both Europe and Africa have gathered in Marseille to discuss sustainability and the importance of reimagining African cities in the future.

Finally, we celebrate the presence of African films at the Cannes Film Festival this year, with two films from Tunisia and Senegal in the running for the prestigious Palme dOr award. South Africa to Lead Peacekeeping Mission in Ukraine

South Africa, along with other African nations, is planning to lead a peacekeeping mission to mediate the ongoing war in Ukraine. The move comes as a surprise, as South Africa has not been involved in the conflict thus far. However, the countrys leaders have expressed a desire to help broker a peace deal and bring an end to the fighting.

The mission will be led by South Africas Minister of Defense and Military Veterans, Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula. The minister will be joined by other African leaders, including the president of Ghana, Nana Akufo-Addo, and the president of Senegal, Macky Sall.

The peacekeeping mission will focus on mediating negotiations between the Ukrainian government and the separatist forces in eastern Ukraine. The conflict, which began in 2014, has claimed thousands of lives and displaced millions of people.

South Africa and other African nations have a long history of peacekeeping. The continent has contributed more than 70,000 peacekeepers to missions around the world, including in Sudan, Somalia, and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Innovators Gather in Marseille to Discuss Sustainability in African Cities

Innovators from both Europe and Africa have gathered in Marseille to discuss sustainability and the importance of reimagining African cities in the future. The conference, titled Africa Days, is being held at the Museum of European and Mediterranean Civilizations.

The conference is focused on promoting sustainable development in African cities, which are facing rapid urbanization and environmental challenges. The innovators are discussing ways to create more livable, sustainable, and resilient cities that can adapt to the changing climate.

The conference features speakers from across Africa and Europe, including architects, urban planners, and environmentalists. They are discussing topics such as green infrastructure, renewable energy, and waste management.

The conference is an opportunity for African innovators to showcase their ideas and collaborate with their European counterparts. It is also a chance for European innovators to learn from African experiences and incorporate them into their own work.

African Films Take Center Stage at Cannes Film Festival

This years Cannes Film Festival is featuring two films from Tunisia and Senegal in the running for the prestigious Palme dOr award. The films, The Man Who Sold His Skin from Tunisia and Atlantics from Senegal, are the first films from their respective countries to be selected for the competition.

The films are a reflection of the growing diversity and quality of African cinema. They tell stories that are both unique and universal, grappling with issues such as migration, identity, and spirituality.

The Cannes Film Festival is a major event in the film industry, attracting filmmakers, producers, and actors from around the world. The inclusion of African films in the competition is a sign of the increasing recognition and appreciation of African cinema.

Conclusion

South Africas plan to lead a peacekeeping mission in Ukraine, the conference on sustainability in African cities, and the presence of African films at the Cannes Film Festival are all examples of the growing influence and importance of Africa on the world stage.

These developments reflect the continents potential to be a leader in addressing global challenges and shaping the future.
The struggle to publish the first LGBT magazine in West Africa persists, as advocates work to make it happen.

The launch of Meleagbo, the first magazine dedicated to West Africas LGBT community, has been delayed due to difficulties finding gay-friendly printers in Ivory Coast, where some 33 countries still have laws criminalising same-sex relations.

Gromo, an NGO based in Abidjan which advocates for LGBT rights, launched the French-language magazine to promote gay icons and highlight the LGBT communitys culture, history, and victories in Africa.

Meleagbo represents an important step for LGBT rights in a continent where many countries still have discriminatory laws. Despite the challenges, Emmanuel Niamien, the Chief editor of Meleagbo, and his team continue to fight for the first issue of the magazine to be printed.

Emmanuel Niamien and his team launched a zero issue of the magazine to promote it at the annual Awawale Festival held in Abidjan on May 12-13. The 30-something Ivorians say they launched Meleagbo to address a lack of representation of the LGBT community in mainstream media.

Gromo is financing the magazine with its members personal funds. According to research by Gromo, 70 to 83 percent of LGBT people face homophobia, death threats, assaults, and rapes in Abidjan, Ivory Coasts economic capital.

Ivory Coast does not outlaw homosexuality, but the LGBT communitys rights are still not protected by law in many African countries. Ivory Coasts Constitutional Council amended the Ivorian penal code in November 2021 to remove sexual orientation from the list of prohibited motives for discrimination  a move seen by the LGBT community as a major setback for their rights.

Widespread discrimination even penalises LGBT people professionally. A survey conducted by Gromo in 2021 found that 70 percent of LGBT people are unemployed in Ivory Coast.

Cedric, one of the Awawale Festival organisers, said, society condemns homosexuality. Sociologist Brice-Stephane Djedje, a specialist in LGBT studies, stressed that religion, particularly Christianity, which is deeply rooted in Ivorian society, contributes to the stigmatization of LGBT individuals.

Djedje also highlighted that employment is a major issue for the LGBT community, as discrimination and economic pressures can affect job opportunities.

Despite the challenges, the team behind Meleagbo hopes to change peoples mindsets and control the narrative around LGBT issues in Africa.

The magazine will feature sections dedicated to job offers, professional advice, and lists of queer-friendly companies.
World military spending reached a new record high of $2.4 trillion in 2022, with the United States spending the most by far.

Originally published in National Priorities Project.

( Foreign Policy in Focus)  World military spending has reached a new record high of $2.24 trillion in 2022, according to new data published by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). Thats up 3.7% since the previous year, including the steepest increase among European nations since the end of the Cold War over 30 years ago.

The United States remains the worlds largest military spender by far, with its $877 billion representing 39% of global military spending. Thats three times as much as the second largest spender, China, which spent $292 billion in 2022. And its about ten times as much as the next largest spender, Russia, which spent about $86 billion in the same year.

U.S. spending is more than the next ten countries combined, more than last year when it was larger than the next nine. Many of these next ten countries are geopolitically aligned with the U.S.  including Ukraine, which had the highest single-year increase in military spending SIPRI has ever recorded, rising 640% to $44 billion since Russia invaded.





Chart: National Priorities Project, Institute for Policy Studies

U.S. military aid to Ukraine amounted to $19.9 billion in 2022, but this was only 2.3% of total U.S. military spending. Military spending by NATO members, including the U.S., totaled $1.232 trillion in 2022, up 0.9% since 2021. Many analysts have predicted a long-term war of attrition, with no victory in sight for either side  it remains unclear how continuously increasing militarization can end this war.

Meanwhile, basic needs continue to go unmet for hundreds of millions of people around the world. The climate crisis continues to wreak havoc, and the U.S. has barely begun to address its historical responsibility in contributing to global fossil fuel emissions. The nations of the world are dangerously unprepared to secure our collective planetary future.

The full U.S. military budget is much more than the $514 billion spent by the rest of the worlds 144 nations combined. Thats a difference of $363 billion, which would be enough to fund solar power for nearly every household in the U.S. for 10 years.

$363 billion would be enough to fund 43 million public housing units  more than the 38 million people displaced as refugees in the post-9/11 wars waged by the U.S. over the past two decades.

Just 10% of the U.S. military budget would go a long way toward meeting any number of societal needs.

Its worth noting that its not inevitable for countries to keep perpetually increasing their military budgets  a number of large nations, like Nigeria and Turkey, have significantly decreased military spending in the past year.

Over-investment in the military is a major cause of the crises we face today. But its possible to reinvest in real solutions and begin to repair the harm caused by many decades of war.
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( Tomdispatch.com) 

A photo Beijing released on March 6th of Chinese President Xi Jinpings foreign minister Wang Yi* delivered a seismic shock in Washington. There he was, standing between Ali Shamkhani, the secretary of Irans National Security Council, and Saudi National Security Adviser Musaad bin Mohammed al-Aiban. They were awkwardly shaking hands on an agreement to reestablish mutual diplomatic ties. That picture should have brought to mind a 1993 photo of President Bill Clinton hosting Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and PLO chief Yasser Arafat on the White House lawn as they agreed to the Oslo Accords. And that long-gone moment was itself an after-effect of the halo of invincibility the United States had gained in the wake of the collapse of the Soviet Union and the overwhelming American victory in the 1991 Gulf War.

Embed from Getty Images

A man in Tehran holds a local newspaper reporting on its front page the China-brokered deal between Iran and Saudi Arabia to restore ties, signed in Beijing the previous day, on March, 11 2023.  Riyadh and Tehran announced on March 10 that after seven years of severed ties they would reopen embassies and missions within two months and implement security and economic cooperation agreements signed more than 20 years ago. (Photo by ATTA KENARE / AFP) (Photo by ATTA KENARE/AFP via Getty Images)

This time around, the U.S. had been cut out of the picture, a sea change reflecting not just Chinese initiatives but Washingtons incompetence, arrogance, and double-dealing in the subsequent three decades in the Middle East. An aftershock came in early May as concerns gripped Congress about the covert construction of a Chinese naval base in the United Arab Emirates, a U.S. ally hosting thousands of American troops. The Abu Dhabi facility would be an add-on to the small base at Djibouti on the east coast of Africa used by the Peoples Liberation Army-Navy for combating piracy, evacuating noncombatants from conflict zones, and perhaps regional espionage.

Chinas interest in cooling off tensions between the Iranian ayatollahs and the Saudi monarchy arose, however, not from any military ambitions in the region but because it imports significant amounts of oil from both countries. Another impetus was undoubtedly President Xis ambitious Belt and Road Initiative, or BRI, that aims to expand Eurasias overland and maritime economic infrastructure for a vast growth of regional trade  with China, of course, at its heart. That country has already invested billions in a China-Pakistan Economic Corridor and in developing the Pakistani Arabian seaport of Gwadar to facilitate the transmission of Gulf oil to its northwestern provinces.

Having Iran and Saudi Arabia on a war footing endangered Chinese economic interests. Remember that, in September 2019, an Iran proxy or Iran itself launched a drone attack on the massive refinery complex at al-Abqaiq, briefly knocking out five million barrels a day of Saudi capacity. That country now exports a staggering 1.7 million barrels of petroleum daily to China and future drone strikes (or similar events) threaten those supplies. China is also believed to receive as much as 1.2 million barrels a day from Iran, though it does so surreptitiously because of U.S. sanctions. In December 2022, when nationwide protests forced the end of Xis no-Covid lockdown measures, that countrys appetite for petroleum was once again unleashed, with demand already up 22% over 2022.

So, any further instability in the Gulf is the last thing the Chinese Communist Party needs right now. Of course, China is also a global leader in the transition away from petroleum-fueled vehicles, which will eventually make the Middle East far less important to Beijing. That day, however, is still 15 to 30 years away.

Things Could Have Been Different

Chinas interest in bringing to an end the Iranian-Saudi cold war, which constantly threatened to turn hotter, is clear enough, but why did those two countries choose such a diplomatic channel? After all, the United States still styles itself the indispensable nation. If that phrase ever had much meaning, however, American indispensability is now visibly in decline, thanks to blunders like allowing Israeli right-wingers to cancel the Oslo peace process, the launching of an illegal invasion of and war in Iraq in 2003, and the grotesque Trumpian mishandling of Iran. Distant as it may be from Europe, Tehran might nonetheless have been brought into NATOs sphere of influence, something President Barack Obama spent enormous political capital trying to achieve. Instead, then-President Donald Trump pushed it directly into the arms of Vladimir Putins Russian Federation and Xis China.

Things could indeed have been different. With the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) nuclear deal, brokered by the Obama administration, all practical pathways for Iran to build nuclear weapons were closed off. Its also true that Irans ayatollahs have long insisted they dont want a weapon of mass destruction that, if used, would indiscriminately kill potentially vast numbers of non-combatants, something incompatible with the ethics of Islamic law.

Whether one believes that countrys clerical leaders or not, the JCPOA made the question moot, since it imposed severe restrictions on the number of centrifuges Iran could operate, the level to which it could enrich uranium for its nuclear plant at Bushehr, the amount of enriched uranium it could stockpile, and the kinds of nuclear plants it could build. According to the inspectors at the U.N.s International Atomic Energy Agency, Iran faithfully implemented its obligations through 2018 and  consider this an irony of our Trumpian times  for such compliance it would be punished by Washington.

Irans Ayatollah Ali Khamenei only permitted President Hassan Rouhani to sign that somewhat mortifying treaty with the permanent members of the U.N. Security Council in return for promised relief from Washingtons sanctions (that they never got). In early 2016, the Security Council did indeed remove its own 2006 sanctions on Iran. That, however, proved a meaningless gesture because by then Congress, deploying the Department of the Treasurys Office of Foreign Assets Control, had slapped unilateral American sanctions on Iran and, even in the wake of the nuclear deal, congressional Republicans refused to lift them. They even nixed a $25 billion deal that would have allowed Iran to buy civilian passenger jets from Boeing.

Worse yet, such sanctions were designed to punish third parties that contravened them. French firms like Renault and TotalEnergies were eager to jump into the Iranian market but feared reprisals. The US had, after all, fined French bank BNP $8.7 billion for skirting those sanctions and no European corporation wanted a dose of that kind of grief. In essence, congressional Republicans and the Trump administration kept Iran under such severe sanctions even though it had lived up to its side of the bargain, while Iranian entrepreneurs eagerly looked forward to doing business with Europe and the United States. In short, Tehran could have been pulled inexorably into the Western orbit via increasing dependence on North Atlantic trade deals, but it was not to be.

And keep in mind that Israeli Prime Minister (then as now) Benjamin Netanyahu had lobbied hard against the JCPOA, even going over President Obamas head in an unprecedented fashion to encourage Congress to nix the deal. That effort to play spoiler failed  until, in May 2018, President Trump simply tore up the treaty. Netanyahu was caught on tape boasting that he had convinced the gullible Trump to take that step. Although the Israeli right wing insisted that its greatest concern was an Iranian nuclear warhead, it sure didnt act that way. Sabotaging the 2015 deal actually freed that country from all constraints. Netanyahu and like-minded Israeli politicians were, it seems, upset that the JCPOA only addressed Irans civilian nuclear enrichment program and didnt mandate a rollback of Iranian influence in Lebanon, Iraq, and Syria, which they apparently believed to be the real threat.

Embed from Getty Images

WASHINGTON, DC  SEPTEMBER 15: U.S. President Donald Trump and Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu participate in a meeting in the Oval Office of the White House on September 15, 2020 in Washington, DC. Netanyahu is in Washington to participate in the signing ceremony of the Abraham Accords. (Photo by Doug Mills/Pool/Getty Images)

Trump went on to impose what amounted to a financial and trade embargo on Iran. In its wake, trading with that country became an increasingly risky proposition. By May 2019, Trump had succeeded handsomely by his own standards (and those of Netanyahu). He had managed to reduce Irans oil exports from 2.5 million barrels a day to as little as 200,000 barrels a day. That countrys leadership nonetheless continued to conform to the requirements of the JCPOA until mid-2019, after which they began flaunting its provisions. Iran has now produced highly enriched uranium and is much closer to being capable of making nuclear weapons than ever before, though it still has no military nuclear program and the ayatollahs continue to deny that they want such weaponry.

In reality, Trumps maximum pressure campaign did anything but destroy Tehrans influence in the region. In fact, if anything, in Lebanon, Syria, and Iraq the power of the ayatollahs was only strengthened.

After a while, Iran also found ways to smuggle its petroleum to China, where it was sold to small private refineries that operated solely for the domestic market. Since those firms had no international presence or assets and didnt deal in dollars, the Treasury Department had no way of moving against them. In this fashion, President Trump and congressional Republicans ensured that Iran would become deeply dependent on China for its very economic survival  and so also ensured the increasing significance of that rising power in the Middle East.

The Saudi Reversal

When Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, oil prices spiked, benefiting the Iranian government. The Biden administration then imposed the kind of maximum-pressure sanctions on the Russian Federation that Trump had levied against Iran. Unsurprisingly, a new Axis of the Sanctioned has now formed, with Iran and Russia exploring trade and arms deals and Iran allegedly providing drones to Moscow for its war effort in Ukraine.

As for Saudi Arabia, its de facto leader, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, recently seemed to get a better set of advisers. In March 2015, he had launched a ruinous and devastating war in neighboring Yemen after the Zaydi Shiite Helpers of God, or Houthi rebels, took over the populous north of that country. Since the Saudis were primarily deploying air power against a guerrilla force, their campaign was bound to fail. The Saudi leadership then blamed the rise and resilience of the Houthis on the Iranians. While Iran had indeed provided some money and smuggled some weapons to the Helpers of God, they were a local movement with a long set of grievances against the Saudis. Eight years later, the war has sputtered to a devastating stalemate.

The Saudis had also attempted to counter Iranian influence elsewhere in the Arab world, intervening in the Syrian civil war on the side of fundamentalist Salafi rebels against the government of autocrat Bashar al-Assad. In 2013, Lebanons Shiite Hezbollah militia joined the fray in support of al-Assad and, in 2015, Russia committed air power there to ensure the rebels defeat. China had also backed al-Assad (though not militarily) and played a quiet role in the post-war reconstruction of the country. As part of that recent China-brokered agreement to reduce tensions with Iran and its regional allies, Saudi Arabia just spearheaded a decision to return the al-Assad government to membership in the Arab League (from which it had been expelled in 2011 at the height of the Arab Spring revolts).

By late 2019, in the wake of that drone attack on the Abqaiq refineries, it was already clear that Bin Salman had lost his regional contest with Iran and Saudi Arabia began to seek some way out. Among other things, the Saudis reached out to the Iraqi prime minister of that moment, Adil Abdel Mahdi, asking for his help as a mediator with the Iranians. He, in turn, invited General Qasem Soleimani, the head of the Jerusalem Brigade of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps, to Baghdad to consider a new relationship with the House of Saud.

As few will forget, on January 3, 2020, Soleimani flew to Iraq on a civilian airliner only to be assassinated by an American drone strike at Baghdad International Airport on the orders of President Trump who claimed he was coming to kill Americans. Did Trump want to forestall a rapprochement with the Saudis? After all, marshaling that country and other Gulf states into an anti-Iranian alliance with Israel had been at the heart of his son-in-law Jared Kushners Abraham Accords.

The Rise of China, the Fall of America

Washington is now the skunk at the diplomats party. The Iranians were never likely to trust the Americans as mediators. The Saudis must have feared telling them about their negotiations lest the equivalent of another Hellfire missile be unleashed. As 2022 ended, President Xi actually visited the Saudi capital Riyadh, where relations with Iran were evidently a topic of conversation. This February, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi traveled to Beijing by which time, according to the Chinese foreign ministry, President Xi had developed a personal commitment to mediating between the two Gulf rivals. Now, a rising China is offering to launch other Middle Eastern mediation efforts, while complaining that some large countries outside the region were causing long-term instability in the Middle East out of self-interest.

Chinas new prominence as a peacemaker may soon extend to conflicts like the ones in Yemen and Sudan. As the rising power on this planet with its eye on Eurasia, the Middle East, and Africa, Beijing is clearly eager to have any conflicts that could interfere with its Belt and Road Initiative resolved as peaceably as possible.

Although China is on the cusp of having three aircraft carrier battle groups, they continue to operate close to home and American fears about a Chinese military presence in the Middle East are, so far, without substance.

Where two sides are tired of conflict, as was true with Saudi Arabia and Iran, Beijing is clearly now ready to play the role of the honest broker. Its remarkable diplomatic feat of restoring relations between those countries, however, reflects less its position as a rising Middle Eastern power than the startling decline of American regional credibility after three decades of false promises (Oslo), debacles (Iraq) and capricious policy-making that, in retrospect, appears to have relied on nothing more substantial than a set of cynical imperial divide-and-rule ploys that are now so been-there, done-that.

Copyright 2023 Juan Cole

Via Tomdispatch.com

*This piece as been amended to correctly identify the figure in the photo. IC regrets the error.
VANCOUVER, BC, May 16, 2023 /CNW/ - Lumina Gold Corp. (TSXV: LUM) (OTCQX: LMGDF) (the "Company" or "Lumina") is pleased to announce that it entered into a precious metals purchase agreement (the "Gold Stream") with Wheaton Precious Metals International Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. ("Wheaton") in relation to its 100% owned Cangrejos gold-copper project located in El Oro Province, Ecuador (the "Project" or "Cangrejos") on May 16, 2023. The Gold Stream initially represents 6.6% of the payable gold produced from the Project in exchange for US$48 million of pre-construction funding (the "Early Deposit") and US$252 million of construction funding (the "Upfront Payment").

Randy Smallwood, President and CEO of Wheaton commented: "The Cangrejos Project is an excellent addition to Wheaton's existing portfolio of high-quality, low-cost assets as it should provide impactful, long-term growth as well as significant exploration potential. We welcome the opportunity to work with the team at Lumina who have done an outstanding job at working to de-risk the Project and advancing it towards construction."

Ross Beaty, Lumina's founder and largest shareholder commented: "This transaction validates the extensive technical work that the Lumina Group has completed on Cangrejos since 2014. It will de-risk the execution of the Cangrejos project and form a significant part of the US$1 billion of required construction capital. Cangrejos will represent one of the largest gold producers in the world once built and Wheaton will benefit from its three decades of mine life. We look forward to working with Wheaton's extremely experienced team as the Project gets advanced."

Transaction Overview

The Gold Stream is composed of two funding segments, (i) the Early Deposit to be paid during the completion of a feasibility study (as such term is defined in National Instrument 43-101  Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects) and permitting period, and (ii) the Upfront Payment to be paid during the construction of the Project. The US$48 million Early Deposit provides Lumina with the capital it requires to complete definition drilling, a feasibility study and permitting work at the Project. The Upfront Payment of US$252 million provides approximately 25% of the total construction funding required by the Project.

The Early Deposit of US$48 million is comprised of four components:

US$12 million at closing; US$10 million 6 months after close; US$15 million 12 months after close; and an US$11 million tranche that can be drawn upon for specific pre-construction capital items.

The US$252 million Upfront Payment will be funded throughout the two-and a-half-year construction period for the Project.

In return for the Early Deposit and Upfront Payment, Lumina will sell 6.6% of the payable gold production from the Project until 700,000 ounces of gold have been delivered, at which point the Gold Stream will be reduced to 4.4% of the payable gold production. Wheaton will pay a production payment representing 18.0% of the spot price of gold for the first 700,000 ounces and 22.0% of the spot price of gold thereafter.

In the event of a change of control, the Company may buy back one-third of the Gold Stream from Wheaton until the earlier of January 1, 2030 and the date that is 12 months after first production.

About Lumina Gold

Lumina Gold Corp. (TSXV: LUM) is a Vancouver, Canada based precious and base metals exploration and development company focused on the Cangrejos Gold-Copper Project located in El Oro Province, southwest Ecuador. In 2023, the Company completed a Preliminary Feasibility Study (the "PFS") for Cangrejos, which is the largest primary gold deposit in Ecuador. Lumina has an experienced management team with a successful track record of advancing and monetizing exploration projects.

Follow us on: Twitter, Linkedin or Facebook.

Further details are available on the Company's website at https://luminagold.com/. To receive future news releases please sign up at https://luminagold.com/contact.

LUMINA GOLD CORP.

Signed: "Marshall Koval"

Marshall Koval, President & CEO, Director

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.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Information

Certain statements and information herein, including all statements that are not historical facts, contain forward-looking statements and forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Such forward-looking statements or information include but are not limited to statements or information with respect to: the Company's ability to meet the payable gold payments as required under the Gold Stream; the transfer price of gold that Wheaton will pay the Company; the total cost of construction of the Project; complete definition drilling, a feasibility study or permitting work at the Project; the Company's ability to secure the funds required to complete construction of the Project; the Project's expected life of mine; the development of the Project into one of the largest gold producers in the world; the Company's ability to develop the Project into a producing mine; and the buy back by the Company of one third of the Gold Stream from Wheaton following a change of control of the Company. Often, but not always, forward-looking statements or information can be identified by the use of words such as "will" or "projected" or variations of those words or statements that certain actions, events or results "will", "could", "are proposed to", "are planned to", "are expected to" or "are anticipated to" be taken, occur or be achieved.

With respect to forward-looking statements and information contained herein, the Company has made numerous assumptions including among other things, assumptions about general business and economic conditions; the prices of gold, copper and silver; the Company's ability to meet its obligations under the Gold Stream and other material agreements; the accuracy and reliability of technical data, forecasts, estimates and studies, including the PFS; the accuracy of slope guidance underlying the engineered pit design; estimates of mineral resources and mineral reserves; anticipated costs and expenditures; future results of operations; ability to satisfy power infrastructure and water capacity requirements; availability and ability to procure personnel, machinery, supplies, and equipment from local sources where possible; the characteristics of the Project producing innate positive environmental impacts; tax rates and royalty rates applicable to the Project; the relationship between the Company and the local communities and its business partners; ability to operate in a safe and effective manner; and the success of exploration, development and processing activities. The foregoing list of assumptions is not exhaustive.

Although management of the Company believes that the assumptions made and the expectations represented by such statements or information are reasonable, there can be no assurance that a forward-looking statement or information herein will prove to be accurate. Forward-looking statements and information by their nature are based on assumptions and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the Company's actual results, performance or achievements, or industry results, to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements or information. These factors include, but are not limited to: risks relating to exploration activities and accurately predicting mineralization; the timing and ability of the Company to obtain necessary permits; risks relating to inaccurate geological and engineering assumptions (including with respect to the tonnage, grade and recoverability of reserves and resources); risks relating to unanticipated operational difficulties (including failure of equipment or processes to operate in accordance with specifications or expectations, cost escalation, unavailability of materials and equipment, government action or delays in the receipt of government approvals, industrial disturbances or other job action, and unanticipated events related to health, safety and environmental matters); capital costs varying significantly from estimates; business and economic conditions in the mining industry generally; risks associated with the business of the Company; the supply and demand for labour and other project inputs; changes in commodity prices; changes in interest and currency exchange rates; inflation and credit risks; risks relating to adverse weather conditions; political risk and social unrest; changes in general economic conditions or conditions in the financial markets; and other risk factors as detailed from time to time in the Company's continuous disclosure documents filed with Canadian securities administrators. The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking information, except in accordance with applicable securities laws.
Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - May 17, 2023) - Exploits Discovery Corp. (CSE: NFLD) (OTCQX: NFLDF) (FSE: 634) ("Exploits" or the "Company") is pleased to announce assay results from eight recent exploration drill holes at its Bullseye property. Several grains of visible gold were observed within a network of quartz veins in drill hole BE-23-014, located approximately 250 metres north of New Found Gold's recently publicized high-grade intercepts at the Everest gold zone.

Highlights:

BE-23-014 intersected 9.84 g/t Au averaged over 12.00 m core-length, located at a vertical depth of approximately 133 m below surface, where 10 grains of visible gold were noted within a network of quartz veins. Including 36.75 g/t Au contribution from a 0.45 m sample Including 26.98 g/t Au contribution from a 1.15 m sample Including 27.48 g/t Au contribution from a 0.70 m sample Including 19.22 g/t Au contribution from a 1.10 m sample Including 15.97 g/t Au contribution from a 0.65 m sample

intersected core-length, located at a vertical depth of approximately 133 m below surface, where 10 grains of visible gold were noted within a network of quartz veins.

BE-23-007 intersected 4.35 g/t Au over 0.55 m core-length, located at a vertical depth of approximately 50 m below surface, and 3.60 g/t Au over 0.40 m core-length located at a vertical depth of approximately 80 m below surface.

Assay results from 14 of 26 drill holes have been received to date.

A total of 9,536 m has been drilled to date in 26 holes within the northeastern trend of the Appleton Fault and prospective splay structures.

All of Exploits' claim groups within the Appleton and Dog Bay sector of central Newfoundland are now fully permitted for conducting exploration activities with forestry access roads and trails that provide safe, rapid, access into most work areas.

Exploits' local prospecting team has already started investigating additional surface exposures of sulphide mineralization and quartz veining at Bullseye.

Jeff Swinoga, President and CEO, comments, "We are excited to announce our best assay results since the start of our 2023 Bullseye drilling program. Our talented local team is seeing a broad network of multi-stage quartz veins and related sulphide mineralization commonly associated with the track of the Appleton fault structure. We believe this demonstrates that Bullseye has the potential to replicate or extend the high-grade gold mineralization observed by our neighbours within 250 metres of our claim boundaries."

To date, a total of 26 holes consisting of 9,536 metres of NQ drilling, has been completed of the results-oriented drill program. This initial drilling is carefully designed and guided on a daily basis to determine the best potential for encountering high grade gold mineralization along the Company's 1.2 kilometre segment of the Appleton Fault zone.

Figure 1: Plan Map displays Exploits' Bullseye property with location of drill holes BE-23-007 to BE-23-014 shown within yellow dashed box.

Figure 2: Plan Map showing assay results along trace of the Appleton Fault Zone.

Photo 1: NQ core from Hole #BE-23-014 showing example of the grain size and free distribution of the visible gold noted within the quartz veining.

Other assay highlights from recent drilling at Bullseye include:

BE-23-014 intercepts:

3.98 g/t Au over 0.40 m core-length located at a vertical depth of approximately 75 m below surface.





4.71 g/t Au averaged over 2.50 m core-length at a vertical depth of approximately 103 m below surface. Including 12.98 g/t Au over 0.50 m core-length





7.48 g/t Au averaged over 1.60 m core-length located at a vertical depth of approximately 140 m below surface. Including 11.92 g/t Au over 0.95 m core-length



Bullseye Drilling - Table of Selected Assays

Table 1: Selected drill assays

Bullseye Drilling 2023 - Selected Assays (Exceeding 1.00 g/t Au Value) from Sawn NQ Drill Core Hole ID From (m) To (m) Sample Length (m) Vertical Depth (m) Below Surface Analysis Method Au Assay (ppb) Au Assay (g/t) Comments Au - Weighted Average Grade (g/t )* BE-23-007 61.00 61.55 0.55 ~50m FA-AA 4,347.00 4.35 AND 105.60 106.00 0.40 ~80m FA-AA 3,603.00 3.60 BE-23-008 51.30 51.85 0.55 ~40m Screen-Met 1,433.92 1.43 AND 97.00 98.05 1.05 ~80m FA-AA 1,513.00 1.51 BE-23-009 270.45 271.00 0.55 ~185m Screen-Met 1,324.93 1.32 1.48 g/t Au over 0.95m 271.00 271.40 0.40 Screen-Met 1,702.70 1.70 AND 272.00 272.50 0.50 ~187m FA-AA 1,005.00 1.01 BE-23-010 133.40 134.00 0.60 ~92m FA-AA 1,444.00 1.44 BE-23-011 212.50 213.00 0.50 ~153m FA-AA 1,176.00 1.18 BE-23-012 NSV BE-23-013 85.00 85.70 0.70 ~61m FA-AA 1,126.00 1.13 BE-23-014 94.80 95.20 0.40 ~75m FA-AA 3,978.00 3.98 AND 98.00 98.50 0.50 ~77m FA-AA 1,237.00 1.24 AND 133.60 134.10 0.50 ~101m Screen-Met 1,825.56 1.83 AND 135.00 135.50 0.50 ~103m Screen-Met 1,244.71 1.24 4.71 g/t Au over 2.50m 135.50 136.00 0.50 Screen-Met 783.18 0.78 136.00 136.50 0.50 Screen-Met 1,212.68 1.21 136.50 137.00 0.50 Screen-Met 12,981.07 12.98 137.00 137.50 0.50 Screen-Met 7,334.09 7.33 AND 173.50 174.00 0.50 ~126m Screen-Met 1,244.84 1.24 AND 176.00 177.00 1.00 ~133m Screen-Met 1,575.30 1.58 9.84 g/t over 12.00m 177.00 177.45 0.45 Screen-Met 36,753.70 36.75 VG Noted 177.45 178.60 1.15 Screen-Met 26,979.36 26.98 178.60 179.20 0.60 Screen-Met 4,009.20 4.01 179.20 179.90 0.70 Screen-Met 27,476.69 27.48 VG Noted 179.90 181.00 1.10 Screen-Met 19,218.39 19.22 181.00 181.40 0.40 Screen-Met 2,885.81 2.89 VG Noted 181.40 182.00 0.60 Screen-Met 2,488.46 2.49 182.00 182.40 0.40 Screen-Met 780.64 0.78 182.40 183.05 0.65 Screen-Met 15,972.65 15.97 183.05 183.60 0.55 Screen-Met 1,985.25 1.99 183.60 184.00 0.40 Screen-Met 2,689.56 2.69 184.00 184.70 0.70 Screen-Met 3,202.30 3.20 184.70 185.10 0.40 Screen-Met 1,330.31 1.33 185.10 186.05 0.95 Screen-Met 4,133.18 4.13 186.05 186.85 0.80 Screen-Met 2,324.96 2.32 186.85 188.00 1.15 Screen-Met 1,860.53 1.86 AND 189.00 190.00 1.00 ~136m FA-AA 1,152.00 1.15 AND 191.00 192.00 1.00 ~138m FA-AA 1,964.00 1.96 AND 193.40 194.35 0.95 ~140m FA-AA 11,917.00 11.92 7.48 g/t Au over 1.60m 194.35 195.00 0.65 FA-AA 997.00 1.00 AND 263.55 264.20 0.65 ~190m FA-AA 1,190.00 1.19 1.06 g/t Au over 1.10m 264.20 264.65 0.45 FA-AA 879.00 0.88 *All intersections are core intervals and do not represent true thickness

Table 2: Drill collar data

Bullseye - Collar Information for Reported Drill Holes Hole ID Easting Northing Elevation (m) Azimuth Dip Length (m) BE-23-007 659862 5431016 38 300 -45 301 BE-23-008 659849 5430950 39 300 -45 292 BE-23-009 659756 5430790 41 300 -45 424 BE-23-010 659639 5430887 39 300 -45 250 BE-23-011 659666 5430898 41 210 -45 253 BE-23-012 659685 5430923 39 300 -45 301 BE-23-013 659618 5430755 43 300 -45 400 BE-23-014 659589 5431022 38 195 -45 441 Coordinates Reported in NAD-83

Bullseye Gold Target

The Bullseye claims were staked by Exploits in September 2022, and are contiguous to the very active targets currently being drilled by both New Found Gold and Labrador Gold. The claims are considered by the Company's geologists to be highly prospective because they directly overlay a 1,200 by 400 metre segment of the Appleton Fault and its related splay structures. Over a dozen exploration drill rigs have been employed by the three companies operating within this structural-stratigraphic setting over the past 18 months.

Quality Assurance - Quality Control ("QA/QC")

All prospective NQ core is logged and delineated for sampling by an Exploits' professional geologist. The core is subsequently halved by a diamond-bladed core saw by the Company's technicians with one half being placed in a bag with a unique sample identification. The remaining half core is retained within the Company's secure storage facility in Gander, Newfoundland. Sample bags are sealed and then shipped directly to Eastern Analytical Ltd. Certified standards and blanks are inserted at defined intervals following the Company's QA/QC documented procedures, representing approximately 5% of all samples sent for assaying. All core samples are analyzed at Eastern Analytical Ltd. of 403 Little Bay Road, Springdale, NL, a commercial laboratory that is ISO/IEC 17025 accredited and completely independent of Exploits. Samples are analyzed using fire assay (30g) with AA finish (Au-FAA 30 ppb process) and/or a four-acid digestion followed by multi-element ICP-OES analysis. All samples with visible gold or assaying above 10.0 g/t Au are further assayed using metallic screen to mitigate the presence of the nugget effect of coarse gold.

National Instrument 43-101 Disclosure

Ken Tylee, P.Geo., VP of Exploration with Exploits, is a qualified person within the Provinces of Ontario and Newfoundland and Labrador as defined by NI 43-101. Mr. Tylee has reviewed and approved the technical information presented herein.

About Exploits Discovery Corp.

Exploits is a Canadian mineral exploration company focused on the acquisition and development of mineral projects in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. The Company is focused on discovering high-grade structurally hosted epizonal gold similar to New Found Gold's success along the Appleton Fault zone and parallel structures within the Exploits Subzone.

Exploits is utilizing its experienced, talented local team and geologic understanding with the vision to become one of the most successful explorers in Canada.

On Behalf of the Board

/s/ "Jeff Swinoga"

President and CEO

For more information, please contact:

Shanda Kilborn

VP, Investor Relations

+1 (778) 819-2708

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

https://exploitsdiscovery.com

Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Regulation Service Provider (as the term is defined in the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy of accuracy of this news release.

Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains certain forward-looking statements, which relate to future events or future performance and reflect management's current expectations and assumptions. Such forward-looking statements reflect management's current beliefs and are based on assumptions made by and information currently available to the Company. Readers are cautioned that these forward-looking statements are neither promises nor guarantees, and are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause future results to differ materially from those expected including, but not limited to, market conditions, availability of financing, actual results of the Company's exploration and other activities, environmental risks, future metal prices, operating risks, accidents, labor issues, delays in obtaining governmental approvals and permits, and other risks in the mining industry. All the forward-looking statements made in this news release are qualified by these cautionary statements and those in our continuous disclosure filings available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date hereof and the Company does not assume any obligation to update or revise them to reflect new events or circumstances save as required by applicable law.

Acknowledgments

Exploits Discovery would like to acknowledge the financial support of the Junior Exploration Assistance Program from the Department of Natural Resources, Government of Newfoundland and Labrador.
By Michael Staples

New Canadian Media

A South Asian country nearly 12,000 kilometres from New Brunswick is leading the way when it comes to feeding the provinces immigration program.

Recently released government data shows new arrivals from India are being attracted to New Brunswick because of its multicultural population, business-friendly environment, and its ability to draw a wide variety of companies.

New Brunswicks combination of renowned natural beauty, lively culture, low cost of living, and laid-back vibe means that you can build the career you want while enjoying the lifestyle you love, Arlene Dunn, minister responsible for Immigration and for Opportunities New Brunswick, said in an email interview.

On the heels of India are the Philippines, Morocco, Nigeria, Cameroon, Algeria, China, Brazil, and Ukraine.

Information on how many immigrants from each country arrived and who ended up in what provincial community is not available.

The latest first-quarter 2023 data (January-March) available on the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada website shows Moncton to be the most popular intended destination for the admission of permanent residents among the provinces three major cities with 745, followed by Fredericton with 320 and Saint John with 305. Madawaska and Carleton counties are also popular landing spots with 100 and 80 respectively.

According to the province, 79 percent of immigrants settle in New Brunswicks urban centers. Since 2017, the provinces population has increased by more than 60,000 with close to 65 percent of the growth due to immigration.

Jean-Claude DAmours, the New Brunswick Liberal partys critic for Population Growth and Immigration, said while the province has made significant progress within the immigration sector, gaps remain across the immigration spectrum.

As a province, we need to do better with our awareness-raising efforts and inclusion among New Brunswickers, employers and government leaders, DAmours said in a statement. We also need to be honest with newcomers pre-arrival. Many newcomers have told us that they felt like they were sold a false narrative about New Brunswick around professional realities and what opportunities their certifications provide them, language and more.

DAmours said there also must be more support post-arrival.

This includes investment in settlement services, reducing duplication due to the shared provincial and federal responsibility, more language training services, supports for credential recognition, housing, education and family support services.

Meanwhile, Dunn said ONB is working with other departments and agencies within the provincial government to deal with the many challenges facing immigrants, such as receiving a 67-per-cent increase in immigration allocations from the federal government. The jump was brought on by a rise in the number of immigrants allowed under the Atlantic Immigration Program and a space increase in the Provincial Nominee Program.

As Canadas only officially bilingual province, New Brunswick is (also) always looking for ways to increase its francophone immigration numbers, Dunn said. ONB has established targets for the number of francophones it nominates under provincial streams. In 2022, we exceeded our target of 30 percent of nominations of French speakers through our provincial programs, reaching a historical high of 32 percent. Our 2023 target is 32 percent.

Dunn said the federal government has provided the province with a total allocation of 5,500 certificates for 2023  an additional 1,084 spaces for the New Brunswick Provincial Nominee Program and an additional 1,116 Atlantic Immigration Program allocations over 2022. A further increase of five percent in allocations is expected in both 2024 and 2025.

While labour shortages in New Brunswick mostly match national trends  with vacancies in the construction, health care, social assistance, and accommodation and food services sectors  Dunn said the province is also experiencing shortages in the forestry, aquaculture, manufacturing, transportation, warehousing and information and communications technology sectors.

The recruitment and retention of immigrants are fundamental drivers of population and economic growth in New Brunswick, Dunn said, adding that ONB has made the attraction and retention of skilled newcomers a key priority.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia / May 17, 2023 / Business Wire / New Found Gold Corp. (New Found or the Company) (TSX-V: NFG, NYSE-A: NFGC) is pleased to announce the results from nine diamond drill holes that were completed as part of a drill program designed to test the newly discovered Keats West zone, a low-angle thrust fault that dips gently to the south-southwest and is located on the west side of the highly prospective Appleton Fault Zone (AFZ). New Founds 100%-owned Queensway project comprises a 1,662km2 area, accessible via the Trans-Canada Highway, 15km west of Gander, Newfoundland and Labrador.

Keats West Highlights:

Hole No. From (m) To (m) Interval (m) Au (g/t) Zone NFGC-23-11581 53.25 63.40 10.15 2.71 Keats W And1 70.80 83.65 12.85 1.71 NFGC-23-11621 88.75 105.80 17.05 2.55 Keats W Including 102.05 103.00 0.95 11.50 NFGC-23-11642 60.00 71.35 11.35 1.15 Keats W NFGC-23-11711 29.00 57.65 28.65 5.16 Keats W Including 37.20 38.45 1.25 11.43 Including 40.35 43.25 2.90 15.73 NFGC-23-11801 61.95 75.05 13.10 1.58 Keats W NFGC-23-11891 68.00 82.65 14.65 4.02 Keats W Including 72.00 72.60 0.60 14.55 Including 82.10 82.65 0.55 38.82 Table 1: Keats West Drilling Highlights

Note host structures are interpreted to be shallowly dipping and true widths are generally estimated to be 170% to 95% and 240% to 70%, of reported intervals. Infill veining in secondary structures with multiple orientations crosscutting the primary host structures are commonly observed in drill core which could result in additional uncertainty in true width. Composite intervals reported carry a minimum weighted average of 1 g/t Au diluted over a minimum core length of 2m with a maximum of 4m consecutive dilution. Included high-grade intercepts are reported as any consecutive interval with grades greater than 10 g/t Au. Grades have not been capped in the averaging and intervals are reported as drill thickness.

Keats West is a shallow zone of gold mineralization starting at surface, with all intercepts drilled to date occurring above 130m vertical depth. It is defined by continuous gold mineralization over an area spanning 305m long x 250m wide that averages 30m in thickness (Figures 1  3).

Todays highlight intervals continue to demonstrate excellent continuity of high-grade gold mineralization over considerable thicknesses as seen in NFGC-23-1171 grading 5.16 g/t Au over 28.65m and in NFGC-23-1189 grading 4.02 g/t Au over 14.65m. NFGC-23-1171 occurs 60m along strike of previously released interval of 10.1 g/t Au over 22.50m in NFGC-22-945 (March 21, 2023) and NFGC-23-1189 occurs 25m along strike of previously released interval of 17.2 g/t Au over 22.90m and 12.0 g/t Au over 18.40m in NFGC-22-1040 (April 25, 2023).

Additional intervals released today such as 2.71 g/t Au over 10.15m and 1.71 g/t Au over 12.85m in NFGC-23-1158, 2.55 g/t Au over 17.05m in NFGC-23-1162, and 1.58 g/t Au over 13.10m in NFGC-23-1180 are characteristic of the broad domains of gold found at Keats West, with true widths of these intercepts estimated to be between 70-95%.

Melissa Render, VP of Exploration of New Found, stated: These are exceptional results from Keats West; with interval lengths near true width, occurring at or near surface, and impressive consistency of grade and thickness from hole to hole, this discovery west of the AFZ remains one of our greatest discovery achievements. With 64,000 meters pending assay results along both sides of the Appleton Fault Zone, we are eager to see what comes next at Queensway.

Drillhole Details

Hole No. From (m) To (m) Interval (m) Au (g/t) Zone NFGC-23-11581 17.80 20.25 2.45 3.20 Keats W And1 53.25 63.40 10.15 2.71 And1 70.80 83.65 12.85 1.71 NFGC-23-11621 26.45 31.45 5.00 1.91 Keats W And1 38.70 40.90 2.20 2.61 And1 76.25 84.70 8.45 2.98 Including 80.35 81.05 0.70 15.45 And1 88.75 105.80 17.05 2.55 Including 102.05 103.00 0.95 11.50 NFGC-23-11641 12.55 19.25 6.70 1.56 Keats W And1 31.00 36.80 5.80 1.01 And2 60.00 71.35 11.35 1.15 NFGC-23-11691 23.45 27.00 3.55 1.51 Keats W And1 40.00 45.50 5.50 1.05 And3 141.00 143.00 2.00 2.38 Keats N Including 141.65 142.00 0.35 13.20 And2 203.75 206.00 2.25 3.67 Including 204.50 205.00 0.50 10.50 NFGC-23-11711 29.00 57.65 28.65 5.16 Keats W Including 37.20 38.45 1.25 11.43 Including 40.35 43.25 2.90 15.73 And1 61.85 67.00 5.15 1.12 NFGC-23-11801 61.95 75.05 13.10 1.58 Keats W NFGC-23-11892 53.00 55.40 2.40 3.90 Keats W And1 68.00 82.65 14.65 4.02 Including 72.00 72.60 0.60 14.55 Including 82.10 82.65 0.55 38.82 NFGC-23-12182 39.85 44.20 4.35 1.99 Keats W NFGC-23-1265 No Significant Values Keats W Table 2: Summary of composite results reported in this press release for Keats West

Note host structures are interpreted to be shallowly dipping and true widths are generally estimated to be 170% to 95% and 240% to 70%, of reported intervals. 3True widths are unknown at this time. Infill veining in secondary structures with multiple orientations crosscutting the primary host structures are commonly observed in drill core which could result in additional uncertainty in true width. Composite intervals reported carry a minimum weighted average of 1 g/t Au diluted over a minimum core length of 2m with a maximum of 4m consecutive dilution. Included high-grade intercepts are reported as any consecutive interval with grades greater than 10 g/t Au. Grades have not been capped in the averaging and intervals are reported as drill thickness.

Hole No. Azimuth () Dip () Length (m) UTM E UTM N Prospect NFGC-23-1158 0 -56 122 658003 5427993 Keats West NFGC-23-1162 32 -54 137 657981 5427949 Keats West NFGC-23-1164 10 -45 119 658034 5428034 Keats West NFGC-23-1169 56 -54 251 658125 5427976 Keats West NFGC-23-1171 16 -61 155 657952 5427848 Keats West NFGC-23-1180 3 -42 155 657951 5427848 Keats West NFGC-23-1189 324 -60 197 658002 5427820 Keats West NFGC-23-1218 355 -45 81 657895 5428151 Keats West NFGC-23-1265 345 -60 239 658040 5428143 Keats West Table 3: Details of drill holes reported in this press release

Queensway 500,000m Drill Program Update

The Company is currently undertaking a 500,000m drill program at Queensway and approximately 64,400m of core is currently pending assay results.

Sampling, Sub-sampling, and Laboratory

Assays are uncut, and composite intervals are calculated using a minimum weighted average of 1 g/t Au diluted over a minimum core length of 2m with a maximum of 4m consecutive dilution. Included high-grade intercepts are reported as any consecutive interval with grades greater than 10 g/t Au.

All drilling recovers HQ core. Drill core is split in half using a diamond saw or a hydraulic splitter for rare intersections with incompetent core.

A geologist examines the drill core and marks out the intervals to be sampled and the cutting line. Sample lengths are mostly 1.0 meter and adjusted to respect lithological and/or mineralogical contacts and isolate narrow (<1.0m) veins or other structures that may yield higher grades.

Technicians saw the core along the defined cutting line. One-half of the core is kept as a witness sample and the other half is submitted for analysis. Individual sample bags are sealed and placed into totes, which are then sealed and marked with the contents.

New Found submits samples for gold determination by fire assay to ALS Canada Ltd. (ALS) and by photon assay to MSALABS (MSA) since June 2022. ALS and MSA operate under a commercial contract with New Found.

Drill core samples are shipped to ALS for sample preparation in Sudbury, Ontario, Thunder Bay, Ontario, or Moncton, New Brunswick. ALS is an ISO-17025 accredited laboratory for the fire assay method.

Drill core samples are also submitted to MSA in Val-dOr, Quebec. MSA operates numerous laboratories worldwide and maintains ISO-17025 accreditation for many metal determination methods. Accreditation of the photon assay method at the MSA Val DOr laboratory is in progress.

At ALS, the entire sample is crushed to approximately 70% passing 2mm. A 3,000-g split is pulverized. Routine samples do not have visible gold (VG) identified and are not within a mineralized zone. Routine samples are assayed for gold by 30-g fire assay with an inductively-couple plasma spectrometry (ICP) finish. If the initial 30-g fire assay gold result is over 1 g/t, the remainder of the 3,000-g split is screened at 106 microns for screened metallics assay. For the screened metallics assay, the entire coarse fraction (sized greater than 106 microns) is fire assayed and two splits of the fine fraction (sized less than 106 microns) are fire assayed. The three assays are combined on a weight-averaged basis. Samples that have VG identified or fall within a mineralized interval are automatically submitted for screened metallic assay for gold.

At MSA, the entire sample is crushed to approximately 70% passing 2mm. For routine samples that do not have VG identified and are not within a mineralized zone, the samples are riffle split to fill two 450g jars for photon assay. The assays reported from both jars are combined on a weight-averaged basis. If one of the jars assays greater than 1 g/t, the remaining crushed material is weighed into multiple jars and are submitted for photon assay.

For samples that have VG identified or are within a mineralized zone, the entire crushed sample is weighed into multiple jars and are submitted for photon assay. The assays from all jars are combined on a weight-averaged basis.

All samples prepared at ALS or MSA are also analyzed for a multi-element ICP package (ALS method code ME-ICP61) at ALS Vancouver.

Drill program design, Quality Assurance/Quality Control and interpretation of results are performed by qualified persons employing a rigorous Quality Assurance/Quality Control program consistent with industry best practices. Standards and blanks account for a minimum of 10% of the samples in addition to the laboratorys internal quality assurance programs.

Quality Control data are evaluated on receipt from the laboratories for failures. Appropriate action is taken if assay results for standards and blanks fall outside allowed tolerances. All results stated have passed New Founds quality control protocols.

New Founds quality control program also includes submission of the second half of the core for approximately 5% of the drilled intervals. In addition, approximately 1% of sample pulps for mineralized samples are submitted for re-analysis to a second ISO-accredited laboratory for check assays.

The Company does not recognize any factors of drilling, sampling or recovery that could materially affect the accuracy or reliability of the assay data disclosed.

The assay data disclosed in this news release have been verified by the Companys Qualified Person against the original assay certificates.

The Company notes that it has not completed any economic evaluations of its Queensway Project and that the Queensway Project does not have any resources or reserves.

Qualified Person

The scientific and technical information disclosed in this press release was reviewed and approved by Greg Matheson, P. Geo., Chief Operating Officer, and a Qualified Person as defined under National Instrument 43-101. Mr. Matheson consents to the publication of this press release dated May 17, 2023, by New Found. Mr. Matheson certifies that this press release fairly and accurately represents the scientific and technical information that forms the basis for this press release.

About New Found Gold Corp.

New Found holds a 100% interest in the Queensway Project, located 15km west of Gander, Newfoundland and Labrador, and just 18km from Gander International Airport. The project is intersected by the Trans-Canada Highway and has logging roads crosscutting the project, high voltage electric power lines running through the project area, and easy access to a highly skilled workforce. The Company is currently undertaking a 500,000m drill program at Queensway and is well funded for this program with cash and marketable securities of approximately $60 million as of May 2023.

Please see the Companys website at www.newfoundgold.ca and the Companys SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com.

Acknowledgements

New Found acknowledges the financial support of the Junior Exploration Assistance Program, Department of Natural Resources, Government of Newfoundland and Labrador.

Contact

To contact the Company, please visit the Companys website, www.newfoundgold.ca and make your request through our investor inquiry form. Our management has a pledge to be in touch with any investor inquiries within 24 hours.

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 Statement Cautions

This press release contains certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation, relating to exploration, drilling and mineralization on the Companys Queensway gold project in Newfoundland and Labrador; assay results; the interpretation of drilling and assay results, the results of the drilling program, mineralization and the discovery of zones of high-grade gold mineralization; plans for future exploration and drilling and the timing of same; the merits of the Queensway project; future press releases by the Company; and funding of the drilling program. Although the Company believes that such statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts; they are generally, but not always, identified by the words expects, plans, anticipates, believes, interpreted, intends, estimates, projects, aims, suggests, indicate, often, target, future, likely, pending, potential, goal, objective, prospective, possibly, preliminary, and similar expressions, or that events or conditions will, would, may, can, could or should occur, or are those statements, which, by their nature, refer to future events. The Company cautions that forward-looking statements are based on the beliefs, estimates and opinions of the Company's management on the date the statements are made, and they involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Consequently, there can be no assurances that such statements will prove to be accurate and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Except to the extent required by applicable securities laws and the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange, the Company undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements if management's beliefs, estimates or opinions, or other factors, should change. Factors that could cause future results to differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements include risks associated with possible accidents and other risks associated with mineral exploration operations, the risk that the Company will encounter unanticipated geological factors, risks associated with the interpretation of assay results and the drilling program, the possibility that the Company may not be able to secure permitting and other governmental clearances necessary to carry out the Company's exploration plans, the risk that the Company will not be able to raise sufficient funds to carry out its business plans, and the risk of political uncertainties and regulatory or legal changes that might interfere with the Company's business and prospects. The reader is urged to refer to the Company's Annual Information Form and Managements discussion and Analysis, publicly available through the Canadian Securities Administrators' System for Electronic Document Analysis and Retrieval (SEDAR) at www.sedar.com for a more complete discussion of such risk factors and their potential effects.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, May 16, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Vizsla Copper Corp. (TSXV: VCU | OTCQB: VCUFF | FRANKFURT: 97E0) (Vizsla Copper or the Company) is pleased to announce that it has entered into an agreement with PI Financial Corp. as sole bookrunner and lead agent (the Lead Agent) in connection with a marketed best efforts private placement of up to $5.0 million (the Offering) excluding additional proceeds raised from the exercise of the Agents Option (as defined below).

The Offering will consist of:

(i) up to 9,100,000 units (the Units) at a price of $0.22 per Unit (Unit Offering Price); and



(ii) up to 12,500,000 flow-through shares (the FT Shares) at a price of $0.24 per FT Share (the FT Unit Offering Price)



(collectively, Offered Securities).

The Offered Securities will be offered by way of a best efforts private placement pursuant to exemptions from the prospectus requirements to residents of all Provinces of Canada and such other jurisdictions as may be agreed to by the Company and the Lead Agent.

Each Unit shall consist of one common share and one-half of one transferable common share purchase warrant (each whole such common share purchase warrant, a Warrant). Each whole Warrant shall be exercisable into one additional common share (a Warrant Share) for two years from the Closing Date (as defined below) at an exercise price of $0.30 per Warrant Share.

The Company has also granted the Lead Agent an option to increase the size of the offering (the Agents Option), which will allow the Lead Agent to offer up to an additional 20% of the Offering, on the same terms. The Agents Option may be exercised in whole or in part at any time prior to the closing of the Offering, in any combination of Offered Securities.

The Company has agreed to pay the Lead Agent a cash commission equal to 6.0% of the gross proceeds from the Offering and issue to the Agents non-transferable warrants (Compensation Warrants) equal to 6.0% of the aggregate number of Offered Securities issued under the Offering, other than in respect of a maximum of $1,000,000 in aggregate proceeds of Units and FT Shares issued to certain purchasers on a presidents list to be agreed upon by the Company and the Lead Agent, each acting reasonably (the Presidents List), in which case the commission and Compensation Warrants in respect of such issuance shall be equal to 3.0% of the aggregate proceeds of Units and FT Shares issued to such purchasers on the Presidents List. The Compensation Warrants will be exercisable into common shares at the Offering Price for a period of two years from the Closing Date (as defined below).

The net proceeds raised from the Units will be used to fund the ongoing advancement of exploration and development at the Companys exploration projects in British Columbia, and for working capital and general corporate purposes.

The gross proceeds from the sale of the FT Shares will be used before 2025 by the Company to incur eligible Canadian exploration expenses that will qualify as flow-through mining expenditures as such terms are defined in the Income Tax Act (Canada) (the Qualifying Expenditures) related to the Companys projects in British Columbia, Canada. All Qualifying Expenditures will be renounced in favour of the subscribers of the FT Shares effective December 31, 2023.

The Offering is expected to close on or about June 1, 2023 (the Closing Date) or such other date as agreed between the Company and the Lead Agent, and is subject to certain conditions including, but not limited to, the receipt of all necessary regulatory approvals. The Offered Securities will be subject to a statutory hold period expiring four months and one day from the Closing Date.

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.

The Woodjam Project

The 66,325 ha Woodjam Project is located 55 kilometres east of the community of Williams Lake in an area characterized by a low elevation, flat to gently undulating landscape that is well accessed by logging roads. Geologically, the Woodjam Project is located within the prolific Quesnel terrane  a large regional depositional belt commonly dominated by alkalic volcanic units and related volcaniclastic lithologies. The Quesnel terrane hosts both alkaline and calc-alkaline porphyry copper+/-gold+/-molybdenum deposits, including the Copper Mountain, New Afton, Highland Valley, Mount Polley, Mount Milligan and Kemess mines.

To date, six zones of porphyry-related mineralization (Megabuck, Deerhorn, Takom, Three Firs, Southeast, Megaton) have been identified at the Woodjam Project by drilling (95,092 metres in 281 holes since 2009 and a further 114 holes, 30,092 metres predominantly from 1998). These six mineralized zones form a cluster approximately five kilometres in diameter (Figure 1).

Historical mineral resources have been estimated for the Southeast, Deerhorn, and Takom deposits. They are summarized in Table 1 below.

Table 1  Historical Mineral Resource Estimates at the Woodjam Project

Zone Category Tonnage Grade Metal Content M tonnes % Cu g/t Au % CuEq M lbs Cu 000 oz Au South East1,4 Inferred 221.7 0.31 0.05 0.36 1,507 383.7 Deerhorn2,4 Inferred 32.8 0.22 0.49 0.67 158 516.2 Takom3,4 Inferred 8.3 0.22 0.26 0.45 40 68.2 Total NI 43-101 Inferred 262.8 0.30 0.11 0.40 1,705 968.1

Notes:

Source: NI 43-101 Technical Report for Woodjam Property, Horsefly, British Columbia, Canada, prepared by Susan Lomas, P.Geo. of Lions Gate Geological Consulting inc. (LGGC). and issued on December 16, 2022. The historical mineral resource estimate was prepared for Goldfields and Consolidated Woodjam Copper with an effective date of May 30, 2013. The NSR calculation used US$1,650/oz Au, US$3.90/lb Cu and recoveries of 56% Au and 64% Cu. The Southeast Historical Estimate was reported within a resource limiting pit shell based on a price assumption of US$1,650/oz Au and US$3.90/lb Cu, and a US$8.60 NSR cutoff. Source: NI 43-101 Technical Report for Woodjam Property, Horsefly, British Columbia, Canada, prepared by Susan Lomas, P.Geo. of Lions Gate Geological Consulting inc. (LGGC). and issued on December 16, 2022. The historical mineral resource estimate was prepared for Goldfields and Consolidated Woodjam Copper with an effective date of May 15, 2013. The NSR calculation used US$1,650/oz Au, US$3.90/lb Cu and recoveries of 56% Au and 64% Cu. The Deerhorn Historical Estimate was reported within a resource limiting pit shell based on a price assumption of US$1,650/oz Au and US$3.90/lb Cu, and a US$8.60 NSR cutoff. Source: NI 43-101 Technical Report for Woodjam Property, Horsefly, British Columbia, Canada, prepared by Susan Lomas, P.Geo. of Lions Gate Geological Consulting inc. (LGGC). and issued on December 16, 2022. The historical mineral resource estimate was prepared for Goldfields and Consolidated Woodjam Copper with an effective date of May 15, 2013. The NSR calculation used US$1,650/oz Au, US$3.90/lb Cu and recoveries of 56% Au and 64% Cu. The Takom Historical Estimate was reported within a resource limiting pit shell based on a price assumption of US$1,650/oz Au and US$3.90/lb Cu, and a US$8.60 NSR cutoff. Historical Estimates are considered historical in nature and as such are based on prior data and reports prepared by previous property owners. The reader is cautioned not to treat them, or any part of them, as current mineral resources or reserves. A qualified person has not done sufficient work to classify the Historical Estimates as current resources and Vizsla Copper is not treating the Historical Estimates as current resources. In addition, mineral resources are not mineral reserves and do not have demonstrated economic viability.

Figure 1  Woodjam Property Map

Qualified Person

All scientific and technical information in this news release has been prepared by or reviewed and approved by Ian Borg, P.Geo., Senior Geologist for Vizsla Copper. Mr. Borg is a Qualified Person for the purposes of National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects.

About Vizsla Copper

Vizsla Copper is a Cu-Au-Mo mineral exploration and development company headquartered in Vancouver, Canada. The Company is focused on its flagship Woodjam Project, located within the prolific Quesnel terrane, 55 kilometers east of the community of Williams Lake, British Columbia. It has two additional copper exploration properties, the Blueberry and Carruthers Pass projects, and has recently entered into an agreement to acquire a third, the Redgold project, all of which are well situated amongst significant infrastructure in British Columbia. The Company will grow through the exploration and development of the copper properties within its portfolio in addition to value accretive acquisitions. Vizsla Coppers vision is to be a responsible copper explorer and developer in the stable mining jurisdiction of British Columbia, Canada and is committed to socially responsible exploration and development, working safely, ethically and with integrity.

Vizsla Copper is a spin-out of Vizsla Silver Corp. (TSX.V: VZLA) (NYSE: VZLA) and is backed by Inventa Capital Corp., a premier investment group founded in 2017 with the goal of discovering and funding opportunities in the resource sector. Additional information about the Company is available on SEDAR (www.sedar.com) and the Companys website (www.vizslacopper.com).

Contact Information: For more information and to sign-up to the mailing list, please contact:

Chris Donaldson, Chief Executive Officer and Director

Tel: (604) 813-3931 | Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

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 STATEMENTS

The information contained herein 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. Forward-looking information includes, but is not limited to, statements with respect to the activities, events or developments that the Company expects or anticipates will or may occur in the future, including, without limitation, planned exploration activities. Generally, but not always, forward-looking information and statements can be identified by the use of words such as plans, expects, is expected, budget, scheduled, estimates, forecasts, intends, anticipates, or believes or the negative connotation thereof or variations of such words and phrases or state that certain actions, events or results may, could, would, might or will be taken, occur or be achieved or the negative connotation thereof. Forward-looking statements in this news release include, among others, statements relating to: obtaining the required regulatory approvals; the expected Closing Date; completion of the Offering; exercise of the Agents Option; the intended use of proceeds of the Offering; the incurrence of Qualifying Expenditures and the renouncement of such expenditures; exploration and development of the Companys properties; and the Companys growth and business strategies.

Such forward-looking information and statements are based on numerous assumptions, including among others, that the results of planned exploration activities are as anticipated, the anticipated cost of planned exploration activities, that general business and economic conditions will not change in a material adverse manner, that financing will be available if and when needed and on reasonable terms, that third party contractors, equipment and supplies and governmental and other approvals required to conduct the Companys planned exploration activities will be available on reasonable terms and in a timely manner. Although the assumptions made by the Company in providing forward-looking information or making forward-looking statements are considered reasonable by management at the time, there can be no assurance that such assumptions will prove to be accurate.

Forward-looking information and statements also involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties and other factors, which may cause actual events or results in future periods to differ materially from any projections of future events or results expressed or implied by such forward-looking information or statements, including, among others: negative operating cash flow and dependence on third party financing, uncertainty of additional financing, no known mineral reserves or resources, the limited operating history of the Company, the influence of a large shareholder, aboriginal title and consultation issues, reliance on key management and other personnel, actual results of exploration activities being different than anticipated, changes in exploration programs based upon results, availability of third party contractors, availability of equipment and supplies, failure of equipment to operate as anticipated; accidents, effects of weather and other natural phenomena and other risks associated with the mineral exploration industry, environmental risks, changes in laws and regulations, community relations and delays in obtaining governmental or other approvals.
VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / May 17, 2023 / Gander Gold Corp. ("Gander" or the "Company") (CSE:GAND) (OTCQB:GANDF) is pleased to announce the start of first-ever drilling in Newfoundland. For the past two years the Company has systematically and methodically advanced an attractive pipeline of grassroots gold properties across a dominant land position of 2,259 sq. km, offering compelling high-grade discovery potential.

Highlights:

Gander has commenced a planned 70-hole rotary air blast (RAB) drill program across four major projects beginning with the 485 sq. km Gander North Project, 15 km east of New Found Gold's Keats' Zone discovery;

Gander North and Mt. Peyton are fully permitted for both preliminary air blast (RAB) drilling and follow-up diamond drilling. BLT and Cape Ray II drill permits are pending;

In total across its eight Central Newfoundland Gold Belt projects, Gander Gold has outlined more than 100 linear km of potential strike along which gold-in-soil geochemistry anomalies are overlain on top of identified geophysical anomalies.

Mr. Mark Scott, Gander Gold CEO, commented: "We are very pleased with the abundance of drill targets which have emerged from our two-year greenfield exploration program that included a Newfoundland-best 40,000 soil samples. 2023 will see first-ever drill testing of many of these targets and will be an exciting time for the Company and its shareholders in the midst of a robust gold market. We look forward to realizing Gander Gold's significant discovery potential in the Central Newfoundland Gold Belt and maximizing value for shareholders."

The RAB drill program over the next few months at Gander North, Mt. Peyton, Thwart Island and Cape Ray II will provide first-ever testing of the bedrock and structural environments overlain by significant soil geochemistry anomalies. Data gathered from daily XRF measurements and in-hole televiewer will help guide the program and prioritize targets for follow-up diamond drilling. Geological mapping, prospecting, ground VLF-Mag geophysical surveys, and ground penetrating radar (GPR) surveys are being employed ahead of drilling, as required, to optimize target definition.

Drilling has started in the "Viking" area of Gander North where VLF surveys have outlined conductive structures underneath extensive soil anomalies.

Marketing Agreement Signed

The Company has entered into an arm's length marketing agreement effective May 15, 2023, with 11636952 Canada Inc. (O/A Business Financial Network, Roger Choudhury) (the "Consultant") of North York, Ontario, Canada, to provide digital consulting and marketing services for a period of three months. The Company has paid the Consultant a lump sum of CAD $300,000 (+GST) for the procurement of digital marketing materials, advertising and services, and will pay the Consultant a monthly sum of $5,000 (+GST) for its direct provision of services. Consideration offered to the Consultant does not include any securities of the Company. Aside from this engagement, the Company does not have any relationship with the Consultant. Business Financial Network can be contacted by email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . For further information, please visit their website at https://bfn-news.com.

Gander Gold Corporate Video

To view the latest Gander Gold corporate video, click on the link below: Click Here

Gander Gold Newfoundland Projects Map

Qualified Person

The technical information in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Ian Fraser, P.Geo., Vice- President of Exploration for Gander Gold. Mr. Fraser is the Qualified Person responsible for the scientific and technical information contained herein under National Instrument 43-101 standards.

Acknowledgment

Gander Gold acknowledges the financial support of the Junior Exploration Assistance Program, Department of Natural Resources, Government of Newfoundland and Labrador.

About Gander Gold Corporation

Gander Gold is "All Newfoundland, All the Time". The Company is one of the island's largest claimholders targeting new high-grade gold discoveries with a current focus on the large Gander North, Mount Peyton, BLT (Botwood-Laurenceton-Thwart Island) and Cape Ray II projects where there has been very promising early exploration success. Other opportunities advancing through the pipeline are Carmanville, Gander South, Little River and Hermitage.

Contact Info:

Mark Scott

Chief Executive Officer & Director

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Terry Bramhall

Gander Gold - Corporate Communications

1.604.833.6999 (mobile)

1.604.675.9985 (office)

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Caution Regarding Forward Looking Statements

Investors are cautioned that, except for statements of historical fact, certain information contained in this document includes "forward looking information", with respect to a performance expectation for Gander Gold Corp. Such forward looking statements are based on current expectations, estimates and projections formulated using assumptions believed to be reasonable and involving a number of risks and uncertainties which could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated. Such factors include, without limitation, fluctuations in foreign exchange markets, the price of commodities in both the cash market and futures market, changes in legislation, taxation, controls and regulation of national and local governments and political and economic developments in Canada and other countries where Gander carries out or may carry out business in the future, the availability of future business opportunities and the ability to successfully integrate acquisitions or operational difficulties related to technical activities of mining and reclamation, the speculative nature of exploration and development of mineral deposits, including risks obtaining necessary licenses and permits, reducing the quantity or grade of reserves, adverse changes in credit ratings, and the challenge of title. The Company does not undertake an obligation to update publicly or revise forward looking statements or information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, unless so required by applicable securities laws. Some of the results reported are historical and may not have been verified by the Company.

The CSE has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this news 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 news release.
HALIFAX, NS, May 17, 2023 /CNW/ - GoGold Resources Inc. (TSX: GGD) (OTCQX: GLGDF) ("GoGold", "the Company") is pleased to release the results of its initial Preliminary Economic Assessment ("PEA") at its Los Ricos North Project located in Jalisco State, Mexico. This is the Company's second PEA completed within the Los Ricos District, in addition to the Los Ricos South PEA completed in January 2021, with an updated Mineral Resource Estimate ("MRE") and PEA for Los Ricos South expected to follow this summer.

Highlights of the PEA, with a base case silver price of US$23/oz and gold price of US$1,800/oz are as follows (all figures in US dollars unless otherwise stated):

After-Tax NPV (using a discount rate of 5%) of $413 Million with an After-Tax IRR of 29% (Base Case);

with an After-Tax IRR of 29% (Base Case); 13-year mine life producing a total of 110.3 Million payable silver equivalent ounces ("AgEq"), consisting of 68.0 Million silver ounces, 221,700 gold ounces, 22.8 Million pounds of copper, 144.1 Million pounds of lead and 242.2 Million pounds of zinc;

Initial capital costs of $221 Million , including $29 Million in contingency costs, over an expected 18 month build, additional expansion capital of $137 Million , and sustaining capital costs of $6 Million over the life of mine ("LOM");

, including in contingency costs, over an expected 18 month build, additional expansion capital of , and sustaining capital costs of over the life of mine ("LOM"); Average LOM operating cash costs of $9.50 /oz AgEq, and all in sustaining costs ("AISC") of $9.68 /oz AgEq

/oz AgEq, and all in sustaining costs ("AISC") of /oz AgEq Average annual production of 8.8 Million AgEq oz in years one through twelve;

Approximately 3/4 of LOM production is from four open pits containing oxide mineralization and approximately 1/4 is from a separate open pit which contains only sulphide mineralization.

"This is a first look at the strong economics around our Los Ricos North Mineral Resource with average annual production of 8.8 Million AgEq oz at a first quartile AISC of $9.68/oz AgEq. Los Ricos North forms a pipeline of growth after the construction of Los Ricos South, which we see as a high grade bulk underground mine targeted to be our first deposit advanced to production. We look forward to the updated Los Ricos South Mineral Resource including the Eagle Zone and an updated PEA to be completed this summer," said Brad Langille, President and CEO. "The release of this PEA represents one of the milestones for the 2023 year in the Los Ricos District. The other key milestones for the 2023 year in the Los Ricos District are an updated Mineral Resource and PEA in Los Ricos South incorporating the Eagle Zone, followed by a Pre-Feasibility Study in Los Ricos South which is anticipated before year's end. With US$100 Million in cash we are well positioned to develop Los Ricos South pending the results of the upcoming studies."

PEA Summary

The PEA was prepared by independent consultants P&E Mining Consultants Inc ("P&E"), with metallurgical test work completed by SGS Canada Inc.'s Lakefield office ("SGS"), process plant design and costing by D.E.N.M. Engineering Ltd., and environmental and permitting led by CIMA Mexico.

Table 1 below shows the key economic assumptions and results of the PEA, with Table 2 showing the physical attributes, Table 3 showing a sensitivity analysis based on varying metal prices and assumptions, and Table 4 showing a sensitivity analysis based on changes to operating and capital costs.

Table 1  Los Ricos North PEA Key Economic Assumptions and Results

Assumption / Result Unit Value Assumption / Result Unit Value Total Oxide Feed Mined kt 25,557 Net Revenue US$M 2,307 Total Sulphide Feed Mined kt 9,964 Initial Capital Costs US$M 221 Total Plant Feed Mined kt 35,521 Sustaining Capital Costs US$M 143 Total Strip Ratio Ratio 6.0 Mining Costs $/t Mined 2.07 Mine Life Yrs 13 Mining Costs $/t Plant Feed 12.28 Average process rate t/day 8,000 Operating Cash Cost US$/oz AgEq 9.50 Silver Price US$/oz 23.00 All in Sustaining Cost US$/oz AgEq 9.68 Gold Price US$/oz 1,800 After-Tax NPV (5% discount) US$M 413 Copper Price US$/lb 4.00 Pre-Tax NPV (5% discount) US$M 645 Lead Price US$/lb 1.00 After-Tax IRR % 29.1 Zinc Price US$/lb 1.40 Pre-Tax IRR % 39.8 Payable AgEq Moz 110.3 After-Tax Payback Period Yrs 3.0

Table 2  Los Ricos North PEA Summary of Physical Attributes

Attribute Unit Oxide Sulphide Total Plant Feed Mined kt 25,557 9,964 35,521 Silver Grade1 g/t 83.2 30.1 68.3 Gold Grade1 g/t 0.29 0.07 0.23 Copper Grade1 % - 0.12 0.12 Lead Grade % - 0.87 0.87 Zinc Grade % - 1.24 1.24 Silver Recovery % 87 88 87 Gold Recovery % 87 76 86 Copper Recovery % - 89 89 Lead Recovery % - 75 75 Zinc Recovery % - 89 89 Payable Silver Moz 59.5 8.5 68.0 Payable Gold koz 205.2 16.5 221.7 Payable Copper Mlb - 22.8 22.8 Payable Lead Mlb - 144.1 144.1 Payable Zinc Mlb - 242.2 242.2 Payable AgEq Moz 75.5 34.8 110.3

1. Grades shown are LOM average plant feed grades. Dilution of approximately 10% was used.

Table 3  Los Ricos North PEA Metal Price Sensitivities

Sensitivity Base

Case Silver Price (US$/oz) 17 19 21 23 25 27 30 Gold Price (US$/oz) 1330 1487 1643 1800 1957 2113 2348 Copper Price (US$/lb) 2.96 3.30 3.65 4.00 4.35 4.70 5.22 Lead Price (US$/lb) 0.74 0.83 0.91 1.00 1.09 1.17 1.30 Zinc Price (US$/lb) 1.03 1.16 1.28 1.40 1.52 1.64 1.83 After-Tax NPV (5%) (US$M) 120 222 318 413 508 603 746 After-Tax IRR (%) 13.3 19.2 24.3 29.1 33.6 37.9 44.0 After-Tax Payback (years) 5.4 4.4 3.6 3.0 2.5 2.1 1.8

Table 4  Los Ricos North Operating Expense and Capital Expense Sensitivities

Sensitivity -20 % -10 % Base

Case 10 % 20 % Operating Costs  NPV (US$M) 503 458 413 368 323 Operating Costs  IRR (%) 33.4 31.2 29.1 26.8 24.5 Capital Costs  NPV (US$M) 457 435 413 392 370 Capital Costs  IRR (%) 36.3 32.2 28.8 25.9 23.4

Capital and Operating Costs

The Los Ricos North Project has been envisioned as an open pit mining operation, with contract mining comprising five open pits. The first four pits contain oxide mineralization and will be mined over years one to nine of the Project, with the final pit containing sulphide mineralization which will be mined in years 10 to 13.

The processing plant is comprised of conventional crushing, grinding, cyanide tank leaching, tailings filtration (dry stack), and Merrill Crowe precipitation for the oxide mineralization. For the sulphide mineralization, processing will be completed through a flotation circuit which is included in sustaining capital and will be constructed in year eight of the Project.

Water supply to the process plant will be provided by a nearby surface water source and high voltage grid power will be provided by the local utility.

Key components of the capital cost estimate are provided in Table 5 and operating costs are provided in Table 6.

Table 5  Capital Cost Estimate

Type Initial (US$K) Expansion (US$K)1 Sustaining (US$K) Total (US$K) Process plant direct costs 141,020 25,864 5,000 171,884 Pre-stripping and haul roads 10,268 88,090 98,358 Project indirect costs 19,108 2,870 21,978 EPCM 13,792 2,328 16,120 Infrastructure 7,680 7,680 Total 191,869 119,151 5,000 316,020 Contingency (15%) 28,780 17,873 750 47,403 Total 220,649 137,024 5,750 363,423

1. Expansion capital is not included in AISC calculations

Table 6  Operating Costs (Average LOM)

Operating Costs (Average LOM) US$/tonne Plant Feed US$/tonne

Rock Mining 12.28 2.07 Processing 13.81 General and admin 1.02 Total 27.12

Mining

The open pit mining will be contracted and carried out by drilling and blasting followed by conventional loading and truck haulage to the waste rock storage facilities and the process plant.

Metallurgy

A preliminary metallurgical test program was carried out by SGS Lakefield of Ontario, Canada on four Los Ricos North deposit areas  Favor, Trini, Casados, and Orito. Based on the zone geology, Favor, Trini, and Casados (oxide) were designated for whole mineralized material cyanidation testing. The Orito (sulphide) sample was deemed to be flotation ideal. The subsequent oxide testing included grinding (no comminution testing) and leaching only. The sulphide testing included grinding and bulk flotation to produce a single bulk concentrate with locked cycle (LCT) testing completed. The samples were comprised of four drill core rejects representing the noted zones of the Mineral Resource. This preliminary test program estimated a gold and silver oxide recovery of 87% for both. The sulphide recovery on the Orito sample recovered 76% gold, 88% silver, 89% copper, 89% zinc, and 75% lead.

Mineral Resource Estimate

The basis for the PEA is the Mineral Resource Estimate completed by P&E in the National Instrument 43-101 Technical Report on the Initial Mineral Resource Estimate for the Los Ricos North Project located in Jalisco State, Mexico, which has an effective date of December 1, 2021. A summary of the Mineral Resource Estimate is provided in Table 7.

Table 7: Los Ricos North Mineral Resource Estimate (1-11)

Deposit Tonnes Average Grade Contained Metal Au Ag Cu Pb Zn AuEq AgEq Au Ag Cu Pb Zn AuEq AgEq (Mt) (g/t) (g/t) ( %) ( %) ( %) (g/t) (g/t) (koz) (koz) (Mlb) (Mlb) (Mlb) (koz) (koz) Indicated: El Favor 7.7 0.27 98 - - - 1.61 119 68 24,413 - - - 399 29,454 Casados 3.2 0.42 124 - - - 2.09 154 43 12,871 - - - 218 16,061 La Trini 3.1 0.54 74 - - - 1.54 114 54 7,428 - - - 155 11,424 Mololoa 0.4 0.36 130 - - - 2.12 157 5 1,788 - - - 29 2,161 Silver-Gold

Oxide Zone 14.5 0.37 100 - - - 1.71 127 171 46,500 - - - 801 59,100 El Orito Sulphide

Zone1 7.8 0.06 28 0.11 0.88 1.33 1.55 114 15 7,011 19 151 229 389 28,708 Total Indicated 22.3 1.66 122 186 53,510 1,190 87,808 Inferred: El Favor 12.4 0.27 89 - - - 1.47 108 106 35,505 - - - 587 43,350 Casados 1.8 0.35 108 - - - 1.82 135 21 6,323 - - - 106 7,843 La Trini 0.1 0.43 108 - - - 1.89 139 1 201 - - - 4 260 Mololoa 0.7 0.39 94 - - - 1.66 122 9 2,102 - - - 37 2,739 Silver-Gold

Oxide Zone 15.0 0.28 91 - - - 1.52 112 136 44,131 - - - 734 54,191 El Orito Sulphide

Zone1 5.5 0.06 28 0.12 0.74 1.20 1.46 108 11 4,888 15 90 146 258 19,007 Total Inferred 20.5 1.51 111 148 49,019 992 73,198

1. El Orito is a silver-base metal sulphide zone, all other deposits are silver-gold oxide zones. 2. Mineral Resources which are not Mineral Reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability. The estimate of Mineral Resources may be materially affected by environmental, permitting, legal, title, taxation, socio-political, marketing, or other relevant issues. 3. The Inferred Mineral Resource in this estimate has a lower level of confidence than that applied to an Indicated Mineral Resource and must not be converted to a Mineral Reserve. It is reasonably expected that the majority of the Inferred Mineral Resource could be upgraded to an Indicated Mineral Resource with continued exploration. 4. The Mineral Resources in this news release were estimated in accordance with the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum (CIM), CIM Standards on Mineral Resources and Reserves, Definitions and Guidelines (2014) prepared by the CIM Standing Committee on Reserve Definitions and adopted by the CIM Council and CIM Best Practices (2019). 5. Historically mined areas were depleted from the Mineral Resource model. 6. Approximately 98.9% of the Indicated and 91.3% of the Inferred contained AgEq ounces are pit constrained, with the remainder out-of-pit. See tables 4 and 6 for details of the split between pit constrained and out-of-pit deposits. 7. The pit constrained AgEq cut-off grade of 29 g/t Ag was derived from US$1,550/oz Au price, US$21/oz Ag price, US$3.66/lb Cu, US$0.90/lb Pb, US$1.26/lb Zn, 93% process recovery for Ag and Au, 90% process recovery for Cu, 80% process recovery for Pb and Zn, US$18/tonne process and G&A cost. The constraining pit optimization parameters were US$2.00/t mineralized mining cost, US$1.50/t waste mining cost and 50-degree pit slopes. 8. The out-of-pit AuEq cut-off grade of 119 g/t Ag was derived from US$1,550/oz Au price, US$21/oz Ag price, US$3.66/lb Cu, US$0.90/lb Pb, US$1.26/lb Zn, 93% process recovery for Ag and Au, 90% process recovery for Cu, 80% process recovery for Pb and Zn, US$57/t mining cost, US$18/tonne process and G&A cost. The out-of-pit Mineral Resource grade blocks were quantified above the 119 g/t AgEq cut-off, below the constraining pit shell within the constraining mineralized wireframes and exhibited sufficient continuity to be considered for cut and fill and longhole mining 9. No Mineral Resources are classified as Measured. 10. AgEq and AuEq calculated at an Ag/Au ratio of 73.8:1. 11. Totals may not agree due to rounding

The Preliminary Economic Assessment Technical Report will be filed on SEDAR within 45 days of this news release.

Qualified Persons

Robert Harris, P.Eng. and David Duncan, P.Geo. are the GoGold Qualified Persons and Eugene Puritch, P.Eng., FEC, CET, President of P&E Mining Consultants Inc. and David Salari, P. Eng., DENM Engineering Ltd. are Independent Qualified Persons all as defined by National Instrument 43-101 and whom are responsible for the technical information in this press release.

VRIFY Slide Deck and 3D Presentation

VRIFY is a platform being used by companies to communicate with investors using 360 virtual tours of remote mining assets, 3D models and interactive presentations. VRIFY can be accessed by website and with the VRIFY iOS and Android apps.

The VRIFY 3D Slide Deck for GoGold can be viewed at: https://vrify.com/companies/gogold-resources-inc and on the Company's website at: www.gogoldresources.com.

Los Ricos District Exploration Projects

The Company's two exploration projects at its Los Ricos Property are in Jalisco state, Mexico. The Los Ricos South Project began in March 2019 and an initial Mineral Resource Estimate was announced on July 29, 2020, which disclosed a Measured & Indicated Mineral Resource of 63.7 Million ounces AgEq grading 199 g/t AgEq contained in 10.0 Million tonnes, and an Inferred Mineral Resource of 19.9 Million ounces AgEq grading 190 g/t AgEq contained in 3.3 Million tonnes. An initial PEA on the Project was announced on January 20, 2021, indicating an after-tax NPV 5% of US$295M. The Eagle Concession was acquired in October 2022 and is adjacent to the Main Area which contains the initial Mineral Resource.

The Los Ricos North Project was launched in March 2020 and an initial Mineral Resource Estimate was announced on December 7, 2021, which disclosed an Indicated Mineral Resource of 87.8 Million ounces AgEq grading 122 g/t AgEq contained in 22.3 Million tonnes, and an Inferred Mineral Resource of 73.2 Million ounces AgEq grading 111 g/t AgEq contained in 20.5 Million tonnes.

About GoGold Resources

GoGold Resources (TSX: GGD) is a Canadian-based silver and gold producer focused on operating, developing, exploring and acquiring high quality projects in Mexico. The Company operates the Parral Tailings mine in the state of Chihuahua and has the Los Ricos South and Los Ricos North exploration Projects in the state of Jalisco. Headquartered in Halifax, NS, GoGold is building a portfolio of low cost, high margin projects. For more information visit gogoldresources.com.

CAUTIONARY STATEMENT

The securities described herein 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, or for the benefit of, U.S. persons (as defined in Regulation S under the U.S. Securities Act) except in compliance with the registration requirements of the U.S. Securities Act and applicable state securities laws or pursuant to exemptions therefrom. This release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy of any of GoGold's securities in the United States.

This news 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 Los Ricos South and North projects, and future plans and objectives of GoGold, including the NPV, IRR, initial and sustaining capital costs, operating costs, and LOM production of Los Ricos South, 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 GoGold and its subsidiaries as a going concern, general economic and market conditions, mineral prices, the accuracy of Mineral Resource Estimates, and the performance of the Parral project. 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 GoGold's expectations include exploration and development risks associated with GoGold's projects, the failure to establish estimated Mineral Resources or Mineral Reserves, volatility of commodity prices, variations of recovery rates, and global economic conditions. For additional information with respect to risk factors applicable to GoGold, reference should be made to GoGold's continuous disclosure materials filed from time to time with securities regulators, including, but not limited to, GoGold's Annual Information Form. The forward-looking information contained in this release is made as of the date of this release.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, May 16, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Skeena Resources Limited (TSX: SKE; NYSE: SKE) (Skeena or the Company) announced today that it has entered into an agreement with a syndicate of underwriters led by BMO Capital Markets (the Underwriters), pursuant to which the Underwriters have agreed to purchase, on bought deal basis 8,700,000 common shares of the Company (the Common Shares) at a price of C$7.35 per Common Share, for total gross proceeds of approximately C$64 million (the Offering). The Company will also grant to the Underwriters an over-allotment option (the Over-Allotment Option) to purchase up to 1,305,000 additional Common Shares (the Over-Allotment Shares). The Over-Allotment Option will be exercisable for a period of 30 days following closing.

The Common Shares will be offered by way of a prospectus supplement (the Supplement) to the Companys base shelf prospectus in all of the provinces of Canada, except the province of Quebec, and may also be offered by way of private placement in the United States.

The net proceeds of the Offering will be used for continued advancement of the Companys Eskay Creek gold-silver project and for general corporate purposes.

The Offering is expected to close on or about May 24, 2023, and is subject to Skeena receiving all necessary regulatory approvals, including the approval of the Toronto Stock Exchange and the Common Shares having been approved for listing on the New York Stock Exchange.

No securities regulatory authority has either approved or disapproved of the contents of this news release. The Common Shares being offered have not been, and will not be, registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the U.S. Securities Act), or the securities laws of any state of the United States and may not be offered, sold or delivered, directly or indirectly, in the United States, absent registration or an exemption from the registration requirements of the U.S. Securities Act and applicable state securities laws. This news release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy nor shall there be any sale of the Common Shares in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful.

About Skeena

Skeena Resources Limited is a Canadian mining exploration and development company focused on revitalizing the past-producing Eskay Creek gold-silver mine located in Tahltan Territory in the Golden Triangle of northwest British Columbia, Canada. The Company released a Feasibility Study for Eskay Creek in September 2022 which highlights an after-tax NPV5% of C$1.4B, 50% IRR, and a 1-year payback at US$1,700/oz Au and US$19/oz Ag.



For further information, please contact:

Walter Coles Jr. Randy Reichert

Executive Chairman President & CEO

Contact Information

Investor Inquiries: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Office Phone: +1 604 684 8725

Qualified Persons

In accordance with National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects, Paul Geddes, P.Geo., Senior Vice President, Exploration & Resource Development, is the Qualified Person for the Company and has prepared, validated, and approved the technical and scientific content of this news release. The Company strictly adheres to CIM Best Practices Guidelines in conducting, documenting, and reporting the exploration activities on its projects.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements and information contained or incorporated by reference in this news release constitute forward-looking information and forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable Canadian and United States securities legislation (collectively, forward-looking statements). These statements relate to future events or our future performance. The use of words such as anticipates, believes, proposes, contemplates, generates, targets, is projected, is planned, considers, estimates, expects, is expected, potential and similar expressions, or statements that certain actions, events or results may, might, will, could, or would be taken, achieved, or occur, may identify forward-looking statements. All statements other than statements of historical fact are forward-looking statements. Specific forward-looking statements contained herein include, but are not limited to, statements regarding the expected use of net proceeds from the Offering and anticipated closing date for the Offering, results of the Feasibility Study for Eskay Creek, processing capacity of the mine, anticipated mine life, probable reserves, estimated project capital and operating costs, sustaining costs, results of test work and studies, planned environmental assessments, the future price of metals, metal concentrate, and future exploration and development. Such forward-looking statements are based on material factors and/or assumptions which include, but are not limited to, the estimation of mineral resources and reserves, the realization of resource and reserve estimates, metal prices, taxation, the estimation, timing and amount of future exploration and development, capital and operating costs, the availability of financing, the receipt of regulatory approvals, environmental risks, title disputes and the assumptions set forth herein and in the Companys MD&A for the year ended December 31, 2022, its most recently filed interim MD&A, and the Companys Annual Information Form (AIF) dated March 22, 2023. Such forward-looking statements represent the Companys management expectations, estimates and projections regarding future events or circumstances on the date the statements are made, and are necessarily based on several estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable by the Company as of the date hereof, are not guarantees of future performance. Actual events and results may differ materially from those described herein, and are subject to significant operational, business, economic, and regulatory risks and uncertainties. The risks and uncertainties that may affect the forward-looking statements in this news release include, among others: the inherent risks involved in exploration and development of mineral properties, including permitting and other government approvals; changes in economic conditions, including changes in the price of gold and other key variables; changes in mine plans and other factors, including accidents, equipment breakdown, bad weather and other project execution delays, many of which are beyond the control of the Company; environmental risks and unanticipated reclamation expenses; and other risk factors identified in the Companys MD&A for the year ended December 31, 2022, its most recently filed interim MD&A, the AIF dated March 22, 2023, the Companys short form base shelf prospectus dated January 31, 2023, and in the Companys other periodic filings with securities and regulatory authorities in Canada and the United States that are available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com or on EDGAR at www.sec.gov.

Readers should not place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements. Any forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date on which it is made and the Company does not undertake any obligations to update and/or revise any forward-looking statements except as required by applicable securities laws.
By Isabel Inclan

New Canadian Media

My children knew they had a mother, but they didnt know me, Rodriguez told New Canadian Media, after finishing a 10-hour shift on the farm. I only had four months to live with them before returning to Canada to work for eight-month seasons. She has been working in Ontario farms for the better part of the last two decades, through Canadas Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program (SAWP) partnership with Mexico.

For hundreds of migrant farmworkers like Rodriguez, Mothers Day will be a lonely one, likely filled with work.

Mothers Day is like a normal working day for us because our children are in Mexico, and we cant hug them, Rodriguez said.

We settle for a call or a text message.

Her mother and sister took care of her children while she worked in Canada. Now, Rodriguezs 24-year-old son is a public accountant and her 22-year-old daughter is about to graduate in international trade.

Sometimes my children reproached me for not having been with them, but as they grew, they understood the sacrifice I made and took advantage of the university that I could afford, said Rodriguez.

From January 2023 to date, 230 women farm workers, mostly mothers, have come to work in Ontario farms, according to the Mexican consulate in Toronto. They come for seasons of three to eight months and earn $15.83 per hour.

Edith Morales will be spending this Mothers Day working at a flower farm.

Also from Mexico, Morales has three children and has been working for 14 years in Saskatchewan and Ontario farms. Her hands have cultivated thousands of flowers for national consumption and export.

Mother farm workers cannot celebrate this day because our children are far away, Morales said after a 14-hour shift in a St. Catharines, ON flower farm. We can only see them through a screen, but we cannot hug or kiss them.

Ontario is the province with the most temporary farm workers in Canada. Women make up around 4 percent of all workers. Last year, 269 women came to Ontario, which is 15 percent more than the previous year.

We hope the participation of women under the SAWP continues increasing, in line with gender policies in Mexico and Canada, said Cynthia Moreno, consul of Protection Affairs and SAWP at the Mexican Consulate in Toronto.

According to Moreno, this large group of women comes year after year and is part of an essential workforce needed to ensure food security in Canada and the functioning of the Canadian agricultural sector.

Many of them are single mothers and primary providers in their homes, Moreno said. Their personal sacrifice by migrating to Canadian farms for long periods of time, each year, allows to secure the base of the Canadian economy.

For Morales, the sacrifice of missing birthdays and her childrens celebrations has been worth it because thanks to her work in Canada and the help of her mother, her children can afford a good education.

With great pride, she shared that her eldest 26-year-old daughter is a teacher with a postgraduate degree in Psychology, her 24-year-old son is a chemical engineer, and her youngest 18-year-old daughter is studying nursing.

A few years ago, when Amparo Huerta asked her boss for permission to go back to Mexico to help her daughter with her university application, the move was recorded by SAWP officials in Mexico as an abandonment of her contract.

I was punished, Huerta said. The following year they did not send me to Canada, and then they moved me to farms in Edmonton and Ontario.

Huerta has been working eight seasons cultivating bell peppers in Niagara-on-the-Lake and knows that this Mothers Day she will receive images of flowers and messages from her daughter Betsiee Ariadna who is in her last year of a Mexican university.

For Huerta as well, it has been worth the sacrifice of not seeing her daughter for several months, since she has given her an education and a home.

My daughter calls me Mamita (mommy) and it excites me, fills me up, moves me, Huerta said. It gives me strength and courage to endure many positive things, many good vibes.

In Mexico, Mothers Day is May 10, but these workers cannot celebrate either Mexican or Canadian Mothers Day due to family separation.

Rodriguez, Morales and Huerta want SAWP to let them bring their children to visit, study or work in Canada.

I would love for my children to come to visit me or at least be able to see them one week, said Edith Morales.

For her part, Huerta stressed a need for a direct educational pathway. I would like the SAWP to have a direct path that allows our children to come to study in Canada, she said.

In the meantime, all three said they celebrate new technology that has helped make Mothers Day less bitter. In years past, there was only one phone on the farm or they had to buy long-distance calling cards, but now the moms are grateful they can talk to their children on their cell phones and see them on video.

Meanwhile, a new survey from WorldRemit, has found that 44 percent of migrant workers wish that Mothers Day was celebrated on the same day around the worldpointing to the cultural difficulties faced by those who live in a different country to their mother.

Mothers Day is celebrated on different dates worldwide, ranging from the second Sunday of February in Norway, to the 14th of May in the Philippines and even to the 15th of October in Malawi.

The multi-country survey was conducted in February with 3,000 participants to understand how migrants celebrate their relationship with their mothers.

Mothers Day is celebrated on different dates across the world. The most popular dates are the second Sunday in May (such as in the United States of America, Australia, and the Philippines) and the fourth week of Lent in March (such as in the United Kingdom and Nigeria).

The survey found that while 95 percent of respondents celebrate Mothers Day, nearly a quarter (23 percent) agree that it is easy to forget when Mothers Day is celebrated in their familys country of origin.

While the majority of respondents (44%) celebrate Mothers Day on the day their country of residence celebrates, over a third (35%) of respondents noted that they celebrate Mothers Day twice a year, recognizing the celebratory date in their familys country of origin, in addition to the country they currently reside in.

44% of respondents agree that they wish that Mothers Day was celebrated on the same day worldwide.

Mothers and mother figures play a significant role in many peoples lives. Often, they act as a confidant, advisor, friend, and caretaker. When asked to describe their mother in three words, the top responses from participants included trustworthy, devoted, strong, and selfless.

WorldRemits survey found that 97% of respondents agree that their mother has influenced them as a person. In addition, 97% of respondents agree that their mother helped them get to where they are currently. Finally, 96% of respondents agree that their mother supports their life choices.
Once again, Yoo Ah In experienced long hours of grueling interrogation as the scandal-ridden star appeared before the police for his drug charges.

The award-winning star attended the second investigation at the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency along with his legal counsel. It was after authorities warned him that he might face serious consequences after dodging the summons twice.

Yoo Ah In Briefly Answers Reporter's Question After 21-Hour Interrogation

According to reports, Yoo Ah In has completed the 21-hour second investigation at the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency's Drug Investigation Unit. He entered the building on May 16 at around 9:00 a.m. and left the vicinity on May 17 at 6:26 a.m.

As the "Seoul Vibe" star was about to leave the agency, he briefly spoke to the reporters.

When asked by the media, "What did you explain in the investigation?" Yoo Ah In replied, saying that he "did everything" he could and adding, "I am sorry for causing concern."

A follow-up question regarding the illegal substance use was asked, whether he admitted to the charges of using cocaine and other drugs. The top star remained silent and left the vicinity.

To recall, police had to reschedule the second investigation twice after Yoo Ah In failed to attend.

Yoo Ah In's Second Private Summon Rescheduled Twice

Initially set on May 11, reports mentioned that Yoo Ah In arrived at the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency but didn't push through with the investigation after seeing a flock of reporters at the entrance.

It was rescheduled for a later date, but the award-winning star skipped the rescheduled private summons.

Due to this, the National Police Agency said that the actor might face an arrest warrant if he kept refusing to show up for questioning.

As obtained by the Korea Times, an official said that the investigation could not be delayed further; hence, they had to resort to their last option.

"If the date of his appearance cannot be decided through consultation, police will have to arrest) him," an official from the National Police Agency explained.

Back in February, the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety requested the police investigate Yoo Ah In following suspicions over propofol use. As the investigation continues, he is barred from leaving the country.

At the time, Yoo Ah In's agency, UAA, confirmed that the top star would coordinate with the police. However, after authorities conducted hair strand and urine tests, the actor tested positive for four types of drugs: propofol, marijuana, cocaine, and ketamine.

Due to this, he has decided to step down from his role in the upcoming series "Hellbound," while his endorsement deals suffered after brands removed traces of him in various advertisements.

For more K-Drama, K-Movie, and celebrity news, keep your tabs open here at KDramaStars.

KDramaStars owns this article

Written by Geca Wills
The much-anticipated team-up of Song Hye Kyo and Han So Hee will no longer happen. What happened to "The Price of Confession"?

Song Hye Kyo & Han So Hee Withdraw From 'The Price of Confession'

Viewers were already anticipating the collaboration of Song Hye Kyo and Han So Hee for their supposed first onscreen work "The Price of Confession."

Unfortunately, the actresses delivered a sudden sad news to the public.

On May 17, a media outlet announced that actresses Song Hye Kyo and Han So Hee, who were confirmed to headline the revenge series "The Price of Confession," decided to drop the project after a long discussion.

It has been said in the report that there were slight disagreements from both sides and the production.

YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE: Song Hye Kyo's Video at 59th Baeksang Arts Awards Garners 2 Million Views For THESE Reasons

To recall, after it was announced that the two stars would share the same frame for the first time, the duo have shown support for each other through their social media, showcasing their good relationship.

Their exchange of messages online even sparked more interest in their supposed project.

Director Shim Na Yeon, who was offered to helm the drama, also announced his withdrawal from the production.

"The Price of Confession" tells the bloody saga of two women surrounding a mysterious murder case.

As the production is facing a complicated situation, the public is curious as to how the drama will be completed and who among the female celebrities will be cast for this work.

What's Next for Han So Hee & Song Hye Kyo

Meanwhile, viewers still have the chance to see these beautiful and talented stars as Han So Hee is preparing for her fantasy-romance series "Gyeongseong Creature." She will work with Park Seo Joon for the first time. The drama is scheduled to premiere in the second half of 2023.

Meanwhile, in the first half of 2023, Song Hye Kyo has been flying back and forth to South Korea to attend fashion events in Paris, Milan, and the United States, proving her global popularity.

She also made her debut at the iconic Met Gala, alongside BLACKPINK's Jennie.

As of this writing, Song Hye Kyo has no confirmed drama yet.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: Visual Explosion! Song Hye Kyo & BLACKPINK Jennie Surprise Fans With Met Gala Photo

What can you say about the sudden withdrawal of Han So Hee and Song Hye Kyo in "The Price of Confession"? Share your thoughts/replies in the comments!

For more K-Drama, K-Movie, and celebrity news, keep your tabs open here at KDramaStars.

KDramaStars owns this article.

Shai Collins wrote this.
Oman Cables Industry (OCI), a leading company in the cables and systems industry and part of the Prysmian Group, has signed a deal with Fujairah Gold, Vedanta Group, to strengthen its partnership towards sustainable goals.

The two companies, represented by Cinzia Farise, CEO of Oman Cables, and Puneet Khurana, CEO of Fujairah Gold, signed a Collaboration Agreement at the presence of Sharief Habib Al Awadhi Director General of Fujairah Free Zone Authority, Guest of Honor, with the scope to explore potential opportunities in different areas of collaboration: from jointly develop green copper rod from 100% secondary copper, to establish acceptability of Green Copper rod for cable manufacturing and jointly develop a value proposition for Green Copper to achieve sustainability goals and support Net Zero Carbon targets by 2050.

OCIs "Innovation for Sustainability" approach has three fundamental principles and ambitions: environmental, social and innovation responsibility. The company believes in minimizing its environmental impact and has established a set of guiding criteria that directs its innovation efforts involving all value chain, from upstream - through responsible sourcing - to downstream, partnering up with Customers to reduce losses during use phase.

Strict criteria

This requires the adoption of a design for sustainability approach that includes strict criteria on carbon footprint, potential recyclability, hazardous substances, recycle input rate, transmission efficiency and environmental benefits in all products and new technologies. By prioritizing these criteria, OCI can develop products that are eco-friendly, energy-efficient and cost-effective, enabling Customers to choose greener options.

After a recent successful Innovation Day titled Powering a Sustainable Future conducted together with all Customers across the GCC Region, OCI is now focusing a responsible sourcing. Farise said: We are embarking on a transformational journey. Our ambition towards sustainability requires a joint effort with all our key stakeholders. While pursuing our net zero ambition, we must partner with the best ESG providers who embrace our same values and commitment to sustainability.

Khurana concluded: Vedanta is committed to delivering sustainable and responsible growth, which creates value for both our shareholders and all our stakeholders. We proactively engage to incorporate sustainability in all our practices, Embracing the philosophy of `Zero Harm, Zero Waste, Zero Discharge. We are very happy to associate with Oman Cables, Prysmian group and will work closely with them to pursue our net Zero ambition.-- TradeArabia News Service
By Victor Ing

Special to The Post

On May 8, 2023, the Honourable Sean Fraser, Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, announced the extension of the Agri-Food Pilot until May 14, 2025. This unique pathway to permanent residency was first introduced in May 2020 and offers an immigration pathway for workers in the farming and food processing industries.

The Agri-Food Pilot specifically targets workers across a diverse range of occupations such as meat cutters and labourers who plant and harvest fruits and vegetables.

For a full list of the eligible occupations under the Agri-Food Pilot please refer to the following link: https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/immigrate-canada/agri-food-pilot/eligible-industries.html

Farm and food production workers have historically struggled to qualify for Canadian permanent residency because many of them are employed in entry-level positions and may not have the language proficiency or level of education needed to qualify under Canadas major immigration pathways such as the Canadian Experience Class, which targets skilled workers with Canadian work experience. The Agri-Food Pilot recognizes the important contributions of workers in these industries and the longstanding labour shortages that plague them.

Currently, to qualify for permanent residency under the Agri-Food Pilot, candidates must have a job offer for full-time, non-seasonal work in one of the Pilots eligible industries and occupations and must demonstrate at least one year of relevant work experience gained under a work permit issued pursuant to a Labour Market Impact Assessment or LMIA.

With respect to educational and language requirements, successful candidates must have the equivalent of a high school education and English test scores of at least Level 4 under the Canadian Language Benchmark or French test scores of at least Level 4 under the Niveaux de competence linguistique canadiens. Given these relatively modest requirements, the Agri-Food Pilot offers a viable pathway to permanent residency for many farm and food production workers who may not have otherwise qualified.

Eligible candidates must act quickly, however, because the Department of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada only accept up to 2,750 applications each year under the Agri-Food Pilot. Once the annual cap is reached, it will not be reset until the next calendar year.

Candidates can now apply under any eligible occupation until the annual cap is reached and their applications will be processed on a first-come-first-served basis. Previously, the Minister imposed caps on the eligible occupations but has recently removed the occupational caps as part of the May 8, 2023 announcement to ensure that the maximum number of candidates will be able to file applications under the Agri-Food Pilot.

By the end of this year, the Minister plans on introducing further changes to broaden the eligibility requirements of the Pilot and to make it easier for candidates to file their applications. For instance, the Minister has already announced that he intends to implement changes that will allow unions to confirm a candidates work experience in place of an employer reference letter (a good standard in immigration processing), which will assist workers in vulnerable employment situations where employers may be reluctant to assist with their permanent residency applications for reasons outside the control of the worker.

For the past several years we have seen the Minister embrace innovative initiatives to improve and expand upon Canadas immigration programs to respond to the countrys economic and labour needs. The Agri-Food Pilot is an example of a targeted approach to address specific industrial labour shortages that are being carefully and slowly implemented. Using annual caps, the Minister can assess the efficacy of the Pilot and make adjustments, as necessary. Over time, the Pilot may even become a permanent program within Canadas economic streams, following in the footsteps of programs like the Atlantic Immigration Program which became permanent in 2022. One thing is for certain: The extension of the Agri-Food Pilot until May 14, 2025, is welcome news to farm and food processing workers and interested candidates should stay tuned for further announcements from the Minister this year!

Victor Ing is a lawyer of Sas & Ing Immigration Law Centre. He provides a full range of immigration services.

For more information go to canadian-visa-lawyer.com or email victor@sasanding.com.
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Kennesaw State summer program aimed at increasing minority educators

KENNESAW, Ga. | May 17, 2023

Jabari Cain Building on the success of an initiative to increase the number of Black male teachers, Kennesaw State University is giving younger local students of color a chance to explore life as education majors and teachers.

The Future MISTERs Academy, a three-day summer camp hosted at KSU, invites middle and high school students from metro Atlanta school districts to learn what it takes to become a teacher, tour KSUs campus, visit Bagwell College of Educations Innovation Lab and dine at The Commons.

A lot of these students have never been to a college campus, so that by itself is an eye-opening experience. We want them to know their life is just beginning with that high school diploma, said Jabari Cain, Call Me MISTER program director and assistant professor of instructional technology. We want this visit to be the jumping off point for them to realize that a career in education is both realistic and rewarding, and we want to start to help young students realize they can be a role model for the children who come after them.

The Future MISTERS Academy was born from the Call Me MISTER program, first established at Clemson University and implemented at Kennesaw State in Fall 2021. Since its inception at Clemson, the program has expanded to schools in seven states and the District of Columbia.

Students of color represent more than half of the public school population in the United States, but Black teachers account for 8% and Black males only 2% of the teacher workforce, according to the latest available data from the National Center of Education Statistics.

While Call Me MISTER is part of the effort to narrow that representation gap, Cain and other Bagwell leaders realized they needed to capture the attention of younger students to establish a pipeline of education interest starting in K-12 to college and then into the workforce. And so, in Summer 2022, the Future MISTERs Academy was established.

Alexander Shannon is in his 26th year teaching, with 16 of those years at Tapp Middle School in Powder Springs, Georgia. Cain described him as an enthusiastic chaperone at last years Future MISTERs Academy, and Shannon says hell return with the same vigor to chaperoning this year because he knows how important initiatives like this are.

Its about seeing yourself in a male teacher of color. If you dont see that representation, its hard to become something you dont see, he said. The average male teacher of color was exposed to the idea of becoming an educator much later in life than the average white, female teacher. When young people see themselves in an authority figure who comes from the same place culturally or from the same kind of background, they tend to do better.

One study by the National Bureau of Economic Research concludes that Black students randomly assigned to at least one Black teacher in grades K-3 are 13% more likely to graduate from high school and 19% more likely to enroll in college than their same-school, same-race peers.

L to R: Matthew Mbongwo, Alexander Shannon, Noah Khalid

Matthew Mbongwo and Noah Khalid, two of Shannons seventh-grade students, say Shannon represents an important example of leadership in their school career, and he was part of the reason they attended last years Future MISTERs Academy.

Mr. Shannon has had a great impact on my life. Hes teaching me how to become a great young man, Khalid said. Even though education might not be my career choice, Future MISTERs made me realize I shouldnt discount growing up as a young Black man and having a teacher like him.

Mbongwo agreed and said Shannons participation at Future MISTERs was not surprising  hes always involved with school activities and trying to get his students involved too.

Future MISTERs was my first visit to a college campus, and it made me think about the future, he said. Its sort of frightening, but its also exciting.

This years Future MISTERs Academy will be hosted June 7-9. Cain says he hopes 20 to 30 students will attend, and those interested can sign up through the program application.

 By Thomas Hartwell

Photos by Matt Yung

Related Stories

A leader in innovative teaching and learning, Kennesaw State University offers undergraduate, graduate and doctoral degrees to its more than 43,000 students. Kennesaw State is a member of the University System of Georgia with 11 academic colleges. The universitys vibrant campus culture, diverse population, strong global ties and entrepreneurial spirit draw students from throughout the country and the world. Kennesaw State is a Carnegie-designated doctoral research institution (R2), placing it among an elite group of only 7 percent of U.S. colleges and universities with an R1 or R2 status. For more information, visit kennesaw.edu.
Commentary

By Sylvain Charlebois

The environmental approval of gene editing by Marie-Claude Bibeau, the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food, went largely unnoticed by the mainstream media last week. Its understandable considering the plethora of news that captured the publics attention, from the ongoing issue of Chinese interference to King Charles coronation.

Gene editing may not be the most captivating subject to engage consumers, but its significance for global food security cannot be overstated. Fortunately, Ottawa is getting it right.

Last week, Bibeau made an important announcement regarding the Canadian Food Inspection Agencys implementation of Part 5 of the Seed Regulations. This aligns with Health Canadas decision less than a year ago that classified gene editing as non-novel while subjecting it to appropriate regulations. This is a crucial leap forward for global food security. The next and final step involves consulting and assessing the gene editing of plants intended for livestock feed. Legalizing gene editing in Canada could be granted as early as this fall.

In simple terms, gene editing in food refers to the use of techniques such as CRISPR to modify the DNA of plants, animals, or microorganisms used in food production. Unlike GMOs, which involve inserting genetic material from different species into an organisms genome, gene editing allows scientists to make specific changes to an organisms genome, potentially enhancing its nutritional value, disease resistance, or other desirable traits. It holds the potential to create crops that are more resilient to pests, diseases, and environmental stresses, while also improving their flavour, appearance, and shelf life.

Gene editing will undoubtedly aid agriculture in tackling climate change and adapting to ever-changing growing conditions. It will also streamline the research and development process, potentially saving millions in research costs, and making scientific advancements more adaptable to our evolving environmental and ecological landscape. Increasing yields can reduce the risk of severe price fluctuations, benefiting both ends of the food continuum, including consumers at the grocery store.

However, it is crucial to prioritize clear labelling. Consumers should have the right to know what they are consuming and understand the technologies that impact farmers crops worldwide, including in Canada. Canadas global leadership in genetic engineering should be celebrated, even if it remains largely unknown to the average consumer. Demystifying the virtues of genetic engineering for consumers is critical to equipping agriculture and farmers to face climate change more effectively. It also has the potential to make certain food categories more affordable, such as non-gluten wheat, benefiting individuals with allergies or specific intolerances.

Groups opposed to gene editing, like CBAN and Vigilance OGM, have consistently misled the public through fearmongering, falsely claiming that gene editing lacks oversight. They have once again criticized the governments decision, accusing it of promoting unnatural agriculture. However, nothing could be further from the truth. These groups often exploit the publics limited understanding of the technology.

To be clear, Ottawa has declared its commitment to establishing monitoring and oversight measures, to guarantee the precision and dependability of the publicly accessible database, based on the recommendations of a government-appointed steering committee. These strict guidelines will hold the industry accountable and ensure transparency.

While science has thus far indicated minimal risks associated with gene editing for humans and the environment, the debate surrounding its safety and ethical implications in food continues. Given the variation in regulatory frameworks across countries, this discussion must persist. Science is not absolute, so monitoring longitudinal risks will be critical. Anti-genetic engineering groups have the right to express concerns, but they should refrain from exaggeration, as they have done in recent decades, bordering on the ridiculous.

But for now, we can safely say Ottawa and Minister Bibeau did the right thing and deserve all the credit. Even if most may not fully appreciate technological advancements in agri-food, consumers should be thankful for them.

Dr. Sylvain Charlebois is senior director of the agri-food analytics lab and a professor in food distribution and policy at Dalhousie University.
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Money makes the world go round.

Whether you believe this this figurative adage or not, it is a hard truth. Money is ubiquitous; it pervades everyday life. And money is the cornerstone of business. So Im shocked to hear pretty much nothing when I ask residents what theyre taught about business and money these days.

Not to insult anyones intelligence, but Ill venture an assumption. If you are a medical student, resident, or newbie doctor, Ill assume you know as much about business as I knew back then, and that is  pretty much nothing. And yet the practice of medicine is a business. Your profession as a doctor  whether as an employed physician or entrepreneur  is part of a business entity, requiring business relationships and business transactions. This is the reality of the world, where the exchange of services and goods is as regular as the air we breathe, and so its crucial to learn about business during those starving years of youth. Or perhaps youre an old-timer who still has very little business knowledge. No matter where along your professional journey, business knowledge is vital.

Theres a myth surrounding physicians and money that you may have heard. And that myth has become a beacon for all sorts of disingenuous, exploitive people who view doctors as fatted calves ready for the slaughter, belly-full of money, waiting to be drained.

The myth is doctors are utterly clueless when it comes to money. The myth also goes that doctors have loads of money and are itching to spend it away. Tap into a doctor as you would a keg of beer and witness all that wealth pour out for the taking, suds and all.

The myth is based on some degree of fact. Physicians are notoriously bad when it comes to money. Not all physicians, mind you, but plenty of them, and I daresay at perhaps a percentage greater than the general population. Ive seen some really head-scratching poor judgment when it comes to money, and I admit Ive committed a few myself. Many doctors make bad choices in investments, spend too much on unnecessary luxury items, and go into far too much debt (aside from their student loans). Some find themselves in dire financial conditions owing too much and owning too little tangible assets, despite working for years and earning huge incomes. How does this happen? Doctors are responsible people: They care for the sick and dying, for Gods sake! How can they be irresponsible when it comes to money?

The answer: because many doctors themselves believe the myth. They fall prey to what the exploiters tell them, what they see in the media, and what they believe is common wisdom  that their occupations as doctors will richly reward them with loads of money, year after year, in perpetuity. So many docs spend more than they can afford on things they dont need and save or invest little to nothing, anticipating future income will forever flow to satisfy their unquenchable appetites. The problem is feel-good behaviors tend to become needs in their minds. The spending and frivolous lifestyle then becomes a habit. And habits  like smoking, junk food, and social media  are hard to break. Then the spigot dries, and the poor doc can no longer work due to age or misfortune, and the money flow ends.

Does this mean doctors are stupid? Certainly not. We suffer through years of hard work and delayed gratification, the gratification, in this case, being the ability to enjoy the monetary fruits of our labor. And I stress delayed, well over a decade if you include undergraduate education, medical school, and residency  far longer than any other profession. Thats a lot of delay. So when doctors come into a bit of money after more than a decade of stressful training and delayed pecuniary gratification, they can get a bit carried away spending their newfound booty. Certainly, indulging yourself every now and then is not bad; its the perpetual overindulgence that becomes the noose that hangs their goose.

During the long journey to become doctors, wannabe doctors spend most of their waking hours studying medical stuff. When I was a medical student and resident, our curriculum had no business education, and this still appears to be the case. Discussions around business or money seem taboo. My business education came through independent study and a whopping load of trial and error. But as my financial IQ increased, I found business topics intriguing (especially accounting!), and my thirst for business knowledge has never ended. The world opened up, becoming more interesting and far more exciting. Once perceived problems became opportunities, risks were willing to be taken when weighed against potential rewards. I would have never developed this mindset had I not learned about business.

Based upon lectures on business Ive given to medical students and residents, I created a guidebook that teaches basic business, bare-bones fundamentals every doctor ought to know. I dont proclaim any genius-level investing advice or magical wealth-building techniques, but business concepts from the perspective of a health care provider.

Business literacy is vital to prevent you from making huge money blunders and to develop a secure and rewarding financial future. You want to work for its joy and nonpecuniary rewards. Youll learn to play good offense and defense when it comes to money matters. Good offense is meaningful work that earns a good income. Doctors already do that. Good defense is saving and investing that hard-earned money and avoiding spending frivolously on unnecessary stuff or getting into unnecessary debt. Think of each dollar saved as a little employee who works for you 24/7, never sleeps, and never takes a break. That employee works day and night, generating income whether youre sleeping, sipping cocktails on the beach, or sitting on the can. Accumulate enough of these little employees, and theyll finance your lifestyle forever. And when money is no longer the primary purpose of work, work takes on a whole new meaning.

Randall S. Fong is an otolaryngologist and can be reached at his self-titled site, Randall S. Fong, as well as his blog.
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For years, I have tried to interest journalists in the machinations of state medical boards, but all we ever see in the media are notices of doctors sanctioned by state boards. Unfortunately, when journalists report only on sanctioned physicians, the public has little understanding of how medical boards really function.

So, I am delighted to see Scott Jensen go after the Minnesota Board of Medicine (MNBOMP) for singling him out time and again on issues that really have no basis in documented damage to patients. Instead, the MNBOMP is interested in squelching any disagreement with its notion of good health care policy. Moreover, the MNBOMP is willing to try to take a physicians license to prevent physicians from questioning health care policy.

All of this interest in the damage done to physicians by questionable state medical board actions needs exposure. At last, it appears this problem is gaining attention in the media. However, besides the damage done to physicians by inappropriate medical board actions against physicians, there is another side to this damagea side I consider responsible for even greater harm: the damage done to patients when they lose their doctor.

State medical boards are vested in protecting patients from direct harm caused by physicians. Yet, no one is looking at the damage done to patients caused by removing good doctors from practice, often for political reasons. For this reason, the public is left with the erroneous impression that state medical boards exist primarily to protect the public from bad doctors.

Its time there was some transparency in how medical boards function.

This is not to say that there should be no doctors removed from practice. However, medical boards err in punishing doctors who dont need to be penalized and fail to sanction doctors who should be sanctioned. In my experience, these actions are seldom random. Independent doctors who have no representation on medical boards are often severely punished for minor issues that show no evidence of documented harm to patients. The corporate medical clinics want these doctors gone. The underlying goal is to eliminate competition for patients. Worst of all, this is all done in secret, without genuine due process, and without any accountability to anybody, even the states that created the boards.

In one case, a physician took the actions of the North Dakota medical board to the state supreme court. The courts decision was that the state courts had no real jurisdiction over administrative law judge decisions. The real question then becomes why states create boards over which the state provides no protection to the physicians or the patients harmed by the boards these legislatures create.

Its time to publicly acknowledge that absolute power corrupts absolutely. The public is often harmed by the medical boards charged with protecting them. This harm is seldom recognized because the boards act in secret and are free from any consequences for their actions.

Currently, there is no effective oversight of medical boards in North Dakota, and I suspect in many other states as well. The state medical boards mission is to protect patients from dangerous physicians, but nobody documents the damage these boards do to patients as a result of their decisions. Defining and overseeing medical board activity is a function of state legislatures. When state legislatures write the laws creating medical boards, they should be held responsible for also providing some form of oversightand protectionfor the physicians that medical boards target.

In truth, no one is watching the real damage many of these medical board decisions do to patients. Damage to the public in terms of diminished access to health care, increased illness, and even death is currently not considered in medical board decisions to remove physicians from practice. Its time medical boards are held accountable not just for the damage they do to physicians but also for the damage they do to the patients left behind when a physician is removed from practice. Its time states require some sort of tabulation of the damage done to patients with the loss of a physician, especially in rural areas.

I suspect the damage to patients is far greater than anyone cares to acknowledge. The impact on patients goes beyond the immediate loss of their trusted health care provider. It can lead to reduced access to health care, increased instances of illness, and even potential fatalities. The repercussions of removing physicians from practice should be taken into account when making medical board decisions.

Its crucial that medical boards are held accountable not only for the harm inflicted upon physicians but also for the collateral damage to patients left in the wake of a physicians removal. This accountability should extend to the assessment and documentation of the adverse effects experienced by patients, particularly in rural areas where access to health care is already limited.

The magnitude of the harm suffered by patients is likely underestimated and deserves greater attention. By shedding light on the true consequences of medical board decisions, we can strive for improved oversight and regulations. Its time to recognize the necessity of protecting both physicians and patients from the unintended consequences of these boards actions.

The medias focus solely on sanctioned physicians fails to provide a comprehensive understanding of how medical boards function. By highlighting cases like Scott Jensens challenge against the Minnesota Board of Medicine, we can bring attention to the broader issues at play. We must promote transparency, accountability, and a balanced approach that safeguards the interests of both physicians and patients. Only then can we ensure that medical boards fulfill their intended purpose of promoting public health while minimizing unintended harm.

Alan Lindemann is an obstetrics-gynecology physician and can be reached at LindemannMD.com, doctales, and Pregnancy Your Way. Follow him on YouTube, Twitter @RuralDocAlan, Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram @ruraldocalan, and Substack.
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A new pizzeria has opened in Fingerlakes Mall, giving its Cafe Square food court another option in time for summer.

3-C's Pizzeria is owned by brothers Michael and Joshua Casselman, of upstate New York, and a third brother who lives overseas.

Michael opened the restaurant at the mall this spring, and looks forward to running it with his wife of 17 years, Sheila, and Joshua, the mall said in a news release.

"Not only does Michael bring with him years of experience in the pizzeria and food industry, but cooking has also been a family passion for years," the mall said. "So opening a restaurant together is a dream come true!"

The pizzeria's menu includes handmade pizzas, boneless wings, traditional Italian pasta dishes like baked ziti and chicken Parmesan, and more. Gluten-free options will be added in the future.

The pizzeria is open from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Mondays through Wednesdays and Thursdays through Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Thursdays and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sundays at the mall, 1579 Clark St. Road, Aurelius. It joins burger restaurant Dilly's and sandwich restaurant Honey's Hoagies, which opened in November and August, respectively, in the mall's food court.

For more information, call the mall at (315) 255-1188 or 3-C's at (315) 282-7570, or visit fingerlakesmall.com.
Nation Media Group  Uganda through their flagship brand Dembe FM have today announced the fifth edition of the annual Mama Wange health camp for women.

The camp that prioritizes womens health and seeks to inspire positive change including providing knowledge resources to women of all ages and backgrounds is to take place on 23rd and 30th May at Club Obligato, along Bombo Road in Kampala.

Speaking at a joint press conference with partners on Wednesday, the head of marketing at NMG-Uganda Elizabeth Namaganda said the Mama Wange health camp which is open to all women and free of charge is meant to celebrate women for their resilience and set a reminder for them to take care of their health.

The Dembe FM show host Robina Mbabazi aka Bina Babie says the camp will provide free antenatal, eye checkups, breast and cervical cancer screening, contraceptives, nutritional, and financial services among others.

One of the sponsors, AAR Health Care has pledged to give a lucky expectant woman free delivery services at Nakasero hospital. Similar pledges have been made by other sponsors as well.

The Mama Wange Health camp running under the theme A healthy mother a happy mother has been sponsored by African Queen, Aloesha Organic, Stanbic Bank, Equity Bank, PSI UG, Georgina Eye Clinic, Prime Medicare, and AAR Health Care.
The Permanent Secretary/ Secretary to the Judiciary, Pius Bigirimana, has revealed that Stanley Kisambira, the driver who went to social media and told lies about his salary emoluments with the intention to incite other drivers is going to answer for what he termed as unbecoming actions.

This prompted Police to arrest him over unspecified charges.

Now, Bigirimana says he has written to him demanding for explanation of why he failed to address his grievances with the Association of Drivers in the Judiciary.

We are not going to leave him to tarnish the name of the Judiciary, Bigirimana said.

He also accuses the driver of failure to inform his boss, Justice Geoffrey Namundi, and in addition to failing to inform the Permanent Secretary himself, he instead chose to tarnish the good name of the Judiciary.

Bigirimana made the revelation Wednesday while addressing journalists at the Judiciary headquarters in Kampala.

Explain why you told the public that the Judiciary is not taking good care of you, Bigirimana demands.

The PS further clarified that like other drivers in other ministries, Kisambira is paid over Shs1.3 million and not Shs200,000 as he stated in the audio that went viral on social media.

Bigirimana suspects that there are other sources behind Kisambiras actions that he must disclose, or else face disciplinary action for giving false information to the public and inciting other drivers to harm their bosses.
Members of Parliament on the budget committee have quizzed officials from the Central Bank for allegedly attempting to seize powers of Parliament when they extended a loan of Shs3 trillion to government without seeking parliaments approval.

Appearing before the committee, Bank of Uganda Deputy Governor, Michael Atingi-Ego, said the Shs3 trillion funding was extended to government through liabilities of matured securities that the Central Bank paid on behalf of the government, but despite the promise to have the money paid in two years, no penny has been paid.

However, the Deputy Governor, defended the decision to pay the securities on behalf of the Ministry of Finance revealing that the Central Bank and the Ministry have a memorandum of understanding where the bank is required to redeem maturing domestic security obligations, after which government must pay the Central Bank but in 2020/2021, the Ministry found difficulty in honoring its obligations due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Tororo North MP, Geoffrey Ekanya, described the arrangement as indirect borrowing, wondering why the Central Bank didnt seek Parliamentary approval to engage in such an arrangement with the Ministry of Finance.
By Jackson Onyango

The Speaker of Parliament Anita Among prematurely suspended plenary sitting on Wednesday morning.

Among said the two-hour hiatus was intended to allow the treasury to draft a letter of assurance that Parliament shall not be ambushed with more budget corrections technically known as corrigenda.

Junior minister for general duties in the finance ministry, Henry Musasizi tabled at the 11th hour a second corrigenda that could potentially increase the budget beyond the revised Shs51.9 trillion.

The committee scrutinized the first budget review last week, which increased it from Shs50.9 trillion to Shs51.9 trillion.

Musasizi told the committee that the increase was because government had received assurances about receiving external grants worth Shs700 billion and an additional Shs300 billion of internally generated revenue.

The budget committee was meant to present the budget to the plenary for approval.

However, the report was not readied which was partly the reason for which plenary was suspended to allow the committee to finalize the report and also process the second corrigenda.

Members of the committee were yet to receive the reviewed budget to detail the exact shift in the budget for financial year 2023/24.

The first corrigenda had Shs285 billion allocated for Covid-19 emergencies and Shs254 billion for reducing treasury liability with the Bank of Uganda.

Musasizi indicated in an interview that the money was not meant for Covid-19 detection but for the establishment of Intensive Care Units (ICUs) at the regional referral hospitals.

Michael Atingi-Ego, the deputy governor Bank of Uganda told members of the budget committee that government had during the Covid-19 pandemic failed to pay back the redeemed securities, treasury bills and bonds leading to the Shs3 trillion debt.

Atingi-Ego indicated that an agreement was reached to have government clear the arrears in two installments each worth Shs1.25 trillion beginning with the current financial year.

However, he did not furnish the MPs with an answer on how the remaining money shall be cleared which caused concern among the lawmakers that it could be written off.
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A concert of music composed for a historic Italian cathedral will take place Sunday, May 21, at St. Mary's Church in Auburn.

The Syracuse Vocal Ensemble and the Syracuse University Brass Ensemble will perform the concert, the former directed by Dr. Julie Pretzat and the latter by James T. Spencer. The program will feature polychoral music of the late Renaissance and early Baroque era by composers Adrian Willaert, Jacob Handl, Giovanni Gabrieli and Heinrich Schutz, who all served as music directors or studied at St. Mark's Basilica in Venice. Inspired by the multiple balconies of the church, which is more than 1,000 years old, such composers wrote music that separated performing groups, creating early quadrophonic sound.

The Syracuse vocal and brass ensembles will each perform a portion of Sunday's concert by themselves, and unite for other selections.

The concert will take place at 3 p.m. at the church, 15 Clark St., Auburn. The concert will also be performed at 7 p.m. Saturday, May 20, at Hendricks Chapel on the campus of Syracuse University.

Tickets for the concert are $10 for adults and free for ages 17 and younger. Tickets will be available at the door, and cash, check, PayPal or Venmo will be accepted.

The concert is supported by the Statewide Community Regrant program of the New York State Council on the Arts, administered by CNY Arts, as well as grants from the Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation.

For more information, email syracusevocalensemble@gmail.com.

Also this weekend, St. Mary's Church will participate in the New York Landmarks Conservancy's Sacred Sites Open House, this year titled, "Congregations and Communities: 50 Years of Sacred Sites."

The church will host its open houses from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, May 20, and 1 to 3:30 p.m. Sunday, May 21.

Willard Memorial Chapel at 17 Nelson St. will also be open from noon to 4 p.m. Sunday, May 21. The historic "Tiffany Treasure of the Finger Lakes" will host tours every hour between noon and 4 p.m.

For more information, visit nylandmarks.org.
A police officer who allegedly shot dead an Indian money lender has been charged and sent on remand to Luzira prison by Buganda Road Magistrates Court.

Police Constable Wabwire Ivan on Wednesday appeared before Chief Magistrate Sarah Tusiime Bashaija who read to him murder charges.

However, Tusiime did not allow Wabwire to say anything about the capital offense which attracts a maximum penalty of death upon conviction which is only tried and bailable by the High Court.

Prosecution led by Buganda Road Resident State Attorney, Joan Keko assisted by Ivan Kyazze informed court that investigations into the matter are in advanced stages as medics ascertain the Wabwires mental health status.

It is alleged that on May 12, 2023, at Rajja Chambers along Parlimanetary Avenue in Kampala with malice aforethought unlawfully killed Uttam Bhandari Saremal.

He has been ordered to return to court on June 7, 2023, as investigations continue.
By Stephen Otage

The South Sudan Embassy has asked South Sudanese nationals living in Uganda to return home and invest in agriculture and industry since peace has returned to their country.

Speaking at their 40th Liberation Anniversary Celebrations, Amb. Simon Juach Deng the countrys envoy has appealed to South Sudanese and citizens of neighboring countries to go and invest in South Sudan because it is now peaceful.

Tuesdays celebrations are in commemoration of the day South Sudan seceded from Sudan also known following a fight for cessation that started in 1955 when South Sudan rebelled against Khartoum during the Anyanya rebellion.

Juach says the country is largely peaceful apart from some small armed groups that occasionally cause economic sabotage by ambushing traders and robbing them of their merchandise.

He explains that 67 percent of South Sudan is arable land but only 4 percent of it is being used and yet it has opportunities in agriculture, agro industrialization electricity generation, petroleum mining, and other endless opportunities that other East African countries should embrace to realize peace and stability in the region.
A new Academy of Jewellery and Goldsmithing Centre of Excellence has been opened in Thomastown by the Minister for Rural and Community Development Heather Humphreys.

The Sessions House building, a former Courthouse in the centre of Thomastown has been transformed into a new home for the jewellery academy.

This project, funded under the Rural Regeneration and Development Fund, together with a contribution from the LEADER Programme through Kilkenny Leader Partnership and match funding from Kilkenny County Council has been delivered at an overall cost of 1.5 million demonstrating a significant investment in the creative sector and in Thomastown.

The investment from the Rural Regeneration and Development Fund has also supported public realm improvements and the provision of an accessible carpark in the town consistent with the Our Rural Future objectives of attracting more visitors, shoppers and investors into rural towns.

In 2019, Kilkenny County Council were successful in securing funding for the refurbishment of the iconic Session House building, formerly Thomastown Courthouse, on Logan Street, Thomastown from the Rural Regeneration & Development Fund.

It has been a longstanding objective of both Community and Arts groups in Thomastown and of the Local Authority to refurbish and repurpose this building to secure its active future for many years to come.

In keeping with the inherent creative and design culture in Thomastown, Kilkenny County Council sought a partner to sustainably operate the building as a successful creative space.

The Design and Craft Council Ireland, based in Kilkenny City, with a strong presence also in Thomastown, agreed to move forward with the development of a Jewellery Centre of Excellence at Sessions House.

This development represents a commitment to supporting and promoting the progression of new creative talent, to employment in the creative sector. Sessions House will accommodate the Jewellery & Goldsmithing on-site campus, previously located at Castle Yard Kilkenny.

These courses have attained Level 8 accreditation from Atlantic Technical University (ATU) in partnership with DCCI representing a significant move forward with the provision of Third Level Education in Kilkenny.

Kilkenny County Council has partnered with the Design and Crafts Council of Ireland and Kilkenny LEADER Partnership to deliver this project which will renovate and repurpose a heritage structure for use by the Design and Crafts Council of Ireland to facilitate the relocation and expansion of the existing Centre of Excellence in Jewellery and Goldsmithing currently located in Castle Yard, Kilkenny City.

The Centre of Excellence will provide educational opportunities for the jewellery sector providing facilities for full-time students and industry specific short courses. The centre will also provide space for Designers in residency, incubator spaces and a gallery space accessible to the public.

What a fantastic occasion this is  Im really delighted to be with you all here today for the official opening of The Academy of Jewellery and Goldsmithing Centre of Excellence at Sessions House," Minister Humphreys said.

Today really is a celebration of the strong and vibrant creative and design culture that exists here in Kilkenny. And I know that this new Academy really will strengthen both Thomastown and indeed the entire South East Region as a centre for creative and vibrant cultural activity.

Im really delighted that, under my Departments Rural Regeneration and Development Fund and LEADER Programme, to be able to support this project with an investment of 1.2 million. And thanks to the support of Kilkenny County Council and the Design and Craft Council of Ireland, we are today officially opening a 1.75 million euro project overall.

While in Thomastown, the Minister also paid a visit to the Thomastown Community Centre. The Community Centre will be redeveloped into a new modern library. The project was allocated funding of over 2.5 million from the Rural Regeneration and Development Fund in 2021.
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The author of a new book about Abraham Lincoln's upset at the 1860 Republican National Convention will give a talk at 7 p.m. Thursday, May 18, at the New York State Equal Rights Heritage Center in Auburn.

Best-selling author and award-winning journalist Edward Achorn will take the audience behind the scenes of "The Lincoln Miracle: Inside the Republican Upset That Changed History," telling moment by moment how Lincoln overcame the odds to defeat the heavily favored William H. Seward, of Auburn, at the convention. The talk will take place on the anniversary of the day of the political upset.

The talk is presented by the Seward House Museum in Auburn.

Tickets to the talk are $10 for museum members and $15 for nonmembers. The center is located at 25 South St., Auburn.

For more information, visit sewardhouse.org or call (315) 252-1283.
An Oireachtas committee has been told there is an arms race with artificial intelligence technologies that continue to move beyond our capability to detect them.

The Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs and Defence was holding a session on disinformation and hybrid threats in the context of geopolitical shifts.

In submissions, the committee was told that hybrid attacks and campaigns could be understood as co-ordinated actions across different domains.

For example, cyber attacks that included information manipulation with a view to influencing electoral outcomes.

Different types of tools and organised actions such as disinformation, economic pressure, abuse of migrants, cyber attacks and other covert actions were understood as being combined in hybrid threats.

It was told these threats were growing both in frequency and impact.

Dr Eileen Culloty, deputy director of the Dublin City University (DCU) Institute for Future Media, Democracy and Society, told the committee that AI technologies provided a quite shocking capacity to speed and scale up the generation of disinformation.

We are very much in an arms race with these technologies, she said.

On disinformation, Dr Culloty said people engaged with disinformation for all sorts of reasons, including having lower levels of knowledge about a topic, mistrust in government and the media, and ideological biases.

She said pre-bunking could neutralise the effects of disinformation by explaining how it worked and warning people of its threats.

The challenge lies in reaching people who need it the most, she said.

Dr Culloty said the study had been hampered by a lack off access to data from online platforms, which had left researchers unable to determine the true scale and impact of online disinformation.

She said there was a greater burden placed on public funding and civil society when online platforms could be providing a much better picture.

Brigid Laffan, Professor Emeritus European University Institute (EUI) and president of the European Policy Centre (EPC) in Brussels, said security had ratcheted up the agenda of the European Union.

The unipolar world is over. We now live in a multipolar world where the rules-based international order is much weaker and under threat, she said.

Prof Laffan said Russias invasion of Ukraine had shattered any pervasive complacency that Europes security and way of life was secure.

She said EU member states found themselves in a very different security landscape due to hybrid threats which were used to undermine public trust in institutions.

She said there were core economic interests at play when considering Irelands vulnerability.

We cant afford a major incident in relation to multinational investment in Ireland, also our own critical infrastructure, she said.

Ms Caitriona Heinl, executive director of the Azure Forum for Contemporary Security Strategy and adjunct research fellow at University College Dublin, said the objectives of hybrid threats included undermining public trust in democratic institutions, deepening unhealthy polarisation both nationally and internationally, challenging the core values of democratic societies, gaining geopolitical influence and power through harming and undermining others, and affecting the decision-making capability of political leaders.
Justice Minister Simon Harris has said the Irish Government will not forget its duty to victims and survivors of the Troubles.

The ministers comments come on the 49th anniversary of the Dublin-Monaghan bombings in which more than 30 people were killed.

Three of the four no-warning bombs took place in Dublin city centre and one in Monaghan town on May 17 1974.

No-one has ever been convicted over the bombings that have been blamed on loyalist paramilitaries.

An official memorial in the Irish capital honours the 35 victims of the bombings, which include two unborn babies.

Martha ONeill, whose husband Edward was killed and two sons were injured in one of the blasts in Dublin, lost her unborn baby girl Martha in the aftermath of the atrocity.

Another victim, Colette Doherty, had also been pregnant when she was killed.

It is hard to believe that on a day such as this all those years ago, ordinary people going about their daily lives had those lives so callously and brutally attacked, Mr Harris said.

But, like so many other incidents of violence on this island during the Troubles, that was the tragic reality for those caught up in the bombings on that day.

The scale of this atrocity will always be remembered.

It was the greatest loss of life on a single day of the Troubles and it continues to affect countless families.

The Government is fully committed to seeking out the truth behind those events and, hopefully, to secure some measure of comfort for the victims families and the survivors.

Twenty-five years on from the Good Friday Agreement, it is important that we remember what has been achieved since 1998, but also challenge ourselves to take up the crucial work of reconciliation.

The Good Friday Agreement recognised the need for a particular acknowledgement of the position of victims.

Last week, Mr Harris met with the families of the Disappeared, including Oliver McVeigh, the brother of missing 19-year-old Columba McVeigh.

So many on this island have been affected by the multitude of horrific acts that were carried out during the Troubles and the Irish Government will not forget our duty to victims and survivors, Mr Harris said.
Carlow-Kilkenny TD Jennifer Murnane O'Connor has welcomed 250,000 in funding to support disadvantaged learners at Kilkenny and Carlow ETB.

This funding issued under the Reach Fund to ETBs is designed to support and engage with disadvantaged learners who have the highest level of need.

It can be used to assist learners with transport or education costs, funding on access to technology and devices, and expanding community access to WiFi and broadband resources.

Deputy Murnane O'Connor said that this funding will directly benefit those students who face the greatest barriers to success.

"These funds will play a vital role in supporting students' educational journey, from assisting with transportation and education costs to providing access to essential technology and devices," she said.

"For students, access to reliable internet connectivity is no longer a luxury but a necessity. That is why a portion of this funding will be dedicated to expanding community access to Wi-Fi and broadband resources.

"This will ensure that learners can connect with online educational materials, engage in remote learning opportunities, and fully participate in the digital world."
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The Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor is now seeking photos for its 18th annual Erie Canalway Photo Contest.

The contest seeks photos that show people enjoying activities on the waterways and Canalway Trail, or the unique character of New York's canals and canal communities.

First-, second- and third-place winners, as well as 12 honorable mentions, will be chosen in four categories: On the Water, Along the Trail, Canal Communities and Classic Canal.

Images must be horizontal and taken along the 524 miles of the Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor, which encompasses the Erie, Cayuga-Seneca, Oswego and Champlain canals and their historic alignments, plus more than 230 canal communities.

The deadline for entering is Aug. 25.

For more information, including more rules and an entry form, visit eriecanalway.org/get-involved/photo-contest.
SEOUL, May 17 (Reuters) - Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Wednesday his country is ready to partner with South Korean on critical minerals and clean energy projects.

Trudeau, who was addressing South Korea's parliament during a visit to the country, also said Canada was ready to increase military engagement to mitigate threats to regional security, including from North Korea.

(Reporting by Hyonhee Shin; Writing by Ed Davies; Editing by Tom Hogue)

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and may not reflect those of Kitco Metals Inc. The author has made every effort to ensure accuracy of information provided; however, neither Kitco Metals Inc. nor the author can guarantee such accuracy. This article is strictly for informational purposes only. It is not a solicitation to make any exchange in commodities, securities or other financial instruments. Kitco Metals Inc. and the author of this article do not accept culpability for losses and/ or damages arising from the use of this publication.
By Ernest Scheyder

May 16 (Reuters) - The U.S. Interior Department on Tuesday removed one of the last remaining obstacles to Lithium Americas Corp's Thacker Pass mine project in Nevada by finding nearly all of the site contains the metal used to make electric-vehicle batteries.

The opinion from the department's solicitor comes amid an acrimonious debate about whether more U.S. mines should be built to produce lithium and other green energy transition metals.

A federal judge in February rejected claims that the Thacker Pass project would cause unnecessary harm to the environment, but ordered officials to study whether roughly 1,300 acres (530 hectares) at the site where Lithium Americas hopes to store waste rock - a byproduct of the mining process - contained the metal. The ruling is being appealed, although the court has allowed construction to begin.

The judge's order was linked to an unrelated appeals court ruling that found mining companies do not necessarily have the right under U.S. law to store waste rock on federal land not containing valuable minerals.

Of the dozens of mining claims at the Thacker Pass site held by the company, the government found fewer than 10 did not contain lithium mineralization, an Interior Department official told Reuters.

"They're going to be able to start construction and production without these claims being in the plan of operation," the official said of Lithium Americas.

The Vancouver, Canada-based company, which is developing the project with General Motors Co , can apply for a right-of-way to use those other claims for non-mining purposes, the official said.

The opinion comes as the Biden administration has taken steps to block other mines, although the official said those should not be taken as a sign of opposition to all extractive projects.

"We're in favor of increasing domestic mineral production when it's being done in the right location and in the right way," the official said.

(Reporting by Ernest Scheyder in Houston Editing by Matthew Lewis)

+1-713-210-8512; Reuters Messaging: ernest.scheyder.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))
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(Kitco News) - With a large capital injection and more targets, Fireweed Metals CEO Brandon Macdonald is growing the company.

Earlier this month Macdonald spoke to Kitco at Deutsche Goldmesse in Frankfurt, Germany.

Fireweed Metals (CVE:FWZ) is advancing its 100% owned, district-scale, 940-square-km Macmillan Pass project in Yukon, Canada, which is host to the Tom and Jason zinc-lead-silver deposits.

Other projects are the recently acquired Mactung Project, an undeveloped tungsten resource. Fireweed also acquired 100% of the 128.75 km2 Gayna River project located 180 kilometres north of the Macmillan Pass property. It is host to extensive mineralization including critical minerals zinc, gallium and germanium as well as lead and silver, outlined by 28,000 metres of historic drilling and significant upside potential.

The company also raised $35 million in December. The Lundin Family and Associates became the largest shareholders in the company (17.85%) while other major shareholders maintained or increased their shareholdings.

"With the intended pace that comes along with all that, it was absolutely the right time to staff up," said Macdonald.

In May the company hired a new operations manager. The company also added more geologists and a corporate development position.

Fireweed Metals is a Discovery Group company. Last decade Discovery Group's Kaminak Gold, also focused on targets in the Yukon, was acquired by Goldcorp for $520 million.

Coverage of Deutsche Goldmesse 2023 sponsored by Defiance Silver
Despite a tough market for precious metal exploration companies, Canadian Gold interim president and CEO Ian Ball said he has a plan to attract investors.

On Friday correspondent Paul Harris hosted Kitco Roundtable with Ball and Rob McEwen, chairman and chief owner of McEwen Mining.

Canadian Gold is a Toronto-based mineral exploration and development company whose objective is to expand the high-grade gold resource at the past producing Tartan Mine, located in Flin Flon, Manitoba. The company holds a 100% interest in greenfields exploration properties in Ontario and Quebec adjacent to some of Canada's largest gold mines and development projects, specifically, the Canadian Malartic Mine (QC), the Hemlo Mine (ON) and Hammond Reef Project (ON). The company is 37.6 % owned by Rob McEwen.

Ian Ball was the former CEO and president of Abitibi Royalties. In 2021 Abitibi Royalties was acquired by Gold Royalty.
NEW YORK, May 16 (Reuters) - Ed Wehle, a senior Barclays Plc (BARC.L) technology banker, has resigned to join U.S. rival Citigroup Inc (C.N) in New York, according to an internal memo seen by Reuters, adding to an exodus of top investment bankers from the London-based bank.

An investment banking veteran of nearly three decades, Wehle will join Citigroup as its global head of technology services, Mark Keene, Citigroup's global head of technology investment banking, wrote in the memo to employees on Tuesday.

A Citi spokesperson confirmed the appointment. Barclays did not respond to a request for comment.

The move marks a return to Citigroup for Wehle, where he spent most of his career. He was previously head of global technology services banking at Barclays, which he had joined in 2018 from Deutsche Bank AG (DBKGn.DE). He joined Salomon Brothers in 1994, which subsequently became part of Citigroup.

Reuters reported on Monday that at least seven top Barclays technology, media and telecommunications (TMT) bankers have resigned to join UBS Group AG (UBSG.S) in the U.S. in the last few days. They followed a trio of Barclays U.S. bankers who decamped for UBS in April.
SANTIAGO, May 17 (Reuters) - A union of supervisors at Antofagasta's Centinela copper in Chile are "very far" from an agreement with the company to avoid a strike, the union's president told Reuters.

Last week, 97% of union members voted for a strike after rejecting the company's last formal proposal, but began five days of mediation with the government on Monday.

"The company has not presented a significant proposal," Celso Pardo, the union's president, said. "Until now, there's no important progress and we're very far from an agreement."

The two sides differ over social issues and matters linked to production, he added.

Mediation will last until May 22, and a strike could start during the first shift on Tuesday May 23 if there is no agreement, the union president said.

In a statement to Reuters, Antofagasta said it preferred not to discuss ongoing collective bargaining issues with the media, but that it was confident an agreement could be reached, citing cooperation between both sides.

(Reporting by Fabian Cambero; Writing by Alexander Villegas; editing by Barbara Lewis)
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In the essays on education of Alfred North Whitehead (1861-1947), the word "imagination" stands out: the teachers ability to see many possibilities in teaching a subject. There is also student interest: There can be no mental development without interest. Also, pupils must enjoy literature: It does not matter what they know, but enjoyment is vital. None of this is easy to bring about. The responsibility of the teacher ... is immense. Perfect tact is unattainable  education is a difficult problem, to be solved by no one simple formula. In all education the main cause of failure is staleness.

Whiteheads essays date from different times but were published under the title "The Aims of Education and Other Essays" by The Free Press in 1929. Mainly a mathematician, Whitehead collaborated with Bertrand Russel on his three-volume "Principia Mathematica" (1910-13). With his B.A. from Trinity College, Cambridge (1884), he embarked on a career of teaching and publishing. After obligatory retirement rules caused him to leave his job in Britain, Whitehead finished his career at Harvard (1924-1937) and never returned to Great Britain. Whitehead was also a philosopher, and his writings influenced American philosophers Suzanne K. Langer and Paul Weiss, among others.

For Whitehead, science and technology are equally important as the liberal arts, if not more so. It is a moot point, he argued, whether the human hand created the human brain, or the brain created the hand. Lack of handcraft and constant writing stunt brain activity: Great readers  are not distinguished by subtlety of brain  they tend to be timid conventional thinkers. Here, Whitehead echoes Rousseau. Moreover, books often offer secondhand scraps of information, as opposed to science and technology, which are founded on firsthand observation. Technical education  follows our deep natural instinct to translate thought into manual skill, and manual activity to thought. Sport, where the concurrent brain activity is reduced to a minimum" and the handcraft lacks subtlety, provides scant relief to a one-sided situation.

Whitehead saw classroom lessons as involving a three-phase rhythm. There is romance, where a new subject is presented. It should stimulate the pupils interest, like the discovery of Fridays footprint struck Robinson Crusoe. Second comes precision  or what we might call research  where the details of the situation are filled in. This process can be tedious, so the original glow of romance should be made to linger. Finally, there is the stage of generalization, or what we might call interpretation, where a conclusion or synthesis of information is formed. Education should consist in a continual repletion of such cycles. The pupils must be continually enjoying some fruition and starting afresh.

Pacing is important; it should be neither too fast nor too slow. The most beautiful poetry: If you stumble through it at a snails pace, it collapses from a work of art into a rubbish heap. Pace, pace, pace; get your knowledge quickly, and then use it. Education is about power. The problem is, there is too much to know; an ideal education would require 150 years! Realistically, a liberal education shrinks to a study of some fragments of literature included in a couple of important languages."

For Whitehead, literary culture in the English-speaking world is based on three languages: English, French and Latin, or the essential triangle." English and French are the sides of the triangle, standing for the modern mentality, and Latin, the base, represents the Mediterranean civilization of the past. But Whitehead was never dogmatic: I am certain that there is a large minority for which the emphasis should be different.

If students are going to do better in math, everything recondite about the discipline has to be got rid of, Whitehead insists. "Recondite" comes from Latin, and means abstruse, hidden, secret, put away. It is this dark aura  this negative myth  that repels students. It must be dispelled; math is hard enough without the myth. Math is about numbers, quantities, space  and their interrelationships. It is abstract, rather than hidden, and we study it to master abstract language. Again, teachers try to do too much in too little time; they should concentrate on a few basic concepts rather than cover "everything." Otherwise, the pupil is lost among endless details. The instructor must explain how math is relevant to life, not just "do math."

Since Whiteheads time, many British scholars have followed in his footsteps and sought positions in the United States, where opportunities are more numerous than in the British Isles. Some have even taken advanced degrees here, in what Europeans used to call The New World.
HONG KONG, May 17 (Reuters) - China's Tencent Holdings Ltd (0700.HK) marked a return to revenue growth in the first quarter as it recovered from COVID-19-related disruptions and China's crackdown on video games a year earlier.

The world's largest video game company and operator of the WeChat messaging platform on Wednesday posted an 11% rise in revenue, beating analyst expectations.

Revenue reached 149.98 billion yuan ($21.70 billion) for the three months ended March 31, topping the 146.09 billion expected by 17 analysts polled by Refinitiv.

Net profit rose 11% to 25.83 billion yuan, missing the 29.61 billion expected by analysts.

Tencent posted its first annual revenue decline last year, impacted by China's now-abandoned zero-COVID policy and a months-long freeze on gaming licences by regulators.

But it is likely heading for a rebound this year after the government resumed licence approvals last year and gamers continue to splurge on its existing games. The firm unveiled a long pipeline of games on Monday, including seven titles ready to go online this summer.

Two of Tencent's most popular games -- Honour of Kings and CrossFire -- earned record revenue thanks to new added features and promotions, while newly launched games also recorded solid sales and user growth.

Domestic gaming revenue gained 6% to 35.1 billion yuan while international gaming revenue rose 25% to 13.2 billion yuan.

Chief strategy officer James Mitchell said on a call with analysts the company saw a "broad base recovery" for its games business.

"Out of our top 15 games, 12 were up year on year," he said, "Whether that is due to pent-up demand or underlying demand, time will tell."

Tencent's revenue from online ads rose 17% to 21 billion yuan. Revenue from fintech and business services grew 14% to 48.7 billion yuan.

Martin Lau, Tencent's president, told analysts China's regulations for fintech were moving towards normalization. China's central bank started an inspection of Tencent's payment service WeChat Pay, also known as Tenpay, in 2021.

"The inspection results are in the process of being finalized," Lau said.

Lau said Tencent was "making good progress" in building AI models and the Chinese government was supportive of innovations in the area.

While the U.S. imposed export controls on AI chips that can be shipped to China last year, Lau said chips were largely available "and there are workarounds of GPUs that can be sold in China."

($1 = 6.9121 Chinese yuan renminbi)
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(Kitco News) - The House of Commons Treasury Committee published a report on Wednesday which strongly recommended that crypto be regulated as gambling in the UK, contradicting Treasurys aim to treat them as financial services.

Unbacked cryptoassets have no intrinsic value, and their price volatility exposes consumers to the potential for substantial gains or losses, while serving no useful social purpose, the Committee wrote. These characteristics more closely resemble gambling than a financial service, an impression reinforced by the evidence we have received of consumer behaviour.

The Treasury published the United Kingdoms long-awaited regulatory framework for crypto regulation on Feb. 1. The framework laid out the governments choice of regulator to oversee the sector, detailed direction on stablecoin classification, rules for ICOs, exchanges, custody, and other key regulations for digital assets.

The House of Commons Treasury Committee wrote that they disagree with Treasurys stated intention to place crypto activities under the UKs Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (FSMA).

We are concerned that regulating retail trading and investment activity in unbacked cryptoassets as a financial service will create a halo effect that leads consumers to believe that this activity is safer than it is, or protected when it is not, they said. We therefore strongly recommend that the Government regulates retail trading and investment activity in unbacked cryptoassets as gambling rather than as a financial service.

All online and in-person gambling in the UK is governed by the 2005 Gambling Act and regulated by the Gambling Commission.

The Treasurys February framework was designed to adhere to a set of core design principles, including Same risk, same regulatory outcome, meaning the government will remain technology agnostic when deciding if digital assets increase or mitigate risks, but the aim is to achieve the same or a very similar regulatory outcome whenever possible.

The Treasury Committee argued in Wednesdays report that the Governments same risk, same regulatory outcome principle would necessarily entail treating nearly all cryptocurrency transactions as wagers.

While the Committees report did acknowledge some potential advantages that blockchain technologies could offer, such as reducing the cost of cross-border payments and improving financial inclusion, their overall assessment of the impact of crypto on the United Kingdom was negative.

The extent of the benefits cryptoasset technologies may bring to financial services in the future remains unclear, they said. In the meantime, the significant risks posed by cryptoassets to consumers and the environment are real and present.

Dan Nissanoff, CEO and founder of Game of Silks, a metaverse platform which combines elements of horseracing, gambling and NFTs, told Kitco News that the Treasury Committees proposal would only serve to muddy the waters and undermine the regulatory clarity the UK is seeking to provide.

The fact that some UK regulators now believe that crypto should fall under gambling instead of financial regulations creates a headache of a challenge for clarity in crypto regulation, he said.

Nissanoff said that gambling and financial regulations were created for different purposes, with gambling laws designed to protect the consumer from bad actors (cheating) and themselves (addiction), while financial regulation is meant to protect consumers from financial crimes such as fraud.

If crypto is regulated under different frameworks, theres no clarity as to how to protect both companies and investors, and this could stifle innovation in the industry, he said. Weve seen that already with the ongoing debate between the SEC and CFTC on whether crypto should be classified as a security.

Placing crypto under an overarching, industry-agnostic regulatory framework makes rules more transparent, he said, while still achieving the goal of preventing unlawful activities. Fragmenting crypto into different regulatory frameworks, or pigeon-holing it into just one, would ultimately stifle the huge potential of blockchain technology.

Even as Prime Minister Rishi Sunaks government has promoted the UK as an ideal jurisdiction for digital asset companies to start and grow, other key players are giving crypto the cold shoulder, with an April 2 report showing that UK banks are stonewalling crypto firms seeking financial services.

Twelve crypto executives interviewed by Bloomberg cited a host of difficulties, ranging from having applications rejected to getting buried in paperwork. The report claims that crypto firms have been driven to take their complaints directly to the government.

Crypto executives pressed Economic Secretary to the Treasury Andrew Griffith on the problem of banking access at a meeting on Mar. 8, according to two people who were present. The report said Griffith told them he would try to resolve the problem with lenders. A Treasury spokesperson said afterwards that the government would continue to engage with stakeholders on emerging issues without commenting on the specifics of the meeting.
HELSINKI, May 17 (Reuters) - Finland's embassy and consulate in Russia have had their bank accounts frozen and the Nordic country has had no explanation from its neighbour, its foreign ministry said on Wednesday.

Finland, which has a long border with Russia, formally joined NATO on April 4 in a historic policy shift brought on my last year's Russian invasion of Ukraine that drew a threat from Moscow of counter-measures.

Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto told reporters the bank accounts had stopped working on April 27.

"The accounts of Finnish embassies have been frozen in Russia and at the moment they cannot be used," Haavisto said, adding the missions had been using cash reserves to pay bills.

Russia's central bank did not respond to a request for comment on the freezing of the Finnish accounts.

Haavisto said that while sanctions imposed on Russia had made money transfers harder, "maybe it was not thought through how serious consequences this would cause to Finnish embassies".

He said freezing the accounts amounted to "bullying", referencing the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations of 1961 which is meant to safeguard diplomatic missions abroad.

"This is a matter that cannot be decided by banks," he said.

Haavisto said some European Union countries had experienced problems with their bank accounts but declined to name any.

Finland had sent Russian authorities a notice on May 4 requesting that Russia ensure the missions' ability to function and asking for an official explanation for the freeze, but it had not received one so far, Haavisto said.
Graphene Manufacturing Group (TSXV: GMG) announced today it signed joint venture with Rio Tinto to advance GMG's graphene aluminium-ion batteries technology. Rio Tinto will contribute technical and operational performance criteria and A$6 million (US$3.99 million), in exchange for preferential access rights. Graphene Manufacturing Group traded up 20% to $2.39 a share. Rio Tinto will seek to involve Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM), including Heavy Mobile Equipment OEMs, to work with GMG and Rio Tinto to align the battery pack development with end use requirements, said GMG announcing the deal. "Success could see performance enhancements for Rio Tinto, including faster charging and longer-life batteries for heavy mobile equipment and grid energy storage, as well as supporting Rio Tinto's decarbonisation ambitions," wrote GMG in its press release. By Jim Wyckoff For Kitco News Follow @jimwyckoff www.kitco.com

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and may not reflect those of Kitco Metals Inc. The author has made every effort to ensure accuracy of information provided; however, neither Kitco Metals Inc. nor the author can guarantee such accuracy. This article is strictly for informational purposes only. It is not a solicitation to make any exchange in commodities, securities or other financial instruments. Kitco Metals Inc. and the author of this article do not accept culpability for losses and/ or damages arising from the use of this publication.
May 17 (Reuters) - Russia's second-largest bank VTB (VTBR.MM) has opened a representative office in Iran, an Iranian official said on Wednesday, as Moscow and Tehran, both restrained by Western sanctions, seek to improve trade and transaction capabilities.

State-owned VTB plunged to a $7.7-billion loss last year as Western sanctions particularly targeted Russia's financial sector. The lender is one of many key Russian banks now blocked from the SWIFT international financial messaging service.

Ties with Iran, disconnected from SWIFT since 2018, have become ever more crucial for Russia since Moscow despatched troops to Ukraine in February 2022.

The two countries have already connected their interbank communication and transfer systems, and Tehran has for months been planning to accept Russia's Mir payment cards, Moscow's alternative to Visa and Mastercard.

"The number of foreign banks' representative offices in recent years dropped from around 45 to 15, and VTB is the only bank to open its office during this period," semi-official news agency ILNA quoted Alireza Peymanpak, the head of Iran's Trade Promotion Organisation, as saying. "Due to its active presence in the banking networks of Iran's export destinations such as CIS countries, India, Vietnam and particularly China, VTB will help to attract export earnings and reduce foreign transfer costs for Iran."

A source familiar with the Iranian banking market said VTB had already opened correspondent accounts with Iranian banks.

VTB, whose CEO Andrei Kostin discussed cooperation at a meeting with Iran's ambassador last year, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Meanwhile, Bank of Russia Governor Elvira Nabiullina may visit Iran in the coming weeks to strengthen financial ties, a separate source told Reuters. The central bank did not immediately comment.

Dominant lender Sberbank's (SBER.MM) CEO, German Gref, has also discussed reinforcing ties with the Islamic Republic, but has not yet entered the market, another source said, while fellow state-owned lender Promsvyazbank, which focuses primarily on the defence sector, is already present in Iran.

Sberbank and Promsvyazbank did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
ZURICH, May 17 (Reuters) - Credit Suisse's (CSGN.S) collapse and its takeover by UBS (UBSG.S) will be investigated by a parliamentary commission (PUK), the office of Switzerland's upper house of parliament said on Wednesday.

The move comes after two sub-committees supported a deeper investigation into how the government, Swiss central bank and financial market regulator acted in the run up to the emergency rescue of Credit Suisse.

The investigation's exact mandate as well as the membership of the commission have not yet been determined, and will be decided by both legislatures during their next sessions, which begin on May 30, it said.

"Given the magnitude of the events and the financial impact, the office concludes that the establishment of a PUK is warranted," the office of the upper house said in a statement.

"The office advocates a broad formulation of the investigative mandate, ...and the clarification of the events of recent years that led to the emergency merger," it added.

Under the rescue deal engineered by Swiss authorities over one March weekend, UBS agreed to buy Credit Suisse for 3 billion Swiss francs in stock and to assume up to 5 billion francs in losses that would stem from winding down part of the business, marking the first rescue of a global bank since the 2008 financial crisis.

Among the topics under discussion could be the use of emergency laws to ease the state-engineered takeover.

The bank's takeover by UBS has been backed by 200 billion Swiss francs ($225.00 billion) in support from the government, which was determined to prevent Credit Suisse's collapse triggering a broader crisis in the global financial system.

The Swiss government has also agreed to absorb up to 9 billion francs in potential losses incurred by UBS as a result of the takeover.

($1 = 0.8889 Swiss francs)
May 16 (Reuters) - UBS (UBSG.S) has flagged tens of billions of dollars of potential costs - and benefits - from its takeover of Credit Suisse (CSGN.S), underscoring the high stakes involved as it prepares to complete the rescue of its struggling Swiss rival.

In a regulatory presentation, UBS estimated a negative impact of $13 billion from fair value adjustments of the combined group's financial assets and liabilities, and a further $4 billion in potential litigation and regulatory costs stemming from outflows.

It also listed other factors, including a switch in accounting standards, that would bring the total hit to $28.3 billion.

However, that would be offset by $17.1 billion from a write-down of Credit Suisse's AT1 bonds and other factors.

Furthermore, UBS estimated it would book a one-off gain stemming from the so-called negative goodwill of $34.8 billion by buying Credit Suisse for a fraction of its book value.

The financial cushion will help absorb potential losses and could result in a boost to the lender's second-quarter profit if UBS closes the transaction next month as planned.

While the financial implications of the deal were widely anticipated - UBS shares were broadly steady on Wednesday - the scale of the adjustments are yet another sign of Credit Suisse's frailty and the challenges UBS faces in integrating the lender.

In providing the first snapshot of what the combined group will look like, UBS said the estimates were preliminary and the numbers could change materially. It also said it might book restructuring provisions after that, but offered no numbers.

Charges to restructure the bank are likely to be booked after the transaction closes, Vontobel analyst Andreas Venditti said in a note. Savings will come principally from cutting staff, UBS has said in recent weeks.

Meanwhile, UBS has implemented a number of restrictions on Credit Suisse while the takeover is underway, including limits on how much it can lend, how much it can spend and the size of certain contracts it can enter into.

"Credit Suisse obviously found itself in a problem because of lapses in its risk controls and I think just setting these parameters on the ability or standards to lend out is not very unreasonable," said Benjamin Quinlan, Hong Kong-based chief executive of financial consultancy firm Quinlan & Associates.

"Ultimately, from UBS' perspective, they will have to wear these risks on their books."

The restrictions "will cause certain clients to leave Credit Suisse" but may not accelerate the pace of outflows already seen, said Quinlan, following UBS's statement last week that Credit Suisse had already stemmed asset outflows.

RUSHED INTO RESCUE

UBS said it was rushed into the deal and had less than four days to complete due diligence given the emergency circumstances as Credit Suisse's financial health rapidly worsened after it had already endured a difficult year.

Under the rescue deal engineered by Swiss authorities over one March weekend amid global banking turmoil, UBS agreed to buy Credit Suisse for 3 billion Swiss francs ($3.4 billion) in stock and to assume up to 5 billion francs in losses that would stem from winding down part of the business.

The first rescue of a global bank since the 2008 financial crisis, which is backed by up to 250 billion Swiss francs in public funds, will create a wealth manager with more than $5 trillion in invested assets and over 120,000 employees globally.

UBS signaled the difficulties at the 167-year-old Credit Suisse will persist, and expects its one-time rival to report substantial pretax losses in the second quarter and the whole of this year.

Following the legal closing of the transaction, UBS Group AG plans to manage two separate parent companies  UBS AG and Credit Suisse AG, UBS said last week. It has said the integration process could take three to four years.

During that time, each institution will continue to have its own subsidiaries and branches, serve its clients and deal with counterparties.

UBS shares are little changed since the deal was announced.
LONDON, May 17 (Reuters Breakingviews) - New bosses often like to get the bad news out quickly, a time-honoured practice known as kitchen sinking. UBS (UBSG.S) late on Tuesday released a regulatory filing showing what the banks accounts may look like after its roughly $4 billion acquisition of Credit Suisse (CSGN.S). It almost fits the bill. But CEO Sergio Ermotti has protection if it doesnt.

The key numbers in the mammoth document are the haircuts Ermotti applies to Credit Suisses balance sheet, and the charge hes taking to cover possible future legal bills. UBS is marking down the targets assets by about $10 billion, mostly in the loan book, while inflating its liabilities by about $3 billion  a reflection of funding commitments already made to Credit Suisses clients. The buyer is also taking a $4 billion provision to cover future litigation charges. In sum, it amounts to a roughly $17 billion hit to the combined groups all-important common equity Tier 1 (CET1) regulatory capital, effectively wiping out the boost from cancelling Credit Suisses funky capital instruments back in March.

While theres a kitchen-sink feel to those numbers, its far from clear that Ermotti has vanquished all the bad news. For starters, the filing is peppered with caveats, including that UBS still hasnt managed to complete detailed valuations of the assets. That means any future markdowns could be larger. At roughly 2% of Credit Suisses overall loans and financial assets, the haircuts do seem rather modest. Jefferies analysts had been expecting a 3% discount on the loans and 10%-15% on the trading and investment assets, implying an overall downward adjustment almost $5 billion steeper than the one UBS currently expects to book.

The $4 billion legal charge is undoubtedly chunky, at roughly three times the most recent Credit Suisse estimate of likely future losses from cases that it hadnt yet provided for. But its hard to judge how much the controversial deal itself has affected the combined groups exposure. The filings risk factors note that UBS might inherit future court cases that could stem from the cancellation of Credit Suisses Additional Tier 1 bonds, for example.

Still, Ermottis $4 billion purchase price is miles below the $49 billion net asset value hes buying. Meanwhile, the implied CET1 ratio of the group, after deducting all the relevant hits, is roughly 14%. Thats according to Breakingviews calculations that dont reflect the impact of UBSs markdowns on risk-weighted assets, which means the real ratio may be higher. Ermotti may also be able to reverse some of the asset haircuts, for example on Swiss mortgages that he is planning to keep, potentially freeing up room for more aggressive writedowns elsewhere. Finally, the Swiss government has also offered $10 billion of loss protection, though the details are unclear, which isnt reflected in any of UBSs numbers so far. Ermotti might not have performed a total kitchen sink, but his investors neednt be too concerned.

Follow @liamwardproud on Twitter

(The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are his own.)

CONTEXT NEWS

UBS on May 16 said it would write down the value of Credit Suisses loans and financial assets by $9.9 billion, as part of a takeover of its Zurich-based rival. It also plans to increase the smaller groups liabilities by $3.1 billion, implying a $13 billion hit to the combined groups equity capital.

The Swiss bank, led by returning CEO Sergio Ermotti, is also taking a $4 billion charge for future legal bills, which is about three times greater than the $1.3 billion of future litigation losses that Credit Suisse estimated it could face over and above its existing stock of provisions.

Swiss authorities on March 19 announced that UBS would buy its arch-rival for about $3 billion in stock.

On May 17, the share prices of both banks were flat.
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Although there is more than a year to go until the 2024 election in the 22nd Congressional District, Democratic candidate Sarah Klee Hood has been endorsed by more than 50 central New York leaders and a notable U.S. senator.

Klee Hood's endorsers include U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth, an Illinois Democrat. Duckworth, like Klee Hood, is a military veteran. She served as a helicopter pilot in the Iraq War.

"As a fellow working mom and veteran, I know she's got what it takes to win this swing district and take back the House," Duckworth said in a statement. "I look forward to working with her to protect veterans, Social Security and women's rights."

Duckworth's endorsement followed Klee Hood's announcement that more than 50 central New York activists and elected officials are supporting her House bid. Former congressional candidates are among the supporters, including Vanessa Fajans-Turner, Eric Kingson and Juanita Perez-Williams.

The elected officials supporting Klee Hood, D-DeWitt, hail from the two largest counties, Onondaga and Oneida, in the 22nd district. The list includes Manlius Supervisor John Deer, DeWitt Supervisor Ed Michelanko and Oneida County Legislator Caroline Reale.

"As a working mom and veteran, they know I have what it takes to beat NY-22's anti-choice and anti-Social Security incumbent and I'm proud to stand with them," Klee Hood said in a statement.

Klee Hood launched her second congressional campaign in April. She first ran for Congress in 2022 and finished second in a four-way primary for the Democratic nomination.

In her first week as a candidate in this election cycle, she raised $118,000  more than she raised from individual donors in her initial campaign for Congress.

A second Democrat entered the race this week. Clem Harris, a Utica University professor and former aide to ex-Gov. David Paterson, is seeking the party's nomination in the 22nd district.

The incumbent is U.S. Rep. Brandon Williams, a Cayuga County Republican.
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May 17, 1993

From the plaintive strains of bagpipes filling Spartan Hall to the speeches extolling learning, moral values, service and creativity, Sunday was a day of pride and celebration at Cayuga Community College.

At yesterday's 39th annual commencement, 559 students received diplomas, culminating an experience that will launch dreams and open doors for many.

But it won't be easy  a fact acknowledged by the commencement's speaker, Kelly Connell. Connell is a 1978 alumnus of the college and now an actor on the weekly CBS television series "Picket Fences," where he plays the role of Dr. Carter Pike, chief medical examiner in the fictional town of Rome, Wisconsin.

"I spent the last 15 years of my life not knowing where my next job would come from," Connell said.

Connell, who has also appeared on "Murphy Brown," "Delta," "Fresh Prince," "Night Court," "Davis Rules," "Wings," "Lifestories" and numerous, nationally aired television commercials, encouraged graduates to "listen to your heart" and be willing to "take a lot of little steps" as they try to make their way through the "mysterious abyss" of career dreams in a world "hellbent on efficiency."

A Seneca Falls native, Connell said he began his present career in Cayuga Community College's Acting 101, taught then by Dan Labeille, who is now executive assistant to the college president.
Shanghai (Gasgoo)- Jiangsu Dingsheng New Energy Materials Co., Ltd. ("DSXC"), a Chinese aluminum product manufacturer, announced on May 17 its wholly-owned subsidiary, Hangzhou Five Star Aluminum Co., Ltd. (Five Star Aluminum), has struck a deal with SK on Co., Ltd. (SK on), the battery subsidiary of South Koreas SK Innovation, to provide the latter with its aluminum foil products.

Under the agreement, during the period from the second half of 2023 to 2027, SK on and its designated production bases will purchase lithium battery aluminum foil from Five Star Aluminum. The total purchase quantity is estimated to be around 32,400 tonnes, while the final quantity should be based on specific orders agreed by both parties in the future.

NCM9 battery; photo credit: SK on

As one of the main power battery suppliers in the world, SK on ranked fifth globally in 2022 with 27.8GWh power battery installed through the year, accounting for 5.4% of the worlds overall volume, according to data by the market research institute SNE Research.

For the first quarter of this year, SK on maintained its No. 5 place in the world with a quarterly power battery installed capacity of 7.1GWh.

DXSC said that the recent agreement signing signifies SK on's recognition of the company's quality and production capacity of power battery foils. It further validates the company's competitiveness in the field of aluminum foil for new energy vehicle power batteries, providing assurance for the firm's medium- to long-term sustainable development.
Suspect in University of Idaho quadruple killings indicted by grand jury on murder and burglary charges
Man who ran over Springfield officer pleads not guilty by reason of insanity

A 31-year-old man who was charged with running over a Springfield police officer will be committed to state mental health facilities after a judge accepted his plea of not guilty by reason of insanity
Hong Kong: HK, Mainland explore healthcare links

Secretary for Health Prof Lo Chung-mau today met Beijing, Tianjin and Shanghai health officials and their delegations to explore ways of strengthening co-operation in healthcare.

The meetings were held separately with Beijing Municipal Health Commission Office of Hong Kong, Macao & Taiwan Affairs Director Bao Hua, Tianjin Municipal Health Commission Deputy Director Han Xiaofen and Shanghai Municipal Health Commission Deputy Director Yu Tao.

At the meetings, Prof Lo introduced to the delegations the latest healthcare developments in Hong Kong, while the delegation members shared the experiences and achievements in their respective municipalities' healthcare developments.

The attendees conducted in-depth exchanges on areas such as optimising hospital management, enhancing public health and improving the quality of healthcare services.

Prof Lo pointed out that Beijing, Tianjin and Shanghai Municipalities have all along been maintaining close co-operative relationships with Hong Kong.

With the full resumption of normal travel between Hong Kong and the Mainland, there have been closer and more frequent exchanges and co-operation between the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and the various Mainland provinces and cities in the field of healthcare development.

We will press ahead with the strengthening and deepening of such exchanges and co-operation to promote regional healthcare development, with a view to enhancing the quality and efficiency of the healthcare services, and joining the effort to contribute to the important national strategy of a 'healthy China', he added.

The health commissions of Beijing, Tianjin and Shanghai also attended the Hospital Authority Convention.

This story has been published on: 2023-05-17. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
FFBOTS, the Jebel Ali Industrial Area-based Emirati firm, has launched the first locally-made firefighting robot of its kind in the Middle East, with world-class technical specifications and operational capabilities.

Called Wabel, which means rain, the robot provides a qualitative addition to firefighting departments and firefighters efforts across the UAE and the region as it can enhance the safety of fire-fighters and support them during firefighting operations, especially in critical hard-to-reach areas or when it comes to dangerous physically-demanding tasks that may compromise their safety.

Since its inception, the company has sought to locally manufacture, design and assemble robotics technologies, with a focus on attracting local and international competencies and expertise, inspired by its vision and the passion of the founding-team. The aspiration of the companys investors towards AI-based innovations are in line with the vision and directions of the UAE government, said Mohammed Islam, a robotics expert and CEO of FFBOTS.

Plans to expand globally

"The start has been made from the UAE with a joint Emirati-Saudi investment. We intend to go global, taking into account the directives of our wise UAE government that calls for leveraging artificial intelligence to a maximum to enhance the quality of life and preserve the lives and property through instant response to fire-fighting operations. This is especially the case in one of the fastest-growing economies in the world, where giant projects and factories, free zones, warehouses, tall residential towers and other sensitive areas are spread, he added.

Islam indicated that the robot complements rather than annuls the role of civil defence, by providing a qualitative addition to its efforts in fighting fires and preserving lives and property, especially when fires involve high-risk situations, such as proximity to oil and gas reservoirs and highly flammable materials that cannot be approached.

He added: We were keen to ensure spare parts are locally available and maintenance services are delivered by our professional specialists, so as to meet the needs of the local market at a record speed and up to the highest international standards.

Robot technical specifications

Wabel has multiple high-calibre features. It can be deployed in dangerous and critical areas in anticipation of any fires, which enhances the safety levels of facilities and helps protect people and properties.

Pending the arrival of civil defence personnel, it helps controllers, especially in critical places, to immediately use it remotely and start firefighting operations, benefitting from a powerful flow rate of 8,000 LPM, a range of 100 metres, and a height of 50 metres.

The robot helps civil defence men get to the heart of the fire and enhance their firefighting capabilities, especially in extremely dangerous situations, such as the potential explosions of ammunition depots, toxic chemical fires, nuclear reactors, high-temperature oil field fires, and collapsed buildings among other dangerous situations, not to mention its role in assisting specialised companies in matters of settling insurance claims.

Wireless control

The robot is controlled wirelessly by a control station with a control range of up to 1,000 metres. It is equipped with 4-hose-inlets and a GPS build routing and maps for robot location and facilitations of navigation, which helps controllers make full advantage of its technical capabilities.

The robot uses foam and water with a flow rate of 8,000 LPM. It is equipped with six smart cameras covering four directions, making it the firefighters eye from the heart of the event, hence enabling operation decisions to be made remotely without approaching the fire scene. The robot is also equipped with front-end water sprinklers to cool the surface in front of the robot and vertical water sprinklers to create a water umbrella to cool the robot from above.

Wabel is professionally manufactured to enable it to climb the stairs up to 30 degrees, thanks to its weight of about a ton. It is provided with strong front bumpers, which enable it to collide with obstacles in front of it, hence facilitating its quick access to fire locations.

Dedicated camera

The robot is also equipped with a dedicated camera for extinguisher target direction and a back camera to facilitate movement, in addition to an inbound audio channel to enable the controller to hear sounds around the robot; 15 temperature-sensing points, such as motors, battery, electronic components, robot body, and outer temperature.

The robots powerful headlights enable control officers to see clearly during heavy smoke, and its audible siren helps locate the robot, while also alerting others in smoky or low-visibility areas and warning residents of a fire.-- TradeArabia News Service
With Gasgoo Daily, we will offer daily important automotive news in China. For those we have reported, the title of the piece will include a hyperlink, which will provide detailed information.

BYD-backed DENZA unveils iADC smart drift control system

DENZA, the premium auto brand majority-owned by BYD, officially released a drifting video with the N7 SUV model, showcasing the debut of its pioneering iADC (Intelligence Adaptive Drift Control) system.

Photo credit: DENZA

Li Auto to launch high-performance mode update via OTA in May

CEO of Li Auto, Li Xiang, announced on his Weibo account that the company will push for an OTA update including the new high-performance mode this month. The update will further enhance the performance gap between low and high battery levels, making it comparable to that of a PHEV.

Beijing Hyundai MUFASA kicks off presale

Beijing Hyundais MUFASA compact SUV model is officially named as Musa in Chinese. Presale of the vehicle has already kicked off. Coming with two trim levels, the MUFASA is priced at 139,800 yuan and 149,800 yuan during presale.

Intelligent and Connected Vehicle Data Governance Innovation Center inaugurated in Beijing

The Intelligent and Connected Vehicle Data Governance Innovation Center (referred to as the "Data Center") was inaugurated at an event on May 16 at the Beijing High-level Automated Driving Demonstration Area (BJHAD), signifying the establishment of the industry's first professional platform that coordinates data security compliance and technological research and development.

SAIC Motors subsidiaries to build fund for investment in innovative companies of auto industrial chain

SAIC Motor announced on May 17 its two investment subsidiaries, SAIC (Changzhou) Innovation Development Investment Fund Co., Ltd. and Shanghai Shangqi Investment Management Partnership (L.P.) (Shang Qi Capital), will jointly set up a fund that focuses on the investment in high-quality enterprises related to innovation and development in the automotive industry chain.

GAC Energy, PetroChina to promote cooperation on energy network

On May 16, GAC Energy Technology Co., Ltd. (GAC Energy) and the Guangdong sales branch of PetroChina Company Limited (PetroChina Guangdong) signed an agreement to conduct in-depth cooperation in the field of energy, according to a post on GAC Energys WeChat account.

NavInfo-backed Telemap to provide GAC Toyota, FAW Toyota with navigation services

NavInfo, the Chinese automotive intelligence solution provider, announced on May 16 its subsidiary, Telemap, has received procurement notices from GAC Toyota and FAW Toyota for its map and navigation products.

Baidu Apollo Go Robotaxi service completes 660,000 ride-share orders in Q1 2023

Chinese tech giant Baidu announced its first-quarter financial results for 2023 on May 16, which showed a total revenue of 31.1 billion yuan, up 10% year on year.

Greater Bay Technology said to launch self-developed Phoenix Battery later in May

Greater Bay Technology (GBT), a supercharging technology developer incubated by GAC Group, is about to launch its self-developed new battery named Phoenix (Fenghuang in Chinese Pinyin), according to a local media outlet.

SAIC-GM-Wuling releases images of Baojun Yeps interior

Baojun, the automobile marque owned by SAIC-GM-Wuling (SGMW), recently released the interior images of the Baojun Yep, a mini all-electric SUV to go on sale on May 25.
Shares of Copper Mountain Mining Co. (OTCMKTS:CPPMF  Get Rating) have been given a consensus rating of Moderate Buy by the seven brokerages that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $2.65.

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. TD Securities lowered Copper Mountain Mining to a buy rating in a research report on Monday, April 17th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on Copper Mountain Mining from C$3.00 to C$2.75 in a research report on Monday, May 1st. Desjardins lowered Copper Mountain Mining to a buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 18th. National Bank Financial dropped their price target on Copper Mountain Mining from C$2.65 to C$2.60 in a research report on Monday, May 1st. Finally, Scotiabank lowered Copper Mountain Mining from an outperform rating to a sector perform rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 18th.

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Copper Mountain Mining Stock Down 2.6 %

CPPMF stock opened at $1.81 on Friday. Copper Mountain Mining has a fifty-two week low of $0.92 and a fifty-two week high of $2.36. The businesss 50 day moving average price is $1.68 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $1.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.72. The company has a market capitalization of $387.48 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.13 and a beta of 2.00.

About Copper Mountain Mining

Copper Mountain Mining ( OTCMKTS:CPPMF Get Rating ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, March 27th. The company reported ($0.07) earnings per share for the quarter. The company had revenue of $66.50 million during the quarter. Copper Mountain Mining had a negative return on equity of 8.37% and a net margin of 7.31%.

(Get Rating)

Copper Mountain Mining Corp. engages in the exploration, development and operation of mineral deposits. It holds interest in Copper Mountain Mine, Eva Copper, New Ingerbelle, and Cameron Copper Projects. The company was founded on April 20, 2006 and is headquartered in Vancouver, Canada.

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Shares of Annaly Capital Management, Inc. (NYSE:NLY  Get Rating) have been assigned an average rating of Moderate Buy from the eleven brokerages that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $22.28.

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on NLY shares. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Annaly Capital Management from $20.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Friday, February 17th. Argus downgraded Annaly Capital Management from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Tuesday, February 21st. They noted that the move was a valuation call. Piper Sandler upgraded Annaly Capital Management from a neutral rating to an overweight rating and raised their price target for the company from $20.00 to $21.50 in a report on Tuesday, May 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Annaly Capital Management from $23.00 to $22.00 in a report on Monday, April 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Annaly Capital Management from $23.00 to $21.00 in a report on Friday, April 28th.

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Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Annaly Capital Management by 2.9% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 132,287,354 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $931,303,000 after buying an additional 3,668,441 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. lifted its position in shares of Annaly Capital Management by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 54,913,095 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $1,049,389,000 after buying an additional 576,515 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Annaly Capital Management by 14.0% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 34,722,698 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $212,614,000 after buying an additional 4,263,394 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its position in shares of Annaly Capital Management by 5.5% during the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 15,288,003 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $292,154,000 after buying an additional 800,940 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Annaly Capital Management by 166.1% during the 2nd quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 14,866,079 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $87,858,000 after buying an additional 9,279,874 shares in the last quarter. 52.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Annaly Capital Management Stock Performance

NLY opened at $18.65 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $19.01 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $20.60. The company has a current ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85. Annaly Capital Management has a 12-month low of $15.11 and a 12-month high of $27.96.

Annaly Capital Management (NYSE:NLY  Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 27th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $0.72 by $0.09. Annaly Capital Management had a positive return on equity of 18.86% and a negative net margin of 38.80%. The business had revenue of $818.25 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $183.00 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.12 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Annaly Capital Management will post 2.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Annaly Capital Management Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 31st were given a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 30th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 13.94%. Annaly Capital Managements payout ratio is -115.56%.

Annaly Capital Management Company Profile

(Get Rating)

Annaly Capital Management, Inc engages in the investment and financing of residential and commercial assets. It operates through the following investment groups: Agency, Residential Credit, and Mortgage Servicing Rights. The Agency group invests in agency mortgage-backed securities. The Residential Credit group involves non-agency residential mortgage assets within securitized products and whole loan markets.

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Clearwater Paper Co. (NYSE:CLW  Get Rating) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest in April. As of April 30th, there was short interest totalling 192,500 shares, a decline of 11.0% from the April 15th total of 216,400 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 140,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.4 days. Currently, 1.2% of the companys shares are sold short.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Steve M. Bowden sold 2,964 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.34, for a total transaction of $113,639.76. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 51,636 shares of the companys stock, valued at $1,979,724.24. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, SVP Steve M. Bowden sold 2,964 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.34, for a total transaction of $113,639.76. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 51,636 shares of the companys stock, valued at $1,979,724.24. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Michael John Murphy sold 2,681 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction on Friday, April 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.88, for a total transaction of $88,151.28. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 48,210 shares in the company, valued at $1,585,144.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 25,497 shares of company stock valued at $918,412. Corporate insiders own 2.30% of the companys stock.

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Institutional Investors Weigh In On Clearwater Paper

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund grew its holdings in Clearwater Paper by 5.4% during the 3rd quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 5,553 shares of the basic materials companys stock valued at $209,000 after purchasing an additional 282 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Arbitrage SA grew its holdings in Clearwater Paper by 5.4% during the 2nd quarter. BNP Paribas Arbitrage SA now owns 7,479 shares of the basic materials companys stock worth $252,000 after acquiring an additional 380 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Clearwater Paper by 80.9% during the 3rd quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 890 shares of the basic materials companys stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 398 shares in the last quarter. Biltmore Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Clearwater Paper during the 4th quarter worth $445,672,000. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors grew its holdings in Clearwater Paper by 35.0% during the 1st quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 1,877 shares of the basic materials companys stock worth $53,000 after acquiring an additional 487 shares in the last quarter. 89.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Clearwater Paper Trading Up 3.0 %

Clearwater Paper stock traded up $0.94 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $32.09. The company had a trading volume of 27,296 shares, compared to its average volume of 122,406. Clearwater Paper has a 1-year low of $29.92 and a 1-year high of $46.48. The company has a current ratio of 2.14, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95. The companys 50 day simple moving average is $33.38 and its 200-day simple moving average is $36.19. The stock has a market cap of $542.96 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.06 and a beta of 0.80.

Clearwater Paper (NYSE:CLW  Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 14th. The basic materials company reported ($0.30) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.09) by ($0.21). Clearwater Paper had a return on equity of 12.27% and a net margin of 2.51%. The business had revenue of $526.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $518.00 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.82 EPS.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on CLW. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded shares of Clearwater Paper from a sector perform rating to an outperform rating and upped their price target for the stock from $38.00 to $42.00 in a research report on Monday, April 24th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Clearwater Paper from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, May 10th. Finally, TheStreet upgraded shares of Clearwater Paper from a c rating to a b- rating in a report on Wednesday, May 3rd.

Clearwater Paper Company Profile

(Get Rating)

Clearwater Paper Corp. engages in the manufacturing and selling of private label tissue, paperboard, and pulp-based products. It operates through the Consumer Products and Pulp and Paperboard segments. The Consumer Products segment manufactures and sells a complete line of at-home tissue products. The Pulp and Paperboard segment produces and markets solid bleached sulfate paperboard for the high-end segment of the packaging industry and offers custom sheeting, slitting, and cutting of paperboard.

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Mercantile Ports & Logistics Limited (LON:MPL  Get Rating) shares dropped 9.5% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as low as GBX 4.01 ($0.05) and last traded at GBX 4.75 ($0.06). Approximately 114,989 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 168% from the average daily volume of 42,928 shares. The stock had previously closed at GBX 5.25 ($0.07).

Mercantile Ports & Logistics Trading Down 9.5 %

The firm has a market capitalization of 1.97 million, a P/E ratio of -12.18 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 47.34, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a current ratio of 1.51. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of GBX 5.44 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of GBX 7.23.

About Mercantile Ports & Logistics

(Get Rating)

Mercantile Ports & Logistics Limited, through its subsidiaries, develops, owns, and operates port and logistics facilities in India. The company is developing a port and logistics facility in approximately 200 acres of land with a sea frontage of 1,000 meters at Karanja Creek in the Raigad District of Maharashtra.

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Shares of Pacer CSOP FTSE China A50 ETF (NYSEARCA:AFTY  Get Rating) traded down 1.3% during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $15.86 and last traded at $15.86. 677 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 19% from the average session volume of 834 shares. The stock had previously closed at $16.08.

Pacer CSOP FTSE China A50 ETF Trading Down 1.3 %

The stock has a market cap of $4.92 million, a P/E ratio of 12.77 and a beta of 0.38. The stocks fifty day moving average price is $16.10 and its 200 day moving average price is $16.09.

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Hedge Funds Weigh In On Pacer CSOP FTSE China A50 ETF

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Jane Street Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Pacer CSOP FTSE China A50 ETF in the 2nd quarter worth $863,000. Flow Traders U.S. LLC grew its position in Pacer CSOP FTSE China A50 ETF by 100.0% in the first quarter. Flow Traders U.S. LLC now owns 31,236 shares of the companys stock worth $567,000 after acquiring an additional 15,615 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS Group AG increased its stake in Pacer CSOP FTSE China A50 ETF by 61.7% during the first quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 3,051 shares of the companys stock worth $55,000 after acquiring an additional 1,164 shares during the last quarter.

Pacer CSOP FTSE China A50 ETF Company Profile

The Pacer CSOP FTSE China A50 ETF (AFTY) is an exchange-traded fund that is based on the FTSE China A 50 index. The fund tracks an index of the 50 largest China A-shares listed on the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges. AFTY was launched on Mar 12, 2015 and is managed by Pacer.

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Shares of Premium Brands Holdings Co. (TSE:PBH  Get Rating) have earned an average recommendation of Moderate Buy from the ten analysts that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is C$118.30.

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Premium Brands from C$105.00 to C$111.00 in a research report on Friday, March 17th. TD Securities boosted their price target on Premium Brands from C$120.00 to C$125.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Tuesday. Scotiabank boosted their price target on Premium Brands from C$114.00 to C$120.00 in a research report on Monday, May 1st. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on Premium Brands from C$107.00 to C$104.00 and set a sector perform rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 17th. Finally, National Bankshares reduced their price target on Premium Brands from C$124.00 to C$121.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday.

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Premium Brands Trading Up 1.0 %

PBH opened at C$98.08 on Wednesday. The stocks fifty day moving average is C$98.79 and its two-hundred day moving average is C$91.84. The company has a market capitalization of C$4.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.47, a PEG ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 0.97. Premium Brands has a 52 week low of C$77.36 and a 52 week high of C$105.32. The company has a quick ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 2.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 141.16.

Premium Brands Dividend Announcement

Premium Brands ( TSE:PBH Get Rating ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 16th. The company reported C$1.19 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of C$1.35 by C($0.16). The firm had revenue of C$1.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of C$1.55 billion. Premium Brands had a return on equity of 8.93% and a net margin of 2.66%. Analysts forecast that Premium Brands will post 5.1172871 earnings per share for the current year.

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 14th. Investors of record on Friday, June 30th will be given a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.14%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 29th. Premium Brandss dividend payout ratio is currently 86.27%.

About Premium Brands

(Get Rating)

Premium Brands Holdings Corporation, through its subsidiaries, manufactures and distributes food products primarily in Canada and the United States. It operates in two segments, Specialty Foods and Premium Food Distribution. The company provides meat products and snacks, deli products, beef jerky and halal, sandwiches, pastries, specialty and gourmet products, salads and kettle products, entrees, panini, wraps, subs, hamburgers, burgers, muffins, breads, pastas, and baking and sushi products, as well as processed meat products and ready-to-eat meals.

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Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. (NYSE:MCB  Get Rating) was the target of a significant drop in short interest in April. As of April 30th, there was short interest totalling 1,430,000 shares, a drop of 14.4% from the April 15th total of 1,670,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 574,200 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.5 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on MCB shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on Metropolitan Bank from $80.00 to $69.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Metropolitan Bank from $63.00 to $37.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 6th. Finally, TheStreet downgraded Metropolitan Bank from a b- rating to a c+ rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 15th.

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Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Greg Sigrist bought 1,000 shares of the firms stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 17th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $35.97 per share, for a total transaction of $35,970.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 13,842 shares in the company, valued at approximately $497,896.74. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Mark R. Defazio acquired 20,517 shares of Metropolitan Bank stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 13th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $24.20 per share, for a total transaction of $496,511.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 20,517 shares in the company, valued at approximately $496,511.40. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Greg Sigrist acquired 1,000 shares of Metropolitan Bank stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 17th. The shares were bought at an average price of $35.97 per share, for a total transaction of $35,970.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 13,842 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $497,896.74. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have bought a total of 22,517 shares of company stock worth $553,701 over the last quarter. 6.32% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Metropolitan Bank

Metropolitan Bank Trading Down 3.4 %

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of MCB. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. grew its stake in Metropolitan Bank by 34.2% during the 1st quarter. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. now owns 2,721 shares of the companys stock worth $277,000 after purchasing an additional 694 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in Metropolitan Bank by 27.9% during the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 24,245 shares of the companys stock worth $2,467,000 after purchasing an additional 5,287 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its stake in Metropolitan Bank by 5,500.0% during the 1st quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 392 shares of the companys stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 385 shares in the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Metropolitan Bank by 57.8% during the 1st quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 5,128 shares of the companys stock worth $522,000 after purchasing an additional 1,879 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BlackRock Inc. grew its stake in Metropolitan Bank by 1.7% during the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 688,730 shares of the companys stock worth $70,092,000 after purchasing an additional 11,384 shares in the last quarter. 81.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Shares of NYSE MCB traded down $0.79 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $22.73. The stock had a trading volume of 307,661 shares, compared to its average volume of 447,542. Metropolitan Bank has a fifty-two week low of $13.98 and a fifty-two week high of $83.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 0.97. The businesss 50-day moving average price is $31.14 and its 200-day moving average price is $50.03. The company has a market cap of $254.83 million, a P/E ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 1.02.

About Metropolitan Bank

(Get Rating)

Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. engages in the provision of banking solutions. It provides a range of business, commercial and retail banking products and services to small businesses, middle-market enterprises, public entities, and affluent individuals. The company was founded by Mark R. DeFazio in 1999 and is headquartered in New York, NY.

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Shares of TELUS International (Cda) Inc. (NYSE:TIXT  Get Rating) have been assigned an average rating of Moderate Buy from the fourteen analysts that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and eight have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $26.42.

Several equities analysts have recently commented on TIXT shares. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on shares of TELUS International (Cda) from $38.00 to $29.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 10th. Credit Suisse Group decreased their price target on shares of TELUS International (Cda) from $27.00 to $25.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 10th. TheStreet lowered shares of TELUS International (Cda) from a c- rating to a d+ rating in a report on Thursday, May 4th. Canaccord Genuity Group started coverage on shares of TELUS International (Cda) in a report on Monday, April 24th. They set a buy rating on the stock. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on shares of TELUS International (Cda) from $26.00 to $21.00 in a report on Monday, May 8th.

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Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Lazard Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of TELUS International (Cda) during the 1st quarter valued at $46,000. Citigroup Inc. raised its holdings in TELUS International (Cda) by 18.8% during the first quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 4,781 shares of the companys stock worth $96,000 after buying an additional 755 shares during the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC acquired a new position in TELUS International (Cda) during the first quarter worth $101,000. BNP Paribas Arbitrage SNC acquired a new position in TELUS International (Cda) during the third quarter worth $101,000. Finally, Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ raised its holdings in TELUS International (Cda) by 343.0% during the third quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ now owns 5,094 shares of the companys stock worth $133,000 after buying an additional 3,944 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 18.27% of the companys stock.

TELUS International (Cda) Price Performance

TELUS International (Cda) Company Profile

Shares of NYSE:TIXT opened at $16.61 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $19.75 and a 200-day moving average of $20.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.21 billion, a PE ratio of 27.23, a PEG ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90. TELUS International has a 12 month low of $16.54 and a 12 month high of $31.52.

(Get Rating)

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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Tidewater Midstream and Infrastructure Ltd. (TSE:TWM  Get Rating)  Stifel Firstegy dropped their Q3 2023 earnings estimates for shares of Tidewater Midstream and Infrastructure in a report released on Thursday, May 11th. Stifel Firstegy analyst C. Pereira now expects that the company will post earnings of $0.03 per share for the quarter, down from their previous estimate of $0.04. Stifel Firstegy currently has a Hold rating on the stock. The consensus estimate for Tidewater Midstream and Infrastructures current full-year earnings is $0.13 per share.

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Several other brokerages have also issued reports on TWM. CSFB cut their target price on shares of Tidewater Midstream and Infrastructure from C$1.50 to C$1.30 in a research note on Thursday, April 13th. Scotiabank lowered their price objective on shares of Tidewater Midstream and Infrastructure from C$1.50 to C$1.30 in a report on Friday, March 10th. Canaccord Genuity Group lowered their price objective on shares of Tidewater Midstream and Infrastructure from C$1.50 to C$1.40 in a report on Wednesday, March 29th. National Bankshares downgraded shares of Tidewater Midstream and Infrastructure from an outperform rating to a sector perform rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from C$1.50 to C$1.10 in a report on Friday, March 10th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus downgraded shares of Tidewater Midstream and Infrastructure from a buy rating to a hold rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from C$1.80 to C$1.15 in a report on Tuesday, March 14th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Tidewater Midstream and Infrastructure has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of C$1.35.

Tidewater Midstream and Infrastructure Trading Down 1.1 %

TWM opened at C$0.88 on Monday. The companys 50 day moving average price is C$0.90 and its two-hundred day moving average price is C$1.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 94.08, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.55. Tidewater Midstream and Infrastructure has a fifty-two week low of C$0.84 and a fifty-two week high of C$1.72. The firm has a market capitalization of C$373.65 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.00, a PEG ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.64.

Tidewater Midstream and Infrastructure (TSE:TWM  Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 9th. The company reported C($0.01) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of C$0.04 by C($0.05). Tidewater Midstream and Infrastructure had a return on equity of 2.72% and a net margin of 0.30%. The company had revenue of C$711.10 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of C$712.00 million.

Tidewater Midstream and Infrastructure Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 31st were given a $0.01 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 30th. This represents a $0.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.55%. Tidewater Midstream and Infrastructures dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 200.00%.

Tidewater Midstream and Infrastructure Company Profile

(Get Rating)

Tidewater Midstream and Infrastructure Ltd., through its subsidiaries, operates as a diversified midstream and infrastructure company in North America. It primarily focuses on natural gas, natural gas liquids (NGLs), and crude oil operations and processing plants located in the Deep Basin, Edmonton, and Montney regions of Alberta and British Columbia.

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Shanghai (Gasgoo)- On May 16, GAC Energy Technology Co., Ltd. (GAC Energy) and the Guangdong sales branch of PetroChina Company Limited (PetroChina Guangdong) signed an agreement to conduct in-depth cooperation in the field of energy, according to a post on GAC Energys WeChat account.



To promote the development of the new energy industry, GAC Energy and PetroChina Guangdong formed a deep strategic partnership to jointly innovate in business operation models and conduct pilot projects in the energy sector by leveraging their respective resource advantages, said GAC Energy.

Photo credit: GAC Energy

Under the agreement, in the future, both parties will open up their existing station resources and establish platform interoperability, enabling collaborative operations in such areas as solar energy storage, EV charging, and vehicle sales agency services. In addition, they will expedite the layout of electricity supplement networks in rural areas, promoting the establishment of nationwide rural network sites through station planning that emphasizes slow charging as the main approach while incorporating fast charging as auxiliary.

The duo has decided to adopt a "three-step" approach to advance their strategic cooperation. Firstly, starting with Guangdong, the collaborative projects will be implemented to facilitate the rapid building of EV charging and battery swapping stations. Secondly, based on preliminary collaborations, both parties will drive their cooperation to a nationwide scale. Lastly, they will cement the joint-venture cooperation to jointly build a high-quality energy supply system.

Since the beginning of this year, the first batch of four EV charging and battery swapping cooperative projects between the two parties have been fully initiated, according to GAC Energy.
Shares of Tingyi (Cayman Islands) Holding Corp. (OTCMKTS:TCYMF  Get Rating) hit a new 52-week low on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $1.69 and last traded at $1.69, with a volume of 0 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $1.69.

Tingyi (Cayman Islands) Price Performance

The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $1.72 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $1.69.

About Tingyi (Cayman Islands)

(Get Rating)

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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Kinsale Capital Group, Inc. (NYSE:KNSL  Get Rating)  Analysts at Zacks Research lifted their FY2023 earnings per share estimates for Kinsale Capital Group in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday, May 11th. Zacks Research analyst T. De now expects that the financial services provider will earn $9.40 per share for the year, up from their prior estimate of $9.16. The consensus estimate for Kinsale Capital Groups current full-year earnings is $10.32 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Kinsale Capital Groups Q2 2024 earnings at $2.51 EPS, Q3 2024 earnings at $2.81 EPS and Q4 2024 earnings at $3.13 EPS.

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Several other research firms also recently commented on KNSL. Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Kinsale Capital Group from $335.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 21st. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Kinsale Capital Group from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Tuesday, February 21st. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Kinsale Capital Group in a research report on Thursday, March 16th. They set a hold rating on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Kinsale Capital Group from $313.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a research report on Monday, April 10th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Kinsale Capital Group from $230.00 to $245.00 and gave the company an underperform rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $334.00.

Kinsale Capital Group Trading Down 1.1 %

KNSL stock opened at $329.78 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $7.64 billion, a PE ratio of 41.74 and a beta of 0.86. Kinsale Capital Group has a 12 month low of $199.01 and a 12 month high of $345.75. The firms 50-day moving average is $315.56 and its 200 day moving average is $298.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 0.17 and a quick ratio of 0.17.

Kinsale Capital Group (NYSE:KNSL  Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 28th. The financial services provider reported $2.44 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.24 by $0.20. Kinsale Capital Group had a return on equity of 28.34% and a net margin of 20.44%. The firm had revenue of $299.03 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $252.84 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.63 earnings per share. The companys revenue for the quarter was up 38.1% on a year-over-year basis.

Kinsale Capital Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 13th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.14 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 30th. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.17%. Kinsale Capital Groups dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 7.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Kinsale Capital Group news, Director Anne C. Kronenberg sold 930 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $311.40, for a total transaction of $289,602.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 9,292 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $2,893,528.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, Director Anne C. Kronenberg sold 930 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $311.40, for a total value of $289,602.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 9,292 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $2,893,528.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Michael P. Kehoe sold 3,500 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $317.30, for a total transaction of $1,110,550.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 311,189 shares in the company, valued at $98,740,269.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 29,180 shares of company stock worth $9,421,052 in the last ninety days. 6.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kinsale Capital Group

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of KNSL. Bank of Montreal Can lifted its stake in Kinsale Capital Group by 5.1% in the 1st quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 1,663 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $386,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Kinsale Capital Group by 119.7% in the 1st quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,219 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $734,000 after purchasing an additional 1,754 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers raised its holdings in shares of Kinsale Capital Group by 2.5% during the 1st quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 58,459 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $13,330,000 after acquiring an additional 1,422 shares during the period. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS raised its holdings in shares of Kinsale Capital Group by 10.5% during the 1st quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 7,861 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $1,792,000 after acquiring an additional 749 shares during the period. Finally, BlackRock Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Kinsale Capital Group by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 2,301,709 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $524,835,000 after acquiring an additional 23,604 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.97% of the companys stock.

Kinsale Capital Group Company Profile

(Get Rating)

Kinsale Capital Group, Inc is a holding company, which engages in the provision of property and casualty insurance services. It operates the Excess and Surplus Lines Insurance segment. The Excess and Surplus Lines Insurance segment provides commercial excess and surplus lines liability and property insurance products through underwriting divisions.

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A monument to the fallen officers of the Indiana State Police is shown during a ceremony held Wednesday at the Fort Wayne Post. At the bottom right is the name of Master Trooper James Bailey, Auburn, who lost his life in an incident in March.
The big picture: Dr. Lindsay Boik-Price says: "Cleaning around the house doesn't always have to require the use of a lot of chemicals!"

In the news: New research is showing that certain common chemical disinfectants and cleaning products containing QACs could lead to developmental and reproductive toxicity.

After reading this article you should try to balance cleanliness with safety. Try opting for safer cleaning methods like soap and water whenever possible. Also, read the labels to know what kind of strong chemicals are being used in your cleaning products.

Key Findings

A review of studies, recently published, shows that quaternary ammonium compounds (QACs) are used in a lot of antimicrobial solutions commonly found in our cleaning solutions. The issue here is that a lot of these chemicals have not been screened for potential health hazards.

Another issue stemming from the heavy use of QAC-containing chemical solutions is the risk of antimicrobial resistance, which can lead to "superbugs." These are infections that are resistant to currently available antibiotics. Currently, these 'superbugs' contribute to millions of deaths across the world.

The researchers noted that individuals, schools, and workplaces should reconsider their cleaning practices. They recommend opting for safer cleaners & disinfectants. Regular cleaning with soap or detergent can remove most types of harmful germs from surfaces.

Did you know: Disinfectant use should be limited and protective measures such as gloves, eyeglasses or safety glasses, and proper ventilation should always be employed.

Did you know that almost 13983.0 peopled died in Indiana from some form of Cancer in 2021?

The Health Standard Newswire

Doctor's Expert Insights about Reducing Chemical Use in Cleaners

Know this: "Look, no doubt about it, it's important to practice good hygiene with safe and natural methods. Regular hand washing with warm water and soap for at least 20 seconds is your first line of defense against germs. Instead of relying heavily on chemical disinfectants, consider natural alternatives like vinegar or baking soda for cleaning surfaces. Always remember, the key to a healthy environment isn't just cleanliness, but it's also the mindful use of cleaning products." Dr. Puja Uppal, Family Medicine.

Next steps: Know that some of the chemical disinfectants can exacerbate and even contribute to your skin dermatitis. If you experience any type of allergic reaction, stop using that product immediately.

Living in Evansville, the following cancer and health facts impact your well-being directly!

Did you know that 6.1% of the adults living in Vanderburgh County have had some sort of cancer?

7.7% of the adults living in Vanderburgh County have COPD.

16.0% of the adults living in Vanderburgh County are in poor or fair health?

Chemical use: Moderation is Key.

What they're saying:

"Regulate QACs consistently across different uses and agencies and consider exposure from multiple sources when evaluating allowable concentrations, formulations, and conditions of use.

Require full disclosure of the exact QACs used in all products, their functions (including for non-antimicrobial use such as material preservation or odor control), and production volumes. Achieving full transparency from manufacturers will likely require legislative or regulatory changes and collaboration across all relevant government agencies." (Primary Source)

"In the meantime, my colleagues and I recommend that individuals, schools and workplaces take a close look at their cleaning practices to see where disinfectants can be replaced with safe cleaners or safer disinfectants.

Cleaning with soap or detergent removes most types of harmful germs like COVID-19 from surfaces. While disinfection can help kill any remaining microbes, it should be limited to situations where people have been actively ill, such as vomit on a surface, and during certain disease outbreaks." (The Conversation)

Sources:

The Journal Environmental Science & Technology published the findings: Association of the Quaternary Ammonium Compounds: A Chemical Class of Emerging Concern (Read it Here)

Indoor Air Pollution Facts & Stats for Evansville: (World Health Organization)

Household air pollution was responsible for an estimated 3.2 million deaths per year in 2020, including over 237 000 deaths of children under the age of 5.

The Health Standard Newswire
The big picture: Dr. Lindsay Boik-Price says: "Cleaning around the house doesn't always have to require the use of a lot of chemicals!"

In the news: New research is showing that certain common chemical disinfectants and cleaning products containing QACs could lead to developmental and reproductive toxicity.

After reading this article you should try to balance cleanliness with safety. Try opting for safer cleaning methods like soap and water whenever possible. Also, read the labels to know what kind of strong chemicals are being used in your cleaning products.

Key Findings

A review of studies, recently published, shows that quaternary ammonium compounds (QACs) are used in a lot of antimicrobial solutions commonly found in our cleaning solutions. The issue here is that a lot of these chemicals have not been screened for potential health hazards.

Another issue stemming from the heavy use of QAC-containing chemical solutions is the risk of antimicrobial resistance, which can lead to "superbugs." These are infections that are resistant to currently available antibiotics. Currently, these 'superbugs' contribute to millions of deaths across the world.

The researchers noted that individuals, schools, and workplaces should reconsider their cleaning practices. They recommend opting for safer cleaners & disinfectants. Regular cleaning with soap or detergent can remove most types of harmful germs from surfaces.

Did you know: Disinfectant use should be limited and protective measures such as gloves, eyeglasses or safety glasses, and proper ventilation should always be employed.

Did you know that almost 13983.0 peopled died in Indiana from some form of Cancer in 2021?

The Health Standard Newswire

Doctor's Expert Insights about Reducing Chemical Use in Cleaners

Know this: "Look, no doubt about it, it's important to practice good hygiene with safe and natural methods. Regular hand washing with warm water and soap for at least 20 seconds is your first line of defense against germs. Instead of relying heavily on chemical disinfectants, consider natural alternatives like vinegar or baking soda for cleaning surfaces. Always remember, the key to a healthy environment isn't just cleanliness, but it's also the mindful use of cleaning products." Dr. Puja Uppal, Family Medicine.

Next steps: Know that some of the chemical disinfectants can exacerbate and even contribute to your skin dermatitis. If you experience any type of allergic reaction, stop using that product immediately.

Living in Lafayette, the following cancer and health facts impact your well-being directly!

Did you know that 6.0% of the adults living in Tippecanoe County have had some sort of cancer?

7.1% of the adults living in Tippecanoe County have COPD.

15.0% of the adults living in Tippecanoe County are in poor or fair health?

Chemical use: Moderation is Key.

What they're saying:

"Regulate QACs consistently across different uses and agencies and consider exposure from multiple sources when evaluating allowable concentrations, formulations, and conditions of use.

Require full disclosure of the exact QACs used in all products, their functions (including for non-antimicrobial use such as material preservation or odor control), and production volumes. Achieving full transparency from manufacturers will likely require legislative or regulatory changes and collaboration across all relevant government agencies." (Primary Source)

"In the meantime, my colleagues and I recommend that individuals, schools and workplaces take a close look at their cleaning practices to see where disinfectants can be replaced with safe cleaners or safer disinfectants.

Cleaning with soap or detergent removes most types of harmful germs like COVID-19 from surfaces. While disinfection can help kill any remaining microbes, it should be limited to situations where people have been actively ill, such as vomit on a surface, and during certain disease outbreaks." (The Conversation)

Sources:

The Journal Environmental Science & Technology published the findings: Association of the Quaternary Ammonium Compounds: A Chemical Class of Emerging Concern (Read it Here)

Indoor Air Pollution Facts & Stats for Lafayette: (World Health Organization)

Household air pollution was responsible for an estimated 3.2 million deaths per year in 2020, including over 237 000 deaths of children under the age of 5.

The Health Standard Newswire
TAMPA, Fla.Tampa police on Monday arrested 28-year-old performer Ludvig and charged him with the May 1 murder of TheGuySite.com owner William Futral.

Ludvig, whose porn identity was confirmed by gay adult news site Str8UpGayPorn.com, has appeared in more than 20 scenes since 2020, exclusively for TheGuySite, according to IAFD.com.

Futral was found dead the afternoon of May 1 in his Tampa apartment by a maintenance worker, and a susequent autopsy determined that he had died from upper body trauma.

In a press release issued Monday by the Tampa Police Department, it was reported that surveillance footage collected during its investigation showed Ludvig near the residence at the time of the murder, and fingerprints found at the scene were identified as his.

The press release added that Futral's vehicle had been located on May 2 in West Palm Beach County, and that Ludvig's location had been determined by the Tampa Bay Police Department Fugitive Apprehension Unit (FAU), which worked with the U.S. Marshals Office to apprehend and arrest him.

Ludvig was charged with murder and grand theft auto, and is being held at Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center in Dade County.

Photo: Miami-Dade County Corrections and Rehabillitation
Every K-pop fan knows that SNSD YoonA is "Nation's Center" because of her top beauty, but some people were surprised to learn that she's not just a pretty face!

SNSD YoonA Flaunts Impressive Dance Skills in IVE's 'Kitsch' & NewJeans' 'Ditto' Dance Covers

Following her recent dance covers, SNSD YoonA received massive praises for her dancing skills and beauty on par with fourth-generation idol.

On May 14, the Girls' Generation (SNSD) member, who will turn 31 on May 30 this year, held her "2023 HAPPY YOONA 'Wonderful Party' to commemorate her birthday in advance with fans, SONEs.

The birthday party was celebrated in person at the concert hall of Yonsei University's Centennial Hall in Seoul.

On the same day, she uploaded her photo on her official solo Instagram channel, holding a cheering banner from an event held by her supporters.

The event wasn't broadcast live, but some SONEs shared a glimpse of what she did during her birthday party.

Among the videos and photos shared on social media, YoonA particularly became a hot topic for her perfect dance covers of NewJeans' "Ditto" and IVE's "Kitsch."

In the clips, YoonA caught the eye of viewers for showing off her fresh and lively visuals wearing a pink top, ultra-mini skirt, and a denim jacket.

On top of that, she was lauded the most for her clean and on-point dance skills, giving off the vibe of a reborn fourth-gen star!

Does SNSD YoonA's Beauty Overshadow Her Dance Skills? K-pop Stans Weigh In

When YoonA's dance covers spread in various online communities and social media platforms, K-pop supporters immediately praised her for her unrelenting dance skills. Moreover her youthful visuals tend to mistake her as a fourth-gen idol!

SONEs particularly bragged about how "Nation's Center" raised the standard for a K-pop center, who shouldn't be just blessed with beauty, but with both skills and strong charisma.

While second-gen stans are aware of this, newer K-pop fans YoonA were utterly surprised to know that she's a talented dancer!

"Wow, I thought Yoona is just a visual member, but she has good vocals and dance skills."

"I didn't know YoonA was this good at dancing."

"YoonA's dancing skills are overshadowed by her face."

According to people, because YoonA is ultimately known for her beauty like "Ahprodite," people tend to focus more on her face rather than her performance skills.

After all, there is an unfortunate stereotype in the K-pop scene that visual members are usually those who don't have enough talent and were just added to the lineup to fill in the role of becoming a "stan attractor" and "face of the group."

In addition to this, YoonA further established her name as an actress after SNSD's hiatus; thus, younger fans aren't aware that she's an idol with top skills.

Meanwhile, in the second half of 2023, YoonA is set to make her comeback to the small screen with JTBC's "King the Land." She will headline the series alongside 2PM member and actor Lee Junho.

For more K-Pop news and updates, keep your tabs open here at KpopStarz.

KpopStarz owns this article.

Written by Eunice Dawson.
The stage lit up with Hwasa and Lee Hyo-ri, two phenomenal Korean artists. Yet, the reaction was drastically different for each - a controversy that continues to dominate headlines in the world of K-pop.

A Show of Two Halves

Hwasa, the beloved member of the K-pop quartet MAMAMOO, has been embroiled in controversy due to her performance during a festival at Sungkyunkwan University on May 12.

Performing hits like "Don't Give It to Me," a collaboration with Loco, Hwasa's provocative performance sparked heated debate.

What drew the ire of some viewers was the perceived explicitness of her performance - a particular motion where she ran her hand over a specific private part of her body. The online response was swift and polarized.

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Some argued the performance was too explicit, particularly for an event that could be viewed by all ages. Others saw it merely as a part of her overall stage presence and dismissed the controversy as an overreaction.

The Controversy Amidst Praise

While Hwasa, known for her girl-crush appeal following the likes of Uhm Jung-hwa, Kim Wan-sun, and Lee Hyo-ri, has always been a strong and charming performer, this controversy has persisted for several days now.

In stark contrast, Lee Hyo-ri's performance at the same event has been receiving overwhelming praise. Online communities and social media are abuzz with positive reactions, commending her performance as "perfect" and "godlike."

In Case You Missed It: LE SSERAFIM Kazuha Speaks Out After Being Labeled 'Fairy Face, Hulk Body'

The extreme difference between the public's reception to the two performances is as surprising as it is noteworthy.

Striking a Balance

Hwasa has always been appreciated for her fierce and confident performances, a trait that has made her a much-loved figure in the industry.

She has often found herself amidst debates over her bold outfits and performances, always maintaining that she does not perceive her actions as excessive.

As she puts it, she simply intends to provide the best performance possible and she does not shy away from pushing the boundaries to achieve that.

In Case You Missed It: Super Junior Hee-Chul to Marry Chinese Restaurateur's Daughter?

However, this recent controversy highlights a challenging question: where is the line between bold and inappropriate?

As one fan pointed out, a strong female performer does not necessarily equate to explicit performances. Another echoed, "being sexy and sexual are two different things."

Despite the debate, it is undeniable that Hwasa delivered an energetic performance that captivated the audience. Her powerful vocals and stage presence were highly praised.

Yet, the controversy overshadowed these merits due to the explicitness of her performance.

Follow and subscribe to KpopStarz for more K-pop news and lists.

Cassidy Jones wrote this.

KpopStarz owns this article.
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In a world thats increasingly more dependent on web-based services and internet access, affordable broadband can mean the difference between opportunity and stringent restriction on personal and financial success and growth.

Allowing folks to have broadband access allows them to apply for jobs, to go to online school, to get counseling if they cant get to counseling -- especially in rural areas where transportation is limited and folks might not have the ability to pay for a car or own a car, said Andrea Merrihew the division manager for Community Action with Coconino County Health and Human Services.

Shes one of the people who helped secure a $228,266 grant from the Federal Communication Commission to make internet access more affordable, and therefore possible, for low-income individuals and families in the area.

For single residents who make $27,000 a year or less, and families of four that make $55,000 a year or less, the program could provide deeply discounted and even free internet access.

For folks who are eligible, theyll get $30 off of their monthly internet bill. If youre on qualifying tribal land, you get $75 off of your internet bill, Merrihew said. For some internet providers that actually provides completely free internet access for some of these households -- which really can mean they dont have to choose between having groceries on the table and having that broadband access for other services or supports that you might need.

According to Merrihews calculations, a single parent working 40 hours a week at minimum wage would qualify for the program.

Theres a lot of families out there that qualify and need this support, she said.

Merrihew said that so often when programs like this launch people either dont know they exist or dont know how to apply.

The grant actually began because the FCC realized a lot of folks, while this program existed, didnt realize it existed and werent really sure how to access it, said Merrihew.

Thats why the county has navigator programs designed to help residents through the red tape associated with applying for any social service.

The navigator model is a way to provide direct one-on-one support and application assistance to our local clients. This is actually something that weve piloted through the Department of Economic Security, Merrihew said.

When people need to access services such as emergency rent support or utility payment assistance through the Department of Economic Security (DES)s online portal, they can contact Coconino County Health and Human Services for direct support during the process.

Were not only the support in that sometimes challenging and cumbersome process to do these online applications. Were also the advocates. If an application gets denied were are also finding out so that we can contact DES and find out why or if theres missing documentation, Merrihew said. Were really working hand in glove between the client and DES as that broker of support for them.

The FCC designed the grant specifically to support programs that have a navigator element.

Part of Coconino Countys one-year pilot program will involve hiring a coordinator to walk people through the process of accessing broadband discounts.

This allowed us to do that one-on-one assistance and application assistance with all of the residence of Coconino County -- which is similar work to what were already doing, Merrihew said. We will have a limited-appointment full-time employee through this funding that will start from this funding until April 30, 2024. The grant itself is quite an undertaking. All our team members currently have a full-time job, with all of the casework that were already doing, so this position will essentially be someone who is really connecting to the community, to all of our local community organizations who are working with residents and supporting the public.

Coconino County is one of only nine entities in the country to receive this specific grant from the FCC.

I think a big piece of that was geographically were the second-largest county in the entire country; were incredibly rural. Theres about 7.8 people per square mile, and weve got some pretty high poverty rates. Were at 16% poverty compared to the national average, which is about 12.5%, Merrihew said.

If you removed Flagstaff from the equation, the rest of Coconino County would have a much more extreme poverty rate, she added.

In a post-pandemic world, climbing out of poverty can feel next to impossible without access to a reliable internet connection.

I think COVID really showed us that we need to help everyone to be on that equal playing field. Broadband access is really that next step to receiving a lot of different services, Merrihew said. The climate for service delivery has changed since COVID. This really ensures that were providing that inclusive digital equity for folks in Arizona.

Most social services, including this Affordable Connectivity program, can be or are primarily available to applicants online.

In the case of this program, individuals can apply in person at the countys King Street location. They can also call for more information.

Access to this funding, Merrihew said, is important to her team.

Thats why one of the roles of the programs new employee will be to set up tables at events or be available where other social services are to meet people where theyre at and make sure accessing the discount is as easy as possible.

One idea we had to make this easier on our residents is to set up our shops essentially wherever other agencies are, where other clients are coming in so that folks dont have to go to one other place to get another service, Merrihew said.

The program officially launched on May 1, and on Tuesday, May 9, the Coconino County Board of Supervisors voted to approve and accept the FCC funding. The county also contributed $7,200 as an in-kind match for the grant money.

The hope is if the pilot is successful, the funding will continue to allow more navigation services throughout the country and of course hopefully with Coconino County, Merrihew said.
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For the next three years, the Coconino County Elections Office will work with Runbeck Elections Services to print and distribute ballots, renewing a relationship thats been in place since 2012.

Earlier this month, the Coconino Country Board of Supervisors approved a three-year contract with the third-party vendor, which will print ballots, handle initial early-ballot mailing, and print and mail 90-day notices for early voters.

Runbeck will receive to $250,000 annually under the terms of the new contract.

We had to prepare and mail 17,000 early ballots in-house for the November general election in 2010, said Patty Hansen, Coconino County's recorder, "and we had to bring in lots of temporary employees and worked until 9 to 10 p.m. every night to get the initial mailing ready to meet the statutory deadline -- 29 days prior to the election -- to mail out the initial mailing

Runbeck was brought on in 2012 to take over a number of printing services. Its work as a contractor, Hansen said, has grown more critical over the years. The number of people on the early-voting list, she said, continues to grow well beyond where it was in 2010.

In November of 2022, Runbeck handled a 64,300-piece mailing, which included outgoing ballots.

Growth in the county, alongside the sheer complexity of the ballot printing process, also made partnering with a company like Runbeck a logical step, Hansen said.

In Coconino County there are about 660 different ballot styles.

This is because of the ballots are printed by precinct, the candidate names need to be rotated between precincts, each precinct will have ballots for each of the political parties in the primary, some of the candidate races may appear on part of the ballots for the precinct and not on the other part, Hansen said.  For example, some precincts have splits where part of the precinct may be in the city limits and need the city primary candidates and part of the precinct will have a style that is outside the precinct and doesnt include city races.

In the 2022 August primary election, each precinct had between six and 13 different ballot styles, Hansen said. Because of the size of each precinct, Hansen said, as few as 25 of the same ballot occasionally needed to be printed and mailed to the correct voter.

In seeking out a vendor to handle the complex printing and mailing process, Hansen said, the county made sure it was using an Arizona-based company.

We dont want to go with a printer outside of Arizona, because we have seen a slowdown in U.S. mail delivery in recent years. There are very few vendors across the country that are in the field of ballot printing and mailing. Runbeck has an excellent reputation in the elections field," Hansen said. "They stay current on federal and state standards and laws regarding election security and ballot printing."

Prior to contracting with Coconino County, Runbeck had been printing early-ballot mailings for Pima County and Maricopa County for many years. Runbeck itself is over 50 years old, and its technology is used in 23 states.

Hansen said that before earning Coconino Countys contract, the elections team toured the Runbeck facility, spoke to some of the companys other customers, and verified that it could meet security and insurance requirements.

Hansen said security is crucial.

We also have to be concerned about the security our printer has in place. This includes cyber security and physical security. We have toured the Runbeck facility in Phoenix and met with them to understand the security they have in place, said Hansen. The increased emphasis on security means you have to have a printer and mailing house that understands how important these requirements are and can meet them.

The county has renewed its relationship with Runbeck, also, because the company has proved reliable.

In 2022 there was a national paper shortage and Runbeck was on top of this several months ahead of our elections. They made sure they had the necessary quantity and quality of paper that is needed to meet their customer needs, Hansen said. Ballot paper has to meet certain standards for the ballot tabulation equipment to count the ballots correctly. It isnt the type of paper that you can go to Office Depot and buy off the shelf.

In 2018 Coconino County purchased ballot-on-demand printers from the company that are used at vote centers on Election Day.

"We decided to purchase the Runbeck BODs (ballot on demand) because we were using Diebold Optical Scan ballot tabulation equipment at that time. This tabulation equipment required the timing marks on the ballot to be exact, and the Runbeck BODs were the best printers to meet the exact printing requirements needed, Hansen said.

Because Runbeck is located in Arizona, it can get a replacement BOD to a Coconino County vote center in thee or four hours, Hansen said. That final fail-safe plan sold the county on the purchase.

Elections, Hansen said, simply have to run without a hitch.

You cant risk having your printer and/or mailing service fail. The elections cannot be postponed, Hansen said.

Close Bill Gates speaks Saturday afternoon during a commencement ceremony in the Walkup Skydome at Northern Arizona University. Before delivering a speech to the graduating class, Gates received an honorary doctorate. Bill Gates, Microsoft co-founder and philanthropist, speaks to the graduating class at Northern Arizona University Saturday afternoon in the Walkup Skydome, delivering a speech rich full of advice and local references. Microsoft co-founder and philanthropist Bill Gates speaks to the graduating class at Northern Arizona University Saturday afternoon in the Walkup Skydome. Bill Gates, Microsoft co-founder and philanthropist, addresses the graduating class of Northern Arizona University Saturday afternoon in the Walkup Skydome, delivering a speech rich in local references and advice. Bill Gates shares advice with the graduating class during a commencement ceremony in the Walkup Skydome at Northern Arizona University Saturday afternoon. Before giving his speech, Gates received an honorary doctorate from the university. Northern Arizona University President Jose Luis Cruz Rivera gives students waiting to receive their college degrees a countdown Saturday afternoon to take a selfie from the stage during a commencement ceremony. Bill Gates speaks Saturday afternoon during a commencement ceremony in the Walkup Skydome at Northern Arizona University. Bill Gates was all smiles Saturday afternoon as he is hooded by Northern Arizona University President Jose Luis Cruz Rivera. Gates was recognized with an honorary doctorate degree. Bill Gates was all smiles Saturday afternoon as he is hooded by Northern Arizona University President Jose Luis Cruz Rivera. Bill Gates enters the Walkup Skydome at Northern Arizona University Saturday afternoon to receive an honorary doctoral degree. Bill Gates enters the Walkup Skydome at Northern Arizona University Saturday afternoon to receive an honorary doctoral degree. Bill Gates enters the Walkup Skydome at Northern Arizona University Saturday afternoon to receive an honorary doctoral degree. Bill Gates, Microsoft co-founder and philanthropist, speaks to the graduating class at Northern Arizona University Saturday afternoon. Gallery: Bill Gates receives honorary doctorate from NAU Bill Gates received an honorary doctoral degree from Northern Arizona University on Saturday during commencement in the Walkup Skydome. He also gave a speech that was full of local references to the graduating class. Bill Gates speaks Saturday afternoon during a commencement ceremony in the Walkup Skydome at Northern Arizona University. Before delivering a speech to the graduating class, Gates received an honorary doctorate. Bill Gates, Microsoft co-founder and philanthropist, speaks to the graduating class at Northern Arizona University Saturday afternoon in the Walkup Skydome, delivering a speech rich full of advice and local references. Microsoft co-founder and philanthropist Bill Gates speaks to the graduating class at Northern Arizona University Saturday afternoon in the Walkup Skydome. Bill Gates, Microsoft co-founder and philanthropist, addresses the graduating class of Northern Arizona University Saturday afternoon in the Walkup Skydome, delivering a speech rich in local references and advice. Bill Gates shares advice with the graduating class during a commencement ceremony in the Walkup Skydome at Northern Arizona University Saturday afternoon. Before giving his speech, Gates received an honorary doctorate from the university. Northern Arizona University President Jose Luis Cruz Rivera gives students waiting to receive their college degrees a countdown Saturday afternoon to take a selfie from the stage during a commencement ceremony. Bill Gates speaks Saturday afternoon during a commencement ceremony in the Walkup Skydome at Northern Arizona University. Bill Gates was all smiles Saturday afternoon as he is hooded by Northern Arizona University President Jose Luis Cruz Rivera. Gates was recognized with an honorary doctorate degree. Bill Gates was all smiles Saturday afternoon as he is hooded by Northern Arizona University President Jose Luis Cruz Rivera. Bill Gates enters the Walkup Skydome at Northern Arizona University Saturday afternoon to receive an honorary doctoral degree. Bill Gates enters the Walkup Skydome at Northern Arizona University Saturday afternoon to receive an honorary doctoral degree. Bill Gates enters the Walkup Skydome at Northern Arizona University Saturday afternoon to receive an honorary doctoral degree. Bill Gates, Microsoft co-founder and philanthropist, speaks to the graduating class at Northern Arizona University Saturday afternoon.
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As locals and visitors flock to enjoy the outdoors, Coconino National Forest is hosting free events around the Sedona area this weekend to promote leave no trace principles.

The events come as a collaboration between the organization Leave No Trace, the National Forest, Arizona Department of Environmental Quality, Slide Rock State Park and several other non-governmental organizations, and hopes to provide information and volunteer opportunities to area visitors, volunteers and community members.

These efforts include a series of targeted workshops for local land managers, partners and volunteers, as well as community outreach events for the public conducted by expert Leave No Trace educators, said Dana Watts, executive director of the Leave No Trace organization.

Often, high visitation to these areas has resulted in problems such as excessive trash, damage to vegetation, trail erosion and wildlife disturbance.

The programs aim to provide area visitors with more information about how to mitigate human-caused impact to popular recreation areas.

On Saturday, staff from the Coconino Nation Forest -- including Smokey Bear, Leave No Trace and other organizations -- will be at the Crescent Moon Picnic Site from 9 to 11:30 a.m. and at Slide Rock State Park from 1 to 4 p.m.

A leave no trace volunteer event is planned Sunday to clean up a designated dispersed camping area on Forest Road 237 from 12:30 to 4:30 p.m.

Participants are encouraged to bring drinking water and snacks, dress appropriately for the occasion, and to meet at the dispersed camping area near the junction of Highway 89A and Forest Road 237.

Oak Creek Canyon is a very special and beautiful place that receives thousands of visitors annually, said Brian Poturalski, recreation program manager for the Coconino National Forest. Its important that we as community stewards instill light on the land ethics with our forest visitors.
With regard to paragraph 21 on limitations we would like to state at the outset that in our view the purpose of the imposition of these limitations is to ensure  meaningful human control in weapon systems on the premise that autonomy in weapon system cannot be unlimited. We do not agree with the argument that the limitations imposed during the stages of development, deployment and use go beyond the existing IHL requirements. To the contrary these limitations are essential to ensure meaningful human control is retained in weapon systems which would be the only way to ensure in turn that these weapon systems in compliance with IHL.

The chapeau of paragraph 21 should refer to international law and to IHL in particular since complexity of these weapon systems pose a challenge not only to IHL but to the broader regime of international law. We also request to remove the qualifier where appropriate in this section as these limitations should be upheld at all times. We stress once again the importance of these limitations as well as the prohibitions with regard to autonomous weapon systems codified in the form of a binding legal instrument to ensure their compliance rather than possible voluntary measures left for the discretionary implementation of national mechanisms.

With regard to subparas (a)  (d), we welcome the types of limitations that have been identified in the form of positive obligations in the draft report on duration, geographical scope and scale of the operation of autonomous weapon systems as well as the incorporation of self deactivation related limitations. However, given the inherent danger and challenges these weapon systems pose to international law and to IHL in particular, we stress the importance of listing out these limitations with sufficient clarity and specificity and the need for expansion of limitations to include controls in the environment in which the weapon systems would be used. In this respect we suggest to include an additional limitation on the obligation to restrict the use of AWS only in environments where civilians and civilian objects are not present.

On controls related to human machine interaction, we suggest to include an additional regulation on the need for the operator to have adequate situational awareness at the time in which the weapon system is used. With regard to the requirement to deactivate the weapon system by human operators in sub para c, we note that a human operator would only be able to intervene and deactivate a weapon system if the operator exercises continuous supervision of the weapon system after its activation. Therefore we consider it is important to include this requirement of continuous human supervision as well in this subpara.

We request to delete the phrase qualifier where necessary in sub para c.

We heard the argument previously that limitations with regard to weapon systems are only relevant in the case of their development and not in their use, which we find difficult to agree with. We note that the working paper submitted by the State of Palestine provides a number of useful of examples of situations where it is necessary and possible to impose limitations during the use of weapon systems in order to retain meaningful human control in weapon systems.

Sri Lanka supports the suggestion of Austria which was also endorsed by several other delegations this morning to use the simpler term autonomous weapon systems throughout the text, since the word lethality is not an essential prerequisite for our discussion here on the centrality of human control in weapon systems. We also agree fully with Austria this morning of the need for specificity particularly since a more general framework cannot respond adequately to the uniqueness of the weapon systems in question here.

Thank you Chair

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New Delhi [India], May 17 (ANI): Congress general secretary in charge of communications Jairam Ramesh on Wednesday blamed the government for the whopping fall of Life Corporation of India (LIC)'s market capitalisation.

In a tweet posted on Wednesday, he said, "Exactly a year ago today, LIC was listed in the stock market. Its market capitalisation then stood at Rs 5.48 lakh crore. Today, this is down to Rs 3.59 lakh crore--a fall of a whopping 35 per cent!"

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He added, "There is only one reason for this steep fall -- Modani. In the process, lakhs and lakhs of policyholders have taken a serious hit."

In a run-up to this tweet, he also posted a long tweet about the Supreme Court granting a three-month extension after SEBI asked for a six-month extension for the probe into Hindenburg report.

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In a long tweet, he said, "SEBI asked for a 6-month extension saying a complete review will take 15 months. Supreme Court has granted a 3-month extension. Let it be said again and again and again. The SC-supervised investigation is limited to violations of securities laws."

He went at length in the particular tweet that: "Only a JPC (joint parliament committee) can unravel the whole truth about the Modani Scam, the nature and extent of the unprecedented quid pro quo: 1. The subversion of every branch of the government, especially India's investigative and regulatory agencies.

2. The yoking of our foreign policy to Modani's financial interests.

3. Ensnaring of LIC, SBI (State Bank of India), EPFO (Employees' Provident Fund Organisation), and compromising interests of the shareholders and public money.

4. The liberal inflow of unaccounted funds into India from offshore shell companies tied to the Adanis.

5. The change of rules and policies to favour Adani's domestic acquisitions."

He also added in the end, "Modani Scam is a PPP (public-private partnership) with a twist, a true political-private partnership that only the Parliament's JPC can fully unravel." (ANI)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
New Delhi [India], May 17 (ANI): One passenger from the Akasa Air flight has been detained at Bengaluru Airport soon after landing for smoking mid-air while the flight was en route from Ahmedabad to Bengaluru on Tuesday.

"A passenger on Akasa Air flight QP1326, flying from Ahmedabad to Bengaluru, was found smoking in the aircraft's lavatory. Our crew followed the required safety protocols and the passenger was handed over to the local police with the help of the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), upon landing in Bengaluru. We are assisting authorities in investigating this matter," said the spokeperson of Akasa Air.

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Earlier in April, a 40-year-old drunk passenger was booked for allegedly trying to open the emergency door flap of the Delhi-Bengaluru IndiGo flight, said an official release from IndiGo.

According to the release, the incident took place on flight number 6E 308 from IGI Airport.

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Detailing the incident IndiGo stated, "A passenger travelling on flight 6E 308 from Delhi to Bengaluru tried opening the flap of the emergency exit in an inebriated state."

"On noticing this violation, the crew on board alerted the captain and the passenger was appropriately cautioned. There was no compromise on the safe operation of the said flight," the airlines said.

The passenger was handed over to CISF upon arrival in Bengaluru. (ANI)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Chennai (Tamil Nadu) [India], May 17 (ANI): Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) on Wednesday revoked the suspension of party leader Shivaji Krishnamoorthy, months after he was suspended for his alleged derogatory comments against Tamil Nadu Governor RN Ravi made in January this year.

The party said that Krishnamoorthy has tendered an apology for his remark.

Also Read | Akasa Air Passenger Caught Smoking Beedi Mid-Air, Arrested At Bengaluru Airport.

"Shivaji Krishnamoorthy's suspension from the party has been cancelled," a DMK statement said.

DMK General Secretary Duraimurugan said, "Shivaji Krishnamoorthy has apologized for his acts. Following this, his suspension is cancelled."

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In January this year, Krishnamoorthy was 'temporarily suspended' for his controversial remarks against Tamil Nadu Governor RN Ravi. According to DMK, Krishnamoorthy was suspended over "party unlawful activities".

Krishnamoorthy had said, "If the Governor refuses to utter the name of Ambedkar in his Assembly speech, do I not have the right to assault him?"

"If you (Governor) do not read out the speech given by the Tamil Nadu government, then go to Kashmir, and we will send terrorists so that they'll gun you down," Krishnamoorthy had said. (ANI)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Bandra (Maharashtra) [India], May 17 (ANI): A fire broke out in the shanties of a slum near Nargis Dutt Road in Mumbai's Bandra area on Wednesday morning, officials said.

"Level 2 fire breaks out in the shanties of a slum near Nargis Dutt Road in Mumbai's Bandra area on Wednesday at 4:40 am," Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said.

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No casualties have been reported so far.

According to the officials, 10 fire engines were rushed to the spot and efforts are underway to douse the fire.

Also Read | UK Parliament Building at Risk of Being Destroyed: Lawmakers.

Further details are awaited on the incident. (ANI)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
New Delhi, May 17: Go First Airlines has cancelled all its flights till May 26, citing operational reasons. Earlier, the airlines had cancelled flights till May 19. "We regret to inform that due to operational reasons, Go First flights scheduled till 26th May, 2023, have been cancelled. We apologise for the inconvenience caused by flight cancellations," Go First stated. Go First Crisis: NCLAT Court Reserves Verdict on Appeal Filed by Lessors for May 22.

The airline said a full refund would be issued to the original mode of payment shortly. "We acknowledge the flight cancellations might have disrupted your travel plans and we are committed to providing all the assistance we can," it added. Go First Crisis: NCLT Admits Airlines Plea to Initiate Insolvency Resolution, Orders No Sacking of Employees.

Go First Airline Cancels All Flights Till May 26

The company has recently filed an application for immediate resolution under insolvency and revival of its operations. "We will be able to resume bookings shortly. We thank you for your patience," the airline added.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
New Delhi, May 17 (PTI) External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has virtually disapproved of EU foreign and security policy chief Josep Borrell's call for a crackdown on India for reselling Russian crude oil into Europe as refined fuel ignoring western sanctions against Moscow.

Borrell said on Tuesday that Brussels was aware that Indian refiners are buying large volumes of Russian crude oil and processing it into fuels for sale in Europe.

Also Read | Fake US Immigration Consultancy Racket Busted in Hyderabad, Four Persons Arrested.

He told The Financial Times that the EU should act to stop it.

"If diesel or gasoline is entering Europe...coming from India and being produced with Russian oil, that is certainly a circumvention of sanctions and member states have to take measures," Borrell, the EU High Representative, said.

Also Read | Tesla in India: World's Largest Electric Vehicle Manufacturer Approached Indian Government, Says Official.

His comments came ahead of a meeting with Jaishankar in Brussels.

Responding to a question at a media briefing on Borrell's comments, Jaishankar suggested that the exports don't violate any regulations of the European Union.

The External Affairs Minister also suggested that Borrell should look at the EU Council Regulation 833/2014.

The regulation was aimed at dealing with issues relating to ban on the import of crude oil and petroleum products from Russia.

"I really don't see the basis for your question because my understanding of the (European) Council regulations is that if Russian crude is substantially transformed in a third country, then it's not treated as Russian any more," Jaishankar said.

"I would urge you to look at Council regulation 833/2014," he added.

In the last few months, India has become a leading importer of discounted crude oil from Russia notwithstanding increasing disquiet in the West over the procurement in view of Russian invasion of Ukraine.

India's economic engagement with Russia has been on a major upswing in the last one year, largely due to its procurement of discounted Russian oil.

India has not yet condemned the Russian invasion of Ukraine and it has been pushing for resolution of the conflict through dialogue and diplomacy.

On Tuesday, Borrell and Jaishankar held talks in the margins of the first EU-India Trade and Technology Council (TTC).

A readout by the EU said Borrell commended the work of India as current G20 President, and efforts in this capacity to also address the diverse interests of countries outside the grouping.

"High Representative Borrell reiterated to Minister Jaishankar the EU's unwavering resolve to support Ukraine, including its efforts to secure a comprehensive, just and lasting peace based on the UN Charter," it said.

"He also recalled the EU's commitment to continue addressing the global consequences of Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine, focusing on food security," the EU statement said.

It said Borrell asked Jaishankar for India to support Ukraine's peace initiative, and to urge Russia to agree on the crucial extension of the Black Sea Grain Initiative.

Jaishankar along with Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal and Communications and IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw were in Brussels to attend the TTC.

The TTC is aimed at facilitating exchange of critical technologies relating to an array of domains including artificial intelligence, quantum computing, semiconductors and cybersecurity.

The TTC with India is the European Union's second such technology partnership after the first one with the US that was firmed up in June 2021.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Pune (Maharashtra) [India], May 17 (ANI): As many as 16 people sustained minor injuries after a state transport (ST) bus met with an accident near Patas Toll Plaza in Yavat town of Pune district, officials said.

"16 passengers were injured after a state transport (ST) bus met with an accident near Patas toll naka in Yavat town of Pune district on Tuesday night," Pune District Administration said.

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So far, no casualties have been reported," officials said.

More details are awaited.

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Further investigation is underway. (ANI)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Puri (Odisha) [India], May 17 (ANI): Union Minister of State for External Affairs and Culture Meenakashi Lekhi on Tuesday visited the Konark Sun Temple in Odisha's Puri with the delegates participating in the second Culture Working Group (CWG) of the G20 meeting.

The visit to the 13th-century Sun Temple came at the sideline of the second Culture Working Group (CWG) of the G20 meeting, underway in the state.

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The second CWG of the G20 meeting in Bhubaneshwar is being held from May 15 to 17.

The Union Minister was accompanied by representatives from different countries and international organizations participating in the meeting.

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Leticia, a delegate from Brazil termed her visit to the country as wonderful.

Speaking to ANI, Lekhi said that the G20 presidency for India is an occasion when India will showcase to the world, what Indian Heritage and culture is all about.

"I have also been in the first CWG meeting. The hospitality all the time has been wonderful. The reception in the hotel was so great to make us feel at home," she told ANI.

"We have been able to learn a lot here with my wonderful guide, who introduced me to this temple and explained to me how this was built and how people lived in that time along with what the symbols in the temple represent," she added.

Emily Roper, a delegate from Australia said, "It was a wonderful experience and I had this beautiful tour of the temple here in the city of temple, Bhubaneswar. We have had productive discussions across the G20 group. So I really thank India for hosting us and facilitating such productive discussions."

The G20 delegates also visited the Khandagiri-Udaygiri caves near Odisha's Bhubaneswar on the sidelines of the 2nd G20 Culture Group meeting.

The Culture Working Group (CWG) meeting under India's G20 Presidency is highlighting 'Culture Unites All' in campaign mode to bring out India's unwavering belief in multilateralism based on peaceful coexistence among diverse cultures and communities.

Earlier on Monday, Union Minister for State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai attended the inaugural session of the second G-20 CWG meeting and said culture is key to fostering a sustainable and inclusive future.

Union Minister for Culture, Tourism and DoNER G Kishan Reddy and delegates of G-20 countries attended the inaugural session.

Speaking on this occasion, Nityanand Rai said promoting cultural exchanges among the G-20 countries can help create "a more vibrant world".

He said India has strived towards a better future for the world and the theme of India's G20 presidency is 'one earth, one family, one future'.

"Prime Minister Narendra Modi's desire is that there should be no second or third world but there should be only one world. He is trying to bring the whole world together for a better future. The mantra of G-20 in India's presidency is one earth, one family, one future," he said.

Rai said India's culture fosters values like 'Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam'.

"Our country considers the whole world as one family. By promoting cultural exchanges and understanding among the G-20 countries, we can create a more vibrant world," he had said. (ANI)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Palghar, May 17 (PTI) The body of a 22-year-old woman missing since last week has been found hanging from a tree in Maharashtra's Palghar district, police said on Wednesday.

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The deceased, hailing from Kopri village, worked at a farmhouse in Wada taluka.

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She went for work at the farmhouse on May 9, but did not return home, an official from Wada police station said.

After her family members could not find her, they filed a missing person's complaint with police, he said.

On Monday, the body of the woman, with her hair cut, was found hanging from a tree in the village, the official said.

The police have as of now registered a case of accidental death and a probe was on to ascertain if it was a case of suicide or some foul play was involved in it, he said.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
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PHOENIX  A judge has rejected a bid by election officials to throw out the last remaining election misconduct claim by Kari Lake, the 2022 Republican candidate for Arizona governor, setting up a three-day trial over the former TV anchor's challenge of her defeat to Democrat Katie Hobbs.

In a ruling issued Monday night, Superior Court Judge Peter A. Thompson refused to throw out Lakes claim that centered on signature-verification efforts of early ballots in Maricopa County.

Thompson said Lake should have the chance to present testimony about whether Arizona's most populous county properly verified signatures on ballot affidavit envelopes.

The trial is scheduled to begin Wednesday.

Thompson said Lake isnt contesting whether voters signatures on ballot envelopes matched those in their voting records. Instead, she alleged Maricopa County officials failed to perform any higher level signature verifications on ballots that had been flagged by lower level screeners for any inconsistency.

Lake faces a high bar in proving not only her allegation over signature verification efforts but also that it affected the outcome of her race.

Clint Hickman, chairman of the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors and one of the officials who Lake sued in her challenge, said in a statement that the county has previously shown in court that its signature verification process is thorough, legal and always subject to bipartisan oversight.

We have nothing to hide, Hickman said. We are proud of our team, proud of our processes and confident we will prevail in a courtroom where the facts matter above all else.

Lake was among the most vocal of last years Republican candidates promoting former President Donald Trumps election lies, which she made the centerpiece of her campaign. While most other election deniers around the country conceded after losing their races in November, Lake did not.

Courts have dismissed most of her lawsuit. Late last week, Thompson heard arguments on whether or not the final claim should move ahead to a trial.

Attorneys representing Arizona election officials and Hobbs say Lakes allegation that the election was rigged is based on unsubstantiated speculation.

Lakes lawyers say there was a flood of mail-in ballots in Maricopa County, home to more than 60% of the states voters, at a time when there were too few workers to verify ballot signatures. Her attorneys say the county ultimately accepted thousands of ballots that had been rejected earlier by workers for having mismatched signatures.

The Arizona Supreme Court revived her claim challenging the application of signature-verification procedures, reversing a lower court decision that found she waited too long to raise it.

The state Supreme Court sent the claim back to the lower court to decide if there is another reason to dismiss it, or if Lake can show that enough votes were affected to change the outcome of the election, which she lost by more than 17,000 votes.

Three signature verification workers have said they experienced rejection rates due to mismatched signatures on 15% to 40% of the ballots they encountered.

Opposing attorneys said the workers speculation does not amount to a violation of the law or misconduct by election workers, and raised questions about whether the three workers truly knew the ultimate outcome of the ballots they had flagged.

Earlier in her lawsuit, Lake had focused on problems with ballot printers at some polling places in Maricopa County. The defective printers produced ballots that were too light to be read by the on-site tabulators at polling places. Lines backed up in some areas amid the confusion. Lake alleged ballot printer problems were the result of intentional misconduct.

County officials say everyone had a chance to vote and all ballots were counted because those affected by the printers were taken to more sophisticated counters at election headquarters.

In mid-February, the Arizona Court of Appeals rejected Lakes assertions, concluding she presented no evidence that voters whose ballots were unreadable by tabulators at polling places were not able to vote.

The state Supreme Court declined March 22 to hear nearly all of Lakes appeal, saying there was no evidence to support her claim that more than 35,000 ballots were added to vote totals. Earlier this month, the court sanctioned Lakes lawyers $2,000 for making false statements when saying more than 35,000 ballots had been improperly added to the total count.
Ghazipur (UP), May 17 (PTI) A court here on Wednesday acquitted gangster-politician Mukhtar Ansari in a 2009 attempt to murder case.

Government counsel Neeraj Kumar Srivastav said the case of attempt to murder (IPC section 307) of one Meer Hasan of Mohammadabad police station was heard in the court of Additional Sessions Judge/First MP-MLA Durgesh.

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"The court, after hearing the case, acquitted Ansari by giving him the benefit of doubt," he said.

Ansari, who is currently lodged in Banda jail, joined the proceedings via video conferencing.

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Srivastav, however, said the acquittal will not lead to the release of Ansari as he is accused in several other cases and was also convicted in a case recently.

Talking about the 2009 case, he said, "Meer Hasan was shot at by two men in 2009. One of the assailants, Sonu Yadav, later threatened Hasan and asked him to meet Ansari in jail. Police after investigating the matter filed a charge sheet against Yadav and Ansari in the case."

In April this year, the same court had sentenced the gangster-politician and his brother and BSP MP Afzal Ansari to imprisonment for 10 years and four years, respectively in a 2007 Gangsters Act case.

Mukhtar had been an MLA for five consecutive terms from the Mau Sadar assembly seat.

The gangster-politician did not contest the 2022 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections and his seat was won by his son Abbas Ansari from the Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP).

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Ranchi (Jharkhand) [India], May 17 (ANI): The Jharkhand High Court has directed the lawyers of Rahul Gandhi and complainant BJP leader Navin Jha to submit the synopsis of arguments on Wednesday before the court in connection with a defamation case against the Congress leader.

The defamation case was filed by a local Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Navin Jha after Rahul Gandhi allegedly made objectionable remarks against the then BJP chief Amit Shah at a Congress party gathering in Chaibasa in 2018.

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At a Congress meeting in 2018, Rahul Gandhi allegedly said, "A murder accused can become a party president only in the BJP. It's not possible in the Congress."

Following the submission of the synopsis of arguments by both parties, the court will decide when to pronounce the order on a petition filed by Rahul's side to quash the defamation case against him.

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This comes after the lower court issued a notice to Rahul Gandhi in the matter. This was challenged in the High Court to quash the notice issued by the lower court.

Earlier on Tuesday, Jharkhand HC reserved the order in the matter and the arguments were concluded in the court of Justice Ambujnath.

Advocates Piyush Chitresh and Dipankar Rai presented the case on behalf of Rahul Gandhi.

On May 12, the court extended the 'no coercive action' order till May 16. (ANI)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Bengaluru, May 17 (PTI) Minister in the outgoing BJP government K Sudhakar on Wednesday questioned former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah whether he can deny the fact that he had no role, "implicitly or explicitly", in the move by Congress MLAs to quit the party when the coalition government was in office in 2019.

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He raised the issue at a time when Siddaramaiah is in a stiff competition with state Congress president D K Shivakumar to become the CM, after Congress won the Assembly polls by securing 135 seats

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In a series of tweets, Sudhakar accused the Congress leader of assuring the MLAs that he won't allow the then H D Kumaraswamy-led coalition government to continue even for a single day after 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

Sudhakar was earlier with Congress. He was one among the 17 Congress-JD(S) legislators who quit and defected to BJP that led to the collapse of the coalition government and paved the way for BJP to come to power.

"During the JDS-Congress coalition govt in 2018, whenever MLAs (Congress)went to the then Coordination Committe Chairman Siddaramaiah with their concerns, he used to express his helplessness and say that he has no say in the govt and his constituency/district works itself are stalled," Sudhakar claimed..

Further, Siddaramaiah used to assure MLAs to wait till 2019 Lok Sabha polls and come what may he won't allow the then coalition government to continue even for a single day after the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

Ultimately, some MLAs including him had to inevitably quit Congress and go back to the people in bypolls, to protect the 'karyakartas' and supporters in their constituencies, he said, and asked "Can Shri Siddaramaiah deny the fact that he had no role, implicitly or explicitly, in this move by Congress MLAs?"

Sudhakar, after defecting to BJP, contested the bypolls on the party ticket and won, and also went on to become Health Minister in the government.

He lost the May 10 Assembly polls from Chikkaballapura seat.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
New Delhi, May 17 (PTI) Renewable energy solution provider Suzlon has bagged a 99-MW wind energy project from Vibrant Energy.

"Suzlon Group has received an order from Vibrant Energy for 33 wind turbine generators featuring its new 3 MW (each) series with a Hybrid Lattice Tubular tower for a 99 MW wind power project which is expected to be commissioned by FY25," the statement added.

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The company, however, did not disclose the value of the order.

"We are delighted to announce our first order with Vibrant Energy which is a highly respected corporate renewable energy solutions provider. I look forward to a long partnership with Vibrant Energy in the coming years towards building a sustainable India," J P Chalasani, Chief Executive Officer, Suzlon Group, said.

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A project of this size can provide electricity to 307 thousand households and curb 2.92 lakh tonnes of CO2 emissions every year, a company statement said.

"We are happy to partner with Suzlon Energy for our project which will provide round-the-clock renewable energy to our corporate customers. This is the first time that we are partnering with Suzlon and we look forward to partnering on many more such opportunities," Srinivasan Viswanathan, Chief Executive Officer, Vibrant Energy said.

This is the third order of the new Suzlon 3 MW series in less than a month.

This order of the larger wind turbine model from the new 3 MW series - the S144-140m is part of the agreement, wherein Suzlon Energy will supply the wind turbines (equipment supply), provide erection and commissioning services as well as comprehensive operations and maintenance services post-commissioning.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Islamabad [Pakistan], May 17: The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Rawalpindi on Tuesday summoned Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan in a personal capacity in the Al-Qadir Trust case on Thursday (May 18), reported Geo News.

The NAB also retitled the Al-Qadir Trust reference to "National Crime Agency 190m Pounds Scandal," and ordered the former premier to ensure a physical appearance on the given date. Imran Khan Arrest: Former Prime Minister and PTI Chief Produced Before Pakistan's Supreme Court After Top Judge's Orders.

On Monday, a division bench of the Lahore High Court (LHC) granted protective bail to former first lady Bushra Bibi till May 23 in the case. Imran Khan, Former Pakistan PM, Granted Bail in Al-Qadir Trust Case by Islamabad High Court.

Imran Khan was also arrested in the same case on May 9 but later his arrest was declared unlawful by the apex court after which he was granted bail in the case till May 17 by the Islamabad High Court (IHC).

In a notice on Tuesday, the anti-graft body sought details of the United Kingdom's National Crime Agency (NCA) 2019 probe into assets worth Pound 190 million from Imran Khan, reported Geo News.

Moreover, NAB has directed Khan to bring along details regarding the NCA investigation and all documents related to the Al-Qadir University including land papers, trust deeds and bank statements.

The anti-corruption watchdog also warned the PTI chief of legal action in case of non-compliance with the summon, reported Geo News.

The case subsequently made its way to Pakistan's federal cabinet on December 3, 2019, where it was presented by then special assistant to the prime minister (SAPM), Mirza Shahzad Akbar, in a sealed envelope.

The purpose of the presentation was to discuss the return of the funds, which would be channelled into an account overseen by the registrar of the Supreme Court of Pakistan.

This particular account was associated with the recovery of a staggering Rs 460 billion from the same property tycoon, in connection with fines imposed on a housing scheme in Karachi, reported Geo News.

Investigations have revealed that as part of an agreement to return the laundered money, the property tycoon offered a substantial compensation package. This included the transfer of 458 Kanal, 4 Marla and 58 square feet of land in Jhelum, alongside cash amounting to Rs285 million, which was destined for the Al-Qadir Trust.

The trustees of Al-Qadir Trust included then-prime minister Khan, his wife Bushra Bibi and his senior advisers Zulfiqar Bukhari and Babar Awan. However, it is worth noting that Awan and Bukhari's positions were subsequently revoked on April 22, 2020. (ANI)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Pacaraima (Brazil), May 17 (AP) As the sun rose, Miguel Gonzalez, partner Maryelis Rodriguez and their four young children got off a passenger bus after an 18-hour ride south from the eastern Venezuelan community they desperately wanted to leave.

The parents, with minds still muzzy from sleep, retrieved two duffel bags and assessed needs before entering the station: Diaper change for the 1-year-old. Restrooms for the 2-, 4- and 6-year-old. Directions to Brazil.

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"Taxi? Taxi?" hawkish cab drivers asked everyone walking through the Santa Elena de Uairen station, where thousands of people every month walk through Venezuelan territory one last time. Roughly a half hour later, the Gonzalez family, like dozens of others every day, became migrants for the first time when they exited a taxi in Pacaraima, Brazil.

More than 7.2 million (72 lakh) people have left Venezuela since the country's political, economic and social crisis began last decade. Most have gone to Spanish-speaking countries of South America -- with 2.4 million (24 lakh) in Colombia alone -- and many to the US and Spain.

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Further down the list of destinations has been Venezuela's Portuguese-speaking, next-door neighbour: Brazil.

But Brazil has become a popular choice for many Venezuelans partly because of a five-year-old programme that offers eligible applicants work permits and even free flights to faraway parts of the huge country. Approvals into the programme have surged in the post-pandemic period.

"I want to give well-being to my children," said Gonzalez, who began planning to migrate in October after witnessing violent clashes around the gold mine where he worked.

"There is no life" in Venezuela, he said, because if the family stays there, the children "are not going to study, they are not going to have a future".

The Gonzalez family is applying for Brazil's "interiorisation" programme, launched in 2018 to ease pressure on the country's far northern state of Roraima as it dealt with Venezuelans flowing across the border after food and medicine shortages at home became acute.

The programme moves the migrants to other cities with better economic opportunities, especially in the country's rich southern states. It has taken in about 100,000 of the 426,000 Venezuelans who have migrated to Brazil during the crisis -- with the highest monthly rate so far in March of this year with 3,377.

The Gonzalez family sold their fridge, fan, kitchen, bed and other furniture, stuffed clothes and diapers in duffel bags and backpacks, and began their migration journey from their community of San Felix with USD 500. They spent USD 90 to get to Santa Elena de Uairen and USD 20 to get to Pacaraima, where they applied for the programme.

They decided to migrate even though Gonzalez had one of the most lucrative jobs in Venezuela, earning about USD 600 in two weeks, and occasionally, up to USD 1,200 -- far more than the country's USD 5 monthly minimum wage. But mining communities are dangerous, thanks to armed groups who are believed to collude with authorities.

"There is a lot of crime. You are alive one moment and dead the next. You get me?" Gonzalez said.

Those accepted into the interiorisation programme receive documentation, temporary shelter, vaccines and relocation flights. It also offers classes on Brazil's labour market, laws and rights.

Brazil's monthly minimum wage currently is USD 265. A survey of 800 households encompassing 3,529 Venezuelans living in Brazil in June and July of last year showed that 76 per cent of them earned up to two minimum wages.

Applicants must submit paperwork, and undergo a physical and interviews.

On an early April morning, Maria Rodriguez, her father, husband, daughter, two sons, twin grandsons and four more relatives were among hundreds of people at the Pacaraima border crossing, navigating steps of the programme. She laughed with an energetic grandson, but her eyes betrayed fatigue.

At the crack of dawn, migrants form lines where they wait to get or provide information. They cheer when they or their new migrant friends are told they can hop on waiting passenger buses headed roughly 125 miles (200 kilometres) south to Boa Vista, where they will catch flights to their new communities.

Rodriguez's group already had waited six weeks in Pacaraima. They had sheltered from the scorching sun under a makeshift tent and spent nights in a shelter.

The family closed its unprofitable cheese-making business in Venezuela earlier this year and decided to join other relatives in the southern Brazilian state of Parana, where the men plan to work in construction. Rodriguez said another of her sons already living there has done well in just a short time.

"His children are studying in a good school, and meanwhile, I could see my other sons ... struggling," Rodriguez, 45, said while she waited for portable toilets to be cleaned for the day. "As adults, we can last all day even with just an arepa, but with those kids, how do you tell a child there is no food?"

Venezuela was once one of the most prosperous countries in Latin America thanks to billions in oil dollars, but mismanagement by its self-described socialist government and a decline in crude prices plunged it into crisis over the past decade. International economic sanctions meant to topple President Nicolas Maduro have worsened conditions.

Elsewhere in the hemisphere, Venezuelans are making their second or even third migrations as economic opportunities in initial host countries dry up. Most of those coming across the border into Brazil are migrating for the first time, said the Rev. Agnaldo Pereira de Oliveira, director of Jesuit Service for Migrants and Refugees in Brazil.

"They are people who held on until now and no longer could," Pereira de Oliveira said. "Now come the last ones who had resisted in Venezuela out of attachment to their business, to their home. They say 'I had a job, but the living conditions no longer exist.'"

Brazil's interiorisation programme took shape after a period of tensions in the mid-to late-2010s when arriving Venezuelans strained public services in Roraima, which includes both Pacaraima and Boa Vista. At one point, a man set fire to two residences where Venezuelans lived, injuring five people.

Brazil's southern states like Parana are not without challenges for Venezuelans. There they must brave much colder weather than they are accustomed to, and lack of fluency in Portuguese can sometimes be a barrier to formal jobs, meaning some of them become street vendors and Uber drivers.

In Boa Vista, shelters have long been available, but many adults and children sleep on sidewalks or outside a bus station. Some find the shelters overcrowded and overheated. Others do not feel safe or dislike the mandatory early wake-up.

On the western bank of the Branco river next to Boa Vista, members of the Figuera family cook, wash clothes, splash in the water or rest under shade trees. Their hair is peppered with sand.

Eleven-year-old Kisberlin Figuera, her father, stepmother and baby sister are on their second attempt to legally relocate to Parana. They gave up on their first try so that the baby could be born near extended family in Carupano, Venezuela.

Kisberlin has learned some Portuguese and become friends with other migrant girls. They joke and play tag or cards near where they sleep outside the bus station. She said she misses family but the access to water in Boa Vista -- in public restrooms near a beach -- is better than what she had at home.

Sitting by the river, she imagined Parana "full of parks, loads of food, lots of money and a lot of water to take showers and drink". (AP)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Dubai, May 17 (AP) The United Arab Emirates' highest court Tuesday ordered a British hedge fund trader convicted of orchestrating a USD 1.7 billion tax fraud to pay that amount to Denmark's tax authority.

Shah was convicted in a lower court of masterminding a scheme that ran from 2012 to 2015. Under it, foreign businesses pretended to own shares in Danish companies and claimed tax refunds for which they were not eligible. He was arrested in Dubai last year.

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Shah and his lawyers declined to comment on Tuesday's ruling.

The Court of Cassation also ordered Shah and several foreign businesses implicated in the scheme to pay 5 per cent interest on the USD 1.7 billion accrued from when the case was first filed in August 2018.

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This conclusive ruling after a nearly five-year pursuit of justice underscores the serious and uncompromising stance of the UAE authorities against financial misconduct, said OGH Legal in Dubai, a law firm acting on behalf of Danish authorities, in a statement.

Last September, the Dubai Appeals Court found Shah and his accomplices guilty of illegally extracting money from Danish tax authorities. His lawyers appealed that verdict to the Court of Cassation, which upheld the earlier ruling Tuesday and ordered Shah to pay the USD 1.7 billion.

In a separate ruling, Shah was ordered to be extradited to Denmark after the Dubai court rejected his appeal against deportation in April. He is expected to face prosecution in Denmark on the tax fraud allegations. It wasn't immediately clear when he will be extradited.

The 52-year-old financier has maintained his innocence in interviews with journalists but never appeared in Denmark to answer accusations. His defence has argued in closed-door hearings that Denmark did not follow the procedures laid out in international extradition treaties.

Shah's arrest came at a time when pressure was growing on Dubai, the region's financial hub, over its alleged weaknesses in combating financial wrong-doing. The UAE has long invited the wealthy, including disgraced public figures, to invest in the country without questioning where they made their money.

Recently, however, the UAE has arrested several suspects wanted for major crimes, including two brothers from South Africa, accused of facilitating vast public corruption and draining state resources with former President Jacob Zuma.

An Emirati official also recently became president of Interpol, the international police agency. (AP)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Lahore, May 17: The interim government in Pakistan's Punjab province has given a 24-hour deadline to the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party chief Imran Khan to handover all "30-40 terrorists that have taken refuge" at his residence here, according to a media report on Wednesday.

The Caretaker Information Minister Aamir Mir while addressing a press conference in Lahore said, "PTI should hand over these terrorists or the law will take its course," Geo News reported.

Referring to the May 9 protesters as 'terrorists', Mir said that the government was aware of their presence at Khan's Zaman Park residence as it had credible intelligence reports.

"The intelligence report that has come is very alarming," Mir was quoted as saying, adding that the agencies were able to confirm the presence of the "terrorists" in Zaman Park through geo-fencing. Relief to Imran Khan: Islamabad High Court Extends Former Pakistan PM's Bail in Two Cases Until June 8.

Geo-fencing is a technology that allows the movements of a person, vehicle, etc. to be recorded or limited using satellite signals. Recalling the recent violent protests in the country following the arrest of ousted prime minister Khan, Mir alleged that "The PTI leadership had planned the attack before the arrest [of Imran Khan]."

The arrest of Khan, 70, on May 9 by the paramilitary Pakistan Rangers at the Islamabad High Court premises triggered unrest in Pakistan. For the first time in Pakistan's history, the protesters stormed the army headquarters (GHQ) in Rawalpindi and also torched the Corps Commander's house in Lahore. Police put the death toll in violent clashes to 10 while Khan's party claims 40 of its workers lost their lives in the firing by security personnel.

Mir also alleged that the PTI chief has been targeting the military for over a year under a set plan. The interim information minister said that the government has adopted a zero tolerance policy" towards violence and interim Chief Minister Mohsin Naqvi has given a free hand to the Punjab Police to deal with arsonists, the report said.

Several arsonists were in touch with people inside Zaman Park during the attack on the Corps Commander House. They will be made an example so that no one will carry out such an act in the future, Mir said. "Those who have been arrested so far are being fully scrutinised. Cases are being forwarded after 100 per cent confirmation [of their involvement]," he said.

He said the government has decided that the attackers of military installations will be tried in military courts as an official announcement issued by the Prime Minister's Office confirmed that Pakistan's National Security Committee endorsed the decision reached at the corps commanders' meeting to try the "attackers" under the Army Act and Official Secrets Act. Al-Qadir Trust Case: National Accountability Bureau Summons Imran Khan on May 18.

However, the proposed move to try arsonists under the tough Army Act has come under severe criticism, with the rights groups such as Amnesty International and the National Human Rights Commission of Pakistan expressing concerns. The army had earlier issued a statement saying it would no longer show restraint against those who attacked its buildings, the report added.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Washington, May 17 (PTI) A US court has consented to the Indian request, through the US Government, for the extradition of Pakistani-origin Canadian businessman Tahawwur Rana to India where he is sought for his involvement in the 2008 Mumbai terror attack.

On June 10, 2020, India filed a complaint seeking the provisional arrest of 62-year-old Rana with a view towards extradition. The Biden Administration had supported and approved the extradition of Rana to India.

Also Read | Aleema Khanum, Former Pakistan PM Imran Khan's Sister Says 'If Police Open Fire at Zaman Park, Women Will Be the First To Sacrifice Their Lives'.

"The Court has reviewed and considered all of the documents submitted in support of and in opposition to the Request, and has considered the arguments presented at the hearing, Judge Jacqueline Chooljian, US Magistrate Judge of the US District Court Central District of California, said in a 48-page court order dated May 16, which was released Wednesday.

"Based on such review and consideration and for the reasons discussed herein, the Court makes the findings set forth below, and CERTIFIES to the Secretary of State of the United States the extraditability of Rana on the charged offences that are the subject of the Request, the judge wrote.

Also Read | Prince Harry, Meghan Merkle Involved in Near Catastrophic Car Chase With Highly Aggressive Paparazzi in New York, Pursuit Resulted in Multiple Near Collisions: Spokesperson.

Rana was arrested in the US on an extradition request by India for his role in these attacks.

India's National Investigation Agency (NIA) is probing into his role in the 26/11 attacks carried out by Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists in 2008. The NIA has said that it is ready to initiate proceedings to bring him to India through diplomatic channels.

During court hearings, US Government attorneys argued that Rana was aware that his childhood friend Pakistani-American David Coleman Headley was involved with Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), and that by assisting Headley and affording him cover for his activities, he was supporting the terrorist organization and its associates.

Rana knew of Headley's meetings, what was discussed, and the planning of the attacks, including some of the targets. The US government asserted that Rana was part of the conspiracy and there is probable cause that he committed the substantive crime of commission of a terrorist act.

Rana's attorney on the other hand opposed the extradition.

A total of 166 people, including six Americans, were killed in the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks in which 10 Pakistani terrorists laid a more than 60-hour siege, attacking and killing people at iconic and vital locations of Mumbai.

Because members of the conspiracy committed acts resulting in death with the intention of causing death, or at a minimum committed those acts knowing its imminent dangers, there is sufficient evidence that the elements for murder would be satisfied, federal prosecutors said.

There is an extradition treaty in place between India and the United States. The judge ruled that the extradition of Rana to India is fully under the jurisdiction of the treaty.

India, the judge said, has issued an arrest warrant and charged Rana with the following offences on which the US is proceeding: (a) conspiracy to wage war, to commit murder, to commit forgery for the purpose of cheating, to use as genuine a forged document or electronic record, and to commit a terrorist act (b) waging war, (d) murder, (e) committing a terrorist act and (f) conspiracy to commit a terrorist act.

"The foregoing charged offences constitute extraditable offences within the meaning and scope of the Treaty and over which India has jurisdiction, the judge ruled.

The judge said that sufficient competent evidence has been presented to establish probable cause that Rana is the individual who has been charged in India and whose extradition has been sought by India in this action, and that Rana committed the aforementioned offences for which extradition has been sought.

"It is therefore ordered that Tahawwur Hussain Rana be and remain committed to the custody of the United States Marshal pending a final decision on extradition and surrender by the Secretary of State to India for trial of the offences as to which extradition has been granted pursuant to Title 18, United States Code, section 3186 and the Treaty, the judge ruled.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
The revised response plan is up from around $1.75 billion a few months ago as the United Nations estimates more than 1 million people will flee Sudan this year.The UN humanitarian response plan is seeking close to $3 billion ( 2.7 billion) to provide urgent aid to people affected by the crisis.

Also Read | Himachal Pradesh Weather Update: IMD Issues Yellow Warning for Thunderstorm, Lightning in the State.

Ramesh Rajasingham, head of the UN office for the coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Geneva said that close to 25 million people, "more than half the population of Sudan, need aid and protection"

Also Read | Air India Delhi-Sydney Flight Encounters Severe Turbulence Mid-Air, Several Passengers Sustain Injuries.

"This is the highest number we have ever seen in the country," he said.

Sudan's highest humanitarian appeal

A few months ago it was predicted that $1.75 billion would be needed for humanitarian assistance.

In a revision of the response plan issued after the bloody conflict erupted on April 15, the UN said that $2.56 billion would be needed for aid inside Sudan.

In a joint appeal, the UN's refugee agency said it was seeking another $470 million for more than 1 million people who have fled the country, or are expected to do so in the next six months.

The current finding requirements, Rajasingham said, is the "highest for any humanitarian appeal for Sudan."

The deteriorating situation in Sudan

Last week, the World Health Organization said that the death toll in ongoing clashes in Sudan has risen to 604 people and over 5,000 have been injured.

The UN migration agency said the numbers of those who were internally displaced by the nearly monthlong fighting has risen to 700,000.

The figures were on top of 3.7 million people who were already internally displaced before the conflict began, according to the UN agency.

Since April 15, Sudan has been rocked by clashes.

The conflict is between the Sudanese Armed Forces units loyal to Abdel-Fattah Burhan, the army general and their rival Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo's Rapid Support Forces (RSF), the country's main paramilitary force.

In December 2022, the military forces and civilian representatives signed a transition deal, which pushed to bring the RSF within the Sudanese military.

Dagalo, whose paramilitary is thought to be 100,000-man strong, does not favor such a restructuring.

Provocation and accusations from both sides erupted into the ongoing violent conflict.

ns/rt (Reuters, AFP)

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on May 17, 2023 02:30 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).
Lawmakers are warning of a "real and growing risk" that the Palace of Westminster, which houses Britain's Parliament, might be destroyed by a catastrophic event before it can be restored.Britain's Parliament building is an architectural masterpiece, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. But it is also a crumbling, leaky, asbestos-riddled building that is at "real and rising" risk of destruction, British lawmakers said on Wednesday.

Also Read | ChatGPT Chief Urges AI Regulation in US Senate Testimony.

In a report, the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee said the seat of British democracy is "leaking, dropping masonry and at constant risk of fire."

Also Read | Manish Sisodia Pressurised Me To Grant L-1 Licence to Indospirit, Says Ex-Delhi Excise Commissioner Arva Gopi Krishan.

"There is a real and rising risk that a catastrophic event will destroy" the building before long-delayed restoration work is done, the lawmakers said.

The committee added that "the cost of renewal will be high, but further delays are hugely costly to the taxpayer, lack of action is not value for money."

'Years of procrastination'

In the most urgent in a series of warnings stretching back years, the committee said renewal work had mostly amounted to "patching up" the 19th-century building, at a cost of about 2 million pounds ($2.5 million, 2.3 million) a week.

After decades of broad consensus on the critical need to repair and restore the Palace of Westminster, progress has been painfully slow with "years of procrastination," the committee said.

In 2018, lawmakers voted to move out of the building by the mid-2020s to allow for major repairs that could take several years. But the decision has been questioned ever since by other lawmakers who want to remain in the building.

Last year, the body set up to oversee the Parliament repair project was scrapped.

Leaking roof and risk of fire

Meanwhile, the building grows more decrepit. The roof leaks, centuryold steam pipes burst,and chunks of masonry occasionally come crashing down. Mechanical and electrical systems were last updated in the 1940s.

There is so much asbestos that removing it "could require an estimated 300 people working for two and a half years while the site was not being used," the House of Commons committee said.

And there is a constant threat of fire. The committee said there have been 44 "fire incidents" in Parliament since 2016, and wardens now patrol around the clock.

The current building, designed by architect Charles Barry in a neo-Gothic style, was built after fire destroyed its predecessor in 1834.

The AP news agency contributed to this report.

Edited by: Farah Bahgat

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on May 17, 2023 07:40 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).
New Delhi, May 17: Amid intense speculation over the next chief minister of Karnataka, the Congress has said a decision on it is likely on Wednesday or Thursday and a new cabinet in the state will be in place in the next 48-72 hours.

The Opposition party asserted that Karnataka will have a five-year-long stable government and urged people not to believe in speculation and "fake news" which it alleged was being peddled by the BJP. Siddaramaiah To Be New Karnataka CM, Official Announcement Soon, Claims Congress Women's Wing President Pushpa Amarnath.

Addressing the media outside Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge's 10 Rajaji Marg residence where hectic parleys are on to decide on the party's chief ministerial pick with Siddaramaiah and D K Shivakumar being the top contenders for the post, AICC in-charge of state Randeep Surjewala said the party chief has been authorised to appoint the leader of the legislature party and that is why deliberations are underway. Karnataka CM Tussle: Congress Leaders DK Shivakumar, Siddaramaiah Refuse To Settle for Anything Lesser Than Chief Minister Post, Says Report.

"Do not resort to any speculation, whenever a decision is taken by the Congress president, we will be happy to inform you. I am only here to quash multiple rumours and hearsay ...that are being played on multiple news channels. Please don't believe in it," Surjewala told reporters. Whenever Congress takes a decision either Wednesday or Thursday, the party will be the first one to inform the media, he said.
Shah Rukh Khan recently hosted US Ambassador Eric Garcetti at his house, Mannat. The ambassador shared his experience on social media, giving a glimpse of his visit to Mannat. In his post, Garcetti mentioned engaging in a conversation with SRK about the film industry and the global influence of both Bollywood and Hollywood. Has Shah Rukh Khan Stopped Giving Interviews to Promote His Films to Any Media? This Viral Video Clip From a News Channel Claims So! - WATCH.

See The Post Here:

Is it time for my Bollywood debut?  Had a wonderful chat with superstar @iamsrk at his residence Mannat, learning more about the film industry in Mumbai and discussing the huge cultural impact of Hollywood and Bollywood across the globe. #AmbExploresIndia pic.twitter.com/SLRQyhhn8C  U.S. Ambassador Eric Garcetti (@USAmbIndia) May 16, 2023

(SocialLY brings you all the latest breaking news, viral trends and information from social media world, including Twitter, Instagram and Youtube. The above post is embeded directly from the user's social media account and LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body. The views and facts appearing in the social media post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY, also LatestLY does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same.)
A major fire broke out due to cylinder explosion in Delhis Shastri Park area. 11 fire tenders were quickly rushed to the spot to douse the fire, says Delhi Fire Service. There has been no reports of any casualties as yet. Further information into the incident is awaited. Bandra Fire: Two Injured After Blaze Erupts at Mumbai Slum (Watch Video).

Delhi Cylinder Blast

Fire breaks out due to cylinder explosion in Shastri Park area; 11 fire tenders present at the spot: Delhi Fire Service pic.twitter.com/wiEVvKnaqd  ANI (@ANI) May 17, 2023

(SocialLY brings you all the latest breaking news, viral trends and information from social media world, including Twitter, Instagram and Youtube. The above post is embeded directly from the user's social media account and LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body. The views and facts appearing in the social media post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY, also LatestLY does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same.)
A massive fire broke out at a shoe manufacturing factory in Narela industrial area in Delhi. At least 24 fire tenders rushed to the spot to douse the flames. Fearing the spread of fire, the nearby factories were also evacuated. No casualties have been reported in the incident. Mumbai Fire: Level 2 Blaze Erupts in Shanties of Slum Near Nargis Dutt Road in Bandra, No Casualties Reported.

Delhi Fire

A massive fire broke out in a shoes manufacturing factory in Delhi's Narela Industrial area last night. A total of 24 fire tenders were engaged to bring the fire under control. No casualties were reported in the incident pic.twitter.com/Kb3pLSYNOC  ANI (@ANI) May 17, 2023

(SocialLY brings you all the latest breaking news, viral trends and information from social media world, including Twitter, Instagram and Youtube. The above post is embeded directly from the user's social media account and LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body. The views and facts appearing in the social media post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY, also LatestLY does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same.)
Mumbai, May 17: Four additional individuals, including a former NASA astronaut, are being sent to the International Space Station by Houston, Texas-based private space business Axiom Space. SpaceX will launch its astronaut flights for NASA from Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Centre for Axiom Space's second crewed space mission, or Ax-2.

The four astronauts will launch aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft atop a Falcon 9 rocket to the International Space Station (ISS). The current launch time is set for Sunday, May 21, at 5:37 EDT (2137 GMT). Scroll down to know more about the first-of-its-kind venture. CST-100 Starliner Launch Date: First Crewed Flight of Boeing Delayed Till May 2023, Says NASA.

Axiom Space Ax-2 Private Spaceflight Mission

The crew for the second private astronaut trip to the International Space Station (ISS), planned for launch in the spring of 2023 by Houston-based aerospace company Axiom Space, was authorised by NASA and its international partners earlier this year. Axiom Mission 2 (Ax-2) is a mission that is privately sponsored. Saudi Arabia's first female astronaut will leave for space aboard Ax-2.

Meet 4 Astronauts of Ax-2 Mission

Ali Alqarni and Rayyanah Barnawi, the second and third Saudi citizens to fly to space and the first to visit the International Space Station, are joining mission specialists Peggy Whitson, a former NASA astronaut, and John Shoffner, a private spaceflight participant, on the Axiom-2 mission.

Axiom Mission 2 Broadcast & Streaming

Through their official websites and social media accounts, NASA, Axiom Space, and SpaceX will chronicle the approaching prelaunch and launch operations for Axiom Mission 2. NASA SpaceX Crew-6 Mission Launch Scrubbed Due To Issue With Ground Systems, New Time and Date for Lift-Off To Be Announced (Watch Video).

Some prelaunch, launch, and docking procedures will be broadcast on NASA Television, the NASA app, and the agency's website.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on May 17, 2023 12:51 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).
India and the EU are deepening ties with a new trade and tech plan. Is skepticism toward China bringing them closer?It was a first-of-its-kind meeting: Three Indian ministers, four European commissioners and dozens of officials scribbling notes on everything from semiconductor supply chains to artificial intelligence regulation. The European Union (EU) is seeking deeper ties with New Delhi  and after the first meeting of the EU-India Trade and Technology Council in Brussels on Tuesday, EU officials spoke of "very promising beginnings."

Also Read | LGBTQ Rights in Europe: Malta Leads, Poland Lags.

The talks were more about face-time among political decision-makers than concrete deals, though Brussels and New Delhi did agree to cooperate further on quantum and high performance computing, and to making their digital public services more compatible.

Also Read | Relief to Imran Khan: Islamabad High Court Extends Former Pakistan PMs Bail in Two Cases Until June 8.

But outside the summit, another force is bringing India and the EU closer. At a press conference after the meeting, the word "de-risk" was mentioned multiple times by both sides, implying the shared wish to reduce economic depedence on China.

Brussels looks to New Delhi to diversify

Overall, Brussels is quick to make clear that it does not want to cut off ties from Beijing altogether, but it does want to diversify its supply chains.That's where India comes in.

"India has a population of 1.4 billion. So, we are an economy of scale, and the EU is an economy of skill  it's natural that these two power centers should come together," Swasti Rao, an associate fellow at the Indian government-funded think tank the Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defense Studies and Analyses, told DW.

Rao said India, with its workforce and manufacturing capacities, is high on Brussels' list. Then, there's the politics.

"India is very wary of a China-led Asian order, and India will do everything it can to keep Asia, by and large, multipolar," Rao explained. New Delhi-Beijing relations are also complicated by a border dispute and India's move to restrict a host of Chinese tech, including the popular video-sharing app TikTok. Europe-China ties, meanwhile, have long been strained by a sanctions spat over accusations of rights abuses in Xinjiang which left progress on a 2020 investment agreement frozen. Then there wereaccusations of economic coercion over Lithuania's friendly relations with Taiwanand disagreements over the war in Ukraine. It's a relationship weighed down by heavy political baggage.

On Tuesday, European Commission Executive Vice-President Margrethe Vestager pointed to Indian plans to boost semiconductor production as an example of how EU-India ties could "give muscle" to Brussels' idea of "derisking." She cited quantum computing and "technologies developing beyond 5G" as areas where India could offer "trusted vendors" for Europe in the future. "If we want increase increased economic security, we need to do that through partnerships," Vestager told reporters.

But Berlin-based analyst Christian Wagner says New Delhi is "not necessarily the most important partner" when it comes to Brussels' move away from Beijing.

"We've seen that many companies which are leaving China also prefer to go to Southeast Asian countries. So, India is here in a competition with other Asian players," Wagner, a researcher with the German Institute for International and Security Affairs, told DW.

"But when we look at the geostrategic landscape," he said, "I think India has certainly a much bigger profile."

EU and India at odds over carbon border tax

Behind the smiles and handshakes, there are bones of contention between Brussels and New Delhi. The EU has vowed to make polluters pay, and as Europe's climate policies get stricter, the bloc wants to prevent firms from simply relocating production to countries with looser emissions rules to cut costs.

It's a phenomenon known as "carbon leakage"  one which Brussels views as bad for business, and bad for its flagship climate goals. That's why theEU plans to slap a carbon border tax on some imports including cement, steel, iron, and fertilizer.

But New Delhi views the move as an unfair drag on its growth. "We are at a stage in our economic development where we cannot really do away with carbon and coal so easily," said Rao.

"India has always said that if you want to engage, and proactively constructively engage the Global South, you really genuinely have to understand where they come from," she added.

On Tuesday, both sides struck a more constructive tone. "We remain engaged, we are discussing the issue and we have a long time ahead of us within which we'll be working together to find the right solutions," Piyush Goyal, Indian Minister of Commerce and Industry told reporters.

Progress toward a broader EU-India free trade agreement has, however, been sluggish. After a nine-year pause, negotiations relaunched last year. Disagreements remain on areas like mobility rights for Indian workers and tariffs on food and drink, but Goyal said he hoped the new trade and technology council format would help "supplement" work toward unlocking a trade deal.

India: wooed by the world amid geopolitical divisions

If Brussels and New Delhi are united by skepticism toward China, they are divided on how to approach ties with Russia. While the EU has implemented successive rounds of sanctions against Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine, India has kept up trade in arms and oil with Russia, and maintained strong relations through the BRICS formation. The Indian government has not publicly condemned Moscow for the invasion, but has called for peace.

Researcher Christian Wagner thinks Europe has misunderstood India in the past, tending to "assume that India as the largest democracy seems to be automatically in the western camp."

"India wants to be a pole in a multipolar world," Wagner said. "And at the moment, of course, it is in a very favorable position, because both the western countries, the United States, the European Union, as well as Russia, as well as China, are wooing India and trying to intensify their relations. So, I think India with the G20 presidency also will use this moment for its own geopolitical ambition."

India assumed the presidency of the G20, or Group of Twenty, an intergovernmental forum of the world's major economies, in December. The role alternates to a different member state each year, with Brazil set to assume leadership in November 2023.

Edited by: Maren Sass

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on May 17, 2023 03:00 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).
Nigeria's northern states of Adamawa, Yobe and Borno are expected to be hardest hit due to heightened Boko Haram attacks, banditry and kidnappings. Many locals have fled their villages and now live in IDP camps.Nigeria could face its worst food crisis if the country's government doesn't take urgent action, UN agencies have warned.

Also Read | Prince Harry and Meghan Markles Car Chased: Duke of Sussexs Spokesperson Says Couple Involved in Catastrophic Car Chase While Being Followed by Photographers in New York.

The states most likely to be affected are Adamawa, Yobe and Borno, where rampant kidnappings, banditry, and Boko Haram attacks have affected crop production.

Also Read | Imran Khan To Be Arrested Again? Police Has Surrounded My House, Says Former Pakistan PM.

The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) have projected that about 25 million people in Nigeria will face acute food insecurity during the so-called lean season that runs between June and August.

Young girls and women living in camps for internally displaced persons (IDPs) are expected to bear the brunt of the crisis.

Selling sex for food

Bintu Dauda, who lives in the Damboa IDP camp, told DW that many young women willingly provide sexual services in exchange for food.

"Most unwanted pregnancies among young girls in this camp were unavoidable," Dauda said.

"Many unmarried women and divorcees went out to give their bodies [sex] in exchange for food, and as a result, they became pregnant. Is it not their wish but because of the suffering."

Aisha Mohammad, who was displaced by the Boko Haram insurgency in northern Nigeria, wants more protection and support from authorities. Like many others, Mohammad came from liberated areas that Boko Haram once controlled and now lives at the Damboa camp.

"Our main concern is food," Mohammad told DW. "We don't have anything to eat. Many come out from the liberated area. Some sleep outside without protection. We often go to bed without eating anything."

At risk of danger

Outside the camps, there is no guarantee of safety  but camp residents often have to venture outside in search of food and other basic needs to survive.

"Many of us go to dangerous places to fetch firewood," Musa Muhammad, another IDP, told DW.

"You must go out and get something for your family  otherwise, you will starve. There is no other option, even though it is dangerous, and you could get killed."

Nigeria has the good weather and vegetation vital for crop production, according to Dr Yunusu Halidu Yabwa, national secretary of the All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN).

However, insecurity in the north has hampered farmers' efforts to grow crops, he said.

"Nigeria used to be known as a food basket of the world," Yabwa added. "Parts of northern Nigeria were once arable but now are no-go areas because of kidnappers, banditry, and Boko Haram insurgents."

"All the land became useless because you couldn't utilize it. Once you go there, you will be harmed by the criminals," said Yabwa.

Sudan and Ukraine dominate resources

Around 4.4 million people will face food insecurity in 2023 in Nigeria, Africa's most populous country, according to the UN's Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

That means food assistance needs will peak in Nigeria during the lean season, according to the OCHA.

Matthias Schmale, the OCHA's coordinator in Nigeria, said the situation in northeastern Nigeria is alarming.

"I'm very worried in, particular about children. If we don't get increased funding and can do more, 700,000 children will be at risk of severe acute malnutrition," Schamale said. "That is staggering."

Schmale pointed out that the world is focused on other conflicts, particularly in Ukraine and Sudan.

"The war in Ukraine has diverted resources, and we have other operational theaters, like Sudan, competing for attention with northeastern Nigeria," Schmale added.

The OCHA announced that it would convene with local communities to take urgent action on the food crisis.

Northeastern Nigeria meanwhile continues to struggle with a decades-long insurgency, economic turmoil and the devastating effects of climate change.

Years of conflict and insecurity prevent many people in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe states from growing the food they need  or even earning the income they need to procure food, according to OCHA.

Al-Amin Muhammad in northern Nigeria contributed to this report

Edited by: Keith Walker

While you're here: Every weekday, we host AfricaLink, a podcast packed with news, politics, culture and more. You can listen and follow AfricaLink wherever you get your podcasts.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on May 17, 2023 08:30 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).
On 16 May, Mexicos Presidentstated his government was seeking to exchange information with China to prevent the synthetic opioid fentanyl from arriving to Mexico.

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On 16 May the United Nations special rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders (HRDs),, called for the release of five Salvadorean environmentalists arrested in January.

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State Sen. Kathleen Kauth and others await the final vote on LB 574 on Tuesday, May 16, 2023, in Lincoln, Neb. (Zach Wendling/Nebraska Examiner)

LINCOLN  With thousands of Nebraskans watching, including hundreds in person, state lawmakers shoehorned a stricter abortion ban into an already divisive bill to limit gender-affirming care for minors. The proposal is now one step from passage.

Tuesdays action was the culmination of months of public outcry and legislative fights over the two measures, both of which nearly failed as free-standing bills. But once the bills were tweaked and combined, backers gained the critical 33rd vote needed to overcome three months of filibustering.

Senators made the rare decision to pull back Legislative Bill 574 on final reading and amend it with changes to the gender-affirming care bill and a more restrictive abortion ban than the 20 weeks from fertilization that is in current state law.

Gov. Jim Pillen, who personally pressed to revive the abortion ban, applauded senators for supporting LB 574 and its commonsense, conservative values. Nebraska is one of many red states in recent years that have embraced stricter abortion bans and limits on gender-affirming care.

One more vote to save our lives

An emboldened conservative majority combined the proposals in a 33-15 vote while more than 350 people, many of them opposed to both measures, chanted loudly enough from the Rotunda to be heard on the legislative floor. As the bill cleared a key hurdle, opponents watching the debate from the gallery erupted.

One more vote to save our lives! You cant debate on human rights, the crowd chanted, which prompted Lt. Gov. Joe Kelly, the president of the Legislature, to clear both galleries. This was the second time this session he had done so.

State Sen. Megan Hunt of Omaha, whose son is transgender, began crying when she heard the chants from the Rotunda and said her colleagues needed to listen to the crowd. She said calls to suicide hotlines had spiked because of the Legislatures debates over the gender-affirming care measure.

You can have at least as much courage as the trans kids and their families out in the Rotunda who have to live every day, who have to go to school, and who by the grace of God get the courage to come here to their state Legislature and say it to you, Hunt said.

State Sen. Kathleen Kauth, the sponsor of LB 574, said she agreed with the sentiment of the chants, but for a different reason.

We have one vote to save the lives of children from a lifetime of pain and regret, Kauth said.

What the bill does

Kauths bill would restrict what gender-affirming care minors could receive, including puberty blockers, hormone therapies and genital or non-genital surgeries. People already receiving care by Oct. 1 would be allowed to complete their treatments. No surgeries would be allowed for anyone under 19.

Tuesdays changes would allow the states chief medical officer to prescribe rules and regulations that could allow the medications. Opponents worry that delegating this authority to a gubernatorial appointee would risk a back-door ban on the medications.

State Sen. John Cavanaugh of Omaha filed an amendment that would list specific restrictions on blockers and hormones rather than delegate the decision to the chief medical officer. Its unlikely to be adopted, but could be debated during the final reading of the bill.

LB 574 as amended would ban abortions at 12 weeks gestational age, from the first day of a mothers last period. The bill contains exceptions for the life of the mother, rape and incest but does not offer exceptions for fetal anomalies, including for conditions incompatible with life.

Procedural war

One of the only chances for opponents to stop LB 574 was to block the amendment that combined the issues, forcing a vote on the bill as-is. Multiple senators had said they might not support the bill without the changes.

Rules changes this session that were intended to weaken the filibuster came into play Tuesday for one of the first times, limiting the number of motions that opponents could use to slow things down. Opponents had hoped to use up the allotted two hours of debate and kill the bill.

Once their major motion failed, opponents tried to use points of order and attempts to overrule several decisions by Kelly, the Legislatures presiding officer.

What was originally scheduled as a two-hour debate stretched over five hours, as Speaker John Arch of La Vista flexed his ability to press pause on the clock during motions against Kelly.

Those motions were handled differently Tuesday than they were during even the first round of debate on LB 574, where two hours of such motions were counted toward the eight hours of debate.

State Sen. Ben Hansen of Blair, who introduced the amendment combining the two issues, said he didnt blame opponents for working to block his amendment by running out the clock.

This is a bill they are very passionate about, and that they dont like, and they were trying to stop it, Hansen said. What you saw was a procedural war, kind of a battlefield of ideas here on the floor.  Its just that the rules worked out in our favor  thats just how good government is supposed to work.

Blood on your hands

State Sen. Machaela Cavanaugh, as it became clear that the bill would have enough support to be amended, accused the legislative majority of cheating and changing the rules to win.

Women will die, she said. Children are dying. It is your fault.  You do literally have blood on your hands, and if you vote for this, you will have buckets and buckets of blood on your hands.

Just last month, Montana lawmakers disciplined Democratic state Rep. Zooey Zephyr, who is transgender, for making similar comments. In Nebraska, Cavanaugh faced a threat of censure in March for comments about LB 574 and its impact on trans youth, but her words Tuesday prompted no immediate reaction.

Majority rules

State Sen. Steve Erdman of Bayard, chairman of the Legislatures Rules Committee, said the rules are what 25 senators want them to be.

State Sen. Justin Wayne of Omaha agreed with Erdman but said the Legislature had until recently prided itself on acting differently toward senators in the minority.

He said the inconsistent ways the rules were applied risks leaving future Legislatures with the majority deciding on its own how the rules are applied.

Today is not a good day for Nebraska, Wayne said. What happened here today is win at all costs instead of doing whats best for all Nebraskans.

Riepes deal

The amendment ultimately secured the support of four senators who had criticized parts of the proposals during previous rounds of debate: State Sens. Merv Riepe of Ralston, Tom Brandt of Plymouth, Jana Hughes of Seward and Myron Dorn of Adams.

Riepe provided the 33rd vote needed to overcome a filibuster. Nearly three weeks ago, he refused to vote for LB 626, which contained a ban timed to embryonic cardiac activity, which occurs about six weeks into a pregnancy, saying that didnt give women enough time to act. He kept his deal with conservatives to support a less restrictive ban, although the ultimate agreement would cut off abortions about two weeks sooner than his proposed amendment.

He and Hansen said they would work together next year on trying to add clarifying language that puts to rest any concerns about potential criminal penalties for doctors performing abortions in Nebraska. He also wants to add a risk assessment next year for suicidal pregnant women.

I want to sweeten this thing, polish it up, make it more workable, make it more reasonable, he said. I think it was pretty explosive to put two controversial bills together. Its like nitroglycerin and something else. Its unfortunate.

Hunt said Riepe would be on an island by yourself in adding clarifying language on criminal penalties. Machaela Cavanaugh accused Hansen of lying to get Riepes support.

Seeding legal challenges

John Cavanaugh and others again suggested that the amendment put doctors at risk of being prosecuted. State Sen. Carolyn Bosn of Lincoln, a former Lancaster County prosecutor, said Riepe and others didnt need to worry about criminal penalties in the bill because there are none. State Sen. Teresa Ibach of Sumner said that the amendment wasnt perfect but that senators shouldnt let perfect be the enemy of good.

Opponents pledged to fight the bill during its final two-hour debate, which could come as early as Thursday, and in court, if necessary. Demonstrators against LB 574 said they would keep up their protests. Arch said he had not yet scheduled the bills next debate.

Several senators laid groundwork during Tuesdays debate for likely legal challenges, whether on the State Constitutions requirement that each bill cover only a single subject, or on the 14th Amendment, which promises equal protection of the laws. Bans on gender-affirming care are currently being challenged in nine states.

State Sen. Danielle Conrad of Lincoln, who had served two terms in the Legislature and was term-limited before being elected to a third term, said she was sad to see the officially nonpartisan Legislature succumb to the tone and tenor of national partisan politics.

I think today was a very sad day where you saw citizens crying out for autonomy and dignity, and you saw the majority bend the rules, if not break the rules, at every turn in order to achieve a desired result, she said.

Hunt said that would be the legacy of the 2023 legislative session.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis announced on Tuesday his decision to deploy over 1,100 members of the state's National Guard and law enforcement officials to Texas to help with the US-Mexico border crisis, according to CBS News.

The deployment will consist of 800 soldiers, 200 officers from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, 101 state troopers, and 20 wildlife officers, as disclosed by the Republican governor.

Florida will also be sending five planes, 17 drones, two command vehicles, and ten boats, according to an official press statement.

The recent lifting of pandemic-related restrictions on asylum-seeking at the border has caused concerns among state and federal officials, prompting this increased security presence.

Governor DeSantis stated, "At my direction, state agencies, including law enforcement and the Florida National Guard, are being deployed to Texas, with assets including personnel, boats, and planes."

This move comes in response to requests for assistance from the governors of Texas and Arizona, which DeSantis promptly answered by sending aid to the southern border of the United States in 2021.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) emphasized the capabilities of their officers in remote and water environments, highlighting their experience, training, and specialized equipment.

In a statement, the FWC expressed that their officers had been instrumental in assisting law enforcement partners along the Texas border in 2021.

As part of the deployment, 20 FWC officers and two mechanics will be dispatched to Texas, working in collaboration with federal, state, and local organizations for 14-16 days, according to the agency.

READ NEXT: 1,500 Troops Coming to US Mexico Border Amid Fears of Migrant Surge

Ron Desantis Helps With US-Mexico Border Crisis in Response to Greg Abbot's Request

Under the Emergency Management Assistance Compact framework, Florida is extending its support to Texas, highlighting the collaborative efforts between these two states as signatories of the agreement.

Through EMAC, states can seek reimbursement from the Federal Emergency Management Agency for the expenses incurred in deploying personnel and equipment. Governor Ron DeSantis has previously assisted in Texas and Arizona to bolster border security measures.

This proactive move by Florida directly responds to a request made by Governor Greg Abbott of Texas. Abbott reached out to his counterparts to address the substantial expenditure of over $4.5 billion that Texas has allocated towards border security activities since 2021, per National Review.

Moreover, the Texas legislature is considering an additional allocation of $4.6 billion over the next two years for the same purpose.

In emphasizing the need for collective action, Abbott expressed that his state should not bear the burden of financing national security efforts alone. He underscored the imperative for governors to unite and collaborate without federal leadership.

Notably, alongside Florida's involvement, Idaho has also dispatched aid in the form of Idaho State Police troopers, exemplifying multiple states joining forces to address the border security concerns.

Gov. Ron DeSantis Slams Pres. Joe Biden Over US-Mexico Border Crisis

Governor Ron DeSantis had been dropping hints for weeks about an imminent immigration-related announcement, reigniting his ongoing disagreement with President Joe Biden following the expiration of Title 42, a pandemic-era policy that facilitated the removal of migrants, NBC News reports.

In a statement, DeSantis expressed his concern over the consequences of what he called "Biden's Border Crisis," emphasizing that its impact extends beyond border regions and affects communities nationwide.

DeSantis's office says the deployment of border patrol agents will last for a minimum of 30 days. This announcement arrives at a critical juncture as the approaching hurricane season looms in June.

Ron DeSantis dispatched just over one hundred Florida law enforcement officers to assist what he described as a "catastrophe at the southern border under the Biden Administration" last year in June.

Most of these officers represented various Florida Department of Law Enforcement divisions, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, and the Florida Highway Patrol.

READ MORE: Ohio Man Sues School Over Alleged Discrimination

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WATCH: DeSantis sending Florida law enforcement to Texas border - From NBC News
Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani used to be "America's Mayor." Now, he is facing a sexual harassment lawsuit from a former employee who also claims that the former Donald Trump attorney and his client, the former president himself, tried selling pardons.

According to CBS News, Noelle Dunphy, who used to work for the former presidential candidate and New York City mayor, is seeking $10 million in compensatory and punitive damages from her former employer for various charges, including sexual harassment and wage theft, as she claimed Giuliani did not pay her frequently.

Justin Kelton, who represents the plaintiff, released a statement, stating that the former NYC mayor was "constantly pressuring her, making sexual comments, sexual remarks, to her, about her, about himself." He added that when they were supposed to be working, he would "grope her and try to initiate sexual contact."

Dunphy claims that Giuliani was always intoxicated as he reportedly drank morning, noon, and night, which made his behavior unpredictable. She also stated that he would take Viagra constantly and expose himself to her and tell her "You take care of this."

She claims in her filing that Giuliani would tell her to satisfy his sexual demands at virtually any time, telling her that this was an absolute requirement of her employment. He even demanded that she should "work naked, or in short-shorts with an American flag on them that he bought for her."

Rudy Giuliani Did Not Pay His Accuser Her Wages

In her 70-page lawsuit, Dunphy revealed that she was hired by the mayor back in January 2019 when he was still one of the most influential people in politics, as Giuliani still served former President Donald Trump at that time. She stated that he "fashioned himself publicly as a major player in American politics, a successful businessman, and an important powerbroker."

When she was hired, the plaintiff claimed that Giulini had offered her an annual salary of $1 million plus expenses, as she would be serving as his business development director.

READ NEXT: Fox News Settles With Dominion For Over $700 Million

However, the former Republican presidential candidate did not pay her, deferring her wages because his third divorce with ex-wife Judith Giuliani was costing him a lot. However, she did say that he often demanded to have sex, according to The Guardian.

Rudy Giuliani Tried Selling Pardons From Donald Trump for $2 Million

Former President Donald Trump had not been shy about pardoning allies from crimes that they were found guilty of committing. In her lawsuit against the former president's lawyer, Dunphy claimed that Giuliani told her that he has "immunity" and that he was selling pardons from Donald Trump for $2 million. He says that he and the former president used to split their sales of those pardons.

NBC News pointed out that while this was stated in the lawsuit, it did not suggest that any presidential pardons from Trump were actually sold. Dunphy's attorney, Kelton, stated in an interview that they expect this story to be "corroborated in other ways."

The complaint alleged that known Giuliani associate Lev Parnas was present during that conversation and Kelton stated that they want Parnas to talk about it,

READ MORE: Fox News CEO Furious at Reporter for Fact-Checking Donald Trump's Election Lies

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WATCH: Rudy Giuliani's Accuser Claims He Sexually Exploited Her - Inside Edition
Ecuador, the latest Latin American nation grappling with conflicting constitutional forces, witnessed a tense standoff between conservative President Guillermo Lasso and the opposition-led legislature on Tuesday, exacerbating the country's political divisions, according to AP.

As politicians presented what they considered evidence of wrongdoing, the opposition leader's confidence in gathering the required 92 votes to remove President Lasso gradually waned.

However, even if Ecuador President Guillermo Lasso's defense proves ineffective during the session, the Ecuadorian constitution grants him the power to dissolve the legislature and govern by decree.

Irrespective of the outcome of this week's power struggle, it will undoubtedly contribute to the prevailing political instability that has long plagued Ecuador.

The country has been grappling with challenges, including a recent surge in drug-related violence characterized by several prison massacres.

This combination of factors has heightened the nation's sense of uncertainty and turmoil.

While Ecuador has often been viewed as relatively stable compared to its neighboring countries, such as Colombia and Peru, there is growing discontent among its citizens over the perceived lack of government action in addressing critical issues like unemployment, violence, gang extortion, and petty crime.

Laura Lizarazo, a senior analyst specializing in Ecuador and Colombia at the global consultancy firm Control Risks, said that many Ecuadorians believe the government needs to be more connected to their urgent needs.

"We anticipate that the progressive deterioration in terms of security that Ecuador has experienced in the last year will persist," she said.

READ NEXT: Ecuador President Guillermo Lasso Declares State of Emergency

Ecuador President Guillermo Lasso Could Call for 'Two-Way Death'

President Guillermo Lasso of Ecuador may evade impeachment proceedings by invoking a constitutional provision known as the "two-way death," Reuters reports.

This peculiar provision allows Ecuadorian presidents to call for early elections for the presidency and the National Assembly when the legislature hinders the executive branch from fulfilling its duties.

Juan Pablo Ortiz, the legal secretary of the presidency, stated on Monday that the possibility of utilizing this option had been consistently under consideration and is available for the president to decide.

If Lasso were to be removed from office, Vice President Alfredo Borrero would assume the role of the country's leader.

Alternatively, Lasso can dissolve the assembly, granting him the authority to govern by decree until new elections are scheduled.

During the ongoing developments, numerous supporters of the Ecuadorian president took to the streets surrounding the meeting to display their unwavering support for the embattled leader.

In a significant move, Ecuador's largest indigenous organization, CONAIE, expressed its backing for the measure to remove Lasso.

In a statement, they asserted that under Guillermo Lasso's leadership, Ecuador's future is plagued by fear and uncertainty.

'Two-Way Death' May Spark Protest

Experts are expressing concerns about the potential consequences of invoking the "two-way death" provision, citing fears of widespread demonstrations like those witnessed last year in response to rising living costs. With an already weakened economy and a surge in drug-related homicides, further political instability would deeply unsettle the country.

The opposition is confident in its ability to impeach Lasso through a two-thirds supermajority. This means gathering 92 votes out of the total 137 in the chamber is necessary to achieve a supermajority or a two-thirds majority.

Ecuador President Guillermo Lasso, a former banker, narrowly escaped impeachment last year with the support of only 80 lawmakers.

Locals in the streets of Quito expressed divided views on the potential impeachment of Lasso, with some voicing their support while others expressed opposition.

In speaking to Al Jazeera, Carla Araujo expressed her belief that Congress represented the people. She criticized the regime's alleged detrimental impact on health and education institutions.

On the other hand, some argued that Lasso should be allowed to complete his term in office. Fidel Lopez, a resident of Quito, stated, "The people, 18 million Ecuadorians, voted, and he obtained a majority. Let him continue with his work."

The Organization of American States weighed in on Monday, urging Ecuadorian lawmakers to ensure justice and adhere to due process standards throughout the impeachment proceedings.

READ MORE: Jamie Foxx Transferred to Physical Rehab in Chicago

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WATCH: Impeachment trial to begin against Ecuador's president - From Al Jazeera English
Johnny Depp made his first public appearance in quite a while during the Cannes Film Festival and received a standing ovation. Amber Heard fans were not happy.

The "Pirates of the Caribbean" actor was not seen in public since his protracted legal battle with ex-wife Amber Heard, in which he won. However, the 59-year-old was highly emotional as he stepped into the red carpet for the first time since Heard accused him of domestic abuse.

The "Sweeney Todd" actor was also seen interacting with the crowd outside the Palais, many of whom were carrying signs in support of Johnny Depp. One was even spotted carrying a "Viva Johnny" sign while shouting his name, according to US Weekly.

Depp based on all the love and support being showered upon him in southern France, as this was a sign of resurgence for his career which took a massive hit when Heard accused him of domestic abuse. However, after he won the case, many saw it as redemption for the embattled actor.

Amber Heard Fans and Supporters Protesting Cannes Film Festival Over Johnny Depp

While Johnny Depp is basking in all the love and support being given to him by fans over in southern France, supporters and fans of his ex-wife, Amber Heard, were crying foul over the film festival choosing him to be its opener.

Her supporters have launched a new social media campaign with the hashtag #CannesYouNot and are claiming that the prestigious film festival is "celebrating abusers for 76 years."

According to Variety, this was launched by Amber Heard supporters just days before the festival kicked off in Cannes. One of its proponents, a close friend of Amber Heard, Eve Barlow, stated, "Cannes seem proud of their history supporting rapists and abusers."

READ MORE: Guyana Pirates Trial: Court Sentences 2 Pirates to Death Over Fishermen's Deaths

In a post on social media, she posted photos of known sexual abusers that the festival celebrated, including Roman Polanski and Harvey Weinstein. She included Depp in that collage of Hollywood's most infamous abusers.

Rebecca, one of the people organizing this campaign, said that many of those supporting it are victims of sexual abuse themselves and that the result of the case between Heard and Depp frightened many of them as it was seen as a step back from the gains they had in fighting back against men in power known for sexual abuse.

"The Depp v. Heard trial became the vehicle through which the backlash against the #MeToo movement went viral. Hollywood industries seem to be riding that backlash to return to the status quo," Rebecca told Variety. "To open your festival with Johnny Depp? To be frank, it feels like a slap in the face."

Other People at the Cannes Film Festival

While Depp opened the prestigious film festival, other big-name Hollywood celebrities were also seen on the red carpet, including "Captain Marvel" star Brie Larson, "Kill Bill" star Uma Thurman, and even a blue-haired Helen Mirren, with the Oscar winner seen sporting a fan labeled #worthit.

Meanwhile, according to the Associated Press, the French fans also showed their love for Hollywood legend Michael Douglas who was accompanied by wife, Catherine Zeta-Jones, and their daughter, Carys Zeta Douglas. The Oscar-winning actor also received a standing ovation.

READ MORE: Amber Heard in Legal Trouble in Australia

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WATCH: See Johnny Depp Make His Return to Cannes Film Festival | E! News
Embattled Republican Representative George Santos of New York may be expelled from Congress soon as House Democrats took steps to force a vote on kicking him out of office.

According to the Associated Press, even though the Republicans only have a small majority, with a few other Republicans calling to expel Santos, the effort is expected to be defeated.

However, it will place Republicans in an uncomfortable position by making them take a stand against an indicted party member.

Santos recently admitted to stealing checks in Brazil and illegally using them under a false name. However, he managed to sign a deal with Brazilian authorities to drop the criminal charges in the 2008 case.

In the US, Santos still faces federal charges for embezzling money from his campaign, falsely receiving unemployment funds, and lying to Congress regarding his finances. He has since denied all the charges and has pleaded not guilty.

Rep. Robert Garcia, a Democrat from California, introduced a resolution to expel the Republican lawmaker back in February, though it needed the approval of a two-thirds majority to pass.

Garcia brought up the measure again on Tuesday under a process that gives lawmakers until Thursday to deal with it.

READ NEXT: Paul Gosar Staffer Linked to Neo-Nazi Nick Fuentes, New Report Shows

Republicans Will Have to Break With George Santos or Defend Him

The measure left by Robert Garcia now leaves Republicans with a crucial choice that could overall end badly for party members.

Should they choose to break with George Santos, they could force a snap election in New York and have their majority go smaller, or they could defend Santos but get backlash from many of their constituents over supporting a known fraud.

Garcia spoke with reporters and said, "The Republicans in the House are actually going to have to go on record and make a decision about if they're actually going to stand for truth and accountability, or if they're going to stand with someone that's clearly a liar."

The Guardian reported that the Republican majority is currently paper-thin as they only lead by five seats. Should Santos' seat become vacant, that majority will become even slimmer.

That would also become perilous for House Speaker Kevin McCarthy. The California Republican barely received enough votes to secure his speakership, with Santos being one of those who voted for him.

On Tuesday, Garcia told reporters that House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries is also involved in the process of expelling George Santos.

House GOP Leaders Reassure George Santos Critics

George Santos is unpopular in the Republican party, though many were forced to stick with him because of the slim majority.

Soon after the Democrats moved to vote on expelling the controversial congressman, Republican leaders held a private meeting with some of Santos' biggest critics within the party.

According to Politico, Kevin McCarthy reportedly told the anti-Santos Republicans that they had to do this properly and laid out three options for handling the expulsion issue.

That includes referring the proposal to the Republican-controlled House Ethics Committee and tabling the process entirely or bringing it to the floor for a vote.

Either way, McCarthy warned that all these options could risk dividing Republicans further and brought up the modern precedent that they should wait for the House Ethics Committee report or a criminal conviction.

One of those Republicans, who asked to remain anonymous, stated that this meeting was more about the process and not saving Santos from expulsion.

READ MORE: George Santos Denies Being a Drag Queen in Brazil

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WATCH: House Democrat Introduces Resolution to Expel Santos From Congress - From CBS New York
A Missouri teacher, who was captured in a video using a racial slur in a class at Glendale High School, is no longer employed, the Springfield Public Schools district said.

The teacher, which the district has not identified, was initially placed on administrative leave after the video that circulated on social media showed the teacher using the n-word at least twice in class. However, the teacher eventually resigned.

School principal Josh Groves addressed the incident in a letter sent to staff and families on May 9, admitting that the teacher's language was "inappropriate" and "inexcusable."

In the video footage provided to CNN by a lawyer of the student who filmed the classroom incident, a student intervened and can be heard cautioning the teacher to stop saying the n-word.

But the teacher said: "I'm not calling anyone a (racial slur). I can say the word."

The school administration confirmed to CNN Tuesday that the teacher was no longer employed by Springfield Public Schools district after the teacher resigned.

READ NEXT: Missouri Teen Shot Twice

Missouri Teacher Used Racial Slur Several Times in Class

According to Insider, Mary Walton recorded her geometry teacher after hearing the instructor repeatedly use a racial slur in front of the class.

Before the 15-year-old student started the recording, the Missouri teacher had already used the offensive term several times.

In trying to justify his use of the slur, the teacher told a student that although he disliked the word, it's still as derogatory when a Black person uses it toward another Black person.

The Washington Post reported that a student countered this argument by saying plantation owners used that word to address slaves.

When the teacher was about to repeat the n-word, a student cut him off and said: "Don't say it right now as a teacher if you want to keep your job... This isn't a threat."

After saying he did not call anyone using the racial slur, so there was nothing wrong in saying the word, the Missouri teacher then directed his attention to Walton, pointing at her and telling her to put her phone away. When the student did not do it, the teacher instructed her to "go to the office."

But rather than leaving the classroom, the student stayed and sent the recorded video to her mother and a friend asking for advice. After 30 minutes, the video circulated on social media, despite Walton not posting it and does not know who did it.

School Suspends Student After Recording Missouri Teacher Using Racial Slur

Mary Walton was suspended for three days, between May 12 and May 16, after she recorded the 55-second video in which her geometry teacher can be heard saying the n-word twice.

According to Daily Beast, Walton and her family asked the school to apologize and delete the suspension from the student's record.

Walton was informed on Friday morning that she was facing the consequences for recording her teacher on video.

Walton's attorney, Natalie Hull, noted that the Missouri student was still trying to comprehend why she was disciplined. Hull said: "She's still processing everything, and she doesn't understand what she did wrong."

Walton and her family reached out to school and district officials on Sunday to

request her return on Monday and an apology. But Hull noted that they had yet to receive a response.

The Springfield Public Schools Student Handbook said students can have electronic devices with them, such as cell phones, as long as they are "not disruptive to the educational process or in violation of site use procedures."

However, it noted that students will be subjected to disciplinary action if they use these electronic devices "to record, publish or display audio or visual images of events involving faculty, staff or other students in or around school premises, without the approval of school personnel."

A separate policy specific to mobile phones further noted that "the use of a cell phone or a similar device is prohibited during the school day, which means that the device must not be turned on or used during the school day. Violating these rules could result in students being penalized from a parent-teacher meeting to a three-day suspension.

READ MORE: Border Crisis Triggers Drastic Action from Ron DeSantis

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WATCH: Video Shows Missouri Teacher Repeatedly Using Racial Slur - From NBC News
A Sinaloa Cartel leader, who has ties to El Chapo's four sons known as Los Chapitos, was about to undergo facial surgery in a clinic in Mexico when authorities arrested him.

Hector Flores, also known as "El 15," was reportedly arrested Friday by the Mexican Army and National Guard at a clinic in Guamuchil in Mexico's Sinaloa state.

Flores had a scheduled facial surgery at that time to change his appearance and avoid being captured, the Daily Mail reported.

In a press conference on Monday, Quintana Roo Attorney General Oscar Montes de Oca said aside from transforming his face, the Sinaloa Cartel leader also had some hair grafts done to look completely different from his original self.

Montes de Oca noted that security forces searched for Flores for about seven or eight months. El 15 reportedly led a group linked to Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman Loera's four sons, who head the Los Chapitos faction.

READ NEXT: Mexico: Warring Cartels Block Roads Near US Border

Sinaloa Cartel Leader 'El 15' Transferred to Cancun After Being Arrested

Hector Flores is accused of overseeing the cartel operations in the resort city of Cancun in Quintana Roo state. After being arrested in Guamuchil, Sinaloa, he was quickly transferred back to Cancun.

According to El Pais, El 15, whose strong ties to El Chapo's sons made him more notable than many other cartel leaders, has managed to evade authorities for months after the Quintana Roo Prosecutor's Office issued an arrest warrant for his capture.

There was even a reward of half a million pesos for information on his whereabouts. Flores was allegedly responsible for directing violent attacks across Mexico's Caribbean state, with the latest incident being the murder of four men last month.

The victims' bodies were found in front of the Fiesta Americana Condesa Hotel in Cancun on April 4. The infamous Sinaloa Cartel leader has been linked to these killings.

El 15 reportedly oversees his area's drug marketplace as a plaza boss. He was allegedly one of the major reasons why violence in Cancun has risen. Multiple drug cartels vie for supremacy in the resort area.

According to Infobae, El 15 was also responsible for recent armed attacks in two popular bars in Cancun - the Las Micheladas del Tio Tono and Deja Vu.

El Chapo's Sons, Known as Los Chapitos, Deny Being Leaders of the Sinaloa Cartel

El Chapo's sons, namely Ovidio Guzman Lopez, Joaquin Guzman Lopez, Ivan Archivaldo Guzman Salazar, and Jesus Alfredo Guzman Salazar, are collectively known as the Los Chapitos.

They had reportedly assumed leadership roles in the Sinaloa Cartel after their father was arrested and extradited to the US.

El Chapo's sons were among 29 members and leaders of the Sinaloa Cartel who the US Department of Justice indicted on April 14. The indictment charged them with large-scale drug trafficking, money laundering, and "violent crimes."

However, El Chapo's sons have denied allegations that they were major drug traffickers flooding the US with fentanyl.

In a letter published by the Mexican news outlet Milenio earlier this month, El Chapo's sons wrote: "We have never produced, manufactured or marketed fentanyl or any of its derivatives."

The letter was sent to Milenio by Jose Refugio Rodriguez, who confirmed to Reuters that he is a lawyer of the Guzman family.

The Los Chapitos also denied being the leaders of the Sinaloa Cartel, saying they were just victims of an international misinformation campaign by firms, the media, and public figures that have painted them to be notorious drug traffickers.

"We are not the head of the Sinaloa Cartel nor are we interested in being... We are victims of persecution and have been made into scapegoats," they wrote.

Only three of the Los Chapitos remain at large as Ovidio Guzman was already arrested last January 5 by Mexican authorities in Mexico's Sinaloa state. He remains detained in Mexico pending extradition proceedings to the US.

READ MORE: Los Chapitos, Among 28 Sinaloa Cartel Members Charged by US Government

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WATCH: De que se le acusa a 'El 15' de 'Los Chapitos'? - From MILENIO
Elvis Presley's ex-wife Priscilla Presley and her granddaughter Riley Keough have reportedly settled their dispute over Lisa Marie Presley's trust.

According to PEOPLE, Priscilla and Riley's legal teams reached a settlement at a Los Angeles courthouse Tuesday. However, details of the settlement were kept private.

TMZ sources noted that Lisa Marie's estate paid Priscilla an undisclosed sum of money to settle the dispute, and it's reportedly in the millions.

After the hearing, Ronson Shamoun, Priscilla's attorney, told reporters outside the courtroom: "They have reached a settlement. Families are happy. Everyone is happy. Unified and together and excited for the future."

Justin Gold, Riley's lawyer, added: "[Riley] would not have agreed to the settlement if she was not happy with it." The next hearing and motion for approval are reportedly set for August 4.

According to Los Angeles probate attorney David Esquibias, many families resolve disputes like this quietly and settle out of court, with lawyers acting as quick negotiators.

TMZ reported that at the time of her passing, Lisa Marie Presley reportedly had at least $35 million in life insurance policies.

"A 'life insurance trust' is typically created by wealthy people. It is an irrevocable trust that is funded with life insurance," explained Esquibias.

For someone like Lisa Marie Presley, he added that a life insurance trust's primary objective is "to avoid tax at death."

READ NEXT: What Lisa Marie Presley's Heirs Might Inherit

Priscilla Presley Wants to Remain a Co-Trustee For Lisa Marie Presley's Estate

Lisa Marie Presley, who died at 54 last January 12, changed her will in 2016 to remove her 77-year-old mother, Priscilla Presley, and make her 33-year-old daughter Riley Keough the executor.

Lisa Marie has three surviving children: Keough and 14-year-old twin daughters Harper Vivienne Ann and Finley Aaron Love.

So currently, the trust of the late Lisa Marie, which reportedly includes the Graceland mansion and a stake in the Elvis Presley Enterprises (EPE), names Riley as a co-trustee. However, Priscilla is legally challenging that.

Lisa Marie had previously named her mother and former business manager Barry Siegel as co-trustees in 2010. However, a 2016 amendment removed the two as co-trustees and put the trust in the hands of her daughter and her late son Benjamin.

Last January, Priscilla's lawyers filed a petition in Los Angeles questioning the "authenticity and validity" of the 2016 document. Priscilla's camp alleged that her daughter's signature on the 2016 amendment "appears inconsistent with her usual and customary signature."

She also argued that her daughter's name had been spelled wrong and that the document was never notarized. In filing the petition, Priscilla reportedly wanted confirmation from the court that she would continue to be a trustee of Lisa Marie's estate.

The only child of Elvis Presley owned Graceland, the estate in Memphis that her father bought in 1957. Despite having no ownership or role in the company, Priscilla was reportedly being paid $900,000 a year by EPE.

EPE is a corporate entity formed by "The Elvis Presley Trust" to conduct business and manage its assets, including Graceland and worldwide licensing of Elvis-related products. EPE's major source of revenue is the Graceland operation.

A friend of Lisa Marie told The New York Post that Priscilla, who had been a longtime Elvis estate trustee, also failed to have her contract renewed by EPE in 2020.

Priscilla Presley's Statement After She and Riley Keough Reach Settlement Over Lisa Marie Presley's Trust

In a statement sent to Fox News Digital, Priscilla Presley, through her representatives, said her family has resolved "all confusion as it relates to our plea to the court and request for document interpretation after my daughter Lisa Marie's untimely passing."

She also clarified that it was not a lawsuit against her granddaughter.

"Although the media identified such a plea as a lawsuit, I want to make clear that there was never any lawsuit filed against my beloved granddaughter. As a family, we are pleased that we resolved this together," Priscilla noted.

She also asked for privacy so she and her family could "properly grieve Lisa Marie and spend personal time together."

"We love and appreciate all of you and the Presley family is stronger than ever," Priscilla concluded.

READ MORE: Jamie Foxx Health Update

This is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Bert Hoover

WATCH: Priscilla Presley & Riley Keough Settle Estate Dispute - Form E! News
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A Yellowstone County jury found a Billings man guilty of a murder he committed near a local bar more than four years ago.

Deandre Laron Gulley, 43, was convicted Tuesday of deliberate homicide, assault with a weapon and criminal endangerment following an eight-day trial. In April 2019, Gulley fatally shot 24-year-old Shane Nez Perce and wounded another man outside of a Southside saloon.

Our hearts go out to surviving family members of Shane Nez Perce, said Deputy Chief Yellowstone County Attorney Ed Zink, one of two prosecutors in the trial. This day was a long time coming for them. Theyve shown a lot of grace and patience with the criminal justice system, and their patience was rewarded by the jurys verdict.

Infrared security footage shown during the trial captured the outside of the entrance to Lees Saloon in the early hours of April 6, 2019. A nearly indistinguishable figure raised a handgun and opened fire, sending several patrons sprinting away from the scene.

A bullet struck one man in the leg. Nez Perce was shot in the back and pronounced dead at a Billings hospital within an hour. County prosecutors spent hours presenting evidence from surveillance footage, several Billings Police Department detectives assigned to the homicide and forensic experts to prove to the jury that Gulley was the shooter in the video.

In the minutes before shots were fired, there was an argument outside of Lees that ended with a man getting punched and knocked to the ground. Two men, later identified as Gulley and Gregory Richard Boyd, helped the man to his feet and assisted him away from the area. Gulley came back to the entrance of the saloon and started shooting. Witnesses, court documents said, identified Gulley and Boyd as the men who helped the punched man to his feet, and arrest warrants were issued for both men.

Yellowstone County prosecutors initially charged Gulley and Boyd with deliberate homicide, assault with a weapon and criminal endangerment. Boyd reached a plea agreement with county attorneys last year, admitting to one count tampering with evidence. In the hours after the shooting, Boyd deleted footage from a security camera outside of his South Side home.

Gulley went into the trial, which began May 5, after being booked into Yellowstone County Detention Facility in March 2020. During that time, attorneys representing Gulley made several attempts to have the case dismissed. In one instance, defense attorneys argued that Gulley had not been granted his constitutionally-protected right to a speedy trial.

About a month before the trial, attorneys representing Gulley argued to have the case against him dismissed on the grounds that the United States Parole Office would not give them access to information produced by parole officers involved in the investigation into the shooting. District Judge Michael G. Moses, who oversaw the trial, denied the motions.

The jury deliberated for about four-and-a-half hours Tuesday before reaching their guilty verdicts on all three counts. Gulley will be sentenced later this summer. He is facing up to life in prison, and was ordered back into custody at YCDF after the guilty verdict.

The Yellowstone County Attorneys Office charged 22 people with deliberate homicide from 2020-2022, the Gazette previously reported. County prosecutors have filed homicide charges in connection to three deaths so far this year.
It may be an off-year, but the 2023 Pennsylvania primary elections still carry some weight. Voters on Tuesday are picking candidates from the state Supreme Court on down to their local school board. The balance of the state House in Harrisburg could be decided.

But without national-level races to bring voters out, early turnout appeared low and polling was generally uneventful in the Lehigh Valley.

At least one local issue was reported: Voting machines in a Whitehall Township precinct were still locked in a closet when polls opened and the maintenance person with the key was nowhere to be found. Lehigh County Executive Phil Armstrong said the handful of voters waiting at the Schadt Avenue polling place instead filled out provisional ballots, and that the county notified appropriate authorities about the incident.

 2023 Pa. primary election coverage: Candidates | Voting guide

Meanwhile, relatively few voters are expected to cast ballots. During a particularly slow stretch from mid- to late morning, canvassers outside Bethlehems City Hall rotunda and Eastons Paxinosa Elementary School could only wait for voters to appear. Both cities have crowded council races, and Easton, in the absence of a general election challenger, will likely choose its mayor.

Its going to be a long day, said one canvasser outside the school, taking advantage of the downtime to find a bathroom as two others discussed views on a variety of topics. After a light flurry of activity when polls opened, canvassers said they hoped for more voters to appear at lunch and after work. Polls close at 8 p.m.

Berwood Yost, director of the Center for Opinion Research at Franklin & Marshall College, expected about 25% of registered voters to turn out on Tuesday.

That tracks with 2021, the last off-year primary election, when turnout in both Lehigh and Northampton counties was between 20% and 25%, according to local election statistics. Lehigh Valley turnout was about 32% the following year when parties picked their nominees for the contentious 2022 midterm elections.

The state department reported at least 700,000 voters statewide had requested mail-in ballots. Counties were not allowed to begin canvassing them until 7 a.m. Tuesday.

Armstrong said Lehigh County had about 15,000 mail ballots as of midday, with end-of-day drop box collections still pending. But he did not expect it would take long for results on Tuesday night.

Some pundits are keying in on Pennsylvania as a barometer for next years presidential election, particularly Philadelphias mayoral races and a special election for state representative in the citys suburbs.

Yost said he is definitely interested in those, and the Republican state Supreme Court race. But he has cautioned against reading too much into Pennsylvanias primaries due to variations in geography and electoral competition.

Pennsylvania has closed primary elections. That means the states 3.9 million Democrats and 3.4 million Republicans are eligible to cast a vote but, except in special circumstances, nearly 1 million registered independents and 350,000 third-party voters are not.

A spokesperson for the Department of State told lehighvalleylive.com late Tuesday afternoon that the election was running smoothly ... thanks largely to the hard work and diligent efforts of county elections officials and poll workers. A few minor and isolated issues have been reported sporadically across the state, but all were resolved quickly and efficiently.

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Steve Novak may be reached at snovak@lehighvalleylive.com.
Pennsylvania voters headed to the polls on Tuesday to pick primary candidates for Easton mayor, Northampton County district attorney and other local races for judge, school boards, municipal government seats and more across the Lehigh Valley.

We tracked election results and other developments throughout the night and updated the post into early Wednesday morning. Here are all our updates:

12:19 p.m.: Easton Area School Boards only contested primary appears to have ended with incumbent Edward Keegan, a retired schools superintendent, losing to Michael Simonetta, the districts former CFO, on both the Democratic and Republican ballots, according to unofficial results with all precincts reporting.

12:16 a.m.: Democrat Dan McCaffery and Republican Carolyn Carluccio have won their parties primaries for a vacant seat on the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. The two will face each other in a fall contest for the court, which is at the center of cases on guns, abortion and elections in a presidential battleground state. Each nominee won a two-way primary race. McCaffery defeated Deborah Kunselman, a colleague on the Superior Court, and Carluccio defeated Patricia McCullough, a Commonwealth Court judge who lost a primary for a high court seat in 2021. Party allies reported spending nearly $1 million to help her beat McCullough.

12:15 a.m.: Voters in Philadelphia have chosen Cherelle Parker as their Democratic nominee for mayor. In the heavily Democratic city, that makes Parker likely to become Philadelphias 100th mayor and the first woman to serve in the role. She beat out other former council members, a former city controller and a political outsider in Tuesdays primary. Parker has a long political history in Pennsylvania, after 10 years as a state representative and six as a member of the city council. She will go up against Republican David Oh in the Nov. 7 general election.

12:13 a.m.: With all 156 voting precincts in Northampton County and all 161 precincts in Lehigh County reporting tallies, Bethlehem City Council candidate Colleen Laird took the most votes with 3,783, followed by incumbent council President Michael G. Colon with 3,351 and former Councilman Bryan Callahan with 2,440. If the votes stand, those three will face Republican candidates Devin Brunges and Thomas Ginthner in the November election. The Republican primary was uncontested. A third Republican candidate, James Follweiler, said he would wage a write-in campaign to appear on the ballot in the general election.

11:46 p.m.: According to the unofficial results with all precincts reporting, incumbent Lower Saucon Township council members Sandra Yerger and Mark Inglis were victorious in Tuesdays Republican primary for three seats. Susan Blair took the third spot for the GOP. Kathy Pichel-McGovern came in fourth and will not go on to the general election, the results show. Theyll face a slate of uncontested Democrats in the general election.

11:43 p.m.: One incumbent and two newcomers appear headed for the seats on Easton City Council in Tuesdays primary election. Seven Democrats ran for three at-large seats on the city council. According to unofficial results with all precincts reporting, Frank Pintabone took the most votes with 1,251, followed by incumbent Councilman Ken Brown with 1,113 votes and Crystal Rose with 1,025 votes.

11:30 p.m.: According to unofficial results, Sheila Alvarado was the top vote-getter with 13,266 votes and Dan Hartzell was a close second with 13,008 votes as of 11:15 p.m. in the Democratic primary for four seats on the Lehigh County Board of Commissioners. Third and fourth were April Riddick with 10,389 votes and Joe Irons with 10,267 votes. If the results hold, the other three candidates wont make it to the general election. They are: Michael Blichar Jr. (9,909 votes), Victor VJ Martinez (9,752 votes) and Joe Setton (9,045 votes)

11:18 p.m.: The candidates for Northampton County judge in Tuesdays primary election appear headed for a rematch in November. Attorneys Nancy Aaroe and Brian Panella both cross-filed to seek both the Democratic and Republican nominations in the primary to appear on the ballot in the Nov. 7 general election. With all 156 precincts reporting across Northampton County, Panella received 13,090 votes to 9,948 for Aaroe to win the Democratic primary election, according to unofficial results. The results were switched on the Republican side, with Aaroe winning with 10,929 votes to 4,719 for Panella, the results showed.

11:10 p.m.: Incumbent Northampton County District Attorney Terry Houck and retired county Judge Stephen Baratta, his challenger in Tuesdays Democratic primary election, appear headed for a rematch in November. Baratta, 66, of Bethlehem, claimed victory in the primary, WFMZ-TV 69 reported from his election night party. Seeking his second four-year term, Houck told WFMZ he waged a successful write-in campaign for the Republican nomination to appear on the ballot in November.

10:41 p.m.: Democrats will maintain their narrow Pennsylvania House majority after winning a special election in the Philadelphia suburbs. Tuesdays win will also help them control how the chamber will handle abortion, gun rights and election law legislation. Heather Boyd defeated Republican Katie Ford in a special election to fill a vacancy created by the resignation of Democratic Rep. Mike Zabel. Zabel quit the Legislature in March, shortly after a lobbyist accused him of sexually harassing her. Boyds win gives Democrats 102 representatives, the minimum needed to control the agenda in the 203-seat House.

10:30 p.m.: Incumbent Easton Mayor Sal Panto Jr. on Tuesday night declared victory over his Democratic primary challenger, city Councilman Peter Melan. As of about 10:25 p.m., Panto was up by 1,509 votes to 608 for Melan, according to incomplete, unofficial results being compiled by Northampton County. Panto confirmed he was declaring victory with 70% of the vote in, and Melan said he made a concession call to Panto.

10:29 p.m.: Unofficial results show Brian Panella has 11,284 to Nancy Aaroes 8,430 on the Democratic ballot in the race for a seat on the Northampton County Court of Common Pleas. Aaroe, with 7,881 votes to Panellas 3,531 votes, leads on the Republican ballot, the results show. Both candidates cross filed. If the numbers hold, they would face each other again in the general election.

10:03 p.m.: Pennsylvania Acting Secretary of Commonwealth Al Schmidt reported Tuesdays municipal primary election ran smoothly, with county elections boards reporting a minimal number of routine issues. First, Id like to thank our county election officials and poll workers for conducting another free, fair, and secure election in Pennsylvania, Schmidt said in a statement. I also thank all eligible voters who did their part and cast their ballot in this primary election. Counties received about 788,000 mail ballot applications for the primary  nearly 708,000 applications for no-excuse mail-in ballots and 80,000 applications for absentee ballots. As of 7:30 p.m., more than 74% of those mail ballots had been returned. Voters had until 8 p.m. to return their completed mail ballot to their county board of elections.

9:53 p.m.: Democrat Dan McCaffery has won the partys nomination in Pennsylvania for a vacant state Supreme Court seat. Endorsed by the party, McCaffery defeated Deborah Kunselman in the two-way race. Democrats hold a 4-2 majority on the states highest court, which has an open seat following the death last year of Chief Justice Max Baer. The court has handled a number of hot-button issues over the past few years. It is currently examining a challenge to a state law that restricts the use of public funds to help women get an abortion as well as Philadelphias challenge to a state law that bars it and other municipalities from restricting the sale and possession of guns.

9:52 p.m.: Republican Michael Stender has won a special election for a Pennsylvania House of Representatives seat in central Pennsylvania. His victory Tuesday retains the seat vacated by a GOP member who was elected to the state Senate earlier this year. Majority control of the House hinges on another special election, in the Philadelphia suburbs. Whichever party wins the race between Democrat Heather Boyd and Republican Katie Ford will have 102 members, the minimum needed to control the agenda in the 203-seat state House. The Associated Press has not called that race.

9:46 p.m.: Stephen Baratta, a former Northampton County judge, is off to an early lead in the Democratic primary for Northampton County district attorney. Baratta stepped down from the bench to challenge incumbent District Attorney Terry Houck in the primary. Baratta so far has 8,861 votes to Hocks 7,526 votes, according to unofficial results published as of 9:45 p.m.

8:57 p.m.: Early results from counted mail-in ballots showed Easton Mayor Sal Panto Jr. with 611 votes and challenger Peter Melan, a city councilman, with 234 votes in the Democratic primary. Northampton County wasnt yet reporting Election Day ballot counts. Panto is seeking his seventh overall term as mayor.

8:26 p.m.: Voters in Philadelphia on Tuesday were determining who will likely lead the nations sixth-largest city from a crowded field of Democratic candidates. The election comes as the city faces upticks in gun violence and quality-of-life issues that make people feel unsafe. Five front-runner candidates  including former city council members, former city officials and a grocery store franchiser  have sought to differentiate themselves in a tight contest.

8:18 p.m.: Northampton County Elections Office staff began posting the results from the mail-in and absentee ballots around 8 p.m. Tuesday. Results from voting Tuesday at the polls will be uploaded as they come in, county officials said; the unofficial results will not include write-in candidates results.

7:28 p.m.: Looking for results yourself once polls close? Find them in Lehigh County at lehighcounty.org and in Northampton County at northamptonvotes.com.

4:39 p.m.: A spokesperson for the Pennsylvania Department of State tells lehighvalleylive.com that the election is so far running smoothly ... thanks largely to the hard work and diligent efforts of county elections officials and poll workers. A few minor and isolated issues have been reported sporadically across the state, but all were resolved quickly and efficiently.

4:21 p.m.: Lehigh County reports that voting machines in a Whitehall Township precinct were still locked in a closet when polls opened and the maintenance person with the key was nowhere to be found. County Executive Phil Armstrong said the handful of voters waiting at the Schadt Avenue polling place instead filled out provisional ballots, and that the county notified appropriate authorities about the incident.

The Associated Press contributed to these reports.

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A grand jury has indicted a Poconos man who was already charged in the stabbing deaths of four University of Idaho students, allowing prosecutors to skip a planned week-long preliminary hearing that was set for late June.

Bryan Kohberger was arrested late last year and charged with burglary and four counts of first-degree murder in connection with the Nov. 13, 2022, killings of Xana Kernodle, Ethan Chapin, Madison Mogen and Kaylee Goncalves at a rental home near the University of Idaho campus.

The slayings shocked the rural Idaho community and neighboring Pullman, Washington, where Kohberger was a graduate student studying criminology at Washington State University.

Kohberger was arrested in December at a home in Chestnuthill Township in Monroe County and was extradited to Idaho after a Jan. 3 hearing in Pennsylvania.

A preliminary hearing  where prosecutors must show a judge that there is enough evidence to justify moving forward with felony charges  was scheduled to begin June 26.

But on Tuesday, a grand jury indicted Kohberger on the same charges, effectively rerouting the case directly to the states felony court level and allowing prosecutors to skip the preliminary hearing process.
Three horses were malnourished and in need of emergency medical care when volunteers rescued them from a central Pennsylvania auction over the weekend.

Although the horses are far from out of the woods, they are resting at a Lewisberry farm, owned and operated by the nonprofit Bonded by Strength Equine Rescue. The rescues founder, Alura Ruppert, said Pennsylvania State Police are investigating who owned the horses before they ended up at the Saturday auction.
After a 2020 data breach that affected 2.1 million people  more than 52,000 from New Jersey  a vision benefits provider will pay $2.5 million as part of a multi-state settlement, the state said Tuesday.

The settlement resolves allegations that EyeMed Vision Care, or EyeMed, didnt sufficiently protect consumer data and that it violated state consumer protection laws and the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), Attorney General Matt Platkins office said.

New Jerseyans trusted EyeMed with their vision care and their personal information only to have that trust broken by the companys poor security measures, Platkin said in a statement. This is more than just a monetary settlement, its about changing companies behavior to better protect crucial patient data.
Bayanat, an AI-powered geospatial solutions company, and Al Yah Satellite Communications (Yahsat), have launched space programme to build national satellite remote sensing and Earth Observation (EO) capabilities within the UAE.



The initiative will commercially address business opportunities in the local and global EO market.



The program forms part of the two companies partnership with ICEYE, a renowned SAR satellite manufacturer based in Finland. The expansion of Bayanats capabilities into the space sector positions the company to drive its growth strategy and become a prominent player in the industry.



SAR is an active sensing system that illuminates the Earths surface and measures the reflected signal to generate high-resolution images. Unlike traditional optical imaging satellites, SAR can capture images day and night, regardless of weather conditions or solar illumination. Compared to other New Space SAR satellite services, ICEYEs radar antenna covers much larger geographical areas or, at the other end of the scale, provides higher resolution images of smaller areas.



Bayanats program aims to develop a constellation of at least five SAR low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites to provide a consistent data stream for end-to-end solutions for SAR applications.



t will cover the entire value chain by leveraging the available synergies in Yahsats upstream and midstream capabilities, including its leading satellite infrastructure as well as the wide spectrum of its rapidly growing satellite-enabled innovative solutions, and Bayanats downstream capabilities such as advanced AI and data analytics and will significantly enhance Bayanats commercial offerings by providing valuable geospatial insights to various industries in a timely and accurate manner.



The program is a steppingstone towards realizing a broader space-ecosystem in the UAE, including the development of in-country satellite manufacturing capabilities. It will deliver a range of strategic benefits for the nation, including access to sovereign SAR data acquisition, enhancing data privacy, and further building the nations resident capabilities for space exploration.



In addition, the program will fuel collaboration between vital strategic players in the UAEs space ecosystem, strengthen UAEs position in space technology and open new possibilities for Bayanat, Yahsat and the countrys future space exploration endeavours.

Hasan AlHosani, CEO of Bayanat, said: The launch of the first LEO satellite scheduled for Q1 2024 will significantly enhance Bayanats existing offerings to provide more comprehensive and high-quality services to clients both locally and internationally. The partnership between Bayanat and Iceye, in collaboration with Yahsat, will drive the development of a sovereign EO ecosystem which will enable us to provide cutting-edge solutions, whilst contributing to skill development, scientific advancements, and sustained economic growth. We are excited to be at the forefront of this dynamic and rapidly evolving field and looking forward to developing a commercial space program in the UAE."



Ali Al Hashemi, Group CEO of Yahsat, said: As part of Yahsats active role in empowering the space economy sector in line with the UAEs Space Strategy 2030, we are pleased to collaborate with Bayanat on this ambitious program. Yahsat is committed to join forces with various commercial and government-related entities to strengthen the UAEs leadership in the space sector in MENA region, supported by Yahsats world-class infrastructure and suite of innovative solutions. We are also advancing new segments such as earth observation, in-country manufacturing and building the national capacities in the space sector.



Rafal Modrzewski, CEO and Co-Founder of ICEYE, said: ICEYE is the leading New Space company in the world today with the proven ability to design, build and supply new-era SAR Earth observation satellites for customers. Were honoured to contribute to Bayanats space programme in meeting the sophisticated imagery requirements from their most demanding customers in the UAE. Until the launch next year, we will be providing access to our satellites already in orbit, so Bayanat can start utilizing radar satellite imagery for the benefit of the public and private sector customers in the UAE.  TradeArabia News Service
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Bitterroot Valley blacksmith Glenn Gilmore has been doing metalwork for almost 50 years, and when he thinks about heading to Helena for Fridays Montana Circle of American Masters induction ceremony, the two words that come to his mind are humbled and honored.

Gilmore was among three artists honored at the Capitol in Helena on Friday as one of the the newest members of the Montana Circle of American Masters (MCAM). The MCAM recognizes Montana folk and traditional artists for artistic excellence in their work, along with their role in preserving and passing on their knowledge.

"It's a great honor to be inducted into that, Gilmore said. I'm really excited about it, and, you know, it's kind of humbling. It's a selection by peers.

Gilmore started in metal work when he went to horseshoeing school in 1974, making his own handmade shoes using a forge, anvil and coal fire. He started getting interested in decorative ironwork in the late 70s, but took a couple years off in the early '80s to do glassblowing. But in 1985 he took a trip to Germany for four months and studied decorative ironwork, which would have a formative influence on him and his art. Since then his focus has been forge metalwork.

They have a great history there of blacksmiths, Gilmore said. In (the U.S.) when blacksmithing started to kind of wane and it became sort of the repair shop kind of thing in small towns and was getting replaced by other businesses, it continued in Europe as an art form. So they had quite a history to learn from."

Gilmore would take the trains to different towns and museums in Germany to go look at historical ironwork from the fourteenth and fifteenth century. It would inspire his work for decades to come.

Despite the fine craftsmanship Gilmore displayed in his work over the years, it took a while for him to become comfortable with people calling him an artist.

That was a long, slow process, Gilmore said. It wasn't like I woke up one day and was an artist or thought of it in those terms. I think of myself as a creative person.

Friday will be Gilmores first trip to the Montana State Capitol building. He will be inducted into the MCAM along with Marc Brogger of Three Forks and Terry Hill of Great Falls.

Brogger, a fifth-generation Western horseman, has built over 900 saddles since the start of his career in 1981. He is well respected in the Western community for his intricate leather work and flower stamping, using his skills to create ornately hand-tooled saddles which bridge art and utility.

I believe in art and in not just being little machines that go to work every day, Brogger said. I think art just makes life for everyone more interesting.

Hill, a fourth-generation Montanan, spent 29 years as a game warden for the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife & Parks before retiring in 2007. In 2009, Hill discovered his love for segmented woodturning through a course taught by Rich Charlson, a previous MCAM honoree, who he studied under for six months. Today Hill channels his passion for Montanas natural beauty and wildlife through his segmented woodturning, specializing in designs that depict natural scenes, wildlife, ranching and farming.
Almost every school district in the Lehigh Valley had at least one contested seat on its school board in Tuesdays primary election.

Several of those seats wont be contested in November.

Candidates in multiple local races won on both the Democrat and Republican ballots. School board candidates in Pennsylvania can cross-file to run in both parties, although some choose to only appear on one partys ballot. A win on both ballots in the primary is effectively a win in the general election, barring an unforeseen circumstance such as a successful write-in or third-party challenge.

Easton Area School Boards only contested primary appears to be among those that wont spill into the general election. Incumbent Edward Keegan, a retired schools superintendent, lost to Michael Simonetta, the districts former CFO, on both the Democratic and Republican ballots, according to unofficial election results with all precincts reporting.

Simonetta bested Keegan 1,016 to 988 on Democratic votes and won 679-304 among Republicans, according to unofficial results.

The race was for Region III covering Forks Township and parts of Easton and Lower Mount Bethel Township.

Saucon Valley School District saw one of the more hotly contested school board races in the Lehigh Valley with 10 candidates seeking five seats. This one wont be resolved until November.

The Republican nominees advancing to the general election are: Susan Baxter (825 votes), Bryan Eichfeld (752 votes), Michael Karabin (730 votes), Shawn Welch (703 votes) and Laurel Erickson-Parsons (667 votes), unofficial results show.

The Democratic nominees are: Vivian A. Demko (1,355 votes), Jay Santos (1,093 votes), Bill Broun (972 votes), Donald L. Carpenter III (953 votes) and Erickson-Parsons (761 votes), the results show.

For Bethlehem Area School Board, there was also only one contested primary on the Democratic ballot with four candidates running for three seats. Karen Beck Pooley (7,042 votes), Emily Root Schenkel (6,814 votes) and M. Rayah Levy (5,055 votes) prevailed, according to unofficial results in Lehigh and Northampton counties with all precincts reporting.

Here are other winners in contest school board races in Northampton County, according to unofficial election results:

Bangor Area School Boards Democratic winners are Colleen Schiavone, Christopher Marozzi, Tanya Peifly, Courtney Gilmour and Michael Goffredo. Republican winners are Marozzi, Goffredo, Melissa Smith, Peifly and Schiavone.

Nazareth Area School Boards Democratic winner for Region II is Jason M. Swails. Christopher G. Miller won Region II on the Republican ballot. Elmo L. Frey Jr. and Melinda G. Gladstone won the Republican primary for Region I. Gregory C. Leh won the Republican primary for Region III.

Pen Argyl Area School Districts Democratic winner for a 2-year Region I seat was Thomas Knorr. Republicans picked James A. Frey for the seat. Nancy OKeefe and Robert C. Rutt won the Democratic primary for Region II. Rutt and Jeff Moyer won for the GOP.

Wilson Area School Board candidate Jeffrey L. Breidinger Sr. won both the Democratic and Republican nominations for a 4-year Region II seat.

Northampton Area School Board Region I winners are John Becker and Robert Mentzell on the Democratic side. Republicans backed Kristin Lorah-Soldridge and Marc Kercsmar for the seat. William G. Jones Jr. won on the Republican ballot in Region II. Joshua Harris and Brian McCulloch are the Republican winners in Region III. David Gogel and McCulloch won on the Democratic side for Region III.

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The candidates for Northampton County judge in Tuesdays primary election appear headed for a rematch in November.

Attorneys Nancy Aaroe and Brian Panella both cross-filed to seek both the Democratic and Republican nominations in the primary to appear on the ballot in the Nov. 7 general election.

With all 156 precincts reporting across Northampton County, Panella received 13,090 votes to 9,948 for Aaroe to win the Democratic primary election, according to unofficial results. The results were switched on the Republican side, with Aaroe winning with 10,929 votes to 4,719 for Panella, the results showed.

The seat on the Northampton County bench became open with the retirement of former Judge Stephen Baratta, who stepped down last year to challenge incumbent District Attorney Terry Houck.

Aaroe, of Bethlehem Township, has a private practice, Aaroe Law Offices PC in Palmer Township, and has served as both a defense attorney and prosecutor in her nearly three-decade career, in addition to court-appointed conflicts counsel.

Panella, of Forks Township, is the Bethlehem City Council solicitor, a deputy solicitor for the Agency of Children and Youth and served as custody master for six years in Northampton and Lehigh counties.

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Kurt Bresswein may be reached at kbresswein@lehighvalleylive.com.
Incumbent Northampton County District Attorney Terry Houck and retired county Judge Stephen Baratta, his challenger in Tuesdays Democratic primary election, appear headed for a rematch in November.

Baratta, 66, of Bethlehem, claimed victory in the primary, WFMZ-TV 69 reported from his election night party.

Seeking his second four-year term, Houck told WFMZ he waged a successful write-in campaign for the Republican nomination to appear on the ballot in November.

With all 156 precincts votes reported across Northampton County, Baratta took the Democratic primary election with 12,932 votes to 10,792 for Houck, according to unofficial results. No Republicans appeared on the primary ballot, but the county tally for Republican write-in votes was 2,118 as of late Tuesday night  with no names yet attached to the write-in totals.

Baratta stepped down from the bench last year to challenge Houck for the countys top law enforcement position.

Both served as first assistant district attorney under former District Attorney John Morganelli, who was elected in 2019 county judge.

Houck, 67, of Forks Township, grew up in Philadelphia and began his law enforcement career as a police officer there. He started out as a prosecutor in 1986 in Bucks County before becoming chief deputy district attorney in Lehigh County in 2002 and joining the Northampton County prosecutors office in 2006.

Baratta, a Bangor native, presided as judge over civil and criminal trials and has served Northampton County in other capacities, including as solicitor for several county agencies.

During this years primary campaign, Baratta attacked Houcks conviction record and management of the office, even as Houck touted achievements during his first term that included combining 42 investigative and forensic experts from across the county and Pennsylvania State Police into the countys first Major Crimes Task Force.

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Kurt Bresswein may be reached at kbresswein@lehighvalleylive.com.
A ludicrous situation has arisen in relation to Irish Water at one Laois estate, a council meeting was told.

Sinn Fein Cllr Aidan Mullins had asked in a motion that Laois County Council advise when the water supply in Bruach na hAbhann in Killeen will be taken in charge by Irish Water.

In a written response, Senior Engineer in Water Services, Adrian Barrett stated that: Laois County Council Water Services are currently operating and maintaining the water supply in the Bruach na hAbhann estate in Killeen pending its taking in charge by Uisce Eireann. Water Services are engaging with Uisce Eireann in order to get the estate taken in charge.

To me its a load of waffle, said Cllr Mullins.

He said if works are required they should just be carried out.

Its a ludicrous situation, claimed Cllr Mullins.

What are we saying? That we are engaging with them? he asked.

Cllr Mullins said he wanted to liaise directly with Mr Barrett on the issue.

Independent Cllr Aisling Moran wanted to know how much money has been spent on water related work at the estate.

There is outages there constantly of water, she said.

I would say it would be cheaper to put a new system in than keep fixing it, she added.

You all know Irish Water arent easy to deal with, said Fianna Fail Cllr Paschal McEvoy.

The issue was discussed at the last meeting of Portarlington Graiguecullen Municipal District.
Clever students in Monasterevin have scored an historic first All-Ireland win for their school.

St Paul's secondary school in Monasterevin is celebrating four of its Junior Cert History students who have won the All-Ireland History Teachers Association of Ireland (HTAI) History Table Quiz 2023.

The school has congratulated the team and their teachers.

"Well done to Jude Ledwidge, Maeve Gallagher, Sarah Harrison and Elliot Gillen who achieved another major first for St Pauls. Kudos to their history teachers who brought the students up to a very high standard," the school said.

Held over the weekend of May 14 and 15, the St Paul's team won out of 14 teams from the best schools in the country.

They correctly answered 56 out of 60 questions.

The quiz ended in a nail-biting tie break between three teams at the end for the top prize. St Paul's ultimately prevailed after no less that three tie breaks.

The fab four had already beaten 32 schools in the Leinster final.
A Naas District Court Judge criticised a change in the law during a court case which was heard on Thursday, May 11.

Judge Desmond Zaidan made the comments in the case of Anthony O'Connor, of Mylerstown, Two Mile House in County Kildare.

The 23-year-old pleaded guilty to driving while under the influence of cocaine at Osberstown in Naas on November 14, 2021.

During the case, the judge criticised the change in law that reduced the minimum driving disqualification (DQ) for drug-driving from four years to one year.

Judge Zaidan said to Mr O'Connor's defending solicitor Tim Kennelly: "The press fell for the gimmick, it is laughable."

He added: "Not one member of the press asked any questions queried it."

After consideration, Judge Zaidan fined Mr O'Connor 500, and gave him three months to pay it.

He also imposed the one-year driving DQ on him.

However, when Mr Kennelly asked him for the DQ to come into effect from October 12, the judge granted this request.

The judge also urged Mr O'Connor to stop taking cocaine.
More than 30 people have been killed in clashes between herders and farmers in central Nigeria's Plateau State, a local official said Tuesday, May 16. The region, on the dividing line between Nigeria's mostly Muslim north and mainly Christian south, has for years struggled with ethnic and religious violence.

"The incident has affected more than 30 people, they lost their lives," Plateau State Commissioner of Information and Communication Dan Manjang told AFP. He said the clashes took place on Monday between herders, who are most often Muslim, and farmers, who are generally Christian.

Police said the violence took place "in various villages" in Bwoi, in Mangu district. "At about 11:56 am (1056 GMT) a distress call was received," police spokesman Alfred Alabo said, with a report of gunmen "shooting sporadically". Security officials were deployed to the area, he said in a statement, where they engaged the "hoodlums"  a term used in Nigeria to describe criminals.

The violence in northwest and central Nigeria has spiraled from tit-for-tat killings into broader criminality, with heavily-armed gangs attacking villages for raids, mass kidnappings and looting.

Multiple fronts

"As we speak, the culprits are on the run while our officers are still on their trail with the aim to ensure that they are neutralized and if possible, arrested," Alabo said. The chairman of Mangu district has imposed a 24-hour curfew, he added, "to ensure that the crisis does not escalate to other areas".

In April, nearly 50 people were killed when gunmen attacked a village in neighboring Benue State, in violence local officials blamed on herdsmen. Benue has been among the hardest hit by intercommunal clashes between farmers and herders who are accused of destroying farmland with their cattle grazing.

President-elect Bola Tinubu, who takes the helm of Africa's most populous nation later this month, is facing multiple security challenges. The military is battling a 14-year-old jihadist insurgency in the northeast, separatist tensions in the southeast, piracy in the Gulf of Guinea, and kidnappings by armed criminals across the country.

Violence has been on the rise in the last few weeks after a brief calm period during February and March elections for the presidency and governorships.

Le Monde with AFP
Former British Prime Minister Liz Truss in Taipei on May 17, 2023. ANN WANG / REUTERS

Britain's former prime minister Liz Truss on Wednesday, May 17, urged her successor Rishi Sunak to get tough with China on Taiwan, describing the democratic island as "an enduring rebuke to totalitarianism." On a five-day visit to Taiwan, Truss accused Sunak and other Western governments of "trying to cling on to the idea that we can cooperate with China on issues like climate change as if there is nothing wrong."

"But without freedom and democracy, there is nothing else. We know what happens to the environment or world health under totalitarian regimes that don't tell the truth," she said. "You can't believe a word they (China) say."

The Chinese government has slammed Truss's Taiwan visit as a "dangerous political show which will do nothing but harm to the UK." China considers self-ruled Taiwan its territory, to be taken one day by force if necessary, and strongly opposes any formal engagement with the island, including by high-profile foreign political figures.

During the Conservative leadership campaign last year, Truss also called on Sunak to make good on his pledge to designate China a strategic "threat" and went on to say the West could not avoid another "Cold War" with Beijing. Sunak has pushed back on the tough rhetoric against China that Truss deployed before and during her 49-day tenure at 10 Downing Street last year.

She was ousted after her radical economic policies crashed financial markets. Since then, Truss, still a sitting member of Parliament, has been trying to rebuild her profile with a series of speeches overseas, including in Tokyo, Washington and Copenhagen.

Le Monde with AFP
French soldiers from Operation Barkhane at the French military base in Timbuktu, Mali, on December 14, 2021. ANNIE RISEMBERG FOR LE MONDE

French soldiers from the anti-terrorist Operation Barkhane were informed of a journalist's plan to interview a jihadist leader and tried to use him to locate the chief, a joint investigation by French media reveals. Out of security concerns, this information was withheld while French journalist Olivier Dubois was still a hostage of Al-Qaeda. Once Dubois was freed on March 20 after 711 days in captivity, Le Monde, Liberation, Radio France Internationale (RFI) and TV5Monde decided to reveal the fruits of their year-and-a-half-long joint investigation into his abduction. At first, the military tried to use the reporter to locate the Al-Qaeda chief. Then, judging the meeting to be too risky, they gave up on their operation at the last minute. But they did not deploy the appropriate means to prevent the kidnapping of Dubois during the meeting in Gao, in the northeast of Mali, in the spring of 2021.

On April 8, 2021, Dubois, a freelancer for Liberation, Le Point Afrique and Jeune Afrique who moved to Bamako in 2015, traveled to Gao to interview Abdallah Ag Albakaye, a senior figure in the Al-Qaeda-linked organization Nusrat ul-Islam. The 48-year-old reporter believed he had planned this interview with the greatest discretion. But he had in fact been followed for months by the French army, as confirmed by some 180 pages of French and Malian judicial documents that Le Monde has been able to consult.

To prepare his investigation, Dubois worked with a fixer, a young Tuareg whom we will call Kader to protect his anonymity. For several years, Kader facilitated contacts between the journalist and various figures in the north of Mali, in particular some from Nusrat al-Islam, with whom he was close. Dubois knew that Kader has already collaborated in the past with Barkhane but believed he could trust him. At the end of 2020, he asked him to pass on his interview proposal to Ag Albakaye.

What the reporter did not know was that his fixer would keep the French military informed until the end of the details of the planned meeting with the jihadist leader. On the day of the kidnapping, in an audio recording that Le Monde was able to listen to, a French lieutenant can be heard distinctly asking Kader about "the name of the street where they asked [him] to drop off Olivier Dubois."

French military have 'all the information'

On the day of the kidnapping, the French military had "all the information" about Dubois's appointment: photographs of the journalist's clothes, his passport, his plane ticket, his hotel reservation, the car used to get there, GPS coordinates of the place where Ag Albakaye's men were supposed to find him. The above-mentioned lieutenant confirmed all of this to the agents of the General Directorate for Internal Security (DGSI, an intelligence agency), who were questioning him as part of the investigation opened by the national anti-terrorist prosecutor's office, on May 5, 2021, into "kidnapping as part of an organized gang and in relation to a terrorist enterprise".

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Two men accused in the shooting death of a homeowner during a botched bounty hunt in Butte will be tried together on charges of deliberate homicide and aggravated burglary.

After several, separate trial dates for Nicholas John Jaeger and bondsman Jay Steven Hubber were postponed, prosecutors asked District Judge Robert Whelan last month to consolidate the cases before one jury.

Palmer Hoovestal, an attorney for Hubber, agreed to the request but wanted a May 1 trial date for his client postponed until the fall. Jaegers attorney, David Maldonado, agreed to combined trials at first, then objected, then recently agreed again.

Defendant apologizes for the confusion in his position on the consolidation, Maldonado wrote in a recent motion, saying Jaeger now stipulates and agrees to the consolidation of the cases.

After a status hearing Tuesday with prosecutors and attorneys, Whelan consolidated the cases and set the jury trial for Monday, Oct. 2. It is expected to last at least eight days.

Jaeger was set for trial on April 10 but it was postponed indefinitely when Maldonado broke his leg and sustained other serious leg injuries the previous Friday.

Prosecutors said consolidating the cases would save time and resources and prevent the victims family from having to endure two nearly identical trials. They also cited another reason:

If these matters proceed separately, it could be extremely difficult to pick a jury for the second defendants trial due to the media attention, prosecutor Kelli Fivey said in a motion. Consolidating these matters ensures that both defendants obtain a fair  and impartial jury prior to media publication at trial.

Prosecutors say on Dec. 21, 2021, Hubber and Jaeger barged into William Harris house in the 800 block of Main Street in Butte looking for bail-jumper David Sandoval. Several other people were also in the house.

Hubber ussed a stun gun on the bail jumper and during a struggle, Jaeger took a gun from Hubber and shot Harris, prosecutors allege. Harris, 42, was dead when police arrived. Jaeger, a convicted felon, was assisting Hubber in the bounty hunt.

Jaeger and Hubber, both 33 at the time, were each charged with deliberate homicide and aggravated burglary and have pleaded not guilty.

Hubber already tried to get the aggravated burglary charge dismissed, saying he was legally authorized as a bondsman to enter the house looking for a fugitive. Judge Whelan rejected that claim.

Jaeger has said in court motions that he acted with justifiable force to protect himself and others in a trap house operated by William Harris where known fugitives, renegades and outlaws routinely gather.

Prosecutors say as many as 30 witnesses could be called and up to 70 pieces of evidence utilized during the trial.
ALMOST 30 Limerick employees could be impacted as a Limerick-based medical device maker is set to cut 500 jobs worldwide.

Cook Medical has announced it plans to cut 500 jobs, or about 4% of their global workforce. Almost 30 employees in Limerick could be impacted.

Thats according to a spokesperson for the company, who told Limerick Live that 27 employees in Limerick are potentially impacted by the decision, which has been described as a difficult step.

Employees of Cook Medical received a memo stating that the company made a difficult decision in support of their strategy.

Cook Group and Cook Medical president, Pete Yonkman, noted: It is important to note that no hourly manufacturing employees or hourly employees in distribution centers will be impacted. Demand for our products continues to grow, and we want to ensure we have the capacity to meet it,

Mr Yonkman added that the decision is the most difficult one theyve had to make in support of their strategy.

We will be implementing a reduction in the size of our global workforce by approximately 500 people or about 4% of our total employees. This is a very hard choice, and not one that we have made without significant thought. Steps like this are especially difficult because they impact the lives of people we have come to respect as colleagues and friends. But it is a decision that we are convinced is critical to achieving our long-term success and our vision for who we want to be as an organization.
STUDENTS in Limerick participated in a performance of Beethovens Ode to Joy in celebration of 50 years of Irelands membership in the European Union.

Among the Limerick Schools to take part in the performance were students from Crescent College Comprehensive.

Students from Crescent College who form the school choir with help from their music teacher, Roisin Lavery sang and performed a rendition of the EU anthem for Minister of State and Limerick city Fine Gael TD, Kieran ODonnell and Croatian Ambassador Davor Vidis.

The students sang the anthem in both English and Irish.

Lisa Bennett, a teacher at the school says it has been really difficult to undertake performances at the school as of late.

Were currently going through a major renovation and with Covid-19 the last few years it has been difficult for students to show off their skills, she said.

The students at Crescent College Comprehensive have been practicing for this nationwide event for the past two weeks.

They absolutely loved it. They really did. I think what they enjoyed the most was being able to perform in such a public way, Lisa added.

The initiative is part of EU50, the Governments programme of events from January 2022 to May 2023 celebrating Irelands membership of the EU over the last 50 years.
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Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has said the blockade of roads around accommodation for asylum seekers in Co Clare is not necessary.

Locals blocked access to the site of the disused Magowna House Hotel in Inch shortly after the arrival of 34 asylum seekers on Monday evening.

On Tuesday morning, around a dozen protesters remained on the blockade, with the tractors that had been used to prevent access swapped for other vehicles in the afternoon.

A small group of locals carrying signs saying refugees welcome had gathered across from the protest later in the day.

On Tuesday afternoon some of the asylum seekers in the hotel expressed fear over the ongoing situation and headed with their belongings towards Ennis, located around an hour-and-a-half away on foot.

Others looked prepared to leave as their luggage was stacked outside the state-provided accommodation.

Mr Varadkar said the blockade was not necessary and that the Minister for Equality and Integration, Roderic OGorman, would meet with representatives from the community.

I dont think whats happening there is necessary, Id very much echo the comments of the Tanaiste (Micheal Martin) earlier today that I dont think the blockade is necessary, Mr Varadkar told RTE.

What we do need is to engage with the community and I know Minister OGorman is going to meet with representatives tomorrow to do exactly that.

But you know, we are facing an unprecedented situation, nearly 100,000 people from other parts of the world, mainly Ukraine, have come to Ireland seeking refuge, seeking shelter. We have to provide for them whatever accommodation is available and it isnt always going to be perfect, but it is the best we can do.

And I know that huge numbers of communities around Ireland have welcomed people into their communities, including in County Clare, and there will of course be engagement with local reps tomorrow.

Clare County Council said it had not received formal notification of the arrival of asylum seekers after a meeting where locals expressed their concerns to officials.

Protesters said they would not prevent asylum seekers from leaving, and have allowed food deliveries and some members of the media through.

One of the tractor drivers participating in the blockade, who did not want to provide his name, said locals had concerns about fire safety and sewage management on the site.

He also said that the asylum seekers were being moved underhandedly.

So we stopped the roads, we blocked the roads so a second bus could not get in, he said, as locals had heard a further 35 people were to be accommodated at the site.

He said this would mean there would be 70 people in this locality with nowhere to go and questioned how the asylum seekers would integrate into the community.

Clare County Council officials and elected members met a large group of locals from the Inch and Kilmaley community for two hours.

The authority said locals had expressed concerns about the arrival of asylum seekers, particularly in relation to the building and suitability of the location.

The council welcomed the engagement from the community and will liaise with agencies to provide the wraparound services such as transport, health, education and immigrant support services, it said in a statement to the PA news agency.

We have also committed to keeping local councillors and community members involved in the response, it added.

At this time we have not received formal notification or details of the arrivals.

There were tense exchanges outside the centre, and by mid-afternoon seven asylum seekers had left the accommodation over concerns for their safety and dissatisfaction with the accommodation.

Sharif from Algeria told reporters that he was leaving the hotel and heading back to Dublin, but said he would have liked to stay.

Were going to Dublin city centre, well live homeless in Dublin city centre, he said, adding that this was better than here because they felt they were not accepting us here.

He said that initially there had been 34 men in the three holiday homes, with bunk beds provided for them.

I want to live here, yes, (its) lovely here but (theres a) problem with people, maybe.

He said he would walk to Ennis from the hotel and travel on to Dublin city centre.

I want to stay here really, he said, adding that he would not because he did not feel welcome.

Others said they were happy to stay.

Sultan Muhammad, from Afghanistan, said he came to Ireland five months ago and had been staying in Citywest in Dublin.

He described the situation in Co Clare as difficult but said the accommodation was OK.

We are feeling good here. I like this place.

He added: I like it, I will live here.

Maria Kerin Walsh, an artist from Bellharbour in Co Clare who arrived at the scene on Tuesday, said everyone is welcome and we dont want to add to any more trauma.

All I know is, the most important thing when you come from somewhere awful is that people show you care and respect, she said.

Actually, this is down to respect for the human. What we have heard from people from Ukraine is they are delighted to be in a tiny room because it is a safe room.

So if we dont offer safeness and respect and compassion at the very first instance, the rest is immaterial.

Minister of State for Community Development Joe OBrien said the hotel did not have a fire safety certificate but there was no issue with fire safety or wastewater management at the holiday homes.

I just ask people to step down the blockade, I think it is done on the basis of a misunderstanding of whats happened, he said.

Mr OBrien said there is ongoing work at the hotel and people would not be accommodated there until it is safe.

He said there are 500 asylum seekers without accommodation in Ireland and the Government was looking at every possible angle and every possible case.

On concerns about the isolated location of the holiday homes, Mr OBrien told RTEs Today With Claire Byrne that a shuttle bus would be provided to Ennis for asylum seekers who wanted to access services there.

The Fianna Fail TD for Clare, Cathal Crowe, said there has been a lack of information about the accommodation of asylum seekers at the site and suggested that someone has put the cart before the horse.

He said that last year, Clare County Council decided Magowna House was unsuitable as accommodation for Ukrainian refugees.

It wasnt fit for purpose last night so theyre crammed into ancillary buildings on the site and I just think someone has put the cart before the horse here, he told RTEs Morning Ireland.

I would take the view that if youre going to bring people to a facility, it should be safe, it should be a sanitary environment.

Its questionable if Magowna House is at that level yet.

Mr Crowe said the protesters are entitled to their concerns.

Look, I dont personally believe in blockading roads, he said, but added: I dont think the word blockade I dont think its exactly that, as he had been allowed to use the road.

He said he visited the hotel on Monday due to a lack of information from the Department of Integration and his office was being bombarded with emails and phone calls.

We did get a briefing note from the department late on Thursday but there was still a lot of stuff I couldnt answer, he said.

It (the briefing note) related to the mechanics of the situation: that there would be a contract between the department and the owner, that it would initially be for a 12-month duration, that there would be a manager on site, that meals would be cooked on site and that it would be for men in the international protection system.
The Minister for Justice is remembering "the ordinary people going about their daily lives" on the 49th anniversary of the Dublin-Monaghan bombings.

Today (May 17) marks forty nine years since three bombs exploded in Dublin City Centre and a fourth in Monaghan Town, causing the deaths of 33 civilians and an unborn child.

The bombings have become known as the cause of the greatest loss of life on a single day during the Troubles, with hundreds more injured on the day.

Speaking today, Minister Simon Harris said, "It is hard to believe that on a day such as this all those years ago, ordinary people going about their daily lives had those lives so callously and brutally attacked. But, like so many other incidents of violence on this island during the Troubles, that was the tragic reality for those caught up in the bombings on that day.



"The scale of this atrocity will always be remembered. It was the greatest loss of life on a single day of the Troubles and it continues to affect countless families. The Government is fully committed to seeking out the truth behind those events and, hopefully, to secure some measure of comfort for the victims families and the survivors."

Minister Harris continued, stating it is important to remember the achievements made since the Good Friday Agreement was signed 25 years ago.

He said, "Last week I met with the families of another group of victims of the Troubles, the Disappeared, victims of paramilitary violence who were murdered and secretly buried during the Troubles.

"So many on this island have been affected by the multitude of horrific acts that were carried out during the Troubles and the Irish Government will not forget our duty to victims and survivors."

The anniversary comes as the British government grapples with critics of a proposed legacy Bill, which - if enacted - would provide immunity for people accused of crimes during the Troubles if they co-operate with a new truth recovery body.

Among the Bill's challengers is Baroness Nuala OLoan, who recently said, "I think the Government are going to try and force this through, I think its completely the wrong thing to do.

"Its been condemned internationally and nationally, has breached our international legal obligations, has been condemned because its not victims-focused.

"Because its not going to deliver reconciliation, because it introduces provisions whereby people who have been involved in the conflict can seek immunity for their crimes by telling something  but those provisions will not work in the interests of victims."
Jenny Schaben |

Lincoln University (LU) creative writing students traveled to Denver, Colorado, this spring to participate in the Sigma Tau Delta International English Honors Society annual convention. Students read their written works to respected audiences, discussed literature, met established authors, and made new friends from around the globe.

According to Sigma Tau Delta, this unique event allows hundreds of members and chapter advisors from around the United States and beyond to gather in one locale, share experiences, and expertise, be recognized for their achievements and participate in the official proceedings of the society. The convention also provides opportunities to discover new ideas in English and English-related disciplines while interacting with speakers, presenters, and texts that members might not otherwise encounter.

Junior Chenia Walker reads from her critical essay on Langston Hughes poetic stylings and his poetrys connections to the Blues genre.

This international convention is held at a different location within the United States once a year. Students are invited based on good academic standing and application acceptance. Inquiring students submit their written work(s) for this competitive opportunity every fall, and those chosen to attend present their text. Categories include but are not limited to original critical essays, creative nonfiction, poetry collections, and original prose (short stories, flash fiction, drama, or screenplays).

This year, LU Omega Pi chapter members DeAni Blake-Britton (junior), Jestine Lange (junior), Chenia Walker (junior), and Jaida Gray (senior) were accepted to take part in the four-day convention from March 29 to April 1. Blake-Britton, Gray, and Lange presented poetry portfolios. All three students major in English with an emphasis in creative writing. Walker, majoring in psychology with a minor in creative writing, read from her critical essay on Langston Hughes poetic stylings and his poetrys connections to the Blues genre.

LU Omega Pi Chapter President DeAni Blake-Britton (Junior) stands for a photo with Elijah Burrell, Chapter Advisor.

When asked what it was like to present and read her work at the conference, LU Omega Pi Chapter President DeAni Blake-Britton commented, It was absolutely amazing being surrounded by like-minded people. Something about being in that environment circulated an air of passion, creativity, and inspiration. I was nervous presenting my work, but after a certain point during my presentation, I felt confident that I belonged there and that what I was saying was meant to be heard.

Blake-Britton also reported that attending and participating in the conference significantly impacted her life  It made me feel accomplished as a writer and inspired me to continue working hard and writing. It also made me more open to new experiences and meeting new people.

Lincoln University has been a part of Sigma Tau Delta since 1998 through its LU Omega Pi Chapter, established on campus by former English Professor Dr. Linda Wyman. In 2012, Mr. Elijah Burrell joined Lincoln University faculty and became the Omega Pi Faculty Chapter Advisor, a title he still holds. Burrell has inducted 50 students as new members into the Omega Pi Chapter since 2012.

Presenting work at an international convention as an undergraduate student is a prestigious accomplishment. Lincoln University students have been well-prepared and fared well in the judging process for the past several years. Numerous students have had the opportunity to present (sometimes during multiple years and conferences) andin the past five yearsat least one LU English major placed first in his creative writing category, Burrell commented.

Burrell has accompanied several students to past conventions. Students have presented in cities like St. Louis, Minneapolis, Louisville, and Albuquerque. In 2019, Kieron Walquist won first place at the convention for his original creative work. In 2018, Burrell traveled to the convention in Cincinnati to receive an award for effective years of service as a faculty sponsor/advisor to the honor society.

For more information on this event or the creative writing program, please contact Elijah Burrell at burrelle@lincolnu.edu.
Stephanie Cobian |

Lincoln University students Nia Walker and Alexandre Mugisha presented their independent research at the 80th Annual Midwest Political Science Association (MPSA) Conference held in Chicago, Illinois, from April 13 to 16, 2023. The MPSA Annual Conference is a highly anticipated event in the political science community, drawing together prominent scholars, researchers and decision-makers to exchange information and address the latest information in the discipline.

Participating in the conference is an important opportunity for students to learn where they fit in a broader institutional environment, commented Associate Professor of Political Science Dr. Brian Norris, who guided both students in their research. I think that the students come away appreciating the quality of intellect that one finds in forums such as MPSA and knowing that they can compete.

The conference was an eventful four days that historically boasts over 5,000 attendees from every state in the U.S. and over 100 countries worldwide, representing more than 90 political interest areas. Competitive scholars from Harvard, Berkley, Stanford, international universities and beyond come to share their research and prepare for tough questions and open discussions. Participants took part in a variety of activities, including panel discussions, roundtables, lightning talks and working groups, providing diverse perspectives from different fields. The conference also offered networking opportunities and professional development sessions tailored to help students further their research, collaborate internationally and explore multidisciplinary approaches to political science.

Sharing insights and ideas  Senior Alexandre Mugisha presents his research at the MPSA Conference.

Alexandre Mugisha, a senior majoring in political science with a minor in business administration, offered his research on the Tutsi and Hutu cultural conflict in Gatumba, Burundi, the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. Mugisha's analytical approach included authoritative accounts of the region along with data from his personal experience, leading him to present solutions to mitigate the conflict. His proposals included changes in electoral forms, federalism, proportional representation and ethnic policies that allow minority groups access to scholarships and opportunities to encourage engagement.

LU student Nia Walker shares her thought-provoking presentation at the MPSA Conference.

Nia Walker, a sophomore, compared the presidencies of Jimmy Carter and Donald Trump, exploring to what extent political institutions select leaders of good moral character or how the office edifies leaders once they are elected. From her research, Walker concluded that political institutions are not designed to elect good leaders since ethics and political experience are not requirements to run for the office of president.

Walker was keen to take part in the conference to not only hone her public speaking skills but also showcase her research, which she feels deeply passionate about. As a political science major, she aspires to work in government or become an attorney after graduating. She found the experience of engaging with fellow undergraduates in meaningful discussions about critical issues around the country and globally to be highly illuminating.

Ive learned to be more open-minded, she commented on listening to other speakers on diverse topics. It made me consider issues from a different perspective.

Other highlights included attending a captivating presentation by Dr. Norris, who shared his research findings on rural local governments in Colombia and Mozambique, which he conducted on a Fulbright award. Dr. Norris shared valuable insights from his interviews with mayors of rural towns and other local leaders, including hospital directors, chiefs of police and leaders of local commercial and non-profit organizations. The information shared was particularly relevant to Dr. Norris' class on State and Local Government, which delves into topics on the roles and responsibilities of mayors, city councils and city managers in governing their communities.

Mugisha and Walker also had the opportunity to meet with LU Chicago alumni chapter leader Lionel Harris and the LU Chicago-based recruiter Davion Thomas.

Participation in the MPSA Conference was a competitive process, and students were selected first by Lincoln Universitys political science department based on academic standing and attendance at the 2022 PMSA. Afterward, Mugisha and Walker submitted their abstracts for approval and were ultimately selected to present at the conference. The students had been researching and preparing for their presentations since November 2022 and received funding from Title III and Honors Program funds to attend the conference through Dr. Norris' efforts.

The MPSA is a leading international academic association with members in the United States and nearly 60 other countries, dedicated to advancing scholarship in all areas of political science. The association publishes one of the premier journals in the field, the American Journal of Political Science, and hosts attendees at its annual conference every spring  the largest political science conference in the country, approximately 1,100 sessions with 5,000 papers and 7,000 authors/speakers.

After graduation in December 2023, Mugisha will continue his research in hopes of returning home someday to Burundi. Inspired by the experience to grow as a scholar and further his academic and professional career, the senior shared, It was great to see people from all different backgrounds from all over the world come together and gather, give respectful criticism...being in an environment like that makes you want to do more.

For more information about the MPSA Conference, please contact Brian Norris at norrisb@lincolnu.edu.

View photos from the trip at https://photos.app.goo.gl/pkofBBBqPximPjxA9.
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Governor Greg Gianfortes attempt to veto Senate Bill 442 is unpopular, inexplicable and contrary to the wishes of both the Legislature and the people of Montana.

His veto ignores 132 legislators from both parties who voted for SB 442. It ignores 56 county commissions and numerous local governments who support the bill because it supported needed county road maintenance, enabling farmers and ranchers to get their products to market and EMTs to respond to emergencies. It ignores the needs of veterans, who would benefit from increased funding for crucial services. It ignores hunters, anglers, and hikers who would benefit from enhanced access and wildlife habitat conservation. It ignores labor unions, timber companies, energy and utility organizations, healthcare providers, and public land advocates.

And it ignores thousands of Montanans who stood up over and over to show their support for this historic bill.

On behalf of Montana's 56 counties and its hundreds of elected officials, were honored to have been a small part of the historically broad coalition that worked together, often despite considerable differences, to develop strong bipartisan legislation that benefited, without exaggeration, every Montanan.

Unfortunately, even while SB 442 cruised through the Legislature with a grand total of 132 votes for and 17 votes against, a small handful of legislators on the House Appropriations Committee didn't approve of the democratic process that allocated new marijuana tax revenues. Despite their opposition, we believed the governor would respect the good-faith negotiations in the Legislature and the overwhelming support from Montanans and sign SB 442 into law.

But he vetoed it instead.

We never thought for a moment the governor would try to override the will of the Legislature and turn his back on the numerous beneficiaries of the bill. From veterans to public land advocates to farmers trying to get their goods to market, SB 442 allocated limited marijuana tax resources exactly where the public wanted them spent. The governor choosing to side with legislative spenders rather than his Montana constituents was the wrong choice.

Even more discouraging is his belief that rural Montana has all the resources necessary to meet constituent demands for public roads accessing public lands. We encourage Governor Gianforte to get out of Helena and visit his rural elected officials to discuss the status of county roads. Better yet, talk to his constituents about their service demands and whether farm to market rural roads need any additional funding. His veto letter showed a concerning lack of understanding of local government taxing authority and the limited resources we have to meet our constituents demands.

Were not done with SB 442, though.

The legislative body has the constitutional authority to override an executive veto with a two-thirds majority if it desires. In his haste to veto SB 442, the governor went out of his way to circumvent this authority and never gave the legislature its constitutionally mandated opportunity to respond to his veto. This type of governance sets a dangerous precedent.

Without delay, the Governor needs to deliver the veto documents appropriately to the Secretary of State who then needs to poll the members of the 2023 Legislature regarding Senate Bill 442.

Over 130 legislators voted in favor of SB 442, and they deserve the chance to have a final say on legislation that directly impacts the lives and livelihoods of their constituents. Anything less is a failure of government.
New Delhi, Delhi, India  Business Wire India

Dr Mathew Varghese, faculty at the Department of Psychiatry, NIMHANS, Bangalore & Dr Alok Sarin, Honorary Consultant to the Sitaram Bhartia Institute of Science & Research, New Delhi, join Sukoons Clinical Advisory Board

Former Sr Consultant in Adult Psychiatry at the Institute of Mental Health (IMH), Ministry of Health, Singapore, Dr Somnath Sengupta, joins as Clinical Regional Head



Sukoon Health, India's leading integrated Mental Healthcare provider, inducts senior psychiatrists to strengthen its focus on comprehensive inpatient care. Dr Mathew Varghese, faculty at the Department of Psychiatry, NIMHANS, Bangalore, and Dr Alok Sarin, Honorary Consultant to the Sitaram Bhartia Institute of Science & Research in New Delhi have joined Sukoons Clinical Advisory Board. Dr Somnath Sengupta, former Sr Consultant in Adult Psychiatry at the Institute of Mental Health (IMH), Ministry of Health, Singapore, joins Sukoon as Clinical Regional Head.



With over 35 years of experience in the field of psychiatry, Dr Mathew Varghese focuses on treating patients with depression, anxiety, and other mental health conditions. He has worked with various prestigious hospitals and institutions, including the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences. He has also been involved with national and international collaborative research projects mainly in the areas of old age psychiatry, dementia, psychiatric epidemiology, and family interventions.



Dr Alok Sarin's contributions to mental health research have been recognized with numerous accolades, including the Senior Fellowship from the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library for his research on the mental health aspects of history. He has also been a member of the Task Force responsible for drafting the National Mental Health Policy and has contributed to the drafting of mental health policies for several states in India.



As board advisors, Dr Varghese and Dr Sarin will provide valuable guidance and insights to shape Sukoons inpatient mental health services and support its mission to build Indias largest behavioral health platform.



Dr Somnath Senguptas experience spans over 30 years. He has served as an Assistant Professor and Associate Professor at Kasturba Medical College and Hospital, Manipal, Karnataka. He also worked with Institute of Human Behaviour and Allied Sciences (IHBAS), (with the specialties of Psychiatry, Clinical Psychology, Neurology, and Neurosurgery) Government of NCR, Delhi as an Associate Professor and subsequently a Professor. He also served as a Senior Consultant in Adult Psychiatry at the Institute of Mental Health (IMH) (restructured psychiatric hospital), Ministry of Health, Singapore.



As the Clinical Regional Head at Sukoon Health, Dr Sengupta will be responsible for leading clinical services throughout the region of Delhi-NCR.



Vidit Bahri and Kanishk Gupta, Co-Founders of Sukoon, said, We are delighted to have Dr Varghese, Dr Sarin, and Dr Sengupta on board. Their keen understanding of the Indian Mental Health ecosystem will enhance our clinical services at Sukoon. Indians are taking a keen interest in mental health and the next few years should be exciting for the industry."
New Delhi: State-owned Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) on Wednesday said it will invest 49,000 crore for the expansion of petrochemical and renewable energy capacity project at its Bina refinery. The project aims to enhance the companys presence in the petrochemical segment, renewable energy, and marketing infrastructure.

The key component of the expansion initiative is the ethylene cracker project, which will drive the production of essential petrochemicals. The project entails the establishment of an ethylene cracker complex, downstream petrochemical plants, as well as the expansion of the existing refinery capacity from 7.8 MMTPA to 11 MMTPA and associated facilities at Bina refinery. With a capital expenditure of approximately 49,000 Crore, this endeavor marks a significant milestone for BPCL and the energy sector as a whole," the company said.

The expansion of the Bina refinery will address the rising demand for petroleum products in central and northern India while also providing the necessary feedstock to the ethylene cracker complex. Additionally, the petrochemical plant will cater to the growing domestic demand for petrochemical products.

G Krishnakumar, chairman and managing director said , Combined with our investment in Wind Energy and new age Petroleum Oil Lubricants installations built for sustainable processes, this is a watershed moment in our strategic endeavor to be at the forefront in meeting the rapidly growing demand for energy and Petrochemical products in India."

He emphasized that the expansion projects would generate employment opportunities and bolster the companys sustainable energy capabilities, taking a step towards a secure and net-zero future.

In a bid to enhance its renewable energy footprint, BPCL will establish two 50 MW Wind power plants in Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra. These plants, with a total project cost of approximately 978 crore ( 489 Crore for each project), will be used for captive consumption at Bina and Mumbai refineries, contributing to a greener and more eco-friendly operation.

BPCL is making significant investments in petroleum oil lubricants and lube oil base stock installations at Rasayani in Maharashtra. With an estimated cost of approximately 2,753 crore, this project aims to augment storage capacity, smoothen the supply-chain, and streamline the distribution of essential petroleum products.
NEW DELHI : Go First has cancelled all flights until 26 May, the airline said in a statement.

The airline had temporarily suspended flights with effect from 3 May owing to unviable flight operations due to financial losses as a result of persistent engine issues.

"Go First flights scheduled till 26 May 2023 have been cancelled. A full refund will be issued to the original mode of payment," the airline said.

While it was expected that the airline may resume some flight operations from 24 May in an attempt to maintain its air operator certificate, the Wadia Group-backed carrier is yet to approach the civil aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation with an interim flight schedule, a person aware of the development said.

On 8 May, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation issued a show cause notice to Go First, asking the low-fare airline to explain the reasons behind its inability to run operations within 15 days. The aviation regulator also suspended the airline from accepting new bookings and halted the sale of tickets.

A decision on the continuation of Go Firsts air operator certificate (AOC) will be taken on the basis of the response submitted by them.

The validity of an AOC or flying permit to an airline is conditional to an airline company operating flights with a minimum of five aircraft in its fleet. While Go First still has the requisite number of aircraft in its fleet, the Wadia Group airline suspended operations after voluntarily filing insolvency proceedings in the NCLT on 2 May.

In its NCLT petition, the airline blamed engine maker Pratt & Whitney for unserviceable engines, resulting in a 30-50% grounded fleet since 2020, causing losses to the tune of 10,800 crore on account of revenue loss and additional expenses.

While the NCLT order dated 10 May admitted Go First's plea, triggering immediate moratorium on the aircraft, the lessors have approached National Company Law Appellate Tribunal against the NCLT order as the de-registration of their aircraft is stuck due to the moratorium.

So far, the employees at the airline await any clarity on further course of action with regard to payment of pending salaries and a large number of staff are looking out for opportunities. This is visible in the latest recruitment drive by Air India Express which has seen participation of approximately 300 pilots.
New Delhi: Android maker Google is set to start taking action against Indian developers who havent complied with its billing policies on the Play Store. The companys Play Store billing policies have faced much debate in India, including a case at the Competition Commission of India (CCI), in which the company was directed to allow third-party payment systems for apps being distributed through the Play Store.

In response, Google allowed developers to start using third-party payments for subscriptions and other in-app payments on its platform. The company gave Indian developers a deadline of 26 April to comply with this rule following the CCIs decision. It had also appealed the CCI ruling at the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT), which was rejected by the court.

In a blog post today, the company said that it will start reaching out" to developers who havent yet compiled with its Play Billing policies. At the moment, these policies charge developers a 15% service fee for apps that earn less than $1 million per year, and is hiked to 30% for apps that make more than that. In its blog, Google estimated that only about 60 of the 200,000 developers using the Play Store qualify for the 30% fee.

Google charges 11% and 26% respectively--a discount of 4%--for apps that choose to use third-party billing systems.

Most developers globally have already elected one of these routes. In India, now that the deadline has passed, we are informing developers in the country who have not yet implemented one of these options that we will be taking necessary steps to ensure our policy is applied fairly. We continue to comply with local laws and cooperate with local proceedings, as applicable," the post said.

Actions against developers who are in non-compliance could be anything from stopping app updates to de-platforming an app from the Play Store. Android apps that distribute through the Play Store use Googles systems to pass over-the-air updates, which bring new features, bug fixes etc, to users. Google has, in the past, claimed that payments, updates, security are among some of the key services it provides through the Play Store, and hence it needs to charge a fee from developers for using them.

To be sure, Googles Play Billing system has been met with backlash from some of the largest startups in India, including firms like PayTM, Bharat Matrimony and more, whose founders have come up in arms against it. In an April 10 filing with the CCI, an industry body called Alliance of Digital India Foundation (ADIF) opposed the billing system, even though the CCI in October 2022 fined Google $112 million for the same and directed the firm to allow third-party payments.

ADIF counts firms like PayTM, Matrimony.com, TrulyMadly, MapMyIndia and Goqii among its members. Startup founders have also argued that another industry body, the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI), is biased towards big tech firms and are vying for greater representation" in the body in its upcoming elections.

The IAMAI is headed by Sanjay Gupta, the Country Head for Google India, as Chairman. Shivnath Thukral, Public Policy Director of WhatsApp, which is owned by Meta, is its Vice-Chairman. Payments unicorn Razorpays founder Harshil Mathur serves as its Treasurer.

Most founders have argued that Googles fees are too steep for Indian developers, and have said that the company should do away with them altogether. In 2020, the battle even led PayTM to announce its own in-app app store, for which the company said it wouldnt charge any fees from developers.
NEW DELHI : Jindal Stainless Ltd (JSL) is expected to witness 20% volume growth this fiscal year following an 8% surge in the fourth quarter of FY23, top executives of the company said in an interview.

This optimism rides on the resurgence of domestic demand, and the withdrawal of export restrictions by the government in November, Abhyuday Jindal, the companys managing director, said in an interview.

The company, which declared its earnings on Wednesday, recorded a net profit of 659 crore in January-March and profit of 2,014 crore in FY23. Alongside, JSL announced a dividend of 1.50 per share for FY23, taking the total payout to 2.50 a share. This follows a 1 per share payout on the successful completion of a merger.

Our volumes numbers are looking up after the removal of export restrictions by the government. While domestic demand continues to clock good numbers, we expect demand in global markets (exports to the US and the EU) to move upwards starting the second quarter of the current fiscal year, which will help increase our demand," Jindal said.

JSL has completed a one million-tonne expansion of its stainless steel meltshop capacity, along with its supporting downstream facilities in Jajpur in March 2023. With this development, its total melt capacity now stands at 2.9 million tonnes per annum, in line with its projected timeline. We are projecting a volume increase of 20% during the current fiscal year," said Anurag Mantri, group chief financial officer, JSL.

However, the company did not share a break up of the projected volume growth for domestic and international markets.

According to a statement by the company, FY23 was an eventful year. It signed a collaboration agreement with New Yaking Pte Ltd for a 49% stake in its Nickel Pig Iron smelter facility in Indonesia. It also completed the acquisition of Rathi Super Steel Ltd, and started production at the facility much before the deadline.

Jindal, however, said JSL will be taking a break from acquisitions since it wants to first smoothen the operations of the companies it acquired recently. We would not be looking at any new acquisitions for 18 months, and will wait till our acquisitions stabilise. Subsequently, we would look at companies in India and not beyond  NPI was necessitated since there are no nickel available in India."

JSL said it has reduced its total debt by about 18% during the last fiscal year, and have brought its debt to healthy levels.

Mantri said the debt levels had come down from 3,179 crore to 2,591 crore by the end of last fiscal.

This reduction was possible despite new investments during the fiscal. For the current year, our target is to keep it to similar levels by the end of the current fiscal year. We would require fresh loans this fiscal but the total debt by the end of FY24 would be at similar levels," Mantri said.

The company has received the boards approval to raise 5,000 crore in debt.

This is an enabling provision and does not impact JSLs plan to keep the debt to current levels, company executives said.
MUMBAI : The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has approved asset management company SBI Funds Management Ltds (SBIFML) proposal to acquire up to 9.99% stake in HDFC Bank, the lender said in a regulatory filing on Wednesday.

The asset management company (AMC) currently holds a 5.07% equity stake in HDFC Bank and another 3.79% in mortgage financier Housing Development Finance Corp. (HDFC). A person aware of the development said the AMC would have taken prior approval to hold a stake up to a certain level, which would be breached after the merger of HDFC into HDFC Bank. The approval to go up to 9.99% will ensure that it complies with RBI norms on shareholding in banks.

Announced in April 2022, Indias largest private sector lender will take into its fold, promoter HDFC. As per mer-ger terms, shareholders of mortgage lender will get 42 equity shares of HDFC Bank for every 25 shares they hold.

Under RBI regulations, anyone looking to purchase shares of a bank that would result in a major shareholding should seek prior approval of the regulator. Major shareholding is defined as an aggregate holding of 5% or more of paid-up share capital or voting rights in a bank.

The regulator has advised SBI Funds to acquire shares in the bank by 15 November.

Reserve Bank of India vide its letter dated 16 May 2023 addressed to SBI Funds Management Ltd, has accorded its approval to SBIFML for acquiring up to 9.99% of the paid-up share capital or voting rights of HDFC Bank Ltd," the bank informed the exchanges.

Further, SBI Funds must ensure that the aggregate holding in the bank remains below 10% of the paid-up share cap, the bank said in the regulatory filing.

That said, the approval granted by RBI is subject to the conditions including compliance with the Banking Regulation Act, RBIs master direction and guidelines on acquisition and holding of shares or voting rights in banks published on 16 January, provisions of the Foreign Exchange Management Act, and provisions of regulations issued by Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi), among others.
Swiss bank UBS said that it has set aside $4 billion to cover potential legal and regulatory costs from its acquisition of Credit Suisse, and that it is expecting to record other asset write-downs.

UBS on Tuesday released an updated version of a merger prospectus that was first published three weeks ago. The new document showed that UBS expects to book a $34.8 billion gain on negative goodwill, which is when a company acquires assets for less than their worthtypically in a distressed situation.

Part of the merger deal, which was struck in March, involved Switzerlands financial regulator electing to wipe out around $17 billion of Credit Suisses additional tier-1 securities. These bonds, known as AT1s, provide a loss buffer for other creditors, but many bondholders said they expected to be paid back before shareholders.

Global investors have challenged the AT1 write-down in a Swiss court, alleging the move unfairly penalized them and violated their property rights. Shareholders of Credit Suisse, which rank below other creditors, will be given more than $3 billion of UBS shares as part of the deal.

UBS will also make various fair-value changes to its accounts as it incorporates the value of Credit Suisses assets and liabilities on its own book. The bank plans to write down $9.9 billion on assets including Swiss mortgages.

It also said its liabilities are likely to increase by around $3.1 billion, the result of taking on some loans Credit Suisse extended to clients that havent yet been drawn.

The merger agreement between the two banks was announced on March 19, after a precipitous drop in the value of Credit Suisses stocks and bonds raised questions about the health of the 167-year-old institution. Swiss authorities orchestrated the merger and provided backstops that protect UBS from some of the risk of the deal.

Credit Suisse suffered massive customer withdrawals before UBSs takeover, the troubled banks most recent quarterly earnings report showed. Customer deposits declined by the equivalent of around $75 billion in the first quarter of this year, and Credit Suisse suffered net asset outflows of about $68 billion.

In the fourth quarter of 2022, Credit Suisses customer deposits had declined by $154 billion and its net asset outflows were $123 billion.

UBSs $4 billion provision for possible legal risks is in line with accounting rules which force companies to recognize all potential liabilities from an acquisition even if they are unlikely, the bank said.

Write to Weilun Soon at weilun.soon@wsj.com and Matthew Thomas at matthew.thomas@wsj.com
NEW DELHI : The government is set to lower the subsidy on electric two-wheelers as part of a broader restructuring of financial incentives for this fledgeling industry.

However, the total amount allocated towards providing incentives for such eco-friendly vehicles may be raised from the current 2,000 crore, the heavy industries ministry said in a statement.

The subsidy per kilowatt (kWh) of battery capacity will be reduced from 15,000 to 10,000 per electric two-wheeler under the Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric and Hybrid Vehicles (FAME) II scheme.

The incentive per vehicle will also be capped at 15% of the ex-factory price, a sharp cut from the previous 40%, the ministry said. The move is aimed at streamlining the allocation of funds and ensuring efficient use of resources, it said.

An official in the know of the developments said, requesting anonymity, that the ministry will infuse an additional 1,500 crore, redirecting it from other segments, including the allocation for the electric three-wheeler segment, which has so far witnessed lacklustre demand.

The proposed changes were discussed during a stakeholder consultation held by the ministry of heavy industries on Tuesday. The consultations were aimed at gathering feedback from electric two-wheeler makers regarding the demand incentives under the Fame II scheme. Industry representatives expressed concerns about the nearly exhausted subsidy and proposed enhancing the schemes outlay while reducing the subsidy per vehicle.

The consensus reached during the discussions suggests that the demand incentive should be maintained at 10,000 per kWh of battery capacity, with a cap of 15% of the ex-factory price. The ministry is now considering boosting the schemes outlay for electric two-wheelers from 2,000 crore. This adjustment, combined with the reduction in subsidy per vehicle, aims to provide extended government support for the electric two-wheeler segment.

As the demand for e-two-wheelers continues to grow, the government is committed to providing the necessary support to the industry to ensure sustainable growth and reduce carbon emissions," Union minister for heavy industries Mahendra Nath Pandey said. He added that the government is working closely with industry stakeholders to develop policies and incentives that will encourage the adoption of electric vehicles across India.

The proposal is expected to be sent to the Project Implementation and Sanctioning Committee (PISC) for its approval within a week. The official cited above said the intention to lower the subsidy and increase the funds for electric two-wheelers is to support more consumers through the Fame scheme with the available funds.

Initially launched on 1 April 2019 for a three-year period, the scheme has been extended until 31 March 2024. With a total outlay of 10,000 crore, the scheme provides incentives for electric vehicles in the segments of electric three-wheelers, electric four-wheelers, and electric buses. Privately owned registered electric two-wheelers are also eligible for subsidies.

Under Fame II, the government aims to generate demand by way of supporting 7000 e-Buses, 500,000 electric three-wheelers, 55,000 electric cars and 1 million electric two-wheelers.

The decision comes as the ministry takes steps to curb wrongdoings under the scheme. The ministry is probing companies over allegations of billing smart chargers and performance and feature-related software packs separately from the scooter to achieve an ex-factory cost of 150,000, the ceiling price which companies need to meet to qualify for incentives under the Fame-II scheme.
Mumbai police Wednesday said it has arrested domestic help of Arpita Khan Sharma for allegedly stealing a pair of earrings worth 5 lakh from her Khar residence. Arpita is the youngest sister of Bollywood superstar Salman Khan.

Arpita filed a complaint with the Mumbai police after her diamond earrings were reported missing from her home.

The 30 years old domestic help was arrested from neighbouring Thane district, the Mumbai police said.

"Accused Sandip Hegde decamped with diamond-studded gold jewellery worth around five lakh from Arpita Khan's residence located on 17th Road in Khar. After the incident came to light, Arpita approached the police and lodged a complaint," news agency PTI reported quoting an official of Khar police station.

The official said based on the complaint of the victim, the police launched a probe and scanned the CCTV footage from the area.

"With the help of technical and other inputs, the police nabbed the accused on Tuesday from Thane for the alleged theft of the jewellery," the official added.

The earrings were recovered from the house of the accused, who lives in the slum of Vile Parle East, the official said. The accused was remanded to police custody and was booked under section 381 (theft by servant) of IPC.
Stock market today: Most brokerage firms cheered the strong March quarter numbers of Bank of Baroda (BoB) as the public sector lender's standalone profit after tax (PAT) more than doubled in Q4 FY23. In a BSE filing on May 16, BoB said its standalone PAT for Q4FY23 rose to 4,775.33 crore against a profit of 1,778.77 in the corresponding quarter last year.

The bank's gross NPA (non-performing asset) for the quarter fell 32 per cent YoY to 36,763.68 crore against 54,059.39 crore in Q4FY22. Net NPA dropped 37.3 per cent YoY to 8,384.32 crore in Q4FY23 from 13,364.65 crore in the same quarter last year.

Read more: Bank of Baroda Q4FY23: PAT more than doubled in Q4FY23; lender declares 5.5 dividend

Following the results, the stock closed with a healthy gain of 2.80 per cent on BSE on May 16. On May 17, the stock opened nearly two per cent higher but failed to hold altitude and closed 0.27 per cent lower at 185.85.

Bank of Baroda Q4 results: Share price gains on stellar performance; brokerages remain bullish

In the last one year, the stock has rallied 82 per cent against a 13 per cent gain in the equity benchmark Sensex, thanks to its strong credit growth and improving asset quality.

Brokerage firm Motilal Oswal Financial Services maintained a 'buy' call on the stock with a target price of 240, implying a 29 per cent upside potential.

"We maintain our earnings estimate on the stock and estimate FY25 RoA (return on assets) and RoE (return on equity) of 1.1 per cent and 16.4 per cent respectively. We value the stock at 240 premised on 1.1 times September 24 adjusted book value," said Motilal Oswal.

The brokerage firm highlighted the management commentary on loan growth, margin and return prospects.

"Retail loan growth is expected at 1.5 times total loan growth. Overall, management has guided for an advanced growth of 13-14 per cent in FY24. The margin for FY24 is likely to remain around the FY23 level (3.31 per cent for FY23). The bank has guided for an ROE of 16-18 per cent and a ROA of one per cent for FY24. Management has guided for a credit cost of about one per cent under the normal cycle. ECL (expected credit loss) requirement is likely to be at about 1-1.5 per cent of total loans," Motilal Oswal pointed out.

Read more: Bank of Baroda ends FY23 on a strong note

Brokerage firm Nuvama Wealth Management also maintained a 'buy' call on the stock and raised the target price to 220 from 195 earlier.

Nuvama raised FY24E and FY25E EPS (earnings per share) estimates for BoB by 1.71 per cent and 2.59 per cent, respectively.

The brokerage firm highlighted that the stock trades at 0.8 times FY25E book value (BV) which is a premium to peers but BoBs earnings outperformed its PSU peers so the premium valuation may sustain.

"BoB has made more progress than other state banks in adopting practices of private banks and making private hires. We find the risk-reward attractive at 0.8 times BV FY25E. The bank has delivered RoA of more than a per cent in the last three quarters. If it can sustain this performance, the stock can likely re-rate to more than one time," Nuvama said.

"We raise our target price to 220, 0.95 times BV FY25E, from 195 at 0.9 times. Management quantified ECL impact of 11.5 per cent of loans (14 per cent of equity), lower than peers. BoB is our top pick among state-owned banks," said Nuvama.

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Nirmal Bang Institutional Equities, too, has maintained a 'buy' call on the stock after strong March quarter numbers. The brokerage firm has pegged the target price of 230, implying a 23 per cent upside potential as it said BoB continued reporting strong earnings growth on the back of margin expansion and improving asset quality matrix.

Nirmal Bang noted the management commentary which showed the bank continues to focus on margin enhancement and indicated that overall NIM is likely to sustain near 3.3 per cent. Further, it indicated that the banks overall coverage ratio remains high and ECL (expected credit loss) provisioning could be near 1-1.5 per cent of the loan book. Moreover, the management indicated that the bank would not have to raise any fresh equity capital as internal accruals are expected to be sufficient for driving growth in the near term.

Kotak Institutional Equities maintained an 'add' call on the stock but raised the target price to 200 from 185.

"We maintain add rating with a revised fair value of 200 ( 185 earlier), valuing the bank at 0.9 times (adjusted) book and 7 times FY25E EPS for RoEs of about 14-15 per cent," Kotak said.

"We have started to build higher provisions for ECL migration until we have greater clarity. Our earnings estimates have room for further upgrades as we are building higher pressure on NIM, which may not necessarily materialise immediately. From a valuation perspective, we believe BoB is likely to trade at a discount to SBI in this cycle," said Kotak.

Disclaimer: The views and recommendations given in this article are those of the brokerage firms. These do not represent the views of Mint. We advise investors to check with certified experts before taking any investment decisions.
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Four Montana moose hunters and 60 bighorn sheep tag applicants are in for some very bad news.

Fish, Wildlife & Parks over-allocated these highly prized tags in seven different hunting districts in its recent drawing. Realizing the mistake, the agency is issuing a recall.

Operator error inputting incorrect quotas was to blame, said Greg Lemon, FWP spokesman. Although the data is double-checked, the errors werent caught. The bureaus staff realized the error on May 16 and put a block on the ability for successful applicants in the affected districts to purchase their license.

The way the drawings are held, the Licensing Division can see the order in which hunters drew their tag and make the necessary correction to match the quotas.

Its a travesty, said Doug Krings, board member for the Central Montana Chapter of Backcountry Hunters & Anglers. I cant imagine finally drawing a permit like that just to have it pulled back.

Krings was one of almost 2,500 applicants kicked out of last years drawings for elk tags due to a Licensing Division error. In that case, FWP Director Hank Worsech decided to hold a second drawing, noting that he had the discretion to issue 10% more tags above the original quota. The error also resulted in awarding more licenses than usual to nonresident elk hunters.

What?

Heres an example of the latest error. In bighorn sheep Hunting District 482-30 north of Lewistown, the wildlife biologist set a quota of five bighorn sheep ewes. Instead, a quota of 40 was mistakenly entered, meaning an additional 35 people drew one of the coveted permits.

Before the drawings are ever held, quota ranges are approved by the Fish and Wildlife Commission. FWP biologists then set annual quotas for species within the ranges approved by the commission. For instance, the commission might approve a quota range for a moose license of one to 10. FWP biologists look at numbers on the landscape, as well as other factors, and set a quota of two for that license, FWP explained.

We know this is disappointing for the people affected by this mistake, and were very sorry, said FWP Deputy Director Dustin Temple in a statement. We are putting the resource first, and here that means following the science for population management and ensuring that we meet hunters expectations for a quality hunt. In this circumstance, that means pulling back some of the licenses drawn to ensure the health of the sheep and moose populations in these areas.

The other affected hunting districts for sheep included: 482-20: 20 applicants were awarded tags, but the quota was 15; 622-30: 20 applicants drew, but the quota was 10; 680-31: drew 40 applicants, but the quota was 30.

For the moose drawings, the numbers were less out of line. In HD 270-5, three applicants were drawn, but the quota was two; 332-00: drew eight applicants, but the quota was six; 341-50: drew three applicants, but the quota was two.

FWP released the results of the moose, bighorn sheep, mountain goat and bison drawings on May 11.

Adding up

The news comes only days after the Legislative Audit Division released its report praising Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks bonus point system used in drawing special hunting licenses. The report came out after the Billings Gazette published a story that the agency had changed how it used bonus points during drawings this year without notifying the public. The audit noted FWP had to do a better job of communicating with the public regarding the bonus point system.

Other recent FWP licensing errors have included incorrectly listing the opening day of the turkey season a week earlier than the actual date in the 2022 state regulations. Some archery-only permits were issued with incorrect dates making them appear to be valid only during the rifle season. Then the agency accidentally mailed out 1,200 additional nonresident elk and deer combination tags. The hunters were asked to voluntarily return them.

FWP said it would resolve the most-recent error as soon as possible. Once the system completes the corrections, the affected hunters will be notified by phone and email and their online MyFWP accounts will be updated. After that, successful applicants will be able to purchase their licenses.

Due to the difficulty of drawing some hard-to-get licenses, hunters may put in for decades before drawing a bighorn sheep or moose tag. On FWPs Facebook page, one hunter complained he had unsuccessfully applied for 41 years, another said he had been applying unsuccessfully for 48 years. A hunter called the recent errors a "complete and unmitigated disaster. You just can't make this stuff up. Wow."
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has received an extension of time till August 14 to complete its probe into the Adani-Hindenburg episode.

The Supreme Court has also directed that the copies of the report submitted by the Justice Sapre panel will be given to the parties in the meantime to enable them assist in further deliberations. The next hearing will be held in July.

SEBI informed the Supreme Court on May 15 that it had not conducted any public investigation into Adani group companies, listed on the stock exchange, since 2016 regarding the suspected misuse of global depository receipts (GDRs) for illicit purposes or any other violations.

It requested an extension of six months to complete its investigation into the Adani-Hindenburg incident, emphasising the importance of ensuring justice. The regulator refuted the claim that certain Adani group companies have been under scrutiny for potential law breaches since 2016.

However, Sebi's statement contradicted the remarks made by junior finance minister Pankaj Chaudhary in July 2021, when he stated in parliament that SEBI was investigating specific Adani group companies for non-compliance with regulations.

The finance ministry, on the other hand, stated that the government stood by its written response in Lok Sabha, which was based on a diligent examination and inputs from all relevant agencies.

Gautam Adani, then Asia's wealthiest person, experienced a substantial decline in his net worth within a single day. This decline was triggered by a sharp drop in the bonds and stocks of the seven publicly listed Adani group companies, which witnessed declines ranging from 3% to 7%.

The downward trend occurred following the release of a report by Hindenburg Research, alleging that the Adani Group had been involved in an audacious scheme of stock manipulation and accounting fraud spanning several decades.
A Supreme Court hearing took a slightly humorous turn on Wednesday, with Justice BR Gavai wondering if the ED and CBI had already stepped in. The case pertains to harassment allegations levelled against Indian Youth Congress chief BV Srinivas earlier this year. The politician had approached the apex court on Monday challenging the Gauhati High Court order that rejected his anticipatory bail plea.

The bench asked Additional Solicitor General SV Raju if he was appearing for one of the central probe bodies.

So the CBI and ED have not yet come in?" the judge asked as the lawyer said he was representing the Assam government.

Raju claimed that Srinivas was perpetually unwell and defying the notice

That might be because of your reputation. You had arrested someone at the Airport," came the rejoiner from Justice Gavai. The court had been alluding to the Assam police's earlier arrest of Congress leader Pawan Khera.

An FIR had been filed against him by expelled woman party member for allegedly causing her mental agony. The former Assam Youth Congress president alleged that Srinivas had persistently harassed her through sexist remarks and use of slang words.

The woman had claimed that Srinivas had heckled her, held her arm, pushed and pulled her and used slang words during the party's recent plenary session in Raipur. He had also allegedly threatened to ruin her career in the party if she complained against him.

The Congress had issued show cause notice to the woman and later expelled her from the party's primary membership for six years for anti-party activities.

The Gauhati High Court rejected his anticipatory bail plea on May 5. The High Court had also refused to quash the FIR. Following this a bench of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and Justices PS Narasimha and JB Pardiwala had agreed to list the case on May 15 for hearing.

(With inputs from agencies)
Google Inc. is set to initiate strict action against Indian apps that fail to comply with its billing policies on Play Store.

The announcement follows the controversy over its Play Store policies which led to the Competition Commission of India (CCI) directing the tech behemoth to allow third-party payment systems for apps on the Play Store.

Google complied with CCIs direction, allowing developers to start using third-party payment tools for subscription as well as in-app payments. However, it had set a 6 April deadline for developers to comply with the rules after CCIs decision. It had also appealed the CCIs ruling at the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal, which was rejected.

On Wednesday, Google said in a blog post that it will start reaching out" to developers who have not compiled with its Play Billing policies.

Currently, Google charges developers a 15% service fee for apps earning less than $1 million a year, and 30% for those earning more. In its blog, Google said only about 60 of the 200,000-plus developers who use Play Store qualify for the 30% fee. Besides, it charges 11% and 26% respectively, discount of 4%, for apps choosing to use third-party billing systems.

Most developers globally have elected one of the routes. In India, now that the deadline has passed, we are informing developers who have not yet implemented one of these options that we will be taking steps to ensure our policy is applied fairly. We continue to comply with the local laws and cooperate with local proceedings, as applicable."

Google Inc. provides three mechanisms to facilitate billing on its platform: its proprietary transaction system, user-choice billing via third-party payment systems, and a consumption-only option which allows users to login when the app opens and access content paid for somewhere else".

Potential sanctions against non-compliant developers could range from halting app updates to outright removal from the Play Store. Android apps disseminated via the Play Store leverage Googles systems for over-the-air updates, offering new features and bug fixes to users. Google has cited payment processing, updates, and security as core services it offers on Play Store, to justify the fees charged to developers.

However, Google Play Billing policy has faced stiff resistance in India, especially from major startups like PayTM and Bharat Matrimony, alongside others, that have categorically opposed it. In a 10 April filing with the CCI, industry body, Alliance of Digital India Foundation (ADIF) had opposed the billing system, despite the CCI in October penalizing Google $112 million for it and directing it to allow third-party tools.

ADIF counts PayTM, Matrimony.com, TrulyMadly, MapMyIndia and Goqii among its members. Google is blatantly violating the 25 October 2022 CCI order and on 12 May CCI said that an inquiry needs to be made into whether its is complying with the order," said an ADIF spokesperson.

However, Google in blatant violation is representing factually incorrect information that Google is compliant with the order and its User Choice Billing policy is also fully compliant. As the matter is still sub-judice, Google mandating App developers to either comply with their policies or will face actions, including deletion from Play Store, is clear case of abuse of dominance. The Indian Startups need to come together, before Google Lagaan becomes pervasive to all App developers offering physical and digital goods," .

Rameesh Kailasam, CEO of IndiaTech.org, another industry body representing tech startups in India, argued that Google already earns revenues from developers through other services it provides for building apps on Android. The way this whole payment process has been structured seems to give a wrong perception that payment providers are free to charge whatever prices they want. This also means that there is a need for the Finance Ministry and RBI to intervene and clarify this position. These stores already have different streams of revenue emanating out of various services, right from mere listing to embedded services from their environment," he said.

The fact that such revenues are being further extracted out as a significant percentage of consumer payments makes it clear that these are payments only. The damaging effect of this will hurt the Indian startup ecosystem in a major way. It is important for both the government and RBI to intervene here like it has happened in other emerging tech jurisdictions," he added.

To be sure, the continued battle against policies enforced by Big Tech firms has also led to unrest within the industry. Multiple startup founders have claimed that the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI), is biased towards the wants and needs of Big Tech firms over startups, and are vying for greater representation" in the body in its upcoming elections.

The IAMAI, which is one of the oldest industry bodies in India, is headed by Sanjay Gupta, the Country Head for Google India, as Chairman. Shivnath Thukral, Public Policy Director of WhatsApp, which is owned by Meta, is its Vice-Chairman. Payments unicorn Razorpays founder Harshil Mathur serves as its Treasurer.

Most founders have argued that Googles fees are too steep for Indian developers, and have said that the company should do away with them altogether. In 2020, the battle even led PayTM to announce its own in-app app store, for which the company said it wouldnt charge any fees from developers.
New Delhi: The Union cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Wednesday approved signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) and The Chartered Accountants of the Maldives (CA Maldives).

The MoU aims to establish mutual cooperation between ICAI and CA Maldives for the advancement of accounting knowledge, professional and intellectual development, and the interests of their respective members. It seeks to contribute positively to the development of the accountancy profession in both the Maldives and India.

The MoU will also provide additional opportunities for ICAI members to explore professional prospects in the Maldives in the short and long term. It will strengthen the partnership between ICAI and Maldives by facilitating the export of services in the accountancy profession. ICAI members, who hold middle to top-level positions in various organizations across countries, can play a significant role in influencing decision-making and policy strategies in the Maldives.

The MoU offers numerous benefits, including expanding the professional horizons of ICAI members and contributing to capacity building for local nationals. It will foster strong working relations between India and the Maldives, promoting mutual cooperation and increasing professional mobility between the two countries. The agreement will also open new dimensions for global business opportunities.

Under the MoU, ICAI and CA Maldives will collaborate on matters related to the accountancy profession, including professional accountancy training, professional ethics, technical research, and the professional development of accountants. They will exchange views, information, and best practices through linkages on their respective websites, seminars, conferences, student exchange programs, and other joint activities beneficial to both institutes.

The MoU will also provide updates on the development of the accountancy profession in India and the Maldives, contributing to its promotion globally.

Furthermore, CA Maldives intends to become a member of the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC), the global voice of the accountancy profession. ICAI will conduct technical due diligence to assist CA Maldives in becoming an IFAC member.
New Delhi: Commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal announced that the negotiation for a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between India and the European Union (EU) is advancing positively.

Speaking to the media after the 1st India-EU Trade & Technology Council (TTC) meeting in Brussels on Tuesday, Goyal underscored the TTCs significance as an influential complement to FTA talks, heralding the potential of an India-EU alliance to shape global relations in the 21st century.

Indias active engagement with the EU on the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) issue was a key point in Goyals address. He affirmed that the CBAMs objective is to foster sustainable practices, not to erect trade barriers. A collaborative resolution that addresses CBAM concerns is actively being sought by both parties.

Goyal also used the platform to debunk misconceptions about Indias tariff structure. He argued that while some tariffs may seem steep, the majority of levied duties, particularly on raw materials and intermediaries, are considerably low. Duties on tech goods, crucial to Indias economic trajectory, are also minimal. He further pointed out that Indias applied tariff rates are below the WTO-agreed levels.

The minister extended his appreciation to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen for their roles in fostering this enhanced India-EU dialogue.

Celebrating the creation of the TTC as a vital platform for addressing key issues related to trade, technology trust, and security, Goyal emphasized that both India and the EU, as open-market economies, vibrant democracies, and diverse societies, share common goals of security, prosperity, and sustainable development.
New Delhi: Indias External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar hit back on the European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrells call for action on imports of Indian-refined oil with Russian origins.

Since the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, Europe has attempted to move away from its previous dependence on Russian energy supplies. The European Union banned the seaborne import of Russian oil starting December 5 last year. It applied similar measures to petroleum products in February 2023. The EU has also worked with partners like the United States to institute a price cap scheme to force Russia to sell its oil at discounted rates, thereby eating into Russian oil revenues.

In the 15 months since the outbreak of the war, India has emerged as a key importer of Russian crude oil. In February, India imported a record 1.6 million barrels of oil a day, which made Russia the countrys top supplier of oil.

Government figures also indicate that Indias exports of refined products to Europe, which may have been produced from Russian crude, have increased sharply. According to some estimates, Indias petroleum product exports to the European Union rose to 11.6 million tonnes in the period between April 2022 to January 2023. This represented a 20.4 per cent jump year-on-year.

Critics have characterised these sales as a circumvention of the EUs sanctions on Russia, given the use of Russian crude in making these refined products.

It was in this context that EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrells comments must be considered.

If diesel or gasoline is entering Europe . . . coming from India and being produced with Russian oil, that is certainly a circumvention of sanctions and member states have to take measures," Borrell was quoted as saying to the Financial Times.

That India buys Russian oil, its normal. And if, thanks to our limitations on the price of oil, India can buy this oil much cheaper, well the less money Russia gets, the better," argued the EUs top foreign policy official.

But if they use that in order to be a centre where Russian oil is being refined and by-products are being sold to us . . . we have to act," he concluded.

This prompted a pushback from Indias External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, who was in Brussels for the first ministerial meeting of the India-EU Trade and Technology Council.

My understanding of the (EU) Council regulations is that Russian crude is substantially transformed in a third country then it is not treated as Russian anymore. I would urge you to look at Councils Regulation 833/2014," said Jaishankar at a press briefing with Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal and top EU official Margarethe Vestager in attendance.

Vestager chose not to add to Jaishankars comments.

There is, I think, no doubt about the legal basis of the sanctions. Of course, it is a discussion that we will have with friends but it will be a discussion we will have with friends but it will be with an extended hand and of course not with a pointed finger," said Vestager.
The West Bengal government has recently announced its decision to upgrade the security cover for former Indian cricket team captain and ex-BCCI president Sourav Ganguly to the esteemed Z category, according to a senior official. This development comes following the conclusion of Ganguly's previous security arrangement under the Y category.

The official stated that, once the security cover for the VVIP had expired, a comprehensive evaluation was carried out in accordance with established procedures. This assessment ultimately resulted in the determination to enhance the former India skippers security arrangement to the esteemed Z category.

On May 16, representatives from the state secretariat convened a meeting at Ganguly's Behala office, engaging with officers from Kolkata Police headquarters Lalbazar as well as the local police station, to discuss the security protocol, the official added.

Here is what changes

Under the enhanced security arrangement, Ganguly will be provided protection by a team of 8 to 10 police personnel, ensuring his safety and well-being, the official further explained.

Previously, under the Y category security cover, Ganguly had three Special Branch policemen accompanying him, along with an equal number of law enforcement officers guarding his residence in Behala.

Currently, Ganguly is away, accompanying his team Delhi Daredevils, but he is expected to return to Kolkata on May 21. It is on this very day that he will commence receiving the enhanced Z category security, the official confirmed.

These people in Bengal are given highest security cover

In West Bengal, distinguished figures such as Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Governor C V Ananda Bose, Trinamool Congress MP and national secretary Abhishek Banerjee, and ministers like Firhad Hakim and Moloy Ghatak enjoy Z Plus security, reflecting the importance placed on their safety.

Furthermore, it is noteworthy that Sukanta Majumdar, the President of the West Bengal Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), is also provided with Z Plus security, along with CISF protection.
I think that the whole notion of work from home is a bit like the fake Marie Antoinette quote, Let them eat cake," Musk said. Its not just a productivity thing," Musk said. I think its morally wrong."

Elon Musk has expressed his opinion that working from home is not only less productive but also morally wrong. He argued that it sends the wrong message to employees who do not have the option to work remotely, such as factory workers and other essential workers. Musk has been a proponent of return-to-office policies and has even required Tesla employees to spend a minimum of 40 hours in the office per week.

Tesla Inc.s chief executive officer said Tuesday that firing up the laptop from home lowers productivity and also sends the wrong signal to factory workers and other employees that dont have that option. Musk referred to tech workers as the laptop classes living in la-la-land,"

People should get off the goddamn moral high horse with the work-from-home bulls***," Musk said.

People building the cars, servicing the cars, building houses fixing houses, making the food, making all the things that people consume. Its messed up to assume that, yes, they have to go to work, but you dont," he said in an interview . Its not just a productivity thing, I think its morally wrong."

Work-from-home for most people in white collar jobs became a preferred model during the pandemic, which allowed businesses to keep running amidst the necessary lockdowns that were aimed at preventing the COVID-19 virus from spreading.

While Musk's stance on the productivity aspect of remote work can be debated, his argument about fairness is subjective. He believes that some people having access to the privilege of working from home while others do not is morally problematic. However, it is worth noting that disparities in access and opportunities are inherent in capitalist societies, where some individuals may have access to luxuries like supercars and private jets while others rely on public transport.

However, it is important to acknowledge that the ability to work from home is often seen as a privilege earned by individuals who have acquired the necessary skills for remote work.

It is also worth considering that many white-collar workers shifted to remote work during the pandemic, allowing businesses to continue operating despite lockdowns. However, as companies have started calling employees back to the office, there has been a spike in resignations.

In India, more than 70 percent of the companies had moved into a hybrid model by October last year, which means employees need to turn up at the office at least a few times a week. Studies have shown that productivity slackened when people worked from home. Amazon and Salesforce have demanded workers begin to return to offices.

According to a study published in the University of Chicago press journals in February 2023, a survey of over 10,000 skilled professionals at HCL Technologies, a $35-billion Mumbai-based software services provider, showed that hours worked increased, output declined slightly, and productivity fell 8 percent19 percent."

This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text. Only the headline has been changed.
As the Ukraine war continues, EU officials have called for a crackdown on India reselling Russian oil as refined fuels including diesel into Europe. New Delhi and neighbouring China have ramped up their export of Russian oil in recent months even as Ukraine's Western allies imposed a slew of sanctions.

If diesel or gasoline is entering Europe . . . coming from India and being produced with Russian oil, that is certainly a circumvention of sanctions and member states have to take measures," Josep Borrell - the EUs high representative for foreign policy - told Financial Times.

His comments had come ahead of a meeting with Jaishankar in Brussels. Responding to questions Jaishankar also suggested that the exports don't violate any regulations of the European Union.

Borrell and Jaishankar held talks in the margins of the first EU-India Trade and Technology Council on Tuesday.

In the last few months, India has become a leading importer of discounted crude oil from Russia notwithstanding increasing disquiet in the West over the procurement in view of Russian invasion of Ukraine. India's economic engagement with Russia has been on a major upswing in the last one year, largely due to its procurement of discounted Russian oil.

(With inputs from agencies)
New Delhi: Indonesias government has been in talks with Indian infrastructure firms to develop key projects in the Southeast Asian nation, according to persons aware of the matter. Last year, an Indian infrastructure company expressed interest in participating in the development of Indonesias new capital city Nusantra. The proposal has been taken up and is under discussion.

Last year, there was an offer from an Indian company to participate in the development of Indonesias new capital city. The process is still underway," said one of the persons cited above.

Indonesias president Joko Widodo announced the new capital development project in 2019. The government has argued that Jakarta, the countrys capital since it became independent in 1949, has become crowded and polluted. Besides environmental and human factors, Jakartas business, political and financial clout have led to concerns over regional inequality and underdevelopment in other provinces. The new capital is expected to be ready by 2024.

Indonesia is also in talks with Indian firms to develop new port infrastructure in West Sumatra province, according to the persons cited above.

India and Indonesia have previously been in talks to develop the strategic Sabang port in Indonesia, which is located just 710 kilometres away from the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Sabang port is also just 500 km from the vital Malacca Strait.

This strategic chokepoint" connects Asia to Middle-Eastern and European markets and sees around 40% of global trade pass through its waters. In 2018, Luhut Pandjaitan, then-Indonesias Minister for Maritime Affairs, stated that the two countries could develop Sabang port for both economic and defence purposes. A number of key Indian firms have experience in building strategic infrastructure of this nature. The Essar Group led a consortium to build the India-finance Sittwe port in Myanmar. JSW Infrastructure inked a pact with the UAEs Fujairah port for the operations and maintenance of Dibba Bulk Handling Terminal.

A JSW Group spokesperson declined to comment on the firms possible involvement in building a port in Myanmar.

New Delhi and Jakarta have also instituted the India-Indonesia infrastructure forum to boost cooperation in this field. The first meeting of this forum took place in 2018. However, the forum has not met since 2019. A joint task force meeting aimed at boosting connectivity between Indonesias Aceh province and Indias Andaman and Nicobar Islands took place in December last year.

Infrastructure should be at the core of the India- Indonesia partnership. When the last president, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, came to India in 2011, there were a very large number of infrastructure projects signed, including a port in South Sumatra. But none of those projects ever fructified," said Gurjit Singh, Indias Ambassador to Indonesia from 2012 to 2015.
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The Burleigh County Commission on Monday discussed a broad set of topics including funds for community organizations, distribution of federal coronavirus aid, creation of a county administrator position and formation of a public health board.

Commissioners granted funding requests from two groups that are holding public events in July.

The commission granted $5,000 to the Bismarck-Mandan Symphony Orchestra for its traditional Fourth of July Symphony Spectacular at the state Capitol. The commission the past two years had declined to spend the $5,000 it had historically contributed toward the cost of the holiday music and fireworks event, citing rising property taxes.

Its well attended -- Ive been to 20 of them if not more and it's a great community event, Commissioner Jerry Woodcox said.

The commission also granted $3,000 to Burleigh County 4-H for its Achievement Days at the Missouri Valley Complex from July 11-13.

The money will be coming out of the county general fund; the two items are to be budgeted for in the future.

Commissioner Steve Schwab expressed concern that approving funds for the two groups could lead to an increase in other groups asking for money.

One thing we don't want happening here is everybody that has some community event comes up here and starts asking to put $5,000 for me, $10,000 for me or whatever -- we cant allow that, he said.

ARPA funds for Wilton

The commission voted 4-1 to allocate roughly $318,000 in federal American Rescue Plan pandemic aid to the city of Wilton for infrastructure. That was one-third of what the community on the Burleigh County-McLean County border sought.

The Wilton project is replacing the water main, sewer main and services on various city streets. Some of the areas are identified as most critical, as much of the infrastructure was installed between 1919 and 1935. The $11.2 million project was to be completed in two phases, with $1.6 million of the project cost occurring in Burleigh County, according to County Engineer Marcus Hall.

The costs for Phase 2 came in at $1.2 million over the original estimate. Wilton planned to cover $300,000 and requested $956,000 from the county to keep service fees in the city from growing.

The community applied for $2 million in ARPA funds during Phase 1 of construction in 2021 from Burleigh County and was awarded over $660,000 -- one-third of the projects cost in Burleigh County at the time.

The city made up the difference by obtaining loans through the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund and the Clean Water State Revolving Fund.

Both awards given by the county were determined by the portion of the city's population that resides in Burleigh County.

County administrator

Burleigh County Human Resources Director Pamela Binder presented the commission with details of a possible county administrator position per the commission's request.

It does seem like what we want. It's more like a liaison between the board and the employees, Binder said.

Burleigh County department heads two years ago identified ways in which the county could improve its organization. One of the strategies identified was the addition of a county administrator.

The idea of budgeting for a county administrator was brought up this past April during a county workshop in preparation for budget season. The idea did not prove popular with commissioners, but they moved forward with defining the role and how much the position would impact the budget.

The position would have the highest salary grade in the county; the cost would be $183,000 with benefits.

The commission will make the decision on whether to create the position during budget season.

Public Health

Commission Chair Becky Matthews presented the commission with the idea of potentially forming a board of public health in conjunction with the city.

The idea comes from the Bismarck-Burleigh Commissions Committee, which seeks to improve communication. The city and county have clashed in the past over issues such as the public health building.

The current system technically has two boards -- a county board and a city board. The proposal would consolidate them to ensure consistent public health care policy.

The County Commission on Monday voted 3-2 to enter discussions with the city and Bismarck-Burleigh Public Health on creating a board. Bitner and Schwab were the dissenting votes.

This was just to make sure we were even on the same page. We didnt even want to start looking at bylaws or anything like that until were all on the same page," Matthews said.

If the City Commission approves the idea, the joint Bismarck-Burleigh committee will begin to draft proposed bylaws.

Both commissions would need to vote to officially create the board once proposed bylaws were finished.
President Xi Jinping will seek to deepen Beijings influence in Central Asia at a major summit, reminding a parallel Group of Seven conclave of Chinas sway outside the US-led world order.

The two-day China-Central Asia Summit will assemble the leaders of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan from Thursday in the Chinese city of Xian. Trade ties and regional security concerns will likely dominate talks at the inaugural in-person meeting, along with Russias war in Ukraine.

The summit unfolds in a split screen with President Joe Bidens effort with G-7 leaders in Japan this week to hammer out a unified response to Chinese economic coercion." As China finds itself increasingly isolated within the US-led system, the two meetings symbolize the calcification of a multipolar world in which Global South nations are being courted as important strategic partners.

While Russia and China are united in their mission to counter the US, Xis decision to assemble five former Soviet states without President Vladimir Putin demonstrates Beijings increasingly senior position in their no limits" relationship. Since Russia began its invasion of Ukraine, the Kremlin has become reliant on China to provide both economic cover from Western sanctions and much-needed diplomatic support.

The Russians have accepted to some degree they cannot compete with China," said Raffaello Pantucci, a senior fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore. The two see themselves increasingly reshaping the world order together."

As Xi tries to reorient global affairs away from Western groupings, Pantucci says hes creating more China-centric structures. Beijing is trying to offer an alternative to the Western defined post-World War II order, which the G-7 in many ways represents," he added.

The Russian invasion of Ukraine in February last year deepened a tussle for influence in the resource-rich Central Asian states, which were already on a trajectory of economic realignment toward China.

Beijing has since coupled investment in energy, pipelines, power stations, roads and railways with top-level diplomatic exchanges. Xi chose to reemerge on the global stage from three years of Covid isolation in Kazakhstan last September, attending his first in-person summit in years in neighboring Uzbekistan days later.

That defied expectations his first international trip would be a Group of Twenty conclave in Bali. Chinese leaders will meet Central Asian counterparts at three major summits this year, at least.

The US and European Union have also stepped up their outreach. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan earlier this year, while EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell went to Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan in November. Last month, US and EU officials made a joint trip to Kazakhstan, offering help to minimize any economic impact of averting sanctions evasion by Russia.

While the former Soviet states have avoided backing Russias war  a move that would anger Western partners  their economic incentive remains with their neighbors. Last year, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan each did more trade with China than with either Russia or the G-7 bloc, according to the International Monetary Fund. Chinese imports from the region are mostly commodities, including cotton, oil, natural gas and copper, according to official trade data.

China knows that Russia is no longer in a position to provide anything that Central Asia desires: be that international prestige, economic cooperation or security cooperation," said Niva Yau, nonresident fellow at the Atlantic Councils Global China Hub. Working with China is still a preference."

Still, Moscow remains an important player in the region. Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan are part of the Russia-led Eurasian Economic Union free-trade zone. They and Tajikistan are also members of the Collective Security Treaty Organization with Russia, Armenia and Belarus, a defense alliance that Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev called upon for military aid to help him crush violent unrest in January last year.

The summit also comes at a slightly awkward moment for Xi. Last month, Chinas ambassador to France, Lu Shaye, questioned the independence of ex-Soviet states during an interview with a local broadcaster. While Beijing said those remarks were the envoys personal views, Lu has not been recalled.

Xi will also likely use the meeting to bolster his flagship Belt and Road Initiative, which was dealt a blow this month when Italy signaled it intends to exit the investment pact this year. Three Baltic states have already quit what was the so-called 17 1 eastern European framework with China, weakening another grouping Beijing had created to counter US global influence.

Chinas military aggression toward Taiwan  a self-ruled island Xi has vowed to control, by force if necessary  and ambivalence over Russias invasion, have triggered a rethink in Europe on relations with the worlds second-largest economy.

Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin will next week lead a delegation to a Shanghai business forum, which has also invited a group of sanctioned tycoons, exemplifying how China can shelter Moscow from Western economic sanctions.

Global Influence

As the tussle for global influence intensifies, G-7 leaders in Japan this week are preparing to embark on a battle of offers" with Beijing and Moscow, according to people familiar with the discussions and documents seen by Bloomberg News.

While the EU and US say they are derisking" not decoupling" from China, such increased competition looks set to bind Beijing and Moscow more tightly  with Xi as the stronger partner. That means the Chinese leaders huddle with Putins former Soviet partners is unlikely to cause any rupture with the Kremlin.

China is seen as a friendly partner where there is competition, but that doesnt get out of control," said Alexander Gabuev, director of the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center.

I dont expect Central Asia to provide any meaningful cracks in the deepening China-Russia axis thats increasingly asymmetrical and dominated by Beijing, which has so much leverage."
India and the EU, as two large democratic areas , have a long history of shared values, political exchanges and common interests. In 2022, the two economies celebrated 60 years of their relationship with the relaunch of talks on a bilateral trade agreement. Both sides have agreed to fast-track talks with a target of concluding a trade deal by the end of 2023. The latest Brussels visit of Union minister for commerce and industry Piyush Goyal has added momentum to the negotiations and provided India a platform to work with the EU to resolve sensitive issues, including market access barriers. It will help build a consensus for a balanced and meaningful trade agreement, which will enhance our exports and lead to economic growth and employment on both sides. As one of the worlds fastest growing economies, India offers EU investors an attractive alternative market to China.

The EU is Indias third largest trading partner, accounting for 10.8% (around 88 billion) of our total trade in goods. The last decade saw trade in goods between the two economies rise by about 30%. The EU is a key export market for us, and in many categories like agri-food products, India has a positive trade balance with it. Food exports from India to the EU have increased from $2.65 billion in 2011 to $3.01 billion in 2021, while food imports from the EU to India have increased from about $410 million in 2011 to some $920 million in 2021. Trade in services between India and the EU was around 30.4 billion in 2020. Foreign investment from the EU to India has increased over the years, with the EU foreign investment stock in India at around 87.3 billion in 2020. Over 6,000 European companies are present in India, which has led to significant job creation in the country.

India is the EUs 10th largest trading partner, accounting for 2.1% of the EUs total trade in goods, but this is well behind Chinas 16.2% and the USs 14.7%. Our companies have vast potential to enhance exports and diversify the export basket. The ministers EU visit provides an opportunity for business-to-business interactions across a wide range of sectors, including food and beverages, technology, chemicals, automobiles and auto-components, textile chemicals, metals and steel. We could develop successful business partnerships, enhance exports and attract investment from the EU. The visit also focuses on trade and investment issues. While EU businesses have raised high-tariff related concerns in Indian sectors like dairy, alcoholic beverages and automobiles and auto-components, our businesses are worried about regulatory issues such as technical standards and the EUs carbon tax.

There are differences in views between India and the EU over several issues, like the content of an investment agreement, intellectual property rights and tackling climate change challenges. The India-EU Trade and Technology Council (TTC) could serve as a platform to address some of these. The visit will help to build a consensus on how to jointly work on addressing the issues through the TTC and a trade agreement.

India and the EU are participating in trade discussions in multiple forums, including the World Trade Organization (WTO) and G20. In this context, the ministers visit affords an opportunity to identify areas of common interest and for India to get EU support on its G20 priority areas, like making trade more inclusive and growth-oriented for developing countries, building resilient global value chains (GVCs), integrating micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in global supply chains by using digital platforms, logistics for trade, and WTO reforms. In the specific context of WTO reforms, India and the EU have already agreed to work together on common priorities covering issues like its dispute resolution mechanism, subsidies on agriculture and fisheries, and an e-commerce moratorium. Both sides recognize the need to build on their common goals to pursue consensus-based solutions that would support livelihoods and nutrition security for millions in India and other developing countries. If India and EU work together, they may be able to reach a consensus on many issues at the next WTO Ministerial Conference.

There are multiple areas where bilateral trade and investment flows can be enhanced through targeted interventions and collaborations. For example, joint-capacity building programmes for supporting MSMEs integration with GVCs; support to startups in each others market; joint research, innovation and skilling programmes; collaboration and joint projects on sustainable food systems will all help enhance bilateral trade and investment flows. Collaboration between regulatory bodies and mutual recognition agreements will help address several issues related to technical standards and the mobility of professionals. India may explore the scope for collaborations to attract more tourists from the EU, enhance exports of organic products and traditional medicine as organic food, Yoga and Ayurveda gain popularity in the EU. As India embarks upon creating a resilient and efficient logistics ecosystem and promoting seamless multimodal international transportation under the PM Gati Shakti and the National Logistics Policy of 2022, there is scope for attracting investment in this sector and learning from the best practices of the EU.

Arpita Mukherjee is a professor at the Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER)

These are the authors personal views.
Restaurant-delivery platforms are already worried about Infosys Ltd. Chairman Nandan Nilekanis newest foray into public-policy evangelism: Open Network Digital Commerce. But it isnt just food or groceries. An unbundling of e-commerce in India could upend billions of dollars of investment. Walmart Inc. is tentatively supporting the government-backed initiative to see where it goes. Amazon.com Inc. has so far agreed to integrate its logistics services  from pickup to delivery  with ONDC.

If China led the quick-response, or QR, code revolution, Indias singular contribution to the world of money in the last seven years has been the Unified Payments Interface, a powerful idea that has made deposits scattered around different banks as easy to spend with a smartphone as cash. The model, which got copied around the globe, now has its biggest success in Brazils Pix platform, which has made cards all but redundant. There are plans to replicate Indias UPI at a global scale in money transfers across borders.

Meanwhile, Nilekani has shifted his gaze to e-commerce. Around 75% of Indians with internet access are not shopping online, while only 5 million out of the countrys 100 million micro, small and medium firms are registered to sell digitally. Only a fraction of them garner meaningful business on platforms. In a report with the consulting firm McKinsey & Co., ONDC, the non-profit that has emerged as a result of Nilekanis advocacy and the governments blessings, describes how it will expand this stunted landscape:

ONDC presents an alternative to the existing platform-centric model. Moving the diverse Indian bazaar of goods and services online democratizes digital commerce for buyers and sellers. Buyers can tap into it using any participating app to launch a search for an item. The network makes it possible for them to connect with thousands of sellers across the country who sell on ONDC via their preferred seller app. Within seconds, the customer sees a set of choices at a range of price points, along with transparent options for delivery modes, times, and costs provided by a choice of logistics operators.

The political bluster accompanying ONDC, however, is undermining the projects economic promise. Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal says India will use the full force of the government" to promote the open e-commerce network. The two American-owned market leaders, Walmarts Flipkart marketplace and Amazons India shopping site, can expect the rhetoric to get louder as next year's general elections draw nearer. Those who dont come on board now with their customer data will repent because, as TechCrunch quoted the minister as saying recently, at some stage we will also have to cut off those who are left behind."

The threats and warnings are adding an unnecessarily statist undertone to ONDCs technocratic pitch. Although they're growing rapidly, online sales account for just 7% of all of Indias commerce, most of which passes through millions of mom-and-pop shops. India has a real problem of emerging duopolies in government-regulated sectors like telecom and transport. But for some reason, New Delhi is giving the impression that cheaper chicken tikka for the middleclass is a policy priority.

At least thats where the project is at. In Bengaluru and New Delhi, thousands of online restaurant orders are bypassing Swiggy and Zomato, the two popular online food-delivery platforms. Customers are discovering McChicken meals for 190 rupees ($2.30) on a fintech app like Paytm when the same thing is selling on Zomato Ltd.s site for 204 rupees. (Hat tip to Moneycontrol, which did the price comparisons recently.)

Paytm is getting behavioral data by seeing more of its users shopping transactions; fulfilling those orders is not its headache. Walmart is a more reluctant campaigner. After all, the governments open bazaar wont stop at aggregating meal orders or auto-rickshaw rides. Participating too vigorously might mean cannibalizing Flipkart, its main retail business. Thats perhaps why Walmart's PhonePe payments unit has designed Pincode, a custom-built app for hyperlocal shopping. But Goyal has cottoned on to this, and threatened to exclude those e-commerce players that are not coming to the network with their main platforms.

I remain skeptical of ONDC, and not only because of its clunky moniker. (Good luck wooing millennials and Gen Z with that acronym.) The word-of-mouth popularity is largely due to a 50-rupees-per-transaction initial discount that the banks backing ONDC are funding. Take that away, drop the subsidies on delivery charges and eliminate the incentives to sellers, and this is where the dust will likely settle  restaurants will get a slightly better deal than now, forcing Swiggy and Zomato to lower their commissions and improve service. There will be no revolution.

Aadhaar, the unique number used to authenticate peoples identity digitally, took off because the state put its coercive power behind it. The payments innovation succeeded because money enjoys a universal sameness  demand deposits are immediately convertible into a predefined amount of sovereign-issued cash, no questions asked. When that assurance comes under a doubt, like during the recent US bank failures, authorities take extraordinary steps.

Everything other than money, however, is a little differentiated. Vegetables are fresher in one shop, cheaper in another. Affluent customers go for the largest possible shampoo bottle, while poor families buy small sachets because thats all they can afford. Everyday staples have proved challenging, not only for pure e-commerce players but even for the Mumbai-based tycoon Mukesh Ambanis massive network of mom-and-pop stores. Its just very hard in a country of Indias size and diversity to have the supply chain so well-primed that the exact thing the consumer wants is available in the neighborhood shop.

In theory, the idea of breaking up e-commerce looks nice. One set of apps can let buyers search for products, another can allow sellers to upload their inventory and enable logistics players to offer their services. As a participant in the ONDC experiment told me, the democratization Nilekani is seeking could end up playing the same role as the Third Front" in Indian politics. The countrys two main political organizations, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and its main opposition, the Congress, can never rule out an alliance of regional groupings, however improbable. This acts as a check on the behavior of the political system. ONDC wont replace Amazon and Walmart, but the consumer's bargaining position will be improved by the presence of a third actor. And unlike the zero-sum game of politics, there may be an opportunity here to expand the market.

The larger businesses may exploit the potential first. Unilever Plcs India unit or ITC Ltd., the tobacco giant that hawks everything from wheat flour and soap to paper and hotel rooms, could connect their brands with ONDCs so-called seller apps. Their products already enjoy consumer trust. Becoming discoverable outside the top e-commerce platforms means adding a distribution channel. Over time, the benefits may trickle down. Some hyperlocal enterprises will gain customers, and some artisans popularity will expand beyond their immediate domains. But it wont address the paucity of purchasing power at the bottom of the economic pyramid, the real constraint on e-commerce in India.

When you unbundle a service, you reintroduce all the wrinkles someone had made it their business to remove: Wrong shirt size, cold food, smelly rides, no returns, no refunds  and nobody to blame on Twitter except a nonprofit. Before religious festivals, algorithms at Indias popular e-commerce platforms are on high alert for spikes in orders of decorative" swords. Those can be used to trigger riots, seriously denting the reputational capital of behemoths like Amazon and Walmart. Will ONDC be equipped to handle this bewildering gamut of complexity?

Its fine for the government to promote ONDC, but it must ask how much coercion it wants to employ and to what end. If open, unfettered markets could do everything, why do we still have profit-making organizations? That question, asked by the Nobel Prize-winning economist Ronald Coase, in his 1937 paper, The Nature of the Firm," remains alive even with digitization slashing transaction costs. Out of the 11,000 ONDC orders on April 30, as many as 10,000 were touched in some way by Magicpin, an Indian startup, Moneycontrol has reported. Its still early days, but there may be no escaping the winner-take-all phenomenon even with open markets. For all the hype around cheap meals, Nilekanis democratization of commerce might turn out to be a nothingburger.

Andy Mukherjee is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering industrial companies and financial services in Asia. Previously, he worked for Reuters, the Straits Times and Bloomberg News.
I recall the conversation I had with him some months before the financial meltdown of 2008. When the market appeared to be euphoric, he was deeply anxious about the potential adverse impact of derivatives-driven banking expansion. It is evidence of his foresight that he moved the groups investments to a safe haven and managed to come out unscathed from the global financial crisis.

There were many occasions when he let go of seemingly attractive business deals because he felt uncomfortable with the transacting party, only to be proved eventually right. He was a consummate negotiator, perhaps because of his trading background in Iran. I learnt a great deal watching him negotiate unbelievable deals. SP was a visionary. Once, I took a deal to him to buy out a private bank. I thought it was a great deal. After several days of negotiations with the seller, during which he extracted all relevant information on the prospects for banking in India, he declined the deal. We should promote a greenfield banking venture," he declared. I had the privilege of working closely with him when he conceptualized the framework for IndusInd Bank. The bank commenced operations in record time. I had many occasions to recall his predictions during the later years of the bank. He once called me from the office of N.D. Tiwary, then chief minister of Uttarakhand, urging me to commit to a large investment in the state. He said that the chief minister was offering the land free. I declined, citing that Ashok Leyland did not need another factory in the conceivable future. Some years later, we took a decision to put up a plant in Pantnagar. He was magnanimous enough not to say, I told you earlier!"

I have never seen him being disrespectful towards any professional who worked in the group. In fact, I had often argued with him that he was being too tolerant, even in the face of rank incompetence. If there is an errant member in the family, would you want him to leave ? he would respond. SP was a patriotic Indian, regardless of which passport he carried. He had a deep respect for Indian civilizational values. I know of many occasions when SPs intervention was sought by the government as a back channel to smoothen the way for resolving knotty issues in international relations. When he threw himself to the task, his motivation was always the fact that it was good for India.

His commitment to social causes was genuine. Hinduja National Hospital stands as testimony to his concern for the needy and the poor. He never hesitated to invest in the best equipment, even if it did not make any commercial sense.

SP was a highly respected elder brother to me, as he was to many other colleagues in the Hinduja Group; parivar, as he insisted on calling. His loss is irreparable to me and all others of the parivar.

The author is executive vice chairman of the Hinduja Group.
After artificial intelligence (AI) godfather" Geoffrey Hinton expressed deep qualms over AI, OpenAIs chief executive Sam Altman has called for its regulation. If this technology goes wrong, it can go quite wrong," he told the US Congress, testifying on behalf of the firm that startled us with ChatGPT, a chatbot. While Altman highlighted the good turns that AI could do for humanity, like helping cure cancer and fight climate change, he suggested that AI models be licensed, audited and given disclosure norms so that their harms are held in check. American lawmakers should take the cue. It would do the free world a big favour. As the US is at the cutting edge of AI, well-worked-out and up-to-date rules adopted there could offer other countries a template to go by. While we have our own needs in India, our approach needs to be market-friendly and democratic rather than dirigiste and autocratic like Chinas. Just as AI could turn out either utopian or dystopic in its impact, so an intervention, and with this technology being seen as a possible inflexion point for economic expansion, the rules we adopt at this stage might come to have major consequences.
A Life of One's Own: Nine Women Writers Begin Again

By Joanna Biggs

Ecco. 272 pp. $29.99

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To think for herself, and write what she wishes to write, a woman requires 500 pounds a year and a private room, as Virginia Woolf argued a century ago in "A Room of One's Own" (1929). In her new book, "A Life of One's Own: Nine Women Writers Begin Again," Joanna Biggs, an editor at Harper's, doesn't just riff on Woolf's title. She explores how exceptional writers of the past might guide today's women in charting a path after life-altering events - in Biggs's case, a divorce. The result is a moving biblio-memoir that's a gift to readers of all ages, especially those in midlife who want to stroll down the memory lane of their formative reading experiences.

The book's engaging, breezy chapters explore each subject's life and writings in chronological order. We get Mary Wollstonecraft, George Eliot, Zora Neale Hurston, Woolf, Simone de Beauvoir, Sylvia Plath, Toni Morrison and finally Elena Ferrante. (Biggs seems to be the ninth woman suggested by the subtitle. As the only other living writer here, Ferrante is an outlier who gets no biographical musings, thanks to her veiled identity.) Biggs serves up amuse-bouche anecdotes about each figure, culled from previously published sources. Her mini-biographies of these icons - referred to by their first names - are interwoven with difficult stories from Biggs's life.

The resulting juxtapositions are often poignant, albeit with few surprises. All but one of her chosen muses were syllabus staples in pioneering women's literature courses of the late 20th century. If you took such a course, you probably read them in classes that studied their lives as defined by sexist social structures and personal tragedies. One opened "A Vindication of the Rights of Woman" knowing that Wollstonecraft died after complications from giving birth to Mary Shelley. Recognizing that Woolf would soon load down her coat pockets with rocks and drown herself made "Three Guineas" a particularly painful wartime book. "Their Eyes Were Watching God" meant even more after you learned about the history of Hurston's too-long-unmarked grave in Florida.

Naturally, these stories are mentioned in "A Life of One's Own." But with so many lives to consider, Biggs also finds common threads by focusing on affairs, marriages, mothers and female friends, as well as on fictional and real graves. Whether she's heeding Woolf's advice about laying wreaths for dead literary foremothers, or following Shelley's unusual courtship rituals, Biggs doesn't approach these monumental writers as one's professor would have. Instead, she writes about them as if reminiscing about late, lamented friends or, as she calls them, "household goddesses." Biggs admits she's "using their lives in different ways." In rehearsing their stories, she finds "they ask questions of me, they push me, they comfort me when they're silly or funny or getting too much bad luck." They are also, she discovers, "just mortal" and "only women."

Before cutting their life stories down to size, however, Biggs must bring readers up to speed on hers. In her early 30s, she rejects a future "heading for children in the suburbs with the husband I'd met at nineteen," while reckoning with her 57-year-old mother's Alzheimer's diagnosis. She questions whether you can be a feminist and be in love - and whether domesticity is a trap. She wonders about family, writing, form, genre, truth and privilege, asking, "When would I get sick of myself?"

Throughout, Biggs is attentive to the ways literary influences have impinged on her life. She experiments with an open marriage before taking off her wedding ring, etched inside with a line from Plath's poem "Morning Song." Biggs had even gotten married in a pink dress, not only because her mother did but because Sylvia did, too. Once, when she revealed this fact publicly, she faced a scoffer on Twitter who called her an idiot. She disarmingly acknowledges that she sort of agrees.

Eventually, Biggs leaves her native England for New York, continues an exploratory course of rereading and disavows former fantasies of a Plath-Hughes-like marriage. "Some wrong idea I'd nursed," Biggs confesses, "had started with her." So instead of considering her literary women as "heroines" anymore, Biggs asks, "Maybe I can think of them as friends?" Your answer to that question may depend on whether you find forging imaginary friendships more psychologically beneficial than going all-in on literary emulation.

Following Plath's example in one's 20s must now be universally acknowledged as a wrong turn, but her life does inspire one of the book's most vivid chapters. Readers are treated to a dramatic retelling of Sylvia biting Ted Hughes's cheek and drawing blood on first meeting. Lesser-known anecdotes are collected, too, such as the Plath family's tomato soup cake recipe. Biggs shines a light on the doomed Plath-Hughes marriage through descriptions of their odd pets, including one dead and one pond-released goldfish. We hear about how Ted used a shoe box to gas a sick bird they unsuccessfully tried to nurse back to health. Biggs is darkly funny on this subject, writing, "You fear for Sappho, the kitten they adopted."

Because the book's female writers principally chose to make their lives alongside men - and because Biggs closely follows that element of their lives - there are some glaring omissions. Heterosexual relationships are emphasized, although Woolf's and de Beauvoir's female lovers get a mention, as does Biggs's own failed date with a woman. (It reinforced for her that she's straight.) There's precious little material considering authorship, marriage or divorce in context. History is glossed over. Class and economics come up only glancingly. Intersectional approaches aren't the book's strong suit.

About this lack, Biggs is again charmingly self-deprecating. She admits that though she once "used to want desperately to be a 'proper' critic," she's given up on having "full command of history and theory." Her book focuses instead on "changing the way you live." Reading books could transform behavior because "you might speak up at the dinner table like Mary, or take up drinking wine and crying like Simone, or get up early to write like the character of Lenu in Ferrante's Neapolitan novels." Biggs declares that the process isn't about self-improvement but about freedom. Readers are freed to become "less of a feminist or more of one, writing more or something different or giving up altogether, gaining the courage to act according to your beliefs."

Lines like these make it clear that "A Life of One's Own" has much to offer readers new to its subjects. Each chapter includes summarizing teasers (without too many devastating plot spoilers) of the writers' greatest hits, if you're waffling over which classic to pick up next. The "Notes on Sources" section recommends further reading, including Biggs's declaration that she often buys "the prettiest" edition of a work, although "secondhand is usually best," for the promise of previous readers' marginalia. Needless to say, "A Life of One's Own" doesn't contain endnotes.

Ultimately, Biggs is sanguine about it all. She's learned a lesson from these writers she's long looked up to, for better and for worse. The book ends with her realization that she ought to "let go of them and become the author of my own life." She encourages her readers to do the same, cheering us on with the last words, "You can too."

That uplifting parting line may be just what the convention of this genre requires, in contrast to Plath's "I stepped into the room" or Woolf's rousing call to action, "To work, even in poverty and obscurity, is worth while." If you prefer that sort of finish, you'll need to go back to the original books that "A Life of One's Own" so stirringly recommends.

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Devoney Looser, regents professor of English at Arizona State University, is the author and editor of 10 books, most recently "Sister Novelists: The Trailblazing Porter Sisters, Who Paved the Way for Austen and the Brontes."
To some, a cardboard box is a temporary home for your belongings, but for Randy Sifuentes it's a symbol of his journey to find his forever home in the Alamo City. Last week, Sifuentes found himself staring at the boxes that had accompanied him from city to city for the last several years and in that moment contemplated getting rid of them.

"I've never thrown the cardboard boxes away because we we're moving so frequently, at the very least every two years," Sifuentes said. "I was like, you know, this is the spot where we've got a great home here in Helotes, we live in a little cul-de-sac, and our kids are playing with other kids that are their age. It's like, alright, we're going to toss these cardboard boxes out ... It was just good to just finally throw those away and feel comfortable knowing that it's cool  this is going to be the zone."

Sifuentes is just one of the many newcomers who've made their way to San Antonio in search of something more than what life was offering them elsewhere.

Over the last few years, San Antonio has experienced tremendous growth with thousands migrating to the city for more job opportunities, a better quality of life for themselves and their families, and the affordable cost of living. MySA recently spoke with some of the people who have made the journey to the Alamo City. Here's why they made their moves.

Diversity is key

In Sifuentes' case, it was finding a place to raise kids in a city rich in diversity with plenty of job opportunities to support his family.

"We've kind of always wanted to move to San Antonio, but just never really made the initiative to figure out what part of San Antonio and why San Antonio exactly, besides just the food is great," Sifuentes said.

Sifuentes found part of the answer to why he moved to San Antonio ultimately resided in West Texas' lack of diversity. Between feeling like there was only one way of living and the constant question of being asked where he was from, the need for a change was apparent.

"It just kind of bothered us and we really wanted to be in an area that was multicultural and where there's a high respect for different ways of life," Sifuentes said.

The father of two finally made the leap to San Antonio after putting his resume out to potential employers and landed a property management job. Since the move over a month ago, Sifuentes and his family have established friendships and immersed themselves in San Antonio's multitude of cultures by attending Fiesta.

"We went to the parade with the dogs [and my wife went to the Oyster Bake]," Sifuentes said. "There's just clearly enough people in the city that are trying to actively think of ways to create engagement that's for all different types of people."

Ready for change

While some are looking to lay down roots, others are starting the next chapter of their lives, like Cathy Gonzalez Rodriguez. With her children fully grown and the house empty, Gonzalez Rodriguez decided it was time to step out of her comfort zone and leave her home in Texas City behind.

"I always put doing stuff for me on the backburner, and when the opportunity came up for me to sell the house where I was living I jumped at the chance and I started just putting my resume out and not restricting myself to any certain area," she said. "I got a few hits from jobs from potential employers here in San Antonio, and I kind of feel it was meant to be because the day I received a job offer, I received a cash offer on my house."

Prior to relocating, Gonzalez Rodriguez visited San Antonio several times for a quick getaway. While in San Antonio, she would take part in Fiesta celebrations and hang out on the River Walk while picturing what it would be like living here.

"I had always told my kids that I wanted to live here and they're like, 'Well wait till we're grown and we're gone because we don't want to move there,' and I was like 'okay,'" she said. "I just think it happened at a perfect time because I'm getting to enjoy aspects of this city that I didn't even know were here."

Since moving to San Antonio in 2021, Gonzalez Rodriguez seized every opportunity to step out of her shell, including joining several Facebook groups to meet people she can go on hikes with and have the occasional lunch.

Cost of living

It was a different story for Sarah Reynolds Johnson, who made the difficult choice to leave the state of Montana, where she grew up, in exchange for a reasonable cost of living. Around the time of the COVID-19 pandemic, property values skyrocketed as a result of remote workers moving to experience the state's scenery.

"I think the Yellowstone factor played into it ... Yellowstone had taken off as a TV series," Reynolds Johnson said. "It just kind of glamorized that part of the state and made it much more interesting, so homeownership became something that just wasn't really even achievable for the average person from Montana."

At the time she was considering moving, a three bedroom, two bathroom house in Montana was running between $750,000 to $1 million. Looking at similar homes in San Antonio, the difference in cost was evident. Between the cost-effective housing and the desire to never see another Montana winter again, Reynolds Johnson headed to the Alamo City, and was surprised how quickly she fell in love with it.

"I was shocked at how much I loved San Antonio and how much I loved it pretty quickly  I wasn't expecting to feel this way," Reynolds Johnson told MySA. "I took a drive a few weeks ago up into the Hill Country, and I'm not going to lie I actually got a little bit teary eyed because it felt like home in the best possible way."

Relocating to San Antonio

There comes a point where it's time to finally throw out the boxes because you've finally found what you were searching for. Whether looking for job opportunities, financial stability, or just somewhere to raise a family in a place cultural diversity is celebrated, and San Antonio has it all.

Individuals and families have traveled from near and far to find home in the Alamo City. Even if it wasn't originally on the agenda, the feeling of home in San Antonio can slowly creep up on you, just like it did for Reynolds Johnson.

"I was always the girl who my entire life said I will never live in Texas. Like there are a lot of states I would live in, but Texas never made that list," she told MySA. "I wasn't sure Texas would ever be a place that would feel like home but San Antonio [feels a little like home]."
The Ruthe B. Cowl Rehabilitation Center is holding a fundraiser raffle that includes attractive prizes -- such as trips and Smart TVs, among others -- that will take place on Thursday, May 25 through Facebook Live.

The raised funds will help to cover salaries of personnel necessary to fulfill the mission of the center.

The mission of the Ruthe B. Cowl Rehabilitation Center is to assist all individuals with disabilities whose condition can be improved by the services offered at the Center regardless of age, origin, race nationality, creed or economic status. The center helps those with birth defects, strokes, brain injuries, amputations, emotional problems and other physical conditions that impact their quality of life.

The rehabilitation center offers physical, occupational and speech therapies, among others, in addition to having innovative rehabilitation equipment. They also offer transportation so that patients can take their therapies.

Jackie Rodriguez, executive director of the Ruthe B. Cowl Rehabilitation Center, said the service the center provides is much needed in the community as it is responding to increased demand for services.

We are the only clinic to provide this service within a 150-mile radius, and while we never closed during the pandemic, we are just recovering from it, she said. All of this we have been able to do for more than 60 years thanks to the support of our board of directors, our staff and the community in general.

Rodriguez said that Laredo is a city that is growing and therefore there is a greater demand for services.

As the city grows, there are also more people who need our services, she said. As the only place that offers these services to anyone, regardless of economic status, this makes our services highly sought after.

Rodriguez stressed the fact that Laredo is a medically underserved community and the need to provide these services.

We don't have a lot of specialists or therapists and we've been growing as we now see more than 100 patients a day, she said. We also have the Childrens Orthopedic Clinics once a month with doctors who come in from San Antonio and see about 50 children.

Rodriguez added that in order to continue offering quality services they require the support of the community and the fundraising raffle is a way to secure funds for the center.

We have titled the Hope, Health and Healing raffle because this is what we offer to many people who come here with the hope of improving their physical condition whether they have been affected by an automobile accident or of another nature such as a stroke or people who have been in a coma and many other cases like COVID survivors, she said. It is true that doctors save lives or attack the root problem, but what follows is rehabilitation to return to a functional life and that is the service we provide.

Rodriguez said that patients sometimes have to relearn how to walk, talk and swallow because the throat muscles are affected, hence the importance of different therapies.

That is why we need the help of the community in this fundraising event. We need to hire more staff to cover the therapy needs of more than 100 people and continue to serve the community for another 100 years, she said.

Rodriguez stressed that rehabilitation therapies will continue to be a much-needed treatment in the community.

Not only for those who suffered some type of vascular or physical accident but also for people who have a more sedentary life for reasons of work, or for reasons of age, the body is weakening and we can prepare ourselves by coming to therapy. All it takes is a medical referral and here we start the process, he said.

Ruthe B. Cowl accepts patients with and without insurance. She said that 30 percent of the patients at Ruthe B. Cowl do not have health insurance.

Those who come for care at Ruthe B. Cowl can be sure they will be welcomed with open arms, she said. "Our therapists, in addition to their vast experience and preparation, have a true spirit of service, the desire for their patients to get better and so we find very positive results in patients, such as returning to lead a normal life with their families or return to work, impacting not only the individual but also their family and the community in general.

Rodriguez added that the center also has a case management department where social workers can help patients and their families find all possible resources to help them in case it is needed.

Rodriguez invited the Laredo community to support Ruthe B. Cowl Rehabilitation Center by purchasing raffle tickets.

This is a donation for the center to continue helping the community. Those who participate can be the winners of one of 10 prizes that includes a trip to Las Vegas, a trip to Florida, a Cartier watch and Smart TVs, among others," she said.

The raffle will take place on Thursday, May 25 and will be broadcast live via Facebook Live on your Ruthe B. Cowl Rehabilitation Center Facebook page. The cost of the ticket is $100.

Finally, Rodriguez thanked the community for the support given to the center during all these years.

We want to thank the community for always supporting us, and we ask that you continue to support us because we have excellent therapists, the best therapy team and the best service in all of South Texas, he said.

For more information about the center's services or to purchase tickets, you can call 956-722-2431.
Another Harris County Jail detainee died on Tuesday, marking the jail's sixth death of the year.

Robert Terry, 32, was booked into Harris County Jail on Saturday and perished three days later "after suffering an apparent medical emergency," the Harris County Sheriff's office said in a Tuesday news release. The Sheriff's Office did not immediately respond to request for comment regarding the reason for Terry's detainment at the jail.

Terry "asked to visit the jail clinic at approximately 6:20 a.m., and then collapsed. He was then seen by Harris Health medical staff while awaiting transport to the hospital by ambulance. He was pronounced deceased at the hospital at approximately 7:32 a.m.," according to the Sheriff's Office.

The Sheriff's Office said Terry had "no obvious physical injuries."

Texas Rangers have opened an investigation into Terry's death, per state law requiring an investigation into all jail deaths from an outside law enforcement agency, the Sheriff's Office said Tuesday. The Texas Commission on Jail Standards has also been informed of Terry's death, according to the Sheriff's Office.

News of Terry's death comes after the jail logged four back-to-back deaths in January alone. Harris County Jail also remains on the Commission's list of county jails that are failing to comply with Texas' minimum standards for jail conditions. In February, federal authorities opened investigations into the death of Jaquaree Simmons in 2021 and Jacoby Pillow last year. Announcement of the investigations came after Harris County Jail saw 28 deaths in 2022, its deadliest year in at least a decade.

Harris County Jail has a record of failing to meet minimum medical services standards for detainees. The Texas Commission on Jail Standards issued the jail a failing grade in March, following an inspection that found that the jail was failing to follow medical providers' treatment orders for detainees and failing to treat medical issues in a timely manner. A recent investigation into the death of 28-year-old Matthew Shelton following a medical emergency last year revealed that Shelton lay dead in his cell for 28 minutes after being found by a guard.
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Thick smoke from wildfires raging in western Canada blanketed much of North Dakota on Wednesday, leading to unhealthy and in some places hazardous air quality.

Weather and health officials in the state warned residents about the smoky skies and poor breathing conditions.

"People reacting to smoke to the extent that it affects breathing should seek immediate help from a medical provider," the North Dakota Department of Environmental Quality said in a statement.

Smoke began entering the state on Tuesday, and it moved west to east on Wednesday as a cold front pushed through, reducing visibility in many areas, according to the National Weather Service. Visibility was down to a quarter mile at the Bismarck airport, near the agency's local office, at midafternoon.

Extremely small particles of ash and soot, known as particulate matter, were increasing due to the smoke, according to DEQ. Particulate matter can irritate the respiratory system, especially for those who suffer from lung conditions or allergies. The agency advised those people and also the elderly and young children to avoid prolonged outdoor exposure.

Information on wildfires and air quality is on the DEQ website, at bit.ly/3OhrD7E. The air quality across much of western and central North Dakota on Wednesday afternoon was rated either "unhealthy" or "hazardous." The smoke rolled into Bismarck around 2 p.m., and the air quality rating quickly went from "good" to "unhealthy," according to the federal Environmental Protection Agency's map of fire and smoke conditions, at https://fire.airnow.gov/. The rating just to the north of the capital city was "hazardous."

The AirNow mobile phone app, and many other weather apps, also include air quality information.

Dozens of fires this month have scorched about 1 million acres in the Canadian province of Alberta. Fires also have broken out in the provinces of British Columbia and Saskatchewan. Smoke has traveled as far north as the Arctic Circle and as far east as the East Coast of the U.S., according to AccuWeather.

The smoky conditions in North Dakota were expected to ease on Thursday, according to the weather service. But the cold front will linger. Cold temperatures are expected Thursday night into Friday morning, and areas of frost with the potential to impact sensitive vegetation are possible across western and portions of central North Dakota. Bismarck's overnight low is forecast to be 37 degrees.
Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner turned heads over the weekend after tweeting a rumor alleging former Dallas Independent School District Superintendent Mike Miles had been chosen by the Texas Education Agency (TEA) to lead Houston Independent School District following its recent decision to initiate a takeover of the district.

"The word is the Commissioner TEA has chosen Mike Miles, former Superintendent of Dallas ISD, to be the Superintendent of HISD," Turner tweeted on Saturday. "The Commissioner should confirm or deny. This process is totally flawed. One person in Austin is deciding who will be the Superintendent and Managers."

The TEA has since denied Turner's allegations, telling ABC13 that a decision had not been made on who would be selected to run the district.

Turner's declaration comes just a few weeks before the TEA's June 1 takeover of the largest school district in the state. In addition to selecting HISD's next superintendent, TEA Commissioner Mike Morath is in charge of choosing a board of managers that will replace the current elected HISD school boarda process it began months ago following the department's initial takeover announcement.

Who is Mike Miles?

The CEO and founder of charter school consulting group Third Future Schools, Miles leads a company providing expertise to a network of 4,500 charter schools spanning Texas, Louisiana, and Colorado. Miles founded the consulting firm in 2016 after resigning as superintendent of the Dallas Independent School District, where he served for three years.

Miles resigned from the role of DISD superintendent in 2015, two years before the end of his five-year contract with the district. His departure came after the then-superintendent failed to reach an accord DISD board members regarding his contract. According to the Dallas Morning News, Miles demanded that school trustees change several amendments to his contract, keying in on requirements regarding the district's search for his replacement and a $50,000 pay bonus he was to be granted at the end of his five-year term. When negotiations faltered, Miles announced his resignation and expressed his desire to return to Colorado Springs, Colorado, to be with his family.

During his time as DISD superintendent, Miles crossed paths with now-Texas Education Agency Commissioner Mike Morath, who served as a DISD board member from 2011-2016.

The Dallas Morning News described Miles' tenure as "turbulent" based on his record with other DISD administrations. Dallas teachers and local school officials disagreed with some of his methods, including a teacher evaluation plan which created a contentious relationship with educatorsand firing numerous principals in the district despite objections from community members and school officials. Miles joined DISD in 2012 after serving as the superintendent of Harrison School District Two in Colorado Springs for six years.

After leaving DISD, Miles was hired as CEO of the Pike Peak Prep charter school and was known by staff as a "no-nonsense" administrator, according to Colorado's local newspaper, the Gazette. He resigned from the charter school after a year when a civil lawsuit was filed against him alleging a breach of contract, unlawful use of the company's time and resources and improperly forcing students he thought were difficult to be managed outside the school. Miles denied all allegations against him.

Before he started his career in education, Miles served as a U.S. Army Ranger and as a diplomat in the U.S. Department of State. A request for comment submitted to Miles' Third Future Schools was not immediately returned Tuesday afternoon.
LONDON (AP)  The world's fourth-biggest carmaker by sales has warned of a potential existential threat to large parts of the British car industry unless the government moves to alter the terms of its post-Brexit trade deal with the European Union.

In a submission to a parliamentary inquiry into the supply of batteries for electric vehicles released Wednesday, the parent company of Citroen, Fiat, Peugeot and Vauxhall said it may not be able to keep its commitment to manufacture its new fleet of vehicles in the U.K. without changes to the terms of the deal. It also urged the government to invest heavily in domestically produced batteries.

Stellantis said the deal represented a threat" to its export business and the "sustainability" of its manufacturing operations. The company employs around 5,000 people in the U.K. and committed to make electric vehicles in the country two years ago.

The stark warning is likely to pile pressure on the Conservative government to seek changes to the trade deal that came into force at the start of 2021 when the U.K. formally left the economic structures of the EU, including the frictionless single market and customs union. Executives from Stellantis are due to meet with Britain's business secretary, Kemi Badenoch, on Wednesday.

Though the trade deal ensured that tariffs would not be slapped on the export of goods from the U.K. to the EU, an array of often-complex non-tariff barriers has made it more difficult, and often more costly, for British businesses to sell their wares in the 27-nation bloc. Many manufacturers, such as BMW, Ford and Honda, have already scaled back or closed their operations in the U.K. in recent years.

Some of these barriers are being phased in over time. Stellantis said it wanted the current phase-in period to be extended until 2027, a move that would require the trade deal to be revised.

The company said cars made in Britain and exported to the EU face an onerous 10% tariff if the rules of origin aren't met, making them uncompetitive against exports from other major car-producing regions such as Japan and South Korea.

To reinforce the sustainability of our manufacturing plants in the U.K., the U.K. must consider its trading arrangements with Europe, Stellantis said in its submission. We need to reinforce the competitiveness of the U.K. by establishing battery production in the U.K.

Car production in the U.K. remains way below levels before the pandemic at just over 775,000 units in 2022, compared with around 1.3 million in 2019, according to figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders.

The trade body's chief executive, Mike Hawes, backed up Stellantis' warning regarding the rules of origin for batteries, which he said pose a significant challenge to manufacturers in the U.K. and in the EU as higher tariffs could diminish the pace at which consumers transition towards electric vehicles.

At a time when every country is accelerating their transition to zero emission transport, and global competitors are offering billions to attract investment in their industries, a pragmatic solution must be found quickly, he said

The leader of the main opposition Labour Party, Keir Starmer, said the post-Brexit trade deal needed revision, but insisted he wasnt calling for the U.K. to rejoin the EU or its frictionless economic arrangements.

That doesnt mean reversing the decision and going back into the EU but the deal weve got, it was said to be oven-ready. It wasn't even half-baked, he told the BBC.

In 2016, the U.K. narrowly voted to leave the EU in a referendum. A general election has to take place by early 2025, with opinion polls suggesting Labour is on course to be the largest party.
UNITED NATIONS (AP)  Myanmars military has imported at least $1 billion worth of weapons and related material from Russia, China and other countries since its February 2021 coup, some of which it has used to carry out atrocities against civilians, according to a U.N. report released Wednesday.

The weapons continue to flow to the military despite overwhelming evidence of its responsibility for the atrocities, including some that amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity, said Tom Andrews, the U.N. independent investigator on human rights in Myanmar.

As an example of what he called the juntas brutality, Andrews pointed to its April 11 airstrike using a Russian Yak-130 fighter jet on a ceremony attended by some 300 opponents of army rule, which was quickly followed by an attack by Russian Mi-35 helicopters on those who came to help. He said at least 160 people were killed, including many children.

In addition, the machine guns and bombs used in the attacks included parts and materials from companies located in Singapore, China and Thailand, he said.

Myanmar is mired in strife because of a political crisis unleashed when the military took power. Its takeover prompted widespread peaceful protests that security forces suppressed with deadly force, triggering armed resistance throughout the country that the army has been unable to quell. Andrews said at least 22,000 political prisoners have been detained since the coup, at least 3.500 civilians have been killed and 1.5 million people have been forcibly displaced.

The report documents over 12,500 purchases that were shipped directly to the Myanmar military or known Myanmar arms dealers working for the military from Feb. 1, 2021, when the military ousted the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi, until December 2022, Andrews said at a news conference.

He said the volume and diversity of equipment the military received was staggering, ranging from fighter jets and attack helicopters and drones to advanced missile systems, tank upgrades, sophisticated communications equipment, radar complexes and components for naval ships.

Andrews, a former Democratic congressman from Maine , said he had received highly credible and detailed information from confidential sources identifying the major networks and companies involved in the arms trade with Myanmar.

The report to the Geneva-based Human Rights Council identifies $406 million in weapons and material that went to the Myanmar military from Russia, $267 million from China, $254 million from Singapore, $51 million from India and $28 million from Thailand.

Since the coup, the report said, 28 Russian private and state-owned companies have transferred fighter jets and their spare parts, advanced missile systems, reconnaissance and attack drones, attack helicopters and other systems to the junta.

The report identified 41 private and state-owned companies registered in China and Hong Kong that supplied the Myanmar military with an extensive array of arms, equipment and raw materials between October 2021 and December 2022, including advanced trainer jets, light attack aircraft, tank upgrades and repairs for Chinese fighter jets, which make up the Myanmar Air Force fleet, the report said.

They also supplied aluminum, copper, steel, rubber and lubricants for use in Myanmars domestic weapons manufacturing, it said.

Unlike with Russia and China, and to a lesser extent India, Andrews said he received no information indicating that the governments of Singapore or Thailand approved or transferred arms to the Myanmar military.

He said companies in Singapore are of critical importance to the junta, having supplied spare parts, raw materials and manufacturing equipment, especially for Myanmars KaPaSa weapons factories. Thai companies have done the same, the report said.

Twelve Thai companies were established after the coup, many by sanctioned arms networks already operating in Singapore, which suggests arms dealers may be looking at Thailand as an alternative route to avoid scrutiny, the report said.

Andrews said Singapore has a policy prohibiting the transfer of arms to Myanmar, and he reported his detailed findings to the government, which he said expressed appreciation for the information and indicated it was reviewing the effectiveness of its export controls.

If the Singapore government stopped all arms shipments to the Myanmar military, he said, the impact on the ability of the junta to manufacture arms would be significant.

Andrews said China and Russia both criticized the report, saying it went beyond his human rights mandate, and accused him of vilifying legitimate arms trade. He countered that identifying the sources of gross human rights violations and atrocities, including crimes against humanity and war crimes, is within my mandate and in my moral obligation.

Andrews said India responded to the reports findings that 22 state-owned and private firms shipped a coastal surveillance system, a remote-controlled weapons system, components from an ammunition and missile manufacturer, and 122 mm howitzer barrels by saying these involved contracts with the previous civilian government.

A U.N. General Assembly resolution adopted on June 18, 2021, calls upon all member states to prevent the flow of arms into Myanmar, but unlike a Security Council resolution it is not legally binding. The United States, United Kingdom, European Union, Canada and Switzerland have imposed sanctions on arms dealers providing support to the military.

Andrews said the sanctions weren't coordinated and have been largely ineffective. He called for countries to impose coordinated sanctions that target the networks that procure weapons and also the junta's finances.
Dorothy Williams and her sister Carolyn Griffith say the Crest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery off of Highway 27 was once in great shape years ago, but since then, they say the cemetery has gone downhill.
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NEW YORK (AP)  Less than six months ago, mpox was an exploding health crisis. What had been an obscure disease from Africa was ripping through European and U.S. gay communities. Precious doses of an unproven vaccine were in short supply. International officials declared health emergencies.

Today, reports of new cases are down to a trickle in the U.S. Health officials are shutting down emergency mobilizations. The threat seems to have virtually disappeared from the public consciousness.

"We're in a remarkably different place," said Dr. William Schaffner, a Vanderbilt University infectious diseases expert. "It's really impressive how that peak has come down to very, very low levels."

So who deserves the credit? It's an unsettled question, but experts cite a combination of factors.

Some commend public health officials. Others say more of the credit should go to members of the gay and bisexual community who took their own steps to reduce disease spread when the threat became clear. Some wonder if characteristics of the virus itself played a role.

"It's a mixed story" in which some things could have gone better but others went well, said Dr. Tom Frieden, a former director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

***

Cases soar, then fall

Mpox, formerly known as monkeypox, is a rare disease caused by infection with a virus that's in the same family as the one that causes smallpox. It is endemic in parts of Africa, where people have been infected through bites from rodents or small animals, but it was not known to spread easily among people.

Mpox cases began emerging in Europe and the U.S. in May, mostly among men who have sex with men. Cases escalated rapidly in dozens of countries in June and July, around the time of gay pride events. The infections were rarely fatal, but many people suffered painful skin lesions for weeks.

In late July, the World Health Organization declared an international health crisis. In early August, the U.S. declared a public health emergency.

Soon after, the outbreak began diminishing. The daily average of newly reported U.S. cases went from nearly 500 in August to about 100 in October. Now, there are fewer than five new U.S. cases per day. (Europe has seen a similar drop.)

Experts said a combination of factors likely turned the tide.

***

Vaccinations

Health officials caught an early break: An existing two-dose vaccine named Jynneos, developed to fight smallpox, was also approved for use against the monkeypox.

Initially, only a few thousand doses were available in the U.S., and most countries had none at all. Shipping and regulatory delays left local health departments unable to meet demand for shots.

In early August, U.S. health officials decided to stretch the limited supply by giving people just one-fifth the usual dose. The plan called for administering the vaccine with an injection just under the skin, rather than into deeper tissue.

Some in the public health community worried that it was a big decision based on a small amount of research  a single 2015 study. But the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention since then has confirmed there was no difference in vaccine performance between the two methods.

"They got criticized for the revised dosing strategy, but it was the right call," said Frieden, who is currently president of Resolve to Save Lives, a non-profit organization focused on preventing epidemics.

Cases, however, had already begun falling by the time the government made the switch.

***

Community outreach

The current CDC director, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, cited efforts to educate doctors on how to better diagnose and treat mpox. Other experts said that even more important was outreach to the sexually active gay and bisexual men most at risk.

In the first months of the outbreak, the government was cautious about focusing warnings too intently on gay and bisexual men for fear of stigmatizing the men and  in so doing  undermining efforts to identify infections. (Indeed, in November the WHO changed the name of the disease from monkeypox to mpox in an effort to reduce stigma.)

"They were a little coy about the population principally affected," Schaffner said.

Many say queer activists and community organizations stepped up to fill the void, quickly offering frank education and assistance. In an online survey conducted in early August, many men who have sex with men reported having fewer sexual encounters and partners because of the outbreak.

"The success was really due to grassroots activities," said Amira Roess, a George Mason University professor of epidemiology and global health. Leaders in the gay community "took it upon themselves to step in when the government response was really lacking" in a way that recalled what happened during the plodding government response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the 1980s, she said.

Among those efforts was called RESPND-MI  Rapid Epidemiologic Study of Prevalence, Networks, and Demographics of Monkeypox Infection. The grant-funded organization put out transmission-prevention messaging, conducted a community-led survey of mpox symptoms, and mapped the social and sexual networks of queer and transgender people in New York City.

Nick Diamond, a leader of the effort, said government response improved only after gay activists pressured officials and did a lot of the outreach and education themselves.

"A lot of HIV activists knew that it would be up to us to start a response to monkeypox," he said.

But Diamond also noted another possible reason for the declines: Spread of mpox at LGBTQ celebrations in June  coupled with a lack of testing and vaccinations  likely contributed to the July surge. "A lot of people came out of Pride, after being in close contact, symptomatic," he said. They suffered blisters and scabs, bringing home the message to other at-risk men that the virus was a very real danger.

***

Biology vs. behavior

There are also possible explanations that have more to do with biology than behavior.

The number of new infections may have been limited by increases in infection-acquired immunity in the men active in the social networks that fueled the outbreak, CDC scientists said in a recent report.

Past research has suggested there may be limits in how many times monkeypox virus will spread from person to person, noted Stephen Morse, a Columbia University virologist.

"The monkeypox virus essentially loses steam after a couple of rounds in humans," Morse said. "Everyone credits the interventions, but I don't know what the reason really is."

How 'monkeypox' and other disease names have caused controversy How "monkeypox" and other disease names have caused controversy Disease names tied to geographic locations Disease names connected to an animal species Disease names that include the name of an individual person Disease names that refer to a group of people
A sheriff's incident report says a firefighter responding to the scene of a deadly gunfight in Georgia drove over a victim's body with an SUV and dragged it more than 50 feet
The system has created a plan for bus transportation to finish the school year, after bus drivers go on strike.
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HOBOKEN, N.J. (AP)  After Superstorm Sandy struck the northeast U.S. in 2012, an unprecedented effort began to fortify the densely populated coastline against the next big storm.

Thousands of homes were raised on pilings. Concrete and steel walls meant to help hold back the sea were hidden beneath rebuilt dunes and beach boardwalks. Tunnels near New York's harbor were equipped with giant flood doors.

Then, last year, the region learned that even all those precautions might not be enough in an age of more powerful storms.

Flash floods killed at least 58 people from Maryland to Connecticut when the remnants of Hurricane Ida blew into the northeast after first striking the Gulf Coast. In New York and New Jersey, people drowned in basement apartments far from any ocean or bay. In the suburbs, motorists were swept away trying to escape flooded inland roadways.

The two deadly storms, nearly a decade apart, left public officials and residents alike contemplating what more needs to be done. And today, 10 years after Sandy and with billions of dollars already spent, the most ambitious and comprehensive protections are years away from completion, with some still in early stages or even unfunded. Experts say Ida showed the area was not ready for another storm  and they worry about what will happen when the next one hits.

"We must be more prepared than we are now," said Shawn LaTourette, New Jersey's environmental protection commissioner. "We have done a lot of work since Sandy  developing the dune system, the buildings raised and the flood control infrastructure. We're still not ready."

Residents echo his concerns. "I will be forever nervous because of Sandy," said Liz Ndoye, whose Hoboken home flooded. "I will never feel safe. We can mitigate, but we will never stop the city from flooding. Every time it rains, I worry. We are in a climate crisis."

She watched Hurricane Ian devastate the Florida coast weeks ago. "This is coming for all of us," she said of future storm fears.

Experts nationwide say hurricanes like Ian set off a familiar cycle: Another round of evaluations follows each storm, adding to the list of needed work, from the overhaul of aging inland stormwater management systems to infrastructure projects to address climate change concerns.

"We have to think of more sustainable ways to live along the coast," said Greg Tolley, executive director of the Water School at Florida Gulf Coast University. "We have to do things differently. The so-called 100-year storms and the Category 4 and 5 hurricanes are happening more frequently."

When Sandy made landfall just north of Atlantic City on Oct. 29, 2012, it touched off a rethinking on not just rebuilding the region, but on the effect of a warming planet and rising seas for all plans.

In New York, work began last year on a $1.5 billion effort to protect Manhattan's Lower East Side by raising the East River shoreline about 8 feet. The project involves bulldozing around 1,000 trees and a waterfront park, then rebuilding it and a 1.2-mile-long floodwall on top of tons of fill. It's one phase of a ring of planned flood barriers and levees dubbed "The Big U." Completion isn't expected for years.

The project proceeded despite criticism that it cut too many mature trees. It's a common concern among environmental advocates and other experts: Each project may offer a solution to a singular issue while creating new problems, especially where climate change is involved.

"Because the challenges we face are very widespread and can vary  they might deal with something like long-term sea level rise or being prepared for a big storm shock like Sandy  I think we're at real risk of it showing up in a slightly different way, and we won't have the defenses in place to handle that," said Andrew Salkin, who co-founded New York-based nonprofit Resilient Cities Catalyst.

"Solely relying on hard infrastructure and gray infrastructure, like concrete and steel, to erect things to keep out nature is challenging," he said. "Over time, nature tends to win."

Last month, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers unveiled a $52 billion proposal to build tidal gates and storm surge barriers to protect parts of New York and northern New Jersey. Construction would start in 2030 at the earliest, with projected completion in 2044 if all is approved and funded.

The Army Corps has a separate $16 billion plan to build gates that could stop storm tides from surging up inlets and bays behind the Jersey Shore. It would be one of the costliest flood-prevention projects any state has undertaken, and there's no guarantee Congress will pay for any of it.

Some projects launched after Sandy are complete. A 4-mile steel wall is buried under the sand of replenished beaches in Mantoloking and Brick at the Jersey Shore, where storm surge cut a coastal highway in half and swept dozens of homes into Barnegat Bay.

The Jet Star roller coaster  whose collapse into the ocean at Seaside Heights, New Jersey, became an iconic Sandy image  has been replaced with a new ride, built on the beach instead of over water.

A New Jersey train station where floodwater gushed in through an elevator shaft has been rebuilt with aquarium glass and flood doors that can be slammed and locked in less than a minute.

And billions of dollars have been spent hardening power infrastructure, ringing water and sewage treatment plants with better storm barriers, and elevating home electrical, heating and cooling equipment.

Officials admit the scope of that work is vast but say it's a fraction of what remains.

"Are we better off than we were before Sandy? No question," said LaTourette, the New Jersey official. "But it's not enough."

Complicating the calculus of storm protection was Hurricane Ida  a "humongous wakeup call," said Amy Chester, managing director of Rebuild by Design, an organization that worked with federal officials to jump-start post-Sandy resiliency projects.

"It showed us that every single community can flood, not just those in flood plains," she said.

The group says urban areas need to be transformed from concrete jungles into sponges by creating "resiliency parks" designed to flood during storms. The parks capture water that would otherwise flow into streets and sewer systems.

The city of Hoboken built two such parks after Sandy, with three more to come. They can hold millions of gallons of stormwater, some via large underground cisterns, one of which is the size of a city block.

New York has begun some work to improve inland drainage, including spending $2.5 billion to upgrade antiquated sewers, though many billions more in spending would be needed to make the system capable of handling storms like either Sandy or Ida.

In the Bronx, the city hopes to take a brook diverted into the city's sewer system a century ago and bring it back above ground. That might help avoid a repeat of issues during Ida: The brook, swollen beyond capacity of the sewer pipes, ran onto a major city expressway and submerged cars.

Other work that began after Sandy and continues today includes six projects sponsored by Rebuild by Design and funded in part by nearly $1 billion in federal seed money given in 2014. "The Big U" is among them. So is a resilient energy generation project in the Bronx and a plan to lessen flooding in northern New Jersey's Meadowlands. Other projects are in Hoboken and Bridgeport, Connecticut.

Some aspects of the largest projects could be completed next year, while others will take years more to finish.

"Am I happy with the pace? No," Chester of Rebuild by Design said. "But it is reality that it's going to take time to get our cities prepared for future storms. One thing we quickly realized is just how complex these projects are."

At a groundbreaking Wednesday for one segment of "The Big U," New York Mayor Eric Adams asked the federal government for another $8.5 billion for future storm-protection projects.

"Sandy wasn't just a storm; it was a warning," he said, echoing officials' comments over the past decade. "Another storm could hit our city at any time."

And each storm is likely to bring more plans and adaptations.

Florida has been forced repeatedly to rethink its resiliency goals, from stronger construction codes adopted after Hurricane Andrew in 1992 to a $1 billion plan approved last year to help communities build barriers, elevate roads, improve drainage and protect wetlands.

Tolley, the Florida educator, said Ian proved the need for urgency in all states' plans: "We need to have that conversation now about what we have to do and what things should look like 20, 30, 40 years from now."

In New Jersey, LaTourette agrees.

"The Sandys and the Idas will keep coming and they'll keep getting worse," he said.

"We have to get better at doing what we always say we'll do: Look at things from the perspective of what we leave our kids. We decide whether the barrier islands are still there for them in their retirement," LaTourette said. "We're deciding that now."

AP writer Bobby Caina Calvan in New York contributed to this story.

Follow Wayne Parry on Twitter at www.twitter.com/WayneParryAC

10 years after Superstorm Sandy: Rebuilding the infrastructure

Before and After: Photos from Hurricane Sandy recovery Superstorm Sandy Recovery Superstorm Sandy Recovery Superstorm Sandy Recovery Superstorm Sandy Recovery Superstorm Sandy Recovery Superstorm Sandy Recovery Superstorm Sandy Recovery
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Gardai are urging the Longford public to be vigilant after a gang of 'fake tarmackers' were intercepted last weekend as they went about trying to rip off unsuspecting victims.

The gang members are arriving to property owners and reportedly posing as builders who offer to pave areas with tar at a far lower price than normal but the work is substandard.

Sergeant Damian Bartley, Roscommon / Longford Garda Crime Prevention Officer, said, "This Irish gang are operating in the Roscommon / Longford / Leitrim area in recent days and we are warning people to be on on their guard when it comes to bogus tradespeople."

Sgt Bartley is advising people to only use recommended tradespeople and avoid using the services of cold callers. "The basic rule is if you dont know the person at your door, you shouldnt let them in."

He says that if you think you have become a victim to this type of crime, you should contact the Gardai immediately. "Write down all you can remember about what happened to include descriptions of the persons, their clothing, any peculiarities or distinguishing features and any vehicles used by them. Keep safely any documents they may have given you."

BREAKING: Teenager appears over violent shop brawl in Longford town A teenager has appeared in court charged in connection to a violent brawl inside a shop in Longford town shop last month.

Sgt Bartley said suspicious activity should be reported to Gardai by ringing 999 and giving as much of a description of the vehicles and persons involved.

Garda Advice

If you think you have become a victim to this type of crime what should you do?

* Never be embarrassed or ashamed to contact the Gardai. Do so immediately.

* Write down all you can remember about what happened to include descriptions of the persons, their clothing, any peculiarities or distinguishing features and any vehicles used by them. Keep safely any documents they may have given you.

* For those people who may have elderly or vulnerable neighbours or friends, be a good neighbour and advise them of these possible scams. If you suspect that bogus callers or trades people are in your area and appear suspicious or are working in a vulnerable neighbour's home  never hesitate in contacting the Gardai immediately.

* Genuine tradespeople will not be offended by any enquiries the Gardai may make and, indeed, usually welcome them.

*Ask your local Garda station about bogus caller cards. For people who feel particularly vulnerable these cards advise that the front door should not be open to cold callers. Apply the chain or door limiter and hand the caller the card, see attached. Do not enter into a conversation with the caller. As stated above genuine callers will leave their details on the card.

Funeral arrangements for tragic motorcyclist killed in Longford road crash announced The funeral of a motorcyclist killed in a road crash in Co Longford at the weekend will take place on Saturday, it has been announced.

Security check/advice

* Are you expecting callers? If not, look out the window to see the caller.

* Have a viewer fitted in your door? You are safer behind a closed door.

* Have a door chain / limiter fitted and keep the chain/ limiter on, if you must open the door

use the limiter. There are electric doorbells that link to your mobile phone.

* Make sure your back door is locked before you go to the door

* If you are going to engage, ask for ID  a genuine caller wont mind!

* Dont be embarrassed to tell the caller to write and make an appointment  use bogus caller

check card  see attached.

* Use recommended tradespeople, avoid using the services of cold callers.

* The basic rule is if you dont know the person at your door, you shouldnt let them in.

* If anxious contact your local Gardai.
Crime

By Long Island Published: May 17 2023

Daniel Mullan was sentenced to 30 years in federal prison for sexually exploiting a minor to produce child pornography and possessing a large collection of child pornography.

Yesterday, in federal court in Central Islip, New York, United States District Judge Gary R. Brown sentenced Daniel Mullan to 30 years imprisonment for sexually exploiting a child and the possession of child pornography. According to court filings and facts presented during the sentencing, Mullan sexually exploited a child in between 1999 and 2006 as part of his ongoing sexual abuse of children and production of child pornography. Mullan was also convicted of possessing large quantities of child pornography between 2014 and 2017, much of which he produced over the course of decades.

Breon Peace, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, and Michael J. Driscoll, Assistant Director-in-Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, New York Field Office (FBI), announced the sentence .

Todays sentence is a just punishment for the defendants years of heinous acts against minors, and sends a message to all who seek to harm innocent children, stated United States Attorney Breon Peace. This Office and our law enforcement partners will continue to make every effort to ensure that those who contribute to the exploitation and victimization of children will be brought to justice.

Mr. Peace extended his grateful appreciation to the FBI Long Island Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force, which is made up of FBI and local law enforcement agencies, for its investigative work and assistance in the case.

According to court filings, in the summer of 2017 the FBI and the Suffolk County Police Department executed search warrants on Mullans Elmont, New York residence and a storage unit Mullan had rented in Melville, New York. During the searches, law enforcement recovered hundreds of images and videos of child sexual abuse. Several of the videos depicted Mullan engaged in sexual acts with minor teenage boys dating back to the early 1980s.

Additional investigation by the FBI located numerous victims, including a minor who Mullan had travelled with domestically and internationally between 1999 and 2006. Mullan had recorded his sexual abuse of this victim. Another search warrant executed by law enforcement on a safe deposit box located over $300,000 in cash that Mullan had intended to use as hush money for one of his victims. Mullan was extradited to the United States from Ireland on August 15, 2019.

This prosecution is part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by United States Attorneys Offices and the Department of Justice Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov
Local News

By Chris Boyle Published: May 17 2023

Ten New Drones Will be Deployed this Summer, More Than Doubling The State's Shark Monitoring Capacity.

Governor Kathy Hochul has announced measures in place to protect beachgoers from sharks at Long Island State Park beaches this summer. The New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, Department of Environmental Conservation and the New York State Police will increase surveillance including drone, watercraft and helicopter monitoring along the Long Island State Park Beaches. These measures build upon the Governor's actions taken to address and enhance beachgoers' safety with an increase in shark sightings last summer.

"With New Yorkers and visitors alike preparing to enjoy our beautiful Long Island beaches all summer long, their safety is our top priority," Governor Hochul said. "This year we are taking further action to protect beachgoers by increasing surveillance to monitor for shark activity near beaches off the South Shore. I encourage all New Yorkers to listen to local authorities, follow guidance and take precautions to ensure a safe and responsible beach trip this summer."

The New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation (State Parks) held a pre-season meeting in April with beachfront municipalities and local agencies to provide the latest information on shark activity in New York State and discuss coordinated beachfront notifications. State Park Police and Department of Environmental Conservation Police Officers will coordinate patrols at the request of specific parks in the event of a probable shark sighting.

New York State Parks Commissioner Erik Kulleseid said, "The action being taken along the South Shore of Long Island will give us eyes in the sky and along the coastline. Over the past two seasons, we've learned that drones are the most effective mechanism to detect environmental conditions that could attribute to shark activity. We are expanding patrols with drones and watercraft to help prevent the rare occurrences of negative shark interactions with swimmers, surfers, surf fishermen, and boaters at our beaches."

New York State Department of Conservation Commissioner Basil Seggos said, "New York's ocean beaches and coastline are part of a wild and natural marine ecosystem. Sharks are a vital part of this ecosystem, and they play an essential role in maintaining a healthy and balanced ocean. Human-shark interactions are relatively rare events in New York, however, all beachgoers should follow DEC's shark safety guidance to minimize their risk of negative interactions with sharks."

New York State Police Acting Superintendent Steven Nigrelli said, "New York State Police is ready to assist our partners in keeping beachgoers and our waters safe this season. In the event of a sighting or incident, NYSP Aviation is prepared to provide swift support as needed."

State Parks' expanded surveillance capabilities this summer include:

An additional ten drones will more than double the eight currently in operation

One new drone assigned to Park Police is a large enterprise drone with thermal imaging, laser range finding, and high-quality cameras to allow for night-time surveillance and patrols in adverse weather conditions. This drone can also drop personal flotation devices in emergency situations

Currently 21 staff including Park Police officers, State Park operational staff, lifeguards and certified drone operators are trained. An additional 12 staff members will be trained by the July 4th holiday weekend

State Parks Environmental Educators holding public outreach regarding shark habitats for people at Jones Beach, Robert Moses and Sunken Meadow this summer

Two new Yamaha WaveRunners have been assigned to lifeguards to patrol both Jones Beach and Robert Moses State Parks. These two personal watercrafts will join one already in operation at Sunken Meadow State Park

Additional buffer zones will be created between swimming areas and surf fishing areas

When sightings occur, New York State Police Aviation will be available to respond as needed

Shark sighting response

After a confirmed shark sighting in proximity to a State Park beach, the following actions are taken:

Swimming is suspended following a sighting

Swimming is allowed to resume at least one hour after the last sighting

All sightings are referred to Long Island Coastal Awareness Group, which consists of over 200 individuals from municipalities, agencies, and private beach operators stretching from Queens through Long Island

State Park lifeguards continuously scan and patrol the waters for shark activity

To minimize the risk of shark interactions, the Department of Environmental Conservation advises the following shark safety guidance :
Crime

By Chris Boyle Published: May 17 2023

Lex Lloyd used daycare center to mix drugs; Defendant was arrested as part of Operation Honeycomb; Tried to kill girlfriends former partner in February 2021.

Nassau County District Attorney Anne T. Donnelly announced a Hempstead man was sentenced yesterday to 14 years in prison for conducting a narcotics business from an unlicensed day care center in Hempstead and attempting to murder a romantic rival.

Lex Lloyd, 26, pleaded guilty on February 15, 2023, before Judge Robert Schwartz to Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance in the First Degree (an A-I felony), Attempted Murder in the Second Degree (a B violent felony), Assault in the First Degree (a B violent felony), Criminal Use of a Firearm in the First Degree (a B violent felony), three counts of Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance in the Third Degree (a B felony), Conspiracy in the Second Degree (a B felony), Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Second Degree (a C violent felony), three counts of Endangering the Welfare of a Child (an A misdemeanor), and Menacing (an A misdemeanor).

The defendant was sentenced on Monday to 14 years in prison and five years post release supervision. The NCDA recommended a sentence of 18 years in prison.

The defendant brazenly prepared narcotics near childrens toys and furniture at a fully functioning daycare center, said DA Donnelly. Countless children were put at risk because of this defendants behavior. In separate incidents, Lex Lloyd further endangered another child by attacking a romantic rival, who was with his son, and nearly killing the man in February 2021. I thank our prosecutors and the numerous law enforcement agencies which helped bring Lloyd and 40 other codefendants to justice as part of Operation Honeycomb.

DA Donnelly said that in October 2019 the NCDA and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives began an investigation into an increase in violence and narcotics activity in the Hempstead area.

In March 2021, the NCDA announced the indictment of 40 people as part of Operation Honeycomb.

As part of a search warrant, investigators recovered 520 grams of cocaine, 50 oxycodone pills, two narcotics presses and several bullets at Lex Lloyds residence. It was determined that Lloyd and codefendant Anthony Austin conducted narcotics business from unlicensed day care centers in Hempstead and Rosedale, Queens.

Lloyd used acetone to prepare cocaine in a play area of the daycare center in Hempstead.

Separately, on February 10, 2021, at approximately 5:30 p.m., Lloyd shot a male victim in the back as the victims three-year-old son sat in a nearby car. Additionally, in December 2020, Lloyd menaced the same victim with a gun while the victim was holding his sons hand. Lloyd was in a romantic relationship with the victims ex-girlfriend.

The defendant was arrested the following day by members of the Nassau County Police Department.

Operation Honeycomb codefendant Stephon Whethers pleaded guilty in September to Operating as a Major Trafficker and other related charges. Over a three-month period, Whethers made over $500,000 selling cocaine. Authorities recovered half a kilo of cocaine, a kilo press and other paraphernalia, and nearly $20,000 from Whethers house. The defendant was sentenced on February 10, 2023, to 15 years in prison. The NCDA recommended a sentence of 20 years in prison.

Austin was sentenced to four years in prison on October 26, 2021.

The drug investigation was dubbed Operation Honeycomb because a large volume of drugs was packaged and stored at a home on Frazier Street, which numerous defendants referred to as the Honeycomb.

As a result of the investigation, the following items were recovered through search warrants and car stops:

38 firearms, including assault weapons and ammunition

9,937 grams of nearly pure cocaine

Approximately 1,478 grams of crack cocaine

More than 1,144 grams of heroin

277 grams of fentanyl

210 grams of morphine  approximately 42,000 individual doses

More than $398,000 in cash

The NCDA thanks our partners in the investigation: Federal Bureau of Investigation Long Island Gang Task Force; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Long Island Field Division; the Nassau County Police Department; the U.S. Postal Inspection Service; the New York State Police; and Drug Enforcement Administration. The Task Force includes members of the FBI, New York State Police, Nassau County Police, Suffolk County Police, Hempstead Police and Rockville Centre Police departments, as well as the Nassau County and Suffolk County sheriffs departments.
Local News

By Chris Boyle Published: May 17 2023

Upgraded Conditions Will Ease Travel and Enhance Safety at Key Crossings in Nassau and Suffolk Counties.

Governor Kathy Hochul has provided an update on the rehabilitation and replacement of several Long Island bridges as part of a $48.5 million investment to enhance safety and improve travel conditions along key roadways.

The projects include:

Construction of a new $22.9 million overpass carrying Hospital Road over Sunrise Highway in the Town of Brookhaven, Suffolk County;

Concrete bridge deck renewals on nine bridges across Nassau and Suffolk Counties, totaling $25.6 million.

"New York continues to make critical investments toward transforming and modernizing our state's infrastructure," Governor Hochul said. "These bridges are vital links connecting people and businesses across Long Island, and our work will provide an improved travel experience and easier commute for decades to come."

New York State Department of Transportation Commissioner Marie Therese Dominguez said, "Governor Hochul understands that infrastructure is the underlying fabric that ties our communities together and under her leadership New York State is making historic investments that will not only rebuild our transportation network but build it back better and stronger. These projects on Long Island will benefit tens of thousands of motorists who use these bridges every day and will help ensure that users of the road can get where they need to go safely and efficiently."

Oyster Bay Town Supervisor Joseph Saladino said, "Infrastructure improvements on Long Island bridges and roadways are critically needed to address congestion and our growing population. We welcome Governor Hochul's investment in these important projects."

Huntington Town Supervisor Ed Smyth said, "I have said repeatedly that the main issue in the Town of Huntington and across Long Island is infrastructure. Our roads and bridges are our communities' lifeline to jobs, education and leisure and yet were never designed to handle the volume they are experiencing now. Residents are entitled to travel our roads and know they are safe. The Town of Huntington is grateful to Governor Hochul for securing funds to ensure the LIE overpasses and our Long Island roadways are structurally sound and are safe for travelers."

Hempstead Town Deputy Supervisor Dorothy Goosby said, "Thank you, Governor Hochul, for your investment in roads and infrastructure on Long Island. The residents of the Town of Hempstead will benefit from these much-needed improvements to our roads to tackle congestion."

Hospital Road Overpass

Construction of the new Hospital Road overpass over Sunrise Highway (State Route 27), which began last year, continued during the mild winter, and is now approximately halfway complete. Workers are replacing the existing structure, which was built in 1959, with a modern, wider crossing. The first completed span of the new structure opened in mid-April.

The new bridge will feature a striped median, sidewalks in each direction, and 12-foot-wide shoulders to accommodate bicycle and pedestrian traffic. More than 12,000 vehicles travel the overpass each day.

Turning lanes to the service roads will also be added at each end of the bridge plaza and the reconstructed intersections will feature enhanced traffic signals with pedestrian countdown timers.

Traffic in both directions of the bridge has remained open during construction with minimal interruptions to both roads. The project, which is expected to be completed by the end of this year, is a joint venture between the Town of Brookhaven, which designed the overpass, and the State Department of Transportation, which is overseeing its construction. The project team has been coordinating with nearby Long Island Community Hospital to accommodate its needs and not disrupt operations.

Bridge Deck Renewals and Repairs

A significant endeavor to replace concrete bridge decks began last spring, in an effort to renew the riding surfaces of nine Long Island bridges. With work completed at three of those sites last year, rehabilitation is beginning now at five bridges on the Long Island Expressway (Interstate 495) in Suffolk County.

The concrete deck resurfacing projects that were completed in 2022 in Nassau County include:

L.I.E. over Locust Lane, Village of East Hills;

Express Drive South over Washington Avenue, Town of Oyster Bay;

Stewart Avenue ramp to southbound Meadowbrook State Parkway, Town of Hempstead.

The five bridges on the Long Island Expressway where work is now beginning in Suffolk County include:

L.I.E. over Blue Point Road (eastbound span), Town of Brookhaven;

L.I.E. over Blue Point Road (westbound span), Town of Brookhaven;

L.I.E. over Holbrook Road (westbound span only), Town of Brookhaven;

L.I.E. over Round Swamp Road (eastbound span), Town of Huntington;

L.I.E. over Round Swamp Road (westbound span), Town of Huntington.

These locations are expected to be completed by the end of this year.

Additionally, a concrete deck renewal project, which began last spring, at Hubbards Path over Sunrise Highway in the Town of Babylon, Suffolk County was able to continue through the mild winter months and is now more than halfway complete. This project is scheduled for completion in late summer 2023.

Construction at these locations is taking place primarily behind barriers to avoid major disruptions to the traveling public. Motorists are reminded to stay alert when driving, read work zone signs carefully, and use extra caution when workers are present.

Motorists are urged to plan accordingly and drive responsibly in work zones. Fines are doubled for speeding in a work zone. Convictions of two or more speeding violations in a work zone could result in the suspension of an individual's driver license.

For up-to-date travel information, call 511, visit www.511NY.org or download the free 511NY mobile app.

Follow NYSDOT on Twitter at @NYSDOT and @NYSDOTLI. Find us on Facebook at Facebook.com/NYSDOT.
Local News

By Chris Boyle Published: May 17 2023

Renters have it tough enough as it is, with landlords always having the upper hand in the situation, so it seems a shame that pets are often not made to feel welcome in a rented ...

Having a pet, and renting a property, poses challenges. Landlords are often reluctant to allow them  barking, shredded cushions, scratched furniture being some of the reasons. But figures show that 86 million households own a pet - and also that 1 in 3 of them rent. Ergo, this must mean that there are a lot of renters out there who live with their pet in someone elses property - but how many of them have actually declared them to their landlord?

AgentAdvice.com wanted to find out, and surveyed 3,000 pet owning tenants. They first discovered that 18% of them had kept the existence of Buddy quiet - equating to about 7.7 million pets across the country. Thats a lot of barking to try and cough over, or scratched table legs to try and cover up. In New York, 14% of pet-owning renters admit to not disclosing this to their landlords (equating to 456,703 illegal pets). The guiltiest pet owners are in Vermont, with the percentage of households hiding illegal pets reaching 50%, or 36,791 furry friends. The most law-abiding pet-owning renters live in Indiana, where the figure is just 4%, or 32,400 pets.

Interactive map showing the number of illegal pets in each state (click on 'embed' to host map on your site)



Rental Ruff: Renters have it tough enough as it is, with landlords always having the upper hand in the situation, so it seems a shame that pets are often not made to feel welcome in a rented property. However, given the choice, the survey found that 82% of pet owners would be willing to pay an additional fee to keep their furry friend in the rental property with them - the extra cost could quite easily be used to make any repairs to anything that was damaged.

And when it comes to how much people would be willing to pay on top of their rent, the average amount was $375.69.

Tenant Tails: Not all neighbors would be put off by the fact someone next door had a pet, either; AgentAdvice.com also asked hypothetically whether, "if your property renewal was coming up and someone new was moving in with a dog, would you consider finding somewhere else to live?" Only 26% said yes, suggesting that the vast majority of New Yorkers are actually pet-friendly.

The research also revealed that two thirds thought it was fair for landlords to ask tenants to leave the property if it turned out they had pets which were not permitted. But sadly, the challenge of finding a rental property which allows pets discourages 58% of people from getting a pet if they are renters.

"Caring for a pet is a responsibility that requires commitment and dedication, yet the current rental market often makes it challenging for pet owners to find suitable and affordable accommodations. Discriminatory pet policies and limited pet-friendly options not only place an undue burden on renters, but also deny them the joy and companionship that pets bring to their lives" says Chris Heller of AgentAdvice.com.

AgentAdvice.com have provided 4 tips for convincing your landlord to allow you to have a pet in your rental:

1. Talk to Your Landlord

Getting permission to have a pet as a renter can be difficult as landlords may include a "No Pets" clause in the lease to maintain control over how many pets are in their properties. However, if you have a good relationship with your landlord and are a responsible tenant, you may be able to persuade them to allow a pet. Providing documentation on your prospective pet's health history and training plans can strengthen your case. Many landlords will make exceptions for excellent tenants who are positive contributors to the rental community.

2. Be Flexible

To convince your landlord to allow a pet in your rental, it's important to be flexible with your pet choices. Many landlords have restrictions on the type or size of pets allowed due to noise or potential damage. If your landlord approves a pet with certain restrictions, consider being more selective in your choice of pet. However, if you have a good relationship with your landlord, it's possible they may make exceptions for a responsible and reliable tenant. So don't be afraid to have a conversation about the possibility of bringing in a larger pet.

3. Providing Documentation

If you're a pet owner looking to move into a new rental property, providing additional documentation can help show your landlord that you're a responsible pet owner. This may include a letter from your current landlord, vet records, training records, and spay/neuter records. By demonstrating that your pet is well-behaved and non-disruptive, you can alleviate any concerns your landlord may have about potential property damage or disturbance to other renters.

4. Offer to Pay More

To convince your landlord to allow a pet, offering to pay extra in the form of a deposit or monthly charge can show that you are committed to being a responsible pet owner. While some pet-friendly rentals have upfront policies regarding deposits or rent surcharges, it's possible to convince some landlords who don't allow pets to make exceptions if you offer to pay extra. However, pet deposits can be expensive, so be sure to have the necessary budget before making the offer.
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CECILIA, Ky. (AP)  For fourth-grader Leah Rainey, the school day now begins with what her teacher calls an "emotional check-in."

"It's great to see you. How are you feeling?" chirps a cheery voice on her laptop screen. It asks her to click an emoji matching her state of mind: Happy. Sad. Worried. Angry. Frustrated. Calm. Silly. Tired.

Depending on the answer, Leah, 9, gets advice from a cartoon avatar on managing her mood and a few more questions: Have you eaten breakfast? Are you hurt or sick? Is everything OK at home? Is someone at school being unkind? Today, Leah chooses "silly," but says she struggled with sadness during online learning.

At Lakewood Elementary School, all 420 students will start their days the same way this year. The rural Kentucky school is one of thousands across the country using the technology to screen students' state of mind and alert teachers to anyone struggling.

In some ways, this year's back-to-school season will restore a degree of pre-pandemic normalcy: Most districts have lifted mask mandates, dropped COVID vaccine requirements and ended rules on social distancing and quarantines.

But many of the pandemic's longer-lasting impacts remain a troubling reality for schools. Among them: the harmful effects of isolation and remote learning on children's emotional well-being.

Student mental health reached crisis levels last year, and the pressure on schools to figure out solutions has never been greater. Districts across the country are using federal pandemic money to hire more mental health specialists, rolling out new coping tools and expanding curriculum that prioritizes emotional health.

Still, some parents don't believe schools should be involved in mental health at all. So-called social-emotional learning, or SEL, has become the latest political flashpoint, with conservatives saying schools use it to promote progressive ideas about race, gender and sexuality, or that a focus on well-being takes attention from academics.

But at schools like Lakewood, educators say helping students manage emotions and stress will benefit them in the classroom and throughout life.

The school, in a farming community an hour's drive south of Louisville, has used federal money to create "take-a-break" corners in each classroom. Students can rifle through a "self-regulation kit" with tips on deep breathing, squishy stress balls and acupuncture rings, said school counselor Shelly Kerr. The school plans to build a "Reset Room" this fall, part of an emerging national trend to create campus sanctuaries where students can go to decompress and speak with a counselor.

The online student screener Lakewood uses, called Closegap, helps teachers identify shy, quiet kids who might need to talk and would have otherwise gone unnoticed.

Closegap founder Rachel Miller launched the online platform in 2019 with a few schools and saw interest explode after the pandemic hit. This year, she said, more than 3,600 U.S schools will be using the technology, which has free and premium versions.

"We are finally beginning to recognize that school is more than just teaching the kids reading, writing and arithmetic," said Dan Domenech, executive director of the national School Superintendents Association. Just as free lunch programs are based on the idea that a hungry child can't learn, more and more schools are embracing the idea that a cluttered or troubled mind cannot focus on schoolwork, he said.

The pandemic magnified the fragility of mental health among American youth, who had been experiencing a rise in depression, anxiety and suicidal thoughts for years, experts say. A recent report issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found 44% of high school students said they experienced " persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness " during the pandemic, with girls and LGBTQ youth reporting the highest levels of poor mental health and suicide attempts.

If a silver lining exists, the pandemic raised awareness of the crisis and helped de-stigmatize talking about mental health, while also bringing attention to schools' shortcomings in handling it. President Joe Biden's administration recently announced over $500 million to expand mental health services in the country's schools, adding to federal and state money that has poured into schools to cope with pandemic-era needs.

Still, many are skeptical schools' responses are enough.

"All of these opportunities and resources are temporary," said junior Claire Chi, who attends State College Area High School in central Pennsylvania. Last year, her school added emergency counseling and therapy dogs, among other supports, but most of that help lasted a day or two, Chi said. And that's "not really a mental health investment for students." This year, the school says it has added more counselors and plans mental health training for all 10th graders.

Some critics, including many conservative parents, don't want to see mental health support in schools in the first place. Asra Nomani, a mom from Fairfax County, Virginia, says schools are using the mental health crisis as a "Trojan horse" to introduce liberal ideas about sexual and racial identity. She also worries schools lack the expertise to deal with student mental illness.

"Social-emotional well-being has become an excuse to intervene in the lives of children in the most intimate of ways that are both dangerous and irresponsible," Nomani said, "because they're in the hands of people who are not trained professionals."

Despite the unprecedented funding, schools are having trouble hiring counselors, mirroring the shortages in other American industries.

Goshen Junior High School in northwest Indiana has been struggling to fill a vacancy of a counselor who left last year, when student anxiety and other behavioral problems were "off the charts," said Jan Desmarais-Morse, one of two counselors left at the school, with caseloads of 500 students each.

"One person trying to meet the needs of 500 students?" said Desmarais-Morse said. "It's impossible."

The American School Counselor Association recommends a ratio of 250 students per school counselor, which few states come close to meeting.

For the 2020-21 school year only two states  New Hampshire and Vermont  achieved that goal, according to an Associated Press analysis of data from the National Center for Education Statistics. Some states face staggeringly high ratios: Arizona averages one counselor to 716 students; in Michigan, 1 to 638; and in Minnesota, 1 to 592.

Also in Indiana, the School City of Hammond won a grant to hire clinical therapists at all 17 of its schools but has not been able to fill most of the new jobs, said Superintendent Scott Miller. "Schools are stealing from other schools. There just aren't enough workers to go around." And despite more funding, school salaries can't compete with private counseling practices, which are also overwhelmed and trying to hire more staff.

Another challenge for schools: identifying struggling children before they're in emotional crisis. At the Houston Independent School District, one of the largest in the country with 277 schools and nearly 200,000 students, students are asked each morning to hold up fingers showing how they feel. One finger means a child is hurting deeply; five means she or he feels great.

"It's identifying your brush fires early in the day," said Sean Ricks, the district's senior manager of crisis intervention.

MORE SPECIAL REPORTS:

Houston teachers now give mindfulness lessons, with ocean sounds played via YouTube, and a Chihuahua named Luci and a cockapoo named Omi have joined the district's crisis team.

Grant-funding helped Houston build relaxation rooms, known as Thinkeries, at 10 schools last year, costing about $5,000 each. District data show campuses with Thinkeries, which sport bean bag chairs and warmly colored walls, saw a 62% decrease in calls to a crisis line last year, Ricks said. The district is building more this year.

But the rooms themselves are not a panacea. For the calming rooms to work, schools must teach students to recognize they feel angry or frustrated. Then they can use the space to decompress before their emotions erupt, said Kevin Dahill-Fuchel, executive director of Counseling in Schools, a nonprofit that helps schools bolster mental health services.

In the last days of summer vacation, a "Well Space" at University High School in Irvine, California, was getting finishing touches from an artist who painted a mural of a giant moon over mountains. Potted succulents, jute rugs, Buddha-like statuettes and a hanging egg chair brought an un-school-like feel. When school starts this week, the room is to be staffed full-time with a counselor or mental health specialist.

The goal is to normalize the idea of asking for help and give students a place to reset. "If they can re-center and refocus," Blakely said, "they can then, after a short break, go back into their classrooms and be prepared for deeper learning."
(Alliance News) - Ferrexpo PLC on Wednesday distanced itself from reports relating to its former chief executive Kostyantyn Zhevago.

The Swiss headquartered iron ore company with assets in Ukraine was responding to press reports relating to alleged corruption involving the head of judges of the Supreme Court of Ukraine.

Zhevago is linked to the ongoing scandal surrounding Vsevolod Kniaziev, the head of Ukraine's Supreme Court, who was charged with corruption on May 16 and faces up to 12 years in prison.

Kniaziev is accused of receiving nearly USD3 million in bribes. According to Ukrainian news outlet ZN.UA, Kniaziev had allegedly received money for supporting a court ruling in favour of Zhevago.

Zhevago denied the accusation. However, during a press briefing on May 16, Semen Kryvonos, the head of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau, confirmed that Zhevago was involved in the bribery case.

Ferrexpo pointed out Zhevago resigned as a director in December 2022.

"The company is not aware of any allegations having been made against the company, any members of its group or any employees of the group," the group said in a statement.

"Ferrexpo takes this opportunity to confirm that it operates to the highest standards of corporate governance and has in place strict policies around anti-bribery and corruption," it added.

In a further development, Ukraine's State Bureau of Investigation reported on Wednesday that it was working alongside the Agency for Investigation and Management of Assets to retrieve more than USD113 million in frozen assets from a Swiss account belonging to Zhevago.

Zhevago was charged in December 2022 with embezzling and laundering USD113 million at Finance & Credit Bank in 2019.

Shares in Ferrexpo fell 3.2% to 101.50 pence in London on Wednesday.

By Jeremy Cutler, Alliance News reporter

Comments and questions to newsroom@alliancenews.com

Copyright 2023 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
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The North Dakota House and Senate chambers will be closed for the summer due to mechanical updates, with no weekend or holiday tours of the state Capitol.

The chambers will be closed through the beginning of September.

We enjoy being able to share the rich history of our state Capitol with visitors from all over the world, Facility Management Director John Boyle said in a statement. Although the chamber closures will affect tours of our beautiful, unique building this summer, the mechanical updates will ensure the Capitol functions properly for years to come.

Workers will be replacing the original, 1933 air handlers that serve the chambers and the Brynhild Haugland Room, a large meeting room below the House.

The project is covered by $7 million of federal coronavirus aid the Legislature approved in its November 2021 special session.

People who would like to see the chambers can do so from the self-guided tour kiosk in Legislative Hall or through a virtual tour at omb.nd.gov/virtualtour.

Regular weekday tours will continue from Monday through Friday on the hour from 9-11 a.m. and 1-3 p.m. all summer.

Group tours can be requested online at omb.nd.gov/capitol-complex.

Self-guided tours aren't allowed on Saturdays or Sundays.
Greg Sukiennik has worked at all three Vermont News & Media newspapers and was their managing editor from 2017-19. He previously worked for ESPN.com, for the AP in Boston, and at The Berkshire Eagle in Pittsfield, Mass.
Investcorp, a leading global alternative investment firm, announced that it has completed the acquisition of a controlling stake in China's Shandong Jianuo Electronics, a leading provider of specialty premium components for renewable energy projects.

Operating out of Chinas Greater Bay Area, Jianuo is a leading provider of specialty premium components used in fast-growing high-end applications such as electric vehicles power management, battery charging infrastructure, solar and wind power generation, and 5G base station infrastructure.

Jianuo is well-positioned to benefit from the domestic and international drive for energy transition, decarbonization and increasing automation.

It has become a highly regarded research and development and advanced manufacturing partner to a wide group of global providers of alternative energy solutions including in the US, Europe and Japan.

The acquisition represents a continuation of Investcorps strategy of investing in and scaling category-leading growth companies with deep engineering and technology know-how, particularly those with a strong sustainability mission.

On the acquisition, Hazem Ben-Gacem, Co-CEO of Investcorp, said: "The shift to a low-carbon economy will create entirely new industries and value chains within the next five to 15 years, and Jianuo is right at the heart of that evolving trend. This acquisition reflects our strategy of investing in innovative and growing mid-sized companies and offering investors high-quality alternative investment opportunities in future-focused industries that are key to the global energy transition efforts."

"This acquisition marks our first control buyout in China. Investcorp is pleased to partner with Jianuo and to leverage our long-standing global expertise in elevating family-run businesses into institutionally managed global players," he stated.

Duncan Zheng, Head of Private Equity China at Investcorp, said: "We look forward to partnering with Jianuos founders, management and over 400 employees as we embark on the next phase of Jianuos growth journey."

"Jianuo is well-positioned to expand and deepen its strong relationships with leading global renewable energy players through its extensive R&D capabilities and proprietary manufacturing know-how in producing innovative specialty components," stated Zheng.

On the deal, Jianuos Co-Founders Wang Chuanli and Wang Chuanwei said: "We are pleased to partner with Investcorp as we bring our family business into its next stage of corporate evolution. We remain committed to Jianuo and look forward to expanding its operations into new markets."

"Through Investcorps global platform, we will be able to better serve our existing and new customers in leading the alternative energy transition," he added.-TradeArabia News Service
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North Dakota lawmakers are losing their seats, but it's just their chairs being replaced.

The elegant House and Senate chambers are set for upgrades, including painting the ceilings, refinishing woodwork and replacing the 25-year-old chairs in which lawmakers sit at their desks, according to Legislative Council Director John Bjornson.

Funding for the upgrades includes $7 million in federal coronavirus aid for improvements to heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems for the chambers and the Brynhild Haugland Room, where the House Appropriations Committee and other large groups meet.

The money, approved by the Legislature in its November 2021 special session, also covers painting of the chambers' ceilings.

The $42.9 million 2023-25 budget for the legislative branch, recently signed by Gov. Doug Burgum, also includes $220,000 for replacing carpet in both chambers, refinishing woodwork on the front rostrums and replacing the chairs.

The carpet and chairs are from 1998. Lawmakers at that time and in 1969 were given the option to purchase one of the old chairs. Remaining chairs were transferred to the state government's Surplus Property Division for disposition.

The new carpets' colors and the fate of the chairs will be up to the Legislative Procedure and Arrangements Committee when the panel of floor leaders meets this summer, Bjornson said.

The HVAC system upgrades are set to be completed by Sept. 1. There is no specific timeline for the carpeting and the refinishing of the woodwork; work on that will begin after the HVAC upgrades are complete.

The Legislature, in session every two years from roughly January through April, adjourned April 30.

The chambers date to 1934, when the state Capitol's construction was completed. Much of the Capitol is in art deco design, an artistic and decorative visual style popularized in the 1920s and 1930s and characterized by bold outlines along with geometric and zigzag forms. The chambers also are stops along the Capitol tour for visitors.
Taylor Swifts record-breaking Eras Tour will host three shows at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough on May 19, 20 and 21. And even though fans have been eagerly counting down the days to see Miss Americana, there are a few things theyll need to know about attending.

To better understand the dos and donts of Gillette, heres everything fans should be aware of if theyre going to be among the 65,000 attendees, according to the stadium.

Who else is performing with Taylor Swift?

Taylor Swift isnt the only star taking the Gillette stage.

The Friday, May 19 and Saturday, May 20 shows will welcome Phoebe Bridgers and GAYLE as opening acts. Sunday will welcome Gracie Abrams and Bridgers back for a third time to open.

What time does the show kick-off?

The shows start at 6:25 p.m. each night with gates to the venue opening at 4:30 p.m.

Parking at Taylor Swift show

An event ticket corresponding to that nights show is required to access and park in all lots, Gillette said. Tickets will be checked upon entry into the lots. Those without a ticket will be asked to leave.

The parking lots are scheduled to open at 2:30 p.m.

Gillette Stadium offers general parking for all ticket holders and is located on the opposite side of Route 1. You can view a map of venue parking here.

If you were lucky enough to score a stadium-side prepaid parking pass, a parking space will be guaranteed regardless of when you arrive on event day. Prepaid parking is officially sold out.

For more parking information, click here.

MBTA

The MBTA Commuter Rail is providing round-trip train service from Boston for Fridays show. Boston special event trains will depart from South Station with stops at Back Bay and Dedham Corporate Center before arriving at Foxboro Station. However, tickets for the Boston special event trains are sold out.

Friday, May 19 (Boston only)

Depart South Station: 4:05 PM

Depart Back Bay: 4:10 PM

Depart Dedham Corporate Center: 4:30 PM

Arrive Foxboro: 5:05 PM

The Saturday and Sunday shows will have MBTA service from both Boston and Providence.

Boston special event trains will depart from South Station with stops at Back Bay and Dedham Corporate Center before arriving at Foxboro Station. Providence special event trains will depart from Providence Station and make stops at Attleboro and Mansfield before arriving at Foxboro Station.

Saturday, May 20 and Sunday, May 21 (Boston)

Depart South Station: 4:05 PM

Depart Back Bay: 4:10 PM

Depart Dedham Corporate Center: 4:30 PM

Arrive Foxboro: 5:05 PM

Saturday, May 20 and Sunday, May 21 (Providence)

Depart Providence: 4:05 PM

Depart Pawtucket/Central Falls: 4:11 PM

Depart Attleboro: 4:25 PM

Depart Mansfield: 4:35 PM

Arrive Foxboro: 5:20 PM

Trains will also depart Foxboro Station 30 minutes after each concert ends.

Ticketing

Tickets to all events at Gillette Stadium will be accessible via mobile device only. Fans can access and manage mobile tickets via the Gillette Stadium App, which is available on the App Store for iPhone users and the Google Play Store for Android users.

Once youve downloaded the Gillette Stadium App, open the app on your smart phone. Tap TICKETS from the bottom menu bar.

From there, Tap MANAGE TICKETS and then CONTINUE. You will then need to sign in using your email address and password associated with your account manager if you have not already done so.

Once you are signed in, the app will show a listing of your purchased tickets for upcoming events and games. Select the ticket for the event you are attending.

Finally, tap VIEW BARCODE to scan at the gates. To keep foot traffic moving, Gillette asks attendees to be sure to have the barcode page already open when approaching the gate.

Attendees can also add the tickets to their mobile wallet for easy access entering the gates.

Screenshots of barcodes will not be allowed for entry into the stadium.

Bag policy at Gillette

Only one pre-approved bag per guest is allowed. Non-clear bags are not to exceed 4.5 inches by 6.5 inches and clear bags are not to exceed 12 inches by 6 inches by x 12 inches.

The stadium bag policy can be viewed here.

Entrances

Gates will open at 4:30 p.m. each day, when fans can enter through the Bank of America, CVS Health and Ticketmaster Gates for this event. Fans with field seats should enter via the Enel Plaza only.

ADA entry is available through the E2 and W2 elevator.

Should I bring cash?

Gillette Stadium is a cashless stadium. Only contactless payment options will be accepted within the venue.

Can I tailgate at Gillette?

Only if you have a ticket to the concert.

If you dont have a ticket, you wont be able to access or park in the Gillette Stadium lots, State Police said.

What songs will be played at the Taylor Swift show?

Since announcing her 27-show tour on Nov. 1, Swift has added 25 shows for the U.S. leg of the tour, which will feature songs from each of her different eras in music.

The tour will feature songs from her recent 10th studio album, Midnights, which launched back on October 21. It also will span a wide variety of her discography, including her country roots in Fearless, electropop beats from Reputation, slow ballads from sister albums Evermore and Folklore and everything in between.

Swift will also perform two surprise songs not included on her setlist at each show.
SPRINGFIELD  It was a banner day for the Springfield Armory as officials with the U.S. National Parks Service and U.S. Department of Justice announced the homecoming of 24 marksmanship medals that mysteriously disappeared from the national historic site 30 years ago.

It all began with a random call from a collector in Tennessee in 2021, according to Armory curator Alex MacKenzie.

Were lucky that phone call happened, MacKenzie said during a homecoming ceremony on Wednesday at the armory. He was flanked by officials from the Justice Department who investigated the tip and helped recover the medals.

The event was set to feature former U.S. Attorney Rachael S. Rollins, but for her abrupt departure from the office Tuesday  one day before the DOJs inspector general issued a 161-page report that sharply rebuked Rollins on a number of ethical fronts. Rollins was, however, still quoted in the press release the DOJ issued for the event that was dated Wednesday.

Her speaking portion was instead filled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Carol E. Head, chief of the Asset Recovery Unit.

This was not only a federal crime, Head said, referring to the theft of the artifacts 30 years ago. But also a disservice to our countrys history.

MacKenzie said the unnamed collector of military artifacts, who called the armory on a fall day nearly two years ago, acquired the medals from a person in Massachusetts six months earlier for about $4,500.

As it turns out, that individual in Massachusetts had bought the medals at a gun show from a senior citizen who lived in Pennsylvania. Weve since learned that senior citizen purchased them from a collector in New Britain, Connecticut, and thats where the case goes cold, said Joseph R. Bonavolonta, special agent in charge of the FBI Boston office.

The FBI recovered the medals donated by ancestors of former armory machinists and world-renowned marksmen Milan and Freeman Bull. They were donated to the museum in 1944, according to National Parks Service officials. The bureau also recovered a stolen .31-caliber Colt Root revolver donated to the armory in 1939 by a city resident, Bonavolonta said.

Gleaning details from the Tennessee collector, MacKenzie and other museum staff were able to match the hallmarks of the medals to the descriptions of the stolen ones in their archives.

Were lucky these 24 medals are still in great shape. Through all the hands they passed through, there was still a sense of value, to a degree, beyond just money, MacKenzie said.

The medals along with scores of other artifacts are on display at the museum located on the border of the campus of Springfield Technical Community College.

The return of the medals after federal officials helped recover a single shot percussion M1842 pistol that was stolen from the museum in 1971. The pistol was returned to the museum at a ceremony in Philadelphia in March.
A police chase from Boston to Lynnfield reached speeds nearing 115 mph Tuesday night as troopers pursued a stolen pickup truck, Massachusetts State Police said Wednesday.

A trooper on patrol on the Maurice J. Tobin Memorial Bridge observed a Toyota Tacoma traveling at an extremely high rate of speed and knocking over every cone marking a construction setup shortly before 11:30 p.m., said state police spokesman Dave Procopio.

Trooper Garrett Cardoza pursued the vehicle, which troopers subsequently discovered was reported stolen from Brockton, Procopio said.

The pursuit continued through Chelsea and Revere after Troop H Headquarters authorized continuing the chase. State police further discovered that, at the time Cardoza first observed the vehicle it had been fleeing from a crash with a Mercedez-Benz SUV in the CANA Tunnel, Procopio said. No injuries were reported in that crash.

Procopio said in the Lynnfield Tunnel, at mile marker 60, the driver lost control of the truck and collided with concrete barriers separating the northbound and southbound lanes, before turning perpendicular to the roadway and sliding across the barriers for about 20 feet.

Cardoza took the driver, identified as Denny Fernandes de Pina Andrade, into custody, and discovered his drivers license was suspended due to failure to pay fines. Fernandes did not appear injured and declined medical treatment, Procopio said.

The crash caused extensive damage to the barriers.

Andrade faces charges of larceny of a motor vehicle, receiving a stolen motor vehicle, failure to stop for police, leaving the scene of a crash that caused property damage, reckless operation of a motor vehicle, operating after license suspension, speeding and marked lanes violation.

Procopio said a bail clerk set bail at $540, and Andrade was expected to be arraigned today in Charlestown District Court.
WESTFIELD  School officials shouldnt worry about having police next door to the middle school, police commissioners said Monday.

A 25-acre field behind Westfield Middle School, also bordering on the Boys & Girls Club of Greater Westfield, Amelia Park Childrens Museum, the Westfield Skate Park and a School Department maintenance barn, is the leading candidate in the search for a site to build the citys new police headquarters.

School Committee members told the Police Commission this month that they have questions about the proposal, however. Among their worries are having sex offenders visiting a police station near a school for their required monthly or annual check-ins.
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An Interstate 94 rest area 7 miles east of Medina will close temporarily during road construction.

The rest area at mile marker 221 will close Friday and is not expected to reopen until late August, according to the state Department of Transportation.

Theproject includes a grade raise and milling and paving to I-94 and the rest area. Both eastbound and westbound traffic will be reduced to single lanes on the eastbound roadway. The next phase of construction is scheduled for August. At that time traffic will switch to the westbound roadway, and the rest area will reopen.

Speed limits will be reduced and a width restriction will be in place. The project is expected to be completed in November.
Sometimes the most magical things are right under our noses  or under our feet. Our beautiful Mayo coastline is not just the longest in Ireland, it is also home to pockets of precious rarities, like Mulrannys Mediterranean-heather-covered hillsides and Achills basking-shark feeding grounds. Perhaps less well known and hitherto under-appreciated are the countys swathes of machair, a rare coastal system found only in the north-west of Ireland and parts of Scotland, such as the Outer Hebrides.

These unique coastal habitats are wildflower-strewn grassy plains growing on lime-rich, wind-blown sand. But theyre not just beautiful to look at. They provide an important refuge for pollinators and birds, including the endangered great yellow bumblebee and threatened breeding waders like the dunlin, lapwing and redshank.

Since Brexit, the EUs entire land cover of machair occurs in Ireland  which means machair conservation here is now of even greater significance on a European scale. Sites in Mayo include the whole of the Mullet peninsula, as well as the Inishkea Islands, the Valley Sandybanks on Achill Island and the Roonagh and Dooagtry Complex near Louisburgh.

These stunning coastal areas of the county have quite understandably seen an increase in tourist activity in recent years, which has been welcome. However, many visitors unwittingly trample over the machair or use the sites for overnight camping  even parking camper vans on these delicate wildlife sanctuaries.

The need to create a balance between protecting the rare habitats and welcoming tourists to beauty spots to help the economy of Mayos coastal communities was raised at the recent official launch of the LIFE on Machair project in Killeen. The six-year, EU-funded, NPWS-led project seeks to improve the conservation condition of Irish machair habitats and the ecological conditions for the species they support by working positively with local coastal communities and farmers.

Present at the Killeen launch were Minister of State for Heritage Malcolm Noonan and Minister of State for Land Use and Biodiversity Pippa Hackett, as well as one of Irelands foremost ornithologists and wildlife experts, Professor David Cabot, who lives close to the Dooagtry Complex.

Prof Cabot believes that the damage to Mayos machair that is being caused by tourists will have to be addressed if the rare habitat is to survive  and he is thrilled that the Life on Machair project will be helping to increase awareness.

The tourism issue is going to be a big one. We will have to provide facilities, honeypots where people will go camping, he explained. Weve got to have boardwalks and information. It is all about information. People are very respectful to the environment provided they understand it and know what is going on. This is what we are lacking and this is why this project is wonderful. It is about spreading the information and making people aware of this huge heritage and how it is something to be extremely proud of.

Minister Noonan agrees with Prof Cabot. Speaking to The Mayo News after the launch, he said that in order for the 7.4 million LIFE on Machair project to be a success, the problems associated with tourism and wild camping must be addressed. Describing the machair sites as amazing and hugely important, he said that the local community will have a big part to play in preserving these vital habitats.

I have been in Maheees in Co Kerry because we have a leatherback toad project down there, and they have taken a very proactive approach to it [wild camping]. Rather than enforcement they work locally through volunteers and speak to people who might be setting up camp on the side of the road and say this is an important habitat and would they mind going to a designated campsite. The vast majority of people will listen to them, and that type of hands-on community approach is important, he said.

Noonan added that the creation of marked walking routes would also help to stop people wandering all over the machair and damaging it. Such routes, he said, would allow visitors to enjoy this amazing part of Ireland in a sustainable way and realise they are contributing positively to it rather than negatively.

The minister and the professors sentiments were echoed by Dr Catherine Farrell, the LIFE on Machair project manager. We do want to welcome people to the site, but we need to make sure they are welcomed in the right way, she said, adding that she hopes that future generations will always be able to enjoy the music of the machair  that particular kind of birdsong and insect buzz generated by the wildlife that only these rare habitats can support.

Each of us living along and visiting Mayos wondrous coastline can help too, by ensuring we dont add to the damage ourselves. And if we do see people camping on any of these precious sites, maybe we can tell them all about the wonders underfoot and gently encourage them to choose another place to pitch up. Lets face it, theyll be spoilt for choice. Were blessed with a stunning coastline that boasts plenty of other beauty spots for visitors to enjoy and explore.
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In the good old days in the Bismarck-Mandan area there were two people whom it seemed everyone knew or knew of. Six decades later, an ode to their love still resonates.

Clell and Ruth Gannon married in 1932. He was an acclaimed artist from Underwood, and she was a high school and college teacher from Kansas. Both were poets.

Together they built a unique stone house known far and wide by its name -- The Cairn -- on the top of the hill on Mandan Street in what was at the time north Bismarck. The rock house was pieced together largely with stones found on their property. It became a noted Bismarck attraction in the North Dakota guidebook that was part of the Great Depression-era Federal Writers' Project of the Works Progress Administration.

Clell Gannon painted and illustrated original works of art for the Oscar H. Will & Co. pioneer seed house and nursery. Later he worked at the Provident Life Insurance Co. Gannon painted, in tempera and oil, 13 murals in the Burleigh County Courthouse that depict the history of the county. Those murals are still a feature of the downtown courthouse in Bismarck. Gannon also painted murals inside Bismarck High School that today are remembered by former students but no longer exist in the school. His paintings are in the permanent collections of the Bismarck library and area families.

Gannon also is known for an epic North Dakota journey with friends Russell Reid and George Will in June 1926. Together the trio put a flat-bottomed boat on the back of a Model T pickup and drove to Medora. The next day they put in the Little Missouri River and 13 days later arrived home in Bismarck. The three men took photographs, made drawings and took notes of what they saw. The trip was featured in the first edition of the North Dakota Historical Quarterly, published in October 1926.

Ruth Gannon was a noted area Spanish teacher and for one year, 1953-54, she took her husband and sons, Grael and Craig Gannon, to live in Mexico City while pursuing a masters degree in Spanish literature at the University of the Americas. She later went on to teach at Bismarck Junior College, and there are still former students who fondly recall riding in her car on trips to visit Mexico.

Clell Gannon died in December 1962. A book of his poetry titled "Ever And Always, I Shall Love The Land" was published in 1965 by Vantage Press. It is a must-read for those who wish to know Clell, his family and how he loved North Dakota.

The last poem is by Ruth Gannon after she was widowed, and titled "Clell." She writes after a long winter alone a beautiful tribute to the man she loved.

She wrote it 60 years ago, on May 17, 1963.
In a recent in-person interview, Michael Caralis, the Vice President of Business Markets at Verizon, shared his insights on the companys strategic direction and its relationship with the channel.

The channel is about relationship and trust, Caralis stated, emphasizing the importance of partnerships in Verizons business model. He explained that the channel has the opportunity to build and resell Verizon under its own brand, effectively white-labeling the network. This approach allows the channel to add services and mark up the price, a strategy that applies to both Internet of Things (IoT) and fixed wireless access.

Caralis illustrated this concept with an example: An alarm company can do it all over Verizon. This flexibility, he said, is part of Verizons ongoing commitment to making things easier for their partners and customers.

Service delivery, according to Caralis, is a key focus for Verizon. We are constantly making things easier, and service delivery is important to us, he said. He posed two critical questions: How do you integrate service delivery into customer workflow? and How to make it useful to grow and manage their business?

Caralis referred to Verizons strategy as a network as a service approach, positioning the company as an enterprise-grade network provider. He outlined the wide range of services Verizon can provide, including cybersecurity, wireless, video via BlueJeans, Unified Communications (UC), and more.

We provide turnkey solutions through the channel, Caralis explained. He added that businesses are constantly looking to do more with less, aiming to grow revenue with a smaller IT staff. This is where Verizon comes in, he said.

Cybersecurity, in particular, is an additional service that Verizon offers, which Caralis believes is a significant advantage.

When asked about the doom and gloom predictions for the economy, Caralis remained optimistic. The jobs are there, and there is continued growth in the economy, he said. This creates opportunities. The channel enables this as a supplier.

He also highlighted the scale of Verizons operations, noting that one-third of the worlds internet traffic is on Verizon networks. He also pointed to third-party research from RootMetrics and J.D. Power regarding the companys superior wireless service.

Addressing the competition from T-Mobile, Caralis expressed confidence in Verizons strategy and network. We dont mind competition. We are confident in our strategy and network. We have a top brand in the marketplace. We continue to build out our 5G C-Band network, providing great experiences for customers. In fact, as of this writing, Verizon announced the deployment of 100MHz of C-Band spectrum across Pennsylvania. In terms of competition, tomorrow, Verizon will off a new service to consumers  myPlan which gives T-Mobile-like flexibility to consumers.

Caralis also pointed out the rapid growth of their Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) solution and reiterated that their network as a service strategy provides an array of options for the channel, including fiber, contact center, cybersecurity services, and managed services.

Verizon is also making waves with private 5G  via a partnership with Cleveland Clinic.

Some of the new solutions include:

Patient check-in kiosks

Enhanced digital displays

In-room infotainment for patients

Asset tracking

AR/VR adoption for clinician education, patient education, assisted surgery and imaging, which the partners will explore via future 5G millimeter wave deployments

This collaboration supports our long-term vision for a fully digital hospital infrastructure, said Matthew Kull, Chief Information Officer, Cleveland Clinic. If we can provide 5G high bandwidth to our facilities, we can become more efficient, ensure better continuity of care as patients transition home and enhance the overall experience for our caregivers and patients.

The company can also be one part of a larger deal, Caralis explained, adding that customers can get the network from Verizon and SD-WAN and managed services from other providers if they prefer.

Finally, Caralis highlighted their cosale program, which he believes differentiates Verizon from other carriers. This program brings in numerous opportunities for turnkey solutions such as digital signage.

Caraliss vision for Verizon is one of partnership, flexibility, and service. With its wide array of offerings and commitment to the channel, Verizon is poised to continue its role as a leading provider in the telecommunications industry.

Aside from his role as CEO of TMC and chairman of ITEXPO, Rich Tehrani is CEO of RT Advisors and a Registered Representative with and offering securities through Four Points Capital Partners LLC (Four Points) (Member FINRA/SIPC). RT Advisors is not owned by Four Points.

RT-Advisors continues its mission of assisting tech companies in M&A and capital raising using our unique tech media background and relationships to aid companies to optimally position themselves. In addition, as of late we have been increasingly assisting fast-growing tech companies in obtaining non-dilutive capital. Please let us know if we can be of assistance. The above is not an endorsement or recommendation to buy/sell any security or sector mentioned. No companies mentioned above are current or past clients of RT Advisors.
How 9/11 Brought Paul Bettany & Jennifer Connelly Together

Rose Silva

1 year ago

I think that Faith brought them together. If they were meant to be with one another so let it be. They really seem happy and love. []

WHATEVER GOES FOR ME

1 year ago

I just feel bad for Bill Campbell who really wanted to marry Jennifer but she was too young then while he was ready to start a family. I believe Jennifer is still Bill's love of his life which made him decide not to marry after what happened to him but he had to settle down with someone later on.

Rod Lim

11 months ago

Pail Bettany and Jennifer Connelly deserve each other [] They ate meant to be [] Praying for their everlasting love [] [] [] [] [] [] []



They seem really good together someday I Hope to be that in love and happy.

2

Reply

[Carrie G]

Carrie G

6 months ago

I remember, after watching "A Knight's Tale", my whole family loved him and would affectionately call him "Nakey Butt Guy" (my boys were young). Whenever we'd see him in other movies, one of us would exclaim, it's "Nakey Butt Guy"... We've loved Paul for a long time. And, I've been a fan of Jennifer's since "Labyrinth". I'm SOOO happy for Paul and Jennifer! Looks like they had a fairytale beginning... that will last until "Happily Ever After". []

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[Shibumi]

Shibumi

Anderson C

1 month ago

It's funny how things workout for 2 peole who seem to us different. Paul growing up not being a "ladies' man" yet ending up marrying one of Hollywood's sought aftger girls/actresses Though it was said in this video that Jennifer is actually more reserved....though..she did a film like The Hot Spot and Requiem For A Dream. How and who convinced her to do those 2 films??

9 months ago

In response to the video title- that makes him a very smart man...every man (and probably a lot of women) who ever looked into those big calm eyes of hers on screen fell immediately in love with her...

Reply

[Mark Cliffe]

Mark Cliffe

11 months ago

A lovely love story, I watched Jennifer in Top Gun last night, an incredibly beautiful woman

2

Reply

[ext1013]

ext1013

1 year ago

their love is much like emily/john k's love. i love it.

The truth hurts

10 months ago

Jennifer is very beautiful. They are both meant for each other. No wonder AH doesnt like Paul. She seems jealous that Jennifer is beautiful , classy and normal.



[George Maisuradze]

George Maisuradze

1 year ago

Kinda sad that people need a tragedy to get a justified reason to be together.

Rod Lim

11 months ago

I didnt know she is the wife of Paul Bettany. I am so mesmerized with her beauty. When you compare Jennifer and Amber , Amber is nothing. I was supposed to say How I wish Johnny Depp met Jennifer Connelly instead of Amber not knowing just now that her husband is Johnnys bestfriend [] []

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5PZ8VHrn_u8

Context

September 11 attacks

Encyclopedia Britannica

September 11 attacks, also called 9/11 attacks, series of airline hijackings and suicide attacks committed in 2001 by 19 militants associated with the Islamic extremist group al-Qaeda against targets in the United States, the deadliest terrorist attacks on American soil in U.S. history.

The attacks against New York City and Washington, D.C., caused extensive death and destruction and triggered an enormous U.S. effort to combat terrorism. Some 2,750 people were killed in New York, 184 at the Pentagon, and 40 in Pennsylvania (where one of the hijacked planes crashed after the passengers attempted to retake the plane); all 19 terrorists died (see Researcher's Note: September 11 attacks).

Police and fire departments in New York were especially hard-hit: hundreds had rushed to the scene of the attacks, and more than 400 police officers and firefighters were killed.

How 9/11 Brought Paul Bettany & Jennifer Connelly Together | Rumour Juice

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760,938 views Mar 31, 2022 #JenniferConnelly #Snowpiercer #WandaVision

Snowpiercer's Jennifer Connelly and WandaVision's Paul Bettany are close to being one of a kind. She was his teenage crush. It's almost as if Paul had been waiting to meet Jennifer for most of his life or at least since he was around the age of 15. But before they met and married, one of them had to go through unbelievable tragedy. Twice. In today's video, we're getting into this powerful love story and beyond. 0:00 Jennifer was his childhood crush

2:14

Weve both had enough on-set relationships"

3:57 They didnt live together before getting married

6:57 Being a family man is the best his role

How 9/11 Brought Paul Bettany & Jennifer Connelly Together | Rumour Juice #JenniferConnelly #PaulBettany #Snowpiercer #Netflix #WandaVision #Disney #jenniferconnellyyoung #jenniferconnellyinterview #jenniferconnellylabyrinth #jenniferconnellyoscar #jenniferconnellyhusband #jenniferconnellynow #paulbettanyinterview #paulbettanywife #paulbettanychildren #RumourJuice #Storyaboutcelebrity Subscribe to Rumour Juice channel on Youtube for more unknown stories about celebrities: https://bit.ly/2O3l5vc
by Ray Schultz , May 16, 2023

ActiveCampaign has made a strategic move into the AI content business. It is offering new AI tools in beta, and expects to generate content in 1:1 emails, SMS, landing pages and forms in the coming months.

The new offering, ActiveCampaign AI (beta) is available to customers at all levels with early access on a waitlist. The company promises that customers will be able to generate a full campaign based on one provided prompt later this year.

"We are so excited about the possibilities this will bring our business, not only on the content generation front but the iteration and testing that will allow us to send better campaigns and reach more potential customers," says Margaret Rice, founder of client Your Therapy Source.

ActiveCampaign has been extremely intentional in this generative AI investment because we wanted the rollout to address what our customers need and how we can help solve their unique problems, says Jason VandeBoom, founder and CEO of ActiveCampaign.

"This AI investment is unique, yet not surprising," adds Brooke Farbstein, strategic partner manager at Aircall.
by Sarah Mahoney @mahoney_sarah, May 16, 2023

CVS says generative AI is already a powerful force in its marketing ecosystem, sometimes doing better work than humans do. And Norman de Greve, the retailer's chief marketing officer, thinks fast-learning software will shake up client-agency relationships in ways companies still haven't fully processed.

"AI is going to have profound effects on agency business," he says. "And it's not because somebody doesn't like an agency. People want things at lower costs and faster, and with quality at a level of parity with what they have now -- and that's starting to happen."

Speaking on a webinar by the Executive Lounge, owned by MadisonAlley.tv, de Greve says the company is already seeing good results with machine-generated content.

"We can train some of these tools on our images and our voice, and it is writing about our own brand better than our ecosystem is doing today because it's so dispersed. I can see that going globally, and it's going to be a serious tool."

Images are more difficult; de Greve estimates the company is perhaps four months away from creating suitable visuals.

Humans are still required for the creative process, of course. "Content has to start with an idea. But the biggest constraint for every large company is capital and humans. AI addresses that.

He also sees enormous potential for SEO and social media posts.

And while AI gets plenty wrong, "it's evolving, and these skills are learned very fast."

The level of sophistication required for AI to use CVS data for effective personalization may still be far off, but "eventually, there could be a whole ecosystem optimizing itself."

That's especially meaningful for a company like CVS, which owns vast amounts of data on each of its 74 million loyalty members.

Ultimately, de Greve says the goal is for customer experience to become "a proactive utility, like 'Think of the thing I'm not thinking about, and think of it for me.' That's a level beyond personalization. It's about usefulness."

That fits with the overall mission of the company, which has become a combination of retailer; insurer, through its acquisition of Aetna; and healthcare provider, with the purchase of Oak Street Health.

The CMO sees CVS evolving into America's healthcare company, addressing a fundamental mismatch in how people manage their health. "Currently, the system is set up for episodic care, like cancer or a broken arm. But the real challenges are managing chronic conditions, like diabetes, heart disease, depression and anxiety."

Mental health is an especially important area for the company, which has recently launched free mental health screenings, and stepped up efforts to help teen girls, aiming to ease the impact of social media and altered beauty images.
U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert's family seems like a bunch of reckless assholes. Listen to these 911 calls from neighbors who were threatened and harassed by Lauren's future-ex-husband Jayson and her four kids.

From The Denver Post:

Garfield County Sheriff's deputies decided to let neighbors of U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert settle a dispute between themselves and the congresswoman's husband after he reportedly threatened them and destroyed their mailbox.

But 911 calls from the incident, obtained by The Denver Post, show just how upset and nervous the neighbors were over their run-in with Boebert's husband, Jayson Boebert.

The calls also provide additional context into what the neighbors, in Silt, said amounted to excessive speeding, property damage, possible drunken driving and threats made from a man whose family openly and regularly carries their firearms.

"I'm sure he's loaded to the hilt. Do you know who his wife is? Lauren Boebert. She's loaded. They all have guns," one neighbor told a 911 dispatcher. "He just got chest to chest, face to face, looking to fight."
by Karlene Lukovitz @KLmarketdaily, May 17, 2023

Netflix is warning UK telco partners about a potential backlash once the streamer launches its crackdown on free password sharing in the coming weeks.

Netflix has talked with bundling partners including Sky, Virgin Media and BT, encouraging them to prepare for the likelihood of a rush of calls, email and chat queries once it implements its paid sharing program, according to the Financial Times and other reports.

Paid sharing requires either that host accounts pay extra for adding users outside of their households, or that users establish their own accounts.

About 4 million, or one quarter, of the UKs 15 million Netflix subscribers are currently using the service through password sharing, according to Matt Ross, managing director of TV/media industry research firm Digital i.

There may initially be a bit of kneejerk reaction from some subscribers, he told The Guardian.

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In Spain, where the crackdown started in February, there has been a drop in viewing per account, he said, adding: The question is what the overall impact will be on subscriber numbers in the long term.

Spains level of password sharing is much higher, however, at 39% of Netflix subscribers.

Reflecting the streaming industry's shift from driving subscriber numbers at all costs to making a profit, Netflix launched its paid sharing program in Latin America last year and started to roll it out in Canada, New Zealand and Portugal, as well as Spain, in February. But it delayed the rollout to the U.S., UK and the rest of its markets from this years first quarter to the second quarter, saying it wanted to incorporate more learnings from its earlier experiences before pulling the trigger.



While Netflix has acknowledged that it had seen a cancel reaction in all markets where it has implemented the program, it has also insisted that subscribers will return, and that overall numbers will eventually rebound. In Canada, paid membership is now larger than it was prior to the programs launch, according to the company.

Based on what we have seen in markets where Netflix has rolled out its plan so far there hasnt been a huge amount of consternation among the subscriber base, said Richard Broughton, an analyst at Ampere. Netflix has had plenty of time to test this. It is not too uneconomical to upgrade to add more people, we dont see large numbers of people furious about not being able to access Netflix for free."
The year was 2000, as a roaring crowd gathered at the great Liberty Cinema, fans sat with bated breaths to witness what they thought could be an iconic moment in the history of Indian cinema.

It was a time when the dawn of the millennium almost felt like we were stepping into the future, especially as we saw some of our favourite actors passing on the flame to their younger ones, which in this case was a promising 24-year-old wide-eyed boy.

 Abhishek Bachchan Instagram

As Abhishek Bachchan geared up for the release of his debut film, Refugee the crowd cheered on with a hope to see a son fill in the proverbial big shoes of his father. After all, he was the son of a cinematic prodigy - Amitabh Bachchan, one of the only superstars of his time who enjoyed stardom like no other.



 Abhishek Bachchan Instagram

As years went by, the craze to see more of Junior Bachchan, to know more about him increased until it finally fell flat. The fans started to realize that there is a huge difference between a star being born and a star kid being born.



23 years later, a similar inquisitiveness in the air surrounds another 20-something boy, the son of the only other star in the country who could match up to the stardom of the great Big B - Shah Rukh Khan.

 SRK

While Bachchan Junior had decided to take on his fathers path and delved into the world of acting and cinema, we didnt see the same transpire with SRKs oldest, Aryan Khan - who despite his shift in allegiance from acting, has managed to enjoy a similar craze among fans.



But the question here is - why? What is it about the 26-year-old that keeps us hooked?

 Aryan Khan Instagram

Is it the fact that hes the son of the Badshah of Bollywood? Or that despite being a superstars son, hes chosen to rescind his star kid rights to be launched by the likes of a Dharma production? Is it perhaps his looks which are strikingly similar to a young Shah Rukh or just a case of curiosity killing the cat?



What started as a tale of disappointment, whether it was upon finding out that SRKs son will not be an actor or landing plum in the middle of an unfateful tryst with drugs and Mumbai police, went on to only fuel peoples desire to take a deeper dive into his persona and personal life.

 Aryan Khan Instagram

In a world where finding anything about anyone, let alone a public figure, is merely a game of a few clicks on the internet, here is the son of the biggest superstar in the country whose voice has also not been made privy to the public.



Going by an old adage that said, people fear what they cant understand, Aryan Khan is the perfect example of someone who frightens and excites people at the same time. This explains a lot of the kind of incessant hate, trolling and public humiliation that Aryan Khan had to endure when he was caught in a raid for drugs last year.

 Aryan Khan Instagram

Even though the police dropped the charges, what still couldnt be dropped was an urge to find out more and more about the 26-year-old. If he was going to take on the charge of keeping up SRKs legacy, people were impertinent to find out the worthiness of his successor.



The Khan Kids

 Aryan Khan Instagram

Father to three children - AbRam (10 Years), Suhana (23 years) and Aryan Khan (26 years), SRKs kids have been in the limelight from the moment they were born. From IPL matches to family get-togethers, fans, paparazzi and trolls all have had a rather measured exposure to the young Khans of the family.



And while that hasnt stopped the people from making remarks or assumptions about their lives, one Khan in particular that goes on to enamour and hold the attention of the audience is SRKs oldest son Aryan.

Who Is Aryan Khan

 Aryan Khan Instagram

Eldest among the three children, Aryan Khan is more than just SRKs son. He is an enigma, an unsolved puzzle that everyone is trying to decipher, yet failing miserably at. He is the unequivocal obsession of the youth and for good reason, it seems.



From a quick (and a detailed, borderline stalkerish) glance at his Instagram, he is a quintessential cool boy - witty puns as captions, playful and caring towards his other two siblings with the typical identification of a 20-something-year-old - a straight face that hides all of his emotions. His aesthetic seems to be that of a quiet, shy and mysterious kind of a guy.

 Aryan Khan Instagram

Hes exactly how he seems. Hell say a few words and hell make an impactful statement, leave and go back into the crowd. Hes very like that. Hes a very sweet guy, very nice and quite a good guy. Hes always on his own at parties. Hes sweet like if you want to talk to him, hell speak to you and all but hes more like a quiet kinda guy, confessed Palak Tiwari during an interview with Siddharth Kannan, corroborating most of our assumptions until now.



 Gauri Khan Instagram

Unlike other star kids who are constantly being shoved into our faces, whether it is on Instagram as they get featured in Viral Bhayanis airport clicks or being spotted at every fancy party in South Bombay as an accessory on Orrys arms, Aryan Khan manages to steal away from the media glare. In a world where every other star kid seems to be fighting and shouting for attention, Aryan is a soft whisper - silent yet riveting.



From where I am looking, it seems as though all the other kids are desperately trying to outrun the cast of their parents shadow on them. All, except one - Aryan Khan, who doesnt even feel the need to run in the same race as others.

 Gauri Khan Instagram

Unbothered by the gimmicks of becoming an actor and being in the spotlight, he is only ever spotted with his family or close friends as opposed to every other star kid on the block who has come before him and fizzled out in the eyes of the fans. And this is when his own sister Suhana Khan, coming from the same lineage, doesnt receive as much attention and interest as his older brother.



 Gauri Khan Instagram

The two seem to be operating on a similar PR strategy - no interviews, no media interaction and keeping close to their roots whether it is by emulating their fathers chivalry, panache or plain well-mannered ness or his looks which have been passed on to all of his kids and how. Yet, Aryans craze is leaps and bounds ahead of his sister Suhana. But this isnt a gender thing, its more than that.



The Mystery Behind Aryan

The guy had the world at his feet, an accomplished father, decent looks, a fortune he can burn a hole through for 3 generations straight without having to worry about a financial crisis and all the connections he would need in the world to manufacture success as an actor.

 Aryan Khan Instagram

Except, he decided to kick it all to a curb and cash in his influence to start his own business - a premium vodka brand along with a premium apparel brand that sells simple jackets for lakhs of rupees.



It might be his subtle rebellion (from what it looks on the outside) that perhaps makes people gravitate towards him and wonder what goes on behind the mind of this young adult.

With a straight face, Aryan Khan walks in and out of public events and despite having the world keep a close eye on him, we havent heard him talk. Hes been close enough to get a whiff of at all times yet far enough to recoil when people come a little too close to knowing who he really is, making him the perfect tease.

 Aryan Khan Instagram

And last we checked, a tease loves to keep you guessing, something which Aryan Khan has joyously picked on. So until we uncover more about the young Khan, wed take Shah Rukh Khan for his word when he said, Aryan is a nice, strong boy. He talks about his ambitions, and where he would like to be one day. But he's very clear that way. He just wants to be bigger than me and that's cool."



As for us, wed hope that his plans to be bigger than King Khan include him showing the world who he really is.
A school of piranhas swarmed tourists wading in a stream in Taruma-Acu, Brazil, on May 1, injuring at least eight people with bloody bites on their legs and feet. Link to the the article in Live Science here.

Experts believe the attack may have been the result of the fish becoming acclimated to being fed by visitors who often throw food into the river, and is very unusual behavior. If a piranha mistook a foot for food and bit it with its razor sharp teeth, it could have drawn blood, which would have sparked the feeding frenzy.

""Piranhas do not exhibit unprovoked attacks on humans," Steve Huskey, a professor of biology at Western Kentucky University, told Live Science in an email. "The situation described is one of piranhas becoming acclimated to free food and those bites were just another example of mistaken identity, just like shark attacks."  "But this behavior only occurs in exceptional circumstances, such as when a high number of fish are trapped in small pools or starved for a long time, according to the Sea Life London Aquarium. "These fish swim in schools and normally do not attack large animals," [ichthyologist and professor at the National Museum of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil Paulo Andreas] Buckup said."

When I was a kid, I was led to believe that piranhas were the most dangerous animals in the world, able to devour a cow in seconds. And if you were to find yourself in the water with a school of piranhas, it meant a certain quick and gruesome death.

Like what happened in James Bond movies.
"You got a boot? We can take that shit off." That's the Instagram pitch from the Boot Girls, a duo of underground entrepreneurs in Atlanta who, for $50, will remove the boot from your car. The women, who previously worked as beauticians, say they do about 40 jobs per day. Check out their work below. Meanwhile, a new bill introduced in the Georgia Legislature would, if passed, ban booting by parking enforcement across the state. From NPR:

The pair started the business after Boot Sheisty's car got booted while visiting her friend and now-business partner at her apartment complex in April.

Instead of paying the parking enforcement company to have the device removed, they connected with a friend who had a key that could unlock the boot. The pair decided to buy their own keys and "ever since then, we just went on our bull****," Boot Sheisty said.

The Boot Girls obtained their keys from Christian Verrette, owner of ATL Boot Key[]

"[U]nlike previously, there's a little bit more momentum [for the anti-booting legislation] this time around, thanks in part to the Boot Girls," [anti-booting attorney Matt] Wetherington said. "In what other instance could you ever imagine, where you have someone who says, 'I will charge you $50 to give you back access to your property' and then turn into a celebrity? Just think about how messed up that is for our city. It shouldn't be that way. But that shows you just how bad and just how pervasive booting is in Atlanta."
Jacksonville, Florida, isn't a liberal city: Marco Rubio won its precincts by 10 points in 2022, a Republican sheriff recently trounced his opposition in a special election, and it is the largest city in America with a GOP mayor. Yesterday, though, it unexpectedly flipped blue. Donna Deegan will be only the second Democrat mayor there since 1993.

Democrat Donna Deegan won the Jacksonville mayor's race Tuesday night, a shocking upset that hands Florida Democrats a major shot of energy less than six months after they were trounced in the 2022 midterms and considered left for dead by the national party.

Deegan came into Election Day as the decided underdog against Republican Daniel Davis, who is the head of the city's Chamber of Commerce and had a significant fundraising advantage. He was endorsed by Gov. Ron DeSantis, but that support was lukewarm. DeSantis did not do events with Davis or put his political muscle behind his candidacy.

With all of the city's 186 precincts reporting, Deegan had a 52% to 48% advantage over Davis, who was vying to replace current Republican Mayor Lenny Curry, who was term-limited.
In a stunning blow for con artist Elizabeth Holmes, the infamous founder of the collapsed health-tech firm Theranos, a court denied her request for freedom pending an appeal on her conviction. This came just two days before the commencement of her 11-year prison sentence. Even a nauseatingly pandering profile in The New York Times wasn't able to stop the gears of justice from dealing with the college dropout who lacked medical training.

Not only that, Holmes and her ex-lover/business associate, Ramesh "Sunny" Balwani, are now on the hook for a staggering $452 million in restitution to the victims of their deceptive ploy.

According to the ninth US circuit court of appeals, there's no playing hooky for Holmes. No more lavish San Diego living, no more stalling. Now, Holmes, 39, is set to leave her current home and swap her designer attire for a prison jumpsuit.

The upcoming separation from her partner, William "Billy" Evans, and their two young children, William and Invicta, adds an emotional layer to this already grim tale. Notably, Holmes's second pregnancy coincided with her conviction in January 2022 on four counts of fraud and conspiracy. The Latin meaning of her daughter's name, "invincible" or "undefeated," couldn't be more ironic.

Holmes still doesn't know her potential prison destination. The judge recommended a women's prison in Bryan, Texas for the fallen tech wunderkind. However, the federal Bureau of Prisons hasn't yet disclosed whether they've accepted this recommendation or have another facility in mind for Holmes.
Jae C. Hong/AP

A year and a half after the fatal shooting of its cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, the Alec Baldwin Western Rust is back on the market at the Cannes Film Festival, shopping for international buyers.

Last month, Rust resumed shooting in Montana to finish the independently financed production that shut down following Hutchins' death in October 2021. Matthew Hutchins, her widower, is serving as an executive producer on the film as part of a settlement over a wrongful death lawsuit.
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PHILADELPHIA (AP)  A task force led by federal marshals recaptured the second of two inmates who escaped from a Pennsylvania prison earlier this month, a man who had been held on charges in four slayings, authorities said.

Ameen Hurst, 18, was rearrested Wednesday morning in Philadelphia, according to Robert Clark, a supervisory deputy with the U.S. Marshals Service. Authorities had been working with the family since Tuesday evening after they called seeking to have Hurst surrender, but several deadlines for that to happen had come and gone, Clark said.

Authorities staked out several places where Hurst was believed to be hiding. Clark said that when authorities at one of the locations saw Hurst get into a car with two family members, they arrested him. Also arrested was his brother, Amir Woods, 24, who was later charged with hindering apprehension, conspiracy, escape and other counts, police said. A listed number for Woods couldn't be found Wednesday and it's unclear whether he has an attorney who can speak on his behalf.

Hurst and Nasir Grant, 24, escaped from the Philadelphia Industrial Correction Center on May 7 by cutting a hole in a fence surrounding a recreation yard, the Philadelphia Department of Prisons has said.

Before the escape, Hurst had been held on four counts of murder. Grant was being held on conspiracy drug and weapons charges. Officials have said the inmates were housed in the same unit, but different cells.

Grant was arrested Thursday night after members of the same fugitive task force saw him leave a north Philadelphia home dressed as a woman. He was stopped in a car nearby and arrested.

The men were gone for nearly 19 hours before officials knew they were missing. A top city official said an extensive review of the prison and its operations is planned and called it unfortunate that nearby residents and the city at large weren't immediately warned. We never want that to happen again, said Tumar Alexander, the citys managing director

Three people, including a fellow inmate, have been charged with aiding the escape, and officials are trying to determine whether anyone else at the prison was involved. Mayor Jim Kenney said whoever had the responsibility of conducting several bed checks cant count or could count and did something wrong."

Michael Abrams and Xianni Stalling, both 21, helped the men leave the area around the prison, after inmate Jose Flores-Huerta, 35, acted as a lookout helping them elude guards, Deputy Commissioner Frank Vanore of the Philadelphia police department said Wednesday.

Flores-Huerta is one of several people charged in the September 2021 death of 28-year-old Isidro Cortez of Queens, New York, outside a well-known cheesesteak shop; his attorney has said other suspects were primarily responsible.
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WASHINGTON (AP)  Two New York Police Department officers ambushed and killed after responding to a 911 call and the rookie cop who took down the gunman were honored Wednesday, along with six others, by President Joe Biden with the Medal of Valor, the nation's highest honor for bravery by a public safety officer.

The three NYPD officers, a Houston police officer, Colorado police official, Ohio sheriffs deputy and three FDNY firefighters all received medals in a White House ceremony before Biden departs for Japan and the Group of Seven summit.

I dont know all of you, but I do know you," Biden said. "From small towns to big cities, youre cut from the same cloth. You run into danger when everyone else runs away from danger.

Biden told the crowd the award was given for actions above and beyond the call of duty, singling out the families of the officers to thank them.

NYPD officer Wilbert Mora and his police partner Jason Rivera were shot Jan. 21, 2022, while responding to a call about a family dispute in a Harlem apartment. Officer Sumit Sulan shot and killed the gunman, ending the deadly encounter moments after it began and keeping the civilians safe. Rivera died that night, Mora was pronounced dead four days later. The families of the two officers accepted their awards.

The fallen cops were no strangers to tensions between the NYPD and some of the communities they police; they'd both seen it growing up. Both sought to be catalysts of change when they became police officers, but neither got the chance they deserved, gunned down during a spate of shootings of police officers in 2022 in the city.

Biden, who recently announced he'd seek reelection, has spoken of the need to reform how police interact with communities, in the wake of the killing of George Floyd and the deaths of other Black people at the hands of police. But he also says law enforcement needs better funding and tools in order to do a highly stressful job that's only getting worse, particularly post-pandemic.

I think one of the hardest jobs in America, what you signed up for, the president said Wednesday as he presented the medals. You represent the best of who we are as Americans.

Rivera, 22, had been a police officer for barely a year. Mora, 27, was in his fourth year on the job. All three were promoted to detective  the fallen officers posthumously and Sulan in a ceremony where he was given detective shield No. 332, a symbol of the three from the 32nd precinct where they worked in Manhattan.

The nation's largest police department has roughly 35,000 officers; the next largest is Chicago with 13,000.

Attorney General Merrick Garland said the recipients showed extraordinary valor" above and beyond the call of duty.

At the end of every shift, you are there," he said to the families. "It is your care and encouragement that makes it possible for our public safety officers to do their jobs. We are so grateful to you.

Biden also honored three New York City firefighters for the bravery, including Lt. Justin Hespeler, who rescued a newborn baby from a burning house. Thats true heroism," Biden said.

Firefighter Patrick Thornton who, aboard an FDNY boat, saved a man trapped under a capsized vessel in the waters off the coast of Staten Island was also honored, along with retired Lt. Jason Hickey who was on the FDNY's marine training unit when he got a distress call of a man in the Harlem River, a tidal strait that flows swiftly between the Hudson and East Rivers. Hickey jumped in and saved the man from drowning.

The other recipients are:

 Corporal Jeffrey Farmer of the Littleton, Colorado Police Department. Farmer was responding to a call of shots fired possibly out of a car window, and chased the suspect to the door of an apartment where the man opened fire, hitting Farmer's partner. Farmer worked to fend off the shooter, then, realizing an ambulance was too far away, dragged his partner into his police car and drove him to the hospital himself, saving his life.

 Deputy Bobby Hau Pham of the Clermont County, Ohio Sheriffs Office. Pham saved a drowning woman who had driven her car into a lake, though he could not swim.

 Sergeant Kendrick Simpo of the Houston, Texas Police Department. Simpo was working a second job at the Houston area Galleria mall when he heard on the radio a heavily armed man wearing a black mask was roaming the mall, near where a group of children were gathered for a dance competition. Simpo tackled the suspect who was carrying an AR-15 rifle, handgun and 120 rounds of ammunition. No one was injured.
United States and Canadian officials plan to launch whats billed as the first cross-border electric vehicle corridor of its kind stretching from Michigan to Canada.

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer joined U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, Canadian Minister of Transport Omar Alghabra and Mayor Mike Duggan in Detroit Tuesday to announce the 860-mile EV charging corridor anticipated to run from Kalamazoo to Quebec City. It is set to feature DC fast chargers around every 50 miles or 80 kilometers.

The U.S. and Canada have long enjoyed a productive partnership on transportation issues, and in that spirit, we are proud to announce the first-ever U.S.-Canada EV Corridor, Buttigieg said in a Tuesday press release. With historic investments in EV infrastructure from the Biden Administration and the Canadian government, we are creating a new generation of good-paying manufacturing jobs, making it possible for drivers everywhere to reap the benefits and savings of these vehicles while helping us fight climate change.

Thats 860 miles or as we like to call it in Michigan, 'not too bad of a drive,' Whitmer wrote Tuesday on Twitter. Thats 860 miles without ever having to worry about finding a place to charge your electric vehicle.

The planned binational corridor would tap into the over 75,000 miles of alternative fuel corridors nationwide, according to Whitmers office in the release.

Todays announcement is a huge step into the future of zero-emissions transportation and commerce, Duggan said in the Tuesday release. This corridor will carry the flow of EV traffic, trade and manufacturing between the U.S. and Canada, through Detroits international crossing with Windsor.

The corridor is possible through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law passed by U.S. President Joe Biden, according to Duggan.

In 2021, Biden signed the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law that included $7.5 billion in federal funding to create a national network of 500,000 public electric vehicle charging stations, of which Michigan is expected to receive at least $110 million. Supported by the law, the administration set a goal of having 50% of all new vehicle sales nationwide be electric by 2030.

In Canada, one in ten new vehicles purchased is a zero-emission vehicle. Canada has a goal to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.

Canada and the U.S. have built the worlds largest market-based energy trading relationship, which provides a firm foundation as we strive to reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions, Algbhabra said in the Tuesday release. This first cross-border alternative fuel corridor will help drivers to travel across the border and charge or refuel worry-free. It contributes to bringing us another step closer to making our air cleaner while helping people save money on traditional fuels.

The announcement builds on Bidens March visit to Canada, where he and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau committed to working together to harmonize EV charging standards and develop cross-border alternative fuel corridors between the U.S. and Canada, further strengthening the worlds largest market-based energy trading relationship, Whitmers office wrote in the release.
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Global Compassion, Inc. will host its 15th annual Donor Appreciation Dinner at 6 p.m. Friday at the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Social Hall, located at 3516 E. Monroe Road in Midland.

The event will include a Ukrainian dinner, a silent auction and a presentation of the projects that Global Compassion has completed in the past year. President Indira Oskvarek said the dinner is an opportunity for donors to see how and where their donations were spent.

We are very upfront about any donation - when it will be used, what well use it for, Oskvarek said. If someone gave us $10 and called me to ask what it was used for, I can tell you where it went.

The event has served an Indian dinner in the past, but this year, Ukrainian dishes will be served to highlight the skills of Ukrainian chef Sergii Pokanevych.

More Information The $61,000 raised at the March 4, 2023 have been used for:  Midland's two local Ukraine families - $ 16,220, plus rental commitment of $5,000. A total of $ 21,220.  Families in Odessa - $ 8,000 for purchasing batteries, food and medicines.  European Initiative group operating at the Eastern border of Poland and Ukraine - $ 22,550. The funds have been used towards refurbishing small units for the refugees at the border, taking food aid into small villages in the danger zones where help is not easily available, funds for supporting refugee and childrens camps in Ukraine and for fixing some of the homes of the elderly people that were destroyed by missile attacks. A total of $51,770 has been spent and the remaining $ 9,230 will be used towards the rental apartment, car and food for a new refugee family of three, Oskvarek and her husband, Ed, have sponsored from Odesa, with a commitment to support them for a year. "I am sure you will join hands with us to welcome them with our open arms, support and love," Oskvarek said. "They are expected to arrive just before the 4th of July, to breathe the freedom of this great country, its great people and be a part of our Midland community. I feel so humble and privileged to have this door of opportunities opened to serve the dear people of Ukraine. They are now a part of our lives." See More Collapse

Pokanevych, along with his wife Khrystyna and their son, came to the United States about eight months ago and eventually settled in Midland.

They humbled me with their warmth, strength, courage and with their willingness to work hard and with their dreams, hopes and aspirations to create a beautiful future in America, Oskvarek said. I feel honored to meet them and be a small part of their support group to show them our love and support on behalf of our Midland residents."

Pokanevych owned four restaurants in Odesa in southern Ukraine. When Russia attacked the country in 2022, he volunteered to distribute food to thousands of refugees from other cities that had been destroyed.

He also cooked a Ukrainian dinner for a Global Compassion fundraiser event in March, that raised $61,000 for two Ukrainian families in Midland, for families in Odesa and for a European Initiative group at the border of Poland and Ukraine providing aid for refugees.

"Thank you, Midland," Oskvarek said. "Our beautiful city with its kindhearted and generous people has always amazed and overwhelmed me. And over the years that I have been here, I have developed a deep respect, love, appreciation and admiration for my friends, family, our supporters and all the Midlanders in general."

The menu will include Green Borscht, crab salad, pork ribs, young potato with dill, apple pie and pampushki.

The appreciation dinner is Global Compassions largest fundraiser, garnering funds for all of its projects throughout the year. While some funds will go towards projects in Ukraine, they will also be used for projects in India, Africa and other areas in need.

I have taken friendship to a greater level to accomplish something good, Oskvarek said. The world is so broken right now and we have everything. Once I know (something is wrong), its my responsibility to make sure the need is met.

Global Compassion donors planning to attend the dinner should RSVP on the Global Compassion website or call 989-835-1127.
MANISTEE COUNTY  When first responders arrived at Healy Lake during a 10-degree blizzard to get a snowmobiler out of the water on Dec. 23, one piece of equipment was credited with pushing the rescue over the top: an airboat.

But that particular machine is rare in the region, and Manistee County had to call in help from Benzie County to save the man.

Now, the Manistee County sheriff wants to make sure the county doesnt have to wait for help to arrive from another county when the area has another incident like the one late last year.

The Manistee County Board of Commissioners approved the use of $121,300 in Title III funds at its meeting on Tuesday to pay for an airboat.

At the meeting, Sheriff Brian Gutowski said the man would not have been able to be saved from Healy Lake without the Benzie County airboat.

Commissioners unanimously recommended the approval of a bid from American Airboat Corporation for a 2024 AirRanger Rhino LE Edition airboat.

At the May Manistee County Public Safety Committee meeting, Gutowski said he wanted to pursue the airboat purchase "because I really believe that we would have lost at least one person had we not had Benzies airboat there for that incident."

Submitted photo

Gutowski told both public safety committee members and commissioners that an airboat would have also been helpful in search efforts seeking the Gladwin man who went missing at Tippy Dam on May 1. The mans body was found on May 2 near Tippy Dam.

Once we had Consumers (Energy) lower the dam, our river boats could no longer operate the way they could before because there was just not enough water. So, it would have come in real use during that incident, Gutowski said at the board meeting. This is just a really great capability for us to have.

Gutowski told the public safety committee, I think it would really pay for itself."

Lisa Sagala, Manistee County controller-administrator, said at the public safety committee meeting that Title III funds can only be used toward certain costs associated with programs, trainings and other actions on federal land.

We just got another distribution of $16,000 so that takes us up to $170,000 I think, just shy of $171,000, she said. And I believe we might get one more distribution next year and then you have to either allocate it or send it back.

At the county commissioners meeting, Sagala said the funding is very specific about what it covers.

The funds were also used toward two new snowmobiles for the sheriff's office earlier this year replacing ones from the 1990s. The sleds cost about $15,000 each.

Gutowski told the board of commissioners that the Benzie County airboat is about 25 years old.

I think with the right maintenance and making sure that were doing things the right way, I would anticipate this will last all of that 25 years like Benzie Countys airboat, he said.

The cost of the boat also includes the trailer to haul it, radio installation and other attachments.

Collaborations become the norm

Gutowski and the former Manistee City Fire Department chief Mark Cameron had previously noted they had been seeing more water rescue scenarios in recent years.

Because of the increasing rescues, the agencies have also been teaming up for more collaborative trainings with the U.S. Coast Guard Station Manistee and also seeking better rescue gear and suits in the last year.

Three Norman Township Fire Department members were later awarded in February for their response efforts in saving the man on Healy Lake.

Jack VanderBie, Norman Township Fire Department chief, previously told the News Advocate that the rescue "was a very high stress environment and very physically demanding" for all involved.

The Coast Guard, when they arrived out on scene, they made the comment that this is the absolute worst conditions that you can have for an ice rescue.  that this was as bad as it gets, he recalled.

VanderBie had said that his department had just gone through an ice rescue training before the Healy Lake incident.

We had done our stations ice rescue training the Tuesday before and then Friday we had the real deal go on, he had said. (In training) one member says So, how many ice rescues do you get a year?  I said Well, we havent had to do any but theres going to come a day when something happens  and then Friday we have this one and it was the most challenging ice rescue that you could have in the middle of a blizzard. So you never know when youre going to need it, thats why we train.

File photo

Norman Township Fire Department members represented one in a list of at least 10 agencies that responded to the Healy Lake rescue.

Nick Gera, Coast Guard Station Manistee commanding officer, previously told the News Advocate he was working with other groups to create an asset list this summer that documents all the key equipment on hand in the area and which entity holds that gear.

The list would include equipment like an airboat.

At the commissioners meeting, the board also unanimously approved a Port Security Grant for a new marine boat and a grant to the Manistee County Foundation Minger Foundation to apply toward matching funds for Port Security Grant.

The current boat is very poor performing in high seas, Gutowski said at the board meeting.

We really struggle in those times when we really need a stable platform out on the big lake with the boat that we currently have, he told the commissioners.

The boat that the sheriffs office is purchasing costs $326,000 for the boat and Manistee County would need a $100,000 match, according to the meeting agenda packet.

The boat being pursued is a SAFE Boat brand vessel with SAFE standing for secure around flotation equipped. The company is based in Washington state.

The company builds highly reliable and extremely durable vessels that help keep military, law enforcement and fire professionals safe as they carry out their duties, protect citizens and work to save lives, according to its website.

The grant also includes a training to be brought here for our staff as well as the Coast Guard and training for the deputy to go out and get trained on how to operate the SAFE boat effectively and safely, Gutowski added at the board meeting.

Gutowski noted that the sheriffs office could contribute $45,000 and $10,000 has been applied for from the Manistee County Community Foundation.

Previous reporting on water rescues and the Healy Lake incident

 Some Manistee County agencies report record year in 2022

 5 Norman Twp. Fire Department members awarded after ice rescue, medical incidents

 'Water is not a force to mess with': How the Coast Guard is increasing water safety

 Video: Police join Coast Guard's ice rescue training at MHS pool

 Police: Man jumps from Manistee bridge, in stable condition

 Video: What a Manistee Coast Guard ice rescue drill looks like
Need some help? The Pioneer publishes a list of community resources every Wednesday. If any listing is inaccurate or to submit an event, contact Julie Norwood at 231-592-8358 or julie.norwood@pioneergroup.com. Deadline is noon Mondays.

Manna Pantry of Big Rapids: 1-4 p.m. Monday-Friday in the annex of St. Andrew's Episcopal Church, 315B S. State St., Big Rapids. Volunteers needed, 12:30-4:15 p.m. Monday-Friday or half shifts. Call Bonnie Clark, 231-408-2940, if interested.

Project Starburst: 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Monday-Friday in the basement of the United Church of Big Rapids, 120 S. State St., Big Rapids. Volunteers needed, 10 a.m.-1 p.m. and 1-4 p.m. Monday-Friday. Call Diane Long, 231-796-5342, if interested.

Lord's Table Food Pantry: Open 1-5 p.m. Wednesdays at Faith Community Church, 610 Green St., Big Rapids. Volunteers needed. Everyone is welcome, all Veterans and those in need. Contact 231-796-8389 to set up an appointment outside normal hours.

Reed City Food Pantry: 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Tuesdays at St. Philip Neri Catholic Church, 831 S. Chestnut St., Reed City. For questions or emergency food needs, call 231-215-6996.

Barryton Area Mobile Food Pantry: 2 p.m. the second Saturday of each month, rain or shine, at the Fork Township Community Center parking lot, 3265 20 Mile Road, Barryton. Registration to receive food begins at noon. For more information, visit bamfp.org.

Angels of Action: 200 S. Stewart, Big Rapids. Provides children and their families access to food, essential needs and community resources. Call 231-629-8140 or email info@angelsofaction.org for assistance.

Our Brother's Keeper: 405 S. 3rd Ave., Big Rapids. Provides temporary emergency housing for those homeless and looking for safety or a place to stay as they transition into more permanent housing. Call 231-629-8160 for assistance.

Mid Michigan Community Action: 14330 Northland Drive, Big Rapids. Provides help with food, housing, early childhood education, home energy savings, energy assistance, homebuyer assistance and more. Call 231-660-0271 for the Big Rapids location and 231-791-7078 for the Reed City location.

HEALTH, INTERVENTION AND RECOVERY

Mecosta County Health Department: 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday at 14485 Northland Drive, Big Rapids. 231-592-0130.

Community Mental Health for Central Michigan: 500 South 3rd Avenue, Big Rapids. 231-796-5825.

Family Health Care: 730 Water Tower Road Big Rapids. A nonprofit medical group that provides affordable and accessible medical, dental and behavioral health care to the underserved population regardless of ability to pay, insurance, etc. Call 231-527-7150 or visit familyhealthcare.org.

Hope House Free Medical Clinic: 405 S 3rd Ave, Big Rapids. Provides limited medical care to adults who lack insurance. For more information, call 231-598-9500 or visit hopehouseclinic.org.

Central Michigan Recovery Education Network: A network of organizations that provide education, prevention, recovery and treatment for those affected by substance use disorder. Call 1-800-662-4357 or visit www.cmren.org for more information.

WISE (Women's Information Services): Provides crisis intervention and support services to survivors of domestic and sexual violence. Call the 24-hour crisis line at 1-800-374-WISE.

SUPPORT GROUPS

TOPS 9189 (Taking Off Pounds Sensibly): 8:30-10:30 a.m. Tuesdays in the United Church of Big Rapids dinning hall, 120 South State St. The public is invited to join TOPS 9189 weight loss support group. Weigh-in is 8:30-9:15 a.m., followed by a meeting at 9:30-10:30 a.m. First visit is free.

Men Overcoming Loss, Grieving Dads: (virtual and in-person) 6-7 p.m. first Wednesday of each month, at Hospice of Michigan, 400 Perry Ave., Big Rapids. This support group is designed for dads who are dealing with the death of a son or daughter. RSVP with David Keller at 231-527-0913, dkeller@hom.org

Alcoholics Anonymous: To find a group, call the hotline at 1-800-367-6788 or visit area34district9.org.
Midland residents should be on the lookout for lines of volunteers and bright purple flowers on Eastman Avenue as Midland Blooms takes place Saturday.

The program brings together community residents and businesses for a one-day volunteer service project planting flowers along the Eastman corridor.

The Midland Business Alliance has coordinated the program since its inception in 1989 with the assistance of a volunteer committee of community members, business representatives and city staff. Midland Blooms is sponsored by Corteva Agriscience.

This year, a mix of purple petunias will be planted from the Dilloway Drive intersection in the north to Buttles Street in the south. Coordinator of Midland Blooms Emily Lyons said the flowers usually go all the way north to Wackerly, but the stretch had to be shortened due to construction.

Lyons said planting will begin at 8:30 a.m.

In addition to planting the flowers, volunteers will also lay mulch to help with weed suppression. This is the first year the program will utilize mulch at the same time as planting.

Part of that is to make sure we can get ahead of the weeds, Lyons said. It really is difficult for city crews to get around to those in time, and there have been problems in the past with weeds getting established and disturbing the petunias or marigolds when theyre pulled. We are anticipating really good results with this.

Midland Blooms has record numbers for volunteers this year. Lyons said more than 80 teenagers signed up, and there will be nearly 600 volunteers overall at the event, which usually draws around 500.

Im very thankful for them, especially so that we can get planted quickly (and) be able to add that component of having them lay down the mulch right away, she said.

Volunteers should be prepared to work rain or shine. The event will not be canceled due to weather as Eastman is a state route, so Lyons had to coordinate with the Michigan Department of Transportation and cannot postpone to a different date.

We will do the event on May 20, soggy or dry, she said.

Lyons asks those who will drive on Eastman to be aware of their speed on Saturday to ensure the safety of all volunteers.

If people can be thoughtful and cognizant of their speed and their driving so that everyone can be very safe, thats always appreciated, she said. We hope everybody really enjoys the flowers.
ONEKAMA  Good things come to those who wait. Unfortunately for Onekama Consolidated Schools, the district must wait a little longer to find a superintendent.

During the district's regular school board meeting Monday, board president Chelle Hrachovina said Aaron West, whom the board voted to employ as superintendent pending board approval of a contract, had declined the board's offer to enter contract negotiations.

"He was very honored and humbled to have been chosen, and unfortunately it just was not the right timing for him and his family," Hrachovina said. "He thought it was, but then on his drive home it kind of hit him that he's got a son who just recently graduated from college, and they're not sure they're ready to up and move right now. He was very appreciative of the time that we spent getting to know him, interviewing him."

West, principal of Spring Lake Middle School, was one of four candidates invited to the district for the first round of interviews. Onekama invited West and Craig Carmoney, principal of Saginaw Chippewa Academy in Mount Pleasant, for a second round. Carmoney accepted a position elsewhere and withdrew his candidacy prior to his second interview.

Michigan Leadership Institute is the firm helping the school board conduct its superintendent search. Hrachovina said consultant John Scholten is out of the state until May 24, so the search is temporarily on hold.

"Our application is still live, so we're still accepting applications through the system with the Michigan Leadership Institute," Hrachovina said. "He's going to keep an eye on it. He's reaching out to his colleagues to see if they've got any other places that we can post it. We're going to go from there."

After Gina Hagen resigned as superintendent in January, the district hired Kimberly Blaszak, assistant superintendent of general education at the Manistee and Wexford-Missaukee intermediate school districts, as interim superintendent for a period of six weeks while it looked for a long-term interim superintendent.

During its regular February meeting, the school board approved a contract for Mark Parsons to serve as the district's interim superintendent three days per week from March 6 to June 30.

Parsons previously served as Onekama's interim superintendent during the 2019-20 school year following Kevin Hughes' retirement.

Hrachovina said the board could take another look at candidates who already applied.

"If we want to call them back in we can have that discussion, but right now we're not ready to do anything until Dr. Scholten is back," Hrachovina said.

Parsons is contracted to work for the district until June 30, so another interim superintendent could be necessary.

"If we need to do an interim we can do that. We don't want to just fill the spot to fill the spot," Hrachovina said. "We just want to make sure that we continue to put in as much time and effort into it as we have been. We've done a lot of hard work already and we want to continue to do that."

Parsons said he plans to put the district in a good position heading into the 2023-24 school year before his contract is up.

"My intention is to have done the due diligence of completing the work and preparing things that need to be prepared for next school year," he said. "We'll hopefully be able to manage that until a new person comes on board  and I use 'we' until June 30."

Parsons said he will do his best to help the next superintendent transition into the position and prepare them to be successful.

"I know that probably will be after June 30, but I want to make that happen," he said.
Abu Dhabi Investment Office said it has achieved the financial close with Nojoom, a joint venture between French multinational utility companies EDF and Engie, for the implementation of its key LED street lighting PPP project in the UAE capital.

The project, being implemented in collaboration with the Department of Municipalities and Transport (DMT), is part of the wider Abu Dhabi Road Lighting Programme, said ADIO in a statement.

The scope of work for Nojoom includes the finance, supply, installation, operation and maintenance of 133,473 LED energy-efficient luminaires across the emirate.

On completion, the PPP project will result in significant electricity savings of almost 2,400 million kWh, equivalent to a reduction of approximately 74% in power consumption, over the 12-year concession period.

With financial close reached between the parties, work will now commence, it stated.

Lauding EDF and Engie on reaching financial close, ADIO Acting Director General Engineer Abdulla Abdul Aziz AlShamsi said: "It will begin delivering significant energy reductions across Abu Dhabis Road lighting during the UAE's Year of Sustainability and ahead of hosting COP28."

"Abu Dhabi continues to effectively utilise our advanced PPP framework to deliver key infrastructure projects," he stated. DMT too played a critical role in the selection process of the winning consortium for the street lighting LED PPP project. After a thorough evaluation of the proposals submitted by pre-qualified bidders, EDF and Engie signed a partnership agreement with the DMT to deliver the project. The project was procured in accordance with Abu Dhabi's PPP Law and ADIO's Partnership Projects Guidebook and Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Policy. EDF and Engie signed a partnership agreement with DMT after a thorough three-stage evaluation of the proposals submitted by pre-qualified bidders. The selected consortium will deliver the project over five phases covering smaller geographical zones across Abu Dhabi to ensure the highest efficiency and sustainability standards. Salem Al Kaabi, Director General of Operational Affairs at the Department of Municipalities and Transport said: The project is an excellent example of our commitment to collaborating with private entities to deliver high-quality infrastructure projects in Abu Dhabi.

The street lighting LED PPP project highlights DMT's adherence to the highest standards of governance, social responsibility, and environmental sustainability," noted Al Kaabi.

The project's successful implementation will not only result in significant energy savings but also contribute to the UAE's Net Zero 2050 strategic initiative, further reinforcing DMT's commitment towards sustainable development,he added.

Ian Harfield, Managing Director of Engie Energy Solutions for GCC, said: "This project perfectly showcases how public-private partnership can deliver economic gains, sustainable development and substantial decarbonisation benefits for regional cities."

"We are delighted with the opportunity to showcase our capabilities and look forward to leveraging our experience in global energy projects and advanced technology to deliver real value to Abu Dhabi and its residents. Further, this project helps advance The UAE Green Agenda  2030, which among other objectives, focuses on clean energy and climate action," he added.

Luc Koechlin, CEO of EDF Middle East, said: "We are delighted to have successfully reached the financial close of the Abu Dhabi Street lighting project. This key milestone would not have been possible without the full support provided by the UAE government and authorities and without the commitment shown by the project team, partners and financing organisations."

"Our efforts will now be concentrated on building the human capital we need with our international know-how and our partners' local expertise. We remain committed to contributing to the Emirates' carbon neutrality objectives by implementing concrete actions at the forefront of COP28," he added.-

-TradeArabia News Service
A student at a Missouri high school recorded a teacher who repeatedly said the N-word. The student was named and suspended from school; the teacher was given anonymity and resigned to avoid discipline.

Mary Walton, a 15-year-old sophomore at Glendale High School in Springfield, will be allowed to return to school Wednesday after a three-day suspension for what the school district said was improper use of an electronic device. Walton's suspension caused controversy, with supporters including the Radio Television Digital News Association saying she was exercising her free speech rights and documenting a disturbing incident that might have otherwise been ignored. Kate Wellborn, Walton's mother, said in an interview Tuesday that she was "genuinely shocked" her daughter received the harshest possible punishment for recording the teacher during class last week. She said her daughter's video clearly showed the situation and context for what happened.

Be under no illusion: kids are "improperly using" their pocket supercomputers all day, every day at school and no-one gives a damn. The school punished Walton not for the policy violation of classroom phone use but for outing a teacher who used racial slurs. We all have a right to record misconduct by public officials and its worth fighting to stop officials stripping students of that right for their own convenience.

A Klan meeting in Springfield, Missouri, c. 1920s. Photo: Katherine G. Lederer Ozarks African American History Collection (public domain)
Endangered Species Day is observed each year on the third Friday of May as a way to raise awareness of the continued threates against endangered species and recognize those that have recovered due to conservation efforts.

Earth is home to more than 16,000 species of plants, animals, fungi, and algae that are currently listed as endangered on the International Union for Conservation of Nature's Red List of Threatened Species.

In the U.S., there are over 1,300 species of animals and plants that are either considered threatened or endangered, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Under the Endangered Species Act, plant and animal species may be listed as either endangered or threatened. Endangered species are in danger of extinction throughout all or a significant portion of its range. Threatened species are those most likely to become endangered within the foreseeable future.

Wildlife officials in Michigan recently updated the states list of threatened and endangered plants and animals to now include 407 species. Fifty-eight species were added to the list and 36 were removed, according to a May 1 announcement from the Michigan Department of Natural Resources.

A full list of the states threatened and endangered plants and animals is available on the Michigan Natural Features Inventory website. This website also provides additional information on what each species needs to survive and thrive.

The list includes 66 endangered species of animal in Michigan. Here are seven which are currently disappearing from Manistee County:

Provided photo/U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Rusty-patched bumblebee

Common and widespread prior to the mid-1990s, this species, along with several other North American bumblebees has experienced dramatic declines throughout its range.

These losses are attributed to three main threats, according to the Michigan Natural Features Inventory website. These include the widespread use of pesticides that are toxic to bees, habitat loss and the spread of disease from bumblebees used as pollinators in commercial greenhouse operations to wild populations.



Conservation strategies for bumblebees center around preserving healthy natural habitat areas, reducing pesticide/herbicide use, and promoting native wildflower reestablishment within urban and agricultural landscapes, according to the Michigan State University Extension website.

Planting native hedgerows and grasses in urban and residential areas also provides habitat for small mammals, whose burrows will in turn become homes for bumblebees.

Rusty-patched bumblebees are active from the third week in April to about the fourth week of October, according to the website.

Provided photo/U.S. Forest Service

American bumblebee

Once common and widespread, this species has declined by approximately 98% compared to Michigan's historic populations. Declines are due to many of the same factors as the rusty-patched bumblebee and conservation strategies are shared between the two, according to the Michigan State University Extension website.

Rusty-patched bumblebees and American bumblebees were added to the endangered species list in 2023.

Provided photo/U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Piping plover

A sparrow-sized shorebird, the piping plover is particularly sensitive to the presence of humans. Many of the coastal beaches traditionally used by piping plovers for habitat and nesting have been lost to commercial, residential and recreational developments which has resulted in the extirpation of these birds throughout most of its former range.

Conservation workers say it is vital to protect current and historic nesting habitat and other potential breeding sites to allow for population growth.

Predator fencing has been utilized around plover nests since 1988 to protect eggs from predation and captive rearing of orphaned birds and abandoned eggs has been implemented since 1992, according to the Michigan Natural Features Inventory website.

"Increased use of the shoreline by recreationists often causes parent birds to be frightened away from nests during critical periods of incubation and the camouflaged eggs or young can be trampled," part of the website states. "The use of motorized vehicles on the beach, beach walking, bike riding, kite flying, fireworks, bonfires, horseback riding and camping have been observed to disturb piping plovers and disrupt normal behavior ... pedestrians accompanied by their pets result in an even greater disturbance to breeding plovers."

A program was initiated in 1994 to organize volunteers to patrol and protect plover nesting areas over holiday weekends since Memorial Day and the Fourth of July coincide with peak egg laying and hatching of piping plovers. Conservation officials also encourage landowners to assist plovers by keeping their dogs leashed in areas where plovers are nesting.

Provided photo/John Lyons/Minnesota Department of Natural Resources

Shortjaw cisco

The shortjaw cisco is a freshwater whitefish in the salmon family. Shortjaw cisco usually have a lower jaw that is shorter than the upper jaw. The upper jaw often reaches to the middle of pupil below the eye, according to a profile on the Michigan State University Extension website.

This cold water Great Lakes fish has been endangered in large part due to the introduction of exotic species, such as the alewife and rainbow smelt.

Conservation strategies are aimed at managing invasives to prevent food web disruption, such as the loss of Great Lakes zooplankton.

"Other threats include: habitat loss, contaminants, itrogressive hybridization with bloater (cisco)," states part of the Michigan Natural Features Inventory website.

Provided photo/Michigan State University Extension

Migrant loggerhead shrike

The loggerhead shrike is a grayish, robin-sized bird, known for its gruesome habit of impaling prey on thorns and barbed wire.

This species typically prefers pastures, old fields and orchards, roadside fencerows along with native prairies and grasslands, according to a field guide by the Audubon Society.

Conservationists look to preserve these open environments particularly in areas that have had recent breeding activity. Habitat management for loggerhead shrikes should focus on providing suitable nest trees and perches and maintaining a healthy prey population.

"Loggerhead shrikes may be vulnerable to the impacts of pesticides given the predatory nature of this bird and its close association with agricultural areas, however, many persistent, highly toxic pesticides have not been widely used since the 1970s, and yet the population has continued to decline," states part of the Michigan Natural Features Inventory website.

Provided photo/Andrew King/U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service

Indiana bat

"Indiana bats are quite small, weighing only one-quarter of an ounce (about the weight of three pennies) although in flight they have a wingspan of 9 to 11 inches, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service website.

The Indiana bat was listed as endangered in 1967 due to people disturbing the hibernating bats in caves during winter, resulting in the death of large numbers of bats, according to the Indiana Bat Project Review in Michigan report by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Today the bat species is faced with the even greater threat of white-nose syndrome, which has killed millions of bats since it was first documented in the U.S. in 2006, according to the Michigan Natural Features Inventory website.

It is called white-nose syndrome because bats develop fuzzy white patches of fungus on their noses, wings and other hairless areas, according to reporting by The Associated Press. The disease also dehydrates bats and wakes them from winter hibernation, using energy that they cant replace because the insects they eat arent flying around.

Manistee County is home to the largest bat hibernaculum in Michigans lower peninsula, according to Consumers Energy which owns and operates Tippy Dam where the bat population is located. The dam area is home to an estimated 20,000 bats, according to the energy provider.

Provided Photo/Michigan State University Extension

Pugnose shiner

The pugnose shiner is a small, sandy-colored minnow with a tiny upturned mouth.

This minnow is naturally rare throughout its range, and tends to be difficult to sample effectively which may present an inadequate picture of their population in a given area, according to the Michigan Natural Features Inventory website.

This species has been declining through the upper midwest because of turbidity, decreasing vegetation and invasive species within its home, according to a University of Minnesota publication.

In addition to these seven endangered animals, Manistee County is home to dozens of other species listed as either threatened or of special concern, including a variety of turtles, waterbirds, invertebrates and amphibians. Visit the Michigan Natural Features Inventory website to view a complete list.
A Filion man has been arraigned on 11 counts of criminal sexual conduct in Huron County 52nd Circuit Court.

Raymond Joseph Peyerk, 39, pleaded not guilty to one count of third-degree criminal sexual conduct and 10 counts of fourth-degree CSC during his arraignment Monday morning.

Third-degree CSC is a felony punishable by up to 15 years in prison. Fourth-degree CSC is a high-court misdemeanor punishable by up to two years in prison and/or a $500 fine.

Huron County 52nd Circuit Court Judge Gerald M. Prill scheduled a jury trial for Tuesday, Aug. 8 at 9 a.m. with a final pretrial hearing set for Monday, July 17 at 10 a.m.

Peyerk remains lodged in the Huron County Jail.
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COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP)  Norways King Harald V, who was released from a hospital earlier this week, appeared Wednesday on the royal castles balcony to salute the thousands of children marching by as the Scandinavian country celebrated its Constitution Day.

Cheering and shouting, waving blue-white-red Norwegian flags, kindergarten and school students marched in front of the royal palace where Harald, 86, and his wife, Queen Sonja, sat and waved back to the vast crowd, many of whom wore traditional costumes.

Elsewhere in Oslo, the chairman of the Ukrainian parliament, Ruslan Stefanchuk, who was visiting his Norwegian counterpart, stood on another balcony and waved at a cheering flag-waving crowd, saying he hoped that we as soon as possible can celebrate like this in Ukraine.

The holiday marks the day the country commemorates the signing of the 1814 Constitution of Norway.

Earlier in the day, Harald's son and heir to the throne, Crown Prince Haakon, and his wife, Crown Princess Mette-Marit, had another march in front of their home,

Harald was released from Oslos main hospital on Monday after treatment for an infection.

The aging monarch, who has been seen using crutches in recent years, has been hospitalized several times in recent months. In August, he spent three days with a fever at a hospital and in December, he was also admitted for an infection that required intravenous antibiotics.

In October 2020, the king underwent surgery to replace a heart valve after being hospitalized with breathing difficulties.

The king is Norways head of state but holds no political power, so the duties are ceremonial. He ascended to the throne following the death of his father, King Olav, in 1991.
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ROME (AP)  Rivers swollen by days of downpours flooded some towns in northern Italy on Tuesday, forcing some residents to rooftops, while in Venice, authorities prepared to activate a mobile barrier in the lagoon in hopes of sparing the city from a rare May high-tide flooding.

After the Savio River overflowed its banks in the town of Cesena, in the heart of the Emilia-Romagna region, some residents of heavily flooded streets took to rooftops to await rescue by helicopters, Italian firefighters said. An older man died in his flooded home in the countryside outside of Cesena, while his wife managed to make it to safety, Italian state radio said early Wednesday.

Some rescues were especially dramatic. In Cesena, neighbors swam across the fast-moving waters of a flooded street to take a young girl from her mother's arms. One rescuer held the child above the floodwaters until she could be passed into the arms of other rescuers. Other residents helped the mother also to safety.

In a pair of interventions, firefighters rescued a family with a four-month-old baby and a disabled man in the province of Pesaro-Urbino. Elsewhere in the deluged north, parents and their two young daughters were plucked to safety by a firefighter helicopters, rescuer said.

The nearly 100,000 residents of the town were told to avoid the temptation to view the raging waters and not to stay on ground floors if they lived near the river.

"Use prudence, don't be curious, so disaster doesn't turn into tragedy,'' Mayor Enzo Lattuca urged in remarks on Rai state TV.

In all, some 900 people in flooded areas of northern Italy were evacuated by late Tuesday night, some taking shelter gyms or schools, the radio report said.

In the tourist town of Ravenna in northeast Italy, authorities urged residents to move to upper stories of buildings to ride out the storm. In Riccione, a beach town on the Adriatic Sea, the mayor warned people to stay home as some took to rubber dinghies to navigate streets.

In Venice, the barrier system, known by its acronym MOSES, and recalling the Biblical account of the Red Sea parting, will be lifted Tuesday night for the first time ever in May. It is nearly 20 years to the day when construction on the project, which is still not officially completed, began.

Firefighters in Riccione, in the northern region of Emilia-Romagna, were deployed to rescue people from flooded homes and businesses. By Tuesday afternoon, firefighters had carried out around 40 rescues in the province of Rimini, parts of which are on the Adriatic coast. Reinforcements for the rescuers were moved in from the cities of Forli'-Cesena, Ferrara and Bologna.

In the area between Ancona, a major Adriatic port, and Pesaro-Urbino, two towns popular with tourists, firefighters carried out 80 interventions for local flooding, fallen trees and mudslides and rescued motorists in difficulty, the corps said in a tweet. Pesaro is an Adriatic beach town in the Marche region.

In Modena, a small city famed for gastronomical products, authorities said they would close local bridges to traffic on Tuesday evening as a precaution against rising river levels.

Elsewhere, in the town of Senigallia, the Misa River's waters were receding, local officials said.

Meteorologists say Italy can expect several days of heavy rain, pummeling the north which had been suffering a shortfall of precipitation for weeks this spring.

Schools in areas bracing fearing flooding were closed.

Train travel was halted on the Bologna-Ancona land the Ravenna-Faenza routes, Italian media said.

Earlier this month, a day and a half of nonstop rain caused flooding in Italys populous Emilia-Romagna region, leaving at least two people dead as riverbeds left dry by drought overflowed their banks.

The intense rainfalls came as Italy had been bracing for a second year of drought, which has depleted its largest river, the Po. The river supports agriculture in the vast Po River Valley before emptying into the Adriatic Sea east of Bologna.

While northeast Italy was hardest hit by the downpours, flooding also caused damage in the south. On the island of Sicily, rescuers responded to flooding, fallen trees and other problems in the countryside between Palermo and Trapani. By Tuesday morning, the weather there was improving, firefighters said.

___

A previous version of this story was corrected to show that bridge traffic in Modena will be closed Tuesday, not Friday.
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BERLIN (AP)  A top official at the German economy and climate ministry resigned Wednesday following accusations that he was involved in choosing his best man to head the federally owned German Energy Agency and signed off on financial support for a project in which his sister was involved

Patrick Graichen was one of Economy Minister Robert Habecks closest aides and had been in charge of developing and implementing the government's energy policies with the goal of achieving net zero emissions in Germany in 2045.
NEW YORK (AP)  Pale Male, a red-tailed hawk who brought a touch of the wild to swanky Manhattan as he nested above Fifth Avenue for three decades, has died.

Pale Male died late Tuesday after being found ill and grounded in Central Park, wildlife rehabilitator Bobby Horvath posted on Facebook. The hawk was believed to be 33 years old.

Horvath posted that he picked Pale Male up and took him to his rehab group's veterinarian, who did bloodwork and X-rays. The hawk later ate a small meal but remained weak and lethargic, Horvath said. We hoped for any improvement, but sadly it was not meant to be, he said.

Pale Male, so named because of his whitish plumage, was first spotted in Central Park as a juvenile in 1991 and began nesting on Fifth Avenue across from the park in 1993.

Bird lovers crowded inside the park to watch as Pale Male and his succession of mates hatched and raised their young each spring.

The birders were outraged in 2004 when Pale Male's nest with then-mate Lola was ripped from its ledge on the 12th floor of a ritzy apartment building whose residents included actor Mary Tyler Moore and CNN anchor Paula Zahn. Moore publicly opposed the nest removal.

The co-op board, which had voted to remove the nest as a hazard, quickly reversed itself and restored a row of anti-pigeon spikes that the hawks had used to anchor their nest, and even added a new metal cradle on the ledge. Pale Male and Lola rebuilt their nest.

As his legend grew, Pale Male was the subject of a 2009 documentary, The Legend of Pale Male, and at least three illustrated children's books.

Horvath wrote in his post that Pale Male inspired bird lovers and photographers around the world. Some took up bird photography professionally, he wrote, but "most were just local residents or tourists who just wanted an opportunity to get a glimpse of this famous hawk.

David Barrett, who runs birding Twitter accounts including Manhattan Bird Alert, said that for much of Pale Male's life he was not only the worlds most famous red-tailed hawk, but he was probably the worlds most famous bird, one that people knew by name.

Barrett said the hawk's fame shows that even in an intensely urban place like Manhattan, there are many people who have a fondness for wildlife and feel a connection to it.

It is difficult to know with 100% certainty that the hawk that died Tuesday was Pale Male, since Pale Male was never banded.

Some observers began wondering around 2021 if Pale Male had died and been replaced in the Fifth Avenue nest by another hawk who resembled him.

No eggs were observed in the nest in recent breeding seasons, which Barrett said points toward the likelihood that the resident male hawk was in fact an elderly Pale Male, no longer interested in propagating.

Horvath said he believes the hawk whose final hours he witnessed Tuesday was Pale Male, a bird he has been following for 20 years.

I've rescued babies of his that were poisoned, Horvath said in an interview. I have a history with his family.

If Pale Male did live past 30, his life was one of the longest ever recorded for a red-tailed hawk. He survived several mates including Chocolate, Blue, Lola and Lima. His most recent mate was Octavia.

He is survived by an unknown number of descendants.
NEW YORK (AP)  A man who spent a night in jail for smacking Rudy Giuliani on the back and calling him a scumbag is suing him and several New York City police officers for false arrest and defamation.

Daniel Gill brought the federal lawsuit in Manhattan court on Wednesday, accusing Giuliani of spinning a tale of political violence from an act of harmless heckling. He says members of the NYPD went along with the deception despite video clearly disproving the account.

The lawsuit is the second filed this week against Giuliani. On Monday, a woman who said she previously worked for Giuliani filed a lawsuit in New York accusing him of coercing her into sex and withholding nearly $2 million in unpaid wages. Giuliani vehemently denied the allegations through a spokesperson.

Giuliani made headlines last June after claiming he was attacked by a supermarket employee in Staten Island during a campaign stop for his son, Andrew, who was running for New York governor.

He said an irate man accused him of wanting to kill women, then hit him in the back so hard he felt like somebody shot me. Gill, who had no criminal record, was arrested on charges of felony assault.

Surveillance video of the incident soon appeared to undercut Giulianis story. It showed Gill briskly walking by Giuliani and smacking him lightly on the back with an open palm. Giuliani appeared unfazed by the incident.

Body-camera footage obtained by Gills attorney also shows Giuliani acknowledging to officers that he didnt suffer any injuries. He urged them to make an arrest anyway, citing his own experience as the former mayor of New York City.

I need a police car to put him in handcuffs and arrest him and put him in jail, which is what I wouldve done if I was mayor, and thats why you had no crime when I was mayor, and thats why were one of the most crime-ridden cities in America now, Giuliani said, while sitting in the back of a campaign van.

The next guy he hits may not be as big and healthy as me, and he may knock him to the ground and kill him, he continued.

Gill spent 21 hours in jail following his arrest. The charges were later downgraded to a misdemeanor, then ultimately dismissed.

Ted Goodman, a communications advisor to Giuliani, said the lawsuit should be dismissed because police made their own decision to arrest Gill.

An unbiased observer will see this meritless complaint as absurdwith its extraneous political hyperbole, like in paragraph 22 when the attorney felt it (necessary) to refer to the specific area of Staten Island as a 'bastion of white conservatism and Trump support,'  Goodman said in a statement.

An attorney for Gill, Ron Kuby, said his client faced a barrage of death threats following the incident and lost his long-time job at the supermarket.

Giulianis capacity for punching down, attacking people who are poor or working class, its astonishing, Kuby said. Hes just a bully.

The lawsuit demands $2 million in damages. In addition to Giuliani, it names four members of the NYPD and the city of New York.

A spokesperson for the NYPD deferred comment to the city's Law Department, which said it will review the case.
Anadolu Agency/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

SpaceX's Starlink satellites will once again be visible over Connecticut for the second time this year.

Starlink-82 will have "good visibility" on Wednesday night at 9:17 p.m. and will be "bright" for approximately five minutes, traveling from the west to the southeast portion of the night sky, according to the Find Starlink website.
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QUITO, Ecuador (AP)  The president of Ecuador dismissed the legislature Wednesday in a move that promised more turmoil around a conservative leader who has been unable to enact a business-friendly agenda as the South American country experiences an alarming rise in crime.

In disbanding the National Assembly, Guillermo Lasso made first use of the Ecuador presidencys nuclear option under the constitution in conflicts with the legislative branch. His first move was to push a package of tax cuts, but criticism was swift and an appeal to stop him was filed hours after he announced his decision in a televised message in which he accused lawmakers of focusing on destabilizing the government.

This is the best possible decision, he said after describing his move as a way to give Ecuadorians the power to decide their future in the next elections.

Armed soldiers then surrounded the National Assembly in the capital. Lasso had been locked in a showdown with legislators who wanted to impeach him for not stopping a deal between the state-owned oil transport company and a private tanker company, accusations he denies.

Hours later, the president of the National Electoral Council, Diana Atamaint, said that its office will set the date for the next elections in no more than seven days. She anticipated that Ecuadorians would go to the polls to elect a new president and a new Assembly in no more than 90 days.

Lasso's Wednesday decision prompted Ecuadors top military leader to warn that the armed forces would crack down on any violence.

The president appeared to have the support of the armed forces but faced opposition from Indigenous Ecuadorians. Protests by the powerful Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities have nearly paralyzed the country in recent years, and the group's leader appeared outraged.

Lasso launched a cowardly self-coup with the help of the police and the armed forces, without citizen support, Leonidas Iza Salazar said.

Lasso can now govern for up to six months by decree under the oversight of Ecuadors Constitutional Court.

Lawmakers had accused Lasso of not having intervened to end a contract between the state-owned oil transport company and a private tanker company. They argued Lasso knew the contract was full of irregularities and would cost the state millions in losses.

During a legislative session Tuesday, Lasso noted that the contract predated his administration. He also said that the state-owned company experienced losses of $6 million a year before he took office, and that it has seen $180 million in profits under his watch. something he has rejected as untrue.

Called the crossed death because it cuts short the mandate of both the assembly and the president, the option to disband the congress and temporarily rule by decree was established in Ecuador's constitution in 2008 as a means of avoiding protracted periods of political paralysis.

His move can be appealed to the Constitutional Court, which has traditionally taken a long time to resolve any petition it receives. The Social Christian Party, which supported impeachment proceedings, filed a petition Wednesday arguing that there are no grounds for the dissolution of the Assembly.

After Lasso announced his decision, the head of the Joint Command of the Armed Forces, Gen. Nelson Proano, called on Ecuadorians to maintain respect for the law and warned against rupturing the constitutional order through violence.

If violence erupts, the armed forces and police will act firmly, he said.

In neighboring Peru, conflicts between the opposition-led legislature and president also led to attempts to oust each other last year. Then-President Pedro Castillo tried to dissolve Congress and head off his own impeachment in December. Lawmakers quickly voted him out of power and law enforcement arrested him, which resulted in months of deadly protests carried out for the most part by Indigenous peoples and peasants.

The National Electoral Council now has seven days to call presidential and legislative elections, which must be held within 90 days. Those elected will finish the terms of Lasso and the lawmakers he ousted, which had been set to end in May 2025. Lasso can choose to run in the election.

Lasso, a former banker, was elected in 2021 and clashed from the start with a strong opposition in the 137-member National Assembly. He defended himself before Congress on Tuesday, insisting there was no proof or testimony of wrongdoing.

Dismissed Assemblywoman Paola Cabezas told the Ecuavisa television network that her party, which was a main force behind the impeachment process, will abide by the decree."

We will go home ... This is an opportunity for us to get out of this crisis," she said.

Lassos governing powers are now limited. Constitutional attorney Ismael Quintana explained that the president can only address economic and administrative matters, and the Constitutional Court will have to approve his decisions.

Shortly after dissolving the Assembly, Lasso announced that he signed his first emergency decree, reducing taxes for hundreds of thousands of families.

Ecuador has experienced an increase in drug-related violence, including several massacres in prisons over the past two years. Kidnappings, extortion and petty crime are also on the rise. angering Ecuadorians across the country who feel the government has not done enough to stop this.

Will Freeman, fellow for Latin America studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, said mass protests are likely in the coming days.

Its also hard to imagine Lasso is making this move without the tacit support of top brass in the military, he said. In the past, protests have tended to turn destructive quickly  and security forces have also cracked down.

The U.S. State Department in a statement said it supports Ecuadors democratic institutions and processes and urged government institutions, civil society, and citizens to ensure democratic processes are carried out for the benefit of Ecuadorians.

___

Garcia Cano reported from Mexico City. Associated Press writer Gisela Salomon contributed to this report from Miami.
In a remarkable display during a recent House Homeland Security Subcommittee hearing, Georgia's rotten peach Marjorie Taylor Greene, known for her right-wing extremist views, found herself corrected by Amy Spitalnick, a senior advisor on extremism at Human Rights First.

The hearing took a turn when Spitalnick pointed out a chilling fact. "In 2022, every single politically motivated murder was committed by a right-wing extremist," she asserted.

Clearly taken aback, Greene, who habitually champions such extremists, misconstrued the statement, echoing, "Every single murder in America was committed by a right-wing extremist?" Spitalnick, undeterred, clarified that she was referring specifically to politically motivated murders.

Spotting a perceived chance to discredit Spitalnick, Greene jumped in, "Are you sure about that? Are you aware that the Tennessee shooter just recently, she identified as a man and she was a biological woman  was she a right-wing extremist as well?"

"So that was a shooting that happened in 2023," said Spitalnick. "There is no evidence as to what ideology motivated that shooting."

Kudos to Spitalnick for demonstrating remarkable constraint in the face of Greene's toxic blend of stupidity and mendacity.
TALLAHASSEE, Fla.  Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said on Tuesday he will send state law enforcement officers to the southern border in Texas, a tactical maneuver that will test how far the state will go to help enforce immigration law as the Republican governor prepares to launch a presidential campaign.

The governors office said hundreds of state troopers, police and Florida National Guard members, plus boats and planes, are ready to head to the border as early as Wednesday. The mission is expected to last 31 days and will consist of three separate endeavors, according to a copy of Texas request to Florida for help.

Texas is requesting assisting states absorb associated costs with this mission in support of the entire country, states the request, which was sent on Tuesday.

Florida has been asked to help Texas officers deter, detect and interdict criminal activity along its 1,250-mile southern border. The specific locations will be determined by the Texas Military Department, but records show they could include El Paso, Del Rio and the Rio Grande Valley sector.

During the mission, Texas will give Florida state law enforcement officers and guardsmen the same arrest and law enforcement powers, rights, and privileges while operating within the state limits of Texas as are ordinarily afforded law enforcement forces of the State of Texas, records show.

While Biden ignores the crisis he created, Florida stands ready to help Texas respond to this crisis, DeSantis said in a statement.

But what DeSantis portrayed as a robust state action was dismissed as routine by Department of Homeland Security officials.

A DHS official noted that enforcement of immigration laws is the responsibility of the federal government. Any interaction by state-level troops with migrants encountered at the border would be in conjunction and in service of the department, the official said.

DeSantis response comes at a time when political tensions over immigration are particularly inflamed, with the expiration of a pandemic-era rule known as Title 42 that the Trump and Biden administrations used to control the flow of migrants coming to the U.S. through Mexico. While a surge in migrants has not happened as of Tuesday, border patrol officials have feared that ending the policy could increase migrant encounters at the southern border in the near future.

DeSantis made the announcement after Texas Gov. Greg Abbott sent a letter to the nations governors on Tuesday asking them to help support Texas unprecedented border security efforts. Abbott made the request under the Emergency Management Assistance Compact, a mutual-aid partnership among all states.

In that letter, Abbott noted that Idaho Gov. Brad Little and DeSantis had already offered resources.

I thank these states for proactively addressing this crisis and request other states follow their lead in helping to secure Americas border, Abbott wrote.

The governors critics, however, are calling the response a political stunt.

What an irresponsible waste of critical state resources by DeSantis for his own performative national politics. Honestly not sure weve ever seen such intellectually dishonest leadership in Tallahassee, former Republican Congressman David Jolly posted on Twitter.

The issue of immigration, a powerful motivating issue for Republican base voters, has been a driving policy issue for DeSantis as he increasingly blames the Biden administration for the situation at the border.

This is something that is the responsibility of Joe Biden. This is a responsibility that he has defaulted on really from day one of his presidency, DeSantis said last week. Obviously if we had a different administration it would be a lot easier to actually deal with the problem at its source.

This years mission will not be the first time that DeSantis has sent assets to help Texas officers respond to immigration issues. In the summer of 2021, he spent at least $1.6 million to send dozens of state law enforcement officers on a weeks-long border mission in Texas.

The seven-week trip, led by three state agencies, was cast by the Republican governor as a needed measure to beef up security at the border amid the failures of Bidens administration, while critics saw the effort as a state-funded political stunt.

While in Texas, state law enforcement officers made contact with 9,171 undocumented immigrants, the governors office said at the time. Just over 3% of those contacts resulted in a criminal arrest, according to data provided by the governors office.

A large portion of the 2021 mission was done out of Del Rio, Texas.

Earlier this year, DeSantis also declared an emergency and deployed state resources to help patrol the waters surrounding the Keys after there was an influx of migrants who made their way to the southern island chain.

Alecia Collins, spokeswoman for the Florida Division of Emergency Management, said the Texas deployment is not expected to impact the states migrant enforcement operations in the Keys.

While supporting the Texas efforts the Division will continue to maintain a robust presence in the Keys, Collins said in an email Tuesday afternoon. Only 4 individuals from the Keys mission have been directed to Texas.

_____

(Fort Worth Star-Telegram reporter Eleanor Dearman contributed to this report from Austin, Texas. McClatchy White House Correspondent Michael Wilner contributed to this report from Washington, D.C.)

_____

2023 Miami Herald. Visit at miamiherald.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
Researchers will use NASA satellite data in their search for possible connections between War on Terror veterans illnesses and their locations during deployment.

A new tool, called Source-Differentiated Air Quality System, will help researchers who can then help clinicians in treatment, according to NASA and researchers. It can create charts and files of air pollution concentration at 1,200 bases in Southwest Asia since 2002 for each month. The tool can also provide data about type, severity and length of exposure veterans to pollutants faced by veterans with their exact deployment history.

Its important to our efforts to understand and help address the risk our veterans face not just from combat, but from the conditions in which they served, said Eric Garshick, a pulmonary physician at VA Boston, in an April NASA press release.

Burn pits were used in Iraq, Afghanistan and other overseas bases to dispose of waste, sometimes including such toxic materials as made of toxic materials as fiberglass, medical needles and rubber. Soldiers also dealt with dust storms and other pollutants, putting them at risk of developing respiratory problems.

Data will be used to identify veterans potentially affected by the pollutants and research associations between certain pollutants and ailments veterans face, according to Garshick. Specifically, data from the tool will be used to help in a study of 5,000 veterans analyzing their ailments with their deployment histories, according to the release.

Its very fulfilling to connect NASA data to efforts to support veterans health, said Meredith Franklin of the University of Toronto, the lead investigator. They put their lives on the line for our country, and they deserve every effort to protect their health. The project was funded by NASA and other researchers came from Harvard University, NASA and the VA.

Another NASA program to use satellite data to track health outcomes, Multi-Angle Imager for Aerosols, is set to launch in 2024 with help from the Italian Space Agency, according to NASA.

2023 The Virginian-Pilot. Visit pilotonline.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
The United States was a relative newcomer to the world of intelligence gathering by the time the country entered World War II. President George Washington knew the value of intelligence, but subsequent administrations had other concerns, and creating a spymaster wasn't one of them.

Until the Civil War, U.S. intelligence was virtually nonexistent, and after that, it wasn't very extensive. Lucky for the World War II Allies, the Soviet Union's dedication to spies and intelligence could best be described as paranoia in action.

Gevork Vartanian was a Soviet intelligence officer from Armenia who, at age 19, discovered the Nazis' plan to kill the Allied leadership in Tehran. His team systematically captured and eliminated the assassins' threat.

Soviet-Armenian spy Gevork Vartanian. (Russian Embassy in the United States)

American intelligence before World War II was often as-needed and ad hoc. It could claim some critical successes, but it was far from the global network of informants used by the Soviet Union.

During the war, the USSR housed all its intelligence operations under SMERSH, an umbrella organization composed of hundreds, maybe thousands of operatives.

SMERSH had spies and agents everywhere. As any American Cold Warrior will tell you, Soviet spies were some of the best. They not only spied on the enemy, they were embedded with their own units on the front lines and infiltrated Soviet allies at the highest levels.

The Soviets were so adept at spycraft, Joseph Stalin knew about the development of an atomic bomb before Vice President Harry Truman. So it's no surprise they learned about Operation Long Jump, an assassination plot against Soviet leader Joseph Stalin, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt -- also known as "The Big Three."

Vartanian had been working as an agent in Tehran since before Nazi Germany invaded the USSR. He already had a team of agents called the "Light Cavalry" in place and cleared the city of more than 400 Nazi agents before 1943. It made sense to put them in charge of security for the 1943 Tehran Conference between the Big Three, where the leaders would discuss opening a second European front.

The previous year, German Wehrmacht Oberleutnant Paul Siebert, stationed in occupied Ukraine, split a bottle of brandy with his friend. That friend was SS officer Ulrich von Ortel. As the two drank the night away, von Ortel told Siebert that Germany had broken a U.S. Navy radio code and learned about the Tehran Conference.

He then told Siebert about Operation Long Jump and that notorious SS Obersturmbannfuehrer Otto Skorzeny, a saboteur and special operations expert, would lead the assassination squad. Unfortunately for the Germans, Siebert was really Soviet master spy Nikolai Kuznetsov.

Austrian-born Otto Skorzeny during World War II

Word of the plot quickly got to Vartanian in Tehran. The Light Cavalry captured six Nazi radio operators in Iran and tracked the first team of German commandos after they parachuted in near the city of Qom. His team intercepted and arrested the Germans as they traveled on camelback toward the Iranian capital, loaded with weapons.

They then forced the radio operators to report the mission while under Soviet supervision, but one of the radio operators managed to inform Berlin they'd been caught. As a result, Skorzeny's team was never deployed to Iran.

Vartanian spent the next 30 years working as an intelligence officer for the Soviet Union, eventually receiving the title Hero of the Soviet Union, the highest award the country could give. His involvement in preventing Operation Long Jump was kept a secret until 2000, and Vartanian died in 2012 after a very long, very secret career.

-- Blake Stilwell can be reached at blake.stilwell@military.com. He can also be found on Twitter @blakestilwell or on LinkedIn.

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WARREN, MI  Two Michigan men are accused of stealing frozen fish.

Erwin Wilson, 30, and Michael Mitchell, 50, have been charged with embezzlement less than $100,000 and receiving and concealing stolen property more than $1,000, less than $20,000, respectively. Both are felonies.

Wilson, an employee at Lipari Foods in Warren, allegedly loaded stolen frozen fish out of the Lipari Foods warehouse into a Cadillac Escalade on May 11.

Warren police officers later stopped the Escalade owned and driven by Mitchell and found the stolen frozen fish.

The defendants stand accused of stealing frozen fish, an act that not only violates the law but also affects the livelihoods of business owners and their employees, , said Macomb County Prosecutor Peter J. Lucido. Thank you to the Warren Police Department for their quick response in this case.

Both defendants were arraigned in Warren 37th District Court.

District Court Judge Michael Chupa set bond for Mitchell at $25,000. District Court Judge Suzanne Faunce set bond for Wilson at $20,000.

Both men will have a probable cause hearing at 8:45 a.m. on May 23.

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Everything the GQP preaches against they practice themselves, and crime is no exception. So as Republicans tried to hammer Democrats on crime in Washington this week, Rep. Jasmine Crockett (DTX) hammered right back, hitting the nail squarely on Congressthief George Santos' head.

"My Republican colleagues want to talk about keeping the streets of D.C. crime-free  they can't even keep the halls of Congress crime-free," she said during the Republican-led House Oversight and Accountability Committee hearing on crime in Washington.

"My freshman colleague has just been indicted on 13 felony counts. But have they exhibited any courage to say, 'You know what, we will disallow this in our body. We will make sure that we expel this individual'? They have not," she said, obviously referring to Rep. Santos (RNY), who was arrested and charged on May 9th for crimes including money laundering, wire fraud, and theft.

"So, what I don't want to hear is that they care about crime, because if they did they would start by cleaning up our own house and mind our own business instead of coming after D.C." (See video below, posted by Acyn.)

Crockett: My Republican colleagues want to talk about keeping DC streets crime free. They can't even keep the halls of Congress crime free.. My freshman colleague has just been indicted on 13 counts pic.twitter.com/9E3UrkZMwd  Acyn (@Acyn) May 16, 2023

This is the same Congresswoman who called out hypocrisy on GOP complaints of rising sexual abuse, saying at yesterday's hearing, "I'm so excited that my colleagues across the aisle care about sexual abuse considering that the front-runner right now for the presidency has just been found liable of sexual abuse"  obviously referring to sexual predator Donald Trump, who was found liable by a NY jury earlier this month for sexual abuse.

"So I'm excited, because this may mean that, finally, some folk will back off from supporting him because we don't support sexual abusers in this chamber," Crockett said. And I'm excited to see what else the sarcastically direct Rep. Crockett has in store for us!

Via HuffPost
MT. CLEMENS, MI  A Michigan man is facing terrorism charges for allegedly threatening to shoot a judge during a sentencing hearing for a different crime, officials said.

Jamar Warren, 28, of Rochester Hills, is charged with false report or threat of terrorism and using a computer to commit a crime after he allegedly threatened a Macomb County Circuit Court judge, the Michigan Department of Attorney General announced.

On Nov. 16, Warren was before the court in Mt. Clemens for sentencing on charges of assault with a dangerous weapon. He allegedly became disruptive and was removed from the courtroom to continue the hearing from his jail cell via Zoom. At the end of the hearing, Warren allegedly threatened to shoot the judge.

Promising violence upon elected officials and officers of the court, those kinds of statements are threats of terror, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel said in a statement. Our departments Hate Crimes and Domestic Terrorism Unit is specifically charged with handling these threats, and well equipped to pursue accountability for them.

The unit is the first of its kind in the United States. It works with federal and local law enforcement partners to ensure hate crimes and crimes of terrorism are thoroughly investigated and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

Warrens next court date has not been set.

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MADISON HEIGHTS, MI  A Michigan man has been arrested after he allegedly pointed a laser at a Michigan State Police helicopter.

According to police, Trooper 2 was on patrol when it was struck by a green-colored laser around 9 p.m. on Tuesday.

Neither the pilot or the tactical flight officer were injured, police said.

The source of the laser was tracked to an address on Osmun Street in Madison Heights.

Troopers went to the location where they arrested a 44-year-old male who was found to be in possession of a laser, police said.

It is a crime, both federal and state, to point a laser at an aircraft. said F/Lt Mike Shaw. We are fortunate the no one was hurt, or the aircraft didnt crash in this incident.

The investigation is ongoing.

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DETROIT  A 639-foot freighter that grounded in the Detroit River near Belle Isle has been freed.

The United States Coast Guard sent out an update just after 12:30 p.m. on Wednesday saying the Mark W. Barker was freed by commercial salvage.

The vessel, the newest freighter on the Great Lakes, will be taken to an anchorage near Belle Isle. Once anchored, Coast Guard investigators will board, assess any damages, and ensure any repairs.

No injuries were reported when the vessel grounded around 8 a.m. The freighter lost propulsion because of an electronics malfunction, according to the Associated Press.

The freighter was freed fairly easily, Lt. j.g. Adeeb Ahmad told the Associated Press.

For such an unfortunate event, it was the best-case scenario, Ahmad said. It happened right next to our Coast Guard station on Belle Isle.

The freighter was not polluting, the Coast Guard said.

The river remained open to all traffic. The vessel is carrying a cargo of salt.

The Ohio-based Interlake Steamship Company christened the Barker in September 2022, making it the first new freighter to hit the Great Lakes in 36 years.

Construction began in August 2019 at Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding in Sturgeon Bay. It was made with steel manufactured in Indiana.

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ANN ARBOR, MI - The University of Michigan is one of multiple partners with the state on a global semiconductor center to address worldwide computer chip shortages.

The Semiconductor Talent and Automotive Research initiative, or STAR, is a collaboration between the university, semiconductor company KLA, Belgium-based innovator imec, Washtenaw Community College, General Motors and the Michigan Economic Development Corp.

The public-private partnership aims to develop a workforce and infrastructure to find semiconductor applications for the automotive industry, particularly with electrification and autonomous mobility, officials said.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer praised the initiative as a continuance of Michigans role as a hub for manufacturing research and education.

I am proud that Michigan was selected as the location for the STAR initiatives North American research center, proving that we have the skilled workforce, growing economy and strong business-friendly environment necessary to win projects from one of the worlds most innovative companies, she said in a statement.

The transition to electric vehicles necessitates more manufacturing of microelectronics, said university President Santa Ono.

This initiative is a critical complement to several major efforts in both semiconductors and mobility already underway at UM and we look forward to collaborating with our partners to advance and integrate this work, he said in a statement.

The Michigan STAR center will advance research and innovate in the vehicle electrification and autonomous driving sector, develop a workforce pipeline through K-12 and vocational schools, community colleges, four-year colleges and research universities and create a physical collaboration space and laboratory, officials said.

KLA is investing in the research and development for automotive semiconductors, said KLA President and Chief Executive Officer Rick Wallace.

In 2019, KLA opened a second headquarters in Ann Arbor, putting us closer to automotive customers and the larger Michigan technology ecosystem, Wallace said in a statement. The STAR Michigan initiative accelerates our support for talent development, collaboration and innovation in the region.

Washtenaw Community College will help develop programming to train the future semiconductor manufacturing workforce, officials said.

One of the most important jobs we have as a community college is to listen to industry partners to understand talent needs and then customize programs to quickly train the current and future workforce, college President Rose Bellanca said in a statement. We stand ready to provide the training and education required to deepen our states talent pool with well-qualified technicians to support chip production.

The University of Michigan is involved in mobility and semiconductor innovation through its Lurie Nanofabrication Facility on North Campus, which has been used by 95 companies, 150 faculty members and researchers across the country in the last five years, officials said.

Other mobility and autonomous vehicle initiatives at the university include a new $130 million Electric Vehicle Center, MAVERIC, Mcity, the UM Transportation Research Institute, the Center for Connected and Automated Transportation and the Robotics Department.

Want more Ann Arbor-area news? Bookmark the local Ann Arbor news page or sign up for the free 3@3 Ann Arbor daily newsletter.

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ANN ARBOR, MI -- National Public Radios well-known comedy news quiz show Wait Wait ... Dont Tell Me! will soon come to Ann Arbor.

The Ann Arbor Summer Festival recently announced the ticketed event for 7:30 p.m. Aug. 31 in Hill Auditorium, 825 N. University Ave, as part of its 2023 season.

The show will be hosted by Peter Sagal and will feature a rotating panel of comedians, celebrity guests, writers and listener contestants who must answer questions about news from that week. The winner at the end of the show receives a custom-recorded voicemail greeting from any of the cast members.

Tickets will start around $30 and will be on sale for the general public on Friday, May 19. However, Michigan Radio members, WEMU members and Ann Arbor Summer Festival donors who donate $100 or more can get their tickets a little earlier.

Tickets went on sale for Michigan Radio and WEMU members on Tuesday, May 16, and will last until Thursday, May 18. Ann Arbor Summer Festival donors will get their chance on Thursday, May 18, as well.

Learn more about the event or purchase tickets on the Ann Arbor Summer Festivals website.

Want more Ann Arbor-area news? Bookmark the local Ann Arbor news page or sign up for the free 3@3 Ann Arbor daily newsletter.

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YPSILANTI, MI - Ypsilanti leaders have suspended a requirement that landlords give tenants voter information at move-in, five days after the city was hit by a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the rule.

The Ypsilanti City Council voted 6-1 on Tuesday, May 16 to suspend the ordinance mandating landlords provide tenants with a city information packet that includes, in part, a voter registration form, polling locations and absentee ballot instructions.

On May 11, a group of five Ypsilanti landlords  Ian Greenlee, Stewart Beal, Karen Maurer, C. Hedger Breed and Robert Barnes  sued the city in federal court over the requirement, which has been on the books since 2018.

Read more: Ypsilanti landlords sue city over rule they must give voting information to tenants

They did so with the backing of attorneys with the Chicago-based Thomas More Society, a conservative legal group that has championed efforts to strike down similar laws in other cities. The nonprofit law firm has distinguished itself with work on behalf of anti-abortion causes and on religious liberty issues, also targeting election-related cases.

The lawsuit claims the ordinance violates landlords First Amendment speech rights, in this case the right to remain silent over voting information.

It is compelled speech to engage landlords to act as couriers of the municipalitys ideological messages to prospective tenants, it states, arguing the election information is irrelevant to decisions over lease agreements.

The city is putting the law on hold based on city attorney advice until the ordinance is amended, according to the Tuesday city council motion, which passed without discussion after the the body discussed the suit in closed session.

Ward 1 Council Member MeChelle King was the only no vote on the action.

The city has not yet filed a response to the lawsuit in U.S. District Court, and it is unclear how officials will proceed with the suspended ordinance.

City Attorney John Barr said he recommended the suspension as the best course of action at this time, allowing the city to keep its options open.

He will review the lawsuit, served to the city on Tuesday, and give City Council advice on how to proceed with the case, Barr said.

Barr noted officials in East Lansing faced a similar lawsuit from a property management firm in March, also backed by the Thomas More Society. They suspended a similar requirement on the books in their city before ultimately deciding to repeal it.

On Tuesday, one former city leader, current District 6 Washtenaw County Commissioner Annie Somerville, urged the city to take a different tack.

The city should fight the legal challenge, which in her opinion was motivated by goals of voter suppression and limiting access to voting, Somerville said, noting Michigan voters have supported expanding voting rights at the ballot in recent years.

The voter information required to go to tenants under the Ypsilanti rule is nonpartisan and makes up just several pages of a larger packet that includes basic landlord-tenant information, she added.

The landlords lawsuit requests the court declare the Ypsilanti ordinance unconstitutional and order the city not to enforce the requirement.

In 2020, a challenge to a similar requirement in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota, argued by an attorney also working the Ypsilanti case, resulted in a federal judge striking down the requirements.

The Ypsilanti lawsuit argues the landlords are required to carry Ypsilantis policy and ideological messages to prospective tenants under threat of civil fines.

But-for fear of prosecution for a municipal civil infraction, Plaintiff landlords would remain silent about voter registration information, it states.

Want more Ann Arbor-area news? Bookmark the local Ann Arbor news page, the Ypsilanti-area page or sign up for the free 3@3 Ann Arbor daily newsletter.

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GRAND RAPIDS, MI  A pygmy hippo named Jahari that killed an antelope in its enclosure at a Grand Rapids zoo on Tuesday has no history of aggressive behavior, the hippos former zoo said.

Jahari, 8, attacked and killed Chopper the sitatunga antelope at John Ball Zoo on Tuesday, May 16 as the two animals were being introduced for the first time without a mesh barrier. The plan was for them to live together in a new exhibit opening June 2 in Grand Rapids.

According to John Ball Zoo, the pygmy hippo and antelope had been interacting for about a month through a mesh barrier, but Tuesday was the first time they had access to each other. The zoo said Jahari suddenly attacked Chopper, and that zoo staff attempted to resuscitate Chopper but were unsuccessful.

Related: Pygmy hippo kills antelope intended for same enclosure at Grand Rapids zoo

Chopper, born in 2016, started his life at the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore and lived at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park before coming to Grand Rapids earlier this year.

Jahari arrived from the Pittsburgh Zoo, where Public Relations Manager Alex Cauley said the hippo was a crowd favorite.

Jahari was loved by the community, he was a fan favorite at the zoo, Cauley said. He had a big following on our social media.

Cauley described Jahari as playful and a great eater, with a close bond to his zookeeper in Pittsburgh.

Hes very playful and does a lot of sorts of enrichments in his grassy area, Cauley told MLive/The Grand Rapids Press. Hes a great eater. A big thing wed do is the keeper would feed him watermelon and hed crush it.

Cauley said to her knowledge, Jahari had no aggressive incidents at the Pittsburgh Zoo, but did say that he lived alone in his enclosure and has only ever lived with other pygmy hippos.

According to the European Association of Zoos and Aquarias 2020 guidelines on pygmy hippo husbandry, keeping pygmy hippos in an enclosure with other animals is encouraged.

According to our vision, pygmy hippos should be kept in spacious mixed species exhibits with a large terrestrial area that offers shelter and retreat for all species kept and enables interesting interactions between the species, the EAZA states. The general behavior of the pygmy hippo suggests it avoids encounters with the larger rainforest mammals and that there are hardly ever interspecific conflicts.

The new hippo exhibit at John Ball Zoo has been under construction since 2021. It includes an outdoor area with a large pool, a mud wallow and an underwater viewing area. There is an indoor viewing area to allow guests to see the pygmy hippos all year round.

Related: Hippo road trip: How John Ball Zoo transported its new pygmy hippo to Grand Rapids

All of the animals planned for the new exhibit are swamp-dwelling creatures. Both pygmy hippos and sitatunga antelopes are native to African swamps and wetlands.

Pygmy hippos, which are herbivores, do live in peace with other animals at some zoos. For example, sitatungas and pygmy hippos live together at the San Diego Zoo and Safari Park, and at the Bioparc Valencia Zoo in Spain, a pygmy hippo lives with an Egyptian goose and a sitatunga.

John Ball Zoo declined to comment on the specifics of Choppers death.

Its unclear what time the antelope died or what his exact cause of death was from the attack. The zoo did not say if there was a reason for Jaharis aggression toward Chopper or if there was a plan for violence. Pygmy hippos have a bite force of around 1,800 pounds per square inch, which is roughly twice as strong as the bite force of a grizzly bear.

Zoo officials also did not comment on whether the zoo plans to still introduce the other animals planned for the exhibit to Jahari. Those animals include a 3-year-old female pygmy hippo named Penelope from Canada and two European white storks named Ned and Miss Kay.

The Grand Rapids zoo did not elaborate on the specifics of how Chopper died other than stating the zoo is deeply saddened by and is grieving the antelopes death.

Want more Grand Rapids-area news? Bookmark the local Grand Rapids news page or sign up for the free 3@3 Grand Rapids daily newsletter.

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WYOMING, MI -- A man accused of fatally shooting his 2-year-old daughter in February, 2022, has been found competent to stand trial.

Wyoming District Court Judge Pablo Cortes made the ruling Wednesday, May 17 during a brief hearing.

Parks is accuse in the shooting death of Khalise Brewer on Feb. 9, 2022 at his Wyoming apartment in the 2400 block of Meyer Avenue SW. Police said he the shot and wounded himself.

The competency ruling comes after Parks twice earlier was deemed incompetent for trial -- in June 2022 and April 2023.

Parks is now expected to appear in Wyoming District Court for a preliminary exam. A date for that hearing has not been set.

Want more Grand Rapids-area news? Bookmark the local Grand Rapids news page or sign up for the free 3@3 Grand Rapids daily newsletter.

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OTTAWA COUNTY, MI  Werent able to grab Taylor Swift Eras tour tickets? One West Michigan animal shelter is ready to help you out, all while you help out adoptable animals.

Harbor Humane Society, at 14345 Bagley St. in West Olive, is raffling off two tickets to a Taylor Swift concert in Chicago as part of its annual fundraiser.

The tickets for Swifts June 3 concert at Chicagos Soldier Field will be raffled off for $25 per raffle ticket or five tickets for $100. All money raised from the raffle tickets will go directly to caring for the animals in the shelter.

Tickets can be purchased in-person at the animal shelter or online from now until the nonprofits Secondhand Prom for Secondhand Pets event at Park Theatre in Holland on May 26. Raffle entrants do not have to be present at the event to win.

The fundraiser event from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. will include additional raffle prizes, a DJ, puppies, dancing, drinks and a photo booth. Tickets for the May 26 event are $20.

Related: Taylor Swift tickets: How to get the best deal for Detroit, Chicago and Cincinnati stops on Eras tour

There are still some tickets available for Swifts performances in Detroit, Chicago and Cincinnati, but theyre notoriously hard to find or afford.

In Philadelphia, tickets with a restricted view from behind the stage for Swifts Friday, May 12, show went for nearly $1,300. Two fifth row tickets for that same show went for almost $13,000 each.

Harbor Humane Society is a nonprofit animal shelter that takes care of an average of over 3,500 animals each year. To learn more about the animal shelter or its fundraiser, visit harborhumane.org.

Want more Grand Rapids-area news? Bookmark the local Grand Rapids news page or sign up for the free 3@3 Grand Rapids daily newsletter.

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CALHOUN COUNTY, MI  A man was found guilty of killing a toddler he was babysitting.

Henry Lewis Jones Jr., 20, was found guilty by a jury May 12 of first-degree murder and first-degree child abuse after a four-day trial, a news release from the Calhoun County Prosecutors Office said. Deliberations lasted about an hour.

Lewis, then 18, was babysitting 18-month-old DreQuan Scott on Nov. 7, 2020, while the toddlers mother went to work, the release said. Lewis took DreQuan to a relatives house three hours after he started babysitting.

Related: After 5 weeks searching, police find suspect in babys death in Kalamazoo

DreQuan was not responsive or breathing when Lewis left the toddler without explanation, the release said. First responders from the city of Battle Creek were not able to revive the toddler.

Police spent five weeks searching for Lewis, before he was arrested in Kalamazoo on Dec. 22, 2020, by the Kalamazoo Valley Enforcement Team.

DreQuan had a significant amount of trauma, according to the autopsy. He had multiple injuries to his head, chest, pelvis and back, along with brain injuries, the release said.

Lewis is scheduled for sentencing June 23. First-degree murder carries a mandatory sentence of life in prison without parole, while first-degree child abuse carries a maximum of life in prison.

Want more Kalamazoo-area news? Bookmark the local Kalamazoo news page or sign up for the free 3@3 Kalamazoo daily newsletter.

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On August 11, 2022, Hadi Matar attacked author Salman Rushdie at the Chautauqua Institution in Western New York just as he was to deliver a keynote lecture. The stabbing, with repeated blows to Rushdie's stomach, arm, and face, left him blind in one eye and with nerve damage in his hand. In February, Penguin Random House published Rushdie's fifteenth novel, Victory City. Recently, Rushdie spoke by video about freedom of expression at the British Book Awards.

As reported by Alarabiya News,

"Rushdie delivered a video message to the British Book Awards, where he was awarded the Freedom to Publish award on Monday evening. Organizers said the honor 'acknowledges the determination of authors, publishers, and booksellers who take a stand against intolerance, despite the ongoing threats they face.' He said that 'we live in a moment, I think, at which freedom of expression, freedom to publish has not in my lifetime been under such threat in the countries of the West. Now I am sitting here in the US, I have to look at the extraordinary attack on libraries, and books for children in schools,' he said. 'The attack on the idea of libraries themselves. It is quite remarkably alarming, and we need to be very aware of it, and to fight against it very hard.'"

You can see and listen to a post of the video here from The Bookseller, "The UK's definitive book industry magazine and website."

Rushdie had lived in hiding beginning in 1989 when Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the Supreme Leader of Iran, declared a Fatwa and ordered his killing for what Rushdie wrote in "The Satanic Verses."

As reported by NPR, The Satanic Verses "centers on two Indian Muslims living in England. It reimagines parts of the Prophet Muhammad's life and in one section suggests that the founder of Islam may have flirted with polytheism. Whether that interpretation is backed up by Islamic texts has been disputed by historians, but in a 2012 interview with NPR's Morning Edition, the author said that was beside the point.

'My purpose was not to write only about Islam,' said Rushdie, who was born to a Muslim family. 'In my view, the story  as it exists in the novel  reflects rather well on the new idea of the religion being born because it shows that it actually may have flirted with compromise, but then rejected it; and when in triumph, it was pretty merciful."

For an overview and timeline of the Fatwa's impact on Rushdie's life, check out "Attack On Salman Rushdie: A Look At Events Since The Issuance Of The Fatwa" from Outlook India.

The New Yorker recently published this profile of Rushdie. You can also check out the first interview with Rushdie after the attack by David Krasnow on The New Yorker Radio Hour, "Salman Rushdie on Surviving the Fatwa."
BATTLE CREEK, MI -- Battle Creek Public Schools surprised its students at an assembly on Wednesday, May 17, with the news that theyre getting free college tuition.

The district announced the new Bearcat Advantage program to students at Battle Creek Central High School. The scholarship offers up to 100% of tuition and mandatory fee coverage at any public or private Michigan college or university, plus nearly 100 historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) across the nation.

The 2023 graduating class is the first eligible cohort. There are typically about 300 students in each BCPS cohort, with roughly 200 graduating on time each year, according to MI School Data.

The scholarship is funded by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, which has ties to the cereal and snack company founded in Battle Creek.

This scholarship brings the possibility of higher education to students who otherwise may not have the resources to pursue it, Kimberly Carter, superintendent of BCPS said in a press release.

Students enrolled in BCPS from kindergarten through 12th grade are eligible for a 100% scholarship. Those enrolled in at least four years of high school in the district are eligible for a 65% scholarship. The amount of scholarship funding received is determined by how long a student has been in the district.

The scholarship can be applied to a four year undergraduate degree and can be used for up to six years after graduation.

In 2017, the foundation gave BCPS a $51 million investment to address increasing racial equity and reducing barriers to success in the district.

A goal of the Bearcat Advantage is to close opportunity gaps within the district, the press release said. The majority of students are minorities, with 40% of students being African American, 29% white and 13% Hispanic, according to MI School Data. Most students in the district (79%) are also economically disadvantaged, according to MI School Data.

Our vision for success focuses on eliminating opportunity gaps that have existed for many years as a result of systemic inequities, and developing world-class educational experiences for the students we serve, Carter said.

Keeping students in the district has been a challenge for BCPS.

Between 2017 and 2021, the Battle Creek district had an average of 6,721 children who lived in the district and were enrolled in K-12 schools. But during that time, district enrollment averaged 3,882. In other words, only about 58% of Battle Creek school-age children were enrolled in Battle Creek Public Schools.

By comparison, Kalamazoo Public Schools -- which offers a similar free tuition program called the Kalamazoo Promise -- had 89% of the school-age kids who lived in the district enroll in the district, during that time.

The remainder attended a private or charter school or a school in another district.

In 2022-23, Battle Creek schools had about 300 students who lived in other districts, while about 2,800 students who lived in the district enrolled in a different district through Schools of Choice.

Another 1,100 students lived in the district but enrolled in charter schools. Thats a net loss of about 3,600. The 2022-23 enrollment was 3,734 students.

A number of programs have already been instituted in BCPS to address equity. The district has partnered with Communities in Schools to employ school-based site coordinators who refer families to community resources. Its also worked with the National Equity Project, to help educators improve awareness of equity and implement approaches to reduce disparities, according to the W.K. Kellogg Foundation.

Prior to this, the district has had a smaller tuition program, as all students in the district could earn a tuition-free associate degree at Kellogg Community College, according to the Campaign for Free College Tuition.

Want more Kalamazoo-area news? Bookmark the local Kalamazoo news page or sign up for the free 3@3 Kalamazoo daily newsletter.

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MUSKEGON HEIGHTS, MI  The search for a new city manager in Muskegon Heights has officially launched more than three months after the city council dismissed the previous manager.

The council agreed last week to hire the Michigan Municipal League (MML) to conduct the search for a new manager, Muskegon Heights Mayor Walter Watt told MLive/Muskegon Chronicle.

The council declined to renew the contract with former City Manager Troy Bell that expired Jan. 31.

The job listing has not officially posted on the Michigan Municipal League website. Watt said a delay in moving forward is possible due to a change in personnel at the MML.

He said he does not have a timeframe for when a new city manager will be hired.

Melvin C. Burns II, who previously served as the citys manager for nearly 12 years, was chosen by a 4-3 council vote on Feb. 13 to fill in as interim manager until a permanent one can be hired.

Burns has done a great job filling in, Watt said, adding he would be pleased if Burns would pursue the job on a permanent basis.

Burns said he has not yet decided to apply for the position.

He was appointed Muskegon Heights city manager in 1994 by then Mayor Robert Warren. He was fired by the council in 2006 after the city experienced serious financial problems. He sued the city over his firing, and agreed to a settlement in 2007.

Burns worked as pastor of Agape Christian Fellowship Center in Muskegon from 2005-18 before joining City Heart Ministries, according to his profile on LinkedIn.

Watt was a strong supporter of Bell, whose first three-year contract was not renewed on a 4-3 council vote on Jan. 23.

The Chelsea City Council earlier this month voted to pursue Bell as its interim city manager. However, it withdrew its offer to Bell on Monday, May 15, after receiving the results of his background check, according to a report by chelseaupdate.com.

Bell also had been considered the lead candidate for the city manager position in Lapeer in March, but withdrew his name after the city commission decided to, in the words of the citys search coordinator, go in a different direction that involved the runner-up candidate, The County Press reported.

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BAY CITY, MI - A mass shooting took place far across the country in Farmington, New Mexico just hours before Bay City was set to issue a proclamation that took a stand against local gun violence.

On Monday, May 15, Bay City Mayor Kathleen Newsham issued a proclamation declaring June 2 as National Gun Violence Awareness Day. Jesse Dockett, commission read the proclamation on behalf of Newsham.

Gun homicides and assaults are concentrated in cities, with more than half of all firearms-related gun deaths in the nation occurring in 127 cities, Dockett said while reading the proclamation, Whereas, cities across the nation, including in Bay City, are working to end the senseless violence with evidence-based solutions.

Newhsams proclamation invites citizens in Bay City to observe National Gun Violence Awareness Day by honoring and remembering all victims and survivors of gun violence.

Click here to read the entire proclamation.

In attendance in support of the proclamation were residents such as Kathy Lupp, who was wearing orange in support of National Gun Violence Awareness Day.

Orange is the color that hunters wear to keep them safe when they are in the woods, Lupp said. We wear orange to keep us safe in our homes and in our community and in our schools.

Lupp thanked the commission for their support and the proclamation.

Firearms are now the leading cause of death for children and teens in America, she said. Thank you again Mayor Newsham again for this proclamation and lets see what we can do together to keep Bay City a safe and welcoming place.

To help promote gun safety awareness, Lupp and other volunteers are organizing a special table that will be set up at the COPOCO Credit Unions annual Safety Day event on Saturday, June 3.

The event will take place at the credit unions facility at 4265 E Wilder Road from 9 a.m. to noon and other is no cost to attend. Parking will be in available at the Consumers Energy lot at 4141 Wilder Road.

Lupps group will be in attendance providing information on safe gun storage and free gun locks to families. They will also be handing out treats and hosting activities for kids.

Other attendees include the Bangor Township Fire Department, the Bay County Sheriffs Office, MedStar Ambulance, the Michigan State Police, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and the U.S. Coast Guard.

Click here for more information on the event.

Want more Bay City- and Saginaw-area news? Bookmark the local Bay City and Saginaw news page or sign up for the free 3@3 daily newsletter for Bay City and Saginaw.

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SAGINAW, MI  If youve been involved in the Saginaw County courts in the last few years, hoping to have your case resolved in a timely manner, youve likely been left unfulfilled. Feeling there was much to be desired, you might have thought it couldnt get worse.

Thats because it already is the worst, literally.

Out of Michigans 83 counties, Saginaws courts in 2022 ranked dead last in its effectiveness in clearing cases. Its an ignoble status, one the frustrated workers within the courthouse attribute to a colossal backlog owed to a lemon of a computer management system that cost more than $4 million to install.

To make Michigans judiciary more transparent, the states Supreme Court released an online dashboard showing the efficacy of courts throughout the state. For Saginaw County, the data cast an unflattering yet revealing light on the struggles within the local courthouse.

The dismal distinction is the result of what a judge described as a perfect storm, the first winds of which arrived with the COVID-19 pandemic. Contending with the virus, courts were faced with delays and had to implement new means to keep cases progressing.

While COVID affected courts throughout Michigan, Saginaw Countys skies uniquely darkened further with the adoption of a new computer system named Odyssey, a program the countys chief judge now refers to as a lemon rife with technical problems.

When it comes to Odyssey, we bought a lemon that went into operation June of 2022, Chief Circuit Judge Darnell Jackson said. Our workers have been constantly complaining about the system for the past 11 months. With its many, many non-working functions and glitches it has been an absolute disaster, requiring in some instances many more steps to the completion of tasks that used to take much less time.

As one issue gets resolved, two or three more pop up in its place, he continued.

I do not have confidence concerning if, or even when, the system will work properly.

What the numbers show

Clearance rates indicate if a court is keeping up with its caseload. The rates are calculated by taking the outgoing or resolved cases and dividing them by the incoming or new cases.

Any percentage above 100 indicates a court is reducing its caseload. If the percentage is lower than 100, the court is increasing its caseload.

The Interactive Court Data Dashboard shows Saginaw County dipped well below 2022s state average clearance rate of 99%, arriving dead last at 79% among the states 83 counties. This is despite Saginaw County being the 11th most populus county with approximately 189,591 residents.

However, that 79% figure is itself incomplete, as it only pertains to district court and does not factor in figures from Circuit Court, where most felony criminal matters are resolved, or probate court. District Court took in 35,072 new cases and resolved 27,551.

By contrast, the 2022 clearance rates of the states five largest and busiest counties  Wayne, Oakland, Macomb, Kent, and Genesee  do include their respective Circuit and Probate court figures. Those five counties clearance rates ranged from 99% to 103%. Genesee County, for example, took in 80,970 cases and resolved 81,546, a clearance rate of 101%.

The county with the second-lowest clearance rate in 2022 was Keweenaw in the Upper Peninsula, which came in at 91% and included figures from its circuit, district, and probate courts. No counties clearance rates beside Saginaws dipped below 91%.

In 2021, Saginaw County Circuit Court had a clearance rate of 76%, down from 2020s 82%. The two figures are the courts lowest since at least 2007, when the rate hit 96%.

Yet, when limiting circuit courts 2021 clearance rate to criminal cases, the figure plummets to 47%, far below the states average 91%. The court with the second-lowest clearance rate for criminal cases was Wayne at 75%.

Saginaw County District Court also ended 2022 with 12,478 pending cases, compared to 7,541 in 2021, 9,657 in 2020, and 7,527 in 2019, the last year before the COVID pandemic hit. Not since 2011 did the county end a year with a five-figure amount of pending cases.

The amounts of pending cases in circuit and probate courts were, again, not available.

John Nevin, communications director for the Michigan Supreme Courts Public Information Office, said caseload reporting is mandatory.

However, those rules do not provide for any penalties, Nevin said. Saginaw County courts are converting to a new case management system, and in this case, there are sometimes difficulties for courts to submit timely caseload data or accurate case age data to State Court Administrative Office. Thats why we have a practice of allowing a one-year gap in the case age data.

He added Saginaw County courts are working diligently to get the caseload data compiled and submitted to SCAO in a format that can be entered into our reporting system.

The perfect storm

Bad as the numbers are, they dont tell the full story, said Judge Jackson. To get that, you must consider how the COVID pandemic affected Saginaw Countys courts.

Everybody was affected, but not in the same way, Jackson said.

When the lockdown was announced in March 2020, the courthouse closed and hearings were conducted virtually via Zoom. The state did not allow jury trials to resume until October 2020, albeit with stringent limitations based on infection rates and required distances between jurors.

Saginaw Countys positivity rates were consistently too high for trials to proceed. Even when they came down, the courtrooms were too small for jurors to socially distance.

To adapt, the county intermittently held trials off-site from March 2021 to December 2021, first at the Dow Event Center then at the Horizons Conference Center. Securing those sites was an arduous task, especially when factoring in security and hiring a local production company to live-stream trials so they were open to the public.

Saginaw County Chief Circuit Judge Darnell Jackson presides over a felony trial held at the Dow Event Center in Saginaw on March 5, 2021. The Saginaw County Courthouse has moved this jury trial to the Dow Event Center due to COVID-19. (Kaytie Boomer | MLive.com)

Jury trials did not resume in the courthouse at 111 S. Michigan Ave. until May 2022. By then, the second phase of the perfect storm was already raging in full effect.

As Jackson put it, this second gust began in the summer of 2020, when Saginaw County entered into a license and services agreement with Plano, Texas-based Tyler Technologies Inc. to implement a new Case Management System, dubbed Odyssey, for its courts and for the courts publicly accessible Court Information website.

The total contract price with Tyler Technologies was $2,920,580, with an annual maintenance and support fee of $1,358,809 over five years. Three other companies responded to the countys request for proposal: The Amicus Group, Journal Technologies Inc., and SolidCircle.

When it comes to Odyssey, we bought a lemon that went into operation June of 2022, Jackson said. Our workers have been constantly complaining about the system for the past 11 months. With its many, many non-working functions and glitches it has been an absolute disaster, requiring in some instances many more steps to the completion of tasks that used to take much less time.

This in turn causes further delays in the scheduling, processing, and clearing of cases. Often, cases linger for months without dates scheduled. Additionally, the public website is less user-friendly and less accurate than the predecessor it was meant to improve upon.

With Odyssey not working properly, the county does not have an accurate data collecting or reporting mechanism. As such, staff cannot submit its data to the state because they know it is inaccurate, Jackson said.

The Odyssey program has negatively affected every aspect of the judicial system here in Saginaw County, both civil and criminal, Jackson said. Weve had problems with improper notices going out, if at all. Improper parties and attorneys. Improper dates and times. Improper judges listed. And the problems go on and on. I could give you a laundry list of items that members of our local bar have had issues with. Not to mention the prosecutors office, the defense bar, and the Department of Corrections.

When the problems were recognized early on, officials looked at an alternative to Tyler  such as getting on the system used by most other counties courts  but by then things were too far along. State officials told Saginaw County it could take up to 18 months to get on their system, Jackson said.

We already had Tyler installed, so that was not a feasible option either, he said.

In the last three weeks, county leaders have had two face-to-face meetings with Tyler representatives, Jackson said.

I think we have their attention now, he said. The question is, how long is it going to take for them to start turning some of these problems around?

Joseph A. Albosta, president of the Saginaw County Bar Association, spoke of the day-to-day struggles of practicing law in Saginaw County due to its system being so backlogged.

Saginaw County Chief Judge Darnell JacksonKaytie Boomer | MLive.com

Ive got some clients Ive represented for a couple of years who havent had resolution on their cases yet, he said. A lot of these were past that pandemic period where we were limited to Zoom-only hearings. Obviously, that jammed trials up, but were out of that protocol now.

Before practicing as a defense attorney, Albosta worked as an assistant prosecutor in Saginaw County, so hes dealt with both sides. Lengthy delays between cases inceptions and their conclusions takes a toll on all parties involved and denigrates respect for the process, he said.

Its bad for victims and the accused  especially if youve got someone innocent of what theyre accused of  to go with this all hanging over your head for months, if not years in some cases, he said.

The longer it takes for a case to get to trial, the more witnesses memories fade and the harder it can be to keep track of them to ensure their appearance in court. There are also the emotional and psychological effects that come with a court case looming over your head. Furthermore, extensive time gaps in a case lead to general disillusionment with the courts.

If youre a victim, you may have put it behind you because you dont think the system is being responsive to you, Albosta said. If youre a defendant, youre trying to move forward with your life and put this mistake behind you because you dont have closure. Clients will ask when their case is going to be resolved and we dont have answers for them.

Previously, cases tended to follow a timeline. Once a defendant in a felony case was bound over from District Court to Circuit Court, a trial would be scheduled within 45 to 60 days.

Now, there are defendants whose cases are in Circuit Court and theyve not had an appearance before a judge in a year or more, Albosta said. Cases linger for months without so much as a date being scheduled. Attorneys motions will take three to four months before receiving a judges ruling.

This is not what our justice system is supposed to look like, he said. Ive practiced in a lot of other counties and have not experienced this type of delay in my cases there.

He described a case where a client was charged with a felony in Midland County in December. That case is to be finalized in mid-May.

Saginaw County Chief Assistant Prosecutor Blair N. Stevenson. (Kaytie Boomer | MLive.com)Kaytie Boomer | MLive.com

It navigated to the point of resolution in five months, which is how Saginaw County used to be, he said. Its not like that anymore.

Albosta added hes confounded by what caused the system to break down to this point, though he acknowledged the courts have struggled with its Odyssey system.

Were still seeing problems with it, he said. Cases that are still open are being labeled as closed. Misidentifying some of these cases might be causing some of them to languish. Its really causing a headache. It seems theyre identifying new issues almost daily.

One particularly egregious issue, Albosta said, involves jail inmates being held for days longer than they should be due to delays in processing release orders. That, he said, is a potential lawsuit waiting to happen.

Saginaw County Chief Assistant Prosecutor Blair N. Stevenson echoed the sense of exasperation.

The prosecution and defense and the courts all have to operate independently, but each piece has to be working for the justice system to function effectively, he said. I understand everybodys frustration because were all living with this together  the prosecution, the defense, the judges, the victims, and the defendants.

The prosecutors office is on its own system, having in August 2020 launched the St. Louis, Missouri-based Prosecution by Karpel, a fact Stevenson is relieved by.

Thankfully, that system has been working very well, he said.

Like Jackson, Albosta invoked perfect storm in describing the courts heavy backlog. What the courts need, he said, is to find a way to get cases parties together more often to set trial dates promptly.

Thats what resolves cases, he said. A trial date puts pressure on to resolve the case through a plea or through an actual trial. Right now, without them scheduling stuff, that just doesnt happen.

The vicious cycle that caused Saginaw Countys courts to be in last place is one local staff have no power to control, Jackson said. The state has recognized the countys dire situation and has awarded the county a one-year Virtual Backlog Reduction Docket grant of $385,000.

The funds are to bring up to three visiting judges and two support personnel to try chopping away at the logjam of cases, Jackson said. He added he hopes this could begin as soon as June 1.

I wish that I had a quick fix for this situation we are now in, the chief judge said. But the only thing we can do is keep working through the cases as best we can, continue to deal with the ongoing issues with Odyssey, and try to get accurate data collected and reported to the state. All of this is no small task, but the only way through it is through it.

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SAGINAW, MI  Two years after a toddler was beaten to death in Saginaw County, his mother and the man she brought into her home have been charged with murder.

The morning after their arrest, Marcelis M. James, 29 of Holland, and Nia J. Kindred, 36 of Saginaw, appeared before Saginaw County District Judge A.T. Frank for arraignment on charges of felony murder and first-degree child abuse. Both charges are life offenses.

Kindreds son, Jaxxon N. Jones, was 18 months old when he suffered fatal injuries inside his mothers Bridgeport Township apartment on Jan. 21, 2021. Before that, though, he suffered fractures to his right tibia, left humerus, left radius, left ulna, and left clavicle and blisters to his left foot that appeared to be burns, according to a bond recommended penned by Saginaw County Chief Assistant Prosecutor Melissa J. Hoover.

Jaxxons injuries only began after his mother began dating James, Hoover wrote. When Jaxxon was born on July 21, 2019, he had controlled substances in his system, she added.

On the fatal day, Kindred left her children with James, whom she had to know was abusing Jaxxon given his numerous, non-accidental injuries, Hoover wrote. Later, Kindred told James not to call 911 when Jaxxon became unresponsive because she did not want Child Protective Services getting involved, Hoover wrote.

This delay in seeking medical care likely contributed to Jaxxons death, Hoover wrote.

According to Jaxxons death certificate, he died of blunt force trauma to his torso, causing lacerations to his heart and liver.

Jaxxons death was not publicly reported by Bridgeport Township police and was not included in a 2021 round-up of Saginaw Countys homicides. Instead of there being 31 homicides in the county in 2021 as previously reported, there were 32 including Jaxxons.

Jaxxon is buried in the childrens section of Forest Lawn Cemetery. His grave remains unmarked, a shallow depression in the grass the lone indicator of his presence.

Speaking with MLive, Saginaw County Chief Assistant Prosecutor Blair N. Stevenson said lengthy investigations occurred between Jaxxons death and James and Kindred being charged. Among them was a CPS probe to remove Kindreds surviving children.

Several medical experts also reviewed the case, with genetic testing conducted to make sure Jaxxon was not afflicted with brittle bone disease, Stevenson said. That testing confirmed the toddler did not have the ailment.

Authorities issued warrants for Kindred and James on May 11 of this year. Both defendants have criminal records, with Kindred being convicted numerous times of drug offenses and retail fraud dating back to 2003. James has been convicted of domestic violence and malicious destruction of property.

Judge Frank denied granting bond for either defendant at their arraignment. He scheduled them to appear for a preliminary examination at 9:30 a.m. on June 7.

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In Michigan, homeless or runaway youth with difficult home lives often face challenges when trying to secure access to things like housing or medical care without parental consent.

To find solutions for one of Michigans most vulnerable populations, legislation introduced in the state House would, among other things, extend the window a youth shelter or transitional living facility can provide services for homeless youth or runaways from 24 hours to up to 72 hours with or without parental consent.

Because youth shelters are obligated to turn minors over to Childrens Protective Services (CPS) if a parent or guardian cannot be reached within 24-hours, HB 4085 sponsor Rep. Lori Stone, D-Warren, said many homeless youths are opting to couch surf or live on the streets.

Rather than enter the CPS system, many youth opt for self-determination that, unfortunately, can also come with very real risks of exploitation and even human trafficking, Stone told the House Family, Children and Seniors Committee when testifying Tuesday, May 16.

Extending the time frame to 72 hours would also put Michigan in line with federal guidance, she added.

Of the 26,834 homeless children enrolled in Michigan public schools, about 13 percent live in shelters or transitional housing, according to the latest data from the National Homeless Center for Homeless Education.

Ben Moe, executive director of the Michigan Network for Youth and Families, said the time frame to receive parental consent is crucial for these programs, although its not always possible to get in contact with parents immediately.

In those cases where that parent is not able to be located because the family is experiencing crisis, the family is transient and theyre not always in the same place, phones are turned on and turned off almost on a day-to-day basis, Moe said. Its not possible to contact that parent in that time.

After the 24-hour period, a youth shelter is statutorily required to release the child to CPS if a parent cannot be reached. This is why extending the current timeframe is essential, Moe said.

Even if a parent is contacted, the child could still be handed over to CPS if program workers believe further intervention is needed. Otherwise children would be reunited with their family.

Another bill in the package, HB 4086, would amend the definition of homeless youth to allow a young person up to the age of 22 to enter into a transitional home for licensing purposes.

Transitional housing is for young people who are not under the care of a parent or guardian and are preparing to be independent adults. Under current statute, however, these services would not allow a 19-year-old, for example, to participate in a program with a 17-year-old.

Our goal is to make sure all ages can go somewhere safe, healthy, said Rep. John Roth, R-Interlochen, who sponsors the bill.

Spencer Calhoun, a board member at Macomb County nonprofit Comprehensive Youth Services, entered a transitional home at the age of 17 and was at risk of being turned away, he said.

Quite frankly, I dont know where I would have ended up at had that happened, Calhoun said.

For homeless youth or runaways, HB 4087 would allow them to access health care and for health providers to treat them without parental consent.

Bill sponsor Rep. Amos ONeal, D-Saginaw, said the bill fills a loophole in Michigan law that requires a child to be at least 16 years old to be emancipated and receive medical care.

We can all agree that each family home and individual is unique. Some people are born into loving and understanding homes, and some... sadly, arent as fortunate, he said. The reality is sometimes kids are more responsible than their caretakers and they have to take care of the adults and the responsibilities of an adult.

The young person would have to provide documentation stating their homeless status to receive treatment. It would have to be signed by one of the following: a government or nonprofit organization providing services to homeless or runaway youth, a local educational agency, a school social worker or counselor, an attorney representing the individual or two adults with knowledge of the persons circumstances.

The health care they could receive would include medical, dental or behavioral health examinations, care or treatment  abortion is specifically exempt under the bill.

Lawmakers are yet to vote on the bill package. If it makes it out of committee, the bill would have to be approved by the House and Senate and signed by the governor to become law.

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The Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act has been broadened to include discrimination protections for Michigan workers who receive abortions, under legislation signed into law by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer Wednesday.

Michigans civil rights law had already provided protections for employees contending with pregnancy, childbirth, or a medical condition related to pregnancy or childbirth, but had an explicit exception for people who received elective abortions.

The legislation, sponsored by Sen. Erika Geiss, D-Taylor, removed that exception and included the termination of a pregnancy as a category protected from discrimination for any employment-related purpose.

Since 57% of Michigan voters approved Proposal 3 in the 2022 election, enshrining abortion protections in the state constitution, Democrats have moved to pass other related legislation, including the repeal of the 1931 law that would have criminalized the procedure.

No one in Michigan should face discrimination because they exercised their constitutional rights, including their right to reproductive freedom by having an abortion, Whitmer said in a statement announcing she signed SB 147. Democrats have also repealed laws criminalizing publication of recipes for contraceptives or abortion-inducing drugs and another that detailed the sentencing guidelines for those now-former crimes.

Geiss, when the bill came to the Senate floor for a vote, said the legislation was about shoring up the protections of Proposal 3.

It is necessary to ensure that this loophole is closed, so that employers who are hostile to abortion, who believe they need to insert themselves in peoples reproductive health care decisions, do not violate the state Constitution, Geiss said in a speech.

Opponents to the civil rights law expansion included Republican legislators and organizations like the Michigan Catholic Conference, who contended the protections will go beyond protecting people from being fired.

We believe the bill will require non self-insured employers to pay for abortion coverage if they offer employees coverage for childbirth, David Maluchnik, the conferences vice president of communication told MLive in an email. Thus, the bill creates an abortion mandate on some employers.

That runs counter to a law passed by the Republican-controlled legislature in 2013. It effectively stopped insurers from covering abortions under standard health care plans. If an employee wants coverage for abortion abortion services, they now have to buy a separate rider. What isnt clear, however, is how the opponents claim will impact that law, brought to the legislature by pro-life activists via an initiative petition.

The Catholic conferences view is that the fate of the abortion rider law  which Whitmer, as a Senator, derided as rape insurance  will come down to Proposal 3.

We believe it is likely that a court challenge to either policy would hinge on a legal interpretation of Proposal 3, should a claim come forward, considering the amendments broad and jumbled language, he said.

A request for the Governors view on that impact wasnt returned as of publication time. She also signed SB 18 into law Wednesday, designating Jan. 30 each year as Fred Korematsu day. Korematsu was a Japanese-American activist who defied U.S. attempts to place Japanese-Americans in internment camps during the second world war.

This is a terrific way to celebrate Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month  by formally recognizing how important it is that we learn about Japanese-American incarceration camps and acknowledging the important contributions of Fred Korematsu to our history, said Sen. Stephanie Chang, D-Detroit, the bills primary sponsor. Fred Korematsu was a civil liberties icon whose courage and conviction will serve as a model for generations to come.

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Legislation to make Juneteenth  a holiday widely celebrated for years by Black Americans  official in Michigan passed the state Senate Wednesday, May 17.

Senate Bill 50, sponsored by Sen. Sylvia Santana, D-Detroit, would designate June 19 of each year as a state-recognized, public holiday.

Juneteenth recognizes the date slaves in Galveston, Texas, learned of their freedom on June 19, 1865  more than two years after President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on Jan. 1, 1863.

More than 100 years after Lincolns Emancipation Proclamation that Congress finally provided equality for all Americans... this bill is about making sure that we right the wrongs of the past, Santana said Wednesday in her floor speech. Itll allow for our state to make sure that we are acknowledging our second Independence Day of Juneteenth, and its very important to the history of Black Americans and Americans in this country.

She said that, while Black Americans were guaranteed freedom in the years after finally being liberated, it was simply the beginning of a long, gradual and hard-fought journey for true freedom for Black Americans.

Today, we still face an injustice of the system that allows Black women to die from pregnancy-related causes three times the rate of white women, a system that allows Black men to die at the hands of police officers at 2.5 times the rate of white men and children, she said. Despite the seemingly unending discrimination still, we as people persevered.

Similar legislation was introduced to make Juneteenth a public holiday in the prior term. However, those attempts didnt receive a committee hearing or a vote under the chambers previous Republican leadership.

The bill passed the Senate in a 37-1 bipartisan vote Wednesday. Sen. Jim Runestad, R-White Lake, was the lone Senator to vote against it.

If Juneteenth is recognized as a public holiday in Michigan, it would align with the federal decision officially making it a national holiday in June 2021 and the Michigan Supreme Court order that made it a court holiday in June.

Similar to Thanksgiving and Christmas, as a state-recognized holiday, Juneteenth would close all public services, including banks.

When lawmakers first introduced the bill in February, Santana said she was hopeful it would pass through the Senate and House in time for this years Juneteenth celebration.

The bill will be sent to the House for consideration. It would have to pass the House and be signed by the governor in order to become law.

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Ive been planting trees my whole life. Ive been reporting about planting trees for a couple of decades.

Sometimes, I like to check out the black willow trees I witnessed Earth Day volunteers plant as saplings back in 2009 near Kids Creek in Traverse City.

Standing on land near the Boardman River a few weeks ago, I wondered how long it would be until the tree seedlings being planted by volunteers that day could be shading that section of the blue-ribbon trout stream.

Its springtime tree-planting season. This particular season of change also includes evolving natural resource polices in Michigan.

Below is a collection of articles to help you catch up.

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Woods: Planting trees to fight climate change in the forest

Among Michigans conservation workers there is a growing effort to artificially migrate various tree species north to build resiliency to climate change. Some trees are not expected to survive climate change and that will leave holes in the forests, which led conservation workers to ask, what if trees had feet.

Water: Septic inspections and river renovations

Michigan Democrats are working to create a statewide policy to protect water resources from leaking septic tanks with a package of new bills. The state would be the last in the United States to establish uniform septic tank system standards if the legislation is passed.

In Grand Rapids, changing plans for future uses of the citys primary water feature led to major disappointment across the community. Grand Rapids Press Reporter Brian McVicar extensively covered the collapse of a plan to remove five dams from the Grand River and restore whitewater rapids to a section of the river, a plan to grow outdoor recreation tourism and gain economic rewards.

Air: Chemical in the air is more than just stinky

Kalamazoo Gazette Reporter Brad Devereaux reported on the communitys response to a nearly three-year-long state investigation into the effects of hydrogen sulfide in the air near industrial areas in Kalamazoo.

A state report confirmed the levels could be causing lasting health problems residents should simply stay indoors and close their windows if the odor is strong. Neighbors said thats no solution and they want the state to hold polluters accountable, provide medical care, and relocate residents out of harms way.

Additionally on the statewide environment beat, Michigan lawmakers introduced legislation to transfer permitting and oversight of sand and gravel mines from local governments to the state.

Wildlife: Which critters gain legal protection, and which make the kill list?

Michigan wildlife regulators also made changes to the states list of threatened and endangered species. Bumblebees, bats, birds, and more were added to the list, while several species were removed from the list after successful conservation efforts.

And finally, state wildlife regulators changed rules about what critters are considered a nuisance in Michigan. The state Department of Natural Resources expanded the list of species that landowners can kill to prevent property damage, including beavers, muskrats, cottontail rabbits, opossums, and several species of squirrels.

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A roundup of conversations we're having daily on the site. Subscribe to the Reckon Daily for stories centering marginalized communities and speaking to the under-covered issues of the moment.

The Florida Department of Education is interviewing students as part of an investigation into a teacher that played a Disney movie in class featuring a gay character.

According to a department spokesperson, officials questioned students Wednesday about watching the film Strange World as their peers finished standardized testing on May 3. Parents were allowed to object to the interviews ahead of time.

The incident was first reported after the daughter of a school board member told their parents about the screening. The following day, the students received a notification from the Hernando County School District.

It stated: Yesterday, the Disney movie Strange World was shown in your childs classroom. While not the main plot of the movie, parts of the story involve a male character having and expressing feelings for another male character.

In the future, this movie will not be shown. The school administration and the districts Professional Standards Department is currently reviewing the matter to see if further corrective action is required. Thank you.

In March 2022, Gov. Ron DeSantis signed legislation, which activists dubbed Dont Say Gay, making it against the law for educators to teach students about sexual orientation and gender identity.

Similar bills are being considered by Louisiana, Indiana and Texas legislators.

At first, the law only applied to students in kindergarten through third grade. However, last month, officials decided to apply the law to all grade levels, a development Jenna Barbee, a fifth-grade teacher said she was not aware of.

The teacher submitted her resignation a week before the incident took place, citing concerns over the politicization of the states public school system, CNN reported.

In a TikTok video, Barbee said that before Hernando County School Board Member Shannon Rodriguez reported her, shed been on a rampage to get rid of every form of representation out of our schools.

The teacher is now under investigation for indoctrination. Reckon has reached out to Rodriguez for comment.

Barbee said that parts of the movie Rodriguez took issue with total about two minutes in length. The film is just over an hour and a half long. Additionally, students in her class have approached her with feelings similarly expressed by the character in the film, but thats not why she decided to show it.

The teacher said her intentions were to show a movie in line with her class curriculum, which includes earth science and ecosystems. The film is about a family of explorers trying to save the world.

Earlier this year, a Florida principal was told either to resign or be fired after she showed sixth-grade students a picture of Michelangelos David statue, a piece of Renaissance art depicting a naked man.

Hope Carrasquilla, principal at Tallahassee Classical School in Leon County was given the ultimatum after she forgot to send out notices letting parents know students would be shown a photo of the art piece, according to NPR.

According to her LinkedIn page, she worked at the school for roughly two years.

The actions have come during a year in which Republicans have become increasingly staunch about having more control over public education systems, a statement that is especially true in Florida.

Earlier this year, DeSantis came under fire for refusing to allow the College Boards AP African American studies class to be taught in schools across the state, citing concerns with subject matter that included queer theory and abolishing prisons.

The organization later revised the course, but its not clear if the state will move forward with the curriculum.

Other extreme measures are taking place across the country.

In Missouri last week, a school suspended a student for recording a teacher saying the N-word because her actions violated school district policy on inappropriate use of electronic devices, according to the Springfield News-Leader.

The teacher allegedly used the word several times during class, but the student, Mary Walton, only caught him on video using it twice, the Associated Press reported. The teacher has been placed on administrative leave.

Walton is due back in class Wednesday. Her attorney, Natalie Hull, told the outlet that her client is hoping for an apology and for the suspension to be expunged from her record, an action the school district said it is not going to take.
During a recent show, Scottish heavy pirate-metal band Alestorm invited an ASL interpreter to sign on stage for the final song. Derek, a hearing man also known as The Signing D, was already translating the performance to his deaf wife in the crowd when he got the invitation. With a mix of excitement and nervousness, Derek exclaimed, "Fuck yes," although he had never performed on such a large stage before.

Did he nail it? Of course, he did! The song he signed was "Fucked with an Anchor," a track filled with irreverence and plenty of chances for Derek to flip the bird. Here's how it starts:

Fuck you, you're a fucking wanker

We're gonna punch you right in the balls

Fuck you with a fucking anchor

You're all cunts, so fuck you all

Fuck you, you're a fucking wanker

We're gonna punch you right in the balls

Fuck you with a fucking anchor

You're all cunts, so fuck you all

And, here's the story of what went down, as told by Derek himself:

My wife is deaf and we love live music, but venues can be hit or miss when it comes to accessibility. We're lucky that we have the ability to deploy me as a pocket-interpreter when venues are less than stellar and I can terp shows myself. I'm always a little nervous with new venues/new bands, and this was my first time ever going to a metal show so I had no idea what to expect. So we did that with Lutharo/Gloryhammer/Alestorm, and all of the bands were really fucking cool, shooting me set lists and lyrics ahead of time. And the crowd. The CROWD. Everyone was so fucking cool, understanding, and supportive. I didn't know what to expect ahead of time, but we IMMEDIATELY felt at home within minutes of meeting people around us. I terped the show in a little corner by the stage until there were about 3 songs left, then a guy with the band ran up to me with a note on his phone that said "can we get the ASL interpreter on stage for the final song?" I immediately replied "fuck yes," without thinking, then remembered I had never been on stage in front of more than about ~100 people before for my comedy. I spent the next two songs laughing with my wife going "what the fuck did I sign up for" in sign language to her between songs. She just kept signing back "GO. DO IT." When I met her after the song she laughed at me downing the giant shot of rum and went "that'smy husband."

(via Digg)
Ghanaian fashion influencer and celebrity stylist, Richard Brown, popularly known as Osebo the Zaraman, has made headlines over his love for his children.

He recently revealed that he sold two of his cars to buy a house for his 13-year-old daughter, Christine Brown, also known as Akosua.

In an interview with YEN.com.gh, the fashion dealer revealed that he had previously owned a total of fourteen cars, but had sold off nine of them in exchange for landed properties, such as houses and plots.

He currently owns five cars. Osebo explained that his daughter had expressed a keen interest in owning a house, and so he took her to inspect a land site belonging to a friend.

There was a house and after asking his daughter if she wanted the house, she responded positively.

A friend said he was selling his land about six years ago, so I checked it out with Akosua. There was also a house on the grounds when he showed us the land. So, I asked my daughter if she wanted the house. And she said, 'Oh, Daddy. I love it, Osebo said.

The landowner expressed interest in the cars that Osebo was selling, and Osebo decided to exchange his Wrangler and Range Rover Vogue for the house.

When he mentioned the price, I told him that a Nigerian was about to buy my car and would pay him when I got the money. But he said he wanted it. So right away, I handed over the Wrangler and Range Rover Vogue to him. That is how I bought a house for Akosua, Osebo revealed.
The US Department of Justice (DoJ) on Monday, May 15, 2023, announced the arrested of Ghanaian socialite Mona Faiz Montrage popularly known as Mona4Reall on fraud related charges by a Grand Jury.

According to the DoJ, Mona was arrested in the United Kingdom on November 10, 2022, in connection with a series of romance schemes and money laundering between 2013 and 2019.

She is said to have received payments amounting to over $2 million from her victims  older and lonely Americans through the collaboration, a criminal enterprise operating in the West Africa area.

Following news of her arrest, there have been high expectations for a reaction from Shatta Wale who describes Mona4Reall as his godmother.

In a Twitter post that failed to mention Monas name or her arrest specifically, Shatta Wale described Ghanaians gloating over the arrest as being possessed by evil spirits.

Dem arrest somebody You happy Ghana evil spirit, Shatta Wale wrote.

The arrest of Mona4Reall has ignited a public conversation about sources of celebrities' wealth. Mona who recently ventured into music rose to fame as a socialite and Instagram influencer.

Her flashy lifestyle has in the past attracted criticisms about her source of wealth, however, she had in various instances attributed her success to hard work which work she never revealed.

Watch the video below:


Professor Igho Natufe

16.05.2023 LISTEN

The President General, Okpe Union, Professor Igho Natufe, on Tuesday reiterated the Okpe kingdom long-standing request for the restoration of the Sapele, Warri, and Koko ports, calling on President-Elect, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and his incoming Cabinet to pay urgent attention to this request.

The value of these three ports to the Nigerian economy cannot be underestimated. We also request the incoming President and his incoming Cabinet to treat as a matter of grave national urgency, the reconstruction of the Benin-Sapele-Warri expressway.

He praised President Muhammadu Buhari for his recent decision on the teaching of indigenous languages in local government areas across Nigeria.

This gives credence to our age-long agitation for the teaching of Okpe Language in all educational institutions situated in Okpe Kingdom as a critical component of Okpe Identity. We welcome this decision and shall collaborate with other organizations towards its realization in Okpe Nation. As a first step in this direction, I am pleased to announce that NEC has instructed the Education and Culture Committee of the Okpe Union to work out the modalities of awarding post-secondary scholarships/bursaries for deserving Okpe nationals to study Okpe Language and Literature to form the nucleus of future Okpe Language teachers in educational institutions in Okpe Nation.

Professor Natufe spoke at the 93rd anniversary celebration of the founding of the Okpe Union in Lagos.

We are gathered here today, May 16, 2023, at the Headquarters of the Okpe Union to celebrate the 93rd Anniversary of the Founding of the Okpe Union, the oldest registered ethnic organization in Nigeria. Leaders of the Okpe Union from all the Branches and Regions in Nigeria are assembled here to honour the gallantry of the young Okpe nationals who had the foresight to establish the Okpe Union as the foremost socio-cultural and political organization acting as the mouthpiece of the Okpe Nation. We consider ourselves privileged to carry on with the rich legacy of the autonomy of the Okpe Union bequeathed to us by our forefathers.

He restated the unions stand on Okpe distinct ethnic nationality.

As we gather here today to celebrate the 93rd Anniversary of the Okpe Union, let us reflect on the great historical role we have been summoned to play in the growth and development of the Okpe Nation as well as in our nation, Nigeria. Since its inception 93 years ago, the Okpe Union has played and continues to play a pivotal role in defining the consciousness of Okpe nationals. A critical element of this consciousness is the recognition of Okpe as a distinct ethnic nationality in Nigeria. It is noteworthy to re-state this historical fact and dismiss unequivocally the fallacy of classifying Okpe as a sub-group or clan of any other ethnic nationality in Nigeria. A group of Okpe traditional and political leaders has been propagating a false thesis that Okpe Kingdom is one of the twenty-four (24) Kingdoms of contemporary Federated Urhobo Nationality of Delta Central Senatorial District. While some Okpe nationals have built on this falsehood and sold their conscience for a pot of rotten porridge by describing the Okpe Nation as Okpe communities within the Urhobo nation in their waffled understanding of Okpe Identity. We state very boldly that both postulations are a gross distortion of Okpe History. These Okpe leaders simply demonstrate their conceptual deficiencies and poverty of Okpe ethnic consciousness in using Okpe Identity and Urhobo ethnic nationality interchangeably. For them, Okpe is Urhobo, whereas we in the Okpe Union proudly proclaim that Okpe is Okpe. This is the dialectical difference between us in Okpe Union and those Okpe leaders that readily collaborate with non-Okpe to oppose the restoration of Okpe as a distinct ethnic nationality. Their intent is to compromise the concept of Okpe Identity. Okpe Union remains committed to its agitation for the restoration and recognition of Okpe as an independent and distinct ethnic nationality. All linguists who have studied the Edoid Group of Languages agree that Okpe is indeed a distinct language from the Urhobo Language. The first evidence of a distinct ethnicity is the distinctiveness of its language.

The expert in international relations praised the heroic deeds of Okpe Unions founding fathers in the struggles leading up to the resuscitation of the Okpe Monarchy in 1945.

Thanks to the Okpe Union, the Okpe Monarchy was resuscitated in 1945 after an interregnum of almost 200 years, with the installation of HRM Esezi ll on January 1, 1945, who reigned until 1966. He was succeeded by HRM Orhorho l (1972-2004), and subsequently succeeded by HRM Orhue l (2006  present). There is a Modern Okpe Monarchy because there was an Okpe Union that gave birth to it. Thus, the role of the Okpe Union as a symbol of unity and strength of the Okpe Nation cannot be underestimated. In fact, at the coronation of HRM Orhue l on July 29, 2006, the Coordinator of the event, the Distinguished Senator Okakuro David O. Dafinone (of Blessed Memory), sought the consent of the Okpe Union before the coronation of the new Orodje. He asked the Okpe Union three times: Okpe Union, do you agree that Major General Felix Mujakperuo be crowned as the Orodje of Okpe? (in Okpe Language: "Are ihweri ta ghene ahe Felix Mujakperuo siye aga Orodje Okpe?") In unison, leaders of the Okpe Union gave their consent by saying YES. (in Okpe Language: "EEEE!"

The Okpe Union President General lamented that since the inception of the Delta State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission (DESOPADEC), Okpe have been denied its rightful slots of appointments and award of projects due to the falsity of placing it under the Urhobo appellation

Let me reassure all Okpe Nationals that the NEC of the Okpe Union shall not rest on its oars to intensify its sensitization activities in Okpe Nation regarding the fact that Okpe is a distinct ethnic nationality, as well as the benefits this recognition bestows on the Okpe Nation. Since the inception of the Delta State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission (DESOPADEC), Okpe have been denied its rightful slots of appointments and award of projects due to the falsity of placing it under the Urhobo appellation while, for example, the Ijaw, Ika, Isoko, Itsekiri, and Ndokwa ethnic nationalities receive their respective slots, as recognized ethnic nationalities.

Those internal and external forces that conspire to deny Okpe its rightful place in the comity of ethnic nationalities in Delta State are enemies of the Okpe Nation.

Natufe also spoke on the efforts being made by the Okpe Union for the reinstatement and recognition of Okpe as a distinct ethnic nationality.

As an ethnic nationality that exclusively owns at least two Local Government Areas in Delta State, the Okpe Nation shall immediately be recognized in DESOPADEC and therefore be entitled to an exclusive Commissioner and an Executive Director like our neighbouring oil producing ethnicities of Delta State. The advantages of this include direct budget for the Okpe Nation, specific slots for different empowerment programmes and policies e.g., bursary awards for Okpe students which they now share with Urhobo students under a crass discrimination aided by the falsifiers of Okpe History acting as agents of those afraid of Okpe Identity. Because of this fallacy, the oil and gas wells in Okpe Nation are not captured as Okpe. My Dear Brothers & Sisters, in order to rectify this injustice, we shall continue our liaison with the Government of Delta State and the Delta State House of Assembly for the reinstatement and recognition of Okpe as a distinct ethnic nationality. This is a sacred historical mission of the Okpe Union

The former University of Benin lecturer called on stakeholders of the Okpe Nation and all Okpe people the world over to focus on achieving synergy for the growth and development of the Okpe Nation and Kingdom.

The decision of the Federal High Court, Lagos, on the Okpe Union Autonomy Case on January 19, 2023, which has established that the current Okpe Union NEC led by yours truly is the only leadership of the Okpe Union, gives the Okpe Nation a unique opportunity for unity. We therefore call on all institutions, stakeholders of the Okpe Nation and all Okpe people the world over to focus on achieving synergy for the growth and development of the Okpe Nation and Kingdom, so that Okpe can once again attain its place of pride in the comity of ethnic nationalities in Delta State and in Nigeria.

Natufe said that without responsible political leaders, the Okpe Nation would continue to lag behind in terms of development.

The general elections of February 25 and March 18, 2023, afforded Nigerians the opportunities to elect their leaders, to represent them for the next four years. It is universally recognized that a society gets the leaders it deserves. When electorate cast their votes for national and state representatives, they do so with the expectation that the elected leaders will represent their constituency interests and not their respective or personal interests. Thus, they expect their leaders to demonstrate good leadership. In their view, they expect their leaders to be effective, ethical and transformative. An election is a social contract binding the electorates and the elected. Unfortunately, if we examine the performances of Okpe leaders (elected and appointed) since the advent of the 4th Republic in 1999, there is a depressing recognition that the Okpe Nation has not been blessed with effective, ethical and transformative leadership. While these leaders have enriched themselves by privatizing public wealth, Okpe Nation is littered with abandoned projects. In citing examples, Orerokpe Stadium, Technical College, Orerokpe, readily come to mind. More so, the lack of accessible road networks in the rural areas, absence of post-secondary institutions, industries and banks, especially in Orerokpe, the headquarters of the Okpe Kingdom, symbolize the marginalization of the Okpe Nation. There is a vast disparity when we compare, for example, Okpe Nation with the Isoko Nation where the leaders of the latter have used their power and influence to attract industries, banks, and post-secondary institutions to their ethnic nationality.

He blamed the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the All Progressives Congress (APC) for the backwardness of Okpe Kingdom.

The Okpe have religiously voted for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) at the Delta State level since 1999. At the federal level, the PDP governed for sixteen years (1999-2015) with no tangible dividends of democracy in Okpe Nation, while the All Progressives Congress (APC) has been in power at the federal level since 2015, with the same abysmal impact on the Okpe Nation. Fundamentally, if we must be frank to ourselves and speak truth to power, the fault lies with the incapacity of the elected and appointed Okpe leaders to articulate and promote the interests of the Okpe Nation, and not on the respective political parties. An election is a partnership between the electorates (followers) and the candidates (leaders). This partnership is in fact a social contract between leaders and followers, which is the responsibility of both parties to adhere to. While leaders are required to demonstrate effective, ethical and transformative leadership vis-a-vis a positive development of the society, the followers, on the other hand, are required to hold the leaders accountable for their policies, as their representatives, in either the local, state or federal legislatures. Where they fail to hold their elected or appointed leaders accountable, then they become mere sycophants and uncritical loyalists with even lesser credibility than the leaders. As the mouthpiece of the Okpe Nation, Okpe Union shall hold all Okpe elected and appointed leaders accountable for their policies, just as we hold non-Okpe elected and appointed leaders accountable for their policies impacting on the Okpe Nation.

He urged Okakuro Ede Dafinone, Barrister Benedict Etanabene, Okakuro James Augoye and Okakuro Perkins Umukoro to rise up to the occasion.

It is interesting to note that the outcome of the elections for the above positions replicated the strategic advice that the Okpe Union proffered to Okpe nationals. While other Okpe organizations declared their public support for all candidates of a particular political party across Delta State, we condemned this as a poor tactical move to place all Okpe eggs in one basket. Our wise counsel prevailed as evident in the victories for Okpe candidates on the platforms of the APC, LP, and PDP. We warmly congratulate these five Okpe nationals that have been elected to their various positions to provide selfless services to the population. We wish them Gods guidance and blessings in the execution of their respective duties and responsibilities. As the direct representatives of the Okpe Nation, we expect Ekakuro Augoye and Umukoro to firmly articulate and promote Okpe interests anchored on Okpe Identity at the Delta State House of Assembly, to ensure that there is visible and sustained growth and development in Okpe Nation. We also expect both of them to champion the amendment of the DESOPADEC Law to recognize Okpe as a distinct ethnic nationality in the Delta State House of Assembly. They are urged to liaise with Okakuro Dafinone and Barrister Etanabene on the constitutional amendment regarding the two local government areas in Okpe Nation, and to table the same amendment at the Delta State House of Assembly.

He urged Dafinone and Etanabene to initiate a constitutional amendment in the National Assembly to change the names of the two local government areas in Okpe Nation: Sapele Local Government Area to become Okpe North Local Government Area, and Okpe Local Government Area to become Okpe South Local Government Area.

As for Okakuro Dafinone and Barrister Etanabene, our federal legislators to be, we expect them to be equitable in their representation of Okpe, Uvwie and Urhobo interests in their respective portfolios, bearing in mind the neglect of Okpe Nation from the federal legislatures since 1999. We urge both of them to initiate a constitutional amendment in the National Assembly to change the names of the two local government areas in Okpe Nation: Sapele Local Government Area to become Okpe North Local Government Area, and Okpe Local Government Area to become Okpe South Local Government Area. This renaming will end the apparent distortion in the identity of the various communities which all belong to distinct districts under the same Okpe Nation and Kingdom. Furthermore, we urge both of them to submit a constitutional amendment designating Okpe North Local Government Area and Okpe South Local Government Area as a Federal Constituency. It is recalled that prior to 1999, the current Sapele Local Government Area comprised its own Federal Constituency from which a House of Representatives member was elected. We recommend that Uvwie and Udu Local Government Areas be made a Federal Constituency. These two amendments will underline the distinct ethnic nationality of the Okpe Nation, just as is demonstrated in the Isoko Nation with its own Federal Constituency.

He urged Delta State governor-elect, Rt. Hon Sherriff Oborevwori to champion the amendment of the DESOPADEC Law to recognize Okpe as a distinct ethnic nationality, so that the Okpe Nation can have what is due to her from its God given oil and gas resources like the other petroleum producing ethnic nationalities.

The Governor-Elect, Okakuro Oborevwori bears the toughest challenge of all. With the entire State as his constituency, we expect that he will be fair to all the areas of Delta State. We particularly urge him to be conscious of the marginalization of the Okpe Nation for so long now. In this regard, we expect him to champion the amendment of the DESOPADEC Law to recognize Okpe as a distinct ethnic nationality, so that the Okpe Nation can have what is due to her from its God given oil and gas resources like the other petroleum producing ethnic nationalities. In the same vein, we expect that going forward, the Delta State Ministry of Education shall ensure that the National Policy on the Teaching of Mother Tongue in schools shall be implemented. The development and teaching of the Okpe Language in schools of Okpeland would enhance the survival of the Okpe Language which is identified by ETHNOLOGUE as one of the endangered languages of the world.

He advised Oborevwori to pay particular attention to the growth and development of agriculture, fishery, industry, and durable road networks in the rural areas, especially in the riverine regions of Delta State.

We recognize that a government does not create so many jobs nowadays, and therefore do not expect Okakuro Oborevwori to perform miracles in that regard. However, it is the duty of any responsible government to create a conducive atmosphere to attract and retain foreign and domestic investments to critical sectors of the economy. We therefore ask him to ensure that there is free movement of goods into and out of Delta State as complaints of task forces have reportedly led to many commuters in the country to avoid Delta State routes. This has led to comparative high cost of goods in Delta State when compared to other states. Towards improving the economy of Delta State, we advise Governor-Elect Oborevwori to pay particular attention to the growth and development of agriculture, fishery, industry, and durable road networks in the rural areas, especially in the riverine regions of Delta State. His Government has to improve the dire electricity situation in most parts of the state. The issue of drinkable water in all cities, towns, and villages has to be revisited and resolved urgently. Above all, we urge him to ensure that all leakages of corruption and embezzlement of public funds are eliminated under his Administration. We understand that success in this venture depends on a robust private-public partnership (PPP) to boost Delta States development and competitiveness leading to job creation and socio-political stability in the State. Okpe Union volunteers to render its expertise in linking the Delta State Government, under Governor Oborevwori, with prospective foreign investors in these diverse fields.

He urged people of Okpe Kingdom and Nigerians in general to continue to cooperate with the government, foster unity and harmony among themselves.

Okpe Union shall monitor the performances of these Okpe leaders, as well as other non-Okpe appointed by the President and Governor to serve in their respective cabinets, etc. We shall commend them for their successes, as well as draw their attention to gaps in their performances. They all shall be held accountable by the Okpe Union. I wish you all a glorious celebration of Okpe Union @ 93. We urge leaders of the Okpe Union at all levels and especially at the branches to intensify our sensitization activities amongst fellow Okpe nationals under one umbrella of Okpe Identity united in Okpe Nation in order to sustain the vision of the Founding Fathers of the Okpe Union

Credit: Henry Ovie
The Chairman of the National Democratic Congress Council of Elders in South Africa, Mr. Benjamin Kofi Quashie has appealed to the rank and file of the party to rally behind President John Dramani Mahama to win the 2024 general elections.

He argued that Mr. Mahama, after winning Saturday's flagbearer elections, is now the leader of the party which calls for all party members to support him into the 2024 elections.

"Like it or not, he is the leader of the party. If you want to help the party, you need to help the leader as well. Dr. Duffuor is an astute politician and everything he did was geared towards victory 2024 and so we continue to urge that we all rally around our leader for victory 2024," he noted.

Speaking on 'The Probe' on Joy News, Sunday 14th May, 2023, he averred that, Mr. Mahama is an all-inclusive person who want to work with everyone going into the 2024 elections.

When asked whether he shares the views of those calling for President Mahama to pick Dr. Duffuor as his running mate, Mr. Quashie indicated that that is a decision for the new flagbearer to make. "I'm sure he would do that taking into consideration the person's love for country, party and other considerations," he said.

He added, "At this point, the constitution of the party allows for the presidential candidate to nominate a running mate, go to the Council of Elders, go to the Functional Executive Committee and I think President Mahama would make the right choice of a running mate."

He however seems to side with some school of thought who believes Dr. Duffuor would be a good running mate for President Mahama.

Mr. Quashie contended that the former President's decision on his choice of a running mate would be based "not only on the interest of the NDC party but also on the interest of the Ghanaians as a whole."

Reacting to a seeming rift between Mr. Mahama and his northerners in relation to recent leadership changes in Parliament, the SA Council Chair revealed that there exists no such rift.

He noted that indeed Hon. Haruna Iddrisu was seen campaigning for Mr. Mahama. "That aspect unfortunately was not put into the public domain. Instructively, the so called rift between President Mahama and some Northern NDC stalwarts is a figment of people's imagination. The changes in the party's leadership in Parliament was done by the party at a time President Mahama wasn't the leader and can't be held liable for such an action even though he was consulted," he stressed.

Mr Quashie also contented that the former President is better placed to beat any candidate the NPP will present in the 2024 presidential and parliamentary elections, citing abysmal performance and the inability of the ruling party to touch base with the Ghanaian people.
16.05.2023 LISTEN

John Dramani Mahama, flagbearer elect for the National Democratic Congress has said his failed contender Dr. Kwabena Duffuor called to congratulate him on winning the NDC presidential primaries on May 13.

He added his only contender in the race Mr. Kojo Bonsu also called to congratulate him.

Mr. Mahama tweeted Both Dr. Kwabena Duffour and Kojo Bonsu have called to congratulate me for my 98.9% victory in Saturdays presidential primaries. The contest is over. Cooperation is what we need to build #TheGhanaWeWant.

Mr. Kojo Bonsu tweeted on the election day to congratulate the flagbearer elect even before the official declaration by the Electoral Commission (EC).

I have placed a call to H.E John Dramani Mahama to congratulate him for the landslide victory. Just as I have indicated throughout my campaign, regardless of the outcome of this election, I will continue to serve the NDC party, thank you, he tweeted.

On Friday, May 12, Dr. Kwabena Duffuor announced his decision to withdraw from the race. He said, "My fears that the party is not ready to conduct a free and fair election is clear for all to see. Participating in such would be like to purposefully drink from a calabash that was poisoned.

After consulting with my support base nationwide, I have been left with no choice but to withdraw from the Presidential election as I cannot contest in an election which is blatantly fraught with irregularities regardless of all my efforts to draw attention to same.
Beatrice Annan

17.05.2023 LISTEN

Beatrice Annan, the deputy spokesperson for flagbearer elect John Dramani Mahamas campaign says the promise to restore the licenses of banks that were collapsed in 2017 would be done after extensive investigation.

She described the decision of the Akufo-Addo government to revoke the licenses of indigenous banks as a "colonial mentality."

Speaking in an interview with Francis Abban on Tuesday's Morning Starr program she stated, it doesnt make sense to leave your own children and support the children of another country.

Mrs. Beatrice Annan noted that the promise by the former President is a step in the right direction.

According to her, the licenses of the collapsed banks would be restored after technical advice.

President Mahama has said he will restore the licenses of indigenous banks and that is what it is. The banks whose licenses were revoked are banks which exist, they were either co-opted by other banks like in the case of Unibank which others were made to take over. There are assets that are known the records are there, so when we come on the basis of technical advice where it is possible we will restore the license.

I think that is the point we should all be happy about otherwise we are going back to an incident that will disturb our nation. Where your ability to thrive as a business will only be based on the fact that you are not Ghanaian and that is a dangerous precedent, Mrs. Annan said.

She continued: Because it is not just the issue of the bank, we speak on air so many people reach out to us and say speak for us. There are many Ghanaian businesses which are collapsing. Whether for tax obligation or for political consideration or whatever. You dont do that.

Background

In his victory speech on Monday, former President John Mahama promised that an NDC administration in 2025 would restore the licenses of banks that were collapsed under the NPP administration.

Let me restate what I said in Ho during the launch of my campaign for Flagbearer we shall promote robust local participation in our banking, financial, telecommunications, tourism, mining, agriculture, agribusiness, and manufacturing sectors to grow the economy and create sustainable employment for the youth. We will restore indigenous Ghanaian investment in the finance and banking sector and create a tiered banking system that will serve various segments of the market.

We will give the opportunity for experienced banking hands who were laid off, to secure their careers once more and move from the menial jobs they were forced into. As far as practicable, banking licenses that were unjustly canceled by this Government would be restored.
Central Regional Women's Organizer of the NPP, Madam Charlotte Adwoa Antwi has stated that only NPP government could savage Ghana's economic crisis through better policies that would enhance economic growth and development.

She said the NPP government was putting in place policies and interventions aimed at restoring the economy.

"It is only NPP Government that can improve the quality of life for Ghanaians through its economic and social policies to cushion the citizenry in the wake of the World economic crisis. I therefore encourage every Ghanaian to rally behind His Excellency Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo led NPP Government in its quest to savage the economy," she stated.

Madam Charlotte Adwoa Antwi said this when she joined the Agona West Women's Wing of NPP at this year's Mother's Day Celebration for the aged at Lower and Upper Bobikuma last Sunday to recognize the positive contribution of women towards national development.

Touching on the positive contribution of women in the country, Madam Charlotte Adwoa Antwi acknowledged policies and interventions that the NPP had introduced to cushion women who have become partners in the upbringing of children in their communities.

She mentioned the introduction of the Free Senior High School which has given every household to access Senior High School education including single mothers.

"In the coming years, Ghanaians will see the benefits of the Free Senior High School, the county will produce the quality human resources needed to facilitate national development.

"There would be professional nurses, teachers, engineers, journalists, technicians, researchers, lecturers, doctors, executive directors, Chief Executive Officers among others in the public sector.

"The Free SHS will also produce business tycoons for the job market. They will create job opportunities for the teeming unemployed youth in the society. So the Free SHS is a long-time project which would lead the country to its promised Land.

"It is an open secret that nowadays women have become breadwinners in their homes. Many a time, women had to sell their clothes and other properties just to pay school fees and for housekeeping, the NPP government policies have relieved them of this economic stress and anxiety.

"I want to say without a doubt that the eight has already been broken come 2024 general elections and the margin will be wider than the 2020 general elections," she stated.

Madam Charlotte Adwoa Antwi acknowledged the positive contribution of the likes of National Women's Organizer of the NPP, Madam Kate Gyamfua, Mama Rita Asobayire, female MPs and MMDCEs and all Women Organizers in the Region, especially Agona West constituency.

The Agona West Constituency Women's Organizer of the NPP, Mrs Florence Yamoah disclosed that the celebration of Mother's Day has become an annual ritual for the Women's Wing of the party to appreciate the hard work and support women in the constituency towards growth of the local economy.

She observed the role women play in society to improve the lives of the people. According to her, the role of women in development cannot be over-emphasized.

Mrs Florence Yamoah lauded Queen Mothers, all women in the various sectors of the economy for the role they play in society.

"Mother's Day is used to appreciate our mothers especially the aged who are playing elderly roles to ensure peace and stability in their communities," she noted.

Ninfahemaa of Agona Abodom, Nana Hemaa Bronya who chaired the occasion encouraged parents to invest in their children's education and monitor the activities of their girl-child to reduce the high-level teenage pregnancies and school drop-out in the various communities.
17.05.2023 LISTEN

Farmers and the youth of adjoining communities in the Dwenewoho enclave in the Atwima Nwabiagya South District of the Ashanti Region have petitioned the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II to intervene and control the wanton destruction of the environment by illegal mining activities in the area.

Reports indicate that farmers and the youth are stranded as all activities have come to a standstill as a result of the influx of galamseyers in the area.

Mr. Solomon Antwi, a farmer in a complaint to the media in Kumasi said farming activities along the Asikasu and Betinko Rivers are on hold as illegal miners used excavators to create a huge dugout at the river beds making it impossible to cross over to their farms.

According to him, the rivers have been polluted and the land area degraded.

Mr. Antwi said several complaints lodged with the appropriate authorities including traditional authorities have not yielded any positive results.

The concerned farmer said the attention of the chief of Dwenewoho, Nana Twumasi Ampofo and his overlord, Nana Sarfo Kantanka Appiah, Chief of Asante Akropong, has been drawn to the alarming situation in the area.

Mr. Antwi said traditional leadership in the area are not in control as Chinese nationals daily invade the area with heavy machines to engage in illegal mining.

He believes the chiefs are complicit in the illegal mining hence their inability to take action and stop the practice.

Another complainant, Kofi Asante, a native of Dwenewoho said the youth have, on several occasions, kicked against proposals by the stool elders of Dwenewoho to allow mining in the area with the promise that mined areas would be reclaimed after operations while creating employment for the youth.

He said miners unknown to the natives visit the area, encroach and destroy lands in the area on a daily basis without any restraint.

One Kofi Owusu of Anyemsemkrom complained he has been warned not to interfere with the exploration and operations of illegal miners in the area.

The youth have, therefore, appealed to the government and the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II to intervene and stop those behind illegal mining in the Dwenewoho area.
Member of Parliament for Sagnarigu in the Northern Region, Alhassan Bashir Fuseini affectionately called ABA Fuseini has reacted to his defeat in the just-concluded National Democratic Congress (NDC) parliamentary and presidential primaries.

Having served for three terms and once a regional minister, the lawmaker said he never expected a defeat.

He said that throughout his interactions with the delegates, they affirmed their love and trust in him based on his work as a legislator.

"Honestly, I believed that my constituents have always had confidence in me. Indeed, when I went around and met them, there was no doubt in my mind that they would endorse me because they publicly told me that I had served them well and would give me another mandate," he expressed.

He noted that though he is unsatisfied with the outcome and suspects foul play, he will continuously offer his support to the party to retain the seat and also to win the presidential race in the coming elections.

"I don't want to sound like a bad loser, but I think many untoward things happened. As a party person, I don't want to put my party in the spotlight, but I believe I discharged my duties well.

"I accept the full verdict as given by the people of Sagnarigu, and I will do whatever it takes for the party and its supporters to retain the seat for the NDC. The NPP does not deserve an iota of support from the NDC," he said.

Mr. Fuseini was defeated by a fresh candidate.

He polled 333 votes while his closest contender, Atta Issah, doubled his share with 801 votes, emerging as the next parliamentary candidate in the constituency ahead of the 2024 general elections.
A wide range of Ghanaian fruits and vegetables were showcased at the 2023 edition of MACFRUT Exhibition held in Rimini, Italy. The annual MACFRUT exhibition is the only supply chain trade fair for professionals in the fruit and vegetables sector with a focus on building synergies between businesses from different parts of the world.

Members of the Federation of Association of Ghanaian Exporters (FAGE) had the opportunity to elaborate on their products through a presentation while interacting with participants from other parts of the world.

The primary goal of their participation, according to Davies Korboe, President of FAGE, was to showcase the country's best fruits and vegetables in order to demonstrate its potential as a global leader in agriculture and exports.

He said Ghana displayed a variety of products including fresh mangoes, pineapples, papayas, orange-fleshed potatoes, yams, dry coconuts and processed foods.

Mr. Korboe described FAGE's participation in the fair as a major boost for Ghana's non-traditional export (NTE) industry and an important push for the country's export sector.

He highlighted the importance of FAGE's participation in the fair as part of its strategy to promote Ghana's non-traditional export industry and increase the country's presence in the global market. He also emphasized the need for more collaboration between exporters and the government to create a more conducive environment for exports.

"We saw it as an opportunity for Ghanaian exporters to showcase their products and explore new export markets. FAGE's presence at the fair demonstrates the potential of Ghana's export industry and the commitment of the government and private sector to its development," he said.

Ghanas Deputy Ambassador to Italy, Matilda Aku Alomatu Osei-Agyeman who was present at the fair expressed her satisfaction with FAGE's participation in the fair, stating that it was an excellent opportunity for Ghana to showcase its export potential to the world.

She also called on the Italian government to help in strengthening trade collaborations with Ghana.

Ghanas non-traditional exports (NTEs) for 2022 reached USD 3,531,048,234, a 6% growth over USD 3,330,317,588 in 2021. The amount recorded represented 20.22% of the total merchandise exports for the year.

The information was contained in the annual Non-Traditional Export Statistics Report presented by the Ghana Export Promotion Authority (GEPA) on Wednesday, May 3, 2023.

The CEO of GEPA, Dr. Afua Asabea Asare, attributed the positive development to various interventions implemented under the framework of the National Export Development Strategy (NEDS), such as the Youth in Export Programme, Export School, and Training for Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMEs).

MACFRUT is an international trade fair that brings together key players in the fruit and vegetable sector from across the globe, featuring over 1,100 exhibitors from over 40 different countries.

The Italian Trade Agency (ITA) in collaboration with FAGE facilitated Ghana's participation in this year's edition. The delegation, led by Davies Korboe, was made up of 40 SMEs in the agricultural value chain.
This 1929 drawing of the Piccadilly Circus Underground Station, by Italian engineer, architect, and designer Renzo Picasso (1880-1975), is a thing of beauty. The image is from the Renzo Picasso Archives; Strange Maps describes it:

Two Tube lines crossing at Piccadilly Circus, as seen from below ground  with buses floating on the invisible surface. The place looks like a spaceship. Drawing from 1929 by the Italian architect Renzo Picasso (no relation).

The Renzo Picasso Archives website provides information about the artist:

Renzo Picasso (1880-1975) was an Italian engineer, architect and designer. Born in Genoa into a family of builders and designers, in the early twentieth century he visited the United States several times, remaining deeply impressed by the technical innovations which, in those years, were radically transforming the face of American cities. Enthusiastic, he created projects, drawings and comparative tables of the most fascinating aspects of what he had been able to study and admire: from traffic lights to skyscrapers, from subways to large-scale urban plans.

And happy belated birthday (May 12, 1875) to English architect Charles Holden, who designed the Piccadilly Circus Underground Station, along with many other London Underground stations, from the 1920s to the 1940s.
DCOP Joseph Gyamena Oklu, the Bono Regional Police Commander has called on the Regional Heads of Departments, Agencies and institutions to put measures or structures in place to check and monitor any possible terrorist activities within their surroundings.

The Regional Commander said this during a Regional Heads of Department Management meeting organized by the Bono Regional Coordinating Council in Sunyani.

He observed that our personal security consciousness and management have been poor. "In offices or homes, anybody can visit these places without anyone asking anything," he said.

The Regional Commander noted that Ghanas security structures need to be looked at "because we cannot continue to live by Gods Grace."

He stressed that it was high time measures were put in place. Because, God has been protecting us so far and if God got tired, we are in trouble. We do not have to wait till Gods got tired because He has given us the grace up to this time and has given us the brains too and the ability to do certain things that could protect us ourselves," he remarked.

He added, "Why can we have a structure that will at least not only serve as a determent but will also be to detect something if somebody wants to put us at risk?"

He shares some personal security tips to the stakeholders to help protect themselves. The first recommendation was the installation of CCTV cameras.

He urged the stakeholders to be proactive and monitor well to detect any suspicious character in their surroundings. He advised Departmental Heads to budget for the installation of CCTV cameras.

DCOP Oklu also recommended the installation of scanners to detect people who carry weapons. He suggested that whenever outdoor programmes are organised, they should invite the police to conduct the search.

The Regional Police Commander further call for the installation of scanners and CCTV Carreras at homes to detect people with mischief intentions.

The Regional Commander of the National Investigation Bureau (NIB) also advised the stakeholders and regional heads to familiarize themselves with colleagues and neighbours to know each other better.

He also advised them to weed their surroundings so that people with mischievous characters do not hide in the bushy surrounding to cause harm.

Mr. Andrews Okumah Nawil, the Chief Director for Bono Regional Coordinating Council thank the security services for their hard work. He said at a policy level, measures are being fashioned out for institutions, organizations including religious bodies and individuals to manage their security.
Ghanaian media personality Abeiku Santana has issued a public apology to Christian Boakye-Yiadom, CEO of Pizzaman, for attacking him over his decision to jail two workers who stole 20 cartons of chicken wings and some vegetable cooking oil from the company.

In a rant on his show on Accra-based Okay FM, Mr Santana had described the court action as "wicked" and suggested that it could have been settled out of court.

He also argued that the workers should have been made to work and pay the cost of the stolen items instead of being imprisoned for five years each.

"This Pizzaman parades himself as a youth leader and so on and so forth. Your workers steal 20 cartons of chicken wings and you've caused them to be jailed for five years each. What is the sense in it?" Santana asked.

He continued, "A poor person's child engaged in stealing while working, why don't you deduct it from their salaries? So, because of chicken wings which they didn't steal in one day; it is an accumulated stolen item and they have been jailed five years each. Clap for yourself, you've done well. You are not a guy at all."

Santana's comments were met with intense criticism, with many accusing him of defending criminal behavior.

He was urged to apologize by artist manager Bullgod on Accra-based UTVs United showbiz but refused.

However, in a recent episode of his show, Mr Santana issued a public apology to Boakye-Yiadom, acknowledging that his comments were "irresponsible" and made out of emotion.

I have realized my mistakes and Im sorry for saying you are not a guy for imprisoning some staff of your who stole your chicken and vegetable cooking oil," Mr Santana apologized.

"It was out of emotions that I said the punishment was too harsh and that the Pizzaman owner is not a guy. I apologize to him for saying he should have deducted the cost of the stolen items from the workers salaries. I said that without thinking about the fact that you were hurt by what your workers did to youIm sorry, he added.
Ashanti Regional Secretary of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), Dr Frank Amoakohene has asked the Office of the Special Prosecutor to focus its energy on trending national issues relating to corruption rather than using issues in the party to divert attention.

This comes after the Office of the Special Prosecutor invited a failed Parliamentary hopeful for Ejura-Sekyedumase who was seen in a viral video spraying cash in the just-ended Presidential and Parliamentary primaries of the NDC.

A meeting by the NDC regional executives with the failed aspirant, Juliana Kinang-Wassan was held virtually.

The leadership of the party sought to understand the motive behind the former aspirants conduct on that day.

Speaking to Citi News after the meeting, Dr Amoakohene insisted that the office of the Special Prosecutor must stop meddling in internal party issues and rather concentrate on issues with high national interest such as the galamsey report by the former Minister of Science and Technology, Professor Frimpong-Boateng and the recent gold mafia documentary by media group, Al jazeera Network.

He said, After having a meeting with Juliana Kinang-Wassan, we noticed that the Special Prosecutor just wants to be relevant. I want to put it on record that the Special Prosecutor wants to prioritise this minor issue for corruption that is going on such as Professor Frimpong-Boatengs report, the Al jazeeras gold mafia report, and you want to prioritise this against that?

Is like the Special Prosecutor doesnt know what hes about. He saw that something was trending and decided to jump onto it. What happened in the space of the elections was nothing to worry about. That was not the promise for the elections. The manner in which the money was sprayed doesnt speak well, but if you take your time and listen to the event that preceded what occurred, you will understand that the candidate cannot be faulted.

He further called on the OSP to use the taxpayers money to investigate cases begging prosecution than concentrate on NDCs trivial matter.

The OSP should use the taxpayers money to investigate high-profile corruption cases, Dr Amoakohene said on Eyewitness News.

-Citinewsroom
The trial of Senegalese opposition leader Ousmane Sonko opened Tuesday and was immediately postponed to next week as lawyers asked for more time to prepare.

Sonko's supporters, who say the case is a political witch hunt, clashed with police on Monday and blocked security forces from bringing Sonko to court.

Accusations

Sonko, who is accused of sexually assaulting and making death threats to a woman who worked in a massage parlour, was not in court at the start of the trial on Tuesday.

He has already said he will not cooperate with the court and claims the charges against him are a scheme by President Macky Sall to disqualify him from the 2024 presidential election.

Macky Sall denies this.

Sonko's alleged victim, who appeared in court, through her lawyers, objected when the judge postponed the session to next week after Sonko's lawyers asked for 45 more days to prepare, citing the "complexity" of the case.

"For two years we have been ready. Everything is ready. We have to judge this case today and be done with it," the victim's attorney, El Hadj Diouf, told the court.

Youth protests

The charges against Sonko in this case, and in a separate libel suit, have sparked sometimes violent protests over the past two years as supporters express frustration with the current government and believe Sall is trying to cling to power.

Sall has not confirmed whether he will seek a third term in 2024, though opponents say it would be unconstitutional, since he has already served two terms.

Anticipating protests outside the court, the interior ministry banned motorcycles from driving around Dakar on Tuesday.

Clashes broke out on Monday in parts of Dakar, and in the southern city of Ziguinchor, where Sonko serves as mayor.

A crowd also barred access to Sonko's house to prevent security forces from taking him to court.

The interior ministry on Monday said that a police officer had been killed in Ziguinchor, and then later said two protesters had died, one in Ziguinchor and other from knife wounds in Dakar.

The ministry made no link with the trial, but did call on parents to "avoid letting their children participate in violent protest".

Sonko's lawyers say they would like him to appear in court next Tuesday, as ordered by the judge, but only if "security conditions are right", lawmaker Bamba Cisse told RFI.

(with newswires)
A Director at Open Society Foundation, Ayisha Osori has admonished West African countries to have regulations that will provide an easy avenue for more women to get involved in politics.

Speaking to journalists on the sidelines of the Final Conference of MIASAs Interdisciplinary Fellow Group on Increasing Womens Political Presence in West Africa (IFG 8) on Tuesday, May 16, she stressed that if really Ghana and other West African countries want more women's participation in politics, then politics should not be monetised.

The monetisation of our politics affects women because generally, women are at the bottom of the economic pyramid. Its very hard for us to raise capital, and its very hard for us to raise the kind of finances we need to build businesses. If you do the analyses you will find out most of the rich people in Ghana are probably men.

If you look at women who are wealthy then they probably inherited their wealth from men and usually they are not interested. So as long as politics is about money then women will remain economically disadvantaged because you need money to win in politics, Ayisha Osori argued.

Accountability

According to her, if the political space is sanitised, more women will have an interest in politics.

She explained that if the perception remains that politics is a dirty game, then women will continue to be discouraged to take part.

You can make politics attractive to women by holding people accountable. I think the more we hold people accountable and people are punished for abusing the public trust, abusing public funds then we will find that it is a cleaner space for people to come in, Ayisha Osori indicated.

Role of political parties

The Director of Open Society Foundation in her engagement with the media also noted that political parties have a key role to play to get more women into politics.

She believes that if political parties are open to giving women positions and providing the needed support for them to climb the ladder, the participation of women in politics and decision-making will go up significantly.

You need both men and women in society because they have different life experiences and different needs. If you have both men and women in society then you want people in policy and government who understand and reflect both sides.

We must start with the parties. The parties need us and so thats a place to start, Ayisha Osori shared.

The two-day conference on Increasing Womens Political Presence in West Africa being held at the Auditorium of the Centre for Biodiversity Conservation Research, University of Ghana was opened by Dr. Susann Baller, MIASA Director (Germany) and Dr. Grace Diabah, MIASA Director (Ghana).

In her address, Dr. Susann Baller stressed that the issue of "Increasing Women's Political Presence" is key for MIASA in several ways.

She indicated that MIASA is devoted to promoting female scholarship on the African continent and beyond.

On her part, Dr. Grace Diabah said her outfit is delighted that conference participants came from close and far to attend the event at the University of Ghana.

We thank the conference organising team of MIASA for their continuous assistance in realizing this programme as well as MIASAs sponsors, the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research and the University of Ghana for their funding. We highly appreciate the significant support of MIASA offered by the Provost of the College of Humanities, Dr. Grace Diabah said.

Despite several campaigns in recent years to get more women into government to have a say in decision-making, not much has improved.

Data from the Inter-Parliamentary Union shows that Rwanda tops not just Africa but globally in terms of women in parliaments with 54.8% of its parliamentarians being women in 2021.

Ghana's rate is 14.5%, Burkina Faso's at 6.3%, and Liberia's at an even lower 3.3%. This paints a clear picture of the low political presence of women in the West African region.

More about the conference

The Conference on Interdisciplinary Fellow Group on Increasing Womens Political Presence in West Africa by Merian Institute for Advanced Studies in Africa (MIASA), University of Ghana seeks to expand the notion and understanding of political presence beyond political institutions to discuss and analyse the various ways in which women demonstrate leadership in other spaces.

The conference is part of the activities of MIASAs eighth Interdisciplinary Fellow Group (IFG 8). The group has been investigating among others, the history, and possibilities across West Africa for Womens increased presence in politics, focusing on breakthroughs in political office, the political influence of women merchants, women building religious organizations and transatlantic alliances, as well as the life trajectories that cross these categories  moving from business and religion to political office and transnational organization.

The conference offers the opportunity to present the results of the groups research (as well as similar topics) and discuss emerging issues.

About MIASA

MIASA is an Institute under the College of Humanities at the University of Ghana and is jointly funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) and the University of Ghana.

MIASA serves as a hub for exchange, networking, and collaboration among leading researchers from Germany, Ghana, and other scholars from around the globe.

An important focus of MIASA is to encourage intellectual exchange across disciplines and between junior and senior researchers through its Interdisciplinary Fellow Groups (IFGs).
Six African leaders plan to travel to Russia and Ukraine "as soon as is possible" to help find a resolution to the war, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky have agreed to receive the mission in both Moscow and Kyiv, Ramaphosa said.

Ramaphosa said he had had "separate telephone calls" with Putin and Zelensky over the weekend, where he presented an initiative drawn up by Zambia, Senegal, the Republic of Congo, Uganda, Egypt and South Africa.

"We're hoping we will have intensive discussions," he said at a press conference in Cape Town during a state visit by Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and the African Union (AU) have been briefed on the initiative and welcomed it, Ramaphosa added.

Ramaphosa did not give a specific timeline for the visit or other details, saying only that the conflict had been "devastating" and Africa "is also suffering a great deal" from it.

African countries have been badly hit by rising prices of grain and by the impact to world trade.

The announcement came a day after Ramaphosa said South Africa had been under "extraordinary pressure" to pick sides in the conflict, following US accusations that Pretoria supplied weapons to Moscow, a move that would break with its professed neutrality.

'Cautious support'

The mission will be the latest in a flurry of so-far unsuccessful diplomatic efforts to stop the war.

A Chinese special envoy was expected to arrive in Kyiv for a two-day visit on Tuesday to promote Beijing-led peace negotiations.

Last week Guterres told a Spanish newspaper that peace negotiations were "not possible at this moment" with both sides "convinced that they can win".

But Ramaphosa said the African initiative had been met with "cautious support" in Washington and a number of European capitals visited by "facilitators" tasked with presenting the plan.

The effort could help Pretoria rehabilitate its image as a neutral player and mediator, following accusations that it has drifted towards Russia.

The commander of South Africa's ground forces was in Moscow to discuss military cooperation on Monday, in the latest of a series of incidents that critics cite as evidence of a tilt towards the Kremlin.

Last week, the US envoy to Pretoria said that the United States believed weapons and ammunition had been laden onto a Russian freighter that docked at a Cape Town naval base in December.

But South Africa rejected the claim. According to a press release by the Department of International Relations and Cooperation, Pretoria launched a formal protest with the US Ambassador, Ruben Brigety, expressing "the South African Government's utter displeasure with his conduct and statements ... alleging that South Africa sold weapons to Russia."

On Monday, Ramaphosa said South Africa would not be drawn "into a contest between global powers" despite having faced "extraordinary pressure" to do so.

"We do not accept that our non-aligned position favours Russia above other countries. Nor do we accept that it should imperil our relations with other countries," Ramaphosa said in a weekly presidential newsletter.

South Africa has refused to condemn the conflict in Ukraine, which has largely isolated Moscow on the international stage, saying it wants to stay neutral.

(with wires)
The Gomoa Central District Assembly has presented a total of 1,250 dual desks to the Gomoa Central District Directorate of the Ghana Education Service to ease congestion in classrooms, DCE for Gomoa Central, Hon. Benjamin Kojo Otoo has announced.

Addressing the First Ordinary Meeting of the Fourth Session of the Second Assembly held at Gomoa Afransi recently, Hon. Benjamin Kojo Otoo disclosed that the dual desks would be distributed to some selected schools in the District.

According to the DCE, the Ghana Education Service would provided the needed support to upgrade the infrastructure deficits of schools in the Gomoa Central District.

"One critical problem facing our schools is inadequate furniture. To address the challenge, we have procured 500 dual desks for distribution to selected schools.

"Additionally, upon appeal to the Ministry of Education through our Member of Parliament, Hon. Naana Eyiah, we taken delivery of 750 dual desks to be given to schools as our efforts to solve the problem once and for all. I believe this will help improve teaching and learning in our schools," he stated.

He stressed that the Assembly will once again liaise with the office of the Member of Parliament to seek support from Non-Govermental Organizations (NGOs), corporate bodies and benevolent individuals to renovate dilapidated schools in the District.

"I assure you that soon, Gomoa Central would be one of the best places to pursue education. The Assembly is hopeful that by the end of the year 2024, the percentage of Girl-child participation in formal education will be 100% in the District.

"I therefore entreat Assembly Members to put effort in educating their electorates on the need to educate the Girl-child," he added.

On security situation in the District, the DCE bemoaned the growing substance abuse among the youth that deliquently take place in some of the pubs dotted in the communities.

He appealed to the Assembly Members, Nananom and opinion leaders to support the security agencies by reporting crimes such as drug abuses and child trafficking in their vicinity for quick intervention by the security agencies.

Hon. Benjamin Kojo Otoo further announced that the Assembly was undertaking development projects across the District.

He mentioned construction of District Police station at Gomoa Obuasi, construction of 1No 6-unit classroom Block at Gomoa Lome, construction of 2-unit Kindergarten block at Gomoa Nsuem, construction of 2-unit Kindergarten block at Gomoa Awombrew and completion of District Court complex at Gomoa Afransi.

"It is the vision of the Assembly to extend development to all areas and places in the District through provision of social amenities and facilities.

"This year, the Assembly is envisages reshaping unassessed roads to make them motorable for both pedestrians and motorists in the District.

"Water, they say is life, therefore quality life also depends on access to qualify water. The Assembly this year, through the Community Rural Development Unit will provide electricity to power 10 Mechanized Boreholes within the District.

In addition, all boreholes that have become faulty will be repaired by the Assembly to allow people to access portable drinking water," he emphasized.

Others issues that came up at the meeting including activities of Fulani Herdsmen which was a great concern to some Assembly Members over destruction of farm crops. They urged Nananom to as a matter of urgency call family heads (Ebusuampayinfo) who sell lands meant for farming activities to the Fulani cattle owners.

Others issues include petty chieftancy disputes creating insecurity in some communities in the District, insufficient services rendered by management of public utility companies namely Ghana Water Company and Electricity Company of Ghana.

Present were the Gomoa Central District Director of the Ghana Education Service, Madam Theodora Abalo who received the dual desks on behalf of GES and other Heads of Department and Agencies.
17.05.2023 LISTEN

Dear esteemed Egyptians,

An Open Challenge to Reconnect with Ancient Egypt:

I write to you today driven by a deep passion for African history and the cultural heritage of Ancient Egypt. It has come to my attention that there are ongoing debates questioning the contributions of Black Africans to the construction of Ancient Egyptian civilizations. In response, I propose a challenge that aims to settle the question of what it truly means to be Egyptian.

I acknowledge that many of you identify as Egyptians; however, it is essential to examine whether your practices align with the ancient ways of life, culture, and religion of the Egyptians who came before you. Can one genuinely claim to be Egyptian without a cultural connection? Is it possible to disregard the rich heritage and beliefs of Ancient Egypt while still laying claim to Egyptian identity?

Ancient Egypt flourished with a pantheon of gods and goddesses who shaped the daily lives of its people for over 3,000 years. From Isis to Osiris, Horus to Amun, and Ra to Hathor, these deities formed the spiritual fabric of Egyptian society. Can one truly embrace Egyptian identity while neglecting the reverence for these ancient divine beings?

To my analysis, true Egyptians would be devoted to preserving the legacy of their ancestors and actively building upon it to honor their heritage. Many African ethnic groups still maintain naming systems and cultural practices deeply rooted in Ancient Egypt. The undeniable truth is that ancient Egyptian society was multicultural and incredibly diverse, given the complex history of Egypt.

Therefore, I present an Open Challenge to all Egyptiansa challenge that aims to resolve this debate conclusively. I urge you to construct a single Pyramid without any assistance from Black Africans. This task will not only test your commitment to the cultural heritage of Ancient Egypt but also demonstrate your ability to manifest your connection to your ancestors. I eagerly await to witness your efforts firsthand.

However, I must inquire: how long will it take you to accomplish this feat? Should you successfully meet this challenge, the United States of Africa will proudly endorse your claim as descendants of the ancient Egyptians. Do not claim to have lost the essential knowledge that was passed down to you from your ancestors. Embrace the responsibility that befits a true Egyptian and rise to this occasion.

It is interesting to note that many individuals aspire to be Egyptian when it suits their convenience. Yet, they falter when called upon to fulfill the duties expected of a genuine Egyptian. The construction of the pyramids, likened to a game of chess, requires strength, skill, and unwavering dedication. If you can present an Egyptian who can single-handedly lift a block of limestone, used in the construction of these awe-inspiring structures, I will wholeheartedly salute that Egyptian.

Let this challenge be an opportunity for introspection, an occasion to honor your ancestors, and a chance to strengthen your connection to the magnificent heritage of Ancient Egypt. May this endeavor bring forth a renewed appreciation for the achievements of our shared African history.

Awaiting your response,

Daniel Mwambonu

Daniel Mwambonu is a prominent Pan-Africanist, human rights activist, executive producer, mental health advocate, and self-taught HR professional.
JENDEMA Border, 12th May 2023- The Governments of Sierra Leone and Liberia officially handed over two sites on both sides of the Jendema-Bo Waterside border to the ECOWAS Commission, for the design of a modern Joint Border Post to facilitate cross border trade along the corridor. The two countries in the company of ECOWAS and the design Consultants undertook inspections, reviewed site benchmarks, and kicked-off the detailed engineering design studies by a Consulting Services firm, marking the beginning of the construction of a Joint Border Post (JBP) at the Jendema-Bo Waterside.

The event was attended by very high-level officials representing both countries. Sierra Leone was represented by the Honorable Minister of Planning & Economic Development, Dr. Francis Kai-Kai, while Liberia was represented by the Honorable Deputy Minister for Economic Management at the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning, Augustus J. Flomo, Comfort Sawyer, Deputy Minister for Administration at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Assistant Minister for Operations- MPW, Clarence Wilson, Assistant Minister for Technical Service- MPW, Aaron Vincent, Assistant Superintendent for Development, Hon. Cletus Noah, Chief of Office Staff at the Office of the Minister of Finance and Development Planning, along with the Heads of the ECOWAS National Offices from both countries. The meeting and site visits were attended by various government officials, including engineers, architects, land surveyors, customs officers, immigration officials, national security personnel, and other border agencies.

The ECOWAS Commission's Resident Representative in Liberia, H.E. Josephine Nkrumah, led the mission, accompanied by Mr. Chris Appiah, Director of Transport, Department of Infrastructure, Energy & Digitalization, ECOWAS Commission, and Mr. Ashoke Maliki, Principal Program Officer for Roads, and Railways.

In his welcome address, PC Mustapha J Massaquio III of Soro Gbema Chiefdom welcomed the respective delegations to the meeting at Jendema town. He expressed his profound gratitude and appreciation to the ECOWAS Commission, the Government of Liberia and particularly His Excellency, President Rtd. Dr. Julius Maada Bio for his continuous support to ensure that JBP project is successful. PC Massaquio III also extended a warmly thanks to the Zombo Land Owning Family for providing the 20.0278 acres of Land for the project. He admonished all present to embrace the development and further reiterated his assurance of guaranteed security and cordial working relationship with the ECOWAS engineers and contractors hired for the work.

Amb. Josephine Nkrumah conveyed warm fraternal greetings from the President of the ECOWAS Commission, H.E. Dr. Omar Alieu Touray, and acknowledged the historic milestone in deepening regional integration achieved by both countries. She commended the governments of Liberia and Sierra Leone for their commitment to the ECOWAS vision and their continued cooperation with the ECOWAS Commission. She also recognized the communities and community elders who have made sacrifices for the greater good, emphasizing their shared vision with their respective countries and ECOWAS in contributing to accelerated economic growth.

Amb. Nkrumah highlighted the opportunities for job creation and the establishment of micro and small businesses that the Joint Border Post would bring, given that a sizable portion of urban residents in West Africa live and work within 100 km of a national border. She expressed confidence that engaging border communities rigorously would facilitate the design, construction, and operationalization of the Joint Border Posts.

Mr. Augustus J. Flomo, the Honorable Deputy Minister for Economic Management at the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning in Liberia, expressed immense pleasure and conveyed felicitations from the government and people of Liberia. He thanked the ECOWAS Commission for this commendable initiative, which promotes collaboration between officials from both countries in managing border control, customs procedures, and facilitating the movement of goods, services, and people across the border. He hailed the commitment of President George Oppong Weah to the development of communities along the corridor as well as the JBP project and has directed the efficient support for the process and mentioned that Liberia has fulfilled all the necessary procedures to ensure the availability of land for the project.

Dr. Francis Kai-Kai, on behalf of His Excellency, The President, Rtd. Dr. Julius Maada Bio, and the people of the Republic of Sierra Leone, took the opportunity to extend special greetings, profound thanks, and appreciation to the ECOWAS Commission, the Republic of Liberia, and the people of Jendema and Sorogbema Chiefdom as a whole for their dedication to ensuring the construction of the Joint Border Post between the two sister countries.

He briefly reiterated the background of the project, particularly on the Sierra Leone side, and highlighted President Bio's exceptional leadership and commitment in accelerating the vision of the ECOWAS Commission. President Bio has translated words into actions, fulfilling all requirements for the commencement of the construction of the JBP. The Minister emphasized the significance of the project by explicitly elucidating that the construction of the Joint Border Post and the newly constructed Bandajuma-Liberia highway will enable the border town of Jendema to become a commercial hub. He intimated that President Bio was well determined to bring the much-needed development to the people of Jendema and Pujehun District as a whole in line with his Talk and Do vision of development and economic integration across the countries.

Dr. Kai-Kai gladly assured the ECOWAS Commission that the Government of Sierra Leone had already paid compensation packages to the land-owning family, as requested by ECOWAS, and that all necessary documentation has been completed. The 20 acres of land have officially been transferred to the government for the JBP project. He ended by stating that "As the government and the Ministry in charge of ECOWAS Affairs in the Republic of Sierra Leone, we are delighted about this project and always ready to fully cooperate with both ECOWAS and the Republic of Liberia for its success. In this regard, the Government of the Republic of Sierra Leone is pleased to grant the ECOWAS Commission unlimited access to the demarcated site," says Dr. Kai-Kai.

The Ag. Director of Transport, Department of Infrastructure, Energy & Digitalization, ECOWAS Commission, Mr. Chris Appiah expressed his contentment for Government Ministers, senior officers, and Traditional Leaders from both countries for their untiring support to the JBP project. Mr. Appiah stated that the tripartite meeting was convened for both Governments to hand over the lands to ECOWAS Commission for the kick start of conducting Detailed Engineering Design Studies of the Jendema  Bo Waterside Joint Border Post. Like other speakers, Mr. Appiah highlighted the huge economic benefit the project will bring for both countries, and therefore requested everyone to embrace the project. He requested both Governments to ensure that the ECOWAS Commission is given unhindered access to both sites that will be handed over for the JBP project. The Director statement was made through a PowerPoint presentation of the project outlook. This was followed by official hand over of sites to the ECOWAS Resident Representative to Liberia, Ambassador Josephine Nkrumah on behalf of the ECOWAS Commission.

The ECOWAS Commission conducted a physical inspection and identification of benchmarks on the demarcated lands provided by both countries. The consulting services team will present a detailed engineering design to the ECOWAS Commission within six months.
17.05.2023 LISTEN

German based philanthropist and Executive Director of Health4yu, Alhaji Jalali Yunusah has called on supporters of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) to unite to ensure a massive victory for the party in December next year.

He urged the delegates especially those whose preferred candidates could not make it in the just ended Presidential and Parliamentary primaries to bury their grievances and forge ahead in unity for the difficult tasked ahead which is to rescue Ghanaians from the hands of the NPP government.

He called on all aspirants who could not sail through in the primaries to bring their supporters on board and endeavour to unify all fronts of the party to support their elected Parliamentary candidates to ensure a resounding victory for the former President John Dramani Mahama in next year's polls.

Alhaji Jalali Yunusah expressed optimism about the chances of the NDC in winning the upcoming elections but emphasised the need for unity across all the constituencies in the country to ensure a big win for the NDC.

According to him, what the NDC need now is unity and cooperation to form a formidable front adding that the New Patriotic Party is desperately trying to hold on to power which he described is an demonic attempt to punish Ghanaians for four more years.

He said discrimination, segregation and pull him down syndrome as well as influencing voters to vote skirt and blouse will not help the party win election 2024.

He called on all Ghanaians especially the NDC supporters to see the 2024 elections as Jihad to rescue Ghana and re-write the bad name President Akufo-addo and Mahmoud Bawumia have reduce Ghana to in the eyes of the international Communities.

He said, looking at the performance of the NPP government so far, Nana Addo and Bawumia are disaster for this country and the only hope for Ghanaians is John Mahama and NDC.

Akufo-addo and Bawumia have failed the nation and have made Ghana a country without as soul and the only party that can redeem the image of Ghana is John Dramani Mahama and the NDC.

He added that the NPP has no message going into election 2024 hence they will adopt all means to break in the camp of the NDC through various Constituencies by creating confusion among NDC executives and its members.

He congratulated the former President John Mahama and all Parliamentary aspirants who sailed through the primaries for the massive victory.
In a 9-0 vote, U.S. Supreme Court justices let Joseph Percoco, a former Andrew Cuomo aide convicted of accepting bribes, off the hook, at least for one of his crimes. The ruling "further limits the ability of federal prosecutors to pursue corruption cases," writes Reuters.

Percoco was convicted in 2018 and sentenced to six years in prison for seeking $315,000 in bribes in exchange for helping two corporate clients of Albany lobbyist Todd Howe seeking state benefits and business.  Percoco was convicted alongside an executive at a real estate developer, Steven Aiello, who prosecutors said orchestrated bribes to Percoco. Howe pleaded guilty and cooperated with investigators. Prosecutors said Percoco referred to the payments as "ziti," a type of pasta that became a term for money by characters in "The Sopranos" mobster TV series. Thursday's ruling represented the latest in recent years in which the court, which has a 6-3 conservative majority, has limited prosecutors in political corruption cases. In 2020, it overturned the convictions of two aides to Republican former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie in the "Bridgegate" political scandal. In 2016, it threw out Republican former Virginia Governor Robert McDonnell's bribery conviction.

As far as well-timed fights go, the Supreme Court sure picked this one! Percoco was inside the revolving door, on leave from a government job he expected to return to so he could help run Cuomo's re-election campaign. The "ziti" was therefore a gift to a private individual, not corruption of a government official. You can be as disgusted as you like, and then you can go fuck yourself.
17.05.2023 LISTEN

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is set to give board approval to Ghanas support programme today, Wednesday, May 17.

Later on Thursday after the Executive Board approval, there will be a press conference to announce how the disbursement of the $3 billion credit facility will be done.

The virtual press conference tomorrow is to also brief journalists on the outcomes of the IMF Executive Board meeting on Ghanas request for an Extended Credit Facility Arrangement.

Ghanas Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta, and Central Bank Governor Dr. Ernest Addison will join the IMF Mission Chief for Ghana, Stephane Roudet, for the press conference.

Senior Communications Officer for IMF Tatiana Mossot will coordinate the press conference.

As reported already, Ghana will receive the first tranche of $600 million within a week after the announcement.

Later this year, another $350 million will be disbursed to Ghana to help the countrys economy to get back on its feet.

Already, the financial market is responding very well after learning that the IMF deal for Ghana is imminent.

The Ghanaian cedi in the last 48 hours has appreciated and is expected to do much better against the US dollar when the first tranche of the IMF funds hit the accounts of government.
The international Slow Food network has been working for a long time to save bees from the main threats they face, says Edward Mukiibi, Slow Food president. Among the main causes of their decline is the wide use of pesticides in conventional agriculture over several decades, monocultures, diseases and parasites, land use and the climate crisis.



Natural habitats must be restored, and agriculture redesigned to serve the planet. Agroecological practices favor not only pollinators, but also the natural enemies of parasites, thus allowing the agroecosystem to maintain balance. It is important to plant crops in alternating strips, to include hedges and mixed-species meadows, and to rotate crops with clover and other legumes. It is also essential to minimize the use of pesticides, especially insecticides and fungicides, in order to allow insect populations to recover and to continue to carry out their beneficial work in the ecosystems that we share with them.

Bee engaged in pollinator-friendly agricultural production. The theme of World Bee Day 2023 reminds us that insects are the most diverse group of animals on Earth, and the crucial role pollinators play for the protection of biodiversity, for agriculture, and for the planet as a whole. They are an integral part of our food systems because they pollinate the crops that end up as food on our tables.

The Slow Food network in action

These are some examples of the work of the Slow Food network to protect and promote bees.

In 2006 a beekeeping project was launched on the rooftop of a building in Ginza, a district of Tokyo, Japan, with the aim of promoting locally-produced goods and revitalizing the local community. When searching for ways to create a space for urban producers to feel close to agriculture, beekeeping was an obvious pathway. In areas like Ginza there are abundant sources of honey, such as street trees, and honey products made in collaboration with Ginza chefs and bartenders have been well received. Urban beekeeping is now thriving in various parts of Japan, from Hokkaido to Okinawa. In Ginza, in addition to beekeeping, efforts are now being made to revitalize the community through urban rooftop greening and agricultural experiences for elementary school students. Agricultural and welfare cooperation aims to promote independence and social participation by conducting beekeeping and farming activities in facilities for people with disabilities. There are various tasks involved in beekeeping, including bottling and selling honey or making sweets, through which people gain confidence and discover the joy of this work, explain Kazuo and Sayaka Takayasu, Slow Food Ginza leaders.

In June 2022, due to poor management of the sentinel hives in the port of Newcastle, on the east coast of Australia, the Varroa destructor parasite reached our shores. Today a large part of the coastal areas of the state of New South Wales are a red zone, where bees have been euthanized and are being baited using the insecticide Fipronil, explains Amorelle Dempster, Slow Food Maitland Convivium Leader. Unfortunately too many small-scale farmers and apiarists are losing their livelihoods, contributing to the slow death of food security in our community. This massive program is really expensive and the irony of the whole situation is that it is about protecting the large-scale growers of monocultures, whose insecticides and pesticides kill the living organisms who are reliant on the ecosystem services of the European Honey Bee to pollinate their crops. Together with our Slow Food Earth Market Maitland producers and with the help of the local community, we are now launching the Maitland Pumpkin & Squash Seed Bank Project to preserve local biodiversity, which is essential for us and for our beloved bees.

In 2022, the European Commission published a proposal for a new regulation on the sustainable use of pesticides (SUR), which aims to cut the use of pesticides in the EU by 50% by 2030 to protect nature, pollinators and people, explains Madeleine Coste, Slow Food Advocacy Director. This proposal has been met with fierce resistance from the agroindustry and their allies, defying the scientific consensus on the need to transform our current food system in order to safeguard food security in the long run. It is absolutely urgent for EU citizens to mobilize and once again remind decision makers of their responsibility to drive a transition to healthy sustainable food. Now, to advocate for a world with less pesticides, European branches of Slow Food will launch an online campaign to ask people to send personalized emails to influence national and European parliamentarians not to lower the criteria suggested by the European Commission.

In Turkey, we are encouraging people to create their own bee colony on their terrace, throwing flower bombs, while children and their families participate in education and taste activities, explains Yasmina Loknanoglou, Spokesperson for the Preservation of Food Heritage of Tarsus.

The Foundation of Women Beekeepers is the first and currently the only non-profit women's public organization registered in Ukraine, which promotes awareness of the importance of bees for food security, conducts relevant research and implements their findings in the practice of beekeeping. For us, all spheres of activity are harmoniously combined in the hexagon of the bee cell, from work to cooperation, from family to the connection with nature. We build upon a parallelism between womens lives and the lives of the bees, explains Leonora Adamchuk, president of the Foundation. We want to help Ukrainians to taste and promote local honey.

The role of bees and pollinators

Pollinating insects transport pollen between flowers of the same plant species, allowing for the fertilization of those plants and the subsequent development of fruits and seeds. The miracle of pollination occurs in a variety of ways, but most often relies on the work of insects: More than 80% (about 300,000 species) of all plants and 75% (more than 300 species) of our major crops depend on insect pollinators for reproduction. The value of the ecosystem services that insects provide is enormous  were insects to be paid for the work that they do to produce our food, the cost to society would amount to an estimated 260 billion a year.

In addition to pollination services, bees provide precious products including honey, pollen, royal jelly, wax, and propolis, which humans have used and appreciated throughout history.

When we hear about the decline of bees, it is important to remember that its not just honey bees that are being affected, but all species of the Apoidea superfamily, of which there are more than 25,000. These bees, which are often called wild because they are not farmed like honey bees, are just as important for pollination as their domesticated cousins. Their disappearance may be less talked about, but it is no less catastrophic.

The decline of these insects threatens not only their biodiversity and that of the plants they pollinate, but also the diversity of other animals, many of which feed directly on insects, like birds and amphibians. And, of course, their decline poses a serious danger to humanity, putting our food supply at risk.

Info and videos on Slow Food activities on Bees: https://www.slowfood.com/what-we-do/themes/bees-slow-food/
Prof. Godfred Bokpin

17.05.2023 LISTEN

An Economist and Professor of Finance at the University of Ghana Business School, Prof. Godfred Bokpin has indicated that the Executive Board approval of the deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a massive boost.

However, he insists that this is not the time for government and government officials to pop champagne to celebrate.

According to the economist, government must rather focus on putting in the needed work to meet the targets of the IMF programme.

In as much as a board approval represents good news we need to be a bit cautious. This is because, when you open the programme it will be work. The first release is a statement of intent, the subsequent instalment will be based on performance. So Ill urge Ghanaians to wait and see what is in the programme itself. What are the structural benchmarks? What are the fiscal reforms?

Dont forget that the Board approval is good news, there are targets that we have to meet every six months of the programme review. Part of the target may include our tax to GDP ratio of 18% the strategy of increasing tax revenue could impact negatively businesses. If we dont adopt optimal tax handles. So if you ask me, it is time to roll our sleeves and get to work. It is not time to pop the champagne, Prof. Godfred Bokpin said.

The IMF Executive Board is meeting today to reportedly approve Ghanas deal. On Thursday, it is expected that there will be a press conference to announce a disbursement plan for the $3 billion credit facility for the country.

It is understood that Ghana will receive $600 million as the first tranche of the IMF funds.
I must tell the people of Ghana that their nation has died and that the murder was committed by the president, Nana Akufo Addo, the vice president, Mahamudu Bawumia, and the finance minister, Ken Ofori-Atta. I won't waste time repeating how the NPP administration ruined Ghana's economy by blatant corruption and incompetence, long before the COVID outbreak and the Russia-Ukraine war. Instead, I'll point out a few things to disprove the idea that the pandemic and war were the causes instead.

Those who fear to speak the truth shall always suffer in silence. I find it incomprehensible that so many NPP politicians have made it a habit to keep criticizing John Mahama, one of Ghana's hardworking presidents whose leadership cannot be compared to this appalling regime. They fail to recognize the true harm being done to the country and the nature of the people in power. The calamity that has befallen Ghana is the result of political Mafia and criminals dressing up as politicians controlling the country.

The three murderers, who murdered Ghana, Akufo Addo, Ofori-Atta, and Bawumia, should have been the subject of an investigation by Ghanaian homicide detectives. Unfortunately, they failed to do so because they were all appointed by the same corrupt government, making life in Ghana unbearable.

Most Ghanaians are unhappy with Akufo Addo, Ken Ofori-Atta, and Bawumia on social media today, labeling them thieves and crooks. Since I am a man of vision, I saw it earlier, which is one of the reasons I wrote: "Which One Is Easier To Say, Akufo Addo Is Corrupt Or A Thief?" It was published on February 28, 2020. Those who are interested can easily find out and read the insulting comments I've received. The truth shall set you free and the fact that I have both local and international readers makes me glad.

I don't feel sorry for Akufo Addo and I won't be a fool to support this extremely corrupt regime because when I was trying my best to correct them, the only congratulations I received were insults; not even my late mother and father were spared. As a writer, I've been able to recognize the value of my articles to my readers by being unique, and very soon, I'll do something that no other writer has ever done. I'll compile and publish all the insults I received when warning Akufo Addo about the disaster.

If the administration's primary objective was to improve people's lives in Ghana, the nation wouldnt have been in such a terrible crisis. The current situation demonstrates to Ghanaians that Akufo Addo was lying. He appointed Ken Ofori-Atta, a relative, as the finance minister to manage the state's finances to make corruption easier. The man is an opportunist who was burdened and mired in debt before reaching office; to him, this is one of his best opportunities to rob the nation of its resources.

These are some of the major factors leading to the murder of Ghana by the dishonest NPP regime

Mr. Martin Amidu, a former special prosecutor, was appointed by Akufo Addo to fight corruption; however, he frustrated him and prevented him from carrying out his responsibility to expose wrongdoing inside the NPP government. Mr. Amidu was accused of corruption by numerous Ghanaians, including the writer of this article. When he could no longer put up with the president's obstruction, he resigned before Ghanaians clearly understand the problems he was facing.

The decision to retire Mr. Daniel Domelevo, the previous Auditor General, due to his approaching pension eligibility, was successfully communicated by Akufo Addo to Ghanaians. According to the president, due to Domelevos age, he has to go on pension but that was a blatant fabrication. To avoid investigating his shady business practices and widespread corruption, he forced the former Auditor General to retire. If age has anything to do with it or not, we should ask the president why Maxwell Kofi Jumah, his father-in-law was serving as the director of GIHOC in his seventies?

When the economy began to deteriorate, on three occasions, President Nana Akufo Addo directed the Bank of Ghana to print more money without the knowledge or consent of parliament. That is direct participation in corruption; it is not a campaign against corruption. More significantly, that was a major factor in the rapid collapse of the faltering economy. All of this financial fraud and mismanagement occurred under a regime whose vice president holds himself up to be an economist.

All searches for the lost $100 million from the Petroleum Hold came up empty, and as of this writing, neither Akufo Addo nor Ken Ofori-Atta had made any comments about the missing money. A total of eight banks' operations were suspended as a result of the Bank of Ghana's decision to forbid some banks from operating. However, more money than what was required to save the financial institutions was spent on destroying those banks. Is that the kind of government the people of Ghana hope will do a miracle?

Corruption in the nation has spread like wildfire, harming investments, and businesses across the country and reducing the number of goods exported and imported at the ports. Dissatisfied Ken Agyapong yelled indignantly against Akufo Addo, over a specified amount he has authorized his government to raise, prompting me to release an article about the presidents involvement in corruption at the ports on December 26, 2021. Currently, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, Akufo Addo, and other NPP politicians have been exposed to participating in illicit mining. The president's role in the black market for gold was just made public by Al Jazeera in the documentary "Gold Mafia."

The president who claims to be against corruption, recently appointed a new chief justice to take the place of Kwasi Anin-Yeboah, who was accused in a $5 million corruption scandal. Despite this, the president refused to terminate the appointments of Paul Adom-Otchere, Eugene Arhin, and Charles Bissue despite their involvement in serious corruption scandals that no country, developed or developing, will ever tolerate. This is a government in which both the living and dead NPP politicians are corrupt, the late Sir John Kwadwo Owusu Afriyie became one of the richest politicians.

Before you ever believe in this administration that financial assistance from the International Monetary Fund, will create jobs and resurrect the collapsed economy, Ghanaians must ponder on what Pierre Frank Laporte, the World Banks director in Ghana said. According to him, the World Bank has given Ghana a total of $903 million and any development institution has never granted a large sum of money for a country for a year. More importantly, the World Bank also revealed that they gave the NPP administration an amount of $430 million for COVID, but the government lied to Ghanaians that it was $100 million. If Ghanaians dont know the whereabouts of these monies, why do you have to believe Akufo Addo and Ken Ofori-Atta that financial assistance from the IMF will let milk and honey flow in Ghana?

To cover up their financial crimes, millions have been transferred into private accounts with family names, either inside or outside the country. Any Ghanaian can easily perceive that Akufo Addo's administration has a debt of 700 billion Cedis, yet the administration is unable to explain to the populace how the funds were spent. The NPP government has spent more money carelessly than any other administration, yet they have destroyed the economy and investments.

The most dangerous government is one that continues to perpetrate significant crimes but refuses to apologize to the populace because they don't want to damage the partys reputation or lose power. Regardless of the circumstances, the NPP government will be completely overthrown by 2024. The probability of either of the two candidates becoming president or the party winning is small because the majority of Ghanaians lack faith in Alan Kyerematen, Mahamudu Bawumia, and Akufo Addo.

Their only option is to try and rig the elections, but due to massive animosity and anger in the nation toward Akufo Addo and the party in general, they wouldnt be able to do it, instead; they will flee in haste amidst rampant corruption both before and after the 2024 polls.

The current political conflict is between the NPP and Ghanaians, not between the NPP and the NDC. The people of Ghana have two options: either they kick out this government or choose Ursula Owusu's son to lead Ghana because when conditions were better during Mahamas era, she told the former Ghanaian leader that her son can rule the country better than him. The pain Ghanaians are currently experiencing is only the tip of the iceberg, before Akufo Addo's administration ends, the genuine invisible calamity that would cause a suicide epidemic will be felt.
Medical Doctors of the utmost fame have recommended that laughter is good for those who suffer from High Blood Pressure. According to these Medical Doctors, anger pushes the Blood Pressure higher but laughter brings your pressure down. They even say anger is temporal madness.

I therefore, recommend laughter for those who have High Blood Pressure.

In the early sixties, we had three comedians in Ghana who reality entertained us and made us to laugh all day long and forgot our sorrows. They were called the Ahanta Trio.

We also had the Jaguar Jokers who treated us to rib-breaking jokes. Those were the good old days when we used to heal our sorrows with laughter anytime these guys were on stage. Bob Santo and Abusuapanin Judas also came later to continue the jocks until Bob Santo sadly died, leaving Judas alone.

The demise of Santo has left a big vacuum hence, the inability of Judas to perform alone. Fortunately, for those of us who admire jokers, one man has emerged to take the place of the late Bob Santo. He is in the person of former president John Dramani Mahama.

He makes my day anytime he mounts the political platform. In no time he will go down in history as the best joker in Ghana. In fact, he is the modern day Charlie Chaplin and will soon find his name in the Guinness Book of Records as the world number one jester.

In the run-up to the 2020 General Election, candidate Mahama looked into the faces of Muslims in our Zongos and promised them that when he was elected as the President of Ghana, he will build mortuaries in 300 Zongos in Ghana to preserve the corpses of dead Muslims.

Muslims across the country became peeved and very angry because according to Islamic believe, Muslims who die must be buried within twenty four hours, barring any unforeseen circumstances. Muslim clerics all over the country considered Mahama's pronouncement to be blasphemy or sacrilegious.

Dr. Bawumia also waded into the matter and told Mahama that the Zongos need education but not mortuaries. That was when the free SHS was in operation and girls and boys in the zongos were enjoying free SHS. Dr. Bawumia's reply was a blow which dazed Mahama.

Whoever advised the man to make those unfortunate pronouncements did him a great disservice. Much as some shameless Muslims in the NDC tried to do a damage control, it did not wash at all. I dare say that Mr. Mahama always abandons all the values and respect of the religious beliefs of others except the will to political power.

If you should ask me why I am always on the shoulders of Mr. Mahama, you should as well ask why Mr. Mahama continues to joke to Ghanaians when serious issues are at stake for Ghanaians to brainstorm for the good of the country?

But come to think of this. John Mahama says when he is voted into power as the president of Ghana again, he will distribute piglets for Ghanaians to engage in piggery for a living. He is in one way or the other telling us that he will create employment through piggery. Habba, Mahama? Will Muslims too benefit from this 'wonderful' and 'innovative' largesse, since they are also Ghanaians?

If Muslims get mortuaries why should they be denied of piglets? Maybe the building of mortuaries which he promised Muslims but never delivered because Ghanaians voted against him will be the only one they will get. After all, the national cake must be shared equally.

Mr. Mahama thinks Ghanaians are fools. When he was in power, people used to rear pigs but his government never gave them any support. Now that he wants political power again, he promises to distribute piglets as if it has now dawn on him that pig farmers must get piglets to rear.

The man has been talking a lot and a talkative always goofs at a point in time. People are asking: Is that all that you can do for Ghanaians when you hold the reins of power again? You see, the Ghanaian voter has wised up and can easily read between the lines. Mahama always tries to play smart but he is not clever enough. To put it bluntly, the man has no respect for the Ghanaian voter.

He continues to tell NDC delegates that he is coming again to lay a solid foundation for the economy as if he did not get the opportunity to lay the solid foundation when he was the president and as the Vice President he was the Chairman of the Economic Management Team.

No wonder in the run-up to the 2016 elections, Dr. Bawumia, in one of his thought-provoking public lectures said the then Mahama administration built a foundation on straws. Aah, Maybe the distribution of piglets will be the rock on which the solid foundation promised will be laid. Day-dreamer!!.

Mr. Mahama also said he will build chicken coops for people to engage in mini poultry. According to him, a new Mahama administration will supply people with day-old chicks and feed so that when the chicks grow one can sell them and get money. That is to say when Mahama comes to power again, everybody will get a chicken coop and begin to rear chicks.

So in no time Ghana will become a country of mini poultry farmers. Is this man serious at all? May be he has been hypnotized or somebody has cast a spell on him. Here in my holy village, almost every household has a chicken coop so we don't need to wait for Mahama to come to power to build us one.

Mahama can build those chicken coops in Bole/Bamboi for the people there to rear chicks in addition to their cattle and goats. What sort of infantile antics is this? When hospitals are being built under the Agenda 111 programme and factories are sprouting up in the districts under One District One Factory programme, Mahama says he will rather build chicken coops.

Soon, the man will promise to build bridges where there are no rivers in the villages and call them village overhead bridges and his gullible NDC supporters will clap for him. The childish antics of the man are becoming funnier and funnier every day.

The truth is that some ill-informed NDC supporters will vote for him based on these childish promises but Ghanaians will reject him since we can read between the lines.

Mahama is acting like the Kumasi Kejetia herbal medicine seller of yesteryears who used monkeys to attract people. When children clapped for the monkey, it jumped from one place to the other. The more the children clapped, the faster it jumped.

Anytime Mahama jokes and his fickle-minded listeners clap for him, he becomes agitated and increases the tempo. And this is the President-Elect who wants to rule a country of more than thirty million HUMAN BEINGS. Apuu!!! And Dr. Duffuor walked away with pain, sorrow, anger and disillusionment. What next? Aboa bi reba. Gyata bi reba!!!

By Eric Bawah
Alhassan Suhuyini, an opposition Member of Parliament (MP) has criticized the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) for celebrating the yet-to-be approved 3 billion dollar IMF bailout for Ghana.

Ghana is close to securing the first tranche of $600 million from the IMF which is expected to be announced this week.

The government says the full $3 billion bailout program will help stabilize the economy.

According to Suhuyini, the governing party is jubilating over defeat and incompetence.

He says the NPP has mismanaged the economy so badly that Ghana had to beg for financing assurances from the Paris Club following the establishment of the Official Creditor Committee co-chaired by China and France before qualifying for the bailout.

Speaking in an interview on Accra-based TV3s New Day show on Wednesday, May 17, Mr Suhuyini said "One thing I like about the NPP is how they sometimes even turn defeat into celebrations. Their verdict was that seeking an IMF bailout is a mark of incompetence."

Mr Suhuyini argues that the NPP, when in opposition, criticized Mahamas government for going to the IMF.

He slammed the NPP government for exhibiting hypocrisy for lambasting the NDC for going to IMF and now jubilating for same.

The parliamentarian stated: "Today, we are even struggling to qualify to get a bailout. We are not qualified, they have mismanaged the economy where we are not even qualified for a bailout. They are struggling to qualify, yet they are celebrating and they want as to congratulate them, they want us to believe they are better."

The opposition MP stressed the ruling party should not be celebrating what amounts to an admission of economic mismanagement.
Sudan's brutal war has pitted the traditional urban elite that has long monopolised wealth and power in the capital Khartoum against forces from the marginalised rural periphery, analysts say.

For the past month, two rival generals have fought for control of the northeast African country in a war that has spread chaos, claimed at least 1,000 lives and displaced nearly a million people.

One of them is army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, a lacklustre career soldier, born north of Khartoum, who toppled the veteran Islamist autocrat Omar al-Bashir after mass protests and then assumed full powers in a 2021 coup.

The other is his former deputy, Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, a one-time camel herder from the remote western Darfur region bordering Chad, who now commands the feared paramilitary Rapid Response Forces, or RSF.

Also known as "Hemeti" or "little Mohamed", Daglo got his start in the notorious Janjaweed militia that Bashir unleashed in the early 2000s to brutally quash a rebellion by ethnic minority groups in Darfur.

In the years since, Daglo has manoeuvred his way into the top echelons of power in the capital of five million people, even as he has been mocked among its elite for his provincial accent and lack of formal education.

Sudan's army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, pictured on the left, has been at war with his former deputy, Rapid Support Forces commander Mohamed Hamdan Daglo. By ASHRAF SHAZLY (AFP/File)

The Khartoum-centred old guard "view Hemeti as an illiterate upstart thug whom they first armed to do their dirty work" in Darfur, said Alan Boswell of think tank the International Crisis Group.

However, since then, Daglo has become a feared opponent, commanding the heavily armed RSF which is battle-hardened by service in Yemen and Libya and financed with profits from gold mines he controls.

'New phase of struggle'

Map of Sudan and neighbouring countries as civilians flee the country. By Sophie RAMIS (AFP/File)

Sudan, a vast country of 45 million people, has a long history of inequality and strife involving ethnic minority groups in remote regions.

Since its days under British rule, "Sudanese political society has been centralised in the Nile Valley," said Marc Lavergne, a specialist on the Horn of Africa and the Middle East.

Even after independence in 1956, "there has been this dichotomy between the Nile Valley, Khartoum, the parts that the British could make use of," and the rest of the country, he told AFP.

The more remote areas experienced decades of struggle "that no Khartoum government cared to address", said Lavergne of France's University of Tours who has worked for UN and non-government missions in Sudan.

Sudanese Army soldiers near armoured vehicles in southern Khartoum, seen on May 6, 2023 amid ongoing fighting against the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces. By - (AFP/File)

"But today these peripheral regions hold the richest potential," he said, referring particularly to large gold deposits in Darfur and elsewhere, from which Daglo has built a military and economic empire.

A Rift Valley Institute report judged that, as a result, "the RSF is no longer a rag-tag militia but rather a well-trained and effective fighting force that can rival" the Sudanese Armed Forces.

"The current conflict represents a battle between the established military-political elite from the centre and an emerging militarised elite from Darfur to control the state, and is a new phase in the struggle between centre and periphery."

Intruder from Darfur

Daglo has been depicted by his rivals as "an intruder from Darfur in more cosmopolitan Khartoum", said Kholood Khair, founder of the think tank Confluence Advisory.

"Before the war, the RSF were getting some traction in trying to create a narrative that they were fighting for democracy, and that they were doing so on behalf of all the marginalised people of Sudan," she told AFP.

A market devastated in El Geneina, West Darfur, as fighting continues in Sudan between the forces of two rival generals, on April 29, 2023. By - (AFP/File)

As he built his force, Daglo became "one of the best employers in the country", recruiting fighters from areas "that had historically been marginalised by Khartoum," according to Khair.

But she added that, "once the war broke out, that narrative became more difficult to keep up" as "his troops are far less disciplined" than those of the regular army.

"They do not always follow orders and have been creating a lot of havoc for the people of Khartoum," she said, as reports of assaults against civilians, looting and home invasions have risen sharply.

The threat of deepening ethnic strife looms over Sudan, a diverse country at the intersection of historical migration and trade routes with a history of slavery.

Its rulers have historically exploited economic inequalities to divide and conquer, between the core and the periphery, between north and south, and based on skin colour.

A file picture from September 21, 2017 of Sudan's then president Omar al-Bashir waving his walking stick, in South Darfur province, with paramilitary commander Mohamed Hamdan Daglo seen to his left. By ASHRAF SHAZLY (AFP/File)

"To this day, Sudanese have a lexicon of skin colour" that discriminates against those with darker pigmentation, Sudan specialist Alex de Waal wrote recently in the London Review of Books.

"The darkest people of the south (are) still routinely called abid, meaning 'slaves'."

Skin colour may not be a defining factor in the current war. But experts warn that a prolonged conflict will deepen fissures along the kinship lines and tribal affiliations on which Sudan's many existing militias were formed.

"Both sides will, as they lose troops, need to recruit more," said Khair. "And the easiest way to do that in Sudan has historically been through ethnic allegiances."
17.05.2023 LISTEN

An Accra Circuit Court has remanded into police custody a 40-year-old tile setter for insulting President Nana Akufo-Addo.

Raphael Okoe Ankrah, also known as Okoe Killer was arrested after police saw a video posted to social showing the accused using very unsavoury words on the President.

He has since pleaded not guilty to offensive conduct conducive to breaches of the peace.

The Court presided over by Mr Samuel Bright Acquah, ordered that Ankrah be brought back on May 30, 2023.

Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Maxwell Oppong told the Court that Ankrah lived in Jamestown.

He said on May 15, 2023, the Police saw a viral video in which the Ankrah was seen insulting the President.

ASP Oppong said the police had to arrest Ankrah because the video was not only vile but had annoyed and agitated the public.

The Police's Intelligence Directorate tracked Ankrah and arrested him at his hideout at James Town in Accra.

The prosecution said Ankrah admitted the offence in his investigation cautioned statement and was accordingly charged.

Mr Yaw Dankwa, Ankrah's Defense Counsel who prayed for bail for the accused, said the charge did not support the facts, which he said was political, because his client denied the offence upon his arrest.

He suggested that the said video could have been manipulated and until it was presented and scrutinised in court, his client was innocent of the charges.

Mr Dankwa said Ankrah, a responsible father with a wife who had a two-week baby, was not a flight risk.

He said Ankrah had people of substance ready to stand surety for him.

The prosecution, opposing the bail, pleaded with the Court to send the accused to the psychiatric hospital as he told police he was not in his right frame of mind.

ASP Oppong said that based on Ankrah's utterances in the video, he would be safer in police custody because his life was in danger in his community.

On him not being a flight risk, the prosecution said Ankrah was a squatter living in an uncompleted building with no fixed place of abode, but his lawyer said there were no uncompleted buildings in James Town.

-GNA
The Police Hospital morgue is stinking like a sewer, compelling the Hospitals laboratory to shutdown.

The stench from the morgue engulfs the laboratory and reaches other units of the facility.

A source at the Hospital attributed the situation to a large number of unidentified dead bodies at the morgue, with some fridges broken down.

The source said the situation had persisted for about a month.

The GNA and other clients who visited the lab Wednesday morning were turned away by an Officer.

The Officer said the lab was shut down because the offensive odour from the morgue was not good for the staff and patients.

He said he was not sure when the situation would be addressed.

The GNA observed that clients who were aware of the situation were in nose masks, those unaware, buried their noses in their palms as they rushed out of the space.

Madam Stella Kumedzro, an Environmental Health Analyst, said the discomfort created for patients and staff of the Hospital was unacceptable and that it could lead to housefly infestation.

She said the fluid draining from the decomposed corpses may contain chemicals such as formalin, which if not sanitarily disposed off may predispose people who came into contact with the chemicals to health challenges like cancers.

Madam Kumedzro said the fluid, containing chemicals, may also pollute the soil and end up in water bodies after a downpour.

She advised the Hospital to contact the Environmental Health Office for processes leading to mass burial of the corpses.

Mr Douglas N. A. Tagoe, Greater Accra Environmental Health Regional Director, told the GNA that his office was going to instruct the Hospital to decongest the fridges immediately, disinfect and deodorise the Unit.

GNA
Founder and leader of the Liberal Party of Ghana (LPG), Percival Kofi Akpaloo has called on Ghanaian voters to choose him over former President John Dramani Mahama.

Speaking to Onua TV, he said although the flagbearer elect of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) is experienced, he lacks the vision to rule the country.

Mahama has the experience because he is a former president but he does not have a vision to save Ghana from the economic crisis, Kofi Akpaloo said.

According to the Founder of the LGP party, John Dramani Mahama is an old man dreaming to become President again but will never have the chance to rule the country again.

Mahama is an old man now and like the Bible said in Joel 2:28 that your old men would have dreams. So Mahama is dreaming and can never be president again in Ghana, Kofi Akpaloo argued.

John Dramani Mahama last Saturday won the NDC presidential primaries and will now lead the party into the 2024 General Elections.

On Monday when he delivered his acceptance speech, the former President promised to address the economic crisis facing the country when he becomes president again.

Among other things, he said he will deal with corruption and run a lean government of not more than 60 Members of Parliament to protect the public purse.
Gov. Kathy Hochul has accepted the resignation of Michael L. Joseph, an influential developer and political donor in Western New York, from his longtime position as chairman of Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Centers board of directors.

Joseph had been on Roswell Park's board for 19 years, including the last 16 as board chair, but had recently faced a growing chorus calling for his removal from that post after his development company was hit last week with a racial discrimination lawsuit.

"Governor Hochul is committed to making Roswell Park a more equitable and inclusive institution for employees, patients and families," Hochul's upstate press secretary, Matt Janiszewski, said in a statement Tuesday afternoon.

Hochul has named Leecia Eve, a politically connected board member, to serve as interim chair. Eve was first appointed to the Roswell Park board in May 2018 by Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

Joseph did not immediately respond to a request seeking comment.

In a statement, Roswell Park President and CEO Candace S. Johnson did not mention Joseph but called Eve "an incredible leader with a long connection to Roswell Park's mission of reducing the burden of cancer for our community and our world."

"Our team of 4,000 are committed to providing outstanding, compassionate care and services that reach all members of our community," said Johnson, who has led the public-benefit corporation since February 2015.

Joseph is president of Clover Group, a real estate development firm headquartered in Lancaster that was accused in a lawsuit last week of deciding where to build senior housing on the basis of race.

Senior housing and apartment development firm to face racial discrimination lawsuits Clover Group, a real estate development firm headquartered in Lancaster, is about to get hit with two federal lawsuits that accuse the firm of deciding where to build senior housing on the basis of race.

The complaint filed by Peter C. Rizzo, Clover's former director of development, does not accuse Joseph of personally espousing racist views. Rizzo says he witnessed other Clover executives openly acknowledging the company's racist housing policies.

Recordings of internal conversations between Rizzo and other Clover executives, which were obtained by The Buffalo News and quoted in the lawsuit, show Clover Vice President Richard A. Greenspan and other Clover executives using the term "Canadians" to describe Black people when discussing potential sites for senior housing.

Clover has strongly denied those charges and called the allegations "misleading."

But the allegations caught the attention of Erie County legislators, who agreed on Thursday that Clover Group members should face consequences for allegedly deciding where to build senior housing based on race.

A nonbinding resolution from Democratic county legislators, which was unanimously approved, calls for Clover Group to fire the people who were recorded making racist remarks and calls on the firm to make a statement against housing discrimination.

A different nonbinding resolution from Republican legislators, which was rejected in a 6-4 vote, called for Joseph to be suspended from the boards of Roswell Park as well as the Buffalo AKG Museum. The Republicans wanted Joseph suspended until an independent party could investigate the allegations.

Joseph, who had been one of the longest tenured members of Roswell Park's board, has strong political ties, having donated large sums to Hochul, Erie County Executive Mark C. Poloncarz and other prominent politicians, most of them Democrats.

According to state records, Joseph, his wife, Roberta, and Clover have given a total of $380,410 to state and local politicians in New York since 2000.

Nearly half of that money went to Cuomo, a Democrat who served as governor from 2011 until August 2021, but $55,000 went to Hochul, some of it when she was lieutenant governor and some after she succeeded Cuomo. The Josephs also gave $25,000 to George Pataki, a Republican who served as governor from 1995 to 2007.

The Josephs also donated $127,775 to federal politicians since 2000, with former Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, now-Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer and Rep. Brian Higgins of Buffalo among their major recipients.

Roswell Park lawsuits

The Roswell Park board, which Joseph led as chair, also has come under fire recently after several stories in recent months from The Buffalo News and the Investigative Post website.

At least 15 former employees have filed lawsuits since 2015 that accuse Roswell Park of discrimination based on race, gender or disability, a review of state and federal court records found. Roswell Park has paid at least $4.67 million to settle six of those cases, according to public records.

As concerns surfaced in recent years about how employees of color were treated at Roswell Park, Joseph urged the board to hire a diversity consultant and, in early 2021, the cancer center hired an outside law firm to advise a newly created board diversity committee.

Roswell Park has paid $4.67 million to settle discrimination lawsuits, faces more complaints Fifteen lawsuits claiming employment discrimination based on gender, race or disability have been filed against Roswell Park over the last eight years. To date, The Buffalo News has found the cancer center has paid at least $4.67 million to settle six of the cases.

While that law firm finished its report last year and shared it with board members in a closed-door session, Roswell Park and its board have refused to make the report public  even over the objections of several board members.

In fact, at a special board meeting Aug. 25, the board voted on a proposed public statement that skirted concerns raised by the hospital's employees of color.

Minutes show eight white board members, including Joseph, voted in favor of the statement and five voted against it. The five were the board's four Black members and Steve Weiss, who is white.

A long tenure

Joseph was first appointed to the Roswell Park board on May 16, 2004, by Pataki, Roswell Park confirmed.

Joseph was then appointed board chair by Gov. Eliot Spitzer in 2007 and reappointed to the board Sept. 2, 2010, by Gov. David Paterson. His term on the board expired May 16, 2012, Roswell Park said, though he has remained on the board ever since.

According to Roswell Park's bylaws, board directors "may serve not more than three three-year terms on the corporation's board of directors, unless requested to serve additional terms by the applicable governmental appointing authority."

Roswell Park hired a firm to investigate allegations of racism. It's kept the findings secret After Roswell Park received an anonymous letter raising concerns about how its employees of color were treated, it hired an outside firm to investigate. The hospital won't release the findings.

Roswell Park board members are appointed by New York State officials. The governor appoints the board chair, who "shall serve a term of three years unless required to serve longer by the governor," the bylaws state.

Residency questions

Where Joseph owns properties also raised questions about whether he remained eligible to serve on the Roswell Park board.

Joseph owns a home on Sultans Court in Amherst. But he is not an active voter in Erie County, according to the county Board of Elections.

He last voted here in 2011, the board reported.

Instead, Joseph has been a registered voter in Palm Beach County, Fla., since April 2018. He voted there in person in the 2018 general election and by absentee ballot in the 2020 and 2022 elections, records show.

Joseph and his wife, Roberta, previously lived in a custom-built home in Palm Beach that they sold for $10.5 million in May 2021, according to the Real Deal news site. That September, they paid $15.9 million for a waterfront mansion in West Palm Beach, the site reported.

Several factors go into determining legal residency, including voting history and the address used when filing income taxes.

There is no reference to residency in the bylaws for Roswell Park's board of directors.

A hospital spokesperson said Joseph followed state Public Officers Law, which requires a board director to be a resident at the time of appointment.

However, the head of the state agency that oversees New York's public authorities said board members vacate their seat if they are no longer a resident of the state. This is another provision of the state Public Officers Law, said Jeffrey H. Pearlman, director of the state Authorities Budget Office.

It's up to the board itself to monitor the status of its members and, if the board determines a member resides out of state, the board must disclose this to the appointing agency, Pearlman said. In Joseph's case, that would be the governor's office.

"An automatic vacancy is created when that individual is no longer a resident of New York," Pearlman said.

News Washington Bureau Chief Jerry Zremski and News Staff Reporter Sandra Tan contributed to this story.
I, Maxwell Maundy - Author/Writer/Activist/Columnist - and concerned citizens of Ketu North Constituency in the Volta Region of Ghana have been saddened by a sudden development in the impasse of the Parliamentary Primaries of Ketu North Constituency held on Saturday 13th May 2023.

As at the close of elections, officials of the Electoral Commission who presided over Ketu North election declared Messers Edem Agbana and John Adanu as candidates with maximum votes of 358 each, and announced a re-run of the election.

However, on Monday 15th May, news got round that the two Parliamentary finalists of Ketu North have been summoned to a hearing at the Party national Headquarters on Tuesday the 16th of May 2023.

At about Five o'clock in the evening, we started seeing notices on some Party platforms:

"Breaking news

After a hearing conducted into the events surrounding the parliamentary primaries in Ketu North constituency. And upon establishing that the two ballot papers had serial numbers corresponding to the serial numbers in the ballot booklet assigned to the constituency.

The Committee chaired by the National Chairman, Hon Asiedu Nketiah together with the General Secretary, Hon Fiifi Fiavi Kwetey and the National Organizer, Joseph Yammin, has declared Edem Agbana as the duly elected parliamentary candidate for Ketu North.

Edem Agbana was represented by Edudzi Kudzo Tameklo as his lawyer. Elikplim Agbemava as lawyer for John Adanu."

Various online portals began publishing the hearing and it outcome. Citi TV and TV3 carried it in their evening news bulletin on the day.

Reading and listening to news coverage of the outcome of the hearing at the national Headquarters, many questions have been raging in the minds of the discerning citizens and delegates of Ketu North Constituency. Amongst these are:

1. Were officials of the Electoral Commission present at the hearing?

2. Can Party executives rewrite the rules governing validity of a ballot paper in an election conducted by the Electoral Commission?

3. How can Party Executives overrule a decision by the Electoral Commission of Ghana?

4. What legal mandate has Party executives to declare a winner in an election conducted by the Electoral Commission?

5. Are we not setting a bad precedence if we allow this gorilla tactics or Animal Farm ruling to stay?

Point of notice on the candidature of Edem Agbana

Mr. Edem Agbana is currently a member of the National Communications Team of the Party, having served in the immediate past administration as Deputy National youth Organizer.

In the recently held national Chairmanship elections of the Party, Mr Edem Agbana served as spokesperson for Hon. Johnson Asiedu Nketiah, who eventually won the Chairmanship race.

With this background in mind, it is no secret that Edem Agbana is well connected at the national level of the Party hierarchy. In fact, the Party National Headquarters where the ruling took place, is Edem Agbana's office.

Isn't it therefore a matter of concern for an election dispute involving Edem Agbana to be presided over by Party Chairman Asiedu Nketiah, whom Edem Agbana served as a spokesperson for?

Is it the case of "scratch my back, and I scratch yours"? Is this not a clear case of conflict of interest?

There is an extreme anger brewing amongst the youth and delegates of Ketu North Constituency over the gorilla tactics employed by national executives to declare Edem Agbana as winner of Ketu North Parliamentary Primaries.

We would therefore like to send a very strong message to the National Executives to rescind the so-called Animal Farm ruling declaring Edem Agbana as the purported winner of Ketu North Parliamentary Primaries, and allow the due process of the law to prevail.

We - the youth of Ketu North Constituency - would humbly plead with National Executives not to take us for granted. We would like to state emphatically that, it would be in the best interest of Party to allow the Electoral Commission to do its job, and conduct a run-off, as was earlier announced by the EC, and widely publicized.

We would also present a petition to the Electoral Commission of Ghana on the matter. Citizens of ketu North would urge the Electoral Commission not to allow Party executives to overrule its earlier ruling on the Ketu North Primaries.

We would resist attempt by Party National Executives to favour a candidate. The distinguished delegates of Ketu North who voted on 13th May 2023, are the same delegates who will be voting for the run-off. We therefore insist on the run-off as announced by the EC for clear determination of the will of the people of Ketu North.

Maxwell Maundy - Member, Concerned Citizens of Ketu North
The ruling New Patriotic Partys Director of Elections, Evans Nimako, has hailed the Supreme Courts declaration of the Assin North 2020 parliamentary election as null and void.

In Mr. Nimakos view, the decision by the apex court is a vindication of the partys long-held position that Mr Gyakye Quayson was not qualified to be a Member of Parliament since he had dual citizenship prior the the polls.

The Supreme Court in a unanimous decision on Wednesday, May 17, ordered Parliament to expunge the name of James Gyakye Quayson from its records as a Member of Parliament for the Assin North constituency.

This follows a judgment of the apex court upholding an application invoking the original jurisdiction of the Supreme Court on the constitutionality of the election of James Gyakye Quayson.

Speaking to Citi News Court correspondent, Hanson Agyemang, the Director of Elections for the NPP, Evans Nimako, said the Supreme Court has vindicated the position of the NPP.

He added that the party will meet its legal team and decide on the next line of action.

He added that the NPP is ready for a by-election in Assin North if the Electoral Commission commences processes for same.

We have always held the position that he [Mr. Quayson] was not qualified, and the Supreme Court has said so. We will meet our lawyers and decide our next line of action.

Lawyer for the plaintiff, Frank Davies after the court hearing also expressed appreciation indicating that the orders of the court are in line with upholding the sanctity of the constitution.

Background In November 2020, a group calling itself 'Concerned Citizens of Assin North petitioned the Electoral Commission in the Central Region to withdraw the candidature of Mr. Quayson, arguing that he owes allegiance to Canada.

James Gyakye Quayson, who stood on the tick of the National Democratic Congress as its parliamentary candidate in the Assin North constituency for the 2020 polls got 17,498 votes representing (55.21%) while Abena Durowaa Mensah, the New Patriotic Party's candidate had 14,193 representing (44.79%).

Michael Ankomah-Nimfa, a teacher and resident of Yamoransa in the Central Region, subsequently filed a petition at the Cape Coast High Court after the election seeking to annul the declaration of Mr. Quayson as the MP Assin North.

The Cape Coast High Court in the Central Region upheld Mr. Akomah-Ninfa's request and declared the 2020 parliamentary election held in the Assin North Constituency as null and void because Mr Quayson breached the provisions of the constitution with regard to dual citizenship.

Mr. Quayson subsequently appealed the judgment, at the Court of Appeal in Cape Coast.

Article 94 (2) says a person shall not be qualified to be a member of Parliament if he owes allegiance to a country other than Ghana.

The matter later was sent to the Supreme Court.

Supreme Court dismisses Assin North MP's application for Article 94 interpretation

The Supreme Court in March 2020 unanimously dismissed an application filed by James Gyakye Quayson to quash a decision of the Court of Appeal not to refer article 94 (2) (a) to the Supreme Court for interpretation.

The five-member panel, also dismissed by a majority decision of 3-2, another application from Mr. Quayson for a stay of appeal proceedings at the Appellate Court and for referral of Article 94 (2) (a) of the 1992 Constitution to the Supreme Court for interpretation.

The panel at the time was composed of Justices Gabriel Pwamang as President, Agnes Dordzie, Gertrude Torkornoo, Clemence Honyenuga, and Yonny Kulendi.

 Citi Newsroom
Guinea's ruling junta said troops had been ordered to support police ahead of impending protests, and threatened law-breakers with tough prison terms under anti-terrorism legislation.

The chronically unstable West African state has been run by the military since 2021, when President Alpha Conde, the country's first freely-elected leader, was overthrown.

In a statement late Tuesday on the eve of two days of rallies announced by the opposition, Territorial Administration Minister Mory Conde warned demonstrators could unleash "urban warfare" and "impose terror using unprecedented violence."

"We have taken the step of legally requisitioning, as of May 15, 2023, the use of the armed forces to support the police and gendarmerie facing difficulties in maintaining and restoring public order," he said in a statement read on state TV.

He threatened the use of anti-terrorist laws, which include life sentences, against anyone who sought to "intimidate, provoke a situation of terror, create insecurity in the public" or foment "a crisis situation."

The military took power on the back of protests against Conde after he pushed for a third term in office, a move that critics said breached the constitution.

The junta has promised, in the face of international pressure, to restore civilian rule by the end of 2024, purportedly to give it enough time to carry out institutional reforms.

But it has arrested a number of opposition leaders and instigated prosecutions against others, and last year banned all demonstrations.

The opposition is protesting against the crackdown and pressing for dialogue with the region's bloc, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).

Mediation efforts by religious leaders to broker a dialogue have failed. Protests in the troubled country have a long history of turning deadly and being violently repressed.
A public lecture at the University of Media, Arts and Communication highlighted the complex issues in regulating hate speech and fake news.

Dr. Venkat Lyer, a barrister-at-law from Northern Ireland said criminalizing hate speech will be difficult due to problems in defining it, identifying its dangers, and cultural sensitivities.

He said while regulating hate speech may be well-intentioned, authorities must consider its potential impact on freedom of expression.

Dr. Lyer explained, "Merely causing offence should not be a ground for banning hate speech because some speech leads to positive effects."

Instead, he advocated for education and adherence to ethical principles to address the issue.

Justice Kofi Samuel Date-Bah, chair of the event and a former Supreme Court judge in Ghana and The Gambia, said addressing hate speech "involves a process of discussion, taking into account the basics to arrive at a conclusion which reflects our culture and does not defeat freedom of speech."

The public lecture provided a forum for stakeholders to discuss growing calls to regulate hate speech and fake news, and the complex challenges such regulation poses.

While the speakers agreed regulation may be needed, they highlighted the risks to free expression.

Education, ethics and dialogue were seen as more effective mean to long-term solutions.
A senior lecturer at the University of Ghana, Prof. Ransford Gyampo, is calling for disciplinary action against outspoken MP Muntaka Mubarak for attacking the National Democratic Congress leadership.

Muntaka Mubarak retained his Asawase seat in the May 13 NDC primaries but has been lashing out at the party's leadership for perceived unfairness during the process.

He alleged that some national executives campaigned for his opponent to unseat him.

He also criticized how the election venue was chosen without consultation.

Though he won the election, Muntaka said he will not forgive the "injustices" and called on NDC flagbearer John Mahama to address the resulting party divisions.

Reacting to this, Prof. Ransford Gyampo said in a Facebook post on Wednesday, May 17, called for disciplinary measures to stop Muntaka's criticism of the party leadership.

The political science expert argued a more discreet approach would be more politically prudent.

"I think Muntakas haughtiness must be tamed. His long association with Iddrisu Haruna must teach him that sometimes, silence and meekness, even when one is right, and has a genuine case, is politically golden, he wrote.

Meanwhile, a Deputy General Secretary of the NDC, Mustapha Gbande has slammed Muntaka along with two other MPs for airing their grievances publicly instead of using internal party channels.

He criticized Muntaka Mubarak, Sam George and Felix Kwakye Ofosu for publicly calling for sanctions against national executives who allegedly interfered in the primaries.
Up to one in four African girls have their first child before the age of 18. Becoming a mother at such a young age can lead to mental health problems like depression. Research suggests that pregnant and parenting teenagers have poorer mental health than adult mothers.

Several factors make teenage mothers vulnerable to mental illness. For example, in conservative societies pregnant, unmarried adolescent girls are shamed and excluded. Parenting is stressful. Early and unintended pregnancy can add to the pressure. Moreover the loss of childhood can overwhelm and distress adolescent girls.

Adolescent mothers from poor homes and communities are at even higher risk of depression. These girls experience social inequality, chronic stress, violence and food insecurity. When teenagers become mothers, their adversities are compounded.

Several studies have looked at drivers of depression among adolescents in general. But there is scant attention to the mental wellbeing of pregnant and parenting adolescent girls in Africa. Scant research means limited programme or intervention focus. Limited attention means there is a missed opportunity to address poor mental health in this group. Pregnant and parenting adolescents face different challenges from their peers who are not pregnant or parenting.

Our recent study estimates the level of probable depression among pregnant and parenting girls in Burkina Faso in West Africa and Malawi in southern Africa. We chose these countries because they showed potential for policy change around adolescent sexual and reproductive health.

We used the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 , the tool used in diagnosing depression. But only a clinician can ultimately decide if an individual has depression. We thus classify those in this study who met the clinical criteria for depression as probably depressed.

We explored the factors associated with a higher likelihood of depression. We found that depression was highest among girls who experienced sexual, emotional and physical violence from their partners; whose partners denied paternity or refused to provide any support; who received no support from their community; who described their neighbourhood as unsafe.

Our study showed that the prevalence of probable depression in Burkina Faso was 18.8%. In Malawi it was 14.5%. But cases of depression were undiagnosed and untreated. This could have dire implications for the health and wellness of the girls and their babies.

Our study

We interviewed 980 adolescent girls in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, and 669 girls in Blantyre, Malawi in 2021. We asked them how often they had faced the following problems over the last two weeks: having little interest or pleasure in doing things; feeling down or hopeless; having insomnia or oversleeping; fatigue; loss of appetite or over-eating; having low self-esteem; trouble concentrating; restlessness or slowness; and negative self-thoughts, including self-harm.

We also collected information on the girls' families, partners and neighbourhoods.

Burkina Faso:

Birth status was the only individual factor associated with probable depression in Burkina Faso. Girls who had already given birth were 35% less likely to report depression compared to girls currently pregnant. This group of girls might have had time to develop coping mechanisms after experiencing the disappointment of early and unintended pregnancy.

Girls exposed to intimate partner violence were twice as likely to report depression compared to those who were not.

One key result of our study in Burkina Faso was that paternity denial was a major risk factor for depression among young girls. Paternity denial brings shame to the girl. It also means she receives no support from her partner in taking care of the child, unlike her married counterparts. Acceptance of paternity can help girls deal with the disappointment of becoming pregnant too early and the fear of facing shame and child upbringing alone. Girls whose partners denied paternity were blamed for sleeping around and their children were deemed illegitimate. The pressure from parents on the girls to identify the person responsible for their pregnancy could result in girls' prolonged sadness and loss of interest in living.

Consistent with previous research , we found that girls who got support from their parents and partners were shielded from depression. Having access to support within the community was related to a lower likelihood of depression. Also, having goodwill from neighbours and the community was linked to a lower likelihood of depression.

Malawi:

Having secondary education level was substantially linked to a lower likelihood of reporting depression in Malawi. The explanation for this is likely that girls with some secondary education may be more optimistic about future job prospects than girls with no or simply elementary education. Other research done in Malawi has shown education as having a protective effect against depression. Generally, higher education in Malawi is associated with more favourable employment possibilities than having no schooling or only primary schooling.

Exposure to intimate partner violence was associated with a higher risk of depression.

Here, too, we found that girls who got support from their parents and partners were shielded from depression. Young mothers need a lot of support to navigate their new role as parents. Childcare can be tedious even for adults, and requires a lot of money, which these girls lack. Having access to adequate support from parents and partners can lessen the burden of childcare and help girls build their resilience, determination and self-esteem. Girls who considered their neighbourhood to be safe were less likely to report depression.

Thinking ahead

Depression is common among pregnant or parenting adolescent girls.

Because depression can harm a girl's health, routine depression screenings at prenatal and postpartum visits are crucial.

Health systems should be strengthened by governments and developmental partners to develop and provide therapy that addresses all areas of vulnerabilities linked to depression in pregnant and parenting girls.

Anthony Idowu Ajayi receives funding from SIDA and IDRC. He is affiliated with African Population and Health Research Center.

Elita Chamdimba is affiliated with Centre for Social Research, UNIMA and University of Strathclyde.

By Anthony Idowu Ajayi, Associate research scientist, African Population and Health Research Center And

Elita Chamdimba, Research fellow, Centre for Social Research, University of Malawi
Less than 10% of the workers in sub-Saharan Africa save for old age, the lowest rate for any region in the world. That implies most of the breadwinners today won't be able to afford basic items after retirement. A pension plan is meant to commit employers to make regular savings so that employees will continue to earn after retirement. The Conversation Africa asked Owen Nyang'oro, a financial economist, about Africa's pensions and why they need to be fixed.

What's the state of sub-Saharan Africa's pension savings?

In a recent study of retirement savings in sub-Saharan Africa (other than the francophone countries), we established that the continent's pension funds are diverse in architecture, coverage and performance. But they mostly lag behind in reforms compared to other regions. Pension savings are also low compared to other regions. Only 19.8% of people above statutory retirement age receive a pension in sub-Saharan Africa, and just 8.9% of the labour force is covered by pension schemes . This is much lower than the global average where 77.5% of people above statutory age and 53.7% of workers have pension coverage.

Pension schemes in sub-Saharan African countries are characterised by low contributions due to low earnings, high informality, high financial illiteracy levels and lack of proper information about the benefits of adequate contributions for future pension withdrawals.

Market data shows that South Africa, with pension fund assets valued at about US$330.3 billion in 2019 (latest country update), is the continent's top performer in absolute terms. Nigeria, which had assets worth US$32.6 billion, Kenya with US$13.7 billion and Namibia with US$13.3 billion were the other top pension savers in 2021.

Countries with low pension savings at the end of 2021 included Mozambique with US$224 million, Zambia (US$745 million) and Angola (US$861 million).

But in proportion to the size of the economy , the best performers in 2019 included Namibia (95.4%), South Africa (82.6%) and Botswana (51.9%). Angola, Mozambique, Zambia, Nigeria and Ghana trailed with pension assets below 10% of their gross domestic product.

Generally, Africa's pension assets are very small compared to the 2021 retirement funds of say, the United States (US$40.0 trillion) or the United Kingdom (US$3.8 trillion).

What's peculiar about Africa's population?

The majority of the population is young and fertility rates are high. The old-age dependency ratio (the number of elderly people for every economically active person) is low compared to other regions, averaging 5.5 in 2022 , and the ageing population is small but increasing. The annual population growth rate in sub-Saharan Africa was 2.5% in 2022, which is more than three times the global annual average of 0.8% .

With much younger populations and relatively high population growth rates , the number of dependants in sub-Saharan African countries is increasing at a slightly faster rate, and over time the numbers of elderly people needing social support will also rise. It is projected that the number of elderly persons in the region will grow at annual rates above 3% between 2022 and 2050 .

The concern is that only one in five people of pensionable age receives an old-age pension compared to over three in four people globally.

High levels of unemployment and the large size of the informal sector  which accounts for over 89.2% of the labour work force  mean that the elderly will continue to face income challenges. Households are also becoming smaller and changing from multi-generational (made up of grandparents, parents, children and grandchildren) which offer social support to the elderly, to skipped-generation (where grandparents live with grandchildren in the absence of parents) or one-generation (where the elderly live by themselves).

What are the benefits of a good pension system?

The primary goal of pension savings is to provide income and livelihood in old age. However, pension savings can also be mobilised to finance productive activities and improve living standards.

The continent's annual infrastructure funding gap (the difference between resources required and what's available) is estimated at between US$68 billion and US$108 billion. Resources to meet the infrastructure gap could be mobilised from pension funds. This requires good governance and removal of any regulatory obstacles. Pension funds can also support development of capital markets and improve ease of trade in the capital market through their investment activities.

Pension funds can also reduce public borrowing, and improve efficiency of the labour market by creating incentives for formalisation of businesses.

How should countries improve pension savings?

African governments can boost pension savings in four ways:

Increase pension participation and coverage by including the unemployed and those in the informal sector. This could be achieved through a targeted universal pension scheme and greater financial literacy. The countries should have a mix of universal schemes and schemes with payroll deductions and employer contributions.

Bundling pensions with other products. Bundling pensions with other products such as life insurance cover, and even matching contributions to encourage greater participation and long-term savings in pension funds. Favourable tax considerations can also enhance the growth of contributions and assets of pension funds.

Use of technology. Leverage innovations in digital technology to increase pension savings. The region accounts for 53% of active mobile money accounts in 2021 . Use of digital technology could increase coverage, especially in the informal sector. It can make enrolment and contribution to pension funds easier.

Review regulatory frameworks of the pension sector to open it up to the unserved population. There is also a need to streamline management of pensions and minimise costs of administration, especially for private pensions. This will allow pension funds to extend investments to other assets, including foreign ones, to improve returns.

Sub-Saharan African countries are likely to gain from a well-developed pension system that provides adequate income to the elderly. This will in turn reduce the need for social protection, provide financing for infrastructure development, and support the development of capital markets.

All this calls for deliberate reforms to facilitate growth of pension savings. Countries should prioritise pensions within their development plans, address informality in the labour market and take advantage of technological advancements and the youthful population.

A well-developed pension system will improve the region's financial stability through reduced budgetary strain as funds become available for development. It could also open up capital markets and improve the labour market, thus leading to growth.

The article is based on a study prepared within the United Nations University World Institute for Development Economics Research (UNU-WIDER) project: "The domestic savings shortfall in developing countries - what can be done about it?" which is part of the Domestic Revenue Mobilisation programme financed through specific contributions by the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad).

By Owen Nyang'oro, Lecturer, University of Nairobi
In its usual dramatic fashion, the Cannes Film Festival set the tone on Tuesday night with an honorary award for Michael Douglas. The spectators were then treated to a trip to the Chateau de Versailles for the opening film "Jeanne du Barry", by actress and director Maiwenn who is living proof that fairytales really can come true.

Cannes is a place where dreams are made. A gathering place for celebrities, aspiring actors, technicians, directors and their fans. Careers are launched, reputations made or unmade, and lucky encounters occur. The world of cinema promises a glamourous life both on and off screen.

But it is not an easy path, as French director Maiwenn Le Besco (who only goes by her first name) will tell you.

Maiwenn explores the theme of rags to riches in her film "Jeanne du Barry", playing the lead role opposite Johnny Depp as King Louis XV.

It's her sixth feature, and her fifth time to be screened at the Cannes festival since 2011. Her film "Polisse" won the Jury Prize in 2011.

"So many things inspired me about Jeanne's story like the fact she came from a humble, working class background. There's definitely a fairytale aspect to her story," Maiwenn told RFI ahead of the screening.

"I could see that she was the 'Pretty Woman' of the 18th century. In a way it's a portrait of my own life, that's why I wanted to play her," she says, adding that the story had been on her radar for the past 15 years.

"I recognise myself in her personality and her experiences. Her curiosity for culture, her thirst for life and not wanting to be tamed and sophisticated".

Wit and charm

Born Jeanne Vaubernier, daughter of a household cook, she understands quickly that with charm and wit, she can take her destiny into her own hands and gain financial freedom. She becomes a courtesan to the King, a role that is not without its own personal cost.

"I wanted the film to feel like a story, I nearly started the narration with 'once upon a time'. In fairytales, there are the good and evil characters, and there's lots of jealousy," she explains, underlining the parallel with her own experience.

"Versailles could be a metaphor for the world of cinema, an industry that for a long time was condescending to me," she says.

"When I started, people would tell me that's not the way things were done," rather like Jeanne who is constantly scrutinized and detested by the royal entourage. At each turn, she is confronted by a paradox  the choice to remain her own boss and wanting to be accepted and loved by the court.

Just like Jeanne, Maiwenn says she learnt to impose her vision and way of doing things and people gradually began to warm to her unconventional ideas.

Gamble pays off

It was for example a gamble on her part to chose an American to play a French king. She told journalists that she asked French actors but they were busy or not interested. Her dream was to the ask Johnny Depp. She gave it a shot and he said yes. You never know until you try so they say.

Depp does remarkably well speaking French without coming across as corny. Admittedly, he doesn't have tons of dialogue, but what he says is done with simple effectiveness. It is stately, refined, fit for a king. Depp's natural charisma accompanied by his stormy eyes and his subtle mocking expressions do the rest.

He is also surrounded by an excellent cast, notably Benjamin Lavernhe as close royal aide La Borde and Pierre Richard as the Duke de Richelieu.

It is a modern twist to a chapter in history and Maiwenn says she deliberately used contemporary dialogues rather than try to stay in keeping with style of the day. This works to her advantage as it allows for comic interludes and 'quiproquo'. She worked with historians to get the details right but never tried to conform to a scholarly rendition of the era.

"A filmmaker needs to be free to express the story through their own eyes," she says.

Emotional speeches

All in all, the opening soiree lived up to its star-studded reputation, with a good dose of red carpet photos, a touch of dolce vita with a song performed in Italian by hostess Chiara Mastroianni and a moving performance by The Gabriels and "Stand by Me".

Michael Douglas was warmly received on stage by Uma Thurman to accept an honorary award for his career. He humbly pointed out a few highlights of his own story and got a few laughs when he admitted to being surprised that he'd made it so far. "I'm older than the festival" he quipped.

He finished his speech by thanking France, in a historical as well as cinematic sense. "Je vous embrasse, avec tout mon coeur".

Mastroianni then introduced her mother, actress Catherine Deneuve, the face of this year's Cannes poster, who paid homage to Ukraine emotionally quoting the poet Lessia Oukrainka.

It was the only reference made to Ukraine so far in the lead-up to the festival, in stark contrast to last year when President Volodymr Zelensky made an impassioned speech during the ceremony and numerous homages were made to Ukrainian cinema.

Follow RFI's coverage of the Cannes Film Festival here
Asantehene Otumfuo Osei Tutu II says he will be collaborating with King Charles III of the United Kingdom to reclaim lands that have been destroyed by illegal mining activities in Ghana.

The Asantehene disclosed this at the launch of the 2023 edition of the Green Ghana Day held in Kumasi today, Wednesday, 17 May 2023.

He said he had a discussion with King Charles III when he attended his coronation in London about land reclamation in Ghana.

During the private discussion, Otumfuo said, King Charles III accepted to collaborate with him to reclaim lands destroyed by galamsey activities in the country.

Otumfuo said his technical team together with King Charles' team will meet to formulate a policy to embark on the land reclamation.

When I attended the coronation of King Charles III whose number one legacy is perhaps his commitment to afforestation, reforestation and the fight against climate change, interestingly, my discussions with him were on land reclamation in Ghana and we had some private discussions and he has accepted to collaborate with me for us to do that, the Asantehene said that.

He added he [King Charles III] has directed his technical team to meet mine so we can direct a policy to meet for that to help Ghana reclaim some of our land that has been destroyed by galamsey.

Classfmonline.com
Communications Team member of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP), Alfred Thompson has noted that the NPP government is working to deal with the current economic crisis.

This was after admitting that what the ruling NPP promised Ghanaians to win power is not what is being delivered now.

Speaking to GTV on the Breakfast Show, Alfred Thompson argued that the government has been challenged due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war.

He appealed to Ghanaians to support government in this difficult times to turn things around.

Definitely what we [NPP] promised is not what is happening now but it is a global phenomenon and were working to bring the economy back on track, Alfred Thompson said.

Meanwhile, the NPP Communications Team member says he will be shocked if the NPP loses the 2024 General Election.

He argues that his party knows the weakness of NDC flagbearer John Dramani Mahama and will capitalise on it to ensure he loses the election.

We [NPP] are happy John Mahama has won. We know him so well, we know his weak points.

Id be very surprised if we lose the 2024 elections, Alfred Thompson insisted.
Free press advocates were shocked in October when a Buffalo judge ruled that Starbucks workers and union representatives would have to hand over to the company all documents and recordings they had of their conversations with reporters about unionizing stores in Buffalo.

But Friday, a National Labor Relations Board administrative law judge decided that the subpoenas for those documents and recordings violated the National Labor Relations Act.

"The employees strong interest in keeping their union activities confidential outweighs [Starbucks'] need for the information," wrote Charles J. Muhl, the administrative law judge, in his decision.

Starbucks told the court it wanted the documents so it could show it was not the company's activities, but the union's publicizing of them, that negatively affected union organizing.

In the fall, Federal District Court Judge John L. Sinatra Jr. sided with Starbucks and ordered the Starbucks Workers United union and workers to release several kinds of information to Starbucks Corp., including all documented communication with news reporters.

But Muhl ordered Starbucks to withdraw its requests for the information.

"The requests are seeking to determine what the unions strategy was for employee communications with the media that would support the organizing campaign and what information employees ultimately communicated to the media," Muhl wrote. "That information would not bolster [Starbucks'] defense."

The judge cited Starbucks' argument that the documents would establish that the union is pushing a false narrative about Starbucks for the purpose of motivating potential voters to support the union.

"Even if true, that information likewise is irrelevant to whether reasonable cause exists that the respondent violated the Act or employee support for the Union was impacted by the respondents unfair labor practices," Muhl wrote.

Free press advocates 'alarmed' by Buffalo judge's ruling in Starbucks case A Buffalo judge has ruled that Starbucks workers and union representatives must hand over to the company all documents and recordings they have of their conversations with the media about unionizing stores in Buffalo. That concerns free press advocates, who note that communications between reporters and sources are usually respected as privileged and private.

The union filed a charge against Starbucks with the National Labor Relations Board for subpoenaing the information. A complaint was issued and the matter went to trial, ending in Friday's decision.

"Effectively, the NLRB judge is saying that the Starbucks subpoenas violate the National Labor Relations Act. Those are the same subpoenas Judge Sinatra supported," said Cathy Creighton, director of Cornell University's School of Industrial Labor Relations Buffalo Co-Lab.

Workers and union representatives did not turn over any documents.

Free press advocates, including Creighton, had been disturbed by Sinatra's order, because the courts have traditionally respected communications between reporters and sources as privileged and private.

New York's Shield Law protects journalists from having to disclose confidential sources, but it doesn't cover individuals who may have been in contact with reporters.
Oliver Barker-Vormawor, a Ghanaian social activist and aspiring politician, has expressed his outrage over the alleged mistreatment of a man who allegedly insulted President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.

An Accra circuit court reportedly remanded the man on Wednesday, May 17 after a video of him insulting the president went viral.

Barker-Vormawor took to social media to vent his anger on the matter, claiming that the court's decision was based on the belief that the man's life would be in danger in the community because he had insulted the President.

In a tweet on Wednesday, May 17, Barker-Vormawor said remanding the man despite the lack of any criminal charges proved that Ghana has "weak men as judges, prosecutors and presidents."

He described the treatment of the man as yet another example of Ghana's failings as a democracy.

"If this isn't straight-up garbage logic and abuse of power, what is it? What kind of lawyers end up as judges in this town kraa?

Do we think police cells are hotels of convenience? What a stupid stupid little country, with weak men as judges, prosecutors and presidents?" he quizzed.
On a sandy lot below a Khartoum apartment building, helmetless Sudanese soldiers in a mishmash of uniforms raised their fists as machine gunners blasted away from atop two small trucks.

It was another day in a war which has not stopped for more than a month, and continued Wednesday, as the UN reported that more than 50 percent of the country's people needs aid.

"Today, 25 million people -- more than half the population of Sudan -- needs humanitarian aid and protection," Ramesh Rajasingham, head of the UN humanitarian agency's Geneva bureau, told reporters there.

"That is the highest number we have ever seen in the country," where one in three already relied on assistance before the war and millions had been displaced by previous conflicts.

In parts of the capital, long mounds of dirt are piled beside roads where military trenches have been dug. By - (AFP)

Around 1,000 people have been killed, mainly in and around Khartoum as well as the long-troubled western region of Darfur.

Nearly a million others have been displaced by the battles between army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and his former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, who leads the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

Analysts say neither side has been able to seize an advantage on the battlefield, which played out in one part of Khartoum on Tuesday.

Smoke mars a clear sky

In front of the five-storey apartment building, some soldiers stood casually with rocket-propelled grenade launchers and another danced about with a belt-fed machine gun on ground that appeared littered with dozens of spent large-calibre shell casings.

Soldiers shouted as machine guns spewed fire from atop a pickup truck, a small armoured car, and a tank beside some trees near a billboard for a car showroom.

The clear blue sky was marred only by faint dark smoke rising behind them.

In other parts of the capital, long mounds of dirt are piled beside roads where military trenches have been dug.

With bullets flying, Rajasingham said millions remained confined to their homes, unable to access basic services and health care.

More than 5,000 people have been injured.

In Africa's third-largest country, many areas remain untouched by the fighting but still suffer its effects, with soaring prices and shortages of fuel.

"Petrol is not available now and the price has increased on the black market. People can't transport their vegetables," said Abu Bakr Abdullah, 27, a farmer in River Nile state.

People queue in front of a bakery in southern Khartoum -- there are shortages of basic goods. By - (AFP)

Another farmer, Qamar al-Bashir, 52, complained that four years have passed since longtime autocrat Omar al-Bashir was toppled but "they have not been able to form a government".

A coup in 2021 by Burhan and Daglo derailed a fragile transition to civilian rule.

"Enough!" said the farmer. "You can't move the country forward, do you move it backwards? And at the end you take us to war for your own personal interests."

They "are losers", all of them, he said.

Last Thursday the warring sides signed in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, a commitment to respect humanitarian principles and allow in badly needed aid.

"However, reports of attacks continued and, on 12 May, violence in El Geneina reportedly escalated," a UN report said.

Toby Harward, of the UN's refugee agency, reported an "extremely disturbing" situation in El Geneina, the West Darfur capital.

Looting, destruction

Hundreds of civilians have been killed in militia attacks on residential areas and street battles between "community-aligned forces". There has also been looting and destruction at markets, camps for displaced people, and other locations, he wrote on Twitter.

In Khartoum North, a factory that produced food to treat malnourished children burned down, according to the UN children's fund.

Still, Rajasingham voiced hope the Jeddah agreement was having some effect.

He said fighters had pulled back from some of the health facilities previously occupied, and highlighted an uptick in aid deliveries.

"We do need much more," he said.

Much more money is needed too.

Street vendors in the Red Sea city of Port Sudan -- areas untouched by the fighting still suffer its effects, with soaring prices and fuel shortages. By - (AFP)

The UN said $2.56 billion is now expected to be required to provide assistance for 18 million people inside Sudan. That is up from the $1.75 billion estimated at the end of last year.

An additional $470.4 million would be needed to assist those fleeing the country, the UN's refugee agency said, adding that it was now planning for up to 1.1 million people to cross out of Sudan this year alone.

Just two weeks ago, the UNHCR had said it would need $445 million through October to address the needs of as many as 860,000 people who might flee the country.

"The crisis in Sudan is rapidly evolving into a regional crisis," Rajasingham said.

Sudan's war is expected to be a major agenda item during the Arab League summit on Friday in Saudi Arabia.

Heavyweights in the pan-Arab bloc are divided on Sudan, with Egypt supporting Burhan and the United Arab Emirates, according to experts, seen to be backing the RSF.
17.05.2023 LISTEN

The entire executives of the National Democratic Congress NDC in New York State has congratulated Hon. Phillis Naa Koryoo Okunor for winning the recent NDC primaries for the Awutu Senya East Constituency (ASEC) with a convincing margin.

In a statement signed by the Secretary Prof. Alhaji Baba Suwari assured Hon. Naa Koryoo who is also the spouse of New York state Branch Treasurer, Comrade Yusif Yunusah, its expresses commitment to organize and support her campaign in the 2024 elections to win back the parliamentary seat for the NDC.

The Executives of the NDC in New York urge all party members and executives to first and foremost, unite their ranks and campaign vigorously for her victory.

Below is the press release:

NEW YORK STATE NDC CONGRATULATES PHILLIS NAA KORYOO OKUNOR ON HER ELECTION AS NDC PARLIAMENTARY CANDIDATE FOR AWUTU SENYA EAST CONSTITUENCY

We the entire executives of the NDC New York State wish to congratulate HON. PHILLIS NAA KORYOO OKUNOR for winning the recent NDC primaries for the Awutu Senya East Constituency (ASEC) with a convincing margin.

We wish to assure Hon. Naa Koryoo who is also the spouse of our Branch Treasurer, Comrade Yusif Yunusah, that we stand committed to organize and support her campaign in the 2024 elections to win back, the coveted ASEC parliamentary seat for our dear party.

We urge all party members and executives to first and foremost, unite their ranks, and thereon to campaign vigorously for her victory and that of the next president of Ghana, John Dramani Mahama.

Congrats - NAA KORYOO!

Congrats! - HE. John D. Mahama!!

Congratulations to the NDC!!!

Together We Win!!!

Signed.

Prof Alhaji Baba Suwari

Secretary
17.05.2023 LISTEN

The UN marks the 75th anniversary of its creation on 26th June, the date on which the UN Charter was signed by the representatives of 50 countries in San Francisco, the United States of America. Since its inception, the UN has had a rather mixed record when it comes to fulfilling the purposes for which it was created. On balance, the UN as an inter-governmental organisation has stood the test of time despite the myriad challenges arising from its built-in structural imbalances and the continued attacks on the multilateral system that it represents. An area that stands out among the achievements of the UN is decolonisation.

Although the colonial powers at the time strongly opposed any reference in the UN Charter to self-determination or independence for colonised peoples and countries (Non-Self-Governing Territories in line with UN terminology), the process of liberation of colonised peoples was irresistible and irreversible. The adoption of UN General Assembly resolution 1514 (XV) on the Declaration on the Grating of Independence to Colonial countries and Peoples, on 14 December 1960, was a historic milestone that contributed significantly to accelerating the decolonisation process, which led to the increase of UN membership as more colonies acceded to independence.

Today peoples of many erstwhile colonies enjoy their freedom and independence, yet unfortunately colonialism is far from over. At present, there are 17 Non-Self-Governing Territories whose peoples have not yet exercised their right to self-determination and independence including Western Sahara, the last colony in Africa, on the UN list of Non-Self-Governing Territories since 1963. The decolonisation of Western Sahara however was thwarted when Morocco militarily invaded the Territory on 31 October 1975 in violation of UN resolutions and the ruling of the International Court of Justice(ICJ) on 16 October 1975, which held that no tie of territorial sovereignty had ever existed between Morocco and Western Sahara.

Moroccos military occupation of Western Sahara stroke at the heart of two fundamental principles of the existing international order, namely peoples right to self-determination and the inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by force. However, the Security Council, which has primary responsibility, under the UN Charter, for the maintenance of international peace and security, did not take any decisive action against Morocco for reasons related mainly to realpolitik. This is obviously not the place to engage critically with realpolitik and its dogmatic acceptance of power as the fundamental determinant of international politics, among other things. There is no denying the fact, however, that its doctrinaire power-centred approach in policy making has caused (and continues to cause) so much instability and insecurity in many parts of the world.

Even after approving the UN-OAU Settlement Plan for Western Sahara, which was solemnly accepted by both parties, the Frente POLISARIO and Morocco, in August 1988, the Security Council has frequently failed to exercise its authority to ensure the implementation of the plan. As a result, after 29 years since the establishment of the UN Mission in Western Sahara, MINURSO, the self-determination referendum for the Sahrawi people, which was scheduled to be held in 1992, has not yet taken place due to several reasons. First, Morocco sought to determine the result of the referendum in advance by transferring thousands from Morocco proper into occupied Western Sahara and insisting that they should be included in the voting lists. Second, the passivity and ambivalence with which the Security Council confronted Moroccos defying attitude, especially when Morocco expressed unwillingness to go forward with the Settlement Plan in 2002.

Third, the attempts by some quarters to accommodate in some way the Moroccan position by searching for supposedly political solutions based on compromise as if the UN-OAU Settlement Plan had not been the mutually acceptable political and compromise-based solution par excellence. The fact that Morocco has reneged on its commitments under the UN-OAU Settlement Plan for fear of the free and democratic expression of the Sahrawi people (a fact that attests to the undemocratic nature of the ruling regime in Morocco) cannot be an argument to invalidate the mutually accepted peace plan or the referendum as a democratic process for conflict resolution.

The passive and the ambivalent approach with which the Security Council, under the influence of some of its members, has managed the UN peace process in Western Sahara over the past decades has only exacerbated the conflict situation and hampered the quest for a peaceful and enduring solution. In this context, the root cause of the continued irresolution of the conflict of Western Sahara, in my view, still lies in the tension between some approaches based on the doctrine of realpolitik on the one hand, and the right of colonised peoples to self-determination and independence on the other.

Even the recent attempts to reconcile these contrasting positions could not resist the influence of realpolitik, resulting in self-contradictory and confusing approaches. A prime example of these is reflected in the Security Council recent calls on the two parties, the Frente POLISARIO and Morocco, to achieve a realistic, practicable and enduring political solution based on compromise on the one hand, and to enter into negotiations without preconditions in good faith with a view to achieving a just, lasting, and mutually acceptable political solution, which will provide for the self-determination of the people of Western Sahara on the other.

This type of destructive ambiguity "that is manifest in Security Council recent resolutions has only created more confusion even for Council members and has given Morocco more room of manoeuvre to persist in its policy of procrastination and obstruction.

Without a doubt, direct negotiations between the two parties are essential for reaching a peaceful and sustainable solution to the conflict. In fact, the UN-OAU Settlement Plan came as a result of a series of negotiations between the two parties and the United Nations. However, as I have pointed out on several occasions, calling upon the two parties to engage in negotiations to achieve a realistic, practicable and mutually acceptable political solution, which will provide for the self-determination of the people of Western Sahara is incompatible with the principles and rules governing the right of colonial peoples to self-determination.

All UN relevant resolutions and legal doctrine, including the ICJ advisory opinion on Western Sahara of 1975, affirm that the essence of the right of colonial peoples to self-determination is a democratic process by which the will of the people concerned is expressed in an informed, free and genuine manner. This means that the will of the people of Western Sahara, the sole holder of the right to self-determination, must be expressed without any foreign interference of any kind.

The expression must also be genuine and direct through the internationally established democratic processes of which the referendum is a widely used process as, for instance, was shown by the case of East Timor that had many similarities with the Western Sahara situation. The self-contradictory approach to self-determination remains the underlying cause of the impasse currently facing the UN peace process in Western Sahara. This situation is compounded by Moroccos categorical refusal to engage in any UN-supervised direct negotiations to achieve a peaceful solution, despite its rhetoric and PR stunts.

As I have pointed out on several occasions, Moroccos strategic objective is to maintain the status quo and, therefore, its preferable option is the continued irresolution of the conflict.

Nevertheless, if some have accepted this status of affairs under the influence of realpolitik or other considerations, the Frente POLISARIO and the people of Western Sahara will never accept it. The Moroccan military invasion and illegal occupation of Western Sahara in 1975, regardless of its political and economic motives, also implied a denial of the existence of the Sahrawi people and their right to self-determination and independence.

The practical expression of this denial was the bombardment of Sahrawi civilians with napalm and white phosphorus and the scorched-earth policy pursued by Moroccan forces in Western Sahara. It is also reflected in the various forms of violence practiced nowadays against civilians in the occupied territories and the deliberate destruction of Sahrawi cultural heritage. The struggle waged by the Sahrawi people under the leadership of the Frente POLISARIO is therefore a struggle for defending their national identity and their legitimate right to exist as a free and sovereign people in their homeland.

The international community should know, from past and present experience, that undemocratic regimes, despite their apparent stability, are inherently unstable, particularly in the age of democracy, the rule of law and human and peoples rights. Those who are genuinely concerned about stability and security in North Africa should rethink their policies towards the region in general and Western Sahara issue in particular. In doing so, they should desist from viewing and addressing the issue exclusively from the vantage point of realpolitik or the balance of power politics in the name of which despotic regimes have oppressed many people and caused violent conflicts and insecurity in many parts of the world. The time has come for some quarters to realise that supporting the autocratic regime in Morocco is no guarantee of regional peace and stability in North Africa. The Security Council in particular should shoulder its responsibility and should not wait for the conflict situation in Western Sahara to deteriorate and become a serious source of instability in the region and beyond.

In conclusion, the legal and political nature of the issue of Western Sahara as a decolonisation case is unquestionably clear. Therefore, the question before the United Nations as it marks the 75th anniversary of its creation comes down to this: do we allow realpolitik and the rule of might makes right to prevail in the case of Western Sahara, and thus allow the Moroccan illegal occupation of parts of the Territory to continue with impunity, or do we defend the fundamental principles underpinning the existing international order and thus defend unreservedly the free and democratic exercise by the people of Western Sahara of their inalienable right to self-determination and independence in accordance with UN doctrine related to decolonisation? Without doubt, the might makes right rule cannot be an option, otherwise many peoples and countries, including UN Member States, would have remained under the yoke of colonialism and foreign occupation.

The only practicable option, therefore, is to allow the people of Western Sahara a democratic process by which to exercise freely and democratically their right to self-determination and independence. Basic democratic principles and rules of international law all support this legitimate aspiration, and it is now time the international community support it too not only in words but also in deeds.

Dr Sidi M. Omar

Frente POLISARIO Representative at the United Nations
French anti-terrorism magistrates have ordered 14 people, including six teenagers, to face trial over the brutal murder of high school teacher Samuel Paty in 2020.

Paty, who taught history and geography at a junior high school in Conflans-Sainte-Honorine, 40 kilometres northwest of Paris, was beheaded for having shown caricatures of the Prophet Mohamed to pupils in a lesson on free speech.

The killing, which was met with shock around the world, was carried out by 18-year-old Chechnya-born Abdullakh Anzorov, who was shot dead by police.

Prosecutors say two of Anzorov's friends accompanied him to buy a knife, one of whom had gone with him to the school. Six other adults will be tried for complicity in a terrorist act.

Five teenagers who were aged 14 and 15 at the time of the murder will appear before a juvenile court. They face five years in prison.

A schoolgirl, meanwhile, will be tried for slanderous denunciation.

The father of one of Paty's pupils, who started the social media campaign against the teacher even though his daughter was not in class when the cartoons were shown, has also been charged.

The father of the pupil reportedly exchanged messages with Anzorov via WhatsApp in the days leading up to the murder.

Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin has accused the father and the Islamist radical of having issued a fatwa against Paty.

Paying homage to Paty in 2020, French President Emmanuel Macron said the teacher was killed because he embodied the values of the French republic.
17.05.2023 LISTEN

An Accra High Court has given convicted William Ato Essien up to July 4, 2023, to pay outstanding money owed to the State as per the agreement with the Republic.

Justice Eric Kyei Baffour, a Court of Appeal Judge, sitting as an additional High Court Judge said, I will hasten slowly and adjourn the application to July 4, 2023.

He said: If indeed you need your freedom, you should honour the agreement before July 4.

The founder of the defunct Capital Bank was on December 13, last year, convicted and ordered to pay GH60 million to the State after entering into an agreement with the State under Section 35 of the Court's Act 1993, Act 459.

Having failed to fulfil the orders of the Court to pay the first instalment of GH20 million by the April 28 deadline, the State filed a motion for the Court to impose a custodial sentence on him.

The judge said, he had taken notice that the convict had taken steps to liquidate some assets in Essien's Swiss international holdings for, which he was the Sole Shareholder and was expecting huge sums of monies as he had indicated in the affidavit in opposition, which he had deposed to.

He said if indeed the depositions in the affidavit had been made bonafide, time would vindicate that.

Justice Kyei Baffour said he wanted to give the convict a lifeline and expressed the hope that he would do his best and recover the money for the State.

GNA
A Microbiologist of the Ankaful Psychiatric Hospital and the Central Region Chairman of the Ghana Association Of Medical Laboratory Scientists (GAMLS), Dr. Ekow Kuma Nelson has described high blood pressure as a silent killer.

According to him, it's a silent killer because it is asymptomatic - meaning it doesn't come with symptoms and it only becomes serious normally when the person least expects it with dire consequences.

Speaking on Central Morning Show on GBC Radio Central Wednesday, 17th May, 2023 as part of the 50th-anniversary celebration of GAMLS which coincides with World Hypertension Day Celebration, the Medical Laboratory Consultant revealed that statistically 1.28 billion adults worldwide between the ages of 30-79 have high blood pressure. Out of this number, 46% are unaware of their condition while 42% are diagnosed and treated.

Dr.Kumah further noted that about 600,000 cases of hypertension are recorded annually with fewer of these people in their older ages. He added that more of these patients were younger persons, sometimes in their 20s.

"Approximately 1 in 5 adults representing about 42% have it under control. It is the vision of WHO to reduce hypertension by 33% between 2010 to 2030", Dr. Nelson shared.

With reference to Ghana, he noted that 5.27 million are hypertensive. Out of this 34% are males whiles 30% are females.

In explaining why more men are hypertensive than women, Dr. Nelson Ekow Kumah said it can be associated with the Akan socio-cultural value system. "A value system where men are not allowed to hide emotions can be a contributing factor to high stress build-up which culminates into hypertension in more men than women.

The Medical Laboratory Consultant averred that in "our system men are not encouraged to cry even though situations can demand for same. In a situation where a woman would cry to get respite, men would rather not cry and all such bottle-up emotions build stress which can lead to pressure."

Another problem according to Dr. Nelson is the lack of rest for most men. "Our penchant to make a lot more money to cater for our insatiable needs causes most men to leave home very early and return late. This lack of sleep for a very long time piles up stress which could lead to high blood pressure."

He added, "Current risk factors which make an individual predisposed to have blood pressure issues are family history, obesity thus a situation where an individual has more weight than necessary, alcoholism is another risk factor, smoking, ageing, lack of exercise and excessive intake of sodium."

With the age bracket, the Central Region Chairman of GAMLS noted that the bracket has now become scary since it has reduced from adult age bracket to as young as 20 - 25 years. "This could be linked to sedentary lifestyles among the youth and bad eating habits in recent times," he stated.

He advised that when one begins to experience chest pains, dizziness, nausea, blared vision, anxiety, confusion and abnormal heart rhythm then the person should seek medical attention at the nearest health facility.

He underscored the fact that it is imperative for everyone to regularly check their pressure to know their status in order to remedy it before it becomes too late.

Dr. Nelson added that, as part of the 50th anniversary celebration of the Ghana Association of Medical Laboratory Scientists, the Central Regional Branch is in collaboration with the Kidney Research Initiative GHANA (KRI), Department of Medical Laboratory Science, UCC and the Department of Physicians Assistant Studies, UCC organized a free medical screening for the Cape Coast Metropolis to mark the World Hypertension Day.
A deal allowing Ukraine to export crops from key ports via the Black Sea is to be extended, according to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres welcomed the Turkish-brokered agreement to extend a pact to allow shipments of grain from Ukraine to the global market for another two months.

Quoted by the official Anadolu News Agency, Erdogan said: "The Black Sea grain corridor agreement has been extended for two more months."

Earlier in the day, Turkish officials, quoted by Bloomberg, said that Russia agreed to stay in the pact for now.

Guterres said the extension of the Black Sea initiative was crucial to ensure the safe passage of ships carrying grain from Ukraine through the Black Sea even as fighting rages between Russian and Ukrainian troops on land.

"These agreements matter for global food security; Ukrainian and Russian products feed the world," Guterres said.

Obstacles

On Wednesday morning, hours before Erdogan's announcement, Moscow had threatened to withdraw from the deal if obstacles to shipments of its own agricultural products weren't removed.

Quoted by Russia's Tass News Agency, the Russian foreign ministry's official spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova said that "Moscow will not change its position regarding the compliance with all conditions of the grain deal," adding that the agreement's implementation "is contingent on the safeguarding of Russia's interests, and the decision-making process will be based on this premise."

On Tuesday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov had specified that Russian concerns over its own exports of food and fertilisers was being impacted by Western sanctions. "There are a lot of unanswered questions regarding our part of the deal ... now we have to make a decision," he said.

The conflict between Russia and Ukraine, both major grain exporters, triggered fears of a global food crisis when major Ukrainian ports were blocked by Moscow's warships.

Russian concerns

In July 2022, the agreement allowing Ukrainian grain exports to restart was signed, as well as a parallel memorandum on unhindered Russian food and fertiliser exports.

Russia has however repeatedly threatened to withdraw from the deal, claiming that obstacles remain to its own food exports.

Moscow says the problems stem from secondary effects of Western sanctions on shipping and insurance companies as well as banks.

During recent talks in Istanbul, Turkish Defence Minister Hulusi Akar said: "We are heading toward an agreement on the extension of the grain deal."

Russia has laid out a list of conditions for it to agree to an extension, including allowing the Russian Agricultural Bank (Rosselkhozbank) to reconnect to the Swift payment system.

Supplies of agricultural machinery, spare parts and services also have to be resumed, and obstacles to granting Russian vessels insurance and access to foreign ports must be lifted, Russia said.

Moscow's conditions also include the resumption of ammonia exports for fertilisers through a major pipeline that goes through Ukraine.

(with newswires)
The Minority in Parliament has issued a press release to react to the Supreme Courts ruling on the election of James Gyakye Quayson as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Assin North.

The Supreme Court on Wednesday, May 17, ruled that the election of James Gyakye Quayson is null and void.

The apex court has directed Parliament to expunge the name of the now-former MP for Assin North from the records of the house.

In a press release from the Minority reacting to the ruling, the Minority described the Supreme Court ruling as a slap on the face of democracy and the rule of law.

While we are yet to study the reasoning of the court in making its decision, it appears to be a slap in the face of our democracy and the rule of law. We shall inform the public of our position upon reviewing the reasoning of the Court in arriving at its decision. We urge our rank and file to be calm while we pursue all legal avenues to ensure that justice is served, the release from the Minority signed by its Leader Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson said.

Meanwhile, the Minority insists that at the time of his election, James Gyakye Quayson was not a dual citizen, nor was he a dual citizen at the time he took the oath of office as a Member of Parliament.

Read the release from the Minority below:
Madina MP, Francis Xavier-Sossu has called for political action rather than legal action in response to the Supreme Court's ruling on the Assin North MP, James Gyakye Quayson.

In a unanimous decision on Wednesday, May 17, a seven-member panel of the court ruled that Mr. Quayson's election as Member of Parliament for Assin North was unconstitutional, null and void.

The court stated that the MP had failed to renounce his Canadian citizenship before filing his nomination, a contravention of the 1992 Constitution.

Lawyer Francis Xavier-Sossu, who is also a defense counsel for Mr. Quayson, was with the MP when the verdict was announced.

In a social media post, he expressed disappointment in the ruling and claimed that the court had disregarded the Modern Purposive Approach to Interpretation of the Constitution.

He argued that Mr. Quayson was not a Canadian citizen at the time he filed to contest as an MP, nor at the time of his election and swearing-in.

Sad as it may be, I am convinced and it is my respectful view that the Court threw away Modern Purposive Approach to Interpretation of the Constitution as Hon. Quayson was not a Canadian citizen at the time he filed to contest as MP & at the time of his election & swearing in, he stated.

While acknowledging the complexity of the intersection between politics and law, Francis Xavier-Sossu called for political action, stating that legal action is not the way forward.

He expressed confidence in the leadership of the party to advise on the next course of action.

Politics and law can be a complex mix. I am confident the leadership of the party would advice on the next way forward.

I recommend that we look outside of the courts for solution to this matter. We need Political action, not legal action going forward, he wrote.
Inquiring minds want to know:

How high were CNNs local ratings for its Town Hall with Donald Trump?

How have local ratings been for Fox News at 8 p.m. weekdays since Tucker Carlson was fired and the company paid a $787 million settlement to Dominion Voting Systems?

And how low have CNNs ratings been lately here since CEO Chris Licht has turned the cable news network to the center and rightward?

First things first:

Overall, the relatively low nightly local cable news numbers illustrated more people discuss the shows than the small viewership may deserve.

The Trump Town Hall in which anchor Kaitlin Collins tried to fact check the lies by the former president had a 2.0 local rating on CNN here from 8 to 9:15 p.m.

CNNs panel discussion after the Town Hall ended led by Anderson Cooper had a 1.7 up until 10 p.m. and the final hour mostly blasting Trumps performance had a 1.1 rating. The overall rating for the night on CNN was 1.7.

A 2.0 rating represents 12,750 households in Western New York. Trumps TV drawing power clearly has declined but that is still a very good prime-time rating here for CNN.

However, the day after the Trump Town Hall and the resulting backlash over giving him a forum to spout lies, CNNs rating at 8 and 9 p.m. fell back to a 0.5 and its 10 p.m. rating slipped to a 0.2.

Before the Town Hall, CNN received prime-time ratings of 0.5 or lower on most nights. The night before the Town Hall it averaged a 0.8 rating at 9 p.m., which was high by its standards.

As has happened nationally since Carlson was fired on April 24, Fox News ratings here have taken a significant hit.

Ratings for Carlsons 8 p.m. program generally were in the high 1s and the low 2s here. His show averaged a 2 rating in its last week, with a 1.7 rating for his final program on April 21. The first 8 p.m. program after his departure had the same 1.7 rating, but the ratings slipped after that and fell below a 1.0 for four nights. The 8 p.m. hour recovered last week to a range of 1.4 to 1.6, still below Carlsons ratings.

Sean Hannitys 9 p.m. ratings on Fox News also have declined here, but not by as much and his show now has a higher rating on most nights here than the hosts replacing Carlson at 8 p.m.

Laura Ingrahams 10 p.m. Fox News program, which has been the weakest rated here, has seen her ratings dip below a 1 on several nights.

Since May 1, Newsmax, the right-wing competitor to Fox News, has been receiving ratings here ranging from 0.0 to 0.7 at 8 p.m., 0.0 to 0.5 at 9 p.m. and 0.0 to 0.3 at 10 p.m. Its ratings on two nights, May 1 and May 8, were slightly higher than the ratings here for CNN.

Until May 10, the liberal MSNBC lineup of programs hosted by Chris Hayes, Alex Wagner and Lawrence ODonnell had higher ratings here than Fox News hosts on many nights.

WIVB-TV (Channel 4) news director Brianne Betts, who has been on medical leave, has resigned, General Manager Joe Abouzeid confirmed. She had been here about nine months. Josh Roy has been named acting news director.

Spoiler alert: If you havent seen last Sundays episode of the HBO drama Succession, you probably should stop reading.

The tense episode, which featured former WKBW-TV (Channel 7) anchor Ashley Rowe as a news co-anchor for the right-wing cable news channel ATN, had some similarities to the 2020 presidential election when Fox News infuriated Trump and his supporters by declaring early that the key state of Arizona was going to Joe Biden.

In the fictional Succession take, brothers Roman (Kieran Culkin) and Kendall Roy (Jeremy Strong) essentially had a choice. They could decide whether to make a deal to save the dangerous far-right nominee, Jeryd Mencken (Justin Kirk), that their late father Logan (Brian Cox) supported by declaring Mencken had won the key state of Wisconsin. Or they could delay that call because a fire destroyed 100,000 absentee ballots in Milwaukee and prevented votes in the city from being counted and going to the Democratic opponent to the degree he would win the state.

Roman was all for the deal no matter the cost to America. Kendall, thinking of his childrens future, was waffling as usual.

He ultimately had to decide whether to save the nominee who might destroy America after learning that his sister Shiv (Sarah Snook) had gone behind their backs to support the tech genius, Lukas Matsson (Alexander Skarsgard), trying to buy a large part of their company in a deal the brothers wanted to squash.

Save democracy or save the guy who might destroy America because he agreed to destroy a deal the brothers didnt want?

If you watched the cynicism of Succession over the years, you knew that ultimately would be a no-brainer for the Roy brothers.

Of course, the episode gave the fictional ATN even more power to decide the presidency than Fox News had in 2020. But still it was a frightening example of what could happen under the most unusual of circumstances while at the same time pitting the brothers against their duplicitous sister.

All in all, it was the best Succession episode since the one in which Logan Roy died.

Since last weeks column speculating about what network shows would be canceled, some answers have surfaced.

ABC has canceled the newspaper series Alaska Daily, Big Sky and The Company You Keep. Western New York actor William Fichtner had a supporting role in Company. The network also picked up 911, the series that Fox canceled.

Fox also canceled the popular medical series The Resident and the comedy Call Me Kat. By the way, The Resident was created by Amy Holden Jones, a graduate of Buffalo Seminary. The much-publicized Fox series Monarch was canceled some time ago.

NBCs fall schedule has one Buffalo angle.

Jesse L. Martin, the Buffalo Academy for Visual and Performing Arts graduate who had a long-running co-starring role on Law & Order and has been in several other series, stars as the lead character of the upcoming NBC series, The Irrational.

Heres the summary of the series supplied by NBC: Based on the best-selling author Dan Arielys Predictably Irrational, Alec Mercer is a world-renowned leader in behavioral science who lends his expertise to an array of high-stakes cases involving governments, law enforcement and corporations with his unique and unexpected approach to understanding human behavior.

Martin plays Mercer. Due to the writers strike, it isnt yet known whether the series will air in the fall or midseason.
17.05.2023 LISTEN

A few days ago, I was looking through some of the old, yellowing newspapers that clutter my residence(s) like mushrooms in the rainy season, when I came across the following news item in the Daily Guide newspaper of 10 October 2018:

Quote:

Amansie Police Free 6 Galamseyers

The Excavator Tracking Task Force of the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining [IMCIM] arrested a Chinese [man] and six Ghanaians in the Amansie West District of the Ashanti Region [on 6 October 2018] for engaging in illegal mining [galamsey]. The suspects were handed over to the Amansie West Police, but the six Ghanaians surprisingly escaped from police custody.

The Task Force said the Chinese [man] would be handed over to the Ghana Immigration Service (GIS) for the necessary action to be taken.

Items seized from the suspects included five pump action guns, [many rounds of] ammunition, CCTV monitors, a recorder and sand [that contained] gold ore. Meniru Ahmed, a member of the Excavator Tracking Task Force, told journalists during a media briefing in Accra on [7 October 2018] that the Task Force arrested the illegal miners upon a tip-off. He said the suspects were engaging in illegal mining under the pretext of reclaiming some mined-out areas in the Amansie West District.

After the arrest, the Task Force handed the suspects to the police, in order to follow up on leads to [another] illegal mining site. However, upon [their] return to the police station, they did not meet any of the police personnel and realized that [the] six Ghanaians had escaped from the cells.

Mr Meniru stated further that while they were at the mining site, some police personnel came there to arrest them [members of the Task Force] upon the request of one of the illegal miners. He, therefore, appealed to the Government to assist the Task Force in its efforts to halt galamsey."

http://dailyguideafrica.com/amansie-police-free-6-galamseyers/ Unquote

After reading this report, I began to finally understand what I had formerly suspected, but now confirmed by the leaked report written by Professor Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng, then Chairman of the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining, complaining that the Government he served under, did not quitel support the measures it had itself instituted, ostensibly to fight galamsey.

For in any other country, the fact that six people arrested by the police had "escaped from [the police ] cells" would have been treated as something of a national crisis. Their photographs would have been widely published in all the media and the populace entreated to report any sightings of them anywhere.

And eventually the escapees would have been caught, paraded before the media, and finally taken to court. The judicial officers before whom they would have been taken would have realised that it was a serious matter for suspects to manage to escape from police cells, because (1) they could constitute great danger to the public at large; (2) they might be would-be murderers or rapists or gun-slingers; and (3) that the judiciary ought to regard it as its duty to enable our society to rid itself of its declared enemies; i.e. criminals like the escapees.

But so dead is our collective consciousness that look as I would, I could not find another reference to the escape of the criminals from police cells! (Please note that once they had escaped from police cells they were ipso facto criminals, although initially, they had been mere "suspects". )

I ask myself, why are the Ghana media so lacking in CURIOSITY?

Where else in the world would six people escape from police cells and there would be no enquiries on an hourly/daily/weekly/monthly basis, about the "hunt" for them? Oh MOTHER GHANA! God protect thee! For, alas, many of your citizens are brain-dead!

I wonder whether many people were surprised that our Attorney-General was recently heard complaining that the system of prosecuting and judging galamsey suspects was anything but effective.

Ha -- what does the Attorney-Geheral expect when a 70-year-old woman could be set upon by self-appointed witch-huners and set ablaze in broad daylight, resulting in the arrest and prosecution of aboutt four people, only for the case to be COMPLETELY ABANDONED, ONCE TAKEN TO COURT? SEVERAL ARTICLES HVE BEEN WRITTEN TO CRITICISE THE OINCREDIBLE INACTION, (BY MYSELF!) ONLY TO BE TOTALLY IGNORED BY THE POLICE AND THE ATTORNEY-GENERA'LS DEPARTMENT THAT HAD INITIATED THE PROSECUTION?

In one article I actually named the IGP! IT ASKED: "MR DAMPARE, HAVE YOU HEARD OF THIS CASE"?

STILL SILENCE! To this day.

There are two glaring anomalies, relating to the way the police treat galamsey offences, that the DAILY GUIDE article laid bare. One is that the police sometimes seem to obstruct, rather than assist, those whpm the employers of the police (i.e. the Government) has appointed to bring galamsey operations to an end.

If the police seem to set free, or, through negligence, allow people who had been caught carrying out galamsey to escape from custody, how can the Task Force develop the MORALE necessary to go on arresting galamseyers, to take them to the police, for them to (do what...) again?

The members of the Task Force would be super-human if they didnt tell one another, upon coming across new groups of galamseyers: Oh, leave them alone! Dont bother! The police will only let them go if we arrest them! We can't go on bringing the police their 'bread-basket, can we?"

Or someone might say, "Ho, telephone calls -- to the powers that be --are being made, even as we speak. By the end of the day, all the excavators taken to the police would also have been released back to their owners! Galamsey fight? Tell me another!"

Its as if all the noise that was made in the early IMCIM days about how galamsey is ruining our water-bodies and should be rooted out if future generations of Ghanaians are to BE GUARANTED GOOD WATER TO DRINK, had not, in the least, reached the ears of the Ghana law enforcement agencies. Or, of course, those who watch over the enforcers of the law!

A second glaring anomaly was that the police did not even seem to recognize the credentials of Task Force members, although police p[ersnnel formed part of the Task Force(s).

Or maybe the police knew that the Anti-galamsey struggle was a charade.

It must be pointed out, that Task Force or no Task Force, the Minister of the Interior, under whose overall supervision the police operate, was a member of the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining (IMCIM) that was in charge of drawing up the anti-galamsey campaign.

Are we to infer from the Amansie West case that the police service. had not been properly briefed on the campaign by its own Minister?

Eye Asem on!

Or: dis one no be small matter oh! At all, at all! I pity anyone who has grand-children. When the water is all gone and they begin to ask, "But Grandpa, where were you when all the water was being destroyed by excavators? Aren't excavators used at building and road construction sites?"

From the above, I hope everyone would agree that our sacred duty to preserve what water we have left for our children and their children, should, not be politicised on any account.

So help us God!
Let me begin this article first by disclaiming that I bear a non-partisan disposition. Or perhaps it will be more accurate to proclaim that my position is rather for Ghana and Africa, and hence patriotic, and pan-African. In that regard, I am bipartisan, supporting whatever good emerges from either NDC or NPP (our two-party setup in Ghana) for the good of Ghana and for Africa.

Having proclaimed that, I would like to share an opinion. Ever since Independence, in my view, no other president or leader of Ghana has brought the country as close to overcoming what Cambridge University economist and Professor Ha-Joon Chang has called the condition of Kicking away the Ladder. As a title of one of his books, Kicking away the Ladder refers to a condition where developed countries that have already risen up the ladder economically and socially then proceed to kick away the ladder that otherwise lesser (economically) developed nations would ordinarily climb in order to reach second world or even first world status.

I mention this expression and the book associated with it because I believe that due to tragedy and also to opportunity, and confidence in our own solutions, Ghana has now managed to scale this ladder to reach the potential for greater economic independence. This happened last year when wrangling between NDC and NPP (i.e., the former not approving the initiatives of the latter) forced NPP to approach the IMF for assistance. Ghana was at a bad place indeed, and by November of 2022, it was not clear whether Akuffo Addos administration would survive to the end of the year.

There were rebellions from within the NPP, in addition to attacks from the NDC, and calls for the president to remove the Minister of Finance, Honorable Ofori-Atta. A horrible time indeed, because in the face of this political instability, the Ghana Cedi depreciated badly. For those who will remember, fuel prices were even at one time over GHS 20. Food, transportation and other prices skyrocketed.

There were calls for revolution, and if we are to be honest, certain elements within both NDC and NPP instigated attacks at both NPP and at the president for his leadership. It was at that period that, be it divine intervention or simple unbelievable strength of character and principle, President Akuffo Addo stuck to his conviction, principles and the decision to not relieve the Finance Minister of his post but to give the gentleman a chance to face his detractors and to defend himself. This moment in history, my friends, is what I believe has now saved Ghana from a tailspin of chaos and revolution and simultaneously provided a once-in-a-lifetime chance for us as a nation to pitch for greater economic independence where in other circumstances it would not have been allowed.

The second amazing event that happened at this point of inflection in Ghanas history is Ofori-Attas incredibly successful defense of himself in front of the bipartisan commission assembled to crucify or exonerate him. The man succeeded calmly in the face of pressures that would have broken most, and from there, he has tirelessly championed a brave program of debt restructuring, including the oil-for-gold program that has now effectively provided a financial option for Ghana to survive where we were heavily cash-strapped for US Dollars. Any other time in world history, such move will not have been allowed (admittedly, COVID-19 and Russia-Ukraine crises also helped), but as President Akuffo Addo recently stated, it is quite pathetic that a country that has been mining gold for almost a century now only had 8 (yes, that is, eight) tonnes of gold at Bank of Ghana before the oil-for-gold program began, with the current quantity being 14 tonnes. Pathetic.

So, let us return to Economics Professor Ha-Joon Chang, who visited Ghana a few years ago and who has an active interest in development in Ghana and Africa as a whole. After his visit here, his press conferences and examination of the mindset and economic plight of Ghanaians and Africans in general, the main piece of advice for us that this genius of development economics shared was for Ghanaians and blacks to believe in themselves. THIS IS THE MAIN REASON WHY I APPLAUD AKUFFO ADDO AND OFORI-ATTA!!! Akuffo Addo is Ghanas best president since Kwame Nkrumah because during his administration, for the first time since Nkrumahs time, Ghana now has a real chance of working toward economic independence.

This is the greatest achievement of his administration. Had the president not believed in his Finance Minister, he would have succumbed to pressure and relieved him. Had Ofori-Atta not believed in himself and in his ability as Finance Minister (it was said at least once that he is one of the best Finance Ministers in the world, and I believe it now), he would not have embarked upon a bold program to totally restructure Ghanas debt, domestic and foreign, thus giving the country a chance at winning the IMF and World Bank funds, but even more importantly, weaning us off dependence on the US Dollar for which, being cash-strapped, was constricting the nation and its people at the grassroots level. We were dying.

But somehow, these two held true, so that now we have a better chance to live and are also now not only receiving financial and other support from the Bretton Woods institutions (IMF & WB), but also from other partners such as the Chinese and the Paris Club. The Chinese in particular helped Ghana greatly, and I hope that just as South Korean Development Economist Ha-Joon Chang has expressed interest in Ghana and Africa in the past, that others such as Chinas genius economist for New Structural Economics, Professor Justin Yifu Lin, will also have further occasion to work with Ghanaian authorities (NDC, or NPP), organizations or intellectuals for the mutual benefit of both Asia and Africa.

So, believe in yourself, that was the message, and we saw a good example of that through our leadership. In Africa, we always tell ourselves that leadership is what can make all the difference. What Ofori-Atta has achieved, is to give Ghana an economic chance. It is huge, and as a Chinese adage goes (and I paraphrase), moments of crises and chaos can also be moments of opportunity.

You succeeded, well done. I could not help smiling when I saw an online article announcing IMFs decision also showing a photo of Honorable Ken Ofori-Atta also smiling. It was the first time I ever saw a photo of the man smiling, or at least, any time in the recent past. If we are to give credit where credit is due, then I would say that politics and tribalism aside, Kudos to these two men of Ofori Panyin Fie! People will not realize it now, but in future, history will be the judge of this impossibly great achievement of, for the first time since political independence in 1957, providing circumstances whereby the people of Ghana have conditions set in place to work toward greater economic independence. It is time for you two men and your government to rest. Having said all I have written in this article; I should however end by opining that I think it will be overall better for Ghana the next government after Akuffo Addos administration to be a return of Mahama and the NDC.

This view is not to take away from the great work that I think Ofori-Atta has achieved under Akuffo Addos administration, but rather that by pivoting more toward China and Asia in general, I believe a Mahama government, as it did when Mahama was in office, will bring Ghana closer into the sphere of BRICS and allied countries and away from the US-Western alliance so that there can be greater balance since in the end, our best posture as a nation and as a continent is to be non-aligned with either East or West, while embracing both in equal measure.
The Minority Caucus in Parliament has expressed dismay at the Supreme Court's ruling that declared the election of James Gyakye Quayson, Member of Parliament for Assin North constituency, as unconstitutional, null, and void.

According to Justice Jones Dotse, who read the unanimous decision by a seven-member panel, Mr. Quayson failed to renounce his Canadian citizenship before filing to run for Parliament, which is in contravention of the 1992 Constitution.

The court's full reasons for the decision will be given in a judgment to be issued on June 7, 2023, the presiding judge said.

In a press statement released today, May 17, the Caucus described the decision as "baffling" and a "slap in the face of our democracy and the rule of law."

The Minority Caucus argues that the intention of Ghana's constitution is not to allow a dual citizen to perform the functions of a Member of Parliament.

It indicated that it is however surprising that the Supreme Court could direct the removal of such a person who has already been duly elected as a Member of Parliament after being cleared by the Electoral Commission.

"It is important to place on record that as at the time of his election, Hon. James Gyakye Quayson was not a dual citizen, neither was he a dual citizen as at the time he took the oath of office as a Member of Parliament," the statement said.

The Caucus added that while it is yet to study the reasoning of the court in taking the decision, it appears to be a blow to democracy and the rule of law.

The statement, signed by Minority Leader Hon. Cassiel Ato Forson (PhD), MP, assured the public that the Caucus would inform them of its position upon reviewing the reasoning of the Court in arriving at its decision.

They also urged their rank and file to remain calm while they pursue all legal avenues to ensure that justice is served.

Find a full copy of the press release below:
James Gyakye Quayson has said he is disappointed with a Supreme Court decision that his name be expunged from the roll of the legislature.

The Supreme Court, in a unanimous decision on Wednesday, 17 May 2023, also declared as unconstitutional, the election of Mr Quayson as MP for Assin North.

The seven-member panel of justices, thus, gave the consequential order to the legislature since Mr Quayson is not constitutionally recognised as an elected MP.

In a response, Mr Quayson said: "I am, of course, disappointed by the courts decision."

"I am especially surprised that the court now says that foreign bureaucrats now determine whether natural-born Ghanaians have the right to contest for parliamentary elections in Ghana or not," he bemoaned.

"Thus, a country that does not allow renunciation of its citizenship can bar a natural-born Ghanaian, who has severed all relations with a country of acquired citizenship, from ever standing for MP.

"Nevertheless, I have turned the page on litigating this matter in the courts of justice. I leave the matter to the court of conscience, which Ghandi reminds us, supersedes all other courts," he said.

Read Mr Quayson's full statement below:

I Remain Committed To The Development Of Assin North Constituency and Her People

This morning, the Supreme Court, by a unanimous decision, ordered the Parliament of Ghana to expunge my name from its records as a Member of Parliament.

The court ruled that the Electoral Commission acted unconstitutionally in allowing me to contest the 2020 parliamentary elections without proof that I had denounced my Canadian citizenship at the time I filed my nomination in October 2020 to contest the parliamentary elections in the Assin North constituency.

In fact, the EC inspected my renunciation certificate in November 2020, prior to allowing me to contest the elections.

Thus, I was duly qualified to run, according to the ECs regulations, which the law presumes to be regular.

Yet, the court holds that I should have offered this proof to the EC at the time of filing for my nomination and then applies the holding retrospectively to disqualify me.

It is a matter of public record that I filed for the renunciation of my Canadian citizenship in December 2019. It is also a matter of record that I left Canada in February 2020.

It is also a matter of record that as soon as I applied for renunciation of my Canadian citizenship and left Canada, I lost all the rights of Canadian citizenship. It is also a matter of record that I picked up my renunciation certificate from the Canadian Embassy in Accra in November 2020.

It is also a matter of public record that Canadian law does not say I owe allegiance to Canada, even after filing for renunciation. In fact, Canadian law is unequivocal that disavowal of allegiance is subjective and can be done at any time, including immediately after swearing the oath of citizenship.

Thus, under Canadian law, I owed no allegiance to Canada at all material times.

I am, of course, disappointed by the courts decision. I am especially surprised that the court now says that foreign bureaucrats now determine whether natural-born Ghanaians have the right to contest for parliamentary elections in Ghana or not.

Thus, a country that does not allow renunciation of its citizenship can bar a natural-born Ghanaian, who has severed all relations with a country of acquired citizenship, from ever standing for MP.

Nevertheless, I have turned the page on litigating this matter in the courts of justice. I leave the matter to the court of conscience, which Ghandi reminds us, supersedes all other courts.

Helping to develop my constituency has always been, and remains, my priority. I assure my constituents that nothing has changed, and I will work even harder than before to win their support and to attain these goals.

I thank the good people of Assin-North, the leadership of the NDC, my attorneys, and the numerous Ghanaians, from all sides of the political divide, who have supported me during these turbulent times.

Together, we must ensure that we build a progressive and inclusive society that does not treat any of our citizens as second-class citizens.

May God bless our homeland Ghana, and bless my beloved Assin North Constituency and her people.

Thank you.

Signed

James Gyakye Quayson

[Assin North Constituency]

-classfmonline.com
The Ministry of Finance has announced that it has sealed a deal with the International Monetary (IMF) for a $3 Extended Credit Facility (ECF).

Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta was in Washington DC on Wednesday, May 17, when the Executive Board of the Fund met to consider Ghanas programme.

After the approval, the Ministry of Finance says it will boost the strong growth of the Ghanaian economy and position the country towards a resilient recovery.

The IMF Board has today approved Ghanas request for a $3 billion ECF, backed by our Post Covid-19 Programme for Economic Growth (PC-PEG). Our strong growth & reform programme, coupled with this #IMFDeal, firmly positions Ghana towards a #ResilientRecovery, a post on Twitter said.

The International Monetary Fund will on Thursday, May 18, hold a virtual press conference to provide details of the deal with Ghana.

At the press conference, the schedule for the disbursement of the $3 billion will be announced.
Chow Tai Fook Jewellery Group (OTCMKTS:CJEWY  Get Rating) and Koninklijke Vopak (OTCMKTS:VOPKY  Get Rating) are both retail/wholesale companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, risk, valuation, dividends, analyst recommendations, earnings and institutional ownership.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Chow Tai Fook Jewellery Group and Koninklijke Vopaks 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 Chow Tai Fook Jewellery Group $12.71 billion 1.56 $862.23 million N/A N/A Koninklijke Vopak $1.50 billion 3.25 $253.42 million N/A N/A

Chow Tai Fook Jewellery Group has higher revenue and earnings than Koninklijke Vopak.

Risk & Volatility

Profitability

Chow Tai Fook Jewellery Group has a beta of 0.67, indicating that its share price is 33% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Koninklijke Vopak has a beta of 0.64, indicating that its share price is 36% less volatile than the S&P 500.

This table compares Chow Tai Fook Jewellery Group and Koninklijke Vopaks net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

Net Margins Return on Equity Return on Assets Chow Tai Fook Jewellery Group N/A N/A N/A Koninklijke Vopak N/A N/A N/A

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current recommendations and price targets for Chow Tai Fook Jewellery Group and Koninklijke Vopak, as reported by MarketBeat.

Sell Ratings Hold Ratings Buy Ratings Strong Buy Ratings Rating Score Chow Tai Fook Jewellery Group 1 1 0 0 1.50 Koninklijke Vopak 0 1 1 0 2.50

Koninklijke Vopak has a consensus price target of $32.50, suggesting a potential downside of 16.20%. Given Koninklijke Vopaks stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Koninklijke Vopak is more favorable than Chow Tai Fook Jewellery Group.

Dividends

Chow Tai Fook Jewellery Group pays an annual dividend of $0.46 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.3%. Koninklijke Vopak pays an annual dividend of $1.16 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.0%.

Summary

Koninklijke Vopak beats Chow Tai Fook Jewellery Group on 5 of the 8 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Chow Tai Fook Jewellery Group

(Get Rating)

Chow Tai Fook Jewellery Group Limited, an investment holding company, manufactures and sells jewelry products. The company offers gem-set, platinum and k-gold jewelry, and k-gold jewelry and products under the CHOW TAI FOOK, HEARTS ON FIRE, T MARK, ENZO, MONOLOGUE, and SOINLOVE brands. It also distributes watches of various brands. In addition, the company is involved in the trading of diamonds; and the provision of services to franchisees. The company also sells its products through online platforms. As of March 31, 2022, it had 5,902 points of sale in Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, Cambodia, Korea, Japan, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, the United States, and Vietnam. The company was founded in 1929 and is headquartered in Central, Hong Kong. Chow Tai Fook Jewellery Group Limited is a subsidiary of Chow Tai Fook Capital Limited.

About Koninklijke Vopak

(Get Rating)

Royal Vopak NV operates as an independent tank storage company. The firms geographical segments include Americas, Asia & Middle East, China & North Asia, Europe & Africa and LNG. The company was founded in 1999 and is headquartered in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.

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Orion Oyj (OTCMKTS:ORINY  Get Rating) reached a new 52-week low during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $24.40 and last traded at $24.40, with a volume of 0 shares. The stock had previously closed at $24.40.

Orion Oyj Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 3.19, a quick ratio of 2.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.68 and a beta of 0.30. The businesss 50 day simple moving average is $26.06 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $25.35.

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Orion Oyj Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 17th. Investors of record on Friday, March 24th were given a dividend of $0.505 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 23rd. This represents a dividend yield of 1.92%. This is an increase from Orion Oyjs previous dividend of $0.50. Orion Oyjs dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 41.13%.

About Orion Oyj

Orion Oyj develops, manufactures, and markets human and veterinary pharmaceuticals and active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) in Finland, Scandinavia, other European countries, North America, and internationally. It provides prescription drugs and self-care products, including Nubeqa for the treatment of prostate cancer; dexdor and Precedex for intensive care sedative; Stalevo and Comtess/Comtan for Parkinson's disease; Simdax for acute decompensated heart failure; and Fareston for breast cancer, as well as Salmeterol/fluticasone Easyhaler, Budesonide/formoterol Easyhaler, Formoterol Easyhaler, Budesonide Easyhaler, Beclomet Easyhaler, and Buventol Easyhaler drugs for the treatment of asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

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Wells Fargo Advantage Funds  Allspring Income Opportunities Fund (NYSEAMERICAN:EAD  Get Rating) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in the month of April. As of April 30th, there was short interest totalling 9,500 shares, a growth of 10.5% from the April 15th total of 8,600 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 149,300 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 0.1 days.

Wells Fargo Advantage Funds  Allspring Income Opportunities Fund Price Performance

Shares of EAD traded down $0.04 on Tuesday, reaching $6.25. The companys stock had a trading volume of 76,384 shares, compared to its average volume of 146,204. Wells Fargo Advantage Funds  Allspring Income Opportunities Fund has a 12-month low of $5.95 and a 12-month high of $7.42.

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Wells Fargo Advantage Funds  Allspring Income Opportunities Fund Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 12th will be given a dividend of $0.0489 per share. This represents a $0.59 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 9.39%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 11th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Wells Fargo Advantage Funds  Allspring Income Opportunities Fund

About Wells Fargo Advantage Funds  Allspring Income Opportunities Fund

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Bramshill Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of Wells Fargo Advantage Funds  Allspring Income Opportunities Fund by 1.2% during the first quarter. Bramshill Investments LLC now owns 3,063,926 shares of the closed-end funds stock valued at $19,395,000 after buying an additional 35,454 shares during the last quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. increased its holdings in Wells Fargo Advantage Funds  Allspring Income Opportunities Fund by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 1,615,833 shares of the closed-end funds stock worth $10,018,000 after buying an additional 21,857 shares during the period. Shaker Financial Services LLC increased its holdings in Wells Fargo Advantage Funds  Allspring Income Opportunities Fund by 93.4% in the 1st quarter. Shaker Financial Services LLC now owns 505,148 shares of the closed-end funds stock worth $3,215,000 after buying an additional 243,946 shares during the period. Guggenheim Capital LLC increased its holdings in Wells Fargo Advantage Funds  Allspring Income Opportunities Fund by 28.1% in the 1st quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC now owns 426,229 shares of the closed-end funds stock worth $2,698,000 after buying an additional 93,590 shares during the period. Finally, UBS Group AG increased its holdings in Wells Fargo Advantage Funds  Allspring Income Opportunities Fund by 8.6% in the 3rd quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 389,042 shares of the closed-end funds stock worth $2,413,000 after buying an additional 30,803 shares during the period.

(Get Rating)

Allspring Income Opportunities Fund is a closed-end management investment company. It seeks current income and capital appreciation through investment in below investment grade debt securities, loans, and preferred stocks. The company was founded on December 3, 2002 and is headquartered in San Francisco, CA.

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abrdn Global Premier Properties Fund (NYSE:AWP  Get Rating) declared a monthly dividend on Tuesday, May 9th, Zacks reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 19th will be given a dividend of 0.04 per share by the investment management company on Wednesday, May 31st. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 12.63%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 18th.

abrdn Global Premier Properties Fund has decreased its dividend by an average of 4.4% per year over the last three years.

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abrdn Global Premier Properties Fund Trading Down 2.1 %

NYSE AWP opened at $3.80 on Wednesday. abrdn Global Premier Properties Fund has a one year low of $3.51 and a one year high of $5.60. The businesss fifty day moving average is $3.95 and its 200-day moving average is $4.12.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On abrdn Global Premier Properties Fund

abrdn Global Premier Properties Fund Company Profile

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Morgan Stanley raised its stake in shares of abrdn Global Premier Properties Fund by 13.9% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 5,197,911 shares of the investment management companys stock worth $20,272,000 after purchasing an additional 634,768 shares during the period. Wells Fargo & Company MN raised its stake in shares of abrdn Global Premier Properties Fund by 26.4% during the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 1,156,730 shares of the investment management companys stock worth $4,511,000 after purchasing an additional 241,893 shares during the period. UBS Group AG raised its stake in abrdn Global Premier Properties Fund by 55.8% in the 1st quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 1,115,973 shares of the investment management companys stock valued at $7,187,000 after acquiring an additional 399,536 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada raised its stake in abrdn Global Premier Properties Fund by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 1,012,158 shares of the investment management companys stock valued at $3,866,000 after acquiring an additional 34,620 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE raised its stake in abrdn Global Premier Properties Fund by 1.8% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 530,263 shares of the investment management companys stock valued at $2,185,000 after acquiring an additional 9,279 shares during the period.

(Get Rating)

abrdn Global Premier Properties Fund is a closed-end management investment company. Its primary investment objective is capital appreciation and its secondary investment objective is high current income. The company was founded on February 13, 2007 and is headquartered in Philadelphia, PA.

Further Reading

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Research analysts at Citigroup started coverage on shares of AerCap (NYSE:AER  Get Rating) in a research note issued on Monday, The Fly reports. The brokerage set a buy rating and a $71.00 price target on the financial services providers stock. Citigroups price target would suggest a potential upside of 24.28% from the stocks previous close.

Several other research analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on AerCap in a research report on Thursday, March 30th. They set a buy rating and a $74.00 target price on the stock. StockNews.com assumed coverage on AerCap in a research report on Thursday, March 16th. They issued a buy rating on the stock. TheStreet raised AerCap from a c rating to a b- rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 2nd. Barclays boosted their price objective on AerCap from $77.00 to $78.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 3rd. Finally, Susquehanna cut their price objective on AerCap from $75.00 to $70.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 3rd. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of Buy and a consensus price target of $71.25.

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AerCap Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE:AER opened at $57.13 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $14.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.10, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 2.00. The company has a quick ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 0.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.87. AerCap has a 12-month low of $37.20 and a 12-month high of $66.85. The businesss 50 day moving average is $54.89 and its 200 day moving average is $58.32.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

AerCap ( NYSE:AER Get Rating ) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, May 2nd. The financial services provider reported $2.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.00 by $0.34. The company had revenue of $1.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $1.77 billion. AerCap had a return on equity of 14.03% and a net margin of 24.08%. AerCaps quarterly revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.23 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that AerCap will post 9.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Quarry LP bought a new stake in shares of AerCap during the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. Quadrant Capital Group LLC raised its stake in shares of AerCap by 40.5% during the 3rd quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 676 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 195 shares during the period. WealthPLAN Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of AerCap during the 1st quarter valued at $30,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC bought a new stake in shares of AerCap during the 3rd quarter valued at $41,000. Finally, Zions Bancorporation N.A. raised its stake in shares of AerCap by 473.7% during the 4th quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 763 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 630 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.17% of the companys stock.

AerCap Company Profile

(Get Rating)

AerCap Holdings NV engages in the leasing, financing, sales, and management of commercial flight equipment. The company was founded in 1995 and is headquartered in Dublin, Ireland.

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IHG Hotels & Resorts, a leading global hotel company with more than 6,000 hotels across 18 distinct brands, has signed an agreement with the Saudi Tourism Authority (STA) at the Arabian Travel Market 2023 in Dubai, UAE.



The memorandum of understanding (MOU) provides a framework for both entities to explore methods to increase inbound visitation to Saudi Arabia from key markets across Middle East and Africa region. This includes developing customised promotions, joint marketing campaigns, and promotion through loyalty programs which will showcase Saudi Arabia as one of the worlds most exciting destination to an international audience.



The MOU was signed at the Saudi pavilion at the Arabian Travel Market 2023, by James Britchford, Vice President Commercial at IHG for India, Middle East and Africa, and Munirah Abanomy, Head of Marketing Partnership for Middle East & Africa at Saudi Tourism Authority.



With Saudi Arabia targeting 100 million visitors by 2030, the Kingdom is a priority market for IHG Hotels & Resorts in the Middle East. The hospitality group aims to support the tourism sector in the country by growing the footprint of its existing brands, as well as introducing new brands from its global portfolio, in addition to running campaigns to promote various destinations within the country. IHG also plans to further support the Kingdoms economic Vision by investing in developing Saudi talent in the Kingdom, with an ambition to hire 6,000 nationals across its growing portfolio by 2030.



James Britchford, Vice President, Commercial, India, Middle East & Africa, IHG Hotels & Resorts said: As a reflection of our commitment to support the growth of the tourism industry within the Kingdom, we are delighted to sign a Memorandum of Understanding with the Saudi Tourism Authority. Collaborations with key government entities, such as the STA, enable us to position and promote attractive destinations and exciting tourism offerings that the country has developed, to our guests across markets.



Abdulkarim Aldarwish - President of Middle East & Africa Markets at the Saudi Tourism Authority, commented: Signing of an MOU with IHG comes within the framework of the Saudi Tourism Authoritys keenness to strengthen strategic partnerships with major international companies and prestigious brands with global reach. Such partnerships enhance the efforts of the Saudi Tourism Authority in attracting tourists and enriching their experience by providing best-in-class products, offers and packages.



To expand its presence in key cities such as Riyadh, Jeddah, Madinah, Makkah, Dammam, Al Khobar and Mega projects, IHG Hotels & Resorts is positioned to add over 10,000 additional rooms to its portfolio in the next 2-3 years. This is set to significantly boost the tourism infrastructure in the country and provide a diverse range of accommodation options  across luxury, leisure, religious and business tourism.



IHG Hotels & Resorts currently operates 37 hotels across five brands in Saudi Arabia, including: InterContinental, Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn, Staybridge Suites, and voco, with 31 hotels in the development pipeline set to open within the next three to five years.  TradeArabia News Service
Seven churches in Buffalo and others in Albion, Medina and Niagara Falls will welcome visitors this weekend during the New York Landmark Society's annual Sacred Sites Open House.

Free pre-booked tours are available through Explore Buffalo at four Buffalo churches  First Presbyterian Church, 1 Symphony Circle, and Trinity Episcopal Church, 371 Delaware Ave., at 11 a.m. Saturday; Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church, 115 OConnell St., at 1 p.m. Saturday; and Central Park United Methodist Church at 1 p.m. Sunday. Register at explorebuffalo.org.

Musical interludes, including a 3 p.m. performance by Elizabeth Clay on the 1927 Tellers-Kent organ, accompany an open house from 1 to 3 p.m. Sunday at Blessed Trinity Church, 317 Leroy Ave. For more info, visit blessedtrinitybuffalo.org.

Also open in Buffalo are the Buffalo Religious Arts Center, 147 East St., from noon to 3 p.m. Saturday; and St. John's Grace Episcopal Church, 51 Colonial Circle, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday and noon to 4 p.m. Sunday.

Taking part elsewhere are a cobblestone church at 14389 Ridge Road West, Albion; St. John's Episcopal Church, 200 E. Center St., Medina; and the First Baptist Church, 554 Main St., Niagara Falls. For more information, visit nylandmarks.org.

I
ArcelorMittal S.A. (NYSE:MT  Get Rating)  KeyCorp boosted their Q2 2023 earnings estimates for shares of ArcelorMittal in a report released on Wednesday, May 10th. KeyCorp analyst P. Gibbs now expects that the basic materials company will earn $1.67 per share for the quarter, up from their prior estimate of $1.39. The consensus estimate for ArcelorMittals current full-year earnings is $4.27 per share. KeyCorp also issued estimates for ArcelorMittals Q4 2023 earnings at $0.27 EPS and FY2023 earnings at $4.20 EPS.

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MT has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Barclays cut shares of ArcelorMittal from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating in a research note on Monday, April 3rd. UBS Group upgraded shares of ArcelorMittal from a sell rating to a buy rating in a report on Tuesday, March 28th. Bank of America upgraded shares of ArcelorMittal from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a report on Thursday, March 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target on shares of ArcelorMittal from $36.00 to $33.00 in a report on Thursday, February 23rd. Finally, StockNews.com began coverage on shares of ArcelorMittal in a report on Thursday, March 16th. They set a buy rating for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, ArcelorMittal currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $28.68.

ArcelorMittal Price Performance

Institutional Trading of ArcelorMittal

Shares of ArcelorMittal stock opened at $25.75 on Monday. ArcelorMittal has a 52-week low of $19.25 and a 52-week high of $33.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.72 and a beta of 1.89. The company has a fifty day moving average of $28.33 and a 200-day moving average of $28.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a current ratio of 1.57.

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC purchased a new stake in shares of ArcelorMittal in the 3rd quarter worth about $28,000. Financial Management Professionals Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of ArcelorMittal in the 1st quarter worth about $30,000. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of ArcelorMittal in the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. Clear Street Markets LLC purchased a new stake in shares of ArcelorMittal in the 4th quarter worth about $40,000. Finally, Wipfli Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of ArcelorMittal in the 3rd quarter worth about $42,000. 5.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

ArcelorMittal Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed an annual dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 23rd will be issued a $0.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 22nd. This represents a yield of 1.2%. ArcelorMittals dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 2.60%.

ArcelorMittal Company Profile

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ArcelorMittal SA is a holding company, which engages in steelmaking and mining activities. It operates through the following business segments: NAFTA; Brazil; Europe; Africa and Commonwealth of Independent States (ACIS), Mining, and Others. The NAFTA segment consists of flat products such as slabs, hot-rolled coil, cold-rolled coil, coated steel, and plate.

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Axos Financial, Inc. (NYSE:AX  Get Rating) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest during the month of April. As of April 30th, there was short interest totalling 3,820,000 shares, a growth of 7.3% from the April 15th total of 3,560,000 shares. Approximately 7.3% of the companys stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 579,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 6.6 days.

Insider Activity at Axos Financial

In other news, EVP Andrew J. Micheletti sold 10,000 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.02, for a total transaction of $480,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 514,689 shares of the companys stock, valued at $24,715,365.78. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, EVP Andrew J. Micheletti sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.02, for a total transaction of $480,200.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 514,689 shares of the companys stock, valued at $24,715,365.78. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Paul Grinberg acquired 1,320 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction on Friday, March 10th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $37.80 per share, for a total transaction of $49,896.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 69,542 shares of the companys stock, valued at $2,628,687.60. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 4.81% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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Institutional Investors Weigh In On Axos Financial

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of AX. Moisand Fitzgerald Tamayo LLC acquired a new stake in Axos Financial during the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Huntington National Bank boosted its stake in shares of Axos Financial by 231.5% in the 3rd quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 1,051 shares of the companys stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 734 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Axos Financial in the 1st quarter worth about $2,178,000. State of Wyoming increased its position in shares of Axos Financial by 50.0% during the 4th quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 1,131 shares of the companys stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 377 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP lifted its holdings in Axos Financial by 51.6% during the 1st quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,252 shares of the companys stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 426 shares during the last quarter. 76.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Axos Financial Stock Down 2.3 %

AX has been the topic of several recent research reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Axos Financial from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report on Monday, May 1st. Wedbush boosted their price objective on Axos Financial from $42.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Monday, January 30th. Raymond James raised their target price on Axos Financial from $44.00 to $47.00 in a research report on Monday, May 1st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on Axos Financial from $62.00 to $58.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 6th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Axos Financial from $43.00 to $48.00 in a research note on Friday, April 28th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Axos Financial presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $49.67.

Shares of AX traded down $0.84 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $36.41. 316,289 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 502,171. The company has a market cap of $2.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.92 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. Axos Financial has a 12-month low of $33.15 and a 12-month high of $51.46. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $37.42 and a 200-day simple moving average of $42.39.

Axos Financial (NYSE:AX  Get Rating) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 27th. The company reported $1.35 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.21 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $231.23 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $222.94 million. Axos Financial had a net margin of 25.02% and a return on equity of 17.80%. The businesss quarterly revenue was up 29.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.05 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Axos Financial will post 5.05 EPS for the current year.

About Axos Financial

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Axos Financial, Inc is a holding company, which engages in the provision of banking and financing services. It operates through the following segments: Banking Business and Securities Business. The Banking Business segment includes online banking, concierge banking, prepaid card services, and mortgage, vehicle, and unsecured lending through online and telephonic distribution channels.

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Bank of Georgia Group PLC (OTCMKTS:BDGSF  Get Rating) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $39.15 and last traded at $39.15, with a volume of 100 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $33.25.

Bank of Georgia Group Price Performance

The stocks 50 day moving average price is $33.35.

About Bank of Georgia Group

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Bank of Georgia Group Plc is a holding company, which engages in the provision of banking and wealth management services. It operates through the following business segments: Retail Banking, Corporate and Investment Banking, and JSC Belarusky Narodny Bank (BNB). The Retail Banking segment provides consumer loans, mortgage loans, overdrafts, credit cards and other credit facilities, funds transfer, and settlement services.

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Black Iron Inc. (TSE:BKI  Get Rating) crossed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Monday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of C$0.08 and traded as high as C$0.09. Black Iron shares last traded at C$0.08, with a volume of 99,300 shares trading hands.

Black Iron Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 2.76, a current ratio of 2.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. The firms fifty day moving average price is C$0.07 and its two-hundred day moving average price is C$0.08. The stock has a market capitalization of C$21.27 million, a PE ratio of -3.50 and a beta of 1.70.

About Black Iron

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Black Iron Inc operates as an iron ore exploration and development company. It holds a 100% interest in the Shymanivske iron ore project covering an area of 2.56 square kilometers located in Krivyi Rih, Ukraine. The company was incorporated in 2010 and is headquartered in Toronto, Canada.

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Shares of Plains GP Holdings, L.P. (NYSE:PAGP  Get Rating) have been assigned an average recommendation of Moderate Buy from the fourteen ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, six have assigned a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $15.73.

Several equities analysts have recently commented on PAGP shares. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Plains GP from $16.00 to $17.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 25th. Barclays increased their target price on Plains GP from $13.00 to $15.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 18th. UBS Group increased their target price on Plains GP from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Thursday, February 23rd. Raymond James raised Plains GP from an outperform rating to a strong-buy rating and increased their price target for the company from $16.00 to $17.00 in a research report on Friday, April 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Plains GP from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Thursday, March 9th.

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Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Willie Cw Chiang purchased 75,000 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Monday, May 8th. The stock was bought at an average price of $13.25 per share, with a total value of $993,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 256,704 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $3,401,328. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 9.77% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Plains GP

Plains GP Stock Down 2.4 %

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PAGP. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in Plains GP by 1.2% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 12,386,175 shares of the pipeline companys stock worth $135,133,000 after purchasing an additional 142,530 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Plains GP by 41.4% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 11,333,168 shares of the pipeline companys stock valued at $130,898,000 after acquiring an additional 3,318,007 shares during the last quarter. Energy Income Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Plains GP by 21.4% during the 4th quarter. Energy Income Partners LLC now owns 10,874,422 shares of the pipeline companys stock valued at $135,278,000 after acquiring an additional 1,916,462 shares during the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of Plains GP by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 8,379,915 shares of the pipeline companys stock valued at $109,944,000 after acquiring an additional 168,521 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Plains GP by 9.3% during the 3rd quarter. Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP now owns 4,492,732 shares of the pipeline companys stock valued at $49,016,000 after acquiring an additional 383,100 shares during the last quarter. 83.68% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Plains GP stock opened at $13.52 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.79. Plains GP has a 12 month low of $9.39 and a 12 month high of $14.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.63 billion, a PE ratio of 12.29 and a beta of 1.63. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $13.23 and a 200-day simple moving average of $13.05.

Plains GP Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, May 1st were issued a dividend of $0.2675 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 28th. This represents a $1.07 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.91%. Plains GPs dividend payout ratio is presently 97.27%.

About Plains GP

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Plains GP Holdings LP owns and operates midstream energy infrastructure and provides logistics services primarily for crude oil, natural gas liquids and natural gas through its indirect investment in Plains All American Pipeline, L.P. The firm operates through the following segments: Transportation, Facilities and Supply and Logistics.

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China Gerui Advanced Materials Group Ltd. (OTCMKTS:CHOPF  Get Rating)s share price crossed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Monday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of $0.00 and traded as high as $0.00. China Gerui Advanced Materials Group shares last traded at $0.00, with a volume of 100 shares traded.

China Gerui Advanced Materials Group Stock Down 90.9 %

China Gerui Advanced Materials Group Company Profile

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China Gerui Advanced Materials Group Ltd. is a holding company which engages in the steel processing business. It process ultra-thin, cold-rolled steel for narrow strip steel products. The company sells its products to domestic Chinese customers in a diverse range of industries, including the food packaging, electrical appliances and the construction materials industries.

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CTT  Correios De Portugal, S.A. (OTCMKTS:CTTOF  Get Rating) was the recipient of a significant decrease in short interest during the month of April. As of April 30th, there was short interest totalling 222,300 shares, a decrease of 9.6% from the April 15th total of 246,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 0 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently  days.

CTT  Correios De Portugal Price Performance

Shares of CTTOF stock remained flat at $4.00 during trading hours on Wednesday. The companys 50-day simple moving average is $3.88 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $3.60. CTT  Correios De Portugal has a one year low of $2.39 and a one year high of $4.00.

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CTT  Correios De Portugal Company Profile

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Further Reading

CTT  Correios de Portugal SA engages in the provision postal and financial services. It operates through the following segments: Mail, Express and Parcels, Financial Services and Retail, and Bank. The Mail segment includes postal financial services and retail products, payments related with collection of invoices and fines, and integrated solutions and tolls.

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Darling Ingredients (NYSE:DAR  Get Rating) had its price target increased by UBS Group from $82.00 to $85.00 in a report released on Monday, The Fly reports. UBS Groups price objective points to a potential upside of 39.00% from the companys current price.

DAR has been the subject of several other research reports. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Darling Ingredients from $80.00 to $85.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 11th. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on shares of Darling Ingredients from $108.00 to $106.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 13th. Stephens reissued an equal weight rating and issued a $75.00 target price on shares of Darling Ingredients in a research note on Tuesday, February 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Darling Ingredients from $84.00 to $82.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 11th. Finally, Raymond James dropped their price objective on shares of Darling Ingredients from $100.00 to $95.00 and set a strong-buy rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the companys stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $90.08.

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Darling Ingredients Trading Down 2.8 %

NYSE:DAR opened at $61.15 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $9.76 billion, a PE ratio of 13.59 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 1.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85. Darling Ingredients has a 52-week low of $51.77 and a 52-week high of $87.59. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $57.99 and a 200-day simple moving average of $63.73.

Insider Transactions at Darling Ingredients

Darling Ingredients ( NYSE:DAR Get Rating ) last announced its earnings results on Monday, February 27th. The company reported $1.08 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.28 by ($0.20). Darling Ingredients had a net margin of 11.29% and a return on equity of 20.89%. The firm had revenue of $1.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.80 billion. On average, equities research analysts expect that Darling Ingredients will post 5.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

In other news, EVP Patrick Mcnutt bought 900 shares of the firms stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 15th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $54.07 per share, for a total transaction of $48,663.00. Following the acquisition, the executive vice president now owns 12,287 shares of the companys stock, valued at $664,358.09. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, EVP Patrick Mcnutt purchased 900 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 15th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $54.07 per share, for a total transaction of $48,663.00. Following the acquisition, the executive vice president now directly owns 12,287 shares in the company, valued at $664,358.09. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Larry Barden purchased 3,000 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 11th. The stock was bought at an average price of $63.74 per share, with a total value of $191,220.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 16,726 shares in the company, valued at $1,066,115.24. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders bought 4,400 shares of company stock worth $266,958. 2.62% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Darling Ingredients

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in DAR. Assetmark Inc. boosted its stake in Darling Ingredients by 21.4% during the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 913 shares of the companys stock valued at $60,000 after buying an additional 161 shares in the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue boosted its position in shares of Darling Ingredients by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 22,430 shares of the companys stock valued at $1,403,000 after purchasing an additional 190 shares during the period. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in shares of Darling Ingredients by 12.2% in the 1st quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,771 shares of the companys stock valued at $111,000 after purchasing an additional 193 shares during the period. Outlook Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Darling Ingredients by 2.7% in the 1st quarter. Outlook Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 7,436 shares of the companys stock valued at $434,000 after purchasing an additional 194 shares during the period. Finally, Everhart Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Darling Ingredients by 2.5% in the 1st quarter. Everhart Financial Group Inc. now owns 8,188 shares of the companys stock valued at $478,000 after purchasing an additional 198 shares during the period. 90.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Darling Ingredients

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Darling Ingredients, Inc engages in the development and production of natural ingredients from edible and inedible bio-nutrients. It operates through the following segments: Feed Ingredients, Food Ingredients, and Fuel Ingredients. The Feed Ingredients segment includes ingredients business such as fats and proteins used cooking oil, trap grease and food residuals collection, the Rothsay ingredients, and the ingredients and specialty products.

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Douglas Elliman Inc. (NYSE:DOUG  Get Rating) saw a large growth in short interest during the month of April. As of April 30th, there was short interest totalling 1,800,000 shares, a growth of 5.9% from the April 15th total of 1,700,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 458,100 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.9 days. Currently, 2.7% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Douglas Elliman

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Teacher Retirement System of Texas grew its holdings in shares of Douglas Elliman by 13.2% in the second quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 15,193 shares of the companys stock valued at $73,000 after acquiring an additional 1,771 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can grew its stake in Douglas Elliman by 9.5% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 22,095 shares of the companys stock valued at $111,000 after purchasing an additional 1,914 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Douglas Elliman by 12.1% during the 1st quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 18,791 shares of the companys stock valued at $138,000 after purchasing an additional 2,034 shares during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Douglas Elliman by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 137,786 shares of the companys stock worth $561,000 after purchasing an additional 2,557 shares during the period. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its holdings in shares of Douglas Elliman by 16.0% in the 1st quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 19,217 shares of the companys stock worth $142,000 after buying an additional 2,653 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 60.70% of the companys stock.

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Douglas Elliman Price Performance

Shares of DOUG stock opened at $3.05 on Wednesday. The businesss 50-day moving average price is $3.09 and its 200-day moving average price is $3.88. Douglas Elliman has a 12 month low of $2.55 and a 12 month high of $6.27.

Douglas Elliman Dividend Announcement

Douglas Elliman ( NYSE:DOUG Get Rating ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 9th. The company reported ($0.24) EPS for the quarter. The business had revenue of $207.33 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $262.80 million. Douglas Elliman had a negative return on equity of 10.33% and a negative net margin of 2.81%. Analysts predict that Douglas Elliman will post -0.28 earnings per share for the current year.

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 23rd were given a $0.05 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 22nd. This represents a $0.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.56%. Douglas Ellimans dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -51.28%.

Douglas Elliman Company Profile

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Douglas Elliman Inc engages in the real estate services and property technology investment business in the United States. It operates in two segments, Real Estate Brokerage, and Corporate and Other. The company conducts residential real estate brokerage operations. It has approximately 100 offices with approximately 6,500 real estate agents in the New York metropolitan areas, as well as in Florida, California, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Colorado, New Jersey, and Texas.

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EastGroup Properties, Inc. (NYSE:EGP  Get Rating) was the target of a large increase in short interest in the month of April. As of April 30th, there was short interest totalling 785,600 shares, an increase of 7.3% from the April 15th total of 732,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 230,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.4 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on EGP shares. Mizuho upgraded EastGroup Properties from a neutral rating to a buy rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $180.00 to $185.00 in a research report on Monday, March 20th. Truist Financial cut their target price on shares of EastGroup Properties from $180.00 to $175.00 in a research report on Monday. StockNews.com raised shares of EastGroup Properties from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report on Wednesday, April 26th. Piper Sandler restated an overweight rating and set a $180.00 price objective on shares of EastGroup Properties in a research report on Wednesday, February 8th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their target price on EastGroup Properties from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Thursday, February 9th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the companys stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $170.20.

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EastGroup Properties Price Performance

EGP stock opened at $161.97 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.40 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a quick ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 0.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88. EastGroup Properties has a 52-week low of $137.47 and a 52-week high of $180.25. The stocks fifty day simple moving average is $163.71 and its 200-day simple moving average is $160.30.

EastGroup Properties Announces Dividend

Insider Transactions at EastGroup Properties

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 31st were issued a $1.25 dividend. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.09%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 30th. EastGroup Propertiess dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 129.20%.

In related news, Director Hayden C. Eaves III sold 638 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.41, for a total transaction of $104,255.58. Following the sale, the director now owns 7,540 shares of the companys stock, valued at $1,232,111.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 1.50% of the companys stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of EastGroup Properties by 4.2% in the 1st quarter. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,621 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $268,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the period. Toronto Dominion Bank increased its holdings in EastGroup Properties by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 4,708 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $778,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Huntington National Bank raised its position in EastGroup Properties by 11.1% in the third quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 681 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $98,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares during the period. MML Investors Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of EastGroup Properties by 2.4% during the first quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 2,844 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock worth $470,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. boosted its position in shares of EastGroup Properties by 0.6% in the third quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 11,672 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock worth $1,685,000 after buying an additional 69 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.48% of the companys stock.

About EastGroup Properties

(Get Rating)

EastGroup Properties, Inc is an internally-managed equity real estate investment trust, which engages in the development, acquisition, and operation of industrial properties. The company was founded in 1969 and is headquartered in Ridgeland, MS.

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NEW ORLEANS (AP)  Lawyers for Tesla have asked a federal appeals court to reconsider its ruling that CEO Elon Musk unlawfully threatened employees with a loss of stock options in a 2018 Twitter post amid a union organizing effort.

Three judges on the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans, in a March ruling, upheld a National Labor Relations Board order that the tweet be deleted. The panel also upheld an order that a fired Tesla employee be rehired with back pay.

The case arose from United Auto Workers organizing efforts at a Tesla facility in Fremont, California.

Tesla attorneys want the full 17-member court to rehear the case. The panel ruling, they argue in a Monday evening filing, conflicts with Supreme Court and appellate court precedents regarding First Amendment free speech protections. And they said the employee in the case was properly fired for giving false information during an investigation of employee harassment.

Musk tweeted on May 20, 2018: Nothing stopping Tesla team at our car plant from voting union. Could do so tmrw if they wanted. But why pay union dues and give up stock options for nothing? Our safety record is 2X better than when plant was UAW & everybody already gets healthcare.

The 5th Circuit panel ruled in March that substantial evidence supports the NLRBs conclusion that the tweet is as an implied threat to end stock options as retaliation for unionization.

The panel also said there was evidence that the terminated employee was fired for lying about protected union activity and not related to his job performance or Teslas legitimate business interests or workplace rules.

It is unclear when the full court would vote on whether to rehear the case. The judges on the panel that ruled in March were James Dennis, nominated to the court by former President Bill Clinton; Leslie Southwick, nominated by former President George H.W. Bush; and Cory Wilson, nominated by former President Donald Trump.
Enel Chile S.A. (NYSE:ENIC  Get Rating) declared a semi-annual dividend on Wednesday, May 17th, Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 1st will be given a dividend of 0.3076 per share by the utilities provider on Thursday, May 18th. This represents a yield of 10.5%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 18th. This is a boost from Enel Chiles previous semi-annual dividend of $0.01.

Enel Chile has a dividend payout ratio of 8.2% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings.

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Enel Chile Stock Up 1.7 %

Shares of NYSE ENIC traded up $0.05 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $3.08. The company had a trading volume of 1,605,297 shares, compared to its average volume of 579,457. The company has a market capitalization of $4.26 billion, a PE ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.94. Enel Chile has a 1-year low of $0.98 and a 1-year high of $3.12. The businesss 50-day simple moving average is $2.63 and its 200 day simple moving average is $2.30.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Enel Chile

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded Enel Chile from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research report on Thursday, May 11th.

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. State Street Corp increased its position in Enel Chile by 4.9% in the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,428,957 shares of the utilities providers stock valued at $6,558,000 after acquiring an additional 113,477 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership purchased a new stake in Enel Chile in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $1,716,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its holdings in Enel Chile by 2.3% in the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 1,620,788 shares of the utilities providers stock valued at $4,376,000 after purchasing an additional 36,200 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. boosted its holdings in Enel Chile by 6.1% in the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 1,671,303 shares of the utilities providers stock valued at $4,513,000 after purchasing an additional 95,889 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Enel Chile by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 410,056 shares of the utilities providers stock valued at $1,091,000 after purchasing an additional 3,371 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 2.49% of the companys stock.

Enel Chile Company Profile

(Get Rating)

Enel Chile SA engages in the development, operation, generation, and distribution of electricity. It operates through following segments: Generation, Transmission, and Distribution. The Generation segment supplies electricity to end customers using lines and substations that belong to transmission and distribution companies.

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First Horizon Co. (NYSE:FHN  Get Rating) was the target of a significant drop in short interest in April. As of April 30th, there was short interest totalling 29,220,000 shares, a drop of 8.3% from the April 15th total of 31,870,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 11,020,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.7 days. Currently, 5.5% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Insider Activity at First Horizon

In other news, Director William H. Fenstermaker bought 2,950 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 12th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $9.56 per share, with a total value of $28,202.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 246,312 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $2,354,742.72. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, CEO D Bryan Jordan sold 93,157 shares of First Horizon stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.80, for a total value of $2,310,293.60. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,396,259 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $34,627,223.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director William H. Fenstermaker purchased 2,950 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 12th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $9.56 per share, for a total transaction of $28,202.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 246,312 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,354,742.72. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders bought 30,036 shares of company stock valued at $298,485 over the last 90 days. 1.55% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Horizon

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sculptor Capital LP acquired a new stake in shares of First Horizon during the 1st quarter valued at about $14,995,000. Apollon Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of First Horizon during the 1st quarter valued at about $193,000. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of First Horizon by 15.7% during the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 23,368,182 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $418,736,000 after buying an additional 3,173,357 shares during the last quarter. Sessa Capital IM L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of First Horizon during the 1st quarter valued at about $8,721,000. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC lifted its holdings in shares of First Horizon by 1,375.4% during the 1st quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 126,868 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $2,256,000 after buying an additional 118,269 shares during the last quarter. 77.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

First Horizon Stock Up 1.9 %

NYSE:FHN traded up $0.19 on Tuesday, hitting $10.25. 20,702,690 shares of the companys stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 9,823,365. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. First Horizon has a 1 year low of $8.99 and a 1 year high of $24.92. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $16.15 and a 200-day moving average price of $21.50. The company has a market cap of $5.51 billion, a PE ratio of 6.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 0.88.

First Horizon (NYSE:FHN  Get Rating) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 18th. The financial services provider reported $0.45 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.46 by ($0.01). First Horizon had a net margin of 24.76% and a return on equity of 13.53%. The business had revenue of $863.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $871.36 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.38 EPS. The companys revenue was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that First Horizon will post 1.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Horizon Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 15th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.85%. First Horizons dividend payout ratio is 37.04%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised First Horizon from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating and set a $25.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 24th. StockNews.com cut First Horizon from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note on Saturday. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a sector perform rating and issued a $25.00 price target on shares of First Horizon in a research note on Wednesday, April 19th. Finally, Bank of America started coverage on First Horizon in a research note on Tuesday. They issued a buy rating on the stock.

First Horizon Company Profile

(Get Rating)

First Horizon Corp. (Tennessee) operates as a financial holding company, which engages in the provision of checking accounts, savings products, mortgage banking, lending, and financing to individuals and businesses. It operates the business through three segments: Regional Banking, Specialty Banking, and Corporate.

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First Trust Advisors LP raised its stake in Spire Inc. (NYSE:SR  Get Rating) by 17.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,148,498 shares of the utilities providers stock after acquiring an additional 168,130 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP owned about 2.19% of Spire worth $79,088,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Spire by 298.8% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 102,909 shares of the utilities providers stock valued at $7,432,000 after acquiring an additional 77,105 shares in the last quarter. Trilogy Capital Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Spire during the 4th quarter worth approximately $266,000. Citigroup Inc. grew its position in shares of Spire by 88.5% during the 4th quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 24,342 shares of the utilities providers stock worth $1,676,000 after buying an additional 11,429 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Spire by 18.8% during the 4th quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 7,463 shares of the utilities providers stock worth $515,000 after buying an additional 1,183 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James & Associates grew its position in shares of Spire by 58.9% during the 4th quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 27,015 shares of the utilities providers stock worth $1,860,000 after buying an additional 10,015 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.86% of the companys stock.

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Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SR has been the subject of several analyst reports. TheStreet upgraded shares of Spire from a c+ rating to a b rating in a research report on Friday, February 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus cut shares of Spire from a buy rating to a hold rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $73.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Monday, February 6th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Spire in a research report on Thursday, March 16th. They set a hold rating for the company. Mizuho lowered their price target on shares of Spire from $73.00 to $71.00 in a research report on Friday, May 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Spire from $70.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research report on Thursday, April 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Spire currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $70.38.

Spire Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE:SR opened at $67.24 on Wednesday. Spire Inc. has a 52 week low of $61.52 and a 52 week high of $78.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a current ratio of 0.79. The company has a market capitalization of $3.54 billion, a PE ratio of 14.34, a PEG ratio of 3.87 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $69.12 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $70.09.

Spire (NYSE:SR  Get Rating) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 3rd. The utilities provider reported $3.70 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.49 by $0.21. The firm had revenue of $1.12 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $887.98 million. Spire had a net margin of 9.69% and a return on equity of 9.75%. The businesss quarterly revenue was up 27.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.42 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Spire Inc. will post 4.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Spire Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 5th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 12th will be issued a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 9th. Spires dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 61.41%.

Spire Profile

(Get Rating)

Spire Inc operates as a public utility holding company, which provides natural gas service through its utility operations while engaging in non-regulated activities. It operates through the Gas Utility and Gas Marketing Business segments. The Gas Utility segment includes the regulated operations of Laclede Gas Company and Alabama Gas Corporation.

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FLEX LNG Ltd. (NYSE:FLNG  Get Rating) saw a large decrease in short interest during the month of April. As of April 30th, there was short interest totalling 1,470,000 shares, a decrease of 10.9% from the April 15th total of 1,650,000 shares. Currently, 5.3% of the companys shares are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 467,300 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.1 days.

FLEX LNG Stock Down 5.7 %

FLNG stock traded down $1.85 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $30.49. 796,102 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 453,314. The stock has a market cap of $1.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.81 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a quick ratio of 2.28, a current ratio of 2.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.79. FLEX LNG has a fifty-two week low of $23.25 and a fifty-two week high of $38.24. The firms 50 day moving average price is $33.34 and its 200 day moving average price is $33.43.

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FLEX LNG (NYSE:FLNG  Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 14th. The company reported $1.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.38. The business had revenue of $97.93 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $91.70 million. FLEX LNG had a return on equity of 16.95% and a net margin of 54.05%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that FLEX LNG will post 3.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On FLEX LNG

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Toronto Dominion Bank purchased a new position in shares of FLEX LNG in the 4th quarter worth approximately $98,000. Aperture Investors LLC boosted its stake in shares of FLEX LNG by 82.6% in the 3rd quarter. Aperture Investors LLC now owns 42,343 shares of the companys stock worth $1,348,000 after buying an additional 19,152 shares during the last quarter. Cipher Capital LP purchased a new position in shares of FLEX LNG in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $564,000. Jenkins Wealth purchased a new position in shares of FLEX LNG in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,104,000. Finally, AlphaStar Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of FLEX LNG by 41.8% in the 4th quarter. AlphaStar Capital Management LLC now owns 46,690 shares of the companys stock worth $1,526,000 after purchasing an additional 13,771 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 20.60% of the companys stock.

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on FLNG shares. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a hold rating and issued a $36.00 price objective on shares of FLEX LNG in a research note on Tuesday, February 14th. Danske lowered shares of FLEX LNG from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Thursday, February 16th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $158.00.

FLEX LNG Company Profile

(Get Rating)

FLEX LNG Ltd. engages in the operation of carrier vessels. It focuses on the engineering and construction of liquefied natural gas producer units. The company was founded by Philip Eystein Fjeld, Trym Tveitnes and Jostein Ueland in August 2006 and is headquartered in Hamilton, Bermuda.

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Glatfelter Co. (NYSE:GLT  Get Rating) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest in the month of April. As of April 30th, there was short interest totalling 1,440,000 shares, a decline of 9.4% from the April 15th total of 1,590,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 487,400 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.0 days. Currently, 3.3% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Insider Activity at Glatfelter

In related news, SVP Wolfgang Laures acquired 277,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 23rd. The shares were bought at an average cost of $3.72 per share, for a total transaction of $1,030,440.00. Following the purchase, the senior vice president now owns 316,568 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,177,632.96. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, SVP Wolfgang Laures acquired 277,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 23rd. The shares were bought at an average cost of $3.72 per share, for a total transaction of $1,030,440.00. Following the purchase, the senior vice president now owns 316,568 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,177,632.96. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CAO David C. Elder acquired 8,800 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 24th. The stock was bought at an average price of $3.52 per share, for a total transaction of $30,976.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief accounting officer now owns 90,023 shares in the company, valued at approximately $316,880.96. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have bought 819,222 shares of company stock worth $2,727,738 over the last three months. Company insiders own 2.59% of the companys stock.

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Institutional Investors Weigh In On Glatfelter

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in GLT. Point72 Middle East FZE bought a new position in shares of Glatfelter during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Little House Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Glatfelter during the 1st quarter worth approximately $33,000. Algert Global LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Glatfelter during the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd boosted its holdings in Glatfelter by 603.6% in the 3rd quarter. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd now owns 11,525 shares of the basic materials companys stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 9,887 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new position in Glatfelter in the 4th quarter worth approximately $36,000. 89.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Glatfelter Trading Up 5.0 %

Separately, StockNews.com raised Glatfelter from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report on Friday, May 5th.

Shares of GLT stock traded up $0.17 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $3.54. The company had a trading volume of 264,043 shares, compared to its average volume of 483,392. The company has a 50 day moving average of $3.48 and a 200 day moving average of $3.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73, a current ratio of 2.21 and a quick ratio of 1.16. The firm has a market cap of $159.05 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.60 and a beta of 1.66. Glatfelter has a 1-year low of $2.08 and a 1-year high of $8.88.

Glatfelter (NYSE:GLT  Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 21st. The basic materials company reported ($0.16) earnings per share for the quarter. Glatfelter had a negative net margin of 6.69% and a negative return on equity of 5.59%. The company had revenue of $373.90 million during the quarter.

Glatfelter Company Profile

(Get Rating)

Glatfelter Corp. engages in the manufacture of papers and fiber-based engineered materials. It operates through the Composite Fibers and Airlaid Materials segments. The Composite Fibers segment offers food and beverage filtration materials, wallcover base materials, technical specialties, composite laminates decorative laminate solution, and metallized products.

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Hugo Boss AG (OTCMKTS:BOSSY  Get Rating) has been assigned an average recommendation of Hold from the eight research firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $60.17.

Several research firms recently commented on BOSSY. Jefferies Financial Group cut Hugo Boss from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Thursday, February 2nd. Societe Generale boosted their target price on Hugo Boss from 49.00 ($53.26) to 60.00 ($65.22) and gave the stock a hold rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 17th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut Hugo Boss from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Friday, March 10th.

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Hugo Boss Stock Performance

Shares of OTCMKTS BOSSY opened at $14.50 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $5.10 billion, a PE ratio of 22.31 and a beta of 1.24. Hugo Boss has a fifty-two week low of $9.02 and a fifty-two week high of $15.06. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $14.11 and a 200-day moving average of $12.65.

Hugo Boss Increases Dividend

Hugo Boss Company Profile

The company also recently disclosed a dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 19th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 11th will be issued a $0.1335 dividend. This is a boost from Hugo Bosss previous dividend of $0.10. This represents a dividend yield of 1.53%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 10th. Hugo Bosss dividend payout ratio is presently 20.00%.

(Get Rating)

Hugo Boss AG is a fashion and lifestyle company that offers womens and mens apparel. Its brands include BOSS and HUGO. It also focuses on the development and distribution of fragrances, eyewear, watches, and childrens fashion. The company was founded by Hugo Ferdinand Boss in 1924 and is headquartered in Metzingen, Germany.

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Kuehne + Nagel International AG (OTCMKTS:KHNGY  Get Rating) has earned a consensus recommendation of Hold from the eight analysts that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $260.00.

Several brokerages have weighed in on KHNGY. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Kuehne + Nagel International from a market perform rating to an outperform rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 8th. HSBC cut shares of Kuehne + Nagel International from a hold rating to a reduce rating in a research report on Monday, February 27th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Kuehne + Nagel International from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 19th. UBS Group cut shares of Kuehne + Nagel International from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 15th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Kuehne + Nagel International from a neutral rating to an overweight rating in a research report on Friday, February 17th.

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Kuehne + Nagel International Price Performance

Shares of Kuehne + Nagel International stock opened at $57.75 on Wednesday. Kuehne + Nagel International has a twelve month low of $39.39 and a twelve month high of $61.61. The company has a quick ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $57.97 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $51.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $34.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.52 and a beta of 0.91.

Kuehne + Nagel International Increases Dividend

Kuehne + Nagel International ( OTCMKTS:KHNGY Get Rating ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 1st. The company reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.80 by ($0.02). Kuehne + Nagel International had a return on equity of 69.03% and a net margin of 6.44%. The business had revenue of $9.13 billion during the quarter. Analysts forecast that Kuehne + Nagel International will post 2.57 EPS for the current year.

The business also recently disclosed a dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 30th. Investors of record on Friday, May 12th will be given a dividend of $1.9891 per share. This represents a yield of 3.29%. This is a boost from Kuehne + Nagel Internationals previous dividend of $1.31. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 11th. Kuehne + Nagel Internationals dividend payout ratio is currently 49.26%.

About Kuehne + Nagel International

(Get Rating)

Kuhne + Nagel International AG engages in the provision of logistic services. It operates through the following segments: Sea Logistics, Air Logistics, Road Logistics, and Contract Logistics. The company was founded by August Kuehne and Friedrich Nagel in 1890 and is headquartered in Schindellegi, Switzerland.

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M&G plc (LON:MNG  Get Rating) shot up 0.5% on Monday . The stock traded as high as GBX 200.20 ($2.51) and last traded at GBX 200.20 ($2.51). 2,736,588 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 68% from the average session volume of 8,547,548 shares. The stock had previously closed at GBX 199.15 ($2.49).

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on MNG shares. Morgan Stanley restated an overweight rating and set a GBX 247 ($3.09) price target on shares of M&G in a report on Tuesday, March 28th. HSBC raised their target price on shares of M&G from GBX 260 ($3.26) to GBX 265 ($3.32) and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Friday, February 10th. Berenberg Bank lowered shares of M&G to a hold rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from GBX 260 ($3.26) to GBX 218 ($2.73) in a research report on Monday, January 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of M&G from GBX 190 ($2.38) to GBX 200 ($2.51) and gave the stock an underweight rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the companys stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of GBX 222.14 ($2.78).

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M&G Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 281.17, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a current ratio of 2.74. The stocks 50 day simple moving average is GBX 196.19 and its 200 day simple moving average is GBX 195.42. The firm has a market capitalization of 4.63 billion, a P/E ratio of -298.18, a P/E/G ratio of -2.76 and a beta of 1.65.

M&G Increases Dividend

Insider Buying and Selling at M&G

The firm also recently announced a dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 16th were issued a dividend of GBX 13.40 ($0.17) per share. This represents a yield of 6.19%. This is a boost from M&Gs previous dividend of $6.20. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 16th. M&Gs dividend payout ratio is presently -3,030.30%.

In other M&G news, insider Andrea Rossi purchased 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 3rd. The stock was purchased at an average price of GBX 193 ($2.42) per share, with a total value of 19,300 ($24,176.37). Insiders own 2.71% of the companys stock.

M&G Company Profile

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M&G plc, through its subsidiaries, engages in savings and investment businesses in the United Kingdom and internationally. The company operates through two segments, Asset Management, and Retail and Savings. It offers retirement, savings, and investment management solutions to its retail and institutional customers.

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Mirador Capital Partners LP lowered its stake in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY  Get Rating) by 0.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 42,951 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock after selling 356 shares during the quarter. Mirador Capital Partners LPs holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb were worth $3,090,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 1.6% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 199,886,585 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock worth $14,209,937,000 after buying an additional 3,058,491 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. grew its stake in 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. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake 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. Boston Partners grew its stake in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 35.7% in the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 13,794,089 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock valued at $992,048,000 after purchasing an additional 3,627,705 shares during the period. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System grew its stake in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 11,442,639 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock valued at $813,457,000 after purchasing an additional 59,791 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 75.51% of the companys stock.

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Bristol-Myers Squibb Price Performance

BMY traded down $0.67 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $66.35. 623,744 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,932,136. The companys 50-day moving average is $68.45 and its two-hundred day moving average is $72.33. Bristol-Myers Squibb has a 12-month low of $65.28 and a 12-month high of $81.43. The company has a market cap of $139.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a quick ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Dividend Announcement

Bristol-Myers Squibb ( NYSE:BMY Get Rating ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 27th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $2.05 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.98 by $0.07. Bristol-Myers Squibb had a return on equity of 51.75% and a net margin of 15.95%. The firm had revenue of $11.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $11.50 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.96 EPS. The companys revenue was down 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Bristol-Myers Squibb will post 8.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 10th were issued a $0.57 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 6th. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.44%. Bristol-Myers Squibbs payout ratio is currently 66.47%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BMY has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Bank of America upped their price objective on Bristol-Myers Squibb from $82.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Friday, April 21st. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Bristol-Myers Squibb in a research report on Monday, March 6th. They set a hold rating and a $62.00 price target on the stock. Atlantic Securities upped their price target on Bristol-Myers Squibb from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Friday, February 3rd. Credit Suisse Group dropped their price target on Bristol-Myers Squibb from $78.00 to $72.00 in a research report on Friday, April 28th. Finally, 51job reaffirmed a maintains rating on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb in a research report on Friday, April 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $79.43.

Insider Buying and Selling at Bristol-Myers Squibb

In other Bristol-Myers Squibb news, EVP Rupert Vessey sold 50,385 shares of the firms stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.06, for a total value of $3,378,818.10. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 47,751 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $3,202,182.06. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.08% of the companys stock.

About Bristol-Myers Squibb

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Bristol Myers Squibb Co engages in the discovery, development, licensing, manufacture, marketing, distribution, and sale of biopharmaceutical products. It offers chemically-synthesized drugs or small molecules and products produced from biological processes called biologics. The company was founded in August 1933 and is headquartered in New York, NY.

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Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. decreased its holdings in shares of Molson Coors Beverage (NYSE:TAP  Get Rating) by 4.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,110,000 shares of the companys stock after selling 50,000 shares during the quarter. Molson Coors Beverage comprises approximately 0.8% of Jupiter Asset Management Ltd.s holdings, making the stock its 20th biggest holding. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. owned approximately 0.51% of Molson Coors Beverage worth $57,187,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in TAP. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Molson Coors Beverage by 25.9% during the 1st quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 23,269 shares of the companys stock valued at $1,242,000 after purchasing an additional 4,792 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in Molson Coors Beverage by 17.1% during the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 18,462 shares of the companys stock valued at $985,000 after purchasing an additional 2,700 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE raised its holdings in shares of Molson Coors Beverage by 45.7% during the first quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 3,834 shares of the companys stock valued at $205,000 after acquiring an additional 1,203 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Molson Coors Beverage by 4.5% during the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 16,654 shares of the companys stock valued at $889,000 after acquiring an additional 720 shares during the period. Finally, Natixis Advisors L.P. raised its holdings in shares of Molson Coors Beverage by 26.3% during the first quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 14,411 shares of the companys stock valued at $769,000 after acquiring an additional 3,001 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.24% of the companys stock.

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Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on TAP. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Molson Coors Beverage from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report on Friday, May 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on shares of Molson Coors Beverage from $47.00 to $50.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 3rd. TheStreet raised shares of Molson Coors Beverage from a c+ rating to a b rating in a report on Tuesday, May 2nd. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Molson Coors Beverage from $52.00 to $62.00 in a report on Thursday, May 4th. Finally, Roth Capital reiterated a buy rating on shares of Molson Coors Beverage in a report on Tuesday, February 21st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $57.87.

Molson Coors Beverage Price Performance

TAP stock traded down $1.42 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $61.77. The stock had a trading volume of 1,334,486 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,884,417. Molson Coors Beverage has a 52 week low of $46.69 and a 52 week high of $66.67. The stocks 50 day moving average is $56.26 and its two-hundred day moving average is $53.60. The company has a quick ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48.

Molson Coors Beverage (NYSE:TAP  Get Rating) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, May 2nd. The company reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.26 by $0.28. The company had revenue of $2.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.23 billion. Molson Coors Beverage had a positive return on equity of 7.16% and a negative net margin of 1.97%. The firms quarterly revenue was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.29 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Molson Coors Beverage will post 4.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Molson Coors Beverage Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.41 per share. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.66%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 2nd. This is a boost from Molson Coors Beverages previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. Molson Coors Beverages dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -137.81%.

Molson Coors Beverage Profile

(Get Rating)

Molson Coors Beverage Co is a holding company, which engages in the production and sale of beer. It operates through the following segments: Americas, and EMEA and APAC. The Americas segment operates in the U.S., Canada and various countries in the Caribbean, Latin, and South America. The EMEA and APAC segment operates in Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Montenegro, the Republic of Ireland, Romania, Serbia, the UK, various other European countries, and certain countries within the Middle East, Africa, and Asia Pacific.

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National issues hit home in many districts Tuesday during school board elections in Erie and Niagara counties, with scrimmages over LGBTQ+ policies and what books should be in school libraries.

Despite the noise, experienced school board members and those endorsed by district teachers unions carried the day in several competitive districts.

Voters in Williamsville had 14 candidates to choose from for four open seats, and chose the quartet endorsed by the Williamsville Teachers Association.

Incumbents Mike Buscaglia and Crystal Kaczmarek-Boger along with newcomer Kerry Spicer were elected to three-year terms. Former Amherst Town Board Member Mark Manna received the fourth highest vote total and will fill the vacant seat with a term ending in June of 2025. Incumbent President Susan McClary was among those defeated.

"There were possibly too many candidates on there to make a good decision because you don't have a lot of time or a lot of material to vet them by," district voter Frank McCarthy said Tuesday afternoon while casting his ballot at Williamsville North High School.

McCarthy said he always votes, but a recent state audit that found the district levied higher taxes than necessary and was not transparent about its use of reserve funds upped his interest and enthusiasm for this election.

"That surplus is probably my biggest question because of just how high the school taxes are," he said.

Turnout was steady in some districts and brisk in others with contested races, including Lancaster, where six candidates vied for three school board seats.

Candidates endorsed by the teachers association there also won: incumbent President Michael Sage, Vice President Glenn Jackson and newcomer Timothy Talbot.

Challengers Dan Romig, Tara Romig and Laura Sproull  a united front urging better communication and sharing concerns about books found in district libraries  were about 300 votes behind the winners.

"Love always wins," Sage said late Tuesday, responding to a question about the significance of his block's victory.

In West Seneca, Sandra Magnano, who had shared antisemitic and anti-gay posts on her Truth Social account last year, lost.

Candidates endorsed by the West Seneca Teachers Association won. They are Laura Sokol-Scott, Trek Fulater and Sarah Piwowarczyk. Their opponents also included Lorene Barulich, John Barrett, Jennifer Kus and Frank Zappia.

Three Starpoint Central School Board incumbents came under fire for the board's cancellation of the wrestling season due to accusations of sexual harassment against two team members. Three candidates with ties to the wrestling program challenged them.

Board Members Shawn P. Riester, Jeffrey D. Duncan and Kelley A. Swann each won by a margin of about 2-1 to seize three-year terms on the nine-member Niagara County school district's board.

Assistant wrestling coach Brian LaPlante, Christen Haseley and Jennifer Argentieri  two of whom spoke critically against the school board in February and March  received between 440 and 460 votes apiece. Lisa Kankolenski, who ran unaffiliated with the wrestling parents, received 296 votes.

"We want to move into a bright future for all our children. That starts tomorrow," Riester said Tuesday after the results came in. "There are a lot of conversations that have to happen."

Teachers union-endorsed candidates in Orchard Park also won: incumbent Vice President Dr. Jennifer Rogers, Ed Draves and Steve Comeau. Those defeated included Steve Barlette and Katherine Kati Ibarra, who ran unsuccessfully last year, as well Bobby Wellington.

Lancaster High School senior Samantha Stinson participated in her first school district vote Tuesday, a process she found simpler than imagined.

She was among more than 1,550 voters who cast their ballots by 2:45 p.m. in the Lancaster High School Java Gym for school board, a proposed $130.7 million budget for next school year and whether to spend $1.1 million on seven new school buses. The spending proposals passed.

Stinson said she wanted to vote because she has a brother in the district.

She voted about the same time as Nancy Billo, on the opposite side of the gym from grade school students who came with their parents and cast practice ballots into colorfully decorated boxes. They were asked to decide which fun school activities they preferred, like a water balloon toss or lunch with the principal.

For the grown-ups, it was much more consequential.

I believe the people that we voted for were the proper people," Billo said, "and they will voice the concerns of all parents and represent the school the best."

In Lockport, Renee G. Cheatham, the only incumbent, lost. She and three other candidates had complained that the Lockport Education Association did not offer them interviews for possible endorsements. But the three candidates endorsed by the Lockport Education Association won, including Alex Lamont, Thomas J. Gray and Joseph J. Runfola II.

Caitlin Kenney and Jacob Bolick said they came out to vote because they oppose the Lockport districts plan to cut two school librarians as part of the proposed 2023-24 budget.

If voters choose to adopt the budget, which they did, the middle school and all four elementary schools in Lockport will share one librarian.

"School librarians have a positive impact on the schools," said Kenney, a Lockport graduate who works for the Western New York Library Resources Council. "They prepare (students) for college and their future careers. They have a drastic impact on literacy rates, reading comprehension and even math scores. I believe it's important for every school to have a school librarian. They provide a safe space for students, not only to study but to take some time out of their day."

Bolick, also a Lockport alum who said he had the same librarian from elementary school through high school, agreed.

"My parents instilled in me a love of reading and a love of knowledge at an early age and that was then further carried by my librarian," he said.
Morguard North American (TSE:MRG  Get Rating) announced a monthly dividend on Monday, May 15th, Zacks reports. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 31st will be paid a dividend of 0.06 per share on Thursday, June 15th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of . The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 30th.

Morguard North American Price Performance

Morguard North American has a 52-week low of C$13.17 and a 52-week high of C$16.21.

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Morguard North American (TSE:MRG  Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 14th. The company reported C($2.89) earnings per share for the quarter. The company had revenue of C$75.08 million for the quarter.

About Morguard North American

Morguard North American Residential Real Estate Investment Trust (the Trust) is a real estate investment trust (REIT). The Trusts investment objectives are to generate stable and growing cash distributions on a tax-efficient basis; enhance the value of the REITs assets and maximize long-term Unit value through active asset and property management, and expand the asset base of the REIT and increase adjusted funds from operations per Unit primarily through acquisitions and improvement of its properties through targeted deployed capital expenditures.

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Nevsun Resources (TSE:NSU  Get Rating) (NYSEAMERICAN:NSU)s stock price crossed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Monday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of C$0.00 and traded as high as C$6.00. Nevsun Resources shares last traded at C$6.00, with a volume of 12,608 shares changing hands.

Nevsun Resources Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of C$1.82 billion and a P/E ratio of -50.00. The stocks fifty day moving average price is C$6.00.

Nevsun Resources Company Profile

(Get Rating)

Nevsun Resources Ltd. engages in the mining and development of mineral properties in Europe, Africa, and North America. It explores for gold, copper, zinc, and silver deposits. The company's principal assets include Timok project, a copper-gold development project in Serbia; and Bisha copper- zinc mine in Eritrea.

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Nordic American Tankers (NYSE:NAT  Get Rating) will be releasing its earnings data before the market opens on Monday, May 22nd. Analysts expect Nordic American Tankers to post earnings of $0.20 per share for the quarter.

Nordic American Tankers (NYSE:NAT  Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 27th. The shipping company reported $0.17 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.22 by ($0.05). The company had revenue of $71.10 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $83.48 million. Nordic American Tankers had a return on equity of 2.96% and a net margin of 8.95%. During the same period last year, the business earned ($0.12) EPS. On average, analysts expect Nordic American Tankers to post $1 EPS for the current fiscal year and $0 EPS for the next fiscal year.

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Nordic American Tankers Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of NAT stock traded down $0.01 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $3.60. 295,486 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,108,582. The firm has a market cap of $751.68 million, a P/E ratio of 60.17 and a beta of 0.09. Nordic American Tankers has a fifty-two week low of $1.80 and a fifty-two week high of $4.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 1.62 and a current ratio of 1.97. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $3.72 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $3.50.

Nordic American Tankers Increases Dividend

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Nordic American Tankers

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.15 per share. This is an increase from Nordic American Tankerss previous quarterly dividend of $0.05. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 13th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 16.67%. Nordic American Tankerss dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 1,000.00%.

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of NAT. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Nordic American Tankers by 2.8% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 510,212 shares of the shipping companys stock worth $1,087,000 after purchasing an additional 14,048 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in Nordic American Tankers by 25.3% during the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 606,947 shares of the shipping companys stock valued at $1,293,000 after acquiring an additional 122,381 shares in the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Nordic American Tankers by 26.6% during the 1st quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 128,599 shares of the shipping companys stock valued at $274,000 after acquiring an additional 26,995 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers lifted its stake in Nordic American Tankers by 11.1% during the 1st quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 257,510 shares of the shipping companys stock valued at $548,000 after acquiring an additional 25,644 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BlackRock Inc. lifted its stake in Nordic American Tankers by 3.8% during the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 9,897,210 shares of the shipping companys stock valued at $21,082,000 after acquiring an additional 366,761 shares in the last quarter. 40.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on NAT shares. B. Riley raised their price objective on shares of Nordic American Tankers from $5.00 to $5.50 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 28th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Nordic American Tankers from $4.50 to $5.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Monday, February 27th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Nordic American Tankers from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report on Friday, May 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the companys stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $5.25.

About Nordic American Tankers

(Get Rating)

Nordic American Tankers Ltd. operates as an international tanker company. It owns and operates Suezmax crude oil tankers. The company was founded by Herbjorn Hansson on June 12, 1995 and is headquartered in Hamilton, Bermuda.

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North Star Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Hubbell Incorporated (NYSE:HUBB  Get Rating) by 120.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,361 shares of the industrial products companys stock after purchasing an additional 1,290 shares during the period. North Star Asset Management Inc.s holdings in Hubbell were worth $554,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. First Manhattan Co. acquired a new stake in Hubbell during the 1st quarter worth about $28,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new stake in Hubbell during the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Hubbell during the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. IFP Advisors Inc grew its holdings in Hubbell by 25.7% during the 3rd quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 274 shares of the industrial products companys stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares during the period. Finally, Atlas Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Hubbell during the 4th quarter worth about $40,000. 89.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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Hubbell Stock Up 1.0 %

NYSE HUBB traded up $2.77 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $272.84. The companys stock had a trading volume of 82,110 shares, compared to its average volume of 430,709. Hubbell Incorporated has a 52 week low of $170.21 and a 52 week high of $282.19. The company has a market capitalization of $14.62 billion, a PE ratio of 25.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a current ratio of 1.99, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. The companys 50-day simple moving average is $245.92 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $243.52.

Hubbell Announces Dividend

Hubbell ( NYSE:HUBB Get Rating ) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 25th. The industrial products company reported $3.61 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.46 by $1.15. Hubbell had a net margin of 11.15% and a return on equity of 27.72%. The firm had revenue of $1.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $1.25 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.12 EPS. The companys quarterly revenue was up 11.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Hubbell Incorporated will post 13.81 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 31st will be given a dividend of $1.12 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 30th. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.64%. Hubbells dividend payout ratio is currently 42.79%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

HUBB has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Hubbell from $226.00 to $238.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a report on Wednesday, February 1st. Mizuho raised their target price on Hubbell from $252.00 to $300.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 26th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Hubbell from $225.00 to $221.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 13th. StockNews.com upgraded Hubbell from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Hubbell from an underweight rating to a neutral rating and raised their target price for the company from $200.00 to $205.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Hubbell has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $237.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Carlos M. Cardoso sold 560 shares of Hubbell stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $273.16, for a total value of $152,969.60. Following the sale, the director now owns 1,711 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $467,376.76. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.66% of the companys stock.

Hubbell Company Profile

(Get Rating)

Hubbell, Inc engages in the designing, manufacturing, and sale of electrical and electronic products for non-residential and residential construction, industrial, and utility applications. It operates through the Electrical Solutions and Utility Solutions segments. The Electrical Solutions segment manufactures and sells wiring and electrical, lighting fixtures, and controls for indoor and outdoor applications as well as specialty lighting and communications products.

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William Blair Investment Management LLC trimmed its position in Pebblebrook Hotel Trust (NYSE:PEB  Get Rating) by 1.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,182,401 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock after selling 23,504 shares during the period. William Blair Investment Management LLC owned 1.66% of Pebblebrook Hotel Trust worth $29,222,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its position in shares of Pebblebrook Hotel Trust by 30.7% in the 3rd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 854,100 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $12,393,000 after acquiring an additional 200,605 shares during the period. Pearl River Capital LLC grew its position in Pebblebrook Hotel Trust by 193.5% during the 3rd quarter. Pearl River Capital LLC now owns 42,698 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock worth $620,000 after purchasing an additional 28,150 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can raised its stake in shares of Pebblebrook Hotel Trust by 5.4% during the 4th quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 972,921 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $15,309,000 after buying an additional 49,971 shares during the last quarter. AlphaCrest Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Pebblebrook Hotel Trust by 122.4% during the 3rd quarter. AlphaCrest Capital Management LLC now owns 137,406 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $1,994,000 after buying an additional 75,629 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Growth Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Pebblebrook Hotel Trust during the 3rd quarter valued at about $5,079,000.

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Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PEB has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Pebblebrook Hotel Trust from $17.00 to $14.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 30th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Pebblebrook Hotel Trust from $15.25 to $15.50 in a research note on Thursday, April 27th. 92 Resources reiterated a maintains rating on shares of Pebblebrook Hotel Trust in a research note on Thursday, April 27th. Barclays reduced their price objective on Pebblebrook Hotel Trust from $18.00 to $16.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 26th. Finally, Truist Financial reduced their price objective on Pebblebrook Hotel Trust from $18.00 to $16.00 and set a hold rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 13th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have given a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $17.70.

Insider Buying and Selling

Pebblebrook Hotel Trust Stock Down 0.4 %

In other news, CEO Jon E. Bortz acquired 14,865 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 8th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $14.93 per share, for a total transaction of $221,934.45. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 1,039,967 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,526,707.31. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink . In related news, CEO Jon E. Bortz bought 14,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 16th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $13.62 per share, for a total transaction of $190,680.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,108,102 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,092,349.24. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink . Also, CEO Jon E. Bortz bought 14,865 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 8th. The shares were bought at an average price of $14.93 per share, for a total transaction of $221,934.45. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 1,039,967 shares in the company, valued at $15,526,707.31. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here . In the last three months, insiders have bought 39,865 shares of company stock worth $555,064. Insiders own 2.40% of the companys stock.

NYSE:PEB opened at $13.90 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.71. Pebblebrook Hotel Trust has a 52 week low of $12.37 and a 52 week high of $24.30. The stocks 50-day moving average price is $13.99 and its 200-day moving average price is $14.70.

Pebblebrook Hotel Trust (NYSE:PEB  Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 21st. The real estate investment trust reported ($0.34) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.18 by ($0.52). Pebblebrook Hotel Trust had a negative return on equity of 0.34% and a negative net margin of 0.73%. The firm had revenue of $319.61 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $309.55 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.06 earnings per share. The companys quarterly revenue was up 29.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Pebblebrook Hotel Trust will post 1.62 EPS for the current year.

Pebblebrook Hotel Trust Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 17th. Investors of record on Friday, March 31st were issued a $0.01 dividend. This represents a $0.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.29%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 30th. Pebblebrook Hotel Trusts payout ratio is -10.26%.

Pebblebrook Hotel Trust Company Profile

(Get Rating)

Pebblebrook Hotel Trust is a real estate investment trust, engages in investments and acquisitions in hotel properties. Its hotels are located in markets like Atlanta, Georgia, Boston, Massachusetts, Chicago, Illinois, Key West, Miami and Naples, Florida, Los Angeles, San Diego and San Francisco, California, Nashville, Tennessee, New York, New York, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Portland, Oregon, and Seattle, Washington.

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PerkinElmer (NYSE:PKI  Get Rating) had its target price lowered by equities research analysts at Citigroup from $170.00 to $160.00 in a report released on Monday, The Fly reports. Citigroups price target would indicate a potential upside of 38.84% from the companys current price.

A number of other research firms have also recently issued reports on PKI. StockNews.com started coverage on PerkinElmer in a research note on Thursday, March 16th. They set a hold rating for the company. Credit Suisse Group reissued a neutral rating and set a $160.00 target price on shares of PerkinElmer in a research note on Wednesday, February 15th. Barclays lowered their target price on PerkinElmer from $140.00 to $125.00 in a research note on Friday, May 12th. TheStreet cut PerkinElmer from a b- rating to a c rating in a research note on Thursday, May 11th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on PerkinElmer from $145.00 to $135.00 in a research report on Friday, May 12th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, PerkinElmer currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $158.60.

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PerkinElmer Stock Performance

Shares of PKI stock opened at $115.24 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 2.13 and a quick ratio of 1.87. The stock has a market cap of $14.57 billion, a PE ratio of 15.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.55 and a beta of 1.10. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $128.27 and a 200-day moving average of $133.30. PerkinElmer has a one year low of $113.46 and a one year high of $170.00.

Insider Activity

PerkinElmer ( NYSE:PKI Get Rating ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 11th. The medical research company reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of $1.07 by ($0.06). The company had revenue of $674.87 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $686.30 million. PerkinElmer had a net margin of 14.69% and a return on equity of 13.94%. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.41 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that PerkinElmer will post 5.06 earnings per share for the current year.

In other news, insider Daniel R. Tereau sold 10,741 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $123.72, for a total value of $1,328,876.52. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 11,611 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $1,436,512.92. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other PerkinElmer news, insider Daniel R. Tereau sold 10,741 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Monday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $123.72, for a total transaction of $1,328,876.52. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 11,611 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $1,436,512.92. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Maxwell Krakowiak sold 322 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.00, for a total value of $41,860.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 7,202 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $936,260. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 15,349 shares of company stock valued at $1,953,042. 0.52% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On PerkinElmer

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PKI. Raymond James & Associates lifted its holdings in PerkinElmer by 21.6% during the 1st quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 13,668 shares of the medical research companys stock valued at $2,385,000 after purchasing an additional 2,431 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE increased its position in PerkinElmer by 2.0% during the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 4,572 shares of the medical research companys stock worth $798,000 after buying an additional 89 shares during the period. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. increased its position in PerkinElmer by 5.5% during the 1st quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 6,411 shares of the medical research companys stock worth $1,119,000 after buying an additional 336 shares during the period. Private Advisor Group LLC increased its position in PerkinElmer by 21.8% during the 1st quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 3,380 shares of the medical research companys stock worth $590,000 after buying an additional 606 shares during the period. Finally, D.A. Davidson & CO. increased its position in PerkinElmer by 5.3% during the 1st quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 1,582 shares of the medical research companys stock worth $276,000 after buying an additional 80 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.22% of the companys stock.

PerkinElmer Company Profile

(Get Rating)

PerkinElmer, Inc engages in the provision of products, services, and solutions for diagnostics, food, environmental, life sciences, and applied markets. It operates through the following segments: Discovery & Analytical Solutions and Diagnostics. The Discovery & Analytical Solutions segment consists of technologies that help life sciences researchers better understand diseases and develop treatments.

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First Trust Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of PNM Resources, Inc. (NYSE:PNM  Get Rating) by 12.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,475,462 shares of the utilities providers stock after purchasing an additional 163,853 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP owned 1.72% of PNM Resources worth $71,988,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in PNM Resources by 34.9% during the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 850 shares of the utilities providers stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 220 shares in the last quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System grew its stake in PNM Resources by 60.4% during the 4th quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 456,080 shares of the utilities providers stock valued at $22,252,000 after acquiring an additional 171,711 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC grew its stake in PNM Resources by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 991,827 shares of the utilities providers stock valued at $48,391,000 after acquiring an additional 15,818 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in PNM Resources during the 4th quarter valued at about $803,000. Finally, MetLife Investment Management LLC grew its stake in PNM Resources by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 98,811 shares of the utilities providers stock valued at $4,519,000 after acquiring an additional 1,062 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.88% of the companys stock.

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PNM Resources Stock Performance

PNM Resources stock opened at $45.20 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $48.49 and a 200-day simple moving average of $48.65. PNM Resources, Inc. has a 1-year low of $43.43 and a 1-year high of $49.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a current ratio of 0.29 and a quick ratio of 0.24. The stock has a market cap of $3.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.27 and a beta of 0.42.

PNM Resources Announces Dividend

PNM Resources ( NYSE:PNM Get Rating ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 5th. The utilities provider reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.39 by $0.16. PNM Resources had a net margin of 8.89% and a return on equity of 10.55%. The business had revenue of $544.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $460.14 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.50 EPS. The businesss revenue for the quarter was up 22.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that PNM Resources, Inc. will post 2.65 EPS for the current year.

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 12th. Investors of record on Friday, April 28th were given a dividend of $0.368 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 27th. This represents a $1.47 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.26%. PNM Resourcess payout ratio is currently 60.74%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on PNM. Siebert Williams Shank raised shares of PNM Resources from a hold rating to a buy rating and upped their price objective for the company from $53.00 to $55.00 in a research note on Tuesday. StockNews.com raised shares of PNM Resources from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note on Tuesday.

PNM Resources Profile

(Get Rating)

PNM Resources, Inc operates as an investor-owned holding company, which provides electricity and electric services in New Mexico and Texas. It operates through the following segments: Public Service Company of New Mexico (PNM), Texas-New Mexico Power Company (TNMP), and Corporate and Other. The PNM segment includes the retail electric utility operations of the company.

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Quarry Hill Advisors LLC bought a new stake in iShares MSCI EAFE Value ETF (BATS:EFV  Get Rating) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 9,885 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $454,000. iShares MSCI EAFE Value ETF makes up approximately 0.5% of Quarry Hill Advisors LLCs investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest holding.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Perennial Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in iShares MSCI EAFE Value ETF by 15.0% during the 4th quarter. Perennial Investment Advisors LLC now owns 10,502 shares of the companys stock worth $482,000 after buying an additional 1,368 shares in the last quarter. Tempus Wealth Planning LLC lifted its position in iShares MSCI EAFE Value ETF by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Tempus Wealth Planning LLC now owns 21,022 shares of the companys stock worth $964,000 after buying an additional 567 shares in the last quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. acquired a new position in iShares MSCI EAFE Value ETF during the 4th quarter worth about $214,000. Lwmg LLC acquired a new position in iShares MSCI EAFE Value ETF during the 4th quarter worth about $518,000. Finally, Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN acquired a new position in iShares MSCI EAFE Value ETF during the 4th quarter worth about $135,000.

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iShares MSCI EAFE Value ETF Trading Down 1.2 %

BATS EFV traded down $0.60 on Wednesday, hitting $49.41. 711,031 shares of the company were exchanged. iShares MSCI EAFE Value ETF has a 1-year low of $49.15 and a 1-year high of $59.57. The company has a market cap of $16.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.51 and a beta of 0.86. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $48.83 and a two-hundred day moving average of $47.62.

iShares MSCI EAFE Value ETF 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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A number of firms have modified their ratings and price targets on shares of AmerisourceBergen (NYSE: ABC) recently:

5/3/2023  AmerisourceBergen had its price target raised by analysts at Barclays PLC from $182.00 to $189.00. They now have an overweight rating on the stock.

5/3/2023  AmerisourceBergen had its price target raised by analysts at Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft from $174.00 to $182.00.

5/3/2023  AmerisourceBergen had its price target raised by analysts at Mizuho from $170.00 to $174.00.

5/2/2023  AmerisourceBergen was upgraded by analysts at TheStreet from a c rating to a b+ rating.

3/31/2023  AmerisourceBergen is now covered by analysts at Citigroup Inc.. They set a buy rating and a $185.00 price target on the stock.

AmerisourceBergen Stock Performance

Shares of AmerisourceBergen stock traded up $0.19 on Wednesday, reaching $174.79. 1,660,144 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,232,041. AmerisourceBergen Co. has a 52 week low of $135.14 and a 52 week high of $175.35. The company has a 50 day moving average of $162.52 and a 200 day moving average of $162.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $35.39 billion, a PE ratio of 22.47, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.13, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.51.

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AmerisourceBergen (NYSE:ABC  Get Rating) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 2nd. The company reported $3.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $3.29 by $0.21. AmerisourceBergen had a net margin of 0.65% and a return on equity of 809.53%. The firm had revenue of $63.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $60.40 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.22 EPS. The companys revenue was up 9.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that AmerisourceBergen Co. will post 11.89 earnings per share for the current year.

AmerisourceBergen Announces Dividend

Insider Buying and Selling

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 12th will be given a dividend of $0.485 per share. This represents a $1.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.11%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 11th. AmerisourceBergens dividend payout ratio is currently 24.94%.

In related news, major shareholder Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. sold 292,792 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.77, for a total value of $50,000,089.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 33,366,388 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $5,697,978,078.76. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other AmerisourceBergen news, major shareholder Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. sold 292,792 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.77, for a total value of $50,000,089.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 33,366,388 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $5,697,978,078.76. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Steven H. Collis sold 10,499 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total transaction of $1,574,850.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 257,967 shares of the companys stock, valued at $38,695,050. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 326,213 shares of company stock valued at $55,412,200. Company insiders own 20.10% of the companys stock.

Institutional Trading of AmerisourceBergen

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ABC. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in shares of AmerisourceBergen by 145.9% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 10,257,332 shares of the companys stock valued at $1,642,302,000 after buying an additional 6,086,040 shares in the last quarter. Edmp Inc. raised its position in AmerisourceBergen by 16,285.3% in the 4th quarter. Edmp Inc. now owns 2,295,746 shares of the companys stock worth $13,854,000 after purchasing an additional 2,281,735 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in AmerisourceBergen by 7,989.0% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,856,026 shares of the companys stock worth $297,168,000 after purchasing an additional 1,833,081 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in AmerisourceBergen in the 4th quarter worth $261,294,000. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its position in AmerisourceBergen by 156.2% in the 1st quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,509,370 shares of the companys stock worth $83,116,000 after purchasing an additional 1,530,083 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.79% of the companys stock.

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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Copper Mountain Mining (OTCMKTS:CPPMF  Get Rating) and Gold Reserve (OTCMKTS:GDRZF  Get Rating) are both small-cap basic materials companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, analyst recommendations, risk, profitability, earnings, institutional ownership and dividends.

Volatility and Risk

Copper Mountain Mining has a beta of 2, suggesting that its share price is 100% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Gold Reserve has a beta of 0.38, suggesting that its share price is 62% less volatile than the S&P 500.

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Profitability

This table compares Copper Mountain Mining and Gold Reserves net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

Net Margins Return on Equity Return on Assets Copper Mountain Mining 7.31% -8.37% -3.71% Gold Reserve N/A -15.57% -15.24%

Analyst Recommendations

Sell Ratings Hold Ratings Buy Ratings Strong Buy Ratings Rating Score Copper Mountain Mining 0 4 3 0 2.43 Gold Reserve 0 0 0 0 N/A

This is a summary of current ratings and price targets for Copper Mountain Mining and Gold Reserve, as provided by MarketBeat.

Copper Mountain Mining currently has a consensus price target of $2.64, indicating a potential upside of 45.70%. Given Copper Mountain Minings higher probable upside, research analysts clearly believe Copper Mountain Mining is more favorable than Gold Reserve.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Copper Mountain Mining and Gold Reserves gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

Gross Revenue Price/Sales Ratio Net Income Earnings Per Share Price/Earnings Ratio Copper Mountain Mining $231.89 million 1.67 $24.58 million $0.09 20.13 Gold Reserve $470,000.00 265.60 -$8.60 million ($0.09) -13.93

Copper Mountain Mining has higher revenue and earnings than Gold Reserve. Gold Reserve is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Copper Mountain Mining, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

15.5% of Gold Reserve shares are owned by institutional investors. 12.8% of Gold Reserve shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Copper Mountain Mining beats Gold Reserve on 10 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Copper Mountain Mining

(Get Rating)

Copper Mountain Mining Corp. engages in the exploration, development and operation of mineral deposits. It holds interest in Copper Mountain Mine, Eva Copper, New Ingerbelle, and Cameron Copper Projects. The company was founded on April 20, 2006 and is headquartered in Vancouver, Canada.

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.

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A Buffalo man who sold heroin that led to an overdose death was sentenced to serve 12 years in prison by Chief U.S. District Judge Elizabeth A. Wolford, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

Prosecutors said 28-year-old Orlando Albert-Arroyo was convicted of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute, and to distribute, heroin after Buffalo police officers on Feb. 27, 2019, responded to a drug overdose call and found a deceased 24-year-old man.

The dead man's girlfriend told officers that she had met Albert-Arroyo and Genesis Tolentino-Cruz, 29, the day before at gas station in Cheektowaga to purchase heroin. Later that night, the woman and her boyfriend used some of the heroin they had purchased from Albert-Arroyo and Tolentino-Cruz. The girlfriend said she went to sleep and later awakened to find her boyfriend had died.

In March and April of 2019, a federal search warrant was executed at the residence of Albert-Arroyo and Tolentino-Cruz, where investigators seized heroin, drug processing items, a rifle, a pistol and ammunition.

Tolentino-Cruz was previously convicted and she was sentenced to serve 10 years in prison.
The Scottish American Investment Company P.L.C. (LON:SAIN  Get Rating) traded up 0.4% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as GBX 538 ($6.74) and last traded at GBX 536 ($6.71). 112,225 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 45% from the average session volume of 202,902 shares. The stock had previously closed at GBX 534 ($6.69).

Scottish American Investment Price Performance

The companys 50 day simple moving average is GBX 516.67 and its 200 day simple moving average is GBX 511.81. The company has a current ratio of 2.85, a quick ratio of 3.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.19. The stock has a market capitalization of 943.04 million, a PE ratio of -1,448.65 and a beta of 0.63.

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Insider Transactions at Scottish American Investment

In other Scottish American Investment news, insider Christine Montgomery bought 10,000 shares of Scottish American Investment stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 15th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of GBX 493 ($6.18) per share, for a total transaction of 49,300 ($61,756.23). In other Scottish American Investment news, insider Dame Mariot Leslie bought 2,000 shares of Scottish American Investment stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 13th. The shares were acquired at an average price of GBX 489 ($6.13) per share, for a total transaction of 9,780 ($12,251.03). Also, insider Christine Montgomery purchased 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 15th. The stock was bought at an average price of GBX 493 ($6.18) per share, with a total value of 49,300 ($61,756.23). Insiders own 6.03% of the companys stock.

Scottish American Investment Company Profile

The Scottish American Investment Company P.L.C. is a closed-ended equity mutual fund launched and managed by Baillie Gifford & Co Ltd. The fund is co-managed by Baillie Gifford & Co and OLIM Property Limited. It invests in public equity markets across the globe. The fund seeks to invest in stocks of companies operating across diversified sectors.

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SFE Investment Counsel acquired a new position in Invesco BulletShares 2028 Corporate Bond ETF (NYSEARCA:BSCS  Get Rating) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 36,910 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $747,000. SFE Investment Counsel owned approximately 0.15% of Invesco BulletShares 2028 Corporate Bond ETF at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC boosted its stake in shares of Invesco BulletShares 2028 Corporate Bond ETF by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC now owns 107,743 shares of the companys stock worth $2,113,000 after buying an additional 1,629 shares during the last quarter. Carmel Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Invesco BulletShares 2028 Corporate Bond ETF by 147.5% in the 4th quarter. Carmel Capital Partners LLC now owns 32,075 shares of the companys stock worth $629,000 after buying an additional 19,114 shares during the last quarter. Carnegie Capital Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Invesco BulletShares 2028 Corporate Bond ETF by 6.2% in the 4th quarter. Carnegie Capital Asset Management LLC now owns 157,711 shares of the companys stock worth $3,094,000 after buying an additional 9,261 shares during the last quarter. Souders Financial Advisors purchased a new position in shares of Invesco BulletShares 2028 Corporate Bond ETF in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,676,000. Finally, Independence Bank of Kentucky boosted its stake in shares of Invesco BulletShares 2028 Corporate Bond ETF by 110.6% in the 4th quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 14,065 shares of the companys stock worth $276,000 after buying an additional 7,385 shares during the last quarter.

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Invesco BulletShares 2028 Corporate Bond ETF Price Performance

Invesco BulletShares 2028 Corporate Bond ETF stock traded down $0.02 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $20.02. The stock had a trading volume of 22,284 shares, compared to its average volume of 169,228. Invesco BulletShares 2028 Corporate Bond ETF has a 1 year low of $18.80 and a 1 year high of $20.66. The stocks 50 day moving average is $20.02 and its two-hundred day moving average is $19.85.

Invesco BulletShares 2028 Corporate Bond ETF Profile

The Invesco BulletShares 2028 Corporate Bond ETF (BSCS) is an exchange-traded fund that mostly invests in investment grade fixed income. The fund tracks a market-value-weighted index of USD-denominated corporate investment-grade bonds with effective maturities in 2028. BSCS was launched on Aug 9, 2018 and is managed by Invesco.

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Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM  Get Rating) saw a significant decrease in short interest during the month of April. As of April 30th, there was short interest totalling 6,040,000 shares, a decrease of 9.4% from the April 15th total of 6,670,000 shares. Approximately 1.1% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 2,860,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.1 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on ADM shares. 92 Resources reaffirmed a maintains rating on shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland in a research report on Thursday, April 27th. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on Archer-Daniels-Midland in a research report on Thursday, April 13th. They set an outperform rating and a $100.00 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Archer-Daniels-Midland from $94.00 to $85.00 and set an equal weight rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Archer-Daniels-Midland from $87.00 to $85.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 12th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Archer-Daniels-Midland from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 26th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Archer-Daniels-Midland presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $100.78.

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Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. bought a new position in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland in the 1st quarter worth about $26,000. Trust Co. of Vermont increased its position in Archer-Daniels-Midland by 135.6% in the 4th quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 318 shares of the companys stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 183 shares in the last quarter. Glassy Mountain Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Archer-Daniels-Midland in the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Kistler Tiffany Companies LLC bought a new stake in Archer-Daniels-Midland in the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, RFP Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Archer-Daniels-Midland in the 4th quarter valued at about $36,000. 78.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ADM traded down $0.34 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $72.81. 1,863,286 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,113,278. The company has a market cap of $39.66 billion, a PE ratio of 9.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.80. Archer-Daniels-Midland has a twelve month low of $70.02 and a twelve month high of $98.28. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $77.99 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $85.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 1.51 and a quick ratio of 0.86.

Archer-Daniels-Midland (NYSE:ADM  Get Rating) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 25th. The company reported $2.09 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.71 by $0.38. The firm had revenue of $24.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $24.09 billion. Archer-Daniels-Midland had a return on equity of 18.39% and a net margin of 4.36%. The businesss quarterly revenue was up 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.90 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Archer-Daniels-Midland will post 6.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 7th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 17th will be given a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 16th. Archer-Daniels-Midlands dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.58%.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Company Profile

(Get Rating)

Archer-Daniels-Midland Co engages in the production of oilseeds, corn, wheat, cocoa, and other agricultural commodities. It operates through the following segments: Ag Services and Oilseeds, Carbohydrate Solutions, Nutrition, and Other. The Ag Services and Oilseeds segment includes activities related to the origination, merchandising, transportation, and storage of agricultural raw materials, and the crushing and further processing of oilseeds such as soybeans and soft seeds cottonseed, sunflower seed, canola, rapeseed, and flaxseed into vegetable oils and protein meals.

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TCM Advisors LLC lowered its stake in Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (NYSE:ICE  Get Rating) by 2.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 7,116 shares of the financial services providers stock after selling 200 shares during the quarter. TCM Advisors LLCs holdings in Intercontinental Exchange were worth $730,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ICE. Boston Partners bought a new position in shares of Intercontinental Exchange during the third quarter valued at about $152,011,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 59.2% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 4,275,418 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $564,869,000 after purchasing an additional 1,589,999 shares in the last quarter. Veritas Asset Management LLP raised its stake in Intercontinental Exchange by 55.0% in the third quarter. Veritas Asset Management LLP now owns 4,278,419 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $386,555,000 after buying an additional 1,517,876 shares in the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec grew its holdings in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 3,801.0% during the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 1,320,464 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $119,304,000 after acquiring an additional 1,286,615 shares during the period. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada grew its stake in Intercontinental Exchange by 85.7% in the third quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 2,570,569 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $232,252,000 after purchasing an additional 1,186,666 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.28% of the companys stock.

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Analyst Ratings Changes

ICE has been the subject of several recent research reports. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Intercontinental Exchange from $110.00 to $117.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Friday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Intercontinental Exchange from $120.00 to $123.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on shares of Intercontinental Exchange from $122.00 to $120.00 in a research report on Friday, May 5th. Rosenblatt Securities restated a buy rating and issued a $168.00 price objective on shares of Intercontinental Exchange in a report on Thursday, April 6th. Finally, TheStreet raised Intercontinental Exchange from a c+ rating to a b- rating in a report on Wednesday, January 25th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Intercontinental Exchange presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $131.00.

Intercontinental Exchange Price Performance

Shares of ICE stock traded down $1.22 on Wednesday, hitting $107.78. 384,672 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,532,218. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 1.08. Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. has a 52 week low of $88.60 and a 52 week high of $113.07. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $104.41 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $104.53. The firm has a market cap of $60.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.25, a PEG ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 0.93.

Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE:ICE  Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 4th. The financial services provider reported $1.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.40 by $0.01. Intercontinental Exchange had a return on equity of 12.98% and a net margin of 14.97%. The business had revenue of $1.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $1.90 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.43 EPS. The companys revenue for the quarter was down .2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. will post 5.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Intercontinental Exchange Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 15th will be issued a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 14th. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.56%. Intercontinental Exchanges dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.12%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Jeffrey C. Sprecher sold 81,827 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.02, for a total transaction of $8,511,644.54. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,203,104 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $125,146,878.08. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, SVP Douglas Foley sold 1,600 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.80, for a total transaction of $167,680.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 21,481 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $2,251,208.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Jeffrey C. Sprecher sold 81,827 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.02, for a total value of $8,511,644.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,203,104 shares in the company, valued at approximately $125,146,878.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the companys stock.

Intercontinental Exchange Profile

(Get Rating)

Intercontinental Exchange, Inc engages in the provision of market infrastructure, data services and technology solutions. It operates through the following segments: Exchanges, Fixed Income and Data Services, and Mortgage Technology. The Exchanges segment includes trading and listing revenue from the global futures network, the New York Stock Exchange and other registered securities exchanges.

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Shares of Teradata Co. (NYSE:TDC  Get Rating) have been given a consensus recommendation of Moderate Buy by the twelve brokerages that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have given a hold recommendation, four have issued a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $47.44.

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Guggenheim raised shares of Teradata from a neutral rating to a buy rating and set a $62.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 1st. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Teradata from $37.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a sector perform rating in a report on Tuesday, February 14th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Teradata from $43.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 14th. Craig Hallum lifted their price objective on shares of Teradata from $48.00 to $50.00 in a research note on Friday, May 5th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Teradata from $43.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, February 15th.

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Insider Buying and Selling at Teradata

In related news, CFO Claire Bramley sold 4,528 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.21, for a total transaction of $200,182.88. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 120,920 shares in the company, valued at $5,345,873.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other Teradata news, CFO Claire Bramley sold 4,528 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.21, for a total value of $200,182.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 120,920 shares in the company, valued at $5,345,873.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Kathleen R. Cullen-Cote sold 24,400 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.78, for a total value of $995,032.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 121,489 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $4,954,321.42. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Teradata

Teradata Trading Down 1.3 %

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in TDC. Private Advisor Group LLC acquired a new stake in Teradata in the 1st quarter worth about $231,000. Natixis Advisors L.P. lifted its stake in shares of Teradata by 46.7% in the 1st quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 21,282 shares of the technology companys stock valued at $1,049,000 after purchasing an additional 6,779 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can lifted its position in Teradata by 21.1% during the 1st quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 10,977 shares of the technology companys stock worth $546,000 after acquiring an additional 1,916 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers lifted its position in Teradata by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 302,170 shares of the technology companys stock worth $14,894,000 after acquiring an additional 947 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS increased its holdings in Teradata by 10.5% during the 1st quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 39,764 shares of the technology companys stock worth $1,960,000 after purchasing an additional 3,791 shares during the last quarter. 90.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

NYSE:TDC opened at $44.09 on Friday. Teradata has a 12 month low of $28.65 and a 12 month high of $45.40. The stock has a market cap of $4.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 122.47, a P/E/G ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $40.23 and a 200-day moving average price of $36.68. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.43.

Teradata (NYSE:TDC  Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 13th. The technology company reported $0.35 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $0.30 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $452.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $435.63 million. Teradata had a net margin of 2.08% and a return on equity of 25.01%. The businesss revenue for the quarter was down 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.34 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Teradata will post 0.97 EPS for the current year.

About Teradata

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Teradata Corp. is a cloud data analytics company which is built for a multi-cloud reality and solving data challenges at scale. It operates through the following geographical segments: Americas, EMEA, and APJ. The company was founded on July 13, 1979, and is headquartered in San Diego, CA.

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Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. lessened its stake in Devon Energy Co. (NYSE:DVN  Get Rating) by 0.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 81,042 shares of the energy companys stock after selling 758 shares during the quarter. Tocqueville Asset Management L.P.s holdings in Devon Energy were worth $4,985,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of DVN. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Devon Energy by 2.2% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 77,173,489 shares of the energy companys stock valued at $4,640,442,000 after purchasing an additional 1,637,042 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Devon Energy by 7.3% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 42,814,521 shares of the energy companys stock worth $2,574,437,000 after purchasing an additional 2,902,180 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners raised its holdings in Devon Energy by 7.7% during the 3rd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 11,158,526 shares of the energy companys stock worth $672,993,000 after purchasing an additional 797,813 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in Devon Energy by 16.9% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 10,141,280 shares of the energy companys stock valued at $609,794,000 after purchasing an additional 1,469,557 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in shares of Devon Energy by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,371,571 shares of the energy companys stock valued at $435,881,000 after purchasing an additional 99,059 shares during the last quarter. 78.08% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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Devon Energy Stock Down 3.3 %

DVN stock opened at $46.13 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $50.91 and a 200-day moving average of $58.89. Devon Energy Co. has a fifty-two week low of $44.03 and a fifty-two week high of $79.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $30.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.03, a P/E/G ratio of 0.14 and a beta of 2.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 1.02.

Devon Energy Cuts Dividend

Devon Energy ( NYSE:DVN Get Rating ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 8th. The energy company reported $1.46 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.07. Devon Energy had a return on equity of 47.42% and a net margin of 31.39%. The firm had revenue of $3.82 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.82 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.88 EPS. The businesss revenue was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Devon Energy Co. will post 6.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 15th will be paid a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 14th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.24%. Devon Energys payout ratio is currently 8.72%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Raymond James boosted their price target on shares of Devon Energy from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a strong-buy rating in a research note on Friday, April 21st. UBS Group began coverage on shares of Devon Energy in a research report on Wednesday, April 19th. They set a neutral rating and a $60.00 target price for the company. Bank of America cut their target price on Devon Energy from $67.00 to $60.00 in a research note on Tuesday, May 9th. Barclays decreased their target price on Devon Energy from $82.00 to $67.00 in a research report on Friday, March 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Devon Energy from $70.00 to $59.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $70.32.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Dennis C. Cameron sold 7,179 shares of the firms stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.77, for a total value of $393,193.83. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 262,498 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,377,015.46. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Dennis C. Cameron sold 7,179 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.77, for a total transaction of $393,193.83. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 262,498 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,377,015.46. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Dennis C. Cameron sold 8,292 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Friday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.97, for a total transaction of $414,351.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 218,418 shares of the companys stock, valued at $10,914,347.46. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.80% of the companys stock.

Devon Energy Company Profile

(Get Rating)

Devon Energy Corp. engages in the exploration, development, and production of oil and natural gas properties. It develops and operates Delaware Basin, Eagle Ford, Heavy Oil, Barnett Shale, STACK, and Rockies Oil. The company was founded by J. Larry Nichols and John W. Nichols in 1971 and is headquartered in Oklahoma City, OK.

Further Reading

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Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. reduced its stake in Paycom Software, Inc. (NYSE:PAYC  Get Rating) by 0.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,563 shares of the software makers stock after selling 65 shares during the quarter. Tocqueville Asset Management L.P.s holdings in Paycom Software were worth $3,278,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Paycom Software by 1.1% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,672,472 shares of the software makers stock valued at $1,871,858,000 after purchasing an additional 61,819 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Paycom Software by 1.3% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,849,465 shares of the software makers stock valued at $610,305,000 after purchasing an additional 23,413 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Paycom Software by 8.7% in the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,359,073 shares of the software makers stock valued at $470,756,000 after purchasing an additional 108,505 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Paycom Software by 47.8% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 877,824 shares of the software makers stock valued at $304,061,000 after purchasing an additional 283,892 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in Paycom Software by 7.2% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 845,202 shares of the software makers stock worth $292,764,000 after buying an additional 56,649 shares during the last quarter. 88.58% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. StockNews.com raised Paycom Software from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report on Friday, May 12th. Barclays raised their target price on Paycom Software from $324.00 to $336.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 8th. Needham & Company LLC restated a buy rating and issued a $450.00 target price on shares of Paycom Software in a research report on Tuesday, March 28th. Mizuho decreased their price target on Paycom Software from $350.00 to $300.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 3rd. Finally, KeyCorp reduced their price objective on Paycom Software from $432.00 to $405.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $368.53.

Paycom Software Price Performance

NYSE PAYC opened at $265.29 on Wednesday. Paycom Software, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $255.82 and a fifty-two week high of $402.78. The firm has a market cap of $15.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.41. The stocks 50-day moving average is $285.28 and its two-hundred day moving average is $304.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a current ratio of 1.19 and a quick ratio of 1.19.

Paycom Software (NYSE:PAYC  Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 2nd. The software maker reported $2.06 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $2.00 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $451.64 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $444.23 million. Paycom Software had a return on equity of 26.29% and a net margin of 20.96%. On average, analysts anticipate that Paycom Software, Inc. will post 6.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paycom Software Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.375 per share. This represents a $1.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.57%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 26th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Paycom Software

In other Paycom Software news, Director Jason D. Clark sold 1,070 shares of Paycom Software stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $278.33, for a total transaction of $297,813.10. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 4,741 shares of the companys stock, valued at $1,319,562.53. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 14.50% of the companys stock.

Paycom Software Company Profile

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Paycom Software, Inc engages in the provision of cloud-based human capital management (HCM) software solutions delivered as Software-as-a-Service. It offers functionality and data analytics that businesses need to manage the complete employment life cycle from recruitment to retirement. Its solutions include talent acquisition, time and labor management, payroll, talent management, and human resource management.

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Trust Co. of Vermont purchased a new position in shares of Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV  Get Rating) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 67 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $34,000.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of ELV. Plancorp LLC raised its position in Elevance Health by 2.3% in the first quarter. Plancorp LLC now owns 1,436 shares of the companys stock worth $705,000 after acquiring an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in Elevance Health by 6.8% in the first quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 518 shares of the companys stock valued at $254,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Elevance Health by 4.0% in the 1st quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC now owns 1,205 shares of the companys stock worth $591,000 after buying an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Elevance Health in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Finally, Moisand Fitzgerald Tamayo LLC acquired a new stake in Elevance Health in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.66% of the companys stock.

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Insider Buying and Selling at Elevance Health

In other Elevance Health news, EVP Gloria M. Mccarthy sold 15,098 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $444.76, for a total value of $6,714,986.48. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 51,435 shares in the company, valued at $22,876,230.60. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.35% of the companys stock.

Elevance Health Stock Down 1.5 %

ELV opened at $445.88 on Wednesday. Elevance Health, Inc. has a one year low of $440.02 and a one year high of $549.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 1.43 and a current ratio of 1.43. The stocks fifty day moving average is $465.95 and its 200-day moving average is $487.16. The company has a market capitalization of $105.70 billion, a PE ratio of 17.35, a P/E/G ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 0.84.

Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV  Get Rating) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 19th. The company reported $9.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $9.26 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $41.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $40.93 billion. Elevance Health had a return on equity of 20.05% and a net margin of 3.86%. Elevance Healths revenue for the quarter was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $8.25 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Elevance Health, Inc. will post 32.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Elevance Health Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 9th will be paid a $1.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 8th. This represents a $5.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.33%. Elevance Healths dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 23.04%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on ELV. 22nd Century Group restated an upgrade rating on shares of Elevance Health in a report on Thursday, April 27th. SVB Leerink restated an outperform rating and set a $580.00 price objective on shares of Elevance Health in a research note on Thursday, January 26th. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on Elevance Health from $577.00 to $564.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Elevance Health from $555.00 to $572.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Thursday, February 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Elevance Health from $597.00 to $561.00 in a research note on Monday, April 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Elevance Health has an average rating of Buy and an average price target of $572.19.

About Elevance Health

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Elevance Health, Inc operates as a health company, which engages in improving lives and communities, and making healthcare simpler. It operates through the following segments: Commercial and Specialty Business, Government Business, CarelonRx, and Other. The Commercial and Specialty Business segment provides insurance products and services such as stop loss, dental, vision, life, disability and supplemental health insurance.

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Trust Co. of Vermont cut its position in V.F. Co. (NYSE:VFC  Get Rating) by 18.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 2,118 shares of the textile makers stock after selling 492 shares during the period. Trust Co. of Vermonts holdings in V.F. were worth $58,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. M&G Investment Management Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of V.F. by 33.7% during the 4th quarter. M&G Investment Management Ltd. now owns 2,833,728 shares of the textile makers stock worth $79,344,000 after acquiring an additional 714,611 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its holdings in shares of V.F. by 138.8% during the 3rd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 65,650 shares of the textile makers stock worth $1,964,000 after acquiring an additional 38,160 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System lifted its holdings in shares of V.F. by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 93,471 shares of the textile makers stock worth $2,581,000 after acquiring an additional 3,748 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. lifted its stake in V.F. by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 26,308,313 shares of the textile makers stock valued at $786,882,000 after purchasing an additional 336,122 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its stake in V.F. by 10.1% in the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 89,200 shares of the textile makers stock valued at $2,668,000 after purchasing an additional 8,202 shares during the last quarter. 96.89% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on VFC. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of V.F. from $24.00 to $22.00 in a research note on Tuesday, May 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on shares of V.F. from $36.00 to $35.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 6th. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded shares of V.F. from a hold rating to a buy rating and set a $30.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, February 10th. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of V.F. from $31.00 to $26.00 in a research report on Tuesday, May 2nd. Finally, Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on shares of V.F. from $30.00 to $24.00 in a research report on Monday, March 20th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $30.89.

V.F. Stock Performance

Insiders Place Their Bets

Shares of VFC stock opened at $20.60 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $8.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.25, a P/E/G ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 1.15. V.F. Co. has a 52 week low of $20.03 and a 52 week high of $51.40. The firms 50-day simple moving average is $21.90 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $26.42.

In related news, Director Carol L. Roberts acquired 7,109 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 15th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $21.07 per share, with a total value of $149,786.63. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 7,109 shares in the company, valued at approximately $149,786.63. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.90% of the companys stock.

V.F. Profile

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VF Corp. designs, produces, procures, markets and distributes lifestyle apparel, footwear and related products. It operates through the following segments: Outdoor, Active, and Work. The Outdoor segment refers to authentic outdoor-based lifestyle brands including performance-based apparel, footwear, equipment, backpacks, luggage and accessories.

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Victory Capital Management Inc. cut its stake in shares of Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG  Get Rating) by 9.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,712,536 shares of the companys stock after selling 185,907 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned about 0.36% of Conagra Brands worth $63,689,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in shares of Conagra Brands by 117.5% during the 4th quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,031 shares of the companys stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 557 shares during the period. Quent Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Conagra Brands by 410.5% during the 4th quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 970 shares of the companys stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 780 shares during the period. MinichMacGregor Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Conagra Brands during the 4th quarter worth $39,000. Arlington Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Conagra Brands by 97.7% during the 4th quarter. Arlington Partners LLC now owns 1,012 shares of the companys stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the period. Finally, BerganKDV Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Conagra Brands by 74.9% during the 4th quarter. BerganKDV Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,025 shares of the companys stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 439 shares during the period. 81.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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Insider Activity at Conagra Brands

In related news, COO Thomas M. Mcgough sold 45,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.66, for a total transaction of $1,739,700.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 104,859 shares of the companys stock, valued at $4,053,848.94. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Conagra Brands news, COO Thomas M. Mcgough sold 45,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.66, for a total value of $1,739,700.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 104,859 shares of the companys stock, valued at $4,053,848.94. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Charisse Brock sold 7,036 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.04, for a total value of $260,613.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 94,802 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,511,466.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.98% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Conagra Brands Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE CAG opened at $36.44 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.82, a PEG ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 0.56. The business has a 50-day moving average of $37.12 and a 200-day moving average of $37.24. Conagra Brands, Inc. has a 12 month low of $31.01 and a 12 month high of $41.30.

Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG  Get Rating) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 5th. The company reported $0.76 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $3.09 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.08 billion. Conagra Brands had a return on equity of 15.34% and a net margin of 6.59%. The firms revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.58 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Conagra Brands, Inc. will post 2.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Conagra Brands Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 1st. Investors of record on Friday, April 28th will be given a dividend of $0.33 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 27th. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.62%. Conagra Brandss dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 79.04%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Credit Suisse Group lifted their target price on Conagra Brands from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Friday, March 31st. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Conagra Brands from $40.00 to $42.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 6th. Stifel Nicolaus assumed coverage on Conagra Brands in a research note on Thursday, April 13th. They issued a hold rating and a $43.00 price objective on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on Conagra Brands from $35.00 to $38.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 6th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Conagra Brands from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note on Friday, May 12th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $41.00.

Conagra Brands Company Profile

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Conagra Brands, Inc engages in the manufacture and sale of processed and packaged foods. It operates through the following segments: Grocery and Snacks, Refrigerated and Frozen, International, and Foodservice. The Grocery and Snacks segment includes branded, shelf stable food products sold in various retail channels in the United States.

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A former school bus driver was arraigned Tuesday in Buffalo City Court on three counts of endangering the welfare of a child, according to the Erie County District Attorney's Office.

Prosecutors said that on April 20, Michael Askew, 67, of Cheektowaga, made a verbal threat toward a student in the presence of other children while he drove a school bus in Buffalo. As part of their investigation, Buffalo Police on April 24 obtained a temporary extreme risk protection order, also known as a "red flag order."

Buffalo school bus driver arrested, fired and red-flagged over alleged gun threats A Buffalo school bus driver was arrested, his guns were seized and he was fired after he was accused of threatening a student on his bus last week.

City Court Judge Andrew C. LoTempio issued temporary orders of protection Tuesday on behalf of those Askew allegedly threatened and released him on his own recognizance because the misdemeanor charges against him do not require bail. He is scheduled to return to court June 6 for further proceedings. If convicted of the charges, he faces a maximum sentence of one year in jail.

Additionally, Askew was arraigned last week in Erie County Court on an indictment charging him with single counts of second- and third-degree criminal possession of a weapon after a search of his home April 25 by members of the Buffalo Police Department Threat Management Unit and Buffalo police SWAT team turned up an illegal rifle with a pistol grip and detachable magazine. Three handguns that are legally owned by Askew were also temporarily seized under the red flag order.

Askew is due back in court June 1 for further proceedings on the weapons possession charges. He remains free on bail previously modified to $25,000 cash, bond or partially secured surety bond. If convicted of the highest of the weapons charges, he faces a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison.
Waters Parkerson & CO. LLC lowered its stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL  Get Rating) by 2.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 319,388 shares of the financial services providers stock after selling 9,417 shares during the period. Aflac accounts for about 1.4% of Waters Parkerson & CO. LLCs holdings, making the stock its 29th largest holding. Waters Parkerson & CO. LLC owned 0.05% of Aflac worth $22,977,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. MinichMacGregor Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Aflac in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. JCIC Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in Aflac in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Arlington Partners LLC bought a new position in Aflac in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Romano Brothers AND Company bought a new position in Aflac in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 534.9% during the 4th quarter. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. now owns 527 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 444 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 66.22% of the companys stock.

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Aflac Trading Up 1.9 %

NYSE AFL traded up $1.24 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $66.40. The stock had a trading volume of 623,916 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,580,875. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 0.05 and a current ratio of 0.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $40.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.40, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.93. Aflac Incorporated has a one year low of $52.07 and a one year high of $74.01. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $65.38 and a 200 day simple moving average of $68.64.

Aflac Announces Dividend

Aflac ( NYSE:AFL Get Rating ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.55 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.40 by $0.15. Aflac had a net margin of 22.90% and a return on equity of 15.25%. The firm had revenue of $4.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.61 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.42 earnings per share. The companys revenue was down 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Aflac Incorporated will post 5.79 earnings per share for the current year.

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 16th. Aflacs dividend payout ratio is presently 24.24%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Steven Kent Beaver sold 13,118 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.33, for a total transaction of $870,116.94. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 20,793 shares of the companys stock, valued at $1,379,199.69. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 500 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.45, for a total transaction of $32,225.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 19,269 shares of the companys stock, valued at $1,241,887.05. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Steven Kent Beaver sold 13,118 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.33, for a total transaction of $870,116.94. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 20,793 shares in the company, valued at $1,379,199.69. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 99,111 shares of company stock valued at $6,740,998. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the companys stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AFL has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Aflac from $77.00 to $72.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 12th. Truist Financial increased their price target on Aflac from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a research note on Monday, February 6th. VNET Group reiterated a maintains rating on shares of Aflac in a research note on Thursday, April 27th. Citigroup cut their price target on Aflac from $73.00 to $69.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 27th. Finally, StockNews.com started coverage on Aflac in a research note on Thursday, March 16th. They issued a hold rating for the company. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $71.22.

Aflac Company Profile

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Aflac, Inc is a holding company. engages in the provision of financial protection services. It operates through the followings segments: Aflac Japan and Aflac United States (U.S.). The Aflac Japan segment offers life insurance, death benefits, and cash surrender values. The Aflac U.S. segment sells voluntary supplemental insurance products for people who already have major medical or primary insurance coverage.

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Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies Co. (NYSE:WAB  Get Rating) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, May 17th, RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 30th will be paid a dividend of 0.17 per share by the transportation company on Friday, June 9th. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.70%.

Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies has a dividend payout ratio of 11.4% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies to earn $5.98 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.68 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 11.4%.

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Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies Trading Up 0.8 %

NYSE:WAB traded up $0.82 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $97.48. The companys stock had a trading volume of 841,177 shares, compared to its average volume of 956,704. The companys fifty day simple moving average is $98.54 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $100.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 0.54. Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies has a twelve month low of $78.26 and a twelve month high of $107.86. The stock has a market cap of $17.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.00, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.48.

Insider Activity at Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies

Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies ( NYSE:WAB Get Rating ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 26th. The transportation company reported $1.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $2.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.13 billion. Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies had a return on equity of 9.09% and a net margin of 7.57%. The firms quarterly revenue was up 13.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.13 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies will post 5.41 EPS for the current year.

In other Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies news, Director Brian Hehir sold 2,881 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.73, for a total transaction of $301,727.13. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 27,878 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,919,662.94. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies news, CEO Rafael Santana sold 78,277 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.78, for a total transaction of $8,201,864.06. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 72,577 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,604,618.06. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Brian Hehir sold 2,881 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.73, for a total value of $301,727.13. Following the sale, the director now owns 27,878 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $2,919,662.94. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 91,241 shares of company stock worth $9,544,278. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in WAB. Cibc World Markets Corp acquired a new position in shares of Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies in the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,092,000. Eudaimonia Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies in the 1st quarter worth approximately $366,000. Neuberger Berman Group LLC grew its position in shares of Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies by 2,233.1% in the 1st quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 245,277 shares of the transportation companys stock worth $23,589,000 after acquiring an additional 234,764 shares in the last quarter. Coppell Advisory Solutions Corp. acquired a new position in shares of Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies in the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, State of Tennessee Treasury Department grew its position in shares of Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies by 13.8% in the 1st quarter. State of Tennessee Treasury Department now owns 115,233 shares of the transportation companys stock worth $11,645,000 after acquiring an additional 13,949 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.47% of the companys stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Stephens raised their price objective on Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies from $110.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Thursday, February 16th. Bank of America upgraded Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies from an underperform rating to a neutral rating in a report on Tuesday, January 17th. KeyCorp raised their price objective on Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies from $110.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Friday, February 17th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies in a report on Thursday, March 16th. They set a buy rating on the stock. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies from $95.00 to $114.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Thursday, February 16th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the companys stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $112.00.

Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies Company Profile

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Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies Corp. engages in the provision of equipment, systems, and value-added services for the rail industry. It operates through the Freight and Transit segments. The Freight segment builds new locomotives, manufactures and services components for new and existing freight cars and locomotives, rebuilds freight locomotives, supplies railway electronics, positive train control equipment, and signal design and engineering services, and provides related heat exchange and cooling systems.

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Karnataka News Highlights: The Congress party will be forming the government in Karnataka after winning majority and the debate now shifts to who will be crowned the next chief minister between veteran Siddaramaiah and strategist DK Shivakumar. A decision is expected to be announced sometime today (May 17). While Siddaramaiah is a veteran with previous administrative experience, Shivakumar has been hailed as a strategist for being instrumental for the party's in-roads with the dominant Vokkaliga community this election. Notably, this is the Congress' best electoral performance in the state since 1989. As per the results declared by the Election Commission in 223 out of the 224 seats, the Congress has won 135 seats, the BJP's tally has been reduced to 65 and the JD(S) 19. Meanwhile, the party's victory in the Karnataka assembly polls is likely to help get its candidates elected in three of the four Rajya Sabha seats from the state falling vacant next year. For the BJP, this comprehensive defeat in Karnataka after a campaign of contrasts has left it with much to ponder as the two rivals prepare for a direct contest in three more state polls this year in the run-up to the all-important 2024 Lok Sabha elections. The southern state has sent a warning to the BJP, experts feel, noting that the party has lessons to learn from Karnataka.

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State Bank of India is likely to post a 68 percent rise in profit over the last year on May 18, according to a Moneycontrol average poll of three brokerage estimates. Whereas net interest income (NII) is expected to increase 25.8 percent. Kotak Institutional Equities expects SBI to report a net profit of Rs 15,889.7 crore, up 74 percent on-year, and 12 percent on-quarter. Accordingly, net interest income (NII) is expected to jump 25 percent and 2 percent to Rs 38,856 crore. Pre Provision Operating Profit (PPOP) is likely to rise 25 percent YoY and 2 percent QoQ to Rs 24,639 crore. Kotak Institutional Equities stated that, "We expect a operating profit growth of ~25 percent yoy led by strong NII growth. We are building 25 percent yoy NII growth on the back of 15 percent yoy loan growth. We are building stable NIM but do see a possibility of a small expansion given the structure of loan book and negligible need for deposits to fund this growth." Kotak further added that, "We expect slippages at ~1.5 percent of loans (~Rs115 bn) mostly driven by SME and retail while corporate will continue to hold up relatively well. We should see further improvement in NPL ratios as recovery and upgrades are likely to be strong in 4Q." Also Read: BOB posts record 168% surge in quarterly profit, shares rise; brokerages bullish on the stock ICICI Direct estimates the net profit at Rs 15,114.2 crore, up 65 percent on-year and 6.4 percent on-quarter, and net interest income (NII) at Rs 38,500 crore, up 23.4 percent and 1.1 percent. Pre-Provision Operating Profit (PPOP) is likely to rise by 27.2 percent annually and 3.6 percent sequentially to Rs 32,241 crore. ICICI Direct further stated that, "credit growth is expected at 15 percent YoY to Rs 31591 billion, basing out post strong 18-20 percent growth in the last two quarters. We estimate deposit growth at 9.6 percent YoY with cost of funds stabilizing. Overall NII growth to stay strong at ~23 percent YoY to 38500 crore. Expect slippages at ~ 4000 crore with overall NPA provisions seen at 45 bn. Expect strong profit growth trend to continue with a surge of 65% YoY and 6.4% QoQ to 15114 crores." Whereas the brokerage firm Motilal Oswal pegs the SBI net profit at Rs 15,167.5 crore, up 66.4 percent year-on-year and 6.8 percent quarter-on-quarter. Net Interest Income (NII) is expected to increase 29 percent YoY and 5.7 percent QoQ to Rs 40,254.6 crore. Pre-Provision Operating Profit (PPOP) is likely to rise by 36.5 percent over the last year and 6.8 percent over the last quarter to Rs 26,921.9 crore. Stock Performance State Bank of India (SBI) stock has considerably outperformed the benchmark Nifty Bank index over the last five years. SBI has given a return of 145 percent during this period, whereas the Nifty Bank index has given a return of 69.67 percent. Disclaimer: The views and investment tips expressed by experts on Moneycontrol are their own and not those of the website or its management. Moneycontrol advises users to check with certified experts before taking any investment decisions.
The Union Cabinet on May 17 approved a Rs 1.08 lakh crore package for fertiliser subsidy for the April-September kharif season. Of the Rs 1.08 lakh crore subsidy, Rs 70,000 crore is for urea and Rs 38,000 crore for Di-ammonium Phosphate, or DAP. Briefing the media at the conclusion of the Cabinet's meeting, Mansukh Mandaviya, the minister of chemicals and fertilisers, said while the total subsidy amount was lower than last year, it was still higher than normal, confirming what CNBC-Awaaz had reported earlier, quoting sources. "The situation in 2022-23 was such that fertiliser subsidy had to be increased sharply (due to the Russia-Ukraine war)," Mandaviya said, adding that the government had ensured rising global fertiliser prices did not hurt India's farmers. The fertiliser minister went on to add that the reduced fertiliser subsidy of Rs 1.08 lakh crore for the April-September kharif season will not lead to higher prices for farmers. "The Cabinet decision will have the two-fold benefit of ensuring availability of DAP and other P&K fertilisers to farmers at subsidised, affordable and reasonable prices during Kharif season and will also ensure rationalisation of subsidy on P&K fertilisers," the government said in a statement. As per the 2023-24 Budget documents, the revised estimate for the fertiliser subsidy given in 2022-23 is Rs 2.25 lakh crore. However, Mandaviya said on May 17 that the Centre's fertiliser subsidy bill in 2022-23 was Rs 2.54 lakh crore.

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Commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal has said that India is engaged with the European Union on the EU's decision to impose carbon tax on certain imported goods and expressed hope that the intention is not to create trade barriers. Addressing the media on Tuesday after the first India-EU Trade and Technology Council meeting in Brussels, he also said India has to keep its customs duties high on many products at times to compete with certain geographies which are "very non-transparent" and the developed countries face the "unintended consequence of the high tariffs". Goyal said that the CBAM (carbon border adjustment mechanism) is the mechanism that the EU has proposed and India remains engaged with the EU on that. "I am sure that the intention is not to create barrier to trade but to find a way forward so that sustainability is as much a part of our collective efforts to leave behind a better planet for the next generation... we remain engaged and we are discussing the issue and we have a long time ahead of us within which we'll be working together to find the right solutions to this," he said. The mechanism, which is due to kick in from October, will impact India's steel and aluminium exports. When asked about the allegations that India's duties are high, Goyal said that India's tariffs are "very often" misconstrued to be high on most items of raw material or intermediates. "We are generally very low on duty. On many items of technology, many items which are helping the Indian economy grow, we have kept the duties very low... the actual applied rates are much lower than what was agreed to at the WTO as bound rates," he said. He added that India is a developing country of 1.4 billion people and providing the needs for such a large population and providing work opportunities to millions of people has its own dynamics. "Recognising and respecting our ability to compete with geographies which are completely non-transparent, we need to keep our tariffs high on many products. At times, developed countries are the unintended consequence of high tariffs and which is why we are engaged in free trade agreement negations with the EU," he said. He expressed hope that the agreement will give huge opportunities and openings to many businesses in India to provide high quality and innovative R&D products to India and it will also open doors to EU marketplace for Indian goods. When asked about the issue of refined oil products from India by using Russian oil, external affairs minister S Jaishankar said that "my understanding of the council's regulations is that if Russian crude is substantially transformed in a third country then it is not treated as Russian any more."
HDFC Capital Affordable Real Estate Fund has invested close to Rs 560 crore in a housing project being developed by CCI Projects (CCIPPL), an associate company of Cable Corporation of India, sources in the know told Moneycontrol. The investment will be utilised for paying off the current debt and as working capital for development of upcoming phases, the sources said, adding the working capital is to be invested in tranches. The housing project, named Rivali Park Wintergreen, is a high-rise apartment complex on the Western Express Highway, Borivali. The funds will be deployed for the second and subsequent phases of the project. The first phase has already been delivered. Emails have been sent to HDFC Capital and CCI Projects for comments. This story will be updated when the replies are received. Rivali Park comprises 2 BHK and 3 BHK units spread across six acres admeasuring around 1.7 million square feet (msq) of carpet area. The second phase will comprise close to 2,000 units. The project was launched in May, and the units are priced at Rs 1.4 crore onwards, sources said. In 2021, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had handed over possession to 640 homebuyers of the first stalled project completed with funding by SWAMIH Fund managed by SBICap Ventures Ltd. Rivali Park Wintergreen was the first investment by the fund and also the first project to be completed. It is a large project consisting of 708 units of various configurations spread over seven acres. HDFC Capital Advisors Limited (HDFC Capital), a subsidiary of HDFC Ltd, is the real estate private equity financing arm of HDFC Group. Set up in 2016, HDFC Capital is aligned with the Government of Indias goal of increasing the housing supply in the country, and support the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana  Housing for All  initiative. The company manages three funds that are registered with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) as Category II Alternative Investment Funds (AIFs). HDFC Capital provides early-stage funding for greenfield projects and flexible capital for distressed projects. It manages funds in excess of Rs 20,000 crore. In May 2022, HDFC Ltd sold 10 percent of the fully diluted paid-up share capital of HDFC Capital to a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA). ADIA is also an investor in the AIFs managed by HDFC Capital. In January this year, HDFC Capital Advisors Ltd marked the initial close for Scheme 2 of the HDFC Capital Affordable Real Estate Fund  3 (H-CARE 3) at $376 million. This was the fourth fund raised by HDFC Capital for investment in affordable housing.
Hyundai Motor India on Wednesday said it has tied up with Shell India to install 60 kW fast chargers across 36 of its dealerships in the country. The company has signed a memorandum of agreement with Shell India Markets Pvt Ltd in this regard, the automaker said in a statement. The strategic partnership aims to increase the expansion of charging infrastructure for battery electric vehicles in the country, it added. "Such strategic partnerships are fundamental in accelerating the adoption of electric vehicles by customers to achieve the national goal of carbon neutrality," Hyundai Motor India MD & CEO Unsoo Kim said. Hyundai currently has an existing network of 72 electric vehicle dealers in 45-cities. Shell India Director Sanjay Varkey said the strategic partnership with Hyundai aims to improve the charging infrastructure for battery electric vehicles in India by offering easy access and dynamic availability for a safe, reliable, and seamless charging experience.

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Bottom-fishing in new-age tech stocks continues as mutual funds lapped up shares of Zomato and Nykaa in April, too. While they bought shares of Paytm as well, the quantum was not as large as Zomato and Nykaa. As per Prime Database, mutual fund houses net bought Rs 676 crore worth shares of FSN E-Commerce Ventures from the market and Rs 385 crore of Zomato shares in the month gone by. In fact, both Zomato and Nykaa feature in the top 10 list with large-cap names like Infosys, Hindustan Unilever, Bajaj Finance and Reliance Industries. The net buy for Delhivery shares was Rs 189 crore and just about Rs 3 crore for One97 Communications. As on April 2023, mutual funds held 7.14 percent of the total share capital of Nykaa, 7.28 percent of Zomato, 13.36 percent of Delhivery and 2.71 percent of Paytm. Also Read: Mirror, mirror on the wall, does the Nifty @ 18,300 have it all? The buying spree started in November when pre-IPO investors lock-in period expired and the likes of Softbank, TPG Growth, and Tiger Global began paring their stakes in these companies. Despite the 50-60 percent wealth erosion in new-age stocks since listing, these pre-IPO investors were sitting on handsome gains as they had acquired shares at negligible value. Does this mean valuations of new-age tech companies are now cheap? Not quite. Chances of a right to win are high for some of the new-age tech companies. Their valuations are still certainly not cheap, but they are okay, said Sailesh Raj Bhan, Chief Investment Officer (CIO), Equity Investments, at Nippon India Mutual Fund, at a media meet last month. Nippon India MF, Motilal Oswal MF, Kotak MF, and SBI MF were some of the fund houses that bought new-age tech stocks in April. The adjusted profitability story could be making fund managers positive on these stocks. Zomato and Paytm also have 100 percent public shareholding, or high float, which gives enough room to fund managers to keep increasing stakes while keeping the market price in check, said Aditya Shah of JST Investments. While Nykaa was profitable pre-listing, Paytm reported its first-ever adjusted EBITDA profitability in the quarter-ended December 2022 and Zomato (ex- Blinkit) turned adjusted EBITDA positive in the month of January 2023. Most brokerages are also screaming buy for new-age stocks. HSBC Globals target on Zomato at Rs 87 indicates a 38 percent upside from the current level. JM Financial sees Nykaa at Rs 230 over the next 12 months, indicating a 95 percent upside. Goldman Sachs has a buy rating on Paytm with a target at Rs 1,150. But, not everyone is gung-ho. With competition rising, some money managers believe it is difficult to make a valuation case for these stocks even at these lower prices. Zomatos turf is being invaded by government-backed ONDC and Nykaa is facing increased competition from deep-pocketed Reliance Retails Tira. Though, as incumbents, both Zomato and Nykaa enjoy benefits of early market penetration, India is a price-conscious mass market and customer loyalty is rare, according to Manu Rishi Guptha of MRG Capital. For now, retail investors might be better off to be on a wait-and-watch mode. 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.
The market succumbed to selling pressure for the second consecutive session with the benchmark indices falling six-tenth of a percent on May 17, dragged by technology, metal, banking & financial services, and pharma stocks. The BSE Sensex declined 372 points to 61,561, while the Nifty50 dropped 105 points to 18,182 and formed a bearish candlestick pattern on the daily charts making lower top lower bottom for the second straight session. "A long negative candle was formed on the daily chart with a lower shadow. Technically, this pattern signals a short-term reversal in the market on the downside. After the formation of a bearish engulfing pattern on Tuesday, the market seems to have declined with follow-through action post bearish pattern," Nagaraj Shetti, Technical Research Analyst at HDFC Securities said. Immediate support has been broken on the downside at 18,250 levels and the Nifty is now sliding down to another crucial support of 20-day EMA (exponential moving average) around 18,050 levels. "The recent swing high of 18,458 of May 15 could be considered as a new higher top of the sequence. The present weakness could be in line with another higher bottom formation at the lows. Immediate support is at 18,050 levels," Shetti said. We have collated 15 data points to help you spot profitable trades: Note: The open interest (OI) and volume data of stocks in this article are the aggregates of three-month data and not just the current month. Key support and resistance levels on Nifty The pivot charts indicate that the Nifty may get support at 18,128, followed by 18,082 and 18,008. If the index advances, 18,276 would be the initial key resistance level to watch out for, followed by 18,322 and 18,396. Nifty Bank The Bank Nifty also saw correction for yet another session, declining 205 points to 43,699 and forming a bearish candlestick pattern with a long lower shadow on the daily scale. "The highest open interest on the Call side is built up at 44,000 Call strike and a break above this will resume the up move. The downside support stands at 43,500 and a break below this will accelerate the down move," Kunal Shah, Senior Technical & Derivative Analyst at LKP Securities said. As per the pivot point calculator, the Bank Nifty may take support at 43,504, followed by 43,375 and 43,166. Key resistance levels are expected to be 43,921 along with 44,050 and 44,259. Call options data Per the weekly options front, the maximum Call open interest (OI) was at 18,400 strike, with 1.51 crore contracts, which is expected to be a crucial resistance level for the Nifty in the coming sessions. This was followed by 18,300 strike comprising 1.35 crore contracts, and 18,200 strike with more than 92.94 lakh contracts. Call writing was at 18,200 strike, which added 77.07 lakh contracts, followed by the 18,300 strike, which added 53.21 lakh contracts, and 19,500 strike, which added 9.3 lakh contracts. Meaningful Call unwinding was at 19,000 strike, which shed 23.51 lakh contracts, followed by 18,500 strike, which shed 20.58 lakh contracts, and 18,800 strike, which shed 14.47 lakh contracts. Put option data The maximum Put open interest was at 18,000 strike with 85.89 lakh contracts, which is expected to act as an important support level in the coming sessions. This was followed by the 18,100 strike, comprising 73.26 lakh contracts, and the 18,200 strike where we have 64.91 lakh contracts. Put writing was seen at 18,000 strike, which added 24.08 lakh contracts, followed by 17,900 strike, which added 18.55 lakh contracts, and 18,100 strike which added 12.1 lakh contracts. We have seen Put unwinding at 18,300 strike, which shed 42.34 lakh contracts, followed by 18,400 strike, which shed 26.81 lakh contracts, and 17,400 strike, which shed 4.94 lakh contracts. Stocks with a high delivery percentage A high delivery percentage suggests that investors are showing interest in the stock. The highest delivery was seen in Sun Pharmaceutical Industries, Container Corporation of India, HDFC, Infosys, and Godrej Consumer Products among others. 39 stocks see a long build-up An increase in open interest (OI) and price typically indicates a build-up of long positions. Based on the OI percentage, 39 stocks, including Exide Industries, Coromandel International, Dixon Technologies, Ramco Cements, and Jubilant Foodworks saw long build-ups. 48 stocks see long unwinding A decline in OI and price generally indicates a long unwinding. Based on the OI percentage, 48 stocks including Navin Fluorine International, ICICI Bank, Metropolis Healthcare, Glenmark Pharma, and Pidilite Industries saw a long unwinding. 71 stocks see a short build-up An increase in OI along with a price decrease indicates a build-up of short positions. Based on the OI percentage, 71 stocks, including PVRInox, Atul, Jindal Steel & Power, Whirlpool, and MCX India saw a short build-up. 32 stocks see short-covering A decrease in OI along with a price increase is an indication of short-covering. Based on the OI percentage, 32 stocks were on the short-covering list. These included ITC, Oracle Financial, Godrej Consumer Products, GNFC, and Coforge. Bulk deals (For more bulk deals, click here) Results on May 18 Stocks in the news HDFC Bank: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has granted approval to SBI Funds Management for acquiring up to 9.99 percent stake in HDFC Bank. The RBI has advised SBI Funds Management to acquire the major shareholding in the bank within a period of six months i.e. by November 15, 2023. Vedant Fashions: Promoter Ravi Modi Family Trust plans to sell up to 1.69 crore equity shares of Vedant Fashions or 7 percent stake, with an option to additionally sell 69.87 lakh shares or a 2.88 percent stake. The offer-for-sale issue will open on May 18 for non-retail investors, and May 19 for retail investors. The floor price for the offer will be Rs 1,161 per share. Lemon Tree Hotels: The hotel chain operator has signed a Licence Agreement for an 82-room property in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh under the company's brand 'Lemon Tree Premier'. The property is expected to be operational by August 2026. Subsidiary Carnation Hotels will be operating this property. JSW Steel: The steel producer has been declared as a preferred bidder for the composite licence of an unexplored iron ore mine -- Surjagad 4 iron ore block in Gadchiroli district in Maharashtra. The auctions were held by the Maharashtra government on May 12. The highest final offer price by the company to become a preferred bidder is 131.05 percent of the average monthly prices of iron ore of different grades and quality published by Indian Bureau of Mines in Maharashtra from time to time. Indiabulls Real Estate: The real estate firm said the board has approved the appointment of Manish Kumar Sinha as the Chief Financial Officer with effect from May 17. Saurabh Garg has resigned as CFO of the company due to personal reasons. REC: The power projects finance company has recorded a 33.2 percent year-on-year growth in consolidated profit at Rs 3,065.4 crore for the quarter ended March FY23, supported by reversal of impairment on financial instruments. Revenue from operations grew by 6.3 percent to Rs 10,243 crore compared to the year-ago period. Thermax: The energy and environment solutions company has reported a 52.3 percent year-on-year growth in consolidated profit at Rs 156.2 crore for March FY23 quarter, backed by healthy operating performance. Revenue from operations for the quarter grew by 16 percent to Rs 2,310.82 crore compared to the corresponding period last fiscal. The board has announced a final dividend of Rs 10 per share. Fund Flow FII and DII data Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought shares worth Rs 149.33 crore, whereas domestic institutional investors (DIIs) sold shares worth Rs 203.87 crore on May 17, provisional data from the National Stock Exchange showed. Stocks under F&O ban on NSE The National Stock Exchange has added Aditya Birla Fashion & Retail, LIC Housing Finance, and retained Balrampur Chini Mills, Delta Corp, GNFC, Punjab National Bank, and Manappuram Finance to its F&O ban list for May 18. Securities in the ban period under the F&O segment include companies in which the security has crossed 95 percent of the market-wide position limit. Disclaimer: The views and investment tips expressed by experts on Moneycontrol are their own and not those of the website or its management. Moneycontrol advises users to check with certified experts before taking any investment decisions.
A Lancaster woman pleaded guilty Tuesday to animal cruelty charges for injuring a dog that was being boarded at her home, according to the Erie County District Attorney's Office.

Prosecutors said 47-year-old Andrea L. White pleaded guilty before Lancaster Town Court Justice Anthony J. Cervi to one count of overdriving, torturing and injuring animals, the highest sustainable charge against her. White also pleaded guilty to failure to provide proper sustenance, a misdemeanor under State Agriculture and Markets Law.

On July 18, 2022, White was hired to board a mixed breed terrier named Nyxxi at her home. When the dog's owner attempted to retrieve his pet on Aug. 5, White told him that Nyxxi had escaped from her vehicle during a collision in Orchard Park. The dog's owner reported the incident to Lancaster police, who obtained a search warrant for White's residence. Investigators found nine dogs inside, including Nyxxi, who was injured.

Nyxxi was treated at an emergency veterinary hospital for a fractured and dislocated limb, a neck laceration and missing teeth.

White was released on her own recognizance and faces a maximum of one year in jail when she is sentenced Aug. 1.
Ravi Modi Family Trust, a promoter entity in Vedant Fashions Ltd, the owner of luxury clothing brand Manyavar, launched an offer for sale (OFS) to slash its shareholding by 9.88 percent. The floor price for the OFS will be Rs 1,161 per share, which marks a discount 6.84 percent against the last closing price, as per a regulatory filing. This takes the total offer size to around Rs 2,785 crore. Axis Capital will be acting as the settlement broker for the deal, the exchange filing noted. The offer will be executed during the trading hours on May 18-19, and will be opened for non-retail investors on the first day and retail investors on the second day, the company said. The OFS has been launched to comply with the "minimum public shareholding norms", Vedant Fashions said. As per the rules laid down by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), the stake held by promoter and promoter group entities should not cross the 75 percent-mark. According to the shareholding pattern shared with the BSE, Ravi Modi Family Trust held a 67.07 percent stake in the company as of March 31, 2023. Other promoters cumulatively held 17.80 percent of the shares, thereby taking the total stake of promoters and promoter group to around 84 percent. Vedant Fashions was, thereby, required to slash its promoters and promoter group's stake by around 9 percent in order to comply with the minimum public shareholding norms. In the trading session on May 17, the scrip settled at Rs 1,246.85 apiece at the BSE, which was 0.67 percent lower as against the previous day's close.

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India will soon launch its first offshore wind energy tender and the government is hopeful that its plan to bid out 37 gigawatts (GW) equivalent of offshore wind projects by 2029-30 will attract enough players to the sector, Dinesh Jagdale, Joint Secretary, Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, told Moneycontrol. Jagdale, who handles wind and bio energy at the ministry, said the offshore wind seabed lease tender under model 3 is expected to be floated within the next 4-6 weeks. The model 3 will entail the development of offshore projects without any viability gap funding (VGF) from the government. These projects need not sell power to power distribution companies (discoms). The tender for offshore wind projects to be awarded with VGF support from the government will follow soon in 2023-24, he said. Despite having a coastline of 7,600 km and significant potential, India doesnt have offshore wind energy capacity. The government is trying to push capacity addition by offering tenders through different models that include seabed leasing and offering financial support. Jagdale said he expects the cost of offshore wind projects to decline by the end of the decade such that these projects will become viable even without VGF from the government. Edited excerpts of the interview: India has offshore wind potential but no capacity to speak of. Now with the offshore wind bid timeline in place, how soon can we see the bids opening? Over the last one year or so, we came out with a strategy paper, then we came out with the draft bid and then there were two consultation rounds. The first bid is under model 3 where we are actually leasing out the seabed blocks on a competitive basis. Those who pay the maximum lease and score the maximum points as per the techno-commercial weightage will get the project. This bid is basically for the people to get the C grade blocks, do the survey, do the detailed project reports, construct the project and then sell the power bilaterally, not to the discoms. They can sell through open access to consumers, industries, exchange mechanisms or any other mechanism that they feel good about. There will be no VGF. We expect to invite bids in four to six weeks; only a few final points are pending. Once we are able to tweak that and satisfy the conditions, we will be able to come out with the tender. This project is without VGF. So what kind of electricity tariff are you expecting from such projects? Without VGF, it will go straight to their consumers. Across Gujarat, it will be around Rs 8 per unit. If you go to Tamil Nadu, it will be around Rs 7 per unit. These projects will take probably 7 to 8 years for construction. So these projects are going to be for captive use or for selling to industrial and commercial consumers. Today, the rate for industries is around Rs 8 to 10 (per unit) and for commercial is much more than Rs 10 (per unit). Therefore, when they start selling power in open access by 2030, the cost which may be at Rs 7 (per unit) today will come down to Rs 5 (per unit). At that stage, we will not give any VGF. What is the status of the offshore wind tender that will be awarded with VGF? We have in-principle approval from the Ministry of Finance for VGF. Now we will go to the Cabinet for clearance for VGF. As soon as we get that, we will go ahead with the first batch of 1 GW of tender. I am expecting this to happen during this financial year 2023-24. Offshore wind continues to be expensive. But you mentioned you will not continue with VGF support beyond a point. What is the plan? In the UK and Denmark markets, cost reduction is happening across the offshore wind supply chain. The turbines are getting bigger, the hardware cost is reducing, the transmission is getting bigger and better leading to cost reduction. The cost was, say, Rs 25 crore per megawatt (MW), now it is around Rs 20 crore. We expect it to reach Rs 15 crore per MW. Once we get to less than Rs 15 crore per MW, with the available wind speeds that we have across Tamil Nadu, we will be able to get tariffs of around Rs 4 to 4.5 per unit, which will be self-sufficient. But the industry feels that Rs 4 per unit tariff for offshore wind is too ambitious. Your thoughts? If I release the bid today, it is going to take at least five years to construct the project. So the bids that I am going to support with VGF are going to take time till 2028-29 or 2029-30. By that time, my entire infrastructure supply chain is going to be ready. So the projects that are going to come after 2029-30 will not require VGF. And I say that because by the end of this decade, the volume that is going to go up across the globe is massive, and therefore the cost of turbines will come down. The government has indicated a bid target of 37 GW for offshore wind by 2030. What would be the timeline for capacity addition? Projects will be awarded soon. When we talk of 37 GW, that is the bidding trajectory. That is not the completion trajectory. Projects which are awarded in 2023 will probably get commissioned in 2028. Bids will be coming up in batches for the total 37 GW up to 2030. One of the biggest challenges in adding renewable energy capacity has been the supply chain issues. We have faced this problem with solar and even thermal power. From our learnings from these sectors, how can we handle offshore wind differently to avoid these issues? The biggest advantage India has is the existing turbine technology players are already in India. Companies like Siemens Gamesa, GE and Envision already have assembly capacities, design shops, and everything else in-house. They are technically here within India, doing business on onshore projects, they only have to expand their base. For them to change their investment to the requirements offshore is going to be much easier. And that is where we are trying to encash. They are producing a 3.6 MW turbine, now we have to produce 15 MW turbines, for which the government has given trajectory and will be giving the necessary industrial setup near the ports. The state governments are keen to join hands with companies; they have a good workforce that will support their needs. We will create the demand that is required through the bids. What else do we need for industry or for entrepreneurs to put in investments? The industry said they will invest only when they see a strong pipeline of offshore wind projects The first tender is coming out soon. We have given 37 GW of trajectory. What else is needed? I think no country has given a trajectory, year-wise break-up for 37 GW. It may go one or two months here and there in the initial setup because that's where every government has its own challenges. But once the first tender comes out, and if we follow this, we will be on track for the 500 GW mission for renewable energy. NTPC and other local companies have sought a level-playing field for offshore wind projects as they believe that the current bid norms favour international companies which have experience in setting up these projects. What is the ministry doing to address this concern? We are working on that. Experience is also important; there will be joint ventures and partnerships around that. We will ensure that there is a larger participation and there are serious participants. We have already received feedback on one or two issues. We already have a consultation paper and we are going to get into the details. Globally, gas-based power and hydropower are used as backups to complement intermittent renewable energy. Gas and hydro projects in India are a challenge. The other way to ensure round-the-clock power is through storage battery and pump storage but we are still in the early stages of developing that. How can this be expedited? Battery storage is going to play a critical role and pump storage too. PLI (production-linked incentives) and VGF will support them. But have we reached a stage where we have substantial renewable energy capacity but not enough backup power? Would this lead to disruptions? I don't think that we have come to that stage. There is some elasticity in the grid, which we'll adapt as we go forward. We are not at that stage where the grid will collapse. But we have to start now. We have scaled it (backup power) up, and we will be able to support it. But if we don't start now, then we will be in trouble, so therefore we have started working on it.
Singapore-based CapitaLand Investment Ltd is planning to deploy around Rs 4,500 crore over the next 6 to 7 years to expand its footprint into business parks and industrial logistics parks in India. The company plans to foray into tier-2 cities like Lucknow, Coimbatore, Guwahati, Bhubaneswar and Kolkata. It is also looking to enter new business segments like renewable energy and credit financing, Gauri Shankar Nagabhushanam, chief executive officer at India Business Parks, CapitaLand, told Moneycontrol. Investment plans "The capital will keep getting invested as we keep on getting opportunities. Currently, Rs 4,500 crore investment is something we are looking at, of which half is committed and half will come up. If we talk about the deployment of Rs 4,500 crore, I would say that may happen in the coming 6 to 7 years. This will be an overall investment but largely this will be for business and industrial logistics parks," Nagabhushanam added. Company to double portfolio According to the company, its current portfolio is 21 million square feet completed in business parks, followed by warehousing and 6 million sqft is developed and leased. "In the case of data centres, nothing is yet leased. We are currently developing on the business park side and are currently constructing 11 million sqft, which will be completed in the next 3 years. We will be acquiring and developing more in addition to the above numbers," he added. "Most of the development we did in India is greenfield and we are aiming at above 40 million sqft for business parks. We are also looking at opportunities for industrial logistic parks, and hence hitting 50 million sqft development does not look like a challenge. CapitaLand has close to 30 years of experience in India and is one of the business park pioneers in the country. It has a strong portfolio of more than 30 properties across 7 cities, with total assets under management of Rs 24,700 crore (S$4 million). Its resilient and well-diversified portfolio in India includes business parks, industrial, logistics, lodging and data centre assets. Tier-2 cities on the radar According to the company, after having a presence in six major cities including Mumbai, Pune, Delhi NCR, Hyderabad, Bengaluru and Chennai, it now plans to foray into tier-2 cities. "The attractive market right now is Lucknow, where a lot of e-commerce players are going. Guwahati is another attractive market followed by Coimbatore, etc. So we are looking at new markets but despite this, 80 percent of our business will be from six major or bigger cities. Out of this, the bulk of it for warehousing will be from Mumbai. Delhi NCR and Mumbai are going to be the key focus," Nagabhushanam mentioned. New segments CapitaLand is looking at new segments to expand its business in India. He said, "We are looking at alternate assets. Right now we are looking at a couple of opportunities or rather say studying, of which one is renewable energy and the second is credit market space wherein say something like real estate funding. These are very preliminary, I do not think this is something we are actively pursuing but generally want to look at it. In the case of renewables, I would say the focus might be solar and wind. However, the wind side is more challenging." Challenges in leasing spaces? The company on May 16 announced it has received leasing commitments from global corporations for 80 percent of phase 1 of its International Tech Park Pune (ITPP), Kharadi, spread over 1.5 million sq ft, and the operations have commenced. The commitments received include those from global corporations such as 315 Work Avenue, Acuity Knowledge Partners, Bharti Airtel, Deloitte, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, NielsenIQ, PTEC Technology Solutions, SAP Labs, Sulzer, Tablespace, Whirlpool India and ZS Associates. Asked whether CapitaLand faced any problems or challenges in finding the right companies for leasing space in the tech park, the company said the right product at the right time helped it get companies onboard without any major challenges. Also read: CapitaLand India Trust to buy 1mn sqft IT park in Bengaluru for Rs 1,226 crore "In Pune, I would say it was a bit of luck and a bit of our product worked in our favour. The product we offer in Kharadi is very unique and significantly different from what is available in that market. I think we further got tailwinds from 2020 and 2021 when there was literally no uptake. So 2022 was a bumper year for the office segment in India, and we benefited significantly. The product was available just when the market was seeing demand. Even the first quarter of 2023 has been decent, and I am keeping my fingers crossed for the rest of the year. The banking crisis in the West is also looking settled and amid this 2024 is also looking bright," said Nagabhushanam. Will look into Cognizant's portfolio sale Recently, IT major Cognizant announced it will give up 80,000 seats, or 11 million sqft in office space primarily in large Indian cities as it looks to reduce its annual real estate costs by $100 million. The company said it was aiming to rationalise workspaces as it realigned office spaces in a post-pandemic hybrid work environment. Also read: L&T Realty, CapitaLand India Trust to develop 6 million square feet of office spaces CapitaLand said it will be interested in Cognizants sale. Nagabhushanam said, "We are definitely interested. Whenever there is an opportunity we look into it. Whenever Cognizant will bring it up for sale, we will participate in that process for purchase. There is no focus or investment for that we have planned yet but it depends on the opportunity that comes up."
Amber Enterprises shares surged over 12 percent on May 17 after the contract manufacturer of air conditioners said that it has recorded an 82 percent year-on-year growth in consolidated profit at Rs 104 crore for the quarter ended March FY23. Revenue from operations for the quarter grew by 55 percent to Rs 3,002.6 crore compared to the same period last year. At 10:45 am, the stock was quoting at Rs 2,080 on the NSE, higher by 10.5 percent from previous close. Trading volumes at 1.05 million shares, almost 17x the 20-day average volume of 59,869 shares. Follow our live blog for all the market action The company's ROCE (return on capital employed) has improved from 11 percent in FY22 to 15 percent in FY23 and it is further expected to improve in the range of 19 percent to 21 percent in the next 2-3 years time, said the company. On the operating front, earnings before interest tax depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) jumped 62 percent to Rs 204 crore in Q4 Fy23 as against Rs 125 crore in Q4 FY22. "While Room Air Conditioner remains our focus segment, our other four divisions - electronics, motors, mobility and components - within the group, are witnessing a rampant growth ultimately strengthening the top line and bottom line," Jasbir Singh, chairman and chief executive officer of Amber Enterprises, said. In FY23, the company's capex stood at Rs 698 crore. We believe expectation of good summer demand and production ramp up in new facilities led to strong revenue performance, Nikhat Koor, analyst at Dolat Capital said in a note. According to Bloomberg, the stock has 18 Buy calls, 6 Hold, and 1 Sell call. The stock is currently trading at a trailing twelve-month price-to-earnings ratio of 63.62x. 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.
Suzlon Energy share price rose 4 percent intraday on May 17 as company secured a new order of 99 MW from Vibrant Energy. Suzlon Group has received an order from Vibrant Energy for 33 wind turbine generators (WTGs), featuring its new 3 MW series with a Hybrid Lattice Tubular (HLT) tower for a 99 MW wind power project which is expected to be commissioned by FY25, Suzlon Energy said in its regulatory filing. This order of the larger wind turbine model is from the new 3 MW series  the S144140m is part of the agreement wherein Suzlon Energy will supply the wind turbines (equipment supply), provide erection and commissioning services, as well as comprehensive operations and maintenance services postcommissioning. Catch all the market action on our live blog "We are delighted to announce our first order with Vibrant Energy which is a highly respected corporate renewable energy solutions provider. This is a significant order for us featuring turbines from our 3 MW series. It is a matter of pride when customers place their trust in Suzlons technology and service excellence to partner in their renewable energy journey," said J P Chalasani, Chief Executive Officer, Suzlon Group. "This order targets the C&I (Commercial & Industrial) consumer segment which we believe will be a significant contributor to Indias renewable energy vision going ahead. I look forward to a long partnership with Vibrant Energy in the coming years towards building a sustainable India, he added. At 09:54 hrs Suzlon Energy was quoting at Rs 8.47, up Rs 0.25, or 3.04 percent on the BSE. The share touched a 52-week high of Rs 12.19 and a 52-week low of Rs 5.43 on 20 December, 2022 and 28 July, 2022, respectively. Currently, it is trading 30.52 percent below its 52-week high and 55.99 percent above its 52-week low. In the last 9 months the share price gained 25 percent.

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As trade tensions between Washington and Beijing show little signs of easing, US companies like Tesla are rapidly realising the need of shifting their focus away from China. A group of senior executives from Tesla Inc. is planning to visit India on Wednesday and Thursday. C-suite executives and managers from Austin, Texas-based Teslas supply chain, are expected to be among the visitors. The purpose of the visit is to engage with federal government officials and explore opportunities to enhance the carmaker's supply chain in the country as it seeks to expand beyond China. According to the report, the executives are expected to restate Tesla's demand that India reduce import duties on its cars. The executives are scheduled to hold meetings with government representatives, including officials from the office of prime minister Narendra Modi. The discussions will revolve around the possibility of local sourcing of components for Tesla's car models. The sources have requested anonymity due to the confidential nature of the plans. This visit could mark a significant turning point in the relationship between India and Tesla, as the electric vehicle manufacturer is yet to establish a notable presence in the country. By engaging with Indian authorities, Tesla aims to pave the way for potential future operations in one of the world's largest automobile markets. India has been actively promoting the adoption of electric vehicles to combat air pollution and reduce dependence on fossil fuels. With the Indian government's push towards electric mobility, Tesla's entry into the market could offer an attractive proposition for both parties. Expanding its supply chain in India would not only allow Tesla to diversify its operations away from China but also align with the Indian government's "Make in India" initiative, which encourages domestic manufacturing and sourcing. The Tesla executives' visit comes as welcome news after Elon Musk had halted Tesla's plans to enter the Indian market last year after a prolonged standoff with the Indian government over reduced tariffs. As PM Modi works to establish India as a global manufacturing hub, sourcing more products from here could help Tesla win the Indian government's support. The PM Modi administration has so far had a lukewarm relationship with Tesla and had stated there is "no problem" if the automobile company is ready to manufacture electric vehicles in India, but the it must not import automobiles from China., Also read: India welcomes Tesla and other EV investments as long as the vehicles are made in India: Nitin Gadkari However, while the specifics of Tesla's plans for India remain undisclosed, this visit signals the company's intention to establish a stronger foothold in the country and tap into its growing electric vehicle market. As Tesla explores avenues for collaboration and local partnerships, industry observers eagerly await further developments in this budding relationship. While Tesla has had trouble expanding into India, its rival Mercedes-Benz AG has made efforts to sell locally-made vehicles. The Germany company is placing its bets on India due to the increasing demand for electric vehicles in the country. Last month, the German luxury carmaker announced its plans to launch four new electric vehicles in India in the next 8-12 months to accelerate its electric mobility drive. Apple Inc., the iPhone maker, has chosen India as a secondary manufacturing hub and now generates 7% of the world's smartphone output here. Also Read: iPhone maker Foxconn plans $700 million plant in Bengaluru
Union minister Nitin Gadkari has written a letter to Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis to consider shifting of the proposed 2x660 MW thermal power project from Koradi in Nagpur to another location. In the letter dated May 14, Nagpur Lok Sabha member Gadkari mentioned that the NGO 'Vidarbha Connect' has said the power project can be set up at Parshivni (Parseoni) in Nagpur district. Gadkari cited a letter and concerns raised by the NGO which has requested for consideration and cancellation of the proposed 2x660 MW thermal power project proposed at Koradi in Nagpur on the ground of health hazards and to shift it to another location. The Union minister said the NGO's representation states that Mahagenco is planning to erect a new thermal power project with a total capacity of 1,320 MW at Koradi. The present power generation capacity of Koradi thermal power station is 2,600 MW and falls in the Nagpur metro region limits. The units at Koradi are adding to the health problems of local residents, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader said citing the NGO's representation. The NGO has opposed the proposed MPCB (Maharashtra Pollution Control Board) environmental public hearing on May 29, 2023. Gadkari said the NGO has pointed out that the power generation capacity at Koradi and Khaparkheda has reached the upper pitch and the proposed power station can be installed at Parshivni. This may help to generate employment in the Parshivni tehsil and help find a solution to the problem of pollution in Koradi, he said, citing the NGO's representation. "I would like request your good self to consider the points raised in the self explanatory representation and take a decision abiding by the guidelines, due verification and the stand of state government in the matter," Gadkari said in the letter.
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The poor performance of Janata Dal (Secular) in Karnataka, its worst in the last two decades, poses significant existential risks for Gowdas in a state where they have been kingmakers for quite some time. It has larger ramifications for the idea of the Third Front at the state level as electoral contests are becoming increasingly bipolar. The JD(S) Flop Show Why did JD(S) perform so poorly? This is primarily because: * Large section of its voters  mainly Dalits, Muslims and OBCs  didnt feel it had the firepower to beat the BJP. They switched to Congress, which appeared the better alternative * Some voters may have felt that voting for JD(S) could have led to a hung assembly situation and created instability * As soon as Congress created an alternative Vokkaliga leadership in DK Shivakumar, JD(S) core voters too slipped and moved to Congress (+8 percent as per AxisMyIndia exit poll) It appears that the contest turned from triangular to bipolar with Congress and BJP occupying the media space and voters' minds with JD(S) knocked out of the electoral chatter. The Diminishing Third Force In such a scenario, the vote share of the third player is usurped by the dominant forces, the winner and runner-up, in line with their social coalitions. In state after state, the third player is getting squeezed out. In many states the third force and other smaller forces are aligning with the winner or the runner up for their political survival. In an increasingly bipolar scenario in a polarized environment the third player in states is getting marginalised. Generally a contest is considered as triangular when all the three parties get a vote share of more than/equal to 20 percent. State After State Its Happening In Andhra, the main contest is between YSRCP and TDP, with Jana Sena Party a marginal player. In Odisha, its a BJD versus BJP fight with Congress reduced to a player with less than 10 seats. In Maharashtra most parties are either aligned with NDA or MVA. The third largest party Prakash Ambedkars VBA has aligned with the Uddhav faction of Shiv Sena. In a similar situation in Bihar, the Chirag Paswan faction of the LJP is the third force, and is most likely to join NDA. In Tamil Nadu and Assam, most political forces are either in UPA or NDA. In Kerala, BJP is the third player but doesnt have even a single MLA or MP from the state. In Gujarat, AAP has emerged as the third force, but could win only five seats. If it gets further stronger it is likely to be at the cost of Congress. But a bipolar contest scenario is likely to continue. In Uttar Pradesh in 2022, Mayawatis BSP was reduced to a mere one seat, paving the way for a BJP vs SP contest. Muslims, OBCs, Jatav Dalit voters of BSP moved to SP and BJP. Post results, Mayawati blamed the media for making it a bipolar contest. In Delhi, Congress has been reduced to a non-entity with almost its entire vote base shifting to the AAP. In West Bengal, the Left and Congress Mahajot were routed, failing to win a single seat in a BJP vs Mamata contest. In Punjab, the Badals Akali Dal was severely dented as AAP took centrestage reducing it to less than five seats. Haryana is the only big state, sending ten or more than 10 MPs to Parliament, which threw a hung verdict in 2019. But JJP, the third player then, is now in NDA. The space for a third front in state level politics across India is shrinking day by day. This third front is not one party across the nation, it is different parties in different states. In some states it is the BJP (Kerala), other it is the Congress (Delhi), and in rest of the states some or the other regional party. Amitabh Tiwari is a former corporate and investment banker-turned political strategist and commentator. Twitter: @politicalbaaba. Views are personal and do not represent the stand of this publication.
Indias logistics industry is poised for a brighter future, thanks to the National Logistics Policy launched in September last year. The policy promises to upgrade the physical and digital infrastructure of the logistics sector and improve service efficiency. However, there is a missing piece in the puzzle that could make all the difference for businesses: the financial infrastructure. Businesses need capital to thrive. This can be either short-term capital or long-term capital. In financial parlance, short-term capital is also known more ubiquitously as working capital. And working capital is the amount of money that a business has available to fund its day-to-day operations. Logistics And Financial Flows In the world of logistics, this is what is most important, because, at the end of the day, one of the objectives of improved logistics infrastructure is also to reduce the working capital cycle (time taken to realise revenue from the delivery of goods) of the businesses involved in the supply chain. Without sufficient working capital, a business may struggle to pay its bills or may miss out on opportunities to grow and expand. So, while logistics involves managing the physical flow of goods through the supply chain, what is also important is managing the financial flow of goods through the supply chain. Supply Chain Financing (SCF) is a solution that allows businesses to access working capital by using their supply chain as collateral. With SCF, buyers can strengthen their supply chain by providing suppliers with immediate access to working capital at a lower cost through a financial institution or intermediary, while the intermediary earns a profit by providing the financing (at a minimal fee). The buyer can then pay the intermediary at a later, agreed-upon date. Benefits Of Supply Chain Financing The most obvious benefit would be the improved cash flow for both buyers and suppliers. By using SCF, businesses can receive payment for their invoices earlier or choose to pay their invoices later. This enables businesses to have more working capital available to fund their day-to-day operations, invest in growth opportunities, and meet their financial obligations. A less obvious benefit would be increased resiliency of the supply chain. The better cash flow management that SCF affords companies will enable them to be more resilient in the face of supply chain disruptions. Post-COVID, as per a 2021 EY report on the working capital performance of companies, businesses in India saw an average increase of six days on their working capital cycles. This effect was more pronounced in small and medium enterprises which saw an increase of 14 days. Since SCF provides access to working capital at a lower cost compared to other forms of financing (because the financing is secured by the buyers creditworthiness), it bolsters a businesss ability to satisfy its short-term financial obligations and endure disruptions. When Physical, Digital & Fin Infra Meet In recent years, there has been a growing awareness of the benefits of SCF among businesses in India. Many large corporations have started implementing SCF programmes to help their suppliers access working capital at a lower cost, which has helped to strengthen their supply chains and improve their financial performance. Reserve Bank of India already has the regulatory framework (FRA 2011) and digital infrastructure (TReDS) necessary to bring about the integration of SCF into the National Logistics Policy (NLP). With the setting up of the Unified Logistics Interface Platform (ULIP) as part of the NLP, a common digital platform for all participants in the supply chain, this process has been made easier. Integrating the TReDS with the ULIP will augment the physical infrastructure upgrades the NLP aims to bring about with a solid financial infrastructure as well. This would create a system in which one cannot just track the movement of goods but also has a greater chance of receiving earlier payment for them given that the risk of non-deliverance on the part of the supplier is now mitigated. The Next Boost For Logistics Moreover, financial intermediaries will now be more willing to provide that working capital to the supplier at a lower cost on the back of reduced risk and more supply chain visibility. And directing these flows through the UPI will only bolster the system. Easing the process of financial flows to improve logistical / supply chain efficiency can also have positive spillover effects, for instance, in the payments ecosystem. In international trade, the Unified Payments Interface (UPI), which is already gaining global recognition, will become a more attractive option for companies wanting to source or export products from and to India. The National Logistics Policy in India is a welcome and long overdue step towards upgrading the logistics sector. However, for businesses to truly benefit from these improvements, it is crucial for the Indian government to also address the issue of working capital management in the NLP. Supply Chain Financing can provide a viable solution for businesses to access working capital at a lower cost, improve their cash flow, and reduce supply chain risks. By implementing SCF along with the NLP, businesses in India can not only survive but also thrive in a highly competitive and dynamic logistics landscape. The increased competitiveness SCF can bring about by attracting more players will also improve economies of scale further reducing the cost of logistics. With these measures in place, Indias logistics industry can enable businesses to focus on growth and expansion while also facilitating the seamless movement of goods across the country. Gokul Ganesh is a Research Associate at Columbia Business School and a student of public policy at The Takshashila Institution. Views are personal and do not represent the stand of the publication.
On the night of July 5, 2021, a crowd gathered on Donovan Drive in the Ferry Grider Homes to watch a fireworks display.

Among them was a 3-year-old boy, Shaquelle Walker Jr., known as "Baby Quelle," who was riding his bike when, prosecutors say, Dequan I. Richardson, opened fire on the crowd using an assault rifle with an extended magazine, shooting nearly 40 rounds of ammunition.

Four people were shot. Among them was Shaquelle, who was shot in the head. He was rushed to Oishei Children's Hospital where he died four days later after he was taken off life support.

Nearly two years later, Richardson, 24, was sentenced Wednesday to serve 25 years to life in prison.

Before Richardson learned his fate, Shaquelle's mother addressed the court.

Standing before Erie County Court Judge Susan Eagan, Danetta Jenifer, spoke softly. "I just want to let him know he took the most amazingest baby away from me," Jenifer said as family members in the gallery cried and consoled each other.

Shaquelle was a "very smart" little boy who loved to read encyclopedias, she said.

"July 5 completely changed my life," she said.

Jenifer said she's had another baby since the tragedy. "It still doesn't compare," she said.

She concluded her statement with a message to the man who killed her child. "I will never be able to forgive him," she said, even after decades. "I will never forgive him."

Richardson, who pleaded guilty in March to multiple charges including second-degree murder, declined the opportunity to give a statement.

However, Richardson had a lot to say in April when he testified as a defense witness in the trial of his girlfriend, Jonay B. Robinson, who was accused of being his accomplice. He took the stand to say that his girlfriend had nothing to do with the shooting, even though she was behind the wheel of the vehicle that transported him and another possible shooter to and from the scene.

The jury apparently didn't buy what he had to say and Robinson was convicted of second-degree murder and other charges.

John P. Feroleto, chief of major crimes with the Erie County District Attorney's Office, told the judge about how Richardson's social media posts indicated he had strong emotions about losing a dear friend to gun violence.

"He had a choice," Feroleto said. "He chose to become the monster he hated."

Before issuing her sentence, Eagan noted that as part of Richardson's plea deal, she agreed to sentence him to 25 years to life, even though he could have faced more time.

She admonished him for his statements during Robinson's trial. "You took that stand and lied to this court and jury," she said. "Most of what you said was demonstrably false."

Eagan said that based on the plea agreement, she could not change his sentence. But she said she was submitting a letter in his record that a parole board would see once he was eligible for parole.

"You are a danger to society," Eagan said.

Shaquelle's death shook Buffalo.

It was a mass shooting  generally defined as four or more people being shot in one incident  that came amid skyrocketing gun violence during the pandemic. The City of Buffalo, like many other cities across the country, saw a sudden rise in shootings starting in the latter half of 2021.

Shaquelle's murder, said District Attorney John J. Flynn, "was right at the height of the dramatic increase in shootings."

Buffalo police and the FBI, joined by other law enforcement agencies, began a series of new initiatives to try to combat the violence. A task force of law enforcement began doing daily "shoot reviews" at which each shooting and gun-related arrest was discussed in detail.

Shootings have steadily decreased in the last two years.

According to the DA's Office, shootings were down about 35% in the first four months of this year, compared with the same period in 2022.
In the 1967 movie classic The Graduate, the aimless 21-year old played by Dustin Hoffman is told he could have a bright future in plastics. A modern remake would probably recommend heat pumps. A career installing these efficient home-heating contraptions looks like a sure thing. Manufacturers are sitting pretty for now, but may end up getting squeezed by lower-priced competition. Heat pumps use electricity to transfer heat from outside (from the air, ground or water) via a refrigerant into the home. They are flying off warehouse shelves on both sides of the Atlantic as governments ban new gas and oil systems, set ambitious installation targets and offer generous incentives to boost adoption. Though more expensive than installing a gas boiler  costs vary widely by country and technology but typically exceed 15,000 ($16,000) in Germany  heat pumps can lower monthly energy bills and carbon pollution, while reducing Europes dependence on hostile hydrocarbon exporters like Russia. Installers have months long order backlogs and lack qualified staff, while manufacturers see heat pumps as a potential gold mine; even Elon Musks Tesla Inc. has talked about joining the fray. It's literally a once-in-a-generation opportunity, Carrier Global Corp.s Chief Executive Officer David Gitlin said when announcing a 12 billion takeover of German rival Viessmann Groups heat-pump business last month. European governments are basically forcing you to transition from legacy fossil-fuel boilers to heat pumps and you're going to be charging about up to 4x the price for that replacement. Heat-pump manufacturers currently enjoy high profit margins as demand outstrips their ability to deliver, but a global race is underway to add factory capacity and companies are pursuing takeovers to achieve economies of scale. The technology itself is not sophisticated and the attractiveness of the European market isnt lost on the competition, Phil Buller, who analyzes industrial companies for Berenberg, told me. Peers were shocked by Viessmanns decision to sell, as family-owned German firms typically prize independence more than money. But the German group didnt fancy its chances of fending off much larger Asian and US rivals. The 34-year old fourth-generation CEO, Max Viessmann, accepted Carrier shares and a seat on the US companys board, but 80% of the purchase price was in cash. Well soon find out whether this was a weak or wise move. A price war has kicked off in the UK, and in the longer term theres a risk European heat-pump manufacturers meet a similar fate to solar companies who were displaced by lower-priced Chinese imports. Consumers should welcome this jostling for market share, because shortages of labor and components have tended to push up the already high cost of heat-pump installations; lower prices are needed to spur greater adoption and maintain public support for the energy transition. For now, investors aren't too worried and have bid up the shares of the small number of publicly traded companies in this sector. Swedish heat-pump manufacturer Nibe Industrier AB has gained around 1700%, including dividends reinvested, in the past decade. The stock trades on more than 40 times estimated earnings, around three times dearer than the Stoxx Europe 600 benchmark index. Nibes management sounded confident after announcing bumper first-quarter earnings this week. Heat-pump sales increased more than 40% year-on-year, while price increases contributed to a widening of the climate divisions operating profit margin to 17.5%. Though Nibe dropped out of the race to acquire a stake in Japanese air conditioner and heat-pump maker Fujitsu General Ltd. in March, it this week reiterated a commitment to further offensive acquisitions, and is investing to double production. We are going to hustle and we are going to do our damnedest to participate in growth, management told an investor call. We have been waiting for this opportunity for some 20 years. Other European manufacturers are also putting up a fight: privately owned Stiebel Eltron GmbH & Co KG, Vaillant Group and Robert Bosch GmbH have announced big factory investments in Europe to capitalize on their golden ticket. The trouble is so have Japanese giants Daikin Industries Ltd, Mitsubishi Electric Corp. and Panasonic Holdings Corp., as well as Chinas Midea Group Co. Ltd. Heat pumps are technologically similar to air conditioners, which Asian companies have been mass producing for decades. Asian companies (and their overseas subsidiaries) manufactured 75% of the heat pumps sold globally in 2021, according to the International Energy Agency. European companies do have some defensive advantages. The importance of local knowledge and equipment tailored to a countrys unique heating and building characteristics should offer a bigger edge to domestic businesses than exists in the solar industry, says Matthew Trewhella, CEO of UK ground-source heat-pump manufacturer Kensa Group, which this week announced a 70 million ($88 million) investment from Legal & General Capital and Octopus Energy Ltd. European homes will often require hydronic systems  water-based distribution mediums like radiators  rather than the forced-air systems more common in other parts of the world. That may support a "slightly more regional market for heat pumps than for other clean energy industries, says Meredith Annex, head of clean power at BloombergNEF. Homeowners may prefer to purchase a higher-priced German system, rather than cheaper Chinese kit, on the basis their property might then be worth more when they sell it. And while the technology itself might not be difficult to master, you still need someone to install it: Carrier says Viessmanns close connection to tens of thousands of technicians who favor its products creates a defensible moat. Carrier investors dont seem convinced: its shares have declined more than 5% since news of the deal emerged. My advice to anyone seeking a career thats not at the mercy of artificial intelligence is to consider becoming a heat-pump installer. But with global companies keenly eyeing Europes burgeoning market, I dont blame Viessmann for cashing in most of his plastic chips.
As the Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) marked one year since listing its shares on the stock exchanges, the Congress on Wednesday attacked the Modi government over the firm's market capitalisation reportedly taking a fall of about 35 per cent. The country's largest insurer LIC had this day last year listed its shares on the NSE and the BSE. In a tweet, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said, "Exactly a year ago today, LIC was listed in the stock market. Its market capitalisation then stood at Rs 5.48 lakh crore. Today, this is down to Rs 3.59 lakh crore a fall of a whopping 35%!" "There is only one reason for this steep fall "Modani. In the process, lakhs and lakhs of policyholders have taken a serious hit," Ramesh said and tagged a screenshot of a media report which claimed that LIC share has wiped out Rs 1.9 lakh crore since listing. The Congress has been attacking the government over the fall in the value of LIC's holdings in the Adani Group and had asked who "forced" this pillar of India's financial system to take such a "risky exposure" to the conglomerate. The Congress has been demanding a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probe into the allegations against the Adani Group by US-based short-seller Hindenburg Research. The Adani Group has dismissed the allegations as baseless.

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Expressing concern over the situation in Manipur which was rocked by violence earlier this month, the Congress on Wednesday decided to send observers to ascertain the ground realities in the state. The decision was taken by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge after a delegation of party workers met him on Tuesday evening. "A delegation of @INCManipur leaders apprised me of the tremendous difficulties which the people of Manipur had to go through during these troubling times. A team of observers are being sent shortly to ascertain the ground realities," Kharge said on Twitter. The Congress chief said the situation in Manipur remains tense and was deeply distressing. "The Union Government should do everything possible to see normalcy returns to the state. Every community has a stake in ensuring peace. Let us take everyone in confidence," Kharge also said. The Congress has criticised the role of central and state governments in controlling the situation in Manipur after violence hit the state and has demanded the imposition of President's rule there. Clashes broke out in Manipur after a 'Tribal Solidarity March' was organised in the 10 hill districts on May 3 to protest against the Meitei community's demand for the Scheduled Tribe (ST) status. The violence was preceded by tension over the eviction of Kuki villagers from reserve forest land, which had led to a series of smaller agitations. At least 73 people were killed, 231 injured and 1,700 houses, including religious places, were burnt in the ethnic violence that rocked the state, officials said. Meiteis account for about 53 per cent of Manipur's population and live mostly in the Imphal Valley. Tribals -- Nagas and Kukis -- constitute another 40 per cent of the population and reside in the hill districts.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi will visit the US in the first week of June and address NRIs on June 4 in New York, sources in the Indian Overseas Congress said Tuesday. Gandhi is also likely to visit Washington DC and Los Angeles during his over-a-week-long stay in the US, they said. The sources said that during his visit he would address Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) in New York on June 4 but the venue has not been finalized and would be fixed this week. During his US visit, he may interact with university students as well. In March this year, Gandhi had visited the UK during which his remarks alleging that the structures of Indian democracy are under attack and there is a "full-scale assault" on the country's institutions, had created a row back home. His remarks had triggered a political slugfest, with the BJP accusing him of maligning India on foreign soil and seeking foreign interventions, and the Congress hitting back at the ruling party by citing instances of Prime Minister Narendra Modi raising internal politics abroad.

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A man was arrested for using a fake ticket to enter the Mumbai airport on May 14, according to a Times of India report. The accused, a 37-year-old man named Noor Shaikh, had reportedly lost a mobile phone inside the airport last week while travelling from Delhi to Mumbai. He came up with the elaborate ruse to search for the device. Shaikh used his laptop to edit an old e-ticket, which he then used to gain entry to the Mumbai airport. He managed to clear the Central Industrial Security Force (CSIF) security check point by showing them the forged e-ticket for a Mumbai-Delhi flight on his phone. The forgery came to light only when he tried to use the same ticket to check in. Officials at the airline check in counter alerted CISF personnel about the fake ticket. "Shaikh's family said he is depressed after losing his job recently and has been doing such acts without knowing knowing the consequences. He was caught after he forged the old Mumbai-Delhi ticket of Vistara Airlines using a computer software," said a police officer of Sahar police station. "The accused had travelled on a flight from Mumbai to Delhi recently and he lost his phone at the airport. He decided to make the fake ticket and enter the airport to check the closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras in the arrival area to look for his lost mobile. On a fake ticket, the passenger can go up to the security check where tickets are scanned," said an officer, according to Times of India. Shaikh has been charged for cheating, forgery and forgery for the purpose of cheating.
Even as global tech giants are carrying out mass layoffs, several top Silicon Valley companies are reportedly looking to hire lower-paid tech workers from foreign countries. Google, Meta, Amazon, Microsoft, Zoom, Salesforce and Palantir have applied for thousands of H1B worker visas this year, according to a US Department of Labor data, reported independent investigative journalist Lee Fang. Ironically, thousands of workers on H1B visa, including Indians, have been affected by the layoffs in the United States, with many taking to social media to share the news and seek new opportunities. Just a month after Sundar Pichai announced Googles plan to cut 12,000 jobs around the world in January, the company filed applications for H1B visas to hire software engineers, analytical consultants, user experience researchers and other roles from outside the United States, with several requests aimed for new Google employees to join in August, the report states. Google parent Alphabet owned Waymo too has reportedly filed similar H1B applications to hire engineers. Meta has laid off nearly 25 per cent of its estimated workforce in just a few months in what CEO Mark Zuckerberg has called the company's "year of efficiency" as the US tech sector continues to downsize. Amazon CEO Andy Jassy in March laid out a plan to cut 9,000 more jobs from the online retail giant's workforce, following the 18,000 that were axed in January. The layoffs account for a smaller percentage of Amazon's total workforce, which ran up to 1.5 million people in December 2022, than the cuts seen at some other tech giants. Jassy told workers that the extra layoffs were necessary as the company seeks to downsize after years of hiring, particularly during the coronavirus pandemic when people turned to the internet for shopping. In January, Microsoft said it would eliminate 10,000 jobs, almost 5 per cent of the global workforce, as it braces for a potential recession. In an email to employees, CEO Satya Nadella said, While we are eliminating roles in some areas, we will continue to hire in key strategic areas.
The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) on May 17 said it will hear an insolvency plea by aircraft lessor Aircastle against SpiceJet on May 25. The tribunal asked the airline to file a response to the lessors insolvency plea and explore options for settlement if possible. Aircastle confirmed that earlier settlement talks with SpiceJet have not been fruitful and the airline's offer was not good enough. The creditor moved NCLT claiming that SpiceJet has unpaid dues and has sought initiation of insolvency proceedings under Section 9 of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC). On May 8, a two-member Principal bench of the NCLT headed by President Ramalingam Sudhakar issued the notice to SpiceJet and directed it to list the matter on May 17 for the next hearing. The development comes close on the heels of beleaguered budget carrier Go First filed for voluntary insolvency resolution proceedings. SpiceJet, however, said this development will not affect its operations and is confident of resolving the matter without court proceedings. "The comments provided here are without prejudice to our rights and in no way should be deemed as an admission of any liabilities, a spokesperson for the low-cost airline said. On May 11, SpiceJet said it is taking steps to revive its grounded fleet using the $50 million it received from the government's Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS) and internal cash accruals, as it sought to quash rumours of insolvency. Despite the recent turbulence in the Indian aviation space, SpiceJet has said it had no intention of filing for insolvency and was focused on its business. However, on May 12, aircraft lessor GY Aviation Lease approached aviation regulator DGCA seeing deregistration of two more Boeing 737-8 aircraft of the airline. Many aircraft of SpiceJet are grounded due to various reasons. Recently, the airline's three lessors - Wilmington Trust SP Services, Sabarmati Aviation Leasing, and Falgu Aviation Leasing - had sought the deregistration of one aircraft each, according to an update on the regulator's website.
Cash-strapped airline SpiceJet received temporary relief from the Supreme Court on May 17. The court adjourned the case related to a contempt of court plea filed by Credit Suisse, a Swiss bank, regarding SpiceJet's failure to comply with a court-approved settlement plan for the payment of dues. Credit Suisse informed the court that while SpiceJet has made some payments, it is still in contempt of court as there is an outstanding amount of over $4 million. SpiceJet assured the court that it will continue to make payments of half a million dollars to Credit Suisse on the 15th of every month, and by August, it would have paid $1.5 million. The Supreme Court agreed to adjourn the case to July 18 without issuing any notice or directions to SpiceJet. The court will review whether the airline has made payments as per its assurance in July. In May 2022, SpiceJet and Credit Suisse entered into a settlement agreement to resolve a payment dispute. The dispute arose from SpiceJet's non-payment of dues to SR Technics, a Switzerland-based company that provides aircraft maintenance services. SpiceJet had defaulted on dues amounting to $20 million. The Madras High Court had ordered the winding up of SpiceJet due to this dispute, and the order was upheld by a higher bench. However, SpiceJet challenged this decision in the Supreme Court, which stayed the order in January 2022 and urged both parties to settle the dispute instead of pursuing litigation. A settlement agreement was reached in May 2022, requiring SpiceJet to make an upfront payment and pay the remaining balance over an agreed timeline. The settlement was achieved after SpiceJet successfully resolved previous disputes with De Havilland Aircraft of Canada Limited (DHC), Boeing, CDB Aviation, BOC Aviation, and Avolon.

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A man was arrested at the Kempegowda International Airport in Bengaluru on Tuesday afternoon after he was caught smoking beedi inside the aircraft. As per a report published in The Times of India, the man, identified as 56-year-old M Praveen Kumar, was traveling to the city from Ahmedabad in an Akasa Air flight. He informed the police that this was the first time he had taken a flight and was later taken to Bengaluru Central Jail. "I regularly travel by train and smoke inside the toilet. Thinking I could do the same here, I decided to smoke a beedi," he told police officials. The man was flying to Bengaluru when crew members caught him smoking inside the washroom. On landing in the city at around 1:10 pm, the duty manager of the aircraft Vijay Thulluru lodged a complaint against Kumar with the airport police. Police officials said that the man was accompanied by another person and had come to Bengaluru to attend a post-death ceremony of a relative. "Kumar is a labourer in Marwar. He was accompanying an aged person, who was flying down to the city to participate in the post-death ceremony of a relative," the officer said. This is the first instance at the Bengaluru airport where a person has been arrested for smoking beedi. In 2023, two more passengers were booked by the airport police for smoking cigarettes inside the flight. "In the first two cases, the accused were aware of the fact that smoking is strictly prohibited in flights. Still, they were caught smoking. In Tuesday's case, Kumar, who was flying for the first time, claimed he was not aware of the no-smoking rule," an officer said. The airline responded to the incident and said that they were helping the authorities with the investigation, regarding the incident. "On May 16, 2023, a passenger on Akasa Air flight QP1326, flying from Ahmedabad to Bengaluru, was found smoking in the lavatory of the aircraft. Our crew followed the required safety protocols and the passenger was handed over to the local police with the help of CISF, upon landing in Bengaluru. We are assisting authorities with their investigation into this matter," an Akasa Air spokesperson said. Also read: Bengaluru woman's air ticket from Mumbai goes missing due to technical issue
Sudha Murty, author and philanthropist, recently recounted the infamous incident of classism she faced at Londons Heathrow airport a few years ago, when two women co-passengers judged her by her appearance and termed her cattle class. Appearing on The Kapil Sharma Show, Murty, who is married to Infosys co-founder NR Narayana Murthy recalled her airport experience while returning to Bengaluru from London. I was at the Heathrow airport in a salwar kameez. I had a business class ticket and was standing in the queue, she said in Hindi when actor Archana Puran Singh, a judge on the show, asked her about the encounter. They (two co-passengers) felt that if you wear a saree or a salwar kameez, you are a didi or behenji. They said, Behenji, this is not your queue. The economy (queue) is that side. You should wait there, Sudha Murty said. When Murty said she decided to feign ignorance and did not move out of the business class queue, the women allegedly said, They are cattle class people. Eventually, Murty, 72, showed her ticket to the airline staff, was greeted by the crew and allowed to proceed in the business class queue. She then went up to her two co-passengers and asked them, What is cattle class? Class is not defined by the money one has People who work hard are the ones who have class. Its not about money, she said on the show. Murty, who was recently awarded the Padma Shri, India's fourth highest civilian, shared another anecdote about an immigration officer in the UK who refused to believe her residential address when she wrote "10 Downing Street" on the form. 10 Downing Street is the official residence and office of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. Sudha Murty's daughter, Akshata, is married to Rishi Sunak, who currently resides at 10 Downing Street.
Everybody knows about Brad Raffensperger, Shaye Moss, Ruby Freeman and the other Georgia elections officials and workers who stood up to a corrupt president and helped save American democracy  at least for the time being.

But honest and open government is under constant assault not only on a national scale, but also right here in New York. The threats are not always as obvious, but they are no less insidious. And it falls to local heroes flying under the radar to safeguard the publics right to know and to be heard.

Our Town Board, they dont share things readily. You have to FOIL request everything, said Cathy Worthington, a resident of Stafford in Genesee County, referring to the states Freedom of Information Law.

Worthington is among six residents  and the reporters who covered them  who were scheduled to be honored Wednesday night at the New York Coalition for Open Governments annual meeting via videoconference.

Her request last November was so fundamental to open government that it seems almost unbelievable that it was denied: She wanted a copy of the proposed town budget before it was voted on. But as chronicled by Howard Owens in The Batavian, officials refused her, contending  erroneously  that she could only read it in the Town Clerks Office, not have a copy to take home and study.

In cases like this, its often hard to know if government officials are ignorant or just contemptuous of citizens right to information  or both. They get away with it because they can, because New Yorks anemic Committee on Open Government has no real enforcement power and because too few citizens use the power they have to monitor and punish obstinate officials.

Shame on me for previously attending only a handful of board meetings despite being a town resident for 27 years, Worthington said.

That all changed a couple of years ago when she got the municipal run-around while seeking approval to put up a pole barn. That ordeal inspired her to get involved, to the point that she now attends all meetings, records them for posting on a video news service and has a Whats Happening in Stafford, NY Facebook page.

The more I investigate, the more I just cringe, said Worthington, whose 2021 Town Board write-in candidacy failed but who will be on the ballot in November.

While Worthington is a relative newcomer to the open-government wars, Allegany County resident Casey Jones began fighting them more than 50 years ago as a newspaper journalist in Chenango County, where he also was a mayor and held other government posts.

He moved to Allegany County about seven years ago and calls it probably the most secretive government Ive run into in all the years Ive been involved with this.

The Coalition for Open Government recognized him for standing up to a County Legislature committee that  as detailed by Andrew Harris of the Wellsville Sun  wanted to go into executive session to talk about a contract with a local college.

Such sessions are regularly misused by governmental bodies who either dont know or dont care what the law says about doing the publics business in public.

Jones, who runs the AlleganyHopeWNY.org website, said hes tried to do forums on open government, but with limited success.

Most people really dont know whats going on in local government, he said, citing as an example those who get riled up when a governmental body votes to increase taxes. Yet, he noted, they were in the dark about the groundwork that had been laid for the increase and the fact that all the actions that caused them to go up had been taken prior to that time.

But coalition President Paul Wolf thinks the public is becoming more aroused about such issues.

They see executive sessions that dont seem right to them. They file FOIL requests that drag on forever, he said.

Wolf also sees the growing outrage in the fact the group began as the Buffalo Niagara Coalition for Open Government but changed its name after expanding across the state to include members from more than 30 counties. And he sees it in the fact that the coalitions social media posts seem to be getting more traction as its reports hold government officials accountable while also praising those who respect the publics right to know.

Worthington says that when she talks to residents about such issues, they care about it, as well, but they fear retaliation. They dont want to speak up.

Whether its fear or simple apathy, that silence is what allows officials to thumb their noses at both open government laws and the citizens those laws are supposed to empower. The coalitions public recognition of citizens like Worthington, Jones and the other four  from Long Island, the Finger Lakes region, Watertown and Orange County  spotlights the power of such citizen engagement.

It also highlights the importance of local newspapers, which cover governmental shenanigans and bring such abuses to light.

What citizens then do with that information is up to them.

Efforts to steal a national election obviously get people worked up, but the daily drip, drip, drip of local government violations of the spirit and letter of New Yorks open government laws is just as corrosive.

Like the coalitions honorees, other citizens can fight for their right to know and to be treated with respect. Or they can passively accept whatever elected officials and their apparatchiks want to do to them and let democracy corrode.

In the end, for good or bad, we get the kind of government we deserve.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Wednesday said that next week's Quad leaders meeting in Sydney will not go ahead after US President Joe Biden cancelled his visit to Australia, according to a media report. Albanese said the leaders of Australia, the US, India and Japan would instead meet at the G7 Summit in Japan this weekend. US President Biden announced on Tuesday that he will postpone the Australia leg of his Asia trip, along with that of Papua New Guinea, given the uncertainty and intense negotiations with the opposition Republican party to ensure that America does not default on its debt for the first time in history. "The Quad leaders' meeting will not be going ahead in Sydney next week," Albanese said in Tweed Heads, a town in New South Wales. Albanese says it's still possible that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Sydney next week, ABC News reported. President Biden has been forced to turn his attention to domestic politics, as he works to hash out a deal with Republicans to prevent the US from defaulting on its debts at the end of this month. "Because that has to be solved prior to 1 June otherwise there are quite drastic consequences for the US economy, which will flow on to the global economy he understandably has had to make that decision," Albanese said. The Prime Minister also said Biden was "disappointed" as he was unable to come to Australia and that the Quad leaders would instead try to gather on the margins of the G7 leaders meeting in Hiroshima. "All four leaders President Biden, Prime Minister Kishida, Prime Minister Modi and myself will be at the G7, held in Hiroshima on Saturday and Sunday. We are attempting to get together over that period of time [and] I'll have a bilateral discussion with President Biden," he said. "At this stage, we haven't got a time locked in for that arrangement." Albanese said it was still possible that Prime Minister Modi and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida would visit Sydney next week, but officials in all three countries were still trying to confirm their plans. "We are in discussions with the Quad leaders over today. We'll make further announcements about that, but Prime Minister Modi would certainly be a very welcome guest here next week," he said. In November 2017, India, Japan, the US and Australia gave shape to the long-pending proposal of setting up the "Quad" to develop a new strategy to keep the critical sea routes in the Indo-Pacific free of any influence amid China's aggressive behaviour in the region. China is engaged in hotly contested territorial disputes in the South and East China Seas. Beijing has also made substantial progress in militarising its man-made islands in the past few years. Beijing claims sovereignty over all of the South China Sea. But Vietnam, Malaysia, the Philippines, Brunei and Taiwan have counterclaims. In the East China Sea, China has territorial disputes with Japan.
Tesla Inc boss Elon Musk, who has never used traditional advertising to sell cars, said on Tuesday that the automaker would try it and see whether it produced results. Musk said it was "ironic" that as CEO of Tesla, he now owns Twitter. The social media platform is highly dependent on ads and will soon be led by advertising veteran Linda Yaccarino, who he hired last week. "So I guess I should say advertising is awesome, and everyone should do it," Musk said at Tesla's annual shareholder meeting in Austin, Texas. "We'll try out a little advertising and see how it goes." It underscores his efforts to shore up investor confidence in the car maker's prospects at a time when rising competition and a slow economy has forced Tesla to slash prices. Since Musk acquired Twitter in October, advertisers have fled the social media platform, worried that their ads could appear next to inappropriate content after the company lost nearly 80% of its staff. Musk has for years resisted the idea of advertising, tweeting in 2019 that he "hates advertising" and "We use that money to make the product great". But on Tuesday, he said many people did not know about the affordability of Tesla cars and their "amazing" features and functionality.

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Pakistan's former prime minister Imran Khan Wednesday demanded an independent inquiry into the violence following his arrest last week as he distanced himself and his party from attacks on state and military installations. Khan made the demand in an address to the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) workers from his Zaman Park residence in Lahore via video link, amid reports that his house has been surrounded by police. Ahead of his address, Khan said in a tweet that police had surrounded his house in an upscale area of Punjab's provincial capital Lahore and he could be arrested. ''Probably my last tweet before my next arrest. Police has (sic) surrounded my house,'' the 70-year-old leader tweeted. In his address, Khan said the ruling coalition is deliberately trying to create a conflict between his party and the powerful army. ''The cases that are being filed under military laws  it never happened before that without any investigation or independent inquiry  it was suddenly decided that PTI is a terrorist organisation,'' Khan said, adding that 7,500 workers of his party have been arrested. He said he criticises the army the same way he criticises his children, which is for reform. ''The Pakistan Democratic Movement is trying for a confrontation between the army and PTI... But who will come out as the winner in this?'' he asked. Khan said he has defended the Pakistan Army across the world. ''I was a known face. Name another Pakistani who defended the army the way I did on international media,'' he asked. ''And I did it because I am a free man. I never accepted slavery.'' Recalling the incidents leading to the creation of Bangladesh (erstwhile East Pakistan), Khan said, ''I am afraid today that Pakistan is on the route to destruction.'' ''I fear that if wisdom is not exercised today, we might reach a stage where we wouldn't even be able to pick up the pieces,'' he said. Meanwhile, DawnNewsTV reported that all the roads leading to Khan's Zaman Park residence have been blocked by the police. Video footage from the site showed a huge contingent of Punjab police outside his residence, it added. Earlier, Punjab's caretaker information minister Amir Mir had claimed that some '30 to 40' terrorists are hiding at the Lahore residence of Khan, giving him an ultimatum of 24 hours to hand them over or face stern action. ''We have received an intelligence report that some 30 to 40 terrorists who were involved in attacking the military installations, especially Lahore Corps Commander House on May 9, are hiding at Zaman Park residence of Imran Khan. We give an ultimatum of 24 hours to Khan and his party to hand them over to police or face stern action,'' Mir said at a press conference. Responding to Mir's claim, Khan in his address asked him to come with a search warrant. ''You say that terrorists are hiding in my house and they want to storm my house using it as an excuse, you should bring a warrant and search in a decent way,'' he said. The police in March had stormed the Zaman Park residence of Khan to arrest him but strong resistance of his party workers thwarted that plan. The arrest of Khan on May 9 by the paramilitary Rangers at the Islamabad High Court premises triggered violent protests by his supporters across Pakistan. For the first time in Pakistan's history, the protesters stormed the army headquarters in Rawalpindi and also torched the Corps Commander's house in Lahore. Police put the death toll in violent clashes to 10 while Khan's party claims 40 of its workers lost their lives in the firing by security personnel. Khan was ousted from power in April last year after losing a no-confidence vote in his leadership, which he alleged was part of a US-led conspiracy targeting him because of his independent foreign policy decisions on Russia, China and Afghanistan.
US President Joe Biden announced on Tuesday that he will postpone the Australia-leg of his trip, along with that of Papua New Guinea, given the uncertainty and intense negotiations with the opposition Republican party to ensure that America does not default on its debt for the first time in history. Biden's announcement at the top of his remarks at the Jewish American Heritage Month celebrations at the White House came soon after his meetings with the Congressional leadership, including House Speaker Kevin McCarthy of the Republican Party. In Australia, Biden was scheduled to participate in the third Quad summit with prime ministers Narendra Modi of India, Fumio Kishida of Japan and Anthony Albanese of Australia. During a phone call with Albanese to inform him of his decision, Biden invited the prime minister for an official state visit at a mutually convenient time. Biden is hosting Modi at the White House on an official state visit on June 22. The two leaders were scheduled to meet in Australia on the sidelines of the Quad summit. However, their planned meeting in Japan on the sidelines of the G-7 later this week would be in accordance with the schedule, the White House said. "The nature of the presidency is addressing many of the critical matters all at once, so I am confident we are going to continue to make progress toward avoiding default and fulfilling America's responsibility as a leader on the world stage," Biden explained to a gathering of Jewish Americans on the occasion of celebrating Jewish American Heritage Month in the East Room of the White House. This was soon after his meetings with the Republican leaders and his own Democratic party leaders from the Congress. Even though the leaders agreed that defaulting on debt is not an option, there were sharp differences on the path forward, necessitating intense negotiations between the two parties. Biden's absence from the country at this critical moment would have made it difficult for his administration, as a result of which the president decided to cut short his trip and return home directly from Japan. "I am cutting my trip short. I am postponing the Australia portion of the trip and my stop in Papua New Guinea in order to be back for the final negotiations with Congressional leaders," Biden told his White House guests. "I spoke today with Prime Minister Albanese of Australia a short time ago and let him know what was going on. There was an overwhelming consensus, I think, in today's meeting of the Congressional leaders that defaulting on the debt is simply not an option. Our economy would fall into recession," the president said. "It would devastate retirement accounts, increase borrowing costs and according to Moody's, nearly eight million (80 lakh) Americans would lose their jobs, and our international reputation would be damaged in the extreme if we were to let that happen. It is disappointing that our discussions with the congressional Republicans have not been willing to discuss raising revenues," he said. "But the policy differences between the parties should not stop Congress from avoiding default. I made clear again in today's meeting that default is not an option. America pays its debts, pays its bills, and there will be plenty of time to debate the policy differences. But the country never defaulted on our debt and we never will," Biden said. Meanwhile, the White House reiterated that Quad remains a priority. "Revitalizing and reinvigorating our alliances and advancing partnerships like the Quad remains a key priority for the president. This is vital to our ability to advance our foreign policy goals and better promote global stability and prosperity. We look forward to finding other ways to engage with Australia, the Quad, Papua New Guinea and the leaders of the Pacific Islands Forum in the coming year," White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said. Daniel Russel, vice president, International Security and Diplomacy at the prestigious Asia Society think-tank, said there is no question but that this is a disappointment to the leaders of the Pacific Islands and the Quad, particularly Australia and PNG. "It will be seen in the region as a self-inflicted wound caused by political polarisation in Washington that does not reflect well on America's reliability as a partner," he said. "However, the demand signal for US engagement and support from the countries of the Indo-Pacific is not going away. Neither is the determination of the Biden administration to bolster democratic values, prosperity and security in the region," he said. Russel said he expects the Biden team to redouble its engagement through the Quad and in other bilateral and multilateral formats in the region once the standoff with the House Republicans over the debt ceiling is resolved. "Biden's absence does not change the fact that the four Quad countries have done a significant amount of work since their last meeting and this progress will be announced as soon as a decision is made about a postponement or a substitute for the US president," he asserted. "The back-to-back G7 and Quad summits substantially overlap in both participants and substance, although the G7 Hiroshima meeting will focus more heavily on Russia-Ukraine, while the Quad discussion in Sydney will centre largely around China. Indian Prime Minister Modi's participation as a guest at the G7 summit meetings gives momentum to the talks in Sydney a few days later," Russel said. "Beyond the big geopolitical issues of Russia and China, both the G7 and Quad meetings seek to address priority concerns in the Global South. The agendas of both meetings will include development-related issues such as food security, public health, debt distress, resilience in the face of extreme weather and expansion of public-private partnerships. Leaders in both sessions will also explore ways to assist developing countries in digitalisation -- expanding access to emerging technologies and building capacity in the digital economy," he said.
A top Pakistani court here on Wednesday extended until May 31 its order to prevent the arrest of former prime minister Imran Khan in any case filed against him after May 9. The Islamabad High Court (IHC) ruling came after the government's lawyer requested more time to provide information about the cases filed against the 70-year-old Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party chief. Khan was not present in the court. The court was hearing PTI's plea seeking details of all the cases filed against Khan. Khan's party said the PTI chief was booked in over 100 cases across the country. The court granted the government lawyer's request and adjourned the hearing until May 31, the Dawn newspaper reported. In a major relief to Khan, the IHC on Friday granted him protective bail for two weeks in the Al-Qadir Trust corruption case and barred the authorities from arresting the former Pakistan prime minister in any case registered anywhere in the country until May 15. The court verdict had come a day after the Supreme Court termed Khan's dramatic arrest from the IHC premises on May 9 "invalid and unlawful". A triumphant Khan returned to his Lahore home on Saturday after having locked himself in the IHC premises for hours for fear of re-arrest despite being granted bail on Friday. The IHC on Wednesday also ordered the release of PTI leaders Maleeka Bokhari and Ali Muhammad Khan, declaring their arrest "unlawful". The PTI leaders were arrested under the Maintenance of Public Order Ordinance, 1960 following the violent protests in the country after Khan's arrest. The arrest of Khan on May 9 by the paramilitary Pakistan Rangers at the IHC premises triggered unrest in Pakistan. For the first time in Pakistan's history, the protesters stormed the army headquarters (GHQ) in Rawalpindi and also torched a corps commander's house in Lahore. Police put the death toll in violent clashes to 10 while Khan's party claims 40 of its workers lost their lives in the firing by security personnel. On Monday the top military brass vowed to bring the arsonists, who attacked the civil and military installations, to justice through trial under relevant laws of the country, including the Pakistan Army Act and Official Secrets Act. Khan was ousted from power in April last year after losing a no-confidence vote in his leadership, which he alleged was part of a US-led conspiracy targeting him because of his independent foreign policy decisions on Russia, China and Afghanistan.
Serko has had a wild day on the share market, having surged by 29% in share price on the announcement of better-than-expected results.

Travel management and costs technology group Serko [ASX:SKO] was rocketing upwards in share price earlier today after its FY2023 results beat its guidance.

SKO was trading for an improved $2.74 after its 29% increase on Wednesday. Its now up by 23% in the year so far, yet is still down by 36% in the last full year of trade:

Source: TradingView

Serko reveals huge revenue growth for FY23

Serko posted much better than expected results for the end of FY2023. Total income arrived at $48 million  just ahead of the revised FY23 guidance range of $42 million to $47 million.

These were the highlights of Serkos 2023 results:

Total income was $48 million  up 154% year-on-year (YoY)

Average revenue per booking $9.56  up 65% YoY

Average revenue per completed room night 9.34  up 36% YoY

Online bookings of 4.1 million  up 93% YoY from 2.2 million

EBITDAF loss of $21.8 million  a 23% year-on-year improvement

Net loss after tax of $30.5 million  another 15% year-on-year improvement

Cash and short-term deposits were $87.7 million

Underlying average monthly cash burn $2.7 million

FY24 guidance for a total income of $63 million$70 million

Darrin Grafton, Serkos CEO commented:

Serkos result demonstrates strong growth driven by earlier investment decisions and disciplined execution. The result reflects our focus on cost discipline balanced with targeted investments for scale and growth. Total spending increased by 34% for the period. As a percentage of total income, total spending decreased from 330% in FY22 to 174% in FY23 and cost growth reduced to 3% in the second half. We remain well capitalised with underlying average monthly cash burn reducing from $3.3 million to $2.7 million. Underlying average monthly cash burn in 2H23 was $1.8 million.

The group said growth was underpinned by a boost in unmanaged travel, which was said to have been due to dedication, hard work, and a strong partnership with Booking.com.

Booking.com for Business was reported to achieve completed room nights of 381%, along with strategic decisions that allowed Serko to maximise business travels recovery.

Outlook for SKO

Serkos total income for FY23 was 79% higher than it was in FY20  the financial year immediately prior to the pandemic and Serkos previously highest year for revenue.

Mr Grafton said the results have brought about CWTs commitment to supporting an expansion of Booking.com for Business  with discounts, membership rewards and loyalty programs in the mix.

Serko now eyes $100 million in total income for FY25, and a full-year total income of between $63 million and $70 million for FY24, based on current trends.

Serkos confidence is backed by $88 million in cash and anticipates positive cash flow and breakeven for the next year.

However, SKO also flagged ongoing geo-political and macro-economic risks, and total spending of between $86 million$90 million based on its current investment plans.

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For Money Morning
With the first anniversary of the murders of our Black neighbors in Buffalo passed, it is time to reflect on what has occurred over the past 12 months and look ahead to the next. Initially, we saw an outpouring of grief and love, focusing on the needs of the community and offering temporary supports such as food, transportation and personal care products.

In fact, one local organization, Every Bottom Covered, Inc. received thousands of items, including diapers, Pull-Ups, feminine hygiene products, and basic hygiene needs.

Every Bottom Covered, Inc. (EBC) is Western New Yorks diaper bank, working to address diaper and personal care product needs across four counties of Western New York, with plans to expand to all eight counties. Following 5/14, EBC welcomed 30 partner organizations that jumped in to volunteer supplies, time, and hands-on help. Wish lists that had withered were fulfilled in abundance and EBC turned it all back out into the community. Highmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield and other large organizations brought in volunteers and donations.

Raziya Hill, the executive director and founder of EBC remembers, We immediately distributed what we received and pushed out a lot into the community from the warehouse that had lain dormant with no volunteers. It was the hope of a healthier community.

Since the crisis, Every Bottom Covered has continued to support the community located on the East Side and those across WNY, but without the high-profile help, Raziya has had thoughts of closing out her mission. Although she is part of a national diaper bank, funding continues to be difficult to come by and she works without a salary.

Local health and human services organizations often send neighbors in need to Every Bottom Covered for free supplies but do not support the mission in primary ways  with sustainable funding to purchase those same supplies.

In many ways, Raziya, Every Bottom Covered, Inc. and other small local nonprofits such as Feed Buffalo, Inc., Our Mommie Village, Inc. and Project Monas House, Inc. are doing the work of government  helping neighbors in the third poorest city in America combat poverty and live healthy lives  but without the monetary and structural support government agencies provide.

Sustainable funding is more than just receiving grants; it involves a community of good neighbors willing to become involved in the long term health and well-being of all. For those looking to support local Black organizations, please reach out to those listed above or other worthy orgs (there are plenty!) to talk about sustainability and ways to help.

Dr. Kate Haq and Dr. Monica Miles are cofounders of Mother Earth Literacies, LLC.
For the past few years, I have resided in Florida from mid-October until April. I never thought I would enjoy being a snowbird. However, this past winter proved that I made a good decision.

We live in Orchard Park, and while my neighbors were enjoying 80 inches of snow in late November, I was sitting by the pool. Then, when the great Christmas blizzard of 2022 was raging in WNY, we survived two nights where the temperature dropped to freezing at night before rebounding to the high 40s. Temperatures then returned to the 70s and 80s during the day. Overall, the weather in Florida during the winter months is unbeatable.

I have learned a great deal about Florida over the last two winters. First and foremost, the state is growing in population at an incredible rate. As of 2022, Florida is now the fastest growing state in the nation. Most of this growth comes from those leaving the northern half of the country.

Boomers are, for the most part, very active and want to enjoy the lifestyle that the southern climate provides, now that theyve raised their families and retired from actively working. We live in The Villages, which has been called, for good reason, Disneyland For Seniors.

The governor of Florida has labeled it a free state. I still have not figured out exactly what this means, but it is exactly the type of catchy populist political slogan that seems to be gripping our country right now. The governor has even written a book called The Courage to Be Free. While I have not yet read this book, I am hopeful that my question regarding what is meant by free as it applies to Florida will be answered.

However, given the current political climate in the state, I am fearful that how free we actually are will be determined by the political class. I am also fairly sure that this book is meant to boost the governors quest to be the next President of the United States.

Getting used to driving in Florida is a challenge. When the seasoned drivers from outside of Florida are mixed with the native Floridian drivers, theres a real clash of styles. You literally take your life in your own hands while driving here.

First, no one seems to use a turn signal. Cars change lanes or turn at will. You really need to keep a careful eye on everyone around you while you drive. Next, red signal lights or stop signs seem to have little meaning to drivers. It is not uncommon for me to witness many drivers barreling right through red lights and stop signs. Consequently, there are a lot of accidents.

Obeying speed limits also seems to be optional and completely up to the individual driver. You do, however, need a horn. Honking seems to be ingrained in all drivers, young and old alike, and lets not forget hand gestures. These are plentiful, varied and quite creative.

I am sure that the research teams in Detroit and other places new models are designed are closely watching these phenomena carefully and will soon come out with models to be sold only in Florida. Cars without turn signals or speedometers  but with enhanced horns  will surely be in showrooms in the future. These modifications will be very popular with Florida drivers.

I am now glad to be back to the calmness of Western New York and will enjoy the sensational weather.

Florida is not the place to be in the summer.
IHG Hotels & Resorts has signed a Master Development Agreement (MDA) with Tashyid for Hotel Operations, which will see the development of 12 hotels and 2,500 keys under the Holiday Inn Express brand across Saudi Arabia.



The signing took place in the presence Mahmoud Abdulhadi, Deputy Minister for Destination Enablement.



The agreement will allow IHG to expand and diversify its mainstream offering across Saudi Arabia, in line with the demand being created by initiatives under Saudi Vision 2030.



As a world-renowned brand, Holiday Inn Express champions simple, smart travel by providing a launch pad for guests to make their connection and is highly suitable and well-positioned for new-age smart travellers visiting Saudi Arabia across business, leisure, and meetings segments, including Saudis biggest and growing demographic of millennials and Generation Z travellers.



As part of the agreement, IHG has also signed the first Holiday Inn Express hotel with Tashyid for Hotels Operations Limited which will debut the brand in Jeddah by June 2025.



Marking a key milestone for the brand in the Kingdom, the 300-room hotel will be located on Al Madinah Road, one of the busiest areas in the city. Providing a best-in-class experience, guest rooms at Holiday Inn Express Jeddah will feature amenities such as high-speed Wi-Fi, smart TVs, premium bedding, and pillow options to ensure guests have a restful stay. The hotel will also offer signature complimentary Express Start Breakfast, speedy check-in, and power showers to ensure guests are recharged for the day.



Known for its success in the upper-midscale segment and understanding of the Next Gen Smart traveller, Holiday Inn Express hotels in Saudi Arabia will debut reimagined public spaces and guest rooms that blend trendy and efficient design with local aesthetic.



Modelled on market specific research focused on the Millennial and Gen Z Saudi traveller, the hotels will offer guest experience reflecting their lifestyle and needs. The public spaces will serve as lively and engaging spaces featuring a revamped F&B offering, while the guest rooms will offer a balance of home comforts with smart design giving guests flexibility to better support their routine.



Haitham Mattar, Managing Director, India, Middle East & Africa, IHG Hotels & Resorts said: "As we continue to expand our presence and diversify our offering, in line with Saudi Arabias tourism strategy, we are delighted to announce a partnership with Tashyid for Hotel Operations to further grow our Holiday Inn Express offering in the Kingdom for domestic and international travellers alike.



He added: Saudi Vision 2030 has created tremendous opportunities for the tourism and hospitality industry, and we see an increasing demand for our brands across segments. Holiday Inn Express is a great offering for smart travellers who seek a hassle free and efficient stay experience, and we are looking forward to providing this experience to guests across a country, in the coming years.



Falih Motasim Hajaj, Chief Executive Officer of Tashyid added:  We are delighted to partner with IHG Hotels & Resorts to enable our rapid expansion within Saudi Arabia, in line with Saudis Vision 2030. With the Kingdom marking its presence on a global tourism map, working with leading industry partners such as IHG is key to helping set new standards of hospitality, embrace innovation and ultimately achieve a diversified economy.



Holiday Inn Express is IHGs fastest growing brand with currently over 3000 operating hotels, globally.



IHG Hotels & Resorts currently operates 39 hotels across five brands in Saudi Arabia, including: InterContinental, Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn, Staybridge Suites, and voco, with 30 hotels in the development pipeline set to open within the next three to five years.  TradeArabia News Service
Opinion / Columnist

As the old adage goes,"No man can live in a vacuum." President Emmerson Mnangagwa is a true reflection of one who understands that synergies and cooperation between states is the secret to success. He also understands that that for one to walk fast they go alone, but if they want to go far, they go together with others, hence his foreign policy that, "Zimbabwe is a friend to all and an enemy to none" while at the same time keeping Zimbabwe fully open for business.The second Republic came into power following the November 2017 Operation Restore Legacy and confirmed by President Emmerson Mnangagwa and ZANU PF's victory during the 2018 Harmonised General Elections. The President hit the ground running and immediately introduced his foreign policy of engagement and re-engagement which is making headways globally. The policy is set to improve the country's image through rebranding. It is also expected to strengthen international relations especially with the estranged Western countries some of which imposed sanctions on Zimbabwe at the turn of the century as punishment for reclaiming her land.In a statement to the United States of America (USA), the United Kingdom and the European Union (EU), the late former Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, Sibusiso Moyo said, "the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is now a ministry which is focusing on reassuring our friends and creating new friends, re-engaging with those who were sitting on the fence before."The engagement and re-engagement policy has been pivotal in the country's socio-economic, infrastructural and agricultural development to mention but a few. The Second Republic is making efforts to be readmitted in the Commonwealth, a process that will increase markets for Zimbabwean products. It will also ensure that Zimbabwean products and agricultural produce are accepted within the Commonwealth. Tremendous progress has been noted as evidenced by the Commonwealth delegation that visited Zimbabwe on a fact finding mission in 2022, to ensure that the political and socio-economic environments were conducive to forge relations with Zimbabwe. The results pleased the delegation which returned to the UK with a positive report.The signing of the Global Compensation Deed between the Government of Zimbabwe and the former white farmers in July 2021 was also a positive feather on President Mnangagwa's cap.The re-engagement policy witnessed the invitation of Harare to the US for the US-Africa Summit at the end of 2022, as well as attendance at the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) which was held in Glasgow, Scotland during the same year. At COP26 President Mnangagwa had the privilege of having a one on one meeting with the recently crowned King Charles III, where an invitation was extended to President Mnangagwa, an invitation he gladly accepted.Furthermore, President Mnangagwa attended the coronation of King Charles the III, and leveraged on the opportunity to discuss matters of trade investment as well as possibilities of strengthening synergies and forming new relations between Zimbabwe and the UK on the sidelines of that event.This year's Zimbabwe International Trade Fair (ZITF) was proof that relations between Zimbabwe and the international community are thawing for the best, as evidenced by the high subscription of investors from foreign countries including the EU bloc, the UK and the US.A record 533 exhibitors turned up this year, which translated to a 27 percent increase from the previous year's figure 420. A total of 21 countries participated in the trade fair. This was a 30 percent increase on the 2022 figure of 16 countries. The US and the EU were exhibiting for the first time since the imposition of illegal sanctions on Zimbabwe in 2001. President Mnangagwa's efforts are bearing fruit as the ZITF presented an opportunity to open new markets as well as allow Zimbabwe to showcase its potential to possible foreign investors. While exhibiting at the ZITF, the EU Ambassador to Zimbabwe, Jobst Von Kirchmann said his bloc was making efforts to increase trade and investment between the 27 member bloc and Zimbabwe.The US and its allies know that Zimbabwe is a blessed country, which is endowed with flora, fauna various various minerals such as lithium, which lately has created the "lithium race" as many foreign companies are seeking to have their own piece of the "white gold." All this is due to the world advancing toward the smart energies, which has seen many countries moving away from the use of fossil fuels to using electronic motor vehicles and solar energy, both of which require lithium batteries. The US and its Western allies are lagging behind due to isolation policy, while China is accessing large deposits of lithium in some countries including Zimbabwe.Since the discovery of these large lithium deposits in Zimbabwe, the US and its allies have shown an interest leading to some American investors such as, Glenn Jakins who has warned the US and its allies to stop maintaining a hardline stance against President Mnangagwa as it will not help with mending relations, leaving other countries like China to fill the vacuum and benefit more.President Mnangagwa is taking Zimbabwe into a new developmental stage, were he is leaving no one and no place behind. The country is ready to work with anyone who will also conform to Zimbabwe's expectations, values and goals. The US and its western allies should drop their pride, read between the lines and unconditionally remove the sanctions that are weighing Zimbabwe down.Even if they delay, pressure from their business communities will continue to echo volumes on how sanctions have not only pushed back Zimbabwe but the USA as well as it stands to miss out on the lithium race and other business opportunities in Zimbabwe.
The Midland Police Department is seeking information on two carwash burglary suspects.

On May 3, two suspects were captured on surveillance burglarizing coin-operated vacuums at the Solutions Auto Wash, located at 3205 Caldera Blvd.

The suspects were driving a black 2006 Chevrolet HHR with license plate HJP7075. "The license plate on the vehicle returns to an empty lot in Odessa, and the registered owner doesn't match the suspect descriptions," according to Midland Crime Stoppers.

If a person is the first to submit any information on the suspects or the vehicle and it leads to an arrest, he or she will be eligible for a cash reward. Call Midland Crime Stoppers at 694-TIPS or download the crime stoppers app P3 Tips and submit an anonymous mobile tip. No caller ID is ever used, and those providing information will remain anonymous. Reference MPD case number 230503011.
A federal judge denied the City of Midlands motion to dismiss a federal lawsuit filed by four former and one current Midland Christian School employee.

Judge Barbara Lynn made the decision on the lawsuit Tuesday at the Western Texas District Court inside the George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush United States Court House in downtown Midland.

The lawsuit was filed against the City of Midland, the Midland Police Department, Detective Jennie Alonzo, Sgt. Rosemary Sharp and Officer Camilo Fonseca.

In mid-February 2022, Jared Lee, Gregory McClendon, Barry Russell, Matthew Counts and Dana Ellis, were charged with failure to report with intent to conceal neglect or abuse stemming from an incident involving two students rumored to be involved in a sexual assault on Midland Christians campus, but the schools own investigation determined was nothing more than roughhousing or horseplay in a locker room.

In May of last year, the five Midland Christian staff members were no-billed, or not indicted, by a Midland County grand jury.

Last August, the five Midland Christian employees filed a civil rights lawsuit against the City of Midland, Midland Police Department and specific individuals within the police department. Counsel for the former Midland Christian employees wrote in their original complaint that, the false and malicious allegations against these career educators have profoundly disrupted their lives, irreversibly damaged their reputations, and caused severe and ongoing emotional distress and trauma.

The City of Midland filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit in the United States Court for the Western District of Texas in October. In their motion to dismiss, lawyers for the defense wrote:

The city cannot be liable because no plaintiff was denied a protected right,

Plaintiffs do not allege facts which plausibly show an actionable city policy,

Plaintiffs do not allege facts which show that the citys policymaker is culpable,

Plaintiffs do not allege facts which show that the citys policymaker was the moving force that directly caused any deprivation of a plaintiffs rights,

Plaintiffs fail to allege facts which overcome any defendant officers qualified immunity

On Tuesday, Lynn denied the motion to dismiss made by the city, and the civil case will move forward.
TxDOT

South Midland residents will soon need to find alternative routes to get across Interstate 20. The Texas Department of Transportation reported that the demolition of the existing Midkiff Road bridge at Interstate 20 is expected to begin May 31. Shortly thereafter the Cotton Flat Road bridge will also be demolished.

The roadway leading up to the bridge going over I-20 will be closed on May 30. "Once the bridges are closed both Midkiff Road and Cotton Flat Road will be unavailable for north-south travel across I-20," TxDOT said. Traffic will be pushed to Loop 250, Antelope Trail and State Highway 349 as alternative routes.
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BELGRADE, Serbia (AP)  Dozens of Serbian schools on Wednesday received bomb threats, the education ministry said, amid security concerns following two mass shootings early this month, including one in an elementary school.

The education ministry said 78 elementary schools and 37 high schools in Belgrade received warnings by email early on Wednesday that explosive devices had allegedly been planted.

Classes were postponed and students evacuated as police checked the buildings.

There have been no reports that bombs were found in any of the schools, and police are yet to issue their report.

Similar multiple threats have been sent to school addresses in the past, in Serbia and other countries in the region, and have proven false each time. However, the threats could further heighten security fears after the May 3 and May 4 shootings that left 18 people dead and 20 injured.

Authorities already have deployed police in schools and launched a gun crackdown.

The first shooting happened at an elementary school in central Belgrade when a 13-year-old boy took his father's gun and opened fire. A day later, a 20-year-old shot randomly at people with an automatic weapon in two villages south of Belgrade,

The shootings stunned Serbia and sparked calls for action. Tens of thousands marched in two protests against violence after the shootings, and more protests are planned on Friday.

Opposition parties are demanding that ministers of interior and intelligence chief resign and that two pro-government networks be stripped of nation-wide broadcast licenses because of airing violent content and hosting war criminals and crime figures on their program.

Opponents also have accused populist President Aleksandar Vucic of hate speech against critics and a crackdown on democratic freedoms, which they say fuel tensions and divisions in the troubled Balkan nation.

Vucic has denied this. He has called an own rally for May 26 while suggesting a snap election could be held by September.
Democrat Cherelle Parker turned back challenges from the left Tuesday to win Philadelphias mayoral primary, a contest that serves as the nations latest barometer of the mood of big cities in dealing with issues such as crime, poverty and inequality.

Her primary win in the heavily Democratic city puts Parker on track to become the first woman elected mayor of Philadelphia. It is the latest local election to represent a clash between moderates and progressives on concerns such as policing and education and to show the power of union support in big city politics.

In Chicago, progressive Democrat Brandon Johnson began serving as mayor this week, promising the city will grow by rerouting the rivers of prosperity to the base of disinvestment. In Los Angeles, new Democratic Mayor Karen Bass wants to spend more than $1 billion to get unhoused people into shelter and treatment programs.

And in Pittsburgh on Tuesday, Allegheny County's top public defender, Matt Dugan, ran some 11 percentage points ahead of the 25-year incumbent district attorney, Stephen Zappala, in the Democratic primary. Dugan promised to eliminate cash bail and change a system where justice depends on where you live or what you look like." A late write-in effort by Republicans to nominate Zappala may have worked, setting up a possible November rematch.

Allegheny County voters also turned to state Rep. Sara Innamorato, a liberal who wants to improve policies at the jail as part of a comprehensive public health approach to public safety," as the Democratic nominee for county executive. Innamorato supports an end to high fines and fees for minor offenses, mandatory minimums and solitary confinement.

Parker's mayoral win in Philadelphia, setting her up to likely be the city's 100th mayor, was a disappointment to progressives who rallied around Helen Gym, who was backed by Vermont U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders and New York U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

Parker, 50, who served for 10 years as a state representative for northwest Philadelphia before her election to the city council in 2015, asserted herself as a leader whose government experience would allow her to address gaping problems with public safety and quality of life in the nations sixth-largest city. She will go up against Republican David Oh in the Nov. 7 general election.

Parker, who was the only leading Black candidate in the race, emerged from a crowded field of five front-runner Democratic candidates vying to replace Democrat Jim Kenney, who is term-limited. She beat out other former city council members who resigned from their seats to throw their hats in the ring; a state representative; a former city controller and a political outsider businessman.

Parker pledged to stop the sense of lawlessness that is plaguing our city by putting hundreds more officers on the street to engage in community policing. Parker pushed for officers to use every legal tool, including stopping someone when they have just cause and reasonable suspicion.

She received support from members of the Philadelphia delegation in the House, as well as members of Congress. She was also backed by labor unions and a number of wards in the city, and Kenney said he had cast his ballot for her.

Innamorato in Allegheny County will face the lone Republican primary contender, Joseph Rockey, in the November general election.

Allegheny County, Im going to make one promise to you: I will build a team of leaders who will usher in the future of this region and build a more equitable and just county, she said at a campaign event Tuesday, asking supporters to enjoy the victory and recharge. We better get ready, because we have a lot of work to do.

Our Revolution, a movement born during Sanders 2016 presidential race and now one of the largest progressive organizations in the country, had endorsed Innamorato  a win for the movement, even with its loss in the mayoral primary.

__

Associated Press video journalist Tassanee Vejpongsa in Philadelphia and reporter Mark Scolforo in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, contributed to this report.
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ISLAMABAD (AP)  Police surrounded the home of former Pakistans former Prime Minister Imran Khan on Wednesday, claiming he was sheltering dozens of people allegedly involved in violent protests over his recent detention.

The police deployment was likely to anger Khan's many followers and raised concerns about more clashes between them and the security forces. Last week, Khan supporters had attacked public property and military installations after he was dragged out of a courtroom and detained.

The popular opposition leader was released over the weekend and returned to his home in an upscale district of Lahore, Pakistan's second largest city and the capital of the Punjab region.

On Wednesday, Khan took to Twitter after 200 police officers surrounded the house, and a prison van appeared on the scene.

Probably my last tweet before my next arrest," Khan tweeted.  Police have surrounded my house.

Earlier on Wednesday, Amir Mir, a spokesman for the Punjab provincial government, said Khan has 24 hours to hand over 40 suspects allegedly hiding at his home or face a police raid. Mir told a news conference that so far 3,400 suspects have been arrested and that more raids are planned.

Mir later told Pakistan's GEO TV station that no raid would be carried out at Khan's residence before Thursday, when the 24-hour ultimatum given to him for handing over suspects to police ends. He refuted Khan's claim of imminent arrest. The situation appeared to be calm near Khan's home Wednesday night.

Pakistani authorities have said they would prosecute civilians involved in recent anti-government protests in military courts. The army chief, Gen. Asim Munir, said in a speech to troops Wednesday that recently planned and orchestrated tragic incidents will never be allowed again at any cost.

The advocacy group Amnesty International and the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan said they were alarmed by the government's plan.

Dinushika Dissanayake, Amnestys deputy regional director for South Asia, said that trying civilians in military courts is contrary to international law.

Military trials in Pakistan are usually held behind closed doors, depriving civilians of some of their basic rights, including contracting a lawyer of their choice.

A wave of violence had engulfed Pakistan's capital and other urban areas following Khan's dramatic arrest from a courtroom. Khan supporters torched buildings and vehicles and attacked police and military personnel and facilities. Ten people were killed in the clashes, and more than 4,000 were arrested.

The Supreme Court later ordered Khans release and criticized the way he was arrested.

On Wednesday, a top court in Islamabad extended Khans bail and protection from arrest until the end of the month. However, his legal team fears he might be arrested in old cases.

Khan, 70, was ousted by a non-confidence vote in parliament last year. He is currently facing more than 100 cases, mainly on charges of inciting people to violence, threatening officials, and defying a ban on rallies. He also faces a graft case along with his wife.

In recent days, the government of Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif has accused Khan of sheltering suspects linked to last week's attacks.

Khan, meanwhile, alleged some of his supporters were being tortured in police custody and demanded the immediate release of female detainees. He offered no evidence to back those claims.

In a speech Wednesday, Khan said he never encouraged his supporters to engage in violence. He claimed the attacks on military installations were orchestrated by unknown elements  part of a purported conspiracy to pitch his party against the military, but did not provide evidence.

___

Associated Press writer Babar Dogar contributed to this story from Lahore, Pakistan.
British nationals onboard an RAF flight leaving Khartoum (PA)

The Foreign Office has said 897 people have been evacuated from Sudan on eight UK flights as of 4pm on Thursday, with further flights expected.

The latest update comes as a ceasefire in the violence-hit African country is due to expire at mdnight on Thursday.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Thursday confirmed that Giles Lever, the UK ambassador to Sudan, had been relocated to neighbouring Ethiopia after it temporarily closed its embassy in the country.

From Addis Ababa, he will lead the UK's diplomatic efforts in the region to bring fighting to an end in Sudan, the British foreign office said in a statement.

Downing Street said that Mr Lever is continuing to speak to warring parties in Sudan and lobbying for an extension to the ceasefire.

More than 2,000 British nationals in Sudan have registered under the evacuation plans but the true number of citizens there could be far higher.

Two evacuation flights landed in Cyprus on Thursday with further flights expected to take place in the evening, Downing Street said. It followed a total of six flights on the previous day.

Only British passport holders and their immediate family who have existing clearance to enter the UK are currently authorised for evacuation.

Relatives of UK citizens spoke of their relief after their loved ones touched down on UK soil.

Sara Abdanna said she had to wait for her 13-year-old son, Ahmed Mohammed, to make his way back to the UK after he visited family members in Sudan.

Ms Abdanna, 42, a mother of two, said: I have all my family over there, my parents, my sister, my brothers, all of them. I just hope this situation gets better for them and this all stops.

British nationals arrive at the Radisson Blue hotel at Stansted Airport (PA)

She continued: Im so glad and so happy to see him. Im so grateful for the British Government. From the beginning we got the right support for him.

They contacted him and managed to bring him home safe. I wish, if they can, to force the military to stop fighting.

The war in Sudan is being fought between the Sudanese army commanded by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and paramilitary forces led by his rival General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as Hemedti.

The fighting erupted in mid-April and has so far led to the deaths of more than 500 people, while turning residential areas into war zones.

Hafiz Sinada, greets his children as they arrive off a coach (PA)

Military chiefs say they have the capacity to lift at least 500 people per day out of the Wadi Saeedna airfield near the capital of Khartoum.

But Foreign Secretary James Cleverly warned that the resumption of fighting could jeopardise evactuation efforts.

We cannot predict exactly what will happen when that ceasefire ends, but what we do know is it will be much, much harder, potentially impossible, he told Sky News.

So, what were saying to British nationals is if youre hesitant, if youre weighing up your options, our strong, strong advice is to go through Wadi Saeedna whilst the ceasefire is up and running.
A New Way to Take Charge of Your Hearing Health: Flagship World of Hearing Now Open in the GTA

TORONTO, May 17, 2023 /CNW/ - Hearing loss hurts Canadians' physical, mental and economic health, yet low awareness and limited access have kept many from taking care of their hearing. That's why Connect Hearing is bringing a whole new way for people to look after their hearing health to Toronto and the GTA.

World of Hearing Toronto Storefront (CNW Group/Connect Hearing Canada)

Connect Hearing, the #1 physician-referred hearing healthcare provider in Canada, is excited to announce the opening of World of HearingCanada's first flagship hearing health store in Ontario, at 1963 Yonge Street, Toronto.

World of Hearing is an innovative, modernized concept in hearing health that puts clients' needs at the forefront. It empowers people to take control of their hearing health, at their own pace, with direct access to more transparent hearing information, new immersive learning tools, and support from hearing care professionals.

Examples of the innovations clients can expect at World of Hearing include:

A Self-Screening Stationwhere clients can do an independent hearing test and receive immediate results.

An Impact Wall and Touch Tablesfrom hearing protection to hearing aids, with the help of the interactive LED Impact Wall and the multimedia Touch Tables, people can get all the product information they need in no time at all.

The Experience Roomallowing clients to interactively experience how a hearing solution could help them by presenting real-life situations via large-screen video with 5.1 surround sound. Family members can also experience a simulation of hearing loss to understand the impact it has on their loved ones.

The ultimate in convenienceno referral or appointment is necessary. Visitors can drop in when it works for them.

World of Hearing builds on the global hearing health store concept introduced by Sonova, the world's leading provider of innovative hearing care solutions. "Allowing today's clients to customize their experience helps reduce barriers to addressing hearing loss," shares Lilika Beck, Managing Director, Connect Hearing Canada. "This new flagship store will empower clients on their journey of discovery and provide support with all their hearing health needs including hearing technology and hearing protection, and access to the world's most advanced hearing care including tinnitus therapy, balance treatment and more."

About Connect Hearing

Connect Hearing, the #1 physician-referred hearing healthcare provider in the country, is the largest network of registered Audiologists and professional Hearing Instrument Practitioners in Canada with over one 150 locations. Over the past 40 years, in communities across the country, it has helped more than 350,000 people stay connected to the sounds they enjoy most.

About Sonova Group

Since 2008 Connect Hearing Canada has been a part of the Sonova Group. Sonova, headquartered in Stafa, Switzerland, is the leading provider of innovative hearing care solutions. The group operates through its core business brands Phonak, Unitron, Hansaton, Advanced Bionics and AudioNova. Sonova offers its customers one of the most comprehensive product portfolios in the industryfrom hearing instruments to cochlear implants to wireless communication solutions. Founded in 1947, the group is currently present in over 100 countries across the globe and has a workforce of over 14,000 dedicated employees.

https://globalnews.ca/news/5795467/unperceived-hearing-loss-report/

https://hearinghealthalliance.com/wp-content/uploads/HHAC_NHHS_Discussion-Paper_EN_-2023.pdf

Connect Hearing Logo (CNW Group/Connect Hearing Canada)

Connect World of Hearing Logo (CNW Group/Connect Hearing Canada)

SOURCE Connect Hearing Canada

Cision

View original content to download multimedia: http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/May2023/17/c3166.html
President Joe Biden boards Air Force One as he departs for Philadelphia, Pennsylvania at Delaware Air National Guard Base in New Castle, Delaware, May 15, 2023.
Concerns in Papua New Guinea over framing of US security pact
Brown Tree Snake bait is dropped from a USDA UH-6 helicopter as it makes a pass over a fenced habitat management unit on Andersen Air Force Base.
FILE PHOTO: The logo of Google LLC is seen at the Google Store Chelsea in New York City, U.S., January 20, 2023. REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton
Staff Reporter

Richelle obtained a bachelor of arts degree in mass communications from the Far Eastern University in Manila, the Philippines. She was a junior reporter for Marianas Variety from 2009 to 2010, and from 2014 to 2015. In the Maldives, she worked as a news reporter and marketing executive. In her free time, shes a painter, pianist, and mom baker.
Reporter

Andrew Roberto was raised his whole life on Saipan. He graduated from Saipan Southern High School, holds a degree from Northern Marianas College, and a BA in English from the University of Guam. He once worked for KUAM, UNO Magazine, and the Guam Daily Post.
Mount Carmel School's registered students for the 2023 - 2024 school year will automatically be eligible to apply for the Academic Scholarship, Extracurricular Scholarship, or Financial Aid Program.
Online Learning

There Is No Going Back: College Students Want a Live, Remote Option for In-Person Classes

The COVID-19 pandemic brought a massive, unplanned change to how college lectures were delivered, and many schools rapidly shifted to 100% online for some period, through applications such as Zoom. Post-pandemic, schools can carefully select the best approach for lecture delivery, which is not necessarily the prior, pre-pandemic approach. Schools should factor in the perspectives of their students in this decision.

Based on a survey of college students over the last three semesters, students understand that remotely attending a lecture via remote synchronous technology is less effective for them than attending in person, but they highly value the flexibility of this option of attending when they need it. (View more details on the survey questions and results here.)

Across three semesters, 76% of students agree that attending classes via Zoom is helpful.

Here are the key survey findings:

Not everyone uses remote synchronous technology. While a large segment of students (40% in the most recent semester) attended class remotely at least once in the semester, the majority did not use the technology in the most recent semester.

While a large segment of students (40% in the most recent semester) attended class remotely at least once in the semester, the majority did not use the technology in the most recent semester. But most want the option. Three-quarters of students surveyed find remotely attending helpful, and many comment that they highly appreciate the option, even if they do not use it.

Three-quarters of students surveyed find remotely attending helpful, and many comment that they highly appreciate the option, even if they do not use it. Reasons that students attend class via a live, remote option span a wide range: from being ill to scheduling conflicts to travel to convenience to just needing a break.

from being ill to scheduling conflicts to travel to convenience to just needing a break. Most students want to decide for themselves when to go remote. While students understand the remote experience pales in comparison to being in class, yet almost two-thirds want to make that decision for themselves given their situation.

While students understand the remote experience pales in comparison to being in class, yet almost two-thirds want to make that decision for themselves given their situation. A smaller segment of students does not want any live, remote option available. The exception in the survey was when a student is too ill to attend. This segment, about one-third of students, cites that the benefits of an in-class lecture require students to show up in class in person.

The exception in the survey was when a student is too ill to attend. This segment, about one-third of students, cites that the benefits of an in-class lecture require students to show up in class in person. Recommended way forward: Many suggested having the live-remote option, but limiting the total number of times a student can exercise the option to prevent potential abuse.

Many suggested having the live-remote option, but limiting the total number of times a student can exercise the option to prevent potential abuse. Student preferences for live, remote technology go beyond the classroom. Students comment that their experience with this technology informs their preferences for future employer policies that favor hybrid or remote work environments.

College leaders should factor in the "voice of the student" in making policies related to live, remote access of class lectures. Based on this multi-semester survey, students want the option to attend remotely; but knowing that the in-person experience is better, most will not exercise the option unless they truly need it.
Apple logo is seen in this illustration taken March 1, 2022. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration
FILE PHOTO: U.S. Representative George Santos (R-NY) leaves Central Islip Federal Courthouse in Central Islip, New York, U.S., May 10, 2023. REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz
Journal-Courier

The Jacksonville School District 117 board is scheduled to meet in regular session at 7 p.m. today at 211 W. State St.

The meeting will follow a committee meeting scheduled for 6 p.m.
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HONOLULU (AP)  An energy storage farm could replace Hawaiis last coal-fired power plant that closed in 2022 after 30 years.

The AES Corporation coal plant produced up to one-fifth of the electricity on Oahu  the most populous island in the state. Taking it offline meant an end to the 1.5 million metric tons of greenhouse gases that were emitted annually, then-Gov. David Ige said as it was about to shutdown in September.
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Five families welcomed little ones on Mothers Day at HSHS Sacred Heart Hospital, a hospital record.

Jenny Eckhart, a registered nurse in the HSHS Sacred Heart Hospital Women and Infants Center, said in her more than 20 years of helping babies come into the world at the hospital, the 2023 Mothers Day was extra joyful.

You could feel the positive energy throughout the Women and Infants Center, especially as the day went on because one or two babies is special on Mothers Day, Eckhart said. But when we delivered babies three, four and five, it was just wonderful.

The first baby was born at 6:40 a.m., and the last to arrive on Mothers Day was at 10:52 p.m., the hospital reported.

The Women and Infants Center was also recently named Best Birthing Center by readers of Volume One magazine in Eau Claire, a distinction Eckhart said is appreciated.

We are honored to have received this title because it proves the Chippewa Valley recognizes our efforts to make the birth experience wonderful for families, Eckhart said. We know its important for families to receive expert care from remarkably trained nurses, midwives and doctors who care deeply about supporting a familiys wishes through the entire birth process.

HSHS providers and staff have gone through extensive training to become nationally certified by the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative. As Chippewa Valleys only baby-friendly hospital, inside the maternity suites at HSHS Sacred Heart Hospital, locals receive care by the areas baby experts.

The hospital also offers labor, delivery, recovery and postpartum room suites where a moms labor, deliver and recover post-partum all in the same room. To learn more about the options available at the Women and Infants Center, call (715) 717-4156.

To schedule a private tour of the Women and Infants Center, call (715) 717-7666 or email momprograminfo@hshs.org.
QUINCY  John Wood Community College will celebrate its 48th commencement ceremony at 6 p.m. Friday at the Student Activity Center, 1301 S. 48th St.

The college will confer 349 associate's degrees, 174 certificates, and one College for Life certificate.

Catharine Jean Miller of Pittsfield will deliver the student address. She is a 2021-2023 Trailblazer Scholar, 2021-2022 Music Scholar, the 2022-2023 Phi Theta Kappa president and the 2022-2023 Student Government Association president. Miller, who will earn an associate's degree in arts degree with highest honors, will continue her education at Culver-Stockton College to pursue a bachelors degree in elementary education.

Melissa Hess of Quincy will deliver the invocation. Madison McFerrin of Green Bay, Wisconsin, will deliver the closing remarks.
Victims of deepfake porn and doxing would have a legal pathway to sue under a pair of digital privacy measures that so far have received unanimous support in the General Assembly.

House Bill 2954, which would allow victims of doxing to pursue civil litigation, needs only a signature from the governor to become law after unanimously clearing both chambers of the General Assembly.

Doxing, as defined by HB 2954, occurs when an individual intentionally publishes another persons personal information without their consent. For an offense to qualify as doxing, the person publishing the information must have acted with intent to harm or harass the victim with knowledge or reckless disregard that it could lead to death, bodily injury, or stalking.

Additionally, the published information must have caused the victim harm in some way, including economic injury or emotional distress. A person found by a court to have suffered from doxing would be eligible to recover damages and other relief, such as attorney's fees.

It is absolutely critical for our laws to evolve with the changing nature of the cyber world, bill sponsor Sen. Julie Morrison, D-Lake Forest, said in a news release. This legislation provides a necessary solution to the dangerous practice of doxing, by both helping victims and deterring future bad actors.

The bill creates some exemptions for those publishing others private information, including if the information was shared to report criminal activity or if it was shared to the news media and was constitutionally protected.

The measure also would allow a court to grant temporary restraining orders and injunctions ordering the defendant to cease publication of the identifying information while the case is pending.

The ACLU of Illinois opposed the bill, saying theyre concerned about the overbroad definitions of publish and personally identifiable information.

The measure defines publish as making information available to another person.

Personally identifiable information is defined as any identifying information combined with other information such as the persons Social Security number, social media accounts, education and employment information, information about gender identity or sexual orientation, or information about how to enter a persons teleconference meeting.

Angela Inzano, policy and advocacy strategist for ACLU Illinois, said the organization is concerned the definitions would allow individuals to file suit even if the information is shared privately or already publicly available.

They did narrow the definition of publish to make it clear that it did not apply to two people texting back and forth, Inzano said in an interview. That was useful, but we feel like its still not far enough.

Deepfake porn

House Bill 2123, a measure allowing victims of so-called deepfake porn  or digitally altered, nonconsensual sexual images  to sue the creator of those images passed the Senate unanimously last week and awaits action in the House.

The bill would give victims of deepfake porn the same legal footing as victims who have had their actual sexual images shared without their consent. It does so by amending a 2019 law that created a pathway to civil action for people who have suffered harm from the unwanted distribution of their sexual images. These images are sometimes called revenge porn, so-called to describe a situation in which someone who obtained sexual images consensually later shares them to harm the subject.

HB 2123 would add intentionally digitally altered sexual images to the existing law. It also expands the remedies in the existing law to allow a court to grant the victim temporary restraining orders and injunctions ordering the defendant to cease publication of the images in question.

A previous version of the bill unanimously passed in March in the House. Because it was amended in the Senate, it now awaits further consideration in the House.

Sen. Mary Edly-Allen, D-Libertyville, sponsored the bill and said deepfake porn is part of a long history of gender-based harassment.

This is a way to silence women, Edly-Allen said of deepfakes.

Republicans voiced support for the bill and its previous versions in both chambers of the statehouse.

We have to ensure that peoples privacy rights are protected and this bill helps to do that, Sen. Steve McClure, R-Springfield, said during debate.

Edly-Allen said in an interview that the bill is a first step in a broader conversation about the impact of evolving technologies like artificial intelligence. She said she hopes to work with others in the legislature to hold a hearing on the subject later this year.

It cant just be legislation, Edly-Allen said in an interview. We also need literacy in schools. How do you tell whats true and not true?

The ACLU of Illinois also opposed the deepfake porn bill. When the measure was introduced, it would have allowed the subjects of any digital forgery to sue the forgeries creators if they intended to cause harm, incite violence or acted with reckless disregard toward the subject. Amendments to the bill since have narrowed its scope to include only sexually explicit images and videos.

The bill has been markedly improved since it was introduced, but we still have some concerns, ACLU spokesman Ed Yohnka told Capitol News Illinois. Yohnka said one potential free speech concern stems from the proposals provision allowing temporary restraining orders prior to adjudication.

Generative AI

The Senate last week also passed House Bill 3563, which would create a task force to investigate natural language processing and generative artificial intelligence. These technologies have drawn significant attention in recent months thanks to services like OpenAIs ChatGPT and Googles Bard.

The task force would be managed by the states Department of Innovation and Technology and would include representatives from the agency, the legislative caucuses, the state board of education, business associations, labor associations and the attorney generals office, among others.

It is a broad, broad task force because it is a broad, broad issue, bill sponsor Sen. Robert Peters, D-Chicago, said.

The bill now awaits concurrence in the House.
Lincoln Land Community College recognized students with academic, leadership and special awards during a May 3 ceremony.

West-central Illinois students honored were:

Arenzville  Daniel Wingert, Excellence in Jazz Band.

Franklin  Holly Richardson, Health Professions Department honor graduate.

Jacksonville  Adam Christian, Natural and Agricultural Sciences Department honor graduate; Hannah R. Deeder, Health Professions Department honor graduate; Miranda K. Elliott, Mathematics and Computer Science Department honor graduate; Drew Ezard, Outstanding Student Athlete, Social Sciences and Business Department honor graduate; Jackson K. Ford, Social Sciences and Business Department honor graduate; Joey Gallo, Phi Theta Kappa president; Dee Goings, Phi Theta Kappa public relations officer; Jacob D. Hembrough, Mathematics and Computer Science Department honor graduate; Kendall P. Jumper, Social Sciences and Business Department honor graduate; Ryan Maul, Outstanding Student Athlete; Alyssa Miller, Outstanding Student Athlete; William Rohlk, Outstanding Student Athlete; Evan Wyatt, Chemistry Club president, Natural and Agricultural Sciences Department honor graduate.

Palmyra  Devin Branstner, Workforce Institute honor graduate.

South Jacksonville  Carley Provo, Ron Coffman Memorial Scholarship, Social Sciences and Business Department honor graduate.

Virden  Farren Ackerman, Chemistry Club Leadership; Caitlin Little, Phi Theta Kappa vice president of fellowship, Arts and Communication Department honor graduate.

Virginia  Nathan Danner, Workforce Institute honor graduate.

Waverly  Jaime Lyons, PATH Program Award.
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LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP)  Daniel Cameron won the Republican primary for Kentucky governor, becoming the first major-party Black nominee for governor in the states history and setting up a November showdown with Democratic incumbent Andy Beshear.

Cameron, the state's attorney general who was endorsed by former President Donald Trump, claimed a convincing victory Tuesday in a 12-candidate field that included state Agriculture Commissioner Ryan Quarles, who finished second, and former U.N. Ambassador Kelly Craft, who finished third. Beshear easily dispatched two under-the-radar Democratic challengers in his own primary.

Cameron, the states first Black attorney general, said in a victory speech that his campaign aims to "embody the promise of America, that if you work hard and if you stand on principle, anything is possible.

To anyone who looks like me, know that you can achieve anything, Cameron told supporters. "Know that in this country and in Kentucky, all that matters are your values.

The race now shifts to the general election, which will be one of November's most closely watched contests and could provide clues heading into the 2024 presidential race. Beshear, a popular Democratic governor, will face a tough reelection bid in a Republican-dominated state after a first term marked by a series of tragedies  the COVID-19 pandemic, natural disasters and a mass shooting that killed one of his closest friends.

Beshear on Tuesday cited his stewardship of Kentucky's economy  pointing to record economic development successes  in setting the stage for his fall campaign. And he blasted the tone of the GOP gubernatorial primary after taking hits for months from the Republican candidates.

Right now somewhere in America, there is a CEO deciding where to move their business and theyre considering Kentucky," Beshear told supporters. "Let me ask you: Is seeing people talk down our state and our economy, insult our people and stoke divisions going to help that next company choose Kentucky? Of course not.

The Beshear-Cameron matchup conjures parallels from the states last governors race but with a reversal of roles for the governor. In 2019, Beshear used the attorney generals office as a springboard to the governorship. During his single term as attorney general, Beshear challenged a series of executive actions by Republican Gov. Matt Bevin. Beshear narrowly defeated Bevin in a race that revolved around Bevins combative personality.

Cameron succeeded Beshear in the attorney generals office, and the Republican turned the tables on Beshear, mounting numerous legal challenges against state and national Democratic policies that endeared him to conservatives. Cameron led the successful challenge that essentially halted the governors COVID-era restrictions, which Cameron said amounted to executive overreach. Beshear says that his actions saved lives and that he leaned heavily on guidance from Trumps coronavirus task force.

A former aide to Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell, Cameron has risen through the political ranks to become one of the most prominent Black Republicans in the country. His victory Tuesday will play into Trumps efforts to solidify his status as the leader of the Republican Party heading into the 2024 presidential primary.

Trump, in a social media post Wednesday about Cameron's victory, cited the finish by Craft, who had been an ambassador during his administration and was endorsed by a leading Trump rival, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.

Congratulations to a star in Kentucky, Danial Cameron, who easily won the Republican Nomination for Governor,. Trump wrote, misspelling the nominee's first name. He had my Complete and Total Endorsement. The DeSanctimonious backed candidate came in a DISTANT third. Rons magic is GONE!

If Beshear follows his campaign formula from 2019, he will avoid talking about Trump or dwelling on polarizing national issues that could risk further energizing his opponents conservative base.

He is also expected to draw on his familys strong political brand  his father, Steve Beshear, is a former two-term Kentucky governor who spoke at his son's primary victory celebration Tuesday  and lean into his role of leading through adversity after a multitude of crises during his first term.

Through it all, Beshear emerged as the front man, holding daily pandemic briefings for months and then leading relief efforts to help those left devastated by tornadoes and floods.

Last month, Beshear publicly and emotionally grieved the loss of a close friend who died when a Louisville bank employee opened fire with an assault-style rifle, killing five coworkers. He has frequently invoked his Christian faith as a cornerstone of his efforts to lead the state through tough times.

In addition to Craft and Quarles, Cameron also defeated state Auditor Mike Harmon and Somerset Mayor Alan Keck, among others.

But it was the combative rivalry between Cameron and Craft that dominated the primary campaign. Cameron endured an advertising blitz by Crafts campaign  backed by her familys fortune  and an outside group supporting her campaign. The pro-Craft group portrayed Cameron as an establishment teddy bear in claiming he wasnt tough enough as attorney general. A pro-Cameron group swung back with attacks against Craft, who nabbed a last-minute endorsement from DeSantis.

Camerons handling of an investigation into the fatal shooting of Breonna Taylor by Louisville police in 2020 could come under renewed scrutiny as he campaigns as the GOP nominee. Taylors death and the police-related killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis sparked nationwide protests.

In announcing a grand jurys findings in Taylors death, Cameron said jurors agreed that homicide charges were not warranted against the officers, because they were fired upon. Three of the jurors disputed Camerons account, arguing that Camerons staff limited their scope and did not give them an opportunity to consider homicide charges against the police in Taylors death.

Camerons immediate attention will turn toward building party unity for the fall campaign slog, a task for which he has demonstrated skills in the past. He bridged the gulf between Trump and McConnell despite a growing rift between the two GOP heavyweights. Cameron worked as the senators legal counsel and made a high-profile pitch for Trumps unsuccessful reelection campaign at the 2020 Republican National Convention.

The gubernatorial campaign topped primary races for other constitutional offices in Kentucky.

Republican Secretary of State Michael Adams, who pushed successfully for expanded voter access, won his primary against two candidates, including one who cast doubt on the integrity of elections. He faces Democrat Charles Buddy Wheatley in November in his reelection bid.

Other primary winners included Republican Allison Ball, who is running for state auditor after two terms as state treasurer, and now will face Democrat Kimberley Reeder, who ran unopposed. Garrard County Attorney Mark Metcalf won the GOP primary for state treasurer and faces Democrat Michael Bowman in November. The general election race for agriculture commissioner pits Republican Jonathan Shell against Democrat Sierra Enlow, who won their respective primaries. The fall campaign for attorney general will feature Republican Russell Coleman against Democrat Pam Stevenson. Both were unopposed in the primary.
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Repairing Americas refugee program was recently the focus of rare bipartisan support in Congress. Senators John Cornyn, R-Texas, and Alex Padilla, D-California, led a hearing on U.S. refugee policy, which was primarily a defense of plans to rebuild the system from the ground up. The hearing was a refreshing reminder of Americas immigrant heritage and the dire need to improve our refugee program to live up to our values.

The United States has long been a sanctuary for those fleeing persecution and seeking a better life. Since 2016, however, the United States has made itself the new home of fewer people every year until 2022, as Padilla pointed out in his opening statement.

Even last year, the total number of people resettled, 25,465, is a shadow of our 2014 level of 70,000. Even worse, the United States had set a goal of relocating 125,000 people in 2022. That means we rescued only one out of five people we planned to last year.

This makes the U.S. refugee system a bipartisan failure. The worldwide refugee population grew during Republican and Democratic presidencies, yet our resettlement efforts did not. As both senators agreed in the hearing, we need to redesign our system to meet the challenges of todays refugee crisis.

We should offer protection to victims of persecution, as Cornyn put it.

My recent study, published with colleagues at the Center for Growth and Opportunity at Utah State University, proposes ways to ensure that we live up to our own history and meet our moral obligation to help those most in need worldwide.

To add to those at the hearing, our proposal is to bring some certainty to how many refugees are brought to the United States each year. This requires insulating resettlement efforts from political pressure. We propose taking 10% of the refugees most in need of resettlement. The United Nations already publishes this figure, but the United States could create its own version to refine and track.

If we take 10% of these refugees, our formula implies that we should bring in closer to 160,000 people in 2023. Thats a bit more than the 125,000 goal for 2023.

This may seem like a lot. In fact, once you adjust for population size, the United States resettles many fewer people than Canada and several other countries.

In one exceptional year, 2015, Germany brought in 1 million Syrian refugees. At first, this created some bumps along the way, with commentators and polling suggesting Germans were becoming concerned about refugee policy. But just three years later, polls had returned to their pre-2015 trends.

All this is to say that, as German leader Angela Merkel said in 2015, We can do this.

This is the same message that Cornyn and Padilla put forward in the hearing. Unlike most hearings, you couldnt call any exchanges acrimonious or malicious. No one was there to score political points or to turn the session into a campaign speech. This leadership is what the United States desperately needs more of in discussions about refugee policy.

Immigration topics, like refugee policy, are in part so divisive because it is about membership  who belongs here? Who is American? Leaders in both parties can calm the storm by asserting the fundamentally American idea that immigration is the sincerest form of flattery.

Fundamentally, refugees add to America. Its not an erosion of what it means to be American to rebuild our reputation as the place for those downtrodden and persecuted. Americas immigrant history gives us a unique advantage in pulling in people and turning them into new Americans.

Padilla and Cornyns cooperation is a model for future policy discussions of immigration and refugee policy. Its also a reminder that America is at its best when we capitalize on what we agree.

It is time to put aside partisan politics and work toward a more humane and effective refugee resettlement process.
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Newton Minow will always be remembered for a 1961 speech in which he described television as a vast wasteland.

However, late in life he became less concerned about TVs wastefulness and more troubled by its very vastness.

The legendary former FCC chairman knew a thing or two about television, having studied it for most of his adult life. He died at his Chicago home the other day at 97 without ever reconciling his love-hate relationship with the medium that so profoundly affects our lives.

Minow was actually an inveterate fan of much that TV had to offer, and his real purpose in that infamous speech to the National Association of Broadcasters was to challenge and inspire.

I am in Washington, he explained, to help broadcasting, not to harm it; to strengthen it, not weaken it; to reward it, not to punish it; to encourage it, not threaten it; and to stimulate it, not censor it. Above all, I am here to uphold and protect the public interest.

In conversation with me 60 years after delivering the speech, Minow explained: Our goal was to enlarge choice for the viewer. When I was at the FCC there were only two and a half commercial networks. Now we have public TV, cable, satellite, pay tv, with almost unlimited choices. Its a totally different medium.

Televisions enormous growth  with digital platforms joining the delivery systems Minow mentioned  prompted him to gradually reevaluate his views. I used to think providing more choice was in the public interest, he told me, but I am not sure today.

In lambasting TV programming in the 1960s, Minow cited a procession of game shows, formula comedies about totally unbelievable families, blood and thunder, mayhem, violence, sadism, murder, western bad men, western good men, private eyes, gangsters, more violence, and cartoons.

Thats still a reasonable way to summarize much of whats on today. But, modern viewers are also enjoying what many call a second Golden Age of programming.

So, whats the problem?

Fractionalization of the audience provides more choice, Minow said, but we pay a big price. Our country now is much more divided because we do not share the same news or believe the same facts.

Barack Obama, who awarded Minow the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2016, praised him for helping launch the satellites that made nationwide broadcasts possible, cementing presidential debates as a national institution, helping usher in public television, and reminding the media of its obligation to foster a well-informed citizenry.

But Newton Minows good intentions  beginning with the speech that launched his career in public service  were not enough.

Back then, he told me, Walter Cronkite was the most trusted man in our country. Who is trusted today?
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The Excellence in Education program recognizes the top 5% of graduates from Chippewa Falls Senior High School and McDonell Central Catholic High School. Meet one of this years honorees.

Sydney Gums, Chippewa Falls Area Senior High School

Parents: Cory Gums & Jessica Gums

Educator: Mrs. Heather Brandner, Chi-Hi AP Chemistry Teacher

Sydneys comments about Mrs. Brandner: Prior to taking AP Chemistry with Mrs. Brandner, I was feeling pretty lost on what I wanted to study after I finished high school. I had known I enjoyed science, but Mrs. Brandners own passion for chemistry and how well she taught it was what helped me decide to pursue it. Shes also such a wonderful person to be around and Ill always be impressed with how she dealt with my questions and friendly bickering.

Mrs. Brandners comments about Sydney: Sydneys calm and collected persona, along with her contagious smile, make those around her feel welcome. As a student, Sydney was hard-working and determined to understand the complexity of AP Chemistry. As a science intern, Sydney went above and beyond by helping students learn chemistry and preparing lab supplies. As the president of the Chemistry Club, Sydney researched and developed procedures for fun activities. Sydneys dedication and compassion for others sets her apart and will open up endless opportunities in her future.

Future Plans: Sydney plans on attending UW-Madison to major in biochemistry. After graduation, she hopes to go into a pharmacology program and eventually be involved in the production of medicines.
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With people in Wisconsin dying from opioid overdoses at a record pace, the growing misuse of meth, cocaine and the tranquilizer xylazine  often with opioids  is making it harder to fight the epidemic, a federal health official said Tuesday.

What we see is illicitly manufactured fentanyl really continuing to dominate the overdose crisis, but that most overdose deaths also involve other substances, Dr. Yngvild Olsen, director of the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment at the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, said at an opioids, stimulants and trauma summit in Wisconsin Dells.

Olsen urged expanded use of fentanyl test strips, the overdose-reversal drug naloxone and medication-assisted treatment for addiction. She said most people who die from overdoses interact with providers in the months beforehand, but the vast majority of people with substance use disorder dont seek treatment.

Missed opportunities happen all the time, Olsen said at the event, organized by the state Department of Health Services.

Democratic Gov. Tony Evers, who appeared by video, and Democratic Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez, who spoke at the event, criticized the Republican-controlled Legislatures budget committee for stripping some addiction prevention, treatment and recovery programs from Evers' proposed budget this month.

We could be using these funds right now to help save lives, Evers said. This is a crisis that deserves bold and urgent action.

The addiction programs were among more than 500 items the budget committee removed from the nearly $104 billion proposal Evers unveiled in February. GOP lawmakers plan to build their own two-year spending plan to send back to the governor before the end of June, as they have done with Evers previous two budgets. They retained other addiction programs.

Committee co-chairs Rep. Mark Born, R-Beaver Dam, and Sen. Howard Marklein, R-Spring Green, said an objection was raised to the settlement funds spending plan, without saying who was against it or why. They said a meeting would be scheduled to take up the matter.

On Tuesday, a spokesperson for Born declined to say when a meeting might be held, referring to an earlier statement from Born and Marklein that the "proposal for the new round of funding appears to invest in initiatives from the last round that have not yet proven effective. The committee will continue conversations with stakeholders to ensure these funds, which wont arrive in the state until July, are put to the most effective use.

The committee similarly rejected a $31 million spending plan last year before approving an adjusted plan. Of that money, some $10 million is being spent on upgrading or building new addiction treatment facilities, with $6 million going to tribal nations for prevention and treatment and $3 million going to law enforcement grants. Another $3 million is expanding availability of naloxone and $2 million is boosting distribution of fentanyl test strips.

Other efforts include $2.5 million to help pay for residential addiction treatment and $2 million to increase medication-assisted treatment, such as with buprenorphine, or Suboxone.

Record numbers

Wisconsin had a record 1,427 opioid overdose deaths in 2021, 16.3% more than the previous record in 2020 and more than double the toll from just six and seven years earlier, with fentanyl fueling much of the increase, officials said.

In Dane County, 139 people died from opioid overdoses in 2021, 13% higher than the previous record the year before.

Final numbers for 2022 wont be available until fall, as it takes months for some reports to be processed. As of last week, a preliminary count of 1,318 opioid overdose deaths had been reported for last year, more than the preliminary total for 2021 as of early May last year.

In Dane County, the preliminary total for 2022 as of last week was 110, fewer than the preliminary total for 2021 at roughly the same time last year.

Olsen said the increasing misuse of stimulants such as methamphetamine, cocaine, Adderall and Ritalin, along with opioids, is complicating efforts to curb overdose deaths.

In March, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration issued an alert about a sharp increase in the trafficking of fentanyl mixed with xylazine, a tranquilizer used in veterinary medicine. Xylazine is making the deadliest drug threat our country has ever faced, fentanyl, even deadlier, DEA Administrator Anne Milgram said.
Cannes Film Festival kicks off with Johnny Depp, Jeanne du Barry and a jury led by Ruben Ostlund View Photo

CANNES, France (AP)  The Cannes red carpet is springing to life again Tuesday as the 76th Cannes Film Festival gets underway with the premiere of the Louis XV period drama Jeanne du Barry, with Johnny Depp.

This years festival promises a Cote dAzur buffet of spectacle, scandal and cinema set to be served over the next 12 days. Its unspooling against the backdrop of labor unrest. Protests that have roiled France in recent months over changes to its pension system are planned to run during the festival, albeit at a distance from the festivals main hub.

Meanwhile, an ongoing strike by screenwriters in Hollywood could have unpredictable effects on the French Riviera festival.

My wife is currently picketing with my 6-month-old, strapped to her chest, Paul Dano, a juror, said Tuesday, referencing Zoe Kazan. I will be there on the picket line when I get back home.

But with a festival lined with some much-anticipated big-budget films, including James Mangolds Indiana Jones and the Dial of the Destiny and Martin Scorseses Killers of the Flower Moon, the party is sure to go on, regardless. Stars set to hit Cannes red carpet in the next week and a half include Natalie Portman, Leonardo DiCaprio, Cate Blanchett, Sean Penn, Alicia Vikander, the Weeknd and Scarlett Johansson.

The festivities Tuesday will include an opening ceremony where Michael Douglas is to receive an honorary Palme dOr. (Later, one will also be dished out to Indiana Jones star Harrison Ford). Earlier Tuesday, the jury that will decide the festivals top prize, the Palme dOr, was introduced.

Swedish filmmaker Ruben Ostlund, a two-time Palme winner who last year won for the social satire The Triangle of Sadness, is presiding over the jury that includes Dano, Brie Larson, Argentine filmmaker Damian Szifron, Afghan director Atiq Rahimi, French actor Denis Menochet, Moroccan filmmaker Maryam Tourzani, Zambian-Welsh director Rungano Nyoni and French director Julia Ducournau, who in 2019 became the second female filmmaker to win the Palme dOr for Titane.

Ostlund, 49, wondered whether he might have been handed the opportunity a decade too soon. But while addressing the press, Ostlund  whose The Triangle of Sadness was nominated for best picture at the Academy Awards  made it clear where his allegiances lie.

If I can choose between an Oscar and a Palme dOr, its an easy choice, said Ostlund. I would rather have one more (Palme) than have an Oscar.

The opening night selection has attracted some controversy. Jeanne du Barry, directed by and starring the French actor-director Maiwenn, c0-stars Depp as Louis XV. Its Depps first new film since his trial last year with Amber Heard, his ex-wife. After both Depp and Heard accused each other of physical and verbal abuse, a civil jury awarded Depp $10 million in damages and $2 million to Heard.

In remarks to the press Monday, Cannes director Thierry Fremaux defended the choice, saying Depp is extraordinary in the film and he paid no attention to the trial.

To tell you the truth, in my life, I only have one rule, its the freedom of thinking, the freedom of speech and the freedom to act within a legal framework, said Fremaux. If Johnny Depp had been banned from acting in a film, or the film was banned we wouldnt be here talking about it.

Larson, a former member of the Times Up advisory board, was asked for her thoughts on the film playing at Cannes.

Youll see if I see it, replied Larson. And I dont know how Ill feel about it if I do.

___

For more coverage of this years Cannes Film Festival, visit: https://apnews.com/hub/cannes-film-festival

By JAKE COYLE

AP Film Writer
An intoxicating, delicate coming-of-age tale in The Starling Girl View Photo

Laurel Parmets directorial debut  The Starling Girl  puts the viewer in the modest shoes of a 17-year-old girl named Jem. Shes grown up in a Christian fundamentalist community in Kentucky and has internalized its teachings, feeling deep shame for drawing attention to herself and her body, which as an artistically-inclined member of the dance troupe is especially difficult to avoid.

But her world starts to change when Owen, a handsome 28-year-old youth leader played by Lewis Pullman, returns from a mission in Puerto Rico. Jem, played by Australian actor Eliza Scanlen, develops an intense infatuation with him that soon evolves into something more.

Its a film about many things  family, patriarchal societies, toxic relationships, power dynamics, first loves and, ultimately, growing up  but its neither outwardly judgmental nor blunt. The Starling Girl, currently playing in New York and Los Angeles and expanding to other cities this weekend, is done with a delicate touch.

(Jem) is a very complex character and I think quite different from other portrayals of young women in communities like this, Scanlen said. What makes this film stand out is its not making any kind of definitive statement about the church or fundamentalist communities. Its actually trying to humanize the people who live in them.

The story comes from Parmet, who while in Oklahoma for another project got to know some woman in a patriarchal Christian community. Though she grew up worlds apart, as a child of parents who work in movies and television (a cinematographer and a costumer), she realized that they had commonalities too  from feelings of sexual shame to the need for validation from men.

The film touches on these ideas and also draws from her own experience of having a relationship with an older man when she was a teenager. And, because its told from Jems point of view, the journey is a bit of a rollercoaster for the audience who may even find themselves emotionally wrapped up in Jem and Owens romance, despite knowing that it is fundamentally wrong.

Something that I was trying to do with this film is have the audience be with the main character moment to moment, said Parmet. You are with her every step of the way. You feel her intoxication, you feel this vivid opening up that shes experiencing while at the same time conveying that this relationship is problematic.

Parmet drew visual and tonal inspiration from Pawel Pawlikowskis My Summer of Love, a film that she finds lush, green, immediate, intimate, stimulating and dangerous.

A key part of making that dynamic work was finding the right Owen  someone who you believe Jem would fall for and also someone that the audience falls for too, at least for a time. Pullman, Parmet said, had the gentle charisma to straddle the complex line. Jem cant see that hes a lost soul himself, and he likely doesnt even realize hes a groomer or in the wrong. In rehearsals, Scanlen, Pullman and Parmet would try to determine who has the power in a certain scene.

Plenty of people walk out hating Owen, which is, you know, valid and makes a lot of sense, Pullman said. But I think my weird goal in all this was, if there was anybody who was in a relationship similar to it, I wanted him to be approachable enough that they could see themselves in him, right? I didnt want to make him so such a such a monster that people wouldnt look at themselves in the mirror and question whether their actions at all might parallel his.

As Jem, Scanlen found in their dynamic a powerful truth about the possibility of both having agency in a relationship and also being a victim of abuse at the same time. The film also explores how patriarchal systems can be harmful for men too. Like Owen, Jems father (Jimmi Simpson) is struggling in the community as an addict whose recovery is not being supported in a helpful way.

I do think the film is about all of us, Simpson said. We all subscribe to some kind of rule system that helps us get through life a little easier.

Parmet also hopes that the film speaks to everyone.

I hope that people see themselves in the story and in the characters, no matter their background, Parmet said. Its a story thats really about trying to figure out who you are.

Making an independent film is never the most glamorous pursuit (Kentucky, though beautiful, was also quite buggy) but all were driven by a shared sense of purpose and a belief that their director is an auteur in the making who is just getting started.

The beauty of making indie films is that everybodys in it together and in it for the right reasons, Scanlen said. Youre just there to make something beautiful.

___

Follow AP Film Writer Lindsey Bahr on Twitter: www.twitter.com/ldbahr.

By LINDSEY BAHR

AP Film Writer
Renowned actor Forest Whitaker sets up his Peace and Development Initiative in poor Paris suburb View Photo

AUBERVILLIERS, France (AP)  Renowned actor Forest Whitaker, who has portrayed a dictator, a Mafia hitman and a butler, has taken on what for some may be his most inspirational role.

Whitaker officially inaugurated on Wednesday his Whitaker Peace and Development Initiative in Seine-Saint-Denis, meant to bring business, communication and conflict resolution skills to the young people of Frances poorest region. Free classes are being offered in a small space with big ideas in Aubervilliers, outside Paris.

It is the Academy Award winners first foray into Europe, and the ninth country where his nongovernmental organization operates, all light years from the lights of Hollywood and the accolades and awards bestowed on him for his film career. His presence in Aubervilliers forms part of an arc that included his work with child soldiers in Uganda, where his NGO is present.

I would see in some of their eyes this look  a look that I knew from when I remember gang members from my neighborhood in Los Angeles, he said to a crowd of local officials and enthusiastic members of his French NGO. All eyes were glued on his large, quiet presence. I started trying to figure out how to fix that, he said. In the end, I knew that the only way to really find peace was to work together as a society and to work together on the ground.

Returning to the here and now, he added that sometimes we have to address peace that way, to work as a team on the ground  we have to know that we can make a difference ourselves.

The learning center, located above an outlet of PNB-Paribas bank, which lent Whitaker a huge hand in his discovery of Aubervilliers, actually began offering its free classes in late April and currently has more than 70 students. The hope is to have 200 students by the end of the year. Among courses taught are entrepreneurship, communications, computer science and social mediation.

Everything is linked, said Aminata Sidibe, in charge of the school. Identifying conflict areas, working to prevent them and stopping them are skills needed within families and in businesses alike, she said. A special program, the Fighters, is reserved for women, whom Whitaker says have shown themselves important to effecting change, to provide the needed baggage to integrate and succeed.

Bringing Whitakers NGO to Seine-Saint-Denis was a process. He visited another town in 2021 before being introduced to Aubervilliers. He said he got an understanding of the place and then reviewed the data  unemployment rate of 39% and poverty at 34% plus a soaring crime rate.

Its a great opportunity for us to be able to partner in an area that people imagine is down, but actually has potential, a lot of potential, to go up, he said.

Aubervilliers Mayor Karine Franclet sees the arrival of Whitakers initiative as one more reason for optimism, like the coming of the 2024 Olympic Games. A swimming pool is under construction in Aubervilliers to be used for Olympic athletes to train. The numbers are very bad, but 30% of the population is under 30 years of age, and the town is too often unexploited. Whitaker is an example of success, she said.

There are hundreds of associations aimed at helping residents of Seine-Saint-Denis, so Whitakers is one more.

This is a dream, you know. You said you were going to build a center here, and now Im sitting in front of you and here we are, Whitaker said to the crowd.

Whitaker won the 2007 Academy Award for best actor for his starring role in The Last King of Scotland  his second such honor  plus Britains BAFTA awards, the Golden Globe and a string of other prizes.

Whitaker was in Aubervilliers as the Cannes Film Festival was in session in southern France. He won an Honorary Palme dOr there last year for his body of work. But he said no when asked if he would visit the Riviera venue this year.

Instead, he said he was heading off to Uganda, Rwanda and other points on the African continent.

By ELAINE GANLEY

Associated Press
Russia launches exceptional air attack on Kyiv as Europe, China look to exert influence View Photo

KYIV, Ukraine (AP)  Ukrainian air defenses, bolstered by sophisticated Western-supplied systems, thwarted an intense Russian air attack on Kyiv early Tuesday, shooting down all 18 missiles aimed at the capital, officials said.

The bombardment included six Russian Kinzhal aero-ballistic hypersonic missiles  the most fired in a single attack in the war so far  according to air force spokesman Yurii Ihnat.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly touted the Kinzhals as a key strategic competitive advantage of Russia, difficult to detect and intercept because of their hypersonic speed and other characteristics. If confirmed, Ukraines ability to shoot down all six fired on Tuesday appeared to mark another blow to his war efforts and shows the increasing effectiveness of Kyivs air defenses.

Ihnat said Russia fired the Kinzhals from MiG-31K warplanes, along with nine cruise missiles from ships in the Black Sea and three S-400 cruise missiles launched from the ground.

Loud explosions boomed over Kyiv in the major nighttime attack apparently aimed at overwhelming Ukraines air defenses. Kyivs mayor reported three people were wounded.

The barrage came as European leaders sought new ways to punish Russia for the war and a Chinese envoy sought traction for Beijings peace proposal, which so far appears to have made little impression on the warring sides. It also came as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy returned home from a whirlwind European tour to seek more military aid.

The overnight attack on Kyiv was exceptional in its density  the maximum number of attacking missiles in the shortest period of time, said Serhii Popko, the head of the Kyiv military administration.

Valentyna Myronets, a 64-year-old Kyiv resident, said she felt pain, fear, nervousness, restlessness amid the assaults. God, we are waiting for victory and when all this is over, she said.

U.K. Ambassador Melinda Simmons tweeted that the barrage was pretty intense.

Bangs and shaking walls are not an easy night, she wrote.

It was the eighth time this month that Russian air raids had targeted the capital, a clear escalation after weeks of lull and ahead of a much-anticipated Ukrainian counteroffensive using newly supplied advanced Western weapons.

After the first onslaught, Russia also launched Iranian-made Shahed attack drones and conducted aerial reconnaissance, Ihnat said.

Debris fell across several districts in the capital, starting fires, Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said.

Sophisticated Western air defense systems, including American-made Patriot missiles, have helped spare Kyiv from the kind of destruction witnessed along the main front line in the countrys east and south. While most of the ground fighting is stalemated along that front line, both sides are targeting other territory with long-range weapons.

Associated Press reporters saw a metal fragment that landed inside the Kyiv zoo labeled Lockheed Martin and Boeing, two of the companies involved in manufacturing the Patriot missile system.

Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said a Kinzhal destroyed a Patriot missile battery in Kyiv but he didnt provide evidence, and the statement couldnt be independently verified. Ihnat, the Ukrainian air force spokesman, refused to comment on the claim.

The bolstered air defenses have deterred Russian aircraft from going deep into Ukraine and helped shape the course of the war, military experts say.

In Iceland, European leaders are taking part in a rare summit of the 46-nation Council of Europe, the continents main human rights body, to discuss how to manage claims for compensation from Russias damage to Ukraine.

Meanwhile, a Chinese envoy is preparing to visit Ukraine and Russia as Beijing advocates a peace plan it released in February. Li Hui, a former ambassador to Moscow, also will visit Poland, France and Germany, according to the Chinese foreign ministry.

Ukraine has cautiously welcomed Chinas proposal while saying it would wait to see what specific actions China takes. Chinese leader Xi Jinpings government says it is neutral and wants to mediate in the war, but it has given Moscow political support, and a breakthrough appears unlikely more than 14 months after Russias full-scale invasion.

In Russian-occupied southern Ukraine, about 500 kilometers (300 miles) from Kyiv, Russian officials have begun training for a planned evacuation from the shut-down Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant of 3,100 staff and their families, a representative of Energoatom, Ukraines state nuclear company, said Tuesday. The plant, Europes largest, employed around 11,000 staff before the war, some 6,000 of whom remain at the site and in the surrounding town of Enerhodar.

More Russian military units have been arriving at the site and are mining it, the representative told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity due to security concerns. Russian troops have barred remaining workers from communicating with each other or leaving, to prevent information from leaking out on Russian positions and military equipment, Energoatom said on Telegram.

In other developments:

Ukrainian forces have recaptured around 20 kilometers (7.7 square miles) of territory north and south of Bakhmut since last week, but Russian troops continue their grinding advance within the city, Ukraines deputy defense minister said Tuesday. Heavy battles continue with differing results, Hanna Malyar said on Telegram. The Russian-installed head of the partially occupied Donetsk region, Denis Pushilin, told Russian state TV that Russian forces near Bakhmut have reinforced their flanks in the face of Ukrainian successes.

 At least seven civilians died and 14 others were wounded in Russian shelling of Ukrainian regions from Monday through Tuesday morning, the countrys presidential office said.

 In Ukraines latest corruption scandal, which saw the head of the Supreme Court detained for alleged bribery on Monday, the chief of Ukraines National Anti-Corruption Bureau, Semen Kryvonos, said Tuesday the main suspect in the case was mining magnate Kostiantyn Zhevago.

Zhevago was arrested in the French Alps in January on suspicion of embezzling tens of millions of dollars. Kyiv has requested his extradition.

 South African President Cyril Ramaphosa says his Russian and Ukrainian counterparts have agreed to separate meetings with a delegation of African heads of state to discuss a possible plan to end the war in Ukraine. A statement from Ramaphosas office on Tuesday said he spoke with Putin and Zelenskyy by phone over the weekend and they agreed to host an African leaders peace mission in Moscow and Kyiv, respectively.

___

Vasilisa Stepanenko in Kyiv, 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

By SAMYA KULLAB

Associated Press
Yosemite National Park View Photo

Yosemite, CA  The US District Attorneys Office reports that a 29-year-old transient resident, Devin Michael Cueller, pleaded guilty to being a felon in possession of a sawed-off shotgun and ammunition.

During the summer of 2021, Cueller broke into a private home within the park and stayed there for several months without the permission of the owner. Cueller was previously convicted of carjacking and possessing controlled substances for sale. He was prohibited from having guns and ammunition and was found with them in his possession when he was caught.

The investigation was carried out by the National Park Service and various other agencies. His sentencing will be on September 5.

The US Attorneys Office reports, Cuellar faces a maximum statutory penalty of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The actual sentence, however, will be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables.
House and vegetation fire in the Wallace area of Calaveras County View Photos

Wallace, CA  Two family pets had to be rescued from a house fire in the Wallace area of Calaveras County on Tuesday afternoon.

Responding to the scene located in the 7800 block of Highway 12 near Sawmill Street and Camanche Reservoir were crews from Calaveras Consolidated, Clements, CalFire, and San Andreas Fire. Once on scene, they found heavy fire conditions in the home, with the flames spreading to nearby vegetation. Luckily, firefighters were able to rescue two dogs from the residence and return them to the family. No further details on the pooches were available.

Crews not only had to fight the fire but also battle the blaze in 95-degree heat. They were able to extinguish the well-involved house fire, and a grass fire was contained to just under an acre. Additionally, a SUV and a boat were also destroyed in the flames.

Fire officials report that the Red Cross was called to the scene to assist the displaced family, as the inside contents of the home were a total loss. What ignited the fire remains under investigation.
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As it falls in several jurisdictions, the 30/64 connector project has bounced between many committees, councils and boards since its inception many years ago. Its most recent audience, the Columbus City Council, had a few questions.

The project, which was first suggested in the early 2000s, would connect Highway 30 and Nebraska Highway 64 between Bellwood and the area between Columbus and Richland. The corridor, according to its originator Arnie Stuthman, will cut transit time between Butler and Platte counties significantly, provide an out in the event of a flood and a road for businesses to develop along.

Platte County Highway Superintendent Mark Mainelli spoke to the Columbus City Council Committee of the Whole on May 15 mostly to the effect of the project's status and where the various city and country groups are involved.

Mainelli and Dennis Grennan, one of the consultants hired by Platte County to look at the economic impact of the project, broke the project down into four "phases," or segments, that the project can be completed in.

"The reason for phases are these pieces are going to happen whether the bridge happens or not," Mainelli said. "The idea is to find reasonable termini for each project that have to be done to move traffic safely and encourage development on the project whether we grab the brass rings for the corridor or not."

Phase one, Mainelli said, is an extension of Eighth Street along the 29th Street viaduct project, which will extend the shoulders and encourage some truck traffic in the area. Phase two involved paving a stretch of US 81 heading south toward Bellwood, some of which was done a few years ago. Phase three will be grading from the Eighth Street project to the Lost Creek corridor, Mainelli said, at which point they want to have a good commitment to the fourth stage, the large bridge spanning the Platte River.

There was some concern over Colfax County's involvement. First Ward Council Member Beth Augustine-Schulte asked about the financial investment and how maintenance duties would be assigned based on said investments. Mayor Jim Bulkley asked whether Colfax County was still involved, given their size and the responsibility on their end.

"Is Colfax County even seriously thinking (about this?) At this point, even maintenance of this road split between - it's a county line road, they're going to have input into it," Bulkley said. "Are they even going to be able to do that, let alone the future development out to Richland? Is that realistic?"

Mainelli responded that the Colfax County Board of Commissioners was still deciding how they want to be involved as, given their size compared to Platte, Butler and Polk counties, the work and cost on their end would seem much larger if things were evenly split between all the parties involved.

"The previous board was very excited about it, but the board we have now are very concerned about what their share would be. There would have to be an agreement like any other shared road," Mainelli said. "Once it's built, at least for 25 or 30 years maintenance is going to be snow removal, trash. Thirty years you're going to have major expenses, so those are hurdles we're going to have to go over."

Throughout the project's lifetime, the 2019 flood has been an example of a situation where the stretch of highway and bridge could act as another way out of town. Bulkley asked what would keep this way out from being closed like the others. Mainelli responded that, despite designers' best intentions sometimes, they can only plan so far and for so many things and it could happen.

"I've been doing this for 35 years and I can't tell you how many 100-year floods I've dealt with along Shell Creek alone," Mainelli said. "You can design your way out of a lot of problems but those catastrophic occurrences like we had in 2019 are different."

Grennan, who collaborated with Loup Public Power District and Nebraska Public Power District to do an economic impact analysis, said that development along that stretch of road would bring in an estimated $66 million to $204 million dollars a year in jobs over a 20-year span. They arrived at this number assuming developers along that corridor have manufacturing jobs, adding that it could be similar to how Lost Creek Parkway has developed.

"Look at what's happened along the Lost Creek Parkway. It's a little over $350 million worth of assets along that parkway in the last 10 years, probably that much more in the next 10," Grennan said.
Arab foreign ministers welcome Syrias return to the Arab League ahead of Jeddah summit

Arab foreign ministers welcome Syrias return to the Arab League ahead of Jeddah summit View Photo

BEIRUT (AP)  Arab foreign ministers Wednesday in Saudi Arabia welcomed back Syria to the Arab League and called for a cease-fire in conflict-hit Sudan ahead of the organizations annual summit taking place in the kingdom.

This years summit, starting Friday in the city of Jeddah, will mark the readmittance of war-torn Syria into the 22-member league, after a 12-year suspension.

Syrias membership was frozen following Syrian President Bashar Assads brutal crackdown on the 2011 mass protests against his rule. The country quickly descended into a civil war that has killed nearly half a million people and displaced half of the countrys pre-war population of 23 million.

Saudi Arabias Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan said Wednesday that the region is at a crossroads, facing a host of challenges. He called for cooperation between Arab countries to achieve security, stability and economic prosperity.

Bin Farhan also welcomed Syrias return, as did the leagues Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit and Algerian Foreign Minister Ahmed Attaf.

Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad held bilateral meetings this week in the kingdom with several of his counterparts as Damascus continues to appeal for much-needed investment in the war-torn country  crippled by the conflict and Western sanctions  and has moved to restore ties with Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt, and Iraq.

Mekdad after the meeting told reporters that he hopes Arab governments will help with reconstruction and Syrian refugee returns. He hinted that Assad will attend the summit Friday. Per usual, Syria cannot be absent from any summit, he said.

Syrias return to the Arab fold comes as Damascus is also trying to amend ties with Turkey, a key backer of the armed Syrian opposition groups in the countrys northwest.

But a few Arab countries remain skeptical of Syrias return to the league, primarily Qatar.

Qatars top diplomat, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, said Wednesday that his country opposes Syrias return but that it doesnt want to stand against the Arab consensus. Each Arab country, however, can unilaterally normalize relations with Syria, he said.

For that to happen from Qatars perspective, Syria needs to go through a just and comprehensive solution to its conflict, Sheikh Mohammed added.

The summit also comes as Arab governments are scrambling to resolve the conflict in Sudan between the military, led by Gen. Abdel Fattah Burhan, and the rival paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, commanded by Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo. The fighting in the East African country, which broke out in mid-April, has left over 600 people dead and displaced tens of thousands.

In Wednesdays meeting, top diplomats from Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Algeria called for a cease-fire in Sudan and an end to the escalating violence in Israel and the Palestinian territories.

___

Associated Press reporters Nick El Hajj and Lujain Jo in Dubai, United Arab Emirates contributed to this story.

By KAREEM CHEHAYEB

Associated Press
Trump-backed Daniel Cameron to face Democratic Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear in November View Photo

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP)  Daniel Cameron won the Republican primary for Kentucky governor, becoming the first major-party Black nominee for governor in the states history and setting up a November showdown with Democratic incumbent Andy Beshear.

Cameron, the states attorney general who was endorsed by former President Donald Trump, claimed a convincing victory Tuesday in a 12-candidate field that included state Agriculture Commissioner Ryan Quarles, who finished second, and former U.N. Ambassador Kelly Craft, who finished third. Beshear easily dispatched two under-the-radar Democratic challengers in his own primary.

Cameron, the states first Black attorney general, said in a victory speech that his campaign aims to embody the promise of America, that if you work hard and if you stand on principle, anything is possible.

To anyone who looks like me, know that you can achieve anything, Cameron told supporters. Know that in this country and in Kentucky, all that matters are your values.

The race now shifts to the general election, which will be one of Novembers most closely watched contests and could provide clues heading into the 2024 presidential race. Beshear, a popular Democratic governor, will face a tough reelection bid in a Republican-dominated state after a first term marked by a series of tragedies  the COVID-19 pandemic, natural disasters and a mass shooting that killed one of his closest friends.

Beshear on Tuesday cited his stewardship of Kentuckys economy  pointing to record economic development successes  in setting the stage for his fall campaign. And he blasted the tone of the GOP gubernatorial primary after taking hits for months from the Republican candidates.

Right now somewhere in America, there is a CEO deciding where to move their business and theyre considering Kentucky, Beshear told supporters. Let me ask you: Is seeing people talk down our state and our economy, insult our people and stoke divisions going to help that next company choose Kentucky? Of course not.

The Beshear-Cameron matchup conjures parallels from the states last governors race but with a reversal of roles for the governor. In 2019, Beshear used the attorney generals office as a springboard to the governorship. During his single term as attorney general, Beshear challenged a series of executive actions by Republican Gov. Matt Bevin. Beshear narrowly defeated Bevin in a race that revolved around Bevins combative personality.

Cameron succeeded Beshear in the attorney generals office, and the Republican turned the tables on Beshear, mounting numerous legal challenges against state and national Democratic policies that endeared him to conservatives. Cameron led the successful challenge that essentially halted the governors COVID-era restrictions, which Cameron said amounted to executive overreach. Beshear says that his actions saved lives and that he leaned heavily on guidance from Trumps coronavirus task force.

A former aide to Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell, Cameron has risen through the political ranks to become one of the most prominent Black Republicans in the country. His victory Tuesday will play into Trumps efforts to solidify his status as the leader of the Republican Party heading into the 2024 presidential primary.

Trump, in a social media post Wednesday about Camerons victory, cited the finish by Craft, who had been an ambassador during his administration and was endorsed by a leading Trump rival, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.

Congratulations to a star in Kentucky, Danial Cameron, who easily won the Republican Nomination for Governor,. Trump wrote, misspelling the nominees first name. He had my Complete and Total Endorsement. The DeSanctimonious backed candidate came in a DISTANT third. Rons magic is GONE!

If Beshear follows his campaign formula from 2019, he will avoid talking about Trump or dwelling on polarizing national issues that could risk further energizing his opponents conservative base.

He is also expected to draw on his familys strong political brand  his father, Steve Beshear, is a former two-term Kentucky governor who spoke at his sons primary victory celebration Tuesday  and lean into his role of leading through adversity after a multitude of crises during his first term.

Through it all, Beshear emerged as the front man, holding daily pandemic briefings for months and then leading relief efforts to help those left devastated by tornadoes and floods.

Last month, Beshear publicly and emotionally grieved the loss of a close friend who died when a Louisville bank employee opened fire with an assault-style rifle, killing five coworkers. He has frequently invoked his Christian faith as a cornerstone of his efforts to lead the state through tough times.

In addition to Craft and Quarles, Cameron also defeated state Auditor Mike Harmon and Somerset Mayor Alan Keck, among others.

But it was the combative rivalry between Cameron and Craft that dominated the primary campaign. Cameron endured an advertising blitz by Crafts campaign  backed by her familys fortune  and an outside group supporting her campaign. The pro-Craft group portrayed Cameron as an establishment teddy bear in claiming he wasnt tough enough as attorney general. A pro-Cameron group swung back with attacks against Craft, who nabbed a last-minute endorsement from DeSantis.

Camerons handling of an investigation into the fatal shooting of Breonna Taylor by Louisville police in 2020 could come under renewed scrutiny as he campaigns as the GOP nominee. Taylors death and the police-related killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis sparked nationwide protests.

In announcing a grand jurys findings in Taylors death, Cameron said jurors agreed that homicide charges were not warranted against the officers, because they were fired upon. Three of the jurors disputed Camerons account, arguing that Camerons staff limited their scope and did not give them an opportunity to consider homicide charges against the police in Taylors death.

Camerons immediate attention will turn toward building party unity for the fall campaign slog, a task for which he has demonstrated skills in the past. He bridged the gulf between Trump and McConnell despite a growing rift between the two GOP heavyweights. Cameron worked as the senators legal counsel and made a high-profile pitch for Trumps unsuccessful reelection campaign at the 2020 Republican National Convention.

The gubernatorial campaign topped primary races for other constitutional offices in Kentucky.

Republican Secretary of State Michael Adams, who pushed successfully for expanded voter access, won his primary against two candidates, including one who cast doubt on the integrity of elections. He faces Democrat Charles Buddy Wheatley in November in his reelection bid.

Other primary winners included Republican Allison Ball, who is running for state auditor after two terms as state treasurer, and now will face Democrat Kimberley Reeder, who ran unopposed. Garrard County Attorney Mark Metcalf won the GOP primary for state treasurer and faces Democrat Michael Bowman in November. The general election race for agriculture commissioner pits Republican Jonathan Shell against Democrat Sierra Enlow, who won their respective primaries. The fall campaign for attorney general will feature Republican Russell Coleman against Democrat Pam Stevenson. Both were unopposed in the primary.

By BRUCE SCHREINER

Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP)  Debt-limit talks shifted into an encouraging new phase Tuesday as President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy named top emissaries to negotiate a deal to avert an unprecedented national default. Biden cut short an upcoming overseas trip in hopes of closing an agreement before a June 1 deadline.

The fresh set of negotiators means discussions are now largely narrowed to what the White House and McCarthy will accept in order to allow lawmakers to raise the debt limit in the coming days. The speaker said after a meeting with Biden and congressional leaders that a deal was possible by week's end, even as  in McCarthy's view  the two sides remained far apart for the moment.

Biden was publicly upbeat after a roughly hourlong meeting in the Oval Office, despite having to cancel the Australia and Papua New Guinea portions of his overseas trip that begins Wednesday. Biden will participate in a Group of Seven summit in Hiroshima, Japan, but then return to Washington on Sunday.

Theres still work to do," Biden said. "But I made it clear to the speaker and others that we'll speak regularly over the next several days and staff's going to continue meeting daily to make sure we do not default.

Senior White House officials, as well as top aides to the four congressional leaders  McCarthy, R-Calif., Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y.  have been meeting daily.

But now, Steve Ricchetti, counselor to the president, Office of Management and Budget Director Shalanda Young and legislative affairs director Louisa Terrell will take the lead in negotiations for the Democratic side, while Rep. Garret Graves, R-La., a key McCarthy ally who has been a point person for the speaker on debt and budget issues, will represent Republicans.

Now we have a format, a structure, McCarthy said as he returned to the Capitol.

Negotiators are racing to beat a deadline of June 1, which is when the Treasury Department has said the U.S. could begin defaulting on its debts for the first time in history and risk a financial catastrophe. The revised itinerary of Biden's upcoming trip showed the urgency of the talks.

White House officials sought to soften the impact of the trip cancellations. National Security Council spokesman John Kirby noted that Biden will already have met with some of the leaders of the Quad  the purpose of the Australia leg of the visit  while in Japan, and the president is inviting Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese for an official state visit in Washington.

Still, Kirby added, We wouldnt even be having this discussion about the effect of the debt ceiling debate on the trip if Congress would do its job, raise the debt ceiling the way theyve always done."

Even as the Democratic president and the Republican speaker box around the politics of the issue  with Biden insisting hes not negotiating over the debt ceiling and McCarthy working to extract spending cuts with the backdrop of a potential default  various areas of possible agreement appeared to be emerging.

Among the items on the table: clawing back some $30 billion in untapped COVID-19 money, imposing future budget caps, changing permit regulations to ease energy development and putting bolstered work requirements on recipients of government aid, according to those familiar with the talks.

But congressional Democrats are growing concerned about the idea of putting new work requirements for government aid recipients after Biden suggested over the weekend he may be open to such changes. The White House remains opposed to changes in requirements for recipients of Medicaid and food stamp programs, although it is more open to revisions for beneficiaries of the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families cash assistance program.

The idea of imposing more work requirements was resoundingly rejected by House Democrats at a morning caucus meeting, according to one Democrat at the private meeting and granted anonymity to discuss it.

Progressive lawmakers in particular have raised the issue. Rep. Pramila Jayapal, the chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, said, We want to make sure that these negotiations do not include spending cuts, do not include work requirements, things that would harm people, people in rural areas, black, brown, indigenous folks.

Democratic leader Jeffries' staff sought to assuage the concerns late Monday, while a separate group of more centrist Democrats signaled to their moderate Republican colleagues they are prepared to work something out to reach a debt ceiling deal, aides said Tuesday.

While McCarthy has complained the talks are slow-going, saying he first met with Biden more than 100 days ago, Biden has said it took McCarthy all this time to put forward his own proposal after Republicans failed to produce their own budget this year.

Compounding pressure on Washington to strike a deal, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said Monday that estimates are unchanged on the possible X-date when the U.S. could run out of cash.

But Yellen, in a letter to the House and Senate, left some opening for a possible time extension on a national default, stating that the actual date Treasury exhausts extraordinary measures could be a number of days or weeks later than these estimates.

It is essential that Congress act as soon as possible, Yellen said Tuesday in remarks before the Independent Community Bankers of America. In my assessment  and that of economists across the board  a U.S. default would generate an economic and financial catastrophe.

Time is dwindling. Congress has just a few days when both the House and Senate are in session to pass legislation, although scheduled recesses could be canceled if more time is needed to clear whatever deal the White House reaches with McCarthy.

Congressional leaders will also need time to take the temperature of rank-and-file lawmakers on any agreement, and its not at all clear that the emerging contours go far enough to satisfy McCarthys hard-right faction in the House or would be acceptable to a sizable number of Democrats whose votes would almost certainly be needed to secure any final deal.

Republicans led by McCarthy want Biden to accept their proposal to roll back spending, cap future outlays and make other policy changes in the package passed last month by House Republicans. McCarthy says the House is the only chamber that has taken action to raise the debt ceiling. But the House bill is almost certain to fail in the Senate, controlled by Democrats, and Biden has said he would veto it.

An increase in the debt limit would not authorize new federal spending. It would only allow for borrowing to pay for what Congress has already approved.

___ Associated Press writers Fatima Hussein and Kevin Freking contributed to this report.
LOS ANGELES (AP)  The Daytime Emmy Awards have become the latest casualty of the Hollywood writers strike.

The show set for June 16 in Los Angeles is being postponed because of the strike by the Writers Guild of America, the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences said in a statement.

We look forward to our community gathering together as one to celebrate our Golden Anniversary and all of the talented nominees and honorees at a later date, said Adam Sharp, academy president and CEO.

The 50th annual Daytime Emmys honoring soap operas and talk shows were to be televised on CBS.

Last year, the ceremony returned to a live, in-person event for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic began. In 2020 and 2021, the Daytime Emmys were pre-taped events.

The postponement comes as the Tony Awards, scheduled for June 11 on CBS, remain in flux after the WGA denied a request for a strike waiver from the show's producers. The union said it would not picket the show.

The recent MTV Movie & TV Awards switched to a pre-taped telecast featuring clip packages after the union vowed to picket the live broadcast that was scheduled to take place in Santa Monica. Host Drew Barrymore dropped out to honor the striking writers.

The Peabody Awards scrapped plans to stage an in-person ceremony on June 11. The strike has also disrupted the PEN America gala.
Beloved Texas creamery Blue Bell is releasing a new ice cream just in time for summer.

The new flavor is set to arrive in stores on Thursday, but the company has not yet said what it will be. Instead, Blue Bell dropped hints on social media all day long on Tuesday to tease and excite customers ahead of the big reveal.

"You deserve more clues," the brand wrote. "Details drop tomorrow on our Facebook and Instagram Stories at 10, 2 and 4."

At 10 a.m., the company posted a graphic that said, "Two iconic brands, one delicious ice cream flavor." At 2 p.m., Blue Bell posted a video of someone using an ice cream spoon to scoop up a serving of the ice cream.

Blue Bell Ice Cream Blue Bell Ice Cream Screen grabs from Blue Bell Ice Cream Facebook stories

Ice cream lovers left their predictions of the new flavor in the comments, with several people guessing Dr. Pepper since the pictures posted featured burgundy backdrops with white fonts and a glass of soda. Dr. Pepper was also created in Texas, which the company may have alluded to when it said "two iconic brands."

The company will release one more hint at 4 p.m. Recently, Blue Bell also brought back its Peaches and Homemade Vanilla flavor for spring and released Peachy Peach in pint size.
MERIDEN  Over a roughly two decade span, the citys police department has experienced stagnant levels of staffing  at the same time, officers duties, responsibilities and required training continue to increase, leading to increased caseloads, overtime and officer burnout, police leaders outlined in a report shared with city councilors last month.

The 40-page report, drafted by Deputy Police Chief Nicholas Sherwood, noted that the police department is currently staffed with 123 officers. However, when accounting for those personnel who are on various types of leave, including military and personnel, the number of officers who actually are available to take on patrol shifts and other duties is 108.

Sherwood cautioned that the trend of stagnation not only impacts officer morale, but the level of police services his department is able to provide to the city and its residents. Sherwood concluded that report with three recommendations to address the departments staffing needs: gradually increase staffing by one to three officers each year, until the department reaches its target; seek grant funding to cover the costs of different personnel; and regionalize certain emergency services with law enforcement agencies in surrounding municipalities.

Police leaders shared the report with the City Councils Finance Committee, and briefly discussed some of its findings during city budget deliberations at the committees April 11 meeting.

More complex job

Sherwoods report noted law enforcement officers jobs have become more complex in Connecticut and across the United States. The report specifically referenced the investigation of motor vehicle crashes and the completion of risk protection orders, in relation to domestic violence investigations.

According to Sherwoods report, an average risk protection order case takes around four hours to complete per officer involved.

This depletes normal staffing levels on the streets, thus increasing the workload of other officers not attached to the RPO case, Sherwood wrote.

Recent state-mandated accountability and reporting requirements have also increased demands on personnel.

While some of the mandates may be good for promoting a legitimate, trustworthy, and professional police agency, the mandates are also causing significant stress, poor morale, officer health issues, and many other concerns for the staff, Sherwood wrote. He further wrote that the combination can contribute to mistakes and errors in judgment, which can be life or death in the policing profession.

Sherwood wrote that Meriden Police and other departments are being asked to do more with less, meaning those agencies are accomplishing less with less.

Recommendations for reaching higher staffing levels

The report notes the currently budgeted staffing level is 123 officers.

Based on Meridens population, the recommended staffing per FBI standards is 146 sworn officers.

Sherwood described the current approach to staffing as antiquated and one that does not assess a communitys needs. The deputy chief continued that the preferred method for calculating appropriate staffing is what he termed the work-load analysis approach. It determines need based on officers time spent on calls for service and reporting on and investigating those calls, along with training and more than a dozen other measures.

Sherwoods report references a recommendation that at least 60% of law enforcement personnel be dedicated to patrol, and officer wellness be factored in.

Sherwood noted that Meriden is not immune to the impacts of staffing challenges, which can lead to officer burnout. Over the five year span from 2018 to 2022, officers overtime has increased nearly 595%, through mandated shifts.

Sherwoods report states that including department administrators, the overall staffing level based on case-load and ideal officer-to-supervisor ratios is 168 employees.

Sherwood contrasts Meridens caseload to law enforcement agencies in similarly sized communities, noting that the agencys caseload is along the higher end of the spectrum. And historically, the agency has seen its numbers decline over a nearly two decade span. In 2004, the agency had 135 sworn personnel.

Sherwood referenced another measure for determining appropriate department staffing termed in his report as the Rule of 60, which stipulates that about 60% of a departments sworn personnel should be dedicated to its patrol division.

The other 40% would be support services, administrative, investigative and other services. According to that rule, the department should be staffed with 133 sworn personnel, which is lower than both the FBIs population ratio recommendation and the work-load analysis recommendation. The average of all of those is 143 personnel.

Regardless of the method used, this report concludes that the Meriden Police Department undoubtedly needs more staffing to meet the current and growing demands, Sherwood wrote.

The first recommendation is to gradually increase staffing by one to three positions annually, using this study, as well as other considerations, to justify the additional needs.

Sherwood noted this approach fails to offer an immediate solution to the struggling staffing levels currently. But it will allow for proper planning and anticipation for the increasing budgets that become inevitable with the increase in staffing.

Sherwood recommended seeking grants to help fill some of those recommended positions without adding immediate costs to the agency. A third option is maintaining current staffing and evaluating the services being provided, Sherwood wrote.

This is not ideal, but management concepts such as consolidation, regionalization, civilianization, and other methods of doing more with less could and have aided in getting by with the current levels of staffing, Sherwood wrote. Regionalizing assignments and specialized teams, like the departments SWAT team and hostage negotiations with neighboring agencies could be a way to achieve more with less, the deputy chief added.

The extra savings created through regionalization (if proven cost effective) could be reinvested into the agency to increase the staffing levels of the Meriden Police Department, as well as, enhance the services provided to the city residents... he wrote.

Sherwood described officer wellness as a vital component to the effectiveness and efficiency of the police department. Morale would increase with the opportunities for promotion and the opportunity for time off and reduced mandated overtime.

Police Chief Roberto Rosado, in an email to the Record-Journal, reiterated that the departments recommendation is to increase staffing to deal with the increased workload  because of the legislative laws passed and our unfunded mandates.

Rosado noted that the department did not receive any funding for additional personnel as a result of the budget process.

The chief also addressed the regionalization proposals.

There is no consolidation of services through regionalization, however, specialized services for emergency situations can be examined, Rosado wrote. Those services are for less frequent and emergency events. Any interlocal agreements made are only for those incidents. Regionalization is not for the day-to-day activities, which is where the increase in workload has come from.

Reaching capacity

Deputy Mayor Michael Cardona said he doesnt believe that historically the department has ever been at capacity.

Though Chief Rosado made big strides in retention and hiring of staff here, Cardona said.

Fellow City Councilor and now retired police corporal Ray Ouellet said he is glad Sherwood took the initiative to put forth the report, which he said is getting a lot of nice notoriety from other departments.

Ouellet did not mince words in describing how the personnel issues and accountability measures have impacted the department. He said he should have retired three years before he did, back in 2022.

I was burnt out. Thats because its a daily grind, Ouellet said. Should we increase manpower? Absolutely we should. Because if you dont have public safety, what do you have?

State Rep. Michael Quinn, who represents the 82nd District, sits on the General Assemblys Public Safety and Security Committee. Quinn noted one of the bills passed this year addresses the recruitment and retention of police.

From all public safety standpoints, we dont have enough people and we have to do whatever we can to encourage people to get into the profession in the first place  whatever resources we can provide to municipalities to hire these folks, Quinn said.

A concern of Mayor Kevin Scarpati is the overall lack of interest of applicants seeking to enter the police field, which he noted has dwindled significantly  from hundreds of applicants in past years, to only a few dozen in more recent recruitment rounds.

Its not just Meriden, its everywhere. And even if we wanted to increase our staffing from 123 to 172, how do we staff that? How do we budget that? Scarpati asked. More importantly, can we even get the qualified candidate into our department, through the training process in the academy, to take the job, filling roles within the department?

mgagne@record-journal.com203-317-2231Twitter:@MikeGagneRJ
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A 34-year-old New York man has been sentenced in Nebraska to five years in federal prison and ordered to pay $404,000 in restitution for his part in a scheme to defraud Verizon Wireless.

Chief United States District Judge Robert Rossiter Jr. sentenced Felix Pena, 34, of Bronx, New York, in U.S. District Court in Omaha on Friday for conspiracy to commit wire fraud and aggravated identity theft.

Pena pleaded guilty and will have to serve three years on supervised release after serving his prison sentence. There is no parole in the federal system.

U.S. Attorney Steven Russell said that beginning in 2017 and continuing to February 2019, Pena and others acquired stolen identities of U.S. citizens, including at least three in Nebraska. Then they used the victims' information to create Verizon accounts and bought cellphones and accessories on the accounts, causing financial loss to Verizon and potential credit damage to the individual whose identity was used.

Once purchased, the phones would be shipped to New York or New Jersey and sold on the black market.

In February 2019, two of the conspirators were arrested in Kearney while trying to buy phones using the stolen identity of a Kearney resident "thus beginning the investigation of this matter," Russell said.

Penas main role was to run credit reports on the stolen identities to determine the credit worthiness of the victim whose identity was being used to open a Verizon account. He also distributed money to the other members of the conspiracy.

Verizon suffered a loss of $528,002 as a result of the scheme.

The case was investigated by the FBI and the Kearney Police Department.

Think you're immune to cybercrime because you're young and tech savvy? Think again Who is most impacted by cybercrime? People under age 50 lost around $2.7 billion to internet scams in 2021 People in younger age groups are scammed at higher rates than those over 60 41% of people in their 20s reported losing money to fraud People in their 40s were the fastest-growing segment of online crime victims Adults under 40 were more than twice as likely to be the victims of social media scams
There are signs of friction emerging within the youth wing of Zimbabwes ruling ZANU-PF party. Some members are reportedly disillusioned with the leadership of national secretary Tino Machakaire, while his deputy John Paradza is gaining popularity.

Machakaire was appointed to the position by party leader Emmerson Mnangagwa earlier this year. Paradza, on the other hand, was elected by youth wing members in 2021.

According to sources, Machakaire has struggled to attract large crowds at youth meetings, in contrast to Paradza who has spoken to bumper youth gatherings around the country.

At a recent inter-district meeting in Kwekwe, Machakaire addressed a small crowd that left him displeased, sources said. Many ZANU-PF youth members from surrounding areas reportedly did not attend the event.

However, both Machakaire and Paradza have denied any rift between them. When contacted for comment, Paradza said There is no bad blood between me and my boss. We have been organizing the meetings together.

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Still, observers note that should divisions within the youth wing grow, it could undermine ZANU-PFs campaign efforts ahead of elections scheduled for later this year. Historically the youth wing has played an important role in mobilizing support for the ruling party.

For now, ZANU-PF officials are putting on a brave face, insisting unity remains within the youth wing. But questions remain about Machakaires ability to effectively lead the organization into the vote.

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A Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) supporter from Magunje is facing attempted murder charges after allegedly stabbing another bar patron who had confronted and assaulted him for wearing a CCC T-shirt.

Knowledge Kumbweya (42) appeared in court, where he was remanded in custody until May 19 and advised to apply for bail at the High Court.

According to prosecutors, on May 4 Kumbweya arrived at a bar wearing a yellow CCC T-shirt with a portrait of CCC leader Nelson Chamisa. This angered another patron, Thando Mugoni, who confronted Kumbweya for wearing opposition party regalia.

A physical altercation broke out between the two men and others joined in assaulting Kumbweya with fists, feet and beer bottles. Kumbweya sustained an ear laceration in the attack.

During the fracas, Kumbweya allegedly drew an okapi knife and stabbed Mugoni once in the chest, causing a deep wound. Kumbweya was disarmed and detained while Mugoni was rushed to hospital.

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Mugoni was transferred to Chinhoyi Provincial Hospital where his condition is reportedly critical.

Kumbweya claimed he acted in self-defense after being attacked for wearing the CCC shirt. However, prosecutors charged him with attempting to kill Mugoni.

The case highlights the polarized political climate in Zimbabwe, where simply wearing opposition party attire can provoke aggression and violence. While Kumbweya may claim to have been acting in self-defense, his actions allegedly caused grave injury to another person.

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As spring blooms turn to summer sunshine, the thought of spending time outdoors becomes ever more enticing. For a select group of artists, being outdoors and sharing the essence of this experience is the sum of their artistic expression.

Since the 19th century, artists have sought to transmit and translate the color and light of the landscapes and beauty found in nature.

En Plein Air is a French term describing this practice of painting outdoors. With firm roots in the French Impressionist paintings of the 19th century, artists strive to capture the essence of the scene before them, however fleeting and temporary that moment may be.

En Plein Air: Paintings by the Susquehanna Valley Plein Air Painters, currently on view at the Carlisle Arts Learning Center (CALC), is a local take on this tradition by an organization dedicated to this principle. Here, one can view the bounty of Central Pennsylvania rendered in paint.

As a group, the Susquehanna Valley Plein Air Painters have been creating, teaching and interacting with the community since 2010. This active group meets regularly to travel and paint together outdoors, thereby sharing their passion for art and the local environment by means of highlighting the landscapes seasonal colors and changing light.

Probably the most iconic of Central Pennsylvania outdoor settings are the areas that border the Susquehanna River. John Capowskis oil painting Susquehanna Twilight is in delicate colors, in an Impressionist vein. The soothing pastel tones embrace both the river in the foreground and the expansive evening sky.

Linda Willard similarly features a river view in Spring by the River, but gives us realistic details from the dirt road to the leaves on the sloping branches. She beautifully includes a line of trees in several varieties, differentiated by the colors and textures of their bark.

Plein Air is often thought of in terms of landscapes in nature. Indeed, the Barbizon and Hudson River Schools often focused on the majesty of the perceived unspoiled nature. Yet, the Impressionists often ventured out to record the rapidly changing world of France during the Industrial Revolution. In this exhibit, several artists chose the environment closer to ones own home.

Trips to local roadside stands are a staple of life in our communities. The setting of Kim Stones pastel on board piece is a local favorite, Mums for Sale at Paulus Farm Market. The orange and golden mums are a sure sign of cooler weather and fall activities. Workers and customers bustle among the flowers, reminiscent of the way we often spend our Autumn weekends.

For a couple of artists, the focus shifts to an even closer look at the world that is mere blocks from the CALC gallery. Mary DePalmas Campus Fog brings us an all too familiar sight of a rainy day on Dickinson Colleges campus. Looking past the entrance gates, the gray sky meets the ground as figures make their way through the misty day.

In Spring Comes to Campus, DePalmas backdrop is filled with the abundant forsythia that lines some of the campus walkways in early spring. In a hallmark of Plein Air painting, the play of the natural light is represented by the shadows on the ground of the nearby trees.

Brad Robertson also visited the Dickinson College campus and turned his focus to The Biddle House in his acrylic painting. While for many, the name of the building may not ring a bell but visually, Robertsons likeness of a structure that many of us have traveled passed many, many times makes the landmark unmistakable.

Carol Bayne also takes us on a visual trip to downtown Carlisle with two paintings of well-recognizable sites. The first is a building that one can even see from the door of the CALC gallery, Marjories Gems. The structure on the corner of Louther and Hanover streets employs enough detail such as the awnings and fire escapes to clearly identify the location, but the soft brush strokes give the painterly quality that differentiates it from a photograph.

Baynes second entry, Carlisle Theatre, is a familiar night scene as the historic marquee lights up High Street. As the lights shine on the performing arts center, the darkened skies in the background appear even richer in blue and black. The empty streets somehow seem full of life, with the colorful lights bouncing off the sidewalks.

French artist Paul Cezanne once stated that All pictures painted inside in the studio will never be as good as the things done outside. The experience of painting from life adds a dimension of temporality to the works of Plein Air painters. Capturing a moment, a point in time is the primary focus of these artists, giving a sense of immediacy and spontaneity that comes from being in direct contact with the subject. The Susquehanna Valley Plein Air Painters manage to bring this successfully to our Central Pennsylvania environs in this exhibit. Whether rural or urban, these artists expertly portray the joy of being outdoors, living in the minute.

En Plein Air: Paintings by the Susquehanna Valley Plein Air Painters is on view at CALC through May 27 in the GB Stuart Gallery. Gallery hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday to Friday, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday or by appointment. CALC is located at 38 W. Pomfret St., in Carlisle. The exhibition is free and open to the public. Visit www.CarlisleArts.org or call 717-249-6973 for more information.

The Susquehanna Valley Plein Air Painters are again partnering with CALC later this year to exhibit their work at Kings Gap Environmental Education Center. The works will be on display at the Cameron-Masland Mansion from August until October 2023. Tours of the mansion are available on Sunday through the parks open season.

Viewers are encouraged to visit the Facebook page, Susquehanna Valley Plein Air Painters, to learn more about the group, their activities and exhibitions.
A Guy Strapped a Camera to His Cat and Its the Best Thing Weve Ever Seen Futurism (PdB). I could not be a cat. I would get vertigo.

Pinball is booming in America, thanks to nostalgia and canny marketing Economist. In my teens, when my father was in an uncharacteristically generous mood, he got a pinball machine. It was totally cool

Titanic: First ever full-sized scans reveal wreck as never seen before BBC. Lead story, so there is officially no news.

Replication of High-Temperature Superconductor Comes Up Empty arstechnica

EcoLogicStudio turns algae into air-purifying biopolymer tree dezeen

The joy of sulk aeon

#COVID-19

Climate/Environment

China?

Could a Taiwan tax deal help US cripple Chinas semiconductor development? South China Morning Post From DLG via e-mail: Fatto Quotidianos paper edition this morning has three articles about how Italy is being forced into not renewing its Silk Road accord with China, which comes up for renewal in 2024 (after five years in effect). Italy is the only G7 country to be in the Silk Road. Which makes sense, given that Roma has been one terminus of the Silk Road for, ohhh, a couple-a thousand years. Pressure is coming from the US of A and the EU. And after NordStream, the Italians know what the friendses are capable of. Further, Giorgia Meloni is going along with the Atlanticist garbage to preserve her government. She doesnt want to be soft-coup-detat-ed and have Mario Draghi parachuted upon her. It occurs to me that the august neoliberal leadership of Europe gives in to U.S. demands because it is the path of least resistance. So long as the U.S. doesnt foment a war within their country, why not give in? Theres money to be made. One doesnt want to end up as the new Serbia. The English must be allowed to extract further revenge. Liz Truss speech in Taiwan is even more unhinged than I feared. She calls to stop *any* cooperation with China, including on climate change, because that'd destroy "freedom and democracy" which is more important than the survival of the human race https://t.co/MBOMfvqiho  Arnaud Bertrand (@RnaudBertrand) May 17, 2023

Quad meeting in Australia canceled as U.S. politics pull Biden home Nikkei. Note this looks like it will push back the inking of the Papau New Guinea port access deal.

Old Blighty

La belle France

New Not-So-Cold War

Syraqistan

New reports/resources from @WHOoPt  Right to Health: Barriers to health and attacks on health care in the occupied Palestinian territory https://t.co/30pPSyYQ9h pic.twitter.com/FaruoHy38F  Lara Friedman (@LaraFriedmanDC) May 16, 2023

Big Brother is Watching You Watch

Google sued over interception of abortion data on Planned Parenthood website The Register Re-Victimization From Police-Auctioned Cell Phones Brian Krebs Your DNA Can Now Be Pulled From Thin Air New York Times. I am skeptical of the positioning of this story. Yes, your DNA is in all sorts of places, but pray tell how is this proven to belong to you (for instance, yours truly has a tiny extended family and I am highly confident none of them have given DNA to cops or genealogy services)? Perhaps I am paranoid, but I read the angle as designed to desensitize the

Imperial Collapse Watch

Trump

Durham is Too Late to Stop the Madness Matt Taibbi. Worse, its been documented in cognitive bias literature that when people have strong beliefs and receive information that contradicts them, they double down on their priors. Paywalled but includes cringe-making examples of Mueller adoration. Durhams FBI-Trump report fuels House GOP weaponization attacks The Hill

Biden

Debt Ceiling

Immigration

Texas governor urges all US governors to help combat border crisis following end of Title 42 Anadolu Agency

Abortion

Woke Watch

AI

Microsoft Says New AI Shows Signs of Human Reasoning New York Times (Dr. Kevin). Microsoft also thinks its software works.

The Bezzle

Elizabeth Holmes loses bid to avoid prison and ordered to pay $425 million to her fraud victims Boing Boing (resilc)

Investor George Soros Dumps Tesla Stake, Enrages Elon Musk Jalopnik (resilc)

Mormon who left Wall St. to work for charity blows whistle on what he says is his churchs clandestine hedge fund CBS (Paul R). FWIW, I heard about this decades ago from a college buddy who converted to marry into the Mormon church, and his wife was from a very prominent LDS family. And he made clear the internal investment fund was large. I dont find this surprising; where would all the tithing monies go?

April industrial production looks great!  until you account for the March revisions Angry Bear

Mohamed El-Erian says regional banks are in a hospital phase of turmoil, but a Fed policy mistake will drive them back into the ICU Business Insider. Guys like El-Erian are loath to criticize the Fed, so this is as close as he could get to our formulation, that this crisis was entirely the Feds creation.

The Great Pandemic Mortgage Refinance Boom Liberty Street Economics. Note refis are stimulative because they free up consumer budgets.

Inside the White Gold Rush to Mine American Lithium and Make Millions Vice

Class Warfare

David Brooks and the Which Way is Up Problem in Economics

Dean Baker, Counterpunch. Resilc: Brooks is such a load. USA USA cant even get rid of the annual debt ceiling show. there is no united in United States on any issue. Hopeless on all frontzzz. Big Tech Resumed Hiring Foreign Workers Just Weeks After Layoffs Lee Fang (Paul R)

Antidote du jour. William B: Spring turtles in MN:

And a bonus. An addition to resilcs herd:

See yesterdays Links and Antidote du Jour here.
California now has a multilingual statewide hotline and website that encourages people to report all acts of hate.

While we already have a criminal justice system for hate crimes, this new program, CA vs Hate, wants to know about all hate incidents. What are those, you ask? The CA vs Hate website describes them this way:

A hate incident is a hostile expression or action that may be motivated by bias against another persons actual or perceived identity. Perpetrators may be motivated by different discriminatory biases, including, but not limited to; bias based on race, color, disability, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, or gender, including gender identity.

Interestingly, the California Senate Public Safety Committee analysis stated the following:

1) Make sure that hate incidents are included alongside hate crimes wherever relevant 2) Define hate incidents with language provided by the Anti-Defamation League: A hate incident is an action or behavior motivated by hate but legally protected by the First Amendment right to freedom of expression. Including: name-calling, insults, distributing hate material in public places, and displaying hate material on your own property.

Just a reminder that hate speech or a hate incident is very different from a hate crime:

In the United States, hate speech is protected by the First Amendment. Courts extend this protection on the grounds that the First Amendment requires the government to strictly protect robust debate on matters of public concern even when such debate devolves into distasteful, offensive, or hateful speech that causes others to feel grief, anger, or fear. the FBI has defined a hate crime as a criminal offense against a person or property motivated in whole or in part by an offenders bias against a race, religion, disability, sexual orientation, ethnicity, gender, or gender identity, including skin color and national origin.

So what exactly does the CA vs Hate program do if the US already has a system to deal with hate crimes? Heres the breakdown of the process:

Callers will be connected with a professional trained in culturally competent communication and trauma-informed practices. Whether you report online or by phone, you will be contacted by a care coordinator who will follow up with you to ensure you are able to access resources and support, including legal, financial, mental health, and mediation services. California vs Hate is not run by the police. Your report will not be shared with law enforcement without your consent. We will only connect you with law enforcement if you request it. Our team can share information about how to report to police or local prosecutors if needed. California vs Hate will also identify civil legal options that dont involve the criminal legal system, both through the Civil Rights Department and other agencies.

The law creating the hotline includes identity protections for incident victims, such as:

a) Advise callers and website visitors that their personally identifiable information will not be shared with local, state, or federal law enforcement, including immigration enforcement, without their express written permission; and, b) Provide statistical data regarding hate crimes and related incidents reported to them to the Department of Justice (DOJ), in the form and at intervals prescribed by DOJ. This data shall not include any personally identifiable data regarding victims or reporting parties.

But there were no such protections that I could find for those accused of perpetrating a hate incident, nor could I find any sort of mechanism for dealing with false accusations. How will the data collected be used? The CA vs Hate website only says the following:

CA vs. Hate will use the information captured through the portal and network to improve services for people targeted for hate. The Civil Rights Department will also issue regular reports, sharing data about hate incidents and crimes across the state that will not identify individuals targeted for hate or people who report acts of hate. This data will help the Civil Rights Department, other government, and community leaders improve efforts to prevent and respond to hate.

One can only imagine how this data will find its way into the US burgeoning social credit system.

Here are some of the questions that CA vs Hate asks individuals reporting a hate incident to answer:

Governor Gavin Newsom says the reason behind the hotline is the rise in reported hate crimes  up 33 percent from 2020 to 2021. A deeper look at the data, however, shows that Newsom is guilty of cherry picking. From Public:

But convictions of hate crimes have been flat. In 2012 there were 107 hate crime convictions in California. In 2021, there were 109, according to the same data. Its possible that hate crimes really did rise by 80%, and juries decided not to give prosecutors convictions. But its also possible that convictions stayed the same because there was no increase in prosecutable hate crimes. And it may be that Californian prosecutors simply labeled more crimes as hate crimes because they were primed to do so by the medias 700%  1,000% increased focus on racism between 2011 and 2020.

Business, Consumer Services and Housing Agency Secretary Lourdes Castro Ramirez said the following at the launch of the program on May 4:

With the launch of the CA vs Hate Resource Line and Network, we unequivocally state that there is no home or place for hate in California. We are doubling down on our commitment to combat hate by embracing the strength of our diversity and empowering Californians with resources and support to prevent and end hate in all forms.

While I certainly dont condone hate, its hard to see exactly how setting up a hotline to report all types of aggression is supposed to cleanse everyones hearts. The program does, however, continue doling out boatloads of cash to the nonprofit industrial complex, which is of course incentivized to amplify the threat of hate.

The CA vs Hate hotline is part of a broader $166.5 million investment in state anti-hate initiatives that was passed in 2021. Since then, California has been sending that funding to nonprofits across the state to provide support to victims and survivors of hate incidents. In addition to fielding incident reports in the newly-established hotline, it includes the following:

Program Service Providers shall provide supports and services which may include, but not be limited to: community engagement and education; community conflict resolution; in- language outreach; services to escort community members in public; community healing; collaboration; cross-racial building; community diversity training; and local or regional rapid response to hate incidents.

The 2021 federal COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act is also beginning to dole out money to respond to hate incidents. and could be coming to a city and/or state near you. From Vox:

In a bipartisan move and as a response to a surge in anti-Asian violence, the House passed the Covid-19 Hate Crimes Act to bolster hate crime tracking by providing grants to regional law enforcement agencies to create reporting hotlines and train police officers on hate crime response, among other efforts. Many celebrated the law but as Voxs Li Zhou reported, it wont prevent anti-Asian hate crimes since it mostly addresses what takes place after the crime has already occurred.

Yes, fortunately we dont quite have precogs yet.

It looks like the federal grants are helping to bring a hate incident hotline to Illinois soon, and a recent federal grant to the California Civil Rights Department will also help the state expand its efforts to eradicate hate:

This grant will support the development of sustainable infrastructure for engagement between [the California Civil Rights Department] and community-based organizations (CBOs) that have earned the trust of communities targeted for hate. This grant will help ensure that victims of hate are directed to local support services and, if they request, law enforcement. Projected activities include the creation of a new CBO Specialist position. The CBO Specialist will: (1) institutionalize regular input from CBOs to improve the services provided by CA vs. Hate and to hold CRD accountable to the needs of people targeted for hate; (2) improve service to CBOs that are serving individuals targeted for hate so those CBOs can help serve as a bridge between victims and CA vs. Hate; (3) collect hate incident and crime data directly from the CBOs; (4) develop a regional network of CBOs, and facilitate regular meetings to improve services; and (5) enhance collaboration and communication between CBOs to strengthen cross-community solidarity.

The California Civil Rights department also proposes to sub-grant more than 30 percent of the grant funds to California Black Media, a culturally specific organization that will further advance these goals consistent with the federal, state, and local data and will create opportunities that increase awareness and involvement in decisions and policy discussions that produce economic, social, and political impacts on underserved people.

***

So when should we expect hate to be eradicated from the Golden State? Hard to tell.

One could make the argument that this new program will only help exacerbate the issue in the following ways:

The nonprofits are incentivized to oversell the preponderance of hate.

The reports on the quantity of hate incidents will no doubt be given ample media attention, which will help drive the narrative that hate is everywhere.

The civil legal options could lead to a strong backlash that will only stoke resentment and anger.

One big benefit of the program for the political class, however, is it keeps the identity politics train rolling along. Its reminiscent of Hillary Clintons slogan love trumps hate for her failed 2016 campaign  one that wrote off a chunk of the electorate because their hearts were supposedly filled with hate. That allowed Clinton to justify not offering any economic policies that would benefit such deplorables.

Well now California Governor Gavin Newsom is going to do what not even Jesus himself could; hes going to eradicate hate from the hearts of men. It might be a quixotic project, but it will also be a useful distraction from dealing with more concrete issues an elected official can actually control, such as the following in California:

This might shock politicians like Newsom, but falling living standards and plummeting life expectancy typically put people in a foul mood. Sometimes that anger is misdirected. Sometimes its exploited as people search for explanations for their despair. We have seen this time after time.

If the governor started fixing some of Californias economic inequality issues, he might find a little less hate in his state.
Yves here. Medea Benjamin and Nicolas J. S. Davies highlight a New York Times advertisement as an important sign that the idea of seeking peace in Ukraine is getting more traction in policy circles.

While it is true that the realists are getting their day in court, that is a necessary but far from sufficient position for a change in US and NATO positions. For instance, a New York Times advertisement is actually a sign of weakness. It means the authors could not get an open letter or article published in a serious policy venue.

Sadly, far more indicative of well-place insider thinking is a piece in the current Foreign Affairs, Beyond a Ukraine Offensive, by Michael Kofman and Rob Lee. The article carefully manages expectations down for the long-hyped Ukraine counteroffensive, and instead urges the West to build the capacity to support what sure sounds like an open-ended conflict. Note this is at odds with the findings of a Rand paper, that argued that a long war in Ukraine would be bad for the US. It also presumably does not comport with the views of the presumed incoming head of the Joint Chiefs, Charles Q. Brown, who is a China hawk and would presumably want to back burner the Ukraine conflict. However, it very much conforms to the plan voiced by Anthony Blinken months ago, via a Washington Post interview with David Ignatius, that he was already looking beyond the current Ukraine defeat struggle and considering how to keep arming Ukraine to get at Russia.

And this is before the wee problem, that even if the current bunch in the Administration were turfed out, Russia knows it cant trust the West to keep any deal and therefore cant afford to negotiate. Even before the Minsk Accords betrayal, Putin had commented on the inability of past US presidents to deliver on deals agreed between them and concluded a permanent bureaucracy was really running the show. And its not friendly to Russia.

By Medea Benjamin and Nicolas J. S. Davies, the authors of War in Ukraine: Making Sense of a Senseless Conflict, published by OR Books in November 2022. Medea Benjamin is the cofounder of CODEPINK for Peace, and the author of several books, including Inside Iran: The Real History and Politics of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Nicolas J. S. Davies is an independent journalist, a researcher with CODEPINK and the author of Blood on Our Hands: The American Invasion and Destruction of Iraq

On May 16, 2023, TheNew York Times published a full-page advertisement signed by 15 U.S. national security expertsabout the war in Ukraine. It was headed The U.S. Should Be a Force for Peace in the World, and was drafted by the Eisenhower Media Network.

While condemning Russias invasion, the statement provides a more objective account of the crisis in Ukraine than the U.S. government or TheNew York Times has previously presented to the public, including the disastrous U.S. role in NATO expansion, the warnings ignored by successive U.S. administrations, and the escalating tensions that ultimately led to war.

The statement calls the war an unmitigated disaster, and urges President Joe Biden and Congress to end the war speedily through diplomacy, especially given the dangers of military escalation that could spiral out of control.

If the U.S. persists in backing the plan for a Ukrainian offensive, instead of encouraging Zelenskyy to seize the moment for diplomacy, it will share considerable responsibility for the failure to seize the chance for peace, and for the appalling and ever-rising human costs of this war.

This call for diplomacy by wise, experienced former insidersU.S. diplomats, military officers, and civilian officialswould have been a welcome intervention on any one of the past 442 days of this war. Yet their appeal now comes at an especially critical moment in the war.

On May 10, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced that he is delaying Ukraines long-awaited spring offensive to avoid unacceptable losses to Ukrainian forces. Western policy has repeatedly put Zelenskyy in near-impossiblepositions, caught between the need to show signs of progress on the battlefield to justify further Western support and arms deliveries and, on the other hand, the shocking human cost of continued war represented by the fresh graveyards where tens of thousands of Ukrainians now lie buried.

It is not clear how a delay in the planned Ukrainian counter-attack would prevent it leading to unacceptable Ukrainian losses when it finally occurs, unless the delay in fact leads to scaling back and calling off many of the operations that have been planned. Zelenskyy appears to be reaching a limit in terms of how many more of his people he is willing to sacrifice to satisfy Western demands for signs of military progress to hold together the Western alliance and maintain the flow of weapons and money to Ukraine.

Zelenskyys predicament is certainly the fault of Russias invasion, but also of his April 2022 deal with the devil in the shape of then-U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson. Johnson promised Zelenskyy that the U.K. and the collective West were in it for the long run and would back him to recover all of Ukraines former territory, just as long as Ukraine stopped negotiating with Russia.

Johnson was never in a position to fulfill that promise and, since he was forced to resign as prime minister, he has endorsed a Russian withdrawal only from the territory it invaded since February 2022, not a return to pre-2014 borders. Yet that compromise was exactly what he talked Zelenskyy out of agreeing to in April 2022, when most of the wars dead were still alive and the framework of a peace agreement was on the table at diplomatic talks in Turkey.

Zelenskyy has tried desperately to hold his Western backers to Johnsons overblown promise. But short of direct U.S. and NATO military intervention, it seems that no quantity of Western weapons can decisively break the stalemate in what has degenerated into a brutal war of attrition, fought mainly by artillery and trench and urban warfare.

An American general bragged that the West has supplied Ukraine with 600 different weapons systems, but this itself creates problems. For example, the different 105 mm guns sent by the U.K., France, Germany, and the U.S. all use different shells. And each time heavy losses force Ukraine to re-form survivors into new units, many of them have to be retrained on weapons and equipment theyve never used before.

Despite U.S. deliveries of at least six types of anti-aircraft missilesStinger, NASAMS, Hawk, Rim-7, Avenger, and at least one Patriot missile batterya leaked Pentagon document revealed that Ukraines Russian-built S-300 and Buk anti-aircraft systems still make up almost 90% of its main air defenses. NATO countries have searched their weapons stockpiles for all the missiles they can provide for those systems, but Ukraine has nearly exhausted those supplies, leaving its forces newly vulnerable to Russian air strikes just as it prepares to launch its new counter-attack.

Since at least June 2022, Biden and other U.S. officials have acknowledged that the war must end in a diplomatic settlement, and have insisted that they are arming Ukraine to put it in the strongest possible position at the negotiating table. Until now, they have claimed that each new weapons system they have sent and each Ukrainian counter-offensive have contributed to that goal and left Ukraine in a stronger position.

But the leaked Pentagon documents and recent statements by U.S. and Ukrainian officials make it clear that Ukraines planned spring offensive, already delayed into summer, would lack the previous element of surprise and encounter stronger Russian defenses than the offensives that recovered some of its lost territory last fall.

One leaked Pentagon document warned that enduring Ukrainian deficiencies in training and munitions supplies probably will strain progress and exacerbate casualties during the offensive, concluding that it would probably make smaller territorial gains than the fall offensives did.

How can a new offensive with mixed results and higher casualties put Ukraine in a stronger position at a currently non-existent negotiating table? If the offensive reveals that even huge quantities of Western military aid have failed to give Ukraine military superiority or reduce its casualties to a sustainable level, it could very well leave Ukraine in a weaker negotiating position, instead of a stronger one.

Meanwhile, offers to mediate peace talks have been pouring in from countries all over the world, from the Vatican to China to Brazil. It has been six months since the U.S. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley suggested publicly, after Ukraines military gains last fall, that the moment had come to negotiate from a position of strength. When theres an opportunity to negotiate, when peace can be achieved, seize it, he said.

It would be doubly or triply tragic if, on top of the diplomatic failures that led to the war in the first place and the U.S. and U.K. undermining peace negotiations in April 2022, the chance for diplomacy that General Milley wanted to seize is lost in the forlorn hope of attaining an even stronger negotiating position that is not really achievable.

If the U.S. persists in backing the plan for a Ukrainian offensive, instead of encouraging Zelenskyy to seize the moment for diplomacy, it will share considerable responsibility for the failure to seize the chance for peace, and for the appalling and ever-rising human costs of this war.

The experts who signed TheNew York Times statement recalled that, in 1997, 50 senior U.S. foreign policy experts warned President Bill Clinton that expanding NATO was a policy error of historic proportions and that, unfortunately, Clinton chose to ignore the warning. Biden, who is now pursuing his own policy error of historic proportions by prolonging this war, would do well to take the advice of todays policy experts by helping to forge a diplomatic settlement and making the United States a force for peace in the world.
My position with the Post has evolved since 2000, when I began work with The City Paper. In 2008, SouthComm Inc. bought the Post and The City Paper, after which I worked with both publications. The City Paper ceased operations in 2013, two years after I was named Post managing editor. In 2018, FW Publishing acquired the Post.

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(Natural News) When asked to assess the situation at the U.S.-Mexico border after the expiration of pandemic-era policy Title 42 on May 11, President Joe Biden said it is much better than you all expected.

Biden, who was having a bike ride near his vacation home in Rehoboth, Delaware, also told reporters he was satisfied that Title 42s expiration had not led to an immediate surge in asylum seekers at the border. The president added that he has no immediate plans to visit the border because doing so would just be disruptive.

The president instead spent the weekend at his beach home along with first lady Jill Biden and their daughter Ashley.

As per Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Mayorkas, border patrol agents have seen a 50 percent drop in the number of migrants crossing the border since May 11. The numbers we have experienced in the past two days are markedly down over what they were prior to the end of Title 42, Mayorkas said on CNNs State of the Union program. According to him, there were 6,300 border encounters on May 12 and 4,200 on May 13.

Mayorkas credited the criminal penalties for migrants who illegally enter the country, which resumed under existing law after Title 42s expiration, for the decrease in crossings. The Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic-era rule adopted under former President Donald Trump allowed officials to expel migrants quickly.

However, Biden cautioned that more work needs to be done.

Figures from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) reflected a much higher number of immigrant arrivals per day prior to the expiration of the pandemic-era health policy. According to records, CBP has stopped over 10,000 immigrants per day last week, the highest level ever.

After May 11, Biden reverted to decades-old immigration policy under a section of code known as Title 8. The policy requires migrants to schedule an immigration appointment through the app CBP One, or seek protection from countries they passed through on their way to the U.S. border. If they do not follow the process and are caught entering the U.S. illegally, they are not allowed to try again, even through legal means, for five years. There are prison terms for other violations. (Related: PLANNED OCCUPATION: Biden regime ensuring that illegal migrants released into American interior will never come back for asylum hearing.)

Many immigrants said they crossed the Mexico border before Title 42s expiration to avoid facing these concerns. This would explain the lack of a mass stampede at the border after the pandemic-era rule ended, the Washington Examiner reported.

Despite the highly anticipated post-Title 42 surges not materializing, the situation at the southern border is far from secure, it noted.

Spanish-speaking driver rams SUV into crowd outside a migrant shelter

Meanwhile, an intoxicated Spanish-speaking driver rammed his Range Rover into a group of people waiting for a bus outside Ozanam Center, a migrant resource facility in Brownsville, killing eight people and injuring 10. He allegedly attempted to flee from the incident, but bystanders kept him detained until the police arrived.

George Alvarez told the police in Spanish: They got in my way. He has been found to have a lengthy criminal history, with charges including assault, an aggravated assault charge and additional charges for burglary, theft, driving under the influence and resisting arrest.

Police Chief Felix Sauceda said Alvarez was charged with eight counts of manslaughter and 10 counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.

Later on, the police announced that blood screens from the hospital where Alvarez was being treated showed he had drugs in his system. Cocaine, benzodiazepines and marijuana were all detected, but his level of intoxication is currently unclear.

The victims were all male and several of them were from Venezuela, Sauceda said. Go back to your country, a witness recalled the driver telling the group after they confronted him.

In a recent episode of the Alex Jones Show, independent journalist Alex Jones shared his thoughts about the illegal immigration crisis at the U.S. borders. We got lunatics running around killing everybody. We [Conservatives] know were not doing that, he said, adding that he got information from high-level federal officials saying they will have people smuggling a busload of immigrants who are convicted criminals from their countries.

His guest Scott Bennett, a psyops counterterrorism expert added that the border invasion of military-age-men from Central America, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama is bringing in the dregs.

You will see an explosion of crimes and horrors that, unlike any other time in history, every veteran group, national guardsmen and every militant component of a states authorities need to be mobilized to defend against this and say, in a sense to hell with what the federal government says or does,' he said.

Visit InvasionUSA.news for more news related to illegal migrants crossing the U.S. border.

Watch the video below where Alex Jones and Scott Bennett warn about border collapse following the expiration of Title 42.

This video is from the RealNewsChannel.com on Brighteon.com.

More related stories:

NY Gov. Hochul announces EMERGENCY ORDER to deal with surge of illegals.

Smartphones issued to track illegals cost American taxpayers over $360,000 per day.

As end of Title 42 looms, 90,000 illegals rush to Americas southern border over 10-day period.

Sources include:

FoxNews.com

WashingtonExaminer.com

CA.Style.Yahoo.com

APNews.com

Brighteon.com
(Natural News) Over the past 10 or so years, the southern European country of Albania has become a narco-state under the leadership of Prime Minister Edi Rama, a far-left member of the countrys Socialist Party. Very few people seem to know about any of this, though, as the media has remained silent about it at the behest of fake president Joe Biden, one of Ramas close buddies.

The German news outlet Bild, Europes most widely circulated media source, killed an entire story about Ramas corruption in order to please Biden, we now know. The paper shot down an extensive investigation piece about what Rama has done to Albania because Biden wants it kept under lock and key.

Strangely, Bild has reported many an embarrassing thing about Rama in the past, including his involvement in vote-buying and blackmail. But now, suddenly, Bild is keeping a lid on the biggest bombshell story yet about Rama, this was according to the Washington Examiners John Schindler, who wrote that he was contacted by a senior reporter at Bild concerning the matter.

I was happy to answer Bilds questions about Albania, based on my Washington Examiner articles and the fact that I was a top Balkan expert for the National Security Agency, Schindler reported. I confirmed that Albania, under Rama, has become Europes leading narco-state with connections to narcotrafficking interests across the planet.

(Related: You may remember that Biden promised before being installed into the White House that he would massively increase the Censorship-Industrial Complex, which he surely has.)

What is Biden trying to hide about his relationship with Edi Rama and his Albanian narco-state?

The Biden regime has had no qualms about going after Albanias former conservative prime minister for corruption, even long after the guy left office. When it comes to Rama, though, there has been not only silence but censorship.

Right now, Albania is Europes only declared narco-state due to the extent of its economic reliance on the drug trade. Rama is said to be in cahoots with the countrys mafia elements, which are quite powerful, and also faces accusations ranging from drug trafficking and money laundering to extortion and vote buying, which Bild, at the order of Biden, is refusing to discuss any further in its reporting.

Schindler reports that Bilds top editors are responsible for axing the expose from publishing, revealing that when he asked why, Bild responded that Washington stands by Rama and does not want the report published  case closed.

Why the so-called president of the United States would want to ally itself with a corrupt socialist and his narco-state, and publicly so, is inexplicable  unless that president and his regime are cut from the exact same cloth, of course.

It is also interesting that whenever stories about European corruption begin to surface, the Biden regime is right there at the ready to kill them. Why is Biden so involved with foreign reporting about a distant narco-state in the first place, unless he and his crime family are somehow involved and afraid of being implicated themselves?

We know through Hunter Bidens laptop, the story of which was also censored, that the Biden Crime Family has heavy illicit dealing with foreign rogue states, including that of Ukraine. Are there also hidden dealings in Albania that prompted this push for secrecy about Ramas illicit activities?

What is the United States getting out of backing a corrupt socialist leader in a largely uninfluential European nation? asked Bonchie, writing for Red State. Whats the national interest? I could take a few guesses, and none of them are good.

The latest news coverage about the Biden regimes assault on free speech can be found at Censorship.news.

Sources for this article include:

RedState.com

WashingtonExaminer.com

NaturalNews.com
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HARRISBURG  Democrats maintained their narrow Pennsylvania House majority Tuesday by winning a special election and along with it continued control over how the chamber will handle abortion, gun rights and election law legislation.

Heather Boyd won a seat in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives representing the Philadelphia suburbs, beating Republican Katie Ford for a vacancy created by the resignation of Democratic Rep. Mike Zabel. Zabel quit the Legislature in March, shortly after a lobbyist accused him of sexually harassing her.

Boyds win gives Democrats 102 seats, the minimum needed to control the agenda in the 203-member House. The state Senate has a Republican majority.

The Democrats victory in the Delaware County district means first-term Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro will have at least one chamber to aid his agenda going into the final month of budget negotiations. The result could also affect a proposed constitutional amendment limiting abortion rights that legislative Republicans are one House floor vote away from putting before voters as a referendum.

Boyd is a former congressional and state legislative aide. Her district was once Republican but has given solid margins to Democratic candidates in recent elections.

Republicans entered the 2022 election with a 113-90 advantage in the state House, but Democrats flipped a net of 12 seats, barely enough to claim majority status after 12 years and elect one of their own as speaker.

Elsewhere, Republican Michael Stender won a special election for a vacant central Pennsylvania seat.

Stender, a Shikellamy school board member, firefighter and former EMT, was endorsed by former Rep. Lynda Schlegel Culver, the Republican who represented the district before winning a state Senate special election earlier this year. Stender beat Democrat Trevor Finn, a Montour County commissioner. The district also includes part of Northumberland County.
(Natural News) Anyone who got vaccinated for the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) and now suffers from neurological or other serious health problems is just dealing with anxiety due to the COVID vaccine. This is the position of government health authorities, anyway, who refuse to admit that these experimental drugs could ever cause anyone serious harm  and Big Tech is in on the coverup as well.

A Facebook support group for individuals who took the needle(s) and are now debilitated was shut down recently for violating the social media platforms misinformation policy, which prohibits any information that is likely to directly contribute to the risk of imminent physical harm, including by contributing to the risk of individuals getting or spreading a harmful disease or refusing an associated vaccine.

In the eyes of Facebook and the rest of Silicon Valley, not to mention the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and other government agencies, there is no such thing as health damage caused by COVID jabs. Those who suffered such a thing are just making it up in their head, or simply have the post-injection jitters.

One woman who describes herself as pro-science and pro-vaccine spoke to The Wall Street Journal about the post-injection neuropathy she developed after voluntarily signing up to be a human guinea pig for AstraZenecas COVID injection trial. She was eventually diagnosed as having post-vaccine neuropathy and severe postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome, also known as POTS.

After getting kicked off Facebook, she started her own science-based nonprofit offering financial, physical, and emotional support for others like herself who suffered severe reactions post-injection. That non-profit currently boasts 21,000 members in the United States and another 20,000 from other countries.

We are not antivax and are neutral on the COVID vaccines, Brianne Dressen, the woman in question and founder of React19, the aforementioned non-profit, is quoted as saying. But doctors need to be aware of whats going on so they can treat patients.

(Related: Some people are losing teeth due to COVID injections.)

Will government agencies ever acknowledge that COVID jabs are destroying lives?

Dressen and her allies are reportedly pressing the NIH, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to acknowledge the fact that many people are suffering from debilitating health problems due to the shots, which were launched by the Trump administration under Operation Warp Speed.

Thus far, none of these federal agencies are willing to come clean about the matter. They still reject the notion that COVID injections are anything other than some kind of modern miracle and scientific marvel. However, now that the COVID emergency is over, many are hoping that the tide will turn.

Early on, Dressen says officials at the NIH were at least entertaining what she brought to their attention, commending her for getting the word out. Since then, though, very little has been said or done to address the elephant in the room, which is the tens of thousands, if not millions, of jab-injured people whose lives will never be the same due to the experimental drugs the government told them to take.

Big Pharma is likewise in denial over the fact that its chemical offerings have destroyed or ended many, many lives  and needlessly so, seeing as how COVID was largely a scam in that it was hardly the pandemic the government made it out to be.

As time goes on, we expect many more victims to come forward about their injuries, especially as the longer-term ones like antibody-dependent enhancement (ADE) and vaccine-induced AIDS really start to manifest.

The latest news about injuries and deaths caused by COVID injections can be found at ChemicalViolence.com.

Sources for this article include:

WSJ.com

NaturalNews.com
(Natural News) A crowdfunding campaign supporting the legal defense fund for former Marine Daniel Penny, who was charged in the death of a homeless man on the New York subway, has surged to more than $1.5 million in a few days.

(Article by Jack Phillips republished from TheEpochTimes.com)

His lawyers, Thomas Kenniff and Steven Kaiser, launched the campaign on the crowdfunding site GiveSendGo last week, saying Penny was only protecting individuals on a subway train from whom they described as an assailant, who later died. Penny, 24, was arraigned on May 12 on one count of second-degree manslaughter for allegedly fatally choking 30-year-old Jordan Neely.

According to prosecutors, Neely  who has a lengthy criminal history and was described as homeless  was making threats and scaring passengers. In New York state, a conviction for second-degree manslaughter can result in a prison sentence of up to 15 years.

Funds are being raised to pay Mr. Pennys legal fees incurred from any criminal charges filed and any future civil lawsuits that may arise, as well as expenses related to his defense, the crowdfunding page for Penny reads. All contributions are greatly appreciated. Any proceeds collected which exceed those necessary to cover Mr. Pennys legal defense will be donated to a mental health advocacy program in New York City.

In response to the fundraising, Kenniff told Fox News that the outpouring of generosity and support for Daniel Penny is beyond anything we could have imagined.

Daniel is incredibly grateful for the support of so many New Yorkers, he said.

The fundraiser was boosted on Twitter by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican whos reportedly looking to run for president.

In the incident, a witness, who wished to remain anonymous, told the New York Post that Neely appeared to be having a mental episode and started ranting wildly while on the northbound F subway train on May 1.

He said, I dont care. Ill take a bullet. Ill go to jail because he would kill people on the train, the 66-year-old female witness said, referring to what Neely said. He said, I would kill a [expletive]. I dont care. Ill take a bullet. Ill go to jail.

Penny didnt initially engage Neely, she said. He only got involved when the situation got out of hand.

The woman told the paper that after the incident, she went back to thank Penny.

I hope he has a great lawyer, and Im praying for him, the woman said of Penny last week. And I pray that he gets treated fairly, I really do. Because after all of this ensued, I went back and made sure that I said thank you to him.

This gentleman, Mr. Penny, did not stand up  did not engage with the gentleman. He said not a word. It was all Mr. Neely that was  threatening the passengers. If he did not get what he wants.

Gonna go to jail for life? What? What penalties involve going to jail for life? Could you tell me? Yeah, its not kicking somebody in the shin or punching somebody in the face.

Similar comments were left on the GiveSendGo fundraiser, with a number of donors saying that Penny didnt do anything wrong and was defending himself.

Late last week, Penny surrendered to police to face the manslaughter charge. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg had confirmed days before that Penny would be arrested on a charge of second-degree manslaughter in the case.

We cannot provide any additional information until he has been arraigned in Manhattan Criminal Court, which we expect to take place tomorrow, Bragg said on May 11.

Last week, the law firm alleged in a statement that their 24-year-old client was acting in self-defense when he held Neely in a chokehold on the F train on May 1, which allegedly caused him to die of compression of the neck, according to the medical examiner.

The attorneys also alleged that their client didnt mean to kill Neely, a 30-year-old man whose friends say suffered from worsening mental health. The attorneys noted that Neely had been behaving aggressively toward other passengers on the subway and that Penny stepped in to do what he thought was right and seemed reasonable.

Witnesses reported that Neely was complaining loudly, allegedly shouting, I want food, Im not taking no for an answer, Im ready to go back to jail, and Ill hurt anyone on this train. They also reported that he had harassed passengers for years.

Neely has a lengthy criminal record that includes dozens of prior arrests and also had a warrant out for his arrest related to a felony assault at the time of his death.

Video footage has emerged online showing Penny and another man who helped to restrain the homeless man rendering aid to Neely by placing him into a recovery position after he fell unconscious. The video also shows that Neely was still alive after Penny released him from the chokehold.

Lorenz Duchamps contributed to this report.

Report at: TheEpochTimes.com
(Natural News) It is one thing to enjoy a beer or a smoke every now and again for fun, with restraint, or even to use certain healing herbs regularly because of an underlying health condition. But it is an entirely different thing to use potentially addictive substances when you dont actually need them, which can result in the formation of an addiction.

A person can become addicted to just about anything, including refined sugar and video games, as well as the more common vices like alcohol and pharmaceutical drugs. And the good news, according to Dr. Deborah Mash from DemeRx.com, is that there is hope.

Dr. Mash spoke with the Health Ranger in a recent episode of the Health Ranger Report about addiction, and how a naturally derived molecule known as ibogaine is helping people to overcome it without the need for conventional pharmaceutical interventions.

As we reported, ibogaine comes from an African psychedelic plant, bearing dissociative and oneiric properties that function as anti-addictive mechanisms in the body.

An NIH-funded (National Institutes of Health) investigator, Dr. Mash has an extensive understanding of ibogaine. Watch and listen below as she tells all about how ibogaine is changing lives by helping people to naturally overcome their addictions, whatever they may be.

In the 1990s, I heard about a molecule that came from Africa, from Mother Nature  and its very interesting, when you think about addiction and addicting alkaloids, they come from Mother Nature too, Dr. Mash explained about how she first discovered ibogaine.

Cocaine, nicotine, opium  Mother Nature gives us those. And heres another molecule that comes from Western equatorial Africa that may be an antidote to addiction. And indeed, there is open-label evidence that supports this idea that ibogaine can be an addiction interrupter.

Ibogaine can help with all forms of addiction

Hailing from the deep forests of Gabon and Cameroon, ibogaine has more than 100 years of ethnobotany and ethnopharmacology behind it. Long before the advent of pharmaceutical drugs, ibogaine was used naturally in traditional medicine for this very purpose.

Keep in mind that most pharmaceutical drugs come from natural plants as well. They are the unnatural, patented versions of Mother Nature that generate billions of dollars in profits for drug companies  but often at a major cost to society in the form of addiction.

For the most part, natural substances, including those from which drugs like cocaine and heroin are derived, do not bear the same addictive properties as their synthesized counterparts. But most people who end up getting addicted to drugs encounter the synthetic varieties, which often leads to addiction.

There are some natural substances, i.e., tobacco, that science tells us are inherently addictive in their natural form as well. They, too, stand to benefit from the use of ibogaine.

In order for it to go mainstream, ibogaine is currently in the pipeline for its own synthesis and eventual FDA (Food and Drug Administration) approval, which the Health Ranger says is a good thing because it will help to ensure that people with addictions get the help they need in a reliable, high-quality dose every single time.

You want quality control; you want standardized doses; you want efficacy testing; and you want to be able to reach all the distribution that is recognized by the medical establishment to reach addicted people and also potentially allow insurance to cover this because its a good investment to get people off addictive drugs and bring them back to society, the Health Ranger stated during the interview.

More related news coverage can be found at Addiction.news.

Sources for this article include:

Brighteon.com

NaturalNews.com
(Natural News) A new report by investigative journalist Lee Fang has revealed that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), operating via a surveillance contractor proxy called Flashpoint, infiltrated chatrooms of airline industry groups that opposed the governments Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine mandates.

In previous times, Flashpoint was used by the FBI to infiltrate Islamic terror groups. Since that time, the groups directive has been refocused onto what the government perceives as domestic terror groups comprised of people who refuse to accept experimental drugs being pumped into their bodies.

Fang was able to obtain and analyze a webinar presentation created by Flashpoint that company analyst Vlad Cuiujuclu used to illustrate best practices for identifying and infiltrating chat groups specifically on the Telegram platform.

In this case, were searching for a closed channel of US Freedom Flyers, Cuiujuclu told his audience at a presentation held before clients last year, as relayed by Fang in his report. Its basically a group that opposed vaccination and masks.

Writing about what happened next, Fang explains that Cuiujuclu clicked through a database showing a chat group on Telegram sponsored by Airline Professionals for Justice, which like the US Freedom Flyers was formed by airline workers to oppose the mandates.

Private chats require for you to have an invite link, Cuiujuclu then stated to his audience while showing them Zoom links used by these grassroots organizations to hold meetings.

By engag[ing] the admin of that channel, Cuiujuclu continued, anyone can infiltrate these private channels, including FBI contractors whose job it is to spy on the members of these groups, which are considered to be a threat to the intelligence industry.

(Related: Some now believe that COVID-19 injections contributed to the worst genocidal atrocity in world history.)

After getting caught boasting about its spying and infiltration activities, Flashpoint scrubs website of evidence

Flashpoint is quite proud of its spying and surveillance activities, which have successfully undermined not only aviation industry protests but also environmental activism efforts and even public demonstrations against the G20 summit.

All over its website, Flashpoint boasted about these activities  that is until Fang drew attention to them. Now, you can only find the contractors resume of activities on the internet archive website Wayback Machine.

By monitoring the situation and assessing tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs), Flashpoint was able to assess the impact of upcoming protests, and determine that these groups would likely continue to protest and attempt to impede airport construction and expansion projects through direct action, Flashpoints website previously stated before getting scrubbed.

Based on this information, Flashpoint customers were able to take actions to help control the impact to business operations, and to ensure the safety of their employees and facilities as well as the safety of those protesting.

The secrecy and deception surrounding Flashpoints devious activities under the directive of the FBI would seem to be par for the course, seeing as how the FBI has long operated this way in its own rite, targeting Americans and terrorists and interfering with their constitutional right to freedom of assembly and freedom of speech.

The FBI has proven that it hates the United States Constitution and everything it affords to We the People, and continually works in the shadows to undermine it at every turn.

Fortunately, what has been taking place under the cover of darkness is now coming to light. And the FBI has nowhere to run or hide any longer as investigative journalists, using the power of the internet, are blowing the lid on what the FBI was really up to during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The latest news about the corrupt FBI can be found at FBICorruption.news.

Sources for this article include:

LeeFang.com

ReclaimTheNet.org

NaturalNews.com
(Natural News) The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Disinformation Governance Board met an ignoble demise last year, when it was disbanded within months, amid public criticism and staff-related scandal.

(Article by Didi Rankovic republished from ReclaimTheNet.org)

Despite being derisively referred to as the Ministry of Truth  i.e., a US governments alleged attempt to create an Orwellian-like institution  it was a fairly safe bet that the strong backlash notwithstanding, the initiative would rear its head again at some point. Soon.

Meet the Foreign Malign Influence Center (FMIC), located at the Office of the Director of US National Intelligence (ODNI). Some sentiment suggest that this might be a Disinformation Governance Board 2  what with a similar declarative focus on foreign threat, which is then easy to transition, as a smokescreen, to turning the authorities sights onto domestic dissenters.

And that would mean more censorship, in effect flying under the radar, critics fear.

A deceptive tactic, they continue, which could easily use foreign threats simply as an excuse to influence politics at home.

Speaking of interference  the FMIC could also duplicate other US efforts, such as that of a State Departments unit that has taken it upon itself to suppress whats seen as populism in other countries.

Now, this is what the FMIC has to say for  and about itself  the threat from abroad is constant and dynamic  no doubt  but therefore, informing efforts to counter it requires constant attention, a whole-of-government approach, support from the private sector, and engagement from the public.

However, the soothing mention of foreign threats is not the only thing the FMIC will be dealing with  theres also protection of US public opinion. And this, opponents may suspect, might be a euphemism for policing domestic narratives.

The existence of the Center seems to have been presented to the public in a rather low-key fashion. It was last Thursday that it came up during an address by ODNI chief Avril Haines, a full 45 minutes into the speech, during a hearing organized by the Senate Armed Services Committee.

Matt Taibbi, who pored over Twitters internal documents to become one of those behind the explosive Twitter Files, doesnt look at this kind of initiative very kindly.

In fact, he seems to pretty much consider it a ruse whose real goal is to slowly adjust aim to domestic targets.

But first  what Taibbi calls the basic rhetorical trick of the censorship age must raise a fuss about a foreign threat, using it as a battering ram to get everyone from Congress to the tech companies to submit to increased regulation and surveillance.

Read more at: ReclaimTheNet.org
(Natural News) A recent report revealed that a senior official within the New York States Communist Party of the USA (CPUSA) was a former aide to Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY).

The New York Post reported that 33-year-old Justine Medina worked as political organizer for Cortez after she hired her in 2020. Records from the Federal Election Commission showed that she was paid $35,000 between February and November 2020. But after the 2020 presidential elections that put incumbent President Joe Biden in power, the Cuban-American Medina fully committed herself to the cause of Marxism.

The CPUSAs newspaper Peoples World identified Medina as co-chair of the New York Young Communist League back in July 2021. The same publication addressed her as a member of the Executive Committee of the New York State Communist Party. Medina further claimed that while working for Cortezs campaign, she was responsible for organizing and writing policy language with Anti-War Veterans [and] the Peace Movement.

Communism is about equality; democracy; peace; the advancement of workers, the oppressed and humanity in general, she tweeted in November 2020. It is true the path there will be unkind to those who block progress, but communism is good and should not scare you.

In reality, people ought to be scared of communism  a force responsible for the murder of more than 100 million people across the globe.

The Soviet Unions Joseph Stalin starved millions of Ukrainians in the 1930s with his Holodomor campaign. Over in China, Mao Zedongs Great Leap Forward and Cultural Revolution caused the death of more than 40 million. Cambodias Pol Pot decimated about a quarter of his own countrys population in his brief rule in the Khmer Rouge during the 1970s.

After the Post published its report about her, Medina tweeted a screenshot of the article. The tweet received mixed reactions, with some praising Medina for her efforts and others rebuking her for her leanings.

Privileged Medina also boasts a long rap sheet

According to the Post, Medina was involved in successful efforts to unionize Amazons workforce while working as a packer in the companys Staten Island warehouse.

Do not be afraid to fight; to get as dirty as the bosses will; to match or beat the energy theyre bringing, she wrote in an April 2022 article for the CPUSA website. Do not be afraid to agitate and to antagonize the bosses, as a union should. This was a truly collective effort, led by some brilliant Amazon workers thrust into organizing by the pandemic and the conditions of their lives.

The New York congresswoman follows Medina on Twitter, and has posed with her former aid for a smiling photo in the past. Outside of social media, the two appear to share the same antagonism toward the tech firm helmed by Jeff Bezos.

Cortez played an integral role in shooting down a plan by Amazon to open a headquarters in New York City. She has also been a vocal supporter of unionization efforts within the company, something Medina has been involved in. However, some union members on the frontline have pointed out that Cortez often fails to show up.

Medina also has a long history of arrests, the Post mentioned. She was booked at least twice in June 2020 during Black Lives Matter riots in the Big Apple. The CPUSA cadre was also arrested that year for attempting to deface a plaque honoring real estate developer Fred Trump, the father of former President Donald Trump.

Justines father Omar Medina, a trial lawyer based in Florida, acknowledged that his daughters communist leanings are a big problem. He and his family escaped Fidel Castros communist regime in Cuba and found freedom in the United States. (Related: The 45 Communist goals were just the initial blueprint to take over America  what we are watching happen now is the endgame: total destruction of the U.S.)

As for her allegiance to the [CPUSA], I could not be further removed from that, Omar told the Post. My family escaped communism, and my daughter is misguided as to the benefits that the political system provides. It flat-out doesnt work.

Watch this video explaining why Mao Zedongs Communist Great Leap Forward is the model of the Great Reset and should be rightly feared, contrary to Medinas assertion.

This video is from the AnonTruther channel on Brighteon.com.

More related stories:

DHS invites communist state sponsor of terrorism to tour U.S. maritime security facilities.

Chinese communism survivor issues a powerful warning to lawless Dems: prepare to be the victims of your own destruction.

Communist city councilwoman says Denver needs to pillage white-owned businesses and hand over loot to black-owned businesses.

Sources include:

ThePostMillennial.com

NYPost.com

CPUSA.org

Brighteon.com
(Natural News) The removal of religion in schools under the premise of separation of church and state led to the decline of America, according to Ohio-based lawyer Tom Renz.

It was no wonder they started pushing this idea that religion had to be separated from our country  and they started pulling it out of schools, he said during the May 9 episode of Lawfare with Tom Renz on Brighteon.TV.

Well, lets look at what happened. Look at the decline that our country experienced in the decades following. The farther religion has gotten from the school; the farther the schools have gotten from teaching kids to be good people; the farther we as a country have declined.

He also touched on the Supreme Courts 1962 decision in the Engel v. Vitale case, which ruled that school-sponsored prayer in public schools is unconstitutional. According to the high court, school-sponsored prayer violated the First Amendment as it is not appropriate for the government to endorse any particular belief system.

Unfortunately, Renz said the ruling began the real push to remove religion from America. He continued that throughout the 20th century, several bad Supreme Court decisions were at the heart of the nations decline.

Our country is failing right now. Why are we failing? Well, because the morons running our country came from schools where there was no teaching of morality of whats right and wrong. There were no values taught. We didnt educate our kids or families to be good Christian people, or good any other type of people. Instead, we move up.

Renz: Christian entities founded oldest US schools

Renz pointed out that the oldest schools in the U.S. were established by Christian entities and continued largely by churches and communities through the 1800s and most of the 1900s. These had a two-fold purpose of teaching people about the Bible and its values, and teaching children to become upstanding people when they grow up.

It wasnt to teach them advanced math, computer programming, trades [or] arts. There were no pottery majors or history majors, he said. It was primarily, You need to learn to read and write, so you could study the Bible and be a good person. They believe that saving their soul was far more important than anything else. (Related: Book author Vishal Mangalwadi: Church should be at the center of education.)

Until 1867, there was no federal program for schools. However, the Congress of that time created the Department of Education in a four-paragraph bill. Renz said the law was passed to promote the people creating schools in their communities, not the federal or state government.

Moreover, the bill that gave birth to the Education Department promoted the sharing of information so people could create good schools and support education. Churches and schools were on the same page regarding education until the 1960s, when people started working to end segregation in the school system.

Renz ultimately cited the Soviet Union considering an attack on America through its schools. There has been a huge movement to undermine American schools and the moral fabric of American society, and it seems to be achieving its goals for quite some time now, he said.

Watch the May 9 episode of Lawfare with Tom Renz below. Lawfare with Tom Renz airs every Tuesday at 11:30 a.m.-12 p.m. and every Saturday at 12:30-1 p.m. on Brighteon.TV.

More related stories:

Connecting the Dots with Dan Happel: Education molds students to be workers, not thinkers  Brighteon.TV.

Carey Woodruff: Deceptive curriculum in education system taking the youth down the wrong path  Brighteon.TV.

Dr. Steve Hotze blasts GROOMERS disguised as teachers in the public education system  Brighteon.TV.

Tom Renz rants about widespread promotion of LGBT ideology in school system, social media.

Sources include:

Brighteon.com

USCourts.gov
(Natural News) Nearly every single Tesla vehicle sold in China is being recalled over potentially dangerous braking and accelerating defects.

The Chinese State Administration for Friday Regulation (SAMR) announced on Friday, May 12, that this massive recall involves more than 1.1 million Tesla vehicles produced in Shanghai from January 2019 to April of this year, including the Tesla Model S, Model X, Model 3 and Model Y. (Related: Social media influencer exposes problems that come with owning a Tesla Model 3.)

Since Tesla arrived in China in 2014, the electric car company has sold about 1.13 million cars in the communist nation, meaning that the recall affects almost all Tesla vehicles sold in the country since its arrival.

Tesla noted in a statement that it plans to fix the issue with the braking and acceleration through an over-the-air software update, which will allow drivers to have more control over the intensity of their vehicles regenerative braking system, which is the main concern of the SAMR.

Without more driver control over the regenerative braking system, which harnesses excess energy created when the driver takes his or her foot off the accelerator, drivers can experience unintended acceleration, greatly increasing the risk of an accident.

The software fix will enable drivers to set the intensity of their regenerative braking and adjust the factory default state of the system. A system will also be added to notify drivers when they have pressed the accelerator for an extended period.

Concerns over the braking and unintended acceleration came after many Tesla drivers in China reported issues with acceleration and braking in their cars.

In one high-profile case, a Model 3 owner climbed on top of a Tesla vehicle put on display during an auto show in Shanghai in 2021, protesting the fact that her father nearly died when he was driving a Tesla because its brakes failed. The protest was captured on camera, went viral and made international headlines.

Tesla at the time issued an apology after facing even more criticism, but it never acknowledged any defects.

Teslas slew of safety recalls make it look more like any other car company

Nora Naughton, writing for the Business Insider, noted that the whole slew of recalls and vehicle defects is making Tesla look more and more like every other car company.

She added that this is already Teslas second massive recall this year alone. In the U.S., Tesla issued a recall on more than 360,000 Tesla vehicles equipped with its Full Self-Driving software in February.

Racking up recalls in the U.S. and China is the latest sign that Tesla is maturing into just another car company, wrote Naughton. Safety recalls are a common occurrence for large brands, and more likely to come in big batches when the company is building millions of vehicles a year.

The slew of safety issues is affecting Teslas sales in China, which has become a major market for the electric car company, not only in terms of sales but also as a source of production. Revenue from the country climbed to more than $18 billion last year, more than six times what the company made in total in 2019.

But this year has so far been extremely tough on Tesla, especially for its Asian market. This is despite the price cuts on Tesla vehicles at the start of the year and other incentives like free Supercharger miles. Teslas situation was worsened by the fact that Tesla owners in China complained that they missed out on these discounts.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk himself has made it clear that 2023 is an important year for the car company as it seeks to graduate from an early-adopter niche brand to a mass producer of reliable electric vehicles. The CEO recently told investors that the company plans to double its output this year to two million vehicles. Last year, the companys Shanghai factory produced almost 711,000 cars, more than half its global output.

Learn more about the flaws in electric vehicles at RoboCars.news.

Watch this video of social media influencer Luke Erwin detailing all of the terrible things about the Tesla Model 3.

This video is from the channel Daily Videos on Brighteon.com.

More related stories:

STUPID: In order to meet demand for clean electric vehicles, China will be forced to burn more COAL.

Tesla to expand lithium refining capacity to meet growing demand for EV batteries.

When an electric vehicle crashes, even in a minor accident, insurance companies junk the entire car because its battery has to be tossed.

Tesla announces $775 million investment in Texas Gigafactory, slashes prices on EVs.

Electric vehicles are unreliable and not cost-efficient  especially in cold weather.

Sources include:

DailyMail.co.uk

BusinessInsider.com

Bloomberg.com

Brighteon.com
(Natural News) Former Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe said Monday that Special Counsel John Durhams Report confirms that the FBIs Crossfire Hurricane investigation into the Trump campaign for Russian collusion was always Dems politicizing intelligence.

(Article by Nick Gilbertson republished from Breitbart.com)

When I became Director of National Intelligence, I asked to see all U.S. intelligence of Trump Russia collusion, Ratcliffe, who served as DNI at the tail-end of the Trump administration, wrote in a tweet soon after the report became public. There was none  and I reported same to Special Counsel John Durham. His report confirms that fact  it was always Dems politicizing intelligence.

When I became Director of National Intelligence, I asked to see all U.S. intelligence of Trump Russia collusion. There was noneand I reported same to Special Counsel John Durham. His report confirms that factit was always Dems politicizing intelligence https://t.co/fTt0gYIjD7  John Ratcliffe (@JohnRatcliffe) May 15, 2023

The 300-page report published on Monday afternoon concludes that the Department and the FBI failed to uphold their important mission of strict fidelity to the law in connection with certain events and activities described in this report, as Breitbart Newss Kristina Wong noted:

Our investigation also revealed that senior FBI personnel displayed a serious lack of analytical rigor towards the information that they received, especially information received from politically affiliated persons and entities, Durhams report said, in apparent reference to the Hillary Clinton campaign-funded Fusion GPS pee dossier alleging collusion that the FBI relied on to investigate Trump. Durham said before the allegation from an Australian diplomat that then-Trump campaign adviser George Papadopoulos told him the Trump campaign had dirt on Clinton, there was no evidence of any Trump campaign collusion with Russia. But despite this unevaluated intelligence information, the FBI swiftly opened an investigation, known as Crossfire Hurricane.

Durham would add that then-Deputy Assistant Director for Counter Intelligence Peter Strozk immediately opened the probe at the direction of then-Deputy FBI Director Andrew McCabe.

Moreover, the report states that neither U.S. law enforcement nor the Intelligence Community appears to have possessed any actual evidence of collusion in their holdings at the commencement of the Crossfire Hurricane investigation.

Read more at: Breitbart.com
(Natural News) The first unionized Apple store in the U.S. is asking its parent company to implement a gratuity option at the checkout counter.

According to the Daily Mail, workers at the Apple store at Marylands Towson Town Center want the Cupertino, California-based tech giant to put in place an option for customers using their credit cards to tip staff. It added that the workers want either a custom tip amount or between three percent and five percent of the price of an item a customer buys. In other words, they want mandatory tipping at checkouts.

Putting the gratuity into perspective, a five percent top on the latest MacBook Air that sells for $1,199 would equate to a $59.95 tip.

Though we do not see tips as a major way of generating income, we wanted to create an acceptable system that allows the occasional customer the ability to reward our team for their hard work, the Coalition of Organized Retail Employees (CORE), the union which represents the Apple staff, posted on Twitter.

We understand there are a lot of concerns about the culture of tipping as a whole in the U.S., but there is currently no other mechanism that would work otherwise.

COREs appeal came up after shoppers at the Maryland store complained about increasingly being asked to tip at self-checkout machines despite having no interaction with store staff. Under current Apple policies, store workers who accept a tip directly from a shopper will automatically be fired.

According to some staff members, buyers often insist on leaving money for them after a purchase. But instead of going to employees pockets, the money goes into a safe to be surrendered to the parent company.

Mandatory tipping option part of COREs negotiations with Apple

The row comes amidst a nationwide backlash over tipflation, which has seen tipping culture spill out from bars and restaurants and into coffee shops and take-away stores, the Mail wrote. While shoppers can say no, they have often complained they felt guilt-tripped into agreeing to the surcharge.

CORE explained in its proposal about the tipping option that the total amount collected in this manner would be disbursed to members of the bargaining unit every two weeks, based on any hours worked. Though the union did not specify the transactions that would require a tip, they could be extended to all transactions  whether its one-on-one help at the Genius Bar or a simple product purchase.

The request did not sit well with some customers. Tips for what? Assisting a customer in picking out the latest Apple device? Give me a break, remarked one Twitter user.

Bloomberg reported that the gratuity option proposal is just part of the negotiations between CORE and Apple. The labor union is also asking for a 10 percent salary increase, expanded vacation pay and time off based on years of service. On top of that, it is seeking double pay for staffers who work more than eight hours per day or 40 hours per week.

Moreover, CORE is also seeking to extend bereavement leave of 10 days per occurrence to up to 45 days per year  and is also working on amending the policy to include pets and close friends. Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment. (Related: Apple tells workers they must take COVID-19 vaccine boosters, even if it kills them.)

You can find the latest stories about Apple and other tech giants on BigTech.news.

Watch this video that talks about how the Chinese Communist Party controls Apple.

This video is from the Chinese taking down EVIL CCP channel on Brighteon.com.

More related stories:

Apple, Google teaming up to better track your movements under the claim of providing you more security.

Burglars steal over $500,000 worth of Apple products by tunneling through a bathroom wall into an Apple Store.

DEA using Apple AirTags for SURVEILLANCE purposes.

Apple warns users with medical devices to keep iPhones away from body because they emit EMF.

Internal sources: Apple secretly firing contractors to cut costs despite job security assurances by CEO.

Sources include:

DailyMail.co.uk

NYPost.com

Entrepreneur.com

Bloomberg.com

Brighteon.com
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With two organized groups vying for five open seats on the Carlisle Area School Board, it seems that the majority of the candidates involved with Citizens for Carlisle Schools and Team for Change could return to the ballot in November.

While the majority of the 11 candidates cross-filed, Al Shine and Colleen Blume appeared only on the Republican primary ballot.

According to unofficial county results, Democratic voters sided heavily with the Citizens for Carlisle Schools candidates, which included incumbents Paula Bussard, Bruce Clash, Gerald Eby and Jon Tarrant, as well as newcomer Joseph Shane.

Of these, Bussard received the most votes at 2,954, with 1,650 election day votes and 1,304 mail-in votes.

Tarrant fell behind her with 2,818 votes, broken down as 1,608 election day votes and 1,210 mail-in votes. Shane received 2,774 votes, with 1,589 election day votes and 1,185 mail-in votes. Clash followed with 2,738 votes, 1,548 of which came on election day and 1,190 came as mail-in votes.

Eby, a Republican, came next with 2,071 votes. Of these, 1,296 votes were cast on election day and 775 were mail-in votes.

The next closest votes on the Democratic primary ballot were for Heather Leatherman, with 527 votes.

While Donny Martinez was also initially part of Citizens for Carlisle Schools, he has not been since Eby joined the group. Martinez received 412 votes.

Bruce Clash, Jerry Eby, Joe Shane, Jon Tarrant and Paula Bussard are extremely grateful to the Carlisle Area School District voters who made it clear they value putting students educational needs ahead of partisan politics and want a school board governed by truth and experience, the Citizens for Carlisle Schools said in a group statement. We remain committed to uniting our community and look forward to continuing to talk with parents, students, teachers and taxpayers about our priorities for improving academic performance, recruiting and retaining high quality teachers, and being good stewards of the districts finances.

On the Republican ballot, voters mostly sided with the five members of Team for Change, which consists of Blume, Shine and Leatherman, along with Walt Brown and Dawn Kephart.

Leatherman took the lead with 2,603 votes, broken down as 2,201 election day votes and 402 mail-in votes.

Blume received 2,510 votes, 2,113 of them election day votes and 397 mail-in. Kephart came next with 2,322 votes, 1,920 of them election day votes and 402 mail-in votes.

Just behind her, Brown received 2,310 votes, with 1,978 election day votes and 332 mail-in votes. Shine completed the group with 2,250 votes, 1,933 on election day and 317 mail-in votes.

Thank you to the voters and supporters for making your voice heard, the Team for Change posted on its Facebook page. The will of the people in CASD spoke yesterday. Colleen Blume, Walt Brown, Dawn Kephart, Heater Leatherman and Al Shine are eager to bring fresh perspectives to the CASD School Board. They look forward to representing you in the November election and beyond.

While each group seemed to receive the majority of their support from either Republicans or Democrats, the Citizens for Carlisle Schools did see more votes on the Republican ballot than the Team for Change saw on the Democratic ballot, despite the latter team having fewer candidates on that ballot.

On the Republican ballot, Bussard received 998 votes, and Eby followed with 922 votes. Shane pulled in 859 votes, and just behind him, Clash won 848 votes. Tarrant earned 770 votes.

On the Democratic ballot, Leatherman captured 527 votes, Kephart followed with 501 votes, and Brown brought in 343 votes.
(Natural News) Over the next 12 to 17 years, the Biden regime wants to eliminate the United States power grid as we currently know it in order to stop greenhouse gas pollution.

The goal is to slash 90 percent of all power plants that produce energy from earth-based fuels such as coal, oil, and gas, and replace them with  something that the regime will apparently figure out at a later date since there is nothing in the category of green that can effectively replace the nations existing energy infrastructure.

Bidens number-one focus right now, besides sending Americas wealth into the money pit known as Ukraine, is to destroy the electric grid of the United States while banning gas-powered vehicles and appliances. With this will come drastic reductions in the standard of living for everyone except those at the very top.

Via the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Biden hopes to ram through new rules that would require all power plants across the country to stop burning coal and natural gas, which right now produce the lions share of the countrys electricity.

(Related: After being installed into the White House, Biden handed over control of Americas energy grid to communist China.)

Biden and his puppet masters want to send us all back into the dark ages

To make the plan not seem so bad, the Biden regime is offering so-called fossil fuel plants the option to capture their greenhouse gas emissions before they enter the atmosphere  if only that were actually possible. It turns out there is really no viable way to do this with existing technologies.

So, in the real world, power plants that use earth-based fuels to produce energy will be forced to close, which will drastically reduce the nations power-generating capacity. Coupled with Bidens push for everything to go electric, this spells an absolute collapse of the energy grid in the coming years.

The public health and environmental benefits of this proposed rule will be tremendous, said EPA Administrator Michael Regan during a briefing about the rule. We have more than enough reason to be optimistic about whats possible for the future of our nation.

The Biden regimes war on energy has never been more flagrant and in-your-face than it is today with this new plan. They can barely contain their true agenda with all this, which is to destroy the nations lifeblood in order to collapse the country.

Keep in mind that part of the proposal also deals with cars and trucks, the latter of which are critical for logistics and the movement of goods, including food. Biden wants all those diesel-powered trucks to be scrapped as part of his global warming agenda, which will mean an end to the American economy  which, by the way, is already teetering on its last legs, or so it would seem.

Many Republicans are trying to fight back against Bidens anti-energy agenda, as is Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, a heavy coal state that stands to falter if Biden gets his way.

Last year, natural gas and coal combined produced nearly 60 percent of Americas electricity. Renewable sources like wind and solar, on the other hand, contributed about 21 percent  and unreliably so on sunny and windless days, it is important to note.

Coal and gas are always there and always ready, while wind and solar are entirely dependent upon weather conditions. Wind and solar might be renewable, in other words, but they are certainly not reliable, nor are they sustainable to maintain a strong and healthy economy.

The earth-based fuels that enhance modern life with abundance are under attack by the Left. To keep up with the latest news, visit GreenTyranny.news.

Sources for this article include:

Politico.com

NaturalNews.com
(Natural News) Once again, a Democratic presidential administration has proven that its party, not the GOP, has completely weaponized all branches of government and rendered them completely useless at this point.

According to sources, on Monday, the IRS removed the entire investigative team from its ongoing tax fraud investigation involving Hunter Biden. The action is believed to be in response to alleged retaliation against the whistleblower who recently approached Congress, accusing the agency of a cover-up in the case, according to the New York Post.

According to a letter sent by the whistleblowers attorneys to congressional leaders, the removal of the investigative team from the Hunter Biden tax fraud probe was purportedly carried out under the instructions of the Justice Department, the outlet reported further.

Today the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Criminal Supervisory Special Agent we represent was informed that he and his entire investigative team are being removed from the ongoing and sensitive investigation of the high-profile, controversial subject about which our client sought to make whistleblower disclosures to Congress. He was informed the change was at the request of the Department of Justice, lawyers Mark Lytle and Tristan Leavitt wrote.

Although the whistleblower, who has overseen the Hunter Biden probe since early 2020, has not publicly disclosed the identity of the first son as the target of the case that they claim is being concealed, congressional sources have confirmed it, The Post noted.

On April 27, 2023, IRS Commissioner Daniel Werfel appeared before the House Committee on Ways and Means. He testified: I can say without any hesitation there will be no retaliation for anyone making an allegation or a call to a whistleblower hotline. However, this move is clearly retaliatory and may also constitute obstruction of a congressional inquiry, the lawyers wrote.

Our client has a right to make disclosures to Congress  He is protected by 5 U.S.C.  2302 from retaliatory personnel actions  including receiving a significant change in duties, responsibilities, or working conditions (which this clearly is) because of his disclosures to Congress, the letter continued.

Any attempt by any government official to prevent a federal employee from furnishing information to Congress is also a direct violation of longstanding appropriations restriction. Furthermore, 18 U.S.C.  1505 makes it a crime to obstruct an investigation of Congress, Lytle and Leavitt wrote.

The legal team added: We respectfully request that you give this matter your prompt attention. Removing the experienced investigators who have worked this case for years and are now the subject-matter experts is exactly the sort of issue our client intended to blow the whistle on to begin with.

Hunter Biden has been under investigation, supposedly, for years over alleged failure to pay taxes on millions he earned from selling his dads name for acceorss, Republicans allege.

The Post noted further:

The first son wrote in communications retrieved from the abandoned laptop that he paid up to half of his income to his father, and Hunter frequently involved then-Vice President Biden in his international business relationships.

The whistleblower was ousted from the investigation, along with an unknown number of subordinates, at roughly the same time as the Justice Department released a long-awaited report by special counsel John Durham detailing bias in the FBIs investigation of former President Donald Trumps alleged links to Russia.

The whistleblower surfaced last month when Lytle informed Congress of their intention to provide information regarding preferential treatment in the Hunter Biden case. The whistleblower also alleged that Attorney General Merrick Garland provided false testimony to Congress, as Garland repeatedly assured lawmakers that Delaware US Attorney David Weiss has the authority to independently determine charging decisions in the investigation.

The informant, who is yet to testify at the Capitol, has already shared their revelations with the inspectors general at both the Justice and Treasury departments, The Post added.

Sources include:

NYPost.com

NaturalNews.com
(Natural News) With a Reparations Management Council to operate independent of the government of San Francisco, what could possibly go wrong? the Globe asked earlier this week.

(Article by Katy Grimes republished from CaliforniaGlobe.com)

San Francisco resident Richie Greenberg has identified that the San Francisco Reparations Plan installs a neo-Apartheid system on a city of 45,000 Black/African-American residents being given super-prioritized services, funding and extraordinary privilege  out of total city population of 825,000. The result is Apartheid San Francisco, where 5% Black residents take the resources and economic earnings of the 95% non-Black residents.

As the Globe reported in January, both the San Francisco African American Reparations Advisory Committee and State Reparations Task Force are expanding reparations beyond slavery. Its become a grab and hustle for all grievances. But where does this end?

Buckle up and hold on tightly  they said the quiet parts aloud: the racial wealth gap in the state of California.

As the Globe reported in December, Reparations task force member Jovan Scott Lewis said: Spoiler-alert: We dont yet know the racial wealth gap in the state of California. This is the preliminary conversation to figure out what we know and what we dont know.

Remember this: Racial wealth gap.

Another task force member Dr. Cheryl Grills said: Racial terror leads to racial trauma  also known as race-based traumatic stress.

Fox News now reports that the statewide California Reparations Task Force, created by legislation signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom, formally recommended that the state legislature repeal Proposition 209, a constitutional amendment that prohibits the government from discriminating against, or granting preferential treatment to, someone based on their race.

Proposition 209, a ban on affirmative action, was passed by California voters in 1996, and prohibits discrimination or preferential treatment by the state, public universities, public employment, or other public entities, and banned affirmative action policies.

In 2020, voters even reaffirmed the ban on affirmative action policies and practices by voting down Proposition 16, 57% to 42%. Prop. 16 qualified for the ballot when ACA 5, authored by then-Assemblywoman Shirley Weber (D-San Diego), was passed by the California legislature in 2020. If passed, Prop. 16 would have repealed Proposition 209.

Imagine the coincidence that the statewide reparations committee is the result of legislation also authored by Assemblywoman Shirley Weber (D-San Diego), Assembly Bill 3121, passed in 2021.

So it now appears that the California Reparations Task Force has taken up the affirmative action mantle and will backdoor granting preferential treatment based on race via their final recommendations to the California Legislature.

However, as we reported in January, both the San Francisco and state Reparations committees are seriously neglecting the states rich ethnic history, favoring race hustling instead.

A local historian friend sent this:

Before and during the Civil War militia companies were ethnic, generally social groups with others from the old country such as German, Irish, and Italian companies all over northern California. This was not then considered segregation, it was a place to socialize with those of similar backgrounds. Sacramento had a black militia company in that era. Many from those units joined the California Volunteers and fought in the eastern battles.

In the [Sacramento] Land Park area (there is a monument marker in the park) was Camp Union Sutterville where seven regiments of infantry, two regiments of cavalry, and smaller specialized units were trained and participated primarily in two Union moves. One was to replace regular army troops in the west and they garrisoned posts all the way to Salt Lake City, founding an army base in that area that is still active. The other went to southern California and joined units raised in that area. Confederates had occupied what is now Arizona and New Mexico up to the California border. Camp Union troops were involved with pushing them back into Texas and when the war ended Sacramento troops were well established in that state.

Every kid in California should know this.

As Fox reported:

The [statewide reparations] task force highlights a study commissioned by the far-left Equal Justice Society, an organization of which a task force member is president, that concluded between $1 billion and $1.1 billion in contract dollars were lost annually by businesses owned by women and people of color due to Proposition 209. The task forces report also argued admissions declined for Black applicants at every campus.

According to UCLA law professor Richard Sander, however, the number of Black graduates from the University of California had risen 70% above pre-Proposition 209 levels by 2017. That same year, he wrote, the number of STEM graduates rose from an annual average of around 200 before Proposition 209 to 510. The figure increased to 558 in 2018.

It is unclear how repealing a measure that bars discrimination or preferential treatment based on race would help combat racial discrimination, Fox concluded. Indeed.

This topic isnt going away, and the left isnt giving up. A bill last year by Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas, and 52 House Democrats sought reparations and a national apology for slavery. They are still pushing to set up a commission to examine slavery and discrimination in the colonies and the United States from 1619 to the present and recommend appropriate remedies, the New York Post reported.

As the Globe reported in December, the state Reparations Task Force is already pulling a bait-and-switch on Californians  with talk of a racial wealth gap, racial terror, race-based traumatic stress, and guaranteed income for dependents of slaves. But what they are really promoting is social justice reparations and nothing more than a redistribution of wealth.

California has very serious problems that lawmakers seem disinterested in fixing:

California is home to one-third of the nations welfare recipients and has the highest poverty;

Our failing schools now rank 48th in the country;

California lawmakers cant build new homes or apartments for less than $800,000 each (luxury level costs);

The governor and lawmakers cant figure out what to do with several hundred thousand drug-addicted, mentally ill homeless vagrants living on city streets and taking over public parks;

California lawmakers refuse to build additional reservoirs for water storage in a state in which drought conditions are historically normal, and now has a regular wildfire season;

California lawmakers and governor mandated all electric vehicles within a few years, but cant keep the power on during heat spells and winter storms;

Lawmakers authorized more than $25 million worth of taxpayer-funded guaranteed income to some individuals in the state, but cant really tell you why.

Reparations talk is a distraction from the failures of the governance of California. But distractions are the best failing politicians can come up with.

Read more at: CaliforniaGlobe.com
(Natural News) The Wuhan coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic is finally over, and all we got was tens of millions of needless deaths and the loss of $1.8 trillion, which was wasted on face masks, PCR testing kits, and all sorts of other useless, tyrannical nonsense that destroyed what little remained of social cohesion and normalcy.

Ballpark figures compiled by Peter Halligan on his Peters Newsletter Substack show that covid, now that all is officially said and done, completely drained the economy of its lifeblood while callously ending the lives of millions upon millions of people in the name of public health.

One major elephant in the room as far as the death counts go is that people were mostly still alive until the launch of Operation Warp Speed. Once that happened and the injections started going into peoples arms, deaths began to skyrocket.

The data shows that as of Dec. 30, 2020, right as Operation Warp Speed was being launched, total deaths were still under two million. One year later in late 2021, however, the number of deaths recorded nearly tripled, reaching 5,488,817. And one year after that in December of 2022, the official death count ballooned to 6,714,164.

(Related: Remember back in 2021 at the height of covid when leftists on Twitter called for all unvaccinated people everywhere to be murdered?)

The official government covid protocols were all designed to KILL people, not save them

Clearly and undeniably, the injections are to blame for the sudden and massive increase in deaths as 2021 was beginning. Had the injections never been released, the death count would have been a whole lot less than what it became.

To claim, as the government, the pharmaceutical industry, and the media still do, that covid shots were effective in light of all this is preposterous  unless they mean effective at depopulating the planet to a substantial degree.

Even before the launch of the jabs, the death count would have been smaller still had tried-and-true remedies like ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine been allowed  but they were not. Instead, patients were muzzled with ventilators and pumped up with remdesivir and other drugs, which in many cases resulted in death.

Just about everything on the official covid protocol, from ventilators to face masks to lockdowns to the jabs, resulted in more death, not less. Had covid been treated like just another normal flu season, all the death and destruction the world saw could have been avoided.

Maybe as many as 85% of all deaths globally from C19 were preventable from May 2020 onwards, Halligan reported, noting that ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine had already been proven to be safe and effective prophylactics that very same month.

The decision NOT to use IVM / HCQ treatment protocols from May 2020 onwards cost around 6 million lives, globally.

Death by healer  iatrogenic death  from Remdesivir / Midazolam + morphine, ventilators, psychological and physical torture of the elderly and infirm in medical settings, failure to treat existing and emerging health conditions (non-C19), failure to prescribe anti-biotics (WHO advice) and so on are included in C19 deaths, rather than as murders.

Halligan further broke down the numbers on the costs of ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine versus the costs associated with everything that was pushed instead of these two safe and effective drugs, and the comparison is ghastly.

To truly save lives with these remedies would have cost substantially less what it cost society to do all those other horrific things, which left in their wake a mountain of dead bodies and the total absolution of civilization as we used to know it. Was it worth it?

The latest news about the covid mass genocide can be found at Genocide.news.

Sources for this article include:

PeterHalligan.substack.com

NaturalNews.com
(Natural News) Two-and-a-half years into Operation Warp Speed and many recipients of Wuhan coronavirus (Covid-19) vaccines are now reporting strange skin conditions that seem to be appearing out of nowhere.

One man in his 40s by the name of Jeff Jackson who was healthy and self-sufficient prior to getting jabbed now has a serious skin-related vaccine injury that left him debilitated. His family and friends have since cut him off because of it, which means he now has to live on social welfare and donations from strangers.

It all began after Jackson got his second dose of a covid mRNA injection from Moderna at his local Walmart store. While walking back to his apartment complex, Jacksons mother, who was behind him, noticed strange dark red shapes moving on the back of his head.

According to Jackson, the red shapes moved like paraffin wax in a lava lamp, though the movement was much slower than that. All of this occurred within 15 minutes of him getting injected.

Jackson bandaged the wound, but after later removing it, he says a large volume of clear fluid started shooting out of it like a fountain. He described it as being unlike anything he has ever heard about or seen in his life.

There wasnt a part of my body where skin wasnt falling off, had plaque, or was turning red, he explained, noting that his skin would also bleed spontaneously for no apparent reason. From the top of my head to the bottom of my feet, I looked like a burn victim.

(Related: In 2021, we warned you that covid injections shed spike proteins via skin-penetrating nanoparticles, which could explain why some recipients end up developing skin problems as well.)

If you want your skin to potentially melt off, then go ahead and get vaccinated for the Fauci Flu

In Jacksons case, he developed what is known as lichenoid dermatitis, a skin condition typically caused by drug allergies. It is a type of inflammation that occurs between the outer and inner layers of the skin, known as the epidermis and dermis, respectively.

The dermis attacks the epidermiss underside, causing the skins outer layer to plaque and flake off, revealing the raw inner skin, The Epoch Times reported about Jacksons covid jab-induced disease.

Worst of all was the pain, which caused Jackson to pass out in the shower twice.

What is worse is that Jackson developed additional health problems as well, including psoriatic arthritis, another skin condition demarcated by rashes, joint pain, and dents in the nails. Jacksons joints and bones are both eroding away, as are his nails and teeth, which have become brittle and prone to breaking or falling out.

According to Dr. Jonathan Kantor, a professor of dermatology at the University of Pennsylvania, vaccine-induced diseases such as the ones Jackson now suffers are a factor both of allergy and autoimmunity. The former type tends to be rarer, he says, while the latter is more common but tends to resolve itself over time.

Shingles is just one of the repercussions of that poison jab the duped population took, one commenter wrote on a story about Jacksons demise due to covid vaccination. Theres no telling what else is next for them other than the obvious. Crimes against humanity!

Another lamented the fact that three-and-a-half years into the covid pandemic scam and still nobody on the entire planet has remotely been held accountable for orchestrating all of it.

This is the number one greatest existential crisis we face, hands down, and still there is no justice, this person added.

Want to learn more about the growing number of injuries and deaths caused by covid injections? Visit ChemicalViolence.com.

Sources for this article include:

TheEpochTimes.com

NaturalNews.com
(Natural News) The era of the Wuhan coronavirus (Covid-19) is finally over, except for a few deranged diehards who are still choosing to wear a mask while driving alone or walking solitary through the local park. What is not over, though, are the repercussions that the covid tyrants inflicted upon society, which need to be remembered, and more importantly dealt with, through the criminal justice system.

Just because the Biden regime and other globalist power structures have suddenly decided that the covid emergency has ended  which is convenient since the whole thing fell apart before they could salvage the narrative  does not mean that these criminals get to walk away scot-free.

Untold millions of lives were destroyed because of this ritualistic psy-op, which included the experimental mass-drugging of the global population with a deadly chemical concoction known as covid vaccines. There was, in fact, a time when the perpetrators were calling for those who rejected this drugging to be jailed, or even killed, for resisting the effort to save lives.

Remember in early 2022 when a Rasmussen poll found that a majority of Democrats thought the unvaccinated should be locked up at home and fined until they agreed to get jabbed? Most Democrats also wanted the unvaccinated to be imprisoned, if necessary, to force their compliance.

One in three Democrats also said at the time that they believe unvaccinated parents should have their children forcibly removed from their homes by the government, while others promoted the idea of throwing vaccine resisters into government-run quarantine camps, also known as concentration camps.

(Related: Dont forget that the Biden regime also intentionally disrupted the supply chains in an effort to punish unvaccinated Americans for their non-compliance with its demands.)

Remember when The View hosts called unvaccinated Americans scum?

Sadly, about one in four Republicans also told Rasmussen that unvaccinated Americans should be fined, locked up at home, or sent to a concentration camp until they agreed to obey, which makes many of them criminals just like the Democrats.

The idea of health freedom and medical choice is apparently lost on a sizeable portion of the population, which somehow still believes that government authorities have the rightful power to rule over their subjects like tyrants. The United States Constitution permits no such thing, and it is time We the People remind the others of this whenever we get the chance.

As another reminder of what the left, which apparently includes some Republicans, thought about the unvaccinated, check out the clip below from The View, in which the unvaccinated are referred to as scum:

The below mashup of clips shows many other leftists referring to the unvaccinated in much the same way:

Covid Retrospective Series, Vol. 1 Media: The Unvaccinated Are Scum pic.twitter.com/hPvLfEtW3O  Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) May 12, 2023

It should also be noted that Rochelle Walensky, head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) throughout the covid scamdemic saga, is an anti-science loon who claims that natural immunity does not exist, among other bizarre claims:

? Dr. Marty Makary Roasts CDC Dir. Rochelle Walensky for Ignoring Natural Immunity Even worse she dug into her position as the data were overwhelming even to this day!Theyre still ignoring natural immunity. Even at my university you cant go to school without the primary pic.twitter.com/xDQrtzki02  Chief Nerd (@TheChiefNerd) May 12, 2023

In response to Walenskys false claims about natural immunity, one commenter had this to say, which sums it up nicely:

Science is man-made. Natural immunity is God-made. I choose God.

The latest news about what comes next for the covid criminals who committed flagrant acts of medical violence while unleashing medical fascism on the world under the guise of promoting public health can be found at Plague.info.

Sources for this article include:

CitizenFreePress.com

NaturalNews.com
(Natural News) Agents at the Tucson sector of the U.S. Border Patrol arrested five illegal migrants on May 12, shortly after the pandemic-era health policy Title 42 expired. It was later discovered that the five illegals are on the Terrorist Screening Database (TSDB) of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

According to a source within Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the suspected terrorists illegally crossed the border separately. Information regarding the demographics and nationalities of the arrested individuals was not made available. The source said they were referred to the FBIs Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF) for further investigation and identity confirmation.

CBP data from October 2022 to March 2023 confirmed that a total of 80 migrants listed in the TSDB have already been nabbed upon entering the country via the southwest border between ports of entry this fiscal year. Meanwhile, two were arrested after crossing the northern border with Canada.

The TSDB contains information related to specific individuals reasonably suspected to be involved in terrorism or related activities. A persons name listed in the TSDB triggers a reporting process that alerts the FBI to an encounter by the Border Patrol.

The CBP source said that the additional scrutiny triggered by the encounter includes verification that the migrant whose name matches a name on the list is in fact the same person and added that the investigation and additional interviews by the FBIs JTTF determine the subsequent actions taken by Department of Homeland Security (DHS) related to the consequences a migrant may face after initial processing.

FBIs Terrorist Screening Center (TSC) manages the database and provides the information to several law enforcement agencies, including the DHS and the Department of Defense. The TSC does not confirm anyones status on the watchlist. According to the FBI, most people on the terrorism watchlist are not Americans and they have no known connection to the United States.

Breitbart reported that the number of migrants in the TSDB surged under President Joe Bidens regime. From fiscal year (FY) 2017 to 2020 of former President Donald Trumps administration, agents apprehended only 14 migrants appearing in the national security database. During FY 21, FY 22 and year-to-date FY 23, agents apprehended 196 known or suspected terrorists on the list. Make that 201 now.

Gloating Biden boasts the border looks much better than expected after Title 42 expired

Over the weekend, Biden told the press that the situation at the U.S.-Mexico border after the expiration of Title 42 is much better than you all expected. He also told reporters he was glad that Title 42s expiration did not lead to an immediate surge in asylum seekers at the border.

The President spent the weekend at his vacation home in Rehoboth, Delaware, along with first lady Jill Biden and their daughter Ashley instead of conducting checks at the border.

His cheerful mood may have been due to DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas statement that border patrol agents have seen a 50 percent drop in the number of migrants crossing the border since the pandemic-era policy ended. The numbers we have experienced are markedly down over what they were prior to the end of Title 42, Mayorkas said in a recent interview. According to him, there were 6,300 border encounters on May 12 and 4,200 on May 13.

Mayorkas credited the criminal penalties for migrants who illegally enter the country for the decrease in crossings. After May 11, Biden reverted to decades-old immigration policy under what is known as Title 8. The policy requires migrants to schedule an immigration appointment through the app CBP One, or seek protection from countries they passed through on their way to the U.S. border.

If they do not follow the process and are caught entering the U.S. illegally, they are not allowed to try again even through legal means for five years. There are also prison terms for other violations. (Related: Smartphones issued to track illegals cost American taxpayers over $360,000 per day.)

Head to InvasionUSA.news for more news about the ongoing U.S. border crisis.

Watch the video below where Mayorkas called Texas Governor Greg Abbotts move to bus migrants to Washington D.C. sad and tragic.

This video is from the NewsClips channel on Brighteon.com.

More related stories:

NY Gov. Hochul announces EMERGENCY ORDER to deal with surge of illegals.

OPEN SESAME: Biden administration opens border to millions of ILLEGALS by lifting Title 42.

Donna Brandenburg: Northern border also hosts indescribable human trafficking  Brighteon.TV.

The Dr. Hotze Report: Immigration disaster unfolds at the southern border as Title 42 ends  Brighteon.TV.

Sources include:

Breitbart.com

CBP.gov

FBI.gov

FoxNews.com

WashingtonExaminer.com

Brighteon.com
(Natural News) Though most Republicans were already convinced that former President Barack Obama and his No. 2, then-Vice President Joe Biden, were in on the Trump-Russia collusion hoax along with Hillary Clintons campaign, a new report that dropped on Monday from special counsel John Durham makes it official.

And lets be crystal clear before we go any further: While Democrats continue to scream about how Donald Trump tried to interfere with the 2020 election, the fact is that Obama, Biden, their administration, and Hillary Clinton did interfere with the 2016 election.

According to the more than 300-word report, then-CIA Director John Brennan personally briefed Obama and Biden in 2016. The briefing revealed that the CIA possessed evidence suggesting Clintons intentions to falsely connect then-presidential candidate Trump with Russia.

The report said Brennans information was contained in highly significant intelligence from a trusted foreign source pointing to a Clinton campaign plan to vilify Trump by tying him to Vladimir Putin so as to divert attention from her own concerns relating to her use of a private email server, Breitbart News reported, citing Durhams conclusions.

Shortly after receiving the tip, Brennan briefed not only Obama and Biden but also then-Attorney General Loretta Lynch, then-FBI Director James Comey, and several other high-ranking government officials just a few days after the initial information was received.

Handwritten notes from Brennan indicated he briefed the Oval Office attendees about the alleged approval by Hillary Clinton on July 26, 2016, of a proposal from one of her foreign policy advisors to vilify Donald Trump by stirring up a scandal claiming interference by Russian security services, the report said.

More than anything, this indicated that Clinton knew without any doubt she could not beat Trump in a head-to-head matchup, which turned out to be the case. That was proven again by her (and her Democratic Party) claiming after Trump won that his victory was illegitimate.

?BREAKING: According to the Durham Report, the plan by Hillary Clinton to create a false story linking Donald Trump to Russia was briefed in August of 2016 by CIA Director John Brennan to President Obama, VP Biden, AG Loretta Lynch, and FBI Director Comey. pic.twitter.com/r2NvwJyKW8  Greg Price (@greg_price11) May 15, 2023

Brennan conducted the briefing on August 3, 2016, in the White House Situation Room, Durham reported. The purpose of the meeting was to provide a comprehensive update on the intelligence available at that time regarding Russian election interference.

As per the report, the CIA went as far as sending an official written referral to James Comey, then-FBI Director, and Peter Strzok, who served as the Deputy Assistant Director of the FBIs Counterintelligence Division, urging them to review and take necessary action based on the intelligence concerning Clintons alleged plan. But they never did, so the plan to falsely smear Trump went ahead. In fact, Obamas FBI opened a Russian collusion probe into Trump that everyone knew was bogus at the time, Durham found.

Unlike the FBIs opening of a full investigation of unknown members of the Trump campaign based on raw, uncorroborated information, in this separate matter involving a purported Clinton campaign plan, the FBI never opened any type of inquiry, issued any taskings, employed any analytical personnel, or produced any analytical products in connection with the information, the report said.

The disclosure implies that despite being aware of the Clinton-connected origins of the allegations regarding Russian collusion in the Trump campaign, Obama and Biden did not take any action or openly acknowledge this information. Furthermore, they continued to lie by claiming that Russia was interfering in the election.

On July 25, 2019, after Biden had begun his presidential campaign, he noted on Twitter: Russia undermined our democracy by interfering in the 2016 election. Thats a fact. We need a President who will stand up to the Kremlin, push back against Putin, and take immediate steps to ensure the security of our elections.

Russia undermined our democracy by interfering in the 2016 election. Thats a fact. We need a President who will stand up to the Kremlin, push back against Putin, and take immediate steps to ensure the security of our elections.  Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) July 25, 2019



We know now, of course, that this was a sick lie  even if most of us were sure by that time anyway.

In October 2019, Biden promoted the falsehood that Trump had colluded with Russia, tweeting a remark made by Trump during his campaign, Russia if youre listening, which was intended as a joke pertaining to Clintons missing emails from her private server.

Russia, if youre listening I would like you to do us a favor to Ukraines president China should start an investigation. Our President has asked three foreign powers to intervene in our elections on his behalf  and those are just the ones we know about! #DemDebate  Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) October 16, 2019

U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., is calling for prosecutions, including that of Clinton.

There needs to be a lot more than reports, Jesse. People need to be prosecuted for this. The Clinton campaign and Hillary Clinton herself. Is it any coincidence that she is tweeting about collusion at exactly the same time her campaign operatives are feeding this BS to the FBI? I dont think so. There needs to be consequences for her and also for the FBI, he told Fox News Jesse Watters on Monday.

Weve got to get justice here, and justice needs to be served. You cant interfere in a presidential election without consequences. At least you couldnt, you used to not be able to in America. And thats what happened here. Thats what this report shows. That one political party, the Democrats, tried to use the FBI to rig a presidential election and just about got away with it. They succeeded in getting the FBI to intervene, he continued.

They succeeded in getting the FBI to lie to a court to get wiretaps. They succeeded in getting a presidential campaign Donald Trumps campaign spied on. I mean, its amazing. If theres something like this in American history, I dont know what it is. And thats why I say there needs to be prosecutions, Hawley added.

Sources include:

Breitbart.com

USAJournal.com
(Natural News) At least five individuals have now come forward to tell their stories of alleged corruption involving the Biden family but the question remains: As long as Joe Biden is president and remains head of the Executive Branch agencies charged with enforcing the law, who is actually going to charge him or his family?

The whistleblowers are in addition to the multitude of witnesses that Republican members of Congress have interviewed behind closed doors, Breitbart News reported on Monday. The whistleblowers range from an IRS agent to an Obama administration stenographer, encompassing alleged corruption in Ukraine and Mexico, along with the FBI and DOJ.

1) Chuck Grassley: Whistleblowers Say FBI Has Evidence Joe Biden Involved in Family Business Schemes

During his testimony before the GOP-controlled Houses new Select Subcommittee on Political Weaponization in 2023, Senator Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) asserted that whistleblower revelations suggest the FBI possesses evidence indicating Joe Bidens knowledge of the family business schemes. His statement directly contradicts the claims made by the president regarding his awareness of such activities.

The long-serving Iowa Republican, who has been investigating Biden family corruption since Donald Trumps term, said the whistleblower disclosures make clear the FBI has within its possession very significant, impactful, and voluminous evidence with respect to potential criminal conduct by Hunter and James Biden.

Its not clear why the FBI has yet to act on the allegations, especially since the bureau has been in possession of Hunter Bidens laptop from hell since Trump was in office.

Politicization of the agency? Of course.

2) Former Hunter Biden Partner Tony Bobulinski Meeting with Senate Investigators to Turn Over Information

Tony Bobulinski, a former business associate of Hunter Biden, has stated that he had a one-hour meeting with Joe Biden and Hunter Biden in 2017. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss the Bidens family business plans regarding a Chinese energy deal. Notably, the deal in question does not seem to have been made, but Bobulinski claimed that a ten percent stake was designated as held by H for the big guy, with Bobulinski asserting that the big guy referred to Joe Biden.

We discussed the Bidens history, the Bidens family business plans with the Chinese, with which he was plainly familiar at least at a high level, Bobulinski told reporters in 2020.

Nothings been done, even after Bobulinski handed over the information he had (texts, WhatsApp chats, emails, etc.) to former FBI point man Timothy Thibault, who never acted on the info and actually allegedly just buried it.

3) Ex-White House Aide: FBI Ignored Joe Bidens Role in Ukraine Business Dealings

Earlier this year, former Obama White House stenographer Mike McCormick made allegations claiming that the FBI has disregarded Joe Bidens involvement in what he described as the familys conspiracy related to foreign influence-peddling in Ukraine.

McCormick, who disclosed to the New York Post that he possesses pertinent information implicating Joe Biden in the familys business dealings in Ukraine, also said he submitted a tip to the FBI in February. Despite reaching out to the FBI, McCormick claims to have never received a response.

4) IRS Whistleblower Says Biden Admin Interfering in Hunter Tax Fraud Probe

Also earlier this year, an IRS whistleblower made an allegation claiming that two political appointees from the Biden administration within the Justice Department are actively impeding the prosecution of Hunter Biden for tax violations. The whistleblower contends that these actions are in direct opposition to the recommendations put forth by relevant authorities.

As per the whistleblowers attorney, Mark Lytle, the client expressed a desire to engage with congressional investigators and substantiate the allegations regarding political interference in the probe. The whistleblower has already reported the claims to the top watchdog of the Justice Department.

5) Joe Biden Bribery Allegations Were Flagged to DOJ in 2018

A former federal prosecutor recently disclosed that bribery allegations against President Joe Biden were presented to the Justice Department by a whistleblower back in 2018. However, these allegations were allegedly disregarded.

The New York Post also reported on a separate bribery accusation involving Hunter Bidens board membership with Burisma, a Ukrainian energy company.

Sources include:

NYPost.com

Breitbart.com
(Natural News) The Russian government has vowed to reduce oil output by 500,000 barrels per day (bpd) in response to Western sanctions since late last year. But despite this predicament, seaborne shipment of Russias crude still posted its biggest jump since the start of 2022.

According to Bloombergs May 9 report, the average four-week seaborne shipments in the period ending May 5 increased by 180,000 bpd to 3.63 million bpd. Data also showed that the four-week average shipments to the countrys Asian buyers skyrocketed to a record high of 3.37 million bpd  an increase of 124,000 bpd from the period ending April 28.

The combined volume of crude on vessels heading to China and India and quantities on ships that havent yet shown a final destination surged to a record 3.55 million bpd in the latest four-week period. Exports to Russias only remaining Mediterranean customer, Turkey, rose to a ten-week high of 177,000 bpd. (Related: Russian oil still powers European vehicles, thanks to Indias refining capability.)

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, while those loaded onto very large crude carriers off the north coast of Morocco or, more recently, in the Atlantic Ocean, will head to China, Bloomberg reported.

Russia has rerouted its oil exports through neutral countries since the European Union embargoed seaborne Russian oil deliveries and introduced a price cap on Russian crude oil in coordination with the G7 late last year.

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Aleksandr Novak recently said that Moscow remains committed to major oil production cuts. He cited the significant reduction in pipeline supplies to the European Union, which had already dropped by more than two-thirds and were only partly offset by maritime shipments.

Most of our energy resources have been redirected to other, friendlier markets, local news site Interfax quoted Novak as saying. If we look at oil supplies to India, they increased 22 times last year.

Russia reports drone attack on oil export pipeline

Meanwhile, Russian state-controlled oil pipeline operator Transneft reported an overnight unidentified drone attack at the Druzhba pipeline installations in the countrys Bryansk region. A Russian social network channel likewise reported that three storage tanks were hit at the transshipment facility.

The said infrastructure serves the southern leg of the Druzhba oil export pipeline that carries Russian oil to Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic.

Since the beginning of May, drones had hit several oil facilities in the southern Krasnodar region and a major storage depot next to the port of Sevastopol in Russia-annexed Crimea. The Ukrainian section of the said pipeline has also suffered damage following repeated damage from missile attacks since the start of the Russia-Ukraine war.

In the early morning [of Wednesday, May 10], an attempt of a terrorist act was undertaken against the Druzhba pipeline network at the Bryansk transshipment point. No one has been injured in the result, Transneft told Russian state news agency Tass.

Reports said the tanks were empty at the time of the attack. The said pipeline installation, which is also known as the Friendship Pipeline, was built by the Soviet Union to carry oil from Western Siberia to Eastern Europe.

The website Upstream reported: It has been operating well below nameplate capacity since December last year following the European embargo on imports of Russian oil and has been reported as delivering some volumes to Hungary and Slovakia, which are exempt from the embargo because of their geographical position and lack of immediate access to alternative oil supplies.

Follow EnergySupply.news for more stories about oil supply across the globe.

Watch the video below that talks about Russias record-high oil export.

This video is from the Worldview Report channel on Brighteon.com.

More related stories:

US-EU price cap on Russian oil threatens Indias crude imports and economic growth.

OIL LAUNDERING: India imports Russian oil at a discounted price, refines it and sells to the West for massive profits.

Hungary, Serbia building pipeline for Russian oil and gas to dodge EU sanctions.

Europe will experience the worst energy crisis in history if it keeps turning away Russian oil and gas.

Sources include:

RT.com

TheMoscowTimes.com

Interfax.ru

UpstreamOnline.com

Brighteon.com
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BOISE, Idaho  A grand jury has indicted a man who was already charged in the stabbing deaths of four University of Idaho students, allowing prosecutors to skip a planned weeklong preliminary hearing that was set for late June.

Bryan Kohberger was arrested late last year and charged with burglary and four counts of first-degree murder in connection with the Nov. 13, 2022, killings of Xana Kernodle, Ethan Chapin, Madison Mogen and Kaylee Goncalves at a rental home near the University of Idaho campus in Moscow. At the time, Kohberger was a graduate student studying criminology at nearby Washington State University in Pullman, Washington.

Kohberger was arrested at his parents home in Pennsylvania in December.

A preliminary hearing  where prosecutors must show a judge that there is enough evidence to justify moving forward with felony charges  had been scheduled to begin June 26. But on Tuesday, a grand jury indicted Kohberger on the same criminal charges, effectively rerouting the case directly to the states felony court level and allowing prosecutors to skip the preliminary hearing process.

Court documents have already detailed much of the investigation that prosecutors say ties Kohberger to the slayings. A white sedan allegedly matching one owned by Kohberger was caught on surveillance footage repeatedly cruising past the rental home on a dead-end street around the time of the killings. Police say traces of DNA found on a knife sheath inside the home where the students were killed matches that of the Kohberger, 28. Investigators also contend that a cellphone belonging to Kohberger was near the victims home on a dozen occasions prior to the killings, though it was apparently turned off around the time of the early-morning attack.

Kohberger was arrested Dec. 30, 2022, at his parents home in eastern Pennsylvania, and law enforcement officials seized dark clothing, medical gloves, a flashlight and other items from the home, according to court documents. In Pullman, investigators seized stained bedding, strands of what appeared to be hair, and a single glove from his WSU campus apartment, according to another search warrant.

Still, the unsealed court documents do not appear to suggest a motive, nor whether the killer had specifically targeted any of the victims. Its also not clear if prosecutors believe Kohberger had met any of the victims before the night they died.

Kernodle, Chapin, Mogen and Goncalves were friends and members of the universitys Greek system, and the three women lived together in the rental home just across the street from campus. Chapin  Kernodles boyfriend  was there visiting on the night of the attack.
(Natural News) Coffee shop chain Starbucks has teamed up with tech giant Amazon to launch a biometric payment system in select locations. The system will utilize the Amazon One system that allows payments through palm scanning.

According to Reclaim the Net, the program will be launched in selected Starbucks stores in the city of Edmonds in Washington state. The pilot of the Amazon One system will serve as a bellwether to determine whether older people will embrace the new technology.

As of writing, the use of the biometric payment system at Starbucks locations remains voluntary and other payment options are still available. But reception of Amazon One has been mixed so far, with attendants reporting skepticism among older people. One attendant shared: Theyre kind of freaked out by it. Its an older town, so some people arent interested.

Those interested in using Amazon One can register their palm at an in-store kiosk. Once registered, they can then use the contactless payment system at stores with Amazon One.

Both companies defended the value of biometric payments amid customers concerns regarding privacy and security. Starbucks claimed the technology will provide a more convenient and secure payment experience for customers. Amazon agreed with its partners remarks, adding that it uses multiple security controls to protect customers data and that palm images are encrypted and stored in a highly secure cloud.

Big corporations backing biometric payment systems

The pilot at Starbucks locations at Edmonds is not the first time the coffee chain partnered with the Big Tech firm to experiment with new payment technologies. Starbucks had already tried Amazon Go  a checkout-free shopping experience  at concept stores in New York City.

Similarly, this was not Starbucks first foray into going cashless. Business Insider reported back in January 2018 that the coffee shop chain opened a cashless pilot store in the lobby of a Seattle-based office building. The endeavor sought to evaluate customer response and garner employee feedback.

A video published on May 7 by Reclaim the Net expounded on cashless payments and the corporations pushing them. It alleged that many companies  including JPMorgan Chase, Amazon, Microsoft and Google  are seeking to normalize biometric payments using the face and palm to harvest customers personal data. (Related: Identity theft using selfies: Your fingerprint can now be stolen from your pictures.)

In recent years, there has been a growing trend toward cashless payments, with more and more people turning to contactless payment methods. Advocates of biometric payment systems argue that these methods are more convenient and efficient than traditional payment methods. Moreover, they also claim these could help reduce fraud and improve financial security.

Privacy experts note, however, that biometric payment systems are not to be taken lightly. Biometric data like fingerprints, iris patterns and facial structures are inherently unique and unchangeable.

Once biometric data is collected, it can be used for a variety of purposes beyond verifying payments  such as tracking individuals, identifying them in public spaces and even profiling them for marketing purposes. If this biometric information falls into the wrong hands, individuals may be subjected to potential threats.

Head over to PrivacyWatch.news for more stories about the risks of biometric payment methods.

Watch this video that touches on biometrics and the Mark of the Beast agenda.

This video is available on God is the boss channel on Brighteon.com.

More related stories:

MasterCard tests Orwellian national ID card on Nigeria.

Security alert: Voice impersonators can trick voice recognition systems, according to research.

Biometric technology to conduct traveler identity verifications at airports.

Canada intensifies airport surveillance with digital identity and facial recognition systems.

Sources include:

ReclaimtheNet.org 1

BusinessInsider.com

ReclaimtheNet.org 2

Brighteon.com
(Natural News) Author and futurist Steve Quayle joined Maria Zeees Zeee Media podcast to discuss Chinas war against the West.

Quayle, the former editor and publisher of the Survival Quest and Security and Survival Chronicles newsletters, warned that a genetic manipulation of the human race is happening. This does not only pertain to bioweapons that target a specific race, but standalone genetic maps of individuals.

According to Quayle, Beijing is behind this nefarious plan. He added that China owns the largest database of people  about two-thirds of the worlds population  which enabled its genetic mapping. Ancestry.com also has different databases of people who want to know their own genetic makeup, which was an attractive proposition to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Companies connected to the CCP later purchased these results.

The futurist mentioned that the first thing that goes down in a war is communications, something that will surely happen if China decides to attack Taiwan and the United States. Zeee agreed, citing how China is already carrying out a dry run of its invasion during war games. She added that a mysterious Chinese dark fleet is practicing how to cut undersea internet cables to sever Taipeis link to the world.

Quayle told Zeee that the Land Down Under is not exempt from Chinas attacks  given that Australia is a member of the Five Eyes global intelligence network. Being a part of this network, he added, could only mean that Canberras communications will also be a target.

America faces threat from multiple countries

Aside from China, North Korea also poses a threat to the U.S. with its arsenal of advanced hypersonic missiles exceeding that of America. Russia is also poised to attack the U.S. with its Kinzhal and Zircon hypersonic missiles.

Quayle noted that Russia was telling the world the truth with its disclosure of 40 U.S.-funded biological weapons laboratories in Ukraine. Washington initially denied the existence of the biolabs, but eventually admitted that they are operational. Thats more reason for Russia to launch an attack against the United States. (Related: After repeatedly denying the existence of Ukrainian biolabs, Pentagon finally admits to running 46 of them.)

The U.S. Department of Defense said it has operated 46 biolabs in Ukraine, with the said facilities handling dangerous pathogens. Victoria Nuland, under secretary of state for political affairs at the U.S. Department of State, expressed fears that the laboratories would fall into Russian hands.

Moreover, the author and futurist also mentioned that people are already watching the collapse of the global financial realm. He cited in particular the fall of the petrodollar and the rise of other currencies. According to Quayle, the petrodollar is being rejected by the BRICS group  Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa  and more than 140 other countries.

Ultimately, Quayle remarked that the current situation should serve as a warning and a wake-up call to the West that has underestimated its enemies for far too long.

Visit WWIII.news for more stories about ongoing conflicts between countries around the world.

Watch the full interview between Maria Zeee and Steve Quayle below.

This video is from the Ruth Mackenzies channel on Brighteon.com.

More related stories:

North Korea just tested their version of the Poseidon doomsday weapon that can create a radioactive tsunami that could kill millions.

Congressman warns DNA collected in ancestry kits could be used to create TARGETED BIOWEAPONS.

Rep. Brad Wenstrup: China had biological weapons ambitions long before the COVID-19 pandemic.

China simulates precision strikes on key Taiwanese targets during three-day military drills.

Report: US lags behind Russia, China in hypersonic weapons race.

Sources include:

Brighteon.com

SteveQuayle.com

PeoplesWorld.org
(Natural News) The race is on for the White House in 2024, and Donald Trump hopes to seal the deal this time around with a promise to release all records associated with the assassination of President John F. Kennedy back in 1963.

While in office, Trump released some of the files but not all of them, claiming at the time that it was not possible then because certain information should continue to be redacted because of identifiable national security, law enforcement, and foreign affairs concerns.

Things have apparently changed, though, as Trump now insists that he will drop the whole kit and caboodle should he beat out Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the late Kennedys nephew who is running for president as a Democrat in 2024.

I released a lot, as you know, Trump bragged to The Messenger. And I will release everything else.

(Related: There has been a lot of talk lately about the Kennedy assassination, including from former congressman and presidential candidate Ron Paul.)

Who will populist Americans choose: Trump or Kennedy?

It was RFK Jr. who really got the ball rolling on releasing the Kennedy assassination files, having alleged recently that United States intelligence officials may have been involved in his uncles death.

Trump is apparently responding to this by promising to finish the job he started back during his presidency, when he decided to only release part of the files with heavy redactions.

I am also ordering agencies to re-review each of those redactions over the next three years, Trump stated in 2018 about the matter.

At any time during that review period, and no later than the end of that period, agencies shall disclose information that no longer warrants continued withholding.

It was actually then-President George H.W. Bush who in 1992, following a stint as director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), signed into law a measure stipulating that all JFK-related documents be made public. This has yet to fully happen.

The Biden regime has been particularly resistant to releasing them, failing to follow through with what Trump started but never finished, and with what Bush required with his signature on the legal measure.

The Biden regime has, however, released more than 13,000 records that include information about suspect Lee Harvey Oswald and the time he spent in Mexico City.

Oswald, a former Marine and onetime defector to the Soviet Union, was arrested and charged with JFKs assassination right before he was murdered by nightclub owner Jack Ruby, who some suspect was a mob associate. Several years later, Ruby died while in prison.

There are still about 4,300 additional records that remain redacted, but according to the CIA these are not important.

We believe all CIA records substantively related to [former CIA agent George] Joannides were previously released, with only minor redactions, such as CIA employees names and locations, the agency claimed in a new release, adding that tremendous progress has been made.

RFK Jr., meanwhile, has been grabbing the most headlines with his public claim that the CIA is directly responsible for his uncles murder, and that the evidence supporting this claim is overwhelming.

I think its beyond a reasonable doubt at this point, Kennedy Jr. told radio host John Catsimatidis on WABC 770 back in early May. The evidence is overwhelming that the CIA was involved in the murder, and in the cover-up.

In many ways, Kennedy Jr. is the new populist candidate, much like Trump was when he ran against Hillary Clinton and won  except Kennedy Jr. is running as a Democrat against Joe Biden, while Trump plans to run again as a Republican.

Both are outsider candidates vying for the populist vote against their respective establishment parties, so which one do you think stands a better chance at winning?

The latest news about Trumps run for president in 2024 can be found at VoteRepublican.news.

Sources for this article include:

TheEpochTimes.com

NaturalNews.com
In Western Australia, four critically endangered sawfish were found dead with their distinctive teeth saws or rostrums severed.

According to the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (DPIRD) of Western Australia, the fish were discovered on Friday near Cleaverville Creek, around 900 kilometers north of Perth.

According to a DPIRD spokesman quoted in an ABC News Australia report, a member of the public alerted DPIRD to the dead fish.

Officers were dispatched to measure the sawfish and collect tissue samples while they looked into what had transpired.

WA authorities investigate 'cruel' killing of critically endangered sawfish near Karratha https://t.co/pSKwYNpFCB  Becky Jo Hull aka. Minsky (@IEyeOfTheStorm) May 15, 2023

Illegal and Cruel

These fish's precise species have not yet been determined.

They were presumably green sawfish, according to David Morgan, a specialist on aquatic ecosystems at Murdoch University in Perth, who told ABC Australia that they had been slaughtered for their rostrums to be used as trophies.

The fact that these four creatures were slaughtered solely for a trophy, according to Morgan, is a great sorrow. All they want to do is hang it on their wall. They resemble rhino horns and elephant tusks.

Not only is it forbidden, he added, but it is also cruel.

Critically Endangered Sawfish

Sawfish are a kind of ray, despite their shark-like appearance.

There are five species, all of which were formerly common but are now included on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List as "endangered" or "critically endangered."

On the Red List, green sawfish are listed as critically endangered. According to the Sawfish Conservation Society, green sawfish can reach lengths of up to 20 feet and have long, toothed "saws" or rostrums with 23 to 37 teeth, which account for almost a quarter of their entire length.

These fish are protected throughout Western Australia, Queensland, and the Northern Territory because they are classified as "vulnerable" under Australia's Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act.

Threats and Declines

Due to intentional fishing for their saws, fins, and meat for traditional medicine or shark fin soup, their populations have drastically decreased.

Additionally, habitat loss, unintentional bycatch, and entanglement in fishing gear have an impact on these sawfish.

Over the last three generations, it is estimated that their population has dropped by 80%.

The north of Western Australia is one of the few surviving fish hotspots, therefore Morgan said it is disheartening that these four carcasses were discovered there.

Additionally, Morgan expressed his wish for people to become aware of the fact that these are critically endangered animals.

As an iconic species, locals should even have a large sign inviting visitors to sawfish country, in Morgan's opinion.

Also Read: Starfish Facts: Misnamed Stars of the Oceans

Fines and Reports

A spokeswoman for the DPIRD stated that anyone accountable for the sawfish's demise might be subject to fines of up to 25,000 Australian dollars, or $16,700, according to Newsweek.

Anyone with knowledge regarding the occurrence is urged to contact the authorities via FishWatch, according to DPIRD.

The spokesman advised individuals to contact FishWatch instead of approaching anyone they believe is engaged in fish or fishing-related unlawful behavior, ABC Australia reported.

Related Article: Nearly Extinct Prehistoric Fish Lake Sturgeon Respawns in Mississippi River
Kelvin waves are moving around the equator, bringing El Nino to South America, according to satellite images.

Kelvin Waves and El Nino

In the ocean, Kelvin waves, which could be an early sign of El Nino conditions, are moving over the equatorial Pacific and approaching the South American coast.

The most recent sea level information from the US-European satellite Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich shows the equatorial Pacific Ocean is beginning to experience early indicators of an El Nino.

According to the data, Kelvin waves-which are hundreds of miles broad and 2 to 4 inches high at the ocean's surface-are traveling from west to east down the equator in the direction of South America's west coast.

Kelvin waves, which originate near the equator, transport warm water from the western Pacific to the eastern Pacific, which is connected to increased sea levels. A well-known forerunner to an El Nino, a recurring climate event that can alter weather patterns all around the world, is a succession of Kelvin waves beginning in the spring.

Along the western shores of the Americas, it is marked by rising sea levels and warmer-than-average water temperatures.

Because water expands as it heats, areas with warmer water typically have higher sea levels. The trade winds also become less strong during El Nino. The condition has the potential to bring drought to nations in the western Pacific, including Australia and Indonesia, as well as cooler, wetter weather to the US Southwest.

Warmer Water and Higher Sea Levels

The Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich satellite data spans the months of March 2023 and April 2023. By April 24, higher sea levels and warmer water had accumulated off the shores of Peru, Ecuador, and Colombia as a result of Kelvin waves. Radar altimeters, used by satellites like Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich to gauge the height of the ocean's surface, can detect Kelvin waves.

Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich can detect Kelvin waves  low waves that can be hundreds of miles /km wide. When Kelvin waves form at the equator, they can bring warm water  and higher sea levels  from west to east across the Pacific, all characterizations of an El Nino. pic.twitter.com/0TrjhyWmxK  NASA JPL (@NASAJPL) May 12, 2023

Higher sea levels will be indicated by the data when an altimeter travels over regions that are warmer than others.

They will be closely monitoring this El Nino, according to Josh Willis, a project scientist for the Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. If it's a significant one, the world will experience record warming, however, within the Southwest US, another rainy winter may follow the region's previous sogginess.

Also Read: 31% Earth Land Mass Had Extreme Heatwaves Beyond Statistical Data, Study Says

The likelihood that El Nino may form before the end of the summer has lately grown, according to the World Meteorological Organization, which was also mentioned by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

In the following months, it should become clearer how powerful it might become thanks to the continuous observation of ocean conditions in the Pacific by tools and satellites like Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich.

It is possible to determine not only the shape and height of the water but also its movements, such as Kelvin and other waves, by measuring sea level from space using satellite altimeters, according to Nadya Vinogradova Shiffer, a manager for Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich in Washington and NASA program scientist.

Heat is sloshed about the earth by ocean waves, which also change the weather by delivering heat and moisture to the coasts, PhysOrg reports.

Related Article: Gulf Coasts Break Records as Sea Level Rise Projected to 40 Inches
Authorities deployed rescue and search operations after a shark attacked a high school teacher on the west coast of South Australia, leaving remains of surfboard and wetsuit fragments.

Investigation and emergency services were sent to the scene after reports of a possible shark attack on a high school teacher.

A shark attack can become life-threatening and attack anyone on a beach.

Shark attack off South Australia

In the latest reports, CBS News and CNN reported that a possible shark attack occurred on a beach in South Australia that could likely put the high school teacher in a dangerous situation.

According to CNN, reports said a potential shark attack happened on the west coast of South Australia, near Walkers Rock Beach.

Meanwhile, CBS News added that the victim was said to be surfing near the Eliston area.

Reports identified the victim as Simon Baccanello, 46 years old.

As the emergency services continued the search operations, the report added that they discovered pieces of wetsuit and the surfboard that likely belonged to the surfer.

Meanwhile, the police noted that retrieved items would undergo forensics to confirm if they belonged to the missing surfer.

Shark attack in Hawaii

On the other hand, ABC News' latest report showed that a fisherman in a Kayak on Hawaii's coast was attacked by a shark while navigating the area.

According to the report, the fisherman was identified as Scott Haraguchi, who was shocked after a tiger shark attacked his kayak on Oahu's coast.

The report added that the fisherman first heard a whooshing sound after he found himself in front of a tiger shark.

Although the shark attack was terrifying, Haraguchi explained that he continued his planned fishing.

Tips before going surfing or fishing

While shark attacks can be sudden or unexpected, that surfers and fishermen should be aware of the potential emergence of sharks.

CNN provided essential tips on surviving a shark attack or staying prepared. Read here.

One of the most important to remember is to understand the water environment. There are notices of potential sharks in the area. It can help you stay alert for possible sharks around.

Also Read: Stranded 48-Year-Old Woman on Australia's Bushland Survives for 5 Days With Only Lollipops, Wine

In addition, the report explained that swimming during the morning or night is considered when a shark attack could unfold.

When sharks are in the area, it is best to return to the land and avoid going to the ocean slowly. Fishermen must not panic.

Meanwhile, shark attacks are dangerous. Immediately report to nearby authorities or lifeguards to alert other beachgoers.

The CNN report added that visiting guarded beaches with lifeguards is most recommended to avoid the risks of potential shark attacks.

Lifeguards navigate and monitor the area for likely sharks.

If a shark bites you, seeking immediate medical care from nearby clinics or hospitals is best.

Related Article: Scalloped Hammerhead Sharks Hold Breath Underwater To Hunt Prey

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With record-breaking storms wreaking havoc throughout California, even rabbits need rescuing.

For months, a team from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has navigated the Central Valley looking to rescue from rising floodwaters stranded riparian brush rabbits, a small, brown, and white creature listed as an endangered species.

How the rabbits are rescued

The five team members used canoes and motorboats to rescue rabbits in the San Joaquin River National Wildlife Refuge from sunrise to past sundown, as per Phys.org.

Some are stranded on high ground, on tree branches, or on bush branches. They are then transported to higher ground as the river level rises and floods the area.

286 rabbits were rescued during operations in January and March, according to Fumika Takahashi, wildlife biologist at the San Luis National Wildlife Refuge Complex, which includes the San Joaquin River National Wildlife Refuge.

More operations are planned for next week.

"These rabbits are resilient, they bounce back, but each one you rescue becomes important," she said.

Why the rabbits are endangered

The rescue effort comes a couple of months after the state endured one of the wettest winters in years.

According to the Fish and Wildlife Service, the riparian rabbit was believed to be found only in Caswell Memorial State Park and near Lathrop, as per LA Times.

But with dangerously low numbers, the species was reintroduced into the San Joaquin River National Wildlife Refuge, about 75 miles northeast of San Jose.

Riparian brush rabbits are especially vulnerable to floods because they live at the edges of rivers, refuge manager Eric Hopson said in a statement

Because they only live in a small area and are few in number, events like this can have a significant impact on their population and recovery.

Living near rivers, the animals have evolved to be able to survive floods, but not for long periods of time, as they have this year.

They're actually very good at climbing vegetation and can even swim short distances, according to her.

"But when we have these large floods, there's very little high ground for them to escape to."

The San Joaquin River has previously flooded in the area, most recently in 2017.

However, due to climate change and the current landscape, which includes growing farms, the rabbit can no longer flee upland.

Levees along the river have cut off rabbits' escape routes, and flooding has directly impacted their habitat.

Because of this, officials created what are known as "bunny mounds," or areas of high land in flood-prone areas where the animals can escape to during flood events.

However, food is scarce in these areas, exposing the rabbits to predators.

37 of the rabbits were rescued from the mounds in January. In March, 110 bodies were discovered in the mounds.

According to Takahashi, the rescues this year have been especially significant for the endangered rabbits because the refuge estimates that there are only 2,000 to 3,000 rabbits in the area.

Also Read: In a Biodiversity Hotspot, Park Rangers Employ Butterflies To Assess Temperature of the Globe

The rabbits are taken to a shelter and given medical care

The boat then took the rabbits to a nearby animal shelter, where they were checked by a veterinarian and given food and water.

Some of the rabbits had injuries or infections from the flood, while others were pregnant or had babies. The shelter staff treated their wounds and gave them antibiotics and painkillers.

The shelter also contacted other animal welfare organizations and rabbit lovers to help find homes for the rescued bunnies.

They posted photos and videos of the rabbits on social media and asked people to adopt or foster them. Within a week, all of the rabbits had found new families or temporary caregivers.

The rescue operation was hailed as a success by the volunteers and the shelter staff, who said they were happy to save so many lives.

They also hoped that their actions would raise awareness about the plight of rabbits in New Zealand, where they are often killed or poisoned as pests.

The volunteers said they would continue to monitor the flooded area and rescue any other animals that might be in danger.

They also thanked the fisherman who lent them his boat and nets and the people who donated money or supplies for the rabbits.

Related article: Scientists Trace Butterfly Evolutionary History Using DNA Advances
An endangered Mediterranean monk seal named Yulia was spotted sunbathing on Tel Aviv's coastline.

The unexpected guest has been observed sunbathing on a Tel Aviv beach in Israel, drawing attention and creating a stir in the media.

Yulia on Tel Aviv Shores

The seal cow was first spotted last Friday just south of Tel Aviv's major coastline. The rocky coastline south of Jaffa's old district was packed with interested observers on Tuesday as Yulia attracted attention.

There may only be 350 mature individuals left in the wild, according to estimates from the International Union for Conservation of Nature, placing these seals on its endangered species list. Due to historical seal fishing, hunting, and habitat loss, its populations have decreased.

Rarely seen off the coast of Israel, the Mediterranean monk seal is thought to only be found in a few isolated locations in the Mediterranean Sea.

The Nature and Park Authority of Israel has cordoned off the beach area where Yulia is resting and sent volunteers to keep an eye on her from a distance.

Molting, Sunbathing

According to the University of Haifa marine researcher Aviad Scheinin, it is quite unusual for a monk seal to spend this much time on the coast.

He stated that Yulia has been lazing on the sand and occasionally venturing out to sea as she molts, a multi-day process that involves shedding her winter coat.

According to Scheinin, Yulia has recently been sighted in Turkey and Lebanon by other scholars from the eastern Mediterranean. It is thought that the Mediterranean monk seal is 20 years old.

Despite spending 20 years studying marine mammals, Scheinin noted that this is the first time he has actually witnessed one in person, ABC News reports.

Also Read: $20k Reward Money Up For Finding Boat Operator Who Drove Over California Sea Lions in the Columbia River

Endangered Mediterranean Monk Seal

One of the rarest marine animals in the world and one of just a handful of pinniped species that can be found in tropical and subtropical waters is the Mediterranean monk seal. There are now only 600 to 700 of the species left. The displacement of populations and the degradation of habitat, intentional human slaughter, bycatch, and entanglement in fisheries are the main threats to the Mediterranean monk seal.

Along the coast of Northwest Africa, the Mediterranean Sea as well as the eastern Atlantic Ocean are home to the Mediterranean monk seal. The Marine Mammal Protection Act and the Endangered Species Act both designate the Mediterranean monk seal as depleted, according to NOAA Fisheries.

Mediterranean monk seals have been exploited and hunted down by humans for a very long time, dating back to prehistoric times, the Middle Ages, and even the Roman era. Similar to other monk seals, Mediterranean monk seals probably slept and hatched their young on sandy beaches in numerous locations. However, after centuries of exploitation and hunts, they now nearly invariably rest and raise their young in inaccessible caverns with sandy beaches.

It is believed that the utilization of caverns, where pups run the risk of being swept away during storms, is the cause of Mauritania's low pup survival rate, according to the Marine Mammal Commission.

Related Article: Endangered Hawaiian Monk Seal Pup Born in Coasts of Hawaii, Area Closed for Few Days
According to a recent study, fossil fuel companies' greenhouse gas emissions are responsible for about 37% of wildfires.

Greenhouse Gas and Fossil Fuel

For the first time, US climate scientists have determined how much the main fossil fuel producers' greenhouse gas emissions have contributed to wildfires.

According to their estimate, which was recently published in the journal Environmental Research Letters, roughly a third of the land burnt by forest fires in western North America over the previous 40 years was caused by methane and carbon dioxide emissions from the "Big 88" companies.

According to Kristina Dahl of the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) and the first author of the study, wildfires in the western United States and southern Canada have been getting worse for decades. The wildfires are burning more intensely, for longer periods of time, over wider territories, and at higher elevations.

There is a need to better understand the effect that emissions from the fossil fuel industry have had in changing the wildfire landscape since up until now, the expense of repairing and boosting resilience has primarily been borne by the general population.

Vapor Pressure Deficit

The scientists used climate modeling to conclude that emissions from the Big 88 were responsible for almost half of the observed warming, or an increase in global average temperatures of 0.9 degrees Fahrenheit since the turn of the 20th century, according to CNN.

For the study, the authors took into account all emissions that occur during the various stages of the life cycle of fossil fuels, including extraction, flaring, refinement, and use inside a vehicle.

The amount that the businesses contributed to a rise in the "vapor pressure deficit" (VPD) in the western North America region was then determined by taking into account their impact on global warming.

Climate change's rising temperatures also result in a rise in this indicator of atmospheric hunger because warmer air can store more water vapor.

According to a recent study, there is a clear exponential association between increases in this aridity indicator and the area consumed by forest fires. A greater VPD makes a region more prone to fire.

Also Read: Firefighting Goats Graze to Prevent Wildfires, Erosion in Chile Forests

37% of Wildfires

Combining all of these factors, Dahl's research team discovered that from 1986, the year reliable fire area data became available, and in 2021, emissions from the Big 88 were accountable for 37% of the total area destroyed by wildfires in the western United States and southwestern Canada, covering 19.8 million acres.

The study also discovered that roughly half of the reported increase in VPD since 1901 was caused by emissions from the same industries.

The increase in fire hazards over the previous century has been attributed to a variety of different factors, such as aggressive fire suppression that led to massive buildups of vegetation that would have traditionally burned in smaller, more frequent fires, frequently managed by Indigenous people.

As people have encroached into fire-prone areas, accidental ignitions have also increased.

New Research Impacts

The study adds to a growing number of climate "attribution" studies that have estimated the amounts of greenhouse gas emissions from burning fossil fuels that have contributed to increases in global temperature, sea level rise, and ocean acidification, PhysOrg reports.

Related Article: 7 US Volcanoes on Elevated Alerts of Advisory - Yellow, Watch - Orange Status
Leather purses made from invasive Burmese python skin could help Florida's native species survive.

A project started by a group of environmental activists who have had success working with the skins of other invasive species has entwined the campaign to eradicate invasive Burmese pythons from the Everglades of Florida with New York's haute fashion sector.

The Tampa-based team got its start turning the skins of exotic lionfish off the US southeast coast and the Caribbean Sea into high-end sneakers in collaboration with the Italian shoemaker P448.

The team was created by a group of former college mates who share a passion for scuba diving.

The Leather Bags Solution

However, a recent US Geological Survey (USGS) report estimates that up to 150,000 unwanted pythons are slithering through the Everglades and devouring increasing numbers of native wildlife, including white-tailed deer, rabbits, and rats.

As a result, the new endeavor of turning snake skin into designer handbags presents a more significant challenge.

Pythons in the Everglades are such a massive problem, according to Aarav Chavda, co-founder of the business Inversa Leathers, that it requires so many resources, a lot of energy, and so many different interests to try to solve it.

It will take years to combat it and create more effective tools.

The truly wonderful aspect of this, though, is that many consumers are actively pursuing a solution to the issue, which attracts a lot more support along the road in the form of resources, ability, and attention.

Burmese Python Skins

Pythons, which may grow up to 20 feet long, are first tracked down, humanely captured, and killed by hunters in the Everglades.

The skins are processed and tanned by Inversa, and Piper & Skye, an accessories company in New York renowned for both its high-end leather goods and environmental principles, use them to create a variety of vibrant handbags.

The most expensive ones cost close to $1,000.

The project uses a bounty system similar to that used by Inversa to encourage low-income Caribbean fishers who would not otherwise be motivated to catch coral-destroying lionfish.

As more people learn about the history behind the purses, Chavda predicted that the number of pythons trapped and processed in this way will increase.

The USGS has referred to the python issue as one of the most difficult invasive species problems in the world.

Wildlife authorities in Florida have used a range of strategies in recent years to try to get a grasp on the problem, including working with university researchers and environmental organizations.

Also Read: Warm Weather Coaxes Snakes Out of Their Dens in Texas, Officials Warn

An annual 10-day python challenge is held by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission (FWC), with a $10,000 prize going to the hunter who harvests the most snakes.

Despite this, after multiple rounds of this competition, pythons succeeded the Native American alligator as the top predator in the Florida swamplands.

The USGS survey conducted earlier this year revealed that the python population is expanding farther and faster than ever before, which scientists believe was caused by pet owners abandoning unwanted reptiles and releasing them in the wild in the 1980s, as published by The New York Times.

That makes Chavda and his group believe that their endeavor is urgent.

He claimed that the Everglades used to be teeming with music, energy, and life.

Songbirds, marsh hares, rabbits, and otters were only a few examples of the abundant native wildlife that formerly lived there.

It is now completely silent and dead.

According to Chavda, they are attempting to draw attention to, concentrate on, and harness the power of consumers-likely the most powerful sector of society on the planet-to address a very specific issue, The Guardian reported.

Related Article: Invasive Burmese Python Impossible to Wipe Out of Florida, US Experts Say
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Nurses often face difficult and sometimes heartbreaking situations. Knowing what to say or how to respond isnt always easy.

Amanda Mandy Thomas seems to know just what to say at the right time.

According to the submission about her for the Nominate a Nurse contest, the individual said Thomas is an amazing nurse. She works with the elderly, caring for them like they are her own grandparents. She makes time for each and every patient she encounters as well as makes sure their family members are updated and informed of their wellbeing. When there is a shift to be covered or extra hands needed, Amanda is who youll find meeting those needs. She is a constant force of care who goes above and beyond, often putting her patients before herself. Amanda is well deserving of this honor.

Thomas graduated from the LPN program at Mineral Area College in 2007. Prior to her graduation, she worked as a CAN. She applied to the nursing program so she could be an advocate and a voice for her patients.

It was during clinicals that she realized geriatric nursing is where she belonged.

Thomas has now worked at Country Meadows in Park Hills for eight years. A typical shift for her is either from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. or 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Some of her duties include assessments, wound treatments, contacting physicians, taking orders and more.

One frustration for Thomas is staffing issues.

We have staffing issues at times, she said. I think people need to understand that as nurses we are choosing your family over our own.

Despite all of the difficulties, Thomas greets her patients with a smile and chooses to deliver high-quality care to her patients through kindness and compassion. She listens to her patients and their families concerns and tries to overcome challenges.

Through her work experience in healthcare, Thomas said the most rewarding part of her career so far has been caring for patients who have dementia or Alzheimers and helping their families.

When Thomas isnt working, she enjoys spending time with her two daughters, Stephanie and Jillian.
The unusual parasitic plant reappeared after 44 years, according to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR).

The Wisconsin DNR stated in a news statement on May 3 that the recently unearthed plant was discovered on the dunes of Manitowoc County, facing Lake Michigan.

According to the DNR's 2022 Annual Report, one of the volunteers for the department's Rare Plant Monitoring Program, Tom Underwood, identified the parasitic plant as a clustered broomrape (Orobanche fasciculata).

Search for Clustered Broomrape

The study states that Underwood first set out to locate this population in 2018, but after a tiresome search up, over, and along deep, dry, and loose sand, he gave up.

This population was last observed in 1979.

The absence of information on the plant's last known location made the search more challenging.

According to the report, clustered broomrape is a little plant that is readily concealed by sand shifting, and DNR didn't have a lot of information on exactly where it was found.

The survey was likened to trying to find a proverbial needle in a haystack.

According to Mark Strong, a Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History botanist, the broomrapes are the largest family of parasitic plants.

These parasitic plants, according to the Wisconsin DNR, contain four to ten pedicels, or flower-supporting stalks, and flowers with a loose, flat-topped corymb, or flower cluster, with a long stalk that extends past the stem.

Nearly 15% of Wisconsin's 2,366 plant species are listed as endangered, threatened, or of special concern because they are thought to be rare.

Rare Plants in Wisconsin

Volunteers from throughout Wisconsin submitted more than 220 reports of unusual plants in 2022, some from previously unreported places.

These new finds are highly exciting, according to Kevin Doyle, botanist and coordinator of the DNR's rare plant monitoring program.

They contribute to better monitoring and protection of Wisconsin's rare plant species by increasing knowledge of the quantity and distribution of these plants.

In Wisconsin, rare plants like clustered broomrape are extremely valuable.

Doyle claimed that some more difficult-to-find plants, such as some varieties of blueberries and cranberries, are utilized as food or medicinal, Milawaukee Journal Sentinel reported.

He continued by saying that another crucial step in the conservation process is for volunteers to return to well-known areas.

There is no way for the authorities to know when these populations are in peril if they don't check on them, FOX News reported.

Also Read: Threatened Texas Wildflower Species Needs Several Decades to Recover

Rare Plant Monitoring Program

Since 2013, volunteers have been trained and dispatched by the DNR's Rare Plant Monitoring Program to assess the number and health of rare native plant populations.

The program's extensive statewide surveys make it distinct from other volunteer programs in the Midwest and Wisconsin's largest source of information on uncommon plants.

According to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, the Rare Plant Monitoring program is the greatest source of information on rare plants that is made up completely of volunteers in Wisconsin.

Volunteers in the Rare Plant Monitoring Program are educated in surveying methods, such as how to precisely estimate big plant numbers, evaluate habitat conditions, and utilize GPS coordinates to detect and mark rare plant populations; however, training in plant identification is not offered.

Related Article: Critically Endangered Silverswords Native Plant Population Bounces Back in Hawaii
According to a PR published by Fincantieri on May 16, 2023, the delivery of the corvette Semaisma, the fourth and last of the Al Zubarah-class ordered to Fincantieri by the Qatari Ministry of Defence within the national naval acquisition program, took place at the Muggiano (La Spezia) shipyard.

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Al Zubarah class corvette Semaisma. (Picture source: Fincantieri)

Among those present at the ceremony were notable figures such as Staff Major General (Sea) Abdullah Hassan Al-Sulaiti, the Commander of Qatar Emiri Naval Forces, H.E. Khalid bin Yousef Al-Sada, the Ambassador of the State of Qatar to Italy, Major General Hassan Rashid Al Ali, Head of Qatar Armed Forces Projects, Staff Major General Hilal Al Muhannadi, the Defense Attache of the State of Qatar in Rome, Vice Admiral Salvatore Vitiello, the Commanding Officer of the Italian Navy Logistic Command and Naval Equipment Inspector, and Dario Deste, the General Manager of the Naval Vessels Division of Fincantieri.

The Al Zubarah-class corvettes, designed in compliance with RINAMIL regulations, are projected to be highly versatile, ready to undertake a multitude of tasks ranging from surveillance and sea rescue operations to combat missions.

With a length of about 107 meters and a width of 14.70 meters, they will be powered by a combined diesel and diesel plant (CODAD) propelling them to a maximum speed of 28 knots. The vessels will have the capacity to accommodate 112 personnel on board.

The class has a displacement of 3,250 long tons (3,300 t) and an impressive range of 3,500 nautical miles (6,500 km; 4,000 mi). The ship's endurance is 21 days, allowing it to remain at sea for extended periods.

For sensors and processing systems, the Al Zubarah class is equipped with the Thesan mine avoidance sonar and the Leonardo KRONOS 3D multi-function radar for accurate detection and tracking of targets. It also features the Athena combat system, an advanced command and control platform.

The vessel is equipped with electronic warfare capabilities and decoys, including four Sylena Mk2 decoy launchers, which can create false targets to confuse enemy tracking systems.

In terms of armament, the Al Zubarah class is well-armed for a variety of combat scenarios. Its primary weapon is an OTO Melara 76 mm gun. For air defense, the ship carries 16 Aster 30 Block 1 surface-to-air missiles. For maritime strike missions, she is equipped with eight Exocet MM40 Block 3 anti-ship missiles.

The ship also has two Hitrole remote weapons for close-in defense. Additionally, she carries the RIM-116 Rolling Airframe Missile, a lightweight, infrared homing surface-to-air missile used as a point-defense weapon against anti-ship cruise missiles.

In addition, the corvettes will have the capability to operate high-speed boats like the RHIB (Rigid Hull Inflatable Boat) using lateral cranes or a hauling ramp situated at the stern. The flight deck and hangar will be adequately sized to accommodate an NH90 helicopter.
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Jefferson College will hold its 58th annual commencement ceremonies on Saturday at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. in the Field House on the Hillsboro campus.

Nearly 700 students are eligible to receive associate degrees or career and technical education certificates as the class of 2023. During the ceremony, 617 associate degrees and 88 career and technical certificates will be awarded. This years oldest graduate is 62 and youngest is 17.

To maintain a safe environment for all graduates and attendees, the college will provide hygiene stations with hand sanitizer and sanitization of Field House surfaces between ceremonies.

In connection with the colleges 60th anniversary celebration, 1977 alum Rick Francis of De Soto will deliver the keynote address for each ceremony. He has worked more than 47 years as a community banker in Jefferson County and is the market president of First State Community Bank. Francis is also a member of the board of directors of First State Bancshares in Farmington and a member of the Institute of Certified Bankers with a Certified Regulatory Compliance Manager certification with a retired status.

Francis is a board member of Mercy Jefferson Hospital and is a member and past president of the Jefferson College Foundation. He is the current vice chairman of the Jefferson County Economic Development Corporation and serves as the chairman of the Finance Committee of the First Baptist Church De Soto.

As a public service, each of the graduation ceremonies will be shown live via streaming video on the Jefferson College Go Jeffco YouTube page.

Attendees and their families are encouraged to post graduation-related photos and memories using #JeffcoGrad on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

All jackets, bags and backpacks will be searched upon entry to the Field House. Purses, diaper bags and other small personal bags are allowed, but will be inspected at the entrance. No large bags or boxes are allowed in the building without prior authorization. In the event that prohibited items are revealed in a search, guests will be asked to dispose of the items or return them to their cars before re-entering the building. Guests are encouraged to arrive early to allow adequate time to enter the building.

Any attendee who will need special seating or parking for someone attending graduation should contact the colleges Disability Support Services Office at (636) 481-3158. Bottom tier seating and special parking are available by reservation and/or on a first come, first available basis.

Additional details about Jefferson Colleges 2023 commencement are available on the Jefferson College website at https://www.jeffco.edu/graduation.

The college is a tobacco-free/smoke-free environment and the use of tobacco and all smoke-related products (including cigarettes, cigars, pipe tobacco, smokeless/chewing tobacco, electronic cigarettes, herbal cigarettes, herbal smoke products, hookahs, and beedies) is restricted to inside personal vehicles.
Funding enables Norwich foodbank to buy supplies Funding enables Norwich foodbank to buy supplies

Norwich foodbank was presented with a 1000 cheque from the GMB union whose representatives visited the charity's warehouse at Ivy Road in Norwich.



Janice Smith, East Dereham GMB Branch Secretary and London Region GMB Retired Members Association Secretary, took the opportunity to have a look round the warehouse and understand the process of food being donated, weighed in, packed into food parcels and distributed across 11 centres including Wymondham, Wroxham and Earlham by teams of volunteers. Janice said, 'It was a great pleasure to present the cheque to this worthy course during these hard times especially the elderly, single parents and the homeless giving them day to day necessities.'



Norwich foodbank is part of the Trussell Trust UK network, providing emergency food parcels to local people in crisis who have been referred by an agency or professional helping with the underlying cause of crisis. Norwich foodbank employs advice workers through Citizens Advice and Shelter to further help those who visit the foodbank as the foodbanks vision is to see an end to the need for their service.



A spokesperson from the GMB said, "During the pandemic and now facing inflated household bills, we know that more people are being hit hard. We appreciate the work of the foodbank network, especially helping those on a very low income in providing food and everyday essentials."



Hannah Worsley from Norwich foodbank said, We are very grateful for this practical support of a financial gift, as we are seeing a significant increase in demand and buying in food items regularly in order to continue to provide nutritionally balanced food parcels to those in our community who need our help. We have a wonderful base of support within Norwich and to have this support from further afield is really encouraging.



Helen Baldry, 16/05/2023
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Board members overseeing St. Francois County Joint Communications, or the 911 board, last week got the latest update on the regional tower and radio project from a representative of their hired consulting company, Rey Freeman Communications Consulting (RFC), based out of Minnesota.

The $7.1 million project funded through a bank loan, plus Ste. Genevieve and St. Francois county sales taxes is expected to expand and update the regions radio service, equipment and towers to improve first-responder communications in events of emergency. St. Francois Countys portion will be $4 million, while Ste. Genevieve will pay $3 million.

As 911 Center Director Alan Wells explained to the St. Francois County Community Partnership membership meeting shortly after May 10s 911 meeting, the project is a necessary investment.

We're going to be improving our communications infrastructure for all of St. Francois County police, fire, and EMS, as well as for Ste. Genevieve County, he said. Its a pretty high-dollar project, but much needed. We struggle communicating with our responders, especially when they run indoors and lose coverage with their handhelds (radios). Wells has explained before, analog radio signals have difficulty penetrating sturdier construction materials like cinderblock, steel and concrete.

Rey Freeman, who founded RFC and has stayed on since he recently sold it to Dave Pieczynski, provided an overview of the tower portion of the project. In his PowerPoint presentation, Freeman referred to several existing towers that would need work and several new towers that would need to be built in both Ste. Genevieve and Ste. Francois counties.

Tower sites are a huge part of this new system. And we've got a lot of them to look at for the two counties, Freeman said.

Five sites in St. Francois are involved: Simms Mountain, Farmington, French Village, Knob Lick and Bonne Terre, all of which are new towers with the exception of Simms. Also in St. Francois County will be "receive only" sites for radio signals, including Iron Mountain, the Progress Avenue water tower in Farmington, and the Farmington Police Department.

Six sites in Ste. Genevieve are involved: Lime Kiln, the old Ste. Genevieve PSAP, which will get a new tower, Bloomsdale water tower, Lawrenceton Tower, St. Mary will get a new tower, and Wolf Creek will get a new tower.

It can take up to a year to build a new tower, Freeman said. And it's not the construction of the tower. It's all the planning and approvals that are needed to make things happen.

The process for building new towers, he explained, involves:

Determining the locations and obtaining the property or entering an agreement with the landowner;

Finalizing the tower height;

Filing the FAA applications, and building in 60-90 days for approval;

Geotechnical, or soil, testing;

National Environmental Police Act and State Historic Preservation Officer (NEPA/SHPO) contractor work, building in 90 days for approval;

Preparing the request for proposal to tower-building vendors, getting the proposals together  a 60-day process, and awarding the contract;

Starting construction 45 days after the contract, and building in 45-60 days to completion; and

Addressing throughout the project such issues as shelters, generators, civil work, electrical service and fencing.

The tower and radio project planning was well underway before Iron County joined St. Francois County 911. Earlier in the meeting, Wells, who also serves as chairman of the Missouri 911 Service Board, said the state has received funding to support its 911 systems, and he is looking forward to reaching rural counties that either have antiquated 911 systems or no systems at all.

We are very eager to work on this project from here and perhaps host some applications into this project to assist these counties in the rural areas in our backyard that still actually have no true 911 system at all, he said. So that will be like, Bollinger and Wayne and Carter counties. Madison County's 911 system is antiquated and in distress. I think Washington County's looking at their system in its lifecycle as well. So there's a potential avenue for us to look at and assist our surrounding counties and upgrade our system at the same time. So we're going to be looking into that as a grant."

911 Board Chairman Ron Bockenkamp asked if any other counties had expressed an interest in joining with St. Francois County Joint Communications, as Ste. Genevieve did about 11 years ago and Iron County just recently did.

I have a conference call Friday (May 12) with the state and with Washington County. Again, their system is at its lifecycle, Wells replied. Madison County has already been inquiring about the virtual potential, because their system is antiquated.

These other counties, we have a state coordinator that is working, communicating with these other counties that do not have 911 in place at all yet, to see if that's a potential, if they would have that interest in working with us.

In other board business:

The center is pursuing a grant to update its mobile command center.

Waiting for the governor to sign them are two bills: one puts the Missouri 911 Service Board as the authority over the states emergency medical dispatch services, instead of the Missouri Department of Health and Human Services, and the other bill designates telecommunicators as first responders instead of support staff, which will qualify them for the state LAGERS retirement system, among other perks and services.

Pilot Knob Fire Department thanked the 911 center for help with the large brush fire that destroyed about 60 acres around Tip Top.

Condolences were conveyed to board member and Big River/Bonne Terre Fire Chief Dave Pratte, whose brother Henry recently died.
Toby Antony By

Express News Service

KOCHI: Four days after the seizure of 2,525kg of methamphetamine (meth) worth Rs 20,000 crore off the coast of Kerala, several pieces of information are yet to be made public. They include the exact location in the Arabian Sea where the drug bust was made, name of the mother vessel and the identity of the crew. While Zubair Derakhshandeh, a suspected Pakistan national, was arrested on board an AIS (Automatic Identification Systems) vessel, the officials concerned remain evasive about various details regarding the drug bust.

Even Zubairs counsel has claimed that the documents submitted by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) in court are vague. The location of the drug-carrying vessel at the time of the bust is one of the key details that NCB remains tight-lipped about. The Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act only applies to territorial waters of India, which is up to 12 nautical miles. Up to 200 nautical miles is an Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).

When contacted, NCB officials said such details were matters of investigation that could not be disclosed at this stage. We just started the probe. We have coordinated with the Navy. Details about the vessels distance from the shore will be confirmed, said an official.A retired customs officer said there will be legal complications if the boat was intercepted beyond Indias territorial waters.

The Navy might have intercepted the vessel and handed over the accused and drugs to NCB later. However, Indian laws, including NDPS, are applicable only in Indias territorial waters. A similar question was raised in the Enrica Lexie shooting case in which Italian marines claimed the lives of two Indian fishermen around 20.5 nautical miles off the coast. However, both cases are different, he said.

Zubairs counsel B A Aloor remained apprehensive of NCBs silence about the location of the seizure. We suspect that the boat carrying the drugs was seized outside Indian waters. The suspect has maintained the boat was cruising on the high seas. We will raise the matter in court when it considers Zubairs custody application, Aloor said.

Questions also linger over Zubairs nationality. The remand application filed by the NCB before the Judicial First Class Magistrate on Monday mentioned the case as Junior Intelligence Officer, NCB, vs Zubair Derakhshandeh, 29, son of Noor Mohammed, Pollan Village, Vali Mohammad Bazar, Chabahar, Iran. However, in the descriptive part of the application, NCB claimed Zubair is a Pakistan national. NCB maintains he is trying to divert the probe by not disclosing his nationality and real address. It is also not known whether it was an Iranian or Pakistani ship.

There also remains lack of clarity about the mother vessel from which the drugs were seized. The ship was brought to the shore but not seized. NCB maintains the remaining crew members left on a speed boat after spotting the Navy vessel. Also, though there are reports the mother vessel was headed to Sri Lanka, it has not been confirmed.

Did the other crew members leave Zubair alone in the mothership which, reports claim, was sinking, and left in the speed boat? The remand application claims the Indian Navy apprehended foreign nationals with a huge quantity of drugs, which they handed over to NCB at Kochi Naval base. We hope they disclose the details while seeking Zubairs custody, Aloor said.

Zubair admits to working for Pak drug trafficker

Kochi: Zubair Derakshandeh, who was arrested in connection with the seizure of 2,525 kg of methamphetamine (meth) off Kerala coast, worked for a Pakistani drug trafficker, the remand application filed by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) in court has revealed. Indian Navy ship INS TEG, a Talwar-class frigate, had intercepted the vessel carrying the contraband before shifting Zubair, suspected to be a Pakistani, and recovering the drugs. As per his statement in the report, Zubair revealed that they were intercepted on May 10. Zubair gave his voluntary statement at NCBs Kochi office on May 15. In it, he admitted to working for a Pakistani drug trafficker who promised him good money upon completion of the work, said the report.

KOCHI: Four days after the seizure of 2,525kg of methamphetamine (meth) worth Rs 20,000 crore off the coast of Kerala, several pieces of information are yet to be made public. They include the exact location in the Arabian Sea where the drug bust was made, name of the mother vessel and the identity of the crew. While Zubair Derakhshandeh, a suspected Pakistan national, was arrested on board an AIS (Automatic Identification Systems) vessel, the officials concerned remain evasive about various details regarding the drug bust. Even Zubairs counsel has claimed that the documents submitted by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) in court are vague. The location of the drug-carrying vessel at the time of the bust is one of the key details that NCB remains tight-lipped about. The Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act only applies to territorial waters of India, which is up to 12 nautical miles. Up to 200 nautical miles is an Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). When contacted, NCB officials said such details were matters of investigation that could not be disclosed at this stage. We just started the probe. We have coordinated with the Navy. Details about the vessels distance from the shore will be confirmed, said an official.A retired customs officer said there will be legal complications if the boat was intercepted beyond Indias territorial waters.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); The Navy might have intercepted the vessel and handed over the accused and drugs to NCB later. However, Indian laws, including NDPS, are applicable only in Indias territorial waters. A similar question was raised in the Enrica Lexie shooting case in which Italian marines claimed the lives of two Indian fishermen around 20.5 nautical miles off the coast. However, both cases are different, he said. Zubairs counsel B A Aloor remained apprehensive of NCBs silence about the location of the seizure. We suspect that the boat carrying the drugs was seized outside Indian waters. The suspect has maintained the boat was cruising on the high seas. We will raise the matter in court when it considers Zubairs custody application, Aloor said. Questions also linger over Zubairs nationality. The remand application filed by the NCB before the Judicial First Class Magistrate on Monday mentioned the case as Junior Intelligence Officer, NCB, vs Zubair Derakhshandeh, 29, son of Noor Mohammed, Pollan Village, Vali Mohammad Bazar, Chabahar, Iran. However, in the descriptive part of the application, NCB claimed Zubair is a Pakistan national. NCB maintains he is trying to divert the probe by not disclosing his nationality and real address. It is also not known whether it was an Iranian or Pakistani ship. There also remains lack of clarity about the mother vessel from which the drugs were seized. The ship was brought to the shore but not seized. NCB maintains the remaining crew members left on a speed boat after spotting the Navy vessel. Also, though there are reports the mother vessel was headed to Sri Lanka, it has not been confirmed. Did the other crew members leave Zubair alone in the mothership which, reports claim, was sinking, and left in the speed boat? The remand application claims the Indian Navy apprehended foreign nationals with a huge quantity of drugs, which they handed over to NCB at Kochi Naval base. We hope they disclose the details while seeking Zubairs custody, Aloor said. Zubair admits to working for Pak drug trafficker Kochi: Zubair Derakshandeh, who was arrested in connection with the seizure of 2,525 kg of methamphetamine (meth) off Kerala coast, worked for a Pakistani drug trafficker, the remand application filed by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) in court has revealed. Indian Navy ship INS TEG, a Talwar-class frigate, had intercepted the vessel carrying the contraband before shifting Zubair, suspected to be a Pakistani, and recovering the drugs. As per his statement in the report, Zubair revealed that they were intercepted on May 10. Zubair gave his voluntary statement at NCBs Kochi office on May 15. In it, he admitted to working for a Pakistani drug trafficker who promised him good money upon completion of the work, said the report.
By PTI

NEW DELHI: The CBI has arrested freelance journalist Vivek Raghuvanshi and former Navy commander Ashish Pathak for allegedly collecting sensitive information on defence matters and passing them on to foreign intelligence agencies, officials said on Wednesday.

Raghuvanshi and Pathak were produced before a special CBI court which sent them to six days custody of the agency, they said.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had taken over the probe from the Delhi Police Special Cell, which was on the trail of Raghuvanshi since September last year, after getting information that some Indian journalists were collecting and passing on such information to foreign intelligence agencies having potential to disturb relations with friendly countries.

The information received by the Special Cell suggested that a journalist was illegally collecting "sensitive details" about "future procurement of armed forces which reveal the strategic preparedness of our country's classified communications/information related to national security, and details of strategic and diplomatic talks of India with our friendly countries, which can spoil the bilateral relations of India with them," the FIR said.

According to the Special Cell's FIR, Raghuvanshi allegedly procured and supplied such information to intelligence agencies of foreign countries.

On directions of the Ministry of Home Affairs, the CBI took over the case on December 9 last year registering the FIR against Raghuvanshi, they said.

After a detailed background work and maintaining surveillance, the CBI on Tuesday carried out a raid at 12 places in Delhi-NCR and Jaipur where Raghuvanshi apparently resides, they said.

Raghuvanshi, who is listed as India correspondent of a US-based portal on defence and strategic affairs on its website, was then taken into custody with Pathak.

The agency has booked Raghuvanshi and Pathak under Section 3 (spying) of the Official Secrets Act and with Section 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code.

Several sensitive documents were recovered during the searches and sent for legal scrutiny, officials added.

NEW DELHI: The CBI has arrested freelance journalist Vivek Raghuvanshi and former Navy commander Ashish Pathak for allegedly collecting sensitive information on defence matters and passing them on to foreign intelligence agencies, officials said on Wednesday. Raghuvanshi and Pathak were produced before a special CBI court which sent them to six days custody of the agency, they said. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had taken over the probe from the Delhi Police Special Cell, which was on the trail of Raghuvanshi since September last year, after getting information that some Indian journalists were collecting and passing on such information to foreign intelligence agencies having potential to disturb relations with friendly countries.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); The information received by the Special Cell suggested that a journalist was illegally collecting "sensitive details" about "future procurement of armed forces which reveal the strategic preparedness of our country's classified communications/information related to national security, and details of strategic and diplomatic talks of India with our friendly countries, which can spoil the bilateral relations of India with them," the FIR said. According to the Special Cell's FIR, Raghuvanshi allegedly procured and supplied such information to intelligence agencies of foreign countries. On directions of the Ministry of Home Affairs, the CBI took over the case on December 9 last year registering the FIR against Raghuvanshi, they said. After a detailed background work and maintaining surveillance, the CBI on Tuesday carried out a raid at 12 places in Delhi-NCR and Jaipur where Raghuvanshi apparently resides, they said. Raghuvanshi, who is listed as India correspondent of a US-based portal on defence and strategic affairs on its website, was then taken into custody with Pathak. The agency has booked Raghuvanshi and Pathak under Section 3 (spying) of the Official Secrets Act and with Section 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code. Several sensitive documents were recovered during the searches and sent for legal scrutiny, officials added.
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Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey speaks to the Missouri chapter of the Federalist Society on the Missouri House of Representatives floor on January 20 (Annelise Hanshaw/Missouri Independent).

Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey terminated his emergency rule on gender-affirming care Tuesday  less than a week after the state legislature sent a ban on minors starting treatment to the governors desk.

The ACLU of Missouri filed a lawsuit in late April seeking to block Baileys emergency rule, alleging the attorney general didnt have the authority to use the states consumer protection law to block access to puberty blockers, hormone therapy and gender-affirming surgery. A judge put the rules on hold until July, when a hearing is scheduled.

The now-terminated emergency order wouldve affected adults, a step that caused fear in the LGBTQ+ community, advocates told The Independent. Some began preparing to move out of state when they heard about the emergency order.

A spokesperson for the Missouri Secretary of States office said he received the termination paperwork around 4 p.m. Tuesday. The attorney general did not state the reasoning for revoking the order, JoDonn Chaney said, and there was no communication between the two offices prior to receiving the notice.

If Bailey wishes to enact his order, which would set barriers to accessing gender-affirming care, he must restart the process.

Bailey said in a statement that the emergency rule was intended to give state lawmakers time to enact a ban on gender-affirming care.

We were standing in the gap unless and until the General Assembly decided to take action on this issue. The General Assembly has now filled that gap with a statute, his statement says. Im proud to have shed light on the experimental nature of these procedures, and will continue to do everything in my power to make Missouri the safest state in the nation for children.

The sponsor of a ban on gender-affirming care and the House carrier for the Senate bill awaiting the governors signature Rep. Brad Hudson, R-Cape Fair, said he had discussed the issue [of gender-affirming care] with the Attorney Generals office during a press conference.

The attorney generals office and the American Civil Liberties Union of Missouri did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

House Minority Leader Crystal Quade, D-Springfield, said in a statement that Bailey grossly overstepped his legal authority, and everyone knows it.

So, it isnt surprising he withdrew his unconstitutional rule knowing another embarrassing court defeat was inevitable, she said. Missourians deserve an attorney general worthy of the office, not one who persecutes innocent Missourians for political gain.

This story is updated.
By Express News Service

NEW DELHI: The Union Health Ministry has launched an ambitious "75/25" plan of bringing 75 million hypertensive and diabetic populations under standard care by 2025, the largest such exercise in the world against Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs).

The massive project, which takes off on World Hypertension Day, will be conducted through the country's vast network of Primary Health Centres (PHCs).

The ministry said that 40,000 Primary Health Care Medical Officers would be trained on Standard Treatment Workflow for Non-Communicable Diseases (NCD) to meet the target through the Shashakt Portal.

"The Indian government's ambitious target of reaching 75 million people with hypertension under standard care in primary healthcare by 2025 is the largest cover of NCDs in the world for primary healthcare," Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director General of the World Health Organisation (WHO), said virtually.

"This indicates the clear resolve of the government to address NCDs by allocating resources, capacity enhancement, mobilisation and multi-sectoral collaboration," added Dr V K Paul, member health at Niti Aayog at the launch of the initiative.

The country has 200 million hypertensive people, and one in every ten adults has diabetes. NCDs are responsible for 63 per cent of deaths in India of which 55 per cent is premature. These conditions lead to heart attack, stroke, renal failure, and blindness.

The strategy is to scale up hypertension control, equip PHCs with protocols to keep diabetes under check and reduce organ damage.

According to the NCD portal, 26,42,038 diabetic patients were under treatment in March 2023 against 62,30,155 hypertensives in 714 clinics and 6068 Community Health Centres.

Every Health and Wellness centre will cover a population of 5000, 1850 individuals will be screened by 2025, and 80 per cent will be put on treatment by December 2025.

The ministry has also released the operational guidelines of the National Programme for Prevention and Control of Non-Communicable Diseases 2023-2030.

Dr Poonam Khetrapal Singh, WHO Regional Director for South-East Asia Region, applauded Indias commitment to primary healthcare and highlighted the operationalization of more than 1.5 lakh Ayushman Bharat Health and Wellness Centres as a significant achievement.

She also urged countries in the Southeast Asia region to create a new and effective regional roadmap to accelerate NCD control.

As per WHO, the NCDs are collectively responsible for more than 74 per cent of all deaths worldwide including heart disease, stroke, cancer, chronic respiratory diseases and diabetes.

NEW DELHI: The Union Health Ministry has launched an ambitious "75/25" plan of bringing 75 million hypertensive and diabetic populations under standard care by 2025, the largest such exercise in the world against Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs). The massive project, which takes off on World Hypertension Day, will be conducted through the country's vast network of Primary Health Centres (PHCs). The ministry said that 40,000 Primary Health Care Medical Officers would be trained on Standard Treatment Workflow for Non-Communicable Diseases (NCD) to meet the target through the Shashakt Portal.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); "The Indian government's ambitious target of reaching 75 million people with hypertension under standard care in primary healthcare by 2025 is the largest cover of NCDs in the world for primary healthcare," Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director General of the World Health Organisation (WHO), said virtually. "This indicates the clear resolve of the government to address NCDs by allocating resources, capacity enhancement, mobilisation and multi-sectoral collaboration," added Dr V K Paul, member health at Niti Aayog at the launch of the initiative. The country has 200 million hypertensive people, and one in every ten adults has diabetes. NCDs are responsible for 63 per cent of deaths in India of which 55 per cent is premature. These conditions lead to heart attack, stroke, renal failure, and blindness. The strategy is to scale up hypertension control, equip PHCs with protocols to keep diabetes under check and reduce organ damage. According to the NCD portal, 26,42,038 diabetic patients were under treatment in March 2023 against 62,30,155 hypertensives in 714 clinics and 6068 Community Health Centres. Every Health and Wellness centre will cover a population of 5000, 1850 individuals will be screened by 2025, and 80 per cent will be put on treatment by December 2025. The ministry has also released the operational guidelines of the National Programme for Prevention and Control of Non-Communicable Diseases 2023-2030. Dr Poonam Khetrapal Singh, WHO Regional Director for South-East Asia Region, applauded Indias commitment to primary healthcare and highlighted the operationalization of more than 1.5 lakh Ayushman Bharat Health and Wellness Centres as a significant achievement. She also urged countries in the Southeast Asia region to create a new and effective regional roadmap to accelerate NCD control. As per WHO, the NCDs are collectively responsible for more than 74 per cent of all deaths worldwide including heart disease, stroke, cancer, chronic respiratory diseases and diabetes.
Namita Bajpai By

Express News Service

LUCKNOW: A Ghazipur MP/MLA court, on Wednesday, acquitted incarcerated gangster-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari in a case of attempt to murder registered against him in 2009.

The former MLA from the Mau Sadar constituency was acquitted by the court over a lack of sufficient evidence.

Mukhtar was booked under Sections 307 (attempt to murder) and 120B (criminal conspiracy) of IPC in the case. He appeared before the Ghazipur MP/MLA court through video-conferencing from Banda jail.

According to Mukhtar Ansaris lawyer Liaquat Ali, in 2009, Meer Hasan, a resident of Mohammadabad lodged a case alleging that one Sonu Yadav attacked him with an intent to murder.

The case was registered under Section 307 (attempt to murder) at the Mohammadabad police station. Later, police named Mukhtar as a co-accused in the case despite the fact that he was lodged in jail at the time of the incident.

It was suspected that Mukhtar had hatched the conspiracy of eliminating the complainant.

However, the main accused booked under Section 307 of IPC had already been acquitted owing to insufficient evidence against him in the case.

ALSO READ | Mukhtar Ansari: The gangster grandson of a Congress President and a war hero

On Wednesday, additional sessions judge (MP-MLA) Durgesh Kumar pronounced the verdict in the case exonerating the gangster-turned-politician.

According to Additional District Government counsel (criminal) Neeraj Kumar Srivastava, during the trial, complainant Mir Hassan himself and prime witness Ramkrit Yadav had turned hostile to the vantage of Mukhtar Ansari.

Srivastav, however, said the acquittal will not lead to the release of Ansari as he is accused in several other cases and was also convicted in a case recently.

As per the details of the case, in 2009 a contractor was allegedly attacked by the members of Mukhtar's gang. The contractor survived the attack but his two labourers suffered bullet injuries and one of them died during the course of treatment.

Following the incident, Mir Hassan, the contractor, lodged an FIR with the Mohammadabad police station in Ghazipur district.

Mukhtar has been in jail since 2005. He has been awarded imprisonment in four cases, including two of those under the Gangster Act, by different courts in the last eight months.

LUCKNOW: A Ghazipur MP/MLA court, on Wednesday, acquitted incarcerated gangster-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari in a case of attempt to murder registered against him in 2009. The former MLA from the Mau Sadar constituency was acquitted by the court over a lack of sufficient evidence. Mukhtar was booked under Sections 307 (attempt to murder) and 120B (criminal conspiracy) of IPC in the case. He appeared before the Ghazipur MP/MLA court through video-conferencing from Banda jail.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); According to Mukhtar Ansaris lawyer Liaquat Ali, in 2009, Meer Hasan, a resident of Mohammadabad lodged a case alleging that one Sonu Yadav attacked him with an intent to murder. The case was registered under Section 307 (attempt to murder) at the Mohammadabad police station. Later, police named Mukhtar as a co-accused in the case despite the fact that he was lodged in jail at the time of the incident. It was suspected that Mukhtar had hatched the conspiracy of eliminating the complainant. However, the main accused booked under Section 307 of IPC had already been acquitted owing to insufficient evidence against him in the case. ALSO READ | Mukhtar Ansari: The gangster grandson of a Congress President and a war hero On Wednesday, additional sessions judge (MP-MLA) Durgesh Kumar pronounced the verdict in the case exonerating the gangster-turned-politician. According to Additional District Government counsel (criminal) Neeraj Kumar Srivastava, during the trial, complainant Mir Hassan himself and prime witness Ramkrit Yadav had turned hostile to the vantage of Mukhtar Ansari. Srivastav, however, said the acquittal will not lead to the release of Ansari as he is accused in several other cases and was also convicted in a case recently. As per the details of the case, in 2009 a contractor was allegedly attacked by the members of Mukhtar's gang. The contractor survived the attack but his two labourers suffered bullet injuries and one of them died during the course of treatment. Following the incident, Mir Hassan, the contractor, lodged an FIR with the Mohammadabad police station in Ghazipur district. Mukhtar has been in jail since 2005. He has been awarded imprisonment in four cases, including two of those under the Gangster Act, by different courts in the last eight months.
Yeshi Seli By

Express News Service

NEW DELHI: Jammu and Kashmir Bank, which has made its highest ever profit, is also contributing to events lined up for the upcoming G20 meeting in Srinagar. They are pitching in wherever their expertise is required along with commercial contributions.

Baldev Prakash

"We are looking forward to the upcoming G20 meetings in Srinagar and have contributed towards the successful conduct of these meetings, which includes sponsoring a few G20 related events," Baldev Prakash, MD and CEO of J&K Bank, told The New Indian Express.

Being the premier financial institution of the Union Territory, J&K Bank has been at the forefront of implementing the Union governments flagship programs from deepening of financial inclusion to broadening the social security cover across Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.

J&K Bank was amongst the main sponsors of the recently concluded Youth 20 Consultation Summit held in Srinagar under the G20. Youth delegates from Indonesia, Mexico, Turkey, Russia, Japan, the Republic of Korea, the US, Brazil and Nigeria took part.

Meanwhile, it is interesting to note that J&K Bank has made its highest ever annual profit of Rs 1197 crore and is paying dividend to its shareholders at 50 per cent of the face value of the bank share. This dividend was paid after a gap of seven years.

What is interesting is that dividends could be possible due to the efforts that helped in successfully turning around the banks revenue.

"Let me tell you that the turnaround was entirely planned in the first quarter of FY 2022-23 during the banks maiden Strategy Conclave in Srinagar. During the conclave we identified the focus areas in performance and functioning like profitability, business growth, asset-quality, capital augmentation, business process re-engineering etc.; prepared an action plan and started implementing it on priority basis across our zones of operation. Thereafter, the entire strategy was put up for review on monthly basis till March 2023. Now the results are there for everyone to see," Prakash added.

J&K bank noticed a marked improvement in Asset Quality from 8.67 per cent to 6.04 per cent which was achieved through proactive management of SMAs and vigorous follow-up of bad loans.

The bank at present has 987 branches, 82 Easy Banking Units (EBUs), 24 Extension Counters (ECs) and 1418 ATMs across the country covering 18 states and 4 Union territories.

Additionally, they have 1067 Business Correspondents serving people of difficult and far-off geographies through Khidmat Centres (Common Service Centres) by extending basic banking services that includes doorstep banking.

NEW DELHI: Jammu and Kashmir Bank, which has made its highest ever profit, is also contributing to events lined up for the upcoming G20 meeting in Srinagar. They are pitching in wherever their expertise is required along with commercial contributions. Baldev Prakash"We are looking forward to the upcoming G20 meetings in Srinagar and have contributed towards the successful conduct of these meetings, which includes sponsoring a few G20 related events," Baldev Prakash, MD and CEO of J&K Bank, told The New Indian Express. Being the premier financial institution of the Union Territory, J&K Bank has been at the forefront of implementing the Union governments flagship programs from deepening of financial inclusion to broadening the social security cover across Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); J&K Bank was amongst the main sponsors of the recently concluded Youth 20 Consultation Summit held in Srinagar under the G20. Youth delegates from Indonesia, Mexico, Turkey, Russia, Japan, the Republic of Korea, the US, Brazil and Nigeria took part. Meanwhile, it is interesting to note that J&K Bank has made its highest ever annual profit of Rs 1197 crore and is paying dividend to its shareholders at 50 per cent of the face value of the bank share. This dividend was paid after a gap of seven years. What is interesting is that dividends could be possible due to the efforts that helped in successfully turning around the banks revenue. "Let me tell you that the turnaround was entirely planned in the first quarter of FY 2022-23 during the banks maiden Strategy Conclave in Srinagar. During the conclave we identified the focus areas in performance and functioning like profitability, business growth, asset-quality, capital augmentation, business process re-engineering etc.; prepared an action plan and started implementing it on priority basis across our zones of operation. Thereafter, the entire strategy was put up for review on monthly basis till March 2023. Now the results are there for everyone to see," Prakash added. J&K bank noticed a marked improvement in Asset Quality from 8.67 per cent to 6.04 per cent which was achieved through proactive management of SMAs and vigorous follow-up of bad loans. The bank at present has 987 branches, 82 Easy Banking Units (EBUs), 24 Extension Counters (ECs) and 1418 ATMs across the country covering 18 states and 4 Union territories. Additionally, they have 1067 Business Correspondents serving people of difficult and far-off geographies through Khidmat Centres (Common Service Centres) by extending basic banking services that includes doorstep banking.
Mukesh Ranjan By

Express News Service

RANCHI: Elated with the partys historic victory in Karnataka Assembly polls, suspended Muslim Congress MLA Irfan Ansari has announced to build the countrys largest Hanuman Temple in his Assembly Constituency, Jamtara.

According to Ansari, his faith in Lord Hanuman has increased after the party's thumping majority win in Karnataka polls. He visited the Hanuman temple immediately and expresses his gratitude. He believes that Lord Hanuman belongs to everyone.

Notably, Ansari along with two other Congress MLAs were suspended by the Congress for hatching a conspiracy to topple the JMM-led alliance Government in Jharkhand after being arrested with 50 lakh cash in their vehicle in Kolkata.

Congress MLAs (L-R) Rajesh Kacchap, Naman Biksal and Irfan Ansari, who were arrested with cash by West Bengal police (Photo | PTI)

Though I am a follower of Lord Hanuman since the beginning, but after the historic victory of the Congress party in Karnataka polls, my faith in Lord Hanuman has further increased and hence, I announce that I will build the countrys largest temple of Lord Hanuman in Jamtara, said Ansari. The temple to be built will be the historical and largest of all the Hanuman temples in the country, he added.

Answering the query about arranging funds for the construction, Ansari said even if he has to sell his kidney, he will construct the temple.

Ansari also warned those who are doing politics in the name of religion. He informed that the land for the temple has already been identified as Satsal and construction for the same will start very soon.

Incidentally, Lord Hanuman had taken centre stage in the Karnataka elections after the Congress in its manifesto said that it would ban the Bajrang Dal and popular front of India if voted to power.

Responding to it, BJP said that Congresss proposal to ban Bajrang Dal was an attempt to lock up Hanuman and his devotees who chant Jai Bajrangbali. In all his public meetings Prime Minister

Narendra Modi made it a point to chant Jai Bajrangbali.

Retaliating, Congress demanded PM Modis apology accusing him of hurting the religious sentiments of devotees by equating Lord Hanuman with Bajrang Dal.



RANCHI: Elated with the partys historic victory in Karnataka Assembly polls, suspended Muslim Congress MLA Irfan Ansari has announced to build the countrys largest Hanuman Temple in his Assembly Constituency, Jamtara. According to Ansari, his faith in Lord Hanuman has increased after the party's thumping majority win in Karnataka polls. He visited the Hanuman temple immediately and expresses his gratitude. He believes that Lord Hanuman belongs to everyone. Notably, Ansari along with two other Congress MLAs were suspended by the Congress for hatching a conspiracy to topple the JMM-led alliance Government in Jharkhand after being arrested with 50 lakh cash in their vehicle in Kolkata.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); Congress MLAs (L-R) Rajesh Kacchap, Naman Biksal and Irfan Ansari, who were arrested with cash by West Bengal police (Photo | PTI) Though I am a follower of Lord Hanuman since the beginning, but after the historic victory of the Congress party in Karnataka polls, my faith in Lord Hanuman has further increased and hence, I announce that I will build the countrys largest temple of Lord Hanuman in Jamtara, said Ansari. The temple to be built will be the historical and largest of all the Hanuman temples in the country, he added. Answering the query about arranging funds for the construction, Ansari said even if he has to sell his kidney, he will construct the temple. Ansari also warned those who are doing politics in the name of religion. He informed that the land for the temple has already been identified as Satsal and construction for the same will start very soon. Incidentally, Lord Hanuman had taken centre stage in the Karnataka elections after the Congress in its manifesto said that it would ban the Bajrang Dal and popular front of India if voted to power. Responding to it, BJP said that Congresss proposal to ban Bajrang Dal was an attempt to lock up Hanuman and his devotees who chant Jai Bajrangbali. In all his public meetings Prime Minister Narendra Modi made it a point to chant Jai Bajrangbali. Retaliating, Congress demanded PM Modis apology accusing him of hurting the religious sentiments of devotees by equating Lord Hanuman with Bajrang Dal.
By PTI

PONDUGALLU: Six women labourers were killed and as many injured after the autorickshaw they were travelling in was hit by a speeding truck at a village in Palnadu district early on Wednesday, police said.

The accident occurred in the small hours of today when the women from neighbouring Telangana were proceeding to Pulipadu village in Palnadu district in the state to harvest chillies.

"A lemons-laden truck from Guduru heading to Lucknow hit the autorickshaw around 4:42 am and sped away." Gurajala Sub-Divisional Police Officer A.Pallapu Raju said.

Those injured were shifted to a hospital in Miriyalaguda in Telangana, where they are undergoing treatment, he said.

All six women were part of a 12-member party travelling in the three-wheeler. A case has been registered under IPC Sections 304 (A) and 337.

PONDUGALLU: Six women labourers were killed and as many injured after the autorickshaw they were travelling in was hit by a speeding truck at a village in Palnadu district early on Wednesday, police said. The accident occurred in the small hours of today when the women from neighbouring Telangana were proceeding to Pulipadu village in Palnadu district in the state to harvest chillies. "A lemons-laden truck from Guduru heading to Lucknow hit the autorickshaw around 4:42 am and sped away." Gurajala Sub-Divisional Police Officer A.Pallapu Raju said.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); Those injured were shifted to a hospital in Miriyalaguda in Telangana, where they are undergoing treatment, he said. All six women were part of a 12-member party travelling in the three-wheeler. A case has been registered under IPC Sections 304 (A) and 337.
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The Charlottesville City Council appears on its way to overturning a ruling by its Board of Architectural Review and will instead let a developer demolish the aptly named Stone House near the University of Virginia. The effort stopped short of a vote at Mondays council meeting, but a majority of the five-member body seemed eager to see a massive new student complex and felt stymied only by the legal language to make it happen.

Were headed in a direction, but we need to get it right, said Mayor Lloyd Snook, as he deferred the matter to the next meeting.

Although its address is 104 Stadium Road, the house in question stands where Emmet Street bends and becomes Jefferson Park Avenue, just across from UVas Central Grounds. The developers attorney said the replacement will be worth the loss.

Our clients have an exceptional proposal, lawyer Valerie Long told the city council. It would be a gateway project in a supremely appropriate location for high-density residential housing.

Long suggested the main reason the site got named an IPP, an Individually Protected Property, under the citys historic ordinance emerged over a decade ago in a deal that stemmed from some neighbors who relished the idea that the property next door, 409 Stadium Road, might remain building-free.

It was all about keeping 409 vacant and limiting more housing, said Long.

In an interview on Tuesday, the man who manages those properties on behalf of their beneficial owner, Management Services Corporation, confirmed that explanation.

Rick Jones, MSCs vice-chair, said that when the city council sold an MSC-affiliated company the quarter-acre lot known as 409 Stadium in 2011, city officials tried to calm neighbors both with his promise to leave the land at 409 open and with his willingness to accept an IPP designation at the Stone House next door. But the area, he says, has become too vital.

Were just hypocrites, said Jones.

For an undisclosed sum, those 3 acres might be soon sold to Subtext, a St. Louis-based real estate development company. The firm showed City Council images of a massive student-oriented apartment complex that would replace eight buildings including the Woodrow Apartments.

What is the highest and best use of that corner? asked Jones. I guess you could say housing.

At the council meeting, Snook said the proposal meshes with the citys policy of encouraging density in student areas.

Weve fairly clearly said, and I think that the market fairly clearly understands, said Snook, that this is probably one of the most effective ways to provide a fair amount of student housing without disrupting a whole lot of other neighborhoods.

Snook said that Charlottesville City Schools officials already have evidence of such a dynamic, because they saw school enrollment numbers in UVa-area neighborhoods spike after UVa students moved out of them and into the behemoth apartment complexes on West Main Street.

When students moved out of those neighborhoods, Fifeville and 10th & Page primarily, and into the Standard and the Flats or whatever they were called, said Snook, about 2,500 more people moved back in.

As for the Stone House, its a story-and-a-half, Tudor-style residence built in 1927 for Malcolm MacLeod, a UVa professor and friend to Edward R. Stettinius Jr. The latter man served as secretary of state under President Franklin D. Roosevelt and helped launch the United Nations.

While Stettinius was said to be a frequent visitor to the home, the connection wasnt sufficiently strong to get the house added to either the Virginia Landmarks Register or the National Register of Historic Places, according to Mark McConnel, a UVA- and MIT-educated architect who spoke Monday as a consultant to the developer.

Its a nice old house, but there are a lot of nice old houses across the street, McConnel told the council.

McConnel noted and Snook agreed that the house seems divorced from the neighborhood by the large streets that pass it.

I went out to the site, and what struck me was how completely isolated that building was from anything that is a single-family use, said Snook. Its not connected in any way to any property thats got any architectural significance.

Even the chair of the Board of Architectural Review, Breck Gastinger, declined to give an impassioned plea for the house, although he did tell the city council about his boards 6-0 vote.

For us, this was very straightforward, said Gastinger. City Council gave us a mandate to protect that property.

Gastinger said that the BAR now wants to ensure that the doomed structure will be thoroughly documented and that any demolition must wait until theres an approved replacement.

The last thing wed like this to turn into is a parking lot for the next 15-20 years if something went south on the project, said Gastinger.

The only city councilor to pronounce himself unconvinced by the need to demolish was Michael Payne.

Im unsure just because an IPP wouldnt be on the state or national registry list that therefores theres no merit to preserving it, said Payne.

Although Jones at MSC seems to be cramming company coffers with money if this deal goes through, he suggests its a bittersweet bargain because he and MSC Principal Doug Caton extensively restored the house after acquiring in a dilapidated state in 2008.

I would hate to see it go, because I put a lot of myself in it, and so did Doug, said Jones. I would prefer that they find a way to keep it and move it.

However, Long told the city council that discussions with the Dominion Energy found that moving the structure and dealing with both above- and below-ground wiring systems would cost millions and millions of dollars.

Snook said the city council would likely vote on the issue on June 5.
UKs love for coffee under threat from climate crisis: Report

New Delhi, May 15: The UK's love for a cup of coffee is under threat from the climate crisis, a new report by charity Christian Aid said on Monday.

UK's love for coffee under threat from climate crisis: Report

The paper outlines how coffee farmers in poorer countries require financial support from richer countries to help farmers adapt to climate change and address the loss and damage it causes.In the UK alone, Brits drink more than 98 million cups of coffee a day. According to calculations by Christian Aid, that is enough to fill more than nine Olympic sized swimming pools.However, analysis from the international development charity warns coffee farmers are facing a host of climate-related impacts such as rising temperatures, erratic rainfall, disease, droughts and landslides -- an issue observed by Christian Aid partners in Honduras.Expert forecasts warn that temperature increases of just 1.5C-2C will see highly suitable land for growing coffee slashed by more than half -- 54 per cent -- by the end of the century. This includes the two countries where the UK gets most of its coffee from Brazil and Vietnam.It is worrying news for the livelihoods and survival of coffee farmers. For the British economy, the British Coffee Association estimated the number of jobs supported by coffee in the UK stood at around 210,325 in 2017.The warnings appear to also be concerning British consumers. New polling by Savanta, commissioned by Christian Aid, reveals three in five (57 per cent) UK adults say they are concerned that climate change will impact the cost, taste and availability of coffee in the UK.The polling also shows almost seven in 10 (69 per cent) UK adults say they agree that the government should do more to reduce the impact of the climate crisis on the food supply chain to the UK, such as supporting coffee farmers in developing countries shift to sustainable and resilient methods of production.The publication of the report -- "Wake up and smell the coffee The climate crisis and your coffee" -- marks the start of Christian Aid Week, the UK's longest running fundraising week dating back to 1957.The report's conclusion includes recommendations to boost climate finance to help farmers in diversification of livelihoods to climate resilient crops and cancelling unjust debts to help countries free up resources to tackle climate change and poverty.The dire situation facing coffee farmers around the globe has not gone unnoticed. The Fairtrade Foundation, Mzuzu Coffee Cooperative in Malawi, UK-based Caturra Coffee Club and climate experts are speaking out on the impact of the climate crisis on coffee.Mackson Ng'ambi, Chief Executive Officer of Mzuzu Coffee Cooperative in Malawi, said "Our experience is that in a year where the early season rains have been poor or non-existent, coffee flowering has also been grossly poor. This is now a frequent recurrence.""The global coffee pricing should take into consideration that farmers are making more effort to maintain a field of coffee and hence increased cost of production. If this is not recognised and informs coffee prices, sadly most growers will abandon coffee farming.""There is also a need for direct funding that would benefit the small-scale coffee growers, such as access to low interest financing which is currently not available. If nothing is done, we should forget about coffee in a few years to come."The UK government has an opportunity to make a difference, according to Christian Aid's Chief Executive, Patrick Watt. He said "Small-scale coffee farmers are living on the frontline of the climate crisis, despite having contributed little to the problem of global warming."The UK government must wake up and smell the coffee. As a country that has benefitted far more than most from industrialisation, and has contributed disproportionately to the climate crisis, we have a particular responsibility to people whose livelihoods are under threat from climate change."IANS16 May 2023

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Tata AIA Life Fortune Guarantee Pension gets a powerful upgrade

Mumbai, May 16: Tata AIA Life Insurance (Tata AIA Life), one of India's leading Life Insurance Companies, has introduced a more powerful version of its flagship annuity (guaranteed income for life) plan, Tata AIA Life Fortune Guarantee Pension. The new version includes some critical improvements, including higher annuity rates and death benefits, making it a must-have for the consumers to live financially independent and worry-free in their golden years.

Tata AIA Life Fortune Guarantee Pension gets a powerful upgrade

Longer life expectancy and reduced savings levels have made Retirement Income a major concern in the country. The Retirement Savings Gap in India is projected to reach USD 85 trillion by 2050*, and Indian consumers must prepare for this crisis by ensuring financial independence after retirement. Tata AIA Life Fortune Guarantee Pension plan offers multiple tailor-made guaranteed income options and helps consumers save adequately for retired life. The plan caters to a diverse set of customers, including the married, women and individuals wanting to seriously consider saving to maintain their current lifestyles for the future. It is also a very suitable option for SME customers who need to ensure a security net for themselves in their life.Key product benefits include -Commenting on the occasion, Samit Upadhyay, Chief Financial Officer, Tata AIA Life Insurance, said, "Retirement is like starting a new chapter in one's life. It is a time when we can focus on enjoying ourselves rather than worrying about professional responsibilities. All of us, therefore, desire financial independence after retirement so money will not dictate how we live. With regular guaranteed income for life to help us manage our expenses after retirement, Tata AIA Life Fortune Guarantee Pension is an excellent financial tool to achieve that goal. The plan helps our consumers save enough before they retire and ensures stable income when the regular salary income stops."The plan is an ideal solution for consumers seeking a suitable and secured retirement income, and for retired consumers who want to increase their retirement kitty by investing any surplus funds into a guaranteed life insurance solution, can take advantage of Fortune Guarantee Pension.For example, in the Deferred Life Annuity (GA-I) and with Return of Purchase Price, when a 45-year old male annuitant pays an annual premium of Rs. 5 lakhs for seven years, he would start receiving an annuity income of Rs. 261,030 per annum from the 8th year till the time he is alive. Thus, he ensures an annual income of 7.46 per cent of the total premiums paid. In case of the annuitant's death, the nominee is also entitled to receive Death Benefit.The product offers an equally attractive proposition for the Deferred Life Annuity (GA-II) and with Return of Purchase Price. When a 50-year old individual invests an annual premium of Rs. 5 lakhs for ten years when still employed, they would start receiving an annuity income of Rs. 4,06,100 per annum on reaching the age of retirement. Again, like in the previous instance, upon the annuitant's death, the total premiums paid would be returned to his nominee. In the Joint Life option, when a 48-year old husband and 45-year old wife invest Rs. 2 lakhs for 12 years, they will get a guaranteed annual annuity of Rs. 2,12,040 for life. Upon their death, their nominee would receive Rs. 24 lakhs.*World Economic Forun ( )Tata AIA Life Insurance Company Limited (Tata AIA Life) is a joint venture company, formed by Tata Sons Pvt. Ltd. and AIA Group Tata AIA Life Insurance Company Limited (Tata AIA Life) is a joint venture company, formed by Tata Sons Pvt. Ltd. and AIA Group Ltd. (AIA). Tata AIA Life combines Tata's pre-eminent leadership position in India and AIA's presence as the largest, independent listed pan-Asian life insurance group in the world spanning 18 markets in the Asia Pacific region. For the financial year 2021-22, the total premium income of Tata AIA Life increased to Rs 14,445Cr., a growth of 30 per cent. For the same period, the Company registered a Retail New Business Weighted Premium of Rs 4,455 Cr. The 13th month persistency of the Company was at 87.8 per cent, and the Individual Death Claims Settlement ratio was at 98.53 per cent. One of the fastest growing companies in the Life Insurance sector, Tata AIA Life maintained its rank no. 5, based on Individual Weighted New Business Premium.Founded by Jamsetji Tata in 1868, the Tata group is a global enterprise, headquartered in India, comprising 30 companies across ten verticals. The group operates in more than 100 countries across six continents, with a mission 'To improve the quality of life of the communities we serve globally, through long-term stakeholder value creation based on Leadership with Trust'.Tata Sons is the principal investment holding company and promoter of Tata companies. Sixty-six percent of the equity share capital of Tata Sons is held by philanthropic trusts, which support education, health, livelihood generation and art and culture. In 2021-22, the revenue of Tata companies, taken together, was USD 128 billion (Rs 9.6 trillion). These companies collectively employ over 935,000 people.Each Tata company or enterprise operates independently under the guidance and supervision of its own board of directors. There are 29 publicly listed Tata enterprises with a combined market capitalisation of USD 311 billion (Rs 23.6 trillion) as on March 31, 2022. Tata companies include Tata Consultancy Services, Tata Motors, Tata Steel, Tata Chemicals, Tata Consumer Products, Titan, Tata Capital, Tata Power, Indian Hotels, Tata Communications, Tata Digital, and Tata Electronics.AIA Group Limited and its subsidiaries (collectively "AIA" or the "Group") comprise the largest independent publicly listed pan-Asian life insurance group. It has a presence in 18 markets - wholly-owned branches and subsidiaries in Mainland China, Hong Kong SAR(1), Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Australia, Cambodia, Indonesia, Myanmar, New Zealand, the Philippines, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Taiwan (China), Vietnam, Brunei and Macau SAR(2), and a 49 per cent joint venture in India.The business that is now AIA was first established in Shanghai more than a century ago in 1919. It is a market leader in Asia (ex-Japan) based on life insurance premiums and holds leading positions across the majority of its markets. It had total assets of USD 340 billion as of 31 December 2021.AIA meets the long-term savings and protection needs of individuals by offering a range of products and services including life insurance, accident and health insurance and savings plans. The Group also provides employee benefits, credit life and pension services to corporate clients. Through an extensive network of agents, partners and employees across Asia, AIA serves the holders of more than 39 million individual policies and over 16 million participating members of group insurance schemes.AIA Group Limited is listed on the Main Board of The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited under the stock code "1299" with American Depositary Receipts (Level 1) traded on the over-the-counter market (ticker symbol "AAGIY").This story is provided by PRNewswire. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article.ANI16 May 2023

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Oakridge International School Gachibowli celebrates its outstanding CBSE results

Hyderabad, May 16: Oakridge International School Gachibowli is thrilled with the exceptional performance of its students in the AISSCE Grade 12 and AISSCE Grade 10 exams. Following the announcement of the CBSE board results on Friday afternoon, messages from the students began pouring in. Along with the anxiety was anticipation and hope and we have not been disappointed.

Oakridge International School Gachibowli celebrates its outstanding CBSE results

The school average in both grades is impressive, 74 per cent and 75.8 per cent in Grade 10 and Grade 12 respectively. Ada Kaur Lamba of Grade 12 stood as a school topper with an aggregate of 94.8 per cent. "If psychology has taught me anything, it is that without support there is no stability, and thanks to all the Oakridgers and faculty, I am able to stand where I am today," said Ada. Almost 50 per cent of the total strength of the students who appeared for the exams in both the grades scored above 75 per cent which is a testament to the school's commitment to academic excellence.Grade 10 school topper, Pravallika Mareddy scored an outstanding 98.4 per cent (492/500). "I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to my teachers, coordinator and parents for their guidance and support throughout my academic journey. This achievement would not have been possible without their efforts and belief in my abilities. Ranking first in school is a humbling experience, and it comes with great responsibility. I promise to use this accomplishment as a springboard for future success and to inspire others to achieve their full potential" Said Pravallika.The Head of CBSE segment of the school, Rukmani Kumar was overjoyed at the occasion. She said, "We are extremely proud of the outstanding results achieved by our Grade 10 and Grade 12 students this year. Their hard work and dedication, combined with the exceptional support of our faculty and parents, have resulted in an excellent performance that sets a high standard for our school. We look forward to building on this success and continuing to provide challenging and nurturing environment to our students."The Principal Dipika Rao extended her warmest congratulations to the students. She says, "The academic results reflect the effort, attitude, and engagement that Oakridgers have towards both their academics and personal progress. At Oakridge positivity, perseverance and practice are guiding principles that support our students in both school and beyond."To know more about Oakridge Gachibowli , visit .This story has been provided by NewsVoir. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article.ANI16 May 2023

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18 missiles launched overnight by Russia destroyed, Ukraine claims

Kyiv [Ukraine], May 16: At least three people were injured in Kyiv early Tuesday after Ukraine's air defence systems shot down unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and other flying objects, CNN reported citing mayor Vitaliy Klitschko.

18 missiles launched overnight by Russia destroyed, Ukraine claims

"A vast majority of Russian targets in Kyiv's airspace were destroyed after the capital was hit by an 'exceptional' air attack with UAVs, cruise missiles and ballistic missiles, said a Ukrainian military official.A senior Ukrainian general on Telegram said that Ukraine's Air Force shot down 18 missiles launched by Russia at the country overnight, according to CNN."At about 0330 on May 16, 2023, the Russian occupiers attacked Ukraine from the north, south, and east with 18 various types of air, sea, and land-based missiles," said General Valeri Zaluzhnyi, commander-in-chief of Ukraine's Armed Forces.He also said that Ukraine too shot down drones launched by Russia overnight.Zaluzhnyi said in the statement, "The enemy attacked with Shahed-136/131 attack drones and conducted aerial reconnaissance with three operational and tactical level drones. All of them were destroyed."The "unexceptional" air attack, as claimed by Kyiv, was launched by Russia a day after UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak assured support to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.Zelenskyy on Monday arrived in United Kingdom and held discussions with UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. The two leaders discussed how to ensure that support is not just for today but for the future.In a tweet, the UK PM's office stated, "United in action. Last year the UK provided Ukraine with more military support than any country except the US. Today, @RishiSunak and @ZelenskyyUa discussed how we ensure that support is not just here for today, but into the future as well."Sunak has assured Zelenskyy that the UK continues to stand with Ukraine. "The United Kingdom stands side by side with Ukraine," he tweeted.Notably, the UK has been offering military assistance to Ukraine ever since the conflict between Kyiv and Moscow started in February last year.On Sunday, France too promised to deliver many additional light tanks and armoured vehicles to Ukraine amid its ongoing conflict with Russia and also to train Ukrainian forces how to operate them, Al Jazeera reported.This came right after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy flew into France late on Sunday and joined French President Emmanuel Macron for a working dinner at the Elysee Palace in Paris."In the coming weeks, France will train and equip several battalions with tens of armoured vehicles and light tanks including AMX-10RC," the two leaders announced following almost three hours of talks in a joint statement on Monday, according to Al Jazeera.The trip to Paris was part of Zelenskyy's weekend-long whirlwind tour of several major European allies, ahead of an expected major Ukrainian counteroffensive against Russia.Zelenskyy stated in Berlin on Sunday that Kyiv and its allies might make a Russian defeat "irreversible" as early as this year after getting a new USD3 billion military package from Germany, according to Al Jazeera.In Paris, Macron reiterated that France will continue to support Ukraine with political, monetary, humanitarian, and military aid for as long as it is required.Apparently, French AMX-10RCs vehicles can move quickly across the battlefield and switch positions due to their fast speed and mobility.ANI16 May 2023

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Violinist Augustin Hadelich and pianist Orion Weiss will bring a program of music by Ludvig van Beethoven, Daniel Bernard Roumain, Amy Beach and Sergei Prokofiev to Cabell Hall Auditorium at 7:30 p.m. on Oct. 10 to begin the 2023-2024 season of the Tuesday Evening Concert Series.

Karen Pellon, executive director of the series, said audience members were so thrilled by Hadelichs previous appearance that inviting him back was a given. There are artists where people are barely breathing after a concert, saying, Bring them back, she said. People were just levitating after his last concert.

The concert is underwritten by David Sansone in honor of Pellon, who is retiring June 30 after leading the series for 32 years.

Also coming up in the new season:

Oct. 31: Academy of St. Martin in the Fields Chamber Ensemble, a wind and strings octet, performing works by Henry Purcell, Carl Nielsen, Howard Ferguson and Beethoven. Principal underwriters are Frank & Mary S. Dodge and Virginia National Bank.

Nov. 28: Pianist Behzod Abduraimov performing works by Cesar Franck, Dilorom Saidaminova, Maurice Ravel, Florence Price and Prokofiev. Principal underwriter is Bob Bond in memory of Kathy Bond.

 Feb. 20: Arod Quartet performing works by Franz Joseph Haydn, Claude Debussy and Beethoven. Principal underwriters are Robert & Janis Chevalier and Carolyn & David Beach.

 March 12: Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra performing Passions of the Soul, a program featuring music by Jean-Marie Leclair, Antonio Vivaldi, Pietro Locatelli, Michel Richard Lalande, Johann Christoph Pez, J.S. Bach and Georg Philipp Telemann. Principal underwriter is George Logan; underwriter is Mary Vee Connell.

 March 26: Dover Quartet with pianist Haochen Zhang. Principal underwriter for the accompanying childrens concert is the Joseph & Robert Cornell Memorial Foundation; childrens concert underwriter is The Levy Gift in honor of Robert Levy.

 April 23: Pianist Paul Lewis will perform music by Franz Schubert. Principal underwriter is Anonymous; underwriters are David W. Garrison & Mary Jane King.

The Academy of St. Martin in the Fields has sent performers to the series in past seasons, but the wind and strings octet will visit for the first time, Pellon said.

Audience members have been requesting a return engagement by Tafelmusik, and Pellon said the program is promising. Passions of the Soul? I think that will resonate with people, she said.

Abduraimov will return to Cabell Hall Auditorium with music by two women composers  Price, an American, and Saidaminova, an Uzbek composer known for her orchestral, chamber and piano works.

The Dover Quartets performance is likely to be an emotional one for audience members who remember the ensembles 2017 benefit concert for local residents injured in the violent aftermath of the Unite the Right rally. Pellon received a call from the quartets manager about a week after the event saying that the quartet members have been so affected by what people are going through in Charlottesville that they want to give a free performance to benefit the victims, she said.

Everybody galvanized and came together for a concert at Martin Luther King Jr. Performing Arts Center to benefit a fund for injured community members through the Charlottesville-Albemarle Community Foundation, Pellon said. For its March 26, 2024, appearance, the quartet will perform music by composers affected by the Holocaust.

We couldnt wait to bring them back, Pellon said.

Audience members have two options for purchasing tickets to series events.

Series subscribers can get guaranteed tickets in advance at https://tecs.org/buy-subscriptions/. To buy individual tickets for available seats for specific concerts, which will be available two weeks before each event, go to https://tickets.artsboxoffice.virginia.edu/events#list.

Information about artists and programs can be found at tecs.org.
Air India Express recruits pilots, cabin crew to meet growing operational demand

Mumbai, May 16: Air India Express Limited (AIXL), the low-cost carrier subsidiary of Air India, successfully concluded a roadshow aimed at recruiting pilots (commanders and first officers) in Mumbai.

Air India Express recruits pilots, cabin crew to meet growing operational demand

The event, held on Monday witnessed a significant turnout of pilots, bolstering the airline's effort to meet the growing demands of its operations.The recruitment drive in Mumbai follows similar roadshows held in Delhi on May 10 and 11 and in Bengaluru on May 12 and 13. Approximately 300 pilots participated in the selection process conducted during these events.AIXL has been actively focusing on strengthening its workforce since October last year, targeting vacancies for pilots and cabin crew members. The airline has recruited over 280 pilots and 250 cabin crew members in a short span of time, said the company statement.In addition to the major metros of Delhi, Bangalore, Mumbai, and Chennai, AIXL has been conducting walk-in recruitment drives in other cities and towns such as Imphal, Guwahati, Surat, Ahmedabad, Bhopal, Kochi, Kozhikode and Mangaluru for cabin crew aspirants.The company statement said that the ongoing integration and merger of Air India Express and AirAsia India, the other low-cost carrier subsidiary of Air India, marks a significant milestone for the airline. Following Air India's privatisation and acquisition by the Tata Group, a comprehensive growth and transformation plan has been initiated.The merged entity, Air India Express Limited, is planning to capitalise on the combined resources of Air India and the Tata Group to serve the rapidly expanding Indian domestic market as well as the regional short-haul international market to and from India.ANI16 May 2023

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CBUAE imposes administrative sanctions on 8 banks operating in UAE

Abu Dhabi, May 16: The Central Bank of the UAE (CBUAE) imposed administrative sanctions on eight banks operating in the UAE, pursuant to Article 137 of the Decretal Federal Law No. (14) of 2018 Regarding the Central Bank & Organisation of Financial Institutions and Activities and the Central Bank notices regarding the beneficiaries of the National Defaulted Debts Settlement Fund (NDDSF) facilities.

CBUAE imposes administrative sanctions on 8 banks operating in UAE

The administrative sanctions take into account the banks' failures to comply with the CBUAE's instructions not to grant any loans or credit facilities to the beneficiaries of loans granted by the NDDSF, including credit cards.The CBUAE, through its supervisory and regulatory mandates, works to ensure that all licensed financial institutions operating in the country, including banks, abide by the UAE laws, regulations and standards adopted by the CBUAE, to safeguard the transparency and integrity of the banks' business and enhancing the efficiency of the UAE financial system. (ANI/WAM)ANI16 May 2023

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iPhone 15, 15 Plus may feature 48MP camera like Pro models

San Francisco, May 15: Apple's lower-end iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus models launching later this year will reportedly feature a 48-megapixel rear camera lens.

iPhone 15, 15 Plus may feature 48MP camera like Pro models

According to Haitong International Securities analyst Jeff Pu, these models featuring a 48-megapixel camera will use a three-stacked sensor that can capture more light for enhanced image quality, reports MacRumors.However, as per the recent supply chain checks, Pu believes that the stacked sensor may face yielding issues, potentially causing production delays for the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus.As of now, the devices are currently set to launch in September, the report said.Last year, Apple introduced a 48-megapixel camera lens on the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max.Users can shoot 48-megapixel ProRAW photos with the lens, which retains more detail in the image file for greater editing flexibility.Meanwhile, Apple sold iPhones worth $51.3 billion in its March quarter, a record for the company, and iPhone 14 and 14 plus continued to delight users with their long-lasting battery and advanced camera, the company's CEO Tim Cook has said.According to him, iPhone 14 Pro users continue to rave about the most powerful camera system ever in an iPhone.IANS17 May 2023

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UP CM Yogi thanks PM Modi for giving appointment letters to 71,000 youth

Lucknow, May 16: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Tuesday expressed gratitude to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for giving appointment letters to 71,000 youth recruited across the country through Employment Fairs (Rozgar Mela).

UP CM Yogi thanks PM Modi for giving appointment letters to 71,000 youth

The recipients of appointment letters included hundreds of youths from Uttar Pradesh, who were selected during employment fairs held in different state districts.Thanking PM Modi on his official Twitter handle, CM Yogi wrote, "Under the guidance of respected PM Modi ji, new opportunities are being created continuously to connect the youth with the development journey of the nation. Many congratulations to more than 71,000 newly selected youths on receiving appointment letters through PM Rozgar Mela! Thank you Prime Minister!"Notably, these employment fairs were organised at 45 different places across the country, which included Lucknow, Varanasi, Agra, Moradabad and Gorakhpur districts of UP.Youths of UP selected through the employment fairs held in these districts received the appointment letters today along with others during the video conferencing of the Prime Minister.To distribute these appointment letters, Smriti Zubin Irani, the Union Minister for Women and Child Development and Minority Affairs was present in Lucknow, Dr. Mahendra Nath Pandey, the Union Heavy Industries Minister in Varanasi, Bhanu Pratap Singh Verma, the Union Minister of State for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises in Moradabad, Dr. Sanjeev Kumar Balyan, the Union Minister of State for Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying in Agra and Ajay Kumar, the Union Minister of State in Gorakhpur.PM Modi on Tuesday laid down the steps taken by his government to boost employment in the country and said that every policy formulated in the last nine years has acted as a "door to generating employment" for the youth.Addressing the occasion virtually, PM Modi said, "During the last nine years, there has been a great focus towards boosting employment opportunities in the country. Be it building modern infra or rural development, every plan and policy of the government acts as a door to generating employment for the youth."The Prime Minister highlighted that during his governance, the government has also given priority to making the government recruitment process faster, more transparent and fair."Today, the entire process from applying for recruitment to getting results has become online. Interviews for recruitment in Group C and D are also over. The advantage of these efforts is that the possibilities of corruption and nepotism have ended," PM Modi said.ANI17 May 2023

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Mountaineer who went missing from Mount Annapurna thanks Adani Foundation for airlifting him for treatment

New Delhi, May 16: Anurag Maloo, a mountaineer from Rajasthan, who went missing during an expedition to Mount Annapurna in Nepal and was later found alive but in a critical condition, thanked Adani Foundation for promptly arranging an air ambulance and transferring him to a medical facility for better treatment.

Mountaineer who went missing from Mount Annapurna thanks Adani Foundation for airlifting him for treatment

Anurag Maloo is a mountaineer and a climate athlete."Grateful beyond words for the timely airlifting! Heartfelt thanks to Gautam Adani and Adani Foundation for their invaluable support in repatriating Anurag Maloo safely," tweeted Aashish Maloo, who is a relative of mountaineer Anurag Maloo.Anurag is a resident of Kishangarh, Rajasthan. Recently, he went on an expedition to Mount Annapurna in Nepal, one of the highest peaks in the world. Unfortunately, Anurag met with an accident and had gone missing on April 17 after falling from an altitude of 5,800 meters while descending from Camp III on Mount Annapurna.After three days, he was found alive but in critical condition. His family needed extended medical support for his treatment as his recovery cost exceeded their means.His family requested the Adani Foundation's assistance to arrange and bear the cost of the airlift and ground transfer from Nepal to India.Upon receiving the request, Chairman Gautam Adani promptly acted and the Adani Foundation arranged an air ambulance and transfer.Anurag was rescued and airlifted to the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in New Delhi for medical treatment and is currently undergoing treatment."Priti and I are privileged to be of help. We are happy to learn that Anurag is safe and are praying for his speedy recovery. We are confident that he will soon be ready to conquer more of life's peaks," Gautam Adani wrote on Twitter, sharing Aashish Maloo's tweet.ANI17 May 2023

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EAM Jaishankar participates in Digital and Clean Energy Stakeholder Event in Brussels

Brussels, May 16: External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar on Tuesday participated in the Digital and Clean Energy Stakeholder Event in Brussels.

EAM Jaishankar participates in Digital and Clean Energy Stakeholder Event in Brussels

"Began the day in Brussels with a Digital and Clean Energy Stakeholder Event. Thank European Commission Executive VP @vestager for convening the meeting," the EAM tweeted on Tuesday."In this Techade, TTC can promote Trusted Collaboration so essential to Re-Globalisation. Stakeholders are key to delivery," Jaishankar further wrote.Earlier on Tuesday, Jaishankar thanked President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen for meeting the Indian ministerial team."Thank President of @EU_Commission @vonderleyen for meeting the Indian ministerial team. Appreciate the open discussion on trade, technology and geopolitics. Look forward to the India-EU Trade and Technology Council meeting tomorrow," Jaishankar tweeted.Jaishankar on Monday arrived in Brussels for the last leg of his three-nation visit covering Bangladesh, Sweden and Belgium.Jaishankar visited Brussels for the first meeting of the India-EU Trade and Technology Council scheduled for Tuesday. He arrived in Belgium after a three-day tour of Sweden.Jaishankar on Monday met the Prime Minister of Belgium, Alexander De Croo along with Minister of Commerce and Industry, Piyush Goyal and Union Minister of State for Entrepreneurship, Skill Development, Electronics and Technology, Rajeev Chandrasekhar and discussed growing bilateral cooperation, including in trade and technology."Delighted to call on PM of Belgium @alexanderdecroo along with my colleagues - @PiyushGoyal and @Rajeev_GoI today. Conveyed personal greetings of PM @narendramodi. Discussed our growing bilateral cooperation, including in trade and technology. Also spoke about contemporary strategic concerns," Jaishankar tweeted.He also shared his thoughts about visiting Sweden and engaging in EU-Indo Pacific Ministerial."I visited Stockholm for a meeting of the European Union's Indo-Pacific Ministerial Forum and also to mark the 75th year of diplomatic relations between India and Sweden. My talks with my Swedish counterpart Tobias Billstrom were extensive in terms of exploring, taking our bilateral cooperation to a higher level as also comprehensive in discussing the political and economic challenges in our respective regions and indeed for the global economy," he said.The EAM also met Swedish Defense Minister Paul Johnson, National Security Advisor Henrik Landerholm and Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson who reflected the interest in Sweden about intensifying its relationship with India.Speaker Andreas Norlen also spent time discussing how he viewed the cooperative possibilities, including more parliamentary exchanges between India and Sweden. Sweden is an important trade, technology and investment partner of India in the European Union. It is also a key member of the Nordic grouping that India has been engaging in a structured format since 2018.ANI17 May 2023

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Enigma to launch 6 high-speed electric 2-wheelers by year-end

New Delhi, May 16: Homegrown EV manufacturer Enigma on Tuesday announced its plans to launch six high-speed electric two-wheelers by the end of this year.

Enigma to launch 6 high-speed electric 2-wheelers by year-end

As part of the upcoming line-up, the company's most anticipated high-speed EV bike Cafe Racer - Enigma CR22 for motorcycle enthusiasts boasts a top speed of 120 km per hour and delivers a range of 105 km on a single charge, according to the company."With six high-speed electric two-wheelers, including B2B high-speed RTO and FAME-approved two-wheeler, along with India's first Cafe Racer, we are poised to meet the diverse needs of our esteemed customers," Anmol Bohre, Managing Director, Enigma, said in a statement."Our vision for 2023 is to establish Enigma as a prominent player in the EV industry, offering sustainable and efficient mobility solutions to the Indian market," he added.Among the array of electric scooters, the company said one exceptional model shines its spotlight on the thriving B2B sector.This vehicle is engineered to meet the unique requirements of businesses, ensuring optimal functionality, reliability, and adherence to relevant regulations, while the remaining five electric scooters have been tailored for the vibrant B2C market, the company stated.The EV manufacturer further said that these models embody the pinnacle of style, performance, and user-centric features, empowering individuals to embrace sustainable mobility options while indulging in a thrilling and environmentally conscious ride experience.IANS17 May 2023

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Rejig of search panel for appointment of VCs in Bengal varsities upset academicians

Kolkata, May 16: West Bengal government's fresh notification rejigging the search committees meant for appointment of Vice-Chancellors in state universities has left the academic circles in the state fuming.

Rejig of search panel for appointment of VCs in Bengal varsities upset academicians

The academicians are especially critical about omission for the provision for having a representative from the state university concerned in the panel.Under the proposed system as per the ordinance, the five-member panel should have one representative nominated by the Chief Minister, one by the state Education Department, one by the state Higher Education Council, one by the University Grants Commission (UGC) and one by the Governor, who by virtue of the post, is also the Chancellor of all state universities.According to the Calcutta University Teachers' Association (CUTA) general secretary Sanatan Chattopadhyay, this new system of panel with any representative from the state university concerned is bound to face legal hassles just like the previous system faced since it had no representative from the UGC."The UGC proposal speaks in support of the inclusion of a representative from the state university concerned in the search panel. Moreover, this decision for the omission for the provision for having a representative from the state university concerned in the panel is an attack on the autonomy of the universities," he added.The Jadavpur University Teachers' Association (JUTA) general secretary Partha Pratim Roy feels that the formation of the new search committee has been constituted to maintain the numerical supremacy of the state government there so that making politically- motivated decisions easier."The proposals of UGC regarding formation of search committees have been totally ignored in this ordinance. We strongly condemn the decision," he said.Economist Probir Kumar Mukhopadhyay said that the decision is quite whimsical considering that the state university concerned for which a Vice-Chancellor will be appointed will have no say in the appointment process."This is surely done with a political motive and is an attack on the autonomy of the state universities. In the previous system following in the Left Front rule, which was also followed by the current Trinamool Congress regime in the first three years of its tenure since 2011, the state government official had no role in vice chancellor appointment."Then the three- member search committees had one representative of the UGC, one from the state university concerned and one nominated by the Governor. I am not against the state government having its own representative in the search committee. But that should not be at the cost of a representative from the state university concerned," he said.Santanu Basu, a professor with a college under the University of Calcutta said that UGC's proposal is also that one acclaimed and independent educationist should be included as a member of the search committee. "The new proposal remains silent on that matter," he said.IANS17 May 2023

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South Sudan opens new camp to receive refugees from Sudan

Juba, May 16: South Sudan has opened a new refugee camp in its northern region to receive people fleeing conflicts in neighbouring Sudan, a senior official said.

South Sudan opens new camp to receive refugees from Sudan

South Sudan has received a huge number of refugees and so they decided to allocate land for them to settle down, Minister for Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management Albino Akol Atak told reporters here on Monday.He said the government is coordinating with humanitarian partners on the ground to start relocating the refugees from the reception centre near the border with Sudan to the new refugee camp, Xinhua news agency reported.UN agencies, including the UN Refugee Agency, are working to provide shelter for the refugees, the World Food Program is providing food assistance and the International Organisation for Migration is providing transport for them to the new camp, he added.According to the Minister, South Sudan has received about 70,000 people since the conflict broke out in Sudan in April this year.Akol said the new camp is in an area of 5 kilometre by 10 kilometre that can accommodate hundreds of thousands of refugees who can as well practice small-scale agriculture for their livelihood.IANS17 May 2023

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Embassy of Georgia to India Opens e-Visa Facility for Indian Nationals

New Delhi, May 16: The Embassy of Georgia to India is delighted to announce the opening of the e-Visa facility, allowing Indian nationals to apply for their visa quickly and conveniently. This streamlined process is designed to enhance our bilateral ties and make Georgia more accessible to Indian travellers.

Embassy of Georgia to India Opens e-Visa Facility for Indian Nationals

Georgia offers a unique blend of culture, heritage, adventure, and hospitality to its visitors. From the majestic Caucasus Mountains to the Black Sea Coast, the country is a paradise for nature lovers and adventure seekers. The country is also known for its hospitality and cuisine, making it an ideal holiday destination for Indian travellers.The e-Visa facility allows applicants to fill an online form and upload the necessary documents, which will then be securely verified by the Embassy of Georgia. All applications will be processed within five business days of submission.The Embassy of Georgia to India encourages Indian travellers to explore the country and experience its rich culture, stunning landscapes, and warm hospitality. To apply for an e-Visa, visitContactEmbassy of Georgia to the Republic of India(+91) 11 4949 6000; (+91) 11 4050 1424169 Jor Bagh, New Delhi - 110003Hotline +91 92 0548 8477This story is provided by PNN. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article. (ANI/PNN)ANI17 May 2023

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Five weeks before the Democratic Primary, Virginias first election since redistricting changed the political landscape last year, Charlottesvilles Voter Registration and Elections Office needs to hire at least 10 to 20 more election officers by May 31.

While the number of election officers that the city hires varies depending on the type of election, the city is working with about 80 poll workers while its usual poll staff includes 100-150 people, according to General Registrar and Director of Elections Taylor Yowell. The city is hoping to close the gap before the Democratic primary election on June 20.

Its harder in a primary, Yowell told The Daily Progress on Tuesday. I do think it is a big harder this year because the primary was pushed back an additional week. Kids are out of school, so its harder to get babysitting or people have already started taking vacations or we have other people at work taking vacations and people dont have as much flexibility to get the day off.

In total, primary election officers will spend about 10 hours in their roles over the course of two days.

All election officers, who must be registered voters in Virginia who are at least 18 years old, must complete a two-hour training in the form of a presentation about what to expect at the polls on Election Day while being provided the space to ask questions about the ballot, Yowell said. This year, election officers will take up their training on May 31.

Election officers are compensated $15 an hour for their time, including the mandatory training session.

Yowell said the local elections office does not usually have trouble finding poll workers during general elections, but being a college town makes hiring more difficult during the summertime.

Yowell added that a large amount of University of Virginia students serve as election officers during their time at school, most of whom will have left after the end of finals week and final exercises on May 21.

We would love for anyone to come out and continue to be election officers, Yowell said. We have a big problem with retention here in the city of Charlottesville due to having a lot of students who help; so after their years at UVa, they tend to move away and its harder to get people that come back consistently year after year.

Those interested in applying for the election officer position can find the application on the offices website before completing the form and mailing or dropping it off at the Charlottesville Voter Registration and Elections Office.

In this primary, Charlottesville residents will elect three City Council members as well as the Democratic candidates for the 11th District state Senate race and 54th District House of Delegates race.

This year, every seat in the General Assembly  thats 100 delegates and 40 senators  will be up for election during the general election on Nov. 7.

For the first time, Charlottesville will vote in Democrat-leaning districts rather than Republican-leaning districts that touch the outer edges of the city.

The new district maps  which were drawn without contribution from Virginias 140 legislators  consolidated overlapping districts resulting in two to three lawmakers per new district. The drastic change sparked about two dozen retirements.
Sikkim celebrates its 48th Statehood Day

Gangtok (Sikkim), May 16: Sikkim celebrated its 48th Statehood Day on Tuesday. The central event was held in the state's capital Gangtok where Sikkim Governor Lakshman Prasad Acharya and Chief Minister Prem Singh Golay were in attendance along with other ministers and dignitaries.

Sikkim celebrates its 48th Statehood Day

Sikkim became the 22nd state of India on May 16, 1975, under the leadership of Lhendup Dorjee Khangsarpa, the first chief minister of Sikkim who ushered democracy in the erstwhile Chogyal Kingdom.Today's celebration began with the garlanding of LD Kazi's statue outside the Chintan Bhawan premises by the dignitaries.Sikkim Chief Minister Prem Singh Golay in his address at the gathering highlighted the history of Sikkim as a democracy."It (Sikkim) has been the contribution of every former Chief Minister of the State from the first CM LD Kazi to me being the sixth, every CM, legislator, minister, MPs has contributed to the development of Sikkim as a democracy. In the next two years, we will be celebrating 50 years anniversary of Statehood, a golden Jubilee in 2025. I thank the fighters for Sikkim's democracy in the past for bringing us to this momentous occasion in democracy"."All the promises given to Sikkimese people, we are fulfilling such promises steadily. Many feel no work or no parivartan has happened in Sikkim, many allege us as such through social media and media reports. But in these 4 years, State's revenue had increased by 57 per cent for the year 2022-23 as compared with 2018. About seven per cent increase in 2020-21 as compared to 2018."He said all corruption or leakages have been controlled by the government."We have not kept schemes on hold keeping election in mind or as an agenda," he added.Sikkim Governor Lakshman Prasad Acharya lauded the organic farming practice and its success along with various and social welfare initiatives to be some of Sikkim's biggest successes."Sikkim has become part of India after 28 years of independence, however, the contribution of the State is immense. Sikkim is best known for its hospitality as was evident in the recent G20 meeting where many delegates got emotional upon their return. Sikkim had worked towards women's empowerment and climate change. Sikkim should continue with its brotherhood. We will continue the pace of progress in the State. We will continue to unite the people of the State with the country," the governor said.The Governor further added all the schemes of the government should reach the farthest corners of the State."In my visit to many rural places in the State, I have seen such schemes reaching people there but more should reach the people in need."On statehood day, a few Sikkimese officers were awarded Sikkim Sewa Samman to appreciate their contributions to society.The officers included Ashwini Kumar Chand (IPS) for his contribution to establishing the RT PCR lab in STNM Hospital during the COVID-19 pandemic as well as the evacuation of people and students during the COVID-19 pandemic and recently from violence-hit Manipur.Sikkim Sewa Samman was also awarded Dr Durga Prasad Rai, consultant cardiologist at STNM Hospital in Gangtok. Dr Rai is the first interventional cardiologist in Sikkim who ushered medical tourism in the State from neighbouring states.Similarly, State government secretaries Tsewang Gyatso Bhutia and Ganga D Pradhan were also awarded Sikkim Sewa Samman for the year 2023.ANI17 May 2023

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Chinas oppressed Tibetan Buddhist practitioners: US State Department

Washington, May 16: A new US State Department report chronicles China's oppression of Tibetan Buddhist practitioners and efforts to keep two of the religion's most prominent leaders out of sight inside Tibet.

China's oppressed Tibetan Buddhist practitioners: US State Department

The State Department's 2022 Report on International Religious Freedom, released on Monday, documents allegations of "forced disappearances, arrests, physical abuse and prolonged detentions without trial of monks, nuns and other persons due to their religious practices" in Chinese-occupied Tibet last year.The report arrives just days before the 28th anniversary of China's abduction of the Panchen Lama, a high-ranking Tibetan Buddhist figure who has not been seen in public since his forced disappearance at the age of six.The report also addresses China's ongoing refusal to negotiate with the envoys of the Dalai Lama, the Nobel Peace Prize-winning Tibetan Buddhist leader, whom China forced into exile from Tibet more than 60 years ago.Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken and Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom Rashad Hussain released the report at an event at the State Department attended by International Campaign for Tibet President Tencho Gyatso."I was grateful to join other civil society leaders and religious freedom advocates at the release of the 2022 Report on International Religious Freedom, and I'm grateful to the State Department for shining a spotlight on China's oppression of religious worshippers in Tibet," Gyatso said."As the report shows, Tibetans face horrific abuse from China's government for attempting to practice their faith freely, speak up for their religious rights or venerate their spiritual leaders like the Dalai Lama and the Panchen Lama. The best way to bring this oppression to an end is to push for renewed dialogue between China and the Dalai Lama's envoys by passing the bipartisan Promoting a Resolution to the Tibet-China Conflict Act currently in the Congress."According to the report, Chinese authorities in the Tibet Autonomous Region, which spans about half of Tibet, required clergy and Tibetan government employees to denounce the Dalai Lama, who has not set foot in Tibet since his forced exile in 1959."Authorities also continued to force monasteries to display portraits of (Chinese Communist Party) leaders and required Tibetans to replace images of the Dalai Lama and other lamas in their homes with portraits of CCP leaders, including former Chairman Mao Zedong and General Secretary and (People's Republic of China) President Xi Jinping," the report says."Images of the Dalai Lama were banned, with harsh repercussions for owning or displaying his image."As one example, the report, citing news articles and rights groups, says Chinese Police arrested a Tibetan named Zumkar after finding a photo of the Dalai Lama on her home altar. They also arrested her sister Youdon for colluding with Zumkar to conceal the photo.According to the report, authorities also required clergy and government employees to pledge allegiance to Gyaltsen Norbu, whom Chinese leaders appointed as their own Panchen Lama after kidnapping Gedhun Choekyi Nyima -- on May 17, 1995.Traditionally, the Panchen Lama and the Dalai Lama have played a key role in identifying one another's reincarnations.With the current Dalai Lama about to turn 88-years-old, China has made clear it plans to appoint its own successor to the globally revered Buddhist leader.However, according to the report, US officials last year "underscored that decisions on the succession of the Dalai Lama should be made solely by the Tibetan people, free from interference, and they raised concerns about the disappearance since 1995 of Panchen Lama Gedhun Choekyi Nyima".China also cracked down on ordinary practitioners of Tibetan Buddhism last year, according to the report.It says China "continued to place restrictions on the size of Buddhist monasteries and other institutions and to implement a campaign begun in 2016 to evict monks and nuns from monasteries".Between 6,000 and 17,000 monks and nuns were evicted over three years from the Larung Gar and Yachen Gar Buddhist institutes, the report says.Those expelled were forbidden from continuing their religious education elsewhere; instead, many of them were forced to undergo "patriotic education".IANS17 May 2023

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South Sudan starts consultation with experts on transitional justice mechanisms

Juba, May 16: South Sudan's leaders have started consultations with experts on transitional justice mechanisms to help the country implement Chapter 5 of the 2018 revitalised peace agreement.

South Sudan starts consultation with experts on transitional justice mechanisms

President Salva Kiir, who opened a three-day conference being attended by experts from Ethiopia, the Gambia, South Africa and Rwanda, said on Monday that Chapter 5 which calls for the establishment of the critical commission on truth, reconciliation and healing is very important for post-conflict recovery.He admitted that the two internal conflicts that erupted in December 2013 and July 2016 caused the deaths of thousands of people, and displaced millions, both internally and externally, Xinhua news agency reported."Apart from the damages I have outlined above, the two conflicts were also violent to the extent that human rights violations and abuses probably happened. It is for this reason that the revitalised peace agreement on the resolution of the conflict in South Sudan provided for Chapter 5 on transitional justice and accountability," Kiir added in Juba, the capital of South Sudan.He said Chapter 5 provides an opportunity for reconciliation and healing for victims and perpetrators of human rights violations during years of conflict."Those who are found guilty will have the opportunity to apologise and ask for forgiveness. The victims will also find the heart to forgive and qualify for compensation and reparation," Kiir added.South Sudan is seeking views to enrich two bills already by its Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs to establish a commission on truth, reconciliation, and healing, and the compensation and reparation authority.Kiir said that the establishment of these transitional justice mechanisms is critical for the country to hold credible, free and fair elections planned for December 2024.He also disclosed that they are much willing to finalise the process of establishing the African Union-led hybrid court to try war crimes committed during years of conflict."When the time comes, for the enactment of the bill for hybrid court for South Sudan, the Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs, which is charged with the responsibility to trigger the implementation of these mechanisms in collaboration with the African Union as stipulated in the agreement will update us accordingly," Kiir added.First Vice-President Riek Machar said they were supposed to have tackled Chapter 5 in the first three months after the transitional government was established in February 2020."We are happy that the technical committee has carried out consultations, and this conference is going to be the final consultation for those who are experts so that we can have legislation to effect the implementation of this chapter," he added.Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs Reuben Madol Arol said that in November and December 2022, they travelled to the Gambia and South Africa to familiarise themselves with the truth and reconciliation processes."I received two draft bills from the task force of the Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs for the establishment of the two main transitional justice institutions, which will be shared with experts gathered here to provide their guidance before the bills are sent to the national council of ministers and transitional national legislative assembly for their enactment into laws," he added.IANS17 May 2023

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Raima, Riya Sen looking to join politics eventually

Guwahati, May 15: Actresses Raima and Riya Sen - the two daughters of Bengal who have always been in the limelight due to their grandmother Suchitra Sen and mother Moon Moon Sen, and later for their own acting skills, have expressed their interest in joining politics - in the future.

Raima, Riya Sen looking to join politics eventually

While Raima clearly mentioned a timeline for her to jump into the political arena, her younger sister, Riya has not given a clear answer. However, after Riya was seen joining the Bharat Jodo Yatra along with Rahul Gandhi, speculations were rife that she might soon join the Congress.Speaking to IANS, the Sen sisters, though they avoided revealing their political affiliations, conveyed their desire to be future politicians.Raima said "As of now, I am not joining politics and concentrating on my acting career, but yes, within the next 5 years, I have a wish to try my luck in politics too."Their mother, Moonmoon Sen, won from West Bengal's Bankura Lok Sabha seat in 2014, but lost from Asansol in 2019 to Babul Supriyo, who incidentally later switched sides and joined the Trinamool Congress to become a minister in Mamata Banerjee-led West Bengal government."My mother suggested I enjoy acting for a few more years and then join politics," Raima said.Meanwhile, when Riya joined the Bharat Jodo Yatra with Rahul Gandhi in November last year, the buzz in the political spectrum was that she would join the Congress soon. Raima was also scheduled to take part in Bharat Jodo, but due to her shooting, she could not join the yatra."I have not seen the Bharat Jodo as a political one. It was something to unite the whole country. That is why I joined the yatra," the younger Sen sister said."I also have an interest in politics but can't say when and how things will happen."Raima and Riya refused to comment on their probability of joining Mamata Banerjee's fold like their mother."Let us see how the situation unfolds," Raima said.Their father, Bharat Dev Varma, belongs to the royal family of Tripura. Another royal family scion and Tipra Motha party head Pradyot Bikram Manikya has been demanding a greater Tipraland for the indigenous people of Tripura.Raima said, "We have heard about these political developments, but as we have little connection with Tripura currently, I cannot comment anything on this issue."On the work front, Raima is doing films and web series simultaneously. Apart from Kolkata, she has been busy working in Mumbai as well."I am doing more work in Mumbai now, but yes, Kolkata is my home, and whenever I get something exciting, I always look forward to acting in Tollywood," she said.On the other hand, Riya is doing movie "Death Tale" under Shawn Arranha's direction, and it is scheduled to release on July 1.IANS17 May 2023

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Month before Adipurush release, Prabhas shares stunning new poster

Mumbai, May 16: The countdown has started for the theatrical release of 'Adipurush'. The movie will premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival, which will be followed by its theatrical release in India, exactly one month from today.

Month before 'Adipurush' release, Prabhas shares stunning new poster

The makers of the film dropped a stunning new poster, featuring Prabhas as Raghava. Sharing the poster on social media, Prabhas wrote in the caption "Mangalmay Har Bhakt Hoga, Jab Adipurush Ka Swagat Hoga. The devotion of everyone abounds as Adipurush's arrival resounds, One month to go! Jai Shri Ram #Adipurush in cinemas worldwide on 16th June!"A mythological drama based on the Ramayana, the film has been written and directed by Om Raut. The film has been shot simultaneously in Hindi and Telugu, and it has Prabhas, Kriti Sanon, Saif Ali Khan, Sunny Singh, Devdatta Nage and Vatsal Sheth in the lead roles.Its music has been composed by Ajay-Atul.With a budget pegged at over Rs 700 crore, it the most expensive Indian film ever made.IANS17 May 2023

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Nawaz visits Faculty of Performing Arts: This is where it all started for me

Mumbai, May 16: Acclaimed actor Nawazuddin Siddiqui visited Faculty of Performing Arts Academy in Gujarat where he started his journey in performing arts.

Nawaz visits Faculty of Performing Arts: 'This is where it all started for me'

Travelling through the lanes of the academy, it was indeed a nostalgic trip for the actor where he addressed the students.Nawazuddin captured some precious moments from his visit to his Faculty of Performing Arts Academy in a video on his social media. Remembering his good old days from the academy, the actor gave a speech to the students and the moment was filled with a lot of warmth and emotions.He wrote in Hindi that translates to "This is the place where I performed for the very first time in a play. This is where it all started for me @faculty.of.performing.arts.msu Special Thanks to everyone involved in this process."On the work front, Nawazuddin has an interesting lineup of films which includes Jogira Sara Ra Ra, Noorani Chehra, Haddi, Tiku Weds Sheru', and Adbhut.IANS17 May 2023

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Sam Asghari lashes out at documentary on Britney Spearss troubled life

Los Angeles, May 16: Sam Asghari, husband of Britney Spears, has lashed out at the disgusting television special centred around his wife.

Sam Asghari lashes out at documentary on Britney Spears's troubled life

'TMZ Investigates Britney Spears The Price Of Freedom' will release "details about her deeply troubled marriage, family estrangement, alarming behaviour, failed intervention and how she continues to be an enduring force in the music industry", reports Mirror.co.uk.However, fitness trainer Sam took offence to the upcoming special, as he explained in a clip shared to Instagram Stories as he wrote "I found it absolutely disgusting for the people who were in her life when she didn't have a voice, they went and told her story like it was theirs."Mirror.co.uk further states that the part-time actor also went on to reflect on the Circus songstress' treatment while she was under conservatorship, which ended in November 2021 after thirteen years. During those years, her father, Jamie Spears, had free reign to take control of her personal and financial affairs."How are you going to take the most influential person of her generation, the Princess of Pop, America's sweetheart, and put her in prison where her father (Jamie) tells her what to do, what water to drink, who to see and use her as a money-making machine?" the 29-year-old asked his social media followers.IANS17 May 2023

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US Ambassador visits Gujarat, stresses strong India-US relationship

Ahmedabad, May 15: Newly appointed US Ambassador to India, Eric Garcetti, on Monday visited Gujarat, during which he met Governor Acharya Devvrat and Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel.

US Ambassador visits Gujarat, stresses strong India-US relationship

In his address, Garcetti underlined the foundation of the bilateral ties between the US and India, emphasising that their partnership is not contingent upon external factors."Instead, it is based on a genuine warmth of friendship, a shared desire for stronger economies, and a commitment to fostering a peaceful and prosperous Indo-Pacific region," he said.Garcetti reaffirmed that whenever these common goals face challenges, India and the US stand united, demonstrating unwavering support for each other.Meanwhile, he also visited the Sabarmati Ashram.During his visit, Garcetti reflected on the personal connection he felt to the Sabarmati Ashram and Mahatma Gandhi, stating "Although many things have changed since I was 19 years old, one thing remains constant -- the profound sense of connection I feel not only to this historic place and the remarkable man who resided here with his family but also to the aspirations of the Indian people and the universal aspirations shared by all humanity to live freely and recognise the inherent worth of every individual."IANS17 May 2023

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IITians to take free online classes for govt school students

Lucknow, May 16: IITians from across the country will be taking free online classes for students of government schools in rural India.

IITians to take free online classes for govt school students

The initiative - Online Rural Education Initiative (OREI)- is taken by IIT Kanpur that has developed a platform through which all IITians will connect to teach rural India.Chief secretary Durga Shankar Mishra launched the initiative at UP Sainik School in Lucknow.Under this initiative, IITians will teach mathematics and science to students of 10 government secondary schools in the state."Students of class 9 to 12 in government schools will be benefited by OREI. Apart from school learning, they will get guidance from IITians, who are experts in science and maths. Also, since classes will be conducted by creamy layer of the country, it will motivate students to dream big and attain success like them," said an official from UP secondary education department.He said OREI was started in 2018 by a group of B.Tech students in Shri Ram Janki Inter College, Bithoor (Kanpur) and was later extended to Bharatiya Gramin Vidyalaya, Mahona (Lucknow)."The main objective is to provide world-class science and mathematics classes to the rural students. It will be an interactive class in which students' questions will be answered by experts," the official said.The classes will also be available on the YouTube channel in Hindi.A timetable is being prepared in the school incorporating these classes so that more students can be benefited.IANS17 May 2023

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Alia Bhatt steals the show at Gucci Cruise 2024 in Seoul, see pics

Seoul, May 16: Actor Alia Bhatt, on Tuesday, attended Gucci Cruise Show 2024 as the global brand ambassador in Seoul, South Korea.

Alia Bhatt steals the show at Gucci Cruise 2024 in Seoul, see pics

Several images of Alia went viral which are garnering her fans' attention.The 'Gangubai Kathiawadi' actor makes an appearance in front of a historic place. She wore mini black dress with polka dotted cutout. She completed her look with black platform heels and a Gucci Jackie 1961 transparent bag.Recently, Thai superstar Davikah Hoorne shared a couple of adorable pictures where Alia and Davikah can be posing in different styles from the Gucci event.Last week, Alia was announced as the first Indian global ambassador of the luxury fashion brand, Gucci.Taking to Instagram, the fashion brand shared the news and captioned it, "Alia Bhatt is the House's newest Global Brand Ambassador. To mark the occasion, the actress, producer, and entrepreneur were captured with the Gucci Bamboo 1947 bag."Meanwhile, on the work front, Alia will rekindle her on-screen romance with Ranveer Singh in Karan Johar's directorial 'Rocky Aur Rani ki Prem Kahani.'ANI17 May 2023

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A multi-neighbor lawsuit challenging a planned seven-story student apartment building on Jefferson Park Avenue was dismissed Friday on a demurrer, a pre-trial defense challenge to the suits legal grounds.

The court sustains the demurrer, said Charlottesville Circuit Court Judge Claude Worrell. The plaintiffs have failed to state a sufficient basis.

Nearby property owner Jimmy Wright was one of the plaintiffs arguing Friday that the block-sized building at 2005 JPA would overwhelm its surroundings.

It will create substantial detriment to our neighborhood, and it will change the character of our neighborhood, Wright argued.

On the other side, acting city attorney Andrew McRoberts said state law gives each city such wide latitude on rezoning that it need only demonstrate some benefit even if its just a larger tax base.

There is evidence of reasonableness to support this, said McRoberts.

The fourteen plaintiffs, each acting as their own lawyer, alleged that the special use permit that Charlottesville City Council approved in September deviated from state law and the citys own ordinances by allowing a developer to build twice the height and nearly three times the density allowed by right in the R-3 zoning district.

Shortly before the matter reached City Council, developer Aspen Heights of Austin, Texas, announced a voluntarily doubling of its contribution to the citys affordable housing fund. Instead of the $484,000 originally promised when the matter won a narrow, 4-3, recommendation from the planning commission a year ago, Aspen Heights announced that it would provide $1 million in lieu of building any affordable units. The company said it simply wanted to accord with the more stringent affordable housing requirements of the citys draft Comprehensive Plan, but others alleged a deal sweetener.

City Council approved the rezoning by a vote of 4-0.

The buildings design firm, Charlottesville-based Mitchell Matthews, asserts that the project will benefit this University of Virginia-area transit corridor by widening the front sidewalk to seven feet and by building new sidewalks on the side streets, Observatory and Washington Avenues.

On site, easily accessible plaza spaces adjacent to the sidewalk will give pedestrians a kind of wayside where they can relax and socialize in the shade and beauty of new plantings, the architects wrote in a submission to the planning commission, which approved this change to the citys entrance corridor in March.

And while the architects of this partially brick-skinned building tout facades of differing heights and massings, some neighbors are simply not savoring the arrival of a 119-unit, 390-person, U-shaped, swimming pool-equipped structure.

Its a monster, plaintiff Ellen Contini-Morava told the Daily Progress after the hearing. Its going to tower over everything.

Today, the 1.7-acre site plays host to six buildings ranging from one to three stories including a circa-1900 mansion whose Ionic portico, hanging porch styled on the universitys Pavilion and ample front yard made it a local landmark. However, a prior owner lost that mansion in a mid-1990s foreclosure, and a subsequent owner peppered the property with student housing. Efforts to reach the person currently listed as the sole beneficial owner, Anthony J. Gadient, were unsuccessful.

The architects note that in contrast to todays assortment of eight automobile access points on the side streets, all on-site parking will be underground the new building via a single curb cut on Washington Avenue.

Such claims havent swayed plaintiff-neighbor Anne Benham, who relishes her relative quiet on the dead-end Observatory Avenue and dreads living by a construction site.

I dont know that Ill be able to tolerate two years of noise and dust, Benham told the Progress. There is collateral damage, and we are it.

The judge said the plaintiffs could refile their lawsuit on different grounds within 90 days, but these pro se plaintiffs said they needed to weigh their options. Five of the plaintiffs, plus another nearby nearby couple, are headed to city council Monday to appeal the entrance corridor approval.
J-K: Union Joint Secretary e-reviews implementation of Jal Shakti Abhiyan in Doda

Doda, May 16: Union Joint Secretary, Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region, Central Nodal Officer for Jal Shakti Abhiyan (JSA)- Catch the Rain (CTR), Angshuman Dey, today virtually chaired a review meeting regarding implementation of the Abhiyan in Doda besides assessing impact and progress on the programme across the district.

J-K: Union Joint Secretary e-reviews implementation of Jal Shakti Abhiyan in Doda

Union Joint Secretary had a detailed assessment of different vital aspects of the programme besides reviewing financial and physical progress achieved, so far, in the district.He appreciated the efforts of district administration and other stakeholders in effectively implementing the Jal Shakti Abhiyan in the district.He emphasized the wide publicity of the Abhiyan through IEC activities for maximum coverage of beneficiaries.He informed that he will be visiting the district in the last week of this month to discuss progress, bottlenecks and issues which need immediate attention from the government to make JSA a grand success.District Development Commissioner, Doda, Vishesh Mahajan, made a detailed presentation on progress achieved during last year besides highlighting activities proposed for the current financial year.He also elaborately talked about the Water Conservation Plan 2023-24.DDC apprised the Union Joint Secretary that 85 Amrit Sarovars have been established last year while one Amrit Sarovar has been proposed for every village of the district during the current financial year.He said, "The district shall develop terrace-type Amrit Sarovars keeping in view the sloppy topography."He further informed that more than 10 lakh saplings were planted last year in an area of about 2869 acres.The district has restored 1021 water bodies through different agencies like RDD, IWMP, Jal Shakti, Horticulture, Agriculture, and Forest departments during the period.The district is expected to restore 792 water bodies this year besides geo-tagging all the 492 water bodies of Doda.The Jal Shakti Abhiyan is a flagship program of the Government of India aimed at ensuring water security and water conservation in the country.The program aims to create awareness about the importance of water conservation, promote water harvesting and improve the infrastructure for water storage and distribution.The meeting assessed and discussed the impact of the program on the ground besides identifying challenges or issues that need to be addressed.The meeting was attended by Additional District Development Commissioner, Superintendent Engineer JSD, Chief Planning Officer, District Social Welfare Officer, Chief Education Officer, Divisional Forest Officers, Executive Engineers and other concerned officials.ANI17 May 2023

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Biden to cut short Asia-Pacific trip due to debt ceiling stalemate: Media

Washington, May 17: US President Joe Biden will not travel to Papua New Guinea and Australia later this month as originally planned due to the ongoing stalemate in negotiations with Congressional leaders to address the debt ceiling, multiple US media outlets reported, citing sources familiar with the matter.

Biden to cut short Asia-Pacific trip due to debt ceiling stalemate: Media

Biden would have become the first sitting US President to visit the Pacific island country of Papua New Guinea, to be followed by a trip to Sydney for the leaders' summit of the Quad, which includes the US, Japan, India and Australia.Biden will still go to Hiroshima, Japan, to participate in the three-day G7 summit beginning from Friday, Xinhua news agency reported.Earlier on Tuesday, John Kirby, the National Security Council's coordinator for strategic communications, told the regular White House press briefing that the White House was "reevaluating" the post-Japan part of Biden's trip."What I can speak to is the G7 and going to Hiroshima. The president is looking forward to that. We are taking a look at the rest of the trip," Kirby told reporters.News of the shortening of the presidential overseas trip came as Biden was meeting with Congressional leaders from both the Democratic and Republican parties in the Oval Office over the debt ceiling issue.Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen reaffirmed on Monday that the US may default on its debt obligations as soon as June 1 if the partisan fight drags on without a settlement.Biden will depart Washington on Wednesday, stopping over Anchorage, Alaska, before arriving in Japan on Thursday, according to the travel guidance announced previously by the White House.IANS17 May 2023

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India, China hold Major General-level talks in sensitive Daulat Beg Oldie sector

New Delhi, May 16: Having entered the fourth year of their ongoing standoff, India and China on Tuesday held Major General level military talks in the Daulat Beg Oldie sector to resolve their pending issues on the Line of Actual Control.

India, China hold Major General-level talks in sensitive Daulat Beg Oldie sector

This meeting comes a few weeks after the two sides held the 18th round of Corps Commander talks in the Eastern Ladakh sector."A meeting of Indian Army and Chinese Army officials at the Major General level was held at the Daulat Beg Oldie sector along the LAC in Ladakh today. The two sides discussed ways of resolving the ongoing stand-off between two sides and was routine in nature," Defence sources told ANI here.The DBO sector has seen tensions between the two sides for a long time and the issues between them here remain unresolved even after three years of stand-off and multiple rounds of talks.The new ongoing stand-off started in 2020 with Chinese aggression and amassing of troops in large numbers at Indian positions on the LAC in eastern Ladakh.The Indian side has also deployed a heavy number of troops and developed infrastructure at a very fast pace for them.In the last talks, the two sides are likely to have discussed de-escalation and legacy issues of Depsang plains and Demchok in the talks held on Sunday.ANI17 May 2023

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Hawkeye spin-off series Echo to release on this date

Washington, May 17: The success of Marvel's 'Hawkeye' series has given birth to its spinoff 'Echo' and fans won't have to wait too much for the release. In the recent development of Marvel releases this year, the date for 'Echo' has been revealed by the makers.

'Hawkeye' spin-off series 'Echo' to release on this date

According to Variety, a US-based media house, Marvel Studio Chief Kevin Feige has announced official dates for the series at Disney upfront on Tuesday. The show will be available for binge-watch from November 29, 2023.'Echo' will follow the tale of Maya Lopez (Alaqua Cox), the deaf, Native American assassin first introduced as a diffident antagonist in the 2021 Disney+ series 'Hawkeye' which followed the adventures of Clint Bryton and Kate Bishop.The original series was based on the events post 'Avengers Endgame'. In the show Jeremy Renner's Hawkeye teams up with Kate to untangle a murder mystery and return to their families.Feige appreciated the "incredible team of indigenous writers, directors and cast members" behind the intriguing drama series.The announcement concretes that Marvel is majorly slowing the pace of its Disney+ releases after unfurling 11 titles on the streamer in 2021 and 2022. Marvel had initially slated five live-action shows to debut in 2023.Parallel to "Loki" Season 2, "Echo" and the Samuel L. Jackson series "Secret Invasion" (which premieres June 21), the 'Black Panther Wakanda Forever' spinoff 'Ironheart' and the 'WandaVision' spinoff 'Agatha Coven of Chaos' were also earlier announced for the on-going year. 'Ironheart' and "Agatha" are now expected to debut in 2024.ANI17 May 2023

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Rashtrapati Bhavan to open for public viewing for six days a week from June 1

New Delhi, May 16: Rashtrapati Bhavan will be open for public viewing six days a week from June 1, 2023, said an official statement on Tuesday.

Rashtrapati Bhavan to open for public viewing for six days a week from June 1

The tour of Rashtrapati Bhavan will be available from Tuesday to Sunday (except on Gazetted Holidays) in seven-time slots between 0930 hrs and 1630 hrs. Rashtrapati Bhavan Museum Complex is also open for visitors from Tuesday to Sunday (except on Gazetted Holidays), the statement added.According to the statement, people can witness the Change of Guard Ceremony at the Forecourt of Rashtrapati Bhavan every Saturday from 0800 hrs to 0900 hrs. The Ceremony will not take place on Saturday if it is a Gazetted Holiday or if Rashtrapati Bhavan so notifies it.US Ambassador to India Eric Garcetti and envoys of Qatar and the Principality of Monaco last week presented their credentials to President Droupadi Murmu at the Rashtrapati Bhavan."The President of India, Smt Droupadi Murmu accepted credentials from the Ambassadors of the United States of America, Qatar and Monaco at a ceremony held at Rashtrapati Bhavan today," a Rashtrapati Bhavan release said.Apart from Eric Garcetti, Qatar's Ambassador to India Mohammed Hassan Jabir Al-Jabir and Monaco's Ambassador Didier Gamerdinger, Monaco presented their credentials to the President.Garcetti, former mayor of Los Angeles, was sworn in by US Vice President Kamala Harris as the new US Ambassador to India in March this year. Earlier, the Senate confirmed his appointment as the next US ambassador to India.On Garcetti's arrival in India, Indian Embassy in the US tweeted, "Namaste, Ambassador-Designate Eric Garcetti! We're thrilled to welcome you to #IncredibleIndia and work with you to build even stronger ties between our two great nations."The US Embassy in India had been without an ambassador since January 2021, which is the longest stretch in the history of US-India relations that the post remained vacant.Kenneth Juster had stepped down after the change of government in the United States.ANI17 May 2023

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Open to talk with anybody, YS Sharmila on rumours of talks with Congress

Hyderabad, May 17: Hitting out at Telangana Chief Minister KCR, President of YSR Telangana party YS Sharmila on Tuesday said that they don't want KCR to come back to power in the state.

Open to talk with anybody, YS Sharmila on rumours of talks with Congress

"We are open for talks with anybody as we do not want KCR to come back to power in the state," YSR Telangana Party President said.She was reacting to the rumours of an alliance with Congress for the 2023 Telangana Assembly elections.Sharmila further said, "This is the election year, so every party will try their best for everything in every other way, so it's not surprising."Addressing a press conference, YS Sharmila said, "We have prepared an affidavit on behalf of KCR and for him to sign it which clearly mentions that the paper leak in the state happened due to the failure of the IT department and Telangana State Public Service Commission (TSPSC) and this will not have repeated again. We ask KCR to offer this affidavit to the students."This affidavit also mentions that KCR will assure that all the 1.9 lakh jobs vacancy will be filled and the process for the same will be started immediately, she added.Earlier also Sharmila had sent a "Telangana People Questionnaire" to CM KCR Sharmila raising 10 questions related to Telangana Public Service Commission (TSPSC) question paper leakage and subsequent investigation by the Special Investigation Team (SIT).Sharmila also participated in the day-long fast and protest meeting held at Indira Park in Hyderabad under the banner of T-SAVE. T-SAVE is initiative by the YSR Telangana Party to fight for the right of the students and the unemployed in Telangana State by bringing all opposition parties together.In the questionnaire sent to CM KCR, YS Sharmila asked KCR to clarify why he has not spoken a single word on the TSPSC paper leak scam issue. Is he still the CM of Telangana or a Corporator in Aurangabad? "Why still there has been no action against TSPSC Board members and chairman in the TSPSC paper leak scam?" she added.ANI17 May 2023

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Just be yourself: Pep Guardiola sends message to Manchester City players ahead of clash against Real Madrid

Manchester [United Kingdom], May 16: Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has sent a message Just be yourself to his players ahead of their crucial second-leg clash against Real Madrid in the semifinals of the second leg of UEFA Champions League on Thursday at the Etihad Stadium.

Just be yourself: Pep Guardiola sends message to Manchester City players ahead of clash against Real Madrid

The aggregate score currently stands at 1-1. Brazilian winger Vinicius Junior opened the scoreline with a stunning goal. Kevin De Bruyne equalized in the second half to bring the game back to parity and keep Manchester City in the tie.Manchester City are currently chasing their first UEFA Champions League title, they will need to perform well to book their place in the final of the UCL."We have to perform well. In the mind and heart of the players they have to make an incredible performance to beat Madrid or it'll be so difficult. Football has things you can't control. Just be yourself, this is my only wish tomorrow for my players," Pep Guardiola said in the pre-match conference as quoted by Manchester City.In their hunt for the first UCL title, the Blues will walk in front of their home crowd without a fully fit squad."Except Nathan, everyone is fit."The biggest advantage City will have over Real Madrid will be the support of their home crowd. Even if City end up on the losing side Guardiola believes the City crowd will still stay by their side."I know they'll be close to us because they know what this team has done over the last years. They will not leave us alone, I'm pretty sure. In the bad moments, they will be with us and in the good they will put us first."The way to put the pressure on our opponents is on our game. We play 11 versus 11 and our game will dictate what you have to do to reach the final. But of course, in the bad moments, they are there and will be there," Guardiola concluded.ANI17 May 2023

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UN General Assembly declares Nov 26 as World Sustainable Transport Day

United Nations, May 17: The UN General Assembly has adopted a resolution to designate November 26 every year as World Sustainable Transport Day.

UN General Assembly declares Nov 26 as World Sustainable Transport Day

The resolution adopted on Tuesday invites all UN member states, organisations of the UN system, international and regional organisations and civil society to mark World Sustainable Transport Day by means of education and the holding of events aimed at enhancing the knowledge of the public on sustainable transport issues, in particular enhancing intermodal transport connectivity, promoting environmentally friendly transportation, developing socially inclusive transport infrastructure and other aspects of transport sustainability.It invites the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs, in collaboration with the UN regional economic commissions, to facilitate the observance of World Sustainable Transport Day, Xinhua news agency reported.It requests the President of the General Assembly to consider convening a half-day high-level meeting in New York during the next session of the General Assembly to promote sustainable transport cooperation.The resolution emphasises the contribution of sustainable, low-emission and energy-efficient modes of transport to climate change mitigation and adaptation and the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals, as well as the importance of long-term strategies and multi-stakeholder partnerships in delivering such sustainable modes of transport.IANS17 May 2023

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Nikhil skips meeting Amit Shah to avoid controversy over Spy

Hyderabad, May 16: Young actor Nikhil Siddhartha, whose much awaited movie 'Spy' is set to be released next month, said on Tuesday that he received an invitation to meet Union Home Minister Amit Shah but he did not meet him as he wanted to stay away from politics ahead of the film's release.

Nikhil skips meeting Amit Shah to avoid controversy over 'Spy'

He, however, thanked Amit Shah for inviting him.'Spy' teaser released on Monday has created an excitement in the industry amid reports that the movie is about the mystery behind death of freedom fighter Netaji Subhash Chandrase Bose.The teaser was launched by Nikhil and other members of the movie on Monday at the iconic Subhash Chandrase Bose statue at India Gate in New Delhi.Ishwarya Menon, who has paired with Nikhil as the female lead, and other members of the cast of pan-India movie were present during the launch.Nikhil clarified that the stories of Kalyan Ram's upcoming movie Devil and Spy are different. He revealed that only after the release of Spy teaser, they came to know that Kalyam Ram's film is also about Subhash Chandra Bose."We did not speak to them. There is no relation between the two movies," he said. Nikhil also clarified that he does not have links with any political party."I have no flag or agenda. This movie has been made with honesty. I took training like a real RAW agent. I have not made this movie in support of any party. I am doing this movie as an Indian," he said, adding that he will arrange screening of Spy for both the central ministers and the opposition leaders.Director Garry revealed that Spy has been made based on the papers released by the central government on Subhash Chandra Bose. Only 10 per cent is fiction. The remaining is based on the information given by the government.The teaser of the much-awaited movie was released on Monday evening. Nikhil took to Twitter to reveal that the teaser has garnered 10 million real views on YouTube in less than 24 hours. "We are incredibly grateful for all the overwhelming love and support. It means the world to us," he said.'Spy' is scheduled to be released in all southern languages and also in Hindi on June 29.Coming after 'Karthikeya 2', the biggest blockbusters of 2022, 'Spy' has generated a lot of excitement among Nikhil's fans.'Karthikeya 2' gave Nikhil the popularity in Bollywood. He recently received the best actor people's choice award at the Bollywood Life Awards in Hindi.K Rajashekar Reddy is the producer of 'Spy' being made with a huge budget by Ed Entertainment.Editor Garry BH is making his debut as the director with this film, which features Aryan Rajesh in a special role.Rajesh, brother of Allari Naresh, is making his comeback in Tollywood in an important role in this film after a gap of four years.IANS17 May 2023

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Researchers develop new technique to reveal signs of Parkinsons disease

Indiana, May 17: A team of researchers developed a technology that may detect symptoms of Parkinson's disease in urine samples.

Researchers develop new technique to reveal signs of Parkinson's disease

The approach allows researchers to assess if LRRK2 (leucine-rich repeat kinase 2) proteins and their downstream pathways, which have been related to Parkinson's disease, are changed in Parkinson's patients' samples. The technology might potentially lead to widespread noninvasive testing for other neurological diseases, in addition to cancer."We believe this is a logical and rational approach to move forward for diagnosing Parkinson's disease," said W. Andy Tao, professor of biochemistry at Purdue. "Diagnosis for this type of neurodegenerative disease is difficult." Cognitive and movement testing can take a year or more to confirm the diagnosis, so molecular tests for early diagnosis and intervention can help people with Parkinson's faster, he explained.Tao and eight co-authors from Purdue, Tymora, The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research, and Columbia University published their findings in the Communications Medicine journal."It's going to be a big new area in diagnostic development," predicted co-author Anton Iliuk, Tymora's president and chief technology officer, "especially for neurodegenerative diseases and cancer."Parkinson's disease alone affects an estimated 1% of the over-60 population. Up to a million Americans live with the disease, while 90,000 new cases are diagnosed each year.The paper's co-authors include Marco Hadisurya, a doctoral student in biochemistry; Kananart Kuwaranancharoen, a doctoral student in electrical and computer engineering; Xiaofeng Wu, who received his doctorate in chemistry at Purdue in 2022; Li Li, Tymora Analytical Operations; Zheng-Chi Lee, West Lafayette Junior/Senior High School; Roy Alcalay, MD, Columbia University; and Shalini Padmanabhan from The Michael J. Fox Foundation, which funded the work.The project began several years ago after Padmanabhan read some of Iliuk and Tao's work on the EVtrap (Extracellular Vesicles total recovery and purification) method for urinary analysis and proposed a collaboration."When I reviewed the data from their previous publication," Padmanabhan said, "it was interesting to note the expression of an important Parkinson's disease-linked protein, LRRK2. This piqued my interest since this approach provided us with an opportunity to determine if LRRK2 proteins or the downstream pathways they impact are actually altered in urinary samples from Parkinson's patients who harbor a mutation in the gene."In 2017, Tao led a team that developed a blood test that could feasibly detect breast cancer. In that work, Tao and his colleagues compared samples taken from breast cancer patients and a healthy control group."We identified phosphorylated proteins, which are a typical hallmark of cancers," Tao said. And within those proteins, the team found extracellular vesicles, small packages that cells use as their molecular delivery system. The finding demonstrated that a blood sample yielding phosphoproteins could serve as a potential marker for early cancer diagnosis or for monitoring disease progression.The team was able to rapidly isolate the vesicles from urine samples, using the EVtrap method developed by Tymora."We have used the method for a number of indications, primarily focusing on different cancers for biomarker discovery and validation," said Iliuk, who received his doctorate in biochemistry at Purdue in 2011. Iliuk and Tao co-founded Tymora Analytical, which specializes in technology and services for detecting disease biomarkers in biofluids."This kind of analysis opens a new frontier in noninvasive diagnostics development. It's showing that biomarkers previously thought to be undetectable have become uncovered and do a really good job of differentiating disease from non-disease state," Iliuk said. "It's not obvious that urine would be a source of brain-based chemicals or signatures, but it is. These EVs can penetrate the blood-brain barrier quite easily."After export from the brain into the bloodstream, they become concentrated or filtered into urine. But sampling such biomarkers from the brain via spinal tap is a highly invasive procedure."Especially for early diagnosis that is not the preferred sampling method," Tao said. Urine samples contain proteins that could be disease markers, but many perform housekeeping functions that are unrelated to disease."Extracellular vesicles provide a way to focus on disease markers because they are released by certain types of cells," he said.Among the many ways to study the impact of LRRK2 is to track its biological pathway, which can be done by analyzing urine, blood and cerebrospinal fluid. The EVtrap method provided an easy way to track changes in urine, which is collected for many clinical studies.The LRRK2 Biobanking Study at Columbia University has a large bank of urine samples available for meaningful Parkinson's disease research. Columbia University co-author Alcalay, who provided many of the samples, also helped correlate EVtrap data with the clinical data. For the Communication Medicine study, the team studied samples from people with and without the LRRK2 gene mutation, and patients with and without the disease.Padmanabhan noted, "This study also highlighted that changes in urinary proteins could serve as a proxy for changes in protein signatures that occur in brain diseases like Parkinson's disease."ANI17 May 2023

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The Texas man who missed his youngest childs birth because he was jailed on a long-delayed charge from Charlottesvilles infamous 2017 Unite the Right rally weekend will be missing more time with his newborn.

The 37-year-old William McAffe Williams of Nacona, Texas, charged with using a burning object to racially intimidate, was denied bail for a second time during a Friday morning hearing in Albemarle County Circuit Court by Judge Claude Worrell.

This evidence today is very different from the last time we heard this matter, said Worrell, before calling Williams a danger to his community.

The evidence aired Friday is that, contrary to what his attorney said a week earlier during the initial bail hearing, Williams has a more than passing connection to fugitive racist blogger Robert Azzmador Ray.

There are things to be concerned about now that the court wasnt concerned about before, said Worrell.

Assistant Commonwealths Attorney W. Lawton Tufts highlighted an assertion made at the last hearing by Williams attorney that Williams had only two interactions with Ray. But Tufts showed the court photographs of the men at two additional public events, and Tufts told the court the two men had attended a 2016 speech at Texas A&M University by white nationalist leader Richard Spencer.

He proffered to the court through his attorney that hed been with Robert Ray on only two occasions, said Tufts. And thats a lie.

Tufts said that law enforcement officials have asserted that Williams was a member of the so-called Book Club with Ray and which Tufts has previously characterized as an extremist group. Tufts said Friday that Williams was also part of a bully squad that would provide muscle at public events. Tufts further alleged that Ray has stayed overnight at Williams residence to evade capture by authorities.

Williams attorney, Ryan Rakness, said that Tufts verbal allegations dont constitute evidence.

I dont think there was any lie, said Rakness, who categorized his prior statement about only two meetings as the result of a misunderstanding.

None of this evidence indicates he is a flight risk, said Rakness, noting that Williams has seven children and a long-time job as a truck driver.

Tufts, however, said that the new concern was less about trying to flee justice and more about his clients reliability and danger to the public.

The defendant lied to the court at the last bond hearing, said Tufts.

Williams was arrested in his home state on April 1 and has been incarcerated since April 27 at the Albemarle-Charlottesville Regional Jail.

Rakness said that the legal presumption is that his client should be granted bail, and he brought seven letters from friends and family allegedly indicating that Billy Williams is a valued member of his community who should be reunited with his common law wife and his seven children, the oldest of whom is said to be nine years old.

Not one act by my client was proffered; not one word by my client was proffered, said Rakness. It feels like the Commonwealth is saying my client has odious political views and should be held.

It has nothing to do with his views, countered the judge. He has demonstrated that he has some disregard for the law.

At the prior bail hearing, Rakness spoke about the disruption in Williams life that the felony charge was causing, nearly six years after the alleged crime.

But beyond a brief statement alluding to the passage of time when it announced the unsealed indictments last month, the prosecution has not explained why it waited so long.

This is our process regardless of how much time has passed or where the alleged offenders may be found, Tufts and Commonwealths Attorney Jim Hingeley wrote in their April 17 press release.

One delay might have been that Hingeleys predecessor, Robert Tracci, declined to prosecute. Tracci had asserted that Virginias burning-to-intimidate statute did not apply to the notorious torch march on August 11, 2017 at the University of Virginia. Although many marcher shouted Nazi slogans such as blood and soil and Jews will not replace us, Tracci said that torches did not constitute the burning objects that the law, written to outlaw cross-burnings, had attempted to criminalize.

Traccis successor Hingeley took office in December 2019.

At least two other men  Dallas Medina of Ravenna, Ohio and Tyler Bradley Dykes of Bluffton, South Carolina  are facing similar counts. Medina was released on bail in his home state while Dykes was denied bail by Judge Worrell. Another man  Will Zachary Smith, who hails from Williams hometown  accepted a plea deal earlier this month and has been freed in advance of his sentencing, according to Albemarle County court records.

While attorney Rakness appeared disappointed by Worrells decision Friday, the handcuffed and shackled Williams remained stoic. No trial date for him has been set, but he is due back in court on June 5. The crime can put someone in jail for up to five years.
Himachal Pradesh: CM Sukhu directs to formulate SoP for marking, felling of dried trees

Shimla, May 17: The marking of dried trees on the forest land would be done on a daily basis in the state and the responsibility of the concerned DFOs will be fixed to ensure it happens in time, Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu said on Wednesday, informed a press release.

Himachal Pradesh: CM Sukhu directs to formulate SoP for marking, felling of dried trees

While presiding over a meeting of HP Forest Corporation, Sukhu directed the DFOs to prepare a list of dried trees by June 15 after marking these and send them to HP State Forest Corporation. He also said that the state government would take stringent action.The Chief Minister directed to formulate Standard Operating Procedure (SoP) in this regard and submit the report at the earliest. He said that due to the delay in cutting dried trees, the State has to suffer a financial loss of Rs 1000 crore per annum as dried trees have been decaying with the passage of time.CM Sukhu asked the officers to expedite the procedure in this regard thereby checking the illegal felling of the trees in the forests. He also directed to rationalize the delegation of powers of the forest officers in order to speed up the process of transporting the timber to the nearest depots of the Forest Corporation.CM Sukhu also directed the officers to rationalize the staff in Forest Corporation besides incorporating technology in order to enhance productivity. He stressed on making the marketing of timber in an effective manner so that the revenue of the Government could be increased. He directed the concerned authorities to convene a meeting of Forest Corporation on 8th June to review the progress of decisions taken in the meeting today.Chief Minister said that contractors for felling the dried trees would be empanelled so that dried trees could be extracted from the forest land in time and revenue could be generated for the State exchequer.Chief Parliamentary Secretary, Sunder Singh Thakur, Vice Chairman, H.P. State Forest Corporation, Kehar Singh Khachi, Chief Secretary, Prabodh Saxena, Principal Secretary Forests, Onkar Chand Sharma, Principal Secretary to Chief Minister, Bharat Khera, Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, Rajiv Kumar, Additional Deputy Commissioner Shimla, Shivam Pratap and senior officers of the State Government attended the meeting, the release stated.ANI17 May 2023

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The memorial to police officers who have died in the line of duty at Champaigns West Side Park will be the site of Fridays annual ceremony, set for 9 a.m.
OSF HealthCares hospital in Danville will reopen its birthing center in September, but its sister hospital in Urbana will soon be out of the baby delivery business.
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Charlottesville police are investigating a shooting in broad daylight at the intersection of Preston and Madison avenues that blocked traffic and caused Charlottesville City Schools to delay dismissal on Tuesday afternoon.

Police received a call that 10 shots were fired out of a black Nissan Sentra across the street between the 1100 and 1200 blocks of Preston Avenue at 2:40 p.m., police spokesman Kyle Ervin told The Daily Progress on Tuesday.

The intersection is busy and the surrounding neighborhood is popular, home to several University of Virginia students, Washington Park and Trinity Episcopal Church.

However, there were no reported injuries at this time, the police department said in a Facebook post around 3 p.m.

Police are still investigating and did not share a suspect description with The Daily Progress.

The aftermath of the shooting shut down the Madison-Preston intersection and surrounding area for about an hour as police collected evidence.

A car accident occurred around the same time as the shooting on Tuesday. Ervin said police are still investigating both incidents and cannot confirm whether they were related.

The shooting triggered a 30-minute delayed dismissal for all city schools and a further delay for bus riders, walkers and bikers at Walker Upper Elementary and Buford Middle Schools

At 3:16 p.m. City Schools sent an email to all Walker and Buford families assuring them that all students are safe and that the delays were a result of police activity in the community.

Gunfire in Charlottesville and surrounding Albemarle County has taken the lives of 14 people and left 22 others injured since September of last year, according to an ongoing Daily Progress tally.

The Charlottesville Police Department earlier this year said it was receiving one shots-fired call every day. The police in Albemarle County reported one every other day.

According to current and former law enforcement officials, the numbers have eclipsed all statistics in recent memory.
Regina Lewis, 28, of Normal, is set to be sentenced Oct. 2 in Urbana and faces up to 20 years in prison for the misleading conduct and up to five years for the purchase and transfer of the gun, bought at a since-closed Indianapolis gun store.
The MGAT5 glycosylation enzyme plays a crucial role in brain development, according to a study by University of California, Irvine researchers, a discovery that may contribute to new therapeutic purposes for neural stem cells.

Neurons, astrocytes and oligodendrocytes are the final mature cells of the brain and spinal cord formed by neural stem cells. Each has distinct and key functions. Neurons transmit signals, astrocytes help modify those signals, and oligodendrocytes keep the signals from degrading. When any cells make proteins or fats that end up on the cell surface, they often add small sugar molecules. The team tested whether this internal process  called glycosylation  affects how neural stem cells form mature brain cells.

The study, published in the journal Stem Cell Reports, found that during glycosylation, the MGAT5 enzyme significantly regulates the formation of neurons and astrocytes from neural stem cells. Neural stem cells that don't have MGAT5 make more neurons and fewer astrocytes during the very early stages of brain development, altering its structure. These changes may contribute to later aberrant behavior patterns, including abnormal social interactions and repetitive actions.

Now that we know MGAT5 and glycosylation have a substantial impact on neuron and astrocyte formation, we have a better idea of how our nervous system develops. We hope these findings will contribute to the use of neural stem cells for therapeutic purposes by providing new information about the factors regulating these cells." Lisa Flanagan, corresponding author, professor of neurology, UCI's School of Medicine

It was known that neural stem cells respond to the external signals they encounter during development. But it was not known whether neural stem cells could modify their responses to those signals. The team analyzed the role of glycosylation enzymes in brain maturation by comparing control mice to those whose neural stem cells did not have the MGAT5 enzyme. It found that neural stem cells use glycosylation to manage their reactions to external signals and regulate the development of mature brain cells.

"As we continue our work, we hope to determine which cell surface proteins and pathways controlled by glycosylation are critical for neuron and astrocyte formation," Flanagan said. "This will give us better insight into the external signals significantly modified by neural stem cell glycosylation, which will, in turn, help to decode the complex processes that occur during brain development and expand the therapeutic usefulness of neural stem cells."

The team included researchers from the School of Medicine's departments of anatomy & neurobiology, neurology, and pathology & laboratory medicine as well as The Henry Samueli School of Engineering's Department of Biomedical Engineering and the Sue & Bill Gross Stem Cell Research Center.
Magnetic stimulation of a group of nerves key to how our gut and brain communicate may help correct the conversation that goes awry in painful, debilitating diabetic gastroparesis, researchers say.

Patients come to Amol Sharma, MD, because their stomachs constantly hurt, they are always nauseous and they can't or won't eat or drink. Sometimes they can't get out of the hospital because of nausea and vomiting.

"Gastroparesis is suspected in about 2% of the population, which is the about the population of Missouri, but only confirmed in .2% of the population so it's a rare disorder," says Sharma, gastroenterologist at the Medical College of Georgia and AU Health System specializing in neurogastroenterology and gastrointestinal motility.

It's also not well understood, but physicians like Sharma are beginning to find that it's a dysfunction in the two-way communication between the gut and the brain. More common problems like irritable bowel syndrome, also are thought to be a disorder of this gut/brain interaction, he notes.

Sharma's lab has developed a painless, noninvasive magnetic stimulation therapy called ThorS-MagNT which they are using to target and reset the hyperactive firing of a small group of nerves at the midback, a sort of midpoint of communication between the stomach and the brain. He has good evidence from a small pilot study that one-hour sessions targeting this nerve group for five successive days can significantly reduce the disease's debilitating symptoms.

Sharma recently received a three-year, $958,000 grant (RO1-DK133520) from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases to conduct a larger trial.

For the new study, he's looking at 45 patients and using two different treatment doses as well as a "sham" control, which looks like magnetic neuromodulation, to more objectively determine how well the treatment works as well as the optimal dose and placement of the treatment device. That includes looking directly at the impact on nerves both for evidence of change and to better understand how the therapy works.

The MCG researchers are targeting a group of spinal nerves in the midback, which line up with the bottom of the shoulder blades. The nerves make up the celiac ganglia, nerve bundles that are part of the autonomic nervous system, which controls functions we do instinctively like breathing and which get our gastrointestinal tract moving so food moves along as it should.

Sharma describes this region as a sort of midpoint of communication between the stomach and the brain, the pathway that says you are nauseous, full and that you are having pain.

These are nerves that are easily excited and firing quite a bit and you can change that threshold by repeated magnetic stimulation so that their thresholds are reset so they don't fire so quickly and so easily." Amol Sharma, MD, gastroenterologist at the Medical College of Georgia and AU Health System

He thinks it's the right target because he thinks dysfunctional nerve function in the stomach is key. The region is also accessible. Interestingly, some of the drugs that have worked best for gastroparesis have been low doses of antidepressants which block some signals from the stomach to the brain, he says. Tests have indicated that some areas that get messages from the gut have extreme responses from essentially no activity to hyperactivity.

The bottom line is that signals from the stomach to the brain are hyperactive which makes signals coming back from the brain say to slow the stomach down. Just why the brain would think that is a helpful response is unclear.

Their pilot study did not include a "sham" control group, or studies of the activity of the nerves directly. Rather they gauged treatment impact from extensive daily diaries patients filled out after dinner about nausea, how many times they vomited in the past 24 hours, how full they felt before even eating and their pain level, all cardinal symptoms of gastroparesis.

Patients consistently told Sharma that their nausea and vomiting were better, and they were ready to enjoy a meal again for the first time in a long time. "Their life is essentially back to normal," he says.

This time they are doing baseline studies of brain activity using sophisticated functional imaging and high-resolution, direct measurement of electrical activity and follow up studies to see if and how it changes.

The focus for these studies is a small area of the brain called the insula, which is increasingly understood as an area which is in touch with all your organs and reaches out to other brain areas as well, which takes Sharma back to the brain likely sending some bad messages to the stomach in gastroparesis.

"The disconnect there is the nerves going from the stomach to the brain for whatever reason are not relaying the right messages. They may be firing too much when maybe they shouldn't, he says. In an ironic vicious loop, if the gut is sending a signal that you're nauseous, feeling full real fast and vomiting -; classic symptoms of diabetic gastroparesis -; then the brain sends a signal back to the stomach to slow down its movement, and the small bowel and gut sometimes get the same message.

"There is a generalized dysmotility of the gut," Sharma says, that he thinks magnetic stimulation can directly address. If their findings continue to hold, the researchers plan to move forward with a Phase 2 trial with Food and Drug Administration approval ultimately in mind.

There is only one FDA-approved medicine for gastroparesis, called Reglan or metoclopramide, that is said to speed up the stomach and work on nausea centers in the brain. Some patients take antinausea medicines used by patients on chemotherapy for cancer, but the available approaches don't appear to really address the fundamental communication problem.

Diabetes is a major cause for gastroparesis, but it also can follow surgery and some medications can trigger the problem. This new treatment strategy should help, regardless of the cause, Sharma says.

"Imagine yourself a patient with diabetes and you count how many calories you are eating and carbs you are eating, and you give yourself the right amount of insulin to cover these carbs to prevent them from raising your blood sugar. Then the food gets in your stomach and you end up vomiting up all the food because you are so nauseous and because your stomach doesn't tolerate it very well," he says. Blood sugar levels will go up and down and back, which can make you dizzy, blur your vision, leave you confused, drowsy and make you pass out or worse.

"We have patients arrive in comas because of how high their sugars are but their low sugars can be just as problematic and serious." Blood glucose levels that are too low for too long, starving the brain of glucose, can lead to seizures, coma and very rarely death, according to the American Diabetes Association.

The visceral afferent neuropathy associated with diabetic gastroparesis is when the nerves that sense activity in the abdominal cavity, like the stomach being full from just eating a big meal, are damaged and/or weak. Several studies have shown this occurs in diabetic gastroparesis along with overstimulation of the sympathetic nervous system with associated nausea.

These nerves communicate fullness, for example, to the spinal cord which takes the information to the brain. As food moves from the esophagus into the stomach, some of the organ's muscles relax to let it enter and lower muscles start mixing the food with digestive juices until the particles get small enough to go into the small intestines and we can absorb the nutrients. Food travels the esophagus likely in less than a minute and four hours later about 90% of the meal you consumed should have moved on out of the stomach, Sharma says. "If it hasn't, there is a problem," he says, which could be a blockage or gastroparesis.

For more information about the study, call the research coordinator at 706-721-9875.

Previous work at MCG and the AU Health System led by Dr. Satish S.C. Rao, director of neurogastroenterology/motility and the Digestive Health Clinical Research Center, documented nerve dysfunction in a majority of patients with fecal incontinence and found that magnetic stimulation of nerves that regulate muscles in the anus and rectum improve function and dramatically reduce episodes of incontinence.

The prevalence of diabetes in adults worldwide was estimated to be 4% in 1995 and to rise to 5.4% by the year 2025, taking the number affected from about 135 to 300 million in that 30-year timeframe, according to the ADA.
As part of the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health (FNIH) Accelerating Medicines Partnership Bespoke Gene Therapy Consortium (AMP BGTC), Nemours Children's Health has been chosen to conduct a first-of-its-kind gene therapy clinical trial for Morquio A syndrome.

Nemours Children's will work collaboratively with the FNIH AMP BGTC, a public-private partnership between the National Institutes of Health (NIH), U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), biopharmaceutical and life science companies, and non-profit and other organizations, to help speed the development and delivery of customized or 'bespoke' gene therapies. Eight genetic diseases were selected for clinical trials, which will take place across the country. Nemours Children's was chosen for their Morquio A project proposal and will also be the site of the clinical trial.

Gene therapy is the promise of the future for many patients with rare disorders. Much of my research has been focused on Morquio A syndrome over the past 35 years. It is very exciting to see the hard work result in a promising clinical trial that could be life-changing for this patient population." Shunji Tomatsu, MD, PhD, Principal Investigator, Nemours Children's Health, Delaware

Nemours Children's Health is internationally renowned for diagnosing and treating Morquio A syndrome, a rare skeletal dysplasia, affecting 1 in 200,000, caused by an inherited gene mutation. Leading pediatric orthopedic researchers, surgeons, and geneticists at Nemours have established a nationally recognized skeletal dysplasia program. Dr. Tomatsu has held NIH grant funding for Morquio syndrome since 2010. Furthermore in 2021, additional NIH funding was established to develop a complete natural history for Morquio A syndrome. Nemours researchers have also been studying new and innovative treatments to help cure this genetic disorder that causes serious complications including cervical spinal cord compression, short stature, flat feet, difficulty walking, tracheal obstruction, hearing loss, and heart valvular disease.

Most recently, Dr. Tomatsu and his colleagues identified through murine models that Adeno-associated virus (AAV) gene therapy could be the answer for these patients. With AAV gene therapy, patients are given a one-time infusion which consists of a viral vector containing the correct gene sequence that can transfer genetic material safely into tissues and cells.

"The ultimate goal of our work is to help our patients. With the knowledge we gain during this trial, we believe Nemours Children's Health will be able to offer Morquio patients the newest and most innovative therapies available," said Stuart Mackenzie, MD, Orthopedic Surgeon, Director of the Skeletal Dysplasia Clinic, Nemours Children's Health, Delaware. "Through this specialized public and private partnership with FNIH AMP, we are able to help realize our vision to create the healthiest generations of children."

For the remainder of the year, FNIH and Nemours will focus on refining the treatment protocol, planning, and hiring additional professional staff. Nemours Children's aims to start enrollment for the clinical trial in 2024.

Nemours Children's would also like to acknowledge the many other colleagues that have been instrumental in developing this clinical trial including Michael B. Bober, MD, Medical Director of Orthogenetics, Kimberly Kipner, Clinical Research Coordinator, Allison Bradford, Clinical Research Assistant and Lan He, Research Lab Manager.

Private philanthropy in support of novel research efforts such as this is critically important. There have been several generous individuals and families who have provided funding throughout the course of this work. In particular, Nemours would like to acknowledge the dedicated fundraising efforts of A Cure for Robert, Inc. (Rooting for Robert) and the generous support of the Angelo R. Cali & Mary V. Cali Family Foundation, Inc. and Morquio Community, Inc.
Only four weeks of shift work-like patterns in female mice are enough to disrupt their biological clock and reduce fertility, according to research presented at the 25th European Congress of Endocrinology. The findings help scientists better understand how circadian disturbances impact female fertility, which could eventually lead to future prevention strategies for women working in non-standard work schedules.

Study: Effect of circadian disruption on the hypothalamic control of reproduction in female mice. Image Credit: vetre / Shutterstock

The circadian rhythm is generated by the body's internal clocks, which are synchronized to a 24-hour period, mostly by changes in light across days. These clocks regulate various biological functions and processes, including the sleep-wake cycle, hormone secretion, digestion, and reproduction, but can easily be disrupted by inappropriate light exposure, such as light at night.

The 'master biological clock' is located in the suprachiasmatic nuclei, a small region in the center of the brain called the hypothalamus. The hypothalamus is also the regulatory center for reproductive function by acting on the pituitary gland  attached to the bottom of the hypothalamus  which in turn regulates ovarian activity to promote ovulation. Numerous studies in both mice and humans indicate a negative impact on female reproduction when the circadian rhythm is disrupted. However, the underlying mechanisms are not yet fully understood.

Researchers from the Institute of Cellular and Integrative Neurosciences (INCI) and the University of Strasbourg have previously shown that shift work-like patterns for several weeks lead to a reduced pregnancy rate in female mice. Now, in this study, the researchers mimicked long-term shift work conditions in female mice by constantly shifting the light-dark cycle, delaying and advancing light exposure by 10 hours across four weeks, and found that the massive release of the pituitary hormone called luteinizing hormone  which triggers ovulation  was abolished, subsequently reducing fertility in these mice.

"The decreased fertility is due to an alteration of the master circadian clock signalling towards the hypothalamic reproductive circuit," said lead researcher Marine Simonneaux. "Specifically, our research shows that four weeks of chronic shift exposure impairs the transmission of light information from the master biological clock to the kisspeptin neurons, known to drive the timing of the pre-ovulatory luteinising hormone surge."

The next step for research will be to look at whether other additional internal clocks are altered after shift work-like patterns.

"The circadian rhythm not only requires proper functioning of the master biological clock, but also a synchronised activity of numerous secondary clocks found in other brain areas and peripheral organs, including reproductive organs," said Ms. Simonneaux. "Understanding the precise mechanisms by which circadian disruption alters the reproductive function is important, as it may pave the way for potential preventive and therapeutic interventions to reduce some of the negative effects of shift work on women's fertility."

The study "Effect of circadian disruption on the hypothalamic control of reproduction in female mice" will be presented on Tuesday, 16 May 2023, at the European Congress of Endocrinology at the Halic Congress Center in Istanbul, Turkey.

The 25th European Congress of Endocrinology (ECE) is held at the Halic Congress Center in Istanbul, Turkey, on 13-16 May 2023. See the full scientific program here.
Researchers from The University of Technology Sydney (UTS) have measured the extent to which a bone fracture can lead to early death and created a publicly available tool that doctors and patients can use to calculate risk.

The research, 'Skeletal Age' for mapping the impact of fracture on mortality, has just been published in the prestigious scientific journal eLife.

Study: Skeletal Age for mapping the impact of fracture on mortality. Image Credit: Yok_onepiece / Shutterstock

In the study of more than 1.6 million adults, the scientists found that a bone fracture was associated with a loss of one to seven years of life, depending on gender, age, and bone site.

Drawing on this discovery and earlier research conducted by Professors John Eisman, Tuan Nguyen, and Jacqueline Center at the Garvan Institute, the researchers developed the concept of 'Skeletal Age' as a new measure for assessing the impact of fractures on mortality.

The metric has been incorporated into an online calculator that measures bone fragility in order to help doctors and patients better understand the gravity of bone fractures.

BONEcheck aims to help raise awareness and reduce the risk of premature death for people with osteoporosis.

UTS Distinguished Professor Tuan Nguyen, the project leader, says the risk of premature death is particularly high for patients who suffer a hip fracture, with 30% of patients dying within a year of the fracture.

However, the risk of premature death also increases with other types of fractures.

"Although a bone fracture can reduce a person's lifespan, patients who suffer from a fracture don't fully understand this reality," he said.

By measuring the average reduction in life expectancy, the Skeletal Age tool aims to provide patients with a clearer understanding of the risks associated with bone fractures.

"With greater awareness of these risks, doctors and patients will be more likely to take preventive measures to reduce the risk of premature death," said Distinguished Professor Nguyen.

Dr. Thach Tran, co-lead author of the paper, said that currently, doctor-patient communication of fracture risk involves the use of probability.

"A disadvantage of probability is that it can be hard to comprehend, with patients often perceiving a 5% risk of death following a hip fracture over a 5-year period as a 95% chance of surviving a hip fracture." "The Skeletal Age tool provides an alternative approach to informing patients of their fracture risk. For example, instead of informing a 60-year-old woman that her risk of death following a hip fracture is 5%, she can be informed that her skeletal age is 65."

Distinguished Professor Nguyen says the development of the Skeletal Age tool is a significant breakthrough in the prevention of premature death associated with osteoporosis.

"With this new tool, doctors and patients can work together to reduce the risk of bone fractures and ensure better bone health for all."
David and Adair Keller started their married life together in 1977 at Camp Lejeune, a military training base on the Atlantic Coast in Jacksonville, North Carolina. David was a Marine Corps field artillery officer then, and they lived together on the base for about six months.

But that sojourn had an outsize impact on their lives.

Forty years later, in January 2018, Adair was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia. She died six months later at age 68. There's a chance her illness was caused by toxic chemicals that seeped into the water military families at the base drank, cooked with, and washed with for decades.

When the PACT Act passed last August, David asked a neighbor who worked at a personal injury law firm in Greenville, South Carolina, if he thought he might have a case. Now Keller is filing a wrongful death claim against the federal government under a section of that measure that allows veterans, their family members, and others who spent at least 30 days at Camp Lejeune between Aug. 1, 1953, and the end of 1987 to seek damages against the government for harm caused by exposure to the toxic water.

The Camp Lejeune Justice Act didn't attract the spotlight as the aspects of PACT that deal with the harms soldiers experienced from burn pit fumes overseas did. But for veterans who served at this North Carolina post, it is the realization of a decades-long effort to hold the government accountable.

As cases begin to proceed through the legal system, some veterans' advocates worry that families who have already suffered from toxic exposure may get shortchanged by a process that's supposed to provide them with a measure of closure and financial relief. They support limiting lawyers' fees, some of which may exceed half of a veteran's award.

The government estimates as many as a million people were exposed to Camp Lejeune's contaminated water during the 34-year period covered by the law. Personal injury lawyers have taken notice. In recent months, TV ads trying to drum up business have been impossible to ignore: "If you or a loved one were stationed at Camp Lejeune between 1953 and 1987 and developed cancer, call now. You may be entitled to significant compensation."

During the year that ended in March, TV ads soliciting Camp Lejeune claims reached an estimated $123 million, according to X Ante, a company that tracks mass tort litigation advertising. Camp Lejeune TV ads currently rank third among the top targets for mass tort claims since 2012, behind only asbestos and mesothelioma ($619 million) and Roundup weed killer ($132 million).

"The attorneys have calculated out that they stand to make a pot of money," said Autrey James, chairman of the American Legion's Veterans Affairs & Rehabilitation Commission. "We need Congress to put caps on how much these attorneys can charge."

For Keller, a 73-year-old former workers' compensation lawyer, it's a matter of accountability. Because of his experience, he came out of retirement last year to represent Camp Lejeune victims. He is now working part time at the Greenville law firm he spoke with originally and that now represents his late wife. It currently has roughly 65 Camp Lejeune cases.

Under the law, veterans must first file an administrative claim with the Judge Advocate General of the Navy's Tort Claims Unit. If, after six months, the Navy hasn't settled the claim, or if it denies the claim, veterans can file suit in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina.

So far, approximately 23,000 claims have been filed with the Navy, none of which have been fully adjudicated, said Patricia Babb, a spokesperson for the Judge Advocate General's office.

This legal remedy has been a long time coming. In the early 1980s, the Marine Corps learned that three of Camp Lejeune's water distribution systems were contaminated with industrial chemicals that had seeped into the water from leaking underground storage tanks, industrial spills, and waste disposal sites. The Corps shut them down in the mid-1980s and the area was declared a hazardous waste site in 1989 under the Environmental Protection Agency's Superfund law.

Federal studies later showed that toxic chemicals in the water  benzene, vinyl chloride, and TCE, among others  were present at levels that could have caused a range of cancers and other serious illnesses. In 2012, after an intense lobbying campaign by veterans, Congress passed a law that gave veterans and their families free medical care if they got sick with any of more than a dozen diseases associated with the toxic water.

But thousands of veterans who felt the Navy had stonewalled and delayed addressing the contamination filed civil suits seeking damages. In 2019, the federal government denied all the claims, citing state and federal statutes that shielded the government.

The Camp Lejeune Justice Act opened a two-year window for veterans and their families to pursue cases against the federal government.

And Liz Hartman, commander of American Legion Post 539 in nearby New Bern, now sees new reason for alarm. Some veterans are signing contingency fee contracts in which they agree to pay lawyers representing them 40% to 60% of any money they receive, Hartman said.

"Many of these people are elderly and very vulnerable, and they're being preyed upon," she said.

Personal injury lawyers generally work on a contingency basis. If they win the case, they receive a portion of the award, often one-third. If they lose, they get nothing. The firm Keller is working with charges 40% for Camp Lejeune cases.

If anything, fees for the Camp Lejeune cases should be lower than usual, not higher, said Matt Webb, senior vice president for legal reform policy at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Institute for Legal Reform.

"The PACT Act changed the burden of proof and made it so much easier for claimants to win their cases," he said. Under the law, the evidence must show that the exposure was as likely as not to have caused the harm, rather than having to prove that there's a greater than 50% chance that the claim is true, called a "preponderance" standard.

In addition, the law requires that any award a veteran receives be offset by any amount they received in a disability payment or health benefit related to their condition. This could substantially reduce the amount of their award.

Veterans "could end up owing money," Webb said. "I'm not saying it's going to happen, but particularly if a lawyer is taking a huge chunk in fees, it could happen."

Trial lawyers say a marginally lower burden of proof doesn't mean the cases will be easy to win.

It's a new law with no case law or judicial opinions to refer to, said Mike Cox, a Livonia, Michigan, lawyer and former Marine infantryman who was stationed at Camp Lejeune in the early 1980s. He's now representing more than 200 veterans in such cases.

Many of the diseases and conditions people developed are not among those the government acknowledges may be linked to the contaminated water, Cox said. Even for veterans whose illnesses are recognized by the government, lawyers will have to show where they were based, what kind of cancer they have, and their level of toxic exposure, he said. His fee for representing these veterans is 33% of any award they receive.

In addition to proving they were stationed at Camp Lejeune during the years covered by the law, "the claimant also must demonstrate to the Navy he/she is suffering from an injury that is related to the exposure to (or ingestion of) contaminated water," said Babb, the Judge Advocate General spokesperson.

With stories circulating of attorney contingency fees that could potentially eat up more than half of veterans' awards, some lawmakers have stepped in.

Under a bill proposed by Reps. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) and Mark Takano (D-Calif.), Camp Lejeune attorney fees would be capped at 20% in cases settled as administrative claims and 33.3% in those filed as civil lawsuits in court.

Another House proposal, introduced by Reps. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) and Mike Bost (R-Ill.), is identical to one introduced in the Senate by Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), which would cap fees at 12% and 17% under similar circumstances.

According to David Keller, based on his conversations with other lawyers, "nobody is objecting to something that is reasonable," such as caps at 20% and 33%.

Many of Keller's clients are older men who are really sick and probably won't live long, he said. Some tell him they're reluctant to sue the government.

"What I say to them is, 'When we signed the contract with Uncle Sam, we gave Uncle Sam a blank check for our arms, our legs, and maybe even our lives. But we didn't sign a blank check to get a serious disease from contaminated water, either them or their spouses or children."
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An estimated 200,000 men of color fought for the United States of America during the Civil War. Those men have been attributed with tipping the scales for a Union victory.

They must be heralded for their contributions that kept our nation as one, according to a statement from Right the Record founder Zann Nelson.

From 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. this Saturday, the Right the Record Project and partners will host a commemoration of the 321 men from Culpeper, Orange, Madison and Rappahannock who fought for American freedoms and the sanctity of one nation, Right the Record said.

The free event will be held at the Carver Center on Route 15, rain or shine. There will be speakers, descendants, a presentation of full military honors by the Culpeper VFW Color Guard and refreshments.

The highlight will be reading the names of the men from each county, Nelson said. Representatives from each county will receive a flag flown over the nations capital with a certificate honoring the men from their county who signed up to fight for the Union from Democratic U.S. Rep. Abigail Spanbergers office.

One of these soldiers was 22-year-old William Newby, born in Culpeper County, most likely into enslavement.

By the time of his enlistment, he was living as a free man in Bridgeport, Ohio, engaged in farming with his family, according to Nelsons research. Newby signed up for the Union Army Sept. 10, 1863, in Athens, Ohio, records show.

His unit was detailed to Norfolk then to North Carolina and then back to Virginia in time for the tragic Battle of Petersburg on July 3, 1864, said Nelson. Newby was injured in the arm and leg at the battle, hospitalized and died a few weeks later on July 26 from blood poisoning, according to Nelsons research.

Another of those soldiers was Caleb Linza, 72, born in Orange County in 1793. Yet he enlisted April 5, 1865, at Camp Nelson, Kentucky, in the 124th U.S. Colored Troops Infantry, according to Nelsons research.

There were remarks noted on his papers at enlistment saying that he was a slave and owned by a George Brown. Caleb became sick almost immediately and was hospitalized at Camp Nelson from April 1865 until July 1865, according to Nelsons research.

He was listed as a deserter being absent without leave. Apparently they later found out that he was sick in the hospital and wrote in his papers that Absent without leave was written in error. There is no record of his discharge or the outcome of his hospitalization.

Representatives from each county at this weekends local recognition ceremony will receive a customized exhibit panel listing the soldiers for permanent display in each county.

A full house of individuals and groups have signed up to support the effort including the Orange Chapter of the NAACP, James Madison Museum, Orange Democratic Committee, Arts Center of Orange, Orange and Madison County African American Historical Societies, the Culpeper, Madison and Rappahannock NAACP Branch, Piedmont Race Amity, 23rd and 54th regiment reenactors, Culpeper VFW Color Guard, Carver Alumni Association, Carver 4-County Museum, Virginia Tech. Extension Office, Freedom Foundation, Culpeper Tourism, African American Heritage Alliance, Museum of Culpeper History, Charlotte Cole, PATH Foundation and Scrabble School Foundation, and others.

Groups will have the opportunity to display what they do at the event, according to Nelson. There will be a tent and seating is first come. It is recommended to bring a chair. The event opens at 9 a.m., and the program at 10.

Anyone with questions regarding the event can call (540) 718-3465 or email M16439@aol.com.
In a recent rapid review published in the Annals of Internal Medicine Journal, researchers presented live, updated evidence of the effectiveness of masks in preventing severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection in community and healthcare settings.

They synthesized evidence separately for both settings and from randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and observational studies.

Study: Major Update: Masks for Prevention of SARS-CoV-2 in Health Care and Community SettingsFinal Update of a Living, Rapid Review. Image Credit: Perfect Wave/Shutterstock.com

Background

Masks are respiratory protective devices that reduce the risk of contracting coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19, a lethal and infectious disease caused by SARS-CoV-2, in different settings, e.g., home, outdoors, community places, and workplaces like offices and hospitals where viral exposure levels vary substantially.

Other factors affecting the effectiveness of masking include circulating viral variants and their transmission levels, the immunity level of an individual, and behavior, e.g., adherence to infection control measures.

Yet, it remains unclear to what extent the use of masks could prevent COVID-19 in different settings.

In June 2020, the authors published the first version of a rapid review on mask use and its association with the risk for SARS-CoV-2 and other respiratory infections like influenza.

Subsequently, they published eight more updates demonstrating a link between mask use and decreased risk for SARS-CoV-2 infection in community settings based on moderate strength evidence gathered from two RCTs and 10 observational studies.

About the study

In this study, the researchers focused on retrieving the latest, most recent evidence (data) of the usefulness of three types of masks, viz., N95 respirators, surgical masks, and cloth masks, which vary in fit, filtration efficacy, and fluid resistance in preventing SARS-CoV-2 infection across different settings based on three RCTs and 21 observational studies.

They retrieved these RCTs and studies from PubMed, MEDLINE, Elsevier EMBASE, and medRxiv through an extensive search, which the team conducted between 3 June 2022 and 2 January 2023.

Further, the researchers used an updated protocol for this study. So, they relied on studies solely focused on self-report for SARS-CoV-2 infection diagnosis and nonpeer-reviewed studies.

In addition, they removed questions on influenza or influenza-like illness, SARS-CoV-1, and Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) coronavirus infections.

Also, they used standard systematic review methods, including dual abstract review. Overall, in this study, the researchers focused on two key questions, as follows:

i) What are the efficacy and comparative efficacies of respirators (N95 or similar masks), cloth, and face masks (surgical) in preventing SARS-CoV-2 infection in high vs. non-high-risk settings?

ii) Does extended or reuse of N95 respirators prevent SARS-CoV-2 infection?

The study outcomes encompassed SARS-CoV-2 infection and related hazards, as assessed by laboratory testing. Finally, the team updated an evidence map depicting the strength of evidence (high, moderate, low, or unclear due to inadequate evidence) and effect direction for each mask comparison across both settings.

Results

Similar to previous updates, the authors found low to moderate strength evidence for community settings via RCTs, which suggested that mask use correlated to a 10% to 18% risk reduction for SARS-CoV-2 infection vs. no mask.

It could be significant on a population level, considering the cumulative effects of masking over time.

Only one RCT documented imprecise estimates without considering masks as a source of infection control. Two other RCTs varying in interventions and settings found that interventions aimed at increasing mask use reduced the risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Observational studies consistently found that masking was associated with reduced risk for SARS-CoV-2 infection vs. no-masking in community settings.

The strength of evidence on surgical vs. cloth masks, more masking vs. less masking, and consistent masking remained inadequate.

In healthcare settings, a recent RCT revealed that the effects of surgical masks were non-inferior to N95 respirators for day-to-day patient care, but the evidence strength was low. Also, this analysis was post-hoc and based on self-reported viral exposures.

Its results did not vary even after stratifying patients based on the presence of nonwork exposures. Moreover, this RCT was performed across four countries, viz., Egypt, Pakistan, Canada, and Israel, which varied in terms of vaccination coverage and COVID-19 seroprevalence, to name a few.

Owing to their methodological limitations and inconsistencies, all included observational studies fetched inadequate evidence of the usefulness of N95 vs. surgical masks in healthcare settings and the risk of COVID-19.

Notably, while observational studies primarily evaluated outcomes associated with actual mask use, RCTs evaluated all interventions that promoted increased mask use.

Thus, a new RCT comparing mask types in healthcare settings triggered the researchers to publish this update.

Lastly, the researchers found limited evidence of the harms of masking. Only one new RCT demonstrated that N95 use increased the risk for mask-related harm(s) vs. surgical masks. However, they observed no serious events due to using N95.

Conclusion

This final update differed from previous systematic reviews on masks, as it focused solely on SARS-CoV-2 infection and included a new RCT. In addition, they prospectively changed the study protocol to focus on higher-quality studies and more relevant evidence.

Though the evidence base and review process had limitations, excluding some previously included studies did not affect the current findings.

Future studies with sufficient statistical power for primary and stratified analyses could clarify the comparative effectiveness of masks in preventing SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Additionally, they should use appropriate methods for describing key mask characteristics, their harms, benefits, and adherence.

To conclude, this update evidenced that surgical masks and N95 respirators both similarly reduce the risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection in healthcare settings, and one should not overlook the usefulness of N95 respirators.
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The American multinational electric car manufacturer Tesla has been doing the talks with Indian government for the past few years to expand the business in the country. Now, it has been reported that some of the senior executives from the Elon Musk-owned company, including top management and supply chain personnel are all set to visit India tomorrow. The sole purpose of the visit is to talk with federal government officials and explore the opportunities to set up their business model in the country.

Also Read: All-New Renault Flagship SUV Named as Rafale, Global Debut on June 18

According to the reports, the top executives from the Austin-based company are expected to meet Prime Minister Narendra, including top government personnel. They will be exchanging talks regarding local sourcing of components for their upcoming Tesla models in the country.

This trip is expected to provide a fruitful result for the company as it has been trying hard to get into the Indian market for a very long time.

Meanwhile, there were many occasions, when the companys CEO, Elon Musk criticized Indias high import duties and electric vehicle regulations. He said that the country has the highest import duties on EVs as compared to the other countries. He also urged the government to lower the import duty from 60 percent to 40 percent for electric vehicles that cost $40,000 or less. However, the government asked the business to manufacture its cars locally, instead of importing from China.

Tesla base model for Indian market

If everything goes well between Tesla and the Indian government, there is a high chance that the Elon Musk-owned company initially launch its feature-loaded Tesla Model 3 in the country. It is likely to be introduced at that starting price of Rs.60 Lakh (Ex-showroom).

The Model 3 might come in three variants: Standard Plus, Long Range, and Performance. The Long Range and Performance models have dual-motor all-wheel drive systems and are claimed to provide a max range of 568 km and 507 km, respectively. However, the former has a rear-wheel drivetrain, which will provide a max range of 423 km. The company claims the EV can go 0-97kmph in only 3.1 seconds.
ReFit Global, co-founded by Saket Saurav and Avneet Singh, is transforming Indias refurbished tech market space. This Delhi-based startup has found tremendous success in the second-hand smartphone business.

The issue pertaining to refurbished smartphones has always been quality and this factor has remained the prime limitation for both sellers and consumers. But, ReFit Global seems to have found a way around this problem and is now thriving by selling refurbished smartphones.

Reports suggest that the startup first sources devices that are exchanged on e-commerce platforms like Amazon and Flipkart. The firm also gets phones from companies like Vivo, Oppo and Xiaomi.

These old phones are then put through the companys own Mobile Diagnostic application. This app evaluates each device on 37 quality check parameters.

Reportedly, ReFit Global has managed to sell over 15 lakh phones. Of the total sales, 80 percent devices were sourced from Flipkart and the rest from other e-commerce platforms.

It is worth noting that ReFit not only sells refurbished phones, but it also deals in old electrical appliances such as refrigerators, washing machines, television, and air conditioners.

ReFit Global has recorded a 100 per cent year-on-year growth in revenue. In fact, the companys revenue in Indias second-hand device market has been increasing steadily over the past few years.

In FY 2017-18, ReFit Global had reported a revenue of Rs 8 crore, which increased to Rs 19 crore in FY 2018-19. In FY 2020, the startup recorded a revenue of Rs 44 crore. ReFits success can be gauged by the fact that its revenue had crossed Rs 200 crore in FY2023 as it sold nearly 500,000 handsets. The company aims to earn Rs 350 crore as revenue in FY 2024.

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As reported by Your Story, the co-founders of ReFit Global first found success in the second-hand device segment while they were working at Shopclues.

India is a promising market when it comes to the business of refurbished smartphones. As the countrys smartphone penetration is still very low, there is a huge potential for the growth of the refurbished device segment. The growing popularity of second-hand smartphones can be attributed to the increased selling price of new models. Many buyers are willing to buy a refurbished smartphone, which offers them more features than a similarly priced new phone.
The Reserve Bank has given its approval to SBI Funds Management (SBIFML) to acquire up to 9.99 per cent stake in HDFC Bank, the private sector lender said on Wednesday.

The approval has been granted with reference to the application made by SBIFML to RBI, HDFC Bank said in an exchange filing.

we would like to inform you that the RBI vide its letter dated May 16, 2023 addressed to SBIFML, has accorded its approval to SBIFML for acquiring up to 9.99 per cent of the paid-up share capital or voting rights of HDFC Bank Limited, the bank said.

It further said SBIFML has been advised by RBI to acquire the major shareholding in the bank within a period of six months (by November 15, 2023).

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SBIFML has to ensure that the aggregate holding in the bank remains below 10 per cent of the paid-up share capital or voting rights of the HDFC Bank at all times.

HDFC Bank shares closed at Rs 1,638.65 apiece on BSE, down 0.49 per cent.
Tata Sons Chairman Natarajan Chandrasekaran was honoured with the prestigious Chevalier de la Legion dHonneur" (Knight of the Legion of Honour) by French Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Catherine Colonna on Wednesday.

Chandrasekaran was honoured for his substantial role in developing and fostering commercial links between France and India. The Indo-French Chamber of Commerce and Industry (IFCCI), in collaboration with Business France, hosted the 5th edition of the Indo-French Business Awards (IFBA) and Grand Prix VIE, which witnessed the presence of esteemed guests, including H.E. Mr Edouard Philippe, former Prime Minister of France and Mayor of Le Havre, CNBC TV18 reported.

Our Chairman N Chandrasekaran receives the Chevalier de la Legion dhonneur from French Minister for Europe & Foreign Affairs @MinColonna. He was conferred the highest civilian award of France for his contributions to strengthening the trade relationship between India & France," Tata Sons twitter handle posted along with pictures of the ceremony.

Our Chairman N Chandrasekaran receives the Chevalier de la Legion dhonneur from French Minister for Europe & Foreign Affairs @MinColonna. He was conferred the highest civilian award of France for his contributions to strengthening the trade relationship between India & France. pic.twitter.com/Rk4vJcjQHq Tata Group (@TataCompanies) May 17, 2023

Similarly, after presenting the award, in a tweet Colonna said Tata group of companies is a major player in the Franco-Indian partnership: I had the pleasure of presenting its CEO, on behalf of the President of the Republic, with the insignia of Chevalier de la Legion dhonneur. Dear Natarajan Chandrasekaran, you are a friend of France".

Ambassador of France to India Emmanuel Lenain also in a post on Twitter said, Dear Natarajan Chandrasekaran, you are a true friend of France".

Earlier this year, Tata Group-owned Air India had inked a multi-billion dollar deal with Airbus to buy 250 aircraft from Airbus, which included 210 A320 neo planes and 40 A350 aircraft.

Last year in December, Tata Technologies inaugurated its innovation centre in Toulouse, France, to cater for the new-age product engineering and digital requirements of the global aerospace and defence sector.

The award ceremony, held at the Residence of France, brought together more than 150 CEOs and business leaders representing prominent Indo-French companies across diverse sectors such as aerospace and defence, mobility, energy, consumer goods, agro-industry, and luxury.

Natarajan Chandrasekaran, popularly known as Chandra in corporate circles, was appointed as the Chairman of Tata Sons in 2017. Last year, he received a five-year extension in his role.

Chandra began his journey with Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) in 1987 as a graduate trainee after graduating from Trichys Regional Engineering College. Over the course of his more than two-decade-long tenure at TCS, he steadily climbed the ranks and became the CEO in 2009.

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Till 2017, Chandrasekaran served as the CEO and MD of TCS for eight years. During that time, the business generated total revenues of $16.5 billion in 201516, securing its position as the largest private sector employment and the most valuable corporation in India.

With approximately 25 French research and development centres, 15 joint Indo-French research institutes, and 500 collaborative projects in India, France has established itself as one of Indias most important scientific partners.
The Bihar School Examination Board (BSEB) has started the application process for Class 11 admission via its Online Facilitation System for Students (OFSS) today, May 17. Students seeking admission in Class 11 can register on the official website of OFSS at ofssbihar.in. The deadline to submit the applications is May 26. Students are requested to send their application at the earliest to avoid any last-minute hassle.

Candidates who have cleared the Matriculation or Class 10 examination from BSEB or its equivalent board are eligible to apply for the Intermediate admission 2023. While applying for BSEB Class 11 admission, students will have to pay Rs 350 as a registration fee to complete the process.

Once the registration is over, the Bihar Board will release a merit list after considering multiple parameters. According to reports, the BSEB Class 11 admission merit list 2023 is expected to be released in July. The merit list will be based on the number of seats that are available in the respective schools. Additionally, eligible candidates will get admission after the schools select the student as per their marks secured by them in Class 10.

OFSS BSEB Class 11 Admission 2023: How to Apply

Step 1: Go to the official website of OFSS at ofssbihar.in.

Step 2: Click on the link provided for BSEB 11th Admission 2023 available on the homepage.

Step 3: Register yourselves on the portal by filling up all the details.

Step 4: Once the form appears, fill it up as asked. Upload all the necessary documents and pay the required fee.

Step 5: Check all the details added to the form and click on submit.

Step 6: Save and download the Class 11 admission form.

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As per a report by Times Of India, BSEB chairman Anand Kishor has also issued a statement in regard of the application process. He was quoted as saying Candidates who have passed matriculation examination from Bihar Board, CBSE, ICSE or any other national/state boards are eligible to apply for online admission in Class 11. The board will issue a merit list based on applicants marks scored and reservation category.
The much-awaited results of the Class 12 board exams across states in India have finally been released, unleashing a wave of excitement and anticipation among students. Among the lakhs of students who have completed their class 12, many have their sights set on Delhi University, a prestigious institution that has become synonymous with academic excellence and a gateway to countless opportunities. The allure of Delhi University has always been captivating, and this year is no exception.

Securing admission into Delhi University colleges is no easy feat. With cutthroat competition and limited seats, the university acts as a melting pot of talent, drawing in students from all corners of the country. Prior to commencing the admissions process, students must familiarise themselves with the top ten colleges affiliated with Delhi University, according to the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) rankings for 2022.

Top 10 DU colleges: NIRF ranking 2022

Miranda House: Established in 1948, Miranda House is one of the top 100 ranked colleges in the country and has retained the first position for six consecutive years. Miranda House has got ranked 1 in the

Hindu College: Established in 1899, Hindu College is one of the oldest and most famous colleges in the country. Hindu College has got rank 2 in NIRF ranking for 2022.

Lady Shri Ram College for Women: Established in 1956, the Lady Shri Ram College has got rank 5 in NIRF Ranking 2022.

Atma Ram Sanatan Dharma College: Established in 1959, This is a co-ed college under Delhi University and got ranked 7 in the NIRF ranking in 2022.

Kirori Mal College: Established in 1954 as a co-ed college Kirori Mal College got ranked 10 in NIRF ranking 2022 and has reputed alumni such as Amitabh Bachchan and Naveen Patnaik.

St. Stephens College: This is one of Delhi Universitys most well-known colleges. Rahul Gandhi, among other well-known individuals, attended this college. St. Stephens College was ranked 11 in the NIRF 2022 rankings.

Shri Ram College of Commerce: Established in 1926 by industrialist Lala Shriram, SRCC is renowned for its Commerce, Management, and Economics courses. SRCC was ranked 12 in the NIRF 2022 rankings.

Hansraj College: Founded in 1948, it is renowned as a college offering programs in the fields of Liberal Arts, Science, and Commerce. It boasts esteemed alumni like Shah Rukh Khan and Anurag Kashyap. Hansraj College was ranked 14 in the NIRF 2022 rankings.

Lady Irwin College: Established in 1932, Lady Irwin College is located on the North Campus of Delhi University. In the NIRF 2022 rankings, the college was placed in the 15th position.

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Acharya Narendra Dev College: Situated in Govindpuri, Delhi, Acharya Narendra Dev College was established in 1991. This college stood at the 18th position in the NIRF rankings of 2022.

This year, around 16 lakh candidates have enrolled for the Common University Entrance Test (CUET) UG Exam to get admission to Delhi University-affiliated colleges. According to the official schedule, the CUET UG 2023 will be held in a computer-based test (CBT) manner from May 21 to May 31.
The Delhi High Court will hear on May 24 a plea filed by the Jesus and Mary College (JMC) contesting a Delhi University (DU) notification regarding the admission of undergraduate and graduate students under the minority quota purely based on the results of the Common University Entrance Test (CUET) and without any interview for the academic year 2023.

A division bench of Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Subramonium Prasad had on April 27 issued notice on a similar plea by St. Stephens College, which is also coming up for hearing on May 24. The plea challenges the decision of DUs Executive Council dated December 8, 2022 and a notification issued on December 30, 2022, as being ultra vires and unconstitutional.

Appearing for JMC, advocate Romy Chacko argued that DU cannot interfere with or take away this minority educational institutions right to select students for admission and administer educational institution under the Constitution. The Delhi University has now resolved that for admissions during the current academic year (2023), even with regard to 50 per cent Christian quota, admission shall be only on the basis of CUET score and no interview, and addition of 15 per cent marks for interview will be permitted," the plea said.

The plea makes reference to a high court ruling dated September 12, 2022 in the St. Stephens Colleges case allowing it to conduct interviews in addition to the CUET score for admission of students from minority communities. The plea submitted that the varsitys order suffers from total non-application of mind".

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It said this year, the university has taken a decision to deprive the minority institutions of the opportunity of interviewing candidates to be admitted under the minority quota which constrained the petitioner to challenge the notification owing to its minority status and rights under Article 30 (1) of the Constitution. St. Stephens Colleges plea was filed against DUs statement that admission to 50 per cent of the Christian quota seats would only be based on CUET score, with no interviews and the addition of 15 per cent marks for interviews being allowed in the academic session of 2023.

The right of the petitioner to conduct interviews and accord to them 15 per cent weightage for the purposes of admitting students does not extend to non-minority students, and solely pertains to its minority students," the court had said. In light of this context, the plea made the case that the right to select students for admission is the core of the right to establish and administer educational institution which cannot be interfered with or taken away. A declaration was also sought that the decision of the DU insisting on 100 per cent weightage for CUET score for admission to minority quota is against Article 30 of the Constitution.
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The Republican-led Virginia Department of Elections elected to withdraw from a multi-state election data-sharing partnership over concerns about privacy, costs and the alleged risk of data sharing with outside organizations being leveraged for political purposes.

Democratic lawmakers asserted Monday that the move is an effort to undermine voting access and trust in the electoral process.

The Electronic Registration Information Center, or ERIC was created in 2012 with Virginia as one of the seven founding members. Gov. Bob McDonnell, a Republican, promoted it at the time. The partnership allows for states to compare voting data to identify people who have died or moved between states and adjust rolls accordingly  measures that can prevent or catch instances of voter fraud.

ERIC primarily combated the things Republicans claim to care about, said House Minority Leader Don Scott Jr., a Portsmouth Democrat, at a news conference Monday. Why would Republicans want to do away with it? The answer is and has always been clear since Governor [Glenn] Youngkin was elected  because they want to undermine our democracy.

Virginias ERIC pullout follows several other GOP-led states that have withdrawn  Alabama, Florida, Iowa, Louisiana, Missouri, Ohio and West Virginia. Texas has considered a withdrawal that is supported by the Republican Party of Texas, but has not yet left ERIC.

Scott remarked on how the Youngkin administration quietly changed the process for formerly incarcerated people to have their voting rights restored, and also noted the GOP-led push in recent years to walk back the expanded voting access that was implemented when Democrats held the governorship and majorities in the General Assembly.

From quietly changing the restoration of rights progress to this surprising departure from ERIC, everything they do is trying to disrupt our election process, he said Monday. These destructive changes harm voters and undermine faith in our system.

Last week, Department of Elections Commissioner Susan Beals wrote a letter to ERIC, citing reasons for Virginias planned withdrawal. She cited concerns over rising costs to participate following the departure of other states and confidentiality of the data sharing.

The letter noted momentum around the creation of viable alternatives to inter-state data sharing compacts and Virginias ability to replicate favorable ERIC functionality internally and develop true autonomy for all list maintenance and data sharing practices.

To accomplish this, Andrea Gaines, a spokesperson for Beals, said the department will obtain a subscription to the Limited Master Death file from the Social Security Administration and will continue to process records it receives from the Department of Motor Vehicles.

She added that Virginia has been in talks with other states for several months about creating new state-to-state data-sharing relationships for the purpose of identifying double voters.

On the concern over rising costs, Gaines said the fiscal year costs rose from $37,000 to $54,000 from 2022 to 2023. Participating states contribute to the funding for ERIC.

A spokesperson for Youngkin said rising costs were a reason to withdraw, along with concerns over privacy.

Virginia withdrew from ERIC because Virginians data was shared with an ERIC affiliated research organization and, despite its efforts, Virginia was unable to reform ERIC, said Macaulay Porter, a spokesperson for Youngkin.

ERIC has previously shared anonymized data for research purposes with an election organization led by David Becker, ERICs founder. States that participated did so voluntarily, VPM reported.

Democratic lawmakers have accused the Youngkin administration of buying into conspiracy theories. In Mondays news conference, several senators and delegates reflected on the growing national tensions around distrust in elections  spearheaded by former President Donald Trumps false claims that the 2020 election was stolen.

This is wild conspiracy theory stuff, right? said Del. Marcus Simon, a Fairfax Democrat. Its really disturbing that the governor and Susan (Beals) do seem to buy into these debunked conspiracy theories. Theyre willing to believe that kind of information and actually use that kind of conspiracy theory to guide decision making over at the Department of Elections.

Asked if the Youngkin administration had a response to the allegation, Porter did not directly respond, but answered other questions.

During his 2021 campaign, Youngkin initially ducked questions about whether he believed the 2020 election was stolen. After winning the GOP nomination, he said he would have voted to certify the results. Last year, he campaigned for some GOP gubernatorial candidates around the country  like Arizonas Kari Lake  who continued to deny the results of the 2020 election.

As for ERIC, after roughly a decade of operating under the radar as a bipartisan coalition of more than 30 states, it has generated concern from leaders or constituents in the states that have pulled out of it.

In early 2022, it became the subject of far-right blogs framing the partnership as a liberal conspiracy to steal elections. Louisiana became the first state to withdraw from ERIC shortly afterward.

Shane Hamlin, ERICs current executive director, provided a statement to the Richmond Times-Dispatch, stating that the organization will follow its bylaws and membership agreement regarding any members request to resign membership.

That means that, following Beals resignation notice, it will be 91 days before the resignation is effective, according to the bylaws.

We will continue our work on behalf of our remaining member states in improving the accuracy of Americas voter rolls and increasing access to voter registration for all eligible citizens, Hamlin said in the statement.

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Kerala government will distribute 12,000 robotic kits to school students under the governments Little KITEs scheme, which provides intense training in five areas, state Education and Labour Minister V. Sivankutty said on Monday.

Already 9,000 kits have been provided under the five-year-old Little KITEs that trains students in animation, cyber safety, Malayalam computing, hardware and electronics. Soon, we will disburse 3,000 more kits," said Sivankutty after inaugurating a two-day Little KITEs state camp at Kerala Startup Mission (KSUM) near here.

Once the programme achieves its target of providing awareness to 12 lakh students across the country in robotics technology, Little KITEs will make Kerala the top-most state in this mission. There is special significance to holding this camp in the KSUM premises. For it gives an opportunity to earn an idea about future employment opportunities and job culture. Sharing their experience adds value to the camp," he added. The camp has 130 participants, while the exhibition showcases products by students from all the 14 districts of the state.

At the camp, there was Jeslet Joby of Mala town in Thrissur district who has devised spectacles that help the visually-challenged sense obstacles from a certain distance. This can also be used through a wireless system. K.Sreenand of Kasaragod has introduced a robot that will sprinkle pesticides. The gadget, with a fire-dousing system that can turn 360 degrees attached to it, also provides a facility enabling collection of information related to agriculture.

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Ahmed Rasheed of Malappuram district has invented a small machine that senses the measure of insulin in blood and supplies the metabolism-aiding hormone. The idea is to help diabetics who are on the rise in the state, he points out. Aghosh K.R. of hilly Wayanad has come up with an animation movie that narrates the story of a tusker named Arikomban that has been keeping people of Kerala on the edge.

The plot revolves around the elephant of Periyar Tiger Reserve consistently returning to Chinnakanal in Idukki district. It is a compilation of four select animation films. The camp, which concludes on Tuesday, also features products like a sensor-attached walking stick, automatic parking system, Bluetooth wheelchair and automatic railway-gate. KSUM is the nodal agency of the Kerala government for entrepreneurship development and incubation activities in the state.
The Madhya Pradesh Board of Secondary Education (MPBSE) is likely to release the Class 10 and 12 board exam results for the year 2023 soon. Once the results are made available, students can view their scores on the official website, mpbse.nic.in. Additionally, the MP Board Class 10 and 12 results can be accessed through the MP Board Result 2023 app, which can be downloaded from the Google Play Store.

However, there has been no official confirmation from the Madhya Pradesh Board regarding the exact date and time of the result declaration. The MP Board Class 10 Exam took place from March 1 to March 27, while the MP Board Class 12th Exam was conducted from March 2 to April 5. This year, over 19 lakh students appeared for the board examinations for classes 10th and 12th.

Recently, the MP Board called for proposals from online portals until May 11 to publish the results on the official website. The official notice stated, Interested Portals may submit their proposals latest by 11/05/2023 through post addressing Secretary, Board of Secondary Education, Shivaji Nagar, Bhopal. Please note that for publication of results Lump sum amount of Rs. 90,000 (Ninety Thousand only) shall be payable to the Board by D.D./NEFT and shall also sign an agreement with the Board.

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Once the results are declared, candidates will need their hall tickets to check their scores with their roll number and date of birth. The original mark sheet will be sent to the respective schools, where students can collect them. To pass the examination, students from the Madhya Pradesh Board must obtain at least 33 per cent marks in all subjects. In case a student fails to secure 33 marks in any subject, they will have to appear for compartment exams.

In 2022, approximately 9 lakh students took the class 12 exams, while nearly 10 lakh appeared for the class 10 board exams. The results were announced during a press conference on April 29. The pass percentage for the Class 12 exam was 72.72 per cent, and for Class 10, it was 59.54 per cent. In terms of gender-wise performance in the Class 12 exam, girls had a higher pass percentage at 70.64 per cent, while boys achieved a pass rate of 69.94 per cent.
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the RBSE board exams 2023, students have to score at least 33 per cent marks in every subject. Students who are not happy with their marks can apply for the re-evaluation process. The complete details of it will be announced in due course of time.

The exams were conducted from March to April across 9,500 exam centres. The Rajasthan Board 8th exam was held between March 21 to April 11. Along with the results, the board will announce the toppers list, overall pass percentage, number of candidates who passed the exam, re-evaluation process, and supplementary exam dates.

Candidates should note that the original mark sheet/ certificate will be distributed to students a few days after the result declaration. Those who are opting for re-evaluation will receive a revised copy of the mark sheet, only if there are any changes.

A total of 12.63 lakh students took the class 8 exam and 14.53 lakh registered for the class 5 board exam in 2022. Out of the total students who took the class 8 exam last year, as many as 94.97 per cent were boys and 96.30 per cent were girls.

As per reports, the RBSE class 10 and 12 results will be released soon. The Rajasthan class 10 results will reportedly be declared in the first week of June while the class 12 results might be released in the third week of May. The Rajasthan class 12 results for science, arts, and commerce are likely to be released together.
Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo Mayawati on Wednesday called a meeting of all party office bearers in the state capital Lucknow on May 18 to formulate a strategy for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

The meeting will also discuss issues like the alleged misuse of official machinery and religion by the ruling party for political interests.

Misuse of government machinery by the ruling party in UP to reduce the effect of anti-people policies, wrong activities and shortcomings and their malicious, oppressive behaviour and use of religion for political interests is very serious and worrying. This is damaging for democracy," Mayawati said in a tweet in Hindi.

The former Uttar Pradesh chief minister said a special meeting of all big and small office bearers, divisional and district presidents of Uttar Pradesh will be held on Thursday in Lucknow to chalk out a concrete strategy to fight these fierce anti-people challenges and prepare for Lok Sabha polls.

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After the results of the urban local body polls last week, Mayawati had accused the ruling BJP of misusing government machinery and said her party will not sit silently over it.

The BSP had fielded mayoral candidates on all the 17 seats in the state but none could register a win.
Even as the suspense over Karnataka Chief Minister continues, Congresss top contender Siddaramaiah told a senior Vokkaliga MLA on Tuesday night that it has to be either him or a third person, but not his competitor DK Shivakumar".

According to the MLA, Siddaramaiah told him that all surveys have given him the highest approval ratings and DKS has got just 10% of it. Plus, the AHINDA  Minorities, Backward Classes and Dalits  have voted for the Congress in a big way, hoping that Siddaramaiah will be made the Chief Minister and if not, they will move away from the party in the coming Lok Sabha elections, said the MLA.

ALSO READ | Karnataka CM News LIVE HERE

The MLA said that Siddaramaiah has claimed the support of a majority of MLAs and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi is of the view that whoever gets the maximum votes should be made the CM.

What shook the senior MLA is Siddaramaiahs threat to retire from politics and not get involved in any party matters in the future.

Siddaramaiah explained that the Congress five guarantees can be implemented only if he is made the CM. He claimed that he has told the high command about various cases DKS is facing and how they can be used against him if he is made the CM, which can destabilise the government, said the MLA.

He is clear about one thing. It has to be either him or a third person, but no DKS under any circumstance. He has made it clear that the Congress should not expect him to work for the party in the future and he will retire. That shook me. We cant imagine the Karnataka Congress without Siddaramaiah. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will easily win the next elections if he is not around. The JDS can also be revived, he told News18.

CASTE DYNAMICS

The Other Backward Classes, Muslims and Scheduled Tribes(ST) are flexing their muscles to make sure that Siddaramaiah gets the top post. The Dalits are maintaining silence. Even among the Vokkaliga MLAs, not all are with DKS because of personal reasons.

The Lingayats, who gave 34 seats to the Congress, the highest since 1989, are uncomfortable with the ongoing power struggle between the two and DKSs fight for the top post.

The Lingayats want to stay away from both DKS and Siddaramaiah in this power struggle. They want at least a deputy CM post for their top leader MB Patil and seven-eight important cabinet berths. Lingayats are 16% of the population and control 25% votes in Karnataka. Their Mutts are the strongest.

They say DKS being acceptable to Lingayats is his version and not that of the community.

The Lingayat bloc is the biggest and the most powerful and would not back a Vokkaliga CM. They are fine with an OBC because they are in large numbers in Lingayat areas.

ALSO READ | DK Shivakumar: Karnataka Congresss Last Resort in Crisis is Man of Emotions, Numerology, Money & Muscle Power

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Even though Lingayats are no fans of AHINDA, they need each other for political survival and it can tip the balance in favour of Siddaramaiah.

Siddaramaiah has also warned that if there is no quick solution to this impasse, all the gains the Congress made over the past few years would be lost in just one week, allowing the return of the BJP.
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stable government and urged people not to believe in speculation and fake news which it alleged was being peddled by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Top Congress sources have told CNN-News18 that the Karnataka CM post tussle is so far only between Siddaramaiah and DK Shivakumar as no third name is discussed during back-to-back meetings with top leadership of the Congress. Both the CM post aspirants to stay back in Delhi and no muscle flexing was done in front of party leader Rahul Gandhi during their meetings with him. Moreover, Gandhi has told party national president Mallikarjun Kharge today that neither he nor anyone from his family will decide or give opinion on the matter.

The party engaged in intensive discussions to determine a suitable leader for the government in the southern state. Another round of meetings with Shivakumar happened at around 10 am today, which reportedly worked as the deciding factor for the party.

Earlier, Gandhi also paid a visit to Kharges residence, where they held a lengthy meeting lasting over 90 minutes. Their conversation revolved around the chief ministership and the process of establishing a government in Karnataka, following the remarkable victory of the Congress in the May 10 assembly elections, where they secured 135 out of 224 seats.

During the meeting between Kharge and Gandhi, AICC general secretary in-charge for Karnataka Surjewala and general secretary (organisation) KC Venugopal were also present.

Sources said that final discussions could also be held in the presence of former Congress chief Sonia Gandhi.

Former chief minister Siddaramaiah, who has been camping in Delhi since Monday, met Kharge on Tuesday and discussed various issues related to Karnataka government formation. Siddaramaiah later drove to Venugopals residence for a meeting.

Karnataka Congress president Shivakumar arrived in Delhi from Bengaluru on Tuesday and drove straight to his brothers residence. He later met Kharge at around 5 pm and the meeting between the two lasted around half an hour.

Shivakumar earlier said the party is his mother and there was no question of his resigning from the organisation. We have built this party. No question, he said when asked about reports that he may resign from the party if not given the chief ministers post.

If any channel is reporting that I am resigning from the post, I will file a defamation case against them, he added.

On whether he will also meet Rahul Gandhi, he said, I have to meet all leaders. First, I have to meet my Congress president. My high command is there, my party is there, our MLAs are there  135, Shivakumar said as he left the residence of his brother and Bengaluru Rural MP DK Suresh.

Suresh said that since the party has won under his (Shivakumars) leadership as Pradesh Congress chief, he had the right to stake his claim on the top post.

He had earlier met Kharge on Monday evening at the latters residence after Shivakumar cancelled his visit to Delhi on Monday citing health issues.

Both Shivakumar and former chief minister Siddaramaiah are staking a claim on the top post and their supporters have been indulging in hectic lobbying.

Meanwhile, senior Congress leader G Parameshwara also threw his hat in the ring saying he is ready to take up the responsibility if the party high command asks him to run the government.

The former state Congress president said, the high command is aware of his service to the party and he doesnt feel the need to lobby for the post.

If the high command decides and asks me to run the government, Im ready to take up the responsibility, the former deputy chief minister told reporters in Bengaluru.

I have faith in the party high command. I have certain principles. I can also take about 50 legislators and do the shouting, but for me the discipline of the party is important. if the high command gives me the responsibility, I will take it up. I have not said I wont, he said.

They (high command) too are aware that I have worked for the party, served it for eight years (as KPCC President) and brought it to power (in 2013). I feel there is no need for me to ask for the post or lobby for it, and Im quiet. That doesnt mean Im incapable, Im capable and if given an opportunity will do the job, he added.

The newly-elected MLAs in Karnataka had on Sunday passed a one-line resolution authorising party chief Kharge to appoint the legislature party leader, who will be the new chief minister.

Kharge earlier held discussions with party leaders from Karnataka and the three observers appointed by him to oversee the Congress Legislature Party meeting held in Bengaluru on Sunday.

The three central observers  Sushil Kumar Shinde, Jitendra Singh and Deepak Babaria  had met all Congress MLAs individually and sought their views on who would be their choice of chief minister.

They also held a secret ballot on their choice for chief minister. The observers discussed the findings of their report and handed it over to Kharge on Monday night.

In the just-concluded Assembly elections, the Congress scored an emphatic victory with 135 seats while the ruling BJP and the former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda-led Janata Dal (Secular) secured 66 and 19 seats, respectively.
Back-to-back meetings, two Karnataka Chief Ministerial post aspirants Siddaramaiah and DK Shivakumar camping in Delhi, and intense speculation are underway as the top leadership in Congress is still mulling over who would bag the top job and discussing the modalities of government formation in the southern state.

Amid intense speculation over the next Karnataka CM, Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar on Wednesday met Congress national president Mallikarjun Kharge, party leader Rahul Gandhi, AICC general secretary in-charge for Karnataka Randeep Singh Surjewala and general secretary (organisation) KC Venugopal in Delhi separately to discuss government formation.

As per the current situation so far, former chief minister Siddaramaiah is being seen as the front-runner, while Karnataka Congress chief Shivakumar is seen taking a strong position, claiming that the state assembly elections were won under him as he has worked hard for ensuring a massive victory.

Here are some key updates on Karnatakas political development throughout the day:

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Addressing a presser outside Kharges residence in Delhi, Surjewala today said a decision on the Karnataka chief minister is likely by Wednesday or Thursday and a new cabinet will be in place in the next 48-72 hours.

He also asserted that Karnataka will have a five-year-long stable government and urged people not to believe in speculation and fake news" which it alleged was being peddled by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

A late night meeting between Siddaramaiah, Surjewala and Venugopal was held in the national capital and another report will be submitted to Kharge likely on Thursday.

Earlier in the day, Gandhi met both the top contenders of Karnataka CM post in Delhi. Top Congress sources have told CNN-News18 that the Karnataka CM post tussle is so far only between Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar as no third name is discussed during back-to-back meetings with top leadership of the Congress. No muscle flexing was done in front of party leader Gandhi by both the leaders during their meetings with him.

Sources have also revealed that Gandhi has told Kharge today that neither he nor anyone from his family will decide or give opinion on the matter.

Other sources added that Shivakumar has told Kharge that he is not ready" for the Deputy Chief Minister post. He will also be stationed in Delhi till the issue is resolved.

While the supporters of both leaders are pitching for their respective leaders, Congress is reportedly working on a power-sharing formula to make all sections happy.



On Tuesday night, Siddaramaiah told a senior Vokkaliga MLA that it has to be either him or a third person, but not his competitor Shivakumar". According to the MLA, Siddaramaiah told him that all surveys have given him the highest approval ratings and Shivakumar has got just 10 per cent of it. Plus, the AHINDA  Minorities, Backward Classes and Dalits  have voted for the Congress in a big way, hoping that Siddaramaiah will be made the Chief Minister and if not, they will move away from the party in the coming Lok Sabha elections, claimed the MLA.





Meanwhile, sources said on Tuesday that Shivakumar told top leadership that he has no problem if Kharge becomes the Chief Minister of the state. However, he said if he is not given the CM post then he will sit as an MLA in the assembly and he is not open to any other offer.



(with inputs from PTI)
Anusha Dandekar, who began her career in showbiz as a VJ on MTV, has recently revealed the significant pay gap between men and women in the field of anchoring. According to Anusha, her male co-hosts would receive double the salary and enjoy more airtime compared to their female counterparts. Anusha Dandekar hosted many shows including House of Style, Love School, Dance Crew, Teen Diva for MTV. She was also one of the judges on Indias Next Top Model.

Anusha, during an interaction with Hauterrfly, said, My co-host doing the same job, the same hours, the same amount of styling changes, everything, was getting paid double than me. She added, It was like were doing the same job and then when youd see the footage, you keep more of his role in it than mine. Anusha said recalling that when she asked for equal air time with her male co-host, he got angry and walked off set. When I put my foot down and said hey, listen if I am the co-host, then keep us equal in the camera, he stormed off. And I was like, I just got fair air time, I didnt storm off in the first three seasons, she said.

During the same interview, Anusha, who was born and raised in Australia, opened up about a personal experience with racism in her home country. While working as a video jockey for MTV, she went shopping with her girlfriend and was filled with excitement about being back in Australia. During a shopping trip, the shopkeeper showed preferential treatment towards Anushas white friend, repeatedly ignoring Anusha. When she requested to see a pair of sunglasses, the owner asked about her nationality and took a dig at her suggesting that she couldnt afford the expensive product.
After the power-packed prison break sequence in the previous teaser, actor Chris Hemsworth is back in action in the official trailer of Extraction 2. The second instalment brings back Tyler Rake, the infamous Australian black ops mercenary, who barely survived the aftermath of the last mission. He was clinically dead for months and barely managed to survive, Tyler just needs to find out the reason why he fought his way back from the brink of death in the upcoming Netflix film. This time he is tasked with the yet-another brutal mission of rescuing the distressed family of a notorious Georgian gangster from the jail where theyre held hostage.

With Sam Hargrave back as the director, and Joe Russo taking over the script, the makers werent joking when they geared fans for an explosive trailer. Glimpses of Tyler Rake shooting men and sending them flying during lethal combat sequences take up a major portion of the recently-released clip. Using genius trickery to deceive enemies like pulling out a grenade pin attached to a lift door or entering a train filled with goons without breaking a sweat, triggers a feeling of wanting to see more.

Behind all the high-octane action and a muscular Chris Hemsworth, lies an emotional trauma that he battles throughout the movie. While the first movies narrative was thrilling with all the fight scenes, the Extraction 2 trailer promises to be high on the story department as well. Putting his life on the line, the follow-up film gives out the much-needed adrenaline pump thats sure to leave viewers on the edge of their seats. Watch the trailer here:

Whats more interesting is that the viewers get a good glimpse of Chris Hemsworths unbelievable 21-minute one-shot action sequence, which the Russo brothers teased before dropping the trailer. What if we told you that all of these posters were from the same oner, a 21-minute long oner? Get ready, the Russo Brothers stated next to a movie poster of Extraction 2 on Monday.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by The Russo Brothers (@therussobrothers)

Apart from Chris Hemsworth, Adam Bessa, and Golshifeth Farahami reprise their roles from the first movie. The storyline takes inspiration from the graphic novel Ciudad created by Ande Parks. Extraction 2 will release on Netflix on June 16.
Arnold Schwarzenegger, known for his iconic roles, delved into his personal life while promoting his highly-anticipated Netflix show, Fubar. Portraying a complex character, a CIA operative grappling with the aftermath of a failed marriage due to infidelity, Schwarzenegger couldnt help but draw striking parallels between his on-screen journey and his own real-life cheating scandal. With honesty and introspection, the Terminator legend admitted that filming Fubar felt eerily akin to capturing his own life story.

What went wrong between Arnold Schwarzenegger and his wife?

It was back in 1977 when the actor met Maria Shriver falling head over heels for her. Almost a decade later, the couple got hitched in Massachusetts on April 26, 1986. The two then went on to embrace parenthood by welcoming four children together Katherine, Christina, Patrick, and Christopher. It was after the end of the actors tenure as governor of California when he confessed to fathering another son, Joseph Baena, with an employee in their household. Maria Shriver filed for divorce in 2011 ending their 25-year-old marriage, which wasnt finalized until December 2021, following a lengthy and complicated legal battle over a property settlement agreement.

Arnold Schwarzenegger addresses divorce

Now, during an interaction with The Hollywood Reporter, the Terminator star called the divorce a failure in his life. While making references to his onscreen role, he said, We were laughing about it. It feels like its a documentary. But in [my real-life marriage to Shriver], it was my f**k up. It was my failure. Also, in the show, hes deep down still in love with his wife.

Though the cheating scandal was highly publicized by the media, the actor asserts the former couple has continued to remain on friendly terms. He admitted the divorce was quite difficult but the actor is proud of how the duo maneuvered around it to raise their kids in an amicable manner. [The divorce] was very, very difficult in the beginning. She and I are really good friends, and very close and we are very proud of the way we raised our kids, even though we had this drama, we did Easter together, Mothers Day together, Christmas together, all birthdays, everything together," he continued.

Arnold Schwarzenegger also quipped if there were to be an Oscar on how to handle divorce, he and Maria would make for deserving candidates looking at how least amount of impact the turbulence has had on their kids.

Fubar will begin to stream on Netflix on May 25.
The 76th edition of the Cannes Film Festival opened with a French work, Jeanne Du Barry, with Johnny Depp playing King Louis XV. This is a sort of comeback for the actor after his messy legal cases with his former wife, Amber Heard, and a newspaper. Helmed by Maiwenn  who co-wrote the screenplay and portrays the title character  the movie played out of competition.

Jeanne is the illegitimate daughter of a monk and a cook, and she educates herself in sophistry and even a good education, thanks to the big aristocrats whom her single mother worked for. When the mother and daughter move to Paris, Jeanne meets King Louis, and it is lust at first sight.

Maiwenns fascination for Jeanne du Barry began after she watched Sofia Coppolas 2006 film, Marie Antoinette. She said at the start of the movie. When I saw Asia Argento as Madame du Barry, I immediately felt a complicity with her, she says. The more I read about her, the more it confirmed this and it hasnt stopped. I saw facets of my own personality in Jeanne du Barry, she adds. I believe in freedom  I think it is what is most sexy, most seductive, most charismatic. And Ive always loved marginal people.

The screening was followed by a seven-minute-long standing ovation. While the crowd celebrated Depps comeback, the actor was seen tearing up. In a video shared by Ramin Setoodeh, Co-Editor-in-Chief of Variety, on Twitter, Depp was seen wiping tears as the crowd around him gave him an ovation. He also hugged Maiwenn and thanked everyone in the room with folded hands.

Johnny Depp tears up as #Cannes2023 showers him with a seven-minute standing ovation at the premiere of Jeanne du Barry. pic.twitter.com/RsZjtao8O7 Ramin Setoodeh (@RaminSetoodeh) May 16, 2023

As part of the opening night, American actor Michael Douglas received his honorary Palme dOr. Actress Uma Thurman, who introduced Douglas, called him a titan and forever star before he received a prolonged standing ovation as he took the stage. There are hundreds of film festivals all over the world but theres only one Cannes," said Douglas.

Earlier in the day at the jury press conference, Swedish director Ruben Ostlund, who has two Palme dOrs for The Square in 2017 and Triangle of Sadness in 2022, said: The Golden Palme is the greatest film prize in the world. For me, if I can choose between an Oscar or a Palme dOr, its an easy choice. Id rather have another Palme than an Oscar. He chairs this years main Competition jury.

Ostlund, who received his first Oscar nominations earlier this year for best director and original screenplay for Triangle Of Sadness, said the Academy Awards come with a different brand around increasing viewership for the nominated films.

I started film school in the 1990s. A teacher at that school, their reference was always going back to Cannes, said the director. I look at myself as a European film director; Im part of a European tradition. The role of cinema we have in European culture is something Im willing to fight for, he added.

The Cannes Festival runs till May 27.
Hollywood stars Tom Holland and Zendaya have left fans mesmerised by their chemistry. Their public appearances have been captured time and again by paparazzi, providing glimpses into their extraordinary love story. What began as an endearing friendship on the set of Marvels Spider-Man: Homecoming in 2017 has blossomed into a romance that knows no bounds. Tom Holland and Zendayas undeniable chemistry and genuine connection have sparked a wave of admiration among fans.

Tom Holland and Zendaya were recently spotted in Venice where they were papped sharing some intimate moments on a boat, as reported by ET News. Zendaya and Holland visited Glassworks in Murano and then took a boat ride through the Venetian canals.

The Euphoria actress was seen cuddling and kissing her boyfriend in the pictures which soon went viral on social media. While Zendaya, in the pictures, was seen donning an all-black outfit composed of a jacket, top, and high-waisted black trousers, Tom Holland looked dapper in his jacket, dark grey trousers, and shades.

The pictures of the couple romancing in Venice come only two weeks after they enjoyed a date night at the Golden State Warriors vs. Los Angeles Lakers game. Prior to it, the couple had some fun singing along and losing their voices during Ushers Las Vegas residency. Earlier, a Twitter thread also went viral showing the couple holding hands in public. The pictures had their fans in complete awe.

tom and zendaya will always find a way to hold hands no matter what pic.twitter.com/h7NcoG0jax bianca (@evermorIey) May 5, 2023

According to reports, Zendaya and Tom Holland are together since 2021. Prior to dating Tom Holland, Zendaya was reportedly in a relationship with her Euphoria co-star Jacob Elordi. Tom Holland and Zendaya have chosen to maintain a level of privacy regarding the details of their romance. They have not yet walked a red carpet together as a couple, and their personal lives have largely remained a topic they prefer to keep to themselves.

Holland shared his perspective on the matter during an interview with GQ in November 2021. He discussed the challenges of maintaining privacy in the face of their fame and how certain moments intended to be cherished between two people are now shared with the entire world. Tom Holland expressed his desire to preserve his private life amidst the already public nature of his career, acknowledging that he and Zendaya felt their privacy had been compromised. Ive always been really adamant to keep my private life private, because I share so much of my life with the world anyway. We sort of felt robbed of our privacy," the actor said.

With their individual star power and undeniable chemistry, Zendaya and Tom Holland continue to capture the attention and fascination of their dedicated fanbase. The couple has shared the screen space in all three instalments of the Spider-Man movies included in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
TV series Tere Ishq Mein Ghayal, starring Gashmeer Mahajani, Reem Shaikh, and Karan Kundrra, debuted on February 13 and grabbed a great deal of interest as a fantasy drama. However, in a few days, the show lost its charm despite an ensemble cast and thrilling storyline. As per the latest reports, the Yash Patanaik show is set to go off-air in June this year. The news was confirmed by one of the lead actresses, Reem Shaikh.

In an interview with ETimes TV, Reem Shaikh, who plays the role of Eisha on Tere Ishq Mein Ghayal, shared that the entire cast knew that this was a finite series and would end in about 52 episodes before they started filming it. She added that the series is performing well on the channels online platform, and each and every actor is putting up their best performance. Reem added, It is okay if a show was not able to connect with the TV audience; we win some and lose some."

Many actors have made cameos or brief appearances on the show over the past few months, including Kamya Punjabi, Aditi Rawat, Nia Sharma, Shilpa Agnihotri, and most recently, Rrahul Sudhir. Rrahul told ETimes: Somehow I gravitate towards playing grey roles. I dont know how long my role lasts. As of now, I will stay in the show till the end. I look forward to working with the Tere Ishq Mein Ghayal team."

The concept of the show is often compared to the famous American series The Vampire Diaries. The story revolves around the life protagonist Eisha (Reem Sameer Shaikh), who has a close bond with two brothers named Veer (Karan Kundrra) and Armaan (Gashmeer Mahajani). The two brothers are werewolves, whereas Eisha is a human. They embark on a difficult journey filled with love and heartache.

Reem Shaikh has been in the television industry for a while now. She has worked on several shows. Some of them are Na Bole Tum Na Maine Kuch Kaha, Chakravartin Ashoka Samrat, Tujhse Hai Raabta, Gul Makai. Most recently, she featured in the soap opera named Fanaa: Ishq Mein Marjawan.
Eight cases filed by the CBI, Enforcement Directorate (ED), Income Tax Department and the Karnataka Lokayukatha, and one summon by ED - these are the nine matters that Congress Chief Ministerial aspirant DK Shivakumar faces currently that could act as an impediment in his pitch for the Karnataka CM chair.

Interestingly, all these nine matters are presently pending a challenge before either the Supreme Court or the High Court with Shivakumar seeking the cases to be quashed. News18 has reported how former CM Siddaramaiah has cited the cases pending against Shivakumar to argue that he should not be made the CM, as the central investigative agencies could soon be at his door and the government would face jeopardy. But a closer look at the legal status of the cases show Shivakumar has been knocking at the courts doors to get these cases quashed.

The earliest cases date back to 2012 in which the Karnataka Lokayukhta Police had booked Shivakumar for corruption in two cases. The BJP was in power in the state then. But three years later, the High Court quashed both these cases in 2015. The Lokayuktha challenged the decision in the Supreme Court in 2016 but the Special Leave Petition (SLP) was dismissed as withdrawn. In 2019, a plea was filed to restore that SLP  but no notice has been served to Shivakumar so far.

Setback for IT department

The Income Tax department filed four cases against Shivakumar in 2018 when the Congress and JD(S) were in power together. These cases were on the charges of willful attempt of evading income tax and destruction of evidence. In one of these cases, Shivakumar filed an appeal before the High court for discharge from the case but it was dismissed in 2019. In 2020, Shivakumar went to the Supreme Court and a notice has since been issued to the Income Tax department by the apex court.

In the three other IT cases, Shivakumar has had a big win as he was discharged before the framing of charges by a Special Court set up exclusively to deal with criminal cases related to MPs/MLAs in Karnataka. The IT Department filed an appeal in all three cases before the High Court which were also dismissed by the court in 2021.

Ultimately, the IT Department went to the Supreme Court in 2021 in appeals in all the three cases, which are pending for adjudication presently.

The Worry  ED and CBI

Shivakumars worry comes from the ED and the CBI. The ED booked him under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in 2018 and the case has been pending before a Special Court in Delhi since 2022 but charges have not been framed yet. This case was borne out of the earlier IT case which continues against him. Shivakumar challenged the ED case through a writ petition in the Karnataka High Court which was dismissed by the court in 2019. Subsequently, Shivakumar challenged the case before the SC in 2019 and the same is pending adjudication. It was in this case that ED arrested Shivakumar in 2019 and he spent 50 days in jail.

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In another PMLA matter, the ED issued a summon to Shivakumar to appear before the agency. Shivakumar has however challenged the summons by going to the Supreme Court in 2022, which is pending adjudication.

The CBI booked Shivakumar for corruption and disproportionate assets in a case in 2020 in which the framing of charges is still pending. The Karnataka government, then of the BJP, gave sanction to the CBI to prosecute Shivakumar in the case which the latter has challenged before the Karnataka High court and the matter is pending adjudication. Shivakumar has last year also filed a plea in the High Court to quash the said FIR of the CBI and the court has presently stayed the investigation and Shivakumars plea is pending adjudication.
People will be now able to block and track their lost or stolen mobile phones across India via the Sanchar Saathi portal launched by the Department of Telecom on Tuesday.

Union telecom minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said that through Sanchar Saathi Portal, people will be able to block, track and check the genuineness of a used device before buying them.

First leg of Sanchar Saathi portal is CEIR (Central Equipment Identity Register). If you lose your mobile phone, then you can visit this portal. There will be some identity verification, requirement of undertaking and immediately after this the portal will interact with law enforcement agencies and telecom service providers and block your lost mobile phone," Vaishnaw said.

He said that Prime Minister has a clear vision that a lot of attention needs to be paid to user safety and the facilities under Sanchar Saathi portal are aligned to his vision.

Know Your Mobile

The minister said that there is Know Your Mobile facility Sanchar Saathi which help users verify genuineness of second-hand mobile phone before buying them.

We feel confident that at least with these reforms, at least the rising trends in cyber frauds will be seriously controlled and we will be able to bring them down," Vaishnaw said.

He said that there is TAFCOP facility on Sanchar Saathi to help people check if there are other mobile numbers working in their name without their permission or knowledge.

Who Developed Sanchar Saathi?

The Sanchar Saathi facilities have been developed by C-DoT. The technology development arm under the Department of Telecom has been able to add feature to check use of cloned mobile phones across all telecom networks.

The government has made it mandatory to disclose IMEI- a 15-digit unique numeric identifier of mobile devices before their sale in India.

The mobile networks will have access to the list of approved IMEI numbers which will check the entry of any unauthorised mobile phones on their network.

Telecom operators and CEIR system will have visibility into IMEI number of the device and mobile number linked to it and the information is being used in some states to track your lost or stolen mobiles through CEIR.

One of the common practices is that miscreants after stealing mobile phone change IMEI number of the device which prevents tracking and blocking of such handsets.

The CEIR will be able to block any cloned mobile phones on the network with the help of various databases.

About C-DOT

C-DOT has been running the pilot of the technology in some of the telecom circles including Delhi, Maharashtra, Karnataka and North East. Recently, Karnataka Police recovered and handed over 2,500 lost mobile phones to their owners using the CEIR system. Apple already has a system to track lost mobile phones with the help of Apple id but major issues have been around Android mobile phones.

With the new system in place, it will be futile to use stolen mobile phones. The system developed under Sanchar Saathi can also help in curbing the smuggling of phones.

What About Fraud Calls on WhatsApp?

When asked about measures that the government is taking to check fraud through calls on WhatsApp, the minister said that Meta owned app has agreed to deactivate services linked to any mobile phone number engaged in fraudulent activities.

We have actively engaged with WhatsApp and they have agreed that customer safety is most important. All the OTT platforms are actively cooperating to deregister the users which have been detected as fraud users," Vaishnaw said.

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He said that 36 lakh mobile connections have been disconnected for fraud and simultaneously their WhatsApp account has been blocked.

With inputs from PTI
President Joe Bidens departure Wednesday to the G7 in Japan was meant to launch a geostrategic masterclass on rallying the worlds democracies against China. Instead, he will limp into an abruptly truncated journey facing concerns that the US debt ceiling row is about to tear up the global economy.

Biden arrives Thursday in Hiroshima, one of the two cities hit by US atomic bombs in 1945  a closing chapter to World War II and the start of an era of US leadership across the Pacific that Beijing now seeks to supplant. He will meet leaders from the rest of the G7 club  Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan  that has been so crucial in the US-led drive to enforce unprecedented economic sanctions on China-ally Russia for invading Ukraine.

However, visits next week to Papua New Guinea and to a Sydney summit of the Quad, comprising Australia, India, Japan and the United States, were canceled so that Biden can rush back Sunday and negotiate with Republican opponents on the debt ceiling. For a president who often warns that democracies are in an existential fight to prove their viability against the worlds autocracies, its a sobering moment.

Its extraordinarily hard to go to the G7 and talk about economic unity against Russia, economic unity against China, when the dysfunction is coming from inside the house," Josh Lipsky, at the Atlantic Council, said. Biden downplayed the reshuffling of his schedule, saying, the nature of the presidency is addressing many critical matters all at once."

Amid the developments, lets understand what the US debt ceiling is:

What is the Debt Ceiling?

The debt ceiling is the maximum amount of money that the United States government can borrow to pay for services like social security, Medicare, and the military, as per a report by the Guardian.

Every year, the government collects revenue from taxes and other sources like as customs duties, but it ultimately spends more than it collects. This leaves the government with a deficit that has fluctuated between $400 billion and $3 trillion every year over the last decade. The deficit remaining at the end of the year is eventually added to the countrys total debt.

To borrow money, the United States Treasury issues securities such as US government bonds, which it will eventually repay with interest. When the US government reaches its debt limit, the treasury is unable to issue new securities, thus halting a critical flow of funds into the federal government.

The debt limit, which is currently set at $31.4 trillion, is established by Congress. Since 1960, the debt ceiling has been increased 78 times by both Democratic and Republican presidents. At times, the ceiling was briefly suspended and then reinstated at a higher maximum, thus raising the debt cap retroactively, the report says.

What Happens if

Because the United States has never defaulted on its debt before, it is uncertain what will happen. Its not going to be good, the report argues.

Failure to meet the governments obligation would cause irreparable harm to the US economy, the livelihoods of all Americans, and global financial stability," US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen stated earlier this year in a letter to Congress.

Investors would lose confidence in the US dollar, causing the economy to deteriorate rapidly. Job layoffs would be inevitable, and the US federal government would be unable to continue providing all of its services. Mortgage rates would almost certainly rise, causing the housing market to sink.

Why is US Debt So High?

When the government spends more money or when revenue is lower, the US debt grows.

The United States has been in debt at some point in its history. However, the debt began to balloon in the 1980s, following Ronald Reagans massive tax cuts. Because there was less tax revenue, the government had to borrow more money to spend.

The end of the cold war allowed the government to reduce defence spending during the 1990s, while a flourishing economy resulted in more tax collections. The dotcom boom burst in the early 2000s, causing a recession, as per the report.

George W. Bush reduced taxes twice, in 2001 and 2003, before the US military campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan escalated spending by approximately $6 trillion over the course of the conflict.When the Great Recession began in 2008, the government had to raise expenditure to bail out banks and expand social services as the jobless rate reached 10%.

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When the jobless rate recovered to pre-recession levels in 2017, Donald Trump signed a substantial tax cut into law. During his presidency, the national debt increased by $7.8 trillion.Then came the Covid-19 epidemic. The US government passed a series of stimulus legislation totaling $5 trillion to mitigate the worst of the pandemics effects.

AFP contributed to this report
A woman sub-inspector of Assam Police, Junmoni Rabha, who was involved in many controversies, was killed when her car collided head-on with a container truck in Nagaon district on Tuesday, officials said. The 30-year-old cop was popularly known as Lady Singham or Dabang cop courtesy of her strict demeanour towards criminals.

The incident occurred at Sarubhugia village under the Jakhalabandha police station of Kaliabor Sub-Division. SI Rabha was alone in a private car and not in uniform at the time of the accident. At around 2:30 am, a police patrol team reached the spot and rushed her to a nearby hospital where she was declared brought dead. The police seized the container truck which was coming from Uttar Pradesh, but the driver fled from the spot after the accident.

Rabha was currently serving as the in charge of the Morikolong police outpost.

Suspecting foul play, Rabhas family demanded an impartial probe into the accident. Assam DGP GP Singh said that the case has been transferred to CID. In wake of a request of a fair probe from various sections of society into FIR Nu 0183/2023 and death of SI Junmoni Rabha, it has been decided to transfer the investigation to CID Assam," tweeted Singh.

Who was Junmoni Rabha?

Lady Singham Junmoni Rabha came into the limelight when her telephonic conversation with BJP MLA from Bihpuria Amiya Kumar Bhuyan was leaked in January 2022. In the leaked audio, the duo appeared to be embroiled in a heated argument over the arrest of several boatmen for operating country boats with machines fitted illegally" and alleged harassment of the people from Bhuyans constituency by Rabha.

Junmoni Rabha was earlier arrested for alleged corruption with her former beau and remanded to judicial custody by a court in the Majuli district, leading to suspension from the service. The suspension was lifted later and she returned to service.

North Lakhimpur police had registered an extortion case against Rabha u/s 120-B, 395, 397, 342 and 387 a day before the accident on May 15.

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Ref death of SI Junmoni Rabha on May 16th 2023 - FIR Nu 0183/2023 was registered on May 15th 2023 at North Lakhimpur PS u/s 120-B, 395,397,342,387 in which name of SI Junmoni Rabha was mentioned as an accused. @lakhimpurpolice and @nagaonpolice took lawful action pursuant to GP Singh (@gpsinghips) May 16, 2023

DGP Singh stated that the investigation of the extortion case will also be handled by the CID simultaneously.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president J P Nadda called on Chief Minister Eknath Shinde here on Wednesday on the first day of the formers two-day visit to the state.

Nadda met Shinde at Varsha, the official residence of the chief minister in south Mumbai.

The Chief Ministers Office (CMO) termed Naddas visit as a courtesy call.

The meeting between the two leaders assumes significance in the wake of the Supreme Court judgement last week in which it ruled that it cannot reinstate the then chief minister Uddhav Thackeray as he chose to resign without facing a floor test.

Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, BJP state unit president Chandrashekhar Bawankule, the partys state unit in-charge C T Ravi and its Mumbai unit chief Ashish Shelar were present during the meeting between Nadda and Shinde.

The Shinde-led government, which came to power by toppling the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) dispensation, will complete a year in office next month. Shinde was earlier a cabinet minister in the Uddhav Thackeray-led MVA government.

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In June 2022, Shinde and 39 other MLAs revolted against their party leadership, leading to a split in the Shiv Sena. Shinde later became the CM with the BJPs support.

The local body polls in parts of Maharashtra, including the state capital Mumbai, are expected this year.
Another serious allegation involving Sameer Wankhede, the former head of the Mumbai Zone Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), was levelled after a foreign national accused his team of theft.

A British citizen, who was once arrested by Sameer Wankhede in a drug seizure case, now alleged that the former NCB officials team stole his Rolex Daytona wristwatch worth Rs 30 lakhs while he was in custody, reported India Today.

Talking to India Today, the British national Karan Sajnani said, The Investigating Officer of the case took away my Daytona Rolex watch worth Rs 30 lacs and this wasnt shown in the seized items list. The IO of the case was Ashish Ranjan".

This comes after Wankhede and four other people were booked by CBI for allegedly seeking a Rs 25 crore bribe for not framing Shah Rukh Khans son Aryan Khan in the drugs-on-cruise case.

The former NCB officer is also being probed by the CBI for the purchase and sale of luxury watches.

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He has also not declared the source of his foreign visits properly. It was also found that Wankhede has indulged himself in the sale and purchase of expensive wristwatches with a private entity, Viral Rajan, without intimating the department (present or parent)," the SET said in the findings which are now part of the FIR.

The NCB, which had filed a charge sheet in the drugs-on-cruise case, gave a clean chit to Aryan Khan, while an SIT set up by the anti-drugs agency claimed the probe led by Wankhede had lapsed.
The nine deaths in a blast in an illegal firecracker factory in East Medinipurs Egra block have set off a political war of words in West Bengal, with the BJP claiming the blast was triggered by a bomb and not crackers.

The claim has been bolstered by locals on the ground who said the explosion was so intense that a few charred bodies were flung into a pond nearby.

In order to uncover the truth, CIDs forensics team collected specimens from the area on Tuesday night. Speaking to the media, East Medinipur SP Amarnath K said: So far, we have no confirmation that bombs were being manufactured at the site. We have begun a probe. Forensic experts will examine the spot to find out the truth.

Amid the political buzz, locals allege that the factory owner, Krishnopada Bag, is a former TMC panchayat member and was able to dodge the police despite multiple complaints by the villagers as he had the ruling partys backing. Bag has been missing since Tuesday.

Given that the area where the incident occurred is just five kilometres away from the Odisha border, questions have also been raised about how the factory was allowed to function. The in-charge of the areas thana has also been served a show-cause notice.

Most of the deceased were labourers in the factory and their angry kin gheraoed the police on Tuesday and reportedly attacked the personnel.

Oppositions Claim

Taking potshots at the Trinamool Congress, Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari tweeted: Huge explosion in Sahara ( ) Village in Egra; Purba Medinipur, at the local Regional Tola-Mool Party" leader - Krishnapada Bags (alias Bhanu) house. I am receiving news from the ground that the number of casualties is enormous. Immediately Central Forces should be deployed as dead bodies are being shifted illegally by Mamata Police. I urge @HMOIndia & Honble @BengalGovernor to initiate @NIA_India investigation as early as possible before evidence is tampered. Bengal has become the stockpile of explosives. God save Bengal. @AmitShah

Adhikari, who reached the site of the blast on Wednesday, has filed a petition in the Calcutta High Court demanding an NIA probe into the incident. Hearing on the issue will take place on Thursday.

The BJP claimed that bombs were being manufactured at the facility in the run-up to panchayat elections which are due in a few months.

BJP spokesperson Sameek Bhattacharya said: Panchayat elections are coming so they need bombs to get their way through violence.

Echoing the sentiment, BJPs Amit Malviya tweeted: Bomb making is the only cottage industry in Mamata Banerjees West Bengal, which is flourishing at an industrial scale Today, one such factory (in Purba Medinipur, Egra PS) exploded, killing over 20 people The explosion was so powerful that charred bodies flew approx 100 mtrs from the spot These crude bombs were to be used, in all probability, with impunity, by the ruling TMC, during Panchayat elections, which are due in a few months

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, while calling out the BJPs politics, said she was not against an NIA probe but the truth should come out. Let them ask for NIA or whatever Its district of their so-called leader (Adhikari). We are with the people there.

Past Incidents

This is not the first time that Bengals image as an alleged bomb-making factory has hit headlines. In the past, incidents of children getting injured or killed while playing with bombs have rattled the state. Sources in the administration say what adds to the problem is the fact that people who are often arrested for bomb making get bail easily.

Interestingly, Bag has been in the news for his factory in the past too. Sources say a blast on the premises in 1995 led to the deaths of four people. In 2001, his brother was one of those affected by a blast. A repeat was seen in 2014 and now again in 2023. Bag was arrested last year but secured bail.

Role of Police

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The Egra incident has also put the police in the dock with questions such as was police unaware of the factory? Why did it not take action against Bag despite repeated complaints from locals?

After the Bogtui incident, where more than 10 people were allegedly burnt alive, Banerjee had ordered police to strictly deal with bomb-making in the state. However, the Egra incident shows that on the ground, nothing seems to have changed in Bengal.
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Wednesday

"Spectres of Benton County Past," through May 27. A virtual and on-location historical mystery adventure through time and space presented by the Benton County Historic Resources Commission and Conundrum House. A new adventure will be released Saturday, May 20. Clue Hunt Grand Finale, 5 to 7:30 p.m. Saturday, May 27, Corvallis Museum, 411 SW Second St. Free; all ages. Information: spectrespast.com.

"Art About Agriculture Competition and Touring Exhibition 2023," through June 15, Giustina Gallery at the LaSells Stewart Center, 875 SW 26th St., Corvallis. Celebrating the 40th anniversary of Oregon State University's College of Agricultural Sciences' juried program. Jury-selected artworks from artists from 20 counties throughout Oregon, Washington and Idaho. Reception, 5 to 7:30 p.m. Thursday, May 25, in the gallery. Hours: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays through Fridays, plus evenings and weekends when events are scheduled.

"Digital Arts for Adults," 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. May 17, 24 and 30, Maxtivity Art and Craft Creative Space, 1604 Main St., Philomath. Cost: $99. Registration: https://tinyurlc.om/22rytxvm.

Live music by John Shipe, 6 to 8 p.m., Common Fields, 545 SW Third St., Corvallis. Free admission.

Comedy Open Mic, 7:30 p.m., Old World Deli, 341 SW Second St., Corvallis. Hosted by Terry Geil. Signup starts at 5:30.

Thursday

Benton County Historic Courthouse tours, 10 a.m., 2 p.m., 120 NW Fourth St., Corvallis. Tour this 1888 building, the oldest courthouse in the state in continuous operation. The building graces the logos of both Benton County and the city of Corvallis. The interior and furnishings have been preserved. The tour requires going through a security scanner; do not bring sharp objects. Led by Jill Van Buren. Limited to 20 people. Free registration for 10 a.m.: https://bit.ly/42ZSyJ0; free registration for 2 p.m.: https://bit.ly/3W8Vr84.

Corvallis Arts Walk, 4 to 8 p.m., downtown. Tour working studios of local artists, see them at work and view their art. Map available at www.corvallisartswalk.com.

"Sgraffito: Pictures in Clay," 5 to 7 p.m., Maxtivity Art and Craft Creative Space, 1604 Main St., Philomath. Age 9 and up. Cost: $55. Registration: https://tinyurlc.om/22rytxvm.

Live music by Sara LeComte, 6 to 8 p.m., Common Fields, 545 SW Third St., Corvallis. Free admission.

"C3 Dance Night!," 6:30 p.m., Corvallis Community Center, 2601 NW Tyler Ave. Each dance has a different theme.

Live music by Dennis Monroe's Funked Up Blues Jam, 7 to 10 p.m., Old World Deli, 341 SW Second St., Corvallis.

"Love, Loss and What I Wore," 7:30 p.m. Thursday through Saturday, May 18 through 20, Albany Civic Theater, 111 W. First Ave. Tickets: $11 to $14 at albanycivic.org.

Friday

Benton Center Acoustic Showcase, noon, student lounge, Linn-Benton Community College Benton Center, 757 NW Polk Ave., Corvallis. The Wrygrass Wranglers will perform. Jim Reams, Tom Demarest, Dan Feekes and Steve Ferrier will give a nod toward traditional bluegrass, flavors of '60s and '70s folk music and acoustic blues, with a little "wry" humor thrown in. Information: 541-757-8944.

"Shawala: The Lost Town of Orleans," 2 p.m.; meet at Howland Plaza, Riverfront Commemorative Park, 200 SW First St., Corvallis, to hike across the Van Buren Bridge to visit the location and learn the history of Orleans. Hiking along the east bank of the Willamette River to its confluence with the Marys River, you can look across the river to Shawala and learn some of its history. The hike is about one and a half miles on fairly flat ground, partially on pavement, but mostly on a dirt road.

Live music by BMW Jazz Trio, 7 to 10 p.m., Old World Deli, 341 SW Second St., Corvallis.

"Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street" by Stephen Sondheim, 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, May 19 and 20; and 2:30 p.m. Sunday, May 21, Majestic Theatre, 115 SW Second St., Corvallis. This musical thriller may not be suitable for children. Tickets: $20 for adults, $17 for students and seniors, at www.majestic.org.

Saturday

Historic Preservation Month: Fort Hoskins Interpretive Celebration Day, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Fort Hoskins Historical Park, 38150 Fort Hoskins Road, Philomath. Join members of the Alliance for Recreation and Natural Areas as they give you a tour inside the Commander's House and explain the history and importance of Fort Hoskins. Live music by Wild Hog in the Woods. Free.

Annual Klatowa Ina Pow-Wow, noon to 8 p.m., Gill Coliseum, 660 SW 26th St., Corvallis. Free community event celebrating Indigenous culture and heritage. Indigenous performers and a marketplace offering authentic Native American crafts. Grand entry at 1 p.m. and 6 p.m. Traditional dance, music and singing. Presented by the Native American Student Association and Kaku-Ixt Mana Ina Haws in collaboration with the Division of Student Affairs and university partners. Information: luhui.whitebear@oregonstate.edu.

Majestic Readers' Theatre presents "The Thin Place" by Lucas Hnath, 3 p.m. Saturday, May 20; 7 p.m. Sunday, May 21, Majestic Theatre, 115 SW Second St., Corvallis. Tickets: $13 to $15.

Contra dance, 7 to 10:30 p.m., Gatton Hall, First Congregational United Church of Christ, 4515 SW West Hills Road, Corvallis. Stage Crew with Isaac Banner.

Daimh in concert, 7 p.m., Whiteside Theatre, 361 SW Madison Ave., Corvallis. A folk band that performs in Scottish Gaelic. Information: https://app.arts-people.com/index.php?show=162560.

Live music by the Hilltop Big Band, 7 to 10 p.m., Old World Deli, 341 SW Second St., Corvallis.

Sunday

Open house, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., historic Independent School, 25381 SW Airport Ave., Philomath. One of Benton County's few remaining one-room schoolhouses, built in 1919. An example of a Craftsman-style schoolhouse with a bungalow floor plan. Ask to hear the school bell ring. Free.

Sunday Brunch with Sam Holmes and the Tappet Brothers, 10 a.m. to noon, Old World Deli, 341 SW Second St., Corvallis. Live music.

Open house, 1 to 4 p.m., historic Green B. Smith/John Rickard home, 5570 SW Third St., Corvallis. Tour with guides and owners Larry and Rebecca Landis. Free.

100-Year Celebration, 1 to 4 p.m., Willamette Grange Hall, 27555 Greenberry Road, Corvallis. The hall is a nationally registered historic building undergoing restoration. Demonstration and training stations on historic window restoration and paint removal. Free.

Oregon State University Reading Series, 5 p.m., Old World Deli, 341 SW Second St., Corvallis. Students in the OSU Creative Writing Master of Fine Arts program will share their work with the community: stories, excerpts, essays, poems and more.

Tuesday

College Hill West Historic District walking tour, 1 p.m.; meet at the intersection of Northwest Jackson Avenue and Northwest Arnold Way, Corvallis. The district contains more than 250 houses dating from 1905 through 1945. The neighborhood was developed by the builders of Oregon State University. The tour will focus on bungalow, colonial and Tudor architecture, and the original local personalities connected to the houses and the college. Dan Brown will guide the tour.

Southtown Farmstead Market, 5 to 7 p.m., 1465 SE Alexander Ave., Corvallis. Vendors selling animal products, vegan desserts, gluten-free items, crafts, beverages, jams, pickles, plants, mushrooms and more. Some items are ready to eat. The market is child- and dog-friendly. Information: 541-224-6844.

 Mid-Valley Live
Advocate Zafaryab Jilani, the man who became the face of the Muslim side in the long-drawn legal battle of the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid title suit, breathed his last in Lucknow on Wednesday afternoon. Jilani was 73 years of age and had not been well for quite some time following a brain stroke.

With the century-old dispute of Ayodhya being settled in favour of the Hindu side by the Supreme Court in its historic judgement of 2019, the focus shifted from the legal battle, and Jilani too distanced himself from public life. It was almost like hanging up of his boots by the man who had spent almost his entire life for a single cause of fighting for the Babri mosque through the legal process.

Back in November 2019, when the judgement was delivered by the Supreme Court, Jilani was no doubt disappointed but also calm. Speaking to this reporter, he had said, I am now a man at peace. Whatever might the judgement have been, as an advocate, for me it is no more of legal manoeuvrings and court dates." The crusader in Jilani as the convener of the Babri Masjid Action Committee was surely downcast but the lawyer in him was at ease.

In Lucknow, barely two hundred metres from the Uttar Pradesh chief ministers office, at the imposing Lok Bhawan building is located the legal chamber inside the Islamia Degree College where Jilani had spent years immersed in files and books related to the Babri mosque and Ram Janmabhoomi dispute.

For scribes like me, his chamber was one of the most frequently visited spots in the heyday of the Ayodhya dispute. A busy Jilani never complained about sharing his time and explaining to us the nitty-gritty of the complex legal matter, updating us with the developments in the case.

Towards the end of the final hearing in the Supreme Court sometime in October 2019, Jilani told us, I am more relieved because not many are so aware of voluminous information, legalities and minutest of details involving the case. For anyone else to pick up the threads of the proceedings in the case spanning over decades will be a mammoth challenge after me.

He was absolutely right in his assessment. Jilanis first brush with the legal battle of the Ram Janmanhoomi-Babri Masjid title suit came in 1975 when he had just started legal practice at the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court, after obtaining a law degree from the Aligarh Muslim University.

Jilani once told me that he first became acquainted with the matter in 1975 when certain petitions related to the receivership of the disputed site were filed with the Allahabad High Court. Some senior members of the Awadh Bar Association at the Lucknow bench of the HC felt that the jurisdiction of cases from Faizabad was with the bench at Lucknow and not the main bench in Allahabad.

This led the Awadh Bar Association to file a petition with the high court. Jilani was one of the signatories. Ultimately, the matter was transferred to the Lucknow bench in 1977. However, even after this, there wasnt much attention on the case. Jilani once told me, I myself was not aware that the matter got listed regularly and my name was on the list.

It was the late 1970s, when the Ram temple movement had not yet gained traction. And the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid dispute was still a few years away from becoming a defining religiopolitical controversy in contemporary India.

It was only in 1983, after the Vishva Hindu Parishad carried out a Rath Yatra in favour of the Ram Mandir, that some on the Muslim side started preparing to put up a challenge. Jilani had once in a conversation with me recalled, A few others and I, after being directed by the Muslim Personal Law Board, got down to preparing notes from history books, Baburnama, and other available resources. A 12-page note on the matter was prepared and was first circulated among the board members, to give them an idea about the evolution of the Babri mosque, and historical and legal aspects related to it.

In February 1986, following the Faizabad district judges order to open the locks on the mosque, the Babri Masjid Action Committee was formed with the intent to start a campaign in support of the shrine and take on the rising wave of Hindutva. Jilani became the convener of the committee.

Since then, Jilanis was a life dedicated entirely to the cause of the Babri Masjid. The mosque was demolished on December 6, 1992, by a mob of right-wing activists, amid allegations of larger conspiracies being hatched by the then Kalyan Singh-led BJP government in the state and suspicious silence of the Congress government at the Centre. It also triggered a role reversal for Jilani. The advocate, who had been more of an activist in the pre-demolition era, spent most of his time in the black robes after it.

He became the leading advocate for the Sunni Central Waqf Board and other Muslim litigants in the case. Over the years, he also emerged as eyes and ears to the case for the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB).

In 2012, when the Akhilesh Yadav-led Samajwadi Party came to power in Uttar Pradesh, Jilani was appointed the additional advocate general of the state. The new responsibility as a top government lawyer didnt dent his commitment to the Ayodhya case.

The man never had any regrets for having dedicated so much time to the case, which may have been rewarding in terms of name and fame, but surely came at the cost of bigger prospects of a profitable practice.

In the days following the Supreme Court judgement, I had once asked Jilani about his future plans. He had then said, Life will not be the same as before. I plan to focus more on my practice. My first priority will be those cases that have been pending on my table over the past few months as the Supreme Court went into day-to-day hearing of the Ayodhya title dispute.

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Unfortunately, Jilani didnt get much time to soak in his newly acquired peace. A year and a half after the Supreme Court verdict, he had a massive brain stroke in May 2021. Since then, he was never the same again. Almost confined to his bed, Jilani was cut from active and public life.

The Lucknow native also made it his karmabhoomi, and working from here gained national and international recognition by dedicating himself to the cause he believed in.
US Ambassador Eric Garcetti on Wednesday said India is emerging as a leading power in the world, adding he is impressed with the progress the country has made in the last three decades.

Talking to reporters here, Garcetti also said the US and India share the same concern over the prevailing situation in Pakistan.

I think the US, India and the world share the same concern. We want stability in Pakistan. We hope that there wont be unrest in Pakistan, he said.

We stay engaged with Pakistan because of that. I think that serves India and the US and the world. We hope that the rule of law and peace will prevail over the border. But that is up to the Pakistani people to decide, he said.

Garcetti said that during his Mumbai visit, he had a great time discussing ways to strengthen Indo-US partnership with leading cultural, financial, and business figures.

I first came to India as a teenager, and I learned so much. I learned how deeply we are connected to people everywhere on this planet, no matter where we live, what language we speak, how much money we have, or how we worship, he said.

As a teenager, I never could have imagined the growth and progress that India has achieved in the past three decades. India is emerging as a leading power in the world, he said.

Garcetti said that in 1992, the year he graduated from college after studying Hindi and Indian cultural and religious history, US-India ties had languished.

Our annual trade stood at USD 2 billion, our development relationship was a one-way flow, our defence trade was zero, and our military interoperability was non-existent, he said.

The US is now Indias biggest trading partner, with USD 191 billion in bilateral trade last year. India now sends the most students of any country to the US. Our militaries train together.

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We are protecting an Indo-Pacific that is free and open, connected, prosperous, secure, and resilient. And our leading companies collaborate to solve global challenges in inclusive development and renewable energy, he said.

We are jointly addressing global health and development challenges, confronting climate change, and delivering next generation critical and emerging technologies. We are showing the world how the United States and India are better together, he said.
A 56-year-old first-time flyer, who was travelling from Ahmedabad to Bengaluru by Akasa Air airline, was arrested at Kempegowda International Airport upon arrival on Tuesday for allegedly smoking a beedi midair in the lavatory and risking the lives of other passengers onboard.

The man, identified as M Praveen Kumar, is a labourer by profession and a native of Marwar junction in Rajasthans Pali district. He has been sent to Bengaluru Central Jail.

The incident came to the fore when the crew members found the accused smoking inside the toilet. Upon arrival at the Bengaluru airport, the airlines duty manager Vijay Thulluru lodged a complaint against Kumar to the cops at airport.

Times of India quoted a senior police officer calling this incident a serious security lapse" as the accused was not caught during the security check at the airport before boarding the flight.

The only explanation for such an incident is a failure in frisking. Kumar, who was flying for the first time, claimed he was not aware of the no-smoking rule. He was accompanying an aged person, who was travelling to Bengaluru to participate in the post-death ceremony of a relative," the officer was quoted as saying. He is likely to spend one week in judicial custody.

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When asked about the no-smoking rule in flights, the accused was quoted as saying to police, I regularly travel by train and smoke inside the toilet. Thinking I could do the same here, I decided to smoke a beedi."

It is to be noted here that smoking is prohibited onboard flights under the Indian Aircraft Rules, 1937 in India. Passengers who are caught smoking onboard are framed under relevant sections of IPC for endangering the lives of other passengers or its crew on the aircraft. Accused could be punished with imprisonment for up to two years or with fine up to Rs 10 lakh or both.
A four-year-old girl died after the glass counter at a chips shop fell on her in suburban Jogeshwari (East), police said on Wednesday.

The shop owner and his employee were arrested following the incident, said an official of Meghwadi police station.

Sanjana Chavan, the girl, and her two friends walked into the shop around 10 am on Tuesday and were dangling by the glass counter as the shop owner was attending other customers, he said.

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The heavy glass counter came off and fell on her. She was rushed to a hospital where she was declared dead upon admission, the official said.

The 47-year-old shop owner and his 34-year-old employee were arrested under Indian Penal Code section 304 (A) (causing death due to negligence) and probe was on, the official said.
Hello readers, in todays digest, News18 brings you the latest updates on the Karnataka Chief Ministers candidate selection, the brutal murder of a Rajasthan teacher by a stalker and other top stories.

Karnataka CM announcement in Next 72 Hours; Shivakumar Not Ready to Take Dy CM Post, Say Sources

Amid a race for the Karnataka chief ministers post, two aspirants Siddaramaiah and DK Shivakumar held separate back-to-back meetings with Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and party leader Rahul Gandhi in Delhi to decide the final name for the top post in the southern state. Addressing the media outside Kharges 10 Rajaji Marg residence, senior party leader Randeep Singh Surjewala said a decision on the next Karnataka CM is likely on Wednesday or Thursday and a new cabinet in the state will be in place in the next 48-72 hours. READ MORE

Rajasthan: School Teacher Stabbed to Death by Jilted Lover Outside Ajmer Police Chowky

A school teacher was stabbed to death outside a police station in broad day light in Rajasthans Ajmer. The police said the accused, Vivek Singh (30), was in one-sided love with the victim, Kirti Soni (32), and was pressurising her to marry him. Soni was upset with this and told her friend Anil about Vivek, according to a report in Dainik Baskar. READ MORE

Air India Delhi-Sydney Flight Hit by Severe Turbulence, Several Passengers Injured

Several passengers on board the Delhi-Sydney Air India flight on Tuesday sustained injuries due to severe turbulence mid-air, according to an ANI report. The injured passengers received medical assistance on arrival at the Sydney airport. No passenger was admitted to the hospital. READ MORE

Islamabad High Court Grants Blanket Relief to Ex-Pak PM Imran Khan till May 31

Pakistans former prime minister Imran Khan on Wednesday received blanket relief from the Islamabad High Court (IHC) as it extended its orders against his arrest in further cases till May 31, GeoNews said in a report. The IHC extended the relief while hearing the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insafs (PTI) plea seeking details of all cases filed against the outfits chief. Imran Khan earlier claimed that he was booked in more than 100 cases. READ MORE

Aishwarya Rai BRUTALLY Trolled For Her Style As She Heads to Cannes 2023 With Aaradhya Bachchan

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The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Wednesday carried out extensive searches at over 120 locations across six states  Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, and Madhya Pradesh  as part of Operation Dhvast. These searches are part of investigations into cases involving the nexus between terrorists, narcotics smugglers, and gangsters.

According to NIA, these raids are related to follow up operations of earlier investigations. The raids were done against gangsters like Rinda, Landa, Arsh Dalla, Lawrence Bishnoi, Bambiha gangs.

The raids were done in close collaboration with state police forces early in the morning at various premises and other locations connected to the suspects. The search operations are currently ongoing.

These raids are related to three separate cases registered by the NIA last year under the references RC 37, 38, and 39/2022/NIA/DLI.

#WATCH | Visuals from Haryana's Bahadurgarh as NIA conducts searches at more than 100 locations across six states. The searches are underway in connection with terror-narcotics smugglers-gangsters nexus cases. pic.twitter.com/Z36i8oA8Kc ANI (@ANI) May 17, 2023

Earlier this year, on January 25, the agency apprehended Deepak Ranga, the main shooter involved in the RPG attack on the Punjab Police Intelligence Headquarters in Mohali in May 2022. Deepak Ranga was arrested from Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh, as he had close associations with Lakhbir Singh Sandhu alias Landa, a gangster-turned-terrorist based in Canada, and Harvinder Singh Sandhu alias Rinda, a gangster-turned-terrorist based in Pakistan. His arrest was made in connection with case RC-37/2022/NIA/DLI.

In addition to his involvement in the RPG attack in May, Deepak has been implicated in numerous other acts of violent terrorism and criminal offenses, including brutal killings. He has actively received financial support and logistical assistance from Rinda and Landa, furthering his terrorist activities.

#WATCH | NIA is conducting searches at more than 100 locations in six states-Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan, UP, Uttarakhand and MP in terror-narcotics smugglers-gangsters nexus cases.(Visuals from Punjab's Bathinda) pic.twitter.com/mFgisHNcGo  ANI (@ANI) May 17, 2023

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The NIA took suo moto action and registered the case on September 20, 2022, upon discovering that foreign-based terrorist organizations and elements were collaborating with leaders and members of organized criminal gangs in the northern states of India. Their collaboration aimed at carrying out targeted assassinations and other violent criminal acts. Additionally, it was revealed that this network of terrorists, gangsters, and drug smugglers was involved in cross-border smuggling of terrorist equipment, such as arms, ammunition, explosives, and IEDs, facilitated by a vast inter-state network of illegal firearms suppliers, ammunition manufacturers, gunrunners, and explosive traffickers.

Since the registration of the three criminal cases against this network of terrorists, gangsters, and drug smugglers, the NIA has already apprehended 19 leaders and members of various organized criminal gangs, along with two arms suppliers and a major financier associated with the network. Furthermore, on January 9 of this year, Arsh Dalla, based in Canada, was designated as an individual terrorist" by the Ministry of Home Affairs.
Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar blasted self-styled godman Dhirendra Krishna Shastri aka Bageshwar Dham Sarkar for remarking that the fire of Hindu Rashtra will be ignited from Bihar." Baba Bageshwar has been in Patna, Bihar, during a five-day pilgrimage.

In response to Shastris remark, Nitish Kumar stated that those making such remarks about Hindu Rashtra were not even born when the Constitution was drafted. He (Shastri) was not even born, nor were we, when the country became Independent and the Constitution took shape, wherein equal rights are granted to adherents of all religions. We take pride that Bihar is home to shrines of many faiths and attracts pilgrims from far and wide. It must also be kept in mind that nobody can bring about a change in the Constitutions basic character. Such an exercise will require a two-third majority in both houses of Parliament," Kumar said in a veiled taunt to BJP.

But who is Bageshwar Dham Sarkar and What is the Entire Controversy?

Shashtri came to Patna on May 13 for Hanuman Katha at Taret Pali Math in Naubatpur locality drawing a huge crowd. Meanwhile, leaders of Mahagathbandhan are objecting to the speeches delivered by Shastri since May 13. They have taken a strong objection to his statement of making India a Hindu" country.

Nitish Kumar, Tejashwi Yadav, Tej Pratap Yadav, Jagadanand Singh and many other leaders slammed Shastri saying his speeches are aimed at dividing the country. Blackened posters of the self-styled godman at Dak Bunglow Chowk here sent the Patna police into a tizzy on Wednesday. The police, however, were clueless about the miscreants.

On Wednesday, the locals found the hoardings of godman smeared with black ink at Dak Bunglow Chowk with 420, thief and cheater scribbled on it.

What Did Shastri Say?

On Day 4 of his Hanuman Katha, Shastri repeated his commitment to make India a Hindu nation on Tuesday.

Shastri also claimed that he has come to Bihar by risking his life to wake up the people of the state. After offering prayers at the Hanuman temple near Patna Junction railway station, Shastri went to the venue of his event at the Taret Pali Math in Naubatpur.

The population of Bihar is around 13 crore and I want to tell you through this Hanuman Katha that once you return to your respective homes, you should install religious flags of Lord Hanuman. If five crore people of Bihar do that and put tilak on their foreheads before stepping out of their homes, India will head towards becoming a Hindu nation. I want to appeal to all the people to save and preserve their culture and Sanatan Dharma. I came to Bihar by risking my life to wake up the people of Bihar. And I will continue to do so," Shastri said.

People should read Ramcharitmanas, put tilak on their foreheads, and install religious flag of Lord Hanuman at their homes to preserve Sanatan Dharma. I dont want to force anyone with religion, but I want to say that those who worship Lord Ram, Lord Hanuman will protect their homes," Shastri added.

RJD-BJP Tussle

Amid RJD leaders opposing self-styled godman Dhirendra Shastris visit to Patna for a religious event, the BJP had put up posters supporting the spiritual leader and attacking the RJD.

The poster, released by state BJP Minority Morcha Minister Nawab Ali, had said: The way RJD leaders are opposing Baba Bageshwar in Bihar, its attributed to objections to Sanatan Dharma. The people of Bihar will give appropriate answers to the people opposing it in the upcoming election."

The poster had said, Vipakshiyo Me Machi Hai Khalbali, Aa rahe Hai Bajrangbali. ..Samarthan Me Khara Hai Nawab Ali." Another poster had said: Those who are opposing Baba Bageshwar should go to Pakistan."

Patna police are likely to impose a fine on Bageshwar Dham chief and self-styled godman Dhirendra Shastri and MP Manoj Tiwari for violation of traffic rules, an official said.

Shastri had arrived in Patna on May 13 and BJP leader Manoj Tiwari had driven his SUV from Patna airport to Panash hotel where he was staying. During the journey, they did not wear seat belt and reached the hotel. Keeping this in view, Puran Kumar Jha, the traffic SP of Patna had even constituted a team headed by traffic DSP of Patna to investigate the incident.

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RJD national President Lalu Prasad Yadav had also said earlier that the godman is not a seer. The veteran leader had, I refuse to accept that he is a Baba."

IANS, PTI contributed to this report
Mumbais vada pav is popular across the world, but hardly has anyone been happy to have been forced to eat one. This time though, when US Ambassador to India Eric Garcetti, was on his maiden visit to Maharashtra, he was delighted that Chief Minister Eknath Shinde not just served him a vada pav, but insisted that he have it".

Oh my God! The vada pav you get here is better than anywhere else. It is fresh. The one that the Chief Minister served to me. Not only did he serve it to me, but he also made me eat it. I am so happy that he insisted, because it was (blowing a kiss in the air) a Chefs kiss! It was wonderful! My wife, who is still in America, asked me how I was feeling. And I told her in just one word  full. I have eaten a lot. I have enjoyed a lot. Whether its been in the cafes or in Taj Mahal. This is absolutely a global cultural capital and one of the culinary capitals of the world," he said, when asked by CNN-News18 about the memories he will take back with him from the island city.

From the bustling streets of LA to the colorful lanes of Delhi, my love of great food continues. I'm at Maharashtra Bhawan, eager to explore the fascinating flavors of India. Join me on this journey as I sample the essence of India, one state at a time. Where should I go next? pic.twitter.com/v0pywhG8DV U.S. Ambassador Eric Garcetti (@USAmbIndia) May 13, 2023

Garcetti had visited Mumbai when he was 14. This is his maiden visit to the city after being appointed as the Ambassador.

For me, its a vibrant city, a great global city. Its not just a city, but a symbol, a place where culture thrives, where creativity is celebrated and where diversity is the foundation of the strength of the economy, and the people. I am engaged with all sectors when I am here in the last two days."

Talking about the places he visited, Garcetti said, I paid my respects to Mani Bhavan where Mahatma Gandhi changed the history for not just India, but the whole world. I also visited the glistening Ambani centre. I visited the American theatre group, I spent some time with actor Shah Rukh Khan yesterday."

I paid a visit to Mani Bhavan, Mahatma Gandhis home in Mumbai, browsing through the archives of his extraordinary life. What a privilege to view the guest book signed by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Coretta Scott King during their visit in 1959. pic.twitter.com/Cvx9F07QLr U.S. Ambassador Eric Garcetti (@USAmbIndia) May 16, 2023

Garcetti has served as the mayor of Los Angeles for two terms. He said his maiden visit to Mumbai reminded him a lot of Los Angeles.

While in the neighborhood, I stopped by the new @nmacc_India. From meeting the cast of the Broadway classic The Sound of Music at The Grand Theatre to learning about Indias rich textile heritage at the India in Fashion exhibit, I was impressed from start to finish. Next time pic.twitter.com/ubBwFGIxc5 U.S. Ambassador Eric Garcetti (@USAmbIndia) May 16, 2023

For a kid from Los Angeles, I am so proud that Mumbai was our sister city which thinks alike, which reacts alike and we are like Mumbai in many ways. Just as Mumbai is the embodiment of some of the best Indian values, Los Angeles is the embodiment of some of the best American values. Going to a Hindu temple and Muslim mosque and a fire temple and the synagogue reminds me of the streets of Los Angeles where every street is a different culture and yet we are one city, he said.

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ALSO READ | Vada Pao to Bharli Vangi: US Ambassador Devours Maharashtrian Cuisine, Video Goes Viral

I saw your business leader and entrepreneurs and political and other leaders of the city as I see the amazing infrastructure investments my friend Iqbal who I have known for very long time Mumbai is investing in itself and showing to India what progress looks like," he added.
A school teacher was stabbed to death outside a police station in broad day light in Rajasthans Ajmer.

The police said the accused, Vivek Singh (30), was in one-sided love with the victim, Kirti Soni (32), and was pressurising her to marry him. Soni was upset with this and told her friend Anil about Vivek, according to a report in Dainik Baskar.

On Tuesday, Soni asked Vivek Singh to meet her at a restaurant. The victim was accompanied by her friend Anil. After the meeting, Vivek stabbed Soni multiple times with a knife in front of the Naka Madar police station while Anil was away and fled the spot.

Anil took Soni to a nearby hospital where she was declared brought dead.

Dainik Baskars report said the victims husband is behind bars in a cheque bounce case.

The accused is absconding after the incident. The policemen are on the lookout for Vivek and teams have been formed to nab him.

The woman worked as a teacher at a private school, police said.

Meanwhile, in another incident in Ajmer, a couple jumped in front of a moving train to die by suicide. The man was killed in the incident while his lover suffered injuries and was admitted to the hospital.

The incident took place on Monday afternoon when Indore-Jodhpur Express was passing through the Adarsh Nagar railway track in Ajmer. The deceased has been identified as Om Prakash (23).

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The police said Om Prakash was in love with Hema (19) but her family got her married to another person. So, the couple planned to die by suicide, the police said, according to a report in Dainik Baskar.

The police seized a mobile and jewellery from the woman and started the investigation.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar defended Indias import of Russian oil on European soil after EU Foreign Policy chief Josep Borrell suggested sanctions on oil products from India.

Jaishankar said Russian crude is substantially transformed in a third country and not treated as Russian anymore as per the council regulations. His remarks came after Borrell reportedly said the EU should put sanctions on refined oil products from India using Russian oil.

My understanding of council regulations is that Russian crude is substantially transformed in a third country and not treated as Russian anymore. I would urge you to look at Councils Regulation 833/2014, he said.

#WATCH | My understanding of council regulations is that Russian crude is substantially transformed in a third country & not treated as Russian anymore. I would urge you to look at Councils Regulation 833/2014: EAM Dr Jaishankar when asked about EU Foreign Policy chief Josep pic.twitter.com/5Dh5PH9yfX ANI (@ANI) May 17, 2023

After the Ukraine war began in February 2022, India increased the import of discounted crude oil from Russia despite criticism from the West.

Jaishankar was in Brussels for the first meeting of the India-EU Trade and Technology Council (TTC).

Earlier in the day, he said in the era of volatility and uncertainty, its important to de-risk the global economy and yet to ensure that there is very responsible growth, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has said.

The India-EU TTC meeting, co-chaired on the Indian side by Jaishankar, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal and Communications, Electronics and IT Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar, covered key focus areas of strategic technologies, digital governance and green energy technologies.

Its been a very strong start. And there is a context to what we are doing. In this era of volatility and uncertainty, its important to de-risk the global economy and yet to ensure that there is very responsible growth," Jaishankar told the media.

So a lot of what we discussed related to resilient and reliable supply chains, to trust and transparency in the digital domain; in the fact that we today will have to focus on how to get the best out of a global talent pool in a knowledge economy," he said.

The TTC was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, during her visit to India in April last year.

In his opening remarks at the meeting, Jaishankar said India-EU Trade and Technology Council (TTC) is a significant milestone in the strategic partnership between India and the European Union due to its focus on critical domains.

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(With inputs from ANI, PTI)
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Oregon is one of the few states to have taken seriously the protection of its natural beauty.

After Earth Day in 1970, both Republicans and Democrats in Salem established a commission to coordinate goals and objectives across the state as cities, counties and agencies sought to balance economic growth with environmental health.

The Land Conservation and Development Commission was created 50 years ago this month when Gov. Tom McCall signed Senate Bill 100 into law.

Urban growth boundaries, protected coastal areas and healthy farm and forest lands have set Oregon apart from many other states where massive suburban sprawl feeds a hot economy but diminishes quality of life for millions of people.

The Land Conservation and Development Commission has an increasingly difficult task as humans everywhere take a bigger bite out of nature to maintain their pursuit of happiness.

In recent years, its been clear that car-dependent cities and towns, even in Oregon, have diminished not only our air quality, but also the vitality of neighborhoods and local businesses.

As Albany has grown beyond 50,000 people, were now considered a metropolitan area  and required to take advantage of the climate-friendly technical assistance and planning provided by the Land Conservation and Development Commission.

Goals include reducing the likelihood of the fires weve been experiencing in Oregon, as well as climate events around the world.

Encouraging changes in local land use to facilitate traveling to work, shopping and recreation with fewer single-occupant trips in a car (or truck) is a tangible way to build both more healthful and more affordable communities.

Back in 1970, only a few visionary people understood that the earths rapidly increasing population would eventually put such pressure on the planet. And as fast as we in Oregon and the United States were increasing our demand for comfort and convenience, people in Brazil, India and China had not even begun their move into consumerism.

By the time these billions of buyers came into the picture, decades later, it was generally understood that our only home, this planet, needed some consideration. And, sure enough, most countries other than the United States have kept their per capita carbon footprint under control.

The foresight of Gov. McCall and the legislators of the 1970s set a fortunate path for our state; consequently Oregon has been known for its environmental beauty around the country and the world. And the Land Conservation and Development Commission still provides guidance to all parts of the state pursuant to its goals of natural health and beauty.

Throughout the process of interpreting and implementing the recent recommended changes in Albany, many Why? moments have come, and of course the answer is often: The state is requiring this.

Eliminating parking requirements, allowing more flexibility in housing types, encouraging mixed uses of buildings in areas that can be walked or biked  these are proven ways to bring active transportation and cleaner air to our city, and they are now being applied to the East Albany Plan.

Would Albany have made these changes without a mandate from the state? is a question that can never be answered.

But averting catastrophe by limiting damage to our shared environment is a call we must heed and should have heeded long ago  back in 1970  our first Earth Day. That it has taken this long to begin redesigning our cities is a sad comment on our enslavement to comfort and convenience.

But let us at least begin.
In a relief to Indian Youth Congress president B V Srinivas, the Supreme Court on Wednesday granted him interim protection from arrest in a case lodged by an expelled woman leader of the party from Assam accusing him of causing mental agony.

Srinivas had challenged a Gauhati High Court order rejecting his anticipatory bail plea.

On May 5, the Gauhati High Court had rejected the anticipatory bail plea of Srinivas in a case lodged by Angkita Dutta, the expelled chief of Assam Youth Congress, accusing him of causing mental agony to her.

A bench of Supreme Court Justices B R Gavai and Sanjay Karol issued notices to the Assam government and others, seeking their replies in the matter by July 10.

We have perused the (CrPC section) 164 statement which has been so graciously placed before us by the prosecution. We do not wish to say anything against the state at this stage.

Taking into consideration the one-month delay in lodging FIR, the petitioner is entitled to interim protection. We direct that in the event of arrest, the petitioner shall be released on anticipatory bail on furnishing sureties to the sum of Rs 50,000," the bench said.

The top court directed Srinivas to cooperate in the investigation and appear before the police on May 22. It also directed him to cooperate in the inquiry being carried out with the National Commission for Women.

At the outset, Srinivass counsel senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi submitted that the complainant raised the grievance of discrimination being faced in the party in the tweets before lodging the complaint.

Singhvi said that she also had given six interviews to the media before the complaint was lodged and there were no sexual harassment allegations in her statements.

As Additional Solicitor General S V Raju started arguing, the bench asked him whether he was appearing for the CBI or ED. The ASG replied that he is representing the Assam government.

The bench, in a lighter vein, then remarked, So the CBI, and ED have not yet come in." The ASG said that the matter cannot be termed as politically motivated as the complainant is a member of the same party. Raju submitted that Srinivas did not appear before the police in response to the notices and did not even respond to the notice issued by the National Commission for Women.

We gave him a second notice. He says he is unwell. Consistently he is defying the notice", Raju said.

The bench then again remarked, That might be because of your reputation. You had arrested someone at the airport." The remark was in reference to Congress leader Pawan Kheras arrest by the Assam Police at the airport after being deplaned from a Delhi-Raipur flight in connection with his alleged remarks against Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The high court in its order had said it was of the opinion that the case was not fit for granting the privilege of pre-arrest bail to the petitioner and rejected it. The high court, while disposing of the anticipatory bail application, had also returned the case diary.

Opposing the bail plea, the public prosecutor had argued that Srinivas had filed two pre-arrest bail applications before the sessions court in Bengaluru and both were rejected after appreciating the material present in the case diary.

The counsel for Srinivas had argued that all charges levelled against the IYC president under various sections, barring those under Section 354 of the IPC, are bailable in nature. Section 354 relates to assault or use of criminal force on a woman with the intention of outraging her modesty.

Besides, the alleged offence had occurred in Raipur in Chhattisgarh which was beyond the territorial jurisdiction of the Dispur police station, where the case was filed, the counsel for Srinivas had said.

The high court, after hearing both sides, had observed the victim is aged 35 years and, according to the order of the Kamrup (Metro) additional chief judicial magistrate, he was satisfied that she had deposed voluntarily and without being under any pressure or influence from any side".

The magistrate had recorded her statement after giving her two hours for reflection, it had said, adding the FIR appears to have been filed on April 20, after a preliminary inquiry and the investigation is at a nascent stage.

Srinivas, in his petition filed in the high court on April 26, had appealed that the FIR filed by Dutta alleging mental harassment and physical manhandling be quashed immediately.

Dutta, in her complaint at Dispur police station, alleged that Srinivas was persistently harassing and torturing her for the previous six months by making sexist comments, using slang words and also threatening her of dire consequences" if she kept complaining against him to senior party office bearers.

She had also claimed Srinivas had heckled her, held her arm, pushed and pulled her and used slang words during the partys recent plenary session in Raipur. He had also threatened to ruin her career in the party if she complained against him.

Dutta had made the allegations against the IYC president in a series of tweets on April 18.

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A five-member Guwahati police team went to Bengaluru on April 23 and pasted a notice at Srinivas residence directing him to appear at Dispur Police station by May 2.

The Congress issued show cause notice to Dutta and later expelled her from the primary membership of the party for six years for anti-party activities. Srinivas had also served a legal notice to Dutta demanding an apology, failing which he threatened to initiate legal proceedings.
Several passengers on board the Delhi-Sydney Air India flight on Tuesday sustained injuries due to severe turbulence mid-air, according to an ANI report. The injured passengers received medical assistance on arrival at the Sydney airport. No passenger was admitted to the hospital.

According to DGCA sources, seven passengers reported minor sprain after the turbulence. Air India cabin crew provided first aid to the injured passengers with assistance from a doctor and nurse travelling on the flight.

Air Indias flight AI302 of 16th May 2023, operating from Delhi to Sydney encountered turbulence mid-air leading to discomfort to the passengers on board. The flight landed safely in Sydney and three passengers availed of medical assistance on arrival, none of whom required hospitalization. This onboard incident has been reported to the relevant authorities as a standard practice," said an Air India Spokesperson

In a similar incident, as many as 12 passengers were injured after a Mumbai-Durgapur SpiceJet flight faced severe turbulence during its descent last year in May. One of the passengers who suffered injuries during the turbulence passed away several months later. Akbar Ansari, 48, was on ventilator support for a month before succumbing to injuries in September 2022, according to a PTI report.

A private jet was hit by severe turbulence over New England in the US causing a rare passenger death and forcing the aircraft to divert to another airport in Connecticut earlier this year in March.

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Five people were aboard the Bombardier executive jet that encountered turbulence while travelling from Keene, New Hampshire, to Leesburg, Virginia, according to a report in Associated Press. The jet was owned by Conexon, a company based in Kansas City, Missouri.

ALSO READ: Passenger Dies After Private Jet Encounters Severe Turbulence in US
A female teacher in a small village in Shahjahanpur in Uttar Pradesh, about five hours away from the state capital Lucknow, noticed disturbing changes in behaviour of some girl students in her school. Some prodding by her had blown the lid of a shocking case of sexual assault here that has left this village in anger.

On Sunday, when people across the country were busy posting pictures and sending gifts to their mothers to celebrate their maternal bond on Mothers Day, the mothers hailing from a village of Uttar Pradeshs Shahjahanpur were struggling to keep their school-going-daughters safe.

UP Police have now arrested a junior high schoolteacher accused of sexually assaulting at least 15 girls, who were studying in the same school. Besides, the police have also recovered offensive material from the toilet of the school.

The fallout has been that News18 found that the junior high school in the village now lies locked, with villagers scared to send their children there. Hum ab school na bhejab babu, ghar mein rahe surakshit rahe (I dont want to send my daughter to school anymore, she is more safe at home), a mother of one of the victims told News18 in the village on Tuesday. The school, where the strength of the students was around 120, dipped down to 10, after the incident, with people saying they dont want to send their daughters to school as the incident has left the children scared.

What Happened on Sunday?

On the complaint of the students, most of them are teenagers, the emotionally-charged mothers along with the villagers reached the school on Sunday, demanding strict action against the teacher. It was only after the timely intervention of the police the accused teacher could be taken into custody. Shocking details emerged. We have booked the accused teacher who was posted as a computer teacher at the junior high school for molesting under the provisions of The Protection of Child from Sexual Offences Act 2012 (POCSO) and have also lodged an FIR against two other including a female teacher for being hand in gloves with the accused, the in charge of the local police station told News18.

People said the matter came to light a couple of days after a teacher from the same school turned out to be a whistle-blower and motivated children to inform their parents about the ill act. During school hours, a student of mine who seemed a little upset approached me. Though she was quite hesitant, she became comfortable after I tried to console her and asked if she wanted to discuss anything. On my insistence, she opened up and informed me about the ill act of the teacher. On being informed, I, at once informed the headmaster and the primary education department. Also, I motivated the student to inform their parents about this, said the female teacher to News18. She was first to raise the issue.

The FIR was finally lodged on the complaint of the village Pradhan. A school is considered to be the safest place where parents send their children to study in order to achieve something big in future. But we couldnt control our emotions when some girls, studying in the same school, informed their parents about the teacher who was allegedly sexually assaulting them, the Pradhan said.

The FIR says when the villagers approached the school headmaster, he and another female teacher at the school were found favouring the accused and even tried to hush up the matter.

It was only after that we approached the local police, requesting to lodge an FIR into the matter reads the complaint of the village head on the basis of which the FIR was lodged by the police.

What Next?

The Basic Shiksha Adhikari (BSA) of the area said after the allegations, a departmental enquiry has been set up against the accused teacher who was working on ad hoc basis, the headmaster and an assistant teacher, who was accused of hushing up the issue.

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Other than the main accused, the department has suspended two other teachers. Strict action would be initiated against the wrong doers, the BSA told News18.

However, the police action and the words of the BSA failed to pacify the mothers and parents of the village who are still in the state of trauma.
They do it themselves the bottle is white in colour and they, definitely, add something to it. Thats the reason why my relative passed away, said Karuppiaha, a resident of Marakkanam, a seaside village between Chennai and Pondicherry where 14 people died in a recent hooch tragedy.

Tamil Nadus battle with spurious liquor manufacturing is a much storied one, with successive governments attempting to purge the state of the menace. Hooch tragedies have been few and far between in recent time. The death of 22 people across two districts  Chengalpet and Villupuram districts  has raised fears of a return of the menace.

Daily wage labourers fall for the massive price discount the illegal liquor arrives with, in comparison to what is retailed at the state-run shops. For example, a 200 ml packet costs around Rs 30, almost a fifth of the price of the standard fare of hard liquor purchased at the authorised shops. On some occasions, the illegal liquor vendors announce offers (buy two, get one free), to spur sales.

Chengalpets Perungaranai village is home to more than 20 families. The residents live in small huts and are mostly wage labourers.

Chinna Thambi and his mother-in-law lost their lives due to the consumption of spurious liquor. The wife of the deceased Chinna Thambi demands that all those who sold illicit arrack should be hanged. Valli, wife of the deceased, breaks down and says: All those responsible for my husbands death should be hanged. Otherwise, the accused will continue to destroy others lives just like how they destroyed mine.

On Monday, Chief Minister MK Stalin visited the hospitals where over 30 victims who had consumed the illegally manufactured liquor were receiving medical treatment. The National Human Rights Commission has taken suo moto cognisance and issues notices.

Amid all the tragic developments, the anger towards the police department shines through. Relatives of victims are livid that the police turned a blind eye to the illegal manufacture and sprawling supply chain that facilitated distribution of liquor. Relatives had engaged in a road roko on Tuesday near Marakkanam, demanding action against certain officers whom they believe could have prevented the growing consumption of illegal liquor.

Raja, a resident of Ekkiyarakuppam village, alleged: This (sale of spurious liquor) has been going on for several years. There is a colony nearby and thats where the spurious liquor comes from. There are many shops near the beachfront that sell these. Police know that these things happen here but they collect bribe and look the other way.

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The tragedy comes nearly a month after the Tamil Nadu government in the recent Assembly session said there has been no hooch tragedies in the state in the last 14 years.

Stalin has announced a solatium of Rs 10 lakh to the family of the victims. As the government strives to assuage the family of victims, it has an uphill task ahead of it in trying to gain back confidence among disadvantaged sections impacted by the tragedy.
As the brand ambassador for Gucci in India, Alia Bhatt attended her first event in Seoul yesterday. The Gangubai Kathiawadi actress travelled to Seoul on Tuesday to attend the Gucci Cruise 2024 event, but her handbag generated more buzz than her mere presence. Alia was seen at the event with a transparent bag in pictures that have gone viral. Its a transparent Gucci Jackie 1961 bag.

A few keen social media watchers noticed the bag contained nothing. The opulent but empty purse baffled online users.

Check out Alias latest post here:

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Alia Bhatt (@aliaabhatt)

Alia is now distancing herself from the trolls with a number of fresh Instagram posts that feature her showcasing her gorgeous looks and outfit. The Gucci Brand Ambassador did not forget to retort at the trolls and went on captioning her post by writing, yes the bag was empty @gucci #guccicruise24.

The transparent and empty" bags specifics can be seen in a lovely black-and-white collage, and it is reasonable to assume that it feels better empty than loaded. Alia has completely done right to the bag, which already looks so gorgeous, by accessorising it with a short black dress with polka-dot cutouts and a pair of black platform heels.

ALSO READ: Alia Bhatt Flaunts Finger Heart While Looking Utterly Goregous at the Gucci Cruise Show 2024

The series last picture also features Alia enjoying a delicious pizza slice.
Amish Tripathi, the acclaimed author known for his immersive storytelling and enchanting mythological sagas, recently took to social media recently to share a momentous life update that left fans buzzing with joy and excitement. In a heartfelt message, the literary maestro revealed that he is set to embark on a new chapter of his life, preparing to get engaged with his girlfriend, Shivani, whom he met during his time in London. The ace writer has now been blessed with a beautiful son, whom they have lovingly named Neel.

The writer who has captivated readers worldwide with his extraordinary narratives, took a moment to express his profound gratitude to his fans for their unwavering support and love throughout his writing journey. In a heartwarming post on social media, the author not only shared his personal joy but also provided a glimpse into the blossoming love story that has enriched his life.

Check Out The Post-

A personal announcement:A moment comes in life when its beauty is in its simplicity. And more importantly, the wonderful woman you share the moment with.At a simple registration ceremony in London yesterday, with the blessings of Lord Shiva and our parents, and the love of our https://t.co/GZpLMfuJn4 Amish Tripathi (@authoramish) May 16, 2023

Tripathis announcement about his engagement to Shivani, a union rooted in love and shared aspirations, sent waves of delight across his vast fanbase. The authors words resonated with a sense of happiness and anticipation, drawing an outpouring of well-wishes from fans who have followed his literary endeavours closely.

Amish Tripathis personal journey serves as an inspiration not only to his readers but also to aspiring writers and dreamers around the world. His ability to weave captivating tales that touch the hearts of millions is a testament to his talent and dedication as an author.
Cannes Film Festival: Blackpink member Rose made her debut at the event sporting a stylish yet casual ensemble. She arrived wearing a chic black and white outfit, showcasing her fashion-forward sense. Roses choice of attire added a touch of effortless charm to her debut appearance, capturing the attention of fans and fashion enthusiasts alike.

Urvashi Rautela is a stunner in a orange tulle gown, she kept her tresses tied in a top knot bun and chose diamond studs as jewellery to complement her look.

Sara Ali Khan has graced the Cannes Film Festival, and after her stunning desi look in an Abu Jani Sandeep Khosla lehenga the previous day, she opted for a fusion ensemble on day 2. The talented couturiers, Abu Jani and Sandeep Khosla, designed her outfit for the evening. Sara elegantly paired a monochrome blouse with a saree draped gracefully over her arm. She adorned matching pearls and styled her hair impeccably in a bun. Sharing her look on social media, she captioned it, I guess you Cannes do it again," showcasing her playful spirit and enthusiasm for the event.

On the other hand, attending her first Cannes festival, Mrunal Thakur made a remarkable debut in a stylish black lace pantsuit complemented by a dazzling sequined jacket. The actor shared stunning pictures from her terrace photoshoot, capturing the essence of her Cannes experience. Mrunals fashion choice exuded elegance and sophistication, reflecting her impeccable sense of style. Her debut at the prestigious event marked a significant milestone in her career, and she celebrated the moment by showcasing her glamorous ensemble through captivating photographs.

Anurag Kashyap shared a glimpse of his preparation before reaching Cannes. Anurag Kashyaps film Kennedy will be screened in the Midnight Screening" category at the Cannes Film Festival 2023. While a very excited Mrunal Thakur shared a fun story hinting at the Calm before the storm. Donned in an all black avatar, and strutting against the backdrop of the iconic French Riviera.

On Day 1 of the 76th Cannes Film Festival, cinema enthusiasts gathered to celebrate this iconic event. The festival, hosted at Cannes prestigious Palais des Festivals et des Congres, kicked off yesterday, May 16 and will continue until May 27. Indian celebrities have already made a resounding impact on the internet as they grace the red carpet, capturing attention and admiration. Ruben Ostlund, the acclaimed filmmaker, serves as this years jury president, adding further excitement to the festival. Its worth noting that India held the prestigious position of the official Country of Honour at last years Marche du Film, held in conjunction with the Cannes Film Festival in France.

Ruben Stlund, an accomplished filmmaker, assumes the role of the jury president for this years Cannes Film Festival. Joining him on the esteemed jury panel are eight distinguished individuals: Paul Dano, Rungano Nyoni, Denis Menochet, Maryam Touzani, Julia Ducournau, Brie Larson, Damian Szifron, and Atiq Rahimi. Together, this diverse and talented group of industry professionals will play a pivotal role in evaluating and recognizing outstanding cinematic achievements at the festival. Their collective expertise and discerning perspectives promise to shape the festivals prestigious awards and contribute to the celebration of exceptional filmmaking talent.

Cannes 2023 DAY 1 Highlights

On the first day of Cannes 2023, Johnny Depp graced the red carpet with his impeccable style and charm. His dapper entry captivated the attention of onlookers as he made his way down the iconic Cannes red carpet, exuding elegance and sophistication. Johnny Depps presence added a touch of star power to the prestigious event, setting the tone for the days ahead and igniting excitement among fans and cinema enthusiasts alike.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Festival de Cannes (@festivaldecannes)

Marking her debut at the 76th film festival, Sara Ali Khan radiated desi glam with her stunning appearance. Dressed in a custom-made embellished lehenga by renowned designers Abu Jani Sandeep Khosla, she exuded elegance and grace. Sara Ali Khans choice of attire showcased the rich heritage of Indian fashion, captivating the audience with its intricate detailing and exquisite craftsmanship. With her presence on the red carpet, she left a lasting impression, signaling her arrival at the prestigious event and adding a touch of Bollywood glamour to the international stage.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Sara Ali Khan (@saraalikhan95)

Following Sara Ali Khans remarkable debut, Esha Gupta took the Cannes red carpet by storm, leaving everyone in awe of her stunning ensemble. Esha captivated onlookers as she showcased her sartorial flair in a mesmerizing white gown by Nicolas Jebran. The floaty gown featured a daring thigh-high slit, exuding confidence and glamour. With an extravagant collar and intricate lace flowers delicately adorning the neckline, Eshas outfit was a perfect blend of sophistication and elegance.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Festival de Cannes (@cannes_filmfestival)

Urvashi Rautela made a bold fashion statement at the Cannes Film Festival, commanding attention with her vibrant choice of attire. Dressed in a striking pink tulle gown, she captivated the spotlight. However, it was her eye-catching alligator neckpiece that truly stole the limelight, adding a touch of edginess to her ensemble.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Urvashi Rautela (@urvashirautela)

Exuding Cinderella vibes, Manushi Chhillar made her enchanting debut on the red carpet, captivating all with her ethereal presence. Dressed in a pristine white couture dress, she radiated elegance and grace. Paired with exquisite jewelry, her ensemble added a touch of sophistication and glamour.

Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, a seasoned Cannes attendee, was seen at Mumbai airport as she departed for the French Riviera. This will mark her 21st Cannes Film Festival appearance. Accompanying her, as usual, was her 11-year-old daughter Aaradhya, who has been Aishwaryas constant travel companion to Cannes since she was a baby. Aishwarya, exuding glamour in a black ensemble by MICHAEL CINCO Dubai and her iconic red lipstick, graciously took selfies with fans before entering the airport. Aaradhya, dressed comfortably for the flight, opted for jeans and a denim jacket. We are looking forward to her look at the Cannes Red carpet

CANNES 2023 DAY 2 UPDATES

Anurag Kashyaps film Kennedy will be screened in the Midnight Screening" category at the Cannes Film Festival 2023 which will take place from May 16-27.

The film which features actor Sunny Leone and Rahul Bhatt in lead roles.

Indian Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting, L Murugan inaugurated The India Pavilion showcasing Indias creative economy at International Village Riviera

Murugan said India is eager to exhibit its culture and creativity on the global stage, highlighting the capability of Indias creative economy.

Mrunal Thakur shares a video of herself enjoying the view of the French Riviera.

Mrunal Thakur has officially arrived for her much awaited grand Cannes Film Festival debut. The actress took to social media with a fun story hinting at the Calm before the storm. Donned in an all black avatar, and strutting against the backdrop of the iconic French Riviera, the actress said - The calm before the storm. Anyhoo. Gotta get dressed now.

The team of Jeanne du Barry are all smiles as they pose at the Cannes 2023.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Festival de Cannes (@festivaldecannes)

Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Aaradhya Bachchan welcomed with a bouquet at the airport upon arrival at Cannes. Aishwarya will be walking the red carpet at Cannes 2023.

Aishwarya has walked down the red carpet at Cannes since 2002.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Mrunal Thakur (@mrunalthakur)

Mrunal Thakur is ready to take over Cannes 2023. She captioned her post, I didnt come this far to only come this far. #YesICannes

Ready to take on the @festivaldecannes experience. Join me on this glamorous little journey #StayTuned"

Manushi Chillar is a dream in a pink floral strapless gown. Chillar made her debut this year at Cannes 2023.

Sara Ali Khan yet again wows in a custom made Abu Jani Sandeep Khosla ensemble.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Sara Ali Khan (@saraalikhan95)

Sara Ali Khan Kills It in a Gorgeous Abu Jani Sandeep Khosla Black and White Saree, but With a Twist.

Global fashion influencer Rahi Chadda arrives in a pink ensemble at Cannes 2023 red carpet
On the French Riviera, the city of Cannes is well known for its glamorous reputation, opulent way of life, and breathtaking Mediterranean coastline. The annual Cannes Film Festival, which draws famous people, directors, and movie fans from all over the world, helped the city become known around the world. With its stunning beaches, luxury shops along the well-known La Croisette promenade, and a thriving nightlife scene, Cannes is also a well-liked vacation spot.

Here are a few must-visit locations in Cannes:

La Croisette:

La Croisette is a well-known promenade that hugs the coast and is lined with luxury hotels, high-end stores, and upscale restaurants. Enjoy a stroll while taking in the stunning views of the Mediterranean Sea. Cannes Film Festival:

If youre visiting the city in May, dont miss this important event. Observe the glitz and glamour as celebrities, filmmakers, and business executives congregate to promote and celebrate cinema. Palais des Festival et des Congres:

This building serves as the main venue for the Cannes Film Festival. Admire the modern architecture of the city and the renowned red carpet where celebrities come in elegance. Le Suquet:

Visit Cannes old town, which is set on a hill and offers harbour views. Visit Notre Dame de lEsperance, stroll through its narrow lanes, and go to the pinnacle for sweeping vistas. Ile Sainte-Marguerite:

From Cannes, take a short boat ride to the charming island of Ile Sainte-Marguerite. Visit the Fort Royal, the former residence of infamous prisoner The Man in the Iron Mask." Enjoy the picturesque surroundings, hiking paths, and remote beaches of the island. Marche Forville:

Experience Marche Forvilles bustling, colourful atmosphere. Discover fresh fruits, veggies, cheeses, and flowers while savouring local delicacies and soaking in the lively ambiance of a traditional French market.

Always check the accessibility and hours of operation of the attractions before visiting as they are subject to change. Enjoy your time in Cannes!
Tamil actress Aishwarya Rajesh has reportedly been provided police security after her recently released film Farhana stirred controversy since the release of its trailer. A few Muslim outfits, including Indian National League (INL), have alleged that the film portrays the Muslim community in a bad light and termed it as anti-Islamic. Aishwarya plays the lead role in this film.

According to reports, a few policemen have been deployed outside the residence of the actress in Chennai.

In Nelson Venkatesans directorial, Aishwarya essays the role of Farhana who works in the call centre that operates phone sex services. Following the controversies, Production house Dream Warrior Pictures issued a statement to clarify the allegations.

Farhana is not against any religion or sentiments. Our aim is only to provide good movies and never act against any religious sentiments, or beliefs. And we never allow or want any act against humanity in our stories. We think that our brothers and sisters who are creating controversies about our movie should understand this, read the statement.

The makers also said that Tamil Nadu is a paradise for religious harmony and a land that cherishes works of art.

It is not proper to oppose a censored film before its release, due to misunderstandings, and create controversies. It will make those who oppose it look like they have no proper understanding. A film is made with the hard work of several hundred people. Tamil fans will support a film that is not flawed, added the statement.

The press release also mentioned that certain Islamic countries have cleared Farhana for release without any issues. Some of those countries are Malaysia, Oman, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates, as per the production house.

Farhana has received positive reviews from critics and also features Jithan Ramesh, K Selvaraghavan, Anumol K Manoharan, Aishwarya Dutta and Sakthi Raj in pivotal roles.
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan is all set for her annual visit to Cannes 2023 and much like the recent years, she is joined by her daughter Aaradhya Bachchan. On late Tuesday night, Aishwarya and Aaradhya were spotted at the airport, making their way to the international film festival. While they were surrounded by bodyguards, fans present at the airport thronged to catch a glimpse of the Ponniyin Selvan star and try their luck to get a selfie with her as well.

In a video shared by a paparazzo, a number of fans tried to take photos with Aishwarya. While Aishwarya agreed to pose with a few, her bodyguards intervened and distanced fans as she made her way to board her flight. While Aishwarya gracefully handled the fans, social media users were not impressed with her airport look.

Aishwarya was seen wearing an all-black ensemble with an oversized black jacket. She kept her makeup minimal and left her hair loose. The look disappointed fans, with many suggested she experiments with her style. What happened to Aish? Same dress up,same hair style.. it seems her life have become boring! Need some change in her get up," a social media wrote. They both needs to change their hairstyle," a user wrote. Why they dont change their hairstyles?" asked a third user. Omg she needs to hire someone to dress her," a fourth user added.

Besides Aishwarya, this year, many more Bollywood celebrities are expected to walk the red carpet of Cannes 2023. On the opening night, Sara Ali Khan, Manushi Chillar and Esha Gupta were seen marking their attendance. Also expected to attend the festival are Anushka Sharma and Mrunal Thakur. The Sita Ramam star was spotted making her way to the festival on Tuesday night.
Sunita Ahuja, wife of Bollywood actor Govinda, paid a visit to Ujjains Mahakal temple on Monday, May 15, to offer prayers to Lord Mahakal. However, pictures of her carrying a luxury handbag into the temples garbha-griha (sanctum sanctorum) quickly went viral. She has been receiving flak because one of the most prominent rules of the Mahakal temple is the prohibition of bringing a purse inside.

Surprisingly, no one intervened or seemed to notice the violation of the rule. This incident has garnered attention and raised concerns about the temples security measures.

Only two days back, Sunita Ahuja took to her Instagram account to share a picture from Ujjain and captioned it: Had a wonderful darshan at Mahakal ujjain.

She can be seen in a pink traditional sari and tilak on her forehead. Check out the picture here:

In another picture, she can be seen sitting with a priest and being gifted a framed picture of the temple. She can be seen carrying a handbag from French luxury brand, Maison Goyard.

Upon bringing the matter to the attention of the relevant authorities, the temple administrator said that appropriate action would be taken once the footage will be reviewed to understand how the bag was permitted inside. Sandeep Soni, the administrator of the Mahakal temple, acknowledged that the security team was occupied at the gate during that period, emphasising their responsibility to enforce the prohibition on bags and purses. He confirmed that action had been taken against the officials who were found to be at fault.

Since his debut in Ilzaam, Govinda starred in more than 165 Hindi films, including Dulhe Raja, Bade Miyan Chote Miyan, Sandwich, Bhagam Bhag, Partner, Hero No. 1, and many more. He later became one of the most commercially successful stars of the 1990s.
SS Rajamoulis magnum opus RRR starring Jr NTR and Ram Charan turned out to be a massive success not just on a national level but internationally as well. Both the leads Jr NTR and Ram Charan come from highly influential film families. While Jr NTR is the grandson of yesteryear star NTR, Ram Charan is the son of megastar Chiranjeevi. It is believed that both clans have not always seen eye to eye. In fact, they are said to be at loggerheads for more than three decades.

Nevertheless, it seems like Ram Charan and Jr NTR came closer during the shoot of the period action drama. Their rapport during the promotion of the film was highly appreciated by the fans. During a conversation with American journalist David Poland, Ram disclosed that while there is a sense of brotherhood between these two, a certain level of rivalry also does exist. The Magadheera star revealed that there are 7 actors in his family, and his cousins are also actors. He said that he is a competitor too. So naturally, there is a sense of competition with NTRs family too. The star added that his family has been known as a fierce competitor in the film industry for 20-30 years. Ram further said, His grandfather and my father its like were arch-rivals."

Speaking at an interview, earlier the Acharya actor was asked if there was competitiveness between the RRR co-stars. To this, the star was quoted saying, The film just became a medium for us to announce to the world that we are friends. And when it comes to competition, of course, there was competition, but it was very healthy. We always tried to help each other and understand each others mental and physical states during the shoot."

Now, coming back to RRR, Ram Charan played the role of Indian revolutionary Alluri Sitarama Raju in the movie, whereas Jr NTR was seen as Komaram Bheem. The movie chronicles the struggle of these two against the British Raj.
Priyanka Chopra looked stunning in a sexy red dress at a Bulgari event on Tuesday night (IST). The actress, who is among the brand ambassadors of the international brand, made her way to Venice for the Mediterranean High Jewelry Collection lauch that was also attended by South Korean pop sensation Lisa, of the K-pop group BLACKPINK, and Hollywood stars Anne Hathaway and Zendaya. In photos going viral, Priyanka turned heads with her gorgeous cutout dress.

The Citadel actress was seen matching an off-shoulder crop top with a perfectly fitted gown-style skirt at the event. She sported a matching, bold red lipstick to take the look to a new level. She left her hair open and completed her look with a statement necklace.

She joined Anne and Zendaya, who dropped jaws with their looks. The Devil Wears Prada star was seen wearing a gold and silver Versace dress featuring a hood. The outfit made her look nothing less than a princess. Anne, much like Priyanka, also opted to leave her hair open and sported a statement red necklace that blended perfectly with the dress.

Meanwhile, Zendaya chose a black, off-shoulder gown which she styled with a statement necklace and her hair tied up into a neatly done bun. While Priyanka posed with Anne and Zendaya on the red carpet, she was seen sharing the table with BLACKPINK member Lisa in viral videos from inside the launch.

.@BLACKPINKs #LISA with Zendaya, Anne Hathaway, Priyanka Chopra, Jc babin & Frederic Arnault at the Bvlgari event in Venice.pic.twitter.com/Q0ZzcI38Gl pretty savage (@villainpinks) May 16, 2023

Priyanka recently made headlines for a one-day visit to India. The actress was in New Delhi, attending her cousin, actress Parineeti Chopras engagement to Raghav Chadha. Priyanka attended the ceremony in a neon green outfit and left bash earlier than her fellow guests. She flew down to London with her mother, Dr Madhu Chopra, and spent Mothers Day with her and Nick Jonas.
Krushna Abhishek is still hopeful that Sunil Grover will return to The Kapil Sharma Show. Fans of the comedy show would know that Sunil had exited the show after fallout with Kapil Sharma after a fight. While Kapil apologised to the fellow comedian and actor, the two stars have not collaborated since. Krushna, who recently exited and rejoined the show, weighed in on the possiblities of Sunil also returning to the show and said that it is up to Sunil.

Speaking with Instant Bollywood, Krushna was all praise for Sunil and said he is positive that the day will come when fans would see the cast of The Kapil Sharma Show, including Sunil Grover, would share the stage. Why not? It is up to him. Hes a brilliant performer. I am a big fan of Sunil. He performs well, and it will be fun when we are all on stage. I hope that day comes one day. I am being very positive," he said.

In 2018, Kapil and Sunil had a fallout in a flight when they were flying back to Mumbai after wrapping up a show in Australia. Following the fight, Kapil waved the white flag and also has said in multiple interviews that he has the door open for Sunils return. However, the Bharat star recently said that he has his plate full with projects right now and might not make a comeback anytime soon.

Abhi to aisa koiya to puchwalo fir aap (there is nothing like that, or ask him then). I am also busy right now and enjoying what I am doing. He is also busy and doing good work. I am also doing good work. I have already enjoyed my phase of non-fiction and am currently liking the fiction setup, gaining new experiences as a performer. I am having fun. There are no such plans right now," Sunil told Hindustan Times.
It may be naive to read too much into the BJPs humiliating defeat by the Congress in the recent Karnataka assembly elections, magnifying its impact at the national level in the run-up to next years Lok Sabha polls. However, it would also be unwise to minimise the larger significance of the BJP losing its only foothold in the entire southern India, that too so comprehensively. It is therefore important to analyse the implications of the Karnataka electoral outcome in a balanced manner without getting carried away by wishful thinking, viewing it as a game changer, or of no national consequence at all.

Supporters of the ruling party will no doubt point out with some justification that Karnataka has in the past voted differently quite often in state and national polls. For instance, in both the past two state assembly polls in 2013 and 2018, the BJP did quite poorly, although, in the last election, it managed to emerge as the largest party but well short of a clear majority. However, as enthusiasts of Prime Minister Narendra Modi will no doubt remember, his personal wizardry swept Karnataka in both the parliamentary polls in 2014 and 2019, just a year after the tepid show by the BJP to get power at the local level.

Yet a closer examination of the past decade in Karnatakas evolving politics reveals that the involvement of Mr Modi in earlier assembly polls was far less high-profile than in the current one. He was almost missing from the state landscape during the 2013 assembly polls and did not campaign much in the next five years later. In striking contrast, this time around the Prime Minister descended in the last week of the election campaign on the state like a flaming meteor from the skies breathing Hindutva fire on his political opponents, projecting himself as the only keeper of the holy grail in Karnataka.

The fact that Mr Modis crusade of turning a state election into a national one adorned with religious zealotry in an attempt to pulverise the Congress tactics of sticking to bread-and-butter issues laced with charges of corruption against the incumbent BJP government so badly backfired cannot be ignored. The fact that the Congress has managed to make major inroads into areas across the state earlier dominated by the BJP besides gobbling up a fast-fading third political force Janata Dal (S) with an eight per cent vote lead over the BJP that might grow larger in the immediate future does not augur well for the latter even in next years parliamentary polls. With no leader to replace the retired old warhorse BS Yediyurappa, the BJP could swiftly slip into political disarray much like a similar state assembly poll defeat resulted in West Bengal earlier. This is bound to affect its parliamentary seat tally from Karnataka regardless of the Prime Ministers personal showmanship.

Despite his surface bluster, Mr Modi is acutely aware that every seat lost will hurt in next years Lok Sabha polls and the very concept of a BJP-free south India has a resonance not only in the south but could dent his invincible aura across the country so carefully crafted by his propaganda machine. He knows that the BJPs oldest allies like Bal Thackerays Shiv Sena, Badals Akali Dal, and Nitish Kumars Janata Dal (U) are now arrayed against him and the party would have to fight tooth and nail alone in most constituencies. If the Congress and other opposition parties play their cards well, the Prime Ministers march to a third successive term may not be such an easy stroll as political pundits predict if his party continues to sink at a regional level.

The BJP would be in far more trouble if indeed the Congress and the Opposition are able to move beyond the obvious joy and relief at the Karnataka results and swiftly get down to brass tacks on a tactical plan rather than an overarching strategic vision to meet the challenge of 2024. The Karnataka polls are just the latest proof that both the Prime Ministers larger-than-life profile and the politics of religious polarisation can be defeated when met with a determined but innovative effort to capture the public imagination with mundane but real-life grassroots issues. The messaging has to be cleverly tweaked from state to state, region to region, and even district to district across the country, which would require widespread coordination between political workers, community leaders, and NGOs.

On the political front, the Congress has to forget all delusions of grandeur in the wake of the Karnataka triumph and decide in which states the vastly shrunk party is still best placed to take on the BJP in 2024 and focus its resources and energy. It should ask for other opposition parties to collaborate in this venture in return for its own collaboration in states where the Congress, however mighty once, is no longer a major force. The rest of the Opposition would do well to at least immediately start working on a blueprint for this collaborative exercise and see how far this is feasible.

The biggest incentive both for the Congress and the opposition parties to work with each other against the BJP for the 2024 challenge is that if the BJP storms to another majority, that could not just mark another low in their political fortunes but imperil the very existence of all parties, and bring an unholy end to the era of competitive politics.

The writer is a Delhi-based political commentator. The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not represent the stand of this publication.
The portrayal of Indian culture (predominantly of Hinduism) in the West has long been a story of a negative depiction of caste dominations, worship of weird and unsightly pagan gods in primitive and grotesque ways, patriarchal domination where women face daily bias, the existence of Sati, rampant corruption, lack of hygiene, etc. Beyond Buddha and Gandhi, it seems the West found nothing appealing in Indian heritage and culture, and this notion of India was fed to the West for many generations through various academic discourses and discussions. While most of these false views on India were propagated by Western academicians, some Indians, too, were and are still a part of this group that continues to denigrate India and Hinduism.

Until recently, the majority of the Hindus, fed on the British-created anti-Hindu educational system that was unfortunately continued in the post-independence era under the Nehru regime, had no way of countering the blatant bigotry and hatred that was being propagated worldwide against Hindus and Hinduism. While after independence there is little doubt that India faced various issues of under-development and poverty, primarily because of wrong political decisions by the erstwhile governments, the current generation is no longer willing to take the insults lying down and meekly. With the rising powers of India as a global player in world politics, the current generation has the confidence to fight back the Abrahamic propaganda against Hinduism.

Taking into context the recent controversy where Ukraines Ministry of Defence tweeted a picture of Goddess Kali in a demeaning manner, my article will examine how the West has been insulting our gods for many decades now.

Definition of Shiva in The LibreTexts libraries as taught in the US:

Shiva embodies the apparently contradictory aspects of a god of ascetics and a god of the phallus. He is the deity of renouncers, particularly of the many Shaiva sects that imitate him: Kapalikas, who carry skulls to reenact the myth in which Shiva beheaded his father, the incestuous Brahma, and was condemned to carry the skull until he found release in Benares; Pashupatas, worshippers of Shiva Pashupati, Lord of Beasts; and Aghoris, to whom nothing is horrible, yogis who eat ordure or flesh in order to demonstrate their complete indifference to pleasure or pain. Shiva is also the deity whose phallus (linga) is the central shrine of all Shaiva temples and the personal shrine of all Shaiva householders; his priapism is said to have resulted in his castration and the subsequent worship of his severed member.

[Source: The LibreTexts libraries are supported by the Department of Education Open Textbook Pilot Project, the UC Davis Office of the Provost, the UC Davis Library, and the California State University.]

Definition of Devi Sakti- Durga/Kali in The LibreTexts libraries as taught in the US:

As Durga, the Unapproachable, she kills the buffalo demon Mahisha in a great battle; as Kali, the Black, she dances in a mad frenzy on the corpses of those she has slain and eaten, adorned with the still-dripping skulls and severed hands of her victims. The Goddess is also worshipped by the Shaktas, devotees of Shakti, the female power. This sect arose in the medieval period along with the Tantrists, whose esoteric ceremonies involved a black mass in which such forbidden substances as meat, fish, and wine were eaten and forbidden sexual acts were performed ritually.

From the two definitions given above, it is very clear the author has no knowledge on the concept of either Shiva or the Devi; doesnt know anything about the Vedas and Puranic stories; and his or her primary focus is on certain words, such as skulls, sect, phallus, blood and flesh, esoteric and erotica of forbidden sexual acts, everything that gives an ugly grotesque appearance to Hinduism.

In the book Awakening: An Introduction to the History of Eastern Thought, Dr Patrick Bresnan writes, Entering the world of Shiva worship is to enter the world of India at its most awesomely mysterious and bewildering; at least for the non-Indian. In Shiva worship, the Indian creative imagination erupts in a never-ending multiplicity of gods and demons, occult rituals, and stunning sexual symbolismLinga/yoni veneration was not the whole of itYoung women, known as devadasis, were commonly connected with Shiva temples, and participated in the rituals, sometimes only in a symbolic fashion; sometimes not. In a degraded form, the devadasi became nothing more than temple prostitutes. These extremes were more often to be found among the practitioners of Tantra, that enigmatic antithesis of conservative Hinduism that developed in northeastern India. Some Tantra temples became notorious for all kinds of extreme practices, including ritual rape and ritual murder. In Calcutta, at the Temple of Durga (one of the forms of Shivas shakti), there was an annual festival at which many pigs, goats, sheep, fowl, and even water buffaloes would be slaughtered and ritually burned before the statue of the goddess.

These extremely distorted and perverse descriptions of Shiva, Durga, and Tantra are given in a textbook on Eastern Religions by a so-called authority on Shiva, and that book is used in undergraduate studies on World Religions and Asian Studies in the US. This is how white Indologists and experts with their own distorted minds and perverted thinking that only focuses on sex, rape, occult, blood, and gore have interpreted and presented Hinduism to the common people in the West. It is these horribly distorted images of Hinduism that most common Westerners carry lifelong in their minds, and if one is active on social media and has read some of the comments on Hinduism by the Abrahamics, it will not be difficult to relate to what is being stated here.

Fertility worship, as symbolised through yoni and linga worship, has been a part of all ancient religions and cultures, before the Abrahamic monotheistic religions appeared and wiped them out. Hinduism, being the only ancient surviving religion, still carries on with the concept of fertility worship, and not without a reason too. Fertility worship is the celebration of life, of birth, of conception; the very process through which the human population has been surviving for all these years! Sacrifice in the form of animal slaughtering is present in Islam (Eid), and Christians love their turkeys during Thanksgiving and Christmas, but somehow these academicians fail to write on those practices in a manner Bresnan has written about the ritualistic balis (sacrifices) in Hinduism.

The essential rituals of the Bhagavati cult all point to the aggressive and fatal erotic drinking of the male by the female, the infamous orgy of blood sacrifice of male cocks at the Kodungallur Bhagavati temple; the male veliccappatus cutting of his head in a symbolic act of self-castration [Kali] is herself, first of all, a phallic being, the mother with a penisshe is the bloodied image of the castrating and menstruating (thus castrating) femaleIn this type of analysis, the phallic abilities of the goddess disguise castration anxieties ultimately directed toward the father as well as homosexual desire for the fathers penis. Following Freud, such analyses stress the father-son polarity of the oedipal conflict as the central trauma-seeking expression  Sarah Caldwell in her research paper, The Bloodthirsty Tongue and the Self-Feeding Breast: Homosexual Fellatio Fantasy in a South Indian Ritual Tradition.

For the above-given paper, filled with sex, lust, castration and various perversion-filled theories, Sarah Caldwell was awarded a prestigious award by the Western academic world. Here what is presented is just a short paragraph, and the rest is just too demeaning and horrible to read for any Hindu or for that matter any sane human being. Here, a symbolic sacrifice, an act of devoting oneself to the Devi, has been turned into an act of self-castration. It seems in the twisted devious minds of these academics, there are constant and obsessive thoughts of sex, orgy, blood, gore, castration, and erotica, which are reflected in their writings and are nothing short of pornography. Certainly, as a practicing Hindu with diksha of Devi Kali under a Tantric guru, I have no such twisted and perverse understanding of Hinduism and the rituals pertaining to the tantric form of worship. Perhaps, one wonders, if these very twisted and distorted thoughts that we see in these writings of the white academics have now somehow permeated into the white mans daily lives, leading to what we now see in the USA as a transgender revolution, a movement that reeks of child abuse, sexual perversions, and severe mental disorders.

The Bhagavad Gita is not as nice a book as some Americans think Throughout the MahabharataKrishna goads human beings into all sorts of murderous and self-destructive behaviours such as warThe Gita is a dishonest book; it justifies war  said Wendy Doniger, in Philadelphia Inquirer, without understanding or more likely deliberately distorting the basic essence of the Bhagavad Gita that asks people to fight for dharma or righteousness. The Great Mahabharata War was not a call to fight religious wars to kill and convert non-believers like the Christian Crusades or the Islamic Jihad have been doing for centuries. The Mahabharata War was about destroying adharma (immorality) and reestablishing dharma or righteousness (within people of the same religion), but perhaps Doniger, with her Abrahamic upbringing, failed to understand the true meaning of dharma.

In the context of constant distortion of Hinduism, one question that automatically comes to mind is  Has the likes of academic scholars, like Wendy Doniger, written books and research papers about the actual religious wars carried on by Christianity and Islam that has killed, raped, and enslaved millions of people for centuries, and something that is still continuing? The answer of course is a big NO.

Has Doniger and her likes researched the atrocities of Christians on Hindus, in what is known as the Goan Inquisition, and how the European Christians wiped out entire native populations in many villages in the US after setting their feet there? The Abrahamics still love to discuss Sati-pratha, a practice that was never popularly followed and has long stopped, even as they conveniently forget about the horrific witch burning in Europe during and after the Black Plague episode. One would not be too far off in their conjectures to think the main objective of these academics is to work towards dismantling and destroying the only surviving ancient religion and culture that is Hinduism.

There are so many other such instances of blatant abuses of Hindu gods and Hinduism going on for decades that one can go on writing long enough to fill up a book. However, one must look beyond the disease, and search for remedies. The two ways that can provide a basic impetus/help in fighting the war against such blatant Hinduphobia, both in academia and on social media, are:

First: Indians (read Hindus and Indics in India) must read the old Hindu books, such as the Vedas, Puranas, and the Epics, in order to understand Hinduism better; practice the culture and traditions of Hinduism so that there is no break its continuity, and stop taking insults to Hinduism quietly. The Government of India needs to make fast changes in the school-level history books so that the focus is more on Indias Indic history, along with which the glorification and whitewashing of foreign Islamic and Christian invaders atrocities need to be removed and the true history is given. Once the common people are aware of their history and know their religion well, they can properly counter the media and social medias false narratives to defame Hinduism.

Second: Hindu NRIs must work towards getting better control of Western colleges and universities through funding, just as the Chinese, Arabs, and Jews have successfully done. Since they are residing in countries from where these abuses and distortions originate, they are in a better position to fight back by writing counter-narratives, but for which they need to have some level of control in the academic world, which will come not only through funding and but also through strict monitoring/seeing that the Hindu funds are not going for anti-Hindu causes.

The author is a well-known travel and heritage writer. Views expressed are personal.
As I write these lines a week has passed since the arrest of former prime minister and head of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) party Imran Khan from the premises of the Islamabad High Court on 9 May. These seven days plunged the country into turbulence with internal divisions within organs of state and its institutions and confrontation between state organs and institutions coming out into the open. The authority of the state and of its vital institutionthe Pakistan armywas challenged in an unprecedented manner by Khans supporters immediately after his arrest on May 9. They attacked army installations and public property in many cities.

Both symbolically and substantially none of these actions of Khans supporters was more significant than the ransacking of the residence of the armys IV corps commander based in Lahore. That house was initially the property of Mohammed Ali Jinnah, the founder of the Pakistan state, and is known as Jinnah House. The visuals of some fires being lit and furniture and artefacts being smashed in the corps commanders house as they spread, first on social media, should have sent shock waves through the country leading all sections of the political class, the army and the judicial organ of state into an introspective mood and into informal consultations. But that did not happen.

The fundamental chasms in Pakistans polity are too deep and entrenched interests so obstinate about the righteousness of their cause that it would be asking for the moon to expect for them to act constructively for the good of the state. However, a semblance of normalcy seems to be returning to the Pakistani street over the past 48 hours. All relevant actors have made their necessary moves and a relatively quiet period, however short, may now occur despite unresolved issues of powerplay relating to personalities, parties and above all institutions.

Before the latter part is dwelt upon, a look at the former would be useful.

A special corps commander conference was held under the leadership of army chief General Asim Munir on 15 May. The language of the long statement which was issued after the conference was somewhat more restrained than the armys earlier statements which directly attacked the PTI. There is no doubt that the army firmly expressed its resolve to bring the perpetrators of the 9 May attacks to book including, in military courts, and also alleged that political motivations were behind the violent demonstrations but the statement did not name the PTI nor its leader. More strikingly it emphasised need of national consensus among all stakeholders to address ongoing political instability at priority so as to restore public confidence. Earlier the army had refuted allegations that martial law may be imposed. This formulation seems to indicate that the army leadership is conscious that ultimately the political imbroglio can only be resolved through elections. The question is if it will be ready to allow Imran Khan to contest the election especially after his direct attack on General Asim Munir as also his predecessor General Qamar Bajwa.

The crusading chief justice of Pakistan, Umar Ata Bandial, who has through his seeming acts of partisanship on behalf of Imran Khan seems now reconciled that even though the court may give categorical orders to hold elections to the Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa assembly on a certain dateas it did in April for elections to be held on 15 May for the former assemblythere is little that it can do to have its orders implemented in the face of the opposition of the government and of the National Assembly. The latter cannot be hauled up for contempt. And, if the government does not provide funds for the election and cannot assure security there is little that the Election Commission can do. Thus, in its hearing on the subject on 15 May the chief justice was once again constrained to advise the government and the opposition to sit together to thrash out the election issue.

The fact is that in any country the judicial organ of state is the weakest of the three and in Pakistan this has been especially so notwithstanding the theatrics of some former chief justices whose own records could hardly bear the weight of full scrutiny. The next date of hearing on the election case is 23 May but it is unlikely that the government or the PTI would go, if at all, beyond a charade of consultations.

The PDM has railed against the Supreme Court for showing undue partisanship to Imran Khan. Maulana Fazlur Rehman and Mariam Nawaz directed their fusillades against Bandial but ensured that the sit-in before the court was peaceful. Now their supporters can claim that they have exposed Bandials hypocrisy. It was certainly imprudent of the chief justice to greet Khan in his courteven if he, as he claimed, does so to others as welland nor was it wise of him to wish Khan luck, especially as he gave full relief to Khan. The lower courts, following the Supreme Courts lead, have given him bail in almost all cases, including in some of those that may be lodged in the future!

The government has respected court orders even if Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has condemned the courts partisanship. The National Assembly too passed a strongly worded resolution against the chief justice but its threats are unlikely to be carried through.

Thus, a brief period of quietus, even if fragile, could ensue between the contending organs of state and the institutions. However, there have been and will be repercussions within each going forward. Some seem to have taken place already.

While the army has not made any official announcement it seems almost certain that the Lahore Corps Commander, Lt General Salman Fayyaz Ghani was removed on 12 May and replaced with Lt General Fayyaz Hussain Shah. An audio clip doing the rounds indicates that Salman and his family were in the corps commanders residence when it was attacked. It is also being alleged that Salman had categorically told Munir that he would not have the blood of his fellow citizens on his hands. Is that the reason that normal precaution of increasing the guard at the residence was not taken?

The army statement claimed that the desecration of Jinnah House and the attack on military installations were meant to move the army to provoke an impulsive reaction. With Salman holding his hand the army was able to show restraint and claim, as its statement noted The Commanders also communicated the anguish and sentiments of the rank and file of the Army on these unfortunate and unacceptable incidents. It is interesting that on the one hand Salmans inaction enabled Munir to show that the army acted with utmost restraint while, on the other, he is being, it seems, punished for his inaction. But then life is full of contradictions.

It now remains to be seen how the PDM will proceed further on Khan. The PPP, relatively secure in its Sindh bastion, would not be too averse to electorally confront a weakened Khan. The PML(N) and the Maulana are vulnerable because of Khans continuing popularity in Punjab and KP. They would naturally like elections to be delayed and Mariam Nawaz was voicing her partys view when she said that elections cannot be held as long as Bandial held office. Fissures on how to deal with Khan even if they remain below the surface will now occur in the PDM.

The judiciary will be a divided house but as long as Bandial is the chief justice Khan can hope for some relief from the courts in the many cases he will now face. However, even Bandial may not be able to help beyond a point if Khan gets enmeshed in the coils of the law in the lower courts.

Finally, the real contest will now be between Khan and Munir. The army statement of 15 May categorically asserts the forces intention to go after the perpetrators of the attacks of May 9 and as well the planners, instigators and abettors. These no doubt belong to the PTI. More than a thousand have been picked up already and this process of arrests is likely to continue.

Notwithstanding all protestations of neutrality and commitment to democracy Munir cannot afford to let Khan back in the prime ministers office. There cannot be two swords in Pakistans scabbard. Aware of this the army statement reiterated its bond with the people. It stressed Forum also expressed concern over externally sponsored and internally facilitated orchestrated propaganda warfare, unleashed against the Army leadership, meant to create fissures between the Armed Forces and the people of Pakistan and within rank and file of the Armed Forces. The vicious propaganda of these inimical forces will be defeated with the support of the people of Pakistan who have always stood with the Armed Forces of Pakistan during all odds.

If history is a guide, then ultimately the Pakistani people choose the army over a political leader, howsoever popular. But Imran Khan is giving the generals a headache for he is refusing to go quietly into the sunset.

The writer is a former Indian diplomat who served as Indias Ambassador to Afghanistan and Myanmar, and as secretary, the Ministry of External Affairs. Views expressed are personal.
Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray on Wednesday requested Maharashtra Governor Ramesh Bais to forward his petition regarding `corrupt practices in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to the Lokayukta.

In a letter to the governor, Thackeray reminded Bais of his meeting with a Shiv Sena (UBT) delegation on May 10 where this issue was discussed.

We urge you to intervene and ask the BMC not to give the charity of advance mobilization fund of Rs 600 crore to contractors," he said.

The mega tender for roads in the city must be scrapped and a new tender should be issued with transparency when a new elected general body is in place or under the supervision of a committee of retired judges, Aaditya Thackeray demanded.

Elections to the BMC, Indias richest civic body, are due for more than a year.

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The BMC seemed to be in a hurry to waste peoples money or was being forced to do so before civic elections were held, the letter said.

Advance mobilization fund is usually provided for greenfield works and highway projects and never in a city like Mumbai where not even 25 of the 900 planned road works have started, and it is a criminal waste of taxpayers money, the Sena (UBT) leader said.
The Congress on Wednesday hit out at the BJP for criticising it over the delay in deciding the chief minister of Karnataka and cited examples when the saffron party declared its chief ministers in Uttar Pradesh, Goa and Assam several days after winning the polls.

AICC general secretary in-charge for Karnataka Randeep Surjewala said that a section of the media has fallen victim to the fake news factory of BJP on the formation of next Congress government in Karnataka", asking whether they had questioned the prime minister the same way when he took seven to 10 days in deciding on chief ministers in several states.

We understand the frustration of BJP in being decisively rejected by the brother and sisters of Karnataka bringing an end to the #40PercentBJPSarkara.

I hope some people had questioned PM Modi when he took 7 to 10 days in deciding chief ministers of Uttar Pradesh, Assam, Goa and many other states. No one then whispered a word on the High Command culture. But the same forces and select news outlets have objections to the process of dialogue, discussion, and consensus adopted by Sh. Mallikarjun Kharge ji, which is in true democratic traditions," Surjewala said on Twitter.

He also said that he has advised all Congress leaders to not issue statements on the issue of leadership. Any out-of-turn remarks made from here onwards will be treated as indiscipline and action taken accordingly," Surjewala said.

Earlier, AICC general secretary, of communications, Jairam Ramesh said on Twitter, Just to refresh memories of PMs drum-beaters especially. 2017 UP Vidhan Sabha election results out on March 11th. Yogi appointed CM 8 days later on March 19th.

The 2021 Assam Vidhan Sabha election results out on May 3rd. Himanta Biswa Sarma became CM 7 days later on May 10th." There are many more such examples," he said.

Several BJP leaders are criticising the Congress for the delay in deciding on the chief ministers name in Karnataka amid hectic lobbying for the top post.

The results in Karnataka were declared on May 13 but the party has not finalised its chief ministerial face yet and the process of consultations is on.

Karnatakas two chief ministerial aspirants Siddaramaiah and D K Shivakumar held separate meetings with Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Tuesday as the party held hectic consultations to decide on who would lead the government in the southern state.

BJPs IT cell head Amit Malviya said a sorry state of affairs prevails in the Congress where Kharge sees himself more as a postman".

Want to watch the circus? Watch the Congress select their CM in Karnataka," he said on Twitter.

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Referring to the lobbying by Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar for the post of the chief minister, Malviya said, The BJP also holds discussions and deliberations to elect its CMs and has often ensured a smooth transition of power, even between CMs. Despite elaborate consultations, you will never find BJP aspirants falling over each other, rallying supporters and issuing veiled threats to the party through the media."

On the contrary, last evening, Lutyens journalists, who D K Shivakumar hosted at the Claridges, almost appointed Siddaramaiah as the Karnataka CM. Sorry state of affairs in Congress, where President Kharge sees himself more as a postman, let alone being a decision-maker or even part of the decision-making team He keeps referring to some High Command," he added.
The NCP on Wednesday said that a delay in taking a decision on the disqualification notices against the 16 MLAs of the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena may raise questions about the constitutional position" of an Assembly Speaker.

The Supreme Court has directed Maharashtra Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar to take decisions in accordance with his authority as constitutional head of the state legislature," NCP spokesperson Clyde Crasto said on Twitter.

The apex court has already termed the appointment of Shinde loyalist MLA Bharat Gogawale as Shiv Sena whip as illegal, he said.

This makes it easier for the Speaker to take a quick decision on the issue of disqualification because all directives given by an illegal whip stand invalid," said Crasto.

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"Narwekar must take a non-partisan and quick decision to solve the issue of disqualification of the 16 MLAsa delay in taking this decision might raise questions on the constitutional position of a Speaker," the NCP spokesperson said.

In its ruling on the issues arising from the split in the Shiv Sena in June 2022, the Supreme Court asked the Maharashtra Assembly Speaker to decide on the disqualification notices issued against the 16 rebel Sena MLAs including Shinde.
Mumbai was abuzz with political activity on Wednesday as Sharad Pawar, Uddhav Thackeray and JP Nadda called for meetings with their respective party leaders in the aftermath of the election results in neighbouring Karnataka.

Pawar met NCP leaders at the YB Chavan centre in South Mumbai, while Thackeray met his team at the party headquarters in central Mumbais Dadar. Nadda, meanwhile, held a meeting with the Panna Pramukhs of Mumbai district and office-bearers. Last week, Pawar had called a meeting of all stakeholders and explained to them that staying united was the only way to fight against BJP.

According to a source within the Maha Vikas Aghadi, in a recent meeting at Pawars residence in Mumbai, all MVA stakeholders agreed to fight the major polls together but sought time to draw up a seat-sharing formula as the dynamics within the alliance have changed.

Thackeray, who earlier had the highest number of MLAs, now has only 15 post a split in the Sena. On Wednesday, Thackeray took stock of the situation in each district and sought a report card on the performance of his party. The general as well as state assembly polls were also discussed as in the last MVA leaders meet, the possibility of both elections being held together was among the issues that were taken up.

The district heads of Shiv Sena (UBT) were handed out Marathi copies of the recent Supreme Court order on the real Sena in Wednesdays meeting with a direction to reach out to people in their district and explain the order.

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Nadda, meanwhile, is on a two-day tour of Maharashtra. He will visit Mumbai and Pune and will also hold meetings with Panna Pramukhs and Mumbai BJP unit leaders. In Pune, Nadda will address the revamped state executive of BJP and later hold a closed-door meeting with BJP MLAs and MPs.

According to the source, Nadda will also hold a meeting with top RSS functionaries in Mumbai. Post BJPs loss in Karnataka elections, Naddas visit to Maharashtra holds significance. One may see this visit as an attempt from BJPs top leadership to galvanise the party cadre before the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.
Amid Bharatiya Janata Party president J P Naddas two-day Maharashtra visit, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut on Wednesday claimed wherever Nadda goes, the BJP loses.

However, BJP MLA Nitesh Rane hit back at Raut, accusing him of targeting individuals on constitutional posts and inciting the administration against the government.

All these are signs of an urban Naxal," Rane claimed.

Notably, the BJP faced defeat in the recently concluded Assembly elections in Karnataka where the Congress registered an emphatic win.

Talking to reporters in Nashik, Raut said, "Nadda stayed put in Karnataka to campaign for his party, but it was defeated. Now he is coming to Maharashtra. We welcome him. Wherever he goes, BJP loses." Nadda is on a two-day visit to Maharashtra from Wednesday during which he will meet state BJP leaders.

The Maharashtra Assembly polls are due next year.

Targeting state Assembly speaker Rahul Narwekar, Raut claimed, Defection is his hobby and also profession. There is no party in the state of which he hasnt been a member."

In its verdict on the Shiv Sena-centric tussle that led to the fall of the Maha Vikas Aghadi government in Maharashtra last year, the Supreme Court on May 11 said it cant reinstate the then chief minister Uddhav Thackeray as he chose to resign without facing the floor test.

Refusing to disqualify the 16 rebel Shiv Sena MLAs, including Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, the top court said it cannot ordinarily adjudicate disqualification petitions under the anti-defection law and directed Speaker Narwekar to decide on the pending matter within a reasonable period.

To a query on notices likely to be issued to Shiv Sena MLAs, Raut claimed, The notices are being sent by Narwekar and not the Assembly Speaker. How Narwekar has been speaking to the media in the last few days shows the Constitution is being misused to break to rule of law.

For the first time, a presiding officer was declaring in public what decision he will be taking, the Rajya Sabha member said.

Narwekar on Tuesday said the decision on the disqualification of 16 MLAs, including CM Shinde, will start from the point of which faction was representing the actual Shiv Sena in July 2022- after the split engineered by Shinde.

He also said the Election Commissions decision to allow the Shiv Sena name and its symbol to the faction led by CM Shinde is a prospective" decision and not retrospective.

Meanwhile, BJP MLA Nitesh Rane hit back at Raut, saying Nadda is BJPs national president and he tours the entire country.

We work under his leadership. Raut must say how many votes were bagged by the Maharashtra Ekikaran Samiti for whose candidates he campaigned in the Karnataka elections," he said.

Rane accused Raut of targeting individuals on constitutional posts and inciting the administration against the government.

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All these are signs of an urban Naxal," he claimed.

One needs to check what are Rauts designs. Earlier it was the governor, Supreme Court, now Speakerand also asking the police and administration to disobey the government. Urban Naxals get funding from other countries," Rane claimed.
Google is being forced to make drastic changes to the Play Store billing policy in India after the Competition Commission of India (CCI) order issued in October last year. The search giant has a monopoly in the Android ecosystem with over 95 percent of smartphone users in the country using an Android phone.

This means millions of people rely on Play Store to download apps, which makes it directly lucrative for Android developers. Now, with the changes being ordered, Google is publicly sharing the impact of service fee for the developers and how it is used to help developers with better tools and more. Google also explains that the Play Store service fee is one of the lowest compared to other major app stores, by which it could be talking about iOS.

With respect to India, Google claims that only 3 percent of the developers sell digital goods or services for which they have to pay the service fee. And it also highlights the different tier of service fee charged that are less than 15 percent. As you can see below, Google seems to be charging the 15 percent service fee to apps that have recurring subscriptions.

To give it a better context, the company says that less than 60 developers out of the total 200,000 Indian developers on Play Store are paying a service fee of more than 15 percent.

And the company states that the fee reduces by another 4 percent if the user pays using a different billing system. Google also gives a detailed use of the service fee it charges a developer. The service fee enables Android and Google Play to provide important tools and services to all developers to better serve their users and grow their businesses.

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It is interesting to see Google dish out all these details only after a stringent action was taken on the company by the CCI last year. The new policy has come into effect from April 26, 2023 and it has started notifying the developers about the support for third-party billing systems who can make these changes to garner better returns for their apps on the Play Store in India.

This is unlikely to be the last of Googles battle with the CCI as the company further questions regarding its strategy with Android in the smart TV segment and even Google Maps which has been the default navigation app for Android users in India for many years.
RK Pathak, Deputy Director General at Department of Telecommunications (DoT), on Wednesday said they were looking at necessary steps to make India a 6G technology exporter.

Speaking to News18 at the day-long event at Dr Ambedkar International Centre to mark World Telecommunication Day, Pathak said the exhibition featured the 5G applications by startups and MSMEs, supported by the telecom department. We have funded about 100 startups and MSMEs with more than Rs 110 crore as grants. Here, more than 17 such companies have come for the exhibition, he said.

The DoT official highlighted that India has 4G and 5G stacks to which a lot of these startups have contributed. He said: 5G core is being displayed at the exhibition by some startups who have developed their products with the help of DoT.

There are some startups that have developed Radio Access Network (RAN), a 5G equipment that we see on towers, he noted.

Furthermore, Pathak stated that there are so many applications connected to 5G at this moment. For example, if there is a gas emission in a manhole, 5G-linked sensors will detect whether there is a poisonous gas. The focus is how 5G can help. In rural India, an Accredited Social Health Activist or ASHA worker, who is a simple nurse, can use the technology for betterment of the entire village by following the instructions given by qualified doctors, who can be sitting in another part of the country or abroad, said the DoT official.

6G: A NATURAL ADVANCEMENT

Pathak told News18 that 6G is a natural advancement of 5G. From the current scenario, an advanced 5G will come, which will eventually lead to the 6G era.

PM has already given us 6G vision. DoT already has an apex council for the implementation of the document, and we are taking a lot of action. The first is how we can influence the 6G requirement. We are taking part in defining Indian requirement in the 6G. We are taking all actions along with the partners, so that we can be technology exporters in terms of 6G.

STARTUPS LAUD SUPPORT

Many startups News18 spoke to stated the government has provided them support.

While featuring indigenous products, Oceanography deep tech company Finaara Technologys founder Shovna Udaya Shankar said that the implementation of 5G technology will help her company transfer a larger amount of data to the cloud.

Another participant Bangalore-based Sookta Consulting Pvt Ltd, which has RAN system expertise, told News18: There has been a lot of support from the DoT in terms of funding and collaboration opportunity.

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For 5G, primarily, we have received funds to enhance existing product and take it to deployment and also to implement some functionalities and features in our products so that then we can go to railways, BSNL and other customers, he added.

The spokesperson from Sookta also stated that earlier required components used to be exported from other countries. But at this present ecosystem with DoTs collaboration, we know about other MSMEs who are working on similar solutions and we can work with them to build indigenous solutions, the spokesperson added.
Academy Award-winning actress Lupita Nyongo is known for her stunning looks and flawless style, and her latest Instagram post is no exception. The Wakanda Forever star recently made a bold fashion statement, wearing a multi-coloured saree and gold jewellery. However, its her detailed henna tattoo on her shaved head that has left everyone in awe. Lupita wowed social media as she attended the opening of director Mira Nairs musical adaptation of her 2001 film Monsoon Wedding, proving once again that she is not just a talented actress, but a fashion icon as well.

The actress shared a clip on her Instagram page, twirling and showing off the stunning design while expressing her excitement, she wrote, When we are invited to an Indian wedding, we Use What We Got To Honour & Celebrate. Congratulations to the incomparable Mira Nair on the opening of her musical adaptation of the beloved story Monsoon Wedding. She accompanied the video with Mychael Dannas song Aaj Mera Jee Kardaa from the 2001 film.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Lupita Nyongo (@lupitanyongo)

Along with congratulating director Mira Nair on her musical, Monsoon Wedding, Lupita Nyongo also gave a shoutout to Sabeena, a self-taught henna artist in New York who created the tattoo and Misha Japanwala, the fashion designer who lent her the saree.

Lupitas latest look, featuring henna tattooed bald head and a vibrant saree, has left social media users in awe. One user praising the actress wrote, I applaud this, multiple layers of culture baked in here. Another person highlighted, Yall see this?! This is what you call cultural appreciation.

A third user expressed their admiration and described Lupitas look as the most gorgeous thing Ive ever seen.

Meanwhile, another user speculated, Shes on to something, is there a movie coming out related to her being bald again, with henna tattoos too? Just curious and loving it.

The actress, who bid farewell to her sisterlocks just a month ago, recently decided to shave off all her hair. In a picture, she can be seen with her new look. The caption read: Happy without hair."

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Lupita Nyongo (@lupitanyongo)

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In her caption, Lupita Nyongo also made a playful reference to the Dora Milaje, a tribe of bald female warriors featured in Marvel Cinematic Universe films such as Black Panther and Captain America: Civil War.
Former Prime Minister Imran Khan on Wednesday said the police have surrounded his house in Lahore and claimed that he would be arrested soon.

I am afraid today that Pakistan is heading towards destruction. And I fear that if wisdom is not exercised today, we might reach a stage where we wouldnt even be able to pick up the pieces, he said in an address to the nation virtually.

Probably my last tweet before my next arrest .Police has surrounded my house.https://t.co/jsGck6uFRj Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) May 17, 2023

Meanwhile, Punjab Police alleged that there are around 30-40 terrorists present in Imran Khans Zaman Park residence and ordered Khan to handover the miscreants or face operation, CNN-News18 has learnt.

The Interim Punjab Government has also given a green signal to the police to conduct a grand operation in the Zaman Park residence of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chief, sources told CNN-News18 on Wednesday.

Punjab Police closed all roads To the former PMs Zaman Park residence. Meanwhile, sources close to Imran Khan said the former premier is fearing his arrest.

Punjab Interim Caretaker Information Minister Amir Mir said that the Intelligence reports have said that around 30 to 40 miscreants who attacked the military installations are present in Zaman Park residence.

He gave a 24-hour ultimatum to Imran Khans party to hand them over the miscreants to the government.

It has been decided that the trial of the terrorists will be held in a military court, the caretaker information minister said.

The Punjab police on May 10 booked Khan and hundreds of his party workers for attacking and setting on fire the Corps Commander House in Lahore besides registering five other FIRs against him for inciting his supporters to attack and damage the state buildings and military installations.

So far, 3,400 accused have been arrested and 254 cases have been registered. Meanwhile, the authorities have started identification process.

Khan and his deputy Shah Mahmood Qureshi and others have been framed under murder, terrorism and 20 other heinous offences for attacking the senior military commanders house known as Jinnah House in Lahore Cantonment last Tuesday.

The arrest of Khan on Tuesday by the Pakistan Rangers at the IHC premises triggered unrest in Pakistan that continued till Friday and led to several deaths and dozens of military and state installations being destroyed by the protesters.

For the first time in Pakistans history, the protesters stormed the army headquarters (GHQ) in Rawalpindi and also torched the corps commanders house in Lahore.

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Police put the death toll in violent clashes to 10 while Khans party claims 40 of its workers lost their lives in the firing by security personnel.

(With inputs from agencies)
The Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese confirmed on Wednesday that the Quad leadership summit scheduled to be held in Sydney will not go ahead as US President Joe Biden cancelled his visit to Australia owing to domestic issues, Australia-based news agencies reported.

The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) in a report said that it is likely that all four leaders - Australian PM Anthony Albanese, Indian PM Narendra Modi, Japanese PM Fumio Kishida and US President Joe Biden - will instead meet on the sidelines of the G7 meeting in Japan this weekend.

Albanese said that it is still possible that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Sydney next week.

US President Joe Biden cancelled his attendance because he is busy hashing out a deal with the Republicans to prevent the US from defaulting on its debts at the end of May.

Because that has to be solved prior to 1 June  otherwise there are quite drastic consequences for the US economy, which will flow on to the global economy  he understandably has had to make that decision, Australian PM Albanese was quoted as saying by the ABC.

All four leaders  President Biden, Prime Minister Kishida, Prime Minister Modi and myself  will be at the G7, held in Hiroshima on Saturday and Sunday. We are attempting to get together over that period of time [and] Ill have a bilateral discussion with President Biden, Albanese told the ABC.

Albanese said that Biden felt disappointed that he could not visit Australia and the Quad leaders will try to hold a meeting on the sidelines of the G7 Leadership Summit in Hiroshima.

Albanese, however, added: We are in discussions with the Quad leaders over today. Well make further announcements about that, but Prime Minister Modi would certainly be a very welcome guest here next week.

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He also said that Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida would visit Sydney next week.

The US president had initially intended to visit Australia and Papua New Guinea, but the leg of his trip to Australia was cancelled. His historic visit would have involved a large entourage of over 1,000 people. The most recent visit by a sitting US president to Australia was in 2014, when Barack Obama made the trip.
A crew of 39 Chinese, Indonesian and Filipino sailors were missing on Wednesday after a fishing vessel capsized in the Indian Ocean south of the Maldives, officials said.

Multinational search efforts were underway after Chinese vessel Lu Peng Yuan Yu 028 overturned in the early hours of Tuesday with 17 Chinese, 17 Indonesians and five Filipinos on board, AFP reported.

Chinese and foreign ships have arrived in the area where the incident occurred and the search and rescue work is ongoing," Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin told a press briefing Wednesday.

Wenbin said more rescue personnel are rushing to the scene.

We will continue to take all necessary measures with all parties to search for and rescue the missing persons, he added.

Chinese President Xi Jinping has ordered an all-out search and rescue operation after the accident. None of the missing people have been found so far and the exact location of the incident remains unclear.

Beijing has deployed two commercial vessels to the area  the Lu Peng Yuan Yu 018 and Yuan Fu Hai  to help with the operation, state broadcaster CCTV reported.

Philippine foreign ministry spokeswoman Teresita Daza said Manila was aware and is closely monitoring the situation".

Indonesias foreign ministry also confirmed the incident and said Beijing was coordinating the rescue efforts.

The capsized vessel is owned by Penglai Jinglu Fishery Company, one of Chinas major state-run fishing firms.

It was authorised to fish for neon flying squid and Pacific saury, according to the North Pacific Fisheries Commission.

It left Cape Town in South Africa on May 5 for Busan in South Korea, according to the MarineTraffic tracking website, which last located the vessel on May 10 southeast of Reunion, a tiny French island in the Indian Ocean.

Penglai Jinglu Fishery also runs squid and tuna fishing operations in international waters, including the Indian Ocean and seas surrounding Latin America.

Chinese Premier Li Qiang called on authorities to bolster safety procedures and oversight of fishing operations.

It is necessary to further strengthen the safety management of fishing vessels at sea and implement preventive measures to ensure the safety of maritime transportation," he said.

China has the worlds largest distant-water fishing fleet, though estimates of its size vary widely.

In 2017, Beijing pledged the fleet would be capped at 3,000 vessels, but a 2020 report by Britain-based think tank the Overseas Development Institute placed its size at just under 17,000.

The promise to cap the number followed an international backlash against overfishing by Chinese vessels.

Chinese fishermen have increasingly sailed further afield as fish stocks at home deplete, becoming entangled in a growing number of maritime disputes and accidents.

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In 2019, Manila accused a Chinese vessel of ramming a Philippine boat in the disputed South China Sea, causing it to sink and putting the lives of nearly a dozen crew members at risk.

(With inputs from AFP)
Uyghur Muslims in Chinas Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR), a forcibly occupied territory in 1949, cant follow any religious Muslim tradition. Dictated by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), children of the Uyghur population cant get religious education or follow religious practices. Around 3.5 million Uyghur Muslims and other minorities of the Xinjiang province have been interned in prison camps that the CCP calls re-education centres.

The population of the Uyghur natives is down to half while the Han Chinese population from mainland China is now almost equal to them and dominates the provinces administration and income. XUAR is geographically the largest province in China.

The Chinese atrocities, described in detail in the 2022 Report on International Religious Freedom, which was released by the US Department of State this week, adds to the earlier investigative reports about the CCPs cruelties in the province that many outside China call genocide.

The report says that as per US estimates, these re-education centres, which are described as concentration camps or gulags by many analysts, saw over a million Uyghur Muslims and other minorities of the province interned in the last six years. As mentioned above, other reports keep this number at as high as 3.5 million people jailed. Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) put the number of such camps at 380 in September 2020 in its investigative report.

The CCP thinks of Uyghurs of the province either as terrorists or terror sympathisers and corners them in these camps that are established under the countrys anti-terror operational mechanism. Entry into these camps means you are in a prison facility established under Chinas national counterterrorism and regional counterextremism laws.

These Chinese gulags have treated 3.5 million Uyghur Muslims and other minority civilians as terrorists or suspected terrorists.

Uyghurs are arrested and put in these concentration camps that the CCP calls vocational skills education training centres with the sole purpose of anti-extremist ideological education that can be equated to torture, pushing for religious alienation from Islam and political indoctrination towards Han Chinese culture and CCPs ideology.

Around 900,000 Uyghur children have been separated from their parents. Their indoctrination begins early in life with them being trained in CCP ideology, Han culture, and Mandarin language.

The sole aim is to sinicise Xinjian absolutely. 2022 was the deadline.

In 1941, Uyghurs were 80% of Xinjiangs population while Han Chinese were just 5%. Today, they are 42% of Xinjiangs population, 37% up, while Uyghurs have seen their share coming down by 35%, at 45%.

The UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) calls the Chinese treatment of Uyghurs serious human rights violations. The OHCHR says this can be categorised as international crimes targeting humanity. Forced disappearances, forced sterilisation, torture, political indoctrination, and sexual abuse are routinely observed. Adrian Zenz, a German research scholar on China, says the forced sterilisation policy could cut up to 4.5 million Uyghur births in future.

The CCP even assigns fake relatives to the Uyghur population, to live with them inside their houses to spy on them, the next step of Chinese surveillance on Uyghurs. These fake relatives are either CCP members or administration officials of the province.

The administration in the province has put up a mechanism that forces Uyghur neighbours to spy on each other as well. They are under 24/7 surveillance, both physical and virtual. They must update the Chinese authorities about their daily routine. Their phones, their home decoration, their religious preference, everything is governed by the CCP administration in Xinjiang. An Uyghur Muslim is jailed for a long period of time for owning a Quran or growing a beard.

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Most of the Uyghur mosques are gone. According to the Washington-based Uyghur Human Rights Project (UHRP), China destroyed 10,000 to 15,000 Uyghur mosques and religious places between 2016 and 2019.

The country carried out a massive exercise in June 2022 when it screened 23 million Xinjiang minority residents for being terrorists. Those with international ties were immediately arrested. Uyghur Muslims are also used as forced labour for agriculture and industrial activities in the province. This is done through a widespread and systematic programme", says a report by the International Labour Organization (ILO).
The embassies of Kuwait and Jordan were reportedly attacked in war-torn Sudan this week, as the fighting between the Sudanese Army and Paramilitary forces continued a month after the start of the tensions.

Kuwaits foreign ministry on Tuesday said that the residence of the head of the military office in its embassy in capital Khartoum was stormed and vandalized.

Kuwait condemns the attack on the residence of the head of the military office and (condemns) all forms of violence and sabotage, the ministry said in a statement.

The attack is a flagrant violation of international law and the Vienna Convention (on Diplomatic Relations), the statement added.

Jordans foreign ministry said its Khartoum embassy building was raided and vandalized on Monday.

The Jordan ministry condemned the attack on the embassy as well as all forms of violence and sabotage that target buildings of diplomatic missions.

The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) also condemned storming the embassy and reiterated its call to end violence and respect diplomatic missions.

Earlier this month, Saudi Arabias Cultural Attache office was looted and attacked and a mob of armed men stole property from the office, disabling systems and servers.

Almost a month of heavy fighting has turned Khartoum into a war zone, with the Khartoums five million residents enduring artillery barrages, gunfights, air strikes and anti-aircraft fire.

Battles erupted on April 15 between army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and his former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, who leads the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

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According to the United Nations, over 700,000 people have been internally displaced by the fighting, and nearly 200,000 have fled Sudan for neighbouring countries.

Around 1,000 people have been killed, mainly in and around Khartoum as well as the ravaged state of West Darfur, according to medics.
President Joe Bidens departure Wednesday to the G7 summit in Japan was meant to launch a geostrategic masterclass on rallying the worlds democracies against China.

Instead, he will limp into an abruptly truncated journey facing concerns that the US debt ceiling row is about to tear up the global economy.

Biden arrives Thursday in Hiroshima, one of the two cities hit by US atomic bombs in 1945  a closing chapter to World War II and the start of an era of US leadership across the Pacific that Beijing now seeks to supplant.

He will meet leaders from the rest of the G7 club  Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan  that has been crucial in the US-led drive to enforce unprecedented economic sanctions on China-ally Russia for invading Ukraine.

However, visits next week to Papua New Guinea and to a Sydney meeting of the Quad, comprising Australia, India, Japan and the United States, were canceled so that Biden can rush back home Sunday and negotiate with Republican opponents on the debt crisis.

For a president who often warns that democracies are in an existential fight to prove their viability against the worlds autocracies, its a sobering moment.

Its extraordinarily hard to go to the G7 and talk about economic unity against Russia, economic unity against China, when the dysfunction is coming from inside the house," Josh Lipsky, at the Atlantic Council, said.

As he left the White House to head to Japan, Biden said No!" when asked if the turmoil was a win for China.

Im confident that well get the agreement that we need on the budget and that America will not default," he told reporters.

But Evan Feigenbaum, a former US diplomat with the Carnegie Endowment, was brutal.

Its tough to compete with China in the Pacific when youre busy sinking your own boat," he tweeted. How do we think we look to the rest of the world?"

- Candidate Biden enters furnace -

For Biden, 80, the trip and the debt ceiling mess come at a key time. He has just launched his re-election campaign and Americans wary about his age are watching how he copes in the furnace of the presidency at home and abroad.

National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said Biden can multi-task.

He can travel overseas, and manage our foreign policy and our defense policy and look after our national security commitments in an important region like the Indo-Pacific, and also work with congressional leaders to do the right thing  raise the debt ceiling, avoid default so that the United States credibility here at home and overseas is preserved," Kirby said.

The risks over the debt ceiling, however, are so huge  global market panic would be just the beginning of the fallout from a default  that Biden may spend much of his time trying to reassure fellow world leaders on the state of the US economy, rather than planning how to manage China.

Biden doesnt know whether the increasingly hard-right Republican Party will allow an increase to the debt in time to prevent default. Nor does he know whether the left of his own Democratic Party will forgive him for the compromises he may have to make to save the situation.

- Quad consolation prize -

Canceling the Papua New Guinea and Australia stops will have been a bitter pill for a president who has reinvigorated US diplomacy after the isolationist Trump years.

The Quad, an informal grouping of large democracies interested in restraining aggressive Chinese economic and military expansion across the Pacific, is one of Bidens priorities.

The White House was quick to point out that Biden will already be meeting in Japan on the sidelines of the G7 with his other Quad counterparts.

And a consolation prize for Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was extended in the form of an invitation to a state visit at the White House. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is already booked in for a state visit this June.

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But Washington is likely to rue the missed opportunity in Papua New Guinea, where Biden would have been the first serving US president to visit.

The symbolism, at a time when remote Pacific island territories and countries have become chess pieces in the geostrategic contest with China, would have been powerful.
Leader Kim Jong Un has inspected North Koreas first military spy satellite and gave the go-ahead for its future action plan," state media said Wednesday.

Kim met with the Non-permanent Satellite Launch Preparatory Committee on Tuesday before viewing the satellite, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported.

A month ago, Kim said construction of the satellite was completed and gave the green light for its launch.

That report on April 18 came about a week after Pyongyang launched what it said was a new solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile, marking a major breakthrough in its banned weapons programs.

Analysts have said there is significant technological overlap between the development of ICBMs and space launch capabilities.

On Tuesday, after acquainting himself in detail with the work of the committee, (Kim) inspected the military reconnaissance satellite No. 1, which is ready for loading after undergoing the final general assembly check and space environment test", KCNA said.

Kim accused the United States and South Korea of escalating what he called confrontational moves" against the North and said his country will exercise its right to self-defence.

Kim then approved the future action plan of the preparatory committee", KCNA added.

The development of a military reconnaissance satellite was one of the key defence projects outlined by Kim in 2021.

In December 2022, North Korea said it had carried out an important final-stage test" for the development of a spy satellite, which it said it would complete by April this year.

At the time, experts in South Korea quickly raised doubts about the results, saying the quality of black-and-white images released by North Korea  purportedly taken from a satellite  was poor.

Pyongyang has not provided a launch date, though last month Kim said the satellite would be sent up at the planned date".

North Korea declared itself an irreversible" nuclear power last year, effectively ending the possibility of denuclearisation talks.

Pyongyang would struggle to do satellite reconnaissance with its own technology and without high tech help from Russia or China, analysts say.

Still, since North Koreas reconnaissance satellites are an important factor in the event of a nuclear pre-emptive strike, they pose a significant threat to the South", Yang Moo-jin, president of the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul, told AFP last month.

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Washington and Seoul have ramped up defence cooperation in response, staging joint military exercises with advanced stealth jets and high-profile US strategic assets.

North Korea views such exercises as rehearsals for invasion and described them as frantic" drills simulating an all-out war against" Pyongyang.
Pakistan Crisis Updates: Pakistans former Prime Minister Imran Khan on Wednesday expressed strong condemnation over the illegal arrests and abduction of his partys workers and leaders.

Taking to his official Twitter handle, the ousted prime minister said that he strongly condemns the illegal arrests and abduction of PTI workers and leaders. He noted that PTI Vice Chairperson Shah Mehmood Qureshi and Secretary General Asad Umar have been incarcerated for more than a week now.

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Here are the latest Pakistan news updates:
Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday blamed his predecessor Imran Khan for the mayhem by his supporters following his arrest last week.

"The roots of the mutinous attack on the state, its symbols & sensitive installations on May 9 lie in the contents of Imran Niazi's speeches over the past year. He has liberally deployed religious imagery to brand his political agitation as a war between truth & falsehood, Sharif tweeted.

The Prime Minister was referring to the violent protests following the arrest of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chairman on May 9 that led to several deaths and dozens of military and state installations being destroyed by the protesters.

For the first time in Pakistans history, the protesters stormed the army headquarters in Rawalpindi and also torched the Corps Commanders house in Lahore.

The premier said that Khan "relentlessly maligned and attacked the armed forces and the sitting Army chief and very cunningly prepared his cult with the slogans of 'Haqeeqi Azadi' aimed at inciting them for violence we witnessed on May 9." Sharif asked everyone to "listen to his (Khan) speeches & you will get your answers.

In another tweet, Sharif asked the authorities to arrest those involved in violence.

"My direction to the law enforcement agencies is that they should leave no stone unturned to bring those involved in the incidents of vandalism, arson & violence to justice. At the same time, they should make sure that no innocent person gets punished, he said.

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His statement comes as police have made scores of arrests to bring to justice all those responsible for attacks on civilian and military installations.

On Tuesday, Prime Minister Sharif vowed to bring to justice the planners and leaders of the violent protests that targeted military installations and "disrespected martyrs" as he termed the incidents of May 9 as the "darkest chapter" in the country's history.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Wednesday said that his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi would still travel next week to Australia despite the cancellation of the Quad leaders' meeting in Sydney and he is looking forward to welcoming him.

The Australian premier was responding to a question on whether Prime Minister Modi will still come to Sydney after Albanese cancelled the Quad leaders' meeting in Sydney on May 24 as US President Joe Biden postponed his visit to Australia to focus on crucial debt-ceiling talks to prevent a catastrophic federal default.

Albanese, Modi, Biden, and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida were to attend the Quad Leaders Summit.

"Prime Minister Modi will be here next week for a bilateral meeting with myself," Albanese told ABC Radio in Brisbane.

Prime Minister Modi will also have business meetings and will hold a very public event at Homebush at the Olympic site in Sydney, he said.

"He will also be engaging with Australian-India business relations I look forward to welcoming him to Sydney," Albanese said.

But he indicated Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida would cancel his visit in the wake of Biden's announcement.

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"Prime Minister Kishida  was just coming for the Quad meeting. There wasn't a separate bilateral programme," Albanese said.

Earlier in the day, Albanese said that Prime Minister Modi would certainly be a very welcome guest in Australia next week despite the cancellation of the Quad meeting.
Quad summit could still go ahead as scheduled in Sydney next week without U.S. President Joe Biden, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Wednesday after Biden postponed his trip to Australia due to debt ceiling negotiations in Washington.

Albanese said his government was in talks with the leaders of Japan and India, regarding the Quad leaders meeting on May 24.

This comes shortly after Biden canceled his Australia visit, the second leg of his upcoming Asia trip, due to the US debt crisis. He will now return to Washington following the G7 summit in Japan this week.

Albanese was planning to host President Biden, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in Sydney next week for the third in-person summit.

The President apologised that he would now have to postpone this visit, Albanese said in a statement, according to Reuters. The leaders had agreed to work to reschedule Bidens visit to Australia at the earliest opportunity, he added.

The Quad is a diplomatic partnership of Australia, India, Japan and the United States, committed to promoting stability, resilience and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific.

Albanese said he hoped the Quad summit could go ahead as planned on May 24 with the US sending a senior representative" to attend.

The report of the US Presidents postponement came a few hours after White House national security spokesperson John Kirby said on Tuesday Biden may skip his Australia visit after the G7 summit in Japan.

Were working though, thinking through, the rest of the trip right now, Kirby said during a regular briefing.

On Tuesday, the Ministry of External Affairs also announced that Prime Minister Modi will visit Sydney at the invitation of the Australian PM to participate in the Quad Leaders Summit.

The Summit provides an opportunity for the Leaders to exchange views about developments in the Indo-Pacific region and advance their vision for a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific," the MEA press note added.

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(With agency inputs)
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad will attend this week his first Arab League summit in 13 years, his foreign minister said Wednesday, signalling regional reintegration after more than a decade of war.

The host of Fridays summit, Saudi Arabia, has championed Assads return to the pan-Arab body and invited the Syrian leader over the objection of other regional leaders.

The Syrian government had been isolated in the region for years since its brutal crackdown on pro-democracy protests in 2011 triggered a war that has killed more than 500,000 people.

Analysts say Assads invitation also shows the clout of Saudi Arabia, which is casting itself as a peacemaker and asserting itself in multiple crises across the Middle East.

Following a preparatory meeting on Wednesday, Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad told reporters Assad would attend Fridays event in Jeddah in person.

Beyond rekindling ties with the Assad government, the summit is expected to devote energy to two conflicts: a month-long showdown between two generals in Sudan and the eight-year civil war in Yemen.

It is taking place in the same city where representatives of the two Sudanese camps have been locked in negotiations for a week and a half brokered by Saudi and US officials.

An envoy of Sudans army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan would represent him at the summit, the Arab Leagues deputy head Hossam Zaki said.

In Yemen, meanwhile, Saudi Arabia is pushing for a peace deal with Iran-backed Huthi rebels after eight years at the helm of a military coalition that failed to defeat them on the battlefield.

Neither initiative has yielded a breakthrough so far, but Saudi op-ed writers and analysts are bullish.

The Jeddah summit is one of the most important summits for a long time," said Saudi political commentator Suleiman al-Aqili.

If the summit is able to reintegrate Syria into the Arab system and take a strong position on the conflict in Sudan and Yemen, it will be successful."

- Wave of reconciliation -

Recent diplomatic shifts were accelerated by a surprise Chinese-brokered normalisation deal with Iran announced on March 10.

Less than two weeks later, Saudi Arabia announced it had begun talks on resuming consular services with Iran ally Syria, the first public step in a rapprochement that has since seen the countries foreign ministers exchange visits.

Yet Assads presence in Jeddah on Friday does not guarantee progress on resolving Syrias brutal war.

In areas of northwestern Syria that remain under rebel control, there have been repeated mass protests against Assads return to the Arab fold.

Nor is it clear that the pan-Arab body can extract concessions on issues like the fate of Syrian refugees or surging trade in captagon.

Its important to remember that Assads return to the Arab League is a symbolic measure to begin the process of ending his regional isolation," said Anna Jacobs, senior Gulf analyst with the International Crisis Group.

In many ways it is the start of political normalisation, but it will be even more important to watch if economic normalisation comes with it, especially from Gulf Arab states."

Assads stay in Jeddah will be followed across the region, perhaps nowhere more closely than in Damascus.

This is the first time in many years that my family and I have been interested in political news because we had lost hope," said Haidar Hamdan, a 44-year-old geography teacher in the Syrian capital.

His countrys reintegration into the Arab League represents a return to the world order", he said, adding that he expected shuttered embassies and companies to reopen and movement and life (to) return to the country".

Other Damascus residents have more subdued expectations.

We are optimistic, but we know that the Arab summit is not a magic wand that can be waved to solve all of Syrias problems," said Sawsan, a 29-year-old who works at a car dealership.

- Jury still out -

The same could be said of the Sudan and Yemen files.

Last week in Jeddah, Sudans warring parties agreed to respect humanitarian principles, but they have made no breakthrough on a truce in talks that one US official called very tough".

Separately, the Saudi ambassador to Yemen said the next steps towards a peace deal with the Huthis were unclear, though he said he believed all sides were serious about ending the war.

Regardless of what happens, there is little doubt about Saudi Arabias approach, both for the summit and beyond, said Torbjorn Soltvedt of the risk intelligence firm Verisk Maplecroft.

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There are clear signs that Saudi Arabia is shifting away from its previously adventurist foreign policy and seeking to reinvent itself as the regions main diplomatic broker," Soltvedt said.

He added, though, that the jury is still very much out" on whether this mission will succeed.
Taliban Supreme Leader Haibatullah Akhundzada appointed Maulvi Abdul Kabir as the acting Prime Minister of Afghanistan on Wednesday after reports surfaced that the Prime Minister Mullah Muhammad Hassan Akhund has fallen ill.

Afghanistan-based Khaama Press said that Maulvi Kabir will now serve as the head of the Taliban government until Akhundzada recovers. Haibatullah Akhundzada served as the prime minister of the Taliban government since the terrorist group returned to power in 2021.

The Khaama Press said that Haibatullah Akhundzada was suffering from heart disease, citing people familiar with the developments but the Taliban officials are yet to reveal any details related to Akhundzadas illness.

Maulvi Kabir, hailing from the Zadran tribe in eastern Paktika province, previously served as the governor of Nangarhar province during the Talibans former regime from 1996 to 2001.

As a prominent figure within the Taliban, Maulvi Kabir has held a crucial position in the negotiations with the United States in Qatar.

His involvement led to the signing of the Doha Agreement, a significant milestone that marked an agreement between the US and the Taliban, outlining a framework for peace and the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan.

The agreement aimed to facilitate intra-Afghan talks and establish a path towards a political settlement in the country. The withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan marked a significant turning point as the Taliban swiftly seized control of the country.

However, the roadmap charted during the talks could not be implemented because the Taliban-led government banned women from going to school and barred women from working, reneging on promises that it would not bring laws curbing freedoms of women in Afghanistan.

Following the Talibans resurgence in August 2021, Maulvi Kabir assumed various roles within the organisation. Initially appointed as the assistant to Akhunds economic deputy, he later took on the position of the political deputy to the Talibans prime minister.

His appointments show that his responsibilities and influence are increasing within the Talibans leadership structure.

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(with inputs from GeoNews)
Ukraine denied on Wednesday that a Russian hypersonic missile had destroyed a U.S.-made Patriot missile defence system during an air strike on Kyiv.

Russias defence ministry made the assertion on Tuesday after an overnight air attack on the Ukrainian capital. Two U.S. officials later said a Patriot system had probably suffered damage but that it did not appear to have been destroyed.

I want to say: do not worry about the fate of the Patriot, Ukrainian air force spokesperson Yuriy Ihnat told Ukrainian television.

He ruled out the possibility of a Russian Kinzhal missile knocking out a Patriot system.

Destroying the system with some kind of Kinzhal, its impossible. Everything that they say there, it can remain in their propaganda archive, he said.

The Patriot system is one of an array of sophisticated air defence units supplied by the West to help Ukraine repel Russian air strikes following Moscows invasion last year.

It is considered one of the most advanced U.S. air defence systems, including against aircraft, cruise missiles and ballistic missiles, and typically includes launchers along with radar and other support vehicles.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has touted the Kinzhal missile as proof that his country has world-beating military hardware.

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Ukraine said it had shot down six Kinzhal missiles on Tuesday, but Russia denied this. It was not clear which Western weapon Ukraine used, and the Pentagon had no immediate comment.
The war in Ukraine has entered its 448th day and both sides are far from considering holding truce talks.

This week there was an escalation in the war as Western news agencies reported that Russia launched a full-blown attack on Kyiv to retaliate against Volodymyr Zelenskiys three-day trip to Europe where he visited London, Berlin, Paris and Rome to secure more military assistance, including long-range attack drones from the UK.

Russia launched six Kinzhal missiles, nine Kalibr missiles and three ballistic rockets, as well as six attack drones and three reconnaissance drones.

Ukraine claimed that it neutralised the Kremlins most potent hypersonic weapon but later found out that the attack damaged a Patriot air defence system used by the Ukrainian forces, the Guardian reported.

Ukraine has received two Patriot air missile systems in April from the US and Germany, respectively. CNN and the Guardian, citing people familiar with the developments, said that the damaged missile system may have to be withdrawn entirely depending on the level of damage it had sustained and experts are assessing the damage.

The Guardian in its report said that it was one of the biggest attacks on Kyiv following the beginning of the so-called military operation. Russia sent Shahed loitering drones from the north, launched Kinzhals via MiG-31K fighter jets from the east and fired Kalibr missiles from warships stationed in the Black Sea, the Guardian report said, citing Yurii Ihnat, a spokesperson for Ukraines air command.

The attacks forced many Kyiv residents to seek refuge in bomb shelters. Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko said that there were three victims from the Solomyan district. They were hurt as debris fell on them. He said that debris fell on the suburbs of Darnytskyi and Obolonskyi. This led to fires which were quickly brought under control by firefighters.

Russian terrorists have no chance of prevailing over Ukraine. Their weapons can and should be countered by western ones, Ukrainian defence minister Oleksii Reznikov said.

Ukrainian President Zelensky expressed gratitude for the significant and robust" commitments of military assistance.

The UK and France will commence training Ukrainian pilots and collaborate on the provision of F-16 jets.

Additionally, the UK and Netherlands have formed an international coalition" to facilitate the procurement of these aircraft.

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The conflict persisted in eastern Ukraines Bakhmut as deputy defence minister Hanna Maliar said that Ukrainian forces successfully expelled Russian forces from the outskirts of Bakhmut.

However, she also conceded that Moscows troops were making further advances into the besieged town.
Gunmen attacked a US convoy in southeast Nigerias Anambra State on Tuesday, police and a US official said, killing four people and abducting three others.

Separatists who operate in the region have escalated their attacks in recent years, usually targeting police or government buildings.

No US citizen was in the convoy," said police spokesman Ikenga Tochukwu.

The gunmen murdered two of the Police Mobile Force operatives and two staff of the consulate," he said, before setting their vehicle ablaze".

The attack took place on Tuesday at 3:30pm (14:30 GMT) along Atani, Osamale road" in Ogbaru district, according to the police.

Joint security forces deployed to the scene, said Tochukwu, but the gunmen managed to abduct two police operatives and a driver.

A rescue/recovery operation" was underway Tuesday evening, he added in his statement.

US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby confirmed the attack during a briefing with reporters in Washington DC.

A US convoy of vehicles was attacked. What I can tell you is that no US citizens were involved," Kirby said.

The State Department also confirmed the attack.

U.S. Mission Nigeria personnel are working with Nigerian security services to investigate," a spokesperson said.

The security of our personnel is always paramount, and we take extensive precautions when organizing trips to the field."

Outlawed group

Nigerian officials often blame attacks in the southeast on the outlawed Indigenous People of Biafra movement (IPOB) and its armed wing, the Eastern Security Network.

IPOB has repeatedly denied responsibility for the violence.

The groups leader Nnamdi Kanu is in government custody and faces trial for treason after being detained overseas and brought back to Nigeria.

Separatism is a sensitive issue in Nigeria, where a declaration of an independent Biafra Republic by Igbo army officers in the southeast in 1967 triggered a three-year civil war that left more than one million dead.

Violence in the southeast is just one of the many issues facing president-elect Bola Tinubu, who takes the helm of Africas most populous nation later this month.

The military is also battling a 14-year-old jihadist insurgency in the northeast, gangs who kidnap and kill in the northwest and central states and piracy in the Gulf of Guinea.

After a brief calm period during February and March elections for the presidency and governorships, attacks have been on the rise in the last few weeks.

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Former Anambra State Governor Peter Obi, who ran and lost in the February 25 presidential election, is one of those contesting Tinubus victory, claiming fraud.

The electoral commission has recognised glitches" during the vote but has dismissed claims that the process was not free and fair.
US President Joe Biden and US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-California) met on Tuesday to secure a deal to raise the US debt limit but made little progress.

If an agreement is not reached, the United States could face a disastrous default on its $31.4 trillion debt as early as June 1.

However, there was a glimmer of hope as both sides, the White House and the US Speaker of the House of Representatives, decided to appoint respective panels to further progress discussions and ensure that the US creditworthiness remains intact.

Tuesdays discussions, according to a report by the Hill, hit a roadblock because McCarthy repeated his demand to implement stricter work requirements for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).

Kevin McCarthy wants more people who receive food stamps to be subject to work reporting requirements, US-based news agencies reported. McCarthy wants to raise the age limit for individuals who must meet work requirements in order to receive food stamps.

Currently, adults between the ages of 18 and 50 without children are required to work at least 20 hours per week to be eligible for food stamps.

If they fail to meet this requirement for three consecutive months, they lose their benefits. McCarthys proposal seeks to increase the age limit to 55, thereby expanding the number of people who would be subject to the work requirement.

Democrats have opposed this move and House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-New York) has said the proposal is a non-starter. The Hills report said that Jeffries highlighted that it would only save $11 billion over 10 years which wont even make a dent in the US $31.4 trillion debt.

According to the Congressional Budget Office, implementing work requirements for Medicaid, SNAP, and TANF could result in savings of $120 billion in the next ten years.

However, the White House has indicated its opposition to imposing new work reporting requirements on Medicaid recipients, which would account for $109 billion of the projected savings.

The proposed reforms for SNAP and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) would contribute only $11 billion in savings over the next decade.

Meanwhile, the US treasury secretary Janet Yellen on Tuesday said time was running out to prevent a catastrophic default.

However, the US House Speaker, according to the report, appeared hopeful when he met with reporters outside the White House. He said that since staff from both sides

The current deadlock paves the way for a tense period of two to three weeks, characterised by high-stakes negotiations, before the Treasury Department reaches the point where it can no longer fulfil the countrys financial obligations starting from June 1.

The Speaker said that there is newfound hope that a deal could be reached within Friday.

The president agreed to appoint a couple of people from his administration to sit down and negotiate directly with my team, so I found that to be productive, personally. But weve got a lot of work to do in a short amount of time, McCarthy was quoted as saying by the Hill.

Office of Management and Budget Director Shalanda Young and White House counsellor Steve Ricchetti will lead the discussions from the White Houses side while McCarthy appointed Louisiana Representative Republican Garret Graves to represent him.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-New York) said he remains hopeful because everyone in the room agreed that a default must be avoided at all costs.

With no progress made during Tuesdays White House meeting, where President Biden convened the top four leaders of Congress, the impasse over the debt limit now enters a more crucial stage.

The bottom line is we all came to agreement that we were going to continue discussions. Having a bipartisan bill in both chambers is the only way, the only way were going to avoid default. We dont have much time but default is just the worst, worst alternative, Schumer was quoted as saying by the Hill.

US President Joe Biden has cut short his Asia trip and will not attend the QUAD Leadership Summit and will return to Washington on Sunday after finishing the G7 meeting so that negotiations with Republicans can be resumed quickly.

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He will also not visit Papua New Guinea.

Senate Republican Whip John Thune of South Dakota told the Hill negotiators need to finalise on an agreement within the end of this week which will allow leaders in the House and Senate enough time to draft legislation and get it passed in both chambers by the June deadline.
British former prime minister Liz Truss, on a visit to Taiwan Wednesday, will set up a full-throated clash with both China and her successor Rishi Sunak in demanding the West get tough with Beijing.

In a speech in Taipei, Truss is due to call for Sunak to make good on his Conservative leadership campaign pledge last year to designate China as a strategic threat".

She will also demand that he immediately" shut down UK-based Confucius Institutes controlled by the communist government and replace them with cultural centres run by people from Hong Kong and Taiwan.

The West cannot avoid another Cold War" with China, the former Conservative leader will argue in the speech to the Prospect Foundation in Taipei, according to excerpts released by her office.

The only choice we have is whether we appease and accommodate  or we take action to prevent conflict."

The speech will accuse Sunaks and other Western governments of trying to cling on to the idea that we can cooperate with China on issues like climate change, as if there is nothing wrong".

But without freedom and democracy, there is nothing else. We know what happens to the environment or world health under totalitarian regimes that dont tell the truth."

You cant believe a word they say."

Sunak has pushed back on Trusss tough rhetoric against China issued before and during her 49-day tenure in 10 Downing Street last year, when her radical economic policies crashed financial markets.

Since then, she has been trying to rebuild her profile with a series of speeches overseas, including in Tokyo, Washington and Copenhagen on Monday.

But Truss faces accusations back home that she is indulging in irresponsible sabre-rattling in a bid to maintain her political relevance.

The (Taiwan) trip is performative, not substantive," House of Commons foreign relations committee chair Alicia Kearns told The Guardian newspaper.

It is the worst kind of example of Instagram diplomacy," the Conservative said, recalling previous criticism of Trusss tireless self-promotion on social media.

Kearns added the trip is likely to deepen problems for Taiwan after China fired missiles as part of military exercises in response to an August visit by then-US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

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Trusss spokesperson hit back that she was coming at the invitation of Taiwans government: They are better placed to know what is in the interests of the Taiwanese people than (Kearns)."
UPDATE

May 17, 2023 4:30 PM CDT

A judge on Wednesday imposed 10 life sentences, plus 260 years, on the Islamic terrorist who drove a truck onto a Manhattan bike path in 2017, killing eight people and severely injuring 18. In following prosecutors' recommendations, US District Judge Vernon Broderick cited Sayfullo Saipov's lack of remorse. Families of those killed and people who were injured in the attack told the court Wednesday of their pain. Marion Van Reeth, who lost her legs, told the defendant, "I will never be able to walk like you can." When it was his turn to speak in court, Saipov said the tears of the victims were nothing compared to "the tears and blood of the Muslim population," per CNN. Gabriela Pabla Pereya, whose husband, Ariel Erlij, was killed, told Saipov that if he really wants God to love and accept him, "Go kill yourself."

Mar 13, 2023 6:55 PM CDT

A federal jury deadlocked on the death penalty, so the man convicted of driving a truck onto a bike path in New York in 2017, killing eight people, will be sentenced to life in prison. Under the law, the death penalty can be imposed only if the jury decides unanimously, the New York Times reports. The Manhattan jury informed the judge on Monday, its second day of deliberations on the punishment for Sayfullo Saipov, 35, who was convicted of murder in January. Sentencing was not yet scheduled by Judge Vernon Broderick, who told the 12 jurors not to reveal the voting breakdown.

Saipov's attorney argued last week for a sentence of life in prison, per the Washington Post. "It is not necessary to kill [Saipov]. Not for our safety or anyone elses and not to do justice," David Patton told jurors. "We're asking you to decide that meeting death with more death is not the answer." Prosecutors said premeditation, lack of remorse, and the fact that Saipov carried out the attack along the Hudson River on behalf of the Islamic State, which called him a "soldier of the Caliphate," argued for execution.

Survivors and family members provided emotional testimony. Ana Evans told the court her youngest daughter touched the TV screen when Hernan Mendoza's photo appeared during news coverage. "That's Daddy," her daughter said. "I'm missing him." The families are dealing with "unbearable pain," Assistant US Attorney Amanda Houle said in her closing statement. "There can be no justice in this case without a close, hard look at the anguish that the defendant chose for these families," she said. (Read more Sayfullo Saipov stories.)
A 15-year-old high school student used her phone to record remarks from a teacher that the school district acknowledged were "inexcusable"but she was still suspended for violating school policy on electronic devices. Mary Walton, a sophomore at Glendale High School in Springfield, Missouri, recorded a 55-second video last Tuesday in which her geometry teacher used the n-word twice, the Washington Post reports. Her lawyer says the teacher had already used the racial slur repeatedly before Walton started recording him.

In Walton's video, a student could be heard telling the teacher: "Dont say it right now as a teacher if you want to keep your job. The teacher repeated the slur in his response, saying, "I can say the word." The teacher ordered Walton to go to the office when he saw her using her phone, but she stayed put. She sent the video to her mother, a friend, and a student in the class. Lawyer Natalie Hull says Walton didn't share the video on social media, but it ended up there within around 30 minutes. The teacher, who was initially placed on administrative leave, has now resigned from the district, the AP reports.

School officials say Walton violated school policy on recording staff or students without permission. She received the maximum punishmenta three-day suspension that began Friday and ended Tuesday. The teen and her mother want the district to apologize and wipe the suspension from the record. Hull says Walton was acting as a whistleblower by exposing the teacher's wrongdoing and punishing her will have a "chilling effect" on others, reports the Post.

Walton's supporters include Dan Shelley, president and CEO of the Radio Television Digital News Association, the AP reports. "The student says she was recording the teachers alleged racist remarks for the express purpose of making a record of the incident should the events in the classroom at that moment come into dispute," Shelley wrote in a letter to Springfield Superintendent Grenita Lathan. "In our opinion, that makes her a lawful whistleblower, not a delinquent. She should be congratulated, not punished." (Read more Missouri stories.)
Debt-limit talks shifted into an encouraging new phase Tuesday as President Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy named top emissaries to negotiate a deal to avert an unprecedented national default. The president said he's curtailing his upcoming trip to the Indo-Pacific, scrapping what was to be a historic stop in Papua New Guinea as well as a visit to Australia for a gathering with fellow leaders of the so-called Quad partnership so he can focus on talks in Washington in hopes of closing an agreement before a June 1 deadline, the AP reports. Biden said he still plans to depart on Wednesday for Hiroshima, Japan, for a Group of Seven summit with leaders from some of the world's major economies. He will return to the US on Sunday.

The fresh set of negotiators means discussions are now largely narrowed to what the White House and McCarthy will accept in order to allow lawmakers to raise the debt limit in the coming days. The speaker said after a meeting with Biden and congressional leaders that a deal was "possible" by week's end, even asin McCarthy's viewthe two sides remained far apart for the moment. Steve Ricchetti, counselor to the president, Office of Management and Budget Director Shalanda Young and legislative affairs director Louisa Terrell will take the lead in negotiations for the Democratic side, while Rep. Garret Graves, a key McCarthy ally, will represent Republicans.

"Now we have a format, a structure," McCarthy said as he returned to the Capitol. Even as the Democratic president and the Republican speaker box around the politics of the issue  with Biden insisting hes not negotiating over the debt ceiling and McCarthy working to extract spending cuts with the backdrop of a potential defaultvarious areas of possible agreement appeared to be emerging, reports the AP. Among the items on the table: clawing back some $30 billion in untapped COVID-19 money, imposing future budget caps, changing permit regulations to ease energy development, and putting bolstered work requirements on recipients of government aid, according to those familiar with the talks.

But congressional Democrats are growing concerned about the idea of putting new work requirements for government aid recipients after Biden suggested over the weekend he may be open to such changes. The White House remains opposed to changes in requirements for recipients of Medicaid and food stamp programs, although it is more open to revisions for beneficiaries of the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families cash assistance program.

(Read more debt ceiling stories.)
Americans will soon be able to file electronic tax returns directly to the governmentsomething residents of dozens of other countries have long been able to do. Congress approved $15 million in funding to study the possibility of a direct e-file system last year. Now, the IRS has announced a test program to be in place for 2024, though Republicans and "the $14 billion tax-preparation industry" are already putting up a stink, NPR reports. What you need to know:



Democrats say the program is necessary to correct an unacceptable status quo in which taxpayers have to pay companies like Intuit and H&R Block to file e-returns. The average individual filer in the US pays $140 per year. The IRS offers a free filing option for certain lower-income taxpayers, but just 2% of taxpayers use it.

"Dozens of other countries have provided free tax-filing options to their citizens, and American taxpayers who want to file their taxes for free online should have an accessible option," Treasury Department official Laurel Blatchford said Tuesday, per Politico. She added the new program "could potentially save taxpayers billions of dollars annually," per the AP.

Tax-prep companies, which stand to lose millions of dollars, disagree. "A direct-to-IRS e-file system is wholly redundant" and "will unnecessarily cost taxpayers billions of dollars," says a rep for Intuit, maker of TurboTax. "Taxpayers don't want the tax collector, assessor, auditor, and enforcer also to be their tax preparer," Intuit adds in a blog post.

The program has public backing, however. An IRS survey found 72% of taxpayers were interested in a free, government-run filing system. However, only 12% said they would use a system that doesn't incorporate state taxes, per the AP. That's one of several issues still to be worked out.

For now, the program is expected to cost $64 million annually for 5 million users, and up to $249 million for 25 million users, per the AP. It works out in the taxpayers' favor, says Blatchford. "We think there will be excitement," she adds, per Politico.

Not from Republicans. They are "already lining up against the plan, fearing it could eventually lead to a system where the IRS fills out people's returns for them, which they say is a conflict of interest since the agency also enforces tax laws," Politico reports.

The IRS doesn't anticipate doing that, Commissioner Danny Werfel said Tuesday. He added direct filing will be optional for taxpayers. "We'd rather they file electronically, sure. But they have that choice," he said, per NPR. "They can use tax software. They can use a trusted tax professional. They can use a paper tax return."

(Read more taxes stories.)
In an exchange being called "bizarre" and "concerning," Dianne Feinstein appeared to insist she'd never actually been absent from the Senate, though the senator was away from Washington, DC, for months while recovering from shingles. Slate reporter Jim Newell says that as Feinstein exited an elevator at the Capitol on Tuesday, he asked her how she was feeling and Feinstein, who was in a wheelchair, replied, "Oh, Im feeling fine. I have a problem with the leg." She wouldn't elaborate on that when another reporter asked about it, and then when the other reporter asked how colleagues had been responding to her since she returned to the Senate, she said, "No, I havent been gone."

She continued, "You should follow theI havent been gone. Ive been working. Asked whether she was referring to working from home, she insisted, No, Ive been here. Ive been voting. Please. You either know or dont know. She then deflected one more question about colleagues who have called on her to resign amid increasing concerns about her fitness for office and was wheeled away by staffers, Newell says. The Guardian calls the exchange "bizarre," and there is speculation, including by Newell, that Feinstein may not recall her absence. Rep. Ro Khanna of California is among the Democrats raising serious concerns about whether Feinstein should still be serving; he said last week he believes she should resign, Politico reports. (Read more Dianne Feinstein stories.)
An alleged stalker was arrested in the middle of the night Monday near the home of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle in the latest of numerous security scares. Around 2am Monday, security staffers called police to report a man near the couple's mansion, which sits on a 5.4-acre plot in Montecito, California. Security ultimately made a citizen's arrest before police arrived, TMZ reports. Officers then took 29-year-old Kevin Garcia Valdovinos into custody for alleged misdemeanor stalking, according to the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Office.

It appears this was not a first-time offense for Valdovinos, per TMZ, though the outlet does not share details. The man has since been released on $2,500 bail. There's "no indication" that the couple or either of their two young children were home at the time, the New York Post reports, noting the couple were in New York City on Tuesday evening for the Ms. Foundation for Women's annual gala, where the Duchess of Sussex was honored with the 2023 Women of Vision Award "for her global advocacy to empower and advocate on behalf of women and girls." (Read more Prince Harry stories.)
Ohio police turned to Facebook in an effort to track down a wanted man, only to have the man reply with a taunt. "Y'all almost had [me] the other day you gotta be quicker than that," 20-year-old Tanner Rhinehart commented Monday in response to a notice from the Newark Division of Police, prompting laughs from hundreds of Facebook onlookers, per WCMH. The felon was days from concluding a yearlong probation sentence following a 2021 conviction for receiving stolen property when he was charged with failing to comply with an officer in February, per the outlet. He admitted to the probation violation and posted bail, then failed to appear for sentencing on April 13.

An arrest warrant was issued the following day. Rhinehart apparently hopes to benefit from his surrender. "They give me a good enough deal I might turn my self in," he wrote on the post. "What willll [sic] I get if I turn my self in." Police didn't negotiate on the post, though one onlooker replied that Rhinehart should expect "free rent and meals." Another Facebook user, who claimed to have previously run from authorities, urged Rhinehart to get a lawyer and turn himself in, per WSYX. Instead, the felon directed his own laughing emojis at police. Anyone who sees the 20-year-old, described as 5'10" and 140 pounds with blond hair and blue eyes, is asked to call police, per WBNS. (Read more arrest warrant stories.)
It has been widely reported in the Indian press recently that Vodafone Group has raised concerns over the ability of Vodafone Idea, its joint venture in India with the conglomerate Aditya Birla Group, to make payments, presumably relating to its vast debt.

Vodafone Group, in a recent results report, also expressed uncertainty over Vodafone Ideas ability to clear its payment dues to Indus Towers, although Vodafone Idea is said to be keeping up with most or all of its monthly payments to Indus.

Among a number of observations relating to Vodafone Idea's financial situation, the report also suggested that Vodafone Idea remains in need of additional liquidity support from its lenders and intends to raise additional funding. The report also noted significant uncertainties in relation to Vodafone Ideas ability to make payments in relation to any remaining liabilities.

However, Vodafone Group also said that its carrying value of the investment in Vodafone Idea is nil and that the group is recording no further share of losses in respect of VIL.

Vodafone Group owns a nearly 32% stake in Vodafone Idea. The Aditya Birla group owns an 18% stake.

Meanwhile Vodafone Idea is still losing customers. According to a recent report in the Economic Times, Vodafone Idea lost two million subscribers in February; both of its nearest competitors added subscribers.

What all of this means to Vodafone Idea's future is unclear, although, closer to home, Vodafone Group has already announced swingeing cuts to its own operations. It is to axe 11,000 jobs over three years  the biggest set of job cuts in the companys history  after its new boss, Margherita Della Valle, criticised Vodafones lacklustre performance across many of its main markets in Europe.
An IRS whistleblower said to have eyebrow-raising information on a "sensitive" investigation into a "high-profile, controversial subject" that's been going on since 2018 now says they've been removed from that inquiry, as has their "entire investigative team." The subject in question: Hunter Biden, per ABC News, which notes that attorneys for the whistleblower informed congressional lawmakers that their client, whom they say is a criminal supervisory special agent, was removed from the investigation at the behest of the Justice Department. "[T]his move is clearly retaliatory and may also constitute obstruction of a congressional inquiry," alleges the lawyers' Monday letter to both GOP and Democratic committee chairpersons from the House and Senate.

Sources confirm to CNN that the person at the center of the probe is Hunter Biden, and the outlet notes that the information the whistleblower claims to have revolves around potential mishandling of and political interference into the criminal investigation of President Biden's son. Per ABC, the letter doesn't get into detail on the preferential treatment that Hunter Biden has allegedly received in the case, which centers on supposed tax crimes and a false statement. No charges have yet been brought against the 53-year-old, who's denied any wrongdoing.

In an April letter to Congress, one of the whistleblower's attorneys noted that their client has information that would contradict sworn testimony "by a senior political appointee." Tom Devine, an attorney who's repped whistleblowers for decades, says that booting the agent due to their disclosures would breach the federal Whistleblower Protection Act. "That's considered a significant change in duties and working conditions to remove you from a case, and if it's because of your whistleblowing, that would make it a violation of the law," he tells CBS News. A DOJ spokesperson is staying tight-lipped on the matter, noting in a statement that any queries should be directed toward US Attorney David Weiss, who's leading the investigation.

The IRS, for its part, wouldn't comment on any case in particular, but said in a statement that it "is deeply committed to protecting the role of whistleblowers" and "will not tolerate retaliation against any IRS employee making a whistleblower allegation," per CNN. A White House spokesman has said previously that the president "has made clear that this matter would be handled independently by the Justice Department, under the leadership of a US attorney appointed by former President Trump, free from any political interference by the White House." (Read more whistleblower stories.)
Even a global tech behemoth like Google has to do a little housecleaning sometimes. In a blog post published Tuesday, Google VP of Product Management Ruth Kricheli announced changes to the company's inactive account policies. Kricheli said that starting in December, the company will begin deleting accounts that have "not been used or signed into for at least 2 years." Google is painting the update as one taken in the name of cybersecurity, as its "internal analysis shows abandoned accounts are at least 10x less likely than active accounts to have 2-step-verification set up." Kricheli added that unused accounts "often rely on old or re-used passwords that may have been compromised."

NPR reports that Google says it will provide ample warning by notifying account holders multiple times (via the account email address and the recovery email address, if there is one) before the deletion process beginsa process that can be stopped by the user signing in to said account. While this policy update applies to a number of Google services, including Gmail, Drive, and Photos, it's worth noting that Google One subscribers will be exempt from this policy if they maintain their subscriptions. TechCrunch points out that Google did not address one issue that might concern userswhat happens to the usernames freed up by trashing unused accounts.

Kricheli's post ends by pointing out that Google has various tools to help users manage their data and account activity, such as the Inactive Account Manager, which lets users choose what happens to data after a specified period of time. Additionally, users can download their data using Google Takeout, ensuring they have a backup of essential files and information. (Read more Google stories.)
The spaceflight industry is big business in Floridaand lawmakers have moved to protect space companies from getting sued if things go wrong. A bill passed by Florida lawmakers shields companies like Elon Musk's SpaceX and Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin from civil lawsuits if spacecraft passengers or crew members are killed or injured, Business Insider reports. Space travelers will be required to sign a waiver stating that they are aware of the substantial risks involved. Under the Spaceflight Entity Liability bill, companies will still be liable in cases of gross negligence, but not in cases where injury or death is caused by "inherent risks of the spaceflight activity."

Florida lawmakers say the bill, which passed with little opposition and was sent to Gov. Ron DeSantis, is intended to reflect changes in spaceflight. "Astronauts are no longer government astronauts. These are commercial crew," GOP state Rep. Tyler Sirois said at a hearing earlier this year.

"The fear is that the estate of ultra-wealthy passengers could bring massive claims for hundreds of millions of dollars in lost revenue due to the life of the passenger being cut short," Mark Sundahl, director of the Global Space Law Center at Cleveland State University, tells Gizmodo. The industry is still in its early days and such liability might stunt the industry." But Sundahl says it's not clear whether the bill would hold up to court challenges, as "it is questionable whether a passenger who is not familiar with the technology and history of spaceflight can truly" give "informed consent" as the waiver would state. (Read more Florida stories.)
As the clock ticks down to June 1, the president and congressional leaders continue to sound off about the likelihood of striking a deal on raising the debt ceiling. President Biden held a second Oval Office meeting with House and Senate leaders Kevin McCarthy, Hakeem Jeffries, Chuck Schumer, and Mitch McConnell Tuesday nightwith Schumer agreeing to a McCarthy-Biden negotiation. Takeaways from the key players last night and Wednesday morning, ahead of Biden's departure for the G7 summit in Japan:

McCarthy , Tuesday night, per Reuters: "It is possible to get a deal by the end of the week. It's not that difficult to get to an agreement."

, Tuesday night, per Reuters: "It is possible to get a deal by the end of the week. It's not that difficult to get to an agreement." McCarthy , in a Wednesday morning interview with CNBC: "The only thing I'm confident about is now we have a structure to find a way to come to a conclusion ... I think at the end of the day we do not have a debt default. ... The problem is, the timeline is very short."

, in a Wednesday morning interview with CNBC: "The only thing I'm confident about is now we have a structure to find a way to come to a conclusion ... I think at the end of the day we do not have a debt default. ... The problem is, the timeline is very short." Jeffries , in a Wednesday morning interview with CNBC: "It was a very positive meeting yesterday. It was calm. It was candid in terms of the discussion, and I'm optimistic common ground will be found in the next week or two."

, in a Wednesday morning interview with CNBC: "It was a very positive meeting yesterday. It was calm. It was candid in terms of the discussion, and I'm optimistic common ground will be found in the next week or two." Biden, ahead of his Wednesday departure, per the AP: "I'm confident that we'll get the agreement on the budget and America will not default ... because there's no alternative."

How are members of Congress interpreting things? Politico has a fairly pessimistic assessment from Democratic Sen. Peter Welch, who served eight terms in the House: "It's not about being comfortable with Biden or anyone else. It's about the House. Kevin's in shackles. He's in leg, arms, and hand cuffs. And frankly I don't think he's got much capacity to negotiate. And very little capacity to advance a deal." On the GOP side, "McCarthy's conference has remained in lockstep behind him," opines Politico. "No Republicans have publicly spoken out against his approach so far." (Biden curtailed his trip and will be back in the US Sunday; negotiations are expected to continue by phone in the interim.)
Kari Lake lost the race for the Arizona governor's mansion to Democrat Katie Hobbs by more than 17,000 votes in November. Six months later, her final legal challenge to the results gets underway Wednesday in the form of a three-day trial. As the AP reports, courts have dismissed most of her lawsuit, but the Arizona Supreme Court revived one claim that challenges whether signatures were properly verified on early ballots in Maricopa County, home to more than 60% of the states voters. Lake alleges Maricopa County officials failed to perform higher-level signature verifications on mail-in ballots that had been flagged by lower-level screeners for any inconsistencies, and in a ruling Monday night, Superior Court Judge Peter A. Thompson refused to throw out Lakes claim.

Three workers on lower-level signature verification who filed declarations in court on Lakes behalf have said they experienced rejection rates due to mismatched signatures on 15% to 40% of the ballots they encountered. Attorneys for Arizona election officials said the workers speculation on signature verification efforts does not amount to a violation of the law or misconduct by election workersand raised questions about whether the three workers could know the outcome of the specific ballots they had flagged. Lake isnt contesting whether voters signatures on ballot envelopes matched those in their voting records. Lake faces a high bar in proving not only her allegation over signature verification efforts but also that it affected the outcome of her race.

County officials say they have nothing to hide and are confident that they will prevail in court. Lakes lawyers say there was a flood of mail-in ballots in Maricopa County at a time when there were too few workers to verify ballot signatures. Her attorneys say the county ultimately accepted thousands of ballots that had been rejected earlier by workers for having mismatched signatures. By reviving the claim, the Arizona Supreme Court reversed a lower court decision that found Lake waited too long to raise it. Earlier in her lawsuit, Lake had focused on problems with ballot printers at some polling places in Maricopa County.

(Read more Kari Lake stories.)
Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy has lost an appeal against his sentence for corruption and influence peddling, but he won't have to spent any time behind bars. The appeals court upheld the 68-year-old's three-year sentence, with two years suspended, but said he could serve the year of detention at home with an electronic bracelet, Le Monde reports. His lawyer said she would appeal the case to France's highest appeals court, the Court of Cassation, the BBC reports. "Nicolas Sarkozy is innocent," lawyer Jacqueline Laffont said. "We will take this all the way." She called the decision "stupefying" and "unjust."

Sarkozy, who will not be required to wear a tag until the appeals process is over, served a single term as president and left office in 2012. In 2021, he became the first former French president to receive a custodial sentence after he was found guilty of trying to bribe a judge in 2014. Later in 2021, he received another prison sentence in connection with a campaign finance case, which is also being appealed. Last week, prosecutors asked for Sarkozy to stand trial in yet another case, this one involving allegations that he illegally took millions of dollars in financing for his 2007 campaign from Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi. (Read more Nicolas Sarkozy stories.)
Ecuadorian President Guillermo Lasso took a drastic step to stay in power Wednesdayhe dissolved the country's legislature before it could vote to impeach him. Under a constitutional measure known as the muerte crazada, or "mutual death," Lasso disbanded the opposition-controlled National Assembly effective immediately, the Washington Post reports. Lasso is now required to hold an election within six months and can rule by decree until then, under the oversight of the country's top court, reports the AP. He is believed to have the support of Ecuador's military, whose leader warned Wednesday that any violence would be dealt with "firmly."

This is the first time an Ecuadorian leader has used the muerte cruzada mechanism, which was added to the country's constitution in 2008 to prevent prolonged political standoffs. Lasso said the move was necessary "due to a grave political crisis and internal commotion" and accused the National Assembly of working to destabilize the government. The conservative leader said the move was a "democratic decision not only because it is constitutional but because it returns to the Ecuadorian people the possibility to decide."

Lasso dissolved the assembly on what would have been second day of his impeachment trial, in which he was accused of turning a blind eye to embezzlement from a state-owned oil transport company, costing the country millions of dollars in public funds, the BBC reports. An impeachment vote had been expected within days. Removing Lasso from office would have required the support of at least 92 of the assembly's 137 lawmakers. Some 88 lawmakers had voted in favor of the trial going ahead, a sign that Lasso was in serious danger of becoming the first Ecuadorian president to be impeached. (Read more Ecuador stories.)
A man has been indicted on a federal theft charge almost 20 years after one of America's best known pieces of movie memorabilia was stolen. Federal prosecutors in North Dakota say a grand jury indicted Terry Martin in connection with the 2005 theft of a pair of ruby red slippers worn by Judy Garland in The Wizard of Oz, the AP reports. The slippers, one of four remaining pairs Garland wore in the 1939 movie, were recovered in 2018 after what authorities described as a sting operation that followed an extortion; no suspects were apprehended at the time.

According to an indictment filed in US District Court in Minneapolis, Martin stole the slippers in a burglary at the Judy Garland Museum in her hometown of Grand Rapids, Minnesota, MPR reports. He has been charged with one count of theft of major artwork. "At the time of theft, the slippers were insured for $1 million but current fair market appraisal value the slippers at $3.5 million," prosecutors said in a press release. (Read more ruby slippers stories.)
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Workers' Memorial day, sponsored by the United Nations (UN), was celebrated on April 28. This day "explored the theme of safe and healthy working environments as a fundamental principle and right at work." This opened a cycle that closed this May Day, also recognized by the UN as International Workers' Day. As throughout the last six decades, in every municipality of Cuba there was a parade organized by the regime, although this time it was held on May 5 due to the fuel shortage.

In countries with totalitarian leftist systems, such as Cuba, May Day is used to celebrate the supposed achievements that make the "emancipated and empowered proletariat" proud. In democratic countries, such as Spain, the date is used to demand labor rights (the original purpose of the celebration). Castroism has hijacked the day to the point that workers on the island cannot demand changes in their work environment. May Day parades in Cuba are not conceived for that, but to show support for the regime.

During the spring march that takes place in the "revolutionary squares" (most of the provincial capitals have stages replicating the former Plaza Civica), there is no mention of the episodes that have revealed the precariousness, insecurity and lack of protection of employees at their workplaces, while the Central de Trabajadores de Cuba (a union that represents the interests of the regime) does not condemn these working conditions or defend those affected by them.

Last March 26, custodian Iosbel Olivera Mesa, 36, died in an apparent accident at the Urbano Noris sugar mill in Holguin. "He was in an area that was not operating at first, and when the second auger came into operation, the unfortunate accident occurred. He suffered injuries incompatible with life," the official report stated. In comments to that publication, Alexander Parra Suarez, who, according to his Facebook profile works at the Department of Engineering of the University of Holguin, said, "The administration should review the signaling of risk areas at the power plant and the training of workers on risks and safety at work, to prevent other fatal accidents."

The Urbano Noris is the largest sugar mill in Holguin province and one of the largest in Cuba, together with the Jesus Menendez sugar mill and the Uruguay sugar mill in the state of Espiritu.

The quality of work environments, however, does not necessarily influence their importance according to the Government. In Cuba, job security is always of secondary importance. Edel Gonzalez, who served as president of the People's Provincial Court of Villa Clara, offered his testimony to DIARIO DE CUBA about his experience in these cases.

"Part of my administrative responsibilities involved ensuring the hygiene, safety and health of judicial workers in the province. Also, the prestige of the premises and human capital, because the image of the whole was part of the institutional image that we tried to develop," said Gonzalez.

"I was particularly interested, for almost four consecutive years, in guaranteeing the Court's hygiene workers a pair of shoes suitable for their work," Gonzalez continued. "It was a measure that had been pending for a long time from the Occupational Health and Safety Group. I was looking for ones known as 'little shoes' (zapitos) similar to those that the tourism sector gave to its workers. All the actions, even with foreign currency in the accounts we administered, founded. I left still owing this to this noble personnel, who must continue working with whatever shoes they can manage to come up with. It is worth remembering that these workers are among those who receive the lowest salaries at the courts."

"I repeatedly went to shopping centers specialized in the sale of these supplies, and I got nothing. On two occasions I was told that importations of these resources were very scarce, and they were expressly earmarked for a specific entity: GAESA. Unfortunately, we were not a priority," he concluded.

According to Article 127 of Law 116/2013 of the National Assembly of Popular Power: "employers are obliged to adopt measures that guarantee safe and hygienic working conditions, as well as the prevention of work accidents, occupational diseases, fires, breakdowns and other damage that may affect the health of workers and work environments."

Article 131 of the same law states that "employers are obliged to control, investigate and inform the corresponding authorities of occupational accidents and other similar accidents for the purposes of Social Security protection."

One of the most frequently violated regulations is Article 135: "Employers are obliged to instruct workers on the risks at work and the procedures to perform their work in a safe and healthy manner."

In the case of the testimony offered by the former president of the People's Provincial Court of Villa Clara, Article 136 was violated: "Personal protective equipment consists of the devices and means that a worker is required to use individually to protect himself against one or more risks that may threaten their safety and health (...). It includes clothing and footwear, which fulfill the function of protection against existing risks at work."

The same article is violated, with even worse consequences, in the case of agricultural workers, who often have to work in fields in flip-flops and without means of protection, such as gloves, when fumigating plantations or fertilizing soil.

Last month, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) condemned the existence of "systematic patterns of labor rights violations" in Cuba.

According to the report on the subject presented at the University of Miami, the absence of democracy prevents "the full exercise of labor human rights, which are also affected by the peculiar socioeconomic context that the country is going through and which are linked to situations of labor precariousness, the worsening of hiring conditions, the absence of measures to protect occupational health and safety, and a lack of freedom of expression in the workplace, resulting in disciplinary sanctions, expulsions and unjustified dismissals."

Last March, a worker bled to death in Old Havana after cutting his leg with a saw and waiting to be taken to a hospital, along with another accident in a refrigeration workshop in Old Havana, where two other workers died. "I saw when they pulled him out and it was impossible for him to survive, he had a hand hanging by a thread and a completely destroyed leg. The other mechanic was already dead on the spot. The deaths of both of them are very regrettable, they were good, hardworking people. They had to scrap just to survive, and to start spot welding at dawn with makeshift equipment, without safety measures, which cost them their lives," a local resident told DIARIO DE CUBA.

The worst thing is that the State often fails to compensate those who have suffered injuries at work. In March 2022 it came to light that for eight years former sailor Juan Alexander Morales Gonzalez had been asking the shipping company Northsouth Maritime (formerly Nordstrand Maritime), part of the military business conglomerate GAESA, a labor compensation for illness that the company refused to pay. During this time of extended litigation, the Ministry of Transportation, the Council of State and the People's Supreme Court refused to compensate this man for the physical damage he suffered due to his grueling work.

Rocking the boat or reporting irregularities at work can also entail adverse consequences for workers. In July of last year the case of a worker at the Empresa Avicola de Guantanamo who suffered harassment at work for reporting the corruption that surrounded her made the news.

When the activities condemned have to do with politics, the punishments are usually calculated to make an example of whistleblowers. In recent years, the Cubalex Legal Advisory Group and the Observatory for Academic Freedom (OLA) have documented several cases of politically motivated sanctions against workers in Cuba, in violation of the Constitution itself.

Such is the case of journalists Jose Luis Tan Estrada and Jose Raul Gallego, professors Manuel de la Cruz and Caleb Martinez Delgado, and academics Julio Merladet and Yahima Diaz. Other workers include Yordanka Battle More, Leonel Capote, Ariel Fernandez Perez and Zamay Espinosa.

Labor sanctions against these people were used as a form of punishment for exercising their rights to freedom of conscience, opinion, expression and association, as well as their right to protest and political participation.

Pedro Hamed Fajardo Armas, the Cuban longshoreman who complained of "a silent strike" at the Port of Cienfuegos in February 2021, was fired. "They didn't even take into account the number of years I was there. I don't know how I'm going to support my children, my family," the man told DIARIO DE CUBA at the time.

In Cuban workplaces, the minimum conditions to perform work properly are not guaranteed. In August 2022, the serious energy crisis suffered by Cuba forced the Government to announce measures that had an impact on state workers and their salaries. Relocations, vacations and indefinite suspensions were the solutions dictated by the regime.

A month earlier, more than 2,000 workers were subject to labor expulsion processes in Sancti Spiritus province due to the implementation of a package of measures aimed at "strengthening socialist state enterprises."
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From Japanese gangster to Ukrainian freedom fighter, Harusan is on a redemption arc. The 50-year-old moved to the eastern European country a year ago to fight against the Russian invaders.

He's been training with the Georgian Foreign Legion as a sniper, hoping to return to the front line in the upcoming spring offensive.

For now, he stands guard outside a military barracks in the capital Kyiv.

It's a far cry from his former life of crime.

In fact, Harusan had no prior military experience, doesn't speak the local language, and the journey to Ukraine was his first trip abroad.

But his work ethic, life experience, and the tattoos plastered over his body have made him a favourite among his comrades. ...continue reading
Economics Nation - May 17

Japan is a very interesting country and stands out in many ways. But there is one statistic in particular that stands it apart from other developed countries. It is the only country that, despite having a population of 125 million, has very few homeless people or people living on the streets.
, May 18 ( Crypto Daily ) - Japan, which missed out on the Web2 revolution -- by failing to produce its own Meta, Google, Amazon, and Alibaba -- is now looking to regain its economic prowess by embracing the burgeoning crypto and Web3 industry.

In this regard, the Japanese government has already recognized the potential of this sector, so much so that it has made Web3 a major part of its national strategy.

For starters, in September 2022, the government published a white paper  which has since been approved  discussing the implementation of several future-ready technologies, including blockchain, central bank-backed digital currencies (CBDCs), etc, into its existing governance and technological frameworks.

As a result, a number of reputable Japanese firms, such as Toyota, Sony, and NTT, have showcased a keen interest in various decentralized offerings. Not only that but moving ahead, decision-makers in Japan see the Web3 paradigm as the next big opportunity for local companies to forge ahead and stand at the forefront of the global economy.

Japan's ambition to become a leader in the Web3 industry seems to be driven by its need to compete internationally and to counteract a shrinking domestic market due to an aging population. Japanese companies are being encouraged to invest more in software and create platforms  possibly on the blockchain  to grow the nations economic influence outside of the country.

Moreover, the Asian powerhouse is also looking to leverage its world-class intellectual property in manga, anime, and computer games in the Web3 space, particularly through NFTs. However, there is a knowledge gap, with many creators unsure of how to deploy their creations on the blockchain.

To this point, Sota Watanabe, the founder of Astar Network and a member of the Japanese Government's web3 task force, recently explained: "A lot of digital creators, gaming companies would like to work on Web3, especially NFTs. But the problem is they don't know how to. ...continue reading
, May 18 ( NHK ) - Japan's government is set to accept wounded Ukrainian soldiers at the Self-Defense Forces' main hospital as part of its support for the country.

Defense Minister Hamada Yasukazu is scheduled to hold talks with Ukrainian Ambassador to Japan Sergiy Korsunsky at his ministry on Thursday.

The government has provided Ukraine with bullet-proof vests, helmets and other supplies owned by the Self-Defense Forces following Russia's invasion. It had been looking into whether it can provide further support.

The government now plans to accept several Ukrainian soldiers at the Self-Defense Force Central Hospital in Tokyo as early as next month.

The soldiers would include those who were wounded by land mines. They are expected to undergo treatment and rehabilitation with the costs to be borne by Japan.

The measure is in response to a request by the Ukrainian government.
MyMcDonald's Rewards is now also your boarding pass for a chance to visit Germany, Italy, France or Japan to try their local McDonald's fries

TORONTO, May 16, 2023 /CNW/ - McDonald's Canada is excited to announce the launch of the Frequent Fryer Program, giving guests who purchase any size World Famous Fries through the McDonald's app from May 16th to June 19th a chance to win* a trip to try different McDonald's fries from Germany, Italy, France or Japan.

McDonald's Canada is excited to announce the launch of the Frequent Fryer Program, giving guests who purchase any size World Famous Fries through the McDonalds app from May 16th to June 19th a chance to win a trip to try different McDonalds fries (CNW Group/McDonald's Canada)

In addition to winning a chance to fry away, guests will receive bonus points for free fries through the McDonald's app throughout the duration of the contest, along with the chance to win* exclusive travel gear, such as McDonald's custom carry-on luggage. Throughout the program, the more fries Canadians buy on the app, the more chances they'll have to win.

"We are taking the love Canadians have for our fries to the next level with our Frequent Fryer Program, offering our valued app users and brand fans the chance to win a trip to Berlin, Rome, Paris and Tokyo to explore these cities and try our World Famous Fries internationally," said Alyssa Buetikofer, Chief Marketing Officer, McDonald's Canada. "This will be the trip of a lifetime for fry lovers, and a way for us to deepen our connection with our brand fans by rewarding our app users beyond simple points collection."

The Frequent Fryer Program is another example of how McDonald's continues to unlock value and experiences for brand fans through the McDonald's App. Since the launch of MyMcDonald's Rewards in 2021, the brand continues to prioritize value, convenience and personalization within the app experience, such as introducing McDelivery on the app earlier this year, as well as continuing to evolve its loyalty offering. These efforts have made the McDonald's app the #1 quick service restaurant app downloaded by Canadians in 2022, with nearly 5 million Canadian app users.

Don't miss your opportunity to participate in McDonald's Canada's Frequent Fryer Program. Download the McDonald's App and start ordering your World Famous Fries today.

Facts:

When guests buy fries four times with the McDonald's app from May 16 th to June 19th , guests will receive 4,000 bonus points, which can be redeemed for a free fries 

to , guests will receive 4,000 bonus points, which can be redeemed for a free fries Every guest who purchases fries on the app is eligible to win one prize. This includes everything from the grand prize destinations to the custom McDonald's travel gear.

For every dollar spent on eligible purchases in the McDonald's app, guests will receive 100 points, which can be used to redeem rewards like any size Premium Roast Coffee or more fries!

MyMcDonald's Rewards can also be earned at the restaurant by ordering ahead with Mobile Order, through McDelivery on the McDonald's app, or by scanning at the Front Counter, Drive-Thru and Kiosk. The more points collected, the more rewards are unlocked.

McDonald's Canada's World Famous Fries are a longstanding Canadian favourite, made from 100% Canadian potatoes sourced from over 130 farms. McCain has been supplying McDonald's World Famous Fries in Canada for more than 30 years.

*No purch. rqd. App download and registration required. Open to Cdn residents 13+. From May 16/23 - June 19/23. 5 Grand Prizes and 1,550 Secondary Prizes available, total ARV for all prizes: $136,250. Max 1 prize/person. Rules at mcdonaldspromotion.ca and offer terms in-app

1 qualifying purchase per transaction. See offer terms in-app for details. Valid 1 time until June 26/23. MyMcDonald's Rewards available at participating restaurants in Canada. See Program Terms for details.

About McDonald's Canada

In 1967, Canada welcomed the first McDonald's restaurant to Richmond, British Columbia. Today, McDonald's Restaurants of Canada Limited has become part of the Canadian fabric, serving more than one million guests every day. In both franchised and corporate-owned restaurants, nearly 100,000 people are employed from coast to coast to coast, and more than 90 per cent of McDonald's 1,400 Canadian restaurants are locally owned and operated by independent franchisees. Of the almost $1 billion spent on food, more than 85 per cent is purchased from suppliers in Canada. For more information on McDonald's Canada, visit mcdonalds.ca.

SOURCE McDonald's Canada

For further information: Canada Impact, McDonald's Canada [email protected]
WASHINGTON (AP)  Emily Reed lost her younger sister Jessica more than 10 years ago. For much of the last decade, shes visited Jessicas Twitter page to help keep her memory alive.

Twitter became one of the places where Emily processed her grief and reconnected with a sister she describes as almost like a twin. But Jessicas account is now gone.

Last week, owner Elon Musk announced Twitter would be purging accounts that have had no activity for several years. That decision has been met by an outcry from those who have lost, or who fear losing the thoughts and words of deceased loved ones linked to now-inactive accounts.

Reed immediately returned to Jessicas page as she had done a day or two earlier after learning of the purge. In place of Jessica's page was an "account suspended message that suggested it may be in violation Twitter rules.

Reed's tweet recounting her shock over the loss of the account has received tens of thousands of responses. Others shared similar experiences of pain upon learning that the account of a deceased loved one had vanished.

Having these digital footprints... is super important to me, Reed, 43, told The Associated Press.

The advent of social media has come with new way in which people mourn, returning to the place where they connected with friends and family in the past. In addition to memories and physical traces left behind, snippets of lives are have are now being captured in the digital space.

It is something that social media platforms have wrestled with for recent years.

Twitter backed off an attempt to purge inactive accounts in 2019, years before Musk arrived, due to a similar backlash.

Other social media sites have found ways to allow people to mourn those they've lost.

Facebook and Instagram allow users to request an account be deactivated, or a memorialization of the account. Memorialized accounts show the word Remembering next to the persons name.

In this modern age, we have these electronic reminders of people  (including) little snippets of a thought they had on a particular day or pictures that they shared, said Shira Gabriel, professor of psychology at University at Buffalo. Looking through a late loved ones social media can be both a healthy way to process grief and gather as a community in remembrance, Gabriel said.

The prospect of that resource disappearing can bring about a sense of mourning again, Gabriel said. There is a real psychological cost of getting rid of this digital thumbprint that was left behind and this ability for community members to gather in one spot.

It is unknown if Musk will backtrack on the decision to purge. The billionaire CEO of Tesla has launched policies that have rattled users and advertisers alike and shown little interest in amending those policies in response.

Musk named a new CEO last week, Linda Yaccarino, a former NBCUniversal advertising executive, who will have her hands full with a platform seemingly now in a perpetual state of chaos.

Deleting inactive accounts can be seen as fulfilling a promise Musk made when he bought the company, particularly winnowing down junk accounts and bots, said Samuel Woolley, an assistant professor at the University of Texas at Austins School of Journalism and Media.

There are good reasons to preserve inactive accounts, and also reasons to delete them, Woolley said, but he is leery of the one-size-fits-all approach.

Advocates of purging accounts cite skewed metrics caused by inactive accounts or bogus on social media platforms. Yet on top of emotional pain for some users mourning late loved ones, deleting inactive accounts could also mean losing tweets that documented historical events, commentary and breaking news on the app over the years.

Twitter operates in many ways like a library of data, Woolley said. Just because someone hasnt been active for 30 days or a few years, doesnt mean their tweets dont still have a great amount of relevance.

Musk did say the reasoning behind removing inactive accounts was to free up unused Twitter handles, or user names, and that those inactive accounts would be archived.

What exactly that means is not known  including what inactive accounts will look like when they're archived, and whether they'll be easily accessible. Other details of the plan are also unclear, such as the number of accounts to be removed and whether the policy will be evenly enforced.

While Reed and others saw the inactive accounts of loved ones disappear last week, the account belonging to the late father of controversial internet personality Andrew Tate still appears to be on the site, for example.

On Twitter, Tate said he was fine with Musk's decision, but asked that his father's account remain active as he still (reads) his account daily.

Picking and choosing accounts for deactivation would create precisely the kind of tiered system that Musk says he wants to avoid," Woolley said.

When contacted by The Associated Press for comment, Twitter responded with an automated email. Twitters trust and safety lead Ella Irwin also did not respond.

According to Twitter policy, the social media platform determines an accounts inactivity through log-ins. Twitter says that users should log in at least every 30 days.

Twitter users are able to download an archive of their own data through the app, but not for accounts they dont possess login credentials. Reed, for example, noted that her family wasnt able to get into Jessicas account over the last 10 years. The only traces they have now are some screenshots that Reeds other sister luckily captured before the purge.

Reed talks about the importance of Jessicas Twitter and Facebook pages during her journey with grief  from following her sister's difficult journey with cystic fibrosis, a progressive genetic disorder that Reed also has, to cherishing tweets that showed the joy and... the vibrancy that came out of her words.

Over time, the image and memories of someone who has passed away can slowly change in your mind  like a fading photograph, Reed said. Having online resources, she added, can help keep a persons memory alive, in a way that just your own personal memory cant.
SIMSBURYWith the hiring of Illinois-based GovHR USA Monday, the clock has started ticking on finding the second-ever town manager in Simsbury history.

The town, which has budgeted up to $50,000 for the search, is seeking a successor to Maria Capriola, Simsbury's first town manager following a charter change. She started in town in January 2018 and left May 1.

Democratic First Selectwoman Wendy Mackstutis said the next step is for the firm to build a profile of what the town is hoping for in its next chief executive officer.

That profile, she said, will include input from the board of selectmen, town department heads, business leaders and the community. For Mackstutis, that profile will include three things that are important to her.

"I would like to see a great communicator, someone that is transparent and someone who can create a strategic vision for the town. We're at a crossroads," she said, referring to what she sees as looming issues related to housing and sustainability.

The creation of a profile is expected to take three to four weeks. Once that is completed, Mackstutis said she would like to have someone hired within three months.

Democratic selectman Chris Peterson said he considers strong communication skills to be a given for any leadership position. For Peterson, the most important skill sets for a town manager coming to Simsbury includes a strong background in public administration, finance and labor and someone who promotes a collaborative and inclusive work environment.

"We are a unionized town and that consumes a significant amount of time in the front office," he said.

Peterson also differs slightly on the timeline to hire someone based on several factors, including the tight job market, a small pool of candidates working in government public administration and Connecticut's unique form of government, which further shrinks the pool of qualified candidates from out of state.

"Bringing in a county administrator from Iowa is not going to necessarily fit with New England," he said.

For Peterson, it's more likely that the town will have someone on board in three to six months due to the size of the candidate pool, and he's OK with that based in part on the competency of current town staff and the level of experience that Lee Erdmann, who begins as interim town manager June 1, brings to the position.

"I am absolutely comfortable with it taking that long," he said. "It serves us no purpose to put an aggressive timeline out there."

Peterson also expects that the town will have to pay 10 percent more to fill the position than the previous town manager made at the time of her departure due to the trend in salaries in the industry. Capriola's salary was $173,000.
BOISE, Idaho (AP)  A grand jury has indicted a man who was already charged in the stabbing deaths of four University of Idaho students, allowing prosecutors to skip a planned week-long preliminary hearing that was set for late June.

Bryan Kohberger was arrested late last year and charged with burglary and four counts of first-degree murder in connection with the Nov. 13, 2022, killings of Xana Kernodle, Ethan Chapin, Madison Mogen and Kaylee Goncalves at a rental home near the University of Idaho campus. At the time, Kohberger was a graduate student studying criminology at nearby Washington State University, and the killings left the close-knit communities of Moscow, Idaho, and Pullman, Washington, reeling.

A preliminary hearing  where prosecutors must show a judge that there is enough evidence to justify moving forward with felony charges  had been scheduled to begin June 26. But on Tuesday, a grand jury indicted Kohberger on the same criminal charges, effectively rerouting the case directly to the states felony court level and allowing prosecutors to skip the preliminary hearing process.

Court documents have already detailed much of the investigation that prosecutors say ties Kohberger to the slayings. A white sedan allegedly matching one owned by Kohberger was caught on surveillance footage repeatedly cruising past the rental home on a dead-end street around the time of the killings. Police say traces of DNA found on a knife sheath inside the home where the students were killed matches that of the 28-year-old Kohberger. Investigators also contend that a cellphone belonging to Kohberger was near the victims home on a dozen occasions prior to the killings, though it was apparently turned off around the time of the early-morning attack.

Kohberger was arrested Dec. 30, 2022, at his parents home in eastern Pennsylvania, and law enforcement officials seized dark clothing, medical gloves, a flashlight and other items from the home, according to court documents. In Pullman, investigators seized stained bedding, strands of what appeared to be hair, and a single glove from his WSU campus apartment, according to another search warrant.

Still, the unsealed court documents do not appear to suggest a motive, nor whether the killer had specifically targeted any of the victims. Its also not clear if prosecutors believe Kohberger had met any of the victims before the night they died.

Kernodle, Chapin, Mogen and Goncalves were friends and members of the universitys Greek system, and the three women lived together in the rental home just across the street from campus. Chapin  Kernodles boyfriend  was there visiting on the night of the attack. The killings left many of their classmates and residents of Moscow reeling with grief and fear.
NORTH HAVEN  A 400-pound moose was killed on Route 15 after it was struck by a car Wednesday morning, police said.

Officials said the driver was able to leave the scene and did not suffer any injuries.

Officials with the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection said the moose that was killed is believed to be the same one seen last week in the Watertown and Waterbury areas that prompted a warning for motorists after it was spotted near two major highways.

"Last reports had it moving in a direction that could place it at this location," DEEP said in a news release Wednesday morning.

Connecticut State Police were called to the northbound lanes of the highway near Exit 63 around 6:50 a.m., according to Trooper First Class Pedro A. Muniz, a spokesperson for the agency.

"No injuries were reported. The moose is deceased," Muniz said.

The moose was identified as a two-year-old female weighing 400 pounds, according to DEEP.

It was not immediately clear what type of car was involved in Wednesday's collision. A DEEP spokesperson said the car was not disabled in the crash and was able to be driven away from the scene.

State police said an accident information summary, which the agency typically releases following major crashes, would not be written for the incident because the vehicle involved was driven from the scene without any reported injuries.

A DEEP spokesperson said the animal was determined to be a 2-year-old female moose weighing 400 pounds.

Workers were seen using a piece of construction equipment to drag the body of the moose from the scene Wednesday morning.

The incident comes after DEEP officials issued repeated warnings last week about moose that were spotted near major Connecticut roadways.

About 100 of the animals are thought to inhabit Connecticut, far less than the thousands of moose that populate northern New England states. Moose strikes by cars are often deadly to motorists because the animals stand much taller than deer, meaning it's more likely they'll end up hitting a vehicle's windshield, according to DEEP.

They can also be harder for drivers to spot since they are darker than deer and drivers can have a harder time spotting the light reflecting from their eyes due to their height, the agency said.

One study that examined data from New England states found motor vehicle collisions involving moose are more than 13 times more likely to be lethal to people compared with deer strikes.

Last Friday, DEEP officials said moose had been spotted within 5 miles of Interstate 84 and Route 8 in Waterbury, having moved into the area from nearby Watertown. Another wandering moose seen in the Enfield, Windsor and Bloomfield areas was also spotted in Windsor less than a mile from Interstate 91, the agency said.

"During this time of year, young moose may be dispersing long distances in search of new areas to occupy, making them more of a public safety concern," DEEP said in its advisory last Friday.

Moose sightings near major roadways, and collisions between vehicles and moose, bears or deer can be reported to DEEP's 24-hour dispatch center at 860-424-3333.
CARSON CITY, Nev. (AP)  Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo vetoed a trio of gun-control bills Wednesday while his office threatened to ax the state budget if his priorities aren't addressed, in the strongest conflict yet for Nevadas split-party government.

Its a combative shift for Lombardo, who previously said he would not use the big hammer of veto to get his school-choice legislation passed by the Democratic-controlled Legislature. He has also remained tight-lipped on several ambitious Democratic proposals, including the gun control measures before Wednesday.

The moves came a day after Democratic leadership said they would kill Lombardos sweeping school-safety bill, which would remove requirements for students to be expelled for certain acts amid a reported uptick in school violence. They instead invited him to pitch the measure as an amendment to a similar bill that theyre pushing. Lombardos school-choice proposals, with various mechanisms at providing public funding to help students access private schools, have also received an icy reception by Democrats.

If a budget is not approved by July 1, state services, including schools and state agencies, may shut down.

If he follows through and stakes out an extremist position, he will have to explain to Nevadans why their kids schools are not opening on time, public safety services are reduced, and other essential state services are shut down, Democratic Senate Majority Leader Nicole Cannizzaro said in a statement.

Lombardos office did not provide additional comment on the budget veto threat beyond confirming his position.

Meanwhile, the trio of gun-control bills marked the first vetoes of Lombardo's tenure since becoming the only Republican to unseat an incumbent Democratic governor in the 2022 midterms. The move could be an early indication of how Lombardo will respond to other party-line measures that come from the Legislature.

I will not support legislation that infringes on the constitutional rights of Nevadans, Lombardo said in a statement announcing his vetoes.

One of the gun-control bills would have raised the eligible age to possess semiautomatic shotguns and assault weapons from 18 to 21. Another would have barred possession of a gun within 100 yards (91 meters) of an election site entrance with narrow exceptions, while also solidifying language meant to ban homemade ghost guns. A third bill would have prohibited owning a firearm within a decade of a gross misdemeanor or felony hate-crime conviction.

The vetoes came moments before a news conference scheduled by Democratic leadership and gun control advocacy groups to urge Lombardo to sign the legislation. Standing in front of the legislative building, they chastised his decision.

I desperately wish the governor would put the safety of Nevadans ahead of partisan politics, said Democratic Assembly Majority Floor Leader Sandra Jauregui, who sponsored two of the bills and survived the 2017 Las Vegas mass shooting.

She said the bills would better protect Nevada in the wake of recent mass shootings, including one this week in New Mexico, where an 18-year-old gunman killed three and injured six.

Lombardo, the Clark County sheriff at the time of the Las Vegas mass shooting, had previously bucked other Republicans by supporting background checks. But he still positions himself as firmly pro-Second Amendment while touting his NRA membership. He promised on the campaign trail to veto any legislation curtailing access to ghost guns, privately-made firearms without serial numbers that are nearly impossible for law enforcement to trace.

In his veto letters, Lombardo cited recent court rulings that struck down gun-control legislation, including one that nullified a similar law in California that would ban the sale of semiautomatic weapons to adults under 21.

He said that existing law sufficiently addresses people convicted of hate crimes and the bill would effectively open the door to more laws for those convicted of gross misdemeanors. He added that the bill prohibiting firearms from election sites is commendable but too broad.

Democratic leaders  who hold a veto-proof supermajority in the state Assembly and are one away from that in the Senate  said they would continue to press for gun-control legislation with or without (Lombardos) cooperation

We sent over three common sense options  bills, by the way, that Republicans are supporting in other states across this country today, said Democratic Sen. Dallas Harris, who sponsored the bill prohibiting firearm possession ten years after a hate crime conviction. And if this is how he wants to run his office, if these are the first bills he wants to veto, then game on.

Lombardo, who steered a moderate path compared to his primary challengers in the 2022 midterms, has not commented on nearly every other bill still in play. This includes measures that would establish trust fund investments for the children of families who receive Medicaid known as baby bonds,"criminalize fake electors and cap certain drug prices to federally negotiated Medicare rates.

___

Stern 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. Follow Stern on Twitter: @gabestern326
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STAMFORD  A Guilford man accused of stabbing a woman outside a Westport salon in 2020 could serve 13 years in prison under a plea deal offered by state prosecutors.

Under the offer, Ellis Tibere, 21, would plead guilty to first-degree assault, carrying a dangerous weapon and violating conditions of release in return for a 13-year prison sentence and seven years of special parole.

Assistant States Attorney Elizabeth Moran put the states offer on the record as Tibere appeared remotely at the state Superior Court for a disposition hearing Wednesday afternoon.

Criminal defense attorney John Gulash, who represents Tibere, instead requested a supervised judicial pretrial hearing to discuss a possible alternative disposition.

Tibere faces attempted murder, first-degree assault and possession of a deadly weapon charges stemming from an attack on a woman sitting in her car on Jan. 6, 2020, in the parking lot of a Post Road East plaza.

His arrest affidavit indicated that he waited in the parking lot for hours and then attacked a random woman. Wearing a black mask, Tibere allegedly walked up to the Greenwich woman's vehicle, opened the car door and stabbed her, according to the affidavit.

Tibere was again arrested in December 2020 when he removed his GPS monitor and left his familys Guilford property where he had been on house arrest after posting a $1 million bond in May 2020.

According to that arrest affidavit, Tibere was found on a nearby trail in possession of a knife with a four-inch blade.

For two years following that second arrest, Tiberes case stalled after he was repeatedly found not competent to stand trial. However, in February 2022, a judge found Tibere competent to stand trial, despite objections from Gulash.

Tibere is next expected to appear in court on Aug. 2.
EAST HAVEN  A local aviation company has withdrawn its plans to add a sizeable fuel tank on the town's portion of Tweed New Haven Regional Airport.

Robinson Aviation, a Tweed lessee providing aviation services at the airport property, submitted an application to the East Haven Zoning Board of Appeals proposing to install a new 20,000-gallon fuel tank on Thompson Avenue, adjacent to the company's existing fuel farm, which houses three 12,000-gallon tanks. But the application abruptly was pulled less than a week before it was to appear before the ZBA.

Sean Robinson, vice president of Robinson Aviation, did not immediately respond to a request seeking comment. Project engineer Jeff Bord said Tuesday that officials are "working through some things with the town of East Haven," and they will be "looking to formally resubmit (the application) at some point in the future."

To get the fuel tank approved, Robinson had requested a variance from East Haven's zoning regulations, which prohibit fuel tanks larger than 10,000 gallons, according to Zoning Enforcement Officer Joseph Budrow. Robinson already had zoning approval for its existing fuel farm, Budrow said.

The new fuel tank would have allowed Robinson to reinforce its fuel reserves, Bord wrote in the application, while also accommodating the increase in airline traffic that is likely to result from the airport's proposed expansion.

Some Tweed neighbors who already frustrated by Tweed's expansion proposal said adding another fuel tank would further plague their quality of life.

Robinson's now-withdrawn application stated that its new tank would contain Avgas, a type of leaded aviation fuel used to power piston engine aircraft. The company also proposed to convert the fuel in one of its existing tanks to Jet-A, which is used for gas-turbine engines, plans show.

According to the Federal Aviation Administration, lead can negatively affect human health in several ways; infants and young children are especially sensitive to the toxic chemical. The Federal Aviation Administration has pledged to eliminate the use of such leaded aviation fuels for piston-engine aircraft in the United States by the end of 2030, its website states.

Last month, the Greater New Haven's regional Council of Governments unanimously approved a resolution supporting Tweed's expansion and an associated Draft Environmental Assessment. East Haven Mayor Joseph Carfora walked out of the meeting prior to the vote, upset that council members would vote on a report that they admitted they had not read.

Published in March, the 206-page environmental study found that, among other things, extending Tweed's runway and building a new terminal on the East Haven side actually would improve the airport's impact on the environment. Carfora and several residents have called for a more extensive environmental impact statement, or EIS, be conducted before moving forward.
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KILLINGWORTH  The quiet envelops Chatfield Hollow State Park.

With winding hiking trails, a clear, sparkling pond that beckons swimmers and trout fishermen, picnic areas, wide lawns for recreation and paved roads meandering through the park, some 500,000 visitors enjoy the 412-acre oasis each year.

But the state park had humble beginnings in 1933 when some 250 members of the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) started to build a recreation area in Cockaponset State Forest.

This year marks the 90th anniversary of the CCC and the Friends of Chatfield Hollow is grateful for their efforts.

That state park wouldnt be there if it wasnt for the CCC, said Cheryl Buckley, a Guilford resident and member of Friends of Chatfield Hollow.

East Hampton resident Martin Podskoch, who wrote Connecticut, Civilian Conservation Corps Camps: History, Memories & Legacy of the CCC gave a recent talk at the park. The 543 page book chronicles the history of these camps in the state.

Podskoch devotes one chapter to the history and legacy of Chatfield Hollow, complete with historical photographs.

In Connecticut, we did have some state parks, but they (CCC) developed them further or developed them right from the beginning, like Chatfield Hollow, said Podskoch.

The CCC encampment, now Chatfield Hollow, was known as Camp Roosevelt or Clinton Camp and was one of the 23 Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) camps in Connecticut from 1933 to 1942.

Most of the parks that we have were developed by the CCC in just that nine-year period, Podskoch said.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt established the CCC to create jobs for the unemployed during the Great Depression and to provide housing, income and free medical care for nearly 3.5 million young men.

These workers were paid $1 a day, $30 a month and $25 went straight home to the parents who needed the money and they (the young men) had $5 spending money, said Podskoch.

The enrollees at Chatfield Hollow, pictured in the 1937 yearbook, hailed from all over the state, including New Haven, New London, Hartford, Middletown, Bridgeport, Chester, Groton and Meriden.

"Sometimes they would get a pass on Friday night...a lot of times boys in Connecticut would hitchhike home if they got a pass," Podskoch said.

Schreeder Pond, a popular seven-acre spot for swimming and trout fishing at Chatfield Hollow, was created by the CCC.

Before that there was just this little stream, said Podskoch. They had the vision.

In 1934 enrollees began their largest project, the construction of an earth, stone, and masonry dam on Chatfield Hollow Brook that created Schreeder Pond, Podskoch wrote.

At the same time, CCC workers also planted pine trees that frame the pond now, according to CT.gov. bit.ly/3nXRs1M.

The handsome Oak Lodge, on the west side of Schreeder Pond, is the only remaining structure from that time. Built in 1937, it was renovated in 2018.

The lodge was built with the help of Local Experienced Men or LEMs, who would take a squadron of about 12 boys, and they would work on projects, according to Podskoch.

The fireplace required some skilled labor, he said, noting the CCC would hire a mason for such projects.

He was maybe unemployed, and he would work with the squad of boys and build the chimney and fireplace  and fireplaces throughout the state park, added Podskoch.

A CCC Worker Statue, next to Oak Lodge, was dedicated in May 2019 and honors the work of the young men.

To remind people why we have this beautiful state park, said Podskoch. Because of these young boys who worked really hard and planted trees, built the park, cut down trees, fought fires.

The six-foot statue was made possible through $24,000 in donations.

Podskoch travels all over the country to talk about CCCs importance in U.S. history.

I just love the stories about the men and how they were so poor and they learned skills, maybe it was truck driving, maybe it was carpentry, masonry, he said.

The big thing is they were helping their family, he said. They were doing something worthwhile to help.

They built up our state parks and they planted over a billion trees throughout the whole United States, he said.

They fought fires, he recounted. Over a thousand fire towers built throughout the United States just in those nine years.

In 1937, the CCC left Chatfield Hollow, which was designated as a state park in 1949.

The state park has a group of volunteers who support it.

Buckley continues to work with Friends of Chatfield Hollow to help maintain the park and to encourage visitors to enjoy all the park has to offer.

She spearheaded the renovation of Oak Lodge, which is considered one of the finest examples of CCC construction in the state, and the anticipated rehabilitation of the covered bridge.

This park is so specialin its simplicity and beauty and history, she said.

The good thing is not much has changed and its perfect, she said. Its a local treasure.

Its like going back in time, said Buckley. Its going back in time and its a sweet thing.

In addition to the covered bridge, features at the park include challenging mountain bike trails, rocky overhangs used for rock climbing and caves. Other highlights are the 825-foot Paul F. Wildermann Boardwalk that travels over an inland swamp and a restored water wheel.

State Sen. Christine Cohen (D-Guilford) was instrumental in assisting Buckley with bringing attention to the work required to save the covered bridge.

Cohen and her family have enjoyed visiting the park for many years, riding bikes and walking on the paved roads and enjoying Schreeder Pond.

I just love when you come into the park how the trees kind of canopy over the walkway there, Cohen said. It just really seems magical, like a fairytale.
Connecting Toronto and Port Colborne, a new bus service launches Thursday with stops in Welland, St. Catharines and Niagara Falls.

FlixBus, through its partner Gallexy Tours Inc., will offer daily service with one trip in each direction between Toronto and Port Colborne, it said in a release.

Port Colborne-bound trips will depart Toronto Union Station at 1 p.m. with stops in St. Catharines, Niagara Falls and Welland before arriving in Port Colborne by 3:35 p.m.

On the return trip, buses, with free on-board Wi-Fi, will leave Port Colborne at 4:05 p.m. with stops in Welland, Niagara Falls and St. Catharines before reaching Torontos Union Station by 6:50 p.m.

In its release, FlixBus said it is North Americas fastest-growing intercity bus service.

It launched its Ontario network in April 2022, with cross-border service in May 2022 from New York City to Toronto, and Seattle to Vancouver.

Tickets for Toronto to Port Colborne trips start at $17.99 and can be purchased at FlixBus.com, FlixBus.ca and the FlixBus app.

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Grimsby is joining more than 40 councils across Ontario who support stronger punishments for councillors who behave badly.

Christine Giordani from the group Women of Ontario Say No spoke to Grimsby council as part of their meeting on May 15, advocating for the support of Bill 5, the Stopping Harassment and Abuse by Local Leaders Act.

Giordani explained that the bill requires that codes of conduct include requirements for councillors to comply with workplace violence and harassment policies and creates an integrity commissioner and judicial process to remove them from office for egregious acts of sexual, emotional and psychological misconduct.

Currently, councils dont have the ability to remove colleagues for serious misconduct.

There's so many good people that serve the public as elected representatives, she said. However, like every sector, there are people who are guilty of perpetrating harassment in the workplace.

Giordani continued her presentation by explaining that this legislation had been brought forward in October 2021, in hopes it would get passed in time for the 2022 municipal election.

It died on the floor when the provincial election was called and was reintroduced last August.

If the legislation had passed, it may have affected who was able to run in this most recent election, a change that would have supported candidates that had baseline personal conduct of not perpetrating egregious acts of harassment to municipal staff or fellow colleagues, she said. In every other workplace in Ontario, employees are held to violence and harassment in the workplace policies. Currently, there is no legislation that provides an appropriate mechanism for accountability for municipally elected representatives when it comes to perpetrating harassment.

Coun. Veronica Charrois asked if the bill could be extended to cover chief administrative officers, as she said its a similar situation with the way they are protected.

Giordani said she appreciated the feedback and would pass it along.

Coun. Jennifer Korstanje joked that they could have used the legislation last term.

I believe that this is the workplace, she said. I believe that the same conditions on harassment and sexual harassment, stuff like that, should apply.

Council passed the endorsement unanimously.

Niagara Region council passed a similar motion in April supporting Bill 5.

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A Niagara Falls motorist faces multiple charges after a routine traffic stop netted police $30,000 in drugs.

Niagara Parks Police said an officer was on patrol on Niagara River Parkway on May 5 at about 1 a.m. when he conducted a traffic stop related to a driving violation.

The driver was found to be in possession of $30,000 in drugs including cocaine, crystal methamphetamine, fentanyl and prescription pills, police said.

Police also seized more than $13,000 in cash.

A 24-year-old man was arrested and charged with a number of offences including drug trafficking and possession of the proceeds of crime.

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Lincoln County Humane Society unleashed a new name Wednesday.

The St. Catharines-based animal welfare organization is dropping the antiquated name it has had for at least 96 years and will be known as Humane Society of Greater Niagara.

Executive director Kevin Strooband said the humane society wanted to modernize its name and better convey the area it actually serves, especially since expanding its role to Fort Erie.

A lot of people say, Wheres Lincoln County? So we wanted something that more accurately reflected the area we cover and what we do, because we also provide sheltering for peoples pets from across Niagara.

Strooband said the term Lincoln County isnt really used anymore and it was time to let it go.

Lincoln County encompassed the communities in the northern area of Niagara until 1970 when it was amalgamated with Welland County in the south to create Niagara Region.

The Lincoln County Humane Society name dates back to at least March 1927 when it was officially formed, though the organization can trace its roots to 1881.

Apparently, it wasnt in any hurry to change its name with the times.

The regional municipality was formed Jan. 1, 1970, when they abandoned the name Lincoln County. We just did it 53 years later, Strooband said.

The humane society provides service to five municipalities  St. Catharines, Thorold, Grimsby, Niagara-on-the-Lake and Fort Erie.

Strooband said it also has programs to take in pets for individuals escaping from domestic abuse situations and for those experiencing homelessness from across Niagara. Anyone can use its community food bank, making the new name more relevant.

The branding for Humane Society of Greater Niagara includes a website at hsgn.ca and a logo featuring a cat and dog in blue and green silhouetted by a heart that replaces the old paw print in a heart and circle.

As for all the old materials with LCHS logos, they will be put to good use in the American midwest.

It turns out there are a few other agencies called Lincoln County Humane Society in North America.

Strooband reached out to Lincoln County Humane Society in Merrill, Wisc., to offer all the local logos, swag, banners, tents and electronic files no longer required and he said the smaller U.S. organization was happy to take the lot.

And, unlike Niagaras Lincoln County Humane Society, Merrill is actually in a Lincoln County.

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WASHINGTON - Michigan joined the Line 5 legal fray unfolding just across state lines Wednesday as lawyers for Enbridge Inc. and an Indigenous band prepared to square off over whether the controversial cross-border pipeline should be shut down.

The stage is set for oral arguments Thursday in the Wisconsin capital of Madison as a federal judge contemplates whether to order the taps turned off and the pipelines contents purged to forestall a watershed-fouling rupture.

That hearing will now also include lawyers fighting a similar legal battle with Enbridge in Michigan, where Attorney General Dana Nessel has so far been thwarted in her three-year campaign to seal off Line 5 for good.

The Bad River Band of the Lake Superior Chippewa, through whose northern Wisconsin territory the line runs, has filed a motion arguing that spring flooding along the riverbanks has rendered the risk of a breach too great to ignore.

Nonsense, Enbridge argues back in an opposition brief that takes direct aim at the bands claims of a looming environmental emergency, as well as the drastic remedy its lawyers are requesting.

Despite having to prove both liability and grounds for an injunction, the band has done neither. The motion must therefore be denied, the brief reads, describing their argument as alarmist and counterfactual speculation.

No release of oil is ready to take place, happening soon, or real and immediate.

The 50-page filing includes among its exhibits an email exchange between Enbridge and the bands natural resources officials to support its argument that the band has been unwilling to allow the company to do any remedial work.

This court should contrast the evidence before it of Enbridges persistent efforts and overtures to reach a solution  with the bands refusal to meaningfully engage or act.

Even if the risk was high, shutting down the pipeline would not be the appropriate remedy, Enbridge says, pointing to a court-ordered contingency plan that spells out the steps it would take if the threat were indeed urgent.

Enbridge will pre-emptively purge and shut down the line well in advance of any potential rupture, the brief says, adding that the area remains under constant 24-hour video surveillance.

Any flooding and erosion has not, and would not, catch Enbridge by surprise.

Heavy flooding that began in early April washed away significant portions of the riverbank where Line 5 intersects the Bad River, a meandering, 120-kilometre course that feeds Lake Superior and a complex network of ecologically delicate wetlands.

The band has been in court with Enbridge since 2019 in an effort to compel the pipelines owner and operator to reroute Line 5 around its traditional territory  something the company has already agreed to do.

But the flooding has turned a theoretical risk into a very real one, the band argues, and it wants the pipeline closed off immediately to prevent catastrophe.

Line 5 meets the river just past a location the court has come to know as the meander, where the riverbed snakes back and forth multiple times, separated from itself only by several metres of forest and the pipeline itself.

At four locations, the river was less than 4.6 metres from the pipeline  just 3.4 metres in one particular spot  and the erosion has only continued.

Michigan, led by Nessel, has been arguing since 2019 that its only a matter of time before Line 5 leaks into the Straits of Mackinac, the ecologically delicate waterway where it crosses the Great Lakes.

The alarming erosion at the Bad River meander poses an imminent threat of irreparable harm to Lake Superior which far outweighs the risk of impacts associated with a shutdown of the Line 5 pipeline, she argues in her brief.

Without judicial intervention, it is likely that this irreparable harm will be inflicted not only on the band, but also on Michigan, its residents, and its natural resources.

The economic arguments against shutting down the pipeline  which carries 540,000 barrels of oil and natural gas liquids daily across Wisconsin and Michigan to refineries in Sarnia, Ont.  are by now well-known.

Its proponents, including the federal government, say a shutdown would cause major economic disruption across Alberta, Saskatchewan and the U.S. Midwest, where Line 5 provides feedstock to refineries in Michigan, Ohio and Pennsylvania.

It also supplies key refineries in Ontario and Quebec, and is vital to the production of jet fuel for major airports on both sides of the Canada-U.S. border, including Detroit Metropolitan and Pearson International in Toronto.

The implications (of a shutdown) are significant  not only to Pearson airport, not only to the Detroit airport, but to our mutual economies, Transport Minister Omar Alghabra said Wednesday on Parliament Hill.

Talks about possible contingency plans have been taking place, he added, though he hinted at something Enbridge and pipeline experts have been saying for years: there are no real alternatives.

Theres been ongoing discussion, Alghabra said. But I can tell you that our focus is making sure that Line 5 continues operations.

That was the idea behind a lengthy statement issued Tuesday by the Canadian Embassy, which warned of severe economic consequences as well as potential ramifications for bilateral relations were the line to close.

The energy security of both Canada and the United States would be directly impacted by a Line 5 closure, the statement said. Some 33,000 U.S. jobs and US$20 billion in economic activity would be at stake, it added.

At a time of heightened concern over energy security and supply, including during the energy transition, maintaining and protecting existing infrastructure should be a top priority.

Talks have been ongoing for months under the terms of a 1977 pipelines treaty between the two countries that effectively prohibits either country from unilaterally closing off the flow of hydrocarbons.

Nonetheless, the embassys statement and the Enbridge brief tacitly acknowledge that the prospect of a shutdown order is very real.

In Enbridges case, the brief pre-emptively asks the judge to grant a stay of 30 days, should an injunction be ordered, to give lawyers time to mount an appeal.

And if this specific, temporary flood situation results in a shutdown, the embassy says, Canada expects the U.S. to comply with the treaty, including the expeditious restoration of normal pipeline operations.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 17, 2023.

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Astronomers from the University of Montreal and around the globe have discovered a new exoplanet whose volcano-carpeted surface could potentially support life  or even spark it.

Their paper, published Wednesday in the journal Nature, described a roughly Earth-sized, temperate planet orbiting a small red dwarf star about 90 light years away, in a southern constellation called Crater.

Named LP 791-18d, the exoplanet (a planet outside our solar system) is only slightly larger than Earth and believed to be covered with volcanoes  a potentially vital step in creating an atmosphere and producing the building blocks of life, the researchers say.

For the first time, we have an exoplanet (with) a very strong indication that there is volcanic activity, said Bjorn Benneke, an astronomy professor at the University of Montreal who planned and supervised the study.

It gives us an opportunity to understand Earth and Venus and other rocky planets in general (in a different way) than we previously have, he told the Star.

Potential for water

The planet sits on the inner edge of its star systems habitable zone, where temperatures are believed to be just right for liquid water to exist on a planets surface. Averaging out its temperatures, LP 791-18ds just a little warmer than Earth, Benneke said.

Although the planets day side may be too hot for liquid water, Benneke said its night side could be cool enough for water to condense on its surface and even form glaciers. In between the extremes, he says there exists a middle ground with temperatures similar to Earth.

This intersection may look something a bit like Iceland, Benneke said. You (might) have lots of ice, but also volcanic activity underneath.

The volcano planet

The newly-discovered planets volcanoes are believed to stem from its wonky orbit around its star, resulting in a gravitational tug of war that cooks the planet from the inside out.

Normally, stars force their planets into a circular orbit. In LP 791-18ds case, however, another, massive planet  one more than double Earths size with over seven times its mass  happens to orbit very close by, Benneke said.

The gravity of the massive body turns LP 791-18ds orbit elliptical each time it passes by, and each time the pull of its star tries to restore it. This constant pulling slightly deforms the planet, generating great internal friction and significantly heating the planets core.

That heat has to go somewhere, Benneke said, explaining it often vents through the surface, causing volcanic eruptions. Jupiters moon Io, the most volcanically active body in our solar system, operates in a similar way.

While seeming scary, the researchers say volcanoes may actually hold the key to the planet forming a livable atmosphere  and perhaps even life.

Sparks of life?

An atmosphere may be vital for life, but exoplanets often lose theirs over time, often to high energy radiation let off from their stars, Benneke said. However, as a result of LP 791-18ds volcanic eruptions letting off great plumes of gas, its atmosphere is constantly replenished, he continued.

So in some way, the same ideas that apply for the Earth, that life may have started under the water by volcanic activity  that could potentially apply here as well, Benneke continued.

Co-author Jessie Christiansen, a research scientist at NASAs Exoplanet Science Institute, explained in a release that tectonic or volcanic activity is suspected to be necessary for life.

In addition to potentially providing an atmosphere, these (volcanic) processes could churn up materials that would otherwise sink down and get trapped in the crust, including those we think are important for life, like carbon, Christiansen said.

Karen Collins, another collaborator and an astronomer at the Center for Astrophysics, said in a different statement that This discovery is just a first step  Future discoveries will help us understand how the ingredients of life might have come to be on worlds other than our own.

Correction  May 18, 2023: A previous version of this article erroneously said that LP 791-18d is tidally locked, meaning it doesnt rotate on its axis like Earth.

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FORT MCPHERSON, N.W.T. - A hamlet in the Northwest Territories Beaufort Delta region has declared a local state of emergency due to flooding from the Peel River.

The Hamlet of Fort McPherson said Tuesday night that floodwaters had cut off access to the communitys airport and fresh water would be inaccessible in the near future.

Early today, it closed the road to a lake that provides the communitys water, as well as its solid waste facility.

Several public buildings in the community have been shut down to conserve water including Chief Julius School and the youth centre.

The territorial government says cabins on the banks of the river have flooded.

It says subsequent water level rises will depend on how ice on the Peel River and Mackenzie River packs into the Mackenzie River Delta.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 17, 2023.

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HALIFAX - Nova Scotias fire marshal faced tough questions Wednesday about a recent report that found his office was putting the public at risk by failing to properly manage fire safety inspections.

Douglas MacKenzie appeared before the legislatures public accounts committee to explain why the fire marshals office had failed to act on repeated warnings from the auditor general about its lack of appropriate oversight going back to 2001.

MacKenzie blamed the COVID-19 pandemic and staffing shortages for the failure to keep up with inspections.

We were unable to get into buildings (and) we had to adapt our inspection process, McKenzie said, referring to how COVID-19 restrictions had an impact on the work of the deputy fire marshals who normally conduct fire safety inspections.

They covered off where they could.

But members of the all-party committee pointed out that problems involving inspection backlogs and lack of oversight predated the pandemic. And when MacKenzie was asked how many inspections were still overdue, he didnt have an answer. He said the number would be provided later in the day.

Brendan Maguire, a Liberal member of the committee, said the backlog had to be eliminated: We need assurances from this department that it wont happen again, even though theres a history of it falling behind .... It can be a matter of life and death.

Tom Taggart, a Progressive Conservative committee member, was equally blunt: There have been insufficient actions taken to address previous reports spanning decades, he said. The current report from the (auditor general) asserts that the office of the fire marshal is failing to adequately protect the public from fire safety risks.

The fire marshal also noted problems with his offices antiquated data management system, which is due for replacement. He said there are records to show inspections have been completed, but he confirmed there was a lack of oversight.

We couldnt effectively show the auditing (work) that staff were doing, he said, adding that none of the files had time stamps to show when an audit had been completed.

Paul LaFleche, deputy minister of the Municipal Affairs Department, told the committee that auditor general Kim Adair was quite rightly frustrated with the department, which oversees the fire marshals office. We have an accumulation of a long history here.

LaFleche was also asked about how long it would take to erase the backlog.

I could tell you ... Im going to fix it all, he said. But theres been previous deputies saying the same thing .... Were going to get the software we need.

LaFleche stressed that the department has made progress in implementing recommendations from the auditor general.

Im confident that the office of the fire marshal is completing those inspections as required and the public can feel they are safe, as safe as one can be given the inspection regime, the deputy minister said.

Adairs report focused on facilities serving vulnerable people, including schools, daycares and long-term care centres. Auditors found that 40 per cent of fire inspections on those buildings were completed late.

The audit, which covered a two-year period from Jan. 1, 2020, to Dec. 31, 2021, noted that inspections involving 12 of 30 buildings sampled were conducted between five and 445 business days past deadline.

The auditor general said she was told about the problems caused by the pandemic, but she said her office could not verify that was a justifiable explanation because there is so little data and management information to support it.

As well, she found that the fire marshals office didnt keep a complete list of buildings requiring inspections. On Wednesday, LaFleche said that problem had been fixed.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 17, 2023.

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MONTREAL - A brazen daylight shooting of a Montreal salon owner has Mafia experts calling out the ruthlessness and arrogance of organized crime in the city.

Montreal police on Tuesday found a woman shot dead in a car that was still running and had collided with a building. Multiple reports identified the victim as Claudia Iacono, 39, the daughter-in-law of the late Moreno Gallo, a reputed mob boss. The car was found in the parking lot outside a popular salon that Iacono owned in Montreals Cote-des-Neiges district.

Gallo was killed in 2013 in Acapulco, Mexico, a few years after he was deported from Canada. Iacono was married to one of Gallos sons, Anthony.

Retired Montreal police officer Andre Gelinas said its unusual that an extended family member of a Mafia boss would be targeted, particularly a woman. But he said he doesnt ascribe any code of honour to criminals.

Organized crime and code of honour dont conjugate in the same sentence, said Gelinas, a former sergeant-detective in the criminal intelligence unit.

And he said chances were slim that Iacono was hit by mistake; she was killed in front of a business she owned and actively promoted.

Another expert said its not that unusual in Mafia circles for there to be retribution against family.

I think there is a misconception about the idea that the mafia is not killing women or children, Antonio Nicaso, an organized crime author and Queens University professor, said Wednesday from Italy.

The history of the Mafia is full of women and children whove been killed, so I think when they have an obstacle, when they have to send a message, they dont pay attention to gender, they have to deliver a message and that is important for them, nothing else.

Gelinas said that given the case touches on organized crime and involves a well-known family, there are people who likely know why it happened but wont share with police. He said it worried him that the incident occurred during the day in a busy parking lot.

It shows that organized crime  regardless of the strain: street gangs, bikers, mafia  has a disregard for human life because to perpetrate acts of violence in the middle of the day when other people are around, it demonstrates an arrogance thats quite incredible, Gelinas said.

Montreal police said Wednesday their investigation was ongoing, but they refused to identify the victim. Some information will be kept to investigators to not interfere with the investigation, Const. Jean-Pierre Brabant said in an interview.

He said witnesses reported a suspect fleeing on foot. We did the fieldwork, weve got information, we met with people that were not far from where the events took place, Brabant said.

Were still trying to gather information to understand the circumstances.

Meanwhile, police were investigating another homicide on Wednesday. They responded to a call around 3 a.m. about a 28-year-old man shot dead behind an apartment building in the north-end borough of Ahuntsic-Cartierville. The two cases didnt appear to be related, police said.

The victim was found in a back road not far from Henri-Bourassa Boulevard, Brabant said. Some CPR manoeuvres were done and following verification they found a gunshot wound on the body.

The man was pronounced dead on site, which is close to many businesses and apartments; detectives were looking for any video evidence that could shed light on the case.

The two killings were the eighth and ninth homicides this year in Montreal.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 17, 2023.

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MEXICO CITY (AP)  A busload of about 50 migrants were kidnapped by a gang in northern Mexico in the latest of a series of mass abductions, though nine were later found, Mexicos president and police said Wednesday.

President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said National Guard troops were searching for the migrants in an area around the northern city of Matehuala. The migrants had been travelling north toward the U.S. border in a bus from the southern state of Chiapas, when the vehicle, passengers and drivers were abducted.

They have already found some, Lopez Obrador said at his morning news briefing. Originally, there were reports of 50, he said of the total number of victims, without specifying how many had been located. We hope to rescue them, he added.

Nine migrants  six men and three women  were found Tuesday near a highway in the state of Nuevo Leon, the state police department reported. Police did not say whether they had been freed or escaped. The migrants from Venezuela and Honduras were found wandering in a rural area, asking for help.

Bus company officials first reported the abduction on Tuesday, and told local media they had received demands for $1,500 apiece to release the migrants.

Unfortunately, there are gangs that engage in kidnapping, Lopez Obrador said, noting it was the same area where about 20 people were abducted from vans in April. The April abduction led police to mount a massive search by air and land  and they found not only the 20 migrants they were looking for, but about 80 more migrants being held against their will, apparently by the same gang.

The area where the current search is underway is where the northern states of San Luis Potosi and Nuevo Leon meet, and where drug cartels have long been active.

Similar mass abductions have also occurred in the northern border state of Sonora.

In early May, a government report said over 2,000 migrants were kidnapped by smuggling gangs and drug cartels in 2022. Mexicos national immigration agency said authorities had freed 2,115 migrants of all nationalities kidnapped by gangs in 2022.

Gangs and cartels appear to be increasingly charging migrants fees to cross Mexico, and then kidnapping them for ransom. There has been a string of such mass migrant abductions in Mexico in recent months.

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KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP)  Singapore on Wednesday hanged another citizen for trafficking cannabis, the second in three weeks, as it clung firmly to the death penalty despite growing calls for the city-state to halt drug-related executions.

The 37-year-old man was executed after his last-ditch bid to reopen his case was dismissed by the court Tuesday without a hearing, said activist Kokila Annamalai of the Transformative Justice Collective, which advocates for abolishing the death penalty in Singapore.

The man, who was not named as his family has asked for privacy, had been imprisoned for seven years and convicted in 2019 for trafficking around 1.5 kilograms (3.3 pounds) of cannabis, she said. His bid to reopen his case was based on DNA evidence and fingerprints that tied him to a much smaller amount, which he admitted to possessing, but the court rejected it, she added. Under Singapore laws, trafficking more than 500 grams (1.1 pounds) of cannabis may result in the death penalty.

If we dont come together to stop it, we fear that this killing spree will continue in the weeks and months to come, she said. Some 60 prisoners are on death row in the city-state, mostly for drug-related offenses, she added.

Singapore executed 11 people last year for drug offenses after a two-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The hanging of one particular Malaysian believed to be mentally disabled sparked an international outcry and brought the countrys capital punishment under scrutiny for flouting human rights norms.

Three weeks ago, Singaporean Tangaraju Suppiah, 46, was hanged in the first execution this year for trafficking 1 kilogram (2.2 pounds) of cannabis although he was not caught with the drugs. Prosecutors said phone numbers traced him as the person responsible for coordinating the delivery of the drugs, which he denied.

Human rights groups, British mogul Richard Branson and the United Nations have urged Singapore to halt executions for drug-related offenses as increasing evidence shows the death penalty is ineffective as a deterrent. But Singapore authorities insist that all prisoners get due process of law and that capital punishment remains part of Singapores comprehensive harm prevention strategy which targets both drug demand and supply.

Apart from Singapore, Amnesty International said Indonesia carried out 112 drug-related executions last year by firing squad after a hiatus since 2016. In contrast, neighboring Thailand has legalized cannabis while Malaysia has ended the mandatory death penalty for serious crimes.

___

This story was first published on May 17, 2023. It was updated on May 18, 2023 to correct the number of prisoners on death row in Singapore. There are some 60 prisoners on death row, not 600.

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BERLIN (AP)  A German court convicted five men Tuesday of breaking into a Dresden museum and stealing 21 pieces of jewelry containing more than 4,300 diamonds.

The men ages 24 to 29 received prison sentences ranging from four years and four months to six years and three months, German news agency dpa reported. One defendant was acquitted.

The Dresden state court ruled that the five were responsible for the theft of the 18th century jewelry from the Green Vault Museum on Nov. 25, 2019. Officials said at the time that the stolen items included a large diamond brooch and a diamond epaulet.

The crime was considered one of Germanys most spectacular jewelry heists in recent history. The pieces taken had a total insured value of at least 113.8 million euros ($129 million).

The men were accused of starting a fire just before the break-in to cut the power supply to street lights outside the museum, and also setting fire to a car in a nearby garage before fleeing to Berlin. They were caught several months later during raids in Germanys capital.

The court convicted them of particularly aggravated arson in combination with dangerous bodily injury, theft with weapons, damage to property and intentional arson.

The judges who heard the case observed that some of the men had acted with considerable criminal energy, dpa reported. The aim was to get rich, the judges said.

More than 100 witnesses and 11 experts gave testimony during the trials main proceedings, according to the news agency.

The Green Vault is one of the worlds oldest museums. It was established in 1723 and contains the treasury of Augustus the Strong of Saxony, comprising around 4,000 objects of gold, precious stones and other materials.

In January, the defense, prosecution and court reached a plea bargain after most of the stolen jewels were returned. However, some of the most important pieces featuring large diamonds remain missing, according to dpa.

Four defendants who agreed to the plea bargain subsequently admitted their involvement in the crime through their lawyers. The fifth defendant also confessed, but only to helping to procure objects such as the axes used to make holes in the museum display case, dpa reported.

The returned pieces do not erase the fact that the museums collection of complete jewelry sets is probably destroyed forever, Presiding Judge Andreas Ziegel Ziegel said.

The state of Saxony, where Dresden is located, claimed damages of almost 89 million euros to cover the cost of pieces that were returned damaged, the missing jewelry and repairs to the destroyed display cases and the museum building.

In his remarks Tuesday, Ziegel directly addressed the defendants, saying it is up to them to decided whether to continue committing crimes.

There are things in your life that are worth living a different life for, the judge said said, according to dpa. Its your choice what you do with your life.

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AMMAN, Jordan (AP)  A Jordanian lawmaker has been indicted on charges that he illegally smuggled scores of rifles and handguns into the occupied West Bank through an Israeli-controlled crossing, his lawyer said Wednesday.

The alleged gun-running scandal that gripped headlines last month has threatened to further strain ties between Israel and its Arab neighbor to the east despite their nearly three-decade-old peace treaty.

The apparent effort by a Jordanian parliament member to sneak guns into a restive West Bank  where young Palestinians are increasingly getting their hands on rifles and opening fire at Israeli security forces  has raised fears of Jordanian support for Palestinian militancy that undercuts the countrys moderate, pro-Western monarchy.

The Jordanian lawmaker, Imad al-Adwan, was charged in a state security court in Amman last week, his lawyer Ali Mubaideen told The Associated Press. After being interrogated, al-Adwan, 35, was charged with four counts of illegally exporting weapons and carrying out actions that breach security and threaten community peace, Mubaideen added.

Israels Shin Bet security service has said al-Adwan successfully managed to smuggle arms, gold and other items like electronic cigarettes into the West Bank at least a dozen times since early 2022 in exchange for unspecified sums of money. He was caught on April 22 at an Israeli-controlled crossing with at least 200 weapons. Israel handed him over to Jordanian authorities last month.

Al-Adwan, a member of one of Jordans biggest tribes, has served for the past three years as a legislator in a newly formed political party called Irada, which aims to modernize the countrys political system.

Violence in the occupied West Bank has surged to heights unseen in some two decades. The territory has been awash with illegal weapons, Israeli military officials say, including arms smuggled from Jordan.

At least 112 Palestinians and 20 Israelis have been killed in the West Bank and east Jerusalem this year, according to a tally by The Associated Press. At least half of the Palestinians have been affiliated with militant groups.

After Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus far-right government took office late last year, tensions between the neighbors have spiked over Israeli settlement construction, the long impasse in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process and disputes over the handling of security at the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, a hotly contested holy site over which Jordan has official custodianship.

Jordan controlled the West Bank and east Jerusalem before Israel captured the areas in the 1967 Mideast war.

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OTTAWA - Canadian members of Parliament are mulling how vigorously and publicly they should challenge moves by Israels far-right government to curtail the power of judges and expand illegal settlements on occupied Palestinian territory.

Sometimes we have hard conversations, because were friends. But that doesnt mean that the friendship is thrown out the window, Liberal MP Yaara Saks said at a Tuesday panel of mostly Jewish MPs.

She was speaking at a conference organized by the Israeli Embassy to mark the Middle Eastern states 75 years of existence, which comes as the Trudeau government has increasingly voiced concerns about the policies of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

His government has allowed the expansion of settlements that Canada recognizes as illegal under international law a characterization Israel disputes  and it wants to allow Israels parliament to overturn decisions by the countrys Supreme Court.

Canada has raised concerns about both these moves, as well as an uptick in terrorist attacks by Palestinian groups on Israelis and the Israeli police violently storming the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem last month.

Tuesdays panel largely focused on the ongoing judicial reform that has prompted mass demonstrations in Israel.

Saks has raised concern about the reform. But she stressed that it doesnt change Canadas long-standing policy of advocating for a two-state solution.

Regardless of how aligned Ottawa is with the Knesset, she said Canada will advocate for self-determination for both Israelis and Palestinians, and said aid funding for projects that aim to lower tensions between the two is key to building the conditions for peace.

She said that Israeli Canadians, like any diaspora group, often want Ottawa to advocate for issues back home, adding she was concerned that the proposed judicial reform would lead to democratic backsliding on minority rights and Israeli citizenship law.

Good friends dont let friends climb up trees that they cant climb down, Saks said.

Her fellow Liberal MP, Anthony Housefather, disagreed, saying its better to raise concerns about Israeli democracy behind closed doors.

I believe that generally, you want to avoid criticizing friends in public, he said. Israel is constantly singled out at international organizations.

Housefather said he privately makes the case that democratic backsliding in Israel makes it harder for Canadians to defend the state. He said hed only speak publicly on issues that affect all Jewish people, such as access to prayer spaces in Israel or who should qualify for Israeli citizenship.

At the panel, Housefather revealed that MPs in the Canada-Israel Interparliamentary Group are meeting next week to hear from an Israeli government legislator and an opposition politician to understand perspectives on the judicial reform and sort out how Canada should respond.

Conservative deputy leader Melissa Lantsman said she will never weigh in on a domestic political matter in Israel because there is no consensus among her constituents, and it only attracts criticism of Israel.

We need every single last person on board that we can get, and we dont have a lot of friends when things are tough, she said.

Lantsman argued that despite Canada siding with Israel in almost every vote at the United Nations, political parties shy away from condemning attacks on Israel because of electoral politics.

The numbers game is never going to be in the favour of the Jewish community, which oftentimes stands alone at moments where its really, really difficult, she said.

Lantsman specifically called out parties silence in May 2021 as a crisis over evictions of Palestinian families led to rocket attacks on Israel that were met with airstrikes in the Gaza Strip. Bnai Brith Canada documented an uptick in antisemitic incidents that month.

When the rockets start falling, our friends are fewer and fewer, Lantsman said.

NDP MP Randall Garrison told the panel that he has encouraged party leader Jagmeet Singh to be more forceful in highlighting the partys support for a two-state solution. The party has called for sanctions and a freeze on arms sales to Israel, but he said certain elements in the party want to go far beyond that.

There are some very loud voices in my party who are anti-Israel and antisemitic. I will not deny that, he said.

I do not believe they represent the majority of New Democrats. They certainly do not represent our caucus in Parliament.

The House of Commons foreign affairs committee voted Tuesday to study the recent trends in Israel as well as violence by terrorist groups against Israelis, with all parties except the Conservatives voting in favour of holding the hearings.

The NDP proposed the study, and accepted Liberal amendments to its proposal that changed a reference to Palestine to instead say the West Bank and Gaza, which is the governments way of referring to those territories.

Earlier this week, Canada followed many western countries in not attending a Monday event at the United Nations commemorating what it characterized as the forced displacement of Palestinians at the founding of Israel, called the Nakba, which is Arabic for catastrophe.

Global Affairs Canada has not responded to questions about why its delegation did not attend.

Some 700,000 Palestinians were expelled from or fled what is now called Israel during the wars that followed the UNs partition of what was then British-controlled Palestine into separate Jewish and Arab states in 1947. Israel declared independence on May 14, 1948, while neighbouring Arab countries launched a war in opposition to the partition plan.

Israels UN envoy, Gilad Erdan, had urged ambassadors at the General Assembly to boycott the Nakba event, which he described as a blatant attempt to distort history. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who spoke at the event, called on Israel to compensate Palestinian refugees.

In the House of Commons earlier this month, Liberal MP Ruby Sahota and NDP MP Alexandre Boulerice had both called on Ottawa to mark the Nakba.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 17, 2023.

 with files from The Associated Press

Note to readers: This is a corrected article. A previous version incorrectly stated that MPs Ruby Sahota and Alexandre Boulerice called on Ottawa to mark the Nakba on Monday, and that MP Yaara Saks was born in Israel. It also referred to Israels government as being in Tel Aviv.

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As intrigues continue to mount ahead of the inauguration of the 10th National Assembly leadership, Hon Yusuf Gagdi has said the President-elect, Bola Ahmed Tinubu is unaware of the All Progressives Congress, APC, endorsement of some lawmakers.

Gagdi, the House of Representatives member representing the Pankshin/Kanam/Kanke federal constituency of Plateau State, disclosed this to journalists on Tuesday.

He reacted to APCs endorsement of Abbas Tajudeen and Benjamin Kalu as Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the Green Chamber, respectively.

APC had on May 8 anointed Tajudeen and Kalu as Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives.

However, Gagdi and other aspirants, a group now known as G7 seeking the positions, have kicked against APCs choice.

He said: The principal of our president-elect(Bola Ahmed Tinubu) whom I so much respect and up till today I dont believe that what is happening today the president-elect is aware of, or it is his idea. That is why we keep on challenging the party.

Members of the G7 group are Hon. Muktar Betara, deputy speaker Hon. Ahmed Wase, House leader Alhassan Ado-Doguwa, Sada Soli, Aminu Jaji and Miriam Onuoha and Gagdi.

The House of Representatives and the Senate leadership would be inaugurated in June after the President-elects swearing-in on May 29, 2023.
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The Enterprise High School Performing Arts Center was filled with applause as hundreds of Enterprise JROTC Cadets, under the instruction of Senior Army Instructor Col. Dennis Griffin and Army Instructors Sgt. Maj. Gary Price and Sgt. Maj. Charles Holmes, were honored during the awards ceremony May 10.

The Distinguished Cadet Award for Scholastic Excellence is awarded to cadets who have exhibited the highest degree of scholastic excellence. EHS Principal Stan Sauls presented the awards to seniors who maintained a cumulative 4.0 or higher academic grade point average in their high school career. Awarded were Cadets Sam Ingram, 4.34 GPA; Kael Wise, 4.25 GPA; Kelly Matlalcuatzi, 17 GPA; Nadja Chambers, 4.06 GPA; Grace Southerland, 4.03 GPA; and Emmie Baker, 4.02 GPA.

The Academic Excellence ribbon is awarded to one cadet in each Leadership Education Training Level for the highest academic grades. Presenting the awards was EHS Career Tech Director and Principal Cami McClenny. Awardees for each LET level class are: LET IV, Senior Cadet Capt. Sam Ingram, 4.34 GPA; LET III, Sophomore Cadet Staff Sgt. Sarah Pregana, 4.20 GPA; and LET II, Sophomore Cadet Sgt. Elijah Garner, 4.25 GPA. Two cadets tied for LET I Class: Cadet Alani Marshall 4.25 GPA; and James Reeves 4.25 GPA.

The Academic Achievement Ribbon is awarded to cadets who have maintained a 3.0 GPA and received an A in JROTC during the school year. Prior to the ceremony 118 cadets were presented with academic achievement ribbons and wreaths and they were recognized at the ceremony.

The Department of the Army Superior Cadet Award is presented to one cadet in each Leadership Education Training level who qualifies in the top 10% of his or her class in JROTC and in the top 50% in overall academic standing. Griffin presented to Cadet Lt. Col. Sam Dippel, LET IV; Cadet Capt. Jacob Miranda, LET III; Cadet Staff Sgt. Thoma LET II; and, Cadet Cpl. Cammi Tillery, LET I.

The Senior Army Instructor leadership award is presented to cadets whose performance has exceeded that expected of a cadet in his or her grade and experience. Honored at the ceremony were Cadet Capt. Alanna Jury, LET IV; Cadet Staff Sgt. Brendan Walker, LET IV; Cadet Sgt. First Class Trevian Verser, LET III; Cadet 1st Sgt. John Operario, LET III; and Cadet Cpl. Parker Dishman, LET II.

The Cadet Non-Commissioned Officer of the Year Award is presented to a cadet who has won an NCO of the Month board and at the end of the school year competed again against all other NCOs of the Month winners to earn this award. Holmes presented the award to Cadet Staff Sgt. Emmanuel Sun.

The Cadet of the Year Award is presented to a cadet who has won a Cadet of the Month board and then at the end of the school year competed against all other cadet of the month winners to earn this award. Price presented the award to Cadet Pfc. Ralph Ongcangco.

The Joshua Kaleb Watson Memorial Scholarship was established in 2020 to honor the legacy of the late Joshua Kaleb Watson, a former cadet and rifle team captain in the Wildcat Battalion. This scholarship recognizes excellence in high school JROTC cadets and promotes higher education for a student who excels in leadership, and academics. This is a one-time $1,000 scholarship to apply towards educational expenses at the discretion of the recipient. In addition, the recipient will have his/her name engraved on a commemorative plaque. The Wingmen Motorcycle Club is credited for support and fundraising efforts for this scholarship. Ben and Sheila Watson presented the scholarship to Cadet Maj. Emmie Baker.

Cadet Capt. Sam Ingrams outstanding performance as a JROTC cadet, his meritorious record in academic studies and his leadership resulted in appointments to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York, and to the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado. On behalf of Congressman Barry Moore, Alex Reynolds presented a certificate recognizing Ingrams accomplishments and acceptance of his appointment to the United States Air Force Academy.

An Auburn University ROTC Scholarship was presented to Cadet Capt. Jacob Upchurch and a University of Alabama ROTC Scholarship was awarded to Cadet Capt. Alanna Jury.

The Daughters of the American Revolution Award is presented to a graduating cadet in the upper 25% of the cadets in JROTC and academic subjects. Betty Ann Stinson, the John Coffee NSDAR Chapter National Defense Co-Chair, presented the award to Cadet Maj. Kelly Matlalcuatzi.

The American Legion Awards are awarded to outstanding cadets for general military and scholastic excellence. The General Military Excellence Award is presented to a cadet in the top 25% of his or her class in academic and JROTC subjects and who has demonstrated exceptional qualities in military leadership, discipline, character, and citizenship. The Scholastic Excellence Award is presented to a cadet in the top 10% of his or her class in academic subjects, in the top 25% of JROTC and who has demonstrated outstanding qualities of leadership.

Presenting the American Legion Awards were Dwain Hartwick and Skip Bearman, American Legion Cook Clements Post 73. The recipient for Military Excellence Award was Cadet Maj. Emmie Baker. The recipient for the Scholastic Excellence Award was Cadet Capt. Kael Wise

The Military Order of The World Wars Award is presented to a cadet in good standing in all military aspects and scholastic grades. The cadet must have indicated by military and scholastic grades, extracurricular activities, and individual endeavor a desire to serve their country. Cadet Capt. Aurielle Harvey won this award.

The Sojourners Award is presented to a cadet in the second or third year of JROTC, in the top 25% of their academic class who has demonstrated the ideals of Americanism and must have demonstrated a potential for outstanding leadership. The Sojourners Award was presented to Cadet Sgt. First Class Amelia Ruhle.

The Scottish Rite Award is presented to the cadet who has demonstrated scholastic excellence and Americanism. The cadet must be in the third year of a four-year JROTC program, and must be in the top 25% of his or her academic class. Retired Lt. Col. Sean Sawyer presented the award to Cadet Sgt. 1st Class Gabriel Bruce.

The Noncommissioned Officers Association award is presented to an outstanding cadet NCO in the JROTC program who has consistently exhibited the best military bearing, personal appearance, deportment, and leadership ability during the school year. This years recipient is Cadet Command Sgt. Maj. Nadja Chambers

The Association of the United States Army Most Outstanding Cadet Award is presented to a senior cadet who is in the top 25% of their academic class and in the top 10% in JROTC. The recipient must have demonstrated outstanding qualities of leadership, discipline, courtesy, and have been active in school. Presenting the award was retired Command Sgt. Maj. Otis Smith of the Fort Novosel Chapter. Recipient of the award was Cadet 2nd Lt. Brock Cowart.

The Military Officers Association of America Award is presented y to the most outstanding cadet in their next-to-last year of JROTC who has demonstrated exceptional potential for military leadership, is in good academic standing and demonstrates a high degree of loyalty to the unit, school and country. Presenting the award to Cadet 2nd Lt. Austin Walker was MOAA Chapter President retired Chief Warrant Officer 5 Ron Kaita.

The Warrant Officer Association Award is presented to a cadet in each Leadership Education and Training Level for leadership and academic excellence. They must be in the top 50% of their academic class, be dependable, of sound character, and have exhibited leadership excellence while going above and beyond in their duties and responsibilities. Presenting the awards from the Above the Best Silver Chapter was retired Chief Warrant Officer 5 Sam Baker. Receiving the awards were LET I, Copper Award, Gabriela Colby, LET II, Bronze Award, John Belcher; LET III, Silver Award, Kendall Androlevich; and, LET IV, Gold Award, Jacob Upchurch.

The United States Army Warrant Officer Associations Above the Best Silver Chapter Scholarship program recognizes a JROTC Cadets leadership abilities, community involvement, and academic achievements. Presenting the scholarship from the chapter was retired Chief Warrant Officer 5 Ron Kaita. The recipient of the $1,500 Above the Best Silver Chapters Scholarship is Cadet Capt. Alanna Jury. The recipient of the $1,000 Above the Best Silver Chapters Scholarship is Cadet Capt. Sam Ingram.

The Military Order of the Purple Heart Award recognizes demonstrated leadership ability in a cadet enrolled in a JROTC Program. The cadet must have maintained a B or better GPA, be active in school programs and the community, have held a leadership position and have a positive attitude toward JROTC. Dwain Hartwick and Skip Bearman, from Enterprise Chapter 2216, presented the award to Cadet Jacob Tillery.

The Veterans of Foreign Wars Medal is presented to a cadet in the top 25% of their academic class and who has demonstrated military leadership potential, scholastic excellence, community and school support. Retired Chief Warrant Officer 4 Robert Schmidbauer, Commander, Post 6683 in Enterprise, presented the award to Cadet Capt. Carson Brillhart.

The American Veterans Award is awarded to a cadet who demonstrates a positive attitude toward JROTC, demonstrates outstanding qualities in military leadership, discipline, character and citizenship. Presenting the award was Travis Parker, AMVETS Post 7 Vice Commander. Receiving the award was Cadet 2nd Lt. Elijah Howell.

The Reserve Organization of America Medal is presented to a cadet who is dedicated to the school and Corps of Cadets, and has demonstrated citizenship, knowledge of civic responsibilities, military orientation, self-discipline, a sound work ethic, and a fundamental understanding of JROTC. The award was presented to Cadet 1st Lt. Logan Gome.

The Order of Daedalians is a fraternity of commissioned military pilots from all military services. It is named after the legendary figure, Daedalus, and was organized by World War I commissioned military pilots who sought to perpetuate the spirit of patriotism, love of country, and those high ideals of self-sacrifice. The award is presented to the cadet who has demonstrated patriotism, love of country, and service to the nation. The cadet must rank in the upper 10% of the JROTC class and rank in the upper 20% in high school classes. Presenting the Medal was retired Air Force Lt. Col. Rich Kianka, a member of the Daedalian Silver Wings Chapter. The medal was presented to Cadet Capt. Sam Ingram.

The Knights of Columbuss Patriotic Service Award promotes the ideals and importance of faith in God and love of country. This award recognizes outstanding and distinctive contributions in support of the church, school, community and the JROTC program. Presenting the award was Steve Koach, representing the Knights of Columbus, Enterprise Assembly 3302. Receiving the award was Cadet 1st Sgt. Andrew Saxby.

Coffee County Veterans is a volunteer organization that presented an award recognizing a cadet for outstanding leadership skills and service. Travis Parker presented the award to Cadet Xavier M. Wiggins.

The Military Support Group is an organization comprised of veterans from all services who recognizes a cadet who has demonstrated selfless service and a commitment to excellence in all they do. The award was presented to Cadet Joshua A. Foor by Travis Parker on behalf of Dr. John Granger.

The Team Commander and Team Leader Award is presented to cadets for their outstanding contribution and support to the competition teams in which they participate during the school year and for demonstrating outstanding leadership. Receiving the awards were the Belles of the Blue Knights Drill Team Commander Cadet Capt. Analysia Sapata; Belles of the Blue Knights Color Guard Commander Cadet Capt. Grace Southerland; Blue Knights Drill Team Commander Cadet Capt. Jacob Upchurch; Blue Knights Color Guard Commander Cadet Capt. Carson Brillhart; Physical Training Team Commander Cadet Capt. Jacob Tillery; Rifle Team Commander Cadet Capt. Alanna Jury; and, Leadership and Academic Teams Leader Cadet Maj. Kelly Matlalcuatzi.

Varsity letters were awarded for dedication, participation, sportsmanship, and a competitive spirit exhibited during the school year. P.T. Team members receiving varsity letters were Gabriel Eshelman, Megan Irvine, Kaemon Smith, and Brock Tillery. Drill Team members receiving varsity letters were Isaac Clark, Kennedy Curry, Adrianna Fratelli, Ryley Garcia, Christopher Jones, Jennica Kelley, Jackson Marsh, Randall Melton, Danielle Park, Jade Ramatowski, Chloe Roth, James Saxaby, Joehan Vazquez, and Brooklyn Wilson. Rifle Team members receiving varsity letters were Tyler Barber, Deyrean Cooper, Amy Familia, Morgan Gerebics, Alani Marshall, Ethan McPeake, Sarah Pregana, and Andrew Watters.
More than 30 persons have been reportedly killed in an attack by gunmen in Bwoi, Mangu LGA of Plateau state.

Alfred Alabo, police spokesperson in the state, confirmed the incident in a statement on Wednesday.

Alabo said the command received a distress call from an official at about 11:56pm on Tuesday.

He said Bartholomew Onyeka, police commissioner in the state, immediately deployed personnel to the location of the attack.

The commissioner of police expressed sadness over the unfortunate incident that has claimed the lives of yet-to-be-identified persons from various villages within the area. NAN quoted Alabo as saying.

At about 11:56 p.m. on Tuesday, we received a distress call from one of our Police officers in charge of Tanknale village of Mangu, that some gunmen were shooting sporadically in a nearby village.

The commissioner immediately mobilised all assets in the command to the scene to ensure that the suspects are arrested and brought to book.

Bawa Sale, assistant commissioner of police in charge of the criminal investigation department (CID), said the operatives succeeded in chasing the attackers away with the support of other security agencies.

Sale said the firepower of the officers overwhelmed the attackers, adding that they abandoned four motorcycles and a vehicle while fleeing the location.

As we speak, the culprits are on the run while our officers are still on their trail with the aim to ensure that they are neutralised and arrested, he added.

The spokesperson said the police commissioner has urged residents to remain calm.
Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar has reacted to details of a call between US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and President-elect, Bola Tinubu.

Blinken during a call with Tinubu on Wednesday assured the Nigerian President-elect of the U.S. commitment to further strengthening the U.S.-Nigeria relationship with the incoming administration.

The Secretary noted that the U.S.-Nigeria partnership was built on shared interests and strong people-to-people ties and that those links should continue to strengthen under President-elect Tinubus tenure.

But Atiku in a tweet on Wednesday expressed disbelief, saying the call was a contradiction to the publicly stated position of the US on Nigerias 2023 presidential election.

According to him, acknowledging the 2023 presidential election result can be demoralising to citizens.

I am in disbelief that @SecBlinken called Tinubu, a contradiction to the publicly stated position of the US on Nigerias 2023 presidential election. This is inconceivable considering that America, as the bastion of democracy, is well briefed on the sham election of February 25.

To give legitimacy to the widely acknowledged fraudulent election in Nigeria can be demoralising to citizens who have hedged their bet on democracy and the sanctity of the ballot @StateDept @POTUS @USinNigeria.
President Muhammadu Buhari has condoled with the families of the four people killed by gunmen at Ogbaru LGA of Anambra.

Recall that gunmnen on Tuesday that gunmen attacked a convoy conveying staff of the US consulate.

Ikenga Tochukwu, police spokesperson in Anambra, said the hoodlums murdered two of the PMF operatives, and two staff of the consulate.

In a statement on Wednesday, Garba Shehu, the presidents spokesperson, said Buhari is saddened by the killings of the police officers and the staff of the US embassy in Nigeria.

I was very sad hearing about the killing of the embassy staff and our policemen accompanying them. In this difficult time for the families of those killed, the American embassy and the Nigeria Police force, NPF, I extend the nations condolences over the very sad incident, he said.

He said the president is equally pained about the gruesome deaths of villagers in communities in Plateau and Benue states, adding that the security agencies are committed to bringing the perpetrators to justice.

He is deeply pained to learn about these gruesome deaths and expresses sincere condolences to the families of the victims, he said.

He is equally been briefed about the tragic killing of several persons in the Bwoi District of Mangu Local government area of Plateau state, as well that of several villagers in Adaka village in Makurdi local government and in Ijaha community of Apa local government area of Benue state.

We share the grief of the American embassy, the Nigeria Police force and our communities in Plateau and Benue and remain committed to fishing out the perpetrators of the attacks and bringing them to justice. May God give their families the strength to bear the unfortunate losses.

Alfred Alabo, police spokesperson in the Plateau, confirmed the killing of more than 30 persons in an attack by gunmen on Tuesday.

Last month, gunmen invaded two communities in Benue, killing 14 residents and two soldiers.
The Federal Government has warned members of the National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) to shelve their planned five-day warning strike.

Sen. Chris Ngige, Minister of Labour and Employment, gave the warning on Tuesday in Abuja, shortly after receiving a letter of notification from the NARD executive on the planned strike.

Ngige said this in a statement signed by Mr Olajide Oshundun, Director, Press and Public Relations in the ministry, describing the planned strike as illegal.

The impending industrial action is billed to begin by midnight of May 16.

Ngige, who was reacting to the letter delivered to his office at about 5pm same day, said he contacted the Minister of Health, who informed him that a meeting had been scheduled with the resident doctors on Wednesday.

He therefore advised the doctors to avail themselves of the opportunity for social dialogue with their employer, rather than embark on a warning strike, which is unknown to the law.

According to him, I will advise them to attend the meeting with the Minister of Health tomorrow. I will also advise them very strongly not to go on a five-day warning strike.

There is nothing like a warning strike. A strike is a strike. If they want to take that risk, the options are there. It is their decision. They have the right to strike. You cannot deny them that right.

But their employer has another right under Section 43 of the Trade Dispute Act, to withhold their pay for those five days. So, if the NARD has strike funds to pay their members for those five days, no problem.

The Health Minister will instruct the teaching hospitals to employ adhoc people for those five days and they will use the money of the people who went on strike to pay the adhoc doctors.

That is the ILO principles at decent work, especially for those rendering essential services. Lives should be protected. One of my sons is a resident doctor, I will advise him to go to work and sign the attendance register.

He added that the people seen at work were the ones to receive their pay.

If you dont work, there will be no pay, he vowed.

On the five demands of the doctors, Ngige said the Federal Government lacked the powers to compel the states to domesticate the Medical Residency Training Fund (MRTF).

He added that health is in the residual list, where both the federal and state governments have the powers to legislate.

The minister also stated that the job of the Federal Government was to make policy and where the states disagree, they were at liberty to make their own policy.

He noted that the Federal Government cannot bully the states into domesticating the MRTF if they do not want to.

Regarding the issue of immediate payment of the MRTF to their members, he said it was appropriated in the 2023 budget, but has not been released, as the 2022 budget was still running, adding that those in 2022 have all been paid.

Ngige denied the claim by NARD that the Federal Government did not pay minimum wage consequential adjustment arrears to their members.

He added that all workers in the Education and Health Sectors, and even the defense agencies, benefited from the adjustment.

He noted that the doctors cannot declare nationwide strike because some states were owing their members, pointing out that the federal government cannot also dabble into the issue, being a state matter.

Ngige also said the Federal Government, as the Executive arm of government, cannot intervene in the bill at the National Assembly to bond doctors for five years, as it is a private members bill.

According to him, any intervention by the executive on the matter impinges on the autonomy and independence of the legislative arm of government.

Ngige noted that the bill had passed through first and second reading, adding that he was sure it would be shut down at the public hearing, since the law prohibits forced labour.

He advised the doctors not to talk about a 200 per cent pay rise, as it was not feasible.

Besides all the government has done for doctors and other workers in the health sector, such as upward review of hazard allowances, the Nigeria Medical Association (NMA) was already negotiating with the Federal Ministry of Health, National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission and the Presidential Committee on Salaries on pay rise for doctors.

It is incongruous for student doctors to embark on strike when consultants training them were already negotiating with the Federal Government, he said.




Abdulaziz Yari, senator-elect representing Zamfara west, says it would be unfair to the northern part of the country if leaders of the three arms of government are from the south.

Yari spoke in an interview with Arise TV on Tuesday.

The former Zamfara governor, who declared his bid for senate presidency last month, has been one of the loudest critics of the zoning arrangement of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for the leadership of the 10th national assembly.

The ruling party had nominated Godswill Akpabio and Jibrin Barau as president of the senate and deputy senate president respectively.

Yari was one of the senators-elect who presented a protest letter to the leadership of the APC over the zoning formula.

Commenting on his opposition to the partys stance, Yari said the move would mean the leaders of all three arms of the incoming government are from the south.

Bola Tinubu, the president-elect, is from Lagos; Olukayode Ariwoola, chief justice of Nigeria (CJN), is from Oyo; and Akpabio is from Akwa Ibom.

Yari said the APCs zoning arrangement of legislature leadership was not a product of widened consultation and consideration for federal character.

Right from the beginning, the party has a tradition of widening the consultation: meeting with the president and all the members of the national of assembly; because it is not the partys business but that of the country, the senator-elect said.

But the party did not do any of the above, and what we saw in the media was that they had two meetings, and we were given names to adopt. That is not adequate enough. Because all of them are just advisory bodies, the constitution gives the right to choose national assembly leaders to only the parliamentarians. The party can zone, but it is left for the individual to accept or reject.

APC has zoned and now we are asking them questions: On what basis? Have you taken into cognizance the federal character? The president, chief justice of the federation and national assembly chairman all the three arms of government  are in one place? The chief justice is from Oyo state, Tinubu is from Lagos state, and Akpabio is from Akwa Ibom, all at the same time. And the next chief justice is also going to be from the south-west.

Yari added that the implication is that all three arms of government will be controlled by the southern part of Nigeria, describing the situation as lopsided.

If Akpabio is elected senate president, it will not be the first time a region would produce the leaders of all arms of government.

Between 2019 and June 2022, three northerners  President Muhammadu Buhari (Katsina), Senate President Ahmad Lawan (Yobe) and Muhammad Tanko, former chief justice of Nigeria (Bauchi)  led the three arms of government.
Peter Obi, Labor Party Presidential Candidate in the last election has condemned the killing of two staff members of the United States of America Embassy and two policemen in Anambra State on Tuesday.

Recall that the US embassy staff were attacked at Ogbaru Local Government Area of Anambra while on a humanitarian aid mission to the state.

Obi in a series of tweets on Wednesday sympathized with the deceaseds, the United States Embassy and other charitable International agencies involved.

I just got the most reprehensible news of the attack and killing of some international humanitarian workers in Anambra state, which happened on Tuesday. This despicable act is highly condemnable.

Nothing can be more deplorable than that somebody has to die while rendering a charity job for a people and a nation in need.

The rising crime rate in our community and country is not unconnected with the frightening rising poverty level and unemployment of youths in our land which is a consequence of a prolonged leadership failure over the years.

When youths in their product ages remain idle for a prolonged time the devil finds in them veritable tools to build workshops in. Our redemption remains a quick turnaround from consumption to production.

He urged security agencies to put no stone unturned in ensuring that the perpetrators of the wicked and abominable acts are fished out and made to face the full wrath of the law.
Lamidi Apapa, factional Chairman of the Labour Party, was on Wednesday booed and mocked at the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal in Abuja.

Apapa who had earlier fought with members of the party over a seat in the courtroom was booed after the case was adjourned till Friday.

Recall that Apapa and the faction of the suspended National Chairman of the party, Mr Julius Abure clashed during the court proceeding.

The court refused to recognize the two factions laying claims to the national leadership of the party.

On his way out of the courtroom, Apapa was shielded by policemen.

While he struggled to get to where his car was packed, many chanted ole, ole, calling him a thief.

Video:




The leadership crisis in the Labour Party reached a new high on Wednesday when a faction of the party strongly resisted journalists from interviewing the Lamidi Apapa-led group.





The group waited to block the interview with Apapa and booed him while chanting ole and many other invectives.





To curtail the chaos, the police had to ward off the determined protestors who followed him out and blocked him from entering his car or leaving the premises.





It was earlier reported that the Presidential Election Petition court on Wednesday refused to recognize any representative of the Labour Party except the 1st petitioner, Peter Obi, who was in court.





Before the court began proceeding, the factions of the Labour Party could be sighted at the PEP Court, engaging in a war of words over which faction is the authentic one.





The Lamidi Apapa-led faction of the LP was challenging why members of the party loyal to Julius Abure were in the court.





They asserted that the ruling of a High Court of the FCT, suspending the Abure-led faction, remains.





It could be recalled that the Federal High Court, Abuja suspended Abure as the National Chairman of the Labour Party over alleged forgery of documents including court documents.





Following this, Apapa took over the leadership of the party but there has been a crisis in the party since then.
The national assembly has directed its clerk to transmit a bill seeking to provide for independent candidacy in presidential, governorship, national and state assemblies as well as local government elections to President Muhammadu Buhari for assent.

The national assembly resolved to send the constitution alteration bill number 58 after the senate approved recommendations of a report.

The report was presented on Tuesday by Ovie Omo-Agege, deputy president of the senate and chair of the ad hoc committee on constitution amendment.

While presenting his report, Omo-Agege said Gombe house of assembly has approved the constitution alteration bill  making it the 24th state to approve the legislation.

The bill proposes that for any citizen to contest the presidential election as an independent candidate, they must obtain the verified signatures of at least 20 percent of registered voters from each of the 36 states.

To participate in a governorship election, the independent candidate must obtain the verified signatures of at least 20 percent of registered voters from each of the LGAs of the state.

The bill provides that any citizen willing to contest national assembly elections must obtain the verified signatures of at least 20 percent of registered voters from each of the LGAs in the respective senatorial district or federal constituency.

The upper legislative chamber also sent a bill to the president seeking the inclusion of national assembly presiding officers in the national security council.
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Marion Military Institute congratulates Juan Vazquez-Cruz, of Enterprise, for earning an associate degree and becoming an Army officer on May 13.

A graduate of Enterprise High School, who completed MMIs Early Commissioning Program, Vazquez-Cruz was one of 69 cadets participating in the colleges Commencement Ceremony.

Later that afternoon, Vazquez-Cruz also commissioned as a U.S. Army second lieutenant in a separate ROTC ceremony.

Educating leaders since 1842, and a proud member of the Alabama Community College System, MMI enrolls a diverse population of both civilian and military-track students in an immersive leadership environment.
The White House has confirmed the attack on US officials in Anambra state.

Ikenga Tochukwu, police spokesperson in Anambra, had said gunmen attacked the convoy conveying staff of the US consulate on Tuesday.

Tochukwu said two police operatives were killed alongside two staff of the consulate.

The bodies of the victims were set ablaze by the gunmen, he added.

Addressing the incident in a press briefing, John Kirby, national security council spokesperson, said no US citizen was harmed.

I just got informed about a whole lot before coming out here to talk to you all. It does look like a US convoy vehicle was attacked, Kirby said.

What I can tell you is that no US citizens were involved and therefore there were no US citizens hurt.

But we are aware of some casualties, perhaps even some killed, but I dont want to get too far ahead of where we are right now.

He added that the state department was looking into the issue.
The Independent Electoral Commission (INEC) says the Labour Party (LP) and Peter Obi, the presidential candidate, have refused to pay the N1.5 million demanded to access documents they are requesting.

Abubakar Mahmoud, counsel to INEC, spoke at the sitting of the presidential election petitions court on Wednesday.

Mahmoud was responding to claims by Levy Uzoukwu, counsel to the party and its candidate, that the commission has refused to release necessary documents requested by them to present as evidence in the suit challenging the outcome of the presidential election.

INEC REFUSING TO RELEASE 70% OF DOCUMENTS

Uzoukwu told the five-member panel of the court led by Haruna Tsammani, that INEC stubbornly refused to produce 70 percent of the electoral documents that were requested.

Specifically, Uzoukwu said electoral documents concerning the polls in Rivers and Sokoto states have been inaccessible.

For Sokoto state, Uzoukwu said the INEC officials demanded N1.5 million fee to process the documents.

A typical example is that of Rivers state, where the resident electoral commissioner boldly told us they do not have any form EC8A to give us, the senior advocate said.

The lawyer said five letters have been sent to INEC alongside orders of the court made on March 3 and March 8 directing the electoral umpire to grant the petitioners access to inspect relevant electoral materials and make copies of them.

INEC DENIES THE ALLEGATION

Responding to the allegation, INECs lawyer said Obis legal team declined to attend a meeting that was called to streamline issues around documents to be tendered before the court.

We agreed to meet on Monday and Tuesday (15 and 16 May). But on Monday, May 15, I received a call that the Labour Party legal team had not turned up at the venue for the inspection of the documents, Mahmoud told the court.

He said the LP was given some electoral documents in Rivers, but they insisted on collecting all the documents that were required.

The commission has not refused to produce any document, Mahmoud said.

The INEC counsel also said the representatives of the petitioners staged a walkout on the second day.

Lateef Fagbemi, APCs lead lawyer, aligned with INECs position concerning access to electoral documents.

Fagbemi said he would not be objecting to official documents tendered by INEC during the substantive hearing.

All public documents coming from INEC and duly certified will not be objected to, but other documents may be objected to with reasons given and arguments presented at the end of the day before judgement, he said.

We are ready and willing to cooperate with the court.

Also, Wole Olanipekun, Tinubus lawyer, said he had no issues with accessing documents from the electoral umpire.

We will reserve our objection to documents until the end of the trial, Olanipekun said.

After listening to all parties in the petition, the court adjourned proceedings until May 19.

The court asked lawyers in the suit to respond to all pending applications before the next adjourned date.

The court also reminded parties that the pre-hearing session is to last 14 days from the day of its commencement.

The court began its pre-hearing session on May 8.




Governor Ben Ayade of Cross River State, on Wednesday, insisted that payment of salaries and pensions are great achievements, more critical than any other project, given the current circumstance of the country.





Ayade stated this while appearing on Arise TVs morning show on Wednesday.





The governor said, I met Cross River State at that very figures of unemployment.





Salaries and pensions are a fantastic achievement in the circumstances today. I tell you why, you see you build a road but you need the citizens to have their independence, ease and integrity to be able to walk on those roads.





What is the point of building a skyscraper when your citizens are poor? Im a son of a civil servant and because of that, Im conscious and I know the circumstances under which I was brought up. So, I know that salary and pension are far more critical than any other project, he said.





Meanwhile, the Trade Union Congress (TUC) in Cross River on Monday disclosed that no civil servant in the state got a promotion in the last seven years.





TUC Chairman, Monday Ogbodum addressed journalists on the welfare of workers under Ayades eight years administration.





Ogbodum insisted that apart from regular payment of salaries and pensions, workers in the state had the worst welfare under Ayades administration.




The factional National Chairman of the crisis-ridden Labour Party (LP) Basiru Lamidi Apapa has said the lack of respect for the rule of law by the Presidential candidate of the party in the February election, Mr Peter Obi was responsible for the leadership crisis rocking the party.





He said the leadership crisis would not have erupted if Obi had withdrawn recognition from the suspended National Chairman of the party, Mr Julius Abure based on the order of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory.





Apapa, however, asked Obi to wade into the dispute objectively with a view to amicably resolving the lingering crisis.





Apapa at a media briefing after his attack at the Presidential Election Petition Court in Abuja on Wednesday, demanded that Obi be unbiased to get the disputed chairmanship tussle resolved.





At the media briefing attended by the Deputy National Chairman of the party in the North, Mike Ayuba Auta, National Publicity Secretary, Olufemi Abayomi Arabambi and one of the women leaders Mrs Rukayat Salihu Umar, Apapa said what happened at the Presidential tribunal in which fracas broke out in the presence of Peter Obi, was disgraceful and a test to Obis leadership quality.





Apapa said the leadership crisis would have been put behind the party if Obi had respected the order of the Federal Capital Territory High Court which ordered Julius Abure and three others from parading themselves as National Officers of the party over their indictment for forgery and perjury.





Tracing the genesis of the leadership crisis, Apapa said that immediately after the order of the court was served on the party, he was unanimously selected in an acting capacity as the National Chairman of the party.





Apapa claimed it was wrong for Obi to accord respect to Abure despite the order of the Court and as a presidential candidate seeking justice from the same court of law.





On allegations of receiving 500 million Naira from external forces to destabilize the party, Apapa vehemently denied such claims, saying he did not receive any money or was influenced by anybody or group to work against the party.





He also said that it was wrong of Peter Obi to have claimed not to know him, claiming they worked closely and even travelled on the same flights with Peter Obi throughout his Presidential electioneering campaign.





He appealed to Obi to be open-minded, neutral and objective to end the crisis.





Also speaking at the briefing, the Deputy National Chairman of the Party in the North, Mike Ayuba Auta denied the allegation that the All Progressive Congress (APC) was behind the crisis adding that the allegation was baseless and unfounded.





Auta apologized to Nigerians, who gave Labour Party over 6 million votes during the last presidential election, adding that they should not be discouraged by the current leadership crisis, assuring that the dispute will soon be resolved.
Godswill Akpabio, a former minister of Niger Delta affairs, has asked a group of former senators to pray for him and Jibrin Barau, senator representing Kano north.

The All Progressives Congress (APC) had nominated Akpabio and Barau for the positions of senate president and deputy in the incoming 10th national assembly.

But the partys decision has stirred controversies as contenders for the positions have expressed displeasure about the choices.

Speaking in Abuja on Tuesday at a meeting with 76 former senators  including Ameh Ebute, an ex-senate president  Akpabio expressed dismay that first-term senators were seeking to be presiding officers.

The former minister said a senator-elect would have to be sworn in first before aspiring to be a presiding officer.

When I see people who are coming into the national assembly and particularly the senate of the federal of Nigeria. Senators-elect for the first time. Who will swear them in? What you (former senators) have done is to give direction as elders, he said.

That having been in that hallowed chamber, it is important to give direction. That there will be a senate president first who will swear in the senators-elect before the senators-elect begins to aspire to the senate president.

I want to appeal that you do not only support us with your endorsement but also support us with your prayers because what we are seeing out there is as if it is a war but I also describe it as a storm in a teacup because the senate has its own principle throughout the world.

Earlier, Basheer Lado, convener of the group and a former senator representing Kano central, said other candidates seeking to be senate president should shelve their bids in the interest of national interests.

We therefore respectfully, once again appeal to other aspirants to step down their ambition in the interest of national unity, peace, national stability of Nigeria and party cohesion, he said.

We believe strongly, senator Akpabio and senator Barau Jibril at the helm of affairs in the 10th assembly will further compliment the administration of distinguished senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu and senator Kashim Shettima in delivering good governance and democratic dividends, to all Nigerians.
The Labour Party has claimed that the Bashiru Lamidi Apapa faction of the party, which stormed the Presidential Election Petition Court on Wednesday morning, was disgraced out of the premises.

Apapa and the faction of the suspended National Chairman of the party, Mr Julius Abure clashed during the court proceeding.

The court refused to recognize the two factions laying claims to the partys national leadership.

In a tweet on its official handle, the party claimed that the Apapa faction was in the court to truncate the court hearing.

The tweet reads, Rebel former Deputy National Chairman of Labour Party, Lamidi Apapa made true his threat to truncate the Presidential Election Tribunal by attempting to appear as representative of the @NgLabour at the ongoing hearing but was refused by the Tribunal. He was thoroughly disgraced.




Former presidential aide Reno Omokri has accused ex-Minister of Education, Oby Ezekwesili, of silence after the attack on the United States embassy.

The ambush occurred near Amiyi/Eke Ochuche communities in Ogbaru Local Government Area of Anambra State.

The deceased included two personnel from the American consulate and two police officers. An investigation has commenced.

In a statement on Wednesday, Reno condemned the attack and called for justice, noting that the victims were on a humanitarian aid mission.

He, however, said it is an interesting thing is that a day after the killings, Ezekwesili, who is from Anambra, has unsurprisingly kept quiet.

Reno noted that it took Oby less than an hour to enter the streets and dance naked when Deborah Samuel was killed in Sokoto State.

Oby has remained silent till today after a pregnant Northerner from Adamawa, Harira Jubril, was killed by gunmen in broad daylight, with her four underaged daughters, Fatima, 9; Khadijah, 7; Hadiza, 5; and Zaituna, 2.

Harira and her children were killed in Anambra on May 22, 2022. Oby Ezekwesili has NEVER condemned or even acknowledged the killings. Deborah Samuel was killed on May 12, 2022. Oby Ezekwesili condemned it the same day.

Reno recalled her tweet after an hour which lamented Deborah had joined the long list of those who must be given justice someday.

The author further reminded the public that the ex-World Bank Vice President never condemned the murder of Ahmed Gulak on May 31, 2021.

This selective outrage taints Obys activism. If it happens in the North, Oby will shout and chase clout. If it occurs in the Southeast, Oby will go about and keep mute!

The statement advised the U.S. Embassy in Nigeria and the State Department in Washington D.C., to pay close attention to the former presidential candidate.




President-elect Bola Tinubu has promised to hit the ground running and unify the country upon his assumption of office on May 29, pledging to ensure positive relations with the United States.





The incoming Nigerian leader gave the assurances during a telephone conversation Tuesday night with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.





Tinubu said that among his immediate priorities would be to deliver institutional reforms and development programs to deepen democratic institutions and bring help to poor Nigerians.





He expressed determination to strengthen Nigerias democracy and faithfully serve the people as their president, according to a statement by spokesperson Tunde Rahman.





During the talks that lasted about 20 minutes, Tinubu spoke about his eventful sojourn in America in the 70s, where he graduated with honours as an accountant in 1979.





He also recalled how he was granted asylum by the US when, due to his determined struggle for democracy in Nigeria, he was forced into exile by the late General Sani Abachas military junta.





While affirming his democratic bonafide, Tinubu expressed his absolute belief that the result of the elections, which he clearly won, reflected the will of the Nigerian people.





The former Lagos governor said he would work to unite the country and ensure that Nigerians are happy and enjoy the benefits of democracy and progressive good governance.





He said without national unity, security, economic development and good governance, Nigeria would not become a better place to live or play her proper role in the comity of African nations.





Tinubu urged the US to factor in Nigerias important place in Africa and provide assistance in the areas of security and economic investment in order for the nation to lead the way and be a shining example to the rest of the continent.





In his remarks, Secretary Blinken assured that Nigeria should expect a good and mutually-beneficial relationship with the US.





He promised to play his part in bringing a sustained and cordial relationship between the two nations to fruition, saying a democratic and peaceful Nigeria is important to the United States as it is to Africa.
The man charged earlier this year with kidnapping a woman in New Mexico and holding her captive for a year before she escaped to a gas station in New Jersey is now facing six additional charges including sexual assault, authorities said Wednesday.

The new charges against James W. Parrillo, formerly of Morristown, were included in an 11-count indictment issued earlier this month by a grand jury in Burlington County. They include two counts of first-degree aggravated sexual assault, two counts of second-degree sexual assault, second-degree criminal coercion, and second-degree theft by deception.

Parrillo had already faced charges related to the womans kidnapping, according to New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin.

Parrillo was arrested Feb. 7 after the woman ran barefoot in 42-degree weather from a rented home in Bass River Township to a small Conoco gas station, where she bolted herself inside with workers.

One of the workers called police and the woman told investigators she had been kidnapped by Parrillo in February 2022 and held captive while the pair crisscrossed the country before arriving in New Jersey in December 2022.

A short time after police were called to the Conoco, New Jersey State troopers found Parrillo walking on the shoulder of Route 542 and arrested him, authorities said.

He was charged at the time with kidnapping, aggravated assault, hindering apprehension, and criminal restraint.

The addition of aggravated sexual assault charges escalates the very serious nature of this case and we will continue working to ensure the defendant is prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law for his alleged crimes, Pearl Minato, director of the states Division of Criminal Justice, said in a statement.

According to court documents, the woman told police Parrillo identified himself as Brett Parker in February 2022, when she met him at a gas station on Interstate 10 in New Mexico.

At his request, she gave him a ride to Arizona and the two had a relationship for about three weeks until he allegedly assaulted her in California, according to an affidavit of probable cause.

After the assault, the woman began to feel unable to leave the relationship and traveled with Parrillo until they ended up in a home shared by others in Burlington County, according to the affidavit.

Parrillo allegedly sexually assaulted the woman on different occasions during the time she was with him and used threats of bodily injury to restrict her freedom, Platkin said in a statement.

Parrillo allegedly began beating and choking the woman during an argument at the home on Feb. 7, but stopped when he realized others were in the house, Platkin said.

At that time, the woman ran from the house to the gas station wearing nothing but shorts and a shirt in the 42-degree weather, Platkin said.

Security video from the Conoco shows the woman running into the gas station and being chased by Parrillo, who was also in shorts and barefoot.

Parrillo was locked out of the store and walked away, returning a short time later on a bicycle that he rode through the gas stations lot before riding away, video shows.

In arguing for pre-trial detention, prosecutors said information found on social media and elsewhere online show Parrilo may have engaged in similar predatory conduct with individuals in other states, Platkin said.

Two women with no relation to the victim told NJ Advance Media earlier this year they were also kidnapped by Parrillo, one in California, the other in Texas, and held for extended periods of time  one of them for several years. Parrillo has not been charged with those alleged crimes.

Platkin asked anyone with information about Parrillo or his alleged crimes to call the New Jersey State Police hotline at 855-363-6548.

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Anthony G. Attrino may be reached at tattrino@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @TonyAttrino. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
A regional high school district for eight Monmouth County towns that announced the end of bus service for more than 3,000 students who live closest its schools is considering restoring the rides, but parents would have to pay for it.

Subscription busing is one of the options district officials are considering following an announcement earlier this month that the Freehold Regional High School District is eliminating courtesy busing at its six high schools starting in September. The regional district includes students from an area of more than 200 square miles.

Under New Jersey law, school districts are required to provide free bus transportation for high school students if they live 2.5 miles or more from their schools. For students in grades K through 8, the threshold is 2 miles or more.

However, some districts, including Freehold Regional, provide free courtesy busing for students who live closer. Other districts offer students who live close to school a subscription plan for busing that can cost families $400 to $750 or more a year per student.

Freehold Regionals school board recently voted to eliminate courtesy busing in the 2023-2024 school budget in order to save $3.5 million, partially offsetting the impact of state aid cuts. The $214 million spending plan also includes 19 job cuts, officials said.

Freehold Regional, which includes grades 9 through 12, includes students in Colts Neck, Englishtown, Farmingdale, Freehold Borough, Freehold Township, Howell, Manalapan and Marlboro. More than 3,000 of the districts 10,400 students currently receive courtesy busing.

There was a lot of public consternation following the decision to end courtesy busing, Freehold Regional Schools Superintendent Charles B. Sampson said at a school board meeting Thursday.

Theres a potential option down the road for subscription busing that were exploring, Sampson said at the meeting.

Subscription busing, if approved by the school district, could start when classes resume following summer break, district spokesperson Rebecca Policastro told NJ Advance Media.

There is no final decision, but we are looking to see if it would be a viable option for September, Policastro said Monday.

Officials did not say how much subscription busing would cost parents or what routes would be available.

Were still working through what a potential option of subscription busing would look like, Sampson said.

Other school districts offer subscription busing options for students who live within 2.5 miles of a high school or within 2 miles of an elementary school or middle school.

The West Morris Regional High School District, which has two high schools in Morris County, charges $750 per student or $1,200 for two or more students in the same family.

Montclairs school district, which covers a smaller area, charges $400 per student, $225 for a second student from the same family and $100 for a third student, with a familys total bill capped at $725.

Some parents and public officials in the Freehold Regional school district have not given up on restoring courtesy busing.

Eliot Cohen, of Marlboro, said he lives just under 2.5 miles from Marlboro High School, where his son is a sophomore. His daughter is in seventh grade and will be attending the high school in two years.

Its an essential service, Cohen said of courtesy busing.

Eliminating courtesy busing would inconvenience thousands of parents, worsen traffic, exacerbate late arrivals and absences, and place an added burden on families with less flexibility in work schedules, Cohen said.

Car pooling might be challenging, Cohen said, because some students living around the corner from his house will remain eligible for busing and not have any need to share rides. Some parents also might not be comfortable with younger students car pooling with juniors and seniors, he said.

Cohen said charging families hundreds of dollars per student for subscription busing could create a system of haves and have-nots throughout the district based on whether parents can afford the charge.

It would be this hidden tax, Cohen said.

At last weeks meeting, Sampson said the district could not justify additional staffing losses or program reductions to cover the cost of courtesy busing. He said budget cuts next year could be worse unless the district gets more state funding.

Officials said the school district has lost $25 million in state aid since 2018, resulting in more than 130 job cuts.

I am still hopeful that, prior to the completion of the state budget on or about July 1, that there is some change to our funding circumstance, but presently next years budget does have courtesy busing eliminated, Sampson said.

Marlboro Mayor Jon Hornik is urging the school district to reconsider eliminating courtesy busing.

I am 100% against it, Hornik said. Naming it courtesy busing doesnt change the fact that it is a safety issue and in my opinion an essential service that the Freehold Regional district provides. Its unacceptable and it needs to be reversed.

Sampson said all families will be notified in the next few weeks whether they live far enough from their schools to remain eligible for free busing. The letters will also outline the process for appealing the decisions.

Under the state law, the measurement is made by calculating the shortest distance along public roads or walkways between the entrance to the students home and the nearest public entrance of the school building.

Therell be a process for our parents and guardians to refute the determination, and certainly challenge it, appeal it, if they believe theyre within the 2 1/2 miles, Sampson said.

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Rob Jennings may be reached at rjennings@njadvancemedia.com.
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Some local students are already geared up to join the workforce upon graduation.

Today is about these deserving students who are making a big life decision, Ryan Richards, the workforce coordinator for Dothan City Schools, said. We want to celebrate and honor them and be a part of their lives as they make decisions that are going to impact their future.

Dothan Tech hosted its second annual Career and Technical Education signing day on Tuesday and during the event, five graduating seniors put pen to paper and committed to working for a company that relates to the program in which the student completed while at the school.

Similar to an NCAA signing event for student athletes, each student signed a letter of intent to work for their respective organization.

Richards said the goal of the event is to not only celebrate the achievements of students joining the workforce, but to also emphasize the importance of career tech.

We want to change the perception of students entering the workforce by helping increase pride in their choices through events like this, Richards said. Additionally, we want to showcase the value of career tech education because we know the training these students received is valuable and they will carry it with them for the rest of their lives.

Kristopher Parker signed with TriState Graphics, both Haley Sims and Jamilyn Vaughn signed with the Dothan Christian Development Center, Brianna Morris signed with Kiddie Care Learning Center, and Simon Gonzalez signed with Action Buick GMC.

Sims, who has been in the education and training program for two years, was unsure what direction she wanted to go in when she first arrived on the campus. But after ended up in Paula Sniders education class, she believes she found her calling.

When I first got here, I really didnt know what I wanted to do with my life, Sims said. I really dont even remember how I got into Ms. Sniders class at first. But thanks to her class, I figured out what I wanted to do with my future and that is to become an early childhood education teacher.

Gonzalez has been in the automotive dual enrollment program between Dothan Tech and Wallace Community College. On top of graduating from high school soon, he is also expected to be finished with his associates degree by the fall of this year.

His advice for anyone looking to enroll in a program at Dothan Tech is pretty simple.

I encourage students to come here and enjoy the experience, Gonzalez said.

For more information about Dothan Techs programs, visit www.dothan.k12.al.us/DothanTech.
Fighting through tears, Ashley Shisler recalled her older brother as a force to be reckoned with, an all-American boy who was good at everything and a fierce protector of his family and friends.

Bobby gave everything and everyone his all, she told the crowd gathered Wednesday for the funeral of Deptford Police Officer Robert J. Bobby Shisler. He was brave, devoted, fearless and so selfless.

Shisler, 27, died May 7 from injuries suffered in a March 10 shooting while on duty.

Family, friends, colleagues, representatives from various police agencies and the general public filled Pfleeger Concert Halls 800 seats at Rowan University in Glassboro for the funeral service, while others watched from remote viewing locations on the campus.

For those who could not attend in person, the university streamed the service online.

Deptford Police Chief Joseph J. Smith told attendees Shisler made the ultimate sacrifice to protect the community.

We are reminded today of the dangers that our law enforcement officers face every day as they put themselves in harms way to keep us safe, Smith said. The loss of Bobby is a tragedy that has touched not just a tight-knit community but an entire nation.'

He offered his condolences to all who knew and loved Shisler.

57 1 / 57 Funeral of Deptford Police Officer Robert Shisler

We pledge to never forget the sacrifice that he made. We thank the entire Shisler family for allowing us to know Bobby, if even for only a short time, the chief said. May the memory of this fallen hero be a source of strength and an inspiration to us all  Rest in peace, Bobby. You will never be forgotten.

Shisler grew up in Deptford, graduated from the township high school in 2014 and went on to serve his hometown on the local police force.

He wore badge 5273 and was recalled as a stellar officer during his four years on the force, and a natural leader who had a bright future in law enforcement.

He leaves behind his parents, grandparents, sister Ashley and a younger brother, Tyler, who joined the Deptford Police Department earlier this year.

Deptford Police Sgt. Sean Gambale  leader of Platoon B, Team 4, where Shisler served  spoke on behalf of the team gathered with him on the dais and described their comrades strength and dedication.

It was our greatest honor to bring you home today. You are the best of all of us, Gambale said, reflecting on the two-month battle Shisler fought to recover from his injuries.

You were and always have been the strongest person weve ever known, he said. You taught us all what it meant to be Shisler Strong.

You were the heart of Team 4 and now youre the heart of an entire community, Gambale said.

Deptford Police Officer Robert Shisler, 27, died earlier this month after weeks in the hospital.(Deptford Township Police Department)

Floral arrangements and large pictures of Shisler adorned the stage area for the service.

The massive public turnout to attend the funeral came as no surprise. Plans were made to host the service at a venue able to accommodate a large crowd, which began gathering early Wednesday morning.

Attendees in the thousands lined up to pay their respects at Shislers flag-draped casket for three hours before the noon service.

Two officers stood watch at the casket as police officers representing hundreds of departments from across the region and around the nation, including New York City and Dallas, Texas, lined up outside waiting to enter the venue.

Among those in attendance was Gov. Phil Murphy, who paused to speak briefly with Shislers family.

Outside, license plates on the hearse carrying Shislers body to and from the venue bore the officers badge number and the Deptford Police Department logo.

Fellow officers salute as the body of fallen Deptford Police Officer Robert Shisler is carried in for his funeral service at Rowan University.Dave Hernandez | For NJ Advance

More than two months after Shisler was wounded in a shooting that left another man dead at the scene, few details have been disclosed about the case.

When Shisler stopped Mitchell O. Negron Jr., 24, on Delsea Drive in Deptford on March 10, Negron took off running, according to limited details disclosed so far by the state Attorney Generals office, which is investigating the matter. Shisler chased Negron for several blocks before both men were shot during a struggle, officials said.

Negron died at the scene. A document released by the Attorney Generals office in response to an Open Public Records Act request stated that Negron had a revolver in his possession.

Fellow officers rushed Shisler to the hospital with a leg wound that was described as life-threatening.

Throughout his battle, supporters rallied to help with fundraisers and demonstrations of support for the officer and his family. The Shisler Strong motto appears on signs, stickers, T-shirts and wristbands, and many bought blue lightbulbs for their homes to show their solidarity. A GoFundMe for the family had raised more than $151,000 as of Wednesday.

Following his death, area residents gathered at the police station to pay their respects, then lined Delsea Drive last week as Shislers body was returned to his hometown in a solemn procession.

Deptford schools were closed Wednesday so anyone who wished could attend the service.

Police honor guards marched during the funeral service for fallen Deptford Police Officer Robert Shisler at Rowan University.Dave Hernandez | For NJ Advance

Ashley Shisler described her older brother as her strength, always by her side when she needed his help. She acknowledged the outpouring of support over the two months since her brother was wounded.

I find happiness in knowing that he will live in all your memories, she told the crowd. While he might not have lived a perfect life, he lived a damn good one.

Her brother would be uncomfortable to see everyone crying for him, his sister said.

I know he would want us to cling to the beautiful memories and forgive ourselves for whatever regrets we have. And I know for a fact that he would like us to be strong through the darkest days ahead.

She thanked all those who attended the service, offered prayers, posted signs of support and donated to fundraisers for her brother.

I want to thank every single person that put aside their own life in order to help me and mine, Shisler said. Going through something like this, we all felt so alone, but seeing the entire town come together and make sure we felt nothing but love during this time, I truly have no words other than thank you from the bottom of our hearts.

She recited the Police Officers Prayer and thanked her Deptford Police family for its love and support. She asked that they watch out for her younger brother, Tyler, in his role as a officer on the force.

I just ask all of you, promise me youll keep my baby brother safe, because I know hell be doing the same for you, she said.

Speaking at the service, state Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin expressed his gratitude.

Im grateful for Bobbys service. Im grateful for his family and for all of you who do the hard and dangerous work to keep us safe, Platkin said.

The attorney general noted that the service took place during National Police Week, a time to honor the men and women who protect and serve. He said Shislers name will be inscribed on the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial in Washington, D.C.

The ceremony continued outdoors with bagpipers and an honor guard as pallbearers brought Shislers casket into the bright, midday sun. With thousands of officers standing at attention, a rifle salute cracked the still air before a bugler played Taps.

Officers then carefully folded the flag that had covered Shislers casket and Smith, the police chief, presented it to the officers family.

With that, the bagpipers played Amazing Grace and the ceremony concluded with a helicopter flyover from several police agencies.

Shisler was the first Deptford police officer to die in the line of duty. So far this year, 42 officers have died in the line of duty nationwide, according to the Officer Down Memorial Page.

Firefighters hung an American flag from a ladder arch during the funeral service for fallen Deptford Police Officer Robert Shisler, at Rowan University, in Glassboro, NJ on Wednesday, May 17, 2023.Dave Hernandez | For NJ Advance

Photographer Dave Hernandez contributed to this report.

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Matt Gray may be reached at mgray@njadvancemedia.com.
The body found dumped near a busy highway on the Bayonne-Jersey City border has been identified a mother of two who went missing Saturday in Jersey City, Hudson County Prosecutor Esther Suarez said Wednesday.

The prosecutors office and the Jersey City police department are investigating the death of 32-year-old Norelis Mendoza, who lived in Lindenwold but had ties to Hudson County, as suspicious, the prosecutor said. The exact cause of death is under investigation and will be determined by the state Regional Medical Examiners Office.

Mendozas body was located Wednesday morning.

Family members said in social media posts that the 32-year-old has two children under the age of 5 years old. Mendoza grew up in Jersey City and attended School 9 and Ferris High School, a friend said.

Police, in a BOLO (be-on-the-lookout) alert, said Mendoza was last seen at her mothers home on Montgomery Street at approximately 10:30 p.m. Saturday.

7 1 / 7 Police investigate body found in area of Route 440 near Jersey City-Bayonne border

On Sunday, a missing person report was filed with Jersey City police.

Suarez said Mendozas body was found with the assistance of the Jersey City Police Department, Bayonne Police Department, and New Jersey State Police. She was pronounced dead at the scene, although authorities did not say how long she is believed to have been there.

Multiple law enforcement departments spent hours Tuesday afternoon in the area of Second Street and Kennedy Boulevard in Bayonne, conducting a search of large garbage containers. Sources said the search was related to Mendozas disappearance.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the Office of the Hudson County Prosecutor at 201-915-1345 or to leave an anonymous tip at: http://www.hudsoncountyprosecutorsofficenj.org/homicide-tip/. All information will be kept confidential.
Surati for Performing Arts is returning this weekend the annual Indian community festival of colors, Holi Hai, in both Jersey City and Hoboken on Sunday, May 21, from 9:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. (Originally scheduled for Saturday, May 20, the event has been moved to Sunday because of the threat of thunderstorms, organizers said.)

The Holi Hai festival originated in India as one of the most popular Spring festivals, celebrating the spring season and the triumph of good over evil. This years event will include a schedule of live performances, food, and activities.

We are thrilled to bring back the Holi Hai festival to Jersey City after 4 years said Rimli Roy, founder and artistic director of Surati for Performing Arts. The festival has become a beloved tradition in Jersey City and Hoboken, and we are excited to welcome back our community for a day of arts, colors, joy, friendship, food and celebration.

Since 2008, the festival has been held in Jersey City, except for 2009 when the company was on tour in Alaska. The color walk didnt begin until in 2019 in Jersey City, with the all-day festival taking place at Pier A Park in Hoboken.

This year, the roles have been reversed, with the Color Walk beginning at Pier A Park in Hoboken while the all-day festival will be held on Montgomery Street next to Exchange Place in Jersey City.

A variety of live performances will take place throughout the day, including traditional and contemporary, Bollywood, folk and classical Indian dance and music performances by the Surati for Performing Arts professional company, contemporary performances from diverse local and out of state artists, and Suratis Indian classical dance students of Odissi and Bharatanatyam.

Among the Surati team performers are Hitanshi Patel, Shayna Malhotra, Mackenna Munavalli, Harsha Harikumar, Reba Browne, Jonathan Gregory Power, Tanya Chauhan, Ruee Gawarikar, Jay B, Pritha Dutta and vocalist/performer Sonia Mukherjee from Florida, who has been a part of team Surati for several years. Artistic director Rimli Roy will also be leading some self-choreographed dance performances this year.

Key volunteers, student parents, and advisory board members who have made Suratis artistic work and festivals possible over the years include Arati Roy, Sumit Roy, Jayanta Banerjee, Rajesh Roy, Karan Pande, Abha Chandra, Brian Nolt, Paul Martin, Sukumar Haldar, Radha Das, Jennifer Bhathena, Kevin Ryan, Malvinder Bhatia, Priyanjali Sen, Jessica Brann, Kevin Weller, Rajat Basu, and Anand Rao among others.

It is the hard work of our supporters, staff, volunteers, board members that have egged us on with our vision and mission, and eventually earned us a studio space right by India Square, Newark Avenue in Jersey City, said Roy. We invite community members to get involved and pay us a visit soon.

Visitors will also have the opportunity to participate in traditional color play, where attendees throw colored powders on one another to celebrate the spirit of Holi. In addition to the performances and color play, there will be a marketplace to shop for unique handicrafts, jewelry, and other items from local vendors. And of course, there will be plenty of food available for purchase, including traditional Indian street food, sweet treats, and more.

The all-day festival is open to the public, though everyone must register for a cost of $5, which is redeemable for colors.

Advance registration is recommended to gauge the number of attendees so supplies can be adequate and to track the number of attendees for educational and funding purposes.

The color walk registrations begin at $20 which includes a T-shirt, colors and water.

You can sign up to attend at https://www.suratiholihai.org.

Editors note: This article has been updated to reflect the change in the festivals date due to the weather forecast.
The Hudson County Prosecutors Office Homicide Unit and the Jersey City Police Department are investigating a body found in the area of Route 440, near the Bayonne border, the prosecutors office reported on social media.

The prosecutors office declined to provide any more information at the moment, including the identity or even a description of the person.
A man was arrested Wednesday after investigators accused him of selling a gun to a teen who was caught with it a few months ago at a Morris County high school, officials said.

Dwayne E. Allen, 21, of Palmyra, was charged with multiple weapons-related offenses, including unlawful sale of a firearm to a juvenile, and was being held in the Morris County Jail, according to a statement from the Morris County Prosecutors Office.

On March 23, Denville Police responded to Morris Knolls High School, after staff members discovered two students were in possession of a gun, the office said. The teens had already been secured by staff by the time officers arrived.

The students were arrested and charged with unlawful possession of a weapon and related offenses, officials said. Police at the time said there was no suspected threat to students.

An investigation by multiple agencies was able to link the gun to Allen, who has no known connection to the high school, the office said.

Attorney information for Allen was not immediately available.

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Chris Sheldon may be reached at csheldon@njadvancemedia.com.
A man has admitted that he made purchases using stolen credit cards and preloaded debit cards from the Department of Treasury that he received from a mail carrier, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger said.

Jarid Brooks, 29, of Vauxhall, pleaded guilty to bank fraud, receiving stolen mail and conspiracy to commit mail fraud and bank fraud in U.S. District Court, prosecutors said.

Brooks and two others received the stolen mail from the Kyle Williams, a U.S. Postal Service worker, between July 2019 and Oct. 2020, officials said. Brooks activated the credit cards and used them to make purchases, which included gift cards and electronics, according to the indictment.

The victims of the scheme have collectively lost more than $70,000, authorities said.

Brooks also conspired to use debit cards preloaded with Economic Impact Payments from the U.S. Department of Treasury as part of Coronavirus aid relief, which were also stolen from the mail, court documents said.

The government issued cards had more than $13,000 preloaded on them, officials said.

Brooks was charged along with his brother Justin Brooks, 23, Kyle Williams, 38, and Kyjuan Hutchins, 23, all of Vauxhall, in Oct. 2020.

When investigators executed a search warrant at Justin Brooks home, they found $3,330 in cash, an American Express gift card, 29 Mastercard gift cards, four Netspend debit cards, 13 Vanilla gift cards, nine Vanilla Visa prepaid cards, six Visa Economic Impact Payment debit cards and 21 Visa gift cards, according to charging documents.

Dozens more Amazon, American Express, Dunkin Donuts, Visa, Netspend, Greendot, CWC and Walmart gift cards and debit cards were seized from Jarid Brooks home, officials said.

Surveillance footage from stores showed the men on the day making fraudulent purchases, authorities said. Hutchins also bragged on Instagram about purchases he made, authorities said. In August 2020, he posted a video of a receipt from a $2,500 Apple computer he bought with a stolen credit card from a PC Richard store in Brick, according to court papers.

In late May and early June 2020, Justin Brooks was seen on surveillance cameras withdrawing more than $9,100 from ATMs in Maplewood and Irvington using stolen pandemic relief cards, court documents state.

Williams pleaded guilty and has been sentenced. Justin Brooks and Hutchins have also pleaded guilty and are awaiting sentencing.

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Note: This is a copy of our weekly Wednesday a.m. Opinion newsletter, which points out the most popular editorials and op-eds of the past week. Click HERE to sign up and never miss a week!

I read the other day that my ancestral hometown of Toms River sold a liquor distribution license for $1.6 million.

This is nuts. In most other states you can buy beer and wine in the supermarket. Restaurants offer beer and wine as if it were food  which it is. Here you need a million-dollar license just to sell a glass of beer or wine.

This is indefensible. Yet recently I caught Bill Spadea defending it.

Worse, he got Kelsey Grammar to come along.

Spadea has a talk show on NJ 101.5 on which he purports to be a conservative. But we conservatives believe in free markets.

The liquor-license lobby doesnt. Instead, its a cartel made up of people who hold those valuable licenses and dont want to see them devalued by competition.

To that end they buy legislators by the dozens to oppose any opening up of the liquor license system.

Spadeas been doing a tour of bars around the state promoting the idea that neighborhood bars will be ruined if we have a free market in beer, wine and booze, as Gov. Murphy has proposed.

Nonsense. The neighborhood bars have mostly been bought up by chains like Applebees and Outback Steakhouse. If license reform goes through, neighborhood bars and restaurants will thrive, like they do in other states. Brew pubs will thrive as well.

At the moment, brew pubs are regulated almost out of existence. Grammar, who starred in the TV barroom comedy Cheers, actually has a brew pub where he sells his own brand of beer.

But its in New York state. In Jersey, he opposes that sort of thing  or so he said so to Spadea.

I dont know why a New Yorker would oppose liquor reform here in Jersey. I dont know why Spadea does, either. He didnt return my emails.

But hes got a call-in show, so call in and ask.

Here are some other compelling issues we wrote about in this weeks Opinion section:

At Daves shop  where hes had the help of his right-hand man and older brother Bakulesh, or Benny  customers pick up the usual bodega fare: a bag of chips, paper towels, milk. But at its small counter, they can also sit, chat and enjoy a hot breakfast.Paul Zimmerman | For Advance Media

Beloved corner store closing after 40 years and it will be missed. | Calavia-Robertson: You could always expect a hot coffee and a listening ear at the counter. You could always expect a hot coffee and a listening ear at the counter.

My mother, Adele, has lived a wonderful life. And she and I have lived a wonderful life together. Shes my best friend. She is my North, my South, my East and my West, to paraphrase that poem from W.H. Auden. In short, my everything. Maybe its wrong for me to feel sad. But I do anyway. Maybe nothing can stop it.

My mothers farewell tour | Opinion: The Court has a credibility crisis, and corrupt behavior is its primary cause. The Court has a credibility crisis, and corrupt behavior is its primary cause.

Lets all take a moment out of our busy days and turn our thoughts to George Santos. His star burned too bright, too soon. George flew too close to the sun on wings made of mail fraud. He will be missed, eventually.

The feds come for George Santos | Sheneman: Can you wear an AR-15 pin on an orange jumpsuit? Can you wear an AR-15 pin on an orange jumpsuit?

The fury over congestion pricing is growing louder, with New Jerseys elected officials in broad agreement that the plan must somehow be stopped. STATEN ISLAND ADVANCE

On congestion pricing, New York is right, NJ is wrong | Editorial: The goal is fee parity: Eliminate toll-shopping, incentivize off-peak travel. The goal is fee parity: Eliminate toll-shopping, incentivize off-peak travel.

Restoring the previous COLA system, with its 24-month waiting period before a pensioner is eligible for their first COLA increase, is not only expensive but unfair to retirees who have gone 12 years since COLAs were suspended.

N.J. pensioners can have COLAs back without breaking the bank | Letters: A reader from West Windsor likes the New Jersey Retired Public Employees Organizations plan A reader from West Windsor likes the New Jersey Retired Public Employees Organizations plan
Gov. Murphy has delivered another stellar Supreme Court nominee, and if there is any doubt that designee Michael Noriega is a worthy successor to one of the most venerated jurists in New Jerseys history, just ask him.

I think Michael not only has a keen legal mind, he will bring a unique and important viewpoint to the Court, said former Associate Justice Barry Albin, who left the court last July after reaching the mandatory retirement age. The Supreme Court benefits from diversity, and that includes diversity of opinion. When its members have different backgrounds and experiences, it enriches the court as a whole.

Noriega, a 45-year-old Hudson County native, will be only the third Latino to sit on the bench if he is confirmed by the Senate, and his extraordinary professional background and reputation for integrity -- unassailable across the legal establishment  make him a superb choice for the seventh seat on our highest court.

Now we should hope that a thorough but speedy confirmation hearing will inspire the governor and the Legislature to address the 65 other vacancies in our judiciary, which everyone seems to agree is in a crisis.

Until then, however, there is a prevailing consensus that Noriega raises the bar for those who will follow.

He is a quintessential New Jersey triumph: The son of Peruvian immigrants, who gave up their careers as doctors to move to Union City, he is a graduate of Rutgers and Seton Hall Law School. He spent five years in the Essex County public defenders office, which is often the hardest-working branch of the legal bar, one often overwhelmed by underfunding and excessive caseloads. As he established his own firm, he became an expert in immigration law  one who didnt hesitate to take on ICE -- and Murphy is especially moved with his pro bono work representing victims of human trafficking and domestic abuse.

The governors Judicial Advisory Panel, chaired by former Chief Justice James Zazzali, found that Noriega has demonstrated competence, integrity, and judicial temperament to be an outstanding Justice. And he earned endorsements from every organization that values equal protection, social justice, and civil liberties: The NJ State Bar Association (which named him Lawyer of the Year in 2019), the Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, and the ACLU were among the many who issued panegyrics following Murphys announcement Monday.

This assessment from Larry Lustberg, the litigator from Gibbons who has argued countless cases before the high court, was typical:

I think its fantastic to have someone on the Supreme Court whose background is based on sticking up for the underdog, fighting for the neediest and most vulnerable, Lustberg said.

And its incredibly valuable to have someone with trial experience, because at the end of the day, almost everything that comes before the court is coming up from the trial court, and he will have a great appreciation for what actually went on down there.

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Noriega is currently a partner at the prestigious firm anchored by Sen. Jon Bramnick (R-Union) and leads its criminal defense department. As such, he had to answer for its poor judgment in 2019, when it boasted on its website that sexual assault suspects would be defended by attorneys who would investigate your case and seek to discredit your accuser.

Bramnick said yesterday that the long-erased language predated Noriegas arrival, but the Senate Judiciary Committee is still obligated to ask the nominee where he stands on such an outrageous blame-the-accuser strategy, which the governor called disgusting and unacceptable.

We expect the committee will get a satisfactory answer and move on to other urgent business. Because as Judge Glenn Grant, the Administrative Director of the Courts, told an Assembly committee last month, the judiciary is no longer headed toward a crisis  we are in the middle of one.

That is the best way to explain a process that has been paralyzed by dysfunction, thanks to the other two branches.

The Murphy administration says there are 29 more nominees in the pipeline, which would cut the vacancies nearly in half, but the pace is inexcusable. Even Chris Christie managed to get 65 judges confirmed in 2017, with a Democratic Legislature.

And there will be 20 more retirements by the end of 2023  including five in Bergen County alone before July 1. This is why Chief Justice Stuart Rabner suspended civil and divorce trials in six counties.

So it has been another historic week for the judiciary  yet its also been business as usual.

Filling the other seats must be a priority, ACLU director Amol Sinha said, because too many people suffer  monetary issues, family issues, and even the loss of liberty -- when there are delays and a lack of resolution.

They are the people whom Michael Noriega has spent a career defending. It would be a great Jersey thing to have someone on our highest court who speaks in their voice.

Inability of Murphy, Senate to speed judicial appointments is appalling' @colleenodea reports on one proposed fix: https://t.co/0PO0RI6YS6 via @NJSpotlightNews  Brenda Flanagan (@BFlanaganNJ) May 2, 2023

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Thank you for the recent article Help on the way? N.J. lawmakers tackle a dozen new bills to fix school staffing crisis. Based on the summary of these proposals, the Legislature has missed the reasons this shortage exists. The bills, as explained in the story, are counterproductive.

Eliminating basic skills requirements for teacher candidates is a negative when more in-depth skills in math, science and political studies are so needed. Reducing certification costs is a plus, but more needs to be done.

Another error is to reduce the amount of time required to be spent in student teaching. With the current psychological issues, prospective teachers need more, not less, hands-on experience.

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I do not believe these financial and testing barriers are major reasons for teachers drooping out or choosing not to major in education.

Consider these reasons instead:

 Low pay in comparison to other college graduates. When salaries are increased, teachers are blamed for raising taxes. Teachers pay taxes, just as everyone does.

 Fear, including that of mass shootings and dangerous conditions in schools. These are a major worry.

 Basic disrespect. There is constant pressure based on political issues from parents and school board members. How many other professionals are instructed on how to do their jobs by their clients?

Until a basic overhaul of the education system is addressed, these minor legislative proposals will do little. Why would any current young person want to consider a teaching career?

Jo Yuresko, Hackettstown

The writer is a retired teacher.

Debt wont disappear if you refuse to pay it

Concerning the standoff over raising the federal debt limit:

People we have elected to represent us are playing games with our economic lives. They are seriously talking about allowing our country to go into financial default.

I dont care what spin is placed on this topic, we are talking about paying our bills, not spending additional money, by authorizing a higher debt limit. We constantly hear that we need to cut spending. Fine, whoever is controlling Congress has the power to do that when it passes a budget.

Dont tell me that you are cutting spending by not paying your bills. The amounts you owe dont go away when you dont pay them. You just suffer the consequences of being a deadbeat.

The government owes military personnel their salaries on time for what they are doing and have done. The government owes me and thousands of people like me our Social Security and veterans disability benefits.

I have written to my U.S. representative, Chris Smith, R-4th Dist., and have asked him to state his position on the crisis. He has not responded. I urge everyone to write or email their House member. I dont need to hear what their political party is doing. I need to know what they are doing. I also dont need to hear a future argument as to why my mortgage wasnt paid on time because my benefit checks were not received.

Please contact your guy in Washington and let him or her know: We pay our bills. Dont create them if you wont pay them.

Richard Plaza, Whiting

Learn that rules apply to everyone

This is in response to the Washington Post article, Nonbinary student banned from prom (for wearing a suit. Strangers rallied to help), which was printed in the May 14 Star-Ledger.

B Hayes states they had been attending that Christian school in Nashville for 13 years, so they must have read the school handbook and knew the rules. Also, the school clearly communicated the dress code to parents and students before the prom. What makes Hayes think its OK to think to flout the rules? What makes Hayes better than all the other students?

Where are Hayes parents and/or friends? Believe me, those supporters arent doing the student any favors. As people move on in life, they will be confronted with many rules and guidelines they dont agree with or dont believe pertain to them, such as wearing a seatbelt, driving on the right hand side of the road, paying taxes, etc. Instead of rallying, supporters should have told Hayes to grow up and follow the dress code like everyone else.

There is no hate here. The school follows a biblical policy based on traditional genders, and has since its inception. It applies to all students, not just Hayes.

Finally, the school isnt telling anyone what it means to be a woman. The school is upholding its guidelines, to which Hayes or Hayes parents agreed by signing a document to that effect upon enrollment.

Joanne Sieben, Toms River

Showtime for the presidents

A recent letter from Greg McLaughlin (No joke that Biden wont take questions) expressed concern about President Joe Bidens failings as a speaker, particularly when taking reporters questions in press conferences.

But, when did the ability to get up and wing it become so important?

President Ronald Reagan was a former actor. President Donald Trump thinks, or thought, hes a showman. Others have been better or worse on that score.

Is showmanship a requirement? The president handles very heavy stuff, and he should not be concerned about entertaining reporters and their readers.

Maybe we are better off with a more thoughtful president than the one we had three years ago.

Herb Skovronek, Morris Plains

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A man who was shot by police after allegedly firing multiple rounds in the air and aiming his gun at an officer is now facing charges, Passaic County Prosecutor Camelia M. Valdes said.

Jason Urban, 42, of Passaic, became involved in the encounter with Passaic officers near Lackawanna Place and Passaic Avenue on May 10, prosecutors said. The officers arrived at the location shortly before 6:30 p.m., in response to a 911 call reporting a man with a gun, officials said.

Urban shot the firearm in the air several times and ignored police demands to drop the weapon, authorities said. He then pointed it at one of the officers, prosecutors said.

Another officer responded by firing at Urban eight times and striking him, officials said. He was then taken into custody and brought to St. Josephs University Medical Center for treatment, authorities said.

Police later determined that the firearm, a Smith & Wesson .44 Magnum, had been reported stolen In Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, officials said.

Urban has been charged with receiving stolen property, aggravated assault and multiple weapons offenses, prosecutors said.

The Passaic County Prosecutors Office has filed a motion for him to be detained pretrial.

Urbans first appearance and a hearing on the motion is scheduled for May 19. Attorney information for him was not immediately available.

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Nicolas Fernandes may be reached at nfernandes@njadvancemedia.com.
Australia has recognised the immense potential for growth in regional and rural entrepreneurship.

Despite the countrys vast size, a surprising 71 per cent of Australian entrepreneurs currently operate their businesses within major cities, indicating a significant concentration. This reliance on urban centers places Australia in the fourth position globally, tied with Lithuania. However, smaller countries like Iceland, South Korea, and Colombia have surpassed Australia in terms of their dependence on major cities for entrepreneurial activities.

Australia has shifted its focus towards promoting entrepreneurship in regional and rural areas to harness untapped opportunities beyond urban hubs. The aim is to stimulate economic growth, job creation, and community development by encouraging and supporting entrepreneurs in these regions.

Diversifying entrepreneurship beyond major cities will alleviate the concentration of economic activities and unlock the potential of local resources and talents.

Shaun Broughton, the Managing Director of APAC & Japan at Shopify, highlighted the significance of this endeavor, stating, Australia is punching above its weight on many fronts, but theres still significant untapped potential. Australia can further boost its global standing by supporting the growth of more businesses in regional and rural areas.

This strategic shift opens up opportunities for businesses in regional Australia to reach the same metropolitan and even global audiences as their urban counterparts, leveraging the power of e-commerce while minimising costs associated with the property.

As Australia embraces and nurtures entrepreneurship beyond major cities, it aims to create a more balanced and inclusive business landscape. By tapping into the entrepreneurial potential of regional and rural areas, Australia can unlock new avenues for growth, enhance economic resilience, and empower local communities to thrive in the global business arena.

On a global scale, the United States holds first in the ranking, followed by Lithuania and Romania. In terms of regional performance, the Asia Pacific region demonstrates dominance in the Index, with four countries, namely Australia, China, Hong Kong, and Japan, securing spots in the top 10. Moreover, the region boasts a total of 10 countries within the top 40 rankings.

The collective efforts of Shopify entrepreneurs worldwide have resulted in remarkable outcomes. They have supported a staggering 5.2 million jobs, marking an 8.3 per cent increase from 2021. The exports generated by these entrepreneurs amount to $27.7 billion USD, showing a 7 per cent growth rate. Additionally, their contributions to GDP reach a substantial $229.3 billion USD, reflecting an impressive 8.8% increase. Overall, these entrepreneurs have generated $490.5 billion USD in economic activity, representing an 8.6% growth.

Among the countries, Vietnam stands out with the second-highest number of jobs supported, reaching 471,474, second only to the United States. Australia, leading the ranking for the Asia Pacific region, secures the sixth position globally, trailing closely behind the United States and the United Kingdom. Notably, Australian entrepreneurs have made a significant impact on GDP, contributing $17.7 billion AUD, making it the third-highest GDP impact among all countries.

Hong Kong has exhibited remarkable performance, surpassing expectations. The region secures the ninth position in the ranking, and the impact of merchants on GDP has grown by a notable 17.8%.

On the other hand, Japan emerges as a success story in the Asia Pacific region, showcasing positive growth across all metrics. Exports have increased by 29 per cent, business activity and jobs supported have risen by 24 per cent, and GDP impact has grown by 23 per cent.

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A man called a victim anti-gay slurs before stabbing him several times early Tuesday morning, Passaic County Prosecutor Camelia M. Valdes said.

The attack occurred near 7-11 Fair Street, where a 35-year-old man suffering stab wounds flagged down city police officers at 3:48 a.m., prosecutors said.

Officers also located a 41-year-old woman nearby, who had been assaulted and was suffering a laceration to her leg, officials said.

A description of the suspect was provided and officers from the county Sheriffs office soon located a suspect, 42-year-old Damian Padilla, authorities said.

Investigators then determined that Padilla made several anti-gay slurs towards the male victim before stabbing him multiple times, officials said.

Prosecutors did not say whether Padilla is a suspect in the attack of the woman.

Padilla has been charged with first-degree bias intimidation, second-degree aggravated assault and multiple weapons offenses.

He is scheduled to appear in Passaic County court on Wednesday. The state will also file a motion for a pretrial detention before a Superior Court judge. Attorney information for Padilla was not immediately available.

The investigation is ongoing. The Prosecutors Office is asking anyone with information to contact its tip line at 1-877-370-PCPO or tips@passaiccountynj.org.

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Nicolas Fernandes may be reached at nfernandes@njadvancemedia.com.
New Jersey students will be required to learn about tick-borne diseases starting next school year under a bipartisan law Gov. Phil Murphy signed Monday.

The measure (S264) requires the state education commissioner, in collaboration with the state health commissioner, to create new curriculum guidelines that teach students how to prevent Lyme disease and other tick-borne diseases.
Forecasters say the combination of low humidity and windy conditions could make parts of New Jersey particularly susceptible to a wildfires on Wednesday.

Atlantic, Burlington, Camden, Gloucester and Ocean counties will be under a red flag warning from 9 a.m to 8 p.m., the National Weather Service said.

The expected combination of strong winds and dry fuels combined with low humidity will create favorable conditions for fires to start and any fires that develop may quickly get out of control and become difficult to contain, the National Weather Service said.

Ten to 15 mph winds could gust to 20 to 25 mph and the relative humidity will be as low as 20%, forecasters say. Afternoon highs will be in the mid 60s to about 70 under mainly sunny skies.

 Red Flag Warning in effect 9 a.m. - 8 p.m. Wednesday, May 17



 Fire Restrictions in Effect Statewide pic.twitter.com/npiIqrD3wD  New Jersey Forest Fire Service (@njdepforestfire) May 17, 2023

The rest of New Jersey isnt under a red flag warning, but conditions are still favorable for rapid fire spread, the weather service said.

Use extra caution if handling any potential ignition source, such as machinery, or cigarettes and matches, the weather service said. Be sure to properly discard all smoking materials. Any dry grasses, dead leaves, or other tree litter that ignite will have the potential to spread fire quickly.

Stage 3 fire restrictions are in effect for Atlantic, Burlington, Camden, Cape May, Cumberland, Gloucester, Middlesex (south of the Raritan River), Monmouth, Ocean and Salem counties.

All fires in wooded areas are prohibited unless contained in an elevated stove using only propane, natural gas, gas or electricity. No charcoal fires are allowed.

The rest of the state is under stage 2 fire restrictions meaning all fires in wooded areas are banned unless in an elevated prepared fireplace, elevated charcoal grill or stove using electricity or a liquid or gas fuel.

Thursday and Friday are also expected to be dry, with the next legitimate chance of rain overnight Friday into early Saturday, then again during the day on Saturday.

Last month, major wildfires broke out in Manchester and West Milford. Peak wildfire season in New Jersey runs through May, according to the state Department of Environmental Protection.

A cold front moved through the region overnight bringing a cooler air mass to the area. High temperatures will be in the upper 50s and 60s. It will be breezy with gusts between 20 and 30 mph. Visit https://t.co/wTqdsonfJ9 for more info. #NYwx #CTwx #NJwx pic.twitter.com/hU4Y6qpEDO  NWS New York NY (@NWSNewYorkNY) May 17, 2023

Freeze watch issued for cold temps

Temperatures on Wednesday are expected to run a few degrees below average for mid-May, then turn colder overnight  dropping into the low 30s in northwestern New Jersey, upper 30s to low 40s in northeastern New Jersey and to around 40 degrees in central and southern New Jersey.

The mercury could dip as low as 28 to 32 degrees in Sussex County, prompting the National Weather Service to issue a freeze watch for that area. The watch, effective from 1 a.m. to 8 a.m. Thursday, says freezing conditions will kill crops and other sensitive vegetation.

The weather service advises homeowners to take steps now to protect tender plants from the cold, such as covering them or moving them indoors until temperatures warm up.

UPDATE (2 p.m. Wednesday): The freeze watch in Sussex County has been upgraded to a freeze warning. In addition, the weather service has issued a frost advisory for Hunterdon, Morris and Warren counties, where temperatures are expected to drop down to 35 degrees. The frost advisory is effective from 3 a.m. to 8 a.m. Thursday.

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NJ Advance Media staff writer Len Melisurgo contributed to this report.

Jeff Goldman may be reached at jeff_goldman@njadvancemedia.com.
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CIMB Thai Bank and Positive Thinking Company, a leading technology company in Asia-Pacific, have announced to establish an expert software development center for CIMB Thai in Hanoi.

The Vietnam Software Development Center in Hanoi is expected to add powerful engineering expert resources and accelerate the digital journey of CIMB Thai, a member of CIMB Group.

"With the vision of becoming a digital-led bank with ASEAN reach, we look forward to the collaboration to help accelerate our ambitious digital evolution roadmap aimed at offering customers a best-in-class digital banking experience," said Paul Wong Chee Kin, President & CEO of CIMB Thai.

"The Vietnam Software Development Center in Hanoi will be the latest highlight in our fast-moving digital journey, joining existing digital hubs in Bangkok and Chiang Mai as a collective engine of excellence that will support our long-term digital aspirations.

Paul Wong Chee Kin, President & CEO of CIMB Thai (L) and Pieter van Diermen, CEO of Positive Thinking Company APAC at the partnership announcement event in Hanoi. Photo by Positive Thinking Company

The partnership will scale up digital resources and drive products and services across CIMB Thais offerings.

Pieter van Diermen, CEO of Positive Thinking Company APAC, a member of Collaboration Betters The World (CBTW) Group, said the strategic tech partnership would help CIMB Thai set up their first software development center in Vietnam, through the distinctive Build Operate Transfer (BOT) model of Positive Thinking Company.

"During our 20 years of experience in building custom software and product development centers in Vietnam, we have witnessed the local market grow an ever more talented pool of highly motivated and well-rounded software engineers," said Pieter van Diermen.

"The Vietnam Software Development Center will be a powerful addition to the current expert engineering teams of CIMB Thai and will make remarkable contributions to its inspiring digital journey."

The Vietnam Software Development Center kicks off with a team based in Hanoi. The team is working closely with the CIMBs engineering teams in Thailand to deploy new features and enhancements on the CIMB Thai mobile banking application as well as other digital touchpoints.

The CIMB Thai and Positive Thinking Company teams in Hanoi. Photo by Positive Thinking Company

With an average of 55,000 new engineers graduating each year, Vietnam's software development sector is flourishing and becoming a major player in the worldwide software product engineering market.

Vietnam is also predicted to become the second-largest digital economy in Southeast Asia by 2025.

Through its scalable and cost-effective BOT model, Positive Thinking Company has established more than 15 software development centers in Vietnam to assist its global clients in accelerating their product roadmaps and digital transformation journeys.

Positive Thinking Company is a founding partner of Collaboration Betters The World, a global tech group and ecosystem with a global team of 4,000 tech talents. Its core expertises in APAC include software product engineering (developing web and mobile apps, enterprise apps, platforms & eCommerce) and the unique Build Operate Transfer (BOT) Model (building custom software and product development centers on behalf of global clients such as Atlassian, National Australia Bank, and many more).

CIMB Thai Bank Public Company Limited is driven by its vision to be a digital-led bank with ASEAN reach delivering wealth management, treasury, consumer banking, corporate banking and ASEAN-related products and services.

CIMB Group is a leading focused ASEAN bank and one of the regions foremost corporate advisors. The group is headquartered in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and offers consumer banking, commercial banking, investment banking, Islamic banking and asset management products and services.

The bank had around 33,000 staff and over 20 million customers as of the end of December 2022.
On Wednesday, Cantrell said her comments about women playing a role in violence was "absolutely misconstrued." She meant from an "investigative standpoint," though she did not say how the comment linked to the cases.

"It wasn't walking anything back," Cantrell said. "It was really a respect thing, and humbling myself just a little bit more relative to grieving families and how raw it is in those moments."

"I did not intend to hurt anyone, and did not intend to make light of the women and the families that were impacted. So my heart just remains very heavy, and I am very sorry for that," Cantrell said.

At police headquarters, Darlene Cusanza, president and CEO of Crimestoppers NOLA, entreated the public to come forward with tips regarding the April 25 slaying of Sully Simmons, who was shot dead in front of her 1-year-old son, and another April 25 shooting in which a woman was targeted and shot while driving with two small children, who sustained injuries.
Foliage-draped cross and flowers, and signs with the writing washed away by rain, mark a spot on Burbank Drive near where Madison Brooks, the 19-year-old LSU sophomore who was raped in the back of a car before being dropped off in a nearby neighborhood, was fatally struck by a car on Burbank Drive about an hour later, around 2:50 a.m. on Jan. 15, authorities said. She had been drinking at Reggie's bar before the incident, and deputies said Brooks had a blood-alcohol level of .319, nearly four times the legal limit to drive and enough to give someone alcohol poisoning and render them unconscious.
Secretary of Wildlife and Fisheries Jack Montoucet addresses the crowd as he and other officials unveil the 13-mile Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority's Caminada Headland beach and dune restoration project that stretches from the mouth of Bayou Lafourche to Caminada Pass and restored over 1,000 acres of shoreline using 8.84 million cubic yards of sand dredged from Ship Shoal. Photographed on Tuesday, March 21, 2017. (Photo by Michael DeMocker, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune)
A Ford sign is shown at a dealership in Springfield, Pa., Tuesday, April 26, 2022. Ford Motor Co. is recalling certain 2004 to 2006 Ranger vehicles, Friday, May 5, 2023, because replacement front passenger air bag inflators may have been installed incorrectly. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said in a letter that the recall includes 231,942 vehicles.
Ho Chi Minh City is experiencing a decline in foreign direct investment as its limited supply of land and outdated infrastructure make the economic hub less attractive than competing localities.

Some $979.6 million in FDI reached Vietnams largest city in the first four months of this year, down 23.4% year-on-year.

Last year HCMC saw its FDI value drop nearly 49% year-on-year to $4.33 billion.

Ngo Ngoc Vinh, head the University of Economics Ho Chi Minh Citys Institute of Development Economic Research, said the southern metro had for years been Vietnams leader in drawing oversees capital.

Thus, he argued, the FDI attraction slowdown needed to be seriously evaluated.

The figures also concerned other analysts.

"Does the city have what strategic investors need? Are their requirements fulfilled, both in terms of soft and hard infrastructure?" asked Ngo Nghi Cuong, CEO of investment consultancy firm C+, at a forum last week.

Phuc Nguyen, a lawyer specializing in HCMC investment counseling, said that the citys advantages were declining over time.

"Investors used think of Ho Chi Minh City first when they wanted to invest in Vietnam, but now they are increasingly choosing northern localities."

Aside from U.S. tech giant Intel and its accumulated investment of over $1.5 billion to date, HCMC has managed to attract only one other massive multinational investor in South Koreas Samsung, which increased investment in its HCMC CE Complex to to $841 million last year.

Although HCMC has remained one of Vietnams top FDI attracting localities in recent years, data shows that billion-dollar FDI projects are slipping through its fingers.

From 2017 to 2021, the five biggest FDI projects of each year found their way to the northern localities of Thai Nguyen, Bac Ninh, Nam Dinh and Hai Phong, or the HCMC-adjacent southern provinces of Ba Ria  Vung Tau and Binh Duong.

Only in 2019 there were two projects of the top five registered in HCMC. However, both of them had a price tag of less than $1 billion each.

One of the citys biggest obstacles to attracting more FDI is the outdated transport and service infrastructure in the city and neighboring localities, said HCMC Peoples Committee Chairman Phan Van Mai at a government meeting last month.

Another challenge is the metropolis dwindling supply of real estate. This year, the Ho Chi Minh City Export Processing and Industrial Zones Authority (HEPZA) had only 41 hectares of land to rent to businesses. But even this figure his was the total combined amount of land in different localities, which means there was not a single land lot big enough to allocate to a large foreign enterprise.

HEPZA is also facing administrative difficulties in accessing 1,500 hectares of land tied up in bureaucratic red tape (delays in land allocation ,site clearance, compensation, relocation, etc).

Lawyer Phuc Nguyen said that the citys online investment information hub remains outdated and difficult to access.

The southern hubs Provincial Competitiveness Index tumbled 13 places last year to 27th out of 63 localities in Vietnam.

The city also ranked low on the Provincial Green Index at 49th out of 63 localities, implying that investors are choosing other more environmentally-friendly localities.

A decline in global investment amid economic challenges and geo-political tension also contributed to a drop in FDI attraction for HCMC, said Nguyen Tu Anh, director of the General Department at the Central Economic Commission.

He added that the global minimum tax of 15% on multinational corporations, which is set to come into effect in 2024, will likely make Vietnam even less attractive in drawing in FDI.

Back to the top

But as Vietnams economic leader, HCMC is still setting its sights high.

By 2025, municipal leaders want to bring in over 50 high-tech projects with a total investment of over $3 billion, including at least one globally famous company.

The city also aims for 70% of new investment to come from 17 key countries, including South Korea, Japan, Singapore, China, and the U.S.

To achieve these ambitious targets, the city needs to improve its business environment, including imposing policies that are predictable and easy to understand, and increasing transparency, said Cao Thi Phi Van, deputy director of the HCMC Investment and Trade Promotion Center.

Focusing on e-commerce, software, finance and health systems development will be clutch, she said.

Tu Anh said that the global minimum tax can be both a disadvantage and an advantage, as countries which had been considered "tax avoidance heavens" will fall out of favor and the city can take this opportunity to develop a major financial center attractive to multinationals.

Truong Minh Huy Vu, deputy director of HCMC Institute for Development Studies (HIDS), said that improving the quality of industrial parks will also be important.

HIDS is studying ways to upgrade the quality of five industrial parks in the city.

The city is also studying the possibility of building inter-region infrastructure to expand its supply of industrial land.
House Republican Rep. Jerome Zeringue, right, from earlier in the legislative session. On May 16, 2023 the Louisiana House approved his resolution urging Attorney General Jeff Landry to legally challenge the formula the Federal Emergency Management Agency is using to determine the new prices for flood insurance policies.
Traffic police take down Nguyen Van Minh after he stabs a police officer after being stopped for a DUI test in Bac Kan Province, May 15, 2023. Photo by police

A police officer is in critical condition after being stabbed by a 69-year-old man he stopped for drunk driving in northern Vietnam.

Traffic police officers in Bac Kan Province stopped motorcyclist Nguyen Van Minh on Monday night at a DUI checkpoint.

Minh was found to have an alcohol level of 0.943mg/l in his breath.

The officers ordered him off the motorbike and he complied, but suddenly fled the scene.

He returned to the spot 10 minutes later and was carrying a knife. He approached Major Duong Xuan Kiem, who was filling up the report, and stabbed him on his right side.

Other officers overpowered and arrested him.

He told the police later he "was upset at the DUI check and wanted revenge."

Kiem was rushed to the Bac Kan Province General Hospital, but since his condition was too critical he was transferred to the Thai Nguyen National Hospital in neighboring Thai Nguyen Province.

He is still under treatment at the hospital.

In accordance with Vietnamese law, anyone driving with alcohol present in their body faces either a fine or criminal charges.

Under current regulations, alcohol concentration of more than 80mg/100 ml of blood or 0.4mg/l of breath attracts the highest fines of VND30-VND40 million ($1,293-$1,724). Drunk driving only results in criminal prosecution when it causes accidents or other consequences.
Last year in the United States, authorities seized enough fentanyl to kill every single American. And thats only the fentanyl that was seized, warned Secretary of State Antony Blinken at this years Summit of the Americas. The number one killer of Americans aged 18 to 49 is synthetic opioids, notably fentanyl. It is a problem that requires local, national and international cooperation to be solved.

The City of Denver and the State Department signed an agreement to partner on building early detection systems to track the evolution of new synthetic drugs, like fentanyl, so that we can develop lifesaving interventions early on, explained Secretary Blinken.

Well share our findings with partners across the hemisphere, so that we can inform locally led efforts to counter this public health and security threat, he said. Now, this is a powerful illustration of how solutions that were finding and answers that were finding at the local level can have a powerful impact on the most pressing, most urgent national problems and international problems we face.

This crisis hit the United States first, but now it is spreading to Mexico and Canada, cautioned Secretary Blinken. The numbers in Canada are dramatic, and we know its going to spread to other places in the world. Our market is increasingly saturated. The criminal enterprises that are engaged in producing and distributing synthetic opioids like fentanyl are trying to make markets elsewhere.

Much of the fentanyl thats coming into the United States starts halfway around the world with perfectly legal chemicals that are then diverted and made into fentanyl. So having the cooperation and collaboration of countries around the world to prevent that diversion is critical, said Secretary Blinken. Its one of the reasons why President Biden is building an international coalition of concerned countries to work together to disrupt the fentanyl supply chain.

Law enforcement is another critical factor in getting the fentanyl crisis under control.

Denvers success in dealing with fentanyl prevention, treatment, recovery, and law enforcement, said Secretary Blinken is a powerful example for other Western Hemisphere cities on how to get ahead of the fentanyl crisis.
The United States condemns the reported sentencing in the Peoples Republic of China of human rights activist and lawyer Guo Feixion, also known as Yang Maodong.

The Guangzhou Intermediate Peoples Court sentenced Guo to eight years in prison reportedly on charges of inciting subversion of state power. In fact, as U.S. State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller wrote in a statement, The PRC sentenced Mr. Guo to eight years of imprisonment for his peaceful work on behalf of the people of the PRC.

Guo has been repeatedly jailed for his human rights work, including six years in prison between 2013 and 2019 for his anti-corruption advocacy and support for free expression. In 2021, he was arrested again as he was boarding a plane to visit his wife Zhang Qing, who was undergoing treatment for cancer in the United States. Guo never saw her again; she died in January 2022. The PRC rejected calls by the U.S. State Department to allow Guo to travel to the United States to care for his two young children.

Guos most recent 8-year prison sentence reportedly stems from his participation in an online portal called the World Forum for Constitutional Democracy, where he published and reposted pro-democracy articles which the Guangzhou court deemed inflammatory and subversive.

State Department Spokesperson Miller noted that U.S. diplomats were blocked from attending Guos trial in Guangzhou on May 11.

We urge the PRC to live up to its international commitments, give its citizens due process, respect their human rights and fundamental freedoms, including freedom of speech, and end the use of arbitrary detentions and exit bans, declared State Department Spokesperson Miller. We continue our calls on the PRC, he added, to immediately release Guo and allow him to travel to the United States to reunite with his family.
Indonesia, RoK ink MoU on agriculture

Indonesian Agriculture Minister Syahrul Yasin Limpo and the Republic of Koreas (RoK) Agriculture, Food, and Rural Affairs Minister Chung Hwang-keun signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on agriculture on May 16 in Jakarta.



The Indonesian minister said that apart from the MoU, the two sides discussed many other aspects together, including the establishment of a task force between the two ministries to deepen the discussions.

Indonesian Agriculture Minister Syahrul Yasin Limpo and the RoK's Agriculture, Food, and Rural Affairs Minister Chung Hwang-keun in Jakarta on May 16, 2023. (Photo:antaranews.com)



According to Limpo, one of the "very intense" discussions with RoK Minister Chung pertained to the question of how to fulfill the dairy industrys needs and realise financing for the cow industry. The East Asian country is believed to be looking to invest in Indonesia's dairy industry.



The Indonesian minister said that there are some commitments that will need to be elaborated, especially regarding smart farming and agricultural technologies. He also revealed that Chung has offered Indonesian young farmers opportunities to intern in the RoK.



He said he expects that agricultural industries in the RoK will invest in Indonesia so that the required agricultural tools and machinery will no longer need to be imported, but could be made in Indonesia through cooperation with the RoK.



Several issues about trade facilitation were also discussed during their meeting, such as ways to provide certification and assistance as well as strengthen trust.



On the occasion, Minister Chung said that under the leadership of President Joko Widodo, Indonesia has made a significant leap in efforts to increase economic growth.



Indonesia, as a large archipelagic country and the fourth-largest population in the world, has very many advantages, he added.
Westinghouse and Dominion will engineer and manufacture six steam generators to be delivered starting in 2028 with installation beginning in 2029. The contract further supports Dominion's Subsequent License Renewal (SLR) program to extend the Long Term Operation (LTO) of Surry Units 1 and 2, ensuring the continued delivery of carbon-free energy for 419,000 homes through 2053.

The new deal follows a contract between Westinghouse and Dominion signed in 2021 for a major Instrumentation and Control (I&C) upgrade. Combined, Dominion's Surry and North Anna nuclear plants produce about a third of the electricity for the company's 2.7 million customers in Virginia and North Carolina.

"Our long-term partnership with Westinghouse supports our efforts to extend Surry's nuclear energy production for decades to come," said Dan Stoddard, Senior Vice President and Chief Nuclear Officer at Dominion. "Our Surry nuclear station operates year-round at more than 93% capacity, providing our customers with around-the-clock clean, reliable and affordable energy."

"These industry-leading steam generators will help Dominion deliver safe and efficient nuclear energy into the middle of the 21st century," said Dan Sumner, Westinghouse President of Operating Plant Services. "We are proud to continue supporting Dominion's modernization efforts."

The steam generators will be fabricated at the state-of-the-art Westinghouse Italy (WEI) facility in Monfalcone, Italy, and are based on Westinghouse's original F-Series units with multiple enhancements to maintain an industry-leading best in-service performance.

Westinghouse Electric Company is shaping the future of carbon-free energy by providing safe, innovative nuclear and other clean power technologies and services globally. Westinghouse supplied the world's first commercial pressurized water reactor in 1957 and the company's technology is the basis for nearly one-half of the world's operating nuclear plants. Over 135 years of innovation makes Westinghouse the preferred partner for advanced technologies covering the complete nuclear energy life cycle. For more information, visit www.westinghousenuclear.com and follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.
To increase confidence in the country's oil and gas sector now that production has stabilized, the NOC has created a strategic plan to be carried out by what it is calling the Strategic Programs Office

By NJ Ayuk, Executive Chairman, African Energy Chamber (http://www.EnergyChamber.org).



When global oil prices reached a 15-year high in 2022, Libya, which holds 3% of the world's hydrocarbon reserves and 39% of Africa's, was unable to take advantage of the windfall.



The reasons were purely political.



Production was shut down for months beginning in April as oil became a pawn in the stalemate between rival leaders: internationally recognized Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh, head of the Government of National Unity (GNU), and Fathi Bashagha, parliament-appointed prime minister of the Government of National Stability (GNS).



Armed militias loyal to Khalifa Haftar, commander of the Bashagha-allied Libyan National Army, waged a campaign to oust Dbeibeh from office by blockading oil fields and ports. Within days, they had managed to close a laundry list of key operations and facilities, including the giant El Feel and El Sharara oil fields (plus several other smaller fields), and the Brega and Zueitina ports. As a result, Libya's National Oil Company (NOC) was forced to declare force majeure, saying it was unable to fulfill its contractual obligations.



Economic Turmoil



The effect on the NOC was devastating, to say the least. At El Feel and El Sharara alone, lost production equaled 333,000 barrels per day (bpd), costing some USD34.69 million daily. Considering that oil and gas revenues have accounted in recent years for anywhere from 96% to 98% of Tripoli's income (giving Libya one of the highest nominal GDPs in Africa), Libya's economy didn't fare any better. The rebels' actions were as much of a blow to the people as they were to Dbeibeh's government.



Unfortunately, this wasn't the only time internal strife has targeted Libyan oil in recent years: A 2020 blockade of export terminals and pipelines resulted in GDP dropping 31% after exports of crude oil and condensates fell from 1.1 million barrels in 2019 to 350,000 barrels per day.



Despite the recent turmoil, things are looking up in Libya's energy sector this year, at least so far. That's according to "The State of African Energy Q1 2023 Report," soon to be released by the African Energy Chamber (AEC). Among other country highlights, the report examines the effect of Libya's parallel governments on its oil and gas industry and the NOC.



Rapid Recovery



Production bottomed out under 600,000 bpd during the first half of 2022 down 50% from the start of the year. But it rebounded remarkably almost as soon as Dbeibeh replaced the longtime NOC chair in July. The move, which was expected to give the country more control over oil revenues, satisfied the militia, who ended their blockades. In response, the NOC lifted force majeure and resumed full operations. As of the end of February 2023 crude oil production was close to pre-blockade levels at 1.164 million bpd. "The State of African Energy Q1 2023 Report" predicts that, barring further disruptions, 2023 output should average 1.2 million bpd.



That would put the NOC on its way to meeting the medium-term goal of 2 million bpd set last August by Dbeibeh, new NOC Chairman Farhat Bengdara, and other political heads. It's unclear, however, if that figure can be achieved with the country's current infrastructure, which is one reason GNU is working to attract additional foreign investment.



Political instability has been a fact of life in Libya for at least two decades, making it more challenging to convince international oil companies (IOCs) that Libya is a safe place to do business. Granted, there are a number of multinationals operating in the country, including France's TotalEnergies, Italy's Eni, Britain's Shell, and America's ConocoPhillips, some with histories dating back nearly 70 years. However, greenfield projects have been few and far between. When Eni announced in January of this year that it would partner with NOC in the USD8 billion Structures A&E offshore gas development, it marked the first new project in Libya in more than 20 years.



For Catherine Hunter, an analyst with S&P Global, the only way Libya can move forward is by cultivating a "far greater pool of investors to call on." In an article posted by S&P Global, Hunter said that while there is clearly continued interest in Libya, it depends on the company's risk tolerance.



To increase confidence in the country's oil and gas sector now that production has stabilized, the NOC has created a strategic plan to be carried out by what it is calling the Strategic Programs Office. The idea, among other things, is to provide more transparency for IOCs into the NOC's financials as a first step in what Bengdara called "an ambitious vision to return Libya to the ranks of the main energy-producing countries in the world."



More Promising Signs



In the meantime, there are promising signs. In addition to Eni's new venture, TotalEnergies, which holds interests in the Al Jurf, El Sharara, Waha, and Mabruk fields, late last year expanded its interest in Waha, completing a joint acquisition with ConocoPhillips to buy out Hess' holdings.



In a media release, TotalEnergies said the purchase reflected the company's "commitment to support Libya's National Oil Corporation (NOC) in its efforts to restore and increase the country's oil production, together with reducing gas flaring to increase supply to power plants for additional electricity supply." The statement also said TotalEnergies and the NOC are studying the development of dedicated solar projects to supply electricity to Waha production sites.



Even more recently, good news came from the NOC itself: On May 1, just five weeks after the Erawin oilfield owned by an NOC subsidiary came online, production had already reached 92,000 bpd. That put it easily within range of its 100,000 bpd annual target.



Fair Winds



While political volatility doesn't happen every day in hydrocarbon-producing countries, market volatility is far more common and this time, Libya is prepared to profit from it. With Europe still seeking replacement supplies for Russian energy, it's not surprising that long-time importers of Libyan energy Italy, Spain, France, and Germany would be turning to Tripoli for more oil and gas. Unless the political mayhem of 2022 resurfaces, it looks like Libya will continue to be an important outpost for exports and that the headwinds it has faced have died down.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of African Energy Chamber.
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Notre Dame Federal Credit Union plans to sponsor more emotional support dogs to help local students through ruff times.

The credit union's Lake County headquarters at 1200 119th St. in downtown Whiting recently hosted Ollie, the emotional support dog for the School City of Whiting. Notre Dame Federal Credit Union provided the initial donation of $8,260 to cover the eight-month-old Golden Retriever's adoption, training and care costs.

It now plans to sponsor two more emotional support dogs, placing one in each school in Whiting during the next academic year.

After an 18-month interruption to in-person instruction and isolation due to the COVID pandemic, we saw increased anxiety, depression, and stress in our students that negatively impacted learning, behavior, and classroom climate, Superintendent Cynthia Scroggins. Seeing this trend in our schools made it an easy decision to seek out funding to secure an emotional support dog for our students as well as the staff.

Scroggins and other school officials brought Ollie to the Notre Dame Federal Credit Union branch in the newly constructed Illiana Building, where he played with the bankers and got a gift basket filled with toys and treats.

During the school year, Ollie is dispatched on duty to Nathan Hale Elementary School, where he's handled by Principal Julie Pearson. He provides students with emotional support and comfort, sitting with them for instance when they practice reading or recount their weekly successes.

In the few months Ollie has been here, he has far exceeded my hopes and expectations for the impact he would have on our students and staff, said Pearson. He has a caring and loving disposition, and just being around him has such a calming effect. His presence in the buildings creates a positive learning environment while supporting the mental health and well-being of our school community.

Notre Dame FCU Chief Retail Officer and Northwest Indiana Market President John Wilkening committed to sponsoring two more emotional support dogs that will start comforting students in Whiting during the 2023-2024 academic year.
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Lil Wayne will headline Festival of the Lakes this year in a ticketed show, potentially ushering in a new era for the summer festival in Hammond.

The popular rapper also known as Weezy is scheduled to take the stage July 15 at the Pavilion at Wolf Lake. Saturday is typically one of the biggest nights at the six-day celebration that features live music, a carnival and other festivities.

The highly influential hip-hop artist is known for hits like "6 Foot 7 Foot," "Lollipop" and "A Milli."

"Sammy Hagar and the Circle was a huge act, but this may be the biggest act we've ever had," Mayor Thomas McDermott Jr. said. "Some say he's the GOAT (greatest of all time) of rapping. I expect this may be the biggest attendance we've ever had at Festival of the Lakes."

Brothers Osbourne, Stone Temple Pilots and Luis "El Flaco" Angel also will headline the festival, which runs July 12 to 16.

Typically, the concerts have all been free, with tickets only for the VIP section close to the stage. This time, Hammond will require tickets to get in and is charging $125 for the first batch of tickets.

"Last year, Rick Ross drew 22,000 people," McDermott said. "We thought that was too many and could potentially be dangerous. So we're going to ticket to restrict access this year."

McDermott said the crowds caused a variety of safety concerns, especially after concertgoers were trampled at a Travis Scott concert in Houston.

"With that many people, it would be hard for paramedics to get in if someone had a heart attack," he said. "It could be dangerous."

Hammond will give out 2,000 tickets for free to city residents. They can keep them or sell them, but it's only two per household.

Then Hammond will sell $125-a-seat gold-section tickets closer to the stage.

"Lil Wayne tickets were $200 the last time he played Chicago, so this is nearly half that," McDermott said. "We're still keeping it accessible."

Hammond sold 500 tickets within hours of the announcement.

Once the gold tickets sell out, Hammond will sell tickets to a silver section farther from the stage. It may also make more free general-admission tickets available, but there is no guarantee of that.

Hammond plans to restrict attendance to about 15,000.

"We draw heavily from Chicago, especially the far South Side," McDermott said. "We expect a lot of demand for this."

Festival of the Lakes may start charging admission more in the future so that it can bring in bigger, newer acts.

"A lot of our acts were at the height of their popularity 10 or 15 years ago," he said. "That's when they were playing the United Center or bigger venues. But you can't bring in someone like a Lil Wayne for a free outdoor show and break even. The math just doesn't work. This is what we have to do to get it to the next level."

Charging admission could bring in more popular and contemporary musicians, he said: "There's no reason this couldn't be like Lollapalooza."

For more information or tickets, visit festivalofthelakes.com.

PHOTOS: Hammond Public Library grand reopening
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LAPORTE  A driver was nabbed this week with nearly 300 pounds of marijuana while speeding along a local stretch of Interstate 80, the LaPorte County Sheriff's Department reported.

"Luis (Dorantes Perez of Moses Lake, Washington) was able to explain that the marijuana was from his work," police said. "He advised he was taking the marijuana to New York."

Perez, 38, was taken to the LaPorte County jail and faces a felony count of dealing marijuana, records show.

A county officer said he was patrolling traffic along I-80 around 10 a.m. Monday when he spotted a Chrysler Pacifica minivan speeding eastbound. He noticed the rear seats of the van down and the windows shaded, which indicated the transportation of contraband.

The officer stopped the vehicle and noticed a strong smell of marijuana and saw several bulky items in the rear covered by a blanket, according to the report.

Child flown to Chicago hospital after crash on I-94; booze, drugs suspected Once the toxicology results have been determined, all reports will be submitted to the Lake County prosecutor for consideration of charges, ISP said.

Perez hesitated when told to leave the vehicle and officers found a bottle of fabric softener inside, which is used to mask the smell of marijuana, the officer said.

Officers lifted the rear door of the van and the blanket to find multiple green packages, according to the report.

"These packages were partially vacuum sealed," police said.

Police say the contents of the packages tested positive for marijuana.

Gallery: Recent arrests booked into LaPorte County Jail James Turner Derrien Bartmess Devin Hawkins LaJuana White Johnathon Hudson Steven Dabney Sr. Andrew Baney James Heeg Joseph Hahn Windroe Taylor Lakisha Peoples Albert Sherrod Matthew Parrott Austin Eckes Jason Mobley
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HAMMOND  A Gary mans fractured love life and love of guns have put him in jeopardy of going to prison again.

Michael Davis pleaded guilty Tuesday in U.S. District Court to a weapons violation arising from his arrest last year during a domestic dispute.

Judge Philip Simon accepted Davis' guilty plea to knowingly owning a 12-gauge Rock Island Armory VRBP-100 semi-automatic shotgun in spite of federal law banning gun ownership to previously convicted felons, like Davis.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Kevin Wolff is arguing in court papers that Davis deserves to receive a 10-year prison term for this latest in a long line of crimes Davis has committed in the last decade and a half.

Defense attorney Gregory Mitchell argues Davis deserves a more lenient sentence of seven years because has grew up with little guidance and has had bipolar disorder, a mental illness that causes mood swings and impulsive behavior, since age 12.

The government alleges a Gary woman called 911 in the early morning hours of Feb. 22, 2022, asking for police protection from Davis, her boyfriend.

The two had one child together and the woman was pregnant with their second child at the time they were breaking up.

Officers had been at her home only several hours earlier when Davis attempted to kick open her front door. Davis left when confronted by police, but then returned and allegedly threatened to kill her and her unborn child.

Police were rushing back to the womans home in the 700 block of Delaware in Garys Emerson neighborhood when the victim, driving in her own car, flagged down officers and said Davis was following her.

Officers stopped Davis, searched his truck, and found the shotgun lying on the floor of the rear seat compartment.

Davis told police he had purchased the firearm only a week earlier off the street for $800 to protect his girlfriend.

Davis has prior convictions in Michigan for armed robbery, trespassing, lying, vandalism and trespassing.

He moved to Indiana where he was convicted in 2018 of unlawful possession of a firearm. He had finished serving his prison term in 2021 and was on probation when arrested last year for the current offense.

Davis defense attorney argues the current offense was the result of a frustrating dispute between him and his girlfriend over returning each others property.

Judge Simon is set to sentence Davis June 14.

Gallery: Recent arrests booked into Lake County Jail Domynic Yerger Shanna Taylor Damon Wade Nicholas Sanchez John Smith Jr. George Stevens Aaron Rawls Ronald Robinson III Dakota Ruel Juan Salas Michael Murray Alex Marion III Crystal McLain Maria Hoyo Paris Hewlett Joseph Coleman Brandon Dubose Diana Enriquez Jessica Hermosillo Erich Boone Dwayne Smith Javante Toran Michael Williams Jr. Vandana Pagany Matthew Parker Daniel Rosario Obaid Shafiq Paul Newlin Pablito Madera II Anthony Manson Jr. Willie McGee Donna Jackson Jocelyn James Kamika Harrell Angel Bousono Jr. Kenyatta Branch Derrick Daniel Rodney Allen Jr. Cesar Torres Michael Toy Roman Martinez Lori Minyard Jeremy Lewis David Keck Samantha Hellems Darius Herron Michael Flores Nariana Williams Chad Shaw John Vann Ricardo Vela Justin Neely Trendarious Peterson Mosley Keandrea Robinson Bailey Llamas Anthony Hardesty-Berry Hope Horn James Lenoir-Williams Cristina Galka Armando Cartagena-Dhuperoyis Gregory Cormick Jr. Genito Balderas William Betts Benjamin Byers Michael Albanese Joshua Baker Roderick Atkins Mark Abel
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CROWN POINT  The Lake County Board of Commissioners declined Wednesday to approve a request by Sheriff Oscar Martinez Jr. to purchase a new Lake Michigan patrol and rescue boat for the sheriff's marine unit.

The three-member county executive, which executes all contracts on behalf of Lake County excluding purchases relating to county jail operations, did not explicitly reject the Democratic sheriff's proposed boat purchase.

In fact, Commissioner Kyle Allen Sr., D-Gary, made a motion to approve the watercraft acquisition. But neither Commissioner Mike Repay, D-Hammond, nor Commissioner Jerry Tippy, R-Schererville, seconded the motion, preventing it from coming to a final vote.

The commissioners then simply moved on to the next item on their regular monthly agenda, keeping the sheriff's boat request  which has been pending in one form or another for nearly two years  in limbo for the foreseeable future.

The sheriff is seeking to spend $860,802.47 to purchase a 38-foot long by 12-foot wide full cabin patrol boat, designed to withstand the rigors of Lake Michigan, from SAFE Boats International based in Bremerton, Washington.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has granted the sheriff's department $583,168 to put toward the boat purchase, and the sheriff has said he can put together the remaining $277,634.47 by repurposing funds in his already approved annual budget.

The commissioners seemed to like that this year's proposed boat purchase would require no new county money, unlike the sheriff's prior attempts to replace its current heavy-duty boat on Lake Michigan that's 29 years old and considered beyond its useful life span.

But Repay and Tippy insisted their opposition is about more than money. They questioned the benefits of directing the sheriff's limited resources to the lakefront, instead of unincorporated areas of the county, and the potential liability to the county if the boat is involved in, or contributes to, a disaster in the water.

They also suggested the sheriff's office merely is duplicating the water rescue and boating safety work of the U.S. Coast Guard and the Indiana Department of Natural Resources, as well as the law enforcement tasks of the incorporated cities along the lakeshore.

In response, Lake County Police Chief Vincent Balbo said the sheriff's water unit patrols Lake Michigan up to 12 hours a day during boating and swimming season, and often is first to respond to a watercraft or swimmer in danger since it's based in East Chicago.

Balbo said the sheriff's department is an essential partner to the Coast Guard and DNR, along with the Portage Fire Department's marine unit, for law enforcement, public safety and port security purposes across the entire span of Indiana's portion of Lake Michigan.

"We'd like to move forward with this purchase," Balbo said.

Tippy responded: "I'm not prepared to vote in favor of this today."

Martinez said after the meeting that purchasing the boat remains a priority and he'll continue pursuing all available options.

"I am very concerned about the fact that the Lake County Commissioners, once again, failed the residents of Lake County by refusing to take advantage of a grant that the sheriffs department secured to defray 75% of the initial cost for a boat that will be used to help ensure the safety of anyone on Lake Michigan," Martinez said.

Gallery: Recent arrests booked into Lake County Jail Domynic Yerger Shanna Taylor Damon Wade Nicholas Sanchez John Smith Jr. George Stevens Aaron Rawls Ronald Robinson III Dakota Ruel Juan Salas Michael Murray Alex Marion III Crystal McLain Maria Hoyo Paris Hewlett Joseph Coleman Brandon Dubose Diana Enriquez Jessica Hermosillo Erich Boone Dwayne Smith Javante Toran Michael Williams Jr. Vandana Pagany Matthew Parker Daniel Rosario Obaid Shafiq Paul Newlin Pablito Madera II Anthony Manson Jr. Willie McGee Donna Jackson Jocelyn James Kamika Harrell Angel Bousono Jr. Kenyatta Branch Derrick Daniel Rodney Allen Jr. Cesar Torres Michael Toy Roman Martinez Lori Minyard Jeremy Lewis David Keck Samantha Hellems Darius Herron Michael Flores Nariana Williams Chad Shaw John Vann Ricardo Vela Justin Neely Trendarious Peterson Mosley Keandrea Robinson Bailey Llamas Anthony Hardesty-Berry Hope Horn James Lenoir-Williams Cristina Galka Armando Cartagena-Dhuperoyis Gregory Cormick Jr. Genito Balderas William Betts Benjamin Byers Michael Albanese Joshua Baker Roderick Atkins Mark Abel
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CROWN POINT  An Illinois man faces a murder charge in connection with a 1-year-old found dead in a Hammond pond nearly two years ago, according to charging documents.

Ahmeel Fowler, 27, of Pingree Grove was charged Thursday with killing the child after her remains were found in a retention pond off a Hammond highway exit ramp in 2021.

Fowler is currently in custody at the Cook County Jail on a murder charge in connection with the death of the childs mother, Ja'nya Murphy. He has been held without bail since November 2021, according to court records.

A spokesperson from the Lake County Prosecutors office could not specify why Fowler was charged with the child's murder almost two years after he was charged with Murphys.

Charging documents allege that on Nov. 9, 2021, officers went to Murphys apartment in Wheeling, Illinois, for a wellness check and found the 21-year-old woman dead.

The Cook County Medical Examiner's Office determined Murphys cause of death was asphyxiation strangulation. When officers found Murphys body, the child was not in the apartment, according to charging documents.

Fowler had a relationship with the woman, but was not the babys father, according to the probable cause affidavit.

Construction workers found the childs remains days later. The child, who has been identified as Jaclyn Angel Dobbs, was not named in Indiana prosecutors charging documents, but Wheeling police confirmed it was Dobbs on Nov. 11, 2021.

When Dobbs remains were discovered officers also found a backpack, which contained Murphys ID card and a cellphone, charges stated.

An autopsy of Dobbs concluded that her manner of death was undetermined, but Pathologist Zhou Wang said due to limited information on the scene, homicide cannot be ruled out, according to the probable cause affidavit.

Wang also noted that there was no evidence of drowning or significant traumatic injury, the affidavit stated.

Wang further stated that prolonged exposure to cold temperature could cause hypothermia and eventually sudden death. Dobbs cause of death was listed as cardiopulmonary arrest due to possible hypothermia, charging documents stated.

Fowler was arrested Nov. 10, 2021, in Springfield, Missouri, according to court records. When officers detained him, Fowler told them that he had been with Murphy and Dobbs the day prior but said he left their apartment around 1:40 a.m., according to charging documents.

Officers searched Fowlers car and discovered a bag containing bloody clothing, a knife and bleach, charging documents stated.

Charging documents also show that police analyzed Fowlers phone and found that he was in the vicinity of Murphys apartment from midnight to about 2:30 a.m. Nov. 9, 2021. Around 3:45 a.m., Fowlers phone was pinged in the area where Dobbs remains were found.

Fowler does not yet have a court appearance set in Lake County, court records stated.

He's set to appear in Judge Marc Martin's courtroom June 21 in the Circuit Court of Cook County, according to court records.

Gallery: Recent arrests booked into Lake County Jail Domynic Yerger Shanna Taylor Damon Wade Nicholas Sanchez John Smith Jr. George Stevens Aaron Rawls Ronald Robinson III Dakota Ruel Juan Salas Michael Murray Alex Marion III Crystal McLain Maria Hoyo Paris Hewlett Joseph Coleman Brandon Dubose Diana Enriquez Jessica Hermosillo Erich Boone Dwayne Smith Javante Toran Michael Williams Jr. Vandana Pagany Matthew Parker Daniel Rosario Obaid Shafiq Paul Newlin Pablito Madera II Anthony Manson Jr. Willie McGee Donna Jackson Jocelyn James Kamika Harrell Angel Bousono Jr. Kenyatta Branch Derrick Daniel Rodney Allen Jr. Cesar Torres Michael Toy Roman Martinez Lori Minyard Jeremy Lewis David Keck Samantha Hellems Darius Herron Michael Flores Nariana Williams Chad Shaw John Vann Ricardo Vela Justin Neely Trendarious Peterson Mosley Keandrea Robinson Bailey Llamas Anthony Hardesty-Berry Hope Horn James Lenoir-Williams Cristina Galka Armando Cartagena-Dhuperoyis Gregory Cormick Jr. Genito Balderas William Betts Benjamin Byers Michael Albanese Joshua Baker Roderick Atkins Mark Abel
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GARY  After Gov. Eric Holcomb signed into law a bill establishing a five-member appointed school board for Gary, the Gary Community School Corp. Advisory Board has been disbanded.

The bill will end the state takeover of the city's public school system on June 20, 2024. The state took control of the school district in 2017 due to intense financial issues and put it in control of the Distressed Unit Appeal Board. In doing so, it disbanded the elected school board and established an advisory board, which doesn't have any control over management of the district but can give awards and hold meetings to listen to resident feedback or discuss matters with the public.

The legislation ending the state takeover provides for installation of a new school board on July 1 to serve in an advisory capacity for a year.

Gary schools Manager Paige McNulty told the current advisory board members they will have no more meetings in a letter that has been shared with The Times.

"I want to thank you all for serving on the board and for your participation and support of the Gary Community Schools," McNulty wrote.

The announcement cancels a meeting scheduled for June.

Robert Buggs, president of the advisory board, took issue with dissolving the board now. He pointed out that the law doesn't go into effect until July 1 and argued that this means the advisory board should be in place until then. He was hoping to use the June meeting as an opportunity to explain to the community what is happening to the school district and to air his grievances about Gary losing its rights to an elected school board.

"The public is not aware of this stuff," Buggs said. "I need to explain to them that their rights to choose have been taken away from them."

The new school board will not be elected as most traditional school boards are. It will be comprised of one person appointed by the mayor of Gary, one person appointed by the Gary Common Council and three people appointed by the Indiana Secretary of Education, who must appoint at least one Gary resident, another resident of Lake County and a final member from anywhere.

Buggs takes particular issue with the fact that one of the board members doesn't even have to live in Lake County.

"How in the hell you going to make a decision for my grandchildren and you don't know anything about Gary at all?" he said. "The other thing is you're telling the city of Gary and everybody that lives in Gary that they don't have enough damn sense to govern themselves."

Buggs said the right to vote for a school board is "a guaranteed right" and "something I put my life on the line for as a veteran." Buggs served as a medic in the U.S. Army for 26 years.

This also comes in the middle of a lawsuit between several of the members of the advisory board. Jacquese White is suing Buggs and three other board members, Lovetta Tindal, Mary Ann Canty-Reedus and Amelia Brown, after they voted to remove her as the board's appointment to the Gary Public Library Board of Trustees  one of the board's few powers is to appoint members to the Gary Public Library Board. That lawsuit is ongoing and Jewell Harris Jr., White's attorney, told The Times they intend to see it through.

Gallery: New furniture for kids at Glen Park Academy Gary Community School Corp. students returned to their classrooms after winter break to a surprise Tuesday: brand-new furniture. Glen Park Academy New Furniture.jpg A classroom at Glen Park Academy for Excellence in Gary, decked out Tuesday with brand-new furniture. Glen Park Academy New Furniture 2.jpg Staff rolls brand-new furniture into Glen Park Academy for Excellence on Tuesday. Buildings throughout the Gary school district received new f Glen Park Academy New Furniture 3.jpg Gary Community School Corp. officials said that Tuesday was the first time in decades that many schools in the district received new furniture. Glen Park Academy New Furniture 4.jpg Students sit in a classroom Tuesday at Glen Park Academy for Excellence in Gary. Students returned from the holiday break to brand-new furniture. Glen Park Academy New Furniture 5.jpg New tables on Tuesday at Glen Park Academy for Excellence in Gary. Gallery HTML code
Hoping for the best, but preparing for the worst: That is what approximately 400 Entergy Louisiana and Entergy New Orleans employees tackled head on over two days, from May 10-11, during the companies' 2023 hurricane season storm drill.

The drill is one portion of the ongoing training that employees undergo throughout the year.

Employees kicked off day one by participating in various training and tabletop exercises that introduced them to new tools, technologies and processes. The drill is designed to help them restore power quickly and safely following severe weather and keep customers informed throughout those events. On day two, employees concluded their training by participating in a mock storm drill.

During the simulated hurricane scenarios, employees responded to two Category 5 hurricanes, with one making landfall in Southwest Louisiana and another in Southeast Louisiana. They tested their knowledge and skills related to all facets of storm restoration including operations, logistics, communications, and customer service and were evaluated on their planning and execution.

"We know that it's not a matter of if but when Mother Nature decides to challenge us in Louisiana, and for that reason, we must be ready," said Steven Benyard, vice president of reliability for Entergy in Louisiana. "The storm drill that we participate in every year is about continuous improvement; it's about making sure that we're readying ourselves and our workforce to be the best that we can be if we're called to restore power following a major storm."

The exercise involved storm roles from incident commander to crew leads and supervisors who will use new technologies to perform damage assessments quickly and safely, a critical part of storm restoration that helps local crews restore power in a real scenario through resource and logistics actions like deploying any necessary equipment, materials, and personnel.

Entergy's drone experts were onsite with displays and equipment that is used by crews to assess damages to the electric system, especially in hard-to-access locations like the marsh or heavily wooded areas with saturated ground. Disaster Resource Group, a local vendor that partners with the company during storm response, was also onsite displaying components of a staging site like a bunk trailer that is typically used by utility workers during rest time and temporary tents that provide shelter for catering and laundry services.

Also, Entergy showcased its new mobile command center. The vehicle will function as a field command center, providing an immediate communications platform during major system incident response, or mutual assistance events.

"The storm drill we hold each year is a testament to the dedication of our workforce and their commitment to being there for the communities we serve," said Phillip May, who has served as Entergy Louisiana's president and CEO through many weather events, including hurricanes Laura and Ida. "We can't predict the future or when and where the next major storm will land, but we can certainly ready ourselves to do what we've always done be there for our customers, even in the most challenging times."

"We live in an area prone to some of the most severe weather in the country, and are facing stronger and more frequent storms," said Deanna Rodriguez, Entergy New Orleans president and CEO. "While we continue to invest in hardening the grid, today's storm drill is an important exercise for our teams to prepare for anything Mother Nature may bring."

Customers encouraged to be prepared as well

Although Entergy is always upgrading the electric system and adding in resilience, the company is encouraging customers to be prepared for hurricane season as well because no two storms are alike and each present different challenges and can inflict different levels of damage.

Entergy provides information to customers to help them prepare for hurricane season and communicates with them after a severe weather event. The company's Storm Center includes checklists and other information that customers can use to create a pre-storm kit and prepare for hurricane season. The website includes individual pages on preparation, safety and restoration. Customers are also encouraged to follow Entergy New Orleans and Entergy Louisiana on Facebook and Twitter at @EntergyNOLA and @EntergyLA.

Preparing beyond the 2023 hurricane season

Entergy recognizes that the intensity and frequency of major storms are increasing and believes we must take an accelerated approach to storm hardening and building resilience into the electric system. To provide reliable power well into the future and help the communities we serve recover more quickly following severe weather events, the company filed Entergy Future Ready Resilience Plans with its regulators, the New Orleans City Council and the Louisiana Public Service Commission.

Visit the company's newsroom to learn more about Entergy New Orleans and Entergy Louisiana's plans.

Editor's note: To download soundbites and images from Entergy's 2023 Louisiana storm drill, visit entergy.canto.com/b/OQTBC.

About Entergy Louisiana

Entergy Louisiana, LLC provides electricity to more than 1.1 million customers in 58 parishes and natural gas service to approximately 95,000 customers in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

Entergy New Orleans, LLC provides electricity to more than 209,000 customers and natural gas to more than 110,000 customers in Orleans Parish, Louisiana.

Entergy Louisiana and Entergy New Orleans are subsidiaries of Entergy Corporation, a Fortune 500 electric company. Entergy powers life for 3 million customers through our operating companies in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. We're investing in the reliability and resilience of the energy system while helping our region transition to cleaner, more efficient energy solutions. With roots in our communities for more than 100 years, Entergy is a nationally recognized leader in sustainability and corporate citizenship. Since 2018, we have delivered more than $100 million in economic benefits each year to local communities through philanthropy, volunteerism and advocacy. Entergy is headquartered in New Orleans, Louisiana, and has approximately 12,000 employees. For the latest news from Entergy, visit the Newsroom.

Contact

David Freese

504-576-4132

dfreese@entergy.com
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GARY  Two schools in Ethiopia are grateful to receive 7,216 pieces of furniture from the Gary Community School Corporation through Bread and Water for Africa.

When we were made aware of this amazing program, we knew we had to jump on it, said Dr. Paige McNulty, GCSC manager. Even with the equipment and resource challenges our district has faced, we still recognize there are others in need.

New furniture was unveiled to GCSCs five elementary schools via Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funding in January. Instead of tossing out the old furnishings, the school corporation wanted to help others in need.

GCSC learned about Bread and Water for Africa through the IRN Reuse Network. This network serves organizations in North America who want to see their surplus furnishings and equipment reused by those in need, rather than thrown away, according to its website.

It feels so good to be able to help others no matter where they are, McNulty said. Our children are witnessing an extreme act of kindness and unconditional love.

Prior to receiving the furniture, students at Kechin Mesk Elementary and Junior High School and Nefas Mewucha Junior High School in Ethiopia were completing their classwork while seated on tree trunks or flat stones. The students desks had been destroyed at both schools during a war that took place in 2021 and 2022.

The variety of desks, chairs, tables and cabinets were transported to the two schools through the IRN network in February. IRN project managers removed the furniture from GCSC elementary schools during winter break.

The removal of the old furnishings allowed GCSC to replace classrooms with upgrades. Following an assessment via ESSER, it was determined the current furniture had outlived its life-span, said Toni Mitchell, GCSC ESSER project manager.

We wanted to foster long-term impact on students and staffs physical, mental and social wellbeing, Mitchell said. The furnishings are intended to inspire motion and flexibility while embracing adaptability to our classroom needs.

Mitchell noted both GCSC students and the students overseas were excited, thrilled and overjoyed to receive updated furnishings. One student referred to it as Christmas all over again, she said.

Though GCSC doesnt have any current plans to work with Kechin Mesk Elementary and Junior High and Nefas Mewucha Junior High, the school corporation is interested in future work.

Because teachers are always in search of ways to make learning meaningful, it wouldnt surprise me if some took an interest in exploring more opportunities to connect with schools in Ethiopia, Mitchell said.

PHOTOS: Gary mayoral primary Eddie Melton/Jerome Prince primary night Eddie Melton/Jerome Prince primary night Eddie Melton/Jerome Prince primary night Eddie Melton/Jerome Prince primary night Eddie Melton/Jerome Prince primary night Eddie Melton/Jerome Prince primary night Eddie Melton/Jerome Prince primary night Eddie Melton/Jerome Prince primary night Eddie Melton/Jerome Prince primary night Eddie Melton/Jerome Prince primary night Eddie Melton/Jerome Prince primary night Eddie Melton/Jerome Prince primary night Eddie Melton/Jerome Prince primary night Eddie Melton/Jerome Prince primary night Eddie Melton/Jerome Prince primary night Eddie Melton/Jerome Prince primary night Eddie Melton/Jerome Prince primary night Eddie Melton/Jerome Prince primary night Eddie Melton/Jerome Prince primary night
The Class UFC Gym in Winfield will have a grand opening Saturday with top welterweight UFC title contender Belal Muhammad.

Muhammad, a Chicago-based fighter with a 23-3 record in the mixed martial arts, will do a meet-and-greet and teach a class at the grand opening, which will take place from 12 to 4 p.m. Saturday at the gym at 10660 Randolph St. in Winfield.

The high-end gym focuses on classes, specializing in boutique boxing conditioning, kickboxing and HIIT, or High Intensity Interval Training. Manager Hannah Elliott said it's more akin to an Orange Theory than the boxing or mixed martial arts gym one might expect from the name.

"We use Myzone Fit Metrics, which track your workout and connect you to an app," she said. "It's like Orange Theory where they track you the same way and you burn the most calories and sweat the most when you're in the orange."

The owners also own the Class UFC Gym on Calumet Avenue in Munster. There also was an unaffiliated UFC Gym in Merrillville that closed.

"We are an affiliated class-based gym that's mostly focused on conditioning," she said. "There's also sparring. We hold classes for boxing, kickboxing and high interval cardio and strength classes. We have circuit training and one-on-one time with coaches."

Most classes run 60 minutes per session. People can get coached by active MMA fighters or trainers who help them reach their fitness goals, whether getting in shape, losing weight or recovering.

Classes run from 5:30 a.m. to 12 p.m. and from 4:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. on weekdays.

Class UFC Gym also has open gym times between 12 and 4 p.m. during the week. People can come in and work out outside of classes, such as by punching a heavy bag, rowing, cycling, lifting weights or practicing fundamentals. It has classes like Muay Thai, cycling and a coach's choice day on the weekend.

"You can get a day pass to come in and learn techniques and fundamentals," she said. "Our coaches will push you. There's no downtime. They push you hard and you feel accomplished. It's a good workout you feel for days. It will help you get in shape again. We focus on conditioning and fundamentals."

The grand opening event will have a taco truck, an ice cream vendor, a bounce house, a bakery, an artisan jewelry maker and fitness clothing for sale. It will feature a motorcycle club, balloon animals, Jersey Mike's and Muse Med Spa.

People will be able to buy sparring gloves and have Muhammad sign them. There will be discounted memberships and giveaways.

"It's an open house where people can come in to see how we operate," she said. "The facility itself is impressive and high-end. It will be an amazing experience."

Class UFC Gym offers monthly membership and multi-class passes. It gives discounts to teachers, first responders and veterans.

For more information, call 219-252-9812 or visit www.classufcgym.com/locations/winfield/.
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GARY  Paige McNulty is stepping down as Gary Community School Corp.'s manager, her employer, MGT Consulting, announced Wednesday.

McNulty's last in-person day will be June 4, but she will assist with the leadership transition until June 30.

McNulty ran the school district during a period it was managed by MGT Consulting and the state's Distressed Unit Appeal Board. Those entities took control of the district in 2017 when the state legislature, due to massive financial problems within the district, voted to disband the local school board and dismiss the administration.

After Gov. Eric Holcomb signed Senate Enrolled Act 327 into law May 5, the state takeover will begin to be phased out July 1 when a new appointed school board takes office.

"We are so proud of the progress that has been made in the Gary Community School Corp.," said Eric Parish, executive vice president at MGT Consulting. "With improved financial stability, a student-centered culture, and positive academic momentum, Dr. McNulty has demonstrated tireless service during an incredibly complex and difficult period for educators and leaders. We welcome and have full confidence in the continued growth and improvement on behalf of students and the entire Gary community."

McNulty began as GCSC manager in February 2020. During her tenure, she guided the district through the COVID-19 pandemic, a successful campaign to pass a tax referendum and passage of a balanced budget.

In the press release announcing her departure, MGT Consulting thanked McNulty for her leadership and boasted that she increased the number of children who could attend free pre-school, lengthened the school day for an hour daily, adopted new curricula for English, math, and science, sold more than 10 abandoned school buildings that had become eyesores and magnets of crime in the community and increased the offerings at the Gary Area Career Center, among other things.

"Dr. McNulty took one of the toughest jobs in the State of Indiana and gave it everything she had," Justin McAdam, chairman of DUAB, said. "Dr. McNultys consistent leadership in the face of numerous challenges has set the stage for the next leaders to build upon her successes and provide better opportunities for the children of Gary now and into the future."

McNulty and the rest of MGT Consulting's team are not without their critics, though. A lawsuit, which was withdrawn in November, filed by Gary attorney Tracy Coleman sought to remove McNulty from her position. In April, Glen Eva Dunham, president of the Gary Teachers Union, said that under MGT Consulting, "people are treated like dirt, like dogs."

While the state takeover is ending, McNulty's position will not be eliminated. In the first phase of the newly appointed school board's tenure, that school board will work with her successor until July 1, 2024  or a later date when DUAB certifies Gary schools no longer are financially distressed  when it will gain full control of the district and have the ability to appoint a superintendent, per SEA 327.

MGT Consulting announced Wednesday that Mike Raisor, MGT Consulting's senior vice president of education solutions, will become the district's next manager. Previously, he served as chief operations officer at Jefferson County Public Schools in Kentucky. In Gary, he will work with the new school board as the district transitions to its new management model.

"Ive gotten to know Mike Raisor from several years of working together, and I know all that he accomplished in one of the largest and most complex school districts in the country," McNulty said. "Mike and his team will pick up right where we left off and build on the momentum in Gary."

Gallery: Gary's abandoned schools Gary Schools: Edison Gary Schools: Edison Gary Schools: Horace Mann Gary Schools: Ernie Pyle Gary Schools: Horace Mann Gary Schools: Emerson Gary Schools: Ernie Pyle Gary Schools: Horace Mann Gary Schools: Horace Mann Gary Schools: Emerson Gary Schools: Emerson Gary Schools: George Washington Carver Gary Schools: George Washington Carver Gary Schools: Edison Gary Schools: Edison Gary Schools: Ernie Pyle Gary Schools: Horace Mann Gary Schools: Spaulding Gary Schools: Spaulding Gary Schools: Horace Mann Gary Schools: Edison Gary Schools: Edison Gary Schools: George Washington Carver Gary Schools: Spaulding Gary Schools: Spaulding Gary Schools: George Washington Carver Gary Schools: Horace Mann Gary Schools: Edison Gary Schools: Ernie Pyle Gary Schools: Edison Gary Schools: George Washington Carver Gary Schools: Horace Mann
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MICHICAN CITY  Two Michigan City High School seniors with healthcare career goals recently received Franciscan Health Michigan City Medical Staff Memorial Scholarships to assist with their post-secondary educations.

Adrian Huizar and Kourtney Pratt, both 18, were selected by the Franciscan Health Michigan City Medical Staff Scholarship Committee as the 2023 scholarship recipients.

Huizar is enrolled in an emergency medical technician program and plans to further his education with a physicians assistant degree at Valparaiso University. His goal is to work in a hospital emergency department.

Huizars interest in a healthcare career was sparked by his parents difficulties in receiving Spanish translation services in medical settings.

I want to be able to have that one-on-one support for patients and use my bilingual skills to help them get the care they need, Huizar said. The scholarship will help me a lot by paying for my books and tuition.

Pratt, whose mother is also in the healthcare field, plans to attend the University of St. Francis to study radiology technology.

It is an important part of the medical process, Pratt said. You need those images to help with diagnosis. The scholarship will help me cover part of my tuition, books and fees and allow me to focus more on my studies.

The medical staff at Franciscan Health Michigan City voted unanimously in 2021 to establish and fund a scholarship honoring the memories and continuing legacies of physicians who served the community as members of the medical staff.

The $5,000 annual scholarship is funded by physicians on the Franciscan Health Michigan City medical staff in partnership with the Franciscan Health Foundation and may be split among recipients as the committee deems appropriate.

Dr. Matthew Troy, who serves as chairman of the Scholarship Committee, said this is the second year the scholarships have been awarded. The first two students awarded the scholarships keep in touch with the scholarship committee, he said, and are thriving.

The goal is to foster and affirm their decision to seek a career in which they can help others, Troy said. The Scholarship Committee firmly believes that our individual success began with someone believing we could succeed in healthcare. We want to be that voice for these students. We believe in them and know they will enrich our community in the future.
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Republican Todd Young's second term in the U.S. Senate is starting out pretty sweet.

The Hoosier is now seated at the "candy desk" in the chamber and responsible for ensuring that the back row, aisle desk on the Republican side is well-stocked with goodies for lawmakers of both political parties whenever they need a sugar fix.

Young announced this week that he plans to stock the Senate's candy desk with confections from Indiana candy makers, including Albanese gummy products from Merrillville and sour punch straws from The Sweet Tooth in Munster.

"The candy desk is a popular destination for senators from both sides of the aisle, and Im excited to share Hoosier candies with my colleagues," he said. "Perhaps a taste of Hoosier hospitality will sweeten the sometimes-bitter divide in Washington."

The Senate has maintained a candy desk for its members since the 1960s, and its location, near the chamber's most popular entrance, makes it easy for senators to grab a little snack on their way in to keep up their energy during long periods of floor debate.

The originator of the candy desk, California Sen. George Murphy, started out merely sharing candy-flavored throat lozenges with his colleagues.

Senators subsequently seated at the designated desk initially upgraded the offerings to mints and hard candies, then eventually to a robust selection of treats from the senator's home state  a tradition Young believes is important to continue.

"Candy manufacturers across Indiana are producing amazing treats, and my goal is to spotlight these unique products made and distributed by Hoosiers," he said.

In addition to the Region-based delights, Young plans to stock DeBrand chocolate bars from Fort Wayne, Red Hots from Jeffersonville, Toxic Waste sour candy and rock crystal candies from New Albany, Kraft caramels from Kendallville, jelly beans from Wakarusa, buckeyes from Metamora, and Endangered Species mini chocolates from Indianapolis.

Young is taking over the candy desk from Sen. Pat Toomey, whose home state of Pennsylvania is home to Hershey, Reese's and other longstanding candy brands.

Albanese doesn't (yet) have its own theme park, like Hershey. But who knows what the future holds once America's 100 senators take a ride on the 12 flavors of the Merrillville company's "world's best" gummy bears.

Young actually is the second Hoosier senator to preside over the candy desk. Dick Lugar, who represented Indiana for 36 years, made available a selection of hard candies from 1977 to 79 when he served as the Senate's candy king.

The keeper of the candy won a second six-year term serving Hoosiers at the Capitol by defeating Democratic Hammond Mayor Thomas McDermott Jr. in last year's election.

McDermott made news this week touting a different kind of gummy  marijuana edibles  from a home in Michigan where the drug is legal, in contrast to Indiana where cannabis is not.

PHOTOS: Sen. Todd Young visits Valparaiso University
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We are here to help.

This is the automated greeting of the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline thats based in our Region, which has received nearly 6,000 calls since November.

This is an astounding amount considering the majority of calls are regarding other mental health crises such as financial troubles, relationship issues, domestic abuse, chronic anxiety, homicidal ideations and some people simply having a bad day. Of the last 5,731 calls, 1,307 of the callers expressed suicidal ideations.

988 is not only a suicide prevention line. Its a resource to those experiencing any kind of mental health crisis, said Marion Collins, program director for this areas 988 lifeline. We have calls for a variety of reasons.

May is Mental Health Awareness Month, an ideal time to introduce or reintroduce residents to this easily accessible resource. All of us likely know someone who could use the 988 lifeline at some point.

Mental health wellness and mental illness remain stigmatized, even shameful subjects in our society. We instinctively sweep them under the rug of awkwardness despite the prevalence of both in our lives.

Every week I notice strangers in public with suspected mental health problems. Here are a few recent examples: an older woman yelling incoherently at random strangers at Navy Pier in Chicago; a middle-aged man from Portage repeatedly contacting me claiming he has discovered a cure for cancer; a young man directing traffic at an intersection with no stop sign in Valparaiso; and a teenage girl from Griffith who is cutting herself to release the demons in her head, according to her parents.

I dont know where to turn because she doesnt know where to turn, the mother told me last month.

I suggested she turn to the 988 lifeline for starters. And for follow-up needs.

Our program is unique in that it is a remote call center, said Collins, who works at the Crisis Center, Inc. in the Miller Beach section of Gary. Our crisis specialists who answer the lines and our shift supervisors all work from their own homes.

Ive written about the Crisis Center numerous times through the years. Each time it impresses me with its compassionate responses to societal problems. Teen court. Safe Place. Alternative House. Safely Home. Programs that are badly needed. We never close, its website states.

Our crisis specialists are trained to de-escalate callers, Collins said. Our goal is not to call emergency services, 911, unless the caller is at imminent risk of suicide or homicide and not able to be de-escalated.

Less than 1% of those calls result in emergency services being dispatched, but only after a supervisors approval.

In July, 2022, the 988 lifeline number became nationally active and available, making it easily accessible and someday as familiar as 911. Crisis Center, Inc. is one of four designated 988 call centers in Indiana. The state has not begun its formal marketing campaign but officials predict a 200-400% increase in call volume once it begins.

Northwest Indiana residents deserves to get a jump on this remarkable resource, the first of a three-pillar mental health crisis response system being built nationally. Pillar two - mobile crisis teams - is for someone to physically visit the person experiencing a crisis. Pillar three - stabilization units - is somewhere to go for short-term observation and stabilization.

It is exciting to see this all growing and to know our center is part of only the beginning of the mental health crisis response system, Collins said.

Since 988 became federally mandated, the Crisis Center has built a team to answer calls 24 hours a day, every day of the year. November was the centers first month answering calls around the clock, and its staff answered 904 calls.

We have created 30 jobs and plan to continue growing as the call volume continues to increase, Collins said.

When someone dials 988, they hear an automated message with the option to press 1 for military veterans, 2 for Spanish, 3 for LGBTQ+ youth, or stay on the line to be connected to a 988 center. The lifeline is a safe and nonjudgmental space to speak freely about feelings and experiences.

Calls are then routed by area code through Vibrant, the national administrator for 988. For example, if someone with a 219 number dials 988, their call will be routed to an Indiana center. Once connected to a crisis specialist, callers can tell their story, create a safety plan and agree to receive a follow-up call.

A safety plan is created collaboratively with the caller to list warning signs, coping strategies, social and professional supports, and ways to make their environment safer. The purpose of a follow-up call is to check the status of a callers situation - for example, suicidal ideations - and to determine if their safety plan worked or needs to be adjusted.

Follow-up calls are completed within 72 hours of the initial call and only with the caller's permission, Collins said.

The center uses an extensive on-boarding training, with continued training to prepare its staff to handle any call they receive.

Of course, we also receive prank calls or people who hang up as we answer, Collins said. We view people who hang up as someone who may not be ready to speak or is testing the line for future use. My team values all callers, even those who hang up. We are ready when they are ready to talk.

Every week I hear from people who simply want someone to listen to them. Period. They need to vent. They need to blow off steam. They need to hear another persons voice, not an online chat.

They need the 988 lifeline and dont yet know it. Please share it with them.
The City Council is a place where activists are called to govern, but she misunderstood her role, said Antonio Reynoso, the borough president of Brooklyn who is a progressive Democrat and former councilman. There are many other activists on the City Council who understand their purpose and also know how to govern.

Ms. Jordan was facing challenges from three more moderate Democrats: Inez Dickens, a state assemblywoman who formerly held the Harlem Council seat; Al Taylor, another assemblyman; and Yusef Salaam, one of five Black and Latino men who was exonerated in 2002 in the rape and assault of a female jogger in Central Park in 1989. Despite dropping out, Ms. Jordans name is likely to remain on the ballot.

As Primary Day inched closer, Ms. Jordan had declined to appear at two recent community forums with her fellow candidates and increasingly criticized the meanspiritedness of politics and the media.

It was also becoming clear that Ms. Jordan was going to face an onslaught of outside spending had she stayed in the race. An unlikely coalition of real estate developers, a pro-Israel group and some of the citys largest labor unions were considering independent expenditures to damage her candidacy. They included the New York City District Council of Carpenters, 32BJ of the Service Employees International Union and the nations largest police union, the Police Benevolent Association.

A video advertising truck with a big picture of Ms. Jordan asking Have you seen this person? was recently spotted on the streets of Harlem.
The rapper Sheff G paid cash for the group of nine that he treated to dinner at a high-end Manhattan steakhouse in October 2020.

Prosecutors say that festive dinner was a reward for carrying out a shooting against a rival gang two days before that left one man dead and five others injured.

Sheff G, whose real name is Michael Williams, was celebrating the score, the Brooklyn district attorney, Eric Gonzalez, said at a news conference Tuesday. One of Mr. Williamss musical collaborators, Tegan Chambers, known as Sleepy Hallow, was also there, Mr. Gonzalez said.

Mr. Williams and Mr. Chambers, drill rappers who have garnered over 100 million views and streams on YouTube and Spotify, were among 32 people charged in a 140-count indictment announced during the news conference.
The Jewish state turned 75 on Sunday, mostly in a sour mood.

The country is governed by a coalition that includes political extremists, proud homophobes, ideological monomaniacs, and the merely corrupt. A proposed judicial reform that would have gutted the principal institutional check on rank majoritarianism has been paused, but not quite stopped, by some of the largest protests in Israeli history. Secular Israelis fear the countrys demographic balance is tilting to the religious extreme. Benjamin Netanyahu cant get an invitation to the White House. It doesnt seem to bother most American Jews, who struggle to understand, much less justify, the prime ministers characteristically self-serving, but uncharacteristically inept, leadership.

To top it off, Israelis just endured five days of rocket fire from the Gaza-based, Iranian-backed terrorist group Palestinian Islamic Jihad. Its a reminder that, notwithstanding Israels recent successes in normalizing diplomatic relations with parts of the Arab world, many of its neighbors still want it wiped off the map.

And for all this, Israel is doing remarkably well.

It helps to remember the circumstances in which the country was born. Israel is a post-colonial state. It started its national life dirt-poor. Its peer group of countries includes Syria, Pakistan, India, Indonesia, Myanmar, Sri Lanka and North and South Korea. These states came into being with many of the same core problems: hostile neighbors, unsettled borders, deep poverty, restive ethnic and religious minorities and other unresolved dilemmas from their independence struggles.

As with Israel, many of those problems still dog most of those states. The Koreas dont have a settled border. India and Pakistan have painful memories of forced population transfers. Those who think the Palestinian issue is unique should consider the situation of Kashmiris in India, Tamils in Sri Lanka, or Kurds in Syria.
It's first helpful to start out defining bar code. A bar code is made up of bars and spaces of varying width found on packages of products sold everywhere. Bar codes are read by optical bar code scanners at stores. The most common bar code is the UPC code (aka UPC-A).

UPC codes were originally created in the early 1970s to identify products and help grocery stores speed up the checkout process and keep better track of inventory, but the UPC code system caught on quickly in other retail areas because it was so successful. The first UPC code appeared on a pack of Wrigley's gum sold in in Troy, Ohio, in June 1974.

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A UPC code is a bar code symbol with a 12-digit number called a GTIN-12. GTIN stands for Global Trade Item Number and it is the UPC data derived from the Uniform Code Council (UCC), a nonprofit organization that represents the market for supply chain codes.

The GTIN-12 number is the UPC data that comes from a UPC Company Prefix and Item Reference Numbers (more on that below). The most common type for retail stores is the UPC-A, which is for products sold at a retail point of sale. Today all retail products have their own unique UPC code.

UPC codes are most commonly used for retailers in the United States, while the European Article Number code or EAN code is used internationally. Today, though, most places will accept both UPC codes and EAN codes.
For Richie Shazam, becoming a Bollywood princess was not a manifestation. It was a realization.

The model, photographer and director thinks that the term manifestation has become a buzzword that removes accountability, she explained in Ludlow House, a social club on the Lower East Side, in between puffs from her turquoise-colored vape.

You could say, I spoke something into existence, she said, but what are you actually doing to realize it?

When she was growing up, she watched hours of Bollywood films in her bedroom in the Jamaica section of Queens, marveling at actresses like Kajol. Seeing that rich brown skin and watching the beautiful Bollywood icons really allowed me to embody an identity behind closed doors, she said, recalling that she told herself, One day Ill be able to be this person.
After a crowded primary, Cherelle Parker, a former state representative and City Council member who campaigned on hiring more police, won the Democratic nomination for Philadelphia mayor on Tuesday night, emerging decisively from a field of contenders who had vied to be seen as the rescuer of a struggling and disheartened city.

If she wins in November, which is all but assured in a city where Democrats outnumber Republicans more than seven to one, Ms. Parker will become the citys 100th mayor, and the first woman to hold the job.

Of the five mayoral hopefuls who led the polls in the final stretch, Ms. Parker, 50, was the only Black candidate, in a city that is over 40 percent Black. She drew support from prominent Democratic politicians and trade unions, and throughout the majority Black neighborhoods of north and west Philadelphia. Some compared her to Mayor Eric Adams of New York City, noting her willingness to buck the partys progressives with pledges to hire hundreds of police officers and bring back what she has called constitutional stop-and-frisk.

But she said that many of her proposed solutions had roots in Philadelphias middle neighborhoods  working and middle-class areas that have been struggling in recent years to hold off decline.
North Carolinas Republican-dominated legislature upheld a bill Tuesday night that will ban most abortions after 12 weeks, overriding the Democratic governors recent veto of the new restrictions.

The success of the override was a victory for Republicans and a critical test of their new, but slim, supermajority. The vote, taken in both chambers in back-to-back sessions, means a dramatic change for abortion access in North Carolina, where abortion is currently legal up to 20 weeks. The vote also restricts access for women across the South, some of whom have traveled to North Carolina for abortions from states where the procedure is largely banned.

The new law is set to take effect July 1.

The vote came just days after Gov. Roy Cooper vetoed the bill at a raucous rally near the legislative building in Raleigh, and after a public campaign to pressure Republican lawmakers to vote against the ban.

Given the Republican supermajority in both chambers of the state legislature, the override was not entirely a surprise. But it was also not assured. Just one vote could have tipped the outcome.
On Monday, Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida went out on a limb. On Tuesday, it snapped.

A day after he swooped into the Republican primary for Kentucky governor with a last-minute endorsement  a move that turned the race into an obvious proxy fight between himself and former President Donald J. Trump  Mr. DeSantis watched his chosen candidate lose in a landslide to the Trump-backed rival.

To make matters worse for Mr. DeSantis, a Republican he had endorsed conceded to a Democratic opponent in the mayors race in Jacksonville, the largest city in his state.

Mr. DeSantiss preparations to enter the 2024 primary are intensifying. He has held a series of private dinners in Tallahassee with top donors, and on Tuesday he took a direct shot at Mr. Trump over his dodging whether he would sign a six-week abortion ban.

But on Monday, Mr. DeSantis made a last-minute endorsement and robocall for Kelly Craft, a former United Nations ambassador under Mr. Trump and a member of a Republican megadonor family.
The Secret Service said it was investigating how an intruder was able to enter the home of President Bidens national security adviser last month even though a full security detail was posted outside.

Jake Sullivan, the national security adviser, was not harmed during the breach, the agencys spokesman, Anthony Guglielmi, said in a statement on Tuesday, adding that the identity of the intruder remained unknown.

Mr. Sullivan, 46, lives in the West End neighborhood of Washington with his wife, Margaret Goodlander, a deputy assistant attorney general in the Justice Departments antitrust division. The person entered Mr. Sullivans house at 3 a.m. on April 29, the Secret Service said.

Mr. Sullivan noticed the intruder  a man who appeared to be intoxicated  and told him to get out, according to people familiar with the episode who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the continuing investigation. The intruder left, and Mr. Sullivan alerted the Secret Service agents posted outside. Officials are investigating whether the intrusion was an accident or if the intruder had criminal intent.
With more than 90 percent of the vote counted, Ms. Craft, who belongs to one of the biggest Republican megadonor families in the country, trailed Mr. Cameron by roughly 30 percentage points. She was also behind a third candidate, Ryan Quarles, Kentuckys agricultural commissioner.

Republicans have long viewed Mr. Cameron as a potential political star who could join the next generation of the partys leaders. Mr. Cameron has had a trailblazing career  he was the first Black man to be elected attorney general in Kentucky and the first Republican elected to the post in 50 years  and his campaign is likely to draw the support of operatives and donors beyond Kentucky.

Mr. Cameron turned to the general election in his victory speech. The new religion of the left casts doubt on the greatness of America, he said. They embrace a picture of this country and this commonwealth that is rooted in division, that is hostile to faith and that is committed to the erosion of our education system.

And he took aim at his November opponent: Andy Beshear is resigned to live in a commonwealth where violent crime is high and the work-force participation rate is low. Hes content to preside over the abandonment of our inner cities and the desolation of our rural communities.

Part of Mr. Beshears strength stems from Republicans dominance of the state. The party holds supermajorities in the Legislature, making it difficult for the governor to wield much power without a veto. Yet that dynamic has allowed Mr. Beshear to avoid contentious showdowns with Republicans on hot-button issues and has let him focus on using state resources to help repair infrastructure and improve the economy.
The U.S. attorney for Massachusetts, Rachael S. Rollins, announced on Tuesday that she planned to resign, a day before a Justice Department watchdog was expected to release results of an inquiry into her conduct in office, including an appearance at a Democratic fund-raiser.

Ms. Rollins, 52, who was confirmed by the Senate in December 2021 after a bitter fight in which Vice President Harris cast the tiebreaking vote, will submit her resignation to the White House on Friday, her lawyer said.

The investigation into Ms. Rollins, the first Black woman in Massachusetts appointed to one of the countrys marquee prosecutorial posts, initially focused on her decision to attend a Democratic National Committee event featuring Dr. Jill Biden. But it later expanded to include her use of a personal cellphone to conduct department business, according to a person familiar with the situation.

Ms. Rollinss presence has become a distraction to federal prosecutors in her office, her lawyer, Michael R. Bromwich, said in an email. The work of the office and the Department of Justice is far too important to be overshadowed by anything else.
The investigation into the signers of the letter comes as Republicans are digging into multiple aspects of the Hunter Biden story: Why social media companies suppressed it; whether his father was involved in any of his business deals; and whether anyone in government interfered with any inquiries into the younger Mr. Biden, who is currently under federal investigation.

As Justice Department officials weigh the matter, the investigator overseeing the Internal Revenue Services portion of the case has also come forward with allegations of political favoritism in the inquiry. On Monday, a lawyer for that investigator sent a short letter to Congress that said the investigator and the rest of his team were being removed from the inquiry, which is reaching its end as officials weigh whether to pursue charges. A spokesman for the president said he was committed to the Justice Departments independence free from any political interference by the White House.

Democrats argue that the Republicans are wasting time and resources investigating the 51 former intelligence officials, who were private citizens at the time of the letter and wanted Mr. Biden to be victorious in the campaign. The former intelligence officials stress that their letter stated that they had no evidence of a Russian disinformation campaign, and that they were merely stating an opinion.

Several said they did not regret their actions.

The Congress is wasting its time and our money by investigating the First Amendment rights of private citizens, Mark Zaid, a lawyer who represents seven signers of the letter, said in an interview.

Democrats also argue that the letter must be understood in its proper context. Mr. Trumps personal lawyer, Rudolph W. Giuliani  whose credibility had become shaky  had been shopping around the contents of the laptop to different news media outlets, not long after a top Trump intelligence official warned that Russia was seeking to primarily denigrate former Vice President Biden and that some Kremlin-linked actors are also seeking to boost President Trumps candidacy.
Ukraines air defense shot down six of the most sophisticated conventional weapons in Russias arsenal, hypersonic Kinzhal missiles, according to Ukrainian and American officials, during a barrage of missiles and drones aimed at Kyiv, the capital, on Tuesday.

Russias Defense Ministry said at least one Kinzhal had hit an American-made Patriot system, the most advanced U.S. ground-based air-defense system, which Washington had delivered to Ukraine after its urgent requests to help defend against an onslaught of Russian missile and drone attacks.

A statement from Ukraines Air Force did not specify whether the Patriot system had, in fact, been involved in shooting down Russian missiles in one of the largest aerial assaults by Moscow since early March. But two U.S. officials confirmed that a Patriot had been damaged, not destroyed, in the attack overnight Tuesday, an assessment initially reported by CNN. And one of the Americans confirmed that Ukraine had downed six Kinzhal missiles.

After an evaluation of the damage to the Patriot to determine whether parts of the system needed to be replaced or could be repaired, the initial conclusion was that the system, which was stationed in an airfield, was still operational against all threats  including hypersonic missiles  the American officials said.
Rising at the edge of Brooklyns Gowanus Canal  a rezoned superfund site with developers racing to build  the colossal industrial relic known locally as the Batcave has found its own Bruce Wayne.

Over the last decade, the press-shy philanthropist Joshua Rechnitz gave $180 million through his foundations to transform the 119-year-old red brick behemoth  the former Brooklyn Rapid Transit Companys central power station and more recently home to squatters and underground raves  into a multidisciplinary hub of artistic production called Powerhouse Arts. Consider it his gift to Gotham.

On May 19, the nonprofit organization celebrates its grand opening, inviting a broad swath of the art world, city government and local residents to tour its state-of-the-art facilities designed by the Pritzker Prize-winning architecture firm Herzog & de Meuron in partnership with PBDW Architects. Half of the 170,000 square feet is dedicated to fabrication shops for printmaking, ceramics, public art, metal and woodworking  available to artists and cultural institutions at below-market rates  with the rest of the space built out for administrative offices, events and community programs open intermittently to the public.

The conceptual artist Lorna Simpson, whos collaborated with Powerhouses print shop, sees all kinds of opportunities for cross-pollination between media in the new building. I really had ceramic envy walking through Powerhouse, Simpson said, imagining that artists will have ideas that can branch into something else that happens within the building because you can easily look at samples or have a conversation about technique.
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ELKO  The bail bond business isnt what it used to be, but Elko once again has a local agent ready to help people get out from behind bars.

Deborah Barnhardt recently opened 911 Bail Bonds, which is affiliated with a Las Vegas business of the same name. The last local company, Elko Bail Bonds, closed in 2021 after owner Pam Caldwell died.

Fewer people are being required to post bail following changes that were recently passed by the Nevada Legislature as a result of a state Supreme Court decision. Judges are now required to hold individual bail hearings to ensure someone isnt being unfairly kept in custody due to poverty.

Still, Barnhart said many people who are arrested want to get out of jail fast, or their case requires high bail. If they pay her 15% of the bail amount she can write a bond that sets them free pending prosecution.

Inmates are restricted in their access to the outside world once they have been booked into jail, so they must make the important decision of who to call.

I get calls from people who think they are going to get arrested, Barnhart said. I get calls from their friends when their buddy is in the back seat of the cruiser.

When someone calls her from the jail they often ask her to reach out to a relative or their employer for help. They are the ones that are going to come and see me. The preferred methods of payment are credit card, money order, or a mobile payment service.

Barnhart then files the necessary paperwork with Elko Justice Court and the inmate is released from jail. Often they have been arrested in one of Elko Countys border towns and they live in Utah or Idaho. Once they have been released on bond, Barnhart may help them get to the train station and on their way home.

After a case has been adjudicated, whatever amount the defendant has paid for a bond remains with the company as payment for its services. Only those who pay the full amount for cash bail will receive any of their money back, minus court fees and other charges.

Those who have enough cash or a credit card in their possession may bail themselves out by paying the full amount. Barnhart said people who are freed and then later get arrested for failing to appear in court are usually those who have paid their own bail instead of getting a bond.

Barnhart has issued a couple dozen bonds over the past six weeks but has yet to find herself in the position of bounty hunter. If someone skips their court appearance while out on a bond, she has six months to find them.

If someone manages to avoid arrest after six months, the bonding company is out whatever amount they paid. Barnhart said in cases with high bail amounts it is important to get collateral in order to recoup the loss.

We encourage our people to contact us if they miss a court appearance because then we can start some paperwork to get them out of warrant status, she said. They may get arrested and required to post cash bail to be released again.

Some people might even pay for a bond just to get out of jail quickly. Barnhart said she lets them know that if they wait to appear before a judge their amount could be reduced or they could even be released on their own recognizance.

Elko County Jail officials still post standard bail amounts on booking sheets when someone gets arrested, but that amount can be lowered significantly or eliminated entirely based on a judges determination from an individualized bail hearing.

The changes are the result of a 2019 Nevada Supreme Court ruling in the State vs. Jose Valdez-Jimenez, a Las Vegas man who challenged the longstanding cash bail system after he was arrested for burglary and held in jail for more than a year awaiting trial.

In April 2020, the Nevada Supreme Court issued a historic ruling declaring that every person arrested in Nevada has a right to a thorough hearing before a court requires money for his or her release pretrial, and that if he or she cannot pay that amount the courts order is equivalent to an order of detention and must meet exacting constitutional standards, stated Civil Rights Corps.

Bail collected by Elko County has dropped significantly in recent years, beginning with pandemic-era policies that minimized the number of inmates being jailed for health reasons.

According to the Elko County Comptrollers office, bail receipts topped $1 million in 2019 but dropped over the next three years to $637,954. Thats a decrease of 36%.

Bail collections so far in 2023 are rising, however.

Barnharts office at 532 Court St. is conveniently located across the street from the courthouse, where she has operated DPS of Northern Nevada since 2017. The document preparation service helps clients handle their own basic legal matters for less than an attorney would charge.

She also once owned The Hitching Post, a wedding service, next door. Sometimes she was tempted to tell her newlywed clients that she could also help them with a divorce.

Barnhart says she enlisted in the U.S. Air Force where she served 10 years as information/publication manager. She earned an Administration of Justice degree from Monterey Peninsula College in 2008 and moved to Elko in 2012.

She worked at the Elko County Juvenile Probation Office in 2013 before opening her businesses. She was also briefly a partner in the Underground bar.

In 2019 she was arrested on misdemeanor charges of practicing law without a license after signing some paperwork on behalf of a DPS client. She pleaded not guilty and received a deferred prosecution after being ordered to pay $2,000 to the nonprofit Nevada Legal Services.

In order to handle bail bonds, Barnhart said she completed a mandatory eight-hour bail agent class earlier this year. Through 911 Bail Bonds in Las Vegas she can now handle bonds up to $1 million.

While some out-of-town services are also available, Barnhart said her service is local, fast, and in-person. She takes calls 24-7 and can be reached at 775-385-2200.
Simon, 37, was already on the rise before the pandemic. But he has shot to far greater prominence in the past three years as classical music has come, embarrassingly late, to see that Black lives, Black artists and Black music matter.

I dont feel like Im overworking, or being pushed to the limit, Simon said. It feels good to me, but I am grateful at the same time that I get to do what I do, and love what I do.

It is easy enough to understand why Simons name has become such a common sight on concert listings: The thrumming, to-the-point Fate Now Conquers, a response to Beethovens Seventh Symphony, has been heard at most major orchestras and many others besides. He writes quickly, affectingly and invitingly, somewhat in the vein of William Grant Still and Florence Price. His scores often sound as if they believe, sincerely yet humbly, in their own power to make a difference.

What I like in Carloss music is the fact that he wants really to communicate, said Gianandrea Noseda, the music director of the National Symphony, which has commissioned and performed several Simon works, including Songs of Separation. There is nothing purely intellectual. There is always an emotional element behind it.
The oldest near-complete Hebrew Bible sold at Sothebys for $38.1 million on Wednesday, one of the highest prices for a book or historical document ever sold at auction.

The volume, known as the Codex Sassoon, includes all 24 books of the Hebrew Bible, minus about eight leaves, including the first 10 chapters of Genesis. Researchers have dated it to the late ninth or early 10th century, making it the oldest near-complete Hebrew Bible known to exist. Since 1989, it has been owned by the Swiss financier and collector Jacqui Safra, and has been seen by few scholars.

Speculation had percolated for months over who might have the desire  and deep pockets  to acquire the Bible, which carried an estimate of $30 million to $50 million.

Shortly after the auction, Sothebys announced that the buyer was the American Friends of ANU  Museum of the Jewish People in Tel Aviv, and was made possible by a donation from Alfred H. Moses, a former ambassador to Romania, and his family. The Codex Sassoon will be donated to the museum (previously known as the Museum of the Jewish Diaspora) and be part of the core exhibition.
LINDELOF Are you going?

HUGH I am going, but I felt conflicted. [Many studios have warned writers who are also producers to continue producing or risk losing their contracts.] I have done all of my writing services. I would say Pachinko is a producers show in some ways just because of the gargantuan production. Its a headache. I dont know how long I will stay. It makes me very uncomfortable figuring out those boundaries  theyre so gray. Its very strange times.

LINDELOF Yeah, its supposed to be uncomfortable, I guess. I think that everybody is looking for the right thing to do. I dont have a show thats in production right now. With Mrs. Davis, we finished everything  post, final sound mix, final visual effects  before the strike. So its a much cleaner line. I wake up, I picket and then I go to bed. So Ill just say, Im with you in spirit.

What do you think your career would be like if you were starting today?

HUGH I dont know if you feel this way, Damon, but I feel like theres so little room for failure now. My first show was a failure [Hughs The Whispers ran for a single season on ABC in 2015] and it was by learning what I never wanted to do again that I was able to go on to something Im more proud of. Nowadays, the system feels so do or die.

LINDELOF I agree a thousand percent. In the mid-90s, when I first came out to Los Angeles and was trying to figure out how to become a professional writer, broadcast television was still where most of the work was. There was this institution where it was like, this is what you do, this is how you get a job, this is how you work your way up. Now, all of those things have changed. The goal used to be, Can I be on this show for three, four, five seasons? Now you have to put it all on the field on your very first opportunity because that show will probably only exist for a season, if at all. The pressures are just immense. I dont think that I could have been successful in this environment.

HUGH Its interesting that you came from broadcast. I think we all pooh-pooh broadcast these days, but I am the showrunner I am because of broadcast, without a doubt. And I think the fact that broadcast has died is really killing showrunners. You dont learn how to produce anymore. When we were coming up, you only had $4 million an episode and seven-day shoots [The most expensive episodes of television today can cost more than $20 million and shoot for more than 20 days]; it taught you a level of discipline that I think really carries you later on.

How did you learn to communicate your vision effectively?

LINDELOF Clumsily. I think that you watch how its done. I had the institutional experience of working primarily in broadcast procedurals. When youre making as many episodes as we were, its a bit of speed chess. To Soos point, you have X number of dollars and X number of days to produce these episodes and everything kind of backfills into that. So it requires a lot of delegation and trust inside of the writers room. Ultimately the room becomes a machine that is trying to channel the vision of the showrunner. Thats how I learned how to do the job.
A lawsuit filed in federal court on Wednesday said that a Florida county violated the First Amendment by removing or restricting certain kinds of books from its school libraries.

The free-speech organization PEN America and the countrys largest book publisher, Penguin Random House, filed the lawsuit, along with a group of authors and parents. The complaint said that the Escambia County School District and school board also violated the equal protection clause of the Constitution because books they targeted were disproportionately written by nonwhite and L.G.B.T.Q. authors and addressed themes of race, racism, gender and sexuality.

Today, Escambia County seeks to bar books critics view as too woke, said the complaint, filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Florida. In the 1970s, schools sought to bar Slaughterhouse-Five and books edited by Langston Hughes. Tomorrow, it could be books about Christianity, the countrys founders or war heroes. All of these removals run afoul of the First Amendment.

The lawsuit comes at a moment when many educators and free-speech advocates are alarmed by the surge in book-banning efforts in schools and libraries across the United States. The sharp rise in book challenges over the past two years comes as books have become targets in a broader culture war.
Bidens trip abroad and challenge at home

President Biden left this afternoon for Japan to attend the annual Group of 7 summit meeting, which begins Friday in Hiroshima. Leaders of the major industrial democracies will discuss efforts to keep the global economy stable.

But the major potential threat to that stability this year could come from the U.S. When Biden arrives, the U.S. will be two weeks from a possible debt default, which could push its economy into recession and jolt those of the other countries at the table.

Just before boarding his flight, Biden said that he was confident America will not default. His optimistic tone came after the White House sent two aides to negotiate with Republicans to reach a deal to raise the debt limit. Almost simultaneously, House Democrats pushed forward on a complex, long-shot plan to raise the limit by forcing a vote.

G7 leaders will also turn their focus to Ukraine and China. The real question is whether or not Biden can get a full agreement among the Western allies who will be present at the G7 about what the future of Ukraine and Russia should look like, our colleague David Sanger told The Headlines, The Timess new podcast. The other big issue will be how to handle China and the threat of its economic, technological and military rise.
What to watch at the G7

The annual Group of 7 summit opens tomorrow in Hiroshima, Japan, where the leaders of the seven major industrial democracies will discuss how to keep the global economy stable. They will also focus on shoring up diplomatic relations at a time of great global uncertainty.

There will be two major issues on the agenda, my colleague David Sanger said. How to bring the Ukraine war to an end and how to deal with China.

But the most pressing potential threat, at least to the global economy, may be turmoil in the U.S. The country is two weeks away from running out of money to pay its bills, and a default would jolt its economy and those of the other G7 countries.

To address the debt issue at home, President Biden, who is traveling to Japan to attend the summit, canceled the second part of his planned trip  skipping visits to Papua New Guinea and Australia. Fears of an unreliable and dysfunctional America will be revived in that region, analysts warn, where the U.S. has only recently started to rebuild trust and momentum.
CNN has selected Kaitlan Collins to host a new weeknight show at 9 p.m., elevating her to one of the most coveted time slots in cable news a week after she moderated a contentious town hall with former President Donald J. Trump.

The new role for Ms. Collins was announced by CNNs chairman, Chris Licht, on Wednesday, just ahead of a presentation to advertisers in Midtown Manhattan hosted by Warner Bros. Discovery, CNNs parent company.

Her show, which does not yet have a title, is set to begin in June. She is a smart and gifted journalist who weve all seen hold lawmakers and newsmakers accountable, Mr. Licht wrote in a newsroom memo. Kaitlan will expose uncovered angles and challenge conventional wisdom to make sure viewers are seeing a story from every side.

The promotion of Ms. Collins, 31, a co-host of the networks morning show, amounts to a major bet by CNN leadership on a rising star who has impressed colleagues with her interviewing and reporting chops, but remains relatively untested as a solo anchor.
TikTok, which says it has 7,000 employees in the United States, has been fighting back in the state for months. It has run ads featuring Montana small businesses that use TikTok and given prewritten emails to users so they could contact Mr. Gianforte about opposing the bill.

The legislation prohibits mobile app stores, like those run by Apple and Google, from offering TikTok within the state. A trade group funded by Apple and Google has said in recent months that it is impossible for the companies to prevent access to TikTok in a single state.

Governor Gianforte has signed a bill that infringes on the First Amendment rights of the people of Montana by unlawfully banning TikTok, a platform that empowers hundreds of thousands of people across the state, Brooke Oberwetter, a spokeswoman for TikTok, said in a statement on Wednesday. Montanans, she added, can keep using the app as we continue working to defend the rights of our users inside and outside of Montana.

Under the legislation, TikTok could face fines if it continues operating in the state, as could Apple and Google if they allow people to download the app.
Why It Matters: The E.P.A. says the rule will protect public health.

Burning coal for electricity pollutes the air and releases planet-warming greenhouse gases, but some of its most dangerous elements are found in the ash, which is stored in ponds or dry landfills. About half of all the coal ash in the United States  more than a billion tons, according to one study  has gone unregulated.

The new rule is expected to face opposition from utilities and fossil-fuel supporters in Congress, including Senator Joe Manchin III, Democrat of West Virginia, who has personal financial ties to the coal industry.

The proposal comes on the heels of a Biden administration move to slash greenhouse gas emissions from power plants. That prompted Mr. Manchin, the top recipient of oil and gas industry campaign contributions last year, to accuse the Biden administration of being hellbent on doing everything in their power to regulate coal and gas-fueled power plants out of existence.

The regulation proposed Wednesday would cover what the agency calls legacy coal ash landfills, not current power plant operations.

For far too long, a large portion of toxic coal ash around the U.S. was left leaching into drinking water supplies without any requirement that it be cleaned up, said Lisa Evans, the senior counsel for Earthjustice, an environmental group that led the lawsuit to force the E.P.A. to address the unregulated landfills.

Michelle Bloodworth, president of Americas Power, a trade group that represents coal interests, declined to comment, saying she had yet to review the proposed rule.

Background: A 2008 disaster spurred the first coal ash regulations.

In 2008, the six-story-tall dike holding back a massive pond of coal waste at a plant in Kingston, Tenn., collapsed, releasing more than a billion gallons of ash and slurry into the surrounding community.

The Kingston coal ash spill remains one of the largest industrial disasters in U.S. history and helped spur the first federal controls on the disposal of coal ash, which were implemented in 2015. The rules imposed stringent inspection and monitoring requirements at coal plants and mandated that plants install technology to protect water supplies from contamination.
For Mr. Dwars, Ms. Bray contacted a maker of cisplatin, the chemo drug he needed and arranged for a supply to be sent within days and for others at his hospital. Some in states around the country have not been as fortunate, encountering frightening gaps between treatments.

The White House team working on the broader issue of longstanding drug supply breakdowns includes national security, economic and health officials, according to James McKinney, a spokesman for the Food and Drug Administration. Bloomberg reported earlier on the White House involvement.

Officials have been debating possible measures like tax incentives for generic drugmakers and greater transparency around generic drug quality. The current incentives favor drugmakers with the lowest prices, which includes those that might cut corners  leading to disruptive plant shutdowns if the F.D.A. demands a fix. (Some shortages, like those of weight-loss drugs, are the result of sky-high demand, while others have been attributed to overprescribing, including for antibiotics, or a lack of investment in potential alternatives.)

The F.D.A., which employs a team of about 10 people who do the day-to-day work of mitigating and reporting drug shortages, has said it is seeking authority from Congress to get additional information about the drug manufacturing and supply chain.

But the agency has also expressed its concerns to the White House about severe financial strain in the generic drug industry  an economic problem that F.D.A. officials say they are not suited to address.

Dr. Robert Califf, the F.D.A. commissioner, highlighted the agencys views during recent appearances before Congress, saying officials can only plug so many holes.

We have got to fix the core economics if were going to get this situation fixed, Dr. Califf told a House panel on May 11.
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CARSON CITY (AP)  Nevada and pharmacy chain CVS have reached a nearly $152 million settlement to be paid over the next decade to end a lawsuit over opioid claims, state Attorney General Aaron Ford announced Tuesday.

CVS negotiated in good faith, Ford said at a news conference in Carson City. Their work with the state of Nevada ... will help our state tackle the opioid problem.

According to an Associated Press analysis, the settlement is one of the 10 largest between a single state and a single company over opioid claims. It also puts the total money Nevada expects to receive from opioid litigation settlements since 2020 at $606 million, according to Ford's office. It marks the largest sum the state has brought in opioid-related litigation by itself.

CVS was one of a number of companies that the state sued in the case filed in June 2019. A lawsuit against one company  Teva Pharmaceuticals  remains to be settled, and Ford said the state is preparing to go to trial in August.

Drugmakers, pharmacies, wholesalers and other companies have agreed to settlements of lawsuits over the opioid crisis nationwide totaling more than $50 billion. Much of the money is to be used to deal with an overdose crisis that is linked to more than 100,000 deaths a year in the U.S.

Some states have seen more from their share of multi-state or nationwide settlements. Last year, CVS agreed to pay state and local governments nearly $5 billion to settle lawsuits over the toll of opioids. But Nevada did not join in that litigation in order to pursue the single-state settlement, Ford spokesperson John Sadler said.

Nevada joined another multi-state settlement with three of the nation's largest opioid manufacturers in April 2022 totaling $232 million over nearly two decades.

Ford said about $80 million of the CVS settlement will go to a coalition of Nevada county and city governments, and the state will retain nearly $70 million. A panel of experts will make recommendations for using the money to mitigate the opioid epidemic, he said.

CVS also agreed to develop an oversight program with a list of prescriptions, patients and prescriber red flags to help stop the misuse of opioids.

A CVS spokesperson, Kara Page, said in a statement that the company was pleased with the pact with Nevada. The statement noted that opioid prescriptions are written by doctors, not pharmacists. It did not elaborate on the oversight program.

With the state Legislature in session, Ford is backing one of two companion bills with Democratic Senate Majority Leader Nicole Cannizzaro to enhance fentanyl trafficking penalties, starting trafficking charges at four grams of possession of the synthetic opioid. Several states across the country are taking similar steps.
As the president of this years competition jury at the Cannes Film Festival, the director Ruben Ostlund had one key piece of wisdom to impart to his fellow jurors.

Dont be afraid to say something stupid, he told them at a news conference Tuesday afternoon.

Ostlund, who skewered groupthink and pseudo-intellectual posturing in his films The Square and Triangle of Sadness, meant that the jurors should trust their first instincts instead of endeavoring to impress. When you have a jury atmosphere where everybody is trying to top each other and be smarter than each other, then youre missing out on something, he said.

But his statement earned more than a few chuckles from the assembled journalists because the fear of saying something stupid is an ever-present danger at Cannes, where filmmakers, actors and festival organizers gather in a glamorous setting to tout their work and often stir up plenty of controversies along the way.

This years Cannes feels particularly front-loaded with scandal given the opening-night selection of Jeanne du Barry, a costume drama that stars Johnny Depp as the French king Louis XV. Its Depps first high-profile role since he sued his ex-wife Amber Heard for defamation after she accused the Pirates of the Caribbean actor of sexually and physically assaulting her during their marriage. He denied the allegations and said she was the attacker, an argument the jury largely agreed with. Though he was once one of Hollywoods most bankable actors, the 59-year-old Depp has not starred in a major studio movie since the 2018 Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald.
Questions to Maiwenn were mostly kept to a minimum, and none were about her altercation with the French journalist Edwy Plenel, who said Maiwenn spat on him in a Paris restaurant  something she more or less confirmed  because he had been investigating multiple claims of sexual abuse against the director Luc Besson, who had a son with Maiwenn when she was just 16. (Besson denied the accusations, from nine women, and the French authorities said that after an inquiry, the director would face no charges. If nothing else, Cannes is a reminder that nearly every major figure in the French film industry has a sizable controversy section on Wikipedia.)

But it was all just a warm-up for Depp, who entered 42 minutes late to extensive muttering from the journalists, then walked over to the dais to kiss Maiwenn on the top of her head.

Depp, who spoke mostly in murmured metaphors, at first discussed the French-language requirements of the role, but he was soon asked whether he felt that Hollywood had boycotted him after he was bounced from the Fantastic Beasts franchise in 2020 as his legal battles with Heard began to heat up.

Of course, if youre asked to resign from a film youre doing because of something that is merely a bunch of vowels and consonants floating in the air, yeah, you feel boycotted, Depp said. Do I feel boycotted now? No, not at all. But I dont feel boycotted by Hollywood because I dont think about it. I dont have much further need for Hollywood myself.

The 59-year-old Depp continued, Its a very strange, funny time where everybody would love to be able to be themselves but they cant. They must fall in line with the person in front of them. If you want to live that life, I wish you the best. Ill be on the other side somewhere.
The majority of the characters in this film are experiencing doubt over their careers and if they can or should pivot to doing something else. Clearly, that topic was on your mind, Nicole.

HOLOFCENER I feel that way. Sometimes. I wonder how much time I have left, and do I want to be doing the same thing. Is it too late and what would I do? I think a lot of my friends feel the same way. Or theyre retiring early and making pottery and are very happy. I can imagine retiring.

LOUIS-DREYFUS You can?

HOLOFCENER Yeah, just like, leave me alone already. I have no more ideas.

Do you really feel that youre out of ideas?

HOLOFCENER Well, at the moment Im out of ideas.

Do you usually feel this way right after youve finished making a film?

HOLOFCENER Im usually out of ideas every day. Thats why I make so few movies. So its really true. I dont know if Ill make another movie. I hope thats not the case. I did think that before this movie, so, you know, Im assuming Ill keep going for a while.

LOUIS-DREYFUS You will.

HOLOFCENER And my characters will grow old with me.

LOUIS-DREYFUS I wasnt thinking about this character as an age thing. Maybe that was wrong of me.

HOLOFCENER Shes afraid she has an old voice. Were all afraid of that.

LOUIS-DREYFUS To tell you the truth, I feel like this age, theres just so much more to do. Theres a huge freedom. Its like who cares. Try it all. Risk it all. The benefit of being this age is that you have so much experience under your belt, if youre lucky. Which you do. And I do. And you can apply it. I want to make another movie with this one. Youve got to get an idea in your head.
House Republicans on Wednesday repelled an effort by Democrats to force a vote on expelling Representative George Santos of New York, who was charged last week in a 13-count federal indictment covering wire fraud, unlawful monetary transactions, stealing public funds and lying on financial disclosures.

Republicans voted along party line  221 to 204, with seven Democrats voting present  to refer the resolution to expel Mr. Santos to the House Ethics Committee, which has been investigating Mr. Santoss finances and campaign activity for months.

The measure to expel Mr. Santos, introduced by Representative Robert Garcia, a Democrat of California, was unlikely to succeed in the House, where it would have required a two-thirds supermajority to pass. Republicans hold a majority so thin that Mr. Santoss vote remains crucial, reducing the political incentive for them to support his ouster.

Indeed, by delaying the vote, House Republicans  including some who have called on Mr. Santos to resign  avoided having to commit to a firm position on his behavior. But their actions also may be construed as a tacit endorsement of Mr. Santoss remaining in Congress as he faces ethical and legal inquiries.
The statement was alarming, unmistakably evocative of the car chase that killed Princess Diana 26 years ago: Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan, had been involved in a near catastrophic car chase at the hands of a ring of highly aggressive paparazzi, according to an unnamed spokesperson for the couple.

That story, of a chaotic and dangerous pursuit through Midtown Manhattan on Tuesday night, ricocheted all over the world on Wednesday morning, making headlines on both sides of the Atlantic. CNN, which like SKY News and outlets all over the world provided minute-by-minute updates, reported that a member of the couples security team said the episode could have been fatal.

But as more details emerged on Wednesday from the accounts of the police and a taxi driver who was briefly involved, the picture became more complicated.

It illustrated any number of issues surrounding the Duke and Duchess of Sussex: their incandescent fame and the news medias endless appetite for stories about them; their frosty relationship with the Crown and their fight for a royal security detail; and their determination to avoid the paparazzis lenses, surely informed by the tragic death of Diana, Harrys mother, as she rode in a car speeding away from them in Paris in 1997.
Whatever happens will be very highly scrutinized, he said.

What decisions did the Manhattan district attorneys office have to make?

Arrest immediately or indict?

Mr. Penny was questioned by the police and released on the day Mr. Neely died, a decision that drew condemnation from many political leaders on the left and protesters.

He could have been arrested that night if the police found probable cause to bring assault or even homicide charges, legal specialists said.

Witnesses said that Mr. Neely was behaving in a hostile and erratic manner, according to the police. Juan Alberto Vazquez, a journalist who filmed the choking, said that after Mr. Neely boarded the F train at the Second Avenue station, he began yelling that he was thirsty, hungry and ready to die. Prosecutors said Mr. Neely was making threats and scaring passengers when Mr. Penny came up from behind and placed him in a chokehold.

The police arrived within six minutes of a 911 call, but several witnesses, including Mr. Vazquez, had left before they arrived. The medical examiners office did not rule on a cause of death until two days later. Mr. Penny was not considered a flight risk or a danger to the public.
As Jordan Neely struggled to free himself from a chokehold in the New York City subway earlier this month, there were the passengers who pinned him down and the passengers who watched.

Two men helped restrain Mr. Neely while Daniel Penny, an ex-Marine, held him on the floor of an F train that had stopped in a Manhattan station, a four-minute video of the May 1 episode shows.

Around 10 passengers observed the three holding down Mr. Neely, 30, who slipped into unconsciousness. A woman tried to walk around the cluster of people on the floor, but seeing Mr. Neely flail his legs, she bit her lip and stepped back, the video shows. Another woman typed on her phone, looked at Mr. Neely then glanced out the subway doors. One man stepped into the train and told Mr. Penny, Youre going to kill him. He was not seen to physically intervene.

Nor, under New York law, did he have to.

Nationally, the killing of Mr. Neely, who the police said had been acting in a hostile and erratic manner, has set off a broad political debate: Many Democrats called for Mr. Pennys arrest, while conservative political figures called him a hero. Supporters have donated almost $2.5 million for his defense.
For Chanetto Rivers, the birth of her third child went relatively smoothly. About an hour after she arrived at the hospital in the Bronx, she was holding her newborn son.

But while she was pushing, in a maternity room crowded with doctors and nurses, someone asked a question: Had she consumed drugs or alcohol?

Ms. Rivers answered that she had smoked marijuana at a family barbecue hours earlier. She thought nothing of it  it was August 2021; marijuana had been legal in New York for months.

Without Ms. Riverss consent, she said, she and her baby were tested for drugs. Both were positive for marijuana. Two days later, the citys child welfare agency, the Administration for Childrens Services, ordered the hospital not to release the baby to Ms. Rivers, her lawyers said.
SCHOHARIE, N.Y.  It was a staggering and seemingly incomprehensible tragedy: a Saturday afternoon limo ride gone terribly wrong, leaving 20 people dead, including a large group of young friends and relatives headed to a birthday party.

On Wednesday, the operator of the company that rented out that vehicle  a 31-foot-long, five-ton 2001 Ford Excursion stretch limousine  was found guilty on 20 counts of second-degree manslaughter in the October 2018 accident.

The operator, Nauman Hussain, could face up to 15 years in prison when he is sentenced on May 31.

The verdict, announced to an emotionally charged courtroom and after less than a day of deliberation by a jury in Schoharie County, west of Albany, caps a nearly five-year ordeal for the families of the victims, which included all 17 passengers, the driver and two pedestrians outside a cafe and store in Schoharie, N.Y.

A 2020 report by the National Transportation Safety Board found that the limousines brake system failed on Route 30 outside Schoharie, causing the vehicle to career down a long hill to the valley below, eventually reaching more than 100 m.p.h., flying toward an intersection with another busy rural byway.
Pale Male, a red-tailed hawk who took up residence on the ledge of a ritzy Manhattan apartment building 30 years ago, became the subject of hundreds of newspaper articles, at least three books and an award-winning documentary film and counted Mary Tyler Moore among his fans, was pronounced dead on Tuesday evening.

Almost immediately, some of the citys birders began to ask: Was it really the same hawk  after all those years?

Pale Male, an apex predator living in the most populated city in the United States, was the original New York City celebrity bird, predating Barry the barred owl, the hot Mandarin duck and Flaco the eagle-owl.

He was named for his light-colored feathers by Marie Winn, a birder and longtime columnist for The Wall Street Journal, who followed his progress in print for over a decade and penned a book about him in 1999, Red-Tails in Love, making him something of a local celebrity.
At the reception (Photo: VNA)

PM Pham Minh Chinh hailed the significance of the visit by the Cuban minister at a time when the two countries are celebrating the 60th anniversary of the Cuban Committee for Solidarity with South Vietnam and the 50th anniversary of Fidel Castro's first visit to Vietnam and the southern liberated zone.

He expressed Vietnam's sympathy with difficulties currently faced by Cuba and affirmed that Vietnam is committed to doing its utmost to support Cuba within its capabilities. He added that Vietnam is ready to share its own experience with and continue helping Cuba enhance production capacity, ensure food security and aquaculture.

The PM suggested both sides continue maintaining dialogues and exchanging visits at high level and between ministries, agencies, localities and businesses.

He asked Cuba to create favourable conditions in terms of mechanisms and policies for Vietnamese legal entities and individuals in the country to stabilise their lives and business, as well as help Vietnam in the development of biotechnology, health care, and human resource training, especially in foreign languages.

PM Pham Minh Chinh also proposed that both sides continue with mutual support at international organisations and multilateral forums, especially at the United Nations and the Non-Aligned Movement, and work to improve the effectiveness of bilateral cooperation through mechanisms such as theoretical workshops between the two Parties, the Inter-Government Committee on Economic and Scientific-Technological Cooperation, and policy dialogue on national defence-security.

Cavas briefed the host about the successful talks between the Cuban Ministry of the Interior and the Vietnamese Ministry of Public Security, saying that they agreed to continue working closely together and expedite the implementation of agreements, especially in specialised fields, for the benefits of both countries.

The Vietnamese PM said the two ministries should identify key issues in cooperation, and regularly share information and experience in protecting internal political security and combating sabotage attempts and plots by hostile and reactionary forces of both countries, especially in cyberspace./.
She asked Mr. Saipov whether he was still convinced, more than five years later, that his cruel act against innocent people was the right thing? Did he feel he was a soldier of ISIS and was he still proud of his act?

I really hope not, she added.

Maria Alejandra Sosa, whose husband, Alejandro Pagnucco, was one of five Argentine bicyclists killed, told Mr. Saipov he was worthless and pitiful, adding that she looked forward to the day when Mr. Saipov died in jail.

Monica Missio, whose 23-year-old son, Nicholas Cleves, was killed, said her child would have seen Mr. Saipovs truck speeding toward him and known he was going to die.

He must have been terrified, Ms. Missio said, adding, Im haunted by the horror of it.

The case was the first federal death penalty trial during the administration of President Biden, who had campaigned against capital punishment. In seeking Mr. Saipovs execution, prosecutors had cited what they described as his premeditative behaviors, such as his planning of the attack, as well as the danger he would pose in prison, his lack of remorse and his professed desire to further ISISs ideological goals.

Mr. Saipov carried out the attack on a balmy Halloween Day, when the bike path was crowded with tourists and others, mowing them down in a rented 6,000-pound Home Depot truck, crushing some of the victims and sending others flying into the air.
We are not in a crisis phase, said Mark Levine, the Manhattan borough president, who as a City Council member until last year was chairman of the Councils health committee, but people still need to be aware. He said the short-term challenge for officials will be making sure that people know where they can get tests and, if they are sick, treatment.

The city will continue to distribute free home tests at libraries and other locations until its supply from the federal government is used up. My colleague Sharon Otterman writes that the citys public hospitals and clinics will continue to provide low-cost or free care for uninsured people, as they do for other illnesses.

But access to at-home tests is changing, because insurers are no longer required to cover eight free tests a month, and the federal program to send at-home test kits through the mail will end.

Covid-related health care is going to start looking a lot more like all the other health care we receive, which involves health insurance for people who have it, and turning to our safety-net health care system for people who dont, Rima Oken, director of policy for the New York City Health Departments disease control division, said at a recent panel discussion organized by the Pandemic Response Institute.

For now, the city says that Medicaid will continue to cover tests through at least September of next year. And the city will continue its Covid-19 hotline (212-COVID19), with an immediate connection to a clinician who can prescribe antiviral medication for someone who has contracted Covid-19.
Some have hypothesized that the rise in homicide rates is specifically a result of the June 2020 protests, Chalfin and MacDonald wrote, but theories about the role of the protests must contend with several challenges. Violence typically climbs during the summer, and in 2020, that happened to correspond not only with the protests but also with an end to the most intensive Covid lockdowns in many cities  making it hard to pin blame on any one cause without more examination.

In a 2020 article, Explaining the Recent Homicide Spikes in U.S. Cities: The Minneapolis Effect and the Decline in Proactive Policing, Paul G. Cassell, a law professor at the University of Utah, saw a clear relationship between the protests, the police reaction to them and the rising homicide rate:

Crime rates are increasing only for a few specific categories, namely homicides and shootings. These crime categories are particularly responsive to reductions in proactive policing. The data also pinpoint the timing of the spikes to late May 2020, which corresponds with the death of George Floyd while in police custody in Minneapolis and subsequent anti-police protests  protests that likely led to declines in law enforcement.

Cassell wrote that his thesis is that the recent spikes in homicides have been caused by a Minneapolis effect, similar to the earlier Ferguson effect. If this thesis is correct, he continued, It is reasonable to estimate that, as a result of depolicing during June and July 2020, approximately 710 additional victims were murdered and more than 2,800 victims were shot.

Thomas Hargrove, the founder of the nonprofit Murder Accountability Project, which tracks unsolved homicides, made a detailed argument for a strong link between the protests, depolicing and the increase in homicides in an August 2022 essay, Murder and the Legacy of the Police Killing of George Floyd: What is beyond debate is that homicides increased dramatically in 2020. Murders surged nearly 30 percent, the largest one-year increase on record.

When weekly homicides are studied, he continued, citing data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,

a very clear pattern emerges. Although social and economic disruption caused by Covid began in early 2020, it wasnt until the week ending May 30 that weekly homicides topped 500 for the first time in many years. Although unemployment caused by Covid surged in April, there was little if any increase in murders at that time. Homicide began the historic hike exactly in the week when George Floyd was murdered.

There may have been several contributing factors to the surge in U.S. homicides, Hargrove concluded, but George Floyds murder was the very specific spark that lit the fuse to an extraordinary increase in fatal violence. He added, Law enforcement is learning from this experience. Police officers must be trained to avoid unnecessary deaths like George Floyds, acting as guardians of society and not as anticrime warriors.

Patrick Sharkey, a Princeton sociologist who writes about policing and crime, provided a nuanced response to this issue by email:

There are plausible reasons to think that the movement to change the way police carry out their work in Black communities and to end police violence against Black Americans has created real changes with tangible consequences. In cities where the police have been asked, for decades, to dominate public spaces by force and then are required to change the way they do their job  whether by public protest, local mobilization, public opinion or court order  there is often a destabilization of the local social order that can result in multiple shifts.

In this changed environment, Sharkey continued, Police may no longer get involved in incidents where they have discretion, residents may no longer provide information to police or go along with the way things used to work, and guns may start to circulate more widely.

But, Sharkey stressed,

This doesnt mean that Black Lives Matter protests cause police killings to fall and other forms of violence to rise. It means that when cities rely primarily on the police to deal with violence and all of the other challenges that come with extreme inequality and then the role or practices of the police begin to shift, there are often clear impacts on police killings and other forms of violence. The key challenge is how to develop a new model that confronts violence without the costs that come with aggressive or violent policing and mass incarceration. That is the challenge that every city should be grappling with.

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Couch potatoes isnt that far from the welfare queen myth conjured by Ronald Reagan or Newt Gingrichs 1994 claim that a system of orphanages was necessary because low-income babies were being dropped off balconies or showing up in dumpsters. None of these slurs had any significant basis in reality, and all were intended to whip up fears among members of the white middle class that they were being played for fools by people of color who were lazily living it up on taxpayer dollars and ignoring their family responsibilities.

But these largely racist attacks, very much including the one now on the table, persistently ignore the little-mentioned fact that a vast majority of the people receiving these benefits are already working or are unable to work. In 2021, 61 percent of the 25 million people on Medicaid were working in full- or part-time jobs. The rest were retired or disabled or taking care of small children or in school. Similarly, most food-stamp recipients work, and able-bodied adults younger than 50 are required to work in order to get more than three months of benefits in three years, unless they are taking care of children.

The existing work requirements dont get discussed by the drill sergeants who want to whip the vast army of couch potatoes into shape; they want more people to work and to work longer hours. Mr. McCarthys bill would require adults 50 to 55 to work at least 20 hours a week to receive food stamps, no matter that people in that age bracket often find high barriers to employment.

The bill would also require many adults 19 to 55 to work 80 hours a month to receive federally subsidized health coverage from Medicaid. (States could pick up the cost of those who are cut off, but many would not.) As the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities notes, this requirement would particularly hurt low-income beneficiaries in states that expanded Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act and seems designed as a backdoor way of undermining the expansion. Republicans couldnt repeal the act through the front door, so they are using the leverage provided by the debt ceiling to try to achieve their ideological aim. Its yet another illustration of why the ceiling needs to be abolished.

Its been clear for years that these kinds of work requirements dont actually put people back to work; they just pry people away from the benefits they need. In 2018, Arkansas became the first state to impose very similar work requirements on Medicaid, before a federal judge ended the experiment the next year. A study in The New England Journal of Medicine found that 13 percent of Medicaid recipients there lost their health coverage  about 17,000 people  but that there was no significant change in employment.
But Lehman explains in detail why the second-order effects of marijuana legalization have mostly vindicated the pessimists and skeptics. First, on the criminal justice front, the expectation that legalizing pot would help reduce Americas prison population by clearing out nonviolent offenders was always overdrawn, since marijuana convictions made up a small share of the incarceration rate even at its height. But Lehman argues that there is also no good evidence so far that legalization reduces racially discriminatory patterns of policing and arrests. In his view, cops often use marijuana as a pretext to search someone they suspect of a more serious crime, and they simply substitute some other pretext when the law changes, leaving arrest rates basically unchanged.

So legalization isnt necessarily striking a great blow against mass incarceration or for racial justice. Nor is it doing great things for public health. There was hope, and some early evidence, that legal pot might substitute for opioid use, but some of the more recent data cuts the other way: A new paper published in The Journal of Health Economics found that legal medical marijuana, particularly when available through retail dispensaries, is associated with higher opioid mortality. There are therapeutic benefits to cannabis that justify its availability for prescription, but the evidence of its risks keeps increasing: This month brought a new paper strengthening the link between heavy pot use and the onset of schizophrenia in young men.

And the broad downside risks of marijuana, beyond extreme dangers like schizophrenia, remain as evident as ever: a form of personal degradation, of lost attention and performance and motivation, that isnt mortally dangerous in the way of heroin but that can damage or derail an awful lot of human lives. Most casual pot smokers wont have this experience, but the legalization era has seen a sharp increase in the number of noncasual users. Occasional use has risen substantially since 2008, but daily or near-daily use is up much more, with around 16 million Americans, out of more than 50 million users, now suffering from what is termed marijuana use disorder.

In theory, there are technocratic responses to these unfortunate trends. In its ideal form, legalization would be accompanied by effective regulation and taxation, and as Lehman notes, on paper it should be possible to discourage addiction by raising taxes in the legal market, effectively nudging users toward more casual consumption.

In practice, it hasnt worked that way. Because of all the years of prohibition, a mature and supple illegal marketplace already exists, ready to undercut whatever prices the legal market charges. So to make the legal marketplace successful and amenable to regulation, you would probably need much more enforcement against the illegal marketplace  which is difficult and expensive and, again, obviously uncool, in conflict with the good-vibrations spirit of the legalizers.
I learned I wasnt wanted during a party game. One Christmas, home from college, I went with my parents to a holiday gathering of families. After dinner we played a game in which husbands answered frank questions on behalf of their wives. When my parents turn came, the host asked my father, How many children did you want when you got married? My dad, ventriloquizing my mother, snapped, Zero. Definitely zero. She nodded along, unfazed, as everyone in the room laughed uneasily.

The blunt response rattled me, though it didnt surprise me or anyone else in the room. Low-grade frustration and resentment, paired with unwavering, tight-lipped competence: She would mother us by accomplishing the checklist mandated by the job, which involved subjugating what she wanted to our needs. But this didnt mean she would love it.

Before you think my mother must be a monster, shes not  besides being shockingly honest, shes curious and brilliant, with a laugh thats loud and melodic and inspires others to laughter. And she loved my older brother and me, even as she refused to take a knee at the altar of motherhood.

Perhaps her parenting style would have been different if she had been mothered herself, but she felt the sharpness and pain of not being wanted by her mom  in fact, of being actively disliked. As the oldest of seven in a poor household in Iowa, my mom looked after her siblings, a parentified child who lived with a scarcity of both food and opportunity. My grandmother was largely uninterested in her kids and often cruel to the girls specifically. My mother went to a now-defunct nursing school, met my doctor dad at the Mayo Clinic and signed up for his dream: an upper-middle-class life out West with horses and kids. Sure, she didnt want children or large animals, but it was a safe choice, one she could manage.
The North Carolina gerrymandering decision made that scandal impossible to ignore: What else but rank partisan allegiance could account for such an abrupt switch on a question that determined political power in the state? In their dissent, the liberals on the court accused the conservative majority of a lawless partisan manipulation of the law. The majority insisted that the politicization had begun with the earlier anti-gerrymandering decision, and warned that the courts should not take sides in political battles.

Those justices are far from the only people to maintain that our court system is, and should always be, apolitical. Even candidates running in judicial elections tend to downplay the high stakes of those contests, sticking to bromides about impartial judging (plus some tough-on-crime chest-beating).

Where I live, in Durham, N.C., ordinary voters seem to have had little way of knowing last fall that they were choosing between two competing theories of democracy and probably deciding the future of majority rule in the state for decades. Nor, for that matter, did they hear much about abortion, although it was no secret that Republican legislators were likely to attack North Carolinas position as a bulwark of reproductive rights in the South. In other words, the vote for Supreme Court justices may have been the most important of the year, and it was a black box to most voters.

There is another, better way  and here, North Carolina and other closely divided states such as Georgia could spark a renaissance of democratic constitutional politics. Like it or not, the courts are another political branch, most of all when they decide basic constitutional questions, such as whether freedom and equality forbid extreme gerrymandering. Some candidates are bold enough to admit that. On April 4, Judge Janet Protasiewicz won a seat on Wisconsins Supreme Court and switched the courts ideological balance, by openly emphasizing her support for reproductive rights and broadly liberal commitments. If North Carolinas Democratic judicial candidates had (without commenting on any specific case, which judicial ethics forbids) focused their campaigns more aggressively on a commitment to constitutional values such as voting rights and reproductive rights, the balance of the court might be different today.

Urging more politicization may seem perverse in a culture already drenched in partisanship. But we have to be real. Deep political conflicts over constitutional vision have always existed in American law, particularly when courts are called upon to judge what a fair election system looks like. All political power is vested in and derived from the people, the North Carolina Constitution announces; all government of right originates from the people and is founded upon their will only. When judges have to choose between dueling constitutional visions of democracy, as the North Carolina Supreme Court has been doing, the voters should have the last word on what they believe democracy means under their Constitution.
When I talked to Kalla last week, he said, We find that about 25 percent of the Fox audience is Democratic and about 22 percent of the CNN or MSNBC audience is Republican. According to his and Broockmans research, 32 percent of Fox Newss audience is strong Republican and 31 percent is leans Republican or weak Republican. For MSNBC and CNN combined, 36 percent of viewers are strong Democrat and 33 percent are leans Democrat or weak Democrat; about 10 percent of the audience for all three channels is independent  11 percent for Fox and 9 percent for MSNBC and CNN.

Over email, I asked Kalla whether we know if watching partisan media leads people to vote in a particular direction. It turns out that watching partisan media doesnt necessarily lead to voting at all. He replied that partisan media only viewers are a bit more likely to have voted in the 2018 general election than the entire sample but not a massive difference. Partisan media only viewers are no more likely to have voted in primary elections or to have donated to candidates than the entire sample. So they might be a bit more politically engaged, but the differences are fairly small.

All of this is on my mind as we ford another week of discourse about CNNs town hall with former President Donald Trump that took place May 10. Over three million people watched it  a good ratings night for CNN but still just a small fraction of the country  and were months away from the first Republican primary, much less the general election. It concerns me that so many journalists have spent so many days (and generated so many tweets) dissecting a single event that will probably have little bearing on the outcome of the next presidential election, especially since Trump is already so well known and voters of all political persuasions are well aware of the divisive energy he brings.

It bothers me because it feels were stuck in a doom loop of Trump coverage that we havent figured a way out of since 2015. Its reasonable to spend a day or two chopping up the pros and cons of CNN hosting him; carrying that over to the next week isnt. Plus, news coverage is, in a sense, a zero-sum game: The more time thats devoted to raking over a single Trump TV appearance probably means other issues will get less or at least less prominent coverage. Finally, theres evidence that this kind of obsessive political coverage and its social media echo is helping push a large group of Americans away from politics  and news  altogether.

In their book The Other Divide: Polarization and Disengagement in American Politics, the political scientists Yanna Krupnikov and John Barry Ryan argue that the major split in our country is not between Democrats and Republicans but between the hyperengaged and the disengaged. As they wrote in a Times Opinion essay from 2020, Most Americans  upwards of 80 percent to 85 percent  follow politics casually or not at all. Just 15 percent to 20 percent follow it closely (the people we call deeply involved).
Many of my friends and family were among the nearly three million people who voted for Mr. Saied. Better him than his opponent, they said, a candidate supported by a mixture of the previous regime and corrupt business networks. Yet from the outset, I found Mr. Saieds project terrifying. As a scholar of religion, I paid particular attention to a lecture he gave in September 2018, when he was still a law professor, on the relationship between Islam and the state. His political vision wasnt just antidemocratic. It was an anti-modern form of nativism, with everything subservient to the ruler.

Given his obsession with purity, the presidents crackdown on migrants is hardly surprising. In February, he invoked the great replacement conspiracy theory to accuse the countrys small sub-Saharan migrant population of plotting to remake Tunisias identity. His remarks set off a brutal wave of violence against Black people in the country, in which scores were injured, arrested and expelled from their homes.

Mr. Saieds goal is to purify society from corrupt influence: Social hygiene, not social justice, is the point. The project is purely moralistic, rather than procedural and political, and its terms are defined by Mr. Saied himself. He has methodically targeted the independence of the judiciary, for example, issuing decrees that give him the authority to dismiss judges. In another decree, he ordered the prosecution of dissenting voices that would harm public security or national defense. Civil liberties, political opposition and free speech are to be dispensed with, recast as menaces to society.

To me, this all feels so sadly familiar, recalling the dark days of Mr. Ben Alis dictatorship. In April the children of numerous political prisoners, speaking from Geneva, called on the European Union to impose sanctions on Mr. Saieds regime. Their testimonies struck a chord with me. I remembered the depressing Sunday evenings in the spring of 1994, when my mom and I prepared the one basket of food we were permitted to take to my dad while he was in prison. I remember how it felt to talk to him separated by bars and armed police officers.

And yet this time around, it feels even worse. The goal is not simply to crush dissent but also to dehumanize political prisoners and their families. In Geneva, Kaouther Ferjani delivered a chilling account about how her father, a former member of Parliament who has been detained, is being treated. Made to share an overcrowded cell with 120 inmates, he has fallen ill and been repeatedly taken to a hospital. The fate of Rachid al-Ghannouchi, a former speaker of Parliament and head of the Ennahda party who was arrested in April, is unlikely to be much better.
In Western Canada, fire season comes early by American standards  beginning, usually, right around now. In Alberta, by todays date, only about 1,000 acres have burned in recent years. This season so far, the total is already more than 1.5 million  which would make it the provinces third-worst annual result, just a few weeks into May, with months more of wildfire season still to burn.

In the United States, by contrast, those who live in fear of wildfire are probably breathing a bit easier. Last year was a relatively light one, with fewer than eight million acres burning across the country  close to the two-decade average and well below the damage of several especially scarring recent seasons. This year looks potentially even milder, thanks to the onslaught of atmospheric rivers along the West Coast, which many Californians experienced as extreme weather whiplash but which also supercharged the states depleted snowpack, turned millions of drought-browned acres a verdant green and at least for a time managed to substitute the fear of flooding, in Californias quasi-apocalyptic ecological imagination, for fear of fire. For now there may be out-of-control blazes burning in Alberta, 2,000 miles away, but to most on the American side of the border, they are out of sight and out of mind.

But a new lesson from the evolving science of wildfire is about how far its toxic smoke spreads and how widely its noxious impacts are distributed. You may think of fire in terms of scorched homes and go bags sitting ready for sudden evacuation. But distance is no cordon sanitaire for smoke. In fact, according to one not-yet-published study led by Stanford researchers exploring the distribution of wildfire smoke, an estimated 60 percent of the smoke impact of American wildfire is experienced by those living outside the states where the trees are in flames. Eighty-seven percent of the impact is experienced by those living outside the county of the original fire. And the problem is getting much worse.

In recent years, a new generation of California fires have taught us their own new vocabulary: gigafires, for fires burning a million or more acres; fire tornadoes, for blazes burning intensely enough to create their own dramatic weather systems; the pyrocene age, for the current global era defined by fires. Perhaps more memorably, we are now haunted by a new visual vocabulary, too: a town called Paradise incinerated in hours, amber urban skyscapes and whole cities navigating darkness at noon, dashcam evacuations through walls of flame.
Delegates cut the ribbon to inaugurate the construction of Nong Khang Airport. (Photo: baodautu.vn)

On May 15, the inauguration and handover ceremony of Nong Khang Airport officially took place in Hua-Phan, on the occasion of the 133rd birthday of the great President Ho Chi Minh.

The Nong Khang Airport is one of the key projects that the senior leaders of the two Parties and States pay special attention to and closely direct to complete. This is an important project, contributing to improving and modernizing the transport infrastructure, and promoting the socio-economic development of Laos in general and Hua Phan province in particular.

Determining the strategic role of Nong Khang Airport in the economic development of Hua Phan province in particular and the Northeast-Northern region of Laos in general, helping to quickly connect the region with the capital Vientiane, as well as promoting Vietnam  Laos trade, the Laos Civil Aviation Administration approved investment in the project in January 2013, with 100% capital from Hoang Anh Gia Lai Joint Stock Company (Vietnam).

Therefore, speaking at the ceremony, Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment Tran Quoc Phuong also highly appreciated the fact that Hoang Anh Gia Lai International Agriculture Joint Stock Company completed construction and handed over to the Lao Government a key transport project, contributing to embellishing the great and traditional friendship, special solidarity and comprehensive cooperation between the two countries.

Mr. Ngam Pa Song Muong Mani, Minister of Transport and Public Works of Laos said that the project helps to transform Laos from a landlocked country into an integrated country of the region and the world in general.

Speaking at the event, Secretary of the Party Committee and Governor of Hua Phan province Vanxay Pheng-summa emphasized that the inauguration of Nong Khang Airport is an important milestone for the cooperation between Vietnam and Laos. The project is long-awaited by the Hua Phan people, promoting trade and socio-economic development of the province in particular and Laos in general.

Mr. Tran Bao Son, General Director of Hoang Anh Gia Lai International Agriculture Joint Stock Company, said that as the company was aware of the importance of Nong Khang Airport, THACO and the company sent a professional, highly qualified project management apparatus to ensure the quality, safety and art of the works. When completed, the Nong Khang Airport will have a capacity of serving 100,000 passengers per year.

Nong Khang Airport project was built on a total land area of 249.6 hectares with the total investment of USD82 million./.
One of the greatest transformations in the history of life occurred more than 600 million years ago, when a single-celled organism gave rise to the first animals. With their multicellular bodies, animals evolved into a staggering range of forms, like whales that weigh 200 tons, birds that soar six miles into the sky and sidewinders that slither across desert dunes.

Scientists have long wondered what the first animals were like, including questions about their anatomy and how they found food. In a study published on Wednesday, scientists found tantalizing answers in a little-known group of gelatinous creatures called comb jellies. While the first animals remain a mystery, scientists found that comb jellies belong to the deepest branch on the animal family tree.

The debate over the origin of animals has endured for decades. At first, researchers relied largely on the fossil record for clues. The oldest definitive animal fossils date back about 580 million years, although some researchers have claimed to find even older ones. In 2021, for example, Elizabeth Turner, a Canadian paleontologist, reported finding 890-million-year-old fossils of possible sponges.

Sponges would make sense as the oldest animal. They are simple creatures, with no muscles or nervous system. They anchor themselves to the ocean floor, where they filter water through a maze of pores, trapping bits of food.
Scientists have revealed a surprisingly complex origin of our species, rejecting the long-held argument that modern humans arose from one place in Africa during one period in time.

By analyzing the genomes of 290 living people, researchers concluded that modern humans descended from at least two populations that coexisted in Africa for a million years before merging in several independent events across the continent. The findings were published on Wednesday in Nature.

There is no single birthplace, said Eleanor Scerri, an evolutionary archaeologist at the Max Planck Institute for Geoarchaeology in Jena, Germany, who was not involved in the new study. It really puts a nail in the coffin of that idea.

Paleoanthropologists and geneticists have found evidence pointing to Africa as the origin of our species. The oldest fossils that may belong to modern humans, dating back as far as 300,000 years, have been unearthed there. So were the oldest stone tools used by our ancestors.
Siler collingwoodi is a spider that jumps and wears a coat of vibrant and metallic blues, oranges and sometimes reds. It also does impressions, copying the movements of an assortment of ant species.

The jumping spider doesnt mimic ants for attention  rather, the opposite. Ants are aggressively territorial and are known in the insect world for their deadly jaws and their use of venom and other defensive strategies. Hundreds of spider species imitate ants to avoid being eaten by predators.

But colorful S. collingwoodi does something distinctive among mimics. Researchers have found that the jumping spider imitates certain features of multiple ant species in its habitat. By looking like  but not perfectly imitating  the ants, this makes it what the researchers call an imperfect mimic. But that imperfection is enough to fool one of the jumping spiders most dangerous predators.

The researchers also found that the spiders may find another layer of protection by blending into a similarly brilliant plant in their habitat. The findings were published Wednesday in iScience.
What I love about my character is I feel like shes always one step ahead, Caruso said of her role, which makes the most of the actresss gift for sardonic delivery. She knows exactly where were going but she doesnt show it, and thats a fun frustration to play with.

Joe Mantello

Before rehearsals began, Mantello watched The Shining, in which he saw parallels with Holloways play. Its a psychological thriller and, yes, there are elements of gore in it, but I think it was the isolation of that family in a very wintry landscape, he said of the Stanley Kubrick film. And some presence that is altering the trajectory of their lives.

As one of Broadways most in-demand directors, Mantello is used to figuring out exacting scripts, but he initially found the one for Grey House to be elusive. So he asked Holloway what animated the plays inner logic. I think that its important in this genre that this world has a particular set of rules, this house has a particular set of rules, Mantello said. Though the audience may not ever completely comprehend exactly what those rules are, we all have to be crystal-clear about them and adhere to them.

The grey house is not just a physical place, either: it seems to connect to a generalized anxiety that feels very modern, even though the show is set in 1977. I feel that the world is in an incredibly dangerous place right now, and Im very connected to the idea of people in peril, Mantello said. Laughing, he added, In this particular case, the danger is seemingly benign children, mysterious children.
In the ninth century, the Catholic Church announced that the remains of the apostle James had been discovered in the far western reach of the Iberian Peninsula, at what would become the town of Santiago de Compostela. It further declared that anyone willing to make a pilgrimage to the spot would receive plenary indulgences, or the remission of punishment for their sins. The faithful came running, er, walking. The Camino de Santiago sprang into existence and has been traversed, with varying degrees of popularity, ever since.

The Camino passes over the Pyrenees Mountains and bisects desolate plains; it leads through villages of a few dozen inhabitants and sizable cities (Pamplona, Leon). Often under blistering sun.

I first walked this path a quarter-century ago. There was no religious call to my walk, but like so many pilgrims through the ages, the Camino produced in me a transformative  dare I say spiritual?  experience. Id always wanted to return to the Camino and in the summer of 2021, I invited my then 19-year-old son, Sam McCarthy, to join me. Sam, an actor and a native New Yorker who has appeared in such shows as Dead to Me on Netflix, surprised me by saying yes. We arrived in Spain in late July and walked through a scorching August to Santiago de Compostela. And then, while I sat my weary body down, Sam continued on, for 50 more miles to the sea, ending his journey in the village of Finisterre.

Ive written a book, Walking With Sam: A Father, a Son, and Five Hundred Miles Across Spain, that tells the story of our journey from my perspective, but what did it mean for him? Why would a teenager say yes to a month of walking with his father?
PHILADELPHIA  The afternoon before Election Day, Jennifer Robinson, 41, was trying to manage her two small children in the quiet corner of a public library in a pocket of her city that had endured generations of abandonment. She was despondent about the state of Philadelphia, most of all about the crime, but she talked about the mayoral primary as if it had little bearing on any of it.

Nobody has any answers, Ms. Robinson said, shifting her restless 11-month-old from arm to arm. Its a feeling of hopelessness.

This is the city that Cherelle Parker will be leading as mayor if she wins the general election in November, and these are the sentiments she will be trying to turn around. On Tuesday, Ms. Parker, a former state legislator and City Council member, secured a surprisingly decisive victory in a Democratic primary that had been seen as a tight five-way race up until Election Day.

The huge number of undecideds in the last polls appear to have broken heavily for Ms. Parker, 50, the only Black candidate of the five main contenders hoping to lead a city where Black people make up more than 40 percent of the population and where the Black neighborhoods have been especially hard hit by gun violence and Covid.
In 1953, Ms. Flynn was convicted under the Smith Act of conspiring to teach and advocate the forcible overthrow of the United States government. She was sentenced to three years in prison. Ms. Flynn received a state funeral in Moscow when she died in 1964, and her obituary, describing her as the head of the American Communist Party, appeared on the front page of The New York Times.

Elizabeth Gurley Flynns role in history is well established. Her significance as a historical figure is not in doubt, Arnie Alpert, a community activist in New Hampshire who led the initiative for Ms. Flynns marker, said in an interview. But what is not well known is that she was born in Concord.

Mr. Alpert and his friend Mary Lee Sargent first petitioned the state Division of Historical Resources for a historical marker in 2021. The state ordered the plaque in March 2022, and it was approved by Concords City Council in December.

The marker was installed on the corner believed to have once been the site of Ms. Flynns childhood home, and a groundbreaking ceremony was held on May 1. Two days later, members of New Hampshires executive council, a state body of four Republicans and one Democrat, debated the issue of the monument. Joseph Kenney, a Republican council member, described it as a slap in the face to the state of New Hampshire and the city of Concord.

On May 15, it was removed.

Mr. Kenney said in an interview that he hoped removing the plaque would teach children a valuable lesson about the history of communism in the United States, and the time when it threatened to take the world over and change our way of life.
The man accused of fatally stabbing four University of Idaho students last year has been indicted by a grand jury and will be arraigned on murder charges next week, a court spokesman said Wednesday.

The suspect, Bryan Kohberger, a former graduate student in criminology at a nearby university, was arrested in the case in December but has yet to enter a plea. Defense lawyers had moved to hold an extended preliminary hearing, scheduled for next month, that would have explored much of the evidence collected by investigators, but the grand jury indictment eliminates that process.

The authorities have yet to describe a motive or lay out many details of the killings, in which the four victims were stabbed to death in the predawn hours one Sunday in November in a house not far from campus. They have not detailed any prior connections between Mr. Kohberger and the victims, Madison Mogen, 21; Kaylee Goncalves, 21; Xana Kernodle, 20; and Ethan Chapin, 20.
MIAMI  Donna Deegan, a Democrat, was elected mayor of Jacksonville on Tuesday, shaking up the politics of Floridas largest city, where Republican mayors have been in power for all but four of the last 30 years.

Ms. Deegan, a former television news anchor, defeated Daniel Davis, a Republican endorsed by Gov. Ron DeSantis, who had been seen as the likely favorite in the traditionally Republican stronghold. In recent years, Jacksonville had been the most populous city in the country with a Republican mayor, Lenny Curry, who is term-limited; that distinction now goes to Fort Worth, Texas.

Ms. Deegans victory is a rare bright spot for Florida Democrats, whose losses have mounted in recent elections to the point that the party has little sway in the State Capitol and a thin candidate bench.

But while Florida has become decidedly more Republican  and while many have viewed Mr. DeSantis, a likely 2024 presidential contender, as all-powerful in state politics  Jacksonville has emerged as a swingy corner of the state. A majority of voters in Duval County, which shares a consolidated government with the city of Jacksonville, voted for the Democratic nominee for governor in 2018, for the Republican mayor in 2019, for President Biden in 2020, for Mr. DeSantis last year, and now for Ms. Deegan, who will be the citys first female mayor.
The country was riveted for three weeks in 2021 during the trial of the former police officer Derek Chauvin, as a jury in Minneapolis considered whether the death of George Floyd was murder. Through it all, Keith Ellison, the attorney general of Minnesota who was directing the prosecution, was a constant yet silent presence in the courtroom.

Through the proceedings, he wrote in old notebooks saved from his days serving in Congress. When he ran out, a friend who worked for a law firm supplied him with more notebooks. He filled those, too.

I wasnt trying to be a stenographer, Mr. Ellison, 59, said in an interview this month. I was thinking, What do I need to remember?

Those notes informed the prosecution's nightly meetings during the trial. But they also became the foundation for Mr. Ellisons new book, Break the Wheel: Ending the Cycle of Police Violence, which will be published by Twelve on Tuesday. It is a trial diary of sorts, a clear, methodical account of his experience directing the prosecution of Mr. Chauvin, in the rare murder conviction of a police officer for an on-duty death.
A Mediterranean monk seal lies on the seashore at Jaffa beach in Tel Aviv, Israel, on May 15, 2023. Mediterranean monk seals, listed as one of the world's most endangered marine mammals, are the rarest out of the 33 species of seals that exist in the world. (Photo by Gil Cohen Magen/Xinhua)

A Mediterranean monk seal lies on the seashore at Jaffa beach in Tel Aviv, Israel, on May 15, 2023. Mediterranean monk seals, listed as one of the world's most endangered marine mammals, are the rarest out of the 33 species of seals that exist in the world. (Photo by Gil Cohen Magen/Xinhua)

A Mediterranean monk seal lies on the seashore at Jaffa beach in Tel Aviv, Israel, on May 15, 2023. Mediterranean monk seals, listed as one of the world's most endangered marine mammals, are the rarest out of the 33 species of seals that exist in the world. (JINI via Xinhua)

People look at a Mediterranean monk seal on the seashore at Jaffa beach in Tel Aviv, Israel, on May 15, 2023. Mediterranean monk seals, listed as one of the world's most endangered marine mammals, are the rarest out of the 33 species of seals that exist in the world. (JINI via Xinhua)

Editor: WXL
He added: Im not a rich person.

Dr. Botstein had previously said that besides an unsolicited $75,000 gift and 66 laptops, Mr. Epstein had not given any gifts to Bard.

On Wednesday, Dr. Botstein said that he did not disclose the money from the foundation during a previous interview with The Times earlier this month because he was not aware of it. He said the contract was signed by someone else so Mr. Epsteins name did not appear on his records. He said he didnt remember the 2016 payments until he looked into the matter after being asked by The Wall Street Journal.

Bard College said in a statement that Dr. Botstein gave the $150,000 as part of his annual 2016 gift to Bard, along with personal savings and the rest of his non-Bard income from honoraria and outside conducting fees, a practice he has maintained for many years.

It is unclear whether the board of Bard College was aware of this payment. Efforts to interview James Chambers, the board chairman, and other trustees were not successful.

The payment is the latest revelation that gives a deeper look into how Mr. Epstein used his money to buy influence. Mr. Epstein gave prolifically to many charities and universities, including Harvard and M.I.T.
After insisting for months that he would never do so, the president appears ready to discuss a potential ransom.

It is no secret on Capitol Hill that Mr. McCarthy and his fellow Republicans feel that the White House and congressional Democrats have consistently underestimated the speaker after his expectations for a much larger majority fell short and he had to fight through 15 ballots to win his job in January. Republicans believe that Democrats have not afforded Mr. McCarthy the same standing and respect as his predecessors John A. Boehner and Paul D. Ryan, who had stronger policy chops.

At a news conference last week, Mr. McCarthy refused to say he was offended or angered by the presidents regard for him. But he showed his pique, noting that Mr. Biden had assured him they would meet again after an initial Feb. 1 discussion but then failed to set up another session for months, until the House had passed its own legislation raising the debt limit while cutting spending and enacting other favored Republican priorities.

If you believe the debt ceiling is as important as I think it is, why would you go silent for 97 days? Mr. McCarthy asked. Why would you tell me one thing, that we are going to meet, and then not?

Democrats and the White House based their push for a debt-limit increase without conditions on the premise that Mr. McCarthy would be unable to unite his fractious Republican conference around any plan  not an irrational view considering that dozens of hard-right Republicans had vowed never to vote to raise the debt ceiling. Democrats believed that failure by the House Republicans would then set up a scenario where members of both parties would race to increase the debt ceiling without accompanying spending cuts to avert a catastrophic default.
If the initial judges ruling is upheld, access to medication abortion would be upended in states where abortion is legal, not just in states with bans and restrictions. The F.D.A.s regulatory authority over other drugs could be challenged with other lawsuits, and pharmaceutical companies say that uncertainty about the F.D.A.s role could chill drug development in the United States.

The arguments included whether the parties that brought the suit  a coalition of organizations and doctors who oppose abortion and do not prescribe the pill  could show they would suffer actual harm if the medication continued to be available and whether they waited too long to challenge the approval of mifepristone, the first pill in a two-drug regimen.

The plaintiffs claim that mifepristone is unsafe, that the F.D.A. did not follow proper regulatory protocols in approving it in 2000 and that the agency has inappropriately eased restrictions on the pill since then. The government strongly disputes those contentions, citing years of research that mifepristone is safe and arguing that the agency has acted responsibly.

The panel, composed of two appointees by President Donald J. Trump, Judges James C. Ho and Cory T. Wilson, and a George W. Bush appointee, Judge Jennifer Walker Elrod, did not issue a decision at the hearing on Wednesday. That will come later, though there is no deadline for the court to decide. Any decision is likely to be appealed, first to the full appellate court and then to the Supreme Court.

Less than a minute into the presentation by Sarah Harrington, the Justice Department lawyer representing the F.D.A., Judge Ho interrupted to criticize her description of the case as an unprecedented and unjustified attack on F.D.A. scientific expertise.
One of the biggest developments out of Tuesdays debt ceiling meeting was President Bidens selection of two officials to negotiate directly with aides to Speaker Kevin McCarthy: Shalanda Young, the director of the Office of Management and Budget, and Steve Ricchetti, a White House senior adviser.

That decision appeared to mollify Mr. McCarthy, who noted after the meeting that we finally have a formula that has proven to work in the past.

Ms. Young and Mr. Ricchetti bring years of experience working with lawmakers on both sides of the aisle to forge deals on critical pieces of legislation. But they will still face a difficult task in trying to reach an agreement to raise the debt ceiling ahead of a potential default as soon as June 1. They are expected to work closely with Louisa Terrell, the director of the White House Office of Legislative Affairs.

Heres a look at the two key players who will represent Mr. Biden as policymakers work to avoid what many say would be an economically devastating default.
Mr. Biden decided to cut the trip to Asia short to be back for what he called final negotiations over the ceiling, the statutory cap on how much the government can borrow to finance its obligations. He is scheduled to return to Washington on Sunday, skipping planned visits to Papua New Guinea and Australia.

Mr. Biden echoed the optimism offered by both Democratic and Republican leaders after Tuesdays meeting.

He has designated his senior adviser, Steve Ricchetti, and Shalanda Young, the director of the Office of Management and Budget, to speak to a team of negotiators representing congressional Republicans. Speaker Kevin McCarthy had also commended the move as a sign of progress on Tuesday.

We narrowed the group to meet and hammer out our differences, Mr. Biden said, adding that the negotiating teams met on Tuesday night and will meet again on Wednesday.

Time is running out for the two sides to reach a consensus.

The government reached the $31.4 trillion debt limit on Jan. 19, and the Treasury Department has been using a series of accounting maneuvers to keep paying its bills. Treasury Secretary Janet L. Yellen reiterated that the United States could run out of money to pay its bills by June 1 if Congress does not raise or suspend the debt limit, potentially causing a recession or the elimination of jobs.
The White House warned that a default would only embolden Americas adversaries, using the argument against Republicans, whom they blame for playing with fire.

Theres countries like Russia and China that would love nothing more than for us to default so they could point the finger and say, You see, the United States is not a stable, reliable partner, said John F. Kirby, a spokesman for the National Security Council.

But he sought to play down the effects of the dispute on the G7 meeting, saying that he doubted it would dominate the discussion and maintaining that other leaders dont need to worry about that part of it. The presidents counterparts would understand his need to cut short his trip, he said.

They know that our ability to pay our debts is a key part of U.S. credibility and leadership around the world, Mr. Kirby said. And so they understand that the president also has to focus on making sure that we dont default and on having these conversations with congressional leaders.

Even if they understand, though, they see consequences. Mr. Bidens decision to head home early reinforces questions about American commitment to the Asia-Pacific region and leaves a vacuum that China may exploit, according to analysts. A presidential visit to places like Papua New Guinea, where no U.S. leader has gone before, speaks loudly about diplomatic priorities  as does the failure to follow through.
Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida, an all-but-declared presidential candidate, has stepped up his headline-hunting travel and events ahead of an official announcement, traversing the state and trying to hoover up national attention as he signs the sharply conservative legislation he believes can propel him to the Republican Partys nomination.

On Wednesday, Mr. DeSantis signed a slew of measures that hit all the culture-clash notes his base has rewarded him for, including bills banning gender-transition care for minors, preventing children from attending adult live performances like drag shows and restricting the use of preferred pronouns in schools.

We need to let our kids just be kids, Mr. DeSantis said at a Christian school in Tampa. What weve said in Florida is we are going to remain a refuge of sanity and a citadel of normalcy.

It was his third consecutive day of holding public bill-signing ceremonies across the state. The ceremonies, which he hosts in his official capacity as governor, allow Mr. DeSantis to promote his political message in settings that he carefully stage-manages as a veritable M.C., calling up additional speakers and then thanking them for their contributions. These events sometimes take on the feel of political rallies.
The limping conclusion to John H. Durhams four-year investigation of the Russia inquiry underscores a recurring dilemma in American government: how to shield sensitive law enforcement investigations from politics without creating prosecutors who can run amok, never to be held to account.

At a time when special counsels are proliferating  there have been four since 2017, two of whom are still at work  the much-hyped investigation by Mr. Durham, a special counsel, into the Russia inquiry ended with a whimper that stood in contrast to the countless hours of political furor that spun off from it.

Mr. Durham delivered a report that scolded the F.B.I. but failed to live up to the expectations of supporters of Donald J. Trump that he would uncover a politically motivated deep state conspiracy. He charged no high-level F.B.I. or intelligence official with a crime and acknowledged in a footnote that Hillary Clintons 2016 presidential campaign did nothing prosecutable, either.

Predictably, the reports actual content  it contained no major new revelations, and it accused the F.B.I. of confirmation bias rather than making a more explosive conclusion of political bias  made scant difference in parts of the political arena. Mr. Trump and many of his loyalists issued statements treating it as vindication of their claims that the Russia inquiry involved far more extravagant wrongdoing.
WASHINGTON  The Supreme Court on Wednesday refused to block two Illinois laws prohibiting the sale of high-powered guns and high-capacity magazines while challenges to them move forward.

The courts brief order gave no reasons, which is typical when the court acts on requests for emergency relief. There were no noted dissents.

Several other states, including California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York and Washington, along with many municipalities, have enacted similar laws in the wake of mass shootings around the nation. Recent shootings, including one at a Texas mall that left eight people dead, have prompted calls for further efforts to address gun violence.

The case that reached the Supreme Court was a challenge to a city ordinance in Naperville, Ill., enacted in August and a state law enacted in January. The ordinance prohibited the commercial sale of assault rifles, listing 26 categories of weapons, including AK-47 and AR-15 rifles. The state law covered similar weapons along with high-capacity magazines.
A Minnesota man has been indicted on charges that he stole a pair of the famed ruby slippers worn by Judy Garland in The Wizard of Oz from the Judy Garland Museum in Grand Rapids, Minn., the actresss hometown, nearly 18 years ago.

The red-sequined pumps were recovered in a sting operation that ended in Minneapolis in 2018, but the authorities said at the time that their investigation was continuing and they did not name any suspects.

On Tuesday, a federal indictment in U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota charged Terry Jon Martin of Minnesota with stealing an authentic pair of the slippers, which officials estimated have a market value of $3.5 million, from the museum sometime between Aug. 27 and Aug. 28 of 2005. Mr. Martin was indicted on one count of theft of a major artwork.

The one-page indictment did not provide any further details about the case. It was not immediately clear if Mr. Martin had a lawyer and he could not be reached at numbers listed under his name. Mr. Martin told The Minneapolis Star Tribune on Wednesday that he had to go to trial, and added: I dont want to talk to you. The newspaper reported that Mr. Martin lived about 12 miles south of the museum.
The world was surprised and shocked by last months announcement that feuding regional Middle East powerhouses Iran and Saudi Arabia had agreed to shelve their hostilities and put aside their deep-seated animosities. The even greater shock, especially in the United States, was that it was China that had facilitated and brokered the deal. This was something the US was impotent to accomplish, given its lack of diplomatic relations with Iran for 43 years, and foreshadows China's vision and practice of peaceful development, consultation and dialogue, inclusiveness and mutual learning becoming a common choice for the global community.

The new type of international relations based on win-win cooperation that China advocates is opposed to the previous regional order in the Middle East with conflict and competition as its main theme. To those in the know, however, this logical progression of Chinas impressively playing peacemaker in one of the globes most complicated regions did not come as any surprise at all. Under the guidance of President Xi Jinping, the practice of major-country diplomacy with Chinese characteristics has provided Chinese wisdom and solutions for global governance.

On March 23, 2013, China put forward the vision to build a community with a shared future in a speech at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations, calling to build a global community bound by a common destiny, where every individual has a stake in all others. Since then, China has repeated and hammered home this idea on more than 100 occasions.

To put meat on the bone, later that same year during President Xis official visits to Kazakhstan and Indonesia, China unveiled its most significant global initiative, which was then called One Belt, One Road, and is now called the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Chinas vision is nothing short of building a 21st-century land and sea trade version of the fabled ancient Silk Road by fostering global connectivity on a scale never before dared or imagined.

So far, 147 countries with 40% of the global GDP and two-thirds of the global population have signed up for BRI projects or indicated an interest in doing so. China has already spent an estimated $1 trillion on BRI projects such as ports, railways, and other infrastructure connecting China to the world, and the world to China.

Chinas Global Development Initiative (GDI) was launched at the UN General Assembly in September 2021. Chinese President Xi Jinping addressed the unbalanced and inadequate development among and within countries. The GDI mirrors the UNs own development agenda. It aims to increase Chinas role as a major force in global development in the key areas of poverty alleviation, food security, global public health, financing for development, climate change and green development, industrialization, digital economy, and connectivity. In doing so, China leads by example. For instance, by lifting more than 800 million of its people out of extreme poverty, China was the first developing country to have met the first UN 2030 UN Sustainable Development Goal.

China proposed Global Security Initiative (GSI) at the Boao Forum for Asia in April 2022, and it was further detailed in the GSI Concept Paper released earlier this year. As opposed to the Wests often zero-sum approach and/or my way or the highway confrontational stance, the GSI calls on countries to adapt to the profoundly changing international landscape in the spirit of solidarity, and address the complex and intertwined security challenges with a win-win mindset. The GSI aims to eliminate the root causes of international conflicts, improve global security governance, encourage joint international efforts to bring more stability and certainty to a volatile and changing era, and promote durable peace and development in the world.

Most recently, on March 2023, China proposed the Global Civilization Initiative (GCI). Its an acknowledgment that the world is more and more divided, polarized, and moving dangerously close to a final reckoning in our nuclear age. Its a recognition that both the clash and superiority of one civilization over another is a fact of todays world and that were more prone to destructive black swan and grey rhino events. The GCI puts forward four initiatives - respect for the diversity of civilizations, advocating the common values of humanity, highly valuing the inheritance and innovation of each civilization, and promoting robust international people-to-people exchanges and cooperation.

Taken as a whole, Chinas vision of a community with a shared future and the three global initiatives, which led China to broker the seemingly impossible Iran-Saudi peace deal, stands in sharp contrast to the inability of the US and its allies to do so. The starkest other contrast that comes to my mind occurred six years ago. On January 18th, Xi Jinping was on a state visit to Switzerland, at the UN in Geneva calling for "a community with a shared future for mankind". Two days later in Washington, Donald Trump was inaugurated 6,540 km away in actual distance, but substantively worlds apart, saying: "From this day forward, it's going to be 'America first  and indeed it was, and still is.

Contributed by Harvey Dzodin, Senior Fellow at the Center for China and Globalization

Editor: ZAD
President Guillermo Lasso of Ecuador disbanded the countrys opposition-led National Assembly on Wednesday, a drastic move as the right-leaning leader faced impeachment proceedings over accusations of embezzlement.

The constitutional measure, never before used, allows the president to rule by decree until new elections can be held, marking a moment of extraordinary political turbulence for a country of 18 million already in turmoil.

Ecuador has long been a relative haven in the region, but in recent years it has been convulsed by rising violence and a skyrocketing homicide rate as increasingly powerful narco-trafficking groups fight for territory.

Opposition lawmakers accused Mr. Lasso of turning a blind eye to irregularities and embezzlement in a contract between a state-run shipping company and an oil tanker company that wasnt delivering on its promises  allegations first made in news reports. The countrys constitutional court later approved a charge of embezzlement against the president but denied two charges of bribery.
Beijing fined a Chinese comedy studio around $2 million on Wednesday for a joke that compared Chinas military to stray dogs, a reminder of the ever-narrowing confines of expression under the countrys leader, Xi Jinping.

The Beijing Municipal Culture and Tourism Bureau accused a popular comedian, Li Haoshi, who is employed by the studio, of severely insulting the Peoples Liberation Army, Chinas military, during two live performances in Beijing on Saturday. The authority said his joke had a vile societal impact.

We will not allow any company or individual to wantonly slander the glorious image of the Peoples Liberation Army, the statement read.

The authority also said it indefinitely suspended all Beijing performances hosted by the studio, the Shanghai-based Xiaoguo Culture Media. The bureau also confiscated roughly $180,000 worth of what officials described as illicit income uncovered during the investigation, which was started on Monday. Officials in Shanghai followed suit, suspending all Xiaoguo performances there and ordering the company to deeply reflect on the lessons from the incident, according to a government social media account.
To millions of Japanese, the Shinto faith is not so much a spiritual practice as a cultural one. Every January, crowds gather at shrines to pray for good fortune for the new year. Families take their children to celebrate rites of passage, and many seek blessings for luck in romance, school entrance exams or job interviews.

Few regard these rituals as being tethered to any fixed doctrine  Shintoism, an indigenous religion, has no official dogma or scripture. But unbeknown to most in largely secular Japan, a national Shinto association has tried to spread a conservative ideological message among lawmakers, including on gay and transgender rights.

Japan is the only nation in the Group of 7 that has not legalized same-sex unions, and foreign ambassadors have pushed the country to support equality more forcefully in the run-up to a summit in Hiroshima starting later this week. Polls show overwhelming support for same-sex marriage in Japan; one of the countrys most influential business leaders recently called it embarrassing that Japan has not sanctioned the unions.

Lawmakers, under pressure from the Shinto group and other traditionalist forces, have lagged behind public opinion, struggling to agree on even limited expressions of support for the rights of gay and transgender people.
Once a dominant political force, Taiwans main opposition party lost the last two presidential elections in large part because it has promoted closer ties with China. Now, faced with voters who have been alarmed by Beijings aggression toward the island, the Kuomintang is placing its hopes on a new type of candidate: a popular local leader with a blank slate on the thorny question of China.

The Kuomintang, or Nationalist Party, on Wednesday nominated as its presidential candidate Hou Yu-ih, a 65-year-old, two-term mayor of New Taipei City and former police chief who has tried to strike a middle ground within the Kuomintang on the islands relations with China. Mr. Hou launched his bid with a rallying call.

We must unite for victory, especially at this stage when our country is facing fierce and dangerous international circumstances, Mr. Hou said following the announcement of his nomination.

His candidacy sets the stage for a tight race next January that could chart a new course for Taiwan in the big-power standoff between China and the United States and reshape tensions around the Taiwan Strait, one of the worlds most dangerous flash points. Under the seven-year leadership of President Tsai Ing-wen of the governing Democratic Progressive Party, Taiwan has come under intensifying military and diplomatic pressure from China and pushed back by bolstering ties with the United States.
It was meant to be a moment for the history books  the first time a U.S. president visited a Pacific Island country. Papua New Guinea, the host nation, scrambled to mobilize 1,000 security officers; the leaders of 17 other countries agreed to make the trip for just a few hours with President Biden, who was scheduled to go on to a meeting in Australia with allies known as the Quad.

Now all those plans have been scrapped. The White House announced on Tuesday that Mr. Biden would cut short an Asia-Pacific trip and return to Washington on Sunday after the Group of 7 summit in Japan for debt ceiling negotiations to ensure the United States does not run out of cash and default.

What the cancellation means, in the broadest of terms, is that Americas domestic politics is undermining American foreign policy at a crucial time, in a critical region. Analysts and diplomats warn that fears of an unreliable and dysfunctional America will now be revived in Asia and the Pacific, where the United States has only recently started to build momentum in its efforts to counter Chinese influence.

It will reinforce lingering doubts about U.S. staying power, said Hal Brands, a professor of global affairs at Johns Hopkins University. And you can bet China will make hay of this  its message to countries in the region will be, You cant count on a country that cant even perform basic functions of governance.
Shortly after D-Day during World War II, French resistance fighters took 47 captured German soldiers to a small wooded area in southwest-central France. In the scorching heat, they forced the soldiers to dig their own graves, shot them dead one by one and buried the bodies, covering the remains with quicklime, according to a witness.

The story of the mass execution was concealed from the public for decades, a stain on the heralded resistance movement, until the last-surviving witness broke his silence to a few people  and then revealed it to a global audience in interviews published in recent days.

We were ashamed, the witness, Edmond Reveil, who is now 98 and was part of the resistance group, told the French newspaper La Vie Correzienne. We knew that we should not kill prisoners.

French historians have confirmed the general outlines of his story, but his version of events could not be independently verified. His public statements have sent shock waves through the Limousin, a rural area in central France that has long prided itself on its history of resistance during the war and paid a heavy price for it. German Nazi officers from the military arm of the SS, the Waffen-SS, slaughtered hundreds of civilians there in retaliation.
And the U.S. official did not rule out the possibility of the Biden administration issuing re-export licenses to European militaries, enabling them to transfer their F-16s to Ukraine. Later Tuesday, after Britain and the Netherlands announced their so-called fighter coalition, Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken and the Dutch foreign minister, Wopke Hoekstra, spoke by phone to discuss Ukraine and other issues.

Mr. Hoekstra said on Wednesday that we havent reached a solution yet in what another senior European diplomat described as a slow-moving and difficult discussion.

When we are ready to cross that bridge and are ready to communicate this, we will, Mr. Hoekstra said.

The Netherlands is one of four European countries that the senior Ukrainian official said have quietly signaled they are ready to send F-16s to Kyiv. Its fleet, along with those of Denmark and Belgium, could provide at least 125 combat-ready F-16s, according to the International Institute for Strategic Studies, a British think tank that assesses military stockpiles globally. Norway, which retired its unspecified number of F-16s last year in a switch to the more advanced F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, is also ready to contribute, the Ukrainian official said.

Kyiv is asking  for now, at least  for only between 24 and 36, the official said.

Earlier this week, the British prime minister, Rishi Sunak, said the United Kingdom would begin training Ukrainian pilots, starting this summer, as part of a plan with other countries on providing F-16 jets. His announcement, wrapped in a new package of military aid, came during a visit to London by President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine.

Without explicit American approvals, however, the training is likely to be limited to what the senior Ukrainian official described as merely technical language and tactical lessons that pilots would be taught, without ever touching an F-16.

With its powerful radar that can spot targets from hundreds of miles away and modern missiles, the F-16 contains classified and other highly restricted systems that the United States does not want duplicated or falling into hostile hands. It is among classes of weapons for which even allies must gain releasability permission from the Pentagon just to discuss the technology with outside partners, like Ukraine, a senior Defense Department official said.
Ukraines infrastructure minister, Oleksandr Kubrakov, said in a Facebook post that despite the extension until July 18, more work needed to be done to address shipment delays that he blamed on Russian sabotage.

We hope that our partners will do their best to get the grain deal to fully work for the worlds food security and that Russia will eventually stop using food as a weapon and blackmail, he wrote.

Several times over the past year, Russia has threatened to withdraw from the deal, arguing that provisions allowing its own agricultural products and fertilizers to be shipped to world markets are not being fulfilled.

The spokeswoman for Russias Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, suggested that the extension of the agreement did not address Russias complaints. The distortions in the implementation of the deal should be corrected as quickly as possible, she said during a news conference.

Even though Russian agricultural products are not covered by Western sanctions, some international shipping companies have avoided getting involved in that trade because sanctions have made it more difficult to strike financial and insurance deals with Russia.

In fact, trade data shows that grain exports rose last year as Russia reported a record harvest. And while its not clear how much those exports have been facilitated by the grain deal, analysts say that Mr. Putin has been under pressure from two of his most important international partners  Turkey and China  to continue to renew it.

The deal also serves Mr. Erdogan, who faces a presidential runoff in 11 days, allowing him to avert a repeat of last years spike in food prices, and to project himself to voters as a vital international leader. He made little reference to his role in brokering the deal on the campaign trail, but supporters take pride in seeing him wheeling and dealing with other world leaders and, to that extent, the announcement enhances his image.
President Bashar al-Assad of Syria plans to attend a gathering of Arab leaders on Friday for the first time since he violently suppressed an anti-government uprising that morphed into a civil war, torturing and using chemical weapons on his own people.

Syrias membership in the Arab League, suspended since 2011, was restored this month ahead of the leaders summit in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Ayman Sousan, Syrias assistant foreign minister, told a Saudi-owned newspaper, Asharq Al Awsat, on Wednesday that Mr. al-Assad intended to attend the meeting. Mr. Sousan added that he hoped the summit would open a new stage.

Welcoming Mr. al-Assad is a major turnaround for many Arab states, which cut ties with him as he laid siege to entire towns in an effort to defeat rebel forces after an Arab Spring uprising, oversaw a prison system rife with torture and mass executions and sent millions of refugees fleeing to neighboring countries. The civil war that erupted killed hundreds of thousands of people, and Syria remains mired in an economic and humanitarian crisis.

Saudi Arabia initially supported some of the rebel groups fighting against Mr. al-Assads forces, supplying them with funding and weapons in covert coordination with the United States.
ANKARA  As Sinan Ogan tells it, he has suddenly become the most sought-after man in Turkey.

The hard-right nationalist and third-place finisher in presidential elections last weekend, Mr. Ogan told The New York Times that he has been fielding calls all week, from cabinet members to opposition leaders and even the office of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. They all want the same thing  help wooing his critical swing voters one way or the other in the May 28 runoff between the two front-runners.

Very busy, Mr. Ogan said at his office in the capital, Ankara, on Tuesday afternoon. I spent my last three or four days negotiating issues with such high-level people.

Mr. Ogan and other hard-right nationalists made a strong showing in Sundays presidential and parliamentary elections, prioritizing national security and the defense of what they consider Turkish identity. In particular, they advocate tough stances on the more than 3.3 million Syrian refugees in Turkey.

Since the vote, Mr. Ogans has been called everything from a spoiler, who blocked the top presidential contenders from an outright victory, to a kingmaker whose supporters may play a role in deciding the runoff. That has given him a sudden clout, evidenced by the flood of calls he says he has received this week.
The State Bureau of Investigations (SBI), together with the Asset Recovery and Management Agency (ARMA), are working on the return from the Swiss Confederation of more than $113 million frozen on the accounts of companies whose ultimate beneficial owner is former MP, the shareholder of JSC Bank Finance & Credit Kostiantyn Zhevaho, the SBI has reported.

According to the report of the Bureau on its Telegram channel on Wednesday, the funds were seized in line with the relevant ruling of the investigating judge of the Pechersky District Court of Kyiv dated October 26, 2022, at the request of the SBI.

"The competent authorities of the Swiss Confederation have informed the SBI that the amount of assets available in the frozen accounts exceeds $113 million. Currently, the SBI is taking steps to apply the mechanism for transferring seized funds to ARMA with the assistance of the Swiss side," the SBI said.

The Bureau recalled that as part of the investigation of the criminal proceedings, Zhevaho was notified of suspicion of committing criminal offenses under Part 3 of Article 27, Part 5 of Article 191, Part 3 of Article 209 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, and suspicions were also reported to a number of top managers of the bank. "They organized a mechanism for wasting $113 million of the financial institution, which caused damage to the interests of the state and the bank's depositors," the SBI said.

To date, the property of the suspected oligarch, and legal entities associated with him, has been seized. In particular, the shares of his enterprises worth hundreds of millions of hryvnias, corporate rights of companies, and 26 real estate objects were seized. The property of other legal entities associated with the former deputy was also seized. Among other things, it is about 14 property complexes, 21 parts of property complexes, 30 nonresidential premises, 10 apartments, a helicopter, and a yacht.

In October 2020, the seized assets of over UAH 300 million were transferred to ARMA. These are assets in the form of corporate rights, funds, and 26 real estate objects  health centers, hotels, residential and commercial premises located in the central parts of Kyiv, Kharkiv, Poltava, and Kryvy Rih, with a total area of more than 22,000 square meters.

"The State Bureau of Investigations is actively cooperating with the justice, gendarmerie, and police authorities of the French Republic. As a result of this cooperation, at the request of the State Bureau of Investigations, on December 27, 2022, Zhevaho was detained in one of the hotels in Courchevel," the Bureau said.

On March 30, 2023, the investigative chamber of the Chambery Court of Appeal issued a court decision, which refused to satisfy the request for the extradition of the fugitive MP. The court motivated its decision by saying that "the requesting state, at war in an uncertain situation, is not in a position to have a court guaranteeing fundamental freedoms."

The Prosecutor of the French Republic plans to file an appeal against this decision, while the term of the previously chosen custody status -house arrest - for Zhevaho was extended.

Procedural guidance is exercised by the Prosecutor General's Office.
In April, in a case filed by a consortium of anti-abortion doctors and groups, Judge Matthew J. Kacsmaryk of the Northern District of Texas, a Trump appointee who is a longtime opponent of abortion, issued a preliminary ruling invalidating the Food and Drug Administrations 23-year-old approval of mifepristone. Days later, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, in New Orleans, struck part of Judge Kacsmaryks ruling, but affirmed major aspects of it, allowing mifepristone to remain on the market but imposing significant restrictions on it.

That decision essentially turned back the clock seven years, before the F.D.A. made a series of changes in 2016 that eased access to the pill. The restrictions laid out by the Fifth Circuits earlier ruling would require mifepristone to be prescribed and dispensed only by a doctor and picked up in person by the patient, who would have to visit the doctor three times during the medication abortion process. Those rules would have effectively prevented patients from receiving mifepristone by mail.

Before the changes in 2016, mifepristone was only authorized for use until seven weeks into pregnancy; now the time frame is 10 weeks, allowing medication abortion for many more patients.

And the appeals court ruling appeared to have declared invalid the F.D.A.s approval in 2019 of a generic version of mifepristone, manufactured by GenBioPro, whose product now accounts for two-thirds of the mifepristone used in the United States.

Such a ruling could also pave the way for all sorts of challenges to the F.D.A.s approval of medications. Legal experts said medical providers anywhere in the country might be enabled to challenge government policy that might affect a patient. And leaders of the pharmaceutical and biotech industries have filed briefs saying that the case could undermine their businesses by destroying their ability to rely on a single national standard for their products.
A family in Sidney, Australia is being praised for resisting the urge to sell their property to developers who have bought all the land around it, despite being offered tens of millions of dollars for it.

The Zammit family home has become one of the most famous properties in Sydney both because of the way it stands out among the dozens of cookie-cutter homes surrounding it and the resilience of its owners. While every one of their old neighbors agreed to sell their land to housing developers, the Zammits have refused every offer so far, and have no plans of moving away anytime soon. The Australian family has been praised for refusing to sell out and continuing to live on their five acres of land despite the financial temptation and pressure from developers.

Seen from above, the Zammit property looks like a miniature replica of New Yorks Central Park, a green oasis surrounded by neat rows of bland, grey houses. It sticks out like a sore thumb, and developers have been throwing money at the family, but they refuse to sell their dream home. The latest offer was 50 million AUD ($33 million), way more than others have been offered for similar properties in The Ponds suburb, but then again, this one is the last of its kind.

The Zammits, have remained private, not speaking about the offers they have received from developers, and have expressed no intention to move from their land, although they admit that the area is not as beautiful as it once was.

This house in Australia has continually rejected offers for purchase, most recently a $50 million dollar offer, per 7News: pic.twitter.com/jCtxOMTCn6  unusual_whales (@unusual_whales) May 7, 2023

It used to be farmland dotted with little red brick homes and cottages, 50-year-old Diane Zammit told Daily Mail. Every home was unique and there was so much space  but not anymore. Its just not the same.

The family is apparently not interested in selling, and they have no need for the millions being thrown at them by property developers. Theyve earned the praise of both local real estate agents and their neighbors, who love having the green oasis in their crowded neighborhood.

Im very happy theyve refused to sell  it means we have a cul-de-sac which is much safer for our kids  and their big lawn next to us makes it feel like weve got so much space, one neighbor said. Our neighbors dont get that because the other houses are so close together. Were very grateful! I hope they stay.

The Zammit property in Sidney has been compared to Chinas famous nail houses, singular homes whose owners simply refused to relocate or demanded too high a price from developers.
An Iranian man claims he stopped consuming food one day in 2006 and has relied solely on sweetened fizzy drinks for energy ever since.

58-year-old Gholamreza Ardeshiri claims that the mere sight of food makes him nauseous and that he has been surviving on water and fizzy drinks like Pepsi and Coca-Cola for the last 17 years. It all started one night in 2006, when he woke up with a strange feeling in his mouth, one that he just couldnt get rid of, no matter how many doctors he visited. In the end, he decided to shun food permanently and has been living a perfectly normal life ever since. His family doesnt eat in front of him, because just seeing them makes him sick, and he gets all his energy from carbonated drinks. He drinks three large bottles of soda per day and insists that he never feels hungry.

Photo: Ja San Miguel/Unsplash

I had a strange feeling, I felt like an object like hair was inside my mouth, I felt that the head of this hair was inside my mouth and the end was inside my stomach, no matter what I did, it was not possible to remove this hair, Ardeshiri recalled about the night he first felt that funny feeling in his mouth. It was like the hair was tugging in my throat and I felt like I was suffocating, it was so tight that I didnt know what to do. I cant really describe it, but it felt crazy.

Everyone recommended a different doctor, so he went to see several of them, but no one could diagnose his condition. There was no hair in his mouth, but he felt like there was, so he was advised to see a psychiatrist. That didnt work very well either, so he just decided to give up food entirely and live on soda exclusively.

Gholamreza Ardeshiri told Iranian reporters that the first time he drank a glass of soda, he felt energized like never before so he decided that the delicious concoction would be his alternative to food. He claims that he lost 32 kilos since he started drinking soft drinks, but other than that he has had no serious health problems in the last 17 years.

The 58-year-old Iranian man is fully aware of the risks associated with the consumption of sugar-rich fizzy drinks, but he claims that he undergoes health checks routinely and has even undergone an endoscopy, all of which confirmed that he is healthy. He consumes these sugary drinks almost exclusively, claiming to drink only half a glass of water and maybe a glass of tea every week.

Ever since he started living on fizzy drinks, Gholamreza Ardeshiri has been feeling more energized than before. He now sleeps just 4 hours a night and spends his nights watching TV and solving puzzles.
An extremely jealous woman in Argentina was recently arrested for keeping her boyfriend a prisoner in her house for three days to make sure he didnt cheat on her.

On Saturday, police in the Argentinian city of La Plata rescued a 29-year-old man from a locked room in his girlfriends house. He claimed to have been locked in there for over 72 hours following an argument with his girlfriend of six months, who happened to be extremely jealous. After uninstalling WhatsApp from his phone and then smashing it against the floor to prevent him from talking to other women, the unnamed woman reportedly locked the man in a room. She kept him there for three days straight, until he was somehow able to steal her phone and text a friend for help.

Photo: Karsten Winegeart/Unsplash

When police arrived at the house on Villa Ponsati Street, in La Plata, they could hear the desperate man screaming for help from the locked room, so they arrested his 30-year-old girlfriend and gave him back his freedom. The man told them that his girlfriend had been jealous since the beginning of their relationship, going as far as to set a time of return whenever he went out with his friends.

She threatened me that if I didnt arrive at such and such a time or another, she would come to wherever I was to look for me, the man told police, adding that her jealousy only got worse as time went by.

Photo: El Dia

The victim said that she told him that he was keeping him locked up to make sure he didnt cheat on her. Its not clear how he managed to get his hands on her mobile phone to text his friend, but had he not done so, he would probably still be in that room.

The jealous woman has been arrested and charged with illegal deprivation of liberty.
Michael Belfer

The U.S. Supreme Courts 2018 tax decision in South Dakota v. Wayfair, Inc. greatly impacted the public relations, advertising, and media industries, as it required states to impose sales and use tax collection and remittance obligations on remote sellers, based solely on their economic activity in a state. The Courts decision in Wayfair affected both remote sellers of goods as well as businesses that provide services.

In general, states are constitutionally required to have a minimal connection to impose their taxes on an out-of-state taxpayer. Economic nexus laws establish this minimum link via a revenue threshold which, if exceeded, is deemed enough of a connection with a jurisdiction to create a tax obligation for the out-of-state taxpayer.

Currently, all 45 sales taxing states have mandated some level of a factor presence threshold for purposes of establishing sales tax nexus. Additionally, about a dozen of those states also utilize a receipts threshold test for corporate income taxes (e.g., New York), and/or other tax compliance, such as partnership filings and excise taxes (e.g., California and Washington). Accordingly, determining how receipts are sourced to a state becomes critical in light of the potential for increased income tax exposure under economic nexus. This is particularly important for service providers due to the shift in state sourcing rules from the cost-of-performance methodology to the increasingly popular market-based sourcing approach.

With service providers now required to consider the impact of economic nexus, public relations, advertising and media should consider the following:

This article is featured in O'Dwyer's May '23 PR Firm Rankings Magazine

(view PDF version)

State sourcing of service revenue

The two primary models that states use to source service revenue for income tax purposes are: one, cost of performance and two, market-based sourcing.

Under the cost-of-performance approach, service revenue is sourced to the location from which the services are rendered, or more specifically, the place where the costs to perform the services are incurred. When services are performed in multiple jurisdictions, some states require that either the majority or greatest proportion of the services need to be performed in the state, in order to source any revenue therein essence, an all-or-nothing test. Other states divide the revenue proportionally based on the percentage of service rendered in the state compared to the overall whole of the service rendering.

For market-based sourcing, revenues are sourced to the location of the customer, or more specifically, the location where the benefit of the service is received. State regulations contain various criteria for determining the jurisdiction where the benefit is received, such as the customers billing address, the service delivery location, the order from location or even a reasonable approximation based on the particular circumstances at hand.

Market-based sourcing leading to economic nexus

As the vast majority of states now use market-based sourcing for corporate tax purposes, with many of them using this methodology for partnership filings as well, the interplay between the market-based sourcing concept and triggering economic nexus must be understood for the potentially significant impact on ones state taxes.

How may this affect public relations, advertising and media firms? To illustrate, take the following example: Corporation A renders $750,000 of services from its office in New York to a client located in California, a market-based state. Assume California has also adopted a $500,000 income tax economic nexus threshold. Since Corporation As service receipts are sourced to California under market-based sourcing, it will have exceeded Californias economic nexus threshold, thereby requiring Corporation A to file an income tax return in the state. Had California been a cost of performance jurisdiction, Corporation A would not have a state filing requirement because no receipts would be sourced to California given that none of the services were rendered there. Thus, Corporation A wouldnt exceed Californias economic nexus threshold.

Conclusion

Each year more and more states make the switch to market-based sourcing for service revenue to better reflectand of course, taxthe ever-expanding service-based economy. By layering in an economic nexus threshold, states stand to cast a wider net, sweeping up new taxpayers. While the above example was simple, in practice, service providers, such as public relations, advertising and media firms, can be operating in dozens of states while rendering services for clients in many others. This sharply increases the complexity of applying these rules and the need to have an in-depth understanding of the revenue-sourcing methodologies and how they intersect with the economic nexus. Its important for public relations, advertising and media firms to consult with their trusted advisor as they consider the state sourcing for their service revenue and how the economic nexus will impact their firms tax obligations.

For more information, contact Michael Belfer at [email protected].

***

Michael Belfer is Partner and Chair of Anchins Public Relations, Advertising & Media Group.
Ron DeSantis

Florida strongman Ron DeSantis is dispatching his army to the Mexican border. Its the latest desperate publicity stunt designed to boost the governors sagging national polling numbers.

Since the Sunshine State lacks a national border, Ron is sending his troopers to Texas to protect the sovereignty of our country and the rule of law, according to a May 16 press release from the governors office.

The release refers to the Floridians unexpectedly bound to the Lone Star State as over 1,100 assets.

Those human assets are 800 national guard troops, 200 cops, 20 fish and wildlife officers and 20 emergency management personnel who are leaving loved ones behind so DeSantis can score cheap political points.

They will be joined by 17 drones, 10 airboats/shallow draft vessels, five aircraft and two mobile command vehicles

Florida taxpayers will pick up the tab for the PR caper to combat what authoritarian Ron calls the impacts of Bidens border crisis.

Whats next? Will DeSantis order his army to New Hampshire to help maintain law and order in the Granite State ahead of the Republican presidential primary?

The governors view of law and order leans to vigilantism. He tweeted in defense of Daniel Penney, the former Marine who murdered a homeless man suffering from mental health issues on a New York subway.

We must defeat the Soros-Funded DAs, stop the Left's pro-criminal agenda, and take back the streets for law abiding citizens. We stand with Good Samaritans like Daniel Penny. Lets show this Marine... Americas got his back.

It might be okay to choke somebody to death in the Sunshine State, Ron, but thats not the way that we do things in New York. Penney has been charged with second-degree manslaughter related to the May 1 death of Jordan Neely.

He is innocent until a jury finds him guilty. We dont do vigilante justice in New York.

DeSantis also should re-read the parable of the Good Samaritan. The Gospel of Lukes Good Samaritan binds the wounds and takes care of a traveller who was beaten half to death by robbers.

He didnt put a fellow traveller in a chokehold.

Matthew Myers, one of the good guys in the world of advocacy, is stepping down as president of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids after a 23-year run.

He deserves the nations gratitude for battling Big Tobacco every step of the way and driving down smoking rates among young people.

During his tenure, Myers led the push for the 2009 law that gave the Food and Drug Administration regulatory authority over tobacco products, helped enact the biggest federal tax on cigarettes in US history, supported state lawsuits that led to the 1998 tobacco settlement, and participated in the federal lawsuit that resulted in a racketeering verdict against cigarette companies.

Bill Novelli, chair of Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, said Myers and his team have contributed enormously to driving down smoking rates to record lows among both youth and adults in the US and to reversing the tide of the global tobacco epidemic.

The Porter Novelli co-founder gave Myers the ultimate compliment: He played a central role in one of the greatest public health achievements of our time.

Yolonda Richardson, Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids executive VP for global programs, will succeed Myers when he steps down on July 1.

Myers will serve as a strategic advisor to Richardson.

Pernod Ricard seeks to recover from a corporate black eye. The French company, which is the worlds second-largest marketer of liquor, has dropped plans to resume exports to Russia.

The marketer of Beefeater gin, Jameson Irish whiskey, Chivas Regal Scotch whisky, Absolut vodka and Mumm champagne was the first company tracked by the Moral Rating Agency, the watchdog set up to monitor corporate activity in Russia in the aftermath of its invasion of Ukraine.

It was an outrageous idea to restart exports to Russia, said MRAs Mark Dixon. Pernod Ricards climbdown in the face of a public outcry is a lesson for other companiesno one should be tempted to do the same.

Pernod Ricard said it stopped all exports of its international brands to Russia at the end of April.

It promised to end the distribution of its portfolio in Russia, a process that it claims could take months to complete.

The MRA is upset that Pernod Ricard has not given a concrete date to complete the pull-out from Russia. It plans to monitor the company's actions in Russia to see that it actually cuts ties there.

Lets raise a glass to MRA.
Midlands Senator Garret Ahearn is leading a campaign to persuade one of the world's largest drinks distribution companies to remove the Jameson brand of Irish whiskey from shelves in Russia.

Senator Ahearn told the Tribune the unashamed contravence of sanctions on products sold in Russia imposed since the invasion of Ukraine goes against Ireland's firm stance on exports.

He said Jameson whiskey bottled in Dublin last December is openly for sale in Moscow. He also secured photos of Jameson whiskey, complete with Russian labelling showing the bottling date of December 16th last in Clondalkin, on sale in Russia this month.

Senator Ahearn, Vice Chairperson of the Enterprise, Trade & Employment Affairs committee, called for owners of the iconic Irish brand, Pernod Ricard, to be added to the EU sanctions list at the next Foreign Affairs Ministers meeting.

The French drinks giant resumed shipments to Russia last year after initially stalling exports following Putins invasion of Ukraine. Last month, the company said they were working to stop the export of drinks, including Jameson Irish whiskey, to Russia, but no date was announced.

The Tipperary Fine Gael Senator said the time has come for international action to be taken as the French company wont show unity with the European Union.

The images of a famous Irish product, complete with the address of Irish Distillers Limited and the Clondalkin address of the bottling operation, are there for all to see on the Russian label. It was bottled less than five months ago and is now sold in central Moscow despite the war in Ukraine.

The bottles label states the Russian importer authorised to collect claims is PR Rus JSC, 119034, Russian Federation, Moscow, Sechenovsky", he explained.

So, while Russian drones and missiles rain down on Kyiv this week, our Jameson whiskey continues to quench Putins thirst. Times up. This cant continue.

The label of the bottle of Jameson on sale in Moscow

The time has come for EU action to be taken as the Pernod Ricard commercial decision has not been clear enough or transparent.

The Tanaiste and Foreign Affairs Minister Micheal Martin should bring this up at this months foreign affairs council with his European counterparts to broaden the sanction packages and add Pernod Ricard to the sanctions list.

Id encourage the Tanaiste to ask other European Foreign Affairs Ministers to look at their own industries where luxury goods have started to slip back into Russia.

It seems obvious now, that Pernod Ricard has no intention of withdrawing Jameson from the Russian market and are squeezing it for all they can. It is therefore time for the Irish Government to intervene, to protect our international reputation and that of our world renowned famous products, Senator Ahearn said.
Roscrea Heritage Society was delighted to host an evening with award winning Canadian author LauraChurchill Duke in the Black Mills on Friday last.

The evening got off to a great start with a welcome from Laura, music from Bobby Fahy and Caoimhe Flannery followed by a dramatic monologue on the life of John Kavanagh by Dick Conroy.

Laura then gave some background information on herself to include her Irish family connections, career and how she came about writing her first book 'Two Crows Sorrow'. Laura mentioned she never thought she would write another book beyond that but it wasnt long before she realised she had caught the writing bug and wondered what she could delve into next.

She then remembered the quirky story of George Stanley (John Kavanagh) from having attended the Windsor Ghost Walks, and so her research into her second book began. John Kavanagh was born in Ballyhall Roscrea. At the age of 18 he left his home town and travelled up North.

He was first incarcerated in Newry in 1883 for stealing a watch chain. He then spent most of the next 22 years incarcerated for petty crimes such as stealing coats, boots and watches. In November 1905 John was released on license and travelled to Nova Scotia, Canada. In 1906, he was the last man hanged in Windsor for the murder of Harvey Freeman.

How did a small town petty criminal end up committing murder? There was a lot of anti-Irish sentiment at the time which could have contributed to John not receiving a fair trial. There was also a lot of misrepresentation in the newspapers.

Author of 'Rooted in Deception', Laura Churchill Duke, pictured giving the background to her book. Photo: Brian Redmond

Wild stories were published about John including one that he burned down a church in Halifax which later had to be recanted (along with many others) as it turns out he wasnt in the country at the time of it happening.

While in prison, John sent a series of letters asking for help, pleading for anyone to come to his aid. Those letters were never sent and can be found on display along with the noose used in his hanging in Windsor museum where the trial took place.

Did John weave a web of deceit that would eventually catch up with him or was he an easy target to pin a most gruesome crime on?

What we do know is one of our own, a Roscrea native lies buried beneath the clay in an unmarked grave many miles from home.

Roscrea Heritage Society would like to thank Laura Churchill Duke for a great presentation, Bobby Fahy and Caoimhe Flannery for providing the musical interlude, Dick Conroy for his dramatic monologue, Eileen Garvey and the OPW for facilitating our event and all who attended on the night.

The next Black Mills Session is on Friday 26 th May, with a performance by Reunion (Jason & Simon Simmons) for what promises to be a very enjoyable evening of songs from the 60s & 70s with some great country hits thrown in for good measure.

Seating is limited and tickets (10) must be purchased in advance on the eventbrite.com website.
The Black Sea Grain Initiative will function for another two months, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said on Wednesday.

"Through the efforts of our country, the support of our Russian friends and the contribution of our Ukrainian friends, a decision was made to extend the Black Sea Grain Initiative for another two months," he said on Twitter on Wednesday.

"We will continue our efforts to ensure that all terms of the agreement are met and continued into the next period. In addition, our Russian friends have stated that they will not interfere with the exit of Turkish ships from the ports of Mykolaiv and Olvia. We are grateful to them for this," the President of Turkey also said.

"We hope that we will see days when the war between Russia and Ukraine ends first with a permanent ceasefire and then with peace. I would like to express my gratitude to Russian President Mr. Putin for his sincere support of our efforts in this process. I would also like to thank President of Ukraine, Mr. Zelenskyy, for his constructive cooperation. I would also like to thank Secretary-General of the United Nations, Mr. Guterres, for his efforts in this process," he said.

As reported, the Black Sea Grain Initiative was concluded in Istanbul on July 22, 2022 with the participation of the UN, Ukraine, Turkey and Russia. Its essence is to create a corridor for the export of grain from three Ukrainian ports: Chornomorsk, Odesa and Pivdenny in the context of the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine. The initiative was concluded for 120 days and it was extended twice, the last time on March 18. However, if Ukraine claims that it was extended for 120 days, then Russia claims that it was only 60 days until May 18, and insisted on unblocking the operation of Togliatti-Odesa ammonia pipeline and lifting all sanctions on the trade in Russian agricultural products and fertilizers.
After considerable fieldwork and well attended public consultations where the community had an input, the draft Town Centre First Masterplan for Roscrea is now ready for public review.

The plan is a blueprint for an approach to how the town centre can be transformed into a dynamic meeting place with a strong economic role.

The document will be available to download from Tipperary County Councils website until May 24 and a hard copy is available in the town library.

To provide the community of Roscrea with another chance to input into the Masterplan, following a very successful public consultation process in March, two in-person information sessions on the draft document will take place next week.

Both will be held on May 24 in the Black Mills. The afternoon session starts at 2pm and the evening session starts at 6.30pm. with each session expected to last approximately an hour and a half.

Brian King, Town Champion is encouraging members of the public to attend one of the public workshops.

As we reach an important step in mapping out our vision and objectives for the regeneration of Roscrea, the Town Team, the Local Authority, and OMahony Pike consultants have taken the feedback received at the earlier public consultation sessions in March on board and incorporated it into the draft plan.

We want the community to see the progress made to date in creating a new plan for Roscrea and provide them with another opportunity to input into the process at the Black Mills, he said.

Aine Mc Carthy, Town Regeneration Officer with Tipperary County Council, has praised the coordinated and comprehensive work of the Town Team in Roscrea to support the delivery of a draft plan.

She said: it is a clear sign that the Town Centre First plan can be driven by the local community while supported by the Local Authority and other important stakeholders such as the OPW and local businesses.

A collaborative vision, and plan led approach is critical. We hope that the plan will act as a catalyst in revitalising and rejuvenating Roscrea and tackle head on the challenges, as well as making the most of the opportunities identified, she said.

Once feedback is collated on the latest draft, the final Masterplan is expected to be completed by the end of June. Members of the public can view the draft Masterplan on the Councils website by visiting tipperarycoco.ie/roscreatowncentrefirstplan and they can provide feedback about the document until May 28 at the workshops, or by sending ay comments to amy.corbett@kpmg.ie or posted to Amy Corbett, KPMG, 1 Stokes Place, St. Stephens Green, Dublin 2.

Roscrea is one of 26 towns across the country that has received funding to develop a Town Centre First Masterplan which aims to map out future development, focus on tackling dereliction and vacant properties, and make the town centre a more attractive place to live, work, socialise and run a business.

This initiative aims to help re-imagine and revitalise rural communities as part of the National Town Centre First Policy.
A DECISION is due this week from County Council planning officials on a 102-unit housing and apartment development in Tullamore.

The scheme is proposed for a greenfield site on the northern side of the Daingean Road, close to the town bypass roundabout at Cappincur.

Daingean Road Residential Ltd, whose directors are Martin Kenny and Fearghal de Feu, has applied for permission to build 62 houses and 40 apartments.

A letter of consent for the application to be made by the company was signed by Tullamore businessman Seamus Kane, director of the landowner, Cayenne Holdings.

The developer is planning 13 four-bedroom houses, 27 three-bedroom houses and 22 two-bedroom houses on a site of more than four hectares.

The 40 apartments include one, two and three-bed units and the plan is for them to be built in four separate three-storey blocks.

Access for traffic will be off the Daingean Road and an initial proposal for 173 car parking spaces was increased to 195.

Local residents expressed serious concerns about the project and these were laid out in a submisson to the council signed by local Fianna Fail representative Cllr Tony McCormack in November.

Residents said there was a history of flooding in the area and said that a density of 28 dwellings per hectare was too high.

In response, the applicant referred to an Office of Public Works study which said there had been no flood events on the site or in the immediate vicinity.

The developer also said a flood risk assessment placed the site in zone C, which they said was the lowest risk of three flood zones and meant the site was suitable for residential development and that a justification test was not needed.

The developers also said a new 450mm pipe for surface water, 395m long, will be provided as part of the project. They also rejected the claim about housing density.

Council planners told the developers that Transport Infrastructure Ireland had concerns about the impact on the existing N52 roundabout but in response, the applicant said an analysis showed there would be no impact on the roundabout and it will continue to operate well within capacity.

As recently as April 24 last a letter on behalf of residents was sent to the council again, saying they were still looking for answers and had concerns about a range of issues, including flooding, density, traffic impact, wastewater, ecological impact, lack of a masterplan for the area, plus an additional concern about the scheme's heating source.

A decision on the application is due on Wednesday, May 17.
The Central Criminal Court trial of a 32-year-old man accused of murdering school teacher Ashling Murphy in Offaly last year, which was due to begin in June, has been postponed until the autumn.

Jozef Puska, with an address listed as Lynally Grove, Mucklagh, Co Offaly, is charged with murdering the 23-year-old primary school teacher at Cappincur, Tullamore, Co Offaly, on January 12, 2022.

Ms Murphy was fatally assaulted while jogging along a stretch of the Grand Canal just outside Tullamore known as Fiona's Way, in memory of missing woman Fiona Pender.



Mr Puska, who was present in court this morning, was due to go on trial at the Central Criminal Court on June 7 of this year in a case expected to last three weeks.

However, Ms Anne Marie Lawlor SC, prosecuting, informed Mr Justice Paul McDermott today that, as the State had received an expert report from the defence, the prosecution would require time to respond and obtain a further report.

Ms Lawlor asked for the trial date of June 7 to be vacated and for the matter to be listed for trial on the first day of the Michaelmas term on October 2 next.

Mr Michael Bowman SC, representing Mr Puska, said the defence could not stand in the way of the prosecution's application.

Ms Lawlor said the offence concerned the alleged murder of a very young woman, that her family had expected the case to proceed in June and that they were very keen for the matter to proceed "in early course".

Mr Bowman said he believed the evidence in the trial would take three weeks. Ms Lawlor said pre-trial issues would take a week.

Asked by Mr Justice McDermott if there was any prospect of attaining "an earlier report," Ms Lawlor said there was not. The lawyer said the State needed to identify an appropriate expert to conduct the report, which should be completed by the middle or end of July.

The case is to be mentioned again at the Central Criminal Court on July 21 to assign a pre-trial management date. The judge also fixed a new trial date of October 2, 2023.

Mr Justice McDermott agreed to a request from the defence to renew an application for a Slovakian interpreter for the new trial date of October 2 next.

Ms Murphy, a talented Traditional Irish musician and recent graduate from Mary Immaculate College in Limerick, was working as a teacher at Durrow National School at the time of her death.
A MAN with 56 previous convictions has been warned that if he is charged with any offence in the next six months he will be sent to prison.

Tullamore District Court heard that Martynas Jurkaitis (27), Sandymount, Birr, now had a job and that would help keep him off alcohol.

Sergeant James O'Sullivan told Judge Andrew Cody that alcohol was the problem with Mr Jurkaitis who had pleaded guilty to committing a public order offence at a SuperValu supermarket in Birr on April 17 last.

The man had also been in court previously accused of public order offences on June 25 last year at Cemetery Road, Birr.

When he came before the District Court last week his solicitor Donal Farrelly said he had been previously released from detention so that he could get into a treatment centre for alcohol addiction.

In the meantime he had got a full time job in Birr as a mechanic after being unemployed at the time he was committing offences.

Mr Farrelly added that his client had difficulty getting a doctor in Birr to take him on and refer him for alcohol treatment.

Judge Cody said Mr Jurkaitis had 56 previous convictions and he had previously given him options of seeking addiction treatment or a prison sentence.

Either go to Cuan Mhuire or the North Circular Road or the Dublin Road in Portlaoise, said the judge.

Mr Farrelly asked that the accused not be sent to prison and said that when he is working he does not drink.

He urged Judge Cody to adjourn sentence to see if the man could remain alcohol-free, stay in employment and out of trouble.

Judge Cody said he would remand Mr Jurkaitis on continuing bail to November 15 next but warned him that another charge, even without a conviction, would result in him going straight to jail.

I don't like insulting people here but you've been a nuisance to the gardai for long enough.

A previous court sitting was told the accused was a Lithuanian man who spoke good English.

Most of his previous convictions were for road traffic offences and he had once been disqualified from driving for 15 years.

During the incident at Cemetery Road he was verbally abusive to gardai and would not allow them to handcuff him. The gardai had to use pepperspray, the court heard.
The Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAPO) has reported suspicion to the head of the Supreme Court and his accomplice, a lawyer, who were exposed when receiving a $2.7 million bribe.

"On May 16, 2023, the head of SAPO personally reported suspicion to the head of the Supreme Court and a lawyer exposed for receiving $2.7 million of illegal benefits. The actions of persons are qualified under Part 4 of Article 368 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine," the SAPO's press service reported.

The issue of applying to the Supreme Council of Justice and the High Anti-Corruption Court is being resolved.
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Fact Check: Did This Girl Fight With Her Parents For Supporting BJP In Karnataka?

Fact Check

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

Karnataka is in the news post the elections and the state currently awaits as to who would the Congress pick as chief minister.

In the aftermath of the elections a video has gone viral which shows two women fighting in which looks like a BJP office. The video shows a young woman fighting with her parents for supporting the BJP in the recently held elections.

"An Eye opener video. A girl went against her own family whiScreenshot 2023-05-17 at 9.30.01 AM.pngch is supporting #BJP #KarnatakaElectionResults2023," said one Twitter user while sharing the clip.

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OneIndia has learnt that this video has nothing to do with the recently held Karnataka elections.

A reverse search of the viral video led us to a post from April 19 2022. Twitter user, Avishek Goyal had taken a swipe at the BJP and tweeted, " while one should not poke into the domestic disputes of others, one must see this." He also said that the video was from Delhi.

The same day, the video was also tweeted by journalist and filmmaker, Vinod Kapri, who had written in Hindi, "such violence has taken place in the drawing rooms and WhatsApp groups of every house."

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A report published by Jansatta on April 20 2022 attributed the original video to Goyal. However it stated that the location of the incident and the reason behind the brawl could not be ascertained.

While it is unclear where this incident had taken place, it can be said it is not a recent one and not related to the Karnataka assembly elections.

Fact Check Claim This girl fought with her parents for supporting BJP in Karnataka. Conclusion The video is over a year old and is not related to Karnataka. Rating False Raise your request for FACT CHECKING. Mail us at [email protected]
5 Guarantees Will Be Fulfilled At Any Cost: New Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah In His First Press Conference

Almost All Ministers In New Karnataka Cabinet Have Pending Criminal Cases

OPINION: With Pasmanda Muslims Ignored, Karnataka Polls Can't Be Called 'People-Centric'

As Suspense Over Karnataka CM Race Continues, Siddaramaiah Supporters Start Celebration

India

oi-Prakash KL

The celebration among the supporters of Siddaramaiah has started, even as the suspense over Karnataka's next Chief Minister continues.

In the visuals shared by the news agency ANI, the supporters of the senior Congress leader are seen bursting firecrackers.

In another video, his supporters are seen pouring milk on his poster and chanting slogans for him outside his residence in Bengaluru.

The swearing-in ceremony is likely to be held on Thursday, thereby ending the four-day drama which began after the election results were out on Saturday.

Deliberations Are Still On Says Congress As Reports Claim Siddaramaiah Would Be Karnataka CM

#WATCH | Bengaluru: Supporters of senior Congress leader Siddaramaiah celebrate and burst firecrackers ahead of the decision on #KarnatakaCM post pic.twitter.com/n7rbwohw6p  ANI (@ANI) May 17, 2023

On the other hand, Randeep Surjewala, Congress' Karnataka in-charge, said that deliberations are currently underway by party President Mallikarjun Kharge. "Whenever Congress makes a decision we will inform you. In the next 48-72 hours, we will have a new cabinet in Karnataka," he stated.

However, KPCC working president Eshwar Khandre, who met Congress National president Mallikarjun Kharge at the latter's residence, said that the name of the next CM will be announced today evening.

"I met the party's national president Mallikarjun Kharge and discussed the recent developments in Karnataka...Only high command will decide, we are 100 per cent united. Decision maybe by today evening," Khandare told reporters here.

#WATCH | Supporters of Congress leader Siddaramaiah pour milk on his poster and chant slogans for him outside his residence in Bengaluru, even as the suspense over #KarnatakaCMRace continues. pic.twitter.com/HQG0gzsb1G  ANI (@ANI) May 17, 2023

The grand old party has emerged victorious in the recently-held Karnataka Assembly by winning 135 out of 224 seats. The BJP bagged 66 while JDS is reduced to 19.

On the other hand, outgoing CM Basavaraj Bommai has slammed Congress over the delay in the announcement of the Chief Minister.

"Congress is yet to finalise its CM candidate in spite of getting a majority. This shows the internal situation in the party. The aspirations of people are more important than politicking. Congress should choose a chief minister as soon as possible," Bommai said.
Delhi-Sydney Air India Flight Hit By Major Turbulence, Passengers Injured

India

oi-Prakash KL

Several passengers on board the Delhi-Sydney Air India flight were injured after the flight encountered severe turbulence mid-air on Tuesday, ANI reported.

The injured passengers received medical assistance on arrival at Sydney Airport. However, no passenger was hospitalised, it said.

"Air India B787-800 aircraft VT-ANY operating flight AI-302 (Delhi-Sydney) encountered severe turbulence. During flight seven passengers reported minor sprains," ANI quoted the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) as saying.

According to a report in The Times of India, seven passengers were injured and they were given first aid by the cabin crew with the assistance of a doctor and a nurse onboard.

"Air India Airport manager at Sydney arranged medical assistance on arrival and only three passengers availed of the medical assistance. No hospitalisation was required," the DGCA told ANI.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) is conducting a probe.

Recently, a woman was reportedly bitten by a scorpion on a Nagpur-Mumbai flight. The incident occurred on April 23 but came to light today, The Times of India reported.

The woman was taken to the hospital after the flight landed in Mumbai. A message sent by a flight attendant to the Mumbai Airport to be ready with a doctor in order to treat her immediately.

"There was an extremely rare and unfortunate incident involving a scorpion biting a passenger on board our flight AI 630 on April 23, 2023. On landing the said passenger was attended by the doctor at the airport and subsequently was treated at the hospital and discharged. Our officers accompanied the passenger to the hospital and supported the passenger till discharged. Our team followed the protocol and conducted complete inspection of the aircraft and found the scorpion after which due fumigation process was carried out. We sincerely regret the agony and inconvenience caused to the passenger," Air India in a statement said.
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Go First Extends Suspension Of All Flight Operations Till May 26

India

oi-Madhuri Adnal

Crisis-hit Go First on Wednesday extended the suspension of flight operations till May 26, as reported by PTI. The airline cited operational reasons for this decision but expressed hope that it would soon be able to resume bookings.

Go First, currently undergoing insolvency resolution proceedings, had ceased flying on May 3 following a directive from the aviation regulator DGCA to halt bookings.

In an update on its website, the budget carrier informed customers that flights until May 26, 2023, have been canceled due to operational reasons.

The company assured customers that a full refund would be issued promptly to the original mode of payment.

Go First also mentioned that it has filed an application for immediate resolution and revival of operations, and expects to resume bookings in the near future.

On May 10, the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) accepted the airline's voluntary plea for insolvency resolution proceedings, appointing Abhilash Lal as the Interim Resolution Professional (IRP) to oversee the carrier's affairs.

Additionally, certain lessors have lodged an appeal against the NCLT's decision at the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT). Furthermore, Go First has launched a claim management portal, 'gofirstclaims.in/claims,' specifically for the Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process (CIRP) of the airline.

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Story first published: Thursday, May 18, 2023, 0:19 [IST]
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In Latest Round Of India-China Military Level Talks, Some Teething Issues Resolved

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

India and China discussed de-escalation along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh during the Major-General level talks that were held at Daulat Beg Oldie.

The Major-Generals of India and China held discussions to resolve the ongoing conflict between the two countries. India and China are locked in a tense stand-off along the LAC since the past three years. The talks are crucial for both sides, which have been holding talks several times both on the diplomatic and military front, a source told OneIndia.

The last round of talks were held in the eastern secret of Ladakh, last month.

The Indian delegation was led by Lieutenant General Rashim Bali, an officer of the same rank led the talks from the Chinese side.

The meeting was closely watched as it took place in the wake of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Defence Ministers' meeting. Chinese defence minister, Li Shangfu had taken part in the meeting.

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Both sides have increased infrastructure along the border in a bid to strengthen their respective positions.

During the meeting, the source said that both sides discussed de-escalation and issues at Depsang plains and Demochok. However an official word on the same is awaited.

Sources also said that the meeting was constructive and some of the issues that had cropped up during the talks could be resolved.

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Story first published: Wednesday, May 17, 2023, 9:38 [IST]
In Shivakumar Vs Siddaramaiah Battle, Both Leaders Refuse To Relent

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

The suspense over who would be the next Chief Minister of Karnataka continues, with both D K Shivakumar and Siddaramaiah rejecting a power-sharing option, sources have told OneIndia.

While it was being reported earlier that both leaders may go in for a rotational policy or 2.5 years each, it is now said that both have rejected that option. There were hectic parleys in Delhi with both Shivakumar and Siddaramaiah exercising their clout before the high command. Rahul Gandhi too chaired a meeting with both leaders, but there has been no outcome as yet.

The secret ballot that the MLAs exercised in Bengaluru ahead of the developments in Delhi too have had no impact on the leadership to decide on the next Chief Minister.

This would mean that the decision would be delayed for a few more days. Congress chief, Mallikarjun Kharge would be meeting with a few more senior leaders in the days to come and then take a call on who would lead the government in Karnataka.

The Congress won the Karnataka elections handsomely. It now has 135 members in the Karnataka Legislative Assembly where the magic mark is 113.

Sources also said that Kharge is not taking any sides. However, AICC general secretary, K C Venugopal is backing Siddaramaiah. The source also added that many senior leaders are rallying behind Siddaramaiah. However, Shivakumar too has exercised his clout. Prior to leaving for Delhi, he had said that he should be recognised for the efforts he has taken to bring the party to power. He had repeatedly spoken about his proximity to the Gandhis.

Meanwhile, it is being reported that Kharge would make the announcement in Bengaluru on Thursday. A final decision would be taken after final consultations with Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, reports said.

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Story first published: Wednesday, May 17, 2023, 8:41 [IST]
Karnataka: Is Bommai Eyeing Opposition Leader Post? Here's What He Says

India

oi-Prakash KL

Even as the deliberations on the selection of Karnataka's next Chief Minister are on in Congress, the BJP is prepping up to pick the Leader of the Opposition in the 224-member Assembly.

Going by the reports, Basavaraj Bommai, S Suresh Kumar and Arvind Bellad are in the race for the post.

When asked whether he is eyeing the post, outgoing Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai said that he would work for the party whether he has a post or not.

In Shivakumar Vs Siddaramaiah Battle, Both Leaders Refuse To Relent

"As a responsible man, I don't go by the post... whether the Leader of the Opposition is given to me. The overall responsibility is on me... I have been the Chief Minister for two years and have given so many good programmes. It is for me to take it up once again to the people," NDTV quoted him as saying in an exclusive interview.

A report in News18 claims that Bommai is a strong contender since he has three years of administrative experience. The Lingayat identity will make him an ideal candidate for the post.

In the recently-concluded Karnataka Assembly polls, the BJP, which had won 104 seats in the 2018 polls, was reduced to 66 while the Congress emerged victorious, winning 135 seats. The JDS ended up bagging just 19 seats.

On the poll debacle, Bommai said, "Personally I feel that the Congress was more organised and started earlier, which otherwise BJP used to do... We took our decisions a little late, acted late." He claimed that his government had given a lot of good programmes to the people, but the "right messaging did not go to the people."

Karnataka CM Race: G Parameshwara's Supporters Ask Congress To Make Him New CM

Nonetheless, he has taken responsibility for the BJP's humiliating defeat. "I take the entire blame. A leader has to take the blame. Only then only things can move forward... The major thing is that we have to prepare the party quite early for the Lok Sabha election. We have to bring in new blood, and new thinking at all levels. We have to rejuvenate our workers. Within three to six months, things will change and help us," he said.
Karnataka Will Have New Cabinet In Next 72 Hours: Randeep Surjewala

India

oi-Deepika S

Amid suspense over who will be the chief minister of Karnataka, All India Congress Committee (AICC) in charge of Karnataka, Randeep Singh Surjewala on Wednesday said that the announcement will be made in another 48 to 72 hours.

A decision in all probability has been done in Karnataka, with Congress choosing Siddaramaiah as the Chief Minister candidate. D.K. Shivakumar, who was another contender in the CM race, is likely to be offered plum portfolios along with the Deputy CM post.

"Discussions are currently underway by Congress Chief Mallikarjun Kharge. Whenever the party chief takes a decision we will inform you. It is likely that we will have a new cabinet in Karnataka in the next 72 hours," Surjewala told reporters.

"A lot of fake news and speculation is going on. I want to clarify that deliberations have been held by Kharge. I myself accompanied the CLP leader when they met Rahul Gandhi. They also held talks with the AICC President...the deliberations are currently underway. Do not pay heed to speculation. No decision has been taken yet," he said.

As Suspense Over Karnataka CM Race Continues, Siddaramaiah Supporters Start Celebration

"Whenever the party chief takes a decision, whether it is today or tomorrow, he will be making an announcement," he said.

Kharge believes in three principles - consensus, unanimity, and unity and therefore we are deliberating to come out with a solution that is accepted by everyone, Surjewala added.

Meanwhile, preparations were underway at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium in Bengaluru, for the swearing-in ceremony of the new Chief Minister-designate, which is likely to take place on Thursday.

Notably, this is the very venue where Siddaramaiah took oath as the Chief Minister for the first time in 2013.

The Congress stormed to power in Karnataka with 135 seats in the 224-member house, where the majority mark is 113. The BJP won 66 seats, while the JDS ended up winning just 19.
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'Lady Singham' Assam Cop Killed in Accident; Family Suspects Foul Play

India

oi-PTI

A woman sub-inspector of Assam Police, who was embroiled in several controversies, was killed when her car collided head-on with a container truck in Nagaon district on early Tuesday, officials said.

Junmoni Rabha, 30, popularly known as 'Lady Singham' or 'Dabang cop' after Hindi police movies, was alone in her private car and not in uniform. The accident occurred at Sarubhugia village under Jakhalabandha police station of Kaliabor Sub-Division.

The CID will investigate the accident, besides an extortion case registered against her hours before the accident.

Suspecting foul play, her family demanded an impartial probe into the accident.

"After getting intimation at around 2:30 a.m., a police patrol party reached the spot and took her to a nearby hospital. Doctors there declared her dead," Jakhalabandha Police Station Officer-in-Charge Pawan Kalita said.

The container truck, bearing registration number of Uttar Pradesh, was seized by the police, but the driver fled from the spot after the accident, he added.

Nagaon Superintendent of Police Leena Doley reached the spot in the morning to take stock of the situation.

The police, however, have no clue why the SI was going alone in civil clothes without any security in her private car towards Upper Assam.

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Her family members also said they were not informed about her movement. They, however, suspected foul play and demanded an impartial probe to find out the truth behind her death.

Speaking to the media in Nagaon, the deceased's mother Sumitra Rabha alleged that it was a case of pre-planned murder "by some unidentified racket".

She along with Rabha's aunt Subarna Bodo appealed to Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma to conduct an impartial enquiry into the matter and to give justice to the family by punishing the perpetrators of the "planfully created" accident.

Bodo further claimed: "On Monday night, a team of higher police officials conducted a raid at Rabha's official quarter in Nagaon and seized around 1 lakh. Her mother was also present during the raid." She claimed that the seized money belonged to Rabha's mother, who had earned it from her small home-based business of poultry and pig farming.

She appealed to the police to return the money for performing the rituals of the deceased.

Meanwhile, Assam Director General of Police (DGP) Gyanendra Pratap Singh said an FIR was registered on Monday against the deceased SI at North Lakhimpur Police Station under various sections of the IPC such as criminal conspiracy, dacoity, robbery, attempt to cause death, wrongful confinement and extortion.

The FIR was registered based on a complaint by a woman. He claimed that the police from Lakhimpur and Nagaon districts "took lawful action pursuant to registration of crime".

"In the wake of request of a fair probe from various sections of society into FIR Number 0183/2023 (the North Lakhimpur case) and death of SI Junmoni Rabha, it has been decided to transfer investigation to CID Assam," Singh tweeted.

Rabha, who was the In-Charge of the Morikolong Police Outpost, has been known for being strict against criminals but she has been in the news for her alleged involvement in financial irregularities.

In June last year, she was arrested for alleged corruption in league with her former beau and was remanded to judicial custody by a court in Majuli district, leading to suspension from the service. The suspension was lifted later and she rejoined service.

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She was entangled in another controversy in January 2022 when her telephonic conversation with BJP MLA Amiya Kumar Bhuyan from Bihpuria constituency was leaked.

They were engaged in an altercation after Rabha had arrested some boatmen for operating country boats with machines fitted illegally and over alleged harassment of the people of Bhuyan's constituency by her.

As the leaked audio tape had led to a furore, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma had then said that an elected representative must be given due respect.

Her body was cremated in Guwahati after post-mortem examination in Nagaon Civil Hospital.

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Story first published: Wednesday, May 17, 2023, 13:27 [IST]
French President Emmanuel Macron has called on the Council of Europe (CoE) to promote the creation of hundreds of mental health centers in Ukraine to help Ukrainians cope with the trauma of war.

"We must come to the aid of Ukrainians who are experiencing severe traumas of war every day. In the Council of Europe, I propose a big project to support the early opening of one hundred mental health centers in Ukraine," he wrote on Twitter following his speech at the opening of the Council of Europe summit.

The 4th summit of the Council of Europe takes place in the capital of Iceland, Reykjavik on May 16-17.

Earlier it was noted that the International Register of Losses Caused by the Aggression of the Russian Federation will be presented at the summit, the creation of a special international tribunal and a comprehensive international compensation mechanism will be supported.
Mamata Dropped Non-Congress Third Front Plan After Meeting Nitish: JDU Leader

India

oi-Prakash KL

After criticising Congress at every given opportunity in the last few years, West Bengal Chief Minister made a surprising announcement recently that the TMC would support the grand old party in about 200 Lok Sabha seats.

JDU senior leader KC Tyagi has now said that she dropped the third front plan after her meeting with Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.

"Mamata Banerjee has given up the intention of forming a non-Congress third front before the 2024 elections. She said this in her meeting with Nitish Kumar. When Nitish Kumar met Mamata Banerjee, she appeared positive about forming a united opposition front," NDTV quoted KC Tyagi as stating in an interview.

He said that she now agrees with Nitish's formula that opposition parties should pitch 'one-against-one' candidates against the BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

"Mamata Banerjee had said that a meeting of opposition leaders should be called in Patna. Bihar was a symbol of change in the centre when JP's (Jayaprakash Narayan) movement started. Mamata Banerjee's idea of forming a non-Congress third front regarding KCR and Arvind Kejriwal has changed," he stated.

Mamata Draws No-Go Zone For Cong With Remarks On Supporting It Where It's Strong: BJP

Her announcement came days after Congress registered a resounding victory in Karnataka Assembly polls. In the last few years, she was against the idea of Congress taking the central role in the Opposition alliance.

"People are demoralised and frustrated... people are antagonised....the economy is ruined. Democratic rights are being bulldozed. Even the wrestlers are also not spared. So in this situation, I think whoever is strong in a particular region, should fight together. In Bengal, we (TMC) should fight...in Delhi, AAP should fight," the Bengal CM said.

According to her, Congress was strong on about 200 Lok Sabha seats and the party was willing to extend support in those seats.

"In Bihar, Nitishji, Tejashwi, some part Congress is there, they will decide, I cannot decide on their formula. Wherever regional party is very strong, so you see...Bihar, Bengal, Odisha, Jharkhand, Chennai, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Punjab, the strong party must be given priority. Wherever Congress is strong in their respective 200 seats or something. Let them fight, we will give support, nothing is wrong (in that). But they (Congress) have to support the other political parties also. I am giving you the support in Karnataka. But, you are fighting against me every day - it should not be the policy," she added.

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Story first published: Wednesday, May 17, 2023, 16:11 [IST]
NIA Raids Over 100 Locations To Crackdown On Narco-Terror Nexus

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

The National Investigation Agency conducted raids and searches across more than a 100 locations in six states in connection with the smuggler-gangster nexus case.

The agency conducted raids in Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Madhya Pradesh. Sources tell OneIndia that the raids are also aimed at cracking down on the nexus between terrorists and narcotic smugglers.

The raids are important as the narcotics trade is assuming dangerous proportions across the world. In India there is a problem of plenty when it comes to narco-terrorism. The drugs that come in from Pakistan eventually land in India, before it is distributed to the rest of the world.

There have been several major drug busts in recent times and the probe has found that the money generated from this trade has always been used to fund terror in the country.

The money generated from this illicit trade is of huge proportions. There are also reports that parts of Pakistan adjoining Afghanistan are being used by the drug traffickers from Pakistan to convert Afghan opium to heroin.

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It has also been found that the maritime route is being heavily used by these traffickers. There have been several busts in the ports in Gujarat. The source cited above said that the drugs are sent into the ports in Gujarat following which they are moved to Mumbai. From the financial capital, the drugs are trafficked to other parts of the country.

Another additional problem that the security agencies have faced in recent times is the drugs being dropped in with the help of drones. The drone spotting from across the border have only gone up. The drones are being used to drop off drugs in Jammu and Kashmir and Punjab. Additionally these drones have been dropping off arms and ammunition as well.

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Story first published: Wednesday, May 17, 2023, 9:17 [IST]
Prashant Kishor Cautions Congress On Karnataka Win

India

oi-Madhuri Adnal

Political strategist-turned-activist Prashant Kishor cautioned the Congress party, advising against interpreting their victory in the Karnataka assembly polls as a guarantee of success in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

Kishor, known for his role in election campaigns and founder of the IPAC (Indian Political Action Committee), shared his statement through the 'Jan Suraaj' campaign in his home state of Bihar.

Kishor emphasized that despite the Congress' win in the 2013 Karnataka elections, they subsequently faced defeat against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the 2014 Parliamentary elections. He also pointed out that the Congress, after winning in three major states, suffered losses in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. His intention was to remind party leaders and workers not to misinterpret the assembly poll outcome as an indication of their prospects in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.

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While congratulating the Congress on their success in Karnataka, Kishor, who recently suspended his statewide pada-yatra due to a muscle tear, provided statistical evidence to support his perspective on the party's chances in the Lok Sabha elections. He cited the example of the Samajwadi Party's clear majority in Uttar Pradesh in 2012, which was followed by the BJP-led NDA sweeping the state in the subsequent Lok Sabha elections, securing 73 out of 80 seats.

Kishor also referred to the 2013 Karnataka assembly polls, where the Congress achieved a majority but performed poorly in the Lok Sabha elections against the BJP. Furthermore, he highlighted the Congress' success in the 2018 assembly polls in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Chhattisgarh, which was followed by their disappointing performance in these states during the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

Prashant Kishor, a 45-year-old political analyst, has managed election campaigns for a diverse range of leaders including Narendra Modi, Nitish Kumar, Arvind Kejriwal, M K Stalin, and Jaganmohan Reddy. After the 2021 West Bengal assembly polls, where his client Mamata Banerjee achieved her best-ever electoral performance, Kishor announced his retirement from active political consulting.

The launch of the 'Jan Suraaj' campaign came after prolonged but unsuccessful negotiations with top Congress leaders, as Kishor had attempted to propose a revamp of the grand old party.
Posing As PM Modi's Niece, Woman Dupes Retd Colonel Of Rs 21 Lakh In Varanasi

India

oi-Deepika S

In a bizarre incident, a woman, posing as the niece of the Prime Minister, duped a retired colonel of Rs 21 lakh after convincing him to invest a certain amount in shares for a huge profit.

In his complaint, the colonel claimed that after he transferred Rs 21 lakh to the bank account of the woman's friend in Jaipur, she stopped responding to his calls.

"Based on a complaint lodged by retired colonel Upendra Raghav of Patel Nagar Colony, an FIR has been filed against a woman named Veronica Modi and Ramesh Sharma under sections 420 (cheating) and 406 (criminal breach of trust) of IPC. The investigation into the matter is underway. We have checked the call details and chats between the colonel and the woman, said Inspector, Cantt Police Station, Prabhu Kant.

While narrating his ordeal, the retired colonel said he came in contact with Komal Pandey of Ballia on the phone a few months ago and she introduced him to Veronica, who started persuading him to invest in the stock market to incur huge profit. She also claimed to be the niece of the Prime Minister.

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After convincing him to invest, Veronica asked the retired colonel to transfer cash to the bank account of one Ramesh Sharma.

As per their conversation, he transferred Rs 21 lakh to Sharma's account. When he sought returns, Veronica sent a fake cheque of Rs 18 lakh on WhatsApp and then disappeared. After that, she never contacted the colonel and when he tried to contact is stopped taking his call.

Earlier in March, a Gujarati man, who posed as Additional Director, Strategy and Campaigns, at the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) in New Delhi, was arrested by Jammu and Kashmir Police in Srinagar.

The imposter, identified as Kiran Patel, enjoyed Z-plus security cover, a bulletproof SUV and official accommodation at a five-star hotel in Jammu and Kashmir, taking the administration for a ride.
Salman Khans Sister Arpita Files Complaint After Diamond Earrings Get Stolen; Cop Arrest Domestic Help

India

oi-Madhuri Adnal

Bollywood actor Salman Khan's sister Arpita Khan filed a complaint after her diamond-studded gold jewellery worth around Rs five lakh was allegedly stolen from her house in suburban Khar here, following which the police arrested her domestic help, an official said on Wednesday.

The incident took place on Monday and the 30-year-old accused was arrested the next day from neighbouring Thane district, he said.

''Accused Sandip Hegde decamped with diamond-studded gold jewellery worth around Rs five lakh from Arpita Khan's residence located on 17th Road in Khar. After the incident came to light, Arpita approached the police and lodged a complaint,'' the official of Khar police station said. Based on her complaint, the police launched a probe and scanned the CCTV footage from the area, he said.

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''With the help of technical and other inputs, the police nabbed the accused on Tuesday from Thane for the alleged theft of the jewellery,'' the official said. A case was registered against him under sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), including 381 (theft by clerk or servant), he said, adding that further investigation is being carried out.

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Story first published: Wednesday, May 17, 2023, 18:50 [IST]
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Sameer Wankhede Gets CBI Summons In Aryan Khan Case

India

oi-Deepika S

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Wednesday summoned former Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) officer Sameer Wankhade for questioning in the alleged bribery probe in the Aryan Khan drugs-on-cruise case.

The summons came amid allegations of Rs 25 crore bribe from Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan's family by threatening to implicate Aryan Khan in the Mumbai cruise drug bust case.

The CBI recently filed a First Information Report (FIR) against Wankhede for allegedly seeking Rs 25 crore bribe for not framing Shah Rukh Khan's son Aryan Khan in the drugs-on-cruise case.

In its FIR, the CBI claimed that the NCB team headed by Sameer Wankhede allowed people who were actually in possession of drugs and the supplier as well to go.

'Arbaaz Merchant had confessed of possession Charas to NCB but he was allowed to go,' it said.

CBI claimed that Gosavi, an independent witness was allowed to handle the accused violating the rules.

Wankhede shot to fame in 2021 when he arrested Aryan, among others, in an alleged drugs procurement and consumption case following a raid led by him on a cruise ship in Mumbai on 2 October that year.

During the raid, the NCB had seized 13 grams of cocaine, five grams of mephedrone, 21 grams of marijuana, 22 pills of MDMA (ecstasy), and Rs 1.33 lakh in cash from the cruise vessel.

Charges against Aryan Khan, who spent four weeks in jail, were dropped by the anti-drugs agency in May 2022 due to lack of sufficient evidence.

The central probe agency booked Wankhede and others for alleged criminal conspiracy (120-B IPC), and threat of extortion (388 IPC) besides provisions pertaining to bribery under the Prevention of Corruption Act on a complaint from the NCB.
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SC Adjourns Hearing on CBI Plea Against Shivakumar in Disproportionate Assets Case To July 14

India

oi-Prakash KL

The Supreme Court on Wednesday adjourned to July 14 the hearing of a plea filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) against the Karnataka High Court order staying the probe against KPCC Chief D K Shivakumar in a disproportionate assets case.

After Abhishek Singhvi, appearing for Shivakumar, informed that the matter is coming up before the Karnataka High Court on May 23, a bench of Justices BR Gavai and Sanjay Karol deferred the matter, according to a report in PTI.

On February 10, the Karnataka HC stayed the CBI's proceedings in the disproportionate assets case and the stay was later further extended on different dates.

In 2017, the Income Tax Department had conducted a raid against the KPCC Chief, on the basis of which the Enforcement Directorate started its probe against him.

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After the ED investigation, the CBI subsequently requested permission from the state government to lodge an FIR against him. The sanction was granted on September 25, 2019. Subsequently, on October 3, 2020, the CBI officially charged Shivakumar under the Prevention of Corruption Act.

In response, he appealed to the Karnataka High Court, challenging the sanction and the ongoing legal proceedings against him.

D K Shivakumar is a top contender for the post of Chief Minister in Karnataka after Congress registered a thumping victory in the recently-concluded Karnataka polls. He is currently in Delhi to meet the central leadership to discuss the modalities of government formation.

Reports claim that the high command has chosen Siddaramaiah as the next Chief Minister of Karnataka and D K Shivakumar as his deputy. Also, Shivakumar will be given six other portfolios.

Karnataka Will Have New Cabinet In Next 72 Hours: Randeep Surjewala

Nonetheless, a formal announcement is awaited. However, Congress leader Randeep Surjewala has claimed that a decision on the next Karnataka Chief Minister will be announced today or tomorrow. However, a new cabinet will be in place within 72 hours, he added.

He also denied rumours which claimed that Siddaramaiah was likely to be named the Chief Minister once again.

"Delibrations are currently underway by party president Mallikarjun Kharge. Whenever Congress makes a decision we will inform you. In the next 48-72 hours, we will have a new cabinet in Karnataka," he added.
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SC Grants Interim Anticipatory Bail To Youth Congress Chief BV Srinivas In Sexual Harassment Case

India

oi-Deepika S

The Supreme Court on Wednesday granted interim protection from arrest to Indian Youth Congress President B V Srinivas in a sexual harassment case lodged in Assam.

A bench of Supreme Court Justices B R Gavai and Sanjay Karol noted that the alleged incident happened in February 2023 in Raipur and the complaint was lodged in April 2023 in Assam. However, the complainant, in her interviews with the media never spoke about the allegation of sexual harassment against Srinivas.

"Prima facie, taking into consideration the delay of almost two months in lodging the FIR, will entitle the petitioner to interim protection. We direct that in the event of arrest, the petitioner shall be released on anticipatory bail on furnishing solvent sureties to the sum of Rs 50,000", the bench observed according to Live Law.

The apex court has asked Srinivas to appear before the investigating officer on May 22 and on the subsequent dates as and when directed by the officer. The court will take up the matter again in July 2023.

The top court also directed the petitioner to cooperate with the inquiry being carried out with the National Commission for Women.

Assam Police issues notice to Youth Congress chief Srinivas over harassment allegations

On May 5, the Gauhati High Court rejected the anticipatory bail plea of Srinivas in a case lodged by Angkita Dutta, accusing him of causing mental agony to her.

In a series of tweets, Dutta had alleged that IYC president Srinivas BV was a sexist and chauvinistic person, who has been harassing her and discriminating based on gender.

Dutta also alleged that she had earlier informed the matter to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, but no action was initiated in the matter.

She also filed a complaint at the Dispur police station alleging torture by Srinivas.

Following Angkita Dutta, Srinivas B.V was booked under Sections 509, 294, 341, 352, 354, 354A, and 506 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) along with Section 67 of the Information Technology Act.

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Story first published: Wednesday, May 17, 2023, 13:01 [IST]
Shape Up Or Go: Assams Governments Directive to Obese Cops

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

The DGP of Assam in compliance with the direction of Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has given three months time to all police personnel, including IPS and APS officers to ensure that they are physically fit to serve in the police force and do not have obesity.

The DGP, G P Singh said that all police personnel, irrespective of ranks will have to undergo a body mass index (BMI) assessment from August 16 onwards. Those who will be found in the obese category (BMI 30+) will be given another three months time to reduce their weight and make themselves physically fit for services. Leading by example, he said that he would be the first to undergo the BMI assessment on August 16.

Singh also said that those who will be found with obesity even after the second chance, expect genuine medical grounds will be offered voluntary retirement.

The decision was taken to remove deadwood from the police force, who are habitual drinkers, excessively obese and have corruption cases against them.

'Lady Singham' Assam Cop Killed in Accident; Family Suspects Foul Play

On May 8, DGP Singh had said that the Assam police is verifying a list of 680 police personnel of all ranks, who who were identified as either habitual drinkers, excessive obese or have corruption cases against them. He had also said that the list was under consideration to ensure that the removal of deadwood does not go unjustified.

He further appealed to the police personnel to lead by example in terms of physical fitness required in the force. All new recruits have been given orientation on the need for physical fitness.

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Story first published: Wednesday, May 17, 2023, 15:31 [IST]
Wants To Take Relations With Australia To Next Level: PM Modi To Australian Newspaper

Australia Cancels Quad Summit In Sydney After Biden Postpones Trip Over US Debt

International

oi-Deepika S

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has confirmed that the highly anticipated Quad leaders meeting would not go ahead in Sydney next week, after US President Joe Biden pulled off his Australia visit amid a looming political and economic crisis at home.

Addressing a news conference, Albanese said that the Quad leaders meeting will not be going ahead in Sydney next week. The leaders of Australia, the United States, India, and Japan would instead meet at the G7 in Japan this weekend.

"The Quad leaders meeting will not be going ahead in Sydney next week. We, though, will be having that discussion between Quad leaders in Japan," Albanese was quoted saying by Reuters.

"All four leaders, Prime Minister Modi, President Biden, Prime Minister Kishida, and myself will attend the G7, held in Hiroshima. We are planning to have a bilateral discussion with President Biden on the sidelines of the G7 summit," he said.

"As of now, we haven't got time locked in for that arrangement," he added.

"We are in discussions with the Quad leaders over today. We will make further announcements about that, but Prime Minister Modi would certainly be a very welcome guest here next week," he said.

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However, Albanese said he is looking forward to bilateral talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Sydney.

Known as the 'Quadrilateral Security Dialogue' (QSD), the Quad is a key pillar of the Indo-Pacific agenda. The Quad is a diplomatic network comprising four nations, namely the United States of America (USA), India, Australia, and Japan.

Biden announced on Tuesday that he will postpone his visit to Australia, Papua New Guinea due to debt ceiling negotiations in Washington.

On May 1, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellenthe warned that US running out of money to pay its debts as soon as June 1, sparking fears of a global economic and financial crisis.
Cases of forced displacement of children by Russia can generally represent crimes against humanity  Macron

French President Emmanuel Macron has called on the Russian Federation to immediately return children forcibly displaced from Ukraine.

"The forced displacement of children is a war crime. In general, they can represent crimes against humanity. Russia must return its children to Ukraine. It should do it immediately," he wrote on Twitter following his speech at the opening of the Council of Europe summit.

The fourth summit of the Council of Europe on May 16-17 is being held in the capital of Iceland, Reykjavik.

Earlier it was noted that the International Register of Losses Caused by the Aggression of the Russian Federation will be presented at the summit, the creation of a special international tribunal and a comprehensive international compensation mechanism will be supported.
Why Pakistan Will Continue To Boil And There Is No Solution Around The Corner

Imran Khan's House Gheraoed By Punjab Police Suspecting Presence Of '40 Terrorists'

International

oi-Madhuri Adnal

The interim government of Punjab staged a demonstration outside former Prime Minister Imran Khan's residence in Zaman Park, Lahore on Wednesday, suspecting that 30-40 terrorists had sought refuge there. Police reportedly issued a 24-hour ultimatum to the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, demanding the surrender of the alleged terrorists.

During a press conference in Lahore, the Caretaker Information Minister, Aamir Mir, emphasized that PTI must hand over the suspected terrorists, warning that legal action would be taken if they failed to comply. Mir referred to the protesters on May 9 as "terrorists" and claimed that the government possessed credible intelligence reports confirming their presence at Khan's residence in Zaman Park.

Mir stated that the recently received intelligence report was highly concerning. He further mentioned that the authorities were able to confirm the presence of these individuals through the use of geo-fencing technology, which tracks and limits movements using satellite signals.

Recalling the recent violent protests that erupted after Imran Khan's arrest, Mir alleged that the PTI leadership had planned the attack prior to Khan's detention. The arrest of Khan, which took place on May 9 at the Islamabad High Court, led to unrest in Pakistan.

During the subsequent clashes, protesters breached the walls of the army headquarters (GHQ) in Rawalpindi and set fire to the Corps Commander's house in Lahore, marking unprecedented events in Pakistan's history. The police reported a death toll of 10 in the violent clashes, while Khan's party claimed that 40 of its members were killed by security forces.

Pakistan Court Extends Bar On Imran Khan's Arrest Till May 31

Mir further accused Imran Khan of targeting the military for more than a year as part of a premeditated strategy. He stated that the government had adopted a "zero tolerance policy" towards violence and that the interim Chief Minister, Mohsin Naqvi, had authorized the Punjab Police to take decisive action against arsonists.

The situation remains tense as the interim government demands the surrender of the alleged terrorists while the PTI denies the accusations. The authorities are closely monitoring the events, and further developments are expected to unfold in the coming days.

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Story first published: Wednesday, May 17, 2023, 17:58 [IST]
7 Points on Linda Yaccarino, The Woman Rumoured To Become New Twitter CEO

'Living In La-La Land': Elon Musk Slams Working From Home

International

oi-Prakash KL

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has given a thumbs down to work-from-home culture, saying it is an affront to those who must show up at the workplace.

"People building the cars, servicing the cars, building houses, fixing houses, making the food, making all the things that people consume. It's messed up to assume that, yes, they have to go to work, but you don't," Bloomberg quoted him as saying in an interview with CNBC.

He then said, "It's not just a productivity thing, I think it's morally wrong."

A strong advocate of the return-to-office policy, Musk had banned remote work at Twitter after acquiring the company and also imposed a strict return-to-the-office policy in Tesla, last year. He said that it is unfair culture that sends wrong message to those who can't work from home.

Linda Yaccarino Is The New CEO Of Twitter, Elon Musk Announces

The employees in his companies have to spend 40 hours in office, per week. "The laptop class is living in la-la land," he told the news channel.

"If you want to work at Tesla, you want to work at SpaceX, you want to work at Twitter - you got to come into the office every day," he added.

After Covid hit the world in 2020, many companies were forced to shut down and remote working became a norm.

Meanwhile, Elon Musk has announced recently that former NBC Universal advertising chief Linda Yaccarino will be the new CEO of Twitter.

Elon Musk says Twitter users will witness drop in followers: Here is why

"@LindaYacc will focus primarily on business operations, while I focus on product design & new technology. Looking forward to working with Linda to transform this platform into X, the everything app," he tweeted.

The billionaire purchased Twitter in a $44 billion deal in October 2022. In December, the billionaire announced that he would step down as the CEO once he finds "someone foolish enough to take the job."
No justification for terrorism, must be stopped: Jaishankar at SCO meet

Should Be A Limit To Politics: Jaishankar On Opposition Boycott Of New Parliament Launch

Not Russian Anymore: Jaishankar's Reply On EU Call For Action Against India

International

oi-Deepika S

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar reacted sharply to EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell's call for a crackdown on Indian refined products from Russian crude.

"Look at the EU Council regulations. Russian crude is substantially transformed in the third country and is not treated as Russian anymore. I would urge you to look at Council's Regulation 833/2014," Jaishankar said in Brussels.

Jaishankar's comments comes in response to Borrell's remarks calling for action against Indian refined products from Russian crude including diesel, into Europe, amid Western nations' sanctions on Moscow's energy sector.

The Western countries have been critical of India's oil imports from Russia during the Ukraine conflict, but New Delhi has remained firm on the issue.

OPINION: New Delhis foreign policy is fiercely independent

Jaishankar has defended India's imports from Russia on many occasions while slamming the West for pressurising New Delhi to minimise its trade with Russia in view of its military action in Ukraine.

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Jaishankar responds to EU's call for action against India for rerselling Russian oil | Oneindia News

"Our trade with Russia is at a very small level- $12-13 billion, in comparison to European countries. We've also given Russians a set of products. I don't think people should read more into it other than the legitimate expectations of any trading country to increase its trade," Jaishankar had said while addressing a joint press conference with his German counterpart Annalena Baerbock.

"I would urge you to look at these figures. There is a website called 'Russia Fossil Fuel Tracker' that would give you country-by-country data of who is really importing what and I suspect that might be very very helpful," he added.

It must be noted that India's appetite for Russian oil swelled ever since it started trading on a discount, much to the chagrin of the West, which has severed trade ties with Russia over its war in Ukraine.

According to data from energy cargo tracker Vortexa, Russia has remained India's top oil supplier, surpassing traditional sellers Iraq and Saudi Arabia.
Why Pakistan Will Continue To Boil And There Is No Solution Around The Corner

Probably My Last Tweet: Imran Khan Claims Police Surrounded His House

International

oi-Madhuri Adnal

Former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on Wednesday took to social media to share a live broadcast of himself and claimed that the police have surrounded his house and he may be arrested again.

"Probably my last tweet before my next arrest. Police has surrounded my house," the 70-year-old leader tweeted.

The development comes just hours after Pakistan's Punjab government gave a 24-hour ultimatum to Imran Khan to hand over 'terrorists' seeking refuge in his Zaman Park residence in Lahore.

Khan was arrested last week by the anti-graft agency in a corruption case before a court granted him bail. His arrest had sparked violent protests across the nation, killing at least eight.

Khan also demanded an independent inquiry into the violence following his arrest last week as he distanced himself and his party from attacks on state and military installations.

Khan made the demand in an address to the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) workers from his Zaman Park residence in Lahore via video link.

Probably my last tweet before my next arrest .

Police has surrounded my house.https://t.co/jsGck6uFRj  Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) May 17, 2023

In his address, Khan said the ruling coalition is deliberately trying to create a conflict between his party and the powerful army.

"The cases that are being filed under military laws - it never happened before that without any investigation or independent inquiry ... it was suddenly decided that PTI is a terrorist organisation," Khan said, adding that 7,500 workers of his party have been arrested.

Imran Khan's House Gheraoed By Punjab Police Suspecting Presence Of '40 Terrorists'

He said he criticises the army the same way he criticises his children, which is for reform. "The Pakistan Democratic Movement is trying for a confrontation between the army and PTI... But who will come out as the winner in this?" he asked.

Khan said he has defended the Pakistan Army across the world. "I was a known face. Name another Pakistani who defended the army the way I did on international media," he asked. "And I did it because I am a free man. I never accepted slavery."

Recalling the incidents leading to the creation of Bangladesh (erstwhile East Pakistan), Khan said, "I am afraid today that Pakistan is on the route to destruction."

"I fear that if wisdom is not exercised today, we might reach a stage where we wouldn't even be able to pick up the pieces," he said.

Meanwhile, DawnNewsTV reported that all the roads leading to Khan's Zaman Park residence have been blocked by the police.

Video footage from the site showed a huge contingent of Punjab police outside his residence, it added.

Earlier, Punjab's caretaker information minister Amir Mir had claimed that some '30 to 40' terrorists are hiding at the Lahore residence of Khan, giving him an ultimatum of 24 hours to hand them over or face stern action.

Responding to Mir's claim, Khan in his address asked him to come with a search warrant.

"You say that terrorists are hiding in my house and they want to storm my house using it as an excuse, you should bring a warrant and search in a decent way," he said.

The police in March had stormed the Zaman Park residence of Khan to arrest him but strong resistance of his party workers thwarted that plan, as reported by PTI.

The arrest of Khan on May 9 by the paramilitary Rangers at the Islamabad High Court premises triggered violent protests by his supporters across Pakistan.

For the first time in Pakistan's history, the protesters stormed the army headquarters in Rawalpindi and also torched the Corps Commander's house in Lahore.

Police put the death toll in violent clashes to 10 while Khan's party claims 40 of its workers lost their lives in the firing by security personnel.

Khan was ousted from power in April last year after losing a no-confidence vote in his leadership, which he alleged was part of a US-led conspiracy targeting him because of his independent foreign policy decisions on Russia, China and Afghanistan.

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Wednesday, May 17, 2023, 20:09 [IST]
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US Court Allows Extradition Of 26/11 Accused Tahawwur Rana To India

International

oi-PTI

Imprisoned Pakistani-origin Canadian businessman Tahawwur Rana, who is sought for his involvement in the 2008 Mumbai terror attack, can be extradited to India, a US court in California has ruled.

Judge Jacqueline Chooljian of US District Court in Central District of Los Angeles in the order dated May 16 said that based on the foregoing, the Court concludes that 62-year-old Rana is extraditable for the offences for which extradition has been requested and on which the United States is proceeding.

India's National Investigation Agency (NIA) is probing into his role in the 26/11 attacks carried out by Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists in 2008.

He was arrested in the US on an extradition request by India for his role in these attacks.

NIA Raids Over 100 Locations To Crackdown On Narco-Terror Nexus

The NIA has said that it is ready to initiate proceedings to bring him to India through diplomatic channels.

During the court hearings, federal prosecutors have argued that Rana was aware that his childhood friend Pakistani-American David Coleman Headley was involved with Lashkar-e-Taiba and that by assisting Headley and affording him cover for his activities, he was supporting the terrorist organisation and its associates.

Rana knew of Headley's meetings, what was discussed, and the planning of the attacks, including some of the targets.

The US government asserted that Rana was part of the conspiracy and there is probable cause that he committed the substantive crime of commissioning a terrorist act.

Rana's attorney, on the other hand, opposed the extradition.

A total of 166 people, including six Americans, were killed in the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks in which 10 Pakistani terrorists laid a more than 60-hour siege, attacking and killing people at iconic and vital locations of Mumbai.

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Thursday, May 18, 2023, 1:01 [IST]
Weather Update: IMD Issues Rain Alert In These States Till May 26; Check Details Here

No Heatwave In Delhi For Next Five Days: IMD

UP Board Announces Summer Vacations From May 20: Check Details

New Delhi

oi-Deepika S

The Uttar Pradesh Basic Education Board has announced summer vacations from May 20 in view of the scorching heat.

The summer vacations in UP will start on May 20 and continue till June 15. The order is applicable to all affiliated and recognised schools of the Board in Noida, Lucknow, and other UP cities and towns.

As per the order, classes from 1 to 8th standard will be closed for a duration of 40 days.

The announcement comes amid an intense heatwave prevalent in Uttar Pradesh. With the temperature rising at an alarming rate, residents are struggling to leave their houses even for daily tasks.

Will make Kanpur Manchester of Uttar Pradesh once again: CM Yogi Adityanath

Summer Vacations 2023

Amid the soaring temperature other states like Madhya Pradesh, and Jharkhand have also announced summer vacations.

In Jharkhand, schools will remain closed from May 21 to June 10. While the schools in Madhya Pradesh would remain shut from May 1 to June 15.

In Maharashtra, schools will open on 15 June 15, 2023, except Vidarbha. The authorities have stated that schools in Vidarbha district will reopen on June 30 for students.

Meanwhile, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has predicted that no heat wave conditions were likely in Northwest India during the next seven days.

The maximum temperatures shot up to 44 degrees Celsius over most parts of Northwest, Central, and adjoining East India and North Peninsular India.

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Wednesday, May 17, 2023, 15:16 [IST]
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SEOUL, South Korea (AP)  North Korean leader Kim Jong Un examined a finished military spy satellite, which his country is expected to launch soon, during a visit to his country's aerospace agency where he described space-based reconnaissance as crucial for countering the U.S. and South Korea.



Kim during Tuesdays visit approved an unspecified future action plan in preparations for launching the satellite, North Koreas official Korean Central News Agency said Wednesday. North Korea hasn't disclosed a target date for the launch, which some analysts say may be in the next few weeks.



That launch would use long-range missile technology banned by past U.N. Security Council resolutions, although previous missile and rockets tests have demonstrated North Korea's ability to deliver a satellite into space.



There are more questions, however, about the satellite's capability. Some South Korean analysts say the satellite shown in North Korean state media photos appears too small and crudely designed to support high-resolution imagery. Photos that North Korean media released from past missile launches were low-resolution.



Photos released by the Rodong Sinmun newspaper of Tuesday's visit showed Kim and his daughter  dressed in white lab coats  talking with scientists near an object that looked like the main component of a satellite. The newspaper did not identify the object, which was surrounded by a perimeter of red tape.



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Several Russian air-launched ballistic missiles X-47M2 Dagger (AS-24 Killjoy according to NATO classification) have been shot down by the air defense forces of Ukraine in recent days, according to a defense intelligence report published on Twitter by the Ministry of Defense of Great Britain and Northern Ireland on Wednesday morning.

On May 3, 2023, Ukraine achieved the first ever shoot-down of a KILLJOY air-launched ballistic missile. Subsequently, Russia has prioritised attempting to neutralise Ukraines improved air defence capabilities, but in the process has likely lost several more KILLJOY  The apparent vulnerability of KILLJOY is likely a surprise and an embarrassment for Russia: Russian President Vladimir Putin has touted the system as undefeatable, the report reads.

The intelligence service notes the escalation of air battles over the Russian-Ukrainian border. On 13 May 2023 alone, four Russian Aerospace Forces (VKS) aircraft (two advanced combat jets and two helicopters) crashed, apparently shot down over Russias Bryansk region  The increased air threat over Russias border region will be of exceptional concern for the VKS because it uses the area to launch air power in support of the war, the message says.
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Newsy 08 May 2023

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Ukrainian and Russian officials have agreed to a two month extension of the grain deal which was about to expire. Meanwhile, China warns embassies against any display of 'propaganda.' DW has the latest.
Disgraced Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes appears to be soon bound for prison. An appeals court has rejected her bid to remain free while she tries to overturn her conviction in a blood-testing hoax that brought her fleeting fame and fortune. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruling Tuesday comes nearly three weeks after Holmes deployed a last-minute legal maneuver to delay the start of her 11-year prison sentence. The federal judge who imposed that sentence on Tuesday ordered to pay $452 million in restitution to the victims of her crimes The same judge will now a new prison reporting date for Holmes. The judge previously recommended she be imprisoned in Bryan, Texas.
US President Joe Biden is set to meet with PM Narendra Modi and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Japan, according to the White House. The G7 leaders will also share a common approach to the challenges posed by China and acknowledge the need for bold action to accelerate clean energy transition.
DSM Capella vessel under the flag of Barbados with 30,000 tonnes of corn left the port of Chornomorsk bound for Turkey on Wednesday and, according to the Joint Coordination Centre (JCC), became the last vessel that had previously passed its inspection to enter Ukraine.

According to the information on the JCC website, the last inbound vessel inspection was made on May 6 this year: Deniz M vessel under the flag of Panama passed it, which on May 14 left with 30,000 tonnes of wheat bound for Sudan.

The JCC said that eight vessels that left Ukrainian ports on May 10-17 have not yet passed the inspection.

A total of 917 vessels have been inspected at the entrance during the period of the Grain Initiative since the beginning of August 2022, while 945 at the exit (the difference is explained by the fact that some of the vessels have been standing with agricultural products in ports since the beginning of the war).

In May, only 11 inbound vessels were inspected, compared to 54 in April and 89 in March. Record inbound inspection rates were achieved in September and October with 186 and 136 vessels respectively.

As for outbound inspections, there have been 48 outbound inspections since the beginning of May, compared to 65 in April and 85 in March. The record rate of outbound inspections was recorded in October - 194, while in September and November-December last year there were from 125 to 105.

As a result, exports in May fell to 1.07 million tonnes from 2.79 million tonnes in April and 3.93 million tonnes in March. The record level was seen in October - 4.24 million tonnes, and in total it reached 30.28 million tonnes.

About 60 vessels are awaiting inspection.

As reported, the Black Sea Grain Initiative was signed in Istanbul on July 22, 2022, with the participation of the UN, Ukraine, Turkey, and Russia. Its essence is to create a corridor for the grain export from three Ukrainian ports: Chornomorsk, Odesa, and Pivdenny amid the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine. The initiative was concluded for 120 days and it was extended twice, the last time on March 18. However, if Ukraine claims that it has been extended for 120 days, then Russia claims that only 60  until May 18, and insists on unblocking the operation of the Togliatti-Odesa ammonia pipeline and lifting all sanctions on the trade in Russian agricultural products and fertilizers.
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The United Nations is racing to extend a deal that has allowed shipments of Ukrainian grain through the Black Sea. (May 17)


The Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAPO) has appealed to the High Council of Justice (HCJ) for a permit to detain former Chairman of the Supreme Court Vsevolod Kniazev over corruption charges.

"On May 17, 2023, the head of the SAPO appealed to the High Council of Justice for a permit to detain the former chairman of the Supreme Court who, together with a lawyer, is suspected of receiving $2.7 million in illegal benefits," the SAPO said on the Telegram channel on Wednesday.

According to the statement, the meeting to consider the appeal is scheduled for 11:00 on May 18.

As reported, on May 16, the SAPO notified the chairman of the Supreme Court and a lawyer of suspicion of receiving $2.7 million in illegal benefit. The actions of these persons are qualified under Part 4 of Article 368 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.
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Vote the Bible

(Image by The Bulwark) Details DMCA



It's not just "Strip Search" Sam Alito basing his decision to overturn Roe on a 17th-century jurist who condemned women to death for being "witches". It's not just Amy "Offred" Barrett, the Supreme Court's first Handmaiden, telling graduates of Notre Dame Law School that the sole purpose of a legal career is "building the kingdom of God". And it's not just right-wing christian Matthew Kacsmaryk rejecting twenty years of scientific data in favor of faith-based nonsense in order to ban mifepristone.

It's everywhere.

Preacher Sean Feucht wants to replace the secular, Constitution-based gov't of the US with a gov't based solely on scripture. Impose christian nationalism by force, where only true believers make the rules. The president of a seminary in Minnesota agrees. So do a lot of people in Idaho. Christian nationalist members of Congress like Lauren Boebert, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Mo Brooks, Paul Gosar and others shout it from the steps of the Capitol: it's the "cross or the sword!" In fact, according to polls, 7 out of 10 Republican voters nation-wide believe the US is a "christian nation." Democrats, at almost 50%, are not far behind.

Christian hate groups help political officials spread misinformation about the LGBTQ+ community. They put up homophobic billboards. They teach parents to reject their children, if their children happen to be lesbian or gay. They threaten to kill gays and lesbians. They pray for their "eternal damnation," and, to help the situation along, Pastor Dillon Awes of the Stedfast Baptist Church in Watauga, Texas, recommends shooting LGBTQ+ folks "in the back of the head," execution style. Praise Jesus.

In Arizona, a christian organization was given legal permission to "hide" information related to its members who sexually abuse children. In Alabama, Kentucky, Mississippi and Nebraska, christian-controlled legislatures voted to ban abortion after six weeks. In South Carolina, a christian-controlled legislature is pushing a law that equates aborting a "fetus" with murdering a "living [] person". In Ohio, a teacher at a public middle school refused to use her students' preferred pronouns because it "violates her religion". In Tennessee, Republican officials attribute the epidemic in gun violence to "demonic possession". In Texas, which has the highest level of violent crime in the nation, including the highest number of murders, the governor wants to put the Ten Commandments into public schools.

Speaking of public schools and Mosaic law, a distraught mother from Texas recently demanded the same thing, for roughly the same reason. The Decalogue should be posted in every classroom in every school in the state, she argued, because doing so will restore "order and morality".

Where to start?

How about actually reading the bible, or at least the Pentateuch, the original source from which the Commandments are derived? There's very little about morality in these five books. They're mostly about genocide, tribal violence, vengeance, theft, incest, rape and slavery, all whipped to a bloody boil by a sadistic celestial dictator. Exhibit A: god includes in his commandments a specific order not to kill, yet, not long after they're delivered, he demands that Moses "slay" everyone who worshipped the golden calf, roughly 3,000 men.

As for christian mythology, let's be clear. It's a system of belief that rallies adherents around torturing and then killing an innocent human being, in the hope that doing so will bring about their spiritual salvation. It must be said publicly, loudly, again and again: to be a christian is to worship human sacrifice. This is wickedness, not morality.

Consider a recent example, the Lori Vallow case, so-called "doomsday cult mom." From the perspective of a secular society, she's a murderous fiend, guilty of the most heinous crime of killing her young children. From the perspective of a christian, she's the embodiment of faith.

Forget all the nasty stuff being said about the woman. Focus on the fundamentals. When she swears again and again that she's a devout christian, believe her. Friends have testified she told them that she "saw angels" and was a "personal friend of Jesus Christ," experiences central to the faith. What's more, such is the nature of Ms Vallow's relationship with the godhead that he "visited her" shortly before she butchered her children and buried their remains in a shallow grave. An annunciation, of a kind. Of course they had to be killed. They were "possessed by evil spirits". To christians, this battle, the battle between good and evil, between angels and devils, is real, tangible, of this world. So, naturally, when god told Ms Vallow to kill her children, she acted. She obeyed. Like Abraham, only she followed through. Surely, for christians of all denominations, Ms Vallow's filicide demonstrates the kind of loyalty expected of those in service to a capricious, vengeful god.

For context, here's James Madison, considered the "Father of the Constitution", on why he opposed the State partnering with any religion: "The purpose of separation of Church and State is to keep forever from these shores the ceaseless strife that has soaked the soil of Europe with blood for centuries."

Ceaseless strife.

It's not hard to pinpoint the cause of the strife to which Madison was alluding. Open any history book (unless you live in a christian, book-burning state) and you'll discover fairly quickly the reality behind the words. Our fourth president was referring to the religious violence that plagued Europe throughout its then-1800-year evolution. A few examples: the Saxon Wars in 784. The Rhineland Massacres in 1095. The Crown of Castile in 1502. The Second War of Kappel in 1531. The Schmalkadic War in 1546. The Knights' Revolt, the Peasants' War and the French Wars of Religion, also in the 16th century. The Nine Years' War, the Thirty Years' War and the Wars of the Three Kingdoms in the 17th century. The War of the Spanish Succession in 1701. And on and on and on, bloody slaughter after bloody slaughter, each one carried out in service to their god.

The "troubles" in Ireland is another, more recent example of how christian nationalism continues to be a force for misery and suffering. Two branches of the same faith, protestant and catholic, warring with each other for hundreds of years, burning each other at the stake, blowing up churches, bombing cars and buildings, murdering each other and each other's children in unrelenting waves of sectarian violence. Disagreements brought on by a clash of religious practices spread generationally, destroying families and whole communities, fanned to a fire by those who believe they are, like Ms Vallow, doing god's work.

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"Either this nation shall kill racism, or racism shall kill this nation." (S. Jonas, August, 2018)



Fred Trump in the 1980s. It's all his fault, literally and figuratively.

(Image by Wikipedia (commons.wikimedia.org), Author: Gotfryd, Bernard, photographer) Details Source DMCA



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I have previously characterized Donald Trump as "History's Greatest Con Man." As he begins his next quest for the Presidency of the United States, he is again running on an update of his Greatest Con: that he is somehow qualified to be President, again. Of course, it was a con the first time. Since it worked for him then (with a little help from the Russians --- see the Mueller Report, and the then FBI Director James Comey) he is running it again --- and why not?

Let's see how this has played out and will play out again in terms of policy (that is if, faced with an increasing number of criminal indictments and possible convictions, he doesn't flee the country while he is still able to do so):

1. * There's the promotion of racism, xenophobia, and white nationalism.

2. * There's the frequent name-calling in re opponents.

3. * There's the "our nation must be great again," (as is well-known now abbreviated as MAGA).

4. * He continues to reveal, everso carefully, a sly anti-Semitism.

5. * There are vague promises of a great future, without telling much about exactly how he plans to get there.

6. * There's the ample use of the Big Lie Technique (e.g. concerning the results of the 2016 election).

7. * He doesn't embarrass.

8. * Expanding oil and natural drilling, while shrinking the National Park system.

9. * Continue the appointment of Federalist Society judges to the Federal bench.

10. * Expansion of tax cuts for the rich (although he will not talk too much about that one [sic]).

So here are the Top Ten. Of the World's Greatest Con Man. Redux. "But why do you say 'redux?'" you might ask." Because this list is drawn from the first-ever column that I wrote on Trump, entitled "Hair Trump or Herr Trump?," published on October 2, 2015. Yes, the man does not change, has not changed, and never will. It is very important for both his opponents and his allies/supporters to recognize this. If Trump were ever to get back into the White House, he would bring with him nothing new in either strategy or tactics, except that if anything it would likely be worse, because he would clearly be aiming this time around to openly establish a dictatorship (see the discussion of "Schedule F" below).

How do we know this, that is that nothing has changed for Trump, for sure? Because of the "Town Hall" which was brought to us courtesy of CNN. As is well-known, there has been much criticism of CNN for giving Trump the kind of platform they gave him. I do not agree with that position. Whether or not what actually happened was CNN's intention, what actually did happen is that Trump took his political clothes off in public (which is course is an even nastier sight than it would be if he had really had taken his clothes of in public, or even a bit them as he did, according to the conclusions arrived at by the jury's verdict, in the E. Jean Carroll case). In so doing, again, he revealed that he has absolutely nothing new to offer the U.S. public. But even though he has never won the popular vote, he is running nevertheless, and will be until he is overtaken by one set of events or another (like [a] starting to lose primaries {yes, it could happen}, or [b], as mentioned, deciding to leave the country).

Now it should be pointed out that this man has major ruling class support. While some elements of that class believe that they can continue to control the levers of State Power through the so-called "democratic process," others believe that only some form of U.S. fascism will allow them to do that for the foreseeable future. Ergo, Trump, who, as noted, has made it very clear, to those who listen closely, that this time around his primary political aim would be to establish a U.S. dictatorship, with him as dictator.

A major element of this plan would be the implementation of his "Schedule F," which would in one way or another repeal the Civil Service Act of 1978 and replace it with a Federal government bureaucracy totally loyal to Trump as President. (It should be noted that this is exactly what the Nazis did when Hitler took power as Chancellor of Germany in 1933. It should also be noted that this major Trump/Repub. policy proposal was not dealt with in the Town Hall [at least in the major parts that I watched].)

Further on Trump's major campaign theme this time around, that he actually won in 2020, my suspicion is that he knows very well that he lost, in both the popular and electoral vote counts. But what History's Greatest Con Man would do with this issue for 2024 is exactly what he is doing. It should be noted that in the 2016 campaign until the very end he was claiming that that election would be stolen from him. For Trump, who, if he gets the Republican nomination for 2024 will be using it again, it is the equivalent of the "stab-in-the-back" meme (referring to how the surrender of the Prussian Empire at the end of World War I came about) that the Nazis used with great effect, both in the Weimar Republic elections, and even after they took power.

As for some other major issues/positions the man has taken:

*Trump's in-built racism goes back to his "birtherism" campaign of 2011-12. This has of course not changed, and since it is built into his bones going back to the "Central Park Five."

*He proposes to "Keep Medicare and Social Security." How he plans to do this without raising taxes on those who can afford to pay (which indeed is the only practical way to do both) he doesn't' say. He does produce to reduce Medicaid expenditures.

*Without specificity, he wants to get rid of all kinds of regulation, something he tried to do in his first term with limited success.

*As for guns, he is for generally less, not more, regulation, although from time-to-time he likes to make believe that he is for some sort of meaningful gun control.

*We will not spend much time here dealing with Trump's claim that "Jan. 6" was "Pelosi's fault." He has, of course, called it a "beautiful day," and claimed that Vice-President Pence could have sent the reported electoral votes back to [certain] states for some sorts of recounts (a procedure [supported by Sens. Cruz and Hawley, one might note] nowhere to be found in the Constitution). He has said that he would pardon the Jan. 6 the seditious conspirators convicted in a court of law. Talk about fascism (as defined below.) On his attitude towards women in general, for example: he called his CNN interviewer "nasty;" said to E. Jean Carroll's attorney that he could not possibly have sexually assaulted either Ms. Carroll (or her attorney) because "she is not his type." He implicitly admits here that he could/would assault women if they were "his type." (Of course, see the "Access Hollywood" tape.)

*On the repeal of Roe --- for which he took the major credit which in that case he dererved --- at the CNN Town Hall at least, he refused to say whether or not he would support a legislated national abortion ban. He did claim that the Roe Doctrine had allowed/promoted late-term abortions. It did not --- it focused on legal abortion and the "time of viability," generally considered to be at 2024 weeks of gestation. As for his ranting about "late term" abortions, they occurred only in certain states, under local law, and were undertaken either to save the life of the mother or to avoid a potentially difficult delivery of a fetus with no known chance of survival. But Trump does have that sense of drama (actually suited more to 19th century Italian opera that 21st century U.S. politics).

*With no evidence whatsoever, Trump holds that antifa and BLM are mass killers.

*He said in the Town Hall that he could settle the Ukraine war in 24hrs., but did not say how he would/could do it (except perhaps by handing victory to the man who would "Make the World Safe for Plutocracy". Of course, we do know that Trump was impeached for attempting to extort certain behaviors from Ukraine.

*In any of the upcoming legal processes being undertaken with him as a central figure --- Indicted? --- Convicted? --- he will have one response: "Political Witch Hunt."

*Finally let's get to "The Great Replacement Theory" which lies at the basis of Trump's Border/anti-immigration-in-general-but-especially-of-Latin-Americans policy. Numbers of political observers hold that this position/policy held not only by Trump, but also by many Republicans in general, is something new. That is that there is some plot somewhere to replace the "regular Americans" with (esp. non-"white") immigrants who will somehow "take over the country." Numbers of political analysts hold that the "theory" is something new, both to the Republican Party and for Trump.

That is hardly the case, and it is very important in fighting both Trump in particular and the Republicans in general, that one version or another of it has been part of U.S. politics at least since Irish Catholics began immigrating here in significant numbers in the 1830s (that is even before the Great Potato Famine of 1845). The formation of the "American Party" (also known as the "Know-Nothings") in the 1850s was a political response to that immigration. One of its founders, the former President Millard Fillmore, became one of the marginal founders of the Republican Party in 1856.

Over the balance of the 19th century there was primarily Republican-led opposition to the immigration of, in turn: Germans, Italians, Chinese (picked out especially by the Chinese exclusion Act of 1882), Jews, and "Eastern Europeans," eventually leading to the Immigration Act of 1924. These legislative and discriminatory initiatives were all based on one or another version of today's "Great Replacement Theory." That doesn't make it any less discriminatory, but it does place it firmly in one the U.S.'s less-attractive traditions, as well as in the basic ideology of the Republican Party.

Finally, there are the more-than-one present and possible future criminal indictments that Trump is facing. Although as noted, I think that he would leave, with as much of his money as he could take with him, he could, as the Socialist Eugene Debs did in the 1920 Presidential election, run from prison. And he could conceivably be elected (especially if the Republican election-fixing operations that are now well-underway are successful). In that case, of course his first official act would be to pardon himself. But that's another story.

THE BOTTOM LINE (literally) is this: Trump has nothing new; Trump has never won the popular vote; and unless the Repubs are REALLY good at vote-rigging, Trump cannot win in 2024. NEVERTHELESS, the hammer has to keep hitting on the anvil: what Trump's record really is, not what he and the Republican Party would like to make it out-to-be. To repeat: learn the most important lesson Trump has to teach: ALWAYS ATTACK; NEVER DEFEND.

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Post-note: What is fascism, briefly:

"There is a single, all-powerful executive branch of government, in service of a capitalist ruling class that controls, for the most part, the functions of production, distribution, finance, and exchange. There is no separation of the principal governmental powers: executive, legislative, and judicial. There are no independent media. There is a single national ideology, based on some combination of racism, misogyny, religious bigotry and authoritarianism, homophobia, and xenophobia. There is a political party supporting the movement. There is a state propaganda machine using the big and little lie techniques. There may be a full-blown dictatorship, a charismatic leader, engagement in foreign wars, and the use of the mob/private armies to enforce governmental control.


Sen. Lindsey Graham: WaPo, NYT Pulitzer Prizes should be taken away Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., joined 'America's Newsroom' to discuss his reaction to the media's dismissal of the Durham report ...

(Image by YouTube, Channel: Fox News) Details DMCA



Senator Lindsey Graham (R.S.C.) on Fox News denigrating the New York Times and Washington Post over its coverage of Donald Trump in light of the FBI's Durham Report

A sort of madness seems to have taken hold in this country.

What do I mean by "madness"? It's in the form of indignation, resentment of a sort by people.

Take a look at the US main stream media where blowhard Senator Lindsey Graham (R. S.C.) was indignant about the FBI's Durham Report saying, "What have we learned from the Durham Report? That the New York Times and Washington Post were given a Pulitzer Prize for writing a bunch of politically motivated crap". [1]

"When it comes to reporting on Donald Trump, the mainstream media is dead".

Well Senator Graham the MSM isn't dead simply because of the Times and Post reporting on Trump. It's because of their reporting on anything of consequence.

Take the war in Ukraine and their reporting toward Russia. As we know Russia invaded Ukraine in late February 2021. A few prime reasons the Russians gave was NATO moving to Russia's doorstep- in contravention of the verbal assurances given by the Bush Sr. administration in 1989 if the two Germany's were allowed to reunite NATO would not move "one inch" eastward. The other reasons were Ukraine talking about joining the bloc and acquiring nuclear weapons .

The MSM condemns Russia's invasion of Ukraine yet where are they reporting the betrayal of the 1989 agreement by US presidents from Clinton to Trump? They haven't because that would challenge their biased reporting in support of Ukraine.

Where was MSM reporting of now Undersecretary of State Victoria Nuland's role supporting the coup in Kiev in February 2014 forcing the legitimately elected President Viktor Yanukovich to flee for his life. Or the honest reporting of the people of Crimea voting in a referendum to join the Russian Federation because they wouldn't support the post coup regime in Kiev.

Then of course there was the MSM supporting "Dubya" Bush's invasion of Iraq in March 2003 over Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein having WMD or his close association with al Qaeda's Osama bin Laden. All lies the Times and Post never recanted.

Many people were indignant over the lies they were given by their government and the MSM. They demonstrated and protested to no avail.

So yes today's governmental pronouncements and that of the MSM contribute to the splintered, polarized condition of the people being indignant and resentful.

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The High Anti-Corruption Court (HACC) has chosen a measure of restraint in the form of detention for the former First Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine Andriy Klyuyev, who is suspected of organizing misappropriation and embezzlement of funds, the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAPO) has said.

"On May 17, 2023, the HACC investigating judge, at the request of NABU detectives, approved by the SAPO prosecutor, chose a measure of restraint for the former First Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine, suspected of organizing the misappropriation and embezzlement of budget funds in favor of a controlled enterprise and enterprises controlled by the former Prime Minister of Ukraine for a total amount of more than UAH 195 million, which were provided for financing innovative and investment projects in the real sector of the economy (part 3 of article 27, part 5 of article 191 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine)," SAPO said on the Telegram channel on Wednesday.

According to the prosecutor's office, the court supported the position of SAPO and NABU and chose a measure of restraint in the form of detention for the specified person.

"After the arrest and delivery to the place of the pretrial investigation, the investigating judge will decide on the application of this preventive measure," the SAPO said.

The SAPO said the pretrial investigation has been completed in the said criminal proceedings. The case materials are open to the defense for review.

The statement does not indicate the name of the person involved, it is about Klyuyev.
Villa Firenze, a luxury retreat located in the heart of Costa Rica, is making waves with its latest addition of unmatched amenities designed to exceed guests' expectations. The Villa has set new standards for the ultimate vacation experience with its services and facilities. From the moment guests set foot on the property, a host of luxurious amenities welcomes them. The private helipad is a standout feature, providing guests with the ultimate 
Dear Annie: Eleven years ago, I lost my 19-year-old daughter suddenly. Up until that point, I loved cuddling with babies. I loved everything about them, including their smell, their soft skin, their innocent eyes, etc. If a friend or family member had a baby, I wanted to hold the sweet thing and cuddle. Since my daughter passed away, however, I no longer am comfortable with babies. I feel very nervous and anxious around them.

Recently, a woman I knew just briefly had a sweet little baby girl. When she introduced her new baby to me, she asked me if I wanted to hold her and she pushed the baby in my direction. I politely said, No, thank you, but she was persistent. Then the people in the group we were with were acting like I was being rude by not wanting to hold the baby.

I want people to know, first, that their baby is not a toy for others to play with. Second, not everyone wants or feels comfortable with a baby, for personal reasons. This is nothing against them or the baby necessarily.

A baby is a trigger to many people who have lost one. -- Loves Babies from a Distance

Dear Loves Babies from a Distance: Thank you very much for your letter. It really highlights the theme of not judging someones actions when you dont know their full story. When the woman thrust her baby on you, she didnt respect your wishes and was not being very compassionate. At the same time, she might have been exhausted and just needed someone to hold her baby (but still not your job).

I am so very sorry for the loss of your daughter. There is life before and life after you endure a tragedy of such magnitude. If a baby is a trigger for you, you have every right to not want to hold a baby. Thank you for sharing your letter, and I pray that you have a wonderful grief support system in place.

Dear Annie: You answered a letter from Friends in Retirement, a lady whose husband is now retired and blind. You suggested he open his own bakeshop or work at one.

May I offer other suggestions since he needs someone to talk WITH not just TO? There is an organization called National Federation of the Blind and another called Council of the Blind. Both of these organizations have chapters in every state and possibly Canada. They could look in the government pages of a phone book or look up blind organizations on their phone.

There may be a school for the blind in the near vicinity who could offer assistance. In our area there is even a local blind group. These organizations offer meetings, activities, assistance with blindness skills and friendship. Many of the members are retired. Good luck. My husband has been blind his entire life, so it is something we are used to. -- Social Worker

Dear Social Worker: Thank you for your suggestions.

Send your questions for Annie Lane to dearannie@creators.com.

COPYRIGHT 2022 CREATORS.COM
In November 2017 when Duane Watari found boxes of poetry written in the Japanese form of senryu by his grandfather during World War II, he immediately sought help in translating it. That emailed plea landed on Shelley Baker-Gards lap as she just happened to be traveling by train from Nara to Kyoto. The Oregon Coordinator of the Haiku Society of America (HSA) agreed to help. What followed is a tale of what some might call serendipity, or perhaps, synchronicity or maybe, one just plain meant to be.

This month  six years after Watari wrote that first note -- Oregon State University Press debuts the book inspired by his find, They Never Asked - Senryu Poetry from the WWII Portland Assembly Center.

As much a book of poetry, it is a story of injustice and cruelty, but also, of friendship, fortitude and survival. It is a tale that might as easily been lost as found had it not been for Wataris careful eye on a day in 2017 as he cleaned out the basement of his mothers Portland home in preparation for its sale.

My mom, for lack of a better word, was a hoarder, but she was an organized hoarder, Watari said. Most of the clutter was in boxes. You could tell she had some stuff sorted out.

Watari began going through the boxes, separating the contents into the things he would keep, those he would toss  and the ones calling for a closer look  like the notebooks and tablets containing his grandfathers writing. There were poems in Japanese and diaries in English and one tablet, different from all the rest.

On its cover, written vertically along one side were the words: W.C.C.A. Assembly Center 1942. North Portland, Ore. No. 2. Inside were pages and pages of senryu poetry  all written in Japanese and all utterly unintelligible to Watari. (He does not speak or read Japanese. His mother could speak the language, but not read or write it.) Though he couldnt read the writing, he sensed what he held in his hand. It dawned on me, These are from World War II, and Ill bet they are from when they were imprisoned. I felt this sense of, here is this piece of history that needs to be told.

For Wataris family and more than 3,600 Japanese Americans from Oregon and Washington, that piece of history began in March 1942 when the Wartime Civil Control Administration gave them 48 hours to gather their belongings.

Yachiyo and Masaki Kinoshita with May and twin sister Mary. The family ran a business in Portland before they were imprisoned in Idaho during World War II.Courtesy of Duane Watari

Duane Watari's mother, May, in front of the family business in Portland before World War II.Courtesy of Duane Watari

Kinoshita siblings at the Minidoka, Idaho, camp where Japanese Americans were imprisoned during World War II.Courtesy of Duane Watari

At the time, Wataris grandparents, Yachiyo and Masaki Kinoshita, operated a small business in Portland selling seasonal goods like produce and bedding plants. That ended when they were taken to the Portland International Livestock Exposition Center, where they were housed in what had been animal stalls. Six months later, they were transferred to the newly built camp in Minidoka, Idaho. They were returned home after the war ended in 1945 and resumed the family business, though the property had been extensively vandalized during the war.

Wataris family didnt talk about those years, he said. It was known after the war that the Japanese community did not want to talk about what happened. It was a dark part of their history.

Now, standing in the basement of the house his parents bought in Northeast Portland in 1959, Watari held in his hands the truth of what it is to be forcibly taken from your home, imprisoned and left to live every day in fear.

Seeking someone to translate the poems, Watari searched the internet for senryu, but found nothing locally, so he tried haiku. Both Japanese poetry forms have a 5-7-5 rhythm, but while haiku are generally about nature and the nonhuman world, senryu tend toward human relationships and the contemporary world. In days, his search led to Baker-Gard.

I said, Yes, Id love to take a look at the journals and see what we can do, Baker-Gard told him. Home from Japan, Baker-Gard reached out to Watari to set a date to meet and promised to look for someone to translate the work. But as it turned out, the script was not modern and would be difficult to translate. Then, Baker-Gard writes in the introduction of They Never Asked, serendipitously, and with a tease of an unknown power, Michael Freiling came to the Portland Haiku Group meeting.  It was his first time there.

Ive been writing haiku since college, maybe even high school, said Freiling. Id recently started going back to Japan for the first time in 25 years. I thought it would be interesting to find out who was writing haiku at the time, so I showed up at the meeting.

Freiling was a Luce Scholar  a competitive fellowship program that offers immersive experiences in Asia  and spent time in Japan in the 1970s. At the haiku group meeting, Freiling introduced himself, sharing his expertise with Asian poetry, his fluency in Japanese and experience in translation.

At breaktime, I literally cornered him, Baker-Gard recalled. A month later, she and Watari finally met, and Baker-Gard fully understood the significance of what hed found. I just felt a very strong emotional response to it, she said. I felt this had to be what they were experiencing in the moment because thats what this type of poetry form relates, the moments, and you are describing them in a very brief way. I knew they had to be experiencing conflicting emotions because they were rounded up and put in this assembly center. Its pretty horrific.

Unannounced, journal in hand, Baker-Gard dropped by Freilings office. When Shelley handed me the journal, and we figured out what it really was, I was awestruck as it dawned on me that I was holding a piece of history in my hands. For this to just sort of walk in the door, well this doesnt happen every day. I thought, There must be some meaning to this. "

Freiling and his wife, Satsuki Takikawa, who was born and raised in Kyoto and teaches English in Japan, went to work translating the poetry. Some of the poems were written by Wataris grandfather, who wrote under the pen name of Jonan; other poems were penned by fellow members of the Bara Ginsha Senryu group. The first poem Freiling had read was one chosen at random when Baker-Gard dropped by his office. It was also the first he and Takikawa translated, and remains his favorite:

#65 by Kensuku

melancholy laughter

help us pass the time

until the train departs*

*The train was departing to the Minidoka Idaho incarceration camp between August and September

My experience with this was pretty much overwhelming, Freiling said. You read these connections, what happened in 1942, sensing the awesome sense of how were human beings who want the same things and are all trying our best. Its really inspiring to see how these people persevered in these horrible conditions. If you were to ask me to describe my feelings in a single word, it would be awestruck.

Although Wataris family didnt talk about the war years, he believes his grandfather, who died in 1996, would be happy the book has been published.

I think he would feel good, Watari said. He would feel proud to have something translated, not just for the Japanese population, but so everybody could understand what they felt when they wrote these poems. They expressed real feelings about what was going on. They talked about other families; what others are doing in the camp. Im just going to call it the luck of the draw that I just happened to find this.

 Lori Tobias is the author of Storm Beat: A Journalist Reports from the Oregon Coast, published by Oregon State University Press.
Lawyers for wildfire victims in the $1.6 billion class action suit against PacifiCorp rested their case Tuesday after three weeks of testimony aimed at proving the utilitys alleged negligence caused four of Oregons catastrophic Labor Day 2020 blazes.

PacifiCorps lawyers will start presenting their defense Wednesday. There is no definitive timeline for the trials conclusion, though Multnomah County Circuit Court Judge Steffan Alexander has said he expects the case to go to the jury in June.
The assistant principal of Creative Science School described in court Tuesday how frightened he was when a 13-year-old boy he had suspended multiple times walked into his office unannounced on Monday wearing a tactical vest, helmet and goggles.

I was pretty terrified when he was there, Andrew Dauch said in Juvenile Court. I was concerned that he may do something to me. I was concerned that he was going to do something to our building.

Dauch said the boy on social media had threatened to shoot another student at the public K-8 school in Southeast Portland on March 23. Dauch also had previously suspended the boy for making threats against students of color and threats against other students and their families, he told the court. The school draws students by lottery from across the Portland Public Schools district. It has about 450 students.

Dauch didnt see the boy carrying a gun Monday but another teacher reported seeing him showing what looked like a handgun to other youth. Police said they found the 13-year-old with a replica gun.

Dauch urged court officials to provide the 13-year-old with sufficient services and support but also ensure hes kept away from the school.

Police were called to the school at 1231 S.E. 92nd Ave. just before 4 p.m. Monday when school officials reported a former student was dressed in tactical gear at the school, was seen with what looked like a handgun and was making threats to commit a school shooting.

Gene Bivens, principal of Creative Science School, said the former student had entered the building after classes had let out. He said Dauch immediately told the 13-year-old that he needed to leave and escorted him to the parking lot, where someone reported seeing him with what they thought was a gun, Bivens wrote to students parents. Thats when police were called and the school doors were locked.

Officers found the boy about six blocks from the school at Southeast 92nd Avenue and Stark Street, demanded he drop what turned out to be a replica gun and arrested him. His tactical vest bore a patch that read. BAD DECISIONS MAKE GOOD STORIES, according to police.

The boy was held in juvenile detention overnight and appeared in court on a petition alleging two counts of menacing and criminal trespass.

The encounter has really reverberated and caused a lot of trauma to kids and staff members, Dauch said, explaining how two staff members at a meeting Tuesday broke down in tears and how three grade school-age students took breaks in his office earlier in the day to talk about how the school lockdown frightened them.

Dauch, who has served as assistant principal at the school for six years, urged the court to restrict the boys access to any other students and staff at the school, both face-to-face interactions or via social media, and that the boy not be allowed anywhere within our building whatsoever.

The childs defense lawyer, Livia Riley, argued that there was no probable cause to support the menacing allegations. While Riley said she understood why students and staff at the school would be scared, she said the 13-year-old issued no threats and said nothing to put the assistant principal or a teacher who saw him in fear of serious physical injury.

The teacher told officers she saw a gun from a distance as the 13-year-old was showing it to other youth, according to Riley, based on her review of police reports.

The 13-year-old attends a different school and lives with his mother, his lawyer told the court. His parents had removed him from the Creative Science School last September, according to the school district.

The boy, dressed in a juvenile detention-issued bright green T-shirt and tan khaki pants, sat beside his lawyer, his hands clasped on his lap. He didnt turn to look at Dauch as he spoke from the public gallery. His mother attended the hearing but did not address the court.

The boys lawyer said she hoped he had heard the impact hes had on people.

Deputy District Attorney Elena Langer urged the judicial referee who presided over the boys initial appearance in court to look at the police photos of the gear the boy had on when he was arrested and the photo of the replica handgun he was caught carrying.

Just what he was wearing alone was sufficient to scare others, Langer said. She added that the 13-year-old used social media to issue most of his threats.

Riley, the defense lawyer, responded that the First Amendment allows people to wear what they want, adding that the Proud Boys, for example, arent barred from wearing their signature black polo shirts with yellow stripes, which scares a lot of people.

Judicial Referee Kristine Almquist found probable cause to support the allegations but noted the allegations arent offenses that allow for detention after an initial 36-hour hold.

She ordered the 13-year-old to return to his mothers home with electronic monitoring. He must have no contact with Creative Science School staff or students and not possess any weapons, whether real or simulated, she said.

No one was hurt, and we will continue cooperating with the police, the principal wrote to parents in an email. This is an important reminder to be attentive when entering or exiting our building. As you pass through our external doors, please do not let other people enter unless they are wearing PPS identification. Even if you know someone to be a parent or member of our school community, please direct them to ring the external bell themselves, and then to check-in at the front desk.

Its the second time in as many months that a boy has been arrested outside a city school with what looked like a real handgun.

Last month, two teens, ages 15 and 17, were arrested in a robbery and stabbing of a 13-year-old boy outside Rieke Elementary School in Southwest Portlands Hillsdale neighborhood on a Friday evening. The 17-year-old is accused of pointing a black handgun , which turned out to be an air soft pistol, at a crowd of middle school students after his 15-year-old friend had robbed and stabbed the 13-year-old, according to witnesses and court statements.

-- Maxine Bernstein

Email mbernstein@oregonian.com; 503-221-8212

Follow on Twitter @maxoregonian

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Voters in Beaverton elected Justice Rajee and Melissa Potter to join the school board of the states third largest school district Tuesday night.

Results as of Wednesday morning showed Rajee beat Jeff Myers with 61% of the vote and Potter bested Maham Ahmed and Connie Clemens with almost 47% of the vote. Rajee and Potter will join anesthesiologist Tammy Carpenter as new members of the board. Carpenter ran unopposed for the Position 7 seat.

Like many other districts around the metro area, Beaverton is facing declining enrollment and complicated budget decisions in the years ahead under Superintendent Gustavo Balderas, who started at the district last summer. At the same time, the district is planning to expand its dual-language program offerings, beginning with a new Spanish immersion program next fall at William Walker Elementary School.

In the race for the Zone 6 seat, Rajee, who is the executive director of the Reimagine Oregon project on racial justice at the Urban League of Portland, ran against Myers, the director of technology sales operations for a data security and management company. Rajees major donors included Planned Parenthood and the Oregon Education Association; he has said he hopes to focus on elevating student mental health as a school board member.

In the three-way race for the Zone 3 seat, Potter, a clinical partnership liaison at Oregon State University, ran against Ahmed, a program analyst for the U.S. Forest Services wildfire risk and reduction team and retired teacher Clemens. She has called for increased instructional time for students, expanded summer learning opportunities and a potential expansion of the universal free school lunch program. Her key donors include the Willamette Women Democrats and the Washington County Democratic Central Committee.

Carpenter has also stressed the need for Beaverton to revamp its early literacy curriculum to focus on teaching kids to sound out and decode words, and has called for more board oversight over a major construction bond, which will pay for new campuses for both Beaverton High School and Raleigh Hills K-8 school. She is endorsed by the Oregon Education Association and the Beaverton Education Association, as well as Planned Parenthood and the Asian Pacific American Network of Oregon.

 Sami Edge, sedge@oregonian.com, Julia Silverman, jsilverman@oregonian.com, @jrlsilverman
Four of the seven seats on the Oregon City School Board were up for grabs Tuesday night and each seat drew several candidates interested in the job.

Election results as of 6 p.m. Wednesday showed the lone incumbent in the race, Pamela White, holding onto on Position 7 with 56% of the vote. Alex Halpern won the race for Position 2 with nearly 57% of the vote. Katie Wilson won the Position 5 race with 63% of the vote. And Heidi Blackwell beat challenger Steve Riehl for Position 6 with 52% of the vote to Riehls nearly 48%.

Halpern, Wilson, Blackwell and White ran on a collaborative slate called #Strong4OCSchools, advocating progressive values and a firm belief that public education is essential. The slate prevailed with all four candidates edging out challengers.

White argued that schools should offer safe and inclusive environments, and said she would advocate for state of the art facilities where students can thrive and work to provide competitive employee compensation and benefit packages. She was endorsed by the Oregon Education Association and the district teachers union, as well as the Democratic Party of Clackamas County.

White faced a challenge from political newcomer and retiree Andy Holthouse who campaigned against comprehensive sex education, gay-straight alliance clubs, critical race theory and what he called transgender ideology that promotes questioning gender assigned at birth by our creator. Holthouse also said in a Voters Pamphlet that political flags, banners and signs have no place on public school property.

Halpern serves on the school board budget committee and is a parent-teacher association volunteer. His kids will spend the next 15 years in Oregon City schools, Halpern said in the Voters Pamphlet, and he believes its critical to recruit and retain the best possible staff to the district. He drew the support of the districts teachers association as well as sitting school board members and the Oregon Education Association. His opponent, Jacqueline Arn, a former educator, said she wanted to continue to be an advocate for parents and students. Arn said she would have advocated for keeping politics out of schools, improving nutrition for students in need and supporting a parental opt-in options for certain curricula. She was endorsed by Oregon Right to Life.

The race for Position 5 saw communications professional Wilson face off against Steve Masone. Wilson, who was endorsed by the state and local teachers unions, has a kindergartener in the school district and said that all students deserve to attend schools that welcome and support them. Wilsons top priorities include dual language learning support and smaller class sizes for students. In the Voters Pamphlet, Masone described himself as a tireless advocate for the disabled and those who suffer from mental illnesses. He is the parent of an autistic child, the Voters Pamphlet said, and he has worked with national mental health organizations and trained in counseling for post-traumatic stress disorder.

The closest race was for the Position 6 seat, but in the end, Blackwell prevailed. Blackwell has decades of experience as a public school teacher and administrator and said she will take a collaborative approach to solving the districts problems. Blackwell said she would prioritize extracurricular activities, community involvement and making schools feel safe and welcoming for students of all backgrounds, according to the Voters Pamphlet. Blackwell was endorsed by both the state and local teachers unions.

Riehl, a business owner, said politics and classroom disruptions are getting in the way of students education. As a school board member, he said that he would have focused on district transparency, keeping politics out of the classroom and emphasizing the voices of parents and children.
Soho House, a London-based private members club and hotel with outposts across the globe, will open its first Pacific Northwest location in Portland this year, the company confirmed this month.

As first reported by The Oregonian, Chicago-based hotel developer Benjamin Weprin spent $15.65 million to purchase Southeast Portlands 110-year-old Troy Laundry building in 2019, with plans to convert the historic Buckman neighborhood laundry into a private members club, complete with 40 rooms and a rooftop pool. The project also includes a six-story building, dubbed 1010 SE Ash, with underground parking, ground-level retail and around 130 residential units atop a former auto repair shop.
Visitors to the far southeastern corner of Oregon wont find many places to stay the night. Out here, at the edge of the vast Great Basin, there are more people camping out in the arid desert than sleeping in hotel rooms.

For more than a century, the Frenchglen Hotel has offered shelter to travelers and adventurers, and its now in need of new management to carry it into the future.
Lisa Edson visited Cannon Beach with her mother, Luigina Elmer, about two weeks ago for Elmers birthday. They walked arm in arm to Haystack Rock, watching the waves crash at the beach, their favorite place.

I took a video of our feet, and her arms and Haystack Rock, Edson said with tears in her eyes Tuesday from her home in North Plains. And in the back of my mind, I thought, This will be a nice memory, but I didnt know it would be over so quick. I had no idea.

Elmer, 81, died Thursday in a multiple-vehicle pileup on Oregon 99W near Southwest Pfaffle Street in Tigard.

Tigard police arrested 43-year-old Grant Thomas of Hillsboro at the scene on allegations of manslaughter, driving under the influence, assault, reckless driving and criminal mischief after Thomas allegedly drove his Ford F350 truck into oncoming traffic, according to the Tigard Police Department.

Thomas pleaded not guilty to the charges Friday. His attorney, Alex Spinks, declined to comment.

Two other people were taken to the hospital after the 7:35 p.m. crash, including Elmers son, Robert Elmer, who sustained multiple broken bones and underwent surgery. He is still in the trauma unit at OHSU hospital in stable condition, Edson said.

The mother and son had gone to the movies, dinner and to clean Elmers husbands grave, Edson said.

She took solace in the fact that her mother visited her father before she died.

Lisa Edson and her husband, David Edson, look through photos of her mother, Luigina Elmer, on May 16, 2023.Lisa Moreno

Elmer lived in King City and raised her two kids in Oregon, after moving from New York. She owned and operated restaurants, Edson said, adding that her mother told it like it was. You couldnt really mess with her, she said.

But she also described her mother as someone who loved intensely and was dedicated to her 10 grandchildren and extended family.

Edson called her brother a hero for taking his mother out and trying his best to save her, by quickly moving the car to the right before the crash, in an attempt to avoid a direct collision.

That whole day was a gift to my mom; her son cared for his mother, and he took her around and did all these nice things, she said. And driving home, he turned just enough instinctively to try to protect her.

Edson flipped through the pages of a family photo album in her North Plains home Tuesday. Dozens of pictures showed Elmer laughing and holding her family members tightly.

She used to get real close and tell you she loved you, Edson said, looking at a photo of herself with her mom.

They were cheek to cheek.

-- Lisa Moreno; lmoreno@oregonian.com

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At a meeting on Wednesday, the Estonian Parliament adopted a statement in support of Ukraine's entry into NATO, some 92 deputies out of 101 voted for it.

"Together with other Baltic states, Estonia has always supported Ukraine's accession to NATO and considers it necessary to plan concrete steps for the country's accession to the alliance during the NATO summit, which will be held in Vilnius on July 11-12," the Estonian Parliament said in the statement.

According to the document, Ukraine's accession to NATO is the only way to ensure sustainable peace and security based on the rules of democratic European states.

The Estonian Parliament announced the need to formulate concrete measures at the summit in Vilnius for the rapid integration of Ukraine into NATO and to convey an invitation to Kyiv to join the alliance.
Jason Howard, a pharmacy technician at Northwest Portlands Legacy Good Samaritan Medical Center, overheard the news at work: A huge fire had engulfed a four-story apartment in the Goose Hollow neighborhood.

It wasnt until later that the 52-year-old learned the four-alarm blaze had destroyed the 60-unit apartment building where he lived for 15 years.

Im still processing, he said outside the scene at 1410 S.W. Taylor St., where 100 firefighters prepared for the buildings possible collapse Tuesday.

It was not immediately clear what caused the fire around 10 a.m., or how many people lived in the building, although rescuers said they felt confident all residents were safe. Late last year, city inspectors investigated a complaint about conditions at the 1910 structure, but as of Monday the owners had fixed a series of code violations, according to city inspection records.

Smoke billowed from the structure for hours, and the temporary closure of Interstate 405 snarled traffic in and around downtown. Portland General Electric also turned off power to the area at the request of Portland Fire & Rescue affecting nearby schools such as Lincoln High.

Olga Shershneva lived in the building for five years. A 33-year-old yoga instructor, Shershneva was inside when she heard fire engines pulling up. She was loading her cat, Toby, into a crate when the fire alarm went off. That wasnt unusual to hear; the fire alarm went off at least once a week, she said.

This time she opened her door to a wall of thick black smoke.

I couldnt see an inch in front of my face, she said.

Once outside she said she watched all the windows on the top floor explode.

I lost everything, she said.

-- Catalina Gaitan, cgaitan@oregonian.com, @catalingaitan_

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UPDATE: Julia Brim-Edwards wins Multnomah County Board of Commissioners seat

Julia Brim-Edwards led by a wide margin in early results Tuesday night in the race for a seat on the Multnomah County Board of Commissioners.

Partial results as of 10 p.m. showed Brim-Edwards, a member of the Portland school board and a former Nike executive, leading Ana del Rocio, a community organizer and former county commission policy staffer, 59% to 33%. A third candidate, Albert Kaufman, a board member for his neighborhood association in Southeast Portland, received 7% of the vote.

Assuming Brim-Edwards holds the lead and maintains more than 50% of the vote, she will be sworn in immediately at a time when the county is grappling with a whirlwind of challenges, including rampant homelessness, a massive unmet need for mental health and addiction treatment and understaffing in the district attorneys office.

I am grateful and honored by the support of District 3 voters, she said. If (the results hold), I look forward to getting to work immediately on the critical challenges facing our community.

Brim-Edwards said she is ready to face the biggest challenges ahead including safety, homelessness, mental health and drug treatment access.

She will fill the District 3 seat vacated by Multnomah County Chair Jessica Vega Pederson, who won the top county seat in November. The seat, one of five on the board, covers most of Southeast Portland east of about 33rd Avenue.

Brim-Edwards, 61, was a senior director at Nike, where she used her position to help push through Oregons largest tax increase to support public schools, a deal known as the Student Success Act. Now she runs her own company and is serving her third elected term on the Portland school board. While on the school board, she co-wrote Portland Public Schools climate crisis policy with its goal of generating zero carbon emissions by 2040.

She said on the campaign trail that she is committed to making neighborhoods feel safer and taking steps to end street camping while also providing more mental health and drug treatment services during sweeps of homeless camps. She said she supports the creation of the mass shelter sites proposed by Mayor Ted Wheeler, while del Rocio instead supports devoting more money to rent assistance.

To address homelessness, Brim-Edwards said she also believes the county needs to capitalize on available apartments, leasing them in bulk and quickly renting them out to individuals with unstable housing. She proposed working with homeowners who have extra space to rent, investing in workforce housing co-ops and creating intergenerational living spaces that allow seniors to age in place.

Brim-Edwards has called for better collaboration between the county and city governments on addressing homelessness and said the Joint Office of Homeless Services should adopt a new operating agreement that contains a plan to end street camping.

As of Tuesday, Brim-Edwards reported raising nearly $142,000, $43,000 of which she lent or gave to her campaign. Her donors included business leaders who are members of the Portland Business Alliance, several current and former school board members, four Nike executives and former Gov. Kate Brown.

Nicole Hayden can be reached at nhayden@oregonian.com.
Elizabeth Steiner and Andrea Valderrama

Steiner, a physician, represents Senate District 17-Northwest Portland and Valderrama represents House District 47-Outer East Portland in the Oregon Legislature. They are chief sponsors of House Bill 2002.

When the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, they undermined every Americans right to abortion. Even here in Oregon, protections for reproductive health care previously afforded by the U.S. Constitution became unclear, especially for health care providers.

After consulting with providers, patients and legal experts, we found that just because abortion is legal in Oregon, doesnt mean its accessible. Geographic, monetary and legal barriers to care still exist. We also need to protect those providing critical health services and ensure our transgender neighbors have access to the care they need.

The Reproductive Health and Access to Care Bill, House Bill 2002, protects providers and prioritizes the rights, health and safety of Oregonians, especially low-income Oregonians, those living outside of the I-5 corridor, women, LGBTQ+ individuals, immigrants, people with disabilities and Black and brown communities.

It expands access to abortion in underserved regions, requires insurance companies to cover medically-necessary gender-affirming care and shields Oregon health care professionals who provide reproductive or gender-affirming care from out-of-state legal overreach.

HB 2002 also protects children who are victims of sexual abuse and rape by making sure that anyoneregardless of agecan access an abortion without unnecessary barriers. While providers have generally recognized the age of consent for abortion as 15, state law did not specifically set a minimum age. The protections established by Roe v. Wade made that unnecessary.

But the overturning of Roe last year now obligates us to make clear that there is no minimum age requirement to access time-sensitive abortion care.

Nothing in this bill prevents minors from including their parents in any medical decision. We know the vast majority of parents in Oregon are loving and supportive, and we want them involved. Up to 90% of minors already involve their parents when making these decisions.

Government barriers to abortion  like unnecessary parental consent hurdles  are dangerous for victims of child abuse.

Research shows that minors who dont involve their parents often do so out of fear of emotional and physical harm one study found nearly one third of minors who did not involve parents in abortion decisions had already experienced family violence, and other research shows that those who are abused have a greater risk of getting pregnant earlier in life. Studies also show that parental notification laws put children at risk of unwanted contact with an absent or abusive parent, and place financial and logistical burdens on minors forced to navigate court procedures through a judicial bypass mechanism.

While some, including this newspapers editorial board, have advocated for such practices for those under 15, the question at the heart of this issue is this: Should youth--including victims of child abuse potentially be forced to carry a pregnancy unless they can get sign off from an adult who has possibly perpetrated or enabled that harm or a judge whose political leanings could influence the decision?

Oregon voters said no in 2006 when they rejected mandatory parental notification, which included a judicial bypass mechanism for abortions.

There are also many protections in place to ensure minors who need abortion care without parental involvement are safe: Medical providers are mandatory reporters and have a legal obligation to report harm to children, including sexual abuse, to law enforcement and Child Welfare. Extensive discussion with these vulnerable youth will help determine the appropriate safety plan for each child.

HB 2002 protects the rights and safety of children with absentee or abusive parents or guardians. The last thing we need is for a childs rapist or the rapists enabler to potentially be involved in this already traumatic event.

Join us in supporting the Reproductive Health & Access to Care Bill to keep government and sexual abusers out of the exam room so everyone can receive the timely, often life-saving, care they need.

Sign up for our free Oregon Opinion newsletter. Email:


In the summer of 2017, Eric Valentine recalled that he was volunteering with an eastern Oregon Boy Scout troop when they encountered a group of rafters in need of assistance.

Six years later, the 80-year-old retired judge  and former Scoutmaster  was the one in desperate need of help.

And the Boy Scouts showed up.

Valentine, who works as a freelance photographer, was hiking along Hells Canyon in early May and taking photographs when he lost his balance and fell 60 feet down a slope while trying to get a milkweed plant off one of his boots, according to a Boy Scouts of America news release.

A Boise firefighters wife spotted Valentine crawling and was able to flag down a group of members from Eagles Boy Scout Troop 77, who were out canoeing on the Snake River.

I asked God to send angels, Valentine told nearly a dozen members of Troop 77 in his hospital bed Monday evening at Saint Alphonsus Regional Rehabilitation Hospital in Boise. He sent me the Boy Scouts.

Valentine is recovering from surgery but said he expects to head home to La Grande, Oregon, soon. He has a broken ankle, cracked tibia, fractured back and three broken vertebrate in his neck, but that didnt stop him from making the packed hospital room burst into laughter.

During the roughly 30-minute visit, Valentine joked that he was fully prepared for his hike  like a Boy Scout should be  except that he didnt bring a buddy.

Nearly two dozen members of the troop were on the canoe trip, including 16-year-old Henry Cavanagh, 15-year-old McCoy Bondelid, 17-year-old Nathaniel Jacob and 17-year-old Brendan Karabensh. The boys said Monday that they were able to spot Valentine easily because he was wearing a bright red jacket, which is something that he put on after hed fallen, knowing that it would make him more visible.

The troop, along with former Boise firefighter Steve Rasulo, tended to Valentine until he could be transported to a nearby Idaho Power boat. That assistance came after Troop 77 Assistant Scoutmaster Nate Bondelid used his satellite phone to make an emergency call for help.

The troop members wrapped gauze around Valentines head, gave him water and used a towel to support his head in case he had a spinal injury. Idaho Power personnel transported Valentine to the Copper Trail Creek Area by boat, and it was flat enough there for a helicopter to land. He was then taken to Saint Als.

Valentine praised the Scouts, others who helped and the hospital staff at Saint Als.

What are the chances thered be a Boy Scout Troop from Eagle, Idaho? Valentine asked. Thats almost impossible, but not with God.

--Alex Brizee, The Idaho Statesman

2023 The Idaho Statesman. Visit idahostatesman.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
Oregons tax revenues have continued to outstrip state economists predictions, with nearly $1.9 billion more in tax receipts now expected in the current budget cycle that ends in June.

The surge in anticipated tax receipts will also likely trigger a big increase in the states unique kicker tax rebate that taxpayers would receive when they file their taxes next year: $5.5 billion, up from a predicted kicker of $3.9 billion at the last forecast just three months ago, according to economists presentation to state lawmakers Wednesday.

Available resources are up sharply, not just today but in the foreseeable future, said state economist Mark McMullen.

Economists warned last year that Oregon could enter a mild recession sometime this year. Still, Oregon received $310 million more than anticipated in personal income tax payments in the first quarter of the year. On top of that, McMullen said he and fellow state economist Josh Lehner made methodological adjustments to their forecasting model to better account for inflation and the fact that the states top marginal tax rate is fixed, not indexed to inflation, so rising wages have pushed more Oregon workers into the top tax bracket. Those changes boosted the states revenue outlook.

Its not that the recession risks arent real, Lehner said. But there are signs that inflation could be slowing and the Federal Reserve is reconsidering continued increases in interest rates which would have sent the economy into recession at some point, Lehner said. Economists are still very concerned about recession risk but the risk appears to be farther out, perhaps not until 2024, he said.

Economists ability to accurately predict the states future revenues can have a major impact on the state budget, because of the kicker tax rebate. The rebate is triggered when tax revenues for a biennium come in more than 2% above economists forecast from the start of the budget cycle. The state must return the full amount above the forecast to taxpayers.

The higher-than-expected tax receipts and revenue forecast could clear the way for the Democratically controlled Legislature to boost spending in the next two-year budget, which they have until June 25 to pass.

In March, Ways and Means Committee co-chairs Sen. Elizabeth Steiner and Rep. Tawna Sanchez, both Democrats from Portland, proposed a budget that would increase state spending moderately from the current level, $29.2 billion to $30.4 billion for 2023-2025. They noted the state budget has grown significantly in recent years, boosted by windfall revenues and federal pandemic funding and they committed to continue setting aside money in the states rainy day and education stability funds.

Steiner and Sanchez proposed a similar amount for state worker pay increases as Democratic Gov. Tina Kotek earlier this year: $450 million, of which $120 million would specifically be set aside for retention and recruitment incentives. They also want to set aside $65 million to raise the pay of unionized private sector home care and personal support workers. But with a tight budget year in mind, lawmakers were looking at restricting spending on a plan to improve reading instruction in Oregon schools.

The top budget writers did agree with Kotek that core schools funding for the next two years should be $9.9 billion, more than the $9.5 billion that state budget analysts calculated Oregon would need to hold steady at current service levels but less than the $10.3 billion that schools advocates, including school boards and the statewide teachers union, say is necessary to prevent cuts. Enrollment in public schools declined in recent years and funding is tied to students. Some school districts want to keep staff that they hired with federal pandemic funds, for example the 40 additional social workers hired by the Beaverton School District.

Kotek proposed earlier this year to divert $765 million in savings from the rainy day account and use the money to tackle the states housing shortage, homelessness crisis, behavioral health care needs and poor education outcomes. On Wednesday, Kotek reiterated her call for lawmakers to approve a budget that fully funds her priorities, including $120 million to help every school district in the state improve early reading instruction. Kotek also asked lawmakers to approve $64 million to improve water quality and infrastructure in communities around the state, $207 million for wildfire protection system advancements, $6.3 million to increase the number of training slots for police officers and $6.7 million to reduce the backlog of updates to the states sex offender registry. However, Kotek said it would no longer be necessary to divert money from the rainy day funds due to the latest tax revenue windfall. We have resources right now to meet the needs of the state, Kotek told reporters on Wednesday.

Thanks to higher interest rates, theres a new wrinkle for state leaders to consider: state funds are earning substantial returns. Lehner said the state is on track to reap approximately $270 million in interest earnings for the current fiscal year and around $350 million next year. Thats a huge increase from the $20 million in annual earnings the state typically received before the Federal Reserve hiked interested rates, Lehner said.

Republican and Democratic lawmakers raised concerns Wednesday about some of the long-term economic factors discussed in the forecast. Rep. E. Werner Reschke, R-Malin, pointed out that more Oregon workers are winding up in the states top marginal tax bracket, with a 9.9% tax rate on income over $125,000 for individuals and over $250,000 for joint filers, as inflation drives up wages. Wage increases are great as long as they outpace inflation, Reschke said. He noted that the top marginal tax rate is fixed, whereas lower marginal tax rates are indexed to inflation. Approximately 40% of the states personal income tax revenue comes from individuals in this bracket, McMullen said.

Rep. Daniel Nguyen, D-Lake Oswego, said he was concerned by the combination of increased taxes and the states slowdown, and possibly even decrease, in net migration in recent years.

Its good news for today, but I also worry very much about our population and people wanting to live and work here, Nguyen said.

 Hillary Borrud; hborrud@oregonian.com; 503-294-4034; @hborrud
Parent Kate Sherman and incumbent Aaron Barrow won their races for contested board seats in East Portlands David Douglas School District on Tuesday night.

Sherman bested Deian Salazar with 67% of the vote in the race for the Position 7 seat, and Barrow overcame a challenge from newcomer Aaron Ford with 69% of the vote in the Position 5 race.

Incumbent Heather Franklin and Gabriela Saldana-Lopez, who was appointed to the David Douglas School Board in 2021, ran unopposed and retained their seats. Franklin is a biostatistician at Oregon Health and Science University and a mother of six. Saldana-Lopez is a David Douglas alumni who started school in the district as an English language learner and today works as a community organizer.

Sherman, who is a parent of children in the district, works in home health care. She said she would work to expand early childhood education offerings in the district, push to hire and retain quality staff members who reflect the diversity of the student body and help address school safety through research backed-solutions and a transition to restorative discipline. She earned the support of the David Douglas teachers union, as well as a host of local and state politicians and school board members.

Salazar touted his experience in the school district as a graduate who is autistic and Latino. Salazars father died in Afghanistan, according to his campaign website, and he spent part of his childhood in the foster care system. Salazar said he would prioritize safe routes to school, investing in diverse student communities and expanding the districts career and technical education programs. His campaign also drew support from a handful of politicians, including Rep. Andrea Valderrama, a Portland Democrat and former David Douglas School Board member.

Barrow, the lone incumbent in a contested race, has served on the board since 2019 and was endorsed by the David Douglas teachers union and several sitting board members. His challenger, Ford, is a self-employed mental health clinician and attorney with no prior governmental experience.

Both men said they would prioritize students mental health needs. Ford stressed the need for transparency and responsible resource management by the district, whereas Barrows platform focused on staffing and providing free food for district students.
A roundup of conversations we're having daily on the site. Subscribe to the Reckon Daily for stories centering marginalized communities and speaking to the under-covered issues of the moment.

Over the weekend, President Joe Biden introduced 13 new regulations with the aim of tackling the countrys gun violence epidemic.

The declaration coincided with the one-year anniversary of a mass shooting in Buffalo, New York which left 10 people dead.

Bidens actions stem from the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, a piece of legislation signed into law in June. The law makes it more difficult for people under 21 to acquire guns and increases funding for mental health and safety measures in schools, among other provisions.

America doesnt have to be a place where our children learn how to duck and cover from a shooter, or scan a movie theater or restaurant for their exit options, Biden wrote in an op-ed published in USA Today commemorating the announcement.

We cannot sit back and pass this problem off to the next generation to solve. If we wait, too many of them will never have the chance to grow up.

The new provisions will be implemented alongside law enforcement personnel and the U.S. Department of Justice through trainings and the enforcement of new policies, according to a press release.

Gun violence is now the leading cause of death for children in the United States, an analysis by the Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonprofit organization focusing on major healthcare issues in the U.S., found.

To stop firearms from getting into the hands of potential shooters, the federal government plans to educate local police on quickly responding to background check inquiries and ensuring officials are given dating relationship history as part of arrest and adjudication records.

Although its unclear how that data will be gathered or whatll be included in it.

Officials hope that the latter regulation will narrow the boyfriend loophole, which allowed some people convicted of domestic abuse to own firearms.

Before the Bipartisan Safer Communities Acts passage, only partners that lived with, were married to or had a child with their significant other were barred from purchasing a gun if theyd been convicted of domestic violence.

According to Justice Department data, the law has stopped 160 firearms from being purchased since its implementation.

Additional funding will be made available to high-need school districts determined by states to implement safety protocols and increase mental health services to provide support to students and faculty that have been harmed by gun violence.

Though Biden touted the law as the most significant gun safety legislation in nearly 30 years he called on Congress to do more, specifically by banning assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, forcing gun owners to securely store their firearms, performing background checks on all gun sales and ensuring gun manufacturers are held liable.

I have already taken more meaningful executive action to reduce gun violence than any other president, he wrote. But my power is not absolute.
Belgium is ready to train Ukrainian pilots on F-16 fighter jets, but cannot provide Ukraine with this type of aircraft, DeMorgen said, citing the office of Belgian Prime Minister Alexander de Croo.

The Belgian Prime Minister said in the office that during the summit in The Hague earlier this month, the F-16 issue was also discussed during a meeting between President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy and the Prime Minister. The Belgium side said it cannot supply aircraft, but it can train pilots.

The Belgian Air Force has been using F-16s from the U.S. manufacturer Lockheed Martin since the late 1970s, so they have a lot of experience with these aircraft, the newspaper said.

The reason why Belgium cannot deliver F-16s to Ukraine is that all Belgian aircraft are in operation, in particular to protect the airspace of the Benelux and Baltic countries.

The Belgian army has about 50 F-16 fighter jets. In the coming years, these fighter jets will be gradually replaced by 34 new F-35s.

Sending U.S.-made F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine requires permission from Washington.

Earlier, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and French President Emmanuel Macron announced their readiness to train Ukrainian pilots to fly modern Western fighters.
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP)  Minnesota settled its lawsuit against e-cigarette maker Juul Labs and tobacco giant Altria for $60.5 million, Attorney General Keith Ellison announced Wednesday, saying the total is significantly higher per capita than any other state that sued Juul over youth vaping and marketing practices.

The state's lawsuit was the first and still the only one of thousands of cases nationwide against the e-cigarette maker to reach trial. It settled just ahead of closing arguments last month, but the terms had to be kept confidential for 30 days until the formal papers were filed publicly with the court.

Ellison said Minnesota got the big settlement precisely because the state took Juul to trial. He said the sum exceeds what Juul made in Minnesota from 2015 to 2021.

We were the only state willing to take this battle to trial and hold the bad actors accountable. It sends a message that you cannot get away with this," Ellison said at a news conference with Gov. Tim Walz. "We will put you in front of a Minnesota jury and you can take your chances.

Most of the other cases have settled, including dozens with other states and U.S. territories. The largest settlement came last month when it was announced that Juul Labs will pay $462 million to six states and the District of Columbia to settle lawsuits related to its marketing tactics. As part of that deal, Juul pledged not to market its products to anyone under the age of 35 and to limit the amount customers can purchase in retail stores and online.

Ellison said ahead of the state's trial that he was seeking more than $100 million in damages. His spokesperson, John Stiles, told reporters Wednesday that if Minnesota had settled on the same terms as the six states and the District of Columbia, it would have gotten about $30 million, or as little as $15 million if it had accepted the terms most other states did.

Not only will Juul and Altria pay $60.5 million, Ellison said, they'll pay more a third of it within 30 days and more than 60% within a year. The state will get about $43 million after litigation costs and attorney's fees. Legislation is pending to dedicate the money to tobacco prevention.

In addition to the internal company documents Juul has disclosed in other settlements, Minnesota will also get documents specific to the state for a total of 10 million documents that researchers and journalists can pore through, Ellison said. We're going to have a lot of sunlight, he said. And unlike the other settlements, he said, Altria will disclose its internal documents on its involvement with Juul.

Walz agreed with Ellison and others at the news conference that Juul's arrival undid much of the progress that the state had made since its landmark $7.1 billion settlement with the tobacco industry in 1998, which provided money for anti-smoking programs.

We were within a decade or two of eliminating smoking almost in its entirety, and nicotine addiction amongst the young. That's how close we got," the governor said. "And they're smart. They pivoted to a new product. They marketed it in a very deceptive way. And we have a whole generation of kids (who) got hooked this way."

The settlement specifically prohibits Juul from marketing to children and young adults in Minnesota, Ellison said, and requires the company to accurately disclose the nicotine content of its products.

One of the lead attorneys in the case, Tara Sutton, of the law firm Robins Kaplan, was a member of the firm's team that took on Big Tobacco in the 1998 case on behalf of then-Attorney General Skip Humphrey.

We have won once again, Sutton said. Once again the attorney general had the courage to take on the new generation of Big Tobacco, and its name was Juul and its benefactor was Altria."

Juul declined to say anything about the details of the settlement and stood by a statement it issued when the agreement was announced.

"We have now settled with 48 states and territories, providing over $1 billion to participating states to further combat underage use and develop cessation programs, the statement said. This is in addition to our global resolution of the U.S. private litigation that covers more than 5,000 cases brought by approximately 10,000 plaintiffs.

Attorneys for Minnesota argued during the case that Juul unlawfully targeted young people with vaping products to get a new generation addicted to nicotine. Juul attorneys countered that its purpose was to convert adult smokers of combustible cigarettes to a less-dangerous product  not to lure kids.

Minnesota, which won a landmark $7.1 billion settlement with the tobacco industry in 1998, filed its lawsuit in 2019 and added Altria, which formerly owned a minority stake in Juul, as a co-defendant in 2020. Altria completed its divestiture in March and said it effectively lost its $12.8 billion investment.

Washington, D.C.-based Juul Labs launched in 2015 on the popularity of flavors like mango, mint, fruit medley and creme brulee. Teenagers fueled its rise, and some became addicted to Juuls high-nicotine pods. Amid a backlash, the company dropped all U.S. advertising and discontinued most of its flavors in 2019, losing popularity with teens. Juuls share of the now multibillion-dollar market has fallen to about 33% from a high of 75% in 2018.
Beginning in 1841 with the publication of Edgar Allan Poes The Murders in the Rue Morgue and followed by William Wilkie Collins's The Moonstone in 1868, through Sherlock Holmes and Alex Cross, detective and mystery novels have captured the publics imagination.

May is National Mystery Month. Match wits with the best detectives in literature and try to solve the case before the main character.
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MECOSTA COUNTY  The Mecosta County Democratic Party and Canadian Lakes Progressives will hosting the annual Spring into Summer fundraising event at 5:30 p.m. Friday, May 19, at Antlers Fireside Grill, 10107 Buchanan Road, Stanwood.

The event will honor the Old Settlers Reunion organization, and will include a presentation, a silent auction and a buffet style dinner.
Activities of the Midland County Sheriff's Department and the Midland Police Department, compiled by Dan Chalk.

Wednesday, May 17

3:10 a.m. - Deputies were dispatched to the MyMichigan Medical Center emergency room to assist EMS with identifying a 17-year-old girl. The girl was identified. No further assistance was requested.

2:50 a.m. - Deputies were dispatched to a Greendale Township residence to locate an 18-year-old male subject for another jurisdiction. Deputies were unsuccessful in locating him. No further assistance was requested.

1:51 a.m. - A deputy was dispatched to meet with Bay County deputies regarding a 22-year-old Bay City woman who had a warrant out of Midland County. The woman was transported to the Midland County Jail and lodged without incident.

Tuesday, May 16

10:57 p.m. - Deputies were dispatched to Geneva Township for a motorcycle-deer crash. The 57-year-old male rider was transported to MyMichigan Medical Center with apparent injuries. Deputies also found that the driver did not have a valid license and the vehicle was not registered or insured, and the driver was in possession of a suspected controlled substance. The substance is being sent for further testing and a report is being sent to the prosecuting attorney.

9:47 p.m. - An officer was dispatched to Bayliss Street at Eastlawn Drive for a driver operating while intoxicated and committing license violations.

9:30 p.m. - Deputies were conducting patrol in the area of Coleman Road near West Olson Road when they saw a dark pickup truck commit a traffic violation. A traffic stop resulted in a 57-year-old Greendale Township male driver being arrested on outstanding warrants.

8:47 p.m. - A deputy was dispatched to Coleman for a verbal argument between a 41-year-old woman and her 57-year-old boyfriend. The man left before the deputy arrived. The woman said she only called in order to get her boyfriend away from her, and she no longer needed assistance.

7:08 p.m. - An officer was dispatched to the 3700 block of Waldo Avenue for a report of domestic violence.

2:14 p.m. - Deputies responded to an Edenville Township residence for a 61-year-old woman having suicidal thoughts. EMS transported her to MyMichigan Medical Center emergency room. Deputies completed a mental health evaluation petition while at the ER.

2 p.m. - Deputies were dispatched to a Greendale Township residence for a well-being check on a 44-year-old woman and found that her 52-year-old husband was in violation of his probation terms. Contact was made with the man's probation officer in Isabella County, who wanted him to be lodged on the violation. The man was transported to Isabella County Jail.

12:37 p.m. - A 76-year-old man reported approximately $3,500 being missing from his garage in Ingersoll Township.

11:20 a.m. - A deputy responded to a Mills Township residence for a death investigation involving a 35-year-old man who was found deceased in the home by his 31-year-old friend. The medical examiner requested that the body be sent to the morgue to await an autopsy.

9:23 a.m. - A deputy conducted a traffic stop on a vehicle for speeding. The 35-year-old Beaverton male driver was arrested on four outstanding Midland County warrants and was lodged at the Midland County Jail.

2:46 a.m. - An officer was sent to the 2000 block of Bayliss Street for a report of a larceny.

Monday, May 15

11:38 p.m. - An officer was dispatched to the 200 block of Princeton Court for a warrant arrest.
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REYKJAVIK, Iceland (AP)  More than 40 nations agreed Wednesday to set up a system to tally the damage Russia has inflicted on Ukraine in the hope of getting reparations, adding to the international legal challenges the Kremlin is facing.

The register of damages, which will allow Ukrainian victims of war to catalog the harm they have suffered, found a plethora of support among the 46-nation Council of Europe summit in Iceland. Participants also discussed the details of a potential future tribunal where Russia would face charges for waging war.

This Reykjavik summit shows clearly that Putin has failed with his calculations  he wanted to divide Europe and has achieved the opposite, said German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. We stand closer together in Europe than ever before.

While leaders were at the waterside venue on the far-flung island nation for two days, the United Nations top court announced it would hold hearings next month in a case between Russia and Ukraine. Kyiv claims Moscow is discriminating against minority groups in occupied Crimea and is financing terrorism in the region.

But even if Ukraine prevails at The Hague-based International Court of Justice, a ruling wouldnt make whole the millions of Ukrainians whose homes and lives have been torn apart by the conflict.

In theory, victims might have better luck at the Council of Europes own court, the European Court of Human Rights, where Moscow is facing thousands of complaints of human rights violations, including three brought by Ukraine. The Strasbourg-based court can order countries to pony up restitution, but Russias neighbor Georgia has been yet unable to collect for damages inflicted by Moscow when it invaded in 2008.

However, Russia was expelled from the council last year, in the wake of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. And as long ago as 2015, it passed a law allowing it to overrule judgements from the ECHR.

Neither the court, nor the council, now has any channel of communication with the Russian authorities.

The damages register is seen as a first step toward justice in Ukraine. Accountability is one of the topics that is of crucial importance, Marija Pejcinovic Buric, Secretary General of the Council of Europe, told the AP in an interview.

Compiling a comprehensive register of the destruction may be a first step: its unclear what else might follow. The Council of Europe has made it clear that it will not assess the credibility of any claims, nor will it fund reparations payments. Those decisions will be left for other potential future institutions to determine.

Little wonder that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, addressing the summit from Kyiv, reiterated his countrys wish for such a court specifically for the prosecution of Russian aggression. In addition to military aid, another conference topic, he said his country needed 100% of justice, as there will be no reliable peace without justice.

While international institutions may be bogged down in overcoming legal hurdles to accountability, a group of squatters in Amsterdam has cut through the red tape - and the locks of the $3.5 million Amsterdam home belonging to one of Russias sanctioned oligarchs.

A court in the Dutch city ruled on Wednesday that an anarchist group, who took over the Russian tech billionaire Arkady Volozhs house in October, could remain in the five-story, 19th-century mansion so long as they didnt annoy the neighbors.
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SEOUL, South Korea (AP)  North Korean leader Kim Jong Un examined a finished military spy satellite, which his country is expected to launch soon, during a visit to an aerospace facility where he described space-based reconnaissance as crucial for countering the U.S. and South Korea.

Kim during Tuesdays visit approved an unspecified future action plan in preparations for launching the satellite, North Koreas official Korean Central News Agency said Wednesday. North Korea hasn't disclosed a target date for the launch, which some analysts say may be in the next few weeks.

That launch would use long-range missile technology banned by past U.N. Security Council resolutions, although previous missile and rockets tests have demonstrated North Korea's ability to deliver a satellite into space.

There are more questions, however, about the satellite's capability. Some South Korean analysts say the satellite shown in North Korean state media photos appears too small and crudely designed to support high-resolution imagery. Photos that North Korean media released from past missile launches were low-resolution.

Photos released by the Rodong Sinmun newspaper of Tuesday's visit showed Kim and his daughter  dressed in white lab coats  talking with scientists near an object that looked like the main component of a satellite. The newspaper did not identify the object, which was surrounded by a perimeter of red tape.

KCNA said the satellite was deemed ready to be loaded onto a rocket after scientists examined the device's assembly and put it through tests to confirm whether it would withstand the environment of space.

South Koreas Foreign Ministry said North Korea has yet to inform international maritime and telecommunication authorities of any launch plans. It said a North Korean satellite launch would violate various U.N. Security Council resolutions banning the North from any launches involving ballistic technologies and threaten regional peace and stability.

The announcing of the satellite launch plan shows yet again that the North Korean regime is preoccupied with continuing its illegal provocations while ignoring the plight of its people, the ministry said in a statement, in referring to North Koreas broken economy and deepening international isolation.

The visit was Kims first public appearance in about a month, following a previous visit to the aerospace center on April 18 as state media announced that the satellite had been built.

Kim said acquiring a spy satellite would be crucial for his efforts to bolster the countrys defense as U.S. imperialists and (South) Korean puppet villains escalate their confrontational moves against the North, KCNA said.

He was apparently referring to the expansion of joint military exercises between the United States and South Korea and the allies' discussions on strengthening their nuclear deterrence strategies to cope with threats from North Korea, which has test-fired around 100 missiles since the start of 2022.

The next step in North Koreas launch preparations, or the future action plan state media mentioned, could be installing the satellite on what would likely be a three-stage space rocket, said Kim Dong-yub, a professor at Seouls University of North Korean Studies.

Depending on how North Korean preparations go, the launch could be conducted as early as mid-June, although Pyongyang might also time the event to major state anniversaries that fall in July, September or October, the professor said.

Recent commercial satellite images indicate rapid construction activities at North Koreas northwest rocket launch facility, where the country last conducted a satellite launch in 2016, the North Korea-focused 38 North website said Monday. The activities include construction on the facilitys main satellite launch pad and possible efforts to establish a new launch pad at the edge of the site near the sea, 38 North said in its report.

Spy satellites are among a slew of advanced weapons systems Kim Jong Un has vowed to develop. Others on his wish list include solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missiles, nuclear-powered submariners, hypersonic missiles and multiwarhead missiles.

North Korea has tested some of those weapons in recent months, including its first flight-test of a solid-fuel ICBM last month, but experts say the North may need more time and technological breakthroughs to make those systems functional.

In response to North Korean plans to launch a military spy satellite, Japans military last month ordered troops to activate missile interceptors and get ready to shoot down fragments from the satellite that may fall on the Japanese territory.

North Korea placed its first and second Earth observation satellites into orbit in 2012 and 2016, but foreign experts say neither transmitted imagery back to North Korea. The U.N. Security Council issued sanctions over those launches.

North Korea has avoided new Security Council sanctions for its recent ballistic tests in 2022 and this year as Moscow and Beijing continue to block U.S.-led efforts to dial up pressure on Pyongyang, underscoring a divide between the council's permanent members that deepened over Russia's war on Ukraine.
The High Anti-Corruption Court (HACC) has recognized as lawful the detention of the head of the Supreme Court convicted of corruption, the press service of the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAPO) told Interfax-Ukraine.

"The HACC investigating judge dismissed the complaint of the defense against the detention of the former head of the Supreme Court, whom the SAPO and NABU suspect of receiving $2.7 million in unlawful benefits," the SAPO said.

Thus, according to the prosecutor's office, the court recognized the specified complaint as unfounded, and the detention was lawful.
Juba, South Sudan (PANA) - The return of tens of thousands of South Sudanese refugees from Sudan is exacerbating an already-dire humanitarian situation in the country, an International Monetary Fund (IMF) staff team has observed during its visit to Juba
Nairobi, Kenya (PANA) - Kenya will gradually shift its horticulture exports, including fruits and flowers, to Europe from air transport to sea freight to cut on its carbon footprint, European Union officials said Wednesday
Khartoum, Sudan (PANA) - The United Nations on Wednesday launched an appeal for $3 billion to help bring badly needed aid and protection to millions of Sudanese affected by the ongoing fighting between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF)
Performance Biofilaments Starts Commercial Production of Nanofibrillated Cellulose

Nanofibrillated cellulose is a natural, renewable and sustainable biomaterial that provides a low carbon additive to enhance performance-driven advanced materials and specialty chemicals. Nanofibrillated cellulose is a natural, renewable and sustainable biomaterial that provides a low carbon additive to enhance performance-driven advanced materials and specialty chemicals.

May 17, 2023 - Performance BioFilaments announced the start-up of the world's largest nanofibrillated cellulose (NFC) commercial production plant at Resolute Forest Products' Kenogami paper mill in Quebec, Canada.

Nanofibrillated cellulose is a natural, renewable and sustainable biomaterial derived from well-managed, certified forests. It provides a low carbon additive to enhance performance-driven advanced materials and specialty chemicals.

According to Performance BioFilaments, a daily production capacity of 21 metric tons is now available to supply customers for commercial orders in concrete and mortar, nonwoven, industrial fluid, biocomposite plastic, thin film and mineral consolidation applications. A small dose of this nano-scale biomaterial has a significant impact, therefore, capacity of 7,000 metric tons per year will go a long way.

"The Performance BioFilaments team and development partners have dedicated years of effort to bring this low-carbon biomaterial to market," said Gurminder Minhas, Managing Director of Performance BioFilaments. "We have collaborated extensively across a range of industrial supply chains, integrating nanofibrillated cellulose to achieve cost, quality and dramatic performance improvements.

"The availability of commercial volumes means we can readily support large-scale opportunities across a number of major industry sectors," Minhas added.

Performance BioFilaments noted, "We welcome your inquiry to learn more about the potential of NFC in your application. Ask about our sample program and collaboration opportunities."

Performance BioFilaments, a joint venture between Mercer International and Resolute Forest Products, develops commercial applications for nanofibrillated cellulose, one of the world's most exciting new biomaterials. Nanofibrillated cellulose can be used to enhance the performance characteristics of a wide variety of products.

Derived from wood fibre  a renewable and natural resource  nanofibrillated cellulose optimizes the strength, stability, flexibility and longevity of a variety of materials, including composites, coatings, packaging and consumer products. For more information, please visit www.performancebiofilaments.com.

SOURCE: Performance BioFilaments Inc.
Photo: (Photo : Max Fischer from Pexels)

In today's fast-paced world, students face a multitude of challenges that can take a toll on their emotional well-being. From academic stress to social pressure, teenagers and young adults are often overwhelmed with feelings of anxiety, depression, and fear of failure. As a result, many students find it challenging to cope with their emotions and may even give up on their goals.

To address this issue, it is crucial for teachers to educate students on emotional resilience and equip them with the skills to bounce back from setbacks. What is emotional resilience? It's the ability to adapt to stressful situations, remain focused and optimistic, and bounce back from adversity. In this blog post, we will discuss the importance of emotional resilience and provide some tips on how teachers can incorporate it into their curriculum.

The Importance of Emotional Resilience

Emotional resilience is a vital skill that students need to develop to succeed in life. It helps them deal with setbacks, persevere in the face of challenges, and stay focused on their goals. In addition, emotional resilience also plays a crucial role in mental health and well-being. When students have the ability to manage their emotions effectively, they are less likely to experience anxiety, depression, and other mental health problems.

Furthermore, emotional resilience also enhances students' ability to communicate effectively and build positive relationships. When students can regulate their emotions, they are better equipped to express themselves clearly and respectfully, which can lead to stronger relationships with peers, teachers, and family members.

Incorporating Emotional Resilience into the Curriculum:

Teach Coping Skills: One of the best ways to build emotional resilience in students is by teaching them coping skills. Teachers can incorporate coping skills into the curriculum by introducing mindfulness techniques, breathing exercises, and other relaxation techniques. Encouraging students to practice these skills regularly can help them regulate their emotions and manage stress effectively.

Encourage Positive Thinking: Teachers can also help students develop emotional resilience by encouraging positive thinking. By emphasizing the importance of a growth mindset, teachers can motivate students to embrace challenges and see them as opportunities for growth. Positive affirmations and visualization exercises can also help students develop a positive outlook and build their self-confidence.

Foster Positive Relationships: Building positive relationships is a key component of emotional resilience. Teachers can create a supportive classroom environment that encourages students to connect with each other and build positive relationships. Group activities, collaborative projects, and team-building exercises can help students develop social skills and strengthen their relationships with their peers.

Provide Emotional Support: Teachers can also provide emotional support to their students by being available and approachable. By showing empathy and understanding, teachers can create a safe space where students feel comfortable expressing their emotions. Encouraging students to seek help when needed and providing resources for counseling and support can also help students build emotional resilience.

Teach Problem-Solving Skills: Finally, teachers can help students develop emotional resilience by teaching problem-solving skills. By encouraging students to analyze problems and come up with solutions, teachers can empower students to take control of their situations and overcome obstacles. This can help students build their self-esteem and confidence, which are essential components of emotional resilience.

Get Parents Involved

While your students spend hours in the classroom, their parents are the first teachers. Therefore educators are encouraged to persuade parents to reinforce emotional resilience practices at home. Some suggestions might include:

Model Resilient Behavior: Children learn best by example. Therefore, it's crucial to model resilient behavior yourself. Demonstrate healthy coping mechanisms when faced with stress, overcome obstacles with a positive attitude, and encourage open communication and problem-solving skills.

Encourage Positive Thinking: Help your children develop a growth mindset by encouraging positive thinking. Teach them to see challenges as opportunities for growth and to focus on solutions rather than problems. Encourage them to practice positive self-talk, such as "I can do this," "I am strong," and "I am capable."

Teach Coping Strategies: Teach your children healthy coping strategies such as deep breathing, mindfulness, meditation, and physical exercise. Encourage them to express their feelings openly and constructively, such as writing in a journal or talking to a trusted adult.

Provide a Supportive Environment: Create a supportive environment for your children where they feel safe to express their feelings and ask for help when needed. Encourage them to build healthy relationships with their peers, family members, and teachers. Provide them with a sense of belonging and security, which is essential for emotional resilience.

Emotional resilience is a crucial skill that students need to develop to succeed in life. By teaching coping skills, encouraging positive thinking, fostering positive relationships, providing emotional support, and teaching problem-solving skills, teachers can help students build emotional resilience and thrive in today's challenging world. As educators, it is our responsibility to equip our students with the tools they need to cope with stress, overcome adversity, and achieve their goals.
Photo: (Photo : George Frey/ Getty Images)

A high school sophomore in Missouri is facing a suspension after recording her teacher using a racist slur during a classroom incident.

The incident, which took place at Glendale High School in Springfield, has sparked controversy and raised questions about student rights and the appropriate handling of such incidents.

Some have commended the student's actions for her courage in standing up against racism, while others argue that she should not have been punished for her actions.

Racist Incident Unveiled: Missouri Student Takes a Stand

According to NBC News, the incident occurred on May 9 during a geometry class when the teacher, who has not been publicly identified, used a racist slur multiple times.

Responding to the offensive language, the student, identified as Mary Walton, made the bold decision to record the teacher's remarks on her cellphone. The video captured the teacher using the racial epithet twice, along with another student expressing objection to the usage.

In response to the student's objection, the teacher defended himself, stating that he was not directing the slur toward anyone but claimed he had the right to use it.

Suspension Raises Controversy

Following the incident, the student, Mary Walton, found herself facing disciplinary action. Natalie Hull, her lawyer, said Mary was suspended under a school policy that prohibits students from recording faculty members without their consent, per a CNN report.

Hull argues that Walton's recording was an act of standing up for what is right, and she should not have been punished for documenting a racist incident. Supporters liken Walton's actions to that of a whistleblower, believing that she should be applauded for shedding light on the inappropriate behavior of her teacher.

The school district, on the other hand, stands by its decision to suspend the student. According to district spokesperson Stephen Hall, student discipline is confidential as per federal law, and therefore, the specifics of the punishment cannot be disclosed.

Hall also highlighted the school's policy regarding the inappropriate use of electronic devices, which includes consequences for recording faculty members without approval. The district maintains that their actions are aligned with the goal of ensuring a safe and welcoming learning environment.

Read Also: Battling Childhood Obesity: US Considers Ban on Sugary Chocolate Milk in Schools

Calls for Policy Reevaluation: Impact on Student's Future

Mary Walton's suspension raises concerns not only about her immediate academic standing but also about the potential long-term effects on her educational journey.

The teenager's lawyer and mother expressed worry about the potential backlash she may face upon her return to school. They fear that the suspension may affect Walton's treatment by her peers and hinder her educational progress.

Kate Welborn, Walton's mother, emphasized that her daughter's decision to record the incident was morally correct and showcased her strong moral compass.

As reported by the BBC, amidst the controversy, the head of the Radio Television News Association, Dan Shelley, voiced his support for Walton.

In a letter to school officials, Shelley expressed "serious concerns" about her suspension, stating that she should be praised rather than punished for capturing a newsworthy event. He drew a parallel between Walton's actions and those of journalists who report on such incidents.

As the community awaits the school district's response to the incident, questions arise regarding the need for a reevaluation of the existing policy on recording incidents involving faculty members.

Advocates argue that policies should be revised to allow students to document unacceptable behavior for the purpose of reporting and addressing concerns effectively.

Meanwhile, Mary Walton and her family hope for a resolution that will allow her to resume her studies without further disruption.

Related Article: FDA Alerts Consumers: BearCare Recalls Walnut Thermometer Due To User Injuries
Photo: (Photo : KAMIL KRZACZYNSKI / Getty Images)

In a remarkable turn of events, a missing Illinois girl, Kayla Unbehaun, now 15, has been found safe in North Carolina, six years after her abduction. The breakthrough in the case came as a result of an episode of Netflix's popular series "Unsolved Mysteries."

This heartwarming discovery has brought hope and relief to the family and authorities involved in the extensive search for Kayla. The remarkable reunion serves as a testament to the power of media exposure and the unwavering dedication of those who never gave up on finding her.

A Long-Awaited Reunion

According to USA Today, the story began back in July 2017 when Kayla Unbehaun, then only 9 years old, was abducted by her mother, Heather, from their home in South Elgin, Illinois, a town located approximately 45 miles northwest of Chicago.

Despite the passage of time, the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children continued to share age-progression photos of Kayla, hoping for a breakthrough in the case.

The persistent efforts of her father, Ryan Iskerka, were also evident through his frequent social media posts, keeping the public informed and showing his unwavering love for his missing daughter.

The pivotal moment in this heart-wrenching saga came when an episode of Netflix's "Unsolved Mysteries" featured the story of Kayla Unbehaun. The episode aired in 2022, showcasing the details of her disappearance and the desperate search to find her.

It was during this broadcast that a store owner in North Carolina, who had seen the show, recognized Kayla at an Asheville shopping center and promptly alerted the local authorities. The staff member who was at the mall mentioned that contacting law enforcement was the appropriate decision at the moment.

The impact of media exposure proved instrumental in generating this much-needed lead, highlighting the significance of public awareness and participation in missing person cases.

As reported by NBC News, according to an arrest report, Heather Unbehaun, aged 40, was taken into custody on Saturday in Asheville, North Carolina, based on a fugitive charge. It is anticipated that she will be transported back to Illinois for further legal proceedings.

Read Also: FDA-Approved Veozah Brings Hope To Breast Cancer Survivors Suffering From Hot Flashes

Rebuilding and Moving Forward

Following the identification of Kayla Unbehaun in North Carolina, law enforcement agencies swiftly collaborated to confirm her identity and reunite her with her father, Ryan Iskerka. Officers from the Asheville Police Department coordinated with the South Elgin Police Department, leading to the arrest of Heather Unbehaun for the abduction.

The emotional reunion between Kayla and her father has brought immense joy and relief to their family. However, the journey towards healing and rebuilding their lives is only beginning.

ABC reported that Kayla's father, expressing his gratitude, stated, "I'm overjoyed that Kayla is home safe. I want to thank the Elgin Police Department, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, and all the law enforcement agencies involved in her case."

He also requested privacy as they navigate this new chapter and reestablish their bond after years of separation.

The story of Kayla Unbehaun serves as a beacon of hope, reminding us of the importance of never giving up on missing children and the power of media exposure.

The episode of "Unsolved Mysteries" played a vital role in bringing Kayla's case to the forefront, leading to her ultimate discovery. It also underscores the significance of community engagement, as the store owner's astute recognition played a crucial part in this remarkable rescue.

As authorities continue their investigation and legal proceedings unfold, the focus remains on providing Kayla with the necessary support and resources to reintegrate into her life after the long years of absence.

Related Article: McDonald's in Florida Found Liable After Child Suffers Burns From 'Dangerously Hot' Chicken Nuggets
Photo: (Photo : Sean Rayford / Getty Images)

In a move that has sparked widespread debate and controversy, North Carolina has become the latest state to enact a 12-week limit on abortions.

The Republican-controlled General Assembly successfully overrode Democratic Governor Roy Cooper's veto, leading to the implementation of this new legislation.

The Republican legislative leaders achieved a notable triumph with party-line outcomes in both the Senate and the House, ensuring the support of every GOP member to pass the law despite Governor Cooper's opposition.

North Carolina Republicans Secure Win Despite Opposition

According to Reuters, this development comes amidst a larger shift in the landscape of abortion rights across the United States.

Lawmakers in South Carolina and Nebraska are also considering new abortion limits, indicating a changing tide in the country.

Historically, North Carolina and South Carolina have stood out among Southern states due to their relatively accessible abortion services.

However, with the implementation of the 12-week limit, North Carolina will join the ranks of states that are imposing stricter restrictions on abortion.

According to research conducted by the Society of Family Planning, North Carolina witnessed a 37% increase in abortion rates during the initial two months following the ruling, surpassing all other states in terms of this surge.

Republicans Advocate for Middle-Ground Change in State Law

Republicans in North Carolina have presented the 12-week abortion ban as a moderate adjustment to the current state law, which currently prohibits almost all abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy without any exceptions for cases of rape or incest.

Under the new legislation, exceptions for cases of rape or incest will be permitted until the 20th week of pregnancy, and additional allowances will be made for "life-limiting" fetal anomalies within the first 24 weeks.

The existing exception for situations where the life of the pregnant woman is at risk will remain unchanged.

Advocates of the abortion ban assert that it offers resources and assistance to pregnant individuals, enabling them to make well-informed choices.

They emphasize the allocation of funding towards expanding contraceptive services, reducing infant and maternal mortality rates, and implementing paid maternity leave for state employees and educators.

According to the Associated Press, Tami Fitzgerald, executive director of the socially conservative North Carolina Values Coalition, expressed her satisfaction, stating, "Today marks the beginning of North Carolina's first real step towards becoming a pro-life state."

Read Also: Virginia's Alexandria City Public Schools Implement Weapons Detection Scanners To Enhance Safety

Democrats Highlight Barriers Between Women and Doctors

Meanwhile, Democrats have voiced concerns over the new abortion rules, emphasizing that they may create barriers between women and their doctors.

They argue that these restrictions limit access to safe and legal abortion services, potentially endangering pregnant individuals.

By imposing a 12-week limit, women may face difficulties accessing abortion procedures before they are even aware of their pregnancies.

Critics assert that such limitations infringe on women's reproductive rights and autonomy.

As reported by CNN, the White House has voiced opposition to North Carolina's law, asserting that it will harm patients and threaten doctors providing essential care.

They have called on Congress to pass legislation that protects and enshrines abortion access rights nationwide.

The debate surrounding abortion rights continues to be a highly contentious and polarizing issue in American society.

North Carolina's implementation of the 12-week limit adds another layer to the ongoing discussions surrounding reproductive rights.

The implications of this legislation will be felt not only within the state but also nationwide, as advocates on both sides of the abortion debate continue to fiercely fight for their respective positions.

Related Article: Perrigo Issues Voluntary Recall of Gerber Good Start Infant Formula Due to Contamination Concerns
Head of the Reasonable Policy inter-faction union, independent MP Dmytro Razumkov says its is impossible to hold parliamentary election before the end of the war.

"Firstly, today, under martial law, it is impossible to hold elections in line with the current legislation," he said in an exclusive interview with the Interfax-Ukraine News Agency.

The MP also said holding elections in wartime, which some politicians in Ukraine think about, means that servicemen, who also have the right to vote, would be expelled from the election process.

"Moreover, servicemen have the right to run for office. They deserved this during the war, especially in recent one and a half year. And if we hold elections in wartime, they will be unable to run. Thus, we expel the most worthy category of our citizens from the election process," Razumkov said.

According to him, today people want victory, "not victory of political parties in the election process, but victory of the country."
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Purported Cures from Lourdes

The late Steve Hays (1959-2020) was a Calvinist (and anti-Catholic) apologist, who was very active on his blog, called Triablogue (now continued by Jason Engwer). His 695-page self-published book, Catholicism  a collection of articles from his site  has graciously been made available for free. On 9 September 2006, knowing full well my history of being condemned and vilified by other anti-Catholics (and his buddies) like James White, Eric Svendsen, and James Swan, Hays was quite  almost extraordinarily  charitable towards me. He wrote then:

I dont think Ive ever accused him of being a traitor or apostate or infidel. . . . I have nothing to say, one way or the other, regarding his state of grace. But his sincerity is unquestionable. I also dont dislike him. . . . I dont think theres anything malicious about Armstrongunlike some people who come to mind. In addition, I dont think Ive ever said he was unintelligent. For the record, its obvious that Armstrong has a quick, nimble mind. . . . The term apostasy carries with it a heavy presumption that the apostate is a hell-bound reprobate. I think its unwarranted to assume that all Catholics or converts to Catholicism are damned. Two-and-a-half years later, starting in April 2009 and up through December 2011 (in the following quotations) his opinion radically changed, and he claimed that I have an evil character, am actually evil, ego-maniac, narcissist, idolater, self-idolater, hack who pretends to be a professional apologist, given to chicanery, one who doesnt do any real research, a stalwart enemy of the faith . . . no better than [the atheists] Richard Dawkins or Christopher Hitchens, with an intent to destroy faith in Gods word, schizophrenic, emotionally unhinged, one who doesnt trust in the merit of Christ alone for salvation, has no peace of mind, a bipolar solipsist, split-personality, and a bad man. He wasnt one to mince words! See more gory details. I feel no need whatsoever to reciprocate these silly and sinful insults. I just wanted the record to be known. Ive always maintained that Hays was a very intelligent man, but habitually a sophist in methodology; sincere and well-meaning, but tragically and systematically wrong and misguided regarding Catholicism. Thats what Im addressing, not the state of his heart and soul (let alone his eternal destiny). Its a theological discussion. This is one of many planned critiques of his book (see my reasons why I decided to do this). Rather than list them all here, interested readers are directed to the Steve Hays section of my Anti-Catholicism web page, where they will all be listed. My Bible citations are from the RSV. Steves words will be in blue. Those of Anglican writer Dr. Lydia McGrew (actually a friendly acquaintance of mine) in green, and Christian philosopher Robert Larmers in purple.

*****

[Chapter 1: Miracles]

Assessing Lourdes

This is a post on Lourdes. Lydia McGrew kindly provided feedback on a draft version, so Im including our exchange (with permission) at the end. [p. 52]

And I will reply to that as well. That should be interesting, seeing that in the past we had a great exchange: Dialogue with an Anglican on Praying to Mary, Patron Saints, Etc. [11-10-14]. Weve been friendly ever since, and I love her work. After that back-and-forth, Hays triumphantly and no doubt jubilantly exclaimed in the title of a post: Lydia McGrew wallops Dave Armstrong [11-9-14] This was a real class act on his part, since he cited all of her words and none of mine, didnt provide a link to the posted dialogue so people could read both sides, and moreover, I had been banned long since on his blog, and so couldnt reply in context. Very impressive, huh? Thats considered Christian civility, fair play, and self-confidence, I guess, in the anti-Catholic mentality.

It seems to me that there are two different ways we might classify the cures at Lourdes as coincidental. One way, championed by atheists, is to say that in any sufficiently large sample group, its statistically inevitable that some medical conditions will natural resolve themselves. This will happen anyway, regardless of prayer. The cliche example is spontaneous remission from cancer. [p. 52]

But this is a very weak argument (thats assuming it can even properly be called one): so self-evidently weak that I dont think it deserves any further reply.

According to the official site, only 70 cases have been formally confirmed as miraculous healings by the Catholic church: [p. 52] [link]

Yes; of course, these are only the most rigorously examined cases, that the Church felt confident enough to proclaim, with little fear of refutation. It doesnt follow that there are not a lot more miracles with solid degrees of evidence. Over 7,000 have been purported to take place there. Hays arbitrary and unimpressive reasoning appears to be: only the most medically scrutinized cases are worth looking into at all. We can ignore the 6,930 + other reputed miracles as of no significance or relevance to the discussion.

[I]n any sample group of 200 million people who pray for miraculous healing, there will be a comparable percentage of naturally impossible cures. [p. 52]

He can play that game if he likes, but its silly and proves nothing. Clearly, cases have to be examined individually and considered on their own merits. Weve done that: at least with seventy cases. And Im sure there are many more that have been looked into and confirmed at less than the highest level of Church proclamations, to a serious degree. Hays plainly didnt want to get into that (it would be too messy and difficult and time-consuming) and so he quickly devised a way to dismiss literally over 99% of the reputed cures. Pretty handy trick there! But it impresses no one who is not already a sophist and true anti-Mary believer, come hell or high water.

Hays could have chosen to start looking in-depth at the 70 most documented cases (providing 70  or at least some  counter-explanations that he deems more plausible than the opinion of cure), if he were actually interested in a serious, open-minded debate; but he wanted no part of that, either. Instead, he devoted all of four pages to the matter, and about 1 1/2 of those were words from Drs. McGrew and Larmer. This is simply not serious interaction. Its a quick, breezy attempt to dismiss something irrationally thought and decided beforehand to be absurd or impossible, so that he could move on, pretending that he had resolved the subject to everyones contentment.

Mind you, that may oversimplify things. [p. 52]

Now thats the understatement of the century! But Im delighted that he made it. Its always good to be self-aware.

Id be very surprised if those 7000 are on the order of the restoration of amputated limbs. [p. 53]

Not likely, because that would be among the most extraordinary cures, and is frequently the scenario that atheists bring up.

Verified not to have been hoaxes, as well. Its important to remember that plenty of people arent going to suffer any serious consequences for perpetrating a religious hoax. Nobody is going to crucify them. [p. 53]

This is true, but I state again that the existence a counterfeit is not a disproof of the real thing. Granted, it may whittle down the 7,000 figure a bit. But that doesnt get Hays off the hook, either. He was till is duty-bound to start examining serious numbers of the reputed miracles of Lourdes, if he wanted to exercise the prerogative of claiming that they are bogus or nonexistent en masse, rather than employing an anti-Catholic variant of David Humes weak classic argument against miracles (they are very rare, so why not nonexistent altogether?: is basically what it amounts to). Hume had no interest in examining purported miracles anymore than Steve Hays did. They both wanted to declare them impossible (well, only the Catholic ones, for Steve) from their armchairs, as if factual, historical reality bows to their whims and desires. That is simply not possible to do. They have to be grappled with.

It might be argued that the official figure (70 miraculous cures) is artificially low because the criteria are artificially rigorous. Since the Catholic church is putting its reputation on the line, it has stringent standards to vouch a miracle (in the past it wasnt so scrupulous). [p. 53]

Now hes finally talking some sense.

If so, then the actual number of miracles is probably higher than the official figure, but because unexplained is so vague, without further information about specific cases, we cant judge if the real figure is at the low end of the 7000, high end, or somewhere in the middle. [p. 53]

Yeah, wed have to actually get down in the dirt and down to brass tacks and start looking at them one-by-one, and offering alternate explanations in every case. Hays never did that, and he likely never would have if he had lived longer. And he didnt  I submit  because he looked down his nose at it as silly Catholic junk. We dont spend time with things that we think are ridiculous. I think anti-Catholicism on the whole is ridiculous, too. But (dead-wrong as I think it is) I grant that there are articulate and sincere exponents of it, like Steve Hays, that I accord some modicum of respect by actually hearing them out and interacting with their reasoning. Everyone can observe me doing that in this long series, and in hundreds of my articles found on my Anti-Catholicism web page.

I think you are suggesting that God might cure them because they prayed or because he has some other reason to perform a miracle, not because of anything to do with Mary. Thats a legitimate possibility, but it has some problems since God presumably knows that such a miracle will be credited to Marys intercession. He could just have cured the person before he left to go to Lourdes. [p. 53]

Good point!

It raises difficult issues regarding providence however we slice it. I wish to avoid a double standard. [p. 53]

I grant his sincere desire; I do not grant a successful promulgation of said desire on his part, in Matters Catholic.

Mind you, a Catholic apologist might accuse me of special pleading because I detach the miracle from Marian claims. [p. 53]

Yes, either that or desperation, if there is a difference.

But a Catholic apologist is in the same situation, only in reverse. Because there are well-documented Protestant and/or charismatic miracles, a Catholic apologist must be able to distance those cases from Protestant claims. [p. 53]

Really? I feel no such need whatsoever. Catholic apologists dont have to deny all Protestant miracles. We regard Protestants as our brothers-in-Christ, due, among many other things, to their legitimate regenerative baptism (itself supernatural and miraculous in every case). I believed in many Protestant miracles when I was a Protestant, and I believe in all those same miracles as a Protestant. The Wesleyan revivals reported many of them. I edited a book of Wesleys quotations, published by a Wesleyan publisher (Beacon Hill Press). I believe I was healed, myself, and that my wife Judy also was (both occurring while we were Protestants).

So both sides have the conundrum of conceding a miracle but denying that it verifies a sectarian claimant. [pp. 53-54]

I and my side have no such conundrum. We view such miracles as verifying the power and mercy of God and the presence of the Holy Spirit. It is a matter utterly indifferent to me what denomination someone is in, who presided over a healing. Its simply not an issue. Im only concerned with false doctrines, such as that God supposedly always heals by demand: a serious error that I refuted as a charismatic Protestant in 1982, as one of my first apologetics research areas. Hays is only worried about miracles at Lourdes because his false and arbitrary presuppositions dont allow them. His mind was already made up before examining any purported miracle (which is why he didnt trouble himself to do so!).

I cant remember if you consider the distinction important between Gods performing a miracle and Gods refraining from preventing something from happening. I do consider it important. It seems to me less likely that God would refrain from intervening to prevent someone from happening to have an amazing healing at Lourdes (by secondary causes) than that God would perform a miracle to heal someone at Lourdes. So that may be a difference between us. [p. 54]

Another great comment from Lydia. Shes not anti-Catholic as Steve was. It makes a huge difference in how one argues.

Even if we grant the distinction in principle, that breaks down in relation to a healing that is naturally impossible, circumventing secondary causes and natural processes. At best that might apply to a subset of healings that are preternatural or coincidence miracles rather than something contrary to nature that bypasses secondary process. [p. 54]

Can you rephrase that in English, please?

Oh, I agree. If one granted that God had deliberately performed a real miracle (one might say a miracle-miracle) at Lourdes, one would have to deal with the implications of that. I would say in that case it would have some evidential value in favor of Marian doctrines, for the reason I have already given. Because it is not akin to the case of a reflection in a bank window or a pattern on burnt toast or whatever but rather a real miracle.

Of course, we have some evidence for all kinds of things that are false! I think sometimes its difficult to bear in mind that some evidence doesnt mean strong evidence or evidence to which there is no counterweight. Im quite willing to say that there is probably some evidence for Catholicism in the form of reported miracles, visions, etc., but that it is strongly counterbalanced by the evidence against. Of course, the theoretical arguments for Catholicism are extremely bad, as many of your posts show. The empirical argument is really the basket into which Catholics should place their eggs, as it were. [pp. 54-55]

This is much better argumentation than Steves. I see no necessity in this context to respond, however, as it is on an abstract level. I think the skeptic of Lourdes cures needs to examine actual purported miracles with a fine-toothed comb and refute them, if they think they can. Lydia recommends making an empirical argument. I agree! In a dialogue with an atheist, I brought up a scientific study of the purported cures at Lourdes, from the Journal of the History of Medicine and Allied Sciences (produced by Oxford University): The Lourdes Medical Cures Revisited (2012). These guys did what I am challenging Lourdes critics to do. From the Abstract:

We discuss the clinical criteria of the cures and the reliability of medical records. . . . We studied 411 patients cured in 190914 and thoroughly reviewed the twenty-five cures acknowledged between 1947 and 1976. . . . The Lourdes phenomenon, extraordinary in many respects, still awaits scientific explanation.

And the Conclusions:

We have also been struck by a matter-of-fact observation: the occurrence of cures that were not instantaneous but rather required days or weeks. This mode of cure occurred in about one-third of patients cured in 190914 and 194776. Largely unnoticed and overlooked, this pattern does not square with the usual script of a miracle, nor does it fit with the desiderata of the Church. From the pragmatic standpoint of an agnostic, the Lourdes cures, fewer than originally thought, have been a heterogeneous collection of medical facts, neither impostures nor miracles. Uncanny and weird, the cures are currently beyond our ken but still impressive, incredibly effective, and awaiting a scientific explanation. Creating a theoretical explanatory framework could be within the reach of neurophysiologists in the next decades. After many mental twists and turns, we reached the same conclusions as Carrel some eighty to hundred years ago: Instead of being a simple place of miracles, of interest only to the pious, Lourdes presents a considerable scientific interest, and Although uncommon, the miraculous cures are evidence of somatic and mental processes we do not know. Upping the ante, we dare write that understanding these processes could bring about new and effective therapeutic methods. The Lourdes cures concern science as well as religion.

That is serious and open-minded examination, from medical scholars and scientists. What Steve is attempting in this section is not. The difference is like day and night.

I would even go so far as to say that the conversion story of Wright (hes a sci-fi author, I cant remember his first nameJohn?) is some evidence for Catholicism. He was an atheist. IIRC, he prayed one of those atheist prayers (such as If youre there, God, show me). Very shortly thereafter, he had a heart attack and was in a coma or something for a while. During that time he claims that he had visions of the Virgin Mary. I think he says Jesus as well, but my memory is a little hazy. I found his blog increasingly weird and coarse and stopped reading it several years ago. Anyway, he recovered and promptly became Roman Catholic, which I suppose is understandable under the circumstances. [p. 55]

Thats open-minded, and I appreciate it.

Spontaneous remission is not an explanation of why someone gets better. It is the admission that no explanation is known. It is probable that some events labelled as spontaneous remission are answers to prayer, but that the attending doctors will not countenance a supernatural explanation. I am not claiming there are no spontaneous remissions that have a natural cause. [p. 56]

Agreed.

I agree that some events cannot be plausibly thought to be explicable in terms of natural causes. [p. 56]

Amen!

The criteria for an event being called a miracle at Lourdes are extremely strict. Stanley Jaki in his Miracles and Physics references a case where a compound fracture, i.e. bones sticking through the skin, was instantaneously healed, but it did not meet Lourdes criteria for calling something a miracle because a medical doctor was not in attendance. Jaki quotes a commentator to the effect that one does not need to be a tailor to tell if a coat is full of holes. [p. 56]

Good and helpful point.

I do not think that healing miracles have to happen at certain special sites, but it does not bother me if Gods providence includes people coming to certain locations to experience healing. If I need to be healed then God may require me to exhibit enough faith to go to a healing meeting being held in a certain location. [p. 56]

Agreed again!

I think God may well perform miracles at Lourdes. That does not to my mind provide strong evidence for Marian doctrine, given that He also performs miracles for people who do not accept Marian doctrine. Both George Whitefields and John Wesleys ministries were distinguished by events I view as miraculous, but Whitefield was Calvinist and Wesley was Arminian. Miracles are evidence of Gods mercy and power, but in His mercy God does not require that we get all our doctrines totally right before He grants a miracle. When Jesus fed the five thousand he did not first ask who accepted him as the Messiah and who did not. [p. 56]

I agree 100% yet again. Im answering as I read. Its striking that Dr. Larmer (presumably a Protestant) made some of the very same points that I brought up. I mentioned miracles in the Wesleyan revivals. So did he. I wrote, We view such miracles as verifying the power and mercy of God. Dr. Larmer wrote almost identically, Miracles are evidence of Gods mercy and power. I stated, It is a matter utterly indifferent to me what denomination someone is in, who presided over a healing. Dr. Larmer wrote in a similar vein: God does not require that we get all our doctrines totally right before He grants a miracle.

Im delighted that Steve Hays decided to include these balanced, thoughtful, and persuasive comments from both Lydia McGrew and Robert Larmer.

In the final analysis, then, I see nothing in this section that would cause me to doubt my existing beliefs as to the presence of miraculous cures in Lourdes, and/or as a result of Marys intercession for same. Its simply insufficient and utterly inadequate for the purpose; not within a million miles of being any sort of compelling or even plausible refutation. One marvels at the flat-out weakness and lack of substance in Hays presentation, and the thought comes to my surprised and disappointed mind: this is all you can come up with? This is your best shot?

***

Practical Matters: Perhaps some of my 4,200+ free online articles (the most comprehensive one-stop Catholic apologetics site) or fifty-one books have helped you (by Gods grace) to decide to become Catholic or to return to the Church, or better understand some doctrines and why we believe them. Or you may believe my work is worthy to support for the purpose of apologetics and evangelism in general. If so, please seriously consider a much-needed financial contribution. Im always in need of more funds: especially monthly support. The laborer is worthy of his wages (1 Tim 5:18, NKJV). 1 December 2021 was my 20th anniversary as a full-time Catholic apologist, and February 2022 marked the 25th anniversary of my blog. PayPal donations are the easiest: just send to my email address: apologistdave@gmail.com. Youll see the term Catholic Used Book Service, which is my old side-business. To learn about the different methods of contributing, including 100% tax deduction, etc., see my page: About Catholic Apologist Dave Armstrong / Donation Information. Thanks a million from the bottom of my heart!

***

Photo credit: The Whore of Babylon (workshop of Lucas Cranach): colorized illustration from Martin Luthers 1534 translation of the Bible [public domain / Wikimedia Commons]

***

Summary: The late Steve Hays was a Calvinist and anti-Catholic writer and apologist. This is one of my many critiques of Hays Catholicism: a 695-page self-published volume.
Your dormant Gmail accounts could get wiped later this year if you havent logged in for a whileor interacted with any other of Googles services while logged in. A new update to Googles policy on inactive personal accounts now puts them on the chopping block after two years, a move that Google says is for better security.

According to a blog post, Google reserves the right to delete the entirety of the fallow account, including your Gmail, Drive, YouTube, and Photos content. The purges will begin in December 2023, with ample notice to be provided in advance. Users will receive multiple email notifications to their Gmail address as well as the recovery email address on file (if one exists). Deletions will also happen in waves. The first batch will be accounts that were created and then never used again.

To avoid losing an account to inactivity, most people will need to either sign into the account or use one of Googles services. The actions can be smallreading an email, watching a YouTube video, and using Google search (among other activities) is sufficient. However, if the account has an ongoing subscription to Google One, an app, or a publication, its automatically safe from deletion. Being signed into an Android device is also enough to avoid the chopping block, according to 9to5Google, though how active that device must be is unclear. (Weve asked Google for further clarification and will update the story with any additional details.)

Google says clearing its servers of unused accounts will better protect users, as most idle accounts may be only guarded by weak or compromised passwords. The company says inactive accounts often lack two-factor authentication, too. Breached accounts can end up being used to perpetrate identity theft or simply make the internet a worse place (e.g., send out spam). If you find yourself reactivating your old Google accounts, it might be a good time to also strengthen your password (and add that to your password manager) and enable 2FA.

Should you forget about an account and it gets stricken from the rolls, you can breathe easy about someone impersonating you. 9to5Google also reports that account names will not be recycledno one else will be able to use them.
OmniBSIC Bank Ghana Limited ended the first quarter of 2023 on a positive note, with a stellar performance that defies the challenges facing the local banking sector.



This was achieved through a concerted effort by the bank to improve operational efficiency, funded income, and asset quality.



The banks strong performance resulted in profit before tax growing by 500 per cent to GH52.12 million in the first three months of 2023.



OmniBSIC Banks results showed that profit before tax was GH8.69 million in the same quarter of 2022 but surged to GH52.12 million last quarter on the back of strong growth in all revenue lines.



Its financial performance that was published last week showed that OmniBSIC also remained liquid and well-capitalized. The banks liquidity ratio stood at 91.4 per cent, indicating a liquid and resilient bank.



The capital adequacy ratio (CAR) was also 23.5 per cent, reflecting a well-capitalized bank at a time when the economic crisis has eroded the capitals of most banks.



Drivers of profit



OmniBSIC grew its interest income by 204 per cent within the period. It rose from GH58.02 million in the first quarter of 2022 to GH176.28 million in the same quarter this year.



The banks non-funded income also grew by about 98 per cent from GH17million to GH34 million as a result of a rapid increase in commission and fees and trading income.



Strong balance sheet



In addition to the strong showing in its financial soundness indicators, OmniBSIC also posted significant growth in its earning assets. Investments more than doubled from GH1.17 billion in the first quarter of 2022 to GH2.89 billion in the quarter under review.



The bank grew its loans and advances by 37.4 per cent to GH618.13 million in the first quarter of this year. Loans and advances were GH 449.87 million in the same period last year but increased on the back of more support extended to businesses and the economy in the first quarter of this year.



While deposits from customers also more than doubled from GH1.78 billion in the first quarter of last year to GH3.53 billion in the same quarter this year, deposits with banks and other financial institutions rose from about GH84.66 million to GH242.97 million within the same period.



The banks shareholders funds as at March 31, 2023 stood at GH417 million (above the regulatory minimum of GH400 million), a growth of 10% from the same period last year, despite the negative impact of Ghanas Domestic Debt Exchange Program.



Return on equity (ROE) also ended the quarter at an impressive 50 per cent and while return on assets (ROA) was 5 per cent in the period under review.



Implications



The Managing Director of OmniBSIC, Daniel Asiedu, said the results indicated that the bank generally improved its financial soundness indicators over the period, in terms of asset quality, liquidity, and capital adequacy ratio.

Mr Asiedu said the balance sheet remained strong because of the buoyant growth in investments and increased support to businesses and the economy through loans and advances.



Banking application



A wholly indigenous bank, OmniBSIC was launched in 2019 as the outcome of a merger between two strong brands meant to consolidate their operations and serve customers better.



It faced turbulence in its first years until late 2021 when the ingenuity of the current board, management, and staff started paying off.



The MD said the bank was not resting on its laurels but was pushing further with innovations and products to help meet the growing needs of customers.



The astute banker, who is also a Reverend Minister and the Chairman of the International Presbytery of Fountain Gate Chapel (FGC), said the bank recently upgraded its banking software to the latest version of FLEXCUBE, a universal banking software used by the worlds big lenders, to ensure efficient service delivery.



The former MD of Zenith Bank Ghana and the Agricultural Development Bank said the upgrade had made OmniBSICs operations smoother, noting that further major milestones should be expected in the coming financial year.

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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Six African leaders are to travel to Russia and Ukraine in a bid to find an end to the conflict, South Africa's president has announced.



Cyril Ramaphosa said he had held separate phone calls over the weekend with his Russian and Ukrainian counterparts.



Both Russia's Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky had agreed to the plan, he said.



"Principal to our discussions are efforts to find a peaceful resolution to the devastating conflict in the Ukraine, its cost in human lives and impact on the African continent," Mr Ramaphosa said.



"I presented the initiative on behalf of African heads of state from Zambia, Senegal, Congo, Uganda, Egypt and South Africa."



It is not clear whether he was referring to Congo-Brazzaville or the Democratic Republic of Congo.



"The two leaders agreed to receive the mission and the African heads of state, in both Moscow and Kyiv," the South Africa leader said, adding that the UN chief had been briefed and welcomed the African initiative.



Mr Ramphosa's comments, made in Cape Town during a visit by Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, come as senior South African military officers are visiting Russia.



The South African leader has reiterated that South Africa will not take sides over the war in Ukraine.



This follows the diplomatic row that erupted last week when the US ambassador to South Africa accused the country of secretly providing arms and ammunition to Russia.



Mr Ramaphosa has agreed to investigate the claim but says there is no concrete evidence to support the allegations.

Source: BBC









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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A delegation of the newly-formed board of the Pilgrims Affairs of Ghana (Hajj Board) is on their way to Saudi Arabia to inspect facilities ahead of the 2023 Hajj.



The delegation, led by the Board Chairman, Hon. Ben Abdallah Banda, will embark on a three-day inspection of facilities and logistics such as accommodation and transportation as well as hold meetings with key stakeholders.



These facilities and logistics were procured before the new board was established and the visit, according to the board, will give them first-hand knowledge before the 6000 Ghanaian pilgrims embark on the trip next month.



"Since our appointment, we have had series of engagements with various stakeholders in Ghana, and this visit is to give us a deep insight into what has been arranged," Ben Abdallah Banda said.



"We have to see things on the ground for first hand information and further engage, where necessary, to ensure all is well before the pilgrims start arriving," he added.



The first batch of Ghana's Hajj pilgrims are expected to leave Ghana for Saudi Arabia on June 9, 2023.

Source: Peacefmonline.com/Ghana









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The National Democratic Congress Council of Elders Chairman of South Africa, Mr. Benjamin Kofi Quashie has appealed to the rank and file of the party to rally support for President John Dramani Mahama.



He argued that President Mahama, after winning Saturday's elections, is now the leader of the party and there is the need for all party members to support him going into the 2024 elections.



"Like it or not, he is the leader of the party. If you want to help the party, you need to help the leader as well. Dr. Duffuor is an astute politician and everything he did was geared towards victory 2024 and so we continue to urge that we all rally around our leader for victory 2024", he noted.



Speaking on 'The Probe' on Joy News, Sunday 14th May, 2023, he averred that, President Mahama is an all-inclusive person and would be able to work with everyone going into the 2024 elections.



When asked whether he shares the views of those calling for President Mahama to pick Dr. Duffuor as his running mate without prejudice to the former running mate, Mr. Quashie indicated that, that is a decision for President Mahama to make. "I'm sure he would do that taking into consideration the person's love for country, party and other considerations", he said.



"At this point, the constitution of the party allows for the presidential candidate to nominate a running mate, go to the Council of Elders, go to the Functional Executive Committee and I think President Mahama would make the right choice of a running mate", he stated.



Incidentally, he agreed to hearing some school of thought which believes Dr. Duffuor would be a good running mate for President Mahama. Mr. Quashie contended that, President Mahama's decision on his choice of a running mate would be based "not only on the interest of the NDC party but also on the interest of the Ghanaian community as a whole", he indicated.



Reacting to a seeming rift between President Mahama and his northern brothers in relation to recent leadership changes in Parliament, the SA Council Chair revealed that there exist no such rift and indeed Hon. Haruna Iddrisu was seen campaigning for Mr. Mahama and even held President Mahama's hand high after the election declaration was done. "That aspect unfortunately was not put into the public domain".



"Instructively, the so called rift between President Mahama and some Northern NDC stalwarts is a figment of people's imagination. The changes in the party's leadership in Parliament was done by the party at a time President Mahama wasn't the leader and can't be held liable for such an action even though he was consulted", he contended.



Mr Quashie also contented that, the NDC is better placed to beat any candidate the NPP will field in the 2024 presidential and parliamentary elections, citing abysmal performance and the inability of the ruling party to touch base with the Ghanaian people.





Source: DC Kwame Kwakye - Contributor









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On May 16 and 17, Special Representative of the Government of the People's Republic of China Li Hui paid a visit to Ukraine, during which he met with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba.

According to the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry, the parties discussed topical issues of cooperation between Ukraine and China both at the bilateral level and within international organizations, as well as ways to stop Russian aggression.

Kuleba briefed the Special Representative of the Chinese Government in detail about the principles of restoring a sustainable and just peace based on respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine.

"He said Ukraine does not accept any proposals that provide for the loss of its territories or the freezing of the conflict," the ministry said.

The minister also noted the importance of China's participation in the implementation of the of Peace Formula of the President of Ukraine, the Black Sea Grain Initiative, ensuring nuclear security and other important international efforts.

The parties also discussed the long-term prospects for the development of bilateral relations between Ukraine and China and agreed to intensify dialogue on key issues on the bilateral and international agenda.

On April 26, 2023, Chinese President Xi Jinping had a phone conversation with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the initiative of the Ukrainian side. After the conversation, it became known that China will send a government special representative for Eurasian affairs to visit Ukraine and other countries for in-depth communication with all parties on the political settlement of the Ukrainian crisis.
The Ashanti Regional executives of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) have invited female aspirant captured in a viral video spraying delegates and other party members with money in Ejura Sekyere Odumasi Constituency during the partys Saturday 13th May, 2023 presidential and parlientry primaries.



Juliana Kinang-Wassan, Parliamentary candidate of the partys just ended elections drew crowds of delegates to her vehicle when she arrived at the voting center while raining cash on delegates.



She turned up later in the day after the incumbent Member of Parliament (MP) Muhammad Bawa Brimah and the other three contenders had already cast their ballots and taken their seats.



The notes that were seen flying in from her hands ranged from as little as five cedi notes to as much as a hundred cedi notes.



When asked by journalists if she knew sharing cash at the electoral centre to sway votes went against the electoral rules, Juliana indicated she decided to share the cash when she suddenly saw the huge bundle of money on top of her car.



An explaination the party believed is unconvincing an must give the party proper explaination.



GHone TV news sources among the partys regional executives has disclosed the young lady who lost the election will be sanctioned by the party.



Below is letter of invitation extended to her:



We bring you warm felicitations from the Ashanti regional secretariat of the NDC. You are by this

letter invited to meet with the Regional Executive committee of the party over a viral video in

which you were seen spraying cash in the air during the elections.



Meeting details.



Date, Tuesday, 16th May, 2023

Time: 1:00pm

Venue: Regional Party Secretariat.





Source: ghanaweb.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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The sitting Member of Parliament for Sagnarigu constituency, Alhassan Bashir Fuseini, popularly known as Alhaji A.B.A Fuseini, will no longer return to Parliament in 2025.



The lawmaker unfortunately lost his seat during Saturdays primaries organized by the National Democratic Congress (NDC).



He polled 333 votes while his opponent, Atta Issah received overwhelming votes by polling 801 to emerge winner to contest the 2024 elections on the ticket of the party.



The other contenders Yakubu Ahmed, Abdul Majeed Alhassan and Hamza Bukari Zakaria polled 118, 42 and 27 votes respectively.



The NDC Parliamentary election results in the Sagnarigu constituency came as a shock as supporters of the party and his colleagues in Parliament wondered what could have been the reason for the defeat of Alhaji A.B.A Fuseini.



But former PNC National Chairman, Bernard Mornah has revealed the main reason that led to the defeat.



He disclosed on Peace FM's "Kokrokoo" morning show that the incumbent MP was voted out because he is poor.



According to him, there are times it became very difficult for the MP to find money for transportation to his constituency, thus this chiefly contributed to his loss.



"I think one of his major flaws is that Alhaji simply was poor in terms of money. He has no money...There are instances that Alhaji wants to go his constituency and he will be struggling to make money to go to his constituency", he said.



He wondered how the delegates expected Alhaji A.B.A Fuseini to spend on them as it has been the culture in Ghana's politics to see aspirants financially inducing electorates to vote for them.



"The man didn't have. How would he give something that he didn't have?", Bernard Mornah expressed as he pitied the MP.





Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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The Member of Parliament (MP) of Ningo-Prampram, Sam Nartey George, has alleged that some members of the LGBTQ+ community sponsored the campaign of his opponent, Michael Teye, in the just ended presidential and parliamentary primaries of the National Democratic Congress on May 13.



According to him, the LGBTQ+ community openly backed his opponent to work against him in the contest.



In an interview with TV3, monitored by GhanaWeb, Sam George's comment was in response to a question posed by the hostess on whether a LGBTQ+ community was working against him during the primaries.



Sam George stressed that the LGBTQ+ community sees him as their number one energy source, hence the reason they compared him against him.



It was unashamedly, they backed my opponent. They supported him. They didnt hide their disdain. They were on social media, brought in their resources, money, and supported him. It is strides knowledge that Sam George is public enemy number 1 for the LGBTQ community, he said.



He added that despite this effort by the community, he is not backing down on the fight against the legalization of the activities of the community in Ghana.



Hey! Guys, I am coming after you, with even more firm and vigour. If you know you cant, take a man down, dont start a fight with him because now, he added.







Source: ghanaweb.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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Executive Director, Rights of Youth & Disability International, James Kwabena Bomfeh, says former President John Dramani Mahama should stop downplaying the intelligence of Ghanaians.



He wants the former President to note that Ghanaians are very much awake and can recollect his track record.



"He should respect the intelligence of Ghanaians. He once said we have a short memory but not all of us have that deficiency, and I tell you many Ghanaians don't have that deficiency. We have a recall memory," he said.



He was responding to the acceptance speech by John Mahama after winning the just-ended National Democratic Congress (NDC) Presidential primaries over the weekend.



The former President John Dramani Mahama polled an overwhelming 297, 603 votes representing 98.9% of the total valid votes cast at the end of the NDC primaries on Saturday to win in a landslide to become the party's flagbearer.



Mr. Mahama assured Ghanaians that he will rebuild the economy and bring back licences of banks which were wrongfully cancelled when elected President of Ghana again.



But James Kwabena Bomfeh, popularly called 'Kabila', doubts former President John Mahama can make any meaningful change.



"I would like to advice the former President that campaigns of grievances don't win elections," he said on Peace FM's 'Kokrokoo' morning show.



"President Mahama, in your tenure, four and half years, what one specific thing can we say you stand for?", he asked.



He also asked Mr. Mahama to heed a provision in the policies by the Constitutional Review Committee which questioned the eligibility of former Presidents to return into power.



"President Mahama should be concerned about what the Constitutional Review Commission said about his own, in paragraph 104, the eligibility to contest for these elections in 2024 as a former President who seeks to return to power. He should be concerned about that as a constitutional matter," he stated.







Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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The Director of Communications of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Richard Ahiagbah has asked Ghanaians to rally behind the government to turn the economy around.



According to him, the government is building back the economy stronger and better.



His comment is in reaction to reports that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is likely to approve Ghanas $3.5billion bailout on Wednesday, May 17.



Mr. Ahiagbah indicated that It is all clear, and the IMF is likely to approve Ghanas extended credit facility (ECF) application as soon as this month. But please note that the conditions requiring this ECF application were brought on almost exclusively by the twin factors of covid-19 and the war in Ukraine, unlike the 2015 ECF application which was 95% a function of internal mismanagement of the economy. Ghana is building back stronger and better! Support NPP to deliver for Ghana.



This comes after the Minister of State at the Finance Ministry, Dr Mohammed Amin Adam Anta confirmed to Reuters in an interview that the first tranche of $600 million would be disbursed immediately after the Executive Board of the IMF approves Ghanas request for an ECF.



He said a second tranche of the same amount will drop by end of year with the rest disbursed in equal tranches of $360 million after semi-annual reviews.



We expect a deal on Wednesday, the former Deputy Energy Minister is quoted as saying.



With the disbursement, there is going to be $600 million as a first tranche just immediately after the approval.



The first tranche is expected to be received by the country within a week after the Executive Boards approval.



This development follows the massive support given to Ghana on Friday, May 12 by the Paris Club.



It was at its meeting co-chaired by China in Paris.



The creditor committee examined the macroeconomic and financial situation of Ghana, including its long-term debt sustainability, and its formal request for a debt treatment under the Common Framework for Debt Treatments beyond the DSSI endorsed under the Saudi G20 Presidency in November 2020, which was also endorsed by the Paris Club, the Paris Club said in a statement on Friday.



The creditor committee supports Ghanas envisaged IMF upper credit tranche (UCT) program and its swift adoption by the IMF Executive Board to address Ghanas urgent financing needs. The creditor committee encourages Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs) to maximize their support for Ghana to meet its long-term financial needs.



This brought joy to President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, who talked highly of the last hurdle crossed when he met the Ghana Catholic Bishops Conference at the Jubilee House.



Today is a very special day in the recent history of Ghana. At long last today, we have been informed that the last hurdle towards our agreement with the [International Monetary] Fund has been overcome, which is that the Paris Club met today in Paris with the creditors committee co-chaired by China and has okayed and approved Ghanas request of the IMF.

Source: dailyguidenetwork.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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A New York woman entered Cumberland County Prison to serve a year for causing a fatal crash this week, but not before noting shes already serving the equivalent of an emotional life sentence for causing the crash that killed her boyfriend.

Thats a nightmare, Brittany Kowalchuk said through tears, that haunts her every morning when she wakes up, every night when she closes her eyes.
A Philadelphia man who confessed to committing six murders and attempting a seventh has been sentenced.

The Philadelphia Inquirer reports that Ernest Pressley, 43, pleaded guilty last year to charges including conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire, and was sentenced to five consecutive life terms this week.

Authorities accused Pressley for carrying out six such murders between 2016 and 2018. The case against Pressley began when Philadelphia police and the FBI suspected him in the shooting of Shawn Small in Overbrook Park in 2018.
SUNBURY  A Shamokin man has admitted he killed a woman, assaulted another one and twice shot at police during a five-hour standoff that followed.

Jose M. Colon, 46, pleaded guilty Thursday in Northumberland County court to 64 counts from the two incidents in 2018.

As part of a plea agreement, District Attorney Tony Matulewicz dropped the death penalty and allowed Colon to plead guilty to third-degree murder instead of first-degree that carries a mandatory life in prison without parole sentence.

Jose Colon is escorted from the Northumberland County courthouse Wednesday after pleading guilty to charges from a 2018 homicide in Shamokin and a five-hour standoff that followed in which he shot at police. At right is Northumberland County Sheriff Robert Wolfe.

Although Colon no longer is facing that sentence, 11 of the charges to which he pleaded carry mandatory minimum sentences of 20 years or 220 years if imposed consecutively.

Senior Judge Charles H. Saylor will have the option when Colon is sentenced in September to impose consecutive or concurrent terms on all the counts.

Colon admitted he killed Kasandra Ortiz, 23, with a 12-guage shotgun at Rock and Spurzheim streets in Shamokin on Feb. 26, 2018.

With the exception of answering the judges questions that dealt mostly with ensuring the plea was voluntary, he remained silent during the proceeding.

A police affidavit provides this account of the shooting:

Ortiz received a phone call from a woman and she went outside. Another woman who was visiting Ortiz heard arguing and when she went outside, she was hit in the head by Colon, knocking her to the ground.

She got up and ran between two houses to hide when she heard a gunshot.

Another witness claimed Colon had gotten out of a car and began punching Ortiz non-stop, knocking her down and with a gun by his side dragged her toward a large trash container.

That witness said he lost sight of them but then heard a gunshot. Ortiz was shot at close range, Shamokin Chief Raymond J. Siko II (then an officer) said.

There was testimony at Colons preliminary hearing that Ortiz had burned Colon in a drug deal and she was spreading rumors he had bed bugs.

Following the shooting Colon was tracked to his apartment in the 100 block of West Sunbury Street where the standoff occurred.

He was wounded when officers returned fire after Colon fired twice from a window, hitting a police armored vehicle and a cruiser.

Eleven of the counts against him from the standoff were attempted murder of a law enforcement officer, one for each one on the scene. That is the count that carries a 20-year mandatory minimum sentence.

The guilty plea eliminates the need for the victims family to go through a trial that would include graphic testimony and photographs, Matulewicz said.

He expressed confidence there was sufficient evidence to obtain a first-degree murder conviction had the case gone to trial.

Besides third-degree murder, Colons plea in the homicide case was to charges of aggravated and simple assault, former convict not to own a firearm, possessing an instrument of crime and two counts each of terroristic threats and reckless endangering another person.

In the other case, he pleaded to 11 counts each of assault on a law enforcement officer, aggravated assault, terrorist threats and recklessly endangering another person besides those of attempted murder of a law enforcement officer.

He also pleaded to a single count of illegal possession of a weapon. He was not permitted to have a weapon because of 1993 and 1996 convictions in New York City robbery and drug cases, respectively.

Colon remains jailed without bail pending sentencing.

Prosecution of this case was delayed by various factors including Colon requesting a new attorney and the court ordering a mental evaluation. Jury selection was scheduled next month.

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Pa. man pleads guilty to possession of child porn in case related to Md. rape

Pa. man facing 15-year mandatory minimum sentence in child porn case
By REBECCA BOONE, The Associated Press

BOISE, Idaho (AP)  A grand jury has indicted a man who was already charged in the stabbing deaths of four University of Idaho students, allowing prosecutors to skip a planned weeklong preliminary hearing that was set for late June.

Bryan Kohberger was arrested late last year and charged with burglary and four counts of first-degree murder in connection with the Nov. 13, 2022, killings of Xana Kernodle, Ethan Chapin, Madison Mogen and Kaylee Goncalves at a rental home near the University of Idaho campus. At the time, Kohberger was a graduate student studying criminology at nearby Washington State University.

A preliminary hearing  where prosecutors must show a judge that there is enough evidence to justify moving forward with felony charges  had been scheduled to begin June 26. But on Tuesday, a grand jury indicted Kohberger on the same criminal charges, effectively rerouting the case directly to the states felony court level and allowing prosecutors to skip the preliminary hearing process.

Court documents have already detailed much of the investigation that prosecutors say ties Kohberger to the slayings. A white sedan allegedly matching one owned by Kohberger was caught on surveillance footage repeatedly cruising past the rental home on a dead-end street around the time of the killings. Police say traces of DNA found on a knife sheath inside the home where the students were killed matches that of the 28-year-old Kohberger. Investigators also contend that a cellphone belonging to Kohberger was near the victims home on a dozen occasions prior to the killings, though it was apparently turned off around the time of the early morning attack.

Kohberger was arrested Dec. 30, 2022, at his parents home in eastern Pennsylvania, and law enforcement officials seized dark clothing, medical gloves, a flashlight and other items from the home, according to court documents. In Pullman, investigators seized stained bedding, strands of what appeared to be hair, and a single glove from his WSU campus apartment, according to another search warrant.

Four University of Idaho students were found dead Sunday, Nov. 14, 2022, in this Moscow, Idaho, home. (Angela Palermo/Idaho Statesman via AP, file)Angela Palermo/Idaho Statesman via AP

Still, the unsealed court documents do not appear to suggest a motive, nor whether the killer had specifically targeted any of the victims. Its also not clear if prosecutors believe Kohberger had met any of the victims before the night they died.

Its unlikely that the public will find out exactly what happened in the grand jury proceedings for Kohberger. State law doesnt allow anyone to be present except those directly involved in the grand jury process, such as the jurors, the prosecuting attorney and any witnesses.

Even once the grand jury is completed, the jurors arent allowed to talk about what was said and done unless they are ordered to do so by the court. Any recordings or records made of the proceedings are sealed and only a district judge can share them with a defendant or the attorneys involved in the case.
WELLSBORO  A Lycoming County man accused of raping a 13-year-old in Maryland has pleaded guilty in Pennsylvania to a child pornography charge.

Dylan Matthew Lewis, 24, of the Montoursville area, pleaded guilty Monday in Tioga County court to charges of possession of child pornography and criminal use of a communication device.

The plea agreement calls for a sentence to run concurrent with what he gets if found guilty in Montgomery County, Maryland, where he is facing the rape charge.

He remains jailed without bail pending sentencing scheduled for Aug. 21.

The Pennsylvania charges were the result of state police working with Maryland authorities to obtain Lewis cell phone.

The following are the allegations against Lewis taken from Pennsylvania court documents:

* He had been communicating with the girl over a three-month period first through a video game and then by texts and phone calls. They exchanged sexual and nude photographs.

The two agreed to meet on Dec. 31, 2022. Lewis drove to Maryland, picked up the girl on a street near her home and engaged in unlawful sexual intercourse.

The young girl, who underwent a sexual assault forensic examination, provided police a picture of Lewis along with personal information including age, state of residence and telephone number.

State police in Pennsylvania on Jan. 18 attempted to execute a search warrant at Lewis home north of Montoursville but learned he was working in Richmond Twp., Tioga County.

He was located there and his cell phone seized. An examination of its contents revealed images or videos of the girl nude or performing a sex act.

Details of the rape case in Maryland are not public because Lewis has yet to be served, a spokesperson in the Montgomery County prosecutors office said.

In an unrelated case, Lewis is scheduled to plead guilty June 21, 2023, in Lycoming County to a drunken driving charge. Montoursville police had stopped him Nov. 13, 2022.

More:

Woman who drove over, killed boyfriend in Harrisburg files court appeal

Pa. man facing 15-year mandatory minimum sentence in child porn case
U.S. officials say the Patriot system has suffered minimal damage since the Russian attack on Kyiv on Tuesday, CNN said.

"The damage to a Patriot air defense system following a Russian missile attack near Kyiv on Tuesday morning is minimal, three US officials tell CNN, with one official describing it as 'minor' damage," CNN said on Wednesday.

The United States sent inspectors to examine the system after reports from the Ukrainian side that the system appeared to have been damaged, one official said.

According to CNN, citing officials, the system itself is still operational, the officials said, and the radar component of the Patriot, one of its most important elements, was not damaged. U.S. officials do not believe the Patriot will need to be removed from the battlefield for repairs.

A complete Patriot battery has six major components: generators, a radar set, a control station, antennas, a launcher station and interceptor missiles. The components operate together to fire a Patriot missile and successfully guide it to its target.

Earlier it was reported, citing CNN, that the Patriot could have been damaged, but not destroyed, as a result of the shelling of Kyiv on Tuesday.
With only a few minor and isolated issues occurring, Pennsylvanias top election official reported Tuesdays municipal primary went smoothly.

The primary hiccup Acting Secretary of the Commonwealth Al Schmidt mentioned at the start of the post-election news conference was the unexpected road construction that took place at a York County elementary school serving as a polling place that blocked access to it in one direction.

He said the Department of State worked with the utility company, the construction company and others to correct the issue and the county successfully petitioned the court to extend the hours there until 9:30 p.m. to accommodate any voters inconvenienced by the road work.

Schmidt said that was the only polling place he was aware of that had voting hours extended beyond 8 p.m., the usual time polls close.

The issues that we saw as I said were fairly routine, did not result in voters being turned away, he said. A voting machine was down. Voters can still cast a vote by provisional ballot and have that ballot counted. So that is the thing that is of utmost importance in making sure that whatever problems you face, voters can still cast their vote uninterrupted on or before 8 p.m. this evening.

The Department of State responded to 600 calls to its voter hotline on Tuesday, which Schmidt said is lower than recent comparable municipal election cycles.

Schmidt thanked hundreds of local election officials and approximately 50,000 poll workers who he said made democracy possible today.

Because of them, Pennsylvanians were able to cast their vote at approximately 9,000 precincts across Pennsylvania in our 67 counties. Because of the hard work of election officials and poll workers, the commonwealth yet again had a free and fair, safe and secure election.

Jan Murphy may be reached at jmurphy@pennlive.com. Follow her on Twitter at @JanMurphy.
Voters on Tuesday cast ballots for candidates competing for the opportunity to serve on the frontline of Pennsylvanias judicial system as magisterial district judges.

These members of the states judiciary issue arrest and search warrants as well as emergency protection orders when the county courthouse is closed. They oversee arraignments, set bail (except in murder and voluntary manslaughter cases), and hold criminal preliminary hearings.

They hear complaints in civil matters involving damages of up to $12,000, mediate landlord-tenant disputes, and also are authorized to perform weddings.

Throughout the region, there were several places where multiple candidates competed to win a party nomination for the chance to have their name appear on the November general election ballot for these posts.

This chart shows unofficial results of the contested district judge races in Cumberland, Dauphin, Lebanon, Perry and northern York counties. If you cannot see it, click here.
School board races in Tuesdays municipal primary election largely played out against steep political and culture wars debates. Politics from district to district largely swayed voters, with issues such as book bans, transgender student rights and the debate over social-emotional education driving many contests.

Partisan politics and red/blue divides transformed once sleepy and non-partisan contests into hotly contested races, prompting even state lawmakers to publicly endorsing slates of candidates and deep-pocketed donors to help like-minded candidates amplify their campaigns.

Cumberland County, the fastest-growing county in the state, saw 133 candidate on the ballot for school board seats across nine districts, up from 98 candidates in 2021. The growth in Lancaster County was even more explosive, with its blend of rural fast-growing suburban districts. There, 194 candidates filed in 17 school districts, up from 127 two years ago. In rural Perry County, the total field more than doubled, from 20 in 2021 to 43 this spring.

Well funded political groups such as Moms for Liberty, and political action committees like Take Back our Schools in Cumberland County propped a slate of candidates opposed to what they called indoctrination.

Results remained unofficial on Tuesday night.

This chart shows unofficial results of the contested races. Click at the bottom of the chart to see more races. If you cannot see it, click here.
There may be another shotgun marriage in a Republican Cumberland County commissioners ticket.

With all precincts reporting and mail-in and absentee ballots counted, unofficial vote totals have GOP-endorsed Kelly Neiderer comfortably leading a nine-candidate field, with 10,539 votes.

But leading for the second fall ballot slot is Neiderers most obvious opponent in this primary race, maverick incumbent Gary Eichelberger. Eichelbergers 9,528 votes have him 49 ahead of Neiderers running mate, Nate Silcox, who had 9,479.

But Silcox had not conceded as of press time for this report, due to the fact that county elections officials must still tabulate an unknown number of military and overseas ballots, and review provisional ballots from voters whose eligibility could not be confirmed at the polls.

We want all the votes to be counted, and we are going to weigh all the options after that count is complete, said Erik Hume, chairman of the Kelly and Nate for Cumberland campaign committee.

County Director of Elections Bethany Salzarulo could not provide a solid number on the pending ballots Tuesday night.

The Republicans will face Democrats Jean Foschi, the incumbent minority party commissioner, and John Matthew Smith in the fall general election.

Neiderer expressed mixed emotions at the primary result.

She was happy to have won the primary, saying Im honored that the voters of Cumberland County have this confidence in me, and Im going to work very hard to live up to their expectations.

At the same time, Neiderer, the sitting county treasurer, could not hide her disappointment that Silcox may not be running with her.

It is very difficult for me to enjoy this moment, she said, because I very much wanted this to be a team of two.

As it is, Neiderer said, she does not plan to run as a team with Eichelberger, though they both would be on the GOP ballot if the current results hold. The endorsed candidates and Eichelberger trained heavy fire against each other throughout the campaign.

Eichelberger, seeking a sixth term on the three-member county board, reached by phone shortly before midnight, said he was feeling confident about capturing the second slot.

This sure looks like a win, and well take it, he said.

Like Neiderer, he spoke mostly about running his own race for the fall.

Im not going to form an alliance with somebody simply because they have a label, Eichelberger said, referring to Neiderer. The differences are so great, I believe it is highly unlikely that we would be able to find enough in common to run as a team.

While many party activists will be confounded by this potential shotgun marriage - its the third time in little over a decade that the Cumberland County Republican Committee has tried to defeat Eichelberger - voters reached by PennLive had well-delineated reasons for their choices.

Election party for Gary Eichelberger who is running for Cumberland County commissioner. May 16, 2023. Sean Simmers | ssimmers@pennlive.com

Eichelberger voters mostly said they appreciated his well-honed image as a taxpayer-first leader, who has a record of putting voters over the wishes of the party committee bosses, Democrats and Republicans-in-Name-Only whom he accused of preferring surrender and deal-making over principles.

Hes the only one that doesnt go with the flow, said Marybea Viehman, a Republican voting in Mechanicsburgs 2nd ward, 2nd precinct. Hes the checks and balances that I think we need in government.

Other voters just expressed a basic level of satisfaction with the way county government is treating them - meaning no property tax increases in the past nine years - so why rock the boat.

And finally, we also heard from a group that Eichelberger has likened to a silent majority: people who said they appreciated him making the politically controversial decision to sell the county-owned nursing home to a private operator.

Supporters of Neiderer, meanwhile, were more inclined to cite the party leaderships endorsement, or that they were looking for a change.

But there was also a core group who said theyve been gradually turned off by the stories rolling out of the courthouse over the last 15 years of Eichelbergers inability to avoid fights, and a tendency to make things personal in the face of disagreement.

Theres been so much negative campaigning here towards the last week and a half, said Steve Ecker, a retired school teacher from Mechanicsburg. I was sick of that, so I was looking for somebody who could play nice.

Thats largely why Cumberland County Republican Chairman Lou Capozzi said he was so dedicated to defeating Eichelberger this year. Eichelberger, in his defense, argued that hes fallen out of favor with the party because he refuses to put party bosses interests ahead of the taxpayers.

Eichelberger went especially hard against Neiderer in the last week of the campaign, running a broadcast television commercial in local newscasts that tried to tie Woke Politician Kelly Neiderer to progressive investment and employee recruitment practices.

Neiderer said Eichelbergers charges were inaccurate and unfair.

It was less clear, however, why Neiderer was running so much more strongly than Silcox.

Several voters interviewed by PennLive Tuesday did say that they were swayed by friends or neighbors who were familiar with Neiderers family, which could mean the local roots of both Neiderer and her husband, a physician practicing out of Carlisle, were paying dividends.

Seemingly lost in the shuffle of the nine-candidate field was the other incumbent Republican commissioner, Vince DiFilippo.

Spurned by the party committee in its February endorsement process and in the middle of a long-running rift with Eichelberger - he was mounting a shoestring campaign for a third term.

Based on the unofficial returns, DiFilippo was running fifth with 5,072 votes, slotted behind Eichelbergers running mate, East Pennsboro school board member Cindi Wards 5,731.

Trailing the field were South Middleton Township Supervisor Bryan Gembusia and his neighbor and running mate, Troy Ingram, and Hopewell Township husband and wife team Troy and Debbie Beam.
Shangri-La Restaurant & Bar is not an ordinary Asian restaurant.

The establishment at 408 N. Mountain Road in Lower Paxton Township is one of the first in the region to serve multiple Asian cuisines under one roof. Pick from Japanese sushi and hibachi, Indian dishes such as chicken masala or authentic Bhutanese and Nepali foods.

In the words of owner Leela Kuikel, We have great food and a great story to tell.

Kuikel, who is originally from Bhutan, opened Shangri-La last November at the former Mikado Japanese Steak House with his wife, Chandrakala Sharma.

He said Shangri-La brings geography, culture and stories to the table and is where diversity meets delicious. Its designed for diners to take a culinary journey from Japan to the Afghan-Pakistani border.

The expansive restaurant is loosely sectioned off with a sushi bar in back, hibachi tables in a side dining room and Nepali and Bhutanese dining offered on the second floor. It also has a full bar.

To execute the multi-cultural concept, Kuikel retained Mikados staff including head sushi and hibachi chefs as well as servers and hired Nepalese/Bhutanese chefs.

So far, customers have been complimentary. Recently, a couple who has traveled around the world and stopped at Shangri-La, told Kuikel the food was some of the best theyve ever eaten.

Having arrived in Philadelphia in 2012, Kuikel relocated to Palmyra in 2020. Central Pennsylvania is home to one of the largest populations of Bhutanese refugees, estimated at around 45,000 people.

Shangri-La grew out of Kuikel and his wifes love of cooking at home for friends, who liked their food so much the couple started catering small parties and events. The restaurant is named for the fictional place in the Kunlun Mountains from the novel Lost Horizon.

Its menu is extensive, from sushi and tempura to hibachi with choice of vegetables, steak, shrimp, scallops and chicken as well as teriyaki, bento boxes and udon soups. Indian options range from butter chicken to biryanis, goat curry, tandoori and naan, while Bhutanese specialties feature dachhi, a spicy stew and national dish.

Nepali fare features traditional momo steamed dumplings, thukpa noodle soups, stir-fried noodles and thali combination platters with curries, rice and lentils.

Hours are 11:30 a.m.-9:30 p.m. Monday-Thursday, 11:30 a.m.-10 p.m. Friday-Saturday and noon-9 p.m. Sunday.

READ MORE:
A travel website recently released its annual list of the top things to do this summer.

In scrolling down this list, one may find a recommendation to visit one museum in Pennsylvania which stands out as something special.

Travel Lemming  a leading publication in promoting the worlds emerging destinations since 2017  published The 150 Best Things to do in the USA This Summer in the hopes of encouraging people to visit sites and partake in activities they believe to be hidden gems.

One such gem is the Barnes Foundation in Philadelphia, the only Pennsylvania attraction to make it on the list.

There are countless intriguing museums in Philadelphia, says Travel Lemming. Yet, the Barnes Foundation stands out as something special among them all.

It features one of the most distinguished modern and impressionist art collections you can visit, with pieces from many iconic artists. There are tons of rotating events in the summer, including informative talks by artists and experts, as well as kid-friendly activities.

According to the Barnes Foundation website, the museum was founded by Philadelphian art collector Albert C. Barnes back in the 1920s as a means to teach people from all walks of life how to look at art.

The location continues Barness original mission, and currently houses the works of artists from Cezanne to Picasso to Rousseau.

Other things around the country listed by Travel Lemming included hiking a scenic trail to the Babylon Arch in Leeds, Utah, and checking out a ghost town in Nevada.
By SUSAN MONTOYA BRYAN, MORGAN LEE and RIO YAMAT, The Associated Press

FARMINGTON, N.M. (AP)  The gunman who killed three people and wounded six others as he fired randomly while roaming his northwestern New Mexico neighborhood was a local high school student and his victims include a 97-year-old woman and her daughter, police said Tuesday.

Investigators were still trying to determine a motive for the attack by Beau Wilson, 18, in the Farmington neighborhood where he lived. They say he opened fire Monday, killing Gwendolyn Schofield, her 73-year-old daughter, Melody Ivie, and 79-year-old Shirley Voita.

Voita had worked as a nurse and was a devoted parishioner at Sacred Heart Catholic Church, said former state Rep. James Strickler, who was her friend.

She was just a dynamite lady. She was well-loved and Im still shocked over it, said Strickler, who heard gunfire ring out on Monday before learning the circumstances of Voitas death.

A police officer blocks traffic on a road following a deadly shooting Monday, May 15, 2023, in Farmington, New Mexico.. (AP Photo/Susan Montoya Bryan)AP

Witnesses and police say Wilson walked through the neighborhood a short drive from downtown Farmington spraying bullets until police arrived within minutes and fatally shot him. Two police officers were among the wounded.

Farmington Deputy Police Chief Baric Crum said at least 150 bullets were fired.

The amount of violence and brutality that these people faced is unconscionable to me, Deputy Police Chief Kyle Dowdy said.

Deputy Police Chief Baric Crum said Wilson was indiscriminately shooting at vehicles, but that some rounds also hit homes.

Dowdy said investigators do not believe Wilson knew anyone he shot.

Weve discovered nothing that leads us to believe that the suspect knew the victims, he said. Were pretty confident in that this was completely random.
Perry Countys incumbent Republican commissioner has been defeated by his primary challengers, according to election-night returns.

Three candidates were vying for two Republican nominations to the countys governing board. Incumbent Brian Allen received 3,400 votes, Bill Lyons received 3,857, and Frank Campbell 4,749, according to the countys preliminary returns issued Tuesday night.

The top three voter-getters in the November general election will become the countys next board of commissioners. Only one Democrat is running  incumbent commissioner Brenda Watson  meaning that Lyons, Campbell, and Watson will almost certainly walk through to victory in November, barring a serious write-in challenge.

Campbell  who has served on the boards of the countys transportation and development authorities, chamber of commerce, regional gas cooperative, and others  attributed his decisive lead to his track record of service.

Im really humbled by the show of support, Campbell said. I think Ive had a history of community service, and Im thankful that the residents recognized that.

Lyons, a dairy farmer from the more remote western region of Perry County, praised his campaign team for keeping him competitive in the more populous eastern portion of the county.

It was a total team effort, Lyons said.

Lyons and Campbell both said they expected to have a good working relationship with each other and with Watson.

I think the three of us will be able to work together and move Perry County forward, Campbell said.

Allen attributed his loss in part to what he said was an attack mailer from an outside group that went out last week.

I couldnt respond appropriately in the time that was left, Allen said. I ran a clean campaign. Ive got nothing to be ashamed of.

Election night returns - which do not include provisional and overseas ballots - showed 9,650 Perry County residents casting ballots, a turnout of roughly 33%. This chart shows unofficial results of the contested races. If you cannot see it, click here.
A new law limiting concealed carry of guns in New Jersey suffered another defeat in federal court Tuesday as a judge ordered state officials not to enforce its tight restrictions pending a flurry of legal challenges from gun rights advocates.

The ruling means New Jerseyans with proper permits are free to concealed-carry handguns at beaches, public parks, bars and restaurants  places from where Gov. Phil Murphy and his Democratic allies in the state Legislature sought to ban firearms in an effort to curb gun violence.

Following a U.S. Supreme Court decision last year that found restrictive concealed carry laws on the books in states like New York and New Jersey violated the Second Amendment, Democratic leaders in the state fast-tracked a new measure that made it easier for citizens to obtain carry permits, but tightly limited where guns were allowed.

But in a 235-page ruling made public Tuesday, U.S. District Court Judge Renee Marie Bumb officially put its enforcement on hold.

Gun rights advocates declared victory, praising the decision as a smackdown of draconian laws.

Gov. Phil Murphy through a spokeswoman called the ruling a poorly reasoned decision that sends exactly the wrong message as our nation confronts another devastating wave of mass shootings that have taken the lives of many across our country, including children.

New Jerseys top law enforcement officer, state Attorney General Matthew Platkin, pledged to appeal the judges ruling to a higher court, a process that could take weeks or months.

Bumb, a President George W. Bush appointee, sharply criticized state authorities, writing that New Jersey had failed to offer any evidence that law-abiding responsible citizens who carry firearms in public for self-defense are responsible for an increase in gun violence.

Issuing a preliminary injunction against the law, she wrote that even founding father Thomas Jefferson would have warned against the law because it would disarm law-abiding citizens.

Platkin, the state attorney general, assailed the decision as bad constitutional law, writing in a statement that the court now insists that we are powerless to protect New Jersey residents, and proclaims that the Second Amendment requires allowing guns at parks and beaches, in libraries, at public gatherings, in zoos, and even in bars, among other sensitive places.

Those sensitive places are at the center of the dispute.

The law signed by Murphy in December listed an array of such locations where handguns could not be carried, prompting criticism from Second Amendment advocates that the measure included so many sensitive places that it was impossible for permit-holders to avoid violating it.

The legal challenge was brought by several concealed carry permit holders affiliated with New Jersey gun rights groups, including a man who obtained a permit after he was kidnapped and beaten in a bizarre case of mistaken identity.

The judge kept in place New Jerseys new system for obtaining a carry permit, finding the states new requirements for firearms training did not conflict with the Second Amendment, which provides for reasonable restrictions on who can carry a gun.

A requirement that permit-seekers obtain insurance for their weapon was struck down, as well as a provision prohibiting people with permits from carrying their weapon on their person inside a vehicle.

Individual property owners are also permitted to prohibit guns from their property, a portion of the decision Platkin called a silver lining for gun control advocates.

No one may carry a firearm inside someone elses home, or into a business closed to the public, without the owners express permission, Platkin said, citing Bumbs ruling that kept that provision in place.

And for everyone else  for retail establishments and other businesses open to the public  the owners can still make clear that carrying firearms is not welcome on their premises, just as homeowners can make clear guns are unwelcome on their lawns and driveways, he said.

Alexander Roubian, president of one of the plaintiff groups, the New Jersey Second Amendment Society, said the group was ecstatic Judge Bumb smacked down a majority of the discriminatory and draconian laws, claiming that restricting access to firearms disproportionately hurt women and minority permit-seekers.

He noted Platkin and Murphy, who both have State Police protection details, surround themselves with guns while seeking to limit the publics access to firearms.

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S.P. Sullivan may be reached at ssullivan@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @spsullivan.
Waste is not welcome here.

Thats what Harrisburg City Councilman Ralph Rodriguez said Wednesday, as he announced details for the second year of a Hot Spot Saturdays initiative to reduce illegal dumping in neighborhoods.

Blight and illegal dumping have been a massive issue here in the city for as long as I could remember, " he said during the news conference at city hall. Not only is it an eye sore but it gives the message that this is a wasteland and were open to all dumping trash and waste, but thats not the case.

The annual event gives volunteers the opportunity to work together to clear sites known for illegal dumping throughout the city. The initiative spans five days throughout the summer beginning June 17 at Camp Curtin in uptown between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. Check in begins at 9:45 a.m. for all of the locations.

Hot Spot clean up dates:

June 17: Camp Curtin, Uptown

July 22: Cloverly Heights, Southside Harrisburg

Aug. 12: Allison Hill

Sept. 16: Midtown

Oct. 7: S. 13th St. near Hanover St., Southside Harrisburg

Once the sites are cleared, Rodriguez and Dave West, Director, Harrisburg Public Works, said the city will start enforcement and prevention strategies to keep the areas clean.

Were definitely on attack when it comes to illegal dumping and blight, said West. We will be out there in force also in collaboration with Dauphin County. We have enforcement teams for day shift, evening and night shift out there trying to apprehend the culprits that are doing this to our city.

West said city has a dozen cameras that are placed at high-volume, known dumping sites throughout Harrisburg. The cameras are moved periodically to other locations to help identify suspects. If perpetrators are captured on camera, West said the information is turned over to the Harrisburg Police Bureau.

During the news conference, West said Pete Baltimore was hired in October to serve as the new environmental enforcement officer, leading the efforts to catch and prosecute those dumping garbage illegally.

West emphasized the importance of Harrisburg residents participating in community initiatives like Hot Spot Saturdays to address the city-wide problem.

It starts with you, the residents, to help us keep our city clean, he said. As well as it is our city its your city first. And we would like to catch the culprits who do not care about our city.

Rodriguez started the community initiative last year as a way for residents to come together and help clear hot spots. Local volunteers, in collaboration with the city, and with Lancaster County Solid Waste Management Authority, removed more than 10-tons of waste in 2022, he said.

Volunteers who are interested in participating, can click here to register.

Harrisburgs Public Works crew cleans up illegal dumping/blight sights throughout the city on a regular basis. on Friday.August 05, 2022. Sean Simmers | ssimmers@pennlive.com

READ MORE:

People are tearing out houses: Illegal dumping remains a large problem in Harrisburg

Harrisburg workers remove 28 tons of trash from single illegal dump site
At the Summit of Heads of State and Government of the Council of Europe held in Reykjavik on May 16-17, 2023, the establishment of the Register of Damage Caused by the Aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine was announced, the Justice Ministry of Ukraine has said.

"Due to our joint efforts, we already have an international register of damage. This is an important step for the victims to receive fair compensation. The more collective measures we take, the faster we will force Russia to leave the territory of Ukraine and bear responsibility for all international crimes and damages," Justice Minister Denys Maliuska said.

As of May 17, more than 40 countries and the European Union have joined or expressed their intention to join the Enlarged Partial Agreement on the Register of Losses Caused by the Russian Federation's Aggression against Ukraine and have become participants in the Register of Losses.

"This is a super victory, a great achievement! This is one of the first significant results of the joint actions of the countries of Europe, the entire democratic world in the matter of bringing the Russian Federation to justice and the inevitability of paying compensation," said Deputy Justice Minister Iryna Mudra said.

The Register of Losses is being created as a platform for intergovernmental cooperation, which operates within the institutional framework of the Council of Europe, and is physically located in The Hague (Netherlands). The register serves as a documentary form of recording evidence and claims about damage and losses that, starting from February 24, 2022, occurred on the territory of Ukraine as a result of internationally illegal actions of the Russian Federation in Ukraine or against it. All interested individuals and legal entities as well as Ukraine will be able to submit applications and information about the damage caused.

The register is the first component of the future International Compensation Mechanism, created by a separate international treaty in cooperation with Ukraine. Next, a Claims Review Board and a Compensation Fund will be established.

"The Register of Damage is only the first component of a comprehensive mechanism for indemnification. The ultimate goal is to create a Compensation Commission, which will directly consider claims and award compensation, and a Compensation Fund, which will accumulate funds for the payment of compensation, on the basis of an international agreement, which, as we hope, you all will join," Maliuska said, addressing the countries participating in the Register and the participants of the Summit.

According to him, the effective implementation of a comprehensive international compensation mechanism is the key to achieving justice for all those who have suffered from Russia's illegal actions against Ukraine.
The fervor of the Tuesday elections in Pennsylvania is waning.

And one teenager who moved a step closer to getting a seat on his local school board is flying high on his victory.
One of the Pennsylvania branches of the countrys second-largest Protestant denomination on Wednesday will take up an issue that has become a schism, threatening to transform the approximately 30,000 churches nationwide.

At issue is whether the bishops of the United Methodist Church, which has some 6.4 million members, are allowed to officiate over same-sex weddings, and whether the bishops themselves are allowed to live openly as members of the LGBTQ community.
Tired of bad news? Heres some news to warm your heart and inspire your soul.

There are people in Central Pennsylvania working hard every day to solve problems and not create them. There are organizations right here in our region having a major impact not only here but around the world. There are brave souls living among us who are overcoming obstacles, and reaching out to help the weak, suffering and abused.

They dont have to do it. They just do.

They are people like Vini Portzline, who has dedicated herself to making sure we stop ignoring those with disabilities. Portzline is also a member of PennLives Editorial Board.

Dr. Shirley Warshaw, recently retired professor at Gettysburg College and acclaimed expert on the U.S. presidency, is honored at the World Affairs Council of Harrisburg's annual Torch Awards held at Harrisburg University on March 15.

They are people like Shirley Warshaw, PhD, who has spent a lifetime defending American democracy as a professor, author and nationally acclaimed expert on the presidency. Shes written ten books and inspired thousands of college students in her classes at Gettysburg College. She even became an expert in the U.S. space program and brought the excitement of outer space recently to the middle school boys at the Nativity School in Harrisburg.

They are people like Vera Bej, a native of Ukraine and Holocaust survivor, who spent decades as a teacher, shaping countless young lives at Cumberland Valley High School and other schools in our region. Bej may have retired (four times, as she jokes), but that hasnt stopped her from teaching. She now teaches little ones and believes its up to teachers to inspire their students to learn.

And they are people like Filiz Karakoc and Fatma Karaca, who have provided comfort and relief to people suffering from the recent earthquake in Turkey. Both women are refugees from their native land, but rather than sulk in despair, they spend their time trying to help others here and in Turkey.

Kamau Johnson and Boston Ribera (center holding awards) were honored for their courage in fighting racism at Lower Dauphin High School, along with their families at the annual Torch of Global Enlightenment Awards at Harrisburg University on May 15, 2023.

Then, there is Kamau Johnson and his family, Delali, Shekinah and Robert Jamison; and the friend who has stood with him through racists taunts and harassment at Lower Dauphin High School.

PennLives Ivey DeJesus has written about the ordeal Kau Johnson faced from some students at Lower Dauphin, as many parents accused school officials of turning a blind eye to the abuse. Former Superintendent Robert Schulz resigned after meetings in which students and parents blasted the school board for ignoring the problem and allowing students like Kamau to suffer.

Many people were shocked to learn of the abuse Kamau and other students said they endured, and reports of the abuse galvanized many community leaders from throughout the region to support the students. But the community was inspired to learn of the courage of students like Boston Ribera, who showed significant courage in standing with his friend Kamau.

Riberas mother Amber and father Paul have a family that includes Black and white children. And they say they teach their children to stand up to racism and to treat everyone with love and respect. They are rightly proud of Boston.

These families were honored for the impact they are making in our region to promote a more just society that appreciates and values diversity in all its forms.

Several organizations also received honors, including Beth El Temple for its efforts to counter extremism and promote racial and ethnic dialogue; the International Service Center, and Church World Service for their work in supporting refugees in our region; and the Bishops of the Episcopal Church of Pennsylvania, for their stand to demand stronger law to help stop gun violence.

Joyce M. Davis is PennLives Outreach & Opinion Editor. Follow her on Facebook and on Twitter @byjoycedavis.

Quality local journalism has never been more important. You deserve the best. Not a subscriber yet? Please consider supporting our work.
Canadian MPs are mulling how vigorously and publicly they should challenge moves by Israel's far-right government to curtail the power of judges and expand illegal settlements on Palestinian land. Liberal MP Yaara Saks, shown in this April 29, 2022 file photo, says its important to call out friendly countries when they are headed down a bad path. THE CANADIAN PRESS/ Patrick Doyle
Chernihiv region will be restored jointly with UNESCO, and its cultural landscape will receive the status of a world heritage site, the press service of the Ministry of Restoration said.

The ministry said in the press release that a meeting was held in Chernihiv between Deputy Minister for the Development of Communities, Territories and Infrastructure Natalia Kozlovska, Head of Chernihiv Regional State Administration Viacheslav Chaus and Head of UNESCO Office in Ukraine Chiara Bardeschi. The focus is on the comprehensive restoration of the region and cooperation with UNESCO experts.

"Chernihiv region has decided to develop a comprehensive renovation program that will include an understanding of the region's restoration strategy. It is essential that the communities take care of the preservation of historical and cultural monuments, as evidenced by active cooperation with UNESCO experts to include the cultural landscape of Chernihiv in the world heritage," Kozlovska said.

It is reported that the nomination Cultural Landscape of Chernihiv is planned to include facilities of the National Architecture-Historical Sanctuary "Ancient Chernihiv:" the complex of the historical center, the former city earthen fortress with all the appropriate structures (the territory of the Val), the Yelets Hill with the ensemble of the Yelets Monastery, the Black Grave mound, Boldyna Hill with a burial mound of the tenth century and the complex of the Trinity-Ilyinsky Monastery.

The Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Restoration said in general, in Ukraine, programs for the comprehensive restoration of communities are already being actively developed in ten regions, and in five more they are just starting this process.

"The creation of recovery programs is essential to restart the economy in the communities affected by Russian military aggression, and hence the return of Ukrainians home," Kozlovska said.
As part of her visit to the Republic of Korea, First Lady of Ukraine Olena Zelenska met with Foreign Minister Park Jin, the presidential press service reported.

"The meeting was also attended by Yulia Svyrydenko, First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy of Ukraine, Rostyslav Shurma, Deputy Head of the Presidential Office, and Dmytro Ponomarenko, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Ukraine to the Republic of Korea," according to a message on the official portal of the President of Ukraine on Wednesday.

Olena Zelenska thanked the government of the Republic of Korea for supporting the Peace Formula of President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy and condemning the abduction of Ukrainian children by Russia. She emphasized the urgent needs of the country, including humanitarian demining.

"About 30% of Ukraine's territory (more than 174,000 square kilometers) has been affected by hostilities. Therefore, ahead of Afghanistan and Syria, our country is now the most mine contaminated in the world... We hope for the assistance of the Government of the Republic of Korea in meeting the priority needs for demining vehicles and protective equipment," she said.

As a result of the talks, the First Lady said, the Korean side is ready to provide demining vehicles and mobile X-ray machines for Ukraine.

The President's wife expressed hope that a special tribunal would be established to bring the Russian leadership to justice for starting the war. "Justice is needed not only for Ukraine, but also for all countries that want to live in peace," the First Lady emphasized.

In addition, Olena Zelenska met with Mayor Oh Se-hoon at Seoul City Hall. In the presence of the First Lady and Mayor Oh Se-hoon, a Memorandum of Cooperation was signed between the Embassy of Ukraine in the Republic of Korea and the Seoul City Hall to promote cultural and artistic exchanges, in particular, the implementation of a project to introduce a Ukrainian-language audio guide at the Sejong Art Center.

The museum is dedicated to Sejong the Great, the fourth king of the Joseon Dynasty in 1418-1450, who is considered the creator of the Korean script. The complex also houses the country's largest theater, the Art Forum Gallery, the Seoul Opera, and traditional arts groups.
Chao-Ting Cheng Wins the 2023 APPT Cambodia $1,500 Main Event ($94,448)

May 17, 2023 Christian Zetzsche Live Reporter

The PokerStars Asia Pacific Poker Tour (APPT) stop at the five-star NagaWorld Integrated Resort in the Kingdom of Cambodia has determined a winner in the 2023 APPT Cambodia $1,500 Main Event. Out of a field of 476 entries, Chao-Ting Cheng and Junnie Pamplona shared the biggest slice of the $623,322 prize pool after cutting a heads-up deal.

It only took 13 hands from there on for Cheng to overcome a small chip deficit and claim the golden shard trophy that had still been up for grabs along with $94,448 for the efforts. Runner-up Pamplona won his seat in a PokerStars LIVE Manila live qualifier for 6,600 Philippine Pesos ($120), which included the tournament entry and hotel package, and made it almost all the way to victory with just one bullet to claim $101,647 for the efforts.

Pamplona narrowly missed a career-best score on the live poker circuit, which he previously set in the 2022 WPT Prime Cambodia $1,100 Main Event right here in the grand ballroom at Naga 1.

Ting-Yi "Eric" Tsai and Hua-Wei Lin also represented Taiwan on the final table, finishing in third and seventh place respectively. Colombia's Jimmy Torres followed up an 18th place in the 2023 EPT Monte-Carlo Main Event with another deep run while on a poker and vacation trip to Asia alongside fellow countryman Mauricio Salazar Sanchez.

Final Result 2023 APPT Cambodia $1,500 Main Event

Place Player Country Prize (in USD) 1 Chao-Ting Cheng Taiwan $94,448* 2 Junnie Pamplona Philippines $101,647* 3 Eric Tsai Taiwan $54,290 4 Jimmy Torres Colombia $42,760 5 Evgenii Nekrasov Russia $33,597 6 Kien Tat Heng Singapore $26,242 7 Hua-Wei Lin Taiwan $19,759 8 Curtis Lim Singapore $13,775 9 Bien Mai Vietnam $10,908

*denotes ICM deal of the final two players

Final Table

The final nine players returned to their seats at 1 p.m. local time, and the average stack was very deep, yet it took just six and a half hours to determine a champion. Especially the opening stages brought several all-in showdowns, and the field was already cut down to just four contenders on the first break with the short stack holding 48 big blinds to their name.

Vietnam's Bien Mai, who already had two runner-up finishes and a win to his name in the last two months in the Asia-Pacific region, was the first to bow out. In the third hand of the final table, Mai's king-queen suited flipped versus pocket eights, and Cheng made quads.

Curtis Lim aimed to parlay the same pocket pair into success but Jimmy Torres held up with pocket queens to reduce the field to the final seven in a matter of minutes. Hua-Wei Lin was outflipped by Eric Tsai, and Kien Tat Heng swiftly followed when he ran with jack-nine suited into the pocket kings of Cheng. Evgenii Nekrasov lost a portion of his stack to end up second-best with tens against Pamplona's king-queen.

That wrapped up the first two hours of frantic poker action, and the deep-stacked part of the final table commenced. Tsai pulled ahead of the pack by some margin before a pivotal all-in showdown unfolded. Torres had dropped to a short stack and open-jammed with eight-seven suited, which Tsai called. Pamplona found another premium pair in pocket kings to isolate, and Tsai folded as Pamplona soared to the top of the leaderboard.

Junnie Pamplona and Jimmy Torres

Cheng was on the verge of becoming the third-place finisher after his stack plummeted to a mere 12 big blinds. However, he doubled back into contention through Pamplona and chipped up. The inevitable clash between both contenders from Taiwan then followed in which Cheng's ace-queen rivered a flush to crack the pocket queens of Tsai.

Ten hands into heads-up play, Cheng's pocket queens secured a large double against the flopped top pair of Pamplona, and it was all over three hands later. Pamplona slow-played pocket aces in the big blind with a min-raise, and Cheng flopped quads to lock up the victory.

Sharelines Find out how the final day of the 2023 APPT Cambodia $1,500 Main Event played out with our tournament recap.
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Rep. Daniel Garcia (D-CA) called on George Santos to resign tonight before the House votes on Wednesday to expel him.

Video of Rep. Garcia:

Rep. Garcia said on MSNBCs All In with Chris Hayes:

I think thats true. At the end of the day, Kevin McCarthy is given away the keys to his leadership and speakership to folks like George Santos, to folks like Marjorie Taylor Greene. Hes lost all control of the caucus, and he needs Santos for key votes on the deficit the budget, and so hes given away his power to these folks. Hes been working with a liar and huge fraudster in the congress.

McCarthy is now going to have to make a choice, whether he will support George Santos, whos an admitted liar and fraud, or actually listen to the American people. We will continue to push this as best as possible, we think its absolutely the right approach, and we have given plenty of time to George Santos to resign. Weve been calling the resignation for months, but its time to do the right thing. You should resign tonight.

If Santos had a shred of decency or care about America, he would resign tonight.

George Santos will keep scamming congressional paychecks for as long as he can. The plan is for Santos to try to ride this scandal out until his term ends in January 2025.

Kevin McCarthy needs Santoss vote, so he is not going to support expelling him. McCarthy will try to bury Santoss crimes in the House Ethics Committee, hoping he can run out the clock and not lose 25% of his House majority.

It is difficult to choose who is worse in this situation. Is it Santos the alleged criminal, or Kevin McCarthy for keeping a criminal in the House?
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Democratic House leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) set up House Republicans to link themselves to George Santos by voting against expelling him.

Video of Jeffries:

Rep. Jeffries said on MSNBCs The Reid Out:

You know, George Santos is a serial fraudster. He does not belong anywhere near the House of Representatives. He defrauded the people of the third congressional district in New York. Lied about everything. Lied about his life, lied about his jobs, lied about his finances, lied about his professional experiences. Lied about being Jewish. He perpetrated a fraud on the people of New York. He was elected under false pretenses.

So I commend Congressman Garcia for bringing this privileged resolution forward, and the real question is, are House Republicans going to stand on the side of truth or stand on the side of George Santos? Its important to mention, Santos was referred to the ethics committee month ago. So what are we doing? Youre either going to hold him accountable under the constitution or youre not. Its going to be interesting to see how these so-called moderates in terms of New York House Republicans vote. They have all said that they want him out. And he doesnt belong in the House of Representatives. Tomorrow, they will have an opportunity to vote their word.

It is very simple. George Santos is under federal felony indictment. He didnt just lie to get elected. The freshman New York Republican congressman is accused of committing crimes related to his election and position.

If Republicans, especially the New York Republican delegation are sincere in their desire to have Santos gone, they can do something about it tomorrow, but if they vote no on the resolution to expel Rep. Santos, they will be linking themselves to him, and setting Democrats up to retake the House next year.

The stakes of the vote are more far-reaching than George Santos. The vote could be a big step in Democrats taking back the majority in the House of Representatives.
The Peace Formula, initiated by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to end the war unleashed by Russia against Ukraine, is the only starting point in the issue of restoring international order and peace in Ukraine, Adviser to the head of the President's Office Mykhailo Podoliak has said.

"Hypothetical [peaceful] initiatives that are not based on a real understanding of the nature of war and on the key postulates of international law are not acceptable," Podoliak told Interfax-Ukraine, answering the agency's question whether peace plans initiated by certain foreign states should be topics of discussion by Ukraine.

"Ukraine has repeatedly pointed out the impossibility of implementing any formula that involves a primitive compromise of "territory, sovereignty in exchange for peace." Since this will not help end the war, but only scale it up," he said.

In particular, speaking about the statement of President of the Republic of South Africa Cyril Ramaphosa that the Ukrainian and Russian sides agreed to accept his mission, which has its own "peace plan" for ending the war, Podoliak said: "Ukraine welcomes the aspirations of leaders to restore peace and the rule of law in the international order and that is why they are invited to join the implementation of the Ukrainian Peace Formula."

"We welcome the aspirations of world leaders, including the leaders of the African or Latin American or American continents, to restore peace and the rule of law in the international order, so we invite you to join the implementation of President Zelenskyy's Peace Formula. There is no need to waste time inventing what already exists," he said.

The adviser to the head of the President's Office also said the Ukrainian Peace Formula is the unconditional position of the Ukrainian people and state.

"This is the only starting point for all processes," Podoliak said.

He also said all negotiation options are possible only after the withdrawal of all Russian military groups from the territory of Ukraine within the borders of 1991.

"Therefore, everything is actually quite simple one can only talk about a real political settlement and a stable world when the hostilities end and the territories are liberated. Only in this way. Any other options will lead to the continuation of hostilities, terrorist attacks around the world and the collapse foundations of international security," he said.
It was supposed to be a late night snack run for Charles Emmanuel.

After waking up to get some ice cream from McDonald's, Emmanuel wasn't expecting to see a shooting.

"I am still shook up by it to tell you the truth, when I think about," he said. "It's got me kind of weary."

Emmanuel is still trying to wrap his mind around witnessing a shooting involving Aiken Department of Public Safety officers that took place early Tuesday morning in Aiken.

Since the incident, police identified Richard Dale McCarty, 30, of North Augusta as a suspect after he intentionally rammed his vehicle into an officer's vehicle, on Whiskey Road, according to an incident report from the Aiken Department of Public Safety.

The incident began around 1:45 a.m. when McCarty was trying to approach Sgt. Marquis Davis was in his patrol vehicle at a gas station at the intersection of Whiskey and Pine Log roads, according to a media release from SLED.

After a short conversation between McCarty and Davis, McCarty got into his vehicle and rammed Davis's vehicle and disabled both vehicles on Whiskey Road, according to the incident report.

McCarty exited the passenger's side window of his vehicle and chased Davis with a knife, the release said.

Davis attempted to separate himself from McCarty, who continued to pursue him.

Two officers arrived at the scene to assist Davis and shot at McCarty, the report said. The suspect was hit multiple times.

McCarty was taken to the hospital for treatment for several non-life-threatening injuries and no officers were injured, SLED said in a release.

'I was just getting an ice cream'

Emmanuel remembers going through the drive-thru and trying to turn on Whiskey Road, but as he was pulling to the the right side he noticed a police car and another vehicle parked in front of a gas station. He then saw the officer walk quickly to his car before he saw a white male in a truck with a look of rage on his face.

"He (McCarty) jumped in his truck and slammed on the gas and shot out to the road and hit the cop as hard as he could and ran him across the road into the tree in front of Regions Bank," he said.

Emmanuel said he heard the truck crash into the tree and the officer asking if McCarty was OK.

He said he then saw Davis come out toward the intersection with McCarty following him.

"The cop had a look of fear in his eyes, and as I look back, I could see that because it was fear and he was running for his life," he said. "The guy was gaining on him."

Emmanuel then saw two other police cars coming down Whiskey Road from the direction of Lowe's. He said one officer ran in the direction of McCarty and Davis, while additional officers ran to the right side of the bank before hearing about 20 to 30 gunshots.

"I said, 'Oh my Lord someone has got messed up here and hopefully the dude didn't shoot the cop,'" he said.

"It was the last thing I was expected to see," he said.

Lt. Jennifer Hayes with Aiken Department of Public declined to comment or give the names of the officers involved in the shooting.

SLED has charged McCarty with attempted murder and possession of a weapon during a violent crime.

One warrant stated that McCarty committed the crime of assault/attempted murder in that did with malice aforethought attempt to an ADPS officer by ramming the officer's vehicle with his car and ran toward the victim with a large knife in an overhand grip attempting to kill the officer.

Another warrant stated McCarty did knowingly and willfully possess and display what appeared to be firearm or a knife during the commission of a violent crime, attempted murder.

The incident is the 12th officer involved shooting in South Carolina for 2023 and the first officer involved shooting for Aiken Department of Public Safety.
Former Aiken City Councilwoman Jane Vaughters died Sunday.

Vaughters, 78, served as one of two at-large members of the Aiken City Council  the council has since gone to six single-member election districts  from 2001-2009.

Aiken City Councilwoman Lessie Price, a member of the city council since 1987, said Vaughters was very pleasant and easy to work with.

"I found that we could call each other and have an exchange of ideas," Price said. "Even after her service on the city council, she felt that she still could call to share ideas with me and bounce things off of me and give me her perspective."

Price said Vaughters was extremely dedicated to and had tremendous love for the city. She said Vaughters wanted to make sure the city preserved its uniqueness as it grew and developed.

"She was really a great champion for Aiken," Price said. "She served as an ambassador to draw people into this community."

Former Aiken City Councilman Dick Dewar said he served two years with Vaughters.

He said Vaughters was a very close friend.

"She was a wonderful community person," Dewar said. "She was well known throughout the community. She will be sorely missed."

Vaughters previously served as president of the Historic Aiken Foundation.

Linda Johnson, current president of the Historic Aiken Foundation, said Vaughters was a remarkable asset to Aiken and to historic preservation.

"Jane Vaughters showed her passion for historic preservation from the moment she moved to Aiken," Johnson said. "Early on, she joined neighbors on Hayne Avenue to get zoning that protected that historic neighborhood from further commercial development."

Johnson said Vaughters was an early member of the Historic Aiken Foundation and president from 1978-1979, when she fought to save the Willcox from demolition and was instrumental in getting Joye Cottage added to the National Register.

"She continued to be an active supporter of historic preservation and was a treasured member of my board at the time of her passing," Johnson said. "We will miss her experience and perspective, and Ill miss her wise counsel."

Vaughters also previously served as secretary of the Friends of Hopelands and Rye Patch.

Beth Newburn of the Friends said Aiken had lost one of its most dedicated servants.

"Jane gave 100% to any endeavor and always had the support of her family," Newburn said. "She was approachable and willing to hear others' concerns. Many thanks to Janes family for her years of service."

Vaughters was a member of The Student Club for 30 years.

Ruthanne Lucious, president of The Student Club, said Vaughters was a wonderful friend and member of the club. She said Vaughters added so much to the community and would be remembered for her inquisitive nature and always wanting to learn.

Charlotte Wiedenman said Vaughters was the epitome of a member of The Student Club: a passionate leaner, a tireless community supporter and an elegant and diplomatic lady.

"She will be missed terribly," Wiedenman said.

Vaughters was also a former president of the Aiken Civic Ballet board.

Vaughters and her husband, Dr. Ray Bauer Vaughters Jr., moved to Aiken in 1974 and she became his office manager.

Vaughters said in an autobiographical entry in a The Student Club member guide that they moved to Aiken because they wanted to be in a community with lots of old houses that was near a major medical center so Ray could refer his patients to specialists.

"Aiken was perfect," she said.

Prior to Aiken, the couple lived in Mineral Wells, Texas; New Orleans; Chicago; and Myrtle Beach while Ray served as a doctor in the Air Force.

The couple married in 1966 and had four children.

Vaughters said they met at an "old fashioned sorority serenade" which was ironic because they're both tone deaf and have to mouth the words to songs.

Vaughters was born on May 31, 1944 in Evansville, Ind. but spent her childhood in San Antonio. She attended Southern Methodist University and taught high school English at St. Martin's in New Orleans.

She is survived by her husband, their children and seven grandchildren.

A memorial service is scheduled for 11 a.m. Friday at George Funeral Home. Burial will immediately follow at All Saints Anglican Church.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to the Historic Aiken Foundation (historicaikenfoundation.org), All Saints Anglican Church (allsaintsaiken.org) or First Presbyterian Church (aikenpresbyterian.org).

Aiken Standard reporter Bill Bengtson also contributed to this story.
Aiken, SC (29801)

Today

Rain likely. High 56F. Winds N at 15 to 25 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Locally heavier rainfall possible..

Tonight

A steady rain this evening. Showers continuing overnight. Low 54F. Winds N at 15 to 25 mph. Chance of rain 70%. Rainfall around a quarter of an inch.
As a result of the work of the fourth summit of the Council of Europe, which took place in Reykjavik, some 46 countries adopted a Declaration in support of Ukraine, Government Portal said.

"The clear message of the Council of Europe summit in support of further efforts to create a Special Tribunal to punish the Russian political and military leadership for the crime of aggression is extremely important. Let me to say thank you to all friends of Ukraine for the effective display of solidarity," Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said.

It is noted that by joining the Declaration, the participating countries supported the Ukrainian Peace Formula, welcomed the creation of the Register of Damages Caused by Russia's Aggression against Ukraine, as the first component of the International Compensation Mechanism, declared their readiness to participate in further initiatives to develop the mechanism, including the creation of the Compensation Commission and the Compensation Fund, and called on Russia to release civilian Ukrainians, including deported Ukrainian children.

"Today, Europe is facing extraordinary challenges in the context of Russia's full-scale, barbaric and brutal aggression against Ukraine. This aggression is contrary to all our values and principles, as well as the foundations of European architecture, which was formed to avoid a repetition of the atrocities of the Second World War. I am convinced that in these dark times for our continent, the unwavering commitment of the Council of Europe to these values and principles is more important than ever," Shmyhal said.
Having spent years in law enforcement and now serving as sheriff of Berkeley County, its a safe bet Duane Lewis has interest in past local law enforcement officers and how they corralled their criminals. Read moreBerkeley County sheriff co-writes book on local crime, lawmen of the past
Several new commercial tenants are coming to a large housing development on the edge of Summerville.

Lombardi's Pizza Kitchen, The Co-op Frose & Eatery, The Backyard Biergarten, Lowcountry Yoga and children's gym KidStrong are all lined up to be a part of The Hub in Nexton.

The restaurants and fitness sites are expected to move in by late June or early July, according to Nexton spokeswoman Cassie Cataline.

The Hub is a collection of office and commercial buildings under development on Nexton Parkway and Brighton Park Boulevard near Home Telecom and Refuel convenience store.

Office tenants include Coastal Vascular & Vein Center, Charleston Wound Care, Palmetto Primary and Specialty Care Physicians, Derrington Dermatology and Holliday Ingram law firm.

A new pair of two-story office buildings is expected to be completed in 2024 and 2025. They will be 30,000 square feet and 20,000 square feet, respectively, and be built beside Nexton Parkway.

Nexton is a 5,000-acre, mixed-use development next to Summerville between Interstate 26 and U.S. Highway 176 in Berkeley County. With more than 2,500 homes already sold, the development is expected to have 7,500 residential units at full build-out.

It also could house as many residents as the current populations of Clemson, North Myrtle Beach or West Columbia, roughly between 16,000 and 20,000. That would make it as big as Moncks Corner and Georgetown combined.

Now open

A new pizza restaurant is now open in Mount Pleasant.

BarPizza opened May 12 at 656-G Long Point Road in the revamped former Kiki & Rye space.

It's part of Free Reign Restaurants owned by Ryan and Kelleanne Jones. They also operate the recently opened Southbound on the Charleston peninsula and Community Table in Mount Pleasant.

Stepping in

A new retail shop that incorporates a clothing item in all of its wares is close to opening in downtown Charleston.

Respoke hopes to open by the weekend at 377 King St. in the former location of Simply J Boutique.

The shop will offer shoes, clothing and other items that are made in part by repurposing different sections of scarves. Hours will be 10 a.m.-6 p.m. daily, but they could change after the shop opens, according to store manager Joseph Fennell.

New threads

Also, coming to downtown Charleston is a new women's clothing store, now with a shop in Asheville.

Hazel Twenty owner Lexi DiYeso plans to open in August at 73 Wentworth St., formerly part of 269 King St. that was used as back-of-house storage for the former Gap store. The front section houses Aerie, also a clothing shop.

The 3,641-square-foot space is currently under construction behind clothing store Collared Greens and next to The Port Mercantile, part of The Restoration Hotel, according to Blair Hines Gearhart of Oswald Cooke & Associates, who represented the tenant. Charles Constant with Constant Properties represented the landlord.

Fresh return

Rukes Produce Stand returns to Mount Pleasant on May 24. Operated by Arthur Brown, the vegetable and fruit vendor will operate 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday through Dec. 31. Its at 378 Mathis Ferry Road next to Holy Trinity AME Church.

Book it

That Big Book Sale returns for its 41st run May 19-21 at Omar Shrine Auditorium at 176 Patriots Point Road in Mount Pleasant.

More than 60,000 books in all categories will be on sale, starting at $1. Sponsored by Charleston Friends of the Library, the event helps support Charleston County Public Library System.

A pre-sale event for members is 5-8 p.m. May 18. The event is open to the public 9 a.m.-7 p.m. May 19, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. May 20, and 10 a.m-3 p.m. May 21.

Checks, cash, major credit cards and electronic payments, such as ApplePay, will be accepted.
There are some amazing events going down this weekend, including many options to be charitable while having a great time. If you're a bookworm, you'll want to check out the Friends of the Library used book sale. Nosh at the Chef's Potluck. History buffs will find Architectural Conservation Walking Tour interesting. Or break out your best dress for the Gullah Gala.

That BIG Book Sale

The annual Charleston Friends of the Library used book sale is back May 19-21 at the Omar Shrine Auditorium, 176 Patriots Point Road. Opening at 9 a.m. on Friday and Saturday, 10 a.m. on Sunday, this event will have thousands of used books, CDs, magazines, maps and more for sale. If getting a great read for as little as 50 cents doesn't win you over, the sale also benefits the Friends of the Library, a community outreach program that works closely with the public library to spread literacy. To learn more and inquire about volunteering opportunities, visit charlestonlibraryfriends.org/that-big-book-sale.

15th Annual Chef's Potluck

Have a bit of everything at the Chef's Potluck from 4-7 p.m. on May 21 at Holy City Brewing, 1021 Aragon Ave. This year, there are over 18 local chefs in attendance, ready to serve you signature bites from their restaurants. Plus, enjoy live music and libations from Holy City Brewing, Grassroots Wine, Firefly Distilling, High Wire Distilling and One Love Kombucha. Tickets are $175 for adults, $40 for children aged 5-12 and all-inclusive. For tickets and a full list of the chefs and restaurants available, check out bit.ly/3LYqbEk.

Architectural Conservation Walking Tour

From 10-11:30 a.m. on May 20 at Drayton Hall, 3380 Ashley River Road, take a walking tour of the grounds and learn about the collection and preservation of architectural fragments at Drayton. The more than 1,500 pieces in their collection offer insight into the history of the site as well as the surrounding Lowcountry. You will also get a chance to tour the conservation laboratory to see how items are stored, collected and preserved. This is a unique opportunity for science lovers and history buffs alike. Tickets are $45 or $40 for Drayton Hall members. To learn more, visit bit.ly/3W4YD4I.

Gullah Gala

The second annual Gullah Gala returns and promises high fashion in a party atmosphere. From 2-6 p.m. on May 20 at Charles Towne Landing, 1500 Old Towne Road, this event will exhibit unique fashion pieces made by local designers. Listen to live music, check out vendors and refuel with food and an open bar. Furthermore, the best-dressed couple will win a cash prize. Tickets start at $72, with more ticket options for VIP. To learn more and purchase tickets, visit bit.ly/41FkIbs.

Symphony House Tours

Charleston Symphony Orchestra League (CSOL) invites you to tour some of Charleston's most iconic and architecturally stunning homes from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. on May 20, all across Charleston. In 2017, CSOL was awarded a Gold Award of Excellence from the League of American Orchestras. The organization works to support and fund the Charleston Symphony and music scholarships. Charleston Symphony musicians and CSOL scholarship recipients will perform live in several of the homes on the tour. Tickets start at $65 and provide access to all the houses along the tour. Tickets, however, must be exchanged for a wristband for tour entry. They can be exchanged at Le Prince Fine Art, 183 King St., on either Friday, May 19, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. or the day of, Saturday, May 20, 9:30 a.m.-3 p.m. Check out the website for more information: bit.ly/3W8aGhG.
Charleston, SC (29403)

Today

Overcast with rain showers at times. High 66F. Winds NNE at 15 to 25 mph. Chance of rain 60%. Locally heavier rainfall possible..

Tonight

Steady light rain this evening. Showers continuing overnight. Low 61F. Winds N at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 60%.
COLUMBIA  A climate of increasingly hot debate over issues of gender is a major reason that Columbia needs an LBGTQ bookstore, according to the organizer striving to open one.

Baker Rogers has launched a crowdfunding campaign on the Kickstarter website to raise $50,000 in pledges to launch Queer Haven Books, which the Kickstarter page says would be South Carolina's only independent and queer bookstore.

If the goal is reached by the June 8 deadline, Rogers hopes to open the bookstore before the end of the year.

While attracting more than 50 donations, the Kickstarter initiative had raised only $6,000 as of May 17.

It also, Rogers noted, has attracted some abuse from people seeing ads placed to attract backers.

"I am getting threats to burn the place down before the bookstore opens," she said.

That's the unusual nature of the times, Rogers noted. The idea of using "queer" in a name for a Columbia business would have been beyond the pale not so long ago, and now there's evidence of broad support for it including more than 1,600 social media followers, she said.

There's also more vehement opposition in response.

The goal of opening the store, Rogers said, is to create a welcoming space where people of differing orientations can find books that address community issues, but also a place to support each other and organize.

Bars are great for socializing, Rogers noted, but a different type of space can be more comfortable for everybody.

The tensions over LGBTQ issues, including legislation intended to limit drag shows, shows that the community needs to organize, said Rogers, who lives in Columbia but teaches sociology and social work at Georgia Southern University.

Two bills introduced this year in the Statehouse would place restrictions on who, where, when and how businesses, performers and fans of drag shows could participate.

Rogers hopes to open a bookstore of about 1,600 square feet in or near North Main Street, but no deal for a space is in place yet.

The money from Kickstarter would provide enough to put down a deposit on space for the store and cover early costs of hiring part-time employees and outfitting the space.

She is working in partnership with All Good Books, the general-interest bookstore that opened earlier this year in Five Points.

Kickstarter backers make pledges to support proposed projects but only have to pay their pledge if the project reaches its fundraising goal on time.
COLUMBIA  Ken Loveless, former vice chair of the Lexington-Richland Five School Districts board of trustees, is suing three other former board members and a former attorney for the district over allegations that they conspired to violate his constitutional right to free speech.

The federal lawsuit, filed May 12 against former board members Ed White, Michael Cates and Beth Hutchison, and former school district attorney Michael Montgomery, is the latest in a string of litigation exchanged in recent years between the 17,500-student district, current and former board members and a former superintendent.

That includes multiple suits in state court including Loveless, such as two libel lawsuits he filed against district residents over Facebook posts, one of which has since been dismissed.

In his most recent suit, Loveless asserts the existence of a "conspiracy" between board members, contractors working for the district, district leaders and community members to stifle his complaints about what he considered improper work on the then-under-construction Piney Woods Elementary School.

Those same complaints about Piney Woods have already landed Loveless in trouble with the State Ethics Commission, where a panel ruled in March that he violated South Carolina ethics law by participating in discussions and sending a letter about the schools construction while his company was a subcontractor for Contract Construction, which built Piney Woods, on a different project.

Loveless has appealed that ruling, which the new federal lawsuit calls a "a direct product of the retaliation which forms the basis of this civil action."

A 'retaliatory campaign'

According to the federal lawsuits complaint, the coordinated conspiracy was in retaliation for a March 2020 letter he sent to then-Superintendent Christina Melton about concerns with construction work at the Piney Woods project after unsuccessfully trying to discuss his concerns with Melton and a contractor whom Melton had directed Loveless to contact with questions about district projects.

The letter was contained in a notebook with a list of questions and concerns, each with exhibits documenting the applicable construction standards for the particular concern mentioned, the complaint reads, which Loveless meant for Melton to investigate.

Instead, the lawsuit asserts, Melton gave that notebook to Montgomery, the board attorney, and Montgomery and White began to gather information that could be used to dispute Loveless issues and launch a retaliatory campaign against (Loveless).

The lawsuit alleges that White, who resigned from the board in 2021, used his job at a Columbia law firm to "perpetuate the retaliatory attacks" and manipulate current public officials to "do his bidding in furtherance of the retaliation against (Loveless)," while his law partner represented two "co-conspirators." It also claims that White "may have ghost written" documents issued by the State Ethics Commission, as another of White's law partners is a past chairman of the commission.

Loveless' letter to Melton was one of the three times he violated ethics law by failing to recuse himself from matters he had an economic interest in, according to the March ruling from the State Ethics Commission panel.

After Loveless sent that letter, the lawsuit asserts, Montgomery billed the district for hundreds of hours spent engaging in a conspiracy to plan a retaliatory undertaking against Loveless for raising questions about possible evidence of poor construction practices in the Piney Woods project.

'Phase one'

"Phase one of that alleged retaliation occurred at the school boards meeting on Sept. 14, 2020, the complaint asserts, which included a presentation about the Piney Woods project.

During that presentation, White asked Contract Construction representatives about Loveless subcontractor relationship with their company, even though he already knew the answer, the complaint reads, and proceeded to lead a point-by-point attack on Loveless about his relationship with Contract Construction.

That meeting accounted for another one of Loveless three ethics law violations, according to the State Ethics Commission panels March ruling, which led to $6,150 in fines and fees from the commission.

The lawsuit asserts that the Sept. 14, 2020, meeting led to a storm on social media and attention from the press, and that Loveless was submitted to public ridicule, humiliation, false and defamatory statements.

It asserts that those attacks were partly based on the premise that Loveless had gotten an official advisory opinion from the State Ethics Commission telling him to recuse himself from discussions about Contract Construction, but the lawsuit argues that Loveless actually only received a nonbinding letter from a commission staffer that served as no precedent guiding (Loveless) conduct.

Loveless had asked for that letter because he was "under attack" from the defendants, his attorney Desa Ballard said.

"It is absolutely ludicrous that I did anything wrong," Loveless said in a May 16 interview.

Loveless did recuse himself from the Piney Woods discussions starting in February 2021. He had a statement about his recusal attached to the minutes of the school board's Feb. 8, 2021, meeting, pointing to the commission staffer's advisory letter. Loveless thought at the time that the letter was an opinion from the full commission, Ballard said in a May 17 interview.

The lawsuit argues that this retaliatory attack led to Loveless losing reelection to the school board, which he narrowly lost in November 2020, and that it chilled Loveless free-speech rights.

The conduct of the Defendants has and will continue to have a chilling effect on public and private citizens ability to express disagreement for fear of retaliatory action, the complaint reads.

Other involvement and litigation

The lawsuit also names several other people who it claims participated in the conspiracy against (Loveless) but are not defendants. Those named in that list range from former superintendents to current and former board members to a journalist covering the district.

Several in that list of alleged co-conspirators are critics of Loveless or are involved in litigation with him.

Loveless has been involved in multiple lawsuits from during and after his time on the board, where he served one term from 2018 to 2022 before losing reelection in a razor-close race after a recount.

A judge dismissed his March 2022 libel and defamation lawsuit against a district parent who had administered a Facebook group known as Deep Dive into D5, that had been critical of the board.

The suit against that parent, Leslie Stiles, alleged that she did not remove site comments made by others calling Loveless "crooked Ken, unethical and a liar, but the presiding judge said Loveless' case was irreparably flawed as a matter of law and should be dismissed in December.

Stiles had already filed counterclaims against Loveless, arguing that his lawsuit had been a misuse of the legal process. That side of the litigation is ongoing.

Loveless also accused now-board member Kevin Scully of libel in March, suing Scully before his November 2022 election to the board, over Facebook comments about Loveless saying, "Wow, he is a loser and calling Loveless an unethical hypocrite and a liar.

That suit is still pending.

Loveless was named in a February counter-lawsuit from former Lexington-Richland Five Superintendent Stephen Hefner, accusing Loveless, two other board members, the district and its former auditing firm of conspiring to defame Hefner.

That countersuit came over a year after Hefner was first sued by the district in November 2021 over a dispute with the initial interim hiring of Lexington-Richland Fives current Superintendent Akil Ross. The district claimed malicious interference from Hefner with the new superintendents contract.

After the district dropped that suit, Hefner's latest countersuit alleges that Loveless, two other board members and the district acted with malice seeking to retaliate against, attack, and tarnish his reputation through their initial lawsuit, which the complaint says was frivolous and targeted his constitutional right to free speech.

It also alleges that the board members used their agreement with their now-former audit firm to inflict a defamatory, politically-motivated agenda against Hefner.

The current board voted to end the district's relationship with that audit firm, Jaramillo Accounting Group, earlier in May.

Cates declined to immediately comment on Loveless' federal lawsuit May 15, saying he had not yet learned of it. White and Hutchison did not respond to requests for comment, and Montgomery could not be reached.
IRMO  The town of Irmo hopes to give a makeover to its marketing materials with an overhaul of the town's branding.

Irmo, which sits north of "the Jewel of South Carolina," Lake Murray, has long expressed its desire to attract tourists locally and nationwide. Now, the 12,000-person town northwest of Columbia has made efforts to give the town a sleeker and more modern face.

"(Irmo) had a logo for so long that I think really reflected the past and not so much the future," said Irmo Chamber President Kerry Powers. "So I was really glad that they decided to set aside those funds to bring us an updated look."

Powers said she hopes a new logo and town seal will make tourism marketing, especially digital marketing, more eye-catching in the campaigns that are sent out nationwide.

In the proposed updated version of the town's seal, the colors have been simplified to blue, gray and white, and the lettering has been changed to a trendier font with sharper lines. Additionally, the town has created new images featuring a simple tree and half moon, a gazebo (like the one found in Irmo's town park), and a variety of sunset images.

Irmo, which grew up out of a train depot where supplies arrived for construction of the Lake Murray Dam in the late 1920s, has long celebrated its history, Powers said. The new images would include pieces of Irmo's past, like the train emblem on the town seal, while branding the town as one that is looking forward, she said.

The push to rebrand the town comes several months after Irmo's failed efforts to create a downtown, which some town leaders hoped would make Irmo more of a destination.

In a May 16 meeting, the Town Council approved a first reading of the rebranding plans. Councilman Erik Sickinger added that while a new town branding is a positive step for the town, the council has higher priorities.
Columbia, SC (29201)

Today

Rain. High 57F. Winds NNE at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 90%. Rainfall possibly over one inch. Locally heavier rainfall possible..

Tonight

Periods of rain. Low 56F. Winds N at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 90%. Rainfall near a half an inch.
Ukrainians forced to get Russian passport in temporarily occupied territories to save their lives are victims of crime  Lubinets

Ukrainian human rights ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets said people who were forced to obtain a passport of the aggressor country in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine in order to save their lives, as well as to leave the occupied territories, are victims of Russia's crimes.

"Let me inform you that forced passportization in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine is recognized as a gross violation of international law, in particular, in accordance with Article 45 of the Regulations on the laws and customs of war on land, which is an annex to the Fourth Hague Convention of October 18, 1907," Lubinets said in the Telegram channel on Wednesday.

In addition, according to Article 25 of the Constitution of Ukraine, everyone has the right to change citizenship, which excludes the possibility of recognizing the result of a forced change of citizenship. This right cannot be waived in any case and in relation to any country.

The ombudsman said "consequently, the illegal actions of the occupying authorities regarding forced automatic passportization are inhumane and contrary to the principles of treatment of the civilian population in the temporarily occupied territories, in particular, established by the provision of the Fourth Geneva Convention."

Lubinets said obtaining a Russian passport is by no means a reason for losing Ukrainian citizenship.

This position of Ukraine is based on the provisions of Article 4 of the European Convention on Citizenship regarding the principles of avoiding the phenomenon of statelessness and the inadmissibility of groundless deprivation of citizenship.

"Therefore, in most cases, obtaining a pseudo-passport of an aggressor country is a forced step when it comes to preserving the life and health of an individual or family members and is used to leave the temporarily occupied territory through third countries," Lubinets said.

He said persons who were forced to obtain a Russian passport under such circumstances "cannot be considered criminals, but rather victims of a crime."
This is part of The Post and Couriers Daily Digest series, in which one of our food reporters asks a local to describe a day of eating in detail. Interested in being featured in Daily Digest? Email pmilner@postandcourier.com.

Christiaan Marcum lives in Charleston.

I start every day with a full glass of water while taking the dogs out, feeding them and feeding the cat. After all the animals are fed and watered, and my daughter is out the door for school, I settle in for some coffee and a glance at the morning paper.

A New York Times article last summer turned me on to this OXO cold-brew coffee maker, and Ive not turned back. I am pretty dedicated to Laird Superfood Peruvian medium roast coffee, which I used to buy regularly from Parrot Surf & Skate Shop in Mount Pleasant but had to start ordering elsewhere during the pandemic. Its great coffee, hot or cold, but I prefer mine cold these days.

Breakfast is pretty simple; usually some combination of toast or an English muffin, eggs and avocado. The avocado, whether in combination with toast, eggs or otherwise, gets a bit of Maldon Sea Salt and a drizzle of this Graza olive oil that our friends at Graft Wine Shop downtown turned us on to. They do a monthly wine CSA which always has a cooking ingredient of some sort in it as an extra  often a sauce or spice thats new to me  and an associated recipe for whatever that ingredient may be. This olive oil is one of my favorite extras so far.

If you are into wine, Monarch Wine Merchants downtown also has a good monthly CSA. I have enough room for wine in my life to do both of them! But now Im writing about wine at breakfast; I digress.

Lunch for me is determined by whether Ive decided to work from home or head to my office in Mount Pleasant. If home, I largely eat something leftover from the night before or just make a simple sandwich of some sort.

I love Daves Killer Bread, or the English muffins from Brown's Court Bakery downtown, which make great breakfast or lunch sandwiches. If Im at the office and didnt bring lunch from home, Ill often run out to something near my office such as Bon Banh Mi or Kairos for a bowl of some sort, or Mozzo Deli if a sandwich feels right.

Dinner in the evenings is the one meal each day I can have with my wife and daughter. I either cook or my daughter encourages us to dine out somewhere. When I cook, its something usually inspired by The New York Times Cooking section; maybe a simple broiled salmon with mustard and lemon, or a slightly spicy butter chicken. There is a lot of variety and great recipe ideas there, though in my experience you have to goose up the spices. If a recipe calls for a teaspoon of salt or other spice, you best double it.

If my daughter has persuaded us to go out, and gets her way, its often for Mexican or Asian fare. Current hot spots for us are Tierra al Mar in Mount Pleasant, or if we are hovering near the Charleston Pour House for deck music, we might visit Kwei Fei or Malika Canteen, which is currently doing a residency at the Pour House. If my wife and I have our way, though, its more likely Italian; either Wild Olive on Johns Island or La Pizzeria in Mount Pleasant.

And whether at home or out, there will be wine involved.
For a few weeks after moving out of war-torn Ukraine, 5-year-old Filip Kuzmina would drop to the floor, his hands covering his ears.

He'd been doing it so long in Ukraine that when his family, including parents, Diana and Alex Kuzmina, and younger sister, Zlata, journeyed to the Czech Republic in March 2022, where doors are "strong and castle-like," his mind couldn't tell the difference between the sound of a closing door and a firing weapon.

"Luckily, Zlata, didn't know what fear was yet," their mother Diana said. "She doesn't even react to a car horn."

Zlata was born deaf, which her parents didn't learn until she was a little over a year old.

"I didn't notice it because she is so smart and sociable with her brother, she repeats everything he does," Kuzmina told The Post and Courier.

Zlata's hearing loss likely wouldn't have gone untreated for so long in the U.S., where 98 percent of babies have their hearing screened before 1 month of age.

Hearing loss is actually the most common congenital condition in the U.S. And according to the American Academy of Pediatrics, three in 1,000 infants are born deaf or hard of hearing. Another three in 1,000 children will experience permanent hearing loss after the newborn period and become deaf during childhood.

In South Carolina, 100 kids are born every year with some form of permanent hearing loss. Less than a quarter of those kids will likely qualify for a cochlear implant, and only half of those who qualify will actually receive one, said Kara Leyzac, director of the Cochlear Implant Program at the Medical University of South Carolina.

The cochlea is spiral-shaped bone in the inner ear that plays a key role in the sense of hearing. A cochlear implant is an electronic device that bypasses damaged or nonworking parts of the cochlea and directly stimulates the auditory nerve. The treatment is widely recognized for children from 9 months to 17 years old.

Most of the cochlear implant surgeries done at MUSC Health's Cochlear Implant Program go to adults who've lost their hearing over time. But nearly 20 percent of those surgeries are young patients like Zlata.

Doctors from the hospital said many children in the state qualify for these implants but don't receive them because of common misinformation around cochlear implants, lack of access to implant services and the low number of qualified audio-verbal therapists in the state.

"I have patients who travel two hours both ways for treatment," Leyzac said.

There are only six audio-verbal therapists (AVTs) in South Carolina. And most are located in heavily populated areas like Greenville, Charleston and Columbia, leaving families in rural areas without access to local therapists. Doctors recommend children with cochlear implants and other hearing devices see a private AVT to supplement federal intervention therapy sessions with a speech language pathologist on a weekly basis.

Often times, it's the best route to ensure a child's success with the implant.

Zlata's surgeon and medical director for the implant program, Dr. Theodore McRackan, said the actual implant surgery is the easy part. The hard part is what happens after the device is activated and whether a patient has access to local, quality therapists to help with their development.

"North Carolina does an excellent job at streamlining pediatric hearing loss care throughout the state," McRackan said. "And that really doesn't exist here. It's a major need for our state is to have an overarching plan for how to treat and provide resources for these kids."

Treatment in the U.S.

By the time the Kuzminas noticed Zlata couldn't hear, not much could be done for her in Ukraine. Diana said she made plans for Zlata to see a specialist there but war broke out three days before her scheduled appointment.

The family was already on its way to the U.S., making stops in the Czech Republic, Germany and New York before settling in Boiling Springs.

Once in the U.S., the family's quest to find help for Zlata's hearing was met with disappointment at myriad doctors offices.

Zlata was born with barely visible cochlear nerves in each ear, the right nerve more visible than the left. Many doctors told the Kuzminas there was no hope that a cochlear implant would work for Zlata and were unwilling to qualify her as a candidate for the procedure.

All except Dr. McRackan, who thought it was at least worth a try.

The implants are designed to help a child develop speech. The devices work best when implanted within the first year of a child's life when hearing, speech and learning are developing quickly.

Zlata was nearing 3 years old at the time of her implant and she'd already started learning American Sign Language to communicate with her family.

When left untreated, moderate to severe hearing loss in children can result in delayed development of language, learning and speech skills. It can also impact nearly every area of a child's life, including social skills, grades, emotional health and self-esteem.

Going on more than two years without a sense of hearing, Zlata hadn't yet developed speech. A cochlear implant seemed like her last hope, albeit slim, and she was already past the recommended age for implantation.

"I was sure that it would work," Diana said.

According to Cochlear Americas, the leading manufacturer of cochlear implants and bone conduction hearing devices in the world, early access to sound and proper treatment for children with hearing loss allows a child's speech and language development to be on par with children not born deaf or hard of hearing.

Research from the organization also showed over 80 percent of children with cochlear implants went to traditional public schools and tested within the normal range for vocabulary by the time they reached school age.

Life after the implant

Typically, children start learning speech and hearing from the second they are born.

But for children who've never heard before, their starting point is the day the cochlear implant is activated.

Zlata's activation day was March 16, the day before St. Patrick's Day. That day would determine whether she would ever be able to hear.

Dr. Amy Noxon, Zlata's audiologist, positioned the electronic device around the rim of her right ear.

Zlata sat on her mother's lap, hitting the rainbow colored tiles of the toddler-sized xylophone while the adults in the room looked as if they held as many hopes and prayers as possible. Out of Zlata's sight, Noxon shook a small rattle.

Suddenly, Zlata paused her xylophone solo to locate the noise.

"She looked up and you could tell what she was thinking," Carter Coyle, a spokesperson for MUSC told The Post and Courier. "'Wait a minute, I think I hear something.'"

That was a good sign, her audiologist and doctors agreed.

While activation day was a step in the right direction, the months and years ahead will be filled with weekly therapy with speech and language specialists and doctors visits to further program her device.

Therapy for kids with cochlear implants condenses years of speech and verbal learning they didn't receive prior to surgery.

"It's intense, but it's necessary to get children where they need to be," McRackan said.

Since getting her implant, Kuzmina said Zlata is steadily growing more accustomed to it. Her new morning routine includes patiently waiting for her mom to braid her hair to the side, leaving room for her implant.

She points to her device, which sits atop a table in her room, eagerly anticipating getting ahold of the TV remote to turn her cartoon volume up to its highest setting.

"She's never cared about the sound on the TV before," Kuzmina said.

Zlata's audiology team at MUSC said she is already ahead of schedule, as most kids in her age group don't develop a want for the device just a few months after surgery.

"It's a big milestone and she reached it pretty early," Leyzac said.

To learn more about cochlear implants and common signs of childhood hearing loss visit www.cochlear.com/us/en/home.

Parents can also visit www.cdc.gov to learn more about hearing loss treatments and interventions for children.
The National Park Service is seeking public input during an initial planning phase to replace and rehabilitate the docks at Fort Sumter and Fort Moultrie National Historical Park. The docks at each fort are essential for transporting visitors and staff to the park. Read morePublic can provide input on Fort Moultrie dock replacement
MYRTLE BEACH  Myrtle Beach International Airport continues to break records this spring as it transforms its south end facility to meet passenger demand for an expanding Grand Strand tourism season.

In April, traffic hit the airport's record high for that month. The total of 294,414 passengers was 4 percent higher than the previous record set last year.

"Our continued growth patterns help demonstrate that the Grand Strand is no longer a 'summer only' destination," Judi Olmstead, director of airports, said in a statement. "We look forward to welcoming even more guests to our slice of paradise this summer."

The airport off Harrelson Boulevard near U.S. Highway 17 has witnessed two record years of passenger tallies, first after COVID-19 restrictions eased and last year when many tourists caught up with previously delayed travel plans.

Nearly 3.5 million passengers passed through Myrtle Beach Internationals gates in 2022, a year after 3.2 million flew in and out of the airport when at one point during the 2021 summer travel season, passenger numbers were higher than Charleston  historically the states busiest airport.

Myrtle Beach International continues to build off last year's record-breaking numbers as the airport has welcomed 799,960 passengers so far this year, at a time when the typical summer tourist season is starting to bleed into the fall and winter.

In recent years, Myrtle Beach  the state's top tourist destination  has marketed itself as a more year-round destination to attract more visitors, resulting in a travel boom.

Airport officials said they have a plan to meet the demand of not only Grand Strand tourists but an increasing number of locals going on vacation out of state with more parking spots, an expanded terminal in the future and additional flight options.

Myrtle Beach International is currently undergoing a parking expansion project expected to be completed by early fall with the addition of more than 450 long-term parking spaces and an additional 50 spaces in the airports short-term cellphone lot, the free curbside waiting area off Jetport Road.

Last year, airport parking nearly reached its 2,600-vehicle capacity a couple of times, especially during Thanksgiving week, which is a peak national travel period.

Additionally, the airport plans an upcoming terminal expansion project  in the design phase  which will add six new gates to its existing facilities just outside Gate A7, for a total of 18, and includes new concession options, restrooms and passenger waiting areas.

Spirit Airlines, the largest carrier at Myrtle Beach International Airport, added a seasonal nonstop flight to Rochester, N.Y., beginning May 15. Allegiant Air will launch a seasonal nonstop flight from the Grand Strand to the Akron-Canton Airport in Ohio starting June 1.

On June 23, Avelo Airlines is adding service from Myrtle Beach to Wilmington, Del., with Monday and Friday flights, and on Saturdays starting July 1.

Other recent renovation projects include the airports fuel farm, which increased its previous 260,000-gallon fuel capacity with the addition of a 100,000-gallon fuel tank. A second 100,000-gallon tank can be added in the future if needed.

Myrtle Beach International is one of the few airports in the country that fuels commercial aircraft.
COLUMBIA  The controversial pickup and SUV modification known as the Carolina Squat" has been officially banned under a new law passed by the S.C. General Assembly.

The Carolina Squat  also called the "Cali Lean" or "Tennessee Tilt"  refers to a modification in which a pickup or SUV is lifted on the front axle and lowered or maintained in place in the rear, jacking the front of the truck up in the air.

The alteration gained popularity in the Carolinas several years ago with Myrtle Beach becoming a hub for the modified vehicles but legislators and law enforcement raised safety concerns about drivers seeing out the windshield pointing upward and not at the road.

The law, signed by Gov. Henry McMaster on May 16, bans a vehicle's front fender from being raised or lowered more than 4 inches in height from the rear fender. Penalties for violations range from $100 to $300 and a license suspension, according to the law.

Thats not to say that someone cant alter their vehicle, said state Sen. Larry Grooms, R-Bonneau, one of the bills co-sponsors. Whatever look theyre trying to get, they can still achieve it, but they cant raise the front end so much where they cant see in front of them.

The law also bans driving any vehicles, besides pickup trucks, that have been elevated or lowered more than 6 inches while still being leveled. Penalties range from $25 to $50, according to the law.

The law has 180-day grace period where only warning tickets can be issued for violations.

People who drive squatted trucks have previously told The Post and Courier that the matter is about personal choice, and they can see fine despite the angle.

Meanwhile, critics have said the alteration poses a danger by reducing visibility over the hood and preventing drivers from seeing smaller vehicles and pedestrians around them.

Similar bans were enacted on the basis of safety in North Carolina and Virginia in 2021 and 2022, respectively.

State Rep. Mike Burns, R-Taylors, who has supported a ban for several years, said he understands the trucks' appeal.

"In fairness to them, they take these things and go to the (auto) shows. That's their right to do that," Burns said. "You've got to have some boundaries somewhere where you can maintain safety, and that's where this (issue) finally fell."

Sen. Luke Rankin, R-Myrtle Beach, co-sponsored the bill with Grooms and Sen. Danny Verdin, R-Laurens. Rankin said he has wanted this ban for two years, since learning that a pedestrian in Myrtle Beach was hit and killed by a squatted truck in June 2021.

"The recognition by nearly unanimous votes in support of the General Assembly is a recognition that this is a problem and that we needed to do something about it," Rankin said.

Sen. Tom Corbin, R-Greenville, was the sole legislator who voted against the bill before it passed the General Assembly. Corbin was unavailable for comment. The House passed the bill unanimously May 3.

This is the second year in a row that state lawmakers have sought to ban the alterations but similar legislation introduced during the 2022 session died.

Burns said he believes legislators were more focused on issuing the ban this year after they had more time to learn about the issue.

"Oftentimes, the government deals with problems on the rear end after they really get bad, and it's not very proactive," Burns said. "This is finally one time that there were some bad instances, but it was dealt with on the front end."

In Myrtle Beach, where many people drive squatted trucks to auto shows, the ban has been supported for years by city first responders and lawmakers.

Myrtle Beach City Council included a Carolina Squat ban on its list of 2023 legislative priorities, and Myrtle Beach Police Department representatives, including Chief Amy Prock, have spoken at the Statehouse several times to advocate for a ban.

Sgt. Tom Vest, with Myrtle Beach Police, said police officers have responded to many vehicle accidents involving squatted trucks in the city, though none have involved deaths like the June 2021 incident.

"We started supporting this legislation because of what we saw here in our community, but this doesn't just affect us. It's across the entire state," Vest said. "We want to say thank you to everybody that supported us and the nearly unanimous support we got from lawmakers to make this happen."
MYRTLE BEACH  The massive multipurpose development plan in one of Horry Countys fastest-growing areas is currently in limbo after County Council deferred its vote on it once again.

The plan  likened to Myrtle Beachs popular residential and shopping district Market Common  includes rezoning two plots of land, nearly 214 total acres, into a mixed-use development off Postal Way and U.S. Highway 501 within Carolina Forest in unincorporated Myrtle Beach.

The changes would allow over 1,100 new units, including offices, retail spaces and homes such as townhomes and single-family and multifamily units. If approved, the project would be completed by 2029, according to county documents.

The plan has sparked monthslong controversy for how it could impact traffic and overcrowding in the Carolina Forest area, particularly in the schools. A vote on the plan's second reading was also deferred due to these concerns.

County Council voted May 16 to defer the plan for up to 90 days at the request of the consulting firms, Thomas & Hutton and G3 Engineering, on behalf of the property owners.

County Councilman Dennis DiSabato, who represents Carolina Forest, said the firms are considering lowering the density of the residential areas in the plan, as well as widening Postal Way. He said a vote on the plan could come as soon as next month.

They want an opportunity to go back to their client to see if theres anything that they can do to expand the infrastructure to try and make this project more palatable to the community, DiSabato said. "I also told them that I don't want this hanging over council's head for an indefinite period of time."

Carolina Forest resident Cherie Reid has been concerned for months about how the plan could worsen overcrowding. She said the area is also facing issues of traffic congestion and school overcrowding, which is why she believes residents have reacted strongly against the plan.

"This project is the cherry on top of everything else going on," Reid said. "It's all boiling over."

Reid said she is unhappy with the way that the County Council has planned its development projects over the past decade, and she believes that poor planning has led to the overdevelopment of Carolina Forest.

"Even if this is canceled, they've already done so much damage to the community," Reid said, regarding the 1,000-unit project.

Terry Ewing, another concerned Carolina Forest resident, has also criticized the plan for months, and she said after the meeting she was glad that county leaders were taking residents' concerns into consideration.

I am not opposed to growth and development in our area as long as it's smart growth, planned and coordinated with the entire area in mind, Ewing said.

After deferring the vote May 2, county officials, including DiSabato, and Thomas & Hutton representatives tried to appeal to dozens of impassioned Carolina Forest residents about the plan during a May 10 community meeting.

At the meeting, DiSabato said he believed the land's development was inevitable, especially given the county's rapid growth, which could reach more than 584,000 residents by 2040 from the current 365,500.

DiSabato said he supported the plan because Thomas & Hutton and G3 Engineering have promised to pay over $13.6 million in total for site improvements. These include three new lanes, a roundabout, a traffic light along U.S. 501, sidewalks and a frontage road to U.S. 501 within the development, according to county documents.

"I don't want to be in a position where our taxes are going to have to go out to build roads that they are creating traffic on, when we're in a position right now to force them to pay for the roads that they're creating traffic for," DiSabato said.

The project also was expected to bring in over $7 million for the county, including over $5 million in annual property tax revenue, according to project officials.

The site would feature a town square, on-street parking, over 26 acres of recreational open space, 6 acres of common open areas, 2 miles of trails and areas reserved for existing wetlands, per county documents.

DiSabato said he believes the lands proximity to neighboring Conway makes it a county priority since he believes the city is "aggressively pursuing high density commercial and residential properties."

"If we say no, theyll annex this property and quite frankly, theyll probably just get the same zoning under city governance instead of ours, DiSabato said. The only difference will be the citys not going to require them to pay $13.6 million dollars worth of infrastructure improvements, but I will."

Conway officials confirmed the area is within the city's utility service and potential annexation areas, but the city has not received any submissions relevant to the project.

"For this property, or any property, to annex into the city, it will be required to be contiguous to the city limits, which we do not believe is the case at this time," said city spokeswoman June Wood, adding the property owners would have to request annexation if the properties were contiguous.

Representatives from Thomas & Hutton and G3 Engineering have said that the property owners want the properties to remain in unincorporated portions of the county.
Charleston's police chief announced May 17 that he would enter hospice care amid a yearslong battle with a rare and lethal cancer.

Luther Reynolds has led the states largest municipal police force for five years even after losing his leg to the sarcoma in 2022.

In a letter to city residents, Reynolds wrote: "After speaking with my doctors and praying for God's guidance and grace, Caroline (Reynolds' wife) and I have decided that the time has come for me to end my cancer treatments and enter hospice care."

He thanked the city and its residents for their support since his diagnosis in late 2021, and in his tenure as police chief.

"Now, as I set out on the final journey that God has planned for me, Im thankful that I will be able to spend these days in the city Ive come to love, surrounded by family and friends," Reynolds continued in his letter to the city. "It is the last great gift in a life thats been full of them."

Charleston City Councilman and Public Safety Committee Chairman Peter Shahid helped lead the process to hire Reynolds after former Chief Greg Mullen retired in 2017.

Luther immediately stuck out like a shining light, Shahid said in a phone interview May 17 after Reynolds' announcement.

Reynolds was sworn in as chief in April 2018 after a nearly 30-year career with the Montgomery County Police Department in Maryland. He joined the force there in 1988 and worked his way through the ranks from patrol officer up to assistant chief.

Over the years, Shahid and Reynolds worked closely together and developed a friendship. The councilman called their time working together an honor.

He is a man of faith, he is committed to his family and his community and he has a genuine love for the people of Charleston, Shahid said.

When the city commissioned a racial bias audit of the Police Department, Shahid said Reynolds was open to the feedback, made sure the department cooperated with the process and worked to implement the resulting recommendations.

I think that speaks very highly of a man who is willing to embrace change and make sure that our citizens are safe and that we have a department that is doing their job and being fair to everybody, Shahid said.

Reynolds spent most of his law enforcement career near Baltimore, where he worked the riots that engulfed that city in 2015 after Freddie Gray died in police custody. He saw officers pelted with concrete and buildings torched by protesters. Similar violence flared in 2017 when he worked the inauguration of President Donald Trump in Washington, D.C.

Shahid was in contact with Reynolds when unrest in downtown Charleston in May 2020 turned riotous, and said the chief was actively making on-the-spot command decisions. In its aftermath, Reynolds was quick to blame outsiders for the violence. But jail records later indicated the majority of those arrested hailed from the Charleston region.

Many residents and business owners were upset by the damage the city sustained, saying officers didn't do enough quell the uprisings. Reynolds met with them to gather feedback.

He listened to the citizens and their complaints and he never got angry, he said.

Shahid said that process made Reynolds a better chief.

He is intelligent and open-minded but at the same time he was going to make sure that people who committed crimes were investigated and punished, but fairly, Shahid said.

Councilman Robert Mitchell, who represents the East Side and also serves on the Public Safety Committee, said he always found Reynolds to be responsive and helpful as a chief.

I worked with him a lot, and I used to call him concerning issues in the community and he was always there to listen and try to get things done, Mitchell said. I really have a lot of respect for him.

Following a late-night shooting that injured 10 people on Memorial Day 2022, Reynolds again faced criticism for the department's response. East Side residents who attended a news conference the next day said they contacted authorities about the party well before shots were fired. It was the third unauthorized event held on the block in the span of about a month

We need to do better, Reynolds acknowledged at the time.

An after-action report revealed a lack of clear expectations and communication throughout the ranks affected officers response.

Mitchell said he knows that Reynolds has a love for the city and he hopes that the city can show him that love back.

The only thing we have is praying for the family and doing whatever we can do as a city to help them, he said.

Councilman Jason Sakran, who represents parts of the upper peninsula and West Ashley, reacted to the chief's announcement on Twitter: "Its been an honor working with Chief Reynolds. He has led this department with integrity and honesty, in particular during this difficult time as a law enforcement professional. Please keep his family in your prayers during this time."

Councilman Stephen Bowden, who represents outer West Ashley, called Reynolds "a good man who has led CPD admirably during a difficult period for his profession, our community, and our country" on Twitter.

"Please join me in praying for him, his loved ones, and the men and women of CPD during this difficult time," Bowden tweeted.

Jerome Harris, a member of the Charleston Citizen Police Advisory Council, said he is keeping Reynolds in his prayers.

He has been committed to public safety of the highest quality, he said.

Reynolds was well-respected among his counterparts at law enforcement agencies across the region.

"He is a consummate professional," Mount Pleasant Police Chief Mark Arnold said. "I will miss working with him a great deal.

Recently installed North Charleston Police Chief Greg Gomes called Reynolds "a great leader, humanitarian and an outstanding law enforcement partner."

Charleston County Sheriff Kristin Graziano said Reynolds was "a good sounding board" when she came into the office in 2020. When she'd come to him with an idea, he'd up it, she said, asking why not take it a step further.

"He's not afraid to have those tough conversations about change," she said. "He's just one of those people, super positive, very open-minded, that you don't see in this line of work. He can see everybody's perspective, not just his own, and that's what he's taught me, to look at the way other people see things."

She applauded his decision calling it "brave" to have been so public with his decision, as he's been throughout his illness.

He has a strong support system, through his law enforcement connections, and his family, Graziano said. Caroline Reynolds is formidable, in her own right, she added.

"She is his protector," the sheriff said. "She's had a tough time, but she's a tough woman. "

City spokesman Jack O'Toole said that after speaking with Reynolds, Mayor John Tecklenburg asked the department's three deputy chiefs to temporarily lead the police force, which they did during an earlier absence when Reynolds was first going through cancer treatments.

"Luther Reynolds may well be the finest, bravest man I've ever known, and I love him like a brother. I ask our citizens to join me in keeping him and his beautiful family in our hearts and prayers throughout this difficult time," Tecklenburg said in an email.

The city's next police chief will be selected from within the ranks of the department or through a nationwide search, but the city hasn't decided which route the search will take.
FOLLY BEACH  Samantha Miller's groom blames four local bars for negligently serving copious amounts of alcohol to the woman accused of driving drunk when she mowed down his 34-year-old bride and injured him and two others, according to a new lawsuit.

The complaint contends the bars breached their duties of care to the public and patrons when they supplied 25-year-old Jamie Lee Komoroski with alcohol the night of April 28 after they knew, or should have known, she was drunk.

South Carolina statute prohibits establishments with permits to sell alcohol, beer or wine from serving patrons who are intoxicated.

Komoroski was allowed to leave the bars, pile into a Toyota Camry and drive "in a drunken haze," the complaint states.

Folly Beach police reported the New Jersey native was driving 40 mph over the speed limit on East Ashley Avenue just after 10 p.m. April 28 when she careened into the rear of a low-speed vehicle carrying four people from a wedding reception, including the bride and groom.

A toxicology report shows Komoroski's blood-alcohol level was 0.26  more than three times the legal limit.

The bride, Miller, experienced "conscious physical pain and suffering" before she died on the scene, according to the complaint.

The three other passengers  her new husband, Aric Hutchinson, 36; his brother-in-law, Benjamin Garrett and Garrett's 17-year-old son  sustained injuries and are plaintiffs in the lawsuit, which was filed May 17 in Charleston County's Court of Common Pleas. Hutchinson is also named as the personal representative of his wife's estate.

The complaint lists as defendants five local establishments as well as Komoroski, who is also facing criminal charges, and more than a dozen unidentified individuals who may have contributed to the plaintiff's injuries. The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages on grounds including negligence, breach of duty, reckless hiring and training, negligent infliction of emotional distress and wrongful death.

Rumors have swirled in the weeks since the fatal crash about Komoroski's whereabouts that fatal night. The complaint offers the most detailed picture yet of where Komoroski was drinking. Charleston attorney Daniel Dalton, who filed the lawsuit, said he identified the businesses through video footage and eyewitness testimony discovered during an independent investigation. He said it is possible additional businesses may be identified over the course of the investigation.

"This case is about keeping the public  keeping all of us  safe from drunk driving," Dalton said. "Especially in South Carolina, where we have an unfortunately and particularly high incidence of drunk driving."

The complaint includes a photo of the newlyweds holding hands under a canopy of sparklers at their wedding reception near the Folly Beach County Park. Meanwhile, the complaint alleges, Komoroski "slurred and staggered" her way through El Gallo Bar & Grill on Daniel Island, followed by Folly Beach bars the Drop In, the Crab Shack and Snapper Jacks, which all dot the island's main road, Center Street. There, she guzzled beer, tequila shots and "shift shots" of liquor on the house.

"Despite being noticeably and visibly intoxicated at each of these establishments, Jamie Komoroski continued to be served, provided, and/or allowed to consume additional and excessive amounts of alcohol at each of them," the complaint alleges.

The owner of El Gallo Bar & Grill, Chris Duran, declined to comment when reached by phone. Management at the other establishments could not be reached for comment May 17.

Taco Boy, which recently hired Komoroski as a server, is also listed as a defendant. The complaint alleges the Mexican eatery on Folly Beach cultivated a culture that rewarded employees who socialized and drank alcohol with their supervisors.

The complaint cites a Taco Boy "function" that took place April 28  the day of the fatal collision  in which a supervisor allegedly coerced Komoroski "to drink alcohol beyond the point of visible intoxication, despite knowing that (she) had a previous history of alcohol abuse."

A spokeswoman for Taco Boy denied the allegation that there was an "officially organized employee event" April 28 involving drinking.

"We are committed to serving alcohol responsibly and take it very seriously for the safety of our staff and guests," the spokeswoman wrote in a provided statement. "Our hearts are with the family and friends impacted by this tragedy."

Hutchinson suffered brain damage and broken bones that required two reconstructive surgeries. He appeared at a beachside vigil last weekend to honor Miller. His brother-in-law underwent surgery for severe road rash and open wounds. The 17-year-old experienced minor injuries.

Komoroski remains held at the Charleston County jail after a magistrate denied her bail.
The French Senate has adopted a proposal to recognize the Holodomor of 1932-1933 as a genocide of the Ukrainian people.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba thanked the senators for the "historic vote" that restores justice and honors the memory of millions of victims.

"French Senat has just recognized the 1932-1933 Holodomor as genocide of the Ukrainian people. I am grateful to French senators for this historic vote which restores justice and honours the memory of millions of victims. Such crimes should never repeat and never be forgotten," Kuleba said on Twitter.

On March 28, the National Assembly (lower house of the French Parliament) recognized the Holodomor as genocide.
DILLON  Jenny Hardee has been named the new chief executive officer at McLeod Health Dillon.

Hardee said she is looking forward to serving the staff and patients.

"In this role, my goal is to serve alongside the staff and community to ensure the availability of excellence and quality medical care to the residents of Dillon and surrounding counties," Hardee said.

Hardee will focus on the mission and values of McLeod in relationship to the Dillon area.

She joined McLeod Health in 2005 as chief nursing officer for McLeod Health Darlington. Hardee has served as interim administrator at McLeod Health Cheraw during a leadership transition. Hardee also has served as administrator of McLeod Health Darlington.

McLeod Health Cheraw and McLeod Health Dillon recently received "A" hospital safety-grade ratings from the Leapfrog Group, a national nonprofit that upholds the standard of patient safety in hospital and ambulatory surgery centers.

This national distinction celebrates the hospital's achievements in prioritizing patient safety by protecting them from preventable harm and errors. The grades also reflect performance primarily during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

McLeod Health Cheraw also received an "A" rating from Leapfrog in fall 2022.

"McLeod Health Dillon's pursuit of quality improvements is unending," Hardee said, "and our staff is committed to delivering the highest level of care to the region," Hardee said.

McLeod Health Rural Regional Chief Medical Officer Dr. Caetie Rabon said the recognition reflects the teams' hard work, dedication and effort to provide quality care for patients.

"Surveys such as Leapfrog help us provide a culture of safety and identify how we can continue to improve the delivery of compassionate, quality care for every patient," Rabon said.

Hardee's clinical background includes experience as a staff nurse, nurse manager and clinical leader as the corporate vice president of McLeod Occupational Health. She also has worked as a school nurse and clinical instructor for the nursing program at Florence-Darlington Technical College, where she learned her associate degree in nursing.

Hardee earned her bachelor's and master's degrees in nursing from the Medical University of South Carolina School of Nursing. While in graduate school, Hardee was a member of Sigma Theta Tau, the nursing honor society.

Hardee and her husband, J. Todd Hardee, live in Darlington. They have two sons and two grandchildren.
ROCK HILL  A freshman legislator's first bill to pass honors his late son and could help decrease the number of people who fall prey to sexual extortion.

"I get one or two calls a day from people who have experienced it," Brandon Guffey, R-Rock Hill, said.

The bill, heading to Gov. Henry McMaster's desk, creates felonies for the crimes of sexual extortion and aggravated sexual extortion. Dubbed "Gavin's Law," the legislation states the crimes are for "threaten(ing) to release, exhibit, or distribute a private image of another in order to compel or attempt to compel the victim to do any act or refrain from doing any act against" that person's will.

Convictions can be punished by up to 20 years in prison if the victim was a child or a vulnerable adult, and up to five years for the first conviction if the victim is an adult.

There's also an educational component to Gavin's Law. Schools will be required to inform students about the law and the dangers of sexual extortion.

"I'm excited the bill went through this year," Guffey said. "We'll be able to warn students about this in the fall."

Last summer, Guffey's 17-year-old son, Gavin, was talking to someone on a social media app whom he thought was a female volleyball player at a North Carolina university. The app user convinced him to send nude photos on July 26 and instantly threatened to release them publicly if he did not pay.

He sent money over a mobile payment service that night, but the recipient said it wasn't enough. The same night the threats came in, Brandon Guffey, a York County councilman who was the Republican nominee for the S.C. House seat at the time, said he left his gun out in the open. Gavin Guffey then took his own life.

In November, Brandon Guffey released a 40-minute long video addressing his son's suicide that detailed the moments leading up to his son's death and how he learned his son was being extorted.

He hopes that other parents of teenagers will understand the frequency that nude photos are exchanged online and have shame-free conversations with their children about scammers.

As of the end of 2022, 26 states had made revenge porn and sextortion illegal, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
SPARTANBURG  Southside residents are concerned about plans to redevelop the former Pepsi-Cola Bottling Company site on South Church Street into a manufacturing facility for an automotive interior component supplier.

Residents voiced their concerns at a recent meeting about the proposed redevelopment of the site. Along with city officials, residents were able to direct questions to members of the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control, EnviroSouth, Inc. and developers.

Grenville-based M Peters Group is interested in purchasing and redeveloping the site on the corner of Palisade and South Church Streets and a few blocks away from Mary H. Wright Elementary School and Carver Middle School.

The real estate company will develop the site under Bottle Works South, LLC.

The site has been vacant for two years after being in use for over four decades. Pepsi relocated to a new facility in the county.

If the $20 million project moves forward, developers would build a 100,000-square-foot light-manufacturing facility, and an automotive interior component supplier would move in.

Though city officials and developers have not released the name of the automotive interior component supplier, they said the company already has a facility in Spartanburg County and is a second tier automotive supplier who provides interiors for BMW.

Luther Norman, 65, has lived in the Southside for 40 years. Norman owns two parcels of property on Amos Street that are next to the site. Hed like to see the site redeveloped into something but is worried about emissions from a factory impacting seniors who live in the area.

Luther said hes excited about the growth that Spartanburg has seen over the years but wants city leaders to talk to more investors to see what could be a better fit for the community.

The thing that I was most motivated to avoid is folks forming opinions about the desirability of this proposal based on misinformation or disinformation, City Manager Chris Story said.

Story said leaving the site vacant can have a negative impact on property values in the area. He said its common for a property that was redeveloped and was previously used for commercial purposes prior to the 1970s and 1980s to be tied to a Voluntary Cleanup Contract.

A VCC allows a party that is not responsible for the presence of or potential presence of hazardous substances, pollutants or contaminates on a property to acquire the property with government liability protection, according to DHEC's website.

The non-responsible party agrees to perform an environmental assessment or remediation of the property.

The company, which is more than 150 years old and was started in Germany, would relocate its headquarters to the former Pepsi site, hire around 100 more employees and sign a 20-year lease.

Developers said the company has intentions to hire nearby residents and provide training for jobs that start at $18 an hour.

Mark Peters, president and partner of M Peters Group, said cleanliness and air quality is important to the automotive supplier.

There will be no emission that would need some kind of filter or permit, Peters said. It is a clean operation.

Jennifer Gosnell, executive vice president and partner of M Peters Group, said plans are to reintroduce nature into the site by adding trees, grass and solar panels on the roof. The sites existing structures will be demolished.

Southside residents are concerned about any possible contamination on and around the site and how developing a manufacturing facility within a residential area could impact the Southside.

Over the decades, the site has had many industrial uses, such as manufacturing and auto repair. Pepsi operated a fleet on the site where it fueled its own trucks, so underground storage tanks were used for gas and diesel.

The tanks have been removed, and a release was documented from the tanks in the past. Keigan Mennetti, environmental engineer at EnviroSouth, Inc. who is evaluating the site on behalf of the developers, said that the release has been remediated to meet state standards.

Mennetti said EnviroSouth did a pre-assessment of the property to look into its historical use and saw some chemical usage on the property in the past that couldve caused some issues.

The site is a Brownfield property. In 1995, the Environmental Protection Agency Created the Brownfields Program to change the way contaminated property is perceived and managed. Such sites have presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant might complicate the expansion, redevelopment or reuse of the property, according to the EPAs website.

Theres nothing that we have concrete evidence of, just that they used these compounds on the property, and there is a chance that they could have contaminated the soil and groundwater, Mennetti said.

Under the contract, DHEC will not hold Bottle Works South responsible for pre-existing pollution in exchange for doing work under the VCC. Bottle Works South will test soil and groundwater on the property. If significant contamination is found, the company will be responsible for taking the steps to ensure the site is safe.

Willa Reeder has lived in the Southside for over 30 years and is the president of the South Converse Neighborhood Association. Reeder worries that the demand for the companys product will increase and will lead it to operate 24 hours, causing noise pollution.

Theres no blueprint to actually make this work, Reeder said.

Tammie Holbert grew up on the Southside and lives less than a mile from the former Pepsi site and remembers how the former Arkwright landfill contaminated the Southside community. It closed in the 1970s, and remedial fieldwork investigation took place at the 30-acre landfill in the early 2000s.

"The people here are already subjected to contamination from Arkwright era, so I don't think it's a good idea, Holbert said.

Among other concerns mentioned at the May 9 meeting were the manufacturing company being near two schools and a desire for the state to not only test the site but homes on both sides of the facility. Residents were also concerned about emissions from trucks and the increased traffic that would be on streets if the company relocates to the site.
PR-Inside.com: 2023-05-17 15:01:24

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PHILADELPHIA, PA / ACCESSWIRE / May 17, 2023 / The escalating battle between Claudin 6 (CLDN6) immunotherapies from Amgen, BioNTech and Context Therapeutics, and CLDN6 antibody-drug-conjugates (ADC) from Daiichi-Sankyo and TORL BioTherapeutics will be a highlight of the upcoming 2023 American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting (ASCO 2023), taking place on June 2-6, 2023, in Chicago, IL.At ASCO 2023, BioNTech and TORL will present Phase 1 clinical trial data on CLDN6-targeted programs, including BNT142, BNT211, and TORL-1-23. This will be the first major clinical data set presented on the emerging target CLDN6 and, if positive, could position CLDN6 as one of the most-promising cancer drug targets in recent years.CLDN6 - a promising drug target for oncology drug developersCLDN6 is selectively expressed in cancer cells and functions as cellular Velcro, helping the cancer cells attach to one another. The more CLDN6 that is found on the cancer cell, the worse prognosis for the patient. This may be attributed to CLDN6-enhancing cell attachment, enabling the cancer cells to form an impenetrable ball-like structure.CLDN6 is enriched in a wide range of cancers, most notably non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), testicular, and ovarian.The development of CLDN6-targeted therapies is challenged by the genetic overlap between CLDN6 and closely related Claudins, including CLDN3, CLDN4, and CLDN9. Unlike CLDN6, these closely related proteins are expressed in normal healthy tissue, making selectivity for CLDN6 critical.CLDN6 drug development is nascent, with the first substantial clinical data to be presented at ASCO 2023. Multiple therapeutic strategies against the target are being pursued, including bispecific antibody and cell therapy immunotherapies, and ADCs.A still unknown quantity is Context Therapeutic's CTIM-76, a CLDN6 x CD3 bispecific antibody, said to be the most selective CLDN6 binder of the bunch.Preclinical data presented at the 2023 American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting highlighted CTIM-76's unique attributes, including the potent killing of CLDN6-expressing cells, developability, and manufacturability.BioNTech will present multiple updates from its CLDN portfolio, most notably an update from their CLDN-6-targeting CAR-T cell therapy, BNT211, in combination with CLDN6- encoding mRNA vaccine (CARVac) in solid tumors (poster #2518).The company first communicated results at the 2022 AACR Annual Meeting. In that data, the addition of CARVac, an mRNA vaccine expressing CLDN6 antigen, stimulated BNT211 proliferation, but not to the extent that the company saw with mice, and the overall response rate was 43% with the most positive results in testicular cancer.At the 2022 European Society for Medical Oncology Congress, BioNTech presented follow-up data with additional patients with testicular cancer which demonstrated stronger response durability in testicular cancer with six of 11 patients ongoing in study >30 weeks, including one complete response and one partial response. At ASCO 2023, it will be informative to learn whether BNT211 can generate durable clinical responses in larger indications like ovarian cancer or NSCLC.Additionally, any update regarding safety issues, including how BioNTech addresses transaminase and lipase-related toxicities, which are potentially connected to off-target binding to CLDN3 and CLDN4, sister proteins to CLDN6 that are enriched in healthy liver and pancreatic cells, respectively.BioNTech will also provide a trial-in-progress update for BNT142 (mRNA vaccine encoding a CD3 x CLDN-6 bispecific, poster abstract TPS2669). Given that mRNA vaccines accumulate in the liver, any reported CLDN3-related liver toxicities would be of importance. If BNT142 exhibits a relatively clean safety profile, then the CLDN6 field would benefit from greater investor confidence in the ability to treat for extended periods of time with a modest risk of dose-limiting toxicities.TORL Biotherapeutics will present the first clinical data from its CLDN6 ADC TORL-1-23. In April, TORL announced a $158 million financing to support the development of its pipeline. At ASCO 2023, TORL-1-23 trial-in-progress clinical data will be presented and may show if the ADC can generate responses on par with BNT211, particularly in testicular and ovarian cancer. In vitro and in vivo preclinical data suggest that TORL-1-23 may exert much of its activity through ADCC-mediated immune response as opposed to direct ADC-mediated cell death. Clinical data presented will hopefully provide greater insight into immune cell recruitment versus bystander-mediated cell killing.Additionally, it will be important to learn more about any toxicity TORL-1-23 exhibits including bone marrow toxicity, sepsis, and severe motor neuropathy, which would be consistent with other ADCs that utilize monomethyl auristatin E (MMAE) as their toxin.Image sourced from ShutterstockContact:IR: Laine Yonker, lyonker@ edisongroup.com PR: Gina Cestari, gcestari@6 degreespr.com SOURCE: Context Therapeutics Inc.
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According to Rajesh Rajaram, CEO of Auction.io , "We are thrilled to welcome Doorsey to our business. Doorsey has developed a groundbreaking platform that has revolutionized the home buying process by providing buyers with a transparent, efficient and secure way to purchase properties and sellers with tools to maximize value and speed of the sale transactions. While Auction.io is strong in the automotive, collectibles, liquidation, live animals, electronics and other areas, the acquisition of Doorsey is a strategic move".DALLAS, TX / ACCESSWIRE / May 17, 2023 / Auction.io , a leading B2B SaaS provider of auction and e-commerce solutions that has processed more than 1 billion auction transactions for Fortune 500 and middle-market companies, announced today that it has acquired Doorsey, a modern high-tech online platform designed to facilitate and improve real estate transactions for buyers, sellers and their agents. Auction.io The acquisition of Doorsey by Auction.io marks a significant milestone for both companies. By adding Doorsey's innovative technologies and expertise, Auction.io is significantly expanding its presence in the residential and commercial real estate market. The Doorsey platform has consistently outperformed the traditional method of selling properties, and with additional resources from Auction.io , it is well positioned to accelerate its growth trajectory in the foreseeable future.Doorsey's mission is advancing the new tech-enabled era for residential real estate with one of the most comprehensive for-sale listing platforms available on the market today featuring an open auction process for selling properties. Buyers have access to a third-party inspection report, seller disclosures, a 3D virtual tour, and a community forum for interacting with sellers and neighbors - everything that a buyer needs to bid with confidence, even sight unseen, and sellers have a transparent and robust digital tool to maximize their selling price and closure rate. The platform differentiates itself by providing buyers and real estate agents with full visibility into competing offers in real-time. The real estate agents favor the Doorsey platform because of the intuitiveness of its interface and ease of use, as well as the robust functionality of the software solution and additional control over the selling process that it provides. Doorsey's listings are posted on the local MLS (Multiple Listing Services) and distributed through national real estate websites, including Zillow, Trulia, Redfin, and Realtor.com According to Rajesh Rajaram, CEO of Auction.io , "We are thrilled to welcome Doorsey to our business. Doorsey has developed a groundbreaking platform that has revolutionized the home buying process by providing buyers with a transparent, efficient and secure way to purchase properties and sellers with tools to maximize value and speed of the sale transactions. While Auction.io is strong in the automotive, collectibles, liquidation, live animals, electronics and other areas, the acquisition of Doorsey is a strategic move that enables us to further expand our reach in the real estate market and provide a best-in-class online auction marketplace solution for buyers and sellers in that space too." Doorsey's Founder and CEO, Jordan Allen, added, "We are excited that Doorsey will join forces with Auction.io and believe that this partnership will enable the business to continue to shake up the real estate industry. Our mission has always been to make the residential and commercial real estate buying process as seamless and transparent as possible, and we are confident that by joining forces with Auction.io , we will be able to achieve this goal." Doorsey's operations will be integrated with Auction.io offerings shortly after this transaction. The terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.About Auction.io Founded in Oct 2021, Auction.io is a Dallas, TX based B2B SaaS solution company that provides customizable single and multiple vendor e-commerce auction marketplaces in the US and globally. For more information, visit www.auction.io About DoorseyDoorsey is SaaS platform designed to improve the home buying and selling offer process. Doorsey's mission is to advance the new tech-enabled era for residential real estate, providing buyers, sellers, and their agents full transparency throughout the offer process. To learn more, visit www.doorsey.com Contact InformationRajesh RajaramCEOrajesh@ auctionsoftware.com 2143997046Related ImagesDoorseySOURCE: Auction.io
Another child, six-year-old Anna-Maria, the daughter of Ukrainian soldiers who were in Russian captivity for a long time, was returned to Ukraine to her parents, Human Rights Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets has said.

"Ukrainian children can have a happy future only with their family in their native land. And recently this happened with the girl Anna-Maria, who, with the help of our Office, was able to return to Ukraine from the territory of Russia," Lubinets said on his Facebook page on Wednesday.

According to Lubinets, six-year-old Anna-Maria returned to her parents, who had been in Russian captivity for a long time. "The girl's mom and dad are soldiers who were captured in their hometown of Mariupol, protecting it from the Russian military who came to destroy and kill," the Ukrainian ombudsman said.

According to him, after being released from captivity, the girl's mother turned to the Commissioner's Office with a request to assist in the return of her daughter. "Due to the interaction of the commissioners of Ukraine and Russia, the employees of the secretariat of the Ukrainian ombudsman managed to return the little Ukrainian home," Lubinets said.
PR-Inside.com: 2023-05-17 14:30:37

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NORTHAMPTON, MA / ACCESSWIRE / May 17, 2023 / Cisco Systems Inc.International Girls in ICT Day is a global movement encouraging girls and young women to pursue science, technology, engineering, art and math (STEAM) education and careers.Cisco hosts events through our Women Rock-IT program, which began in 2014 and has seen more than two million participants, with over half enrolling in one of our Cisco Networking Academy courses as a result.On Girls in ICT Day, we heard from women who are working on critical environmental issues like climate change and learned how developing digital skills now can help protect our planet! You can find past episodes in our on-demand library.This is a guest blog from one of our speakers, Brent Davies, President of VP Data Commons. Brent has 25 years of experience in forest restoration and protection, leading multiple collaborations of public-private-Tribal entities to identify shared priorities, develop long-term, science-based strategies, secure resources, and implement targeted conservation solutions. She has co-created a series of ecosystem service finance opportunities for climate-smart land managers; these include a tropical butterfly farm, certified timber cooperative, carbon offset methodology, watershed restoration fund, and Tribal forest bank. Brent's work involves integrating data and technology in applied conservation projects and expanding access to new technologies for underserved landowners.The scale of need for forest restoration and protection today means that technology is central to our success. Yet it was not always so, as my winding career demonstrates.I grew up in Portland, Oregon hiking the trails of nearby Mt. Hood National Forest and exploring the City's arboretum on weekends. This is where I first learned how quickly our forests were disappearing and how we could take action in our forests at home to help slow and even reverse the devastation.I started my career far from the technology-centered data commons I lead today. Working for the Xerces Society and the Zoological Society of San Diego, I started out teaching a group of women how to raise and sell butterfly pupae for profit at the mouth of the Rio Colorado River that enters the Caribbean on the border of Nicaragua and Costa Rica. We did not use much high tech but did create a successful butterfly farm that generated income for the women's cooperative that ran the farm and split the proceeds with the adjacent school.Realizing that tropical butterfly conservation may not directly translate into a job back home in the Pacific Northwest, I went to graduate school to study Forest Ecosystem Analysis at the University of Washington. That's where I first experienced how powerful technology combined with forest science can be! Students and faculty were using new modeling software to predict the state of forest health under a variety of management and climate scenarios. Yet, we were still using Mylar plastic sheets on top of topographical maps to sketch watershed restoration projects. Low-tech indeed.Then I went to work for a community group focused on environmental education and salmon habitat restoration at the mouth of the Columbia River-another rural area dependent on forests. There, I learned how to incorporate fish and wildlife population data to identify priorities for habitat restoration and protection. Where do we find juvenile Coho and Chinook salmon, for example, and how do we extend protections from their "anchor habitats" up to the ridge tops? Current and historic satellite, Lidar along with ground-truthed and collected data is how I answered these questions.A watershed momentAs I worked on larger watersheds, I learned to use data science and to partner with experts in computer modeling. We started prioritizing the scarce resources of my nonprofit organization and targeted our efforts in the places that would have the most impact on threatened and endangered species and rural economies. We overlapped dozens of data layers to map areas and find strategies that would, for example, increase local jobs while improving salmon productivity.When we collected the data and did the calculations per county, we found that for every million dollars invested in watershed restoration, an average of 19 jobs were created, compared to an average of 5 jobs for every million dollars invested in the oil and gas sector.Larger landscapesAs I shifted my focus to larger landscapes, my work centered on the historical, current, and potential carbon sequestration and storage capacity of regional forests. We saw the potential for so much additional carbon storage in forests, especially if we were able to shift away from the dominant industrial style of management. By lengthening the time between harvests (known as harvest rotations), we found that forests can store substantially more carbon while still delivering wood to the market. We wrote the first Improved Forest Management methodology for carbon offsets (Verra's VM0003) that focuses on extending harvest rotations and includes a requirement for additional oversight by the Forest Stewardship Council. Given the recent controversy over forest carbon offsets, requiring an extra, internationally respected oversight of any credits issued feels like the right decision to have made more than a decade ago.Now we can use remote sensing technology to monitor and verify forest carbon offset, restoration, and protection claims. We track and quantify the degradation of forest loss and forest recovery over time using satellite technology. We are daylighting the current leadership of Native American Tribes using technology to quantify timber outputs, carbon storage, and ecosystem impact over time compared to neighboring state, federal, and private forests.After 150 years of excluding Indigenous stewardship-on top of decades of fire suppression and intensive natural resource extraction-many forests in the western United States are highly susceptible to wildfire and other devastating impacts. The analysis we conducted, built on the underlying satellite and analytical technology, makes the case for Indigenous stewardship to protect and restore forests.Yet as forest restoration has become more sophisticated, the associated data management, curation, and analysis have not kept pace. Finding and accessing data and filling gaps for scientific research and planning for ecosystem health and resilience is currently an arduous, often multi-year task. Data is housed in multiple locations, collected according to different standards, and at different temporal and geographic scales. This lack of easy-to-access, consistent, conformed, transparent, current data is an impediment to addressing ongoing
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TORONTO, ON / ACCESSWIRE / May 17, 2023 / Electrovaya Inc. ("Electrovaya" or the "Company") (TSX:EFL); (OTCQB:EFLVF), a leading lithium-ion battery technology and manufacturing company, today provided an update on its proprietary solid state lithium metal battery technology at its Electrovaya Labs division.Progress is ongoing in several areas:Multi-layer pouch cells have been developed, and they are amenable for scale up.A critical materials technology is the ionic conducting ceramic material. Electrovaya has initiated a program to synthesize the ceramic ionic conductor. A number of different synthesis routes are being developed, and the pouch cells are being fabricated using the Electrovaya-produced ceramic ion conducting material.The cell design is essentially anode-less. This allows higher volumetric energy density and lower cost.The cells have undergone very high charge and discharge-rates, and the pouch cells are amenable to such high rates.Design work on the production line is underway, and a prototype line is expected to be in place later in 2023.The target of this project is to double, if not triple, the volumetric energy density of the cell compared to a conventional lithium ion cell technology."Electrovaya's solid state battery is designed for applications such as passenger vehicles and aircraft that require very high energy density performance. With its high energy density, we believe that it has the potential to become a preferred low-cost battery for these and other applications," said Dr. Raj DasGupta, CEO of Electrovaya. "This solid state battery is complementary to Electrovaya's Infinity battery platform, which has leading performance for cycle life and safety and is ideal for heavy duty, mission critical applications including electric forklifts, buses, trucks, energy storage." Investor and Media Contact:Jason RoyDirector, Corporate Development and Investor RelationsElectrovaya Inc.905-855-4618 / jroy@ electrovaya.com About Electrovaya Inc.Electrovaya Inc. (TSX:EFL)(OTCQB:EFLVF) is a pioneering leader in the global energy transformation, focused on contributing to the prevention of climate change by supplying safe and long-lasting lithium-ion batteries without compromising energy and power. The Company has extensive IP and designs, develops and manufactures proprietary lithium-ion batteries, battery systems, and battery-related products for energy storage, clean electric transportation, and other specialized applications. Headquartered in Ontario, Canada, Electrovaya has two operating sites in Canada and has acquired a 52-acre site with a 135,000 square foot manufacturing facility in New York State for its planned gigafactory. To learn more about how Electrovaya is powering mobility and energy storage, please explore www.electrovaya.com Forward-Looking StatementsThis press release contains forward-looking statements relating to the performance of the Company's proprietary solid state hybrid lithium metal battery, anticipated future performance based on past performance and upgrade of our current battery line, opportunity to expand product offerings and customer base, ability of the technology to meet passenger automotive and aerospace applications, ability to develop solid state batteries, ability to develop solid state batteries with pouch cells, ability to produce solid state batteries, ability of the solid state batteries to withstand high rate uses, ability to scale solid state battery cell sizes, ability to produce ion conducting ceramic material with respect to volume and quality, deployment of the Company's products by the Company's customers, and the use and performance of batteries and can generally be identified by the use of words such as "may", "will", "could", "should", "would", "likely", "possible", "expect", "intend", "estimate", "anticipate", "believe", "plan", "objective" and "continue" (or the negative thereof) and words and expressions of similar import. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, such statements involve risks and uncertainties, and undue reliance should not be placed on such statements. Certain material factors and assumptions are applied in making forward looking statements, and actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied in such statements. Statements with respect to the performance and life of the Company's products by the Company's customers are based on an assumption that the Company's customers will deploy its products in accordance with communicated intentions and in accordance with recommended usage practices. Past performance of the batteries may not be indicative of future performance. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations include but are not limited to usage patterns by customers, environmental factors affecting usage, and normal product quality variation which effects are not predictable. Additional information about material factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations and about material factors or assumptions applied in making forward-looking statements may be found in the Company's Annual Information Form for the year ended September 30, 2021 under "Risk Factors", and in the Company's most recent annual Management's Discussion and Analysis under "Qualitative And Quantitative Disclosures about Risk and Uncertainties" as well as in other public disclosure documents filed with Canadian securities regulatory authorities. The Company does not undertake any obligation to update publicly or to revise any of the forward looking statements contained in this document, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.SOURCE: Electrovaya, Inc.
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Hope and Sesame Barista Blend Sesamemilk is gaining popularity with influential cafes and consumers, launching on more menus across the US and CanadaHope and Sesame showcased its full line up of shelf-stable Sesamemilk in six innovative hot and iced beverages at the 2023 Specialty Coffee Association Expo in Portland, Oregon, April 20-23 2023CHICAGO, IL and VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / May 17, 2023 / The Planting Hope Company Inc. (TSXV:MYLK)(OTCQB:MYLKF)(FRA:J94) ("Planting Hope" or the "Company"), a plant-based food and beverage company focused on producing the world's most nutritious and planet-friendly products, is proud to announce that Hope and Sesame continues to expand distribution of its Barista Blend Sesamemilk to influential distribution partners and leading fifth wave cafes across the US and Canada, including:The Roasters Pack, Toronto ON (leading coffee distributor operating Canada's largest coffee subscription business)The Green Line Cafe coffee chain (all locations), Philadelphia, PAJinJin Matcha's Matcha + Tea Room, Tacoma, WATwo Sparrows Cupcakes & Coffee Bar, Nainamo, BCHideout Coffee, Boise, IA10 Dean Cafe, Toronto, ON"We're thrilled with the excitement around Sesamemilk as it's embraced as the new it' milk by leading influential cafes and distribution partners," said Julia Stamberger, CEO and Co-Founder, Planting Hope. "Customers are citing a number of reasons why they're thrilled by Sesamemilk, from taste, to fantastic performance in barista applications, to sustainability. In the ongoing evolution of the cafe industry, now entering its fifth wave of development, plant milk is quickly gaining traction in cafes, and Sesamemilk is entering this market at the right time and right place to become the next leading subcategory next to oat milk on the menu." The Plant Milk Revolution is Being Led by Gen Z - in Coffee Houses and CafesMultiple research reports suggest that Generation Z ("Gen Z"), the demographic cohort born between the mid-to-late 1990s and early 2010s, is turning against dairy milk: Pan-European dairy co-op Arla found that 49% of Gen Z felt ashamed to order dairy products in public in front of their peers, and 57% plan to give up dairy milk completely. Who is buying alternative milks? More than 40% are aged 35 or younger. According to the New York Times, Gen Z and young Millennials are stepping away from traditional dairy milk and consuming more plant-milk options, for both health and environmental reasons, purchasing 20% less dairy milk last year than the national average.Gen Z is a generation of coffee house consumers; one third buy five or more foodservice beverages every week. Per the Project Cafe USA 2020 industry report published by Allegra Group's World Coffee Portal, the coffee shop market in the US currently exceeds $45.8 billion and is anticipated to scale to more than $60 billion by the end of 2027.Gen Z Values Sustainability - And Is Willing to Pay More For More Sustainable ProductsSustainability and climate awareness are top priorities for Gen Z and Millennials. More than 75% of Generation Z shoppers prefer to buy sustainable brands, and most are willing to spend 10% more on sustainable products, stating that sustainability is more important to them than brand names."We're exceptionally excited to distribute Hope and Sesame to our cafe clients," said Suneal Pabari, Co-Founder & CEO of The Roasters Pack. "It's an incredibly innovative product that is pushing forward on environmental sustainability - which is exactly the direction that specialty coffee should be heading. Not to mention the fact that it steams great, is healthy and of course, tastes so dang good." The Roasters Pack Wholesale is a specialty coffee distribution subdivision of The Roasters Pack, the largest coffee subscription in Canada. The wholesale division distributes essential supplies to more than 50 cafes in Toronto, the Greater Toronto Area, and Southern Ontario.Leading Influential Cafes are Sesamemilk's Early AdoptersThe Green Line Cafe, a five-door coffee chain in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, whose primary client base is Gen Z and Millennial consumers, has also added Hope and Sesame Barista Blend Sesamemilk to its everyday selection of alt milks after sampling Barista Blend at New York Coffee Fest in March 2023.The Green Line Cafe noted on its Instagram page that "In addition to pairing really well with espresso to make super tasty lattes, sesame milk is an incredibly sustainable and planet-friendly plant-based milk. Sesame is a hearty drought-tolerant, self-pollinating, naturally pest-resistant crop, AND Hope and Sesame uses upcycled seeds already used in sesame oil production to make their milks extra low waste!"The Green Line Cafe Instagram launch post and sidewalk sign featured in The Philadelphia Inquirer, displays Hope and Sesame Barista Blend Sesame Milk in April 2023. Cafe Culture - and Sesamemilk Applications - Extend Far Beyond CoffeeHope and Sesame Barista Blend is also showing early signs of success with non-coffee based beverage cafes, such as JinJin Matcha, a new Matcha and Tea room located in Tacoma, Washington. Discovering that Sesamemilk and Matcha were the perfect pairing, JinJin Matcha added Hope and Sesame Barista Blend to their permanent menu and noted that they've "been loving [the] milk!" As beverage innovation becomes more important to consumers and cafes alike, Hope and Sesame is leading the charge by bringing forward new sesamemilk-based recipes developed by barista influencers and Planting Hope Michelin-Starred Chef Henry Hill.Planting Hope Showcases Six Innovative Cafe Beverages at the 2023 Specialty Coffee Association ExpoHope and Sesame exhibited its full range of Sesamemilk flavors at the Specialty Coffee Association's Specialty Coffee Expo in Portland, Oregon, April 20-23. As the cafe industry's largest national trade show, the exhibition is a leading source of innovation and ideas for the cafe industry, from independents to major chains.In addition to a hot espresso Sesamemilk latte, at this year's Expo, Hope and Sesame sampled six innovative beverages featuring Hope and Sesame Barista Sesamemilk, including several non-coffee-based beverages. The full menu was well-received by Expo's audience of roasters, distributors, cafe chains, and independent cafes, who often stopped to sample one beverage and ended up staying to try them all:Toasted Black Sesame Chilled Nitro Latte (featuring Torani
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Originally published on Rayonier.com NORTHAMPTON, MA / ACCESSWIRE / May 17, 2023 / For years, Resource Land Manager Neris Biciunas puzzled over how to get rid of an invasive plant that was harming trees on Rayonier's Washington land. Called Scotch Broom, it is difficult to spot and nearly invisible from the air, except for a small window of time each year when it blooms with bright yellow flowers.Then Neris, who's based in Forks, Washington, became one of Rayonier's drone pilots. He flew his drone as soon as the Scotch Broom plants bloomed, collecting aerial photos so he could develop a precise map of the plant locations across miles of forestland. Once the plants were located, his team was able to develop a treatment plan to get rid of them.There are countless success stories like this that show how drone flights are impacting Rayonier for the better. They're used to take a quick initial look at a stand of trees, to monitor a contractor's work, to more safely assess the devastation during and after a forest fire, and even to create 3-D images.After a preliminary "pilot" team tested how the company could use drones in 2017, Rayonier saw the potential and launched the program nationwide, encouraging at least one forester in every U.S. location to get their FAA drone pilot's license. There are currently 30 pilots on our U.S. team.In New Zealand, our first employee pilots were trained in early 2018 after a couple years of working with contractors to test the impact of drones. Now we have a drone in each of the five regions in which we operate, with 15 trained pilots. The New Zealand team typically refers to their drones as UAVs, which stands for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles."We have some clever, motivated people who are determined to leverage this technology-and technology in general-to do existing work better and, even more exciting, find new ways to do more than we could previously," says Forest Information Manager Joanna Drabsch, who's based out of Auckland, New Zealand.A New Perspective"A drone allows us to see something we wouldn't have been able to see any other way. It's a tool that gives us a whole new perspective," says Technical Analyst Sara Bellchamber, a self-described gamer who organized the U.S. program.Based in Wildlight, Florida, Sara says one way she uses her drone is to help Rayonier's land resources team measure the depth of fill dirt pits using a program called Drone Deploy. The software uses images taken in a grid pattern and stitches them together into a 3-D image.Sara says she has seen drones save costs, increase safety and save time throughout Rayonier's ownership. In the South, for example, they minimize the gap in time between the harvest of a forest and the preparation of that forest for replanting during Florida's hot summers."After a harvest, you'd normally have to fly a plane to estimate what it will take to prep the site [for replanting]," she explains. "In high summer, there's a haze in the sky and planes can't take clear photos through it. But drones can fly below the haze, getting us the imagery we need much sooner." While planes are still the preferred option for imagery collection, work doesn't have to grind to a halt if a plane is not an option.Working with Drones in the ForestBlake McMichael and Dan Hildebrand, both Resource Land Managers based in Jesup, Georgia, use their drones when they're in the field assessing forests."One of the best uses I've found is for site-specific management," says Blake. "It helps me delineate where treatments are needed and where they're not. It's not replacing boots on the ground, it's giving us a birds-eye view we've never had before." Eliminating Hours of WorkFor Dan, who's been a Rayonier forester for more than 30 years, his drone eliminates hours of work tromping through the forest to locate pre-commercial thinning candidates, trees with flaws such as forking that should be removed to make room for the optimal trees to grow.When he first became a forester, "it used to be all boots on the ground," Dan says. "But I've always been open to new possibilities." In hazardous conditions such as difficult terrain, drones can make a task much safer. Neris, the forester in Forks, used his drone to save himself from a long, cold walk to determine whether snowy roads would be drivable or not after a heavy snowstorm (they weren't)."It took me 10 minutes to do with a drone what would have taken me 2 hours to do on foot," Neris says.That sentiment is echoed by many drone pilots across many tasks: work can be done quickly, accurately and more safely by incorporating a drone."My favorite way to use the drone is by using the Maps Made Easy software to quickly map a large area in high definition, then be able to convert that to a file which can directly be transferred to our GIS system," says Graduate Forester Patrick Dravitzki, who's based in Whangarei, New Zealand. "This is great for doing harvest reconciliation mark ups as we get an accurate measurement of the area which has been harvested, then compare that with the volume recovered to get a volume recovered per-hectare."This also solved a problem, as previously we had to walk the perimeter with a GPS or hand draw on a map. This method is a lot safer, faster and accurate." Using Drones to Prepare for the FutureThe drone pilots share files and tips with each other and come together for a regular cross-country phone call, hearing new ways fellow foresters have discovered to use their drones in the field and helping each other expand their skills. The team is continuously trying to prepare for what's next: several of the pilots are even part of a Rayonier "super users group" tasked with staying on top of any future technological advances that could benefit the company.Neris gives Rayonier leadership credit for supporting the program from the start."They were receptive, asked hard questions, listened thoughtfully, and let us check it out," he says.The result is a program that not only benefits Rayonier now (one forester said the information gleaned in a single flight saved more money than the cost of his drone), but it's also positioning Rayonier for the future."Having a team of drone pilots, the infrastructure for the program, the experience and understanding how to use the data we're collecting puts us in a very strong position for when the next development rolls along," Neris says. "We'll be ready." Neris's drone takes flight in Forks, Wasington.View additional multimedia and more ESG s
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WEST VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / May 17, 2023 / Potash, an alkaline potassium compound, is a vital fertilizer component and plays a crucial role in the agricultural industry. According to the U.S. Geological Survey, Canada, Russia, Belarus, and China are the world's top producers of potash. The demand for potash continues to rise, and as a result, Brazil has become one of the major global importers of potash. While Brazil's soil is phosphorus-rich, it lacks potassium, making it necessary to import potassium-rich fertilizers.Brazil faced a potash deficit in 2022. This was largely due to the supply chain disruptions brought on by the Russian-Ukraine war. Brazil is the fourth largest agriculture producer in the world and the country exports $160 billion in food products annually. In 2020, Brazil imported over 8 million metric tons of potash, with Canada being its main supplier, followed by Russia and Belarus.Brazil and other Asian countries in the Southern Hemisphere are in need of potash suppliers with lower transportation costs and fewer risks of geopolitical disturbances like the Russian-Ukraine war. A company called Millennial Potash (OTCMKTS:MLPNF) has recently acquired the Banio Potash Project in Gabon which could shape up to be an alternative supplier. The Gabon coastline is rich in potash deposits, presenting a possibly unique opportunity for the global potash supply chain.Russia is one of the world's largest producers of potash, and Belarus, a Russian ally, also produces a significant amount of potash. The Russian-Ukraine War resulted in the EU's slapping severe sanctions on the potash industry in Belarus for the country's support of the invasion. Canada, the world's largest producer of potash, has been unable to fill the gap left by Belarus, leading to a global potash shortage and rising prices. As a result, many countries like Brazil have been forced to either pay higher prices for potash or find alternative sources.Gabon's Banio Potash Project could be instrumental in helping with supply to Brazil and Asia. The country is estimated to have over 2 billion tons of potassium salts, making it one of the largest potash basins in the world. The Banio Project covers 1,238 km2 and is located in the southwest corner of Gabon. Due to its strategic location on the Atlantic coast of Africa, Gabon has a significant cost advantage due to its proximity to major potash markets in the Southern Hemisphere.The Banio Potash Project is strategically located in the well-known potash-bearing basin with an exploration camp, drill rigs and a drill core on site. Millennial Potash reports that its management team and board of directors are well-experienced in potash and other large-scale mining projects - with the Millennial team having built and sold multiple mining companies including Potash One, Allana Potash, and Millennial Lithium.As the global population grows and the global food supply becomes even more important, critical agricultural countries like Brazil will be even more important. Without dependable fertilizer suppliers, agricultural producers will struggle to meet global needs. The Banio Potash Project seems to be an untapped potash goldmine that is strategically ideal for countries in the Southern Hemisphere and could position Millennial Potash well in the market.Featured photo by Zbynek Burival on UnsplashContact:Michael Harrisir@ millennialpotash.com SOURCE: Millennial Potash Corp.
PR-Inside.com: 2023-05-17 18:00:57

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Now airing every Tuesday at 3:00pm PST, 6:00pm EST, and Friday at 10:00am PST, 1:00pm ESTATLANTA, GA / ACCESSWIRE / May 17, 2023 / The Moments with Marianne radio show, with host Marianne Pestana, is adding a new time to its current schedule. Already airing on Fridays at 10:00am PST, 1:00pm EST, the show has added Tuesdays at 3:00pm PST, 6:00pm EST on KMET 1490 AM / 98.1 FM, an ABC News Radio affiliate station.Moments with Marianne / KMET According to Nielsen Audio, KMET 1490 AM / 98.1 FM is part of the 25th largest U.S. radio market. Located near Palm Springs in Southern California, the terrestrial broadcast area covers the communities of Riverside, San Bernardino, and Temecula. An estimated 3.5 million people reside in the region, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Growth projections through 2035 are estimated to be more than 1.2 million housing units, a rate of 51% of growth.As a former producer of an Emmy-nominated show on PBS, Marianne Pestana brings top celebrities, authors, luminaries, personal stories and nonprofits to light in her award-winning show Moments with Marianne.After airing on KMET 1490 AM / 98.1 FM, the Moments with Marianne radio show is available on most online platforms, such as Audible, Apple Podcasts, Google Play, iTunes, Pandora, Spotify, Amazon Music, JoSaavn, Ghana Radio, iHeartRadio, Podbean, Stitcher, TuneIn, and many more. Streaming to an international audience of over 7 million listeners in over 70 counties, Moments with Marianne has over 900 episodes to choose from.Visit www.MariannePestana.com for more show information. The show can also be heard on KMET Radio's Internet stream by logging on to their website at www.kmet1490am.com . Contact the station at: info@ kmet1490am.com for more information on programming.Mitch McClellan, KMET GM909-319-1177mitch@ kmet1490am.com Contact InformationMarianne PestanaPublic Relationsmariannepestana@ gmail.com 3039456195Bill BrunsMarketing Manager at KMET 1490 AM / FM 98.1bill@ kmet1490am.com 909-553-4436Mitch McClellanKMET GMmitch@ kmet1490am.com 909-319-1177SOURCE: KMET 1490 AM / FM 98.1
PR-Inside.com: 2023-05-17 15:01:13

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HALIFAX, NS / ACCESSWIRE / May 17, 2023 / Namibia Critical Metals Inc. ("Namibia Critical Metals" or the "Company" or "NCMI") (TSXV:NMI)(OTCQB:NMREF) is pleased to announce that it entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to conduct a feasibility study for a rare earth separation plant in Namibia. The proposed separation plant aims at producing rare earth metals which can be directly used in the production of permanent magnets for electric vehicles and wind turbines.The recent Preliminary Economic Assessment of the Company's expanded project "Lofdal 2B-4" foresees an annual production of about 2,000 t of mixed rare earth oxides (MREO) over 16 years containing an average of about 117 tonnes dysprosium oxide and 17.5 tonnes terbium oxide, the most valuable rare earth elements (press release 3 October 2022).Separation of the rare earth elements (REE) is globally a major bottleneck for a de-risked supply chain for those strategic critical raw materials. While several separation technologies are available, separation facilities need a significant upfront capital expenditure, a steady raw material supply and a critical mass to operate viably. Therefore, the initiative was taken by the three advanced rare earth project developers in Namibia to jointly embark on a feasibility study for such a separation plant in Namibia.Besides NCMI, the parties of the MoU are E-Tech Resources (listed on the TSX Venture Exchange, TSXV: REE), exploring the Eureka monazite deposit in central Namibia, and Ondoto Rare Earth (Pty) Ltd., a private Namibian company developing the high-grade Ondoto bastnaesite deposit in northern Namibia. For the purpose of completing this feasibility study and possible construction and operation of a separation facility in Namibia, the three companies will participate in a joint venture known as the "Rare Earth Alliance Namibia" (REAN).Darrin Campbell, President of Namibia Critical Metals stated:"We are thrilled to explore the technical and commercial potential of a rare earth metal separation facility in Namibia. With the three partners of the Rare Earth Alliance Namibia we reach the critical mass to build such a metal separation plant. Our partners from Ondoto can provide licensed brownfield sites and construction teams which would potentially allow for a timely realization of permitting and construction of the facility.Namibia Critical Metals and the partners would significantly benefit from reduced, cost-based separation fees at the Namibian separation plant. This initiative would create further value addition in the country with all the attached socio-economic benefits and puts Namibia on the global map for these highly critical metals." The parties of the MoU agreed to explore and evaluate the technical potential and viability of developing a rare earth element (REE) separation facility to extract and separate REE from concentrates of mixed rare earth oxides produced in Namibia and possibly for rare earth concentrates and semi-products from outside of Namibia. Key elements of the feasibility study are the potential supply and specifics of REE concentrates from Namibian mines and other sources, potential locations for the facility, infrastructure requirements and all regulatory and environmentally considerations.If proven to be viable, the Rare Earth Alliance Namibia aims at designing, constructing and operating the REE separation facility through a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV).The facility would create a value-added chain in Namibia's mining sector through processing of REE-concentrates into more valuable REE-products and, thus, reduce the export of raw materials as concentrates, create jobs and improve skillsets in the country.About Namibia Critical Metals Inc.NMI is developing the Tier-1 Heavy Rare Earth Project, Lofdal, a globally significant deposit of the heavy rare earth metals dysprosium and terbium. Demand for these critical metals used in permanent magnets for electric vehicles, wind turbines and other electronics is driven by innovations linked to energy and technology transformations. The geopolitical risks associated with sourcing many of these metals has become a repeated concern for manufacturers and end users. Namibia is a proven and stable mining jurisdiction.The Lofdal Project is fully permitted with a 25-year Mining License and is under a Joint Venture Agreement with Japan Organization for Metals and Energy Security (JOGMEC).The Company filed a robust updated PEA for "Lofdal 2B-4" on November 14, 2022, with a post-tax NPV of USD$391 million and an annual IRR of 28% with a capital expenditure of USD$207 million. The project is projected to generate a life of mine nominal cash flow of USD$698 million post-tax over a 16-year mine life.About Japan Organization for Metals and Energy Security (JOGMEC) and the JVJOGMEC is a Japanese government independent administrative agency which seeks to secure stable resource supplies for Japan. JOGMEC has a strong reputation as a long term, strategic partner in mineral projects globally. JOGMEC facilitates opportunities with Japanese private companies to secure supplies of natural resources for the benefit of the country's economic development.Rare earths are of critical importance to Japanese industrial interests and JOGMEC has extensive experience with all aspects of the sector. JOGMEC provided Lynas with USD$250,000,000 in loans and equity in 2011 to ensure supplies of the Light Rare Earths metals suite to the Japanese industry.Namibia Critical Metals owns a 95% interest in the Lofdal project with the remaining 5% held for the benefit of historically disadvantaged Namibians. The terms of the JOGMEC joint venture agreement with the Company stipulate that JOGMEC provides C$3,000,000 in Term 1 and C$7,000,000 in Term 2 to earn a 40% interest in the Lofdal project. Term 3 calls for a further C$10,000,000 of expenditures to earn an additional 10% interest. JOGMEC can also purchase another 1% for C$5,000,000 and has first right of refusal to fully fund the project through to commercial production and to purchase all production at market prices. The collective interests of NMI and historically disadvantaged Namibians cannot be diluted below a 26% carried working interest upon payment of C$5,000,000 to JOGMEC for the dilution protection. To date, JOGMEC has approved the budget for Term 1 and 2 totaling C$10,375,000 provided that part of this budget is subject to an approval by METI, Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry of Japan.Other exploration projects: The Company's Exclusive Prospecting Licenses ("EPLs") prospective for gold are located in the Central Namibian Gold Belt which hosts a number of signif
PR-Inside.com: 2023-05-17 13:00:49

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Revenue Increased 72% over Q1 2022EDMONTON, AB / ACCESSWIRE / May 17, 2023 / OneSoft Solutions Inc. (the "Company" or "OneSoft") (TSXV: OSS), (OTCQB:OSSIF), a North American developer of cloud-based business solutions, announces its financial results for the three months ended March 31, 2023 ("Q1 2023").Please refer to the Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements and Management's Discussion and Analysis ("MD&A") for the three month period ended March 31, 2023 filed on SEDAR at www.sedar.com for more information. The MD&A contains a complete analysis of Q1 2023 and other information. Unless otherwise specified, all dollar amounts are denominated in Canadian dollars.FINANCIAL RESULTSFINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTSRevenue in Q1 2023 was $2.2 million, an increase of 72% or $0.9 million over Q1 2022 revenue of $1.3 million.Gross profit increased 73% to $1.6 million in Q1 2023 from $0.9 million in Q1 2022. Gross profit as a percentage of sales was 70.5% in Q1 2023 versus 70.1% in Q1 2022.The net loss was $0.7 million in Q1 2023, an $0.4 million improvement over Q1 2022's loss of $1.1 million, driven by the increase in gross profit.Liquid assets increased by $2.7 million to total $7.4 million at March 31, 2023 ($4.7 million as at December 31, 2022), comprised of $5.2 million cash and accounts receivable of $2.2 million. Customers renewing their CIM contracts for CIM usage generated the increase.Quarterly RevenueThe chart below shows revenue for the past twenty-seven quarters (6.75 years), equating to a compounded quarterly growth rate of 74.1%. Quarterly revenue increased because of the continued addition of new customers and augmented by the influx of customers gained June 20, 2022 in the acquisition of IM Operations. Management's objective is to continue to increase revenues to drive cash flow and profitability which we believe will increase future Company value for shareholders.REVIEW OF FISCAL 2023 GUIDANCEFurther to the Company's Fiscal 2023 guidance stated in a news release issued on January 24, 2023, Management currently believes that the Company is on track to achieve Fiscal 2023 financial results as stated in its guidance. Relevant figures for Q1 2023 are summarized in the following table.Readers are encouraged to refer to the Q1 2023 MD&A for more information regarding guidance and actual Q1 2023 figures.BUSINESS UPDATETechnology Development and Product RoadmapsTo strengthen the Company's competitive moat and in response to input regarding existing customers' functionality requirements, we continue to execute and deliver upon our technology and product development plans. In consultation with current and prospective customers, the Company expended efforts to advance its core Cognitive Integrity Management ("CIM"), Internal and External Corrosion, Crack and Risk modules. Management believes CIM enhancements continue to build and strengthen our competitive moat, encourage customer loyalty and contribute to customer "stickiness". We believe that providing the full complement of SaaS functionality requested by customers will provide opportunities to increase revenues from existing and future customers and preclude them from investigating potentially competitive solutions in future periods.The Company also continued to research pipeline bending strain and potentially other aspects of geohazard threat management. If this project proceeds beyond the Innovation Lab through to product commercialization, the resulting module(s) will be marketed as additional revenue generating components of CIM.Sales & MarketingSales and marketing initiatives continued in Q1 2023 which included sales efforts with prospective customers in North America and other jurisdictions in the world. OneSoft expects to enter into multi-year CIM SaaS contracts with new customers and to sell CIM components and services to IM Operations customers in Fiscal 2023 and future years.The Company invested resources to upgrade various marketing processes and tools during the last quarter, which we believe will optimize lead generation and sales efforts in future periods. These processes and tools are expected to improve customer support and enhance referability of CIM and related modules by existing customers to prospective customers.Please refer to the MD&A for more information regarding the Company's progress.OUTLOOKManagement believes that sales and revenue growth will continue into the foreseeable future based on three factors: (a) the Company's solutions are continually receiving strong validation as CIM use increases and user experiences are shared amongst industry participants; (b) our pipeline of prospective customers continues to grow; and (c) our competitive moat continues to grow, evidenced by the fact that we have not seen any competing solution to CIM that leverages machine learning, data science and cloud computing commercialized to date, world-wide, at tradeshows or during competitive sales processes. We are encouraged that certain prospective customers, who are not early adopters of new technology and who had no prior interest in replacing their legacy systems and processes with CIM, are now considering CIM as their next generation solution, as a result of the positive user experiences and validations stated by our current customers. We believe that the Company has crossed the chasm from only dealing with innovators and early adopter customers to now include majority market customer cohorts.Sales efforts are currently underway with prospective customers in North and South America, Europe, Middle East and Australia, and several U.S. based customers have initiated efforts to expand their use of our solutions to their international operating divisions. Management believes that OneSoft is poised for approximately 50% revenue growth in Fiscal 2023 over Fiscal 2022 and to achieve near cash-neutral monthly operations late in Fiscal 2023. With a strong balance sheet, sufficient cash on hand and a strong base of hallmark customers who generate recurring revenues, we believe there will be no requirement to raise additional capital to execute current business and operational plans.POST REPORTING DATE EVENTOn July 27, 2020, the Company published a news release advising that the Company had filed a Statement of Claim ("Lawsuit") against Cylo Technologies Incorporated and its principals ("Cylo"). On May 10, 2023, the Company settled the Lawsuit, terms of which included discontinuance on a without costs basis, the assignment to OneBridge Solutions Canada Inc. of two patents and one patent application registered by Cylo which embody portions of past generation On
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NORTHAMPTON, MA / ACCESSWIRE / May 17, 2023 / Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the USAID Higher Education Partnership Initiative (HEPI) project for a four-year commitment to implement advanced STEM programs and build strong pathways and partnerships between Indonesian and U.S. universities and industry. Arizona State University will serve as the implementing partner for HEPI, a U.S.-Indonesian partnership that connects U.S. universities to quality Indonesian academic programs.The organizations share a vision to advance Indonesian Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) higher education. Rockwell will provide hardware, software, and training support to develop advanced automation teaching labs at Indonesian universities. The labs will help to prepare students for in-demand careers with Indonesian manufacturers.The USAID HEPI project team will work closely with Rockwell engineers to co-design and implement the teaching labs with HEPI mentor hub university partners, including Universitas Hasanuddin (UNHAS), Bina Nusantara University (BINUS), and Institut Teknologi Bandung (ITB).Rockwell technologies are critical assets used by manufacturers across Indonesia. Hands-on access to and training on these smart manufacturing technologies will better prepare university graduates for the digital transformation happening across many industrial sectors in Indonesia."Rockwell Automation has been working with USAID and Arizona State University, since 2018 to advance STEM education in the ASEAN Region. This has included faculty training, student competitions, and the development of advanced teaching and research labs. Now, through the HEPI project, we are bringing these capabilities and opportunities to Indonesia," said Marcelo Tarkieltaub, Rockwell's regional director for Southeast Asia.Once the HEPI university hub partners stand-up these labs and programs, more than 20 additional Indonesia-affiliated university partners are expected to explore the opportunity to expand the program further to more students throughout Indonesia.Learn more here.A Memorandum of Understanding signing ceremony held May 5, 2023, in Jakarta has launched a new collaboration between industry and academia to advance STEM higher education in Indonesia.View additional multimedia and more ESG storytelling from Rockwell Automation on 3 blmedia.com Contact Info:Spokesperson: Rockwell AutomationWebsite: https://www.3blmedia.com/profiles/rockwell-automation Email: info@3 blmedia.com SOURCE: Rockwell Automation
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VICTORIA, BC / ACCESSWIRE / May 17, 2023 / Sarah Mae Ives, president and founder of Sarah Mae Ives Social Media Inc., a training company that offers a Certificate Program for Social Media Ads Managers, has been named a WSJ best-selling author for her nonfiction book: The No-Fluff Business: The 90-Day Guide to More Money, Freedom, and Purpose Online. Further proof that the business industry is swaying towards investing more money in sales and advertising online versus on billboards and television.WSJ Bestseller ListTestament to the changing timesThe advertising space is changing rapidly in 2023. Even a decade ago the term "ads manager" didn't exist, but the rise of social media and the advertising opportunities presented by it mean that fewer and fewer businesses are advertising on television, print and billboards and instead, companies are investing more and more dollars in advertising on social media. This is evidenced by just how many companies are now paying Ads Managers to create and run their company ads campaigns.This influx in online advertising applies to all companies, including local brick-and-mortar stores (gyms, spas, chiropractors and more) and online e-commerce platforms (including those that also have brick-and-mortar stores like Tiffany's, Mercedes and more). The role of the Social Media Ads Manager is increasing in prevalence each year, as more and more businesses begin advertising on social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Google and more.Due to the complexity of advertising online and the sheer amount of saturation in the online space, the role of Ads Manager is growing in demand, as well as for training programs like the Sarah Mae Ives Training program.Sarah Mae Ives is a leading industry expert in the digital media space, particularly in creating and running successful social media ads for companies across the world on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Google and more. Her Social Media Ads Training program for those wishing to launch their own Ads Agency is called: The No-Fluff Business Mentorship and has helped thousands of students since its inception in 2020.The Sarah Mae Ives program empowers its students, who are mostly women, to create their own businesses (specifically launching an ads agency for most). Students of the No-Fluff Business Mentorship also learn the fundamentals of business and how to provide a valuable offering to many businesses in need of scaling their engagement and digital presence.Contact InformationAndrea HertelOperations Manageradmin@ sarahmaeives.com 360-601-5705SOURCE: Sarah Mae Ives Social Media Inc.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the decision of the French Senate on the recognition of the Holodomor of 1932-1933 as genocide of the Ukrainian people is another important step towards the restoration of historical justice.

"I welcome the historic decision of the French Senate to recognize the Holodomor of 1932-1933 as genocide of Ukrainian people. I'm grateful to all senators who initiated and supported the resolution. This is another important step towards restoring historical justice and perpetuating the memory of millions of Ukrainians who were starved to death," he said on Twitter on Wednesday.
PR-Inside.com: 2023-05-17 22:32:17

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NOT FOR RELEASE, PUBLICATION OR DISTRIBUTION (IN WHOLE OR IN PART) IN, INTO OR FROM ANY JURISDICTION WHERE SUCH RELEASE, PUBLICATION OR DISTRIBUTION WOULD CONSTITUTE A VIOLATION OF THE RELEVANT LAWS OF SUCH JURISDICTION.Silver Lake Publishes Offer Document for Voluntary Public Tender Offer for Software AG - Acceptance Period Starts TodayFully financed offer to shareholders that can be accepted as of today until 14 June 2023Transaction only subject to regulatory approvals and minimum acceptance threshold of 50 percent plus 1 shareSilver Lake has already secured 30.1 percent of the share capital in SAG and has the option to convert its bonds amounting to EUR 344 million into shares equal to another 10 percent of the share capitalCash offer of EUR 32.00 per share represents a 63 percent premium on the last undisturbed closing price and a 57 percent premium on the undisturbed last three months volume-weighted average priceSilver Lake can optimally support Software AG in its transformation phase that is best executed in a private setting while shareholders can reap significant economics upfrontSilver Lake intends to delist Software AG as soon as practically possible, which is supported by Software AG's Management BoardSilver Lake reiterates that it does not require a DPLTA to finance the Takeover Offer and hence does not intend entering into a DPLTASilver Lake's offer has received vast support from key stakeholders:Unanimous support from the Management BoardUnanimous support from the independent takeover committee of the co-determined Supervisory BoardFull and unreserved support from the Company's Founder Dr. h. c. Peter Schnell and the Software AG Foundation, the longstanding 30 percent anchor shareholder of the Company, which will continue to hold a 5 percent stake subject to a lock-upThe Management Board and the independent takeover committee of the co-determined Supervisory Board of Software AG intend to recommend Software AG's shareholders to accept the offerMENLO PARK, CA / ACCESSWIRE / May 17, 2023 / Mosel Bidco SE (previously named Blitz 22-449 SE), a holding company controlled by funds managed or advised by Silver Lake ("Silver Lake"), today published the offer document for the voluntary public tender offer for all outstanding shares (ISIN: DE000A2GS401) of Software Aktiengesellschaft ("SAG") following approval by the German Federal Financial Supervisory Authority ("BaFin").Starting today, Software AG's shareholders can accept the offer and tender their shares at a price of EUR 32.00 per share, which represents a premium of 63 percent to the closing price of EUR 19.59 per share on 20 April 2023, and a 57 percent premium on the last three months volume-weighted average price (EUR 20.32 per share) at announcement. To tender their shares, shareholders must issue a written declaration to their respective custodian bank. The acceptance period will end at midnight (CET) on 14 June 2023. Shareholders should inquire with their custodian banks for any relevant deadlines set by custodian banks which may require actions prior to this date.The public takeover offer is subject to a minimum acceptance threshold of 50 percent plus 1 share of the entire issued share capital including treasury shares. At the time of the publication of the offer document, Silver Lake has already secured 30.1 percent of the share capital in Software AG, comprising a 25.1 percent stake which has been secured through an irrevocable share purchase agreement with the Software AG Foundation and another 5.0 percent stake purchased from other shareholders. In addition, Silver Lake also has the option to convert the convertible bonds which it purchased in February 2022 into shares equal to another 10 percent of the current share capital. The offer is subject to further customary conditions such as the receipt of regulatory approvals. Subject to the fulfilment of the offer conditions, closing of the transaction is expected in Q4 2023.Silver Lake's investment thesis is fully aligned with Software AG's strategy, which aims at creating value for all stakeholders and continuing to develop Software AG as a standalone company, headquartered in Darmstadt. Silver Lake's support of Software AG has cemented itself over a year ago since its EUR 344 million convertible bond investment in February 2022 and became Software AG's strategic partner.Silver Lake is convinced that due to the rapid digitalization of all areas of life, the technologies developed by Software AG will be of ever greater importance in the future. However, Software AG is facing a major multi-year transformation - particularly in the shift from traditional licensing models to software-as-a-service and cloud-based applications. The multi-year transformation will require significant investment amidst a challenging macroeconomic environment and uncertainty. Silver Lake believes that it is optimally positioned to support Software AG in this phase with its in-depth expertise in technology investments and in supporting companies in transformation processes and its long-term investment horizon and resource availability. Such transformation is best carried out in a private setting and Silver Lake intends to hence delist Software AG as soon as practically possible, which is supported by Software AG's Management Board, while shareholders have the opportunity to reap significant economic value upfront by tendering their shares.Silver Lake's offer and its strategic partnership with Software AG have the full and unreserved support from the Software AG Foundation, the Company's long-standing 30 percent anchor shareholder, which will continue to hold a 5 percent stake subject to a lock-up. The offer also has unanimous support from both the Management Board and the independent takeover committee of the co-determined Supervisory Board of Software AG. Subject to their review of the offer document, the Management Board and the independent takeover committee of the co-determined Supervisory Board of Software AG intend to recommend Software AG's shareholders to accept the offer.A domination and/or profit and loss transfer agreement is not required for Silver Lake to finance the Takeover Offer or to realize Silver Lake's economic and strategic objectives. Hence, Silver Lake does not intend to enter a domination and/or profit and loss transfer agreement with Software AG.The offer document is now available at www.offer-2023.com . Copies of the offer document are available free of charge at BNP Paribas S.A., Niederlassung Deutschland, Senckenberganlage 19, 60325 Frankfurt am Main, Germany (inquiries via telefax to +49 69 1520 5277 or via email to frankfurt.gct.operations@bnpparibas.com indicating a complete mailing address or email address).About Silver LakeSilver Lake is a global t
PR-Inside.com: 2023-05-17 17:10:37

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All dollar amounts reflected in Canadian dollars unless otherwise stated.VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / May 17, 2023 / Silver X Mining Corp. (TSX-V:AGX)(OTCQB:AGXPF)(F:AGX) ("Silver X" or the "Company") announces a non-brokered private placement (the "Private Placement") of up to 10,000,000 units (the "Units") at a price of $0.30 per Unit for gross proceeds of up to $3,000,000. Each Unit will be comprised of one common share (a "Share") and one Share purchase warrant (a "Warrant") with each Warrant entitling the holder to purchase one Share of the Company at a price of $0.45 per Share for a period of 24 months from the date of closing of the Private Placement (the "Closing Date").In the event that at any time following the date that is 4 months and one day following the Closing Date, the closing price of the Shares of the Company is at or above $0.60 per Share for a period of 10 consecutive trading days during the Warrant exercise period (with the 10th such trading day hereafter referred to as the "Eligible Acceleration Date"), the Warrant expiry date shall accelerate to the date that is 60 days after the Eligible Acceleration Date.Finders' fees of 6% cash and 6% finder's warrants may be payable to eligible parties.The Company intends to use the net proceeds from the Offering for capital expenditures and exploration related to the Nueva Recuperada Silver District in Peru (the "Project") and potential acquisitions of assets.The securities being offered under the Offering will be issued pursuant to applicable exemptions from the prospectus requirements under applicable securities laws and will be subject to a hold period that will expire four months and one day from the Closing.Closing of the proposed Offering is anticipated to occur on or about June 29, 2023. Closing of the Offering is subject to receipt of all necessary regulatory approvals including acceptance of the TSX Venture Exchange.Revenue Mine Assets Acquisition UpdateOn April 17, 2023, the Company announced that it had signed a purchase agreement to acquire the Revenue Mine assets, in Colorado, USA, out of receivership. The transaction remains subject to a number of conditions, including, without limitation, the approval of the District Court, Ouray County, State of Colorado (the "District Court"). The receiver has filed documents with the District Court seeking approval for the sale. As a part of the receivership process, two creditors have filed objections to the receiver's motion to approve the sale. The parties are awaiting determination of the District Court's review of this matter. At this time the conditions for closing have not been met and there remains uncertainty as to whether they will be met. The Company has been to site and met with the Ouray Board of County Commissioners, receiving positive feedback from the community who are eager to see mining activity return to the region. Silver X will continue providing progress reports as and when available as the Company continues to work to meet the conditions precedent and secure court approval.This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or solicitation of an offer to sell any 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.About Silver X Mining Corp.Silver X is a rapidly-expanding silver developer and producer in the Americas. The Company owns the +20,000-hectare Nueva Recuperada Silver District in Central Peru and produces silver, gold, lead and zinc from the district's Tangana Mining Unit. Our mission is to be a premier silver company delivering outstanding value to all stakeholders and we aim to achieve this by consolidating and developing undervalued assets, creating value by adding resources and increasing production while aspiring to social and environmental excellence. For more information visit our website at www.silverxmining.com ON BEHALF OF THE BOARDJose M. GarciaPresident, CEO and DirectorFor further information, please contact:Fiona Grant LeydierVice President, Investor Relations and Corporate MarketingT: +1 647 259 6901 x 101E: f.grant@ silverxmining.com Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.Cautionary Statement Regarding "Forward-Looking" InformationThis press release contains forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation ("forward-looking information"). Generally, forward-looking information can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "plans", "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", or "believes", or variations of such words and phrases or state that certain acts, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will be taken", "occur" or "be achieved". All information contained in this press release, other than statements of current and historical fact, is forward looking information. Forward-looking information contained in this press release may include, without limitation, exploration plans, results of operations, expected performance at the Project, the ability of the new zones at the Project to feed production at the Company's Nueva Recuperada Plant in the near term, the Company's belief that the Tangana system will provide considerable resource expansion potential, that the Company will be able to mine the Tangana Mining Unit in an economic manner, the expected financial performance of the Company, the ability of the Company to complete the proposed Private Placement, if at all, on the proposed terms, and the use of proceeds of the Private Placement.The following are some of the assumptions upon which forward-looking information is based: that general business and economic conditions will not change in a material adverse manner; demand for, and stable or improving price for the commodities we produce; receipt of regulatory and governmental approvals, permits and renewals in a timely manner; that the Company will not experience any material accident,
PR-Inside.com: 2023-05-17 18:00:48

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VANCOUVER, WA / ACCESSWIRE / May 17, 2023 / Sinceri Senior Living and its communities have been certified as a Great Place To Work for the fifth year in a row. Great Place To Work Institute is an independent research and consulting firm that evaluated the team members' experiences while working at Sinceri. The certification process considered over 1,900 staff surveys from across all of Sinceri's locations.Sinceri CEO Chris Belford stated that the company achieved outstanding results in the survey this year and had high employee engagement and satisfaction across all departments. He also expressed that one of Sinceri's priorities is its employees' well-being and recognized that a happy and engaged team helps the company achieve its goals.Sinceri shared a few of the many positive outcomes from the survey:89% of those surveyed agree that "their work has special meaning; this is not Just a Job."86% of those surveyed agree that "they feel they make a difference in their community."82% of those surveyed agree that "when they joined the company, they were made to feel welcomed."The company looks forward to the continued dedication and determination that is seen throughout all of its communities. As the senior living organization continues to grow, it will continue to strive for positive employee engagement, satisfaction, and retention.About Sinceri Senior Living:Sinceri Senior Living is a premier senior living management company that provides service to seniors in 21 states, serving approximately 3,800 seniors across the U.S. Sinceri Senior Living manages all levels of care, including independent living, assisted living, memory care, and skilled nursing communities. From the legacy of its first dedicated memory care community more than 35 years ago, Sinceri Senior Living has built a reputation for expertly managing senior living properties, including owned and managed facilities, with highly sought personalized care and exceptional, unique programming for residents and their families.Learn more about Sinceri Senior Living at www.sinceriseniorliving.com Contact InformationMadison AllenMarketing Specialistmadison@ sociallyposting.com 5404710742SOURCE: Sinceri Senior Living
PR-Inside.com: 2023-05-17 03:50:11

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RUTHERFORDTON, NC / ACCESSWIRE / May 16, 2023 / Mackin Talent, a global staffing firm with offices in the U.S., Canada, Europe and Asia is excited to announce the opening of its new East Coast headquarters in the historic community of Rutherfordton, North Carolina.Situated in a renovated auto garage and service station, Mackin's new East Coast operations hub is staffed by three longtime employees, all of whom are longtime Rutherfordton residents and have known each other since the sixth grade.The move shows how small towns can offer big opportunities, and how decisions based on employee wishes can generate a more productive work environment. The new Mackin location also illustrates the innovative ways in which workers are returning to office-environments in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic."Most global companies generally don't pick a small town to invest in," said Mackin Chief Executive Officer Andy Mackin. "But we believe in community, so if we can invest in small towns where we know it's a big deal for our people, and it will make a difference to the community, then why not? I think this says a lot about Mackin." Mackin's commitment to investing in the Rutherfordton region is reflected in the multi-use aspect of its new building.In addition to salvaging a historic building for its East Coast headquarters, Mackin has opened an entrepreneurial incubator in the building-under the MackinGo brand-to spur innovation in the town. The site is also available to local residents, including farmers, who are unable to secure wireless internet service in the surrounding rural areas.The recent opening of Mackin's Rutherfordton location also reflects the firm's "Employee First" approach to managing its workforce.A global staffing resource for companies large and small, Mackin could have placed its East Coast headquarters in any number of its existing offices, including those in Hartford, Atlanta and Charlotte. But after conferring with employees, Mackin opted for a solution that was near-and-dear to the heart of those employees who were already working remotely in Rutherfordton."Mackin could have placed this office in any of those locations, but this site was chosen because it's important to their people," said Mackin employee Heather Martinez, whose family has lived in Rutherfordton for generations. "I think that's a perfect example of how Mackin thinks-Hey, if I invest in my people, then they're going to stay with us long term.' It's also sending a message about small towns, which can really struggle with keeping young people and residents in general." Andy also pointed out that in a large city, "You're just one of the millions of people who live there." But a community like Rutherfordton, which sits close to Raleigh, Charlotte and Greenville, shows how smaller can be better for large companies and the people they employ.Adding to the luster of Rutherfordton is the presence of a Facebook data center just 10 miles away.And Rutherfordton's history shows how this community has been an important center of commerce for centuries.Named for Gen. Griffith Rutherford, a leader during the American Revolution, Rutherfordton, located at the the foot of the Blue Ridge Mountains, was:Founded in 1787.The site of the first U.S. Post Office in Western North Carolina.A natural stopping point for settlers making their way into the Western frontier.The national leader in gold mining for several years during the 1830s and 1840s.At the height of the North Carolina backcountry gold rush, home to perhaps the most successful private mint in U.S. history."Mackin is changing the perception of where big companies establish themselves," Andy said. "You don't have to go to Silicon Valley to be successful." An international staffing company offering contingent workforce solutions, Mackin is rewriting the playbook when it comes to a type of employment traditionally viewed as less secure than those positions with full-time status.Mackin's strategies underscore how a contingent workforce offers employers flexibility; cost savings; an increased talent pool; reduced risk; and increased productivity.And for employees, Mackin offers support by way of health, dental and vision benefits; a 401(k) fund; and paid time off.Mackin's Managed Services program includes an agile recruitment strategy and vendor-managed SOWs. And Mackin's Direct Hire and Executive Search services attract and lead to the hiring of highly-skilled, senior-leadership employees.Visit www.mackingo.com to learn more.Contact Information:Company: Mackin TalentAddress: 146 N. Main St., Suite 202A, Rutherfordton, NC 28139Contact Person: Andy MackinSend Email: andy@ mackintalent.com Website Link: www.mackingo.com SOURCE: Mackin Talent
PR-Inside.com: 2023-05-17 16:47:20

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NORTHAMPTON, MA / ACCESSWIRE / May 17, 2023 / Henkel:Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) are an important part of company culture. They help build community and engage different perspectives with the goal of encouraging positive change within and outside of the company.In our Spotlight series, learn about ERGs across Henkel North America, that include over 1,000 employees, and are helping to build an inclusive environment and spirit of belonging. Together we are advancing our DEI priorities.Learn more below about our ERG: Asian American Professional AssociationHenkel's Asian American Professional Association (AAPA) ERG aims to create a meaningful network of employees who are of Asian descent, have friends and family who are, and want to learn more to be better allies. The ERG seeks to positively impact Henkel's culture by creating a sense of community, while also helping employees achieve their professional potential by providing opportunities to help them grow and learn both in and out of the office.The Asian American Professional Association is important to advancing Henkel's diversity, equity and inclusion efforts by creating a sense of belonging and community for its members which ultimately improves employee morale, retention, loyalty, and overall organizational culture. The ERG is also helping drive awareness and bridge cultural differences.Despite members being dispersed across multiple locations in North America, the AAPA is able to create a sense of community by regularly hosting in-person and virtual activities, such as local food and clothing drives, guest speaker events, book clubs, trivia tournaments and virtual food festivals. One of the group's key team building activities is participating in the annual Riverfront Dragon Boat and Asian Festival in Hartford, Connecticut. The event celebrates Asian and Pacific Islander cultures through traditional music and dance, art activities, food, and martial arts. Last year, the Henkel team won first place in the boat competition.Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month is celebrated each May and this year, the theme is "Advancing leaders through opportunity." To Jennifer Manuel, co-president of the Asian American Professional Association, advancing leaders through opportunity can mean several things:"It can mean creating opportunities through networking, mentoring, and facilitating connections throughout the organization or providing opportunities for personal and professional growth through learning events. The AAPA is always looking to provide these various avenues of leadership opportunities to our community." Jennifer Manuel, National Business Manager, Henkel Consumer Brands, and Co-President AAPAThroughout the month of May, the ERG will be hosting multiple events for the Henkel community such as a panel discussion on the importance of advancing leaders, allyship, and belonging at Henkel and storytelling event that will culminate at the end of the month."We are an incredibly complex community. We have a very broad range of diversity within the Asian community, including a variety of languages, religions, histories, cultural influences, politics, climates, foods, and socioeconomics. We invite everyone to join our ERG to learn, grow and be allies for each other." Bikash Rajkarnikar, Senior Global Manager, R&D Venturing & Alliances, Henkel Consumer Brands, and Co-President AAPAWatch the winning Henkel boat crew gearing up for the 2022 Riverfront Dragon Boat and Asian Festival in Hartford, CT.View additional multimedia and more ESG storytelling from Henkel on 3 blmedia.com Contact Info:Spokesperson: HenkelWebsite: https://www.3blmedia.com/profiles/henkel Email: info@3 blmedia.com SOURCE: Henkel
PR-Inside.com: 2023-05-17 17:01:18

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Amid strengthening trade and security relationships between the United States and the Philippines, leading American-owned BPO firms are expanding their operations in the Philippines.ST. PETERSBURG, FL / ACCESSWIRE / May 17, 2023 / The United States and the Philippines renewed their longstanding partnership with the signing of the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA), granting the U.S. armed forces access to nine locations in the Philippines for use as bases and storage facilities. A few weeks later, Philippine President Marcos made a historic visit to the U.S. to meet President Biden.Following these high-level diplomatic engagements, a new chapter in economic cooperation is beginning to unfold. In addition to increased military presence, leading American BPO firms are using this opportunity to expand their operations in the Philippines as well.One prime example is Clark Staff, an American-owned outsourcing firm with nearly 1000 employees in the Philippines. Clark Staff's President and Co-founder, Russel Meiselman said "The expansions are primarily focused in key Philippine cities, including Bacolod and Clark Freeport Zone." He added, "The expansion involves setting up new contact centers and recruiting local talent, thus contributing to job creation and economic growth in the Philippines." The move comes as part of the company's strategic goals to tap into the Philippines' well-educated, English-speaking workforce and to take advantage of the favorable business environment fostered by the newly strengthened U.S.-Philippines relations.With the deepening relationship between Washington DC and Manila, new opportunities for economic cooperation and shared growth are emerging, with the BPO industry playing a significant part in this progressive shift.Clark Staff is an American-owned and operated, full-service BPO company located in St. Petersburg, Florida with locations in the Philippines, India, and the country of Georgia. Clark Staff offers a wide range of service solutions to companies of any size and industry. For more information, visit https://clarkstaff.com Contact Information:Zack WilliamsonCEO, Clark Staffzack@ clarkstaff.com Kenneth PanganMarketing Manager, Clark Staffkenneth@ clarkoutsourcing.com +63952325817SOURCE: Clark Staff
PR-Inside.com: 2023-05-17 18:00:54

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CALGARY, AB / ACCESSWIRE / May 17, 2023 / Touchstone Exploration Inc. (TSX, LSE:TXP) ("Touchstone" or the "Company") announces that its President and Chief Executive Officer, Paul Baay, has entered into a Settlement Agreement with the Alberta Securities Commission (the "ASC") in relation to a breach of Section 147(4) of the Securities Act (Alberta) (the "Settlement Agreement").Pursuant to the Settlement Agreement, Mr. Baay admits that he, on six occasions between December 2019 and April 2021, emailed draft Touchstone news releases to an employee of a regulated Canadian investment dealer firm, who was a registered dealing representative of Touchstone (the "Registrant"), and, in such capacity, was responsible for the Company's Employee Share Ownership Plan (the "ESOP"), prior to such news releases being broadly distributed to the public. Mr. Baay emailed the draft Touchstone news releases to the Registrant during the evenings or on the weekends when both the TSX and AIM markets were closed. The ASC noted that none of the Registrant, nor any persons with whom the Registrant might share the emails would have been able to transact in Touchstone securities with knowledge of the information contained in the releases. On each of the six occasions, Touchstone distributed the final versions of the news releases to the public before the TSX and AIM markets opened for regular trading on the next trading day. However, this conduct was determined by the ASC to be a breach of Section 147(4) of the Securities Act (Alberta), leading to the Settlement Agreement.The Settlement Agreement states that Mr. Baay demonstrated exemplary cooperation with the ASC in concluding the Settlement Agreement. Mr. Baay has paid the ASC $40,000 in settlement of the matter and will complete training in public company governance best practice. The ASC will ordinarily seek market access bans against directors and officers of public companies that engage in insider trading or tipping. However, due to the rather unique circumstances of this case including the early and significant degree of cooperation and acceptance of responsibility, as well as the absence of demonstrable harm to the capital market, bans have not been required by the ASC in this case. The ASC notes in the Settlement Agreement that its investigation did not identify any instances of trading on the material non public information.Mr. Baay advised that he did not intend for the information contained in the draft news releases to be acted upon, nor did Mr. Baay obtain any personal benefit from this conduct. Mr. Baay advised that he was under the mistaken belief that he was permitted to provide the Registrant with the draft news releases in the course of business, and that he did so with the view to benefit from the Registrant's review to ensure that the final press releases could be properly and fully understood by the public.John Wright, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Touchstone, commented "The Board takes compliance with regulatory obligations very seriously. After reviewing Paul's conduct in these events, we are confident that this was a genuine mistake; there was clearly no intention to gain financially, a view confirmed by the ASC's own enquiry. We note that Paul co-operated fully with the regulator and has accepted their findings. The Board regularly reviews Touchstone's disclosure and governance policies and we continue to make upgrades and enhancements as evidenced in this situation by the appointment of a new administrator responsible for the Company's ESOP. We are committed to ensuring that the strongest governance arrangements are implemented across our business, in line with best practices." The Settlement Agreement will be available on the ASC's website ( www.asc.ca) The above information is disclosed pursuant to Rule 17 and Schedule 2(g) of the AIM Rules for Companies. This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of the UK version of the Market Abuse Regulation (EU) No.596/2014 , which forms part of UK law by virtue of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018.For further information, please contact:Touchstone Exploration Inc.John Wright, Chair of the Board of DirectorsTel: +1 (403) 750-4487Shore Capital (Nominated Advisor and Joint Broker)Daniel Bush / Toby Gibbs / Iain SextonTel: +44 (0) 207 408 4090Canaccord Genuity (Joint Broker)Adam James / Gordon HamiltonTel: +44 (0) 207 523 8000FTI Consulting (Financial PR)Nick Hennis / Ben BrewertonTel: +44 (0) 203 727 1000Email: touchstone@ fticonsulting.com SOURCE: Touchstone Exploration, Inc.
PR-Inside.com: 2023-05-17 23:01:05

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Ms. Brunskill-Scott will also take over the role of Managing Director and Corporate Secretary, while Mrs. Breen will take over the additional role and responsibilities of treasurer.TUCSON, AZ / ACCESSWIRE / May 17, 2023 / WEED Inc. (OTCQB:BUDZ), ("WEED" or the "Company") a global cannabis & hemp bioresearch company based in the USA, focused on the development and application of cannabis-derived compounds for the treatment of human and animal diseases.Wholly owned subsidiary HEMP Biosciences Inc. is pleased to announce that it received its hemp cultivation license from the state of Arizona. The license allows for cultivation, process and manufacture of hemp for the production of low THC & CBD products.In addition, Ms. Brunskill-Scott has been appointed as our in-house counsel for both WEED Australia Limited and the Cannabis Institute of Australia. While Mr. Patrick Brodnik, will continue to promote the Corporate Business Development for WEED Inc. USA and continue working on strategic partnerships and cannabis acquisitions for WEED Australia Limited.We would like to take this opportunity to express our heartfelt gratitude to Mr. John J. Foley, who recently retired from our Australian management & Board of Directors. Glenn E. Martin CEO comments, "John has been a faithful servant to our company since the beginning, and we wish him a well-deserved retirement at the young age of 85 years old. We look forward to his continued advice and counsel in the future." Ms. Brunskill-Scott is an advocate for the indigenous peoples of Australia and grew up in the Northern Territory, as her family is both indigenous Australians and from Papa New Guinea. Her appointment to our Board of Directors reflects our commitment to diversity and inclusion, and we are excited to have her leadership and vision driving our company forward. Darwin and the Far Northern Territories such as Cape York which are top of our list for cannabis cultivation.Ms. Brunskill-Scott announces, "I'm excited and privileged for the opportunity before me to lead the team WEED Australia has established over the past 7 years. Surviving Covid hardships has strengthened our resolve to find natural plant remedies to complex medical conditions. WEED Australia and the Cannabis Institute looks to lead the charge in cannabis research and product development making it affordable to all compared to the current market situation." Mrs. Breen states, "The cannabis industry in Australia is on the global forefront. WEED was incorporated in March 2017 as an ASIC regulated entity. Post Covid WEED looks to ready an IPO for the ASX once economic condition warrants. I am excited to work with Amanda and bring WEED Australia to its full potential in the cannabis and hemp space.WEEDs key to success is our rare Landrace cannabis genetics grown and kept F-1 grade over 40-50 years, while scientific research and development will ensure year over year returns for our investors as we build a premier cannabis company in Australia." WEED Australia Ltd is dedicated to developing innovative products and services for the Australian people utilizing the amazing cannabaceae plant.Our nonprofit arm, the Cannabis Institute of Australia, is focused on cannabis & hemp research including clinical trials for pharma and non-pharma product and services.With the appointment of Ms. Brunskill-Scott and Mrs. Breen, we are confident that WEED Australia Limited as a majority owned subsidiary of WEED Inc (USA) will continue to grow and thrive as a global cannabis holding company. WEED Australia Ltd. formed in March 2017 was the first cannabis pubco, ASIC regulated, in Australia with an American parent.WEED, Inc.'s Subsidiaries past comments:WEED Israel (Cannabis) Ltd. "After over 3 years of putting human clinical trials and product development on hold due to COVID, WEED Israel is poised and anxious to build out our global brands in both pharmaceutical and non-pharmaceutical categories, starting with women's health and veterans' ailments (PTSD) to healthy green alternative medicines" stated Elliot Kwestel, Managing Director of WEED Israel (Cannabis) Ltd. based outside Jerusalem.Kwestel further commented, "WEED Israel looks to enrich and expand our clinical trials with both THC and Cannabinoid studies to promote healthy living for generations to come." WEED Australia Ltd. and The Cannabis Institute of Australia (C.I.A.), our Australian non-profit arm, based in Queensland on the Gold Coast.Corporate Director Patrick Brodnik stated, "With the new rules out governing cannabis & hemp in Australia and the announcement in February 2021 to allow over-the-counter CBD medicines in pharmacies, now after Covid, timing is perfect to begin our clinical trials in Israel and Australia to bring new curative products to market as we close out COVID mandates this year.Managing Director Brunskill-Scott commented "Next year 2024, the future of USA & Australia decriminalizing cannabis and hemp globally will prove to be a giant leap forward for worldwide cannabis legalization." WEED Hong Kong Ltd. Director Nicole Breen agrees, "The pandemic has affected all of us on a worldwide basis. Healing our planet with natural therapies, treatments and eventual "cures" utilizing natures' own Cannabaceae plant with its many properties, both with high tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD) compounds, I believe will change the force of medicine forever in the years to come. We look forward to an exciting year end and a Prosperous 2022."Caution Regarding Cannabis Operations in the United States:Any Investors should note that there are significant legal restrictions and regulations that govern the cannabis industry in the United States. While legal in certain states, cannabis remains a Schedule I drug under the U.S. Controlled Substances Act, making it illegal under federal law in the United States to, among other things, cultivate, distribute, or possess cannabis.That all Financial transactions involving proceeds generated by, or intended to promote, cannabis-related business activities in the United States may form the basis for prosecution under applicable U.S. federal money laundering legislation. That Investors should carefully read the risk factors and disclosures contained in our offering circular before making any decision to invest in our company.Forward Looking Information:This news release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Forward-looking information contained in this press release may be identified by the use of words such as, "may", "potential", "would", "could", "w
PR-Inside.com: 2023-05-17 15:00:28

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TB kills 1.6 million people a year, causing more deaths than any other single infectious disease apart from COVID-19, and sickens more than 10 million people annually.A new TB vaccine is needed to reach global END TB goals.MTBVAC is a highly promising vaccine candidate that has the potential to be used as an alternative to BCG vaccination in infants and for prevention of TB disease in adolescents and adults.PORRINO , SPAIN and NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / May 17, 2023 / Spanish biopharmaceutical company Biofabri, a subsidiary of Zendal, and IAVI, an international nonprofit research organization focused on developing vaccines and antibodies against infectious and neglected diseases, today announced the signing of an agreement for end-to-end development of the tuberculosis (TB) vaccine candidate MTBVAC. This agreement provides a framework for the future of the collaboration that the partners first announced in 2021.Under the agreement, IAVI is supporting development, global regulatory strategy, resource mobilization, and access planning for the adolescent/adult MTBVAC program. This includes an efficacy trial, which IAVI plans to begin in 2024 after securing sufficient funding.With support from the European & Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership (EDCTP), Biofabri launched a Phase III trial of MTBVAC (NCT04975178) in neonates in South Africa, Madagascar, and Senegal in late 2022. IAVI will support the MTBVAC infant program, including bringing in additional resources to enable late-stage development, with other expanded roles in the program being planned.MTBVAC, designed by the Spanish researcher Dr. Carlos Martin from the University of Zaragoza and Dr. Brigitte Gicquel of the Institut Pasteur, was in-licensed by Biofabri. It is one of the most promising new TB vaccines in the pipeline. Theonly available TB vaccine, bacille Calmette-Guerin (BCG), has limited effectiveness at preventing pulmonary TB in adults and adolescents, who are mainly responsible for spreading TB. MTBVAC is the only live, attenuated Mycobacterium tuberculosis vaccine in the pipeline. Given its derivation from the human, rather than bovine, TB organism, MTBVAC has the potential to maximize the breadth of immune response."The world urgently needs a new, effective vaccine that can prevent TB disease in adults, adolescents, and infants," said Dr. Mark Feinberg, president and CEO of IAVI. "We are honored to be working with Biofabri and our other collaborators to advance MTBVAC. We are actively seeking the support of global health funders and other partners, public and private, to ensure that this promising vaccine candidate has the potential to be part of a solution to ending the TB epidemic." "Biofabri and the Zendal Group look forward to realizing the full potential of MTBVAC with IAVI. With their partnership and that of our other collaborators we hope to reach our goal of making a TB vaccine available throughout the world," said Esteban Rodriguez, Biofabri CEO."We are gratified that Phase II dose-ranging studies in adults and neonates demonstrated favorable immunogenicity data and a favorable safety profile. If results of the ongoing and planned efficacy trials bear fruit, we will be proud to be manufacturing a Spanish-designed, globally relevant lifesaving vaccine locally." Should MTBVAC be shown to be safe and efficacious, Biofabri, in partnership with IAVI and other collaborators, will ensure that MTBVAC is manufactured and supplied in sufficient quantities globally and is accessible at affordable prices in low- and middle-income countries.TBSince the COVID-19 emergency has ended, TB is on track once again to be the most deadly infectious disease in the world, killing an estimated 1.6 million people in 2021, about 14% of whom were children. Around 10.6 million people fell ill with tuberculosis in 2021, and the disease is one of the 10 leading causes of death worldwide.COVID-19 has reversed previous advances in TB response by 10 years, causing significant decreases in TB case detection. The Stop TB Partnership estimates that an additional 1.4 million TB deaths will occur over the next four years because of COVID-19. A vaccine is needed more urgently than ever.Drug-resistant/multi-drug resistant TB (DR/MDR TB) is becoming an increasing threat, with about 450,000 cases in 2021. DR/MDR TB treatment is arduous, expensive, and not always successful. A vaccine that prevents TB disease would have a major impact on the DR/MDR TB problem.MTBVACMTBVAC is being developed for two purposes: as a more effective and potentially longer-lasting vaccine than BCG for newborns, and for the prevention of TB disease in adults and adolescents, for whom there is currently no effective vaccine.Two Phase II trials have been completed, one supported by EDCTP and sponsored by Biofabri in infants in South Africa, and one sponsored by IAVI and supported by the U.S. National Institutes of Health and the U.S. Department of Defense through its Congressionally Directed Medical Research Program. Results are expected to be published in later 2023.A global projectThis agreement takes a further step in advancing the development of a promising TB vaccine candidate, especially for low- and middle-income countries, in a project in which the following partners play an essential role:IAVI. IAVI is a nonprofit scientific research organization with headquarters in the U.S. and locations in Europe, Africa, and India that develops vaccines and antibodies for HIV, tuberculosis, emerging infectious diseases (including COVID-19), and neglected diseases, with the goal of providing global access. It has contributed to efforts to evaluate most of the leading TB vaccine candidates now in clinical development and has a highly experienced TB vaccine clinical research team in South Africa.Biofabri. Biofabri is a biopharmaceutical company created in 2008 with the aim of researching, developing, and manufacturing vaccines for humans. Biofabri has a solid technical and scientific capacity in vaccines and immunotherapy. Biofabri belongs to the Zendal group, a Spanish pharmaceutical business group made up of six companies specialised in the development, manufacture and marketing of vaccines and other biotechnological products for human and animal health.UNIZAR. The University of Zaragoza in Spain is the main center for technological innovation in the Ebro Valley. It participates in different exchange programs, collaborating with universities and research centers in Europe, Latin America, and the United States. Microbiologists from the university associated with Centro de Investigacion Biomedica en Red Enfermadades Respirat
PR-Inside.com: 2023-05-17 22:05:41

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NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO UNITED STATES NEWSWIRE SERVICES OR FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATESVANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / May 17, 2023 / Zimtu Capital Corp. (TSXV:ZC)(FSE:ZCT1) (the "Company" or "Zimtu") announces that it has entered into an agreement with Infiniti Drilling Corp. ("Infiniti") to sell six (6) mineral claims in the Harrison Lake area in the New Westminster District of Southwest British Columbia (BC) for $20,000 cash.This Vend agreement of Doctors Point Claims supersedes the February 27th, 2023 Zimtu News Release transaction with Strata Geodata Services Ltd which did not close.Doctors Point Purchase AgreementThe Company has entered into a purchase agreement ("Harrison Lake Agreement") with Infiniti, whereby the Company will sell a 100% undivided interest in six (6) mineral claims currently held by Zimtu, known as the Doctors Point Claims, near the town of Harrison Lake in southwest BC. Under the terms of the Doctors Point Agreement, Infiniti will acquire the Doctors Point claims for a cash payment of $20,000. The Doctors Point Agreement is subject to acceptance by the TSX Venture Exchange.The Doctors Point claims were recently acquired by Zimtu from the estate of David Heyman, as part of a much larger package of mineral claims.The Doctors Point claims are situated on the western bank of Harrison Lake, approximately 55 kilometres from the town of Harrison. The claims are accessible by a well-maintained forestry service road which also provides access to the BC Hydro Trio Creek generation site also located within the claims area.There are two dominant styles of mineralization at Doctors Point; stratabound volcanogenic sulphides and gold- and silver-hosting quartz veins.The quartz veins are long, narrow, and gently dip at 10-35 degrees away from the edge of dioritic pluton margins. Up to five plutons have been observed on site and are thought to be smaller upwellings of magma from a major intrusion at depth. These veins are vuggy and contain sulphides of which pyrite and arsenopyrite are the most common. The veins have been observed in both surface road cuts and historical diamond drilling. At surface they can be traced for 200m and remain open along strike. Underground, veins have shown a thickness of 3m in historical diamond drill core.The diamond drilling campaigns have all been shallow holes less than 100m in depth and suggestions in historical assessment filings are to drill deeper to investigate the source of the veins and possible increased concentrations of these structures at depth. A non-compliant resource was calculated from drill data in the Main Zone in 1986 using closely spaced drill holes resulted in 113,600 tonnes grading at 2.16 gpt ("gpt") gold and 6.2 gpt silver (Assessment Report 18365), and since then several other zones have been identified along strike but have yet to be extensively drill tested. Quartz vein samples collected historically (1988) 300m to the north of the Main Zone returned grades up to 361 gpt gold and 1,328 gpt silver, and in 2007 additional sampling 1,400m to the northwest (North Swamp Zone) of the Main Zone returned values up to 27.13 gpt gold and 78.24 gpt silver from twelve vein samples. The current Doctors Point claims cover this area of historical drilling and resource estimation. It should be noted that these grades are historical, and Infiniti intends to collect check samples during Spring 2023.About Zimtu Capital Corp.Zimtu Capital Corp. is a public investment issuer that aspires to achieve long-term capital appreciation for its shareholders. Zimtu Capital companies may operate in the fields of mineral exploration, mining, technology, life sciences or investment. The Company trades on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol "ZC" and Frankfurt under symbol "ZCT1". For more information, please visit https://www.zimtu.com On Behalf of the Board of DirectorsZIMTU CAPITAL CORP."David Hodge"David HodgePresident & DirectorPhone: 604.681.1568NEITHER 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.Forward-Looking StatementsThis press release contains forward-looking statements., which include any information that addresses activities, events or developments that the Company believes, expects or anticipates will or may occur in the future. Forward looking statements in this press release include that the Closing will occur and that the Company will receive requisite approval from the TSXV, if required.These statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from those expressed, implied by or projected in the forward-looking information or statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ from these forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to: adverse market conditions, the inability of the Company to complete the proposed sale of the Property, or the TSXV not approving the sale of the Property on the terms announced or at all.Except as required by law, the Company does not intend to revise or update these forward-looking statements after the date of this document or to revise them to reflect the occurrence of future unanticipated events.SOURCE: Zimtu Capital Corp.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 17. Uzbekistan intends to open its own terminal at the Baku International Sea Trade Port, Deputy Minister of Transport of Uzbekistan Abdusamat Muminov told Trend in an exclusive interview.

"This terminal will function both for sugar transportation to Uzbekistan and for our export supplies. We want to use public-private partnership for this, so that Uzbek entrepreneurs invest in the development of the infrastructure of the port of Alat for further use," he said.

According to him, at the moment, the parties are conducting practical work on the creation of a warehouse infrastructure on the territory of the Baku port for the storage and storage of goods from Uzbekistan.

Muminov also stressed that this year, on behalf of President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, Uzbekistan needs to increase supplies through the ports of Azerbaijan and Georgia to 1.5 million tons.

"Due to the geopolitical situation in the world, it is necessary to look for alternative supply routes, and now Uzbekistan is reorienting cargo in the Azerbaijani direction, thus, developing the potential of the [Trans-Caspian International Transport Route] Middle Corridor. Currently, we are actively using the transport potential of Azerbaijan, in particular, the possibilities of the Baku International Sea Trade Port. In particular, for our imports of sugar. This year we plan to double the supply of sugar - up to 300,000 tons," the deputy minister explained.

He noted that, in 2022, the supply of raw sugar through the territory of Azerbaijan amounted to 130,000 tons.

In general, in 2022, the volume of transportation of export-import cargo of the Republic of Uzbekistan through the Azerbaijani port of Alat increased by 65 percent and amounted to more than 900,000 tons.
The World Economic Forum says the cost of living crisis is the single largest threat to the global economy this year. Against this backdrop, the positioning of major powers in response to the Ukraine war indicates a possible new world order  but it is failing to cope with 2023 realities.

The real catalyst for this combination of crises is the devastating impact of climate change on the environment, economy, society and security. Can Africa withstand the shocks and turn adversity into an opportunity for a new global positioning?

In December 2021, the United Nations Security Councils African members (A3) developed a landmark resolution on the links between climate and security. The resolution was co-sponsored by Niger and Ireland and received significant support. But it was not adopted after Russia vetoed the draft. India also voted against it, and China abstained. Nevertheless, the current A3  Gabon, Ghana and Mozambique  have pledged to continue this pursuit.

This raises three important questions. First, what does the global climate dialogue mean for the development agenda? Second, what are the implications of the climate crisis for the current world order? And third, how will the global climate emergency affect the security architecture of Africa and the world?

Africa has developed a significant climate change footprint. Through Morocco, South Africa and Egypt, the continent has hosted the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COPs). Several other African countries have been active in climate negotiations, and the African Group of Negotiators has always been a part of the COP landscape.

The African climate governance landscape is also promising. Kenyas President William Ruto currently chairs the Committee of African Heads of State and Government on Climate Change. Three Climate Commissions  Sahel, Island States and Congo  were launched by African leaders at COP 2016, and active structures in some regional economic communities reflect commitment and agency.

Africa has also shown leadership on the climate threat. The AU Peace and Security Council hosted a special session in 2021 to consider the nexus between climate change and security. At COP27 in Sharm El-Sheikh, the Climate Responses for Sustaining Peace was launched, spearheaded by Egypts COP27 presidency.

Meanwhile, theres a tacit recognition that Africa carries a disproportionate climate burden. It contributes little to greenhouse gases in general, and CO2 in particular. Yet Africas climate-related disaster map is pervasive. Floods, drought, high-energy storms, heatwaves and wildfires are more intense, as these once-rare extreme events become regular in several locations.

The link between climate risk and human security is increasingly supported by data, creating dilemmas for Africas development plan. These include the question of Africas $10 trillion fossil fuel asset. As Africa transitions to a low-carbon economy, that asset is no longer available to power a continental growth path unless exported out of Africa. But that would only be a locational variation to the source of accumulating greenhouse gases.

However, there is another way. What if the world compensates Africa for not using the asset? This new carbon trade makes sense considering that Africa bears the brunt of accumulated greenhouse gases released by the global north and rapidly developing countries like China and India. These have resulted in 1.1oC above pre-industrial levels, precipitating climate catastrophes worldwide.

Dealing with the ensuing disaster management combined with loss and damage is an already untenable demand on Africas lean coffers. Failure to find a solution means Africa must exploit its fossil fuel asset, using the revenues for Sustainable Development Goal commitments and keeping poverty and de-development at bay.

Climate change highlights the need to answer a key question  is the current world order and its financial system fit for purpose? UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, in his 2020 Nelson Mandela Annual Lecture, said the real pandemic was global inequality, shored up by a governance and financial architecture designed to sustain developed country dominance.

Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley also laid this bare in her COP27 address, calling for a fundamental restructuring of the global financial system with a possible vehicle in the Bridgetown Initiative. That created a buzz at this years Bretton Woods Spring Meetings. A low-carbon and climate-resilient world requires access to affordable climate mitigation and adaptation financing. Failure to provide this will result in a climate catastrophe.

The need for reform of the multilateral system continues to gain momentum. The imbalanced structure of the UN Security Council means that most of the developing world is under-represented and apart from China, has no permanent seats. Like the global financial system, the UN must accelerate its reform to represent the 21st-century world, both in power distribution and todays dominant agendas.

The human, climate and environmental justice pathways must deliver peace and stability, end violent conflict and extremism, and recognise that we have incurred massive intergenerational debt.

So what next? Africa needs a bottom-up push to drive a more robust global agenda. At the international level, the pursuit of sufficient reform to accelerate climate-resilient sustainable development is vital.

A convergence must be found between climate change aspirations and the Sustainable Development Goals. This can engineer low-carbon development pathways to universal access to basic needs, poverty reduction and a shrinking of the worlds inequality gap.

Dhesigen Naidoo, Senior Research Associate, Institute for Security Studies (ISS) Pretoria

(This article was first published by ISS Today, a Premium Times syndication partner. We have their permission to republish).

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The Turkish government has summoned the German ambassador after police in western Germany searched the private apartments of two journalists who work for the Turkish newspaper Sabah.

A statement from the Turkish Foreign Ministry on Wednesday said the move was to protest the unfounded arrest of representatives of the Frankfurt office of the Sabah newspaper by the German police.

German officials, however, told dpa that no one had been arrested.

But the local public prosecutors office confirmed to dpa that police searched the private apartments of a 46-year-old and a 51-year-old journalist in the town of Morfelden-Walldorf in Hesse.

Police said the search was part of an investigation into the suspected dangerous dissemination of personal data in violation of German law.

Storage media and other evidence were secured during the operation.

The investigators declined to provide any further details, citing the ongoing investigation.

The Turkish ministry claimed that the journalists had fallen victim to an unfounded complaint filed by a member of the Gulen movement.

Turkey blames the group for the July 2016 attempted coup and lists it as a terrorist organisation.

The movements leader, Fethullah Gulen, lives in self-imposed exile in the United States.

The ministry also said the timing of the search which took place days after presidential elections in Turkey indicated that it was a deliberate act.

In Turkeys presidential elections on Sunday, incumbent Recep Tayyip Erdogan narrowly missed out on a majority and has to face the runner-up, opposition leader Kemal Klcdaroglu, in a run-off election on 28 May.

(dpa/NAN)

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The federal government says negotiations are ongoing with stakeholders over the five-day warning strike embarked upon by members of the National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) on Wednesday. However, the NARD president says his association has not been contacted since the strike began early Wednesday.

Fielding questions from journalists in Abuja on Wednesday, the Director of Public Health, Federal Ministry of Health, Morenike Alex-Okoh, said the strike was of concern for the government.

The situation with the doctors strike is of concern to government and the negotiations have been ongoing.

We will continue under the circumstances, so, I cannot give you any conclusive response now.

However, government, the leadership of the ministry and relevant stakeholders are meeting to resolve the situation as quickly as possible, she said.

NARD served notice on the federal government on Tuesday warning that it could not guarantee further industrial harmony should government fail to address the issues raised.

NARDs letter entitled: Notice of Strike Action was signed jointly by its National President, Innocent Orji and Secretary-General, Chikezie Kelechi.

They stated that NARD had issued a two-week ultimatum to the federal government to resolve issues as contained in the ultimatum before its expiration on 13 May.

Tuesdays letter read in part: regrettably the issues have remained unresolved despite several attempts by NARD to get government to resolve them.

Rising from her Extra-Ordinary Meeting on Monday, May 15, NARDs National Executive Council resolved to embark on a five-day warning strike beginning on May 17.

The doctors are demanding an immediate increment in the Consolidated Medical Salary Structure to the tune of 200 per cent of current gross salaries of doctors.

NARD is also demanding the immediate withdrawal of the Bill in parliament seeking to compel medical and dental graduates to serve compulsorily in Nigeria for five years before getting full licences to practise.

It also wants immediate domestication of the Medical Residency Training Act and a review of Hazard Allowance by state governments.

Meanwhile, Chris Ngige, minister of Labour and Employment had on Tuesday, relayed the federal governments warning to the association to shelve the strike.

He issued the warning shortly after receiving a letter of notification from the NARD executive on the planned strike.

In a statement signed by Olajide Oshundun, director, Press and Public Relations in the Ministry of Labour and Employment, Mr Ngige said the planned strike was illegal.

There is nothing like warning strike. A strike is a strike. If they want to take that risk, the options are there. They have the right to strike. You cannot deny them that right.

Their employer has another right under Section 43 of the Trade Dispute Act, however, to withhold their pay for those five days.

If the NARD has strike funds to pay its members for those five days, no problem.

The health minister will instruct teaching hospitals to employ ad-hoc people for those five days and use the money of the people who went on strike to pay the ad-hoc doctors, Mr Ngige said.

Mr Ngige also said in the statement that upon receipt of NARDs letter, he contacted the Minister of Health, who told him that a meeting had been scheduled with the resident doctors for Wednesday.

He advised the doctors to avail themselves of the opportunity to dialogue with their employers, rather than embarking on a warning strike, which, he said, is unknown to the law.

No negotiation ongoing

Speaking with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), the President of NARD, Mr Orji, said that members were still awaiting the federal governments call for negotiations.

I am still in my hotel room now and I have not received any call to come to the table to discuss the strike.

We also heard that government is planning a `no work, no pay strategy, but our position is that it should resolve issues raised because that is the only way to avoid escalation.

Issuing threats will definitely worsen the problem. If no work no pay is implemented, our members will determine how we will handle it.

Going by that route will escalate the problem because it means that government is not ready to address the issues we have raised and will rather give punitive measures.

Our members will decide and give us further directives, but no one should blame us if they decide to escalate the strike, he said.

A visit to Asokoro District Hospital, Abuja, showed doctors were attending to patients.

Chidi Nnabuchi, former Head of Clinical Services said the hospital would not shut down but would operate based on available capacity.

He said emergency care would be offered where necessary, but could not ascertain if patients would be placed on admission. The number of out-patients seeking attention would also be reduced.

He explained that this would be so because only medical consultants, NYSC and in-house doctors would be attending to patients.

We have few doctors that are corps members; they are not part of the strike. Some others are on local employment.

They are on ground to handle emergencies and treat patients in the wards.

(NAN)

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Nigerias President Muhammadu Buhari has condemned the killing of two American embassy officials and two police officers in south-east Nigeria.

PREMIUM TIMES reported the attack on an American embassy convoy in Anambra State, south-east Nigeria on Tuesday.

Two Nigerians who work with the US embassy in the country were killed in the attack. Two police officers who were part of the convoy were also killed.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack although the separatist group IPOB has been blamed for attacks on public institutions and officials in that region.

I was very sad hearing about the killing of the embassy staff and our policemen accompanying them. In this difficult time for the families of those killed, the American Embassy and the Nigeria Police Force, NPF, I extend the nations condolences over the very sad incident, the Nigerian leader was quoted as saying by his spokesperson Garba Shehu.

Read the full statement by Mr Shehu below.

PRESIDENT BUHARI SADDENED BY KILLING OF US EMBASSY STAFF, POLICEMEN AND OTHERS IN PLATEAU AND BENUE STATES

President Muhammadu Buhari, Wednesday expressed condolences on the loss of lives of two United States embassy officials and two Nigerian policemen accompanying them in an attack by gunmen in Ogbaru Local Government Area of Anambra State.

I was very sad hearing about the killing of the embassy staff and our policemen accompanying them. In this difficult time for the families of those killed, the American Embassy and the Nigeria Police Force, NPF, I extend the nations condolences over the very sad incident, he said.

President Buhari has equally been briefed about the tragic killing of several persons in Bwoi District of Mangu Local Government Area of Plateau State, as well that of several villagers in Adaka village in Makurdi Local Government and in Ijaha community of Apa Local Government Area of Benue State.

The President said he is deeply pained to learn about these gruesome deaths and expresses sincere condolences to the families of the victims.

We share the grief of the American Embassy, the Nigeria Police Force and our communities in Plateau and Benue and remain committed to fishing out the perpetrators of the attacks and bringing them to justice. May God give their families the strength to bear the unfortunate losses.

Garba Shehu

Senior Special Assistant to the President

(Media & Publicity)

May 17, 2023

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The Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC) has further adjourned pre-hearing in the petitions filed by Peter Obi and his Labour Party until Friday.

The panel, led by Justice Haruna Tsammani, adjourned after parties submitted on their meeting promised on 10 May on exchange processes, responses and harmonisation.

After listening to the submissions, Mr Tsammani said the petitioners would state their position and tender documents.

The petition is further adjourned until 19 May (Friday), he said.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the court had on 10 May adjourned until today (Wednesday) based on agreement among the parties to the suit.

Mr Obi and the LP are contesting the outcome of the 25 February presidential election through his petition marked CA/PEPC/03/2023.

He joined the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the winner of the election and president-elect, Bola Tinubu, his running mate, Kashim Shettima, and the All Progressives Congress (APC), as defendants.

Counsel for the petitioners, Livy Uzoukwu, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), informed the court that INEC had yet to produce the documents his team requested.

He said INEC provided less than 30 per cent of the documents in Rivers and Sokoto states.

The Independent National Electoral Commissions (INEC) counsel, Abubakar Mahmoud, a SAN, pledged to hasten the proceedings.

He claimed that the petitioners refused to attend the meeting of the parties agreed on at the last sitting on 10 May.

He said he called the petitioners lead counsel to ask why their team was not at the meeting, and he said they were not aware.

Mr Mahmoud alleged that the petitioners walked out of the meeting on Tuesday.

Counsel for Messrs Tinubu and Shettima, Wole Olanipakun, a SAN, recalled that his team to the suit agreed to set up a team over the issues of accessing records at a meeting on 10 May. He said the team was led by Ogwu Onoja, SAN, and A.A. Malik, SAN and others.

Mr Olanipekun said he put a call across to the petitioners lead counsel asking how they would proceed in court today.

He said the petitioners, who had yet to respond to some of his filings, said they needed up to Friday to do so

The APC counsel, Lateef Fagbemi, also a SAN, said there should not be a mistake of the subpoena at this stage, saying it is whatever document is produced that should be brought to the table.

He further said the petitioners should look at the fundamental cause, which is the refusal to pay the necessary fee as required by the law

He added that the court officials were present when the petitioners walked out, adding that Victor Umoh, SAN, and others represented the team for the 4th respondent.

He said the effect of the report was that all certified true documents would not be objected to.

Responding, the petitioners  counsel, Mr Uzoukwu, told the court that he was concerned by the language of his colleagues.

NAN reports INEC had declared Mr Tinubu as the winner of the 25 February presidential election after securing the majority of votes cast at the poll.

He said Mr Tinubu met the constitutional benchmark of scoring 25% in two-thirds of 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory, according to INEC.

Disagreeing with the outcome of the result, Mr Obi and his party, LP, filed a petition challenging the victory.

(NAN )

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The presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Peter Obi, has told the Presidential Election Petition Court in Abuja of his predicament in accessing electoral documents from the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

Mr Obi, who came third in the February presidential election, is challenging the victory of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and its candidate, Bola Tinubu.

He alleged that INEC manipulated the presidential election in favour of Mr Tinubu.

At the resumed hearing of Mr Obis petition on Wednesday, his lawyer, Livy Uzoukwu, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), informed the five-member panel of the court led by Haruna Tsammani that INEC stubbornly refused to produce 70 per cent of the electoral documents that were requested (by the LP).

Specifically, Mr Uzoukwu said electoral documents concerning the polls in Rivers and Sokoto States have been inaccessible from INEC.

For Sokoto State, Mr Uzoukwu said the INEC officials demanded N1.5 million fee to process the documents.

A typical example is that of Rivers State, where the (INEC) Resident Electoral Commissioner boldly told us they do not have any form EC8 to give us, Mr Uzoukwu said.

The lawyer recalled two previous rulings of the court, directing the electoral umpire to grant access to Labour Party for the inspection of electoral documents like the Bimodal Voters Accreditation System (BVAS) machines that were deployed for the conduct of the presidential poll.

The Court of Appeal had on March 3 and 8 directed INEC to make available certified true copies of result sheets and other data obtained from the BVAS machines to tender same to aid the petitioners case.

Mr Uzoukwu further recalled five separate letters were written to INEC chairman, Yakubu Mahmood, requesting that access be granted to inspect and obtain relevant electoral documents to strengthen the petitioners suit at the court.

INEC denies allegation

Abubakar Mahmoud, INECs lawyer, expressed the electoral umpires readiness to cooperate with all parties in the petitions and the court.

Mr Mahmoud, a SAN, said Mr Obis legal team declined to attend a meeting that was called to streamline issues around documents to be tendered before the court.

We agreed to meet on Monday and Tuesday (15 and 16 May). But on Monday, 15 May, I received a call that the Labour Party legal team had not turned up at the venue for the inspection of the documents, Mahmoud told the court.

He clarified that LP was given some electoral documents in Rivers, but they insisted on collecting all the documents that were required.

The commission has not refused to produce any document, Mr Mahmoud said.

But Mr Uzoukwu said his team did not stage a walkout from the meeting.

Speaking in the same vein, APCs lead lawyer, Lateef Fagbemi, a SAN, aligned with INECs position concerning access to electoral documents.

Mr Fagbemi said he would not object to official documents tendered from INEC during the hearing of the substantive petition.

All public documents coming from INEC and duly certified will not be objected to, but other documents may be objected to with reasons given and arguments presented at the end of the day before judgement.

We are ready and willing to cooperate with the court, Mr Fagbemi assured.

Similarly, Mr Tinubus lawyer, Wole Olanipekun, said he had no issues accessing documents from the electoral umpire.

We will reserve our objection to documents until the end of the trial, Mr Olanipekun said.

After listening to all parties in the petition, the court adjourned proceedings until 19 May.

The panels chairman, Mr Tsammani, asked lawyers in the suit to respond to all pending applications before the next adjourned date.

Mr Tsammani said the pre-hearing session would last 14 days from the day of its commencement.

The court began its pre-hearing session on 8 May.

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The federal government has warned members of the National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) to shelve their planned five-day warning strike.

The Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, gave the warning on Tuesday in Abuja, shortly after receiving a letter of notification from the NARD executive on the planned strike.

Mr Ngige, in a statement signed by Olajide Oshundun, director, Press and Public Relations in the ministry, said the planned strike was illegal.

The impending industrial action is billed to begin by midnight of 16 May.

Mr Ngige, who was reacting to the letter, delivered to his office at about 5 p.m. the same day, said he contacted the Minister of Health, who informed him that a meeting has been scheduled with the resident doctors on Wednesday.

He therefore advised the doctors to avail themselves of the opportunity for social dialogue with their employer, rather than embark on a warning strike, which, he said, is unknown to the law.

According to him, I will advise them to attend the meeting with the Minister of Health tomorrow. I will also advise them very strongly not to go on a five-day warning strike.

There is nothing like warning strike. A strike is a strike. If they want to take that risk, the options are there. It is their decision. They have the right to strike. You cannot deny them that right.

But their employer has another right under Section 43 of the Trade Dispute Act, to withhold their pay for those five days. So, if the NARD has strike funds to pay their members for those five days, no problem.

The health minister will instruct the teaching hospitals to employ adhoc people for those five days and they will use the money of the people who went on strike to pay the adhoc doctors.

That is the ILO principles at decent work, especially for those rendering essential services. Lives should be protected. One of my sons is a resident doctor, I will advise him to go to work and sign the attendance register, he said.

He added that the people seen at work are the ones to receive their pay. If you dont work, there will be no pay, he said.

On the five demands of the doctors, Mr Ngige said the federal government lacks the powers to compel the states to domesticate the Medical Residency Training Fund (MRTF).

He added that healthcare is on the residual list, where both the federal and state governments have the powers to legislate.

The minister also stated that the job of the federal government was to make policy and where the states disagree, they were at liberty to make their own policy.

He noted that the federal government cannot bully the states into domesticating the MRTF if they do not want to.

Regarding the issue of immediate payment of the MRTF to their members, he said it was appropriated in the 2023 budget but has not been released, as the 2022 budget was still running, adding that those in 2022 have all been paid.

Mr Ngige denied the claim by NARD that the federal government did not pay minimum wage consequential adjustment arrears to its members.

He added that all workers in the education and health sectors and even the defence agencies benefited from the adjustment.

He noted that the doctors cannot declare a nationwide strike because some states were owing their members, pointing out that the federal government cannot also dabble into the issue, being a state matter.

READ ALSO: Nigerian doctors to begin strike Wednesday

Mr Ngige also said the federal government as the Executive arm of government cannot intervene in the bill at the National Assembly to bond doctors for five years, as it is a private members bill.

According to him, any intervention by the executive on the matter impinges on the autonomy and independence of the legislative arm of government.

Mr Ngige noted that the bill has passed through first and second reading, he was sure it would be shot down at the public hearing since the law prohibits forced labour.

He advised the doctors not to talk about a 200 per cent pay rise, as it was not feasible.

Besides all the government has done for doctors and other workers in the health sector, such as upward review of hazard allowances, the Nigeria Medical Association (NMA) was already negotiating with the Federal Ministry of Health, National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission and the Presidential Committee on Salaries on a pay rise for doctors.

It is incongruous for student doctors to embark on strike when consultants training them were already negotiating with the Federal Government, he said

(NAN)

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A member of the House of Representatives, Solomon Maren, says over 100 persons have been killed by terrorists in Plateau State within the last 48 hours.

Mr Maren, who represents Mangu/Bokkos federal constituency in the North-central state, said this at a press conference at the National Assembly Complex in Abuja on Wednesday.

He said the killings happened in his constituency during attacks at different times on villages in the area.

The lawmaker said the attackers also burnt houses, farms and stored agricultural inputs, adding that the latest attacks took the death toll to 200 in the past four months.

Mr Maren expressed dissatisfaction with the effort of the federal government in providing security for the people of the state. He said the miliary has not been well-equipped to battle the terrorists.

I find it expedient at this time to intimate the world on the unfortunate happenings in my constituency, Mangu/Bokkos federal constituency of Plateau state,. In the last two days, over 100 persons, most of them women and children, have been massacred and butchered in cold blood by terrorists during an overnight unprovoked attack and their houses burnt down, including foodstuff, food barns and seedlings.

These killings are one among many in the constituency, where over 200 persons have been killed in the last four months before this one.

Government may claim to be doing its best but its best is not good enough, since it is not able to stop the killings in years. However, I commend the few gallant officers working without sufficient arms, yet gave themselves to save lives, he said.

Mr Maken also flayed President Muhammadu Buhari for not condemning the dastardly acts perpetrated by the terrorists.

To provide reprieve for the victims, Mr Maren urged relevant government agencies to provide relief material for the people.

The responsibility lies in the president to first condemn the dastardly act, which we expect him to do so and immediately go ahead to protect lives and properties which is the primary responsibility of the government.

Therefore, I urge the president to order the security agencies to move into the area with immediate effect to curb the killings as well as the National Emergency Management Authority (NEMA) and other well-spirited organizations to also move in with relief materials for the wounded survivors of the dastard attack.

While urging for support across boards, I condemn the attack in its entirety and call for calm and no one should take the law into their hands.

I commiserate with the government and people of plateau state, the Miskhakam Mwagavul, the Governor-Elect of Plateau State and indeed the Chairman of Mangu LGA on the attack and pray for the repose of the souls of those killed, he said.

Mr Buhari, who campaigned in 2015 on tackling insecurity, is set to leave office after eight years as president. However, the security situation has not improved under his watch.

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The Department of Theatre and Film Studies, University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN), will hold an International Conference on resilience against slavery.

Ikechukwu Erojikwe, the convener of the conference and a senior lecturer at the Department of Theatre and Film Studies, UNN, disclosed this in Nsukka on Monday while briefing reporters on how to commemorate the 220 years when Igbos who were forcefully taken to the United States for slavery, known as Igbo Landing.

He said that the conference, slated to hold from May 23 to 24, would feature a stage play, titled Ikenga: The Dramatic Recreation of the Igbo Landing Story, and an exhibition that would capture the events of 1803 in various dimensions.

Mr Erojikwe recalled that Igbo Landing was the first black civil rights movement in human history in 1803 when 75 Igbos were captured by slave raiders in the Otuocha/Aguleri area of Anambra State.

He explained that the slaves were taken through the Omambala River in Anambra to Calabar and then moved to the United States of America.

He noted that at Dunbar Creek in Georgia, US, the Igbo captives said no to slavery and walked into the sea in mass suicide.

The aim of the conference that would bring people from different walks of life is to showcase the Igbo worldview, their spirituality, arts, technology, science, and other concepts that will inform the world on the rich cultural heritage of the Igbo people.

The stage play, titled Ikenga: The Dramatic Recreation of the Igbo Landing Story, and exhibitions, will capture the events of 1803 in various dimensions which will enable participants to understand what transpired 220 years ago.

This conversation on forced slavery will tell the story of the heroic deeds of our forebears, while the exhibition will preserve, promote and document this historical monument of our history, he said.

The convener also disclosed that Chima Korieh, a professor at the Institute of African Studies, UNN, would be the keynote speaker, while Damian Opata, UNN emeritus professor, and Water Hawthrone, a professor of History from Michigan State University, US, would be among the lead paper presenters.

According to Mr Erojikwe the two-day event would kick off on May 23 with exhibitions and a candlelight procession that will take place from UNNs Arts Theatre to the Pavilion of Theatre and Film Studies for an evening of chants, poetry, and cocktails.

He said that, on May 24, there would be a courtesy visit to Charles Igwe, the Vice Chancellor of UNN, before the commencement of the opening ceremony.

Mr Erojikwe listed some partners to the conference to include the Institute of African Studies, Department of Theatre and Film Studies, Department of History and International Relations and Centre for Igbo Studies, UNN, Council for Igbo States in America, and Centres for Igbo Studies, Dominican University, Chicago, United States.

(NAN)

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The police in Ebonyi State, south-east Nigeria, said they have arrested four people who allegedly killed Christopher Ewa, the traditional ruler of Umuezeokaoha Community in Ezza North Local Government Area of the state.

The police spokesperson in the state, Onome Onovwakpoyey, disclosed this in a statement on Tuesday.

PREMIUM TIMES reported how some gunmen shot Mr Ewa dead in his palace on 27 February, two days after the 2023 presidential election.

Before his death, the slain monarch was the chairperson of Ezza North Traditional Rulers Council in Ebonyi State.

Ms Onovwakpoyeya, a superintendent of police, said the arrested suspects are members of a dreaded gang of the Ayes Confraternity who invaded the monarchs palace with AK-47 rifles and other weapons which they used in killing him.

They were led by one Nnabuike Egede aka Champaign. Others are Chukwudi Aliewa, Obinna Igwe aka Nwampepe, Okechukwu Nwamgbegbu and others numbering 30, she said.

The dreaded hoodlums gained access into the highly-fortified palace through the fence and on sighting the Eze, they shot at him severally and abandoned him in a pool of his blood to die, after which they fled into hiding, Ms Onovwakpoyeya stated.

The police spokesperson said the case was later transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID) for investigation after one of the victims sons, Igboke Onyema, reported the incident.

She said the arrest of the suspects followed the outcome of the investigations by SCID.

The arrested suspects were interrogated and they made useful statements confessing to the crime.

The suspects in their various confessions mentioned some of their cohorts currently at large, who participated actively in the crime, Ms Onovwakpoyeya said.

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BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 17. An effective plant health control system has been formed in the crop farms of Azerbaijan, Chairman of Azerbaijan Food Safety Agency, Goshgar Tahmazli said at the 16th Azerbaijan International Exhibition of Agricultural Products (Caspian Agro) and the 28th International Food Industry Exhibition (InterFood Azerbaijan), Trend reports.

"Molecular diagnostics laboratories have been established in the capital and regions of the country, and the number of examinations for the presence of pesticide residues in agricultural products has been increased from six to 600, Tahmazli noted.

Besides, according to him, control over imported agricultural products has been strengthened, and up to 1,000 notifications of identified non-compliances have been sent to exporting countries over the past period.

The 16th International Exhibition of Agricultural Products and the 28th Exhibition of the International Food Industry are being held on May 17-19.
A 13-year old student, Excellent Edwin-Isotu has won the 2023 Junior Category to represent Rivers State at the Nigeria Spelling Bee Competition.

Master Edwin-Isotu, a student of Graduate High School, Port Harcourt, will represent the state in the national competition, scheduled to hold from July 26 to July 29 in Rivers State.

The National Coordinator of the programme, Abdulsalam Ibrahim, in a statement on Tuesday, said the goal of the Nigeria Spelling Bee Competition was to promote literacy among Nigerian students, and reward learning with amazing opportunities.

Mr Ibrahim said the competition was crucial as a lot of young people had formed the habit of using slangs, shortening words while writing, blaming the trend on the advent of social media.

He said English language was a prerequisite for learning, adding that its mastering at all times should be considered pertinent, especially for students and young people, who were the future of the country.

Having been charged by the Federal Ministry of Education to produce the best of Nigeria and project them as Team Nigeria at international stages, we aim to bring out the very best wordsmiths and readers to make Nigeria proud.

This is the reason for organising spelling competitions among Nigerian school students, to promote accurate spelling of the commonly used English words and improve the knowledge of students.

We do not give the spellers words to learn, they have to study words from the dictionary. At the National level, they have to write essays too.

Mr Ibrahim said the competition was aimed at improving learning for spelling and comprehension of concepts, adding that a study guide had been prepared to guide spellers and teach rules of spelling.

He noted that spellers were actively engaged in learning communication and public speaking skills, as well as building their self-esteem.

He said the organisation was worried about the common mistakes students and writers often made in the usage of English words and in the three major Nigerian languages.

According to Master Edwin-Isotus tutor, Evans Kingsley, he is optimistic that the boy will do Rivers State proud at the National Finals and beyond.

I see the confidence in him and he has proven it, so I am optimistic that we will become victorious, he said.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), reports that winners of the Regional Stage will progress to the National Finals where they will compete for a chance to win A Grand Prize of N1,000,000 Scholarship, among other prizes

More than 700 students from secondary, primary and institutional platforms in Rivers State, participated in the competition.

National Champions will also win an all-expenses-paid trip to represent Nigeria at the African Spelling Bee Competition in November in Ethiopia.

(NAN)

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The police in Delta State, South-south Nigeria, say they have arrested 10 suspected kidnappers who specialise in terrorising people within Sapele and surrounding communities in the state.

Bright Edafe, the police spokesperson in the state, disclosed this in a statement he sent to PREMIUM TIMES on Wednesday.

Mr Edafe, a deputy police superintendent, who said the arrests were intelligence-driven, identified one of the suspects as Nyero Sunday, 29.

He listed items recovered from the suspects to include, a Toyota Corolla car, a locally made cut-to-size single barrel gun and 11 rounds of live cartridges.

Further investigation led to the arrest of one Umar Bello, 33, from Sokoto State but resides in Warri. He usually buys the stolen phones and other valuables robbed from their victims, Mr Edafe said.

According to Mr Edafe, the police operatives in the state on Monday arrested three suspects that specialise in robbing people at nights along the Airport Road in the state.

One of the suspects, Nworie Emmanuel, 20, was arrested and taken to the police station. During interrogation, the suspect stated that he is a member of a three-man gang of armed robbers who uses a tricycle to rob innocent people of their belongings along Airport Road Warri.

The tricycle, the knife they use to scare their victims are in custody alongside the suspect while effort is on to arrest the other fleeing members of the gang, he said.

Similarly, a female suspect, Priscillia Amor, 35, was arrested on Tuesday with 26 wraps of weed suspected to be Indian hemp, 19 wraps of substance suspected to be Methamphetamine, eight packets of razlers and some mobile phones.

The suspect, Mr Edafe said, was arrested when operatives of the command raided a blackspot along Osuani in Patani Local Government Area of the state.

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Dramatic flooding after two days of heavy rainfall in the northern Italian regions of Emilia-Romagna and Marche has led to deaths and damage along the countrys Adriatic coast.

The coastal area has been hit by heavy storms since Tuesday, and three people have been killed, Italian media reported on Wednesday.

One man was staying on the ground floor of his house during the flooding and drowned.

There were also reports of missing persons.

The provinces of Ravenna, Forli-Cesena, Rimini and Bologna and especially the cities of Faenza, Cesena and Forli are the worst affected, according to the Italian fire service.

It said it had deployed 400 firefighters and responded to 600 calls since Tuesday morning.

The firefighters rescued people who were trapped in their homes by the water and drivers stranded in the floods.

In the city of Cesena, where the Saviour River overflowed its banks, emergency services rescued dozens of people trapped on the roofs of their houses.

Pictures and videos taken by the fire brigade showed entire streets under water, mudslides blocking roads and fields resembling seascapes.

According to the Civil Defence, 14 rivers are flooded in Emilia-Romagna alone.

In addition, there were power cuts in several areas and problems with telephone connections.

Italian mountain rescue teams were also on-site to help.

According to Civil Defence Minister Nello Musumeci, about 5,000 people were being evacuated.

But there could be more. We are ready to intervene, he told Italian radio on Wednesday morning.

He said the government had already approved 10 million euros (10.8 million dollars) for initial expenses and emergencies resulting from the floods.

The emergency services used helicopters to bring people to safety.

A woman in Faenza reported that within 10 minutes the water rose almost to the first floor of her house.

A neighbour of mine was alone in the house with four small children, she called for help and no one came.

We stayed with them all night, in our pyjamas. The children were crying. Its a catastrophe, she was quoted as saying by the ANSA news agency.

The Civil Defence called on people to exercise caution in the coming hours.

People who have not been evacuated were told to take shelter on higher floors of buildings, for example.

Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni expressed her full solidarity with the people in the affected regions.

The government is closely following the development of events and is ready to take the necessary relief measures, she wrote on Twitter.

(dpa/NAN)

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The Federal High Court in Abuja refused to grant an application by ECOBANK Nigeria Limited to restrain the federal government from forcing the bank to refund N800 million arising from loss suffered due to the multiple payments made to beneficiaries of the Amnesty Programme.

Justice Inyang Ekwo, in a ruling on Wednesday, ordered Isaac Oguche, counsel that appeared for the commercial bank, to put the respondents on notice within seven days of the order.

Mr Ekwo also directed Mr Oguche to serve on all the respondents in the suit the processes filed and adjourned the matter until May 31 for the bank to show cause.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the federal government had established a Niger Delta Amnesty Programme for the disarmament, demobilisation and rehabilitation or reintegration of the militants and development in the oil-producing region.

The key component of the programme was the payment of monthly stipends to qualified beneficiaries through their accounts maintained with various banks in Nigeria.

ECOBANK had, in an ex-parte motion marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/469/2023, sued the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF), National Security Adviser (NSA) and the Federal Government through the Niger Delta Amnesty Programme as 1st to 3rd respondents respectively.

In the motion dated 5 April, the banks lawyer, Anthony Idigbe, sought an order of interim injunction restraining the respondents or cohorts from arresting its directors, staff or agents or taking steps to disrupt its business without following due process of law pending the hearing and determination of originating motion.

It also sought an order of interim injunction restraining the respondents either by themselves or agents from taking further steps to further harass the applicant, directors and staff.

In the affidavit in support of the motion deposed to by Oladipupo Raji, Regional Operations Head of the bank in FCT, he averred that since the inception of the programme to January 2023, there had been no allegation against ECOBANK for fraud in relation to monies paid to its customers by the Niger Delta Amnesty Programme.

He said on 19 January, commercial banks, including ECOBANK, were summoned to a meeting by the National Security Adviser to the President, Babagana Monguno, in respect of the Amnesty Programme.

That the NSA at the meeting which I attended informed the banks representatives that some of the beneficiaries of the Amnesty Scheme have been receiving double payments from the Federal Government of Nigeria by opening multiple accounts in several banks and that the 3rd respondent has also been paying funds to unknown individuals.

That the NSA thereafter sought the support of the banks in tackling the challenges in sanitising the system and ensuring the leakages are blocked, Mr Raji said.

He said to their surprise, the Permanent Secretary, Aliyu Mohammed, informed all the banks that the federal government had purportedly lost the sum of N13 billion through the leakages and thereafter stated emphatically that the sum of N849,408,000 must be refunded by ECOBANK within two weeks.

That the banks shocked by the demand and the threat of arrest requested for time for them to audit their books to verify the claims for multiple payments in line with the payment instructions given by the 3rd respondent, he said.

Raji said that ECOBANK was not involved in the processing of payments, approval of payments or verification of the list of the beneficiaries of the scheme.

The official, who refuted the allegations in the Niger Delta Amnesty Programme lawyers letter dated 23 February, denied liability for the payment of the sum of N319.8 million.

He insisted that the bank did not engage in any fraudulent activities in relation to the funds paid to its customers either before or after the opening of the account.

READ ALSO: Ecobank Groups new CEO assumes office

According to him, the applicant (ECOBANK) is not appointed as a financial adviser on the amnesty payment programme and is not given any responsibility for verifying payments to the beneficiaries of the programme under any contract.

The bank is not aware of the criteria used in picking/selecting the beneficiaries of the Amnesty stipends.

Mr Raji, who urged the court to grant their reliefs, said the motion was filed in the interest of justice.

(NAN)

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The Federal Ministry of Works on Wednesday shut down the Apapa-bound lane of the beginning of Marine Bridge in Lagos, damaged by vandals, for the safety of the public.

A News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) correspondent who visited the site of the collapsed portion of the bridge reports that a team of engineers from Buildwell Plants and Equipment Industries Ltd used crash barriers to barricade the damaged portion of the deck on a pile bridge.

A deck on a pile is a bridge that does not have piers.

NAN observed that while the contractor, Eko and Marine Bridge projects, did the barricade, a combined team of traffic regulatory agencies managed traffic around the diversion.

The police also supported the team.

The Assistant Director in charge of Federal Highways in Lagos State, Olukorede Keisha, upon arrival and re-evaluation of the infrastructure, ordered a total shutdown of the portion.

Ms Keisha told NAN that the service lane of the deck on the pile bridge was damaged and caved in due to the activities of vandals.

She said an investigation revealed that the vandals had set a fire underneath the bridge to gain access to iron rods and other steel components under the bridge to be able to cut them off.

She said because the steel components of the bridge had been removed and stolen by the vandals, it caved in.

She said a thorough assessment revealed an urgent need to close the bridge to avert risk to motorists and other road users.

On inspection, we discovered that the place was set on fire to expose the reinforcement for them to cut it off and that is what they have done.

And the concrete alone without the tension cannot cope with the pressure. It needs to be assisted with reinforcement. Once reinforcement is taken away, concrete alone cannot do the job, hence the collapse.

For overriding public safety, there is need to shut it down immediately.

We have looked at it, the contractor has critically assessed the situation. So, we are going back to the drawing board to evaluate it and look at the possible quick way to resolve it.

But meanwhile, we are going to close this and divert traffic to alternative routes, she said.

Ms Keisha, who arrived at the scene at about 3.03 p.m. with a team of engineers, engaged the head of the LASTMA and FRSC teams on an urgent traffic architecture for the closure and diversion of vehicles.

She told NAN that traffic would be diverted through Costain and the Lagos Island-bound portion of the Marine Bridge as alternative routes.

Placing of crash barriers on the bad portion.

Ms Keisha appealed to road users to be patient as the federal government was doing everything humanly possible to quickly fix the damaged portion.

She said an urgent proposal was being prepared for immediate dispatch to the ministrys headquarters in Abuja, assuring them that repairs would begin almost immediately.

She appealed to Lagos residents to take ownership of roads and other public infrastructure to protect them against vandalism.

She said the hardship caused by the activities of vandals usually impacted negatively on all residents of the state, hence the need for vigilance to stop miscreants from damaging public infrastructure.

We have to take all public utilities as if it is ours, she said.

She said that the road caved in on Tuesday evening and the contractor was immediately mobilised to the site to begin an investigation towards quick solutions.

READ ALSO: Nigerian govt spends N1m annually on each inmate Interior Minister

NAN reports that the traffic regulatory agencies allowed vehicles that were already on the Carter Bridge to be evacuated through the earlier diversion created.

They then totally closed the approach of the Apapa-bound lane of the Marine Bridge located near Ijora Olopa, adjacent to the Lagos State Water Corporation.

(NAN)

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One of the aspirants for the position of Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yusuf Gagdi, says the zoning of the position to the North-west region by the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) is unjust, hence, making it hard for party officials to preach party supremacy to members.

Mr Gagdi represents Pankshin/Kanam/Kanke federal constituency of Plateau State. He said the exclusion of his North-central region in the allocation of the presiding offices of the National Assembly by the ruling party is an act of injustice.

He stated this on Tuesday during an interface with journalists at the Transcorp Hilton in Abuja.

Why am I elected in the National Assembly? I am elected to represent Nigerians and to ensure justice. Then the party that I seek election under its platform will be aiding and abetting injustice and you expect me to respect that supremacy?

I have analysed these things to you that even the deaf and dumb agree that there is injustice and then you are talking about party supremacy. What are they talking about? Have you heard anybody from the North-central zone talking about party supremacy? he said.

Background

PREMIUM TIMES reported that the president-elect, Bola Tinubu, reportedly endorsed Godswill Akpabio (South-south) and Barau Jibrin (North-west) for Senate President and Deputy Senate President respectively.

He also endorsed Tajudeen Abbas (North-west) and Ben Kalu (South-east) for House Speaker and Deputy Speaker respectively.

The endorsements have been ratified by the National Working Committee of the APC, triggering protests from some members of the party, particularly from the North-central zone, who faulted the zoning template.

Also, several aspirants have openly challenged the party and called for a review.

APC must reward loyalty

Speaking on the decision to zone the position to Kaduna State, Mr Gagdi said given the performance of the APC in Kaduna during the presidential election, the state does not deserve to be allocated the speakership.

He stated that the ruling party only won a single local government area during the presidential election in Kaduna State.

Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu has promised that he will reward loyalty and commitment. He won only one local government in Kaduna State  Birnin Gwari. In a state where you won only one local government you are giving speakership to that state, he said.

He added that the president-elect is yet to inform him and other aspirants of his preferred candidate.

We are not against anybody. We are not even against the president-elect, because as far as we are concerned, we have not heard anything from him. We have not heard anything from him whether he has zoned, whether he has endorsed a particular candidate, Mr Gagdi said.

Up till today, I dont believe that what is happening the president-elect is aware of it or it is his own idea. No, he stated.

The inauguration of the 10th Assembly is scheduled for 13 June.

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Some former senators have appealed to a former governor of Zamfara State, Abdulaziz Yari, and other aggrieved aspirants to step down for Godswill Akpabio in the race for the presidency of the Nigerian 10th Senate, which is scheduled to be inaugurated on 13 June.

The ruling All Progressives Congress, which has a majority in the Senate, has endorsed the former Akwa Ibom governor for the position and Kano senator Barau Jibrin as his deputy. But their rivals are unhappy about the partys decision and Mr Yari has vowed not to quit the race for Mr Akpabio.

However, the former senators, under the aegis of APC Non-Serving Senators, said their position is to ensure peace, national unity and party cohesion.

The former senators, numbering about 76, made their position known at a press briefing in Abuja on Tuesday evening.

Basheer Lado, who addressed journalists on behalf of the former senators, said the joint ticket of Messrs Akpabio and Jibrin would assist the incoming government deliver good governance and democratic dividends to Nigerians.

We, therefore, respectfully, once again, appeal to other aspirants to step down their ambition in the interest of national unity, peace, national stability of Nigeria and party cohesion, he appealed.

We believe strongly, Senator Akpabio and Senator Barau Jibril at the helm of affairs in the 10th assembly will further compliment the administration of Distinguished Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Senator Kashim Shettima in delivering good governance and democratic dividends, to all Nigerians.

Endorsement

Mr Lado also said the former senators endorsement of Messrs Akpabio and Jibrin is to ensure that the party balances the issue of ethnicity and religious diversity in the political leadership.

As politicians and beneficiaries of Nigerias democracy, we believe that the continued consolidation of Nigerias political maturity can only be sustained through Peace, Stability, Unity and Progress of the constituents that make up the entire country, he said.

Our support for the candidature of Senator Godswill Akpabio from the South as Senate President and Senator Barau Jibril from the North as Deputy Senate President indeed is to strike the needed political balance, ethnicity and religious diversity of Nigeria as one indivisible nation.

He assured the leadership of the APC that the forum of former senators will continue to support Messrs Akpabio and Jibrin till they achieve their ambitions.

As critical stakeholders, we assure the leadership of the APC, The President-Elect, The Vice President Elect, Senator Godswill Akpabio and Senator Barau Jibril of our unflinching commitment and support towards the actualisation of this objective.

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Ahead of the 29 May inauguration, Nigerias President-elect Bola Tinubu discussed strengthening US-Nigeria relations in a phone conversation with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday.

The US Department of State in a press release on its website said, Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken spoke with Nigerian President-elect Bola Ahmed Tinubu this morning to emphasise his continued commitment to further strengthening the U.S.-Nigeria relationship with the incoming administration.

The statement noted that Mr Blinken looks forward to continuing to strengthen the US-Nigeria partnership which is built on shared interests and strong people-to-people ties after Mr Tinubu is sworn in as president on 29 May.

The two leaders also discussed the importance of inclusive leadership representing all Nigerians, continued comprehensive security cooperation, and reforms supporting economic growth.

Also, in a statement from the office of the president-elect signed by Tunde Rahman, Mr Tinubu pledged to work to ensure continued positive relations with the United States.

He (Bola Tinubu) urged the US to factor in Nigerias important place in Africa and provide needed assistance in the areas of security and economic investment for the nation to lead the way and be a shining example to the rest of the continent, Mr Rahman said.

The president-elect said without national unity, security, economic development and good governance, Nigeria would not become a better place to live or play her proper role in the comity of African nations.

According to Mr Rahman, Mr Blinken assured Nigeria of a good and mutually-beneficial relationship with the US, promising to play his part in bringing a sustained and cordial relationship between the two nations to fruition, saying a democratic and peaceful Nigeria is important to the United States as it is to Africa.

Additionally, the president-elect said among his immediate priorities is to deliver institutional reforms and development programmes to deepen our democratic institutions and bring help to poor and vulnerable Nigerians.

Mr Tinubu, who won Nigerias presidential election held in February, will be sworn in as president on 29 May to succeed Muhammadu Buhari. Both men are of the same party, APC.

Two of Mr Tinubus opponents in the election, Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi, are however, still challenging the results of the election in court. Atiku came second in the election, according to the electoral commission, while Mr Obi came third.

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A factional national chairman of the Labour Party (LP), Lamidi Apapa, on Wednesday, confronted the Director General of Peter Obis presidential campaign council, Akin Osuntokun, at the Presidential Election Petition Court in Abuja.

Trouble began on Wednesday after court officials opened the courtroom to lawyers and litigants for the days proceedings.

Mr Osuntokun and other party stalwarts had taken their seats in the gallery in the courtroom, when Mr Apapa and his colleagues accosted the former, demanding that they vacate the seats.

Mr Apapa said he was the legitimate leader of Labour Party who should take the seat.

But Mr Osuntokun would not relinquish his seat, insisting that Mr Apapa had no right to take the seat.

It took the intervention of Josephine Ekperobe, secretary of the Presidential Election Petition Court to calm down the tense situation between Messrs Apapa and Osuntokun.

Julius Abure, the suspended national chairman of the Labour Party, was caught in a web of leadership dispute with Mr Apapa, who was earlier suspended by the party.

The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court in Abuja had restrained Mr Abure from parading himself as the national chairman of the party.

The crack within the party had widened since its loss at the presidential election with its factionalisation becoming more pronounced.

In April, the partys Acting National Publicity Secretary, Obiora Ifoh, called on all election petition tribunals to disregard letters by its suspended National Legal Adviser, Samuel Akingbade, withdrawing all the partys petitions.

Wednesdays proceedings might witness some hitches in terms of who represents the party at the court.

Mr Abure arrived at court shortly after the altercation was brought under control.

Also, Mr Obi is present in court for Wednesdays proceedings

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The Plateau State Police Command on Wednesday said it arrested five persons suspected to have participated in the attack launched on Tuesday morning in two villages in Mangu Local Government.

The police said they recovered an AK 47 rifle, a revolver pistol and cartridges.

Although the police is yet to give the number of those who lost their lives, residents told journalists that more than 30 people were killed in the incident.

In a statement by the spokesperson of the police command, Alabo Alfred, the arrested suspects are in the custody of Operation Safe Haven (OPSH), a joint security unit of soldiers and police personnel.

In the course of the struggle with the attackers, one Cpl. Abdullahi Umar 07NA attached to sector 8 STF sustained bullet injuries and is currently receiving treatment at the STF headquarters, Jos. Two Hilux vans belonging to NSCDC were overran and vandalized by the attackers.

Heavy security presence has been deployed to the area to forestall any further breakdown of law and order, the statement read.

So far calm has been restored to the general area of Mangu Local Government, while monitoring continues.

The Plateau State Commissioner of Police, Bartholomew N. Onyeka, assures the good people of Plateau State that the Command under his watch will continue do everything within its constitutional power to ensure the security of lives and properties of all the citizens of Plateau State. Further developments concerning the incident will be communicated in due course,  the police added.

Plateau State Governor, Simon Lalong, on Tuesday directed security agencies to arrest the perpetrators of the overnight attack on Kubat Village in Mangu Local Government where many including women and children were reportedly killed.

Mr Lalong in a statement signed by his director of press and public affairs, Makut Simon, said he was seriously disturbed about the tragic incident.

Lalong describes this as yet another attempt by crises merchants and criminals to return the State to the dark days of pain and agony, vowing that the Government will stop at nothing to ensure that those behind this scheme are dealt with mercilessly.

While condemning the act, the Governor commiserates with the victims and assures that the murderers will not be allowed to go unpunished as this is an act that can neither be tolerated or excused no matter the motivation.

The Governor has equally directed the State Emergency Management Agency and the Peace Building Agency to visit the area and ascertain the humanitarian need so as to bring succour to the affected while thorough investigation is being carried out, he added.

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BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 17. The World Bank promotes digital literacy in Azerbaijan in various ways, World Bank Country Manager for Azerbaijan Sarah Michael said during the GSMA M360 Eurasia 2023 conference in Baku, Trend reports.

According to her, by investing in digital infrastructure, the World Bank supports the aspect of demand for this type of service. The World Bank also develops the knowledge of the population in the field of digital services, cybersecurity and provides support to local enterprises.

"In order to increase digital literacy, there are several solutions, in particular in Azerbaijan. These are ASAN Centers, their system is based on the principle of "one window". This system supports digital transition," Sarah Michael said.

She also noted that the World Bank participates in the project of "smart" villages in Azerbaijan.

"About 60 percent of the Azerbaijani population lives in rural areas. We have been working on the smart villages project for 6-7 years together with the government and the private sector of Azerbaijan," Sarah Michael said.

She noted that Azerbaijan has recently launched a pilot project of the "smart" village of Agaly in the Zangilan district, and the World Bank is working with the government of Azerbaijan on the development of this project.

Sarah Michael also pointed out the relationship between the prevalence of Internet access and GDP growth.

"An increase in Internet coverage in the regions by 1 percent increases GDP growth by 1.5 percent. This creates more jobs," she added.
The outgoing governor of Zamfara State, Bello Matawalle, has asked the anti-graft agency, EFCC, to probe officers of the presidency and members of the Federal Executive Council (FEC).

Officials of the presidency include the president, vice president and some other aides appointed by the president while FEC members include the president, vice president and ministers.

Mr Matawalle said this in a public statement wherein he questioned the motive of the EFCC for investigating outgoing governors.

I demand that the EFCC chair extend similar invitations to officers of the Presidency and members of the Federal Executive Council, which is the highest tier of government in the country, he wrote.

Mr Matawalle will cease to be governor on 29 May having lost his re-election bid.

Governors enjoy immunity from prosecution and the EFCC is believed to be ready to intensify the investigation of outgoing governors, including Mr Matawalle, with a view to prosecution.

In his statement, Mr Matawalle also accused the EFCC chairman, Abdulrasheed Bawa, of corruption, saying he has evidence against him.

He needs to explain, among others, how seized assets by the EFCC are being sold without adherence to due process, he said.

The EFCC had yet to react to Mr Matawalles statement at the time of this report.

Read Mr Matawalles full statement below.

FCC should stop castigating governors, extend its probe to officers at the Federal level

*EFCC chair has questions to answer too

My attention has been drawn to a statement credited to the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Malam Abdulrasheed Bawa, in which he claimed he has sent invitations to all outgoing Governors and Commissioners in a bid to commence investigation into alleged corruption and abuse of office perpetrated by them while in office.

While this is appropriate and commendable because its important for political office holders to account for their actions in office and EFCC is imbued with the power of investigation, however, this power must be exercised judiciously.

The investigation must be holistic and not selective. It is in this respect that the recent invitations and pronouncement by the EFCC Chair is imbalance, incomplete, hypocritical and unnecessarily skewed.

This is counterproductive to the anti-corruption crusade itself, that is if Malam Bawa is actually committed to one.

In a bid to help the obvious knowledge-gap and inertia exhibited by the EFCC Chair, the probe should be all embracing and cover all officers.

I demand that the EFCC chair extend similar invitations to officers of the Presidency and members of the Federal Executive Council, which is the highest tier of government in the country.

In furtherance of my desire to engender a broad based investigation and an enlargement of the fight against corruption, I will also demand that Abdulrasheed Bawa excuse himself and surrender himself for investigation, as I and some eminent Nigerians have evidence of corrupt practices, breach of public trust and abuse of office against him and the commission led by him.

Importantly, he needs to come clean with Nigerians on the way and manner he has prosecuted the anti-corruption fight.

He needs to explain among others how seized assets by the EFCC are being sold without adherence to due process.

He should explain, for instance, how he has assumed the role of the plaintiff, prosecutor and jury and how he has executed his brand of plea bargaining with suspected criminals and saboteurs of the Nigerian economy and agenda who instead of being put on trial, are walking freely all over Nigeria.

It is when the EFCC Chair does this and becomes open, non-selective and all-embracing with his invitation, that will we take him seriously.

It is only then will serious-minded officers who have served the people selflessly and meritoriously and are not opposed to an examination of their books, and indeed Nigerians generally take him seriously.

Without this, it is just a case of another person in government who has some explaining to do himself over allegations of corruption, high-handedness and abuse of office now asking others to account, by so doing, merely giving Nigerians a comic relief from the present challenging times they are experiencing.

SIGNED

Bello Muhammed Matawalle

Governor,

Zamfara State.

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The Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) said a police officer on duty died in a road accident reportedly caused by a speeding truck belonging to Dangote cement factory in Ogun State.

Five other persons were also injured in the crash that occurred around Saiten Petrol Station, along the Abeokuta-Lagos highway on Tuesday night.

The spokesperson of the FRSC in Ogun, Florence Okpe, told journalists on Wednesday that nine vehicles were involved in the crash, including the Dangote truck, a tipper, a yellow bus, an armoured tank, a Toyota Rav4 and three motorcycles.

She said eight persons were involved in the accident, including seven male adults and one female adult.

Ms Okpe said four male adults and one female adult were injured, one person was killed, while two came out of the accident unhurt.

She blamed the crash on speeding and wrongful overtaking on the part of the Dangote truck driver, who she said lost control and crashed into other vehicles from the rear and later plunged into the river.

According to her, the Toyota Rav4 car went up in flames due to the impact of the collision and burnt some motorcycles.

The spokesperson stated that The injured victims were taken to the General Hospital in Ota for medical attention.

One person identified as the police officer, who was on duty, got injured and was also taken to the hospital by the FRSC rescue team, but he later died,

Meanwhile, the Sector Commander of the FRSC in Ogun, Ahmed Umar, sympathised with the families of the victims and appealled to motorists to always obey traffic rules.

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The Nigerian government on Wednesday said only 463 (1.8 per cent) out of 25,380 Primary Healthcare Centres (PHC) in the country possess the required number of Skilled Birth Attendants (SBAs).

While speaking at a media briefing in Abuja, the Executive Director of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), Faisal Shuaib, said there is an unequal distribution of available SBAs among the PHC facilities in the country.

Mr Shuaib said the government is introducing the Community-based Health Research, Innovative-training and Services Programme (CRISP ) to address this significant challenge. He said CRISP will be launched on 22 May, at the banquet hall of the state house.

About CRISP

Mr Shuaib said CRISP aims to leverage the rural posting of resident doctors to support PHC development in partnership with Teaching Hospitals, Federal Medical Centres, State Primary Health Care Boards, Local Government Health Authorities, and communities.

He said the intervention specifically focuses on increasing, retaining, and improving the quality, competency, and distribution of a committed PHC workforce, including facility outreach and community-based health workers.

Mr Shuaib said: This will be achieved through effective management supervision, appropriate compensation, and the recruitment and deployment of Human Resources for Health, such as medical doctors, midwives, nurses, and Community Health Extension Workers (CHEWs), to prioritise PHC facilities nationwide.

He said the implementation of CRISP will be phased across the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), adding that the funding will come from the government, supported by development partners, philanthropists, and other stakeholders.

Human resources

Mr Shuaib highlighted the critical importance of addressing the human resource gaps in PHCs, as the majority of maternal and child deaths in Nigeria occur at the community level due to the lack of skilled health workers.

He said the goal is to make PHC centres more attractive to skilled health workers who tend to prefer urban secondary and tertiary health facilities.

He noted that scientific evidence supports the effectiveness of interventions provided by skilled health workers in reducing maternal and newborn mortality.

In his remarks, the World Health Organisation (WHO) Country Representative, Walter Molumbo, emphasised the importance of accelerating efforts in the health sector, as outlined in the upcoming strategy to be unveiled by the WHO Director-General during the 75th World Assembly.

Mr Molumbo said the strategy focuses on promoting health, providing health services, protecting health, empowering health through digital technology and innovation, and performing for health by strengthening WHO country offices.

Speaking at the briefing, the United Nations Childrens Fund (UNICEF) representative, Eduardo Celades, highlighted the gaps in access to quality healthcare in Nigeria.

Mr Celades noted that only 70 per cent of pregnant women currently have access to antenatal care, with just 60 per cent receiving complete antenatal checkups.

He expresses UNICEFs support and commitment to the CRISP programme and announced the UN agencys intention to allocate additional resources to expand its scope.

The programme aligns with UNICEFs objectives to enhance maternal and child healthcare. The collaboration between UNICEF, partners, and donors aims to strengthen primary healthcare services and aligns with the revitalisation agenda set by NPHCDA, he said.

He said this comprehensive approach to primary healthcare demonstrates a concerted effort to ensure critical healthcare services are available at the grassroots level.

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Governor Charles Soludo of Anambra State has spoken on the likely cause of the gunmen attack on officials of the US Consulate in Nigeria on Tuesday in the state.

PREMIUM TIMES reported how gunmen killed two officials of the Consulate and two police officers after ambushing their convoy along Atani-Osamala Road in Ogbaru Local Local Government of the state.

Apart from killing the victims, the gunmen abducted three others, including two other police officers and their driver, who arrived in the area to carry out a rescue operation during the attack.

In a statement on Wednesday evening by his spokesperson, Christian Aburime, Mr Soludo said the fact that the officials made separate security arrangements and bypassed the existing security architecture in the state might have made them susceptible to the attack.

It is evident from reports by the various security agencies in the state that the visiting team made their own security arrangements and totally bypassed the existing security architecture in the state and the state government was not aware of the humanitarian mission of the visiting team, he said.

In a place like parts of Ogbaru (LGA) where security forces have been fighting the criminals and oil bunkerers, the sight of few policemen can indeed attract vengeance from the criminal gangs. Correcting such lapses and ensuring better coordination will help prevent such avoidable incidents in the future, Mr Soludo explained.

The governor, however, condemned the attack and the killing and vowed to cooperate with security agencies in the state to smoke out the criminals and bring them to justice.

He said, within the last one year, his administration had worked with security agencies to fight crimes and restore law and order in the state.

He argued that despite the latest attack, the state is one of the safest in Nigeria.

This (latest) incident in a remote riverine community in Ogbaru Local Government Area is a reminder that patches of these criminal gangs can still unleash senseless and murderous acts, he said.

Mr Soludo urged residents of the state to assist the security agencies with information on the identity or whereabouts of the gunmen.

The governor promised to handsomely reward anybody who provides such information to the security agencies.

He commiserated with families of victims of the attack and assured the US Embassy in Nigeria of his administrations commitment to the safety and security of its officials in the state.

We assure our residents and visitors of our continued commitment to law and order. If anything, this incident has emboldened our drive, he said.

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as I listened to all the speakers, one thing was clear, as usual: that all our problems are well documented and analysed. I also think that all the varieties of solutions are well documented. What seems to be missing is the driver with the right competence to jumpstart the country towards progress. So, how do we get the right drivers at all levels to improve our economic performance? What kind of political model will boost economic development in Nigeria?

A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way.  John C. Maxwell.

The Nigerian media space has been awash with intense discussions about politics, cash limitations, corruption and all the negativities of the normal media. So, it was quite a relief that someone decided to talk about governance, on which most of our problems are centred. In partnership with the US-based Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, an Abuja-based think-tank, Agora Policy, organised a one-day programme to discuss a book by Zainab Usman on How Nigeria can build a post-oil economic future. Although I have not read the book to be able to make authoritative comments on it, I will rely on the judgement of someone I consider a genius in economics and governance, Professor Charles Soludo. He confirmed the brilliance of the book and its relevance to Nigerias development, while further displaying three other voluminous books, The Political Economy of Economic Growth in Africa 1980- 2000; Economic Policy Choices for a Prosperous Nigeria; and The Politics of Trade and Industrial Policy in Africa, to highlight how long we have been documenting the solutions to our problems in Nigeria.

In summary, it was a brilliant programme. Going beyond the norm, deep conversations on the way forward for the country were had at the programme. An event having two former CBN governors in attendance, dozens of economists, private sector practitioners, development partners, and civil society organisations was certainly expected to be robust. Dr Zainab emphasised the need to keep having the right deep conversations pertaining to Nigerias development because, as other nations are planning for the next generation, we cannot properly liberalise oil to explore its potential fully, particularly since the passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill into law in 2021, not much has changed about the fiscal space in Nigeria. All the inefficiencies and rent-seeking activities within the NNPC still exist till date. But thats a story for another day.

there is consensus that democracy is the best political system for economic development, as it fosters accountability, participation, transparency, and human rights, which are conducive to growth and development. Democracies are supposed to be more pro-reform and less prone to corruption and rent-seeking. Moreover, democracy may also enhance social cohesion and stability

Yet, as I listened to all the speakers, one thing was clear, as usual: that all our problems are well documented and analysed. I also think that all the varieties of solutions are well documented. What seems to be missing is the driver with the right competence to jumpstart the country towards progress. So, how do we get the right drivers at all levels to improve our economic performance? What kind of political model will boost economic development in Nigeria? As all our solutions are known, where and how are we going to recruit leaders that possess the political willpower to address and implement systemic change.

After years of military rule, there is consensus that democracy is the best political system for economic development, as it fosters accountability, participation, transparency, and human rights, which are conducive to growth and development. Democracies are supposed to be more pro-reform and less prone to corruption and rent-seeking. Moreover, democracy may also enhance social cohesion and stability by allowing for the peaceful resolution of conflicts and representation of diverse interests. We mostly like to quote China, Singapore, South Korea, and Taiwan when discussing economic successes, while forgetting that most of those countries are authoritarian in their leadership. But they were not encumbered by our kind of toxic politics. Like others, our country is largely shaped by history, geography, a resources culture, religion, demographics, and external influences, which also play a great role. But we are among the few, parts of whose negative pasts are fully weaponised to our detriment.

The world has equally moved away from political ideology, and the logic of military might is paving way for geoeconomic power  in which the interplay of international economics is the primary national interest. We must fully explore the geoeconomics of international trade, resources, transportation, communication, and finance.

Solutions? We need leaders who will downplay politics and project economic growth through concrete diversification, while factoring in geoeconomics. The oil will soon dry up. Even if it doesnt, alternatives are already springing up. The world has equally moved away from political ideology, and the logic of military might is paving way for geoeconomic power  in which the interplay of international economics is the primary national interest. We must fully explore the geoeconomics of international trade, resources, transportation, communication, and finance. This entails having strong policies for trade, investment, financial and monetary matters. Such issues cannot be subjected to local politics or other extraneous considerations.

Our prosperity relies on the quality of our politics, but not everything should be political. Our ambassadors cannot be career politicians. Sound economists should head the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), alongside ministries like Trade, Finance and even Foreign Affairs. Technocrats should be at the helms of Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA), Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) and Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN). Rent seeking must be abolished in these areas. Competence should be the main criterion in leadership selection in critical sectors that revolve around security, economics and trade. China has shown us the way. Let us hope the new set of drivers will follow the path.

Umar Yakubu is with the Centre for Fiscal Transparency and Integrity Watch. Twitter @umaryakubu

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Virtually every part of the country has an institutionalised memory of hurt and a feeling of being marginalised or unfairly treated in the national scheme of things. This has triggered a process of what I elsewhere called, de-Nigerianisation, with several Nigerians, both individually and as groups, delinking from the state and constructing meaning in some primordial identities, often with the Nigerian state as an enemy. There is simply very little attachment to the state

Irrespective of who eventually becomes the president, the person will face a huge legitimacy crisis from a large swathe of the country. For instance, if the courts affirm Tinubu as the president, he will have to deal with the fact that there is a substantial population of people from the North who believe that since the South is assumed to control the countrys economy, political power should be ceded to the North permanently to serve as a lever for them. Though they may not admit it, neither Tinubu nor the North trusts each other, despite the media show of a strong alliance. In fact there is a suspicion that one of the reasons for the clamour by the North-West to produce the Senate President is so that the North has a lever to control Tinubu, if the courts eventually affirm him as the president. On the other hand, Tinubu and his strategists will want their core loyalists to lead the National Assembly  just in case the tribunal annuls the election and the Senate President has to hold forte, while a new election is organised.

The truth is that no one part of the country fully trusts each other because the sense of national identity (nation-building) has either stalled or is in reverse gear. Any ethnic group which thinks it is trusted more than the others has probably not made an audacious bid for national power or its population is so insignificant that it is not seen as a threat to any group. Virtually every part of the country has an institutionalised memory of hurt and a feeling of being marginalised or unfairly treated in the national scheme of things. This has triggered a process of what I elsewhere called, de-Nigerianisation, with several Nigerians, both individually and as groups, delinking from the state and constructing meaning in some primordial identities, often with the Nigerian state as an enemy. There is simply very little attachment to the state, such that we can talk of Nigeria without Nigerians.

A Tinubu presidency will also face a legitimacy challenge from the Igbos, not only because he has been linked to the profiling and suppression of the votes of Igbos in Lagos during every election cycle since 1999, but also because in the recent elections in the state, he was believed to have surreptitiously encouraged the violence, ethnic profiling and voter suppression in the state because he lost the presidential election to Peter Obis Labour Party. A Tinubu presidency is equally likely to face a serious challenge from the Christian community because of his Muslim-Muslim ticket. People who believe that the Muslim-Muslim ticket worked because it facilitated Tinubus winning of the presidential election (or is being declared as such by INEC), may be jumping the gun. That ticket has not been tested.

If the courts accept Atikus arguments that he won the election, he will face substantial challenge from the Southern part of the country, who will not only resurrect the battle cry of a Northern domination but also of Fulanisation and Islamisation. This will fuel separatist agitations in the South and will especially oxygenate the demand for a Yoruba nation. Though Atiku is generally regarded as a cosmopolitan and liberal Muslim, the nature of Nigerian politics is such that his ethnic and religious bases will seek to capture his presidency  both as a protection for him amid expected media attacks and for ensuring their disproportionate access to state privileges. Despite his avowed liberalism, Atiku was the Northern consensus candidate in the run-up to the PDPs presidential primary in 2010. Again during the campaigns for the 2023 presidential election, Atiku urged the North to vote for its own  indicating that he will not be averse to becoming a willing captive of Northern Muslim interests for self-preservation.

every ethnic group in the country will always outlive a nepotistic and vengeful leader because the leader has a maximum of eight years in office. Again in the age of social media, there is a limit to what a narrow-minded leader can do because if the leader says never, several people and groups in the cyberspace will intensify their own nevertheless and give him hell.

If Peter Obi is declared winner of the election by the courts, he will face gargantuan nation-building challenges  from both the Muslim North, which substantially distanced itself from his candidacy, and from a majority of the Yoruba, who will feel he has pushed away the breasts from the mouth of their son, Tinubu, especially given the ethnic rivalry between the Igbo and the Yoruba. In particular, an Obi presidency through the courts may be considered an affront by the core Muslim North, which seems to believe that no one from the South can be president without its say-so. An Obi presidency will also face a substantial challenge from the Muslim community in general, not just because he has been defined as a Christian candidate but also because the two Christian presidents that the country has had since 1999  Obasanjo and Goodluck Jonathan  were both accused of playing the religious card. This is because of the suspicion and rivalry between Islam and Christianity and what appears to be the special sensitivity to a Christian presidency in the core North. In addition, an Obi presidency will likely be wrapped with the flags of Biafra and IPOB, both of which are bugaboos in many parts of the country, especially the core North. Igbophobia may even increase under an Obi presidency.

Given the above scenario, one can surmise that whoever becomes the president will have a major legitimacy challenge that is rooted in the failure of our nation-building process. While optics have a role to play in the nation-building process, the politics of distributing political offices is essentially an elite game and mere tokenism that cannot sustainably address the crisis in our nation-building process. It should be borne in mind that most ethnic groups in the country do not depend on the government for the success of their members, so disadvantaging any group in political appointments and the distribution of privileges will have little or no impact on that groups progress. Besides, there is a spark of the divine in all of us, which makes many people to protest against injustice, even when they are primed to be the main beneficiaries of such. For instance, the North led the condemnation of Buhari for his nepotism and favouritism of Northern Muslims in appointments in the early years of his presidency.

Similarly, many Yoruba chose to support Peter Obi during the last presidential election because they believe that the Yoruba have had their turn and that for equity, fairness and justice, it should be the turn of the Igbos in 2023. In the same vein, when the 1993 election won by MKO Abiola was annulled, people from different parts of the country teamed up with their Yoruba brethren in NADECO to fight for the revalidation of that mandate. Additionally, every ethnic group in the country will always outlive a nepotistic and vengeful leader because the leader has a maximum of eight years in office. Again in the age of social media, there is a limit to what a narrow-minded leader can do because if the leader says never, several people and groups in the cyberspace will intensify their own nevertheless and give him hell.

Given the scenarios painted above, amidst an economy that is nearly comatose, it is obvious it is not going to be a tea party for whoever the Supreme Court declares as the President of the country.

Jideofor Adibe is a professor of Political Science and International Relations at Nasarawa State University, Keffi and Extraordinary Professor of Government Studies at North Western University, Mafikeng South Africa. He is also the founder of Adonis & Abbey Publishers and can be reached at 0705 807 8841(Text or WhatsApp only).

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The Nigerian Navy Ship, NNS DELTA, has impounded a sewage disposal truck and a barge, MV Amangwu at Okpaka Community in Udu Local Government Area of Delta State.

The Commander of NNS DELTA, Chindo Yahaya, while briefing reporters on Tuesday in Warri said that the barge and truck were laden with products suspected to be stolen crude oil.

Mr Yahaya, a Navy commodore, who was represented at the briefing by the Base Operations Officer of NNS DELTA, Samuel Musa, said that four suspects were arrested.

Mr Yahaya said the operation was conducted on 12 May, around 4:45p.m., with the Joint Task Force (JTF), Sector 1 Headquarters, Effurun, Delta, following a tip-off.

The truck was laden with an unspecified quantity of suspected stolen crude oil. The truck driver abandoned the truck and fled.

However, an intelligence source revealed that the stolen crude oil was to be delivered to storage tanks at Mawe Services Environmental Solutions in the same Okpaka area, he said.

The Naval officer said that a patrol team visited the area and discovered two storage tanks with an unspecified quantity of suspected stolen crude oil.

He said that investigation further revealed that the stolen crude oil was loaded from a barge, Motor Vessel (MV) Amangwu at Tantan Company Yard in the same Okpaka area.

The Navy commodore explained further that the patrol team visited the yard and discovered the barge laden with an unspecified quantity of suspected stolen crude oil on board.

He said that four operators found in the yard were apprehended and transferred to a detention facility at Sector 1 for investigation and further action.

Mr Yahaya urged the members of the public to discountenance claims by some organisations which want to take credit for the arrest of the truck and the barge.

He emphasised that it was operatives of the NNS DELTA in conjunction with JTF, Sector 1, Headquarters, Effurun that made the arrest.

Mr Yahaya warned those who indulge in crude oil theft and other forms of crimes in the maritime space to desist henceforth.

He said the NNS DELTA would not rest on its oars in apprehending criminals in her areas of operation.

(NAN)

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Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta State on Tuesday presented a N71 billion 2023 supplementary budget to the State House of Assembly for approval.

This is contained in a letter read during plenary presided over by the Deputy Speaker of the Assembly, Christopher Ochor in Asaba.

Mr Okowa said the budget was made up of N5.6 billion recurrent expenditure and N65.5 billion capital expenditure

May I wish to note that there has been actual and projected increase in some fiscal receipts.

Consequently, the supplementary budget has become necessary for appropriation to pay for some critical projects and activities of the government as well as fund ongoing projects across the state in the year 2023.

In the light of the foregoing, it would be greatly appreciated if the draft 2023 Supplementary Appropriation Bill is placed before the House at its earliest convenience for consideration and passing into law, he said.

The Majority Leader, Ferguson Onwo moved a motion for the first reading of the budget which was unanimously adopted when put to a voice vote by the deputy speaker.

The oil-rich Delta is among the states that received billions of naira from President Muhammadu Buharis administration as a refund for the backlog for the 13 per cent oil derivation money held back by the federal government since 1999.

The refund became public when the Governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike revealed that his administration had received Rivers share of the money.

Also during Tuesdays plenary, the House Joint Committee on Rules, Business, Legal and Judicial Matters and Special Committee on Bills presented its report on a bill to provide for the Compulsory Treatment and Care of Victims of Gunshots in the state.

Presenting the report, the Chairperson, House Committee on Rules, Business, Legal and Judicial Matters, Charles Oniyere, said the joint committee worked tirelessly to deliver within the time given to it.

Mr Oniyere said after meticulous examination and scrutiny of the bill, the committee made some far reaching recommendations for the approval of the House.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the report would be considered by the Committee of the Whole next week.

(NAN)

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Gunmen on Tuesday attacked a United States convoy in Anambra State, south-east Nigeria, killing four people, CNN reports.

Persons killed include two personnel from the US consulate and two police officers, while three others were kidnapped, local police and US officials said.

The attackers murdered two police operatives and two staff of the US consulate and set their bodies and their vehicles ablaze, CNN quoted Anambra police command as saying.

The personnel who were killed were not US citizens, according to the White House and the local police.

No US citizens were involved and therefore there were no US citizens hurt, CNN quoted John Kirby of the US National Security Council as saying. We are aware of some casualties, perhaps even some killed.

According to CNN, Ikenga Tochukwu, a deputy superintendent of police, said that when the assailants saw security forces, they made away with two police operatives and a driver of the second vehicle in the convoy, reiterating that no US citizen was in the convoy.

Police said that joint security forces have embarked on a rescue and recovery operation in the area.

A State Department spokesperson said Tuesday that Mission Nigeria personnel are working with Nigerian security services to investigate.

The security of our personnel is always paramount, and we take extensive precautions when organising trips to the field.

Although no group has claimed responsibility for the attack, Anambra is one of the south-east states that has suffered attacks from gunmen believed to me members of the outlawed separatist group, IPOB.

Hundreds of people have been killed and many others kidnapped in Anambra and neighbouring states like Enugu and Imo.

The group seeks an independent country of Biafra for Igbos from South-east Nigeria but does not enjoy the support of majority of Igbos.

IPOB leader Nnamdi Kanu is currently being detained by the federal government in Abuja where is facing treason charges.

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The Abia Project Coordinating Office of the Livelihood Improvement Family Enterprises Project for Niger Delta (LIFE-ND) says it has built farmers capacity on seasonal climate prediction and weather forecast.

The State Environment and Climate Change Specialist for LIFE-ND, Chidozie Kalu, said this in an interview with reporters on the sideline of a one-day workshop organised for the farmers in Umuahia, Abia State, on Tuesday.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the farmers were trained with respect to their various enterprises as they concern the project.

Mr Kalu said the objective was to encourage and inform them about weather and climate change challenges and how to mitigate them.

He also said that the training was designed to improve agricultural production.

He said the farmers were engaged using information from the Nigeria Meteorological Agency (NIMET) in order to guide them on how to plan their enterprises for the year.

Mr Kalu, who used a weather station for demonstration at the workshop, said the project also supported the beneficiaries with similar gadgets.

A weather station is an Android-like instrument for measuring weather.

According to him, such a gadget enables them to know the actual weather for the day as well as plan for that particular day.

Also, we encourage and sensitise our beneficiaries on activities to cushion some of these environmental issues.

We are training the trainers so that they in turn would pass the information to their siblings and peers.

We dont expect them to keep it to themselves, Mr Kalu said.

ALSO READ: AU Agency urges farmers to embrace climate smart agriculture practices

Also, the state Agribusiness Promotion Officer, Godwin Chukwuekezie, said it was part of the activities for the beneficiaries to improve productivity in their various agro enterprises.

Mr Chukwuekezie said it would help them to forecast or mitigate as much as possible the losses that might occur because of ignorance about the weather elements.

He said: We are in a time when most of our agricultural activities rely on rainfall and we dont have the facilities, so we are more or less at the mercy of weather.

When farmers know all the hazards associated with it, it will enable them to micro-manage or manipulate so that they can still produce without being chased out of proportion by these weather fluctuations.

A beneficiary, Uduma Ochu, expressed gratitude to the organisers, saying, this workshop has helped me to know the exact time to plant, apply fertilizer as well as harvest.

NAN reports that LIFE-ND is funded by The International Fund for Agricultural Development, in collaboration with the Federal Government and Niger Delta Development Commission as well as the state government.

The project, which is in line with President Muhammadu Buharis vision for national food security, is meant for implementation in the nine Niger Delta states, but currently operating in six.

(NAN)

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BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 17. Azerbaijans Innovation and Digital Development Agency is launching a pilot project on postal services in the country, the agencys Acting Chairperson Inara Valiyeva said during the GSMA Mobile 360 Eurasia 2023 conference in Baku, Trend reports.

"Well continue to support citizens in receiving offline services when they come to the post office. However, the new service will focus on moving postal services from offline to online," Valiyeva explained.

According to her, the agency supports the digitalization of small and medium-sized businesses, as well as IT companies that want to enter the Azerbaijani market.

She also noted that the main goal of the agency is a citizen-oriented approach and its important to ensure that everyone can access e-services at one click.

"Now we continue to study these issues together with the World Bank and our other partners," Valiyeva said.

She also mentioned VAT cashback as an example of public distribution of e-services.

Brought by the GSMA (Groupe Speciale Mobile Association), the conference features keynote speeches and panel discussions, with a focus on digital resilience for future prosperity, building stronger customer connections, 5G and the future of infrastructure, IoT (internet of things), AI (artificial intelligence) and Machine Learning, fintech, cybersecurity, and more.

The event convenes experts and decision-makers from Azerbaijan and the Eurasian region, including regulators, and senior executives from the leading mobile operators, and digital corporations.
BEIT YANAI, Israel, May 16, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Electreon (TASE: ELWS), announced today it is ready to publicly demonstrate what, Oren Ezer, CEO and Co-founder of Electreon, describes as "The unlimited potential of wireless Electric Road technology (Dynamic Wireless EV Charging)."

The TOYOTA RAV4 charging wirelessly while driving at Electreon's HQ (PRNewsfoto/Electreon)

In less than one week (starting on May 21st, 2023), the Electreon team will showcase its industry-changing wireless Electric Road technology charging a TOYOTA RAV4-PHEV as it drives on the company's demonstration wireless Electric Road for up to 100 hours. In a world first, over a five-day period (21st-25th of May, 2023), the hybrid EV's compact and lightweight 18 kWh battery will never be depleted (fully discharged) and will drive between 1,000 - 1,500 km over the five-day period. Electreon selected this hybrid vehicle to demonstrate how any EV, even one with a minimal vehicle battery size can benefit from extended, even unlimited range, with wireless EV charging. The company's demonstration track is just over 200 meters in length and approximately 25% of the track is electrified. By driving 1,000 km, the wireless EV charging technology will increase the range 13 times more than the current hybrid vehicle real-world limits; and driving 1,500 km without will extend the vehicle's range 20-fold.[1]



While drivers will change throughout the week, the vehicle will not need to stop for dedicated charging time throughout the five-day period. On Wednesday, 24th of May, the Electreon team will welcome select clients, partners, suppliers, investors, industry, academics, investors and political leaders to its headquarters to witness 'history in the driving'. The driving rally will be live-streamed for anyone to tune into at any point.



Ezer states, "Industry, political and public support for wireless EV charging technologies is greater now than at any other time since Electreon's doors opened in 2013. We witnessed industry enthusiasm for our wireless EV technology grow into unwavering support. Now we see it bloom into declarations of commitment to advance wireless charging in commercial projects in public roads across the globe. Today we are involved in a dozen projects across five countries together with more than 60 global partners, including leading automotive partners. This is the tipping point." said Oren Ezer, CEO and Co-founder of Electreon. "Just this month we launched the first public shuttle that charges as it drives in Germany (dynamically). Here we are also demonstrating the true potential of the wireless EV charging road."



The company is no stranger to the limelight, selected to feature in several documentaries, including Bloomberg's 15-min piece, How Electric Roads Could Power the Future , and in 2021 its technology was named by TIME Magazine as one of its coveted Inventions of the Year. Since the company went public in Israel in 2018, Ezer has announced a string of automotive and industry category partnerships and investments that demonstrate the great interest in this technology.



About Electreon

Electreon is the leading developer and provider of wireless charging solutions for electric vehicles (EVs), providing end-to-end charging infrastructure and services, to meet the needs and efficiency demands of shared, public, and commercial fleet operators and consumers. The company's proprietary inductive technology dynamically (while in motion) and statically (while stopped) charges EVs quickly and safely, eliminating range anxiety, lowering total costs of EV ownership, and reducing battery capacity needs-making it one of the most environmentally sustainable, scalable, and compelling charging solutions available in the market today. Electreon collaborates with cities and fleet operators on a "sale" business model, and on a Charging as a Service (CaaS) business model, that enables cost-effective electrification of public, commercial, and autonomous fleets for smooth and continuous operation. For more information, visit electreon.com.

Media contact:

Keren Alleson Gerberg

keren.a@electreon.com

+972-549758734

[1] The range for an 18 kWh battery in real world driving conditions would be ~ 75 km.

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SOURCE Electreon Wireless Ltd
BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 17. Entrepreneurs from Azerbaijan's Nakhchivan are attending the 16th Azerbaijan International Exhibition of Agricultural Products (Caspian Agro) and the 28th International Food Industry Exhibition (InterFood Azerbaijan) for the first time, Deputy Minister of Agriculture of the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic Khayala Dadashova said, Trend reports.

Dadashova made the remark during the opening ceremonies of the exhibitions.

"All products from Nakhchivan are natural, and farmers prefer to grow more organic products. Expanding employment opportunities and improving people's welfare are among the main priorities of the Azerbaijani state. Agricultural production is one of the main factors in ensuring the country's food and nutrition security," she noted.

The 16th International Exhibition of Agricultural Products and the 28th Exhibition of the International Food Industry are being held on May 17-19 in Baku.
CHICAGO, May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- According to Arizton's latest research report, the Australia construction equipment market will grow at a CAGR of 3.80% during 2022-2029.

To Know More, Download the Free Sample Report: https://www.arizton.com/request-sample/3805

Australia Construction Equipment Market

Browse In-Depth TOC on the Australia Construction Equipment Market

05 - Tables

58 - Charts

178  Pages

The Australian construction equipment industry trends include increasing hybrid and electric construction equipment sales, integrating telematics systems, and launching smart construction solutions. A few road construction projects starting in 2022, such as the M1 Pacific Motorway Extension to Raymond Terrace, are expected to boost demand for road construction machinery in Australia. Other construction projects include a highway upgrade, the Princes Highway Upgrade, worth USD 450 million, and aim to improve New South Wales' primary route between Sydney and the Victorian border. Furthermore, increased government investment under the 'Infrastructure Investment Programme' and the renewable energy sector is expected to propel the Australia construction equipment market during the forecast period.

Australia Construction Equipment Market Report Scope

Report Attributes Details Market Size (2029) 18,180 Units Market Size (2022) 14,006 Units CAGR (2022-2029) 3.80 % Historic Year 2020-2021 Base Year 2022 Forecast Year 2023-2029 Type Earthmoving Equipment, Road Construction Equipment, Material Handling Equipment, and Other Construction Equipment End-Users Construction, Mining, Manufacturing, and Others Market Dynamics Government's Investment in Public Infrastructure Projects

Increased Investment in Renewable Energy Projects

Growth in the E-Commerce Industry

Looking for More Information? Download the Free Sample Report: https://www.arizton.com/request-sample/3805

Government's Infrastructure Investment Program to Propel Sales of Construction Equipment

The country has a robust pipeline of public-sector-funded projects. The budget for 2022-2023 announced a USD 12.0 billion investment over ten years in critical infrastructure projects across the country, such as roads and rail. Furthermore, the government promised to invest more than USD 146 billion between 2021 and 2025. Furthermore, the country's largest infrastructure projects include WestConnex (worth USD 11.3 billion), Sydney Metro (worth USD 12 billion), and Melbourne Metro Tunnel (worth USD 11 billion). Furthermore, the South Australian government has pledged to invest USD 18.6 billion in new and upgraded infrastructure.

Increased Investment in Renewable Energy Projects to Boost the Demand for Material Handling Equipment

The country's Powering Australia plan prioritizes projects that reduce emissions by increasing renewable energy. Furthermore, the Community Solar Banks program is expected to provide approximately USD 68.9 million, which will assist Australian households in accessing low-cost solar energy. Furthermore, the government has invested over USD 4.1 billion in renewable energy generation and storage. South Australia has attracted approximately USD 4 billion in foreign investment for power generation projects such as wind, solar PV, solar thermal, batteries, pumped hydro, compressed air, and thermal storage.

Increase in Sales of Hybrid and Electric Construction Equipment to Reduce Carbon Emissions in the Country

Volvo CE launched its new Volvo CE EC300E Hybrid Excavator in the Australia construction equipment market in Feb 2023, an environmentally friendly option offering improved fuel efficiency. The machine consumes less than 15% of the fuel and generates 15% fewer carbon emissions. Also, in March 2023, Hitachi Construction Machinery announced it would launch new wheel loaders and excavators from its popular ZW-7 and ZX-7 series in Australia. These machines are equipped with Stage-V-compliant fuel-efficient engines. The excavator engines are made up of Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) system, Diesel Oxidation Catalyst (DOC), and Catalysed Soot Filter (CSF).

Integration Of Telematics System in The Construction Equipment Enabling Optimum Performance

CareTrack offers its customers solutions to manage their equipment efficiently, delivering optimum performance. CareTrack also helps operators to use their machines efficiently by optimizing time and fuel consumption. In 2022, Komatsu acquired Australian Telematics Company 'Mine Site Technologies,' a provider of operational optimization platforms for underground mining. Komatsu aims to improve technological solutions, including the automation and teleoperation of mining equipment.

Construction Equipment Manufacturers Launching Smart Construction Solutions for Optimized Performance

Komatsu introduced the 'Smart Construction Field,' which allows contractors to analyze data instantly and find cost-effective ways to manage and resource projects. Komatsu joined hands with Moovila (software provider) to develop a smart construction field (a mobile app). The technology aims to permit contractors to record job site activity and analyze operational efficiencies in real time. The company also launched the 'Smart Construction Drone,' which allows the collection of visual topography on the job site. This drone technology captures quantities for production tracking and billing, eliminating the manual survey. This drone solution can take photos up to 400 feet above ground level and be used to pre-verify the job site.

Vendor Insights

Caterpillar, Volvo Construction Equipment, Liebherr, Hitachi Construction Machinery, Komatsu, XCMG, JCB & SANY are prominent vendors in the Australia construction equipment market.

construction equipment market. Caterpillar has the strongest share in Australia's market. Caterpillar, Volvo CE, Komatsu, &Hitachi Construction Machinery are the leaders in the Australia construction equipment market and has a strong distribution network & have a diversified product portfolio.

market. Caterpillar, Volvo CE, Komatsu, &Hitachi Construction Machinery are the leaders in the construction equipment market and has a strong distribution network & have a diversified product portfolio. Other prominent vendors in the Australia construction equipment market include John Deere, Manitou, Kobelco, Yanmar, Kubota, Merlo Spa, Terex, Liugong, Takeuchi, GEHL, Sumitomo Construction Machinery Co., Ltd, ASV, Kanga Loaders and SDLG.

construction equipment market include John Deere, Manitou, Kobelco, Yanmar, Kubota, Merlo Spa, Terex, Liugong, Takeuchi, GEHL, Sumitomo Construction Machinery Co., Ltd, ASV, Kanga Loaders and SDLG. SANY, JCB, Liugong & XCMG are emerging strong in the market. These companies are introducing innovative products to capture construction equipment market share.

A few distributors/dealers in the market include CJD Equipment, Semco Equipment Sales, Conplant, Tutt Bryant , and Capital Construction Equipment.

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Key Vendors

Caterpillar

Komatsu

Xuzhou Construction Machinery Group Co. Ltd. (XCMG)

Liebherr

Volvo Construction Equipment

Hitachi Construction Machinery

JCB

SANY

John Deere

Manitou

Kobelco

Yanmar

Kubota

MERLO Group

Terex Corporation

Liu Gong

Takeuchi Manufacturing

GEHL

Sumitomo Construction Machinery Co., Ltd.

ASV

Kanga Loader

SDLG

Distributor Profiles

CJD Equipment

Semco Equipment Sales

Conplant

Tutt Bryant

Capital Construction Equipment

BPF Equipment

Market Segmentation

Type

Earthmoving Equipment

Excavator



Backhoe Loaders



Wheeled Loaders



Other Earthmoving Equipment (Other loaders, Bulldozers, Trenchers)

Road Construction Equipment

Road Rollers



Asphalt Pavers

Material Handling Equipment

Crane



Forklift & Telescopic Handlers



Aerial Platforms (Articulated Boom Lifts, Telescopic Boom lifts, Scissor lifts)

Other Construction Equipment

Dumper



Tipper



Concrete Mixer



Concrete Pump Truck

End Users

Construction

Mining

Manufacturing

Others

Table of Content

1 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

2 RESEARCH OBJECTIVES

3 RESEARCH PROCESS

4 SCOPE & COVERAGE

Market Coverage

Report Scope

Market at a Glance

5.1 Market Snapshot

Section 6- Executive Summary

Section 7- Market Landscape

7.1 PESTLE Analysis

7.2 Economic Scenario

7.3 Key Projects

7.4 Market Dynamics

7.5 Import & Export Analysis

7.6 Supply Chain Analysis

Section 8- Segmentation

8.1 By Equipment Type

8.1.1 Equipment Definition (Earthmoving)

8.1.1.1 Earthmoving Equipment (Volume & Value)

8.1.1.2 Excavators

8.1.1.3 Backhoe Loaders

8.1.1.4 Wheeled Loaders

8.1.1.5 Other Earthmoving Equipment

(Other Loaders, Bulldozers, Trenchers, etc.)

8.1.2 Equipment Definition (Road Construction)

8.1.2.1 Road Construction (Volume & Value)

8.1.2.2 Road Rollers

8.1.2.3 Asphalt Pavers

8.1.3 Equipment Definition (Material Handling)

8.1.3.1 Material Handling Equipment (Volume & Value)

8.1.3.2 Cranes

8.1.3.3 Forklifts & Telehandlers

8.1.3.4 Aerial Platforms

8.1.4 Equipment Definition (Other Equipment)

8.1.4.1 Other Equipment (Volume & Value)

8.1.4.2 Dumpers

8.1.4.3 Tippers

8.1.4.4 Concrete Mixtures

8.1.4.5 Concrete Pump Trucks

8.2 By End-users

8.2.1 End-user Definition

8.2.2 Construction

8.2.3 Manufacturing

8.2.4 Mining

8.2.5 Others (Waste Management, Agriculture, Oil & Gas Extraction, Utilities & Energy, Power Generation, Disaster Management and Water Management)

Section 9- Geographical Analysis

Section 10- Technological Development

Section 11- Competitive Landscape

11.1 Competitive Landscape Overview

11.2 Vendors (Caterpillar | Volvo Construction Equipment| Komatsu | Hitachi Construction Machinery | Liebherr | JCB| Kobelco| Kubota| Manitou |Yanmar |SANY| XCMG| Liugong| John Deere| TEREX| Takeuchi |Merlo Spa| Kanga Loaders| SDLG| ASV| Sumitomo| GEHL)

11.3 Other Prominent Vendors

11.4 Distributor Company Profiles

Section 12- Report Summary

12.1 Key Insights

12.2 Abbreviation

12.3 Exhibits

12.4 Related Report

12.5 Database

12.6 Global Reach

12.7 Offerings

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PROVIDENCE, R.I., May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Since the beginning of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, about 700,000 people have lost their lives in the United States. Sadly, this pandemic is not over, with nearly 13,000 AIDS-related deaths occurring each year. Spiro, the agency that is helping companies large and small grow, is inviting you to come be a part of something special. Visit the Providence Art Club, one of Rhode Island's hidden gems, on Thursday, May 18th from 5PM to 7PM, with the artwork being created in real time at 6PM. Location: Angell's Lane, 11 Thomas Street in Providence, RI.

Watch as dancers gracefully dance across the canvases, expressing their emotions to the beautiful sounds of the piano. Experience the beauty of creativity while expressing your love for a meaningful cause. Experience the enchantment of nine breathtaking paintings brought to life before your eyes. It's a truly magical event you don't want to miss. Fall in love with art all over again.

We can't wait to be inspired by your response to this special project, where each canvas features a unique word linked to HIV awareness. What does this meaningful cause mean to you? For each canvas, local artist Micheala Clift will artfully incorporate the chosen words into the design of the canvas where the performers create something beautiful as a tribute to those affected by HIV. Come with us and let's make a difference together with this heartwarming journey.

Join us May 18th, for an unforgettable cooperative night of art, dance, and music, where renowned artist Anthony Tomaselli , musician Alex Tomasso , and talented Ballet RI dancers Joan Alves and Alexa Kearnan will collaborate to create unique pieces of art which will be auctioned following the performance supporting AIDS Project Rhode Island . APRI is dedicated to providing a compassionate, nonjudgmental and collaborative response to the needs of people living with, affected by, and at risk for HIV/AIDS.

Secure your spot now  this is a night you won't want to miss. We believe that this event will be a unique opportunity to raise awareness about HIV/AIDS and support those who are affected by it.

Produced by:

Spiro Inc.

Helping companies large and small that have the willingness to grow.

Media contact

Rodolpho Fidalgo

Spiro, Inc.

(401) 935-8073

[email protected]

SOURCE Spiro
In an oversubscribed round, Adonis will further its mission to deliver critical revenue outcomes that enable healthcare providers to deliver the highest form of clinical outcomes and care.

NEW YORK, May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Adonis, a leading Revenue Intelligence and Automation Platform built for healthcare, today announced that it has raised $17.3M in Series A financing led by General Catalyst. General Catalyst is joined by existing investors Bling Capital, Max Ventures, and Homebrew. As part of the financing, Holly Maloney from General Catalyst will join the board of directors.

Aman and Akash Magoon, Founders of Adonis, pictured above.

The current round comes on the heels of a $5.6M Seed round announced six months ago  all since the company's founding in 2022. With a total of $22.9M raised to date and trending to significantly exceed revenue expectations in 2023, Adonis is one of the fastest growing healthcare software companies in the United States. This has been made possible by both the diversity and scale of customers which include private practices, hospitals, revenue cycle organizations, and digital health providers. As a result, Adonis is overseeing the processing of billions of dollars of claims and impacting revenue outcomes for thousands of the nation's providers.

"Healthcare organizations are tasked with the profound responsibility of managing patient outcomes. Adonis relieves operations teams of the burden of revenue cycle by offering a platform that is modular enough to solve individual pain points while being broad enough to own end-to-end financial operations," said Aman Magoon, CPO and Co-Founder, Adonis. "Nearly $1 in every $7 spent on healthcare is attributed to revenue collection and other insurance related activities. By driving this cost down, Adonis is poised to make the system more efficient."

Amid growing financial challenges experienced by a diverse set of healthcare providers, demand to more predictably collect revenue that's commonly lost in the cracks of revenue cycle management (RCM), has grown exponentially. According to the Adonis Data Science Team, healthcare organizations on average are missing 10-15% of the revenue they expect to collect each year. This is commonplace as a result of the operational fragmentation that exists between patients, payers, and healthcare providers.

Powered by data science and automation, Adonis helps providers seek to address the common issues and areas of susceptibility within RCM to work toward creating better, more reliable revenue outcomes. This is made possible by automating the holistic payment collection process, analyzing revenue trends, validating patient insurance data at scale, and bridging the system-of-record gaps between healthcare providers, insurance companies, and patients.

"We believe Adonis has cracked the revenue code between healthcare providers and insurance companies with its robust AI-driven payment collection process. On top of the technology, team, and growth, the company is positioned for healthcare providers to seek to optimize the shape of their businesses," said Holly Maloney, Managing Director at General Catalyst. "Stronger financial positions have the potential to lead to better clinical care and patient outcomes, which is a core part of our Health Assurance thesis. We are looking forward to partnering with Adonis as they aim to innovate the revenue cycle management space for the healthcare sector.

"We couldn't be more excited to partner with General Catalyst on this next phase of growth for our business" said Akash Magoon, CEO and Co-Founder, Adonis. "As the uncertainty increases in our nation's economic climate, most healthcare operations leaders are looking to drive stronger RCM outcomes. The revenue cycle check-engine light remains on for most providers, and it's difficult to quickly adapt to the ever changing insurer contracts and regulations. We intend on using this injection of capital to expand our provider partnerships throughout the country and further our technological advantages and vision."

The latest funding will be used to accelerate product innovation, expand partnerships with major EHR and PMS systems, bolster collaboration with some of the country's largest providers, and continue investment in expanding Adonis's healthcare data processing and linking capabilities.

To learn more about Adonis, please visit adonis.io .

About Adonis

Adonis is a Revenue Intelligence and Automation Platform, built for Healthcare, solving for operational challenges that impact the integrity of revenue cycle management. On average, Healthcare providers are unable to collect 15% or more of the revenue it's owed. This is a result of compounding fractures in traditional RCM; a series of people, processes, systems, and tools are collectively responsible for this dilemma. Powered by data science and automation, Adonis provides solutions to address the common issues and areas of susceptibility within RCM to create better, more reliable revenue outcomes. No matter where you are in your revenue cycle journey, we can help you take a step in the right direction to achieve your revenue potential. Learn more at adonis.io .

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 .

Contact:

Dan Murdoch

+1-203-970-1127

[email protected]

SOURCE Adonis
The global adventure tourism market is driven by factors such as growing pursuit of unique experiences to augment the tourism industry, evolving mobile applications, big data analytics, and artificial intelligence amidst proliferating tourism industry, and high penetration of the internet.

PORTLAND, Ore., May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Allied Market Research published a report, titled, "Adventure Tourism Market By Type (Hard, Soft, Others), By Activity (Land-Based Activity, Water-Based Activity, Air-Based Activity), By Types Of Traveler (Solo, Friends/Group, Couple, Family), By Age Group (Below 30 Years, 3041 Years, 4249 Years, 50 Years And Above), By Sales Channel (Travel Agents, Direct): Global Opportunity Analysis And Industry Forecast, 2023-2032 ". According to the report, the Global adventure tourism industry generated $366.7 billion in 2022 and is anticipated to generate $4.6 trillion by 2032, witnessing a CAGR of 28.7% from 2023 to 2032.

Download Free Sample Report: https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/request-sample/1604

Prime determinants of growth

The global adventure tourism market is driven by factors such as growing pursuit of unique experiences to augment the tourism industry, evolving mobile applications, big data analytics, and artificial intelligence amidst proliferating tourism industry, and high penetration of the internet. However, an increase in terrorism and crime rate, political uncertainties, and natural calamities hamper the market growth. On the other hand, the emergence of social media and heavy investment in better infrastructure is presenting lucrative opportunities for market growth.

Report coverage & details:

Report Coverage Details Forecast Period 20232032 Base Year 2022 Market Size in 2022 $ 366.7 billion Market Size in 2032 $ 4.6 trillion CAGR 28.7 % No. of Pages in Report 500 Segments Covered Type, Activity, Types of Travelers, Age Group, Sales Channel and Region. Drivers Pursuit of unique experiences to augment the tourism industry Evolving mobile applications, big data analytics, and artificial intelligence together amidst proliferating tourism industry High penetration of the Internet Opportunities Rise of social media Heavy investment in better infrastructure Restraints Increase in terrorism and crime rate, political uncertainty, and natural calamities

Covid-19 Scenario

The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic had a negative impact on the global adventure tourism industry as almost every country had introduced containment measures that had an adverse impact on tourism, such as travel restrictions, border closings, prohibition of social events, complete or partially quarantined regions, confinement, and bodily distancing to limit the spread of the virus.

According to the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC), the number of adventure travelers significantly decreased as a result of global lockdown and travel restrictions.

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The soft segment to maintain its leadership status throughout the forecast period.

Based on type, the soft segment dominated the market and accounted for more than half of the global adventure tourism market share in 2022 and is expected to retain its dominance during the adventure tourism market forecast period. This segment is also projected to manifest the highest CAGR of 28.9% from 2023 to 2032. Adventure travelers focus on less risky adventure activities and are more open to other elements such as the natural environment, learning, and meaningful lifelong experience. Older travelers occupy a major part of this segment mainly due to preference or safety issues.

The land-based activity segment is expected to maintain its lead position during the forecast period.

Based on activity the land-based activity segment dominated the market and accounted for around half of the global adventure tourism market in 2022 and is expected to retain its dominance during the forecast period since, land-based activities are often easier and require less monetary investment from the travelers. However, the air-based activity segment is projected to manifest the highest CAGR of 29.2% from 2023 to 2032. The segment has gained popularity, as it provides people with the adventurous experience of flying and thrill.

The direct segment to maintain its lead position during the forecast period

Based on sales channel, the direct segment accounts for nearly three-fifths of the global adventure tourism market and is expected to retain its dominance during the adventure tourism market forecast period. This segment is also projected to manifest the highest CAGR of 28.9% from 2023 to 2032 owing to the increase in the ease of making travel arrangements due to improvements in technology. Moreover, this form of booking allows travelers to save a significant amount of money, which further boosts the attractiveness of this mode of booking.

Europe to maintain its lead position during the forecast period

Based on region, Europe accounts for more than one-third of the global adventure tourism market and is expected to retain its dominance during the forecast period. The key factor supporting the growth of adventure travel in Europe is its rich diversity. This region includes numerous historically important nations, cultures, languages, and varieties of cuisine. However, Asia-Pacific is projected to manifest the highest CAGR of 29.9% from 2023 to 2032 since, the region offers diverse activities such as wildlife reserves and national parks such as Sundarbans in India, Mt. Everest in Nepal, rain forests in Borneo, and whale watching & scouting kiwis in New Zealand to explore.

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Leading Market Players: -

AUSTIN ADVENTURES, INC.

ADVENTURES, INC. BUTTERFIELD AND ROBINSON INC.

INC. DISCOVERY NOMADS

G ADVENTURES

GEOGRAPHIC EXPEDITIONS INC.

INTERPID GROUP LTD.

MOUNTAIN TRAVEL SOBEK

RECREATIONAL EQUIPMENT, INC.

ROW ADVENTURES

TUI GROUP

The report provides a detailed analysis of these key players in the global adventure tourism market. These players have adopted different strategies such as acquisition, partnerships, and new product launch to increase their market share and maintain dominant shares in Brazil. The report is valuable in highlighting business performance, operating segments, product portfolio, and strategic moves of market players to showcase the competitive scenario.

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We are in professional corporate relations with various companies and this helps us in digging out market data that helps us generate accurate research data tables and confirms utmost accuracy in our market forecasting. Allied Market Research CEO Pawan Kumar is instrumental in inspiring and encouraging everyone associated with the company to maintain high quality of data and help clients in every way possible to achieve success. Each and every data presented in the reports published by us is extracted through primary interviews with top officials from leading companies of domain concerned. Our secondary data procurement methodology includes deep online and offline research and discussion with knowledgeable professionals and analysts in the industry.

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SOURCE Allied Market Research
HANOVER, Md., May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Aerotek, a leading talent solutions provider specializing in placing light industrial and skilled trades talent in the manufacturing, logistics, construction, aviation and facility management industries, announced today for the second consecutive year that its Director of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DE&I), David "DJ" Jordan, has been named to Staffing Industry Analysts' (SIA) 2023 DE&I Influencers List. This annual award recognizes business leaders from the workforce solutions ecosystem who are paving the way to create opportunities for historically excluded communities.

DJ is one of just 49 honorees named to the list, which SIA describes as a testament to those who have been advocating for others and having the tough conversations on DE&I.

"We are incredibly proud to have DJ as a leader within our organization and are honored that his exceptional work is being recognized by SIA for a second consecutive year," said Tom Kelly, President of Aerotek. "DJ has shown unwavering dedication to outreach and advocacy for underrepresented communities and has been instrumental in fostering meaningful conversations and driving positive change for Aerotek's employees and contractors alike."

Throughout the last year, DJ has led the company in mobilizing its DE&I strategy to partner with a number of organizations and support events, including the National Diversity Council's Black Men in Leadership and Native American Heritage Summits, the Woman of Color STEM Conference in Detroit, and Special Olympics of Maryland's Polar Bear Plunge.

Under DJ's leadership, Aerotek logged its first full year of holding required DE&I Foundation Training for all employees and new hires. DJ's overseen the continued growth of four internal employee resource groups (ERGs). More than 600 Aerotek employees now belong to these groups, including P.R.I.D.E., Women at Aerotek, Black Indigenous People of Color, and Veterans and First Responders. And he has overseen the growth of a Courageous Conversations program led by Aerotek and its sister companies Aston Carter and Actalent. Courageous Conversations is an enterprise-wide call that brings employees together to discuss sensitive issues across diversity, equity and inclusion.

Since DJ began his career with Aerotek in 1995, he has played a critical role in recruiting and developing a diverse workforce within Aerotek and for the clients Aerotek serves through his roles in recruiting and sales, training and in his current role as Director of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion.

To learn more about the SIA DE&I Influencers List and view the full list, visit SIA's website. For more information about Aerotek, please visit Aerotek.com.

About Aerotek

Our People Are Everything. For more than 35 years, Aerotek Inc. has built a reputation for providing the highest-quality staffing and workforce management solutions. With deep expertise in the manufacturing, logistics, construction, aviation and facility management industries, we partner with more than 13,000 clients and 200,000 light industrial and skilled trades contract employees every year. Our people-focused approach connects quality talent with meaningful work and continuous opportunities. Headquartered in Hanover, Md., Aerotek operates a unified network of over 250 offices across North America. Aerotek is an operating company within Allegis Group, a global leader in talent solutions. To learn more, visit: Aerotek.com | 1-888-AEROTEK.

About SIA and the DE&I Influencers List

Staffing Industry Analysts (SIA) is the global advisor on staffing and workforce solutions. Our proprietary research covers all categories of employed and non-employed work including temporary staffing, independent contracting and other types of contingent labor. We also provide training and accreditation with our unique Certified Contingent Workforce Professional (CCWP) program.

The DE&I Influencers list was developed to recognize people who are having the tough conversations to improve DE&I in the workforce solutions ecosystem. You and your cohorts have been selected due to your ongoing efforts, whether it's been within the ecosystem educating your companies and driving change or as advisors to corporate leadership or on a broader scale that still influenced the world of work.

SOURCE Aerotek
Parasoft Jtest Release Simplifies Workflows and Expands IDE Integration

News Highlights

Parasoft launches version 2023.1 of Java developer test productivity solution, Jtest and DTP.

AI-enabled Parasoft Jtest improves code quality, decreases defect rates, and accelerates software delivery.

Gain an increase in visibility and actionable metrics from an automated collection of up-to-date code coverage levels.

MONROVIA, Calif., May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Parasoft, a global leader in automated software testing solutions, has announced the newest release of Parasoft Jtest and DTP, 2023.1 version. The Java developer test productivity solution with new features will help developers:

Simplify workflows

Improve IDE integration

Increase developer productivity

Let our AI write tests for you . Increase your productivity. Parasoft Jtest provides AI assistance to make unit testing easier and faster for active Java development and legacy code. The 2023.1 release of Parasoft Jtest enables automatic unit test generation for new and modified code within the IntelliJ or Eclipse IDE and provides improved detection and visibility of impacted tests in the IDE workspace.

DevOps managers will benefit from Parasoft's AI-powered JUnit testing capabilities that enable developers to find and resolve issues faster, allowing them to spend more time innovating.

To learn more about Parasoft's Java developer test productivity solution, register for the upcoming webinar on May 24 at 10 a.m. PDT Make Your Java Dev Team More Productive With AI-Led Unit Testing.

With the IDE enhancements to AI-powered JUnit testing, Parasoft's Java developer test productivity solution provides a comprehensive suite of automated testing capabilities. The new release includes integration with the VS Code IDE enabling better visibility of static analysis execution and code coverage results. Developers can also automatically create new unit tests for modified code and view impacted tests inside their Eclipse and IntelliJ IDE environments.

In addition, QA teams can collect and measure Java code coverage without access to source code, while development managers gain a holistic view of overall code quality across the entire application with a new portfolio coverage widget in the reporting dashboard.

One customer experienced a 90% reduction in regression test execution time in their CI/CD pipeline by using Jtest's AI to detect modified code and only execute the tests impacted by the changes. Parasoft's solution enables developers to deliver high-quality software on time and on budget.

"Parasoft Jtest has taught our engineers how to be better developers. In the process of using Parasoft Jtest, we're getting fewer and fewer defects in the code base because developers are learning how to write better Java," said the senior project lead engineer at a leading financial services organization and Parasoft customer.

"We are constantly adding functionality to our tools that our own developers want to use. Developers commonly make code changes and need to write unit tests to cover those changes. With the new release, developers can automatically create unit tests for the modified code right in the IDE, making unit test creation even more efficient than it already was with Parasoft Jtest's AI-based unit test creation," said Nathan Jakubiak, Senior Director of Development at Parasoft.

Companies can assess their unit testing maturity level with Parasoft's assessment guide or download a free 14-day trial to evaluate the solution.

About Parasoft

Parasoft helps organizations continuously deliver quality software with its market-proven, integrated suite of automated software testing tools. Supporting the embedded, enterprise, and IoT markets, Parasoft's technologies reduce the time, effort, and cost of delivering secure, reliable, and compliant software by integrating everything from deep code analysis and unit testing to web UI and API testing, plus service virtualization and complete code coverage, into the delivery pipeline. Bringing all this together, Parasoft's award winning reporting and analytics dashboard delivers a centralized view of quality enabling organizations to deliver with confidence and succeed in today's most strategic ecosystems and development initiatives  security, safety-critical, Agile, DevOps, and continuous testing.

SOURCE Parasoft
As an integral part of the development of the drivable concept car, Akkodis, a global leader in the Smart Industry, contributed its technical and digital expertise to the BMW i Vision Dee.

ZURICH, May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Akkodis, part of the Adecco Group, has joined forces with the BMW Group to develop and produce the BMW i Vision Dee. Earlier this year, the BMW Group unveiled the BMW i Vision Dee to a global audience during the influential CES 2023 technology trade show in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA.

BMW i Vision Dee car unveiled by the BMW Group in January 2023 Copyright: BMW AG, Photographer Till Jenninger

Working jointly with the BMW Group for the project in Germany, Akkodis contributed its in-depth digital engineering expertise to bring the BMW i Vision Dee to life. Akkodis was involved in the design and construction of the vehicle, from the implementation of the initial sketches to the drivable concept car.

Akkodis developed the specific battery and wiring harness for the drivable concept car. Digital engineering experts from Akkodis also realized the on-board network with the Akkodis Gigabox and ensured a successful commissioning of the vehicle.

The name "Dee" stands for "Digital Emotional Experience", which represents the BMW Group's aim to strengthen the connection and interaction between people and their vehicles. The concept car boasts a number of features including a Mixed Reality Slider, an enhanced version of the BMW Group's pioneering Head-up Display, the ability  for the first time in the world  to change colors in the rainbow color spectrum using e-ink technology, as well as the incorporation of avatars, light, sound, and a natural human voice, engaging all five senses to create an immersive driving experience.

Jan Gupta, President of Akkodis, said, "Jointly with the BMW Group, Akkodis has contributed to the realization of the BMW i Vision Dee, lending its expertise from concept design and vehicle development, to software and on-board network development." Jan continued, "Akkodis is the global partner of choice for the Smart Industry transformation, and the BMW Group's concept car is a great example of how digitalization is being leveraged by a world-leading automotive manufacturer to transform the future of mobility. Harnessing newly combined tech and engineering capabilities1 our 50,000 talented people are passionate about Engineering a Smarter Future Together."

Notes to Editor

1. Akkodis was formed in early 2022 when Modis, the Adecco Group's high-tech services business, was combined with AKKA Technologies, a leader in engineering R&D services.

Media contact(s)

Lisa Bushka

VP External Communications, Akkodis

M. +18604630770

E. [email protected]

Anne Friedrich

VP Marketing & Communications Germany, Akkodis

M. +4915174633470

E. [email protected]

About Akkodis

Akkodis is a global digital engineering company and Smart Industry leader. We enable clients to advance in their digital transformation with Consulting, Solutions, Talent, and Academy services. Headquartered in Switzerland and part of the Adecco Group, Akkodis is a trusted tech partner to the world's industries. We co-create and pioneer solutions that help to solve major challenges, from accelerating the clean energy transition and green mobility, to improving user and patient centricity. Empowered by a culture of inclusion and diversity, our 50,000 tech experts across 30 countries combine best-in-class technologies and cross industry knowledge to drive purposeful innovation for a more sustainable tomorrow. We are passionate about Engineering a Smarter Future Together. akkodis.com | LinkedIn | Instagram | Facebook Twitter

About the Adecco Group

The Adecco Group is the world's leading talent company. Our purpose is making the future work for everyone. Through our three global business units - Adecco, Akkodis and LHH - across 60 countries, we enable sustainable and lifelong employability for individuals, deliver digital and engineering solutions to power the Smart Industry transformation and empower organisations to optimise their workforces. The Adecco Group leads by example and is committed to an inclusive culture, fostering sustainable employability, and supporting resilient economies and communities. The Adecco Group AG is headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland (ISIN: CH0012138605) and listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange (ADEN). www.adeccogroup.com

Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2078578/Akkodis.jpg

SOURCE Akkodis
JON M. HANIFIN, MD 2023 RECIPIENT OF DAVID MARTIN CARTER MENTOR AWARD

MASAYUKI AMAGAI, MD, PhD 2023 RECIPIENT OF GEORGE W. HAMBRICK AWARD

NEW YORK, May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- American Skin Association (ASA) announced the recipients of the 2023 David Martin Carter Mentor Award, 2023 George W. Hambrick Award, and the 2023 Research Achievement Awards at the International Societies for Investigative Dermatology (ISID) in Tokyo, Japan.

For over three decades, ASA's David Martin Carter Mentor Award has honored members of the dermatology community who have the same vision as the late Dr. David Martin Carter. Dr. Carter was an inspiration to dermatologists, investigators, and medical students throughout the world. Dr. Carter and ASA's late founder, Dr. George Hambrick, worked tirelessly to lead ASA to the forefront of dermatological organizations and become leaders in defeating melanoma, skin cancer, and other skin diseases. This is the first year ASA has presented the George W. Hambrick Award.

"ASA is honored to recognize Dr. Hanifin and Dr. Amagai and all the 2023 Research Achievement Award recipients for their tireless efforts in the field of dermatology. Their work is vital to finding long-sought-after cures," said Howard P. Milstein, Chairman of ASA.

Jon M. Hanifin, MD of the Oregon Health and Sciences University, was honored with the 2023 David Martin Carter Mentor Award. Dr. Hanifin is an international lecturer and recognized expert in the research and treatment of atopic dermatitis and has directed various national and international symposiums on this subject. He is a valued member of the research community, respected for his investigations into the clinical, biological, and genetic aspects of atopic diseases, as well as other allergic and inflammatory conditions.

The inaugural 2023 George W. Hambrick Award was presented to Masayuki Amagai, MD, PhD of Keio University School of Medicine. Dr. Amagai is the Professor and Chair in the Department of Dermatology at Keio University School of Medicine since 2005, and Vice President for Research at Keio University since 2021. Dr. Amagai's clinical and research interests center on autoimmune and allergic skin diseases, skin barrier, and skin immunology. Specifically, he has been studying on the pathophysiological mechanisms of pemphigus, peripheral tolerance, the skin barrier homeostasis, and the impact of impaired skin barrier on the onset of atopic dermatitis and other allergic disorders.

"We were honored to present the 2023 awards to an international group of the most accomplished, dermatologic researchers at the International Societies for Investigative Dermatology in Tokyo, Japan. The conference brought together some of the finest and most esteemed dermatologists in the world," remarked Dr. David A. Norris, President of ASA.

ASA's Research Achievement Awards were instituted in 1989 to help identify established scientists in investigative dermatology and cutaneous biology. This year, ASA recognized those who have greatly advanced work related to autoimmunity and inflammation skin disorders, skin cancer and melanoma, psoriasis, vitiligo and pigment cell disorders, public policy and medical education, discovery, and translational research.

The following Research Achievement Awards were presented:

2023 Research Achievement Award in Autoimmune and Inflammatory Skin Disorders

Kenji Kabashima, MD, PhD

Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine

2023 Research Achievement Award in Skin Cancer and Melanoma

Jean Y. Tang, MD, PhD

Stanford University

2023 Research Achievement Award in Psoriasis

Bruce E. Strober, MD, PhD, FAAD

Clinical Professor, Yale University

2023 Research Achievement Award in Vitiligo and Pigment Cell Disorders

Anand Ganesan, MD, PhD

University of California, Irvine

2023 Research Achievement Award in Public Policy and Medical Education

Ponciano (Chito) Cruz, MD

University of Texas Southwestern

2023 Research Achievement Award in Discovery

Keisuke (Chris) Nagao, MD, PhD

National Institutes of Health

2023 Research Achievement Award in Translational Research

Aimee S. Payne, MD, PhD

University of Pennsylvania

ABOUT AMERICAN SKIN ASSOCIATION

A unique collaboration of patients, families, advocates, physicians, and scientists, ASA has evolved over thirty-six years as a leading force in efforts to defeat melanoma, vitiligo, psoriasis, atopic dermatitis, and other skin diseases. Established to serve the now more than 100 million Americans  one-third of the U.S. population  afflicted with skin disorders, the organization's mission remains to: advance research, champion skin health, particularly among children, and drive public awareness about skin disease. ASA is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization. For more information, visit americanskin.org .

American Skin Association has earned Candid's 2023 Seal of Platinum Transparency.

SOURCE American Skin Association
STOCKHOLM, May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, the annual general meeting of 2023 was held in SciBase Holding AB (publ) (the "Company" or "SciBase"). Below follows a summary of the resolutions passed at the annual general meeting.

The annual general meeting resolved:

to adopt the profit and loss statement and the balance sheet and the group profit and loss statement and the group balance sheet for the financial year 2022;

that SEK 171,885,712 shall be carried forward in new account and that no dividend shall be paid;

shall be carried forward in new account and that no dividend shall be paid; to grant the board members and the CEO discharge from liability for the financial year 2022;

that the board of directors shall consist of five ordinary members without deputy members and that a registered accounting firm shall be elected as auditor;

that the fees payable to the board of directors for the period until the end of the next annual general meeting shall be SEK 200,000 for the chairman of the board and SEK 150,000 to each of the other ordinary board members (who are not employed by a larger shareholder in the Company) and that fees payable to the auditor is to be paid in accordance with approved invoices;

for the chairman of the board and to each of the other ordinary board members (who are not employed by a larger shareholder in the Company) and that fees payable to the auditor is to be paid in accordance with approved invoices; for the period until the end of the next annual general meeting, to re-elect Tord Lendau, Diana Ferro , Thomas Taapken , Matt Leavitt and Jvalini Dwarkasing as board members, to re-elect Tord Lendau as chairman of the board of directors and to re-elect the auditing firm PricewaterhouseCoopers AB (PwC) as auditor for the Company, with Magnus Lagerberg as auditor-in-charge;

, , and Jvalini Dwarkasing as board members, to re-elect Tord Lendau as chairman of the board of directors and to re-elect the auditing firm PricewaterhouseCoopers AB (PwC) as auditor for the Company, with as auditor-in-charge; to adopt principles for the appointment of a nomination committee (same principles as previous year);

to change the articles of association so that the wording of section 4 in the articles of association is revised from "The company's share capital shall be no less than SEK 1,500,000 and no more than SEK 6,000,000 ." to "The company's share capital shall be no less than SEK 5,990,000 and no more than SEK 23,960,000 ." and the wording of section 5 in the articles of association is revised from "The number of shares shall be no less than 30,000,000 and no more than 120,000,000." to "The number of shares shall be no less than 119,800,000 and no more than 479,200,000."; and

and no more than ." to "The company's share capital shall be no less than and no more than ." and the wording of section 5 in the articles of association is revised from "The number of shares shall be no less than 30,000,000 and no more than 120,000,000." to "The number of shares shall be no less than 119,800,000 and no more than 479,200,000."; and to authorize the board of directors to increase the share capital through issuance of new shares, warrants and/or convertible debentures. Through issuances resolved upon with support from the authorisation - with deviation from the shareholders' preferential rights - the number of shares issued, or number of shares created in connection with exercise of warrants or conversion of convertibles, shall correspond to not more than a 20 per cent dilution of the share capital and the number of shares and votes in the Company after such issue(s).

For more information, please contact:

Simon Grant, CEO SciBase

Tel: +46 72 887 43 99

Email: [email protected]

Certified Advisor (CA):

Vator Securities

Tel: +46 8 580 065 99

Email: [email protected]

About SciBase and Nevisense

SciBase is a global medical technology company headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden, that has developed a unique point of care platform for the non-invasive detection of skin cancer and other skin conditions. SciBase is a pioneer within augmented intelligence, combining artificial intelligence with Electrical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS) to provide objective information that assists dermatologists and others in clinical decision-making. SciBase's products include Nevisense and Nevisense Go and to date the platform addresses the areas of melanoma detection, non-melanoma skin cancer detection and skin barrier assessment. Nevisense is the only FDA-approved device for the detection of melanoma and the only MDR-approved technology for skin cancer detection in Europe. SciBase's technology is based on more than 20 years of academic research at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden. For more information please visit www.scibase.com. All press-releases and financial reports can be found here : http://investors.scibase.se/en/pressreleases

The following files are available for download:

https://mb.cision.com/Main/12371/3771552/2068559.pdf Scibase Holding AB - Bulletin from AGM 2023

SOURCE SciBase
Based on the legendary spirit's original formula, the 17 YEAR OLD LEGEND is an exquisite and historic blend that offers a once-in-a-lifetime taste of cocktail history

ST. ELIZABETH, Jamaica, May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Appleton Estate, a global leader in premium aged rums, announces the launch of the limited-edition 17 Year Old Legend  an exclusive and faithful recreation of the legendary 17 Year Old rum crafted by J. Wray & Nephew on the Estate in the 1940's. The J. Wray & Nephew 17 Year Old is known around the world as the storied inspiration for the creation of the Mai Tai cocktail. The rum has become one of the most sought-after bottles in the world, and today, a tribute to this legend of cocktail history returns to the world stage as a limited offering  good news for both rum connoisseurs and classic cocktail enthusiasts alike.

Appleton Estate

Appleton Estate 17 Year Old Legend is an emblem of the distillery's unrivaled history of crafting exceptional aged rums. Referencing original manuscripts and formulas, legendary Master Blender Joy Spence created this one-time release using four very rare distillates set aside to rest on the Estate to best recreate the taste profile of the prized golden blend. 17 Year Old Legend is the gift of one of the oldest aging rum libraries in the world, and soon to be a jewel of the finest rum collections. Due to the rarity of the distillates, only 1,500 bottles are available globally, never to be produced again.

To those bartenders at the forefront of the emerging Tiki cocktail movement in the 1940's, the J. Wray & Nephew 17 Year Old was one of the most sought-after rums in the world and set the gold standard, prized for its gilded color and sensual, smoky, orange top notes. In 1944 in California, far from Jamaica's tropical shores, legend has it that this exquisite spirit caught the imagination of one notable bartender in particular  Victor Bergeron, founder of the famous Trader Vic's bar in San Francisco. While experimenting with friends, it's said that he reached for a bottle of 17 Year Old rum, blended by J. Wray & Nephew, which would become his rum of choice. Medium-bodied, beautiful, and golden, the hues were evocative of the Jamaican sun. Protective to not overpower this special blend, Victor paired it with a subtle range of ingredients, to complement the rum's top notes. Shared with his friends from Tahiti, it was declared 'Maita'i roa a'e', or simply translated, 'the best', and thus, a legend was born.

Today, Appleton Estate is proud to pay tribute to this enduring spirit. Produced at the oldest continuously-operating rum distillery in Jamaica, the iconic blend is aged a minimum of 17 years in the island's fertile and tropical climate. Appleton Estate rums age nearly three times more quickly than spirits aged in cooler climates, allowing for richer, fuller flavours to develop in a shorter period  in fact, the minimum age of 17 years in the tropical climate of Jamaica is equivalent to over 50 years of ageing in a cooler climate. Crafted with Jamaican limestone-filtered water, with no added flavours, 17 Year Old Legend displays rich, caramelized pear and banana notes, mingling with warm, nutty, oak, and floral herbal notes. The full body crescendo culminates in a lingering, silky-smooth finish. The precious liquid is held in the brand's iconic glass bottle, with a tropical interpretation of Appleton Estate's visual codes in its neck label and gift box, exemplifying this release's role as a true taste of Jamaican luxury.

"With our 17 Year Old Legend, we knew we had a special story to tell," said Joy Spence, Master Blender at Appleton Estate. "This project has been years in the making and truly one of the most challenging of my career. In carefully re-creating the beautiful taste profile of the original rum, we've created an expression that is a tribute both to our own heritage, and to the heritage of the classic cocktail craft."

1,500 bottles of this special expression have been produced and are available for sale. Beginning on May 17, 2023, 36 NFTs redeemable for bottles of Appleton Estate 17 Year Old Legend will be available on BlockBar.com. Appleton Estate has collaborated with Jamaican Visual Artist, Oneika Russell to develop the artwork for each NFT exclusive to BlockBar - a first from Appleton Estate.

The 17 Year Old Legend will also be available at select premium retailers starting in June, 2023, in the United States, Jamaica, the United Kingdom, France, Italy, Czech Republic, Switzerland, Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg, Austria, Denmark, Singapore, Taiwan, South Korea, New Zealand, Japan, and Hong Kong for SRP $500.

APPLETON ESTATE 17 YEAR OLD LEGEND MAI TAI

2 oz. Appleton Estate 17 Year Old Legend

5 oz Fresh Lime Juice

5 oz. Orange Curacao

5 oz Orgeat (Almond) Syrup

Combine in a shaker filled with ice (crushed and cubed)

Shake well and chill. Pour into a double old fashioned glass.

Garnish with one lime shell and fresh mint sprig.

For more information visit: www.appletonestate.com and www.camparigroup.com.

ABOUT APPLETON ESTATE

Nestled in the heart of Jamaica, in the beautiful, lush Nassau Valley lies the Appleton Estate. For over 270 years, we have been crafting authentic, premium rums using time honored traditions that have been passed down from generation to generation. From cane to cocktail, our critically acclaimed rums are created by the environment, ingredients, and practices that are unique to our Estate. Our terroir, with its ideal climate, fertile soil and topography, the natural spring that supplies our water for fermentation, through to distillation, ageing and blending all combine to produce rums that are delicious and alive, vivid, and deep with complex flavours and aromas.

The Appleton Estate rum collection includes the Signature rum, 8-Year-Old Reserve rum, 12-Year-Old Rare Casks rum, 15-Year-Old Black River Casks rum and 21-Year-Old Nassau Valley Casks rum. Showcasing the Estate's renowned aged rum inventory, limited edition offers, such as: 30-Year-Old Jamaica rum and 50-Year-Old Jamaican Independence Reserve. Additionally, in 2017 Appleton Estate introduced Joy Anniversary Blend, a limited-edition 25-Year-Old rum, to celebrate Joy Spence's 20th Anniversary as the first female Master Blender in the spirits industry.

ABOUT THE CAMPARI GROUP



Campari Group is a major player in the global beverage sector, trading in over 190 nations around the world with leading positions in Europe and the Americas. Campari Group was founded in 1860 and today is the sixth-largest player worldwide in the premium spirits industry. Campari Group's portfolio, with over 50 brands, spans spirits (the core business), wines, and soft drinks. Its internationally-renowned brands include Aperol, Appleton Estate, Campari, SKYY, Wild Turkey, and Grand Marnier. Headquartered in Sesto San Giovanni, Italy, Campari Group owns 22 plants worldwide and has its own distribution network in 22 countries. Campari Group employs around 4,000 people. The shares of the parent company, Davide Campari-Milano N.V. (Reuters CPRI.MI - Bloomberg CPR IM), have been listed on the Italian Stock Exchange since 2001. For more information: www.camparigroup.com. Please enjoy our brands responsibly.

SOURCE Appleton Estate
BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 17. Estonian B.EST Solutions company cooperates with the Azerbaijani service ASAN Imza in the creation and distribution of services, CEO and Founder of B.EST Solutions Jana Krimpe, providing services in the field of IT technologies, said during the GSMA M360 Eurasia 2023 conference in Baku, Trend reports.

"Our side is the provider in this cooperation. We create services and distribute them so that the government has the opportunity to apply digital identification and manage big data," said Krimpe.

She also noted that although Azerbaijan has achieved all existing EU standards, as well as American standards in this area, the company is currently developing the possibility of using a quantum algorithm for subscribers in Azerbaijan.

Krimpe noted the importance of transparency in this matter, as customers should have access to their "personal account", and they should also know who else has access.

"We usually work in partnership, and this partnership is very important. It is impossible to do business if only a private or only a state party participates in it, cooperation is necessary. Mobile operators use services that they would not be able to use without a partnership with the public sector," she said.

Krimpe also spoke about the innovativeness of Azerbaijan in the field of startups.

"Azerbaijan is ready to implement very bold solutions for startups. The country is ready to create business opportunities for foreigners. Azerbaijan is an innovative country and can make quick decisions," she said.
ApplyToEducation and interviewstream, two prominent HR tech companies in the North American K-12 education sector, announce an exclusive partnership to improve the hiring process for Canadian school boards.

CHICAGO, May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- On May 17, 2023, HR tech companies, ApplyToEducation and interviewstream, announced a partnership aimed at addressing the ongoing teacher, EA, and ECE shortage and enhancing hiring success for K-12 school boards in Canada. ApplyToEducation, the leading provider of applicant tracking/job boards for K-12 school boards in Canada, works with over 90% of Canadian school boards to help solve their hiring challenges. ApplyToEducation has now entered into an exclusive partnership with interviewstream, the market leading K-12 education focused video interviewing solution. As a part of this Canada-based partnership, interviewstream and ApplyToEducation will create unique offerings for all joint clients including a seamless integration between interviewstream's video interviewing tools into ApplyToEducation's solutions. This new partnership brings an even closer alignment for both organizations' strategic focus on meeting the unique hiring needs of K-12 school boards in Canada.

ApplyToEducation Logo

"ApplyToEducation is committed to helping school boards find the best talent, and moving fast is a big component to doing so in this tight labor market," said Mark Laurie, President and Co-founder of ApplyToEducation. "Adding interviewstream to a school board's job board and applicant tracking system will deliver strong hiring results for school boards looking to lead in the hiring market."

In recent years, K-12 school boards across Canada have faced challenges in recruiting and retaining teachers due to class size regulation, pandemic related retirements and early retirements, challenges with Canadian data residency regulations, cost of living challenges, and varying needs between urban and rural communities. As a result, school boards have found it difficult to fill existing vacancies, let alone new positions as they emerge.

By leveraging interviewstream's video interviewing solutions within ApplyToEducation, this partnership aims to enhance the effectiveness of recruitment efforts in Canadian school boards. Moreover, it aims to broaden the geographical range of K-12 hiring teams' candidate outreach, resulting in larger talent pools for Canadian school boards. It also allows every candidate that wants to apply an opportunity to present themselves as more than just a resume but as a complete person in the early stages of the interviewing processes. Last, this partnership ensures that all Canadian school board interviewing data is securely stored in Canada by using ApplyToEducation and interviewstream's Canadian servers, meeting key security standards important to school boards.

"interviewstream is fully committed to helping the K-12 industry solve their unique and ever-changing challenges in recruiting, hiring and retaining key talent," shared Monique Mahler, CEO of interviewstream. "We are very excited to be able to expand our efforts in the education industry in North America with this new partnership with ApplyToEducation, already such a respected organization in Canada."

With over 30 years of combined experience in the K-12 market, interviewstream and ApplyToEducation are well-positioned to offer exclusive and best-in-class solutions to address the challenges faced by Canadian K-12 school boards. In addition to this focus on the K-12 market in Canada, interviewstream serves a growing portfolio of customers in local government and healthcare organizations, allowing for a greater understanding of the Canadian job market as a whole. This new, exclusive partnership between ApplyToEducation and interviewstream is a significant step towards addressing the teacher shortage and improving hiring and retention success for K-12 school boards in Canada.

About interviewstream

interviewstream creates experiences that transform hiring. Our interviewing platform helps recruiters and hiring managers ask the right questions every time, screen candidates faster, make scheduling easier, and reach candidates everywhere. interviewstream has improved the candidate experience for more than 4 million interviews hosted in over 100 countries to date.

interviewstream is dedicated to the success of our customers in K-12 school boards, healthcare, government, and enterprise organization markets (including F500, midsize, and emerging businesses). interviewstream has received several awards for growth throughout its history and is currently a leader in G2Crowd's Users Love Us Award in 2023, Highest User Adoption, and Easiest Setup in 2022, along with FeaturedCustomers Market Leader awards for Video Interviewing Software since 2021. Please contact [email protected] or visit www.interviewstream.com for more information.

About ApplyToEducation

ApplyToEducation is a family business founded by the Laurie brothers  Mark and Nathan. Their vision is to build a company that makes a difference in K-12 education for applicants, employees, administrators, and HR. They accomplished this by developing a web-based software solution to manage talent from date-of-hire until retirement.

Schools can manage recruiting, staffing, absences, daily assignments, and professional development in one system to simplify their processes and save administrators time. In today's employment market those who move the fastest get where they need to go first. ApplyToEducation is the engine that over 90% of Canadian School Boards now use to drive results.

SOURCE interviewstream
ROLLING MEADOWS, Ill., May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. today announced that its captive and alternative risk transfer solutions subsidiary, Artex Risk Solutions, Inc., has acquired Dublin, Ireland-based Allied Risk Management. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Allied Risk provides insurance and reinsurance management services as well as actuarial services to clients globally. Frank Coyle and his team will remain in their current location under the direction of Paul Eaton, head of Artex International.

"Allied Risk is a highly respected company that will enhance Artex's insurance management and actuarial capabilities," said J. Patrick Gallagher, Jr., Chairman, President and CEO. "I am very pleased to welcome Frank and his associates to our growing, global team."

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE: AJG), a global insurance brokerage, risk management and consulting services firm, is headquartered in Rolling Meadows, Illinois. Gallagher provides these services in approximately 130 countries around the world through its owned operations and a network of correspondent brokers and consultants.

Investors: Ray Iardella, VP - Investor Relations

Media: Paul Day, Communications Manager 630-285-3661/ [email protected]

630-285-5946/ [email protected]

SOURCE Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.
Advocates urge Chicagoans to call on ICC to reject rate hike, rein in utility

CHICAGO, May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- New filings with the Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC) reveal a disturbing pattern of mismanagement of the troubled Peoples Gas pipeline-replacement program, with the company not answering basic questions about the program and admitting it hasn't done an overall cost-analysis in nearly a decade.

Peoples Gas made three filings with state regulators this week, as the gas utility pushes for a state-record $402 million rate-hike request and a seventh straight year of record profits.

"Peoples Gas' response to the Commissioners' questions once again makes clear that the utility's management does not understand and cannot manage its multibillion-dollar, decades-long overhaul of its fossil gas infrastructure," said Illinois PIRG Education Fund Director Abe Scarr. "The Illinois Commerce Commission should take this opportunity to rein in the utility's out-of-control spending that is driving up gas bills in Chicago."

"Peoples Gas has raked in six straight years of record profits, while its pipeline-replacement program is chronically behind-schedule and over-budget and is bankrupting a large number of customers," CUB Executive Director David Kolata said. "And yet the company either can't or refuses to answer questions from state regulators. This stonewalling is a terrible look for the company, and it shouldn't bode well for the utility's record rate hike."

Consumer advocates encouraged Chicago residents to let the ICC know they are unhappy with the program and the company's $402 million rate-hike requestwhat would be the highest gas hike in state history. The company shouldn't get a blank check, they said.

Peoples Gas customers have struggled with rapidly rising gas bills for years, and reckless utility spending through its massive pipeline-replacement program has been the primary cause. Three filings with the Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC) on Monday and Tuesday highlighted how poorly managed the program is, how it has plunged too many customers into crisis and how the utility is stubbornly refusing to change. According to the filings:

The collective debt of Peoples Gas customers in April was $134 million more than any other major utility in the state, and the highest of any utility since monthly reporting started in 2021.

million more than any other major utility in the state, and the highest of any utility since monthly reporting started in 2021. The utility's quarterly report revealed dismal results for the pipeline-replacement program, marking the 21 st consecutive quarter in which the utility was behind schedule. In the first quarter of 2023, Peoples Gas retired less than half (4.2 miles) of its 10.1 mile pipe-replacement goal, and the overall cost of the program was $10.6 million per mile of retired pipemore than twice the $4 million planned.

consecutive quarter in which the utility was behind schedule. In the first quarter of 2023, Peoples Gas retired less than half (4.2 miles) of its 10.1 mile pipe-replacement goal, and the overall cost of the program was per mile of retired pipemore than twice the planned. In a third filing, the company either refused to answer or couldn't answer basic questions from state regulators about the pipeline program. Peoples Gas admitted that a 2015 analysis that showed the program costing billions of dollars more than originally budgeted and possibly dragging on until 2040 "provides the last comprehensive study of the overall completion timeline and cost estimate" of the program. At the time of the 2015 estimate, expert auditors expressed concern that "management has prepared an estimate on one basis but plans to manage the program on another basis."

The filings reinforce a pattern of mismanagement that has gone on for years. Launched in 2011, the pipeline project has been behind-schedule and over-budget almost from the beginning, with its projected costs rising from about $2 billion to as much as $11 billion. Audits, studies and analyses going back to 2015 have found problems, including the utility's latest filings.

In 2013, Peoples Gas successfully lobbied to help pay for the pipe-replacement program through a ballooning, legislatively approved surcharge on customer bills, known as the "Qualified Infrastructure Plant" or "QIP" charge. Legislators back in 2013 were told the charge would only cost Chicagoans about $1.14 a month, but in the first few months of 2023, the average Peoples Gas customer paid about $15 per month, according to the utility's quarterly report.

The program's mismanagement and skyrocketing costs have been hard on customers over the years, leading to today's crisis. Currently, Peoples Gas customers pay about $50 a month in fixed chargesaside from any gas they use. And the proposed $402 million rate hike, which the ICC will rule on around December, would make it even worse for Chicagoans, increasing bills by an average of $11.83 a month, or more than $140 a year.

But while the program has burdened customers, it's been a boon to Peoples Gas. The utility has pulled in six straight years of record profits, and the utility's parent company has credited the pipeline program for its financial success. WEC Energy Group made $1.4 billion in profits in 2022.

Illinois PIRG is an advocate for the public interest. We speak out for a healthier, safer world in which we're freer to pursue our own individual well-being and the common good. Learn more at www.illinoispirg.org.

Citizens Utility Board (CUB) is Illinois' leading nonprofit utility watchdog group. Created by the Illinois Legislature, CUB opened its doors in 1984 to represent the interests of residential and small-business utility customers. Since then, CUB has saved consumers more than $20 billion by helping to block rate hikes and secure refunds. For more information, call CUB's Consumer Hotline at 1-800-669-5556 or visit CUB's award-winning website, www.CitizensUtilityBoard.org.

SOURCE Citizens Utility Board
AALBORG, Denmark, May 16, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Asetek will release its financial results for the first quarter of 2023 on Monday, 22 May at 07:00 CEST.

CEO Andre Sloth Eriksen and CFO Peter Dam Madsen will present the Company's results at 08:30 CEST and invites investors, analysts and media to join the presentation. The presentation is expected to last up to one hour, including Q&A, and can be followed via live webcast or conference call.

Webcast - audio and slide presentation:

Please join the results webcast via the following link: https://events.q4inc.com/attendee/890064265

Conference call - audio only:

Please dial in 5-10 minutes prior using the phone numbers and confirmation code below:

Denmark +45 8987 5045 Norway +47 8150 3308 United Kingdom +44 (0) 203 936 29 99 Germany +49 (0) 32 221 098334 United States of America +1 646 787 9445 Access code: 928711

The first quarter 2023 earnings release and presentation will be made available online at www.asetek.com and www.newsweb.no, as well as through news agencies.

A recorded version of the presentation will be made available at www.asetek.com approximately two hours after the presentation has concluded.

Q&A: The conference call lines will be opened for participants to ask question at the end of the presentation. Questions can also be submitted through the online webcast during the presentation.

For further information, please contact:

Peter Madsen, Chief Financial Officer

Mobile: +45 2080 7200

E-mail: [email protected]

[email protected]

About Asetek

Asetek (ASTK), a global leader in mechatronic innovation, is a Danish garage-to-stock-exchange success story. Founded in 2000, Asetek established its innovative position as the leading OEM developer and producer of the all-in-one liquid cooler for all major PC & Enthusiast gaming brands. In 2013, Asetek went public while expanding into energy-efficient and environmentally friendly cooling solutions for data centers. In 2021, Asetek introduced its line of products for next level immersive SimSports gaming experiences. Asetek is headquartered in Denmark and has operations in China, Taiwan and the United States.

www.asetek.com

This information is subject to the disclosure requirements pursuant to Section 5-12 of the Norwegian Securities Trading Act.

The following files are available for download:

SOURCE Asetek
RADNOR, Pa., May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Avantor, Inc. (NYSE: AVTR), a leading global provider of mission-critical products and services to customers in the life sciences, advanced technologies and applied materials industries, announced that Michael Stubblefield, President and CEO, will be participating in a fireside chat at Bernstein's 39th Annual Strategic Decisions Conference in New York on Wednesday, May 31, 2023 at approximately 4:30 p.m. Eastern Time.

To hear a live audio webcast of the session, visit Events & Presentations in the Investor section of Avantor's website, ir.avantorsciences.com. A replay of the webcast will be available for 30 days.

About Avantor

Avantor, a Fortune 500 company, is a leading global provider of mission-critical products and services to customers in the biopharma, healthcare, education & government, and advanced technologies & applied materials industries. Our portfolio is used in virtually every stage of the most important research, development and production activities in the industries we serve. Our global footprint enables us to serve more than 300,000 customer locations and gives us extensive access to research laboratories and scientists in more than 180 countries. We set science in motion to create a better world. For more information, visit avantorsciences.com and find us on LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook .

Investor Relations Contact

Christina Jones

Vice President, Investor Relations

Avantor

805-617-5297

[email protected]

Global Media Contact

Emily Collins

Vice President, External Communications

Avantor

332-239-3910

[email protected]

SOURCE Avantor and Financial News
DALLAS, May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- AvaWatz Company, ("AvaWatz"), a technology company that supports collaboration among robots, is pleased to announce the filing of a patent application with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). The patent application, titled "System and Method for Labeling, Evaluation, and Improvement of Training and Testing for Machine Learning," introduces the AvaWatz approach to the difficult issue of training data required to train deep learning and machine learning models. The AvaWatz approach not only saves time and reduces the cost associated with the training of such systems, it also makes for a more accurate model that a user can have more trust in.

Dr. Rajini Anachi, CEO

Machine learning software generally learns by example - the more examples an algorithm can examine, the better it learns. But feeding the system with tons of examples is laborious, boring, and time-consuming work, particularly with specialized data. Collecting and labeling a sufficiently large set of examples is often the biggest obstacle to the project's success. That's the problem the AvaWatz patent solution solves. It improves the model's performance, by finding and correcting weaknesses in the training dataset, and retraining the model, until the model achieves higher performance.

"We originally developed these tools for our own use, because many of the use cases we tackle involve uncommon types of data like small fragments of debris or uncommon operating conditions like severe weather, off-road travel," said Dr. Rajini Anachi, CEO of AvaWatz. "We make it available as part of our Trusted AI services to our customers and to others in the Artificial Intelligence community. We feel that adoption of this novel technology will help many who work with specialized use cases and need to build customized machine learning applications."

About AvaWatz

AvaWatz is an AI company, specializing in advanced vision/perception, decision making and cooperative navigation for task execution using machine learning and physics-based algorithmic technologies. AvaWatz platform drives adaptive autonomous robotic systems built around a Sensing-Deciding-Acting paradigm. AvaWatz provides End-to-End private / hybrid Cloud-based SaaS and real-time AI solutions to commercial and government customers.

Learn more about the investment opportunity in AvaWatz

Media Contact:

Ajay Jain

508-475-9108

[email protected]

SOURCE AvaWatz
INTRODUCING HEX-FLEX REINFORCED HEXAGONAL NYLON

STONEY CREEK, ON, May 17, 2023 Baffin is proud to announce an innovative update on the cold-climate footwear brands bestselling Hybrid Slippers Collection. Introducing a Hex-Flex reinforced hexagonal nylon upper to the unisex slipper design, the new and improved Hybrid Slipper Collection now offers even more elemental protection for both indoor and outdoor use.

The Hybrid Slipper range, featuring Baffin's iconic Cush Collection and Cabin Collection, marries indoor comfort with an outdoor lifestyle. The new Hex-Flex reinforced hexagonal nylon upper provides increased durability, rip-resistance and longevity, making the Hybrid Slipper Collection even more versatile year-round.

Made for foundational and functional performance for the active lifestyle, the Hybrid Slipper Collection is Elemental Rated in Baffin's Real-World Testing (RWT) evolution, which helps recommend cold-comfort levels associated with Baffin footwear. Elemental cold comfort is best achieved with light levels of activity and has been proven by Baffin around the Great Lakes, parks, and city streets to provide protection from elements.

Classified as B-Tek Dry Water Resistant, the Hybrid Slipper Collection offers fundamental waterproofing technology, able to resist the penetration of water. This category of waterproofing allows for outdoor action in hybrid designs  extending use and functionality. This collection offers wet protection during brief exposure through the unexpected weather changes of all seasons.

"At Baffin, we are continuously looking for ways to provide the best products and quality to our customers  including making improvements and adjustments to our existing product line," says Mark Hubner, Senior Vice President, Commercial at Baffin. "We are excited about the new and improved updates to our Hybrid Slipper Collection. These slippers have been fan-favourites since they were first introduced, and the addition of the proprietary enhanced nylon material, Hex-Flex, advances how strong and versatile these indoor/outdoor slippers are."

The updated styles are currently available in four colourways for CUSH and CUSH BOOTY  Coastal Grey, Guide Red, Twilight Blue and Stormy; and two colourways for CABIN and CAMPFIRE  Coastal Grey and Guide Red. In Fall 2023, CUSH and CUSH BOOTY in Merlot, Navy Blue and Black will also be updated with Hex-Flex.

Available at Baffin.com and in select outdoor retailers in North America, the Hybrid Slipper Collection retails for $70 - $120 CAD/$55 - $100 USD.

*Real-World Tested (RWT) level evolution is a vehicle to bridging the gap between product and application. RWT is a system which helps to recommend cold comfort levels associated with Baffin footwear. Each level has been determined by extensive use of Baffin product in real-world application on expeditions and jobsites around the world.

Baffin Ltd. is an innovative, leading outwear company based in Stoney Creek, Ontario, Canada with a core focus on technically advanced, innovative footwear and high-performance apparel. Baffin designs, develops, and field tests footwear in the most demanding environments on the planet and is focused on being a global leader in footwear and apparel within the Outdoor, Industrial and Hunt and Fish categories. Baffin Ltd. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Canada Goose Holdings Inc.

SOURCE Baffin Limited
The program forms part of the two companies' partnership with ICEYE, a renowned SAR satellite manufacturer based in Finland. The expansion of Bayanat's capabilities into the space sector positions the company to drive its growth strategy and become a prominent player in the industry.

SAR is an active sensing system that illuminates the Earth's surface and measures the reflected signal to generate high-resolution images. Unlike traditional optical imaging satellites, SAR can capture images day and night, regardless of weather conditions or solar illumination. Compared to other New Space SAR satellite services, ICEYE's radar antenna covers much larger geographical areas or, at the other end of the scale, provides higher resolution images of smaller areas.

Bayanat's program aims to develop a constellation of at least five SAR low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites to provide a consistent data stream for end-to-end solutions for SAR applications. It will cover the entire value chain by leveraging the available synergies in Yahsat's upstream and midstream capabilities, including its leading satellite infrastructure as well as the wide spectrum of its rapidly growing satellite-enabled innovative solutions, and Bayanat's downstream capabilities such as advanced AI and data analytics and will significantly enhance Bayanat's commercial offerings by providing valuable geospatial insights to various industries in a timely and accurate manner.

The program is a steppingstone towards realizing a broader space-ecosystem in the UAE, including the development of in-country satellite manufacturing capabilities. It will deliver a range of strategic benefits for the nation, including access to sovereign SAR data acquisition, enhancing data privacy, and further building the nation's resident capabilities for space exploration. In addition, the program will fuel collaboration between vital strategic players in the UAE's space ecosystem, strengthen UAE's position in space technology and open new possibilities for Bayanat, Yahsat and the country's future space exploration endeavors.

Hasan AlHosani, CEO of Bayanat, said, "The launch of the first LEO satellite scheduled for Q1 2024 will significantly enhance Bayanat's existing offerings to provide more comprehensive and high-quality services to clients both locally and internationally. The partnership between Bayanat and ICEYE, in collaboration with Yahsat, will drive the development of a sovereign EO ecosystem which will enable us to provide cutting-edge solutions, whilst contributing to skill development, scientific advancements, and sustained economic growth. We are excited to be at the forefront of this dynamic and rapidly evolving field and looking forward to developing a commercial space program in the UAE."

Ali Al Hashemi, Group CEO of Yahsat, said: "As part of Yahsat's active role in empowering the space economy sector in line with the UAE's Space Strategy 2030, we are pleased to collaborate with Bayanat on this ambitious program. Yahsat is committed to join forces with various commercial and government-related entities to strengthen the UAE's leadership in the space sector in MENA region, supported by Yahsat's world-class infrastructure and suite of innovative solutions. We are also advancing new segments such as earth observation, in-country manufacturing and building the national capacities in the space sector."

Rafal Modrzewski, CEO and Co-Founder of ICEYE, said: "ICEYE is the leading New Space company in the world today with the proven ability to design, build and supply new-era SAR Earth observation satellites for customers. We're honored to contribute to Bayanat's space programme in meeting the sophisticated imagery requirements from their most demanding customers in the UAE. Until the launch next year, we will be providing access to our satellites already in orbit, so Bayanat can start utilizing radar satellite imagery for the benefit of the public and private sector customers in the UAE."

About Bayanat:

Bayanat, an ADX listed public company with majority shareholding by G42, provides comprehensive world-class AI-powered geospatial solutions to a growing number of sectors such as Government Services, Environment, Energy & Resources, Smart Cities and Transportation. It's offering includes topographic, hydrographic, and aeronautical products and charts, as well as spatial data surveying, analysis, management, modelling, visualization, and cartography services. Bayanat's solutions harness vast amounts of premium and unique data from a range of sources including Satellites, High Altitude Pseudo Satellites (HAPS) and Earth Observation powered by AI to drive geospatial intelligence (gIQ).

For more information, please visit: www.bayanat.ai

Twitter: https://twitter.com/bayanat_ai

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/bayanatg42/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bayanat.g42/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bayanat.g42

About Yahsat

Al Yah Satellite Communications Company PJSC (Yahsat) is a public company listed on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX) and a subsidiary of Mubadala Investment Company PJSC, offering multi-mission satellite solutions in more than 150 countries across Europe, the Middle East, Africa, South America, Asia and Australasia.

Yahsat's fleet of 5 satellites reaches more than 80% of the world's population, enabling critical communications including broadband, broadcasting, backhauling and mobility solutions. Based out of Abu Dhabi in the UAE, Yahsat provides C, Ku, Ka and L-band satellite communications solutions for land, maritime and aero platforms to consumers, governments and enterprises. Its businesses consist of Yahsat Government Solutions, Thuraya, YahClick (powered by Hughes) and YahLink. Yahsat also participates in Hughes do Brasil, an equity partnership with Hughes, and Yahlive, an equity partnership with SES. In 2020, Yahsat commenced construction of Thuraya 4-NGS, the next generation telecommunications system for Thuraya, which is due to enter service in 2025.

For more information, visit: www.yahsat.com ; follow us on Twitter: @YahsatOfficial

About ICEYE

ICEYE delivers unmatched persistent monitoring capabilities for any location on earth. Owning the world's largest synthetic-aperture radar satellite constellation, the company enables objective, data-driven decisions for its customers in sectors such as insurance, natural catastrophe response and recovery, security, maritime monitoring and finance. ICEYE's data can be collected day or night, and even through cloud cover. For more information, please visit www.iceye.com .

SOURCE ICEYE
LOUISVILLE, Colo., May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- BearVault , the leading outdoor brand in portable bear canisters, is proud to introduce its 2023 lineup of Adventure Ambassadors. These individuals were handpicked for their enthusiasm, varied interests and plans, and unique perspectives. BearVault is looking forward to following their adventures through the summer!

The ten selected BearVault Adventure Ambassadors are:

The Urban Family, a seriously adventurous family of 5 who will be canoeing in the Boundary Waters and backpacking in Colorado this summer. Angelica Avella , a diversity advocate intent on introducing women to hiking. A JMT alum, Angelica will be hiking the Long Trail this summer. Barry Auskern , a 62 year old backpacker exploring Rocky Mountain NP this summer. In his youth, Barry got himself arrested advocating for grizzly bears! Cassia Rivera , a passionate bear photographer, researcher, and educator who spends her summers in the wilds of North Carolina . Elle Eberts , an avid horse packer who ventures far into the Colorado , Wyoming , and Montana backcountry and advocates for responsible stock use. Greg Sakowicz , who runs the inspirational website, fatmanlittletrail.com , will be embarking on his first backpacking trip this summer! Jennifer Diciesare , trail crew leader, avid bow hunter, and overall wilderness junkie who will be soloing the Colorado Trail this year. Kaylee Lettau , a PCT hiker with a penchant for sustainability. Kaylee lives her values, and is stoked about spending her summer in nature. Meital Kupfer , non-binary AT thru-hiker who lives with intention, works in Uganda , and advocates for outdoor equity. Rocio Villalobos , distance trail runner and indigenous community leader. Rocio will be camping this year in Wyoming and Oregon .

Each Adventure Ambassador's full profile is available at https://bearvault.com/meet-ambassador-2023 . BearVault's ambassadors will be contributing stories, photographs, and videos throughout their journeys, which BearVault will amplify through its social media reach and newsletter. BearVault invites the public to follow along by signing up for its newsletter at https://bearvault.com/email-signup/.

About BearVault

BearVault is the leading manufacturer of bear-resistant food canisters for backpackers and outdoor enthusiasts. BearVault is known for its clear, wide opening, tool-free canisters that make it easy for people to protect their food from animals. Based at the foot of the Rockies in Louisville, Colorado, BearVault is a values driven, carbon positive company that integrates sustainability and wildlife conservation into its business practices. Please visit us at www.bearvault.com , Instagram: @BearVault , Facebook: @BearVaultCanisters , TikTok: @BearVaultCanisters .

Media Contact

Tracy Twist

[email protected]

866-301-3442 x102

SOURCE BearVault
LOS ANGELES, May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Attorneys with Arias Sanguinetti filed multiple lawsuits against BHC Alhambra Hospital, alleging the medical facility regularly puts patients' safety at risk.

The firm currently has two active cases, N.B. v. BHC Alhambra Hospital and O.Z. v. BHC Alhambra Hospital, both containing very similar claims.

According to the N.B. complaint, Mr. B. was brutally attacked by another patient while he was admitted to BHC Alhambra. He was sound asleep when another patient began punching and choking him, completely unprovoked. Mr. B. then rolled out of bed and was on the ground when the attacker kicked him repeatedly, breaking his nose. Mr. B. had to be taken to a different hospital for care. The attacker, also a patient, had exhibited previously violent behavior, and the hospital violated protocol and the law, doing little to nothing to protect the other patients.

In the O.Z. complaint, Ms. Z. was asleep in her room at 3:00 AM when another patient brutally and without provocation attacked her. This male patient was also mentally unstable. Ms. Z. was heavily medicated, and was in a deep sleep when the attack began. This beating continued until staff arrived to physically remove the attacker. Ms. Z. had been beaten so violently, she had nasal fractures, facial contusions, broken teeth, a lip laceration, and a laceration on her right hand. In this case, BHC Alhambra is accused of failing to properly protect other patients from someone who  to the acute knowledge of BHC Alhambra  had a history of being violent and unstable.

"It's unforgivable that BHC Alhambra would knowingly put other patients in harm's way," said Arias Sanguinetti Managing Partner Mike Arias. "These people went in for care, and rather than abide by the 'do no harm' oath, these patients left the hospital with greater injuries than they came in with."

In 2012, attorney Alena Klimianok of Arias Sanguinetti, obtained a $5.9 million verdict against BHC Alhambra in a case where a mentally unstable patient of the hospital beat another patient so violently that he was found face down, bleeding from a head wound.

"BHC Alhambra is a repeat offender, and continues to put people in harm's way," said Ms. Klimianok. "No one should fear being attacked when they check into a hospital, but with BHC that's exactly what it has come to for every single one of their patients."

The cases are O.Z. v. BHC Alhambra Hospital, Los Angeles Superior Court, Case No. 21STCV18294, and N.B. v. BHC Alhambra Hospital, Los Angeles Superior Court, Case No. 22STCV03082.

About Arias Sanguinetti

As the premier law firm handling sex abuse cases in Los Angeles, Arias Sanguinetti's trial lawyers are continually honored and recognized for their work on behalf of clients the firm has obtained over $1 billion for clients. The firm's personal injury and medical malpractice attorneys are regularly ranked as some of the best in the nation. The firm also made history obtaining the $852 million settlement against USC on behalf of more than 700 former students, the largest known settlement in a sexual abuse case in U.S. history, as well as the largest known personal injury settlement against a university.

Media Contact:

Arias Sanguinetti

310-844-9696

[email protected]

SOURCE Arias Sanguinetti
BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 17. Azerbaijani women entrepreneurs are interested in doing business in liberated areas, the Chairman of the Board of Azerbaijans Small and Medium Business Development Agency (SMBDA) Orkhan Mammadov said during the SHE Congress conference in Baku, Trend reports.

According to Mammadov, about 80 applications to the agency were received from women in order to build a business in the sectors of trade, industry, agriculture, tourism, education and others.

"Over the past few years, the number of women entrepreneurs in Azerbaijan has increased. The country has a policy to develop women's entrepreneurship. In 2018, the proportion of women among individual entrepreneurs was about 19 percent, and in April 2023, this figure already exceeded 22 percent, he noted.

Moreover, there are also a sufficient number of women among the founders and heads of legal entities and enterprises, and 49 percent of the economically active population of our country are women," the official said.

Mammadov also noted that women's awareness of the benefits and opportunities of doing business should be improved.

"We are carrying out relevant work to train and retrain women. Today, we have already trained about 1,000 women in the business sector, nine women entrepreneurs have been given a grant, and 10 have been provided with start-up certificates that exempt their activities from taxes and duties, he said, adding that the SMBDA provides support to women entrepreneurs in entering local and foreign markets.

SHE Congress is the international women's leadership event that is designed to bring role models such as top female executives and female business owners as well as top private and public sector representatives advocating for women empowerment to share their knowledge, skills, and energy with female junior professionals, startups and even graduate in such areas as business & entrepreneurship, career development, lifestyle, family and motherhood, and well-being.

SHE Congress hosts the most prominent international and local speakers with outstanding stories and career paths. Established in 2017, SHE Congress has become the most remarkable women's leadership event not only in the region but internationally.
Higher education leaders from U.S. states and Puerto Rico travel to Washington D.C. to participate in Complete College America Day on the Hill

WASHINGTON, May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Complete College America (CCA), a national membership-based advocacy organization dedicated to improving college completion rates across the country, today announced its inaugural "CCA Day on the Hill" federal advocacy visit, bringing leaders from state systems of higher education, colleges and other state and local organizations to Washington, D.C. to advocate for policies designed to help more students chart pathways to college access and completion.

"Despite the unprecedented challenges of the pandemic and a fast-changing economy and workforce, states have made incredible progress toward closing gaps in college access and completion over the past decade," said Steven Gentile, chief policy officer at the Tennessee Higher Education Commission. "We need continued partnership from national leaders to help sustain that progress given the range of challenges facing students today. This is about sharing examples of how states are leading the way on higher education reform and finding common ground solutions to build a system of higher education that is more accessibleand also produces high-quality results for every student."

The visit coincides with the first-ever national College Completion Day, a day of digital action celebrating college completion and retention. During a day of meetings, leaders discussed priorities for the pending reauthorization of the Higher Education Act, which has not been renewed or changed for nearly 15 years. Representatives from the coalition also raised awareness around Complete College America's shared federal policy principles, which include saving students time and money by creating clearer pathways to a degree, meeting today's students where they are, and removing unnecessary barriers to college completion.

"The power of our work stems from states, networks, and institutions working together to solve the greatest challenges facing higher education today," said Charles Ansell, vice president for research, policy and advocacy at Complete College America. "This is about state and local leaders stepping forward to share their unique insights into how we can improve higher educationand create a system of higher education that better meets the needs of students, families and communities."

The Complete College America's membership includes more than 40 states and nine regional consortia, covering over one thousand institutions that serve more than 11.4 million students. A 2022 report from Complete College America found that between 2015 and today, almost all states in the Alliance have improved on-time graduation rates for students at both four-year institutions (+6 percentage points) and two-year institutions (+6 percentage points).

The state leaders participating in the inaugural CCA Day on the Hill included:

California : Benjamin T. Duran , Executive Director, Central Valley Higher Education Consortium; Jessie Ryan , Executive Vice President, The Campaign for College Opportunity

, Executive Director, Central Valley Higher Education Consortium; , Executive Vice President, The Campaign for College Opportunity Florida : Tamsyn French , Associate Director, Student Financial Success, Florida Atlantic University

, Associate Director, Student Financial Success, Maine : Janet M Sortor, Vice President & Chief Academic Officer, Maine Community College System; Rosa Redonnett , Associate Vice Chancellor for Student Success and Credential Attainment, Univ of Maine System

Janet M Sortor, Vice President & Chief Academic Officer, Maine Community College System; , Associate Vice Chancellor for Student Success and Credential Attainment, Univ of Maine System Montana : Antony Berthelote , Vice President of Enrollment Management and Student Affairs; Salish Kootenai College

, Vice President of Enrollment Management and Student Affairs; Nevada: Terina Caserto , Senior Analyst, Nevada System of Higher Education Renee Davis, Associate Vice Chancellor for Academic and Student Affairs, Nevada System of Higher Education

, Senior Analyst, of Higher Education Renee Davis, Associate Vice Chancellor for Academic and Student Affairs, Nevada System of Higher Education Oklahoma : Kylie Smith , Vice Chancellor for Administration, Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education

, Vice Chancellor for Administration, Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education Pennsylvania : Dr. Kate Shaw , Deputy Secretary and Commissioner, Pennsylvania Office of Postsecondary and Higher Education

Dr. , Deputy Secretary and Commissioner, Pennsylvania Office of Postsecondary and Higher Education Puerto Rico : Dr. Milagritos Gonzalez, Professor, University of Puerto Rico -Mayageza, CCA Puerto Rico Lead

Dr. Milagritos Gonzalez, Professor, -Mayageza, CCA Puerto Rico Lead Tennessee : Steven Gentile, Chief Policy Officer, Tennessee Higher Education Commission

"Sustaining a national agenda for college completion requires colleges to make shifts in practice and priorities as well as changes to federal policies governing higher education," said Dr. Yolanda Watson Spiva, president of Complete College America. "It's been fifteen years since we last saw a comprehensive, bipartisan Higher Education Act; it's high time for policymakers to take action to overhaul our system of higher education to better meet the needs of today's students, communities and employers."

For more information about CCA and to get involved, please visit CompleteCollege.org or contact Charles Ansell at [email protected]

About Complete College America: Complete College America (CCA) builds movements for scaled change and transforms institutions through data-driven policies, student-centered perspectives, and equity-driven practices. Since its founding in 2009, CCA connects a national network of forward-thinking state and higher education leaders and introduces bold initiatives to help states and institutions confront inequities, close institutional performance gaps, and increase college completion rates, especially for marginalized and historically excluded students. For more information, visit www.completecollege.org .

SOURCE Complete College America
BlueMark Practice Leaderboard expands to 10 leading impact investors with additions of AgDevCo, BlueEarth Capital, Calvert Impact Capital, and Nuveen Fixed Income Impact

NEW YORK, May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- BlueMark, a leading provider of independent impact verification and intelligence for the impact and sustainable investing market, today published its fourth annual "Making the Mark'' report with data and insights on best practices in impact management. This year's report, available at https://bluemarktideline.com/making-the-mark-2023 , is based on 84 practice verifications for investors managing a combined $206 billion in impact AUM, making it BlueMark's largest research sample to date. Leveraging its expanded dataset, BlueMark has for the first time published custom benchmarks by asset class and thematic focus.

BlueMark also announced the addition of four more investors  AgDevCo, BlueEarth Capital, Calvert Impact Capital, and Nuveen Fixed Income Impact  to the BlueMark Practice Leaderboard , joining Bain Capital Double Impact, British International Investment, Finance in Motion, LeapFrog Investments, Nuveen Private Equity Impact, and Trill Impact. The Practice Leaderboard was first launched in the 2022 edition of "Making the Mark" to spotlight those investors who scored in the top quartile based on their alignment with the Operating Principles for Impact Management (or Impact Principles), a leading market standard for impact management practices that forms the foundation for BlueMark's practice verification service.

Other key data and insights from the 2023 edition of "Making the Mark" include:

The adoption of staff-incentive systems linked to impact remains limited , with only 31% of verified investors explicitly integrating impact considerations into staff incentives. The most common approach at 25% is through annual staff performance reviews related to impact, including a subset of 15% that make the link explicit through variable pay and bonus structures. However, only 7% of the market has linked their impact performance to carried interest, a mechanism that is only applicable for private equity and venture capital funds.

, with only 31% of verified investors explicitly integrating impact considerations into staff incentives. The most common approach at 25% is through annual staff performance reviews related to impact, including a subset of 15% that make the link explicit through variable pay and bonus structures. However, only 7% of the market has linked their impact performance to carried interest, a mechanism that is only applicable for private equity and venture capital funds. 55% of investors include an analysis of impact risk in due diligence , however investors tend to focus their assessments on the likelihood of impact occurring ("execution risk") rather than assessing potential negative impacts ("unexpected impact risk"). In fact, only 24% of investors include a standardized assessment of negative impacts as part of their processes, which suggests the market has more work to do when accounting for potential negative outcomes in due diligence.

, however investors tend to focus their assessments on the likelihood of impact occurring ("execution risk") rather than assessing potential negative impacts ("unexpected impact risk"). In fact, only 24% of investors include a standardized assessment of negative impacts as part of their processes, which suggests the market has more work to do when accounting for potential negative outcomes in due diligence. Less than a third of investors (32%) are engaging with target stakeholders and actively soliciting their input to validate outcomes alongside investee data. While still a minority practice, a slight increase compared to last year's research sample shows that soliciting input from end-stakeholders (e.g., workers, customers, or affected community members) experiencing the impact outcomes will become a key part of robust impact management and monitoring.

and actively soliciting their input to validate outcomes alongside investee data. While still a minority practice, a slight increase compared to last year's research sample shows that soliciting input from end-stakeholders (e.g., workers, customers, or affected community members) experiencing the impact outcomes will become a key part of robust impact management and monitoring. 27% of investors are taking consistent actions to ensure sustainable impact creation, while just more than half of investors (60%) have a policy or approach in place to consider the sustainability of impact at and beyond exit. This suggests there is a long way to go before impact considerations take equal precedence to financial considerations as more investors proactively identify actions to preserve impact as part of exit strategies. Given exit practices range broadly across asset class contexts, additional norms and consensus best practice across investment strategies will be required for this market practice to continue to improve.

The report also includes case studies on innovations in impact management, featuring Adams Street Partners, Franklin Templeton, FullCycle Climate Partners, Schroders Asset Management, and Summa Equity.

"The expanded dataset in this year's 'Making the Mark' report reveals an increasingly diverse range of impact investors across asset classes and strategies, reflecting growing adoption of impact management standards across investor types," said Christina Leijonhufvud, CEO of BlueMark. "While we are encouraged by how many more investors are committed to aligning with industry best practices, BlueMark's research reveals significant areas for improvement remain across key practice areas critical to achieving both impact and financial performance."

As part of this year's "Making the Mark" report, BlueMark also updated its analysis of signatories to the Impact Principles. Out of 170+ signatories, 119 had published a verifier statement as of May 2023, of which 15 were internal verifications. BlueMark was responsible for 42, or 40%, of all third-party verifications. In addition, BlueMark conducted 40 practice verifications for investors who are not (yet) signatories to the Impact Principles, signaling the growing demand for impact verification beyond the use case of satisfying the requirements of voluntary standards.

Overall, across all its verification services, BlueMark has completed more than 130 verifications for 95 clients across the investment management industry, which collectively manage more than $214 billion in impact AUM. This is equivalent to about 20 percent of the total impact investing market, based on the latest estimates from the Global Impact Investing Network (GIIN) .

In April 2023, BlueMark announced it had raised $10 million in a Series A round led by S&P Global . Other investors in the round included Blue Haven Initiative, Ford Foundation, Gunung Capital, Radicle Impact, Temasek Trust Capital, and Tsao Family Office.

About BlueMark

BlueMark is a leading provider of independent impact verification and intelligence for the impact and sustainable investing market. As a certified B Corp, BlueMark's mission is to "strengthen trust in impact investing" by providing investors with market-leading impact verification services, benchmarks, and analytics. BlueMark's verification methodologies draw on a range of industry standards, frameworks, and regulations, including the Impact Management Project (IMP), the Operating Principles for Impact Management (Impact Principles), the Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI), SDG Impact, and the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR). Learn more about BlueMark and impact verification at www.bluemarktideline.com .

Media Contact

17 Communications

Dmitriy Ioselevich

[email protected]

SOURCE BlueMark
Rapidly growing global insurtech, BOXX Insurance, rolls out personal cyber insurance in the USA to protect individuals and families from today's digital risks

to protect individuals and families from today's digital risks The all-in-one insurance plan combines protection, access to an incident response team and 'admitted' coverage underwritten by HSB, a Munich Re company

BOXX is making it easy for consumers to purchase the product online through insurance brokers and agents' websites

MIAMI, May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ - BOXX Insurance, the specialist cyber insurtech and online protection company, today announced the launch of MyCyberProtectionTM by Cyberboxx HomeSM in the USA. This all-in-one product goes beyond today's identity theft insurance plans by combining comprehensive cyber insurance, with security tools and emergency assistance to ensure that Americans can remain safe online.

BOXX Insurance, predicts, prevents and insures against today's cyber risks. (CNW Group/BOXX Insurance)

BOXX also announced the launch of its platform that can be branded by brokers and enables their clients to purchase the insurance policy directly from their website. After spending a considerable amount of time listening to brokers and agents, the portal enables their clients to easily purchase cyber insurance across the US.

Built in partnership with and underwritten by HSB, the product addresses today's emerging cyber risks for US consumers which have been driven by the digitization and dependency of online services and social activities. Since 2019, cybercrime losses in the USA tripled to $10.3 billion in 2022 as reported by the FBI, from common attack methods like social engineering and phishing. Even more, large scale data breaches can expose consumers' personal information on the dark web -- making them vulnerable to financial fraud and other forms of cyberattacks.

"Our research highlights that consumers are increasingly aware of the dangers of being online and are looking for a simple and easy all-in-one solution to keep them digitally safe," said Hilario Itriago, US President, BOXX Insurance. He continues "With broad coverages like computer attacks, cyber ransom, online fraud and cyber bullying, individuals and families can protect themselves from the common risks of living a connected life," he explained.

Policyholders also get preferred access to an experienced incident response and 24/7 claims team, as well as digital protection services like VPN and a password manager to help keep them cyber safe online.

"BOXX is in the business of protecting people, not just networks and devices," said Vishal Kundi, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer, BOXX. "This solution reflects that purpose by offering a simple, effortless way to protect individuals, families and valuable consumer data."

Data security is critical and individuals need help to keep up with today's emerging cyber risks.

"Cyber criminals are hacking into smartphones, laptops, and other personal devices in greater numbers than ever before," said Tim Nazzaro, Cyber Product & Strategy Manager, HSB. "BOXX Insurance is providing easy access to quality coverage and more, including online cybersecurity tools and services that can really make a difference."

About BOXX Insurance

BOXX Insurance Inc. helps businesses, individuals and families insure and defend against cyber threats. Privately-held with headquarters in Toronto, Canada, BOXX has global offices in Miami, Zurich, Dubai and Mumbai. BOXX Insurance is an award-winning global cyber protection and insurance provider.

We're not a typical company. That's by design. We're serious about making the world a digitally safer place; creating real, positive changes for our clients and partners, and building a lasting legacy, from what we create, inside the BOXX.

Every day we're improving the digital health of businesses, families and individuals around the world who rely on BOXX's solutions and services to predict, prevent and insure them against cyber threats.

For further information, please visit: www.boxxinsurance.com.

SOURCE BOXX Insurance
NETANYA, Israel, May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Cellcom Israel Ltd. (TASE: CEL) (The "Company") announces that the Meeting will convene on Thursday, June 1, 2023, at 15:00 p.m. (Israel time), at the offices of the Company, 10 Ha'gavish Street, Netanya, Israel. An adjourned Meeting, if required, will be held on Thursday June 8, 2023, at the same time and at the same place. The record date for the Meeting is Sunday May 21, 2023.

The Agenda of the Meeting

Appointment of Kost Forer (EY), as the Company's independent auditors.

Voting Instructions

The summon statement, published by the Company on Wednesday May 17, 2023 regarding the convening of the Meeting (the "Meeting's Documents") may be viewed on the Magna distribution website at: www.magna.isa.gov.il and on the Tel-Aviv Stock Exchange Ltd. website at: www.maya.tase.co.il.

Section 3.9 of the summon statement contains voting instructions for shareholders whose shares are not held via a member of the TASE Clearinghouse (for trading on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange) but instead via a member of the Depositary Trust Company (DTC) or Shareholders who are registered directly with the Company's U.S. transfer agent, American Stock Transfer & Trust Company.

An Unregistered Shareholder is entitled to vote through the Electronic Voting System. Voting through an Electronic voting card shall be possible until six (6) hours before the assembly time of the General Meeting. In addition, an Unregistered Shareholder shall be entitled to deliver the certificate of ownership through the Electronic Voting System.

Company Contact Gadi Attias

Chief Financial Officer

[email protected]

Tel: +972-52-998-4774 Investor Relations Contact Elad Levy

Investor Relations Manager

[email protected]

Tel: +972-52-998-4774

SOURCE Cellcom Israel Ltd.
DUBLIN, May 16, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The "2023 Vitamin C - Douyin, China E-commerce Market Data Subscription" database has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.



This database subscription gives you all the information you need on the market for Vitamin C supplements in the Chinese market, as measured on the Douyin platform.



The data subscription service provides you with valuable information on consumer behavior and preferences, top-selling product categories and brands, pricing strategies, trends, and more. With The data, you can make informed decisions about market entry, product development, and marketing optimization that can help you succeed in this highly competitive industry.



Whether you're a startup looking to break into the market or an established business seeking to expand your reach and grow your profits, our China ecommerce data subscription for health supplements is a powerful tool that can help you stay ahead of the curve.



The analyst acquires product level data for each platform on a weekly basis, including sales volume, price, promotion, brand, store, link and other available information, and agregate it by month. All the data is carefully processed, classified and tagged with a selection of over 4000 brands, functions, ingredients, target user, formats, packaging, and country of origin labels.



You will be able to access the data through Qlik Sense, a powerful web-tool that gives you access to the data to explore trends and market drivers, and deep dive into brands, companies, stores, segments and product details. This is facilitated by four select dashboards which include Segments, Executive Summary, Performance Drivers and Category Details. All dashboards can be filtered through the main filters or based on your search and selections across dashboards.



Segments dashboard: Easily see the performance over time of your category and sub-categories and explore ingredients, function, format and other trends.



Executive Summary dashboard: Provides brand performance at a glance. Always have key metrics at your fingertips and understand how the market and competitors are changing.



Performance Drivers dashboard: Your cheat-sheet for all things brands. Expands upon the Executive Summary with more details. Understand who wins and who loses and what pricing strategy your competitors are driving.



Category Detail dashboard: Explore parent companies, brands, stores and individual items in detail. Product level information include product name, store, price, volume, value, platform link, etc.



Data reporting in other forms, such as monthly Excels, dedicated reports, API access are available as upgrades upon request.



This data subscription product provides monthly data releases throughout 2023, with the previous months data published by the 20th the following month. There is the option to continue the service the following years while retaining present data.



In addition, the data includes six month of history - July 2022 to December 2022. Customers also have the option to upgrade to include more history.



Key Topics Covered:



Monthly data for the respective category and subcategory (if available):

Product Name

Shop Name

Price

Sales Volume

Sales Value

Platform

URL

Tags - Brand

Function

Ingredient

Country of Origin

Format

Package

Target User

Web portal to access data with following dashboards:

Segments

Executive Summary

Performance Drivers

Category Detail

Companies Mentioned

H&H

Young Doctor

By-Health

Shandong Sibote Biotechnology Co. Ltd.

Yang Sheng Tang

Conba

Tongren Tang

Childlife

Jamieson Wellness

Sanofi-Aventis

Renhe Group Co. Ltd.

Blackmores

Gold Partner

Xiuzheng Pharmaceutical Group Co. Ltd.

Anhui Hongentang Biotechnology Co. Ltd.

Unilever

Haleon

Pharmacare

Bayer

Fancl

She Yang

Bilsinvule

Alticor

Newliann

Nestle

Aotu Technology Limited

Patarlab(2517)Companylimited

Aland

Gnc

Cpsc

Esmond Natural

Hangzhou Minsheng Healthcare Co. Ltd.

Yongfeng Lizitang E-Commerce Co. Ltd

Dhc

Reckitt

Nature's Care

Han Dian

Unichi

Queisser Pharma

Wei Wei

Now Foods

Weihai Baihe Biology Technological Co. Ltd.

Aoteshuer

Exquisite Energy ( Hangzhou ) Technology Co. Ltd.

) Technology Co. Ltd. Vitplus+

Beijing Tongrentang Xing'an Health Care Technology Co. Ltd.

Church & Dwight

Costco

Jeju

Homecare

Kang Long Group Corp

Pharmavite

Bpc

Bio-E Australia

NBTy

Kuihua

Guangzhou Baiyunshan Pharmaceutical Holdings Company Limited

Wonderlab

Buff X

Jzjt

Isdg

Gloryfeel

Good Health

Huebner

Orthomol

Eric Favre

Ildong

Meiaojian

Daiichi-Sankyo

Ao Lan

Dr.Herbs

Scrianen

Altapharma

Suntory

Hong Tao K

Hua Yuan

Ester-C

Gall Pharma

Dm

Lv Shou

For more information about this database visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/7qonay

About ResearchAndMarkets.com

ResearchAndMarkets.com is the world's leading source for international market research reports and market data. We provide you with the latest data on international and regional markets, key industries, the top companies, new products and the latest trends.

Media Contact:

Research and Markets

Laura Wood, Senior Manager

[email protected]



For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470

For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630

For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900



U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907

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Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/539438/Research_and_Markets_Logo.jpg

SOURCE Research and Markets
CANNES, France, May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Ma Shuai, a Chinese beauty influencer who is a signing expert of Dandelion Digital and one of the top live-streamers in the cosmetics and beauty sector on Douyin (the Chinese version of TikTok), was recently invited to the Cannes Film Festival by the French cosmetics brand JEAN D'ESTREES. While in France, he also held several live-streaming shows. Ma was the first person in China to live stream in counters of international cosmetic and beauty brands in department stores and shopping malls. His live-streaming room - the "Ma Shuai x Super Brands Douyin Live-streaming Room" - has now become an outlet for multiple international beauty brands looking to reach Chinese consumers.

"During our stay in France, we were invited to visit Sephora's headquarters and the laboratories and manufacturing plant of Clarins. We have also traced JEAN D'ESTREES's more-than-half-century family history," said Ma. "Through the 'Ma Shuai x Super Brands Douyin Live-streaming Room', we want to let more Chinese consumers experience the charm of French brands."

Ma, under the alias of PgyMa, has over 2.2 million followers on Douyin. He holds the record for breaking 100 million in GMV (Gross Merchandise Volume) during a single live-streaming show, which took place in November 2021 at Shenzhen's MOI Department Store.

Ma's live-streaming room is not just a platform for selling products. He has implemented various approaches to help brands attract more customers. One unique aspect of his live-streaming is that he dedicates one show to only one brand. Additionally, he has created a new offering called "the gift box", which contains a brand's different products in small packs or bottles, allowing his followers to try almost the entire product range of a brand at the price of one lipstick. By doing this, Ma has attracted many consumers who want to try new brands and helped brands who want to expand their customer base.

In May 2022, Ma collaborated with SK-II for a live-streaming show that resulted in the brand winning 12,246 in-store-skin test appointments. This proves that the entire chain of online promotions, sales, in-store appointments, and offline in-store service can be connected through live-streaming.

In addition to his innovative strategies, Ma is committed to providing his followers with the best possible experience and earning their trust. He tests every product that he showcases in his live-streaming room and guarantees that all items available in his live-streaming room are completely authentic and sourced directly from the brands' counters.

These efforts have earned Ma an impressive following of viewers in China, with his live streams garnering more than 675 million views over the past three years. His audience is made up of high-net-worth individuals who value quality and have significant purchasing power. As a result, Ma has become known as a trustworthy source for international beauty brands on Douyin, and his followers know that they can rely on him to provide authentic, high-quality products.

Ma emphasized that live-streaming at department store counters is more than just a sales booster. It's a powerful tool for expanding a brand's reach and creating a deeper connection with customers. By showcasing the counter, professionalism of the salespersons, and new products in a live-streaming show, brands can highlight their product experience, culture, and value. This can lead to increased loyalty and a stronger bond with customers. He predicts that live-streaming will continue to evolve beyond sales and become an even more effective way to connect with consumers.

SOURCE Dandelion Digital
Integration of Smart Intangible Asset Management into IPfolio to transform intellectual property management

Clarivate to host Innovation Lab during INTA Annual Meeting in Singapore where attendees can view a demo of IPfolio and SIAM integration

LONDON, May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Clarivate Plc (NYSE:CLVT), a global leader in connecting people and organizations to intelligence they can trust to transform their world, today announced the integration of the Smart Intangible Asset Management (SIAM) solution from IPwe Inc. into IPfolio. This integration will enable IPfolio users to access unique patent valuation metrics from SIAM, including real-time, objective financial benchmarks on a patent-by-patent and portfolio basis, alongside competitor and peer portfolio metrics. It will also help users gain a next-level understanding of their intellectual property (IP) portfolio.

IPfolio is an end-to-end IP lifecycle management solution for corporate IP teams that need maximum control with minimum effort. This powerful and flexible cloud-native solution now simplifies the financial management of patent portfolios with connected valuation data from SIAM. By using AI, the IPwe platform uses the same world-class IP datasets that power IPfolio to provide financial valuations and business insights for data-driven decision-making.

Gordon Samson, President, Intellectual Property, Clarivate, said: "At Clarivate, we provide trusted IP data, software and expertise to help companies drive innovation, law firms achieve practice excellence, and organizations worldwide effectively manage and protect critical IP assets. Our customers understand the importance of IP management and the integration of SIAM into IPfolio is a natural next step to offer a higher level of financial IP portfolio understanding."

Leann Pinto, CEO of IPwe, explains: "Leveraging Clarivate data sets with IPwe's blockchain technology and AI is a game-changer for the IP ecosystem. With the integration of Smart Intangible Asset Management into IPfolio, customers can now better manage their IP portfolio, and understand these important assets qualitatively, from a financial viewpoint. We are proud to partner with Clarivate and enable business leaders with asset valuation benchmarks and competitor and peer insights for robust decision-making."

IPwe is a technology company that is transforming how IP is managed in the digital world. In November 2022, Clarivate partnered with IPwe to enhance their AI and blockchain patent solutions. In January 2023, IPwe launched their IPMS strategy tool Smart Intangible Asset Management. SIAM's integration into IPfolio represents the first of many initiatives envisaged in Clarivate and IPwe's long-term strategic partnership.

Clarivate will host an Innovation Lab during the International Trademark Association (INTA) Annual Meeting in Singapore, where attendees can visit the Clarivate booth, F08, to meet our innovation drivers, participate in a demo of the IPfolio and SIAM integration, and discover how Clarivate is further investing in IP solutions of the future.

About Clarivate

Clarivate is a leading global information services provider. We connect people and organizations to intelligence they can trust to transform their perspective, their work and our world. Our subscription and technology-based solutions are coupled with deep domain expertise and cover the areas of Academia & Government, Life Sciences & Healthcare and Intellectual Property. For more information, please visit clarivate.com.

Media contact:

Sofia Nogues,

Sr. Manager, External Communications

[email protected]

About IPwe

IPwe is a global financial technology company revolutionizing the IP space. We enable patent owners to understand their portfolios from a financial viewpoint and make informed decisions to maximize value and innovation, leveraging cutting-edge technology and world-class Clarivate data sets. Our IP management strategy tool, SIAM, is a game-changing solution bridging the gap between finance and IP. For more information, please visit ipwe.com.

Media contact:

Mia Mixan,

VP  Marketing and Communications

[email protected]

SOURCE Clarivate Plc
CVN Recognized as an Outstanding Employer as the Organization Provides High-Quality, Accessible Mental Health Services to Veterans, Active Duty Service Members and Their Families

STAMFORD, Conn., May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Cohen Veterans Network (CVN), a not-for-profit philanthropic organization that serves post-9/11 veterans, active duty service members and their families through a nationwide system of mental health clinics, has been named by Modern Healthcare as one of the 2023 Best Places to Work in Healthcare. Today, CVN, which was established by philanthropist Steven A. Cohen in 2016, employs 64 headquarters team members to support its 23 Steven A. Cohen Military Family Clinics across the country.

"We are thrilled to be named a Best Place to Work in Healthcare, which is a direct reflection of our exceptional team," says Cohen Veterans Network President and CEO Dr. Anthony Hassan. "It is their pursuit of excellence, drive towards innovation and deep commitment to our mission that enables us to create an environment that allows our clinics to deliver the highest standard of care to our veteran and military communities. This recognition serves as a testament to how our team shows up each day for our organization, each other, and our clients."

CVN is among just 150 organizations named Best Places to Work in Healthcare, which identifies and recognizes outstanding employers in the healthcare industry nationwide. Modern Healthcare partners with Workforce Research Group on the assessment process, which includes an extensive employee survey.

"At CVN, we value openness and collaboration," says CVN Senior Vice President of Human Resources & Administration Johanna Longo. "All employees have a voice and are encouraged to contribute their ideas. We strive to foster an environment where our people are respected, supported, and inspired, which results in an outstanding company culture and care for our clients."

CVN's ranking on the Best Places list will be announced and celebrated at the 2023 Best Places to Work in Healthcare Awards Gala taking place Sept. 28 in Chicago.

"An uncertain economy, staffing shortages and increasing demands for flexibility and remote work opportunities are forcing every business in the industry to focus on attracting and retaining talent in unprecedented ways," says Dan Peres, president of Modern Healthcare. "The 2023 Best Places to Work winners proved the value of understanding what employees want  and need  today. The healthcare industry is going through a period of extraordinary change. Having the right people in place is more critical than ever, and the winning workplaces understand that taking care of employees is central to business success."

Since its inception in April 2016, CVN has cared for over 53,000 clients and provided over 450,000 clinical sessions. Treatment is available for a variety of mental health challenges including depression, anxiety, adjustment issues, anger, PTSD, grief and loss, family issues, transition challenges, relationship problems, and children's behavioral problems. CVN care is available to all post-9/11 veterans, including the National Guard and Reserves, active duty service members with a TRICARE referral, as well as the entire military family, including parents, siblings, spouses or partners, children, caregivers, and others. Services are available in person or via CVN Telehealth, face-to-face video therapy.

ABOUT COHEN VETERANS NETWORK

Cohen Veterans Network (CVN) is a 501(c)(3) national not-for-profit philanthropic organization for post-9/11 veterans, active duty service members and their families. CVN focuses on improving mental health outcomes, operating a network of outpatient mental health clinics in high-need communities, in which trained clinicians deliver holistic evidence-based care to treat mental health conditions. It was established in 2016 by philanthropist Steven A. Cohen with a commitment of $275 million to build the network. Learn more about CVN at cohenveteransnetwork.org.

SOURCE Cohen Veterans Network
ESG Investing Strategies May Be Costing Tens of Thousands of Dollars per Client in Lost Retirement Income

WASHINGTON, May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- An analysis of proxy voting behavior by America's largest investment firms finds that the majority are putting political ideology over the best returns on the retirement funds and lifetime savings of tens of millions of their clients.

The study ranks the 40 largest money management firms (from Fidelity to State Street to Blackrock) based on how often they voted in favor of the 50 most intrusive ESG shareholder resolutions. All of these resolutions were OPPOSED by company management and are at best incidental to, or in most cases harmful to, shareholder returns.

The study cites solid evidence that firms distracted by ESG activities typically underperform the stock market. These ESG resolutions often require firms to engage in race or gender quotas in hiring and board representation rather than choosing the highest quality candidates; adopt net-zero emission policies; or even divest from high-performing activities, such as oil and gas production.

The firms that had the best performance for shareholders and received the grade of A in terms of rejecting ESG resolutions were:

Dimensional

Vanguard

Fidelity

T. Rowe Price

They voted at least 85% of the time against hostile ESG proposals.

The grade of F- went to six firms that supported more than 90 percent of ESG-focused shareholder resolutions:

Deutsche Bank

Swisscanto

Northern Trust

Storebrand Asset Management

Invesco Perpetual Select Trust

BNP Paribas

"We think investors around the country have an absolute right to know how the firms they entrust their lifetime savings with are playing politics with their money and risking a lower return," said Committee to Unleash Prosperity co-founder, Stephen Moore. "And they are doing so without the approval or even knowledge of their clients."

The Committee to Unleash Prosperity is dedicated to educating policy makers and the public about policies to maximize economic growth and prosperity in America and around the world. For more information: www.committeetounleashprosperity.com

SOURCE Committee to Unleash Prosperity
FRANKLIN, Tenn., May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Community Healthcare Trust Incorporated (NYSE: CHCT) (the "Company") today announced that its Board of Directors appointed William G. Monroe IV to be the Company's Chief Financial Officer, effective as of June 1, 2023.

David H. Dupuy, the Company's Chief Executive Officer, said, "On behalf of the Company, we are excited to welcome Bill as our Chief Financial Officer. Bill's experience demonstrates a deep understanding of our industry, and I am confident that he is an excellent choice for this role. We look forward to working with Bill."

Mr. Monroe has served as Managing Director of the Healthcare Investment Banking Group at Truist Securities, Inc. in Atlanta. Mr. Monroe was responsible for buy-and-sell side advisory services as well as debt and equity capital markets origination for healthcare services segments including acute hospital, post-acute, alternate site, and healthcare REITs. He joined Truist Securities, Inc. as a Vice President in 2011 via its predecessor firm SunTrust Robinson Humphrey, Inc. Mr. Monroe began his investment banking career at J.P. Morgan Securities LLC in New York where he was an Associate in the Syndicated & Leveraged Finance Group from 2006 to 2009 with responsibilities for structuring and executing pro rata bank, leveraged loan, and high yield bond transactions. Other positions Mr. Monroe has held include Vice President of Private Equity Placement at Fortress Group, Inc. from 2010 to 2011, and prior to business school Commercial Banking Associate at SunTrust Bank from 2003 to 2004 and Consulting Analyst at Accenture from 2000 to 2003. Mr. Monroe holds a Bachelor of Science from Davidson College and a Master of Business Administration from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth.

About Community Healthcare Trust Incorporated

Community Healthcare Trust Incorporated is a real estate investment trust that focuses on owning income-producing real estate properties associated primarily with the delivery of outpatient healthcare services in our target sub-markets throughout the United States.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

In addition to the historical information contained within, the matters discussed in this press release may contain "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, pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements are generally identifiable by use of forward-looking terminology such as "believes", "expects", "may", "will," "should", "seeks", "approximately", "intends", "plans", "estimates", "anticipates" or other similar words or expressions, including the negative thereof. Forward-looking statements are based on certain assumptions and can include future expectations, future plans and strategies, financial and operating projections or other forward-looking information. Such forward-looking statements reflect management's current beliefs and are based on information currently available to management. Because forward-looking statements relate to future events, they are subject to inherent uncertainties, risks and changes in circumstances that are difficult to predict and many of which are outside of the control of Community Healthcare Trust Incorporated (the "Company"). Thus, the Company's actual results and financial condition may differ materially from those indicated in such forward-looking statements. Some factors that might cause such a difference include the following: general volatility of the capital markets and the market price of the Company's common stock, changes in the Company's business strategy, availability, terms and deployment of capital, the Company's ability to refinance existing indebtedness at or prior to maturity on favorable terms, or at all, changes in the real estate industry in general, interest rates or the general economy, adverse developments related to the healthcare industry, changes in governmental regulations, the degree and nature of the Company's competition, the ability to consummate acquisitions under contract, catastrophic or extreme weather and other natural events and the physical effects of climate change, the occurrence of cyber incidents, effects on global and national markets as well as businesses resulting from increased inflation, rising interest rates, supply chain disruptions, labor conditions, the COVID-19 pandemic and/or the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, and the other factors described in the section entitled "Risk Factors" in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2022, and the Company's other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission from time to time. Readers are therefore cautioned not to place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements contained herein which speak only as of the date hereof. The Company intends these forward-looking statements to speak only as of the time of this press release and undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future developments, or otherwise, except as may be required by law.

CONTACT David H. Dupuy, 615-771-3052

SOURCE Community Healthcare Trust, Inc.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 17. The "InterFood Azerbaijan 2023" and "Caspian Agro" exhibitions in Baku will demonstrate modern innovative technologies and methods, advanced irrigation systems used in agriculture, Minister of Agriculture of Azerbaijan Majnun Mammadov said during the panel discussion at the 28th Azerbaijan International Food Industry InterFood Azerbaijan 2023 Exhibition and the 16th Azerbaijan International Agricultural "Caspian Agro" Exhibition, Trend reports.

According to Mammadov, intensive development of agriculture directly depends on innovations in the agricultural sector. It is especially important that Azerbaijani farmers, who are the main driving force of the agricultural sector, are informed about the principles of operation of innovative agricultural technologies.

Innovative solutions applied in the agricultural sector repeatedly increase the yield of products, make it possible to use land and water resources more efficiently, contribute to reducing the cost of production and increasing the incomes of farmers," he added.

According to Mammadov, a stand dedicated to the 100th anniversary of national leader Heydar Aliyev has been installed in the pavilion of the Ministry of Agriculture of Azerbaijan.

"The pavilion presents the latest achievements of the Ministry's research institutes, products and agricultural solutions presented by the winners of startup competitions, equipment and products related to green energy sources. Local companies working in the field of electricity production from environmentally friendly alternative and renewable energy sources will take part in this year's Caspian Agro Green-2023 exhibitions," he said.
SHANGHAI, May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Beijing Xisike Clinical Oncology Research Foundation (hereafter referred to as "CSCO Foundation"), a professional academic foundation with high reputation in the field of oncology education and research in China, Ping An Health Insurance Company of China, Ltd., (hereafter referred to as "PAH"), a pioneering health insurance company in the world under Ping An Insurance (Group) Company of China and OrigiMed Shanghai Ltd. , (hereafter referred to as "OrigiMed"), a leading precision medicine company based in China, today announced their strategic collaboration agreement to develop an innovative ecosystem of precision medicine. The agreement aims to provide Chinese patients with an innovative full-cycle medical solution for cancer treatment.

On behalf of CSCO Foundation, PAH and OrigiMed, Prof. Jin Li (Middle), Mr. Yougang Zhu (Left) and Dr. Kai Wang (Right) signed agreement on strategic partnership

Cancer has emerged as a leading cause of death in China, with a growing burden of cancer patients in recent years. According to statistics released by the National Cancer Center, there were over 4.5 million new cancer cases in China in 2020. Additionally, cancer-related medical expenses in China are estimated to exceed 220 billion RMB annually.

Under the terms of the agreement, the three parties will jointly develop an innovative ecosystem of precision medicine to provide full-cycle medical service for insured Chinese patients. PAH will provide comprehensive medical coverage by utilizing OrigiMed's precision medicine e-hospital service including comprehensive gene testing, online molecular tumor board, clinical trials, patient recruitment and follow-up services. Meanwhile, CSCO foundation will leverage with its professional clinical oncologist network providing online personalized diagnosis and treatment services for Chinese patients.

"The collaboration will enable better clinical outcomes for Chinese cancer patients," said Professor Jin Li, Chairman of CSCO Foundation and Vice Chief Supervisor of Chinese Society of Clinical Oncology. "We believe our new platform, partnered with PAH and OrigiMed, will build up a real-world database for the China Cancer Genomic Atlas."

"We aim to provide Chinese patients with innovative products and services that meet all their healthcare needs" said Mr. Yougang Zhu, Chairman of PAH. "Patients in China deserve the high-quality medical service that enable them to make informed decisions about personalized precision medicine."

"Every cancer patient is unique, and we believe precision medicine contains great potential for cancer treatment in China," said Dr. Kai Wang, Chairman of OrigiMed. "OrigiMed precision medicine e-hospital will serve as a core point connecting insured patients, doctors and healthcare institutions."

SOURCE OrigiMed
TORONTO, May 16, 2023 /PRNewswire/ - Cybeats Technologies Corp. ("Cybeats'' or the "Company") (CSE: CYBT) (OTCQB: CYBCF) is pleased to share highlights from its successful participation at the recent RSA Conference, the leading global event in cybersecurity.

The Company successfully hosted its 2nd annual 'SBOM Meetup,' which garnered a sold-out crowd and a notable increase of approximately 40% in attendance compared to the previous year's event. In addition, Cybeats' CTO, Dmitry Raidman, and Johnson & Johnson's cybersecurity expert, Bob Haack, collaborated to deliver a compelling fireside chat during the conference. The discussion centered around the urgent need to fortify software supply chain security, and the critical role of Software Bill of Materials (SBOM). This insightful fireside chat took place at Veracorde's Booth on the exhibition floor.1

"At our annual SBOM Meetup, we emphasized SBOM solutions' relevance across multiple industries and engaged with established and potential clients from the government, healthcare, industrial, transportation, and software sectors. Following the previous RSA engagement's success, where we secured significant product leads and sales, we expect increased demand after this years' conference as well. In response to escalating market needs driven by regulatory entities like CISA, NIST, FDA, and the EU, Cybeats is strategically positioned to deliver innovative solutions to meet these evolving challenges," said Bob Lyle, CRO, Cybeats.

2nd Annual 'SBOM Meetup' Hosted by Cybeats

Cybeats' second annual 'SBOM Meetup' in San Francisco alongside the RSA Conference invited cyber security professionals and any interested industry parties. The event included an engaging panel discussion on SBOM regulations led by Allan Friedman of CISA, and including esteemed panelists from Microsoft, Intel, Claroty, and Veracode. The event was co-sponsored by Cybeats' partner, Veracode2.

'It Takes a Village to Reduce Software Risk' - Roundtable by Veracode3

During the RSA, Veracode hosted an interactive panel discussion on managing cybersecurity compliance mandates and enabling teams to collaborate on implementing solutions. This event featured Allan Friedman, who leads SBOM initiatives for CISA.

'The World on SBOMs' - Linux Foundation4

Kate Stewart, Linux Foundation's VP of Dependable Embedded Systems, and Chris Blask5, cybersecurity expert and Chief Evangelist for Cybeats, explored the significance of software supply chain transparency through SBOMs. They addressed the critical need for system-level transparency in risk management and the benefits of effective SBOM implementation, such as improved IP control, reduced operational costs, and stronger business relationships.

About Cybeats

Cybeats is a cybersecurity company providing SBOM management and software supply chain intelligence technology, helping organizations to manage risk, meet compliance requirements, and secure their software from procurement to development and operation. Our platform gives customers comprehensive visibility and transparency into their software supply chain, enabling them to improve operational efficiency and increase revenue. Cybeats. Software Made Certain. Website: https://cybeats.com

SUBSCRIBE: For more information, or to subscribe to the Company's mail list, visit: https://www.cybeats.com/investors

Forward-looking Information Cautionary Statement

Except for statements of historic fact, this news release contains certain "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities law. Forward-looking information is frequently characterized by words such as "plan", "expect", "project", "intend", "believe", "anticipate", "estimate" and other similar words, or statements that certain events or conditions "may" or "will" occur. Forward-looking statements are based on the opinions and estimates at the date the statements are made, and are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those anticipated in the forward-looking statements including, but not limited to delays or uncertainties with regulatory approvals, including that of the CSE. There are uncertainties inherent in forward-looking information, including factors beyond the Company's control. There are no assurances that the commercialization plans for the products described in this news release will come into effect on the terms or time frame described herein. The Company undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking information if circumstances or management's estimates or opinions should change except as required by law. The reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Company filings are available at sedar.com.

SOURCE Cybeats Technologies Corp.
SHANGHAI, May 16, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- From May 5th  May 8th, DAHON showcased its blockbuster product line-up and cutting-edge folding bike technology at China Cycle, at booth E1 1305, Shanghai New International Expo Center. Themed "Safer, Smarter and Greener", this year the show had over 1200 electric and non-electric bicycle industry players taking part.

DAHON booth in China Cycle 2023 DAHON CEO Dr. David Hon in China Cycle DAHON's Deltec

During the Fair, DAHON showcased over 30 electric, non-electric and children's folding bicycles, with booth visitors getting the chance to experience the new cargo E-Bike Cargoe T5, carbon fiber folder Clinch C10, popular Archer P8 and the speedy commuter e-bike Unio E16. Dr. David T Hon, DAHON's CEO and Chairman, was also at the booth meeting with bike manufacturers and users explaining Dahon's cutting-edge technologies.

Among the notable highlights at the fair, the DAHON Racing Competition was joined by 200+ riders who tested out DAHON's patented technology, Deltec, on bicycle Launch D8. It was a great opportunity for the participants to experience Deltec at both outdoor test tracks and inside DAHON's booth and appreciate the benefits of this groundbreaking technology. Deltec is a handy cable that boosts a bike's frame strength and stiffness, it's a big step forward for the bike design technology, as it makes single beam folding bikes more rigid, stronger and faster than some large-wheeled mountain bikes.

With more than 40 years of innovating high-performance folding bicycles, DAHON received great accolade from the bike industry at the show. DAHON was credited by China Cycle among the shortlist of "Specialized, Refined and Innovative bicycle" enterprises. Its Sharing 360 technology also made its mark, on the booth it attracted the attention of many companies from the trade who discussed potential collaborations with the team.

China Cycle 2023 was a great success for DAHON, the folding bike pioneer delighted fans and the industry with its globally renowned bicycle technology. The brand now looks forward to the future while staying committed to developing and upgrading its products so all customers can enjoy riding experiences full of quality. DAHON will showcase its latest models to the world at two upcoming bike shows such as Inabike in Jakarta, Indonesia (24 May-26 May) and Eurobike in Frankfurt, Germany (21 June  25 June).

SOURCE DAHON North America, Inc.
PARIS, May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE: EW) announced today that new data from the Benchmark Registry in Europe demonstrated the safety and effectiveness of this streamlined treatment pathway for patients receiving transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) with balloon-expandable valves. The data were presented in a late-breaking clinical data session at EuroPCR 2023.

The study observed 2,405 patients who underwent TAVR with a balloon-expandable valve at 28 sites in seven European countries to determine if implementing a set of tailored Benchmark practices could improve hospital length of stay (LOS), intensive care unit (ICU) bed occupancy, and patient and staff satisfaction while preserving patient safety. Patients undergoing TAVR experienced a 25% reduction in ICU stay, a 33% reduction in the median hospital LoS while maintaining 30-day clinical outcomes similar to patients treated before the implementation of the Benchmark pathway. Researchers concluded that a wider implementation of Benchmark best practices will make the TAVR pathway more efficient without compromising patient safety.

Beyond a marked decrease in ICU stay and hospital LoS with no loss of patient safety at 30 days, the study results also reflected high patient satisfaction with all elements of the Benchmark practices, scoring above 90% in post-procedure patient satisfaction surveys.

"The results of this study validate the Edwards Benchmark program as an important tool in reducing the variation in clinical pathways for patients undergoing TAVI [TAVR] across Europe," said Derk Frank, head of cardiology at University Hospital Schleswig-Holstein, in Kiel, Germany. "Our results indicate significant improvements in efficiency without compromising patient safety."

The Edwards Benchmark program standardizes a minimalist approach to TAVR with a focus on conscious sedation, recovery outside the ICU, and a goal of next-day discharge that unlocks the inherent benefits of TAVR's less invasive nature while preserving patient outcomes. An economic analysis by the PARTNER 3 trial investigators identified TAVR as an "economically dominant" strategy to surgical aortic valve replacement (SAVR) among low risk patients and recognized the potential for greater efficiencies with the continued evolution of minimalist TAVR procedures.1 Further research found that a minimalist TAVR pathway (compared to standard TAVR from the SAPIEN 3 Intermediate Risk Registry) was associated with potential cost savings of $11,000 USD per case during the index hospitalization.2

"The Benchmark Registry contributes to the growing body of evidence that demonstrates TAVR as a triple win that not only saves lives, but also improves patients' quality of life and saves money for the healthcare system," said Larry Wood, Edwards' corporate vice president and group president, transcatheter aortic valve replacement and surgical structural heart. "These data should give implanters confidence that the Benchmark program can help TAVR centers be more efficient without compromising safety."

Benchmark best practices cover communication, patient and staff education, decision making and clinical procedures. It is currently being utilized in more than 320 centers in the United States, Europe, Australia, Canada, Korea and New Zealand. More information on the Edwards Benchmark program is available at www.heartvalves.com/gb

1 Galper BZ, Chinnakondepalli KM, Wang K, et al. Economic Outcomes of Transcatheter Versus Surgical Aortic Valve Replacement in Patients with Severe Aortic Stenosis and Low Surgical Risk: Results from the PARTNER 3 Trial. Circulation. 2023; Epub ahead of print.

2 Butala NM, Wood DA, Li H, et al. Economics of Minimalist Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement: Results From the 3M-TAVR Economic Study. Circulation: Cardiovascular Interventions. 2022 Oct;15(10):e012168.

About Edwards Lifesciences

Edwards Lifesciences is the global leader of patient-focused innovations for structural heart disease and critical care monitoring. We are driven by a passion for patients, dedicated to improving and enhancing lives through partnerships with clinicians and stakeholders across the global healthcare landscape. For more information, visit Edwards.com and follow us on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter and YouTube.

This news release includes 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. These forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements made by Mr. Wood and statements regarding expected product benefits, patient outcomes, post-treatment reduction of invasive procedures, objectives and expectations and other statements that are not historical facts. Forward-looking statements are based on estimates and assumptions made by management of the company and are believed to be reasonable, though they are inherently uncertain and difficult to predict. Our forward-looking statements speak only as of the date on which they are made, and we do not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statement to reflect events or circumstances after the date of the statement. Investors are cautioned not to unduly rely on such forward-looking statements.

Forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements based on a number of factors as detailed in the company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. These filings, along with important safety information about our products, may be found at Edwards.com.

Edwards, Edwards Lifesciences, Edwards Benchmark, Edwards SAPIEN 3, Benchmark, SAPIEN 3 and the stylized E logo are trademarks of Edwards Lifesciences Corporation. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

SOURCE Edwards Lifesciences Corporation
SHANGHAI, May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The board of directors (the "Board") of Noah Holdings Private Wealth and Asset Management Limited (the "Company", with its subsidiaries and consolidated affiliated entities, the "Group") will hold a Board meeting on Tuesday, May 30, 2023 (Hong Kong time) for the purpose of, among others, considering and approving the unaudited financial results of the Group for the three months ended March 31, 2023 (the "Q1 Results") and its publication. The Company will announce its Q1 Results at or around 6:00 a.m. on Wednesday, May 31, 2023 (Hong Kong time) on the website of The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited at www.hkexnews.hk .

Following the announcement of the Q1 Results, the Company's senior management will host a combined English and Chinese language earnings conference call to discuss its Q1 Results and recent business activities. The conference call will be accessed via Zoom webinar with the following details:

Zoom webinar details:

Conference title:

Noah Holdings 1Q23 Earnings Conference Call



Date/Time:

Tuesday, May 30, 2023 at 8:00 p.m., U.S. Eastern Time





Wednesday, May 31, 2023 at 8:00 a.m., Hong Kong Time



Meeting ID: 917 0088 0901

Meeting Passcode: 173954

Dial in:



 New York: +1 929 205 6099

 London: +44 330 088 5830

 Singapore: +65 3165 1065











A replay will be available on the same day of the conference call until June 7, 2023 at the Company's investor relations website under the "Announcements & Events" section at http://ir.noahgroup.com .

A live and archived webcast of the conference call will be available at the Company's investor relations website under the "Financial Reports" section at http://ir.noahgroup.com .

By Order of the Board

Noah Holdings Private Wealth and Asset Management Limited

Jingbo Wang

Chairwoman of the Board

Hong Kong, May 17, 2023

As of the date of this announcement, the Board comprises Ms. Jingbo Wang, the chairwoman of the Board, Mr. Zhe Yin and Ms. Chia-Yue Chang as directors; Mr. Neil Nanpeng Shen and Mr. Boquan He as non-executive directors; and Dr. Zhiwu Chen, Ms. May Yihong Wu, Mr. Tze-Kaing Yang and Mr. Jinbo Yao as independent directors.

SOURCE Noah Holdings Limited
- Introducing Premium Craft Gin Based on Sweet Potato-derived "Shochu" Distilled Spirits to Growing Global Gin Market -

ICHIKIKUSHIKINO, Japan, May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Hamada Syuzou Co., Ltd. headquartered in Ichikikushikino City, Kagoshima Prefecture, southwestern Japan, is set to ship "SASSHU Gin Premium Craft Spirits" to Asia (starting in mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Singapore), Europe (starting in the UK and France) and the United States from early July 2023 and onwards to target the growing global gin market.

Image:

https://cdn.kyodonewsprwire.jp/prwfile/release/M104785/202305155622/_prw_PI2fl_65H2LZXH.jpg?_ga=2.41694882.1017142209.1684112947-646424222.1615447594

The global gin market has been growing in recent years. Estimates project the market to reach USD14 billion by 2021 and grow at a CAGR of about 7%, forecasting continuation of the worldwide growth trend further into the future. Craft gin, in particular, has been gaining popularity for its special preferences in ingredients, manufacturing methods, production areas, and other factors. Among them is the high-quality, value-added "premium craft gin" that is highly sought after. Following this trend, Japanese craft gin -- the specialty made with botanical ingredients unique to the country such as "yuzu" citrus, "sansho" (Japanese pepper), green tea, and "sakura" (cherry) leaves -- has steadily been making a name for itself, resulting in rising exports.

In response to this fast-growing market, the company has developed a new type of craft gin utilizing its core product, "honkaku (authentic) shochu," Japan's traditional distilled liquor whose traditions and techniques have been carefully protected and refined since the company was established in 1868. The indispensable ingredient in shochu making is mold called "koji," which makes "imo" (sweet potato)-based shochu fruitier and more flavorful. Shochu crafted in such a fashion is delicately harmonized with Japanese botanicals into a quality level that broadens the possibilities of cocktail making. This is a new type of Japan-originated premium craft spirits that is going to surprise the world of bartenders, mixologists and spirits fans, who are always in search of inspiration. Experience Japanese and Kagoshima quality in its aroma and flavor from the moment of sipping the gin all the way to the finish.

Pure Fruitiness and Koji Mold-borne "Umami" Taste: The Secrets in the Making

With the honkaku imo shochu as the base spirits, two types of manufacturing methods are employed to create unprocessed liquor to maximize the characteristics of the botanicals. The ingredients are perfectly blended in exquisite balance. Some of the unique botanicals are added as an accent on top of typical choices. These range from sour pomelo, a specialty of Ichikikushikino City, to local ingredients such as sakura chips and "yomogi" (mugwort). The flavor starts with a savor of woodiness derived from juniper berry, then comes freshness from citrus fruit followed by a sweet and plump aftertaste from the aforementioned Japanese ingredients. With a classic taste that still engraves Japanese elegance into every sip, this premium Japanese craft gin effortlessly distinguishes itself. Recommended for martinis, negronis, or any other gin-based cocktails with a twist.

SASSHU Gin Premium Craft Spirits brand site:

https://www.hamadasyuzou.co.jp/global/en/sasshu_gin/

Product overview

- Product name: SASSHU Gin Premium Craft Spirits

- Category: Spirits (Gin)

- ABV: 45%

- Volume: 700 mL

- Raw ingredients: Honkaku imo shochu (base spirits), juniper berry, sour pomelo (local citrus), "shikuwasa" (citrus fruit), rose petal, sakura chips, yomogi (mugwort), "biwa" (loquat) leaves, and seven other botanicals

- Export destinations: Asia, Europe, USA, etc.

- Export launch: Early July 2023

Naming and bottle design:

"SASSHU Gin Premium Craft Spirits"

https://kyodonewsprwire.jp/attach/202305155622-O1-6SJH1Sq4.pdf

About the distillery

https://www.hamadasyuzou.co.jp/global/en/

https://www.hamadasyuzou.co.jp/en/business

FSSC 22000 Certified

https://www.hamadasyuzou.co.jp/en/denzouin

What is the SHOCHU?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2d57lQw70W4

SOURCE Hamada Syuzou Co., Ltd.
MISSOULA, Mont., May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Inimmune, a leading biotech company focused on the development of novel vaccine adjuvants, immunotherapies and delivery systems, announced today that its Chief Scientific and Strategy Officer, Jay Evans, Ph.D., will be a Keynote speaker at the University of Washington, Institute for Translational Health Sciences Expo '23 (https://www.iths.org/event/iths-expo-23).

Dr. Evans will be providing an update on Inimmune's vaccine and adjuvant programs, "Bridging the Gap Between Innate and Adaptive Immunity", at 1:00 pm. This update will provide an overview of Inimmune's progress in developing innovative solutions to enhance vaccine efficacy and safety.

Vaccine adjuvants like those being developed at Inimmune are used to enhance the immune response to vaccines. Adjuvants are also important in other areas of medicine, such as immunooncology, allergy, and autoimmunity. Inimmune is focused on developing innovative vaccine adjuvants and delivery systems to enhance global health.

"Inimmune scientists are advancing novel vaccines and immunotherapies in areas of critical importance to global health," said Alan Joslyn, CEO of Inimmune. "We are excited to have Dr. Evans featured as a distinguished keynote speaker in the field of vaccine development in recognition of the groundbreaking and innovative vaccine research being conducted at Inimmune."

The ITHS/WE-REACH Expo '23 includes a symposium, lightning talks, and poster session by dozens of researchers and innovators all across the spectrum of translational science. This year's event will be held on Thursday, May 18th from 12:00-5:30 pm at the Intellectual House (UW Campus) in Seattle, WA.

About Inimmune:

Inimmune Corp. (Missoula, MT) is a privately held biotechnology company focused on the discovery and development of innovative immunotherapeutics, vaccine adjuvants and vaccines. Inimmune is harnessing the human immune system to create safe and effective treatments for allergy, infectious disease, autoimmunity and cancer. Their laboratories and offices are housed in the Montana Technology Enterprise Center (MonTEC) in Missoula.

For more information on Inimmune's research and development of novel vaccine adjuvants and delivery systems, please visit www.inimmune.com.

Contact:

Media Relations

Inimmune Corporation

Phone: (406)-541-5913

Email: [email protected]

SOURCE Inimmune
Cutting edge updates to the DRC Insurance Platform upgrades functionality and features across the enterprise system that drastically reduce time and touchpoints.

PHILADELPHIA, May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Decision Research Corporation (DRC), an industry leading provider of cloud-based enterprise solutions for the P&C insurance industry, is proud to announce the immediate availability of the DRC Insurance Platform Spring 2023 Release, complete with newly added capabilities and functions.

The Spring 2023 Release highlights DRC's continued commitment towards delivering innovation to the P&C insurance industry. Key features for the DRC Insurance Platform Spring release include:

Rate Impact Analyzer  Generate multiple permutations of a rate plan in the same day without any data manipulation to assess the potential impact of rate changes. Calculate up to 50,000 records per minute, all without IT involvement. RS X Product Studio  A powerful unified environment for defining, modeling, testing, managing and deploying insurance products using DRC's proprietary product generating technology. Enterprise Claims  DRC Claims can seamlessly connect and integrate with any policy administration system, including TPA systems. New claims APIs allow for increased partner interaction and a new universal FNOL chatbot can be added to any DRC or third-party portal. Enhanced Configurable Bind Authority and Underwriting Rules  Enforce authority limits and limit user access to certain fields and functions with the Agent and Policy portals to manage security and ensure correct access and privileges for users.

Additional feature upgrades include an advanced e-signature capability to optimize management of electronic agreements, new analytics reports and panels across policy retention and sales for increased insights about business metrics, corresponding signature to ID records, a customizable convenience fee payment for billing, security updates, refinements to the user interface on the system, new APIs, and an improved single sign-on interface.

"I am excited to announce this Spring's release of the DRC Insurance Platform. Driven by customer feedback, our focus for this release has been increasing automation, business analysis and insight, and ease of integration," stated Les McElhaney, Vice President of Product and Technology at DRC. "We have achieved this with more powerful capabilities across the entire policy lifecycle, from product development, underwriting, claims processing, through portfolio analysis."

The DRC Insurance Platform is a full-service suite that integrates the robust RS X Rating engine with comprehensive Quote and Policy Administration, Billing, Claims, Analytics, and pre-configured third-party integrations  all made to handle the complex risks that P&C insurers face.

To get a deep dive into these recent updates to DRC's software solutions, visit www.decisionresearch.com or email [email protected] .

About DRC

Decision Research Corporation (DRC) provides innovative, cloud-native, enterprise solutions to P&C insurance companies looking to boost their business development efforts, reduce administrative overhead, and accelerate speed-to-market for their products through automation. RS X Rating, DRC's no-code rating solution, gives actuaries the ability to configure powerful automation functions without IT assistance, and to price risks and model products, no matter how complex, all through a familiar Microsoft Excel interface. DRC's flagship product is the DRC Insurance Platform, a full-service policy administration system, including portals, quoting, billing, claims, and advanced analytics, powered by RS X Rating, and engineered to streamline internal processes and empower business users within a secure and robust enterprise ecosystem. DRC has remained committed to total customer satisfaction for over half a century and its clients, running the gamut of size and scope from large global carriers to regional start-ups, continue to rely on DRC's trusted solutions to manage over $7 billion in written premium. To learn more about DRC, visit www.decisionresearch.com.

SOURCE Decision Research Corporation
PLEASANT GROVE, Utah, May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- doTERRA has been recognized as a winner of the 2023 SEAL Environmental Initiative Award for producing the first-ever 100% pure Birch essential oil as well as its work surrounding sustainable birch sourcing. This is the second time doTERRA has been recognized for its sustainability efforts by SEAL Awards, which celebrates companies who make measurable contributions to Sustainability, Environmental Achievement and Leadership.

2023 SEAL Environmental Initiative Award

While there are several products on the market that claim to be pure Birch essential oil, an in-depth authentication and market survey of Birch oil conducted by the doTERRA science team revealed that none of those products contained Birch essential oil. To offer pure Birch essential oil to customers, doTERRA underwent a nearly decade-long process to produce the oil at scale. Today, doTERRA Birch essential oil is produced by utilizing the entirety of the birch tree from the region's existing sustainable lumber industry. In just the month of March 2023, doTERRA:

Repurposed 174,180 kgs (about 384,000 lbs) of bark that would have otherwise been wasted

Rerouted 3,483,600 kgs (about 7,680,014 lbs) of total timber to be stripped of bark for pure essential oil before going to mulchers and pulp companies

Utilized 100% of every smaller diameter tree harvested for distillation of pure Birch essential oil

Harvested from approximately 1,000 acres of forest land using sustainable forest logging methods

"In the lumber industry, birch is considered a low-value tree that also slows forest regeneration," said Tim Valentiner, doTERRA VP of Global Strategic Sourcing. "Lumber companies end up removing and disposing of birch trees to create healthier forests. doTERRA has tapped into that process by taking the bark from the removed trees before they continue to processing. This initiative not only provides the first ever pure Birch essential oil to the aromatherapy and essential oils market worldwide, it also helps protect and preserve the region's forests."

The SEAL Business Sustainability Awards honor corporate leadership, innovation and commitment to sustainable business practices. This year's honorees ranged from global brands to high-growth startups. A complete list of this year's winners is available at SealAwards.com.

doTERRA's 100% pure Birch essential oil will be available for purchase later this year at www.doterra.com.

About doTERRA

doTERRA International is an integrative health and wellness company and the world leader in the global aromatherapy and essential oils market. doTERRA sources, tests, manufactures, and distributes CPTG Certified Pure Tested Grade essential oils and essential oil products to over 10 million Wellness Advocates and customers. Through industry-leading, responsible sourcing practices, doTERRA maintains the highest levels of quality, purity, and sustainability, partnering with local growers around the world through Co-Impact Sourcing. The doTERRA Healing Hands Foundation, a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, offers resources and tools to global sourcing communities and charitable organizations supporting self-reliance, healthcare, education, sanitation, and the fight against human trafficking. Through the life-enhancing benefits of essential oils, doTERRA is changing the world one drop, one person, one community at a time. Like and follow doTERRA on Facebook and Instagram and learn more at www.doterra.com.

SOURCE doTERRA
LOS ANGELES, May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- ECGI HOLDINGS INC. (OTC: ECGI) (ECGI or the Company), D/B/A Elite Cannabis Group Incorporated, a Nevada-based portfolio company pivoting into the legal cannabis and cannabinoid marketplace, is excited to announce continued rapid growth in its soon-to-be-acquired cannabis brand, 8bit.

Specifically, the 8bit cannabis brand has expanded its active distribution footprint from twenty (20) cannabis stores to fifty (50) cannabis stores since the end of March, representing a 150% increase in distribution footprint in less than two months, which tops 1,000% annualized growth in distribution footprint over the same period.

As announced in a press release dated March 23, 2023, the Company signed a Binding Letter of Intent (the "Binding LOI") to acquire the key personnel, intellectual property, business operations, and future business operations of Endless Consciousness, Inc. ("EC"), a California corporation involved in the legal cannabis product marketplace. EC's primary asset is its 8bit branded cannabis products line.

ECGI management notes that the Company anticipates closing the acquisition through the signing of a definitive agreement in coming weeks.

"8bit's powerful growth rate over the past two months is further validation of our committed interest in this brand," noted ECGI CEO, Danny Wong. "We are hard at work, actively driving further expansion of the brand's footprint through current sales efforts and a plan to increase sales personnel to focus on aggressively penetrating the Northern California dispensary marketplace over coming months. We believe we can take further market share from industry leaders like Stiizy an others given the strength of our product line and the talented team backing 8bit."

About ECGI

ECGI Holdings, which plans to operate as Elite Cannabis Group, is reorganizing as an acquisition-oriented corporation with California-based targets including undercapitalized and distressed licensed cannabis assets, properties zoned for cannabis cultivation and processing, and cannabis companies operating in market sectors with nationwide expansion possibilities.

For additional information, please contact us at [email protected].

Forward Looking Statements

This release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements also may be included in other publicly available documents issued by the Company and in oral statements made by our officers and representatives from time to time. These forward-looking statements are intended to provide management's current expectations or plans for our future operating and financial performance, based on assumptions currently believed to be valid. They can be identified by the use of words such as "anticipate," "intend," "plan," "goal," "seek," "believe," "project," "estimate," "expect," "strategy," "future," "likely," "may," "should," "would," "could," "will" and other words of similar meaning in connection with a discussion of future operating or financial performance. Examples of forward-looking statements include, among others, statements relating to future sales, earnings, cash flows, results of operations, uses of cash and other measures of financial performance.

Because forward-looking statements relate to the future, they are subject to inherent risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the Company's actual results and financial condition to differ materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements. Such risks, uncertainties and other factors include, among others such as, but not limited to, economic conditions, changes in the laws or regulations, demand for products and services of the Company, the effects of competition and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected or represented in the forward-looking statements. Any forward-looking information provided in this release should be considered with these factors in mind. We assume no obligation to update any forward-looking statements contained in this report.

SOURCE ECGI Holdings
Bank Respublika was recognized as the "Most Active Issuing Bank in Azerbaijan" for 2022 within the Trade Facilitation Program (TFP) of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).

The award was presented at a gala ceremony held during the Annual Meeting of the Board of Directors of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) on May 16, 2023 in Samarkand.

This award testifies to the annually increasing efficiency of cooperation between the EBRD and Bank Respublika in the field of trade finance. This once again confirms that the Bank Respublika is successfully implementing its mission to support entrepreneurship in the country, an important part of which is the financing of foreign trade operations.

It should be noted that more than 2 thousand guests from 73 states, including representatives of foreign governments, heads of transnational corporations, heads of international financial institutions and banks, take part in the event.

Bank Respublika was established in 1992 and is one of the five leading banks in Azerbaijan. The bank's shareholders include Germany's largest financial institution - Sparkassen International Development Trust (a member of the Sparkassen-Finanzgruppe financial group). The bank has one of the highest international ratings in the banking sector of Azerbaijan - a rating of "B3" with a "Positive" outlook from Moody's.
Organization convened in New Orleans to mark the occasion

CHICAGO, May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- On Tuesday, May 2 through Thursday, May 4, the Educare Network , a national network of early childhood advocates, celebrated a milestone 20th anniversary at its 2023 Educare Learning Network Meeting in New Orleans.

Educare's annual Network Meeting is a collaborative learning event that brings together caregivers, providers, researchers, and public- and private-sector partners from the organization's 25 schools and the early childhood field. The event serves as a forum for Network members to share, problem-solve, and collaborate on program and policy development, implementation, and continuous improvement of the Educare model.

"This year's Network Meeting was not only a celebration of Educare's 20th anniversary, but a time for us to come together to reflect on our work over the past three years in partnership with communities most affected by the COVID-19 pandemic," said Cynthia Jackson, executive director of the Educare Network. "We hope attendees left the event with a renewed sense of joy in the work we do together and a greater understanding of how we can contribute to building a brighter and more equitable future for all families."

Under the theme of "Learning, Leading, Transforming: Innovating for a Brighter Future," more than 200 Network members reflected on Educare's continued efforts to advance quality early learning. The event addressed critical issues in early childhood education, identified partnerships to benefit children in underserved areas, and emphasized trauma-informed care and healing-centered engagement. Attendees also discussed ways to empower family voices, amplify the work of Educare schools, and advocate for equitable access to quality education for all communities.

During the three-day meeting, Dr. Brenda Jones Harden, a leading expert in the early childhood field from the University of Maryland, delivered a keynote presentation emphasizing the importance of Educare schools in serving as protective barriers against trauma for young children. Her insightful presentation shed light on the significant role these schools play in mitigating the negative impact of trauma on young minds. Additionally, Amanda Guarino, the managing director of Policy & National Partnerships at First Five Years Fund, actively participated in a program session focused on mobilizing family and provider voices to influence policy change in the early care and education sector. Guarino's presence and involvement underscored her commitment to empowering families and professionals and her dedication to advancing positive transformations in the field of early childhood education.

Educare New Orleans also welcomed conference attendees to their unique space to showcase their school and celebrate the Educare Network's 20th anniversary, NOLA-style. As the nineteenth school in the Network, Educare New Orleans was built in the wake of Hurricane Katrina and has since become a cornerstone of the local community, providing early learning and care to children and families for the past decade.

Marking its 20th anniversary, the Educare Network continues to transform the lives of thousands of young children through research, innovation, policy, and evidence-based practice. As it enters a new decade of work, the Educare Network remains dedicated to tirelessly advancing quality, equitable access to early learning and care across the country, with schools now serving over 4,000 infants and toddlers.

For more information on Educare's work, please visit www.educareschools.org/our-strategy . Images from the event are available here .

About the Educare Network

A national network of early childhood champions, Educare is comprised of comprehensive early care and education programs partnering with historically disinvested urban, suburban, rural and tribal communities to transform the lives of thousands of young children nationwide. With 25 schools located across the country, the Educare Network's mission is to advance quality early learning through partnership and innovation around practice, policy and research so every child can thrive, with a vision of ensuring every family has equitable access to quality early care and education in their community, promoting positive outcomes for generations to come. To learn more, visit https://www.educareschools.org/ .

MEDIA CONTACT

Allison Tilque

920.680.8483

[email protected]

SOURCE Educare
Additional specialist retailer day on the Saturday

Big names and innovative startups

Experience international trends, live

NUREMBERG, Germany, May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- After last year's successful restart, the eighth Insights-X event is beginning to shed its light on the autumn: the international stationery sector will be meeting up again from 11 to 14 October at the Nuremberg Exhibition Centre. With the return of major brands and funding for innovative startups, the trade fair for 'Stationery, office, bags and more' offers top international decision-makers a successful mix of trends and innovations at the ideal ordering time in the autumn. The enjoyable and efficient networking atmosphere of Insights-X is being strengthened with the expansion of communicative evening events and the introduction of the eXtra-Day.

The international Stationery, Office, Bags and more sector is looking forward to getting together at Insights-X in Nuremberg where, between 11 and 14 October, it is expecting all manner of brands, trends and highlights. (Photo credit: Spielwarenmesse eG)

Additional day at the weekend

"Saturday turned out in our survey to be the most important trading day in the German-speaking DACH region, which is why we have introduced the eXtra-Day at this year's Insights-X," says Christian Ulrich, Spokesperson of the Executive Board at Spielwarenmesse eG, explaining the new schedule for the fair. During the week from Wednesday to Friday, buyers chiefly from larger chain stores across Europe are expected, drawing on the full range of exhibitors in Halls 12.0, 11,0 and 10.0, while the additional opening on the Saturday focuses on specialist retailers, with highly regarded suppliers and promotional activities in Halls 11.0 and 10.0. The multi-category arrangement across the three halls at the Nuremberg Exhibition Centre is designed to ensure efficient networking and short distances. It means that the six product groups  Writing Utensils & Equipment, Paper & Filing, Artistic & Creative, Desktop & Office, Bags & Accessories and Stationery & Gift Articles  can be explored in a relaxed business atmosphere on each day of the fair.

Strong brands, creative startups

The high quality in terms of both exhibitors and visitors will continue to play an important part in the fair. The registration phase is in full swing. After taking a break, highly reputable companies and brands including Faber-Castell, duo schreib & spiel, the Iden Group and STABILO will be back. In addition, major international players in the sector such as Clairefontaine and Exacompta (France), Gataric (Bosnia), GIPTA (Turkiye), Santoro (UK) and Seven (Italy) will be taking part in Insights-X, along with German businesses Lassig, Online Schreibgerate, Stylex and Undercover. Top countries in previous years have included Germany, China, Turkiye, Italy, Poland, Spain, India, Greece and the Netherlands. Turkiye will have a shared stand for the first time. This can be found in Hall 12.0, as can creative startup ideas from international exhibitors and young innovative German businesses. Hall 10.0 will house the InsightsArena with joining-in activities and a Food Court.

New trends in stationery

With its ideal mix of sectors, Insights-X offers buyers and retailers the opportunity to discover innovations and trends and to fine-tune their own ranges. And in all of this, one topic continues to develop and grow: sustainability. It is evident in the use of recyclable plastics, refillable products and plantable pencils and paper. In another trend, paper is proving as popular as ever  in the form of lovingly designed notebooks, origami and indeed papier-mache, which is enjoying something of a renaissance. Meanwhile, the traditional pen producers are enriching the creative area and offering DIY and calligraphy sets. Last but not least, in the back-to-school sector, where Insights-X has a particularly strong showing, is the omnipresent theme of licensing. Alongside tried and trusted blockbusters such as Harry Potter, new films including Barbie, Arielle and Dungeons & Dragons have potential this year for inclusion in the range.

A wealth of experiences at the fair

As well as presenting innovations at the perfect time for autumn ordering, Insights-X also has a strong focus on networking. One such sociable opportunity for maintaining contacts is the popular AfterHour on the first evening of the fair, where the sector rapidly comes together. The next highlights come on Friday 13 October, when the duo schreib & spiel association holds its Autumn Conference at the exhibition centre itself. In the evening, the organisers, together with the exhibitors, invite attendees to the great get-together. Those taking part in the fair can find a complete overview of the programme on the website www.insights-x.com and on the Insights-X app. Further digital support for perfect preparation is provided by the directory of exhibitors with its filter function, the interactive hall plans, and the networking area with the facility to set up chats and appointments. At a price of 15, the ticket allows access to Insights-X for the entire duration and can also be used as a ticket for travel on public transport. The fair is open every day from Wednesday to Friday between 9 am and 6 pm (5 pm for Hall 12.0) and on Saturday from 9 am to 5 pm. Tickets go on sale on 26 July.

"We are looking forward to working with the sector to develop Insights-X further," says Christian Ulrich. "The compact and communicative format is now tailored even more closely to the needs of our exhibitors and the trade, so that everyone can take advantage of their own personal highlights in either three or four days," he concludes.

Note for editors: Reprint free of charge. Images are available at www.insights-x.com/media. Please provide us with a voucher copy on publication.

Insights-X

Insights-X is the trade fair for the stationery sector. Every year in October, the event brings the leading brand manufacturers and suppliers of all sizes together at the Nuremberg Exhibition Centre. The trade will find a comprehensive range of products in stationery, office, bags and more. The next event takes place from 11 to 14 October 2023 incl. eXtra-Day. More information is available online at www.insights-x.com.

Spielwarenmesse eG

Spielwarenmesse eG is the fair organizer and marketing services provider for the toy sector and other consumer goods markets. The Nuremberg-based company organizes the world-leading Spielwarenmesse in Nuremberg, complemented by the services available on Spielwarenmesse Digital. Its range also includes the Internationale Spieltage SPIEL gaming event in Essen, Kids India in Mumbai and the Insights-X in Nuremberg. Expanded coverage of the topic of licensing and collaborations comes with BRANDmate in Offenbach. The range of services provided by the cooperative also includes industry campaigns and the international fair programme, World of Toys by Spielwarenmesse eG, which enables manufacturers to exhibit at pavilions featured at trade fairs in Asia and the USA. Spielwarenmesse eG operates a worldwide network of representatives in over 90 countries. In addition, its subsidiary Spielwarenmesse Shanghai Co., Ltd. is responsible for the People's Republic of China. Its Die roten Reiter GmbH subsidiary with headquarters in Nuremberg works as communication agency for the consumer and capital goods industry. The complete company profile of Spielwarenmesse eG can be found on the Internet at www.spielwarenmesse-eg.com.

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2077281/Insights_X_Spielwarenmesse.jpg

Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2077282/Insights_X_Logo.jpg

SOURCE Insights-X
North America's Leading Blow Dry Bar Franchise Announces Historic Deal with Boca Raton as First Target Area

PALM BEACH, Fla., May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Blo Blow Dry Bar, North America's original blow dry bar and blow dry bar franchise, has announced a seven-unit agreement for Palm Beach County, FL, which ties the largest individual deal in company history. Site selection for the first location is currently underway in the Boca Raton area, with additional target areas spanning across the eastern coastline.

Spearheading Blo Blow Dry Bar's expansion in Palm Beach County is serial entrepreneur, Kenny Trattner, whose experience spans various industries from real estate to retail. Trattner previously owned and operated an auto business for 15 years and grew it to five locations across Austin, TX. Excited to start a new endeavor, Trattner ultimately has joined the Blo Blow Dry Bar system for his daughter, Lyndsi Levitt, who will serve in an operational role. Having attended beauty school, Levitt is a licensed master esthetician with a raw passion for the beauty and wellness industries and is currently achieving her cosmetology license.

"With my business experience, Lyndsi's industry experience, and Blo Blow Dry Bar's proven successful business model, we have the exact recipe needed for success," said Trattner. "We are excited about this seven-unit agreement, but I do believe this is just the beginning of our partnership with Blo. Combined, Lyndsi and I will focus on providing our guests and members with a pleasant and personalized customer experience, with the ultimate goal of creating a family environment throughout our local market."

As a Florida resident for more than 11 years, Trattner knows Boca Raton well and identified the need for a Blo Blow Dry Bar in the area and along Palm Beach County. He already has plans to continue to expand his business past his initial seven-unit agreement.

"Having direct experience working in the industry, I have seen what works and what doesn't," said Levitt. "I look forward to taking this knowledge and applying it to our bars, and becoming a go-to solution for everyone in these communities."

With a favorable real estate landscape and vast opportunity for market growth, company executives are actively seeking franchisees to continue to expand in key markets across the country.

"Our brand has seen success in Florida and are excited to partner with Kenny and Lyndsi to further expand our presence in these prime markets," said Vanessa Yakobson, CEO of Blo Blow Dry Bar. "As an industry-leading brand, monumental agreements like this will keep us on a positive trajectory as we provide more markets with catwalk-quality blow outs."

Blo Blow Dry Bar creates a space where people of all ages, ethnicities and orientations are welcomed, represented and made to feel gorgeous while emphasizing the need for self-care and wellness. Combining a sophisticated design with a fun and energetic environment, the blow dry bar cultivates a seamless and enjoyable experience for guests upon their arrival, during and after their services. Expertly trained stylists are available for consultation seven days a week to meet the needs of all guests. The brand's hair menu includes their signature styles, ranging from sleek and straight to lively and bouncy curls, with customizable options such as braids, ponytails and updos for any occasion. Blo also offers makeup services from expert artists on-hand to help guests look and feel amazing for any occasion.

The growing franchise is just at the start of the runway, staking its claim as a leader in the $47 billion a year industry and continues to expand at a rapid rate. Every year, more cities across the globe are painted pink. Every day, a new guest discovers how wonderful the Blo Blow Dry Bar experience is. Superior service and consistent results are a top priority for all guests as well as franchisees. The brand goes beyond beauty  it is strategically positioned to meet growing customer demands within the wellness and self-care industries with an established foundation for business success.

Blo Blow Dry Bar is currently seeking single- and multi- unit operators to join the brand's rapid expansion. For more information about franchise opportunities visit https://franchise.blomedry.com/.

About Blo Blow Dry Bar

Blo Blow Dry Bar is North America's original blow dry bar and the world's largest blow dry bar franchise. The company transformed beauty norms and reinvented the salon industry when it launched the "no cuts, no color" concept: only blow outs. Since opening its first location in Canada in 2007, Blo has grown to over 140 locations across the U.S. and Canada and continues to expand rapidly. With a mission to enhance the lives of those in the community through the power of flawless blow outs and beauty services, Blo Blow Dry Bar offers perfectly styled hair and exceptional customer experiences seven days a week. For more information visit www.blomedry.com.

Media Contact: Marisa Beaumont, Fishman Public Relations, 847.945.1300, [email protected]

SOURCE Blo Blow Dry Bar
Viviana Pelton Bringing No. 1 STEAM Franchise Brand to Corpus Christi

DALLAS, May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Viviana Vera Pelton, a U.S. Navy Veteran from Texas has recently signed a franchise agreement that will debut Snapology, the No. 1 children's STEM/STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math) franchise in Corpus Christi later this summer. Snapology is part of Unleashed Brands, the world's first Youth Enrichment franchise platform company.

Pelton has spent 31 years in the corporate world focusing on medical coding and compliance, in addition to teaching higher education business courses for more than a decade. She grew up in a socioeconomically disadvantaged community where she often found herself not having the same resources as other children  such as not having enough teachers in her school. Her upbringing ultimately led to her decision to join the Navy since she was unable to afford college. Pelton served in the Navy as a hospital corpsman for 6 years starting at age 18 before leaving the service when she became a mother to her son.

Pelton was inspired by other veterans who, with the assistance of veteran resources, became business owners and has now taken a leap into franchising as a way to work for herself. She was inspired by Snapology's mission of wanting to make a difference in the lives of children as a reason for her next career venture.

"I don't want the children of the next generation to be in a tough position like I was during my childhood," said Pelton. "Snapology will give the children in this area the chance to be introduced to STEAM enrichment programs and be inspired to pursue and excel in higher education and careers. I hope parents let their children experience Snapology and witness the value it can bring to a community."

Pelton served at Naval Air Station in Corpus Christi and enjoyed her time in the area. She believes that there are vast opportunities for Snapology to make a difference in the Corpus Christi community and especially for her native Latinx community. She added, "I believe there is not enough representation of the Latinx community in STEAM-related careers, especially for women. I want to give the children in this community a head start at those here."

Snapology has a commitment to play an active role in inspiring the next generation of scientists, engineers and mathematicians through excitement in STEAM concepts at an early age. Snapology encourages social skills and teamwork by teaching science, technology, engineering, art, math, and literacy concepts in a fun way. The brand uses a research-based curriculum, designed to be inclusive to all learning abilities with a hands-on teaching approach that uses LEGO Bricks and other building toys, along with coding, video game design and robotics that encourage the perfect mix of play, academic enrichment, and social development.

About Snapology

Founded in 2010, Snapology is the #1 children's enrichment franchise in the country, giving children the opportunity to learn through play with more than 80 enriching, interactive STEAM and STEM programs. With over 180 locations in the U.S. and Internationally, Snapology is quickly growing and impacting children throughout the world with its balance of educational enrichment, social development, and fun. For more information about Snapology including franchise opportunities, visit www.Snapology.com.

About Unleashed Brands

Unleashed Brands, currently includes portfolio brands Urban Air, Snapology, The Little Gym, XP League, Class 101, and Premier Martial Arts and was founded to curate and grow a portfolio of the most innovative and profitable brands that help kids learn, play, and grow. Over the last 10 years, the team at Unleashed Brands has built a proven platform and know-how for scaling businesses focused on serving families. Its mission is to impact the lives of every kid by providing fun, engaging, and inspiring experiences that help them become who they are destined to be. For more information, please visit www.UnleashedBrands.com.

Media Contact: Ali Molina, Fishman Public Relations, [email protected] or 847-945-1300

SOURCE Snapology
LAKELAND, Fla., May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Florida Southern College announces it has been selected as an education partner for Amazon's Career Choice program, providing Amazon's hourly employees access to top-ranked, industry-related bachelor's degrees in accounting, business, and communication. Students are currently enrolling. The next term begins June 26.

Ranked as the #8 "Best Regional University" in the South and recognized as a "Top Performer on Social Mobility by U.S. News & World Report, Florida Southern is known for providing students with engaging, immersive learning experiences. FSC's online bachelor programs allow non-traditional students to complete their degrees in the same intimate environment while juggling family responsibilities and working full-time.

Amazon's Career Choice program is an educational benefit that empowers employees to learn new skills for career success at Amazon or elsewhere. The program meets individual learners where they are on their education journey through various education and upskilling opportunities, including pre-paid college tuition. In the U.S., the company is investing $1.2 billion to upskill more than 300,000 employees by 2025 to help move them into higher-paying, in-demand jobs.

"By covering tuition and fees, Amazon is changing the trajectory of its employees' lives, and we're excited to partner with them in this endeavor," says Kristen Pinner, FSC's director of adult and graduate admissions. "Individuals with a bachelor's degree earn 65 percent more on average than those without. By removing the cost barrier, this partnership allows Amazon employees to build the skills needed to stand out in a competitive job market, enabling them to reach their fullest potential."

Amazon's Career Choice program has a rigorous selection process for third-party partner educators, choosing partners focused on helping employees through their education programs, assisting them with job placements, and offering education that leads to career success.

"We're looking forward to Florida Southern coming on board as an education partner for Career Choice, adding to the hundreds of best-in-class offerings available to our employees," said Tammy Thieman, global program lead of Amazon's Career Choice program. "We're committed to empowering our employees by providing them access to the education and training they need to grow their careers, whether that's with us or elsewhere. We have intentionally created a partner network of third-party educators, and employers committed to providing excellent education, job placement resources, and continuous improvements to the experience. Today, over 110,000 Amazon employees around the world have participated in Career Choice, and we've seen first-hand how it can transform their lives."

Jennifer D., who always dreamt of attending Florida Southern, is one of the associates taking advantage of the new partnership.

"I've been told, 'You're never too old to go back to school,' and it's true," says the Amazon associate. "FSC has been the best choice for me because the classes are smaller, and the faculty go out of their way to help you achieve your goals. The application process was also really easy, and Hannah, my advisor, made it stress-free. Associates should definitely make use of this opportunity."

Florida Southern's online bachelor's in business and accounting are accredited by The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business and provide students with a solid foundation in business principles and practical know-how. The online bachelor's in communication provides a foundation in interpersonal and organizational communication, teaching students to communicate with diverse populations effectively.

With flexible, 7-week terms, FSC's online programs allow students to complete their degree at a pace that fit their lifestyle. With faculty who are top executives in their fields, and a personal academic advisor, students have the "start-to-finish" guidance they need to complete their degrees and advance their careers."

For more information on how to Amazon employees can use Amazon's Career Choice Program at Florida Southern, visit: flsouthern.edu/amazon.

About Florida Southern College

Founded in 1883, Florida Southern College is the oldest private college in the state. The College maintains its commitment to academic excellence through 70+ undergraduate programs and distinctive graduate programs in business administration, education, nursing, and physical therapy. Florida Southern has a 14:1 student-to-faculty ratio, is an award-winning national leader in engaged learning, and boasts 30 NCAA Division II National Championships. Florida Southern is ranked at #8 among the "Best Regional Universities in the South" by U.S. News & World Report in its 2022 "Best Colleges" guide and is included in The Princeton Review's 2022 Best 387 Colleges guide and the "Fiske Guide to Colleges 2022." The 2021-2022 Colleges of Distinction guidebook praises Florida Southern's AACSB accredited Barney Barnett School of Business and Free Enterprise alongside the College's School of Education and its Ann Blanton Edwards School of Nursing and Health Sciences. Poets&Quants, U.S. News & World Report, Fortune, and The Princeton Review further laud the Barney Barnett School of Business and Free Enterprise and the Ann Blanton Edwards School of Nursing and Health Sciences as foremost programs in the nation for business and nursing education. Home to the world's largest single-site collection of Frank Lloyd Wright architecture, FSC has appeared on The Princeton Review's top 20 "Most Beautiful Campus" national listing for 12 consecutive years. Connect with Florida Southern College.

SOURCE Florida Southern College
BOSTON, May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- FOLX Health , a leading healthcare provider for the LGBTQIA+ community, is taking action to address the impact of Senate Bill 254 (SB 254) in Florida. SB 254 introduces restrictive requirements for gender-affirming care for both transgender youth and adults, including mandatory in-person visits with a doctor of medicine (MD) or doctor of osteopathy (DO) for adults.

FOLX recognizes the concerns surrounding access to essential gender-affirming care and is taking decisive steps to ensure uninterrupted services for their members, who currently receive care via telehealth, as well as the thousands of transgender Floridians who will lose access to care as a result of this bill. An estimated 80% of transgender people in Florida receive their gender-affirming care from Nurse Practitioners and will lose access under this bill. By adapting its operations to meet legal requirements, FOLX reaffirms its mission to provide comprehensive support and care to the LGBTQIA+ community.

"Gender-affirming care is life-saving healthcare, validated and supported by every major medical institution," said FOLX's Chief Clinical Officer Kate Steinle. "FOLX remains dedicated to doing everything we can to ensure seamless access to healthcare services for our community, even when faced with legislative challenges."

SB 254 was passed by the Florida legislature and was signed by Governor DeSantis today, May 17. While the timeline for implementation remains uncertain, FOLX is preparing for changes when the Florida Boards of Medicine and Osteopathic Medicine adopt emergency rules per the bill and is creating pathways to ensure continuous care in compliance with potential regulatory changes.

The following measures have been implemented by FOLX: continued refills for current members, access to same day telehealth appointments for Florida residents, expanding MD and DO coverage in the state and establishing in-person locations. Currently, FOLX remains able to provide their expert gender-affirming care via telehealth with a range of providers, including nurse practitioners and physician assistants, as they have been since 2020. The majority of FOLX members receive their prescriptions via mail and FOLX is ensuring all patients due for refills get them on time for as long as it continues to be legal. When the law goes into effect, FOLX MDs and DOs at in-person locations will need to begin seeing patients, and FOLX is planning for that now.

"Now more than ever, equal access to quality care should be available to all, especially for the LGBTQIA+ community," said Joseph Knoll of SPEKTRUM Health, a nurse practitioner-led, gender-affirming care clinic in Florida. "This is why FOLX is linking arms with SPEKTRUM Health, to provide continued access to Gender Affirming Treatment. By working together, we continue to preserve access for the members we serve, especially during a time when our community is being heavily impacted by the anti-GAT state legislation."

FOLX remains steadfast in its commitment to provide life-saving gender-affirming care, support to the LGBTQIA+ community, and stands united with the Florida community to overcome obstacles and protect access to comprehensive and affirming healthcare.

ABOUT FOLX HEALTH

Launched in December 2020, FOLX Health is an LGBTQIA+ healthcare service provider built to serve the community's specific needs. The company delivers a new standard of healthcare that's built to serve LGBTQIA+ people, rather than treat them as problems to be solved. FOLX Health provides end-to-end virtual primary care, HRT, PrEP, care navigation, content and community through a diverse network of queer and trans specialized providers. In January 2021, FOLX Health established the FOLX HRT Care Fund which redistributes financial resources from allies inside and outside of the LGBTQIA+ community to support trans, nonbinary, and intersex folks to access hormone replacement therapy care through FOLX.

SOURCE FOLX Health
NEW YORK, May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Garner Health Technology, Inc. today announced that its doctor search tool has been recognized with an honorable mention in Fast Company's 2023 World Changing Ideas Awards. This annual Fast Company award celebrates "the sustainable designs, innovative products, bold social initiatives, and other creative projects that are changing the way we work, live, and interact.

The world-changing benefits of Garner's doctor search tool are particularly important for functionally uninsured employees who are burdened with deductibles so high they cannot afford to pay for medical care. Garner's applications help improve health outcomes and lower costs for both employees and employers by transforming new healthcare transparency data and other data sources into the largest healthcare database in the nation.

This year's World Changing Ideas Awards showcase 45 winners, 216 finalists and more than 300 honorable mentions,with health, climate, energy and AI among the most popular categories. A panel of Fast Company editors and reporters selected winners and finalists from a pool of more than 2,200 entries across urban design, education, nature, politics, technology, corporate social responsibility and more. Several new categories were added this year, including rapid response, crypto and blockchain, agriculture and workplace. The 2023 awards feature entries from across the globe, from Italy to Singapore to New Zealand.

"Garner was founded with a mission to transform the healthcare industry by making quality health care available and affordable for all employees," said Nick Reber, CEO and founder at Garner. "We're delighted to be included in the list of winners and honorees for the Fast Company 2023 World Changing Ideas Award. This is validation of our purpose and a testament to our Garner team of data scientists and product developers who have helped innovate this totally new solution."

"It's thrilling to see the creativity and innovation that are so abundant among this year's honorees," added Fast Company editor-in-chief Brendan Vaughan. "While it's easy to feel discouraged by the state of the world, the entrepreneurs, companies and nonprofits featured in this package show the limitless potential to address society's most urgent problems. Our journalists have highlighted some of the most exciting and impactful work being done today  from housing to equity to sustainability  and we look forward to seeing not only how these projects evolve but how they inspire others to develop solutions of their own."

About the World Changing Ideas Awards: World Changing Ideas is one of Fast Company's major annual awards programs and is focused on social good, seeking to elevate finished products and brave concepts that make the world better. A panel of judges from across sectors choose winners, finalists and honorable mentions based on feasibility and the potential for impact. With the goals of awarding ingenuity and fostering innovation, Fast Company draws attention to ideas with great potential and helps them expand their reach to inspire more people to start working on solving the problems that affect us all.

About Garner Health Technology, Inc: Garner Health Technology, Inc . is transforming the healthcare economy through innovations that enable patients to receive high-quality and affordable care. Garner offers a benefit program that uses a new approach to data science and incentive accounts to help employees find and see the best doctors in their communities, and Garner DataPro, a provider recommendation platform that serves referrals based on the most detailed and accurate provider performance and directory data in the industry. Garner's offerings make use of its data set of over 75% of the medical claims data in the United States to objectively examine patient outcomes based on more than 500 specialty-specific quality and efficiency measures. By analyzing millions of healthcare journeys across 82 distinct medical specialties, Garner sets a new industry standard in delivering reliable, actionable referrals and navigating patients to the highest-quality providers. For more information, visit www.getgarner.com.

SOURCE Garner Health Technology
MONTREAL, May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ - GELPAC, a North American leader of high-performance packaging solutions announces the strategic acquisition of STANDARD BAG  Standard Multiwall Bag Mfg. Co. - a specialty manufacturer of industrial and food grade multiwall and wovenpoly laminated bags essential to the efficient handling of raw materials and finished products by major players in the agrifood, pharmaceutical, and industrial markets.

The Standard bag plants located in Beaverton, Oregon, and Lubbock, Texas, are recognized for their speed, flexibility and expertise in delivering high quality products that meet the exact specifications of each client. The fit with GELPAC's comprehensive network of bag and poly plants located in Marieville and Farnham, Quebec, Brampton, Ontario, and Haverhill, Massachusetts, is natural as each unit is a strong performer in the industry and enjoys a well-deserved reputation.

" The acquisition of efficient western and south-western production plants further strengthens our competitive position in North America. By combining the strengths of each of our plants, by integrating our respective R & D initiatives, on-going innovations to the manufacturing processes and procurement strategies, as well as extending our geographical reach, we will offer the best performing packaging solutions in the market " underlines Mr. Alain Robillard, CEO of GELPAC.

For this 3rd GELPAC acquisition, NAMAKOR Holdings provided the strategic support and managed the negotiations leading to the financing by CDPQ, W Investments, and a banking syndicate led by National Bank of Canada, a long-standing GELPAC partner.

A cultural fit

" STANDARD BAG is a 2nd generation family business. Having itself grown from a family operation, GELPAC has always remained true to its core values of treating each client and team member with integrity and respect. As such, the cultural fit can not be any tighter. The orderly transfer of ownership and the smooth integration of the STANDARD BAG team will ensure the continuity of operations. The addition of this complementary production capacity to our comprehensive products portfolio will allow us to provide our North American clients with even greater value. We look forward to working with the new members of our team to reach ever-higher levels of excellence " concludes Mr. Robillard.

ABOUT GELPAC

GELPAC has been a leading supplier of high-performance packaging solutions to the North American agrifood, pharmaceutical, chemical and construction industries for over 60 years. Its multiwall paper bags and various polyethylene packaging products are designed to meet the exact specifications of each client and are manufactured on state-of-the-art production lines by seasoned teams that share a common passion, that of a job well done.

SOURCE GELPAC
DUBLIN, May 16, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Comparative SWOT & Strategy Focus - 2023-2027 - Global Top 7 Armored Vehicles Manufacturers - GDLS & GDELS, BAE Systems, Oshkosh Defense, Rheinmetall, KNDS, Iveco Defense, Hanwha Defense" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.



The report analyzes & provides comprehensive insights into the Global Top 7 Armored Vehicle OEMs with focus on a blend of quantitative & qualitative analysis.

The report provides detailed analysis on the OEMs, including, comprehensive analysis of business portfolio and strategic market positioning, overall strategy focus, key strategies & plans for medium term, financial analysis and a detailed Comparative SWOT analysis against the backdrop of emerging rapid shifts in the geopolitical dynamics, equations & landscape and technological leapfrogging.

The report also projects market evolution for the global A&D market over medium term with analysis of emerging market scenario, defense spending growth projections, key market & technology trends, issues & challenges, key growth domains and potential growth opportunities

Land systems, led by the Iron Triangle of MBTs, IFVs & Artillery Guns/SPHs, are back in the reckoning following the renewed threat to Europe, especially to Central & Eastern European nations, from Russian belligerence since the invasion of Ukraine and the return of World War-I style trench warfare after over a century in Southern & Eastern Ukraine marking an effective resurgence for the King of the Kill Zone.

The looming spectre of land warfare over the plains of Europe has the entire region spooked up once again and frantically preparing to defend itself through the revitalization of European defense industrial base which is underway in full swing after decades of neglect & apathy.

The focus has been on the modernization & replacement of legacy, Cold war-era systems with latest, next-gen systems incorporating cutting-edge technologies & capabilities providing effective capabilities overmatch against Russian systems & armor.

Additionally, rapid ramp up of production for munitions, especially, artillery shells to replenish depleted stock levels given the ongoing U.S. & NATO security assistance to Ukraine and to meet growing demand levels & increased preparedness levels to meet the imminent threat



Poland has been leading the pack of European nations having already placed a huge order for around 250 M1A2 upgraded Abrams MBTs worth $4.5 billion, in addition, to plans to locally produce up to 1,000 South Korean K2 Black Panther MBTs, 672 K9 Self Propelled Howitzers and 288 K239 Chunmoo MRLS, worth almost a massive $14.5 billion, while also contemplating plans to procure AS-21 Redback IFVs.

The Cold-war era British Challenger 2 MBTs are already headed for another series of capabilities upgrade, in addition, to procurement of Boxer wheeled & Ajax tracked armored vehicles as part of fleet recapitalization plans of the British Army. Across the English Channel, the first lot of upgraded French Leclercs, featuring an all digital backbone & enhanced protection, have just been delivered to the French Army in late 2022 with another batch due in 2023.

German tank-maker KMW, too, has been contemplating plans & gearing up to ramp up production rates for the Leopard 2A7 MBTs based on market signals and to capitalize on a revised German strategic defense posture following 'Zeitenwande' while also meeting growing regional requirements over near to medium term. However, the upcoming Franco-German joint MGCS program is likely to be the core, long-term growth pivot for the industry going forward



The U.S., too, has been drawing up plans for an eventual replacement for two of the core assets of its BCTs, namely, the M1 Abrams MBT & the M2 Bradley IFVs. The incumbent OEM, GDLS, has already showcased AbramsX, featuring an AI backbone and diesel-electric hybrid powertrain, as a replacement for the M1 Abrams operated by the U.S. Army which is also looking to replace its combat proven Bradley IFVs under the OMFV program.

Away from traditional armor strongholds, the U.S. & Europe, Australia's flagship Land 400 program has effectively heralded an armor renaissance down under with the award of multiple, big ticket contract awards for armored vehicles procurement under multiple phases over the past decade to replace Australian Army's ageing platforms and to beef up domestic defense industrial base under a local production model



Global Defense Spending, thus, has been on a clear upswing and is at a historic high now, having breached the $2 trillion threshold in 2021 following the re-emergence of traditional West vs. East fault line & rivalry and a rapidly evolving Russia-China cooperative axis which is likely to ultimately turn into a real windfall for the global defense industrial base over near to medium term with the global defense spending projected to reach the record $2.5 trillion level by 2027



Key Topics Covered:



Section 1 Business Structure & Snapshot - For each of the Global Top 7 Armored Vehicles Manufacturers

Founded

Headquartered

Business Segments

Employees

Revenues

Market Capitalization

Key Executives

Shareholding/Ownership Pattern & Structure

Section 2 Financial Performance Snapshot - For each Industry OEM

Revenue Base & Growth Trend

Revenues Split by Key Segments

Revenues Split by Key Geographic Markets & Regions

Gross Earnings & Margin Trend

Operating Earnings & Operating Margin Trend

Return on Sales Trend

Profitability Growth Trend

Cash Flow from Operations

R&D Expenditure Trend

CAPEX Trend

Order Intake Trend

Order Backlog Position & Growth Trend

Section 3 SWOT Analysis - For each of the Top 7 Industry Players

Strengths to be Leveraged

Weaknesses to be worked on

Opportunities to be capitalized upon

Threats to be negated & mitigated

Section 4 Comparative Analysis of Strengths

GDLS & GDELS

BAE Systems plc

Oshkosh Corporation

Rheinmetall AG

KNDS

Iveco Defense

Hanwha Defense

Section 5 Comparative Analysis of Weaknesses

GDLS & GDELS

BAE Systems plc

Oshkosh Corporation

Rheinmetall AG

KNDS

Iveco Defense

Hanwha Defense

Section 6 Strategy Focus across OEMs - Near to Medium Term - For the Top 7 Armored Vehicles Manufacturers

GDLS & GDELS

BAE Systems plc

Oshkosh Corporation

Rheinmetall AG

KNDS

Iveco Defense

Hanwha Defense

Section 7 Analysis of Key Strategies & Plans for the Armored Vehicles Manufacturers

Analysis Coverage:

Business and Product Portfolio Strategies & Plans

Market, Segment, Domain & Program Specific Strategies & Plans

R&D Strategies & Plans

Growth Strategies & Plans

Business and Corporate Strategies & Plans

Sales & Marketing Strategies & Plans

Production/Manufacturing Strategies & Plans

Financial Strategies & Plans

Acquisitions, Strategic Alliances & JVs

Other Strategies & Strategic Initiatives

Section 8 Global Armored Vehicles Market - Force Field Analysis - Analysis of Driving & Restraining Forces and their Overall Dynamics

Driving Forces

Restraining Forces

Section 9 Key Industry Trends



Section 10 Key Market Trends



Section 11 Key Technology Trends



Section 12 Key Issues, Challenges & Risk Factors



Section 13 Key Armored Vehicles Programs - Underway, Upcoming & Emerging Programs

Section 14 Strategic Market Outlook - Global Armored Vehicles Market - 2023-2032

Analysis of the Emerging Market Scenario for Armored Vehicles

Global Defense Spending - Trends & Growth Projections

Top 5 Defense Spending Nations & Defense Budgetary Trends

Key Growth & Technology Investment Priority Areas

Key Upcoming Armored Vehicle Programs

Emerging Technologies

Market Outlook & Demand Growth Projections for Armored Vehicles - 2023-2032

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/uc3t6h

About ResearchAndMarkets.com

ResearchAndMarkets.com is the world's leading source for international market research reports and market data. We provide you with the latest data on international and regional markets, key industries, the top companies, new products and the latest trends.

Media Contact:

Research and Markets

Laura Wood, Senior Manager

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SOURCE Research and Markets
DUBLIN, May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Global Cardiac Arrhythmia Monitoring Devices Market Report and Forecast 2023-2031" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

The increasing prevalence of cardiovascular diseases, technological advancements in monitoring devices, and the growing geriatric population are expected to drive the growth of the market.



The electrocardiogram (ECG) monitors segment is expected to hold the largest market share during the forecast period, owing to its widespread adoption in healthcare settings. The homecare settings segment is expected to witness the highest growth rate, driven by the growing trend of remote patient monitoring and the increasing demand for portable and wearable monitoring devices.



North America dominates the cardiac arrhythmia monitoring devices market, followed by Europe and the Asia Pacific region. The high prevalence of cardiovascular diseases, the availability of advanced healthcare infrastructure, and the presence of key market players are driving the growth of the market in these regions.

The Asia Pacific region is expected to witness the highest growth rate during the forecast period, driven by the increasing geriatric population and the growing demand for advanced monitoring devices.



The COVID-19 pandemic has also affected the cardiac arrhythmia monitoring devices market, with disruptions in supply chains and manufacturing activities. However, the market is expected to recover in the post-pandemic period, driven by the growing need for effective cardiovascular disease management.



Key Players in the Global Cardiac Arrhythmia Monitoring Devices Market



The report gives an in-depth analysis of the key players involved in the cardiac Arrhythmia monitoring devices market, sponsors manufacturing the drugs, and putting them through trials to get FDA approvals.

The companies included in the market are as follows:

AliveCor, Inc

BioTelemetry, Inc

Fukuda Denshi Co., Ltd

GE Healthcare

BIOTRONIK SE & Co KG

Biotricity

iRhythm Technologies, Inc

Medtronic plc

Spacelabs Healthcare

Welch Allyn, Inc. (Hillrom Services, Inc)

Scope of the Report

Market Breakup by Type

ECG Monitors

Holter Monitors

Implantable Monitors

Mobile Cardiac Telemetry

Others

Market Breakup by Application

Atrial Fibrillation

Bradycardia

Premature Contraction

Tachycardia

Ventricular Fibrillation

Others

Market Breakup by Distribution Channels

Hospitals and Clinics

Ambulatory Surgery Centres

Diagnostic Centres

Homecare Settings

Cardiac Arrhythmia Monitoring Devices Market Breakup by Region

North America

United States of America

Canada

Europe

United Kingdom

Germany

France

Italy

Others

Asia Pacific

China

Japan

India

ASEAN

Australia

Others

Latin America

Brazil

Argentina

Mexico

Others

Middle East and Africa

Saudi Arabia

United Arab Emirates

Nigeria

South Africa

Others

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/uyg111

About ResearchAndMarkets.com

ResearchAndMarkets.com is the world's leading source for international market research reports and market data. We provide you with the latest data on international and regional markets, key industries, the top companies, new products and the latest trends.

Media Contact:

Research and Markets

Laura Wood, Senior Manager

[email protected]



For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470

For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630

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Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/539438/Research_and_Markets_Logo.jpg

SOURCE Research and Markets
BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 17. First Deputy Minister of Economy of Azerbaijan Elnur Aliyev held a meeting with Dumitru Alaiba, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economic Development and Digitalization, Trend reports with reference to the Ministry of Economy of Azerbaijan.

The discussions were held within the framework of the 32nd Annual Meeting of the EBRD's Board of Governors held in the Uzbek city of Samarkand.

The importance of relations between the two countries and the potential for strengthening economic partnership were mentioned at the meeting.

Moreover, great opportunities for expanding cooperation in the fields of investment, trade, energy and other areas were also highlighted.

The sides discussed the development of bilateral economic ties, the growth of trade turnover and new areas of joint activity.
DUBLIN, May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Global Palletizer Market Size, Share by Technology (Robotic Palletizer, Application, Product Type, and Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2023-2030" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

Global Palletizer was valued at US$ 2,320.47 Mn in 2022, estimated to reach US$ 4,730. 54 Mn by 2030, with a CAGR of 8.05% from 2023-2030.

Market Drivers

High demand across food and beverages industry will boost the market growth. The food and beverage industry has always had a big impact on the growth of the palletizer market. As distributor rivalry heats up and regulatory limits tighten, retailer needs are becoming more demanding. As a result, the food and beverage industry has never had more of a need for palletizing robots.



Additionally, due to their increasing diversity and usage, the palletizer industry will keep developing at a faster rate. The leadership of multinational firms in enhancing operational performance and supply chain management, as well as the declining costs of extremely cutting-edge technology, are the main drivers of increases in market value.



Moreover, the market for palletizers is anticipated to grow as human machine interface (HMI) implementation increases in the industrial sector. For handling pallet patterns, multiple product layers, and various case sizes, the HMI reconfigures the palletizing equipment. Robotic palletizing also ensures that the road's end procedure is moving continuously. As a result, palletizers operate for less time while producing more. Promoting products is a strategy manufacturers are using to put automated palletizers in place and increase production rates.

Market Restraints

The high hardware and support costs are expected to limit the growth of the palletizer market. Even though the palletizers can adapt to most of the production and warehouse scenarios, irregularly sized pallets or products may require additional hardware or tools. This factor endangers the rate of market expansion for palletizers.

The initial capital investment required for manufacturing processes, research and development, and other manufacturing-related activities is the main barrier to the market's growth.

Regional Analysis

The global palletizer market covers segmentation based on By Device Type, By Application, By Socket Type, and by region. Due to the expanding use of robotic palletizers in the healthcare and food and beverage industries, Asia Pacific is anticipated to have the highest share. Important players are also setting up production facilities all throughout China, India, and Japan.



Due to the steady regional market, it is anticipated that the North American and European markets would steadily expand over the coming years. Strong economic expansion, rising e-commerce activity, and the existence of significant manufacturing in North America are all encouraging indicators.

Market Taxonomy

By Technology

Robotic Palletizer

Anthropomorphic Arm (Robotic palletizer for Uneven, Odd, Irregular, and complex shape products or for complex manipulation)

Gantry (Palletization of cases, bags, pails, and drums from one or more packaging lines)

Conventional Palletizer

High-Level Palletizer

Low-Level Palletizer

By Application

Food & Beverages

Personal Care

Healthcare

Others

By Product Type

Bag

Case

Others

By Region

North America

U.S

Canada

Mexico

Latin America

Brazil

Argentina

Colombia

Peru

Chile

Venezuela

Rest of Latin America

Europe

Germany

France

UK

Russia

Italy

Spain

Rest of Europe

Asia Pacific

China

Japan

India

South Korea

Australia

New Zealand

Singapore

Malaysia

Rest of Asia Pacific

Middle East & Africa

Saudi Arabia

UAE

Egypt

Kuwait

South Africa

Rest Middle East & Africa

Key Topics Covered:

1 Introduction



2 Research Methodology



3 Executive Summary



4 Global Palletizer Market Outlook



5 Global Palletizer Market, By Technology



6 Global Palletizer Market, By Application



7 Global Palletizer Market, By Product Type



8 Global Palletizer Market, By Region



9 North America Palletizer Market Analysis and Forecast (2023-2030)



10 Europe Palletizer Market Analysis and Forecast (2023-2030)



11 Asia Pacific Palletizer Market Analysis and Forecast (2023-2030)



12 Latin America Palletizer Market Analysis and Forecast (2023-2030)



13 Middle East Palletizer Market Analysis and Forecast (2023-2030)



14 Competitive Analysis



15 Company Profiles

Companies Mentioned

Fuji Yuoski Kogyo Co. Ltd.

Kawasaki Heavy industries Ltd.

ABC Packaging Machine Corporation

Krones AG

ABB

KUKA AG

BW Packaging Systems

KHS Group

Honeywell Intelligrated

Beumer Group

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/ka0v2x

About ResearchAndMarkets.com

ResearchAndMarkets.com is the world's leading source for international market research reports and market data. We provide you with the latest data on international and regional markets, key industries, the top companies, new products and the latest trends.

Media Contact:

Research and Markets

Laura Wood, Senior Manager

[email protected]



For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470

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SOURCE Research and Markets
Shares Outstanding: 326,138,511

Trading Symbols: TSX: GGD

OTCQX: GLGDF

HALIFAX, NS, May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ - GoGold Resources Inc. (TSX: GGD) (OTCQX: GLGDF) ("GoGold", "the Company") is pleased to release the results of its initial Preliminary Economic Assessment ("PEA") at its Los Ricos North Project located in Jalisco State, Mexico. This is the Company's second PEA completed within the Los Ricos District, in addition to the Los Ricos South PEA completed in January 2021, with an updated Mineral Resource Estimate ("MRE") and PEA for Los Ricos South expected to follow this summer.

Figure 1: Los Ricos North Block Model Visualization (CNW Group/GoGold Resources Inc.)

Highlights of the PEA, with a base case silver price of US$23/oz and gold price of US$1,800/oz are as follows (all figures in US dollars unless otherwise stated):

After-Tax NPV (using a discount rate of 5%) of $413 Million with an After-Tax IRR of 29% (Base Case);

with an After-Tax IRR of 29% (Base Case); 13-year mine life producing a total of 110.3 Million payable silver equivalent ounces ("AgEq"), consisting of 68.0 Million silver ounces, 221,700 gold ounces, 22.8 Million pounds of copper, 144.1 Million pounds of lead and 242.2 Million pounds of zinc;

Initial capital costs of $221 Million , including $29 Million in contingency costs, over an expected 18 month build, additional expansion capital of $137 Million , and sustaining capital costs of $6 Million over the life of mine ("LOM");

, including in contingency costs, over an expected 18 month build, additional expansion capital of , and sustaining capital costs of over the life of mine ("LOM"); Average LOM operating cash costs of $9.50 /oz AgEq, and all in sustaining costs ("AISC") of $9.68 /oz AgEq

/oz AgEq, and all in sustaining costs ("AISC") of /oz AgEq Average annual production of 8.8 Million AgEq oz in years one through twelve;

Approximately 3/4 of LOM production is from four open pits containing oxide mineralization and approximately 1/4 is from a separate open pit which contains only sulphide mineralization.

"This is a first look at the strong economics around our Los Ricos North Mineral Resource with average annual production of 8.8 Million AgEq oz at a first quartile AISC of $9.68/oz AgEq. Los Ricos North forms a pipeline of growth after the construction of Los Ricos South, which we see as a high grade bulk underground mine targeted to be our first deposit advanced to production. We look forward to the updated Los Ricos South Mineral Resource including the Eagle Zone and an updated PEA to be completed this summer," said Brad Langille, President and CEO. "The release of this PEA represents one of the milestones for the 2023 year in the Los Ricos District. The other key milestones for the 2023 year in the Los Ricos District are an updated Mineral Resource and PEA in Los Ricos South incorporating the Eagle Zone, followed by a Pre-Feasibility Study in Los Ricos South which is anticipated before year's end. With US$100 Million in cash we are well positioned to develop Los Ricos South pending the results of the upcoming studies."

PEA Summary

The PEA was prepared by independent consultants P&E Mining Consultants Inc ("P&E"), with metallurgical test work completed by SGS Canada Inc.'s Lakefield office ("SGS"), process plant design and costing by D.E.N.M. Engineering Ltd., and environmental and permitting led by CIMA Mexico.

Table 1 below shows the key economic assumptions and results of the PEA, with Table 2 showing the physical attributes, Table 3 showing a sensitivity analysis based on varying metal prices and assumptions, and Table 4 showing a sensitivity analysis based on changes to operating and capital costs.

Table 1  Los Ricos North PEA Key Economic Assumptions and Results

Assumption / Result Unit Value

Assumption / Result Unit Value Total Oxide Feed Mined kt 25,557

Net Revenue US$M 2,307 Total Sulphide Feed Mined kt 9,964

Initial Capital Costs US$M 221 Total Plant Feed Mined kt 35,521

Sustaining Capital Costs US$M 143 Total Strip Ratio Ratio 6.0

Mining Costs $/t Mined 2.07 Mine Life Yrs 13

Mining Costs $/t Plant Feed 12.28 Average process rate t/day 8,000

Operating Cash Cost US$/oz AgEq 9.50 Silver Price US$/oz 23.00

All in Sustaining Cost US$/oz AgEq 9.68 Gold Price US$/oz 1,800

After-Tax NPV (5% discount) US$M 413 Copper Price US$/lb 4.00

Pre-Tax NPV (5% discount) US$M 645 Lead Price US$/lb 1.00

After-Tax IRR % 29.1 Zinc Price US$/lb 1.40

Pre-Tax IRR % 39.8 Payable AgEq Moz 110.3

After-Tax Payback Period Yrs 3.0

Table 2  Los Ricos North PEA Summary of Physical Attributes

Attribute Unit Oxide Sulphide Total Plant Feed Mined kt 25,557 9,964 35,521 Silver Grade1 g/t 83.2 30.1 68.3 Gold Grade1 g/t 0.29 0.07 0.23 Copper Grade1 % - 0.12 0.12 Lead Grade % - 0.87 0.87 Zinc Grade % - 1.24 1.24 Silver Recovery % 87 88 87 Gold Recovery % 87 76 86 Copper Recovery % - 89 89 Lead Recovery % - 75 75 Zinc Recovery % - 89 89 Payable Silver Moz 59.5 8.5 68.0 Payable Gold koz 205.2 16.5 221.7 Payable Copper Mlb - 22.8 22.8 Payable Lead Mlb - 144.1 144.1 Payable Zinc Mlb - 242.2 242.2 Payable AgEq Moz 75.5 34.8 110.3

1. Grades shown are LOM average plant feed grades. Dilution of approximately 10% was used.

Table 3  Los Ricos North PEA Metal Price Sensitivities

Sensitivity





Base

Case





Silver Price (US$/oz) 17 19 21 23 25 27 30 Gold Price (US$/oz) 1330 1487 1643 1800 1957 2113 2348 Copper Price (US$/lb) 2.96 3.30 3.65 4.00 4.35 4.70 5.22 Lead Price (US$/lb) 0.74 0.83 0.91 1.00 1.09 1.17 1.30 Zinc Price (US$/lb) 1.03 1.16 1.28 1.40 1.52 1.64 1.83 After-Tax NPV (5%) (US$M) 120 222 318 413 508 603 746 After-Tax IRR (%) 13.3 19.2 24.3 29.1 33.6 37.9 44.0 After-Tax Payback (years) 5.4 4.4 3.6 3.0 2.5 2.1 1.8

Table 4  Los Ricos North Operating Expense and Capital Expense Sensitivities

Sensitivity -20 % -10 % Base

Case 10 % 20 % Operating Costs  NPV (US$M) 503 458 413 368 323 Operating Costs  IRR (%) 33.4 31.2 29.1 26.8 24.5 Capital Costs  NPV (US$M) 457 435 413 392 370 Capital Costs  IRR (%) 36.3 32.2 28.8 25.9 23.4

Capital and Operating Costs

The Los Ricos North Project has been envisioned as an open pit mining operation, with contract mining comprising five open pits. The first four pits contain oxide mineralization and will be mined over years one to nine of the Project, with the final pit containing sulphide mineralization which will be mined in years 10 to 13.

The processing plant is comprised of conventional crushing, grinding, cyanide tank leaching, tailings filtration (dry stack), and Merrill Crowe precipitation for the oxide mineralization. For the sulphide mineralization, processing will be completed through a flotation circuit which is included in sustaining capital and will be constructed in year eight of the Project.

Water supply to the process plant will be provided by a nearby surface water source and high voltage grid power will be provided by the local utility.

Key components of the capital cost estimate are provided in Table 5 and operating costs are provided in Table 6.

Table 5  Capital Cost Estimate

Type Initial (US$K) Expansion (US$K)1 Sustaining (US$K) Total (US$K) Process plant direct costs 141,020 25,864 5,000 171,884 Pre-stripping and haul roads 10,268 88,090

98,358 Project indirect costs 19,108 2,870

21,978 EPCM 13,792 2,328

16,120 Infrastructure 7,680



7,680 Total 191,869 119,151 5,000 316,020 Contingency (15%) 28,780 17,873 750 47,403 Total 220,649 137,024 5,750 363,423

1. Expansion capital is not included in AISC calculations

Table 6  Operating Costs (Average LOM)

Operating Costs (Average LOM) US$/tonne Plant Feed US$/tonne

Rock Mining 12.28 2.07 Processing 13.81

General and admin 1.02

Total 27.12



Mining

The open pit mining will be contracted and carried out by drilling and blasting followed by conventional loading and truck haulage to the waste rock storage facilities and the process plant.

Metallurgy

A preliminary metallurgical test program was carried out by SGS Lakefield of Ontario, Canada on four Los Ricos North deposit areas  Favor, Trini, Casados, and Orito. Based on the zone geology, Favor, Trini, and Casados (oxide) were designated for whole mineralized material cyanidation testing. The Orito (sulphide) sample was deemed to be flotation ideal. The subsequent oxide testing included grinding (no comminution testing) and leaching only. The sulphide testing included grinding and bulk flotation to produce a single bulk concentrate with locked cycle (LCT) testing completed. The samples were comprised of four drill core rejects representing the noted zones of the Mineral Resource. This preliminary test program estimated a gold and silver oxide recovery of 87% for both. The sulphide recovery on the Orito sample recovered 76% gold, 88% silver, 89% copper, 89% zinc, and 75% lead.

Mineral Resource Estimate

The basis for the PEA is the Mineral Resource Estimate completed by P&E in the National Instrument 43-101 Technical Report on the Initial Mineral Resource Estimate for the Los Ricos North Project located in Jalisco State, Mexico, which has an effective date of December 1, 2021. A summary of the Mineral Resource Estimate is provided in Table 7.

Table 7: Los Ricos North Mineral Resource Estimate (1-11)

Deposit Tonnes Average Grade Contained Metal Au Ag Cu Pb Zn AuEq AgEq Au Ag Cu Pb Zn AuEq AgEq

(Mt) (g/t) (g/t) ( %) ( %) ( %) (g/t) (g/t) (koz) (koz) (Mlb) (Mlb) (Mlb) (koz) (koz) Indicated:





























El Favor 7.7 0.27 98 - - - 1.61 119 68 24,413 - - - 399 29,454 Casados 3.2 0.42 124 - - - 2.09 154 43 12,871 - - - 218 16,061 La Trini 3.1 0.54 74 - - - 1.54 114 54 7,428 - - - 155 11,424 Mololoa 0.4 0.36 130 - - - 2.12 157 5 1,788 - - - 29 2,161 Silver-Gold

Oxide Zone 14.5 0.37 100 - - - 1.71 127 171 46,500 - - - 801 59,100 El Orito Sulphide

Zone1 7.8 0.06 28 0.11 0.88 1.33 1.55 114 15 7,011 19 151 229 389 28,708 Total Indicated 22.3









1.66 122 186 53,510





1,190 87,808 Inferred:





























El Favor 12.4 0.27 89 - - - 1.47 108 106 35,505 - - - 587 43,350 Casados 1.8 0.35 108 - - - 1.82 135 21 6,323 - - - 106 7,843 La Trini 0.1 0.43 108 - - - 1.89 139 1 201 - - - 4 260 Mololoa 0.7 0.39 94 - - - 1.66 122 9 2,102 - - - 37 2,739 Silver-Gold

Oxide Zone 15.0 0.28 91 - - - 1.52 112 136 44,131 - - - 734 54,191 El Orito Sulphide

Zone1 5.5 0.06 28 0.12 0.74 1.20 1.46 108 11 4,888 15 90 146 258 19,007 Total Inferred 20.5









1.51 111 148 49,019





992 73,198

1. El Orito is a silver-base metal sulphide zone, all other deposits are silver-gold oxide zones. 2. Mineral Resources which are not Mineral Reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability. The estimate of Mineral Resources may be materially affected by environmental, permitting, legal, title, taxation, socio-political, marketing, or other relevant issues. 3. The Inferred Mineral Resource in this estimate has a lower level of confidence than that applied to an Indicated Mineral Resource and must not be converted to a Mineral Reserve. It is reasonably expected that the majority of the Inferred Mineral Resource could be upgraded to an Indicated Mineral Resource with continued exploration. 4. The Mineral Resources in this news release were estimated in accordance with the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum (CIM), CIM Standards on Mineral Resources and Reserves, Definitions and Guidelines (2014) prepared by the CIM Standing Committee on Reserve Definitions and adopted by the CIM Council and CIM Best Practices (2019). 5. Historically mined areas were depleted from the Mineral Resource model. 6. Approximately 98.9% of the Indicated and 91.3% of the Inferred contained AgEq ounces are pit constrained, with the remainder out-of-pit. See tables 4 and 6 for details of the split between pit constrained and out-of-pit deposits. 7. The pit constrained AgEq cut-off grade of 29 g/t Ag was derived from US$1,550/oz Au price, US$21/oz Ag price, US$3.66/lb Cu, US$0.90/lb Pb, US$1.26/lb Zn, 93% process recovery for Ag and Au, 90% process recovery for Cu, 80% process recovery for Pb and Zn, US$18/tonne process and G&A cost. The constraining pit optimization parameters were US$2.00/t mineralized mining cost, US$1.50/t waste mining cost and 50-degree pit slopes. 8. The out-of-pit AuEq cut-off grade of 119 g/t Ag was derived from US$1,550/oz Au price, US$21/oz Ag price, US$3.66/lb Cu, US$0.90/lb Pb, US$1.26/lb Zn, 93% process recovery for Ag and Au, 90% process recovery for Cu, 80% process recovery for Pb and Zn, US$57/t mining cost, US$18/tonne process and G&A cost. The out-of-pit Mineral Resource grade blocks were quantified above the 119 g/t AgEq cut-off, below the constraining pit shell within the constraining mineralized wireframes and exhibited sufficient continuity to be considered for cut and fill and longhole mining 9. No Mineral Resources are classified as Measured. 10. AgEq and AuEq calculated at an Ag/Au ratio of 73.8:1. 11. Totals may not agree due to rounding

The Preliminary Economic Assessment Technical Report will be filed on SEDAR within 45 days of this news release.

Qualified Persons

Robert Harris, P.Eng. and David Duncan, P.Geo. are the GoGold Qualified Persons and Eugene Puritch, P.Eng., FEC, CET, President of P&E Mining Consultants Inc. and David Salari, P. Eng., DENM Engineering Ltd. are Independent Qualified Persons all as defined by National Instrument 43-101 and whom are responsible for the technical information in this press release.

VRIFY Slide Deck and 3D Presentation

VRIFY is a platform being used by companies to communicate with investors using 360 virtual tours of remote mining assets, 3D models and interactive presentations. VRIFY can be accessed by website and with the VRIFY iOS and Android apps.

The VRIFY 3D Slide Deck for GoGold can be viewed at: https://vrify.com/companies/gogold-resources-inc and on the Company's website at: www.gogoldresources.com.

Los Ricos District Exploration Projects

The Company's two exploration projects at its Los Ricos Property are in Jalisco state, Mexico. The Los Ricos South Project began in March 2019 and an initial Mineral Resource Estimate was announced on July 29, 2020, which disclosed a Measured & Indicated Mineral Resource of 63.7 Million ounces AgEq grading 199 g/t AgEq contained in 10.0 Million tonnes, and an Inferred Mineral Resource of 19.9 Million ounces AgEq grading 190 g/t AgEq contained in 3.3 Million tonnes. An initial PEA on the Project was announced on January 20, 2021, indicating an after-tax NPV 5% of US$295M. The Eagle Concession was acquired in October 2022 and is adjacent to the Main Area which contains the initial Mineral Resource.

The Los Ricos North Project was launched in March 2020 and an initial Mineral Resource Estimate was announced on December 7, 2021, which disclosed an Indicated Mineral Resource of 87.8 Million ounces AgEq grading 122 g/t AgEq contained in 22.3 Million tonnes, and an Inferred Mineral Resource of 73.2 Million ounces AgEq grading 111 g/t AgEq contained in 20.5 Million tonnes.

About GoGold Resources

GoGold Resources (TSX: GGD) is a Canadian-based silver and gold producer focused on operating, developing, exploring and acquiring high quality projects in Mexico. The Company operates the Parral Tailings mine in the state of Chihuahua and has the Los Ricos South and Los Ricos North exploration Projects in the state of Jalisco. Headquartered in Halifax, NS, GoGold is building a portfolio of low cost, high margin projects. For more information visit gogoldresources.com.

CAUTIONARY STATEMENT:

The securities described herein 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, or for the benefit of, U.S. persons (as defined in Regulation S under the U.S. Securities Act) except in compliance with the registration requirements of the U.S. Securities Act and applicable state securities laws or pursuant to exemptions therefrom. This release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy of any of GoGold's securities in the United States.

This news 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 Los Ricos South and North projects, and future plans and objectives of GoGold, including the NPV, IRR, initial and sustaining capital costs, operating costs, and LOM production of Los Ricos South, 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 GoGold and its subsidiaries as a going concern, general economic and market conditions, mineral prices, the accuracy of Mineral Resource Estimates, and the performance of the Parral project. 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 GoGold's expectations include exploration and development risks associated with GoGold's projects, the failure to establish estimated Mineral Resources or Mineral Reserves, volatility of commodity prices, variations of recovery rates, and global economic conditions. For additional information with respect to risk factors applicable to GoGold, reference should be made to GoGold's continuous disclosure materials filed from time to time with securities regulators, including, but not limited to, GoGold's Annual Information Form. The forward-looking information contained in this release is made as of the date of this release.

SOURCE GoGold Resources Inc.
President Meredith Cook and CEO Sterling Cook Advocated at the April 26 U.S. Hemp Roundtable in Washington, D.C. with Members of Congress

WILMINGTON, N.C., May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Green Compass, a mission-based market leader in the hemp-based wellness industry, headed to Washington D.C. to lobby in support of legislation to advance regulation within the hemp industry. Founders Meredith and Sterling Cook joined the U.S. Hemp Roundtable (USHR), a bipartisan coalition of leading companies and organizations that advocates for science-driven, equitable, and inclusive law and regulation for hemp industries. Green Compass joined the USHR Board of Directors earlier this year.

Green Compass President Meredith Cook

Regulatory developments have impacted the industry in a myriad of ways, with quality, safety, and other consumer protection concerns being the most significant to Green Compass.

The Cooks met with members of Congress to advocate for the Regulate CBD Now campaign and platform, which was launched by USHR and its supporters in June 2021. The focuses of this campaign are the following legislative vehicles: Hemp and Hemp-Derived CBD Consumer Protection and Market Stabilization Act, Hemp Access and Consumer Safety Act, and CBD Product Safety and Standardization Act. These bills would establish a regulatory framework to ensure that products containing CBD and other non-intoxicating hemp ingredients can be lawfully marketed. In addition, they would require CBD products and hemp extract product manufacturers to comply with existing regulatory frameworks to deem all CBD products as safe, properly labeled, and prepared utilizing Good Manufacturing Practices.

Meredith Cook, president of Green Compass shared, "We are excited to participate in the democratic process and advocate for better, stronger standards across the industry, which would ensure that all hemp-based products in the marketplace are clean and safe. These advocacy efforts here in D.C.  alongside our passionate peers  are important not only to Sterling and me, but also to the thousands of dedicated Green Compass Advocates who educate their communities on the power of hemp and sell our products."

The visit included bipartisan meetings in both the House and Senate. Green Compass joins other industry leaders in these efforts.

Born out of Co-Founder/President Meredith Cook's quest for an all-natural, holistic approach to healing in 2019, Green Compass is a Wilmington, North Carolina-based USDA-certified organic hemp company that is driven by the quest for pure, organic hemp to empower others to feel good and do good.

Green Compass is dedicated to bringing superior quality products to consumers. The brand develops and manufactures a broad range of clean-label, safe, and trustworthy products including CBD, terpenes, flavonoids, and other beneficial hemp-derived compounds. It is intentionally and passionately wellness-focused, and the products are all certified organic. From non-GMO seeds to USDA-certified organic soil, sixth-generation farmers, along with the Cooks, personally cultivate the cleanest hemp products possible. Green Compass was founded based on the Cooks' longtime experience working with organic commercial farms and production.

Green Compass' products are planted, grown and hand-harvested by its own team on its certified organic farms. Using zero pesticides or chemicals, farmers rotate the crops every three years, to ensure the soil is nourished and has proper nutrients for the next time cannabis is grown on that land. In addition, Green Compass:

Favors small batch certified organic extraction rather than toxic solvents, which are commonly used throughout the industry. This steady method produces rich, superior crude oil, and then refined through a seven-step process.

Uses nanotechnology to increase the bioavailability in its products, making its CBD easier for the skin and body to absorb.

Makes each product in its own lab, where an advanced logging process includes a scannable QR code for third-party analysis and traceability of where the plant was grown and harvested.

Sources packaging and boxes with sustainability in mind, and chooses glass over plastic whenever possible, so packaging is 100% recyclable. All Green Compass products include certificates of analysis, which transparently break down the products' cannabinoids and other plant compounds.

Green Compass has a community of over 17,000 Advocates who believe in its vision and help sell its products and mission nationwide. For more information about becoming an advocate, click here.

For more information and to purchase Green Compass products, visit www.greencompassglobal.com

About Green Compass:

Founded in Wilmington, North Carolina, Green Compass is a mission-based market leader in the hemp-based wellness industry. The company is a social selling brand that harnesses the power of clean, USDA-certified organic hemp to develop and manufacture a broad range of clean-label, safe, and trustworthy products including CBD, terpenes, flavonoids, and other beneficial hemp-derived compounds.

Green Compass hemp is thoughtfully grown and cultivated by its sixth-generation co-founders and farming partners. Green Compass owns all of its R&D, extraction capabilities, formulations, and manufacturing  making it one of the top vertically integrated brands on the market today. With an emphasis on quality, the company's unique philosophy is enhanced by its strong network of more than 17,000 social selling distributors ("Advocates"), who promote the company's mission to develop clean-label, fully traceable and sustainable products that are made safely in the U.S. to distribute to families nationwide. For more information, visit www.greencompassglobal.com.

Contact:

Duree & Company, PR Consultant

954-723-9350 / [email protected]

SOURCE Green Compass
New data reveals bus riders will travel an average of 300 miles this holiday weekend.

FlixBus and Greyhound travelers will choose from almost 2,300 destinations across the U.S., Canada , and Mexico

FlixBus celebrates 5th Anniversary of North American operations on June 1

DALLAS, May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Flix North America Inc., the Dallas-based entity overseeing both Greyhound and FlixBus across North America, announced today that its pre-bookings for Memorial Day weekend will be the busiest of 2023 as millions of Americans kick off the unofficial start of summer by traveling to almost 2,300 destinations across North America. As the two brands look ahead to the rest of summer 2023, Labor Day and Fourth of July will be the second and third busiest weekends ahead for bus travelers.

"Summer is fast approaching, and we're thrilled to help make planning easy and convenient for the millions of travelers who seek the most affordable way to visit thousands of destinations across North America," said Kai Boysan, CEO. "Greyhound and FlixBus offer a great value for travelers who can rely on us to make the most of their summer adventure."

Munich-based Flix SE acquired Greyhound Lines Inc. in 2021 to bring together two of the largest mobility providers in the intercity bus industry. With Greyhound being synonymous with intercity bus travel in the United States and FlixBus' global mobility expertise, the two companies announced the co-integration of their booking platform in early 2023 to enable a shared, extended intercity bus network from which customers can more easily search, book and travel throughout North America.

Celebrate Summer with North America's Largest Bus Network

FlixBus and Greyhound analyzed travel trends by examining more than 5,200 schedules just two weeks ahead of the holiday weekend and found:

Memorial Day bookings have increased by 70% compared to last year.

Most Memorial Day bus travelers will leave on Friday and return on Monday.

The majority of Greyhound/FlixBus passengers plan to travel an average of 300 total miles for Memorial Day weekend.

In 2022, Memorial Day was the busiest summer travel weekend for Greyhound/FlixBus passengers, and that momentum will continue in 2023.

FlixBus/Greyhound's most popular destinations are New York City , Los Angeles , Boston , and Philadelphia , and top states include New York , California , Florida , and Massachusetts

Book today at FlixBus.com and Greyhound.com

Wherever solo travelers or families are heading, Greyhound and FlixBus help travelers see the world, no matter their budgets. The company encourages passengers to book early to obtain the lowest possible price on their upcoming trips, and there is still availability on many of the brands' most popular routes to the following destinations this Memorial Day weekend:

Tickets are now available at FlixBus.com, Greyhound.com or through the Greyhound or FlixBus apps and follow along on Facebook , Instagram, and Twitter .

About Flix NA

Flix North America Inc., parent company of FlixBus Inc. and Greyhound Lines, Inc., provides the largest intercity bus transportation and booking platform for North America. A subsidiary of Germany-based mobility company Flix SE, Flix North America Inc. provides services in the United States, Canada, and Mexico, with almost 2,300 destinations across its network. Greyhound, FlixBus and their operating partners offer a smart and affordable alternative for travel that helps passengers reduce their impact on the environment and embrace a collective, sustainable approach to mobility.

SOURCE Greyhound Lines, Inc.
SAUGUS, Calif., May 16, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- HASA, Inc. (www.hasa.com), the leading provider of safe, clean, clear water treatment for recreational, municipal and industrial water sanitization, announced that Angela Tran has been appointed to the new role of Chief Strategy Officer (CSO) within the organization.

Angela Tran, Chief Strategy Officer (CSO) at HASA, Inc.

"Congratulations to Angela on her promotion to Chief Strategy Officer," said Chris Brink, President & CEO of HASA, Inc. "As a private, equity-backed manufacturing company in the midst of an intensive and exciting growth period, it is absolutely imperative that HASA drives a focused effort toward true strategic initiatives, all focused on delivering incredible value to our customers, communities, and partners. Angela is an exceptional professional who is uniquely suited for her role and who will help take HASA to the next level and beyond."

HASA plays a preeminent role in providing essential water treatment systems for the Western and Southwestern U.S. The company is set on a successful multi-year growth trajectory, and the promotion of Ms. Tran, who plays a pivotal role in HASA's strategic and financial expansion, is part of a broader leadership team restructuring move designed to support the organization's continued acceleration.

Joining HASA in 2017, Angela Tran previously served in the role of Senior Vice President of Operations for the company. In her new capacity, she will be responsible for all aspects of development, analysis, confirmation, and implementation of large EBITDA-impact projects, including future M&A, as well as enhancing Commercial, Pricing and Operational Excellence for HASA. Ms. Tran will continue to report directly to HASA President & CEO, Chris Brink.

For more information about HASA's high-concentration, premium liquid sodium hypochlorite water treatment solutions for recreational, industrial and municipal water applications, please visit www.hasa.com.

About HASA

HASA, Inc. is a leading producer and distributor of high-quality water treatment products used to sanitize and maintain water systems, including swimming pools, water tanks and containment vessels for recreational, industrial and municipal end markets. Founded in 1964, the company operates out of facilities in California, Arizona, Washington, Nevada and Texas. Over its more than 55-year history, HASA has established a strong reputation for supplying superior products through excellent logistics and distribution capabilities. Additional information about HASA is available at www.hasa.com .

About Wind Point Partners

Wind Point Partners is a Chicago-based private equity investment firm with approximately $5 billion in assets under management. Wind Point focuses on partnering with top caliber management teams to acquire well-positioned middle market businesses where it can establish a clear path to value creation. The firm targets investments in the consumer products, industrial products and business services sectors. Wind Point is currently investing out of Wind Point Partners X, a fund that was initiated in 2022. Additional information about Wind Point is available at www.windpointpartners.com .

SOURCE HASA, Inc.
The investment, led by Asclepius Growth Capital and leading health system partners, will enable care teams to empower patients with a more personalized remote-care experience.

MIAMI, May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- HealthSnap, a Miami-based virtual care management platform for chronic disease management, today announced a new round of financing totaling $9 million. The round was led by Asclepius Growth Capital, an SPV founded by David Jahns, a managing director of Galen Partners, and Steve Cashman, CEO of Caption Health and former CCO of InTouch Health, as well as new strategic investments from current business partners UnityPoint Health and Tampa General Hospital. Existing stockholders Florida Funders and MacDonald Ventures also participated in this financing. The company also announced that David Jahns has joined HealthSnap's board of directors.

HealthSnap Raises $9M Series A for Continued Growth of Remote Patient Monitoring and Chronic Care Management Platform Tweet this

"Over the last several years, we have seen many companies try to crack the RPM and CCM code, and HealthSnap has done just that. HealthSnap's patient-centered approach to virtual care management and its interoperable platform has enabled the company to set itself apart as a market leader. We are proud to lead this latest funding round," Jahns said. Cashman added, "My career in healthcare has been a continued effort to make effective care more efficient and accessible and HealthSnap is making meaningful strides toward this goal."

This latest round of financing, which was oversubscribed, brings HealthSnap's total funding to $17.1 million to date. It will be used by HealthSnap to support a national expansion of its care management services team to support rapid health system adoption and invest in novel clinical use cases. In the last year, to further the company's vision to be the operating system for virtual chronic disease management, HealthSnap successfully expanded its hallmark Remote Patient Monitoring (RPM) program to include a new and complimentary Chronic Care Management (CCM) solution as well.

"Health systems have reached a turning point in their care delivery and population health strategy," said Matthew Warrens, managing director of Innovation at UnityPoint Health. "If we want to continue to provide world-class personalized care at scale, when and where patients want to receive it, we need to continuously invest in novel technology and partnerships that meet patients in their homes. We look forward to collaborating with the HealthSnap team as we scale their remote care delivery models across our health system."

As virtual care management programs like RPM and CCM have increasingly become a top priority for premier health systems and physicians groups across the country, HealthSnap has grown its revenues by over 320% in the last year, more than tripled its number of active patient programs and demonstrated meaningful clinical outcomes across various chronic conditions such as hypertension, heart failure, obesity, and Type II diabetes.

"Implementing technology to monitor our patients from the comfort of their own home can be a highly effective way to avoid costly and unnecessary return visits to the hospital, while vastly improving our patients' satisfaction and ability to manage their care remotely," said Rachel Feinman, vice president of Innovation, Tampa General Hospital and managing director of TGH Innoventures, which provides a coordinated mechanism for the academic medical center to develop innovative solutions to improve quality and access to care. "Tampa General is dedicated to driving innovation to deliver world-class care to patients in the Tampa Bay region and beyond. Our partnership with HealthSnap to manage patients' care more effectively from home is an important part of that effort."

TGH Innoventures also serves as a platform for Tampa General to invest resources and funds into emerging companies that share the academic medical center's vision and can help develop immediate solutions for healthcare access, quality, and delivery.

"HealthSnap's proven virtual care management programs have already flipped the care delivery paradigm for tens of thousands of patients from reactive, episodic care delivered in the clinic to a model that is proactive, ongoing, and delivered in the home  leading to significantly improved outcomes and experiences for patients and providers," said HealthSnap CEO Samson Magid. "Our mission from day one has always been to empower patients living with chronic conditions anytime, anywhere, and this new financing will accelerate our ability to execute that mission for patients across the country."

HealthSnap is hiring for nurse care navigator positions, clinical operations managers, and patient enrollment specialists. For a complete list of open positions, please visit www.healthsnap.io/careers.

ABOUT UNITYPOINT HEALTH VENTURES

Founded in 2019 and based in Des Moines, IA, UnityPoint Health Ventures makes direct investments in ideas and partners that provide an easier, more personal experience for patients and providers. As the venture capital arm of UnityPoint Health  one of the nation's most integrated health systems  the firm invests in opportunities that improve patient outcomes and reduce the cost of health care. In addition to strategic investing, UnityPoint Health Ventures provides dedicated resources to accelerate portfolio company traction within UnityPoint Health and beyond.

ABOUT TAMPA GENERAL HOSPITAL



Tampa General Hospital, a 1,040-bed, not-for-profit, academic medical center, is one of the largest hospitals in America and delivers world-class care as the region's only center for Level l trauma and comprehensive burn care. Tampa General Hospital is the highest-ranked hospital in the market in U.S. News & World Report's 2022-23 Best Hospitals, and is tied as the third highest-ranked hospital in Florida, with seven specialties ranking among the best programs in the United States. Tampa General Hospital has been designated as a model of excellence by the 2022 Fortune/Merative 100 Top Hospitals list. The academic medical center's commitment to growing and developing its team members is recognized by two prestigious Forbes magazine rankings  first nationally in the 2022 America's Best Employers for Women and sixth out of 100 Florida companies in the 2022 America's Best Employers by State. Tampa General is the safety net hospital for the region, caring for everyone regardless of their ability to pay, and in fiscal year 2021, provided a net community benefit worth more than $224.5 million in the form of health care for underinsured patients, community education, and financial support to community health organizations in Tampa Bay. It is one of the nation's busiest adult solid organ transplant centers and is the primary teaching hospital for the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine. With six medical helicopters, Tampa General Hospital transports critically injured or ill patients from 23 surrounding counties to receive the advanced care they need. Tampa General houses a nationally accredited comprehensive stroke center, and its 32-bed Neuroscience, Intensive Care Unit is the largest on the West Coast of Florida. It also is home to the Jennifer Leigh Muma 82-bed neonatal intensive care unit, and a nationally accredited rehabilitation center. Tampa General Hospital's footprint includes 17 Tampa General Medical Group Primary Care offices, TGH Family Care Center Kennedy, TGH Brandon Healthplex, TGH Virtual Health, and 21 TGH Imaging powered by Tower outpatient radiology centers throughout Hillsborough, Pasco, Pinellas and Palm Beach counties. Tampa Bay area residents also receive world-class care from the TGH Urgent Care powered by Fast Track network of clinics. To see a medical care professional live anytime, anywhere on a smartphone, tablet or computer, visit Virtual Health | Tampa General Hospital (tgh.org). As one of the largest hospitals in the country, Tampa General Hospital is the first in Florida to partner with GE Healthcare and open a clinical command center that provides real-time situational awareness to improve and better coordinate patient care at a lower cost. For more information, go to www.tgh.org.

ABOUT HEALTHSNAP



HealthSnap is an integrated virtual care management platform that helps healthcare organizations improve patient outcomes, reduce utilization, and diversify revenue streams. From chronic disease-agnostic Remote Patient Monitoring (RPM) and Chronic Care Management (CCM) to AI-guided care coordination, virtual care delivery, patented billing tools, population analytics - and so much more, HealthSnap is the simplest way to manage chronic conditions remotely.

Visit www.healthsnap.io or follow us on LinkedIn for more information.

HealthSnap Media Contact:

Sunny Ghia

[email protected]

(888) 780-1872 Ext. 701

SOURCE HealthSnap
SAN DIEGO, May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Speakeasy Co., the leading alcohol eCommerce platform, and Heaven's Door Spirits, a premium whiskey brand co-founded by legendary musician Bob Dylan, are excited to announce their partnership.

Heaven's Door Core Collection

In April 2023, Speakeasy's expert web developers launched an infinitely scalable platform to host Heaven's Door, expanding its market to 34 states, shipping directly to consumers. Inspired by Bob Dylan's artistry, the full Heaven's Door collection, which features highly awarded Straight Bourbon, Double Barrel, Straight Rye whiskeys and limited release Bootleg Series, Decade Collection and Single Barrel selections can now be purchased online.

Heaven's Door is known for its distinctive flavors and unique bottle designs, which feature artwork by Dylan himself. By utilizing Speakeasy's in-house marketing services, new audiences will be introduced to Dylan's legacy and the meticulously blended whiskeys.

"Remaining three-tier compliant has been difficult for alcohol retailers in the past," regards Marc Bushala, co-founder of Heaven's Door and CEO of Spirits Investment Partners. "Speakeasy brings a solution to that roadblock and allows us to reach new markets across the US with bi-coastal fulfillment."

"We're proud to add Heaven's Door's transcendent whiskey to our portfolio of brand partners," says Josh Jacobs, co-founder and CEO of Speakeasy. "The brand will be among the first to leverage our newly launched email and SMS marketing program, providing new audience insight and growth to both of our teams."

Eight SKUs, including bundle options are now available to customers online at: https://buy.heavensdoor.com/

About Heaven's Door:

Founded in 2015 by Bob Dylan in collaboration with Spirits Investment Partnership. Heaven's Door has countless awards for its uncompromising quality and craft whiskey, including the #1 Consumer Choice Award at the 2021 San Francisco World Spirits Competition, and cited as the "Best Bourbons of the Century...So Far" by the Robb Report. As Bob Dylan's first and only consumer brand partnership in his 50-year career, Heaven's Door is a true reflection of his visionary artistry and unconventional spirit. To learn more, visit www.heavensdoor.com .

About Speakeasy Co.: A technology company and e-commerce platform for the wine and spirits industry that ships directly to consumers. Its centralized fulfillment model enables brands to sell from their own online storefronts without disrupting the three-tier system. For more information, visit www.SpeakeasyCo.com or connect with Speakeasy Co.'s Instagram and LinkedIn .

SOURCE Speakeasy Co
NEW YORK, May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The herbal cosmetics market size is estimated to grow by USD 34.64 billion during 2022-2027. Moreover, the growth momentum will progress at a CAGR of 6.83%. The market is segmented by distribution channel (offline and online), product (skin care, hair care, and body care), and geography (APAC, Europe, North America, South America, and Middle East and Africa). The offline segment will account for a significant share of market growth during the forecast period. Specialty stores, supermarkets/hypermarkets, department stores, drugstores/pharmacies, health and wellness stores, and salons and spas are some of the offline channels. These channels provide consumers with easy access to a wide variety of products, which will drive the growth of the market during the forecast period. The expansion of organized retailing is driving market growth. Providers are focusing on strengthening their distribution networks in the organized retail sector to increase sales volume. Organized retail distribution channels such as hypermarkets, supermarkets, and specialty stores allow consumers to physically examine the product before purchasing. They help vendors with marketing, advertising, and promotion. The number of retail outlets is increasing globally, which is increasing the reach and awareness of luxury personal care products, including herbal cosmetics. These factors are expected estimated to fuel the growth of the market during the forecast period. Get the market share report that provides valuable insights and analysis on the current state of the market., Request the sample report now!.

Technavio has announced its latest market research report titled Global Herbal Cosmetics Market 2023-2027

Herbal cosmetics market insights -

Vendors : 15+, including Alna Vedic, APCOS NATURALS PVT. Ltd., Ayur Herbals, Group Fourteen holdings Pty Ltd., HCP Wellness, Herbline, Himalaya Global Holdings Ltd., Jovees Herbal Care India Ltd., Khadi Natural, LOreal SA, Lotus Herbals Pvt. Ltd., MyChelle Dermaceuticals LLC, Patanjali Ayurved Ltd., The Hain Celestial Group Inc., The Procter and Gamble Co., Vaadi Herbals Pvt. Ltd., WALA Stiftung, Weleda Group, Yves Rocher Amerique du Nord Inc., Emami Ltd., among others

: 15+, including Alna Vedic, APCOS NATURALS PVT. Ltd., Ayur Herbals, Group Fourteen holdings Pty Ltd., HCP Wellness, Herbline, Himalaya Global Holdings Ltd., Jovees Herbal Care India Ltd., Khadi Natural, LOreal SA, Lotus Herbals Pvt. Ltd., MyChelle Dermaceuticals LLC, Patanjali Ayurved Ltd., The Hain Celestial Group Inc., The Procter and Gamble Co., Vaadi Herbals Pvt. Ltd., WALA Stiftung, Weleda Group, du Nord Inc., Emami Ltd., among others Coverage: Parent market analysis; key drivers, major trends, and challenges; customer and vendor landscape; vendor product insights and recent developments; key vendors; and market positioning of vendors

Parent market analysis; key drivers, major trends, and challenges; customer and vendor landscape; vendor product insights and recent developments; key vendors; and market positioning of vendors Segments: Distribution channel (offline and online), product (skin care, hair care, and body care), and geography (APAC, Europe , North America , South America , and Middle East and Africa )

In 2017, the herbal cosmetics market was valued at USD 70.60 billion. From a regional perspective, APAC held the largest market share, valued at USD 26.12 billion.

Herbal cosmetics market - Customer landscape

To help companies evaluate and develop growth strategies, the report outlines 

Key purchase criteria

Adoption rates

Adoption lifecycle

Drivers of price sensitivity

For highlights on customer landscape analysis, download a sample!

Herbal cosmetics market - Vendor insights

The global herbal cosmetics market is fragmented due to the presence of several international and domestic players. Established players have a competitive advantage owing to their large scale of operations and the high popularity of their brand names. The competition among vendors is mainly based on product line extensions and innovative offerings. In addition, vendors are investing actively in R&D activities due to regulations regarding product safety. Technavio report analyzes the market's competitive landscape and offers information on several market vendors, including

Ayur Herbals - The company offers herbal cosmetics such as Ayur Herbals Charcoal Face Wash, Ayur Herbals Neem and Tulsi Face Wash , and Ayur Herbals Tea Tree Face Wash.

The company offers herbal cosmetics such as Ayur Herbals Charcoal Face Wash, Ayur Herbals Neem and , and Ayur Herbals Tea Tree Face Wash. Yves Rocher Amerique du Nord Inc. - The company offers herbal cosmetics such as 46h nonstop moisturizing gel, Anti fatigue moisturizing fresh gel, Zero blemish moisturizing gel.

The company offers herbal cosmetics such as 46h nonstop moisturizing gel, Anti fatigue moisturizing fresh gel, Zero blemish moisturizing gel. Alna Vedic - The company offers herbal cosmetics such as gold serum, Alan pure Syp blood purifier, and charcoal serum.

The company offers herbal cosmetics such as gold serum, Alan pure Syp blood purifier, and charcoal serum. APCOS NATURALS PVT. Ltd. - The company offers herbal cosmetics such as Herb enriched ayurvedic lipstick, Nourishing lip and cheek tint, and Hydrating skin tint.

Herbal cosmetics market  Market dynamics

Major trends

Rise in adoption of home salon services

Increasing preference for online shopping

Growing demand for organic and environment-friendly herbal cosmetics

Personalized home salon services have become an emerging trend globally. The number of application-based service providers offering at-home makeup services has increased significantly in the past decade. These mobile applications enable consumers to access makeup services at their preferred addresses. The use of such services has increased the consumption of herbal cosmetics such as herbal body lotion, hair care, and face cream. For instance, GLAMSQUAD Inc. (GLAMSQUAD) provides hair, makeup, and special event services. The demand for these services is high, which, in turn, will support market growth during the forecast period.

Key challenges

High cost of herbal cosmetic products

Availability of substitute products

Growing adoption of clinical treatments

Herbal cosmetics are often marketed as luxury products, and their prices are high. As a result, they are unaffordable for various customers. Manufacturers use high-quality raw materials to adhere to strict government regulations. For instance, European importers of herbal ingredients are required to register with the Central Authority for the Registration, Evaluation, Authorization, and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH). As a result, manufacturers are compelled to sell their products at high prices. These factors will challenge the growth of the market during the forecast period.

Drivers, trends, and challenges have an impact on market dynamics, which can impact businesses. Find more insights in the sample report!

The herbal cosmetics market report provides critical information and factual data, with a qualitative and quantitative study of the market based on market drivers and limitations as well as future prospects.

Why buy?

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Analyzes competitor's offerings

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What are the key data covered in this herbal cosmetics market report?

CAGR of the market during the forecast period

Detailed information on factors that will drive the growth of the herbal cosmetics market between 2023 and 2027

Precise estimation of the size of the herbal cosmetics market and its contribution to the parent market

Accurate predictions about upcoming trends and changes in consumer behavior

Growth of the herbal cosmetics market across APAC, Europe , North America , South America , and Middle East and Africa

, , , and and A thorough analysis of the market's competitive landscape and detailed information about vendors

Comprehensive analysis of factors that will challenge the growth of herbal cosmetics market vendors

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The herbal tea market size is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 4.94% between 2022 and 2027. The market size is forecasted to increase by USD 885.1 million. This report extensively covers market segmentation by type (green, black, and yellow), distribution channel (offline and online), and geography (APAC, Europe, North America, South America, and Middle East and Africa).

The herbal extract market size is expected to increase by USD 23.40 billion from 2021 to 2026. Furthermore, this report extensively covers market segmentation by application (pharmaceuticals, personal care, and others) and geography (APAC, North America, Europe, MEA, and South America).

Herbal Cosmetics Market Scope Report Coverage Details Base year 2022 Historic period 2017-2021 Forecast period 2023-2027 Growth momentum & CAGR Accelerate at a CAGR of 6.83% Market growth 2023-2027 USD 34.64 billion Market structure Fragmented YoY growth 2022-2023 (%) 6.31 Regional analysis APAC, Europe, North America, South America, and Middle East and Africa Performing market contribution APAC at 33% Key countries US, China, South Korea, Germany, and France Competitive landscape Leading vendors, market positioning of vendors, competitive strategies, and industry risks Key companies profiled Alna Vedic, APCOS NATURALS PVT. Ltd., Ayur Herbals, Group Fourteen holdings Pty Ltd., HCP Wellness, Herbline, Himalaya Global Holdings Ltd., Jovees Herbal Care India Ltd., Khadi Natural, LOreal SA, Lotus Herbals Pvt. Ltd., MyChelle Dermaceuticals LLC, Patanjali Ayurved Ltd., The Hain Celestial Group Inc., The Procter and Gamble Co., Vaadi Herbals Pvt. Ltd., WALA Stiftung, Weleda Group, Yves Rocher Amerique du Nord Inc., and Emami Ltd. Market dynamics Parent market analysis, market growth inducers and obstacles, fast-growing and slow-growing segment analysis, COVID-19 impact and recovery analysis and future consumer dynamics, and market condition analysis for the forecast period. Customization purview If our report has not included the data that you are looking for, you can reach out to our analysts and get segments customized.

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Table of contents

1 Executive Summary

1.1 Market overview

Exhibit 01: Executive Summary  Chart on Market Overview



Exhibit 02: Executive Summary  Data Table on Market Overview



Exhibit 03: Executive Summary  Chart on Global Market Characteristics



Exhibit 04: Executive Summary  Chart on Market by Geography



Exhibit 05: Executive Summary  Chart on Market Segmentation by Distribution Channel



Exhibit 06: Executive Summary  Chart on Market Segmentation by Product



Exhibit 07: Executive Summary  Chart on Incremental Growth



Exhibit 08: Executive Summary  Data Table on Incremental Growth



Exhibit 09: Executive Summary  Chart on Vendor Market Positioning

2 Market Landscape

2.1 Market ecosystem

Exhibit 10: Parent market



Exhibit 11: Market Characteristics

3 Market Sizing

3.1 Market definition

Exhibit 12: Offerings of vendors included in the market definition

3.2 Market segment analysis

Exhibit 13: Market segments

3.3 Market size 2022

3.4 Market outlook: Forecast for 2022-2027

Exhibit 14: Chart on Global - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ billion)



Exhibit 15: Data Table on Global - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ billion)



Exhibit 16: Chart on Global Market: Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)



Exhibit 17: Data Table on Global Market: Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

4 Historic Market Size

4.1 Global herbal cosmetics market 2017 - 2021

Exhibit 18: Historic Market Size  Data Table on global herbal cosmetics market 2017 - 2021 ($ billion)

4.2 Distribution Channel Segment Analysis 2017 - 2021

Exhibit 19: Historic Market Size  Distribution Channel Segment 2017 - 2021 ($ billion)

4.3 Product Segment Analysis 2017 - 2021

Exhibit 20: Historic Market Size  Product Segment 2017 - 2021 ($ billion)

4.4 Geography Segment Analysis 2017 - 2021

Exhibit 21: Historic Market Size  Geography Segment 2017 - 2021 ($ billion)

4.5 Country Segment Analysis 2017 - 2021

Exhibit 22: Historic Market Size  Country Segment 2017 - 2021 ($ billion)

5 Five Forces Analysis

5.1 Five forces summary

Exhibit 23: Five forces analysis - Comparison between 2022 and 2027

5.2 Bargaining power of buyers

Exhibit 24: Chart on Bargaining power of buyers  Impact of key factors 2022 and 2027

5.3 Bargaining power of suppliers

Exhibit 25: Bargaining power of suppliers  Impact of key factors in 2022 and 2027

5.4 Threat of new entrants

Exhibit 26: Threat of new entrants  Impact of key factors in 2022 and 2027

5.5 Threat of substitutes

Exhibit 27: Threat of substitutes  Impact of key factors in 2022 and 2027

5.6 Threat of rivalry

Exhibit 28: Threat of rivalry  Impact of key factors in 2022 and 2027

5.7 Market condition

Exhibit 29: Chart on Market condition - Five forces 2022 and 2027

6 Market Segmentation by Distribution Channel

6.1 Market segments

Exhibit 30: Chart on Distribution Channel - Market share 2022-2027 (%)



Exhibit 31: Data Table on Distribution Channel - Market share 2022-2027 (%)

6.2 Comparison by Distribution Channel

Exhibit 32: Chart on Comparison by Distribution Channel



Exhibit 33: Data Table on Comparison by Distribution Channel

6.3 Offline - Market size and forecast 2022-2027

Exhibit 34: Chart on Offline - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ billion)



Exhibit 35: Data Table on Offline - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ billion)



Exhibit 36: Chart on Offline - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)



Exhibit 37: Data Table on Offline - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

6.4 Online - Market size and forecast 2022-2027

Exhibit 38: Chart on Online - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ billion)



Exhibit 39: Data Table on Online - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ billion)



Exhibit 40: Chart on Online - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)



Exhibit 41: Data Table on Online - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

6.5 Market opportunity by Distribution Channel

Exhibit 42: Market opportunity by Distribution Channel ($ billion)



Exhibit 43: Data Table on Market opportunity by Distribution Channel ($ billion)

7 Market Segmentation by Product

7.1 Market segments

Exhibit 44: Chart on Product - Market share 2022-2027 (%)



Exhibit 45: Data Table on Product - Market share 2022-2027 (%)

7.2 Comparison by Product

Exhibit 46: Chart on Comparison by Product



Exhibit 47: Data Table on Comparison by Product

7.3 Skin care - Market size and forecast 2022-2027

Exhibit 48: Chart on Skin care - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ billion)



Exhibit 49: Data Table on Skin care - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ billion)



Exhibit 50: Chart on Skin care - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)



Exhibit 51: Data Table on Skin care - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

7.4 Hair care - Market size and forecast 2022-2027

Exhibit 52: Chart on Hair care - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ billion)



Exhibit 53: Data Table on Hair care - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ billion)



Exhibit 54: Chart on Hair care - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)



Exhibit 55: Data Table on Hair care - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

7.5 Body care - Market size and forecast 2022-2027

Exhibit 56: Chart on Body care - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ billion)



Exhibit 57: Data Table on Body care - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ billion)



Exhibit 58: Chart on Body care - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)



Exhibit 59: Data Table on Body care - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

7.6 Market opportunity by Product

Exhibit 60: Market opportunity by Product ($ billion)



Exhibit 61: Data Table on Market opportunity by Product ($ billion)

8 Customer Landscape

8.1 Customer landscape overview

Exhibit 62: Analysis of price sensitivity, lifecycle, customer purchase basket, adoption rates, and purchase criteria

9 Geographic Landscape

9.1 Geographic segmentation

Exhibit 63: Chart on Market share by geography 2022-2027 (%)



Exhibit 64: Data Table on Market share by geography 2022-2027 (%)

9.2 Geographic comparison

Exhibit 65: Chart on Geographic comparison



Exhibit 66: Data Table on Geographic comparison

9.3 APAC - Market size and forecast 2022-2027

Exhibit 67: Chart on APAC - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ billion)



Exhibit 68: Data Table on APAC - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ billion)



Exhibit 69: Chart on APAC - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)



Exhibit 70: Data Table on APAC - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

9.4 Europe - Market size and forecast 2022-2027

- Market size and forecast 2022-2027 Exhibit 71: Chart on Europe - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ billion)

- Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ billion)

Exhibit 72: Data Table on Europe - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ billion)

- Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ billion)

Exhibit 73: Chart on Europe - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

- Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

Exhibit 74: Data Table on Europe - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

9.5 North America - Market size and forecast 2022-2027

- Market size and forecast 2022-2027 Exhibit 75: Chart on North America - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ billion)

- Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ billion)

Exhibit 76: Data Table on North America - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ billion)

- Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ billion)

Exhibit 77: Chart on North America - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

- Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

Exhibit 78: Data Table on North America - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

9.6 South America - Market size and forecast 2022-2027

- Market size and forecast 2022-2027 Exhibit 79: Chart on South America - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ billion)

- Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ billion)

Exhibit 80: Data Table on South America - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ billion)

- Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ billion)

Exhibit 81: Chart on South America - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

- Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

Exhibit 82: Data Table on South America - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

9.7 Middle East and Africa - Market size and forecast 2022-2027

and - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 Exhibit 83: Chart on Middle East and Africa - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ billion)

and - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ billion)

Exhibit 84: Data Table on Middle East and Africa - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ billion)

and - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ billion)

Exhibit 85: Chart on Middle East and Africa - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

and - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

Exhibit 86: Data Table on Middle East and Africa - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

9.8 China - Market size and forecast 2022-2027

- Market size and forecast 2022-2027 Exhibit 87: Chart on China - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ billion)

- Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ billion)

Exhibit 88: Data Table on China - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ billion)

- Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ billion)

Exhibit 89: Chart on China - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

- Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

Exhibit 90: Data Table on China - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

9.9 US - Market size and forecast 2022-2027

Exhibit 91: Chart on US - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ billion)



Exhibit 92: Data Table on US - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ billion)



Exhibit 93: Chart on US - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)



Exhibit 94: Data Table on US - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

9.10 Germany - Market size and forecast 2022-2027

- Market size and forecast 2022-2027 Exhibit 95: Chart on Germany - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ billion)

- Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ billion)

Exhibit 96: Data Table on Germany - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ billion)

- Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ billion)

Exhibit 97: Chart on Germany - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

- Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

Exhibit 98: Data Table on Germany - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

9.11 France - Market size and forecast 2022-2027

- Market size and forecast 2022-2027 Exhibit 99: Chart on France - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ billion)

- Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ billion)

Exhibit 100: Data Table on France - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ billion)

- Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ billion)

Exhibit 101: Chart on France - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

- Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

Exhibit 102: Data Table on France - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

9.12 South Korea - Market size and forecast 2022-2027

- Market size and forecast 2022-2027 Exhibit 103: Chart on South Korea - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ billion)

- Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ billion)

Exhibit 104: Data Table on South Korea - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ billion)

- Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ billion)

Exhibit 105: Chart on South Korea - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

- Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

Exhibit 106: Data Table on South Korea - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

9.13 Market opportunity by geography

Exhibit 107: Market opportunity by geography ($ billion)



Exhibit 108: Data Tables on Market opportunity by geography ($ billion)

10 Drivers, Challenges, and Trends

10.1 Market drivers

10.2 Market challenges

10.3 Impact of drivers and challenges

Exhibit 109: Impact of drivers and challenges in 2022 and 2027

10.4 Market trends

11 Vendor Landscape

11.1 Overview

11.2 Vendor landscape

Exhibit 110: Overview on Criticality of inputs and Factors of differentiation

11.3 Landscape disruption

Exhibit 111: Overview on factors of disruption

11.4 Industry risks

Exhibit 112: Impact of key risks on business

12 Vendor Analysis

12.1 Vendors covered

Exhibit 113: Vendors covered

12.2 Market positioning of vendors

Exhibit 114: Matrix on vendor position and classification

12.3 Alna Vedic

Exhibit 115: Alna Vedic - Overview



Exhibit 116: Alna Vedic - Product / Service



Exhibit 117: Alna Vedic - Key offerings

12.4 APCOS NATURALS PVT. Ltd.

Exhibit 118: APCOS NATURALS PVT. Ltd. - Overview



Exhibit 119: APCOS NATURALS PVT. Ltd. - Product / Service



Exhibit 120: APCOS NATURALS PVT. Ltd. - Key offerings

12.5 Ayur Herbals

Exhibit 121: Ayur Herbals - Overview



Exhibit 122: Ayur Herbals - Product / Service



Exhibit 123: Ayur Herbals - Key offerings

12.6 Emami Ltd.

Exhibit 124: Emami Ltd. - Overview



Exhibit 125: Emami Ltd. - Product / Service



Exhibit 126: Emami Ltd. - Key offerings

12.7 Himalaya Global Holdings Ltd.

Exhibit 127: Himalaya Global Holdings Ltd. - Overview



Exhibit 128: Himalaya Global Holdings Ltd. - Product / Service



Exhibit 129: Himalaya Global Holdings Ltd. - Key offerings

12.8 Khadi Natural

Exhibit 130: Khadi Natural - Overview



Exhibit 131: Khadi Natural - Product / Service



Exhibit 132: Khadi Natural - Key offerings

12.9 LOreal SA

Exhibit 133: LOreal SA - Overview



Exhibit 134: LOreal SA - Business segments



Exhibit 135: LOreal SA - Key news



Exhibit 136: LOreal SA - Key offerings



Exhibit 137: LOreal SA - Segment focus

12.10 Lotus Herbals Pvt. Ltd.

Exhibit 138: Lotus Herbals Pvt. Ltd. - Overview



Exhibit 139: Lotus Herbals Pvt. Ltd. - Product / Service



Exhibit 140: Lotus Herbals Pvt. Ltd. - Key offerings

12.11 MyChelle Dermaceuticals LLC

Exhibit 141: MyChelle Dermaceuticals LLC - Overview



Exhibit 142: MyChelle Dermaceuticals LLC - Product / Service



Exhibit 143: MyChelle Dermaceuticals LLC - Key offerings

12.12 Patanjali Ayurved Ltd.

Exhibit 144: Patanjali Ayurved Ltd. - Overview



Exhibit 145: Patanjali Ayurved Ltd. - Product / Service



Exhibit 146: Patanjali Ayurved Ltd. - Key offerings

12.13 The Hain Celestial Group Inc.

Exhibit 147: The Hain Celestial Group Inc. - Overview



Exhibit 148: The Hain Celestial Group Inc. - Business segments



Exhibit 149: The Hain Celestial Group Inc. - Key news



Exhibit 150: The Hain Celestial Group Inc. - Key offerings



Exhibit 151: The Hain Celestial Group Inc. - Segment focus

12.14 The Procter and Gamble Co.

Exhibit 152: The Procter and Gamble Co. - Overview



Exhibit 153: The Procter and Gamble Co. - Business segments



Exhibit 154: The Procter and Gamble Co. - Key news



Exhibit 155: The Procter and Gamble Co. - Key offerings



Exhibit 156: The Procter and Gamble Co. - Segment focus

12.15 Vaadi Herbals Pvt. Ltd.

Exhibit 157: Vaadi Herbals Pvt. Ltd. - Overview



Exhibit 158: Vaadi Herbals Pvt. Ltd. - Product / Service



Exhibit 159: Vaadi Herbals Pvt. Ltd. - Key offerings

12.16 Weleda Group

Exhibit 160: Weleda Group - Overview



Exhibit 161: Weleda Group - Business segments



Exhibit 162: Weleda Group - Key offerings



Exhibit 163: Weleda Group - Segment focus

12.17 Yves Rocher Amerique du Nord Inc.

du Nord Inc. Exhibit 164: Yves Rocher Amerique du Nord Inc. - Overview

du Nord Inc. - Overview

Exhibit 165: Yves Rocher Amerique du Nord Inc. - Product / Service

du Nord Inc. - Product / Service

Exhibit 166: Yves Rocher Amerique du Nord Inc. - Key offerings

13 Appendix

13.1 Scope of the report

13.2 Inclusions and exclusions checklist

Exhibit 167: Inclusions checklist



Exhibit 168: Exclusions checklist

13.3 Currency conversion rates for US$

Exhibit 169: Currency conversion rates for US$

13.4 Research methodology

Exhibit 170: Research methodology



Exhibit 171: Validation techniques employed for market sizing



Exhibit 172: Information sources

13.5 List of abbreviations

Exhibit 173: List of abbreviations

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SOURCE Technavio
DALLAS, May 16, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The Highland Income Fund (NYSE: HFRO) ("HFRO" or the "Fund") today announced that the Fund's Board of Trustees (the "Board") approved a repurchase program pursuant to which the Fund may repurchase up to $100 million of its stock in open-market transactions over a two-year period.

In conjunction with the repurchase program, the Board approved modifications to the Fund's investment objective. Under the modified investment objective, the Fund will pursue growth of capital along with income. These changes expand the Fund's universe of opportunistic investments and provide flexibility to seek growth of capital along with income opportunities. The Fund will change its name to the Highland Opportunities and Income Fund to reflect the new investment objective.

All changes will take effect on June 15, 2023.

The Fund's strategy will not change materially as a result of the modifications to its investment objective. The Fund will invest directly and indirectly (e.g., through derivatives that are the economic equivalent of direct investments) in the following categories of securities and instruments: (i) investments in securities or other instruments directly or indirectly secured by real estate, including real estate investment trusts ("REITs"), preferred equity, securities convertible into equity securities and mezzanine debt; (ii) other instruments, including, but not limited to, secured and unsecured fixed-rate loans and corporate bonds, distressed securities, mezzanine securities, structured products (including but not limited to mortgage-backed securities, collateralized loan obligations and asset-backed securities), convertible and preferred securities, equities (public and private), and futures and options; and (iii) floating rate loans and other securities deemed to be floating rate investments. With the new investment objective, the Fund may be recategorized within fund classification systems such as Lipper and Morningstar.

The Adviser believes the share repurchase program and the new investment objective will enhance value for HFRO shareholders.

"HFRO has traditionally provided investors with exposure to a variety of securities and instruments that maintain a high level of current income consistent with preservation of capital," said Scott Johnson, the Fund's Portfolio Manager. "Given the current market environment and our long-term investment outlook, we believe investors will benefit from a broader array of opportunistic investments while maintaining a focus on generating income."

The Adviser is implementing other initiatives to help deliver shareholder value and narrow the share price's discount to net asset value. These include enhancing investor communications by adding investor relations personnel and increasing portfolio-level updates. The Adviser plans to deliver these updates by hosting investors calls and publishing commentary on top holdings quarterly. The latest Fund commentary is currently available on the website at nexpointassetmgmt.com/income-fund. The Adviser plans to host its next quarterly call in June.

About the Highland Income Fund

The Highland Income Fund (NYSE: HFRO) is a closed-end fund managed by NexPoint Asset Management, L.P. For more information visit nexpointassetmgmt.com/income-fund/.

About NexPoint Asset Management, L.P.

NexPoint Asset Management, L.P. is an SEC-registered investment adviser. It is the adviser to a suite of registered funds, including open-end mutual funds, closed-end funds, and an exchange-traded fund. For more information visit nexpointassetmgmt.com.

Disclosures

Before investing in the Fund, you should carefully consider the Fund's investment objectives, risks, charges, and expenses. For a copy of a prospectus or summary prospectus, which contains this and other information, please visit our website at www.nexpointassetmgmt.com or call 1-800-357-9167. Please read the fund prospectus carefully before investing.

Shares of closed-end investment companies frequently trade at a discount to NAV. The price of the Fund's shares is determined by a number of factors, several of which are beyond the control of the Fund. Therefore, the Fund cannot predict whether its shares will trade at, below or above net asset value. Past performance does not guarantee future results.

CONTACTS

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[email protected]

Investor Relations

Kristen Thomas

[email protected]

SOURCE Highland Income Fund
With record attendance expected at the foodservice industry's premier event, the company is once again bringing expert chefs and a full-service restaurant to the showroom floor

AUSTIN, Minn., May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Attending the prestigious National Restaurant Association Show has long been a tradition of Hormel Foods Corporation (NYSE: HRL), an annual opportunity for the Fortune 500 global-branded food company to highlight its extensive product offerings to foodservice operators from around the country. This year's show takes place May 20-23 at McCormick Place in Chicago and will feature more than 2,100 exhibits hosted by hundreds of U.S. manufacturers and suppliers. But none of those exhibits promises to be as eye popping as what Hormel Foods is bringing to the showroom floor.

For the second straight year, Hormel Foods will feature a full-service restaurant as part of its multifaceted exhibit at the annual National Restaurant Association Show, which takes place May 20-23 at McCormick Place in Chicago.

For the second straight year, Hormel Foods will feature a full-service restaurant as part of its multifaceted exhibit. As for the kitchen within it, the company is bringing its incredible culinary talent to prepare and serve samples far beyond the quality of typical event offerings.

"We've got fryers, flattop grills and convection ovens, not to mention a full staff of extremely talented and inspired chefs. The exhibit really is one of a kind," said Blake Flores, Hormel Foods Foodservice innovation team lead. "This is the marquee event of food shows, so it's a big deal for us. It's always a tremendous opportunity for the company to showcase what it's bringing to the table in terms of innovation and quality, and to provide value-added and labor-saving products that can really make a difference for foodservice operators everywhere."

The new Hormel Foods Culinary Collective  the company's corps of in-house chefs, which will be on site preparing food throughout the show  has dedicated considerable time and effort into developing not only a delectable menu, but also the overall layout and design of the exhibit as a whole.

"There are a lot of hands on deck to make sure that everything is up to par," said Patty Riedl, Hormel Foods Foodservice director of marketing. "With this innovative exhibit, we're able to deliver on site the food quality that we expect our restauranteurs would be able to deliver from their own kitchens. Our guests will be treated to a true restaurant experience, complete with delicious food, of course."

As for the menu, eight mouthwatering options will be made available to guests, including flank steak shashlik, a dish that will feature the company's FIRE BRAISED flank steak, served alongside golden couscous with a pine-nut vinaigrette, pomegranate and fresh herbs. All eight menu items  not to mention a build-your-own-flatbread option, meant to showcase the company's prowess in the pizza game  will spotlight at least one of the company's foodservice products, giving showroom attendants a firsthand opportunity to experience Hormel Foods products as prepared in a restaurant setting, perhaps inspiring them to implement the same products within their own culinary operations. The taste tests won't be limited to the restaurant area, either. Guests can also sample foodservice products at seven additional stations within the exhibit, where items from the company's house of brands will be available for passersby to try.

"We put an extensive game plan together for how we want to execute this as one house of brands," Flores said. "We look forward to connecting with everyone who stops by our exhibit and giving them a real taste of what we have to offer."

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: Media Relations

507-434-6352

[email protected]

SOURCE Hormel Foods Corporation
BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 17. Heydar Aliyev made a great contribution to the unity and solidarity of the entire Turkic world, Secretary General of the Parliamentary Assembly of Turkic Speaking Countries (TurkPA) Mehmet Sureyya Er said at a special meeting of the Azerbaijani parliament, dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the birth of Heydar Aliyev, Trend reports.

He noted that Heydar Aliyev made tireless efforts for the sake of the unity of the Turkic countries.

Mehmet Sureyya Er stressed that the development of Azerbaijan's cooperation with other Turkic states, which was one of the most important directions of Heydar Aliyev's political course, holds an exceptional place in the country's foreign policy.

"The successful results of his purposeful activities have become an impetus for further steps in this direction," he noted.

"Today we can say with confidence that parliamentary diplomacy contributes to the further deepening of the development of relations between the Turkic states," added the Secretary General of the TurkPA.
SAN FRANCISCO, May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- In light of the recent controversy surrounding the DeSantis bill defunding diversity programs at Florida colleges, Niya Khatri has dedicated herself more than ever to support and uplift fellow women of color in the tech industry. Through her digital online platform, sixfeetcloser, a community with over 2,000 millennial women members, she provides support, mentorship, and empowerment, actively advocating for the advancement of women of color.

Pictured: Niyanta Khatri University students that received academic scholarships via DEI programs

Since the inception of sixfeetcloser, Niya has been amplifying the voices of women leaders and highlighting their achievements across various domains such as real estate, personal finance, and bridging the gender pay gap. Her experiences have reinforced her belief in the strength of diversity, particularly among women of color. As she paved the path for others, she found herself in the spotlight, prompting a realization of the importance of sharing her own story within the male-dominated tech sales industry. Overcoming imposter syndrome, she fearlessly imparts insights and actionable takeaways, focusing on growth and revenue strategies. Key subjects she has addressed include creating successful sales infrastructures from scratch and the transformative impact of AI in the sales landscape.

However, amidst the news of the diversity program cuts, Niya sees this as an opportunity to expand her impact. Recognizing the urgency to highlight the strength and significance of diversity and inclusion, she has reached out to local schools, her alma mater, and university career centers, collaborating with other women leaders to organize workshops, seminars, and networking events. The aim is to empower women of color in the tech industry, counteracting the impact of the diversity cuts by fostering resilience, and professional growth, and providing mentorship opportunities.

Niya firmly believes that the DEI efforts in college and at her company played a critical role in shaping who she is today - a successful sales tech and growth leader. Giving back to her community through sixfeetcloser is a vital step for her, creating a supportive ecosystem and sharing experiences to inspire and guide others. Her initiatives strive to cultivate resilience, foster professional growth, and provide mentorship opportunities for those facing challenges in the tech.

It has been a long way from Kathmandu to Pune to Colorado, with a pit stop in Toronto, and finally back in the Bay Area. Niya is a sales growth and business development professional based in SF.

Media contact:

Niyanta Khatri

[email protected]

3019198206

SOURCE sixfeetcloser
SHENZHEN, China, May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- At the Technical Innovation Summit during Huawei Asia Pacific Partners Conference 2023, Huawei launched a number of new upgraded Portfolio Solutions and released the 2023 Future Intelligent Campus White Paper for Asia Pacific, with the aim of helping customers in Asia Pacific build digital infrastructure better and faster and expanding market space for a future of shared success.

Michael Ma, President of Huawei ICT Product Portfolio Management and Solutions Jointly releasing the 2023 Future Intelligent Campus White Paper for Asia Pacific

At the summit, Michael Ma, President of Huawei ICT Product Portfolio Management and Solutions, delivered a keynote speech titled "Leading Digital Infrastructure through Win-Win Cooperation". According to Mr. Ma, as an ICT vendor, Huawei mainly focuses on supporting the Technical Architecture by providing products and Portfolio Solutions to help customers build ICT infrastructure better and faster. Huawei currently provides Data Center, Campus, Digital Site, and Wide Area Network Portfolio Solutions. Compared with single products, Portfolio Solutions are better suited to customers' high-value scenarios. With these offerings, Huawei's partners can help customers go digital more rapidly.

To address the common requirements of high-value scenarios across multiple industries, Huawei has combined the needed ICT products into Portfolio Solutions, which are pre-integrated and pre-verified. This helps Huawei work more efficiently with partners to develop industry solutions. Portfolio Solutions facilitate partners' R&D, marketing, sales, and services by making R&D more efficient, integration simpler, and delivery easier, helping partners achieve business success in an all-round way.

In terms of R&D, Portfolio Solutions leverage advantages in product synergy to ensure APIs are unified and reduce the cost of secondary development. Portfolio Solutions help Huawei's partners build competitive solutions more quickly.

In terms of marketing, Portfolio Solutions are oriented to customers' high-value scenarios, and can spark customer interest, helping partners win more sales opportunities. Huawei will carry out joint marketing with partners to improve market influence.

In terms of sales, Huawei provides typical configurations for Portfolio Solutions, facilitating quotation and improving sales efficiency. Compared with selling single products, selling Portfolio Solutions helps partners gain more sales opportunities and revenue.

In terms of service, Huawei performs pre-integration and pre-verification across products, and provides the right delivery tools and templates to make onsite delivery easier and faster for partners.

At the conference, Huawei launched a number of upgraded Portfolio Solutions, including High-Performance Resource Pool, Simplified Office Network, and Smart Pole Site.

Data Center: The High-Performance Resource Pool combines multiple products, including databases, servers, storage devices, and switches, and leverages software-hardware synergy to achieve optimal latency, concurrency, and throughput, enabling financial and government customers to upgrade their core application systems.

The High-Performance Resource Pool combines multiple products, including databases, servers, storage devices, and switches, and leverages software-hardware synergy to achieve optimal latency, concurrency, and throughput, enabling financial and government customers to upgrade their core application systems. Campus: The Simplified Office Network combines CloudEngine S switches, OptiXAccess optical line terminations (OLTs), OptiXstar optical network units (ONUs), AirEngine access points (APs), HiSecEngine security, eSight, and iMaster Network Cloud Engine (NCE). It simplifies access, architecture, and O&M to help customers build office campus networks with the optimal user experience.

The Simplified Office Network combines CloudEngine S switches, OptiXAccess optical line terminations (OLTs), OptiXstar optical network units (ONUs), AirEngine access points (APs), HiSecEngine security, eSight, and iMaster Network Cloud Engine (NCE). It simplifies access, architecture, and O&M to help customers build office campus networks with the optimal user experience. Digital Site: The Smart Pole Site combines software-defined cameras (SDCs), AR series industrial-grade IoT gateways, switches, Atlas for edge computing, and long-distance high-bandwidth microwave products to achieve intensive construction of sites, facilitating smart cities. What used to require multiple poles can now be achieved by just one pole; the same pole can serve multiple purposes; and pole operations are unified.

Su Baohua, President of Huawei Intelligent Campus Business, He Weizhi, Vice President of Huawei Asia Pacific Enterprise Business, Daniel Shen, General Manager of Omdia, and Ivy Sun, Head of Omdia's Intelligent Campus Business, jointly released the 2023 Future Intelligent Campus White Paper for Asia Pacific, sharing insights into the development trends of intelligent campuses and exploring more effective ways to chart the future of intelligent campuses in Asia Pacific.

Looking ahead, Huawei stands ready to work with partners based on the Portfolio Solutions to develop differentiated competitiveness and help customers build digital infrastructure better and faster.

SOURCE Huawei
Michigan-headquartered brand expands product line, distribution across nation just in time for summer

HOLLAND, Mich., May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, family-owned Hudsonville Ice Cream announced the launch of its Novelty Ice Cream Bar product line available in three flavors: Salted Caramel, Strawberry Shortcake and Vanilla Milk Chocolate. Novelty ice cream bars are available in 4-packs ranging from $4.88-$5.49 MSRP at select retailers nationwide. Visit the 'Scoop Locator' to find a retailer near you.

Hudsonville Ice Cream announced the launch of its Novelty Ice Cream Bar product line available in three flavors: Salted Caramel, Strawberry Shortcake and Vanilla Milk Chocolate.

"Our new ice cream bars are the result of listening to our devoted fans," said Rob Heider, Chief Marketing Officer at Hudsonville Ice Cream. "Our fan-favorite ice cream recipe made with real ingredients has remained largely unchanged since 1926, and we're thrilled to bring that same great Hudsonville quality to ice cream bar lovers."

Novelty Ice Cream Bar flavors include:

Strawberry Shortcake : Rich strawberry ice cream with fluffy yellow cake pieces, dipped in smooth white chocolate coating

: Rich strawberry ice cream with fluffy yellow cake pieces, dipped in smooth white chocolate coating Vanilla Milk Chocolate : Real Vanilla ice cream dipped in a rich milk chocolate shell

: Real Vanilla ice cream dipped in a rich milk chocolate shell Salted Caramel: Salted caramel-flavored ice cream with a swirl of salted caramel, dipped in milk chocolate coating

The release of Hudsonville Ice Cream's Novelty Bars follows the recent launch of the company's "Go to Town" marketing campaign to communicate the brand's accessibility at national retail partners and wide assortment of flavors. Ice cream lovers are encouraged to indulge and enjoy life's everyday moments  no matter how big or small - with Hudsonville Ice Cream.

For more information on Hudsonville's Novelty Ice Cream bars, visit: hudsonvilleicecream.com/flavors-category/novelty-bars and to find them in a store near you, visit the 'Scoop Locator.'

About Hudsonville Ice Cream

Hudsonville makes ice cream you can enjoy every day. This Michigan-based, family-owned and operated company has revolutionized how ice cream is made by building the most progressive ice cream manufacturing facility in the country. Hudsonville Ice Cream combines time-tested recipes with fresh milk and cream from local farms to make real, creamy ice cream that generations have come to know and love. Learn more at hudsonvilleicecream.com.

Media Contact:

Kate Komarzec

kkomarzec@lambert.com

SOURCE Hudsonville Ice Cream
CHICAGO, May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The report "Hydrazine Hydrate Market by Concentration Level (24%-35%, 40%-55%, 60%-85% & 100%), Application (Polymerization & Blowing Agents, Pharmaceuticals, Agrochemicals, Water Treatment), and Region (Asia Pacific, North America, Europe) - Global Forecast to 2027", size was USD 222 million in 2021 and is projected to reach USD 308 million by 2027, at a CAGR of 5.8% from 2022 to 2027.

The market is projected to grow because of rising demand from the agrochemical industry. The agrochemicals industry offers a substantial potential for the use of hydrazine hydrate for advancements in technologies and rapid developments in the manufacturing of agricultural products. Therefore, the rising demand from the agrochemicals industry is a crucial driving factor behind the demand for hydrazine hydrate.

Browse in-depth TOC on "Hydrazine Hydrate Market"

246  Tables

49  Figures

226  Pages

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Polymerization & Blowing Agents was the largest application of the hydrazine hydrate market, in terms of value, in 2021

Hydrazine hydrate is used in the production of plastics and rubber chemicals. It is used as a raw material foaming agent or chemical blowing agent. Also, the derivatives of hydrazine hydrates, such as azobis azodicarbonamide and isobutyronitrile, are used as low-temperature blowing agents and polymerization initiators.

60%-85% is estimated to be the largest concentration level of the hydrazine hydrate, in terms of value, during the forecast period.

100%, 60%-85%, 40%-55% and 24%-35% are various market segment based on the concentration level. During the forecast period, 60%-85% is projected to hold the largest market share of hydrazine hydrate. This concentration level is used as a propellant in emergency power units (EPU) in single-engine aircraft, and F16 fighter aircraft. Moreover, it is also used in the manufacturing of veterinary drugs, chemical synthesis, and polymerization processes as an initiator or blowing agent.

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Asia Pacific is estimated to be the largest market for the hydrazine hydrate market, in terms of value, during the forecast period.

Asia Pacific is projected to be the largest market for hydrazine hydrate, both in terms of value and volume, during the forecast period. One of the major reasons for the growth of the hydrazine hydrate market in the Asia Pacific region is the increasing industrialization and economic development in countries within the region. In addition, less stringent regulations in the region help manufacturers to produce and sell without any hindrance.

Market Players

The key players profiled in the report include Arkema S.A. (France), LANXESS AG (Germany), Lonza Group AG (Switzerland), LGC Science Group Holdings Limited (UK), and Nippon Carbide Industries Co., Inc. (Japan).

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Browse Adjacent Market: Bulk Chemicals and Inorganics Market Research Reports & Consulting

Related Reports:

Blowing Agent Market- Global Forecast to 2026

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BOSTON, May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- RAPID + TCT is one of North America's biggest trade shows and conferences for the additive manufacturing (AM) industry. This year, IDTechEx attended and spoke at the show; they interviewed prominent players and observed industry trends. While RAPID + TCT 2022 saw major technology and materials releases across the board from large and small players alike, RAPID + TCT 2023 felt more constrained in comparison. Still, the announcements and releases that did occur at RAPID 2023 consistently focused on enabling medium-to-high volume part production for AM's power users. As the industry courts the users with the most potential to invest further in additive technology, here are some of the new releases that aim to accomplish that goal.

AM Hardware to Enable Higher Productivity

For the companies releasing new printers at RAPID, they shared a common theme: higher productivity. These printers were designed to increase end-user print productivity, whether it be higher speed, more power, or larger build volumes. For metal printers, Eplus3D released their EP-M400 powder bed fusion machine, which includes four lasers to increase speed and productivity. DMG Mori showcased the LASERTEC 30 SLM US, an American-manufactured PBF machine that features adaptive beam control to improve quality and throughput.

There were more prominent releases for polymer AM printers; Creality, Nexa3D, and Impossible Objects each showcased printers with improved speeds, with the last launching their CBAM 25 printer, a composite 3D printer utilizing sheet lamination that has print speeds 15 times that of comparable selective laser sintering machines per Impossible Objects. Others, like B9Creations, launched printers with bigger build volumes; B9's new digital light processing (DLP) printer is their biggest yet.

Outside of the printers themselves, companies like PostProcess Technologies and HP highlighted their automated equipment that aims to streamline the entire manufacturing line for higher volume production. IDTechEx finds that improvements at every single point of the supply chain (pre-printing, printing, post-processing, quality control, etc.) will be critical to encouraging users' continued adoption of 3D printers, which IDTechEx predicts will reach US$10 billion in market value by 2033.

Materials and Software for Higher Performing AM Parts

Beyond hardware, materials and software are other critical elements to a successful AM ecosystem. Software had its moment at RAPID; with Stratasys releasing the GradCAD Pro suite of software with numerous upgrades targeted for power users, BASF launching their lattice engine powered by Hyperganic, and AMFG and Dyndrite collaborating on an integrated software package for laser PBF printers. As users look to optimize AM operations, software presents opportunities to make AM more accessible and streamlined for different end sectors.

With IDTechEx predicting that AM materials alone will surpass US$31 billion in annual sales by 2033, that expected growth curve for AM materials will very much be fueled by the release and utilization of higher-performance materials that can go on to be used in more demanding applications, many examples of which were on display at RAPID. Numerous metal powders were launched or announced qualifications at RAPID, like Elementum3D's aluminum 5000 series alloy, Mitsui's chromium-copper alloy, and Uniformity Labs' Inconel 625 alloy. High-performance photopolymer resins were also released, including Polyspectra's new biocompatible COR Bio resin and a high-performance resin line developed by Nagase. Another interesting release was Jabil's PLA (polylactic acid) powder that Natureworks developed. They are looking to bring the benefits of the most popular material in thermoplastic filament extrusion to the SLS market, an area dominated by nylon powders, per IDTechEx research.

Advancing the AM Ecosystem to Push the AM Industry Forward

IDTechEx's interviews and discussions at RAPID + TCT 2023 made it clear that improvements were needed within the entire AM ecosystem to encourage more productive use of AM technology. Pushing towards these productive applications, where AM may be used as end-use parts, is not easy to accomplish, given the inherent limitations of many AM technologies and materials. But in the long-term, end-users will be more likely to invest in AM when they can see how its benefits will directly impact and improve their operations. An optimized AM ecosystem will be critical to convincing more end-users of AM's value-add.

Market Forecasts for Additive Manufacturing

IDTechEx's "3D Printing and Additive Manufacturing 2023-2033: Technology and Market Outlook" report carefully segments the market by eighty different forecast lines across seventeen different technology categories, four major material categories, and eight material subcategories. These hardware and material forecasts analyze future installations, hardware unit sales, hardware revenue, materials mass demand, and material revenue. IDTechEx provides comprehensive technology benchmarking studies, examination and case studies of critical application areas, detailed discussion of auxiliary AM industry fields, and in-depth market and economic analysis. Finally, IDTechEx carefully dissects the positive and negative effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent supply chain disruptions on the 3D printing market.

For further information on this market, including 125 interview-based profiles of market leaders and start-ups, technology comparison studies, business model analysis, and granular 10-year market forecasts, see the market report at "3D Printing and Additive Manufacturing 2023-2033: Technology and Market Outlook". For more detailed information on the polymer and metal additive manufacturing industries, please see the IDTechEx reports, "Polymer Additive Manufacturing 2023-2033: Technology and Market Outlook" and "Metal Additive Manufacturing 2022-2032: Technology and Market Outlook".

For the full portfolio of 3D Printing research available from IDTechEx, please visit www.IDTechEx.com/Research/3D. Sample pages are available for all IDTechEx reports.

About IDTechEx

IDTechEx guides your strategic business decisions through its Research, Subscription and Consultancy products, helping you profit from emerging technologies. For more information, contact [email protected] or visit www.IDTechEx.com.

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SOURCE IDTechEX
The funding round follows 300% year-over-year growth and adoption from thousands of restaurants across the U.S. and Canada.

BOSTON, May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Incentivio, the all-in-one intelligent guest engagement platform for restaurants, has closed $10M in Series A Funding. Osage Venture Partners led the round with participation from Ardent Venture Partners and Grotech Ventures.

"The pandemic accelerated restaurants' need to evolve with the times and adopt more of a digital presence. Now most restaurants are looking to take their digital guest experience to the next level while simplifying their tech stack" says Rajat Bhakhri, CEO and Co-Founder at Incentivio. "Most small to medium-sized restaurant groups simply do not have the resources to compete with the largest enterprise brands who have multi-million dollar budgets and large IT teams. That's where we come in!"

Incentivio Raises $10M to Help Restaurants Use AI to Drive Revenue and Guest Engagement Tweet this

Incentivio plans to invest in go-to-market initiatives to accelerate its growth and to invest in product, engineering, and innovation. "We are truly about the art of flavor meeting the science of data," says Sash Dias, Co-Founder, and COO. "The largest enterprise brands have an unfair advantage in leveraging data to drive business results. We want to level the playing field so that all brands can thrive in this digital-first economy."

Today, Incentivio helps restaurants consolidate their digital tech stack, gain a 360-degree picture of their guests, and leverage their guest data to gain real-time insights and enhance the digital guest experience. The next phase of Incentivio's growth is to continue to innovate using AI & Machine Learning to help restaurants reduce manual intervention, cut costs, and increase revenue based on their own data.

"Osage Venture Partners is honored to partner with Incentivio to build the next-generation platform for digital customer engagement for all restaurants," commented Sean Dowling, Managing Partner at Osage Venture Partners. "The company's integrated, AI-driven solution that extracts intelligence from a restaurant's data and drives automated action to elevate the guest journey can create a category leader in an increasingly critical part of the restaurant tech stack, and we are excited to support the exceptional team in realizing that vision."

About Osage Ventures

Osage Venture Partners (OVP) is a leading venture capital firm located just outside Philadelphia, PA. For nearly two decades, OVP has partnered with exceptional entrepreneurs building the next generation of leading early-stage, B2B software companies. OVP applies a deep understanding of how to drive success in B2B software with a focus on companies innovating in the Future of Work the Future of Education.

For more information, visit OsageVenturePartners.com .

About Incentivio

Founded in 2016 by Rajat Bhakhri (CEO) and Sash Dias (COO), Incentivio is the industry leader in leveraging AI and Machine Learning to drive revenue and guest engagement for restaurants. Incentivio is passionate about helping its partners build stronger relationships with their guests, and that starts with the company's consultative and customized approach to sales, implementation, customer success, and customer support.

Incentivio combines online ordering and white-label restaurant apps with loyalty, gift cards, machine learning upsells, CDP analytics, a data-driven marketing suite, and guest journey management to give restaurants a powerful system to build relationships with their guests and drive digital revenue. For more information visit www.incentivio.com .

Contact:

Samuel Kusinitz

617-833-0110

[email protected]

SOURCE Incentivio
DUBLIN, May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Industrial Process Automation Market by Component, by Industry Vertical - Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2023-2030" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

The Industrial Process Automation Market size was valued at USD 58.36 billion in 2022 and is expected to reach USD 96.06 billion by 2030, at a CAGR of 5.4% during the forecast period from 2023 to 2030.

The growth of the Internet of Things (IoT) and sensor technology has led to an increase in the amount of data that can be collected from industrial processes. This data can be used to optimize and automate production processes, leading to improved efficiency and productivity, which in turn increases demand for industrial process automation solutions.

However, lack of standardization related to security issues in the industrial process automation that creates cybersecurity risks hinders the market growth. On the contrary, integration of Industry 4.0, which includes automation, artificial intelligence, IoT, and other digital technologies as companies seek to remain competitive in an increasingly digital marketplace is expected to create ample opportunities for the key players operating in the industrial process automation market during the coming decade.

Segment Overview

The global industrial process automation industry is segmented on the basis of components, end user, and geography.

Based on components, the market is bifurcated into Manufacturing Execution System (MES), Distributed Control System (DCS), Programmable Logic Control (PLC), Supervisory Control & Data Acquisition (SCADA), field instruments, industrial robots, Human Machine Interface (HMI), industrial PCS, process analyzers & drives.

Based on end-user, the market is classified into oil & gas, chemicals & refining, energy & power, pulp & paper, metals & mining, pharmaceuticals, cement & glass and others.

Region wise, the market is segmented into North America , Europe , Asia-Pacific , and RoW.

Regional Analysis



The European market holds the dominant share

Europe dominates the global industrial process automation market and is expected to remain dominant in the market throughout the forecast period. The European Union has implemented strict environmental regulations, which drive the adoption of automation technologies that can help businesses reduce waste, minimize emissions, and conserve energy.

Developments such as energy-efficient sensors and smart building systems enable businesses to reduce their environmental footprint while also enhancing their profitability. Industrial process automation can play a significant role in helping companies achieve their sustainability goals while also improving their financial performance.

Moreover, various market leaders are taking robust initiatives to revolutionize the automation processes with Industry 4.0 technologies in industries such as oil and refinery, pharmaceuticals, and energy among others. For instance, in January 2023, Schneider Electric partnered with Ryse Energy - the global leader in decentralised renewable energy systems - to design and implement a new standardised control system for improved power quality.

It enables the integration of small wind turbines with the National Grid, which could lead to increased use of renewable energy sources and a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. This is expected to accelerate the growth of the market throughout the forecast period.

Key Market Players

The emerging and efficient key players in the industrial process automation market include the following:

Hitachi Ltd.

Siemens AG

Mitsubishi Electric

Schneider Electric

Honeywell International

ABB Ltd.

Toshiba Corporation

Emerson Electric Co.

Rockwell Automation

Omron Corporation

Fanuc Corporation

Valmet OYJ

Yokogawa Electric

Endress Hauser

Dwyer Instruments

Recent Developments



February 2023

Yokogawa Electric Corporation developed a new sensor called FKDPP for measuring oxygen concentration in industrial processes. The sensor offers high accuracy & stability even in harsh environments, and is expected to contribute to improved productivity and efficiency in a variety of industries.

January 2023

ABB opened a new industrial automation HQ in Mexico to serve process industries in North and South America. The move aims to expand ABB's presence in the region and meet the growing demand for automation solutions in various industries.

December 2022

Emerson introduced a new Crosby J-Series pressure relief valve product line designed to offer reliable and efficient overpressure protection for various industries. The new product line features advanced technology, a soft-seat design for tightness and durability, and customization options for users.

July 2022

Mitsubishi Electric announced its plan to build a new factory for its factory automation control system products in Nagoya, Japan. The new facility is expected to start operating in October 2023 and help to meet the growing demand for factory automation control system products in the global market.

March 2022

Hitachi Vantara, a subsidiary of Hitachi Ltd, launched Lumada DataOps Suite, which provides data integration, orchestration, and management capabilities for enterprise & industrial control. The Lumada SuiteOps suite simplifies data management processes, offers data governance, and quality controls, and is available in both cloud-based and on-premises options.

KEY BENEFITS

The industrial process automation market report provides a quantitative analysis of the current market and estimations through 2023-2030 that assists in identifying the prevailing market opportunities to capitalize on.

The study comprises a deep dive analysis of the industrial process automation market trend including the current and future trends for depicting the prevalent investment pockets in the market.

The information related to key drivers, restraints, and opportunities and their impact on the industrial process automation market is provided in the report.

The competitive analysis of the market players along with their market share in the industrial process automation market is provided in the report.

The SWOT analysis and Porter's Five Forces model is elaborated in the study.

Value chain analysis in the market study provides a clear picture of the stakeholders' roles.

Key Topics Covered:





1. Introduction

2. Industrial Process Automation Market- Executive Summary

3. Market Overview

3.1. Market Definition and Scope

3.2. Market Dynamics

3.2.1 Drivers

3.2.1.1. Increasing Adoption of Industrial IoT

3.2.1.2. Integration of Ar Technology and Digital Twins in Manufacturing

3.2.1.3. Government Initiatives to Promote Industrial Automation

3.2.2 Restraints

3.2.2.1. Growing Fluctuations in End-Use Industries

3.2.2.2. Lack of Standardization Processes

3.2.3 Opportunities

3.2.3.1. Industry 4.0 Revolution to Embrace Collaborations and Partnerships

3.2.3.2. Increasing Adoption of Cloud-Based Automation Solutions

4. Market Share Analysis

4.1. Market Share Analysis of Top Industrial Process Automation, 2022

5. Global Industrial Process Automation Market, by Component

5.1. Overview

5.2. Mes

5.2.1 Global Mes Market, by Component

5.2.1.1. Hardware Market, by Region

5.2.1.2. Software Market, by Region

5.2.1.3. Services Market, by Region

5.2.2 Mes Market, by Region

5.3. Dcs

5.3.1 Global Dcs Market, by Component

5.3.1.1. Hardware Market, by Region

5.3.1.2. Software Market, by Region

5.3.1.3. Services Market, by Region

5.3.2 Dcs Market, by Region

5.4. Plc

5.4.1 Global plc Market, by Component

5.4.1.1. Hardware Market, by Region

5.4.1.2. Software Market, by Region

5.4.1.3. Services Market, by Region

5.4.2 Plc Market, by Region

5.5. Scada

5.5.1 Global Scada Market, by Component

5.5.1.1. Hardware Market, by Region

5.5.1.2. Software Market, by Region

5.5.1.3. Services Market, by Region

5.5.2 Scada Market, by Region

5.6. Hmi

5.6.1 Hmi Market, by Region

5.7. Field Instruments

5.7.1 Field Instruments Market, by Region

5.8. Industrial Robots

5.8.1 Industrial Robots Market, by Region

5.9. Process Analyzers & Drives

5.9.1 Process Analyzers & Drives Market, by Region

6. Global Industrial Process Automation Market, by Enduser

6.1. Overview

6.2. Oil & Gas

6.2.1 Oil & Gas Market, by Region

6.3. Chemicals & Refining

6.3.1 Chemicals & Refining Market, by Region

6.4. Energy & Power

6.4.1 Energy & Power Market, by Region

6.5. Pulp & Paper

6.5.1 Pulp & Paper Market, by Region

6.6. Metals & Mining

6.6.1 Metals & Mining Market, by Region

6.7. Pharmaceutical

6.7.1 Pharmaceutical Market, by Region

6.8. Cement & Glass

6.8.1 Cement & Glass Market, by Region

6.9. Others

6.9.1 Others Market, by Region

7. Global Industrial Process Automation Market, by Region

8. Company Profile

A selection of companies mentioned in this report includes

Hitachi Ltd.

Siemens

Mitsubishi Electric Corporation

Schneider Electric SE

Honeywell International Inc

ABB Ltd.

Toshiba Corporation

Emerson Electric Co.

Rockwell Automation Inc

Omron Corporation

Fanuc Corporation

Valmet OYJ

Yokogawa Electric

Endress+Hauser

Dwyer Instruments Inc.

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/49e45r

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Nagpal joins other industry luminaries in continuing to develop the world's first-ever M.S. in Datacenter Systems Engineering degree

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. and DALLAS, May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- InterGlobix LLC, a global consulting, advisory, and media company focused on the convergence of datacenters, terrestrial and subsea fiber, and Southern Methodist University (SMU) Lyle School of Engineering, announced today at International Telecoms Week (ITW) 2023 that Vinay Nagpal has been named to the SMU Advisory Board of the M.S. in Datacenter Systems Engineering program.

As the world's first program of its kind, the M.S. in Datacenter Systems Engineering degree program was developed for professionals who are actively employed in or seek to enter the field of digital infrastructure, including data management and mining, computer networking, virtualization, and security.

The advisory board, made up of industry leaders and executives, is an important part of the success of the program. Designed to respond to the emerging needs of this fast-growing field, the advisory board works with the university to help ensure the curriculum is preparing students with the skill sets and working knowledge they need to become leaders in data center systems engineering. The board also provides students with the chance to connect with and immerse themselves in the wider industry through guest lectures, networking events, internships, and job opportunities.

"The program provides students with end-to-end knowledge for datacenter inception, architecture, implementation, and management. Part of ensuring students are prepared to face and adapt to advances in related things like virtualization, networks, and security comes from the significant input from existing professionals who understand first-hand the highly specialized skills required to address the needs of this industry," said Klyne Smith, co-director of the SMU M.S. in Datacenter Systems Engineering. "We're thrilled to have Vinay bring his vast experience in datacenters and connectivity to the table to help keep the program relevant as the industry evolves."

"Datacenters are the cornerstone of digital infrastructure that fuels digital transformation, connectivity developments, smart technologies, and a lot more," said Vinay Nagpal, President of InterGlobix. "If we want our industry to keep growingand, more importantly, continue to meet the shifting and demanding needs of our society and the digital economywe must be proactive about investing in our future. Empowering and supporting the leaders of tomorrow is a big part of that, and I'm really grateful to have the opportunity to collaborate with the board and promote the program on a global platform."

Nagpal joins fifteen other industry leaders on the current advisory board:

Eddie Schutter (Chair of the Board and CTO of Switch)

(Chair of the Board and CTO of Switch) Chris Crosby (Chair of the Board and CEO of Compass Datacenters)

(Chair of the Board and CEO of Compass Datacenters) Don Beaty (CEO of DLB Associates)

(CEO of DLB Associates) Christian Belady (Vice President of Microsoft Corporation)

Peter Gross (Managing Partner of PMG Associates)

(Managing Partner of PMG Associates) Larry J. Guillory (Principal Managing Partner of Talent Conexus)

(Principal Managing Partner of Talent Conexus) Michael H. Hites (CIO of Southern Methodist University )

(CIO of ) Michael Manos (CTO of Dunn & Bradstreet)

(CTO of Dunn & Bradstreet) Nancy Novak (CIO of Compass Datacenters)

(CIO of Compass Datacenters) Yang Peng (CEO of UR Inc.)

(CEO of UR Inc.) Wendi Runyon (Vice President of Strategy and Business Development at Schneider Electric)

(Vice President of Strategy and Business Development at Schneider Electric) Jim Sargent (GM of Professional Services at Micro Focus)

(GM of Professional Services at Micro Focus) Andrew Schapp (CEO of Aligned)

(CEO of Aligned) Michael Sullivan (President and Owner of Health Career Services)

(President and Owner of Health Career Services) Gary Wojtaszek (CEO of REIT).

Additional information about the program and its advisory board can be found here: https://smu-lyle.edu-digital.org/

ABOUT VINAY NAGPAL

Vinay Nagpal has twenty-eight years of global experience in the digital infrastructure industry. Previously, he has worked in leadership roles at Digital Realty, DuPont Fabros Technology, Tata Communications, Verizon, MCI, Digex, UUNET, and others across the US, Canada, London, Singapore, Australia, and India. As the President of InterGlobix LLC, he runs the consulting and advisory business for the company and is the advisor and publisher of InterGlobix Magazine. Nagpal's other active roles include Chairman of NVTC Data Center and Cloud Community of Interest, Co-Founder and Member of QTS Richmond NAP, Founding Member & Executive Director of IEIC, Subsea EMEA Advisory Board, and NVTC's Executive Circle. He has also held strategic advisory roles for CEOs of digital infrastructure companies, including DE-CIX, GPX India Pvt. Ltd., RTI Cables, Yotta Infrastructure, and others.

ABOUT INTERGLOBIX LLC

InterGlobix LLC is a global consulting and advisory company focused on the convergence of data centers, terrestrial and subsea fiber. InterGlobix offers strategic business consulting and marketing solutions for the data center and connectivity industry worldwide. InterGlobix also owns InterGlobix Magazine, the industry's first and only global magazine of its kind focused on the digital infrastructure industry. Visit InterGlobix at: www.interglobix.com and www.interglobixmagazine.com

ABOUT THE SMU M.S. IN DATACENTER SYSTEMS ENGINEERING

The M.S. in Datacenter Systems Engineering at Southern Methodist University's Lyle School of Engineering in Dallas, TX is the first program designed to create leaders in the critical field of digital infrastructure. Developed with significant input from existing industry leaders and guided by an advisory board of executives from industry-leading corporations, this program approaches digital infrastructure with both depth and breadth of knowledge and lived experience by incorporating courses from five different engineering departments. These engineering subdisciplines include electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, computer science, operations research and engineering management, and civil and environmental engineering. This 10-course program can be completed either on campus or 100 percent remote and offers students the opportunity to gain skills and working knowledge of crucial digital infrastructure situations like managing data and extracting useful information; computer networking; digitalization and virtualization; enhancing facility and data security; and designing and maintaining datacenter and mission-critical subsystems.

CONTACT: Jasmine Bedi, [email protected]

SOURCE InterGlobix LLC
New investor including MetLife and Khazanah Nasional alongside existing and new shareholders, join Series B funding round led by Tokio Marine

SINGAPORE, May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- bolttech today announced it raised US$196 million in connection with its Series B with an up-round valuation of US$1.6 billion. The round was led by Tokio Marine  Japan's first insurance company with a 140-year history. Other key investors include global life insurance giant MetLife through its subsidiary MetLife Next Gen Ventures, Malaysia's sovereign wealth fund Khazanah Nasional, as well as new and existing shareholders.

International insurtech bolttech is defying the current capital markets backdrop  mega-round funding (US$100 million and above) for the global insurtech sector is at its lowest level since Q1 2020, according to a Gallagher Re report[1]. bolttech's Series B fundraise is the largest straight equity Series B for an insurtech in the last year, and follows the company achieving the largest ever Series A round for an insurtech in 2021.

bolttech will use the proceeds of the Series B to further fuel its organic growth, including investments in proprietary technology, digital capabilities for business partners and end consumers as well as talent across bolttech's 30+ markets. In addition, the funds will be used to explore inorganic opportunities to accelerate international growth.

Rob Schimek, bolttech's Group Chief Executive Officer, said, "Having just celebrated our third anniversary since our launch in 2020, we are incredibly proud of what we have achieved so far on our mission to build the world's leading, technology-enabled insurance ecosystem. We are now one of the fastest growing insurtechs in the world, enabling our partners to find new revenue streams, accelerate their digital transformation, and deepen their customer relationships. We thank all our Series B investors for their support, and we are excited to welcome our new investors, reputable leaders in their respective spaces, and look forward to strong partnerships that will fuel bolttech's continued growth on our path to profitability in 2024."

The support of such esteemed investors is a resounding validation of bolttech's leadership, innovative business model, and unique value proposition in shaping the future of insurance. bolttech has maintained a strong financial foundation with a clear path to profitability while driving its rapid growth and scale to build the most comprehensive international presence for an insurtech.

bolttech's global operations

bolttech, one of the world's leading embedded insurance providers, is a global B2B2C insurtech that connects insurers with distributors and their customers. With licenses to operate throughout Asia, Europe and all 50 U.S. states, bolttech provides businesses with everything they need to offer insurance products that meet their customers' evolving insurance and protection needs in the digital age.

bolttech now quotes approximately US$55 billion worth of annualized premiums. Globally, bolttech's ecosystem connects 700 distribution partners with more than 230 insurance providers and offers in excess of 6,000 product variations.

Sources:

[1]  Gallagher Re, 4 May 2023, Gallagher Re Global InsurTech Report for Q1 2023

SOURCE bolttech
Survivors of sexual violence now have visibility into the status of their sexual assault collection kits (SAKs).

BALTIMORE, May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- InVita Healthcare Technologies, a leading provider of software solutions for forensic DNA crime labs, agencies, hospitals, and survivors of sexual assault, is pleased to announce the statewide adoption of Track-Kit by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE). InVita's Track-Kit is the only complete SAK and inventory tracking solution that delivers accountability, transparency, and information-sharing among all stakeholders.

Following the passage of the 2021 Gail's Law bill (HB 673), Florida implemented InVita's Track-Kit, a web-based tracking system that allows survivors to monitor the location and processing of their barcoded sexual assault kits and to be notified if a DNA match to an alleged perpetrator occurs.

Survivors of sexual violence now have visibility into the status of their sexual assault collection kits (SAKs). Tweet this

As part of Florida's statewide announcement, Lieutenant Governor Jeanette Nunez stated, "Victims of sexual assault deserve transparency and accountability as we pursue justice for the heinous crimes committed against them. Governor DeSantis signed Gail's Law in 2021, and we commend Commissioner Glass and FDLE for implementing the tracking program two months ahead of schedule."

Approximately 35 states have implemented SAK tracking systems, 15 of which have selected Track-Kit's SAK tracking system. Florida is the thirteenth state with this system in place statewide.

Sexual assault survivor, advocate, and Director of Not Just Me Foundation, Julie Weil noted, "I am so excited about the SAK tracking here in Florida. With this finally in place, Florida has a truly comprehensive approach to rape kit reform. According to Julie's recent article, Florida's Statewide Track-Kit SAK Tracking System Helps Survivors Find Peace and Closure, "This type of change could have saved my family so much heartache if it had been available at the time of our crime."

"Public safety personnel and partnering organizations have it in their power to do amazing things for people every day and our mission is to build software that enables them to do more," said Todd Collins, President & CEO of InVita. "We are equally passionate about supporting sexual assault survivors and keeping them informed about the progress of their SAK kits. We commend the Florida Department of Law Enforcement for all they do for sexual assault survivors in the state."

About InVita Healthcare Technologies | invitahealth.com

InVita provides chain of custody software technologies for complex medical, forensic and community care environments. InVita's solutions optimize supply chains, sample tracking, and visibility across blood and plasma operations, the tissue and implant lifecycle, and environments spanning DNA and forensics. InVita's solutions support increased compliance and cost control, reduced risk, and improved patient and public safety outcomes.

About Florida Department of Law Enforcement | fdle.state.fl.us

SOURCE InVita Healthcare Technologies
BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 17. Speaker of the Azerbaijani Parliament Sahiba Gafarova met with Chairman of the National Assembly of Serbia Vladimir Orlic, who arrived in Azerbaijan to participate in a special meeting of the Milli Majlis dedicated to the 100th anniversary of National Leader Heydar Aliyev, Trend reports via the parliament's statement.

At the meeting, it was noted that strategic partnership between Azerbaijan and Serbia is successfully developing, the successful results of the visit of the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev to Serbia in November last year, as well as the visit of the President of Serbia Aleksandar Vucic to Azerbaijan in December last year were noted.

It was also emphasized that Azerbaijan and Serbia mutually support each other in such fundamental issues as the territorial integrity and sovereignty of countries, including in international organizations. It was emphasized that there are good opportunities for further development of ties between the legislative bodies of our countries.

The meeting also included an exchange of views on other issues of mutual interest.
TSX/NYSE/PSE: MFC SEHK: 945

BOSTON, May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ - John Hancock Retirement has launched a dynamic investment feature available to new clients converting from an existing plan to better help their participants address more complex financial needs and prepare for retirement.

During plan conversion, participants usually are automatically invested in an age-appropriate target date fund (TDF) until they decide to manage their own investments or leave them in the default investment. With John Hancock Retirement's dynamic retirement strategy, participants over an age set by the plan sponsor will be transitioned automatically from the TDF to the John Hancock Personalized Retirement Advice (Retirement Advice) managed account program, which uses Morningstar Investment Management LLC's advice methodology.

When participants are early in their careers, the one-size-fits-all asset allocation of TDFs is generally sufficient to meet their needs. But as participants advance in their careers, their lives and financial circumstances are likely to change, requiring a more personalized investment strategy.

"Managed account programs, such as Retirement Advice, are designed to provide customization and adapt to a participant's evolving financial needs and goals," said Wayne Park, CEO, John Hancock Retirement. "Nearly 90 percent of our retirement plan participants recently said that professional management of their retirement investments and savings would positively impact them getting financially prepared for retirement.1 We're pleased we can offer this solution for those who feel it will benefit their retirement readiness."

________________________

1 In November 2022, John Hancock commissioned our ninth annual financial stress and well-being survey with the research firm Edelman Public Relations Worldwide Canada (Edelman). An online survey of 3,825 John Hancock plan participants was conducted between 11/29/22 and 12/14/22 to learn more about individual stress levels, their causes and effects, and strategies for relief. John Hancock and Edelman are not affiliated, and neither is responsible for the liabilities of the other.

John Hancock teamed up with Morningstar Investment Management to offer Retirement Advice. Retirement Advice is a comprehensive, professional portfolio management program that retirement savers in John Hancock-sponsored retirement plans can enroll in for more sophisticated portfolio management and construction.

Retirement Advice selects funds from the plan's investment lineup to create a portfolio for a retirement saver, monitors market fluctuations, and makes adjustments to help ensure the investment mix matches the participant's goals and financial situation. Participants can personalize their investment mix based on many factors, including age, projected years until retirement, account balance, outside savings, and estimated Social Security benefits.

Retirement Advice users receive ongoing professional management of their investment mix to help keep them on track, guidance on how much they may need to save to help them reach their goals, and portfolio withdrawal strategy recommendations as they near retirement. If participants have further questions, they'll have access to a team of licensed, noncommissioned representatives who support Retirement Advice.

Retirement Advice can be a cost-effective means of getting professional advice, and participants have a 90-day period free of program fees to experience it. After that, participants pay a monthly program fee based on a tiered schedule, depending on their account balance. If participants prefer to manage their own investments, they can opt out of the program at any time without penalty.

"Our goal is to help people plan and save for retirement. We've made Retirement Advice available to all our plans and found that participants who are enrolled in it are projected to replace an additional 20 percent of their income come retirement,"2 said Jack Barry, head of product development, John Hancock Retirement.

________________________

2 John Hancock internal data as of 12/31/22 for open-architecture plans. Participation in John Hancock Personalized Retirement Advice (Retirement Advice) does not guarantee investment success. Investing involves risks, including the potential loss of principal.

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.* 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 March 31, 2023, John Hancock serviced over 56,000 retirement plans with over 3.1 million participants and over $195 billion in AUMA.**

* "PLANSPONSOR 2022 Defined Contribution Recordkeeping Survey 2022 Asset International, Inc.," PLANSPONSOR, 2022. ** As of Mar 31, 2023, John Hancock Life Insurance Company (USA) supported 51,722 plans, 1,613,752 participants, and $ 93,969,824,636.02 in AUMA. John Hancock Life Insurance Company of New York supported 2,704 plans, 77,262 participants, and $ 5,333,451,390.46 in AUMA. John Hancock Retirement Plan Services LLC supported 1,919 plans, 1,494,059 participants, and $96,266,799,366.59 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.

Subject to plan availability. Participation in John Hancock Personalized Retirement Advice (Retirement Advice) does not guarantee investment success. Investing involves risks, including the potential loss of principal. Fees for this service are based on a tiered schedule and vary by account balance. For more information, consult the Retirement Advice investment advisory agreement. John Hancock Personal Financial Services, LLC (JHPFS), an SEC registered investment adviser and affiliate of John Hancock Retirement Plan Services LLC (JHRPS), is the investment manager of the Retirement Advice program. JHPFS has selected Morningstar Investment Management LLC, a registered investment adviser and wholly owned subsidiary of Morningstar, Inc., to act as the independent financial expert (as defined in the U.S. Department of Labor's Advisory Opinion 2001-09A) for Retirement Advice. JHPFS monitors Morningstar Investment Management's performance. Morningstar Investment Management LLC is not affiliated with JHRPS, JHPFS, or affiliates. JHPFS acts as a fiduciary with respect to the management of Retirement Advice investments.

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.

NOT FDIC INSURED. MAY LOSE VALUE. NOT BANK GUARANTEED.

 2023 John Hancock. All rights reserved.

SOURCE John Hancock Retirement
WILMINGTON, Del., May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Wisner Baum managing partner R. Brent Wisner will be co-lead trial counsel in the Zantac (Ranitidine) Products Liability litigation (Civil Action No. N22C-09-101 ZAN) in Delaware Superior Court.

Judge Appoints Four Attorneys to Lead 77,000 Zantac Cancer Cases in Delaware

Judge Vivian L. Medinilla named Wisner and three others to the leadership position in a Case Management Order that applies to all Zantac (generic: ranitidine) cancer cases currently pending in the Superior Court of the State of Delaware. Attorneys Jennifer A. Moore of the Moore Law Group, Raeann Warner of Jacobs & Crumplar, and Justin Parafinczuk of Parafinczuk Wolf will join Wisner in the plaintiffs' leadership, which is responsible for presenting the plaintiffs' position in all pretrial matters, initiating and coordinating pretrial discovery, and more.

"The formation of a new venue for these cases creates more opportunity for our clients and other people throughout the country stricken with cancer after taking a drug that we believe is dangerous," says attorney R. Brent Wisner. "We look forward to presenting evidence at trial that Zantac causes cancer, and that the defendants have known about the risks for decades."

"GSK's own scientists knew the risks Zantac posed to the public even before the FDA approved the drug," says attorney Jennifer A. Moore. "They should have warned about the risks but, sensing the potential for a billion-dollar blockbuster drug, the company chose profits over people. It's time for them to take responsibility for the harm they have caused."

More than 77,000 people have Zantac lawsuits pending in Delaware state court alleging the widely used heartburn drug contains a known carcinogen called N-nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA). Plaintiffs in the litigation ingested Zantac and developed various forms of cancer.

Cases in Delaware name the following Zantac defendants:

GlaxoSmithKline LLC (GSK)

Pfizer Inc.

Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals Inc. and Boehringer Ingelheim USA Corporation

Corporation Sanofi US Services Inc., Sanofi-Aventis U.S. LLC

Attorneys for the plaintiffs are alleging punitive damages against the defendants for reckless conduct and conscious decisions not to warn or inform plaintiffs about the known dangers associated with Zantac.

In July, Wisner and colleague Jennifer A. Moore will co-lead the first Zantac trial in Oakland, California. The trial of James Goetz v. GlaxoSmithKline, LLC will take place on July 24, 2023 in the same courtroom where Wisner previously won a $2 billion verdict in the Roundup cancer litigation against Monsanto. The trial will be closely followed as the allegations in Mr. Goetz's case share many similarities to cases filed in Delaware.

Read more about the ongoing Zantac litigation in California and Delaware in Wisner Baum's blog.

About Wisner Baum

Wisner Baum represents over 10,000 people in lawsuits alleging Zantac caused their cancer. With more than $4 billion in verdicts and settlements across a broad range of practice area, Wisner Baum has earned a reputation for breaking new legal ground, holding major corporations accountable, influencing public policy, and raising public awareness about important safety issues.

Media Contact:

Robin McCall

Director of Public Relations

Wisner Baum

[email protected]

SOURCE Wisner Baum
Board will influence product development based on pet health trends and lead Fetch's effort to support the Veterinary Community.

NEW YORK, May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Fetch ("Fetch"), the most comprehensive pet insurance provider in North America, today announced the formation of a Veterinary Advisory Board consisting of nationally recognized veterinary leaders. The board brings a frontline perspective to Fetch's product development process while also helping the company address emerging pet health trends and identify ways to support the veterinary community.

"As a veterinary epidemiologist who has studied the science of health through the lens of human, animal, and environmental health for over a decade, I am proud to partner with a company that has such a bold vision for pet wellness," said Dr. Audrey Ruple, Chair of the Advisory Board. "I look forward to working with my fellow Board members and Fetch leadership to help pets and people live better, longer."

"Advocating for the people who care for our pets is what the Vet Advisory Board is all about," said Paul Guyardo, President and CEO of Fetch. "I'm thrilled to be working with such an esteemed group of veterinarians to ensure that our products, policies and cause-related activities truly meet the needs of their community."

The seven members each bring a unique set of knowledge, skills and experiences:

Dr. Audrey Ruple : Dr. Ruple will serve as Chair of the Advisory Board. She is an Associate Professor in the Department of Population Health Sciences and holds the Metcalf Chair in Veterinary Medical Informatics in the Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine at Virginia Tech. Her research focuses on One Health - the intersection of human, animal and environmental health. She has a particular interest in comparative biomedical aspects of cancer and aging, and she leverages information learned from companion dogs as a model system to learn how both humans and animals can live longer, healthier lives together.

: Dr. Ruple will serve as Chair of the Advisory Board. She is an Associate Professor in the Department of Population Health Sciences and holds the Metcalf Chair in Veterinary Medical Informatics in the Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine at Her research focuses on One Health - the intersection of human, animal and environmental health. She has a particular interest in comparative biomedical aspects of cancer and aging, and she leverages information learned from companion dogs as a model system to learn how both humans and animals can live longer, healthier lives together. Dr. Kwane Stewart : Known as "The Street Vet," Dr. Stewart has been a practicing veterinarian for 25 years, with his veterinary expertise sought by major companies including Disney, United Airlines and SeaWorld on how to improve their animal-care standards. Dr. Stewart has also practiced in municipal shelters in addition to serving as the Chief Medical Officer at VETCO Hospitals and as the Chief Veterinary Officer of American Humane, where he was also director of their legacy program, No Animals Were Harmed.

: Known as "The Street Vet," Dr. Stewart has been a practicing veterinarian for 25 years, with his veterinary expertise sought by major companies including Disney, United Airlines and SeaWorld on how to improve their animal-care standards. Dr. Stewart has also practiced in municipal shelters in addition to serving as the Chief Medical Officer at VETCO Hospitals and as the Chief Veterinary Officer of American Humane, where he was also director of their legacy program, No Animals Were Harmed. Dr. Evan Antin : Dr. Antin is a small animal, exotics and wildlife veterinarian, practicing at Conejo Valley Veterinary Hospital in Thousand Oaks, California . Dr. Antin earned his Doctorate of Veterinary Medicine from Colorado State University with a small animal and exotic animal focus in 2013. Since that time, Dr. Antin has been a passionate advocate for all animals both wild and domestic. In his frequent travels abroad, he works on species and habitat conservation projects alongside conservationists and wildlife veterinary colleagues in dozens of countries around the world. In addition, as a trusted veterinary resource, he uses his robust social media following to impart pet health information to pet parents and raise awareness for wildlife conservation.

: Dr. Antin is a small animal, exotics and wildlife veterinarian, practicing at Conejo Valley Veterinary Hospital in . Dr. Antin earned his Doctorate of Veterinary Medicine from with a small animal and exotic animal focus in 2013. Since that time, Dr. Antin has been a passionate advocate for all animals both wild and domestic. In his frequent travels abroad, he works on species and habitat conservation projects alongside conservationists and wildlife veterinary colleagues in dozens of countries around the world. In addition, as a trusted veterinary resource, he uses his robust social media following to impart pet health information to pet parents and raise awareness for wildlife conservation. Dr. Monica Tarantino : Dr. Tarantino is a small animal veterinarian with a focus on senior and geriatric pets. She has practiced canine and feline medicine for the past nine years and works as a general practitioner and chief of staff at a clinic in the Charlotte, NC area. Dr. Tarantino is also cofounder of the Senior and Geriatric Dog Veterinary Society and has a podcast called Senior Dog Revolution which focuses on helping pet parents with older dogs. In addition to her work on behalf of senior dogs, Dr. Tarantino has also co-authored two books, the New Vet Jumpstart Guide General Practice and Emergency Medicine Edition which focus on helping new veterinarians succeed in clinical practice.

Dr. Tarantino is a small animal veterinarian with a focus on senior and geriatric pets. She has practiced canine and feline medicine for the past nine years and works as a general practitioner and chief of staff at a clinic in the area. Dr. Tarantino is also cofounder of the Senior and Geriatric Dog Veterinary Society and has a podcast called Senior Dog Revolution which focuses on helping pet parents with older dogs. In addition to her work on behalf of senior dogs, Dr. Tarantino has also co-authored two books, the New Vet Jumpstart Guide General Practice and Emergency Medicine Edition which focus on helping new veterinarians succeed in clinical practice. Dr. Kerri Rodriguez : Dr. Rodriguez is an internationally recognized leader in the field of Human-Animal Interaction. She is an incoming Assistant Professor at the University of Arizona College of Veterinary Medicine, where she leads a program of research exploring the bi-directional effects of the human-animal bond for human and animal health and well-being. Some of her research consists of quantifying the effects of service dogs for individuals with disabilities, exploring the stress-buffering effects of pets for individuals experiencing adversity, and seeking to understand the psychophysiological mechanisms for why pets (especially dogs) may improve our wellbeing. She is currently completing a Postdoctoral Research Fellowship at the Human-Animal Bond in Colorado in the School of Social Work at Colorado State University . Prior to that, she received her Ph.D. in Human-Animal Interaction from the Purdue University Center for the Human-Animal Bond in the Purdue College of Veterinary Medicine. Apart from Fetch, she also serves on the advisory board for Pet Partners, American Humane, and the International Society for Anthrozoology.

Dr. Rodriguez is an internationally recognized leader in the field of Human-Animal Interaction. She is an incoming Assistant Professor at the College of Veterinary Medicine, where she leads a program of research exploring the bi-directional effects of the human-animal bond for human and animal health and well-being. Some of her research consists of quantifying the effects of service dogs for individuals with disabilities, exploring the stress-buffering effects of pets for individuals experiencing adversity, and seeking to understand the psychophysiological mechanisms for why pets (especially dogs) may improve our wellbeing. She is currently completing a Postdoctoral Research Fellowship at the Human-Animal Bond in in the School of Social Work at . Prior to that, she received her Ph.D. in Human-Animal Interaction from the Center for the Human-Animal Bond in the Purdue College of Veterinary Medicine. Apart from Fetch, she also serves on the advisory board for Pet Partners, American Humane, and the International Society for Anthrozoology. Dr. Noe Galvan : Dr. Galvan currently serves as the Emergency and Critical Care Department Head and Co-Medical Director at VCA Oso Creek Animal Hospital and Emergency Center located in South Texas . He is a 2010 graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, School of Veterinary Medicine . He has practiced Emergency and Critical Care in both private and corporate specialty settings in Houston , Chicago , and Austin . Dr. Galvan has a public health background as well. He earned his MPH from the UCLA School of Public Health and has worked in the development of disaster management training for veterinarians as well as laboratory epidemiology with the CDC in Atlanta . Dr. Galvan is passionate about diversity, equity and inclusion in veterinary medicine as well as mentoring young veterinarians. He is an adjunct professor of practice at the University of Arizona , College of Veterinary Medicine, where he serves as a liaison and mentor for 4th year students and clinical practice sites. Lastly, Dr. Galvan is active in the World Vets Organization, which provides international animal aid and preventative veterinary services all over the world.

Dr. Galvan currently serves as the Emergency and Critical Care Department Head and Co-Medical Director at VCA Oso Creek Animal Hospital and Emergency Center located in . He is a 2010 graduate of the . He has practiced Emergency and Critical Care in both private and corporate specialty settings in , , and . Dr. Galvan has a public health background as well. He earned his MPH from the UCLA School of Public Health and has worked in the development of disaster management training for veterinarians as well as laboratory epidemiology with the CDC in . Dr. Galvan is passionate about diversity, equity and inclusion in veterinary medicine as well as mentoring young veterinarians. He is an adjunct professor of practice at the , College of Veterinary Medicine, where he serves as a liaison and mentor for 4th year students and clinical practice sites. Lastly, Dr. Galvan is active in the World Vets Organization, which provides international animal aid and preventative veterinary services all over the world. Dr. Aliya McCullough : Dr. McCullough is Chief Veterinary Officer and Director of Veterinary Affairs at Fetch. She will serve on the Veterinary Advisory Board as an ex-officio member and liaison between the Advisory Board and Fetch. Dr. McCullough joined Fetch in 2019 and uses her veterinary expertise, passion for pet parent education and Fetch policy knowledge to serve as a trusted veterinary resource in the claims and creative departments. Prior to her time at Fetch Dr. McCullough worked as a small animal veterinarian in private practice in the southeastern Pennsylvania region.

The Veterinary Advisory Board will work closely with Guyardo and his leadership team to provide key insights on a regular basis.

To learn more about the Fetch Veterinary Advisory Board, visit: fetchpet.com/vab .

To learn more about Fetch, visit: https://www.fetchpet.com/

About Fetch

Fetch is a leading tech-enabled pet wellness company dedicated to helping pet parents give their cats and dogs a longer, healthier life. It's why we offer the most comprehensive pet insurance coverage in the U.S. and Canada. It's why we support Project Street Vet  a non-profit that provides free veterinary care to the pets of people experiencing homelessness  as well as donate millions of dollars to life-saving animal adoption shelters. And it's why we're proud to announce our newest innovation, the Fetch Health Forecast. This ground-breaking technology combines artificial intelligence, veterinary care and clinical findings from over 800,000 dogs and 500+ breeds to predict a dog's future health at an 85% confidence level. This highly personalized report includes easy-to-follow recommendations to keep your dog healthy and empowers pet parents to have informed conversations with their vet professionals. Pet parents can find Fetch on Facebook , Instagram , Pinterest , YouTube or follow us on Twitter . For more information about Fetch, visit https://www.fetchpet.com/ or call (866) 509-0163.

Fetch insurance policies are administered by Fetch Insurance Services, LLC (d/b/a Fetch by The Dodo, Fetch by The Dodo, LLC in Michigan & New Mexico, and Fetch by The Dodo Insurance Services, LLC in California)[1] and underwritten by XL Specialty Insurance Company, a Delaware Corporation, or AXIS Insurance Company, an Illinois Corporation, in the U.S. and AXIS Reinsurance Company (Canadian Branch) in Canada. Fetch is a Warburg Pincus portfolio company.

Media contacts:

Fetch

Ryan Whittington

[email protected]

SOURCE Fetch Pet Insurance
Rate increases lead to highest auto insurance shopping volumes since inception of Demand Meter in Q1 2020

ATLANTA, May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The latest edition of the LexisNexis Risk Solutions Insurance Demand Meter reports the quarterly year-over-year U.S. auto insurance shopping growth rate rose 10.2% in Q1 2023, up from +2.8% growth in Q4 2022 as auto insurers continue to implement widespread rate increases. New policy growth, or the rate at which consumers either switched or purchased new coverage, continues to be a big story. It was up a staggering 17% for the quarter compared to Q1 2022, and also increased from 10.2% growth in Q4 2022, continuing the record upward streak from November 2022.

LexisNexis Risk Solutions U.S. Auto Insurance Demand Meter

"We're still seeing record-high shopping activity and new policy purchasing as auto insurance rates continue to soar," said Adam Pichon, senior vice president of Auto Insurance and Claims at LexisNexis Risk Solutions. "We are starting to see some stabilization in the market, however, with claim frequencies flattening out the last few quarters and severities rising at a slower clip. But until claims severity levels off and vehicle sales begin to rise again nationwide, it is likely insurers are going to continue to take rate, so we do expect to see shopping activity remain volatile at least into the next quarter as insurers grapple with macroeconomic conditions."

Record-breaking shopping: who is shopping where, and how are vehicle sales impacting auto insurance rates and shopping?

In January, the exclusive and independent agent (IA) distribution channels saw 12% growth, with the IA channel growing by 11% in February and 9% in March. By comparison, the exclusive channel slowed to 5% growth by the end of the quarter. In the direct channel, growth in January was modest, but ended at a whopping 17% by the end of March.

The rate at which shoppers switched or purchased coverage was up across all demographics, continuing the trend from Q4. Early in the quarter, the 36-45-year-old age group accounted for strong growth, but that reversed to more traditional patterns in mid-February as older shoppers began to outpace younger shoppers. As noted last quarter, older age demographics, especially those in the 55-65-year-old group that have not historically shopped at a high rate and were not likely to switch when they did shop, are now shopping and switching at an accelerated pace.

"Vehicle sales, especially drops in purchases of used vehicles, are still playing a key role in the dramatic increases in shopping as vehicle purchases are closely aligned to shopping and switching events," said Chris Rice, associate vice president of strategic business intelligence at LexisNexis Risk Solutions. "Shopping that pertains to a vehicle sale held steady at around 27% for new vehicles and 36% for used, but the downtick in vehicle sales overall caused a drop in all shopping attributed to vehicle purchases, which can naturally lead to premium increases and more shopping and purchasing in each of the aforementioned age demographics."

"Another key factor to keep in mind is that Q1 is when we typically have seen a boost in shopping due to the Earned Income Tax Credit," continued Rice. "After relatively muted tax season shopping the past two years when the federal government distributed those credits earlier than normal, we saw more of a return to the norm in Q1 as those tax credits hit consumers' wallets during the traditional time period we normally see."

A Look Ahead

Coming off of 2022's high shopping volumes, there is a possibility that the second half of 2023 could see a slowdown in shopping growth trends. Multiple factors will be at play in the coming months as insurers keep a close eye on claims severity and frequency, as well as the potential for changing economic conditions and the related impact on new and used vehicle sales. Still, in the near-term, Pichon said to expect more rate-taking in Q2 from insurers, which could lead to continued shopping volatility.

"Insurers are more likely to continue taking rate until claims cool down, but vehicle sales are something to watch very closely for the remainder of 2023," said Pichon. "If claims severity and frequencies continue to level out and economic conditions improve to the extent that more cars become available for purchase and consumers have the means to do so, we very well may see the shopping growth pendulum begin to tick back to more normal levels. We're at a bit of an inflection point in the market, and the second half of 2023 can provide opportunities for insurers who are leveraging data and analytics to more effectively assess risk and address profitability head on."

Download the latest Insurance Demand Meter.

About the LexisNexis Insurance Demand Meter

The LexisNexis Insurance Demand Meter is a quarterly analysis of shopping volume and frequency, new business volume and related data points. LexisNexis Risk Solutions offers this unique market-wide perspective of consumer shopping and switching behavior based on its analysis of billions of consumer shopping transactions since 2009, representing nearly 90% of the universe of insurance shopping activity.

About LexisNexis Risk Solutions

LexisNexis Risk Solutions harnesses the power of data and advanced analytics to provide insights that help businesses and governmental entities reduce risk and improve decisions to benefit people around the globe. We provide data and technology solutions for a wide range of industries including insurance, financial services, healthcare and government. Headquartered in metro Atlanta, Georgia, we have offices throughout the world and are part of RELX (LSE: REL/NYSE: RELX), a global provider of information and analytics for professional and business customers. For more information, please visit www.risk.lexisnexis.com, and www.relx.com.

Media Contacts:

Chas Strong

LexisNexis Risk Solutions

Phone: +1.706.714.7083

[email protected]

Donna Armstrong

Brodeur Partners for LexisNexis Risk Solutions

Phone: +1.202.510.3531

[email protected]

SOURCE LexisNexis Risk Solutions
VANCOUVER, BC, May 16, 2023 /PRNewswire/ - Lumina Gold Corp. (TSXV: LUM) (OTCQX: LMGDF) (the "Company" or "Lumina") is pleased to announce that it entered into a precious metals purchase agreement (the "Gold Stream") with Wheaton Precious Metals International Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. ("Wheaton") in relation to its 100% owned Cangrejos gold-copper project located in El Oro Province, Ecuador (the "Project" or "Cangrejos") on May 16, 2023. The Gold Stream initially represents 6.6% of the payable gold produced from the Project in exchange for US$48 million of pre-construction funding (the "Early Deposit") and US$252 million of construction funding (the "Upfront Payment").

Randy Smallwood, President and CEO of Wheaton commented: "The Cangrejos Project is an excellent addition to Wheaton's existing portfolio of high-quality, low-cost assets as it should provide impactful, long-term growth as well as significant exploration potential. We welcome the opportunity to work with the team at Lumina who have done an outstanding job at working to de-risk the Project and advancing it towards construction."

Ross Beaty, Lumina's founder and largest shareholder commented: "This transaction validates the extensive technical work that the Lumina Group has completed on Cangrejos since 2014. It will de-risk the execution of the Cangrejos project and form a significant part of the US$1 billion of required construction capital. Cangrejos will represent one of the largest gold producers in the world once built and Wheaton will benefit from its three decades of mine life. We look forward to working with Wheaton's extremely experienced team as the Project gets advanced."

Transaction Overview

The Gold Stream is composed of two funding segments, (i) the Early Deposit to be paid during the completion of a feasibility study (as such term is defined in National Instrument 43-101  Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects) and permitting period, and (ii) the Upfront Payment to be paid during the construction of the Project. The US$48 million Early Deposit provides Lumina with the capital it requires to complete definition drilling, a feasibility study and permitting work at the Project. The Upfront Payment of US$252 million provides approximately 25% of the total construction funding required by the Project.

The Early Deposit of US$48 million is comprised of four components:

US$12 million at closing; US$10 million 6 months after close; US$15 million 12 months after close; and an US$11 million tranche that can be drawn upon for specific pre-construction capital items.

The US$252 million Upfront Payment will be funded throughout the two-and a-half-year construction period for the Project.

In return for the Early Deposit and Upfront Payment, Lumina will sell 6.6% of the payable gold production from the Project until 700,000 ounces of gold have been delivered, at which point the Gold Stream will be reduced to 4.4% of the payable gold production. Wheaton will pay a production payment representing 18.0% of the spot price of gold for the first 700,000 ounces and 22.0% of the spot price of gold thereafter.

In the event of a change of control, the Company may buy back one-third of the Gold Stream from Wheaton until the earlier of January 1, 2030 and the date that is 12 months after first production.

About Lumina Gold

Lumina Gold Corp. (TSXV: LUM) is a Vancouver, Canada based precious and base metals exploration and development company focused on the Cangrejos Gold-Copper Project located in El Oro Province, southwest Ecuador. In 2023, the Company completed a Preliminary Feasibility Study (the "PFS") for Cangrejos, which is the largest primary gold deposit in Ecuador. Lumina has an experienced management team with a successful track record of advancing and monetizing exploration projects.

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Further details are available on the Company's website at https://luminagold.com/. To receive future news releases please sign up at https://luminagold.com/contact.

LUMINA GOLD CORP.

Signed: "Marshall Koval"

Marshall Koval, President & CEO, Director

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.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Information

Certain statements and information herein, including all statements that are not historical facts, contain forward-looking statements and forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Such forward-looking statements or information include but are not limited to statements or information with respect to: the Company's ability to meet the payable gold payments as required under the Gold Stream; the transfer price of gold that Wheaton will pay the Company; the total cost of construction of the Project; complete definition drilling, a feasibility study or permitting work at the Project; the Company's ability to secure the funds required to complete construction of the Project; the Project's expected life of mine; the development of the Project into one of the largest gold producers in the world; the Company's ability to develop the Project into a producing mine; and the buy back by the Company of one third of the Gold Stream from Wheaton following a change of control of the Company. Often, but not always, forward-looking statements or information can be identified by the use of words such as "will" or "projected" or variations of those words or statements that certain actions, events or results "will", "could", "are proposed to", "are planned to", "are expected to" or "are anticipated to" be taken, occur or be achieved.

With respect to forward-looking statements and information contained herein, the Company has made numerous assumptions including among other things, assumptions about general business and economic conditions; the prices of gold, copper and silver; the Company's ability to meet its obligations under the Gold Stream and other material agreements; the accuracy and reliability of technical data, forecasts, estimates and studies, including the PFS; the accuracy of slope guidance underlying the engineered pit design; estimates of mineral resources and mineral reserves; anticipated costs and expenditures; future results of operations; ability to satisfy power infrastructure and water capacity requirements; availability and ability to procure personnel, machinery, supplies, and equipment from local sources where possible; the characteristics of the Project producing innate positive environmental impacts; tax rates and royalty rates applicable to the Project; the relationship between the Company and the local communities and its business partners; ability to operate in a safe and effective manner; and the success of exploration, development and processing activities. The foregoing list of assumptions is not exhaustive.

Although management of the Company believes that the assumptions made and the expectations represented by such statements or information are reasonable, there can be no assurance that a forward-looking statement or information herein will prove to be accurate. Forward-looking statements and information by their nature are based on assumptions and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the Company's actual results, performance or achievements, or industry results, to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements or information. These factors include, but are not limited to: risks relating to exploration activities and accurately predicting mineralization; the timing and ability of the Company to obtain necessary permits; risks relating to inaccurate geological and engineering assumptions (including with respect to the tonnage, grade and recoverability of reserves and resources); risks relating to unanticipated operational difficulties (including failure of equipment or processes to operate in accordance with specifications or expectations, cost escalation, unavailability of materials and equipment, government action or delays in the receipt of government approvals, industrial disturbances or other job action, and unanticipated events related to health, safety and environmental matters); capital costs varying significantly from estimates; business and economic conditions in the mining industry generally; risks associated with the business of the Company; the supply and demand for labour and other project inputs; changes in commodity prices; changes in interest and currency exchange rates; inflation and credit risks; risks relating to adverse weather conditions; political risk and social unrest; changes in general economic conditions or conditions in the financial markets; and other risk factors as detailed from time to time in the Company's continuous disclosure documents filed with Canadian securities administrators. The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking information, except in accordance with applicable securities laws.

SOURCE Lumina Gold Corp.
DOWNERS GROVE, Ill., May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Markem-Imaje, part of Dover (NYSE: DOV) and a global provider of end-to-end supply chain solutions and industrial marking and coding systems, today announced the launch of the 9750 E continuous inkjet (CIJ) printer range, bringing to market industry-first innovations for the extrusion sector.

The 9750 E CIJ printer range includes the 9750 E, 9750 E+ and 9750 Ew+ coders, the market's most advanced solutions for wire and cable marking and coding. This range includes the first-ever dual dye and pigment ink CIJ printer for the extrusion sector and a brand new dedicated printhead with Jet Speed Control to maintain the width and legibility of wire coding.

The 9750 E is a sustainable and easily customizable coder and integrates into an industry 4.0 plant. Helping ensure easy integration into the production line, the 9750 E is the only coder with a 24-pin interface customizable to accept any of the 70+ signals manufacturers might choose. It is designed for minimizing service-related downtime, with key parts replaced simultaneously, and offers up to 18,000 hours between major services  one of the market's longest service intervals.

The 9750 E+ includes these features in addition to the industry's first polyvalent ink circuit, making it the first CIJ for the extrusion sector to be able to use both dye and pigment inks for marking and coding. Manufacturers of wire and cable frequently need to use both inks, given the broad range of products and applications involved. The 9750 E+ eliminates the need for two types of coders for manufacturers that use both inks. This dual ink innovation streamlines inventory, maintenance and spare parts requirements, giving extrusion manufacturers increased flexibility and lowering costs.

Also adding to Markem-Imaje's innovations in extrusion marking and coding is the 9570 Ew+ which, in addition to the above features, includes a dedicated printhead designed specifically to address the stretching of printed messages, which is common with the high speed involved in wire coding. With an enhanced Jet Speed Control system, the printhead ensures that printed codes maintain a similar width and legibility from start to finish. This reduces the likelihood of scrap and rework at the factory, while supporting safe usage in the field.

"These latest innovations are the direct result of our close partnership with customers in the extrusion sector. With years of experience in this space, we understand the demands and challenges, coupled with the pressure to maintain high output and profitability. These new solutions reflect our robust research and design process and position our customers for maximum efficiency," said Guillaume Montagnat, CIJ Product Manager, Markem-Imaje.

Markem-Imaje is one of the only major CIJ suppliers that offer coders, which use MEK-free inks proven to work in extrusion. Markem-Imaje's range cut consumables and volatile organic compound (VOCs) emissions by up to 40%, and up to 60% when using the consumable-saving mode. Additionally, even with MEK inks, a 35% reduction of VOCs emissions is achieved when using the consumable-saving mode. Both options are available with all of Markem-Imaje's 9750 E models, making these coders a significant contributor to a more sustainable production line.

About Markem-Imaje:

Markem-Imaje, a wholly owned subsidiary of the US-based Dover Corporation is a trusted world manufacturer of product identification and traceability solutions, offering a full line of reliable and innovative inkjet, thermal transfer, laser, and print and apply label systems. Markem-Imaje provides global reach to over 50,000 customers with 30 subsidiaries, 6 technology centers, several equipment repair centers and manufacturing plants with the most comprehensive marking and coding portfolio available in the marketplace. Visit www.markem-imaje.com for further information.

About Dover:

Dover is a diversified global manufacturer and solutions provider with annual revenue of over $8 billion. We deliver innovative equipment and components, consumable supplies, aftermarket parts, software and digital solutions, and support services through five operating segments: Engineered Products, Clean Energy & Fueling, Imaging & Identification, Pumps & Process Solutions and Climate & Sustainability Technologies. Dover combines global scale with operational agility to lead the markets we serve. Recognized for our entrepreneurial approach for over 65 years, our team of over 25,000 employees takes an ownership mindset, collaborating with customers to redefine what's possible. Headquartered in Downers Grove, Illinois, Dover trades on the New York Stock Exchange under "DOV." Additional information is available at dovercorporation.com .

Markem-Imaje Contact:

Viktor Hermansson

+34 627 80 86 10

[email protected]

Dover Media Contact:

Adrian Sakowicz, VP, Communications

(630) 743-5039

[email protected]

Dover Investor Contact:

Jack Dickens, Senior Director, Investor Relations

(630) 743-2566

[email protected]

SOURCE Dover
NEW YORK, May 16, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The massage equipment market size is set to grow by USD 17294.31 million from 2022 to 2027. However, the growth momentum will be progressing at a CAGR of almost 10.54% during the forecast period, according to Technavio. The massage equipment market is fragmented, and the vendors are seeking strong partnerships with automotive, industrial, and commercial companies to compete in the market.

Technavio has announced its latest market research report titled Global Massage Equipment Market 2023-2027

Beurer GmbH, Bodyfriend Inc., Casada International GmbH, Conair Corp., Family Inada Co. Ltd., Fujita Massage Chair, HoMedics LLC, Human Touch LLC, JSB Health and Fitness Pvt. Ltd., Luraco Technologies, OMRON Corp, OSIM International Pte. Ltd., Panasonic Holdings Corp., Prospera Corp., Relaxonchair, RoboTouch, Thumper Massager Inc., Wahl Clipper Corp., WelbuTech Co. Ltd., and Xiaomi Inc. are some of the major market participants - To know about the vendor offerings - Request a sample report

Massage Equipment Market 2023-2027: Scope

Technavio presents a detailed picture of the market by the way of study, synthesis, and summation of data from multiple sources. The massage equipment market report covers the following areas:

The massage equipment market is fragmented, and the degree of fragmentation will accelerate during the forecast period. The use of massage equipment to alleviate pain and stress will offer immense growth opportunities. However, the shift to traditional massage therapies will hamper the market growth

Massage Equipment Market 2023-2027: Drivers & Challenges

Market Driver

Use of massage equipment to alleviate pain and stress

Growing popularity of Shiatsu massage model

Rising number of massage parlors and physiotherapy clinics

Market Trend

Introduction of portable massage equipment

Growing prominence of online shopping

Proliferation of technologically advanced massage equipment

Market Challenges

Shift to traditional massage therapies

Disadvantages of electric massage equipment

Limitations of massage equipment when compared to human massages

To learn more about the global trends impacting the future of market research, download a PDF sample

Massage Equipment Market 2023-2027: Segment Analysis

Product

Massage Chairs And Sofas: The market share growth by the massage chairs and sofa segment will be significant during the forecast period.



Back Massagers



Handheld Massagers



Neck And Shoulder Massagers



Others

End-user

Commercial



Residential

Type

Electric Massage Equipment



Non-electric Massage Equipment

Geography

North America: North America is estimated to contribute 37% to the growth of the global market during the forecast period.



Europe



APAC



South America



Middle East And Africa

The competitive scenario categorizes companies based on various performance indicators. Some of the factors considered include the financial performance of companies, growth strategies, product innovations, new product launches, investments, and growth in market share, among others Buy the Report

Massage Equipment Market 2023-2027: Key Highlights

CAGR of the market during the forecast period 2023-2027

Detailed information on factors that will assist massage equipment market growth during the next five years

Estimation of the massage equipment market size and its contribution to the parent market

Predictions on upcoming trends and changes in consumer behavior

The growth of the massage equipment market across North America , Europe , APAC, South America , and Middle East and Africa

, , APAC, , and and Analysis of the market's competitive landscape and detailed information on vendors

Comprehensive details of factors that will challenge the growth of massage equipment market vendors

Related Reports:

Skateboard Market- The skateboard market size is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 3.72% between 2022 and 2027. The market size is forecast to increase by USD 919.58 million.

Curling Irons Market- The curling irons market size is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 6.2% between 2022 and 2027. The market size is forecast to increase by USD 1,290.94 million.

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Massage Equipment Market Scope Report Coverage Details Base year 2022 Historic period 2017-2021 Forecast period 2023-2027 Growth momentum & CAGR Accelerate at a CAGR of 10.54% Market growth 2023-2027 USD 17294.31 million Market structure Fragmented YoY growth 2022-2023 (%) 8.61 Regional analysis North America, Europe, APAC, South America, and Middle East and Africa Performing market contribution North America at 37% Key countries US, China, Japan, Germany, and France Competitive landscape Leading Vendors, Market Positioning of Vendors, Competitive Strategies, and Industry Risks Key companies profiled Beurer GmbH, Bodyfriend Inc., Casada International GmbH, Conair Corp., Family Inada Co. Ltd., Fujita Massage Chair, HoMedics LLC, Human Touch LLC, JSB Health and Fitness Pvt. Ltd., Luraco Technologies, OMRON Corp, OSIM International Pte. Ltd., Panasonic Holdings Corp., Prospera Corp., Relaxonchair, RoboTouch, Thumper Massager Inc., Wahl Clipper Corp., WelbuTech Co. Ltd., and Xiaomi Inc. Market dynamics Parent market analysis, Market growth inducers and obstacles, Fast-growing and slow-growing segment analysis, COVID-19 impact and recovery analysis and future consumer dynamics, Market condition analysis for forecast period Customization purview If our report has not included the data that you are looking for, you can reach out to our analysts and get segments customized. Customization purview If our report has not included the data that you are looking for, you can reach out to our analysts and get segments customized.

1 Executive Summary

1.1 Market overview

Exhibit 01: Executive Summary  Chart on Market Overview



Exhibit 02: Executive Summary  Data Table on Market Overview



Exhibit 03: Executive Summary  Chart on Global Market Characteristics



Exhibit 04: Executive Summary  Chart on Market by Geography



Exhibit 05: Executive Summary  Chart on Market Segmentation by Product



Exhibit 06: Executive Summary  Chart on Market Segmentation by End-user



Exhibit 07: Executive Summary  Chart on Market Segmentation by Type



Exhibit 08: Executive Summary  Chart on Incremental Growth



Exhibit 09: Executive Summary  Data Table on Incremental Growth



Exhibit 10: Executive Summary  Chart on Vendor Market Positioning

2 Market Landscape

2.1 Market ecosystem

Exhibit 11: Parent market



Exhibit 12: Market Characteristics

3 Market Sizing

3.1 Market definition

Exhibit 13: Offerings of vendors included in the market definition

3.2 Market segment analysis

Exhibit 14: Market segments

3.3 Market size 2022

3.4 Market outlook: Forecast for 2022-2027

Exhibit 15: Chart on Global - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)



Exhibit 16: Data Table on Global - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)



Exhibit 17: Chart on Global Market: Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)



Exhibit 18: Data Table on Global Market: Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

4 Historic Market Size

4.1 Global massage equipment market 2017 - 2021

Exhibit 19: Historic Market Size  Data Table on Global massage equipment market 2017 - 2021 ($ million)

4.2 Product Segment Analysis 2017 - 2021

Exhibit 20: Historic Market Size  Product Segment 2017 - 2021 ($ million)

4.3 End-user Segment Analysis 2017 - 2021

Exhibit 21: Historic Market Size  End-user Segment 2017 - 2021 ($ million)

4.4 Type Segment Analysis 2017 - 2021

Exhibit 22: Historic Market Size  Type Segment 2017 - 2021 ($ million)

4.5 Geography Segment Analysis 2017 - 2021

Exhibit 23: Historic Market Size  Geography Segment 2017 - 2021 ($ million)

4.6 Country Segment Analysis 2017 - 2021

Exhibit 24: Historic Market Size  Country Segment 2017 - 2021 ($ million)

5 Five Forces Analysis

5.1 Five forces summary

Exhibit 25: Five forces analysis - Comparison between 2022 and 2027

5.2 Bargaining power of buyers

Exhibit 26: Chart on Bargaining power of buyers  Impact of key factors 2022 and 2027

5.3 Bargaining power of suppliers

Exhibit 27: Bargaining power of suppliers  Impact of key factors in 2022 and 2027

5.4 Threat of new entrants

Exhibit 28: Threat of new entrants  Impact of key factors in 2022 and 2027

5.5 Threat of substitutes

Exhibit 29: Threat of substitutes  Impact of key factors in 2022 and 2027

5.6 Threat of rivalry

Exhibit 30: Threat of rivalry  Impact of key factors in 2022 and 2027

5.7 Market condition

Exhibit 31: Chart on Market condition - Five forces 2022 and 2027

6 Market Segmentation by Product

6.1 Market segments

Exhibit 32: Chart on Product - Market share 2022-2027 (%)



Exhibit 33: Data Table on Product - Market share 2022-2027 (%)

6.2 Comparison by Product

Exhibit 34: Chart on Comparison by Product



Exhibit 35: Data Table on Comparison by Product

6.3 Massage chairs and sofas - Market size and forecast 2022-2027

Exhibit 36: Chart on Massage chairs and sofas - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)



Exhibit 37: Data Table on Massage chairs and sofas - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)



Exhibit 38: Chart on Massage chairs and sofas - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)



Exhibit 39: Data Table on Massage chairs and sofas - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

6.4 Back massagers - Market size and forecast 2022-2027

Exhibit 40: Chart on Back massagers - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)



Exhibit 41: Data Table on Back massagers - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)



Exhibit 42: Chart on Back massagers - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)



Exhibit 43: Data Table on Back massagers - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

6.5 Handheld massagers - Market size and forecast 2022-2027

Exhibit 44: Chart on Handheld massagers - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)



Exhibit 45: Data Table on Handheld massagers - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)



Exhibit 46: Chart on Handheld massagers - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)



Exhibit 47: Data Table on Handheld massagers - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

6.6 Neck and shoulder massagers - Market size and forecast 2022-2027

Exhibit 48: Chart on Neck and shoulder massagers - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)



Exhibit 49: Data Table on Neck and shoulder massagers - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)



Exhibit 50: Chart on Neck and shoulder massagers - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)



Exhibit 51: Data Table on Neck and shoulder massagers - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

6.7 Others - Market size and forecast 2022-2027

Exhibit 52: Chart on Others - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)



Exhibit 53: Data Table on Others - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)



Exhibit 54: Chart on Others - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)



Exhibit 55: Data Table on Others - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

6.8 Market opportunity by Product

Exhibit 56: Market opportunity by Product ($ million)

7 Market Segmentation by End-user

7.1 Market segments

Exhibit 57: Chart on End-user - Market share 2022-2027 (%)



Exhibit 58: Data Table on End-user - Market share 2022-2027 (%)

7.2 Comparison by End-user

Exhibit 59: Chart on Comparison by End-user



Exhibit 60: Data Table on Comparison by End-user

7.3 Commercial - Market size and forecast 2022-2027

Exhibit 61: Chart on Commercial - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)



Exhibit 62: Data Table on Commercial - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)



Exhibit 63: Chart on Commercial - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)



Exhibit 64: Data Table on Commercial - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

7.4 Residential - Market size and forecast 2022-2027

Exhibit 65: Chart on Residential - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)



Exhibit 66: Data Table on Residential - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)



Exhibit 67: Chart on Residential - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)



Exhibit 68: Data Table on Residential - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

7.5 Market opportunity by End-user

Exhibit 69: Market opportunity by End-user ($ million)

8 Market Segmentation by Type

8.1 Market segments

Exhibit 70: Chart on Type - Market share 2022-2027 (%)



Exhibit 71: Data Table on Type - Market share 2022-2027 (%)

8.2 Comparison by Type

Exhibit 72: Chart on Comparison by Type



Exhibit 73: Data Table on Comparison by Type

8.3 Electric massage equipment - Market size and forecast 2022-2027

Exhibit 74: Chart on Electric massage equipment - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)



Exhibit 75: Data Table on Electric massage equipment - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)



Exhibit 76: Chart on Electric massage equipment - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)



Exhibit 77: Data Table on Electric massage equipment - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

8.4 Non-electric massage equipment - Market size and forecast 2022-2027

Exhibit 78: Chart on Non-electric massage equipment - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)



Exhibit 79: Data Table on Non-electric massage equipment - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)



Exhibit 80: Chart on Non-electric massage equipment - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)



Exhibit 81: Data Table on Non-electric massage equipment - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

8.5 Market opportunity by Type

Exhibit 82: Market opportunity by Type ($ million)

9 Customer Landscape

9.1 Customer landscape overview

Exhibit 83: Analysis of price sensitivity, lifecycle, customer purchase basket, adoption rates, and purchase criteria

10 Geographic Landscape

10.1 Geographic segmentation

Exhibit 84: Chart on Market share by geography 2022-2027 (%)



Exhibit 85: Data Table on Market share by geography 2022-2027 (%)

10.2 Geographic comparison

Exhibit 86: Chart on Geographic comparison



Exhibit 87: Data Table on Geographic comparison

10.3 North America - Market size and forecast 2022-2027

- Market size and forecast 2022-2027 Exhibit 88: Chart on North America - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)

Exhibit 89: Data Table on North America - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)

Exhibit 90: Chart on North America - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

- Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

Exhibit 91: Data Table on North America - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

10.4 Europe - Market size and forecast 2022-2027

- Market size and forecast 2022-2027 Exhibit 92: Chart on Europe - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)

Exhibit 93: Data Table on Europe - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)

Exhibit 94: Chart on Europe - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

- Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

Exhibit 95: Data Table on Europe - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

10.5 APAC - Market size and forecast 2022-2027

Exhibit 96: Chart on APAC - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)



Exhibit 97: Data Table on APAC - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)



Exhibit 98: Chart on APAC - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)



Exhibit 99: Data Table on APAC - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

10.6 South America - Market size and forecast 2022-2027

- Market size and forecast 2022-2027 Exhibit 100: Chart on South America - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)

Exhibit 101: Data Table on South America - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)

Exhibit 102: Chart on South America - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

- Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

Exhibit 103: Data Table on South America - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

10.7 Middle East and Africa - Market size and forecast 2022-2027

and - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 Exhibit 104: Chart on Middle East and Africa - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)

and - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)

Exhibit 105: Data Table on Middle East and Africa - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)

and - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)

Exhibit 106: Chart on Middle East and Africa - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

and - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

Exhibit 107: Data Table on Middle East and Africa - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

10.8 US - Market size and forecast 2022-2027

Exhibit 108: Chart on US - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)



Exhibit 109: Data Table on US - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)



Exhibit 110: Chart on US - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)



Exhibit 111: Data Table on US - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

10.9 China - Market size and forecast 2022-2027

- Market size and forecast 2022-2027 Exhibit 112: Chart on China - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)

Exhibit 113: Data Table on China - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)

Exhibit 114: Chart on China - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

- Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

Exhibit 115: Data Table on China - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

10.10 Germany - Market size and forecast 2022-2027

- Market size and forecast 2022-2027 Exhibit 116: Chart on Germany - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)

Exhibit 117: Data Table on Germany - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)

Exhibit 118: Chart on Germany - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

- Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

Exhibit 119: Data Table on Germany - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

10.11 Japan - Market size and forecast 2022-2027

- Market size and forecast 2022-2027 Exhibit 120: Chart on Japan - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)

Exhibit 121: Data Table on Japan - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)

Exhibit 122: Chart on Japan - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

- Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

Exhibit 123: Data Table on Japan - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

10.12 France - Market size and forecast 2022-2027

- Market size and forecast 2022-2027 Exhibit 124: Chart on France - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)

Exhibit 125: Data Table on France - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million)

Exhibit 126: Chart on France - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

- Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

Exhibit 127: Data Table on France - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%)

10.13 Market opportunity by geography

Exhibit 128: Market opportunity by geography ($ million)

11 Drivers, Challenges, and Trends

11.1 Market drivers

11.2 Market challenges

11.3 Impact of drivers and challenges

Exhibit 129: Impact of drivers and challenges in 2022 and 2027

11.4 Market trends

12 Vendor Landscape

12.1 Overview

12.2 Vendor landscape

Exhibit 130: Overview on Criticality of inputs and Factors of differentiation

12.3 Landscape disruption

Exhibit 131: Overview on factors of disruption

12.4 Industry risks

Exhibit 132: Impact of key risks on business

13 Vendor Analysis

13.1 Vendors covered

Exhibit 133: Vendors covered

13.2 Market positioning of vendors

Exhibit 134: Matrix on vendor position and classification

13.3 Beurer GmbH

Exhibit 135: Beurer GmbH - Overview



Exhibit 136: Beurer GmbH - Product / Service



Exhibit 137: Beurer GmbH - Key offerings

13.4 Bodyfriend Inc.

Exhibit 138: Bodyfriend Inc. - Overview



Exhibit 139: Bodyfriend Inc. - Product / Service



Exhibit 140: Bodyfriend Inc. - Key offerings

13.5 Casada International GmbH

Exhibit 141: Casada International GmbH - Overview



Exhibit 142: Casada International GmbH - Product / Service



Exhibit 143: Casada International GmbH - Key offerings

13.6 Conair Corp.

Exhibit 144: Conair Corp. - Overview



Exhibit 145: Conair Corp. - Product / Service



Exhibit 146: Conair Corp. - Key offerings

13.7 Family Inada Co. Ltd.

Exhibit 147: Family Inada Co. Ltd. - Overview



Exhibit 148: Family Inada Co. Ltd. - Product / Service



Exhibit 149: Family Inada Co. Ltd. - Key offerings

13.8 Fujita Massage Chair

Exhibit 150: Fujita Massage Chair - Overview



Exhibit 151: Fujita Massage Chair - Product / Service



Exhibit 152: Fujita Massage Chair - Key offerings

13.9 HoMedics LLC

Exhibit 153: HoMedics LLC - Overview



Exhibit 154: HoMedics LLC - Product / Service



Exhibit 155: HoMedics LLC - Key offerings

13.10 Human Touch LLC

Exhibit 156: Human Touch LLC - Overview



Exhibit 157: Human Touch LLC - Product / Service



Exhibit 158: Human Touch LLC - Key offerings

13.11 JSB Health and Fitness Pvt. Ltd.

Exhibit 159: JSB Health and Fitness Pvt. Ltd. - Overview



Exhibit 160: JSB Health and Fitness Pvt. Ltd. - Product / Service



Exhibit 161: JSB Health and Fitness Pvt. Ltd. - Key offerings

13.12 Luraco Technologies

Exhibit 162: Luraco Technologies - Overview



Exhibit 163: Luraco Technologies - Product / Service



Exhibit 164: Luraco Technologies - Key offerings

13.13 OMRON Corp

Exhibit 165: OMRON Corp - Overview



Exhibit 166: OMRON Corp - Business segments



Exhibit 167: OMRON Corp - Key news



Exhibit 168: OMRON Corp - Key offerings



Exhibit 169: OMRON Corp - Segment focus

13.14 OSIM International Pte. Ltd.

Exhibit 170: OSIM International Pte. Ltd. - Overview



Exhibit 171: OSIM International Pte. Ltd. - Product / Service



Exhibit 172: OSIM International Pte. Ltd. - Key offerings

13.15 Panasonic Holdings Corp.

Exhibit 173: Panasonic Holdings Corp. - Overview



Exhibit 174: Panasonic Holdings Corp. - Business segments



Exhibit 175: Panasonic Holdings Corp. - Key news



Exhibit 176: Panasonic Holdings Corp. - Key offerings



Exhibit 177: Panasonic Holdings Corp. - Segment focus

13.16 Prospera Corp.

Exhibit 178: Prospera Corp. - Overview



Exhibit 179: Prospera Corp. - Product / Service



Exhibit 180: Prospera Corp. - Key offerings

13.17 Wahl Clipper Corp.

Exhibit 181: Wahl Clipper Corp. - Overview



Exhibit 182: Wahl Clipper Corp. - Product / Service



Exhibit 183: Wahl Clipper Corp. - Key offerings

14 Appendix

14.1 Scope of the report

14.2 Inclusions and exclusions checklist

Exhibit 184: Inclusions checklist



Exhibit 185: Exclusions checklist

14.3 Currency conversion rates for US$

Exhibit 186: Currency conversion rates for US$

14.4 Research methodology

Exhibit 187: Research methodology



Exhibit 188: Validation techniques employed for market sizing



Exhibit 189: Information sources

14.5 List of abbreviations

Exhibit 190: List of abbreviations

About Us

Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. Their research and analysis focuses on emerging market trends and provides actionable insights to help businesses identify market opportunities and develop effective strategies to optimize their market positions. With over 500 specialized analysts, Technavio's report library consists of more than 17,000 reports and counting, covering 800 technologies, spanning across 50 countries. Their client base consists of enterprises of all sizes, including more than 100 Fortune 500 companies. This growing client base relies on Technavio's comprehensive coverage, extensive research, and actionable market insights to identify opportunities in existing and potential markets and assess their competitive positions within changing market scenarios.

Contact

Technavio Research

Jesse Maida

Media & Marketing Executive

US: +1 844 364 1100

UK: +44 203 893 3200

Email: [email protected]

Website: www.technavio.com/

SOURCE Technavio
WASHINGTON, May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- International law firm McDermott Will & Emery is pleased to welcome antitrust partner Ryan Tisch to the firm's regulatory practice in Washington, DC. Ryan is a strategic advisor to Fortune 100 company clients across a range of complex antitrust issues with a proven track record in mergers and acquisitions, merger clearances and related litigation.

"Global antitrust activity is at an all-time high, with the FTC and DOJ implementing assertive, difficult-to-navigate enforcement policies that are increasing uncertainty in the regulatory space," said Ray Jacobsen, global head of McDermott's Antitrust Practice Group. "Our internationally recognized team works tirelessly to steer clients to positive outcomes and progress their strategic objectives in this complex environment. Ryan's addition further strengthens our leading antitrust capabilities, providing clients with innovative, winning strategies across the spectrum of regulatory issues."

Ryan is known for securing approvals for significant mergers that face review in multiple jurisdictions, including some of the largest in the agricultural, manufacturing, chemical, technology and food and beverage industries. As the digital economy exposes traditional businesses to new competition, clients turn to Ryan to advise on their evolving platforms and go-to-market strategies. In addition to his deal work, Ryan helps clients mitigate risk and advises on complex operational issues such as joint ventures, trade association activities and other competitor collaborations, distribution and channel management, standard setting and data exchange.

Ryan's global practice includes extensive handling of matters before the US Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission as well as substantive merger review matters before the United Kingdom's Competition and Markets Authority, the Competition Tribunal of South Africa, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission and China's State Administration for Market Regulation, among other international authorities.

"I believe in a holistic approach to transactions and commercial strategy that brings the best minds across disciplines to a legal problem, and McDermott helps me offer that to my clients. McDermott has an impressive track record as a leader in the antitrust sector, and I have long admired the depth and breadth of its regulatory practice. I am excited to tap into the Firm's global platform to support my clients' growing lists of regulatory needs," Ryan noted.

McDermott's Global Antitrust Practice

With an outstanding global antitrust team of over 40 lawyers across offices in Brussels, Chicago, Dusseldorf, New York, Paris and Washington, DC, McDermott offers clients an extraordinary breadth of industry experience. Our lawyers are known for using innovative strategies to solve complex antitrust issues while building a deep knowledge of clients' businesses to implement the best path forward.

McDermott continues to expand its international footprint with the addition of several high-profile additions during recent years, including Lesli C. Esposito and Justin P. Murphy (Washington, DC), Hendrik Viaene and Stephane Dionnet (Brussels), Frederic Pradelles (Paris) and Laura Stammwitz (Frankfurt.) Collectively, the group brings experience in the fields of merger control, international cartel defense, distribution, state aid, antitrust litigation and international trade.

McDermott's global antitrust team is regularly listed in Global Competition Review's "Global Elite" as a top competition law team. Its strength is also recognized by other leading industry organizations and rankings, such as Chambers & Partners (Top Ranked), The Legal 500 US & EMEA (Leading Firm) Best Lawyers, Best Law Firms (Tier 1) and Benchmark Litigation (Highly Recommended).

ABOUT MCDERMOTT

McDermott Will & Emery partners with leaders around the world to fuel missions, knock down barriers and shape markets. Our team works seamlessly across practices and industries to deliver highly effective solutions that propel success. More than 1,400 lawyers strong, we bring our personal passion and legal prowess to bear in every matter for our clients and the people they serve.

SOURCE McDermott Will & Emery
NEW YORK, May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- New York State is attempting to eliminate hundreds of agencies, including those that specialize in helping diverse cultural populations and serving those in poverty-stricken areas. These proposed cuts by New York State would eliminate language proficiency and clear communication between and among the agencies and their caregivers and patients. Agencies serving specific disability populations like the Deaf and Deaf/Blind community may also be cut.

Under current law, New York State will be closing hundreds of Consumer Directed Personal Assistance Program (CDPAP) agencies this year. CDPAP enables Medicaid-eligible homebound older adults to get their services from family, friends, or community members they know and trust and allows those individuals to get paid for their work. CDPAP benefits family members and their caregivers, provides choice in decision-making and allows for a more flexible schedule to receive care.

"Small, local, minority agencies are being unfairly targeted for closure," said Ed Kelley, Director of Public Affairs of CDPAP New York United. "It's vital not to disrupt a major program that provides personal care services in the home to people who would otherwise be forced into nursing home care," he added.

"Eliminating hundreds of agencies is not good business for the State of New York," said Kelley. "New York State's attempt to eliminate CDPAP agencies will reduce competition and drive-up costs, which are borne by the taxpayers," he added.

CDPAP New York United is an advocacy group formed to allow all CDPAP agencies providing quality services to remain in operation and continue serving their members. It is advocating against the Department of Health's efforts to shrink the industry, a move which will hurt consumers, employees, and the State.

CDPAP is asking for the public's support to keep the program strong for the people of New York by making your voices heard by reaching out to your New York State Senator and Assembly Member.

There's a link on the CDPAP's website to let your New York State Senator and Assembly Member know that you support the continuation of CDPAP.

Please help us save Home Care in New York. Visit https://cdpapunited.org and click on https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/bills/2023/s5020?intent=support to send a letter to your New York senator and https://nyassembly.gov/leg/?bn=A05281&term=2023 to send a letter to your New York Assembly Member.

Your support is VITAL to the continuation of CDPAP in New York. Thank YOU for Taking Action Now.

Please visit https://cdpapunited.org and make your voices heard!

Contact:

Ed Kelley

[email protected]

917-982-8015

SOURCE CDPAP New York United
The global medical gases and equipment market is driven by factors such as increase in the adoption of medical gases and equipment, surge in cases of respiratory diseases such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), asthma, dyspnea, and the rise in awareness regarding improvement of healthcare infrastructure in developing countries.

PORTLAND, Ore. , May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Allied Market Research published a report, titled, "Medical Gases and Equipment Market: By Product Type (Medical Gases, and Medical Gas Equipment), By Application (Therapeutic, Diagnostics, and Others), By End User (Hospitals, Ambulatory Surgical Centers, Diagnostic and Research Laboratories, and Others): Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2022-2032" According to the report, the global medical gases and equipment industry generated $14.3 billion in 2022, and is anticipated to generate $28.9 billion by 2032, witnessing a CAGR of 7.6% from 2023 to 2032.

Download Sample Copy of the Report- https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/request-sample/407

Prime determinants of growth

The global medical gases and equipment market is driven by factors such as increase in the adoption of medical gases and equipment, surge in cases of respiratory diseases such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), asthma, dyspnea, and the rise in awareness regarding improvement of healthcare infrastructure in developing countries. However, the stringent regulations regarding manufacturing and sales of medical gases and equipment is hampering the medical gases and equipment market growth. On the contrary, the increase in adoption of key strategies by key players, and the rise in aging population suffering from respiratory disease and cardiovascular disease are expected to offer remunerative opportunities for expansion of the medical gases and equipment market during the forecast period.

Report coverage & details:

Report Coverage Details Forecast Period 20232032 Base Year 2022 Market Size in 2022 $14.3 billion Market Size in 2032 $28.9 billion CAGR 7.6 % No. of Pages in Report 416 Segments covered Product Type, Application, End User, And Region Drivers Surge in cases of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease Rise in prevalence of asthma Rise in prevalence of cardiovascular diseases Opportunities Rise in geriatric population Increase in adoption of key strategies by key players Restraints Stringent regulations

Covid-19 Scenario

Due to the high demand for medical oxygen gas during COVID-19 pandemic, the medical gases and equipment market faced an excellent growth.

This notable growth is expected to continue during the forecast period as healthcare systems around the world continue to invest in medical gases and equipment to improve their capacity to respond to future pandemics and other healthcare challenges.

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The medical gases segment to maintain its leadership status throughout the forecast period.

Based on product type, the medical gases segment held the highest market share in 2022, accounting for nearly three-fourths of the global medical gases and equipment market revenue and is estimated to maintain its leadership status throughout the forecast period. This is due to a rise in adoption of medical gases and increase in focus for the improvement of healthcare infrastructure. The same segment is projected to manifest the highest CAGR of 7.8% from 2023 to 2032, as increase in awareness regarding use of medical gases for treatment & diagnostic purpose and rise in demand of medical gases.

The therapeutic segment to maintain its leadership status throughout the forecast period

Based on application, the therapeutic segment held the highest market share in 2022, accounting for more than half of the global medical gases and equipment market revenue and is estimated to maintain its leadership status throughout the forecast period, owing to high adoption of medical gases and equipment for treatment and rise in use of medical gases for treatment of respiratory disease. However, the diagnostics segment is projected to manifest the highest CAGR of 8.5% from 2023 to 2032, owing to an increase in endoscopy procedure that requires medical gases and equipment and rise in demand of medical gases for diagnostic purpose, such as increase in use of lung diffusion mixture for pulmonary function testing.

The hospital to maintain its dominance by 2032

Based on end user, the hospitals segment held the highest market share in terms of revenue in 2022, accounting for nearly two-fifths of the global medical gases and equipment market revenue,and is likely to dominate the market during the forecast period. This is due to an increase in number of patient visit in hospital, and high demand of medical gases and equipment from hospitals. The other segment is expected to witness the fastest CAGR of 9.0% from 2023 to 2032 , owing to increase in use of medical gases in home healthcare, and rise in geriatric population in home healthcare who required care and medical gas.

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North America to maintain its dominance by 2032

Based on region, North America held the highest market share in terms of revenue in 2022, accounting for more than two-fifths of the global medical gases and equipment market revenue, and is expected to maintain its dominant status throughout the forecast period. The growth is attributed to robust healthcare infrastructure, presence of key players, and rise in healthcare expenditure. However, the Asia-Pacific region is expected to witness the fastest CAGR of 9.5% from 2023 to 2032 owing to a rise in number of respiratory diseases, unmet medical demands, and high population base.

Leading Market Players: -

Advin Health Care

Air Liquide (Air Liquide Medical Systems)

Air Products and Chemicals Inc

Atlas Copco AB

DCC plc (Flogas)

ESAB (GCE Holding AB)

Linde Plc

Matheson Tri-Gas Inc.

Messer Holding GmbH

Rotarex

The report provides a detailed analysis of these key players in the global medical gases and equipment market. These players have adopted different strategies such as acquisition, product launch, and others to increase their market share and maintain dominant shares in different regions. The report is valuable in highlighting business performance, operating segments, product portfolio, and strategic moves of market players to showcase the competitive scenario.

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BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 17. Azerbaijan occupies an important place in the international arena, Director of Links Europe Dennis Sammut, who took part in the international conference "From Bandung to Baku: The Non-Aligned Movement in a Complex and Changing Global Context," told Trend.

He noted that the period of Azerbaijan's chairmanship in the Non-Aligned Movement fell on a very difficult period.

"The Non-Aligned Movement is one of the largest organizations in the world. And the period of Azerbaijan's presidency fell on a very difficult time. Azerbaijan, during its chairmanship in the organization, encouraged member countries to solve existing problems," Sammut added.

Baku hosted an international conference "From Bandung to Baku: The Non-Aligned Movement in a Complex and Changing Global Context". It was attended by representatives of think tanks and foreign policy departments from the member countries of the Non-Aligned Movement, representatives of the government of Azerbaijan and the diplomatic corps in the country, as well as local experts.
Partnership Will Streamline Transitions of Care With Automated Touchpoints

to Reach More Patients and Unburden Care Teams

SAN FRANCISCO, May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Memora Health, the leading intelligent care enablement platform, today announced a partnership with SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University. As Brooklyn's only academic medical center for health education, research, and patient care, the collaboration with Memora will enable SUNY Downstate to better support patients as they transition from the University Hospital at Downstate (UHD)'s emergency department and after hospital stays back to their homes.

The Emergency Care Center at UHD sees nearly 45,000 patients each year with another 9,000 patients discharged from inpatient settings annually. Once a patient is discharged and sent home, care teams at the hospital are tasked with manually calling each patient to ensure they have the resources they need, including medications and follow-up appointments. Due to staffing constraints, the sheer volume of patients, and over 80 percent of phone calls from unknown numbers going unanswered , these teams are often unable to engage with every patient, increasing the potential for costly readmission. Memora's intelligent care enablement platform digitizes this process, automating clinical touchpoints via text message to reach more patients with the appropriate post-discharge guidance while also streamlining post-discharge workflows for busy care teams.

"Communicating with our patients once they return home is critical to driving engagement and care plan adherence, but the current process is extremely time consuming and doesn't scale to meet the high-volume of demand," said Dr. Mafuzur Rahman, chief medical information officer at University Hospital at Downstate. "Memora's platform streamlines the post-discharge process and gives time back to busy clinicians to focus on more immediate issues." In addition to these benefits, UHD expects to see an improvement in the number of readmissions for recently discharged patients.

Memora's platform takes on routine tasks like appointment prompts and reminders, and proactively screens for changes in symptoms, new changes in health, and adherence to care plan goals. A digital SDOH assessment survey also helps identify any patient barriers to care that may need to be addressed, including housing, food, finances, and safety. In similar settings, Memora's care programs have contributed to a 62 percent increase in care plan adherence, as well as patient and clinician satisfaction rates above 90 percent. Together, Memora and SUNY Downstate will be able to augment SUNY's care team in support of patients through the often difficult transition from hospital to home.

"We are thrilled to support SUNY Downstate in their mission to care for and improve the lives of their highly diverse community and patient population" said Manav Sevak, co-founder and Chief Executive Officer at Memora. "We believe this partnership will help simplify and improve the care journey for patients and enable clinicians in the ED to work more efficiently and provide the highest levels of care."

About Memora Health

Memora Health, the leading intelligent care enablement platform, helps clinicians focus on top-of-license practice while proactively engaging patients along complex care journeys. Memora partners with leading health systems, health plans, and digital health companies to transform the care delivery process for care teams and patients. The company's platform digitizes and automates high-touch clinical workflows, supercharging care teams by intelligently triaging patient-reported concerns and data to appropriate care team members and providing patients with proactive, two-way communication and support. To learn more about Memora's vision to make care more actionable, accessible and always-on, visit memorahealth.com .

About SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University

Downstate Health Sciences University (Downstate), located in Brooklyn, is one of four academic health centers in The State University of New York (SUNY) 64-campus system. It is the only SUNY academic medical center in New York City delivering health education, research, and patient care and primarily serves the borough's 2.7 million residents. Downstate consists of five schools and colleges, a multifaceted biotechnology initiative, and University Hospital at Downstate (UHD), the 342-bed teaching hospital backed by Downstate's outstanding medical school expertise and world-class academic center research facilities. Over 800 physicians, representing 53 specialties and subspecialtiesmany of them ranked as tops in their fieldscomprise Downstate's staff.

In addition to high-risk neonatal and infant services, pediatric nephrology, and dialysis (kidney diseases)and offering the only kidney transplantation program in Brooklyn, among many other distinctive programs. Downstate comprises a College of Medicine, a College of Nursing, a School of Health Professions, a School of Graduate Studies, a School of Public Health, and a multifaceted biotechnology initiative, including the Downstate Biotechnology Incubator and BioBAT for early- stage and more mature companies, respectively. For more information, visit www.downstate.edu or follow us on Twitter at @sunydownstate.

Media Contact: Lara Key, [email protected]

SOURCE Memora Health
MEMPHIS, Tenn., May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare recently commemorated the 90th anniversary of its Methodist Healthcare Auxiliary with a celebration featuring a special blessing and remarks from the system's President and CEO, Dr. Michael Ugwueke, MPH, DHA, FACHE. The Auxiliary began in 1933 as a group of Methodist Church members, physicians' wives and friends of Methodist Hospital.

"The Methodist Auxiliary is one of our most cherished organizations," said Ugwueke. "Their role became essential in fulfilling our mission to improve the health and wellbeing of every patient who trusts us with their care."

The Auxiliary's members, best known as the "Pink Ladies," raise funds and donate their time to provide additional support to patients, families, caregivers and Methodist Le Bonheur staff.

"These incredible women serve as an extension of our Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare family," said Ugwueke. "Either with an encouraging word, bright smile or uplifting prayer, they represent our Power of One culture, rooted in the belief that one person can make a difference in the life of another."

In nine decades, Auxiliary members have fundraised more than $2.5 million for Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare, including $133K in the last five years alone. These funds enable the Memphis-based healthcare system to further invest in lifesaving equipment and capital projects, expand nursing education scholarship programs and provide additional comfort features in the Methodist University Hospital chapel.

"I hope their acts of selflessness and service encourage others to follow in their footsteps, ensuring the invaluable work of the Auxiliary continues well into the next century," said Ugwueke.

About Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare

Based in Memphis, Tennessee, Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare has been caring for patients and families regardless of their ability to pay for more than 100 years. Guided by roots in the United Methodist Church and founded in 1918 to help meet the growing need for quality healthcare in the greater Memphis area, MLH has grown from one hospital into a comprehensive healthcare system with 13,000 Associates supporting six hospitals, including nationally ranked Le Bonheur Children's Hospital, ambulatory surgery centers, outpatient facilities, hospice residence and physician and specialty practices serving communities across the Mid-South. From transplants and advanced heart procedures to expert neurology services and compassionate cancer care, MLH offers clinical expertise with a focus on improving every life we touch.

SOURCE Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare
MHz Choice to Debut two new crime limited series with What Pauline is Not Telling You and Monterossi

WASHINGTON, May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- All characters arrive in impeccable style in the newest French TV adaptation of Agatha Christie novels in MHz Choice's Agatha Christie's Criminal Games: The '70s. Collars are wide, sunglasses are huge and flares are everywhere. Captain Annie Greco (Emilie Gavois-Kahn) shows up at the Lille police department as its first female captain. The chauvinism is ever-present even as Greco immediately runs circles around her hapless male underlings. She acquires her first trusted investigative partner with the unlikely Max Beretta (Arthur Dupont), who was marooned in the archives after some hothead behavior following a perceived slight by a colleague. He's always a hair-trigger away from throwing a punch (or worse) but he's observant and motivated. Rose Bellacour (Chloe Chaudoye) rounds out the mismatched trio as a gifted amateur psychologist. Her outfits may scream peak 1970s fashion, but her mind is built for a more modern age. Rose is rich and doesn't technically need a job, but she's too smart to settle for being a rich guy's wife.

Arthur Dupont, Emilie Gavois-Kahn and Chloe Chaudoye in "Agatha Christies Criminal Games: The 70s" on MHz Choice

The 1970s are arguably the fourth major character in the series, with richly decorated sets in tones of orange and brown, vintage cars and a distinctly psychedelic feel accompanying each mystery. The burgeoning field of psychology and emergence of more women in traditionally male roles (i.e. police captains) provides some light humor and obstacles the characters often face. Each feature-length episode features a different mystery for the trio to solve with Captain Greco's no nonsense demeanor balancing out the more colorful and loud approach of Beretta and Bellacour.

Also debuting this June on MHz Choice are a pair of limited series where motives are not always what they seem. In What Pauline is Not Telling You (France, Gaumont), we meet Pauline (Ophelia Kolb), a divorcee and mother of two who is suspected of killing her ex-husband Olivier (Antoine Berry). Pauline's behavior right after discovering Olivier's body immediately comes into question. Was it panic or cold calculation? Who has whose best interests at heart? The viewer is invited to be judge and jury in this slow burn drama over the course of four episodes.

The second limited series, Monterossi (Italy, Mediawan) is based on the novels of Alessandro Robecchi (Questa non e una canzone d'amore and Di rabbia e di vento) and starts with a literal bang. Ex-TV writer Carlo Monterossi (Fabrizio Bentivoglio) decides to leave the popular show he helped create. The first episode without him at the helm is about to debut when someone tries to murder him at home. No stranger to scripted drama and with time on his hands Monterossi dives into his own dramatic investigation over who tried to kill him and why. Potential suspects keep leading to more questions and increasingly dangerous characters as Carlo becomes a less than welcome part of the detective team investigating the matter. Monterossi is set in Milan, Italy and showcases cosmopolitan glamor mixed with the darker corners of the city, matching the lead character's own mix of affluence and melancholy. The directors of the series, Roan Johnson and Davide Lantieri, wanted to capture the shifting highs of the TV world with the lows of the Roma Gypsy camps: "With Robecchi, we explored Monterossi's most important theme: his internal conflict between trying to investigate and getting his hands dirty with modern life".

Returning this month to MHz choice is the fifth installment of Danish medical drama The New Nurses (Reinvent) where the everyday drama and joy of a hospital staff unfolds between the nurses of both genders and the patients they attend to. Also returning this month are new seasons of The British 1960s classic detective series Maigret (Kino Lorber) German police comedy Homicide Hills (Beta Films), and fan-favorite Alice Nevers (France, Mediawan).

Full June Schedule available here:

https://mhzchoice.com/premiere-schedule/

About MHz Choice:

Founded in 2015, MHz Choice offers North American viewers a passport to the world's best international TV. MHz Choice features a robust catalog that includes television mysteries, dramas, comedies, and documentaries, all for just $7.99/month. New MHz Choice customers receive a free 7-Day Trial. MHz Choice is part of MHz Networks, a Kino Lorber company. For more information, go to mhzchoice.com.

JUNE 6

MONTEROSSI, ITALY, MEDIAWAN, NEW SERIES

One night Carlo Monterossi, a famous but unhappy television writer, finds a man pointing a gun at him through his door. The gunman's near miss makes Carlo a full time investigator into his own attempted murder.

WHAT PAULINE IS NOT TELLING YOU, FRANCE GAUMONT, NEW SERIES

Pauline's ex-husband falls to his death and suspicions turn to her as she remains silent despite the police identifying a damning motive. What does her silence say or not say about her claimed innocence?

JUNE 13

AGATHA CHRISTIE'S CRIMINAL GAMES: THE '70S, FRANCE, FRANCE TV, NEW SERIES

Agatha Christie's world-famous mysteries are delightfully adapted and set in 1970s Lille, France  sexy, witty and definitely addictive!

MAIGRET, UNITED KINGDOM, KINO LORBER, NEW SEASON

The pragmatic, reserved and refined Maigret investigates murders in his singular unhurried manner. Based on the Maigret novels and stories by Georges Simenon and first broadcast on the BBC in the United Kingdom from 1960-63.

JUNE 20

INSPECTOR REX, AUSTRIA, BETA FILMS, NEW SEASON

Police dog Rex investigates crime and solves mysteries on the streets of Vienna - protecting the innocent, catching criminals and stealing the occasional ham roll.

THE NEW NURSES, DENMARK, REINVENT, NEW SEASON

In the 1950s, a Danish hospital embarks on a radical experiment: training men as nurses!

JUNE 27

HOMICIDE HILLS, GERMANY, BETA FILMS, NEW SEASON

Detective Sophie Haas is transferred from Cologne to the fictional rural town of Hengasch in the Eifel mountains.Once there, she leads a comically small police force which investigates more black eyes than bodies. Disappointed by the lack of murders, she is determined to pursue every last lead.

ALICE NEVERS, FRANCE, MEDIAWAN, NEW SEASON

A mainstay of French TV characters, Alice Nevers is an admired and effective criminal prosecutor. She has both a professional and personal partnership with police captain Fred Marquand as they investigate crimes in Paris that often shed light on the larger societal issues of the day.

SOURCE MHz Networks
CHICAGO, May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The microbiome sequencing services industry is poised for significant growth in the near future. The microbiome, comprising the diverse community of microorganisms living in and on the human body, has been increasingly recognized for its impact on human health and disease. As research in this field expands, there is a growing demand for microbiome sequencing services to analyze and understand the composition, function, and interactions of these microbial communities. Advances in next-generation sequencing technologies have enabled more comprehensive and cost-effective analysis of the microbiome, leading to increased adoption of microbiome sequencing services by academic institutions, pharmaceutical companies, and healthcare providers. The industry is witnessing a surge in collaborations and partnerships between sequencing service providers and research organizations to facilitate large-scale microbiome studies. Additionally, the integration of bioinformatics tools and artificial intelligence algorithms is enhancing data analysis and interpretation, enabling researchers to uncover novel insights into the role of the microbiome in various diseases. Overall, the microbiome sequencing services industry is expected to play a pivotal role in advancing our understanding of the human microbiome and its implications for personalized medicine, disease diagnosis, and therapeutic development in the near future.

Microbiome Sequencing Services Market in terms of revenue was estimated to be worth $284 million in 2022 and is poised to reach $555 million by 2028, growing at a CAGR of 14.3% from 2022 to 2028 according to a new report by MarketsandMarkets. Key driving factors of the microbiome sequencing services market growth include, expanding applications for metagenomic sequencing, high focus on development of human microbiome therapeutics, and high costs associated with sophisticated sequencing instruments. In recent years, there has been a significant increase in the demand for metagenomic sequencing in the field of microbiome research owing it its wide array of applications, such as disease diagnosis, drug discovery, and precision medicine. This is expected to boost the market growth.

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186 - Tables

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200 - Pages

Microbiome Sequencing Services Market Scope:

Report Coverage Details Market Revenue in 2022 $284 million Estimated Value by 2028 $555 million Growth Rate Poised to grow at a CAGR of 14.3% Market Size Available for 20212028 Forecast Period 20232028 Forecast Units Value (USD Million) Report Coverage Revenue Forecast, Competitive Landscape, Growth Factors, and Trends Segments Covered Service, Type, Technology, End User, And Region Geographies Covered North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America and MEA Report Highlights Updated financial information / product portfolio of players Key Market Opportunities Expanding applications of microbiome sequencing in therapeutics development Key Market Drivers High cost of advanced infrastructure for sequencing

The sequencing and library preparation services segment accounted for the largest share of the microbiome sequencing services market in 2022

Based on service, the microbiome sequencing services market is segmented into sample preparation services, sequencing and library preparation services, and data analysis services. Sequencing and library preparation services are expected to dominate market through the forecast period. This segment includes sequencing and library preparation services for samples subjected to microbiome sequencing. This is a crucial step in microbiome analysis, wherein either reference sequences are created for samples or sequencing outputs are compared against the existing sequences.

The shotgun sequencing segment is expected to grow at the highest CAGR from 2023 to 2028

Based on type, the global microbiome sequencing services market is segmented into amplicon sequencing, whole-genome sequencing, shotgun sequencing, and other types. Advancements in data analysis solutions is expected to drive the adoption of shotgun sequencing, rendering this segment with a highest growth rate. Shotgun sequencing is a relatively new approach used to analyze many organisms present in a given complex sample and comprehensively sequence all genes.

The academic and research institutes segment accounted for the largest share of the global microbiome sequencing services market in 2022

Based on end user, the global microbiome sequencing services market is segmented into pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, academic and research institutes, and other end users. Expanding applications of microbiome research is expected to drive the growth of academic and research institutes end user segment. This segment is inclusive of the application of microbiome sequencing services in environmental and ecological research, veterinary research, and other research activities conducted by academic and research institutes.

North America dominates the global microbiome sequencing services market throughout the forecast period

The microbiome sequencing services market is segmented into five major regional segments, namely, North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and Middle East & Africa. In 2022, North America accounted for the largest share in the microbiome sequencing services market, which is attributed to the established research infrastructure, technological advancements, and demand for precision medicine. There has been a growing recognition of the role of the microbiome in various conditions, including gastrointestinal disorders, metabolic diseases, neurodegenerative diseases, and immune-related disorders. This increased awareness has led to a rising demand for microbiome sequencing services to better understand the complex interactions between the human microbiome and host health, as well as to develop targeted interventions and therapies in turn contributing to the regional revenue growth.

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Microbiome Sequencing Services Market Dynamics:

Drivers:

Increased Focus on Human Microbiome Therapy Human Microbiome as New Validated Target for Drug Development Human Microbiome for Early Disease Detection and Diagnosis

Restraints:

Lack of Expertise and Detailed Research Barriers in Proving the Causal Link Between Dysbiosis and Disease

Opportunities:

Investigational New Drug (IND) Requirements for Fecal Microbiota Increasing Collaborations Create Growth Opportunities

Challenges:

Government Regulations

Burning Issues

Abundant Opportunities in the Human Microbiome Field and Tremendous Research Investments Development of Human Microbiome Therapeutic Products

Key Market Players:

The microbiome sequencing services market is fragmented in nature with a large pool of local service providers/emerging players operating in this market. Some of the prominent market players include Charles River Laboratories (US), Eurofins Scientific (France), BGI (China), CosmosID (US), Microba (Australia), QIAGEN (Germany), Microbiome Insights (Canada), BaseClear (Netherlands), CD Genomics (US), Zymo Research (US), OraSure Technologies (US), MR DNA (US), Eremid Genomic Services (US), Clinical-Microbiomics A/S (Denmark), Novogene Co., Ltd. (China), EzBiome (US), Boster Biological Technology (US), Zifo (India), omics2view.consulting GbR (Germany), and Macrogen, Inc. (South Korea).

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Recent Developments:

In March 2023 , Microba launched a new human gut microbiome testing service for comprehensive gastrointestinal testing solutions. The solutions are accessible to healthcare professionals in Australia through a different brand name, Co-Biome.

, Microba launched a new human gut microbiome testing service for comprehensive gastrointestinal testing solutions. The solutions are accessible to healthcare professionals in through a different brand name, Co-Biome. In February 2023 , Locus Biosciences announced a long-term partnership with CosmosID to gain the support of the latter for clinical trial studies. CosmosID's support for microbiome analysis is expected to assist Locus Biosciences in strengthening its precision therapeutics platform.

, Locus Biosciences announced a long-term partnership with CosmosID to gain the support of the latter for clinical trial studies. CosmosID's support for microbiome analysis is expected to assist Locus Biosciences in strengthening its precision therapeutics platform. In March 2022 , Diversigen announced the launch of a new service, metatranscriptomic sequencing and analysis of the gut microbiome. This service will assist research professionals in understanding gene expression while gaining insights into both function and mechanism of microbiomes in samples.

Microbiome Sequencing Services Market Advantages:

Comprehensive Analysis: Microbiome sequencing services offer comprehensive analysis of the microbial communities present in various sample types, providing detailed insights into their composition, diversity, and function. This allows researchers to understand the role of the microbiome in health and disease.

High-throughput and Cost-effective: Next-generation sequencing technologies have significantly increased the throughput of microbiome sequencing, allowing for the analysis of large sample sizes in a shorter time frame. This scalability, coupled with cost-effective sequencing platforms, enables researchers to generate extensive microbiome data at a reasonable cost.

Customized Solutions: Microbiome sequencing service providers offer tailored solutions to meet the specific needs of researchers. They provide a range of sequencing platforms, library preparation protocols, and bioinformatics analysis tools, allowing researchers to design experiments and obtain insights that align with their research objectives.

Expertise and Infrastructure: Microbiome sequencing service providers possess specialized expertise and infrastructure dedicated to handling and processing microbiome samples. They have streamlined protocols and quality control measures in place to ensure accurate and reproducible results.

Data Interpretation and Analysis: Microbiome sequencing services often include comprehensive bioinformatics analysis, utilizing advanced algorithms and databases to interpret and extract meaningful information from the generated data. This allows researchers to gain valuable insights into the microbiome composition, functional potential, and interactions with the host.

Collaboration Opportunities: Microbiome sequencing services foster collaborations between researchers, clinicians, and industry stakeholders. By outsourcing the sequencing and analysis tasks to specialized service providers, researchers can focus on their core expertise while leveraging the expertise and resources of the service providers.

Translational Applications: The insights gained from microbiome sequencing services have broad translational applications in various fields, including personalized medicine, drug discovery and development, agriculture, and environmental studies. By understanding the role of the microbiome in different contexts, researchers can develop targeted interventions and therapies for various diseases and conditions.

Overall, microbiome sequencing services provide researchers with a valuable tool to explore the complex microbial communities and their interactions with the host, offering a wide range of advantages for advancing our understanding of the microbiome and its impact on human health.

Related Reports:

Human Microbiome Market - Global Forecasts to 2029

Lab Automation Market - Global Forecasts to 2028

Liquid Handling System Market - Global Forecasts to 2027

Clinical Microbiology Market - Global Forecasts to 2025

High Throughput Screening Market - Global Forecasts to 2025

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WICHITA FALLS, Texas, May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Mission Broadcasting, Inc. announced today that it has agreed to acquire WADL-TV in Detroit, Michigan from Adell Broadcasting Corporation. The MyNetworkTV affiliated station has been serving Detroit, the nation's 14th largest market, since its launch in May 1989, and currently reaches nearly two million television households. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

The acquisition of WADL is Mission's second entry into the state of Michigan; the broadcast group also owns WLAJ-TV, the ABC affiliate serving Lansing, Michigan, the state's capital.

"The purchase of WADL represents a rare opportunity to acquire a full-power station in a top-15 market," said Dennis Thatcher, President of Mission Broadcasting, Inc. "We are very excited about playing a role in the continued renaissance of this great American city."

Kevin Adell, Chief Executive Officer of Adell Broadcasting, commented, "I started this journey 34 years ago at my parents' kitchen table, where I mortgaged their home in order to build what would later become WADL-TV. I could not have selected a better successor of my legacy than Mission Broadcasting."

The transaction, subject to regulatory and other customary approvals, is expected to close in the third quarter of this year.

About Mission Broadcasting, Inc

Mission Broadcasting is led by Nancie J. Smith, Chairwoman, and majority shareholder. The privately held company currently owns twenty-nine television stations in twenty-six U.S. DMAs. Mission portfolio includes ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, The CW and MyNetworkTV affiliates in Arkansas, Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Michigan, Missouri, Montana, New Mexico, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Texas, and Vermont.

Dennis Thatcher, President

440-554-7779

[email protected]

SOURCE Mission Broadcasting, Inc.
Premier auto defect law firm pays tribute to retired California Supreme Court Justice in unveiling of state-of-the-art mock courtroom

COSTA MESA, Calif., May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- MLG Attorneys at Law announced the unveiling of the Justice Carlos R. Moreno Courtroom during a ribbon-cutting ceremony last week attended by Costa Mesa Mayor John Stephens and prominent members of the local legal community. Justice Moreno provided the inaugural address in an event that celebrated the fulfillment of MLG Principal Jonathan Michaels' ambitious vision: to craft a remarkably true-to-life courtroom tailored specifically for client preparation and the cultivation of exceptional trial skills.

The 82-person capacity mock courtroom was built in the firm's Costa Mesa headquarters and features a jury box, deliberation room and audience area. Housing full audio-visual capabilities, the courtroom will be used by MLG and other Southern California-based attorneys for conducting mock trials and focus groups. It will also be made available to the educational community and nonprofit organizations.

"This has been a 25-year dream of mine, and to see it come to life today is extraordinary," said Michaels. "We are honored to name this courtroom after Justice Moreno, whose dedication to justice and education has inspired us all."

Justice Carlos R. Moreno, a venerated figure in the legal world, boasts a distinguished 25-year career in the judiciary, including ten years on the California Supreme Court. Throughout his tenure, Justice Moreno authored more than 140 majority opinions on a diverse array of precedent-setting cases and has been an inspiration to generations of legal professionals, advocating for fairness and equal treatment under the law.

"I am deeply honored to be the namesake of this courtroom," said Justice Moreno. "The commitment to excellence and innovation displayed by MLG Attorneys at Law sets a commendable benchmark for the legal community."

The new mock courtroom will provide an invaluable resource to MLG and the broader legal community, allowing attorneys to refine their trial strategies and better represent their clients in cases related to automotive defects and other legal matters. The firm is confident that this new facility will contribute to the pursuit of justice and uphold the high standards set by its namesake.

"The establishment of the Justice Carlos R. Moreno Courtroom reflects the progressive mindset of MLG Attorneys at Law and fosters ingenuity and collaboration among legal professionals," said Costa Mesa Mayor John Stephens. "We take great pride in having such an exceptional resource within our city."

To learn more about the courtroom, visit www.defectattorney.com/mock-courtroom

ABOUT MLG ATTORNEYS AT LAW

Located in Orange County, California, MLG is a leading firm for protecting consumers from automotive defects. The firm has litigated cases against nearly every major automotive manufacturer in the world and has been involved in numerous class actions against automakers for malfeasance. Follow MLG on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.

Contact: Sharon Noot

Phone: (714) 600-9022

Email: [email protected]

SOURCE MLG Attorneys at Law
Local Officials, nurses and community advocates to testify in strong opposition to the closure of what DPH in 2021 already deemed essential to the region



The proposed closure comes as local hospital emergency departments are already overburdened with patients waiting for addiction treatment beds

BOSTON, May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The Department of Public Health will hold a legally required public hearing on the proposed closure of the 32-bed MORCAP (Morton Comprehensive Addiction Program), located at Steward Morton Hospital in Taunton. A number of public officials, nurses and community advocates are expected to testify in strong opposition to the closure as they claim it will only add to a growing crisis in the region, as local hospital emergency departments are already overburdened with patients waiting for addiction treatment beds and services.

What: The Department of Public Health, as required by law, will conduct a virtual public hearing on the closure of the service via telephone. Members of the public and other interested parties may join the hearing by phone by calling: 888-390-5007 Passcode: 8688080

When: Thursday, May 18, 2023 from 6  9 p.m.

The MORCAP facility provides desperately needed alcohol/substance abuse detox and recovery services to the people of Southeastern Massachusetts. The service was previously called the NORCAP Lodge and located in Foxboro, where it was affiliated with Steward Good Samaritan Medical Center. In 2021, Steward initiated its closing, but later decided to move the service to Morton Hospital in Taunton. In response to the initial closure proposal, the DPH had deemed it an essential service to the region to preserve the public health in the community. Advocates contend it remains an essential service for the region. In pursuing the closing, Steward has floated a plan to replace the service by opening beds at Carney Hospital in Dorchester.

"We intend to express strong opposition to the closing of this service as we believe it will only add to an already growing crisis for residents of this region, a region which has desperate need for the services this program provides," said Katie Murphy, RN, President of the Massachusetts Nurses Association, which represents the nurses who work at Morton Hospital and the MORCAP unit. "We oppose its closing because it will only add to the unprecedented process of patients with substance abuse and behavioral health issues boarding in this region's hospital emergency departments and because we believe it is ludicrous for anyone to claim that it is appropriate to close a service for a population of patients in Taunton and Brockton to potentially access that service in Dorchester."

MNA Calls for Greater State Scrutiny and Oversight of Hospital Service Closures

This closing is the latest in a line of service closures by hospital systems in recent years, including the loss of behavior health beds, maternity, pediatric, oncology and other services; services in most every case the DPH has deemed to be essential to those communities. Yet DPH lacks the authority to stop such closures and in nearly every case, the providers closed those services. In response to this dangerous trend, the MNA has filed two pieces of legislation that would provide communities and officials with more data and more power to protect needed services.

An Act Relative to the Closing of Hospital Essential Services will:

Extend the official notice period to the DPH in advance of a closure or discontinuation of health services.

Require any hospital proposing closure or discontinuation of health services to provide evidence of having notified and provided the opportunity for comment from affected municipalities before the notification period begins.

Instruct the Attorney General to seek an injunction to maintain the essential services for the duration of the notice period.

Prohibit the hospital from eligibility for an application for licensure or expansion for a period of three years from the date the service is discontinued, or until the essential health service is restored, or until such time as the DPH is satisfied with a modified plan.

Prohibit the closure of beds, units, or facilities during any declared state of emergency pertaining to health care.

The Hospital Essential Service Accessibility Act will:

Require the Department of Public Health in consultation with the Health Policy Commission to commission a study analyzing and delineating the existing cadre of services provided by the state's acute care medical and psychiatric hospitals based on the need for those services in all regions of the Commonwealth, with recommendations as how to ensure access to those services.

"By allowing these closures, our public health system demonstrates to already vulnerable and marginalized groups that their interests do not matter," Murphy said. "The Commonwealth must put patient and community needs at the forefront of this decision-making process.

MassNurses.org  Facebook.com/MassNurses  Twitter.com/MassNurses  Instagram.com/Massnurses

Founded in 1903, the Massachusetts Nurses Association is the largest union of registered nurses in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Its 25,000 members advance the nursing profession by fostering high standards of nursing practice, promoting the economic and general welfare of nurses in the workplace, projecting a positive and realistic view of nursing, and by lobbying the Legislature and regulatory agencies on healthcare issues affecting nurses and the public.

SOURCE Massachusetts Nurses Association
Rapid organisational growth supports role as digital transformation partner for clients such as Novo Nordisk, Chr. Hansen and Vitality.

COPENHAGEN, Denmark, May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Global digital transformation consultancy Monstarlab Holdings Inc (TYO: 5255) today announced the expansion of its International Markets strategy practice with six new hires from Danish business consulting firm NoA Consulting. The closure of the North Alliance group's strategy consulting arm has allowed Monstarlab to recruit new talent and bolster its own strategy practice at a time of rapid growth in this part of its business.

The new practice additions, including well-known profiles such as former CEO of NoA Consulting Anders Birch and Lisbeth Krogslund , will help Monstarlab extend its business experience and network across key verticals such as life science, banking and financial services, and telecoms and media.

The new hires also represent another in a series of significant milestones for Monstarlab after becoming a public company listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange in March this year. After winning some of the largest projects since its foundation in 2006, the organisational growth supports the company's work as a digital transformation partner for clients such as Novo Nordisk, Chr. Hansen, and Vitality, as well as allowing them to attract and work with large, multinational brands across its international markets.

"An effective strategy is the foundation of any digital transformation project, which is why we are placing so much emphasis on the growth of our strategic advisory platform," commented Mark Jones , Executive Board Director and CEO of Monstarlab International Markets. "The former NoA Consulting team's experience and expertise in this space will certainly help us strengthen our strategy arm and further enhance our human-focused approach to change and growth."

"By combining strategic expertise with advanced technical know-how, data insight and business understanding, we help our clients understand what they really need to thrive and grow, and map solutions that bring the digital and physical worlds together to meet both current and future needs," he continued.

"Monstarlab is a global consultancy that combines strategy consulting with global insight and cutting edge technology to provide seamless solutions, at scale," said new Monstarlab Vice President Anders Birch . "We see enormous potential in the company's borderless, flexible approach that we truly believe differentiates us in the market, and allows us to deliver immediate value and growth for our clients."

For press enquiries, please contact:

Liberty Comms

Email: [email protected]

About Monstarlab

Monstarlab is a digital consultancy established in 2006 in Tokyo, Japan. The company has 33 centres of excellence in 20 countries and territories, powered by more than 1,500 strategists, experience designers and engineers who excel at strategy and delivery.

Specialising in end-to-end enterprise-level digital solutions, the company has successfully delivered hundreds of projects, including for world-renowned corporations such as Alibaba Group, Fujitsu, and The Met.

Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2077078/Monstarlab_Logo_Yellow_Logo.jpg

SOURCE Monstarlab Holdings Inc
WASHINGTON, May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The National Press Club, the world's leading professional organization for journalists, has chosen Heidi Perez-Moreno of Miami, Florida, as the recipient of its Lewis Scholarship for Summer 2023. The scholarship provides housing and a $4,000 stipend to support student journalists of color who are interning at news media outlets in Washington, D.C.

Perez-Moreno has accepted a summer 2023 internship with The Washington Post's metro desk. A 2023 graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, she impressed the judges with strong journalistic work as a student reporter and editor, reporting fellow at The Texas Tribune, intern at the Los Angeles Times' En Espanol, and freelancer at the Raleigh News & Observer.

"The people I've been able to interview are more than just sources, but larger stories of success, hardship, and hope," Perez-Moreno said in her personal essay. "I want my reporting to center on Latino communities that historically haven't received attention from the media, and shed light on the lives of young Latinas, like me, who are unsure of their belonging in the United States."

National Press Club scholarship judges praised Heidi's strong work samples and academic career.

"Heidi has already demonstrated an incredible commitment to producing high quality journalism that features the perspectives of underrepresented communities," said Eileen O'Reilly, National Press Club president. "We are thrilled to support her in the next phase of her career, and welcome her to Washington, D.C."

Recommendation letters from her professors and supervisors praised Perez-Moreno's passion for storytelling, ambition, and talent.

"An investment in Heidi is an investment in the kind of intrepid reporting our nation needs so much right now at a newspaper that is worthy of her skill, drive, and heart," said Courtney Mitchell, general manager at the Daily Tar Heel. "I believe Heidi will be doing this kind of work on the national scale for a very long time."

"Heidi is a diligent, highly ethical reporter with a passionate sense of commitment to covering some of the most vulnerable and historically embattled communities in our society," said Reed Johnson, editor at the Los Angeles Times en Espanol. "In a span of only a few weeks, she produced outstanding front page and section-leading profiles, breaking news pieces, and enterprise features across a wide range of timely and important social issues."

The Lewis Scholarship was established in April 2022 by the family of former Washington correspondent Robert "Bob" D.G. Lewis. It is awarded to one undergraduate student journalist of color each fall, spring, and summer semester. Students must secure a journalism internship in Washington, D.C., to be eligible, along with other requirements .

The program furthers Bob and Jacqueline Lewis's work to improve accessibility to experiential learning opportunities in the nation's capital for students of color. This partnership, administered through the National Press Club Journalism Institute, will extend the Lewis' commitment to increasing representation in Washington, D.C., to include news media, adding to their work founding and operating the Washington Intern Student Housing program and the HBCU National Center.

National Press Club scholarships are administered by its nonprofit affiliate, the National Press Club Journalism Institute. Click here to learn more.

Contact: Beth Francesco, executive director, [email protected]

SOURCE National Press Club Journalism Institute
WASHINGTON, May 17, 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 killing of radio host Ralikonelo Joki of Lesotho this week.

"We call for a full investigation  and for justice  in the tragic shooting death of radio host Ralikonelo Joki on May 14 in Lesotho. We understand from reports that Joki, who used the name Leqhashasha on air, was leaving the Ts'enolo FM station in Maseru after his Sunday night broadcast when he was shot 14 times, including once in the head. Joki's current affairs show covered government, agriculture and corruption. He had received three death threats via Facebook in recent months, according to reports from the Committee to Protect Journalists.

Shootings related to journalists are not new in Lesotho. One important cases will be tried in July when the 2016 shooting of Lesotho Times Editor Lloyd Mutungamiri will take place."

Founded in 1908, the National Press Club is the world's leading professional organization for journalists. With 3,000 members representing nearly every major news organization, 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 journalists with the skills and standards to inform the public in ways that inspire a more representative democracy. The NPCJI is the nonprofit affiliate of the National Press Club.

Contact: Bill McCarren, 202-662-7534 for the National Press Club

SOURCE National Press Club
BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 17. The Western Azerbaijan Community has issued a statement in connection with the report of the US State Department, Trend reports via the Community.

"The US Department of State has recently released the annual Report on International Religious Freedom.

The report contains the parts relating to Azerbaijan and Armenia. Both parts are not objective and evidently anti-Azerbaijani.

The State Department, which puts forward baseless claims regarding Armenian religious monuments in Azerbaijan, somehow turns a blind eye to the complete expulsion of Azerbaijanis from Armenia on the grounds of ethnic and religious hatred, the destruction of about 300 mosques registered by the state in this country, and all other religious and cultural heritage belonging to Azerbaijanis.

The fact that as the sole source for its anti-Azerbaijani allegations the State Department cites pretendedly the Cornell University but in fact the outright lies fabricated by three Armenian radical nationalist authors (L. Khatchadourian, H. Ghulyan, S. Bocchieriyan), funded by extremist organizations such as the "Armenian General Benevolent Union" and "Aragats Foundation" proves that this report is biased.

We call on the US State Department to revise the said parts of the report, remove baseless claims, and reflect the facts of rampant Azerbaijan-phobic tendencies in Armenia, as well as the systematic violation of religious freedoms in this country, the destruction of religious and cultural heritage of Azerbaijan, including mosques and cemeteries.

We also call on the US government to make effort to make Armenia stop destroying Azerbaijani heritage and restore what it has already destroyed.

Finally, we hope that, in accordance with our request to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, the US government will make effort to ensure the safe and dignified return of Azerbaijanis expelled from Armenia to their homes, protect their rights and freedoms, including religious freedom after their return," the statement said.
Revolutionary System Now Available in U.S. Market

ST. LOUIS, May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- In response to a recent National Retail Federation report on organized retail crime, DensityUSA President & COO, Mike Egel, released the following statement outlining how DensityUSA's revolutionary security fogging system can help business owners across America protect their inventory, facility, and employees.

"More and more retailers are concerned about the damaging impact of organized retail crime. DensityUSA's security foggers provide business owners with the best tool they need to fight back against this damaging crime wave," said Egel. "Unlike audible alarms that give criminals time to act before law enforcement arrives, our security foggers are an immediate threat deterrent, preventing criminals from seeing what they want to steal and deterring the crime before it happens. Typically, a standard burglar alarm stops theft 17% of the time. Adding our Security Fogger raises it to about 97% of the time."

According to NRF, about 70% of retailers believe the threat of Organized Retail Crime (ORC) has increased during the past five years. Additionally, several loss prevention executives and retail industry stakeholders noted that ORC had become more prevalent since 2020.

"It's clear a better solution is needed to keep businesses safe in 2023. That solution is DensityUSA," added Egel. "We are already partnering with distributors and looking to add new distributors across the United States to implement this system."

Founded in in 2021, DensityUSA provides the fastest, most efficient fog deployment system available to business owners in the U.S. The foggers create a near zero-visibility environment in seconds, ensuring that intruders can't steal what they can't see.

For more information on DensityUSA, please visit www.densityusa.com.

BACKGROUND:

DensityUSA is a security fog company based in St. Louis, Missouri, that provides industry-leading, anti-intrusion solutions for clients across the United States. By delivering cutting edge, unparalleled, dense, dry-fog solutions, DensityUSA helps secure what matters most.

While many potential thieves are accustomed to traditional security systems and have learned how to evade them, DensityUSA can deter crime before it happens. "Once activated, DensityUSA's system creates a dense fog with near-zero visibility conditions in just seconds, with zero residue to clean up."

DensityUSA's "ActiveCloud" integration allows the system to be managed remotely - including monitoring, arming, and activating the system. The system can sync directly with existing alarm systems to provide a safe, 24/7 solution.

"You can't steal what you can't see!"

Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | LinkedIn | YouTube

CONTACT:

Mike Egel, President

Density USA

[email protected]

SOURCE DensityUSA
ESPOO, Finland, May 16, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Neste announced its final investment decision on additional renewable products production capacity in Singapore in December 2018. The EUR 1.6 billion Singapore Expansion project has been successfully completed, the start-up of the refinery expansion has been completed after mid-April, and Neste is celebrating its opening today. The Singapore refinery expansion doubles Neste's production capacity in Singapore and brings the refinery's total capacity to 2.6 million tons annually of which up to one million tons can be sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). This strengthens our position as the world's leading SAF producer. In addition to increased production capacity, the enhanced raw material pre-treatment capacity onsite increases Neste's capability to process more challenging waste and residue raw materials.

"We celebrate today our Singapore refinery expansion opening with our customers, partners and employees. This marks another important milestone in our renewables growth strategy execution. The completion of the construction of the refinery is a remarkable achievement given the complexity of the project and as it was carried out during a global pandemic. I want to express my sincere and warmest thanks to all our partners and employees who have been part of this project," says Matti Lehmus, President and CEO of Neste.

"Singapore has world-class logistics connectivity enabling efficient transportation of the renewable raw materials as well as final products globally. Also, its world-class education supports the availability of future talents to be a part of our production and commercial operations, as well as to enhance our R&D in our recently established Innovation Center," continues Lehmus.

Neste has established an integrated SAF supply chain to Singapore Changi Airport

Neste is committed to supporting the aviation industry globally in achieving the goal of net-zero emissions by 2050. Also, Neste is pleased to support Singapore in achieving its ambitious emission reduction targets as part of the Green Plan 2030 and Sustainable Air Hub Blueprint under preparation for completion later in 2023.

"Singapore is a leading aviation hub in the Asia-Pacific region. In addition to being a global hub for Neste's SAF production, we have established an integrated SAF supply chain to Singapore Changi Airport to make our product available to an increasing number of regional and international airlines. The neat SAF is produced at our refinery located in the Tuas area of Singapore, then blended together with conventional fossil jet fuel and certified to meet jet fuel specifications at the blending terminal in Singapore, and finally delivered to our customers at Changi Airport," says Sami Jauhiainen, acting Executive Vice President for the Renewable Aviation business unit of Neste.

In order to be able to offer blended Neste MY Sustainable Aviation Fuel directly to airlines at Singapore Changi Airport, Neste has agreed to acquire a stake and become a minority shareholder in Changi Airport Fuel Hydrant Installation Company Pte Ltd (CAFHI), the fuel storage and infrastructure joint venture in the airport. The transaction is subject to the fulfilment of customary closing conditions.

SAF is widely acknowledged as a key element in achieving the aviation industry's ambitious emission reduction goals. To support its aviation customers across the globe in achieving their climate targets by reducing their emissions with SAF, Neste is also developing a global network of airports where it has the capability to supply SAF directly into aircraft. Singapore's Changi airport extends this network of airports, which includes San Francisco (SFO) and Los Angeles (LAX) in the U.S., Amsterdam (AMS) in the Netherlands, and Helsinki Airport (HEL) in Finland. Neste is also supplying SAF to various fuel marketing companies, broadening its availability outside its own airport network.

Using Neste's SAF reduces greenhouse gas emissions by up to 80%* over the fuel's life cycle compared to using fossil jet fuel. Neste's total SAF production capability will be 1.5 million tons per annum by the end of 2023 when the modifications at Neste's Rotterdam refinery are completed, and 2.2 million tons when the expansion of the Rotterdam refinery is completed by the first half of 2026.

*) When used in neat form (i.e. unblended) and calculated with established life cycle assessment (LCA) methodologies, such as CORSIA methodology

Neste Corporation

Susanna Sieppi,

Vice President, Communications

Further information: Please contact Neste's media service, tel. +358 800 94025 / [email protected] (today 17 May from 5.00 a.m EET and other weekdays from 8.30 a.m. to 4.00 p.m. EET). Please subscribe to Neste's releases at https://www.neste.com/for-media/releases-and-news/subscribe.

Photos for media

The following files are available for download:

https://news.cision.com/neste/i/neste-singapore-expansion-opening-press-release,c3179786 Neste Singapore expansion opening press release

SOURCE Neste
Nisham will continue to lead the African continent along with his newly acquired role

DUBAI, UAE, May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Netcore Cloud , a profitable SaaS company and global leader in customer communication, engagement, and retention, has elevated the role of its Regional Vice President for Africa, Nisham Chhabra, to the Middle Eastern market. In his new role, Nisham will work towards the company's aspirations to become the most dominating CXP in the Middle Eastern region, apart from further expanding its presence in Africa.

In December 2022, the consumer-first backed products, twenty-five-year-old globally recognized marketing technology SaaS company, announced its aspiration to scale further in UAE owing to the massive opportunity it sees in retail. Nisham Chhabra, with nearly two decades of experience, has successfully led the South, East, and West Africa regions to growth from inception. Under his leadership, the company has been recognized as the preferred platform for 65% of the largest banks, witnessing substantial growth in customer touchpoints through its email and website omnichannel marketing platform. The expectation is that Nisham will also replicate a similar feat in the GCC countries. Building solid strategic partnerships will also be a focal point for Nisham in the GCC region.

Kalpit Jain, Group CEO at Netcore Cloud, said, "With Nisham Chhabra's expanded role, Netcore Cloud is confident in its ability to deliver exceptional value to businesses in the Middle East and Africa. Netcore plans to be more active in the startup community, enabling early-stage brands to leverage the messaging and analytics features and fostering mutual growth and revenue generation. Nisham's deep understanding of the market dynamics has positioned him to hit the ground running in this region."

Adding to this, Nisham said, "Recognizing the unique cultural heritage of the GCC, East African, and South African markets, it is imperative to adapt business operations to resonate with the local nuances and preferences. This includes offering localized customer support, customizing marketing efforts, and tailoring product offerings to meet the specific needs of each market. I am excited to take on this newly elevated role and look forward to improving market maturity and product adoption by actively engaging with clients, understanding their businesses, and creating successful marketing campaigns that drive revenue."

Netcore has successfully sent over 10 billion emails annually in Africa, reaching over 40 million individual users. Additionally, the company has made remarkable strides in Africa, moving from having 2 clients to capturing over 50% of the banks in Nigeria. By forging alliances with key stakeholders, Nisham aims to deepen its business penetration and create mutually beneficial relationships as he has done in Africa. Furthermore, he plans to have dedicated country managers on the ground to ensure a localized approach, foster growth-focused evangelism, and drive expansion projects and events.

About Netcore Cloud: https://netcorecloud.com/about-us/

For more information, visit https://netcorecloud.com/

Media Contact:

Simone Pious

[email protected]com

+91 9930354205

Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2002062/Netcore_Logo.jpg

SOURCE Netcore Cloud
Evidence-based recommendations support the effective use of TOT in diabetic foot ulcer management, revolutionizing treatment approaches worldwide

CAMBRIDGE, England, May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- NATROX Wound Care, a leading innovator in wound care technology, proudly announces the release of newly published expert recommendations on the use of topical oxygen therapy for wound healing1. The updated guidelines endorse topical oxygen therapy (TOT) as an adjunct therapy in the treatment of diabetic foot ulcers (DFUs) 1. With its endorsement by leading experts, this ground-breaking therapy is poised to transform the lives of millions of people worldwide, offering renewed hope for effective healing and improved quality of life.

New IWDGF Guidelines

The International Working Group on the Diabetic Foot (IWGDF) has just published its 2023 Guidelines. This set of recommended DFU interventions, developed by a panel of renowned experts, serves as a trusted resource for healthcare professionals worldwide.

Notably, among the 29 recommendations highlighted, TOT gained recognition as an accepted intervention when treating non-healing DFUs. "Consider the use of topical oxygen as an adjunct therapy to standard of care for wound healing in people with diabetes-related foot ulcers where standard of care alone has failed and resources exist to support this intervention1." With its inclusion in the IWGDF guidelines, topical oxygen therapy emerges as a vital tool, poised to revolutionize the management and healing of foot ulcers in individuals with diabetes.

In addition, the guidelines note that "evidence on topical oxygen has substantially expanded in the last four years with several new RCTs with a total of ten included in the systematic review for these guidelines (References 100-109) 1", which includes an RCT study published in 2021 which compared the healing effects of using standard care against a combination of standard care plus NATROX O topical oxygen therapy. In the study, patients completing the therapy experienced 71% greater healing rates and 73% greater reduction in wound size with NATROX O.



Experts recommend updating algorithms to include TOT

In the Journal of Wound Care, experts reached a "clear consensus that adjunctive treatments with a solid evidence base, including NPWT and TOT, must be included"3 in each of the four proposed regional guidelines. Most notably, the experts agreed that "all hard-to-heal wounds are likely to benefit from TOT."



TOT received "A grade" from the American Diabetes Association

The American Diabetes Association recently released its "Standards of Care in Diabetes" which not only recommended TOT as an adjunctive therapy for chronic DFUs, but also gave it an "A grade" based on the quality of evidence. The newly published recommendations acknowledge the remarkable potential of TOT.

According to Dr. Windy Cole, DPM, CWSP, FAPWH, FACCWS, renowned authority in podiatric medicine and dedicated wound care advocate for over two decades, "The evidence supporting the efficacy of TOT is now undeniable. It is imperative that healthcare professionals embrace this innovative yet simple approach to achieve improved healing outcomes." After witnessing the positive impact topical oxygen therapy can have on healing DFUs in her own clinic, Windy recently joined the NATROX team as Director of Global Medical Affairs to further advocate for the integration of topical oxygen therapy in the treatment pathway for chronic wounds.

NATROX Wound Care CEO, Craig Kennedy, expressed great enthusiasm regarding the recognition and international acceptance of topical oxygen therapy, stating, "We're delighted that topical oxygen therapy continues to gain international recognition, cementing its status as a game-changing treatment in wound care. The inclusion of topical oxygen in the IWGDF Guidelines further validates our mission to transform the quality of life for patients suffering from chronic wounds, particularly those with diabetic foot ulcers."

What is NATROX O Topical Oxygen Therapy NATROX Wound Care manufactures an award-winning5,6,7 topical oxygen therapy device known as NATROX O . The compact, wearable device generates and delivers a continuous flow of oxygen directly to the wound bed to promote accelerated healing and foster a healthy wound environment. Its non-invasive nature, coupled with its remarkable effectiveness, offers a significant advancement in chronic wound treatment, even allowing patients to be treated from the comfort of home.

To learn about NATROX O and request a demo, visit: https://bit.ly/NO2therapy





About NATROX Wound Care

NATROX Wound Care is an Inotec AMD brand. The specialist wound care company based in Cambridge, England was formed specifically to introduce new technologies to healthcare professionals around the world to promote faster and better healing to patients. The company's flagship product, NATROX O, is positioned to become an integral part of global wound care treatment regimes in the coming years. To learn more, explore the website: natroxwoundcare.com.

See the references: https://bit.ly/nwc-iwgdf-guidelines

Media Contact:

NATROX Wound Care

Nancy Stahulak

VP Global Marketing

[email protected]

+1 (888) 354 9772

Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2078405/Natrox_Logo.jpg

SOURCE Natrox
NEW YORK, May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Atlantic Airways, the Faroese national carrier, is launching a historic first scheduled service between the U.S. and the Faroe Islands. The route will connect New York Stewart International Airport (SWF) with Vagar Airport (FAE) in the Faroe Islands.

Atlantic Airways is launching the first scheduled service between the U.S. and the Faroe Islands. Tweet this The Faroe Islands

This will be the first ever direct regularly scheduled flight between the U.S. and the Faroe Islands, offering a shorter journey time to the Faroe Islands - with a flight time of 7 hours - as well as a greener alternative, saving on the emissions of the additional take-off and landing that is involved with connecting flights.

The service will begin as a seasonal route and from August 22 through October 4, 2023, will run once a week, on Wednesdays to the Faroe Islands, and Tuesdays back to New York. Travelers from the U.S. who would like to visit the Faroe Islands during other time periods can easily do so though Keflavik airport in Iceland.

Johanna a Bergi, CEO of Atlantic Airways, says: "This is something we have been working hard on for quite some time and we are extremely excited about being able to announce this new historic route connecting the Faroe Islands and the U.S. We are confident of the demand between the U.S. and the Faroe Islands."

Atlantic Airways will use Airbus 320neo aircraft for the operations between Vagar Airport and New York Stewart International Airport.

Tickets go on sale today, May 17, 2023; prices start at $895 roundtrip.

Faroe Islands:

With stunning unspoiled nature, fresh air, world class gastronomy and a rich cultural history, the Faroe Islands are a hidden gem in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean and are highlighted by the international travel press as one of the next great Nordic destinations. The Islands are sandwiched between Nordic neighbours Iceland and Norway, offer vast, untamed and spectacular landscapes that are immediately impressive and undeniably compelling. Travellers are often made small by the grandiosity of the natural environment; the daunting sea cliffs, the unforgiving waves that ripple against the coastline, the lush green valleys surrounded by steep mountains.

To learn more about the Faroe Islands, visit www.visitfaroeislands.com.

For more information about flights to the Faroe Island, visit www.atlanticairways.com.

Factbox:

Name: The Faroe Islands (Froyar)

Location: In the middle of the Gulf Stream in the North Atlantic at 6200'N and 0647'W, halfway between Scotland and Iceland

Total land area: 1,399km2 (540 square miles)

Islands: 18 volcanic islands separated by narrow sounds and fjords arranged roughly in the form of an arrowhead. All but one are inhabited.

Heights: Highest peak 880m (2,887ft); average height above sea level 300m (980ft)

Climate: Average 3-11C, winter-summer

Population: 54,362 (as of April '23)

Language: Faroese. Danish has equal status in all official affairs

Religion: Evangelical Lutheran

Government: Parliamentary democracy

Main industries: Fishing and aquaculture, shipping and offshore services, tourism and prospects for petroleum in Faroese area

Currency: Faroese krona (DKK)

About Atlantic Airways:

Atlantic Airways is the National Flag Carrier of the Faroe Islands. The fleet consists of Airbus A320 family aircraft and Leonardo AW139 helicopters. Atlantic Airways already connects the Faroe Islands to 10 major European destinations including Paris, Copenhagen, Oslo, Edinburgh and Keflavik.

SOURCE Visit Faroe Islands
40,000 Sq. Ft. Facility to Serve Neurodiverse and Neurotypical Children and Their Families

NEW YORK, May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Complete Playground, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to providing inclusive activities and programming for children of all ability levels (ages six months to 14 years) and families, announced today it will fill a void in New York City with the Fall 2023 debut of its first facility. The one-of-a-kind 40,000 square-foot electronics-free space for supervised open play, enriching programming and specialized therapies will be located at 30 Broad St. in Manhattan's FiDi neighborhood. It will be the largest by far of less than a handful of indoor playgrounds in a city with more than one million children under the age of 14, providing a captivating year-round environment promoting energetic movement as an alternative to video games and over-use of electronic diversions.

CompletePlayground's state-of-the-art 40,000 sq ft inclusive indoor playground for children of all abilities will debut in Fall 2023 CompletePlayground will be NYC's first truly inclusive facility for children and their families

Moreover, it will be the only indoor playground that is inclusive, designed to engage the one-in-five children who are neurodiverse, as well as the neurotypical. It will also be the only one to serve as a family center with activities and programming for parents.

CompletePlayground's centerpiece will be a 25,000-square-foot, custom designed play area, featuring an obstacle maze, little village of traditional American "main street" establishments, rock climbing wall, gymnastics studio, Ninja Warriors obstacle course and an interactive trampoline experience. All connected by a roadway built for child-sized scooter cars self-propelled by their drivers. In addition, there will be spaces designed for a multitude of structured classes for dance, art, yoga, martial arts and more.

While there will also be special state-of-the-art spaces and therapies for the neurodiverse, when it comes to play, they will be able to romp at will with neurotypical children. As a result, both groups of children will learn important socialization lessons.

It was the need for such interaction that inspired Alex Reznik to conceptualize and found CompletePlayground. He had struggled for years to find an effective therapy for his non-verbal son diagnosed with severe autism. For years, the child attended classes for non-verbal autistic children, until, at the urging of a trusted educator, Reznik transferred him to a class that was inclusive of neurotypical children. Two months later, Reznik's son was talking.

That was when Reznik realized the importance of inclusive interaction for children and became so passionate about it that he decided to create an environment that would encourage and support it. Having experienced the innovative indoor playgrounds in Europe that had entranced all three of his sons, Reznik, the owner of Manhattan's four CompleteBody gyms, began researching the viability of combining their components with elements addressing the needs of neurodiverse children like his son as the foundation for what would be an inclusive family center.

Reznik established CompletePlayground as a nonprofit and initiated fundraising that has secured commitments for $1 million of the $2.5 million needed to fund the project. The figure includes $500,000 in seed money donated by management consulting company Alvarez & Marsal.

CompletePlayground, whose three floors will encompass a cafe along with spaces for its family-focused seminars, camp experiences, speech and occupational therapies and birthday parties, will start welcoming families in Fall 2023. For more information, to learn how to become involved and / or to donate, visit www.completeplayground.org or CompletePlayground's GoFundMe page at Fundraiser by Alex Reznik : Complete The Playground (gofundme.com).

Media Contact:

Shelley Clark, Platform Communications, 646.489.8582, [email protected]

SOURCE CompletePlayground
- Now Through June 17, Nominate a Veteran to Win a New HVAC System -

COLUMBIA, Md., May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- One Hour Heating & Air Conditioning, the #1 largest HVAC service provider in the United States, announced today the launch of its HVETerans Giveaway, a nationwide initiative to honor and thank a U.S. veteran with a complimentary new HVAC system, valued up to $10,000. Through this giveaway, One Hour Heating & Air Conditioning is eager to hear about the incredible stories of the brave men and women that have given back to their own communities and our country. Kicking it off ahead of Memorial Day, One Hour Heating & Air Conditioning will accept nominations now through June 17 at www.OneHourHeatAndAir.com/HVETerans-Giveaway. One winner will be randomly selected and announced by July 1.

"This year, we are celebrating One Hour Heating & Air Conditioning's 20th anniversary and we couldn't think of a more impactful way to give back to those that have supported our business for two decades than with the launch of this veteran giveaway leading up to Memorial Day," said Lance Sinclair, President of One Hour Heating & Air Conditioning. "Through the HVETerans Giveaway, we're able to tap into our resources and heating and cooling services to honor a deserving veteran that has gone above and beyond to protect our country and contribute to their community. This initiative is near and dear to us, as we have a handful of veteran franchise owners and staff members that have become a part of our family over the years, and we're excited to expand our efforts in how we connect with veterans across the country, starting with this giveaway."

The HVETerans Giveaway is open to the public, and nominees must meet the following criteria: a former enlisted serviceman or woman who was honorably discharged from service; a homeowner in need of a new HVAC system; lives in an area with a One Hour Heating & Air Conditioning location nearby; and be willing to participate in interviews and share his or her story. Veterans can also nominate themselves and must submit a copy of their DD-214 as proof of service. The recipient will be randomly selected on July 1, 2023 with the services of the HVAC system starting soon after.

To nominate a veteran for the HVETerans Giveaway, visit www.OneHourHeatAndAir.com/HVETerans-Giveaway. For more information, please contact [email protected].

Operating for more than two decades, One Hour Heating & Air Conditioning has a national reputation of providing reliable and quality HVAC installations, repairs and maintenance services to homeowners across the country. Each franchise is locally owned and operated, giving the operator the opportunity to connect one-on-one with their community and those they serve. As a part of the Authority Brands family of leading home service brands, One Hour Heating & Air Conditioning adheres to a strict code of ethics, treating customers with honesty and respect.

About Authority Brands

Headquartered in Columbia, Maryland, Authority Brands' companies include 15 leading home service franchise brands: America's Swimming Pool Company, Benjamin Franklin Plumbing, The Cleaning Authority, Color World Painting, DoodyCalls, DRYmedic Restoration Services, Homewatch CareGivers, The Junkluggers, Mister Sparky, Monster Tree Service, Mosquito Squad, One Hour Heating & Air Conditioning, Screenmobile, STOP Restoration, and Woofie's. Together, these brands provide home services through more than 2,000 territories operated by more than 1,000 franchise owners. Authority Brands is dedicated to supporting individual franchise owner growth by providing strong marketing, technology, and operational support. See www.authoritybrands.com for more information.

About One Hour Heating & Air Conditioning

With more than 370 locations, One Hour Heating & Air Conditioning is the #1 largest HVAC service provider in the United States. With comfort and convenience a top priority, the company offers an extensive line of products and services, including maintenance, installation and repair, that keeps HVAC units running at peak performance year-round. One Hour Heating & Air Conditioning is part of Authority Brands, the parent company to leading home service brands across the plumbing, HVAC, electrical services, residential cleaning, at-home care, swimming pool repair and maintenance, tree care, restoration, pet waste removal, and pest control services sectors. For more information, visit www.onehourheatandair.com and www.authoritybrands.com .

Contact:

Nadia Caron

Fish Consulting

[email protected]

954-893-9150

SOURCE One Hour Heating & Air Conditioning
Bipartisan, bicameral legislation introduced in support of expanding employee ownership financing

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Ownership America applauds the bipartisan, bicameral introduction of the Employee Equity Investment Act (EEIA), which is expected to significantly accelerate the growth of employee ownership over the next two decades. The EEIA would create an investment facility within the existing SBA Small Business Investment Company (SBIC) program designed to mobilize private investment towards creating, growing, and sustaining employee-owned businesses. The program would operate at no subsidy cost to the taxpayer and would also remove contracting barriers for employee-owned businesses.

Nearly half of all private businesses are owned by individuals who are at or near retirement age, employing over 32 million workers and representing 2.9 million firms. More than half of these small business owners are expected to retire over the next decadea "silver tsunami" of business succession that risks the loss of local jobs and business investment. The EEIA would enable business owners to more quickly and efficiently sell to their employees through an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) or worker cooperative. Research shows that employee-owned businesses outperform their competitors, create and retain high-quality jobs that build over twice the levels of retirement wealth for workers compared to conventional businesses, and lay off fewer workers during economic downturns.

"The Employee Equity Investment Act reflects a bipartisan commitment to building a more competitive, resilient, and broadly prosperous American economy," said Ownership America Founder and Executive Director Jack Moriarty . "We know that employee-owned businesses build generational wealth for their workers and we also know that most business owners want to preserve their legacy and take care of their employees. This legislation will help ensure that the financing is available to make employee ownership a more efficient succession option. We couldn't be more thrilled to have a bicameral, bipartisan bill led by Senators Chris Van Hollen, Marco Rubio, Tammy Baldwin, and Todd Young alongside Representatives Dean Phillips, Blake Moore, Chrissy Houlahan, and Dusty Johnson in addition to original co-sponsors on both sides of the aisle.

"For decades, employee ownership has created thousands of companies that outperform the competition by building high-engagement cultures on a foundation of shared ownership," said Ownership America President and VP of Medical at Web Industries (100% ESOP) Michael Quarrey . "I have personally experienced the power of employee ownership and the role it can play in enabling human flourishing. We are grateful for the bipartisan collaboration of the lead sponsors in addition to a robust coalition of partners who share a commitment to building an economy where everyone has a stake in the outcome."

Thought leaders from across the political spectrum have weighed in on the announcement:

"We are grateful to Sen. Van Hollen, Rep. Phillips, and the other original co-sponsors for their dedicated work with The ESOP Association and others to prepare and introduce this important legislation," said Jim Bonham, President of The ESOP Association. "We appreciate the many considerations that have been made along the way already. Our top two priorities were to make sure that ESOPs have better access to much needed capital but also that the employee owners are protected and in control of their companies. We strongly support this proposal, and will continue working with congressional champions to enact a key policy priority for ESOPs."

"Employee ownership can play a key role in succession planning and wealth creation for women-owned businesses," said Lisa Coppola, National Advocacy Committee Chair of the National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO). "The Employee Equity Investment Act (EEIA) will help retiring female owners of successful businesses cleanly exit their business and facilitate their employees becoming owners by removing a primary barrier to financing. NAWBO applauds the bipartisan, bicameral introduction."

"American workers feel disenfranchised and voiceless in the workplace, worried about their retirement security, and anxious about the offshoring of good jobs to other parts of the world, said Chris Griswold, Policy Director at American Compass. "Offering workers a stake in the businesses they work for has immense potential to help address all three problems; unfortunately, capital markets have made opportunities for employee ownership more difficult to come by than they need to be. Senators Rubio, Van Hollen, Young, Baldwin, and their colleagues Representatives Phillips, Moore, Houlahan, Johnson along with the original co-sponsors deserve great credit for stepping up and doing something to fix that."

"Maintaining American economic competitiveness requires steering the financial sector towards investment approaches that advance the national interest. Employee ownership offers a unique opportunity to strengthen business resiliency and preserve domestic productive capacity that may otherwise be lost in the course of business succession," said American Affairs Editor Julius Krein.

"New solutions are needed to address the challenge of retirement security for American workers," said EIG Co-Founder, President & CEO John Lettieri. The Employee Equity Investment Act would create substantial benefits for workers and local economies by making a transition to employee ownership more efficient for small and medium-sized businesses. The Economic Innovation Group (EIG) applauds the introduction of this bipartisan legislation."

"We have an expansive opportunity in the United States to design public policies that bolster financial security and inclusive wealth building. Employee ownership is one of the most promising and scalable ways to do just that, by centering workers in systems of wealth and value creation in order to achieve greater levels of upward mobility and shared prosperity." - Ida Rademacher, Vice President, Aspen Institute and Co-Executive Director, Financial Security Program

"Investing in America's workforce strengthens the entire economy, said U.S. Impact Investing President Fran Seegull. "The U.S. Impact Investing Alliance supports the Employe Equity Investment Act as a new tool to promote private investment in the kinds of small businesses that build resilient communities. Impact investors support employee ownership because it generates sustainable economic opportunities for workers, their families and the communities they live in."

"This bill offers a tremendous opportunity to mobilize capital to build wealth for hard working individual Americans and communities while also generating investment market rate returns for impact investors," said Jim Sorenson, founder of Sorenson Impact Group. "Business ownership is one of the most important avenues of wealth creation that is out of reach for many Americans. Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs) have long been a way for employees to become owners building wealth in the privately held companies they work for, the small and midsize businesses that make up the backbone of the American economy.

"Employee ownership provides a pathway to build wealth and achieve the American Dream for Asian American and Pacific Islander workers," said National ACE President & CEO Chiling Tong. "The Employee Equity and Investment Act (EEIA) will catalyze employee ownership for business owners who want to do right by their employees by removing a key barrier in the financing process on the pathway to employee ownership. National ACE applauds the bipartisan efforts of the Senate and House sponsors."

The legislation has received overwhelming support. In addition to Ownership America, stakeholders endorsing the EEIA include The ESOP Association, National Cooperative Business Association, Employee-Owned Contractors Roundtable, Small Business Majority, U.S. Impact Investing Alliance, National Association of Women Business Owners, National Asian/Pacific Islander American Chamber of Commerce and Entrepreneurship (National ACE), and Women Impacting Public Policy. A full list of endorsements is available here.

Read Senator Van Hollen's press release here.

press release here. Read Senator Rubio's press release here.

A one-page fact sheet on the legislation is available here.

The full text of the legislation is available here.

About Ownership America

Ownership America is a non-profit public policy organization committed to turning Americans into owners. We operate at the intersection of capital markets and inclusive wealth creation and focus on policies that build equity ownership for U.S. households.

SOURCE Ownership America
Uniting to Combat Neglected Tropical Diseases (unitingtocombatntds.org) releases letter signed by 36 Parliamentarians from 23 countries calling on G7 Leaders to invest in NTDs.

LONDON, May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ --

To: Fumio Kishida, Prime Minister, Japan (Host)

Joe Biden, President, United States

Emmanuel Macron, President, France

Giorgia Meloni, Prime Minister, Italy

Olaf Scholz, Chancellor, Germany

Rishi Sunak, Prime Minister, United Kingdom

Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister, Canada

CC: Health Ministers and Invited Guests

Dear G7 Leaders,

As the 49th G7 Summit in Hiroshima approaches, we urge G7 Leaders to renew their commitments to end neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) by prioritising bold action and investment to end these diseases once and for all.

NTDs are a group of twenty preventable and treatable diseases that affect more than 1.7 billion people worldwide. These diseases cause untold suffering, can disable, disfigure, and be fatal. In addition to the human toll, NTDs have a significant economic impact, resulting in billions of dollars in associated costs and lost productivity each year.

As parliamentarians and legislators, we are proud of our long history of fighting NTDs. Over the years, these contributions have had a significant impact on people's lives. Incredible progress has been made; 47 countries have eliminated at least one NTD, with several countries having eliminated two, three or four NTDs, and in 2020, 600 million fewer people required interventions against NTDs than in 2010.

Funding NTDs makes good financial sense. Many low-cost interventions for NTDs exist, are affordable to implement in low-income settings, and yield a robust return on investment. Drug donations for interventions like preventive chemotherapy, for example, have been particularly efficacious and cost-effective, with over 19 billion tablets donated by the pharmaceutical industry to deliver the WHO NTD road map so far. The end of NTDs offers a net benefit to affected individuals of about US$25 for every dollar invested by fundersa 30 percent annualized rate of return.

However, setbacks caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and global economic slowdowns are threatening the progress made to date. Unless sustained action is taken, there is a real risk of a reversal of gains and more people being pushed into poverty due to preventable diseases.

The G7 has a well-established history of taking important action against pressing global health issues and has notably prioritised neglected and poverty-related diseases during past Summits. We commend the G7 for making clear commitments to invest in the prevention and control of NTDs during the 2015 Elmau Summit to help reach critical global elimination targets. These commitments led to expanded support to affected countries and accelerated critical research and development. More recently, we applaud the G7's commitment to strengthening global capacity to prevent, prepare for, and respond to future global health emergencies, especially through the G7 Pact for Pandemic Readiness endorsed in Elmau in 2022.

Investing in NTD programmes is critical to achieving the G7 priorities of universal health coverage (UHC) and pandemic preparedness, prevention, and response (Pandemic PPR) efforts. Global health emergencies, like COVID-19, stem from persistent underinvestment in global health, insufficient disease surveillance, inadequate global data sharing, and weak health systems, compounded by inadequate pandemic preparedness. Investing in fighting ongoing epidemics like NTDs, as well as malaria, HIV, and TB, leads to stronger health systems and workforces that are better equipped to detect and respond to both existing epidemics and future outbreaks of new diseases. Eliminating one or more NTDs also requires the establishment of robust disease surveillance systems, which can also improve early detection of new health threats, allowing for a faster and more effective response.

Equally, the scope and access of NTD programmes to some of the world's poorest communities can provide a gateway to achieving UHC. In some settings, NTD programmes represents a community's first entry point to the health system. Training health workers to provide high-quality treatment, conducting disease surveillance, and encouraging referral to the local health facility helps to strengthen health systems. Investments in NTD programmes expand access to health services to hard-to-reach populations and frees up capacity to address other health issues. As such, we call on the G7 to ensure that NTDs and other infectious diseases are included in new commitments being made, particularly funding for UHC.

When the G7 acts together, they can achieve ambitious goals. We believe that the G7 has a critical role to play in renewing support to end NTDs, and in ensuring that this support is backed by concrete actions and financial commitments. As such, we call on the G7 Leaders to commit to the following:

We acknowledge and commend the G7's endorsement of the Kigali Declaration on NTDs, a country-led, landmark political declaration that is mobilising political will, community commitment, resources and action, and securing commitments needed to end suffering caused by NTDs. We call on G7 Leaders to continue to meet their NTD commitments with concrete action and robust resources, to further prioritise NTDs in successive G7 Leaders' Statements, and to champion NTDs at G20 Summits and other high-level political fora.



We commend the G7 Leaders' longstanding commitment to achieving universal health coverage (UHC) and for prioritising UHC at the 49th Summit. The scope and access of NTD programmes to some of the world's poorest communities are a gateway to achieving UHC and an indicator for equity. We urge the G7 to advocate for investments in primary healthcare to help reach UHC targets, as well as funding for NTDs as part of new UHC commitments at the UN High-Level Meeting on UHC in September 2023 .



We commend G7 nations for historic and continued investments in product development and to Research and Development, through partners such as the Global Health Innovative Technology Fund (GHIT) and Drugs for Neglected Diseases Initiative (DNDi). We call on G7 leaders to increase investments in research and innovation for vaccines, new drugs and diagnostics, to help reach the goals set out in the World Health Organization's NTD road map, as well as financing to ensure access of these innovations and technologies to the most vulnerable populations affected by neglected tropical diseases.



We applaud the G7 for strengthening their investment in pandemic prevention, preparedness, and response. Investing in fighting ongoing epidemics  including NTDs, malaria, HIV, and TB  is critical to strengthening the world's capacity to prepare for future pandemics. We call on the G7 to advocate for control and prevention of current epidemics, particularly NTDs, as part of the UN High-Level Meeting on Pandemic Prevention, Preparedness and Response in September 2023 .



We celebrate the financial commitments G7 countries have made against NTDs, and we call on G7 leaders to sustain or increase bilateral and multilateral support to low- and middle-income countries, and to commit to establishing accountability mechanisms to track these commitments. Such support will help to ensure that these countries have the resources they need to address the NTD crisis and prevent future outbreaks.

In conclusion, we urge G7 Leaders to prioritise action and investment towards ending NTDs. This critical issue requires urgent attention and global cooperation to prevent further harm to individuals and communities. The NTD crisis not only affects public health but also has a significant economic impact. If left unaddressed, it will drive more people into poverty and reverse decades worth of progress. Tackling NTDs is essential to G7 priorities to improve Pandemic PPR and the achievement of UHC.

You can count on our support as Global Parliamentarians to be champions, alongside each of you, of a more equitable and just world for all. We must work together to end NTDs.

Sincerely,

Hon. Rozaina Adam, Member of Parliament, Maldives

Hon. Njume Peter Ambang, Founder and Executive President of Parliamentary Network for Sustainable Development Goals, National Assembly of Cameroon, Cameroon

Hon. Dr. Kozo Akino, State Minister of Finance, Member of the House of Councillors, Japan

Dr. Ector Jaime Ramirez Barba, MD, PhD, Federal Deputy, Mexico

The Baroness Barker, Member of the House of Lords, United Kingdom

Petra Bayr MP, Chairperson of the Sub-Committee for Development and Cooperation, National Assembly, Austria

Dr. Angela Brown-Burke, Member of Parliament, Jamaica

Hon. Fabio Massimo Castaldo, Member of the European Parliament, Italy

Amb. Akua Sena Dansua, Global Board Member and Regional Chair, West and Central Africa of UNITE Parliamentarians Network for Global Health, Ghana

Patrick Grady MP, Member of Parliament, United Kingdom

Hon. Benjamin Okezie Kalu, Member of Parliament, Nigeria

Hon. Cde Eleven Kambizi, Senator, Zimbabwe

Dr. Georg Kippels, MdB, Member of the German Bundestag, Germany

Hon. Dr Ayano Kunimitsu, Member of the House of Representatives, Japan

Pauline Latham OBE MP, Member of Parliament, United Kingdom

Jeremy Lefroy, Former MP and Chair of the APPG on Malaria and NTDs (2010-2019), United Kingdom

Sen. Emilio Alvarez Icaza Longoria, Senator, Mexico

Hon. Rosette Christine Mutambi, Member of Parliament, Uganda

Hon. Mbongyor Naomi Ngando, Member of Parliament for Ndu, Education Committee, Cameroon

Prof Antonio Rosario Niquice, Member of Parliament and Chair of Budget Committee, Mozambique

Dip. Sarai Nunez-Ceron, Diputada Federal de la Republica Mexicana, Mexico

Rt Hon. Sir Stephen R O'Brien KBE, Former UK International Development Minister, Former United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs & Emergency Relief Coordinator

Senator Dr Ibrahim Yahaya Oloriegbe, Chairman, Senate Committee on Health, Nigeria

Jorge Luis Mazorra Ortiz, Member of Parliament, Cuba

Hon. Esther M Passaris OGW, Member of Parliament, Kenya

Hon. Syed Naveed Qamar, Commerce Minister of Pakistan, President PGA, Pakistan

Congressman Fabio J. Quetglas, Member of National Congress, Argentina

Hon. Marko Raidza, Member of Parliament, Zimbabwe

Senator Mohamed-Iqbal Ravalia, Senator, Canada

Prof. Pedro Ruiz-Castell, Member of the Valencian Parliament, Spain

Marta Pilar Bravo Salinas, Member of the Chamber of Deputies, Chile

Dr. Esther Cuesta Santana, Member of the National Assembly and Legislator, Ecuador

The Baroness Sugg CBE, Member of the House of Lords, United Kingdom

Alison Thewliss MP, Member of Parliament, United Kingdom

Prof. The Lord Alexander Trees, Crossbench Peer, House of Lords, United Kingdom

Prof. Dr. Andrew Ullmann, Member of the German Bundestag, Germany

Hon. Larry P. Younquoi, House of Representatives, Liberia

Media Contact

Louisa Tribe: [email protected]

SOURCE Uniting to Combat Neglected Tropical Diseases
VANCOUVER, BC, May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Performance BioFilaments Inc. is pleased to announce the start-up of the world's largest nanofibrillated cellulose (NFC) commercial production plant at Resolute's Forest Products, Kenogami paper mill in Quebec. A daily production capacity of 21 metric tons is now available to supply customers for commercial orders in concrete and mortar, nonwoven, industrial fluid, biocomposite plastic, thin film and mineral consolidation applications. A small dose of this nano-scale biomaterial has a significant impact, therefore, capacity of 7,000 metric tons per year will go a long way.

Performance BioFilaments Inc Logo

Nanofibrillated cellulose is a natural, renewable and sustainable biomaterial derived from well-managed, certified forests. It provides a low carbon additive to enhance performance-driven advanced materials and specialty chemicals.

"The Performance BioFilaments team and development partners have dedicated years of effort to bring this low-carbon biomaterial to market," said Gurminder Minhas, Managing Director of Performance BioFilaments. "We have collaborated extensively across a range of industrial supply chains, integrating nanofibrillated cellulose to achieve cost, quality and dramatic performance improvements. The availability of commercial volumes means we can readily support large-scale opportunities across a number of major industry sectors."

We welcome your inquiry to learn more about the potential of NFC in your application. Ask about our sample program and collaboration opportunities.

ABOUT PERFORMANCE BIOFILAMENTS INC.

Performance BioFilaments Inc. , a joint venture between Mercer International Inc. and Resolute Forest Products Inc. , develops commercial applications for nanofibrillated cellulose, one of the world's most exciting new biomaterials. Nanofibrillated cellulose can be used to enhance the performance characteristics of a wide variety of products. Derived from wood fibre  a renewable and natural resource  nanofibrillated cellulose optimizes the strength, stability, flexibility and longevity of a variety of materials, including composites, coatings, packaging and consumer products. For more information, please visit www.performancebiofilaments.com .

Media and Sample Requests: Gurminder Minhas, Managing Director, Performance BioFilaments Inc., 604-806-0261, [email protected], www.performancebiofilaments.com

Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2078892/Performance_BioFilaments_Inc_Performance_Biofilaments_Inc__Annou.jpg

SOURCE Performance BioFilaments Inc
BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 17. The international "Strengthening Africa and Promoting Multilateralism in the Age of Global Challenges: the Role of the Non-Aligned Movement" conference is being held in Baku, Trend reports.

The conference is held with the joint organization of the Center for Analysis of International Relations and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan.

The conference is dedicated to Africa Day, which is celebrated annually on May 25. The purpose of the conference is to bring together politicians and experts from African countries and Non-Aligned Movement member countries to discuss strategies for strengthening Africa and promoting multilateralism in global geopolitical conditions.

The event is attended by representatives of think tanks and foreign ministries from the Non-Aligned Movement member countries, representatives of the diplomatic corps and the Government of Azerbaijan, as well as local experts.
P.F. Chang's expands in Utah with fourth location featuring the brand's newest restaurant design and offering specialty menu favorites for an elevated Asian dining experience, just in time for the graduation season

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz., May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- P.F. Chang's announced the opening of the new full-service Bistro location at the Murray Fashion Place Mall in Murray, Utah today as part of its continued growth across Utah and nationwide. From inspired menu favorites to elaborate decor, guests at the new Bistro are guaranteed a best-in-class experience.

P.F. Changs expands in Utah with fourth location featuring the brands newest restaurant design and offering specialty menu favorites for an elevated Asian dining experience, just in time for the graduation season

Embracing a nationwide brand refresh, P.F. Chang's Murray - Fashion Place sets the stage for unforgettable spring celebrations with its upscale ambiance and lively decor. Guests can indulge in an array of delectable scratch-made dishes, including the original Chang's Chicken Lettuce Wraps, Crispy Honey Chicken and Mongolian Beef, alongside indulgent specialty items like Wagyu Steak and Oolong Chilean Sea Bass.

"We are thrilled to open our newest Bistro location in Murray, Utah, providing residents with an exceptional dining experience that showcases the bold and elevated flavors that P.F. Chang's is renowned for," said Genaro Perez, senior vice president of marketing at P.F. Chang's. "As we continue our expansion in the region, this opening represents our commitment to offering unforgettable moments for our guests as they celebrate graduations, birthdays, holidays, anniversaries and everyday special occasions with us."

For guests who wish to order takeout or delivery, P.F. Chang's is now offering the brand-new Celebration Kit for Four, including all the details needed to bring an authentic P.F. Chang's celebration to their own table. This specialty package features gold chopsticks used for special celebrations at P.F. Chang's, dragon confetti mix to adorn the table, hand-folded origami crane card holders with notecards to personalize guests' names, and more. The Celebration Kit for Four is $18 and available for purchase as an add-on when ordering online for takeout, catering or delivery and can also be purchased in-restaurant when picking up an order.

Spanning approximately 6,000 square feet and accommodating 155 guests, the P.F. Chang's Murray - Fashion Place Bistro marks the company's fourth location in the Salt Lake City area. This milestone opening arrives nearly 24 years after the debut of P.F. Chang's Salt Lake City, cementing the brand's enduring popularity and growth. Furthermore, P.F. Chang's is planning for additional Bistro openings nationwide throughout 2024, solidifying the polished-casual restaurant's position as an industry leader.

Guests can visit the new P.F Chang's Murray - Fashion Place at 6191 S. State Street #N045, Murray, Utah 84107, operating daily from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m.

P.F. Chang's Gold and Platinum Rewards members can earn points with every purchase when they visit or order online and through the app from the new P.F. Chang's Murray - Fashion Place Bistro location. As a bonus this spring season, now through June 18, Gold and Platinum Rewards members can earn points on select seasonal e-gift cards including graduation and Father's Day. While the Gold Rewards program is free to join, the Platinum Rewards program, which launched in September 2022, provides exclusive benefits such as double points accumulation towards a $15 reward for every dollar spent, unlimited free delivery through the P.F. Chang's website or app, priority reservations on the waitlist and access to an exclusive concierge service.

The restaurant also brings approximately 100 new job opportunities to the community. Qualified job candidates interested in a career at P.F. Chang's may apply at jobs.pfchangs.com .

About P.F. Chang's

Founded in 1993 by Philip Chiang and Paul Fleming, P.F. Chang's is the first internationally recognized multi-unit Asian culinary brand to honor and celebrate the 2,000-year-old tradition of wok cooking as the center of the guest experience. With roots in Chinese cuisine, today's menu at P.F. Chang's spans across all of Asia, honoring cultures and recipes from Japan, Korea, Thailand, and beyond. Each item offers a unique exploration of flavor, whether it's a handcrafted cocktail, wok-fired lunch bowl, or celebratory multi-course dinner. Worldwide, P.F. Chang's has more than 300 restaurants in 22 countries and U.S. airport locations, including a growing number of convenient P.F. Chang's To Go locations offering takeout and delivery. For more P.F. Chang's news, visit pfchangs.com and follow us on Facebook , Twitter and Instagram @pfchangs.

SOURCE P.F. Changs
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla., May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Several major U.S-based airlines, including United, Southwest, and American, are facing potential pilot strikes ahead of a busy summer travel season.

New data from Squaremouth.com, the leading U.S. travel insurance marketplace, finds that the number of travelers this summer is expected to rise 10% from last year.

As significant travel disruptions become a more realistic possibility this summer, Squaremouth reviews previous summer travel insurance claims data and provides tips on how travelers can protect themselves if a strike disrupts their trip.

More Disruptions May Be on the Horizon This Summer

Last summer, an influx of travel demand coupled with historic staffing shortages highlighted the fragility of the travel industry.

With travelers facing many of the same issues this summer, Squaremouth analyzed claims from last year to determine the most common travel complications travelers can expect.

Notable Stat:

50% of claims stemmed from travel disruptions that took place after a traveler has left home, such as delays, missed connections, and trip interruptions

Paid Claims From 2022 Summer Travel

Type of Travel Complication % Of Claims Disruptions While Traveling 49.68 % Medical Emergencies 25.59 % Pre-Departure Cancellations 15.78 % Lost, Damaged or Delayed Luggage 8.96 %

How Travelers Can Prepare for Pilot Strikes

Historically, pilot strikes have resulted in flight cancellations, delays, and missed connections if not resolved in a timely manner.

Squaremouth provides the following tips to help travelers find the best coverage as the threat of pilot strikes continues into the summer travel season:

Purchase Your Policy Early: Typically, in order for a strike to be covered, you must buy your policy before the strike is formally announced.

Typically, in order for a strike to be covered, you must buy your policy before the strike is formally announced. Seek Flexible Delay Protection: Certain policies are more flexible with their delay coverage. Look for a policy with delay benefits that cover "any delay of a common carrier," and can kick in after a 3-hour delay.

Certain policies are more flexible with their delay coverage. Look for a policy with delay benefits that cover "any delay of a common carrier," and can kick in after a 3-hour delay. Get Cancellation Coverage: Many policies include "labor strikes" as a covered event to cancel. If you're concerned about a strike canceling your trip outright, a policy with Trip Cancellation for labor strikes can protect your trip costs.

Many policies include "labor strikes" as a covered event to cancel. If you're concerned about a strike canceling your trip outright, a policy with Trip Cancellation for labor strikes can protect your trip costs. Protect Your Baggage: Labor strikes can result in delayed, misplaced, or even lost baggage. Look for a policy with high Baggage Delay and Baggage Loss benefits.

Labor strikes can result in delayed, misplaced, or even lost baggage. Look for a policy with high and benefits. Save Any Documents: In the event you're impacted by labor strikes and need to file a claim, you will need to provide evidence that your trip was interrupted. This includes receipts, as well as notice from your airline.

Squaremouth's Airline Pilot Strike Travel Insurance Information Center provides up-to-date information about the potential pilot strikes, including current event updates, more advice for travelers, and answers to the most commonly asked questions.

Notes to editors

Available Topic Expert: Megan Moncrief, President, is available for comment and interview. [email protected] (727) 378-0938

About Squaremouth: Squaremouth.com has insured over 3 million travelers. Using Squaremouth's intuitive quoting and comparison engine, award-winning support team, and verified customer reviews, travelers can save time and money to find the best travel insurance policy for their trip.

SOURCE Squaremouth
COVINA, Calif., May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- According to Prophecy Market Insights "Pneumococcal Vaccine Market accounted for US$ US$8.1 billion in 2020 and is estimated to be US$ 13.5 billion by 2030 and is anticipated to register a CAGR of 5.3%"

What is Pneumococcal Vaccine Market?

Meningococcal disease is caused by bacteria called as Neisseria meningitidis and includes infection of spinal cord, brain lining and bloodstream. It usually spreads from nearby infected areas such as the nasal sinuses or from the cerebrospinal fluid.

Growing prevalence of meningitis has given positive impact on target market growth. Increasing immunization initiatives by government and regulatory authorities in prevention of Meningococcal disease is further, expected to fulfill the demand for Pneumococcal Vaccine Market growth.

What is Prophecy's Analyst View on Pneumococcal Vaccine Market?

Growing awareness among individual regarding Meningococcal disease has become a key factor in market growth. Presence of major key players and ongoing research and development activities is further, anticipated to increase the demand for Meningococcal Vaccine market growth over the forecast period.

Looking for More Information? Download the Free Sample Report:

https://www.prophecymarketinsights.com/market_insight/Insight/request-sample/4632

Report Scope:

Attribute Details Base year for estimation 2023 Forecast period 2023  2032 Accounted in 2023 US$ US$8.1 billion Estimated to be in 2032 US$ 13.5 billion CAGR 5.3 % Market representation Revenue in USD Million & CAGR from 2020  2029 Market Segmentation By vaccine type- Pneumococcal conjugate vaccine and Pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine By product type Prevnar 13, Synflorix and Pneumovax 23 By sector Public and Private By distribution channel Distribution partner companies, Non-governmental organizations, Government authorities Regional scope North America - U.S., Canada Europe - UK, Germany, Spain, France, Italy, Russia, Rest of Europe Asia Pacific - Japan, India, China, South Korea, Australia, Rest of Asia-Pacific Latin America - Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Rest of Latin America Middle East & Africa - South Africa, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Rest of Middle East & Africa Report coverage Revenue forecast, company share, competitive landscape, growth factors, and trends Customization Scope Avail of customized purchase options to meet your exact research needs. https://www.prophecymarketinsights.com/market_insight/Insight/request-customization/4632

What are the Recent News of Pneumococcal Vaccine Market?

In March 2023 , GSK announced its positive headline result from phase III clinical trial of 5 in 1 "MenABCWY" combination vaccine where vaccine candidate was well tolerated with Menveo and Bexcero safety profile consistent.

, GSK announced its positive headline result from phase III clinical trial of 5 in 1 "MenABCWY" combination vaccine where vaccine candidate was well tolerated with and safety profile consistent. In October 2022 , U.S. FDA (Food and Drug Administration) approved "Menveo" (a Meningococcal Oligosaccharide Diphtheria CRM197 Conjugate Vaccine by group A, C, Y, and W-135) for individual of 10 to 55 years old to prevent meningococcal disease.

Who should get vaccinated with a pneumococcal vaccine?

Infants and young children: Routine vaccination is recommended for all infants and young children, typically using pneumococcal conjugate vaccines. Adults aged 65 years and older: One dose of pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine (PPSV23) is generally recommended for adults aged 65 years and older. Adults with certain medical conditions: Individuals with specific chronic diseases, weakened immune systems, or other health conditions that increase the risk of pneumococcal infections may require pneumococcal vaccination. Adults with specific risk factors: Individuals with lifestyle factors (such as smoking or alcohol abuse) or occupational exposures that increase the risk of pneumococcal infections may also be recommended to receive pneumococcal vaccination.

How do pneumococcal vaccines work?

Pneumococcal vaccines work by introducing small pieces of the Streptococcus pneumoniae bacteria into the body. This stimulates the immune system to produce antibodies that can recognize and target the bacteria. These antibodies help prevent infection by blocking the bacteria from attaching to cells and enhance the immune response if the person is exposed to pneumococcus in the future. Pneumococcal vaccines specifically target common strains associated with pneumococcal diseases, providing protection against pneumonia, meningitis, and bloodstream infections caused by Streptococcus pneumoniae.

What are key benefits of the Pneumococcal Vaccine Market?

Disease Prevention: Pneumococcal vaccines are highly effective in preventing pneumococcal diseases, including pneumonia, meningitis, and bloodstream infections caused by Streptococcus pneumoniae bacteria. Vaccination helps reduce the incidence and severity of these diseases, potentially saving lives and improving overall public health. Improved Public Health: By reducing the burden of pneumococcal diseases, the vaccine market contributes to improved public health outcomes. Vaccination not only protects individuals who receive the vaccine but also helps prevent the spread of pneumococcal bacteria within communities, thereby safeguarding vulnerable populations, such as infants, the elderly, and those with weakened immune systems. Reduced Healthcare Costs: Pneumococcal diseases can lead to significant healthcare expenditures due to hospitalizations, treatments, and associated complications. By preventing these diseases, the vaccine market helps reduce the economic burden on healthcare systems, insurance providers, and individuals, resulting in cost savings in the long run. Enhanced Quality of Life: Pneumococcal diseases can cause severe illness, long-term disabilities, and even death. By preventing these diseases through vaccination, the market improves the overall quality of life for individuals, families, and communities. Herd Immunity: Wide adoption of pneumococcal vaccination creates herd immunity, which provides indirect protection to unvaccinated individuals by reducing the circulation of pneumococcal bacteria within the population. Research and Development: The Pneumococcal Vaccine Market drives investment in research and development for new and improved vaccines.

Looking for More Information? Download the PDF Brochure Report:

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What are the Opportunities in the Pneumococcal Vaccine Market?

Increasing global demand for pneumococcal vaccines. Expansion into emerging markets with high disease burden and growing healthcare infrastructure. Collaboration with governments and participation in national immunization programs. Investment in research and development for new and improved vaccines. Development of combination vaccines to protect against multiple diseases. Targeting specific high-risk groups beyond infants and older adults. Exploration of alternative vaccine delivery methods for improved accessibility. Leveraging public-private partnerships to accelerate vaccine availability and affordability.

Key Questions Asked in Report:

What is the current market size of the pneumococcal vaccine market? What are the major factors driving the growth of the pneumococcal vaccine market? What are the different types of pneumococcal vaccines available in the market? What is the market share of leading manufacturers in the pneumococcal vaccine market? What are the key trends and developments in the pneumococcal vaccine market? What is the projected growth rate of the pneumococcal vaccine market in the coming years? What are the key challenges and barriers faced by the pneumococcal vaccine market?

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Browse Other Related Research Reports from Prophecy Market Insights:

Foot and Mouth Disease Vaccine Market accounted for US$ 1.96 billion in 2020 and is estimated to be US$ 4.04 billion by 2030 and is anticipated to register a CAGR of 7.50%.

Preventive Vaccine market accounted for US$ 39.45 Billion in 2020 and is estimated to be US$ 69.0 billion by 2030 and is anticipated to register a CAGR of 6.0%.

Pediatric Vaccines Market accounted for US$ 3.06 Billion in 2022 and is estimated to be US$ 6.29 billion by 2030 and is anticipated to register a CAGR of 7.5%.

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ALLENTOWN, Pa., May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- PPL Corporation (NYSE: PPL) is strategically repositioned for top-tier earnings and dividend growth, bolstered by one of the strongest balance sheets in the U.S. utility sector, focused on executing its utility-of-the-future strategy, and intent on becoming the best utility company in the nation, PPL President and Chief Executive Officer Vince Sorgi told shareowners at the company's 2023 virtual annual meeting.

"Our acquisition of Rhode Island Energy nearly a year ago and the sale of our U.K. utility business in June 2021 have significantly shifted PPL's future and strategically repositioned the company for long-term growth and success," said Sorgi. "As a result, we have a very clear strategy, our company is stronger than it's been in years, and we're only getting stronger."

In his annual update to shareowners, Sorgi highlighted the company's transformation into a premier regulated utility holding company  a transformation that eliminated the risk of foreign ownership, positioned PPL to deliver top-tier earnings and dividend growth of 6% to 8% annually through at least 2026, sharpened PPL's clean energy strategy, and resulted in a balance sheet capable of supporting growth and investment without the need for equity issuances through at least 2026.

With its transformation now complete, Sorgi said PPL's vision is to be the best at delivering both safe, reliable, affordable and sustainable energy to customers and competitive, long-term returns to shareowners. He added that PPL's priorities center around creating utilities that are agile, innovative and technology-enabled to drive additional value for customers and shareowners and support a reliable, affordable clean energy transition. In pursuit of this strategy, PPL's 2023 priorities include:

Investing $2.5 billion in 2023 to strengthen network reliability and resiliency, part of $12 billion in planned investments through 2026 to improve service, advance the clean energy transition and meet customers' evolving needs.

in 2023 to strengthen network reliability and resiliency, part of in planned investments through 2026 to improve service, advance the clean energy transition and meet customers' evolving needs. Achieving PPL's 2023 previously announced ongoing earnings forecast of $1.50 to $1.65 per share, with a midpoint of $1.58 per share.

to per share, with a midpoint of per share. Delivering $50 -60 million in annual operation and maintenance savings as the company executes its business transformation initiatives and builds to a targeted $175 million in annual savings by 2026.

-60 million in annual operation and maintenance savings as the company executes its business transformation initiatives and builds to a targeted in annual savings by 2026. Securing Kentucky Public Service Commission approval to retire 1,500 megawatts of aging coal units and replace them with reliable, least-cost generation by 2028, including approximately 1,200 megawatts of natural gas combined-cycle generation, nearly 1,000 megawatts of solar power and 125 megawatts of battery storage.

Looking ahead, Sorgi said he is confident in the company's strategy, its business plan and its employees, who care deeply about PPL's mission.

"I'm as excited as ever about PPL's future," Sorgi concluded. "And we are absolutely ready and eager to showcase our strengths as we deliver on our vision and mission to drive long-term value for our customers and shareowners."

In addition to Sorgi's business update, PPL's annual meeting included action on several management proposals. During the meeting, PPL shareowners elected 10 directors to one-year terms; approved by non-binding advisory vote the executive compensation of the company's named executive officers as disclosed in the proxy statement; approved by non-binding advisory vote a frequency of one year for future votes on executive compensation; and ratified the appointment of Deloitte & Touche LLP as PPL's independent registered public accounting firm for 2023. Separately, shareowners rejected a shareowner proposal requesting that PPL's Board of Directors adopt a policy requiring an independent board chair.

To learn more about PPL, visit www.pplweb.com.

About PPL

PPL Corporation (NYSE: PPL), based in Allentown, Pennsylvania, is a leading U.S. energy company focused on providing electricity and natural gas safely, reliably and affordably to 3.5 million customers in the U.S. PPL's high-performing, award-winning utilities are addressing energy challenges head-on by building smarter, more resilient and more dynamic power grids and advancing sustainable energy solutions. For more information, visit www.pplweb.com.

Statements contained in this news release, including statements with respect to future earnings, performance and corporate strategy, are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the federal securities laws. Although PPL Corporation believes that the expectations and assumptions reflected in these forward-looking statements are reasonable, these statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, and actual results may differ materially from the results discussed in these statements. Any forward-looking statements should be considered in light of the factors and other matters discussed in "Item 1A. Risk Factors" and "Item 7. Combined Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" in PPL Corporation's 2022 Annual Report on Form 10-K, and other reports on file with the Securities and Exchange Commission.



"Ongoing Earnings" is a non-GAAP measure that could differ from reported earnings due to special items that are, in management's view, non-recurring or otherwise not reflective of the company's ongoing operations, and should not be considered as an alternative to reported earnings, or net income, an indicator of operating performance determined in accordance with GAAP. PPL believes that Ongoing Earnings is useful and meaningful to investors because it provides management's view of PPL's earnings performance as another criterion in making investment decisions. PPL management is not able to forecast whether any special factors will occur or whether any amounts will be reported for future periods; therefore, PPL is not able to provide an equivalent GAAP measure for earnings guidance.

Note to Editors: Visit our media website at www.pplnewsroom.com for additional news and background about PPL Corporation.

Contacts: For news media: Ryan Hill, 610-774-5997

For financial analysts: Andy Ludwig, 610-774-3389

SOURCE PPL Corporation
EAST HARTFORD, Conn., May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Pratt & Whitney, a Raytheon Technologies business, joined Breeze Airways ("Breeze") today in announcing the launch of the airline's longest nonstop route, a more than 2,250 nautical-mile, Airbus A220 flight powered by GTF engines between Rhode Island's T.F. Green International Airport and Los Angeles International Airport. The celebration began on Tuesday at a first-ever airline employee town hall hosted at Pratt & Whitney's East Hartford, Conn. Customer Training Center for Breeze founder and CEO, David Neeleman and Breeze president, Tom Doxey.

Pratt & Whitney GTF Engines Power Breeze Airways Longest Flight

"GTF engine technology for the A220 has been foundational to the growth and success of Breeze over the past two years," said Neeleman. "We've been able to link new city pairs while reducing operating costs and environmental impact."

The GTF engine is the exclusive powerplant for the Airbus A220 family, which reduces fuel consumption and CO2 emissions up to 25% per seat, NOx emissions by up to 50% and noise footprint by up to 75%.* Certified for operation on 50% sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) and successfully tested on 100% SAF, GTF engines are capable of further reductions in carbon emissions, which will help the aviation industry meet its goal of net zero emissions by 2050.

"GTF engines enable airlines like Breeze fly long, thin, transcontinental routes with game-changing aircraft like the A220," said Rick Deurloo, president of Commercial Engines at Pratt & Whitney. "The inauguration of service between Providence to Los Angeles marks a major milestone in the airline's rapid growth."

Located in Salt Lake City, Utah, Breeze was founded in 2018 and launched flight operations in May of 2021. The airline operates 12 Airbus A220-300 aircraft, with the 13th to be delivered soon, and has an additional 66 A220-300s on order. Breeze also operates a fleet of Embraer E190 and E195 aircraft, each equipped with an APS2300 auxiliary power unit (APU) from Pratt & Whitney.

The Pratt & Whitney GTF engine, featuring Collins Aerospace nacelle and accessories, delivers industry-leading fuel efficiency and sustainability benefits for single-aisle aircraft. The engine's revolutionary geared fan architecture is the foundation for more sustainable aviation technologies in the decades ahead. Learn more at pwgtf.com.

*Reductions vs. prior-generation aircraft, based on 75 dB noise contour and ICAO CAEP/6 emissions regulations.

About Pratt & Whitney

Pratt & Whitney is a world leader in the design, manufacture and service of aircraft and helicopter engines, and auxiliary power units. To learn more visit www.prattwhitney.com. To receive press releases and other news directly, please sign up here.

About Raytheon Technologies

Raytheon Technologies (NYSE: RTX) is the world's largest aerospace and defense company. Our global team of 180,000 employees pushes the limits of known science and redefines how we connect and protect our world. We are advancing aviation, building smarter defense systems and creating innovations to take us deeper into space. The company, with 2022 sales of $67 billion, is headquartered in Arlington, Virginia.

[email protected]

+1 860 565 9600

SOURCE Raytheon Technologies
Signaling project44's continued growth in the European market, the new Krakow office now serves as a hub for regional opportunities and global supply chain innovation

CHICAGO, May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- project44, the leading supply chain visibility platform, today announced the grand opening of its latest European hub, a spacious new office in Krakow, Poland. Founder and CEO Jett McCandless was in attendance to celebrate the grand opening of an office that was strategically selected to deliver world-class supply chain innovation to project44's global customer base.

project44 Opens New Office in Krakow, Poland

"Our new Poland office is central to project44's growth strategy in Europe and around the world," said McCandless. "This new space provides room for us to grow and meet customer demand. We're incredibly excited about leveraging the operation in Poland to provide best-in-class supply chain solutions to more businesses and continue to provide career opportunities in the region."

project44 has over 400 team members across Europe, and the Krakow office will support the company's rapid, ongoing international expansion. After experiencing more than 50% year-over-year growth in total GAAP revenue and adding more than 400 additional customers in the last fiscal year.

"We're thrilled to see project44's continued expansion in the region," said Piotr Hunker, CEO of Trans.eu. "We recently launched a partnership with project44 to deliver an enhanced spot transport tracking solution and look forward to growing and serving our joint customer base in Europe. Through this expansion, we'll enable more shippers, freight forwarders and carriers to deliver exceptional service."

"Shippers, LSPs, and carriers worldwide are looking for the ability to track goods in real time as they move through the supply chain so they can accurately predict delivery times and improve sustainability through greater efficiency," said Renaud Houri, EVP International Markets at project44. "With the Krakow office serving as an important component of our European strategy, we're looking forward to helping more businesses in the region compete effectively with the world's most innovative end-to-end visibility platform."

The official grand opening celebration took place on Tuesday, May 16 where the U.S. Ambassador to Poland and the Mayor of Krakow were in attendance.

Find out more about project44 at www.project44.com.

About project44

project44 is on a mission to make supply chains work. As the supply chain connective tissue, project44 operates the world's most trusted end-to-end visibility platform that tracks more than 1 billion unique shipments annually for over 1,300 of the world's leading brands, including top companies in manufacturing, automotive, retail, life sciences, food & beverage, CPG, and oil, chemical & gas. Using project44, shippers and carriers across the globe drive greater predictability, resiliency and sustainability.

The undisputed leader in the market and innovator of Movement GPT, project44 was named the Leader in the Gartner Magic Quadrant, #1 in FreightWaves FreightTech 2023, an eight-time leader in customer satisfaction on G2's Supply Chain Visibility Grid, one of SupplyChainBrain's 100 Great Supply Chain Partners of 2022, and the Customer's Choice in Gartner Peer Insights Voice of the Customer report. project44 is headquartered in Chicago with a diverse team spanning 23 global offices including Austin, Amsterdam, Krakow, Paris, Sao Paulo, Shanghai and Tokyo. Learn more at project44.com.

Media Contact

[email protected]

SOURCE project44
Leakproof Period Underwear Brand Broadens Access to Affordable Period Care Products

LOS ANGELES, May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, the innovative powerhouse period underwear brand, Proof, has announced the expansion of their more affordable collection, Unders by Proof, into CVS Health Corporation (CVS), one of the leading retail pharmacies in the country. This Women's Health Month, Unders by Proof will officially hit shelves at over 3000 CVS stores and online at cvs.com, increasing access to reusable period care for all.

"We are thrilled to announce the launch of Proof's line of solution-based underwear, Unders by Proof, at CVS stores," said Jodi Caden, CEO and Co-founder of Proof. "We are proud to offer affordably priced reusable period underwear to empower women and teens nationwide to leak less and live more."

Unders by Proof styles that will be available at CVS include a classic leakproof brief, a leak-resistant thong, and a leakproof teen brief perfect for those just getting started with their periods. Each style comes in a black colorway, in sizes XS to XL for adults and S to L for teens, and retails for $17.99 to $29.99, in-store and online at https://www.cvs.com/shop/brand-shop/u/unders-by-proof. The critically acclaimed brand has been coined "best period underwear" by Glamour, Forbes, and Oprah magazine, and is now sold across the country at retailers such as Target, Walmart, Kroger, and Amazon.

To shop and learn more about Unders by Proof, visit your local CVS or shop online at https://www.cvs.com/shop/brand-shop/u/unders-by-proof.

About Proof:

Proof is a best-in-class period underwear and shapewear line that empowers women to live more and leak less. They currently offer the only triple-patented leakproof underwear on the market. The brand is committed to creating products that  like your bestie or sister would  have your back (and booty) always. Proof was founded by the Caden Sisters, who also founded the revolutionary maternity and post-partum brand Belly Bandit. With a history of disrupting and revolutionizing the market, the 'sisterpreneurs' and co-founders of Proof and Belly Bandit create products that provide women with solutions and support. For more information on Proof, please visit www.shopproof.com and on social on Instagram, and TikTok.

About CVS Health:

CVS Health is the leading health solutions company, delivering care like no one else can. We reach more people and improve the health of communities across America through our local presence, digital channels, and over 300,000 dedicated colleagues  including more than 40,000 physicians, pharmacists, nurses, and nurse practitioners. Wherever and whenever people need us, we help them with their health  whether that's managing chronic diseases, staying compliant with their medications or accessing affordable health and wellness services in the most convenient ways. We help people navigate the health care system  and their personal health care  by improving access, lowering costs and being a trusted partner for every meaningful moment of health. And we do it all with heart, each and every day. Follow @CVSHealth on social media.

Media Contact:

Meg Sillivos

The Co-Op Agency

[email protected]

650-421-6774

SOURCE Proof
PROVIDENCE, R.I., May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- EpiVax, Inc. ("EpiVax") is celebrating its 25th birthday by renewing the company's commitment to improving human health everywhere while highlighting the development of groundbreaking tools by the company. In addition, EpiVax is celebrating the work of two not-for-profit organizations that have been partners with EpiVax for nearly all of those 25 years.

EpiVax is an innovative research organization that develops computer algorithms and toolkits to assess immunogenicity and design vaccines, in addition to having invented a wide range of products that allow for the modulation of immune responses.

EpiVax, Inc. is celebrating its 25 year of Fearless Science! Tweet this

Examples of these cutting-edge tools include:

ISPRI : The first fully integrated cloud-based toolkit for immunogenicity risk assessment, evaluating more than 2 million sequences from global biologics developers per 12 months.

: The first fully integrated cloud-based toolkit for immunogenicity risk assessment, evaluating more than 2 million sequences from global biologics developers per 12 months. PANDA : An immunogenicity risk assessment program for generic peptide drugs.

: An immunogenicity risk assessment program for generic peptide drugs. iVAX : A toolkit for in silico vaccine design for emerging and existing infectious diseases.

: A toolkit for in silico vaccine design for emerging and existing infectious diseases. JanusMatrix : Tool for defining potentially tolerogenic or tolerizing epitopes.

: Tool for defining potentially tolerogenic or tolerizing epitopes. Tregitope : T cell epitopes that modulate immunogenicity and induce antigen-specific tolerance.

: T cell epitopes that modulate immunogenicity and induce antigen-specific tolerance. PIMA : Tool for assessing individualized (personal) immunogenicity risk.

: Tool for assessing individualized (personal) immunogenicity risk. ANCER : A tool for designing personalized cancer vaccines that is currently licensed to EpiVax Therapeutics ; a subsidiary of EpiVax.

: A tool for designing personalized cancer vaccines that is currently licensed to ; a subsidiary of EpiVax. EpiCC: The most recent EpiVax tool, which assesses the efficacy of vaccines against emerging strains of pathogens (such as the Flu or COVID).

In addition to the lineup of tools that EpiVax has rolled out over the past 25 years, the company has hit many milestones worth celebrating. EpiVax has generated, more than $100M in commercial contracts and federal grant income and has grown from 4 to 40 employees. EpiVax is the first immunoinformatics company to have deliver web-based tools for vaccine and biologics design to clients, beginning in 2006.

EpiVax is honored to expand its impact on human health by supporting non-profit organizations through donations and the active volunteer efforts of its team members.

Clinica Esperanza/Hope Clinic (CEHC) is located near EpiVax's headquarters in the Valley neighborhood of Providence. CEHC provides walk-in primary care to more than 2,000 uninsured immigrants and refugees in Rhode Island. With the support of neighborhood (and EpiVax) volunteers, CEHC provided free COVID testing and distributed more than 17,000 COVID vaccines to uninsured residents of Providence during the pandemic. CEHC's walk in clinic, called CHEER, has been estimated to save more than $500,000 per year in Emergency Room costs for uninsured individuals. EpiVax supports CEHC by providing financial support for the salary of the Quality Assurance reviewer at the clinic.

GAIA Vaccine Foundation (GAIA VF) has also been supported by EpiVax since its inception with in-kind contributions such as free office space and direct involvement by EpiVax's CEO. Dedicated to improving access to vaccines, GAIA VF has initiated innovative projects such Corona Kele, a COVID vaccine confidence building project for residents of Bamako, Mali, West Africa.

VaxGivesBack is the EpiVax employee-led corporate responsibility committee. The committee organizes volunteer opportunities and giving campaigns that support local organizations in need. Together, EpiVax and VaxGivesBack contribute $50,000 annually to not-for-profits in the lower income neighborhoods of Olneyville and Valley.

About EpiVax:

EpiVax is a 25-year old privately-held biotechnology company located in Providence, RI, with a broad portfolio of projects including vaccines and immunotherapies for infectious diseases, autoimmunity and cancer. Scientists at EpiVax, led by co-founders Annie De Groot, MD and Bill Martin, are leaders in the field of immunogenicity risk assessment for vaccines and biologics. The ISPRI and iVAX toolkits for therapeutics and vaccines are used by a global roster of companies. Visit www.epivax.com for more information.

Press Contact:

Katie Porter, Business Development Manager

EpiVax

[email protected]

SOURCE EpiVax Inc.
STOCKHOLM, May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ --

FIRST QUARTER (JANUARY  MARCH 2023)

Order intake SEK 206.6 M (272.5)

Net sales SEK 230.2 M (208.1)

Operating profit SEK 23.7 M (29.6)

Profit after tax SEK 17.6 M (19.3)

Earnings per share before/after dilution SEK 0.51 (0.56)

Cash flow SEK 84.5 M (35.3)

Order backlog SEK 1,903.3 M (1,488.7) at the end of the period

SIGNIFICANT EVENTS DURING THE FIRST QUARTER

In January, RaySearch announced that the number of radiotherapy clinics in Japan using RayStation for dose planning has now passed 200. Japan is RaySearch's second largest market in terms of number of clinics. Since its launch in 2009, RayStation has been sold to more than 900 cancer centers worldwide. The most RayStation clinics, roughly 250, are in the USA and in third place, after Japan , is China , where around 80 clinics have RayStation.

SIGNIFICANT events AFTER THE END OF THE REPORTING PERIOD

In April, RaySearch Laboratories announces that the number of clinics worldwide that have purchased the RayStation for ion radiation therapy dose planning has passed 100. The latest of these customers is Moffitt Cancer Center in Florida, USA , which will add proton therapy dose planning to its existing RayStation infrastructure, which has been in clinical use since 2019.

On April 26 , RaySearch announces preliminary figures for the first quarter of 2023, which mean that RaySearch is in breach of a solvency ratio and an EBITDA-based covenant in the company's unused credit facility with Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken (publ). A waiver has been obtained meaning that the credit facilitites are fully available.

In May, RaySearch announces that Yonsei Cancer Center in South Korea has treated its first patient where RayStation and RayCare were used for radiotherapy with carbon ions.

RaySearch announced in May that the strategic partnership with BEBIG Medical, which began in 2018, has been extended through a memorandum of the agreement. BEBIG Medical is a leading global supplier of high-quality radiotherapy products and within the new agreement the companies aim to develop more comprehensive solutions, to achieve more effective treatments and better outcomes. BEBIG Medical is also a distributor for the Chinese company Shinvas linear accelerators and will sell those globally outside of China , equipped with RaySearch software RayStation and RayCare.

WEBCAST

CEO Johan Lof and CFO Henrik Bergentoft will present RaySearch's interim report for January-March 2023 at a webcast to be held in English on Wednesday, May 17, 2023 at 10:00-10:30 a.m. CEST.

Link to webcast: https://raysearchlabs.creo.se/230517

You can also join the webcast by phone:

Sweden +46 8 505 100 31

UK: +44 207 107 06 13

US: +1 631 570 56 13

The information contained in this interim report is such that RaySearch Laboratories AB (publ) is obliged to disclose under the EU Market Abuse Regulation and the Swedish Securities Market Act. The information was submitted for publication on

May 17, 2023 at 7:45 a.m. CEST.

For more information, please contact:

Johan Lof, founder and CEO, RaySearch Laboratories AB (publ)

Telephone: +46 (0) 8 510 530 00

[email protected]

Henrik Bergentoft, CFO, RaySearch Laboratories AB (publ)

Telephone: +46 (0) 8 510 530 00

[email protected]

The following files are available for download:

https://mb.cision.com/Main/1102/3771027/2066016.pdf RaySearch Interim report January 1 - March 31 2023

SOURCE RaySearch Laboratories
The robotic mower manufacturer's R Series features an improved first-pass yield and a more durable design

GREEN BAY, Wis., May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- RC Mowers, a leading manufacturer of remote-operated and autonomous robotic mowers, announced today that it is releasing its new R Series to replace older versions of its groundbreaking remote-operated robotic mowers.

RC Mowers' new R Series Remote-Operated Robotic Mowers feature an improved first-pass yield and a more durable design to help mow difficult terrain.

"These mowers are an upgrade to our already innovative remote-controlled robotic mowers and will continue to help our customers solve their business challenges," said Michael Brandt, chief executive officer for RC Mowers. "Landscaping contractors, public works departments, park systems and road departments can not only use the upgraded R Series to help them solve labor shortage issues, they can mow hazardous terrain safely as they improve working conditions and efficiency and capture previously out-of-reach niche revenue."

The R-60 model replaces the company's TK-60XP, the R-52 model replaces the TK-52XP and the R-44 was formerly the TK-44E. New features include:

An improved first-pass yield with a larger deck opening.

A narrower design to allow all of the models to fit on most standard landscape trailers.

A design update featuring new materials in critical locations for improved durability.

Improvements to the camera optics and display unit.

A soft-start clutch system to reduce the impact load on the engine, belts and spindle during start-up.

The updated product line is purpose-built for steep slopes  up to 50 degrees without a winch  and for extreme, hazardous terrain. It is engineered to provide an outstanding performance in wet and muddy environments with thick vegetation such as canals, retention ponds, and embankments, and other specialty terrains like roadsides, containment berms and ditches.

"These new features promote our initiative to stay innovative while meeting the demands of our customer base," Brandt said. "We made these improvements to the mowers to help our customers increase efficiency, reduce their labor concerns, keep their people safe, and allow scalability and growth."

RC Mowers' American-made mowers have been designed and built by experts in aviation safety and robotics specialists who have worked for the U.S. Department of Defense. The company has established a top-tier dealer network with distribution across the United States, Canada and Australia and has nearly 600 mowers currently in operation.

For more information about RC Mowers or to learn more about the new R Series, visit https://www.rcmowersusa.com/.

About RC Mowers

Founded in 2018 and based near Green Bay, Wisconsin, closely-held RC Mowers manufactures autonomous and remote-operated robotic mowers that solve the biggest challenges and improve opportunities for profitability and growth for landscaping contractors, public works departments, city, county, state and federal parks systems and roads departments, and more. All of our robotic mowers are designed and manufactured in the United States, have a 30-day buy-back guarantee and come with a 72-hour parts shipping guarantee. We are redefining the business of mowing. For more information, visit https://www.rcmowersusa.com.

MEDIA CONTACT:

Heather Ripley

Ripley PR

865-977-1973

[email protected]

SOURCE RC Mowers
BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 17. On May 17, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev made a phone call to President of the Republic of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, Trend reports.

The Head of State congratulated Kassym-Jomart Tokayev on the occasion of his jubilee and wished him good health and every success in his activities for the sake of development and prosperity of Kazakhstan.

The President of Kazakhstan thanked for the attention and congratulation.

The President of Azerbaijan recalled with satisfaction his Kazakhstan trip in April this year, once again thanked for the hospitality shown, and underlined successful results of the visit, which gave a strong impetus to development of bilateral relations.

During the phone conversation, the heads of state discussed future development of friendly and brotherly relations between Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan.
Former New York City Resident and Tillman Scholar to be Honored at JFK Airport on Friday, May 19

NEW YORK, May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- U.S. Marine veteran Grady Kurpasi's remains will be returned to his family this Friday, May 19, following his disappearance in Ukraine last spring. Kurpasi's remains were located by the RT Weatherman Foundation ("Weatherman Foundation") and will be accompanied by the Foundation's team on a nonstop flight on Turkish Airlines Flight #001 from Istanbul, landing in JFK at 5:50 EDT on Friday. The fallen Marine will be honored with a brief ceremony at the airport before being transferred by private jet to Wilmington, NC to be reunited with his family.

Retired Marine Captain Grady Kurpasi, 50, and veteran of the Iraq war, volunteered to fight in support of Ukraine and was last seen on April 26, 2022, after investigating the source of gunfire in southern Ukraine with a group of international volunteers. Kurpasi was accompanied by a British citizen, Andrew Hill, and the men radioed back to their team that they were under fire. Hill was captured by Russian-backed forces and has reportedly been charged with being a mercenary.

U.S. veteran remains to be returned to American soil Friday, May 19, following his disappearance in Ukraine last spring. Tweet this

Kurpasi first traveled to Ukraine in February 2022 to assist with evacuations and train Ukrainian soldiers. Eventually joining the Ukrainian Foreign Legion, Kurpasi was motivated to stay and fight after witnessing the many atrocities committed in the communities outside of Kyiv.

Missing for more than a year, Kurpasi was declared dead by the State Department in April 2023. The Weatherman Foundation, a private operating foundation founded by Bess Weatherman and Andrew Duncan, worked tirelessly to locate Kurpasi's remains and was determined to travel to Ukraine to ensure the safe passage of Kurpasi's remains back to American soil. "Our family is deeply grateful to the Weatherman Foundation for their tireless efforts to find our beloved Grady's remains and to bring him home to us," said Kurpasi's wife.

Kurpasi, who grew up in New York City following his adoption from Korea, enlisted in the Marine Corps at the age of 29 following the attacks on 9/11. He deployed three times to Iraq, serving as an infantry assaultman and ultimately becoming a scout sniper, retiring as a captain in September 2021.

The Weatherman Foundation's Andrew Duncan said, "Grady is a hero for helping to protect the innocent children of Ukraine from an indicted war criminal. As children in occupied Kherson were forced to breathe the constant smell of burning dead Russian soldiers, we, as fellow Americans, share a core moral ideal: we never leave Americans behind. Ever."

Kurpasi was also a Tillman Scholar. Meaghan Mobbs, the president of the Weatherman Foundation and fellow Tillman Scholar, who led the effort to retrieve Kurpasi, will also be in attendance to honor him. Mobbs said, "There is an unspoken bond between those who serve in uniform - if you give your life in combat, your fellow Americans will bear any burden to bring you home. This bond lays at the heart of the mission and values of the RT Weatherman Foundation. Our team spent the last 9 months quietly and diligently working to honor that commitment to Grady and his family. As a fellow Tillman scholar, Veteran, and American I could not be prouder to see him returned home."

In addition to being a Tillman Scholar, Kurpasi has also been awarded Good Conduct Medal three times, the Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal three times, the Purple Heart Medal, the National Defense Service Medal and the Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, among other awards.

About the RT Weatherman Foundation

The RT Weatherman Foundation was founded Bess Weatherman and Andrew Duncan in honor of Romulus T. Weatherman, a decorated WWII veteran and journalist. The Foundation is dedicated to protecting children, defending human rights, and promoting democracy around the world.

Contact

Edelman

Stephan Pechdimaldji

Senior Vice President

(415) 531-4847

[email protected]

SOURCE RT Weatherman Foundation
AUSTIN, Texas, May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- RightOfTheDot, LLC (ROTD.com), the leading domain name sales, brokerage, auction, consulting, and advisement firm, is excited to announce its upcoming auction of premium domain names as the signature event of NamesCon 2023, the domain name industry's premier annual conference. The live auction will take place on June 1, 2023, at 3:00 PM CT, at the Omni Hotel in Downtown Austin, Texas, as part of the NamesCon Global Digital Asset Conference. The event will be officiated by Monte Cahn of RightOfTheDot.com and world-champion auctioneer Wayne Wheat. In addition, an online, timed auction will be available on bid.rotd.com until June 8, 2023.

NamesCon 2022 - Live Auction Live domain name auction. (Photo Courtesy of DNJournal.com)

The auction will feature some of the most desirable and valuable digital assets and domain names available, including qdcom, oicom, Gorillacom, Holidaycom, Programmingcom, Successfulcom, Estatescom, Wokecom, Fightingcom, Dancingcom, CryptoPunkscom, gptinfo, whoisio, Softwareai, Robotsai, Godeth, NFTxcom, Shibacom, weco uk, hico uk, Housenet, RapHipHop, ElectricMotorcyclescom, Blackberriescom, and many others.

Pre-bidding is now open, and interested bidders can register to participate in the auction at bid.rotd.com.

RightOfTheDot has a long history of producing record-breaking domain name sales and auctions in live and online venues all over the world, with over $575 million in sales since 1997.

"We're thrilled to have our upcoming auction of premium domain names as the signature event of NamesCon 2023," said Monte Cahn, President/Director of RightOfTheDot, LLC. "This is a unique opportunity for business owners, end users, and investors to obtain some of the very best, one-of-a-kind digital assets available anywhere. We believe that our auctions help the entire industry by raising the value of all domain names and digital assets through sales and appreciation value of these assets over time."

To view the full catalog of domain names and register to bid, visit bid.rotd.com.

About RightOfTheDot:

RightOfTheDot, LLC is a licensed and accredited domain name sales, brokerage, auction, consulting, and advisement firm specializing in premium domain names, digital assets, and NFT auctions, sales, and brokerage in new and existing Top Level Domains and digital real estate. Led by domain industry pioneer Monte Cahn, RightOfTheDot also specializes in contention resolution services involving same or similar digital assets, board advisement, premium domain market positioning, sales, and services. Cahn is also the founding member/managing partner of Dot Hip Hop, LLC (www.Get.HipHop) and was the founder and former CEO of Moniker.com and former President of SnapNames.com.

Contact: Scott Pruitt  [email protected]

SOURCE RightOfTheDot
BEIJING, May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- RLX Technology Inc. ("RLX Technology" or the "Company") (NYSE: RLX), a leading branded e-vapor company in China, today announced its unaudited financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2023.

First Quarter 2023 Financial Highlights

Net revenues were RMB188.9 million ( US$27.5 million ) in the first quarter of 2023, compared with RMB1,714.5 million in the same period of 2022.

were ( ) in the first quarter of 2023, compared with RMB1,714.5 million in the same period of 2022. Gross margin was 24.2% in the first quarter of 2023, compared with 38.3% in the same period of 2022.

was 24.2% in the first quarter of 2023, compared with 38.3% in the same period of 2022. U.S. GAAP n et loss was RMB56.3 million ( US$8 .2 million) in the first quarter of 2023, compared with U.S. GAAP net income of RMB687 .1 million in the same period of 2022.

was ( .2 million) in the first quarter of 2023, compared with U.S. GAAP net income of .1 million in the same period of 2022. Non-GAAP net income[1] was RMB183 .6 million ( US$26 .7 million) in the first quarter of 2023, compared with RMB361.8 million in the same period of 2022.

"In the first quarter of 2023, our focus remained on optimizing our product offerings under the new regulatory framework," said Ms. Ying (Kate) Wang, Co-founder, Chairperson of the Board of Directors, and CEO of RLX Technology. "While we strive to develop diversified, new, approved products that cater to users' various demands, the prevalence of illegal products has posed near-term challenges to our sales and disrupted the recovery pace of the industry as a whole. The increasing efforts put forth by the regulators to crack down on illegal products have been encouraging, and we are hopeful that these will be effective in supporting the creation of fair and orderly market conditions, prompting a return to sustainable growth for law-abiding companies such as RLX Technology. If illegal products can be pushed out of the market, we believe adult users will gradually adapt to products that meet national standards. As a trusted e-vapor brand for adult smokers, we remain committed to providing compliant, superior products that meet our users' needs as we continue exploring growth opportunities in the evolving industry."

"We experienced an incredibly challenging first quarter as illegal-flavored products caused users' slow shift to products that meet the national standards and drove our total revenues down to RMB188.9 million. Our gross margin declined as we incurred the full effect of the new excise tax in the first quarter," said Mr. Chao Lu, Chief Financial Officer of RLX Technology. "We are pleased that market conditions have improved, following the regulators' strict actions to combat illegal products since March 2023. As a result, our sales are showing signs of recovery. Looking ahead, we will continue improving our operational efficiency and believe our profitability will gradually recover. Our resilient business model and solid cash position will support us as we navigate the market dynamics, enabling us to deliver sustainable value to our stakeholders as the industry regains momentum."

First Quarter 2023 Financial Results

Net revenues were RMB188.9 million (US$27.5 million) in the first quarter of 2023, compared with RMB1,714.5 million in the same period of 2022. The decrease was primarily due to the discontinuation of our older products and the negative impact of illegal-flavored products in the market, which led to users' slower-than-expected adoption of our new products that comply with national standards.

Gross profit was RMB45.7 million (US$6.7 million) in the first quarter of 2023, compared with RMB657.0 million in the same period of 2022.

Gross margin was 24.2% in the first quarter of 2023, compared with 38.3% in the same period of 2022. The decrease was primarily due to the imposition of a 36% excise tax which came into effect on November 1, 2022.

Operating expenses were RMB418.9 million (US$61.0 million) in the first quarter of 2023, compared with RMB33.6 million in the same period of 2022. The increase was primarily due to the change of RMB240.0 million (US$34.9 million) in share-based compensation expenses in the first quarter of 2023, compared with positive RMB325.2 million in the same period of 2022. The change in share-based compensation expenses consisted of (i) RMB24.0 million (US$3.5 million) recognized in selling expenses, (ii) RMB201.3 million (US$29.3 million) recognized in general and administrative expenses, and (iii) RMB14.7 million (US$2.1 million) recognized in research and development expenses. The change in share-based compensation expenses was primarily due to the changes in the fair value of the share incentive awards that the Company granted to its employees affected by the fluctuations of the Company's share price.

Selling expenses were RMB85.8 million (US$12.5 million) in the first quarter of 2023, compared with RMB75.9 million in the same period of 2022, mainly driven by the fluctuation of share-based compensation expenses.

General and administrative expenses were RMB256.5 million (US$37.4 million) in the first quarter of 2023, compared with positive RMB66.4 million in the same period of 2022, mainly driven by the fluctuation of share-based compensation expenses.

Research and development expenses were RMB76.7 million (US$11.2 million) in the first quarter of 2023, compared with RMB24.0 million in the same period of 2022, mainly driven by the fluctuation of share-based compensation expenses.

Loss from operations was RMB373.2 million (US$54.3 million) in the first quarter of 2023, compared with an income from operations of RMB623.4 million in the same period of 2022.

Income tax benefit was RMB17.6 million (US$2.6 million) in the first quarter of 2023, compared with income tax expense of RMB112.6 million in the same period of 2022.

U.S. GAAP net loss was RMB56.3 million (US$8.2 million) in the first quarter of 2023, compared with U.S. GAAP net income of RMB687.1 million in the same period of 2022.

Non-GAAP net income was RMB183.6 million (US$26.7 million) in the first quarter of 2023, compared with RMB361.8 million in the same period of 2022.

U.S. GAAP basic and diluted net loss per American depositary share ("ADS") were RMB0.043 (US$0.006), in the first quarter of 2023, compared with U.S. GAAP basic and diluted net income per ADS of RMB0.528 and RMB0.521, respectively, in the same period of 2022.

Non-GAAP basic and diluted net income per ADS[2] were RMB0.139 (US$0.020) and RMB0.136 (US$0.020), respectively, in the first quarter of 2023, compared with non-GAAP basic and diluted net income per ADS of RMB0.284 and RMB0.281, respectively, in the same period of 2022.

Balance Sheet and Cash Flow

As of March 31, 2023, the Company had cash and cash equivalents, restricted cash, short-term bank deposits, net, short-term investments, long-term bank deposits, net and long-term investment securities, net of RMB15,369.2 million (US$2,237.9 million), compared with RMB15,733.7 million as of December 31, 2022. For the first quarter that ended March 31, 2023, net cash used in operating activities was RMB230.7 million (US$33.6 million).

Conference Call

The Company's management will host an earnings conference call at 8:00 A.M. U.S. Eastern Time on May 17, 2023 (8:00 P.M. Beijing/Hong Kong Time on May 17, 2023).

Dial-in details for the earnings conference call are as follows:

United States (toll-free): +1-888-317-6003 International: +1-412-317-6061 Hong Kong, China (toll-free): +800-963-976 Hong Kong, China: +852-5808-1995 Mainland China: 400-120-6115 Participant Code: 7017217

Participants should dial in 10 minutes before the scheduled start time and ask to be connected to the call for "RLX Technology Inc." with the Participant Code as set forth above.

Additionally, a live and archived webcast of the conference call will be available on the Company's investor relations website at https://ir.relxtech.com.

A replay of the conference call will be accessible approximately two hours after the conclusion of the call until May 24, 2023, by dialing the following telephone numbers:

United States: +1-877-344-7529 International: +1-412-317-0088 Replay Access Code: 5131272

About RLX Technology Inc.

RLX Technology Inc. (NYSE: RLX) is a leading branded e-vapor company in China. The Company leverages its strong in-house technology, product development capabilities, and in-depth insights into adult smokers' needs to develop superior e-vapor products.

For more information, please visit: http://ir.relxtech.com.

Non-GAAP Financial Measures

The Company uses non-GAAP net income and non-GAAP basic and diluted net income per ADS, each a non-GAAP financial measure, in evaluating its operating results and for financial and operational decision-making purposes. Non-GAAP net income represents net income excluding share-based compensation expenses. Non-GAAP basic and diluted net income per ADS is computed using Non-GAAP net income attributable to RLX Technology Inc. and the same number of ADSs used in U.S. GAAP basic and diluted net income per ADS calculation.

The Company presents these non-GAAP financial measures because they are used by the management to evaluate its operating performance and formulate business plans. The Company believes that they help identify underlying trends in its business that could otherwise be distorted by the effect of certain expenses that are included in net income. The Company also believes that the use of the non-GAAP measures facilitates investors' assessment of its operating performance, as they could provide useful information about its operating results, enhances the overall understanding of its past performance and future prospects and allows for greater visibility with respect to key metrics used by the management in its financial and operational decision making.

The non-GAAP financial measures are not defined under U.S. GAAP and are not presented in accordance with U.S. GAAP. The non-GAAP financial measures have limitations as analytical tools. They should not be considered in isolation or construed as an alternative to net income, basic and diluted net income per ADS or any other measure of performance or as an indicator of its operating performance. Investors are encouraged to review its historical non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable U.S. GAAP measures. The non-GAAP financial measures here may not be comparable to similarly titled measures presented by other companies. Other companies may calculate similarly titled measures differently, limiting their usefulness as comparative measures to our data. The Company encourages investors and others to review its financial information in its entirety and not rely on any single financial measure.

For more information on the non-GAAP financial measures, please see the table captioned "Unaudited Reconciliation of GAAP and non-GAAP Results" set forth at the end of this press release.

Exchange Rate Information

This announcement contains translations of certain RMB amounts into U.S. dollars at a specified rate solely for the convenience of the reader. Unless otherwise noted, all translations from RMB to U.S. dollars and from U.S. dollars to RMB are made at a rate of RMB6.8676 to US$1.00, the exchange rate on March 31, 2023, set forth in the H.10 statistical release of the Federal Reserve Board. The Company makes no representation that the RMB or U.S. dollar amounts referred could be converted into U.S. dollars or RMB, as the case may be, at any particular rate or at all.

Safe Harbor Statement

This announcement contains forward-looking statements. These statements are made under the "safe harbor" provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements can be identified by terminology such as "may," "will," "expect," "anticipate," "aim," "estimate," "intend," "plan," "believe," "is/are likely to," "potential," "continue" and similar statements. Among other things, quotations from management in this announcement, as well as the Company's strategic and operational plans, contain forward- looking statements. The Company may also make written or oral forward-looking statements in its periodic reports to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, in its annual report to shareholders, in press releases and other written materials and in oral statements made by its officers, directors or employees to third parties. Statements that are not historical facts, including but not limited to statements about the Company's beliefs and expectations, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties. A number of factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statement, including but not limited to the following: the Company's growth strategies; its future business development, results of operations and financial condition; trends and competition in China's e-vapor market; changes in its revenues and certain cost or expense items; PRC governmental policies, laws and regulations relating to the Company's industry, and general economic and business conditions globally and in China and assumptions underlying or related to any of the foregoing. Further information regarding these risks, uncertainties or factors is included in the Company's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. All information provided in this press release and in the attachments is current as of the date of this press release, and the Company does not undertake any obligation to update such information, except as required under applicable law.

For more information, please contact:

In China:

RLX Technology Inc.

Head of Capital Markets

Sam Tsang

Email: [email protected]

The Piacente Group, Inc.

Jenny Cai

Tel: +86-10-6508-0677

Email: [email protected]

In the United States:

The Piacente Group, Inc.

Brandi Piacente

Tel: +1-212-481-2050

Email: [email protected]

[1] Non-GAAP net income is a non-GAAP financial measure. For more information on the Company's non-GAAP financial measures, please see the section "Non-GAAP Financial Measures" and the table captioned "Unaudited Reconciliation of GAAP and Non-GAAP Results" set forth at the end of this press release.

[2] Non-GAAP basic and diluted net income per ADS is a non-GAAP financial measure. For more information on the Company's non-GAAP financial measures, please see the section "Non-GAAP Financial Measures" and the table captioned "Unaudited Reconciliation of GAAP and Non-GAAP Results" set forth at the end of this press release.

RLX TECHNOLOGY INC. UNAUDITED CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS (All amounts in thousands)









As of

December 31, March 31, March 31,

2022 2023 2023

RMB RMB US$ ASSETS





Current assets:





Cash and cash equivalents 1,268,512 1,448,820 210,965 Restricted cash 20,574 6,289 916 Short-term bank deposits, net 7,084,879 5,709,492 831,366 Receivables from online payment platforms 3,000 3,940 574 Short-term investments 2,434,864 2,083,215 303,340 Accounts and notes receivable, net 51,381 73,735 10,737 Inventories 130,901 101,981 14,850 Amounts due from related parties 5,112 7,087 1,032 Prepayments and other current assets, net 198,932 309,398 45,052 Total current assets 11,198,155 9,743,957 1,418,832 Non-current assets:





Property, equipment and leasehold improvement, net 87,871 89,266 12,998 Intangible assets, net 7,552 7,643 1,113 Long-term investments, net 8,000 8,000 1,165 Deferred tax assets, net 63,894 63,894 9,303 Right-of-use assets, net 75,008 61,793 8,998 Long-term bank deposits, net 1,515,428 2,060,476 300,029 Long-term investment securities, net 3,409,458 4,060,942 591,319 Other non-current assets, net 13,458 9,483 1,381 Total non-current assets 5,180,669 6,361,497 926,306 Total assets 16,378,824 16,105,454 2,345,138







LIABILITIES AND SHAREHOLDERS' EQUITY





Current liabilities:





Accounts and notes payable 269,346 47,350 6,895 Contract liabilities 75,226 45,699 6,654 Salary and welfare benefits payable 127,749 128,491 18,710 Taxes payable 109,676 54,568 7,946 Amounts due to related parties 423 1,071 156 Accrued expenses and other current liabilities 161,455 167,511 24,392 Lease liabilities - current portion 45,955 39,330 5,727 Total current liabilities 789,830 484,020 70,480







Non-current liabilities:





Deferred tax liabilities 8,653 8,653 1,260 Lease liabilities - non-current portion 39,968 32,056 4,668 Total non-current liabilities 48,621 40,709 5,928 Total liabilities 838,451 524,729 76,408







Shareholders' Equity:





Total RLX Technology Inc. shareholders' equity 15,569,060 15,608,751 2,272,811 Noncontrolling interests (28,687) (28,026) (4,081) Total shareholders' equity 15,540,373 15,580,725 2,268,730







Total liabilities and shareholders' equity 16,378,824 16,105,454 2,345,138

RLX TECHNOLOGY INC. UNAUDITED CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF COMPREHENSIVE INCOME/(LOSS) (All amounts in thousands, except for share and per share data, or otherwise noted)

For the three months ended

March 31, December 31, March 31, March 31,

2022 2022 2023 2023

RMB RMB RMB US$









Net revenues 1,714,450 340,012 188,877 27,503 Cost of revenues (1,057,447) (139,073) (78,693) (11,459) Excise tax on products - (52,668) (64,458) (9,386) Gross profit 657,003 148,271 45,726 6,658









Operating expenses:







Selling expenses (75,947) (96,673) (85,761) (12,488) General and administrative expenses 66,395 (394,207) (256,504) (37,350) Research and development expenses (24,007) (129,558) (76,682) (11,166) Total operating expenses (33,559) (620,438) (418,947) (61,004)









Income/(loss) from operations 623,444 (472,167) (373,221) (54,346)









Other income:







Interest income, net 27,151 54,617 148,803 21,667 Investment income 32,239 25,557 21,385 3,114 Others, net 116,857 150,625 129,157 18,807 Income/(loss) before income tax 799,691 (241,368) (73,876) (10,758) Income tax (expense)/ benefit (112,636) 16,243 17,571 2,559 Net income/(loss) 687,055 (225,125) (56,305) (8,199) Less: net (loss)/income attributable to noncontrolling interests (18,226) 3,355 661 96 Net income/(loss) attributable to RLX Technology Inc. 705,281 (228,480) (56,966) (8,295)









Other comprehensive loss:







Foreign currency translation adjustments (45,824) (215,246) (148,096) (21,564) Unrealized (loss)/income on long-term investment securities - (5,425) 2,873 418 Total other comprehensive loss (45,824) (220,671) (145,223) (21,146) Total comprehensive income/(loss) 641,231 (445,796) (201,528) (29,345) Less: total comprehensive (loss)/income attributable to noncontrolling interests (18,226) 3,355 661 96 Total comprehensive income/(loss) attributable to RLX Technology Inc. 659,457 (449,151) (202,189) (29,441)









Net income/(loss) per ordinary share/ADS







- Basic 0.528 (0.174) (0.043) (0.006) - Diluted 0.521 (0.174) (0.043) (0.006)









Weighted average number of ordinary shares/ADSs







- Basic 1,336,118,854 1,310,229,331 1,316,798,713 1,316,798,713 - Diluted 1,354,294,220 1,310,229,331 1,316,798,713 1,316,798,713











RLX TECHNOLOGY INC. UNAUDITED RECONCILIATION OF GAAP AND NON-GAAP RESULTS (All amounts in thousands, except for share and per share data, or otherwise noted)



For the three months ended

March 31, December 31, March 31, March 31,

2022 2022 2023 2023

RMB RMB RMB US$ Net income/(loss) 687,055 (225,125) (56,305) (8,199) Add: share-based compensation expenses







Selling expenses (41,939) 41,239 23,955 3,488 General and administrative expenses (230,087) 369,447 201,343 29,318 Research and development expenses (53,211) 64,165 14,654 2,134 Non-GAAP net income 361,818 249,726 183,647 26,741









Net income/(loss) attributable to RLX Technology Inc. 705,281 (228,480) (56,966) (8,295) Add: share-based compensation expenses (325,237) 474,851 239,952 34,940 Non-GAAP net income attributable to RLX Technology Inc. 380,044 246,371 182,986 26,645









Non-GAAP net income per ordinary share/ADS







- Basic 0.284 0.188 0.139 0.020 - Diluted 0.281 0.186 0.136 0.020 Weighted average number of ordinary shares/ADSs







- Basic 1,336,118,854 1,310,229,331 1,316,798,713 1,316,798,713 - Diluted 1,354,294,220 1,324,475,455 1,345,828,279 1,345,828,279



























RLX TECHNOLOGY INC. UNAUDITED CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF

CASH FLOWS (All amounts in thousands, except for share and per share data, or otherwise noted)











For the three months ended

March 31, December 31, March 31, March 31,

2022 2022 2023 2023

RMB RMB RMB US$









Net cash generated from/(used in) operating activities 308,169 (248,866) (230,686) (33,590) Net cash (used in)/generated from investing activities (950,764) 752,545 381,954 55,617 Net cash (used in)/generated from financing activities (161,612) (150,647) 4,346 633 Effect of foreign exchange rate changes on cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash (20,556) 29,287 10,409 1,516 Net (decrease)/increase in cash and cash equivalents and restricted cash (824,763) 382,319 166,023 24,176 Cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash at the beginning of the period 5,209,467 906,767 1,289,086 187,705 Cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash at the end of the period 4,384,704 1,289,086 1,455,109 211,881

















SOURCE RLX Technology Inc.
SAN FRANCISCO, May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Mary Alexander, principal and founder of Mary Alexander & Associates P.C., has decades of award-winning experience as a massage sex abuse lawyer. Ms. Alexander is alerting survivors of sexual abuse that the statute of limitations exists for one (1) year.

Massage customers are potentially vulnerable to sex abuse due to the nature of the service, and over the last several years there has been a significant increase in misconduct and sexual abuse allegations. Massage therapists and franchises have so far failed to take responsibility for their alleged wrongful actions. Massage Envy franchises in particular face many claims pertaining to abuse and misconduct by their employees. Ms. Alexander handles cases against massage spas and companies, like Massage Envy, which have a long history of complaints and lawsuits involving their massage therapists.

Throughout her career, Mary has helped a significant number of women that have survived or faced massage sex abuse. She ultimately works on their behalf to assist them in exercising their legal rights after suffering the unimaginable.

"The clients I represent who have undergone severe mistreatment from so-called massage therapists that claim to be "professionals" seek the rightful justice owed to them for the traumatic psychological and physical harm they unfortunately endured," said Mary Alexander. "I understand the hesitancy most survivors face as these are hard topics and situations to relive, but our firm handles every massage sex abuse survivor's case with the utmost sensitivity."

Seasoned San Francisco massage abuse lawyers at Mary Alexander and Associates assist in seeking the rightful compensation survivors deserve for the sexual abuse suffered at the hands of abusive, predatory massage therapists.

Viable massage therapist misconduct claims include various types of inappropriate touch and sexual misconduct such as:

Inappropriate groping, touching, or rubbing

Massaging areas of the body without prior consent

Massaging genitalia or breasts

The massage therapist asking the client to touch them inappropriately

Non-Consensual penetration

About Mary Alexander & Associates

With more than $1 billion obtained for clients, including survivors of sexual abuse and harassment, the law firm of Mary Alexander & Associates is proud of its record and tradition of excellence. Call their San Francisco massage abuse lawyers at 415-433-4440 for a confidential case consultation.

SOURCE Mary Alexander & Associates
ISSAQUAH, Wash., May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- SanMar is proud to announce it has been selected as a 2023 US Best Managed Company. Sponsored by Deloitte* Private and The Wall Street Journal, the program recognizes outstanding U.S. private companies and the achievements of their management teams.

2023 Best Managed Companies logo

The 2023 designees are U.S. private companies that have demonstrated excellence in strategic planning and execution, a commitment to their people and fostering a dynamic culture, as well as strong financials. Designees propelled their businesses forward and remained true to their purpose and values by investing in their people, creating advantage through digital transformation, taking measurable action on sustainability, and demonstrating their commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion.

SanMar has been a family-owned business since its founding in 1971 and is currently managed by the second generation of the Lott family. The company's commitment to supporting employees has been celebrated as a hallmark of its success, with a focus on sustaining positive workplace culture and investing in employee development programs.

"We are incredibly honored to receive this recognition for all the hard work and dedication of our team," said Jeremy Lott, CEO of SanMar. "As a family-owned company that empowers team members to drive positive change, we are always working to create the most dynamic workplace culture and invest in the long-term future of our employees."

SanMar continues to expand its team and company footprint, recently announcing a new distribution center in Ashland, Virginia, where it plans to hire 1,000 employees.

Applicants for the Best Managed Companies program are evaluated and selected by a panel of external judges focused on assessing hallmarks of excellence in four key areas: strategy, ability to execute, corporate culture and governance/financial performance. They join a global ecosystem of honorees from more than 46 countries recognized by the Best Managed Companies program.

About the Best Managed Companies Program

The Best Managed Companies program is a mark of excellence for private companies. U.S. designees have revenues of at least $250 million. Hundreds of private companies around the world have competed for this designation in their respective countries through a rigorous and independent process that evaluates four key criteria in their management skills and practices  strategy, execution, culture and governance/financials. U.S. program sponsors are Deloitte Private and The Wall Street Journal. For more information, visit www.usbestmanagedcompanies.com.

About SanMar

SanMar Corporation does more than make and sell t-shirts. We build meaningful connections that elevate lives. As the largest supplier of wholesale imprintable clothing and accessories in the United States, the products, and the connections they create drive positive change for organizations, individuals, and the world. It all started more than 50 years ago with a business philosophy that has held true since day one: Be Nice and Tell the Truth. Family owned and operated, SanMar is based in Issaquah, Washington, with nine distribution centers nationwide and apparel from more than 30 celebrated brands.

*Please see www.deloitte.com/us/about for a detailed description of our legal structure.

SOURCE SanMar
A news report by China.org.cn: The South-South Cooperation Knowledge Sharing Forum was held at the UN Compound in Beijing on May 15, 2023, celebrating the one-year anniversary of the launch of the WFP-China South-South Cooperation Knowledge Sharing Platform.

BEIJING, May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- On May 15, 2023, the South-South Cooperation Knowledge Sharing Forum was held at the UN Compound in Beijing.Taking the opportunity of the first anniversary of the WFP-China South-South Cooperation Knowledge Sharing Platform, the WFP discussed outcomes associated with the site that have been achieved thus far and relevant future plans, as well as proposed the Joint Initiative on Knowledge Sharing Partnership for South-South Cooperation in collaboration with key partners with the goal of fostering and strengthening SSC-oriented information exchange, technology transfer, capacity building and collaboration.

Representatives of key partner organizations pose for a photo at the South-South Cooperation Knowledge Sharing Forum on May 15, 2023. CICG President Du Zhanyuan delivers opening remarks at the South-South Cooperation Knowledge Sharing Forum. Qu Sixi, WFP China Representative, delivers a speech at the South-South Cooperation Knowledge Sharing Forum. Ni Hongxing, Counsel (Director-General level), Department of International Cooperation, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs ofthe Peoples Republic of China (MARA) delivers a speech at the South-South Cooperation Knowledge Sharing Forum. Siddharth Chatterjee, UN Resident Coordinator in China delivers a speech at the South-South Cooperation Knowledge Sharing Forum. Ashwani K. Muthoo, Director General of New Development Banks Independent Evaluation Office delivers a speech at the South-South Cooperation Knowledge Sharing Forum. Mr. David Kaatrud, Director of Programme  Humanitarian and Development DivisionWFP, delivers a speech at the South-South Cooperation Knowledge Sharing Forum. Participants of a discussion known as the High-level Dialogue on the Role of Science and Technology in South-South Cooperation Oriented towards Attaining the Sustainable Development Goals pose for a photo. Jia Yan, Head of SSC at WFP China, presentsat the South-South Cooperation Knowledge Sharing Forum. Wang Xiaohui, Editor-in-Chief of CIIC, delivers a speech at the South-South Cooperation Knowledge Sharing Forum.

Nearly 100 representatives from government departments, embassies in China, research institutes and think tanks, NGOs and other international organizations, the private sector, and the media from 18 countries attended in person or online.The event was hosted by the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) and China International Communications Group (CICG) and co-organized by the WFP Centre of Excellence for Rural Transformation (WFP China COE) and CICG subsidiary China Internet Information Center (CIIC).

"Promoting knowledge sharing requires the consensus and joint efforts of the international community," emphasized CICG President Du Zhanyuan in his opening remarks at the South-South Cooperation Knowledge Sharing Forum.

He also encouraged and advocated diverse actors to contribute to this process, reiterating, for example, that as the core of the international system, UN agencies play an important role; governments of developing countries can help improve governance; universities, research institutions, think tanks, and various associations can lend their expertise; and media can provide publicity; and that promotion of knowledge sharing concepts and practices can be strengthened through policy dialogues, academic exchanges, creation and development of various platforms, provision of training courses, and other endeavors.

Qu Sixi, WFP China Representative, highlighted the critical role of the WFP-China South-South Cooperation Knowledge Sharing Platform in responding to growing demands for web-based knowledge sharing in a digitalized world and helping developing countries improve food security and facilitate rural transformation. He also indicated that the wisdom and expertise that technical partners contribute will enable it to function as a hub that promotes South-South knowledge and technology exchange.

"The launch of the South-South Cooperation Knowledge Sharing Platform is an example of digital solutions for South-South agricultural exchanges and cooperation," stated Ni Hongxing, Counsel (Director-General level), Department of International Cooperation, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of the People's Republic of China (MARA)."We hope that the platform, together with its Cloud School, could better tap into China's experience in smallholder development, resilient food systems, agricultural value chain, agricultural biodiversity, and climate change responses to help more developing countries improve their capacities in food production and disaster prevention more efficiently and innovatively."

"China's development progress can serve as an example for much of the developing world," remarked Siddharth Chatterjee, UN Resident Coordinator in China."China currently feeds almost 20% of the world's population while having less than 10% of the world's arable land. In addition, in 2020 China announced the remarkable achievement of eliminating extreme poverty nationally, a significant advance towards meeting the targets of SDG1. China is now focused on advancing rural revitalization to build rural prosperity and to reduce the gaps that exist between rural and urban areas. These experiences can provide important lessons learned for the rest of the world and help to accelerate the achievement of the SDGs."

"South-South Cooperation is a fundamental development instrument for promoting economic and social advancement in emerging economies and other developing countries," stated Ashwani K. Muthoo, Director General of New Development Bank's Independent Evaluation Office. "The forum offers a unique opportunity to further underline that knowledge sharing is critical for meeting the SDGs, and I believe that moving forward, enhanced attention could be devoted to sharing good practices, lessons, and insights on evaluation matters so that emerging economies and developing countries can themselves conduct more robust and methodologically sound evaluations as a basis for improved developed impact and livelihoods."

"WFP and China have been partners for more than four decades on building a resilient and sustainable food system," mentioned David Kaatrud, WFP Programme Director of Humanitarian and Development Division. "As WFP continues to address the challenges holding back more systematic South-South and Triangular Cooperation engagement and in responding to emerging SSTC demands, we look forward to aligning and coordinating our knowledge management efforts with various stakeholders within and outside the WFP system and would like to see this knowledge platform play a bigger role in enhancing evidence generation and mutual learning in SSTC."

Li Xiaoyun, Chair Professor of China Agricultural University, moderated a discussion known as the "High-level Dialogue on the Role of Science and Technology in South-South Cooperation Oriented towards Attaining the Sustainable Development Goals," which Wu Pute, President of Northwest A&F University; Li Chengwei, President of Henan University of Technology; Du Taisheng, Vice President of China Agricultural University; and Ding Yanfeng, Vice President of Nanjing Agricultural University participated in. Thematic discussions on "Resilient Food System Transformation Against Climate Change" and "Digital Empowerment for Inclusive Development" were also held at the event.

Jia Yan, Head of SSC at WFP China, described some of the outcomes associated with the WFP-China South-South Cooperation Knowledge Sharing Platform that had been achieved over the past year and discusses future plans for the site. She said, the platform serves as a new form of digital SSC and makes it possible to reach greater numbers of people. More than 1,000 knowledge products, including case studies and policy reference materials, have been published, and more than 2.5 million page views have been logged by visitors from 84 countries and regions since it was launched.

Wang Xiaohui, Editor-in-Chief of CIIC, observed that the South-South Cooperation Knowledge Sharing Forum had been an inspiring and fruitful communication and exchange journey in his closing speech. He also expected the Joint Initiative on Knowledge Sharing Partnership for South-South Cooperation will promote the deepening of exchanges and cooperation among institutions and make new contributions to global food security and sustainable development.

South-South Cooperation Knowledge Sharing Forum Strengthens Digital Partnership

http://p.china.org.cn/2023-05/17/content_85358949.htm

About WFP-China South-South Cooperation Knowledge Sharing Platform

(www.wfpchinacoe.net):

Visitors can access information on the platform about China's experiences and solutions in the following four thematic areas: Value Chain Development for Small holders, Post-harvest Loss Management and Food Systems, Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change Resilience, and Innovative Poverty Alleviation Initiative. The platform also offers Cloud School, an inclusive digital education space, which features programmes that are tailored to the needs of participants of all levels. It is a response to the rising demand for China's vetted knowledge about food security, nutrition improvement, poverty alleviation and rural transformation.

SOURCE China.org.cn
Cision's 2023 State of the Media Report spotlights challenges and opportunities in rapidly changing media landscape

CHICAGO, May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- "Accuracy" and "maintaining credibility as a trusted news source" are leading concerns for journalists, particularly in the wake of the meteoric rise of ChatGPT and other artificial intelligence-driven applications. They are seeing the impact this emerging technology is having on their industry and are concerned it will make authentic journalism even more challenging for the future.

Experience the full interactive Multichannel News Release here: https://www.multivu.com/players/English/9160151-cision-2023-state-of-the-media-report/

Cision surveyed 3,100+ journalists worldwide for its 14th annual State of the Media Report Biggest challenges for journalists Biggest challenges for journalism industry Journalists activity on social media

Cision , a comprehensive consumer and media intelligence and communications platform enabling public relations, marketing and communications professionals around the world to understand, influence and amplify their stories, released these findings as part of its 14th annual State of the Media Report.

The report, featuring responses from more than 3,100 journalists from 17 global markets, brings forward journalists' concerns about news and content accuracy, and their daily challenge to battle misinformation. "Ensuring content is accurate" was named the top priority by journalists (58%) and was what they perceive as the top priority for their organization (43%). More than a quarter of journalists (27%) responded that their biggest challenge was maintaining credibility as a trusted news source. Further, when asked about future generations of journalists, many responses focused on reducing "bias" and separating "fact from opinion."

These findings reinforce the opportunity for journalists and communications professionals to build authentic, trust-based partnerships, advancing a mutual objective of honest, accurate storytelling amidst the changing media landscape.

"Now more than ever, journalists are seeking credible data and trustworthy, unbiased sources. Communications professionals can and should come to their aid. Working together, at this critical moment of disruption, journalists and communicators can protect and even elevate journalism," said Putney Cloos, Cision Chief Marketing Officer.

The Future of the State of the Media

In a first for the State of the Media Report, respondents were asked to share forward-looking perspectives on the discipline of journalism. Key themes include maintaining accuracy, reducing bias, and adapting to an increasingly tech and data-reliant industry. Many journalists also spoke about the opportunities and pitfalls of AI:

"Innovations like ChatGPT won't stop, but the journalists who hide from them are at a disadvantage."

"As AI does more of the actual writing, the journalists who succeed will be the ones who can do the human kinds of things like telling personal stories and finding original conclusions in data sets and data trends well."

" Able to use Generative AI to enhance their work and remain relevant."

Data and Social Media Evolution

Data is becoming a key driver in journalism, as 40% of journalists say they are relying more on data this year and 66% say providing data and expert sources is one way communicators can make their job easier.

Social media platforms provide places for journalists and communications professionals to gather data, as well as connect and promote their own work. Journalists aim to increase their audience on LinkedIn and Instagram in the next year, while reducing their reliance on Twitter citing changes to the platform made by new leadership. Their expectation of increased usage of Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube is due to increased popularity and going where their audiences are.

"Communications are, and will continue to be, a critical driver of progress for brands, companies, organizations, and communities. The stories we tell and how we tell them matter. Working together, journalists and PR and Comms professionals can navigate the future, preserve the art of journalism, and maintain the trust of the audiences we serve," said Cloos.

Download the 2023 State of the Media Report

Methodology

Cision conducted its 2023 State of the Media survey in February and March 2023. Surveys were emailed to Cision Media Database members, who are vetted by the company's media research team to verify their positions as media professionals, influencers and bloggers. We also surveyed members of our HARO (Help a Reporter Out) database, and made the survey available to media professionals in the PR Newswire for Journalists database. This year's survey collected responses from 3,132 respondents in 17 markets across the globe: U.S., Canada, UK, France, Germany, Finland, Sweden, Italy, Spain, Portugal, China, Australia, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Taiwan and Hong Kong.

The survey language was translated and localized for each market and the results were tallied together to form this global report.

About Cision

Cision is a comprehensive consumer and media intelligence and communications platform enabling public relations, marketing and communications professionals around the world to understand, influence and amplify their stories. As the market leader, Cision enables the next generation of leaders to strategically operate in the modern media landscape where company success is directly impacted by public opinion. Cision has offices in 24 countries through the Americas, EMEA and APAC, and offers a suite of best-in-class solutions, including PR Newswire, Brandwatch, Cision Communications Cloud and Cision Insights. To learn more, visit www.cision.com and follow @Cision on Twitter.

Contact Information:

For media inquiries, please contact:

Cision Public Relations

[email protected]

SOURCE Cision Ltd.
Million-dollar+ claims rose from 109 claims per million members in 2019 to 158 claims per million in 2022

WELLESLEY, Mass., May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Sun Life U.S., the largest independent provider of medical stop-loss insurance in the country, has released its 11th annual High-cost claims and injectable drug trends analysis report, analyzing its extensive claims database and highlighting trends in healthcare and medical costs. Sun Life's claims data showed that million-dollar+ claims increased 45%, from 109 claims per million covered members in 2019 to 158 claims per million covered members in 2022. Million-dollar+ claims appeared across a broad range of medical conditions, from more common diagnoses like cancer to less common conditions like hemophilia. Depending on the condition, contributing factors included long-term hospitalizations, specialty drugs, treatment of comorbid (secondary) conditions and complicated surgeries.

Million-dollar+ claim condition snapshot High-cost injectable drug snapshot

"This research provides valuable insights into the trends that contribute to rising healthcare costs, which helps shape our approach to new benefit solutions and services that help people access the care and coverage they need," said Jen Collier, president, Health and Risk Solutions, Sun Life U.S. "We want employers to be as informed as possible when making their health plan decisions so they can provide the best plans for their employees that help improve health outcomes while managing their medical spending."

As a stop-loss provider, Sun Life covers high-dollar claims for employers who self-fund their employee health plans. According to KFF, an independent non-profit organization focused on national health issues, 65% of covered workers in the U.S. are in a plan that is self-funded. Sun Life's high-cost claims report provides insights that help self-funded employers understand the unique health needs of their employees. This year's report examined 55,000 stop-loss claims from 2019 to 2022, analyzing the overall highest-cost medical conditions and the implications of increasing costs amid physician shortages that reduce access to care.

Report highlights

Injectable drugs continue to be key drivers of high-cost claims; the majority are used to treat cancer. Total Sun Life stop-loss reimbursements for cancer from 2019 to 2022 were $1.5 billion .

. The most frequent diagnosis among orthopedic and musculoskeletal conditions was spinal stenosis, a narrowing of the spinal column resulting from arthritis. Orthopedic/musculoskeletal conditions are also a leading cause of short- and long-term disability. Total Sun Life stop-loss reimbursements for this condition were $339 million during the four-year period.

during the four-year period. Cardiovascular disease, which includes heart disease and stroke, represents more U.S. total health spend (12%) than any other diagnostic group, according to research from The American Heart Association. Total Sun Life stop-loss reimbursements during the four-year period were $444 million .

. Newborn and infant care, which includes premature birth or complications during birth, continued to be among the highest-cost conditions, predominantly due to long-term hospitalizations. Total Sun Life stop-loss reimbursements from 2019 to 2022 were $338 million in this condition category.

Medical vs. Rx spend

Treatment of many conditions included both medical (hospital or clinic-based care) and Rx/drug spend.

Conditions like newborn/infant care and COVID-19 were almost entirely made up of medical spend, while conditions like hemophilia were heavily based on Rx spend.

Medical spend can still include drugs administered in a clinical setting, while Rx spend includes injections, patches or oral medications.

Certain drugs may have higher costs when administered in a clinical setting, compared to when the patient can administer the drugs at home. Many Sun Life members who have transitioned to more convenient, home-based infusions saw their claims lowered by tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars.

"While we closely follow the cost trends associated with injectable drugs, we are pleased to see new innovative drugs and treatments coming to market that will save and improve the lives of people facing major medical conditions," said Dan Fishbein, M.D., president of Sun Life U.S. "Our job as a medical stop-loss provider is to help absorb these high costs so self-funded employers are protected and can continue to offer comprehensive benefits to their employees. Availability and cost of treatment can be barriers to healthcare access, so we are constantly looking for ways to help members get the care they need when they need it."

Sun Life's Health and Risk Solutions business, which provides stop-loss coverage, also offers Health Navigator powered by PinnacleCare, a healthcare navigation service that offers personal care advisors to help people access the right diagnoses, treatments, and care for their needs.

Sun Life's annual high-cost claims report analyzes a rolling four years of medical claims data from a member database of 5.5 million people, covered by 2,800 self-funded employer clients. Sun Life is the largest independent stop-loss provider in the U.S. according to data from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners. An independent stop-loss provider does not sell medical claim administration services.

About Sun Life

Sun Life is a leading international financial services organization providing asset management, wealth, insurance and health solutions to individual and institutional Clients. Sun Life has operations in a number of markets worldwide, including Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Hong Kong, the Philippines, Japan, Indonesia, India, China, Australia, Singapore, Vietnam, Malaysia and Bermuda. As of March 31, 2022, Sun Life had total assets under management of C$1.36 trillion. For more information, please visit www.sunlife.com .

Sun Life Financial Inc. trades on the Toronto (TSX), New York (NYSE) and Philippine (PSE) stock exchanges under the ticker symbol SLF.

Sun Life U.S. is one of the largest providers of employee and government benefits, helping more than 50 million Americans access the healthcare and coverage they need. Through employers, industry partners and government programs, Sun Life offers a portfolio of benefits and services, including dental, vision, disability, absence management, life, supplemental health, medical stop-loss insurance, and healthcare navigation. Sun Life U.S. and affiliated companies in asset management employ approximately 5,500 people in the U.S. Group insurance policies are issued by Sun Life Assurance Company of Canada (Wellesley Hills, Mass.), except in New York, where policies are issued by Sun Life and Health Insurance Company (U.S.) (Lansing, Mich.). For more information visit our website and newsroom.

Media contacts

Devon Fernald

[email protected]

781-800-3609

Anjie Coplin

[email protected]

781-446-1693

Connect with Sun Life U.S.

https://www.facebook.com/SLFUnitedStates

https://www.linkedin.com/company/sun-life-financial

https://twitter.com/SunLifeUS

SOURCE Sun Life U.S.
The Two New Dormitories were Named After Kwanza Jones, Princeton '93, Artist And CEO of SUPERCHARGED, and Jose E. Feliciano, Princeton '94, Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Clearlake Capital.

LOS ANGELES, May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Ivy League institution Princeton University names two dormitories after Kwanza Jones (Princeton '93), and Jose E. Feliciano (Princeton '94). These are the first buildings to be named after a Black and Latino donor in Princeton's 275-year history.

Princeton celebrated the dedication and ribbon cutting of the new dormitories on May 5th, 2023 in New Jersey. Friends and families from across the country gathered together to join in the dedication of the Kwanza Jones Hall and Jose E. Feliciano Hall.

Princeton names 2 new dorms after Black and Latino donors, Kwanza Jones and Jose E. Feliciano for the first in 275 years Tweet this A ceremonial ribbon cutting for the Kwanza Jones Hall featuring Kwanza Jones (Princeton 93), and Jose E. Feliciano (Princeton 94) (PRNewsfoto/SUPERCHARGED) Kwanza Jones (Princeton 93), and Jose E. Feliciano (Princeton 94) in front of the Jose E. Feliciano Hall (PRNewsfoto/SUPERCHARGED)

These dormitories were built after Jones and Feliciano's historic gift of $20 million to Princeton which was donated back in 2019. The donation was made to attract and support high-achieving students from all backgrounds and highlights the promise of diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging for the larger community.

"We see this gift as the color of commitment. It also demonstrates that people of color belong and we are at the table to help the university to continue to do the work of anti-racism, diversity, and inclusion," said Jones.

It is worth noting that Jones and Feliciano's time at Princeton was challenging. Before the $20 million donation, Jones had written an " Open Love Letter " about Woodrow Wilson's legacy to Princeton's President, Christopher Eisgruber, and Vice President for Advancement, Kevin Heaney. It addressed the racism faced by Blacks and people of color within Princeton. In the letter, Jones requested the removal of Woodrow Wilson's name from the Residential College and the School of Public and International Affairs. Jones stated:

"One of the reasons Jose and I committed more than $20 million to Princeton was to demonstrate that underrepresented people of color, whether Black, Brown, or otherwise, that these people, our people belong. Not that we belong solely as beneficiaries of a Princeton education and experience. But, instead, we belong, as patrons and co-creators of Princeton, and places like Princeton. And, that Princeton, our communities, our nation, and the world is made better because of us."

During the dedication of the Kwanza Jones Hall and Jose E. Feliciano Hall, Eisgruber said, "Today we celebrate the power of possibilities. We celebrate the generosity and love of two very special members of the Princeton community. And we celebrate what it means to belong."

The two dormitories are built in the same spot where Jones and Feliciano had their first date during their time at Princeton. "There is a bridge that connects the Kwanza Jones Hall to the Jose E. Feliciano Hall," said Jones. "So, when we are talking about buildings and connections, it's not just metaphorical, it's literal."

"This is the most iconic representation of the genius of American intellectual traditions contributing toward the expansion of a better world," said Dr. Michael Eric Dyson (Princeton '93). "Kwanza and Jose have done more than talk the talk. They have erected a building that is a lasting monument to the beautiful creativity of equity."

At the event, Eisgruber presented to Jones and Feliciano a replica of the plaque that hangs inside the Kwanza Jones Hall and Jose E. Feliciano Hall as a gift. "We hope this will remind you always of our deep gratitude for your commitment to Princeton."

The dedication of the Kwanza Jones Hall ended with Jones' latest track playing as the audience moved towards the Jose E. Feliciano Hall. The song titled, " We Buildin' (Reggaeton Mix) " celebrates the power of collective action and positive change, and pays tribute to the essence of building on your future, brick by brick.

"Thank you for showing what Princeton love can be, so that we can show up inside Princeton," said Rahsaan Harris (Princeton '95).

About Kwanza Jones and Jose E. Feliciano

Kwanza Jones and Jose E. Feliciano are life and business partners. In 2014, they founded the Kwanza Jones & Jose E. Feliciano Initiative (Jones+Feliciano), a philanthropic grant-making and investment organization that strategically partners with nonprofits and for-profits to ensure maximum impact. Jones+Feliciano focuses on four pillars - education, entrepreneurship, equity, and empowerment - as providing access to capital in these areas leads to greater and more equitable advances and societal progress. Jones+Feliciano has committed more than $150 million to these efforts.

Kwanza Jones (Princeton '93), is an artist, catalyst, speaker, and philanthropic leader. She is a leader as a board member and an advisor to numerous companies and nonprofits, including Apollo Theater, Susan G. Komen, UCLA Ronald Reagan Medical Center, and Bennett College.

Jose E. Feliciano (Princeton '94), is the Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Clearlake Capital. He is also a trustee of Stanford University and the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Latino.

SOURCE SUPERCHARGED
Committed to healthier and more sustainable indoor spaces

FAIRFIELD, Conn., May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- AtmosAir Solutions, a leader in indoor air purification and monitoring solutions, today announced a strategic sales partnership in air purification technology of SystemForward's TemperaturePro, an industry leader in HVAC residential and light commercial services nationally.

The commitment and collaboration further support SystemForward's TemperaturePro commitment to health and wellness among the franchise owners the company has across North America, servicing residential homes, communities and light commercial office and retail buildings.

SystemForward's TemperaturePro Announces AtmosAir Solutions as Strategic Air Purification Technology Partner Tweet this

AtmosAir Solutions' patented bi-polar ionization technology, installed in residential and building HVAC systems, improves wellness by suppressing airborne and surface micro-organisms and pathogens, including viruses, bacteria, and mold, and reduces odors as well as unhealthy and irritating volatile organic compounds (VOCs). The technology makes residences and buildings more sustainable while reducing energy and operational costs.

According to AtmosAir Solutions, Microchem Laboratory, one of the world's preeminent laboratories for testing EPA and FDA registered sanitizing products, found its BPI technology lowers the risk of exposure to bacteria, mold, dust, odors, and volatile organic compounds. In a certified controlled lab test, AtmosAir's BPI technology was shown to reduce Coronavirus 229E by 99.92% in 30 minutes or less in a contained space.

"As a result of the pandemic, there is a major focus on cleaning and sanitization, and we quickly recognized that it's not just about servicing HVAC systems, but it's about proactively cleaning indoor environments with continuous air cleaning technologies," Ken Metcalf, Director of Operations of SystemForward said. "Air quality and purification is an important part of health and wellness, and we're proud to be partnering with AtmosAir to integrate this technology for improved air quality and real-time monitoring in homes and buildings."

"We are pleased to partner with a premier brand like SystemForward's TemperaturePro," said Steve Levine, President and CEO of AtmosAir Solutions. "They are leaders in HVAC residential and light commercial services, and this partnership further establishes their commitment to health, wellness and sustainability for all of their customers."

SystemForward, the Franchise Management Company, of Pop-A-Lock, provides locksmith services through 8,500 franchisees as well as The ProNetwork brands TemperaturePro and PlumbingPro.

Clean indoor air quality represents a major step toward transforming spaces to make an impact on consumers and businesses while creating environments that are healthier, comfortable, and efficient.

About SystemForward

What began as one Pop-A-Lock location in 1955, SystemForward America has now turned into a multi-franchise company expanding across North America. SFA is the Franchise Management Company of Pop-A-Lock as well The ProNetwork Brands, including TemperaturePro and PlumbingPro. Based out of Lafayette, Louisiana, SystemForward America is dedicated to improving people's lives by providing industry-leading professional services and customer experiences.

About AtmosAir Solutions

AtmosAir Solutions of Fairfield, CT is a leader in solutions for healthier indoor air. The company provides bi-polar ionization air purification technologies that actively, continuously work to bring the benefits of improved air quality to life in all types of built environments. AtmosAir technologies are installed in more than 7,500 buildings worldwide. More information can be found at www.atmosair.com.

Media Contacts:

AtmosAir Solutions

John Goodman

(914) 841-6214

[email protected]

[email protected]

SOURCE AtmosAir
BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 17. Azerbaijan and the African Union may sign a memorandum of understanding in the future, Araz Azimov, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan, said, Trend reports.

He made the remark during the international "Strengthening Africa and Promoting Multilateralism in the Age of Global Challenges: the Role of the Non-Aligned Movement" conference held in Baku.

He noted that during Azerbaijan's chairmanship in the Non-Aligned Movement, special attention was paid to African countries and their problems.

"Unfortunately, colonization continues to take place in the world or its influence is felt. As for the African Union, I would like to see more cooperation in other countries, their offices and regional offices. Azerbaijan has provided financial assistance to African countries, allocated funds for education and healthcare," Azimov said.

Meanwhile, the international "Strengthening Africa and Promoting Multilateralism in the Age of Global Challenges: the Role of the Non-Aligned Movement" conference is being held in Baku.

The conference is held with the joint organization of the Center for Analysis of International Relations and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan.

The conference is dedicated to Africa Day, which is celebrated annually on May 25. The purpose of the conference is to bring together politicians and experts from African countries and Non-Aligned Movement member countries to discuss strategies for strengthening Africa and promoting multilateralism in global geopolitical conditions.

The event is attended by representatives of think tanks and foreign ministries from the Non-Aligned Movement member countries, representatives of the diplomatic corps and the Government of Azerbaijan, as well as local experts.
The 35-year veteran will lead nursing services across the academic medical center.

TAMPA, Fla., May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Tampa General Hospital (TGH) has appointed Wendi Goodson-Celerin, DNP, APRN, NE-BC, to the position of senior vice president and chief nursing officer. A nurse executive with 35 years of advancing nursing practice, leadership, patient care, and advocacy, Goodson-Celerin will be responsible for leading all nursing services across Tampa General with a focus on further developing cross-functional collaboration among nursing teams throughout hospital departments.

Tampa General Hospital (TGH) has appointed Wendi Goodson-Celerin, DNP, APRN, NE-BC, to the position of senior vice president and chief nursing officer.

"Wendi is an integral part of Tampa General and has spent the past 35 years playing a critical role in advocating the professionalism of nurses, as well as the growth and development of our nursing teams," said Kelly Cullen, executive vice president and chief operating officer at Tampa General. "Her outstanding communication abilities, exemplary collaboration skills, and proven leadership style will continue to drive strategic nursing innovation at Tampa General that prioritizes compassion, integrity, respect and accountability."

Goodson-Celerin joined Tampa General in 1988 as a clinical nurse and has served many roles over the past three decades, including vice president of Patient Services; vice president of Neuroscience, Orthopaedics and Clinical Education; director of Acute Surgical Inpatient, Critical Care and Clinical Education; director of Women's & Children's services and Clinical Education; director of Nursing Education; and clinical nurse manager. Most recently, Goodson-Celerin served as interim chief nursing officer.

Goodson-Celerin will continue to use her expertise in leading the Magnet nursing recognition process to help Tampa General continue to meet the rigorous standards of earning the highest national honor in professional nursing practice. Granted by the American Nurses Credentialing Center, Magnet recognition is a rigorous process that provides a roadmap to nursing excellence. Tampa General has achieved Magnet recognition four consecutive times since 2005. As a Magnet expert and ambassador, Goodson-Celerin will play a critical role in preparing for Tampa General's next Magnet site visit later this year.

"I am honored to achieve this role at Tampa General, where I've spent more than three decades serving patients and delivering high-quality and compassionate care to those in need," said Goodson-Celerin. "As chief nursing officer, I want to ensure our incredible nursing team members have the ongoing training, mentorship and leadership development they need to grow and succeed."

Goodson-Celerin earned a Bachelor of Science in Nursing, a Master of Science in Nursing and a Doctor of Nursing Practice from the University of South Florida in Tampa. She has received several awards, including the Excellence in Management Leadership Award, the Excellence in Nursing Leadership Award, the Excellence in Educational Leadership Award, and the Florida Organization Nurse Executives award. Goodson-Celerin has been or currently serves as a member of many health care and professional leadership organizations.

ABOUT TAMPA GENERAL HOSPITAL

Tampa General Hospital, a 1,040-bed, not-for-profit, academic medical center, is one of the largest hospitals in America and delivers world-class care as the region's only center for Level l trauma and comprehensive burn care. Tampa General Hospital is the highest-ranked hospital in the market in U.S. News & World Report's 2022-23 Best Hospitals, and is tied as the third highest-ranked hospital in Florida, with seven specialties ranking among the best programs in the United States. Tampa General Hospital has been designated as a model of excellence by the 2022 Fortune/Merative 100 Top Hospitals list. The academic medical center's commitment to growing and developing its team members is recognized by two prestigious Forbes magazine rankings  first nationally in the 2022 America's Best Employers for Women and sixth out of 100 Florida companies in the 2022 America's Best Employers by State. Tampa General is the safety net hospital for the region, caring for everyone regardless of their ability to pay, and in fiscal year 2021, provided a net community benefit worth more than $224.5 million in the form of health care for underinsured patients, community education, and financial support to community health organizations in Tampa Bay. It is one of the nation's busiest adult solid organ transplant centers and is the primary teaching hospital for the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine. With six medical helicopters, Tampa General Hospital transports critically injured or ill patients from 23 surrounding counties to receive the advanced care they need. Tampa General houses a nationally accredited comprehensive stroke center, and its 32-bed Neuroscience, Intensive Care Unit is the largest on the West Coast of Florida. It also is home to the Jennifer Leigh Muma 82-bed neonatal intensive care unit, and a nationally accredited rehabilitation center. Tampa General Hospital's footprint includes 17 Tampa General Medical Group Primary Care offices, TGH Family Care Center Kennedy, TGH Brandon Healthplex, TGH Virtual Health, and 21 TGH Imaging powered by Tower outpatient radiology centers throughout Hillsborough, Pasco, Pinellas and Palm Beach counties. Tampa Bay area residents also receive world-class care from the TGH Urgent Care powered by Fast Track network of clinics. To see a medical care professional live anytime, anywhere on a smartphone, tablet or computer, visit Virtual Health | Tampa General Hospital (tgh.org). As one of the largest hospitals in the country, Tampa General Hospital is the first in Florida to partner with GE Healthcare and open a clinical command center that provides real-time situational awareness to improve and better coordinate patient care at a lower cost. For more information, go to www.tgh.org.

Media Contact: Beth Hardy, APR

Senior Communications Specialist

(813) 510-6363 (cell)

[email protected]

SOURCE Tampa General Hospital
LOUISVILLE, Ky., May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The Big I of Kentucky, the leading trade association for independent insurance agents in Kentucky, is pleased to announce its official media partnership with Carroll Media Corp, a leading media company specializing in the insurance industry.

Carroll Media Corp will serve as the official media partner for the Big I Kentucky, providing extensive coverage of the association's events, conferences and initiatives. The partnership aims to bring more visibility to Big I of Kentucky and promote the association's mission to support and empower independent insurance agents in the state.

"We are thrilled to partner with Carroll Media Corp and leverage their expertise in the insurance industry to bring more visibility to our association and the important work we do," said Tara Purvis, President & CEO. "We look forward to working with Carroll Media Corp to provide our members and the broader insurance community with insightful and informative content."

As part of the partnership, Carroll Media Corp will also have a prominent presence at the association's events, providing coverage and updates to its audience.

"We are honored to be named the official media partner of Big I of Kentucky and to work with such a respected and influential organization," said Carroll Media Corp CEO, DJ Carroll. "Our mission aligns with the Big I of Kentucky's, and we are excited to provide valuable content and insights to the association's members and the insurance community."

The partnership between the Big I of Kentucky and Carroll Media Corp initiated in January of 2023.

For more information about the Big I of Kentucky, visit https://www.bigiky.org/. For more information about Carroll Media Corp, visit https://www.carroll.media/.

Contact:

Amanda Black, Integrator

502.353.2569

[email protected]

SOURCE Carroll Media Corp
*STARTING MSRP C$53,600

ONTARIO, Canada, May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- VinFast announced the arrival of the first shipment of 781 VF 8 vehicles to Nanaimo port, British Columbia. The VF 8 is now certified for sale in Canada with first deliveries taking place in June 2023.

The VF 8's battery range has been officially certified by the EPA at 425 kms (264 miles) for the Eco trim, 391 kms (243 miles) for the Plus 300 kW trim and 354 kms (220 miles) for the Plus 260 kW trim.

VinFast VF 8 Arrives in Canada

In Canada, The VF 8 Eco is listed from C$53,600, while the Plus 260 kW has a starting price of C$59,200. The Plus trim also offers an optional power upgrade from 260 kW to 300 kW for an additional C$1,500 per vehicle.

VinFast has officially received all the necessary certifications to sell cars in Canada and, as planned, the first VF 8 vehicles will be delivered to customers from June 2023 onwards.

The first 781 VinFast VF 8 vehicles arrived in Canada as a part of the initial shipment of 1,879 vehicles exported to North America. The vessel left Vietnam on April 16 and 1,098 VF 8s were offloaded in California for the US market on May 12.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Van Anh, CEO of VinFast North America said: "Today VinFast has taken another big step in its mission to foster the global electrification revolution. I believe with VinFast's non-stop efforts together with its serious and methodical business strategy, VinFast will soon gain the trust and support from Canadian customers".

The VF 8 is equipped with a wide range of advanced technologies including the Advanced Driver Assistance System (ADAS) and VF Online Packages. These features will be enhanced through over-the-air updates to improve vehicle functionality and customer experience.

The VF 8 will also be covered by an impressive 10-year/200,000 km limited warranty as well as a 10 year, unlimited km warranty for the high voltage battery. In addition, Mobile Service and 24/7 Roadside Assistance are included during the 10-year warranty period.

About VinFast

VinFast  a member of Vingroup  envisioned to drive the movement of global smart electric vehicle revolution. Established in 2017, VinFast owns a state-of-the-art automotive manufacturing complex with scalability that boasts up to 90% automation in Hai Phong, Vietnam. VinFast established a United States headquarters in Los Angeles, CA, opened several showrooms and service centers in California, and is developing a site in North Carolina for domestic manufacturing of electric vehicles.

Strongly committed to the mission for a sustainable future for everyone, VinFast constantly innovates to bring high-quality products, advanced smart services, seamless customer experiences, and pricing strategy to inspire global customers to jointly create a future of smart mobility and a sustainable planet. Learn more at: https://vinfastauto.ca.

About Vingroup

Established in 1993, Vingroup is one of the leading private conglomerates in the region and currently focuses on three main areas: Technology and Industry, Services and Social Enterprise. Find out more at: https://www.vingroup.net/en.

SOURCE Vinfast Auto LLC
SAN FRANCISCO, May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Prominently featured in The Inner Circle, Diane Filippi is acknowledged as a Distinguished Business Professional for her contributions to the Business and Marketing Fields.

Diane Filippi

With more than 35 years of experience, Ms. Filippi serves as the managing partner of SMWM and is primarily responsible for all face-to-face interactions on behalf of the company. She completed course work toward a Bachelor of Arts in Archaeology through the University of the Pacific and the University of California Berkeley, and her experience in higher education prepared her to be the leader she is today. Ms. Filippi notes that she has negotiated all of the contracts with consultants and gained valuable expertise in the field as the director of SPUR Urban Center, where she worked alongside executive director, Jim Chappell, and a group of talented professionals to make the building come to life.

Continuing her legacy of leadership, Ms. Filippi now serves on SPUR Urban Center's board as well as that of Mother Jones where she is a benefactor to both. She has volunteered and served on the board of Ed Fund; Urban Land Institute San Francisco Chapter; and served as its chair. Dedicated to providing the most efficient professional service to her clients, Ms. Filippi is associated with the Urban Land Institute.

Among her many career successes, Ms. Filippi notes that she takes the most pride in helping establish the main library in San Francisco; serving as chair of the board of Friends of the Library; and being honored through the San Francisco Business Times Awards. She credits her success to her gift for speaking and in the next five years, plans to write a book about aphasia and join a synagogue where she can volunteer with children.

Contact: Katherine Green, 516-825-5634, [email protected]

SOURCE The Inner Circle
PONTEVEDRA, Fla., May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Prominently featured in The Inner Circle, Ronda Garcia is acknowledged as a Distinguished Healthcare Professional for her contributions to the Anesthesiology Field.

Ronda J. Garcia, MD

Dr. Garcia began her educational journey at the University of Louisville where she earned an undergraduate and medical degree, and completed her residency in anesthesiology. Board-certified in anesthesiology by the American Board of Anesthesiology (ABA), Dr. Garcia noted that ABA is the certifying body for anesthesiologists and is committed to partnering with physicians to advance lifelong learning and exceptional patient care. She asserts that mission is to advance the highest standards of the practice of anesthesiology.

A medical specialty, anesthesiology is concerned with the total perioperative care of patients before, during, and after surgery. Dr. Garcia explained that anesthesiologists have a vast number of responsibilities that include vigilant monitoring of the patient's vital signs during surgery; managing acute pain; maintaining safety; and most importantly acting, acting as the patient's advocate in the operating room. She credits her mentors, Dr. Steiner, Dr. Heine, and Dr. Barbanova, for her attention to detail and drive for extraordinary patient care.

A leader in the field, Dr. Garcia is the Director of Obstetric Anesthesia at North Florida Anesthesia Consultants in Jacksonville, Florida. She asserts that the North Florida Anesthesia Consultants (NFAC) was founded in 1990 in Jacksonville, Florida with the mission of building a cohesive high-quality anesthesia group to serve St. Vincent's Healthcare. They provide anesthesia for a wide range of cases including complex cardiac cases; neurosurgery; orthopedics; pediatrics; and OB/GYN.

Dedicated to providing the latest advancements in the field, the doctor is associated with ABA, ASA, and FMA. When she is not pursuing excellence in her career, she also supports local and community charities, Dr. Garcia enjoys spending time with her family and exercising.

She dedicates this award to her family: dear husband, Arvelio; children Reece, Sammy, Bruce, and Elena; and thanks them for their love and support.

Contact: Katherine Green, 516-825-5634, [email protected]

SOURCE The Inner Circle
SHELBY TOWNSHIP, Mich., May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Prominently featured in The Inner Circle, Virgil Barbu, DDS, is acknowledged as a Distinguished Healthcare Professional for his contributions to the Dental Field.

Dr. Barbu began his scholarship journey at Wayne State University where he earned an undergraduate degree in Biology. Working in the field as an assistant while attending the University of Detroit Mercy School of Dentistry, the doctor is considered an expert in root canals, invisible braces/clear aligners, full-mouth restoration, implants, veneers, dentures, and family dentistry.

Virgil J. Barbu

Dr. Barbu has more than 5 years of experience and asserts that dentistry, also known as Dental and Oral Medicine, is a branch of medicine that consists of the study, diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of diseases, disorders, and conditions of the oral cavity. He explained that dentists diagnose and treat dental issues and help patients develop better oral hygiene regimens that may include cleaning teeth, correcting bite issues, performing surgeries, creating beautiful smiles, and performing other duties to ensure that the teeth and mouth are healthy.

Operating a state-of-the art practice, Dr. Barbu is committed to providing the latest advancements in dentistry to his patients. He is a member of the American Dental Association and the Michigan Dental Association and notes that he has always been inclined to help people both in and outside of the office.

In addition to his professional career, the doctor volunteers at his church organizations and functions, such as food drives, cooking and serving food to the underprivileged; charity dinners for children in need; and many other. He enjoys movies and plays; discovering new restaurants and little hot spots in the city and surrounding areas; having dinners with his friends; and spending time with his mother, niece, sister, and brother-in-law.

Dr. Barbu dedicates this honor to his mother, Emilia, who is a constant support; his sister, Diana; and to honor the loving memory of his dear father, Virgil.

For more information, visit www.roamdental.com.

Contact: Katherine Green, 516-825-5634, [email protected]

SOURCE The Inner Circle
TORONTO, May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ - The World's 50 Best Beaches, Presented By Banana Boat, has released a new list of the best beaches in the world. The list is a collaboration with over 750 of the world's leading travel influencers and professionals, including many of the biggest names in travel such as Jyo Shankar, Pilot Madeleine, Dame Traveler and others.

Unlike any other list, The World's 50 Best Beaches 2023, Presented By Banana Boat, is based on the votes of their Beach Ambassadors as well as hundreds of the world's most experienced and respected travel influencers, journalists, editors and agents. The list offers travelers around the globe with unparalleled insights from the best in the industry.

"At Banana Boat, we believe in creating experiences that help you enjoy, embrace, and say 'yes' to more fun outdoors," said Brianna Bostick, Associate Manager of PR & Brand Partnerships at Banana Boat. "We are proud to present a list of world class beaches that help you achieve this, especially as we approach the summer months. The list is uniquely defined by the firsthand experiences and careers of the industry's top professionals, making it the most trustworthy and accurate list of the world's best beaches ever created."

The World's 50 Best Beaches 2023, Presented by Banana Boat, is a snapshot of the opinions and experiences of top travel influencers and professionals around the world. The beaches were ranked according to five important criteria: sheer untouched nature, remoteness, how swimmable it is, annual days of sunshine, and average annual temperature. The top three beaches that made it to the list are Lucky Bay in Australia, Anse Source D'Argent of the Seychelles and Hidden Beach in the Philippines, beating out popular beach favorites that are often touted by tourism boards.

"Our study comes at a time when many travelers are dreaming of that perfect summer beach vacation," said Tine Holst, Co-Founder of The World's 50 Best Beaches. "It's a unique way of uncovering hidden gems that are often overlooked by the traveling public and provides the perfect inspiration for a beach vacation."

The World's 50 Best Beaches spent months consulting the world's top travel influencers and professionals, then organizing the beaches they submitted by the most number of votes and their ranking according to the criteria. By going right to the source  the people who are directly experiencing and influencing the travel market  The World's 50 Best Beaches was able to present travelers with a list that is defined by countless years of expertise.

The full list of The World's 50 Best Beaches 2023, Presented by Banana Boat is available here:

https://worlds50beaches.com/top-50-worlds-best-beaches

The full list of The World's 50 Best Beaches Beach Ambassadors is available here:

https://worlds50beaches.com/beach-ambassadors

SOURCE The World's 50 Best Beaches
STOCKHOLM, May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Malawi is experiencing severe floods and mudslides following Tropical Cyclone Freddy. GLOBHE provides aerial data to UNICEF Malawi to monitor vulnerable areas and create impact-based flood risk maps. These maps enable the organization to provide anticipatory and predictive scenarios to avoid human suffering and infrastructure damage etc.

"Due to climate change, we see more destructive climate disasters more frequently worldwide. Malawi has suffered from three major floods in the past four years. Data from drones help respond to floods more efficiently but also help limit the destruction in the first place. However, it's been hard to get ahold of data from drones, and we're happy to have changed that by unleashing the power of drones through the Globhe marketplace - now making data from drones easily accessible when and where it's needed," says Helena Samsioe, Founder and CEO at Globhe.

From Planes to Drones in a few clicks

Globhe recently signed a long-term agreement with UNICEF Malawi to provide drone services in emergency preparedness and response. The platform connects over 8000 local drone operators with stakeholders in need of data collection in 134 countries. It is the leading drone data marketplace for collecting aerial imagery and generating digital terrain models to support flood modeling. Globhe's clients, such as UNICEF Malawi, can order drone data missions from the Globhe drone data marketplace with just a few clicks.

"Using high-end drones to capture this critical data is very effective, both in terms of getting accurate and high-resolution data as well as reducing the carbon footprint of the monitoring operations," says Margherita Bruscolini, Head of Drones at Globhe

More Detailed Than Satellites

The teams from Globhe have captured data from 6200 Ha in Rumphi and 13500 Ha in Karonga in Malawi. The project was executed by local drone operators and surveyors, most of whom have graduated from the African Drone Data Academy, an initiative supported by UNICEF.

Using ground control points (GCPs), Globhe captures highly accurate data, connecting the models produced with known coordinates on the ground, giving it a high vertical and horizontal accuracy of around 10 cm. The spatial resolution is significantly higher than satellites, which generally produce a 5-30 meter resolution, compared to the 5-centimeter resolution for the Orthomosaic maps and 50 centimeters for Digital Surface and Digital Terrain models.

"Our drone data give a better representation of reality and terrain features, and this level of accuracy is key to doing correct flood risk modeling and enabling an effective preparedness and disaster response," says Alexander DC Mtambo, Head of Drones Africa at Globhe.

Recent mudslides and floods in South Malawi are a reminder of how important the work is. Using drones to create flood models will significantly improve disaster management capabilities and give the country a better chance of protecting the communities from the devastating effects of floods.

"Our work with preventive flood mapping plays a key part in mitigating risks to humans and infrastructure, and therefore there is a great need to continue the preventive efforts in Malawi going forward," says Alexander DC Mtambo, Head of Drones Africa at Globhe.

CONTACT:

Emilia Nygren

PR & Communications Manager

e. [email protected]

m. +46 (0)73 033 14 21

The following files are available for download:

https://news.cision.com/globhe/i/blantyre--malawi-flooding-2,c3180063 Blantyre, Malawi Flooding 2 https://news.cision.com/globhe/i/malawi-flood-orthomosaic-map-5-cm-px-resolution---1,c3180064 Malawi flood orthomosaic map 5 cm px resolution - 1 https://news.cision.com/globhe/i/flood-impact-on-road-and-bridge-machinjiri-bridge-malawi,c3180065 Flood impact on road and bridge Machinjiri bridge Malawi https://news.cision.com/globhe/i/flood-impact-landslide-blantyre-malawi,c3180066 Flood impact landslide Blantyre Malawi https://news.cision.com/globhe/i/flood-impact-on-road-mbayani-malawi,c3180067 Flood impact on road Mbayani Malawi https://news.cision.com/globhe/i/blantyre--malawi-flooding-2,c3180068 Blantyre, Malawi Flooding 2 https://news.cision.com/globhe/i/flood-impact-on-road-2-mbayani-malawi,c3180069 Flood impact on road 2 Mbayani Malawi https://news.cision.com/globhe/i/malawi-flood-digital-surface-model-50-cm-px-resolution,c3180070 Malawi flood Digital Surface Model 50 cm px resolution

SOURCE Globhe
SAN FRANCISCO, May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The global trade credit insurance market size is anticipated to reach USD 22.13 billion by 2030, registering a CAGR of 11.1% over the forecast period, according to a new report by Grand View Research, Inc. The growth of the market can be attributed to the increasing uncertainty and non-payment frauds. Furthermore, the rise in the import and export trades worldwide is also anticipated to drive the market's growth.

Key Industry Insights & Findings from the report:

The large enterprises segment accounted for the largest share in 2022. The growth can be attributed owing to the help offered by trade credit insurance to large national and multi-national companies to improve credit management, introduce lines of credit, expand sales markets, enhance their balance sheet to increase shareholder value and protect cash flow.

The whole turnover coverage segment led the industry in 2022. The whole turnover trade credit insurance policies provide better protection and is an excellent risk management solution, as it allows for coverage for all the accounts receivable and reduces credit risk, thereby fueling the segment's growth.

The international application segment dominated the market in 2022. The growth can be anticipated owing to the factors such as low risk and greater confidence due to no fear of non-payment by foreign buyers.

Food & beverage as a single individual segment dominated the market in 2022. The growth of the segment can be attributed to a high degree of credit risk in the food & beverage sector due to the involvement of perishable items and the reliance on a few large customers.

Europe dominated the market in 2022. The growing adoption of trade credit insurance policies across the region is anticipated to fuel the regional market's growth.

Read full market research report, "Trade Credit Insurance Market Size, Share & Trend Analysis Report By Enterprise Size (Large Enterprises, Small & Medium Enterprises), By Coverage, By Application, By End-use, By Region, And Segment Forecasts, 2023 - 2030", published by Grand View Research.

Trade Credit Insurance Market Growth & Trends

Recently, venture capital firms have started focusing on insurance start-ups, assisting them in raising funds to expand their product portfolios and strengthen their market position. For instance, in June 2022, Hokodo Services Ltd, an insurance company based in London, announced that it raised USD 40 million through a series B funding round led by Notion Capital, a venture capital fund. The company aimed to utilize these funds for redefining the way that businesses transact.

The increasing partnerships between the market players to expand their offerings across various regions is anticipated to drive the market's growth. For instance, in June 2022, Coface, a trade credit insurance provider, entered into a strategic partnership with Doha Insurance Group, an insurer in Qatar. This partnership was aimed at offering credit insurance products to companies based in Qatar and assisting them in boosting their growth in their export and domestic markets.

The COVID-19 pandemic significantly impacted the global industry. Lockdowns were implemented due to the pandemic, which led to a temporary prohibition on import and export, and manufacturing across multiple industries. Furthermore, it resulted in a sudden drop in the demand for trade credit insurance policies. However, the temporary shutdown of production units led to increased losses for businesses, due to which defaults in payment have risen tremendously, acting as one of the key drivers of the industry.

Trade Credit Insurance Market Segmentation

Grand View Research has segmented the global trade credit insurance market based on enterprise size, coverage, application, end-use, and region:

Trade Credit Insurance Market - Enterprise Size Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2017 - 2030)

Large Enterprises

Small & Medium Enterprises

Trade Credit Insurance Market - Coverage Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2017 - 2030)

Whole Turnover Coverage

Single Buyer Coverage

Trade Credit Insurance Market - Application Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2017 - 2030)

Domestic

International

Trade Credit Insurance Market - End-use Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2017 - 2030)

Food & Beverage

IT & Telecom

Healthcare

Energy

Automotive

Others

Trade Credit Insurance Market - Regional Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2017 - 2030)

North America

U.S.



Canada

Europe

Germany



UK



France

Asia Pacific

China



India



Japan



South Korea



Australia

Latin America

Brazil



Mexico

Middle East & Africa (MEA)

& (MEA) UAE



Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA)

(KSA)

South Africa

List of Key Players in the Trade Credit Insurance Market

Allianz Trade

Atradius N.V.

Coface

American International Group, Inc. (AIG)

Zurich

Chubb

QBE Insurance Group Limited

Great American Insurance Company

Aon plc

Credendo

Check out more related studies published by Grand View Research:

On-demand Insurance Market - The global on-demand insurance market size is expected to reach USD 4.33 billion by 2030, expanding at a CAGR of 21.2% from 2023 to 2030, according to a new report by Grand View Research, Inc. The increased consumer interest in flexible and personalized insurance schemes is the key driver of growth for the on-demand insurance industry. The nature of risks faced by individuals and businesses is changing rapidly, with new risks emerging every day. The on-demand insurance policies can be tailored to meet these evolving risks, providing customers with the coverage they need when they need it.

- The global on-demand insurance market size is expected to reach by 2030, expanding at a CAGR of 21.2% from 2023 to 2030, according to a new report by Grand View Research, Inc. The increased consumer interest in flexible and personalized insurance schemes is the key driver of growth for the on-demand insurance industry. The nature of risks faced by individuals and businesses is changing rapidly, with new risks emerging every day. The on-demand insurance policies can be tailored to meet these evolving risks, providing customers with the coverage they need when they need it. Travel Insurance Market - The global travel insurance market size is anticipated to reach USD 63.9 billion by 2030, according to a new report by Grand View Research, Inc. The market is expected to expand at a CAGR of 15.4% from 2022 to 2030. The demand for travel insurance is poised to skyrocket on the account of growth in the tourism industry due to the factors such as easy internet travel bookings, extensive media coverage of various holiday types, an increase in disposable income, and enhanced package holidays.

- The global travel insurance market size is anticipated to reach by 2030, according to a new report by Grand View Research, Inc. The market is expected to expand at a CAGR of 15.4% from 2022 to 2030. The demand for travel insurance is poised to skyrocket on the account of growth in the tourism industry due to the factors such as easy internet travel bookings, extensive media coverage of various holiday types, an increase in disposable income, and enhanced package holidays. Insurtech Market - The global insurtech market size is expected to reach USD 152.43 billion by 2030, registering a CAGR of 52.7% from 2023 to 2030, according to a new report by Grand View Research, Inc. The rising awareness about the benefits of insurtech solutions in simplifying the claim process, improving communication, and implementing automation is expected to drive market growth. The increased use of robotic process automation in insurance companies to handle repetitive tasks more accurately, quickly, and accurately compared to humans is also one of the major factors driving the market growth.

Browse through Grand View Research's Next Generation Technologies 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: [email protected]

Web: https://www.grandviewresearch.com

Grand View Compass | Astra ESG Solutions

Follow Us: LinkedIn | Twitter

Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/661327/Grand_View_Research_Logo.jpg

SOURCE Grand View Research, Inc.
TASHKENT, Uzbekistan, May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Trina Solar, the leading global PV and smart energy total solution provider, has been supporting Uzbekistan's transition to renewable energy.

The Uzbekistan government's 2020-2030 power plan set a target of 5GW of additional solar power capacity.

Even though Uzbekistan experiences 330 sunny days annually, solar power today accounts for less than one percent of the energy mix. But International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) figures show Uzbekistan's solar energy sector is experiencing strong growth. There was only 4MW of solar capacity in 2020. Then it was 104MW in 2021 and 253MW last year, says IRENA.

The large jump in 2021 was due to the 100MW Uzbekistan Navoi utility-scale solar farm that uses TrinaTracker Vanguard 2P trackers.

Todd Li, President of Trina Solar Asia Pacific, says: "For Uzbekistan to meet rising energy needs while reducing greenhouse gas emissions, the country needs continue to diversify energy generation and deploy alternative energy resources, such as solar."

He adds: "Uzbekistan is a relatively untapped, but growing market, for solar energy. We believe we can fill the market gap with our market-leading innovative solar modules, trackers, and integrated solutions."

Uzbekistan's solar energy capacity remains low as compared to other countries. For example, neighbouring Kazakhstan had 2,031MW of solar energy capacity at the end of 2022, says IRENA.

IRENA in its report - entitled Solar Energy Policy in Uzbekistan: A Roadmap  highlighted there are countries with less sunlight than Uzbekistan, such China and Greece, that have a higher share of solar energy in the country's energy consumption.

The reason for this disparity, according to the report, is Uzbekistan grapples with an array of barriers that hinders its renewable energy ambitions. First, the over-reliance on country's fossil reserves. It states that by 2030, Uzbekistan's population will increase by three million to 37 million fuelling demand for more energy. Given the current consumption trends, the country's energy deficit may amount to 65% of total demand in less than a decade, it says. To meet rising demand, the energy system will have to improve and production will have to increase by 70-75 percent, it adds.

For Uzbekistan to reach its full solar power potential, it needs to develop solar projects using rooftops and vacant land. Trina Solar, being the world's leading PV and smart energy total solutions provider, can cater to all market segments in Uzbekistan: residential, commercial and industrial (C&I), and utility-scale.

Trina Solar offers n-type and p-type PV modules for different Uzbekistan solar projects. The new n-type technology provides a further boost to the module's power generation. Trina Solar's new Vertex N NEG21C.20 bi-facial module is a high power module. It has maximum efficiency of 22.4% and power output up to 695W, delivering a lower levelized cost of energy (LCOE) and reduced balance of system (BOS) cost. Meanwhile, Trina Solar p-type modules include the Vertex DEG21C.20 and Vertex DEG20C.20. The Vertex DEG21C.20 is a bifacial dual-glass p-type module that uses 210mm-size solar cells. It delivers power output up to 665W and efficiency up to 21.4%. The Vertex DEG20C.20, is a bifacial dual-glass module that delivers maximum efficiency of 21.4% and maximum power output of 605W. Customers can select the suitable technology to best optimize their solar projects.

Both the n-type and p-type modules use 210 Technology, 210mm-long solar cells, that have more power than earlier solar cells. The modules incorporate state-of-the-art technologies such as multi-busbar for greater light absorption, non-destructive cutting technology and high-density encapsulation to optimize the module's efficiency.

Besides solar modules, Trina Solar is the only original equipment manufacturer (OEM) that produces trackers  providing integrative module and tracker solution from a single source.

Trina Solar is also launching its second-generation Vanguard 2P tracker, an upgrade from the earlier version, which had a single motor. The new version has three motors powering each actuator, significantly reducing the number of mechanical parts, making the tracker quicker and easier to install, and reducing maintenance costs over the product's lifecycle.

The Vanguard 2P is designed to withstand difficult weather conditions including Uzbekistan's climate: hot summers to extreme cold temperatures. The shorter and wider form factor of TrinaTracker's 2P Vanguard tracker, in combination with its patented spherical bearings, further enables sites with uneven terrain, such as those found in Uzbekistan.

The new generation Vanguard 2P has also undergone extensive wind tunnel tests and has the same industry leading low pile count  as low as seven  per tracker, contributing to lower balance of system (BOS) cost. Further features, such as, the 'Super Track' algorithm and 'Trina Smart Cloud', further improves the tracker's performance to maximize the module's power performance. These trackers are compatible with ultra-high-power bi-facial modules, contributing to higher energy output and better financial returns for investors.

About Trina Solar

Founded in 1997, Trina Solar is the world leading PV and smart energy total solutions provider. The company engages in PV products R&D, manufacture, and sales; PV projects development, EPC, O&M; smart micro-grid and multi-energy complementary systems development and sales, as well as energy cloud-platform operation. In 2018, Trina Solar launched its Energy IoT brand, established the Trina Energy IoT Industrial Development Alliance together with leading enterprises and research institutes in China and around the world and founded the New Energy IoT Industrial Innovation Centre. With these actions, Trina Solar is committed to working with its partners to build the energy IoT ecosystem and develop an innovation platform to explore New Energy IoT, as it strives to be a leader in global intelligent energy. In June 2020, Trina Solar listed on the STAR Market of Shanghai Stock Exchange.

For more information, please visit www.trinasolar.com

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1977908/Image_Logo.jpg

SOURCE Trina Solar Energy Development Pte. Ltd.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 17. Azerbaijan is a country that contributes to the processes taking place in the world, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan Araz Azimov said in his speech at the international "Strengthening Africa and Promoting Multilateralism in the Age of Global Challenges: the Role of the Non-Aligned Movement" conference, Trend reports.

"Azerbaijan is a country that contributes to solving problems," the deputy FM said.

He also noted that the countries of the world are facing conflicts.

"Unfortunately, Azerbaijan has 30 years of experience related to this. But in the end, Azerbaijan liberated its lands from [Armenian] occupation. Wars that unfold on the territories of countries sometimes have their impact on the global level," Azimov added.

The international conference being held in Baku is dedicated to Africa Day, which is celebrated annually on May 25.

The purpose of the conference is to bring together politicians and experts from African countries and the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) member countries to discuss strategies for strengthening Africa and promoting multilateralism in global geopolitical conditions.

The event is attended by representatives of think tanks and foreign ministries from the NAM member countries, representatives of the diplomatic corps and the Government of Azerbaijan, as well as by local experts.
Participating students eligible for industry training, tuition reimbursement

PHOENIX, May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Universal Technical Institute (UTI), a division of Universal Technical Institute, Inc. (NYSE: UTI) and a leading workforce solutions provider of transportation, skilled trades, and energy education programs, is adding Pape, a capital equipment, service and solutions provider, to its Early Employment Program (EEP). Diesel technology students at UTI-Avondale (Ariz.), UTI-Sacramento, UTI-Long Beach and UTI-Rancho Cucamonga (Calif.) are eligible to apply. Pape has more than 160 dealerships across 9 states in the West, and company representatives say a majority of those locations are in need of entry-level technicians.

Pape is a capital equipment, service and solutions provider. Pape currently has 4,400+ members, 160+ stores, and operates in 9 western states including California, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, Hawaii, Arizona, and Alaska.

With strong demand for skilled workers, a growing number of employers across the country are joining UTI's Early Employment Program. Participating employers offer current students 20-30 hours of paid work experience plus consideration for full-time employment and reimbursement for education-related expenses after graduation[1].

Pape provides heavy machinery and state-of-the-art technology in industries that include agriculture, forestry, construction, drilling, mining, road building, material handling, and warehousing. Pape is giving participating students the opportunity to earn tuition reimbursement covering 50% of their out-of-pocket tuition expense while they are in school, with the remaining 50% reimbursed over the first two years of full-time employment with Pape after graduation. The company also includes a $2.00 per hour increase in the negotiated starting rate of pay for graduates, to provide a tuition reimbursement incentive.

"We're proud to welcome Pape to UTI's Early Employment Program and excited to make additional opportunities available to students to gain more opportunities to earn real-world experience while helping them pay for their education," said UTI Division President Tracy Lorenz. "The Early Employment Program helps UTI continue to offer industry-aligned technical training with some of the most respected names in the transportation industry, while giving those companies an opportunity to find qualified employees who can contribute right away and grow their careers."

"Pape is proud to partner with UTI, a leading educator of tomorrow's technicians," said Brandon Morse, recruiting manager at Pape. "We are looking to create lifelong relationships and career opportunities with our technician team members. We are excited about this partnership with UTI and look forward to immersing students and recent graduates in our workplace culture and providing them with hands-on experience within their chosen industry."

For more information on UTI's Early Employment Program, visit uti.edu/support-services/employment-assistance/early-employment.

About Universal Technical Institute, Inc.

Universal Technical Institute, Inc. (NYSE: UTI) (the "Company") was founded in 1965 and is a leading workforce solutions provider of transportation, skilled trades and healthcare education programs, whose mission is to serve students, partners, and communities by providing quality education and support services for in-demand careers across a number of highly-skilled fields. The Company is comprised of two divisions: Universal Technical Institute ("UTI") and Concorde Career Colleges ("Concorde"). UTI operates 16 campuses located in 9 states and offers a wide range of transportation and skilled trades technical training programs under brands such as UTI, MIAT College of Technology, Motorcycle Mechanics Institute, Marine Mechanics Institute and NASCAR Technical Institute. Concorde operates across 17 campuses in 8 states, offering programs in the Allied Health, Dental, Nursing, Patient Care and Diagnostic fields. For more information, visit www.uti.edu or www.concorde.edu, or visit us on LinkedIn at @UniversalTechnicalInstitute and @Concorde Career Colleges or on Twitter @news_UTI or @ConcordeCareer.

About Pape

At Pape, our roots reach back to 1938 when our founder, E.C. Pape, acquired his first capital equipment dealership in Oregon's Willamette Valley. E.C Pape's reputation for customer service and dependability spread, and the family-owned business began to grow and prosper. Four generations later, Pape has become the leading supplier of construction, logging, material handling, landscaping, trenching, and farm equipment, as well as semi-trucks and warehouse products in the West. Pape currently has 4,400+ members, 160+ stores, and operates in 9 western states including California, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, Hawaii, Arizona, and Alaska. Not to mention, Pape is partnered with the premium brands in the industry including John Deere, Hyster and Yale, Kenworth, Ditch Witch, and many others.

Media Contact

Alanna Vitucci

[email protected]

480.710.6843

SOURCE Universal Technical Institute, Inc.
VANCOUVER, BC, May 16, 2023 /PRNewswire/ - Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. ("Wheaton" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that its wholly-owned subsidiary, Wheaton Precious Metals International Ltd. ("Wheaton International") has entered into a definitive Precious Metal Purchase Agreement (the "Gold Stream") with Lumina Gold Corp. ("Lumina") (TSXV: LUM) in respect to its 100% owned Cangrejos gold-copper project located in El Oro Province, Ecuador (the "Project" or "Cangrejos"). Cangrejos is forecast to be a high-margin mine in the lowest half of the cost curve with a 26-year mine life1.

"The Cangrejos Project is an excellent addition to Wheaton's existing portfolio of high-quality, low-cost assets as it should provide accretive, long-term growth as well as significant exploration potential," said Randy Smallwood, Wheaton's President and Chief Executive Officer. "We welcome the opportunity to work with the team at Lumina who have done an outstanding job at working to de-risk the Project and advancing it towards construction. As with any transaction Wheaton enters into, responsible and sustainable mining practices are paramount, and Wheaton looks forward to supporting Lumina both financially as they construct Cangrejos and with their ongoing comprehensive community engagement efforts."

Transaction Details

(All values in US$ unless otherwise noted)

Upfront Consideration: Wheaton International will pay Lumina total upfront cash consideration of $300 million (the "Deposit"), $48 million of which is available pre-construction (the "Early Deposit"). The payment schedule for the Early Deposit and Deposit are as follows:

Wheaton International will pay Lumina total upfront cash consideration of (the "Deposit"), of which is available pre-construction (the "Early Deposit"). The payment schedule for the Early Deposit and Deposit are as follows: The Early Deposit of $48 million is comprised of four components: 1) $12 million on closing; 2) $10 million 6 months after close; 3) $15 million 12 months after close; and 4) an $11 million tranche that can be drawn upon for committed acquisition of surface rights.

is comprised of four components: 1) on closing; 2) 6 months after close; 3) 12 months after close; and 4) an tranche that can be drawn upon for committed acquisition of surface rights.

The remaining $252 million will be payable in staged equal installments during construction, subject to various customary conditions being satisfied.

will be payable in staged equal installments during construction, subject to various customary conditions being satisfied. Streamed Metal: Under the Gold Stream, Wheaton International will purchase 6.6% of the payable gold from the Project until 700,000 ounces ("oz") of gold has been delivered, at which point the stream will be reduced to 4.4% of the payable gold production for the life of the mine.

Under the Gold Stream, Wheaton International will purchase 6.6% of the payable gold from the Project until 700,000 ounces ("oz") of gold has been delivered, at which point the stream will be reduced to 4.4% of the payable gold production for the life of the mine. Production Profile 1 : Attributable production is forecast to average over 24,000 oz of gold per year for the first ten years of production and over 24,500 oz of gold per year for the life of mine.

Attributable production is forecast to average over 24,000 oz of gold per year for the first ten years of production and over 24,500 oz of gold per year for the life of mine. Production Payments: Wheaton International will make ongoing payments for the gold ounces delivered equal to 18% of the spot price of gold ("Production Payment") until the uncredited deposit is reduced to nil and 22.0% of the spot price of gold thereafter.

Wheaton International will make ongoing payments for the gold ounces delivered equal to 18% of the spot price of gold ("Production Payment") until the uncredited deposit is reduced to nil and 22.0% of the spot price of gold thereafter. Incremental Reserves and Resources 2 : The addition of Cangrejos will increase Wheaton's total estimated Proven and Probable gold reserves by 0.76 million ounces ("Moz"), Measured and Indicated gold resources by 0.25 Moz, and Inferred gold resources by 0.16 Moz. In addition, Wheaton believes there is strong exploration potential within the Cangrejos property.

The addition of Cangrejos will increase Wheaton's total estimated Proven and Probable gold reserves by 0.76 million ounces ("Moz"), Measured and Indicated gold resources by 0.25 Moz, and Inferred gold resources by 0.16 Moz. In addition, Wheaton believes there is strong exploration potential within the Cangrejos property. Other Considerations:

The Gold Stream will include a customary completion test.



As part of the transaction, Wheaton has obtained a right of first refusal on any future gold and silver streams.



In the event of a change of control, Lumina may purchase one-third of the Gold Stream from Wheaton until the earlier of January 1, 2030 , and the date that is 12 months after first production.

, and the date that is 12 months after first production.

Lumina and certain of its subsidiaries will provide Wheaton International with corporate guarantees and certain other security over their assets.

Financing the Transactions

As at March 31, 2023, the Company had approximately $800 million of cash on hand, which we believe when combined with the liquidity provided by the available credit under the $2 billion revolving term loan and ongoing operating cash flows, positions the Company well to fund the acquisition of the Gold Stream as well as all outstanding commitments and known contingencies and provides flexibility to acquire additional accretive mineral stream interests.

Sustainability Considerations for the Cangrejos Project

Based on work done by Lumina, several of the Project's innate characteristics and design elements have been identified that serve to potentially minimize its environmental impacts:

Since 2014, Lumina has been engaging with communities and is committed to involve affected communities and stakeholders through ongoing participation and consultation. The project will seek opportunities to create enduring economic benefits for societal groups and communities that are directly affected by operations.

The majority of electrical power is anticipated to come from renewable hydroelectric sources.

Proximity to port is expected to minimize transportation-based greenhouse gas emission impacts.

The dry stack tailings filtration plant is projected to recycle a substantial portion of tailings water for reuse in the processing plant.

No acid rock drainage conditions are expected to be present in either the waste rock storage facility or the dry stack tailings facility.

Aerial ore conveyor is predicted to minimize land clearance.

The Project is proposed to include progressive reclamation and revegetation of tailings and waste rock facilities.

Reforestation of previously impacted concession lands outside of mining facilities is anticipated to serve as offsets of disturbed areas.

About Lumina Gold Corp. and the Cangrejos Project

Lumina Gold Corp. is a Vancouver, Canada based precious and base metals exploration and development company focused on the Cangrejos Gold-Copper Project located in El Oro Province, southwest Ecuador. The Company has completed a Preliminary Feasibility Study for Cangrejos (2023), which is the largest primary gold deposit in Ecuador. Lumina has an experienced management team with a successful track record of advancing and monetizing exploration projects.

Attributable Gold Mineral Reserves and Mineral Resources  Cangrejos Project

Category Tonnage Mt Grade Au g/t Contained Au Moz







Proven -- -- --



Probable 43.5 0.55 0.76



P&P 43.5 0.55 0.76



Measured -- -- --



Indicated 20.6 0.38 0.25



M&I 20.6 0.38 0.25



Inferred 13.0 0.39 0.16







Notes on Mineral Reserves & Mineral Resources: 1. All Mineral Reserves and Mineral Resources have been estimated in accordance with the 2014 Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum (CIM) Standards for Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves and National Instrument 43-101  Standards for Disclosure for Mineral Projects ("NI 43-101"). 2. Mineral Reserves and Mineral Resources are reported above in millions of metric tonnes ("Mt"), grams per metric tonne ("g/t") and millions of ounces ("Moz"). 3. Qualified persons ("QPs"), as defined by the NI 43-101, for the technical information contained in this document (including the Mineral Reserve and Mineral Resource estimates) are:

a. Neil Burns, M.Sc., P.Geo. (Vice President, Technical Services); and

b. Ryan Ulansky, M.A.Sc., P.Eng. (Vice President, Engineering), both employees of the Company (the "Company's QPs"). 4. The Mineral Resources reported in the above tables are exclusive of Mineral Reserves. Lumina report Mineral Resources inclusive of Mineral Reserves. The Company's QPs have made the exclusive Mineral Resource estimates for the mine based on average mine recoveries and dilution. 5. Mineral Resources, which are not Mineral Reserves, do not have demonstrated economic viability. 6. Cangrejos Project Mineral Reserves are reported as of March 30, 2023 and Mineral Resources as of January 30, 2023. 7. Cangrejos Project Mineral Reserves are reported above declining NSR cut-offs of between $23.00 and $7.76 per tonne assuming $1,500 per ounce gold, $3.00 per pound copper and $18.00 per ounce silver. 8. Cangrejos Project Mineral Resources are reported above a 0.25 grams per tonne gold equivalent cut-off assuming $1,600 per ounce gold, $3.50 per pound copper and $11.00 per pound molybdenum and $21.00 per ounce silver. 9. The Cangrejos PMPA provides that Lumina will deliver gold equal to 6.6% of the payable gold production until 700,000 ounces of gold are delivered and 4.4% thereafter for the life of the mine. Attributable gold reserves and resources have been calculated on the 6.6% / 4.4% basis.



Neil Burns, P.Geo., Vice President, Technical Services for Wheaton Precious Metals and Ryan Ulansky, P.Eng., Vice President, Engineering, are a "qualified person" as such term is defined under National Instrument 43-101, and have reviewed and approved the technical information disclosed in this news release (specifically Mr. Burns has reviewed mineral resource estimates and Mr. Ulansky has reviewed the mineral reserve estimates).

__________________________________ 1) Please see "Cautionary Note Regarding Forward Looking-Statements" at the end of this news release for material risks, assumptions, and important disclosure associated with this information. Production forecasts contain forward looking information and readers are cautioned that actual outcomes may vary. Based on report entitled "National Instrument (NI) 43-101 Technical Report: Pre-Feasibility Study for the Cangrejos Project, Ecuador" with an effective date of April 7, 2023. S&P data set for 2029 projected global gold cost curves. 2) Please refer to the Attributable Mineral Reserves & Mineral Resources table in this news release for full disclosure of reserves and resources associated with Cangrejos including accompanying footnotes.



CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This press 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 concerning the business, operations and financial performance of Wheaton and, in some instances, the business, mining operations and performance of Wheaton's PMPA counterparties. Forward-looking statements, which are all statements other than statements of historical fact, include, but are not limited to, statements with respect to payment by Wheaton International of $300 million to Lumina and the satisfaction of each party's obligations in accordance with the Gold Stream, the receipt by Wheaton of gold production in respect of the Project, the future price of commodities, the estimation of future production from Mining Operations (including in the estimation of production, mill throughput, grades, recoveries and exploration potential), the estimation of mineral reserves and mineral resources (including the estimation of reserve conversion rates) and the realization of such estimations, the commencement, timing and achievement of construction, expansion or improvement projects by Wheaton's PMPA counterparties at mineral stream interests owned by Wheaton (the "Mining Operations"), the payment of upfront cash consideration to counterparties under PMPAs, the satisfaction of each party's obligations in accordance with PMPAs and royalty arrangements and the receipt by the Company of precious metals and cobalt production in respect of the applicable Mining Operations under PMPAs or other payments under royalty arrangements, the ability of Wheaton's PMPA counterparties to comply with the terms of a PMPA (including as a result of the business, mining operations and performance of Wheaton's PMPA counterparties) and the potential impacts of such on Wheaton, future payments by the Company in accordance with PMPAs, the costs of future production, the estimation of produced but not yet delivered ounces, the impact of epidemics (including the COVID-19 virus pandemic), including the potential heightening of other risks, future sales of common shares under the ATM program, continued listing of the Company's common shares, any statements as to future dividends, the ability to fund outstanding commitments and the ability to continue to acquire accretive PMPAs, including any acceleration of payments, projected increases to Wheaton's production and cash flow profile, projected changes to Wheaton's production mix, the ability of Wheaton's PMPA counterparties to comply with the terms of any other obligations under agreements with the Company, the ability to sell precious metals and cobalt production, confidence in the Company's business structure, the Company's assessment of taxes payable and the impact of the CRA Settlement, possible domestic audits for taxation years subsequent to 2016 and international audits, the Company's assessment of the impact of any tax reassessments, the Company's intention to file future tax returns in a manner consistent with the CRA Settlement, the Company's climate change and environmental commitments, and assessments of the impact and resolution of various legal and tax matters, including but not limited to audits. Generally, these forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "plans", "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "projects", "intends", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", or "believes", "potential", or variations of such words and phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will be taken", "occur" or "be achieved". Forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of Wheaton to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements, including but not limited to risks relating to the satisfaction of each party's obligations in accordance with the terms of the Gold Stream, risks associated with fluctuations in the price of commodities (including Wheaton's ability to sell its precious metals or cobalt production at acceptable prices or at all), risks related to the Mining Operations (including fluctuations in the price of the primary or other commodities mined at such operations, regulatory, political and other risks of the jurisdictions in which the Mining Operations are located, actual results of mining, risks associated with the exploration, development, operating, expansion and improvement of the Mining Operations, environmental and economic risks of the Mining Operations, and changes in project parameters as plans continue to be refined), the absence of control over the Mining Operations and having to rely on the accuracy of the public disclosure and other information Wheaton receives from the Mining Operations, uncertainty in the estimation of production from Mining Operations, uncertainty in the accuracy of mineral reserve and mineral resource estimation, risks of significant impacts on Wheaton or the Mining Operations as a result of an epidemic (including the COVID-19 virus pandemic), the ability of each party to satisfy their obligations in accordance with the terms of the PMPAs, the estimation of future production from Mining Operations, Wheaton's interpretation of, compliance with or application of, tax laws and regulations or accounting policies and rules being found to be incorrect, any challenge or reassessment by the CRA of the Company's tax filings being successful and the potential negative impact to the Company's previous and future tax filings, assessing the impact of the CRA Settlement (including whether there will be any material change in the Company's facts or change in law or jurisprudence), potential implementation of a 15% global minimum tax, counterparty credit and liquidity, mine operator concentration, indebtedness and guarantees, hedging, competition, claims and legal proceedings against Wheaton or the Mining Operations, security over underlying assets, governmental regulations, international operations of Wheaton and the Mining Operations, exploration, development, operations, expansions and improvements at the Mining Operations, environmental regulations, climate change, Wheaton and the Mining Operations ability to obtain and maintain necessary licenses, permits, approvals and rulings, Wheaton and the Mining Operations ability to comply with applicable laws, regulations and permitting requirements, lack of suitable supplies, infrastructure and employees to support the Mining Operations, inability to replace and expand mineral reserves, including anticipated timing of the commencement of production by certain Mining Operations (including increases in production, estimated grades and recoveries), uncertainties of title and indigenous rights with respect to the Mining Operations, environmental, social and governance matters, Wheaton and the Mining Operations ability to obtain adequate financing, the Mining Operations ability to complete permitting, construction, development and expansion, global financial conditions, Wheaton's acquisition strategy and other risks discussed in the section entitled "Description of the Business  Risk Factors" in Wheaton's Annual Information Form available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com and Wheaton's Form 40-F for the year ended December 31, 2022 on file with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on EDGAR (the "Disclosure"). Forward-looking statements are based on assumptions management currently believes to be reasonable, including (without limitation): the payment of $300 million to Lumina and the satisfaction of each party's obligations in accordance with the terms of the Gold Stream, that there will be no material adverse change in the market price of commodities, that the Mining Operations will continue to operate and the mining projects will be completed in accordance with public statements and achieve their stated production estimates, that the mineral reserves and mineral resource estimates from Mining Operations (including reserve conversion rates) are accurate, that each party will satisfy their obligations in accordance with the PMPAs, that Wheaton will continue to be able to fund or obtain funding for outstanding commitments, that Wheaton will be able to source and obtain accretive PMPAs, that neither Wheaton nor the Mining Operations will suffer significant impacts as a result of an epidemic (including the COVID-19 virus pandemic), that any outbreak or threat of an outbreak of a virus or other contagions or epidemic disease will be adequately responded to locally, nationally, regionally and internationally, without such response requiring any prolonged closure of the Mining Operations or having other material adverse effects on the Company and counterparties to its PMPAs, that the trading of the Company's common shares will not be adversely affected by the differences in liquidity, settlement and clearing systems as a result of multiple listings of the Common Shares on the LSE, the TSX and the NYSE, that the trading of the Company's common shares will not be suspended, and that the net proceeds of sales of common shares, if any, will be used as anticipated, that expectations regarding the resolution of legal and tax matters will be achieved (including ongoing CRA audits involving the Company), that Wheaton has properly considered the interpretation and application of Canadian tax law to its structure and operations, that Wheaton has filed its tax returns and paid applicable taxes in compliance with Canadian tax law, that Wheaton's application of the CRA Settlement is accurate (including the Company's assessment that there will be no material change in the Company's facts or change in law or jurisprudence), and such other assumptions and factors as set out in the Disclosure. There can be no assurance that forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate and even if events or results described in the forward-looking statements are realized or substantially realized, there can be no assurance that they will have the expected consequences to, or effects on, Wheaton. Readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements and are cautioned that actual outcomes may vary. The forward-looking statements included herein are for the purpose of providing readers with information to assist them in understanding Wheaton's expected financial and operational performance and may not be appropriate for other purposes. Any forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date on which it is made, reflects Wheaton's management's current beliefs based on current information and will not be updated except in accordance with applicable securities laws. Although Wheaton has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements to differ materially from those contained in forwardlooking statements, there may be other factors that cause results, level of activity, performance or achievements not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended.

Cautionary Language Regarding Reserves And Resources

For further information on Mineral Reserves and Mineral Resources and on Wheaton more generally, readers should refer to Wheaton's Annual Information Form for the year ended December 31, 2022, which was filed on March 31, 2023 and other continuous disclosure documents filed by Wheaton since January 1, 2023, available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. Wheaton's Mineral Reserves and Mineral Resources are subject to the qualifications and notes set forth therein. Mineral Resources which are not Mineral Reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability.

Cautionary Note to United States Investors Concerning Estimates of Measured, Indicated and Inferred Resources: The information contained herein has been prepared in accordance with the requirements of the securities laws in effect in Canada, which differ from the requirements of United States securities laws. The Company reports information regarding mineral properties, mineralization and estimates of mineral reserves and mineral resources in accordance with Canadian reporting requirements which are governed by, and utilize definitions required by, Canadian National Instrument 43-101  Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects ("NI 43-101") and the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum (the "CIM")  CIM Definition Standards on Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves, adopted by the CIM Council, as amended (the "CIM Standards"). These definitions differ from the definitions adopted by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act") which are applicable to U.S. companies. Accordingly, there is no assurance any mineral reserves or mineral resources that the Company may report as "proven mineral reserves", "probable mineral reserves", "measured mineral resources", "indicated mineral resources" and "inferred mineral resources" under NI 43-101 would be the same had the Company prepared the reserve or resource estimates under the standards adopted by the SEC. Information contained herein that describes Wheaton's mineral deposits may not be comparable to similar information made public by U.S. companies subject to reporting and disclosure requirements under the United States federal securities laws and the rules and regulations thereunder. United States investors are urged to consider closely the disclosure in Wheaton's Form 40-F, a copy of which may be obtained from Wheaton or from https://www.sec.gov/edgar.shtml.

SOURCE Wheaton Precious Metals Corp.
LONDON, May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Peace 4 Animals has announced Why on Earth , the compelling new feature-length documentary by prominent animal advocate and filmmaker Katie Cleary, premiered in the UK on Sky Store for Premium VOD on May 15th. The film is currently streaming on major airlines, including Emirates, United, and Etihad, and it will be released on CANAL+ International in France and French-speaking countries in Africa. The film is also set to air on The Weather Channel .

Why On Earth

This gripping film takes a comprehensive look into our current environment, uncovering many issues affecting our natural world and the animals who inhabit it. The documentary reveals the vital connection between humans, animals, and the growing plant-based movement.

" Why on Earth has been a labor of love for the past four years. We are so excited to finally share with the world this important documentary to raise awareness about the many issues that impact our planet's critical species," shared Cleary, whose previous award-winning documentary Give Me Shelter premiered on Netflix in 2015. Cleary is also the Founder and President of the animal welfare organization Peace 4 Animals and its popular animal news network World Animal News . "There are simple things that we, as humans, can and must do to prevent the devastation of our rainforests and to enact stricter penalties for poachers who kill endangered and threatened species."

Why on Earth was filmed on a RED camera by Director of Photography Hunter Nolan in five countries, including South Africa, Kenya, Indonesia, Mexico, and the U.S. Rarely before seen footage highlights the heroes on the ground fighting to protect critical species, including endangered orangutans due to rapid deforestation in Borneo and Sumatra for palm oil extraction, the depletion of the shark population in South Africa due to the illegal shark fin trade, and the poaching of nearly-extinct African rhinos, elephants and lions. The documentary also takes viewers behind the scenes to show the strenuous process of passing legislation to protect animals in the United States.

The film features legendary actor and director Clint Eastwood and takes viewers on a ride alongside the heroes on the ground who are fighting to protect the voiceless. Why on Earth is currently available on major streaming platforms, including Amazon Prime , Apple , iTunes , Google Play and YouTube .

Why On Earth also features interviews with Damien Mander (Founder of International Anti-Poaching Foundation ), along with his all-female anti-poaching team, Akashinga, as well as Dr. Birute Mary Galdikas, (President and Co-Founder of Orangutan Foundation International ), Petronel Nieuwoudt (Founder of Care For Wild Rhino Sanctuary ), Alison Towner (Marine Biologist, Save Our Seas Foundation ), Paul Hilton (Conservation Photographer, Racing Extinction ), Jim Abernethy (Conservationist, Photographer, Filmmaker), Shawn Heinrichs (Cinematographer, Racing Extinction ), Wilfred Chivell (CEO of Marine Dynamics ), Ian Singleton (Program Director, Pan Eco ), Panut Hadisiswoyo (Founder of Orangutan Information Center ), and the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust team , among many others.

Contact:

Samantha Jacobson

TenXPR.com

[email protected]

646-272-8432

SOURCE Peace 4 Animals
LONDON, May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Breast cancer has emerged as one of the most dreadful diseases occurring mostly in women. So far, this ailment has claimed millions of lives. Proper screening and diagnosis of this disease has become crucial for the masses. Breast imaging is one of the most influential techniques to detect abnormalities in breast tissues. AI technology is being integrated into breast imaging systems to enhance the sensitivity and specificity of breast cancer detection. This is a significant breakthrough in the breast cancer diagnosis vertical. AI can also be used to predict a patient's risk of developing breast cancer and provide personalized risk assessments, enabling early interventions and tailored treatment plans.

The business intelligence report on Global Artificial Intelligence in Breast Imaging Market by Brandessence Market Research provides a comprehensive analysis of the current state of the market and its future prospects. It offers actionable insights into the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in breast imaging, which is rapidly gaining popularity as it helps in the early detection of breast cancer. The report covers various aspects of the market such as the market size, growth rate, trends, challenges, and opportunities. It also includes an in-depth analysis of the key players in the market and their strategies.

Key Takeaways

Global Artificial Intelligence in Breast Imaging Market is anticipated to amplify with a CAGR of 28.4% over 2022-2029.

Growing prevalence of breast cancer, rising healthcare expenditure, and technological advancements in the field are aiding industry expansion.

By application, the computer-aided diagnosis segment due to the rising prevalence of breast cancer and rapidly evolving healthcare infrastructure.

MEA is anticipated is projected to account for a substantial revenue share owing to the increasing prevalence of breast cancer, growing investments in healthcare infrastructure

The Global Artificial Intelligence in Breast Imaging Market was worth USD 348.9 million in 2022 and is expected to reach a valuation of USD 2007.3 million by 2029, amplifying with a CAGR of 28.4% over the assessment timeline of 2022-2029.

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Elaborating the key trends and dynamics of the Artificial Intelligence in Breast Imaging Market

Growing prevalence of breast cancer, rising healthcare expenditure, and technological advancements in the field are primarily augmenting the outlook of this business sphere. Alongside, escalating demand for early disease diagnosis and treatment is creating lucrative opportunities for this marketplace to prosper. Moreover, rise in the geriatric population base, booming healthcare IT industry, and increase in the female population base are adding momentum to the progression of this industry vertical.

Major growth drivers

Growing pervasiveness of breast cancer- The cases of breast cancer are increasing rapidly. This is due to rising female population, surging elderly populace, genetic issues, and unhealthy lifestyle trends among others. Early detection of breast cancer is quite necessary since it helps healthcare providers to suggest efficient treatment methods before it gets too late. This in turn is adding traction to the progression of this business sphere.

Favourable investment scenario- Governments across the globe are investing heavily in healthcare technologies, including AI in breast imaging. This is driving the growth of the market as more funding becomes available for research and development, and for the adoption of AI technologies in healthcare settings.

Challenges

High implementation costs- Implementing AI in breast imaging can be costly, as it requires significant investment in both hardware and software. This can be a barrier to adoption, particularly for smaller healthcare providers or those operating in resource-limited settings.

Competitive Landscape of Artificial Intelligence in Breast Imaging Market

The players characterizing the competitive terrain of this industry are Hologic, GE Healthcare, Gamma Medica, Fujifilm Holdings Corp., Siemens Healthcare, Toshiba Corporation, Aurora Imaging Technology, QView Medical, NVIDIA Corporation, and Others.

Segmental Assessments of Artificial Intelligence in Breast Imaging Market

By technique, Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) segment is likely to amass notable gains over 2022-2029. The ability to integrate MRI with other imaging techniques and AI algorithms enhances its diagnostic capabilities, driving its growth in the market.

Based on application, the computer-aided diagnosis segment due to the rising prevalence of breast cancer and rapidly evolving healthcare infrastructure.

In terms of end user, the diagnostic imaging centers segment is reckoned to garner significant returns over the estimated timeline. With the growing demand for breast cancer screening and diagnosis, diagnostic imaging centers are increasingly adopting AI technologies to improve the accuracy and efficiency of breast imaging.

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Geographical Analysis & Landscape

Middle East & Africa Artificial Intelligence in Breast Imaging Market is projected to account for a substantial revenue share. This is driven by factors such as the increasing prevalence of breast cancer, growing investments in healthcare infrastructure, and the adoption of AI technologies in the healthcare industry. Alongside, rising medical expenditure and increased cancer awareness are propelling overall industry growth.

Asia Pacific

Asia Pacific is expected to garner substantial revenue over the expected timeline. This region is home to several leading players in the AI in breast imaging market, such as Hologic, Fujifilm, and Koninklijke Philips N.V. These companies are investing in the development of advanced AI-powered diagnostic imaging systems and expanding their presence in the APAC region to tap into the growing demand for healthcare services.

Opportunities

Growing adoption of AI in healthcare: The healthcare industry is increasingly adopting AI technologies to improve patient outcomes and reduce costs. AI in breast imaging is a prime example of how AI can be used to improve the accuracy and speed of diagnoses, leading to better treatment options. This is creating an upward trend in this market space.

Major developments in Artificial Intelligence in Breast Imaging Market

Acquisitions

In 2018, Hologic, a leading provider of medical imaging systems, acquired Focal Therapeutics, a company that develops innovative surgical tools and technologies for breast cancer surgery.

In 2018, iCAD, a medical technology company, acquired ProFound AI, a provider of AI-powered breast cancer detection software

Partnership

In 2019, ScreenPoint Medical, a leading provider of AI-powered breast imaging software, announced a partnership with Volpara Health Technologies, a provider of breast imaging analytics and analysis software

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WASHINGTON, May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Zoetic Global announced today that it has signed a Memo of Understanding with Ecologistics Integrated Services, a global climate change investment and sustainable development firm, and Tesla Carbon Bank, a voluntary carbon credit program, to facilitate the growth of Africa's carbon market.

Pictured at the signing ceremony for the new partnership are: (left to right) Ecologistics President Dr. Paul Abolo; Zoetic Chairman and Co-Founder Jerome Ringo; and Vivaris Capital President & CEO J. Christopher Mizer. (PRNewsfoto/Zoetic Global)

The new partnership establishes a cooperative and supportive alliance to support the successful development of Africa's carbon market by leveraging Ecologistics' capabilities and leadership as the Pan-African Ambassador to Carbon Trade Xchange (CTX) for African Carbon Markets and the pioneer of Carbon Finance Alliance for Africa (CFAA). Together, the team will work with key corporations in Africa that stand to benefit from engaging with Zoetic technology to generate carbon credits and carbon reduction certificates.

Zoetic provides companies in Africa a way to access carbon credits by utilizing its portfolio of technologies, which include innovative refrigerants' projects that are well-positioned to make an important impact. Companies that work with Zoetic save 20-40 percent on their energy bills and receive carbon credits based on sensor's precise monitoring of their HVAC systems. Global cooling is a key target as air conditioning needs are projected to triple by 2050 as a result of warming and the growing Africa middle class.

"It is a great honor to work alongside Ecologistics and Tesla Carbon Bank to expand Africa's fast-growing carbon market. The planet is starting to understand the consequences of using fossil fuel sources. We know we have to change our perspective on energy production and consumption in short order if we are to keep a habitable planet for future generations to come," said Jerome Ringo, Chairman and Co-Founder of Zoetic Global.

"We look forward to working with the team to establish an alliance that supports Ecologistics' mission to devote our skills, manpower, facilities, and other resources necessary for the successful development of carbon market in Africa. Together, we are well-positioned to make a positive difference," said Ecologistics President Dr. Paul Abolo.

Pictured at the signing ceremony for the new partnership are: (left to right) Ecologistics President Dr. Paul Abolo; Zoetic Chairman and Co-Founder Jerome Ringo; and Vivaris Capital President & CEO J. Christopher Mizer.

For information on Zoetic Global, visit https://zoeticglobal.com/about/

About Zoetic Global

Zoetic is a minority-owned solutions provider focused on delivering critical energy, water, and food technologies to areas of greatest need. Working in conjunction with its technology and strategic partners it has assembled a compelling portfolio of now solutions for now problems. Zoetic means, "of or pertaining to life." It embodies the dedication of its Co-Founder and Chairman, Jerome Ringo, who has been a leader in the climate movement for two decades. Zoetic is focused on the inclusion of areas of the world disproportionately impacted by climate change. Zoetic believes that critical solutions exist and require a next level commitment by leaders to implement them.

About Ecologistics

Ecologistics is a global climate change investment and sustainable development firm engaged in facilitating funding and technology support for national and sub-national entities. Ecologistics provides services that address environment-related social and economic challenges and communicates the sustainable development opportunities in climate change action through awareness, sensitization, participation, workshops, and lectures. Its approach involves identifying the contours of environmental and social challenges and reframing those challenges to opportunities for sustainable development.

About Tesla Carbon Bank

Tesla Carbon Bank's platform supports individuals, families, and their pets as they work to become net zero and offset their carbon footprint. Tesla Carbon Bank developed its ground-breaking voluntary carbon credit program by providing clients with secure facilities for their carbon credits, some of which are secured by insurance. Its technologies include vehicle electrification, energy storage, carbon sequestration, and power, and it also serves as an incubator for global entrepreneurs.

Media Contact:

Charlotte Luer

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SOURCE Zoetic Global
SHANGHAI, May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- ZTO Express (Cayman) Inc. (NYSE: ZTO and HKEX: 2057), a leading and fast-growing express delivery company in China ("ZTO" or the "Company"), today announced that the board of directors of the Company (the "Board") has appointed Mr. Xudong Chen as a director of the Company, effective June 15, 2023. Mr. Zheng Liu has tendered his resignation as a director of the Company, effective June 15, 2023. Mr. Liu's resignation was not due to any disagreement with the Company.

Mr. Xudong Chen has been a Director for Strategic Investment at Alibaba Group since May 2023. From November 2019 to April 2023, Mr. Chen was a Director for Strategic Investment at Cainiao Network. From September 2013 to November 2019, Mr. Chen successively served as an associate, senior associate, vice president, and executive director for private equity investment at HOPU Investments. From July 2012 to August 2013, Mr. Chen served as an associate at investment banking department of Deutsche Bank Securities in New York. From July 2006 to October 2008, Mr. Chen worked at investment banking department of China International Capital Corporation as an analyst. Mr. Chen has been a non-executive director of Quantium Solutions International Pte. Ltd. since June 2022. Mr. Chen received his MBA degree from Ross School of Business at University of Michigan in 2012, and his bachelor's degree in economics from Fudan University in 2006.

About ZTO Express (Cayman) Inc.

ZTO Express (Cayman) Inc. (NYSE: ZTO and SEHK: 2057) ("ZTO" or the "Company") is a leading and fast-growing express delivery company in China. ZTO provides express delivery service as well as other value-added logistics services through its extensive and reliable nationwide network coverage in China.

ZTO operates a highly scalable network partner model, which the Company believes is best suited to support the significant growth of e-commerce in China. The Company leverages its network partners to provide pickup and last-mile delivery services, while controlling the mission-critical line-haul transportation and sorting network within the express delivery service value chain.

For more information, please visit http://zto.investorroom.com.

Safe Harbor Statement

This press release contains statements that may constitute "forward-looking" statements pursuant to the "safe harbor" provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements can be identified by terminology such as "will," "expects," "anticipates," "aims," "future," "intends," "plans," "believes," "estimates," "likely to," and similar statements. Statements that are not historical facts, including statements about ZTO's beliefs, plans, and expectations, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Further information regarding these and other risks is included in ZTO's filings with the SEC. All information provided in this press release is as of the date of this press release, and ZTO does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statement, except as required under applicable law.

For investor inquiries, please contact:

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SOURCE ZTO Express (Cayman) Inc.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 17. The whole world sees and welcomes Azerbaijan's initiative to normalize relations with Armenia, a Member of the Egyptian Parliament and Chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, former Egyptian Foreign Minister Mohamed Alorabi said in an exclusive interview with Trend.

"Azerbaijan, having freed its lands from [Armenian] occupation, put an end to the conflict. Azerbaijan is currently normalizing relations with Armenia through diplomatic means," Alorabi said.

Speaking about the trilateral meeting on the peace agreement held recently in Brussels, Orabi noted that sometimes the participation of a third-party mediator is necessary to resolve conflicts.

"But in such conflicts, in any case, an agreement between the parties is more important. I believe that Azerbaijan and Armenia should solve the problem diplomatically. This will help achieve peace," he added.

The chairman also added that at such meetings, the mediators also try to ensure that the problem is resolved diplomatically and that it will bring peace and stability to the region.

The trilateral meeting of President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan and President of the European Council Charles Michel on the peace agreement was in Brussels on May 14. During the conversation, the sides discussed the developments related to Azerbaijan-Armenia relations in recent months, the Washington negotiations, and the situation on the Azerbaijan-Armenia border.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 17. Azerbaijan continues to render humanitarian assistance to the people of Ukraine, Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov said at the IV Summit of Heads of State and Government of the Council of Europe in Reykjavik (Iceland), Trend reports.

"Azerbaijan deeply regrets that the ongoing crisis in Ukraine continues to undermine peace and security in Europe. Our country stands for the earliest settlement on the basis of sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine," he said.

According to Bayramov, humanitarian consequences require expedient measures to alleviate the suffering of civilians.

"Proceeding from this understanding, Azerbaijan continues to render humanitarian assistance to the people of Ukraine," he added.
Sydney, May 17 : Confirming the cancellation of next week's Quad meeting, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Wednesday said that it is still possible that his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi will visit Sydney next week.

The development comes after US President Joe Biden pulled out from the meeting at the last minute citing the domestic debt ceiling crisis, and now all four leaders of the Quad grouping -- the US, Japan, India and Australia -- are likely to instead meet on the sidelines of the G7 meeting in Japan this weekend, the ABC News reported.

The meeting was slated to take place on May 24.

Modi is scheduled to travel to Japan, Papua New Guinea and Australia this month with the power-packed visit concluding 'Down Under' where he will address the diaspora.

"Prime Minister Modi has a bilateral program that is organised, so I'm certain that he will be here. And, of course, we have a very large growing diaspora here in Australia and there are events including a large event at Qudos Bank Arena to be held next Tuesday night (May 23)," Albanese said in a statement.

More than 20,000 members of the Indian diaspora have registered so far for the grand community reception organised for Modi in Sydney during his visit to Australia on May 23.

The event -- 'Australia Welcomes Modi' -- organised by non-profit Indian Australian Diaspora Foundation (IADF) will provide Indians Down Under an opportunity to see Modi and listen to his address to the community.

According to media reports, the Parramatta Council has formally extended an invitation to Modi to visit Harris Park, informally referred to as 'Little India', this time.

Albanese, who visited India this year, formally extended the invite to his Indian counterpart.
Quito, May 17 : Ecuador's National Assembly has opened an impeachment trial against President Guillermo Lasso, who is likely to be stripped of office for embezzlement.

The hearing began at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, with the presence of 109 of the 137 Assembly members that comprise Congress, where the opposition holds a majority of seats, reports Xinhua news agency.

Lasso, a 67-year-old former banker, is accused by the opposition of embezzling funds through a contract signed between state-owned oil tanker fleet Flota Petrolera Ecuatoriana and the privately-owned company Amazonas Tanker, for the rental of vessels to ship hydrocarbons.

The contract was signed in 2018 and renewed in 2020, before he took office in May 2021.

But his opponents claimed he allowed the business arrangement to continue despite knowing it meant losses for the state.

"The political responsibility of the president is irrefutable, since we are convinced that he not only knew about and allowed corruption, but that he was a strategic part of it," lawmaker Viviana Veloz of the opposition coalition Union for Hope (Unes) led by former president Rafael Correa (2007-2017) said during Tuesday's hearing.

Lasso argued in his defence and accused the opposition of making the "absurd accusation" to create instability.

"What is at stake is not merely the viability of a government, but Ecuador as a nation. We are putting the soul of our democracy at risk," he said.

"There is no evidence or relevant testimonies. The only thing there is information that proves my total, evident and unquestionable innocence." Lasso pointed out that the contract was signed in 2018 and renewed in 2020, before he became President in May 2021, and that he did not get involved in state company business dealings.

This is the first time in Ecuador's 44 years as a democracy that a President has faced possible ouster by the legislative branch.

The vote on impeachment could take place as early as May 20.

Impeachment requires the votes of two-thirds of the 137-member Assembly, or 92 lawmakers.

The trial has gripped the nation, which went through a period of political upheaval between August 1996 and January 2007, when Ecuador was governed by seven presidents with three of them being overthrown.

Hundreds of Lasso's supporters arrived in the capital Quito on Tuesday from across the country to show their support by gathering outside the National Assembly, which was surrounded by metal fences and guarded by police.
Rae Bareli, May 17 : A woman assistant professor, belonging to an upper caste, has accused her Dalit head of department of a prominent engineering college in Uttar Pradesh's Rae Bareli, of sexual harassment.

She has alleged that the accused, Sunil Verma, threatened to frame her in SC/ST Act if she did not surrender to his "wishes".

She also accused the educational director of connivance with the head of department and making obscene comments, apart from shamelessly coaxing her to "oblige" the accused.

According to the FIR, the survivor, a resident of Mohanlalganj, is an assistant professor, and she was being harassed by Verma for a long time.

Mill Area SHO Sanjay Singh said that an FIR has been registered against Verma and Digvijay Singh under the charges of IPC's sections 294 (reciting obscene songs), 354 (assault of criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty), 504 (intentional insult) and 506 (criminal intimidation).

Rae Bareli SP Alok Priyadarshi said that a probe is being conducted by a CO rank officer and those found guilty would be brought to book soon.
New Delhi, May 17 : In a major operation, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Wednesday was conducting raids at over 100 locations across six states as part of its crackdown on the alleged nexus between gangsters, drug smugglers and terrorist groups.

The agency is also probing the links with the Khalistani elements.

According to sources, the searches were being carried out in Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Madhya Pradesh in terror-narcotics smugglers-gangsters nexus cases, RC 37, 38, 39/2022/NIA/DLI.

The NIA's crackdown comes in response to intelligence inputs suggesting the involvement of gangsters with connections to Khalistani groups in planning and executing acts of terrorism in the country.

The agency aims to uncover the network involved in promoting terrorism and disrupt their activities.

The operation marks a significant step in the NIA's efforts to dismantle criminal networks that pose a threat to national security.

As of now the NIA has not made any official statements in the case.
Islamabad, May 17 : Pakistans National Security Committee (NSC) has endorsed the decision of the country's top military brass to try those involved in the May 9 ransacking of military installations under the Pakistan Army Act and Official Secrets Act.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif chaired the high-powered NSC meeting, which was attended by senior cabinet ministers, three services chiefs, DG ISI and other relevant officials, The Express Tribune reported.

While the civil and military leadership promised to bring to justice those behind the violent protests, they stressed the need for dialogue over confrontation to resolve the political differences.

The meeting was convened to discuss violent protests triggered after the arrest of former prime minister Imran Khan.

Protesters ransacked and vandalised military installations including the Corps Commander's residence in Lahore, The Express Tribune reported.

Army Chief General Asim Munir on Monday chaired a special corps commanders conference, which decided to try perpetrators, planners and executors of such attacks under the Pakistan Army and official secret act.

A statement issued by the PM office after the NSC meeting read: "The meeting endorsed the decision to initiate trials against the perpetrators, conspirators, and facilitators under relevant laws including the Pakistan Army Act and the Official Secrets Act, to ensure justice." The meeting reiterated that the policy of "zero tolerance" would be adopted by not tolerating violence and mischief in the country.

It deemed May 9 as 'Black Day' at the national level.

The participants of the National Security Committee expressed full solidarity and support with the armed forces of Pakistan.

The participants condemned in the strongest terms the arson, encirclement and attacks on military installations for personal interests and political gains.
Chandigarh, May 17 : The Border Security Force (BSF) seized 15 kg of narcotics after shooting a drone near the International Border in Punjab's Amritsar sector, the paramilitary force said on Wednesday.

"A rogue drone from Pakistan violated the Indian airspace and was intercepted by BSF troops by shooting at it," a BSF officer said.

The incident was reported on Tuesday morning.

During the search operation, two big packets, weighing 15.5 kg and suspected to contain heroin, were recovered near Kakkar.

Further search of nearby areas is underway, it added.
Mumbai, May 17 : Self-styled godwoman Radhe Ma's son Harjinder Singh is making his debut into the OTT universe with 'Inspector Avinash', starring Randeep Hooda.

He plays one of the STF officers in the web series.

"Inspector Avinash is a very interesting project and it's in the long series format. Herein an actor has the luxury of time with the audience," Harjinder said.

"A character can hence evolve and grow with every episode. I'm playing a young and ambitious STF officer who has been newly recruited to investigate a rising crime syndicate in UP. He strives to prove his mettle and make an impression in the department," he added.

Opening up about the plot, Harjinder said: "Set in the early 90's, the story highlights the demographics of Uttar Pradesh. It is a fast paced, action, full gun blazing series, where I am one of the STF cops, who is the part of a team meant to eradicate crime syndicates from the state." "To portray the role of the STF officer who blends well in public and remains incognito, one had to adapt to the demeanour of the locality. I had to learn the tone and tenor of the area while maintaining the gait to suitably merge into the populace. The attire was to be conducive to the period of the early 90's where men dressed in loosely fitted clothes.

"Also as and when required a smooth transitioning to the mannerism of an STF officer was the other challenging part which came along with the character," he says.

Happy to have collaborated with Randeep for the series, the actor shares having learnt a lot.

"Working with an accomplished actor like Randeep sir gives one the opportunity to draw from their experience and methodology. They help set the precedent for the plot to flow upon which every character can evolve." "Apart from Randeep sir, other artists in the series are well-versed in the art of acting and provide you with invaluable input to portray your character and give your best," he added.

In the future, Harjinder sees himself doing diverse roles and playing impactful characters. "I would like to grow not just as a celebrity but also as an actor," he says.

Ask if not an actor what would be his area of interest, he is quick to add, "I belong to a business family invested in multiple ventures, and my family was gracious enough to offer me this opportunity to follow my dreams. If not an actor I would definitely be involved in my existing family ventures."
Addis Ababa, May 17 : The number of people arriving in Ethiopia due to the ongoing situation in Sudan has surpassed 25,700, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) has said.

"With hundreds of daily arrivals from Sudan in the past couple of weeks, Ethiopia's Metema border crossing point has now registered over 20,400 people, mostly Ethiopian returnees," the UNOCHA said in its latest situation update.

It also said recent arrivals of more than 5,300 in Almahal, in Ethiopia's Benishangul-Gumuz region -- which is now serving as a new crossing point for refugees -- require urgent assistance.

And the priority needs remain food, water, sanitation and hygiene promotion, health and nutrition, shelter, non-food items and the delivery of protection services.

In Metema, which is so far the main crossing point, response activities have picked up in the second week of May.

Protection partners have installed eight large transit shelter sheds, which has allowed for the relocation of a few hundred refugees and asylum seekers to this transit site, 6 km from the border crossing point, where they can find shelter, access water and sanitation facilities, the UNOCHA said.

It said the relocation also, to some extent, provides relief for the overpopulated town of Metema, which already faces a shortage of water resulting in the risk of disease outbreak due to hygiene in crowded areas.

Medical teams continue to provide health screening and emergency support at the Metema border point.

Sudan has witnessed deadly armed clashes between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces in the capital city of Khartoum and other areas since April 15, with the two sides accusing each other of initiating the conflict.

According to the UN, at least 676 people have died since.

The UNOCHA previously disclosed that the arrivals into Ethiopia amid the ongoing security situations in neighbouring Sudan are from 60 nationalities, and the largest group are Ethiopians, Sudanese and Turkish.
New Delhi, May 17 : It might be frightening to talk about and enforce boundaries in a culture where codependency is something we learn from birth. Boundaries affect every part of our lives, including dating, relationships, intimacy, and sexuality, and have a direct impact on our mental health. Any healthy relationship, especially ones that begin online, must know when and when to draw the line.

Having a conversation about boundaries with your date can not only help prevent misunderstanding but also promote mutual respect. Dr Sakshi Tickoo, Occupational Therapist and Sexuality Counselor contributed to Tinder Love and Care, a dating wellness guide for women daters in India, to share tips to approach this conversation with confidence.

Identify what affects you the most: A good place to start is by recognising which space affects you the most (e.g. physical, psychological, social, sexual, material, time, and emotional boundaries). Recognising what you need for yourself will allow you to experience this journey mindfully and with lesser emotional exhaustion. In fact, the top three red flags voted by young adults in a survey from Tinder in India were asking for intimate pictures (50 per cent), making fun of their interests/beliefs (47 per cent), and refusing to converse further when they share something emotional with their date (44 per cent), which makes it important to set clear expectations with your match.

Understand that boundaries can be flexible: Boundaries don't always have to be rigid. Healthy boundaries can fluctuate between being porous or rigid depending on the person and context they are set in. For example, you can set rigid time boundaries about how much time you engage with matches on social media or have porous boundaries when a match is sharing vulnerable information with you. Despite being two entirely different contexts of boundaries, these influence your effectiveness to date virtually and be present without tiring yourself out.

Be honest and transparent: Sharing your boundaries with others is a great way for them to learn about you. This could be as simple as saying a yes/no to something or be more nuanced by saying you do not feel comfortable discussing something presently. Not being sure of something is also a boundary that needs to be respected and does not mean you are indecisive. In fact, 50 percent of young Indian adults said that their partner explicitly discussing their boundaries is a waving green flag.

Remember that respect is mutual: If you feel nervous or scared thinking that a conversation about boundaries might affect the dynamics with your match, it is a valid emotion. It is essential to evaluate how they receive and respond to your boundaries now rather than be disappointed later. It is equally important to understand and respect your match's boundaries and know that it is a two-way street of communication! Know when it's time to walk away: Lastly, the onus to take actions whenever appropriate to reduce harm for ourselves and potentially others lies with us. Tinder focuses on delivering experiences that encourage healthy interactions and offers industry-leading safety features that give members full control over their experience such as Block Profile, in-app reporting, the newly launched long-press reporting, and Does This Bother You? that asks members this question when they receive a potentially offensive message on Tinder. If you decide to meet your match for the first time, it is a good idea to inform your support system about the place you will be meeting, and what your exit strategy will be if anything feels uncomfortable.

As online dating increases our chances of making a connection, committing to a few dating boundaries can make this journey safer and more pleasurable. To empower young women in India to prioritise their wellbeing in the world of online dating, Tinder has recently launched Tinder Love and Care (TLC), a dating wellness guide developed in collaboration with That Sassy Thing.

TLC features advice and insights from prominent female experts and queer voices in India, covering a range of topics such as sexual health, intimacy, and fostering honest conversations with dates, all while prioritizing self-care.

(IANSlife can be contacted at ianslife@ians.in)
Washington, May 17 : US President Joe Biden and Republican leaders have expressed cautious optimism that a deal to raise the US debt ceiling is within reach, following emergency talks at the White House.

But the Republican House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy told reporters the two sides are still far apart, the BBC reported.

The standoff has forced Biden to cut short a foreign trip.

Without a deal, the US could enter a calamitous default on its $31.4 trillion debt as soon as June 1.

A failure by the government to meet its debt obligations could trigger global financial chaos, the BBC reported.

The President said Tuesday's hour-long Oval Office meeting was "good, productive", sounding upbeat about the prospects of an agreement.

McCarthy said afterwards he believed a deal was possible by the end of this week.

Asked about the risk of the US falling off a fiscal cliff, the California Congressman told the BBC: "The great thing about that question is we've already taken default off the table." The House Speaker also told reporters a Biden-appointed representative would negotiate directly with his staff, which he said was a sign that "the structure of how we negotiate has improved.

The President is due to fly to the G7 summit in Japan on Wednesday.

He was then expected to head to Papua New Guinea and Australia for further meetings.

But he will now return after the May 19-21 summit ends in Hiroshima to "ensure that Congress takes action" to avert a default, the White House said in a statement.

The so-called Quad meeting in Sydney has now been cancelled, and the leaders will attempt to meet on the sidelines of the G7, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 17. Azerbaijan appreciates the contribution of the international community to the process of normalizing relations with Armenia, Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov said on May 17 at the 4th Summit of Heads of State and Government of the Council of Europe (Iceland), Trend reports.

The minister said that despite a series of negotiations in recent months, progress still falls short of Azerbaijan's expectations.

In the context of the contribution of the international community to the process of normalizing relations, Bayramov appreciates the efforts made within the framework of the Council of Europe to strengthen the trust between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

Will be updated
Lucknow, May 17 : Senior Supreme Court advocate Zafaryab Jilani, who was the lawyer for the Muslim side in Ayodhya's Ram Janmabhoomi and Babri Masjid dispute, died here in Lucknow on Wednesday. He was 73.

Jilani had been ailing for some time now and breathed his last at a hospital in Nishatganj.

He has been a member of the Muslim Personal Law Board. Apart from this, he has also held the post of Chairman of Babri Masjid Action Committee and Additional Advocate General of UP.

Muslim clerics and scholars have expressed grief at his demise.
Chennai, May 17 : With the death toll in the spurious liquor tragedy touching 22, and around 55 people hospitalised in Tamil Nadu, the opposition parties have trained their guns on the DMK government.

A group of more than 50 people had consumed illicit brew at Ekkiyarkuppam fishing hamlet in Marakkan, Villupuram district of Tamil Nadu on Saturday. Many of them later complained of nausea, vomiting and itching in body parts and failing eye sight. By Saturday night, six people lost their lives.

Meanwhile, 50 km away from Marakkanam at Maduranthakam in Chengalpattu district also many people after drinking locally procured brew complained of breathlessness, vomiting and nausea. By Saturday night and Sunday, nearly six people lost their lives in Madhuranthakam also.

Till Wednesday morning, 22 people have lost their lives in one of the gravest hooch tragedies of Tamil Nadu. Around 55 people from both Marakkanam and Maruthanthakam are in hospitals and many have complained of impaired vision.

The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has already issued a notice to the Tamil Nadu government on the hooch tragedy.

The opposition has come out strongly against the government with the leader of opposition, Edappadi K. Palaniswami (EPS), demanding the resignation of Chief Minister M.K. Stalin and State Excise and Prohibition Minister, Senthil Balaji for the hooch deaths.

The BJP has also called upon the Chief Minister to take stringent action against those who were involved in supplying industrial alcohol for making diluted alcohol.

The opposition parties are planning to launch a major campaign across Tamil Nadu against the illicit liquor and alleged involvement of local DMK leaders in procuring and distributing illicit liquor which led to the death of 22 people.
May 17 : The much awaited trailer for Extraction 2 is out, the movie is a direct follow-up to the action thriller Extraction from 2020. Stuntman turned filmmaker Sam Hargravere turns to direct the sequel, alongside producers Joe and Anthony Russo.

The sequel stars Chris Hemsworth, Golshifteh Farahani, Daniel Bernhardt, and Tinatin Dalakishvili.

In the first instalment, Rake had to extract a boy safely from India. This time he must rescue the family of a ruthless Georgian gangster from the prison where they are being held.

TYLER RAKE IS ALIVE AND HES COMING BACK AS HIS TRAIN JUMPING, MID-AIR FIGHTING, FIRE BLAZING USUAL SELF 



Extraction 2 arrives June 16, in English, Hindi, Tamil and Telugu. pic.twitter.com/ogj3b8DGg7  Netflix India (@NetflixIndia) May 16, 2023

After barely surviving the events of the first movie, Rake is back as the Australian black ops mercenary, tasked with another deadly mission: rescuing the battered family of a ruthless Georgian gangster from the prison where they are being held.

The screenplay is written by Joe Russo; originally based on the graphic novel "Ciudad".

Extraction 2 starts streaming on Netflix from June 16th, 2023.
Lucknow, May 17 : To mark nine years of the Narendra Modi government at the Centre, BJP in Uttar Pradesh will hold a month-long statewide campaign starting from May 30.

The party will hold public meetings in every Lok Sabha constituency of the state and reach out to the influential classes like doctors, engineers, lawyers and teachers by holding conferences at district level.

The campaign will be organised by frontal wings of the party like Yuva Morcha, Mahila Morcha, Kisan Morcha, Backward Class Morcha, SC Morcha and Minority Morcha.

The party also plans to hold conventions to reach out to beneficiaries of various government schemes in each Assembly constituency. This segment, known as 'labharthis' have played a crucial role in voting the Yogi government back to power in the 2022 Assembly polls.

UP BJP state general secretary Sanjay Rai said a meeting of the regional working committee will be organised in Noida on Wednesday. It will be inaugurated by UP BJP chief Bhupendra Chaudhary.

BJP vice president and state in-charge Radha Mohan Singh will preside over a meeting in Varanasi the same day.

The Braj and Gorakhpur regions will hold meetings on May 18 while Kanpur and Avadh region meetings will be held on May 19 to ensure the success of the programme.
New Delhi, May 17 : The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Wednesday arrested a former Navy commander for helping freelance journalist Vivek Raghuvanshi in getting sensitive information related to the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).

The probe agency had also arrested Raghuvanshi earlier in the day for allegedly sharing the classified information with intelligence agencies of foreign nations, including Pakistan.

The former commander has beeb identified as Ashish Pathak.

The two will be produced before a CBI court later in the day and the probe agency is likely to seek their custodial remand.

"Raghuvanshi was involved in the illegal collection of sensitive information. He collected minute details of the DRDO defence projects and their progress, sensitive details about the future procurement of Indian armed forces which reveal the strategic preparedness of country's classified communications/ information relating to national security, details of the strategic and diplomatic talks of India with our friendly countries and shared this classified information with intelligence agencies of foreign countries," a CBI official said.

The CBI had registered the case on December 9, 2022, under Section 3 of Official Secrets Act read with Section 120-B of Indian Penal Code (IPC), after receiving a complaint from the DRDO.

The agency also conducted raids at 12 locations, including Delhi-NCR and Jaipur. in this connection at the premises of the accused and others.

During investigation, certain documents containing sensitive information were recovered from Raghuvanshi's possession.

Further probe is underway.
New Delhi, May 17 : The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is currently conducting raids at 12 locations -- 10 in Delhi and two in Rajasthan -- in connection with the alleged corruption in the Kiru hydro-electric power project in Jammu and Kashmir.

The places belong to the former media advisor of ex-J&K Governor Satya Pal Malik, three Chartered Accountants, and others.

According to sources, the searches are being carried out as part of an investigation into corruption related to the power project.

The source said that the two locations being raided in Delhi are -- Defence Colony and West End area, and both belong to Sunak Bali.

In West Delhi's Nangloi, two places belonging to two other alleged suspects -- Virender Singh Rana and one belonging to Kanwar Singh Rana -- are also being raided. Additionally, a raid is underway at the residence of Anita, a resident of Dwarka, also said to be involved in the scam. In Rajasthan, the raids are taking place at the premises of Dr. Priyanka Chaudhary in Jaipur and Barmer.

The CBI has gathered crucial information about their alleged involvement in the scam through their bank details and other documents.

Sources state that a case was registered on April 20 based on a request from Satya Pal Malik, the former Governor of erstwhile Jammu and Kashmir state.

The case was filed against Navin Kumar Choudhary, IAS, who was the Chairman of Chenab Valley Power Projects Private Limited (CVPPPL) at the time, along with M.S. Babu (then MD, CVPPPL), M.K. Mittal (then Director, CVPPPL), Arun Kumar Mishra (then Director, CVPPPL), and Patel Engineering Ltd. It was alleged that they attempted to bribe Malik.

"The FIR was filed in relation to malpractices in awarding a contract worth Rs 2,200 crore for the civil works of the Kiru Hydro Electric Power Project (HEP) to a private company in 2019. The guidelines regarding e-tendering for the award of the Civil Works package of the Kiru Hydroelectric Project were not followed. Although a decision was made in the Board Meeting of CVPPPL to re-tender through e-tendering with reverse auction after cancelling the ongoing tendering process, this decision was not implemented (as per the decision taken in the next Board meeting). As a result, the tender was eventually awarded to the said private company," stated the CBI source.
Bhopal, May 17 : The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Wednesday raided a house in Madhya Pradesh's Bhind in connection with the terror funding case and detained a person for interrogation, officials said here.

According to state Home Minister Narottam Mishra, NIA's raid was the part of investigation following the arrest of 11 members of radical Islamist group Hizb-Ut-Tahrir last week.

NIA has also carried out searches at more than 100 locations in six states, including Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand over alleged links to terror funding.

The arrested person has been identified as Narendra Singh, a resident of Bhind district. Police claimed action was taken after a series of foreign currency transactions were found in Narendra and his son Jitendra Singh's bank accounts.

During preliminary investigation, police claimed to have found that Narendra's nephew is working abroad and the money he received in his bank account was sent by him.

"NIA has detained one person for further interrogation. The arrested person is the driver and therefore trying to find out the sources of massive money received from foreign bank accounts. Further investigation is underway," Mishra told IANS.

The anti-terror agency in close coordination with state police forces conducted raids on the premises and other places linked to suspects. The raids are underway, he further added.

Notably, NIA has become highly active in the state since last month.

On Tuesday, the officials conducted searches at the residence of a former SIMI activist Abdul Raqib Qureshi, in Khandwa, on suspicion of his links to the terrorist organisation IS.

Similarly, last week, the probe agency conducted raids in Bhopal and Chhindwara and arrested 11 activists of radical Islamist group Hizb-Ut-Tahrir.

Provocative literature, electronic gadgets and cash were seized from their possession. During interrogation, it was revealed that the HuT members used 'Love Jihad' to recruit members.
New Delhi, May 17 : Passengers on board a routine Air India flight from Delhi to Sydney suffered injuries after the aircraft encountered severe turbulence.

Fortunately, none of the injured passengers required hospitalisation, and all of them received immediate medical attention upon landing at the Sydney airport.

The incident occurred on Tuesday when the flight AAI-302 suddenly encountered a zone of turbulent weather, a senior Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) official said here on Wednesday.

Several passengers suffered minor injuries, including cuts, bruises and sprains, as a result of the severe turbulence.

According to DGCA officials, cabin crew members swiftly responded to the situation, attending to the injured passengers and ensuring their safety.

"Basic medical assistance, including first aid, was promptly provided to those in need. However, due to the non-life-threatening nature of the injuries, no passengers required hospitalisation upon landing in Sydney," the officials added.

There was however, no immediate response from Air India.
Tokyo, May 17 : Temperatures across Japan on Wednesday are expected to be the highest of the year so far, the weather agency said, calling on people to take precautions against heatstroke.

According to the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA), a Foehn phenomenon, in which dry winds coming down from mountains push up temperatures, will add to a high-pressure system, causing temperatures to soar and leading to dry conditions on much of the Pacific side of eastern and northern Japan.

Some areas had high temperatures not usually seen until June or July, Xinhua news agency quoted the JMA as saying.

The daytime high could hit a record 36 degrees Celsius in Maebashi city of Gunma prefecture and 35 degrees in Chichibu, Saitama prefecture, according to the weather agency.
Lahore, May 17 : The interim government of Punjab province on Wednesday gave a 24-hour deadline to the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) to hand over the "30-40 terrorists that have taken refuge" at former Prime Minister Imran Khans Zaman Park residence in Lahore to the police.

"PTI should handover these terrorists or the law will take its course," Geo News quoted provincial caretaker Information Minister Aamir Mir as saying while addressing a press conference in Lahore.

He also added that the government was aware about the presence of these "terrorists" as it had credible intelligence reports.

"The intelligence report that has come is very alarming," said Mir.

He added that the agencies were able to confirm the presence of the "terrorists" in Zaman Park through geo-fencing, Geo News reported.

"PTI is starting to behave like a non-state actor," said Mir, adding that the PTI chief has been targeting the military since over a year and urged the party to hand over the "terrorists".

"The PTI leadership had planned the attack before the arrest (of Khan)," said Mir.

The Minister shared that attacks on military installations were carried out during May 9 violent protests under a set plan, adding that the government has adopted a "zero tolerance policy" towards it and interim Chief Minister Mohsin Naqvi has given a "freehand" to the Punjab Police to deal with "arsonists", Geo News reported.

"Multiple people were in touch with Zaman Park during the attack on the Corps Commander House. They will be made an example so that no one will carry out such an act in the future," said Mir.

He also shared that it has been decided that those who attacked military installations will be tried in military courts.

"Those who have been arrested so far are being fully scrutinised. Cases are being forwarded after 100 per cent confirmation (of their involvement)," said Mir.

The Minister added that the "PTI miscreants" crossed a "red line" on May 9.

He added that over 3,400 attackers have been arrested and 254 cases have been registered, Geo News reported.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 17. Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov, during his working visit to Iceland, met with UK Minister of State for Middle East, North Africa, South Asia, and UN Tariq Ahmad, Trend reports citing the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministrys tweet.

According to the ministry, during the meeting, the parties discussed the dynamic development of relations between Azerbaijan and the UK, the cooperation in various fields, and the current regional situation.

The working visit of Bayramov to Iceland began on May 16.

During the visit, he will take part in the IV Summit of Heads of State and Government of the Council of Europe in Reykjavik, as well as hold bilateral meetings with other officials who will take part in the event.
Panaji, May 17 : Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Wednesday cleared air on supply of 'plastic rice', stating "it would be costlier to create plastic rice, than to produce real rice." With the incident of Civil Supplies Department, which supplies rice infested with maggots, mites and fungus to ration card holders of the coastal state, there was a rumour that even plastic rice was supplied to some fair price shops. However, after checking the godowns by the Food and Drug Administration, government has refuted the allegation of plastic rice being supplied.

"We have checked the rice. It is not made of plastic. It can't be of plastic. Hence one who 'speaks' should speak responsibly and those who 'write' should verify before writing. Because it creates confusion in the minds of people. In fact, it would be costlier to create plastic rice, than to produce real rice," Sawant speaking to reporters said.

He has refuted allegations that 'plastic' rice was being supplied through fair price shops.

Sawant also said that it is false propaganda and hence confusions should not be created.

Sawant said that what was referred to as plastic rice was actually 'fortified rice'.

"It is approved by the Food Corporation of India and only then supplied through the public distribution system," Sawant said.

Civil Supplies Minister Ravi Naik has said that action will be taken against officers responsible for supply of spoiled rice.

Naik also refuted the allegation of plastic rice being supplied to people. "Does anyone ever eat plastic", he questioned.

The opposition parties in Goa have targeted the BJP government over the issue, alleging it has failed to give quality rice to the public.
Kolkata, May 17 : A West Bengal minister and a Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha member confronted a massive protest by the locals on Wednesday as the two reached the firecracker factory at Egra in East Midnapore district where an explosion claimed nine lives.

The explosion took place on Tuesday.

As the West Bengal minister in-charge of the environment department, Dr Manas Bhunia and the Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha member Dola Sen reached the spot within minutes they were surrounded by a group of people who raised slogans accusing the state's ruling party as being responsible for the tragedy. Some of the protesters even shouted slogans describing Trinamool Congress leaders as "thieves".

However, both Sen and Bhunia remained calm and instead of getting into an altercation. They tried to pacify the local people by saying the state administration will take all responsibility for compensating the families of the deceased as well as for those who have been injured.

However, their persuasion efforts did not work out much and the tempo of slogans aggravated. Some of the protesters even questioned the minister and the MP on why the police administration had been reluctant in taking action against the illegal firecracker factory.

"Why are you here now? What is the point in coming here now?" a protester was heard asking the minister. Finally in face of massive protests, Bhunia and Sen left the spot. However, before leaving the village they met the family members of a victim.

"We came to the spot following an instruction from the chief minister, Mamata Banerjee. But some rowdy elements tried to create chaos over our visit and tried to provoke us. However, we did not get trapped in that. So we are going back after meeting the family members of a victim," Bhunia said.

Meanwhile, the owner of the factory, Krishnapada Bag a.k.a. Bhanu, a former Trinamool Congress panchayat member, continues to be on the run. The police are trying to track him from his mobile tower location.
Mumbai, May 17 : Actor Sikandar Kher, who left a mark with his delectable performance in 'Monica, O My Darling', is currently shooting for season 3 of his streaming show 'Aarya' in which he essays the role of Daulat.

The actor recently took to his Instagram to share a picture from the sets of the show in which he can be seen with the lead of the show - actress and former Miss Universe Sushmita Sen, who essays the titular role in 'Aarya 3'.

He captioned the picture, "Daulat always there to serve you, protect and lean on walls. Aarya 3, Dugga Dugga and Thank you (sic)".

The crew and cast recently resumed shooting in Mumbai of the series after wrapping up the schedule in Rajasthan. Sikandar has found immense love for the show helmed by Ram Madhvani and since the release of the show has become one of the most impressive actors in the OTT space.
Bhopal, May 17 : Veteran Congress leader and Rajya Sabha MP Digvijaya Singh, who does not spare any opportunity to attack Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia, has expressed his willingness to contest 2024 Lok Sabha elections against the latter, if asked by the party.

Digvijaya was responding to media queries during a press conference on Tuesday. Asked if he would contest the general election from Guna, Digvijaya responded saying he is a Rajya Sabha MP, but he belongs to Guna and as a Congress member he would follow the party's instructions.

"See, I will do anything the party orders me to," he said, adding that he was a Rajya Sabha member presently and there was no need for him to contest the general elections. "But, I am a soldier of the party and would do whatever the party directs me to," Digvijaya added.

Notably, Guna is the home district of Digvijaya Singh who holds command in the politics of Guna and Raghogarh. He is currently touring 66 Assembly segments identified as "vulnerable" by the Madhya Pradesh Congress on the basis of multiple electoral losses in the past.

It would be pertinent to mention that both Scindia and Digvijaya Singh unsuccessfully contested the 2019 Lok Sabha elections as Congress candidates. While Scindia lost to one time protege-turned opponent K. P. Yadav, his first defeat in the stronghold of Guna, Singh lost to BJP's Pragya Singh Thakur.

Ambitious politician, who served as Chief Minister from 1993 to 2003, was ready to contest for Congress' president. However, he withdrew his nomination at the last minute.

Scindia's shifting into the BJP with 22 Congress MLAs in 2020 paved the way for BJP's return to power in the state.
Imphal, May 17 : Assam Rifles jawan Alok Rao, who was injured in an attack by militants in ethnic strife-hit Manipur's Senapati district on May 10, succumbed to his injuries at Command Hospital in Kolkata on Wednesday, defence officials said.

As per officials, militants had fired during an Army-Assam Rifles area domination patrol at Dolaithabi, leaving Rifleman Rao of 18 Assam Rifles injured. After the security personnel retaliated, the extremists managed to escape.

Rao was evacuated to Military Hospital in Manipur by helicopter and then to Command Hospital in Kolkata.

Rao was the first para-military personnel to be martyred after the Army and Assam Rifles were deployed in Manipur, where widespread ethnic violence broke out on May 3, claiming the lives of 73 people and injuring 250, and resulted destruction government and private properties.

Defence sources said that over 7,000 Army and Assam Rifles personnel, including women personnel, have been engaged in area domination to ensure early restoration of complete normalcy in Manipur.
Srinagar, May 17 : A Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) trooper shot himself dead with his service rifle in J&K's Pulwama district on Wednesday, officials said.

Officials said that the trooper was posted in Awantipora area of Pulwama.

"The body has been shifted to police control room for autopsy. A case has been registered in this incident. The reasons those forced the trooper to take the extreme step are being ascertained," an official said.
Shahjahanpur : , May 17 (IANS) Tension prevailed in Tilhar in Shahjahanpur district after a youth was accused of sharing a social media post on Prophet Muhammad.

The police said on Wednesday that security has been stepped up in the area of the district.

The accused youth has since been arrested and police personnel have been deployed at his house to prevent any flare-ups.

Superintendent of Police S. Anand said that one Varun Dhawan, a resident of Dabhaura village under Tilhar Police Station, had shared a post related to the Prophet on his social media account on Tuesday evening.

He had picked the post from another social media handle, the SP said.

The accused later deleted the post, which was in Urdu, and also released a video saying he had shared the post by mistake, the police officer said.

The accused also said in the video that his intention was never to hurt the sentiments of any religion, but by then the post had gone viral, he added.

Later, on Tuesday evening, hundreds of people reached the Tilhar Police Station creating a ruckus and demanding that Dhawan be arrested immediately.

Circle Officer (CO) Tilhar, Priyank Jain, said as soon as he received information about the matter, he went to the spot and tried to pacify the people but the size of the crowd kept growing.

More forces were called in at the station and a team was sent to arrest the accused.

Dhawan was taken into custody and sent to another police station in the district, the CO said.

The police officer said the protesters continued to agitate despite the arrest and dispersed only when newly elected municipal chairman Hajra Begum's husband appealed to them to return to their homes, the CO said.

However, some protesters headed towards Dhawan's village, forcing police to deploy forces outside his house, he said.

Dhawan has been arrested allegedly for "hurting religious sentiments".
Chennai, May 17 : A 19-year-old migrant worker from Odisha, who was set ablaze along with three others at Jedarapalayam in Namakkal district, died on Wednesday.

Manoj had suffered severe burn injuries along with three others on May 14 at the shed in Jedarapalayam in Namakkal district where they were staying.

Another person, Sukkuram from Chattisgarh, also suffered severe burn injuries, and is battling for his life in a private hospital in Chennai.

It may be noted that a group of unidentified persons had set afire a shed in which migrant workers of a jaggery unit were staying at Jedarapalayam in Namakkal district.

The Namakkal district police is on a manhunt to capture those who set ablaze the shed.
New Delhi, May 17 : The India Cellular and Electronics Association (ICEA) on Wednesday welcomed the Centre's revised Production Linked Incentive (PLI) for IT hardware that included laptops and tablets.

The IT hardware industry is targeted to reach a production of $24 billion by 2025-26, with exports anticipated to be in the range of $12-17 billion during the same period.

The revised PLI scheme has increased its budgetary outlay to Rs 17,000 crore and expanded its tenure to six years.

With an anticipated incremental investment of Rs 2,430 crore, the scheme aims to generate an incremental production amounting to Rs 3,35,000 crore.

Moreover, the PLI 2.0 is expected to create 75,000 direct jobs along with over 2,00,000 indirect jobs, significantly increasing employment opportunities in the sector.

"This well-drafted scheme embodies Prime Minister Narendra Modi's commitment to establishing India as a global electronics manufacturing hub. It will ensure investments across the IT hardware value chain, demonstrating the government's receptiveness to industry inputs and their determination to translate words into action," said Pankaj Mohindroo, Chairman, ICEA.

The scheme has also made the investment criteria more flexible, extending it over a six-year period compared to the previous four-year span. To further incentivise localisation, additional optional incentives have been introduced.

"This revised PLI scheme will not only foster domestic manufacturing but also likely benefit major global manufacturers of IT hardware products such as laptops and tablets. We urge the global industry to acknowledge this and consider India as a crucial destination for manufacturing IT hardware products," said Mohindroo.

Domestic mobile phone manufacturing has set a strong precedent of large-scale manufacturing and exports.

The mobile phone export sector has achieved 100 per cent export growth, crossing Rs 90,000 crore in exports for the first time ever in FY 2022-23.

Prabhu Ram, Head, Industry Intelligence Group, CMR, told IANS that India today has the potential to capitalise on the significant opportunities presented by ongoing supply chain realignments.

"The PLI 2.0 will provide the impetus to boost India's electronics manufacturing competitiveness and potentially enhance its global presence in the value chains of IT hardware, servers, and laptops," Ram noted.
Hyderabad, May 17 : Telangana Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan on Wednesday assured that she would bring to the notice of the Centre the problems faced by five villages of Telangana which were merged with Andhra Pradesh.

She gave the assurance while interacting with the tribals at Bhadrachalam town in Bhadradri Kothagudem district.

Bhadrachalam MLA P. Veeraiah briefed the Governor on the problems faced by the people. He urged her to use her good offices to ensure that Telangana gets back five gram panchayats merged with Andhra Pradesh.

The MLA told the Governor that people of these gram panchayats were suffering due to floods in Godavari river. He called for finding a permanent solution to the problems of floods.

The governor gave the assurance that she would take up with the Centre the issue of villages merged with Andhra Pradesh.

Earlier, Tamilisai Soundararajan reached Bhadrachalam from Hyderabad. She had a darshan at Sitaramachandra Swamy temple. Temple officials and priests welcomed her.

She told reporters that she prayed for the well-being of all people of the country.

She later participated in public programme and District Red Cross Conference.

After the programmes at Bhadrachalam, the Governor visited Khammam to participate in the Y20 workshop at Sri Chaitanya Institute of Technology and Research, (formally KITS, Khammam), Ponnekal.

It may be recalled that after massive floods in Bhadrachalam and surrounding villages last year, Telangana's transport minister P. Ajay Kumar had demanded that seven mandals (blocks) merged with Andhra Pradesh in 2014 be handed back to Telangana.

After bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh to carve out Telangana state, the Centre had issued an ordinance merging seven mandals of Telangana with Andhra Pradesh to facilitate construction of Polavaram project across Godavari in the neighbouring state.

The demand for demerger had evoked strong reaction from Andhra Pradesh.

On Ajay Kumar's demand to handover at least five villages near Bhadrachalam to Telangana, Andhra Pradesh's minister for water resources Ambati Rambabu had said that the demand should be made to the Centre.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 17. A group of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) operating in Azerbaijan issued a statement in protest with regard to the annual report of the US Department of State on International Religious Freedom, Trend reports.

An article about Azerbaijan in the report on International Religious Freedom for 2022 was recently published on the official website of the US Department of State.

"The report refers to Azerbaijan's allegedly "negligent" attitude to the protection of religious and cultural sites, and in particular in the territories recently liberated from the Armenian occupation. And this is not true. Throughout history, our country has faced injustice. Having suffered from the Armenian occupation of our territories for 30 years, now we are facing such a biased attitude. It is a pity that it comes from the US Department of State," the statement reads.

The statement notes that the signing by President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev on June 16, 2021 of the law "On freedom of Religion" once again shows that special importance is attached to this issue in the country.

Russian and Georgian Orthodox Churches, Armenian Apostolic Church, Seventh-day Adventist Church, Russian Molokans Church, Roman Catholic Church, Churches of Evangelists, Baptists and Jehovah's Witnesses, synagogues, Baha'i temples and other religious houses once again prove this multiculturalism in Azerbaijan and the presence of multi-confessional communities.

The statement also underlines that during the occupation of Azerbaijani lands, Armenia destroyed hundreds of monuments, mosques, and shrines there. At the same time, cemeteries were desecrated or completely destroyed, and the lands were turned into minefields.

According to the statement, Azerbaijan, in turn, strives to preserve any religious or cultural heritage. For it, the country has built a tolerant, multicultural society, and is proud of it.

In addition, the authors of the statement demanded, appealing to international organizations, to ensure that Armenia is held accountable for the destruction, including of religious monuments on the territory of Azerbaijan.
New Delhi, May 17 : A woman was found dead with multiple stab injuries in west Delhi's Subhash Nagar area, police said on Wednesday.

According to police, at around 2.45 p.m, a call was received regarding a murder following which a police team rushed to the spot, Rajouri Apartment in the Subhash Nagar area.

"A 35-year-old woman was found dead having multiple stab injuries. On inquiry, it was revealed that she was married to 75-year-old S.K. Gupta in November 2022. Gupta's son Amit, 45, who is handicapped, was present at the time of incident," a senior police official said.

"The crime team and Forensic team are at the spot for inspection. A case under section 302 (murder) of Indian Penal Code is being filed.

"Multiple teams have been formed to identify and nab the accused. Police teams are scanning CCTV cameras in the area for clues," the official added.
Amritsar: ADGP law and order, Punjab, Arpit Shukla addresses a press conference after a meeting with BSF at BSF Headquarter, at Khasa near Amritsar, Wednesday, May 17, 2023. (Photo:Pawan sharma/IANS) Image Source: IANS News

Amritsar: ADGP law and order, Punjab, Arpit Shukla addresses a press conference after a meeting with BSF at BSF Headquarter, at Khasa near Amritsar, Wednesday, May 17, 2023. (Photo:Pawan sharma/IANS) Image Source: IANS News

Amritsar: ADGP law and order, Punjab, Arpit Shukla addresses a press conference after a meeting with BSF at BSF Headquarter, at Khasa near Amritsar, Wednesday, May 17, 2023. (Photo:Pawan sharma/IANS) Image Source: IANS News

Amritsar: ADGP law and order, Punjab, Arpit Shukla addresses a press conference after a meeting with BSF at BSF Headquarter, at Khasa near Amritsar, Wednesday, May 17, 2023. (Photo:Pawan sharma/IANS) Image Source: IANS News

Amritsar, May 17 : Aiming to enhance the operational posture of the Border Security Force (BSF) and Punjab Police, a joint coordination meeting of senior officers of the bordering district was organised here on Wednesday.

The meeting was chaired by Special Director General of Police (Law and Order) Arpit Shukla and attended by the DIG Border Range Amritsar, the DIG Range Ferozepur and SSPs of seven bordering districts.

The BSF delegation was led by Atul Fulzele, IG, Punjab Frontier, who attended the meeting with all sector DIGs.

During the meeting, deliberations on various aspects of crimes taking place in the bordering area with support from across the border was done and a mutual agreement was reached to enhance the operational posture of the BSF and the police.

At the meeting, the emerging trends of terrorist-gangster-smuggler criminal nexus, sensitive issues like drug trafficking, capacity building in the area of counter drone measures and fast exchange of actionable information on real-time basis was deliberated upon, an official statement by the BSF said.

The importance was given to seamless coordination at multi-levels between the police and the BSF to counter the challenge of drug menace.

The net gain of the joint coordination meeting was to jointly endeavour to instill faith in the hearts and minds of the border population towards the uniformed forces and provide them with a sense of security.

The BSF and Punjab police are committed to continuing efforts to secure the borders and safeguard the interest of the citizens, added the statement.
New Delhi, May 17 : An Assistant Professor of Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha (GGSIP) University has been arrested for impersonating Delhi Lt Governor V.K. Saxena and calling the Vice Chancellor in September 2022 to appoint a particular candidate in the English Department, a Delhi Police official said on Wednesday.

The accused, identified as Rohit Singh, was arrested from IGI airport after he returned from UK on May 15. He had got his leave sanctioned after he called the VC on his landline phone in the guise of the LG.

According to police, Singh has admitted that he called the Vice Chancellor twice over the landline phone impersonating the LG.

"In the first instance, he got his leave sanctioned and in the second instance on September 30, he called the VC impersonating as LG to get his sister selected as Faculty in the English Department," said a senior police official.

The official said that police had registered an FIR on November 2, 2022 at Dwarka North police station and begun investigations after a complaint was received regarding a call made to Vice Chancellor, Dr. Mahesh Verma by an unidentified person impersonating the LG.

"To ascertain the veracity of the call, the Vice Chancellor had contacted the LG's Secretariat, which denied having made any such call and asked for the matter to be reported to police immediately," an official in LG office said.

"On his return from the UK, Rohit Singh was arrested at the IGI Airport and was produced before a court which sent him to police custody. On expiry on his police custody, he was produced before the court, which sent him into judicial custody. A look out circular was pending against him," said the official.

As per official, the LG had taken an extremely serious view in this matter of impersonation and emphasised that it has never been his style of functioning to make calls or entertain any request whatsoever, that involved out of turn favors, benefits or unethical practices.

The LG has also cautioned all concerned to strictly check with his Secretariat in case of any such calls/messages received by them, from someone impersonating him or using his name.
Lahore, May 17 : Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Wednesday that the roots of the mutinous attacks on the state, its symbols and sensitive installations on May 9 lay in the contents of Imran Khan's speeches over the past one year, media reports said.

In a tweet, Shehbaz Sharif said that Imran Khan has liberally deployed religious imagery to brand his political agitation as a war between truth and falsehood, Samaa TV reported.

"Imran Khan has relentlessly maligned and attacked the armed forces and the sitting Army chief and very cunningly prepared his cult with the slogans of 'Haqeeqi Azadi' aimed at inciting them for violence we witnessed on May 9," Sharif said.

"Listen to his speeches and you will get your answers," he added, Samaa TV reported.

The Prime Minister has directed the law enforcement agencies to leave no stone unturned to bring those involved in the incidents of vandalism, arson and violence to justice.

"At the same time, they should make sure that no innocent person gets punished," he said.

The interim Pakistan Punjab government has given a 24-hour deadline to the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) to hand over the "30-40 terrorists who have taken refuge" at Khan's Zaman Park residence in Lahore to the police, Geo News reported.

"PTI should handover these terrorists or the law will take its course," said caretaker Information Minister Aamir Mir while addressing a press conference in Lahore.

He added that the government is aware about the presence of these "terrorists" as it has credible intelligence report.

"The intelligence report that has come is very alarming," said Mir, adding that the agencies were able to confirm the presence of the "terrorists" in Zaman Park through geo-fencing, Geo News reported.

"PTI is starting to behave like a non-state actor," said Mir.

He added that the PTI chief has been targeting the military since over a year and urged the party to hand over the "terrorists".

"The PTI leadership had planned the attack before the arrest [of Imran Khan]," said Mir.
Kolkata, May 17 : While the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of West Bengal Police has launched its probe into the blast at an illegal fire-cracker factory at Egra in East Midnapore district that claimed nine lives on Tuesday by registering an FIR, questions are being raised as to why relevant sections under the Explosives Act have not been included in the First Information Report.

It is learnt that the FIR includes Sections 188 (illegal activities), 286 (negligent conduct with explosive substance) and 304 (causing death by negligence) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), along with Sections 24 (penalty for letting off rockets), and 26 (penalty for not taking out a licence for a warehouse or workshop) of the West Bengal Fire Services Act.

However, despite the loss of nine lives, not a single section under the Explosives Act has been included in the FIR. Now questions are being raised whether sections under the Explosives Act were deliberately excluded with the alleged intention to tone down the seriousness of the matter.

Kaushik Gupta, senior counsel at the Calcutta High Court, told IANS that prima facie it looks quite strange that sections under the Explosives Act were not included in the FIR, which is generally done in case of explosions of such nature.

"However, excluding sections under the Explosives Act does not mean that the same cannot be added in the future. The probe agency can include the relevant sections at a later stage," Gupta said.

The opposition parties are claiming that the police authorities are deliberately trying to underplay the incident to guard the ruling party leaders, who are allegedly involved in this tragedy.

According to state BJP spokesperson Samik Bhattacharya, whenever such tragedies happen, the first move of the state administration is to downplay the incident and the second is to underplay the process of investigation.

"The same thing is happening now and that is why we are demanding a National Investigation Agency (NIA) probe into the matter," he said.

Meanwhile, the Trinamool Congress leadership has rubbished the allegations and pointed out that Chief Minister Mamata Baenrjee had herself said that she is open to a NIA probe into the matter.
New Delhi, May 17 : The industry leaders and original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) on Wednesday welcomed the government's revised Production Linked Incentive (PLI) for IT hardware that included laptops, servers and tablets.

The revised PLI scheme has increased its budgetary outlay to Rs 17,000 crore and expanded its tenure to six years.

With an anticipated incremental investment of Rs 2,430 crore, the scheme aims to generate an incremental production amounting to Rs 3,35,000 crore.

Moreover, the PLI 2.0 is expected to create 75,000 direct jobs along with over 2,00,000 indirect jobs, significantly increasing employment opportunities in the sector.

"This well-drafted scheme embodies Prime Minister Narendra Modi's commitment to establishing India as a global electronics manufacturing hub. It will ensure investments across the IT hardware value chain, demonstrating the government's receptiveness to industry inputs and their determination to translate words into action," said Pankaj Mohindroo, Chairman, India Cellular and Electronics Association (ICEA).

The IT hardware industry is targeted to reach a production of $24 billion by 2025-26, with exports anticipated to be in the range of $12-17 billion during the same period.

"This revised PLI scheme will not only foster domestic manufacturing but also likely benefit major global manufacturers of IT hardware products such as laptops and tablets," Mohindroo added.

An HP spokesperson told IANS that the company has a long history of manufacturing in India and is committed to its business in the country.

"We are currently evaluating details of the programme along with its potential benefits to HP and its customers," said the company spokesperson.

Rajen Vagadia, VP, Qualcomm India and President, Qualcomm India and SAARC, told IANS that the PLI Scheme 2.0 will accelerate the domestic IT Hardware manufacturing ecosystem in India and enable businesses to grow beyond regional markets.

"Following the PLI Scheme's success in establishing a robust, globally recognized foundation for smartphone manufacture, PLI 2.0 will strengthen India's electronic and IT hardware industry further and its presence in the global value chain," said Vagadia.

Domestic mobile phone manufacturing has set a strong precedent of large-scale manufacturing and exports.

The mobile phone export sector has achieved 100 per cent export growth, crossing Rs 90,000 crore in exports for the first time ever in FY 2022-23.

A. Gururaj, MD, Optiemus Electronics, said they are manufacturing IT Hardware for many reputed brands under the current PLI and now with the PLI 2.0, "we are actively considering and evaluating our options to participate in this new phase of growth in electronics manufacturing".
New Delhi, May 17 : Novak Djokovic has hit out at Cameron Norrie after the Brit hit a game-winning smash that struck the Serbian in the calf during their last-16 match at the Italian Open on Tuesday.

It started with Norrie's relentless 'come on' and fist-pumps after every successful point which clearly bothered Djokovic.

That irritation escalated early in the second set when Norrie, who was down a set and a break, hit the Serb in the leg with an overhead smash, after Djokovic had turned his back and essentially conceded a point. The Serb appeared displeased with the smash and gave Norrie a long glare in response as the Brit raised his hand in apology.

Speaking about the incident during the post-match press conference, Djokovic accused Norrie of using tactics that were not in accordance with "fair play." "I did watch the replay when he hit me. Maybe you could say he didn't hit me deliberately. I don't know if he saw me. Peripherally you can always see where the player is positioned on the court. The ball was super slow and super close to the net. I just turned around because the point was over for me," the 35-year-old was quoted as saying by Eurosport.

There were also other instances of bad sportsmanship from Norrie as he asked for the trainer, and took a medical time-out, just as Djokovic was about to serve for the match.

"From the very beginning, I don't know, he was doing all the things that were allowed. He's allowed to take a medical timeout. He's allowed to hit a player. He's allowed to say 'c'mon' in the face more or less every single point from basically the first game.

"Those are the things that we players know in the locker room. It's not fair play, it's not how we treat each other. But, again, it's allowed, so..." Djokovic further said that he was not happy with the way the Brit conducted himself on the court.

"He brought the fire, and I responded to that. I'm not going to allow someone behaving like this just bending my head. I'm going to respond to that. That's all it is. What happens on the court, we leave it on the court, and we move on," he added.

Despite all the drama, Djokovic has his eyes on a bigger prize as he progressed to the Italian Open quarterfinals for the 17th year in a row with a 6-3 6-4 win over the British No. 1 as he chases his seventh title in Rome.
Thiruvananthapuram, May 17 : A Kerala Minister on Wednesday attacked Congress' Thiruvanthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor over his way of functioning and accused him of ignoring local affairs.

As Education Minister V. Sivankutty, Transport Minister Antony Raju, and Food and Civil Supplies Minister G.R. Anil were speaking to the media on the eve of the Pinarayi Vijayan government celebrating its second anniversary, Sivankutty launched an attack on Tharoor for not attending the local programmes of the state government.

"No one knows where his MPLAD Fund is being utilized. May be he has a feeling that even if he doesn't do anything, he will win," said Sivankutty.

Tharoor's style of working is seen as contrary to how other politicians operate.

He made his debut in politics in 2009 general elections and won from Thiruvanthapuram with a margin of nearly a lakh votes, but in 2014, got a fright as his margin plunged down to around 14,000 votes margin - attributed to the controversy following the mysterious death of his wife Sunanda Pushkar at a Delhi hotel. However, in 2019, he bounced back with an almost identical margin as in his debut.

Though he unsuccessfully contested the election to the post of the Congress President, his stock still remains high.
New Delhi, May 17 : The Supreme Court on Wednesday stayed a National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC) directing at a five-star hotel in Delhi to pay a compensation of Rs 2 crore to a woman for a faulty haircut and bad hair treatment.

A bench of Justices Aniruddha Bose and Sudhanshu Dhulia issued notice to model Aashna Roy on an appeal filed by ITC challenging the NCDRC award.

The top court, in its order, said: "Admittedly, the respondent has received Rs 25 lakh along with interest. In such circumstances, there shall be an interim order staying the operation of the judgment impugned." The bench noted that compensation quantification cannot be on mere asking, rather it has to be on material evidence. ITC had moved the apex court against the NCDRC order, which reaffirmed its September 2021 order, directing it to pay Rs 2 crore as compensation.

In April this year, the NCDRC reaffirmed its earlier order after relying on e-mails and applications of proposed modelling and acting contracts presented by Roy.

In February this year, the Supreme Court had set aside the NCDRC order awarding Rs 2 crore compensation to the woman for a bad haircut and hair treatment, saying "amount of Rs 2 crore would be extremely excessive and disproportionate", and "quantification of compensation has to be based upon material evidence and not on the mere asking".

Roy had visited the saloon of the Hotel ITC Maurya, New Delhi in April 2018 for hair styling so that she would have a clean and groomed appearance before the interview panel where she was to appear. She gave specific instructions to the hairdresser regarding the haircut.

Roy said as a result of the faulty haircut, she could not continue to lead her normal busy life as she no longer looked pretty; she had to face great humiliation and embarrassment; her career in the world of modelling was completely shattered and she went into a state of depression.

Later, the hotel offered her hair treatment free of cost. In May 2018, Roy went to the salon for this purpose. However, during the treatment, she claimed her hair and scalp were completely damaged with excess ammonia and consequently, there was a lot of irritation.

She filed a complaint before the NCDRC alleging deficiency in service, seeking written apology from the management as also compensation of Rs 3 crore for harassment, humiliation, mental trauma, loss of career, loss of income, and loss of future prospects.

In September 2021, the NCDRC awarded Rs 2 crore compensation to her. ITC Ltd moved the apex court challenging this order.
New Delhi, May 17 : India saw only 100 deals valued at $5 billion, with a 47 per cent decline in deal volumes and a steep 89 per cent decline in values compared to April 2022, a report showed on Wednesday.

The M&A deal activity saw a significant downtrend both in terms of deal volumes by 53 per cent and deal values, with only 24 deals at $477 million as compared to 51 deals of $42.9 billion in April 2022, according to the Grant Thornton Bharat Dealtracker report.

Top five deals for the month accounted for 81 per cent of overall M&A deal values, valuing $387 million. Of these, $218 million came from the pharma, healthcare, and biotech sector followed by deals in the energy sector.

"Global macroeconomic factors, turmoil in the banking sector in the US and Euro zone, fall in the price of commodities, specifically crude oil price continues to dampen the deal activity," said Shanthi Vijetha, Partner, Growth, Grant Thornton Bharat.

However, domestic M&A deal-making continues to be resilient backed by continued strong domestic demand.

"We may also expect to see an uptick in PE activity in the coming months on the back of start-ups' focus on profitability, resulting in investors turning bullish on select pockets of the Indian market," Vijetha added.

Private Equity (PE) activity saw 76 deals valued at $4.5 billion. The funding winter continued to cause a 45 per cent decline in investment volumes.

The startup sector continued to drive the volumes drawing investors' attention towards innovation and tech, the report noted.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 17. Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov held a meeting with the Minister of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation of Spain, Jose Manuel Albares Bueno at the IV Summit of Heads of State and Government of the Council of Europe in Reykjavik, Trend reports via the Azerbaijani Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

According to the ministry, topical issues on the agenda of bilateral and multilateral cooperation between Azerbaijan and Spain, events taking place in the region have been discussed at the meeting.

Bayramov noted that there is cooperation between the two countries in various fields, including political, economic, energy security, cultural, humanitarian, tourism, and others.

In particular, it was mentioned that there are also opportunities for cooperation in the development of alternative energy resources.

The importance of mutual visits in the development of bilateral relations was also emphasized, as well as the importance of increasing the number of contacts in terms of strengthening political dialogue.

Informing about the current situation in the region in the post-conflict period (second Karabakh war), Azerbaijan's efforts to restore its territories liberated from Armenian occupation and peace-building, the minister pointed out that the constant military and political provocations of the Armenian side, and the continuation of the mine threat are among the main challenges.

Moreover, Azerbaijan's commitment to the peace process based on the principles of territorial integrity and sovereignty was brought to the attention of the Spanish side.

In turn, Bueno expressed his country's interest in cooperation with Azerbaijan both at the bilateral level and within the framework of international organizations. In particular, the role of political consultations in the development of relations between the two countries was positively assessed.

The minister also noted that Spain supports the process of normalization of relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia.

The sides also exchanged views on other issues of mutual interest.
Amritsar, May 17 : To keep a tab on the movement of drones, a new emerging threat, and cross-border smuggling, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has sanctioned Rs 20 crore for the installation of CCTV cameras at strategic locations along the international border, Special Director General of Police (DGP), Arpit Shukla, said on Wednesday.

DGP Gaurav Yadav has also declared a reward of Rs 1 lakh for providing information about drone movements for the seizure of weapons and narcotics, he said.

The Special DGP, accompanied by BSF IG (Frontier Headquarters) Atul Fulzele, was in Khasa in Amritsar district to hold a joint coordination-cum-review meeting to further strengthen the security along the border to prevent cross-border smuggling.

The meeting was held in the backdrop of seizure of 15 kg narcotics by the BSF on Tuesday after shooting down a drone near the international border in Amritsar sector.

DIG (Border Range) Narinder Bhargav and DIG (Ferozepur Range) Ranjit Singh Dhillon, along with four DIGs and four Commandants of the BSF, were among the senior officials who attended the meeting.

Giving a call for greater synergy and teamwork between the BSF and Punjab Police, Special DGP Shukla said it is high time that both the elite forces work in tandem to counter the drone operations on the borders, which have emerged as the new threat.

He also stressed the need to carry out evidence-based and proactive policing to prevent smuggling of narcotics and weapons into Punjab from across the border.

The Special DGP asked the Senior Superintendents of Police (SSPs) of the border districts to intensify the police force as a second line of defence which will help prevent the collection of contraband dropped by drones on the Indian side of the border.

He also discussed the strategic locations and hotspots in the border villages to install CCTV cameras to keep vigil on Indian nationals involved in cross-border smuggling.

Shukla asked the BSF officials to share inputs of movements of suspected persons with the police so that they can keep a sharp vigil on their activities and ensure penal action against those found involved in any criminal activity.

He also proposed to activate village defence committees in the border areas to counter the nexus between smugglers and criminals.

"These committees will work as eyes and ears of the police and supplement the efforts of the police to wipe out drugs, terrorists and gangsters from the border state," said Shukla.

At the meeting, deliberations on various aspects of crimes taking place in the bordering area with support from across the border were made and a mutual agreement was reached to enhance the operational posture of the BSF and the police, an official statement by the BSF said.

The emerging trends of terrorist-gangster-smuggler-criminal nexus, sensitive issues like drugs trafficking, capacity building in the bordering areas, and fast exchange of actionable information on real-time basis were also deliberated upon.

The BSF and Punjab police are committed to continue with their efforts to secure the borders and safeguard the interest of the citizens, the statement added.
New Delhi, May 17 : A 27-year-old woman, impersonating as a junior resident in AIIMS, was arrested for cheating people on pretext of speedy treatment in the hospital, a Delhi Police official said on Wednesday.

The official said that the woman, whose name was not disclosed by the police, is B.Sc graduate in Microbiology from Bareilly and Master in Science in Forensics.

"She has knowledge of forensics and using her background, she purchased a white doctor's coat having her name stitched on it as 'Junior Resident' in Forensics and Toxicology department and hence, used to cheat people on pretext of speedy treatment at AIIMS Hospital for her personal greed of money. She has no previous involvement," Deputy Commissioner of Police, South, Chandan Chowdhary said.

The matter came to light on April 18, when a complaint was lodged at Hauz Khas police station by a resident of Haridwar regarding cheating wherein the complainant stated that on March 21, he came to AIIMS hospital for treatment of his daughter and met a woman wearing coat showing her to be a junior resident.

"She introduced herself as an AIIMS doctor and lured him on the pretext of speedy treatment and took Rs 96,000 from him through UPI. Later on, the alleged told him to come after 10 days but after that, the accused started ignoring the calls of the complainant," said the DCP.

During investigation, after intensive search, the accused woman was found near AIIMS OPD wearing doctor's coat with her name stitched on it and she was apprehended.

"On interrogation, she confessed to her crime. Further, investigation is being conducted to find any other accused involved and to recover the cheated amount and to find other offences of cheating committed by the accused," said the official.
Mumbai, May 17 : Actor Sunny Singh, who will be seen playing the character of Shesh in 'Adipurush', has shared that the film is very personal to him as it gives him a chance to dabble in the action genre. And what makes it so important is that his father is an action director himself.

He said: "It's my first film where I got to do a lot of action sequences and I dedicate it to my father who has worked for 40 years as an action director." The actor's father Jai Singh Nijjar is a reputed action director who has worked on films like 'Shivaay', 'Golmaal 3', 'Singham', 'Chennai Express' and 'Bol Bachchan'.

The film, which also stars Prabhas, and Kriti Sanon, is a retelling the epic story of Ramayana directed by Om Raut.

Talking about his experience of working on the film, he said: "There is a lot of excitement and nervousness. The journey has been very good. Every day on the set was surreal and we used to get goosebumps. We are quite emotionally connected with this film." The actor also thanked the director Om Raut for giving him this opportunity.

Meanwhile, apart from 'Adipurush', Sunny has an impressive line up of projects which include Luv Ranjan's 'Wild Wild Punjab', Hardik Gajjar's 'Amar Prem', Nachiket Samant's 'Single Salma', Deepak Mukut's 'The Virgin Tree' and Ishrat Khan's 'Luv Ki Arranged Marriage'.
Lahore, May 17 : Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan on Wednesday claimed that the police have surrounded his house as he is addressing party workers via video link, media reported.

Addressing his party workers, the deposed Pakistan Prime Minister feared that the country is heading towards the path of destruction.

Earlier, taking to Twitter the PTI chief said: "Probably my last tweet before my next arrest. Police has surrounded my house," The News reported.

In a major blow to the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), former federal minister and close aide of party chairman Imran Khan, Aamer Mehmood Kiani, on Wednesday announced that he would be quitting politics after reports emerged that the party was involved in May 9 vandalism during which military installations were also attacked, The News reported.

"I am not only leaving PTI but also quitting politics," Kiani was quoted as saying by the TV channel.

The former health minister is the second PTI leader to jump ship after Member of the National Assembly (MNA) Mahmood Baqi Maulvi, The News reported.

Kiani was elected from the NA-16 constituency on a PTI ticket in 2018 and was considered a close aide of the PTI chief. He was also the former president of PTI's North Punjab chapter.

A day earlier, MNA Maulvi, who was elected on a PTI ticket from Karachi, announced that he was leaving the party following countrywide riots after party chairman Imran Khan's arrest.

Khan was arrested from the premises of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on May 9 by the rangers on the warrants of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB). Following his arrest, the party's supporters wreaked havoc across the country and attacked military installations.

In a press conference on Tuesday, Maulvi announced to quit PTI. "We can change political parties but we cannot change our army. I have never gone against the army nor will I do it in the future," he stressed, The News reported.

He also shared that party workers had been discussing before May 9 that they would go to the General Headquarters (GHQ) in Rawalpindi in case Khan was arrested.

"I told them, we should not fight against the army because there is no reason for it," Maulvi said.
New Delhi, May 17 : Amid suspense over the next Karnataka Chief Minister, state Congress chief D.K. Shivakumar on Wednesday held a meeting with his loyalist MLAS at his brother's residence here and also with the state in-charge Randeep Singh Surjewala.

His meeting with the party MLAs came after he held a detailed meeting with Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge and senior party leader Rahul Gandhi at their residences earlier in the day.

Shivakumar, who is one of the contenders for the chief ministerial post in the state, first met Gandhi at 10 Janpath and the meeting lasted for over an hour.

After this, the Kanakapura MLA arrived at the residence of Kharge and their meeting lasted for over one and half hours.

He then went to the residence of his brother D.K. Suresh, a party MP and held meeting the party MLAS. However, it is yet not known what all Shivakumar discussed with them.

During the meeting, Congress MLAS Beluru Gopalkrishna, Virendra Pappi, H.C. Balakrishna, Ranganath, and Iqbal Hussain were present.

Subsequently surrounded by media, and asked if any discussion on the chief ministerial post took place at his meetings with Rahul Gandhi and Kharge, Shivakumar said: "Nothing, no discussion, only pranaam." To a question, if he will return to Bengaluru on Wednesday night, he said, "I dont know." Shivakumar then headed to Surjewala's residence for a meeting with him.

Earlier in the day, speaking to media, Surjewala said: "Deliberations are currently underway by party President Mallikarjun Kharge. Whenever the party takes a decision, we will inform you. In the next 72 hours, there will be a new Cabinet in Karnataka." He also urged the media not to speculate or spread rumours and stay away from fake news.

"Don't pay heed to fake information and rumours being spread by the BJP," he said.

Targeting the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Surjewala said the party takes around 10-15 days to decide on the chief ministerial post, "but here, the Congress President is holding deliberations to select the new chief minister".

He also said that the next Congress government in Karnataka is committed to fulfilling the five guarantees it made to the people of the state.

"We will implement the five guarantees as promised by Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi," he said.

He also said that the party will ensure there is no "40 per cent commission government" in the state.

The Congress President till now has not made any announcement regarding the new Chief Minister in Karnataka. However, it has been learnt that many people are in favour of Siddaramaiah for the top post.

Kharge is likely to make an announcement about the new Karnataka Chief Minister on Wednesday or Thursday after discussing the observers' report with UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi.

Congress won 135 seats out of 224 in Karnataka whereas the BJP managed to win only 66.
Bhopal, May 17 : Religious story-teller and self-styled godman Dhirendra Krishna Shastri (26), who is popularly addressed as 'Bageshwar Dham Sarkar', has grabbed the headlines once again for his so-called 'Darbar' in Patna, which was thronged by a large crowd to seek his blessings.

A political row has also erupted with several ruling alliance leaders, including Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, taking objection to the remarks made by Shastri at the event, wherein he reiterated his claim of making India a Hindu nation.

"Those (Bageshwar Baba) who are talking about such things (Hindu nation) were not born when the country became Independent and the Constitution was implemented. Would they change the name of the country? We have multiple communities in the country and everyone has equal right to believe in their respective religion," Nitish Kumar had said on Tuesday.

However, it was not the first time that the 'Darbar' of Shastri, the 'peethadhish' of the Bageshwar Dham Sarkar, a religious pilgrimage site in Chhatarpur district in Madhya Pradesh, has triggered a political controversy. For the past one year, he has been grabbing headlines for making controversial statements.

Shastri made headlines after a Nagpur-based organisation challenged him to display his mystical powers at an event. Shastri, who reportedly ran away from the challenge, has also been charged with promoting superstition.

In March this year, his visit to Chhattisgarh had sparked a row after Congress leader Kawasi Lakhma, a Cabinet minister in the Bhupesh Baghel-led government, had challenged the self-styled godman to prove his allegations that religious conversions were taking place in the state.

Shastri had shot to 'fame' through his televised 'Divya Darbars', which were attended by a large number of people where he claimed to tame the spirits, diagnose illnesses without any medical tests, heal the sick, read minds and perform other 'miracles'.

In Madhya Pradesh, he has made a strong base in the Bundelkhand region, which is the reason why not just some local leaders, but even heads of political parties in the state have made a beeline to seek blessings at his 'Darbars'.

Senior Congress leader Govind Singh, who belongs to Bhind, is perhaps the only politician in Madhya Pradesh to openly criticise Shastri, even as state Congress chief Kamal Nath along with some other party leaders visited the Bageshwar Dham to seek Shastri's blessings for the upcoming Assembly polls.

Madhya Pradesh BJP President V.D. Sharma too attended Shastri's 'Darbar' within a week of Kamal Nath's visit, and was followed by some other state BJP leaders who either reached Chhatarpur or invited Shastri to hold his 'Darbar' in their respective areas.

In February this year, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan had also visited the Bageshwar Dham during a mass-marriage ceremony organised by Shastri.

Last month, BJP MLA Narayan Tripathi had invited Shastri for a week-long 'Darbar' at Maihar in Satna district. However, Shastri's vist was cancelled at the last moment.

Born on July 4, 1996 as Dhirendra Krishna Garg, the self-styled godman claims that he possesses some charismatic abilities attained through 'sadhana'. At his Dham, he has set up an Annapurna Kitchen, where free meals are provided to his devotees.

Shastri also hosts an annual event to marry off underprivileged and abandoned females. He is presently setting up a Vedic Gurukul to advance Sanskrit and ancient Vedic studies.
New Delhi, May 17 : Former head of Mumbai Zone Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), Sameer Wankhede, has been summoned by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in connection with an extortion case pertaining to Aryan Khan who was arrested along with others in a drugs case.

Wankhede has been accused of trying to extort Rs 25 crore from Aryan Khan's family, through other members of the NCB and a few individuals. Later on, the amount was reduced to Rs 18 crore, and a token amount of Rs 50 lakh was reportedly paid.

DDG, NCB, Gyaneshwar Singh had submitted a report to the CBI on the basis of which the probe agency has lodged a case.

Singh had handed over the report to the CBI to file a case against Sameer Wankhede, V.V. Singh, then Superintendent NCB and Ashish Ranjan, the then IO of the case.

Wankhede, an IRS officer who is currently in DGTS Chennai, will have to appear before the CBI's Mumbai zone office to get his statement recorded.

His cell phone was earlier seized by the CBI to retrieve data from it.
Chennai, May 17 : The SBI Funds Management Ltd has been allowed by central bank RBI to acquire 9.99 per cent stake in HDFC Bank Ltd by November 15.

In a regulatory filing, the HDFC Bank said the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has given its approval to SBI Funds Management for acquiring up to 9.99 per cent of the paid-up share capital or voting rights of the bank.

The RBI has given its nod on an application made by the SBI Funds Management and advised to acquire the stakes within six months, that is, by November 15.

HDFC Bank said SBI Funds Management has to ensure that the aggregate holding in the Bank remains below 10 per cent of the paid-up share capital or voting rights of the Bank at all times.
Taipei, May 17 : A team of Taiwanese researchers have identified a gene, which when modified, can extend lifespan of mice by 20 per cent, a finding that can also be applied on humans.

The team from Taipei Medical University in Taiwan showed that genetic modification rejuvenated cells in mice and delayed age dependent deterioration of their memory and heart, New Scientist reported.

Two-month-old mice were roughly equivalent to 18-year-old people, the report said.

The findings, not peer-reviewed yet, are promising as the benefits can be transferred to ordinary mice by a single transplant of blood stem cells.

"It was a big surprise. So far, we have not found any negative side effects," Che-Kun James Shen, researcher at the University was quoted as saying.

His team genetically-engineered rodents in a lab to have a mutated version of the KLF1 gene. The mice ended up living longer, were unusually active in middle-age and did not go grey as early, the experts claimed.

To probe further, researchers at Academia Sinica injected a group of unmodified mice with blood from the rodents that were found to live longer.

Mice given the modified protein 'typically' lived for five months longer, an increase of around 20 per cent, Daily Mail reported.

They also remained healthier for longer, with their physical and mental performance starting to decline later than unmodified mice.

All humans already carry the KLF1 gene, which regulates the production of new red blood cells.

Further, the mice given the mutated KLF1 via a single bone marrow cell transplant, "appeared to have significantly higher anti-cancer capability" than normal mice.

They showed "reduced tumour growth" and lower rate of "spontaneous cancer incidence", researchers said, at 12.5 per cent compared to 75 per cent in mice who did not undergo the procedure.

The cancer resistance of KLF1-mutated mice was not dependent on their age, gender or genetic background, the report said.
New Delhi, May 17 : The Supreme Court on Wednesday asked market regulator SEBI to submit an updated status report on August 14 on its probe into the Adani-Hindenburg controversy, while also directing that the copies of the report of the Justice A. M. Sapre panel will be given to the parties in the meantime to enable them assist in further deliberations.

A bench headed by Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud told Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing SEBI, that the court could have given time till end of September but on August 14, "tell us, what stage you are on... Give us an updated report".

Mehta contended that 6-months extension for the SEBI to complete its report was already compressed.

The bench, also comprising Justices P.S. Narasimha and J.B. Pardiwala, told Mehta that "tell us what you have done and the court had initially granted 2 months and now extended it till August which makes it 5 months" as it stressed that it cannot give indefinite extension for completing the probe.

Advocate Prashant Bhushan submitted that in recent years, despite many complaints, SEBI did not do anything.

The SEBI had told the Supreme Court that allegations that it has been investigating the Adani Group since 2016 are "factually baseless". It also cautioned that "any incorrect or premature conclusion of the case arrived at without full facts material on record would not serve the ends of justice and hence would be legally untenable".

It, in a written response in the top court filed on May 17, said that Minister of State for Finance in his reply to the Parliament on July 19, 2021 had confirmed that SEBI is investigating some Adani Group companies with regard to compliance with SEBI Regulations.

"It may be noted that the investigation referred to was in respect of possible non-compliance with Minimum Public Shareholding (MPS) Norms, and consequential violations.

"This investigation had commenced in October 2020. It is hereby confirmed that the investigation referred to by the Hon'ble Minister had not commenced in 2016.

"SEBI has made a statement to this Hon'ble Court that it is examining/investigating the allegations made in the Hindenburg Report. One of these allegations was related to non-compliance with MPS norms.

"SEBI has also submitted to this Hon'ble Court that the current status of this Investigation has been submitted to the Expert Committee constituted by this Hon'ble Court." It said it has also submitted to the apex court that in the context of investigation into MPS norms, SEBI has already approached eleven overseas Regulators under the Multilateral Memorandum of Understanding ('MMOU') with International Organisation of Securities Commissions (IOSCO). Various requests for information were made to these Regulators, it added.

"The first request to overseas Regulators was made as early as on October 6, 2020... it is this investigation that had commenced in October 2020 that was referred to by the Hon'ble Minister of State for Finance in his reply to the Parliament," said SEBI, in its written response.

The SEBI said it is understanding that the root cause of the erroneous linkage of a 2016 matter to the Adani Group is as follows: "In 2016, SEBI passed an order pertaining to the issuance of Global Depository Receipts (GDRs) by 51 Indian listed companies. No listed company of Adani Group was part of the aforesaid list of 51 companies, which has been specifically stated in our rejoinder dated May 15, 2023 to the Hon'ble Supreme Court. However, there were some FPIs including Cresta Fund Ltd, Albula Fund Ltd and APMS Fund Ltd, the GDR relevant accounts of which, were frozen as a consequence of the 2016 order. It is hereby clarified that this action was purely a consequence of the GDR matter and not related to any examination into any Adani Group company." The top court, in its order passed on Wednesday, said: "The Expert Committee is requested to continue to assist the Court. The Committee may hold further deliberations in the meantime. The Committee would be requested to take up any further aspects or suggestions as may be formulated by the Court, following the course of deliberations when the proceedings are next listed for hearing.

"Copies of the report of the Expert Committee shall be made available to the parties and their counsel to enable them to assist the Court in the course of further deliberations. The Registry shall take up steps accordingly. SEBI is granted an extension of time till 14 August 2023 to submit its report."
First version published at 18:29

BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 17. The information spread by Armenia about the alleged shelling by units of the Azerbaijani army of the positions of the Armenian Armed Forces located in the direction of the Zod village in Basarkechar district on May 17 is false, Trend reports via the Ministry of Defense of Azerbaijan.

Azerbaijan has been suffering from Armenian troops' ceasefire violations in the last several days.

On May 12 the Armenian armed forces units in the Zod direction of the Basarkechar region using mortars, subjected to fire the Azerbaijan Armys positions.

On May 14, the Armenian armed forces, in the Yenikend direction of the Basarkechar region using 60 mm mortars subjected to fire the Azerbaijan Army positions stationed in the direction of Damirchidam settlement of the Kalbajar region.

The increase of Armenia's provocations in Azerbaijan's Kalbajar direction has been prevented, Azerbaijani Minister of Defense, Colonel-General Zakir Hasanov said recently.
Kolkata, May 17 : The West Bengal government on Wednesday approached a division bench of the Calcutta High Court challenging the decision of the single-judge bench of for constitution of a three-member Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the rape and murder of a minor girl at Kaliganj in North Dinajpur district.

It is learnt that the state government had challenged the single-judge bench order on grounds that two retired police officers have been included as members in the three- member SIT.

On May 11, expressing dismay over the slow progress of investigation by the state police in the matter, the bench Justice of Rajasekhar Mantha ordered the formation of SIT comprising Special Commissioner of Kolkata Police, Damayanti Sen, retired IG Pankaj Dutta, and retired Joint Director of CBI, Upen Biswas.

Trinamool Congress leadership objected to the formation of the SIT especially the inclusion of Dutta as a member as the latter had been quite vocal in different news channels in the recent on many issues that went against the state government.

Finally, the state government decided to move to a division bench challenging the order by Justice Mantha. While passing the order, Justice Mantha also authorised the SIT to arrange for a second autopsy of the victim if the members of the team deem that to be necessary.

He also directed the state police to hand over all the documents related to the case, including the case diary, to the SIT at the earliest. The police have also been directed to present its preliminary investigation report in the matter before the next date of hearing.

On April 25, parts of Kaliaganj turned into virtual battlefields following violent protests by the local people against the alleged rape and murder of the minor girl.

The family members of the victim alleged that the cops promptly removed the body with the intention to destroy evidence. Four ASIs were suspended in connection with the minor girl's death case, after they were seen dragging the body of the teenage victim.
Panaji, May 17 : Around three permanent structures of ashram that have been constructed at Vape-Sadolxem in Poinguinim village of South Goa by one Raaj Shashibhushan Pandey, have been served a demolition notice.

The ashram, which has become a subject of controversy over environmental issues, and also for not obtaining a construction license, has now been slapped with a demolition notice.

According to local panchayat members, though the owner of these structures has not obtained any 'No Objection Certificate' from them to start construction, the structures are already at the completion level.

Speaking to IANS, Poinguinim Sarpanch, Savita Tawadkar said that they have not received any application from the owner of the structures, who is believed to be 'Swamiji' or 'Baba'.

"He had taken temporary permission to erect huts from the erstwhile panchayat body, but he has not taken permission for permanent structures from new body. Hence, we have served him stop notice and even now demolition notice," she said.

"When we visited the site after receiving a complaint, we found the permanent structures coming up and hence we initiated action. We have already filed a police complaint in this regard and informed other concerned departments to stop him from completing the work," Savita Tawadkar said.

Mahesh Naik, a panchayat member, said that Pandey had not taken any NOC from the panchayat for the construction. "We have issued him a demolition notice. We have also informed the electricity department and police about the same," Naik said.

Sources from the forest department said they have registered a case against Raaj Shashibhushan Pandey for allegedly felling trees at the site.

Deputy Collector from Canacona in South Goa has served show cause notice to Raaj Shashibhushan Pandey and has asked him to appear before court on June 7.

IANS had tried to reach out to Pandey but he was not available.

Some locals said that he deterred himself from giving clarification to authorities, who visited on Wednesday.

"We are not aware of where he has come from. Some say that he is from Uttar Pradesh and has good links with our politicians, hence he could construct the ashram without obtaining a construction license," one local resident said.

Congress leader Girish Chodankar, raising this issue, has questioned the government about the felling of trees for this ashram.

"At whose mercy have we left our forests? Incident of trees being felled, a hill cut in the name of ashram at Vape, Canacona has surfaced. Sins can't be washed in ashrams, forest minister Vishwajit Rane will have to ask forgiveness from nature God," Chodankar said.
Jaipur, May 17 : Congress high command is all focused on settling Karnataka chief ministerial issue first before taking up former deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot's issue.

However, Pilot has reiterated his three demands and given a 15-day ultimatum to state government to resolve them.

The three demands include that the Rajasthan Public Service Commission should be dissolved and a new organisation should be formed, unemployed should get compensation in lieu of paper leak and there should be a high-level inquiry into the corruption that happened during the previous Vasundhara Raje-led BJP government.

Meanwhile, Congress leaders said that the high command will move to Rajasthan after resolving the issue of Karnataka and efforts will be made to stop the Pilot-Gehlot war.

They said that Gehlot is all silent at this point of time in view of coming assembly elections and 2024 polls and is neither speaking on Karnataka or Rajasthan issue. However, he is busy implementing his schemes on grounds and to ensure this message reaches to people.

While many of Gehlot camp leaders are anguished after Pilot called Rajasthan government as corrupt, eyebrows are being raised on the silence of high command over Pilot's yatra and speech.

Will Pilot be given a chance to lead for assembly polls, will Pilot stay in Congress or will he float his own party are questions being exchanged in political corridors.

After his 15-day ultimatum, two days have passed off peacefully but there has been no feedback from any senior leader on his demands.

Pilot staged a one-day fast on April 11 and he started his Jan Sangharsh Yatra on May 11. It's his father Rajesh Pilot's death anniversary on June 11.

So, will he make any major announcement on this day, is the question being asked by Congress as well as BJP workers.

This confrontation between Gehlot and Pilot started after the formation of the Congress government in Rajasthan in 2018. Since then, the tussle is an open secret between the two. Pilot, along with his 19 MLAs, went to Manesar in Haryana in 2020 demanding leadership change in Rajasthan.

Things were settled with the interference of veteran leader like Ahmed Patel. At times, Priyanka Gandhi also played an intermediate to resolve the deadlock between the two.

Now all eyes are set that how the two camps get together as assembly elections are scheduled in December this year.
Nashik, May 17 : A large number of villagers along with the trustees of the Trimbakeshwar Temple and the nearby dargah on Wednesday appealed for peace and harmony in the pilgrim spot scarred by a row for the past four days.

The ex-Chairman of Trimbakeshwar Municipal Council, Purushottam Lohgaonkar, convened a meeting of the villagers, the trustees of the temple and dargah, all political parties and other eminent persons to discuss the issue that has cast a shadow on the reputation of this temple town.

The meeting was attended by temple trustee Bhushan Adsare, the officials of Hazrrat Pir Syed Gulab Shahwali Baba Dargah, Hazrat Pir Karim Shahwali Dargah Trust's Sadruddin Kokni, Nashik CPI(M) Secretary Sunil Malusare, CITU leader Devidas Adole and others, wherein a resolution was adopted.

"The entire issue of May 13 was discussed in detail and all have unanimously agreed to maintain peace and communal harmony as has been prevailing here for decades," Malusare told IANS.

Trustee Kokni said that hundreds of people from all communities participate in the annual 'Urs' of the Hazrrat Pir Syed Gulab Shahwali Baba Dargah, which passes near the Trimbakeshwar Temple and the processionists offer their respects to Lord Shiva there.

Incidentally, both the dargahs of the Sufi saints are situated within 1 km radius of the Trimbakeshwar Temple and enjoy cordial relations since long, pointed out Kokni.

"This time some elements attempted to create misunderstandings, but that was sorted out the very next day. There were no riots as alleged and even today, the situation is absolutely calm in entire Trimbakeshwar," Kokni said.

Some locals attending the meeting also blamed mischievous social media reports and videos twisting the traditional procession out of context to make it a fake 'sensitive' development, and soon it flared up into a political issue.

Earlier on Wednesday, the Hindu Mahasabha performed cleansing rituals, pooja and showering flowers at the entrance of the temple where some Muslims allegedly attempted to trespass and offer 'incense' late on Saturday during the 'Urs' procession.

Hindu Mahasabha President Anand Dave has also demanded police action against the alleged trespassers, failing which he threatened that all temples in the state would be shut as a mark of protest.

Shiv Sena (UBT) chief spokesperson Sanjay Raut said on Wednesday that "there were no forcible attempts to enter or trespass" inside the temple precincts and the Muslim devotees were merely trying to offer 'incense' (dhoop) as they traditionally do during 'Urs'.

"There seems to be a conspiracy to disrupt the social harmony in the state by some persons masquerading in the name of Hindutva. The Muslims had gone there to offer their respects with 'incense' like they have been doing for many years. Many Hindus also go to offer prayers at various dargahs like Haji Ali, Ajmer and others... What's wrong in this," Raut asked.

On Tuesday, the state government had ordered filing of an FIR and appointed a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the incident and a similar one in 2022, while the local police have booked at least three persons for the alleged offences.

(Quaid Najmi can be contacted at: q.najmi@ians.in)
New Delhi, May 17 : Amid suspense over the next Karnataka Chief Minister, the Congress on Wednesday warned the party leaders to not make any out of turn remarks as it will be treated as "indiscipline" and action will be taken accordingly.

In a tweet, Congress General Secretary Randeep Singh Surjewala, who is also the in-charge of Karnataka, targeting the BJP and media said: "A section of our dear friends of the media have fallen victim to the fake news factory of BJP on formation of the next Congress government in Karnataka" "We understand the frustration of BJP in being decisively rejected by the brother and sisters of Karnataka bringing an end to the 40 per cent BJP Sarkara".

Reminding the BJP of taking about seven days time for announcing its chief ministerial candidate, Surjewala said: "I hope the same people had questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi when he took 7 to 10 days in deciding Chief Ministers of Uttar Pradesh, Assam, Goa and many other states. No one then whispered a word on the High Command culture.

"But the same forces and select news outlets have objections to the process of dialogue, discussion, consensus adopted by Mallikarjun Kharge ji, which is in true democratic traditions," he said, referring to the deliberations going on in the party to choose the next Chief Minister.

He said that he "has also advised all Congress leaders to not issue statements on the issue of leadership".

"Any out of turn remarks made from here onwards will be treated as indiscipline and action taken accordingly," he warned.

Surjewala also said that Congress is committed to the welfare of every Kannadiga and will implement the five Congress guarantees in the first meeting of the cabinet.

"A clean, honest and transparent Govt for Karnataka is our duty and we will give the State a new Govt within 48 to 72 hours. We will rebuild Brand Karnataka and transform the dreams of 6.5 Crore Kannadigas into reality," he added.

His remarks came after the process for the selecting the next Karnataka chief minister entered third day of deliberations, even after the party own with a thumping majority by winning 135 out of 224 seats in the southern state.

On Monday, the three central observers of the party had submitted their report of the CLP meeting with Kharge. Kharge since then had held parleys of meeting with senior party leaders including former party chief Rahul Gandhi, party General Secretaries Surjewala and K.C. Venugopal to decide the new Chief Minister.

Kharge had also met state Congress chief D.K. Shivakumar, LoP in the outgoing Assembly Siddaramaiah, as both of them are the front runners for the post.
Leh, May 17 : International non-governmental organisation Live to Love assisting Himalayan communities in becoming resilient on Wednesday embarked on an ambitious tree-planting campaign in Ladakh with support from stakeholders planted one lakh saplings on a single day.

This will help combating climate change and transforming the region's barren lands into lush green forests.

Building on its remarkable achievement 10 years ago, when Live to Love broke the Guinness World Record for planting the greatest number of trees in an hour.

Lt. Governor of UT Ladakh, Brig (retd) B.D. Mishra officially launched the "Trees for Life" campaign on Wednesday in Liktsey.

An impressive 100,000 trees have been planted on this day. The plantation covers a vast area of 19 acres, with a diverse selection of native trees, including Ladakhi willow, poplar, and local fruit trees such as apples and apricots.

This extensive greening effort aims to combat soil erosion, establish natural watersheds, and mitigate the risks of flash floods and landslides.

The "Trees for Life" campaign has garnered immense support from various stakeholders, with participation from over 5,000 people.

Notable attendees included government officials, leaders of various faiths, the Kung Fu nuns, local community members, volunteers from nearby states, and international volunteers from Bhutan and Nepal.

This collaborative effort showcased the spirit of unity and collective responsibility in achieving environmental conservation goals.

Nature lovers say Live to Love's "Trees for Life" campaign in Ladakh will undoubtedly mark a pivotal moment in the region's environmental conservation efforts.

The transformative power of trees, coupled with the collective action of passionate individuals, promises to create a sustainable and greener future for all.

Back in 2012, Live to Love achieved a milestone by planting an astounding 99,103 Ladakhi saplings, setting a new Guinness World Record.

Through the diligent care provided by the renowned Drukpa Kung Fu Nuns, these saplings have flourished into thriving trees, significantly contributing to the region's ecosystem.

Inspired by the past success, Live to Love has initiated a long-term campaign called "Trees for Life." This campaign aims to plan 1 million trees over ten years in Ladakh.

This campaign is driven by the desire to create sustainable ecosystems and provide both humans and animals with flourishing forests to enjoy.

Responding to the plantation drive, Thinles Nurboo, spokesperson for Trees for Life, said: "We have 0.5 per cent forest coverage in this entire union territory. Earlier, it was sufficient for neutralising the carbon, but due to the heavy influx of tourists from two of the major gateways, one from Himachal Pradesh, and another from Jammu and Kashmir, it is very essential to have more and more trees, especially in this arid, cold, desert region to neutralise the carbon footprint and to save millions of lives, not just humans, but all sentient beings." "So majorly, we are planting apricot, apple, willow, and poplar. This is definitely going to survive because most of them are native species only and specifically apricot consumes very little water. This is the reason why it has managed to survive throughout Ladakh. So, this is why this plantation is definitely going to be a success." Jigme Kunchok Lhamo, Drukpa Kungfu Nun, said: "As you know, His Holiness the Gyalwang Drukpa, our root guru, is a person who is very conscious about the environment, about cleanliness, and planting trees, and this is part of a project that is very dear to His Holiness' heart and our heart so we are very happy to be here participating."
Islamabad, May 17 : Former Prime Minsiter and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan addressed the nation on Wednesday, saying that it might be his last before his arrest.

Khan's speech was aired at a time when his residence in Lahore's Zaman Park was being surrounded by a heavy contingent of Punjab police, which blocked all routes leading to his house.

"Probably my last tweet before my next arrest. Police have surrounded my house," Khan tweeted.

Eyewitnesses maintained that they could see heavy deployment of police wearing bulletproof jackets and armed with batons, moving close to Khan's residence in Zaman Park.

While the police were gathering outside Khan's residence, the former premier addressed the nation, calling on all quarters to use this time to talk and act wisely.

"There is still time. Talk and be wise. The only solution to this crisis is elections. Those who can make elections happen, I appeal to them to save the country by holding polls," Khan said in his video address.

The PTI chief said that he has never called on his party supporters to carry out violent attacks on military installations or any state building as that is not the philosophy of his party.

"When there were assassination attempts on me, there were no such mob attacks; when they tried to arrest me before, there were no violent riots, because I have always told my party workers to stage and register peaceful protests," Khan said.

"It was the strategy of the establishment to disburse their people with arms and attack containment areas and installations. They did this only to enforce a divide between the country's biggest national political party and the military," he added.

Khan said that a political party with 70 per cent popularity across the country cannot be finished, as he lashed out at the ruling coalition government of Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) for 'trying' to pit the army against the PTI.

"Everyone should realise what is happening and have some sense," he said.

Khan also said that a crackdown on PTI workers is underway, in which at least 7,500 party workers have been arrested.

"This confrontation between the PTI and the military will cause a huge backlash which would be damaging for the country," Khan said.

Since May 9, violence had erupted in the country with angry PTI supporters storming sensitive military installations, including the core commanders' residence in Lahore, PAF base in Mianwali, Jinnah House in Lahore, Radio Pakistan office in Peshawar, General Headquarters (GHQ) in Rawalpindi and other military and state buildings, after their leader Imran Khan was whisked away from the premises of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) by the Rangers and NAB officials in the Al-Qadir Trust land scam case.

Later, the Supreme Court of Pakistan (SCP) declared Khan's arrest as illegal and referred the matter to the IHC, which had earlier termed the arrest as legal.

The mayhem caused by PTI supporters is being responded to by a massive nationwide crackdown on PTI workers and top party leaders. Till now, several party leaders, including Fawad Chaudhry, Asad Umar, Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Yasmeen Rashid, Shireen Mazari and many others, have been put behind bars, while over 7,500 PTI workers, allegedly involved in the May 9 riots, have been taken into custody.

The military establishment, through its Core Commanders Conference (CCC), and the ruling government, through its National Security Committee (NSC) meetings, have decided not to spare anyone involved in the attacks.

They have decided to hold all the culprits accountable under the relevant terrorism laws, Pakistan Army Act and Official Secrets Act, adding that zero tolerance will be shown to the miscreants.

In a latest move, the Punjab Police gave the PTI and Khan 24 hours to hand over at least 40 terrorists, allegedly kept in hiding inside Khan's residence in Zaman Park.

The roads for Khan seem to be shrinking with every passing hour as experts say that the operation to dismantle Khan and his party is underway, and especially after the May 9 incident, the joint offensive against the former premier may ensure that Khan's anti-establishment narrative, his political future and his party's existence is diminished.
Imphal, May 17 : Amidst the crisis of essentials, medicines, and transport fuel in violence-hit Manipur, the Assam Rifles is providing security to the stranded goods trucks to enter the state and to go to various districts to ensure that people get uninterrupted supply of all important items.

In view of the ethnic violence and unprecedented clashes between the tribal Kukis and non-tribals Meiteis in Manipur since May 3, hundreds of goods trucks, various other vehicles, and oil tankers have been stranded on the National Highways and major highways to the state, causing a serious crisis of essentials, medicines, transport fuel and cooking gas.

An official of Manipur Home Department on Wednesday said that the Assam Rifles, in close coordination with the civil administration and state police of both Manipur and Assam, is providing security to the goods trucks.

The Assam Rifles officials assured the truck drivers to provide security as they feel seriously insecure to ply their vehicles in the strife-torn Manipur, which along with other northeastern states are heavily dependent on various states of the country in getting regular supply of essentials items, medicines and transport fuel.

The Assam Rifles officials, involving civil society and community leaders, also held peace talks regularly between Meiteis and Kukis in various districts.The para-military force also continues to render help to the affected people and arranges collection of LPG cylinders and other basic necessities.

Meanwhile, Manipur government's Security Advisor Kuldiep Singh on Wednesday said that the situation in the state has improved a lot.

"There are no incidents and the state government including security forces are putting in all efforts to check unfounded rumours," he told the media.

He said that a toll free number for 'Rumour Free Manipur' has been introduced to enable the general public to check facts.

In view of the closure of Imphal-Dimapur National Highway, trucks ferrying essential commodities are coming through Imphal-Silchar National Highway, he said, adding that around 94 trucks from Jiribam side were brought with the security escort to Imphal.

Singh appealed to those blocking Imphal-Dimapur National Highway to refrain from such activities while informing that a dialogue process involving community leaders has been started to bring peace and harmony in the state.

The official said that altogether 738 FIRs have been registered and 30 persons arrested in connection with the violence while 456 out of the looted 1,070 arms have been recovered so far.

The death toll reached 73, out of which, 41 was confirmed to be related to the recent violence while the number of injured was 243 and arson cases 1,813, he said.

Highlighting Chief Minister N. Biren Singh's appeal for maintaining peace and harmony in the state, Singh said the state government was making all efforts to bridge the gap between the different communities.
Bhubaneswar, May 17 : After a report of the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) claimed that Biju Janata Dal (BJD) received Rs 291 crore fund from unknown sources during the financial year 2021-22, opposition BJP and Congress in Odisha targeted the ruling party.

As per the report, Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik-led BJD has received funds to the tune of Rs 291.096 crore from unknown sources during the financial year 2021-22, which is the second highest regional party in the country. Unknown sources contributed 94.73 per cent of the BJD's annual income of Rs 307.29 crore.

Armed with the report, BJP chief whip in Odisha Assembly Mohan Majhi said that the ADR report indicates rampant corruption in the state government. As there is no transparency, such a huge amount of 'benami fund' is transferred to the account of the ruling party, he said.

"I think a small amount has been mentioned in the ADR report. If we go beyond the ADR report, we will find that thousands of crores of rupees transferred to the account of the BJD. This was reflected during recently held by-elections," Majhi alleged.

Similarly, senior Congress leader Suresh Routray alleged that the ruling party has been collecting huge amounts of funds from the big industries and corporates. "As the party has been in power since 2000, big corporates are giving them donations without disclosing their identity," he said.

Reacting to the opposition's allegations, BJD MLA Dhruba Sahoo said, "We are properly filing our annual income and return to the Election Commission of India and Income Tax Department each year on time."
Lahore, May 17 : PTI Chairman Imran Khans sister Aleema Khanum has warned that if the police open fire at the former Prime Minister's Zaman Park residence, "women will be the first to sacrifice their lives", media reports said.

Talking to mediapersons outside Khan's residence, she said that those who had brutally killed and beaten up PTI supporters were the "real terrorists", Dawn reported.

Responding to a question regarding her brother's re-arrest, Aleema said: "If the government is trying to eliminate Imran through cross fire, do not assume we are fools or will be just bystanders." Meanwhile, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan has said that if the police come with a search warrant to carry out an operation at his Zaman Park residence in Lahore, he would not put up resistance against them, Geo News reported.

"I have just heard that 40 terrorists are hiding at my residence. Please do come here [but] in a civilised manner and don't attempt to storm my residence," he said while addressing his supporters from his Lahore residence on Wednesday.

Earlier, in a tweet, the PTI chief said: "Probably my last tweet before my next arrest. Police have [sic] surrounded my house." His statement came as the interim Punjab government has given a 24-hour deadline to the PTI to hand over the "30-40 terrorists that have taken refuge" at the former Prime Minister's residence to the police.

"PTI should handover these terrorists or the law will take its course," said caretaker Information Minister Aamir Mir while addressing a press conference in Lahore earlier on Wednesday.

He also added that the government is aware about the presence of these "terrorists" as it has credible intelligence report, Geo News reported.

"The intelligence report that has come is very alarming," said Mir, adding that the agencies were able to confirm the presence of the "terrorists" in Zaman Park through geo-fencing.
Last version published at 16:55

BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 17. A group of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) operating in Azerbaijan issued a statement in protest with regard to the annual report of the US Department of State on International Religious Freedom, Trend reports.

An article about Azerbaijan in the report on International Religious Freedom for 2022 was recently published on the official website of the US Department of State.

"The report refers to Azerbaijan's allegedly "negligent" attitude to the protection of religious and cultural sites, and in particular in the territories recently liberated from the Armenian occupation. And this is not true. Throughout history, our country has faced injustice. Having suffered from the Armenian occupation of our territories for 30 years, now we are facing such a biased attitude. It is a pity that it comes from the US Department of State," the statement reads.

The statement notes that the signing by President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev on June 16, 2021 of the law "On freedom of Religion" once again shows that special importance is attached to this issue in the country.

Russian and Georgian Orthodox Churches, Armenian Apostolic Church, Seventh-day Adventist Church, Russian Molokans Church, Roman Catholic Church, Churches of Evangelists, Baptists and Jehovah's Witnesses, synagogues, Baha'i temples and other religious houses once again prove this multiculturalism in Azerbaijan and the presence of multi-confessional communities.

The statement also underlines that during the occupation of Azerbaijani lands, Armenia destroyed hundreds of monuments, mosques, and shrines there. At the same time, cemeteries were desecrated or completely destroyed, and the lands were turned into minefields.

According to the statement, Azerbaijan, in turn, strives to preserve any religious or cultural heritage. For it, the country has built a tolerant, multicultural society, and is proud of it.

In addition, the authors of the statement demanded, appealing to international organizations, to ensure that Armenia is held accountable for the destruction, including of religious monuments on the territory of Azerbaijan.
New Delhi, May 17 : The Supreme Court on Wednesday declined to stay the Rajasthan High Court order, which acquitted four men who were sentenced to death by the trial court in connection with the 2008 Jaipur serial blast case.

A bench of Justices Abhay S. Oka and Rajesh Bindal observed that the court cannot pass an order without hearing people, who were acquitted by the high court. However, the top court stayed a direction passed in the high court order, delivered on March 29, asking the state's Director General of Police to order an inquiry against the investigating officer and other police personnel involved in the case.

The bench imposed certain conditions and directed that the four people, who were acquitted, be released unless wanted in any other case.

Attorney General R. Venkataramani, representing the Rajasthan government along with senior advocate Manish Singhvi, sought a stay on the high court order. Counsel said the people were convicted and awarded the death penalty for a serious crime.

Senior advocate Maninder Singh, representing the family members of the victims, also sought a stay of the high court verdict.

The bench, however, said it would not mechanically stay the high court and people who were acquitted by the high court should be heard.

The top court directed all four to surrender their passports and added that if they were released from jail, then they would have to register their appearance on a daily basis between 10 a.m. and 12 noon before the anti-terror squad police station in Jaipur.

As Venkataramani sought that the court may issue an order for continued detention of the four persons under Section 390 of CrPC, the bench replied that it is not inclined to pass the order for keeping them in jail after their acquittal.

The top court also made it clear that those acquitted cannot refer the high court judgment in any other case for securing bail and added that the matter should be placed before Chief Justice of India, as it needs to be heard by a bench of three judges, as this is an appeal against a death reference.

The bench clarified that it would have to hear the accused and also go through the entire evidence. After hearing submissions, the top court scheduled the matter for further hearing on August 9.

The Rajasthan government and family members of the blast victims moved the apex court challenging the high court verdict.

In May 2008, a series of blasts rocked Jaipur and the explosions left 71 people dead and 185 injured.
Hyderabad, May 17 : Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao on Wednesday reiterated that his Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) will retain power in the state by winning 95-105 Assembly seats.

The elections to the 119-member Assembly are scheduled to be held in November-December this year.

"We will come to power in the state once again. No one should have any doubt about it. All the surveys are in our favour. We will definitely win 95 to 105 seats," KCR, as Rao is popularly known, told a meeting of ministers, state legislators, MPs and other top leaders.

The BRS chief made it clear that the majority of sitting MLAs will get the tickets again. He told them that if they work as per his direction, each of them will win with a majority of over 50,000 votes.

KCR also remarked that with caste and religion, no party wins an election. "We treat all sections equally and that is the secret of our success," he said.

He said the politics should be based on issues and not on petty matters. "We should not do politics with a discriminatory mind," he said.

"Telangana people are our bosses. For us, they are Bhagavad Gita and Vedas." The BRS chief called for united efforts by the party leaders. He asked the MLAs to coordinate with MPs, MLCs, Zilla Parishad chairpersons and also heads of state-level corporations.

Stating that a qualitative change should come in the country, he said that the BRS was making efforts in this direction. He recalled that the country had five-year plans during Jawahar Lal Nehru's time which did at least something good but after Nehru, no Prime Minister had the vision to take the country forward in a planned manner.

Terming the Gujarat model as 'bogus', KCR alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi cheated the country. "Now people of other states are saying that the country needs the Telangana model," he said.

The BRS chief said since Telangana achieved amazing development in the last 10 years, the country wants the Telangana model. He claimed that BRS is receiving tremendous public response in Maharashtra.

KCR wanted the party leaders to explain to people the progress achieved by Telangana in all the sectors during the last 10 years.

He called on all party leaders to actively participate in 10th year formation day celebrations of Telangana. He asked them to ensure that the celebrations are held in a befitting manner across the state for 21 days from June 2.

--IANS ms/vd

A
Srinagar, May 17 : Continuing its crackdown on terror elements, the Special Investigation Unit (SIU) of Jammu and Kashmir police has carried out raids at multiple locations in Awantipore and Kishtwar areas, officials said on Wednesday.

The SIU of Awantipora Police on Wednesday carried out raids at multiple locations in Reshipora Tral.

"The searched locations include residential premises of three suspects -- Manzoor Ahmed Wani, Mouhsin Ahmed Lone, and Ariaf Bashir Bhat," the police said.

"During the searches, relevant information was gathered and incriminating materials were recovered by the SIU. The searches were conducted to collect more evidences of their involvement in other terror crimes," the police added.

Meanwhile, the SIU of Kishtwar carried out raids at multiple locations in Kishtwar district.

The police said the SIU searched the premises of terrorists Shahnawaz alias Nayeem, Nayeem Ahmed alias Amir, Mohd Iqbal alias Bilal, Shahnawaz Kanth alias Munna alias Umer, and Javid Hussain Giri alias Muzamil.

"They are presently operating from PoK. The evidences collected during the searches will be examined so as to subject the accused persons to judicial determination for their involvement in anti-national activities and perpetuation of terrorism," the police said, adding that "the raids were part of J&K police's continued action against terrorists".
New Delhi, May 17 : The National Investigation Agency (NIA), in coordination with Punjab Police and Haryana Police, on Wednesday conducted raids at 324 locations across several states in connection with the terrorist-gangster-drug smugglers nexus case, and seized a huge cache of arms and ammunition, besides other incriminating materials.

An NIA official said that the raids were conducted as part of 'Operation Dhvast' in eight states; Punjab, Delhi, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Chandigarh and Madhya Pradesh. The official said that several suspects were detained and questioned during the raids.

"The day-long searches were aimed at breaking the terror nexus of Arsh Dalla, a designated terrorist, apart from dreaded gangsters such as Lawrence Bishnoi, Chhenu Pehalwan, Deepak Teetar, Bhupi Rana, Vikash Lagarpuriya, Ashish Choudhary, Gurpreet Sekhon, Dilpreet Baba, Harsimrat Simma, Anuradha," said the official.

The NIA said that the focus of Wednesday's raids was on weapon suppliers, financiers, logistic providers and hawala operators associated with the hardcore gangs working with drug smugglers and terrorists based out of other countries like Pakistan and Canada.

"The raiding parties seized 1 Pistol, assorted ammunition (both live and used cartridges), in addition to 60 mobile phones, five DVRs, twenty SIM cards, one hard disk, one pen drive, one dongle, one WiFi router, a digital watch, two memory cards, 75 documents and Rs 39,60,000 in cash," the official said.

These were the sixth in the series of such crackdowns launched by the NIA following the registration of three cases since August 2022 of conspiracies related to targeted killings, terror funding of pro-Khalistan outfits, extortion.

Notable among these cases are the sensational killing of Maharashtra builder Sanjay Biyani and international Kabaddi player Sandeep Nangal Ambia in Punjab last year.

The NIA investigations have revealed that the conspiracies were being hatched in jails of different states and were being executed by an organised network of operatives based abroad. The spotlight on these gangs became sharper after reports of several prisons becoming havens of the deadly nexus and hubs of gang wars, which recently resulted in violence and murder inside Goindwal Jail and Tihar Jail.

The NIA has further found that many criminals, who were leading the gangsters in India, had fled to countries like Pakistan, Canada, Malaysia and Australia, from where they were engaged in planning serious crimes in association with criminals lodged in jails across India.

These groups were carrying out targeted killings and raising funds for their nefarious activities through smuggling of drugs and weapons, hawala and extortion.

Some of the locations where raids were conducted today included: Abohar, Moga, Fazilka , Ludhiana, Mohali, Ferozpur, Tarn Taran, Ludhiana , Faridkot, Roopnagar, Nawashahar, Ferozpur, Amritsar, Patiala, Bernala and Jalandhar districts of Punjab; Gurugram, Yamuna Nagar, Ambala, Rohtak, Sirsa, Kurukshetra and Jhajjar districts of Haryana; Sri Ganga Nagar, Churu, Bikaner and Jaipur districts of Rajasthan; Baghpat, Meerut and Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh; Bhind and Barwani districts of Madhya Pradesh; besides Delhi-NCR.

The NIA had previously conducted searches at 231 locations and seized 38 arms, including 4 lethal weapons, along with 1129 rounds of ammunition.

The NIA has so far frozen 87 banks accounts and attached 13 properties, besides seizing 331 digital devices, 418 documents and two vehicles.

Two absconders have been declared as designated individual terrorists, and non-bailable warrants have been issued against 10 persons and look-out circulars against 14 others.
New Delhi, May 17 : The Supreme Court on Wednesday declined to entertain a plea against the Delhi High Court order, which restrained the manufacture and sale of 'Sharbat Dil Afza', a sweet beverage concentrate, during the pendency of the lawsuit of Hamdard Dawakhana, which sells 'Rooh Afza', for alleged trademark infringement.

A bench headed by Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud said Rooh Afza is a well-established brand and declined to interfere with the high court passed in December last year.

The bench, also comprising Justices P.S. Narasimha and J.B. Pardiwala, told the petitioner's counsel that they started selling drinks with a similar-sounding name as it dismissed the petition.

The high court had observed that prima facie, 'Rooh Afza' served as the source identifier for Hamdard for over a century. It had pointed out that Rooh Afza had acquired immense goodwill and it was essential to ensure that the competitors keep a safe distance from the mark.

The high court had restrained the manufacture and sale of 'Dil Afza' after Hamdard Dawakhana had alleged trademark infringement and observed that both products have the same deep red colour and the structure of the bottles is not materially different.

--IANS ss/vd

A
Kolkata, May 17 : The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Wednesday said that it has taken into custody two persons related to its ongoing probe in the case of the murder of Bharatiya Janata Party leader Avijit Sarkar who was killed in the West Bengal post-poll violence.

The two arrested persons are Sanjay Barik and Papiya Barik, according to a statement issued by the CBI. Both of them were named in the charge sheet filed by the central agency earlier in the matter.

The instant post-poll violence case was registered by CBI on the allegations that Sarkar was brutally assaulted by those allegedly having association with ruling Trinamool Congress in which he died.

There were complaints that the miscreants attacked the house of the deceased, looted valuables, destroyed the CCTV system and removed its DVR. The other family members of the deceased, namely Biswajit Sarkar and Madhabi Sarkar were also assaulted by the miscreants.

"It was also alleged that the accused threatened them and brutally killed Avijit Sarkar. After investigation, a charge sheet was filed against 20 accused including the said arrested accused. Both the arrested accused will be produced before the competent court," the CBI statement said.

In May last year, the CBI summoned and questioned senior Trinamool legislator Paresh Paul in the matter. It was alleged that the killers of Sarkar were followers of Paul.

Sarkar was lynched on May 3, 2021, the very day the results for the 2021 West Bengal Assembly elections were announced.

The CBI took over the investigation following an order of the Calcutta High Court. A team of National Human Right Commission (NHRC) visited different pockets of the state and submitted a report, holding several top leaders and MLAs of ruling Trinamool responsible for that post-poll violence.
Chennai, May 17 : Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin on Wednesday directed officials to provide weekly reports on action taken against illicit liquor in the state.

The state government is in a spot following the death of 22 people after drinking spurious liquor in Villupuram and Chengalpattu districts.

At a review meeting, the Chief Minister directed the officials to provide a report to him on every Monday through the Principal Secretary of the Home, Prohibition and Excise Departments.

He also called upon officials to popularise the toll free prohibition helpline, '10581'. This toll free number is available for the public to report on the sale of illicit liquor.

Stalin also asked the officials to publicise the Whatsapp numbers of the Assistant Superintendents of Police and Deputy Superintendents of Police of the Prohibition and Enforcement Wing (PEW) of every district.

He asked the District Collectors to organise weekly coordination meetings on the prohibition of illicit liquor and drugs every Monday and directed the police, revenue and district officials to participate in these meetings.

Stalin ordered monthly meetings headed by the Home Secretary and Director General of Police with the participation of District Superintendents of Police to review not just prohibition measures but also the overall law and order situation in the state.

He also asked the police and Assistant Commissioners of Excise to regularly and continuously monitor the use of ethanol and methanol in industries to prevent them from being misused for brewing illicit liquor.

He called upon regular awareness programmes against drugs and illicit liquor and wanted schools, colleges, and NGOs to actively participate in these.
New Delhi, May 17 : The Supreme Court on Wednesday made a strong observation against Manipur High Court's acting Chief Justice M.V. Muralidaran, saying that he did not correct his judgment granting quota to majority Meiteis in Manipur, despite being given an opportunity.

A bench headed by Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud said that the high court order was incorrect and "I think we have to stay the order of the high court... we gave justice Muralidaran time to correct himself and he has not done so." The bench, also comprising Justices P.S. Narasimha and J.B. Pardiwala, said that the direction was against the principles laid down by previous judgments of constitutional benches of the apex court, dealing with classification of communities as Scheduled Castes or Scheduled Tribes.

The apex court did not stay the high court order after it was informed that an appeal against it is pending before a division bench of the high court.

The apex court made this observation after learning that an application was filed by the Manipur government before a bench of Acting Chief Justice Muralidaran, and the bench had extended the deadline for the state to abide by its 27 March directive on granting ST status to Meitei.

The tribals are opposing reservation to the Meiteis following the March 27 Manipur High Court order, asking the state government to send a recommendation to the Centre within four weeks on the demand for ST status to the community.

The top court said: "We gave time to Justice Muralidaran to remedy his error and he did not. We have to take a strong view against it now. It is clear if high court judges do not follow constitutional bench judgments, then what should we do..." The bench said the tribals including Kukis can join the proceedings before the division bench of the high court.
Chennai, May 17 : The Villupuram District Collector in Tamil Nadu has slapped the Goonda Act on the husband of a DMK councillor in a case related to possession of illicit liquor.

DMK councillor Ramya's husband Maravur Raja (38) is presently lodged in Cuddalore central prison after being arrested on April 18 for possessing 105 litres of rectified spirit and 5,000 litres of illicit arrack. He was arrested by the Tamil Nadu Prohibition and Enforcement Wing during a routine vehicle check.

Ramya is the councillor of Ward No. 20 of Tindivanam municipality.

Immediately after the Villupuram hooch tragedy of May 15 that claimed 22 lives, the AIADMK came out with a statement that the illicit liquor had made its way from Tindivanam.

AAIADMK MP C. Ve. Shanmugam, who is a former Law Minister of Tamil Nadu, had lashed out against the M.K. Stalin government on Sunday, saying that the illicit liquor had the 'blessings' of the DMK.

The Villupuram District Collector has charged Maravur Raja under the Goonda Act following a request from the Kallakurichi district Superintendent of Police, N. Mohanraj, who is holding additional charge of Villupuram district.

The DMK has been facing flak from all corners following the hooch tragedy and keeping in view the ire of the local people, Goonda Act has been slapped on the husband of the DMK councillor.

With 22 people already dead and 55 others undergoing treatment at different hospitals, the DMK government is facing the ire of the local people.

Chief Minister M.K. Stalin has already announced an ex-gratia of Rs 10 lakh each for the families of the deceased, while an amount of Rs 50,000 has been announced for each of those undergoing treatment.
New Delhi, May 17 : The European Union and India have now joined hands to prevent China from extending its Belt and Road Initiative connectivity projects through the territories of third countries, in gross violation of their sovereignty rights.

The construction of the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) passing through the Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK) is a glaring example of such high-handed behaviour of Beijing.

The Fourth Strategic Partnership Review Meeting between European Union and India in New Delhi on May 8, 2023, discussed the perspectives for a safer, prosperous and more democratic world.

"Both sides discussed cooperation in the sphere of connectivity and emphasised that connectivity projects respect sovereignty and territorial integrity," said a joint Press release issued after the meeting.

India has repeatedly registered its protests over the CPEC, the flagship project of the Belt and Road Initiative of China; saying the construction of the road violates the sovereignty of India as it passes through the Gilgit-Baltistan area of PoK, an Indian territory illegally occupied by Pakistan.

India protested in May, 2021, when China said it was planning to extend its CPEC to Afghanistan.

China has disregarded India's protests and sovereignty concerns. Paying scant regard to Indian interests, on May 9, 2023, Pakistan, China and Afghanistan formally agreed to extend the CPEC to Afghanistan.

In fact, the visit of Foreign Minister of China Qin Gang to New Delhi and Islamabad in the first week of May is an evidence of the cynic and treacherous nature of the current Chinese leadership.

In New Delhi, the Chinese Foreign Minister tried to cajole the Indian leadership to normalise the Sino-Indian relations, while forgetting the issue of illegal occupation by China of large chunks of disputed territories on the India-China border; in eastern Ladakh and other places.

It is another matter that the Indian leadership has seen through the Chinese design.

On May 12, addressing the Sixth edition of the Indian Ocean Conference in Dhaka, Foreign Minister of India S. Jaishankar said that one could not trust a nation that disregarded legal obligations and violated long-standing agreements.

From New Delhi, however, Foreign Minister of China Qin Gang flew directly to Islamabad and at the 5th China - Afghanistan - Pakistan Foreign Ministers' Dialogue decided on extending the CPEC to Afghanistan, knowing that this move would perpetuate the illegal occupation of Indian territories in Kashmir by Pakistan.

In a joint statement issued after the meeting on May 6, the three sides reaffirmed "their commitment to further trilateral cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative and to jointly extend the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor to Afghanistan".

It seems, however, that the Chinese leadership has failed to read the writing on the wall that the Common people of Pakistan are not accepting the BRI projects that are not bringing any benefit for them and are wholly in the interest of China.

Within days of the visit of Foreign Minister of China Qin Gang to Pakistan and the decision to extend the CPEC to Afghanistan, on May 11 Chinese nationals working in a shipyard in the port city of Karachi in Pakistan had a providential escape as a suspected suicide bomber was killed and a deadly attack on Chinese nationals was foiled by security forces.

This is not the first time, however, that Chinese nationals working in BRI and other projects in Pakistan have faced lethal attacks.

In April 2022, a female suicide bomber carried out an attack on a van carrying three Chinese teachers at Karachi University.

Earlier in July 2021, nine Chinese engineers were killed in an explosion in a bus at Dasu hydropower plant.

There have been various other attacks on Chinese nationals in Pakistan in recent months, indicating the deep resentment of the common Pakistani against the BRI projects of China.

While delivering the Fullerton Lecture in Singapore in 2015, then Foreign Secretary of India S. Jaishankar (now the Indian External Affairs Minister) rejected the concept of the BRI and described it as "China's national initiative".

He said: "If a country is going ahead with implementing a national initiative, it's not incumbent on other countries to necessarily buy it. There would be a need for a large discussion and that hasn't happened." In other words, China is trying to thrust BRI projects on other countries to serve its own national interest and to the detriment of the interest of the recipient countries.

The widespread perception in India is that the BRI initiative is an attempt by China to unsettle the established regional order and replace it with a China-centric system that would marginalise other Asian powers such as India and Japan.

There is also the concern that countries that will host BRI projects will have to face unsustainable debt burden and ecological and environmental disorder.

The experience of Sri Lanka and Pakistan with BRI projects has vindicated these concerns. Both the countries are caught in a debt trap and are now dependent on the International Monetary Fund for a bailout package.

Besides, Sri Lanka has lost control over Hambantota Port to China. Now Bangladesh has expressed reservations about BRI projects.

The European Union, too, has suffered because of Chinese attempts to extend BRI projects to Europe. Beijing has been successful in roping into the BRI only some of the less prosperous European nations, mostly in east Europe.

A Chinese ambition to involve the G-7 nations in its questionable BRI projects has, however, predictably failed.

At one stage, China signed some BRI agreements with Italy; but realising the dangers of getting caught in a debt trap and falling prey to Chinese designs to undermine the cyber security of Italy, Rome has since walked out of these projects.

The EU has realised that Beijing is trying to arm-twist the European countries which have signed BRI agreements with China to get sufficient political foothold to influence policies of the EU.

Like, in June 2017 Greece blocked an EU statement at the U.N. Human Rights Council criticising the human rights records of China; the first time the EU failed to make a joint statement at the top human rights body of the U.N.

In March 2017, Hungary refused to sign a joint letter denouncing the reported torture of detained lawyers in China, going against an EU consensus.

In July 2016, Hungary and Greece sought to block any direct reference to China in an EU statement about the ruling by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague that struck down the legal claims of Beijing in the South China Sea.

President of France Emmanuel Macron in a visit to China in January 2018 echoed the concern of some EU member states about the BRI; stating there could be no "one way" trade road leading to "hegemony, which would transform the recipient countries into vassals"; thus making it clear that Beijing was using the BRI to extend its hegemony over the recipient countries of the financial assistance.

In the past, other European leaders like British Prime Minister Theresa May had refused to endorse the BRI.

Former German Chancellor Angela Merkel had warned that China's "New Silk Road" was not being conducted "in the spirit of free trade" and that it could lead to Chinese influence in the Balkans.

In the past, the EU has voiced concerns about BRI projects on issues such as lack of respect for labour, environment and human rights standards.

At a Belt and Road Forum in Beijing in June 2017, European Commission Vice President Jirki Katainen stressed that the EU would only endorse the BRI if China adhered to principles such as openness, interoperability, transparency and sustainability.

This position has demonstrated fairly strong EU unity, according to analysts.

China does not care for the human rights records of the countries where they want to extend their BRI.

That's why BRI is so popular with the autocratic and oppressive rulers in the world.

It is no wonder that Beijing has now decided to extend the BRI to Afghanistan, with the abominable human rights records of the Taliban rulers.

A report from the UN Mission in Afghanistan in July 2022 has confirmed the erosion in basic human rights in Afghanistan since the Taliban takeover in August 2021, "extrajudicial killings, torture, arbitrary arrests and detentions, and violation of fundamental freedom".

Women in Afghanistan have experienced their rights of access to education, to the workplace and to participate in public life severely restricted.

"Not allowing girls to go to secondary school means a generation of girls will not complete their full 12 years of basic education," says the report.

An Amnesty International report on Afghanistan in 2022 presents an equally grim picture of the human rights situation in Afghanistan.

The rulers in Beijing, by extending the CPEC to Afghanistan, want to strengthen the hands of the obscurantist and oppressive Taliban rulers.
Details added: first version posted on 17:33

BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 17. Azerbaijans former minister of culture Anar Karimov has been appointed Head of the Partnership and International Cooperation Sector at ISESCO, Trend reports.

On May 23, 2014, by the relevant decrees of the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, Karimov was awarded the diplomatic rank of Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Second Class and he was appointed Permanent Representative of Azerbaijan to UNESCO.

On July 9, 2019, he was also awarded the diplomatic rank of Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary. On July 20, 2020, by the relevant decrees of the head of state, Karimov was appointed First Deputy Minister of Culture of Azerbaijan, at the same time, he was entrusted with the temporary fulfillment of the duties of the Minister of Culture.

By the decree of President Ilham Aliyev dated January 5, 2021, Karimov was appointed Minister of Culture. He was relieved of this position by the decree of the head of state on December 22, 2022.
New Delhi, May 17 : India has dealt with the problem of unbanked adults effectively as it has managed to get opened over 489.3 million new banking accounts in the past eight to nine years.

Interestingly, 56 per cent of these beneficiaries are women while 67 per cent are from rural and semi-urban areas. The scheme, named PM Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY), has helped the Government of India make inroads in rural areas and bring underprivileged sections of society under the banking net.

The PMJDY was launched in September 2014. The financial inclusion mission received a huge response from across the country, thanks to favourable terms and conditions and extensive benefits. Thousands of people thronged to different banks to open saving accounts under the scheme that transformed the banking sector in India. It made it to the Guinness World Records for facilitating the opening of over 18 million accounts in just a week.

The Jan Dhan accounts held over Rs 1.98 trillion (roughly $24 billion) in May 2023.

These accounts are linked to several social welfare schemes. The Government of India has succeeded in reaching out to the poorest of the poor, especially during disasters. The PMJDY bank accounts proved very helpful when Covid-19 pandemic induced lockdowns forced people to stay indoors, which caused loss of livelihoods. The government released funds worth Rs 6.8 billion (roughly $8.3 million) in the PMJDY accounts. This allowed the Covid-affected, poor and vulnerable people to buy essential commodities and services.

The scheme has been a landmark achievement as it led to the comprehensive financial inclusion of almost every household in India. Financial literacy, plugging in leakages, access to credit, women empowerment, and extending services of insurance and pension to vulnerable communities are among the major benefits of the PMJDY.

There is no fee for opening a bank account under the PMJDY while accident insurance cover is provided free of cost. There is no requirement to maintain a minimum balance either.

Washington-based Brookings Institution had said that the PMJDY has had a "considerable impact" in expanding financial access.

"The PMJDY programme has certainly helped drive access to formal financial services across India and amplified the discourse surrounding financial inclusion among public and private sector stakeholders," it said in its 2016 report.

In 2014, India used to be one of the top most unbanked countries globally. However, the PMJDY changed the scenario. The percentage of bank account holders rose from 35 per cent in 2011 to 78 per cent in 2021, according to the World Bank.

"Much of that growth occurred between 2014 and 2017 as a result of a government programme that began in 2014 and provided unbanked adults with a financial account leveraging an official government identification document," revealed a World Bank report of 2021.

Inclusion of women from poor backgrounds and rural areas in the banking services is a very important aspect of the PMJDY. Globally, the majority of unbanked adults are women. Non-profit Women's World Banking stated that women cannot exercise their rights if they do not have access to financial services.

It also praised India for a "huge amount" of success in the last-mile delivery of banking services to underserved communities.

"While many of these women are actively using their PMJDY accounts, they are doing so only to access the benefit transfers they receive from government initiatives, which means that they are simply cashing out their benefits," it said.

The global non-profit, which was formed after the first-ever UN Women's Conference on human rights in 1975, has collaborated with Indian banks to encourage women to save money in their PMJDY accounts. This would help build financial resilience for women and economic resilience in India, it said in its report on 'The Power of Jan Dhan.' Access to banking through PMJDY has allowed Indian women to save money they get from different sources. The report revealed that the average balance maintained by women was 30 per cent more than that by men. It reflected how the PMJDY is contributing to women's empowerment.

Women's World Banking Executive VP (Asia) Sriraman Jagannath said, "We are blessed to have a platform like the Jan Dhan Yojana, which can be the world's largest women's empowerment opportunity."
New Delhi, May 17 : A Delhi court on Wednesday sentenced AAP MLA Akhilesh Pati Tripathi to custody till the "rising of the court" for injuring a student in 2020, saying he was not a threat to the society.

In "rising of the court" sentence, a person found guilty, is not allowed to leave the court till it concludes proceedings for the day.

On March 25, the court found Tripathi guilty of the charge under Section 323 of the Indian Penal Code, finding that the prosecution had established the defendant's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

Special Judge Geetanjali Goel observed that the convict has "deep roots in the society" and is not a "threat to the society".

Imposing a fine of Rs 30,000 on Tripathi, the court said that Rs 6,500 out of this would be deposited as cost of proceedings towards the cost incurred by the prosecution and the remaining amount would be paid to victim Sanjeev Kumar as compensation.

"The convict has deep roots in the society and the convict is not a threat to the society. Considering the facts and circumstances of the case and to meet the ends of justice, it would be reasonable if convict Akhilesh Pati Tripathi is sentenced to TRC," the judge said.

However, the court had acquitted Tripathi of the charge brought against him under the Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, stating that the incident was the result of political rivalry, particularly given that elections were scheduled to take place the next day.

The FIR was filed in February 2020 in response to a complaint from a student who alleged that on February 7, 2020, the accused beat him up when he was walking home from Jhandewalan Chowk in Lal Bagh.

The complainant belonging to the Scheduled Caste, had also alleged that Tripathi hurled casteist slurs at him.
Agartala/Imphal, May 17 : Tripura Chief Minister Manik Saha on Wednesday flagged off a truck carrying relief materials for violence-hit Manipur.

He said that the relief materials comprising food grains, noodles, salt, oil, biscuits, sugar, milk, tea and garments have been being sent to the Manipur BJP unit who would distribute the items among the needy people.

Saha said that "under the able leadership of Manipur Chief Minister N. Biren Singh, even as the situation has almost normalised, still people in Manipur are living in various camps and the relief materials will be of great help in this crisis period".

He also appealed to the people of Manipur to maintain peace and harmony as violence is no solution to any problem.

Responding to an appeal from the Manipur BJP, various units of the party in different states are providing relief materials to the ethnic violence-hit state.

Saha on Wednesday said that the Manipur unit of BJP had appealed for some help, and in response to that, the relief materials have been arranged by the party's Tripura unit.
Patna, May 17 : ATM thieves gang kingpin Sudhir Mishra alias "ATM Baba" was arrested from Bihar's Saran in a joint operation of Uttar Pradesh STF and Bihar Police early on Wednesday, officials said.

UP STF had a lead that Mishra, also known as Bulbul Mishra, was staying in his native village Mohabat Parsa village under Revelganj police station and cornered him around 12.30 a.m.

As per local villagers, a convoy of police reached Mohabat Parsa village, surrounded his house, and forced ATM Baba to surrender. As it was not possible for him to escape from the place, he finally surrendered before the cops.

ATM Baba was wanted in number of cases in Uttar Pradesh. He and his gang had targeted an ATM in Sushantlok City of Lucknow and taken away Rs 39 lakh. In that case, UP STF managed to arrest 6 accused. During their interrogation, the kingpin was identified as ATM Baba and added to the wanted list of the STF.
Panaji, May 17 : Alleging that the Goa government is trying to convert forest land into concrete cover, state unit Congress chief Amit Patkar on Wednesday demanded a judicial investigation of recent 'forest fire' incidents under the retired high court judge.

The Congress led by Patkar submitted a memorandum to the Principal Chief Conservator of Forest and demanded an inquiry into the matter.

"Forest Minister Vishwajit Rane has lied to the people of Goa over incidents of forest fire. While giving answers in Legislative Assembly Questions, he says that in the last five years damage is zero in terms of forest, trees, species," Patkar said.

"How can he say that damage is zero, when there are species in the forest? Without completing the inquiry, how can he say there is no damage," he questioned.

"Actually, the forest department is yet to complete the inquiry of the Forest Fires in Goa from 2019 to 2023. The minister is trying to convert the forest into concrete cover," Patkar said.

"This is why we demand a judicial inquiry under a retired high court judge, about how fire incidents are taking place and also about the damage caused," Patkar reiterated.

Patkar demanded that the government declare the forest lands, which were engulfed by fire, as 'No Development Zone'.

"The government should declare these forest lands as 'No Development Zone' and should not allow the conversion of the land to Settlement Zones or Eco-Tourism Projects," he said.

According to official records, about 470.22 hectares of Forest Area was affected by 200 incidents of Forest Fires from 2019 till March 2023.

Congress Aldona MLA Carlos Alvares Ferreira said that fire incidents are taking place in the prime areas of government forest areas and private areas.

"The government should inquire about these incidents and no development should be allowed there. It should plant trees in these areas and maintain forest cover," Ferreira said.

He alleged that the government is trying to make concrete jungles.
New Delhi, May 18 : Karnataka Congress Chief D.K. Shivakumar, who is one of the top contenders for the chief ministerial post in the southern state on Wednesday, said that he has left the decision to the party high command and they will take the call.

Meanwhile, party sources indicated that UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi may have a call with Shivakumar and Opposition Leader of outgoing Assembly, Siddaramaiah, on Thursday to end the suspense on the chief ministerial post.

Earlier on Wednesday, Shivakumar held several meetings with Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, former party chief Rahul Gandhi and state unit in-charge Randeep Singh Surjewala and party general secretary K.C. Venugopal.

Speaking to media after arriving at Venugopal's residence, the Kanakapura MLA Shivakumar said, "There is nothing to tell. We have left it to the high command. High command will take the call. I'm going for rest." He made the remarks after he was questioned by the media over several meetings with top Congress leaders.

Before Shivakumar, Siddaramaiah also met Venugopal on Wednesday evening.

Siddaramaiah, too, had met Rahul Gandhi earlier on Wednesday at his residence here.

According to sources, "both the leaders have been told that Sonia Gandhi is likely to have a word with them on Thursday afternoon." Meanwhile, another party source said that Sonia Gandhi during the party's 'Chintan Shivir' in Rajasthan's Udaipur on May 14 last year during the dinner told the Karnataka State unit chief, "Shivakumar, you should win Karnataka this time and I am with you." The source added that it was Sonia Gandhi's words that boosted Shivakumar for a better performance in the Assembly elections in Karnataka.

Shivakumar and Siddaramaiah are vying for the top post in the state.

The Congress, which registered a thumping victory in Karnataka on Saturday, had held a CLP meeting on Sunday evening in Bengaluru. They had submitted the report of the CLP meeting and voting through secret ballot to Kharge on Monday afternoon.
United Nations, May 18 : UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has welcomed Russia's decision that would allow the extension of the Black Sea Grain Initiative, which allows the export of Ukrainian grain and other agricultural products from Black Sea ports.

"We have some positive and significant developments: confirmation by the Russian Federation to continue its participation in the Black Sea Initiative for another 60 days. I welcome this decision," said Guterres on Wednesday.

"The continuation is good news for the world." Outstanding issues remain, but representatives of Russia, Ukraine, Turkey and the UN will keep discussing them, he told reporters at the UN headquarters in New York, Xinhua news agency reported.

"I hope we will reach a comprehensive agreement to improve, expand and extend the initiative, as I proposed in a recent letter to the presidents of the three countries." The importance of the Black Sea Grain Initiative -- and the parallel memorandum of understanding between the UN and Russia on the facilitation of exports of Russian food and fertiliser -- is clear. These agreements matter for global food security. Ukrainian and Russian products feed the world, said Guterres.

Under the Black Sea Grain Initiative, more than 30 million ton of food have been exported. Vital food supplies are reaching some of the world's most vulnerable people and places, including 30,000 ton of wheat that just left Ukraine to feed hungry people in Sudan, the UN chief added.

The agreements matter because the world is still in the throes of a record-breaking cost-of-living crisis. And they matter because they demonstrate that, even in the darkest hours, there is always a beacon of hope and an opportunity to find solutions that benefit everyone, he said.

Guterres noted that over the last year, global food markets have stabilised, volatility has been reduced and global food prices fell by 20 per cent.

"Looking ahead, we hope that exports of food and fertilisers, including ammonia, from the Russian Federation and Ukraine will be able to reach global supply chains safely and predictably -- as foreseen in both the Black Sea Initiative and the memorandum of understanding on Russian food and fertiliser exports, the implementation of which the UN is fully committed to support," he said.

The Black Sea Grain Initiative was signed separately by Russia and Ukraine in Istanbul with Turkey and the UN on July 22, 2022. The deal, initially in effect for 120 days, was extended in mid-November 2022 for another 120 days till March 18, 2023. At that point, Russia only agreed to extend the deal for a further 60 days, till May 18, 2023.

As a parallel agreement, Russia and the UN signed the memorandum of understanding on the facilitation of exports of Russian food and fertiliser. But the parallel agreement has not made much progress.
Kiev, May 18 : The Black Sea Grain Initiative on exporting foodstuff from Ukraine was unblocked, and it continues to be valid till July 18, Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov said.

"The world will continue to receive Ukrainian products thanks to the efforts of our partners under the agreement --Turkey and the UN," Kubrakov wrote on Facebook on Wednesday.

Ukraine has exported 30.4 million ton of foodstuff since the deal came into effect on August 1, 2022, he said.

Welcoming the resumption of the initiative, the official noted that certain issues should be resolved for its sustainable functioning, Xinhua news agency reported.

On July 22, 2022, Ukraine and Russia separately signed a document in Istanbul with Turkey and the UN to ensure supplies of grain and other agricultural products to global markets through the Black Sea amid the Russia-Ukraine war.

Initially in effect for 120 days, the deal was extended in November 2022 and in March 2023.
Abuja, May 18 : Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari has expressed sadness over an attack by suspected gunmen on a convoy of the US consulate in the country's southern state of Anambra, killing two local employees and two policemen.

The gunmen laid an ambush for the convoy and opened fire in the Ogbaru local government area of Anambra Tuesday, fleeing the spot before the arrival of security operatives, according to an earlier statement by the police on Wednesday.

Buhari said in a statement on Wednesday that he was "very sad" hearing about the attack, and called on security agencies to fish out "the perpetrators of the dastardly act".

In a separate statement, Tochukwu Ikenga, spokesman for the police in Anambra, said no US citizen was on the trip, Xinhua news agency reported.

Ikenga added that the bodies of the victims were set ablaze, together with their vehicles, by the gunmen.
Islamabad, May 18 : Two terrorists were killed in a clash with security forces in Pakistan's northwest Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, an Army statement said.

The security forces conducted an intelligence-based operation in Bannu district of the province on the reported presence of terrorists in the area, the military's media wing Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said on Wednesday in the statement.

During the conduct of the operation, intense fire exchange took place between the troops and terrorists, the statement added.

Weapons and ammunition were also recovered from the killed terrorists, the ISPR added.

The military statement said that the killed terrorists remained actively involved in terrorist activities against security forces and innocent citizens, Xinhua news agency reported.

"Locals of the area appreciated security forces' operation and assured of their full support in eliminating the menace of terrorism," the ISPR said.
First version published at 17:22

BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 17. Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov held a meeting with the Minister of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation of Spain, Jose Manuel Albares Bueno at the IV Summit of Heads of State and Government of the Council of Europe in Reykjavik, Trend reports via the Azerbaijani Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

According to the ministry, topical issues on the agenda of bilateral and multilateral cooperation between Azerbaijan and Spain, events taking place in the region have been discussed at the meeting.

Bayramov noted that there is cooperation between the two countries in various fields, including political, economic, energy security, cultural, humanitarian, tourism, and others.

In particular, it was mentioned that there are also opportunities for cooperation in the development of alternative energy resources.

The importance of mutual visits in the development of bilateral relations was also emphasized, as well as the importance of increasing the number of contacts in terms of strengthening political dialogue.

Informing about the current situation in the region in the post-conflict period (second Karabakh war), Azerbaijan's efforts to restore its territories liberated from Armenian occupation and peace-building, the minister pointed out that the constant military and political provocations of the Armenian side, and the continuation of the mine threat are among the main challenges.

Moreover, Azerbaijan's commitment to the peace process based on the principles of territorial integrity and sovereignty was brought to the attention of the Spanish side.

In turn, Bueno expressed his country's interest in cooperation with Azerbaijan both at the bilateral level and within the framework of international organizations. In particular, the role of political consultations in the development of relations between the two countries was positively assessed.

The minister also noted that Spain supports the process of normalization of relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia.

The sides also exchanged views on other issues of mutual interest.
United Nations, May 18 : UN Undersecretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Martin Griffiths has called for access and funding for the delivery of humanitarian assistance in Yemen.

Humanitarians continue to face chronic access impediments, primarily in areas controlled by the Houthi de-facto authorities. In particular, the ongoing restrictions on the movement of Yemeni female aid workers have severely disrupted the ability of aid agencies to operate and to reach those in need, particularly women and girls, said Griffiths on Wednesday in a briefing to the Security Council.

His statement was delivered on his behalf by Edem Wosornu, the director of Operations and Advocacy at the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

Obstacles to the world body's ability to independently conduct assessments of humanitarian needs and contract services have caused prolonged delays and risk jeopardising the quality of the response, said the statement.

"This comes on top of ongoing bureaucratic and administrative constraints, which have slowed and hampered our operations both in Houthi- and government-controlled areas." Another factor limiting the world body's ability to reach Yemenis in need is funding, the statement added.

"Five months into the year and despite the generosity of many donors, around 80 per cent of the Yemen humanitarian appeal remains unfunded. This shortfall is increasingly threatening our ability to provide life-saving and livelihood assistance." Certain elements of the Yemen humanitarian appeal are being hit particularly hard. Support for migrants and refugees, for example, has received very limited support so far in 2023 although the needs of these communities are severe, it said.

So far this year, aid agencies, in collaboration with hundreds of international non-governmental organisations and local Yemeni organisations, have reached more than 11 million people in Yemen each month with humanitarian assistance, it added.

The statement called for efforts to end the conflict, Xinhua news agency reported.

Now is the time for the parties, with the full support of the international community, to drive resolutely toward peace and an end to this conflict, it said.

"Meanwhile, the humanitarian community will continue to deliver aid to as many people in need as our resources and access allow. At the same time, we will also continue driving for progress on the economy, including through scaling up mine action and support for displacement-affected communities," it added.
Riyadh, May 18 : Arab foreign ministers met in the Saudi city of Jeddah ahead of the annual Arab League Summit, state media reported.

The ongoing conflict in Sudan, the readmission of Syria to the Arab bloc and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict top the agenda of the meeting and the upcoming summit, the Al Arabiya news channel reported on Wednesday.

The meeting also tackled draft resolutions that will be discussed during the summit, Xinhua news agency reported.

Saudi Arabia, which took over the rotating presidency of the summit from Algeria during the meeting, will host the summit on Friday that gathers Arab leaders to discuss regional and international issues.

During the meeting, Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud highlighted the need for unity among Arab countries to overcome challenges, while his Algerian counterpart Ahmed Attaf called for joint efforts to overcome hurdles as the summit takes place under "special" regional circumstances.
Colombo, May 18 : Deadly dengue disease has reached to an epidemic proportion in Sri Lanka with 22 deaths and more than 34,500 cases recorded so far for the year 2023. However medical experts have warned that with the monsoon rains, the worst is yet to come.

National Dengue Control Programme announced so far that 34,511 dengue cases with 22 deaths were reported across the island nation with highest number 17,049 reporting from the western province. With 7,725 cases, Colombo district has recorded the second highest after Gampaha district in the western province which has recorded the highest 7,797 among 25 districts.

Medical experts warn that the spread of dengue having connection to monsoon rains in Sri Lanka, the worst is yet to experience with the majority cases are traditionally recorded during June and July, the summer monsoon.

Nalin Ariyaratne, the Director of the National Dengue Control Unit, said that there is an increase of nearly 2,000 dengue cases from the first quarter of last year to the present, extending up to 2023.

He has expressed concern over the possibility of surpassing last year's record of 11,000 cases reported in June and July.

Sri Lanka President Ranil Wickremesinghe has instructed all government offices to join the fight against the spread of dengue and had ordered police and the military to join the battle.

The security forces that have been empowered to enter private premises without permission had been deployed to inspect dengue mosquito breeding places in houses, schools and other public and private places. The owners of premises with mosquito breeding places are charged under the law.

The National Dengue Control Programme has identified 59 Medical Officer of Health (MoH) divisions across the island as "dengue High-Risk Zones" and the Health Ministry has declared every Friday as a day to fight dengue by clearing breeding grounds for mosquitoes.
Ankara, May 18 : The Turkish Foreign Ministry has said that it had summoned the German ambassador in Ankara over what it calls the detention of Turkish reporters in Frankfurt.

The Ministry denounced the "harassment and intimidation" against the Turkish reporters who work for the pro-government Daily Sabah's Frankfurt bureau, according to a Ministry statement on Wednesday.

The statement said the detention was "a deliberate act" that came in the wake of Turkey's presidential and parliamentary elections on Sunday, expecting the "immediate release" of the reporters, Xinhua news agency reported.

"Germany's action against the free press, which aims to teach the whole world about the freedom of press and expression, reveals its double-standard approach," it noted.

Daily Sabah reported that its Germany representative Ismail Erel and Editor-in-Chief Cemil Albay were detained on Wednesday morning upon a complaint by a fugitive of the Gulen movement residing in Germany.

The Turkish government accuses the Gulen movement of infiltrating into the state bureaucracy and attempting a coup on July 15, 2016. Ankara has been carrying out a massive crackdown on suspects with links to the movement since the coup attempt.
East Capital Real Estate Fund IV signed an agreement for the acquisition of two modern 10-storey office buildings, Duetto A and Duetto B, with a total lettable area of 17 260 square metres located in Vilnius, Lithuania. The transaction will be closed in early June 2023.

The business complex, consisti...

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According to the ITRCs 2022 Trends in Identity Report, 61 percent of identity compromise reports to the ITRC were victims of a Google Voice scam. "The recent Presidential Planning Document released by the White House highlights the need for government agencies and nonprofits like the ITRC to work together to help victims who dont know what to do next," said Eva Velasquez, President and CEO of the Identity Theft Resource Center.

The Identity Theft Resource Center (ITRC), a nationally recognized nonprofit organization established to support victims of identity crime, has published its second-annual report that looks at the identity crimes committed against individuals as reported by the victims of those crimes  the ITRCs 2022 Trends in Identity Report, supported by IdentityIQ.

In the report, the ITRC notes the identity crimes reported in 2022 and the first quarter of 2023, as well as how criminals convinced people to willingly share information they know should be protected. The report also outlines how stolen information was used to open new accounts.

In 2022, the ITRC had a similar number of reported identity crimes (compromise, theft, and misuse) to its all-time high in 2021: 14,817 in 2022 compared to 14,947 in 2021, a decrease of less than one (1) percent. The ITRC reported the following in 2022:



Fifty-five (55) percent (8,199) of identity crime cases were related to compromised credentials, 40 percent (5,961) reported cases were due to misuse of credentials, and one (1) percent (220) of reported cases were due to victims being notified about attempted but unsuccessful misuse of their credentials.

Identity misuse was primarily due to account takeover or new account creation in 2022. Forty-six (46) percent of non-governmental and non-financial accounts were misused, with social media accounts making up 72 percent of non-governmental/financial account abuse.

Most reported identity misuse was due to existing account takeover (61 percent - 3,637 victims). Second to existing account takeover in 2022 was misuse related to new account creation (32 percent - 1,889 victims).

In 2022, 80 percent of identity compromises involved using identity credentials as part of a scam, compared to 77 percent in the previous year. Sixty-one (61) percent (4,081) of people who contacted the ITRC about compromised identities were the victims of Google Voice scams.

DOWNLOAD THE 2022 TRENDS IN IDENTITY REPORT

Our 2022 Trends in Identity Report highlights lots of changes in the identity crimes landscape, said Eva Velasquez, President and CEO of the Identity Theft Resource Center. We have seen a lack of transparency in data breach notices grow, leaving us all more vulnerable to falling victim to an identity crime. Research shows that Black communities suffer more financial losses than the general population from identity crimes. However, one thing that has not changed is that there are too many victims of these crimes and too few resources to help them. The recent Presidential Planning Document released by the White House highlights the need for government agencies and nonprofits like the ITRC to work together to help victims who dont know what to do next. We look forward to working with our nations leaders to bring the vision of improved services for identity crime victims to reality.

We are honored to sponsor the 2022 Trends in Identity Report for the Identity Theft Resource Center, said Scott Hermann, CEO of IDIQ and its IdentityIQ brand. As scammers, criminals and thieves continue to find new ways to steal personal information, this partnership is an opportunity for our organizations to join together in our shared mission of educating and protecting consumers and their identities.

The ITRC identified the following trends in 2022:

Identity thieves are improving social engineering techniques to convince people to share personal and business information. Attackers found success in pretending to be a new or existing personal relationship to takeover a victims friends social media account.

Thieves arent just collecting information through data compromises; theyre increasingly misusing data in new ways. While social media accounts were the primary type of account compromised in the past year, ~30 percent of existing account takeover and 62 percent of new account creation were reported as impacting financial accounts, primarily bank and credit card accounts.

Identity criminals are targeting Drivers License accounts. In 2021, DMV accounts made up four (4) percent of government accounts that were misused or taken over. The number increased to 15 percent in 2022.

Consumers and victims can receive free support and guidance from a knowledgeable live advisor by calling 888.400.5530 or visiting idtheftcenter.org to live-chat.

About the Identity Theft Resource Center

Founded in 1999, the Identity Theft Resource Center (ITRC) is a national nonprofit organization established to empower and guide consumers, victims, business and government to minimize risk and mitigate the impact of identity compromise and crime. Through public and private support, the ITRC provides no-cost victim assistance and consumer education through its website live-chat idtheftcenter.org and toll-free phone number 888.400.5530. The ITRC also equips consumers and businesses with information about recent data breaches through its data breach tracking tool, notified. The ITRC offers help to specific populations, including the deaf/hard of hearing and blind/low vision communities.

Disclaimer: The Identity Theft Resource Center is a 501(c)3 non-profit that does not endorse any particular company, product or service.

About IDIQ

IDIQ is recognized as one of the fastest-growing industry leaders in identity theft protection and credit report monitoring. With the flagship IdentityIQ brand, the company delivers real-time alerts and credit report information to not only protect but also educate consumers and businesses. The company features 100% U.S.-based customer service and support. For more information, visit IDIQ.com.

Media Contact

Identity Theft Resource Center

Alex Achten

Director of Communications & Media Relations

888.400.5530 Ext. 3611

media@idtheftcenter.org

IDIQ

Kristin Austin

Public Relations

951.397.7595

kaustin@idiq.com
"In an increasingly digital world, it is essential to equip the next generation with the knowledge and skills required to navigate the complex landscape of digital currencies and blockchain technology."

Yamgo, a leading secure crypto wallet provider, has announced a strategic partnership with a University of Stirling Professor to launch an innovative educational crypto video course with Hbar prizes for competitions. The course, featuring expert insights from Professor Markus Krebsz, aims to teach students the fundamentals of cryptocurrency, blockchains, distributed ledger technology (DLT), Hedera and Yamgo.

The groundbreaking course, which is to be produced and presented by Yamgo, is designed for students eager to learn about the emerging world of digital currencies and the underlying technologies. By signing up for a Yamgo account, students will gain access to the course, which includes a series of engaging video lessons. Upon completion, participants will be required to answer questions based on the content.

As an added incentive, Yamgo is offering rewards in the form of Hedera HBAR cryptocurrency to students who answer the questions correctly. This unique approach not only encourages learning but also introduces students to the practical use of digital assets.

Discussing the course, Yamgo CEO Ian Mullins stated, We are thrilled to collaborate with Professor Markus Krebsz and the University of Stirling on this pioneering crypto education initiative. Our mission has always been to make the world of digital currencies more accessible and easier to understand. The rewarded video section of our app has always been very popular and it is a great way for brands to connect with a new audience, but we've always envisioned it being about more than just advertising. This partnership exemplifies our commitment to empowering the next generation of crypto enthusiasts by fostering knowledge and cultivating thought leadership in the space.

Yamgo's collaboration with the University of Stirling and Professor Markus Krebsz highlights the company's commitment to promoting digital currency education and fostering a better understanding of the rapidly evolving crypto landscape. The partnership seeks to bridge the knowledge gap and empower a new generation of digital currency enthusiasts.

Markus Krebsz, Honorary Professor at the University of Stirling and experienced risk specialist, shared his enthusiasm for the partnership: 'I am excited to join forces with Yamgo on this new educational initiative. In an increasingly digital world, it is essential to equip the next generation with the knowledge and skills required to navigate the complex landscape of digital currencies and blockchain technology. This collaboration is an excellent opportunity to combine our expertise with Yamgo's passion for making cryptocurrencies more accessible, and I am confident that together, we will drive positive change and foster innovation in the crypto space.

For Hedera, this course marks recognition from yet another high-level educational institution, further solidifying its position as a leading distributed ledger technology. The collaboration highlights Hedera's growing influence in the world of digital currencies and its potential to drive innovation and adoption across various industries. The opportunity for more students to learn about Hedera through this course will contribute to the expansion of the Hedera ecosystem, attracting new developers, entrepreneurs and enthusiasts eager to harness the power of this cutting-edge technology.

Christian Hasker, Chief Marketing Officer at Swirlds Labs, which is helping to grow the Hedera ecosystem, commended the course, saying, Yamgo's approach to innovation and dedication to promoting digital currency education are impressive. This collaboration with the University of Stirling shows the breadth of innovation in bringing Web3 tools to help gamify and incentivize students to learn all about this exciting and growing technology sector. We look forward to witnessing the positive impact this educational course will have on the Hedera community.

For more information about the launch of the course or to sign up for Yamgo and start earning HBAR visit https://yamgo.com

About Yamgo

Yammieverse Labs Ltd BVI was founded in 2022 to provide the services, regulatory compliance and governance for all token activities and a clear path to consider more ways Yammieverse Labs can further decentralise products and services in its roadmap. Yamgo Ltd is a UK-based technology company building a consumer-first rewards, incentivisation and fintech platform for advertising, media, retail and beyond. Yamgo has a track record of nearly twenty years in the development of pioneering technology solutions and is focused on providing the infrastructure for businesses to connect to and interact with their customers, maximising the value of consumer attention while respecting consumers data and privacy.
Connects has the creative foundation to drive impact from influence, outcomes from output. Im excited to build upon the well-established partnerships and proven results from the SEEN UK team and bring their unique approach to a new market, said Matthew Wurst.

SEEN Connects, a leading UK-based creative agency that plans, builds and crafts digital-first campaigns, has hired veteran marketing executive Matthew Wurst as Managing Director of Connects, the U.S. extension of SEEN Connects agency, to grow its presence in North America. Wurst was tapped for his deep industry experience in social media, digital strategies, brand marketing leadership and creative tactics to build and lead Connects in the U.S. market.

Were at a pivotal moment in marketing, with more technology, tools and platforms than ever, coupled with an influx of competing voices from brands, creators and consumers. It can be overwhelming. I believe that agencies are best positioned to organize, lead and connect through all this noise, and that Connects has the creative foundation to drive impact from influence, outcomes from output. Im excited to build upon the well-established partnerships and proven results from the SEEN UK team and bring their unique approach to a new market, said Matthew Wurst.

We hired Matt because, yes, he has heaps of experience with brands that are aligned to our business (a very long list!), but we really hired Matt because he is passionate. He is passionate about the market, hes passionate about the industry, hes passionate about connecting brands to their audiences. His expertise in helping brands achieve REAL results stood out, and he wont settle for what is expected. He brings a proven ability to drive and push our clients into the next phase of marketing, the phase they dont even know they need yet. His unique experience in building teams and launching brands will be invaluable for Connects as we make our mark in North America, said Sedge Beswick, Founder and CEO.

Wurst has more than twenty years of experience in both agency and in-house marketing leadership roles focused on innovative brand-building and operational problem solving. He previously served as Chief Marketing Office at Mint, a white-label Web3 platform that partnered with the NBA, Anheuser Busch, Porsche, OpenLocker, Mars-Wrigley, Axiom Space and many others. Prior to Mint, Wurst was Global Client Vice President at Jellyfish, Managing Director at Revelation, and spent 10 years as General Manager at 360i, leading the social and digital partnerships with dozens of leading global brands, from Coca-Cola and Estee Lauder to Mondelez and Nestle, NBCUniversal to HBO.

SEEN Connects was founded in London seven years ago with an initial focus on influencer marketing. Since then, the agency has evolved to offer a more holistic and full-service approach to connecting brands with their key audiences and sub-cultures focused on measurable returns on their investment. Whether through creators, social, web3, experiential, or even paid media and insights integration, Connects creatively crafts digital-first campaigns that stand out and deliver outstanding results. Clients include Nike, eBay, Panasonic, lululemon, Monday.com and other leading brands.

About SEEN Connects

SEEN Connects is the innovative influencer marketing agency that harnesses the power of advocacy to generate impact for brands. Founded in Shoreditch, London in 2016 by Sedge Beswick, SEEN Connects exists to make sure brands are connected to their audiences.
ADI 2023 Bronze Award for Tillmans Small Batch Whiskey Our Tillmans, named after Grandpa Al Isakson, the original Wildcat Tillman, is a true example of our pride in creating high-quality spirits with grain grown on our family farm, states Brad Lemke, Master Distiller.

Wildcat Distilling Co. proudly announces that its Tillmans Small Batch Whiskey has been awarded a bronze medal from the American Distilling Institute's International Spirits Competition (ADI ISC)! The judging panel described the whiskey as having "an engaging aroma, good balance, with some inviting fruity and vanilla elements. This is a huge accomplishment for Wildcat Distilling Co., demonstrating its commitment to creating superior products. Along with this recognition, they continue to provide an experience that customers will want to return to again and again. #ADIISC

Accepting the award on August 23rd at the ADIs 2023 Conference in Las Vegas will be the Wildcat Distilling Co. team comprised of owners Brad and Amanda Lemke and Tony and Alissa Nelson.

Every spirit entered in the American Distilling Institutes International Spirits Competition (ADI ISC) is tasted and evaluated blindly by an expert panel of spirit judges who are only given enough information to correctly judge the spirit without identifying the producer or the specific spirit. Individual judges make a medal or no medal recommendation with their score. When the panel has completed its evaluation, its anchor judge tallies the scores and begins discussing what medal, if any, should be awarded. The panel uses the numerical average as the starting point in their medal conversation. ADI allows the panel to adjust the award up or down to reflect the group's consensus best. ADI believes this gives a more holistic reflection of the quality of the spirit that is not always captured by a cold numerical average.

Tillmans is a three-grain whiskey made from a traditional recipe blend of corn, wheat and rye that captures the proud, yet spicy nature of rye tempered by the earthy sweet notes of wheat. These perfectly balanced flavors are brought together by aging in new oak barrels.

Our Tillmans, named after Grandpa Al Isakson, the original Wildcat Tillman, is a true example of our pride in creating high-quality spirits with grain grown on our family farm, states Brad Lemke, Master Distiller. Grandpa Al always believed that when things are done with care and done right, they can stand the test of time. That is exactly what Tillmans is all about, and this award demonstrates that.

Other spirits created at Wildcat Distilling Co. include Harvest Moon, Honey Moon, Woodshed Red, and Plow Point. The Planters Pride is a precisely crafted individual whiskey that can be commissioned by farmers, businesses, or anyone that just wants to call a whiskey their own. Here the grains can be grown and provided for the distilling of the whiskey while continuing the Till, Mill, Distill trademark of all whiskeys produced at Wildcat Distilling Co.

The Wildcat Distilling Co. Tasting Room in Webster City is open for the community and visitors to stop and try out the whiskeys and signature drinks. For an experience of learning more about whiskey, they host Guided Tasting on the first Saturday of every month, and tickets can be purchased on their website. Events can also be scheduled at the Tasting Room. #ADIISC

Wildcat Distilling Co Tasting Room is at 626 2nd St., Webster City, IA 50595. To learn more, visit http://www.wildcatdistillery.com, call 515-524-6018, or email info@wildcatdistillery.com. Follow along on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn.
At SIMO, we are excited to bring our domain expertise, passion, and innovative ideas to solve problems to the benefit of the Forbes Tech Council and improving society in general.

Ludovic Lassauce, Chief Product Officer at SIMO, a leading company providing virtual SIM technology to enable wireless connectivity on devices, has been accepted into Forbes Technology Council, an invitation-only community for world-class CIOs, CTOs, and technology executives.

Ludovic was vetted and selected by a review committee based on the depth and diversity of his experience. Criteria for acceptance include a track record of successfully impacting business growth metrics, as well as personal and professional achievements and honors.

We are honored to welcome Ludovic into the community, said Scott Gerber, founder of Forbes Councils, the collective that includes Forbes Technology Council. Our mission with Forbes Councils is to bring together proven leaders from every industry, creating a curated, social capital-driven network that helps every member grow professionally and make an even greater impact on the business world.

As an accepted member of the Council, Ludovic has access to a variety of exclusive opportunities designed to help him reach peak professional influence. He will connect and collaborate with other respected local leaders in a private forum. Ludovic will also be invited to work with a professional editorial team to share his expert insights in original business articles on Forbes.com, and to contribute to published Q&A panels alongside other experts.

Finally, SIMO will benefit from exclusive access to vetted business service partners, membership-branded marketing collateral, and the high-touch support of the Forbes Councils member concierge team.

Enabling people and things to connect with mobile data in the most efficient and cost-effective ways is our mission, said Lassauce. At SIMO, we are excited to bring our domain expertise, passion, and innovative ideas to solve problems to the benefit of the Forbes Tech Council and improving society in general.

ABOUT SIMO

SIMO delivers a seamless Software-as-a-Service data connectivity experience. We target wireless devices such as tablets, laptops, or IoT devices that are currently unconnected or poorly connected on cellular networks. Our patented software-as-a-service technology provides customers on-demand, always-available local connectivity. Our SaaS works out-of-the-box and does not require complex and lengthy integrations for device manufacturers or carriers, before generating a new revenue stream. We already partner with numerous carriers, chip makers and device manufacturers to provide limitless connections to millions of customers and welcome new partners to work together to enable a more connected world.

Visit http://www.simo.co or http://www.soliswifi.co to learn more about SIMO or our products.

ABOUT FORBES COUNCILS

Forbes Councils is a collective of invitation-only communities created in partnership with Forbes and the expert community builders who founded Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC). In Forbes Councils, exceptional business owners and leaders come together with the people and resources that can help them thrive.

For more information about Forbes Technology Council, visit forbestechcouncil.com.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 17. A screening of the "Mariupolis 2" (Mariupol 2) documentary film, telling about the life of Mariupol residents in the conditions of war, was held at the Rotunda Hall of Landmark Hotel, in Azerbaijan's Baku, Trend reports.

This film was directed by Mantas Kvedaravicius, the winner of the European Film Awards 2022.

Lithuanian Ambassador to Azerbaijan Egidijus Navikas and Ukrainian Ambassador to Azerbaijan Vladislav Kanevskyi spoke at the screening.

In 2022, Mantas Kvedaravicius (1976-2022) went back to Ukraine, Mariupol, at the heart of the war, to be with the people he had met and filmed in 2015.

Following his death, his producers and collaborators have put all their strength into continuing transmitting his work, his vision and his films.

The film became the best documentary film of 2022 according to the European Film Academy, and at the 75th annual Cannes Film Festival it was awarded with "Golden Eye" special jury award.
Cai and Kate Our goal with Cai & Kate is to create a free, easily accessible resource for families that helps children identify and create their emotional vocabularies.

Allegheny Health Network (AHN) today premiered a new YouTube show focusing on the emotional well-being of children ages 3 to 6 years old.

Cai & Kate features Cai, a chameleon puppet whose color changes depending on his emotions and feelings, and Kate, Cais human friend who provides commentary on the various emotions portrayed in the show. Kate is played by Katlyn Kohne, a supervisor for AHN's Chill Project team.

Funded by the A. J. and Sigismunda Palumbo Charitable Trust, Cai & Kate aims to build knowledge related to emotional wellness for children and their families. Puppetry, music, and education are blended to foster a sense of wonder as kids expand their ability to identify and talk about emotions.

The premiere episode is the first in a series being produced by Chill Project Productions, an initiative of the AHN Chill Project. Offered through AHNs Psychiatry & Behavioral Health Institute and led by a team of behavioral health specialists, the Chill Project teaches evidenced-based coping techniques to equip students, teachers, and parents with a standardized approach to managing stress, anxiety and other mental health concerns.

As the Chill Project expanded to include grades K-12 as well as college students since its 2019 launch, the projects stakeholders also identified a need for highly customized and targeted curriculum that is emotionally and developmentally appropriate for preschoolers.

Young children feel a wide range of emotions and may have challenges identifying and expressing their needs. As these emotions surface, they can feel powerful and sometimes overwhelming for children, and caregivers may have difficulty understanding them, said William Davies, Ed.D., Founder and Director of the AHN Chill Project. Our goal with Cai & Kate is to create a free, easily accessible resource for families that helps children identify and create their emotional vocabularies.

Cai & Kate highlights the importance of introducing coping skills that can help the children better understand how to identify and express their emotions, teach caregivers how to view emotions through the lens of their child, and help mitigate non-preferred behavioral responses, such as throwing, hitting, biting, and temper tantrums.

As a key funding partner for AHN Psychiatry & Behavioral Health, the A. J. and Sigismunda Palumbo Charitable Trust has helped to catalyze the work of the AHN Chill Project, supporting on-site Chill Project services at local school districts, the Chill Mobile vehicle, and Chill Project Productions.

Funding from the Trust, along with other funding partners, has resulted in the dramatic expansion of youth mental health services across the Western Pennsylvania region, having impacted more than 44,000 students, 3,500 educators, and thousands of parents and caregivers.

The innovative programming and educational resources produced by Chill Project Productions have the potential to reach audiences far beyond Western Pennsylvania, serving as a vital tool that will help families learn how to cultivate emotional well-being in children, said John W. Kowach, Executive Director and Trustee for the A. J. and Sigismunda Palumbo Charitable Trust. By introducing these coping skills at an early age, this model will set a new standard for how mental health care is approached among preschoolers and is a positive step to addressing mental health challenges faced by todays youth.

Recent studies have shown significant increases in the rates of depression, anxiety and other behavioral health issues among adolescents and children, and those increases accelerated amid the COVID-19 pandemic. A 2022 paper by JAMA Pediatrics suggests that mental health issues, as well as behavior and conduct problems, have been rising for children as young as 3 since 2016.

Chill Project Productions anticipates releasing additional episodes in the coming months. Cai & Kate will also be incorporated into AHNs pediatric offices by streaming episodes in the waiting rooms and offering patients Cai & Kate activities, such as coloring books, that feature a variety of situations where skills are needed, further teaching healthy ways to handle emotions.

The launch of Chill Project Productions and support from the Palumbo Trust create endless possibilities for future educational programming that will serve as a beneficial tool for caregivers and educators for years to come, said Allie Quick, Chief Philanthropy Officer at AHN. The learning interventions shared through this platform are a testament to the growth and popularity of the Chill Project, and we can't wait to see how these programs spark change, transform lives and help our children thrive.

Cai & Kate can be viewed on YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

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About Allegheny Health Network

Allegheny Health Network (AHN.org), is an integrated healthcare delivery system serving the greater Western Pennsylvania region. The Network is composed of 14 hospitals, ambulatory surgery centers, Health + Wellness Pavilions, multiple employed physician organizations, home and community-based health services, a research institute, and a group purchasing organization. The Network provides patients with access to a complete spectrum of advanced medical services, including nationally recognized programs for primary and emergency care, trauma care, cardiovascular disease, organ transplantation, cancer care, orthopedic surgery, neurology and neurosurgery, womens health, diabetes, autoimmune disease and more. AHN employs approximately 21,000 people, has more than 2,600 physicians on its medical staff and serves as a clinical campus for Drexel University College of Medicine and the Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine.


Real life experiences and true heart connections with Kakembo inspired me to write this book.

Author Verna R Deno shares an emotional journey of unyielding faith and perseverance in Kakembo: A Heart Connection ($23.99, paperback, 9781662874871; $9.99, e-book, 9781662874888).

Denos book is the result of an unexpected encounter between she and a very special individual named Kakembo in Mityana, Uganda. It was Kakembos unwavering faith among major life challenges that inspired Deno to share his story as an inspiration to others.

Deno shares that as youngsters, Kakembo and Joseph, were left to live alone on the streets. Life was dangerous and they were hungry and thirsty. One day, they were saved by a pastor and his wife, who gave the boys a home. This was the start of something bigger as more and more children were also saved, and a childrens orphanage was born. When Covid-19 left them with severe financial shortages including food and water, Kakembos unyielding faith and effort to persevere took over for the sake of his children. This real-life adventure with incredible odds for survival gives in-depth glimpses into their hearts and life struggles, along with joyous victories.

When asked what inspired the author to write this book, Deno said, Real life experiences and true heart connections with Kakembo inspired me to write this book.

Verna Deno currently lives in Hayden, Idaho, with her husband of 50 years, Bob. Her career has included missionary, pastors wife, multi-cultural school administrative assistant, and bilingual tutor. Her travels included countries such as Italy, Switzerland, Canada, Mexico, and most recently, Africa. Denos combined intercultural experiences contribute to the pursuit of her lifelong desire to write. This book reflects the convoluted trials and joys of her love for other cultures and an extraordinary young Ugandan man and his adorable thirty-three orphans. Deno enjoys quality time spent with her daughter, Monica, and son-in-law, Ben. She also enjoys hiking and traveling with her husband, and photography.

Xulon Press, a division of Salem Media Group, is the worlds largest Christian self-publisher, with more than 15,000 titles published to date. Kakembo: A Heart Connection is available online through xulonpress.com/bookstore, amazon.com, and barnesandnoble.com.
Exceeding expectations every day is what we strive for so its incredibly exciting to have our dedication recognized by an industry leader like U.S. News. -Michele Ellis, executive director, Billerica Crossings

Benchmark Senior Living at Billerica Crossings, an assisted living and Mind & Memory Care community, has ranked among the best assisted living with memory care communities in Massachusetts and the entire U.S. for the second straight year. In U.S. News & World Reports second annual Best Senior Living ratings published today, the community was selected following a comprehensive resident and family member survey.

Billerica Crossings earned Best status by achieving the highest possible rating for both assisted living and memory care. Respondents gave the community high marks in critical areas, such as overall value, management and staff, resident enrichment, dining and food, safety, transportation, maintenance, housekeeping and location.

Forty Benchmark communities throughout the Northeast received a total of 53 U.S. News awards for the second straight year.

We are honored and humbled that our residents and their families, once again, recognized the hard work, compassion, and dedication of our 6,000-plus associates. Its their shared purpose of transforming lives through human connection that earned Benchmark these U.S. News & World Report awards and continues to separate Benchmark communities from other senior living companies, said Tom Grape, founder, chairman and CEO of Benchmark.

Billerica Crossings care and experiences spans independent assisted living to specialized memory care assisted living for those who would benefit from a safer, engaging environment, chef-prepared meals, supportive living services, transportation and assistance with daily activities, such as getting dressed and medication management. Residents enjoy connecting over programs and amenities offered in many common spaces including a demonstration kitchen, recreation room with pool table, library, hair salon, private dining room and outdoor courtyards with seasonal dining and walking paths.

Billerica Crossings award-winning Mind & Memory Care program offers carefully created living environments and unique opportunities for those with Alzheimers and dementia to find joy in each new day. Residents are supported by 24/7 care providers who have been hired for heart and educated in memory loss, communication and empathy. Neighborhoods provide the comforts of home and have unique features that help those with memory impairment stay connected to who and what matters most to them. Thoughtful touches, visual cues and purposeful amenities further promote familiarity and wellness.

Our team is committed to keeping our residents connected to who and what matters most through outstanding care and experiences, said Michele Ellis, executive director of Billerica Crossings. Exceeding expectations every day is what we strive for so its incredibly exciting to have our dedication recognized by an industry leader like U.S. News.

For more than 30 years, U.S. News has served the American public as an unbiased arbiter of quality across a variety of important choices. Whether picking a college, selecting a hospital or moving to a nursing home, consumers go to U.S. News to research and make consequential life decisions.

For the second consecutive year, U.S. News is providing in-depth information to help potential residents and their loved ones find the best place to help meet their needs, said Sumita Singh, senior vice president and general manager of Healthcare at U.S. News. Communities that are highly rated excel in making residents feel safe, well cared for and highly satisfied by the services provided.

For more information about Benchmark Senior Living at Billerica Crossings, click here or go to its U.S. News profile at https://health.usnews.com/best-senior-living/benchmark-senior-living-at-billerica-crossings-1403.

About Benchmark Senior Living

Benchmark is New Englands largest senior living provider with 65 independent living, assisted living, memory care and continuing care communities and over 5,000 dedicated associates providing compassionate care and outstanding experiences throughout the Northeast. The Waltham, Mass.-based company was founded over 25 years ago by Tom Grape with the purpose of Transforming Lives Through Human Connection. Since then, Benchmark has continued to set the industry standard, having won over a hundred local, regional and national awards for its care, programs and as a top workplace. Benchmark has been named one of the Top Places to Work for 15 straight years in The Boston Globes annual employee-based survey and received repeated recognition in FORTUNEs Best Workplaces for Aging Services list. For more information, visit BenchmarkSeniorLiving.com.
Exceeding expectations every day is what we strive for so its incredibly exciting to have our dedication recognized by an industry leader like U.S. News. -Becky Gallucci, executive director, Benchmark Senior Living at Split Rock

Benchmark Senior Living at Split Rock, an assisted living and Mind & Memory Care community, has ranked among the best assisted living with memory care communities in Connecticut and the entire U.S. for the second straight year. In U.S. News & World Reports second annual Best Senior Living ratings published today, the community was selected following a comprehensive resident and family member survey.

Split Rock is the only assisted living community in Shelton to have achieved the highest possible rating for both assisted living and memory care. Respondents gave the community high marks in critical areas, such as overall value, management and staff, resident enrichment, dining and food, safety, transportation, maintenance, housekeeping and location.

Forty Benchmark communities throughout the Northeast received a total of 53 U.S. News awards for the second straight year.

We are honored and humbled that our residents and their families, once again, recognized the hard work, compassion, and dedication of our 6,000-plus associates. Its their shared purpose of transforming lives through human connection that earned Benchmark these U.S. News & World Report awards and continues to separate Benchmark communities from other senior living companies, said Tom Grape, founder, chairman and CEO of Benchmark.

Split Rocks care and experiences spans independent assisted living to specialized memory care assisted living for those who would benefit from a safer, engaging environment, chef-prepared meals, supportive living services, transportation and assistance with daily activities, such as getting dressed and medication management. Residents enjoy connecting over programs and amenities offered in many common spaces including a bistro, demonstration kitchen, recreation room, library, fitness center, hair salon and outdoor courtyards with walking paths.

Split Rocks award-winning Mind & Memory Care program offers carefully created living environments and unique opportunities for those with Alzheimers and dementia to find joy in each new day. Residents are supported by 24/7 care providers who have been hired for heart and educated in memory loss, communication and empathy. Neighborhoods provide the comforts of home and have unique features that help those with memory impairment stay connected to who and what matters most to them. Thoughtful touches, visual cues and purposeful amenities further promote familiarity and wellness.

Our team is committed to keeping our residents connected to who and what matters most through outstanding care and experiences, said Becky Gallucci, executive director of Benchmark Senior Living at Split Rock. Exceeding expectations every day is what we strive for so its incredibly exciting to have our dedication recognized by an industry leader like U.S. News.

For more than 30 years, U.S. News has served the American public as an unbiased arbiter of quality across a variety of important choices. Whether picking a college, selecting a hospital or moving to a nursing home, consumers go to U.S. News to research and make consequential life decisions.

For the second consecutive year, U.S. News is providing in-depth information to help potential residents and their loved ones find the best place to help meet their needs, said Sumita Singh, senior vice president and general manager of Healthcare at U.S. News. Communities that are highly rated excel in making residents feel safe, well cared for and highly satisfied by the services provided.

For more information about Benchmark Senior Living at Split Rock, click here or go to its U.S. News profile at https://health.usnews.com/best-senior-living/benchmark-senior-living-at-split-rock-975.

About Benchmark Senior Living

Benchmark is New Englands largest senior living provider with 65 independent living, assisted living, memory care and continuing care communities and over 5,000 dedicated associates providing compassionate care and outstanding experiences throughout the Northeast. The Waltham, Mass.-based company was founded over 25 years ago by Tom Grape with the purpose of Transforming Lives Through Human Connection. Since then, Benchmark has continued to set the industry standard, having won over a hundred local, regional and national awards for its care, programs and as a top workplace. Benchmark has been named one of the Top Places to Work for 15 straight years in The Boston Globes annual employee-based survey and received repeated recognition in FORTUNEs Best Workplaces for Aging Services list. For more information, visit BenchmarkSeniorLiving.com.
Exceeding expectations every day is what we strive for so its incredibly exciting to have our dedication recognized by an industry leader like U.S. News. -Patrick Hardy, executive director, Benchmark Senior Living on Clapboardtree

Benchmark Senior Living on Clapboardtree, an assisted living and Mind & Memory Care community, has ranked among the best assisted living with memory care communities in Massachusetts and the entire U.S. In U.S. News & World Reports second annual Best Senior Living ratings published today, the community was selected following a comprehensive resident and family member survey.

Benchmark Senior Living on Clapboardtree is the only senior living community in the greater Norwood area to have achieved the highest possible rating for both assisted living and memory care. Respondents gave the community high marks in critical areas, such as overall value, management and staff, resident enrichment, dining and food, safety, transportation, maintenance, housekeeping and location.

Forty Benchmark communities throughout the Northeast received a total of 53 U.S. News awards for the second straight year.

We are honored and humbled that our residents and their families, once again, recognized the hard work, compassion, and dedication of our 6,000-plus associates. Its their shared purpose of transforming lives through human connection that earned Benchmark these U.S. News & World Report awards and continues to separate Benchmark communities from other senior living companies, said Tom Grape, founder, chairman and CEO of Benchmark.

Benchmark Senior Living on Clapboardtrees care and experiences spans independent assisted living to specialized memory care assisted living for those who would benefit from a safer, engaging environment, chef-prepared meals, supportive living services, transportation and assistance with daily activities, such as getting dressed and medication management. Residents enjoy access to programs and amenities offered in many common spaces including a bistro, fitness center, demonstration kitchen, hair salon and spa, library, private dining room and outdoor courtyards with walking paths.

Benchmark Senior Living on Clapboardtrees award-winning Mind & Memory Care program offers carefully created living environments and unique opportunities for those with Alzheimers and dementia to find joy in each new day. Residents are supported by 24/7 care providers who have been hired for heart and educated in memory loss, communication and empathy. Neighborhoods provide the comforts of home and have unique features that help those with memory impairment stay connected to who and what matters most to them. Thoughtful touches, visual cues and purposeful amenities further promote familiarity and wellness.

Our team is committed to keeping our residents connected to who and what matters most through outstanding care and experiences, said Patrick Hardy, executive director of Benchmark Senior Living on Clapboardtree. Exceeding expectations every day is what we strive for so its incredibly exciting to have our dedication recognized by an industry leader like U.S. News.

For more than 30 years, U.S. News has served the American public as an unbiased arbiter of quality across a variety of important choices. Whether picking a college, selecting a hospital or moving to a nursing home, consumers go to U.S. News to research and make consequential life decisions.

For the second consecutive year, U.S. News is providing in-depth information to help potential residents and their loved ones find the best place to help meet their needs, said Sumita Singh, senior vice president and general manager of Healthcare at U.S. News. Communities that are highly rated excel in making residents feel safe, well cared for and highly satisfied by the services provided.

For more information about Benchmark Senior Living on Clapboardtree, click here or go to its U.S. News profile at https://health.usnews.com/best-senior-living/benchmark-senior-living-on-clapboardtree-1739.

# # #

About Benchmark Senior Living

Benchmark is New Englands largest senior living provider with 65 independent living, assisted living, memory care and continuing care communities and over 5,000 dedicated associates providing compassionate care and outstanding experiences throughout the Northeast. The Waltham, Mass.-based company was founded over 25 years ago by Tom Grape with the purpose of Transforming Lives Through Human Connection. Since then, Benchmark has continued to set the industry standard, having won over a hundred local, regional and national awards for its care, programs and as a top workplace. Benchmark has been named one of the Top Places to Work for 15 straight years in The Boston Globes annual employee-based survey and received repeated recognition in FORTUNEs Best Workplaces for Aging Services list. For more information, visit BenchmarkSeniorLiving.com.
This decision shows that in a patchwork of increasingly difficult-to-navigate biometric privacy frameworks, straightforward, two-party, privacy-focused biometric architectures are a win for both the end-users and organizations.

A Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA) lawsuit filed against FaceTec, Inc. has been formally dismissed without the need for a hearing in a rare change of direction by one of the largest and most prominent plaintiff class-action firms in America.

BIPA's goal is to provide individuals with more control over their own biometric data and requires organizations to collect it only after proper disclosures and assurances are made and agreed to by the user. These terms include the specific purpose it will be collected and the duration that is stored and used. It also requires a person's written consent. Biometric information includes retina or iris scans, fingerprints, voiceprints, hand scans, facial geometry, DNA, and other unique biological information.

The initial complaint made claims that FaceTec had violated BIPA by not obtaining informed, written consent and related data storage and use. However, FaceTec's privacy-by-design architecture provides software that is installed and managed by its customer servers behind their own firewalls. The architecture does not require any personally identifiable information (PII) or biometric data from end-users be sent to FaceTec, and therefore FaceTec is not responsible for its software's commercial implementations under BIPA.

FaceTec's corporate immunity to BIPA risk is in stark contrast to other Identity-as-a-Service providers that require customers' user data be sent to their third-party servers, some of which are outside the United States, and expose KYC providers and relying parties to legal actions under BIPA.

"FaceTec has created the most privacy-conscious identity verification architecture on the market because FaceTec software is designed so customer's collect and process PII from their own end-users," said Terry Coffing, FaceTec's Chief Legal Officer. "Plaintiff's counsel, McGuire Law, PC, reviewed that architecture and voluntarily dismissed the case consistent with their ethical obligations and the facts. This decision shows that in a patchwork of increasingly difficult-to-navigate biometric privacy frameworks, straightforward, two-party, privacy-focused biometric architectures are a win for both the end-users and organizations."

About FaceTec 3D Face Verification

FaceTec's pioneering 3D Face Biometrics are fast becoming the global standard in secure onboarding, KYC, and ongoing authentication, stopping ID fraud and unauthorized access for millions of users on six continents. FaceTec is relied upon by many of the world's leading organizations in high-risk/high-value environments, including IAM-IDV, financial services, mobile payments, border security, connected transportation, blockchain/cryptocurrency, online dating, and much more.

FaceTec's 3D Face Verification Platform features:



100% data-sovereign, customer-run software: no user data must be sent to FaceTec

World-leading 3D Face Matching rate at 1-in-125 million FAR at less-than-1% FRR

Patented UI generates data-rich 3D FaceMaps from standard 2D cameras

$600,000 Spoof Bounty Program & Level 1&2 Certified 3D Liveness Detection

Unphishable 3D FaceMaps ensure trust without creating honeypots

Support for all modern smartphones, tablets, and PCs with webcams

KYC/IDV Dashboard with integrated 1-to-N de-duplication to catch fraudsters

World-leading 1-in-2 million FAR 3D FaceMap-to-2D-photo-ID matching

Anonymous, better-than-human 3D age estimation and 3D age checks

Fast, intuitive interface with 98-99% real first-time-user success rates

Easy to integrate, customize, deploy, and manage

Developers can download FaceTecs demo apps directly from FaceTec.com for iOS, Android, and any modern browser, and the developer SDKs are available free at dev.facetec.com.

About FaceTec

Founded in 2013, with staff in the United States, Brazil, Portugal, Mexico, and Singapore, FaceTec is the worlds leading provider of 3D Liveness and Face Verification software, allowing remote identity proofing with an extremely high level of confidence. FaceTec's patented, industry-leading Certified 3D Liveness Detection, face matching, optical character recognition, know-your-customer, and age estimation technology biometrically bind the unique, live, 3D user to their account, anchoring a secure chain of trust for mobile and web applications.

For more information and business inquiries, please visit FaceTec.com. For media inquiries, please contact John Wojewidka at JohnW@FaceTec.com.

About Liveness.com

Liveness.com is an educational resource for biometrics users, vendors, analysts, media, and regulators, providing a comprehensive history of Level 1-5 Presentation Attack Detection, Template Tampering, and Camera Bypasses, as well as explanations of methods and means for evaluation, certification testing, and bounty programs.
Conferences have traditionally been a part of our overall sales effort, and theyre great ways to support the industries we work with and get a chance to be face-to-face with the people in that industry.

BMI Imaging Systems, Inc. recently attended and exhibited at the Tennessee Library Association (TLA) conference in Memphis, TN.

Being involved in the library and newsprint archiving business since the 1960s, checking out a conference that its team had not previously attended was an easy decision to make. With a client base that spans across the country, BMIs sales team is constantly looking for library and archives conferences that provide new interactions with the people that maintain local history.

Will Whitney, Head of Sales and Marketing, says that Were always looking for ways to interact with existing and future clients. Conferences have traditionally been a part of our overall sales effort, and theyre great ways to support the industries we work with and get a chance to be face-to-face with the people in that industry. Coincidentally, we recently hired a sales rep in Tennessee so it made it a no-brainer to get him out to Memphis and exhibit with the folks at TLA. It was a double plus for us: we get to exhibit at a conference we havent been to before, and our new rep gets field-tested by being dropped into the fire of a conference. Cant get any better than that.

About BMI

BMI Imaging Systems (originally Bay Microfilm Incorporated) incorporated in 1958 as a microfilm service bureau, working with County Recorders to archive land records on microfilm. In the early 1960s, services were expanded to include preservation microfilming of the rare books and manuscripts of leading California Universities. A Library Microfilms Division was also established, working with over 200 newspaper publishers to preserve California local history for libraries and archivists. A reputation for service, precision, and reliability led to steady expansion of BMI's government, education, and commercial clients over the next two decades. By the early 1990s, the records management industry had entered the digital age and BMI was at the forefront of this evolution. Clients were meeting their electronic document management needs by having BMI digitize their records, with BMI installing and supporting on-site document management software solutions.

Today, BMIs production capability includes two imaging facilities with a staff of more than 60 technicians. With a focus on quality, accuracy, security, and innovation, BMI provides custom solutions that fit the unique requirements of each of its customers. In addition to providing document/microform imaging and indexing services of the highest standard, BMI offers public tenant, private tenant, and CJIS (Criminal Justice Information Services)-compliant community cloud hosting services, enabling secure access to client data via the Web. BMI also provides systems integration services, implementing turnkey document capture, management, and workflow solutions. BMI employs an in-house software development staff, a project management customer support staff, along with IT professionals that support internal and Web hosting operations.
Concrete protected by the Penetron System: The rejuvenation of the Rio das Ostras facility in Brazil will help reduce pollution in the Rio das Ostras regions rivers, beaches, and lagoons. Proven around the world in similar concrete repair projects, the Penetron System plays a key role in the waterproofing and protection of concrete structures exposed to aggressive environments.

Extensive repairs and targeted upgrades for the sanitation infrastructure of Rio das Ostras, on the Atlantic Coast of Brazil, was completed in March 2023. Further upgrades and repairs continue to be made across multiple communities in the region. The specification of the Penetron System of concrete waterproofing and repair products ensures the durability of these repaired concrete structures.

A Brazilian city of over 155,000, Rio das Ostras is located 160 km (100 miles) east of Rio de Janeiro on the Atlantic Ocean. Home to public and private schools for primary and secondary education, Rio das Ostras also has many universities: Universidade Federal Fluminense (UFF), Universidade Unigranrio, and Universidade Estacio de Sa. Popular attractions include Joana Beach, Ostras River, and Mirante da Praca da Baleia.

The rejuvenation and upgrading of the local sanitation infrastructure has become urgent, explains Claudio Neves Ourives, CEO and Managing Partner of Penetron Brazil. The completion of the Rio das Ostras project is a big step towards alleviating the dangerous levels of pollution prevalent in the rivers, beaches, and lagoons.

BRK Ambiental, a water and sanitation engineering company in charge of the Rio das Ostras project, specified a combination of Penetron System products for the repair of the existing sanitation infrastructure:



PENETRON CR-90  a single component, polymer-modified repair mortar for worn, spalled, and distressed surfaces

SURFIX BLEND PATCH (i.e., PATCHLINE)  a fast-setting, cement-based, one-component concrete and masonry patching material

PENETRON ARC  an active mineral protective coating specifically formulated for anaerobic conditions

The Penetron Brazil technical support team monitored the application of the topical Penetron repair materials by Concrejato, the Penetron-approved concrete repair team.

Applying the Penetron System to the damaged sanitation infrastructure at Rio das Ostras has eliminated the previous sources of concrete deterioration  and will help make the waters of Guanabara Bay cleaner, concludes Claudio Neves Ourives. Proven around the world in similar concrete repair projects, the Penetron System plays a key role in the waterproofing and protection of concrete structures exposed to aggressive environments.

The Penetron Group is a leading manufacturer of specialty construction products for concrete waterproofing, concrete repairs, and floor preparation systems. The Group operates through a global network, offering support to the design and construction community through its regional offices, representatives, and distribution channels.

For more information on Penetron waterproofing solutions, please visit penetron(dot)com or Facebook(dot)com/ThePenetronGroup, email CRDept(at)penetron(dot)com or contact the Corporate Relations Department at 631-941-9700.
Michelle I. Lee joined the BSSF team as a Small Business Accounting Services (SBAS) Senior Associate. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting from the University of Maryland and is a skilled accounting professional with over 20 years of experience. Michelle is located at the BSSF office in Frederick, Maryland.

ABOUT BROWN SCHULTZ SHERIDAN & FRITZ

Brown Schultz Sheridan & Fritz (BSSF) is a premier advisory firm, providing accounting, assurance, tax and consulting services to clients across the United States. BSSF is nationally ranked the #2 Best Accounting Firm to Work For in the mid-sized category, the #3 Best Firm for Young Accountants and a Top Regional Firm in the Mid-Atlantic. In 2022, BSSF was named the #1 Best Place to Work in PA in the medium-sized company category for the third consecutive year. Learn more at http://www.bssf.com.
Christopher Helt, Esq.

The Haute Lawyer Network, well known for its exclusive and luxurious lifestyle publication Haute Living, is privileged to present Mr. Christopher Helt, Esq. as a member and expert in the field of immigration law. Haute Lawyer offers a prominent collective of leading attorneys.

The invitation-only network features only two lawyers per market. This partnership allows Haute Lawyer to connect its affluent readers with industry-leading attorneys in their area.

ABOUT CHRISTOPHER HELT

Christopher Helt, Esq. is a nationally recognized deportation defense attorney, concentrating in providing legal counsel to immigrants appearing before the U.S. Immigration Court, federal district court, federal circuit courts and the Department of Homeland Security.

He was born in Chicago, Illinois and attended Loyola Academy, Loyola University Chicago (graduating cum laude), and Loyola Universitys School of Law. His practice concentrates in federal immigration litigation involving political asylum, refugee law and deportation/removal proceeding matters before the U.S. immigration court (the Executive Office for Immigration Review) and federal court. He has attained an AV (Preeminent Rating) lawyer-rating by his peers, the highest lawyer-rating possible by Martindale-Hubble.

Mr. Helt has been twice-qualified as an expert witness in federal jury trials for immigration/asylum-related matters, and is a member of the 2nd, 5th, 6th, 7th, 9th, and 11th Federal Circuit Court of Appeals, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces, the bar to U.S. Supreme Court, amongst other bar admissions. He is listed in Marquis Whos Who in American law and has appeared on local, national television and national radio news programs (CNN, WBBM-TV, WLS, FOX NEWS, BBC and NPR radio). His cases and clients also have been featured on a regular basis in the Chicago Tribune and Chicago Sun Times. He has appeared on national ABC, NBC, CBS news and news programs, (Dan Rathers Eye on America interview of Mr. Helt, Collateral Damage of the War on Terrorism, CNN national news, and on the front page of the New York Times (10/13/97) and featured in Time Magazine (Does This Boy Deserve Asylum).

Mr. Helt has appeared on the covers of Chicago Lawyer Magazine (New Era of Immigration Law) and was featured and in a Chicago Reporter Magazine cover story entitled Winning Asylum. Mr. Helt was one of the firstif not the firstattorney in the United States to have logged the first-ever second-hand smoke lawsuit (under the EPAs classification of second-hand smoke as a carcinogen), received the first ever official apology from Chicago Police officers in a 1996 civil rights case, and represented a Chicago school principle successfully suing the Chicago school superintendent and School Board demanding fair legal representation (Chicago Tribune, 8/27/99). He also is credited with bringing to the forefront the plight of some of Serbias own ethnic-Albanian soldiers who were systematically and secretly murdered at the hands Yugoslavias former president (Serb Army Deserter Faces Trial (Associated Press, 5/18/99)) and is the first to successfully win an asylum claim based on a childs autism in 2001.

Mr. Helts pro bono work covers a wide-spectrum of clientele. He frequently provides pro bono representation to the poor and underclass, and also currently serves as an active member of the ABAs Military Pro Bono Project.

Mr. Helt is an Illinois Super Lawyer and is an AV rated preeminent attorney, a distinction for attorneys who have attained the highest rating possible for legal and ethical standards amongst his peers and members of the judiciary by Martindale-Hubbell.
Added details (the first version was published at 10:55)

BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 17. As many as 71% of the Caspian Agro exhibitors are international companies, Minister of Agriculture of Azerbaijan Majnun Mammadov said at the opening ceremony of the exhibition, Trend reports.

"In total, more than 400 companies from more than 30 countries take part in the exhibitions. In addition, regional groups from Belarus, Georgia, Germany, Italy, Russia, Sri Lanka, and the US will be represented by national stands," he said.

According to him, Azerbaijan attaches great importance to the introduction of innovations that are successfully used in the modern world to neutralize the negative impact of global warming on the agricultural sector.

Exhibitions are an excellent opportunity for agricultural producers to get acquainted with such innovations visually. The participation of foreign companies implementing these innovations in such exhibitions is growing every year. Companies from different countries not only present their products but also find new local partners, he said.

I am sure that the Caspian Agro-2023 exhibition will be remembered not only for the presentation of numerous agricultural innovations but also for the expansion of cooperation between domestic and foreign companies, as well as the establishment of new partnerships. The application of innovations in the agricultural sector significantly increases the yield of cultivated products, increases the efficient use of land and water resources, reduces the cost of production, and contributes to an increase in farmers' incomes. We are confident that the exhibition will allow agricultural workers to get acquainted with new technologies, exchange experience, and establish mutually beneficial business relations," he added.
Exceeding expectations every day is what we strive for so its incredibly exciting to have our dedication recognized by an industry leader like U.S. News. -Jessica Colangelo, executive director, Crescent Point at Niantic

Crescent Point at Niantic, a Benchmark assisted living and Mind & Memory Care community, has ranked among the best assisted living with memory care communities in Connecticut and the entire U.S. for the second straight year. In U.S. News & World Reports second annual Best Senior Living ratings published today, the community was selected following a comprehensive resident and family member survey. Crescent Point is the only assisted living community in the greater Lyme area to have earned this prestigious award.

Crescent Point earned Best status by achieving the highest possible rating for memory care. Respondents gave the community high marks in critical areas, such as overall value, management and staff, resident enrichment, dining and food, safety, transportation, maintenance, housekeeping and location.

Forty Benchmark communities throughout the Northeast received a total of 53 U.S. News awards for the second straight year.

We are honored and humbled that our residents and their families, once again, recognized the hard work, compassion, and dedication of our 6,000-plus associates. Its their shared purpose of transforming lives through human connection that earned Benchmark these U.S. News & World Report awards and continues to separate Benchmark communities from other senior living companies, said Tom Grape, founder, chairman and CEO of Benchmark.

Crescent Points care and experiences spans independent assisted living to specialized memory care assisted living for those who would benefit from a safer, engaging environment, chef-prepared meals, supportive living services, transportation and assistance with daily activities, such as getting dressed and medication management. Residents enjoy connecting over programs and amenities offered in many common spaces including a demonstration kitchen, recreation room, wellness center, hair salon, private dining room and outdoor courtyards with seasonal dining and walking paths.

Crescent Points award-winning Mind & Memory Care program offers carefully created living environments and unique opportunities for those with Alzheimers and dementia to find joy in each new day. Residents are supported by 24/7 care providers who have been hired for heart and educated in memory loss, communication and empathy. Neighborhoods provide the comforts of home and have unique features that help those with memory impairment stay connected to who and what matters most to them. Thoughtful touches, visual cues and purposeful amenities further promote familiarity and wellness.

Our team is committed to keeping our residents connected to who and what matters most through outstanding care and experiences, said Jessica Colangelo, executive director of Crescent Point. Exceeding expectations every day is what we strive for so its incredibly exciting to have our dedication recognized by an industry leader like U.S. News.

For more than 30 years, U.S. News has served the American public as an unbiased arbiter of quality across a variety of important choices. Whether picking a college, selecting a hospital or moving to a nursing home, consumers go to U.S. News to research and make consequential life decisions.

For the second consecutive year, U.S. News is providing in-depth information to help potential residents and their loved ones find the best place to help meet their needs, said Sumita Singh, senior vice president and general manager of Healthcare at U.S. News. Communities that are highly rated excel in making residents feel safe, well cared for and highly satisfied by the services provided.

For more information about Crescent Point, click here or go to its U.S. News profile at https://health.usnews.com/best-senior-living/crescent-point-at-niantic-2310.

# # #

About Benchmark Senior Living

Benchmark is New Englands largest senior living provider with 65 independent living, assisted living, memory care and continuing care communities and over 5,000 dedicated associates providing compassionate care and outstanding experiences throughout the Northeast. The Waltham, Mass.-based company was founded over 25 years ago by Tom Grape with the purpose of Transforming Lives Through Human Connection. Since then, Benchmark has continued to set the industry standard, having won over a hundred local, regional and national awards for its care, programs and as a top workplace. Benchmark has been named one of the Top Places to Work for 15 straight years in The Boston Globes annual employee-based survey and received repeated recognition in FORTUNEs Best Workplaces for Aging Services list. For more information, visit BenchmarkSeniorLiving.com.
I am pleased to be named to lead this organization with its diverse team combining to achieve better outcomes for both those receiving and, those paying for healthcare.

Failsafe Health, an innovative healthcare technology start-up comprised of a cross functional team of executives from both the technology and healthcare verticals, is pleased to announce the appointment of Keith A Hovan as President and CEO of this exciting new enterprise.

Ray Romagnolo, Founder of Failsafe Health said, We feel fortunate to have Keith Hovan formally join our leadership team after working with us since early 2022. Failsafe Health is leveraging technology to create a hybrid digital/physical medical services network and Keith brings a vast amount of experience and expertise from his many years as one of the most respected healthcare leaders in the country.

According to Mr. Romagnolo, Keith Hovans successes include operational turnarounds, performance improvements, care quality and patient safety enhancements, cost reductions, improved governance, deepened community relations, and medical staff engagement and realignment. I was personally and positively impacted by the work Mr. Hovan accomplished in his most recent CEO level position at Southcoast Health where he made dramatic improvements in an organization that serves the region I live in and that will benefit the community for years to come.

Mr. Romagnolo continued, The movement to new payment models that require healthcare providers to take financial risk for the cost and quality of the services they render means that Provider organizations must rethink and remake their models for healthcare delivery. This a difficult challenge and one that the industry has not been able to accomplish, but is necessary to ultimately achieve the cost containment and affordability that results from access driven health equity. Keiths understanding of the underlying intricacies of this process will be invaluable.

Keith Hovan, the new CEO of Failsafe Health stated, I am pleased to be named to lead this organization with its diverse team combining to achieve better outcomes for both those receiving and, those paying for healthcare. As I have worked with Ray and his team over this past year it became clear that they want to do something that will have the potential to profoundly and positively effect healthcare access, health equity and costs. Hovan further stated, What makes the platform a true breakthrough in health innovation is how our proprietary, real time, dynamically changing localized data is acquired and simultaneously operationalized to create high value to the User, while helping to reduce unnecessary Emergency Room visits, and the associated often prolonged waits to receive the same information.

Prior to joining the team at Failsafe Health Keith Hovan served in a variety of senior level executive roles. He most recently served for thirteen years as President and CEO of Southcoast Health System in Massachusetts; Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer at Danbury Health System in Connecticut; various roles at Montefiore Medical Center in New York and Bridgeport Hospital in Connecticut. Keith is a highly experienced senior healthcare executive with clinical and administrative leadership experience across community, teaching, and academic medical center settings, and an expert in health system operations, strategic planning, business development, population health and building high performance teams.

About Failsafe Health:

Failsafe Health is a consumer centric health-technology management platform that promotes healthcare access, health equity and cost containment. The platform is architected and designed as a method and systems approach for successful transformation of the healthcare services industry from its traditional Fee for Services (FFS) business model to its future Full Risk models.

For more information go to: http://failsafehealth.com/
Timothy Norman Tamura VALIA [vuhleeah] noun, Latin/Greek 1. Theres Value in Truth

Timothy Norman Tamura, managing partner at VALIA Properties, has achieved success on the premise that investing in client relationships is the key to developing a fulfilling, long-term connection with the community.

VALIAs origins date back to the mid-1990s when Tim, an executive with a Fortune 50 company with a global reach, began investing in local real estate. Tims business travels and experiences have taken him to the far corners of the world; yet as he contemplated marriage and family, his search for where he would live brought him back to the place he loved the most, Corona del Mar, California.

In the past decade, Tim and a core group of seasoned brokers with deep ties to the community set out to elevate the experience of luxury real estate and those who seek it. Aggregate sales under Tims tenure as managing broker have exceeded $2.5 billion. The benefit of technology has brought the world of luxury real estate onto every desktop computer and smartphone, yet true global connectivity comes through nurturing enduring relationships that begin at home and extend far beyond our shores.

VALIA Properties has been recognized by The Wall Street Journal in the top 100 of the Top 1000 Sales Teams in the United States for 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2020.

Visit Tim Tamura's Haute Residence Profile: https://www.hauteresidence.com/member/timothy-norman-tamura/

ABOUT HAUTE RESIDENCE

Designed as a partnership-driven luxury real estate portal, Haute Residence connects its affluent readers with top real estate professionals, while offering the latest in real estate news, showcasing the worlds most extraordinary residences on the market, and sharing expert advice from its knowledgeable and experienced real estate partners.

The invitation-only luxury real estate network, which partners with just one agent in every market, unites a distinguished collective of leading real estate agents and brokers and highlights the most extravagant properties in leading markets around the globe for affluent buyers, sellers, and real estate enthusiasts. HauteResidence.com has grown to be the number-one news source for million-dollar listings, high-end residential developments, celebrity real estate, and more.

Access all of this information and more by visiting http://www.hauteresidence.com
I wanted the reader to understand what it would be like to live under Sharia lawI have a degree in English and have read extensively on the subject of Islam

Author H. Petersen Smith invites readers into the totalitarian regime of Sharia Law experienced by protagonists Rosie Chavez and Jamal Kadib in Intolerant ($21.99, paperback, 9781662862243; $9.99, e-book, 9781662862250).

It is 2026, and the US is controlled by Islamic terrorists. Nurse Rosie Chavez struggles to rescue her injured child when she discovers what happens to people the government deems are worthless. Imam Jamal Kadib struggles with his own part in the devastation when he is forced to oversee murders, confiscations and the 45-mile march of millions of infidels to a concentration camp. How will God show Himself present in these dark times?

I wanted the reader to understand what it would be like to live under Sharia lawI have a degree in English and have read extensively on the subject of Islam, said Smith.

H. Petersen Smith was born and raised in southeast Idaho. He earned a degree in English from Texas Christian University before returning to work for the Department of Energy, eventually serving as the Information Director for the Idaho National Laboratory. Smith now enjoys an outdoor life of fishing, hiking, and photography alongside his spouse of 50 years.

Xulon Press, a division of Salem Media Group, is the worlds largest Christian self-publisher, with more than 15,000 titles published to date. Intolerant is available online through xulonpress.com/bookstore, amazon.com, and barnesandnoble.com.
Cast Glass Moulding This product allows us to stand apart from all other decorative glass manufacturers. We are offering a high-end, customizable product that no one else can offer. -Tim Casey, Owner

Jockimo Inc. is a California-based architectural glass company that designs specialized, decorative architectural glass products for architects and designers. They have experience creating glass flooring, antique mirrors, glass bar tops, and cast glass creations that add a touch of elegance to any space. Now, they are excited to add another product to their long list with their new architectural cast glass mouldings. These glass mouldings are perfect for creating a decorative focal point in any high-end interior, from adding elegance to a beautiful window display at an upscale boutique or framing a fireplace in the lobby of a hotel.

Customers will have the ability to choose from a selection of half a dozen pre-designed, standard moulding options if they want an easy, effortless buying experience. However, Jockimo Inc. understands that their customers often have their own ideas of what they would like. Thats why any of these standard offerings can be fully customized, or customers can even start from scratch and let their creative vision guide the entire process from the shape and size to color and finish. For example, Jockimo Inc. can create your architectural cast glass mouldings in a vibrant color if you wish to add something bold to your space. Or, if you want something classic and understated, they can create the mouldings with their clear crystal glass with an antique mirror backing that allows the simple beauty of the glass itself to make a statement.

These architectural cast glass mouldings are a product offered exclusively by Jockimo. The launch of such a unique product is set to position Jockimo Inc. as a decorative architectural glass company unlike any other. As the owner, Tim Casey says, This product allows us to stand apart from all other decorative glass manufacturers. We are offering a high-end, customizable product that no one else can offer.

About Jockimo Inc.

Jockimo Inc. was founded in 2004 by owner Tim Casey. It offers a number of architectural glass products ranging from flooring to decorative glass. Jockimos mission is to provide its customers with beautiful, high-end pieces that can be a stunning focal point in any room while also being safely and expertly made. For decorative architectural glass, Jockimo Inc.s products are unlike any other.


We found that virtual card support, automated credit-decisioning, extensive spend controls, business self-service features, and free expense reporting from Corservs program allow us to offer specialized features to our business and commercial customers.

Corserv, a company that empowers banks and fintechs with payment programs, has implemented an industry-leading credit card program with Pennsylvania-based Meridian Bank to serve their business and commercial customers.

Meridian Bank is a $2 billion full service commercial bank, founded in 2004 and headquartered in Greater Philadelphia with offices in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, and Florida. Corservs robust program enables Meridian Bank to continue offering innovative solutions to its customers through credit card products with a variety of APRs, rewards, and features. For Meridian Bank, it was crucial that their credit card program offer extensive commercial and business capabilities.

Because we run Meridian like a business, we understand the needs of our community business owners, said Jason Rose, Vice President, Treasury Sales and Service at Meridian Bank. We found that virtual card support, automated credit-decisioning, extensive spend controls, business self-service features, and free expense reporting from Corservs program allow us to offer specialized features to our business and commercial customers.

Anil Goyal, CEO at Corserv said, Our turnkey card issuing program minimizes the disruption, cost, and resources needed for typical card programs while enabling our partners to average over 8% Return on Assets on the business card program. It is our core mission to provide institutions like Meridian Bank with payment card features that compete with the largest banks, while doing what community banks do best  serve the specific needs of their community.

About Meridian Bank

Meridian Bank, the wholly owned subsidiary of Meridian Corporation, is an innovative community bank serving Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland and Florida. Through more than 20 offices, including banking branches and mortgage locations, Meridian offers a full suite of financial products and services. Meridian specializes in business and industrial lending, retail and commercial real estate lending, electronic payments, and wealth management solutions through Meridian Wealth Partners. Meridian also offers a broad menu of high-yield depository products supported by robust online and mobile access. For additional information, visit our website at http://www.meridianbanker.com. Member FDIC.

About Corserv

Corserv provides innovative issuing processing and program management services for credit, debit and prepaid cards enabling Banks and Fintechs to deliver and embed payment card capabilities for their customers. Corservs deep expertise in the industry combined with our modern technology API solution provides our clients with everything they need to quickly build a successful credit-issuing business. For more information, please visit http://www.corservsolutions.com.


The PayBito crypto broker platform allows entrepreneurs to start a business from home Entrepreneurship is more than just making money; it's about exploring uncharted paths to create a significant global impact and promote financial inclusivity.

The international crypto exchange PayBito is disrupting the financial landscape with solutions that promote financial inclusion and gaining consistent traction. Their latest offering, an innovative crypto broker solution, utilizes groundbreaking Brokerage as a Service, enabling individuals to start a business from home with attractive earning opportunities powered by the crypto brokerage.

Cutting Edge Brokerage:

PayBitos white-label crypto broker platform access to over 400 crypto markets and 20+ fiat currencies. Registered brokers can earn commissions as intermediaries between buyers and sellers. It offers advanced trading tools, options, and high-end security. Entrepreneurs can start a business using the PayBito brand with customized features, top-tier security, and wallet management in a few days. The subscription-based model eliminates the need for significant investments and technical teams.

Commitment to Excellence and Innovation:

PayBito prioritizes growth through collaboration over competition, which is reflected in its business model. As a US-based exchange, they have become the leading white-label crypto exchange provider globally, offering crypto-based solutions in over 26 countries. The advanced white-label architecture has pioneered integrated crypto forex technology, making it a highly sought-after product among financial institutions and services venturing towards cryptocurrencies.

The Worlds First Crypto Broker Platform:

Refusing to rest on past achievements, PayBito continues to pursue its goal of democratizing access to brokerage platforms. To achieve this goal, PayBito challenged the status quo by launching the world's first crypto broker platform. The platform resolves all the barriers faced by individuals exploring brokerage opportunities, offering:

1. Instant Sign-Up and Registration

2. Cloud-Based BaaS Model

3. Zero Technical Integration Hassles

4. AI-Powered Trading Tools

5. Cutting Edge Security

6. No Entry Barriers

More Than Just A Business Plan And Platform:

PayBito CEO Raj Chowdhury said, "Entrepreneurship is more than just making money; it's about exploring uncharted paths to create a significant global impact and promote financial inclusivity."



Ownership Opportunity

The free open API crypto tool kit allows businesses to accept crypto transactions on their website and gain money as commission. The white-label features of PayBito help to set up a free instant exchange and brand it into a unique service provider with its customization features.

Expert Consultation

The platform offers simple setting-up instructions for starting the business, and PayBitos team handles most of the complex back-end processes and maintenance routines. Beyond these, the support team offers consultation, training modules with expert guidance, and more for a first-time crypto broker to make informed decisions.

Free Trial

The platform has more than a million users with over a hundred million daily transactions. The brand name has its integrity, yet the platform is open for brokers to try out a one-month trial period to check out the platform's layout, control dashboards, tools, features, facilities, security measures, and more before becoming a paid user.

Brokering World Hunger Away:

PayBito has introduced a new campaign, Brokering World Hunger Away, to utilize the crypto worlds growth to help eliminate world hunger. PayBito matches a dollar for every dollar that its brokers make as a commission and donates it to any cause working toward child hunger elimination. The company covers the cost of the donations, and brokers do not have to contribute anything.

Wrapping Up:

The franchise network of PayBito offers top-tier tools, comprehensive training, ongoing support, marketing tools, branding features, and more for entrepreneurs to overcome the entry barrier in the market. In addition, PayBito is constantly re-innovating itself to bring in all the top tools, best security features, and other facilities to make this possible in the long run.

About PayBito:

PayBito is a leading cryptocurrency asset trading platform operating globally. The platform is designed and managed by a team with rich experience in Banking security systems, Cryptocurrency trading, and Blockchain technology. It is available in the web version as well as in iOS and Android stores. PayBito services include white-label crypto exchange solutions, white-label payment gateway, exchange affiliate, and coin listing. PayBito offers some of the best rates and top-notch security in the crypto world.
National Prosecco Week is an incredible opportunity to present our wines, our territory and our culture to the most influential wine personalities and Prosecco DOC lovers in the United States, our highest-volume market with more than 134 million bottles imported in 2022.

The Prosecco DOC Consortium, the entity that oversees the production of the worlds most popular sparkling wine, is pleased to announce that National Prosecco Week - the trade, media and consumer campaign developed in partnership with Colangelo & Partners - will return for its sixth consecutive year during the week of July 17-23, 2023.

The upcoming edition will once again include robust retail and restaurant partnerships, media and consumer campaigns with an important focus on consumer events, targeted media relations and marketing, strategic media partnerships and dynamic social media and influencer activations. Through this comprehensive week of events, the Consortium aims to educate media, trade and consumers on how to identify authentic Prosecco DOC, increase awareness and build excitement in the United States market, showcasing the versatility and pairability of both Prosecco DOC and Prosecco DOC Rose, further elaborating on the new and growing Rose category.

During last years edition of National Prosecco Week, over 1,000 ecommerce and brick-and-mortar stores across 30 states participated with dedicated displays, promotions and in-store tastings, with thousands of consumers involved in the initiative. Consumers were driven to participating restaurants and stores through a variety of promotional activities, including media relations, influencers, social media marketing, and advertising including a billboard in Times Square in New York. 2022 was also the year of the return of in-person events with over 180 consumers attending 2 events organized in partnership with Cru Luv in New York and Chicago.

As U.S. consumers continue to express interest in Prosecco DOC for its pleasing palate and approachable price point, the Prosecco DOC Consortium is committed to increase their presence in the market via educational and promotional events such as National Prosecco Week.

After the tremendous success of the previous editions, we are thrilled to return to the United States for the sixth time since its inception, said Stefano Zanette, President of the Prosecco DOC Consortium. National Prosecco Week is an incredible opportunity to present our wines, our territory and our culture to the most influential wine personalities and Prosecco DOC lovers in the United States, our highest-volume market with more than 134 million bottles imported in 2022. The Prosecco DOC Denomination was in fact particularly preeminent in the US market in 2022 as exports increased by 6.3% over the previous year and today the country absorbs 24.3% of the total production of Prosecco DOC. The President continues, our goal is to continue to strengthen the Denominations success by monitoring consumer trends, paying close attention to the territory, and actively involving the entire production system, always keeping the focus on sustainability.

Continuing the efforts from last year, consumers will be able to search for and purchase Prosecco DOC from local and national retailers on the National Prosecco Week online store, in addition to having the ability to locate participating stores in a selected area through an interactive map on the National Prosecco Week website starting June 1st.

National Prosecco Week is also partnering with national ecommerce Wine.com and retail chain Eataly USA to drive consumer awareness and generate educational opportunities.

This year, consumer events will have a main focus in the overarching campaign. The Consortium will host an exclusive happy hour on July 18th at TAOs Dream Downtown, which will begin with two educational seminars for influencers and media, followed by a reception, featuring a celebration of The Italian Genio. Participants will have the chance to take a culinary journey to Italy, enjoying Prosecco DOC on its own and in a selection of cocktails, paired with Italian food.

The series of consumer activations will also include three events organized in partnership with Jermaine Stone's creative brand agency Cru Luv Selections in Los Angeles, Chicago and New York scheduled respectively for July 17th, 19th and 21st. Following the success of the last year, The Original Wine & Hip Hop founder will blend the best elements of street culture and wine, bringing together bubbles, great music and fun facts on Prosecco DOC.

Prosecco DOC welcomes retailers and restaurants to participate in this nationwide celebration by hosting in-house or digital promotions, educational seminars, tastings, package inserts and discounts. The following renowned Prosecco DOC producers are participating in this years campaign: Abbazia di San Gaudenzio, Albino Armani, Bottega, Botter, Ca Furlan, Cantine Riondo, Fantinel, La Gioiosa, La Marca, Mionetto, Paladin, Pitars, Ruggeri, Torresella, V8+, Val d'Oca, Valdo, Villa Sandi, Zardetto, and Zonin.

Participating retailers and restaurants receive dynamic and educational POS materials to inspire consumer interest in the promotion. Additional benefits for participating partners include advertising support with National Prosecco Weeks digital and social media marketing, and press support. All partners will be featured on the National Prosecco Week website.

For more information on National Prosecco Week and how to participate, please contact Carlotta Ribolini (cribolini@colangelopr.com) or Daniela Porro (dporro@colangelopr.com) of Colangelo & Partners (http://www.colangelopr.com), the agency of record in the US for the Prosecco DOC Consortium.

To stay tuned for upcoming events and promotions, follow Prosecco DOC on Facebook & Instagram (@proseccodoc_usa), and the National Prosecco Weeks official US website.

About

The Prosecco DOC Consortium Prosecco was granted the Controlled Designation of Origin status on July 17th, 2009, and the Prosecco DOC Consortium (Consorzio di Tutela della Denominazione di Origine Controllata Prosecco) was created on November 19th of the same year to coordinate and manage the Prosecco DOC. The organization unites the different groups of manufacturerswineries, individual and associated vine-growers, still wine and sparkling wine producersto ensure the designation continues to grow and that the production regulations are complied with.
Bruce Avery Joins Semos Cloud as the New Director of Sales Bruce is a leader in the world of business applications and HR tech with an invaluable experience acquired throughout an impressive career. His vision and customer expertise are most welcome, and I cant wait to have him join us ahead of Sapphire. - Filip Misovski, CEO

Semos Cloud, the provider of award-winning employee experience and culture intelligence solutions is thrilled to announce that Bruce Avery will be stepping in as the new Director of Sales for North America, as of May 16th.

Since its founding in 2014, Semos Cloud has been on a mission of transforming company culture and improving organizational health for enterprises around the globe. Semos Clouds Employee Experience (EX) solution suite includes four solutions; JobPts, the flagship Employee Recognition and Reward (R&R) platform, Nurture, a platform for employee communications, Wellbeing, an enterprise-ready solution for employee wellbeing and sustainability, and Skills & Growth, the first-ever skills intelligence platform built on SAP BTP technology. Semos Clouds solutions have been used and trusted by global enterprises, including Coca-Cola, SAP, Shutterfly, and many others.

As Semos Cloud continues to grow as a leader in the HR tech industry, the company is excited to welcome Bruce Avery as the new Director of Sales for North America. With over 20 years of HR Technology experience working for industry leaders, such as SAP, Oracle, and Virgin Pulse, Bruce Avery is set to lead an exciting, new chapter in the future growth of the company. Bruce most recently served as a Customer Engagement Executive at SAP SuccessFactors and provides extensive HR knowledge and customer insights trusted by world-class enterprises. Since Semos Cloud recently released Skills & Growth, the first-ever skills intelligence platform on SAP BTP, Bruce Averys arrival comes at a very exciting time. The entire organization is happy to have him and wishes him a warm welcome.

Filip Misovski, the CEO commented the following: Bruce is a leader in the world of business applications and HR tech with an invaluable experience acquired throughout an impressive career. His vision and customer expertise are most welcome, and I cant wait to have him join us ahead of Sapphire.

The EX space is rapidly evolving, and Semos Cloud is on a mission to pioneer an all-encompassing solutions suite combining recognition culture, corporate communications, ongoing performance, and skills intelligence.

About Semos

Cloud Semos Cloud is an HR technology firm that provides an employee experience and culture intelligence platform fully integrated with SAP system technology, including SuccessFactors product suite solutions and Oracle, Microsoft Teams, and others. Its solutions for employee recognition, feedback management, health and wellness, internal employee communication, and employee journeys are reshaping the experiences of millions of employees across the globe.


We hope that the study and its results enable the department to not only spend their current funding more strategically, but also to assist the department as it seeks additional funding and grants for continued improvements.

Woolpert was contracted to conduct a facility conditions assessment study of 24 facilities for the Toledo Fire & Rescue Department. The studys findings, finalized in March, identified an estimated $22 million in needed repairs over the next 10 years with $12 million estimated for the most urgent repairs and improvements.

The study attributed much of the projected costs to roofing, HVAC systems, windows, and upgrades to kitchens and bathrooms that would bring the buildings up to date and prioritize the health and safety of firefighters and other personnel who use the buildings on a regular basis. The report also provided a detailed cost analysis of priority repairs and upgrade recommendations for 18 of the citys active fire stations and six support buildings, many of which are nearing or over 50 years old.

Woolpert Senior Consultant Jessica Goodell said that while Woolpert has extensive facility condition assessment experience, including providing services for Cincinnati State Technical and Community College and the Walter Reed Army Medical Center, this was the first time Woolpert provided assessment services for a metropolitan fire department. Goodell said the assessment advances Woolperts reputation as a strategic and reliable partner to the Ohio market as well as municipal departments nationwide.

While we have proudly served the city of Toledo in the past, this was our first opportunity to provide services for Toledo Fire & Rescue, Goodell said. We hope that the study and its results enable the department to not only spend their current funding more strategically, but also to assist the department as it seeks additional funding and grants for continued improvements.

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 Global Top 100 Geospatial Company, 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 Americas fastest-growing AEG firm since 2015. Woolpert has over 2,000 employees and more than 60 offices on five continents. For more, visit woolpert.com.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 17. In accordance with the projected electricity balance, Kazakhstan plans to build two nuclear power plants with a capacity of up to 2.8 gigawatts, Deputy Director of the Department of Atomic Energy and Industry of the Ministry of Energy of Kazakhstan Gulmira Mursalova said, Trend reports via the Kazakh media.

She made the remark before the start of the round table on the impact of nuclear power plants on the environment held at the Eurasian National University.

"Certainly, we can consider continuing the development of nuclear energy in the future. Now the possibility of operating small modular reactors is globally observed, and we will also study these issues," she said.

According to her, the construction of the station in Kazakhstan will be monitored by the international community.

"Currently, the population has a lot of questions about ecology. The issue of safety of the nuclear power plants is, of course, a prime concern. Before the construction of the nuclear power plant, international atomic energy agencies, as well as international regulators come on a mission to the nuclear power plant construction site to assess readiness," the deputy director said.

She noted that Kazakhstan is a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency and, therefore, requests these missions.

The construction of the NPP will be carried out under the supervision of international structures, she said.
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BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 17. A memorandum of cooperation was signed between the Ministry of Energy of the Republic of Kazakhstan and the National Energy Administration of China in the field of energy, Trend reports via the Office of Presidential Administration of Kazakhstan.

The document was signed during the meeting between President of China Xi Jinping and Kazakhstan's President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, who is on a state visit to the country.

At the meeting, Kazakhstan's President noted the particular importance of China to Kazakhstan.

"We have a common goal: to activate bilateral relations. We are also united by the desire to strengthen regional and international security and cooperation," he said.

In turn, President of China Xi Jinping said that China and Kazakhstan have opened a new page of the "golden 30th anniversary" of the bilateral relations between the countries.

During the meeting, the sides discussed the development of comprehensive cooperation in trade and economics, oil and gas, petrochemical, energy, finance, transport and transit, education, and science. The sides also exchanged views on issues of the international and regional agenda.

In addition, following the meeting, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev and Xi Jinping signed a joint statement. Then a number of documents, including the memorandum of cooperation in the field of energy, were signed by members of the delegations of the two countries.
In response to a troubling wave of book bans, PEN America, Penguin Random House, a group of authors, and a group of parents have filed a federal lawsuit against a Florida school district over the "unconstitutional" removal of books from school libraries.

The suit, filed on May 16 in the Northern district of Florida in Pensacola, alleges that administrators and school board members in Floridas Escambia County School District are violating the First Amendment as well as the 14th Amendment (the Equal Protection Clause of the Constitution) because the books being singled out are "disproportionately books by non-white and/or LGBTQ+ authors" and often address "themes or topics" related to race or LGBTQ+ community.

The suit seeks to have the district's actions declared unconstitutional and to have the banned books returned to library shelves.

"In every decision to remove a book, the School District has sided with a challenger expressing openly discriminatory bases for challenge, overruling the recommendations of review committees at the school and district levels," the complaint alleges. "These restrictions and removals have disproportionately targeted books by or about people of color and/or LGBTQ people, and have prescribed an orthodoxy of opinion that violates the First and Fourteenth Amendments.... Today, Escambia County seeks to bar books critics view as too 'woke.' In the 1970s, schools sought to bar Slaughterhouse-Five and books edited by Langston Hughes. Tomorrow, it could be books about Christianity, the countrys founders, or war heroes. All of these removals run afoul of the First Amendment, which is rightly disinterested in the cause du jour."

In a release, PEN officials called the suit a "first-of-its-kind challenge to unlawful censorship," as it brings together concerned parents, authors, and a major publisher.

In Escambia County, state censors are spiriting books off shelves in a deliberate attempt to silence pluralism and diversity," said PEN America CEO Suzanne Nossel in a statement. "In a nation built on free speech, this cannot stand. The law demands that the Escambia County School District put removed or restricted books back on library shelves where they belong. She added that "children in a democracy must not be taught that books are dangerous."

Nihar Malaviya, CEO of Penguin Random House, agreed. "Books have the capacity to change lives for the better, and students in particular deserve equitable access to a wide range of perspectives," Malaviya said in a release announcing the suit. "Censorship, in the form of book bans like those enacted by Escambia County, are a direct threat to democracy and our Constitutional rights. We stand by our authors, their books, and the teachers, librarians, and parents who champion free expression. We are proud to join forces with our longtime partner PEN America.

The authors involved in the suit include author and childrens book illustrator Sarah Brannen, YA authors David Levithan, George M. Johnson, and Ashley Hope Perez, and childrens book author Kyle Lukoff.

 In Escambia County, state censors are spiriting books off shelves in a deliberate attempt to silence pluralism and diversity. 

Young readers in Escambia schools and across the nation deserve a complete and honest education, one that provides them with full access in libraries to a wide range of literature that reflects varied viewpoints and that explores the diversity of human experiences, said Perez, author of Out of Darkness, one of the books targeted for removal by the school district. As a former public high school English teacher, I know firsthand how important libraries are. For many young people, if a book isnt in their school library, it might as well not exist.

The lawsuit is a major, and long-awaited, response to a disturbing, politically-motivated surge in book bans and legislation now in its third year. And the facts laid out in the 58-page complaint show what's happening in Escambia County as well as the playbook being run in many communities across the nation.

The complaint lays out how a single language arts teacher at a local high school, Vicki Baggett, kicked off what would become a widespreadand largely successfulcampaign to restrict access to books throughout the Escambia County School District. The well-written document details how Baggett started by filling out a book challenge form for Stephen Chboskys The Perks of Being a Wallflower, which, the complaint alleges, Baggett would later admit that she had not even heard of prior to her efforts to ban it. Instead, the book came to her attention because it was one of the books frequently targeted as part of the nationwide book-removal movement.

After a panel voted to keep the book in the library, Baggett appealed with a letter to the School Districts Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction, and copying, among others, governor Ron DeSantis. In the letter, she argued that the book and others were the kind of pornographic material barred by state law. In a subsequent letter, the complaint alleges, Baggett explicitly linked her effort to get Chbosky's book removed to "the national removal efforts underway and cited a parental book rating from the right wing site Book Looks as evidence the book was not suitable for minors. Book Looks, the suit notes, was founded by a member of, and uses the same rating criteria as, the Moms for Liberty, one of the right-wing national political groups fueling the current surge in book bans.

From there, Baggetts effort sprawled. She produced several lists of books containing what she considered objectionable content, with the lists, lawyers say, drawing heavily from materials that are part of the national book-removal movement.

The complaint alleges there have since been four waves of book removals by the School Board, with 197 books targeted for removal, of which at least 42% have authors who are non-white and/or identify as LGBTQ, while approximately 59% address themes relating to race or LGBTQ identity. In addition, the complaint notes that books that reference same-sex relationships or transgender people are being automatically placed under restriction during their review period.

The disproportionate focus of the removal efforts is not an accident, the complaint states. Baggett has routinely expressed the categorical view that a book is inappropriate for inclusion in a school library just on the ground that it explores themes relating to race or LGBTQ identity. And, the School Board has repeatedly ratifiedover the objections of the district review committeeBaggetts removal preferences.

It's a familiar story, PEN officials note. In April, a new PEN America report titled Banned in the USA: State Laws Supercharge Book Suppression in Schools, expanded on two previous PEN America reports tracking the intensifying wave of book bans and laws aimed at limiting access to school and library books. Since July 2021, when PEN America began tracking public school book bans, the organization recorded more than 4,000 bans books through December 2022, including 1,477 individual book bans affecting 874 unique titles during the first half of the 2022-23 school yeara 28% increase over the previous six months.

And in March, the American Library Association also reported a shocking surge in book bans, announcing that it had tracked a stunning 1,269 "demands to censor library books and resources" in 2022, the highest number of attempted book bans since ALA began compiling data about censorship in libraries more than 20 years ago, and nearly double the record-shattering 729 challenges recorded in 2021. Once again, the vast majority of works challenged were written by or about members of the LGBTQ community and people of color.

The suit comes as another group, in Texas, recently won an injunction to stop book bans and to reinstate banned titles at their local public library. On March 30, federal judge Robert Pitman found that the library board in Llano County infringed the constitutional rights of library users by unilaterally removing books it deemed inappropriate. In a 26-page decision, Pitman affirmed that "the First Amendment prohibits the removal of books from libraries based on either viewpoint or content discrimination, said that the facts clearly showed that county officials had illegally "targeted and removed books based on complaints that the books were offensive.

Pitman's preliminary injunction ordered county officials not to remove any books from library shelves while the litigation is ongoing, as well as to return to the library of more than a dozen books he concluded were removed because of their viewpoint or content.

The plaintiffs in Florida are hoping for a similar victory.

Without diverse representation in literature and inclusive dialogue in the classroom, we are doing irreparable harm to the voices and safety of students in Florida, said Lindsay Durtschi, an Escambia County parent and plaintiff. Our children need the adults in their lives to stand up for the promise of cooperation and equity.
Coffee House Press in Minneapolis is set to lose about one-third of its total staff as two editorssenior editor Lizzie Davis and associate editor Zoe Koenigand publicist Daley Farr have submitted their resignations. The three will leave Coffee Houses by the end of the month, leaving seven employees, plus interim director Linda Ewing.

In a telephone interview, Ewing stated that Coffee Houses 13-member board had initiated a restructuring to maintain financial sustainability, but does not know whether this process had anything to do with the three departures. The board, Ewing explained, has not made any changes that would precipitate their resignations.

Ewing said revenues had been flat during Covid, but were up this past year, though not significantly, but were turning the corner. Even with the slight sales improvement, Ewing speculated that salaries could have played a role in the pending staff departures. She said that it has been difficult for Coffee House to keep up with the market in terms of salaries, and that it is not unusual that talented employees would move on to better-paying jobs. Davis has worked at Coffee House since 2015, while Farr and Koenig both have worked there since 2019.

Davis loss in particular will have an impact on Coffee House, as she is not only the press's longest-serving employee, but she has played a primary role in shaping its vision, which has become renowned in recent years for its edgy offerings.

Ewing said that she is already interviewing applicants and also hiring contractors to make sure that were not leaving any of our authors in the lurch, especially those with fall releases. There are six books on Coffee Houses fall 2023 list: three novels, a collection of poems, a collection of essays, and a work of nonfiction/criticism by National Book Award winner Justin Phillip Reed.

Coffee House Press has been roiled for the past few years by turnovers in its leadership. Chris Fischbach, who was at Coffee House for 25 years, the last nine as publisher, unexpectedly stepped down in late 2020. Anitra Budd, who also began her career in publishing at Coffee House, served as publisher for one year before stepping down in August 2022 to resume her work as a freelance writer and copy editor. Ewing has been interim director since January, while the board searches for a permanent publisher.

Farr confirmed in an email that her last day at work at Coffee House is May 26. Neither Davis nor Koenig responded to PWs request for comment or confirmation of their departure dates.

Several Twin Cities industry veterans who have worked with Coffee House over the years expressed their concerns to PW regarding the direction the press is moving in due to the combination of a young staffmany of whom have worked there for only a year or twoan interim director without publishing experience, and a board that skews towards corporate leaders who lack knowledge of the publishing industry.

I hope that Coffee House Press will be able to add a director who has directorial experience in publishing and who can pull all the departments of the press together, one industry insider said. Its a critical matter to maintain the great legacy of Allan Kornblum as Coffee House Presswhich began as Toothpaste Press in the early '70senters its sixth decade. Good luck, Coffee House.
For nearly four decades, rapper, social activist, multimedia producer, and visual artist Chuck D and his group Public Enemy have been an Afrocentric and revolutionary voice in hip-hop. From Welcome to the Terrordome to Fight the Power, Chuck D (born Carlton Douglas Ridenour), along with hype man Flava Flav and DJ Terminator X, launched a rap-powered sonic assault on the ills of society, from racism and police brutality to corruption and economic disparity.

Chuck D plans to continue his activist mission with the launch of Enemy Books, a new imprint produced and distributed by Brooklyn-based independent publisher Akashic Books. The new imprint will launch with the publication of Stewdio: The Naphic Grovel Artrilogy of Chuck D, a three-volume box set of illustrated journals, or graphic novels that he calls naphic grovels, graphic works that capture his life as well as events in the country from 2020 to 2022.

Included in the set are Theres a Poison Goin On, which chronicles the beginnings of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020; 45 Daze of REaD OctoBot, which follows the surreal days before and after of the historic 2020 US election; and Datamber Mindpaper, which looks at the United States a year after the election has passed, the early days of the Biden administration, and the one-year anniversary of the January 6 insurrection. A separate publication, Summer of Hamn, a blistering critique of Americas gun violence, will be published in October.

Chuck D, who was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2013 and is a recipient of a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, will also deliver a keynote address at the U.S. Book Show, appearing in conversation with New Yorker staff writer Kelefa Sanneh on Tuesday, May 23. His visual works will no doubt be a major topic of discussion as the acclaimed rapper continues his missionto quote from one of Public Enemys hitsas a Rebel Without a Pause.

Chuck D is an illustratorhe designed the Public Enemy logoas well as a rapper, and studied graphic arts at Adelphi University. He reached out to Akashic Books publisher Johnny Temple about publishing the books. Chuck basically approached me saying that he has a bunch of book ideas, and was interested in starting his own book imprint, not only for his own books, but books by other people as well, Temple told PW. He was more interested in making art, and didn't want to have to slow himself down with the business side of publishing, so he proposed that Akashic would host Enemy Books.

We had a great phone call, Templed added. "And then he wanted to check out our operation office in Brooklyn. We sat down, and we had a really fantastic conversation. I think when he left the office, it was clear that we wanted to do business together. I was really impressed [because he] really understood what Akashic Books is about and how we operate: Were the host of the imprint, Temple said.

He finds the books, and then we make the books. We help to design them, package them, print them up, promote them and distribute them ourselves. I'm a huge fan of Chuck's work. I've been a huge fan of Public Enemy from their very first record, and it was an honor to be able to even discuss this with Chuck, Temple explained.

What made the connection between Temple and Chuck D possible was Akashics track record of publishing diverse subjects (the house mission is the Reverse-Gentrification of the Literary World), and Temples shared connection with him through music. Temple is the bass player for the post-hardcore band Girls Against Boys.

I'm a bass player. I've been a professional musician myself since the late 1980s, Temple said. And I've even shared a stage with Chuck: we performed on the same stage together for a benefit concert, featuring Rage Against the Machine for Mumbai Abu Jamal in 1995. Weve published a pretty eclectic [range of subjects], and we have a strong focus on Black writers. And we've actually published a couple of essays of Chucks back in the early 2000s, in a book called Rhythm and Business: The Political Economy of Black Music.

He added: I think we're a good fit, because I certainly know how to talk to musicians, there was a strong vibe, and I was able to understand what he wanted out of this partnership. And so I would say that we jumped into this with a strong sense of mutual trust.

For Chuck D, who famously stated that rap is Black Americas CNN, the mood of the graphic journals are dystopian, filled with foreboding, dark images that exhibit the influence of the expressionism of artists Keith Haring and Jean-Michel Basquiat. As he told DW McKinney in a separate PW interview, his work rages against the machine that powers those styles that are always striving for perfection. The dialog in these works is somber, prophetic and deeply unsentimental, much in the way his music is.

Music is a vibration of what I see, Chuck D told PW, noting that he is influenced by the study of artists across time who froze their real-time moments into works of art. I consider myself an illustrator and my style is speedy and organic.

Theyre basically Chuck's visual journals, through the pandemic, the Trump era and the January 6 insurrection, Temple said. A lot of people keep journals. But what's one thing that people don't realize about Chuck D is that he was an artist before he was a rapper. So when he journals, it's not mostly words, it's mostly images. And when he journals, its not about his personal internal life.

Templed added that its about what he is seeing in the world around him, whether it's his interactions with other rappers, musicians, or just looking at the effect of the pandemic on the world around him. And this is something that Chuck was doing regardless of whether or not they were going to be published. He carries a journal with him, and he's always drawing.
Shreyas Sen, the Elmore Associate Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Purdue University, at left, and Shovan Maity, a Purdue alumnus, are two of the three founders of Ixana. The companys high-speed Wi-R silicon chip allows high-speed broadband communication among on-body devices to securely communicate at a fraction of the energy cost. Purdue Ventures has invested in Ixana as part of a larger $3 million seed funding round for the company. (Ixana photo)

Ixanas patented high-speed Wi-R silicon chip communicates with 100 times more energy efficiency and is more secure than traditional wireless technologies

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind.  Purdue Ventures, which manages multiple early stage investment funds to support Purdue University-connected startups, has invested in Ixana, a company that provides wearable smart devices with the ability to securely communicate with touch.

Purdue Ventures investment is part of a larger $3 million seed funding round for Ixana, including backing from EvoNexus, Hack VC, Paradigm Shift Capital, Samsung Next and Uncorrelated Ventures.

Ixanas high-speed Wi-R silicon chip debuted during the January 2023 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. The technology is based on patented, published, peer-reviewed research conducted by Shreyas Sen, the Elmore Associate Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering in Purdue Universitys Elmore Family School of Electrical and Computer Engineering and director of Purdues Center for Internet of Bodies.

Sen said the Wi-R wirelike wireless developed by Ixana has the potential to transform how wearable devices communicate with each other.

The technology utilizes the conductive properties of the human body to guide tiny amounts of Electro-Quasistatic, or EQS, fields around the person, Sen said. This allows high-speed broadband communication among on-body devices to securely communicate at a fraction of the energy cost compared to conventional wireless communication technologies. This allows wearables to use computing in smartphones without affecting battery power or latency.

Sen said the human body hurts traditional wireless communications by absorbing radiofrequency signals.

Radio was not designed to communicate around humans because of the high water content in our bodies, Sen said. On the other hand, the human body helps EQS fields, making communication efficient.

The ultimate end users of Ixanas technology are everyday consumers of personal electronic devices such as smartphones, smartwatches and other upcoming on-body devices.

Today, every wearable device has its own CPU and communicates only when required because wireless is inefficient, Sen said. Wi-R provides a virtually free wire that enables efficient distributed computing on the body; all wearables can piggyback off the computing in the smartphone or another body-worn hub without a significant battery or latency hit. This means every wearable device can have access to real-time AI.

Wi-R reimagines the architecture of wearable computing from standalone devices on the body to a tightly coupled computer-communication network connected by the body itself to enable longer-lasting, more secure devices while making the network more intelligent. In the process, it helps increase the adoption of wearables in the coming decades.

Ixana co-founder and CEO Angik Sarkar said artificial intelligence has advanced by leaps and bounds in the last few years, but it forms only a small part of peoples everyday lives.

The challenge is we largely interact with AI when we look at a screen or through voice prompts, Sarkar said. Ixana's long-term goal is to enable our brain to interact with AI in real-time, all day long, while being in our physical world.

Sarkar said the Purdue Ventures investment will impact Ixana in several ways.

Ixanas North Star is to make Wi-R ubiquitous in devices such as smartphones, smartwatches and AR/VR headsets, Sarkar said. Purdue Ventures' investment moves Ixana closer to that goal. Further, the backing of Purdue Ventures helped leverage more investors to invest in Ixana. Being associated with Purdue University and Purdue Ventures means more partners and investors believe in the technology.

Ixana has several ties to Purdue, including licensing Sens patented research through the Purdue Research Foundation Office of Technology Commercialization. Sarkar and Shovan Maity, Ixanas co-founder and head of research, both earned their doctoral degrees in electrical and computer engineering at Purdue.

Riley Gibb, associate director of Purdue Ventures, said Ixanas strong connections to Purdue research is a key qualifier for investment.

We also recognize Ixana has taken a technological lead by creating the worlds first high-speed Wi-R silicon chip, Gibb said. This innovation and its multiple applications will have an impact upon the adoption of wearable technology.

In April Ixana won the Startup of the Year category in the Mira Awards, which recognize the achievements of companies, individuals and organizations in Indianas tech industry. A three-minute video of David Yang, product engineer at Ixana, accepting the award is online.

About Purdue Ventures

With almost $20 million under current management, Purdue Ventures manages multiple pools of capital in collaboration with the university ecosystem and local corporations, enabling Purdue startups to improve the world.

About Ixana

Ixana is developing high-speed human-computer interfaces with all-day, real-time, distributed AI. Licensing Purdue University intellectual property through the Purdue Research Foundation Office of Technology Commercialization, Ixana has developed Wi-R, a non-radiative communication technology for wearables.

Writer/Media contact: Steve Martin, sgmartin@prf.org

Sources: Riley Gibb, rtgibb@prf.org

Shreyas Sen, shreyas@ixana.ai

Angik Sarkar, angik@ixana.ai
In a recent commentary in Harvard Public Health, Jesse Bump, executive director of the Takemi Program in International Health, suggested that the reason marginalized groups continue to have greater health risks and higher mortality is because public health, as a field, no longer explicitly considers dealing with social inequities as its responsibility. The field, in other words, has failed to meet its core missionwhich, quite simply put, is protecting the health of everyone.

Even the pockets of the population with better health outcomes betray a failure of the public in public health, for these individuals are able to buy their way to better health by paying for higher-quality care. The inequitable impacts of chronic disease, incarceration, and COVID-19 on communities of color underscore the fact that, of all the populations public health has failed, it has failed communities of color most of all.

During the pandemic, public health misinformation surged and, research has suggested, official information was less likely to reach communities of color due, in part, to mistrust and gaps in access to reliable information. This led to an environment in which misinformation could thrive. For example, a popular narrative among Black influencers was that the COVID-19 vaccine was experimental, rushed, and unsafe. This narrative pointed to the deaths of Hank Aaron and CNN legal analyst Midwin Charles as proof of the dangers of the vaccine. Despite the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) indicating that there was no established causal link between the vaccine and Aaron's and Charles' deaths, social media posts continued to spread misinformation and share sentiments of mistrust about the vaccine.

Why were Black adults in the United States more likely to doubt the safety of the vaccine, despite the most reputable public health agenciesthe CDC, the World Health Organization, and the National Institutes of Healthagreeing that it was safe and effective? Perhaps communication of the scientific findings around vaccine safety were obtuse. Perhaps political skepticism of various public health agencies' responses to COVID-19 created, in turn, even more skepticism for the treatments that were then recommended by these same agencies. Perhaps Black communities do not see these public health agencies as credible or trustworthy because of the agencies' past and current failures to equitably protect their communities' health.

Perhaps Black communities do not see public health agencies as credible or trustworthy because of the agencies' past and current failures to equitably protect their communities' health. Share on Twitter

Whatever the reasons, public health misinformation is not going away, and mistrust in public health agencies has made certain populations more susceptible to misleading information, all of which can end up deterring communities of color from taking advantage of effective public health approachesfurther perpetuating health inequities.

Research has found that people view information as more credible when it is shared by members of their social networks. Public health agencies are not able to compete with the iterative and real-time nature of information sharing through an individual's online social networks. Very few individuals in public health directly engage in two-way interactions with the public on social networking sites (such as answering questions and flagging misinformation). Instead, when an event such as a pandemic unfolds they simply push out information to the public in a series of one-way interactions.

Social media may be where many get their information, but public health agencies have not yet incorporated social media into the standard communications training. Public health professionals, after all, are not trained to respond via social networking sites, and are already overworked and overwhelmed. Many are still actively responding to COVID-19 and a plethora of other natural and manmade disasters. And prior to COVID-19, the public health workforce had already been hollowed out from years of atrophy due to funding cuts.

To combat misinformation, public health agencies need to change how they communicate with the public. Active public engagement is key, particularly in communities with historically rooted mistrust in these agencies. As part of public engagement, public health professionals should be trained in how to effectively use social networking sites and how to engage responsibly with influencers to share public health information. Virtual emergency operations centers, which listen and respond to the public health narratives that emerge during and after a public health emergency, will be central to this strategy as well. To be more active in using and monitoring social networking sites, existing public health professionals will need time and resources.

To combat misinformation, public health agencies need to change how they communicate with the public. Share on Twitter

The public health workforce also needs more diversity, as the field is predominantly populated by white women over the age of 40. People want to get information from sources they trust, which often means sources who look more like them and come from within their communities. To bring more diverse candidates into the field, significant changes are needed all along the career pipeline.

Almost exactly two years ago, nearly $730 million was awarded by the CDC to public health agencies to support the emergency response to COVID-19. Some of this money went to fund emergency communications. Nevertheless, we are only beginning to understand the field's failures in reaching diverse populations.

With the end of the public health emergency last week, such shortcomings will only be exacerbated as funding diminishes. This will, in turn, make it even more difficult to provide the ongoing outreach and tailored communications necessary for addressing the spread of misinformation in communities of color. Yet if public health's mission is to protect the health of all of the public, communication and outreach to communities of color can no longer be given such short shrift.

Joie Acosta is a senior behavioral/social scientist at the nonprofit, nonpartisan RAND Corporation.

This commentary originally appeared on Governing on May 17, 2023. Commentary gives RAND researchers a platform to convey insights based on their professional expertise and often on their peer-reviewed research and analysis.
There are very real, and growing, concerns about domestic extremism these days.

In a poll from last year, 88 percent of Americans reported that they were very or somewhat concerned about politically motivated violence. To put this in perspective, in the month after 9/11, 71 percent of Americans said they were very or somewhat worried about another terrorist attack.

As the country heads into what will likely be a highly polarized election cycle, there is a real and growing need for a sustained investment that could prevent extremism from ripping through the social fabric of the country.

Extremism is like cancer: It will always exist, but ignoring it runs the risk that it rears its ugly head, metastasizing throughout the country. The United States needs to ensure it has the proper tools to diagnose extremism in its earliest stages, and that the agencies tasked with protecting our democracy have the capability to get it into, and keep it in, remission.

What's needed at the outset is a clearer definition of just what extremism means. It's a loaded term, certainly, but one useful starting point is a definition that focuses on beliefs and actions. Extremists hold beliefs on the far end of some ideological spectra in society; they advocate for these beliefs outside societal norms and laws. Under certain circumstances, both are necessary conditions for someone to be labeled an extremist.

There needs to be a better understanding of why people become attracted to extremist activities in the first place. Share on Twitter

But there also needs to be a better understanding of why people become attracted to extremist activities in the first place. Research by our colleagues has found, for example, that such things as negative life events, mental health challenges, and loneliness often become drivers for people to engage in extremist efforts.

The agencies tasked with protecting the public and democracy should prioritize monitoring broader extremist trends when appropriate. These days, much of what might be labeled as extremist activity occurs online. This is both harder to track in certain ways and easier in othersit has, at the very least, created opportunities to digitally map the latest trends in extremist behavior and ideologies over time. Such maps could help anticipate future risks and form plans to act to intervene earlier, rather than when it is too late.

There also exists an acute need to leverage both new and existing support systems that could prevent those with personal troubles from becoming public problems. In the U.S. military, for example, there already exists a massive support system that has proven useful in preemptively addressing early signs of extremism among service members and veterans. Taking that model and scaling it out to the broader public seems both possible and practical.

These tools for diagnosing and addressing extremism have broad political support. We found this to be true firsthand when RAND recently held workshops on the topic of bipartisanship during these divided times. These workshops included a diverse set of stakeholders from local, state, and federal governments to academia and nonprofit organizations. Some participants held conservative views, others held liberal ones.

There is both a need to depoliticize the issue of extremism and for bold investments in policies that would prevent it from metastasizing over the long term. Share on Twitter

On the topic of violent extremism, one area of consensus that emerged was to apply a public health model for prevention, one that draws on behavioral health and social services, schools, and employers to help address extremism. This community-based approach relies on bolstering existing support systems aimed at detection, measurement, prevention, and interventionlanguage strikingly similar to what's used when talking about cancer.

There is, at present, both a need to depoliticize the issue of extremism and for bold investments in policies that would prevent it from metastasizing over the long term. Such a project can take as a model the massive efforts to address cancer itselfsimilar in sweep and structure to President Biden's cancer moonshot.

Behind all extremist activities exists a complex pathology, but there also exist pragmatic ways to prevent beliefs from growing into the very real threats that most Americans are rightly so concerned about.

Marek N. Posard is a sociologist at the nonprofit, nonpartisan RAND Corporation and an affiliate faculty member at the Pardee RAND Graduate School. K. Jack Riley is vice president and director of the Homeland Security Research Division at the RAND Corporation.

This commentary originally appeared on The Hill on May 16, 2023. Commentary gives RAND researchers a platform to convey insights based on their professional expertise and often on their peer-reviewed research and analysis.
When comparing the total number of plays and total playtime during Eurovision 2023 against the previous 90 days and against Eurovision 2022, the online video analytics and business intelligence solutions provider said the boost effect becomes clear and that its numbers showcase the growing potential of Eurovision to captivate and connect with digital video audiences.Plays were found to have surged by 28% during the event compared with the previous 90 days, and the event in Liverpool registered 31% more plays than last years Eurovision edition. Total playtime surged 36% compared with the previous 90 days and was 34% higher than in 2022.Analysing the devices on which fans chose to follow the contest, NPAW's data found that PCs captured the biggest piece of the pie with a 41% share of total playtime, while smartphones took second place with 25% of the share, followed by TVs with 22%. Tablets captured the lowest playtime with 12% of the share.Interestingly, compared with the 2022 edition, TVs and PCs each lost 6% in share  the same percentage points won by tablets and smartphones. NPAW suggested that this shift to smaller screens for consuming live content could be attributed to more people being on the move or following the contest on secondary household devices.It added that the convenience and portability of smartphones and tablets make them ideal for multitasking, allowing viewers to engage with the contest while simultaneously interacting with friends and family through social media or messaging apps. This dual-screen experience, it said, could be a driving factor behind the shift towards smaller screens and indicate a changing landscape for live content consumption.NPAW concluded by stating that Eurovision 2023 has proven to be a tremendous success in terms of streaming consumption and user engagement, outperforming both regular seasonal patterns and the previous years edition. It advised that as Eurovision continues to evolve and captivate audiences worldwide, streaming providers and broadcasters must keep pace with these trends to ensure they deliver an optimal viewing experience for fans.It added that with the right strategies and insights, the future of Eurovision streaming looks brighter than ever, with the increasing engagement and the shift in viewing patterns present opportunities for broadcasters and streaming services to capitalise on this trend, offering tailored experiences and innovative features to enhance the overall Eurovision experience.
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BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 17. An armed terrorist was killed during a special operation of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the State Committee for National Security of Kyrgyzstan in the village of Dmitrievka of Chui region, the Interior Ministry said, Trend reports citing Kabar.

According to the ministry, employees of the special forces of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the State Committee for National Security conducted an operation to detain a terrorist.

During his detention, he offered armed resistance. During a special operation, the terrorist was destroyed by employees of special units of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the State Committee for National Security.

The operational-investigative group of the Ministry of Internal Affairs is currently working. More details will be provided later.
The Academy of Television Arts and Sciences announced Tuesday that the Daytime Emmys will be postponed because of the Writers Guild of America strike. The Academy tweeted a statement from President and CEO Adam Sharp on the Daytime Emmys account.

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The show was scheduled to air live June 16 on CBS. It would be the 50th Daytime Emmys ceremony.

The Creative Arts and Lifestyle Ceremony scheduled for June 17 also is postponed.

"We look forward to our community gathering together as one to celebrate our Golden Anniversary and all of the talented nominees and honorees at a later date," Sharp wrote.

The WGA began picketing on May 2 after negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers failed to reach a new contract. Issues include a mandatory minimum writers room size and limits on the use of artificial intelligence.

Other award shows affected by the strike include the MTV Movie Awards, which went pretaped after host Drew Barrymore backed out in solidarity with the writers. The Tony Awards and Critics Choice Real TV Awards also will forego televised ceremonies but still will give out awards.
Newly unsealed court documents show that the wife of a California radiologist accused of trying to kill his family by driving over a cliff told rescuers he was depressed and needed a psychological evaluation
Bank of Baroda (BoB) has made prudential provision of Rs 500 crore for exposure to Go First, which has sought bankruptcy protection after the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) admitted its plea for voluntary insolvency.

Photograph: ANI Photo

Sanjiv Chadha, managing director and chief executive officer of BoB, said the bank identifies issues in advance and makes provisions if required.

The Mumbai-based public sector lender has an exposure of Rs 1,300 crore to the troubled airline.

This does not include exposure that is guaranteed by the Centre under the Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme.

Out of this exposure, about Rs 1,000 crore is collateralised by tangible securities and by way of corporate guarantees.

In Q4, the bank has gone ahead to make provision of Rs 500 crore for this account.

Which means any potential downside has been fully taken into account and the bank is completely protected as far as this account is concerned, Chadha told the media after announcing results for the March quarter of financial year 2022-23 (Q4FY23).

Its net profit grew 168 per cent year-on-year (YoY) to Rs 4,775 crore in Q4, buoyed by healthy growth in advances and net interest income (NII).

This was the highest quarterly net profit.

In the whole year, its net profit grew 94 per cent to Rs 14,110 crore from Rs 7,272 crore in FY22.

The board of directors recommended a dividend of Rs 5.5 per share (of face value Rs 10 each) for FY23, subject to requisite approvals, the bank said.

Its capital adequacy ratio (CAR) stood at 16.24 per cent with common equity tier-I of 12.24 per cent at the end of March.

While the bank did not hint at any plans to raise capital through equity shares, it would raise up to Rs 2,000 crore through debt capital instruments like additional tier-I bonds and tier-II bonds in FY24.

BoBs NII, which is interest revenues minus interest expenses, grew 33.8 per cent YoY to Rs 11,525 crore in Q4, compared with Rs 8,612 crore a year ago.

Its net interest margin improved 45 basis points YoY to 3.53 per cent in Q4.

The banks advances grew 18.5 per cent YoY to Rs 9.69 trillion in FY23.

In advances, retail grew 26.8 per cent YoY to Rs 1.78 trillion at the end of March.

The bank has guided for 13-14 per cent growth in credit in FY24.

Total deposits increased 15.1 per cent YoY to Rs 12.03 trillion in FY23.

The asset quality profile improved with gross non-performing assets (NPA) declining to 3.79 per cent in March from 6.61 per cent a year ago.

Net NPA declined to 0.89 per cent in March, as against 1.72 per cent last year.

Its provisions and contingencies declined by 62 per cent YoY to Rs 1,421 crore.

The provision coverage ratio for bad loans improved to 92.43 per cent in March from 88.71 per cent a year ago.
Out of all the reported digital payment frauds in India, over half (55 per cent) were United Payments Interface (UPI)-related, a new report released on Tuesday revealed.

Photograph: PTI Photo

Another 18 per cent are card related, 12 per cent are related to internet banking and nine per cent are from phishing calls.

Most of the UPI-related frauds, however, have a low ticket size.

According to "The Anatomy of Fraud 2023" report by digital solutions platform Bureau and consultancy firm Praxis, 50 per cent of these have an average ticket size of less than Rs 10,000.

Another 48 per cent have a ticket size between 10,000 and 1,00,000.

Only two per cent of these frauds have a ticket size of Rs 100,000.

The findings of the report are crucial given the fact that UPI has gained unprecedented popularity and adoption in the past few years.

In 2019-20 (FY20), UPI accounted for 36 per cent of all the non-cash retail transactions in India, based on volumes.

In FY21, it rose to 44 per cent. In FY22, 57 per cent of all non-cash retail transactions were made via UPI.

Moreover, internet penetration in India is expected to jump from 879 million users in 2022 to 1.14 billion in 2027.

The number of digital payments is expected to grow 74 per cent from 2022 to 2027, the report added.

"Fraudsters go where the money and opportunity are.

"The rising digitisation, digital inclusion expansion, and the growing number of digital-first businesses suggest India is going to continue to be a hotbed of digital fraud," said Ranjan Reddy, chief executive officer (CEO) of the Bureau.

Among all the frauds, identity-related frauds held the highest share in most industries.

65 per cent of all frauds in financial services were account-related in 2021.

These include account takeover and account creation.

54 per cent of frauds in the e-commerce industry were account-related.

The report added that the Centre is being proactive in preventing these frauds.

Its initiatives like stringent know-your-customer (KYC) norms and regulations for real-money gaming sectors, among others, are providing protection to the customers.

Moreover, 60 per cent of the organisations surveyed stated that they will increase their spending on fraud detection and prevention in the next two years.
The DMK leadership may now have to deal with a demand for more seats from its Congress ally in the Lok Sabha polls, predicts N Sathiya Moorthy.

IMAGE: Congress workers celebrate the party's win in the Karnataka assembly elections, outside the Vidhana Soudha in Bengaluru, May 14, 2023. Photograph: ANI Photo

Congratulating the victorious Congress ally over its Karnataka poll victory, Tamil Nadu's Chief Minister M K Stalin promptly tweeted: 'The unjustifiable disqualification of Rahul Gandhi as MP, misusing investigative agencies against political opponents, imposition of Hindi, and rampant corruption have echoed in the minds of the people of Karnataka.'

The voters of Karnataka 'have upheld the Kannadiga pride by teaching a befitting lesson to the BJP's vindictive politics... The landmass of Dravidian family stands clear of the BJP,' Stalin said, and added in the same vein: 'Now, let us all work together to win 2024 to restore democracy and Constitutional values in India.'

Stalin also telephoned Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, for whom it was a personal victory, he being a native of Karnataka, and also Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, apart from P Siddaramaiah and D K Shivakumar, the two party leaders who made it happen, setting aside their differences for a while.

In tweeting his happiness over Congress's victory in Karnataka, and more so against the BJP's 'vindictive politics', Stalin seemed to have forgotten a couple of facts.

One, 'Hindi imposition' was never an issue in Karnataka as in Tamil Nadu.

Two, in the tiny Union Territory of Puducherry, also in south India, part of the 'Dravidian family', and more so 'Tamil family', the BJP is a coalition partner in the government of the N R Congress Chief Minister N Rangaswamy, who broke away from the Congress parent some years ago.

Ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam cadres in Tamil Nadu are in a celebratory mood though they are displaying it all only on faceless social media.

The believers among them see it as divine intervention, better still, divine punishment for the rival BJP's state president K Annamalai, and national secretary C T Ravi who is in charge of the party's Tamil Nadu affairs.

The reasons are not far to seek. Ever since the DMK came to power, Annamalai has been going hammer and tongs at the ruling party and its 'first family' of which Stalin is the central figure.

Not very long ago, he released what he says is the first instalment of his 'DMK Files', naming some DMK leaders, including Stalin's minister-son Udayanidhi and non-politician son-in-law, V Sabareesan -- and their wealth.

He has since followed it up with a threat of a second volume of the 'DMK Files' with more names.

In between, Annamalai also released two audio-tapes in quick succession, in which he claimed that then finance minister Palanivel Thiaga Rajan (PTR) alleged that Udayanidhi and Sabareesan between them had amassed Rs 30,000 crores (Rs 300 billion) in just one year (of the Stalin government, and illegally).

He later attributed PTR's portfolio-change to IT to his tapes.

The DMK has pooh-poohed all of Annamalai's allegations. The state government has since filed a defamation case against him for charging that Stalin, then as deputy CM, had taken Rs 200 crore (Rs 2 billion) bribe in awarding a Metro Rail project contract in 2011.

The DMK as a party also sent him a lawyer's notice in the matter.

Some senior party leaders named by Annamalai have also served lawyer's notices on him while others have simply ignored him.

The common refrain of the DMK leaders named, according to sources, is that much of what Annamalai has alleged without substantiation are available in the public arena, such as their tax returns and also election nominations in the past.

They also point out how the recent IT raid on G-Square, a Chennai-based construction firm, which pro-BJP social media activists claimed was a benami for Sabareesan, has seemingly drawn a blank.

Likewise, DMK activists have also pointed out how PTR has disproved Annamalai's claims on the audio-tapes, by authenticating them as interpolations, by specifying those portions, based on examination by audio experts (from the US).

Annamalai's hopes were possibly short-lived as PTR, unlike might have been anticipated, readily accepted the portfolio change with grace.

IMAGE: Prime Minister Narendra D Modi at a roadshow in Bengaluru on Saturday, April 29, 2023 in support of BJP candidates. Photograph: Shailendra Bhojak/PTI Photo

From a national perspective, the Karnataka debacle is also a personal defeat for Prime Minister Narendra D Modi and Union Home Minister Amit A Shah, who by repeated campaigning had made it a prestige issue.

Over and above that, they preferred not sending in neighbouring Maharashtra leaders like Union Minister Nitin Gadkari to the northern border district of Belgaum, where 'merger' with the 'mother state' is still a live issue.

But from a TN Dravidian angle, it's even more about the BJP drawing blank in the two Karnataka districts, Kolar and Mandya, that too with a substantial Tamil population, where Annamalai was the party's campaign-in-charge.

As a bonus, Karnataka's voters in Chikkamagaluru assembly constituency handed down a clean defeat to Ravi.

For him, it's a double whammy as he had resigned his ministerial position in Karnataka to concentrate full time on Tamil Nadu politics, since before the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. It did not help the party in TN, and now, himself too.

According to locals, Ravi seldom visited the constituency after being made in charge of the BJP's TN affairs.

Likewise, BJP leaders in both states point out how despite his experience as an IPS officer in Karnataka, Annamalai hardly had any experience in electoral matters.

The only election Annamalai had contested was in 2021, from his native Aravankurichi assembly constituency.

It was only months after his joining the party and even less after being made state party chief, out of the blue.

He lost to the victorious DMK, by a high 25,000 vote margin, also because of his inability to work with local leaders of the AIADMK allies.

IMAGE: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin lays a wreath at May Day Park in Chintadripet, Chennai, May 1, 2023. Photograph: ANI Photo

Now that the Congress ally is back in power in Karnataka, at least the DMK cadres in Tamil Nadu expect the new government in Bengaluru probing the poll-time charge that Annamalai was carrying cash-for-vote money in his helicopter -- a charge that the Election Commission promptly denied, reportedly after a thorough investigation.

They also want the new Karnataka government to probe Annamalai's past as an IPS officer in that state, his other contacts and dealings, if any.

In between, the DMK, especially the party's social media activists, can be expected to needle Annamalai on his controversial purchase of a second-hand 'Rafale' wrist-watch at a high cost, over which some have found holes in his much-delayed and even more hyped explanation.

It is all in the future. For now, the Karnataka results have dampened the BJP's spirits in Tamil Nadu, too, and also Annamalai's 'anti-corruption crusade' against the ruling DMK in the state.

He has promised a further instalment of 'DMK Files', and timing its release may have to wait, whatever be the political outcome of the same.

Post-Karnataka, even Tamil Nadu Governor R N Ravi may go slow on the state BJP's corruption allegations against DMK ministers.

Against this, his 'Hindutva-centric' nationalist campaigns in the state under his care seem borne out of his personal convictions.

That part of it, he may continue but may be on a relatively look key -- unless, of course, he wants to deflect the people's attention away from the Karnataka results and the consequent image-drubbing for Modi.

So could the Union government and its agencies such as the CBI, IT and ED, at least until the Modi-Shah leadership is able to convince themselves that the Karnataka defeat had nothing to do with their kind of 'vindictive politics' as alleged by Stalin but had more to do with local conditions and the party's electoral strategy.

The same may apply to Annamalai and his anti-DMK corruption campaign, but he will have to accept that the public reception for him may just be below par just now.

Yet, the DMK leadership may have to deal with a demand for more seats from the Congress ally in the Lok Sabha polls.

The reasons are not far to seek. TN Congress leaders too believe now that the party is on a come-back trail in national politics and that the DMK now needs them more than at any time in the past.

But the DMK leadership may not yield too much space, as theirs is the only alliance partner that is steadfastly in the Congress camp, and swears by a Congress PM post-poll, though they will settle for any anti-BJP prime minister.

However, DMK insiders too concede the presence of anti-incumbency against the state government, and its possible impact on the Lok Sabha polls.

Hence having a national ally by its side could boost the DMK's electoral morale.

However, the DMK leadership will wait until after the assembly polls in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh that are due before the Lok Sabha polls and where the Congress has high stakes vis a vis not only the BJP rival but equally so with prospective anti-BJP regional ally in states like West Bengal, UP and Delhi.

IMAGE: Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge greets Stalin at a public meeting organised as part of the DMK leader's 70th birthday celebration. Photograph: R Senthil Kumar/PTI Photo

Possibly more than the DMK rival, it is the All India Anna DMK ally under former chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami (EPS) who would be celebrating the BJP's Karnataka defeat even more, again within closed doors, in a way.

In their perception, the Karnataka results reduce the BJP's appetite for driving a hard bargain on seat-sharing for LS polls in TN next year.

They also hope that the BJP national leadership may not have it in them now to force the EPS leadership to accommodate other AIADMK factions, under three-time chief minister O Panneerselvam (OPS), the late Jayalalithaa's confidante Sasikala Natarajan and her estranged nephew T T V Dhinakaran.

Others, however, feel that the BJP is now under pressure to win more seats for self and allies from states like Tamil Nadu, to make up for those that they may now lose in Karnataka.

Hence, they need a stronger AIADMK than before.

In the immediate context, the AIADMK is happy that the Karnataka results have also shown Annamalai his real place in the larger scheme of electoral politics in Tamil Nadu.

As the wag puts it, the next time the easily-provoked Annamalai starts lecturing the AIADMK on politics and elections, whether within closed rooms or otherwise, there are those like former state minister D Jayakumar, who could bluntly tell him on TV, to look at the mirror and then take a walk.

N Sathiya Moorthy, veteran journalist and author, is a Chennai-based policy analyst and political commentator.

Feature Presentation: Aslam Hunani/Rediff.com
'For a meaningful alliance, every party has to do some sacrifice.'

'That sacrifice will come only when you persuade people.'

'And that task can be done by only a leader like Sharad Pawar.'

IMAGE: Nationalist Congress Party supremo Sharad Pawar addresses a press conference in Mumbai, May 5, 2023, announcing his decision to withdraw his resignation as party president. Photograph: ANI Photo

Sharad Pawar resigned as the Nationalist Congress Party president on May 2, 2023. Three days later, on May 5, 2023, he withdrew his resignation.

What made Pawar change his mind?

It is said P C Chacko, the NCP's Kerala state president, played a major role behind the scenes.

Chacko was a prominent Congress MP till he resigned from the party just before the 2021 Kerala assembly election citing groupism in the Congress's Kerala unit.

Rediff.com's Shobha Warrier asked Chacko how he made Sharad Pawar change his mind.

The concluding segment of a two-part Must Read Interview:

Part 1 of the Interview: He Made Pawar Withdraw Resignation!

So, the 2024 election did the trick?

Pawar is not eyeing any post. He is not interested in becoming prime minister. He is not interested becoming the convenor of the united opposition.

But he can play a role as Sharad Pawar. He can even persuade the reluctant leaders to join hands. All this he can do as the president of the NCP.

He understood when we argued that after being the president for 25 years, waiting for one more year would be worthwhile.

Do you think the Congress under Rahul Gandhi is still incapable of uniting the Opposition?

Knowing Rahul very well, I would say he is like a loose cannon. He says things that are not expected from a national leader.

Secondly, for a meaningful alliance, every party has to do some sacrifice.

That sacrifice will come only when you persuade people. And that task can be done by only a leader like Sharad Pawar who has ample experience. So, his presence is very much needed.

IMAGE: NCP workers celebrate after the committee set up to choose the new NCP chief rejected Sharad Pawar's decision to step down as party president. Photograph: PTI Photo

Had Sonia Gandhi been at the helm of affairs as the Congress leader, do you think things would have been different for a united Opposition?

I don't think so. She was only a figure head, and nothing more than that. All the operations were done by Ahmed Patel, and he is no more.

Sonia Gandhi herself comes out only once in a while at public meetings and read her speech.

She may invite Nitish Kumar to her house for breakfast or invite Stalin when he comes to Delhi.

Everybody will accept her invitation. But beyond that, she was not doing any negotiations or diplomatic operations.

For that, you need seasoned politicians with experience?

Exactly.

Which at present, you think only Sharad Pawar has?

At the moment, yes.

Do you think if you had not persuaded Sharad Pawar to withdraw his resignation, Ajit Pawar would have made the NCP join hands with the BJP?

I do not know whether he had such a plan. This is all hearsay from Mumbai.

More than that, at this moment, I should not doubt his intention. He joined with us to persuade Sharad Pawar to continue.

At least for practical reasons, I do not want to say there were people who were interested in going to the BJP.

IMAGE: NCP supporters celebrate after Sharad Pawar withdrew his resignation. Photograph: PTI Photo

Do you think it is time you groom second rung leaders in the NCP as today the party is synonymous with one person?

It is a very good idea, and it will happen.

We will call a working committee after the 2024 election and then a new leadership will come.

It is not a good strategy to change the horse while crossing the stream. This is election time and not the time to think about new leadership.

Do you feel every party should keep a group of second rung leaders ready?

Every party should be like that. Otherwise, they will suffer very badly.

Feature Presentation: Aslam Hunani/Rediff.com
'We will win all the 28 Lok Sabha seats in 2024.'

IMAGE: A Bharatiya Janata Party road show in Suratkal in the Mangaluru City North constituency Photograph: Kind courtesy Dr Bharath Shetty Y/Twitter

While the Congress swept across Karnataka by winning 135 seats from different regions, it could not wrest the coastal belt of the state from the Bharatiya Janata Party completely.

With 19 assembly seats spread across the three districts of Udupi (the BJP bagged all five assembly seats), Dakshina Kannada (of eight seats, the BJP bagged six -- Moodbdiri, Belthangady, Bantwal, Sullia, Mangaluru City North and Mangaluru City South -- and the Congress two -- Puttur and Mangalore) and Uttara Kannada (of six seats, the BJP could win two -- Kumta and Yellapur -- and the rest -- Karwar, Sirsi, Haliyal and Bhatkal -- were won by the Congress) the BJP won 13 seats (though down three from 2018, this tally is still better than the BJP's overall performance versus the Congress in the Old Mysuru, Mumbai-Karnataka, Hyderabad-Karnataka regions of the state).

The Congress won six seats (up from three in 2018) from a region which has come to be associated with the BJP's strident Hindutva and polarising issues like love jihad and the hijab ban.

Dr Bharath Shetty Y, who won the Mangalore City North constituency for the second time, tells Prasanna D Zore/Rediff.com why the BJP did better in Karnataka's coastal belt compared to its overall performance in the state.

How did the BJP hold onto its 2018 gains in coastal Karnataka despite the Congress sweeping the rest of the state?

Coastal Karnataka was not always a BJP stronghold. In 2013, the BJP had won only Sullia in Dakshinaa Kannada (This reserved seat for scheduled castes was won by Bhagirathi Murulya of the BJP this time). Every other seat then (in 2013) was won by the Congress.

In 2018 though, we won 16 out of the 19 seats from this region.

How did this huge jump from just one seat in 2013 to 16 seats in 2018, happen? And you repeated your performance again in 2023. How did you hold onto your gains this time despite a Congress wave?

In 2018 there was heavy anti-incumbency against the sitting Congress government (led by Siddaramaiah); the BJP's strong espousal of Hindutva also had a major impact on this entire belt.

This time around we were able to beat anti-incumbency because each of our MLAs have done development work of more than Rs 1,500 crore (Rs 15 billion) in their constituencies.

In my own constituency I have finished development projects worth Rs 2,250 crore (Rs 22.50 billion) related to drinking water, check dams, storm water drainage, etc.

During the two-year COVID lockdown all the BJP MLAs were on the ground working among the needy in their constituencies. We did not taken even one off day.

Since then till the (2023) elections were announced we were continuously in contact with our constituents. None of the MLAs took a break (from development work) as far as I know.

The coastal Karnataka people thankfully did not believe in the freebies the Congress promised and voted for Hindutva and the BJP's development work.

Are you saying that the rest of Karnataka fell for the Congress's freebies and that's why the Congress won 135 seats?

I am not saying that, but you cannot ignore that the BJP maintained its vote share of 36 per cent even this time.

Our constituency that believes in the BJP's ideology and development work has remained intact. I feel there has been a direct shift of five percentage vote share directly from the Janata Dal-Secular to the Congress. That could be one of the reasons (why the Congress won 135 seats from its 2018 tally of 80 seats).

The Congress has its vote bank and the BJP has its own vote bank.

Are you saying that BJP's espousal of love jihad, demand for ban on hijab along with the development projects you listed worked in your favour in coastal Karnataka?

Yes. That is true.

We (coastal Karnataka) have a border with Kerala. We are deeply connected with the people of Kerala in these border areas and we know what is happening there. What happens there affects our people also.

Love jihad is quite rampant in Kerala and its impact is visible in coastal Karnataka also.

A few cases have happened in Mangalore also. A case involving the daughter-in-law of an ex-MLA who was raided by the NIA (National Investigation Agency) and one lady has also joined ISIS (Islamic State). Then there was an attempted bomb blast.

Are these all recorded as first information reports by the police in Mangalore?

Yes. The NIA raided the house of B N Basha -- the son of ex-Congress MLA from Ullal B M Idinabba -- whose daughter-in-law the NIA claimed had alleged links with Islamic State.

What went wrong for the BJP in Puttur? It lost Puttur, an RSS bastion, to the Congress this time.

In Puttur, there was confusion among our karyakartas and voters regarding the candidature. Both the candidates (of the BJP and Congress) were from the Sangh (RSS) background. There was a small confusion about it, but I am not sure.

(The Puttur seat was won by the Congress's Ashok Kumar Rai, who was earlier affiliated with the RSS even as the BJP denied ticket to incumbent MLA Sanjeev Matandur and fielded Asha Thimmappa, who lost to Rai).

It is indeed a major loss for us in coastal Karnataka.

And how do you look at the BJP losing 38 seats in Karnataka this time from the 104 it won in 2018?

As I told you earlier, the BJP vote bank is intact. There is hardly any loss the party has suffered in terms of the percentage of votes we polled in 2018 and 2023.

There has been a five per cent shift of the JD-S vote bank to Congress. This could have been possible due to the call given by the Congress to ban the Bajrang Dal in case they come to power.

I think the Congress played a bold gambit here to announce it as part of their manifesto during the heat of the election campaign.

IMAGE: Prime Minister Narendra D Modi being felicitated by then Karnataka chief minister Basavaraj S Bommai during the Vijaya Sankalp Yatra Maha Sangama, April 20, 2023. Photograph: ANI Photo

Did Narendra Modi's 'Bajrang Bali Ki Jai call fail to ring a bell among the voters of Karnataka?

I believe this call was not taken to our supporters and voters effectively.

Though the BJP fielded 69 Lingayat candidates it could win only 15 Lingayat seats.

Have the Lingayats deserted the BJP because many claim that Lingayat stalwarts like former chief ministers B S Yediyurappa and Jagadish Shettar were humiliated by the BJP?

I won't be able to comment on that because in our region (the coastal belt) there are no Lingayats or Gowdas (the Vokkaligas, which is the other dominant caste in the state that plays a major role in electoral politics in Karnataka).

I am talking about the rest of the state where Lingayats seem to have voted overwhelmingly for the Congress... Of the 69 Lingayat candidates that the BJP gave tickets to, only 15 could win.

All our leaders (state and national) in their meetings are discussing that only. We are not very sure about that (why the Lingayats deserted the BJP and voted for the Congress).

Given that the BJP has retained its vote share, do you think the BJP can win 26 out of 28 Lok Sabha seats again in 2024?

In Lok Sabha the issues will be very different. We won't have a problem there (in repeating our 2019 Lok Sabha performance).

IMAGE: Students wearing saffron shawls stage a protest against allowing hijab-wearing students into classrooms, outside the IDSG Government College in Chikmagalur. Photograph: PTI Photo

Will love jihad and the hijab ban also play a role in the BJP's election campaign for the 2024 Lok Sabha election?

(After a brief pause) Love jihad, I think, will have a role to play (in the 2024 Lok Sabha election). The truth of love jihad is coming out. Everybody is talking about it. It's not only Hindus. The people of India are feeling the heat of love jihad.

Whatever the case, we will win all the 28 Lok Sabha seats in 2024 given the impact of Modiji's national policies are having on the people of Karnataka.

Why didn't the Modi magic work for BJP in the 2023 assembly election?

As I told you, the shift of votes (from the JD-S to the Congress) was unexpected. There was one-sided shift of votes from the JD-S to the Congress. Only a particular group of people (Muslims) voted for that side (the Congress). Our votes (the Hindu votes) got fragmented.

Should BJP be worried about the transfer of Lingayat votes to the Congress? Lingayats have been the BJP's traditional voters for quite some time now.

We are still analysing the numbers and it will be very difficult to comment on this aspect so soon. Even if there is a shift, it will be temporary. Lingayats will back the BJP soon. Our leadership is capable of solving such issues.

Former BJP chief minister Jagadish Shettar told us that party National secretary B L Santosh has a vested interest in sidelining the Lingayats as he wants to become chief minister and that Lingayats were angry with the BJP for the humiliation meted out to popular community leaders like Shettar and Yediyurappa.

How do you react to such charges by someone who was very much part of the BJP just a month ago?

B L Santosh is a (former RSS) pracharak. The only objective of pracharaks is the spread of RSS ideology. They don't have personal ambitions; they live for the spread of the Sangh's philosophy. They work for whoever the RSS asks them to serve.

If the RSS asks them to go to BJP, then they work for the party; they don't have any vested interests.

Jagadish Shettar's charges don't make sense at all. He himself lost heavily from the seat which he has won so many times. That itself speaks volumes about his standing and popularity as a Lingayat leader.
The police on Wednesday arrested two persons and detained four others for their alleged involvement in operating an illegal firecracker factory in Egra area of West Bengal's Purba Medinipur district, where nine people were killed in a blast, a senior officer said.

IMAGE: Security personnel and locals outside an illegal firecracker unit after a massive explosion, in West Bengal's Purba Medinipur district, May 16, 2023. Photograph: PTI Photo

The duo was arrested for illegally storing gunpowder, he said.

A police team from Purba Medinipur district also visited neighbouring Odisha in search of the absconding factory owner.

The arrests were made during search operations carried out at the locality late on Tuesday night, the officer told PTI.

"The factory owner fled to neighbouring Odisha soon after the blast. We are trying to spot him on the basis of his mobile tower location. Hopefully, we will be able to nab him soon," he said.

The district police has lodged an FIR in connection with the explosion that took place on Tuesday in which nine people were killed and several others injured.

Teams from the CID, forensic department and bomb squad have also started their investigation into the blast.

Forensic experts collected samples from the now-collapsed house at Khadikul village, which housed the illegal firecracker unit, and its surroundings, he said.

The CID officers also spoke to the witnesses as well as with family members of those killed in the blast. A huge posse of local police has been deployed in the village near the Odisha border.

The condition of the four people injured in the explosion is stated to be "critical", one doctor of the hospital, where they are undergoing treatment, said.

"One woman is extremely critical and the condition of the other three can only be described as not out of danger," the doctor said.

Meanwhile, West Bengal Governor CV Ananda Bose strongly condemned the incident and prayed for the departed souls.

"It's a very unfortunate incident. This should not have happened. Everyone has to work together to bring peace in the state," Bose said.

Senior BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari also reached Khadikul village on Wednesday morning. He spoke to the locals and tried to take a look at the house where the factory was housed, from the terrace of a neighbouring building.

Adhikari, who hails from Purba Medinipur district, repeated his demand for an NIA probe into the explosion.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had on Tuesday said though the CID has been entrusted with the task of probing the explosion, she has no objection if the NIA starts investigating the matter.

Earlier in the day, a section of agitating villagers of Khadikul, who had blocked police from entering the area, started demonstrating when a team of Trinamool Congress leaders led by Environment Minister Manas Ranjan Bhunia went there.

Bhunia, who was accompanied by TMC MP Dola Sen and MLA Saumen Mahapatra, met family members of the deceased and assured them that the state government would take care of their needs and arrest the culprits.

However, their stay was short-lived after a section of villagers questioned why the administration was a day late in reaching the village, and started shouting 'chor chor' (thief thief).

"We request the villagers to let the administration work and cooperate with it," Bhunia said.
Ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the government on Wednesday held a day-long brainstorming session on improving its public outreach, particularly to those who do not have access to television and newspapers.

IMAGE: Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur at a Chintan Shivir of communication officers of the government, in New Delhi, May 17, 2023. Photograph: Courtesy Ministry of IB/Twitter

Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur, addressing over 100 communication officers of the government, stressed on the importance of reaching out to all sections of the society, particularly the underprivileged.

He said a large part of India lives in a media shadow, bereft of facilities of television and newspapers, and it was the responsibility of the Indian Information Service officers to reach out to that section of society.

He said the IIS is a vital part of the government and the Chintan Shivir provided the officials a unique opportunity to collaborate, self-introspect and timely course correct the work in the ministry.

Thakur also noted that the media landscape and the way people consume information was changing fast, and there was a need to adapt methods of information dissemination to meet the needs of the 21st century.

He asked the officers to work towards higher effectiveness through better utilisation of resources, coordination of efforts, sharing of information and working as a single team.

The minister said the clear priority for the target of communication for the government was oriented towards welfare of the underprivileged and the mantra of Antyodaya (reaching out to the last person) should guide the activities of the officers.

The officials held deliberations across five sessions, including participatory communication with citizens -- Jan Bhagidari; adoption of emerging technologies in public communications to maximise reach; institutionalisation of quick response mechanisms to address misinformation; targeted outreach through regional communication; and strengthening public service broadcasting.
Amid the ongoing fight for control of the Jammu and Kashmir National Panthers Party (JKNPP), president Vilakshan Singh was expelled from the party by its London-based chief patron Ankit Love who accused him of being a "secret agent" of the Bharatiya Janata Party.

IMAGE: National Conference president Farooq Abdullah pays last respect to the mortal remains of National Panthers Party chief Professor Bhim Singh, in Jammu, May 30, 2022. Photograph: ANI Photo

Singh was appointed president of the JKNPP on June 18 last year following the death of founder Bhim Singh. Ankit Love is Bhim Singh's only son and Vilakshan Singh's cousin.

"Vilakshan Singh is a charlatan and a fraudster who had been bizarrely complimentary of the BJP, praising them for having 'consistent ideology' on TV this week," Ankit was quoted as saying in a party statement.

The party said Ankit has been "firmly accusing Vilakshan Singh of being a secret BJP agent".

Ankit also accused Vilakshan Singh of theft of properties worth crores of rupees belonging to his parents.

"FIRs have been filed against Vilakshan Singh with the police... He had planned to form an alliance with the BJP in exchange for illicit payments with the secret promise to give the BJP coalition support in exchange. Something my mother would never have allowed when alive," Ankit said and demanded a thorough investigation.

Ankit's mother Jay Mala died recently and he arrived in Jammu on May 5 to perform her last rites. Ankit was allowed to come to India after his name was removed from a blacklist on submitting an apology to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for participating in an anti-government protest in London last year.

The party has been in a disarray following Bhim Singh's death and the family is engaged in a tussle to take over its control.

Earlier, Ankit had accused Vilakshan Singh of failing in his responsibility of arranging "better security, supervision and safe accommodation" for his mother and party co-founder Jay Mala, who died after falling from the stairs on April 26.

Shortly before Bhim Singh's death, two of his nephews -- former minister Harsh Dev Singh and former legislator Balwant Singh Mankotia -- resigned from the JKNPP along with many other senior leaders to join the Aam Aadmi Party.

While Mankotia, who had also served as JKNPP president, later joined the BJP, Harsh Dev Singh returned to the JKNPP recently and claimed to have been elected as party president.

However, Harsh Dev Singh's return brought Vilaskshan Singh and PK Ganjoo, a close aide of Bhim Singh, together and they contested Harsh Dev Singh's claim. They asserted that Vilakshan Singh was the president of the party and Ganjoo its working president.

However, Ganjoo joined Ghulam Nabi Azad-led Democratic Progressive Azad Party on May 6.
The Central Bureau of Investigation has arrested freelance journalist Vivek Raghuvanshi and former Navy commander Ashish Pathak for allegedly collecting sensitive information on defence matters and passing them on to foreign intelligence agencies, officials said on Wednesday.

Raghuvanshi and Pathak were produced before a special CBI court which sent them to six days custody of the agency, they said.

The CBI had taken over the probe from the Delhi police special cell, which was on the trail of Raghuvanshi since September last year, after getting information that some Indian journalists were collecting and passing on such information to foreign intelligence agencies having potential to disturb relations with friendly countries.

The information received by the Special Cell suggested that a journalist was illegally collecting "sensitive details" about "future procurement of armed forces which reveal the strategic preparedness of our country's classified communications/information related to national security, and details of strategic and diplomatic talks of India with our friendly countries, which can spoil the bilateral relations of India with them..." the FIR said.

According to the special cell's FIR, Raghuvanshi allegedly procured and supplied such information to intelligence agencies of foreign countries.

On directions from the ministry of home affairs, the CBI took over the case on December 9 last year registering the FIR against Raghuvanshi, they said.

After a detailed background work and maintaining surveillance, the CBI on Tuesday carried out a raid at 12 places in Delhi-NCR and Jaipur where Raghuvanshi apparently resides, they said.

Raghuvanshi, who is listed as India correspondent of a US-based portal on defence and strategic affairs on its website, was then taken into custody with Pathak.

The agency has booked Raghuvanshi and Pathak under Section 3 (spying) of the Official Secrets Act and with Section 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code.

Several sensitive documents were recovered during the searches and sent for legal scrutiny, officials added.
A group of foreigners cooking meth in an isolated house in Greater Noida were in for a shocker as a police team raided the spot in the dead of the night, prompting some of them to attempt jumping off the three-storey building, officials said on Wednesday.

Image used for representational purpose only. Photograph: ANI Photo

The police were also taken by surprise with what they witnessed -- a sophisticated setup for creating the synthetic drug, intense intoxicating smell inside the compound and the foreigners geared up with high-quality face masks.

"It resembled what we have seen in web series like Narcos and Breaking Bad," deputy commissioner of police (Greater Noida) Saad Miya Khan, who led the raid, told PTI.

Altogether nine people -- eight of them from Nigeria and one from Senegal -- were arrested from the house located next to the Jaitpur-Vaispur village in Sector Theta 2, the police said, adding 46 kilograms of "white, purest" form of MDMA was seized from the spot, estimated to be worth Rs 200 crore.

A team involving officials of Beta 2 police station and the Special Weapons And Tactics also seized raw material which they estimated could be used to cook MDMA worth Rs 100 crore more.

"The police had been getting inputs of such a syndicate of synthetic drug spreading its tentacles in Greater Noida and Noida. Police commissioner Laxmi Singh had clear directions for the department to ensure crackdown on illegal drugs and cannabis," Khan said.

So far, in 2023, in Greater Noida region alone, the police have seized around 1,800 kg of illegal drugs, including cannabis, the DCP said.

"This is the biggest seizure of meth or MDMA in Uttar Pradesh by the state police," Khan said.

According to police officials, in May 2019 over 1,800-kg pseudoephedrine was seized in Greater Noida and three foreigners arrested in an operation by the Narcotics Control Bureau.

But the Wednesday busting of the meth-cooking gang, which has a supply chain in entire Delhi-NCR, was a long-drawn process which took around three months to culminate, the IPS officer said.

The process involved working on manual intelligence and network of police informers, he said.

"The police team had trapped two of the accused into fixing a deal for supply of the synthetic drugs. The duo was held near Dadha roundabout in Greater Noida when they were in a Toyota Etios car.

"These two men, who were found in possession of 5.50 kg MDMA, then led the police team to the three-storeyed house where their other partners had set up the laboratory to cook meth in large amount," Khan added.

The seven persons who were found inside the house, which had a green mesh around it, had high-quality masks on their face, he said.

"There was intense intoxicating smell inside the compound and they were caught cooking the MDMA in a sophisticated setup with a large quantity of raw material kept on the floor. Some of them even tried to jump off the building in order to escape arrest," he said.

Meanwhile, an FIR was being lodged and further legal proceedings being carried out against the nine accused, with DCP Khan saying the police would seek their custody from a court for further investigation.
Hectic parleys were held on Wednesday to break the deadlock in deciding on the Congress's chief ministerial pick in Karnataka, with both the hopefuls Siddaramaiah and D K Shivakumar presenting their cases before the top brass even as the party asserted an outcome is likely within a day or two.

IMAGE: Karnataka chief ministerial contenders DK Shivakumar and Siddaramaiah met Congress leader Rahul Gandhi separately in New Delhi, May 17, 20233. Photograph: ANI Photo

After the multiple rounds of discussions, AICC general secretary in-charge for Karnataka Randeep Surjewala said a decision on the new cabinet will be in place in the next 48-72 hours.

He also claimed that Karnataka will have a five-year-long stable government of the Congress and urged people not to believe in speculation and "fake news", which he alleged was being peddled by the BJP.

Later in a tweet, Surjewala said all Congress leaders have been advised not to issue statements on the leadership matter. "Any out of turn remarks made from here onwards will be treated as indiscipline and action taken accordingly."

Congress general secretary in-charge organisation K C Venugopal met party president Mallikarjun Kharge late in the evening at the latter's residence to deliberate on government formation.

Karnataka Congress chief Shivakumar also met Venugopal and later told reporters that "we have left it to the high command, the high command will take a call".

Siddaramaiah met Surjewala and Venugopal late in the night as the party continued deliberations on government formation in Karnataka, but the talks have remained inconclusive. Siddaramaiah and state Congress chief Shivakumar have held several parleys with senior Congress leadership and presented their respective cases before them.

Siddaramaiah is considered the front-runner while Shivakumar has dug his heels for the top post claiming that the assembly elections were won under his presidentship and that he has worked hard for ensuring this victory.

A section of the top Congress leadership feels Siddaramaiah's popularity among several sections including the poor, OBCs and minorities can get votes for the party in the Lok Sabha elections.

Addressing the media outside Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge's 10 Rajaji Marg residence, Surjewala said the party chief has been authorised to appoint the leader of the legislature party and that is why deliberations are underway.

"It (the decision to name the CM) is a matter of today and tomorrow and we will have a leader of the legislature party. Within the next 48 to 72 hours, we will have a new cabinet in Karnataka and in the first cabinet meeting, we will implement the five Congress guarantees and begin the work of building grand Karnataka," Surjewala said.

Asserting that the Congress is committed to the state's peace, progress and harmony, he said, "The Congress president believes in three principles -- consensus, unanimity and unity. Mallikarjun Kharge, who has been authorised by the legislature party, will announce (the name of the leader) after holding due deliberations."

Urging the media not to resort to speculation, he said whenever a decision is taken by the Congress president, we will be happy to inform you.

"I am only here to quash multiple rumours and hearsay...that are being played on multiple news channels. Please don't believe in it," Surjewala said.

"Stop listening to rumours being planted by the Bharatiya Janata Party which is frustrated by the decisive defeat in Karnataka. The Congress is committed to the welfare of each Kannadiga, the Congress is committed to fulfilling its five guarantees, the Congress is committed to implementing its agenda. The Congress is committed to giving a clean, transparent and responsible government," he said.

IMAGE: Supporters of Karnataka Congress president DK Shivakumar gather outside his residence in Bengaluru, May 17, 2023. Photograph: Shailendra Bhojak/PTI Photo

After several meetings on Monday and Tuesday, the day started with both Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar meeting Rahul Gandhi separately at his 10, Janpath residence in the morning.

The meetings came a day after the two held separate meetings with Kharge at his residence and discussed issues regarding the government formation.

Shivakumar met Rahul Gandhi after Siddaramaiah and the two leaders spent over 30-minutes each with the former party chief.

He is also learnt to have talked on the phone to former party chief Sonia Gandhi, who is learnt to have told him to meet Kharge, the sources said.

The Karnataka PCC chief then met Kharge again and spent a good half an hour with him for the second day in a row.

Surjewala was also present at Kharge's residence at the time.

One of the central observers for the Karnataka Congress legislature party (CLP) meeting, Sushilkumar Shinde also met the Congress president separately at his residence.

Some Congress legislators also met the Congress president while presenting their case for a ministerial berth in the new cabinet in Karnataka.

The newly-elected Congress MLAs in Karnataka had during the CLP meeting on Sunday authorised Kharge to appoint the new CLP leader.

While the supporters of both leaders are pitching for their respective leaders, the Congress is working on a power-sharing formula to accommodate all sections.

The Congress has held a series of meetings on who will be the chief minister of the state after the party staged a stunning victory in the assembly elections, winning 135 of out 224 seats.

The Congress has also hit out at the BJP for criticising it over the delay in deciding the chief minister of Karnataka, and cited examples when the BJP declared its chief ministers in Uttar Pradesh and Assam several days after winning the polls.

Meanwhile, supporters of both the leaders are also pitching for their respective leaders and the Congress is working on a power-sharing formula to accommodate all sections.

Even though efforts were on to choose the new chief minister, there were celebrations in the native village of Siddaramaiah and outside his Bengaluru residence on Wednesday amid reports in a section of the media that claimed that his name has been finalised for the post.

Earlier, Siddaramaiah's supporters who had gathered near official residence of the outgoing leader of opposition in the assembly in Bengaluru, were jubilant, as some media outlets claimed that his name had been finalised and only an official announcement was awaited.

Holding pictures of their leader they shouted slogans praising Siddaramaiah, and poured milk on the life size cut out of the former CM that has been put up in front of his residence.

Similar scenes were witnessed in his home district of Mysuru, and native village of Siddaramanahundi. His followers and well-wishers set off crackers, danced, distributed sweets and celebrated by pouring milk on his huge cutouts erected on the roadside.

Meanwhile, preparations were underway at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium in the heart of Bengaluru, for the swearing-in ceremony of the new (yet-to-be-finalised) chief minister, with officials inspecting the venue.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday refused to stay the Rajasthan high court order acquitting four men who were handed down death penalty by the trial court in the 2008 Jaipur serial blast case, saying it cannot pass an order for such "drastic action" mechanically without hearing those held not guilty.

IMAGE: Police van carrying the accused in the 2008 Jaipur serial bomb blast arrives at court, in Jaipur. Photograph: PTI Photo

Jaipur was rocked by a series of blasts on May 13, 2008 when bombs went off one after another at Manak Chawk Khanda, Chandpole Gate, Badi Chaupad, Chhoti Chaupad, Tripolia Gate, Johri Bazar and Sanganeri Gate. The explosions left 71 people dead and 185 injured.

A bench of Justices Abhay S Oka and Rajesh Bindal, however, stayed a direction passed in the March 29 judgment of the high court asking the state's director general of police to order inquiry against the investigating officer and other police personnel involved in the case.

The bench, which refused to stay the high court verdict, imposed certain conditions and directed that the four people, who were acquitted, be released unless wanted in any other case.

Attorney General R Venkataramani, appearing for the Rajasthan government along with senior advocate Manish Singhvi, urged the bench to stay the high court verdict, saying those acquitted were convicted and awarded death penalty for a serious crime.

Senior advocate Maninder Singh and advocate Aditya Jain, appearing for the family members of the victims, also sought a stay of the high court verdict.

The bench said it is not going to "mechanically stay" the high court's order and needed to hear those acquitted.

It directed all the four will surrender their passports and, if released from jail, they will register their appearance on a daily basis between 10 am and 12 noon before the Anti-Terror Squad police station in Jaipur.

The bench, after being informed that two of them have been served notice on the petitions against their acquittal, directed the Rajasthan government to ensure that notices are served to the two others-- Saif and Saifurrehman.

The top court was hearing appeals filed by the state government and family members of the blast victims challenging the high court verdict.

Venkataramani submitted the bench may issue an order for continued detention of the four persons acquitted under section 390 of CrPC.

"We are not inclined to pass the order for keeping them in jail even after their acquittal. We are aware that there is power under section 390 of CrPC. Even assuming that you (AG) are right, before passing such a drastic order, we have to go through the entire evidence. We have to hear all of them (those acquitted). We will have to apply our mind in the case," the bench said.

The bench said an order for such a "drastic action", without hearing all who were acquitted by the high court and without perusing the entire record, cannot be passed.

"The presumption of innocence gets reinforced after acquittal. In our view, before we examine the drastic prayer made by the Attorney General, we will have to examine the evidence and other material on record before the high court. We will have to hear all the persons, who were acquitted by the high court," the bench said.

It directed production of entire trial court case records, which were placed before the high court, and asked the state government to ensure the documents are placed before it within eight weeks.

The bench, which posted the matter for further hearing on August 9, said if the matter is not taken on the said date, then the state government is at liberty to argue on the point of section 390 of CrPC (arrest of accused in appeal against acquittal).

It also clarified that those acquitted cannot refer the high court judgment in any other case for securing bail.

It directed that the matter to be placed before Chief Justice of India, saying it needs to be heard by a bench of three judges, as this is an appeal against death reference.

The Rajasthan government had on April 25 filed an appeal challenging the high court verdict in the case.

The top court had on May 12 permitted family members of the victims to file an appeal against the verdict and listed the petition along with that of the state government for hearing.

The Rajasthan high court had on March 29 set aside the lower court verdict awarding death penalty to the four accused in the case and slammed the probe agencies for "shoddy investigation".

The high court had also affirmed the acquittal of a fifth accused by the trial court.

It had pulled up the investigating agencies for doing a shoddy investigation in connecting the chain of evidence and also directed Rajasthan's police chief to take action against the officers involved in the probe.

The court had said it may be true that if accused(s) in a heinous crime go unpunished or are acquitted, a kind of agony and frustration may be caused to the society in general and to the family of the victims in particular. However, law does not permit courts to punish the accused on the basis of moral conviction or on suspicion alone.

In December 2019, a special court had awarded death sentence to four men --Mohammad Saif, Mohammad Salman, Saifurrehman and Mohammad Sarvar Azmi -- and acquitted Shahbaz Hussain.

While the state government challenged the acquittal of Shahbaz Hussain in the high court, the four awarded capital punishment filed an appeal against the trial court order.
The implementation of the five 'guarantees' announced by the Congress may cost the state exchequer an estimated Rs 50,000 crore annually.

IMAGE: Congress workers hold placards in support of party leader DK Shivakumar, 10 Janpath, in New Delhi, May 17, 2023. Photograph: ANI Photo

Key party leaders who spoke about the cost of the welfare measures insisted that one could not call them "freebies" as they were tools of empowerment.

The 'guarantees' found resonance with voters of the May 10 assembly elections, particularly with women, and played a key role in the party's resounding victory, political analysts noted.

The Congress bagged 135 seats in the 224-member assembly, and ousted the Bharatiya Janata Party from power, with the erstwhile ruling party winning in just 66 constituencies, while the Janata Dal (Secular) managed to get only 19 seats.

Some BJP leaders have alleged that implementation of the 'guarantees' would push the state into financial bankruptcy, and have also claimed that the Congress would not honour its pre-poll promises fully.

During campaigning, Rahul Gandhi and other Congress leaders had repeatedly said that if voted to power, the party's government in its maiden Cabinet meeting on the first day of assuming power would pass orders approving the 'guarantees' to facilitate their swift implementation.

The five schemes that the Congress guaranteed it would implement are 'Gruha Jyothi' -- to provide 200 units electricity free to every household; 'Gruha Lakshmi' -- to grant Rs 2,000 to every woman head of a family; 'Anna Bhagya' -- to distribute 10 kg rice to every member of below poverty line families every month; 'Yuva Nidhi' -- to sanction Rs 3,000 dole to unemployed graduates and Rs 1,500 to unemployed diploma holders for two years (in the 18-25 age-group); and 'Shakti' -- to enable free travel for women across Karnataka in state buses.

In an interview with PTI on Wednesday, vice chairman of the Congress manifesto drafting committee Professor KE Radhakrishna said the implementation of the five guarantee schemes will not cost more than Rs 50,000 crore annually.

"I can authoritatively say that all these guarantee schemes put together will not be more than Rs 50,000 crore," he said.

Radhakrishna, who has the distinction of drafting five manifestos for the Congress, said even some of the Congress leaders have the perception that these schemes cannot be implemented.

"Some of our leaders have that perception but we are very sure because I have worked out the financial implications. It is not more than Rs 50,000 crore. Even Rs 50,000 crore is not a charity. It's empowerment," he said.

Explaining the way these schemes will be implemented, the educationist noted that the total budget of Karnataka government is about Rs three lakh crore.

At least 60 per cent of revenue of any good economy is spent on sustained development, Radhakrishna said, adding that it goes to paying salary of government employees and to implement empowerment programmes.

"Revenue moves capital, capital moves revenue. So, Rs 1.50 lakh crore of the Rs three lakh crore budget has to be spent. If that does not happen, then we will not have funds to spend another Rs 1.5 lakh crore. They are related to each other," he explained.

Out of five guarantees, 'Anna Bhagya' is an existing scheme, and the new promise is an extension, he added.

"We were giving seven kg of rice. BJP reduced it to five kg. Now again we want to make it 10 kg. We are giving rice and millets. This will encourage its cultivation and production," the Congress leader pointed out.

Regarding 'Gruha Jyothi', Radhakrishna said Karnataka is a power surplus state and is selling electricity to other states.

According to him, the Congress in its manifesto has promised to set up huge solar parks of 5,000 megawatt capacity. It has also promised to set up a small solar cluster in each village.

"These clusters will generate employment to people in the village and make the villages self-sufficient in terms of electricity. We are going to increase power generation, which will eventually generate employment opportunities," Radhakrishna explained.

The Rs 2,000 guarantee under 'Gruha Lakshmi' is not for all women heads of families, he clarified. "This is only for the Below Poverty Line families. We will not give to rich people. This scheme is only for empowering poor people," the Congress leader said.

Regarding 'Yuva Nidhi', he said world-over unemployment allowance is given in many countries.

"Whether our degree education is relevant for a job is a larger issue, but as of today the graduates are in a helpless condition," Radhakrishna pointed out.

As part of the scheme, the government is planning to set up a large employment exchange, he said.

"We are going to coordinate with 'Bharat Jogo Udyoga Kendra' (Bharat Jodo Employment Centre) where we will take private industries on board," he explained.

The government will also tie up with the Rajiv Gandhi Skill Development Corporation to train and skill the graduates and make them employable by the industries, Radhakrishna said.

Talking about the 'Shakti' scheme of free bus rides for women, he said already students are getting free passes to travel to their college from their house.

"Not every woman travels in the buses. Only those who are not rich travel in buses. It's (the free travel guarantee) will empower garment workers, domestic servants, 'pourakarmikas' and women engaged in menial jobs," he said.

"There will be no conditions. We will be very happy if every woman travels. It will reduce pollution," Radhakrishna quipped.

He said these five schemes are meant only to empower people and they are not freebies.

Recalling the proverb 'If you give a man a fish, you feed him for a day. If you teach a man to fish, you feed him for a lifetime', the educationist pointed out, "But we believe that to catch the fish, that hand that catches the fish should have some minimal strength. That is the empowerment we do."
The interim government in Pakistan's Punjab province on Wednesday claimed that some '30 to 40' terrorists are hiding at the Lahore residence of former prime minister Imran Khan, giving him an ultimatum of 24 hours to hand them over or face stern action.

IMAGE: Security officers escort Pakistan's former Prime Minister Imran Khan, as he appeared in Islamabad high court, on May 12, 2023. Photograph: Akhtar Soomro/Reuters

The police in March had stormed the Zaman Park residence of Khan to arrest him but strong resistance of his party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, workers thwarted that plan.

"We have received an intelligence report that some 30 to 40 terrorists who were involved in attacking the military installations, especially Lahore Corps Commander House on May 9, are hiding at Zaman Park residence of Imran Khan. We give an ultimatum of 24 hours to Khan and his party to hand them over to police or face stern action," Punjab's caretaker information minister Amir Mir said at a press conference.

Mir, who is the brother of known anchor Hamid Mir, asked Khan to take this ultimatum seriously as the law enforcement agencies have reserved the right to arrest the terrorists from his house.

Referring to the May 9 protesters as 'terrorists', Mir said the government was aware of their presence at Khan's Zaman Park residence as it had credible intelligence reports.

"The intelligence report that has come is very alarming," Mir said, adding that the agencies were able to confirm the presence of the 'terrorists' in Zaman Park through geo-fencing.

Geo-fencing is a technology that allows the movements of a person, vehicle, etc. to be recorded or limited using satellite signals.

Recalling the recent violent protests in the country following the arrest of ousted prime minister Khan, Mir alleged that 'the PTI leadership had planned the attack before the arrest [of Imran Khan]'.

The arrest of 70-year-old Khan on May 9 by the paramilitary Rangers at the Islamabad High Court premises triggered violent protests by his supporters across Pakistan.

For the first time in Pakistan's history, the protesters stormed the army headquarters in Rawalpindi and also torched the Corps Commander's house in Lahore.

Police put the death toll in violent clashes to 10 while Khan's party claims 40 of its workers lost their lives in the firing by security personnel.

Mir alleged that Khan has been targeting the military for over a year under a set plan.

The interim information minister said that the government has adopted a 'zero tolerance policy' towards violence and interim Chief Minister Mohsin Naqvi has given a free hand to the Punjab Police to deal with arsonists .

"Several arsonists were in touch with people inside Zaman Park during the attack on the Corps Commander House. They will be made an example so that no one will carry out such an act in the future," Mir said.

"Those who have been arrested so far are being fully scrutinised. Cases are being forwarded after 100 per cent confirmation [of their involvement]," he said.

He said the government has decided that the attackers of military installations will be tried in military courts as an official announcement issued by the Prime Minister's Office confirmed that Pakistan's National Security Committee endorsed the decision reached at the corps commanders' meeting to try the 'attackers' under the Army Act and Official Secrets Act.

However, the proposed move to try arsonists under the tough Army Act has come under severe criticism, with the rig hts groups such as Amnesty International and the National Human Rights Commission of Pakistan expressing concerns.

The army had earlier issued a statement saying it would no longer show restraint against those who attacked its buildings.

Law enforcement agencies have arrested over 7,000 PTI workers across Pakistan, 4,000 of them from Punjab for torching and vandalizing the civil and military installations after violence erupted in the wake of Khan's arrest last week.

Meanwhile, Khan on Wednesday strongly condemned the "illegal arrests" and abduction of the PTI workers and leaders.

'Never did I imagine women in our society would be treated so shamefully and the sanctity of chadar and char dewari so violated,' he said in a series of tweets.

'Despite court orders journalist Imran Riaz Khan has not been presented in court and there are confirmed reports of torture against him. I demand immediate release of all our female leaders, workers and the female family members of our leaders and workers. How could Shehrayar Afridi's wife be jailed? This is purely to spread terror amongst the people so that they don't stand up for their constitutional rights,' he said.

He further said: 'The video evidence coming forward of the barbaric treatment meted out to our female supporters is reprehensible. Many of our female MNAs, supporters, and workers are being held in jails across Pakistan under inhumane conditions, vulnerable to police excesses.'

"These abductions and the treatment being meted out to women by this fascist government are not only grave human rights violations but are strictly against our culture and Islamic teachings. All these women must be immediately released. Their continued incarceration is unconscionable. I am also raising this with International Human Rights Organizations."

Khan was ousted from power in April last year after losing a no-confidence vote in his leadership, which he alleged was part of a US-led conspiracy targeting him because of his independent foreign policy decisions on Russia, China and Afghanistan.
Tuesday was the eighth time this month that Russia targeted Kyiv.

18 missiles of different types were fired at the Ukrainian capital in a short space of time.

Ukraine said it shot down hypersonic missiles fired at Kyiv. On Tuesday evening, Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said Moscow had not fired as many of the Kinzhal missiles as Kyiv had claimed to have shot down.

Scenes from Kyiv after Russia's missile storm.

IMAGE: Russian missiles explode over Kyiv, here and below. Photograph: Gleb Garanich/Reuters

Photograph: Gleb Garanich/Reuters

IMAGE: Traces of the explosions are seen in the sky over. Photograph: Gleb Garanich/Reuters

IMAGE: Firefighters work at the site of a parking area damaged by the remains of Russian missiles in Kyiv. Photograph: Pavlo Petrov/Press service of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine in Kyiv/Handout via Reuters

IMAGE: A flash from the explosion of a missile illuminates the city. Photograph: Gleb Garanich/Reuters

Photographs curated by Manisha Kotian/Rediff.com

Feature Presentation: Rajesh Alva/Rediff.com
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Wednesday said that his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi would still travel next week to Australia despite the cancellation of the Quad leaders' meeting in Sydney and he is looking forward to welcoming him.

IMAGE: Prime Minister Narendra Modi exchanges greetings with Australian PM Anthony Albanese during a joint press statement, at the Hyderabad House, in New Delhi on March 10, 2023. Photograph: ANI Photo

The Australian premier was responding to a question on whether Prime Minister Modi will still come to Sydney after Albanese cancelled the Quad leaders' meeting in Sydney on May 24 as United States President Joe Biden postponed his visit to Australia to focus on crucial debt-ceiling talks to prevent a catastrophic federal default.

Albanese, Modi, Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida were to attend the Quad Leaders' Summit.

"Prime Minister Modi will be here next week for a bilateral meeting with myself," Albanese told ABC Radio in Brisbane.

Prime Minister Modi will also have business meetings and will hold a very public event at Homebush at the Olympic site in Sydney, he said.

"He will also be engaging with Australian-India business relations, I look forward to welcoming him to Sydney," Albanese said.

But he indicated Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida would cancel his visit in the wake of Biden's announcement.

"Prime Minister Kishida was just coming for the Quad meeting. There wasn't a separate bilateral programme," Albanese said.

Earlier in the day, Albanese said that Prime Minister Modi would certainly be a very welcome guest in Australia next week despite the cancellation of the Quad meeting.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Wednesday said that next week's Quad leaders meeting in Sydney will not go ahead after United States President Joe Biden cancelled his visit to Australia, according to a media report.

IMAGE: Yoshihide Suga, Narendra Modi, Joe Biden and Scott Morrison at the Quad leaders' summit in the White House.



Albanese said the leaders of Australia, the United States, India and Japan would instead meet at the G7 Summt in Japan this weekend.

US President Biden announced on Tuesday that he will postpone the Australia leg of his Asia trip, along with that of Papua New Guinea, given the uncertainty and intense negotiations with the opposition Republican party to ensure that America does not default on its debt for the first time in history.

"The Quad leaders' meeting will not be going ahead in Sydney next week," Albanese said in Tweed Heads, a town in New South Wales.

Albanese says it's still possible that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Sydney next week, ABC News reported.

President Biden has been forced to turn his attention to domestic politics, as he works to hash out a deal with Republicans to prevent the US from defaulting on its debts at the end of this month.

"Because that has to be solved prior to 1 June -- otherwise there are quite drastic consequences for the US economy, which will flow on to the global economy -- he understandably has had to make that decision," Albanese said.

The Prime Minister also said Biden was "disappointed" as he was unable to come to Australia and that the Quad leaders would instead try to gather on the margins of the G7 leaders meeting in Hiroshima.

"All four leaders -- President Biden, Prime Minister Kishida, Prime Minister Modi and myself -- will be at the G7, held in Hiroshima on Saturday and Sunday. We are attempting to get together over that period of time [and] I'll have a bilateral discussion with President Biden," he said.

"At this stage, we haven't got a time locked in for that arrangement."

Albanese said it was still possible that Prime Minister Modi and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida would visit Sydney next week, but officials in all three countries were still trying to confirm their plans.

"We are in discussions with the Quad leaders over today. We'll make further announcements about that, but Prime Minister Modi would certainly be a very welcome guest here next week," he said.

In November 2017, India, Japan, the US and Australia gave shape to the long-pending proposal of setting up the "Quad" to develop a new strategy to keep the critical sea routes in the Indo-Pacific free of any influence amid China's aggressive behaviour in the region.

China is engaged in hotly contested territorial disputes in the South and East China Seas. Beijing has also made substantial progress in militarising its man-made islands in the past few years.

Beijing claims sovereignty over all of the South China Sea. But Vietnam, Malaysia, the Philippines, Brunei and Taiwan have counterclaims. In the East China Sea, China has territorial disputes with Japan.
The Congress on Wednesday hit out at the Bharatiya Janata Party for criticising it over the delay in deciding the chief minister of Karnataka, and cited examples when the BJP declared its chief ministers in Uttar Pradesh and Assam several days after winning the polls.

IMAGE: Karnataka Congress President D.K. Shivakumar offers party scarf to former Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah during celebrations after the party's win in Karnataka assembly elections in Bengaluru. Photograph: Shailendra Bhojak/PTI Photo

"Just to refresh memories of PM's drum-beaters especially. 2017 UP Vidhan Sabha election results out on March 11th. Yogi appointed CM 8 days later on March 19th. 2021 Assam Vidhan Sabha election results out on May 3rd. Himanta Biswa Sarma became CM 7 days later on May 10th," AICC general secretary Jairam Ramesh said on Twitter.

"There are many more such examples," he also said.

Several BJP leaders are criticising the Congress for the delay in deciding on the chief ministerial candidate in Karnataka amid hectic lobbying for the top post.

The results in Karnataka were declared on May 13 but the party has not finalised its chief ministerial face yet and the process of consultations is on.

Karnataka's two chief ministerial aspirants Siddaramaiah and D K Shivakumar held separate meetings with Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Tuesday as the party held hectic consultations to decide on who would lead the government in the southern state.

BJP's IT cell head Amit Malviya said a sorry state of affairs prevails in Congress where president Mallikarjun Kharge sees himself more as a "postman".

"Want to watch circus? Watch the Congress select their CM in Karnataka," he said on Twitter.

Referring to the lobbying by Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar for the post of chief minister, he said, "The BJP also holds discussions and deliberations to elect its CMs and has often ensured smooth transition of power, even between CMs. Despite elaborate consultations, you will never find BJP aspirants falling over each other, rallying supporters and issuing veiled threats to the Party through the media".

"

On the contrary, last evening, Lutyens journalists, who DK Shivkumar hosted at the Claridges, almost appointed Siddaramaiah as the Karnataka CM. Sorry state of affairs in the Congress, where President Kharge sees himself more as a postman, let alone being a decision maker or even part of the decision making team. He keeps referring to some High Command," he added.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday came down heavily on Manipur high court judge Justice MV Muralidaran, saying despite being granted an opportunity he did not correct his judgment on grant of quota to the majority Meiteis in the strife-torn state.

IMAGE: Houses set ablaze after a clash broke out during the 'Tribal Solidarity March called by the All Tribal Student Union Manipur (ATSUM) in the Torbung area of Churachandpur in Manipur on May 4, 2023. Photograph: ANI Photo

The tribals are opposing reservation to the Meiteis following the March 27 Manipur high court order of Justice Muralidaran that asked the state government to send a recommendation to the Centre within four weeks on the demand for ST status to the community.

Terming the March 27 order obnoxious, a bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud said, I will tell you (lawyers) one thing that the high court order was incorrect... I think we have to stay the order of the high court. The high court order is absolutely wrong. We gave Justice Muralidaran time to correct himself and he has not done so....

At the start of the hearing of the matters pertaining to Manipur violence, the bench was of the view that it will set aside the single judge bench order of the Manipur high court passed by Justice Muralidaran.

However, it later said the tribals including Kukis can join the proceedings before the division bench of the high court hearing the intra-court appeals challenging the quota order of the single judge bench.

Justice Muralidaran was in the news earlier for resisting his transfer from the Madras high court to the Manipur high court by the Supreme Court collegium.

The collegium had first recommended his transfer to the Manipur high court by its resolution of January 15, 2019.

Later, Justice Muralidaran requested that he be retained in the Madras high court or alternatively, be transferred to either Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala or Orissa high court.

However, the apex court collegium stuck to its earlier decision and decided to reiterate its recommendation to transfer him to Manipur high court.
Two ministers in the outgoing Bharatiya Janata Party government on Wednesday sought to blame senior Congress leader Siddaramaiah for the defection of a group of his party's MLAs that led to the collapse of the H D Kumaraswamy-led coalition government in 2019 after being in power for 14 months.

IMAGE: Congress leader Siddaramaiah meeting in New Delhi. Photograph: Kamal Kishore/PTI Photo

K Sudhakar and S T Somashekar, who were Health and Cooperation Ministers respectively in the Basavaraj Bommai government, raised the issue at a time when Siddaramaiah is in a stiff competition with state Congress president D K Shivakumar to become the Chief Minister, after the Congress won the Assembly polls by securing 135 seats.

Sudhakar and Somashekar were earlier with the Congress. They were among the 17 Congress-Janata Dal Secular legislators who quit and defected to BJP that led to the collapse of the coalition government and paved the way for BJP to come to power.

"During the JDS-Congress coalition govt in 2018, whenever MLAs (Congress) went to the then Coordination Committee Chairman Siddaramaiah with their concerns, he used to express his helplessness and say that he has no say in the govt and his constituency/district works itself are stalled," Sudhakar claimed.

Further, Siddaramaiah used to assure MLAs to wait till 2019 Lok Sabha polls and come what may he won't allow the then coalition government to continue even for a single day after the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

Ultimately, some MLAs including him had to inevitably quit Congress and go back to the people in bypolls, to protect the 'karyakartas' and supporters in their constituencies, he said, and asked "Can Shri Siddaramaiah deny the fact that he had no role, implicitly or explicitly, in this move by Congress MLAs?"

Somashekar said, despite being the Chairman of the Coordination Committee Siddaramaiah always expressed his helplessness to address the concerns of MLAs during the Congress-JDS coalition government.

"No one can deny the truth that this pushed some of us to quit the party and go for bypolls," he said.

Sudhakar and Somashekar, after defecting to BJP, contested the bypolls on the party ticket and won, and also went on to become Ministers in the government.

Sudhakar lost the May 10 Assembly polls from Chikkaballapura seat, while Somashekar won the Yeshwanthpur in Bengaluru.
Karnataka's two chief ministerial aspirants Siddaramaiah and D K Shivakumar on Wednesday met Rahul Gandhi in New Delhi separately amid hectic parleys in the Congress to decide on the candidate for the top post in the southern state.

IMAGE: Congress leader DK Shivakumar arrives to meet party leader Rahul Gandhi, at 10, Janpath, in New Delhi, Wednesday, May 17, 2023, ahead of the decision on the next Karnataka chief minister. Photograph: Ravi Choudhary/PTI Photo

The meetings came a day after Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar held separate meetings with Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge at his residence and held discussions with him over government formation.

Karnataka Pradesh Congress chief D K Shivakumar met Gandhi after Siddaramaiah held a 30-minute meeting with the former party chief.

Central observer for Karnataka CLP meeting, in which the MLAs authorised Kharge to appoint the new CLP leader, also met the Congress president separately at his residence and held further discussions.

Both Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar are claimants to the top post in Karnataka after the party wrested the state from the BJP.

While the supporters of both the leaders are pitching for their respective leader, the Congress is working on a power-sharing formula to accommodate all sections.

Siddaramaiah is considered the front-runner among the two, while Shivakumar has dug his heels for the top post claiming that the state was won under him as state party chief and that he has worked hard for ensuring this victory.

The Congress has held a series of meetings on who will be the chief minister of the state after the party staged a stunning victory in the assembly elections, winning 135 of out 224 seats.
As Congress deliberates on who should be the chief minister of Karnataka, party state president DK Shivakumar, one of the frontrunners for the post in the southern state on Tuesday said that he would file a defamation case against the media channels which are making false claims over his resignation.

IMAGE: Karnataka Congress president DK Shivakumar speaks to media. Photograph: ANI Photo

"If any channel is reporting that I am resigning from the post, I will file a defamation case against them...Some of them are reporting that I will resign...My mother is my party, I built this party. My high command, my MLAs, my party are there," Karnataka Congress president told the reporters.

Other claimants are also emerging as supporters of G Parameshwara staged protest and said he was ready to take up the responsibility if the party high command asked him to run the government.

"If the high command wants, I am ready to take up the responsibility," the former deputy chief minister told reporters while demanding that a Dalit should become CM.

Shivakumar on Tuesday arrived at the Delhi office of his brother and Congress leader DK Suresh.

Despite Congress' clear mandate in the Karnataka assembly polls, suspense over the chief minister continues as senior leaders DK Shivakumar and Siddaramaiah are in the race.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi also met party president Mallikarjun Kharge who is set to make his decision after going through the Congress central observers' report.

The Congress won 135 seats in the recently held election to the 224-member Karnataka assembly.

Earlier, Shivakumar told ANI that he would not resort to "backstabbing or blackmail" regardless of the party's decision.

"If the party wants they can give me the responsibility. Ours is a united house, our number is 135. I don't want to divide anyone here. Whether they like me or not, I am a responsible man. I will not backstab and I will not blackmail," he said.

"The party is my god. We have built this party, I am a part of it and I am not alone in this," he said before his departure from Bengaluru.

"We have built this party (Congress), we have built this house. I am a part of it...A mother will give everything to her child," he said.

Asked about his expectations as the state party president, Shivakumar said," I don't want to comment on what has happened earlier. How it happened. That is a closed chapter we formed the government we lost the government, we lost a coalition government. Who is responsible for the victory and loss there is no use of talking about it now. Let us not sell this story. Let us sell the future."
For this coconut milk rice pudding, use coconut milk that is preferably not expired.
Grace Waryas with Joy Donnelly, Good Citizen chair of the Cavendish-William French DAR chapter on her left and Joy Minns, Vermont Good Citizen chair on the right.
A jury found Jordan Chapman not guilty of two counts of lewd and lascivious conduct against a child this week in Windham Superior Court, Criminal Division.
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Brittany Plucas stands on May 9, 2023, outside the Hilltop Inn in Berlin, where she and her boyfriend have been staying since they became homeless in April 2023. Vermonts pandemic-era expansion of the emergency housing program is ending soon and Plucas and her boyfriend will likely sleep in her car.
Photographer / Multimedia Editor

Has been working as a photojournalist since 2007, before moving into newspapers, he worked with an NGO called Project HOPE. He then went to work for the Press and Sun-Bulletin in New York, and then in New England working for the Brattleboro Reformer.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 17. Uzbekistan, together with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), will construct 3 large solar power plants with a total capacity of 1.2 GW in 2023, President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev said, while addressing the participants of the 32nd Annual Meeting of the EBRD's Board of Governors held in Samarkand, Trend reports.

"We have planned to increase the share of renewable energy sources in the production of electric energy to 40 percent by 2030. Already this year, together with the EBRD, we will implement the construction of 3 large solar power plants," he said.

President Mirziyoyev added that, as Samarkand has been included in the EBRD's 'Green Cities" program, Uzbekistan also relies on the bank's support in including Nukus, Andijan, Bukhara, and Namangan in this initiative.

The 32nd Annual Meeting of the Board of Governors of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) continues in Samarkand. A number of various contracts, including those in renewable energy development, have been signed already.
WASHINGTON (AP)  President Joe Biden said Tuesday he's curtailing his upcoming trip to the Indo-Pacific, scrapping what was to be a historic stop in Papua New Guinea as well as a visit to Australia for a gathering with fellow leaders of the so-called Quad partnership so he can focus on debt limit talks in Washington.

The scuttling of two of the three legs of the overseas trip is a foreign policy setback for an administration that has made putting a greater focus on the Pacific region central to its global outreach.

Biden said he still plans to depart on Wednesday for Hiroshima, Japan, for a Group of Seven summit with leaders from some of the world's major economies. He will return to the U.S. on Sunday.

Im postponing the Australia portion of the trip and my stop in Papua New Guinea in order to be back for the final negotiations with congressional leaders," Biden said at the start of a Jewish American Heritage Month event at the White House. He added, The nature of the presidency is addressing many of the critical matters all at once. So Im confident were going to continue to make progress toward avoiding the default and fulfilling Americas responsibility as a leader on the world stage.

Biden said he spoke to Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese earlier on Tuesday to inform him he was postponing a visit to Australia and invited him to Washington for an official state visit at a yet-to-be determined date. White House staff broke the news to Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape.

White House officials did not offer an immediate response to questions about when Biden might reschedule visits to the two countries.

Revitalizing and reinvigorating our alliances and advancing partnerships like the Quad remains a key priority for the President, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said. This is vital to our ability to advance our foreign policy goals and better promote global stability and prosperity. We look forward to finding other ways to engage with Australia, the Quad, Papua New Guinea and the leaders of the Pacific Islands Forum in the coming year.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has invited Albanese, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi as well as Pacific Island leaders to come to Hiroshima during the G-7. Albanese in an Australian Broadcasting Corp. interview said that the Quad leaders are now hoping to hold a meeting in Hiroshima.

Well also hopefully be able to find a time when the four of us can sit down, Albanese said. We will have to organize the logistics of the Quad meeting now in Sydney and well be discussing with our partners in the U.S., but also Japan and India over the next day or so.

Biden had been scheduled to travel on to Papua New Guinea to meet with Pacific Island leaders and then to Australia for a meeting of the leaders of the Quad partnership, made up of the U.S., Australia, India and Japan. The Papua New Guinea stop would have been the first visit by a sitting U.S. president to the island country of more than 9 million people.

The Quad partnership first formed during the response to the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami that killed some 230,000 people. Since coming into office, Biden has tried to reinvigorate the Quad as part of his broader effort to put greater U.S. focus on the Pacific and counter increasing economic and military assertiveness by China in the region.

Biden announced his decision soon after he wrapped up a meeting on Tuesday afternoon with Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jefferies, D-N.Y., for talks on the debt limit standoff.

Earlier Tuesday, White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby expressed administration officials' frustration that the debt talks are having an impact on the president's dealings on the international stage.

We wouldnt have to have this conversation. I wouldnt have to answer these questions if Congress just did the right thing, Kirby said.

Some Republican lawmakers questioned Biden's decision to travel overseas considering the consequences of the debt limit talks.

I think he should not leave and he should focus on the debt limit here at home, Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla.

With the brief stop in Papua New Guinea to meet with Pacific Island leaders, Biden had hoped to demonstrate that the United States is committed to remaining engaged for the long term in the Pacific Islands.

The area has received diminished attention from the U.S. in the aftermath of the Cold War and China has increasingly filled the vacuum  through increased aid, development and security cooperation. Biden has said that hes committed to changing that dynamic.

Last September, Biden hosted leaders from more than a dozen Pacific Island countries at the White House, announcing a new strategy to help to assist the region on climate change and maritime security. His administration also recently opened embassies in the Solomon Islands and Tonga, and has plans to open one in Kiribati.

As vice president, Biden saw up close how domestic politics can complicate foreign policy during the 2013 government shutdown. President Barack Obama was forced to bail on attending the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit and the East Asia Summit in Brunei as well as a visit to Malaysia and the Philippines in the midst of a government shutdown as he negotiated with GOP leaders.

President Bill Clinton opted to skip his scheduled participation in the APEC summit in Japan in the midst of the 1995 government shutdown. He opted to send Vice President Al Gore in his place.

___

Associated Press journalist Rick Gentilo contributed to this report.
Two moms from Black Rock are working to open up a new chapter for their community.

Emily Welch was going through a difficult divorce in the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, but she received support from her neighbors in the Black Rock neighborhood of Bridgeport. Welch, a mother of a then-two-year-old girl, befriended other local parents, including her future business partner Meagan Flynn, who has a young son.

"The people here genuinely care and there is always a friendly face," Welch said. "I just created this own little community within a community and met so many wonderful people."

Flynn previously worked at Guilford's Breakwater Books and had talked about creating her own bookstore with her family and friends for years. Last Christmas, Flynn's brother-in-law gave her a tote bag with a logo for "Black Rock Books"  an imaginary store at the time. Overjoyed with her gift, Flynn showed it off to her friends in the neighborhood, including Welch. Wanting to make her friend's dream a reality and uplift the community that uplifted her, Welch partnered with Flynn to create the real Black Rock Books.

"Emily was like, 'You keep talking about this, when are you going to do it?' She was the one who said 'OK, when? OK, where? OK, how?' ... It feels special because Emily was one of the first people that I met when I moved to the neighborhood," Flynn said.

Black Rock Books / contributed

Black Rock Books, located at 3030 Fairfield Ave. in Bridgeport, will aim to sell affordable books as well as offer family-friendly events like book clubs, author speaking engagements and storytime hours. The pair said the bookstore is a good fit for Black Rock because they felt like there was a need for more local family-friendly spaces that they could take their children to.

"It's something that this community really needs and I have no doubt in my mind that they will support and welcome our store with open arms," Welch said. "It's not about making money so to speak ... this is about getting the community together even more and reaching people."

Black Rock Books' soft opening is set for June 10 from 11 a.m. - 4 p.m. The pair chose the date because it will coincide with the neighborhood's Second Saturdays in Black Rock event, which lets businesses set up stands on the sidewalk once a month. During the soft opening, the store will sell pre-owned books like Stephen King novels, children's books, youth-adult books and picture books, which were donated by Flynn and Welch's friends and family.

"We have already gotten two carloads, we must have a thousand books already if not more," Welch said. "This first batch will definitely be a mix of everything," Flynn added.

The pair said their main focus is making sure the soft opening is successful before finalizing plans for a full launch. After fully launching, they plan for the store to be open Tuesday through Sunday from 11 a.m. - 4 p.m., with the goal to extend hours until 7 p.m. when they can afford another staff member.

"There are a million things that have to get done before then," Welch said. "We are just hoping by June 10 we will have the walls painted, the shells will be on the walls and we will have the right business licenses and insurance."

While the soft opening focuses on used books, the business is partnering with wholesaler Ingram Content Group, so they can stock new books in the future. The store may also offer monthly subscriptions and delivery services in the future, depending on interest. The business plans to host storytime hours at the Farmers' Market of Black Rock during the summer and fall.

"People go down to Saint Mary's and set up a picnic blanket, how amazing would it be for them to push a button on their phone and tap something on their screen that sends us an order and we run it down there on the Black Rock Books bike," Welch said.

They pair also funding part of the store through a GoFundMe campaign, which has raised over $2,900 of its $20,000 goal so far. Welch said the store will still open regardless of the campaign but they wanted to give the community a chance to contribute.
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP)  The United Arab Emirates' highest court Tuesday ordered a British hedge fund trader convicted of orchestrating a $1.7 billion tax fraud to pay that amount to Denmark's tax authority.

Financier Sanjay Shah was convicted in a lower court of masterminding a scheme that ran from 2012 to 2015. Under it, foreign businesses pretended to own shares in Danish companies and claimed tax refunds for which they were not eligible. He was arrested in Dubai last year.

Shah and his lawyers declined to comment on Tuesday's ruling.

The Court of Cassation also ordered Shah and several foreign businesses implicated in the scheme to pay 5% interest on the $1.7 billion accrued from when the case was first filed in August 2018.

This conclusive ruling after a nearly five-year pursuit of justice underscores the serious and uncompromising stance of the UAE authorities against financial misconduct, said OGH Legal in Dubai, a law firm acting on behalf of Danish authorities, in a statement.

Last September, the Dubai Appeals Court found Shah and his accomplices guilty of illegally extracting money from Danish tax authorities. His lawyers appealed that verdict to the Court of Cassation, which upheld the earlier ruling Tuesday and ordered Shah to pay the $1.7 billion.

In a separate ruling, Shah was ordered to be extradited to Denmark after the Dubai court rejected his appeal against deportation in April. He is expected to face prosecution in Denmark on the tax fraud allegations. It wasn't immediately clear when he will be extradited.

The 52-year-old financier has maintained his innocence in interviews with journalists but never appeared in Denmark to answer accusations. His defense has argued in closed-door hearings that Denmark did not follow the procedures laid out in international extradition treaties.

Shahs arrest came at a time when pressure was growing on Dubai, the regions financial hub, over its alleged weaknesses in combating financial wrong-doing. The UAE has long invited the wealthy, including disgraced public figures, to invest in the country without questioning where they made their money.

Recently, however, the UAE has arrested several suspects wanted for major crimes, including two brothers from South Africa, accused of facilitating vast public corruption and draining state resources with former President Jacob Zuma.

An Emirati official also recently became president of Interpol, the international police agency.
On May 26, 1647, Connecticut became the first colony to execute someone accused of practicing witchcraft, which, in colonial Connecticut, was a capital offense.

The woman, named Alyse (sometimes spelled Alice or Achsah) Young, was hanged in Hartford. No trial records remain and we dont know much about her circumstances  the names of her accusers, the circumstances of their accusations, nothing. We can guess that shed run afoul of someone, and so  with rabid disregard for anything approach a fair trial, the colony executed her, long before the better-known Salem witch trials.

The state of Massachusetts exonerated Salems last woman convicted of witchcraft in 2022. It is long past time for Connecticut to own up to Youngs and others state-sanctioned murders, though we dont, as a rule, like to revisit the past if the past is the least bit ugly. For an illustration, listen the chattering class meltdown over efforts such as the 1619 Project attempt to tell all the countrys history, including the painful parts around the enslavement of people. And we definitely dont like to take responsibility for events at which we were not present. (Thats the My family never owned slaves so why should I care school of thought.)

But a state House resolution thats moved to the Senate is asking Connecticut to look at the ugly past and apologize  for nine women and two men, all found guilty of witchcraft in Colonial times. The resolution absolves the executed, and acknowledges the trauma and shame that wrongfully continued to affect the families of the accused.

The resolution passed the House last week, 121-30, and everyone who voted against it was a Republican (though 24 Republicans voted in favor). One naysayer  Rep. Jason Perillo, R-Shelton  said he wasnt particularly sorry about this benighted epoch because his family wasnt around for the sham trials. And, he added, the state faces bigger issues.

I hope residents of the state of Connecticut are watching this right now, Perillo said.

Oh, I hope so, too, Rep. Perillo. My family wasnt in Connecticut during the wrongful witchcraft executions, either, but maybe, just maybe, I can still care about what this might do in the way of prompting discussions about wrongful convictions  which hardly stopped after these sham trials. These modern-day attempts to skate over our past dont serve any of us. In fact, theyre quite harmful.

This particular acknowledgement  a project of some descendants of the accused and others  has been a long time coming. The resolutions version is carefully worded after objections that todays state government has no legal remedy to undo the mistakes of colonial magistrates. But for all the years of discussions, theres nothing terribly groundbreaking about it. There have been other, much larger-scale apologies that sought to redress past injustices.

In 1988, then-President Ronald Reagan (a Republican) signed into law Public Act 100-383, which acknowledged the injustice of interning Americans of Japanese descent during World War II. The act also provided $20,000 to every surviving person who had been interned. (Even in 1988 dollars, that was a fraction of what families lost when they were rounded up and shipped away from their homes and their businesses.)

In 2008, the U.S. House of Representatives issued an apology for slavery and Jim Crow laws that extended slave-like conditions beyond the Civil War. U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen, D-Tenn., wrote the bill and said at the time, Slavery and Jim Crow are stains upon what is the greatest nation on the face of the earth and the greatest government ever conceived by man. But when we conceived this government and said all men were created equal we didn't in fact make all men equal, nor did we make women equal. There was no attendant monetary award, though discussions for reparations continue. Rep. Cohen suggested that his was a symbolic resolution but hopefully it will begin a dialogue where people will open their hearts and their minds to the problems that face this country  including wrongful convictions.

In this case, even Colonial people who escaped the gallows often lost their livelihoods, farms, and families. However, there is no monetary reparations attached to the resolution. Its a simple apology and a long-overdue absolution.

We cant forget that whether a commonwealth or the state of Connecticut, these were our people, said state Rep. Jan Garibay, D-Windsor, who sponsored the resolution. So many families have been hurt over generations, and once the bill passes the Senate and is signed by the governor, many people  both descendants of those accused and executed but also the families of the aggressors  will feel a sense of peace. This shows the soul and compassion of our state.

After the execution of Ms. Young, witch trials continued for 50 years in Connecticut. In 2017, Windsors town council exonerated Young and Lydia Gilbert, another Windsor resident killed upon suspicion of practicing witchcraft.

One of the efforts longtime supporters, Anthony Griego, has worked on various projects to get the lives of the accused and executed recognized. This resolution is a good step, he says. Next, maybe the group will work on constructing a permanent memorial marker, or maybe theyll seek to get May 26 named Alyse Young Day.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 17. The volume of foreign direct investments in Uzbekistan since 2017 tripled, President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev said, while addressing the participants of the 32nd Annual Meeting of the EBRD's Board of Governors held in Samarkand, Trend reports.

"As a result of the liberalization of the foreign exchange market, the removal of barriers to entry to foreign markets, the abolition of customs duties on more than 7,000 types of raw materials and goods, foreign trade turnover doubled. Along with this, tax administration has been simplified, forming attractive fiscal system in the country," he said.

Mirziyoyev added that, as a result of the creation of a favorable business climate in Uzbekistan, the number of entrepreneurs in the country as a whole has increased 4 times.

"We will improve the investment and business climate in the country, create even more favorable conditions for investors. In this regard, the Council of Foreign Investors under the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan will be a decisive link in establishing a direct dialogue with foreign investors, jointly developing mutually beneficial projects and long-term strategies. Undoubtedly, this dialogue platform, organized together with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, will give us new experience, create new opportunities, promote new approaches to our reforms," the president said.

The volume of foreign investments in the economy of Uzbekistan has reached $10 billion in a year.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 17. Negotiations between the parties on the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) regarding Iran's nuclear program may begin soon, a member of the Iranian Parliaments National Security and Foreign Policy Committee Shahriyar Heidari told reporters, Trend reports via Mehr news agency.

According to Heydari, the US and European countries have sent a number of messages to Iran in this regard. He said that Iran's position regarding the JCPOA hasn't changed.

Achieving a positive result with this plan and the complete lifting of sanctions against Iran is of great importance for Iran, the MP said.

In January 2016, JCPOA was launched between Iran and the P5+1 group (US, Russia, China, UK, France, and Germany) in connection with Iran's nuclear program. In May 2018, the US announced its withdrawal from the deal and imposed sanctions on Iran in November of the same year.

To preserve the agreements reached as part of the JCPOA, the European signatories of the deal started in January 2019 that a financial mechanism for maintaining trade with Iran called INSTEX was formed.

On May 8, 2019, Iran announced that it had ceased fulfilling its commitments regarding the sale of over 300 kilograms of uranium, as stated in the deal, basing its decision on the other signatories that have not fulfilled their obligations. On July 7, Iran announced that it will not be fulfilling its commitments regarding the enrichment of uranium at 3.67 percent and the reconstruction of the Arak Heavy Water Reactor Facility as stated in the deal.

Iran announced that it will enrich uranium using next-generation centrifuges and will not mix it with the enriched uranium residues as part of the third step of reducing commitments in JCPOA on Sept.5.

On Nov. 5, 2019, Iran announced that it took the fourth step in connection with reducing its commitments to the nuclear agreement. So, uranium gas is being pumped to the centrifuges at the Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant.

On Jan.2020, Iran took the last fifth step in reducing the number of its commitments within JCPOA. The US imposed new sanctions on Iran in November 2018. Over the past period, the sanctions affected Iranian oil exports, more than 700 banks, companies, and individuals. The sanctions have resulted in the freezing of Iranian assets abroad.
Indian Army chief General Manoj Pande and his Egypt counterpart Lt Gen Osama Ahmad Roshdy Abdullah Askar discussed ways to strengthen India-Egypt bilateral ties during a bilateral meet on Tuesday, May 16. During the interaction of the two military leaders, a book titled 'Indian Army in Egypt' was released to commemorate the service and sacrifice of the Indian soldiers in Egypt.

The Indian Army Chief also interacted with the chief of operations of the Egyptian military Lt.Gen. Ahmed F Khalifa. The Indian Army chief is on a three-day visit to Egypt to enhance bilateral defence cooperation. Both countries will also discuss ways to improve and strengthen ties in areas of mutual interest of both the countries.

Military relations between India and Egypt

India and Egypt enjoy cordial defence relations. The president of Egypt Abdel Fattah El-Sisi was invited as chief guest on Indias 74th Republic Day celebrations to reaffirm the strong relations between both countries. The MEA in a statement had said that this is for the first time the President of the Republic of Egypt has been invited to India to witness the Republic Day parade.

The military contingent of the Egyptian army also participated in the parade. India and Egypt are also celebrating 75 years of the establishment of Diplomatic relations between both countries. Both nations enjoy warm and friendly relations marked by civilisational, cultural as well as economic linkages and deeper and stronger people-to-people ties.

Gen Manoj Pande #COAS interacted with Lt Gen Osama Ahmed Roshdy Abdullah Askar, Chief of Staff #EgyptianArmedForces & discussed ways to strengthen bilateral Defence Cooperation. During the interaction, a book Indian Army in Egypt was also released to commemorate the service & pic.twitter.com/uJ9cFxbvwx  ADG PI - INDIAN ARMY (@adgpi) May 16, 2023

The multifaceted relationship is based on shared cultural values, commitment to fostering economic growth, and collaboration in the field of defence and security. Discussions between the two military leaders were also held regarding the commitment to work closely at multilateral and international platforms. The Joint defensive Committee (JDC) activities, which have been followed by exchange activities such as joint military drills and exercises in each other's countries, determine the majority of the defensive cooperation between the two countries.

Many exercises, ship transits, aircraft transits and defence exhibitions and military trade also contribute to ties between both nations. In January 2023, both nations participated in the Indo-Egypt joint exercise in Rajasthan known as Exercise Cyclone. It was a 14-day exercise which was carried out in the deserts of Rajasthan engaging both the contingents to advance special forces skills such as Sniping, Combat Free Fall, Reconnaissance, Surveillance and Target designation, sharing of information on weapons, equipment, innovations, tactics, techniques and procedures.
The Special Investigative Unit (SIU) of Jammu and Kashmir Police on Wednesday raided five terrorists' houses in Kishtwar district in connection with a terror support and terror funding case, a senior official said.

The houses belonged to terrorists who are operating from Pakistan and are engaged in revival of terrorism in the region, he said.

"After obtaining search warrants from NIA Court, Jammu, in Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) case, houses of five terrorists, who are presently operating from Pakistan and Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir, were searched in various locations," Kishtwar Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Khalil Poswal said.

Five SIU teams along with police carried out the raids, he said.

The SSP said the evidence found in the searches will be used to indict the targets' role in engaging in anti-national activities and perpetuating acts of terrorism.

The SIU is raiding the houses of Shahnawaz alias Nayeem of Chirool Padyarna, Nayeem Ahmed alias Amir alias Gazi of Jamia Masjid, Mohammad Iqbal alias Bilal of Kichloo Market, Shahnawaz Kanth alias Munna alias Umer of Hullar Kishtwar, and Javid Hussain Giri alias Muzamil of Kundali Pochal, he said.

A special NIA court in Jammu had on April 26 issued non-bailable warrants against 23 terrorists from Kishtwar operating from across the border.

Earlier, non-bailable warrants were issued against 13 terrorists.

"Thirty-six individuals from Kishtwar went to Pakistan after joining terrorism over a period of time. Subsequently, two FIRs were registered against them," Poswal said.
Pradeep Kurulkar, the senior DRDO (Defence Research and Development Organisation) scientist arrested by the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) for allegedly sharing confidential information with a Pakistani intelligence agent, is said to have been honeytrapped online and is also said to have shared extremely sensitive information, including sketches of missiles, sources say. Kurulkar was arrested on May 4 by the ATS in Mumbai and electronic evidence of various kinds were seized from the scientist's possession. Sources say ATS has retrieved WhatsApp chats between the Pakistan intelligence agent and the accused scientist.

The WhatsApp chats show that the Pakistani intelligence official identified as an Indian-origin student in London and told the scientist that she admired him and hated Pakistan. The agent is said to come in contact with the scientist last year, and a large number of messages were exchanged between them.

CBI arrests journalist and former Navy commander

Meanwhile, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has arrested a freelance journalist named Vivek Raghuvanshi and a former Navy commander in an espionage case under the Official Secrets Act for the illegal collection of sensitive information, officials stated on Wednesday.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Tuesday had booked Vivek Raghuvanshi, a freelance journalist for allegedly collecting sensitive information about the Defence Research Development Organisation (DRDO) and the army and sharing them with intelligence agencies of foreign countries, officials said.

(With inputs from ANI)
Africa's Sahel region has become a hot spot for violent extremism, but the joint force set up in 2014 to combat groups linked to the Islamic State, al-Qaida and others have failed to stop their inroads, and a senior UN official warned on Tuesday that without greater international support and regional cooperation, the instability will expand toward West African coastal countries.

Resolute advances in the fight against terrorism, violent extremism and organized crime in the Sahel desperately need to be made, UN Assistant Secretary-General for Africa Martha Pobee told a UN Security Council meeting.

The counterterrorism force, now comprised of Burkina Faso, Chad, Mauritania and Niger, lost Mali a year ago when its ruling junta decided to pull out. Pobee said the force hasn't conducted any major military operations since January.

She said the force is adjusting to new realities: France moving its counterterrorism force from Mali to Niger due to tensions with the junta and Mali's decision to allow Russian mercenaries from Wagner to deploy on its territory.

She said Burkina Faso and Niger have recently strengthened military cooperation with Mali to counter an upsurge in extremist attacks, but despite these efforts, insecurity in the tri-border area continues to grow.

Pobee criticised the international community, saying a lack of consensus among donors and partners left the joint force without sufficient funding and other needed support to become fully operational and autonomous so it could have the capacity to help stabilise the Sahel region.

An agreement between the UN, EU and the force under which the UN peacekeeping force in Mali supplied fuel, rations, medical evacuation and engineering support to the joint force is expected to end in June, she said, expressing hope that the Security Council will consider the issue of UN financing for African peace operations.

Eric Tiare, executive secretary of the force known as the G5 Sahel, said experts have finalised a new concept of operations, which will be submitted to its defence council and then to the African Union to be endorsed.

"Given that the Sahel is at a crossroads, as it is seeing many threats to international peace and security, it's absolutely vital that we provide support to the force," he said.

"The force needs what it has always lacked and what it has always sought. That is sustainable funding and equipment as we seek to counter-terrorism." UN experts have reported in recent years that Africa has been the region hardest hit by terrorism, and UN counterterrorism chief Vladimir Voronkov told the Security Council in January that the Islamic State group's expansion in Africa's centre, south and Sahel regions is particularly worrying.

Last August, African security expert Martin Ewi said at least 20 African countries were directly experiencing activity by the Islamic State group, and more than 20 others were being used for logistics and to mobilize funds and other resources.

Ewi, who coordinates a transnational organized crime project at the Institute for Security Studies in South Africa's capital, Pretoria, told the Security Council that the Islamic State threat was growing by the day in Africa and the continent could be the future of the caliphate", which is what the Islamic State called the large swath of Syria and Iraq it seized in 2014 but lost in 2017.

Ewi said the Lake Chad Basin  which borders Chad, Nigeria, Niger and Cameroon  was the extremist group's biggest area of operation and areas in the Sahel were now ungovernable.

Pobee warned that without significant gains in fighting terrorism, it will become increasingly difficult to reverse the security trajectory in the Sahel, and the further expansion of insecurity towards coastal West African countries.

She said the recent instability in Sudan was an additional cause for concern. The devastating effects of the continuing destabilization of the Sahel would be felt far beyond the region and the African continent," Pobee said.

The US deputy ambassador, Jeffrey DeLaurentis, said the United States is especially concerned by the security, humanitarian and political crises unfolding in the Sahel, which stem primarily from governance failures. He criticised state-led military operations in Burkina Faso and Mali, and Mali's operations with the Wagner mercenaries, which he said have led to "large-scale civilian casualties and reports of human rights violations".

DeLaurentis urged Mali to rejoin the G5 Sahel, saying regional efforts are needed to fight terrorism, criminal networks and climate change. And he extended US support to Burkina Faso, Chad and Mali to complete their transitions to democratically elected civilian governments.

We and other partners are keen to consider restarting currently restricted support, he said. The election of democratic governments would help us resume such assistance. (AP) PY PY
In his first public reaction to the recent incidents of violence, Pakistan Army chief Gen Asim Munir on Wednesday vowed to bring to justice all those "responsible for bringing shame to the nation on May 9" and said that such "orchestrated tragic incidents" would never be allowed again at any cost.

On May 9, violent protests erupted after the arrest of former prime minister Imran Khan. His party workers vandalised a dozen military installations, including the Jinnah House (Lahore Corps Commander house), Mianwali airbase and the ISI building in Faisalabad.

The Army headquarters (GHQ) in Rawalpindi was also attacked by the mob for the first time.

"No one will be allowed to disrespect our shuhada (martyrs) and their monuments. They are a source of inspiration and pride for the rank and file of the Armed Forces, Law Enforcement Agencies, Government officials and the people of Pakistan," Gen Munir said while interacting with troops during a visit to the Sialkot Garrison.

He reassured the ranks and files that all those responsible for bringing shame to the nation on Black Day of 9th May would certainly be brought to justice.

General Munir appreciated under-command formations for their hard work, high morale and professionalism.

During his interaction with officers and troops, he stressed upon maintaining focus on the army's professionalism and preparedness to deal with complex internal and external security challenges including propaganda warfare.

The army chief also laid a floral wreath at Martyrs' Monument.

On Monday, the top military brass vowed to bring the arsonists, who attacked the civil and military installations, to justice through trial under relevant laws of the country, including the Pakistan Army Act and Official Secrets Act.
Amid the growing the unrest in Pakistan, and the arrest of Fawad Chaudhry who is a prominent leader of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, the Pakistan police searched his ancestral home and his lawyer Faisal Fareed's home. The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf put out a post on the same on Twitter on May 17. On May 16, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) issued a written verdict ordering the immediate release of Fawad Chaudhry. This incident of conducting a search at his house comes after his dramatic arrest and then bail. It is to be noted that the court has termed his recent arrest under the Maintenance of Public Order as "unlawful" and cited violations of constitutional rights.

Pakistan Unrest: Fawad's home searched

Taking to Twitter, the PTI wrote, "Police have ransacked the ancestrals home of @fawadchaudhry and @faisal_fareed in their village near Jhelum city, breaking down doors and everything they could. Never before in history has police dared to do this, absolutely a new low for this regime!"

Police has ransacked the ancestrals home of @fawadchaudhry and @faisal_fareed in their village near Jhelum city, breaking down doors and everything they could. Never before in history police dared to do this, absolutely a new low for this regime!  PTI (@PTIofficial) May 17, 2023

Meanwhile, the lawyer of Fawad Choudhary, Faisal Fareed has condemned the police's action and called it "Shameful and disgusting." He wrote, "Its very sad. I have never witnessed such heinous brutality. Police officials have gone mad. Why the hell someone breaks households? Shameful and disgusting."

Its very sad. I have never witnessed such heinous brutality. Police officials have gone mad. Why the hell someone break house holds? Shameful and disgusting. https://t.co/TWNCR9FUvj  Faisal Hussain (@faisal_fareed) May 17, 2023

This comes after the court restrained the authorities from arresting Fawad Chaudhry for an additional two days. For the next two days, the PTI leader would be allowed to apply for bail before the relevant court. Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb has issued the order, safeguarding Chaudhry from further detention. With IHC's order, police have been prohibited from arresting him in any undisclosed case registered against him in Islamabad. In the court hearing, it has been revealed that the advocate general had informed the court about two cases registered against Fawad Chaudhry, which led to the IHC granting him bail in those specific cases. Further, Chaudhary shared that over 300 policemen have been waiting for his arrest outside the high court premises. The court did not only prohibit his arrest but also directed the authorities to provide a copy of the order to the Islamabad police chief for adherence and implementation.
PTI Chairman and former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has claimed that the police have surrounded his house for another arrest. In a tweet, he claimed, Probably my last tweet before my next arrest. Pakistan's Punjab police have reached outside PTI Chairman Imran Khans Zaman Park residence to arrest him, reported Karachi-based Dawn media outlet.

I am afraid today that Pakistan is on the route to destruction, he said while addressing the nation on Wednesday. And I fear that if wisdom is not exercised today, we might reach a stage where we wouldnt even be able to pick up the pieces. The ex-premiers residence has been cordoned off by the police officials.

Earlier in the day, PTI's Twitter handle tweeted that Zaman Park has been surrounded with police and that Khan's upcoming address was "extremely important!"

Zaman Park has been surrounded with Police, Chairmans upcoming address is extremely important! https://t.co/TaLWeVTK8I  PTI (@PTIofficial) May 17, 2023

Having been accused of defacing the Pakistan army by current PM Shehbaz Sharif, the ex-Pak PM said, I have defended my army across the world  I was a known face. Name another Pakistani who defended the army the way I did on international media." Khan continued, And I did it because I am a free man. I never accepted slavery.

WATCH Imran Khan's live address

Khan said that he did not want to intefere in army affairs.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 17. Iran's relations with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) continue within the Tehran Declaration, Vice President of Iran and President of the countrys Atomic Energy Organization (AEOI) Mohammad Eslami told reporters, Trend reports via ISNA.

Eslami made the remark on the sidelines of the meeting of the Iranian Cabinet of Ministers in Tehran.

According to him, Iran's relations with IAEA are based on the Treaty of the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT). He said that control activities under the NPT continue and there have been no issues.

The official added that the IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi expressed his approval for cooperation with Iran.

However, its important to note that the IAEA isn't a negotiating party for Iran in the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) regarding Iran's nuclear program. The 5+1 group is the negotiating party within Iran's Joint Comprehensive Action Plan.

In January 2016, JCPOA was launched between Iran and the P5+1 group (US, Russia, China, UK, France, and Germany) in connection with Iran's nuclear program. In May 2018, the US announced its withdrawal from the deal and imposed sanctions on Iran in November of the same year.

To preserve the agreements reached as part of the JCPOA, the European signatories of the deal started in January 2019 that a financial mechanism for maintaining trade with Iran called INSTEX was formed.

On May 8, 2019, Iran announced that it had ceased fulfilling its commitments regarding the sale of over 300 kilograms of uranium, as stated in the deal, basing its decision on the other signatories that have not fulfilled their obligations. On July 7, Iran announced that it will not be fulfilling its commitments regarding the enrichment of uranium at 3.67 percent and the reconstruction of the Arak Heavy Water Reactor Facility as stated in the deal.

Iran announced that it will enrich uranium using next-generation centrifuges and will not mix it with the enriched uranium residues as part of the third step of reducing commitments in JCPOA on Sept.5.

On Nov. 5, 2019, Iran announced that it took the fourth step in connection with reducing its commitments to the nuclear agreement. So, uranium gas is being pumped to the centrifuges at the Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant.

On Jan.2020, Iran took the last fifth step in reducing the number of its commitments within JCPOA.

The US imposed new sanctions on Iran in November 2018. Over the past period, the sanctions affected Iranian oil exports, more than 700 banks, companies, and individuals. The sanctions have resulted in the freezing of Iranian assets abroad.
Punjab's interim government on Wednesday gave a 24-hour deadline to the Opposition Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) to hand over allegedly "30-40 terrorists" that have taken refuge at former prime minister Imran Khan's Zaman Park residence in Lahore. Caretaker Information Minister Aamir Mir was quoted by the Pakistan-based Geo News as saying that the people who were hiding in Zaman Park are the ones who attacked military installations. They will be tried in military courts, Mir asserted.

PTI should handover these terrorists or the law will take its course, Caretaker Information Minister Aamir Mir said during a press conference in Lahore, according to Geo News. "The intelligence report that has come is very alarming," he added.

PTI leadership planned the attack before the arrest: Pak's Caretaker Information Minister

According to Mir, Pakistan's intelligence agencies were able to confirm via geo-fencing that these alleged "terrorists" who ransacked the army installations and other buildings have been staying in Imran Khan's home Zaman Park. Pakistan's government is aware of the presence of these "terrorists," the caretaker information minister added. PTI is starting to behave like a non-state actor, Mir was quoted as saying, while lambasting Imran Khan for maligning the military for over a year. He then asked Khan to hand over the terrorists."

"The PTI leadership had planned the attack before the arrest [of Imran Khan]," Mir said in most vocal attack on Khan yet. Multiple people were in touch with Zaman Park during the attack on the Corps Commander House. They will be made an example so that no one will carry out such an act in the future, he added.

The ruling Shehbaz Sharif government has a zero tolerance policy" with respect to violence and taking law and order into their own hands by the citizens, Mir further noted. Pakistan's interim Chief Minister Mohsin Naqvi was reported to have given a free hand to the Punjab Police to make detentions and deal with the alleged "arsonists" in a suitable manner. "Those who have been arrested so far are being fully scrutinised. Cases are being forwarded after 100% confirmation [of their involvement]," Geo News quoted Mir as saying. He added that "PTI miscreants" crossed a "red line" on May 9 as they ensued countrywide destruction and violence. As per the statistics, as many as 254 cases were registered, and over 3,400 perpetrators have already been apprehended in connection with the case. Of these, 78 were physically remanded, while 906 were remanded judicially.
In an effort to provide Ukraine with the long-sought American F-16 Fighting Falcon aircraft ahead of the Spring counteroffensive, the UK and Netherlands are jointly working to form an "international coalition" to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelesnkyy's arms need. Both the NATO member states are trying to procure multirole stealth fighter jets for Ukraine's Air Force, according to the readout from UK Presidential Office, 10 Downing Street. The decision was made by UK's Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and his Dutch counterpart Mark Rutte at the Council of Europe Summit which is being held in Reykjavik between May 16 and 17 in Iceland.

The UK government also announced training for the Ukrainian pilots on how to fly the advanced warplanes. This summer we will commence an elementary flying phase for cohorts of Ukrainian pilots to learn basic training, the statement from Downing Street read. This will adapt the program used by UK pilots to provide Ukrainians with piloting skills they can apply to different kinds of aircraft. This training goes hand in hand with UK efforts to work with other countries on providing F-16 jets  Ukraines fighter jets of choice.

The UK pledged to provide the Ukrainian military with new long-range attack drones with a range of over 200km [124 miles], Storm Shadow missiles, AIM-120 AMRAAMs that boost the speed of Mach 4 for use in the NASAMSthe medium-range ground-based air defence system. The idea of a "coalition of jets" isn't new and previously Poland, Denmark, and the Netherlands had suggested the framework to expedite the fighter jets to Kyiv from more willing allies. Russia, in turn, this week threatened that sending such long-range weapons would trigger "adequate response from our [Russian] military".

US-made F16 fighter jet takes off from an air base in Campia Turzii, Romania. Credit: AP

'We need F-16s, and I am grateful to our allies': Head of office of President Zelenskyy

Ukraine has been requesting fighter jets from the United States, which has about 800 F-16s in its fleet to match Russia's superior air power. While the UK does not have the fourth generation American manufactured warplanes, its European allies Netherlands and Belgium do. In a push for procuring the advanced combat-proven F-16, a spokesperson of the Ukraine Air Force had promised that Ukraine's pilots will need about six months to master flying the jets.

Our pilots can learn how to fly those planes in a few weeks. It will take about six months for them to master how to fight the F-16, Ukrainian air force spokesman Ihnat noted. But US President Joe Biden has ruled out the prospect saying that Ukraine does not need the multirole stealth F-16 "yet", insisting that he has held a discussion with the Department of Defense, Pentagon, and the Department of State.

We need F-16s, and I am grateful to our allies for their decision to work in this direction, including training our pilots, Andriy Yermak, head of the office of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Tuesday said, after UK reached the decision.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's aide Yermak further stated that Belgium, another NATO ally, confirmed its readiness to train Ukrainian pilots along with the UK. British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, meanwhile, announced that his government will soon train Ukrainian pilots to effectively operate the Western-made fighter jets. Sunak, however, added that providing Ukraine with warplanes is not a straightforward thing." While in the UK during his European tour, President Zelenskyy indicated that Kyiv may be closer to receiving F-16s. He noted that London and Kyiv were actively moving forward to execute a workable plan, as he thanked Sunak for training the pilots. Zelenskyy hinted that he is forming a coalition of jets for the Ukrainian Air Force during an official announcement at Sunak's country residence at Chequers in England.
Pakistan's former Prime Minister Imran Khan has announced that he would be addressing the next public meeting on Thursday, May 18 and would share the next plan of action. The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman has shared this information through the video message that has been shared via PTI's official Twitter handle. In the video, released on Tuesday, Imran Khan said, "Earlier, I decided to start Jalsa on Wednesday but as I have to appear in court for various cases, I will start Jalsas on Thursday. My first Jalsa will be in Muridke, and I want everyone nearby to come and join it so that I can share my plan with you that how to get the country out of the quagmire and how we have to set ourselves truly free, how we have to snatch freedom."

[English Subtitles]



Imran Khan has announced the start of Jalsas (rallies).



The first Jalsa will be at Muridke, on Thursday, 18 May 2023, where Khan will announce the next plan of action in the struggle for Haqeeqi Azadi.#___#SubtitledByPTI pic.twitter.com/sHVvCw45EU May 16, 2023

Pakistan faces political chaos: More trouble for Imran Khan

Earlier, Khan had released another video message in which he urged the public to hold a "protest for the freedom" of the people. In the first video message, Khan said, "This is the time for Haqeeqi Azadi and you can't let this moment go in vain." Further, he asserted that fear has been spread among the public to oppress them as he likened the situation in the country today to the atrocities during the rule of Genghis Khan. According to Imran Khan, his supporters, including women, were being tormented in a manner never seen before. The videos have been coming after the PTI Chairman was arrested on May 9.

[English subtitles]

Message from Chairman Imran Khan: Peaceful protest is your constitutional right. This is the time to take your freedom. If you waste this opportunity, it may never come again. #SubtitledByPTI #HaqeeqiAzadi pic.twitter.com/wZ96A5tUFJ  PTI USA Official (@PTIOfficialUSA) May 15, 2023

"All this fear is being spread only to tell the public that those who stand against them will be treated this way," said Khan in a video message. Further, he said, "When the nation decides that it won't tolerate this oppression ... when it decides that it won't allow the violation of the Constitution and that it wants elections ... then no one will be able to stop them." Amid the chaos in Pakistan and the videos that have been released by Imran Khan, Lahore High Court (LHC) has reserved its verdict on the petition filed by Khan on Tuesday. It was the day after his arrest in the Al-Qadir Trust case where he sought pre-arrest bail in every case filed against him since then, as per Geo news.
Amid the domestic turmoil in Pakistan, the United States on Tuesday called Islamabad an important partner in the region and asserted that it wants to see the country successful. Speaking to reporters, John Kirby, Coordinator for Strategic Communications at the National Security Council in the White House, said, "We want to see Pakistan be a success. And we want to see the Pakistan government live up to the strongest aspirations of the Pakistani people."

Adding further he said, "Pakistan is an important partner in the region. They are suffering from the threat of terrorism every single day. And we are mindful of the challenges that they are facing politically and economically as well. In the United States, they will continue to find a good friend." Notably, Kirby's statement came in response to a query raising concern over the situation in Pak.

Strong Pakistan is key to stable US-Pak relationship: US

In a separate news conference, State Department's Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel said the US does not choose a political party or a particular candidate when it comes to Pakistan or any other country. He also reiterated that a strong, stable and prosperous Pakistan is crucial to its ties with the country.

"We do not choose a political party or a particular candidate when it comes to Pakistan or really any country. As it relates to Pakistan, our view is that a strong, stable, prosperous Pakistan is key to a strong and stable US-Pakistan relationship," Patel said in response to a query on the "political circus" in Pakistan.

Earlier on Monday, the US voiced support for freedom of expression without any violence. "Our belief is that individuals should have the freedom to express themselves, but do so without participating in any violence, violence that would put government employees in government buildings in harm's way. And specifically on the arrest, I spoke a little bit to this last week," state department's Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel told reporters at his daily news conference, referring to former prime minister Imran Khan's arrest last week by the Pakistani Rangers.

Notably, Khan's arrest from the Islamabad HC premises last week triggered unrest in Pak that continued till Friday and led to several deaths and dozens of military and state installations being destroyed by the protesters.

(With inputs from agencies)
Leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) wrapped up a two-day summit in Indonesia expressing "deep concern" about the escalation of violence in member-state Myanmar. But they insisted on sticking to a five-point consensus Myanmar's military junta agreed to with ASEAN in April 2021 that the summit host, Indonesian President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo, acknowledged has made no progress. Widodo warned that "ASEAN's credibility is at stake" and called for engagement with all parties in Myanmar.
Stand-up artist House is targeted after being denounced for insulting the People's Liberation Army

In this undated screen shot, stand-up comic Li Haoshi performs. His employer, a Chinese comedy agency, suspended Li after he sparked public ire with a joke which some said likened feral dogs to soldiers of the People's Liberation Army.

Beijing police launched an investigation Wednesday into stand-up comedian Li Haoshi  who goes by the stage name House  after he sparked public ire with a joke that some said likened feral dogs to People's Liberation Army soldiers.

"Due to the negative social impact caused by his serious insults leveled at the People's Army in the course of a performance, the police have opened an investigation into an actor surnamed Li, male, aged 31," the Chaoyang district police department said in a statement on its official Weibo account.

The municipal department of culture and tourism has also confiscated 1.33 million yuan (US$190,000) in "illegal income" from Li's agent, Shanghai Xiaoguo Culture and Media, and banned it from putting on any shows in Beijing, the Yicai financial website reported.

The sudden escalation of the row evokes the political denunciations and struggle sessions of the 1966-76 Cultural Revolution as authorities in Shanghai and Wuhan also canceled Xiaoguo bookings on Wednesday.

Li had already been fired after he told an anecdote in a May 13 performance about adopting a pair of feral dogs in Shanghai.

"The first time I saw them, it was like watching a wildlife documentary, because they were shooting off to chase a squirrel as if fired by some kind of artillery," Li said. "I mean, most dogs are kind of cute. You feel as if your heart melts to look at them -- those are the kind of words that spring to mind."

"But when I saw these two dogs, the first phrase to flash into my mind was 'able to win battles. I mean, these really were elite [troops]!" Li said, to all-round laughter from the audience.

"Able to win battles" is a reference to a 2013 speech by ruling Communist Party leader Xi Jinping to People's Liberation Army parliamentary delegates, in which he called for an army "that obeys the party and can win battles.

Normally innocuous

Li rose to fame as a popular contestant on the comedy show Rock and Roast. His jokes on the reality contest covered much more innocuous subjects like being unable to drink while dating and working at a bank.

Following the furore over his PLA joke, clips of his gags that had been posted by Shanghai Xiaoguo appear to have been scrubbed from their Instagram account.

"It was a small incident at first, but then it escalated after Xinhua News Agency, the People's Daily and the military got involved," said Beijing-based current affairs commentator Ji Feng. "It's all about maintaining stability and eliminating different voices."

Twitter-based satirist @GFWFrog said Li had never been regarded as an edgy or remotely dissident comedian, however.

"In an age of informants, populists are vying with each other to demonstrate their loyalty through denunciations," he said. "House has been very low-key for years, but suddenly he has become this 'hostile force' who insults the people's soldiers."

"This is because, in the absence of enemies, new ones have to be created."

Lis firing wasn't apparently enough to take the heat off him or his agent.

"Stand-up comic House (also known as Li Haoshi) made an inappropriate comparison during his routine on May 13," Shanghai Xiaoguo Culture Media said in a public statement.

"We offer our sincere apologies to audiences and to the general public," it said, announcing that it was terminating its professional relationship with Li.

"We have issued a severe criticism to House and asked him to reflect on the matter, and we will be permanently terminating our professional relationship with him," Xiaoguo Culture said.

Deep learning and re-education

Li posted his own apology around the same time, in which he expressed "deep shame and regret" for his joke.

"I have withdrawn from all performances, and will engage in deep learning and re-education," he wrote.

But then the People's Daily and Xinhua both published articles on Tuesday describing Li's joke as "a serious insult to the People's Liberation Army."

Xiaoguo quickly apologized for "loopholes" in its management of artists, and expressed its willingness to accept punishment and severe criticism, terminating its contract with Li and cutting the wages of staff who managed him.

It said all of its employees and artists would undergo political education following the incident.

Germany-based poet Yang Lian said there is currently a resurgence in public denunciations in China, in a manner akin to the political "struggle sessions" of the Cultural Revolution.

"Denunciation and informing is a typical feature of Communist Party culture," Yang said. "It's a huge setback for China."

"During the Cultural Revolution, sons and daughters denounced their parents and wives denounced their husbands," he said. "The Communist Party ... has left social relations in a very dirty and ugly state."

He said Li was a victim of this culture, which still persists today.

Glorious history

In June 2021, China passed a law banning "defamation" or "insults" to military personnel that bans organizations or individuals from "slandering or derogating the honor of servicemen [and women], nor may they insult or slander the reputation of members of the armed forces."

The law also required schools to teach "the glorious history of the People's Liberation Army and the heroic and exemplary deeds of its soldiers.

In 2018, the ministry of culture launched a nationwide crackdown on the spoofing of communist revolutionary culture and its heroes, ordering the deletion of thousands of online videos for parodying popular red classics and heroes.

Retired Shanghai university lecturer Gu Guoping said comedy should remain comedy, and not be politicized.

"He didn't actually intend [to poke fun at the People's Liberation Army] ... but because some people were too sensitive, there was a huge reaction," Gu said.

"I don't think the authorities should be quite so sensitive when it comes to controlling public speech," he said. "[Stand-up comedy] is a kind of leisure activity, but now they've been forced to become a tool for brainwashing people."

Veteran current affairs commentator Wang Zheng said stand-up comedy should thrive on satire.

"In overseas stand-up, there is a lot of commentary on current events and politics, including the president," Wang said. "In China ... the cultural authorities start to enforce the law."

"There are so many banned words now that everyone is very nervous when saying anything," he said.

YouTuber Wuyue Sanren said the public outcry shows how brainwashing has been largely successful.

"These people [who complain online] aren't the kind of people who can't stand stand-up comedy, and they didn't even intend to report him [to the authorities]," he said. "Yet they've all been subject to a kind of ideological indoctrination in recent years."

"There are all kinds of populist ideas about the Chinese nation that are off-limits," he said. "They won't fully accept that stand-up is actually an offensive art form."

Translated by Luisetta Mudie. Edited by Malcolm Foster.
Updated 5:10 pm EDT on May 22, 2023

Prominent rights attorney Zhou Shifeng has left Beijing amid ongoing surveillance following his release from prison that was likely linked to his whistleblowing over now-jailed former security chief Sun Lijun.

Zhou, who headed the now-shuttered Beijing Fengrui Law Firm that was targeted in a July 2015 crackdown on human rights lawyers, was released at the end of a seven-year jail term for subversion last September, but  like other prominent rights lawyers  has never fully regained his personal freedom.

He traveled back to his hometown of Anyang in Anhui province last month.

"They suddenly changed his previous level of surveillance [to make it tighter]," a person familiar with the matter said.



There were three of them watching him in shifts and hiding in his residential community [to spy on him], a person familiar with the matter told Radio Free Asia. He had to get their approval if he wanted to travel any kind of distance, and also anyone who wanted to visit him had to get their approval, too.

The person said the authorities appear to regard Zhou as a threat because he repeatedly spoke out about the actions of former vice minister of public security Sun Lijun, who was handed a suspended death sentence in September 2022 for taking bribes, manipulating the stock market and illegal possession of firearms.

The Changchun Intermediate People's Court said Sun had used his influence to seek gains for others and illegally accepted money and property worth 646 million yuan.

He had also displayed "extremely inflated political ambition and very poor political integrity," as well as making groundless criticisms of the party's policies, and spreading political rumors, according to state-run news agency Xinhua.

"Sun unscrupulously cultivated personal followers and interest groups to obtain personal political gains," it said. "He also seriously undermined party unity and compromised political security."

Political retribution?

Zhou had repeatedly accused Sun and his faction of wrongdoing, the person familiar with the matter said.

"So he was criticized and persecuted by the Sun Lijun political faction," the person said, adding that Zhou had always seen the 2015 crackdown on Fengrui as a form of political retaliation for his whistleblowing over Sun.

Zhou had continued to write to the ruling Communist Party's disciplinary arm following his release, as well as the State Council's complaints department and the Supreme People's Procuratorate, complaining about failure by the state to follow due legal process, the person said.

While Zhou's letter to the public prosecutor was ignored, the letter he sent to the State Council complaints department was forwarded to state security police in the northern port city of Tianjin, who were the targets of that complaint.

U.S.-based legal scholar Teng Biao said Zhou's complaints are unlikely to garner any response from Beijing.

"The Supreme Court may have promised it would process all [complaints] letters, but it actually doesn't respond to such cases," Teng said.

He said that while Sun Lijun played a major role in the nationwide arrests, detentions and travel bans imposed on around 300 rights attorneys across China in 2015, he wasn't the driving force behind it.

"The decision on the July 2015 crackdown came from the highest echelons of the Chinese Communist Party," he said.

Translated by Luisetta Mudie. Edited by Malcolm Foster.

Updates to correct that Zhou was not expelled from Beijing but decided to leave on his own.
Torrential rains caused a creek to overflow, destroying all the tents on its banks.

A bridge in Tilin township, Magway region, damaged by Cyclone Mocha in a photograph taken on May 16, 2023.

As news slowly emerges about the extent of damage caused by Sundays cyclone, residents of a township in Myanmars Magway region told RFA Wednesday that Mocha destroyed a displaced persons camp housing more than 700 people.

The cyclone brought torrential rains, causing a local creek to burst its banks and flood the camp in Tilin townships Htan Pin Kone village on Sunday, according to one resident, who wished to remain anonymous for security reasons.

He said it destroyed all the 200 tents in the camp, set up on the banks of the creek.

People were forced to move to the camp because junta troops repeatedly carried out maneuvers near Htan Pin Kone village, which has around 250 houses, the resident told RFA Wednesday.

The troop pass near Htan Pin Kone village whenever they conduct offensives on the western part of Tilin township, so the village is quite insecure. Thats why the whole village moved to a safer place, so there are a lot of displaced people, he said.

According to the latest report from the United Nations Childrens Fund (UNICEF) 2,462 people were relocated from their homes in two Magway townships before the cyclone hit.

It said 3,676 houses in 98 villages in the region were damaged by heavy rains and flash floods.

Cyclone Mocha hit Myanmars coast Sunday with winds reaching over 220 kilometers per hour (137 mph).

Preliminary figures compiled exclusively by RFA confirmed at least 31 deaths due to the cyclone in Rakhine and Chin states, and Ayeyarwady, Magway and Sagaing regions.

On Tuesday, the National Unity Government updated its estimated death toll to 435 across the country, with an unspecified number still missing.

The United Nations said Tuesday that 16 million people were potentially exposed to Mocha, including more than 1.2 million who were already internally displaced.

Its Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) said early estimates indicated nearly 3.2 million people in Rakhine state and Myanmars northwest were the most vulnerable and considered likely to have humanitarian needs in the wake of the cyclone.

The International Rescue Committee said Wednesday is deeply concerned about the communities, especially those living in displaced persons camps.

It said it is responding to the needs of communities affected by Cyclone Mocha in Bangladesh and Myanmar and appealed for more funding for humanitarian work in Myanmar.

Translated by RFA Burmese. Edited by Mike Firn.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 17. Iran and Russia have signed an agreement on the construction of the Rasht-Astara railway, which passes through Azerbaijan, today in Tehran, Trend reports citing Iranian Ministry of Roads and Urban Development.

The fact that another section of the North-South Transport Corridor will be built through Azerbaijan, and not through Armenia, indicated that Azerbaijan is now more attractive than ever, as the country creates all conditions to ensure safe transit in the shortest possible time.

Azerbaijans modern railway, automobile and maritime transport infrastructure saves money and time. No wonder that the volume of cargo transit through Azerbaijan increased by more than 75 percent over the last year.

Iranian President Ibrahim Raisi and Russian President Vladimir Putin attended the event online. The agreement was signed by Iran's Roads and Urban Development Minister Mehrdad Bazrpash and Russia's Transport Minister Vitaly Savelyev.

According to the agreement, the Russian side will spend 1.6 billion euros on the construction of this part of the railway. The construction is planned to be completed within 48 months.

The ministry said that nine stations will be built on the Rasht-Astara railway line, which is about 163 km long. With the completion of the construction of this railway, the International North-South Transport Corridor will be improved and Iran's railway network will be connected to the Caucasus countries, Russia and Northern European countries.

Iran has already started construction of its Rasht-Astara railway line, however, due to the high cost of construction, the country is looking to attract foreign investment. According to the Iranian side, a total of 200 trillion rials (about $4.76 billion) is needed for the construction of this railway line.

The foundation of the International North-South Transport Corridor was laid on the basis of an intergovernmental agreement signed between Russia, Iran, and India on September 12, 2000. In general, a number of countries have ratified the agreement. (Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bulgaria, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Oman, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkiye, and Ukraine).

The purpose of creating a corridor is to reduce the delivery time of cargo from India to Russia, as well as to North and West Europe. Delivery time on the current route is more than six weeks, it is expected to be reduced to three weeks via North-South Transport Corridor.

Iran's 175 km-long Qazvin-Rasht railway was officially put into operation on March 6, 2019, to connect Azerbaijani railways with the Iranian railway network within the corridor. In addition, the 167 km long Rasht-Astara railway line will be built in Iran.
A gigantic wave washed away my family, said one survivor.

A man holds a baby as he stands on top of homes destroyed by Cyclone Mocha in the Dar Paing Rohingya camp in western Sittwe, Myanmar, Wednesday, May 17, 2023.

Cyclone Mocha killed about 460 Rohingya villagers in Myanmars Rakhine  deaths that humanitarian workers said could have been prevented if so many people hadnt been living in restricted camps near the seashore.

Most villagers werent properly informed of the coming storm, which hit the coast on Sunday with sustained winds reaching over 220 kilometers per hour (137 mph), and many others werent allowed to evacuate ahead of time, activists and aid workers told Radio Free Asia.

The number of dead could increase significantly as many people are missing, the UK-based Burmese Rohingya Organization, or BROUK, said in a statement on Wednesday.

Communication services are down in large parts of Rakhine, in western Myanmar, and no humanitarian aid has reached affected areas in and around the state capital of Sittwe, the group said.

All shelters have been destroyed in the camps, and people have witnessed many family members being carried away by flash floods caused by the cyclone, it said.

Other people in the area were killed by wind-blown tree branches and zinc roof sheets.

Some 130,000 Rohingya have lived for more than a decade in internally displaced persons camps in the Sittwe area. BROUK likened the camps to open air prisons.

A Rohingya survivor from Thet Kae Pyin camp said bodies belonging to 110 Rohingya villagers were buried on Monday and Tuesday.

Another survivor, a 25-year-old, told RFA that the Rakhine State military council had warned them of the storm several days before it struck. However, all emergency shelter centers were already overcrowded with people.

The government and NGOs warned us in advance, but there wasnt enough space for us to evacuate. Thats why we just continued staying in our camp, the 25-year-old said, asking not to be identified for security reasons.

As our camp is in close proximity to the sea, the children and elderly were washed away and died in the flood during the cyclone.

People pick their way through debris and a destroyed bridge near the Dar Paing Rohingya camp in western Sittwe, Myanmar, Wednesday, May 17, 2023. Credit: RFA





Sudden rise in sea level

During the storm, the sea level suddenly rose nearly 10 meters (30 feet) and almost all the huts in one camp were washed away, said Nay San Lwin, co-founder of the Free Rohingya Coalition.

There are nearly 380 houses in the Bay Dar camp, located on an island on the coast of the Bay of Bengal. But after the storm, only six remained and hundreds of people were missing, he said.

RFA is still working to determine the exact number of Rohingya deaths in Rakhine.

Two Rohingya villagers contacted by RFA said that it has been difficult to collect every dead body that was washed into the sea.

Maung Sein, a Bay Dar resident, told RFA that his 5-month-pregnant wife, his son, his mother-in-law and brother-in-law were killed by the storm, and his sons body was missing. He said he was with his family when the storm hit, and survived because he knew how to swim.

I have never seen waves that big in my entire life, he said. A gigantic wave washed away my family.

People dry salvaged grain in the Dar Paing Rohingya camp in western Sittwe, Myanmar, Wednesday, May 17, 2023. Credit: RFA





No effective help yet

Newspapers published on Tuesday reported that junta chief Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing visited Sittwe on Monday and gave 70 billion Kyat (US$24.5 million) worth of supplies.

But a Rohingya resident in Sittwe told RFA that he hasnt received any aid.

I havent seen any effective help yet. Nor have I heard of any, he said. Those whose houses were completely destroyed were found to be living on the side of the road under tarpaulins. They are in desperate need of food and shelters.

In a flash update on Wednesday, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Assistance said that widescale destruction of homes and public infrastructure was seen throughout Rakhine.

Urgent needs include shelter, clean water, food assistance and health care services, UNOCHA said. There are rising concerns in flooded areas about the spread of waterborne disease and the movement of landmines.

RFA called the junta spokesman for Rakhine state, Hla Thein, on Wednesday but his phone rang unanswered.

Conditions in other Rohingya villages and camps in Rakhine  in Ponnagyun, Buthidaung and Maungdaw townships  were still unknown. RFA tried to contact six Rohingya residents of Buthidaung and Maungdaw townships on Wednesday, but their telephone connections were out of service.

Translated by Myo Min Aung. Edited by Matt Reed and Malcolm Foster.
Election of new Karen National Union leaders will likely to lead to more fighting, experts say.

The Karen National Unions leadership is seen at the 75th anniversary of the groups founding held at KNU headquarters in eastern Myanmar's Kayin state on the Thai-Myanmar border, Feb. 5, 2022.

The Karen National Union, Myanmars oldest ethnic armed group that has allied itself with the anti-junta People's Defense Forces and the shadow government made up of junta opponents, has rejected peace talks offered by Myanmars military regime that rules the country.

The junta made the proposal on May 9 after a leadership reshuffle during the 17th Congress of the Karen group, which has been engaged in an armed struggle for a federal democracy against the Myanmar military for more than 70 years.

The KNU held the conference online on April 24-May 4 at its headquarters on the Thai-Myanmar border in mountainous Kayin state. The group and its armed wing, the Karen National Liberation Army, operates mostly in Kayin and Mon states and the Bago and Tanintharyi regions.

KNU leaders decided that the organization and its armed wing, the Karen National Liberation Army, would join forces with other armed groups that have revolted against the junta and work towards the establishment of a federal democratic system in the country.

During the conference, the KNU named several newly elected officials to the organizations leadership, including Padoh Saw Kwe Htoo Win, who served as vice president in the last term, as its new chair.

He was deeply involved in former peace talks between the KNU and successive Myanmar regimes, but after the February 2021 coup that brought the military to power, he was closely associated with and supported the armed resistance, according to KNU sources.

As the first ethnic armed group to publicly denounce the coup, the KNU paid dearly for its action, suffering heavy airstrikes and ground offensives after the KNLA captured a Myanmar military base and a later escalation of fighting when junta troops bombarded a site for internally displaced persons.

The KNLA also increased attacks on junta troops, sheltered protesters and trained local anti-coup forces.

Six members of the central executive committee were not re-elected, including KNU President General Saw Mutu Say Poe, who opposed armed resistance against the coup and called for a dialogue.

Rejects cease-fire

The KNU said it would fight against the military dictatorship and cooperate with other ethnic armed organizations, democratic forces and people who have been struggling for the establishment of a federal democratic union and for democracy, equality and autonomy.

KNU Central Committee member Padoh Saw Thamein Tun told RFA that it was impossible to talk with the Military Administration Council, the formal name of the junta regime, in accordance with the nationwide cease-fire agreement, or NCA.

The KNU was one of eight armed ethnic groups that signed the NCA with the national military in 2015, but its legitimacy wavered because of Myanmar military incursions into KNU-controlled areas.

Now we cant work under the NCA, he told Radio Free Asia.

What is happening now is that [ethnic-majority Bamar] chauvinism and military dictatorship prevail, he said. We will fight these and then establish a federal democracy.

Trainees take part in military exercises with Karen National Union Brigade 6 in eastern Myanmars Kayin state, May 9, 2021. Credit: AFP

After the congress, the juntas National Solidarity and Peacemaking Negotiation Committee issued a statement criticizing the KNUs decision, saying it went against the terms of the NCA and would lead to confrontation. The committee also said holding talks would be the best way to work towards a solution for long-term peace.

KNU spokesman Padoh Saw Kler Say told local media outlets that the union did not accept the military councils peace offer. RFA could not reach him by phone for comment.

The shadow National Unity Government said it hoped to cooperate with the new KNU leaders to speed up armed resistance to the junta this year, according to Kyaw Zaw, spokesman for the presidents office.

We hope to work together with all the ethnic armed groups, including the KNU, to attack the common enemy, the military dictatorship, right away, and accelerate cooperation between us to topple the military dictatorship, he said.

More fierce fighting likely

Political and military analysts said the KNUs rejection of talks could intensify military offensives in areas it controls.

Thein Tun Oo, executive director of the Thayninga Strategic Studies Institute, a group of former Burmese military officers, believes that war will come about because the new KNU leaders are hardliners who have supported armed resistance against the national military.

They prioritize the armed struggle rather than holding a dialogue, he said. If the other side chooses the hard way, the military side will respond the same way.

Political analyst Ye Tun agreed that new KNU leaders are more inclined to fight than previous ones.

Now, we have to say that the path of armed struggle has gained the upper hand, he said.

Translated by Htin Aung Kyaw for RFA Burmese. Edited by Roseanne Gerin and Malcolm Foster.
Australias top diplomat urged ASEAN on Wednesday to be vigilant in upholding the territorial rights of member-states that have claims in the South China Sea as the bloc negotiates with China for a maritime code of conduct.

Australia, a middle power, is not a party to disputes in the strategic waterway but it has a stake in keeping the vital sea lanes open and peaceful, Foreign Minister Penny Wong said during a visit to Manila, according to BenarNews, an online news outlet affiliated with Radio Free Asia.

We respect ASEAN centrality and they have, as an entity, a right to discuss these issues, Wong said of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations, which includes the Philippines.

All we are saying as a party that has an interest, as many do in the South China Sea and in international law, is we would urge states not to agree to anything that lessened their rights, she said during an interview with CNN Philippines, according to transcripts released by her office.

Wong, who is making her first visit to the Philippines as foreign minister, emphasized that Australias interests align closely with those of the Southeast Asian nation, noting that Canberra has had a Status of Visiting Forces Agreement with Manila since 2012. The agreement allows Australian troops to participate in training missions in the Philippines.

While she did not mention China by name, Wong noted that theres a lot of competition in the South China Sea that necessitates working with each other.

Well, our national interest, I believe, aligns with your national interests very closely. And that is we all want a region that is stable, peaceful and prosperous  and we all want a region in which rules ameliorate the exercise of power, Wong said.

She said Australia backed the Philippines in asserting its national interests tied to an international arbitral tribunals favorable ruling in 2016, after Manila took Beijing to court over occupying Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea.

We dont want a region which is dominated to an extent where other countries cannot make their own decisions. And so for us, the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea [UNCLOS] is important. It matters, and as I know it does to the Philippines, its about safeguarding your resources, its about safeguarding your sovereignty. And we want to work with you and others on that, she said.

A Philippine Coast Guard member onboard the BRP Malabrigo points at a map during a patrol and resupply mission at Philippine-occupied territory in the South China Sea, April 19, 2023. (Credit: Aaron Favila/AP)

Wong noted that any document impacting the rights of states under international law to exercise freedom of navigation and conduct military exercises with partners in the region would be a cause of concern for Australia.

The code is being drawn up by China and ASEAN to serve as a more binding version of a 2002 Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea.

The accord is expected to help manage tensions and reduce the risk of confrontations where China has overlapping territorial claims with the Philippines, Brunei, Vietnam and Malaysia. Taiwan also has claims in the waterway.

Wong plans to be in the Philippines until Friday  she is expected to meet with Filipino business leaders as well as the coast guard during her stay.

Philippines: sincere dialogue crucial

The Australian foreign minister appeared in the TV interview a day after Philippine Foreign Secretary Enrique Manalo told academics in Japan that Manila wanted greater cooperation with Tokyo focusing on maritime issues, particularly on domain awareness and law enforcement.

To achieve a peaceful and UNCLOS-based regime, sincere dialogue among all claimants is crucial, both bilaterally and through discussions between ASEAN and China on a code of conduct, Manalo said Tuesday.

The Philippines advocates for an effective and substantive code of conduct that adheres to UNCLOS and takes into account the interests of all stakeholders, even extending beyond ASEAN and China.

Manila and Tokyo are embroiled in maritime disputes with Beijing over the South China Sea and East Asia, respectively.

Manalo said that the Philippines was advocating for a code of conduct even as he stressed that repeated infringements on its sovereign rights also necessitate the enhancement of our defense capabilities.

BenarNews is an online news outlet affiliated with Radio Free Asia.
While not legally binding, rulings provide documentation that diplomats can bring up with Beijing

Uyghurs seeking justice for loved ones imprisoned in China have turned to a little-known United Nations body for help.

Over the past year, the U.N. Working Group on Arbitrary Detention has issued three rulings on a total of eight Uyghur detainees. In every case, it has ruled against China, saying Beijing violated their human rights by imprisoning them.

Each case is an individual story and yet more proof of Chinas attempt to erase the Uyghurs as a whole, said Tumaris Yalqun, who successfully petitioned the group for a ruling on her father, writer and textbook editor Yalqun Rozi.

In March, the working group  a five-member body appointed by the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights  asked China to immediately release entrepreneur Ekpar Asat, doctor Gulshan Abbas and journalist Qurban Mamut. All three have family in the United States. Mamut is the father of a Radio Free Asia employee.

In 2022, in addition to Rozi, the working group ruled that Chinas detention of four members of a Kashgar family was arbitrary.

In this screen grab, Kamalturk, Yalqun Rozi's son counters a Chinese State broadcasters propaganda video portraying his father and other prominent Uyghurs as criminals. Yalqun Rozi, a prominent Uyghur scholar was sentenced to 15 years in prison in 2018 for attempted subversion for his involvement with the textbooks. Credit: RFA screen shot from Free Yalqun Rozi via Youtube





The working groups decisions are not legally binding. But for family members abroad who have petitioned the group for rulings, they represent important official confirmation that China has violated their loved ones rights.

They can also provide useful third-party documentation for foreign diplomats to cite in their exchanges with China.

"The working group's report is their acknowledgment of Chinese atrocity, which is a big step forward," said Rayhan Asat, an international lawyer who is Ekpar's sister.

Calls from Radio Free Asia to the Chinese U.N. missions in New York and Geneva rang unanswered.

The Chinese government did not reply to the working groups queries regarding Asat, Abbas, Mamut, and the Kashgar family, the Abduraeshids, the opinions say, adding that Chinas failure to respond contributed heavily to the adverse decisions.

The Chinese government told the working group it strictly abided by the law in adjudicating Mr. Rozis case but it did not address other questions, the opinion stated.

Long prison sentences

No Chinese judicial filings regarding any of the detained individuals have been made public, but Chinese officials have confirmed, in piecemeal exchanges, that all but one of the detainees have been sentenced to long prison terms.

The Chinese government told the working group, in its reply, that Rozi had been sentenced to life in prison for the crime of splitting the state or undermining unity of the country.

An official at Chinas consulate in Istanbul told Nursiman Abdurashid, a Turkish resident, that her father Abdurashid Tohti was sentenced to nearly 17 years in prison for the crimes of disturbing social order and preparing to commit terrorist activity, and her mother, Tajigul Qadir, to 13 years for preparing to commit terrorist activity.

Abdurashid later learned that her brother Muhammad Ali was sentenced to 15 years in prison, but she has not heard anything about her other brother, Emetjan.

In this undated photo, Uyghur activist Rushan Abbas displays a photo of her detained sister Dr Gulshan Abbas. Credit: Rushan Abbas





In 2019, Abbas was sentenced to 20 years in prison on terrorism charges, her daughter Ziba Murat has said, citing an informed source with access to sensitive information.

Asat was sentenced to 15 years in prison, the Chinese Embassy in Washington said in an email to Senator Chris Coons office in 2020. The charges he was convicted of are unclear. Mamut was sentenced to 15 years in prison for political crimes, according to Xinjiang officials RFA spoke to last year.

U.S. ties

The rulings reflect concerns among some family members that the detainees may have been targeted for their connections to the United States.

Mamuts son, Bahram Sintash, a digital content producer at RFA, lost contact with him in February 2017, shortly after Mamut visited the United States.

Asat disappeared three weeks after participating in a State Department leadership training program. Abbas was last heard from in September 2018, days after her sister in the United States delivered a speech alleging human rights abuses in the Uyghur Region.

Uyghur intellectuals like my father were among the first victims of the Chinese government's crackdown on the Uyghur community," said RFAs Sintash.

I strongly demand the Chinese government to follow the call made by the U.N. working group, release my father unconditionally, and allow him to live the remainder of his life peacefully with my mother, he said.

Violated human rights

The U.N. Working Group on Arbitrary Detention meets in Geneva three times a year, and issues around 70-90 rulings annually, according to its website. The working group said China had yet to grant a request to visit the country it made in 2015.

The working group found that Chinas detentions of the eight Uyghurs had variously violated Articles 2, 3, 6, 7, 8 9, 10, 11, and 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. China helped draft that document, which it signed in 1948. While China continues to endorse the declaration, it is not legally binding.

Tumaris Yalqun displays a photo of her father, detained Uyghur scholar Yalqun Rozi, calling for China to release him after successfully petitioning for a ruling. Credit: Tumaris Yalqun

Uyghur activists have long asked the United Nations to condemn Chinas actions in the Uyghur Region. But opposition from China and friendly countries has slowed progress.

In 2019, U.N. representatives from more than 50 nations signed an open letter to the human rights commissioner praising Chinas human rights record, as well as its deradicalization and counterterrorism methods in Xinjiang.

Under Chinese pressure, the U.N. human rights office did not issue a report on Xinjiang until August 2022, more than five years after mass detentions began. Published minutes before the midnight expiration of former Commissioner Michele Bachelets term, the assessment said Chinas actions may constitute international crimes, in particular crimes against humanity.

A month after the report was published, the 47-member UN Human Rights Council narrowly rejected a proposal to hold a debate on human rights abuses in the region. In protest, 50 U.N. General Assembly members, including the U.S., signed an open letter supporting discussion of the report.

International recognition

That dysfunction makes any ruling from the U.N. at all  even from a five-member working group  deeply meaningful for Uyghurs seeking justice for their detained families.

I know my family is innocent, but other people dont know  they might think that my family committed these crimes, Nursiman Abdurashid told RFA. Therefore, I was delighted when an international organization released an official report saying China should free my family.

Any family or individual may submit complaints about cases of arbitrary detention to the working group, its website states. The Uyghur families interviewed in this article submitted petitions themselves, hired attorneys or worked with non-governmental organizations to file cases.

After obtaining a positive verdict, Uyghur families can struggle to find a next step in the pursuit of justice for their loved ones.

I felt lost again [after the ruling] because we could not use this report against the Chinese government, Abdurashid said. I couldnt find any organization or individual that could use the document to create some action against the Chinese government.

Useful documentation

However, the U.N. rulings can provide useful third-party documentation for foreign diplomats to cite in their exchanges with China, said Hanno Schedler, a genocide prevention consultant.

It gives states cover to refer to an institution that, although not without its problems, is still really important when it comes to making sure that human rights are safeguarded, he said.

In this 2021 screen grab, teenagers from the UK display Ekpar Asats photos in solidarity with him to reject the injustice facing Ekpar and other Uyghurs. Credit: RFA screen shot via Rayhan Asat





Commenting to RFA on the arbitrary detention groups most recent report, a spokesman for the U.N. human rights office, currently headed by Volker Turk, said the findings were consistent with its concerns about human rights in Xinjiang.

We have urged the Chinese authorities to provide information on the whereabouts and status of detained persons and release people who have been arbitrarily detained or imprisoned, the spokesman, Jeremy Laurence, wrote in an email.

Gulshens sister Rushan Abbas, executive director of the Campaign for Uyghurs, said she hoped the U.N.s recent concern for the Uyghur region could lead to even bolder statements from the body.

The next step they must take is to declare that China committed genocide and crimes against humanity in East Turkistan, she said, using the Uyghurs preferred name for their homeland.

Translated by the Uyghur Service. Edited by Nadir and Malcolm Foster.
Vietnamese police fought with about 100 farmers from the ethnic Khmer Krom minority in Kien Giang province in the southern Mekong Delta region during a dispute over farmland, May 5, 2020.

The Vietnamese government has denied allegations from United Nations experts that it represses the Khmer Krom minority living in the Mekong Delta region.

The nearly 1.3-million strong ethnic group live in a part of Vietnam that was once southeastern Cambodia, and face widespread discrimination in Vietnam and suspicion in Cambodia, where they are often perceived not as Cambodians but as Vietnamese. Scores of Khmer Krom asylum seekers reside in Thailand.

Seven special U.N. rapporteurs operating under Human Rights Council mandates sent a 16-page letter to Hanoi on Oct. 18 about information it received concerning the countrys alleged failure to recognize the right to self-determination of the Khmer Krom as an indigenous people.

The experts said they had also received evidence of alleged violations of the group's freedom of expression, association and religion as well as their cultural and linguistic rights and land use rights.

Concerns were also raised about Khmer Krom men detained by police and questioned for their activism, namely Duong Khai, Thach Cuong, Danh Set, Tang Thuy and Thach Rine.

Of the five, authorities arrested and jailed Rine in October 2021 on charges of abusing democratic freedoms for wearing a T-shirt with the U.N.s Sustainable Development Goals logo. He was released in April 2022 without having had a fair trial or access to his family and lawyer, the letter said.

While we do not wish to prejudge the accuracy of these allegations, we are expressing our serious concern at what may constitute arbitrary arrest and ill-treatment of Khmer Krom persons with the aim of suppressing their right to freedom of expression, as well as the Khmer Krom Indigenous Peoples cultural and linguistic rights, the letter said.

60 days to respond

The U.N. experts gave the Vietnamese government 60 days to respond to its concerns and explain measures and regulations that it has taken to ensure the protection and rights of the Khmer Krom as an indigenous people.

Vietnams permanent mission to the U.N. office in Geneva refuted the accusations in a response dated May 10.

The accusations stated in the Joint Communication distort the history and socioeconomic development situation with many false information about the State of Viet Nams policies and laws towards the ethnic minority communities in guaranteeing and promoting the rights as well as taking care of the lives of ethnic minorities, including the Khmer people, the letter said.

In addition, the accusations about the individuals mentioned in the Joint Communication are also untrue, stem from unofficial sources, bear heavy arbitrariness and lack objectivity, it said.

The letter went on to say that the concept of indigenous peoples is not suitable with the characteristics, history of establishment and development of Vietnams ethnic groups.

In other words, in Viet Nam, there is no concept of indigenous peoples, it said.

Tran Mannrinth, a member of Khmer Kampuchea-Krom Federation, a human rights NGO, told Radio Free Asia that many young people from the ethnic group are discouraged from learning the Khmer language because books printed in Cambodia are not permitted in Vietnam, and Khmer-language material printed in Vietnam is full of mistakes by the ethnic-majority Kinh authors.

Vietnam finds ways to deny; however, if it does not know what indigenous people are, then how could it [endorse] the U.N. declaration?, he asked, referring to Vietnams vote in favor of the adoption of the U.N.'s legally nonbinding Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in 2007.

Tran Mannrith, who lived in Lai Hoa village with other ethnic Khmer Krom before permanently resettling in the United States in 1985, lamented the groups loss of agricultural land to collectivization when Vietnam was reunified in 1975 and resettlement efforts that followed

During the time of war between Vietnam and [Cambodias] Khmer Rouge, Khmer people living near the border in Chau Doc were forced to move to other places, he said. After the fall of Khmer Rouge, the displaced people were allowed home, but most of their land and property was lost to other people.

Translated by Anna Vu. Edited by Roseanne Gerin and Malcolm Foster.
Giving birth is a life or death struggle for women in Afghanistan, where roughly one mother is believed to die every two hours from preventable pregnancy and childbirth complications.

Even mothers who survive face the stark reality that their newborns may not, with the Taliban's Health Ministry estimating 22 children die for every 1,000 live births.



"Why would a woman need to go to the hospital?" 31-year-old Zia Gul, a resident of the northern Parwan Province, recalled her husband saying during her difficult pregnancies. "There are only men at the hospital; there are no female doctors."



Gul told RFE/RL's Radio Azadi that her husband's refusal to let her see a doctor contributed to the loss of two of her newborn children.



Gul's experience is in line with those of many Afghan women, particularly in conservative rural areas, who are bound by the Islamic custom of mahram. The practice prohibits women from leaving their home without a male relative, bars them from being treated by male doctors, and gives them little say in their own health decisions.

But the traditional customs enforced by Gul's in-laws, who allowed no discussion on the matter, are just one of the many factors that contribute to high maternal mortality in Afghanistan's deeply patriarchal society.



Years of political upheaval, economic woes, the exodus of medical professionals, low literacy and public awareness on health issues, poor infrastructure, and the lack of access to medical care in remote areas all add up to astonishingly high maternal mortality rates.



Among The World's Worst



According to statistics compiled by the World Bank, the United Nations Population Fund (UNPFA), and other UN agencies, 1,450 mothers were dying for every 100,000 live births by 2000, shortly before the Taliban was ousted from power.



Over the course of the next 20 years, due to increased funding and attention paid to maternal health care and awareness by the UNPFA, international aid agencies such as Doctors Without Borders (MSF), and the Afghan government, that number was cut by more than half to 620 deaths by 2020.



The Taliban's seizure of power in August 2021 raised fears that the extremist group would reimpose the draconian policies of its first stint in power from 1996-2001, including the banning of female education and employment as it enforced mahram.

Many of those fears have been realized. Girls above the sixth grade have been barred from attending school, women are banned from pursuing university education, and women are no longer allowed to work for international aid agencies. Marham is also more prevalent, with women officially required to wear the all-encompassing burqa and remain at home unless accompanied by a male relative.



Once again, according to Aleksandar Sasha Bodiroza, the UNFPA's representative in Afghanistan, women's ability to freely access health facilities to seek maternal and newborn care has been restricted.



No outside nationwide statistics have been made available since 2020, but the Afghan Association of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, citing recent figures from the Taliban-led government's Health Ministry, told Radio Azadi that the maternal mortality ratio has risen only slightly under Taliban rule.



While the figure, 638 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births, is the same number recorded by the international community in 2017, it is still high enough to rank Afghanistan among the world's 10 worst in terms of maternal mortality.



That the situation has remained relatively stable is also difficult to fathom, considering the vast numbers of doctors who fled the country as the Taliban regained power, the country's dire economic situation and multiple humanitarian crises, and the increased pressures on aid workers and on Afghan women.



The state health-care system, propped up by foreign aid for two decades, has also suffered from a dramatic drop in international funding since the Taliban takeover.



Health workers and outside agencies say the damage done to the health sector is undeniable.



"The system has changed in our country. Naturally, it had an impact on the country's economy and the services that the government provides to the people," Hamid Jabari, an Afghan physician who was expelled from the country by the Taliban, told Radio Azadi. "The negative effects are being felt, including the lack of professionals in government, especially the health sector."

Some of the losses are offset by the continued involvement of outside organizations, including private hospitals, the UNFPA, and MSF, which have been able to continue to employ women despite the Taliban's ban on women aid workers due to an exemption for health workers.



But tremendous obstacles remain. Bodiroza said in written comments that "despite the exemption of the health sector from the ban on female humanitarian workers, the sector is also suffering from the ban as there are NGOs that indirectly support efficient delivery of health services -- not as frontline health workers but as back office staff, for example."



Afghan women health-care workers, in turn, told Radio Azadi they are being prevented from carrying out their work or expanding their expertise, even as the contributing factors to maternal mortality become more severe. The result is that newborns or pregnant women are now at greater risk of preventable deaths during pregnancy, childbirth, and in the first few weeks after childbirth.



"Many pregnant women can't access antenatal or postnatal care, and the health system struggles to treat women who experience complications in pregnancy," Tomas Bendl, field communications manager for MSF in Afghanistan, told RFE/RL in written comments. "A shortage of qualified female health-care staff also affects access to health care, as maternity and sometimes pediatric wards are women-only spaces."



Dangers At Home



Hussain Sayer, a doctor from Parwan Province, told Radio Azadi that childbirth should ideally take place at a maternity hospital under the care of an obstetrician.



He said it was a "bad custom" for women to be denied access to health facilities during their pregnancies and warned that the only available option for many women -- home birth -- carries great risk.



In the event of births taking place at home, he said, they should be supervised by a trained midwife.

But while great emphasis was made over the past two decades to increase the number of professional midwives in Afghanistan capable of providing medical assistance during pregnancies, deliveries, and postnatal care, many Afghan women who entered the profession say they are unable to help.



Nadia, a midwife who spoke to Radio Azadi on condition that only her first name be used, said many of her colleagues who specialized in gynecology and obstetrics are "unemployed and stay at home" since the Taliban takeover.



Another midwife, who declined to give her name due to security concerns, said fear prevents many of her colleagues from working.



"Midwives don't go from place to place to assist with births -- that's why the problems have increased," she told Radio Azadi. "Every midwife is afraid for her life."



Restrictions on women's mobility have had a harmful effect on efforts to educate communities on women's health in remote areas of the country, according to the UNFPA's Bodiroza.



Even when male family members do allow women to visit health-care facilities, the difficulties in reaching them in rural areas limits the number of visits and can mean help is often administered too late.

"I took my wife to the clinic by motorcycle," Abdul Samad, a resident of the southeastern Ghazni Province told Radio Azadi, explaining he lived far from the nearest village with maternity facilities.



While Samad managed to get his wife to a doctor, shortly after he left to retrieve her mother, he received bad news. "Half an hour later, I received a call saying my wife was in agony," he said. "When I returned, I saw they were right" -- both his wife and their newborn child had died.



Continuing Efforts



It is difficult to assess where Afghanistan truly stands in terms of maternal mortality, but the benefits of continued outreach efforts and on-the-ground medical aid are obvious.



Bendl said MSF operates two projects in Afghanistan that focus on maternal health care, among other things, and employ more than 1,700 medical professionals in Afghanistan, of whom more than half are women.



Last year, MSF assisted in more than 42,700 deliveries, more than 8,000 of which were marked by obstetric complications. In Lashkar Gah, capital of the southern Helmand Province, MSF's support for a hospital resulted in an average maternal mortality rate of 0.1 percent. In the southeastern Khost Province, where MSF operates a maternity hospital, the mortality rate was 0.02 percent.



Bodiroza of the UNFPA said the agency continues "to deliver a full range of maternal health services in Afghanistan" and supports facilities and delivers essential reproductive health supplies in 32 out of the country's 34 provinces.



Despite the positives, those involved in providing health services in Afghanistan say much more needs to be done.

Bodiroza said the UNFPA estimates that without immediate and sustained support for reproductive health services, the situation could lead to an additional 51,000 maternal deaths by 2025.

Adding that "reproductive health services are therefore more critical than ever," Bodiroza said the UN agency is aiming to reach 10.6 million people -- including 6.8 million women and girls -- in remote areas with reproductive health support.



Bendl said that "there is no doubt that a dysfunctional health system, widespread poverty, and increased restrictions placed on women are at the heart of the current humanitarian crisis."



"If we want the situation to improve," he said, "policymakers, donors, and local authorities must urgently focus on strengthening primary medical care." And women, he said, "must be allowed to pursue further education and employment opportunities, to raise income for their families and to ensure there are sufficient female health workers in the country to meet the needs."

Written and reported by Michael Scollon, with additional reporting by Radio Azadi correspondents Ahmad Hanayish and Sahar Lewal
4 The same scene on May 15, 2023.



On May 16, Ukraine's Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Malyar said Ukraine had recaptured some 20 square kilometers from Russian forces on the flanks of Bakhmut but had ceded more ground in the center of the city.



"At the same time, the enemy is advancing to some degree inside Bakhmut itself and is utterly destroying the city with artillery," Malyar said on social media.
Saodat Jumaboeva and her family of three are flying to Istanbul this week in the first leg of a journey to what the Tajik migrants hope will be a new, better life in the United States.



The Jumaboevs have been planning their trip for months along with five others -- a fellow Tajik and four Kyrgyz -- whom they befriended in Moscow, where the Central Asians currently live and work.



None of them has a U.S. visa, and they are not planning to apply for one.



Instead, the friends are joining a rapidly growing mass of Central Asian and Russian asylum seekers who are trying to enter the United States illegally from Mexico to pursue their American dreams.



"We know many Kyrgyz and Uzbeks who went to Mexico last year, using their Russian passports, and they are already in America, working there, making money," Jumaboeva told RFE/RL on May 17. "We will take our chances, too."



The Jumaboevs are not deterred by the prospect of the potentially perilous journey through Mexico that -- according to some witnesses -- might entail being robbed, assaulted, imprisoned, or even dying along the way.



They are also not dissuaded by new, tougher U.S. immigration regulations that might potentially disqualify them from seeking asylum in the United States.

Under the new regulations enforced this month, migrants can be turned away at the border if they didn't apply for asylum online before trying to enter the country or didn't first seek asylum in any of the other countries they traveled through en route to the United States.



Those who cross into the United States illegally could be deported and face a five-year ban from the country.



The Jumaboevs and their friends are all naturalized Russian citizens. The group will be traveling with their Russian passports to take advantage of visa-free entry for Russian nationals to Mexico.



Official statistics show a substantial uptick in the number of Russian passport holders entering the United States through Mexico since early 2022. Many link the trend to Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, an event that prompted thousands to flee Russia.

According to U.S. Customs and Border Protection figures, 36,271 Russian nationals sought entry through the southern borders of the United States in the 2022 fiscal year (starting on October 1, 2021), compared to 13,240 people in the previous year.



The trend continues to grow with 38,259 arrivals between October 2022 and March 2023.



U.S. government figures also show higher rates of approval for asylum applications from Uzbek, Kazakh, and Russian nationals between October and January.



Entering Via Nicaragua



According to Kyrgyz media reports, most of the Kyrgyz nationals who crossed into the United States from Mexico also carried Russian passports.



But those who don't have a second passport explore other routes through Central and South America.



Some Kazakh nationals first land in Brazil, a country that allows them to enter visa-free.



Kyrgyz and Uzbeks are increasingly choosing Nicaragua as their point of entry to the continent before moving toward Mexico.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, a Kyrgyz man said there were about 30 Kyrgyz citizens aboard the Istanbul-Managua flight he took in early May.



He told RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service that all of his compatriots were traveling with the sole intention of eventually making it to the United States.



The group paid money to people smugglers who drove them from Nicaragua through Honduras and Guatemala to the southern Mexican city of Tapachula, he said.



The man said the majority of the occupants of the six-story Tapachula hotel he was staying in were Kyrgyz citizens, filling up about 90 of the building's 120 rooms, with four or five people staying in each room. There are also Uzbeks and other Central Asians, albeit in smaller numbers, he said.



Most of the migrants had applied online for U.S. asylum ahead of their northbound journey to the United States.



While Russia is still the largest recipient of Central Asian migrants, thousands of people from the five former Soviet republics in the region have arrived in the United States in recent years, using both legitimate and illegal routes.



'Asylum Case'



In Moscow, the Jumaboevs sold their car, left their rented home, and set aside money "both in cash and cards" to finance their journey.



Based on the advice of their acquaintances whom they said are "already in Chicago" after leaving Russia last year, the Jumaboevs expect they will need about $15,000 per person to reach their destination if everything goes according to plan.



The Jumaboevs and the others -- all in their early 30s -- have also thought about their asylum cases.

The Tajik man, who hails from the restive Gorno-Badakhshan region, will apply for protection on the basis of the persecution of ethnic groups, Jumaboeva said.



"He has a stronger case than the rest of us," she said. "My husband and our Kyrgyz friends [are] fleeing military mobilization in Russia."



While the prospect of a Central Asian migrant with a Russian passport being sent to the war in Ukraine is real, Jumaboeva admits going to America is mostly about "better economic opportunities and a better life."



A gynecologic nurse by training, Jumaboeva wants to start as a babysitter or caregiver for the elderly in America but dreams of eventually finding a better-paid job at a maternity hospital.



Her husband, a veterinarian, works as a taxi driver in Moscow. In the United States he wants to become a truck driver, a job that employs many Central Asian male migrants.



Asked about the latest U.S. immigration regulations, which could make them ineligible for asylum, Jumaboeva said: "It just proves that we need to get there before America tightens the screws even more."



"I regret we didn't leave right after the [Ukraine] war started," she said. "Our friends in Chicago said we should get in soon, because [former U.S. President Donald] Trump might win the next election and shut the U.S. doors on migrants' faces altogether."

RFE/RL Kyrgyz Service and correspondent Kasym Rakhmankulov contributed to this report.
Welcome back to the China In Eurasia briefing, an RFE/RL newsletter tracking China's resurgent influence from Eastern Europe to Central Asia.

I'm RFE/RL correspondent Reid Standish and here's what I'm following right now.

Why China's Central Asia Summit Is A Big Deal

Chinese leader Xi Jinping is set to host all five of his Central Asian counterparts at a high-profile summit on May 18-19 that Chinese officials have said will mark "a new era of cooperation."

Finding Perspective: The summit, which will take place in the central Chinese city of Xi'an, is important for an array of practical and symbolic reasons, as I reported here.

The gathering will be the first-ever in-person summit for Chinese and Central Asian leaders and the decision to hold it in Xi'an also comes with its own symbolism. The city has cultural and trade connections to Central Asia that go back millennia and it was a crucial stop on the ancient Silk Road that Beijing has used as the basis for its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

China will be looking to channel that symbolism as it looks to show that its economy is reopened for business.

The focus of the summit is set to be on boosting regional infrastructure and increasing connectivity in the region.

A deal on a 30-day visa-free regime between China and Kazakhstan is expected to be signed into law after a draft bill was approved by the Kazakh parliament in April. Kyrgyzstan is pushing to ink its own visa-free arrangement, although it's unclear exactly where that stands.

LISTEN: Earlier this month, Pakistan was plunged back into political turmoil after former Prime Minister Imran Khan was arrested, sparking protests and violence across the country. But what does it mean for China, Islamabads largest lender and increasingly important ally?

The long-discussed China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway is also expected to get a mention. A feasibility study for the $5 billion project is said to be complete and all parties will be looking to tout its progress after so many years of delays.

Why It Matters: At a time of major upheaval in its ties with Russia -- and long-lingering questions over Western, particularly U.S., interest in the region -- Central Asia is keen to have the red-carpet treatment from China.

It's "a clear message that China is open for business and that Central Asia is open to China," Raffaello Pantucci, a senior fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore, told me.

China's economic footprint in Central Asia is growing despite pandemic-caused setbacks. By the end of 2020, total Chinese investment in the region reached $40 billion, a figure that grew to $70 billion by the end of 2022.

In advance of the summit, Chinese officials have continued to give it top billing, calling it a milestone, "a top diplomatic event," and saying that an "important political document" is due to be signed that will "draw a new blueprint for China-Central Asia relations."

Expert Corner: The All-Weather Friendship Hits A Storm

Readers asked: "Islamabad's relationship with Beijing has been under strain for some time, so how does the recent unrest in Pakistan sparked by former Prime Minister Imran Khan's arrest affect the country's ties with China?"

To find out more, I asked my colleague Abubakar Siddique, who covers Afghanistan and Pakistan at RFE/RL:

"Earlier this month, the visiting Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang told Pakistani political leaders to 'build consensus, uphold stability, and more effectively address domestic and external challenges so it can focus on growing the economy.'

"As one former Pakistani official recently told VOA, China wants Pakistan to know it will not let it fail completely, but also that it will not support mismanagement. His comments encapsulate over a decade of Beijing's frustration with Islamabad to uphold an effective economic partnership. Once billed as a 'game changer' for Pakistan's foreign-aid- and debt-dependent economy, the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is largely stalled -- undermining the overall impact of President Xi Jinping's Belt and Road Initiative.

"Domestic tensions have also overlapped with the China relationship. The current ruling coalition led by former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and former President Asif Ali Zardari had reputedly accused Khan of derailing the CPEC by launching a monthlong sit-in protest in 2014 and then attempting to renegotiate various CPEC agreements following his election victory in 2018.

"Beijing is also disappointed by the deterioration of security in Pakistan, where Islamist and Baluch separatist militants have targeted Chinese workers. Looking at public comments from Chinese officials, they're clearly worried about mounting security, economic, and political crises in Beijing's key South Asian ally."

Do you have a question about China's growing footprint in Eurasia? Send it to me at StandishR@rferl.org or reply directly to this e-mail and I'll get it answered by leading experts and policymakers.

Three More Stories From Eurasia

1. Searching For Unity

In the latest sign of its evolving tightrope with China, the European Union's leadership is calling for new urgency to tensions with Beijing, while also pushing for continued dialogue, according to an internal document drafted by the European External Action Service seen by RFE/RL.

What You Need To Know: The document comes ahead of a June summit for EU leaders to discuss China policy and as the bloc looks to find its footing amid an intensifying global competition between Beijing and Washington.

It calls on member states to "be prepared" for a crisis over Taiwan and that Europe should be taking measures to prepare for supply-chain disruptions. It also says that the bloc should speed up plans for reducing its overdependence on China through "de-risking."

Still, the document also says that Europe should keep engagement going with China and not seal itself off from the country. "Systemic rivalry may feature in almost all areas of engagement. But this must not deter the EU from maintaining open channels of communication and seeking constructive cooperation with China," the document reads.

The approach was met with some derision by more hawkish member states who see the call for continued dialogue as naive and it highlights that there still isn't unity on how to deal with China within the EU.

But Brussels' line is evolving and the temperature is slowly being turned up on China.

A draft for the next package of EU sanctions seen by RFE/RL contains eight Chinese companies over their potential role in assisting Russia's war in Ukraine and while it's unclear if they'll make it to the final version, the prospect is already sparking warnings from Beijing.

During a recent visit to Berlin, Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang cautioned his German counterpart, Annalena Baerbock, that Beijing would react strongly if the EU were to impose sanctions on Chinese companies.

2. Chasing Beijing

Faced with growing economic pressure over looming debt payments and a lack of foreign investment, Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik is seeking a financial lifeline from China, my colleagues Goran Katic and Milorad Milojevic from RFE/RL's Balkan Service report.

The Details: The turn to China by Republika Srpska -- Bosnia-Herzegovina's predominantly Serbian entity -- comes as Dodik grapples with a struggling financial outlook and deteriorating relations with the West over his secessionist calls.

In particular, Dodik is hoping to borrow from Chinese financial institutions and get China to accept bonds leveraged by Republika Srpska so that it can meet a series of debt payments to Western lenders that start coming due this summer.

Dodik said in late March that Chinese institutions had agreed to accept the bonds as financial guarantees that they will be repaid for any loans, but many economic analysts are still unsure about the Bosnian Serb leader's plan, which they say lacks bargaining power and could lead to unfavorable terms.

3. Banking On Budapest

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban personally greeted the president of the China Construction Bank (CCB) as it opened its first branch in Hungary amid hopes in Budapest that the institution can help bring in more investment, my colleague Tamas Wiedemann from RFE/RL's Hungarian Service reports.

What It Means: As Tamas notes, the CCB has a colorful history in Budapest, having been part of a controversial settlement program in Hungary where wealthy foreigners, particularly Chinese citizens, could purchase a resident permit in the country.

Many Chinese business owners explored this path to get a footing in the EU and used the bank to leverage the bond needed to get the permit.

Now, the bank is looking to launch large-scale projects inside Hungary. Both the CCB and the Bank of China, which already has an office in Budapest, are slated to play a role in financing the construction of a new battery factory in Debrecen for the China-based Contemporary Amperex Technology Limited.

Across The Supercontinent

'Peace Mission': Li Hui, China's special representative for Eurasian affairs and a former ambassador to Russia, has begun his first trip as Beijing's peace envoy for the war in Ukraine. In addition to Russia and Ukraine, he will also visit Poland, France, and Germany on the tour.

One China, One Central Asia: Kazakh President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev said it was "absolutely clear" that Taiwan is a part of China as the Central Asian country continues to prioritize deepened ties with its eastern neighbor, RFE/RL reports.

The View From Tokyo: Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi expressed concern on May 13 about Russian and Chinese military cooperation in Asia and said the security situation in Europe could not be separated from that in the Indo-Pacific region since Moscow's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

From 17 to 7: China hosted its third annual trade expo with Central and Eastern Europe. Unlike in past years, only seven countries sent representatives this year, another indicator of how far its standing has fallen across much of the region.

Partners In Arms: It took 14 months, but Chinese leader Xi Jinping spoke with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy. But does it mean that China is prepared to broker peace in Ukraine?

Listen to the last episode of Talking China In Eurasia, where guest Finbarr Bermingham, Europe correspondent for the South China Morning Post, explains what it means for Beijing's relationship with Europe and the balance that it's trying to strike amid the war.

One Thing To Watch

Terry Gou, a Taiwanese billionaire who founded the tech conglomerate Foxconn, is making an early push to be the presidential nominee for the country's main opposition party, the Kuomintang (KMT).

Gou is presenting himself as the best option to avoid war with China and that he hopes to "resolve the crisis" through dialogue and does not espouse the pro-independence views of President Tsai Ing-wen's Democratic Progressive Party. He also has deep personal and business ties to mainland China.

Should he get the nomination for next January's vote, he'd be up against Vice President Lai Ching-te, who is considered to be even more pro-independence than his predecessor. Gou currently has a tough road ahead. Hou Yu-ih, the mayor of the northern city of New Taipei, is widely considered to be the front-runner for the KMT ticket and is seen as a more moderate choice with a better shot against Lai.

That's all from me for now. Don't forget to send me any questions, comments, or tips that you might have.

Until next time,

Reid Standish

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The European Unions former high representative for foreign affairs and security policy, Catherine Ashton, has defended the blocs initial response after Russia occupied Crimea in 2014, but acknowledged we did not know then what we know now and said subsequent policy did not sufficiently prioritize what was happening in Ukraine.

She also urged Balkan neighbors Serbia and Kosovo to get round the table and find answers to lingering differences preventing normalized relations between Belgrade and Pristina, a full decade after the so-called Brussels agreement that she helped forge.

In an exclusive interview with RFE/RLs Balkan Service, Ashton underscored the Western Balkan countries eventual suitability for EU membership and the added challenge of Russian engagement in the region.

We were always aware of Russias influence and engagement in the Western Balkans, she said. The events in Ukraine have brought that more into view.

Ashton was the EUs first-ever high representative, serving as the blocs chief foreign and security policy coordinator and envoy from 2009-14.

Russia covertly occupied the Crimean Peninsula and annexed it in 2014 in a move overwhelmingly rejected by the United Nations, and a simmering conflict waged by Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine escalated into a full-scale Russian invasion in February 2022.

The European Union and the United States led a sanctions push particularly after the downing of a Malaysian airliner over eastern Ukraine in July 2014 to punish Russia, the ruble, and perceived proxy fighters in Ukraine.

But critics have accused the West of underestimating the threat to international order and UN-recognized borders for years from Russian President Vladimir Putin, particularly in what Moscow regards as its near abroad.

We did react at the time, imposing sanctions on Russia and trying to get negotiations moving, Ashton said. Hindsight is always difficult. We did not know then what we know now; however, in the intervening years, what was happening in Ukraine was not as high on the agenda as it should have been, in my opinion.

Ashton published her memoirs -- titled And Then What? Inside Stories Of 21st-Century Diplomacy -- in February.

Speaking to RFE/RL, she drew a sharp distinction between the challenge of China, which has grown considerably for European policymakers, and the situation with Russia.

Chinese President Xi Jinping asserted a no-limits partnership with Russia weeks before Russias all-out invasion of Ukraine in 2022, and Beijing has urged peace but declined to directly criticize Moscow publicly.

I hope that we will see more effort put into developing a strategic approach to China that recognizes the connections and the concerns, Ashton said. I recall that China played a role with the rest of the P5+1 in the Iran [nuclear] negotiations, and my hope would be that China would seek to play a positive role in the multilateral system we need to take care of.

In the former Yugoslavia, Ashton was essential to an apparent breakthrough in Brussels in 2013 that provided a road map toward normalized relations between Serbia and its majority ethnic Albanian former province, Kosovo, which declared independence in 2008.

A decade later, Belgrade still refuses to recognize Kosovar sovereignty while blocking its membership in international institutions.

Serbias populist President Aleksandar Vucic has leveraged regional might to pursue closer relations with Moscow and Beijing, and outsiders accuse him of increasingly authoritarian leadership that damages Serbians desire for EU membership.

Kosovos prime minister, Albin Kurti, has toughened Pristinas stance on a number of bilateral issues since taking over in 2020, pledging reciprocity, and is frequently critical of Western attempts at mediation.

Ashton played down a question about Washington and Brussels vying for influence in the Balkans, saying that its not about who has more power, its about the power of working together.

She conceded that there is concern across the [Balkan] region that the EU is not as enthusiastic as it was once for enlargement. Yet there is no question that the countries of the Western Balkans belong inside the EU.

But there is a lot to be done by those countries who want to be part of the EU, and some of the lack of enthusiasm is because of the lack of progress being made by those who want to be members, she said. It is not an easy journey, but a journey well worth making.

Ashton stressed democracy, human rights, and rule of law as central guiding principles and part of the ongoing dialogue.

Among the lessons of her diplomatic years, Ashton stressed to RFE/RL the need for compromise and good negotiators whose drip, drip efforts enable solutions.

It is not just the role of the EU to push forward with the Western Balkans, it is also down to each country to determine that it will make the changes necessary to deal with all the issues that are necessary to become a member of the EU, she said. So I hope we will see more done by everyone to address these challenges.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 17. Russia and Iran have signed several cooperation agreements, including on scientific and technological cooperation in the oil and gas industry, Trend reports with reference to TASS.

The documents were inked between First Deputy Energy Minister Pavel Sorokin from the Russian side, and by Deputy Minister of Petroleum of the Islamic Republic of Iran Ahmad Asadzadeh from the Iranian side.

Moreover, the Federal Customs Service of Russia and the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration (IRICA) have signed an agreement on mutual recognition of institutions of the authorized economic operator.

A memorandum of understanding on the development of bilateral cooperation was also signed between the Ministry of Petroleum of Iran and Russia's Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO).
Three jailed Iranian protesters who fear their execution is imminent have appealed to the public for support in a handwritten note saying, "Don't let them kill us."

The opposition activist collective 1500tasvir, known for its coverage of Iranian protest developments, released the note on May 17 after receiving it through intermediaries for the condemned men: Majid Kazemi, Saeid Yaqoubi, and Saleh Mirhashemi.

"Don't let them kill us. We need your help," read the note, which was released amid reports the men were given a final meeting with their families and has heightened fears that their executions could occur at any moment.

Adding to the apprehension, state-run TV aired a video of the three defendants' "confessions" -- which the families and human rights organizations say were likely made under duress -- a night earlier, a move many saw as an attempt to justify carrying out the death penalty for the three, who were implicated in an incident on November 16, 2022, during which two Basij paramilitary force members and a law enforcement officer were fatally shot in Isfahan.

Amnesty International has said the three protesters have been deprived access to their chosen lawyers and were pushed into forced confessions. Some groups have said the three were tortured while in detention.

The United States on May 18 urged Iran not to carry out the executions.

"We join the people of Iran and the international community in calling on Iran to not carry out these executions," State Department spokesman Vedant Patel said.

"The execution of these men after what have widely been regarded as sham trials would be an affront to human rights and basic dignity in Iran and everywhere," Patel told reporters.

Kazemi's case has caused concern in Australia, where some of his family live, with his cousin saying that he had only been involved in "peaceful protests" for change.

Other family members and and supporters of the three have held nightly vigils around a prison in the central Iranian city of Isfahan where they are being held. The message of their note has gone viral on Iranian social media platforms, with the hashtag "Don't let them kill us" becoming a rallying cry for their cause.

Ali Karimi, a former star of Iranian soccer, joined the campaign, posting on Instagram with the hashtag "Don't let them kill us":

"No soil has buried life within itself like the soil of Iran," he wrote.

Other family members and and supporters of the three have held nightly vigils around a prison in the central Iranian city of Isfahan where they are being held. The message of their note has gone viral on Iranian social media platforms, with the hashtag "Don't let them kill us" becoming a rallying cry for their cause.

Ali Karimi, a former star of Iranian football, joined the campaign, posting on Instagram at the hashtag:

"No soil has buried life within itself like the soil of Iran," he wrote.

Iran has seen a surge in executions in recent months, a trend that has drawn widespread domestic and international condemnation.



Human rights organizations have strongly objected to the wave of death sentences, saying they are being issued against protesters in Iran after "sham trials" that are often rushed through the courts.

Amnesty said in an annual report on May 16 that Iran saw executions soar to 576 in 2022 from 314 the previous year. The Norway-based Iran Human Rights group says that so far this year, at least 243 people have been executed in Iran.

Lawmakers have pushed the judiciary to render the death penalty in trials for those arrested during unrest sparked by the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in September while she was in police custody for allegedly wearing a head scarf improperly.

The protests have involved tens of thousands of Iranians and are seen as one of the biggest threats to the Islamic leadership since it took power in 1979.



So far at least four protesters have been executed.



Human rights activists say authorities in Iran are using the executions to try to instill fear in society rather than to combat crime.

Written by Ardeshir Tayebi based on an original story in Persian by RFE/RL's Radio Farda
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Deepening and strengthening cooperation between law enforcement of Georgia and Israel was discussed between the Georgian Interior Minister Vakhtang Gomelauri and Yaakov Shabtai, the Commissioner of the Israeli National Police, the Georgian Ministry of Internal Affairs said, Trend reports with reference to Agenda.

The officials highlighted the existing cooperation between the agencies of the two countries, with Gomelauri emphasising the strategic partnership and the importance of increased and improved collaboration between the sides.

He also extended his gratitude to the Israeli side for expressing readiness to receive a Georgian police attache in the near future.

On his part, Shabtai said the Israeli side planned to maintain close cooperation with Georgia in a number of areas and said he hoped the cooperation would become even more successful with joint efforts.

The Ministry also said a delegation of the Israeli National Police was scheduled to visit its departments and learn about their daily operations in Georgia.
The World Health Organization's (WHO) Regional Office for Europe on Wednesday launched a new campaign called "Eliminating mpox: Placing affected populations at the heart of our response" to highlight the potential risk of a significant monkeypox (mpox) outbreak, Trend reports citing Xinhua.

Although mpox is no longer considered a public health emergency of international concern, recent reports from WHO Europe show an increase in cases, with 17 new infections reported in eight countries in the European region in the four weeks leading up to May 4.

The campaign is meant to be a preemptive response to potential outbreak triggers, such as large gatherings for spring and summer events, inadequate testing and vaccine access, or the influx of infected individuals from other regions.

Key recommendations for health authorities include promoting accessible testing and vaccination in the most affected communities, with clear information on availability and eligibility.

Other measures include developing comprehensive vaccination plans, enhancing health worker skills to identify mpox signs and offer appropriate advice and care, and declaring mpox a nationally notifiable disease to expedite detection and efficient outbreak response.

Richard Peabody, high-threat pathogen team leader at WHO Europe, stressed the importance of these measures.

"Complacency is not an option. Our latest mpox policy brief provides a roadmap for countries to control and ultimately eliminate the disease in our region," he said in a press release.

The campaign also aims to offer a platform for the most vulnerable to share their experiences and insights, said WHO Europe.

Hans Henri P. Kluge, WHO regional director for Europe, said he was optimistic about the campaign's potential impact. "Elimination is within our reach, but we must remember that mpox is still circulating. We must renew our collective efforts to stay on course towards eventual elimination."

This initiative follows the successful management of the largest-ever mpox outbreak in the European region in 2022, which provided valuable insights and refined control measures for the disease, according to WHO Europe.
Israel's natural gas exports to Egypt and Jordan increased sharply in 2022, Israel's Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure said on Wednesday, Trend reports citing Xinhua.

The total natural gas exported by Israel to Egypt and Jordan rose reached 9.21 billion cubic meters (BCM) in 2022, said an annual report written by the Natural Gas Authority at the ministry, reviewing the developments in the Israeli gas economy.

Israel exported to Egypt 5.81 BCM of natural gas in 2022, reflecting a jump of 37 percent from 2021, and 3.4 BCM to Jordan, an increase of 16.8 percent, according to the report.

The main reason for the increases is the expansion of natural gas production from Israel's largest natural gas field Leviathan in the Mediterranean Sea, about 120 km off Israel's northern shores.

Due to the expansion of gas exports to Egypt, Israel is building a 46 km underwater gas pipeline, off Israel's southern coast, the ministry noted.

Other gas supply infrastructures will be built in the southern Negev desert near the Egyptian border, as approved by the Israeli government earlier this month.

The report stated that following the increase in natural gas production from the Tamar field, located near Leviathan, consumption in Israel's local economy rose by 3 percent year-on-year in 2022, reaching 12.71 BCM, with 80 percent of the amount being used by the electricity sector.
A DIGITAL reconstruction of a historic industrial village has been acclaimed at a national awards ceremony.

The hi-tech computer model of Elsecar was highly commended at the Museums + Heritage Awards in London in the category of Best Use of Digital.

The awards celebrated the best in the world of museums, galleries, and cultural and heritage visitor attractions both in the UK and further afield.

The digital reimagining and animation of Elsecar in Victorian times shows what the village was like 140 years ago, thanks to the efforts of local volunteer historians, national experts and a skilled digital creator.

In its heyday, Elsecar was an international centre of iron and coal, proudly shown off to royalty by the aristocrats of nearby Wentworth Woodhouse.

The animation shows busy ironworks, collieries, canal boats, long-gone smokey chimneys and vividly captured street scenes.

Barnsley Councils head of culture, Jon Finch, said: The shortlist of nominees for this award shows the incredible range of work being done digitally by museums and heritage organisations.

We are delighted to have been recognised in such a prestigious award and would like to thank our team, dedicated volunteers, and funders for making this project a reality.

Thousands of hours of work have gone into the digital reconstruction making a truly breath-taking experience, reliving historic places and experiences in ways previously unimaginable before.
(ft.com) - A New York-based technology company is attempting to succeed where several firms have failed and make the $1.2tn global market for diamonds more accessible to financial investors, through the creation of a futures contract and a fund tracking the price of the gems. Diamond Standard is trying to establish the equivalent of the gold bar for the precious stone market, which is dominated by jewellery houses and which, unlike gold, is not commoditised. It plans to launch a futures contract for diamonds on the Minneapolis Grain Exchange (MGEX) by the end of the year, chief executive Cormac Kinney told the Financial Times.
Deceased girl and the accused step mother

The Deceased girl has been identified as Abhiroj Jot Kaur (7)

AMRITSAR: The Dead Body of a kidnapped girl has been recovered from Rampura village in Amritsar, Punjab. As per the sources, the child was killed by her step mother. The police has arrested the woman. However, the police officials have not officially confirmed this.

The Deceased girl has been identified as Abhiroj Jot Kaur (7). She had gone for tuition on May 15 and did not return after that. Relatives searched for her at many places but could not find any trace about her. Later, the family registered missing complaint at the Police station. The police sealed the entire village and started search operation.

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Reportedly, When the CCTV installed in the village was checked, the girl was seen going with a woman and a person on a bike. After which the body of the girl child was recovered from the pond of the village.

According to the reports, Abhiroj Jot's father Ajit Singh had remarried the woman after divorce. The woman along with her sister killed the girl child. The police officials are likely to hold a press conference regarding this matter today. Details in the matter are awaited.




Punjab Police

Representatives of Central Agencies were also present in the Meeting: ADGP

- Rs 20 crore released by the Punjab government to enhance the security of Border Areas.

- CCTV will be installed on the border for monitoring at night

- Punjab Police will give a Cash reward of Rs 1 lakh to the person giving information about drone activities

- The person will be honored separately by BSF and the identity will be kept secret.

CHANDIGARH: Taking in view the increasing drone activities at the border, the Punjab Police and BSF high officials held an important meeting today. During the joint press conference, ADGP Arpit Shukla said that in this meeting the DIG of Ferozepur and border range along with the top officials of the army participated. He said that representatives of central agencies were also present in the meeting.

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Many important decisions have been taken during this meeting. He said that Rs 20 crore has been released by the Punjab government to enhance the security of the border areas. Answering the questions asked, he said that several decisions have been taken to stop drone activities and drug smuggling across the border. According to the information received from the police officers, now the person giving information about drone activities will be given a reward of Rs 1 lakh by the Punjab Police. Apart from this, he/she will be honored separately by the BSF and the Punjab Police.

ADGP Arpit Shukla said that the identity of the person giving the information would be kept secret. During the address, he further told that NIA and the Punjab Police conducted raid at more than 50 gangster's hideouts during the joint operation. Apart from this, the Punjab Police has carried out searches at about 146 other locations as well.
Japan will on Wednesday release preliminary Q1 figures for gross domestic product, highlighting a modest day for Asia-Pacific economic activity.

GDP is expected to rise 0.1 percent on quarter and 0.7 percent on year following the flat quarterly reading and the 0.1 percent yearly gain in the three months prior. Capital expenditure is tipped to ease 0.4 percent on quarter after falling 0.5 percent in the previous three months.

Japan also will see final March data for industrial production, with forecasts calling for a gain of 0.8 percent on month after rising 4.6 percent in February.

Singapore will provide April numbers for non-oil domestic exports, with forecasts suggesting an increase of 1.7 percent on month and a decline of 9.9 percent on year. That follows the 18.4 percent monthly spike and the 8.30 percent yearly decline in March.

Australia will release Q1 figures for its wage price index, with analysts expecting a gain of 0.9 percent on quarter and 3.6 percent on year after adding 0.8 percent on quarter and 3.3 percent on year in the previous quarter.

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com

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Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (AJG), an insurance and risk consulting company, announced on Wednesday that its subsidiary Artex Risk Solutions, Inc. has acquired Ireland-based Allied Risk Management.

The financial terms of the deal have not been divulged.

Allied Risk provides insurance and reinsurance services along with actuarial services.

"Allied Risk is a highly respected company that will enhance Artex's insurance management and actuarial capabilities," said Patrick Gallagher, Jr., President and CEO of Artex.

On Tuesday, shares of Arthur J. Gallagher closed at $217.01, down 0.38% or $0.82 on the New York Stock Exchange.

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com

Business News
President Joe Biden has vetoed House Resolution 39 to overturn a two-year moratorium on solar tariffs from Southeast Asia.

Waiving the moratorium on solar tariffs imposed on equipment produced in Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam would have jeopardized the momentum the U.S. solar industry is building, Biden said in a stataement explaining his decision to veto the resolution.

Biden said that since he took office, 51 new and expanded solar equipment manufacturing plants have been announced, and the United States is now on track to increase domestic solar panel manufacturing capacity eight-fold.

Biden said he vetoed H.J. Resolution 39 because he cannot afford to create new uncertainty for American businesses and workers in the solar industry. "We can and must strengthen our energy security by maintaining our focus on expanding U.S. capacity that is ready to come on line as this temporary bridge concludes in June 2024," he added.

Industry stakeholders and trade groups have welcomed Biden's action.

The American Clean Power Association applauded the President for standing up for American workers by vetoing this "misguided, job-killing legislation". "Our nation's solar industry has already announced billions of dollars in investments focused on building a strong and resilient domestic solar supply chain. The imposition of punitive retroactive tariffs - which would have been borne by U.S. companies and workers - would have jeopardized those investments, hurt American workers, and increased costs for American families," ACP CEO Jason Grumet said in a statement.

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The U.S. Government has offered an award of up to $10 million for information that leads to the arrest and/or conviction of Russian hacker Mikhail Matveev, who launched cyberattacks against U.S. law enforcement, businesses, and critical infrastructure.

The U.S. District Courts for the District of New Jersey and the District of Columbia unsealed indictments against Matveev, who is accused of hacking 2,800 victims and making ransom demands of at least $400 million.

The U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has imposed sanctions on Matveev.

Matveev has been a central figure in the development and deployment of the Hive, LockBit, and Babuk ransomware variants, among others. In 2021, Babuk ransomware affiliates attacked the police department of a major U.S. city. The hackers who infiltrated the police department's computer network stole sensitive information about police officers, along with gangs, suspects of crimes, and witnesses. Matveev claimed responsibility for posting the stolen data online.

In addition to attacks on public institutions, Matveev has been linked to ransomware intrusions against numerous U.S. businesses, including a U.S. airline, the Treasury said.

The impacts of ransomware attacks are far-reaching, with victims experiencing the loss and disclosure of sensitive information and disruption of critical services. Russia is a haven for ransomware actors, enabling cybercriminals like Matveev to engage openly in ransomware attacks against U.S. organizations.

According to analysis conducted by Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), 75 percent of ransomware-related incidents reported between July and December 2021 were linked to Russia, its proxies, or persons acting on its behalf.

Russia-linked ransomware variants such as Hive, LockBit, and Babuk, which Matveev helped to develop and deploy, have been responsible for millions of dollars in losses to victims in the United States and around the world.

The Hive ransomware group alone has targeted more than 1,500 victims in over 80 countries, including hospitals, school districts, financial firms, and other critical infrastructure.

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com

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Rhodes University Psychology Department staff members who helped establish the Joza Assumption Development Centre

By Lindokuhle Mnqayi

On the evening of 9 May 2023, Rhodes Universitys Deputy Vice Chancellor of Academic and Student Affairs, Professor Mabokang Monnapula-Mapesela, introduced the 2022 Vice-Chancellor's Distinguished Community Engagement award winners at Amazwi South African Museum of Literature in Makhanda. The winners lecture formed part of a three-day Community Engagement Learning Symposium hosted by Rhodes University.

The Vice-Chancellor's Distinguished Community Engagement Award was jointly awarded to Professor Megan Campbell, Ms Nqobile Msomi, Dr Duane Booysen, Christine Lewis, and Mandisa Ndabula from the Rhodes University Psychology Department for their work to establish the Joza Assumption Development Centre (ADC) Counselling Hub in Makhanda East.

The Hub provides counselling and psychological support beyond the university space and develops key skills for university students and academics.

The winners lecture, titled The ADC Counselling Hub: A community-based service learning case study, was jointly presented by the academics and community partners and delved into the challenges and achievements of the project. Prof Campbell introduced the goals and outcomes of the ADC Counselling hub, Ms Msomi discussed the background of the project and explained its partnerships, Dr Booysen gave an introduction to professional programmes in counselling psychology and clinical psychology used in the project, Ms Lewis explained the involvement of the Rhodes University student counselling centre in the project, and Ms Ndabula discussed the intern supervision at the ADC.

Two interns involved in the project, Buncwanekazi Mankantsu and Babalwa Zokoza, reflected on their experience. "Working within the South African context, which I didnt truly appreciate or understand from the classroom, I learned how important it is to be flexible and to adapt to the unique needs of any given space, said Zokoza.

Prof Campbell concluded the lecture by explaining that the programme has mutual benefits. Firstly the broader Joza community enjoys free psycho-social support through counselling and workshops while the Rhodes University psychology graduates gain rich real-world learning. This exciting initiative has enriched the teaching and learning of the students while also informing the Masters programme curriculum.

In closing, Dean of Humanities Prof Enocent Msindo thanked the award winners for their lecture and handed each one a token of appreciation.

Source: Communications
If you are planning to buy an electric car in India in 2023  Here are the 28 electric cars to choose from

EVs are currently the talk of automotive town. Most recent entrant into this space is MG Comet. If this small and boxy urban electric mobility solution is not for you, we have compiled a list of all available EVs in India. Whether youve just had your first promotion or you belong to Ambanis family, this list covers every electric vehicle you can buy in India. Full list of electric cars along with prices, range in the table at the end of the article.

1. MG Comet

The newest EV with smallest battery and footprint on this list is MG Comet. It has a 17.3 kWh battery and 230 km of range from a single charge. It has an FWD layout with a single motor generating 42 bhp of power and 110 Nm of torque. Starting price is Rs. 7.98 lakh, making Comet the most affordable EV in India.

2. Tata Tiago EV

Tiago EV starts from Rs. 8.69 lakh and is Tatas least expensive offering. Tata offers a choice between 19.2 or 24 kWh batteries with 250 or 315 km range, respectively. AC Charger options include 3.3kW or 7.2 kW. 60 bhp of power and 110 Nm from a single motor drives the front wheels.

3. Citroen eC3

The French brands maiden EV, eC3, is its second mainstream offering for India. It mainly rivals Tiago EV and counters Tiago EVs value proposition with a larger footprint. A single motor with 56 bhp and 143 Nm drives its front wheels.

4. Tata Tigor EV

Tiago EVs sedan counterpart gets a larger 26 kWh battery pack and performance figures are higher too at 74 bhp and 170 Nm. Range is around the same ballpark as the Tiago EV. It is the most affordable electric sedan in India.

5. Tata Nexon EV Prime

This vehicle is what gave Tata its electric car market dominance. Nexon EV Prime gets a 30.2 kWh battery and 312 km of range. A single motor drives front wheels with 127 bhp and 245 Nm. Nexon EV Prime hits 0-100 km/h in under 10 seconds as well.

6. Mahindra XUV400

XUV400 marks the re-entry of Mahindra in EV space. Mahindra is offering 34.5 kWh and 39.4 kWh battery options with 375 km and 456 km of range, to rival Tata Nexon EV Prime and Max respectively. XUV400 undercuts Nexon EV Max and is a larger vehicle as well. Performance figures indicate 148 bhp and 310 Nm.

7. Nexon EV Max

This is currently one of the most popular electric vehicles in India. It has a 40.5 kWh battery promising 453 km of range. 141 bhp and 250 Nm performance figures are below XUV400, but Tata promises 0-100 km/h in 9 seconds. Tata recently offered Dark Edition variant along with a larger and slicker infotainment screen.

8. MG ZS EV

ZS EV is MGs maiden electric vehicle in India. Currently in its facelifted form, it packs 174 bhp and 280 Nm from its single motor and hits 100 km/h in 8.5 seconds. A 50.3 kWh battery promises up to 461 km of range as well.

9. Hyundai Kona EV

This was Hyundais first electric offering for India. It starts from Rs. 23.84 lakh and rivals like Tata Nexon EV Max and Mahindra XUV400 match it in battery size and range, while significantly undercutting it in pricing. Theres a new Kona EV, but that is less likely to launch in India as Creta EV is already under consideration.

10. BYD e6

The Chinese EV juggernaut, BYD, entered the Indian market with the e6. It was an electric MPV for commercial and fleet buyers but was later introduced for PV space. It packs a 71.7 kWh battery and a single motor with 94 bhp and 180 Nm. Because of its large proportions, it only promised a range of 415 km.

11. BYD Atto 3

The brands flagship offering in India is a cool electric crossover SUV called Atto 3. It features a large 60.48 kWh battery, promising 521 km of range. It boasts 201 bhp and 310 Nm and can sprint from 0-100 in 7.3 seconds too. The rotating infotainment screen along with quirky interiors are its forte.

12. Hyundai Ioniq 5

Ioniq 5 is currently one of the most critically acclaimed electric cars around the world. It has a neo-retro design language and packs a 72.6 kWh battery pack with 631 km of range. India-spec Ioniq 5 only gets a single RWD motor that promises 215 bhp, 350 Nm and a 0-100 km/h sprint in 5.2 seconds. All this for Rs. 45.95 lakh.

13. Mini Cooper SE

There is very little to talk about Mini Cooper SE. It is a Mini, adored by most people and costs Rs. 50.90 lakh. For the money, it offers a 32.6 kWh battery with 270 km range, 184 bhp, 270 Nm, 0-100 km/h sprint in 7.3 seconds along with a lot of style and appeal.

14. Volvo XC40 Recharge

XC40 Recharge is by far the most affordable AWD electric vehicle in India with dual motors. As a result, performance is an absolute blast with 402 bhp, 660 Nm and 0-100 km/h sprint in under 4.8 seconds. Volvos renowned reliability, sensibility and safety are appreciated factors as well. Volvo offers a 78 kWh battery with a 418 km claimed range.

15. Kia EV6

Kias Ioniq 5 counterpart is EV6. It features a larger 77.4 kWh battery and Kia is offering in both RWD and AWD configs. Kia India is bringing EV6 via CBU route and hence the higher price tag. RWD variant is good for 226 bhp and 350 Nm sprinting from 0-100 km/h in 7.3 seconds. Dual motor AWD variant promises 321 bhp, 650 Nm and 0-100 km/h sprint in 5.2 seconds. Claimed range is 708 km.

16. BMW i4

The first German in this list is BMW i4 sedan. If you can gloss over its controversial grille design, there is a lot to like. For starters, it has an 83.9 kWh battery promising 590 km of range, dual motor layout with AWD, 335 bhp, 430 Nm and 0-100 km/h sprint in 5.7 seconds. The main draw for i4 is that it is the most affordable electric (proper) sedan in India.

17. Mercedes-Benz EQB

EQB is an electric version of GLB 3-row crossover SUV. It is the most affordable electric car from the three-pointed star. EQB packs a 66.5 kWh battery pack with 423 km of range along with Mercs 4MATIC AWD and dual motors. Powertrain generates 225 bhp and 390 Nm and 0-100 km/h sprint takes 8 seconds.

18. Mercedes-Benz EQC

EQC was Mercs first electric offering in India. It is an electrified version of GLC and is one of the most popular mid-size luxury electric SUV in the world. 80 kWh battery, 450 km of range, 402 bhp, 760 Nm, and a 0-100 km/h run in 5.1 seconds are respectable numbers considering it is an upright SUV.

19. Audi e-tron

Audis most affordable electric vehicle in India is the e-tron SUV. The German brand offers a choice between 71 kWh and 95 kWh battery packs with 379 km and 484 km range respectively. Both battery configs get a dual motor setup with AWD. Lower-spec variants generate 308 bhp and 540 Nm, while higher-spec variants churn out 402 bhp and 664 Nm.

20. Jaguar i-Pace

i-Pace is Jaguars only electric vehicle both here and abroad. It encapsulates the brands newest design direction and is a work of art. It packs a 90 kWh battery capable of driving 470 km on a single charge. Two electric motors yield a combined 394 bhp of power and 696 Nm of torque. Being a Jaag, it promises spectacular handling characteristics as well.

21. Audi e-tron Sportback

This is the more attractive Audi e-tron and gets a sloping coupe roofline. It packs the same hardware and promises similar performance to e-tron SUV. Audi India priced it around Rs. 18 lakh more than the most affordable e-tron.

22. BMW iX

Just like i4, BMW iX has a lot to like, except for its controversial design. When compared to i4, iX gets a smaller 76.6 kWh battery pack and promises less range of 425 km. 326 bhp, 630 Nm, dual motor with AWD and 0-100 km/h in 6.1 seconds are notable bits.

23. Porsche Taycan

Taycan is the first real European rival for Tesla Model S. It offers what Tesla lacks, a sense of luxury. Battery size goes till 93.4 kWh, promising a range of up to 484 km (RWD). Range might be low compared to battery size. But is acceptable considering top-spec Turbo S packs dual motors with 625 bhp and 1,050 Nm torque and can hit 100 km/h in just 2.8 seconds with AWD.

24. Mercedes-Benz EQS

At 107.8 kWh capacity, Mercedes-Benz EQS packs in the largest battery among EVs in India. Largest battery translates to highest range too, promising 857 km on a single charge. This luxurious barge of a limousine aint no slouch either. With a dual motor layout, AWD, 516 bhp and 855 Nm, EQS will hit 100 km/h in just 4.3 seconds.

25. Audi e-tron GT

Wanted a Porsche Taycan, but from Audi? e-tron GT is that vehicle. The appeal of a Porsche is missing. But the e-tron GT makes sense too as it packs more knobs and buttons to control interior functions than Taycan.

26. Porsche Taycan Cross Turismo

Station wagons are one of the hottest segments in Europe. Porsche saw an opportunity and crafted Taycan Sport Turismo. It is not on offer in India. Instead, we get its ruggedised and off-roady version called Cross Turismo. It is a Porsche Taycan underneath, better looking (IMO).

27. BMW i7

Another BMW vehicle with a controversial design. But i7 is a full-size sedan and rivals Mercedes-Benz EQS. It packs 101.78 kWh of battery with a claimed 625 km of range. Dual motors with 536 bhp and 745 Nm allow the i7 to sprint from 0 to 100 km/h in 4.7 seconds. It is slightly more expensive than EQS for less performance and less range. It blows punches with more rear-seat occupant luxury than EQS.

28. Mercedes-Benz AMG EQS

If you thought standard EQS was already bonkers, youre right. But folks at Mercedes-Benz and AMG think otherwise. AMG EQS has the same battery as EQS, but motors get an upgrade to generate 751 bhp and 1,020 Nm of torque. The AMG EQS is not as quick as the Taycan Turbo S, but 0-100 km/h in 3.4 seconds is commendable.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he does not plan to hold rallies ahead of Turkiye's runoff vote, but he would hold gatherings with earthquake survivors to boost their morale after negative election-related comments, Trend reports citing Daily Sabah.

"I will be visiting some parts of the earthquake region over the weekend. I do not plan to hold rallies, but we may hold rally-like gatherings in the earthquake zone," the president told a live broadcast on CNN Turk on Tuesday.

Thanking all citizens  regardless of their votes  for participating in the elections, the president said they all protected democracy and contributed to the countrys future.

Noting that he has completed holding talks with all leaders of the Peoples Alliance on Tuesday, Erdogan said his bloc and the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) have already started preparations for May 28 and would make the best use of the next 12 days.

We stand by all of our pledges made during election rallies, and will start implementations after our people grant us permission on May 28, he said.

Criticizing main opposition Republican Peoples Party (CHP) supporters for their hateful comments targeting earthquake survivors after elections, Erdogan said it shows their insincerity.

Some CHP supporters took to social media to criticize and insult earthquake survivors for voting in favor of the president and his alliance.

Erdogan said he will have a strong Cabinet in the new period while eliminating the current shortcomings.

He vowed to maintain contact with all leaders in world in line with Turkiye's interests.

"We do not have such a thing as pulling a country and pushing a country away. There is no question of defying Russia as the CHP did.

"There is no leader that I am offended by. I am negotiating with all of them. When you throw a country aside, you lose," Erdogan said.

said he will have a strong Cabinet in the new period while eliminating the current shortcomings.

He vowed to maintain contact with all leaders in world in line with Turkiye's interests.

"We do not have such a thing as pulling a country and pushing a country away. There is no question of defying Russia as the CHP did.

"There is no leader that I am offended by. I am negotiating with all of them. When you throw a country aside, you lose,"

Erdogan said he will have a strong Cabinet in the new period while eliminating the current shortcomings.

He vowed to maintain contact with all leaders in world in line with Turkiye's interests.

"We do not have such a thing as pulling a country and pushing a country away. There is no question of defying Russia as the CHP did.

"There is no leader that I am offended by. I am negotiating with all of them. When you throw a country aside, you lose," Erdogan said.
Each of the 4 zonal events will see owners of Hilux, Fortuner 44, LC 300 and Hyryder AWD taking part

Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM) today announced its first-ever initiative of Great 44 X-Pedition in India. It is set to be held in four zones of North, South, East and West and motoring enthusiasts from across the country are expected to participate in these events.

Each of these events will see owners take part in their SUVs that include the highly capable Toyota Hilux, Fortuner 44, LC 300, and Hyryder AWD (All Wheel Drive). It is the first ever Great 44 X-pedition being organized by Toyota in India for which the company has laid special 4WD tracks that include obstacles, covering articulation, side inclines, rambler, deep ditch, slush, rocky bed, etc.

Toyota Great 44 X-Pedition

The first of these events is being conducted in South India. The SUVs will be flagged off from Bengaluru and will head to Hassan and Sakleshpur during the period May 26-28 2023. The route selected is both scenic and marks various historical points in the region. All participants will be able to enjoy a safe and supervised ride with outdoor recreations also being planned.

It is the companys endeavor to show off their lineup of SUVs that exude a sporty stance. Each of these models  Hilux, Fortuner 4X4, LC 300 and Urban Cruiser Hyryder, participating in the events have appealed to buyers in the country in a very strong way. The SUVs are not only tough in design but also boast of advanced style and are capable of outstanding performance even across the roughest of terrains.

Toyota takes this opportunity to offer motoring enthusiasts a unique experience to take part in these cross country events which are being held for the first time in India. The company also seeks to spread awareness and conduct eco activities such as restoration of the ecosystem through waste collection and disposal in a responsible manner and conduct tree plantation activities during the events.

Enhanced Motorsports Activities

Toyota Kirloskar Motors also seeks to enhance such motorsports activities in the country and bring in better and more advanced technologies. Such events will also ensure that SUV enthusiasts are able to unleash the true potential of vehicles and at the same time enjoy such outdoor activities.

Speaking about Toyotas first-ever Great 44 X-pedition, Mr. Atul Sood  Vice President, Sales and Strategic Marketing of Toyota Kirloskar Motor said, Toyota believes in bringing unlimited experiences to its customers. In this direction, Toyotas 44 Great X-pedition is designed to create a new platform and connect with the 44 enthusiasts group, enriching their experiences by providing them an opportunity through unforgettable journey with us that will remain etched in their memories for life. Furthermore, TKMs foray into 4X4 drives in India will allow the SUV enthusiasts to unleash the true potential of their proudly owned vehicles and further enhance their active outdoor lifestyles.
Democratic President Joe Biden and top congressional Republican Kevin McCarthy edged closer to a deal to avoid a looming U.S. debt default Tuesday, as the threat of an economic nightmare prompted Biden to cut short an Asia trip this week, Trend reports citing Reuters.

After an hour of talks, McCarthy, the speaker of the House of Representatives, told reporters the two sides remained far apart on an agreement to lift the debt ceiling. But he said, "It is possible to get a deal by the end of the week. It's not that difficult to get to an agreement."

Democratic President Joe Biden and top congressional Republican Kevin McCarthy edged closer to a deal to avoid a looming U.S. debt default Tuesday, as the threat of an economic nightmare prompted Biden to cut short an Asia trip this week.

After an hour of talks, McCarthy, the speaker of the House of Representatives, told reporters the two sides remained far apart on an agreement to lift the debt ceiling. But he said, "It is possible to get a deal by the end of the week. It's not that difficult to get to an agreement."

Democrats were not as positive about a quick time frame, but the White House called the meetings "productive and direct."

"There is still work to do," Biden later at a White House event honoring Jewish Americans. "We're on a path forward to make sure America does not default on its debt."

Biden said he was disappointed that Republicans will not consider ways to raise revenue. Raising taxes on the wealthy and companies to help pay for programs for other Americans is a key part of Biden's 2024 budget.

Biden met for about an hour with McCarthy, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell and House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries after their aides met over the weekend to try to strike a deal.

Republicans have refused to vote to lift the debt ceiling past its $31.3 trillion limit unless Biden and his Democrats agree to spending cuts in the federal budget. However, McConnell said after the meeting, "We know we're not going to default."
The US administration confirmed that US President Joe Biden had made a decision to cancel some of his foreign trips due to a threat of a debt ceiling default in the country, Trend reports citing TASS.

"President Biden will return to the United States on Sunday, following the completion of the G7 summit, in order to be back for meetings with Congressional leaders to ensure that Congress takes action by the deadline to avert default," White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement.

Earlier, Biden was scheduled to visit Papua New Guinea and Australia after the G7 summit in Hiroshima.

According to Jean-Pierre, Biden held a phone talk with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to inform him about the decision. "He also invited the Prime Minister for an official state visit at a time to be agreed by the teams," the spokesperson said.

According to her, the US presidents team engaged with the prime minister of Papua New Guineas team to inform them as well.
Tesla Inc CEO Elon Musk warned on Tuesday that the electric-vehicle maker was not immune to the global economy, which he said will be difficult for the next 12 months, Trend reports with reference to Reuters.

At the company's annual shareholder meeting in Austin, Texas, Musk played down market rumors that he may step down as CEO of Tesla, touched upon two new mass-market models it is developing, and reaffirmed that deliveries of its long-delayed Cybertruck pickup would start this year.

In a sign of tough times even for Tesla, the market leader in electric cars, Musk said the company would try to advertise its vehicles, something it has not done before. "We'll try out a little advertising and see how it goes," said Musk, who is also CEO of Twitter.

"Tesla is not immune to the global economic environment. I expect things to be, just at a macro economic level, difficult for at least the next 12 months," said the billionaire, dressed casually in a black T-shirt and trousers.

Tesla missed its margin target in the first quarter after it aggressively cut vehicle prices in the face of a slowing economy and rising competition.
The top policy chief at the Pentagon will step down this summer, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin announced on Wednesday, Trend reports citing Al Arabiya.

Colin Kahl, the undersecretary of Defense for Policy, has announced that he will resign in mid-July.

Multiple Biden administration officials have stepped down or announced their plans to do so in recent weeks as the US president gears up for his reelection bid.

Kahl was grilled by Republican lawmakers two years ago during his confirmation hearings over past social media posts where he called the Republican Party the party of ethnic cleansing. Kahl was also a critic of US arms sales to Saudi Arabia.

During his hearings, Kahl apologized and was barely confirmed with zero Republican votes.

Republican Senator Ted Cruz tweeted an article about Kahls resignation and wrote: This is a good day for America.

Since his appointment, Dr. Kahl has been a trusted adviser and a resolute leader in our mission to safeguard American interests, both inside the Pentagon and across the interagency, Austin said in a statement on Wednesday.

Austin praised Kahls strategic insights, deep understanding of international relations, and staunch commitment to strengthening our national defense as crucial to tackling global challenges.

Austin also commended Kahls efforts on the National Defense Strategy, focusing on the pacing challenge of the Peoples Republic of China, the acute threat of Russian aggression, and other dangers.

Media reports suggested Kahl could return to the Biden administration if elected for a second term. He previously served in the Obama administration.
Students in Sweden are positive towards AI tools such as ChatGPT in education, but 62 percent believe that using chatbots during exams is cheating. However, where the boundary for cheating lies is highly unclear. This is shown in a survey from Chalmers University of Technology, which is the first large-scale study in Europe to investigate students' attitudes towards artificial intelligence in higher education.

"I am afraid of AI and what it could mean for the future."

"Don't worry so much! Keep up with the development and adapt your teaching for the future."

"ChatGPT and similar tools will revolutionise how we learn, and we will be able to come up with amazing things."

These are three out of nearly two thousand optional comments from the survey which almost 6,000 students in Sweden recently participated in.

"The students express strong, diverse, and in many cases emotionally charged opinions," says Hans Malmstrom, Professor at the Department of Communication and Learning in Science at Chalmers University of technology. He, together with his colleagues Christian Stohr and Amy Wanyu Ou, conducted the study.

More than a third use ChatGPT regularly

A majority of the respondents believe that chatbots and AI language tools make them more efficient as students and argue that such tools improve their academic writing and overall language skills. Virtually all the responding students are familiar with ChatGPT, the majority use the tool, and 35 percent use the chatbot regularly.

Lack guidance -- opposed a ban

Despite their positive attitude towards AI, many students feel anxious and lack clear guidance on how to use AI in the learning environments they are in. It is simply difficult to know where the boundary for cheating lies.

"Most students have no idea whether their educational institution has any rules or guidelines for using AI responsibly, and that is of course worrying. At the same time, an overwhelming majority is against a ban on AI in educational contexts," says Hans Malmstrom.

No replacement for critical thinking

Many students perceive chatbots as a mentor or teacher that they can ask questions or get help from, for example, with explanations of concepts and summaries of ideas. The dominant attitude is that chatbots should be used as an aid, not replace students' own critical thinking. Or as one student put it: "You should be able to do the same things as the AI, but it should help you do it. You should not use a calculator if you don't know what the plus sign on it does."

Aid in case of disabilities

Another important aspect that emerged in the survey was that AI serves as an effective aid for people with various disabilities. A student with ADD and dyslexia described how they had spent 20 minutes writing down their answer in the survey and then improved it by inputting the text into ChatGPT: "It's like being color blind and suddenly being able to see all the beautiful colors."

Giving students a voice

The researchers have now gathered a wealth of important information and compiled the results in an overview report.

"We hope and believe that the answers from this survey will give students a voice and the results will thus be an important contribution to our collective understanding of AI and learning," says Christian Stohr, Associate Professor at the Department of Communication and Learning in Science at Chalmers.

More about the study

"Chatbots and other AI for learning: A survey on use and views among university students in Sweden" was conducted in the following way: The researchers at Chalmers conducted the survey between 5 April and 5 May, 2023. Students at all universities in Sweden could participate. The survey was distributed through social media and targeted efforts from multiple universities and student organisations. In total, the survey was answered by 5,894 students.

Summary of results:
UTC & GMT: same but different? UTC & GMT: same but different?

Some companies name their travel watches GMT, while others prefer to label them UTC. Is this a marketing ploy or a genuine technical... Some companies name their travel watches...
Egypts Ministry of Health and Population announced on Wednesday that it has paid for 1,703,035 surgeries since mid-2018 under a presidential initiative to end waiting lists.
The Autism Alliance of Michigan empowers Michiganders living with autism.

U.S. Supreme Court Decision confirms rights of people with disabilities including those living with autism.

The Autism Alliance of Michigan provides information and resources for families and individuals living with autism.

The education system failed Miguel Luna Perez . In 2004, the 9-year-old moved from Mexico to Michigan with his family. Young Miguel had not had any formal education, and his parents quickly enrolled him in the local public school district. Miguel is deaf. Upon entering school, he couldnt speak words in English or Spanish. He couldnt use sign language. He could not read or write. When Miguel left school twelve years later, his speaking and language skills had not advanced significantly.His parents were told he would graduate with a certificate of completion not a diploma, despite being named to the Honor Roll in all four years of high school, says Colleen Allen, Ph.D., president and CEO of the Autism Alliance of Michigan (AAoM). Parents of children with physical or cognitive challengeslike those living with autismoften experience their own challenges navigating the educational system through all stages of their childrens lives.The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) encourages involvement from parents and guardians to ensure there is a full team supporting each child with physical or cognitive challenges. The school year may open with the establishment of an Individualized Education Program (IEP), which outlines the goals and support services a child may need to succeed during the school year. Public schools are required to offer the IEP free of charge and use it to assign classes and specialists and to track progress through the year. IEPs are developed for students with physical conditions, such as vision or hearing impairments, cognitive deficits, and for students with invisible disabilities, such as autism, ADHD, and other developmental delays.To ensure your child can fully participate in their IEP and succeed without missing time away from learning due to illness, Allen says. Its equally important to focus on your childs overall health and wellness, include regular doctor visits, and keep up routine vaccines like the one for COVID-19.To ensure children living with autism can maximize the educational, well-being, and socialization benefits of being in school, AAoM guides parents and caregivers through the myriad of potential education system challenges with the help of one of its trained navigators.It is important to ask for assistance whenever there is a question or concernwhether its about resources, support or necessary steps to ensure your child can fully realize the advantages of the school experience, Allen says.IEPs are powerful tools for guiding a students education and development, but they do fail. Miguel Luna Perez had an IEP, which required his school district to provide him with an educational aide who knew sign language and could translate lessons for Miguel. Miguels parents, both Spanish speakers, believed the school district was attending to Miguels needs until they learned that the aide assigned to their son did not know sign language well enough to support Miguels education. Miguel lost years of education, while his parents, relying on good grades and honor roll certificates, had no idea that their son was losing ground every year. When they learned Miguel would not receive a diploma, they decided that intervention was essential.AAoMs Navigators have access to networks, contacts and resources across Michiganincluding those related to local school districts, Allen says. They can help parents avoid the situation the Perez family found themselves in.The Luna Perez family filed a complaint with the State of Michigan under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and eventually settled with the school district. Even though Miguel attended the Michigan School for the Deaf for four years, he still struggles to communicate. Assessments indicate he will have difficulty finding employment and will likely never attend college. After the settlement under IDEA, Miguel sued the school district under the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 for unspecified damages to address emotional harm and lost economic opportunity that occurred due to his inadequate education. Thats how Miguel landed in the United States Supreme Court  and opened the door for other families seeking redress  including those with a child living with autism.Although there are laws and protections for disabled students who have not been served well by the public education system, they are often difficult to access and are always time consuming, Allen says. We encourage families to stay on top of the situation to avoid this kind of tragic outcome, but even with the best intentions that doesnt always happen. The Supreme Court decision on Miguels behalf underscores that individuals with disabilities have rights.Miguels case went to the Supreme Court after lower courts ruled against him, saying the law precluded his case from moving forward because Miguel had not exhausted all the procedural hurdles required under IDEA. Miguel attended the Michigan School for the Deaf under IDEA, but IDEA does not offer monetary damages. Today, at 27, Miguel has difficulty communicating and is unemployed. He sued under the Americans with Disabilities Act for monetary compensation, and the Supreme Court decision allowing his suit to move forward may help Miguel and many others.In the opinion, Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote that Whether (the law) bars lawsuits like ours holds consequences not just for Mr. Perez but for a great many children with disabilities and their parents. Gorsuch went on to write that the exhaustion requirement applies only to suits that seek relief also available under IDEA. And that condition simply is not met in situations like ours.AAoM and other organizations supporting the disability community celebrated the decision.It is not easy for individuals with autism and their families to navigate the education system, the medical system, employment issues, and the legal system, Allen concludes. The Supreme Court decision affirms the rights of our community and the entire disability community. We hope to help families avoid similar situations, but it is good to know that there is a legal opinion  from the highest court in the land  protecting us.To learn more, visit: www.aaomi.org
The Egyptian Exchange's (EGX) indices ended in the green after fluctuations caused by profit-taking during the week that ended on 25 May.
Egypts Arab Organisation for Industrialisation (AIO) signed in Cairo on Monday an MoU for cooperation in defence industries with Rheinmetall Italia, the AIO announced.

According to a statement issued by the AOI, the organization is keen to cooperate with the Italian firm and the cooperation includes training to develop capabilities using the latest techniques and technologies.

AIO chairman Abdel-Moneim El-Tarras stressed during the signing of the MoU the importance of cooperation with international firms to transfer their technology and expertise to Egypt.

El-Tarras added that this agreement is in line with President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisis directives to increase the use of local components in defence-related industries.

For his part, Rheinmetall CEO Alessandro Ercolani praised the industrial and human capabilities of the AOI and its ability to use technology to achieve high production rates using the latest techniques in the defence industries.

Ercolani added that the Egyptian market is of strategic importance to the Arab and African regions.

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Egyptian Ambassador in Rome Bassam Rady delivered a message from President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi to Italian President Sergio Mattarella that Egypt is keen on strengthening bilateral ties between the two countries as well as joint cooperation at the regional and international levels.

This came during Rady's meeting with the Italian president Mattarella to present his credentials as Egypt's ambassador to Italy, the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement on Wednesday.

For his part, the Italian president Mattarella praised El-Sisi's wise leadership, adding that "Egypt is the pivotal country in the Mediterranean region that has essential contributions within the framework of regional security as a whole," according to the statement.

Rady, who served as a presidential spokesman for almost five years, said that he received clear directives from President El-Sisi to work on boosting Egyptian-Italian ties and promoting cooperation.

He said he looks forward to enhance joint work and increase mutual visits at various levels, the statement added.

Rady also expressed hope that Egyptian-Italian relations will witness "more rapprochement and cooperation in all fields in a manner that is commensurate with the promising capabilities of the two countries and their historical relations, including joint political coordination on various regional issues."

Trade exchange on rise

Egypt's exports to Italy rose by 18.2 percent to record $3.4 billion in 2022, compared to $2.9 billion in 2021, according to data released on Wednesday by the Egyptian Central Agency for Public Mobilisation and Statistics (CAPMAS).

Egypt's imports from Italy also increased by 10.4 percent to record $3.5 billion in 2022, compared to $3.1 billion in 2021.

Trade exchange between both countries reached $6.9 billion in 2022, compared to $6 billion in 2021, an increase of 14.1 percent.

Italian investments in Egypt amounted to $645.7 million during the first quarter of the FY 2022/23, compared to $450.6 million during the same period of a year prior, an increase of 43.3 percent.

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The DAO of Matt Haney: SF lawmaker is pushing to bring crypto orgs into the sunlight

Kevin Hume/The San Francisco Examiner Assemblymember Matt Haney, a former San Francisco supervisor, is proposing a bill that would create a legal framework for DAOs, online organizations associated with crypto.

Matt Haney, who became known for advocating to make life easier for the homeless and working people of San Francisco, is pushing to do the same for groups associated with a growing, controversial trend: crypto.

Assemblymember Haney has proposed a bill that would set up a legal California framework for decentralized autonomous organizations, or DAOs.

Think of DAOs as an online clubs or co-ops created with blockchain technology  also referred to as Web3  for a specific crypto-related mission, usually to invest in cryptocurrencies, NFTs (nonfungible tokens) or other non-crypto assets.

One DAO created a big stir two years ago by trying to buy a copy of the U.S. Constitution. Another tried to buy the New Orleans Pelicans. Both failed, but DAOs have captured the imagination of those who see it as a new way to achieve a more effective democracy.

DAOs are supposed to be decentralized, online communities in which members are in charge based on a smart contract that gives each one of them certain rights, including how to manage the DAOs funds. Haney thinks DAOs are the future of governance.

Moving forward, many companies will not have a traditional top-down corporate board structure, but will be formed in a much more decentralized way using blockchain technology, which allows more people to participate in decision making in a transparent way, he told The Examiner.

Its a controversial view.

There are serious questions about just how decentralized and democratic DAOs really are, especially since the system is associated with an industry that just went through a stunning collapse. Last years crypto meltdown wiped out $2 trillion in value. This includes the life savings of consumers lured by the promise of quick and easy wealth in a superhot trend in which non-believers were taunted with the slogan, Have fun staying poor.

Still, blockchain technology is something that we should be welcoming and be excited about, Haney said, even though he has endorsed proposals frowned upon by the crypto industry.

Last year, he supported a bill filed by Assemblymember Tim Grayson that would require licensing for crypto companies to operate in California. The proposal  which was vehemently opposed by the crypto industry  passed overwhelmingly in the legislature, but was vetoed by Governor Gavin Newsom. Grayson is trying again with a new bill, which Haney has endorsed.

In an interview with The Examiner, Haney talked about his reason for pushing a bill that would give DAOs a more solid legal foundation in California and the role he sees the Golden State playing in the evolution of blockchain technology. This conversation has been edited for clarity and brevity.

What led you to propose a bill on DAOs? DAOs are going to be a big part of the future of tech and innovation. Moving forward, many companies will not have a traditional top down corporate board structure, but will be formed in a much more decentralized way using blockchain technology which allows more people to participate in decision making in a transparent way.

I think its something that we should be welcoming and be excited about. But theres a lack of legal clarity right now. Its pretty ridiculous that the technology hub of our country, which is California, is falling behind places like Wyoming and Vermont when it comes to establishing a framework for DAOs.

How did you first learn of crypto and bitcoin? Its been a process for me to understand this technology since taking on this bill. It is complicated. It is confusing. But theres no doubt that theres massive potential there for many millions of people across the world, including many in California who are using it and innovating with it.

Ive never owned cryptocurrency. I have not myself participated in DAOs. But Im excited about what it can provide for how we build distributed organizations, where more people can participate in decision-making.

I dont think anyone would say that the current structure of governance for corporations or businesses is one that is especially transparent or democratic. Blockchain technology can allow decisions to be made by many more people in a more transparent way.

Theres obviously a lot of risk with crypto if done wrongly or in the shadows. [But] this type of technology isnt going anywhere. Its only going to develop further. Its critical that we have a legal and regulatory framework for it.

Late last year, a bill that would have required crypto companies to be licensed before they can operate in California was vetoed by Governor Newsom. What was your reaction? I supported that bill [filed by Assemblymember Tim Grayson] and I think it should have been signed. We need these companies and organizations to come out into the sunlight and register and incorporate. We want to send a strong signal that we want this to be happening in California. I believe that this bill strikes the right balance, encouraging the incorporation of companies and organizations that use blockchain technology, but also providing for a system of regulation.

Blockchain and Web3-based organizations and companies are not all cryptocurrency [companies]. Thats a misnomer. There are a lot of folks who are looking at blockchain technology to do things that are actually more driven around the social good of figuring out how to confront social problems using blockchain and crypto. And we should encourage that.

Its a new technology for me. I represent San Francisco which is continuing to be a hub for innovation, including in blockchain. I want the city that I represent to continue to be that.

San Francisco is home to three major crypto companies: Coinbase, Ripple and Kraken. What kind of conversations have you had with the leaders of these companies? Weve been working closely with Andreessen Horowitz and the Crypto Council which represents all of these companies. Theyve been sharing our efforts with these companies who have given feedback. Weve also worked with a lot of attorneys who advise these companies and have identified where theres a lot of lack of clarity.

What do you say to those who are critical of the industry, especially given what happened last year when a lot of people lost a lot of money in the crypto market crash? I think we need to bring these blockchain-based organizations more into the sunlight. Otherwise, were going to have a murky area that is going to allow for more bad actors.

This law is not about encouraging investment in cryptocurrency, nor is it focused on supporting cryptocurrencies, specifically. I think cryptocurrency can be very high-risk. Certainly, when people are engaging in illegal behavior and outright theft that should be confronted and prosecuted.

But blockchain technology, which provides the basis for how cryptocurrency is organized, has tremendous potential for many different types of organizations or businesses. Yes, there are a lot of steps that need to be taken to regulate cryptocurrency, to make sure that there isnt criminal behavior and theres adequate oversight. But this technology, which provides the foundation for cryptocurrency, is powerful and exciting.

A major issue that has come up especially in Washington is the heightened lobbying of major crypto companies, such as Coinbase, Ripple, Kraken and crypto lobby groups. Have you received any kind of funding from any of the major crypto companies and lobby organizations? No. I dont have any political or funding relationship with crypto. I wanted to do this because I think the technology itself is exciting and actually is going to allow much more decentralized, democratic and transparent forms of decision making.

This is about providing clarity for a type of technology that I think holds a lot of potential for democratic transparent decision making.

Ive never asked for a contribution from a crypto company in any way. Those companies that you mentioned in San Francisco I have never interacted with.

Or asked them for any campaign contribution? Not that Im aware. I dont think so. I would have to look but Ive never asked for a contribution from a crypto company in any way. [Haneys campaign received $14,700 in campaign contributions from Ripple co-founder Chris Larsen in 2022, according to the California Secretary of State records.]

What do you say to those who are critical of DAOs and who argue that they are not that decentralized and are, in fact, controlled by only small interest groups which led to the collapse of the crypto market? Thats exactly why we need more regulation and a legal framework. The murkiness of this type of technology, the legal murkiness, of how we regulate this technology does not lend itself to effective oversight.

The technology is not going anywhere. Web3 and blockchain technology is growing. Organizations will use it. So California should have a legal structure to regulate it. People who are critical of blockchain, of the way that a small number of people may exploit the use of blockchain should support this bill because it provides a path to more effective oversight, regulation and taxation. It allows us to have folks use this technology but also to bring the entities behind the organizations that utilize it out of the shadows.

Have you invested in bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies and digital assets? I dont have very much money. [Laughs.] I dont have any investments. They dont pay state legislators or supervisors much more than what it costs me to pay rent in San Francisco and now a hotel in Sacramento. Maybe I would have tried it if I had more money to spend. But I dont. Im focused on my job making policy. I havent been able to learn about it nor do I have enough money to make any investment that I could that I could lose. Its not like Im invested in stocks and not in crypto. Im not invested in anything.

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bpimentel@sfexaminer.com @benpimentel
While mediation efforts continue to stumble, Armed conflict between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces are sufficiently armed to sustain a protracted conflict. Its unlikely either can topple the other.





Sudan is awash with firearms. The country ranks second among its regional neighbours in total firearms estimates, with combined holdings among civilians and security forces topping out at over three million.

A vast majority of these firearms are in the hands of civilians. This underscores the significant risk of increased violence within Sudan as the conflict goes on.

Im the research coordinator of a project on Sudan and South Sudan at the Small Arms Survey, which provides expertise on small arms and armed violence. The projects empirical research provides insights into how weapons are sourced and the actors who use them.

In my view, the two Sudanese forces employ strikingly contrasting fighting methods. The armys superiority is its air force and heavy arsenal on the ground. The paramilitary force is reliant on nimble mobile units equipped with primarily small and light weapons.

While battlefield seizures and a loss of weapons stores have affected both groups, its unlikely that either will suffer a debilitating shortage of supplies.

Sudanese Armed Forces

The Sudanese army has in excess of 120,000 troops countrywide, with several thousand more in reserve. Its recruits are primarily from the countrys peripheries, while its leadership is comprised largely of elites from the central Nile region.

The armys capability is bolstered by its air force and supported by battle tanks and other armoured infantry vehicles.

In the past weeks, the Sudanese Armed Forces have reportedly seized several bases held by the Rapid Support Forces.

However, the paramilitary force has also overrun some of the armys weapons stores and military equipment manufacturing facilities. Its troops have also seized army equipment on the battlefield.

Rapid Support Forces

The Rapid Support Forces have more than 75,000 combatants, most of whom hail from the Darfur region in the countrys far west. The force is buttressed by additional recruits in Sudans north and east.

Several militia groups aligned with the paramilitary forces commander, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, could mobilise if conflict intensifies in Sudans peripheries, particularly in Darfur. Here, hundreds of people have been killed in past weeks, mainly from small arms gunfire.

Rapid Support Forces fighters in Khartoum, which has seen the most sustained and concentrated fighting, are relying on small arms and heavy machine guns to control the airport and government buildings, and to hold positions wedged between residential apartment blocks.

While neither side is accustomed to fighting within urban centres, such a setting favours the Rapid Support Forcess more agile rapid ground forces. In the absence of a ceasefire, the paramilitary forces will likely remain entrenched in the city because of the physical protection that it provides, and avoid risking a Sudanese Armed Forces air attack in open terrain.

Still, the Rapid Support Forces use of infantry vehicles and anti-aircraft weapons in densely populated residential areas of Khartoum has drawn aerial fire. This has killed paramilitary combatants and civilians alike.

The Rapid Support Forces have played a significant role in the proliferation of arms in Darfur. They have facilitated supply, financed in part by Dagalos wealth, and stoked demand among a population subjected to the regions chronic insecurity.

These dynamics stretch back decades to Darfurs genocidal past spearheaded by the Janjaweed. Its from here that Dagalo, better known as Hemedti, and the Rapid Support Forces emerged.

These paramilitary fighters have an abundance of AK-pattern rifles and more sophisticated high-calibre weapons. Since former President Omar Bashirs ouster in 2019 and Hemedtis rise as deputy leader of Sudans government, hes been relatively unencumbered in procuring weapons and equipment for his force.

A 2019 investigation revealed that more than 1,000 vehicles, most of them Toyota Hilux pick-ups, were purchased from dealers in the United Arab Emirates, and later equipped with mounted weapons.

The funds to purchase the vehicles were likely sourced from Hemedtis vast gold mining operations in Sudan.

Rapid Support Forces fighters recently paraded a handful of man-portable air defence systems, or manpads, on the steps of the presidential palace in Khartoum. Jubilant fighters also waved various small arms, including G3A4 rifles.

The manpads could target Sudanese army aircraft and are a serious threat to civil aviation. Its unclear how or when the paramilitary unit acquired them, but the Sudanese army is known to have them stockpiled.

Recent reporting alleges that the Wagner Group, a Russian paramilitary force with close ties to Hemedti and with mutual gold mining interests, offered to supply the Rapid Support Forces with arms, including manpads.

What This Means For The Future

Over the past month, the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces have demonstrated flagrant disregard for the safety of the Sudanese people in the capital and the peripheries.

In light of this, its difficult to envision a pathway to silencing the guns in Sudan without meaningful participation from civil society and the involvement of civilian political leadership.

For the moment, the most critical need is to establish a lasting ceasefire for emergency assistance to reach the people who desperately need it.

Only then can attention be given to securing weapons stockpiles, reducing illicit weapons and misuse, and moving beyond Sudans fractured power politics.

* This story was edited by Ahram Online

** Khristopher Carlson, Senior Researcher and Coordinator of the Small Arms Survey's Human Security Baseline Assessment project on Sudan and South Sudan., Graduate Institute  Institut de hautes etudes internationales et du developpement (IHEID)

*** This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article here

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Related Egypt issues 22 decisions to promote direct investment

The 22 decisions aim to achieve a qualitative leap in the economy.

They include incentives for investors in various sectors.

They also include many proposals for legislative amendments that the government would present to parliament to vote on in the upcoming period.

Ahram Online compiled a simple guide to the 22 decisions and their aims.

1. Regarding establishing companies, the council approved a draft resolution aiming to study the amendment of some articles of the Executive Regulations of Investment Law No. 72 of 2017. The amendments would make it easier for companies to be established and operate in Egypt.

2. The council also approved a draft resolution aiming to amend the text of Article 34 of Investment Law No. 72 of 2017 to allow the licensing of natural gas-based industry projects as one of the production inputs in order to operate under the free zones system. Aimed to attract FDIs, the free zone system in Egypt is a special economic zone that is located within the country's borders but is subject to different economic regulations including exemption from income tax, sales tax, import, and export duties.

3. The council endorsed a 10-day approval process for all necessary requirements when establishing a company. The move aims to boost investor confidence and simplify the process of conducting business in the country.

4. The General Authority for Investment and Free Zones (GAFI) will collaborate with the relevant authorities to create a single online platform for project establishment, operation, and settlement. The platform will make it easier for investors to obtain the necessary approvals and permits.

5. The council also approved amendments to the Electronic Signature Law (Law No. 15 of 2004). The amendments will make it easier for businesses to use electronic signatures, which will further streamline the business process.

6. The council tasked the Ministry of Justice to draft legislative amendments to overcome restrictions related to land ownership and facilitate foreigners' ownership of the real estate. The government also approved expanding the beginning of the golden license. Aimed also to attract FDIs as well as private investments, the golden license grants investors approval to buy or rent lands and operate and manage projects, without the need to gain approval from multiple government bodies.

7. The council also approved expanding the issuance of the golden license to companies that are not establishing strategic or national projects as well as to companies established before the Investment Law of 2017.

8. The council tasked the government to study the transfer of regulatory authority in certain utility sectors in order to ensure their independence from the government. This will help enhance the separation between ownership and management in a number of state sectors.

9. The council also approved a resolution amending certain legal provisions which grant preferential treatment to state-owned entities and companies.

10. The council approved a draft resolution to create a monitoring unit within the cabinet to oversee state-owned companies. The unit will collect data on these companies, make binding decisions on restructuring, and report to the president and the cabinet every three months.

11. To address the difficulty in importing production supplies, the council has approved a resolution to amend Law No. 7 of 2017. The amendment allows foreign investors to be registered as importers  even if they do not hold Egyptian citizenship  for a period of 10 years. This is part of the government's efforts to facilitate import procedures for foreign investors.

12. The council approved a draft resolution preventing any entity from issuing regulatory decisions which add financial or procedural burdens to projects subject to the investment law. These decisions cannot be made without obtaining the approval of the GAFI board of directors, the cabinet, and the Supreme Council for Investments. The aim of this resolution is the reduction of additional burdens imposed on investors.

13. To reduce financial and tax burdens on investors, the council approved a draft resolution which is regulated by clear mechanisms and conditions, to impose improvement fees according to related laws. The resolution establishes the basis for calculating each case. It also creates classifications for the required fee values based on the purpose of investment  whether it is in health, tourism, or hospitality  and it will be applied to all administrative authorities. This aims to address the issue of multiple entities imposing improvement fees on investors, which results in investors paying the same fees to several authorities over and over.

14. The council approved a draft resolution instructing the Ministry of Finance to establish a set-off system between investors' receivables and their tax or other obligations to government entities. The new system will allow investors to offset their receivables from the government against their tax or other obligations to the government. This system aims to expedite the repayment of value-added tax (VAT) within a specified timeframe of 45 days. The system is expected to be implemented within the next few months.

15. To create a stable tax legislative environment, the council approved a resolution to expedite the announcement of the state's tax policy document for the next five years. This is to eliminate the instability of tax legislation, the multiplicity of agencies responsible for it, and the imposition of additional fees by various entities.

16. Another draft resolution was passed to the Ministry of Justice to swiftly complete changes to the law on transferring profits to parent and subsidiary companies. This will help reduce taxes and avoid double taxation, therefore encouraging both domestic and foreign investment.

17. The council approved a draft resolution assigning the Ministry of Justice to amend the Civil and Commercial Litigation Law No. 13 of 1968. The amendments will increase the jurisdiction of economic and partial courts, expand the scope of their objective jurisdiction to resolve commercial disputes and raise the non-appealable threshold (please rewrite to clarify ambiguous sentence). This is expected to enhance commercial dispute resolution mechanisms and expedite contract enforcement.

18. The council approved another draft resolution assigning the ministry of justice to issue a binding regulatory decree with clear guidelines to determine a specific timeframe to compensate investors in cases of expropriation  not exceeding three months. Administrative authorities are obliged to intensify negotiations with investors for appropriate compensation. The decision aims to provide investors with a clear and transparent process to obtain compensation in cases of expropriation.

19. The council approved a draft resolution to utilize the International Finance Corporation (IFC) in order to contract with a global consulting firm to develop a clear shared vision and strategy for investment in Egypt. The strategy will focus on improving Egypt's ranking in the Ease of Doing Business Index and achieving the national target of raising investment rates to between 25 percent and 30 percent.

20. The council directed a review to amend nine articles of the Special Economic Zones Law No. 83 of 2005, adding several new articles, to provide benefits and exemptions to the economic zone.

21. The council assessed the establishment of a permanent unit within the cabinet, led by the CEO of the General Authority for Investment, tasked with developing policies, laws, and regulations to promote the growth and prosperity of startups in Egypt. This unit will also receive complaints from startups in coordination with the Investor Problem-Solving Unit and develop appropriate solutions in coordination with the relevant entities.

22. The council also approved a set of incentives to support various sectors and projects. The package includes support for agriculture, industry, and green hydrogen production in the energy sector. It also supports the housing sector, real estate developers, investment projects in new cities, and the transportation sector by unifying pricing strategies and reducing export fees and customs.

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The Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise Development Agency (MSMEDA) has recently partnered with the Giza governorate to embark on an ambitious endeavour. With an investment of EGP 22 million ($726,753.89), they aim to upgrade and revitalize the Mit Uqba and Ard El Lewa districts in Giza.

This initiative falls under the Unplanned Areas Upgrading and Employment Enhancement Programme (UAUEEP).

The programme is funded by a grant delegated to the French Development Agency (AFD) through the EU, according to a press release Tuesday.

"The new projects are expected to create 14,000 temporary job opportunities and benefit around 50,000 residents. They depend on labour-intensive methods to generate more temporary jobs," MSMEDA CEO Bassel Rahmy said.

"The MSMEDA is continuously establishing strategic partnerships with international donor agencies," he added.

Rahmy noted that "Such partnerships translate into cooperation to help achieve our common sustainable development goals, which align with Egypt's Vision 2030."

Giza Governor Ahmed Rashid said government entities are working to improve living standards. The Giza governorate and the MSMEDA are cooperating to encourage small enterprises to meet the needs of residents in these areas, he added.

Since July 2014, the MSMEDA has financed 55,600 small enterprises in Giza with EGP 1.9 billion ($61,452.48) and created 81,300 jobs. It has also allocated EGP 331.9 million ($10,735,367.57) to implement community projects, generating over two million temporary jobs in Giza.

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Egypt's Health Minister Khaled Abdel-Ghaffar signed an MoU with the British biopharmaceutical company GSK plc to enhance healthcare in the country, the health ministry announced on Wednesday.

GSK, also known as GlaxoSmithKline, is a multinational healthcare and pharmaceutical company, actively involved in the research, development, and manufacture of pharmaceutical medications, vaccines, and consumer healthcare products.GSK is the 10th largest pharmaceutical company in the world and number 294 on the 2022 Fortune Global 500.

The MoU comprises several key areas, including increased public awareness campaigns and specialized training for professionals in the field of child and elderly immunizations, the ministrys official spokesman Hossam Abdel-Ghaffar explained.

"The two partners will collaborate on joint projects to achieve multiple objectives, including raising awareness about chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and combating antimicrobial resistance," Abdel-Ghaffar added.

Additionally, the collaboration "will provide training for healthcare experts on vital topics such as smoking cessation, disease prevention, and accurate patient diagnosis."

This initiative is part of the Egyptian health minister's ongoing efforts to benefit the citizens by forging partnerships with international organizations.

One notable initiative is the establishment of Egypts first production line for hepatitis B and pentavalent vaccines, launched in March. This collaboration between the state-owned VACSERA and the Serum Institute of India enables the production of 100 million vaccine doses annually, combining five antigens into a single jab.

Additionally, the ministry of health discussed plans in 2022 to cooperate with the vice president of Italy's San Donato Hospital Group in establishing a training centre for medical teams in the governorate of Port Said.

It has also set up what it aims to be the largest organ transplant centre in the Middle East and Africa in Cairo. The facility, established in cooperation with international partners, includes an automated transplant database for patients and donors.

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The European Investment Bank (EIB) and ALEXBANK, a subsidiary of Intesa Sanpaolo Group in Egypt, announced on Wednesday the release of a new tranche of $15 million for renewable and efficiency financing.

The funding is part of the Egypt-Green Economy Financing Facility (GEFF) initiative, meant to drive economic modernization and environmental sustainability by providing loans to Egyptian businesses, with a particular focus on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

GEFF, jointly supported by the EIB and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), is an initiative that offers financing for business investments through local financial partners.

The announcement was made on the sidelines of the Europe-Egypt Energy connectivity Event at the Swedish Embassy in Cairo in the presence of the Minister of Petroleum Tarek El-Molla, Minister of International Cooperation Rania Al-Mashat (via video conference), Christian Berger, the ambassador of the EU Delegation in Egypt, and Hakan Emsgard, the Swedish ambassador.

The newly provided finance by GEFF will empower businesses across the Egyptian market to secure investments aimed at reducing energy and water consumption, enhancing product quality, and boosting competitiveness.

Al-Mashat emphasised that this cooperation aligns with the country's current priorities and efforts to expand private sector engagement in development initiatives.

She noted that the new financing scheme with ALEXBANK boosts SMEs financing to enhance the efficiency and investments of renewable energy in the industrial, commercial, and agricultural sectors.

Al-Mashat added that the financing comes in light of the framework agreement Egypt and the EIB signed to promote development cooperation to create job opportunities and provide innovative solutions to achieve the countrys development goals and a larger role for the private sector.

The EIB works with leading banks around the world to accelerate investment that cuts carbon emissions and harnesses renewable energy. This new partnership with ALEXBANK will enable Egyptian business to embrace green energy, cut energy bills and contribute to climate action, said EIB Vice President Gelsomina Vigliotti.

She added that this finance also supports both Egypt's 2030 sustainable development strategy and the recently launched industrial development strategy.

Managing Director and CEO of ALEXBANK Dante Campioni noted that the bank recognises the crucial need to safeguard the environment, which is why investing in renewable and more energy efficient solutions is of paramount importance for Egyptian companies.

In Egypt, the GEFF initiative provides both finance and best-practice advice to help private sector businesses improve their competitiveness.

The EIB announced in February the allocation of $27 million as a participation in the $150 million Middle East Venture Fund, the largest-ever venture capital engagement by the EIB in the region.

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The Central Bank of Egypt's (CBE) Computing Incident Response Team for Egypts financial sector (EG-FinCIRT) has obtained accreditation and membership in the Forum of Incident Response and Security Teams (FIRST), an international cybersecurity organization, according to a press release on Tuesday.

Membership in FIRST aims to enhance cooperation in combating cybercrime, facilitate rapid response, exchange information, and handle threats. In addition, FIRST helps build the technical capacity of members response teams and exchange security information to help mitigate attacks.

It also supports cooperation between countries and links response teams to exchange expertise and intelligence. Members can attend seminars, training, and working group meetings. In addition, FIRST provides publications and guides on cybersecurity and internet governance best practices.

EG-FinCIRT met all the technical and organizational requirements to become Egypts first sectoral cybersecurity response team recognized by FIRST.

The accreditation is part of the CBEs strategy to strengthen cybersecurity in the financial and banking sectors, the CBE said. It praised EG-FinCIRTs work over the past four years in adopting international standards.

EG-FinCIRTs membership aligns with the CBEs strategy to enhance Egypts participation in implementing its national cybersecurity strategy. It will help state bodies prevent and respond to cyber-attacks in a coordinated manner.

Membership will support raising Egypts ranking on the Global Cybersecurity Index, boost confidence in the digital economy, attract investment, and secure critical banking infrastructure through an exchange of incident response best practices, the CBE said.

Egypt is hosting the Cybersecurity and Defense Intelligence Systems (CDIS-EGYPT) between 16 and 18 May 2023.

Last year, Egyptian Minister of Telecommunications and Information Technology Amr Talaat stated that Egypt invested EGP 50 billion ($1,618,189,500) in digital transformation projects.

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Syrian President Bashar al-Assad will attend this week his first Arab League summit in 13 years, his foreign minister confirmed Wednesday, signalling regional reintegration after more than a decade of war.

The host of Friday's summit, Saudi Arabia, has championed Assad's return to the pan-Arab body and invited the Syrian leader over the objection of other regional leaders.

The Syrian government had been isolated in the region for years since its crackdown on protests in 2011 triggered a war that has killed more than 500,000 people.

Analysts say Assad's invitation also shows the clout of Saudi Arabia, which is casting itself as a peacemaker and asserting itself in multiple crises across the Middle East.

Following a preparatory meeting on Wednesday, Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad told reporters Assad would attend Friday's event in Jeddah in person.

Beyond rekindling ties with the Assad government, the summit is expected to devote energy to two conflicts: the month-old showdown between two generals in Sudan and the eight-year-old civil war in Yemen.

It is taking place in the same city where representatives of the two Sudanese camps have been locked in negotiations for a week and a half brokered by Saudi and US officials.

In Yemen, meanwhile, Saudi Arabia is pushing for a peace deal with Iran-backed Houthi rebels after eight years at the helm of a military coalition that failed to defeat them on the battlefield.

Neither initiative has yielded a major breakthrough so far, but Saudi op-ed writers and analysts are bullish.

"The Jeddah summit is one of the most important summits for a long time because it will rebuild the Arab region in a way that relies on shared interests and turns challenges into opportunities," said Saudi political commentator Suleiman al-Aqili.

"If the summit is able to reintegrate Syria into the Arab system and take a strong position on the conflict in Sudan and Yemen, it will be successful."

Wave of reconciliation

Recent diplomatic shifts were accelerated by a surprise Chinese-brokered normalisation deal with Iran announced on March 10.

Less than two weeks later, Saudi Arabia announced it had begun talks on resuming consular services with Iran ally Syria, the first public step in a rapprochement that has since seen the countries' foreign ministers exchange visits.

Yet Assad's presence in Jeddah on Friday does not guarantee progress on resolving Syria's brutal war.

In areas of northwestern Syria that remain under rebel control, there have been repeated mass protests against Assad's return to the Arab fold.

Nor is it clear that the pan-Arab body can extract concessions on issues like the fate of Syrian refugees or the surging captagon trade.

"It's important to remember that Assad's return to the Arab League is a symbolic measure to begin the process of ending his regional isolation," said Anna Jacobs, senior Gulf analyst with the International Crisis Group.

"In many ways it is the start of political normalisation, but it will be even more important to watch if economic normalisation comes with it, especially from Gulf Arab states."

Assad's stay in Jeddah will be followed across the region, perhaps nowhere more closely than in Damascus.

"This is the first time in many years that my family and I have been interested in political news because we had lost hope," said Haidar Hamdan, a 44-year-old geography teacher in the Syrian capital.

His country's reintegration into the Arab League represents a "return to the world order", he said, adding that he expected shuttered embassies and companies to reopen and "movement and life (to) return to the country".

Other Damascus residents have more subdued expectations.

"We are optimistic, but we know that the Arab summit is not a magic wand that can be waved to solve all of Syria's problems," said Sawsan, a 29-year-old who works at a car dealership.

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European markets drifted slightly lower on Tuesday as weaker-than-expected China data and downbeat consumer sentiment in Germany hit trade.

In the background meanwhile, investors were expectant ahead of the US debt ceiling negotiations scheduled for later in the day.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 index slipped 0.42% to 464.70, while the German Dax dipped 0.12% to 15,897.93.

Italy's FTSE Mib meanwhile drifted lower by 0.17% to 27,198.87.

Data from China show retail sales and industrial production both missed forecasts.

Chinas pandemic snap back is losing elasticity, adding to worries about growth unravelling across the global economy, said Hargreaves Lansdown analyst Susannah Streeter.

Concerns are also rising that not enough progress is being made to avoid a US default, which would send shockwaves through financial markets.

As the clock ticks down, volatility on markets is expected to tick up. The S&P 500 ended up in positive territory but weakness is set to pervade trading today amid nervousness about the precarious budget situation.

In the UK the unemployment rate rose to 3.9% in the three months to March from 3.8% a month earlier, versus expectations for it to be unchanged. The increase was largely driven by people unemployed for over 12 months.

German business sentiment deteriorated much more than expected in May as worries about rate hikes and the US debt ceiling took their toll, according to a survey released on Tuesday by the ZEW Center for European Economic Research in Mannheim.

The headline ZEW investor expectations index tumbled to -10.7 from 4.1 in April, coming in below consensus expectations of -5.1.

On the equities front, Vodafone shares dropped 7% after it cut a record 11,000 jobs. Chief Executive Officer Margherita Della Valle said the telecom giant must change as annual profits fell.

Swiss hearing aids maker Sonova slumped 11% after reporting full-year core profit below market expectations, citing initial dilution from recent acquisitions and input cost challenges.
Britons have packed away enough possessions to fill Buckingham Palace more than 60 times over as the housing crisis, enduring consumerism and a sentimental reluctance to let go of inanimate objects means self-storage is now on the brink of becoming a 1bn-a-year business. Self-storage units are proving cheaper than renting or buying a bigger home and are springing up alongside new housing developments across the UK, with at least 280 more stores planned between now and 2026  a more than 10% increase.  Guardian

UK authorities should regulate cryptocurrency trading as a form of gambling rather than a financial service, parliaments Treasury committee has said after a fresh inquiry into the industry. The government must avoid wasting more taxpayer funds promoting tech innovations such as digital tokens, without demonstrating the clear benefits to the public, MPs said in a report published on Wednesday.  Guardian

Tech companies are in danger of unleashing a rogue artificial intelligence that will cause significant harm to the world without urgent intervention by governments, the creator of ChatGPT has admitted. Appearing before US politicians, OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman lauded the new generation of digital chatbots for their potential to improve nearly every aspect of our lives.  Telegraph

Britains biggest outsourcer has been lambasted for allowing the unsafe storage of personal data after it was hit by another data breach. It is understood Capita had placed a bucket or database with open source software and information in the cloud, including user guides and notes which are routinely published alongside software releases, but it also contained some personal data belonging to Colchester city council that should not have been there.  The Times

Executive pay in Britain must compete globally to attract talent for the financial sector, the City minister has said. At an event hosted by UK Finance, the industry trade body, in London yesterday, Andrew Griffith said: Remuneration here needs to be competitive. We need to attract the brightest and best to these shores  the last thing we want to do is drive them away.  The Times
Italian Minister of Defence Guido Crosetto noted in a meeting with President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi in Cairo on Wednesday that Egypt plays a key role in maintaining stability in the Middle East and Mediterranean regions, according to a statement released by the Egyptian presidency.

The meeting was attended by Minister of Defence General Mohamed Zaki and the Chief of the Defence Staff of the Italian Armed Forces Admiral Giuseppe Cavo Dragone as well as the Italian ambassador to Egypt Michele Quaroni, according to a statement released by Presidential Spokesperson Ahmed Fahmy.

During the meeting, the Italian defence minister praised Egypts proactive efforts in dealing with the issue of irregular migration, Fahmy said.

The two sides affirmed the need for concerted efforts to confront cross-border challenges, Fahmy added.

The meeting also discussed ways to strengthen military and security cooperation between the two countries.

The two sides also agreed on the need to reach political solutions to resolve various regional crises, especially in Libya and Sudan, in a way that preserves the territorial integrity of these countries and restores security and stability to their peoples, according to Fahmy.

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American private space habitat company Axiom Space is set to launch its second mission to the International Space Station (ISS) on Sunday.

"Axiom Mission 2 (Ax-2) will be Axiom Space's second all-private astronaut mission to the ISS, marking another pivotal step toward Axiom Station, the world's first commercial space station and successor to the ISS," the company wrote in its mission statement.

"The Ax-2 crew is currently scheduled to launch no earlier than May 21, 2023," it added.

Ax-2 will be the first commercial human spaceflight mission to include both private astronauts and astronauts representing foreign governments, as well as the first private mission commanded by a female.

Axiom Space's Director of Human Spaceflight Peggy Whitson, a former NASA astronaut and ISS commander, will lead the mission, and aviator John Shoffner will serve as pilot. The two mission specialists are Ali Alqarni and Rayyanah Barnawi from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA).

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch the Ax-2 crew aboard a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft to the ISS from Launch Complex 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Once docked, the Axiom Space astronauts plan to spend their time aboard the orbiting laboratory implementing a full mission consisting of science, outreach, and commercial activities.

The multinational astronaut crew of Ax-2 will conduct more than 20 different experiments while aboard the space station, made possible by Axiom Space's full-service integration into the NASA process for science and technology activities onboard the ISS.

Data collected in-flight will impact understanding of human physiology on Earth and on-orbit, as well as establish the utility of novel technologies that could be used for future human spaceflight pursuits and humankind on Earth.

Axiom Space is facilitating exciting and impactful scientific research and in-space manufacturing via its space missions, and on Axiom Station in the future, to help expand knowledge to benefit life on Earth in areas such as healthcare, materials, technology development, and enable industrial advances.
Cases of drug trafficking by air continue to rise

The amount of drugs seized via air routes has been increasingly lately, with the majority of drugs being transported from Europe, according to details given by the General Department of Vietnam Customs.



The general department noted that drug-related crimes have been diversified to feature many sophisticated methods and tricks, with the drugs being hidden in many forms as a means of evading the control of authorities.

20 kg of synthetic drugs are hidden inside cans of beer (Photo: nld.com.vn)





In early May customs officers operating at Noi Bai International Airport co-ordinated work with the Hanoi police in order to halt the transportation of 20 kg of synthetic drugs passing from the Netherlands to Vietnam. All of the drugs were hidden inside cans of beer.



An additional drug trafficking ring was also detected on May 10 with 1.37 kg of ketamine found at the bottom of lotion bottles, with the shipment being prepared to be exported to Japan.



The next day saw Noi Bai airport customs detected eight kg of synthetic drugs packaged and hidden inside mayonnaise boxes that were being transported to the country from the Czech Republic.



According to the General Department, the leaders of such drug trafficking cases are primarily Vietnamese individuals residing, studying, or working abroad, who then collaborate with partners within the country to smuggle drugs into Vietnam. They usually contact with each other via mobile apps such as WhatsApp and Instagram using fake accounts.
In celebration of International Museum Day, entry to national and art museums affiliated to the Ministry of Culture will be free on Thursday, the ministry said.

We will celebrate this day through a comprehensive programme that includes cultural and artistic events to increase public awareness about the significant role that museums play in enhancing artistic appreciation, preserving heritage, and fostering community development, Minister of Culture Nevine El-Kilany said in the statement.

Various events will be organized in museums affiliated with the sectors of fine arts and the Cultural Development Fund in Cairo and other governorates.

Museums in Cairo include those of Mohamed Mahmoud Khalil, Mahmoud Mokhtar, Hassan Heshmat, A'fet Naji Saad Al-Khadem, and Naguib Mahfouz.

In Giza, the Mohamed Nagy, Ahmed Shawky, Taha Hussein, and Mustafa Kamel, Zakaria Al-Khonany, Ayda Abdel-Karim, and Umm Kulthum museums can be visited for free.

In Alexandria, the museums include the Museum of Fine Arts and Mahmoud Said Centre for Museums.

In other governorates, museums like the El-Nasr Museum for Modern Art in Port Said, the El-Abnoudi Museum for the Hilalian Epic in Qena, and the Mansoura National Museum are open for free on Thursday.

Last year, over 37,000 museums from 158 countries and territories participated in the event.

This year's theme is "Museums, Sustainability, and Wellbeing," emphasizing the role of museums in supporting sustainable development goals.

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Mr. Durgesh Agarwal, a marketing leader turned entrepreneur, has built his industrial presence under various verticals with a focus on empowering the youth and society as a whole. Despite coming from a well-established family-owned business, he wanted to do things differently and ventured into unchartered arenas.

With the support of his family, Mr. Durgesh diversified his business into various affiliated aspects of textile, real estate, education, and philanthropy, all under one roof. His venture, DURGESH IMPEX PRIVATE LIMITED, has been powering high-quality cotton, cottonseed, cottonseed-cake, cotton crude oil, and is one of the biggest and most modern composite units in Maharashtra and Gujarat.

Moving beyond conventional real estate, he ventured into land trading and non-conventional realty, with a focus on providing high-end living and style. His projects like Shree Shakti Convention Centre, Shree Shakti Integrated Logistic and Industrial Park, Shiv Shakti Yog Kendra, The Courtyard, Ambica Upvan, and Ambica House reflect his focus on service, quality, satisfaction, and high-end living.

Apart from business, Mr. Durgesh loves to interact with budding entrepreneurs and guide and equip the youth to reach their dreams. He has created and co-powered various intellectual properties such as the Youth Parliament, Ahmedabad Design Week, and Auto De Glam with an idea to connect with the youth and ignite young minds to think and connect with the development of our nation.

Mr. Durgesh's vision is to create a balanced ecosystem by giving back to the world more than we take from it. His philanthropic initiatives include DURGESH CHILD CARE INITIATIVE, Shree Shakti Seva Kendra, and Maarg Foundation, aiming to eradicate poverty, marginalization, and social injustice and build a pathway for a better tomorrow.

In Mr. Durgesh's opinion, constant innovation is the only way to survive in the global village, where technological advancement is a daily occurrence. He strongly believes that problems and solutions are two sides of the same coin, and once you have identified your problems, you should give your power and energy to solutions.

Mr. Durgesh's journey from a marketing leader to an entrepreneur reflects his unwavering commitment to empowering the youth and society, providing high-end living and style, and giving back to the world more than we take from it.
Online lending start-up KreditBee is looking to set up physical stores to expand business and reduce loan processing time. This comes a few months after it raised $200 million in a Series D round despite the ongoing funding winter.

Since its major fund-raise in January this year, the Bengaluru-based start-up has been diversifying its digital product offerings through B2B financial products, including unsecured small and medium enterprise (SME) loans. But now it will go phygital (physical and digital), Madhusudan Ekambaram, co-founder and CEO of KreditBee told.

1,500 crore of business from other existing products, Ekambaram said. KreditBee, originally known for its personal loan products, has already launched its unsecured SME loans of ticket sizes Rs 3-7 lakh with repayment tenures of 12-36 months. This line of credit currently adds up to about Rs 30 crore of monthly business, compared to1,500 crore of business from other existing products, Ekambaram said.

The start-up was earlier offering only personal loans of up to Rs 4 lakh to salaried individuals in partnership with non-banking financial companies (NBFCs), including IIFL Finance, Northern Arc Capital, Vivriti Capital, Poonawala Fincorp, PayU Finance, and Piramal Finance, among others. The platform is on track to surpass assets under management (AUM) of $1 billion over the next few months.
The Kerala Startup Mission (KSUM) will launch one-stop destinations across the world in a bid to strengthen the ecosystem for nascent companies in the state. In a novel initiative to foster entrepreneurship, the KSUM's 'Startup Infinity' centres will also serve as launch pads for Kerala startups that are keen to explore foreign markets.

"Also enabling non-resident Indians (NRIs) to help become entrepreneurs in association with KSUM, the endeavour will be initially launched in the USA, Europe, UAE and Australia," the Startup Mission said in a release.

The Start-up Infinity programme, which aims to unite the NRI population and encourage them to launch their own businesses both abroad and in Kerala, will gain more locations based on the experience from these pilot engagements, it said.

Authorities plan to set up the Startup Infinity centres in association with global partners who will be selected through official procedures. "KSUM will soon publish on its website an open call for Expression of Interest. A KSUM expert committee will evaluate the applications, based on the scoring criteria that will take into account the expertise, knowledge and networks available with the applicants besides the quality and cost of the proposed facility," the release said.

It also said that the selected partner will have to then provide a commercial proposal along with an engagement plan that will also show the key performance indicators for a mutually-agreed contract period. KSUM will sign agreements with the selected entities to establish the Startup Infinity centres. KSUM is the nodal agency of the Kerala government for entrepreneurship development and incubation activities in the state.
New York City isnt quite ready for Titanic: The Exhibition to sail away.

A collaborative effort between Exhibition Hub, Musealia and Fever, Titanic: The Exhibition has yet again extended their successful run in Manhattan, giving you another opportunity to see the astounding collection before it travels to its next location.

Leave 2023 behind and explore the history behind a night in time that continues to grip imaginations around the world, more than 100 years after the sinking of the unsinkable ship.

A reconstruction of the hallway leading to the first class cabins at Titanic: The Exhibition. (Staten Island Advance/Jillian Delaney)

This exhibit features life-sized replicas of the Titanic, including a reconstructed hallway that leads to the first-class cabins and third-class passenger bunks, allowing you to slip into the depths of history. The free audio tour guides you through this internationally-known exhibit, lasting about 80- to 90-minutes  with the replay feature, however, you can take as much time as you like.

See letters with delicately penciled cursive on White Star Line stationary, the necklace that inspired Roses Heart of the Ocean in James Camerons Titanic, a deck chair complete with a then-complimentary White Star Line blanket and so much more. Jewelry, clothes, tools used to build the Titanic  all incredible artifacts that you could normally only see in documentaries.

The wedding band and postcard written by passenger Gerda Lindell at Titanic: The Exhibition. (Staten Island Advance/Jillian Delaney)

The curator of Titanic: The Exhibition, Claes-Goran Wetterholm, is one of the foremost authorities on the ship and its history. He has taken four trips to the resting site of the Titanic throughout the 1990s, and has authored multiple books over his 40-plus-year career, according to the website.

Titanic: The Exhibition is located at 526 6th Ave. just a couple of blocks away from Union Square Park.

General admission tickets start at $35 for those over 13 years old with senior, military and student discounts available. VIP tickets start at $45 for those over 13 years old. Tickets for children from ages 4 to 12 start at $23. For more information about tickets, click here.

More about the RMS Titanic

A surviving life jacket from a passenger of the Titanic at Titanic: The Exhibition. (Staten Island Advance/Jillian Delaney)

One of three sister ships, the Titanic was often to referred as unsinkable in its day by those who built it and those who voyaged on it. According to History, the construction of the Titanic began in 1909 and was the second of the White Star Lines Olympic line of ships, known for its luxury and size.

From the start, the Titanics title of unsinkable was flawed. Though the watertight bulkheads could be individually controlled from the bridge of the Titanic and were hailed as state of the art, the walls separating the bulkheads extended only a few feet above the water line, so water could pour from one compartment into another, especially if the ship began to list or pitch forward.

But that wasnt the only fatal error on the behalf of the Titanic: Even the movie Titanic brought up the lack of lifeboats, which couldnt hold half of the ships population of over 2,000.

Four days into the maiden voyage of the Titanic ended in tragedy when the ship hit a large iceberg on the night of April 14, 1912. The ship split in two by the force of the water cleaving it apart. By 2:20 a.m., April 15, 1912, both pieces of the ship had disappeared into the depths of the Atlantic. Only 705 people survived. They were heading to New York City.

The ship would remain undiscovered 700 nautical miles off the coast of Nova Scotia, Canada, for decades. However, on Sept. 1, 1985, Robert Ballards expedition found the two pieces of the famous ship with a submersible over 13,000 feet down in the Atlantic Ocean, as per Britannica.

The first 8K footage of the wreckage of the Titanic was retrieved during a 2022 OceanGate expedition, as seen above.

The mystery of the location of the Titanic had been solved  But the mystery of the unusual sonar readings near the Titanic only just came to an interesting conclusion this month.

The New York Post reported that in previous sonar recordings of the wreckage and the area surrounding it, it appeared that there was seemingly another wreckage of a ship not far away from the resting place of the Titanic. The sonar readings of this mysterious wreckage had higher wavelengths than that of the Titanic, implying that this wreckage was much larger than that of the two pieces of the Titanic (keep in mind that the Titanic and her sister ships were the largest ships crafted at the time).

However, during a recent OceanGate expedition, the divers found that the sonar images werent another ship wreckage, but instead a massive volcanic reef. The reef, despite its deep water conditions, is filled with various thriving corals and other sea creatures.

But if your dream is to see the Titanics wreckage in all of its glory, your time is running out.

CBS News reported that the Titanic is disappearing due to underwater conditions, and estimates it will only be a matter of decades until it is unrecognizable.

New in NYC on SILive:
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.  A former Staten Island school remained an emergency shelter for migrants Wednesday as city officials shuttered similar operations in other parts of the city.

A spokesman for Assemblyman Sam Pirozzolo (R-Mid-Island) said that the former Tompkins Avenue location of the Hungerford School in Clifton is now housing 300 people.

A City Hall spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment about the Tompkins Avenue operation, but other elected officials around the five boroughs shared information about the end of similar migrant housing efforts in their districts.

City Councilwoman Vickie Paladino (R-Queens) tweeted a statement saying a hotel in her district housing single men had been shuttered for migrant families with most of the former residents being transferred to an unspecified facility on Staten Island.

City Councilman Justin Brannan (D-Brooklyn) tweeted that migrants being housed at PS 188 in Coney Island would be moved out, and that the site would no longer be used as a temporary shelter. It had been set up at an active school where parents and community protested its use.

In addition to the temporary shelter at the former Hungerford School, which moved to the Michael J. Petrides Educational Complex last year, the city has set up emergency shelters at at least four hotels on the Island.

The Advance/SILive.com published an opinion piece from Pirozzolo on Tuesday, titled Were supporting migrants while ignoring our own, in which the assemblyman juxtaposed the citys efforts to house migrants with the death of Jordan Neely.

A former marine, Daniel Penny, allegedly killed Neely after placing him in a chokehold May 1 on a Manhattan Subway. Penny has been charged with 2nd-degree manslaughter in relation to Neelys death. Witnesses have said that Neely, a homeless man, began shouting that he was thirsty and hungry before Penny placed him in the chokehold.

I find it shockingly unfortunate that instead of helping New Yorkers like Jordan Neely, who dealt with homelessness and mental health crises, we are once again prioritizing the needs of non-citizens before our own  and our society has blood on its hands as a result, Pirozzolo wrote. Instead of treating Mr. Neely  who was arrested over 40 times  we turned our backs and allowed him to languish in the bowels of this city and, ultimately, lose his life.

On Wednesday, Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services Anne Williams-Isom held a media briefing about the current state of the migrant crisis, and said that since the beginning of 2022 the city has cared for more than 67,000 migrants, many being transported from southern states.

Almost 42,000 of those people remain in the citys care, according to Williams-Isom, who said that more than 150 emergency shelters had been opened around the five boroughs along with eight humanitarian emergency relief centers, which city officials refer to as HERCs.

She reiterated calls from officials across the city asking for more help from the state and federal levels of government.

This sets the scene for what we have been doing, and what we continue to face on a daily basis as we work together to support children, families and individuals newly arrived in New York City everyday, the deputy mayor said. Ill say it again that our state and our federal partners, we need help from you all. The city shelter capacity is full and we have exhausted options.

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STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.  With an uptick in shark sightings at Long Island beaches last summer, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced this week that the state would up its monitoring efforts heading into this years season.

Beaches at locations, like Jones Beach State Park, Robert Moses State Park and Sunken Meadow State Park will see more drones on the lookout for sharks, new Yamaha Waverunners and helicopter monitoring.

With New Yorkers and visitors alike preparing to enjoy our beautiful Long Island beaches all summer long, their safety is our top priority, Hochul said. This year we are taking further action to protect beachgoers by increasing surveillance to monitor for shark activity near beaches off the South Shore [of Long Island]. I encourage all New Yorkers to listen to local authorities, follow guidance and take precautions to ensure a safe and responsible beach trip this summer.

More staff will be trained to operated the 10 new drones added to state parks surveillance capabilities  more than doubling the eight currently  and one drone will be equipped with thermal imaging, laser range finding, and high-quality cameras to allow for night-time surveillance and patrols in adverse weather conditions. That drone will also be able to deploy personal flotation devices.

Yamaha WaveRunners will be available for lifeguards at Jones Beach and Robert Moses State Parks adding to the one already available at Sunken Meadow State Park.

There will be increased outreach efforts, additional buffer zones will be created between swimming areas and surf fishing areas in state parks, and when shark sightings occur, New York State Police Aviation will be available to respond as needed, according to Hochuls office.

The New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, Department of Environmental Conservation and the New York State Police will coordinate to increase the surveillance, according to Hochuls office.

The action being taken along the South Shore of Long Island will give us eyes in the sky and along the coastline. Over the past two seasons, weve learned that drones are the most effective mechanism to detect environmental conditions that could attribute to shark activity, New York State Parks Commissioner Erik Kulleseid said. We are expanding patrols with drones and watercraft to help prevent the rare occurrences of negative shark interactions with swimmers, surfers, surf fishermen, and boaters at our beaches.

MORE NY NEWS

Two more Staten Island hotels are now sheltering migrants, local pols say

NYC congestion pricing gets thumbs up from feds

$50 fines coming for New Yorkers who take out their trash too early

NYC minimum wage will be $16 next year, with another increase coming

Improvements to this century-old community center promise to serve Staten Island children for 100 more years
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.  In remembrance of those who have died, here is a collection of obituaries posted on SILive.com. Viewing times and guestbooks can be found here.

Anna Marie Leitch, 86, of Manchester, N.J., passed away peacefully at home on May 12, 2023. Raised in Gerritsen Beach, Brooklyn, she attended and graduated from James Madison High School. After graduation, she went on to attend the NY School of Fashion. In 1957, at the St. James Lutheran Church in Brooklyn, Anna married Donald Leitch. Together, they had their three boys, Glen D. and twins, Timothy E. and Donald S. The family eventually left Brooklyn and moved to Staten Island. For many years, Anna worked as an executive assistant to the president of New York Institute of Finance and later on, in the same capacity for Nikko and New Japan Securities in New York. In the early 90s, Anna briefly crossed paths with Ben Russell while working on Wall Street. A short time later, the couple reunited on a park bench in Staten Island. It was here that they began their lifes journey together. Anna was very much interested in photography and joined the Color Photographers Club of Staten Island. She won many awards for her photography and her work was published on the cover of two magazines and two calendars. She also won a photography contest at Staten Island Hospital and her winning photo was hung on the hospital wall. In 1997, she and Ben moved to Manchester Township. Together, they joined the Photographers Club of Lakewood and took some amazing award winning photos. They travelled all over the world taking photos. Along with photography, Anna Marie also enjoyed many hobbies and participated in numerous community organizations. Amongst all her hobbies and activities, the thing that gave her the most joy in life was her five grandchildren. She was most proud of their accomplishments and constantly bragged about them. For the full obit, click here.

Margaret Leanora Francine Cappadoro-Olson, Peggy, 82, passed away peacefully at Bethany Village Nursing Home on May 1, 2023. She was born on Staten Island and attended St. Johns Villa Academy for elementary school and high school until graduating in 1958. Peggy worked as a nurses aide while attending high school to help support her family while her father was out of work. Peggy has two sons and three grandchildren. For the full obit, click here.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.  Once a year, each high school across Staten Island selects a single student with high achievements in math and science to be considered for the honor of receiving the Michael J. Petrides Student Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science.

This year, Borough President Vito Fossella, alongside members of the Petrides family and the scholarship committee, presented this prestigious award to Tottenville High School senior Molly Ibrahim on May 16, 2023.

Tonight we highlight the young minds who have achieved a level of academic excellence that will lead them to exceptional college careers and beyond. It is an honor to present the Petrides Award to a remarkable Staten Island student. Congratulations to our winner and to all the impressive nominees, said Borough President Fossella.

Ibrahim, a student in the Science Institute Program, maintains a 106.34% grade point average, the highest in her class. She has received two previous accolades, including the 2020 Mahragan El Keraza Diocese Winner and the 2022 National African American Recognition Scholarship recipient, according to the press release. She is also an Advance Placement Scholar.

As a pre-med student at Brown University, an Ivy League school in Providence, R.I., she will major in biology come the fall semester.

Ibrahim is actively involved in the Tottenville High School community, serving as a Student Organization Senior Senator, as well as a member of the schools varsity cross country and track and field teams.

Tottenville High School senior Molly Ibrahim receives the 2023 Michael J. Petrides Student Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science on May 16, 2023. (Pete Trivelas, Office of the Staten Island Borough President)

She is also a member of the following organizations, as per the press release: the Literacy Advisory Council, New York City Youth Speaker, Borough Student Advisory Council, Minds Matter Mentee, Colors for Coats Program Coordinator, Coptic Orthodox Diocese, Youth Climate Action Coalition, Games of Change Game Exchange, Future Health Professionals, and participant of the 2022 American Mathematics Competition 12B.

For the past 28 years the MJP Student Award Committee has interviewed some of the best, brightest, and most eccentric individuals that have passed through the Staten Island educational system, Luke Petrides, a grandson of Mr. Petrides, said.

The second-place honoree is Curtis High School senior Omosefe Noruwa, and the third-place honoree is St. Joseph Hill Academy senior Anika Thakkar.

A list of other students considered is listed below, as mentioned in the press release:
Gary Sanchez can opt out of his minor-league deal on Friday, so the Mets will now decide if they want to promote the catcher.

According to SNYs Andy Martino: The team is closely evaluating him in preparation for a decision about whether to promote him.

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With Tomas Nido and Omar Narvaez on the injured list, the Mets are relying on rookie starter Francisco Alvarez. Hes currently backed up by Michael Perez, who made the roster after Nido landed on the injured list. That means a Perez-Sanchez swap could make sense for the Mets.

The Mets signed Sanchez to a minor-league deal last week and in six games with Triple-A Syracuse, hes slashing .300/.500/.550.

He had signed a minor-league deal with the San Francisco Giants in March, but was cut after posting a .164/.319/.182 slash line in Triple-A. In 13 games, he had no home runs and only eight RBI in 55 at-bats. He also struck out 19 times.

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Sanchez, 30, won a Silver Slugger award and was a two-time All-Star teams in his six seasons with the Yankees, but he still fell short of expectations and couldnt live down his reputation as a defensive liability. After being traded to the Twins, he batted .205/.282/.377 with 16 home runs and 61 RBI in 128 games last season, then became a free agent.
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Pope Tawadros II, the Pope of Alexandria and head of the Coptic Orthodox Church, expressed joy after meeting with the Archbishop of the Roman Catholic Church Monsignor Mario Delpini at the headquarters of the Archdiocese of Milan on Tuesday.

Tawadros's visit to the archdiocese came as part of his visit to the Vatican to commemorate 50 years of relations between the Coptic Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic Church.

Pope Tawadros II praised Archdiocese of Milan's rich history, profound testimony and its benevolent Christian message.

For his part, Archbishop Delpini expressed his admiration for the Coptic Church's dedication to the welfare of children."

"The Coptic Church strives to take care of its youth and to raise a pious generation that serves the Church as well as society," Tawadros said.

Last week, Tawadros met with Pope Francis in the Vatican.

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Tabcorp has thrown its hat in the ring for the broadcast rights to the Melbourne Cup in a potential $100 million-plus five-year deal, which would give the wagering giant the global and local rights to stream the race that stops the nation.

The local television rights are held by Ten, which agreed to pay $100 million over a five-year period in 2018 to outbid previous broadcaster Seven West Media.

The local television rights for the Melbourne Cup are currently held by Ten. Credit: Getty Images

Sources close to the negotiations confirmed to this masthead that Tabcorp had begun negotiations with the Victoria Racing Club regarding taking over the rights when Tens deal expires at the end of the year, as first reported by The Australian. Tabcorp declined to comment.

Victoria Racing Club Chief Steve Rosich said in a statement the rights process for the 2024 Melbourne Cup carnival was confidential.
Cannes: Johnny Depp says he doesnt feel boycotted by Hollywood, but that he has no further need for it.

Depp made a rare public appearance on Wednesday at the Cannes Film Festival to face questions from the press after the opening night premiere of Jeanne du Barry, in which he plays King Louis XV. The French film, directed by and starring Maiwenn and featuring a French-speaking Depp, is the actors first film since a jury last year largely sided with him in his legal battle with ex-wife Amber Heard.

Pauline Pollmann, Johnny Depp and Maiwenn in Cannes on Wednesday. Credit: Getty Images

Part of Depps argument in that 2022 defamation trial was that he had lost work due to Heards allegations. Heard was ordered to pay Depp $10 million in damages, vindicating his allegations that Heard lied about Depp abusing her before and during their brief marriage. Heard was also awarded $2 million.

Did I feel boycotted by Hollywood? Youd have to not have a pulse to feel like, No. None of this is happening. Its a weird joke, Depp told reporters in Cannes. When youre asked to resign from a film youre doing because of something that is merely a function of vowels and consonants floating in the air, yes, you feel boycotted.
Save Log in , register or subscribe to save articles for later. Save articles for later Add articles to your saved list and come back to them any time. Got it Normal text size Larger text size Very large text size Over the last half decade, Yaeji has been a favourite of the underground club scene. From the thumping dance floor starter Raingurl to a sweet cover of Drakes Passionfruit to a feature with British hyperpop star Charli XCX, the Korean-American producers knack for beats, married with her unique visual aesthetics and bilingual lyricism, marks her as an artist with a clear, singular vision. When we speak on Zoom, the 29-year-old is in Atlanta, Georgia, having a night off before performing a show in the city. Its a full-circle moment for the artist born Kathy Yaeji Lee: Atlanta is the place where, as a small child in the 90s, she escaped through magical girl anime shows such as Sailor Moon. At one point, it was more real than reality to me, she says. The sweet visuals of these shows starkly contrasts their sometimes violent and disturbing content. That dichotomy directly influenced Yaejis debut album With a Hammer, which similarly mashes cute and colourful imagery with darker themes. Yaeji uses an anthropomorphic hammer as a metaphor for her own anger  an emotion she felt for the first time in her life during lockdown. She harnessed the unfamiliar feeling to create this album: a bold splash of sound and colour that unpacks a lifetime of suppressed rage. When anger first surfaced for me, it felt very shocking and jarring, and thats what made me believe that I had never truly felt angry before in my life, Yaeji remembers. I was mostly in my room and didnt have much to distract myself with, and thats when a lot of the things that I havent given the space or time to process started bubbling up. A big part of it was all these memories of my childhood  and I felt angry because I finally felt that I had been wronged. When anger first surfaced for me, it felt very shocking and jarring, says Yaeji. Credit: Dasom Han This feeling  which Yaeji identifies as han, a Korean concept fusing anger, resentment and sorrow  stemmed from remembering, and then unpacking, the loneliness of growing up as an outsider. The only daughter of Korean immigrants, Yaeji was born in Queens, New York City in 1993. At the age of five, she moved with her family to a predominantly white suburban neighbourhood where they literally did not know what Korea was in Atlanta. The family uprooted again a few years later, moving back to South Korea, where the young girl moved schools constantly. It was a restless adolescence. I was bullied most of my childhood, so experiencing that, and being introverted and shy and then going to Korea where I didnt fit in because I was more Americanised and feeling alienated even though everyone looks like me  I think all of those examples accumulated to me just not speaking up and choosing to suppress it, because that felt easier and not disruptive to my family, she recalls.

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Shes finally, gloriously speaking up now; in many ways, With a Hammer is an extended hand to Yaejis inner child. Do you know that that person is still inside of you waiting for you to notice? she sings on Passed Me By. Its about the moment I realised my younger self was with me this whole time, looking at me, but I always looked away and now I finally have the courage to look her in the eyes, the musician says about the song. The album relies just as heavily on visual cues as aural ones; Yaeji comes from a visual art background herself. The hammer is brought to life through a fantastical comic strip drawn by Korean visual artist Seong Ryul and distributed in a limited run of zines; in the video for For Granted, Yaeji uses the hammer to smash up a room. The visual story helped shape the albums vision and sound  the two artists met once a week, with Ryul drawing as Yaeji shared her dreams. I realised that I could world-build and make a story first, and if I do that, every time I go to the studio and write music, I can just write music from that place, the artist says. There came a point where everything became more clear to me. With a Hammer explores themes such as intergenerational trauma  on the pulsing single Done (Lets Get It), she sings, Break the cycles, make it make you mend the cycles. The music video features Yaejis 89-year-old grandfather, who also starred in her clip for What We Drew, the title track from her first mixtape, in 2020. Hes a crucial part of how the song came to be. My grandpa practically raised me He would cook for me and every dinner he would say, eat faster in this way that was honestly violent. I would choke on my food, she says. I have this dog, Jiji, who feels kind of like my child and I am literally saying the same thing to her. One day I clocked that and was absolutely shocked.

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The transmission of trauma or negative patterns is a common experience for children of the diaspora, and the track unpicks those feelings and explores a different path forward. If I recognise this now, theres no reason for me to not end it here, Yaeji says. The whole energy of that song to me is very powerful and positive, even though it is dealing with a heavier theme underneath. My message that I want to share is that we have the power, and we can do it if we recognise it. The DJs debut With a Hammer has earned global acclaim. Sonically, the album is an eclectic mishmash of genres and sounds  flutes, breakbeats, synths and saxophones sprawl across its 13 tracks. Over the two years that she was composing these tracks, Yaeji was rediscovering music from her childhood. She was particularly fascinated by Seo Taiji, the 90s K-pop pioneer who popularised the merging of Korean sensibilities with popular Western music elements. There was a phase where he was essentially making Korean hip-hop  it was definitely influenced by American hip-hop from before he made it but it still carries a different  just everything  because its in Korean, she says. His voice is really high-pitched and his flow is really interesting. Everything about it was striking. I know I heard this music when I was growing up, but looking at it and listening to it again, it was just different. Throughout her career, Yaeji has sung in both Korean and English, which continues on this album. For non-Korean listeners, the meaning of these verses is obscured; in this way, the language is reclaimed away from the Western gaze. What began, at first, as a symptom of introversion has become another tool in Yaejis musical kit. Loading In the beginning, it was just so that my friends who arent Korean couldnt understand what I was saying because I felt shy about singing about something specific, the artist says. Along the way, I learned that Korean is very angular, and phonetically and rhythmically so interesting as an instrument, and so it became a very vital instrument to my production.

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Eating outVivid Sydney Family pays tribute to acclaimed artist John Olsen with special Vivid dinner Youre invited to join the family in celebrating one of John Olsens proudest achievements at harbourside restaurant, Ploos. Bianca Hrovat May 17, 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 the legendary landscape paintings of late Australian artist John Olsen light up the sails of the Sydney Opera House for Vivid Festival, his family will gather for a multi-course dinner at harbourside restaurant Ploos. John had signed on to celebrate the landmark animated projection of Life Enlivened from the restaurants Rocks vantage point just two weeks before he died on April 11, aged 95. Chef Peter Conistis, with Louise and Tim Olsen at Ploos restaurant. Brook Mitchell Son and gallerist Tim Olsen organised the dinner, mindful John had always loved the idea of how art and food could come together as an overall sensory experience. [I wanted] to bring dad in to watch the Opera House light up over a beautiful meal, [as that was] something he enjoyed doing his whole life.

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He believed that art should look as delicious as food, and he liked the idea that sometimes his art looked edible. Tim Olsen While John was best known for his vibrant aerial depictions of the Australian landscape, he was also a keen cook who cut his teeth in the kitchens of Ibiza and Deia in Spain. Mediterranean cuisine was Johns speciality and he dominated the kitchen at his Watsons Bay home, where hed cook paella for celebrity friends Barry Humphries and Sidney Nolan. He believed that art should look as delicious as food, and he liked the idea that sometimes his art looked edible, Tim says. I really miss his cooking.

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Chef Peter Conistis, with Louise and Tim Olsen will gather to celebrate John Olsens Vivid Festival display at Ploos. Brook Mitchell In his fathers absence, the family made the difficult decision to push ahead with the dinner. Tim says its an opportunity for friends, family and fans alike to celebrate John and his achievements, with great conversation, great speeches and a visual phantasmagoria of colour. Chairman of Destination NSW, Sally Loane, will be conducting an intimate Q&A with Tim and Johns daughter Louise Olsen during the event. This isnt a tragedy, its a celebration, Tim says, describing how proud John felt when watching his landscapes come to lifein a smaller-scale animation of the VIVID display, sent by collaborators Curiious. Even though he had lost his ability to speak, he had tears rolling down his face. For him, it was a wonderful display.

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As it will appear: Life Enlivened on the Sydney Opera House sails. Destination NSW Ploos head chef Peter Conistis says adapting the shared, feasting menu to pay homage to John has been an honour. The menu will feature regional Greek dishes such as lamb shank boureki with sour cherries and herbs and kataifi tart with whipped feta and candied eggplant. Therell be lots of mezze grazing as I was told that was Johns favourite way of eating, Conistis says. The chef incorporated some of Johns favourites, like taramasalata and bougatsa (a type of custard pastry), into the menu. Particular care will be taken with the plating of the dishes to pay a subtle homage to Johns joyously colourful aesthetic. He was an absolute icon, Conistis says.

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Miners have lifted the Australian sharemarket out of a three-day slump, helped by a rally on Wall Street overnight after US President Joe Biden said he was confident the country will not default.

The S&P/ASX 200 was up 37.6 points, or 0.5 per cent, to 7236.8 at the close as all sectors except consumer stocks, healthcare and REITS weighed the index.

Miners helped lift the ASX out of a three-day slump today. Credit: Peter Braig

Fortescue (up 1 per cent), Rio Tinto (up 1.6 per cent) and BHP (up 1.2 per cent) gained after the iron ore price climbed 3 per cent overnight, while lithium miners including Mineral Resources (up 5.5 per cent) and Allkem (up 3 per cent) also rose. Lynas Rare Earths added 2.9 per cent.

Information technology companies (up 2.7 per cent) also jumped, with accounting software company Xero gaining 8.5 per cent despite reporting a net loss of $NZ113.5 million ($106.5 million) for the 2023 financial year.

Consumer discretionary (down 0.4 per cent) and healthcare (down 0.5 per cent) were among the worst-performing sectors.

For all the lifters and laggards, read Millie Murois full markets wrap here.
The United Nations torture watchdog has urged Australia to end its inhumane, indefinite detention of asylum seekers and immigrants and make reparations for historical human rights abuses.

UN special rapporteur on torture Alice Edwards said Australia and the United Kingdom were outliers in not setting time limits on immigration detention.

UN special rapporteur on torture Alice Edwards says Labor is responsible for Australias record on inhumane refugee policy. Credit: Cordula Treml

Figures released in March showed the average stint in detention in this country is 780 days, more than two years.

Edwards, who was both the first woman and first Australian appointed to the role, called for urgent action and said Labor was responsible for the longstanding policy.
Doctors in Nigerian public hospitals on Wednesday kicked off a five-day strike to demand better conditions, leading to health care being shut for many patients.

The strike by the resident doctors became necessary after the governments refusal to increase their salaries and pay arrears owed some of their members as well as to invest more in hospitals, according to Dr. Innocent Orji, president of the Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors, or NARD.

Although the current work stoppage doesn't affect specialist doctors or nurses, medical residents make up the bulk of health care workers in Nigerian government hospitals.

Such strikes are also common with the public health sector lacking sufficient funding for many years despite the countrys huge earnings as Africas biggest economy and top oil producer.

Critics, meanwhile, point to the vast disparity between the government hospitals treating most Nigerians and the medical care abroad that is available to the countrys elite, including Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari, who often travels to the UK for medical care.

Amid Nigeria's current economic crisis, the doctors in April threatened to go on strike but we have not seen any positive sign from the government, Orji told The Associated Press.

The government has not called us to the negotiation table. Instead, what we have been getting is threats upon threats, he said, adding that the warning strike could be extended if talks with the government fail to improve.

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The bus company director praised both his driver and the quick response of the schools staff. Without their actions, the outcome could have been significantly worse, he said. Loading Eight children suffered life-threatening injuries and another eight were seriously injured in the crash on the suburban border between Eynsebury and Exford about 40 km west of Melbourne on Tuesday afternoon. Truck driver Jamie Gleeson, of Balliang East between Geelong and Bacchus Marsh, has been charged with several counts of dangerous driving causing serious injury after the crash.

Dr Claire Wilkins, a field emergency medical officer and paediatric emergency physician at the Royal Childrens Hospital and St Vincents Hospital, rushed to the crash site. She had just arrived at the Royal Childrens Hospital when she was paged about the incident. She supports Ambulance Victoria, brings equipment to patients, makes rapid assessments about who first responders can manage at the site, and determines where patients should go. By the time she had arrived, it was a well-organised scene. The Country Fire Authority, State Emergency Service, police and ambulance were already there. She was there for about two hours and cared for 20 to 30 patients, mostly young people with wounds that needed to be irrigated or dressed.

Sore limbs that needed to be splinted. Some pain relief, and then prioritising moving people on to a sort of warmer, more comfortable environment, Wilkins said. Loading I think its always challenging when theres young children involved. Wilkins said most children were wearing seatbelts, which helped prevent more significant injuries. The Victorian government will investigate the bus crash to determine if changes need to be made to keep children safe.

Premier Daniel Andrews said on Thursday morning that it was important to establish what happened and then learn from it. I think we owe that to everybody who has been caught up in this, he said. [The government will take a] close look and see whether there is more that we can do to keep a different and better system to keep our kids safe. Andrews said there were practical challenges with mandating seatbelts on buses, citing the difficulty in putting the onus of responsibility on drivers to ensure all passengers were wearing them.

Andrews also thanked the bystanders who helped the children trapped in the crumpled bus. So often, at the worst of times we see the best of people, he said. People stepping in and doing amazing stuff, and Im proud of them. Seven children remain in stable condition at the Royal Childrens Hospital. Six children were rushed to Sunshine Hospital, but four were later discharged. Two boys remain there in stable condition. Road Policing Assistant Commissioner Glenn Weir said that although the driver had been charged, the polices really complex investigation was just beginning.

Loading He said it could result in the driver receiving more charges, with a range of possibilities as to what those could be. Weir said there was a trend of road trauma in growth corridors. Two years ago we saw some significant trauma in Casey and Cardinia, he said. We know [that planning] road infrastructure with local governments and state governments is really important.

It does sometimes concern me that we do sometimes just lump great big housing estates without the infrastructure around it. But Weir said he didnt think that was the case in this incident. There was one crash near the same intersection two years ago, but Weir said it wasnt serious and police werent aware of particular issues with the intersection. After every serious injury or fatal collision, police liaise with local government about potential fixes, and Weir said residents with concerns about the road could speak to local MPs and councillors.

Weir said police were investigating seatbelt use on the bus, but didnt want to retraumatise the children in their investigation. He clarified that bus drivers are exempt from enforcing seatbelt use, and said it was more important they focused on the road rather than ensuring 45 children were buckled in. Unless there is a seatbelt monitor on a bus, [but] thats a difficult thing, he said. Police from the major collision investigation unit examine a truck and Exford Primary School bus crash Credit: Jason South The trucking company whose driver is accused of causing the crash issued a statement on Thursday morning, saying their hearts go out to everyone involved, especially the children and their families. L&J Cartage described itself as a small, family-owned business that has operated for 30 years, and said 49-year-old driver Gleeson was a father of two. A spokesperson said Gleeson had 20 years experience driving trucks and had been with the company for more than 15 years. We are deeply shocked and saddened at what has happened.

Gleeson, of Balliang East, faced Melbourne Magistrates Court via a video link from a suburban police station on Wednesday. Loading The court heard more than 40 students were on the bus when it was struck from behind on Exford Road, pushing it sideways before it tipped onto a grass shoulder at the intersection with Murphys Road in Eynesbury, about 3.55pm on Tuesday. Exford Road has a speed limit of 80km/h. Nine children were trapped in the bus, the court heard. In addition to the serious and life-threatening injuries, 30 others were described as walking wounded at the scene. I tried to take evasive action. I couldnt, Gleeson reportedly told police.

If I couldve swerved around it, I wouldve. The court heard he called triple zero, helped children out of the bus and identified himself to the police. Prosecutor Ben Kerlin said more charges might be laid following a reconstruction of the scene. Gleeson has been granted bail on the condition he resides at his home and does not leave Victoria. He is also banned from contacting witnesses for the prosecution or driving a heavy vehicle.
The developer behind an Avondale Heights retirement village that flooded in last years Maribyrnong River deluge has applied to further expand the number of homes by the river, prompting calls for the plan to be blocked by the Victorian government.

The flood at the Rivervue retirement village is at the centre of a political storm engulfing the Andrews government and Melbourne Water  which made possible construction on the land, formerly designated as flood-prone.

Rivervue resident Joanne Heaver, who remains locked out of her retirement village home, wants the new development plans to be squashed. Credit: Darrian Traynor

Rivervue residents, who never expected to be inundated and fear a future disaster, are demanding compensation for their devalued homes. They and the state opposition are also calling for the state to step in to prevent further development while Melbourne Water and parliamentary flood inquiries run their course.

This week The Age revealed Melbourne Water ignored advice to declare a potential perceived conflict of interest surrounding its inquiry into Octobers flood. Emails also show a state ministers office and the water department vetted a Melbourne Water statement to The Age, casting doubt on the inquirys independence.
President Joe Bidens decision to cancel his visit to Australia for the Quad meeting comes across as a calculated snub to a friend and a gift to a rival that regrettably raises doubts about the United States as a reliable partner.

Biden has dropped his first presidential trip to Australia to return home for final negotiations with congressional leaders in Washingtons regular debt-ceiling pantomime. He will, however, attend a three-day summit of G7 leaders in Japan starting on Friday but preferred to skip planned diplomatic visits to Australia and Papua New Guinea.

Joe Biden and Anthony Albanese meeting on the sidelines of the East Asia Summit in Cambodia last year. Credit: James Brickwood

Bidens pull-out is certainly something of a personal and public slap-in-the-face for Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. He had staked much on the visit. Sitting down with a trio of world power politicians at the Quad meeting at the Sydney Opera House could have countered the naysayers within Labor upset at his governments fulsome embrace of the US world view and provided tangible public proof Australia had at last been welcomed to the top table. Not only that, the US, Japan and Indian leaders were coming to pay homage in his own home town. And it coincided with the first anniversary of his election. The president was also going to address a joint sitting of parliament.

When it went belly up, Albanese said initially the government was in discussions with Tokyo and New Delhi about Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modis plans to travel to Australia but they then decided a Tri aint quite a Quad and scrapped the meeting.
Tens of thousands of public sector healthcare workers will demand a one-year 6.5 per cent pay bump before a looming dispute with the new Labor government is de-escalated, in the first major test of Premier Chris Minnss key election commitment to overhauling wages in the state.

As paramedics and patient transport officers join forces to implement statewide 24-hour bans in a show of force by workers on Thursday, powerful Health Services Union boss Gerard Hayes has written to Minns laying out six demands by which the current dispute can be de-escalated.

HSU NSW Secretary Gerard Hayes will demand a 6.5 per cent pay increase for health care workers amid increasing cost of living pressures. Credit: Flavio Brancaleone

The letter, seen by the Herald, reveals the HSU is seeking a 6 per cent pay increase for its 47,000 members, as well as a 0.5 per cent superannuation bump, when the unions current agreement expires on July 1.

While less than the most recent inflation figure of 7 per cent, the pay demand is still well above the previous governments 3 per cent wages cap, and would likely spur other unions to seek a similar increase. Industrial agreements covering 200,000 public sector workers are due to expire at the end of June.
Warren, Rhode Island: A near 150-year-old stained-glass church window that depicts a dark-skinned Jesus Christ interacting with women in New Testament scenes has stirred up questions about race, Rhode Islands role in the slave trade and the place of women in 19th century New England society.

The window installed at the long-closed St Marks Episcopal Church in Warren in 1878 is the oldest known public example of stained-glass on which Christ is depicted as a person of colour that one expert has seen.

A detail of a near 150-year-old stained-glass window depicts Christ, left, speaking to a Samaritan woman, installed in the now-closed St Marks Episcopal church in Warren, Rhode Island. Credit: AP

This window is unique and highly unusual, said Virginia Raguin, a professor of humanities emerita at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts, and an expert on the history of stained-glass art. I have never seen this iconography for that time.

The 3.7-metre tall, 1-metre wide window depicts two biblical passages in which women, also painted with dark skin, appear as equals to Christ. One shows Christ in conversation with Martha and Mary, the sisters of Lazarus, from the Gospel of Luke. The other shows Christ speaking to the Samaritan woman at the well from the Gospel of John.
Washington: A few hours before US President Joe Biden announced he had pulled the plug on a much-anticipated visit to Australia, one of our biggest allies in the US Congress, AUKUS caucus chairman Joe Courtney, neatly summed up why this trip mattered.

Never understate the importance of physical presence, the Democrat congressman told me.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and US President Joe Biden at a naval base in San Diego in March. Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

For the people of Australia, its important for us officials to be in the region in person  to demonstrate the real commitment to all of our friends who are really working hard to protect our shared values and interests.

Bidens decision to cut short the latter part of his overseas trip to resume talks on the US debt crisis comes across as a snub to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, does not reflect well on Americas reliability as a partner and is a potent reminder that, when it comes to the US, domestic politics trumps everything.
Wellington: New Zealand Police have opened a homicide investigation into the deadly fire at Loafers Lodge in Wellington, which they believe was caused by arson, with fears the number killed in the blaze may still climb.

Acting Wellington District Commander Dion Bennett said police had a list of people of interest with whom they wished to speak while warning the death toll could be higher than the six confirmed so far.

Fire Service staff survey roof damage the day after a fire at Loafers Lodge. Credit: Getty

My gut feeling is yes, it may climb, he said on Wednesday.

The 92-room Wellington hostel caught fire in the early hours of Tuesday, prompting a frenzied evacuation. Deportee advocate Filipa Payne, of the advocacy group Route 501, said the lodge frequently housed people recently deported from Australia under section 501 of the Migration Act.
Westward Gold hunting for Elephants in Nevada

1. Introduction

It isna?t very easy these days for junior explorers to go for large discoveries, as most of the low hanging fruit is long gone by now. Significant deposits can still be found, but geologists have to be very creative and inventive, to come up with new exploration concepts, for example using glacial till sampling, re-interpreting old data, or conceptualizing potential mineralization under cover. Westward Gold Inc. (WG.CSE) has been developing this particular last strategy at their Toiyabe Project in Nevada, on the prolific Cortez Trend, hoping to find another analogy of the nearby 10 Moz Au Cortez Hills mine, or the underground portion of the Carlin complex (Portal Mines, Leeville) at depth, which generated over 15Moz Au for Nevada Gold Mines.

Westward built their current land position firstly by acquiring and consolidating underexplored, prospective ground on trend and in close proximity to both past-producing and operating mines, followed by building out an experienced team of geologists a some of whom had a hand in the original discovery of these world-class deposits. Both historical and Westward-led drilling seems to indicate that this tiny junior has a decent chance at finding potentially significant mineralization at depth, and this article will elaborate on why this could be the case. A A

All pictures are company material, unless stated otherwise.

All currencies are in US Dollars, unless stated otherwise.

Please note: the views, opinions, estimates, forecasts or predictions regarding Westward Golda?s resource potential are those of the author alone and do not represent views, opinions, estimates, forecasts or predictions of Westward or Westwarda?s management. Westward Gold has not in any way endorsed the views, opinions, estimates, forecasts or predictions provided by the author.

2. Company

Westward Gold Inc. (WG.CSE) is an emerging gold exploration company focused primarily on advancing the Toiyabe, Turquoise Canyon, and East Saddle Projects in the Cortez Hills area of Lander County, Nevada, along the prolific Battle Mountain-Eureka Trend. The company assembled these fully-contiguous properties over the last couple of years, and it now controls a dominant land package in the region, comprised of 463 claims covering over 3,830ha. The properties benefit from favourable host rocks, significant drill intercepts, a historical resource, permits in hand, and a robust pipeline of untested exploration targets.

The projects are on trend with some of the largest deposits in the world (for example Cortez Hills, Goldrush, Pipeline), in one of the most attractive jurisdictions for mining investment. Westward also recently bolstered their portfolio with the strategic acquisition of 2 additional properties along the Carlin Trend (the Coyote and Rossi Projects), where it is one of few junior companies present in an area dominated by Nevada Gold Mines (Barrick / Newmont Joint Venture).

Westward Gold is led by founder, President and CEO Colin Moore, and co-founder and CFO Andrew Nelson. Mr. Moore (BSc Mining Eng., MBA) is a mining corporate finance professional with 15 years of industry experience spanning engineering, investment banking, and private equity. Most recently, he was a co-founder and director of Momentum Minerals (together with CFO Nelson), which was acquired by Westward Gold in July of 2021. Prior to that, he held positions on the investment teams of leading mining-focused private equity funds, first as a Vice President at Waterton and later at Pacific Road Capital. He also previously worked as an investment banker with Bank of Montreala?s Metals and Mining team.

Mr. Nelson (CPA) is an accounting and corporate finance professional with a decade of experience in mining and natural resources. He previously worked on the investment banking team at Dundee Securities, advising on merger and acquisitions for global mining companies through all phases of their development cycle, from greenfield exploration through to production. Following that, he was part of the team at Dundee Goodman Merchant Partners, a leading mining-focused merchant bank, where he was responsible for analyzing early-stage public mining ventures. He also worked as a financial auditor for Grant Thornton LLP and Davidson & Company LLP, auditing large, mid-tier, and small-cap mining companies.A

Colin and Andrew are supported by VP Exploration David Browning (MSc Geology), with a wealth of experience working on Nevada gold projects, specifically designing exploration programs at projects along the Carlin, Battle Mountain-Eureka, and Walker Lane Trends. Management also reaps the benefits of a very experienced Board of Directors, and heavyweight technical advisors. Chairman Mark Monaghan (BA, BC) is a finance professional with 30 years of experience with global investment and merchant banks. Director David Kelley (MSc Geology and Geochemistry) is a geologist and geochemist with 30 years of exploration experience (Newmont, BHP, Gold Standard); he was directly involved in the discovery of several deposits around the world, and was responsible for developing the exploration program at Las Bambas.

It gets really interesting when looking at Westwarda?s advisory team, among them Steven Koehler, Richard Bedell and Terry Salman. Koehler was involved in no less than 11 Carlin-type gold discoveries along the Carlin- and Battle Mountain-Eureka trends in Nevada, of which 6 are now producing mines. He received the 2005 Thayer Lindsley award for his role in the original Cortez Hills discovery (10Moz+ Au). Bedell led the discovery of Long Canyon, which was ultimately sold to Newmont for $2.3B. Salman needs no introduction, as he was the founder of well-known Salman Partners, a broker specialized in financing exploration and mining companies. Westward will undoubtedly benefit from his excellent access to a large network of investors, funds and financiers.

The company started trading on the CSE under their current ticker, name and management in October 2021. Drilling at their flagship Toiyabe project started in Q2, 2022, and the results that came out last summer werena?t bad, but not enough to fend off the selling that took place across the sector in H2, 2022. Fortunately, with the gold price picking up steam again in 2023, the rising tide lifted all boats, and Westward has been no exception:

The company commenced drilling again this spring, and is awaiting drill results, also from depth where a potential new mineralized zone was targeted. Investors have been buying in anticipation of these results, as the upside for this tiny nanocap is colossal. The chart seems to have digested the December 16, 2022 6.875M PP shares of C$0.08 coming out of lockup in April pretty well, I wondered if there was some C$0.12 warrant conversion going on already? CFO Nelson stated, aWe anticipate a significant portion of these in-the-money warrants may get exercised in the near future and act as a built-in financing mechanism. We also have the ability to accelerate conversion if we trade above C$0.20/share for 10 consecutive days.a

Westward Gold has a reasonably tight number of 83.07M shares outstanding, which results at a share price of C$0.16 in a market cap of C$13.29M, and trades at a significant daily volume of 487,950 shares. There are 36.4M warrants outstanding (average strike price C$0.19, most of them expiring in 2025), and 5.6M options (average strike price C$0.18, most of them expiring in 2026). Management (CEO Moore put in C$150k for 2.4%, CFO Nelson has invested C$400k of his own money for 5%), along with the BoD and advisors hold 20.6% of the company, Starcore 4.7%, EMX Royalty 3.6%, Toiyabe vendor MinQuest 2.8%, First Mining Gold 5.4% and Keith Neumeyer 2.0% of outstanding shares.

Management expects to attract some well-known names if current drilling is successful, as the story has already been brought to the attention of institutional investors, and might uplist in the future to attract even more instos. For example, well-known fund Crescat Capital has already been following the story closely and could buy a substantial position if they like what they see. The current cash position is about C$500k, sufficient for ongoing programs in place; management estimates a new raise sometime in the near future in order to fund additional 2023 Phase II drilling guided by the upcoming results.

3. Projects

Of Westward Golda?s 5 gold exploration properties in Nevada, Toiyabe is the flagship and will therefore be predominantly discussed in this article, and by far the most advanced, as it has seen advanced exploration activities leading to a small historical resource of 173koz of gold at 1.2 g/t (2009), whereas Turquoise Canyon and East Saddle havena?t seen drilling yet. Of interest are also the Carlin Claims shown below, recently picked up for a song prior to the run-up in gold (US$20k, 600k shares and NSRs).

Westward Gold is earning into the Toiyabe project for a 100% ownership, and the last obligation is a US$300k cash payment to the vendor due on or before October 15th of this year. The 2023 Phase I drill program was operated by EMX Royalties (EMX.V), the result of a creative deal whereby EMX made a strategic equity investment in Westward, and provided subsidized drilling services in exchange for the granting of royalty buyback rights at Toiyabe and Turquoise Canyon, along with the conditional future granting of royalties on those projects if EMX elects to exercise those rights in the future (for US$3M on Toiyabe and US$1M on Turquoise Canyon, paid to the royalty holders). Recently-completed diamond drillhole T2301 went to a total depth of ~612 meters (one of the deepest ever on the property) and targeted a brand new zone of potential mineralization.

The historical resource is located close to the small past-producing Toiyabe-Saddle mine (89koz @ 1.24g/t Au production over 1988-1993), which is now controlled by Barrick.

Toiyabe already has seen quite a bit of exploration in the past, predominantly concentrated around the near-surface historical resource. That historical resource estimate (2009) had an average grade of 1.2g/t Au, which is elevated by current Nevada standards, and the system is known to produce high-grade zones, like 6m @ 12.85g/t Au, 4.6m @ 10.9g/t Au and 3m @ 26.6g/t Au, all located along faults. When drilling deeper into these faults, it was found that the mineralized zones widened, with the grades trending down. Still the gold had to come from somewhere.

A 2009 hole intercepting a structurally disturbed zone with a result of 13.1m @ 4g/t Au was the first indication of the potential existence of a feeder structure at depth. A 2016 drill program targeting this deeper deformation zone hit 40m @ 1.3g/t Au including 3m @ 3.1g/t Au, suggesting the presence of a deep disseminated zone that is typical of Carlin-type deposits in Nevada and warranted further exploration. Westward Gold undertook its own 13 hole 3,850m drill program in 2022 after analyzing lots of historical cores including pretty advanced methods I never heard of, like hyperspectral core imaging, and the results, although not very spectacular (50.3m @ 0.34g/t Au, 13.7m @ 0.59g/t Au, 6 other holes hitting grades of 0.14-0.34g/t Au), confirmed the belief of management and advisors of potential at depth.

Technical advisor and Carlin Trend expert Steven Koehler commented:

aSignificant Carlin-type gold discoveries that Ia?ve been involved with a including Leeville, Pete Bajo, Turf, and Rita K a have often been preceded by the drilling of thick, lower-grade gold zones. This asmokea, exemplified by T2210, is a common characteristic of larger gold systems. Westward has taken a systematic approach to early-stage exploration, and as the database of geological knowledge continues to grow, so does the potential to vector into a meaningful deposit.a

The overall concept he has in mind, resembles the nearby Carlin Complex underground deposits, owned and operated by Nevada Gold Mines, with the combination of drill result data and the existing small historic resource located on top of the upper plate rock (historic deposit conceptualized in green square below) together being an analogous expression of a mineralized stratigraphy that runs much deeper over an extensive strike length:

Westward geologists and advisors believe they have identified the right layered types of rocks at Toiyabe, with the right orientation, as visualized in the following section:

The interesting part here is that the historic resource was found on top of a thick upper plate without clear faults which could have served as precipitation channels. The Westward team identified various units of the Devonian Wenban at Toiyabe, and Wenban 5, one of the key host rocks at the nearby Goldrush and Fourmile deposits, is also one of the host rocks of the historical resource.

The Carlin Complex string of deposits doesna?t have any meaningful amount of gold sitting on top of such upper plate rocks, with Carlin type gold deposits gold usually being epithermally deposited in different carbonate or silicate sedimentary rocks. The purple Dw zones visualized in the section above is such a carbonate layer, and the deeper mineralization is hosted in what Westward is calling the SSD zone and is the current focus of attention. The working theory of the geologists and advisors is, that since more gold than usual was deposited on top of the upper plate, there could be substantial gold below this plate, in the carbonate layer. Very few holes have gone deep enough to fully develop the stratigraphic model of the property, which is complex, but the Westward team has already spun it on its head. Results from T2301 will offer key geological data to continue to improve on the interpreted cross-section and generate additional high-priority targets.

T2301 was a deep vertical 295m northeast step-out drill hole going to 612m depth and was recently completed, targeting deep mineralization. It was located 150m northeast of the intersection of the Roberts Mountains Trust and the Diamond Fault, as these intersections of northeast and northwest structures are known to be strong mineralization controls in deposits along the Carlin and Battle Mountain a Eureka Gold Trends in Nevada:

The news release of April 26 showed the assay results for the first 244m, intercepting gold near surface, in line with earlier results, with results for the remainder of the hole expected before the end of May.

The remaining 368m of core in with the labs, and as turnaround times are relatively short, management expects results to be reported 1-2 weeks from now. On a side note: Westward shipped samples from this hole in 3 batches, because of staff scheduling, and simply wanting to get the samples to the labs as soon as possible.

Steven Koehler was optimistic again as he saw confirmation of the companya?s theory in these results: aUpper plate gold occurrences along major Nevada gold trends typically form above a or just slightly outboard from a larger, lower plate gold occurrences. Examples of upper plate mineralization occur near deposits including Goldstrike, Leeville / Turf, Deep Star, and Pete Bajo.a

Also, the arsenic values were high and increasing when approaching the first contact zone around 190m depth between the upper and lower plate rocks, which usually is a solid indicator for mineralization. Dave Browning, Westwarda?s VP of Exploration, chimed in as well:

aThe elevated arsenic values are some of the highest recorded in drill samples at Toiyabe. Its increased presence in T2301 may support our thesis that the system continues to gain strength to the northeast.a

Ia?m curious what the assayed core from the remaining part of T2301 could provide, for arsenic and gold values, when intercepting the deeper carbonate layer or lower plate rocks. Another indicator is the increased pervasive clay alteration and oxidation at depth, which can be observed in this box holding core from 484 to 486.7m:

Again Dave Browning: aThis level of oxidation has not been observed in previous drilling that reached these depths. The vertical extent of alteration in T2301 a either as decalcification, silicification, or clay a is impressive in that it is continuous from the contact of the lower plate carbonate unit. This consistent alteration at depth is yet another indication that the hydrothermal system is open to the north and east.

We could tell we were tapping into a geologically interesting area when we began to see massive zones of shearing, veining, oxide, and clay in the upper plate. These features are associated with major thrust faults such as the Roberts Mountains Thrust. The amount of alteration observed in the siliciclastic upper plate speaks to the potential of the system we are chasing.a

For now the SSD zone is interpreted by Westward as a 300m wide, northeast orientated conceptual mineralized trend, basically following a fault line (Diamond Fault) as can be seen here:

Although the SSD Zone is the main target, the company also reprocessed data of a previous regional-scale gravity survey covering all three properties (Toiyabe, East Saddle and Turquise Canyon), and numerous structures seem to unite these properties into a consolidated entity:

I didna?t really understand the rationale to keep all three projects separate, although obviously at different exploration stages and at different terms/ownership. CEO Colin Moore explained this:aThese projects were systematically consolidated in the early stages of our company through both M&A and in-house staking activities. From a practical point of view, they are indeed at different exploration stages, with different vendors, certain varying option obligations, and some underlying royalties. The different ownership is the main reason why we keep them separate in our disclosure (although they form one fully-contiguous combined package), but one other important factor is these projects do have name recognition amongst geos / corporates / etc. who have been active in Nevada over the last few decades. They know Toiyabe, and Turquoise Canyon, and are impressed we were the first company to finally controlA both at the same time, so after the upcoming October payment for full ownership we might maintain them as separate properties because of this.a

When looking at the exploration potential of the 100% owned Turquoise Canyon project, it seems that gold sampling returned low values. The minimum for economically interesting drill targets usually surpasses 20 ppb Au, and in this case the top values are 8 ppb:

As the SSD Zone is effectively a blind target, these sampling grades arena?t decisive fortunately. According to management, when you factor in that Turquoise Canyon has 150-300m of Upper Plate cover, those gold-in-soil values bleeding up into the less-favourable upper plate rocks from below is actually quite promising. Surface geochemical anomalies, favourable stratigraphy, and observable structures are continuous from Toiyabea?s historical resource onto the Turquoise Canyon Project. Moreover, clays commonly associated with Carlin-type deposits, present at the historical resource / Toiyabe-Saddle open pits, are also observable at Turquoise Canyon. An IP survey on chargeability and resistivity was flown over 17 line-kilometers, providing the geologists with lots of useful information, as for example favourable host rock was identified (Dw, short for Wenban):

Widespread folding and alteration are also present at Turquoise Canyon, just like at Toiyabe. As the project has never been drilled yet, this could be an interesting opportunity. According to management, drilling is planned for as early as late 2023, depending on results from Phase I at Toiyabe. The third property East Saddle is partially subject to the same earn-in agreement as Toiyabe (for 83 out of the 101 total claims), with the remaining 18 already 100% owned by Westward. After the last October payment on Toiyabe is completed, East Saddle will therefore also be fully owned. Exposed Wenban host rocks were found here at surface, as were parts of the aforementioned Roberts Mountains Thrust, and this was a reason for management to acquire this property as well. Early-stage exploration activities including mapping and sampling are planned here for Q3, 2023 to develop eventual drill target areas.A

With Toiyabe assays due very shortly, it will be very interesting to see what the upcoming drill results will show us. Could Westward be scratching the surface of another Cortez or Carlin Complex type of deposit here? Time will tell, and we will get a first indication very soon.

4. Conclusion

It isna?t always easy to recognize realistic large scale exploration potential in the absence of impressive drill results or significant historical resources. Westward seems to convey a convincing thesis though in this regard, as highly prospective land in between large NGM mines combined with the geologists that discovered those deposits, and exploration findings consistent with the working geological theory so far bode well for upcoming drill results. The first meaningful drill result at depth, targeting mineralized envelopes analogous to the nearby 10Moz Cortez mine, is expected within a week from now. If Westward does hit something significant, the share price will probably reflect this, and names like Crescat Capital will be sitting front row to likely invest substantially in the company, providing them with sufficient cash in that case to drill Toiyabe extensively for potential elephants, typical for the Carlin and Cortez trends. Stay tuned!

I hope you will find this article interesting and useful, and will have further interest in my upcoming articles on mining. To never miss a thing, please subscribe to my free newsletter at www.criticalinvestor.eu, in order to get an email notice of my new articles soon after they are published.

Disclaimer:

The author is not a registered investment advisor, and currently has a long position in this stock. Westward Gold is a sponsoring company. All facts are to be checked by the reader. For more information go to www.westwardgold.com and read the companya?s profile andA official documents onA www.sedar.com, alsoA for important risk disclosures. This article is provided for information purposes only, and is not intended to be investment advice of any kind, and all readers are encouraged to do their own due diligence, and talk to their own licensed investment advisors prior to making any investment decisions.
Hungary is blocking the release of another 500 million euros from EU funds to cover the cost of weapons for Ukraine, Budapest and European diplomats said.

EU countries have unlocked some 5.6 billion euros in common funding to help arm Ukraine in its fight against Russia since Moscow invaded last February.

The bloc's member states recently signed off on using two billion euros for a plan aimed at getting one million artillery shells to Ukraine over the next year.

That means the bulk of the nearly eight billion euros currently allocated to the joint European Peace Facility (EPF) has already gone towards Ukraine.

Budapest -- which has the closest ties in the EU to Russia -- says it is opposing a new disbursement as the funds were meant to support partners around the world, not just Ukraine.

"The Hungarian government does not agree that the European Union -- having other instruments at its disposal -- should use the European Peace Facility exclusively for Ukraine," the Hungarian government told AFP on Tuesday.

"It is crucial for the Hungarian government that these issues are clarified, which is why it has not approved the disbursement of yet another tranche of the European Peace Facility."

Several European diplomats confirmed Wednesday that Hungary was stalling the new chunk of funds to reimburse EU countries for the cost of weapons sent to Ukraine.

Diplomats were still seeking to get an agreement for a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels on Monday, they said.

The debate over the funding comes as Ukraine is desperately pleading for weaponry for its forces as they gear up for a counter-offensive.

The EU's member states agreed last year that they could in principle raise the ceiling of the EPF by another 3.5 billion euros to help see it through to 2027.

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President Volodymyr Zelensky was expected on Wednesday to receive a special envoy from China who arrived in Kyiv to promote Beijing-led negotiations to end the war in Ukraine.

In Kyiv, officials also sought to allay fears that Russian forces destroyed a US-supplied Patriot air defence system, saying the powerful weapon was in operation.

China's special envoy, Li Hui, arrived in the Ukrainian capital on Tuesday for two days of talks with authorities, part of a European tour to promote Beijing's plan to settle the conflict with Russia.

A high-ranking Ukrainian official told AFP on condition of anonymity that a meeting between Zelensky and Li was "possible in the afternoon."

Li, the highest-ranking Chinese diplomat to visit the war-torn country since Moscow invaded in February 2022, arrived in Kyiv three weeks after Zelensky spoke by telephone to Chinese leader Xi Jinping.

On Tuesday Kyiv warned that Ukraine did not need "mediation for the sake of mediation."

"Ending the war with a compromise at the expense of Ukraine will not work," a senior Ukrainian official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told AFP.

Beijing has said the aim of the tour is to "communicate with all parties on the political settlement of the Ukrainian crisis".

Xi, who has aimed to position China as a neutral mediator, and visited Moscow in March, has been criticised for refusing to condemn the Kremlin's attack on its neighbour.

In Iceland, a meeting of European leaders agreed to establish a "register of damages" to record the wartime harm and destruction wrought by Russia in Ukraine.

Created by the 46-nation Council of Europe, it sets up an evidentiary record ahead of a possible future prosecution of Russian leaders, laying the groundwork for compensation.

Marija Pejcinovic Buric, secretary general of the Council of Europe, said that by early Wednesday 40 countries had signed onto the creation of the register, including the United States and all other G7 nations.

It was a "first, necessary, urgent step" ensuring "justice that is centred on the victims" of the war, she said on arrival at the second day of the summit in Iceland.

'All well with Patriot'

Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmygal hailed the "historic decision," saying it would help "establish justice."

On the ground "fierce" battles raged for the eastern town of Bakhmut, Ukraine's army said.

"The enemy continues to conduct offensive actions," the General Staff said in its daily report.

Regional authorities said that Russian shelling in the small hours of Wednesday damaged a nine-storey residential building in the southern city of Kherson but no one was injured.

On Tuesday, the Russian defence ministry said its forces had struck a Patriot system in Kyiv with a Kinzhal hypersonic missile.

On Wednesday, Ukraine contradicted that claim, saying a US-supplied Patriot air defence system continued to operate in Ukraine.

"Don't worry, all is fine with the Patriot," air force spokesman Yury Ignat told AFP.

He declined to say if the sophisticated system had been damaged.

"The Patriot is in service," Ignat added. "All is well."

Kyiv received the first shipments of the American-made Patriot surface-to-air missile system in April.

CNN reported, citing a US official, that a US-made Patriot air defence system was likely damaged as a result of a Russian missile attack early Tuesday.

Kyiv announced Ukraine's air defence shot down six of Russia's hypersonic missiles, but Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu rejected that claim.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, who unveiled the Kinzhal in 2018, has termed it "an ideal weapon" that is extremely difficult to intercept.

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Ukraine has joined NATO's cyber defence centre, the Tallinn-based body said Wednesday, with Kyiv calling the move "a step on the way" to NATO membership.

The Western defence alliance's Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence (CCDCOE) added that it had also welcomed Iceland, Ireland and Japan into the fold.

"We are particularly glad to see Ukraine here with us," Estonian Defence Minister Hanno Pevkur was quoted as saying in a CCDCOE statement.

"This offers a unique opportunity to simultaneously contribute to Ukraine's defence in Russia's brutal war and learn from the cyber battlefield to improve the cyber security of all members."

Ukraine's ambassador to Estonia, Mariana Betsa, hailed the "landmark event" as "an important step on the way to Ukraine's accession to NATO".

The centre -- which now extends to NATO member states and eight additional countries -- was founded in 2008 in the Estonian capital.

At the centre, data experts from across Europe and the United States work to protect the information networks of the Western defence alliance.

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The speed of light is a speed limit on everything in our universe. Or is it?

The speed of light traveling through a vacuum is exactly 299,792,458 meters (983,571,056 feet) per second. That's about 186,282 miles per second  a universal constant known in equations as "c," or light speed.

According to physicist Albert Einstein 's theory of special relativity , on which much of modern physics is based, nothing in the universe can travel faster than light. The theory states that as matter approaches the speed of light, the matter's mass becomes infinite. That means the speed of light functions as a speed limit on the whole universe . The speed of light is so immutable that, according to the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology , it is used to define international standard measurements like the meter (and by extension, the mile, the foot and the inch). Through some crafty equations, it also helps define the kilogram and the temperature unit Kelvin .

But despite the speed of light's reputation as a universal constant, scientists and science fiction writers alike spend time contemplating faster-than-light travel. So far no one's been able to demonstrate a real warp drive, but that hasn't slowed our collective hurtle toward new stories, new inventions and new realms of physics.

Related: Special relativity holds up to a high-energy test

What is a light-year?

A l ight-year is the distance that light can travel in one year  about 6 trillion miles (10 trillion kilometers). It's one way that astronomers and physicists measure immense distances across our universe.

Light travels from the moon to our eyes in about 1 second, which means the moon is about 1 light-second away. Sunlight takes about 8 minutes to reach our eyes, so the sun is about 8 light minutes away. Light from Alpha Centauri , which is the nearest star system to our own, requires roughly 4.3 years to get here, so Alpha Centauri is 4.3 light-years away.

"To obtain an idea of the size of a light-year, take the circumference of the Earth (24,900 miles), lay it out in a straight line, multiply the length of the line by 7.5 (the corresponding distance is one light-second), then place 31.6 million similar lines end to end," NASA's Glenn Research Center says on its website . "The resulting distance is almost 6 trillion (6,000,000,000,000) miles!"

Stars and other objects beyond our solar system lie anywhere from a few light-years to a few billion light-years away. And everything astronomers "see" in the distant universe is literally history. When astronomers study objects that are far away, they are seeing light that shows the objects as they existed at the time that light left them.

This principle allows astronomers to see the universe as it looked after the Big Bang , which took place about 13.8 billion years ago. Objects that are 10 billion light-years away from us appear to astronomers as they looked 10 billion years ago  relatively soon after the beginning of the universe  rather than how they appear today.

Related: Why the universe is all history

Speed of light FAQs answered by an expert

We asked Rob Zellem, exoplanet-hunter and staff scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab, a few frequently asked questions about the speed of light.

Rob Zellem Exoplanet astronomer Dr. Rob Zellem is a staff scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a federally funded research and development center operated by the California Institute of Technology. Rob is the project lead for Exoplanet Watch, a citizen science project to observe exoplanets, planets outside of our own solar system, with small telescopes. He is also the Science Calibration lead for the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope's Coronagraph Instrument, which will directly image exoplanets.

What is faster than the speed of light? Nothing! Light is a "universal speed limit" and, according to Einstein's theory of relativity, is the fastest speed in the universe: 300,000 kilometers per second (186,000 miles per second).

Is the speed of light constant? The speed of light is a universal constant in a vacuum, like the vacuum of space. However, light *can* slow down slightly when it passes through an absorbing medium, like water (225,000 kilometers per second = 140,000 miles per second) or glass (200,000 kilometers per second = 124,000 miles per second).

Who discovered the speed of light? One of the first measurements of the speed of light was by Rmer in 1676 by observing the moons of Jupiter. The speed of light was first measured to high precision in 1879 by the Michelson-Morley Experiment.

How do we know the speed of light? Rmer was able to measure the speed of light by observing eclipses of Jupiter's moon Io. When Jupiter was closer to Earth, Rmer noted that eclipses of Io occurred slightly earlier than when Jupiter was farther away. Rmer attributed this effect due the time it takes for light to travel over the longer distance when Jupiter was farther from the Earth.

How did we learn the speed of light?

Aristotle, Empedocles, Galileo (illustrated here), Ole Rmer and countless other philosophers and physicists in history have contemplated the speed of light. (Image credit: NASA)

As early as the 5th century, Greek philosophers like Empedocles and Aristotle disagreed on the nature of light speed. Empedocles proposed that light, whatever it was made of, must travel and therefore, must have a rate of travel. Aristotle wrote a rebuttal of Empedocles' view in his own treatise, On Sense and the Sensible , arguing that light, unlike sound and smell, must be instantaneous. Aristotle was wrong, of course, but it would take hundreds of years for anyone to prove it.

In the mid 1600s, the Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei stood two people on hills less than a mile apart. Each person held a shielded lantern. One uncovered his lantern; when the other person saw the flash, he uncovered his too. But Galileo's experimental distance wasn't far enough for his participants to record the speed of light. He could only conclude that light traveled at least 10 times faster than sound.

In the 1670s, Danish astronomer Ole Rmer tried to create a reliable timetable for sailors at sea, and according to NASA , accidentally came up with a new best estimate for the speed of light. To create an astronomical clock, he recorded the precise timing of the eclipses of Jupiter's moon , Io, from Earth . Over time, Rmer observed that Io's eclipses often differed from his calculations. He noticed that the eclipses appeared to lag the most when Jupiter and Earth were moving away from one another, showed up ahead of time when the planets were approaching and occurred on schedule when the planets were at their closest or farthest points. This observation demonstrated what we today know as the Doppler effect, the change in frequency of light or sound emitted by a moving object that in the astronomical world manifests as the so-called redshift , the shift towards "redder", longer wavelengths in objects speeding away from us. In a leap of intuition, Rmer determined that light was taking measurable time to travel from Io to Earth.

Rmer used his observations to estimate the speed of light. Since the size of the solar system and Earth's orbit wasn't yet accurately known, argued a 1998 paper in the American Journal of Physics , he was a bit off. But at last, scientists had a number to work with. Rmer's calculation put the speed of light at about 124,000 miles per second (200,000 km/s).

In 1728, English physicist James Bradley based a new set of calculations on the change in the apparent position of stars caused by Earth's travels around the sun. He estimated the speed of light at 185,000 miles per second (301,000 km/s)  accurate to within about 1% of the real value, according to the American Physical Society .

Two new attempts in the mid-1800s brought the problem back to Earth. French physicist Hippolyte Fizeau set a beam of light on a rapidly rotating toothed wheel, with a mirror set up 5 miles (8 km) away to reflect it back to its source. Varying the speed of the wheel allowed Fizeau to calculate how long it took for the light to travel out of the hole, to the adjacent mirror, and back through the gap. Another French physicist, Leon Foucault, used a rotating mirror rather than a wheel to perform essentially the same experiment. The two independent methods each came within about 1,000 miles per second (1,609 km/s) of the speed of light.

On Aug. 15, 1930 in Santa Ana, CA, Dr. Albert A. Michelson stood alongside the mile-long vacuum tube which would be used in his last and most accurate measurement of the speed of light. (Image credit: Getty/Bettman)

Another scientist who tackled the speed of light mystery was Poland-born Albert A. Michelson, who grew up in California during the state's gold rush period, and honed his interest in physics while attending the U.S. Naval Academy, according to the University of Virginia . In 1879, he attempted to replicate Foucault's method of determining the speed of light, but Michelson increased the distance between mirrors and used extremely high-quality mirrors and lenses. Michelson's result of 186,355 miles per second (299,910 km/s) was accepted as the most accurate measurement of the speed of light for 40 years, until Michelson re-measured it himself. In his second round of experiments, Michelson flashed lights between two mountain tops with carefully measured distances to get a more precise estimate. And in his third attempt just before his death in 1931, according to the Smithsonian's Air and Space magazine, he built a mile-long depressurized tube of corrugated steel pipe. The pipe simulated a near-vacuum that would remove any effect of air on light speed for an even finer measurement, which in the end was just slightly lower than the accepted value of the speed of light today.

Michelson also studied the nature of light itself, wrote astrophysicist Ethan Siegal in the Forbes science blog, Starts With a Bang . The best minds in physics at the time of Michelson's experiments were divided: Was light a wave or a particle?

Michelson, along with his colleague Edward Morley, worked under the assumption that light moved as a wave, just like sound. And just as sound needs particles to move, Michelson and Morley and other physicists of the time reasoned, light must have some kind of medium to move through. This invisible, undetectable stuff was called the "luminiferous aether" (also known as "ether").

Though Michelson and Morley built a sophisticated interferometer (a very basic version of the instrument used today in LIGO facilities), Michelson could not find evidence of any kind of luminiferous aether whatsoever. Light, he determined, can and does travel through a vacuum.

"The experiment  and Michelson's body of work  was so revolutionary that he became the only person in history to have won a Nobel Prize for a very precise non-discovery of anything," Siegal wrote. "The experiment itself may have been a complete failure, but what we learned from it was a greater boon to humanity and our understanding of the universe than any success would have been!"

Special relativity and the speed of light

Einstein's theory of special relativity unified energy, matter and the speed of light in a famous equation: E = mc^2. (Image credit: NASA)

Einstein's theory of special relativity unified energy, matter and the speed of light in a famous equation: E = mc^2. The equation describes the relationship between mass and energy  small amounts of mass (m) contain, or are made up of, an inherently enormous amount of energy (E). (That's what makes nuclear bombs so powerful: They're converting mass into blasts of energy.) Because energy is equal to mass times the speed of light squared, the speed of light serves as a conversion factor, explaining exactly how much energy must be within matter. And because the speed of light is such a huge number, even small amounts of mass must equate to vast quantities of energy.

In order to accurately describe the universe, Einstein's elegant equation requires the speed of light to be an immutable constant. Einstein asserted that light moved through a vacuum, not any kind of luminiferous aether, and in such a way that it moved at the same speed no matter the speed of the observer.

Think of it like this: Observers sitting on a train could look at a train moving along a parallel track and think of its relative movement to themselves as zero. But observers moving nearly the speed of light would still perceive light as moving away from them at more than 670 million mph. (That's because moving really, really fast is one of the only confirmed methods of time travel  time actually slows down for those observers, who will age slower and perceive fewer moments than an observer moving slowly.)

In other words, Einstein proposed that the speed of light doesn't vary with the time or place that you measure it, or how fast you yourself are moving.

Therefore, objects with mass cannot ever reach the speed of light. If an object ever did reach the speed of light, its mass would become infinite. And as a result, the energy required to move the object would also become infinite: an impossibility.

That means if we base our understanding of physics on special relativity (which most modern physicists do), the speed of light is the immutable speed limit of our universe  the fastest that anything can travel.

What goes faster than the speed of light?

Although the speed of light is often referred to as the universe's speed limit, the universe actually expands even faster. The universe expands at a little more than 42 miles (68 kilometers) per second for each megaparsec of distance from the observer, wrote astrophysicist Paul Sutter in a previous article for Space.com . (A megaparsec is 3.26 million light-years  a really long way.)

In other words, a galaxy 1 megaparsec away appears to be traveling away from the Milky Way at a speed of 42 miles per second (68 km/s), while a galaxy two megaparsecs away recedes at nearly 86 miles per second (136 km/s), and so on.

"At some point, at some obscene distance, the speed tips over the scales and exceeds the speed of light, all from the natural, regular expansion of space," Sutter explained. "It seems like it should be illegal, doesn't it?"

Special relativity provides an absolute speed limit within the universe, according to Sutter, but Einstein's 1915 theory regarding general relativity allows different behavior when the physics you're examining are no longer "local."

"A galaxy on the far side of the universe? That's the domain of general relativity, and general relativity says: Who cares! That galaxy can have any speed it wants, as long as it stays way far away, and not up next to your face," Sutter wrote. "Special relativity doesn't care about the speed  superluminal or otherwise  of a distant galaxy. And neither should you."

Does light ever slow down?

Light moves more slowly when traveling through diamond than when moving through air, and it moves through air slightly slower than it can travel in a vacuum. (Image credit: Shutterstock)

Light in a vacuum is generally held to travel at an absolute speed, but light traveling through any material can be slowed down. The amount that a material slows down light is called its refractive index. Light bends when coming into contact with particles, which results in a decrease in speed.

For example, light traveling through Earth's atmosphere moves almost as fast as light in a vacuum, slowing down by just three ten-thousandths of the speed of light. But light passing through a diamond slows to less than half its typical speed, PBS NOVA reported. Even so, it travels through the gem at over 277 million mph (almost 124,000 km/s)  enough to make a difference, but still incredibly fast.

Light can be trapped  and even stopped  inside ultra-cold clouds of atoms, according to a 2001 study published in the journal Nature . More recently, a 2018 study published in the journal Physical Review Letters proposed a new way to stop light in its tracks at "exceptional points," or places where two separate light emissions intersect and merge into one.

Researchers have also tried to slow down light even when it's traveling through a vacuum. A team of Scottish scientists successfully slowed down a single photon, or particle of light, even as it moved through a vacuum, as described in their 2015 study published in the journal Science . In their measurements, the difference between the slowed photon and a "regular" photon was just a few millionths of a meter, but it demonstrated that light in a vacuum can be slower than the official speed of light.

Can we travel faster than light?

Science fiction loves the idea of "warp speed." Faster-than-light travel makes countless sci-fi franchises possible, condensing the vast expanses of space and letting characters pop back and forth between star systems with ease.

But while faster-than-light travel isn't guaranteed impossible, we'd need to harness some pretty exotic physics to make it work. Luckily for sci-fi enthusiasts and theoretical physicists alike, there are lots of avenues to explore.

All we have to do is figure out how to not move ourselves  since special relativity would ensure we'd be long destroyed before we reached high enough speed  but instead, move the space around us. Easy, right?

One proposed idea involves a spaceship that could fold a space-time bubble around itself. Sounds great, both in theory and in fiction.

"If Captain Kirk were constrained to move at the speed of our fastest rockets, it would take him a hundred thousand years just to get to the next star system," said Seth Shostak, an astronomer at the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) Institute in Mountain View, California, in a 2010 interview with Space.com's sister site LiveScience . "So science fiction has long postulated a way to beat the speed of light barrier so the story can move a little more quickly."

Without faster-than-light travel, any "Star Trek" (or "Star War," for that matter) would be impossible. If humanity is ever to reach the farthest  and constantly expanding  corners of our universe, it will be up to future physicists to boldly go where no one has gone before.

Additional resources

For more on the speed of light, check out this fun tool from Academo that lets you visualize how fast light can travel from any place on Earth to any other. If youre more interested in other important numbers, get familiar with the universal constants that define standard systems of measurement around the world with the National Institute of Standards and Technology . And if youd like more on the history of the speed of light, check out the book " Lightspeed: The Ghostly Aether and the Race to Measure the Speed of Light " (Oxford, 2019) by John C. H. Spence.

Bibliography

Aristotle. On Sense and the Sensible. The Internet Classics Archive, 350AD. http://classics.mit.edu/Aristotle/sense.2.2.html .

DAlto, Nick. The Pipeline That Measured the Speed of Light. Smithsonian Magazine, January 2017. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/air-space-magazine/18_fm2017-oo-180961669/ .

Fowler, Michael. Speed of Light. Modern Physics. University of Virginia. Accessed January 13, 2022. https://galileo.phys.virginia.edu/classes/252/spedlite.html#Albert%20Abraham%20Michelson .

Giovannini, Daniel, Jacquiline Romero, Vaclav Potocek, Gergely Ferenczi, Fiona Speirits, Stephen M. Barnett, Daniele Faccio, and Miles J. Padgett. Spatially Structured Photons That Travel in Free Space Slower than the Speed of Light. Science, February 20, 2015. https://www.science.org/doi/abs/10.1126/science.aaa3035 .

Goldzak, Tamar, Alexei A. Mailybaev, and Nimrod Moiseyev. Light Stops at Exceptional Points. Physical Review Letters 120, no. 1 (January 3, 2018): 013901. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.120.013901 .

Hazen, Robert. What Makes Diamond Sparkle? PBS NOVA, January 31, 2000. https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/article/diamond-science/ .

How Long Is a Light-Year? Glenn Learning Technologies Project, May 13, 2021. https://www.grc.nasa.gov/www/k-12/Numbers/Math/Mathematical_Thinking/how_long_is_a_light_year.htm .

American Physical Society News. July 1849: Fizeau Publishes Results of Speed of Light Experiment, July 2010. http://www.aps.org/publications/apsnews/201007/physicshistory.cfm .

Liu, Chien, Zachary Dutton, Cyrus H. Behroozi, and Lene Vestergaard Hau. Observation of Coherent Optical Information Storage in an Atomic Medium Using Halted Light Pulses. Nature 409, no. 6819 (January 2001): 49093. https://doi.org/10.1038/35054017 .

NIST. Meet the Constants. October 12, 2018. https://www.nist.gov/si-redefinition/meet-constants .

Ouellette, Jennifer. A Brief History of the Speed of Light. PBS NOVA, February 27, 2015. https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/article/brief-history-speed-light/ .

Shea, James H. Ole Ro/Mer, the Speed of Light, the Apparent Period of Io, the Doppler Effect, and the Dynamics of Earth and Jupiter. American Journal of Physics 66, no. 7 (July 1, 1998): 56169. https://doi.org/10.1119/1.19020 .

Siegel, Ethan. The Failed Experiment That Changed The World. Forbes, April 21, 2017. https://www.forbes.com/sites/startswithabang/2017/04/21/the-failed-experiment-that-changed-the-world/ .
UAE invites Assad to COP28 summit: Syrian state media



Damascus, May 15 (AFP) May 15, 2023



The United Arab Emirates has invited Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to attend the United Nations climate summit in Dubai later this year, Syrian state media said Monday.

Assad's first invitation to a global summit since the start of Syria's war in 2011 comes as the Arab world gradually warms to Damascus after a long spell in the diplomatic wilderness.

The Emirati charge d'affaires in Syria, Abdul Hakeem al-Nuaimi, has handed Assad an invitation from UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan "to attend the COP28 climate conference", official news agency SANA reported.

Heads of Western states who have imposed sanctions on Syria over the civil war and oppose normalisation with Damascus usually attend the COP summits.

US President Joe Biden and France's Emmanuel Macron were among those who attended last year's talks in Egypt.

Since Syria's war broke out, Assad has held onto power and clawed back lost territory with crucial support from Iran and Russia.

This month, the Arab League welcomed back Damascus after it was suspended for more than a decade over its crackdown on protests which spiralled into a conflict that has killed more than 500,000 people and displaced millions.

Assad has received an invitation to an Arab summit in Saudi Arabia scheduled for Friday.

The UAE re-established ties with Syria in 2018 and has been leading the recent charge to reintegrate Damascus into the Arab fold.

In March last year, Assad visited the UAE on his first official trip to an Arab country since the war erupted in 2011, and visited again this year.

Regional engagement with Damascus picked up after a deadly earthquake struck Syria and Turkey on February 6, followed by a landmark rapprochement in March between Saudi Arabia and Assad ally Iran.

Despite the regional detente, Assad remains internationally isolated.

The United States and Britain said last week they still opposed direct ties with Damascus.

"We are not going to be in the business of normalising relations with Assad and with that regime," US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said.

British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly, speaking alongside Blinken, said London was "very uncomfortable" with the Arab League decision.
New study quantifies link between climate crisis, wildfires



Washington, May 16 (AFP) May 16, 2023



In a first, US climate scientists have quantified the extent to which greenhouse gasses from the world's top fossil fuel companies have contributed to wildfires.

Their analysis, published Tuesday in Environmental Research Letters, found that carbon dioxide and methane emissions from the so-called "Big 88" firms were responsible for more than a third of the area scorched by forest blazes in western North America over the past 40 years.

First author Kristina Dahl, of the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS), told AFP wildfires in the western United States and southwestern Canada have been worsening for decades: they are burning more intensely, over longer seasons, covering larger areas and reaching higher elevations.

To date, the cost of rebuilding and increasing resilience has largely been footed by the general public, "so we wanted to better understand the role that fossil fuel industry emissions have had in altering the wildfire landscape," she said.

"We really wanted to put a spotlight on their role in that, so that they can be held accountable for their fair share of the cost."



- 'Atmospheric thirst' -



Using climate modeling, the team determined that emissions from the Big 88 -- which includes ExxonMobil, BP, Chevron and Shell -- were responsible for increasing global average temperatures by 0.9 degrees Fahrenheit (0.5 degrees Celsius) since the start of the 20th century, or roughly half of the observed warming.

For the purposes of this study, the authors included all emissions across the life cycle of fossil fuels -- from extraction and flaring operations to refinement and use inside a vehicle, for example.

The companies' contribution to planet-wide warming was then used to calculate how much they added to a rise in "vapor pressure deficit" or VPD -- a measure of air's ability to draw water out of plants and soils -- within the western North America region.

Because warmer air can hold more water vapor, rising temperatures caused by climate change are causing this measure of atmospheric thirst to increase too.

A higher VPD makes an area more fire prone, and recent research has established a clear exponential relationship between increases in this aridity indicator and the area burned by forest fires.

Combining all these elements, Dahl's research team found that emissions from the Big 88 were responsible for 37 percent of the total area razed by forest fires in western United States and southwestern Canada between 1986, when reliable fire area data became available, and 2021.

That is 19.8 million acres (8 million hectares) -- an area roughly the size of the Czech Republic.

The study also found that emissions from the same companies were responsible for nearly half of the observed increase in VPD since 1901.

Other factors that increased fire danger conditions over the last century include aggressive fire suppression that led to large buildups of vegetation that normally would have burned in smaller regularly occurring fires, often managed by Indigenous communities.

Accidental ignitions have also increased as humans encroached into fire-prone areas.



- Growing area of research -



The research builds on an accumulating body of climate "attribution" studies, which have calculated how much greenhouse gas emissions from burning fossil fuels have contributed to global temperature increases, sea level rise, and ocean acidification.

Such work has paved the way for impacted communities to seek redress through lawsuits, said Dahl, and helps shift the conversation about tackling climate change away from individual responsibility.

"Lowering our individual carbon footprints is a narrative that has been very heavily pushed by the fossil fuel industry," she said.

"While individuals need to make the best choices we can, we also have to acknowledge that we're living in a reality that's been shaped by these companies and our choices have been constrained because of them."

The UCS is pushing for government investigations into past and ongoing disinformation campaigns by industry aimed at denying climate science that was predicted by the companies' own internal modeling.
California's wet winter sparks a new gold rush



Placerville, United States, May 17 (AFP) May 17, 2023



Albert Fausel has been scouring the rivers of Placerville, California for decades in search of gold. But the task has never been easier, nor the haul bigger, thanks to recent torrential rains.

"This year, there's a lot of new spots" to find gold, says Fausel, clad in a wetsuit and snorkel, standing up to his knees in water.

Less than 10 minutes into a recent visit by AFP, Fausel -- diving with a small shovel to dig a crevice at the bottom of the riverbed -- resurfaces with proof.

Among the mix of clay and sand emptied onto a plastic tray, unmistakable shiny particles glitter brightly under the strong midday sun.

"Mother Nature has done a great job with all this flooding," he said.

While his search near the shoreline has yielded "a small amount of gold," he predicts that closer to the middle of the river, "there's probably going to be a lot larger, bigger, heavier pieces."

Fausel collects his bounty with a tool that resembles a suction pump, before adjusting his snorkel and disappearing back into the water.



- 'Flood gold' -



California is emerging from an unusually wet winter, with near-record rainfall.

A series of atmospheric rivers -- high altitude ribbons of moisture -- chugged into the western United States, dousing a landscape that had been baked dry by years of below-average rain.

In Northern California, those downpours triggered scenes reminiscent -- if on a far smaller scale -- of the original Gold Rush that transformed this region in the 19th century, when thousands of miners arrived in search of El Dorado.

"Now, we're talking about flood gold," said Barron Brandon, a geologist and foreman of the Cosumnes River Ranch.

Heavy rainfall creates powerful currents in the river that "wash" the banks, loosening particles of mud and gold, which are then carried downstream to be scooped up by lucky miners.

The river acts "like a big sluice box... just on a very grand scale," said Brandon, who also pans for gold in summer as a hobby.

"The real gold is just being out here," he added, smiling as he takes in the landscape of blue and green hues, soundtracked only by the gushing flow of the water.



- Gold fever -



Placerville -- around 40 miles (70 kilometers) from California's state capital Sacramento -- relies heavily on tourism, most of which is themed on its golden history.

Through the small city runs a road called the "El Dorado Freeway." Stores with names like Ancient Gold Jewelers, Gold Country Artists Gallery and Gold Insurance Solutions dot the street.

In one toy store, plastic mining helmets and miniature panning trays take up half of the display space.

A hotel on the main street maintains the aesthetics of the original Gold Rush, with 19th-century furniture and photographs from that bygone era.

A hardware store run by Fausel sells a wide range of mining and panning tools, such as sluice boxes and metal detectors, as well as brightly painted souvenir "gold seeds."

But Fausel is not worried about a tide of outsiders invading the region in a new wave of gold fever.

"Come out to California. Give yourself a chance to find some gold," he urged. "It's out here for everybody. But follow all the rules."



- 'Very, very rich' -



Mark Dayton, a local treasure hunter with millions of views on his YouTube channel, says many of his followers have heard about the rains and are on their way.

He traces the public's widespread fascination with striking gold to many children's love of tales about pirate booty.

"There's so many movies like 'Indiana Jones' and all those movies, 'Pirates of the Caribbean' -- they all pull at the heartstrings of treasure," he said.

One of Placerville's main attractions is the Gold Bug Park and Mine, while draws visiting school groups.

"Kids are always interested about the gold... California was built on gold," said Pat Layne, an 80-year-old volunteer guide who worked in gold mining for decades.

"What we try and get across to them is the true history, not the Hollywood version of the Gold Rush," he added.

Standing next to a tributary of the river that borders the now-defunct mine, Layne describes to visitors how there were once "hundreds of miners right here in this creek, right where we're standing, working, panning gold."

"It was very, very rich here... gold was delivered to the creeks by Mother Nature over millions of years."

This winter's huge amount of rain has helped to recreate those conditions, on a much briefer and accelerated scale.

When "the water moves, the gold moves," he said.

pr/amz/sst
Eight dead, Grand Prix cancelled after flooding devastates northern Italy



Cesena, Italy, May 17 (AFP) May 17, 2023



At least eight people died in Italy's northern Emilia Romagna region as heavy rains flooded rivers and submerged entire neighbourhoods and farmland Wednesday, prompting the cancellation of this weekend's Imola Grand Prix.

Downpours that pounded the region's flatlands over two days caused nearly two dozen rivers to burst their banks, putting vast stretches of territory under water and causing thousands of residents to be evacuated.

"We watched from the (second-floor) window as the water gradually rose," Cesena resident Davide Maeldolla told AFP, pausing from mucking out his inundated home, where the water had risen as high as 1.5 metres (five feet).

"The helicopters circled all night to rescue people."

In nearby Forli, southeast of the regional capital Bologna, Mayor Gian Luca Zattini said his city was "on its knees, devastated and in pain."

"It's the end of the world," Zattini said.

Regional authorities confirmed eight dead, seven of them in the area around Forli and Cesena.

Flooding occurred in 41 municipalities, while an even greater number reported landslides.

Thousands of farms in the fertile agricultural area were affected, but Agriculture Minister Francesco Lollobrigida said the water would have to subside before the government could quantify the damage.

Two of the bodies in Forli were recovered by divers on Wednesday morning, as part of a huge rescue effort involving emergency services, armed forces and over 1,000 volunteers.



- Torrents and thick mud -



Television images showed emergency workers carrying residents across flooded streets or transported in inflatable boats, vast parking lots completely submerged in water, while torrents of water rushed through the UNESCO-recognised porticoes of Bologna.

A video taken by Italy's coastguard showed rescuers in a helicopter pulling up two elderly people from the roof of a home where the water level had nearly covered the first-floor windows.

Cars were submerged and in areas where the water had receded, the streets were filled with thick mud and debris.

One of Italy's richest regions, Emilia Romagna had already been hit by heavy rain two weeks ago, causing floods that left two dead.

This time, around 50 centimetres (20 inches) of rain fell within 36 hours in Forli, Cesena and Ravenna -- around half the normal annual rainfall, a situation "with few precedents", Civil Protection Minister Nello Musumeci said.

Musumeci said 20 million euros ($22 million) in emergency funds would be unlocked for the area, on top of the 10 million awarded after the previous flooding.

The flooding caused the cancellation of Sunday's Formula One Emilia Romagna Grand Prix scheduled in Imola, with organisers saying they could not guarantee the safety of fans, teams and staff.



- State of shock -



Rescue workers had scrambled through the night to save children, the elderly and the disabled from the rising waters.

In Cesena, local man Cristian Salamandri, wearing high rubber boots, was covered in mud by the end of the day.

"We've come to give a hand, to try to save people and animals," Salamandri said.

"The situation is still tough, tragic. We hope it gets better."

Over 10,000 people have been evacuated, authorities said, including some 3,000 in Bologna and 5,000 in Ravenna. Around 50,000 people were without electricity.

In Forli, an AFP photographer saw people in a state of shock as they fled on Tuesday night through floodwaters in the dark in their bare feet.



- Drought to deluge -



Elsewhere, locals in Cesena swam down a road to rescue a three-year-old child and a man was seen wading through high water with his cat.

The heavy rains follow a drought that affected much of northern Italy last winter, and a record lack of rain last summer.

"We have to get used to it for the future, because unfortunately in recent years it often happens that these extreme rainfalls arrive," Air Force meteorologist Paolo Capizzi told AFP.

He said it could not directly be blamed on global warming but the "ever-increasing frequency of these phenomenon can obviously be the consequence of ongoing climate change".

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, in Japan for the G7 summit, tweeted her support for those affected and said the government was "ready to intervene with the necessary aid".

Rain over the flooded area was expected to subside on Thursday.
Russia agreed to extend a deal that has allowed Ukraine to ship grain through the Black Sea to parts of the world struggling with hunger, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced Wednesday, a boost to global food security after the more than year-old war drove up prices.

I want to give a good news, Erdogan said. With the efforts of our country, the support of our Russian friends and the contribution of our Ukrainian friends, the Black Sea Grain Initiative has been extended by another two months.

Turkey and the UN brokered the breakthrough accord with the warring sides last summer, which came with a separate agreement to facilitate shipments of Russian food and fertilizer that Moscow insists hasn't been applied.

Russia had threatened to bow out if its concerns were not ironed out by Thursday. Such brinkmanship isnt new: With a similar extension in the balance in March, Russia unilaterally decided to renew the deal for a similar 60 days instead of the 120 days outlined in the agreement.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova confirmed the extension and that problems would need to be resolved at the technical level. Neither she nor Erdogan mentioned any concessions Moscow may have received.

"We will continue our efforts to ensure that all the conditions of the agreement are fulfilled so that it continues in the next period, said Erdogan, who announced the highly anticipated decision two days after being forced into a runoff in Turkey's presidential election.

Extending the Black Sea Grain Initiative is a win for countries in Africa, the Middle East and parts of Asia that rely on Ukrainian wheat, barley, vegetable oil and other affordable food products, especially as drought takes a toll.

The deal helped lower prices of food commodities like wheat over the last year, but that relief has not reached kitchen tables.

Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Kubrakov wrote on Facebook that the world will continue to receive Ukrainian products thanks to the efforts of Turkey and the UN.

He blamed Russia for dragging its heels on joint inspections of ships by Russian, Ukrainian, UN and Turkish officials and emphasized that it welcomed the continuation of deal but it has to work effectively.

Average daily inspections, meant to ensure vessels carry only food and not weapons that could aid either side, have steadily dropped from a peak of 10.6 in October to 3.2 last month. Shipments of Ukrainian grain also have declined in recent weeks.

Russia had denied slowing the work. No vessels have been cleared to enter Ukraines three open ports since May 6, and Kubrakov says nearly 70 vessels are waiting in Turkish waters to participate.

Russia, meanwhile, is rapidly shipping a bumper harvest of its wheat through other ports. Critics say that suggests Moscow was posturing or trying to wrest concessions in other areas, such as on Western sanctions.

The deal has allowed over 30 million metric tons of Ukrainian grain to be shipped, with more than half that going to developing nations. China, Spain and Turkey are the biggest recipients, and Russia says that shows food isn't going to the poorest countries.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres says Ukrainian corn for animal feed has headed to developed countries, while a majority of grain for people to eat has gone to emerging economies.

Even if a meaningful part of the shipments headed to developed nations, that has a positive impact to all countries because it brings prices down," Guterres told reporters in Nairobi, Kenya, this month. "And when you bring prices down, everybody benefits.

William Osnato, a senior research analyst at agriculture data and analytics firm Gro Intelligence, said there had been bluster from Russia to push for easing some sanctions because it's shipping record amounts of wheat this season, and its fertilizers are flowing well, too.

Trade flows tracked by financial data provider Refinitiv show that Russia exported just over 4 million tons of wheat in April, the highest volume for the month in five years, following record or near-record highs in several previous months.

Exports since last July reached 32.2 million tons, 34% above the same period from last season, according to Refinitiv. It estimates Russia will ship 44 million tons of wheat in 2022-2023.

With Ukraines wheat harvest coming up in June and the need to sell that crop in July, maintaining a Black Sea shipping corridor is key to avoid taking another large chunk of wheat and other grains off the market, Osnato said.

Ukraine also can send its food by land through Europe, but those routes have a lower capacity than sea shipments and have stirred disunity in the European Union.

It comes as places including Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria, Syria and East Africa, big importers of food, are facing drought and economic issues that are likely to keep food prices high.

Shortages of food in the system and lack of affordable fertilizer continues to push up prices, making it difficult for families in countries like Somalia to predict if they will be able to afford a meal the next day, said Shashwat Saraf, emergency director for East Africa at the International Rescue Committee.

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In a meeting with China's special envoy Li Hui, his ministry said Wednesday, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba emphasized the importance of his country's territorial integrity.

Dmytro Kuleba "explained the principles of restoring a stable and just peace in detail, based on the respect of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine", said a ministry statement.

China's special envoy arrived in the Ukrainian capital on Tuesday for two days of talks with authorities, as part of a European tour to promote Beijing's plan to settle the conflict with Russia.

Chinese leader Xi Jinping has aimed to position China as a neutral mediator, and visited Moscow in March.

He has however not visited Kyiv and has been criticised for refusing to condemn the Kremlin's attack on its neighbour.

In the meeting with Li, Kuleba "emphasised that Ukraine does not accept any proposals that would involve the loss of its territories or the freezing of the conflict".

He praised the "importance" of China's mediating role, including in the Black Sea Initiative that allowed for the resumption of grain exports through the Black Sea, and in nuclear safety.

The two sides also agreed to "intensify dialogue on key issues."

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Arab foreign ministers held a preparatory meeting in Jeddah on Wednesday ahead of the 32nd Arab Summit on Friday, welcoming Syria back into the Arab fold and reaffirming the centrality of the Palestinian cause to the pan-Arab agenda.

Saudi Arabia assumed the presidency of the upcoming Arab Summit from Algeria during the meeting.

The foreign ministers reviewed a draft agenda for the summit, which brings together the heads of Arab states to discuss a number of issues pertinent to a pan-Arab agenda.

The heads of Arab states are expected to discuss the ongoing mediation efforts to end the conflict in Sudan and the latest developments in the Arab-Israeli conflict including serious Israeli violations in Jerusalem, among other issues.

Syria: Welcome back

The preparatory ministerial meeting was attended Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad and Information Minister Butrus Halaq.

It is the first such participation of a Syrian delegation in a high-level Arab foreign ministers meeting after the Arab League welcomed Syria back into the Arab fold on 7 May ending a 12-year-suspension.

In statements to the press upon his arrival in the Red Sea coastal city, the Syrian foreign minister said: We are happy to be in Saudi Arabia and we hope the summit will be successful.

The AL summit will discuss joint Arab action and we are looking forward to the future, Mekdad added.

According to diplomatic sources who spoke to Ahram Online, Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad is expected to attend the summit in Jeddah per an invitation from Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz.

Speaking in the ministerial meeting, Saudi Arabias Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan also welcomed Syrias return to the Arab fold and called for cooperation between Arab countries to achieve security, stability and economic prosperity.

Algerian Foreign Minister Ahmed Attaf also welcomed Syrias return to the AL.

The world is witnessing major transformations, which require a joint Arab stance to keep up with them, Attaf noted.

The Algerian foreign minister also called for doubling Arab efforts to establish a Palestinian state.

"We seek Palestine's full membership in the United Nations," he added.

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L abour would give local areas the power to build houses on the green belt where development would not take away from the beauty of the countryside, the party leader has said.

Sir Keir Starmer said allowing communities to choose which parts of the green belt are built on would lead to house prices dropping as supply increases.

The Opposition leader is due to address the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) on Wednesday, promising to back the builders not the blockers.

Ahead of his speech, Sir Keir told broadcasters that his partys reforms would go beyond reinstating Englands house building target in a bid to help people achieve their dream of owning their own home.

We would make those tough choices and say to local areas: well change the planning rules, well give you the planning powers to do that

Labour has said it would restore the target of building 300,000 houses a year following Prime Minister Rishi Sunaks decision in December to make it advisory rather than mandatory as he looked to see off a potential Conservative backbench rebellion.

But Sir Keir said the target would not be enough on its own to meet housing demand and signalled that reforms such as allowing for some development of green belt land would be introduced should his party win power at the next election.

The green belt refers to the policy of leaving an area of land around a city or town undeveloped or set aside for agricultural use to prevent urban sprawl.

Sir Keir used the example of houses being built on a playing field in Maidstone rather than on a car park, with the reason given that the car park was classified as being in the green belt.

He told BBC Breakfast: We would make those tough choices and say to local areas: notwithstanding that it is the green belt, if it is a car park or similar land which doesnt effect the beauty of our countryside, which we all want to preserve, then well change the planning rules, well give you the planning powers to do that.

He vowed to take on vested interests to unlock land for housing developments in a move Sir Keir argued could bring down the overall cost of properties.

Across Britain, the average asking price for a first-time buyer type of property currently sits at a record of 224,963, according to data shared earlier this month by property website Rightmove.

Sir Keir, speaking to Times Radio, said developers and landowners were holding on to real estate as they try to ensure that it gains as much value as possible.

He added: Developers and landowners actually have a vested interest in not building so many houses, because that keeps the price high.

We want to change that model and make sure that many more houses are built, and that the price comes down.

Because, of course, what we want is good quality, secure houses, but also houses that people can afford.

Transport minister Richard Holden accused Sir Keir of flip-flopping on the issue of green belt development, saying the Labour leader had argued against such a policy before the local elections earlier this month.

He told Times Radio that Sir Keir was constantly shape-shifting and moving positions.

However, Mr Holden said he absolutely accepted that more houses need to be built and that targets had been missed.

Along with Chancellor Jeremy Hunt and Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey, Sir Keir is due to address the BCC gathering in Westminster.

In his speech, he is expected to say that a generation and its hopes are being blocked by those who  more often than not  enjoy the secure homes and jobs that theyre denying to others.

He will say his policy of backing the builders extends beyond just new houses.

You cant be serious about raising productivity, about improving the supply-side capacity of our economy and about arresting our economic decline without a plan for the wind farms, the laboratories, the warehouses and the homes this country so desperately needs, he will say.

Sir Keir will set out five key economic shifts: giving economic stability and certainty, handing power to communities across the country, seizing the opportunities of the future, increasing security at work and building economic resilience.
A Special Purpose Acquisition Company (SPAC) led by a serial dealmaker floated on the London Stock Exchange today, having raised $550 million to buy out a private company that wishes to list in London.

Admiral Acquisition Corp is led by Sir Martin Franklin, nephew of DNA pioneer Rosalind Franklin. He has a long history as a corporate raider and was once Wall Streets youngest CEO. The company sold $550 million worth of shares at $10 each. With no current operations of its own, it will use these funds, plus debt it can raise, to buy a company, allowing the acquired business to list in London.

Franklin said Admiral is looking for an established business in a leading competitive industry position with a defensible moat, but had no specific industry or region in mind.

SPACs surged in popularity in 2020 and 2021, mainly in the US, being seen as a faster way to list than an IPO. Online car retailer Cazoo and payments giant Paysafe were among the companies taken public by SPACs as investors poured a combined $250 billion into the acquisition vehicles..

But the trend sharply fell off as shareholders lost money on the vast majority of these companies. An index of companies that listed via SPAC is down 62.5% since peaking in February 2021.

After 613 SPACs launched in the US in 2021, only 14 have floated so far this year.

At the same time, the deal comes at a time of doubt about Londons attractiveness as a place to list, with new listings slowing significantly. An analysis for the Standard last month found that Britains top 100 companies would be worth 460 billion more if they moved to New York.

Admiral Acquisition must buy a company within the next two years, or it will be wound up and its cash will be returned to shareholders.
Former British Prime Minister Liz Truss warned of the economic and political threats to the West posed by China during a visit Wednesday to Beijing's democratic rival Taiwan.

Truss is the first former British prime minister since Margaret Thatcher in the 1990s to visit the self-governing island republic that China claims as its own territory, to be conquered by force if necessary.

Still a sitting member of the House of Commons, Truss follows a growing list of elected representatives and former officials from the U.S., EU nations and elsewhere who have visited Taiwan to show their defiance of Chinas threats and attempts to cut off the island and its high-tech economy from the international community.

There are those who say they dont want another Cold War. But this is not a choice we are in a position to make. Because China has already embarked on a self-reliance drive, whether we want to decouple from their economy or not," Truss said in an address to the Prospect Foundation at a hotel in the Taiwanese capital, Taipei.

China is growing its navy at an alarming rate and is undertaking the biggest military build-up in peacetime history, she said.

"They have already formed alliances with other nations that want to see the free world in decline. They have already made a choice about their strategy. The only choice we have is whether we appease and accommodate  or we take action to prevent conflict, Truss said.

Elsewhere, Truss praised her successor, Rishi Sunak, for describing China as the biggest long-term threat to Britain in comments last summer and for urging the closure of Chinese government-run cultural centers known as Confucius Institutes, which have been criticized as outlets for Communist Party propaganda. Such services could instead be provided by people from Taiwan and Hong Kong who come to the United Kingdom without government backing.

China's relations with Britain and most other Western democracies have been in steep decline in recent years, largely as a result of disputes over human rights, trade technology and China's aggressive moves toward Taiwan and in the South China Sea.

Beijing's relations with London have been especially bitter over China's sweeping crackdown on free speech, democracy and other civil liberties in Hong Kong, a former British colony that was promised it would retain its freedoms after the handover to Chinese rule in 1997.

China has said a key previous bilateral agreement on Hong Kong no longer applies and has rejected British expressions of concern as interference in China's domestic political affairs. China has also been angered by a joint Australian-U.S.-British agreement known as AUKUS that would provide Australia with nuclear-powered submarines in part to counter the perceived rising threat from China.

Truss, who served an ill-fated seven weeks as prime minister last year, also said China could not be trusted to follow through on its commitments in areas from trade to protection of the environment.

And she praised Taiwan as an enduring rebuke to totalitarianism whose fate was a "core interest" to Europe.

A blockade or invasion of Taiwan would undermine freedom and democracy in Europe. Just as a Russian victory in Ukraine would undermine freedom and democracy in the Pacific," Truss said.

"We in the United Kingdom and the free world must do all we can to back you, she said.

Truss' remarks also stood in stark contrast to published comments from French President Emmanuel Macron last month that elicited doubts about whether Macrons views were in line with other European countries on Taiwans status.

The question we need to answer, as Europeans, is the following: Is it in our interest to accelerate (a crisis) on Taiwan? No, Macron was quoted as saying in the interview. The worst thing would be to think that we Europeans must become followers on this topic and take our cue from the U.S. agenda and a Chinese overreaction.

Shortly afterward, Macron denied any change on France's views toward Taiwan, saying, We are for the status quo, and this policy is constant.

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T he boss of accounting software firm Sage said he is very proud to be listed in London, even as its North American arm grows to bring in almost half of the companys revenue.

The comments came as Sages shares rose today after it revealed its revenue for the year is set to be higher than it had previously expected.

Sage now sees organic revenue for the year to 30 September as being 11% higher than the past year, having previously expected growth just ahead of last years 9%.

The fastest rise came in North America, at 28%, though CEO Steve Hare said the main reason for the upgrade was that growth elsewhere had outperformed expectations.

He noted that a strong level of optimism from small businesses in the UK and elsewhere played a major role in that overperformance. UK and Ireland revenue was up by 10%.

We serve SMEs and although they obviously are facing a number of challenges, they are very much feeling confident about the future, he said.

With a market capitalisation of more than 8 billion, Sage is among the biggest London-listed tech companies. As a number of cutting-edge firms choose New York over London, amid concerns that UK-listed shares tend to be undervalued, Hare said he did not see any reason to abandon the City.

Were proud of our roots, he said. We were born in Newcastle and were very proud of that.

What I ask is, What do we need to do to continue to grow the business? And we have no problem getting access to capital.

We are very proud to be listed in the UK. It is not holding us back.

Hare also said he saw AI as a major opportunity, creating a new kind of virtual assistant for small businesses.

Weve had AI built into our products for many years but we are very excited about the next generation of AI, he said. Whats very exciting about generative AI is that it can reach more conclusions and provide more insight.

So what were able to do is we can deploy that type of technology not just to be compliant, not just to be more productive but to provide insights. Think of it like a virtual assistant rather than just giving us better productivity.

Sage shares are up 3.9% to 853p, approaching the record levels they reached in early 2000.

AJ Bell investment director Russ Mould said the company is doing a good job of navigating a decidedly mixed economic environment.

Dan Ridsdale, head of technology at Edison Group, said the company is now a bona fide software-as-a-service company, and noted that peers in that space tend to trade at higher multiples.
M inisters often stress that they are here to listen to business. A good place to start would be to axe the tourist tax on foreign shoppers before yet further damage is done to the capitals global reputation  and economy.

The Evening Standard has long led the campaign against scrapping VAT-free shopping by the then chancellor, now Prime Minister, in January 2021. This decision instantly made it 20 per cent more expensive for foreign visitors to shop in London. And it represents a classic false economy  it made the capital more expensive and diverted high-spending tourists to other European cities.

Reintroducing tax-free shopping is an absolute no-brainer, in the words of Chris Hayward, policy chairman at the City of London Corporation. That is because high-value visitors are vital to the overall economic vibrancy of our city, spending money not only in shops but restaurants, hotels and other attractions.

Ministers need not wait for the Autumn Statement. The Government should act now, as part of its pledge to grow the economy and create better-paid jobs.

Housing is key to votes

There are not enough homes in this country  that is the view of the Housing Secretary, Michael Gove. The Labour Party agrees. So why can we not build more, not least in the capital?

The provision of housing will be a key election issue, and Keir Starmer is looking to own it. The Labour leader wants to give local councils the final say on whether homes can be built on green belt land, a policy likely to raise hackles. But it is a calculated risk.

First, because Londoners are crying out for places to live. The lack of supply is forcing costs up. Average monthly rents in the capital have hit a new record high of 2,210, a rise of 17.2 per cent on the year. Meanwhile, home purchase affordability is at its lowest since Victorian times. This supply squeeze also acts as an unnecessary constraint on the supply of labour, hampering economic output.

Second, Starmer can try and demonstrate leadership while the Prime Minister appears to be boxed in by his own party. Rishi Sunak was compelled to ditch plans for compulsory housebuilding targets following a backlash from his backbenchers and party members.

Politicians can dabble around the edges, with Help to Buy or stamp duty holidays. But the only permanent solution to ending the housing crisis is to build more homes.

Cannes wow factor

Glitz, glamour, not caring about what anyone else thinks  it must be Cannes. The film festival is underway with the usual quirks, auteurs and even the odd blockbuster.

The movies are still the main attraction, of course, but a close second may be a hoped-for chance to watch Indiana Jones star Phoebe Waller-Bridge dancing with fellow A-listers at the Disney party, on a golden sandy beach.
Review at a glance









I ts pitched somewhere between Miss Congeniality and Erin Brockovich but, despite Patricia Arquettes best efforts, High Desert lands neither a joke nor an emotional punch.

It is a disappointment, considering it comes with a script from experienced writers Katie Ford, Nancy Fichman, and Jennifer Hoppe - the latter pair who had previously contributed to Grace and Frankie, the television adaption of Get Shorty, and Nurse Jackie. While an experienced line-up, it is the first time they have created a show and it is a promising set-up.

Arquette plays Peggy, a not-quite-yet-clean addict recovering from the death of her mother as she works and steals her way through a hand-to-mouth existence. Peggy, whose husband (an underused Matt Dillon) is in jail, works as an actress at a struggling western saloon theme park (thats both eerie and eerily similar to one in the 2022 film Nope).

Its not only the creditors and law enforcers who are circling, but her own squeaky-clean brother and sister (the latter credibly played by Christine Taylor)  their exasperating relationship with the black sheep elder sibling is about as real as the show gets.

Falling on one hard time too many, Peggys eureka moment is seeing an ad offering the chance to become a private investigator. Its unclear whether the writers researched by purely watching The Peter Serafinowicz Show, but Brad Garrett as PI Bruce and his tin pot organisation could double for the deliberately inept Brian Butterfield Detective Agency.

Patricia Arquette and Weruche Opia / Apple TV+

Perhaps Yucca Valley, California has more than its fair share of village idiots, but the comic stupidity of the bad guys is enough for the darker and more tender moments to lose credibility. Rupert Friends Guru Bob is a walking manifestation of a yoga-practising stereotype while his jealous and bleating girlfriend, Susan Park as Tammy, doesnt do much for the image of aspiring actresses.

There is a missed opportunity for Peggy to strike up any kind of witty banter with Bruce beyond a repeated gag where she gives the small print of any transaction as she walks out of the door. Then there is poor Weruche Opia, who plays Peggys best friend Carol, and is given the impossible task of resurrecting the characters lifeless dialogue. For a series of eight episodes there is a large ensemble introduced around Peggy and perhaps it is Bernadette Peterss turn as Rosalyn that could do with the most fleshing out.

Arquette, who picked up an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for a career high performance in 2014s Boyhood, was also an executive producer on High Desert. This follows her executive producing Apple TV+ critical darling Severance and Escape at Dannemora, the prison break drama in which she also starred. Fresh from such form, she plunges headfirst into the role and is ready on-cue to wail, charm, shriek, hustle and moan when called upon  sometimes all in the same scene. Its as committed as it is exhausting.

The problem with High Desert starts and ends with Peggy herself. The shows only developed character, she is flawed and frustrating, that much is intended. But her happy-go-lucky nature would only be enough to carry the show if the jokes were not tired, the comedy wasnt so reliant on slapstick, and she had even a hint of chemistry with any of the large number of supporting characters.

Her drug addiction feels like an afterthought. We are told she is grieving her mother, but rarely thats rarely shown. When he is allowed on camera, Dillon rasps a few affections for her without any feeling between the pair who we are told are, or once were, very much in love. And Peggys apparent genius for deduction and detective work, which forms the plots basis, only seems to be talent because of the buffoons and losers who surround her. Sherlock can rest easy.

There is a lot going on in High Desert, but even among multiple layers of narrative there isnt any consistent threat, excitement, or, above all, fun. For one of Arquettes bigger roles of recent years it feels sad to watch such an enthusiastic turn from a dud script.

High Desert is out now on AppleTV+
A t the Institute of Cancer Research in South Kensington there are many labs. Most are exactly what youd imagine  scientists in white coats doing clever things with microscopes and petri dishes. But one is full of large, super-powerful computers, which are working round the clock to generate masses of data using AI. This is the Centre for Evolution and Cancer, where Professor Trevor Graham leads teams of computational biologists who are using AI modelling to track how cells change over time and predict how close a person is to getting cancer.

When I was doing my PhD, it took us weeks to analyse one tiny stretch of DNA  these computers can do that in milliseconds, he explains. At the moment Graham and his team are looking at cells from patients who have Inflammatory Bowel Disease. We know that people with IBD have a higher risk of bowel cancer and the NHS will give them regular endoscopies but obviously no one likes having a camera stuck up their bum a lot, he explains. So instead we can now use AI to analyse their cells and get more information out of a sample, and start predicting patterns of whether and when a tumour is likely to develop. AI like this is hugely exciting because its much more efficient which can mean we get in there earlier and can save more lives. We know that if you catch bowel cancer at an early stage theres a 97% chance of survival, but it drops to 7% later down the line.

Developed at Imperial College, London, this surgical scalpel can smell tumours and diagnose womb cancer within minutes. (Lynne Cameron/PA) / PA Wire

Dr Sam Godfrey, the Research Information Team Lead at Cancer Research UK, says were currently in a golden age of cancer research. Part of his job is picking which groundbreaking research the charity will fund. Thanks to technology were understanding things we never knew before and there are some really quirky new tools and cutting-edge methods being trialled, he says.

One of those quirky tools might be the iKnife. Developed at Imperial College, London, this surgical scalpel can smell tumours and diagnose womb cancer within minutes. The iKnife uses electrical currents to differentiate between cancerous and healthy tissue by analysing the smoke that is emitted when the biopsy tissue is vaporised, explains Athena Lamnisos, the chief executive of the Eve Appeal, the cancer charity which funded the research. This tool has the potential to create a step change in faster diagnosis, and for the 90% of women with postmenopausal bleeding that isnt cancer, its a really effective way to put their minds at ease. We know how important this is for patients.

Imperial are also trialling a breath test for lung and upper respiratory system cancer, which is so simple it could even be done in the GPs surgery. We know that cancer cells leak molecules, a bit like an engine leaks on a crap car, explains Dr Samuel Godfrey. So a variety of different molecules detected in the breath might indicate you have cancer. The patient would breathe into a plastic bag type instrument like a breathalyser and you could get results really quickly.

We have microscopes which are so powerful they can take a slice of a cell thats the equivalent of a cross-section of the human hair and enlarge it to the size of the London Eye, says Dr Samuel Godfrey. (Alamy/PA) / (Alamy/PA)

Dr Godfrey says there are amazing advances at every stage of cancer care, from diagnosis to remission. We have microscopes such as Cryo-EM which are so powerful they can take a slice of a cell thats the equivalent of a cross-section of the human hair and enlarge it to the size of the London Eye, he says. Theres work being done on cancer vaccines which can teach the immune system to recognise mutated cells and attack them. There are also some amazing experimental new drugs which act like Sellotape for a cells self-destruct switch, meaning that the cancerous selves can just blast themselves. Tasks that would take expert scientists months and months can now be done in minutes by AI.

AI-based computer programs have been used to help doctors interpret mammograms and other scans for a while, but research in this area is quickly evolving. AI is now being taught not just what to look for in a scan, but how to study the eye movements of a radiologist to mimic exactly what they do to make decisions. At the moment two separate radiographers are required to look at every scan, but trials are being done to see if AI could be used in parallel with a human radiographer. And AI algorithms are even being used to see if cancer can be predicted from someones shopping habits.

The AI is being trained to look for patterns in behaviour which might be early indicators for cancer, so for example how often they visited the GP, what they bought from the pharmacy, says Dr Samuel Godfrey. Maybe people who go on to develop esophageal cancer bought more antacids for example. Theres a huge amount of data and were seeing patterns which no one predicted.

There are so many glimmers of hope in every area, were not far from being at the point where getting a cancer diagnosis is no big deal.

And rather than just blasting a tumour with a one-size-fits-all drug and hoping for the best, at Queen Mary University, east London theyre using machine learning to create bespoke treatments. The Drug Ranking Using Machine Learning (DRUML) method tested thousands of liver cancer cells and their response to 412 different drugs. Patients who are diagnosed with primary liver cancer often have a very poor prognosis, says Professor Pedro Cutillas, researcher at Queen Mary. Cancers of the bile duct, in particular, exhibit great variation from patient to patient and a one-size-fits-all approach to treatment is not the most effective way to reduce cancer cell growth. But by utilising this new technology we can predict individual patient responses to therapies and prescribe the most effective treatment plan.

And soon drugs may not be needed at all, if you can get into the cell and stop the cancer forming in the first place. Thats the kind of work being done at Crispr, which uses revolutionary gene editing technology to change the code of living cells. Think of it as a pair of tiny molecular scissors which can figure out which gene might be causing the cancer, snip it out and replace it with another gene. Dr Edward Stadtmauer led the first trial to test a CRISPR-made cancer therapy at the University of Pennsylvania, in which patients own immune cells were genetically modified to better see and kill their cancer. This [trial] was really a proof-of-principle, feasibility, and safety thing that now opens up the whole world of CRISPR editing and other techniques of editing to hopefully make the next generation of therapies, says Dr. Stadtmauer.

Back at the ICR, Dr James OConnor is staring at a fuzzy colourful shape on a screen. It is a tumour in a patients neck and it changes colour as they breathe in pure oxygen. OConnor is Professor of Quantitative Biomedical Imaging at the ICR and is working to develop a new type of scan which could help doctors deliver radiotherapy more efficiently. The machine is called the MR-Linac and it can measure oxygen levels in tumours.

Most cancers are still detected using MRI or CT scans and all we can see is whether theres a tumour and how big it is, he explains. But the MR-Linac can show us how the tumour functions, what its metabolism is like, how much oxygen it has, how its responding to treatment in real time. We can measure the whole tumour spatially in 3D and colour map it and find its weak point which opens up a whole new load of treatment options. We know that if we can get great images of a tumour and track it across time theres a proven survival benefit. At the moment there are only two MR-Linac machines in the UK, in London and Manchester, but more will be rolled out soon.

Although debate about the ethics and limitations of AI continues, this field is moving incredibly fast and new applications of technology are constantly popping up. There are so many glimmers of hope in every area, says Dr Godfrey. Were not far from being at the point where getting a cancer diagnosis is no big deal.
W hen plotting my first safari, I scoffed at the idea that people regularly take time afterwards to relax at the beach. What could possibly be un-relaxing about being treated like a pampered toddler, getting chauffeured about to look at animals, every meal planned and catered for you?

After a series of pre-dawn starts, hyperstimulation and days of rattling around in a safari vehicle, I began to get the picture, so it was pretty special to try things at a different pace on one of Sanctuary Swala Camps new canoe safaris at Tarangire National Park. Paddling around a lake in the early evening, almost silent to catch elephants, wildebeest and zebra unawares as they took their last drink of the day, was utterly peaceful  until we got wedged against a tree and looked up into the branches to discover coiled up pythons mere inches above our heads.

Guides were always trying to get me interested in a rare bird or a pile of dung, but I was here for the headliners, the so-called Big Five. Thats not to say there werent revelations among the fringe acts. Our night safari yielded a truly absurd five minutes watching two mongooses mating under the glare of torches  presumably they were hoping for the privacy of nightfall. While perving on small furry creatures has an acquired charm, nothing compared to the Beyonce moments: the group of teenage lions basking under a tree or the baby elephant scratching its tummy on a fallen trunk  so loud it sounded like sawing on a building site.

Prudence stays refreshed while spotting the local inhabitants / ES Magazine

I could have happily spent all day standing on the back seat of our sturdy safari car watching a lion guard a recently killed zebra on the shore of a pool dotted with pink flamingos; while warthogs and wildebeest grazed a respectful distance away, and hyenas and vultures circled patiently for the leftovers. But I cant boast of the stamina of Attenborough, and so returned to camp for a Swahili-inspired supper with crisp South African white wine under a lamplit canopy of acacia trees.

Sanctuary Ngorongoro Crater Camp is on the forested crater rim 7,000 feet above sea level  meaning fewer troublesome insects than elsewhere in Tanzania, but chilly evenings and mornings. The camp is cosy with tents equipped with double beds, en suite bathrooms, dressing areas and even a turndown service that featured a nightly mosquito massacre. It was as well not to forget that even amid the comforts we were still in the bush, and the guides werent teasing when they rushed to walk alongside you every time you so much as popped to your tent. This was brought home on our arrival at Sanctuary Swala Camp, where the first thing we heard was a lions roar  she was hanging out right next to my tent.

Another day a young male elephant decided to snack on the trees around the camp with a crash and a thud. Apparently our hungry friend  nicknamed Maasai thanks to the hole in his ears, which the guides say reminds them of Maasai ear stretching  often visits the staff quarters, cheekily peering into their rooms. I was pampered, overstimulated and exhausted, but its insights like these, experiencing these incredible beasts interacting in the wild, that has given me the edge over even the most zoo-experienced London toddler.

Abercrombie & Kent offers a 12-night Classic Northern Tanzania trip from 10,725, including flights and full-board accommodation (abercrombiekent.co.uk; 01242 547 760)
D own in value to around 1,440 from just over 3,000 this time last year, Ethereum (ETH) has suffered the same fate as bitcoin and many other cryptocurrencies over the last year or so.

Cryptocurrencies are inherently and inevitably volatile. They are strongly influenced by supply, demand, competition and sentiment.

Weve taken a look at how each of these four factors could affect ETH prices in the foreseeable future.

Supply

Unlike bitcoin , theres no total limit to how much ETH can be mined. However, there is an annual cap of 18,000,000.

But a major change to Ethereum last September altered the way in which and the rate at which ETH is supplied.

Prior to September 2022, miners were rewarded with 2 ETH for each block added to the Ethereum blockchain. While new blocks are added to bitcoins blockchain every 10 minutes, Ethereum blocks were added every 13 to 15 seconds.

Miners were also rewarded for creating so-called Uncle Blocks. An Uncle Block is created when two or more miners create blocks at the same time. Since only one can be added to the blockchain, the creators of blocks that arent added (Uncle Blocks) are compensated with between 0.06ETH and 1.75ETH.

While bitcoins value is derived, in part, from its scarcity, Ethereums supply doesnt currently have a bearing on its value. Assuming theres no immediate surge in demand for ETH, supply rates should remain relatively constant.

However, Ethereum has changed its consensus mechanism from proof of work to proof of stake.

In practical terms, this means ETH is no longer mined by those with the computational horsepower to guess a 64-character alphanumeric string from trillions of possible combinations.

Instead, it is mined by those with the greater probability of being chosen as a validator because of the amount of ETH theyve staked for the opportunity.

Under Ethereum 2.0, supply could decline by 2% annually, according to Ethereum tracker Ultra Sound Money. Rewards for adding a block to the Ethereum blockchain are more than 90% lower than they were under proof of work.

Verdict on supply: ETH prices have been trending upwards since the new consensus mechanism took effect. In general, prices are likely to keep rising.

Invest with a crypto brand trusted by millions Buy and sell 70+ cryptoassets on a secure, easy-to-use platform Own Crypto

Cryptoassets are highly volatile and unregulated in the UK. No consumer protection. Tax on profits may apply.

Demand

The number of daily Ethereum transactions gives us an indication of the demand for the asset. Just over one million transactions were carried out on 16 May 2023, which is down from an all-time high of around 1.7 million transactions on 9 May 2022, but typical for the token.

The number of Google searches for the keyword Ethereum peaked in May last year before falling significantly. Numbers peaked again in mid-September as Ethereum went through its merge, but remained flat since.

As you need an active Ethereum address to trade in ETH, the number of daily active addresses can also give us an indication of demand.

There were around 393,000 active Ethereum addresses as of 16 May - down significantly since Januarys peak of 631,000 active addresses.

Verdict on demand : Transactions are flat and active addresses are trending downwards. Prices could follow suit.

Competition

As the second largest cryptocurrency by market capitalisation, Ethereum is often pitted against the number one cryptocurrency, bitcoin.

While bitcoin was designed to only facilitate payments, Ethereum was designed to also facilitate dApps and smart contracts. But while, as such, the coins are not directly comparable, comparisons persist.

The merge of the two Ethereum blockchains in September moved Ethereum from being in competition with bitcoin and its proof of work consensus mechanism to being in competition with other altcoins that use proof of stake as a consensus mechanism, such as Cardano (ADA) and Solana (SOL).

The so-called crypto winter that wiped around 50% off the value of bitcoin and around 70% off the value of ETH since the start of the year has also affected Ethereums competition. Cardano (ADA) has fallen in value by around 60% since January and Solana (SOL) has fallen by around 80%, meaning Ethereums losses havent been its competitors gains.

Even stablecoins, created as less volatile alternatives to traditional crypto assets, have been negatively affected by global economic factors.

One recent change was the introduction of BRC-20 tokens on the Bitcoin blockchain, as an analogue to ERC-20 tokens. While there was an initial surge in interest in BRC-20 tokens such as Ordi and Pepe, prices fell sharply and it remains to be seen whether the new standard has any staying power.

Verdict on competition: With unchanged pressure from competitors, prices could remain flat or climb.

Sentiment

ETH prices are affected by peoples opinions of it.

Investors use fear and greed indices to gauge market sentiment. When an index shows a market is in a fear phase, it means asset holders are selling because theyre worried about prices falling. In a greed phase, traders are buying because they believe prices will increase and theyll make a profit.

The widely cited Crypto Fear & Greed Index at alternative.me currently says the crypto market (not ETH specifically) is in a Neutral state, which means people arent expecting prices to rise or fall. The indexs status is unchanged for the past few months, meaning sentiment hasnt changed either way.

Critics of fear and greed indices argue that while theyre useful for tracking sentiment, theyre not a good predictor of price movements, however.

ETH outflow from crypto exchanges can also be used to gauge sentiment. The more a currency is flowing out of an exchange and into wallets, the more is being held on to - perhaps in anticipation of price rises.

Withdrawals figures have gone through peaks and troughs all year, but outflow numbers are broadly flat for the year to date.

The merger of ETH1 and ETH2 is thought to have affected market sentiment positively too. Moving to a more sustainable consensus mechanism is seen as a positive by many, and could be a boon to ETHs value, but the merger has yet to affect prices in any significant way.

Verdict on sentiment: Prices may remain flat or rise in the medium term.

Invest with a crypto brand trusted by millions Buy and sell 70+ cryptoassets on a secure, easy-to-use platform Own Crypto
T hey say pets are the heart of a home, but increasingly theyre also its small, furry creative directors.

Pet-centric interior design (dubbed barkitecture) is on the rise. Pinterest reports that interest in pet furniture has more than doubled in the past three months, while searches for luxury dog rooms, cat wall furniture and dog showers are also on the up.

This might be inevitable following the explosion of interest in luxury pet food, products and clothing over the past decade.

British annual expenditure on pets has risen by 270 per cent since 2005, reaching new heights in the pandemic when the share of households with an animal rose from about 41 per cent in 2019 to 62 per cent in 2022.

An oversized sink for dog washing was installed in this London home by Kate Guinness / James McDonald

Influenced by pets

Pets are a big priority for many of my clients says London interior designer Emma Neame. On a recent Streatham project, one client even let her dog pick the fabric for curtains on the enormous kitchen windows.

We were flicking through the book and the dog just put his paw on one. Im relieved to say it was a good choice, she says.

Dog showers

Purpose-built dog showers  where pooches can be rinsed off after a muddy walk  are also increasingly popular: Were installing them on almost every project these days says interior designer Emma Hooton of Studio Hooton.

She says clients request them at different heights, depending on the size of the pet, and there are even special showerheads to give the dog a lovely massage.

Charlotte Bata of Teddy London recently installed a shower for her dog in her London utility room, cleverly tucking it into a corner that would otherwise be wasted space: We used leftover marble mosaic tiles from our master bathroom, she adds.

For those who dont want a full-blown shower, interior designer Kate Guinness says she installed an oversized sink in a west London home, specifically for washing the owners dog.

Scratch-proof floors

Non-slip or scratch-proof floors are also popular with dog and cat owners.

Interior designer Sophie Pringle of Pringle & Pringle recently helped pick out terracotta tiles for a clients kitchen floor, specifically because they arent so slippy for dogs.

Neame has also noticed clients with animals veering away from real wood flooring to high-end composite alternatives like Karndean, which is designed to be pet-proof, or Antico luxury vinyl: It looks like wood, you dont need to maintain it and its easy to clean.

Huxley Home transformed a bookcase into a climbing frame with higher levels where the cat can escape the dog / Handout

Space-saving design

But its not just dogs having an impact on home design. Neame recently built a utility room/office around a clients guinea pig.

For interior designer Zara Cowen of Huxley Home, a clients cat was the priority when it came to the sitting room shelves in her Notting Hill apartment.

This cat was queen of the household so we decided to turn the bookcase into a climbing frame, with holes in each shelf allowing her to climb up and escape the dog.

Sleeping nooks for dogs or cats integrated into joinery are a space-saving solution for London homes, with Neame noting clients even opt for low-VOC paint to protect their animal from harmful fumes.

A wall-mounted, Alto unit designed with Danish studio Hans Thyge & Co thats part-stylish bookcase, part-elevated cat playhouse / MiaCara

Pet label MiaCara sells a wall-mounted unit designed with Danish studio Hans Thyge & Co thats part-stylish bookcase, part-elevated cat playhouse.

Stylish solution

Some renovators with mogs are also finding creative alternatives to the eyesore cat flap.

When Tori and Tom bought their fixer-upper home in Southfields, they fell in love with the architects detailed brickwork design for the kitchen extension.

It would have been offensive to then install a naff plastic pet door, says Tori, so we came up with the idea of integrating a cat tunnel that would run through a built-in brick patio bench.

The result is an elaborate but discreet solution.

Tori and Tom created a cat tunnel to avoid having to look at a plastic pet door in their new London home / Handout

Ideas for renters and homeowners

According to data gathered by rental platform Movebubble, searches for rentals allowing pets doubled after the first lockdown in 2020.

In July 2022, the Government published plans for pets in lets legislation, forbidding landlords from imposing a blanket ban on tenants keeping pets.

Though changing the flooring or drilling a cat tunnel isnt normally an option if you dont own, there are some deposit-saving design solutions for pet owners.

If youre allowed to paint, Kate Guinness suggests using a hard-wearing emulsion in a darker colour on the lower half of walls in high-traffic areas to disguise scuffs.

Placement of furniture can make a big difference too.

Sophie Pringle suggests putting a small end table by your sofa to stop the fabric catching hair when your pet brushes past, or protecting your furniture (without putting a grubby towel down) by getting a dog sofa topper from the Lounging Hound, which can be made to fit the seat cushions in a range of machine-washable fabrics.

Or try Charlotte Batas brand The Teddy Bed for a (washable) boucle option which can be made to match your interiors.

If you have a curtain-climbing cat, Emma Neame says hanging ones which have a leading edge (or border) in a velvet fabric that prevents sun damage but also stops cats climbing up it.

Velvet is also a good option if youre accessorizing your rental with cushions as cats dont generally like clawing it, she adds.

If your place has a loop pile carpet (a cat claw magnet) or a soft wooden floor vulnerable to scratches (pine is especially bad) covering as much of it with a washable non-slip rug from somewhere like Ruggable, whose founder Jeneva Bell was inspired to set up the brand after her dog ruined her brand new rug, can help.

Kate Guinness also recommends getting an oversized doormat for your entryway to filter mud.

Barkitecture

On May 20-21, architects will compete in the second annual Barkitecture contest, spearheaded by Grand Designs presenter Kevin McCloud, part of the Goodwoof festival at Goodwood House in West Sussex.

Last years winner, Bonehenge by Birds Portchmouth Russum, is a beautiful oval, Accoya wood kennel with a skylight and water-capturing system.

This may not be an opportunity for us to solve the housing crisis, says McCloud, but it will greatly contribute to human and canine relations.
S weeping reforms to the private rental sector have been published today as the long-awaited Renters Reform Bill had its first reading  though it could take months to pass through parliament.

The Bill makes good on the Conservative 2019 manifesto pledge to ban no-fault evictions. It also protects benefit claimants, families with children and pets from blanket bans, doubles notice periods for rent increases and requires private rental housing to meet the Decent Homes Standard.

But campaigners are concerned that it contains possible loopholes for landlords, including a bolstered Section 8, which addresses evictions where a tenant is deemed in breach of contract.

Speaking on Radio 2 this afternoon, Michael Gove said: Its also the case that weve taken steps that if tenants are anti-social, that landlords can evict them more quickly, and also if tenants are persistently and deliberately evading their responsiblity to pay their rent, then they can also be evicted more quickly.

Radical reform  or a missed opportunity?

Housing charity Shelter warned that the wording of the Bill must not be watered down as it makes its way through parliament. A first reading is a formality  just the title is read out  but debates and a later line-by-line assessment could alter the contents.

The Bill will then follow the same process in the House of Lords.

Shelter said: If the government gets this bill right it will be a gamechanger. But its vital that the bill is as strong as possible. It must deliver genuine security for renters as it goes through Parliament, and not create loopholes.

Its pivotal that MPs keep the millions of private renters  who have been waiting years for these changes  front of mind as this bill makes its way through Parliament.

It has been more than four years since the first consultations into the proposed changes started.

Data from The Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Community shows that more than 48,000 households in England were assessed by local councils as a homelessness risk due to section 21 evictions between July 2019 and June 2022.

Overall nearly 230,000 private renters have received a no-fault eviction notice in those three years, according to research called out by Shelter and Yougov.

On Twitter Green Party MP Caroline Lucas described the Bill as a missed opportunity with a loophole to help landlords avoid [the ban on no-fault evictions], no proper rent controls, nothing to tackle cold & damp in homes. Renters deserve justice, she said  and this doesnt cut it.

Labour MP Rebecca Long-Bailey welcomed the abolishment of Section 21, but called for four-month notice periods, in-tenancy rent increase caps and protection from eviction in the first two years of a tenancy.

Will landlords sell up en masse?

Landlord groups have warned that the Bill, which follows a year in which many have seen their mortgage rate rise, would make landlordship a less attractive proposition.

They suggest a significant number of the UKs roughly two million landlords could throw in the towel and sell up if the Bill comes to pass in its current form  and the shortage of supply could push rents up further.

A survey commissioned by the National Residential Landlords Association (NRLA) claims that in Q1 2023, 33 per cent of private landlords in England and Wales said they planned to cut the number of properties they rent out  up from 20 per cent in the same period the year before.

Sue Colson, the CEO of council-backed housing procurement scheme Capital Letters said that we may see an unintended consequence of good quality, responsible landlords leaving the sector due to a perceived lack of power and an increased risk.

But Dan Wilson Craw, acting director of campaign group Generation Rent, pointed out that overall supply wont be affected.

He said: Landlords have always sold properties for a range of reasons and there is little evidence to suggest they are doing so in greater numbers than normal. The Bill will still allow landlords who have legitimate reasons to evict tenants to do so, so most landlords will not be affected by the reforms.

Even if we see a lot of landlords who currently abuse Section 21 evictions to bully tenants start to leave the market, its not like their properties will disappear. The homes will still be lived in.

The reason for the record unaffordability of rented homes that were seeing at the moment in London is a chronic lack of housing across all sectors. We need to build enough homes to meet demand to address this.

What does it mean for Londoners?

Jon Tabbush, Senior Researcher at think tank Centre for London, said the Bill is good news for Londons more than one million private renters, but warned the power for landlords to evict tenants at short notice due to anti-social behaviour must be strictly defined and enforced carefully.

The London Renters Union, who have campaigned to end no-fault evictions for five years, say this is the bare minimum and called for stronger action to prevent rent hikes.

Londoners may have hoped to see stronger protections in the Bill, on the back of a report by Hamptons earlier this week that found London rents hit a record 2,210 per month in April.

Michael Gove ruled out the introduction of rent caps in an interview with the i newspaper today, saying that while a legislative means of fixing rents would give temporary relief, in the medium- to long-term it would be bad for the many people who will need homes in the future due to a diminished supply of new rental properties.

There is also concern about how councils could cope with being handed extra responsibility for enforcement.

Last November, cross-party group London Councils warned that the citys local authorities could face a 700m funding gap this year.

The government will have 18 months to bring the Bill into law before the next election. Its passage through parliament may not be smooth sailing  recent delays came amidst reports that Tory MPs are unhappy with what they perceive as anti-landlord legislation.
The red carpet has been rolled out and the 2023 Cannes Film Festival is now firmly in motion.

Frances most spectacular celebration of cinema kicked off on May 16 for the 76th time, with an opening ceremony and screening of Jeanne du Barry. The film sees Johnny Depp play King Louis XV in his controversial return to the silver screen following his US libel case with Amber Heard last year.

Johnny Depp and Maiwenn / Getty Images

Depp, unsurprisingly, turned most heads on arrival as he walked in alongside his co-star and the films director Maiwenn, despite them both choosing to wear sombre black for the occasion.

Other stars, though, looked altogether more celebratory. Brie Larson, who we can expect to see much of as a member of this years jury panel, stood out from her co-judges in billowing gold silk gown with an embroidered V-neck top worn over. It was first seen on Chanels Resort 2024 catwalk; all three of her first outfits on the French Riviera have been from Chanel, as she stays loyal to her ambassadorship contract.

Brie Larson / Getty Images

Statements came from Helen Mirren, who dyed her tufted hair various shades of blue to match her silk Del Core gown, while Elle Fanning wore the most intricately constructed gown of the opening night: an Alexander McQueen dress, complete with silver, beaded bodice and cascading, pale pink tulle train encrusted with diamantes.

Helen Mirren / Getty Images

On the supermodel front, Naomi Campbell led the way in an Old Hollywood-esque, silver sequined Celine gown with diamond cuffs from Chopard and some bug-style white sunglasses. Also in attendance was the Brazilian former Victorias Secret star Alessandra Ambrosio, who dug into the archives to find her pink, sheer and sparkling hooded Elie Saab Couture look from the autumn/winter 2005 collection.

Naomi Campbell / Getty Images for Campari

Catherine Zeta-Jones instead opted for a more recent Elie Saab outfit, as she arrived in a flowing red and fuschia ombre gown from the spring/summer 2022 collection. The long-time Welsh star, who is enjoying refreshed acclaim thanks to her role in Netflixs Wednesday, waved from the steps with her husband and Honorary Palme dor of the festival, Michael Douglas, as well as their daughter Carys Zeta Douglas.

The next day brought a host of looks from the star-studded guest list in attendance for the screening of Monster, a Japanese film about school bullying from director Kore-Eda Hirokazu. Saint Laurent was in abundance, with models Iris Law and Soo Joo Park both representing the brand on the red carpet. Law stayed true to her love of nearly-naked dressing with her black mesh camisole and mid-length skirt combo, pulled together with a waist belt, black leather gloves and humongous hoop earrings.

Iris law / Getty Images

Also in Saint Laurent was actress Laura Harrier, who joined the monochrome-heavy red carpet in a black scoop-bust gown with a shawl neck that bled into the back of her dress, paired with slicked back hair and Bulgari jewellery.

The other side of the monochrome palette could be seen on actress Gemma Chan, who looked positively bridal in her ivory Louis Vuitton caped gown with added sequin detailling around the structured skirt. Viola Davis was also a vision in white, arriving at the Monster screening covered in a plume of ostrich-esque feathers.

Viola Davis / Getty Images

Her gown (and feathered coat) were Valentino Couture, complemented by Chopard jewellery. The vast coat also featured tiny strands of silver tinsel which glittered as she swanned about on the red carpet.

Karlie Kloss / Getty Images

Last Thursday brought the premiere of Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, with its stars Harrison Ford, Phoebe Waller-Bridge and Mads Mikkelsen all in attendance. But the red carpet thunder was slightly stolen by Karlie Kloss, who arrived holding her baby bump in a flowing dijon mustard coloured gown with intricate pleating details and a dramatic train.

Michelle Yeoh / Scott Garfitt/Invision/AP

The looks kept coming over the weekend, in particular on the red carpet for Firebrand, the historical drama about Catherine Parr and Henry VIII, starring Jude Law and Alicia Vikander. Oscar-winning actress Michelle Yeoh brought some colour to Cannes with her vivid emerald custom Balenciaga gown, which she wore with black gloves and a dramatic monochrome Boucheron necklace.

Irina Shayk / Getty Images

Also turning heads was Russian model Irina Shayk, who bared all in a Mowalola leather two piece from the brands autumn/winter 2023 collection paired with Messika jewels, but it was Jennifer Lawrence, who attended the Anatomie Dune Chute (Anatomy Of A Fall) red carpet on Sunday, that looked every-inch the Old Hollywood star in her timeless red silk Dior gown, with matching shawl and tumbiling, highlighted tresses.

Jennifer Lawrence / Joel C Ryan/Invision/AP

There was no slowing down on Monday, as the second most controversial film showing this year made its debut  and it also features a Depp. Johnnys daughter Lily-Rose Depp stars, and took to the red carpet alongisde her co-star The Weeknd and director Sam Levinson. It comes after Rolling Stone published a report in March in which 13 sources claimed the series had become twisted torture Porn.

Sam Levinson, Lily-Rose Depp and The Weeknd / Getty Images

On the carpet, however, it was all smiles  Depp wore an archive Chanel sequin mini with a centred corage from the autumn/winter 1994 collection, first modelled by Christy Turlington, while The Weeknd opted for a triple-buttoned black tuxedo custom made by Loewe. Julia Fox remained champion in the high drama stakes, though, as she arrived in a polythene dust-cover style corseted dress by Lebanese designer Nicolas Jebran.

Scarlett Johansson / PA

One of the most hotly anticipated films at the festival was Wes Andersons Asteroid City  helped by a blue-tinted promotional image of Scarlett Johansson looking sensational. As she did at Tuesday nights premiere, where she opted for a candy pink, custom Prada column dress with an exposed, white and delicately crystal encrusted bralette.

Julia Garner / PA

She was joined her co-stars Maya Hawke, who also wore Prada, but a more daring, green silk ballooned style with blue opera gloves, and Tom Hanks, who wore a classic black tuxedo alongside his wife Rita Wilson  before he appeared to chastise a staffer on the carpet.

A-listers out to support the cast  who received a six-minute standing ovation after the film premiered  included actress Julia Garner, who wore a flattering, emerald draped Gucci gown, and model Rosie Huntington-Whiteley looking positively Grecian in her Fendi spring/summer 2023 couture look.

Winnie Harlow / PA

It was model behaviour on Wednesday night, as catwalk stars came in droves to see La passion de Dodin Bouffant, a French period romance. Londoner Jourdan Dunn led the way, in a teal, taffeta ballgown by couturier Elie Saab, while US model Winnie Harlow opted for an archive Jean Paul Gaultier black velvet gown with a green satin train.

Jourdan Dunn / REUTERS

Heidi Klum, the German model, made sure to turn heads as she flung her canary yellow gown by Zuhair Murad, the Lebanese designer, in the air. Murad also kitted out English actress Kate Beckinsale, who looked prom-prepared in her glittering bodysuit and mint green skirt.

Brie Larson / Getty Images

While the celebrations are beginning to wind down (Cannes ends tomorrow, 27 May), member of the Cannes jury Brie Larson is showing no signs of stopping. Thursday brought one of her best looks yet, with the actress stepping out for the screening of Perfect Days in a California girl-style Chanel two piece.

There was no stealth wealth about this look, which had Chanel literally written all over it, as well as a layered lace element emanating from the mini skirt, elevating the outfit from Clueless-esque mall rat to effortlessly cool and Cannes carpet ready.

The Cannes Film Festival runs from May 16-28. Click through the gallery at the top of the page for the best looks from the red carpet.
Scan the front row at any of Londons latest fashion weeks or British Fashion Awards and youll likely find Narmina Marandi cosying up alongside the likes of designer Emilia Wickstead or TV personality Tan France.

Narmina Marandi (centre) with Emilia Wickstead and US entrepreneur Lauren Santo Domingo / Dave Benett

The multimillionaire businesswoman  a patron of the British Fashion Trust and wife of one of the countrys richest property tycoons Javad Marandi  is no stranger to a society event. Over recent years, she and her husband have been pictured everywhere from Cannes Film Festival to private dinners with Vogue editor Edward Enninful. Thats if theyre not enjoying a more private evening at celebrity hangout Soho House, in which they are investors, or Mayfair members club 5 Hertford Street  just a stones throw from their 12.5m home on Belgravias Eaton Square.

You might not have heard of the Marandis, but the Iranian-born investor, 55, and his wife, 47  owners of Londons famous Conran Shop and investors in the Anya Hindmarch handbag retailer  have interests in the worlds of fashion, art, hospitality and international relations. They are understood to be key funders of the Prince and Princess of Wales Royal Foundation, so much so that Javad Marandi was awarded an OBE in 2020 for his services to business and for his philanthropy.

Not only that, but as a major donor to the Conservative Party, the couple also have links to Britains political elite  a fact that thrust them onto the front pages this week when Javad Marandi was revealed to be a key figure linked to a major money-laundering operation targeted by the National Crime Agency.

According to a court ruling, bank records show that Marandi, who has been on a Conservative advisory board of ultra-wealthy supporters, either owned or was connected to companies involved in a criminal enterprise moving vast sums of illict funds around the world and into this country. He has strongly denied any wrongdoing and had kept his connection to the scheme  known as the Azerbaijan laundromat  a secret through an anonymity order, claiming that revealing his name would inflict catastrophic damage on him and his businesses, which also include the Emilia Wickstead fashion label and the Wed2B wedding outfit retailer.

Narmina with comedian Jimmy Carr and presenter Claudia Winkleman / Dave Benett / Evening Standard

So who exactly is the man at the heart of this weeks scandal and how did he come to be one of the most powerful men in Britain?

Some clues to Marandis rise to multimillionaire status, if there are any, lie in his upbringing, which in many ways reads like your classic British business success story. Profiles of the now father-of-three chart his remarkable journey from Iranian immigrant to Soho House investor after the Iranian revolution forced his parents  a property developer and a teacher  to leave their life in Tehran and make their home in the UK, where they already had a property.

Javad Marandi and wife Narmina / Dave Benett

An 11-year-old Javad found himself thrust from a luxury home in Tehran to a small apartment in Notting Hill with his mother and sister (his father followed three years later). And though he was lucky to arrive as a resident rather than a refugee, he did not speak a word of English. Our home was fairly cramped and Notting Hill in those days was a million miles from becoming a destination for the Notting Hill Set, he once said. It was creative and diverse but it was also gritty and impoverished... But Britain gave us a home when we had none, something I shall never forget.

Marandi has long credited this childhood upheaval for his keen business drive. He taught himself English through pop music (I can literally recite the words to every song by The Police, even the obscure ones!) and studied at Ealing College Upper School before reading electrical and electronic engineering at Cardiff University. Anyone who knows me may be surprised by my choice, given that I have trouble changing a plug! But it gave me a framework for problem-solving that has been of very great value throughout my subsequent life.

Architect Dider Poignant, Javad Marandi mayor of Cognac Michel Gourinchas pose with an hand on the foundation stone of the luxury hotel construction project plan of the former Jean Monnet's cellars in Cognac on October 7, 2016 / AFP via Getty Images

He went on to qualify as a chartered accountant at Coopers & Lybrand (now part of PwC) and has long since cited his next decision  to turn down an investment banking job at Morgan Stanley in favour of a role at Coca-Cola in Vienna  for his career trajectory today. My mentor at PwC suggested it was already obvious that I was not really what you may call the office-dwelling type and that business development seemed better suited to my talents, such as they are, he once recalled. I have never regretted taking that advice.

Marandi made much of his money in tobacco distribution before starting his own business. His estimated multimillion pound fortune  believed to be one of the most substantial in Britain  was built on property development and in retail and at some point during this rise to success that he met Narmina, the daughter of Ali Alizadeh, an oncologist in Azerbaijan, where Marandis own grandfather had been forced to flee after the Bolshevik Revolution in 1920.

The couple have a son and two daughters. They bought the Conran Shop business and its two London stores in 2020 and recently invested in London-based fashion houses Anya Hindmarch and Emilia Wickstead. Javad kept on top of cash flow, costs and overheads while Narmina met with Hindmarch and Wickstead to focus on the more creative, bigger-picture element.

Architect Dider Poignant, mayor of Cognac Michel Gourinchas and Javad Marandi / AFP via Getty Images

Narmina is a co-chair of the British Fashion Council Foundation as well as a patron and board member of the BFC Fashion Trust and co-head of the Cultural and Social Committee of the Serpentine Galleries. Her husband is also the long-term holder of the McDonalds fast-food franchise in Azerbaijan and is the landlord of Soho Farmhouse, the 100-acre Oxfordshire property known for being a favourite with A-listers. I knew [Soho House co-founder] Nick Jones very well, Marandi told an interviewer in 2020. He had a dream and he wanted to create something amazing, but he needed someone to finance it. I basically bought the [Soho Farmhouse] land, built what we wanted, and he operates it. Its been an amazing success. He is another one of those people who is extremely talented, hard-working and dedicated. Id love to be in the same room as him and support him whenever he sees fit  but he doesnt really need it that much.

Marandis extensive property portfolio also includes Sofitel Brussels and Chais Monnet, a 92-room luxury hotel, restaurant and retail development in Cognac, France, while other business ventures include investing in Shirvan, a high-end restaurant in Paris by Michelin starred-chef Akrame Benallal.

He and his wife are also some of Britains most notable philanthropists. In 2017 they set up the Marandi Foundation to provide disadvantaged young people and communities with access to training and educational opportunities as well as mental health support services. The charity has been described as a core funder for The Royal Foundation set up by the Prince and Princess of Wales, as well as supporting other projects including bursaries to Londons prestiguous St Pauls School and funding for young homeless charity Centrepoint.

Film producer Kris Thykier (L) and Javad Marandi / David M. Benett/Getty Images for Charles Finch

Marandi has vehemently denied any wrongdoing in relation to the Azerbaijan money laundering case. His anonymity order was contested by the Evening Standard when it was first imposed and was removed this week after the Court of Appeal joined the High Court in backing a judges earlier ruling in favour of applications by this newspaper and the BBC for his identity to be revealed.

In that ruling, District Judge John Zani said he was removing anonymity on the grounds that Marandi was a person of importance in court proceedings brought by the National Crime Agency, which led to the forfeiture of 5.6 million from the London bank accounts of three members of the family of Azeri oligarch Javanshir Feyziyev.Marandis representatives have stated that At no point has Mr Marandi been investigated or questioned by the authorities. And no case has ever been brought against him or his businesses in relation to these or any other matters, anywhere in the world.

Marandis witness statement states that the source of his income is very clear and easily demonstrated and that there is no legitimate or lawful basis to accuse Mr Marandi of having established his wealth by unlawful means. Whether his various business and charity partners will believe him remains to be seen.
The foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan are set to meet in Moscow on Friday for talks on resolving a decades-long territorial dispute, Russia said.

The negotiations will be held amid rising tensions between the arch foe Caucasus neighbours that see frequent deadly clashes along their volatile frontier, where an Armenian soldier was killed on Wednesday.

Friday's meeting follows several rounds of talks led by the European Union and United States.

Brussels and Washington's increased diplomatic engagement in the Caucasus has irked traditional regional power-broker Russia.

A meeting involving the foreign ministers of Russia, Armenia and Azerbaijan "will take place in Moscow on May 19," Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told reporters.

Before the trilateral talks the Armenian and Azerbaijani foreign ministers, Ararat Mirzoyan and Jeyhun Bayramov, are expected to discuss a draft peace treaty, she said.

On Wednesday evening, Armenia's defence ministry said one of ts servicemen "died en route to hospital after he was wounded by Azerbaijani forces who opened fire" at the two countries' shared border.

Last week, one Armenian, and one Azerbaijani soldier were killed in border clashes.

Baku and Yerevan fought two wars, in 2020 and in the 1990s, for control of Azerbaijan's Armenian-populated region of Nagorno-Karabakh.

Six weeks of hostilities in autumn 2020 ended with a Russian-brokered ceasefire that saw Armenia cede swathes of territory it had controlled for decades.

Yerevan has grown increasingly frustrated over what it calls Moscow's failure to protect Armenia in the face of military threat from Azerbaijan.

With Russia bogged down in Ukraine and unwilling to strain ties with Azerbaijan's key ally Turkey, the United States and European Union have sought to steer the talks.

On Sunday, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev met in Brussels for a new round of talks hosted by European Council President Charles Michel.

Another meeting between Pashinyan and Aliyev was set for June 1 in Moldova and is expected to involve French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

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Guess whos back  back again?

The Liz Truss bandwagon or blunderbuss, depending on your view of the short-lived but eventful ex PM has set a cat among the Tory pigeons - and unleashed a mighty foreign policy row as she sets off today on a one-woman mission to shore up independent Taiwan in the face of a looming threat from its Chinese neighbour (and a gathering storm about her instagram diplomacy at home).

Former prime minister Liz Truss (PA) / PA Wire

At the invitation of the foreign ministry in Taiwan, an island which has enjoyed practical autonomy from China since 1950s, but which an increasingly belligerent Beijing regards as a province, Truss raised the stakes by describing Taiwans stand off with its giant neighbour as the most consequential struggle of our time, adding that Britain must increase defence co-operation with the island to fend off further aggression from China.

The timing could hardly be more sensitive: the stand off between Beijing and Taiwan is a flashpoint with potential to divide the Western alliance at a dangerous time.

Speaking to POLITICO at the Copenhagen Democracy Summit before her visit, Truss also took aim at the French leader Emmanuel Macron (who claimed that Europe should not become Americas followers in squaring up too assertively to Beijing). But her target at home was clearly the cautious approach of her successor Rishi Sunak and the Foreign Office. Fundamentally we send mixed messages, if we continue with the same level of trade and investment with China. Europe, she insisted should urgently take more collective action.

At the start of her five day visit Truss went on to tell reporters: Its absolutely clear that President Xi [Jinping of China] has the ambition to take Taiwan.

Now, we dont know exactly when that could take place, we also dont know how, and its my view that the preference of President Xi and the Chinese Communist Party would be to do it in a way that doesnt involve using force, but I certainly think they would be prepared to use force if necessary.

President Xi Jinping / AFP via Getty Images

Chinas state media has takes a dim, shrill view  while finding the visit important enough to condemn. Truss, according to a Beijings Global Times headline was a washed up politician seeking to make political capital out of the visit and duly lectured that Taiwan is not an internet celebrity check-in spot. Critics among Sunak loyalists have followed suit.

Alicia Kearns, chair of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee unleashed a ferocious attack on Trusss Instagram diplomacy  a swipe at Trusss tendency to post pictures of herself in prestigious international settings as she vied for the Tory top job. Kearns is an increasingly frequent media performer for the government, trusted by Number 10, so her assault on Trusss performative not substantive visit looked like a licensed strike at a newly ex-PM getting in the way of the governments approach to China.

Conservative MP Alicia Kearns (Houses of Parliament/PA) / UK Parliament

It was, Kearns added for good measure, akin to the Nancy Pelosis visit last year when the feisty Democrat speaker of the US House of Representatives embarked on a visit to the territory to the ire of the State Department. Trusss team shot back that as the mere MP for Rutland (i.e. without a ministerial position) , Kearns could be ignored. Or at least snubbed.

For Truss and many other China hawks in the Conservative ranks, Taiwan embodied the tendency of the government to dither on important issues, with no clear sense of where the UKs centre of gravity should be in dealings with China. Sunaks approach has been to continue forging ties with Japan and other strategic competitors to China through membership of the Trans-Pacific Partnership and the boosting of the UKs role in AUKUS, a trans-national pact to build nuclear-pow3rd submarines which so excited Sunak when he flew to the US to seal the deal that he was, according to one witness, Literally bouncing up and down on his heels with excitement as he announced the deepending of the partnership to Tory MPs.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak (Gareth Cattermole/PA) / PA Wire

Publicly, however Sunak and the Foreign Office dial down confrontational talk with Beijing, Speak softly and carry a big stick, was the Churchillian description of this kind of approach. Internal foes range from Tom Tugendhat on the left of the party, a foreign policy voice who (before he was becalmed with a junior ministerial role) advocated for a more muscular five point plan coalescing security and commercial concerns. On the Right of the party, prominent figures like Iain Duncan Smith, Liam Fox and Truss herself increasingly equate the great fudge of China as one MP puts it, with criticism of Sunaks tendency to duck noisy arguments. Add to that an urban liberal default mode that if Truss is in favour of something, it must be wrong and the battle lines are set to grow wider in the rhetorical wars over China.

Its not hard to heap contempt on a woman known for her accident-prone fire and forget interventions. A disastrous 44 day premiership with its failed shock treatment recipe for the UK economy and mishandling which roiled the money markets, consolidated a reputation for recklessness. A tendency to fiery rhetoric (and opposition to the Sunak camp which is partly ideological and partly the result of an ill-tempered leadership contest last summer which ended up in neither speaking to the other) makes the visit difficult for the government to handle. Formally, it cannot object to Truss supporting a democracy under threat while committing extensive blood and treasure to to the defence of Ukraine.

Nancy Pelosi meets with the President of Taiwan / Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

Institutionally however, Sunak follows the Foreign Offices default setting that it is better to shadow Washingtons attempts to defuse tensions in the South China Straits, not least after the spy balloon incident in the US in February which was blamed by US security services as a provocation by Chinese intelligence. As one senior FCO figures puts it, Nothing is gained by Truss turning up right now. It simply encourages Beijing to divide and rule.

Truss backers include Geoffrey Hosking a well-heeled hedgefunder Brexiteer who had donated a reported 50, 000 to Truss to support a range of her causes , from radical pro-growth policies growth to Taiwan, which has become a new poster child among dissatisfied Conservatives for a number of related reasons.

For strong Brexiteers like Hosking, it is a vital plank in a Global Britain aspiration, intended to replace reliance on the EU with trade links across the democracies - a cause which also has fans among US Conservatives as trade tensions with China congeal and Republicans look to challenge Joe Bidens record.

The Taiwan cause also involves a penumbra of advocates and communications groups with a mix of commercial and ideological interests. Patrick Robertson, an eclectic and often controversial PR guru, is also a strong supporter of Taiwans independence. His communication company World PR has strong links to the Brexit camp, as an ally of the late Sir Jimmy Goldsmiths Referendum Party in the 1990s. Robertson runs a Global Britain campaign, with senior Brexiteers and often works with the former defence secretary (and Leave advocate) Liam Fox. Its website boasts that World PR has the knowledge and expertise to help companies, governments and organisations navigate the post-Brexit landscape and achieve their objectives - including links to a motley crew of countries around the Russian and Chinese periphery.

Nothing is gained by Truss turning up right now. It simply encourages Beijing to divide and rule

For Truss, a campaigning stance on Taiwan is a route back to international prominence; the subject of how assertive to be on China divides opinion across the parties and provides Truss with a new launchpad.

All in all it looks like an ideological argument brewing in the eventuality of an election defeat next year.

Whos right? By general agreement outside the purely mercantile wing of diplomacy (which has been shown to have its own perils in the example of too great a leeway given to Russian financial interests by the West over the last couple of decades ), was short sighted in dismissing the risks of business engagement with China. Subsequently, a decision was taken to block Huaeweis access to the UKs 5 G network  the powerful telecoms and mobile phone company has close links to the all-powerful Chiense surveillance state. The governments cyber security advice now advises extreme caution in dealing with Chinese-backed apps. The Government has banned the Tik Tok app on Government electronic devises  and a similar block is being implemented in the EUs institutions.

In terms of messaging however, the British government has ended up in an in between position. It invited Hang Zhe, the figure behind the brutal crackdown on the Hong Kong protests to King Charless coronation (or rather invited President Xi and was fobbed off with a controversial representative in what looked like a snub). A welcome to Hong Kongers fleeing repression (Nathan Law is the most high-profile Opposition figure to have ended up in London, along with many young and prosperous Hong Kongers at London and other leading universities).

Commercially too, equivocation and stop-start relationships with China have been the hallmark of the last decade  and London has born the brunt of an erratic relationship with Beijings commercial might. The golden era of Cameron and Osbornes attempts to woo Chinese investors was also supported by Boris Johnson as mayor. The Albert Docks marquee project in the East was intended to rival Canary Wharf, via a deal with the Chinese company ABP (the companys chairman told me after 2016 that China was not too bothered about Brexit - we think in decades, not years here). The long term soon turned into the short term, as the US- China relationship entered the big chill and globalisation faltered. Last month, the undeveloped site (its interim use has been as a set for films requiring a desolate urban backdrop) was sold off at a knockdown price to David Maxwell, a British investor.

Truss clearly is risking blowback from China and complicating the diplomatic outlook for the government at a tricky time in international affairs. On the other hand, those criticising her errand as merely foolhardy grandstanding might factor in that she is invited by Taiwans foreign ministry, which takes the view that it needs any symbolic western help it can get. Labour too will face a decisive moment if elected on how robust to be in dealings with China at a time when fence-sitting is not a comfortable posture for G7 countries who wish to influence global events.

Setting off for her latest battlefront, Truss tweeted in defiance of critics urging restraint that she wished she had been able to accept sooner and that we must do all we can to support an independent Taiwan.

Blessing or curse, one recently departed British PM has found a cause  to the chagrin of a Number 10 successor left picking up her pieces.

Anne McElvoy is Executive Editor of POLITICO
Meghan Markle made a gilded glamour statement last night as she and Prince Harry attended the 2023 Women of Vision Awards in New York.

The LA-dwelling couple, who rarely make public appearances these days, preferring the hiking aesthetic of Montecito to the heels and ties of their former royal life, were present at the awards thanks to Meghans place on the list of honourees.

Prince Harry wore his usual suiting  navy blue, single breasted, white shirt, powder blue patterned tie, no surprises there  but it was Meghan who made a notable departure from the looks we became accustomed to during her time as a royal.

Doria Ragland, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle / Getty Images for Ms. Foundation

Flanked by her plus ones (Harry and her mother, Doria Ragland), Meghan beamed in a $1,850 metallic gold jacquard dress by Johanna Ortiz. The Duchess of Sussex chose to remove the straps of the dress, wearing it strapless with long tousled hair, minimal jewellery, a Carolina Herrera clutch and pair of Tom Ford heels.

If the look feels different to what youre used to seeing the erstwhile royal wear  thats because it is. The outfit has a significantly more relaxed feel, from the loose waves in her hair to the tiny cut out section beneath the dresss bust, echoing the casual A-list glamour Markle used to exude back when she used to walk red carpets as an actress, before she faced the more formal clothing restrictions of a royal.

These restrictions are something Markle has addressed previously, explaining how her more muted, nude-palette dressing for royal engagements was usually a result of not wanting to clash with other members of the royal family.

Harry and Meghan on a Royal visit to Northern Ireland in 2018 / PA Archive

In the third episode of the documentary, Meghan told her interviewer: When I was in the UK I rarely wore colour. I wore a lot of muted tones. I also wore it so I could just blend in. I'm not trying to stand out here. I don't want to embarrass the family.

To my understanding, you cant ever wear the same colour as Her Majesty if theres a group event. But then you also shouldnt be wearing the same colour as one of the other more senior members of the family.

But now that Meghan and Harry are no longer working royals, the duchess has been slowly casting aside the unwritten dress codes of her old life. This is also shown in the documentary, as Markle is filmed getting ready for an event for which she wore a bright red, billowing Carolina Herrera gown, a symbolic departure from her nude uniform.

Meghan Markle in a Carolina Herrera gown / Getty Images

Meghans look last night continued this trend, as she prepared to accept an award to honour her "global advocacy to empower and advocate on behalf of women and girls, presented by iconic feminist Gloria Steinem.
T he driver in the Croydon tram disaster was going at more than three times the speed limit when his vehicle crashed and claimed the lives of seven passengers, an Old Bailey trial has been told.

Alfred Dorris, 49, was at the helm of the morning 2551 service which toppled on to its side near to the Sandilands stop on November 9, 2016.

He is now on trial at the Old Bailey, accused of a health and safety failing in a criminal case brought by the Office of Rail and Road.

Prosecutor Jonathan Ashley-Norman KC told jurors of a terrible death toll, outlining how seven passengers died and 19 more were seriously injured as they were flung around as if inside a washing machine.

He named the victims who lost their lives as Dane Chinnery, 19, Philip Seary, 57, Dorota Rynkiewicz, 35, Robert Huxley, 63, and Philip Logan, 52, all from New Addington, and Donald Collett, 62, and Mark Smith, 35, both from Croydon.

The seven deaths on the Croydon tram system early on the morning of 9 November 2016 are likely to persist in the memory of all those who were adults in the UK on that day, said Mr Ashley-Norman.

The morning was an ugly one - wintery, dark and rainy. Tram 2551 was plying the route from New Addington via East Croydon to Wimbledon.

One of the tram-stops on that route is Sandilands. The approach from the east is preceded by a sharp left-hand turn.

Drivers are instructed that speed at that turn is to be reduced to 20 kph to allow trams to negotiate the curve safely. A sign on the bend confirmed that instruction. The tram the subject of these proceedings did not reduce speed to 20 kph to enable it to take the turn safely.

Tram accident / PA Wire

Instead, the tram was travelling at in excess of 70 kph when it entered the turn. At that speed it could not hope to hold the track.

The inner wheels lifted from the track and the tram derailed. It tipped onto its side, causing those inside to be flung around as though, as one survivor put it, they were inside a washing machine.

Windows smashed and doors ripped off. Those who died were ejected through the broken windows and trapped between the overturned tram and the track.

In a matter of seconds, tragedy was visited upon seven families who were bereaved, and many others who were seriously injured. For a want of attention on the part of the driver involved that morning, death and serious injury followed.

Mr Ashley-Norman said Dorris is accused of failing in his duty to take reasonable care of the passengers, but he denies the charge.

He will argue factors outside Mr Dorris control involving the infrastructure  particularly the infrastructure around Sandilands  combined to cause him to become disorientated.

The court heard Transport for London and TOL are also guilty of health and safety failures in the running of the Croydon tram network.

But Mr Ashley-Norman added: Their failures do not exonerate Mr Dorris.

In interviews, Dorris insisted he had become disorientated and was confused as to which direction he was travelling.

I was upset, confused, you know, traumatised, he said.

One minute Im okay driving and then the next just thinking, where am I whats going on, sort ofIm not sure where I am?

Dorris said the bend where the disaster happened just sort of crept up on me, and he added: I wouldnt say it was a loss of concentration. I would say it was more something that I wasnt in control of with regards to disorientation.

Dorris also denied suffering a blackout or falling asleep at the wheel.

Dorris of Ravenscroft Road, Beckenham, south-east London, denies a single charge of failing to take reasonable care at work under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974. The five-week trial in front of Mr Justice Fraser continues.
S even people have appeared in court charged with smuggling Iraqi migrants across the English Channel.

Three women and four men from across the Midlands and West Yorkshire are alleged to have committed the offence across several weeks in 2018.

They appeared individually in short hearings at Leicester Magistrates Court on Wednesday.

An eighth defendant charged with the same offence, who was also due to appear in court, did not attend.

Emma Lant, prosecuting in all of the hearings, told the court: This is an indictable matter that must go to the Crown Court forthwith.

The accused who appeared in court are Ibrahim Razak, 40, of Groby Road, Leicester, Leicestershire; Andreia Vaz Cruz, 36, of Belvedere Mount, Leeds, West Yorkshire; Elisabete Moreira, 40, of Streetly Road, Birmingham, West Midlands; Michelle Foster, 44, of Broomhill Road, Birmingham, West Midlands; Geoffrey Goodyear, 48, of Pattingham Road, Perton, Staffordshire; Saman Johwar Kahraman, 42, of Jervoise Street, West Bromwich, West Midlands; and Paul Price, 53, of Chase Terrace, Burntwood, Staffordshire.

All bar Moreira are charged with one count of conspiring to do an act to facilitate the commission of a breach of UK immigration law by a non-EU person between May 31 and June 30 2018.

Moreira is charged with the same offence but between September 1 and September 10 2018.

Marco Vieira Tavares, 45, of Althorp Close, Leicester, Leicestershire, did not attend, with a warrant issued for his arrest by Magistrates.

The defendants who appeared were not asked to enter any pleas and no details of the alleged offence were given during the hearings.

Norma Burford, chair of the bench, told the defendants: This is being sent to the Crown Court for trial.

We are unable to hear it here in the Magistrates Court, and that date will be June 26 at Leicester Crown Court. You must turn up on that date.

All seven were given unconditional bail until their next court appearance.

Home Office figures released in February this year show that in 2018, just 299 of 13,377 detected attempts by migrants to enter the UK by irregular means involved a small boat  just over 2%.

That is compared with 45,755 detected attempts involving a small boat in 2022, out of 54,090 overall  around 84%.

Those figures relate to attempts by migrants to enter the UK illegally that were detected on or within 72 hours of arrival to the UK.
A nurse slapped an elderly and vulnerable patient in the face while he lay in his hospital bed, a court has heard.

Primrose James, 51, of Victoria Road, Southend-on-Sea, Essex is on trial at Swansea Crown Court for ill-treating a person who lacks capacity at Withybush Hospital in Haverfordwest, Wales on May 31, 2022.

It is alleged James assaulted 80-year-old Dennis Warlow while helping with his personal care, becoming aggressive after he hit out at another staff member.

James denies the charge and claims to have been acting in self-defence.

He (Dennis Warlow) was quite a vulnerable man, quite frail. But he was a difficult patient who sometimes presented with behavioural problems.

Mr Warlow, who suffered from Parkinsons Disease, had been a patient on the hospitals orthapaedic ward since January that year after fracturing his hip, and was said to be at times disruptive and violent, the jury heard on Wednesday.

The incident happened after Mr Warlow hit out at healthcare assistant Holly English and James who were working together to change his bed linen.

Ms English said James then became aggressive, slapping him multiple times to the left side of his face, and using her index finger to forcefully poke him to the forehead.

She claimed James became confrontational and while assaulting him told him he was a horrible, horrible man.

Ms English said she was left shocked by what she had witnessed and reported the incident that night to leading ward nurse Christine Schofield who in turn told ward sister Nicola Jones.

She (Primrose James) slapped him a couple of times to his cheek and she started poking him on his forehead. It was quite aggressive

Opening the trial Sian Vaughan, prosecuting, said: He [Mr Warlow] suffers from Parkinsons disease, he had multiple mobility issues and he was in fact deemed as having lost capacity or not having capacity in April of that year.

He was quite a vulnerable man, quite frail. But he was a difficult patient who sometimes presented with behavioural problems.

The defendant worked as a nurse and had done so for a number of years.

The prosecutor said James was an agency nurse who had worked on the ward for around two years.

She said that, at around 2am, Mr Warlow became incontinent and the defendant helped Ms English change his sheets.

Ms English said she rolled him towards her and as she rolled him back he attempted to hit James with his left hand.

Ms Vaughan said: Immediately, the prosecution say, Primrose James in retaliation or anger smacked Mr Warlow to the left side of his face. She then slapped him multiple times to his face, while telling him off for hitting out at her.

The prosecution will say she was aggressively poking at his forehead at the same time. And during this assault, she used words and was shouting at Mr Warlow saying things like you horrible, horrible man.

Finally, she pressed her fingers into the side of his nose with enough force to move his head.

Ms Vaughan said that when James was later approached by Ms Jones, the ward sister, she told her I dont hit patients.

It's not the first time he has hit me. I didn't hit him. The only time I had contact with him is when I blocked him

When she was later interviewed about the incident, James described Mr Warlow as a difficult patient but said the only contact she had with him that night was when she blocked his arm from hitting her.

Giving evidence, Ms English said: As soon as he [Mr Warlow] went to hit out at Primrose, Primrose slapped him across the face. She was quite angry and confrontational with him.

She slapped him a couple of times to his cheek and she started poking him on his forehead. It was quite aggressive.

She then used her finger and pressed to the side of his nose to push his face away from her.

I was shocked. I felt quite intimidated, she added.

Ms Jones told the court that it was never appropriate to hit or tap a patient.

The court heard Mr Warlow had hit staff at the hospital on a number of occasions before the alleged incident.

In police interview, James told officers she had used her hand to block me from being hit by the patient.

I was just trying to block him away from hitting me, she said.

Its not the first time he has hit me. I didnt hit him. The only time I had contact with him is when I blocked him. I didnt poke him.

Giving evidence, James described Mr Warlow as a difficult patient who had previously hit her in the face and kicked her leg.

He would kick out, lash out, spit  he was difficult to manage, she told the jury.

The nurse of 16 years insisted she did not hit or assault Mr Warlow and was not angry at the time of the alleged incident.

I did not ill-treat him, she said.

The trial, in front of Judge Huw Rees, continues.
P assengers in the Croydon tram disaster were flung around as if in a washing machine after their driver attempted a curve at more than three times the speed limit, a court has heard.

Alfred Dorris, 49, is on trial at the Old Bailey over the derailment at Sandilands in south London on November 9 2016 in which seven people were killed and 19 more were seriously injured.

The prosecution allege Dorris failed to take reasonable care of the health and safety of himself and his 69 passengers on Tram 2551 on that day.

In an interview after the crash, Dorris claimed he had become confused and disorientated but denied he had fallen asleep or suffered a blackout, the Old Bailey was told.

At that speed it could not hope to hold the track. The inner wheels lifted from the track and the tram derailed

Opening the case on Wednesday, prosecutor Jonathan Ashley-Norman KC said: The seven deaths on the Croydon tram system early on the morning of 9 November 2016 are likely to persist in the memory of all those who were adults in the UK on that day.

He said it had been a wintry rainy morning when Tram 2551 embarked on its route from New Addington to Wimbledon via East Croydon.

At a sharp left turn on the approach to Sandilands, drivers are instructed to reduce speed to 20 kilometres per hour to safely negotiate the curve, with a sign on the bend confirming it, jurors heard.

But Mr Ashley-Norman said: The tram  did not reduce speed to 20kph to enable it to take the turn safely. Instead, the tram was travelling at in excess of 70kph when it entered the turn.

At that speed it could not hope to hold the track. The inner wheels lifted from the track and the tram derailed.

It tipped onto its side, causing those inside to be flung around as though, as one survivor put it, they were inside a washing machine.

Windows smashed and doors were ripped off. Those who died were ejected through the broken windows and trapped between the overturned tram and the track.

In a matter of seconds, tragedy was visited upon seven families who were bereaved, and many others who were seriously injured.

For a want of attention on the part of the driver involved that morning, death and serious injury followed.

The seven passengers who were killed were Dane Chinnery, Donald Collett, Robert Huxley, Philip Logan, Dorota Rynkiewicz, Philip Seary and Mark Smith.

The court heard there was no dispute that the driver Dorris was responsible for what happened.

Mr Ashley-Norman said Dorris would claim that environmental and external factors outside his control relating to the infrastructure around the Sandilands area combined to cause him to become disorientated.

Mr Dorris was not solely responsible for health and safety failures at Sandilands. As we shall hear, others, principally Transport for London and Tram Operations Limited, also failed in the discharge of their health and safety duties ...

The prosecutor said jurors would examine some of those factors, such as the signage on the approach to the bend and tunnel lighting.

In his interview after the crash, Dorris said: I just remember coming over all disorientated like I just werent sure, you know, where I was. I was confused and then I got it in my head I was going eastbound towards Lloyd Park direction.

I was upset, confused, you know, traumatised. I werent sure what, to be honest with you, I wasnt sure what actually happened. It just sort of crept up on me.

Mr Ashley-Norman told jurors they would hear evidence from sleep experts suggesting Dorris probably had a micro-sleep.

But he said the issue was not whether the driver fell asleep, but whether he took reasonable care for the health and safety of his passengers.

He added: Mr Dorris was not solely responsible for health and safety failures at Sandilands.

Though any one of his colleagues might have failed in the same way, nonetheless it was Mr Dorris who failed

As we shall hear, others, principally Transport for London (TfL) and Tram Operations Limited (ToL), also failed in the discharge of their health and safety duties in the running of the Croydon tram network. However, their failures do not exonerate Mr Dorris.

Mr Ashley-Norman alleged it was an accident waiting to happen as both TfL and ToL failed to do a risk assessment around the possibility of a derailment at the Sandilands junction.

Dorris was described as having an impeccable past record and was seen as one of the better drivers.

The prosecutor added: Though any one of his colleagues might have failed in the same way, nonetheless it was Mr Dorris who failed.

Dorris, from Beckenham, south east London, denies a single charge of failing to take reasonable care at work under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.

The trial at the Old Bailey before Mr Justice Fraser is due to go on for up to five weeks.
A London girls school that has been running for more than 300 years has become the latest to announce it will close due to lack of pupils.

St Martin-In-The-Fields High School for Girls in Lambeth will shut to most year groups this summer and cease operating completely in 2024.

The Tulse Hill secondary school, which was established in 1699, had looked into taking male pupils or merging with another school in a bid to survive. But headteacher Josephine Okokon said these options could not overcome the fundamental issue of falling pupil numbers that we are facing in Lambeth.

It comes as schools across London are struggling to survive with falling pupil numbers, which has been blamed on a combination of a falling birth rate, Brexit, soaring living costs, lack of housing and a post-pandemic exodus to the countryside.

Latest figures from London Councils show 29 out of the 32 London boroughs expect a drop in demand for places in reception classes, with a predicted 7.3 per cent fall in reception numbers and a 3.5 per cent drop in Year 7 in secondaries by 2026. Lambeth has been particularly badly hit.

Referring to the closure of St Martin-In-The-Fields, Florence Eshalomi, MP for Vauxhall, said: This is very worrying and we cannot afford to lose more schools in Lambeth. The reality is that many families are forced to move out of the borough due to high rental and lack of affordable housing. I hope that this period is not too destabilising for the pupils and staff team.

Helen Hayes, MP for Dulwich and West Norwood, said she is deeply saddened by the closure, adding that the school is good with a caring, inclusive ethosmy thoughts are with students, staff and parents and all affected by this news.

The school, which currently has 388 students and 55 members of staff, will close to all current Year 7, 8 and 9 students at the end of the summer term. They will be allocated a place at another local school. St Martins will remain open until August 2024 for current Year 10 and 12 girls so they can complete their GCSEs and A-Levels.

Ms Okokon said: There has been a significant decline in the number of young people living and going to school in Lambeth, meaning that we, along with other local schools, have seen our student numbers diminish in recent years. The number of pupils in Lambeth is not expected to increase for approximately eight years. Since funding for schools is awarded based on its pupil numbers, it is no longer viable for St Martins to continue operating as a school and deliver the level of education that our young people deserve.

She added: We understand that our rich heritage, alumni and keen involvement in the local community means that many other groups will also be impacted by the announcement of our closure  we are committed to offering transparency and support to all those affected.

As an academy built on Love and Learning, we are determined to mitigate the impact of this event on the educational journeys of our students.

She added that the school site in Tulse Hill is owned by a charitable trust whose objectives are focused on the welfare and education of children. Those objectives will be central to any decisions made on the future use of the site, she said.
T eenagers should be offered a transformative anti-obesity treatment to help them lose weight, experts have said.

Academics said that the weight loss injection semaglutide could help adolescents with obesity to shed pounds after a new study found an average weight loss of 40 pounds (18 kilos).

Teens living with obesity were offered the semaglutide drug for more than a year in a new clinical trial.

The study, published at the European Congress on Obesity in Dublin and the journal Obesity, found that 45% of teens using the appetite suppressant drug were no longer classed as obese 68 weeks after starting treatment.

Many do very well with this medication though, and it can be life-changing for them

This is compared to 12% in a group who were taking dummy drugs  also known as placebos.

Some 19.5% dropped down into the overweight category and a quarter (25.4%) were able to reduce their BMI into the normal weight category, the conference heard.

The average reduction in body weight with semaglutide  sold under the brand name Wegovy  compared to placebo was about 40 pounds (18 kilos), researchers said.

The authors of the paper conclude that semaglutide represents an efficacious treatment option for adolescents with obesity.

But presenting the study, Dr Aaron Kelly, from the University of Minnesota Medical School in Minneapolis, USA, said that it should be taken as part of a package of measures to help teens living with the condition.

He said that the earlier the treatment starts the better to prevent further weight gain.

But he said that treatment should be taken long-term, as would be expected with other chronic conditions.

Dr Kelly told reporters that there were side effects  mostly of nausea and vomiting  but these were transient and most dissipated over time.

Theres a whole spectrum of outcomes when you use anti-obesity medications  some do really really well, some dont do as well, he said.

Many do very well with this medication though, and it can be life-changing for them.

Being a research scientist nothing brings me more pleasure than hearing the stories from the adolescents who have been struggling their entire life to manage their weight and havent been able to  its not about trying hard or not, they all try hard  this gives them a tool to help take control of their weight.

And thats transformational for many teenagers.

He added: I believe that health care providers should offer that as part of the comprehensive treatment approach  its not just one thing, its lifestyle therapy  which was included in this trial; its the use of anti-obesity medications and, for some, metabolic and bariatric surgery.

A question I get asked a lot is, Is this going to solve the obesity problem? Should we just give it to everybody? No, its not going to solve the obesity problem, but its an important piece to the puzzle at helping to solve it especially for those who already have obesity.

Dr Kelly said that coming off the drugs would lead to weight coming back, adding: Lets use high blood pressure as an example, medications are commonly used and prescribed to treat high blood pressure.

And when they have prescribed, the intent of the health care provider  if (the drug is) tolerated and continues to be effective  effectively that person would stay on that medication, probably for the rest of their life. Obesity is exactly the same thing.

If you engage in treatment thats effective, youll see an effect but if you take that treatment away  its like a rubber band, its going to come right back to where it started.

On when treatment should commence among teens, he added: If obesity surfaces in childhood, it probably represents one of the most aggressive forms of obesity that we know of.

If you are a child or adolescent with obesity, you are highly likely to carry that obesity and excess adiposity into adulthood. You dont just snap out of it.

My centre comes of the approach that the earlier the better.

And, and if medically eligible, the use of medications early is probably going to (give) the best outcomes over time because if you allow the disease to progress and the pounds to to add on over time, it gets harder and harder to draw that back.

And so conceptually, I think it makes sense to intervene early and not allow that to happen, and that probably gives the child the best shot at living a long, healthy, happy life.

Meanwhile, another study presented at the conference found that people who have shed weight may be at risk of psychological scarring.

The paper, led by academics at the University of Liverpool, found that people who have had obesity, even if they have lost weight, could be at risk.
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), the EU and emerging-market asset manager ILX Management announced Wednesday a new partnership aiming to enhance private-sector finance in the EBRDs regions, including the southern and eastern Mediterranean where Egypt is located.

The partnership intends to facilitate co-financing by Dutch and other European pension funds, with a projected investment of up to 300 million euros over the next three years.

The announcement was made during the EBRD's annual meetings taking place in Uzbekistan.

This financing is expected to support sustainable development, particularly in areas such as climate-smart solutions, digital transformation, and financial inclusion for projects that lack access to private-sector participation.

These projects will benefit from EU guarantees through the European Fund for Sustainable Development Plus (EFSD+) guarantee programmes.

The EFSD+ guarantee structure will enable ILX to co-invest alongside the EBRD, sharing the same risk-return profile.

ILX Management is an Amsterdam-based emerging-market private credit asset manager which focuses on investing in loans originated and structured by multilateral development banks and other development finance institutions. It offers investment opportunities that directly contribute to the sustainable development goals (SDGs) in emerging markets and developing economies.

This partnership aims to foster the development of greener, more inclusive, and digitally-driven economies, which aligns with the core objectives of the EBRD across all regions where it operates, according to the bank.

Furthermore, mobilizing private-sector capital is a key aspect of the EU's Global Gateway strategy, which aims to deliver significant investments of 300 billion euros in sustainable and high-quality projects by 2027.

This strategy will support partner countries in their transition toward green and digital initiatives, as well as in achieving their SDGs agenda.

The EBRDs Vice President for Banking Alain Pilloux told Ahram Online in March that the EBRD plans to invest over $1.4 billion in Egypt  the highest investment the bank has ever made in the country.

In April, the bank approved a $100 million loan programme to Banque Misr, under its Financial Intermediaries Framework (FIF), to finance micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs).

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T he Felix Project and Canary Wharf Group have announced a long-term partnership to help tackle food poverty in London.

The partnership will see the food redistribution charity, which already has four depots spread across London, collect surplus food from businesses at Canary Wharf and hand them out to residents in need in the area, with logistical support from the group.

The two organisations aim to help tackle food poverty that sees an estimated 400,000 children in the capital going to bed without eating a proper meal.

The Canary Wharf Scheme is the first major initiative coming out of the partnership, which involves volunteers from the 128-acre estate delivering surplus food from retailers directly to local charities, schools and community organisations in the area, with 150,000 residents local to Canary Wharf.

Multiple retailers from the estate have already signed up to be a part of the scheme, including M&S, Waitrose and Joe Blakes.

The two organisations hope for more businesses to jump on board, with over 70 cafes, bars and restaurants in the area, as well as several grocery stores on the estate.

Shobi Khan and Charlotte Hill pictured with The Felix Project volunteers at Canary Wharf / Lucy Young

The Green Scheme launches this week, which will see over 1,000 meals provided each week through around ten different organisations, at capacity. The scheme seeks to save over 500 kilos of good food from going to waste. The Canary Wharf Group and The Felix Project aim to recruit as many as 1,000 volunteers to make this happen.

CEO at Canary Wharf Group Shobi Khan said he was delighted to be partnering with The Felix Project.

We understand that we have a responsibility to create a positive and lasting impact that goes beyond the buildings and places we create.

Through partnerships like this we aim to ensure Canary Wharf is more than just a place to live or work, but a place where you can be connected to the local community and can have a positive social impact.

Felix Project CEO Charlotte Hill says the charity is thrilled to partner with Canary Wharf Group, as 4.7 million people in the UK struggle with the cost of food. This is an issue we cannot afford to ignore and the situation is critical as the cost-of-living crisis intensifies. Many Londoners are trying to feed themselves on less than 3 a day, she said.

Were thrilled to partner with Canary Wharf Group as theyre in the unique position to be able to convene the hundreds of businesses, retailers, employees and residents on the Estate to tackle this issue together, meaning well have a much greater social impact than we would otherwise.

The next phase of the project will see surplus ingredients from Canary Wharfs restaurants and office canteens rescued and cooked into hot meals at The Felix Projects kitchen in neighbouring Poplar, which will be distributed to local community organisations.
T he Met and Lincolnshire Police have referred themselves to the police watchdog after a royal fan was arrested and held for 13 hours during the Kings coronation.

Australian architect Alice Chambers, 36, was detained in a cell at Wandsworth Police Station after being arrested on The Mall on the morning of May 6.

She had arrived early to catch a glimpse of King Charles and was unknowingly standing close to Just Stop Oil protesters.

She told the i that she waited in police custody until 7pm on the day of the coronation before officers interviewed her and discovered her innocence.

The Met expressed regret over the arrest last week after a wave of criticism from MPs and activists including anti-monarchy Republic CEO Graham Smith, who himself was arrested on May 6 and then released.

On Wednesday the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) confirmed it had received a referral from the Met.

It told the Standard: Following a review into the circumstances of an arrest of a woman on the Mall on Saturday, 6 May, the Met has made a voluntary referral to the IOPC who are now carrying out an assessment.

An IOPC spokesperson said: We can confirm we have received voluntary complaint referrals from Lincolnshire Police and the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) following the arrest of a woman in the Mall, London, SW1, who was attending the Kings Coronation on 6 May.

The referrals relate to her arrest by a Lincolnshire officer and subsequent detention by the MPS. We are currently assessing the referrals to determine whether further action may be required from us.

The force on Friday said that the officer who made the arrest was on mutual aid from Lincolnshire Police, and Ms Chambers initial complaint was referred there.

Police arrested a group of people in The Mall who we believe had the intention of disrupting the coronation, the Met said in a statement on Friday.

Unfortunately, the woman was among those arrested. She was released subsequently with no further action.

Officers involved in the safety and security operation acted on information available to them. We regret that she was not able to watch the Coronation.

Officers have spoken with her to explain our decisions and the next steps.

Ms Chambers told the i newspaper that she had been arrested on suspicion of potential to cause a breach of the peace around 9am along with a dozen others, in a moment captured by Sky News cameras. She wasnt released until 10pm, she said.

I went to get up and two police officers just grabbed me and handcuffed me. I dont think they said anything, I think they arrested me before they asked a question, she told the i.

I feel like once I was in the system they didnt listen, I tried to explain that I wasnt part of the group.

The Met has also expressed regret over the arrest of six Republic protesters who were then released without charge.

But on Wednesday a top Met officer denied the force was under any political pressure.

Metropolitan Police Temporary Assistant Commissioner Matt Twist told MPs: I felt under no pressure politically, I felt pressure to deliver a safe and secure operation.

Giving evidence on efforts to police the coronation, he told the Commons Home Affairs Committee: We are continually balancing the rights of those who seek to protest with those who are impacted by it.

Chief Constable Chris Noble, the protest lead for the National Police Chiefs Council, said: There is no presumption against protest, it is actually quite the opposite.

A total of 64 people were arrested on the day of the coronation.
The underground fires in Launders Lane, Rainham have raged on-and-off for two decades but action to stop them once and for all has so far been prevented by a quagmire of bureaucracy to gain access to the site.

Residents are concerned about the reliability of air quality meters with others saying the Havering council have failed the people miserably.

Complex land ownership issues stem from a police raid on the site in 2011 which uncovered a trapdoor in a portable cabin leading to a fully functional cannabis factory made of buried shipping containers.

Havering council leader Ray Morgon said he was working with partners to try and find the best way forward.

He added: I am pleased to report that we are lining up a company who will be going on to the land for soil sampling so we can understand what is below ground that keeps burning.

As we have said before, this is privately owned land so are we are in the process of working with the landowner so that we can go on to the site to carry out this work.

This will help us look further at solutions.

It was revealed by LDRS, that current landowner DMC Services (Essex) Limited purchased the land for 440,000 in 2017.

Cllr Morgon continued: We also continue to monitor and sample the air quality and the particulates.

So far the levels found here have not been different from much of London, but as the weather becomes warmer, we have the right equipment in place to monitor if there are any changes.

Retired civil servant Catherine Newton who lives just over a mile away from the source of the fires said she hoped Cllr Morgon could attend a public meeting on Thursday to hear residents concerns.

She said: He may have some tough questions to answer particularly as at least one monitor seems to regularly go off line if the levels go higher. Whilst the fire brigade havent been called there have been complaints about the fumes and smell from Launders Lane.

She previously told The Standard: I suffer from nose bleeds, sore throats, coughs, a heavy feeling in my chest and a dry mouth.

My friend said she took her black dog for a walk this week and by the time she came home it was covered in white ash.

London Fire Brigades Borough Commander for Havering, Paul McClenaghan, said his crews have attended more than 70 fires at the site since 2018.

He said: The fires are distressing for the local community and are putting firefighters at unnecessary risk.

A public meeting between residents and council representatives will be held on Thursday at Harris Academy.

Residents can see the latest readings online at https://www.breathelondon.org/

To donate to the Launders Lane community fund click here.
C oncerns have been raised about whether Londons firefighters are being properly trained to deal with fires in high-rise buildings, six years on from the Grenfell Tower fire.

Gareth Beeton, London region chair of the Fire Brigades Union, warned that the capitals fire crews were still not receiving training in real high-rise towers.

The London Fire Brigades (LFB) deputy commissioner conceded that a more realistic training environment is needed for his staff.

The issue was discussed at a meeting of the London Assemblys fire, resilience and emergency planning committee on Wednesday, May 17.

Mr Beeton told the City Hall meeting: The LFB are using some high-rise buildings that are unoccupied, but we dont have, in London, real fire high-rise training. We still dont, six years after Grenfell.

The union representative said that while two training sites used by the brigade, at Beckton and Park Royal, do feature real gas-fire burners to simulate various scenarios, those facilities did not provide high-rise, real fire training.

He added: Its a totally different firefighting model. Youve got a street of houses up in the sky, 600 people living there. That [sort of training] is what we need.

Responding, deputy commissioner Jonathan Smith said the brigade was in talks with its training provider, Babcock, about improvements in that area - and he admitted that a more sophisticated offer was required to provide officers with realistic training scenarios.

He said: As Gareths alluded to, we have had the ability to use disused high-rise buildings at the moment, so were currently putting firefighters and officers through a programme at Barking. Literally the high-rise building there is next door to Barking Fire Station.

The building described, Fiske Court, is nine storeys high, while Grenfell Tower was 24 storeys.

Mr Smith continued: Im very keen to see what we can do to improve our training offer on our estate, but weve also opened up conversations with colleagues at the Fire Service College, with some of our Home Counties services - who have got, simply because of space, less restrictions in terms of height and in terms being able to use carbonaceous burners, for example - [to ask whether] we can actually access their training facilities but this needs to be planned properly.

He added: Were all in absolute agreement that we want to offer the most realistic training environment for our staff, knowing what we know about the risk environment that our crews are exposed to on a day-to-day basis.

The deputy commissioner said that improvements to the training offer would also improve the organisations culture, because it affects how staff members view themselves and the wider profession.

An independent report into the LFBs culture, carried out by Nazir Afzal, a former chief crown prosecutor for the North West, found that the brigade is institutionally misogynist and racist.

Mr Smith said the organisation has adopted a relentless focus on addressing the reports findings - including the provision of 200 mental health first aiders, with a target of ensuring there is one in every team across the brigade.
T he Silvertown tunnel has been listed alongside an extension of the Elizabeth line and the Bakerloo line expansion as an exemplar project that will help to boost Londons economy.

The tunnel, a controversial 2bn PFI scheme from Mayor Sadiq Khan that eco campaigners regard as an inner-city motorway likely to worsen air pollution, is due to open in 2025, linking north Greenwich and the Royal Docks.

But it has been opposed by both Newham and Greenwich councils  making its inclusion in a new framework drawn up by London Councils, the umbrella organisation that represents all 33 boroughs, a surprise.

London Councils said that the 67 projects on its list were strategic priorities for the capital, though said that not all could be assumed to have the support of all the boroughs, even if they had value at a pan-London level.

The Bakerloo line extension, taking it south from Elephant and Castle to Lewisham, has long been on a wish list but Transport for London has no funds to build it.

The success of the Elizabeth line, which marks its first anniversary next week, has led to demands to extend services from Abbey Wood to Ebbsfleet.

Other Londonwide exemplars include the West London Orbital rail route, the HS2 high-speed line to Euston  which has been paused for two years to ease cash-flow problems  and the DLR extension to Thamesmead.

Tunnel vision: work on the Silvertown tunnel is at the half-way stage / Ross Lydall

A spokeswoman for the Stop the Silvertown Tunnel coalition said: How can it be a shining example to London Councils to support a massively expensive infrastructure project which has received continuous and widespread opposition?

Health, climate and transport experts along with residents and local councils on both sides of the river have repeatedly calling for a pause and repurposing of this harmful road.

If exemplar projects include those which completely deny the climate crisis, and increase pollution, carbon emissions and dependence on fossil fuel freight instead of green transport means, then we really are on a road to ruin.

London Councils wants the Government to devolve more power to the capital to help deliver the schemes.

Elizabeth Campbell, London Councils executive member, said: Boroughs are collaborating like never before to promote infrastructure investment in the capital and help us achieve our shared vision of a more prosperous, inclusive and sustainable London.

By setting out boroughs agreed priorities and the exciting range of development opportunities across the capital, the London infrastructure framework will drive investment towards where it will make the most difference.
Y oung people will get the option of studying job-friendly technical subjects instead of taking on debt to go to university under new plans by Andy Burnham.

The Mayor of Greater Manchester wants to launch a Manchester Baccalaureate, or MBacc, to help the two-thirds of local students who do not go down the traditional academic route to get a degree.

Mr Burnham said he wants both pathways to be equal and hopes it will mean youngsters in the region do not have to leave to further their education or careers.

We think this is a change that Greater Manchester urgently needs but the country does too

Launching the plans in Manchester, Mr Burnham said: This goes beyond party politics.

We think this is a change that Greater Manchester urgently needs but the country does too.

At the launch Mr Burnham cited a Royal Commission in 1884 that visited Manchester concluding the lack of vocational education for youngsters was damaging the British economy.

Under the current system, young people are offered a clear pathway to university through the EBacc at age 14  a set of subjects opening up opportunities to A-levels, university and employment.

The MBacc would run alongside the EBacc to maximise students chances of getting future jobs by guiding them towards subjects including engineering, business studies and art and design alongside the core subjects of maths, English and computer science.

The plan has the backing of local colleges and business leaders.

Mr Burnham added: For too long we have ignored the value of technical skills and that ends today in Greater Manchester.

The EBacc is great for young people who want to go on to university, but there is no equivalent suite of qualifications at 14 and 16 that align with the real-life employment opportunities being created in our city region.

There is also no direct link to employers, leading to skills gaps in the Greater Manchester economy and confusion from young people on what they need to do to secure a job in their chosen industry.

Today is the start of the journey of creating a clear and equal pathway for technical education.

If the plans go ahead the MBacc would start in September 2024 subject to ongoing discussion with central government.
L eft-wing activists are jealous of the Holocaust and want to replace it with slavery, a leading historian has said.

In a speech to the National Conservatism conference in London, David Starkey claimed that groups such as Black Lives Matter were attempting to destroy white culture and do exactly what was done to German culture because of Nazism and the Holocaust.

He said: The determination is to replace the Holocaust with slavery. In other words, this is why Jews are under such attack from the left, theres jealousy, fundamentally. There is jealousy of the moral primacy of the Holocaust and a determination to replace it with slavery.

The historians comments brought swift condemnation, with Daniel Sugarman, public affairs director at the Board of Deputies of British Jews, tweeting that they were pathetic attempts to drive a wedge between communities that will not work.

Dr Starkey, an expert on Tudor history, has previously been criticised for comments on slavery and the Black Lives Matter movement, including during coverage of the coronation on GB News when he was accused of racism for claiming that Rishi Sunak was not fully grounded in our culture.

He later denied his comments were racist, saying he was referring to the prime minister being a typical international liberal with no interest in British values.

I fear, indeed I loathe, the unforgiving, inhumane impatience of utopian perfectionists, whether they are Maoists or agents of Islamic State or progressive twittering social justice warriors.

In his speech to the National Conservatism conference on Wednesday, Dr Starkey renewed his criticism of Black Lives Matter, denying that the movement cared about black lives at all.

To applause from the audience, he said: Movements like critical race theory and Black Lives Matter are not what they pretend to be.

They are attempts at destroying the entire legitimacy of the Western political and cultural tradition.

The idea that they are there to defend black lives is a preposterous notion. They do not care about black lives, they only care about the symbolic destruction of white culture. We have to be absolutely clear about this.

He added: The narrative of Black Lives Matter is that Western culture and Anglo-American culture in particular are fundamentally morally defective, they are characterised by the mark of Cain and their strategy is to do exactly what was done to German culture because of Nazism and the Holocaust.

Downing Street said Mr Sunak did not agree with the remarks but said the attendance of ministers Michael Gove and Suella Braverman was a matter for them.

He wouldnt agree with those comments but  with regard to the specific ministerial attendance, that would be a matter for them, a No 10 spokesman said.

Joe Mulhall, director of research at anti-racism campaign group Hope Not Hate, said: The National Conservatism conference has played host to a number of speakers who have made far right comments this week.

David Starkey has a long history of reactionary and racist statements, his comments about the Holocaust and Black Lives Matter are ignorant and offensive.

Starkey should stick to commenting on the historical periods hes researched.

This is an organisation willing to host Viktor Orban and Georgia Meloni and other far-right European politicians on their platform.

During the conferences morning session, the audience also heard from Nigel Biggar, a professor emeritus of theology at the University of Oxford, who argued that the British Empire had a mixed moral record and denied there was any reason to pay reparations to former colonies.

He said: As a Christian, Burkean conservative I dont expect perfection in any human affairs. Those who rule, just like those who are ruled, are creatures and sinners, finite and flawed.

Even as I recognise the duty to repent and improve, I expect even the noblest of human efforts to be marred by limited power, moral obtuseness and culpable failure.

And so I fear, indeed I loathe, the unforgiving, inhumane impatience of utopian perfectionists, whether they are Maoists or agents of Islamic State or progressive twittering social justice warriors.

He added: Much of what our forebears achieved was extraordinary. We need to remember it, we need to admire it, we need to conserve it, and we need to build on it.

Prof Biggar also criticised Scottish nationalism as based on a false Braveheart version of history.

He said: When too many Scots, in my view, align themselves with Scottish independence they do it, most of them, not because theyve analysed policies.

They do it in large part because they inhabit imaginatively a vision of the past that is false, a Braveheart past that excites unjustified nationalist indignation and resentment against the English and against Britain today.
O xfam has called on the G7 to take life-saving action over famine in East Africa, as campaigners protested in Trafalgar Square ahead of the summit in Japan on Friday.

Demonstrators dressed up as G7 leaders including Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and US president Joe Biden wore oversized masks as they stood in front of six-feet-tall letters spelling famine.

They covered their ears, eyes and mouths while a film highlighting the hunger crisis played in the background.

Climate-induced drought in the region, covering Ethiopia, Somalia, Kenya and South Sudan, has left 36 million people facing severe hunger, the charity warned.

Magnus Corfixen, Oxfams humanitarian lead said: G7 leaders have failed to live up to their commitments made two years ago.

We know that the UK Government in particular made promises to do more to address the crisis in East Africa, but we havent seen them fulfil their commitment as of now.

Mr Corfixen added: We are here today to ensure that they live up to their political obligations to address this crisis with partners in the affected countries.

At the 2021 UK summit in Cornwall G7 leaders committed an initial 5 billion in humanitarian assistance to 42 countries at risk of catastrophe and famine, including 1 billion in aid to South Sudan, Nigeria and Yemen.

Conflict and high food prices have intensified the emergency in the region, with an estimated 85,000 people in South Sudan and Somalia on the brink of famine, according to Oxfam.

Areas of Somalia, Kenya and Ethiopia have undergone five failed consecutive rainy seasons and South Sudan five seasons of severe flooding.

War in Sudan has further increased pressure on South Sudan, with more than 30,000 refugees having fled to the neighbouring country since fighting broke out in April.

It is estimated that one person is likely to die every 28 seconds as a result of malnutrition in Ethiopia, Somalia, Kenya and South Sudan, based on data from the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC).

The World Health Organisation warned in March that food insecurity across East African countries had left 129,000 in the Horn of Africa literally looking death in the eyes.
J ames Cleverly will seek to renew and enhance ties with the Caribbean and South America on a four-country trip in which he will announce funding to help protect the regions climate and security.

The Foreign Secretary will offer UK support to safeguard the Amazon rainforest and counter serious and organised crime, according to the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO).

The whirlwind seven-day trip, focused on issues including democracy, the environment and shared values, will see Mr Cleverly travel to Jamaica, Colombia, Chile and Brazil.

It is a partnership that will be marked and strengthened by our shared values of freedom, democracy and concern for the state of our planet

In Kingston, Jamaica, he will announce 15 million in funding for a violence prevention partnership to address organised crime and up to 7 million to protect the island from flooding and coastal erosion.

He will then head to South America to deliver a keynote speech on the UKs future relationship with the region.

It marks the first visit by a UK foreign secretary to the Caribbean since 2017 and the first to South America since 2018.

Mr Cleverly said: This is a milestone year in the history of UK relations with countries across Latin America and the Caribbean.

While I look forward to celebrating our close bonds of friendship and family, I am also here to renew and enhance our ties for the years ahead.

It is a partnership that will be marked and strengthened by our shared values of freedom, democracy and concern for the state of our planet.

In Colombia, he is expected to announce new UK support and funding for peace and tackling climate change by protecting the Amazon, according to the FCDO.

Mr Cleverly will visit the Amazon frontier region of Guaviare before giving a speech in Chiles capital Santiago setting out the UKs approach to South America and like-minded powers around the world.

The speech will refer to the bicentenary of UK-Latin America relations in British embassies across the continent  200 years after the regions struggle for independence from colonial rule.

The visit will end in Brazil, where the Foreign Secretary will sign a climate partnership with his hosts on green growth and travel to the Amazon.

The FCDO said Mr Cleverly would emphasise the UKs support for Brazilian democracy at the national Congress, which was attacked by a mob of supporters of former president Jair Bolsonaro in January following his electoral defeat.

It comes after the Government joined the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP)  a trade deal which includes Chile and Peru.

The agreement marked Britains biggest trade deal since leaving the EU but critics say the impact will be limited, with official estimates suggesting it will add just 1.8 billion a year to the economy after 10 years, representing less than 1% of UK GDP.

The Governments updated integrated review in March reinforced a post-Brexit tilt towards the Indo-Pacific region as a permanent pillar of British foreign policy as well as deeper ties with other influential actors such as South America.
T ory chairman Greg Hands faced a series of questions on Wednesday over the partys links to a business tycoon connected to a dirty money probe.

Labour wrote to the Cabinet minister demanding answers about Javad Marandi, who has donated hundreds of thousands of pounds to the Conservatives.

The businessman lost a legal battle against the Standard and the BBC to remain anonymous over an international money-laundering case involving a business associate.

Neither Mr Marandi nor his businesses were investigated or parties to the proceedings, which arose out of the so-called Azerbaijani Laundromat international money-laundering scheme probed by the National Crime Agency.

A court ruling said that bank records showed Mr Marandi, who has been on a Conservative advisory board of ultra-wealthy supporters, either owned or was connected to companies involved in a criminal enterprise moving vast sums of illicit funds around the world and into the UK.

Mr Marandi, who donated 663,800 to the Conservative Party between 2014 and 2020, vehemently denies any wrongdoing, a statement issued by his representatives said.

Labour Party chair Anneliese Dodds called for Mr Hands, MP for Chelsea and Fulham, to reveal more details about the links to the Conservatives of the wealthy donor, who owns Londons Conran Shop and a stake in the Anya Hindmarch handbag retailer. They include:

What due diligence was carried out on his donations?

What access was Mr Marandi granted as part of an advisory board?

Who has he met with at the top of the Conservative Party and what was discussed?

When was the Conservative Party informed that Mr Marandi was a person of importance in the NCAs case?

Will the Conservative Party return his donations?

In her letter, Ms Dodds said: You do not need me to remind you of the Prime Ministers promise on the steps of No10 of integrity, professionalism and accountability at all levels. I hope you and the Prime Minister will not remain silent about these important issues.

Home Office minister Chris Philp told the Commons yesterday that the Government is committed to making sure there is no dirty money in the UK. Mr Philp also defended safeguards over political donations. UK electoral law sets out a stringent regime of donation controls to ensure that only those with a legitimate interest can make donations, he told MPs.

A Conservative source questioned whether Labour was suggesting political parties should have access to NCA files.

But Labour MP Dame Margaret Hodge told Parliament: There is an investigation into the Azerbaijani Laundromat. A total of $2.9 billion was stolen. It was laundered through UK companies and used to bribe politicians and line the pockets of the corrupt Azerbaijani elite, and Javad Marandi is linked with it. Now we hear that he donated...to the Tory party, got an OBE and access to Government ministers. We should take these allegations very seriously. If they are true, dirty money has well and truly crept into our politics.

In a judgment last year, Mr Marandi was described by a judge as a person of importance in a case which led to forfeiture of 5.6 million from the London bank accounts of members of the family of Azeri oligarch Javanshir Feyziyev, a business associate of the Tory donor. Mr Marandis representatives said at no point has he been investigated and no case has ever been brought against him.
The haven dollar climbed and global stock markets wavered Wednesday as investors fretted over the slow progress of talks seeking to raise the US debt ceiling.

All eyes remain on Washington, where lawmakers remain deadlocked in negotiations to lift the country's borrowing limit to pay its debts and avert a market-rattling default.

The euro slid to $1.0821, the lowest level since early April, in a broad dollar rally as the greenback benefitted from its status as a safe bet in times of economic turmoil.

Asian and European equities were handed a tepid lead from Wall Street, where disappointing retail sales data and weak Home Depot earnings highlighted soft consumer demand.

But analysts said the readings were unlikely to give the Federal Reserve room to pause its interest-rate hiking campaign yet.

- 'Serious consequences' -

"The greenback is finding support as lawmakers in Washington seem unable to reach an agreement over the lifting of the debt ceiling," said ActivTrades analyst Ricardo Evangelista.

"The standoff between Democrats and Republicans is likely to continue and, if unresolved, could have serious consequences for the US and global economy."

US President Joe Biden met Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and other congressional leaders at the White House on Tuesday after saying staff-level talks had produced no shift.

McCarthy told reporters there was still "a lot of work to do" before the country runs out of cash, which the Treasury has warned will happen around June 1.

There was a sliver of light, as he said he ultimately expected a deal.

And the White House said Biden was "optimistic that there is a path to a responsible, bipartisan budget agreement if both sides negotiate in good faith".

In a bid to get an agreement over the line, the president -- who flies to Japan on Wednesday for a G7 summit -- scrapped subsequent stops in Papua New Guinea and Australia, instead planning to return to Washington on Sunday.

- Japan growth boosts Nikkei -

Asia indices enjoyed mixed fortunes but star performer Tokyo jumped after figures showed Japan's economy grew more than expected in January-March thanks to a surge in tourism after pandemic border restrictions were lifted.

The figures helped push the Nikkei 225 to a 20-month high and it has now piled on more than 15 percent since the turn of the year.

Analysts said the strong market performance has been helped by corporate reforms and Bank of Japan's ultra-loose monetary policies.

- Key figures around 1050 GMT -

London - FTSE 100: FLAT at 7,747.60 points

Frankfurt - DAX: UP 0.3 percent at 15,940.51

Paris - CAC 40: DOWN 0.2 percent at 7,394.73

EURO STOXX 50: FLAT at 4,316.49

Tokyo - Nikkei 225: UP 0.8 percent at 30,093.59 (close)

Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: DOWN 2.1 percent at 19,560.57 (close)

Shanghai - Composite: DOWN 0.2 percent at 3,284.23 (close)

New York - Dow: DOWN 1.0 percent at 33,012.14 (close)

Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.0832 from $1.0862 on Tuesday

Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.2446 from $1.2488

Dollar/yen: UP at 136.96 yen from 136.39 yen

Euro/pound: UP at 87.01 pence from 86.98 pence

Brent North Sea crude: UP 0.5 percent at $75.29 per barrel

West Texas Intermediate: UP 0.5 percent at $71.23 per barrel

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R ishi Sunak has been urged by business leaders to take the no-brainer decision to scrap his tourist tax on foreign shoppers before irreparable damage is done to Londons global reputation.

There is growing alarm that over the first summer peak holiday season without any Covid restrictions millions of visitors will return to their home countries with the message that the capital is too expensive compared with rival destinations such as Paris, Milan or Madrid.

On Wednsday, the boss of luxury retailer Watches of Switzerland added his voice to the chorus of pleas calling for a change of heart from the Government the sooner the better.

Brian Duffy told the Evening Standard: Our view is that it is inevitable the decision will be reversed, the numbers are compelling in showing the benefit VAT-free shopping can bring. Britain has long been a favourite and iconic destination to come and shop, but we have now made it more difficult for ourselves to attract tourists.

The sooner the better for bringing back VAT-free shopping. We would like to see a proper independent review conducted, and for the Government to do what is right for UK PLC.

The Evening Standard led the campaign of opposition to the axing of VAT-free shopping by Mr Sunak when he was chancellor in January 2021.

The move immediately made it 20 per cent more expensive for foreign tourists to shop in London because they could not reclaim the VAT on the purchases they take home as they leave the UK.

London businesses fear billions of pounds of spending is being lost because tourists from Asia, America and the Middle East in particular are opting to do their shopping in other European cities that still have the perk.

Shoppers from EU countries would also have been entitled to the VAT deduction here after Brexit  making London a very attractive cheap shopping destination for them.

Chris Hayward, policy chairman at the City of London Corporation, said: Re-introducing VAT-free shopping for Londons tourists is an absolute no-brainer.

Cutting tourists tax on shopping will drive footfall, jobs, and growth, attract global visitors, and boost the capitals recovery from the pandemic. With economic growth in the doldrums the Government must act quickly.

Dozens of leading business chiefs in Londons tourism and retail sectors, including the bosses of British Airways, Mulberry, the Royal Opera House and Fortnum & Mason last month wrote an open letter to Chancellor Jeremy Hunt describing the policy as a spectacular own goal.

But so far the Treasury and Number 10 have refused to accept the case for a U-turn, arguing that it would cost 2 billion in lost tax revenue, although studies have shown that this would be more than outweighed by a 4.1 billion boost to GDP through extra tourist shopping. There were the first signs this week that the Government might be prepared to consider a change of heart when the Prime Ministers official spokesman said: We are always happy to listen to the sector about their concerns and obviously we will respond accordingly.

But London businesses say time is of the essence if the capital is to avoid long-term harm.

Dee Corsi, chief executive of business group New West End Company, which represents traders in Oxford Street, Bond Street and Regent Street, said: We have campaigned tirelessly for a reversal of the decision to end tax-free shopping, so we welcome the Treasurys request for data that we know will prove this is an economic own-goal.

According to the Oxford Economics forecast, the last six months will have cost the UK 1.5 billion in missed international sales. International visitors are now realising that the UK is 20 per cent more expensive than other European cities, and West End businesses are suffering the consequences.

Shopping is a key driver in deciding which city break to go on. Ever since tax-free shopping was abolished, international visitors have been returning home from our shores less likely to come back, and more likely to head to France or Spain next time.

The latest data shows a genuine behaviour change, spend is being diverted to other European cities and the situation is worsening. Our message to the Prime Minister is clear  we need to restore tax-free shopping as quickly as possible. And he should start by commissioning an independent report into the direct impact this decision has had on the entire tourism ecosystem.

Richard Burge, chief executive of the London Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said: The economic cost of the scheme is minute compared to the overall economic gain of increased numbers of tourists spending more money in the UK, especially in our capital. VAT-free shopping is a no-brainer for Londons prosperity, and the Government must reintroduce it immediately to avoid driving tourists away from London.

John Dickie, Chief Executive at BusinessLDN, said: Bringing back VAT-free shopping would attract international visitors back to the UK and boost spending in sectors hit hard by the pandemic and strikes. By doing so, it would strongly support growth, generate 4.1 billion GVA annually, create 78,000 jobs and increase 350 million in tax revenues for the Exchequer every year.

The Prime Minister must listen to businesses and restore VAT-free shopping to deliver on his pledge to grow the economy.

Adam Hug, leader of Westminster City Council, said: The West End is a major attraction for overseas visitors and by not offering VAT free shopping, we are effectively signposting them to go and spend their money in other parts of the world.

The latest research demonstrates that reintroducing tax-free shopping would lead to a growth of around 4.1 billion in gross domestic product and support 78,000 jobs. It would also add around 350 million a year to the public purse. This is a win-win for the Chancellor; it would be economically illiterate not to do it.

If we are to fully recover from the effects of the pandemic and return to our previous tourism levels the Government must acknowledge the importance of our international visitors. I want to see the reinstatement of tax-free shopping for all overseas visitors, to create revenue for the exchequer, ensure the UKs global competitiveness and support local jobs. The Evening Standards campaign is a welcome and powerful voice to support that.
D eputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden has branded the Labour leader and his deputy the Phil and Holly of British politics as he clashed with Angela Rayner in the Commons.

Deputy Labour leader Ms Rayner said the Conservatives were stuck in a conveyor belt of crisis after 13 years in office, as she criticised their record on child poverty and the NHS during Prime Ministers Questions.

Mr Dowden, who was taking his first PMQs since becoming deputy Prime Minister, countered he was surprised the Lib Dem leader isnt taking questions today, referring to reports Sir Keir Starmer has left the door open to working with the Liberal Democrats if he does not secure a Commons majority after the next election.

Ms Rayner told the Commons: Its a pleasure to welcome yet another Deputy Prime Minister to the despatch box. The third deputy that I face in three years, and you know what they say? The third times a charm. And Im also pleased to note that the Prime Minister has a working class friend, finally.

I seem to remember that after the loss of 300 Conservative seats at last years local elections, he (Oliver Dowden) resigned, saying someone must take responsibility. After a thousand more Conservative councillors have been given the boot by voters, who does he think it is responsible now?

The Deputy Prime Minister replied: It really is a pleasure to see her here today. I was, though, expecting to face the Labour leaders choice for the next Deputy Prime Minister if they win the election. So Im surprised that the Lib Dem leader isnt taking questions today.

He added: We all know whats going on with her and her leader. Its all lovey-dovey on the surface, they turn it on for the cameras, but as soon as theyre off, its a different story.

Theyre at each others throats. They are the Phil and Holly of British politics.

His comments came amid reports of a rift between Holly Willoughby and This Morning co-host Phillip Schofield.

Ms Rayner turned to the NHS asking: The Prime Minister pledged that by March, NHS waiting lists would fall. It is now May. So can he tell us, since he made that pledge: is the number of people on waiting lists higher or lower?

Oliver Dowden and Angela Rayner clash over NHS wait times

Mr Dowden replied: We are making good progress, for example with two-year waiting lists, adding Labour was too weak to stand up to unions, and urging the Opposition to back minimum service levels for the NHS.

Ms Rayner claimed the Government has taken a wrecking ball to measures by the last Labour government to eradicate child poverty.

She said: When I was a young mum I remember the sick feeling in my stomach not knowing if my wages would cover the bills, yet his Government has taken a wrecking ball to measures by the last Labour government to eradicate child poverty, even abolishing the child poverty unit.

They tried to justify this by saying they no longer needed a child poverty unit because theyve abolished the child poverty targets  so can he tell us what level of poverty he considers to be a success?

Mr Dowden replied: This comprehensive school boy is not going to take any lectures from the party opposite about the lives of working people.

What I would say is that we have introduced record increases in the National Living Wage, something that this party introduced, the party opposite failed to do so, and we have taken one million working age people out of poverty altogether.

Ms Rayner raised the National Conservative Conference, saying: While his partys preparing for opposition with their Trump tribute act conference over the road, Labour are focused on fixing the real problems facing British people.

The Tories have picked their side, there for the vested interests, for oil companies and the bankers, for those that are profiting from the crisis and not suffering from it.

Whether its failing the millions of people anxiously waiting for treatment or overseeing a rise in child poverty, and while his colleagues spout nonsense at their carnival of conspiracy, I want to know: when will his party stop blaming everybody else and realise that the problem is them?

Mr Dowden replied: I will proudly defend our record in office. Crime down 50%, near record levels of employment, a record minimum wage.

Whats their record? Four general election defeats, 30 promises already broken and one leader who let antisemitism run wild  that is why the British people will never trust the Labour Party.

The pair were standing in for their two party leaders as Mr Sunak joins other members of the G7 in Hiroshima.
A row over housing erupted on Wednesday as a minister poured scorn on Sadiq Khans record on building in London.

Transport Minister Richard Holden claimed not enough homes were being built in the capital because of Labour policies.

This week the Mayor of London celebrated hitting the Governments target of starting work on 116,000 new affordable homes by April 2023.

But figures show that just 58,936 of these properties were actually completed in the past seven years, an average of 8,419 a year.

The Tory party said that during Boris Johnsons time in City Hall, 11,750 affordable homes were typically built in a year. Mr Holden told Times Radio: In London, a key part of where a huge amount of pent-up demand is, what weve seen is a Labour mayor of London, backed up by a Labour London MP Keir Starmer in not delivering those targets, not delivering either the starts or the completion levels we saw when there was a Conservative mayor in London.

Work has begun on a record 25,658 affordable properties in London in the last year, City Hall said. And Sir Keir Starmer on Wednesday pledged that a Labour government would build more homes in areas including the green belt to increase supply and bring down prices across the country.

In a speech to the British Chambers of Commerce in London he will argue that his party will make tough choices but the right choices when it comes to planning.

At the moment, one of the reasons that house prices are so high is because people hold land, trying to ensure that it gains as much value as possible, he said. Developers and landowners actually have a vested interest in not building so many houses, because that keeps the price high. We want to change that model and make sure that many, many more houses are built, and that the price comes down. What we want is good-quality, secure houses, but also houses that people can afford.

It comes as long-awaited plans to abolish no-fault evictions and give renters the right to keep pets were introduced in Parliament on Wednesday.

Housing Secretary Michael Gove said the sweeping reforms would allow tenants to challenge poor landlords without losing their home.

Landlords will also be given more powers to more easily evict anti-social tenants. Notice periods will be reduced where renters have been irresponsible  for example, by breaching their tenancy agreement or causing damage to the property. The Bill also seeks to make it illegal for landlords to impose bans on renting to benefit claimants or families with children.

The plans will affect two million landlords and 11 million tenants in England, including more than one million households in London.

However, critics argue that the laws are long overdue and the new Bill fails to protect tenants from rent hikes being used to circumvent the new rules.
P rime Minister Rishi Sunak has said he will listen to calls to scrap the tourism tax that critics say is damaging Londons economy.

Businesses in the capital are calling for the government to reinstate a VAT refund for overseas visitors in order to encourage tourism. Critics have argued that wealthy tourists are travelling to cities like Paris instead as a result.

The PMs official spokesman said: We are always happy to listen to the sector about their concerns and obviously we will respond accordingly.

How did the VAT refund for overseas visitors work?

Up until January 2021, visitors to the UK from outside the EU were able to get a VAT refund on their shopping. VAT, which stands for value-added tax, is a 20 per cent sales tax charged on items in the UK. Non-EU visitors used to be able to present a VAT-receipt at the airport to claim their refund. This scheme has since ended, though customers are still able to buy items VAT-free in store if they send them directly to their home overseas.

The VAT paid by visitors to the UK is different from how tourist tax works in other cities. For example, Manchester introduced a tourist tax in April, which charges visitors to the city 1 per night for hotels and similar accommodation. The hope is that this tourist tax could raise millions of pounds for the council, and that the money could be used to boost the tourism economy.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will listen to calls urging him to scrap the tourist tax / Alastair Grant/PA Wire

Why did the VAT refund scheme end?

The VAT refund scheme ended in 2021 after the UK left the EU, as part of a post-Brexit consultation about taxing items transported across borders for personal use.

Kwasi Kwarteng reintroduced the tax-free shopping scheme as part of his mini-budget, but Jeremy Hunt reversed the decision when he became chancellor, claiming it was unaffordable.

At the time, retail bosses described Hunts decision as a  hammer blow to UK tourism and the British high street.

Mr Hunt argued that by not introducing a new VAT-free shopping scheme, the UK could generate more than 1 billion in 2024, and more in subsequent years, as reported by Forbes .

However, a report by the luxury trade association Walpole found that tax-free shopping generated more than 3 billion a year for the UK as well as wider economic benefits.

How might things change in the future?

London mayoral candidate Daniel Korski has proposed introducing a tourist tax on hotel rooms in London, in a scheme similar to the tourist tax in Manchester.

Mr Korski has proposed introducing a 1 or 2 tax to raise extra funding for the Metropolitan police.

He said: There is a real sense there is not enough police on the streets. I dont think 1 or 2 more on your hotel bill means you are going to go to Paris instead of London.

Introducing a tourist tax was also proposed by the London Finance Commission, an expert body set up by London mayor Sadiq Khan.

Meanwhile, hundreds of London firms are urging the Government to restore tax-free shopping for overseas tourists.
D eputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden has faced MPs in his first Prime Ministers Questions while Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is in Japan.

He clashed with Angela Rayner over waiting lists at the NHS, with the deputy Labour leader saying they are longer than when Mr Sunak made his pledge to reduce them.

Ms Rayner said: The fact is, waiting lists are longer than when the Prime Minister made his pledge five months ago. The number of people in England waiting to start hospital treatment is the highest since records began. 7.3 million patients left waiting.

But Mr Dowden insisted the government is making good progress on reducing the lists, adding that Rayner was forgetting the pandemic.

The pair made jibes at each other - with Mr Dowden accusing Ms Rayner and Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer of being the Phil and Holly of British politics.

On the NHS, Ms Rayner said: I know the Prime Minister has his own private GP, so maybe he doesnt appreciate the urgency.

The pair were stepping in as Mr Sunak joins other members of the G7 in Hiroshima.

Mr Sunak is unveiling a new defence and technology collaboration before seeking to galvanise support for Ukraine during talks with world leaders.

Back in Westminster long-promised plans to ban no-fault housing evictions will be introduced to Parliament in the Renters (Reform) Bill by Housing Secretary Michael Gove.

Meanwhile a top Metropolitan Police officer is facing questions from MPs over six protesters arrested at the Kings coronation who were then released without charges.

Met Temporary Assistant Commissioner Matt Twist denies officers had been overzealous or were under any political pressure.
M hairi Black was told to be quite careful in Parliament after saying the government had been pished during the pandemic.

The offending word, the Scottish version of pissed, slang for very drunk, was in violation of Commons rules as to what Members of Parliament can say about each other.

The Scottish National Party MP also called the Tories a dangerous government making bad decisions on top of a global pandemic in a debate on Tuesday.

But, mind you, we shouldnt be surprised given the fact that they seem to have been pished half the time at parties at No 10, she said to laughs around her.

Dame Rosie Winterton interrupted Ms Black by saying: I should just say to the honourable lady, she really must not use language like that.

The deputy speaker was referring to her using so-called unparliamentary language which breaks the precedent and rules of politeness in addressing fellow members.

Ms Black shot back: [I mean] they were inebriated, intoxicated, they were paralytic, at parties in No 10 is that all right?

Be quite careful Mhairi Black continue, Dame Rosie said, to which Ms Black responded, I dont see what I said that wasnt true madam deputy speaker but, I take it, I take it

Who is Mhairi Black?

Mhairi Black represents Paisley and Renfrewshire South / PA Archive

The pished debate was an amusing episode that was not out of character for the politician, who has been unafraid to speak up, especially on points around Scotland and her constituency Paisley and Renfrewshire South.

It was winning that seat in 2015 that first achieved her national fame as she defeated the incumbent who was Labour frontbencher Douglas Alexander and, in doing so, became the youngest MP aged just 20 years old.

But she wasted little time in getting stuck into frontline Westminster politics, using her maiden speech to attack the governments record on food banks - which was viewed more than 10 million times online. She was also appointed to the Work and Pensions Select Committee.

Westminster did not feel homely and Ms Black called it an "old boys club" in 2016 before wondering if she would stand in the following years election - expressing her frustration about what can actually be achieved. But stand she did both in 2017 and in 2019 where she regained her seat but did lose her title as Britains youngest MP to then-23-year-old Nadia Whittome.

The SNP is best known for its signature policy of promoting Scottish Independence but Ms Black has made a name for herself as a promoter of socialist values, inspired by her hero Tony Benn, which has been seen in her opposition to Universal Credit measures.

Since December she has been deputy leader of the Scottish National Party in the House of Commons and would have been well-placed to stand for leadership when Nicola Sturgeon departed but did not put herself forward.

Ms Black describes herself as Bible-reading but not religious and has long been a backer of same-sex marriage. She, herself, married her partner Katie in 2022.
T o mark the release of Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, Disney+ and Uber Eats have teamed up to release a teeny, tiny menu, fit for the Marvel hero.

The Quantum Cafe menu features an array of dinky dishes, such as miniature sushi, a minute chocolate gateau, fun-sized fish and chips, minuscule chow mein, petite pizza, very tiny veggie burger, micro salad, eensy-weensy dal, nanoscopic naan bread and slight samosas. And if you have room, (which is likely) there are even mini donuts for dessert.

The miniature menu has been launched just in time for the release of Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, which is out on Disney+ on May 17.

It is being baked in London, Bristol and Manchester for 5.99, with proceeds donated to the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

Plus, 10 customers who order the Ant-Man menu will receive an Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania movie poster, signed by actors Michael Douglas and Evangeline Lilley.

The Quantum Cafe is serving up a mini menu / Uber Eats/Disney +

Matthew Price, the regional general manager of Uber Eats in UKI, northern Europe, said: While this tasting menu might be tiny, it still delivers the big flavours Uber Eats customers love. We know our customers enjoy watching Disney+ while enjoying their deliveries and, hopefully, our new offering will allow fans of Ant-Man and the Wasp to eat just like their favourite Super Heroes!

Katrina Shaw from Make-A-Wish UK said: Were really grateful to Uber Eats for their help to give critically ill children a chance to have their wishes come true. Every child deserves a childhood and the power of a wish can bring light and joy to children and their families, and help create magical memories that last a lifetime. We hope as many people as possible tuck into this special menu and help us grant many more wishes to come.

So, before settling down to catch the latest movie in the Marvel franchise, why not order from The Quantum Cafe for the true Ant-Man experience?
A drone which caused flights at Gatwick Airport to be suspended on Sunday may have in fact been party balloons, according to reports.

A dozen inbound flights to Gatwick were diverted for nearly an hour on Sunday after a suspected drone was reported to have been sighted close to the airfield by a pilot.

But a plane spotter has since shared footage of at least seven" silver party balloons in the airports flight path just minutes before the airfield ground to a halt.

Lewis Milton travelled from his home in east London for plane spotting on Sunday and captured footage of the balloons on his London Planespotting YouTube channel.

He told the Brighton Argus it was understandable that balloons could get confused for a drone.

Once you look up into the sky they get lost very quickly, and it was very hard to keep a track of them, he said.

It didnt look like they were released on purpose, I can imagine they were used for someones birthday and just flew away by accident.

Gatwick Airport / PA Media

Gatwick Airport and Sussex Police have since both confirmed that no drone was found in the wake of the incident.

A source familiar with the investigation also told the Telegraph newspaper: It now appears that the balloons may have been wrongly identified as a drone.

Gatwick was crippled in 2018 by suspected drone sightings which closed the airport for more than a day, affecting more than 1,000 flights.

Nobody has ever been prosecuted over the supposed drone interference.

Both Gatwick and Heathrow have installed anti-drone technology at their airports to prevent a repeat of the 2018 incident.

A Gatwick Airport spokesman said: This investigation followed sightings from a pilot and also airfield staff about a suspected drone close to the flight path of approaching aircraft.

Following further investigation, no drone was found and the airfield reopened at 1435. All twelve aircraft that were diverted as a result of this incident returned to London Gatwick on Sunday.

A Sussex Police spokesperson said it had assisted the airport over reported drone sightings, but no drones were found.
Charles received Mr Yousaf during an audience at the palace.

On his visit to London, Mr Yousaf also met the Spanish ambassador and the Lord Mayor of the City of London. On Tuesday, he met the Irish consul general.

Mr Yousaf has previously said he is a republican and hit out at costs involved with the coronation earlier this month, saying he hoped they would be limited as a result of the cost-of-living crisis.

He and his wife Nadia El-Nakla attended the coronation on May 8.

The meeting comes after the Stone of Destiny was returned to Edinburgh Castle earlier this week.

Traditionally, the stone was used to crown monarchs of Scotland but is now used to crown UK monarchs as part of the coronation ceremony.

Former first minister Alex Salmond suggested police should have been used to prevent the stone being moved from the castle, which Mr Yousaf dismissed.

He said: Alex Salmond should remember, of course, that operational matters are for Police Scotland.

Its not for the First Minister to tell the police what to do, but of course it wouldnt have been the right thing to do even if those powers did exist.

Alex Salmond can sit there and talk about the Stone of Destiny all day long. It seems its all hes been talking about over the last few weeks.

Im committed to talking about reducing poverty, the cost-of-living crisis, investing in our public services.
The visit by Pope Tawadros II to the Vatican and the exchange of gifts with Pope Francis assert the amicable relationship between the Coptic and Catholic churches, reports Amira Hisham

Speaking to tens of thousands of Christian worshippers standing in adverse weather conditions, Egypts Coptic Orthodox Pope Tawadros II gave a speech calling for world peace during the General Audience at St Peters Square in Vatican City, the first time the head of another church has delivered such an address.

The speech by the 118th pope was part of a visit by an Egyptian Coptic Orthodox delegation to the Vatican to mark 50 years of renewed relations between the Catholic and Coptic Orthodox churches. In 1973 Egypts Pope Shenouda III and Pope Paul VI signed the Joint Christological Declaration, ending a 15-century theological dispute.

The visit also commemorated the 10th anniversary of the Day of Brotherly Love which the two churches have been celebrating annually since Pope Tawadros II had first visited the Vatican on 10 May 2013 to congratulate Pope Francis on his election. The pope returned the visit to Egypt in 2017.

At St Peters Square, Pope Francis referred to the 21 Christians who were killed in Libya in 2015 20 Egyptian Copts and one Ghanaian Christian  announcing that they will be placed in the Roman Martyrology of the Catholic Church as a sign of the spiritual communion that unites our two churches.

May the prayers of the Coptic martyrs, united with those of the Theotokos, continue to help our churches grow in friendship, until the blessed day when we can celebrate at the same altar and receive together the Body and Blood of the Saviour,Pope Francis said.

The men were beheaded by Islamic State terrorists on the beach in Libyas Sirte city. The terrorist organisation circulated a video showing the hostages in orange jumpsuits, kneeling on the sand, and praying as the terrorists standing behind them slit their throats.

Martyrs of the Coptic Church are ours too, Pope Francis said.

During their audience, the patriarch of the See of St Mark Pope TawadrosIIpresented Pope Francis a reliquary of the slainmen. The reliquary, embellished with crosses designed in Coptic style, contained parts of the jumpsuits on which were written the names of those killed and three of the handcuffs used during their killing.

In reciprocation, Pope Francis gave the pope a relic of Saint Catherine of Alexandria who was slain in the early fourth century.

All the visits exchanged between the Coptic and Catholic churches have aimed at drawing the two churches closer and spreading amicability, said Father RafikGreish, media spokesman of the Egypt Council of Churches.

The Coptic and Catholic churches have so much in common. It is normal for them to work together for peace and the good of the world. There is no longer a place for hardliners, Father Rafik added.

* A version of this article appears in print in the 18 May, 2023 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly

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T he Mets deputy commissioner has hit out at the Government over an inaccurate and offensive tweet about rape investigations.

Ministers have announced a bill amendment which will require police to only seek victims personal records to the extent absolutely necessary for the investigation.

The Ministry of Justice said this would stop police making invasive and unnecessary requests for victims personal records, such as therapy notes.

In a tweet, it said: This will help ensure vulnerable victims arent put off reporting rape for fear that notes could be used against them in court. An attached graphic said it would end what it called police fishing expeditions.

But Dame Lynne Owens, one of the most senior figures in British policing, called the tweet inaccurate and offensive.

She said: The way this tweet is written is inaccurate and offensive, minimising the efforts the majority of police officers make to support victims and comply with the expectations of other parts of the justice system.

Change was needed but to position in this way undermines public trust.

Dame Lynne, the former director of the National Crime Agency, called upon Antonia Romeo - the top civil servant at the MoJ - to reflect on the tweet which over-simplifies the policy change.

She added she was concerned that the presentation of the change could deter victims from coming forward to the police. Claire Waxman, the London Victims Commissioner, said she had raised the issue with the MoJ.

The Standard has contacted the Ministry of Justice for comment.

The post was later deleted.

Backing the change announced this week, Justice Secretary Alex Chalk said: This important reform will end invasive unnecessary requests for therapy notes for rape victims and give them the confidence to seek the help they need earlier, free from the fear that what they share in the process of healing could be weaponised against them.
P olice have come under fresh criticism for arrests at the coronation, with a safety volunteer claiming they were specifically targeted and a protester saying they were prevented from contacting their named liaison officer.

Accusations of heavy-handedness and bowing to political pressure have been aimed at the Metropolitan Police over the forces handling of the event, which saw a total of 62 arrests.

Six members of anti-monarchy group Republic were held for 16 hours before being released without charge, while volunteers for Westminster Council safety scheme Night Stars were detained in the early hours of May 6 and not released until the late afternoon.

A complaint has also been lodged by royal fan Alice Chambers, 36, who was held in custody for 13 hours after being mistaken for a Just Stop Oil protester as she waited on the Mall hoping to catch a glimpse of the King.

Night Stars volunteer Suzie Melvin told MPs on Wednesday that officers had gone out specifically looking for those involved in the safety scheme, which hands out rape alarms as part of anti-spiking kits.

Giving evidence to the Commons Home Affairs Committee, that has launched an urgent investigation into the arrests, she said: I was informed by the officer who arrested me that they were specifically looking for the Night Stars and they had been told where we were going to be.

Explaining how her team was approached by police who wanted to stop and search them, she told MPs: We did the best that we could to try and explain who we were to the officers.

Then they also searched the church we base ourselves out of.

Chairwoman Dame Diana Johnson said she was a bit speechless at details of what had happened. The volunteers were released without charge.

Republic chief executive Graham Smith said the group had been in contact with the Metropolitan Police for months before the coronation to agree details of its planned protest.

But on the morning of May 6 six supporters unloading placards were arrested on suspicion of planning to lock-on  a tactic used by protesters to make themselves harder to move.

The group were the first to be arrested under the new Public Order Act, that came into force days before the coronation, over their possession of luggage straps.

Mr Smith told MPs: I named the superintendent wed met in person. I named the liaison officer and attempted to phone her and he (the arresting officer) twice stopped me from doing that, including grabbing my wrist and removing the phone from my hand.

He also questioned the definition of devices that could be used to lock-on.

Ive turned up today with five lock on devices on my person. My tie, my watch, my belt and two shoelaces.

Someone could have phoned up the Met and said: Well hes planning to lock himself to the chair when hes during the middle of the committee, and should I spend 16 hours in detention for that so-called intelligence and so-called lock-on devices?

Earlier, Metropolitan Police Temporary Assistant Commissioner Matt Twist rejected accusations that the force had faced political pressure to crack down on protesters.

The i newspaper quoted an anonymous senior police source saying that there had been a very firm instruction not to damage the reputation of the UK, although the Home Office said it did not recognise the claim.

Mr Twist told the committee: I felt under no pressure politically, I felt pressure to deliver a safe and secure operation, but that was because of the fact that it was a once-in-a-lifetime event for so many people and there would be hundreds of thousands of people in London to celebrate it, and also, and importantly, this was the biggest protection operation we have ever run.

There were 312 protected people that we managed to get in and out of the Abbey and across the footprint in about 90 minutes. So the stakes were enormously high, so I absolutely felt pressure to deliver a safe and secure operation. But that wasnt political pressure.

Told that there was no history of Republic using lock-on tactics, he said officers on the ground did not know that the straps would be used to secure placards.

Mr Twist said: Officers have to make a difficult judgment at the time, in the moment, based on what they are faced with and based on the information they have.

They have to form reasonable grounds for an arrest and, as the committee will know, reasonable grounds is actually quite a low threshold and is much lower than where you would need grounds to meet the evidential test to charge and a public interest test to charge.

So what was found was 12 heavy-duty material straps with combination locks on them, which the officers were told was for securing placards.

But at the time, the officers were operating in a threat environment where they believed, taking into account the time, the location, proximity to the route and what they had in front of them, those officers believed that those could be items that could be used for locking-on, and that was why the arrest was made.
A range of political stories jostle for the spotlight with little consensus on the front pages of Wednesdays newspapers.

Immigration features on the front of two editions, but they take contrasting approaches.

The Guardian reports on government plans to remove basic housing protections from asylum seekers which it says will see migrants moved out of hotels and into the private rented sector with landlords not required to register with local authorities.

The front of the Daily Express focuses on Prime Minister Rishi Sunak telling European judges to stop interfering in Britains plans to fly migrants to Rwanda.

The other topic to feature as more than one main story is the number of British workers off sick.

The Daily Mail says the sick note crisis is fuelled by people working from home  which it says is leading to back and neck pain  while the Metro says a record 2.5 million people are off work due to long-term illness.

An interview with Sir Keir Starmer is the focus of The Times with the Labour leader saying they will become the party of housebuilding.

The Daily Mirror looks at the cost-of-living crisis with former Conservative minister Ann Widdecombe saying no one has the right to cheap food and advising against cheese sandwiches for those on a budget.

Bird flu dominates the front of the i which reports that the condition has been found in two people in the UK.

A letter from Oxford dons to The Daily Telegraph makes to the front page as they warn students about the threat to free speech from a transgender row at the university.

The Duke of Sussex features on the front of The Sun as he is told armed Met Police officers are not private bodyguards.

Fears over AI manipulation of US elections take centre stage in the Financial Times with the boss of ChatGPT warning it is a significant concern.

And the Daily Star provides advice on the use of emojis for the lovelorn.
A never seen before tour of the worlds most famous shipwreck has been released.

The first full scan of the Titanic wreckage allows people to take a 3D tour of the ship that sank in 1912, much to the delight of history buffs. The video is made up from more than 700,000 images taken of every angle of the wreckage.

The 3D render is believed to be the first unbiased, data-reliant view of the famous ships wreckage. It was carried out by underwater robots that spent 200 hours surveying the scene of the wreck.

The pictures shows the ship as though it were still based on dry land, with the project carried out by deep-sea mapping company Magellan Ltd and Atlantic Productions, which is making a documentary about the project.

But what do we already know about the Titanic disaster?

When and where did the Titanic sink?

RMS Titanic set off from Southampton on the south coast of England on April 10, 1912, heading for the US. Four days later, the Titanic struck an iceberg near Newfoundland, Canada. The collision damaged the ship and resulted in water flooding in.

The lookouts did not spot the iceberg as the ship approached because it was nighttime and therefore very dark. RMS Titanic had two lookouts who were located in the crows nest of the ship, right at the highest point near its front. But neither spotted the iceberg and the fatal collision occurred just before midnight on the fourth night.

The Titanic broke apart and sank to the bottom of the ocean.

The ship remains in its final resting place, 12,000 feet below sea level and over 350 nautical miles off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada.

How many people died on the Titanic?

There were 2,240 passengers and crew onboard when the Titanic set sail. When it sunk, 1,503 were killed: 815 passengers and 688 crew members. With a limited number of lifeboats, enough for only a third of passengers, many could not escape the ship.

As of today there are no living survivors of the Titanic left. The last living Titanic survivor passed away in 2009 aged 97, named Millvina Dean. She was known for being both the youngest passenger aboard and the last remaining survivor of the RMS Titanic.

Ms Dean was just nine weeks old when she boarded the ship. Her father felt its collision with the iceberg on the night, got up to see what was happening and then rushed back to warn his family who were sleeping. Millvina, her mother, and her brother were placed in a lifeboat but her father did not survive, and his body was never recovered.

The man at the helm of the ship Captain Edward Smith also perished with the Titanic.

Rumours swirled that Captain Smith was facing pressure from the owner of the Titanic, White Star Line, to keep up the ships speed. After the disaster, both the United States and the United Kingdom launched inquiries to determine whether or not the White Star Line was liable for damages related to loss of life and property because it was going too fast.

The British inquiry concluded that Captain Smith was not to blame, and said: The evidence shows that he was not trying to make any record passage or indeed any exceptionally quick passage. He was not trying to please anybody, but was exercising his own discretion in the way he thought best. He made a mistake, a very grievous mistake, but one in which, in face of the practice and of past experience, negligence cannot be said to have had any part; and in the absence of negligence it is, in my opinion, impossible to fix Captain Smith with blame.

The National Archives report how several members of the crew remembered Captain Smith encouraging his crew to act honorably in the last moments, help women and children, and how he urged them to Be British!.

How big was the Titanic?

Built in Belfast, at the time the Titanic was the largest object ever to move on the water. It had 16 watertight compartments designed to keep it afloat if damaged. This led to builders saying that the ship was practically unsinkable. It was 852.5 feet long and had seven decks.

It is no longer the biggest ship to be built. The largest in the world today is named the Wonder of the Seas and is 1,187 feet long and can hold 8,000 passengers.

When was the Titanic found?

Efforts to locate the sunken liner began almost immediately after the disaster but technical limitations, combined with the huge size of the search area, made it nigh on impossible to locate.

Seventy-three years after it sank to the ocean floor of the North Atlantic Sea, the remains of the Titanic were found in 1985. Explorers made up of a joint US-French team found the wreckage 400 miles east of Newfoundland in the North Atlantic, about 13,000 feet below sea level.

Now, explorers can dive down and see the remains for themselves. An eight-day expedition departing from Canada sails 380 miles offshore to allow people to go deep undersea, diving 3,800 metres below the surface in a submarine to see the wreckage with their own eyes. The descent takes two hours. Once at the Titanic site the submarine will explore the wreck and debris field for at least a couple of hours before returning to the surface.
T he UK Government has finally announced long-promised plans to end no-fault evictions.

Housing Secretary Michael Gove said the sweeping reforms  set to be introduced in Parliament on May 17  will allow tenants to challenge landlords that they believe are acting unfairly, without losing their home.

The plans to be put forward would also give tenants the legal right to ask to keep a pet in their home, which landlords must consider and cannot unreasonably refuse. The Bill will make it illegal for landlords and agents to impose blanket bans on renting to benefit claimants or families with children.

An ombudsman would oversee disputes while a digital property portal will be set up to assist property managers in understanding their obligations, according to the Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities.

But what is a no-fault eviction and why are they controversial  here is everything you need to know.

What are no-fault evictions?

At present, a no-fault eviction  known in legal terms as a Section 21  gives landlords the legal right to evict tenants and repossess properties they own, without having to give a reason. They do not have to establish any fault on behalf of the tenant, and the tenant may not have done anything wrong to be kicked out of their home.

A section 21 allows landlords to effectively evict a tenant without having to give any reason for doing so, with just two months notice.

Why are no-fault evictions controversial?

Shelter  the homelessness charity  says that the loss of a private tenancy is a leading trigger of homelessness in England, and renters have zero rights to appeal under the process.

Section 21s are unpopular with tenants and charities as they stop renters from having certainty and security in the place they live. It is hoped the new law will protect people from unfair landlords.

Some believe that landlords have abused the Section 21 in the past, kicking out long-term tenants only to re-rent again to new people at an inflated cost.

Government figures released in February revealed the number of households living in privately rented homes in England who were evicted by bailiffs as a result of Section 21 proceedings increased by 143 per cent in a single year.

A total of 792 households were slapped with Section 21s between October and December in 2021, in comparison to 1,924 between October and December 2022.

Renters were given a temporary relief during the Covid pandemic, with an eviction ban but, once the practice was allowed again, evictions rocketed.

The stats on repossessions and evictions were released by the Ministry of Justice and showed that a total of 6,101 landlords in England started Section 21 no-fault eviction court proceedings between October and December 2022  a 69 per cent increase in a year and a 47 per cent increase on the same period in 2019 before the pandemic and eviction ban were put in place.

Polly Neate, chief executive of Shelter, said: No-fault evictions are pushing too many people needlessly into homelessness and turning thousands of peoples lives upside down. The government has long promised it would scrap Section 21. Renters cant wait any longer, the Renters Reform Bill is ready to go  its time the government stopped stalling and changed the law.

Homelessness charity Crisis has backed the call to ban them and carried out a survey in December, which found that nearly one million low-income households across Britain feared eviction in the coming months.

Matt Downie, chief executive of Crisis, said: The devastating impact of the cost of living crisis, rising rents and low wages has once again been laid bare as thousands more renters are faced with eviction and the very real threat of being left with nowhere to go.

With rents rising at their fastest rate in 16 years, the Government cannot continue to look the other way as more and more people are forced into homelessness.

When are no-fault evictions being banned?

The Renters (Reform) Bill will be published on Wednesday May 17 in Parliament, and must make its way through both house before being passed into law. This will take some time as, like any primary legislation, it will require scrutiny and debate by MPs and peers before receiving royal assent if passed by both houses of Parliament.
R ishi Sunak has rejected claims from a Tory MP that marriages between men and women are the only possible basis for a safe and successful society, his spokesman has said.

Danny Kruger told a conference that marriage is a public act that wider society should recognise and reward, and stressed that mothers and fathers should stay together for the sake of their children.

The Devizes MP  a former political secretary to Boris Johnson when he was prime minister  made the comments in London at the National Conservatism Conference, an event organised by a Right-wing US think tank.

Downing Street has distanced the prime minister from those remarks, the BBC reported. Mr Sunaks spokesman said although some ministers had chosen to speak at the event that did not mean the government endorsed its agenda.

The annual conference is billed as a gathering of people who are inextricably tied to the idea of nation and see national conservatism as the best path forward.

Other Tory MPs including Suella Braverman, Jacob Rees-Mogg, Michael Gove and Miriam Cates also spoke at the event.

Who is Danny Kruger?

Danny Kruger, 48, is a Tory MP and the son of Bake Off judge Prue Leith, 82, and author Rayne Kruger, who died in 2002. He is married and has three children.

Mr Kruger attended Eton College and studied history at the University of Edinburgh and the University of Oxford.

Danny Kruger has been the Conservative MP for Devizes since 2019 / Jessica Taylor/UK Parliament/PA

Before becoming a politician, Mr Kruger worked at a centre-right think tank as a Conservative Party policy adviser, as a writer for the Daily Telegraph, and as David Camerons chief speech writer. He also co-founded Only Connect, which is a youth crime prevention charity based in London.

Mr Kruger has been a Conservative MP for Devizes in Wiltshire since 2019. He has consistently voted against measures to prevent climate change, for a stricter asylum system, and against more EU integration, according to They Work For You, which analyses how MPs vote.

The MP was fined in 2021 after losing control of his Jack Russell puppy, who chased deer in Richmond Park and caused a stampede of about 200 animals. In 2020, he was made to apologise after being photographed without a face mask on a train.

In June 2022, during a debate in the Commons about the Supreme Courts overturning of Roe v Wade, he said he does not believe that women have an absolute right to bodily autonomy. Mr Kruger said he would probably disagree with his parliamentary colleagues on the ruling.

He said: They think that women have an absolute right to bodily autonomy in this matter, whereas I think in the case of abortion that right is qualified by the fact that another body is involved.
T he body of a British pensioner who has been missing for more than six weeks has been found in Cyprus.

Ann Naisbitt, 79, disappeared after leaving her home in the city of Paphos at the beginning of April, and was reported missing by her worried family.

On Sunday, a skull was discovered in a remote spot between two rural villages outside the city. Further searches of a nearby riverbed have since uncovered bones and clothing.

Police said on Wednesday that DNA tests have confirmed the skull belongs to Ms Naisbitt.

The skull was found in a rural area, between the villages of Koloni and Marathousta, in the district of Paphos, last Sunday, May 14, said a statement by police.

The discovery of the skull was followed by examinations, in the surrounding area, by members of the Police and Civil Defense, during which bones, clothes and other objects were found in the bed of an adjacent river.

Naisbitt was reported to the police as a missing person on April 3, 2023, by her relatives.

According to the complaint, around 10 am on the above date, she had left on foot from her home in Paphos and since then her traces had been lost.

Ms Naisbitt lived in Paphos with her son, according to Cyprus Mail.

Family friend Jean Ivell reportedly told the news outlet that Ms Naisbitt suffered from dementia, and had gone missing on another recent occasion before being found by her son.

A spokesperson for the UKs Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office said: We are supporting the family of British woman who died in Cyprus and are in contact with the local authorities.
C limate change researchers have warned that Earth is likely to break the 1.5C average temperature rise for the first time ever in the next five years.

Scientists say theres now a 66 per cent chance we will pass the 1.5C rise above pre-industrial levels.

The World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) there is a 98 per cent chance of the hottest year on record being broken during that time.

The chances are rising due to emissions from human activities plus the El Nino weather event expected this summer.

But climate scientists said whats likely to happen in the next five years isnt the same as failing the global goal and could be temporary.

This report does not mean that we will permanently exceed the 1.5C level specified in the Paris Agreement which refers to long-term warming over many years. However, WMO is sounding the alarm that we will breach the 1.5C level on a temporary basis with increasing frequency, WMO Secretary-General Petteri Taalas said in a statement.

Dr Leon Hermanson of the Met Office Hadley Centre, one of the experts who led the report, said: We have never crossed 1.5C. The current record is 1.28C.

Its very likely were going to exceed that, we might even reach 1.5C  its more likely than not that we will.

Its not this long term warming that the Paris Agreement talks about, but it is an indication that as we start having these years, with 1.5C happening more and more often, were getting closer and closer to having the actual long-term climate being on that threshold.

Half the worlds population live in areas that are vulnerable to climate change, with hazards such as extreme heat set to become far worse at current emission levels (Ben Birchall/PA) / PA Archive

It wont be this year probably. Maybe itll be next year or the year after that a year averages 1.5 degrees Celsius.

A single year doesnt really mean anything, Dr Hermanson said. Scientists usually use 30-year averages.

Temperatures in the Arctic are predicted to increase three times faster than the global average while greenhouse gases will also lead to more ocean acidification, sea ice and glacier melt, sea level rise and more extreme weather.

In the Paris Agreement, the worlds nations committed to reducing their greenhouse gas emissions to contain the global temperature below 2C above preindustrial levels and to try for 1.5C before the end of the century.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has said damage wrought to people and wildlife will increase with every increment of global warming.

They also said the world is currently on course to warm to well beyond 2C by the end of the century with the emissions reduction policies currently in place.

Prof Taalas said: This report does not mean that we will permanently exceed the 1.5C level specified in the Paris Agreement which refers to long-term warming over many years.

However, WMO is sounding the alarm that we will breach the 1.5C level on a temporary basis with increasing frequency.

More extreme weather is expected as a result of climate change / AFP via Getty Images

It comes as Southern Europe is bracing for a summer of ferocious drought, with some regions already suffering water shortages and farmers expecting their worst yields in decades.

As climate change makes the region hotter and drier, years of consecutive drought have depleted groundwater reserves. Soils have become bone dry in Spain and southern France. Low river and reservoir levels are threatening this summer's hydropower production.

With temperatures climbing into summertime, scientists warn Europe is on track for another brutal summer, after suffering its hottest on record last year  which fuelled a drought European Union researchers said was the worst in at least 500 years.

So far this year, the situation is most severe in Spain.

The situation of drought is going to worsen this summer, said Jorge Olcina, professor of geographic analysis at the University of Alicante, Spain.

There's little chance at this point of rainfall resolving the underlying drought, either. At this time of the year, the only thing we can have are punctual and local storms, which are not going to solve the rainfall deficit, Olcina said.

Seeking emergency EU assistance, Spains Agriculture Minister Luis Planas warned that the situation resulting from this drought is of such magnitude that its consequences cannot be tackled with national funds alone.
A t least three people have died and thousands have been evacuated from their homes as devastating floods hit Italys northern Emilia-Romagna region.

Three people remained missing on Wednesday, after torrential downpours saw rivers burst their banks and left buildings underwater, while authorities warned the worst may be yet to come.

The rainfall is not over, it will continue for several hours, the deputy head of the Civil Protection Agency, Titti Postiglione, told the SkyTG24 news channel.

We are facing a very, very complicated situation.

Emilia-Romagna officials said three bodies had been found in the towns of Forli, Cesena and Cesenatico.

AFP via Getty Images

Fourteen rivers broke their banks in the region, forcing people in cities such as Cesena to climb onto the roof of their buildings, where they were rescued by firefighters in helicopters and rubber dinghies.

Do not go near the rivers, regional chief Stefano Bonaccini said on Facebook. Those who live in areas close to watercourses should move to higher floors.

Many schools have been closed, while a number of roads are blocked and trains on some railway lines have been stopped.

Residents in towns and cities including Bologna have been urged not to leave their homes.

The northern city of Ravenna, close to the Adriatic coast, was also badly affected.

Its probably been the worst night in the history of Romagna, Ravenna Mayor Michele de Pascale told RAI public radio, saying that 5,000 people had been evacuated from his city alone overnight.

Vigili del Fuoco/AFP via Getty I

Ravenna is unrecognisable for the damage it has suffered.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni expressed her total closeness to the affected population and, writing on Twitter, said the government stood ready to provide help.

This weekends Emilia Romagna Grand Prix has been called off because of the severe weather.

It is the second time this month that the region has been battered by bad weather, with at least two people dying during storms at the beginning of May.

The torrential rains followed months of drought which dried out the land, reducing its capacity to absorb water and worsening the impact of the floods, meteorologists said.
T he head of a Russian pro-democracy organisation has said she believes she was poisoned, possibly by a nerve agent.

Natalia Arno said she experienced strange symptoms" while on a trip to Europe and woke up at 5am next day with acute pains.

The US-based Free Russia Foundation president said she decided to get the next fight back to the US, where she has been recovering.

In a post on Facebook, Ms Arno said: There is a suspicion that during my recent trip to Europe I was poisoned, possibly by some nerve agent, investigated by one (or not even one) Western intelligence agency.

I still have neuropathy symptoms, but overall I feel much better.

Ms Arno said she found her hotel room door open after returning from meetings in the second city of her trip and that she encountered a foreign and sharp" smell as she entered.

On the night of the incident in early May, she said she felt strange" that morphed into acute pain.

Two weeks later, her symptoms have improved but have yet to fully disappear, she said.

I wanted to warn our exiled anti-war anti-regime pro-democracy Russian community that we should not lose vigilance, she said.

They will not be able to intimidate and shut us up - that the enemy is dangerous, aggressive and criminal, we know it very well.

In 2018, former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia were poisoned by nerve agent Novichok in Salisbury in Wiltshire.

Police officer Nick Bailey along with two members of the public, Charlie Rowley and Dawn Sturgess, were also poisoned. Ms Sturgess later died.

In August 2020, Russian opposition figure and anti-corruption activist Alexei Navalny was poisoned with a Novichok nerve agent, which left him hospitalised in a serious condition.

The 46-year-old is currently serving concurrent sentences of 11.5 years for fraud and contempt of court in Russia  on charges which he said were trumped up to remove him from public life.
Though a new regional order is being shaped, there is little reason to believe that any strategic realignment will emanate from this weeks Arab Summit in Saudi Arabia.

Saudi Arabia is rolling out the purple carpet to leaders from across the Arab world who will gather in the coastal city of Jeddah this Friday for their annual Arab Summit meeting to tackle regional challenges.

This year, the summit comes amid signs that the oil-rich Kingdom is increasingly using its enormous wealth, its rapidly rising soft power, and its newly assertive diplomacy to play a regional leadership role.

Over the last few years, Saudi Arabia has displayed its economic and diplomatic power at full strength in a bid to make the Kingdom central to global and regional geopolitics.

Yet, whether the upcoming Arab Summit will boost Saudi Arabias regional clout or signal a new Middle East order with the Kingdom at its helm remains uncertain.

The summit comes in the aftermath of the China-mediated Saudi-Iranian rapprochement after years of tension that the Kingdom hopes will give a further push to its regional peak trajectory.

It also comes against a worrying backdrop of several regional crises, raising questions about the Kingdoms ability to overcome the conflicts that underpin the existing regional system and its norms and institutions.

The days before the summit were marked by a flare-up in the Gaza Strip as Israel and Palestinian fighters continued one of their worst violent confrontations in years.

The escalation by Israeli air strikes and barrages of rockets fired from Gaza was yet another grim reminder that the stakes remain high as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict lingers. It is not clear, however, how the Arab leaders will respond to the stalemate and whether it will have impacts on peace-making with Israel.

The Arab leaders are also meeting as fighting between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the countrys paramilitary Rapid Deployment Forces (RDF) continues to rage for the fourth week, fuelling fears of a wider conflict.

Apart from a symbolic agreement on the treatment of civilians, talks mediated by the US and Saudi Arabia have failed to persuade the two warring parties to end the conflict or even reach a longer-term ceasefire.

Saudi Arabia conducted a rescue operation to lift foreigners trapped in the fighting out of Sudan and considers itself as a mediator in the conflict. The Kingdom is a member of the Quad group, which includes the UAE, the UK and the US, and it is supporting a transition to a civilian-led government.

The Jeddah Summit will also mark the readmission of Syria to the Arab League after 12 years of shunning Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad and the culmination of years of long efforts to re-engage with him.

The League last week lifted the suspension of Syrias membership, imposed after the crackdown on street protests against Al-Assad that led to the Civil War in Syria in 2011.

Riyadh had been a key backer of Syrian armed opposition groups attempting to overthrow the embattled Al-Assad regime, but in recent weeks it has reopened its embassy in Damascus and resumed a normal relationship.

Saudi Arabia has invited Al-Assad to the summit, and if he attends and is seen shaking hands with his Arab counterparts, the move will be significant in terms of ending his political isolation.

Arab summits aim to be venues for leaders to exchange ideas about current affairs and are usually marred by divisions and rivalries. Their statements are often big on hyperbole and short on rigour and substance.

Still, they have a long history of always being used by their host countries to generate favourable headlines and boost their regimes regional prestige and domestic standing.

This years gathering, however, will see the spotlight on whether it will be a significant milestone in Saudi efforts to remake its regional policies in line with its emerging economic and political power.

Saudi Arabia has been a regional powerhouse for a long stretch of the Middle Easts modern history, but in order for it to lead the region it needs to be a major player in terms of policies and practices.

Much hinges on the ability of the Kingdom to build on both its substantial instruments of national power and wealth and its will to use these tools to influence political outcomes around the region.

Saudi Arabia has yet to prove that its de-escalation with Iran is part of a larger foreign policy focus on resolving the proxy conflicts that were behind the rivalry between the two countries, such as in Yemen, Syria, and Lebanon.

The truce in Yemen that was bolstered by the Saudi-Iranian detente may have reversed the escalation, but there is little optimism surrounding the ongoing negotiations to find a solution to the conflict before a deal is reached with the Houthis in Yemen over future relations.

Even though calm was restored to Gaza after last weeks clashes, repeated flare-ups between the Palestinians and Israel along with expansionist policies by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus government remain a key challenge standing in the way of a Saudi-Israeli normalisation deal that could be a further boost to the Kingdoms leadership quest.

In Sudan, the humanitarian pledge brokered by Saudi Arabia with US help has yet to translate into a resolution of the conflict. It will need a lot of Saudi investment and engagement to get the warring sides to reach an agreement before Sudan spirals into a protracted war.

The Syrian crisis is not less complicated than the other challenges to Saudi diplomacy, even though the Kingdom has spearheaded the bid to re-embrace the Al-Assad regime into the Arab fold. The underlying reason for this is that Saudi Arabia hopes that closer ties with Al-Assad would convince him to cut down his ties with Iran.

Meanwhile, Al-Assad wants Syrias reinstatement in the Arab League to clear the way to end his isolation and readmit him to the world stage. He also wants wealthy Arab nations to foot the bill for rebuilding his devastated country.

But with the US, Europe, and the UN determined to keep Al-Assad in check and insisting on maintaining the sanctions on his regime, the building of closer relations with Damascus can hardly be seen as a breakthrough.

It is highly unlikely that normalisation could peel Al-Assad away from Iran, which he depends on for military and economic support. Last week, Iran and Syria vowed to strengthen ties as Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi wrapped up a visit to Syria.

While there is little prospect of a durable resolution to Syrias political crisis, doubts are also abundant about Al-Assads willingness to allow millions of Syrian refugees back home as his Arab neighbours hope.

The Arab Summit, therefore, may be a performative event for Saudi Arabia and one in which it can unfurl its glamorous lavender coloured carpets for its guests and flaunt its influence, but its ambitious leadership trajectory remains a subject of debate among Middle East watchers.

In order to lead the region, Saudi Arabia will have to both show the ability to overcome the present convergence of challenges and disputes and to invest heavily in building a common and prosperous future for its peoples.

Hence, the perception that the Saudi rise signals a new Middle East order or vice versa could be only speculative as long as the region remains beset by problems and conflicts, raising questions as to whether the Kingdom is able to manage such challenges in the spirit of cooperation and constructive engagement.

Saudi Arabia announced a new aid policy in January that will stop direct grants and deposits without strings attached, raising the alarm in cash-strapped countries in the region. It is unclear how the new policy will affect Saudi Arabias regional strategy and its political alliances with other Arab nations.

The Jeddah Summit will allow Saudi Arabia to assume the presidency of the Arab League for a year, and all eyes will be on Riyadh, waiting to see if it will translate this symbolic position into concrete plans to use its newly acquired political and economic position to play an egalitarian and effective role in the region.

* A version of this article appears in print in the 18 May, 2023 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly

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S everal KILLJOY Russian ballistic missiles hailed by Vladimir Putin as undefeatable have been shot down by Ukraine, British defence chiefs said on Wednesday.

They also highlighted an intensified air battle over the Russia-Ukraine border.

The Russian air force has lost a series of aircraft in recent days.

In its latest intelligence update, the Ministry of Defence in London said: Over the last week, the air battle over the Russia-Ukraine border has intensified.

On 13 May 2023 alone, four Russian Aerospace Forces (VKS) aircraft (two advanced combat jets and two helicopters) crashed, apparently shot down over Russias Bryansk region.

The briefing added: On 03 May 2023, Ukraine achieved the first ever shoot-down of a KILLJOY air-launched ballistic missile. Subsequently, Russia has prioritised attempting to neutralise Ukraines improved air defence capabilities, but in the process has likely lost several more KILLJOY.

It also stressed: The increased air threat over Russias border region will be of exceptional concern for the VKS because it uses the area to launch air power in support of the war.

The apparent vulnerability of KILLJOY is likely a surprise and an embarrassment for Russia: Russian President Vladimir Putin has touted the system as undefeatable.

Britain has led the West in arming Ukraine, and UK Storm Shadow long range cruise missiles have recently been unleashed by Kyiv forces.

The UK, US, Ukraine and other allies are fighting an information war against Russia, so their briefings need to be treated with caution, but are far more believable than the propaganda issued by the Kremlin.

Meanwhile, the last ship left a port in Ukraine on Wednesday under a deal allowing the safe Black Sea export of Ukrainian grain.

The DSM Capella left the port of Chornomorsk carrying 30,000 tons of corn was on its way to Turkey, according to data issued by the United Nations.

The United Nations and Turkey brokered the Black Sea deal for an initial 120 days in July last year to help tackle a global food crisis that has been aggravated by Moscows invasion of Ukraine, one of the worlds leading grain exporters.

Moscow agreed to extend the Black Sea pact for a further 120 days in November, but then in March it agreed to a 60 day extension - until May 18 - unless a list of demands regarding its own agricultural exports was met.

To convince Russia in July to allow Black Sea grain exports, the United Nations agreed at the same time to help Moscow with its own agricultural shipments for three years.

There are still a lot of open questions regarding our part of the deal. Now a decision will have to be taken, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Tuesday, according to Russian media.
S ingapore has hanged its second citizen in three weeks for trafficking cannabis despite growing calls for the country to halt drug-related executions.

A man, 37, was executed on Wednesday after his last-ditch bid to reopen his case was thrown out by the court on Tuesday without a hearing.

He had been jailed for seven years after being convicted in 2019 for trafficking 1.5 kilograms of cannabis.

Under Singapore laws, trafficking more than 500 grams of cannabis may result in the death penalty.

Human rights activist Kokila Annamalai said the man, whose identity has been kept anonymous, wanted to reopen his case based on DNA evidence and fingerprints that tied him to a much smaller amount which he admitted to possessing.

If we dont come together to stop it, we fear that this killing spree will continue in the weeks and months to come, she told AP.

Some 600 prisoners are on death row in Singapore, mostly for drug-related offences, she added.

Singapore executed 11 people last year for drug offences after a two-year pause due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Transformative Justice Collective (TJC), a group advocating against the death penalty, believes there are currently 54 people on death row in Singapore, with all but three of them sentenced to death for drug-related offences.

The hanging of Malaysian Nagaenthran Dharmalingam, believed to be mentally disabled, sparked an international outcry and brought the countrys capital punishment under scrutiny.

Three weeks ago Singaporean Tangaraju Suppiah, 46, was hanged in the first execution this year for trafficking one kilogram of cannabis, although he was not caught with the drugs. Prosecutors said phone numbers traced him as the person responsible for coordinating the delivery of the drugs, which he denied.

Tangaraju Suppiah / Transformative Justice Collective

Human rights groups have raised concerns about the process of Suppiahs conviction, alleging he was not given adequate access to an interpreter and had to argue his last appeal on his own because his family was unable to secure a lawyer.

Activist groups, British mogul Richard Branson and the United Nations have urged Singapore to halt executions for drug-related offences as increasing evidence shows the death penalty is ineffective as a deterrent.

But Singapore authorities insist that capital punishment remains part of Singapores comprehensive harm prevention strategy which targets both drug demand and supply.

Amnesty International said Indonesia carried out 112 drug-related executions last year by firing squad after a hiatus since 2016.

In contrast, neighboring Thailand has legalised cannabis, while Malaysia has ended the mandatory death penalty for serious crimes.
T he taxi driver who claimed he was driving Prince Harry and Meghan Markle on Tuesday night has said they werent chased by photographers.

A spokesperson for Harry said the Sussexes had been involved in a near catastrophic chase by paparazzi in New York.

The relentless pursuit which was at the hands of a ring of highly aggressive paparazzi lasted over two hours and resulted in multiple near collisions, they said.

Driver Sukhcharn Singh told the Washington Post that he had picked the couple up in his yellow cab at around 11pm outside the New York City Police Departments 19th precinct on East 67th street.

In Singhs account, the couples security guard waved him down and asked: Do you want a fare?

Mr Singh claimed to have driven the group towards Park Avenue before heading south.

During the drive, he said they were pursued by a black Honda Accord and a gray Honda CR-V.

He told the newspaper: They kept following us and were coming next to the car.

They took pictures as we stopped and were filming us.

The couples security guard grew anxious about the photographers and asked Mr Singh to drive back to the police station.

Mr Singh then drove the couple back to the pickup joint, with the total journey lasting around 10 minutes.

I dont think I would call it a chase, Mr Singh said. I never felt like I was in danger.

It wasnt like a car chase in a movie. They were quiet and seemed scared but its New York  its safe.

An NYPD spokesperson said: On Wednesday evening, May 16, the NYPD assisted the private security team protecting the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.

There were numerous photographers that made their transport challenging.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex arrived at their destination and there were no reported collisions, summonses, injuries, or arrests in regard.

A spokesperson for Harry said: While being a public figure comes with a level of interest from the public, it should never come at the cost of anyone's safety.

Dissemination of these images, given the ways in which they were obtained, encourages a highly intrusive practice that is dangerous to all in involved.
T heranos founder Elizabeth Holmes must begin serving a prison sentence while she appeals her conviction on fraud over the failed blood-testing startup, a US court has ruled.

Holmes raised nearly $1billion (800m) from wealthy investors such as Rupert Murdoch for Theranos, which she promised would provide revolutionary tech to scan for hundreds of diseases and other potential problems with just a few drops of blood.

It earned her fleeting fame and fortune until Wall Street Journal investigation and regulatory reviews exposed dangerous flaws in Theranoss technology.

An appeals court in San Francisco ruled on Tuesday she must begin serving her sentence of 11 years and three months for defrauding investors.

She had asked the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals to pause her sentence on April 25, two days before she was to report to prison.

In another ruling issued late on Tuesday, US district judge Edward Davila ordered Holmes to pay $452m (362.6m) in restitution to the victims of her crimes.

Holmes is being held jointly liable for that amount with her former lover and top Theranos lieutenant, Ramesh Sunny Balwani.

Balwani is already in prison after being convicted on a broader range of felonies in a separate trial.

District judge Davila has recommended that Holmes serves her sentence at a womens prison in Bryan, Texas.

It has not been disclosed whether the US federal Bureau of Prisons accepted the judges recommendation.

Balwani, 57, began a nearly 13-year prison sentence in April after being convicted on 12 counts of fraud and conspiracy last July.

He was incarcerated in a Southern California prison last month after losing a similar effort to remain free on bail while appealing his conviction.

In his restitution ruling, Davila determined that Holmes and Balwani should pay Murdoch $125m (100m) - by far the most among the investors listed in his order.

Holmess lawyers have been fighting her conviction on grounds of alleged mistakes and misconduct during her trial.

They claim errors and abuses were so egregious she should be allowed to stay out of prison while the appeal unfolds - a request that has now been rejected.
W here just a few years ago, bakeries were confined to chains, and most things came with lashings of sugar, since 2020 or so London has begun to take its patesserie very seriously indeed. Theres been some kind of bread revolution, and cakes now represent a chance for artistry.

So, from superlative choux to doughnuts to die for, take a look at our pick of the places serving up the very best baked goods in the capital.

Birley Bakery

Press handout

This new Chelsea Green patisserie serves the same exquisite baked goods as at owner Robin Birleys Mayfair clubs 5 Hertford Street and Oswalds but without the bother of a hefty membership fee. French-accented goodies come courtesy of star baker Vincent Zanardi: tarte Tropezienne heady with the fragrance of orange blossom water, mini lemon meringue pies as snowy-white as the Alps and jewel boxes of wafer-thin chocolate oblongs, plus savoury options of quiche Loraine and vegan sausage rolls. Dog-friendly, too, though youll need to bring your own biccies.

28-30 Cale Street, SW3 3QU, birleybakery.com

Toklas

Toklas comes courtesy of art world power duo Amanda Sharp and Matthew Slotover, the founders of the Frieze Art fair; as well as the excellent Italian restaurant theres an eat-in bakery onsite too. The culinary theme carries over with slices of terrific strecci, the Roman-style pizza topped with good things like leek and creme fraiche, but its not all so Italian: theres also bread baked fresh each day (sourdough, porridge loaf), lemon cheesecake or lime pie, brioche filled with rice pudding and superior-quality ham and cheese sandwiches.

1 Surrey Street, WC2R 2ND, toklaslondon.com

Cedric Grolet at The Berkeley

Justin DeSouza

This swish import from former Worlds Best Pastry chef and Insta celebrity Cedric Grolet blurs the boundaries between patisserie, restaurant and chefs table. A seven-course pastry tasting menu (135) is served at a horseshoe counter at the swish Berkeley hotel; the view inside is of the chefs crafting their miniature masterpieces, outside, the trees of Hyde Park swaying on the other side of Knightsbridge. With only one sublime savoury course amid all the sweetness, think of this as a fine-dining alterative to afternoon tea. Theres a patisserie, too, for takeaway.

The Berkeley, Wilton Place, SW1X 7RL, the-berkeley.co.uk

Pophams

Adrianna Giakoumis

This cafe-cum-bakery began life as the perfect Islington local and now extends to two more outposts in London Fields and Victoria Park plus a homeware shop for anyone wishing to replicate the experience at home with the most covetable crockery for takeaway baked goods. Social media has played a big part in Pophams success  take a bow, the insanely photogenic maple-bacon croissant  but everything tastes as good as it looks, from the cardamom buns to creative sarnies such as miso mackerel and specials like the Welsh rarebit Danish.

E8, E9 and N1, pophamsbakery.com

Lily Vanilli

Charlotte Hu

If your idea of cake fits a Marie Antoinette-shaped mould then the improbably pretty creations of Bethnal Green baker Lily Vanilli (real name Lily Jones) will almost certainly be your tasse du the. Pastel-coloured cupcakes would not look out of place in New Yorks Magnolia Bakery; wedding cakes are another speciality, but almost everything looks suitable for a big day, with cakes swagged and garlanded with more rococo ornamentation than a baroque church. The cosy courtyard cafe is only open from Thursday to Sunday, when a bouquet of flowers from nearby Columbia Road market would make the perfect Insta accessory to a slice of cake here.

The Courtyard, 18 Ezra Street, E2 7RH, lilyvanilli.com

Dunns Bakery

This is an old-school baker like they used to make (Dunns opened in Crouch End in 1820) and is a slice of British baking history: current owner Chris Freeman is a fifth-generation baker and former Master of the Worshipful Company of Bakers. Novelty cakes come shaped like London buses, beautifully iced celebration cakes are wrapped up with a neatly tied bow, cream cakes cry out for the full ceremony of a cake fork while the sausage rolls are so meaty and flaky they qualify as an entirely different species to Greggs.

6 The Broadway, N8 9SN, dunns-bakery.co.uk

Bread Ahead

There are many tempting things to stuff in ones cakehole at the eight London outposts of Bread Ahead  pastries and pizza, bread and cakes  but really, everyone is here for what might possibly be Londons best doughnuts, sugar-encrusted on the crunchy outside, thick and doughy within and filled with all manner of yumminess: raspberry jam for the purists, vanilla custard for the sweet-toothed and passionfruit and meringue for something more off-piste.

Across town, breadahead.com

Old Post Office Bakery

This humble old-school bakery is a local Clapham gem and one of the first to go all-organic in south London. The date and walnut bread is that perfect balance of sweet and savoury that makes it great for a grab-and-go breakfast, or, on a sunny weekend, pick up a couple of hot pain au chocolat and eat them as you amble along to the common.

76 Landor Road, SW9 9PH, oldpostofficebakery.co.uk

Chinatown Bakery

Next time youre going to a Leicester Square cinema, forget about a bucket of popcorn and queue instead for half a dozen taiyaki, the freshly made fish-shaped waffles dispensed in sweet-shop paper bags from the kiosk of this Chinatown bakery; by the time the trailer starts, the piping-hot custard filling should be just-about cool enough to eat. Alternatively, pick up something to take home: gooey egg tarts, barbecued pork puffs in a glossy pastry crust or a swirly pandan Swiss roll.

7-9 Newport Place, WC2H 7JR, @chinatownbakery_london

St John Bakery

Sam A Harris

It might be famous for its signature starter of bone marrow and parsley salad but the nose-to-tail specialist has a signature pudding too: Mrs Kirkhams Lancashire cheese with an Eccles cake, as many of which as one wishes can be bought from this bakery spin-off (you can pick up a slice of cheese, too). The custard doughnuts are almost as famous and there are ace hot-cross buns, sourdough or seeded loaves and almond croissants, too.

3 Neals Yard, WC2H 9DP, stjohnrestaurant.com

Kova

When pondering Japanese food, patisserie isnt the first thing that comes to mind, but Kova are showing us what weve been missing out on. This Japanese bakery, which now has four London outposts, specialises in producing fairly remarkable looking Mille Crepes, a concoction consisting of 15 layers of French-style crepes, sandwiching alternate layers of a custard cream filling. Flavours range from matcha to choclate, and all go nicely with one of Kovas array of delicate Japanese teas.

W1F, WC2H, SW7, SW11, kovapatisserie.com

Beigel Bake

Alamy Stock Photo

A veritable institution  as is its nearby neighbour, the orange one  you come here for one thing and one thing only: Londons finest salt beef beigel. The key to its appeal is three-fold: the bread, freshness incarnate, the puckering kiss of salt in the beef, and the fact the combination is available 24 hours a day. Worth making the trip for, at whatever time of night or day.

159 Brick Lane, E1 6SB, bricklanebeigel.co.uk

Dusty Knuckle

Daniel Lynch

The Dusty Knuckles popularity has risen steadily in recent years, and deservedly so. The name may be curious  the nickname for a street-fighting baker? A strange old sex move?  but the goods are plainly and straightforwardly terrific. DK has become famous for delivering via milk float, but its worth heading into one of the shops for a cracking sandwich, heaving full and with air-pocketed bread that delights, or queuing for a pizza; the base is a thin slice of wonder. Sounds silly, but their basic white tin loaf is a cracker, too.

E8 and N4, thedustyknuckle.com

Le Deli Robuchon

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Bored of a full English? Try a full French instead and graze your way through the Gallic delights at this chic but casual offshoot of the Joel Robuchon gastro empire. Theres pain Suisse, au chocolat and aux raisin, plain and almond croissants or ham and cheese and goats cheese and tomato variations, vanilla and raspberry Danishes, plus scrambled eggs or salmon and avocado on sourdough  though to really enter into the French spirit of it all, one ought to exercise Gallic restraint and restrict oneself to just the one slice of little brioche.

82 Piccadilly, W1J 8JA, robuchonlondon.co.uk

Jolene

Jeremie Cometto-Lingenheim and David Gingell, the pair behind Jolene, clearly are onto something, having ended up with four sites in quick succession. Their big thing is sourdough done with heritage wheat from across the UK and France too, but their sandwiches have been a huge hit as well. Theyve a nice way with playing with traditional recipes  asthetics are big here  and both the Viennoisserie and the pastry impress. For those who want a little more, seasonal small plates are available also.

Across town, bigjobakery.com

Little Bread Pedlar

There are half a dozen Little Bread Pedlars scattered around central London, plus another 30 or so places selling the products of a company founded in 2011 by former St John Bread and Wine chef Nichola Gensler and her partner Martin Hardiman, including top restaurants like Cafe Murano and The Quality Chop House. Its not hard to see why chefs love the stuff so much: the sourdough is naturally leavened, the croissants and pain au chocolat made with French Lescure butter, theres an outstanding Gruyere cheese bun for something savoury or, sweetest of all, squidgy chocolate brownies.

Across London, lbpedlar.com

Scandinavian Kitchen

Their brooding crime dramas may have come and gone but Scandi baking is as steadfastly popular as ever in London. The Scandinavian Kitchen is one of the best examples of exactly what this means: the soft, sticky cinnamon buns, say, which are surely among the best in London, or the open sandwiches, which come with all sorts but are marked by a uniform freshness and tart touch. The Danish dream cake is aptly named, too.

61 Great Titchfield Street, W1W 7PP, scandikitchen.co.uk

E5 Bakehouse

Fpund under the railway arches at London Fields, this bakery is a survivor from the hipster days, but it has steered the course thanks to its changing menu of sandwiches, tarts, patisserie and bread every which way. Its a rattly old spot but the quality is evident, and its easy enough to see why its often busy beyond just bustling. Look out for their regular pastry classes, and their brunch, too.

Arch 395, Mentmore Terrace, E8 3PH, e5bakehouse.com
A ctor Iain De Caestecker can be seen embodying Arthur Pendragon in first-look images for a new series which retells the Arthurian legend.

Upcoming ITVX series The Winter King is based on Bernard Cornwells The Warlord Chronicles and will premiere on the streaming platform later this year.

Set in the fifth century in a land filled with warring factions and tribes, the series follows outcast Pendragon as he becomes warrior leader King Arthur.

Scottish actor De Caestecker, known for his role in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., stars as Pendragon while Nathaniel Martello-White will play legendary Arthurian figure Merlin.

Newly-released images show De Caestecker as Arthur looking weary and beaten alongside Martello-Whites Merlin, dressed in a light-coloured tunic.

Another picture sees Arthur don a cloak with a fur-lined hood as he meets his future wife Guinevere, played by Jordan Alexandra.

Eddie Marsan, who featured in the 2008 comedy Happy-Go-Lucky, has been cast as High King Uther and is pictured donning blue robes and long hair.

Other cast members include Daniel Ings as Owain, Ellie James as Nimue, Stuart Campbell as Derfel, Valene Kane as Morgan and Simon Merrells as Gundleus.

Produced by Sony Pictures Television-owned Bad Wolf, which has produced three seasons of His Dark Materials, the series was shot in locations across Wales and the West Country.

Kate Brooke and Ed Whitmore adapted Cornwells The Warlord Chronicles to create the series, with both acting as executive producers on the show.
T he 50th annual Daytime Emmy Awards has become the latest Hollywood event to be affected by the ongoing writers strike.

Organisers announced on Tuesday that the ceremony  planned for June 16  was to be postponed to a later date.

Over 11,500 members of the Writers Guild of America (WGA) have been on strike since May 2, primarily over royalties from streaming media.

Multiple television shows and events have already been affected by the action.

A statement from Adam Sharp, president and chief executive of the National Academy of Television, Arts and Sciences (NATAS), announced the Emmys postponement.

The 50th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards planned for Friday, June 16 on CBS is postponed due to the WGA strike, the statement read.

In addition, the Creative Arts and Lifestyle ceremony, planned for Saturday, June 17, has been postponed pending a strike resolution.

We look forward to our community gathering together as one to celebrate our Golden Anniversary and all of the talented nominees and honorees at a later date.

It comes after WGA members said they would not picket the Tony Awards telecast  also due to take place in June.

We look forward to our community gathering together as one to celebrate our Golden Anniversary and all of the talented nominees and honorees at a later date.

The union previously denied a request by Tony organisers to have a waiver for the event.

But on Monday the WGA said organisers were altering this years show to conform with specific requests from the WGA, and therefore the WGA will not be picketing the show.

This may be to allow a non-scripted version of the Tonys to go on.

The big first awards show during the current strike was the MTV Movie and TV Awards, which went ahead with no host and featured pre-recorded acceptance speeches.

The strike has also disrupted the Peabody Awards, which celebrate broadcasting and streaming media, and on Monday cancelled its June 11 awards show.
D ame Helen Mirren stunned crowds at the Cannes Film Festival by debuting a shock of bright blue hair.

The Oscar-winning actress, 77, arrived on the red carpet on the opening day of the 76th annual event on Tuesday.

Dame Helen wore her hair in a messy up-do highlighted with varying shades of blue and turquoise.

She paired the look with a floor-length periwinkle gown, which featured folds around the waistline and an elaborate bustle in the back.

The actress also carried with a black fan with #WorthIt written on it in a nod to her partnership with LOreal Paris.

She waved and blew kisses to fans as she posed for photographs.

Dame Helens eye-catching hair colour was not her first at the international film festival.

Helen Mirren went for pink on the Cannes red carpet back in 2019 / Getty Images

In 2019 she attended with a shorter cut that was swooped back and dyed pink.

She previously told US outlet People magazine that she had been inspired to make the changes after watching reality TV.

Dame Helen Mirren - In pictures 1 / 114 Dame Helen Mirren - In pictures Helen Mirren posing for a portrait in 2018 Reuters Helen Mirren receives the Lifetime Achievement Honoree at the 28th Screen Actors Guild Awards 2022 in Santa Monica, California REUTERS Helen Mirren in Shazam! Fury of the Gods Warner Bros. Picture Mirren appearing on the Graham Norton Show in 2023 PA Archive Helen Mirren as Golda Meir Jasper Wolf Helen Mirren in 1967 The Long Good Friday (1980) starring Bob Hoskins and Helen Mirren Helen Mirren as Queen Elizabeth II in a scene from The Queen (2006) AP Helen Mirren sharing a cherised childhood sanp for Barnardo's PA Ian Richardson as Vendice and Helen Mirren as Castiza in The Revenger's Tragedy (1967) Helen Mirren in 1976 Getty Images Helen Mirren in Age of Consent (1969) Helen Mirren as Hermia and Diana Rigg as Helena in Midsummer Nights Dream (1969) Malcolm McDowell and Helen Mirren in O Lucky Man! (1973) Helen Mirren interviewed by Michael Parkinson in 1975 Helen Mirren in Hussy (1979) Helen Mirren in Caligula (1979) Helen Mirren in The Fiendish Plot of Dr Manchu (1980) Helen Mirren in The Hawk (1983) Helen Mirren as DCI Jane Tennison in 'Prime Suspect' 1991 Helen Mirren at the 1996 Emmy Awards Getty Images Helen Mirren inb Gosford Park (2001) Helen Mirren in Last Orders (2001) Helen Mirren in Calendar Girls (2003) Helen Mirren attends the EE British Academy Film Awards at The Royal Opera House in 2003 Getty Images Helen Mirren after being invested as a Dame from the Prince of Wales during a ceremony held at Buckingham Palace in 2003 PA Helen Mirren in Prime Suspect: The Last Witness (2003) Helen Mirren and Kate Hudson in Raising Helen (2004) Dame Helen Mirren as Queen Elizabeth II in 2006 Helen Mirren poses with the award for 'Best Actress In a Leading Role' for the film 'Queen' during the British Academy of Film Awards (BAFTA) ceremony at the Royal Opera House in 2007 AFP/Getty Images Helen Mirren with the award for Best Actress (for The Queen) during the 79th Academy Awards in 2007 PA Forest Whitaker, winner of the Oscar for Best Actor; Jennifer Hudson, winner of the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress; Helen Mirren, winner of the Oscar for Best Actress; and Alan Arkin, winner of the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor pose backstage during the 79th Annual Academy Awards in 2007 Reuters Helen Mirren arrives at the Orange British Academy Film Awards (Baftas) at the Royal Opera House in 2007 Getty Images Helen Mirren attends the 125th Metropolitan Opera opening night in 2008 Russell Crowe and Helen Mirren in State of Play (2009) Helen Mirren and Christopher Plummer in The Last Station (2009) Helen Mirren in The Tempest (2010) Helen Mirren attends The Tempest world premiere during the 67th Venice Film Festival at the Sala Grande Palazzo Del Cinema on 11 September 2010 in Venice, Italy Getty Images Helen Mirren in Red (2010) Helen Mirren in Arthur (2011) 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Critics' Choice Awards 2016 Reuters Helen Mirren attending the European premiere of Collateral Beauty in 2016 PA Helen Mirren, Emma Thompson, Kristin Scott Thomas and Nicole Kidman attend Entertainment Weekly's Must List Party during the Toronto International Film Festival 2017 Getty Images Matt Smith and Dame Helen Mirren pose with cast member David Tennant at the West End production of Don Juan In Soho at Wyndhams Theatre in 2017 Dave Benett Helen Mirren walks the runway during Le Defile L'Oreal Paris as part of Paris Fashion Week Womenswear Spring/Summer 2018 at Avenue Des Champs Elysees on 1 October 2017 in Paris, France Getty Images Helen Mirren in Winchester (2018) Helen Mirren in Catherine The Great Helen Mirren attends the screening of Girls Of The Sun (Les Filles Du Soleil) during the 71st annual Cannes Film Festival 2018 Getty Images Helen Mirren attends the Opening Ceremony & 'Isle of Dogs' premiere during the 68th Berlinale International Film Festival Berlin in 2018 Getty Images Helen Mirren and Viola Davis onstage during the 75th Annual Golden Globe Awards 2018 NBCUniversal via Getty Images HBO Golden Globe After Party 2018 Reuters Helen Mirren before and after the Oscars in 2018 Helen Mirren Helen Mirren attends the 90th Annual Academy Awards 2018 Getty Images Diane Warren (L) and Helen Mirren attend the 90th Annual Academy Awards 2018 Getty Images Best Costume Design winner Mark Bridges rides a jet ski with actress Helen Mirren on the back after he won it for the shortest Oscar acceptance speech of 2018 Reuters The Prince of Wales meets (left to right) Adrien Koskas of L'Oreal, celebrity ambassadors Cheryl Tweedy and Dame Helen Mirren and Dame Helen's husband Taylor Hackford at an Invest in Futures reception for The Prince's Trust at St James's Palace, London in 2018 PA Helen Mirren attends the premiere of Disneys Aladdin in 2019 Getty Images Helen Mirren and Will Smith attends the premiere of Disney's 'Aladdin' in 2019 Getty Images Helen Miren as Mother Ginger in The Nutcracker (2019) Disney Helen Mirren attends the 91st Annual Academy Awards in 2019 FilmMagic Helen Mirren and Jason Momoa speak onstage during the 91st Annual Academy Awards Getty Images Lang Lang, Cara Delevingne, Lil Buck, Robert Carsen, Tilda Swinton, Pharell Williams and Helen Mirren pose on stage during the Karl Lagerfeld Homage at Grand Palais, Paris, France in 2019 Getty Images Helen Mirren attends the LA premiere of 'Dumbo' in 2019 Invision/AP Helen Mirren receives the Lifetime Achievement Honoree at the 28th Screen Actors Guild Awards 2022 in Santa Monica, California Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP Helen Mirren arrives at the 28th annual Screen Actors Guild Awards Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP

I was watching an episode of Americas Next Top Model and there was this little English girl on it, she said.

She had bright pink hair and she looked so great.
J ohnny Depp has insisted that he no longer feels boycotted by Hollywood as he discussed his return to the big screen after three years.

The 59-year-old spoke to press at the 76th Film Festival on Wednesday a day after his new film Jeanne du Barry opened the cinematic event.

The French-language film is his first feature since his highly publicised defamation trial against ex-wife Amber Heard last year, which saw a civil jury award him $10million in damages.

Now, Depp has addressed questions about whether he feels boycotted by Hollywood as he shared that he has no plans to return to studio projects.

Speaking at a Cannes press conference, he told reporters: I dont feel boycotted by Hollywood, because I dont think about Hollywood. I dont have much further need for Hollywood, myself.

Its a strange, funny time where everybody would love to be able to be themselves, but they cant. They must fall in line with the person in front of them. If you want to live that life, I wish you the best.

Depp pictured with Jeanne du Barry director Maiwenn / Getty Images

In 2020, the American actor was asked to step down from the Harry Potter prequel series, Fantastic Beasts, after he lost a libel suit against The Sun over an article they published regarding Heards domestic violence accusations that he has always denied.

Discussing what it was like being asked to resign from a film, Depp admitted that at that period he felt boycotted by the industry.

He answered: Did I feel boycotted by Hollywood? Youd have to not have a pulse to feel like, No. None of this is happening. Its a weird joke.

When youre asked to resign from a film, youre doing because of something that is merely a function of vowels and consonants floating in the air, yes, you feel boycotted.

The Edward Scissorhands star also discussed why he doesnt believe he has had a comeback, insisting he didnt go anywhere.

He said: Ive had my 17th comeback, apparently. I keep wondering about the word comeback. I didnt go anywhere.

As a matter of fact, I live about 45 minutes away. Maybe people stopped calling out of whatever their fear was at the time. But I didnt go nowhere.

His comments come after Depp, who plays King Louis XV in feature, was left visibly moved upon receiving a seven-minute standing ovation at the films premiere on Tuesday.
J ohnny Depp was left visibly moved as his new film Jeanne du Barry received a seven-minute standing ovation at Cannes Film Festival on Tuesday.

The actor walked the red carpet for the first time since his highly publicised defamation trial against ex-wife Amber Heard, last year, and was warmly welcomed to the event by hordes of fans, with some holding banners that read viva Johnny and we love Johnny.

The crowd in the theatre was equally enthused by his appearance as the 59-year-old received a seven-minute standing ovation after the film finished.

In footage from the premiere, Depp looked emotional at the reaction and was seen holding his hands to his face before hugging the director, Maiwenn.

Ramin Setoodeh, Co-Editor-in-Chief of Variety, captured the moment and tweeted: Johnny Depp tears up as #Cannes2023 showers him with a seven-minute standing ovation at the premiere of Jeanne du Barry.

The French-language film was controversially chosen to open the festival this year.

Cannes director Thierry Fremaux has received backlash for the decision due to the allegations made against him by his Heard.

Speaking about his inclusion at the event, Fremaux previously said: To tell you the truth, in my life, I only have one rule: Its the freedom of thinking, and the freedom of speech and acting within a legal framework

If Johnny Depp had been banned from acting in a film, or the film was banned, we wouldnt be here talking about it. This [controversy] came up once the film was announced at Cannes because everybody knew Johnny had made a film in France.

I dont know why she chose him but its a question you should ask [Jeanne du Barry director] Maiwenn. As for the rest, Im the last person to be able to discuss all this.

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If theres one person in this world who didnt find the least interest in this very publicised trial, its me. I dont know what its about. I also care about Johnny Depp as an actor.

The Hollywood actor stars in historical drama Jeanne Du Barry as King Louis XV alongside French actress Maiwenn, Pierre Richard and Benjamin Lavernhe.

The project is his first major onscreen appearance since the case.

Depp sued the Aquaman star over a 2018 article she wrote for The Washington Post about her experiences as a survivor of domestic abuse, which his lawyers said falsely accused him of being an abuser. He won damages in that US case but a UK judge previously rejected his defamation case against a newspaper referring to him as a wife beater.
Unsafe foods, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), contribute to poor health, including impaired growth and development, micro-nutrient deficiencies, noncommunicable and infectious diseases, and mental illness. Globally, one in ten people are affected by food-borne diseases each year.

Antonina Mutoro, a nutrition researcher at the African Population and Health Research Center, explains what causes food contamination and how we can lower the risk of disease.

What Is Food Contamination?

Access to safe and nutritious food is a basic human right which many do not enjoy, partly because of food contamination. This is defined as the presence of harmful chemicals and microorganisms in food that can cause illness.

According to the WHO, food contamination affects about one in every ten people globally and causes about 420,000 deaths annually.

Food contamination can be:

1- Physical

Foreign objects in food can potentially cause injury or carry disease-causing microorganisms. Pieces of metal, glass and stones can be choking hazards, or cause cuts or damage to teeth. Hair is another physical contaminant.

2- Biological

Living organisms in food, including microorganisms (bacteria, viruses and protozoa), pests (weevils, cockroaches and rats) or parasites (worms), can cause disease.

3- Chemical

Substances like soap residue, pesticide residue and toxins produced by microorganisms such as aflatoxins can lead to poisoning.

What Are The Most Common Causes Of Food Contamination?

The most common cause of food contamination is poor food handling. This includes not washing your hands at the appropriate time, before eating and preparing food, after using the toilet, or after blowing your nose, coughing or sneezing.

Using dirty utensils, not washing fruits and vegetables with clean water, and storing raw and cooked food in the same place can also be harmful. Sick people should not handle food. And you should avoid consuming under-cooked foods, particularly meat.

Poor farming practices can also contaminate food. This includes the heavy use of pesticides and antibiotics, or growing fruits and vegetables using contaminated soil and water. The use of inadequately composted or raw animal manure or sewage is also harmful.

Fresh foods can lead to a number of illnesses. In Kenya, for instance, the contamination of meat, fruits and vegetables with human waste is relatively common.

This is attributed to the use of contaminated water to wash food. Flies carrying contaminants can also directly transfer faecal matter and bacteria onto plant leaves or fruits.

Street foods are another common source of food contamination. These foods are widely consumed in low- and middle-income countries because theyre cheap and easily accessible.

What Are The Signs That Youve Eaten Contaminated Food?

Biological and chemical substances are the most common food contaminants. They account for more than 200 food-borne illnesses, including typhoid, cholera and listeriosis. Food-borne illnesses usually present as diarrhoea, vomiting and stomach pains.

In severe cases, food-borne illnesses can lead to neurological disorders, organ failure and even death. Its therefore advisable to seek immediate medical attention if you begin to experience symptoms like persistent diarrhoea and vomiting after eating or drinking.

Children aged under five are the most vulnerable to food-borne illnesses. They bear 40% of the food-borne disease burden. A childs immune system is still developing and cant fight off infections as effectively as an adults.

In low- and middle-income countries, reduced immunity in children can also occur as a result of malnutrition and frequent exposure to infections due to poor hygiene and sanitation, including a lack of access to safe water and toilets.

Additionally, when children are ill, they tend to have poor appetites. This translates to reduced food intake. Coupled with increased nutrient losses through diarrhoea and vomiting, this can lead to a cycle of infection and malnutrition and, in extreme cases, death.

Pregnant women and people with reduced immunity due to illness or age are equally vulnerable and extra care should, therefore, be taken to prevent food-borne illnesses among these groups.

What Can We Do To Prevent Food Contamination?

Food-borne illnesses also have negative economic impacts, especially in low- and middle-income countries. The World Bank estimates it costs more than US$15 billion annually to treat these illnesses in these countries. So its important to have preventive strategies in place.

Food contamination can be prevented through simple measures:

- Washing your hands at key times (before preparing, serving or eating meals; before feeding children, after using the toilet or after disposing of faeces)

- Wearing clean, protective clothing during food preparation

- Storing food properly

- Washing raw foods with clean water

- Keeping raw and cooked foods separate

- Using separate utensils for meats and for food meant to be eaten raw.

Good farming practices, such as the use of clean water and application of approved pesticides in recommended amounts, can help prevent food contamination.

Food vendors also need to be trained on food safety, and provided with clean water and proper sanitation.

As part of the research team at the African Population and Health Research Center, Im working on the Healthy Food Africa project, which aims to boost food security in urban informal settlements through the promotion of food safety.

In Kenya, the project is working closely with the Nairobi county government to develop a food safety training manual targeting street food vendors. This will go a long way towards improving food safety in the city.

* Antonina Mutoro, Postdoctoral Research Scientist, African Population and Health Research Center

** This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article here

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T he Little Mermaid star Jonah Hauer-King has revealed there was pressure to do the original film justice.

The British actor, who portrays Prince Eric in the live action remake, joined his castmates Melissa McCarthy, and Halle Bailey at the films London premiere on Monday night.

In anticipation of its release next week, Hauer-King said that the casts hope is to pay homage to the original animated movie while also bringing it into the now.

He told The Standard: Theres some pressure. We really want to do it justice. The original film is such a special film, which I fell in love with growing up, so personally I wanted to make sure it was done right.

Everyone involved had so much love and respect for it that we wanted to bring as much of that as possible to the screen but also wanted to bring our own creative spirit to it and bring it into now.

He added: At the time, although there was some kind of low-level external pressure, we were all so focused day-to-day on telling the story as best we can that it kind of grounded the whole experience.

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The 27-year-old stars opposite triple threat entertainer Halle Bailey, who plays the films titular character Ariel, and was full of praise for his co-star as he discussed their close bond.

Shes so great, he said. Halle looked after me. I tried to look after her  not that she needed it  but I really leaned on her a lot. She felt like a sister to me at the end of it and still does.

She carries the film and its such a challenging role because it means so much to so many people  you need the acting chops, the spirit, the charm and you need the voice. All of which she has.

The actor, 27, was full of praise for his co-star Halle Bailey / Getty Images

Hauer-King is no stranger to working with A-list stars having previously played Naomi Watts on-screen son in Once Upon A Time in Staten Island, but being surrounded by so many esteemed actors such as McCarthy and Javier Bardem taught him something very important on set: kindness.

We all know theyre phenomenal actors and they work incredibly hard, they do their preparation and are wonderfully talented but the way that they behave on set and the way they treat people, he shared with us.

I really aspire to it because they are really lovely to everyone. They bring great humour and great positivity to set which is really important. We need more of that so thats the thing I took from filming the most.

The Little Mermaid hits UK cinemas on May 26
T he Duchess of Sussex urged women to be the visionary of your own life as she was presented with an award at a glittering ceremony in New York.

Meghan attended Tuesday nights Ms Foundation for Womens 50th anniversary gala event in Manhattan with her husband, Prince Harry, and mother Doria Ragland.

It was the couples first public outing together since Harry made the solo trip to the Kings coronation earlier this month.

The ceremony honoured game-changing grantee partners and visionary leaders committed to the organisations mission of advancing collective power and creating safe, just and equitable futures for women, girls, and gender-expansive people.

Doria Ragland, Prince Harry and Meghan, The Duchess of Sussex attend the Ms. Foundation Women of Vision Awards: Celebrating Generations of Progress & Power at Ziegfeld Ballroom / Getty Images

The duchess, 41, received the Ms Foundations Women of Vision Award, recognising her global advocacy to empower and advocate on behalf of women and girls.

Dressed in a strapless $1,850 gold Johanna Ortiz midi dress with scalloped pattern detailing, Meghan took to the podium to the sounds of Alicia Keys hit song Girl on Fire.

Meghan was presented with the award by renowned journalist and feminist activist Gloria Steinem.

Her acceptance speech closed out the gala where she said: Its never too late to start.

You can be the visionary of your own life There is still so much work to be done.

I am a woman who remains inspired and driven by this organisation, she said, looking over Ms Steinem, who introduced her alongside current foundation chief executive Teresa Younger.

Meghan delivering an acceptance speech at the awards / Getty Images Ms. Foundation for

It allowed me to recognise that part of my greater value and purpose in life was to advocate for those who felt unheard, to stand up to injustice, and to not be afraid of saying what is true and what is just and what is right.

While Harry flew to London to attend his fathers coronation, Meghan opted to stay at their US home in Montecito, California, with their two children Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet.

Last year the pair became the recipients of the NAACP Presidents Award as well as the Robert F Kennedy Ripple of Hope Award, at a ceremony also held in New York.

Harry and Meghan, The Duke and Duchess of Sussex share personal images for Netflix show 1 / 25 Harry and Meghan, The Duke and Duchess of Sussex share personal images for Netflix show Personal images of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex released for a new documentary called Harry and Meghan - the Sussexes behind the scenes. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex/Netflix Personal images of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex released for a new documentary called Harry and Meghan - the Sussexes behind the scenes. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex/Netflix Personal images of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex released for a new documentary called Harry and Meghan - the Sussexes behind the scenes. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex/Netflix Personal images of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex released for a new documentary called Harry and Meghan - the Sussexes behind the scenes. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex/Netflix Personal images of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex released for a new documentary called Harry and Meghan - the Sussexes behind the scenes. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex/Netflix Personal images of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex released for a new documentary called Harry and Meghan - the Sussexes behind the scenes. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex/Netflix Personal images of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex released for a new documentary called Harry and Meghan - the Sussexes behind the scenes. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex/Netflix Personal images of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex released for a new documentary called Harry and Meghan - the Sussexes behind the scenes. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex/Netflix Personal images of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex released for a new documentary called Harry and Meghan - the Sussexes behind the scenes. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex/Netflix The Duke and Duchess of Sussex/Netflix - Personal images of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex released for a new documentary called Harry and Meghan - the Sussexes behind the scenes. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex/Netflix The Duke and Duchess of Sussex/Netflix - Personal images of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex released for a new documentary called Harry and Meghan - the Sussexes behind the scenes. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex/Netflix The Duke and Duchess of Sussex/Netflix - Personal images of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex released for a new documentary called Harry and Meghan - the Sussexes behind the scenes. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex/Netflix The Duke and Duchess of Sussex/Netflix - Personal images of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex released for a new documentary called Harry and Meghan - the Sussexes behind the scenes. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex/Netflix The Duke and Duchess of Sussex/Netflix - Personal images of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex released for a new documentary called Harry and Meghan - the Sussexes behind the scenes. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex/Netflix Personal images of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex released for a new documentary called Harry and Meghan - the Sussexes behind the scenes. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex/Netflix Personal images of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex released for a new documentary called Harry and Meghan - the Sussexes behind the scenes. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex/Netflix Personal images of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex released for a new documentary called Harry and Meghan - the Sussexes behind the scenes. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex/Netflix Personal images of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex released for a new documentary called Harry and Meghan - the Sussexes behind the scenes. Netflix Personal images of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex released for a new documentary called Harry and Meghan - the Sussexes behind the scenes. The Duke and Duchess of Sussexs controversial documentary has aired on Netflix. The first three episodes of the six-part Harry & Meghan series began streaming Netflix

The event comes amid several High Court trials involving the Harry in the UK.

The duke is attempting to bring a second legal challenge against the Home Office over his security arrangements when in the UK.

He is also bringing a contested claim against Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN) over allegations of unlawful information gathering.

Meanwhile, King Charles and Queen Camilla were set to visit Covent Garden on Wednesday in their first joint engagement since the coronation. They were expected to meet market traders and other business people, as well as members of local arts organisations.
T he sisters of two One Direction members have called for the band to reunite, igniting hope in the Directioner fandom.

Fans have longed to see Harry, Niall, Louis, Liam, and Zayn back on stage together since the band broke up in 2016, following Zayns exit in 2015.

In 2017, Harry Styles explained why they broke up, telling Rolling Stone: I didnt want to exhaust our fan base.

If youre shortsighted, you can think, Lets just keep touring, but we all thought too much of the group than to let that happen. You realise youre exhausted and you dont want to drain peoples belief in you.

The boyband members have since been busy pursuing solo careers, with Styles currently touring the world and Niall Horan gearing up to release a new album in June.

Liam Payne recently revealed hes recording a new album, while Louis Tomlinson will embark on a world tour next week.

Now, the bands family members have sparked hope that a reunion could be on the way.

Louis Tomlinsons sister, Lottie Tomlinson, and Liam Paynes sister, Ruth Gibbons, both shared the same meme of a man holding a sign that reads I want a One Direction reunion, as did the bands former hairstylist, Lou Teasdale.

Fans were thrilled to see the sisters talk about the band, with many hoping their posts were a sign of things to come.

Styles further stirred One Direction reunion rumours this week, when he performed the bands song Stockholm Syndrome at his solo show in Denmark.

He also teased fans by beginning to sing Best Song Ever, before actually singing another 1D hit, What Makes You Beautiful.

Fans are further convinced that a reunion could be on the cards due to Payne revealing that the band has a new group chat.

Payne was being interviewed by Delicious TVs Derek Chisora ringside at KSI and Joe Fourniers fight when he dropped the bombshell.

When asked when are we going to see the band back together?" Payne responded: "I dont know, but we just started a new group chat, so thats something."

Although they may be separate events, pieced together theyre enough to convince Directioners that theyre getting a One Direction tour in the near future. Watch this space.
G oogle has announced that it will soon begin to delete accounts that have been dormant for at least two years.

The plan is pitched as being focused on security, with the company citing its own internal analysis that shows abandoned accounts to be at least 10 times less likely to have two-factor authentication enabled.

These accounts are often vulnerable, and once an account is compromised, it can be used for anything from identity theft to a vector for unwanted or even malicious content, like spam, said Ruth Kricheli, Googles VP of Product Management, in a blog post.

Of course, theres another benefit for Google that the company doesnt mention: less pressure on its historically generous free cloud storage. Back in 2015, the company decided to offer free and unlimited backups to Google Photos  a policy it decided was unsustainable only six years later. Today, its capped at 15GB  which is still generous, but with limits that may mean you need to spring clean your Google storage .

A single Google account covers a lot of products and services, so you dont need to log into everything to keep them alive. Everything from Google Workspace (think Gmail, Docs, Drive, Meet and Calendar) to YouTube and the aforementioned Google Photos is covered by a single login. In short, there are a lot of ways to remain active, even if its been a while since you specifically looked at Google Sheets.

However, there are instances where an account may appear dormant but is actually in active use. For example, if you have a Gmail alias that automatically forwards emails to your primary account. Its not clear how Google will treat such less common behaviour, but we would advocate logging in just to be safe.

The purge of old accounts will begin in only December, and Google says it will give plenty of notice to those affected. Although, by definition, if they havent been signed in for two years, the owner is unlikely to see a prompt reminding them to come back  unless theyve set up a backup email address that will also receive the reminder.

Google also says that this will affect only personal accounts. Those that pay for a Google subscription will be free to leave their accounts dormant as long as they like.

How to keep your Google account active

The simplest way to keep a Google Account active is to sign in at least once every two years, Kricheli said.

For the avoidance of doubt, these actions all ensure your account is viewed as active for the next two years:

Reading or sending an email

Using Google Drive

Watching a YouTube video

Downloading an app on the Google Play Store

Using Google Search

Using Sign in with Google to sign in to a third-party app or service.

If you subscribe to any of Googles subscription services, youre also in the clear. This apparently not only means Google One  which provides extra cloud storage amongst other benefits  but also Pixel Pass, Nest Renew, Nest Aware, YouTube TV, YouTube Premium, YouTube Music Premium or Google Play Pass.

And, as previously mentioned, this is for only personal Google accounts. It will not affect accounts for organisations like schools or businesses, Kricheli said.
Ukrainian expats in Korea have been organizing protests and aid efforts after Russia invaded their home country last week. They are also calling on the Korean government to take more decisive action against Russian aggression.

Around 300 people gathered last Sunday in front of the Russian Embassy to protest against Russia's invasion, carrying signs that said "Stand with Ukraine" and "Stop Putin, Stop War."

Julia Shmuliak, a Ukrainian working for a trade company who has lived in Korea for the last 10 years, was among them. She said the demonstration was one of the several ways she has been trying to help her home country.

"Even though I'm safer in Korea, my friends and family say it's easier for them emotionally to be in Ukraine," Shmuliak said. "I feel so useless and hopeless and devastated." She hopes that the Korean government will takes further action including heavier sanctions against Russia and opening visa-free travel for Ukrainians.

Korea's announcement of sanctions against Russia on Monday came several days after the other countries', and they only encompass weapons and nuclear materials but not non-strategic goods like semiconductors. And while Korea has said it will participate in American and European sanctions against Russia, it has not announced its own sanctions, in contrast to other Asia-Pacific states such as Australia and Japan. Many were critical of Korea's delay in implementing sanctions, as well as of their limited scope.

Korea's delayed action has its roots in the Moon Jae-in administration's policy of "strategic ambiguity," or its attempt to balance its alliance with the U.S. with its diplomatic ties with countries such as China and Russia.

Hunter Martson at Australian National University said, "In terms of sanctions against Russia, Korea may be hesitating because it doesn't see its own interests at stake. You see that with other Southeast Asian countries like Indonesia -- none of them are really lining up to announce sanctions against Russia."

The Justice Ministry has announced that Ukrainians will be allowed to stay in the country until the situation in Ukraine stabilizes, regardless of their visa status. The visas of some 538 of the 3,843 Ukrainians in Korea expire by June. But Ukrainians still require a visa to enter Korea in the first place. Shmuliak said she hopes that the Korean government suspends this rule and opens to Ukrainian refugees since the Korean Embassy in Ukraine is no longer operating.

Darya Chemeris, a Ukrainian who has lived in Korea for the last five years, said she is the only child of elderly parents back home. When news came out that Russia was preparing to invade Ukraine, she tried to bring her parents to Korea, but they were unable to complete the visa application in time.

"So now the only way I can bring them here is through another country's Korean embassy," she said. "But I'm not sure if it's possible for my parents, who are in their 70s, to figure it out."

Ukrainians in Korea are also organizing their own fundraising efforts. Volodymyr Kadyrlyeyev, who has lived in Korea since 2008, has been collecting donations to send to Ukraine. "... I checked my Facebook just as usual, to see that Ukraine had been invaded," Kadyrlyeyev said. "It didn't seem real."


The banks of the Han River that bisects Seoul have become a magnet for global fashion and tech brands to put on promotional events.

The global appeal of the Korean capital has increased thanks to the explosive popularity of shows like "Squid Game" and K-pop groups like Bangtan Boys, also known as BTS, and Blackpink, and the recent lifting of outdoor mask requirements has encouraged more businesses to host events there.

Italian fashion brand Valentino held a promotional event in the Jamwon section of the Han River Park on Sept. 21 for around 500 invited guests. "Headquarters knows that the Han River is the center of Seoul both geographically and culturally, so we ended up hosting an event here," a spokesman said.

Pala, a Naver subsidiary specializing in crypto services, also held an event in the Han River Park in Banpo for 1,000 guests to publicize its NFT technology, and dozens of foreign investors came.
When it comes to addressing mental health, addiction and housing affordability, Lincoln councillors want to see a made-in-Lincoln solution  which they hope will be coming forward in an upcoming motion of council.

That was among one of the many topics discussed at the May 8 council meeting. Heres a roundup of some of the items council tackled.

SCOUTING REPORT

Representing the 1st Beamsville Scouting, Evan Blain provided a presentation on the program updates, explaining that scouting is a worldwide youth movement that aims to promote the development of young people in various aspects of life.

Through activities designed to be fun and challenging, young kids, starting at five years old, can develop life skills and positive values through taking part in activities, explained Blain. They include survival skills, such as learning to tie knots, start a fire, cook and build emergency shelters.

Scouts are encouraged to work together, take on leadership roles, and learn to appreciate different cultures and ways of life, Blain said.

According to Blain, the scouts have planted trees, gone on hikes and camped in the winter. This summer, they plan on canoeing and rafting.

Coun. Adam Russell asked Blain if there is anything the community can do to help maintain the outdoors with climate change.

The best thing to do is to get more people interested in the outdoors to see whats out there, Blain said.

Anyone interested in scouting can register through the Scouts Canada website, which will lead them to the closest community in the area.

STATE OF EMERGENCY

An Introduction for notice of motion regarding a state of emergency on mental health, addiction and housing affordability aims to come up with a made in Lincoln solution.

Brought forward by Ward 2 Coun. JD?Pachereva, the motion is a followup to Pathstone Mental Healths update on April 17s council meeting.

The motion will be considered at the next scheduled council meeting on May 23.

BEAMSVILLE ONTARIO STREET CIP

Introduced by Coun. Adam Russell, a notice of motion regarding Beamsville Central Business District and the Ontario Street Commercial Area Community Improvement Plan (CIP) had its origin at the BIA, at last months meeting which tackled investments in downtown Beamsville and businesses.

The request came to see if there's an opportunity to look at bringing back that facade improvement to CIP to help with that reinvestment back into some of our businesses, Russell said.

According to Russell, who is working with Coun. Lynn Timmers on this motion, said there is an heritage aspect of it that will be talked about when the motion is brought to council at the next meeting.

We are looking for basically a report whether or not this is financially feasible to go forward with it either in 2023 or beyond, Russell said.

The next committee of the whole meeting happens on May 23 at 5:30 p.m.

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The Farmers Market at the Village returns for another season on May 27. Niagara-on-the-Lake's farmers' market opens at 8 a.m. sharp.



Its almost here!

In just over a week, the 2023 Market @ The Village Farmers Market season is set to kick off at 8 a.m. sharp on Saturday, May 27, and we have a great day in store for you. Plan on coming early to snag a loot bag full of goodies from our vendors and fill out a ballot for a chance to win The Greenbelt Book by author Burkhard Mausberg.

As many of you have seen, the area surrounding the market is under construction, but our farmers market will be held in the same spot as the past few years; on the paved area, just down from the Garrison House Restaurant.

We are so looking forward to seeing all our customers again and putting local foods into local hands at our friendly open-air Farmers Market  straight from the farmer or producer to your kitchen. We have many crafters and artisans joining us this season with wonderful items for bath, body and home. To add to your leisurely Saturday morning, coffee, tea, and breakfast items will be available for shoppers to enjoy while relaxing in our sunny picnic area on the grass.

We are actively seeking sponsors for the 2023 season. As a not-for-profit, every penny the market makes goes back into it, assisting with operating costs and enhancing it for our vendors and customers. We have a number of fantastic opportunities for businesses to make the most of their advertising dollars and reach the local market. If you are interested in finding out more about this advertising opportunity, email Sharon.

Dont miss out on the fun of opening day; it has been a long winter, and we are looking forward to reconnecting with old friends. We will once again have an ATM set up on-site for our customers shopping convenience. Mark your calendar, bring your shopping basket, and we will see you all on May 27 at 111 Garrison Village Dr. in front of the Garrison House restaurant.

The Market @ The Village; the place where Locals support Local!

Sharon Brinsmead-Taylor is the market co-ordinator for The Market @ The Village; the place where locals support local. You can reach her at notl.market@gmail.com.

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Ukraine's first lady Olena Zelenska arrived in Seoul on Monday to attend the Asian Leadership Conference hosted by the Chosun Ilbo.

Zelenska is scheduled to give a speech at the opening of the conference, which takes place at the Shilla Seoul on Wednesday and Thursday.

Zelenska has been a prominent figure on social media condemning Russia's invasion of Ukraine and promoting peace.
A 105-unit, five-storey development geared towards older adults who want to age in place and own their apartments is being planned at the corner of Queenston Street and Welland Canals Parkway in St. Catharines.

The proposed membership community, WaterView Estates and Wellness Suites, would feature both independent, assisted and enhanced assisted living units for seniors.

Angela Kelly, chief operating officer of developer Estates of Niagara, said the company is expecting site plan approval in the next two months and construction to begin at the end of this year or early 2024. Occupancy is anticipated to start in early 2025.

It would be the most progressive, active lifestyle community in this area, Kelly said.

The whole concept of aging in place is the key deliverable on our priorities and our values for this project. Its looking at how we can accommodate seniors in their early years and then, when life changes, the supports are there should they need them.

The project at 518 Queenston St. was approved for minor variances by the citys committee of adjustment in April.

It consists of a five-storey mixed residential and commercial building with a north and south wing that are connected with a building bridge in the centre. The development stretches along the west side of Welland Canals Parkway.

Kelly said the location should be desirable for a retired person with an active lifestyle.

The paths, the biking, the walking trails, everything is right there, she said, adding its also located between Niagara Falls and Niagara-on-the-Lake.

Kelly said the propertys concept, borrowed from a Florida model, is a membership-style ownership whereby people have access to a club for $99 that allows them to design how they want their retirement to look.

The membership gives them access to the properties, all of the amenities and happy hours with two-for-one drinks and meals.

Some amenities planned for the building include a rooftop terrace, five-star dining, a 24-hour bistro, medical clinic, spa, pharmacy, adult daycare and child daycare. Theres a plan for shuttle buses and a limousine to take people on daily activities out into the community and a family suite that can be used by visitors.

The suites will have full kitchens, but people can buy meal packages if they dont want to cook or order just some meals, Kelly said.

Its almost like a hotel-style concierge where you can pick and choose what you want.

The units will be 91.8 to 105.6 square metres (988 to 1,137 square feet), with pricing starting at mid-500s and to the mid-600s. There is also a Friendship Suite option for people who want to buy an apartment with a friend with separate bedrooms and common areas.

Kelly said there are two ownership options  an investor option for people who are interested in living in the community down the road but not right now and can lease out their unit. Theres also the option of the end user buying now, moving in and being part of the community from the start.

Theres the end user right now whos saying, Im 65. I want the social involvement, I want the activities. I want to be part of a like-minded community, she said.

And then theres the maybe 55- to 60-year-old thats saying, Im not ready for that yet, but certainly feel that there might be some money to be made in that environment. Ill lease out my unit for the next five to 10 years and when I am ready, I have it there when I need it.

Sales arent happening yet but people can find more information on the company website estatesofniagara.ca.

Estates of Niagara has a project on-the-go in Niagara Falls at 2626 Mewburn Rd., off Mountain Road, that is a completely independent, active lifestyle community. That project, Stoneridge Estates, is supposed to start construction in the fall.

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EDMONTONIt was described as a scene out of hell.

The residents of Slave Lake, a northern Alberta town nestled within the boreal forest, were long accustomed to wildfires. But when the flames broke through the barriers erected to stop them in 2011, locals knew this time was different.

The blaze destroyed roughly one-third of the town, caused $1 billion in damage and forced more than 10,000 area residents to flee.

It was, at that time, the largest evacuation in Albertas history and the second costliest insured natural disaster in Canada.

Five years later, the Fort McMurray fire happened.

The blaze that came to be known as The Beast in Albertas oilsands capital made the scale of the Slave Lake fire look minuscule by comparison. The Fort McMurray fire caused roughly $10 billion in damage and forced nearly 90,000 residents from their homes.

Today, the West is on fire again.

Alberta has declared a state of emergency. As of Tuesday, there were 87 wildfires in the provinces forest protection area, with 24 classified as out of control. The province has so far responded to 472 wildfires burning nearly 616,000 hectares, and there are more than 2,500 people fighting them, including personnel from other provinces, the U.S. and the Canadian Armed Forces.

High temperatures have caused an early start to B.C.s wildfire season as well. There are currently 61 active, with the provinces northeast most heavily affected. Residents of Fort St. John, a city of about 21,000, were told this week to prepare for evacuation because of a wildfire that has reached more than 13,000 hectares.

While the ravages of Western Canadas wildfires are clear for all to see  from the charred landscapes to the smoke-choked skies  less obvious are what scientists describe as the cascading, long-term effects of these annual fires.

These blazes are having devastating ecological impacts: changing the landscape, hindering regrowth of forests and contributing to a higher frequency of deadly floods and mudslides in B.C.

Mike Flannigan, professor emeritus at University of Alberta and the BC Innovation Research Chair in Predictive Services, Emergency Management and Fire Science at Thompson Rivers University, recalls a local politician at the time of the Slave Lake fire describing it as a one off  something of a freak event.

I knew a reporter at the time and I said No, thats not the case at all. Its going to happen again.

The fires are getting worse

While the scenes that came out of Slave Lake and Fort McMurray were apocalyptic for those caught in the midst of them, they were no surprise to the scientists who had been predicting for decades that wildfires in Canada would continue to grow in size and intensity to the point where they could swallow entire communities.

As we warm and warm, almost every fire season is going to be very active and thats kind of what were seeing in California now, Flannigan said. And I expect that to spread farther north into British Columbia first and then spreading north and east from there.

This is the new reality.

Fire seasons are starting sooner, lasting longer, and the overall area burned is steadily increasing. The conditions for intense fire seasons  higher temperatures, increases in lightning activity, and dryness  are all being driven by human-caused climate change, according to most scientists.

In B.C., 2017, 2018 and 2021 were the worst fire seasons on record; in Alberta, 2023 is already shaping up to be comparable to the devastating fire seasons of 2011, 2016 and 2019.

On average, 7,000 wildfires burn about 2.5 million hectares  about the size of four Prince Edward Islands  across Canada every year. That number has doubled since the 1970s.

By the 2080s, Flannigan says, that number could easily quadruple or quintuple.

I did research almost 20 years ago now suggesting a doubling of area burned by 2100  Research after that makes my numbers look conservative, Flannigan said.

In several cases the wildfires have already surpassed experts expectations.

What weve in British Columbia since 2017, I wasnt expecting to see until at the earliest the 2030s, probably not the 2040s, Flannigan said.

Polluting the air

When you mention air pollution, people usually think of factories spewing plumes of smoke or smog in cities from car emissions. But theres another significant contributor, and its happening with enough frequency to concern scientists  smoke spreading from wildfires.

Its something of a knock-on effect that has become a recurring theme nationwide, Flannigan said.

You could be in downtown Toronto, and the likelihood of your place burning down because of wildfire is zero per cent, Flannigan said. But smoke from fires in northern Ontario and northern Quebec can come down and put your air quality in the tank for weeks.

Last week, it was reported that smoke drifting from Western Canada was observed in parts of Ontario, including the GTA.

Smoke contains particulate matter, which are fine particles that are inhalable by the lungs and can cause respiratory problems.

Air pollution is linked to higher rates of lung cancer, chronic lung disease, heart disease, reproductive complications and cognitive decline in older adults, said Michael Brauer, a professor in the department of medicine at the University of British Columbia.

Theres all kinds of long-term impacts, he said. We dont really have the consistent evidence specifically for wildfire smoke, because people arent exposed to it year in, year out, until recently.

I wouldnt be concerned if you were exposed once every summer to five days of smoke. But if it becomes a month, every summer of your life, which is sort of where were heading, then I think all the evidence is suggesting that there would be the same long-term effects as air pollution.

How the blazes harm the land

There are patches of forest in B.C., once vibrant with trees, that are now barren.

In 2017, the Plateau Complex Fire, which was actually close to 20 fires that coalesced into one, burned roughly 500,000 hectares. It became the largest fire in B.C.s history and has left an indelible mark on its landscape.

There were places where they flew into with helicopters, into the centre of that big burn area, and if you looked 360 degrees, you saw no green trees, said Lori Daniels, a forest ecologist and professor at the University of British Columbia.

As the fires grow more intense and more frequent, they have more devastating impacts, not only on trees, but on the composition and quality of soil.

We used to have surface fires that thick bark trees would survive, Daniels said. We now have crown fires (which spread from the surface to treetops) that burn all the living tissues and the bugs and the needles that they need to photosynthesize and survive  the effects are to kill more trees, to consume more of the organic material down on the ground, and to change then the nutrients within the soils.

As the forest floor is burned, so are the seeds needed for regrowth. There are some areas, such as those affected by the Plateau Complex Fire in 2017, where there has been not enough seed source for them regenerate. Other areas are looking more promising.

After the 2017-18 fires in B.C., about 350 plots of trees were planted to replace the ones that perished.

We found in the next couple of years, the plants were coming back, so the seed bank had partly survived  but then hit the 2021 heat dome, Daniels said.

As a result, many of those trees need to be replanted again. Its unclear if future wildfire seasons will be more forgiving.

There were places in the 2003 fires that burned quite hot in 2003 that people tell me today have not regenerated  we will see that some areas are not going to regenerate to forests.

Those areas could see different kinds of vegetation regrow, such as grasslands, shrub lands or broadleaf forests. Diversifying B.C.s forests would be a positive development, Daniels said, because a regenerated forest that includes conifers and broadleaf trees would help ensure a mix of forest structures to provide natural fuel and fire breaks across landscapes.

One challenge in certain areas is the buildup of fuels  the debris and downed trees scattered in grasslands and forests that help light wildfires  on the forest floor. As the temperature warms, lightning strikes become more frequent, and the atmosphere gets more efficient at sucking moisture out of the fuels.

Its the perfect recipe for high-intensity wildfires that spread quickly and can be difficult to impossible to extinguish.

How fires lead to floods

Its believed that as the West burns, we can expect more flooding, including the massive events that lead to deadly mudslides and landslides in B.C. in 2021. While the relationship between fires and floods may seem counterintuitive, they are indeed linked, scientists say  its related to a complex phenomenon known as hydrophobic or water-repellent soil.

Daniels points to the Cache Creek area in B.C., a low-level floodplain that has historically seen periodic flooding. But since 2017, it has been getting regular flooding because its surrounded by so much scorched earth.

In areas that have been recently burned, the resins and oils from recently burned trees liquifies into a kind of waxy substance that is carried by ash into other areas and coats the surface almost like concrete.

Now when it rains, instead of the water soaking into the ground and going into the soil and then down deep into the groundwater, it all sits on the surface and it will begin to pool, which leads to flooding, Daniels explained.

The fires are so frequent that those areas dont have enough time to grow back vegetation or break up the hydrophobic soil to absorb the surface moisture.

When theres big rainstorms then theres surface flow, and then theres damage to the streams, damage to the fish habitat, damage to the river systems, Daniels said. And so the ecosystems are not recovering.

Not to mention, the smoke from the wildfires themselves are a significant contributor to greenhouse gas emissions, creating a kind of vicious circle. Research shows global warming is responsible for increases in lightning strikes, longer and more severe droughts, and of course, higher average temperatures.

Were getting record high temperatures or temperatures that are 10 to 15 degrees above the normal average conditions, Daniels added. Those sorts of patterns are the ones that make me really nervous.

Daniels highlights that the current observed trend is a global phenomenon. In the last decade, there have been record-breaking wildfire seasons multiple times in Western Canada, but also in the Western U.S., in Amazonia, Australia, New Zealand and East Asia.

And while the West is currently seeing the greatest impacts from wildfires in Canada, they are intensifying in other parts of the country as well.

Ontario had the busiest fire season on record in 2021 and there have been wildfires in areas as far east as Halifax, Flannigan said. As the frequency and intensity of wildfires in California increase exponentially, Flannigan expects the trend to extend into B.C., then north into the territories and into Eastern Canada.

If you look at a map of evacuations, it goes from sea to sea to sea in Canada, Flannigan said. Weve been focused on Western Canada but it can happen anywhere when things are right  What may surprise people is one of these days it may be someplace out east, a Timmins, Sudbury, even a Halifax.

Correction  May 17, 2023: Mike Flannigan is a professor emeritus at University of Alberta and the BC Innovation Research Chair in Predictive Services, Emergency Management and Fire Science at Thompson Rivers University. A previous version of this article misstated his title.

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Its a good-sized letter in a small-sized newspaper  about eight paragraphs in all, long enough to catch your eye as you turn the page, but easy enough to miss if youre in a hurry.

Its a farewell lament, of sorts, to a community thats about to lose its emergency department.

Beginning To the Minden Community, its written by a doctor representing a group of physicians who will no longer be providing their services there to the people they believe are being failed.

The letter, which appeared in this weeks The Highlander, which serves the Haliburton Highlands, is also a snapshot of the kind of debate thats roiling communities across this country, as cash- and resource-strapped health-care systems struggle to provide adequate levels of care to local patients.

As physicians of the Minden emergency department, we would like to express our sincere appreciation and support to the wonderful community we have had the privilege of serving for the past 28 years. It has been an honour to provide emergency medical care to you, our adopted neighbours, friends and community members during some of your most vulnerable moments, writes Dr. Dennis Fiddler on behalf of the Minden Physician Group.

It is with a heavy heart that we must inform you that the decision to close the Minden ED was not ours to make. Despite our best efforts and unwavering commitment to the community, circumstances beyond our control have led to this challenging decision by Haliburton Highlands Health Services (HHHS).

The closure, announced last month by the HHHS board, is just one example of the ongoing strains Ontarios health-care system is facing. In a news release, the board said Minden emergency services would be brought together with those at the Haliburton Hospital, about 25 kilometres away, on June 1.

The decision has been widely condemned by community residents, elected officials and health-care workers, and has prompted questions in the legislature, petitions, protests and a human rights complaint.

HHHS CEO Carolyn Plummer previously told the Star that the decision to close was made due to significant and persistent physician and nursing staff shortages experienced by HHHS, as a result of the global healthcare staffing crisis.

In an emailed statement on Tuesday, Plummer said the consolidation of emergency services at the Haliburton site has nothing to do with the exemplary care provided by the physicians and staff of the Minden emergency department.

Notably, the Minden site was not one of the 24 Ontario hospitals that were forced to temporarily close their EDs over the last year, as found by a recent Star analysis.

The sadness expressed by the Minden ED doctors joins that of five former HHHS board chairs, who slam the decision as unconscionable and one that flies in the face of reason and community support.

That message, conveyed in another letter published in local media, notes that the decision was made with a complete lack of transparency, without consultation with the communities most affected by the move, and note that the announcement  just six weeks before the June 1 closure  provides little or no time for careful planning or reasoned community input.

As past chairs, who have helped guide the development of Haliburton Highlands Health Services (HHHS) since its inception, we strongly disagree with the announcement by the corporation regarding the closure of the Minden Emergency Department, write the former board chairs in a letter published in The Minden Times this past week.

The action is unconscionable in so many ways and flies in the face of more than two decades of responsible health care developed by the corporation.

Jack Brezina, one of the signatories to the letter who served as board chair of HHHS 20 years ago, says neither the current board nor CEO have offered much concrete reasoning for the closure.

This facility was always open and staffed to the point that it was operational, Brezina told the Star, adding that the decision to close seemed to come out of the blue.

Indeed, in his letter on behalf of the Minden ED doctors, Fiddler says his group was informed of the decision to close just a few hours before the public media release on April 20.

He notes that before the closure was announced, the Minden ED had coverage until September 2023, with a small amount of support coming from Health Force Ontario, a government job board that connects Ontario doctors with shifts that need filling.

In the fall, there were physicians who were expected to fill these gaps, bringing us back to full coverage, Fiddler writes, adding that the ED is staffed by doctors who are based at other hospitals in the surrounding areas.

Fiddler says in his letter that the Minden physician group became involved in service-reduction discussions over the past two years and offered to support various reduction options that involved partial ED closure scenarios, but we were clear that we could not support a full closure scenario for one of the EDs.

We told the HHHS Executive and Board in February 2022 we could not provide physician coverage if one of the EDs were going to close, and it is still the case today, he writes.

Plummer told the Star that when it comes to staffing at the Minden site, as we know from 18 months of on-going shortages, having a full roster doesnt stop a physician from needing to call in sick on relatively short notice and HHHS having to scramble to fill that shift.

As well, it does not address the on-going and persistent shortages of nursing staff, she said. Our EDs cannot operate without adequate nursing coverage, which has been the cause of numerous close calls for temporary closures at both the Minden and Haliburton EDs over the past 18 months.

Brezina wonders why the rush to close the ED, noting that the coming May long weekend marks the beginning of the busiest season in the Haliburton Highlands as camps begin to fill up with kids, resorts start accepting guests and cottagers arrive.

I would say its four or five times the population and even more because everybody brings family and friends up to the cottage for the holiday weekend, he says. Thats when the two emergency departments are the busiest.

Kenyon Wallace is a Toronto-based investigative reporter for the Star. Follow him on Twitter: @KenyonWallace or reach him via email: kwallace@thestar.ca

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She swallowed the pain in her throat, so that her child did not notice her tearful eyes, and looked out the window of her hotel room.

Outside there was a big city, with people constantly on the move.

It was weighing on her: the uncertainty of not having a home and her unknown future.

You stay with our child, I will go to see one or two houses, maybe the owners will accept us, her husband said.

She nodded and roused herself from her thoughts at the sound of the door closing.

What should we do if we cant find a house today? she remembers thinking.

Shabana Alizai, 26, was forced to leave Afghanistan with her husband, a journalist and her two-year-old son.

Alizai is among the 30,000 Afghans who have arrived in Canada in the wake of the Taliban seizing control of their country in August 2021. As they struggle to adjust to life in a new country, forced from their homeland, some are struggling to find housing and employment. They dont have the work histories, credit scores or the guarantors many landlords demand.

Alizai said they spoke to one landlord who wanted six months rent in advance, which is not legal at all. (According to the law in Ontario, a landlord can only ask for a deposit of first and last months rent.)

They used the money that the government of Canada provided as Welcoming Money, about $3,900 dollars, to help cover the costs. After paying the advance rent, the landlord then asked for a guarantor which they did not have, so they had to resume their search.

Finally after many disappointments, Alizais family was able to rent a small and dimly lit house in Toronto.

Alizai said that the Canadian governments one-year aid for newly arrived immigrants will end in June, and she doesnt know how she will pay the $2,500 monthly rent after that.

Our distress increases with each passing day. Wherever we apply for a job, they ask us for work experience in Canada, she said.

Jawid Yusufzai, a sales representative of EXP Realty Company in Toronto and Ottawa, has seen this before.

The landlords are asking the newcomers for full credit reports, and proof of income, which the tenants dont have  and, in the end, (some) landlords are asking illegally for a 12-month deposit in advance, said Yusufzai.

Lailuma Ahmadi was a senator in Afghanistan, with 29 years of experience in the media, including as a TV news anchor on Afghanistans state television. After a month of living secretly under Taliban rule, she managed to leave the country with her two brothers and start a new life in Canada.

Ahmadi said that she spent more than four months in a hotel, a situation thats left her frustrated with government-funded immigration organizations, and with landlords and their treatment of newly arrived Afghan immigrants.

She says most companies and homeowners were asking for credit scores and guarantors, regardless of whether the applicants were new to Canada.

Finally, we had to find a house and sign a residence contract with an advance payment of $34,000, most of which we had borrowed, Ahmadi said. We are currently unemployed and wondering how to pay the loan and this has created stress.

Marwan Ismail, executive director of the Polycultural Immigrant and Community Services, said that housing is a major challenge across Canada for everyone, especially immigrants. Ismail said the group tries to help clients navigate the housing and rental markets.

Sometimes this means introducing them to communities outside of major urban centres, where housing costs are lower. Or helping them find employment that will assist them in building a credit score. Each situation is different and there are certainly obstacles.

Ismail adds that the housing crisis and the barriers that affect newcomers and refugees in particular continue to be a major issue that all levels of government and stakeholders need to be aware of and address.

Having access to safe, affordable and accessible housing is critical to the success of newcomers so they can make a smooth transition into Canadian life, Ismail said.

Alizai said that they have been working with Polycultural to help with relocation, housing and the process of transferring to a new home. But the process is slow, case workers seem to be overloaded and dont always return emails and calls, Alizai said.

We do our best to co-ordinate our efforts and constantly think of better ways to accomplish our goals, Ismail said.

The organizations mission is to provide temporary shelter, food and health care and to aid in finding permanent housing for refugees.

Credit scores and guarantors can be a problem for newcomers, Ismail said.

There are times, the group said, when it works with landlords to find ways to get around traditional paperwork.

Job letters for example will often be satisfactory. We often think about affordability but forget about accessibility, which is important when establishing policies and practices.

Ismail said that while asking six months or one years rent from immigrants isnt legal, in this hot housing and rental market, too often we see renters being exploited  especially immigrants and newcomers as they may not know their rights.

No one should be taken advantage of when seeking shelter for themselves and their family.

Ahmadi said shes grateful to the Canadian government and people for accepting Afghan immigrants, but she said more attention should be paid to those in the process of finding housing or employment.

We are deeply grateful to Canada, but considering that the people of our country have seen countless sufferings, I request the Canadian government and people to treat the Afghan refugees with more generosity.

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SEOUL, South Korea (AP)  North Korean leader Kim Jong Un examined a finished military spy satellite, which his country is expected to launch soon, during a visit to his countrys aerospace agency where he described space-based reconnaissance as crucial for countering the U.S. and South Korea.

Kim during Tuesdays visit approved an unspecified future action plan in preparations for launching the satellite, North Koreas official Korean Central News Agency said Wednesday. North Korea hasnt disclosed a target date for the launch, which some analysts say may be in the next few weeks.

That launch would use long-range missile technology banned by past U.N. Security Council resolutions, although previous missile and rockets tests have demonstrated North Koreas ability to deliver a satellite into space.

There are more questions, however, about the satellites capability. Some South Korean analysts say the satellite shown in North Korean state media photos appears too small and crudely designed to support high-resolution imagery. Photos that North Korean media released from past missile launches were low-resolution.

Photos released by the Rodong Sinmun newspaper of Tuesdays visit showed Kim and his daughter  dressed in white lab coats  talking with scientists near an object that looked like the main component of a satellite. The newspaper did not identify the object, which was surrounded by a perimeter of red tape.

The visit was Kims first public appearance in about a month, following a previous visit to the aerospace center on April 18 as state media announced that the satellite had been built.

Kim said acquiring a spy satellite would be crucial for his efforts to bolster the countrys defense as U.S. imperialists and (South) Korean puppet villains escalate their confrontational moves against the North, KCNA said.

He was apparently referring to the expansion of joint military exercises between the United States and South Korea and the allies discussions on strengthening their nuclear deterrence strategies to cope with threats from North Korea, which has test-fired around 100 missiles since the start of 2022.

The next step in North Koreas launch preparations, or the future action plan state media mentioned, could be installing the satellite on what would likely be a three-stage space rocket, said Kim Dong-yub, a professor at Seouls University of North Korean Studies.

Depending on how North Korean preparations go, the launch could be conducted as early as mid-June, although Pyongyang might also time the event to major state anniversaries that fall in July, September or October, the professor said.

Spy satellites are among a slew of advanced weapons systems Kim Jong Un has vowed to develop. Others on his wish list include solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missiles, nuclear-powered submariners, hypersonic missiles and multiwarhead missiles.

North Korea has tested some of those weapons in recent months, including its first flight-test of a solid-fuel ICBM last month, but experts say the North may need more time and technological breakthroughs to make those systems functional.

In response to North Korean plans to launch a military spy satellite, Japans military last month ordered troops to activate missile interceptors and get ready to shoot down fragments from the satellite that may fall on the Japanese territory.

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TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP)  Former British Prime Minister Liz Truss warned of economic and political threats to the West posed by China during a visit Wednesday to Beijings democratic rival Taiwan.

Truss is the first former British prime minister since Margaret Thatcher in the 1990s to visit the self-governing island republic that China claims as its own territory, to be conquered by force if necessary.

Still a sitting member of the House of Commons, Truss follows a growing list of elected representatives and former officials from the U.S., EU and elsewhere who have visited Taiwan to show their defiance of Chinas threats and attempts to cut off the island and its high-tech economy from the international community.

There are those who say they dont want another Cold War. But this is not a choice we are in a position to make. Because China has already embarked on a self-reliance drive, whether we want to decouple from their economy or not, Truss said in an address to the Prospect Foundation in the Taiwanese capital, Taipei.

China is growing its navy at an alarming rate and is undertaking the biggest military build-up in peacetime history, she said.

They have already formed alliances with other nations that want to see the free world in decline. They have already made a choice about their strategy. The only choice we have is whether we appease and accommodate  or we take action to prevent conflict, Truss said.

Elsewhere, Truss praised her successor, Rishi Sunak, for describing China as the biggest long-term threat to Britain in comments last summer and for earlier urging the closure of Chinese government-run, mainly university-based overseas cultural centers known as Confucius Institutes which have been criticized as outlets for Communist Party propaganda. Such services could instead be provided by people from Taiwan and Hong Kong who come to the United Kingdom of their own volition, Truss said.

On Wednesday, a spokesperson for Sunak backtracked on the prime ministers campaign pledge to shut down the U.K.s 30 Confucius Institutes, saying it would be disproportionate to ban them at present.

Like any international body operating in the U.K., Confucius Institutes need to operate transparently and within the law, and with a full commitment to our values of openness and freedom of expression, the spokesperson said.

In Beijing, a spokesperson for the Cabinets Taiwan Affairs Office, Mao Xiaoguang, accused Taiwans governing Democratic Progressive Party of spending the tax money of the Taiwanese people to bribe some anti-China politicians who have stepped down from office to stage a farce of seeking external support for independence in Taiwan.

Ma also renewed Chinas military threats against Taiwan, a day after the Chinese Defense Ministry condemned U.S. military assistance to the island.

If they continue to challenge and force us, we will have to take decisive measures to defend national sovereignty and territorial integrity, Ma told reporters at a biweekly news conference. No one should underestimate our strong determination, unwavering will and strong ability.

Next year is seen by some as a crucial period for tense relations between the sides, with U.S. and Taiwanese voters going to the polls. Taiwans President Tsai Ing-wen has served the maximum two terms and Vice President Lai Ching-te, a strong independence supporter, will be running for the DPP.

Meanwhile, the main opposition Nationalist Party, or Kuomintang, on Wednesday nominated local politician Hou Yu-ih as its candidate in the January election. Hou rose to prominence as a top police official but has relatively little experience dealing with China and Taiwans international partners.

Taiwan will also elect a new legislature, which is currently controlled by the ruling party.

Chinas relations with Britain and most other Western democracies have been in steep decline in recent years, largely as a result of disputes over human rights, trade technology and Chinas aggressive moves toward Taiwan and in the South China Sea.

Beijings relations with London have been especially bitter over Chinas sweeping crackdown on free speech, democracy and other civil liberties in Hong Kong, a former British colony that was promised it would retain its freedoms after the handover to Chinese rule in 1997.

China has said a key previous bilateral agreement on Hong Kong no longer applies and has rejected British expressions of concern as interference in Chinas domestic political affairs. China has also been angered by a joint Australian-U.S.-British agreement known as AUKUS that would provide Australia with nuclear-powered submarines in part to counter the perceived rising threat from China.

Truss, who served an ill-fated seven weeks as prime minister last year, also said China could not be trusted to follow through on its commitments in areas from trade to protection of the environment.

And she praised Taiwan as an enduring rebuke to totalitarianism whose fate was a core interest to Europe.

A blockade or invasion of Taiwan would undermine freedom and democracy in Europe. Just as a Russian victory in Ukraine would undermine freedom and democracy in the Pacific, Truss said.

We in the United Kingdom and the free world must do all we can to back you, she said.

Truss remarks also stood in stark contrast to published comments from French President Emmanuel Macron last month that elicited doubts about whether Macrons views were in line with other European countries on Taiwans status.

The question we need to answer, as Europeans, is the following: Is it in our interest to accelerate (a crisis) on Taiwan? No, Macron was quoted as saying in the interview. The worst thing would be to think that we Europeans must become followers on this topic and take our cue from the U.S. agenda and a Chinese overreaction.

Shortly afterward, Macron denied any change on Frances views toward Taiwan, saying, We are for the status quo, and this policy is constant.

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Princess Dianas last words before her death  My God! What has happened?  were reported to the world following the August 1997 car crash.

The tragedy was attributed at the time, in large part, to ravenous paparazzi in search of a photograph.

To this, we might now add: Could it happen again? The answer may depend on who you ask.

Prince Harry and his wife Meghan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, gave up royal life in the United Kingdom in search of simple celebrity in America.

But the long lenses of the celebrity press have focused in on them, allegedly with reckless abandon.

A spokesperson for the couple said that they were involved in a near catastrophic car chase Tuesday following a charity event in New York City  Meghans first public event since the coronation of her father-in-law, King Charles.

The duchess on Tuesday evening received a Woman of Vision award for her advocacy and feminist activism from activist and friend Gloria Steinem.

The celebrity-journalism outlet TMZ showed video of the couple arriving at the event in a black SUV, noting that they later left exactly how they came in  surrounded by paparazzi and flashing cameras.

Harry and Meghan themselves claim they were followed for more than two hours by a ring of highly aggressive paparazzi. Their office said in a statement that This relentless pursuit  resulted in multiple near collisions involving other drivers on the road, pedestrians and two NYPD officers.

While being a public figure comes with a level of interest from the public, it should never come at the cost of anyones safety.

While just a few short video clips of the Tuesday night encounter have emerged, there is enough on-the-record information to question the couples characterization of the events.

The New York Police Department confirmed that its officers assisted bodyguards for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.

There were numerous photographers that made their transport challenging, the force said in a statement attributed to Julien Phillips, deputy commissioner for public information.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams said he was briefed on the incident and informed that two of his police officers could have been injured. But the NYPDs official take on the night was a great deal more measured that that of Harry and Meghan: The Duke and Duchess of Sussex arrived at their destination and there were no reported collisions, summonses, injuries or arrests in regard.

The TMZ video of the couples exit from the award ceremony shows the prince leading his wife out into the street, flanked by bodyguards; it also reveals the cries of people who had lined up behind metal barriers to catch a glimpse of the couple. They get into the back of the SUV.

Later in the edited video, in footage attributed to Backgrid, which bills itself as a global premier celebrity news agency, a bodyguard is seen getting out of a yellow New York taxi that appears to be stopped in traffic and surrounded by photographers and videographers. Harry, Meghan and her mother, Doria Ragland, were photographed in the backseat of the car.

Guys, we need some space, the bodyguard says, addressing multiple people, though only one other photographer is visible in the clip. An unidentified voice responds Yes, sir.

The taxi driver, Sukhcharn Singh, told the Washington Post that he picked the couple up at 11 p.m. outside a police precinct on East 67th Street and drove west to Park Avenue before heading south. He said two vehicles followed his cab.

They kept following us and were coming next to the car, he told the newspaper. They took pictures as we stopped and were filming us.

Eventually, the couples security guard grew concerned, Singh said, and instructed the driver to circle back to the police station and drop them off. The entire trip lasted about 10 minutes.

I dont think I would call it a chase. I never felt like I was in danger. It wasnt like a car chase in a movie. They (the passengers) were quiet and seemed scared, but its New York  its safe, Singh said.

A longer version of TMZs Backgrid footage shows the cab being accompanied by two NYPD vehicles. As their taxi accelerates away from the photographers, the police vehicles turn right while the taxi turns turns left.

The camera operator runs along the sidewalk and can be heard shouting: Theyre going straight! They turned! They turned!

Adams said he understood that the paparazzi want to capture images of celebrities but cautioned that it should not come at the expense of public safety, particularly in a densely populated place like Manhattan.

He added: I dont think theres many of us who dont recall how (Harrys) mom died and it would be horrific to lose an innocent bystander during a chase like this and something to have happened to them as well.

I thought that was a bit reckless and irresponsible.

The prince has spoken at length about the trauma he has suffered after the death of his mother, which occurred following a car chase involving paparazzi in Paris; he has said it contributed to his drinking, drug use and mental health problems.

I think one of the hardest things to come to terms with is the fact that the people that chased her into the tunnel were the same people that were taking photographs of her while she was still dying on the back seat of the car, Harry told a BBC documentary. And then those photographs made their way back to news desks in the country.

If the dangers created by paparazzi in Tuesdays events may have been a bit oversold, theres an irony there. Two years after Dianas death, the official inquiry into the tragedy cleared the pursuing cameramen, who were some distance behind at the time  instead her driver was faulted for his intoxication and the vehicles speed. (Further, Diana was not wearing a seat belt.)

Such details notwithstanding, the memory of his mother surely played into Wednesdays statement from Harry and Meghan.

Dissemination of these images, given the ways in which they were obtained, encourages a highly intrusive practice that is dangerous to all involved.

With files from The Associated Press

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RICHMOND, Va. (AP)  South Carolina became the latest state to move toward a near total abortion ban Wednesday with legislation that if enacted would leave Virginia an outlier in the South as a place that allows relatively permissive access to abortions amid a rapid rise in restrictions in the year since Roe v. Wade was overturned.

South Carolina is among the last bastions in the region for those seeking legal abortions, but that status could end soon. Access would be almost entirely banned after about six weeks of pregnancy  often before women know theyre pregnant  under the bill that now must pass the state Senate, which previously rejected a proposal to nearly outlaw abortions but could give final passage to the new legislation next week.

And most abortions after 12 weeks of pregnancy will be banned in North Carolina beginning July 1 after the states Republican-controlled Legislature successfully overrode the Democratic governors veto late Tuesday.

Abortion is banned or severely restricted in much of the South, including bans throughout pregnancy in Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas and West Virginia. In Georgia, its allowed only in the first six weeks.

Such restrictions are possible because the U.S. Supreme Court last year struck down the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling, which established a nationwide right to abortion.

It would be just devastating for abortion access in the South, Jamie Lockhart, executive director of Planned Parenthood Advocates of Virginia, said of the proposed six-week ban in South Carolina, the 12-week ban in North Carolina, and a six-week ban in Florida that will take effect only if the states current 15-week ban is upheld by the state Supreme Court.

But North Carolina Rep. Sarah Stevens, a Republican, said she sees the 12-week ban and other restrictions in North Carolinas new law as safeguards, not obstacles to abortion.

We seek to balance protecting unborn babies while ensuring the safety of mothers, she said Tuesday.

Stricter bans across the South would heighten Virginias role as an access point and create a ripple effect as people travel from out of state to seek care, Lockhart said.

Despite abortion providers efforts to increase available appointments and expand access for patients through telemedicine, the dramatic influx in out-of-state patients will lead to longer wait times for people in those access states, Lockhart said.

Virginia currently allows abortions in the first and second trimesters. An abortion is allowed in the third trimester only if three doctors certify the mothers mental or physical health is at serious risk.

Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, a Republican, pushed for a 15-week ban during this years legislative session, but that was defeated by the narrow Democratic majority in the state Senate.

Victoria Cobb, president of the conservative Family Foundation of Virginia, said Wednesday that the states laws became out of step with its neighbors during years of liberal influence.

Virginians are going to have to work to protect our Commonwealth from being exploited by the abortion industry, Cobb said.

The costs of travel for women who need to go outside their home states for abortions can quickly pile up, said Ashlyn Preaux, who helps run an abortion fund in South Carolina. Her organization helps patients pay for abortion care as well as gas cards and sometimes plane tickets.

If South Carolina enacts new restrictions, she expects to help send more patients to Virginia and Washington, D.C.

All of these things add up and its just not anything that people are prepared for, Preaux said. Its not really treated at all like its a health care issue.

The South Carolina House vote capped nearly 24 hours of grueling debate split across two days as the Republican supermajority tossed or defeated over 900 Democratic amendments. Lawmakers paused for roughly eight hours early Wednesday only after a computer glitch.

Democrats repeatedly spoke for all three minutes allotted per amendment. One would have required that residents read The Handmaids Tale. Another sought to make the state cover funeral costs for anyone who dies upon being denied an abortion.

Republican Rep. John McCravy urged colleagues to support the only path forward to prevent our state from becoming an abortion destination state in the Southeast.

Attention now turns to the Senate. Lawmakers could accept the House changes and send the measure to the governor who has indicated he would sign it. Or they could put the bill to a conference committee, where members from each chamber would have to work out their differences.

Until then, abortion remains legal through 22 weeks in South Carolina, and the state had already seen an increasing number of out-of-state patients before Florida and North Carolina enacted new restrictions. Farther west, women often travel to Illinois, Kansas, New Mexico or Colorado.

Provisional state health department data show South Carolina reported nearly 1,000 abortions in each of the first three months this year, after totaling just over 200 in the one full month that a previous six-week ban took effect last year. Nearly half of the patients reportedly came from other states.

Until Tuesday, North Carolina had been considered a safe space, said Dr. Erica Pettigrew, a family medicine doctor in Hillsborough. But now, North Carolinians will be health care refugees to other states, she said, also criticizing provisions of the law for potentially creating more paperwork, along with additional medical and licensing requirements.

Another challenge to abortion access was considered Wednesday when a federal appeals court heard arguments on whether the Food and Drug Administrations approval of the widely used abortion drug mifepristone should be overturned. A three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is reviewing a ruling by a federal judge in Texas who ordered a hold on approval of mifepristone, a decision that overruled two decades of scientific approval of the drug. That ruling was stayed while the appeal is pending.

Lawyers seeking to preserve access to the drug used in the most common method of abortion got pushback Wednesday from the appellate judges, who each have a history of supporting restrictions on abortion. A ruling is not expected immediately.

In Michigan, one of the leading states in protecting abortion rights since Roe v. Wade was overturned, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed legislation Wednesday that will prohibit companies from firing or otherwise retaliating against workers for having an abortion.

The legislation amends the states civil rights law, which had previously only outlawed employment discrimination if an abortion was to save the life of the mother. It will ensure that workers cannot be treated differently for receiving an abortion regardless of reasoning.

___

This story was first published May 17, 2023. It was updated May 24, 2023 to remove an incorrect reference to Virginia law allowing unrestricted access to abortion. The state allows greater access than many Southern states but has restrictions on abortion.

___

Kruesi reported from Nashville, Tennessee. Contributing to this report were Associated Press writers Joey Cappelletti in Lansing, Michigan; James Pollard and Jeffrey Collins in Columbia, South Carolina, and Gary Robertson and Hannah Schoenbaum in Raleigh, North Carolina. Schoenbaum and Pollard are corps members 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.

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SEOUL, Korea, Republic Of - Canada and South Korea penned new deals on supply chains for critical minerals and youth mobility as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau wrapped up talks with the countrys president on Wednesday.

The joint effort to increase economic and cultural ties comes as both countries aim to reduce their dependence on China.

We recognize  both of us  that China is an important economic partner, not just in the region but around the world, Trudeau said in Seoul at a joint news conference with South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol.

But we need to be clear-eyed about where we co-operate with China, Trudeau added, noting that Canada co-hosted a United Nations summit on biodiversity with the country in Montreal last year.

We need to know where were going to be competing with China on economic grounds and where we need to challenge China on human rights and other issues, he said.

Its something that we will both be continuing to do in ways that make sense for our own countries and our own situations.

During Trudeaus first official trip to South Korea,his governmentsigned a memorandum of understanding on critical minerals, the clean energy transition and energy security, which he said will mean more investment and trade for Canada.

Ottawa has increasingly focused its attention and resources on shoring up its critical minerals industry, in part to build a more robust supply chain to manufacture goods such as electric-vehicle batteries.

And the increased co-operation with South Korea comes as G7 nations are increasingly discussing the idea of friendshoring.

Last week, Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland met with other G7 finance ministers and said discussed how to increase co-operation among like-minded countries.

They aim to differentiate our economies to make our supply chains more resilient, and to create good jobs for people in Canada and around the world, she said during a news conference Friday.

Specifically, (by) working together to respond to economic coercion by authoritarian regimes.

Both Canada and South Korea have released Indo-Pacific strategies within the past year, which provide road maps for strengthening military and economic relationships in the region to counterbalance the influence of Beijing.

But even as western countries and their allies feel increasingly threatened by China, they appear to remain cautious in their remarks about the country.

China blasted as hypocrisy assertions by the U.S. and other G7 countries that they are safeguarding a rules-based international order against economic coercion from Beijing and other threats.

China itself is a victim of economic coercion, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said Friday.

If any country should be criticized for economic coercion, it should be the United States. The U.S. has been overstretching the concept of national security, abusing export controls and taking discriminatory and unfair measures against foreign companies, Wang said in a routine news briefing, according to an official English translation.

While the Liberal government is touting its visit to South Korea as a success, its currently in a dispute with automaker Stellantis, which has halted construction on an electric-vehicle battery plant in Windsor, Ont. The plant was being constructedin partnership with South Korean battery-maker, LG Energy Solution.

The pause highlights the challenges facing the federal government as they chart a path toward a clean economy by competing with other countries, namely the U.S., on subsidies.

The companies jointly wrote to Trudeau last month after Volkswagen announced it had secured a deal to set up a battery plant in St. Thomas, Ont. That deal had Canada offering a $700-million capital contribution and $8 billion to $13 billion in production subsidies to match what Volkswagen would get in production tax credits under the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act.

The federal government has said it is negotiating with Stellantis, but wants Ontario to contribute a bigger share of the money than the $500 million in capital costs it has put on the table.

Trudeau had little to add when asked about Stellantis in Seoul.

Canada has been successfully delivering great jobs for the middle class across the country through investments by partners from around the world. We will continue to do that, he said.

The visit also produced a renewed arrangement on youth mobility, which increasesthe annual quota to 12,000 people.

We welcome thousands of Korean students to our universities every year and now, we want to do even more, said Trudeau, adding the agreement will create new opportunities for youth to work in both countries.

Canada and South Korea also committed to working together to advance human rights in North Korea, where Trudeau said the federal government will continue to support human-rights organizations.

We continue to deplore the regular military activities, including nuclear missile tests, by North Korea that destabilize not just the region but threatens the security of the entire world, Trudeau said.

He highlighted what Canada is doing to enforce maritime sanctions against North Korea through Operation Neon.

The growing threat of authoritarianism around the world was a theme in Trudeaus address to the South Korean National Assembly earlier Wednesday.

He said antagonistic countries are taking advantage of economic interdependence to their own geopolitical advantage.

And the world is facing a moment of uncertainty, Trudeau added, as countries recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, while economic anxiety and climate change add stress to peoples lives.

He argued Canada and South Korea can be partners in addressing climate change, which he said is also a way to safeguard against geopolitical instability and build more resilient economies.

Prior to his departure on Thursday for the G7 Leaders Summit in Hiroshima, Japan, Trudeau attended a wreath-laying ceremony near the Kapyong Battle Commemorative Trail, which honours Canadas contributions during the Korean War. He then hiked the steep trail alongside schoolchildren.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 17, 2023.

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OTTAWA - Experts say a Liberal bail reform bill introduced this week could be subject to a Charter challenge and see limited results.

The bill aims to make it harder for some repeat violent offenders to seek pretrial release by putting the onus on them to prove why they should be granted bail.

Danardo Jones, an assistant professor at the University of Windsors law school, says he isnt sure the bill would hold up under legal scrutiny. The Supreme Court has cautioned governments before on any expansion of what are known as reverse-onus measures.

Its making a lot of changes that Im not certain will pass constitutional muster, he said.

The legislation would introduce reverse-onus bail conditions for people charged with serious violent offences involving a weapon, in cases where the person was convicted of a similar violent offence within the past five years.

It would also add some firearms offences to existing reverse-onus provisions, and expand their use in cases where the alleged crimes involve intimate partner violence.

Prosecutors in such cases would no longer have to prove to judges why offenders should stay behind bars.

Justice Minister David Lametti had promised that any new law would abide by the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which guarantees that anyone who is charged with a crime will not be denied reasonable bail without just cause.

The Supreme Court has affirmed that right several times, including in R v. Morales, a 1992 case in which justices decided that bail is not denied for all individuals who pose a risk of committing an offence or interfering with the administration of justice while on bail.

Bail is denied only for those who pose a substantial likelihood of committing an offence or interfering with the administration of justice, and only where this substantial likelihood endangers the protection or safety of the public, that decision says.

Moreover, detention is justified only when it is necessary for public safety. It is not justified where detention would merely be convenient or advantageous.

Jones said a court wont be swayed by any of the political rhetoric that has driven discussion around the latest bail reforms, which come after months of public pressure on the federal government to act from premiers, police and opposition parties.

Their approach is going to be more principled, and more in line with ensuring that our constitutional values are respected and that the integrity of our Constitution is not in any way eroded, he said.

From the face of this bill, Im concerned that we are seeing public safety perhaps outweighing civil liberties.

Since 2019, the federal justice minister has been required to ensure that a Charter Statement is available for every bill tabled by the government to help identify any potential effects a law may have.

No statement is yet available for the bail-reform bill, Lamettis office said.

But he maintains the law introduced is Charter-compliant.

We need to strike a balance, the justice minister said at a news conference Tuesday. We think weve done that here, working in the range between the Charter rights and public security and public safety.

With statements like that, Jones said, Lametti is signaling that they know the court is to be concerned about striking an appropriate constitutional balance.

Queens University sociologist Nicole Myers said the impact of the new law could be limited because the measures dont address the root causes of crime.

Everybody is interested in public safety and improving public safety, said Myers, who has an expertise in bail and pretrial detention.

To do that, then we have to do the difficult things. We need to invest much more into the root causes of crime and to preventing crime from happening in the first place.

She said there needs to be more investment in education, health care, mental health, substance use, poverty and homelessness.

Myers said she doesnt agree with reverse onus provisions.

If the state wants to make arguments why somebody should be detained, the state should bear the onus of demonstrating why someone should be detained rather than an accused person demonstrating why they ought to be released, she said.

Jones and Myers both said they are also concerned that the prospective new law could disproportionately affect populations that are already overrepresented in Canadian prisons, such as Black and Indigenous people.

Theres already disproportion with the constitutional safeguards in place, said Jones.

Removing them or eroding them will only stand to increase that disproportionality.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 17, 2023.

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China is prepared to "resolutely smash any form of Taiwan independence," its military said Tuesday, as the United States reportedly prepares to accelerate the sale of defensive weapons and other military assistance to the self-governing island democracy.

A recent increase in exchanges between the U.S. and Taiwanese militaries is an "extremely wrong and dangerous move," Defense Ministry spokesperson Colonel Tan Kefei said in a statement and video posted online.

The Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) "continues to strengthen military training and preparations and will resolutely smash any form of Taiwanese independence secession along with attempts at outside interference, and will resolutely defend national sovereignty and territorial integrity," Tan said, in a reference to Taiwan's closest ally, the United States.

China claims the island of 23 million people as its own territory to be brought under its control by force if necessary.

 Displaying Its Strength

With the world's largest navy, latest-generation fighter jets, and a huge arsenal of ballistic missiles, China has been upping its threats by sending planes and warships into waters and airspace around Taiwan. With more than 2 million members, the PLA also ranks as the world's largest standing military, although transporting even a portion of the force in the event of an invasion is considered a huge logistical challenge.

Along with daily air and sea incursions around Taiwan, Beijing has held military exercises in and around the Taiwan Strait dividing the sides, seen in part as a rehearsal for a blockade or invasion that would have massive consequences for security and economies worldwide.
Be afraid. Be very afraid.

Thats the message Le Journal de Montreal, Quebecs popular tabloid, is trying to convey. Two weeks ago, it refuelled ongoing discussion over immigration in Quebec by splashing on its Saturday cover the image of a fleur-de-lis trapped.

LE QUEBEC PRIS AU PIEGE screamed the headline, Quebec trapped, in a Canada that wants 100 million habitants. There was an eight-page spread about Ottawas grand plan, declaring French forced to decline, and (Quebecs) political influence condemned.

The papers top columnists weighed in, with headlines such as: Justin Trudeau is more cunning than we believed, They want to assimilate us, All this without any debate, and Two catastrophic scenarios.

The sensationalist coverage  coming seemingly out of nowhere  got Quebecers talking, from university presidents to the folks at Tim Hortons.

Le Journal de Montreal is owned by Quebecor, which also owns Le Journal de Quebec. Together, according to their publisher, they reach 3.7 million readers each week  thats one in two Quebecers. But their influence extends beyond that as Quebecor also owns all of the TVA televisions stations (similar to CTV), the all-news station LCN, and numerous other magazines found at the grocery store checkout. The papers columnists are often on TV. So when the Journal decides it wants to put an issue on the agenda, politicians listen.

100 million Canadians

And thats what happened in Quebec City, and in Ottawa this week where Pierre Poilievres Conservatives allied themselves with the Bloc Quebecois in supporting this fear-mongering rhetoric as they court francophone voters.

The papers coverage focused not so much on federal immigration targets  tabled in Parliament last November that outline a plan to welcome 465,000 permanent residents in 2023, 485,000 in 2024, and 500,000 in 2025  but rather on what it portrayed as a shady Toronto-based lobby group the Century Initiative, which had the Trudeau governments ear in urging a population of 100 million by 2100. (The organization argues Canada needs more immigrants to fund social services for an aging population, to fix labour shortages, and to ensure GDP growth. It urges long-term thinking when it comes to housing, transit, education, and employment to ensure successful integration.) Le Journal de Montreal highlighted Century Initiatives co-founder is former McKinsey & Company global managing partner Dominic Barton, who headed the Trudeau governments economic advisory council in 2016 and was later named ambassador to China.

Quebec needs to be independent

But in response last week, the National Assembly unanimously supported a motion stating the federal governments immigration targets were incompatible with the protection of the French language in Quebec. Parti Quebecois Leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon pointed to the numbers to argue Quebec had to become independent to ensure its survival. The choice is stark, he said: either accept 120,000 or so immigrants a year and see French decline or see Quebecs political weight diminish vis-a-vis a more populous Canada. Premier Francois Legault told reporters Quebec would never accept such a high immigration threshold and pledged to ensure economic immigrants speak French before arriving in Quebec  a promise he reiterated to Coalition Avenir Quebec members over the weekend at his partys convention in Sherbrooke, Que.

In Ottawa on Monday, MPs were called to vote on a Bloc motion rejecting Century Initiatives objectives. Someone here has to stand up and denounce this vision that is harming Quebec, Bloc Leader Yves-Francois Blanchet told the Chamber on Thursday, during debates.

Winnipeg Liberal MP Kevin Lamoureux shot back that the Bloc was using immigration in a mischievous way. French communities in Manitoba, he said, are better served through immigration. There are more people speaking the French language today in Manitoba than there ever have been.

Immigration Minister Sean Fraser said the Century Initiative was not dictating federal government policy, and without immigration Canada could not maximize its economic potential.

Immigrants fuel growth

People who vote in favour of the motion are voting against Canadas ability to welcome the most vulnerable and the people with essential skills for our economy, he said.

The NDP argued immigration would make Canada and Quebec stronger. What we have before us is a motion that styles immigrants as a threat to some Canadians and blames immigrants for housing shortages and for delays in the health-care system, said Vancouver Island NDP MP Randall Garrison.

Conservative Calgary MP Tom Kmiec disagreed, suggesting the motion was about rejecting a ridiculous pie-in-the-sky utopian dream. Poilievre, who refused to be pinned down on what an appropriate level of immigration should be, spoke of a broken immigration system and noted that more could be done to fix it.

When the votes were counted, every Conservative MP voted with the Bloc but lost, 138 to 170.

Immigration became political fodder in last falls provincial election with Legault, unfortunately, tying extremism and violence to immigrants and painting non-Francophone newcomers as a threat to national cohesion. During the campaign, Legault pledged not to accept more than 50,000 immigrants and won a crushing majority government (though the province still accepts some 346,000 temporary foreign workers for whom linguistic credentials are not mentioned).

The Conservatives know their pathway to victory lies in battling the Bloc Quebecois for francophone votes. What we learned this week is Poilievre is willing to play with immigration to get there.

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Leader of the opposition Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR) George Simion declared on Wednesday that a string of "harmful", "anti-national and anti-Christian" bills are being discussed in Parliament.

"We want to announce that in the future parliamentary majority AUR will repeal PL-x 145 (the bill on the prevention of children's separation from family - Ed. note). We all voted against this anti-national and anti-Christian law. After the barrage of bills voted last week, the current coalition is now trying to push through a law that comes to sanction public rallies, under the pretense they could disturb public peace, a piece of legislation which was rejected by our Senate colleagues and which is totally anti-democratic," Simion told the AUR weekly press conference.

According to the AUR leader, the bill on judicial enforcement officers is following its course in Parliament, and the "Ciuca-Bode law" which provides for imprisonment for insult and disturbance of peace and public order also popped up on the agenda of Wednesday's plenary sitting.

George Simion added that because of their courage to oppose Bill 145, the AUR lawmakers were sanctioned by the PSD-PNL-UDMR majority, with the support of the opposition's USR.

"Today, the Chamber of Deputies Law Committee will discuss for subsequent reporting PL-x 144/2023, the bill which creates the legal framework for Romanian citizens to be subjected to enforcement orders by European and even Swiss judicial courts. This bill will allow citizens from the European area and from Switzerland to join Romania's judiciary," reads a post on AUR's Facebook page.

According to the cited source, this government-initiated bill will allow the enforcement of court orders on any Romanian citizen, by a mere electronic signature, with goods and properties being particularly targeted.

The Chamber of Deputies adopted on May 11 by a vote of 222 to 40 the bill on the organization of activities for the prevention of the child's separation from family. During the debates, the AUR deputies protested against the bill, displaying placards in front of the podium, that read: "Helping family, not stealing children", "Stop the national robbery". AGERPRES
In the last 24 hours, Arad and Bihor county border police caught 71 migrants as they attempted to illegally cross the border into Hungary, some of them hidden in the trunks of cars loaded on a shipping platform.

57 migrants were discovered at the Nadlac II Border Crossing Point during checks on two long-haul trucks driven by Turkish nationals and which transported furniture and tiles to Germany and Poland, respectively.

"During the thorough check of the vehicles, the border police discovered, hidden in the cargo compartments, 57 foreign citizens, with 55 people found in just one of the trucks. They were taken to the station for investigations that determined that they hail from Bangladesh, Egypt, Pakistan and Palestine; most of them were staying legally in Romania," the Arad Border Police said on Wednesday.

At the Varsand Border Crossing Point, eight migrants from Bangladesh and Sri Lanka were caught hiding in the trunks of cars transported on a shipping platform headed for Germany.

Also, the Bors border police caught six Indians and Pakistanis who were walking across the field towards the Hungarian border. AGERPRES
Babes-Bolyai University of Cluj-Napoca (UBB) participated, together with twelve other prestigious higher education and research institutions from Central and Eastern Europe, in Lublin (Poland), in the establishment of the 3SeasUniversitiesNetwork (3SUN).

Centred on cooperation in areas of common interest, such as strengthening the social, economic, political and cultural resilience of states and societies in the region in the context of the multiplication and escalation of hybrid threats, 3SUN is the main academic structure through which the Three Seas Initiative (https://3seas. eu/), a mechanism for advanced cooperation within the European Union, conceived by the heads of state and government of the extended region that unites the Baltic Sea, the Black Sea and the Adriatic Sea, shows a press release sent to AGERPRES on Wednesday.

"As we were saying when we initiated the construction of the UBB Academic Base in Neptun, UBB cannot be but anchored in the European project of the Three Seas Initiative (3SI), especially in the strategic domains related to digitization and energy (and many others). I am glad that our academic effort will be coordinated with that of other universities in this area, now united under the 3SeasUniversitiesNetwork (3SUN). I invite other universities in Romania to join this new initiative," said UBB rector, Professor Daniel David, according to the press release.

Babes-Bolyai University of Cluj-Napoca (UBB) is the university with the oldest academic tradition in Romania (started 442 years ago, in 1581), representing the largest academic community in the country (with about 55,000 people, from 15 localities and 11 counties). Since its founding, UBB has been part of the gallery of prestigious and reference universities in Romania, and for seven years it has been ranked first in the country in the University Metaranking, which summarizes the major international rankings of universities, according to the source.

In addition, for several years UBB has also been in the top positions in the country in the international global rankings by fields, being consistently among the top 5 percent of the world's universities (out of approximately 30,000).AGERPRES
The soldiers of the 30th Guards Brigade Mihai Viteazul organized, on Tuesday, at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Bucharest's Carol I Park, the lighting ceremony of 100 candles to honor and appreciate the soldiers who fell in the line of duty.

In the series of demonstrations dedicated to honoring all the heroes of the nation, known and unknown, fallen in all times and on all battlefields for the country, the ceremony included the lighting of torches, the prayer of remembrance of the heroes spoken by a military priest, the candle lighting ceremony, recital of military music and the end of the activity with the Lights Out signal.

The event was attended by the military of the 30th Guard Brigade, representatives of the Defense Staff and the Mihai Viteazul 30 Tradition and Continuity Association, part of these veterans of the guard unit who, in 1991, accompanied the procession to bring back the bones of the Unknown Soldier in the Romanian Capital City.

Since 1991, among the missions of the military of the 30th Guards Brigade Mihai Viteazul are the permanent guard and the assurance of the ceremonies taking place at the monument.

"After the First World War, the belligerent states wanted to honor the memory of the heroes who fell in the war and, thus, several countries chose a national symbol to embody the bravery and sacrifice of the fallen. Romania, along with England, Italy and Belgium, followed the example of France and was among the first states that decided to honor the memory of those who sacrificed themselves on the battlefield," informs a press release from the Ministry of National Defense.AGERPRES
Draft law on Romania's accession to OECD Anti-Bribery Convention, approved by Government.

The Government on Wednesday adopted a draft law on Romania's accession to the Convention on Combating Corruption of Foreign Public Officials in International Economic Operations, passed in Paris on November 21, 1997 and entered into force on February 15 1999, told Agerpres.

According to a Government release, the draft law establishes an important conditionality in the process of Romania's accession to the OECD, namely the accession to the organization's Anti-Bribery Convention.

"The speedy completion of the procedure for joining the convention is a commitment assumed by the Prime Minister of Romania in the reply letter addressed to the Secretary General of the OECD dated May 3, 2023", the release reads.

Accession to the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention is likely to generate a favorable long-term macroeconomic impact regarding the consolidation of Romania's position in relation to the main international financial evaluation/rating institutions, with positive repercussions in accessing external loans.

It will also bring direct benefits in attracting foreign investments, both from the perspective of safety and predictability offered by the OECD membership status, and at the level of better information of the external business milieu, for which the organization's studies and data on the economic situation of a country often represents a more credible source than those made by the institutions of the country in question.

Image advantages are also obtained and the credibility of Romania increases in the relationship with the important partners from the OECD - the USA, the largest European and non-European economic actors, with the states of the region and in general in international relations, the press release explains.

"According to the Anti-Bribery Convention, member states are obliged to take measures to prevent the corruption of public officials in international economic operations, including the implementation of policies and procedures to discourage bribery, promoting awareness among companies about the risks and the consequences of bribery. The Convention also provides for mutual legal assistance between member states in the investigation and prosecution of crimes of corruption of foreign public officials in international economic operations. The OECD monitors the level of compliance of member states' legislation, policies and practices. The anti-bribery working group with the standards of the Convention through a peer review process, which evaluates the implementation and application of the anti-bribery measures of the member states", stated the Government.
EnergyMin Popescu: Almost 38 million EUR grant approved for modernisation of the Bilciuresti Storage facility.

Depogaz Ploiesti signed on Wednesday with the European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency (CINEA) the agreement for a grant of almost 38 million EUR to modernize the infrastructure of the natural gas storage and extraction system of the Bilciuresti Storage facility, Energy Minister Virgil Popescu announced, told Agerpres.

"Today, we mark a new stage in the major project to modernize the energy sector in our country: the grant of approximately 38 million EUR for the modernization of the infrastructure of the natural gas storage and extraction system of the Bilciuresti Storage facility has been approved. As beneficiary, Depogaz Ploiesti signed today, 17 May 2023, the Grant Agreement - Project 101103289 - 6.20.7-RO-W-M-22-Bilciuresti UGS with the European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency (CINEA), for the implementation of the Common Interest Project (CIP) 6.20.7 - "Daily withdrawal capacity increase - Bilciuresti UGS," the minister wrote on his Facebook page.

He underscored that the project "Daily withdrawal capacity increase - Bilciuresti UGS - Modernizing the infrastructure of the natural gas storage system" aims to increase the daily gas delivery capacity of the Bilciuresti Storage facility from 14 million Standard cubic meter (SCM) per day to 20 million SCM/day, coupled with an increase in storage capacity of 108 million SCM/cycle.

The total value of the investment is over 110.466 million EUR.

"The implementation of the Bilciuresti project will contribute to increasing security of supply and market integration by increasing transport flows and diversifying natural gas resources, both in Romania and in South-East Europe, as well as ensuring flexibility in operations and balancing services of the natural gas network," the press release
Gov't approves general framework to complete operational programmes under 2014 - 2020 programming period.

The Government has approved the general framework for the observance of activities regarding the completion of operational programmes financed under the 2014 - 2020 programming period, Government Spokesman Dan Carbunaru announced on Wednesday.

"Today the Government approved the provisions of a normative act that regulates the general framework by which the measures, activities, conditions and general terms will be respected to close the operational programmes financed under the 2014 - 2020 programming period from the European Regional Development Fund, the Social Fund the European Union, the Cohesion Fund and the European Fund for Fisheries and Maritime Affairs, to which the European Aid Fund for the most disadvantaged is added. As such, funding from the Financial Framework related to the Cohesion Policy for the period 2021 - 2027 is possible, projects of investments of over 10 billion euros. This will allow Romania to continue, in practice, the development of important investments in transport infrastructure, water, sewerage, natural gas, urban mobility, but also health and education," Dan Carbunaru told a press conference at the Victoria Palace.

He mentioned that Minister of Investments and European Projects Marcel Bolos, on a working visit to Brussels, received assurances regarding the payments that will be made for the II tranche that belongs to Romania from the PNRR, told Agerpres.

"In this regard, our country's request has been submitted and the discussions are very advanced so that in the coming days our country can receive the approval of the European Commission. As you know, the total value of this tranche is 2.8 billion euros and the only the remaining point under discussion aims to reach a milestone in the field of energy in the amount of 70 million euros, approximately. So, the vast majority of this amount will, in this context, receive the approval of the European Commission," explained Carbunaru.
President Klaus Iohannis declared on Wednesday that Romania fully supports the founding of a Register of Damage caused by the aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine.

"To meet the exceptional challenges posed by Russia's aggression against Ukraine, the Council of Europe has adopted bold measures. But we must continue to do more to help Ukraine in its struggle for a future based on democratic principles and the rule of law. Russia's aggression against Ukraine must remain a central point on the organization's agenda. In this context, allow me to emphasize that Romania fully supports the Reykjavik Declaration and the establishment of the Register of Damage caused by the aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine. We must ensure responsibility for the committed deeds and decisively fight against impunity," said the Romanian president, in Reykjavik, at the United for Europe debate within the summit of the heads of state and government of the member states of the Council of Europe.

He pointed out that Russia's brutal aggression against Ukraine in 2022, a continuation of the aggression started in 2014, caused suffering and destruction for millions of Ukrainians, bringing war and its atrocities once again to the European continent.

"It generated overlapping crises and challenges and fueled the erosion of the democratic information space. It reminded us, once again, how precious and at the same time fragile peace is; it reminded us that freedom is a constant struggle and that it deserves to fight for democracy. Ensuring security in its classical sense is the foundation of our security. But security also means the resilience of society given by democracy, individual freedoms, the rule of law, accountability to the law, combating disinformation and securing food supplies and energy from safe sources," added President Iohannis.

The head of state reiterated Romania's commitment to the system of the European Convention on Human Rights and showed that our country welcomes the approach of the Council of Europe regarding environmental protection and climate change.

"We support the process launched in Reykjavik regarding the efficiency of the organization's activity with regard to the environment", said Iohannis.

The cooperation of the Council of Europe with its strategic partner, the European Union, as well as with other international organizations, is essential for joint efforts to spread its message throughout the world, the head of state also said.

"Consolidating the partnership between these organizations remains of the greatest importance to create synergies," declared president Iohannis.

According to president Iohannis, the Council of Europe has been Romania's long-term and reliable partner, during the 30 years of membership in the organization, from a state in transition to a stable and mature democracy.

President Klaus Iohannis is participating on Tuesday and Wednesday, in Reykjavik, Iceland, at the summit of heads of state and government from the member states of the Council of Europe.AGERPRES
Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuca, present on Wednesday at the ceremony held at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, stressed the importance of recognizing the role of the military position in society, but also of strengthening the professional corps of the Romanian Army.

The statements were made on the occasion of the events organised by the Ministry of National Defence in the context of the centennial of the laying of the remains of the Unknown Soldier of Romania in the eternal resting place set up in 1923, in Carol I Park.

He said that the unknown servicemen have strengthened the historical developments of the country, the forging of Greater Romania and the liberation from the fascist yoke. Through their sacrifice, Romania is "in the most favourable situation in terms of defence and security in its history", through membership in NATO and the EU and the current system of strategic partnerships.

"Today we celebrate the 100th anniversary of the reinterment of the remains of the unknown soldiers who died in the First World War, remains placed in Carol Park, in the middle of the capital, in sign of living remembrance and pious gratitude to those who lost their lives in the confrontations to defend the country and to forge Greater Romania. The entire country's gratitude is brought here to those who, as a result of the vicissitudes of war, could no longer be identified, given a proper, Christian burial and remembered by their families and by those close to them. May 14 remains, therefore, to be for ever the day of the Romanians' gratitude for the ancestors who made the ultimate sacrifice," said Nicolae Ciuca.

During the ceremony, Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuca and the Mayor of the Capital, Nicusor Dan, unveiled a commemorative plaque marking the Centennial of the Unknown Soldier of Romania.AGERPRES
U.S. lawmakers are set to advance legislation Tuesday urging President Joe Biden to create a special tribunal that would prosecute Russia for crimes of aggression against Ukraine.

The House Foreign Affairs Committee vote would clear the way for the legislation to come up for a full vote on the House floor and is part of a broader bipartisan congressional effort to see Russia held accountable by the international community.

Earlier this year, a group of senators led by Democrat Dick Durbin and Republican Lindsey Graham urged Biden to support the International Criminal Court's investigation into Russian war crimes in Ukraine after that body issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The vote comes just hours after Ukraine beat back a Russian hypersonic missile attack on Kyiv using U.S. Patriot missiles systems.

Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen told VOA that was an encouraging sign for U.S. support for Ukraine. "It's crucial. Ukraine needs the support of the United States and our allies in order to stave off the Russian unprovoked invasion that we're seeing, and the civilian population in Ukraine is taking a huge devastating toll," she said.
Minister Budai: Romania could eliminate ceiling of 9.4 of GDP for pensions after reform.

Romania could eliminate the ceiling of 9.4pct of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for pensions, "following a correct reform of pensions," the Minister of Labour and Social Protection, Marius Budai, told AGERPRES on Wednesday.

He made the comment at the end of his visit this week to Brussels, where he held negotiations with the European Commissioner for Labour and with the specialists of the European Commission, told Agerpres.

"I had, for two days, discussions with the Commissioner for Labour and with the expert from the European Commission, during which we established the direction for special pensions. We still have some aspects to improve in the Chamber of Deputies. They appreciated the good direction of the law and then we negotiated the 9.4 percent of GDP, which will be fully removed after a correct reform of pensions in the public sector," said Budai.

He added that the EC agreement comes with the "promise" of Bucharest not to make legislative changes in the pension system until these changes meet the agreement of Brussels.
National Minorities MP Catalin Manea said on Wednesday that after 33 years of democracy, the Roma minority will finally have a National Museum of Roma History and Culture, an institution that will contribute to the knowledge of historical truths related to this minority.

"The Senate has adopted the legislative proposal on the establishment of the National Museum of Roma History and Culture in Romania, a bill that I initiated as a representative of the Roma minority in Parliament, along with 47 other fellow senators and deputies. This way I would like to thank all my colleagues who have supported this extremely important bill for our Roma community. The establishment of the National Museum of Roma History and Culture will contribute to the knowledge of some historical truths of the Roma such as the almost half a millennium of slavery in the Romanian provinces and the deportation of the Roma during the Antonescu regime. The museum will be that institution through which we will be able to show all the citizens of this country our cultural, social, political and historical contribution to the development of this country," MP Catalin Manea told AGERPRES.

Moreover, Manea added, the role of this museum is to contribute to educating future generations in the spirit of promoting knowledge, mutual respect and good coexistence between the majority population and citizens belonging to the Roma minority.

"Here we are, after 33 years of democracy, the Roma minority will finally have a National Museum of Roma History and Culture (...) We have support in the Chamber of Deputies, because there are many fellow co-initiators, and this bill that was voted by the Senate will surely pass the Chamber of Deputies," said the MP.

The Senate adopted on Monday the legislative proposal on the establishment of the National Museum of Roma History and Culture in Romania, an institution under the National Agency for Roma.

There were 98 votes in favour and 11 abstentions.

According to the draft, the museum aims to present and promote the history, culture and traditions of the Roma in Romania, to raise awareness at home and abroad of the contribution of this national minority to the evolution and modernisation of Romanian society over time, to protect the memory of the victims of the enslavement and deportation to Transnistria, and to combat racism and discrimination.

The patrimony of the museum is composed of collections of pieces and documents, constituted by the Partida Romilor Pro-Europa (Roma Pro-Europe Party) Association, member of the Council of National Minorities, in collaboration with other public or private institutions, non-governmental organisations from the country and abroad, as well as pieces coming from transfers, donations and acquisitions, according to the law.

The tasks of the museum are the collection of documents and documents on the history of the Roma; the drawing up, coordination of educational and research programmes and/or projects, training and education internships in the specific area; carrying out studies and research, at home and abroad, to deepen the knowledge of the history of the Roma, the enslavement and deportation in Transnistria; organisation of scientific research activities, conferences, exhibitions, exchanges of experience and seminars with informative-educational character, including through international collaboration and participation; editing and publication of studies, books, articles, correspondence, photographic and multimedia memory, collections of documents, photographic albums on the history of Roma, the enslavement and deportation in Transnistria.

The Senate is the first chamber notified, the Chamber of Deputies being the decision-making body for this bill. AGERPRES
PM Ciuca: Education - national priority in new Government's programme.

Education will be a national priority in the government programme that will be approved next week within the coalition and with which the new Government will come into operation, Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuca announced on Wednesday.

Ciuca met, before the Government meeting, with the representatives of the unions in Education. The president of the Chamber of Deputies, Marcel Ciolacu, also participated in the meeting, told Agerpres.

"It was very important to have a meeting with the representatives of the education unions. Together with the president of the Chamber of Deputies, Mr. Marcel Ciolacu, also in the team, the Minister of Education, the Minister of Finance and the Secretary of State from the Ministry of Labor, we had a very good. (...) Education is and will be a priority for the Government of Romania for the current governing coalition. I presented very clearly what the Government's budgetary possibilities are at the moment and (...) we committed to close the Annex 8 of Law 53. It is an annex and an undertaking that covers all the professional categories that remained in that annex. We have also undertaken, at the coalition level, in the government program that will be approved next week and with which it will enter When the new Government is in office, together with the representatives of the trade unions, we will enter the agreed text from which it will be very clear that education is a national priority", Nicolae Ciuca said at the beginning of the Government meeting.

The prime minister added that the approach is as "sincere and honest" as possible towards those who work in education, teachers, non-teaching staff and is "an honest approach towards us."

"It expresses very clearly, at the moment, what is, on the one hand, the financial possibility now, as we speak, what is the approach for the entry into force of the education laws and the new salary law, as it was assumed in the National Recovery and Resilience Plan," said Ciuca.

The prime minister announced that a new meeting with the representatives of the education unions will take place on Monday.

"I understood that it is necessary for the union leaders to go and present the content of the discussions we had today, then on Monday we will have a new meeting in the same format and in which we will be able to materialize what we discussed", added Nicolae Ciuca.
PM Ciuca: Romanian authorities are ready to support rescue missions in Italy.

Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuca announced on Wednesday that the Romanian authorities are ready to offer their support in the rescue missions following the floods in Italy.

"We are ready to support the Government and the Italian people, following the floods and landslides that took place on a large scale in the north of this country. We are ready to offer our support to the Italian authorities for the rescue missions of the victims of the floods," it is shown in a message the PM wrote on Twitter.

During the press conference held at the end of the Government meeting on Wednesday, the spokesman for the Executive, Dan Carbunaru, conveyed condolences from Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuca to the victims of the floods in Italy.

"The Government of Romania, through the relevant structures, especially the Ministry of Interior, is prepared to provide assistance to the Italian authorities to come to the support of those who intervene to save human lives or to remove the effects of these floods," he stated.
President Klaus Iohannis, attending the Summit of heads of State and government of the Council of Europe member states, said that democratic values are under pressure on the European continent, which is why it is more important than ever to invest in resilient democracies capable of protecting fundamental rights.

The remarks were made at the start of the roundtable on "Safeguarding democracy in testing times - risks, resilience and recommitment", held at the summit in Reykjavik, Iceland.

The president pointed out that in recent years, Europe has faced a number of challenges, starting with the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic, which has generated "unavoidable restrictions", but also a "huge wave" of misinformation, which has allowed the resurgence of "exacerbated nationalism". Klaus Iohannis mentioned that hate speech, misinformation, manipulation, violence against journalists and malign influences are just a few examples of the effects of these crises across Europe.

"Democratic values, civic space, freedom of the media, diversity and liberal democracy are all under pressure on the European continent. Thus, it is now more important than ever to invest in making democracies more resilient and better able to protect our fundamental rights," he said.

Klaus Iohannis said that democratic countries support Ukraine and its citizens, but also the fight for freedom, democracy, against intimidation, authoritarianism and tyranny.

"By its illegal aggression against Ukraine, Russia has violated international law, bringing a major threat to the democratic system. Russia's war is an attack on our common values and principles. But this crisis, the most severe since the end of the Second World War, has catalysed our unity and determination to defend the democratic way of life," Iohannis said.AGERPRES
President Iohannis has bilateral meetings with counterparts from Czech Republic, Austria, Slovenia.

President Klaus Iohannis had bilateral meetings with counterparts from the Czech Republic - Petr Pavel, Austria - Alexander Van der Bellen, and Slovenia - Natasa Pirc Musar, on the sidelines of his participation in the summit of heads of state and government of the Council of Europe member states, taking place in Reykjavik, Iceland, told Agerpres.

"In-depth exchange of views with @prezidentpavel regarding the excellent Romania - Czech Republic bilateral relations and coordination within EU and NATO on supporting Ukraine and most effective ways to deal with the consequences of the Russian aggression," Iohannis wrote on Twitter on Wednesday.

The talks with the Austrian President aimed at the bilateral relations and Romania's accession to the free movement area.

"I have continued my substantial dialogue with Austrian President @vanderbellen on Romania - Austria bilateral relations. We will continue working together for a positive solution to Romania's accession to the Schengen Area which is in the benefit of both countries' citizens," Iohannis wrote on Twitter.

With the Slovenian counterpart, the Romanian head of state discussed the bilateral collaboration and the coordination inside the European Union.

"We have also discussed the main challenges faced by our region&the cooperation within the Three Seas Initiative in the preparation of the Summit in Bucharest," Iohannis also wrote on Twitter.

President Klaus Iohannis participated in Reykjavik, Iceland, Tuesday through Wednesday, in the summit of heads of state and government of the Council of Europe member states.
President Iohannis: I expect negotiations within the coalition to end next week.

President Klaus Iohannis said on Wednesday that he expects the negotiations within the government coalition regarding the division of ministries to be completed by next week, told Agerpres.

"The issues related to the division of the ministries, by whom and how the coalition is formed are matters that are negotiated between the parties, this is not a negotiation in which the president of the state has a role, but my expectation is that these negotiations will be completed by next week, and I hope that the necessary procedures will be initiated and completed in a couple of days, so that we will have a new Government through which the so-called rotation is carried out, i.e. the prime ministers will change and the ministries will be headed by new high-performing people," said Iohannis, in Reykjavik.

The head of state was asked if, in his opinion, in the context of the rotation at the level of the Executive, the protocol of the coalition should be renegotiated and if there would still be a stability of it in the conditions in which the UDMR (Democratic Union of Hungarians in Romania) would leave the government.

President Klaus Iohannis participated on Tuesday and Wednesday, in Reykjavik, in the summit of the heads of state and government from the member states of the Council of Europe.
US Ambassador: I am very proud of the American Corner network in Romania.

The American Corner Center in Bucharest marked 10 years since its establishment on Wednesday, in the presence of the US Ambassador in Bucharest, Kathleen Kavalec, who emphasized that through this platform there is direct interaction with the public, who can find out various information about her country, told Agerpres.

There are few things that make me as proud as our extraordinary network of 10 American Corners, said the diplomat.

She explained that in these places the public can find out information about study opportunities, tourism, pop culture.

These places are also a platform through which we can interact with the public and bring in speakers, experts in various fields, from combating anti-Semitism to recognizing disinformation, to lighter topics such as tourism in the US and its national parks, American literature or simply where to find a good hamburger in Los Angeles, said Kavalec.

According to her, when she came to Romania for the first time, in 2005, there were only two such spaces in our country, and in the following three years she participated in the inauguration of six more.

For his part, Culture Minister Lucian Romascanu spoke about the connection between the cultures of Romania and the USA.

"I am very sure that one day we could make the idea of having a common cultural fund between Romania and the USA a reality," he pointed out.

The American Corner Bucharest resource and information center was inaugurated on June 20, 2013, based on a partnership between the United States Embassy in Bucharest and the National Library of Romania. The American Corners program in Romania started in 2005. Currently, there are ten active American Corner centers in Bacau, Baia Mare, Bucharest, Cluj-Napoca, Constanta, Craiova, Iasi, Sibiu, Timisoara, Targu Mures, which are part of the global network of over 700 American spaces, in over 150 countries. The largest American Corner in the country was inaugurated for the public at the "ASTRA" Library in Sibiu in December 2022.
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SEOUL, South Korea (AP)  North Korean leader Kim Jong Un examined a finished military spy satellite, which his country is expected to launch soon, during a visit to an aerospace facility where he described space-based reconnaissance as crucial for countering the U.S. and South Korea.

Kim during Tuesdays visit approved an unspecified future action plan in preparations for launching the satellite, North Koreas official Korean Central News Agency said Wednesday. North Korea hasn't disclosed a target date for the launch, which some analysts say may be in the next few weeks.

That launch would use long-range missile technology banned by past U.N. Security Council resolutions, although previous missile and rockets tests have demonstrated North Korea's ability to deliver a satellite into space.

There are more questions, however, about the satellite's capability. Some South Korean analysts say the satellite shown in North Korean state media photos appears too small and crudely designed to support high-resolution imagery. Photos that North Korean media released from past missile launches were low-resolution.

Photos released by the Rodong Sinmun newspaper of Tuesday's visit showed Kim and his daughter  dressed in white lab coats  talking with scientists near an object that looked like the main component of a satellite. The newspaper did not identify the object, which was surrounded by a perimeter of red tape.

KCNA said the satellite was deemed ready to be loaded onto a rocket after scientists examined the device's assembly and put it through tests to confirm whether it would withstand the environment of space.

South Koreas Foreign Ministry said North Korea has yet to inform international maritime and telecommunication authorities of any launch plans. It said a North Korean satellite launch would violate various U.N. Security Council resolutions banning the North from any launches involving ballistic technologies and threaten regional peace and stability.

The announcing of the satellite launch plan shows yet again that the North Korean regime is preoccupied with continuing its illegal provocations while ignoring the plight of its people, the ministry said in a statement, in referring to North Koreas broken economy and deepening international isolation.

The visit was Kims first public appearance in about a month, following a previous visit to the aerospace center on April 18 as state media announced that the satellite had been built.

Kim said acquiring a spy satellite would be crucial for his efforts to bolster the countrys defense as U.S. imperialists and (South) Korean puppet villains escalate their confrontational moves against the North, KCNA said.

He was apparently referring to the expansion of joint military exercises between the United States and South Korea and the allies' discussions on strengthening their nuclear deterrence strategies to cope with threats from North Korea, which has test-fired around 100 missiles since the start of 2022.

The next step in North Koreas launch preparations, or the future action plan state media mentioned, could be installing the satellite on what would likely be a three-stage space rocket, said Kim Dong-yub, a professor at Seouls University of North Korean Studies.

Depending on how North Korean preparations go, the launch could be conducted as early as mid-June, although Pyongyang might also time the event to major state anniversaries that fall in July, September or October, the professor said.

Recent commercial satellite images indicate rapid construction activities at North Koreas northwest rocket launch facility, where the country last conducted a satellite launch in 2016, the North Korea-focused 38 North website said Monday. The activities include construction on the facilitys main satellite launch pad and possible efforts to establish a new launch pad at the edge of the site near the sea, 38 North said in its report.

Spy satellites are among a slew of advanced weapons systems Kim Jong Un has vowed to develop. Others on his wish list include solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missiles, nuclear-powered submariners, hypersonic missiles and multiwarhead missiles.

North Korea has tested some of those weapons in recent months, including its first flight-test of a solid-fuel ICBM last month, but experts say the North may need more time and technological breakthroughs to make those systems functional.

In response to North Korean plans to launch a military spy satellite, Japans military last month ordered troops to activate missile interceptors and get ready to shoot down fragments from the satellite that may fall on the Japanese territory.

North Korea placed its first and second Earth observation satellites into orbit in 2012 and 2016, but foreign experts say neither transmitted imagery back to North Korea. The U.N. Security Council issued sanctions over those launches.

North Korea has avoided new Security Council sanctions for its recent ballistic tests in 2022 and this year as Moscow and Beijing continue to block U.S.-led efforts to dial up pressure on Pyongyang, underscoring a divide between the council's permanent members that deepened over Russia's war on Ukraine.
President Yoon Suk-yeol on Tuesday vetoed an opposition-backed law on Tuesday that aims to improve the working conditions of nurses, citing conflict between relevant medical groups.

It was the second time Yoon has exercised his presidential veto of a bill since coming to office a little over a year ago.

"Public health is secured through collaboration among medical professionals in a variety of fields. The bill incites an excessive amount of conflict between these groups," Yoon said.

The bill outlines the roles and duties of licensed nurses separately from the "guidance of physicians" stipulated under current law.

Doctors' organizations fear that it would lead to nurses opening their own clinics and lead to confusion in the public health system, while nursing assistants argue it would discriminate against them.
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NECOCLL Colombia  One TikTok video  it's been viewed 17.4 million times  claims that as of Thursday, "people who arrive at the U.S. border will not be able to be deported."

In another, a man snaps his fingers and warns viewers that deportations will be "immediate."

And for the Venezuelan migrants preparing to walk the 70 mile stretch of jungle that divides South from Central America, one of the most dangerous stages of their journey to the United States, it was nearly impossible to know what to believe.

With the end on Thursday of Title 42, the pandemic-era policy that the Trump and Biden administrations used to expel immigrants who entered the United States illegally, their WhatsApp and Facebook groups have been flooded with conflicting intelligence about what might await them at the border. Voice memos from family members and friends and friends-of-friends added more grist to the rumor mill.

"They're all cuentos de camino'' said migrant advocate Patricia Andrade. Literally, "road stories' but also a Venezuelan phrase for gossip.

Even with limited cellphone reception, migrants rely on these social media channels for information on their way to the United States. This week, as illegal border crossings surged, the messages were especially confusing. So was the policy itself: Biden administration officials say a new system will make it easier for border agents to deport asylum seekers who cross illegally, while allowing more migrants to enter legally by using an app.

U. S. officials warn that migrants who cross illegally could be deported, barred for five years and prosecuted for the crime of illegal entry.

But many migrants are hearing inaccurate or entirely different versions of the policy change in widely shared videos on Instagram and TikTok. The hashtag #titulo42 was viewed more than 109 million times on TikTok by Friday afternoon.

"Luis, listen to what I'm going to tell you. ... They're deporting people, anyone getting there iIlegally," a Colombian woman told her son-in--law, Luis Enrique Montoya, 24, in a WhatsApp voice memo as he rode a bus through Honduras toward the Guatemalan border. "They say, 'Come on in, come on in,' and it turns out that when they come in, it's so they can put them on a plane and send them back here ."

In Necoci, a coastal town near the entrance of the Darien Gap, the roadless jungle between Colombia and Panama, an advocate for migrants noticed the confusion among the gathering hundreds. On Thursday, hours before Title 42 was set to expire, Marlyn Luque Urquiola stood in a circle with a group of migrants on a beach and asked what they knew about the change in border policy.

"Have you received information from some institution?" Luque asked. Had they been given any guidance from U.N. agencies or other groups?

"Nothing," one man said. "This is the first time I'm receiving any!'

"Where have you received information?" Luque asked.

"On social media, pretty much' another man said. "You see everything that happens on there and get informed, little by little!' She asked one young man what he knew about the end of Title 42.

"Honestly, nothing, because one person tells you one thing, and another person tells you another thing," said Heisber Silva, a 24-year old Venezuelan.

"What are your plans for getting into the United States?"

Luque asked.

"To turn myself in to immigration:' he said. He had heard something about an application, he said, but didn't know anything about it.

Silva had left Venezuela four years earlier, after experiencing sexual assault, death threats and intense homophobia, he said. He spent years in Lima, Peru, working in nightclubs, before making his way to Colombia. Now, with $100 in his pockets, he hoped to reach the United States. Maybe the United States, he hoped, would be a safer place for a gay man. But he worried about what might happen at the border.

From here on out, Luque explained, there would be new requirements for migrants entering the United States. She suggested that they use the U.S. Customs and Border Protection application and wait for an appointment with immigration authorities.

Some migrants don't learn about the system until they get to Mexico, she told The Washington Post, when they might have failed to carry with them the documents they would need. Her goal was to tell them the requirements before they left so they would be better prepared at the border. She hoped.

Of all the migrants Luque spoke with on Thursday, she said, only one understood the end of Title 42, through a Telegram channel. Most of the others knew very little to nothing at all. But as news spread on social media and WhatsApp, many feared it amounted to a closed border.

"For many of them, it was the end of the American Dream' Luque said. Migrants who had made it to Panama and Costa Rica told her they were turning around and heading back to Colombia. Many had run out of money, and they wouldn't be able to wait in Mexico for an appointment with immigration authorities.

Others were resolute. Robert Castillo, a 43-year-old originally from Maracay, Venezuela, crossed the Darien Gap and made it to the U.S. border in March. But he was stopped by migration authorities and sent back to Mexico, he said, where he suffered an accident while trying to board the freight train hopped by migrants known as "The Beast." 1-us foot was crushed and ultimately amputated. But now he was trying to cross again.

"I'm going there, and no one will change my mind," he said. "Some people say that if you get caught, you get deported to your country, but I don't know if that's true. A friend of mine crossed and apparently is now in a shelter, but I'm waiting for her to contact me and tell me how she did it'

As Title 42 expired at 11:5,9 p.m. Thursday, many migrants were unsure what to do next. Nayrobi, 38, had traveled to Necocil from Venezuela with her four children. Nayrobi, who spoke on the condition that her last name be withheld out of concern for their security, had hoped to make it to the U.S. border before the policy changed. She had heard in TikTok videos and on Facebook that the border would be closing after Thursday.

But by the time she had reached Necocil, she had run out of money, and she wasn't sure whether it was worth continuing the journey. She decided she would wait until she knew more about the situation at the border  whether President Joe Biden was, in fact, closing it to migrants like her.

"We'll see what the president says' she said.

Schmidt reported from Bogota, Colombia. Ana Vanessa Herrero in Caracas, Venezuela, and Diana Duran in Bogota contributed to this report.
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ST. LOUIS  Crewmen doused a mattress fire on the steamboat White Cloud, moored on the north end of the city's landing. They aired the bedding on deck, then dragged it back into a cabin.

They must have missed an ember. About 10 p.m., flames burst from the passenger deck. Watchmen along the crowded landing clanged bells of alarm. Volunteers of Missouri Fire Co. No. 5, first to the scene, saw fire leaping from the White Cloud onto the adjoining steamboat, the Edward Bates.

A hard wind blew from the northeast across the Mississippi River. It would serve as a bellows for the long, destructive night of May 17-18, 1849 - St. Louis' Great Fire.

The firestorm added misery to the city's worst single disaster, a cholera epidemic that would kill at least 4,317 people. The May 17 newspapers were filled with news of death. The White Cloud was just another steamboat from New Orleans.

The Bates burned free of its mooring on what is today's Laclede's Landing and drifted downriver, spreading fire. Crews on boats without steam cut their lines and tried to escape in the current, but wind pushed them back into the gathering inferno. In 30 minutes, 23 steamboats were ablaze along the riverfront.

Embers fell on hemp, tobacco, wood and other freight stacked upon the landing, which then was made of limestone blocks. Fire jumped Front Street onto shanties along Locust and Vine streets. It spread south and west into the business district, where lawyers and bankers frantically retrieved books and papers. Another fire south of Market Street, sparked by burning boats, roared through wooden homes.

Firefighters and residents retreated while still battling with bucket brigades and weak streams from hoses fed with river water. The fire skipped a few all-brick buildings but consumed almost everything on nine blocks north of Market Street. It moved toward the (Old) Cathedral at Walnut and Third streets.

Firefighters saved the cathedral block with a firebreak by blowing up buildings along Market. A premature blast at Phillips Music Store, Market and Second, killed fire Capt. Thomas Targee. Firefighters protected the Market Building, the city hall at Market and Front, by kicking embers off the roof.

Not until dawn, when the wind finally stilled, could they make headway.

The Great Fire destroyed 418 buildings on 15 blocks. Three people were confirmed dead, but more probably perished on the steamboats. At least one burning boat blew up.

St. Louis rebounded from fire and cholera and rebuilt the river district with brick and iron. Targee became a hero of the St. Louis Fire Department, formed in 1857. The Gateway Arch towers over the heart of the old fire zone.

The Great Fire of 1849
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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

Getting updates on police investigations can at times be like relationships and abstract algebra:

Its complicated.

Two criminal cases that over recent months have generated many public comments and a fair share of questions from readers are the following:

 A St. Louis firefighter was accused 11 weeks ago of stealing a wallet from the survivor of a four-victim fatal crash in midtown St. Louis.

 Cal Harris, former chief of staff to County Executive Sam Page, quit his job almost 11 months ago after a video showing him having a sexual encounter in his county office was shared with others.

First, lets look at the firefighter case, which city law enforcement  after about two months of investigation  has kicked over to St. Louis County with no criminal charges yet to be filed.

On Feb. 26, four people in an SUV were killed in a hit-and-run crash at South Grand Boulevard and Forest Park Avenue. Cedric Dixon, 34, is being held without bond and charged with 17 felonies in connection with the crash.

But shortly after the crash, 18-year-old survivor Seven Robinson-Laney alleged that his wallet had been stolen from the crash scene. He said his monogrammed wallet contained a credit card, gift cards and more than $600 in cash.

During initial questioning by police, the city firefighter admitted that he used Robinson-Laneys credit card at three locations in west St. Louis County. The firefighter said he mistook the card for his own, police told the victims family. The gift cards and cash have never been recovered.

The firefighter, whose name is being withheld because no charges have yet been filed, was put on administrative leave for a short time and then reinstated to active duty.

Now, the case finds itself in St. Louis County after St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardners office declined last week to press stealing charges against the firefighter, a source said.

Because the actual credit-card charges were incurred in St. Louis County, the case was presented Friday to the office of St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Wesley Bell.

According to Bell spokesman Chris King, the case information is just now being entered into the countys file system, but a decision on filing charges is pending because some information still is lacking from the file submitted by city police.

Charles Coyle, a former deputy fire chief and now interim St. Louis public safety director, has declined to talk about the case. Coyles office oversees both the city police and fire departments.

As to the Cal Harris case, Bell spokesperson King has called the case complex and complicated.

The situation came to the publics attention on June 29, when Harris resigned. His resignation came one week after two elected officials received a video showing Harris engaging in a sexual act at the St. Louis County administration building.

The video was sent to state Rep. Shamed Dogan, R-Ballwin, who didnt recognize who was in the video. Dogan forwarded it to County Councilman Mark Harder, R-7th District. Believing the woman might be a possible crime victim, Harder reported the incident to the Clayton Police Department.

Clayton police in turn sent the information off to the Missouri Highway Patrol, which has declined to comment. Also, a special unit within the county prosecutors office has worked on the case.

Harris has stated through his attorney that he did not share the video with anyone. And the woman shown in the video also has said, through her lawyer, that she did not consent to have the recording shared with outside parties.

State law prohibits nonconsensual dissemination of private sexual images and a violation is a Class D felony, punishable by up to seven years in prison and a $10,000 fine.

King, from prosecutor Bells office, has declined to release any specific information about the course of the investigation.

In a written statement, King said his office understands the public interest in this matter.

When we announce a charging decision, as we expect to do as soon as this month, we will explain the process of the investigation with its inevitable challenges and delays, Kings statement said.

Until a charging decision has been announced, we will not discuss an ongoing investigation, he said.

Bells office did provide an answer with specific information when asked if the length of the probe had anything to do with Harris former employment as a top adviser to Page.

No, the statement said.
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Tony Messenger Tony Messenger is the metro columnist for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Follow Tony Messenger 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

ST. LOUIS  Christopher Dunn is a unicorn.

Thirty-two years ago, he was convicted of murdering Ricco Rogers in the Wells-Goodfellow neighborhood. Dunn was 18 at the time. He said he didnt do it. He still says he didnt do it.

Two years ago, after he had already served three decades in prison, a judge agreed with him.

This Court does not believe that any jury would now convict Christopher Dunn under these facts, wrote Texas County Circuit Judge William E. Hickle after a hearing.

The eyewitnesses had recanted their testimony. Dunns alibi evidence was presented. The evidence of actual innocence was clear, Hickle determined.

Still, Dunn stayed in prison, an innocent man whom the system would not set free  a judicial oddity that stands out in the worst way. Why? Because of a Missouri court precedent from 2016 that said only prisoners on death row who proved their innocence in hearings before a judge could have their sentences vacated. Because Dunn was in prison on a life sentence, Hickle could not release him.

When I first wrote about Dunn in 2021, he had no avenue for freedom. At the time, the Missouri Supreme Court had blocked an attempt by the St. Louis Circuit Attorneys Office to free Lamar Johnson, another wrongfully convicted man. Johnson finally got his day in court when the Legislature passed a law allowing prosecutors to try to vacate convictions in cases where they believe justice hasnt been served.

Last December, as attorneys appointed by Circuit Attorney Kimberly M. Gardner argued in a St. Louis courtroom for Johnsons freedom, Dunns wife, Kira, was there. She was more than an interested observer. She was Dunns eyes and ears, watching the process that now might lead to Dunns freedom.

On Monday, Gardners office filed a motion to vacate Dunns conviction, seeking to follow the process used in Johnsons case to free another innocent man.

After decades of legal filings, research and investigation, celebrations and last farewells missed, hopes raised and then dashed, we have a feeling of real hope that justice will finally be done, Kira told me in an email this week.

Its just the latest curveball in a justice system that sometimes struggles to make sense, especially as Gardner resigns amid an attempt to force her out of office. Gardner officially left her office the day after she filed the motion in Dunns case.

Hickles ruling relied on an appeals court decision in the case of Rodney Lincoln, who was wrongfully convicted but was not released even after a finding of innocence. It took a gubernatorial pardon for Lincoln to taste freedom. Attorneys have tried for years to get the Missouri Supreme Court to overturn that ruling. They have failed.

This is the only way that somebody who is innocent and not sentenced to death can have their case heard, says attorney Tricia Rojo Bushnell of the Midwest Innocence Project, which is representing Dunn. Missouri is the only state in the nation that has this distinction.

Its a depressing distinction, especially if youre stuck living at the South Central Correctional Center with a document that says you should be a free man. What does it say about the state of the justice system when a judge bound by a bad precedent has to keep a man in prison despite a finding of innocence?

Its why Dunn, the first time we talked, compared himself to Dred Scott, the former Missouri slave who found freedom only to have the courts snatch it away in one of the most infamous rulings in our countrys history.

To hear him say I was innocent, but yet he cant free me because Im not a death row inmate, I didnt understand, Dunn told me in 2021.

Now, with renewed hope, Dunn is poised to state his case for freedom again. Hell do so in front of a second judge, who will now have a state law allowing him to unlock the jailhouse cell that keeps an innocent man behind bars.
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JEFFERSON CITY  It started with a kiss.

Missouri taxpayers paid out nearly $200,000 in March to a convicted killer as part of a lawsuit he won last year after prison guards treated him wantonly and sadistically, recently released records show.

Anthony ONeal, who is currently serving a life sentence in connection with the 2009 beating death of his girlfriends 14-month-old daughter, alleged that in 2019 correctional officers at the state prison in Licking violated his rights.

Court records show ONeal was placed in a special segregated cell at the South Central Correctional Center because he had allegedly had an open mouth kiss with his wife during a contact visit.

With prison officials believing his wife may have passed him contraband, prison officials kept him in the cell for 17 days in arm and leg restraints with no break for meals, sleep or restroom usage in an attempt to determine if he would pass the contraband through his bowels.

While in the dry cell and full restraints for seventeen days, plaintiff was not able to bathe and was forced to lay in his own feces and rotten food that was on the floor, court records say. During these seventeen days plaintiff had at least ten bowel movements and... no contraband was ever found.

ONeal had sought a judgment of at least $2 million. A federal jury awarded him more than $558,000, but after post-trial motions, the award was pared to $198,466.

The settlement was paid out in March, according to a monthly legal expense fund report released by Attorney General Andrew Bailey.

Court records show the judge agreed that ONeals rights had been violated because he was placed in the special cell 5 times longer than is customary.

The facts demonstrate that well before the seventeen days expired it was clear that plaintiff had no contraband. These allegations are sufficient to create an inference that defendants acted wantonly, sadistically, or with an intent to injure, wrote U.S. District Court Judge Beth Phillips of Missouris western district.

ONeal, who is now at the state lock-up in Bonne Terre, is serving a life sentence after being convicted in the slaying of his girlfriends daughter.

ONeal, who was living in St. Louis County at the time, had been watching the girl alone overnight in the girls mothers apartment in the 300 block of Chambers Road in March 2009. When the girls mother returned after working an overnight shift, she found the toddler dead. The child had severe bruises and burns from a space heater all over her body, head trauma and tears to her internal organs.

During his 2011 sentencing hearing, ONeal was required to wear a surgical mask and a white mesh bag over his head after he had earlier turned and spit in the face of a court clerk after a jury convicted of second degree murder.
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ST. LOUIS  The day after St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kimberly M. Gardner resigned, Missouri Attorney General Andrew dismissed his office's lawsuit that attempted to force her from office.

Bailey submitted the dismissal Wednesday, ending a quo warranto suit that accused Gardner of failing in her duties as the city's top prosecutor.

Bailey said Wednesday that the goal of the suit was to remove Gardner from office "as expeditiously as possible."

"We accomplished that mission," he told the Post-Dispatch. "It's a new dawn breaking in St. Louis and across the region and state."

Gardner resigned unexpectedly Tuesday after initially announcing she would step down on June 1. She was set to be deposed in the quo warranto suit later month.

Bailey's suit argued Gardners tenure had been characterized by neglect in office," claiming Gardner failed to prosecute cases, keep victims informed, review police use of force cases, or review thousands of cases submitted by St. Louis police, among other claims.

Gardner and her attorneys painted the suit as a political stunt that bypassed the voters who elected her.

Gardners faced criticism for years for mishandling cases, understaffing and organizational dysfunction. Bailey filed the suit Feb. 23, shortly after a 17-year-old volleyball player visiting downtown St. Louis from Tennessee was pinned between two cars in a crash. Both of the girls legs were amputated.

The man charged in the crash was free on bond in a pending robbery case despite violating the conditions of his GPS monitor several dozen times.

Katie Kull of the Post-Dispatch contributed to this report.

Kim Gardner abruptly resigns, Parson appoints temporary replacement in St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kimberly M. Gardner announced Tuesday she would resign immediately  two weeks earlier than expected.

Missouri AG takes aim at Kim Gardners enrollment as SLU nursing student Circuit Attorney Kimberly M. Gardner is a current student in St. Louis University's nursing program, an ongoing lawsuit revealed this week.

Majority of removal suit against Kim Gardner will move forward, judge rules The majority of a case to remove St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kimberly M. Gardner from office will be allowed to move forward, a judge ruled Tuesday.

Kim Gardners office, Missouri AG spar over ground rules, set trial date in removal suit Tuesday's arguments focused on whether the lawsuit which attempts to remove Gardner from office for failing to uphold her duties, should be dismissed and what evidence city prosecutors must provide to the state.

Missouri attorney general launches effort to remove Kim Gardner, claims neglect in office Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey on Thursday launched proceedings to remove St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kimberly M. Gardner from office.

Missouri AG: More witnesses, more data boost case to remove Kim Gardner Attorney General Andrew Bailey says more witnesses have come forward and additional evidence has been collected that supports Gardner's removal.
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Missouris judicial records committee has voted unanimously to recommend barring the general public from remote access to online court records filed before July 1, in the hopes of preventing the accidental release of Social Security numbers.

Only the state Supreme Court has the power to change court operating rules. Its not clear when, or if, it might act on the State Judicial Records Committees suggested rule change.

The vote comes after the Post-Dispatch notified state and local court officials in April of two different ways thousands of documents containing sensitive private information could be seen on the Casenet website by anyone on any computer.

The SJRC has learned that there are numerous final judgments in Case.net that include a partys full Social Security number, which is an extreme identity theft hazard, committee members wrote in their recommendation.

Nine of the committees 10 members voted electronically by the deadline Friday, and all voted in favor of the recommendation, member Judge Jeffrey Bates said Monday. The committees chair, Judge Kenneth Garrett III, will send them to the state Supreme Court for consideration.

SJRC recommendations The State Judicial Records Committee makes the following recommendations to the Supreme Court of Missouri concerning COR 2: The new redaction rules in COR 2.02 will apply to all documents filed on or after July 1, 2023. This includes court-generated documents. COR 2.04(c) permits three classes of documents, including most final civil judgments, to be remotely accessible even though those documents were filed before July 1, 2023. The SJRC has learned that there are numerous final judgments in Case.net that include a party's full social security number, which is an extreme identity theft hazard. These final judgments are, and will continue to be, remotely accessible by the public. A statute was passed in 2009 requiring only the last four digits to be used, but even that can be risky because many identity checks only require that bit of social security information to be disclosed. The SJRC recommends that the Supreme Court consider whether to repeal COR 2.04(c). The SJRC members believe that, on balance, the gain in protection of confidential information outweighs the small reduction in remote access to that limited class of documents. By only permitting remote access to documents filed on or after July 1, 2023, this bright-line rule would better protect confidential information in the manner now required by COR 2.02 and be easier to apply across the board. The SJRC recommends that the Supreme Court consider whether the language used in COR 2.05 is consistent with the new requirements in COR 2.02. The references in COR 2.05(a) about social security numbers does not appear to be consistent with the new requirements in COR 2.02. The use of the phrase "personal information" throughout COR 2.05 also is not consistent with the phrase "confidential information" used in COR 2.02. This language mismatch creates an issue about what these phrases mean and how COR 2.05 should be applied.

In a win for the public and advocates of transparency, on July 1 the court will begin phasing in a broad expansion of electronic access to open court records, coupled with more rigorous requirements for redacting those records.

For years, the Supreme Courts operating rules have allowed the public to view only three types of documents on the Casenet website: liens on real estate, final civil judgments and some probate orders and decrees. To see most other types of documents, like criminal complaints or divorces, requires an in-person visit to a courthouse.

But the Post-Dispatch found that thousands of documents filed by a state agency over a four-year period contained unredacted Social Security numbers. Because they were civil judgments, they were available to see on Casenet from any computer without any special access.

The newspapers discovery brought to light the hazards of continuing to allow remote access to old documents in those three categories, Bates said last month.

The committees recommendation asks the Supreme Court to consider repealing Court Operating Rule 2.04. If the court does so, seeing any document filed before July 1 would require a trip to the courthouse.

The SJRC members believe that, on balance, the gain in protection of confidential information outweighs the small reduction in remote access to that limited class of documents, the judges wrote.

The committee previously directed the Office of the State Courts Administrator, or OSCA, to identify and elevate the security levels of the problematic documents filed by the state agency. That process is ongoing.

In other action, the judicial records committee also voted unanimously on a second recommendation that the Supreme Court consider whether some of the language in Court Operating Rule 2.05, which governs access to personal information, is consistent with new requirements added to Rule 2.02.
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Kim Gardner abruptly resigns, Parson appoints temporary replacement in St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kimberly M. Gardner announced Tuesday she would resign immediately  two weeks earlier than expected.

ST. LOUIS  Missouri Gov. Mike Parson said Tuesday he will appoint an interim St. Louis prosecutor by Friday following the sudden departure of Circuit Attorney Kimberly M. Gardner.

Parson's announcement comes after the surprise resignation of Gardner, who announced earlier this month she would resign on June 1 but instead resigned abruptly Tuesday.

Parson said he will be interviewing some of the 18 applicants for the circuit attorney position on Wednesday.

We will give them the resources they need to be successful, Parson said of the city's next prosecutor. Again, this is not something thats going to happen overnight.

In the meantime, Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey, who filed a lawsuit earlier this year seeking to remove Gardner from office, will send staff to help the city prosecutor's office.

We need somebody in there right now just to stabilize things and make sure were doing the functions of the prosecutors' office to make sure were going after hardcore criminals in this city and this state, Parson said.

He emphasized Baileys office was asked to assist in stabilizing the office in St. Louis but that it was not a state takeover.

Were not going in there to take over that office, Parson said. Thats not our job. Our job is to go in there until we make this placement and then give him all the support we can to be successful.

Gardner's departure comes amid months of mounting criticism of Gardner's office over organizational dysfunction.

In a statement outlining her resignation, Gardner cited a "comprehensive transition plan" between Gardner and St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Wesley Bell and referred all questions to Bell's spokesman, Chris King.

King said Bell still intends to help Gardner's office, but her resignation came as a surprise to the top prosecutor in the county.

Parson had not spoken with Bell since last week and was not aware of the county prosecutors discussions with Gardner to take over in the transition, other than through media reports, Parson said Tuesday.

His office tried to meet with Gardner after she previously announced plans to step down in June but Gardner did not respond, he said.

Parson said he was following the appropriate legal process for replacing Gardner by appointing an interim replacement. Asking Baileys office to assist was the right format to handle the transition until he names the appointee, Parson said.

Parson said he previously met with St. Louis Police Chief Robert Tracy, Sheriff Vernon Betts, Mayor Tishaura O. Jones, Bailey, and St. Louis prosecutors and judges to discuss the transition after Gardners initial resignation announcement.

On Tuesday, he met with more than a dozen faith leaders in a closed-door discussion in downtown St. Louis, including several Black clergy and civil rights leaders.

The Rev. Darryl Gray said after the meeting that faith leaders asked Parson to appoint someone who was a qualified and experienced candidate, preferably Black, who is familiar with the St. Louis community and who would not seek to run for office in 2024 or operate as a political appointee.

Parson, at his press conference later Tuesday, said the applicants to replace Gardner were an extremely talented pool and that political party would not be a factor in his pick.

Its not going to be a political appointment, he said. Its about who I think will go in there and do the best job to right the ship in the city of St. Lois and has their heart in the right place to really put St. Louis people first.

Victims and families face new pain as Kim Gardners office struggles. Its been a mess. St. Louis prosecutors are wrestling with staffing and workload issues, leaving cases to languish. Crime victims and their relatives are left wondering when justice will be served.

Kim Gardner abruptly resigns, Parson appoints temporary replacement in St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kimberly M. Gardner announced Tuesday she would resign immediately  two weeks earlier than expected.
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ST. LOUIS  Police on Wednesday identified the two men shot and killed last week near the border of Jennings in St. Louis' North Pointe neighborhood.

Officers found Mark Hambrick, 59, and Wilson Tillman, 57, around 3 p.m. Friday near Grape Avenue and Riverview Boulevard. The two men were found shot dead inside a vehicle.

A third person was inside the vehicle at the time of the shooting, police said. That person was not injured.

Tillman was from St. Ann and Hambrick lived in the 5000 block of Ridge Avenue in the city's Academy neighborhood, according to a police report.
President Yoon Suk-yeol met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's wife Olena in Seoul on Tuesday. Zelenska, who is here to attend Asian Leadership Conference hosted by the Chosun Ilbo, asked for aid with non-lethal military equipment, presidential spokesman Lee Do-woon said. Yoon expressed the support and solidarity of the Korean government, while Zelenska thanked him for the humanitarian assistance Korea has given so far and asked for more aid against the Russian invasion of her country. That includes mine detection and clearing equipment and ambulances.

President Yoon Suk-yeol (right) shakes hands with Ukraine's first lady Olena Zelenska at the presidential office in Yongsan in Seoul on Tuesday. /Yonhap

She also requested the participation of Korean companies in Ukraine's post-war reconstruction efforts. Yoon pledged to support the Ukrainian people in close coordination with NATO member states and the international community. A presidential official said Zelenska did not ask for lethal weapons and understands Korea's difficulty in providing military aid.

President Yoon Suk-yeol attends the Asian Leadership Conference at the Shilla Seoul on Wednesday along with Ukraine's first lady Olena Zelenska and former U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

Zelenska on Wednesday gave an address at the conference's opening ceremony at the Shilla Seoul. She began by revealing the devastation of Ukrainian lives caused by the Russian invasion and urged help from Korea, which endured the similar suffering in the Korean War. She stressed that "global military aid" is essential since humanitarian assistance alone cannot resolve the situation. The two-day conference brings together some 200 leaders and dignitaries from around the world including former U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson and former Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi.
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ST. LOUIS  A St. Charles County business owner was sentenced Tuesday to 21 months in federal prison for using more than $3 million in employees tax money for college tuition and mortgage payments on two houses.

Jeffrey M. Bauza, 55, of Weldon Spring, was also ordered to pay back the $1.4 million he still owes in taxes.

Bauza owned two truck driving schools and for seven years, between 2012 and 2019, he did not give the Internal Revenue Service the tax money he withheld from his employees' paychecks, according to prosecutors.

He instead used part of the $2.3 million he withheld from employees paychecks for college tuition for one of his children and for mortgage payments on his home, as well as a vacation home in Florida. He also failed to pay $1 million in employer contributions to the IRS, prosecutors said.

Bauza pleaded guilty in November to one count of willful failure to collect or pay tax.

Mr. Bauza was aware of his payroll tax obligations. But instead of paying the funds he withheld from employee paychecks to the IRS, he used them to pay for his primary residence, a vacation home in Florida, a luxury vehicle, and private university tuition, said Thomas F. Murdock, IRS Criminal Investigation Special Agent in Charge.
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ST. LOUIS  A judge on Tuesday dismissed a case seeking to hold St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kimberly M. Gardner and one of her assistant prosecutors in contempt of court hours after her abrupt resignation.

Judge Michael Noble announced he would appoint a special prosecutor last month to build a contempt case against Gardner and one of her assistants, Chris Desilets, after prosecutors failed to show up for a pair of court dates in an assault case.

But Desilets left the office May 1, and Gardner abruptly stepped down late Tuesday morning after initially setting her resignation date for June 1.

Hours later, the special prosecutor appointed to the contempt case, Allison S. Lee, filed a motion seeking to dismiss Gardner's case "for the reason that it no longer serves the interest of justice to continue with this matter as the defendant is no longer employed as the circuit attorney."

Noble wrote "granted" on the order, signed it, and filed a copy just after 9 p.m.

The contempt case marked a key moment in the days leading up to Gardner's resignation announcement. Noble called her office a "rudderless ship of chaos" that forced few experienced prosecutors to handle untenable caseloads, leading to a prosecutor's failure to appear for a scheduled trial and a follow-up hearing in a first-degree assault case.

His findings added to an ongoing lawsuit by Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey seeking Gardner's removal from office and a bill from state lawmakers that would have stripped her of most of her power.

Gardner had initially said she would resign June 1, but resigned unexpectedly Tuesday instead.

Gardner did not appear for the contempt hearing in Noble's courtroom. Instead, her city-owned vehicle was spotted at the Family Health Center in the Grove where she was completing clinical hours in pursuit of a nursing degree, the Missouri Attorney General's Office wrote in a filing. The vehicle stayed for roughly three hours before Gardner was spotted getting into the vehicle and leaving.
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ST. LOUIS  When Kira Dunn told her husband Christopher Dunn by phone that the St. Louis Circuit Attorneys Office has launched an effort to overturn his murder conviction, he was quiet.

It was 4:30 p.m. Monday. Circuit Attorney Kimberly M. Gardners office had announced that morning it was moving to prove his innocence in court.

Weve had so many emotional ups and downs, sometimes we dont react with joy or sorrow. We just absorb it, said Kira Dunn in an interview. The pair met while she was a volunteer for a justice publication in 1999 and grew closer. They married nine years ago.

Until he walks out that door, we cant get our hopes up, she said.

Christopher Dunns innocence claims rely on the lack of physical evidence linking him to the killing of 15-year-old Ricco Rogers in 1990. A teen himself at the time, Christopher Dunn, now 51, maintains that at the time of the murder, he was at home with his mother and sister.

The main two witnesses have since recanted their testimony, saying they were pressured by police and prosecutors at the time to make an identification. A judge in 2020 noted no court today would convict Christopher Dunn but cited legal hurdles in Dunns case.

Until Monday, Dunns bid for freedom had been denied by nearly every possible court. The Missouri Supreme Court and U.S. Supreme Court have both refused to hear his case.

When you lie down, its over. As long as there is breath in our bodies, we are going to fight until he gets home, Kira Dunn said.

Gardner filed the motion to vacate the murder sentence of Christopher Dunn just a day before her surprise early resignation. She used a law influenced by the case of a man she worked to set free earlier this year, Lamar Johnson. At one point, Johnson and Dunn, both Black men from St. Louis, were acquainted with each other in prison.

The nation should be paying attention to Dunns case, said one of his original attorneys, Justin Bonus.

Let me make this clear: Hes not getting a favor. This is what is supposed to happen, said Bonus, who is based in New York. He proved his innocence, and because of a procedural bar, they kept him in jail. This could be anybodys relative. It could be you sitting in Chris Dunns position right now.

Kira also flew into St. Louis from her home in California to attend Lamar Johnsons five-day hearing in December, where witnesses and former detectives and officers testified about Johnsons prosecution. A judge ultimately granted Gardners motion, and Johnson walked out of the Carnahan Courthouse a free man on Valentines Day.

It takes everyones voice to say, This is what we as a community believes is justice, said Tricia Bushwell, executive director of the Midwest Innocence Project, which has taken up Christopher Dunns case.

A lot of families go through what Kira is going through. They are working really hard to bring their loved ones home, but oftentimes the courts dont pay attention until theres a professional voice.

Steve Ohmer, one of the prosecutors from Christopher Dunns trial, is now a St. Louis Circuit Court judge. During the 1991 trial, Ohmer simultaneously prosecuted a case against one of the main witnesses, who, after testifying, had pending felony charges reduced.

But Dunn, with his quest for freedom being led by the same Circuit Attorneys Office that convicted him, isnt worried about the politics.

Thursday will be the anniversary of Rogers death. Normally, Christopher Dunn fasts during this time, praying that he and Rogers get justice. His wife says that will continue.

Its something all St. Louisans should pay attention to even in the midst of crime waves, said St. Louis University criminology professor Kenya Brumfield-Young.

We also have to focus back and say the victims have not received justice truthfully if theres a person who is sitting in prison who is not the person that committed the offense. Thats why we care, she said.

Bobby Bostic was cellmates with Johnson and Dunn during his 20-year stint in prison. Bostic was sentenced to more than 241 years in prison for a robbery as a teen but was released on parole last year.

Bostic, too, was happy to hear the news about Dunns case was making movement. But with the birthdays, Christmases and graduations missed, its still hard to accept.

Its a lot harder than most people think. Its especially hard when youre innocent. I was guilty. I always looked at those guys like: How do you do it? Bostic said. Every day that hes sitting in there is an injustice.
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Parson says hell appoint interim St. Louis prosecutor by Friday Missouri Gov. Mike Parson said Tuesday he will appoint an interim St. Louis prosecutor by Friday following the sudden departure of Circuit Attorney Kimberly M. Gardner.

ST. LOUIS  The citys top prosecutor announced Tuesday that she would resign immediately, more than two weeks earlier than expected, sending state and local officials scrambling to patch yet another hole in an office that has already lost key leaders.

The timing of Circuit Attorney Kimberly M. Gardners resignation  she initially said she would quit June 1  scuttled an early plan to hand off some responsibilities to St. Louis County Prosecutor Wesley Bell. His spokesman said the office was ready to help, but Gardners surprise exit left the plan in limbo.

By days end, Missouri Gov. Mike Parson said he would appoint a replacement by Friday. He tapped his general counsel, Evan Rodriguez, to fill in until the appointee can start, with help from the Attorney Generals office.

This is a very unprecedented situation, said Bill Corrigan, a lawyer for Attorney General Andrew Bailey. A very volatile, very fluid situation.

In her resignation announcement Tuesday, Gardner said she was committed to serving the people of St. Louis and had done all she can to ensure a smooth transition.

Gardners abrupt departure throws into further chaos a city courts system thats already bending under the weight of a staffing exodus, organizational dysfunction, a leadership vacuum and a backlog of several thousand cases. Her office lost roughly a third of its attorneys in two months, and two judges filed to hold her in contempt of court after prosecutors didnt show up for scheduled hearings or trials.

The departure comes amid months of mounting criticism of Gardners office. Bailey filed suit earlier this year to remove her from office, and Missouri lawmakers filed a bill seeking to strip her of most of her power. Gardner struck a deal to step down in exchange for lawmakers dropping the bill.

Bell and Gardner, both elected as progressive prosecutors who promised to reform the criminal justice system and review wrongful convictions, have been in talks since at least last week about a plan to rebuild her office. He was seen visiting her office with top aides last week and visiting again on Monday and Tuesday this week.

But it was not publicly clear until Tuesday just how closely the two had been working.

First, Gardner in her resignation called their plan comprehensive and directed questions about city cases to Bells office.

Then, in a news conference that afternoon, Bell spokesman Chris King revealed that Bell was given security access to Gardners office, two county attorneys were training in the city warrant office, and Bells office expected to begin charging cases in the city on Tuesday.

Gardner had even issued an order seeking to appoint Bell as an assistant prosecutor in the city before she resigned Tuesday morning, but that move needed approval from a judge, and no ruling was made on Tuesday, King said.

Were here. Were ready to work, he said in a hall packed with reporters outside Gardners office. But were not sure what our legal standing is.

After announcing the intended collaboration  without details  last week, Bell was criticized by a St. Louis County councilman who argued Bell should have to get council approval before using any county resources to help Gardners office.

Bailey, the attorney general, said in a statement Tuesday evening he would send Corrigan, the attorney who led the lawsuit seeking Gardners removal, and several others to St. Louis to receive charging referrals from police and start the process of clearing the backlog of cases.

We need somebody in there right now, Parson said, just to stabilize things and make sure were doing the functions of the prosecutors office to make sure were going after hardcore criminals in this city and this state.

Corrigan said the Attorney Generals Office will meet with city prosecutors on Wednesday. He anticipates state attorneys will appear in court on behalf of the city and help clear cases.

Our expectation is well do whatever it takes, Corrigan said.

Rodriguez, Parsons temporary pick for the circuit attorneys job, joined Parsons office in February. Then 28, he had previously worked as a legislative analyst for the Missouri House and at the Missouri Attorney Generals Office.

Area counties said Tuesday theyd help, too: Prosecutors in St. Charles, Jefferson, Franklin, Lincoln, Warren and St. Louis counties released a joint statement saying theyve pledged to help Parsons appointee in any manner we can.

Restoring faith in the prosecutors office, St. Louis Mayor Tishaura O. Jones said Tuesday, is critical to a functional criminal justice system. She thanked Parson for engaging St. Louis elected and community leaders as he makes this critical decision.

Parson said the roughly 20 applicants to replace Gardner were an extremely talented pool and political party would not be a factor in his pick.

Its not going to be a political appointment, he said. Its about who I think will go in there and do the best job to right the ship in the City of St. Louis.
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CLAYTON  The St. Louis County Council narrowly passed a controversial bill that largely bars people from being in roadways.

Joggers, walkers, people with disabilities and community groups all complained the bill would unfairly target them.

Still, it passed 4-3 with Councilwoman Shalonda Webb, a Democrat from unincorporated north St. Louis County, casting the deciding vote.

"This bill isn't perfect," Webb said. "But it's to be preventative, to keep another fatality from happening."

The measure proposed by Councilman Ernie Trakas, a Republican from unincorporated South County, bars standing, sitting, walking or otherwise moving along roadways in St. Louis County where sidewalks are available.

People could be ticketed for violating the rule, and it would apply throughout the county unless a municipality has a stricter rule in place.

Trakas said the bill is a public safety measure that doesn't target anyone. But Councilwoman Lisa Clancy, a Democrat from Maplewood, said the bill will unfairly impact homeless people.

"This is touted as being neutral, but all of us know is really is about panhandling," Clancy said.

Robyn Wallen, transportation committee chairperson for the Missouri Council of the Blind, said her agency worries about how the bill impacts people with disabilities. Sidewalks are inconsistent and people often need to use the roadway.

The bill goes to County Executive Sam Page for his signature.
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Episode 89: Its summertime, and for many families, that means its time to plan a vacation. But there are two important variables  where to go and how much to spend.

From budget roadtrips across Montana to costly getaways to Walt Disney World, Richard Kyte and Scott Rada discuss why some getaways are worth the money. They also share some of their all-time favorite destinations.

Discussion topics:

21 best family vacations in the USA, by Nicola Wood, U.S. News and World Report

Parents choose vacations over saving for kid's college, by Elaheh Zozari, LearnVest

About the hosts: Scott Rada is social media manager with Lee Enterprises, and Richard Kyte is the director of the D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wis.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Why cant we go to Disney World like everyone else?

This is the response we got from our kids each summer as we told them about our vacation plans. Every year we packed them up into the car and hauled them 1,000 miles across the country to see their grandparents, cousins, aunts and uncles. And every year they complained that we were depriving them of a real vacation.

It did no good to tell them that only a few of their friends went to Walt Disney World. (They were convinced otherwise.) Nor did it do any good to remind them that they always enjoyed spending time with their relatives. (They insisted they did not.) The worst thing to say was that they would appreciate it when they got older. (They disagreed; they were wrong.)

Among the greatest ethical challenges facing parents of every generation is how to spend their two most precious resources: time and money. The annual summer vacation takes up a great deal of both, which makes deciding where to go for a week or two both controversial and momentous. There were several years when my wife and I would lie awake at night worrying about how to pay for it, but we never missed the trip. That was non-negotiable. Our kids were going to spend time with their relatives. How we were going to pay for it was something we just had to figure out.

US News and World Reports ranks Orlando No. 1 in its listing of the best family vacations in the USA. If best means most popular, the publication is certainly right. Walt Disney World boasts 58 million visitors each year, making it the most popular tourist destination in the world. But is that what best vacation really means?

I have always thought that the best way to evaluate different kinds of experiences is by asking which alternatives contribute most to growth, measured by both breadth and depth. Breadth is achieved through seeking out the new; depth is achieved through engagement with the meaningful.

The problem with many of the most popular tourist destinations is that they allow for neither breadth nor depth. They might be located in faraway places, but the diversions they offer could be found anywhere and with anyone. Neither the places where they are located nor the people one encounters while there are essential to the experience. Their goal is simply to entertain, not to enrich. They are junk food  enjoyable to consume but without nourishment.

A summer vacation that is genuinely substantial, one that provides both breadth and depth of experience, should result in what the ancient Greeks called magnanimity  literally, having a great soul. This comes as ones soul expands in response to knowledge of the worlds history, traditions and geography at the same time as ones love of people deepens, through spending time in conversation, sharing stories, hopes, dreams and memories.

I remember the first time this happened to me on a summer vacation decades ago. I was 12 years old, and my parents decided we would take a 1,200-mile road trip to western Montana to visit some old friends. This was a big deal. We had never vacationed more than a few hours from home before, and our 1969 Mercury station wagon had lots of miles and was prone to overheating.

The trip lasted only a couple of weeks, yet the experience was immeasurable. On the journey west, I saw the North Dakota Badlands, the Little Bighorn River and the Rocky Mountains. I saw buffalo, antelope, mountain goats and elk. I spent time talking to my mom and dad, learning things about them they had never shared in the busyness of everyday life. On the long car ride, I shared books with my sister and helped entertain my baby brother.

Everything good, said Ralph Waldo Emerson, is on the highway.

When we arrived at our destination near Kalispell, Montana, we reunited with Duane and Arlenes and their five kids. We kids had grown up together but hadnt seen one another since their family moved west two years earlier. They took us camping near a high mountain lake, and we sat by the fire late into the evening. I sat there listening to the stories, watching the smoke curl up through the pines, obscuring the stars that seemed so close, just out of reach beyond the tree tops. I wondered at the friendship that persisted over the years and across so many miles, how it could be rekindled with just a few words and then burn brightly once again.

We hear a great deal these days about the importance of building generational wealth. But it is a myth. Wealth rarely gets passed down further than the second generation. After the third generation, 90 percent of the wealth acquired has been lost. What does get passed down are character traits embodied in communities of people who care for one another.

It seems to me we should care much more about generational virtue. We do that by tending to the souls of our children, ensuring that they have experiences that nurture love in their lives, so that they in turn come to care deeply for the world and the people in it.

The other day I talked to one of my sons on the phone. I asked about his summer plans, and he said that he and his new wife are planning a trip to Colorado to see his aunt, uncle and cousins. Thats a great way to start a lifes journey together.
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An investigator appointed by the Trump administration to thwart questions about Donald Trumps suspicious campaign help from the Kremlin finally delivered his report this week. Special counsel John Durham legitimately criticizes the FBI for instances of overzealousness but uncovers no specific misconduct. Thus has Durhams original mission been achieved: to offer something, anything, to Trumps conspiracy-mongering base.

Durhams four-year, $6.5 million investigation of the investigators has yielded exactly one minor guilty plea and two acquittals. Compare that to the outcome of the original Robert Mueller investigation that Durham was investigating  which yielded eight guilty pleas, one conviction and significant evidence that Trump personally obstructed justice  and its clear which probe was the real witch hunt.

Its a core tenet of MAGA lore these days that the Mueller probe of Kremlin interference in the 2016 election was an illegitimate deep state attack on Trump, but that it ultimately exonerated him. Like so much of MAGA lore, both those assertions are false.

The Mueller investigation wasnt about Trump himself. Its focus was the Russian governments attempt to sway the election in Trumps favor. Muellers report firmly proved Russian meddling, and it also established that Trumps campaign did nothing to block that effort. At one point, Trumps campaign tried to help facilitate it by meeting with a Kremlin-connected lawyer in Trump Tower in Manhattan.

Trump himself would later concoct a public lie about the purpose of that meeting. None of this is disputed. As for the Mueller reports implication that Trump may have personally obstructed justice by threatening to fire officials connected with the investigation, thats hardly disputable, since he did much of it publicly in tweets and interviews.

Muellers report didnt specifically accuse Trump of any crime, but it made clear this was by no means the total exoneration that Trump would repeatedly claim afterward. For good measure, Trumps then-attorney general, the deeply compromised William Barr, made sure to redact and withhold Muellers report until he could issue his own summary completely misrepresenting to the public what was in it.

Compare that to current Attorney General Merrick Garlands handling of the Durham report. Durham was appointed by Barr shortly after Muellers report came out, and it was clear from the outset that his mission was to discredit that report. Yet the Biden administration offered no interference as Durham continued his probe after Trump left office. No one threatened to fire anyone. Garland delivered Durhams report to Congress Friday  unedited. This is the difference between an administration that respects the rule of law and a predecessor who very much didnt.

MAGA world will crow that Durhams report is evidence of  something  the same way it did with the recent nothingburger from congressional Republicans regarding Bidens non-connection to his sons shady business deals. This is what they do. It doesnt mean theres any beef in the bun.
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There's a lot more to Irish cuisine than stout and spuds, although both should be high on your must-try list when visiting the island of Ireland.

That rich green patchwork that greets the eye as your plane descends produces some of the world's finest beef, lamb and dairy, while the gray-blue waters that froth against its shoreline are alive with fish and shellfish.

Irish butter is rightly celebrated and is most delicious when soaking into a pile of floury potatoes or spread thick on one of the many local breads you won't find for sale outside of the country.

Here are Ireland's most-loved foods that visitors should pile on their plate.

Seafood

Chowder: When winds are bracing and there's a bite in the air, there's no finer way to restore one's spirits than with a warming bowl of chowder. This thick soup is made with cream or milk and a dash of white wine and should be swimming with hearty chunks of salmon, haddock, shellfish and potato. While chowder is not unique to Ireland, the local twist is that it comes served with sweet dense slices of brown soda bread  more on which later.

Oysters: The best day to feast on oysters is on Bloomsday, Dublin's annual celebration of the writer James Joyce held on June 16. Purists love to suckle the salty flesh straight from the shell, but the more cautious can enjoy them grilled with bacon or baked with breadcrumbs and garlic. The drink of choice is chilled white wine or  best of all  a glass of creamy stout.

Cockles and mussels: These tasty mollusc morsels became part of Dublin mythology through the song "Molly Malone," but you can enjoy them anywhere within reach of the coast. Cockles can be eaten raw with vinegar or steamed in their shells, while mussels are often eaten Belgian-style with white wine, parsley and butter and a side order of chips (or fries, as they're known in the US).

Smoked salmon: Salmon is native to North Atlantic waters and the Irish enjoy vivid orange-pink slivers of the smoked variety with eggs for a posh breakfast, with potato bread or boxty (see below), or on brown soda bread as an open sandwich. Alternatively, baked salmon is an enticing dish when cooked with Irish whiskey and honey.

Meat dishes

Bacon and cabbage: Yes, that's right  the Irish original is bacon, not corned beef. And to confuse matters more, in Ireland corned beef is a processed meat often sold in a can; what Americans call "corned beef" is known as "salt beef" in Ireland and the UK. However, you'll struggle to find bacon and cabbage sold in many Irish restaurants, or even served up in Irish homes. The fact is there are too many tasty alternatives more in line with current culinary fashion.

Irish stew: This is the dish Irish people are most likely to roll out for St. Patrick's Day celebrations. Hearty chunks of lamb are slow-cooked in a rich gravy with onion, potatoes, carrot and parsley. Coddle is a traditional Dublin stew with sausages, onion, potato and bacon  or rashers as they're known locally. And then there's beef and Guinness stew: a dark booze-enriched concoction with carrot and potato. It's Ireland's answer to beef bourguignon or goulash.

Crossover classics: Unsurprisingly for two neighboring islands with a long shared history, a lot of the British classics you'll be familiar with are also popular Irish fare. Weekend treats include fish and chips on a Friday night and a roast dinner on a Sunday afternoon. Round off a weekend break by stopping into a pub or restaurant for juicy servings of grass-fed Irish beef, lamb or even venison served with potatoes, gravy and vegetable sides.

Full Irish breakfast: So what makes an Irish fried breakfast distinctive from its English counterpart? There'll be the usual bacon, eggs, sausages, mushroom, baked beans and fried tomato, but the Irish version will often include black and white pudding. Black pudding is an iron-rich blood sausage, while white pudding is the same grain-filled sausage minus the blood. One of the biggest pork sausage brands is Denny; Oscar nominee Paul Mescal got his big break in a Denny TV ad a few short years ago. An Ulster Fry, found in the north of the country, will also feature fried potato bread and soda bread.

Bread, butter and cheese

Soda bread: This is a yeast-free bread made with buttermilk and is thick, filling and fabulous in both its white and wholemeal varieties. Brown soda bread  known as wheaten bread in Northern Ireland  is usually in loaf form and is at its utmost deliciousness when toasted, with pools of butter melting into its every cranny (Kerrygold is the nation's favorite spread). White soda bread is often enjoyed as farls, toasted or fried and laid high with bacon and eggs, or in sweet varieties made with sultanas or even treacle.

Veda: Passionately loved in Northern Ireland and little known anywhere else, Veda is a commercially produced malt loaf made with treacle. It must be toasted  novices make the mistake of eating it straight  and loaded with butter, perhaps with a topping of cheese or jam.

Cheese: Gubbeen  from the Irish word gobin, meaning small mouthful  is a nutty, semi-soft cow's milk cheese made in County Cork. Cashel Blue is a mild blue-veined cheese from Tipperary, named after the nearby Rock of Cashel. Try them with a dollop of Ballymaloe Relish, a tomato-based bestseller.

The majestic spud

Colcannon: This side dish is a fluffy mound of mashed potatoes mixed with cabbage or kale, plus butter and milk or cream. And if you want less of those do-gooding greens, a Northern Irish alternative is champ, which is creamy mashed potatoes mixed with scallions.

Boxty: Boxty is a potato cake made from grated potato and flour which is then fried on a griddle, with delectable results. Potato bread or potato farls are thin bread slides made from mashed potato and potato mixed into a dough. You can buy them in stores and fly them up or pop them in the toaster before spreading them with  yes, you guessed it  a lovely slather of butter.

Tayto crisps: The flavored potato chip was invented in 1954 by Joe "Spud" Murphy (yes, really), who founded Tayto Crisps, Ireland's most iconic snack. Cheese and onion is the original and definitive flavor and it also works great in a crisp sandwich (let actor Jamie Dornan show you how). There are two separate Tayto companies, one in the Republic of Ireland and one in Northern Ireland, both with their own Mr Tayto mascots. If you want to know which tastes better, you'll need to try them both yourself.

Treats and snacks

Kimberley, Mikado and Coconut Creams: Once produced by the Jacobs factory in Dublin and now available through a variety of manufacturers, these are the traditional tea-time treats that have graced Ireland's homes for decades and are a staple in international grocery aisles for the homesick Irish abroad. The exotically named Mikado, with its two lines of pink coconut-speckled marshmallow piped down a soft ginger biscuit (or cookie, as Americans would call it), with a thinner line of jam between, is the first you should try.

Traybakes: Traybakes  sweet and gooey confections made in sheet trays, with or without the use of actual baking, then cut into squares  are a particular favorite in Northern Ireland, where you'll see them for sale in every cafe and rows upon rows of them in convenience stories and gas stations. Fifteens might just be the sugariest of all: They're equal parts digestive biscuits, marshmallows and glace cherries, combined with condensed milk and dessicated coconut. You'll need a cup of tea to wash it down.

Dulse and yellowman: You might not think to pair dried purple seaweed with brittle yellow honeycomb toffee, but the two flavors have gone hand in hand at the Ould Lammas Fair in the seaside town of Ballycastle, County Antrim, for hundreds of years. If you're visiting on the last weekend of August, you can combine it with a trip to the Giant's Causeway UNESCO site.

Barmbrack: This sultana-studded loaf  sweeter than regular bread but not as sweet as cake  is served plain or toasted and is often improved with a smear of butter. Traditionally it was baked at Halloween, with prizes such as rings or coins hidden inside for the eaters.

Guilty pleasures and old-school classics

Chicken fillet roll: The ingredients might not sound particularly Irish, but this is a deli item the nation has taken to its heart. In convenience stores across the land you'll find baguettes prepared on site with breaded chicken, lettuce, mayo and condiments galore. The morning sandwich of choice is a breakfast roll: Comedian Pat Shortt (from "The Banshees of Inisherin") even had a No. 1 hit extolling its virtues.

Irish salad: Before the words vinaigrette or rocket were ever heard on these shores, a salad consisted of sliced ham, lettuce, pickled beetroot, slices of boiled egg and fresh tomato, and perhaps some chopped scallions. You'll still find this protein-rich dish being served up in more traditional rural homes.

Lasagne and coleslaw: Italians may balk at what the Irish  particularly outside major metropolises  like to serve with their stacked-layer dish of pasta and ragu. The hot carb-heavy dish is often accompanied by a cold side of mayo-heavy coleslaw as well as additional carbs such as chips and garlic bread. All we can say is: Don't knock it till you've tried it.

Feed after midnight: There are a number of late-night food options that have achieved legendary status. A curry chip or gravy chip is thick-cut fries slathered in a MSG-heavy curry sauce or a meaty gravy. A spice bag is a fusion dish sold in Chinese takeways: Fries are accompanied by shredded salt and chilli chicken, red and green peppers, fried onions, chopped chili and a variety of spices. And if you simply want a good old burger, Supermac's is the nation's biggest fast food chain. If you're wondering about that name, it successfully won two trademark lawsuits raised by McDonald's.

Drinks

Tea: Ireland is, in consumption per capita, the world's biggest tea-drinking nation after Turkey. And like Tayto, the choice of brew gets tribal (we didn't even get into the Tayto vs. King crisp debate). There's Barry's Tea, started 1901, Lyon's Tea, started 1904, and in the North there's Punjana, going strong since 1896. Whatever you do, brew it strong and make sure you have the good biscuits ready for visitors.

Minerals: The Irish aren't as gasping for booze as the stereotype has it: Ireland's not even in the global top 10 for frequency of alcohol-drinking and there is a sizable population of teetotalers. Minerals is a quaint term for soda that you might still hear used by older people and one of the most distinctive soft drinks is Club Rock Shandy, a zingy mix of orange and lemon. Shloer is the festive drink of choice in many low-alcohol homes: it's a sparkling juice that comes in "white" and "red" flavors for that sophisticated wine-style feel.

Guinness and Baileys: Here come the big dogs. A "pint of plain" does, scientifically, taste better on home turf and sampling a glass of Guinness, or some of Ireland's other stouts, in one of the country's many celebrated pubs is an essential part of any beer-drinker's visit. Baileys Irish credentials are weak  the liqueur was invented by a South African marketing guy in London in 1973  but it's so moreish we'll forgive it everything. The hardcore drink it with brandy  the liquor cuts through the sweetness, creating a superlative cocktail.

Whiskey: Ireland's whiskey industry is booming, with more than 40 distilleries currently operating on the island. So move beyond bestseller Jameson and try newcomer Teeling, Northern Ireland's mighty Bushmills, or the ultra-premium offerings from Midleton Very Rare and Craft Irish Whiskey. As for cocktails, the essential is the Irish Coffee, the picturesque glass of coffee, whiskey and sugar topped by a layer of cream, which was invented at Shannon Airport in 1942 to wow high-class transatlantic passengers on their way to the States.
Prosecutors have raided three cryptocurrency exchanges in connection with Minjoo Party lawmaker Kim Nam-kuk's dubious cyber-coin investments.

The Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office raided Bithumb, Kakao Klip and Upbit on Monday, but Upbit had already submitted related data to the Financial Intelligence Unit in March last year after becoming suspicious, so they concluded that search in a day.

Prosecutors then raided Bithumb and Kakao Klip again on Tuesday to figure out the scale and source of the funds for Kim's crypto transactions estimated at about W6 billion.

Kim allegedly sold 850,000 WEMIX coins in February last year and started buying other fledgling cryptocurrencies that were considered highly risky, but some of them tripled in value in a matter of day.

Kim resigned from the main opposition Minjoo Party on Sunday as the scandal grew.

There are suspicions that Kim was either given free cyber coins or traded on insider information, which would be starkly at odds with the humble man-of-the-people image the lawmaker has been projecting.

Kim, who is close to Minjoo leader Lee Jae-myung, earlier claimed that the crypto scandal was cooked up by Justice Minister Han Dong-hoon to distract from criticism of the government. Han denied this in a hearing of the National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee on Tuesday.
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On St. Patrick's Day, it might seem appropriate to knock back a shot of Jameson Irish Whiskey. However, when it comes to the luck of the Irish, U.S. whiskey-makers might have the upper hand.

American-made whiskey is one of the fastest-growing spirits in the United States, with sales soaring nearly 11% last year to $5.1 billion, according to a recent report from the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States (DISCUS). In particular, sales of premium whiskeys from both small and large U.S. distilleries are spurring growth, as customers increasingly treat themselves to a high-quality drink.

"Spirits consumers appreciate the rich heritage, tradition and authenticity of American whiskey," Lisa Hawkins, senior vice president for public affairs for DISCUS, told CNN. She added that's there's a "shared passion" among whiskey drinkers because they want to know where it's made, the type of grains that are used and its age.

One of the most recognizable brands is Jack Daniel's Tennessee Whiskey. Brown-Forman, its parent company, said in an earnings call last week that Jack "continued to be the largest driver" of sales, which grew 12% year over year.

Brown-Forman has even expanded its Jack Daniel's product line to include pricier whiskeys, called Jack Daniel's Bonded, along with the upcoming U.S. launch of its Jack and Coke canned cocktail.

Another factor in the growth of the American whiskey market is small distilleries that are becoming attractions themselves, where people can sample the whiskey and see how it is made.

"These unique experiences have helped to introduce more consumers to American whiskey and build excitement for both legacy and newer brands in the category," Hawkins said.

Westland Distillery, near Seattle, is one of those experiencing a boost. Matt Hofmann, managing director and co-founder of the distillery, told CNN that its sales are "growing faster than ever" following a COVID-induced slowdown.

Westland focuses on making single-malt whiskey that "bridges the gap" between Irish whiskey  which Hofmann describes as "very elegant and approachable"  and American-made whiskeys, which he said are "bolder" in taste.

Hofmann also credited the rise of international sales for helping boost American-made whiskey's popularity. Whiskey exports grew 30% last year to $1.28 billion, according to DISCUS  a welcome reprieve after retaliatory tariffs were dropped. American whiskey is the most popular top spirit to be exported, with the European Union being its biggest market.


Metalcorp Group signs agreement to sell BAGR Non-Ferrous Group GmbH



17-May-2023 / 16:20 CET/CEST

Disclosure of an inside information acc. to Article 17 MAR of the Regulation (EU) No 596/2014, transmitted by EQS News - a service of EQS Group AG.

The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.



Metalcorp Group signs agreement to sell BAGR Non-Ferrous Group GmbH



Luxemburg, 17 May 2023  Metalcorp Group S.A. (the Company and together with its subsidiaries the Metalcorp Group) has signed a sale and purchase agreement (SPA) for the sale of its shares in BAGR Non-Ferrous Group GmbH (BAGR), the parent company of the Aluminium and Bulk and Ferrous Sub-Group, to FERRALUM METALS GROUP S.A (FERRALUM) on the basis of an enterprise value of approximately EUR 150 million. FERRALUM is currently fully owned by the management of BAGR and STEELCOM (Management). It is the intention of the Management and the Company that following the implementation of a potential broader recapitalisation transaction, FERRALUM shall be 49% (beneficially) owned by the Companys noteholders 2017/2023 with Management retaining a 51% majority stake in FERRALUM.



As part of the transaction signed today, FERRALUM shall assume up to EUR 72.5 million of the interest-bearing debt outstanding under the Companys bonds 2017/2023 and shall arrange for the payment of a certain cash amount which would in part serve for operational liquidity of the Company, including funding of its Guinean operations. All existing opeRating financing facilities of BAGR and its subsidiaries shall be retained.



Accordingly, and in light of the amortization payments under the 2017/2023 Notes and upcoming interest payments under the 2021/2026 Notes at the level of Metalcorp Group S.A., the Company remains in advanced dialogue with certain holders of the 2021/2026 Notes, the common representative of the 2017/2023 Notes and their respective advisors. It expects to announce an agreement in due course. Whilst these discussions are on-going, the Company has decided to postpone the 2nd Noteholders Meeting for the 2017/2023 Notes initially scheduled for 22 May 2023 to 16 June 2023 to allow for a to be agreed amendment of the voting proposals to fully reflect the final agreement on the envisaged debt assumption and broader capital structure solution and a concurrent vote of the 2021/2026 Noteholders. For clarification purposes, the current intention is that voting proposals shall be made to the 2017/2023 and the 2021/2026 Notes.



For further information:

Better Orange IR & HV AG

Frank Ostermair, Linh Chung

+49 89 8896906-25

metalcorp@better-orange.de



Metalcorp Group S.A.

Anouar Belli

+352 2799 0145 55

abelli@metalcorpgroup.com



End of Inside Information

17-May-2023 CET/CEST The EQS Distribution Services include Regulatory Announcements, Financial/Corporate News and Press Releases.

Archive at www.eqs-news.com


Even before Russia actually invaded Ukraine, China advised that such an operation would be unwise. Russian leader Vladimir Putin ignored that advice, which implied that Putin did not have an accurate assessment of what the Russian military was actually capable of. Chinese leader Xi Jinping was further dismayed when Putin also ignored Chinese calls for withdrawing from Ukraine and limiting the long-term damage to the partnership with China. Successful Chinese leaders tend to be more mindful of historical lessons and seek not to misinterpret them.

Russia insists that Ukraine is part of Russia and must be reunited with the motherland. China has a roughly similar situation with Taiwan. Unlike Russia, China does not consider a major attack on Taiwan a suitable solution because of the side effects and risks.

The Ukrainian experience has already persuaded most Taiwanese that they could reliably defeat or disrupt Chinese attack plans. Taiwanese also note that CCP (Chinese Communist Party) rule in China is failing, especially since Xi Jinping reversed many of the reforms the CCP implemented in the 1980s to get the Chinese economy going and curb most government efforts to disrupt that economic growth. Democracies have similar problems but, because they are democracies have an effective way to fix things by electing new officials.

China, Taiwan and the United States are all studying the Ukraine War for useful lessons and one of the few they could all agree on was that the huge quantities of artillery ammunition expended exceeded peacetime estimates. This can have an impact on a Chinese attempt to seize Taiwan by force. Taiwan has been increasing its weapons and munitions stockpiles for years as well as training more men for combat duty. While China has long planned to use over a thousand ballistic missiles and lots of airstrikes, they still have to get troops onto the island and deal with Taiwanese ground forces. At that point both sides would be depending on artillery a lot and the Ukraine War has demonstrated that a lot more artillery ammunition is needed than anyone planned for. Transporting that extra artillery ammunition ashore in Taiwan complicates Chinese logistical planning and delays its readiness to attack.

The Ukraine War also demonstrated the importance of motivation and morale. The Taiwanese identify with the Ukrainians while the Chinese note that they, like Russia, are basically police state dictatorships while Ukraine and Taiwan are democracies that are highly motivated to innovate and fight to preserve their way of life. China would also suffer much more than Russia from any economic problems an attack on Taiwan would lead to.

China, like Russia, has internal economic and population problems. Chinas working age population is shrinking and that is having an impact on the military because not enough Chinese are willing to serve. Its economic problems were amplified by large-scale covid19 related shutdowns in 2022. This triggered widespread and very open public resistance. The government backed down, unwilling to literally go to war with its people over this. Chinese leaders were then obsessed with there being no covid19 infections at all in China and so imposed the shutdowns. Most Chinese, however, paid attention to what was happening in the rest of the world, concluded that some infections and deaths were preferable to the shutdowns, and took to the streets to coerce the government into shutting down the shutdowns. The breadth and depth of their protests was unprecedented in the history of Communist China, and so threatened the power of the Chinese Communist Party that it submitted to public demands. This set a dangerous precedent for the future.

One of the economic risks associated with China attacking Taiwan is the economic backlash and damage to China. Western sea power will immediately block Chinese imports and exports for at least the duration of hostilities, and sanctions will block or greatly diminish those for longer. Worse, the ensuing worldwide financial and economic chaos will dramatically reduce Western demand for Chinese products long-term. Chinas economy is far more dependent on its exports than the West is on imports from China.

Next is the unique position of the Taiwanese electronics industry, which is the sole or primary manufacturer of several key electronic components. China and the rest of the world are very dependent on Taiwanese computer products. Destruction of Taiwanese computer products industries during an invasion would result in world-wide economic disruptions for several years before America, Japan and South Korea could replace Taiwans former production. Taiwan has made veiled threats of destroying the plants producing those unique products at the onset of any Chinese attack. This issue will become more prominent during the immediate run-up before the invasion, and cause increasingly greater anxiety and turmoil in both Western and Chinese markets as they prepare for both the loss of Taiwans unique products plus all Chinese imports and exports for an uncertain period.

Chinas economy would suffer most of all because China is as dependent on the West for Taiwanese electronics, and on Western imports of Chinas non-electronic products that would plunge due to lack of Western demand during a recession. The West would certainly not export its computer electronics to China given that China would have caused such economic chaos, and China lacks the ability to manufacture its own advanced electronics without imports of key Western components and materials.

The price of a successful Chinese invasion of Taiwan would likely be destruction of CCP rule in China. As an invasion gets closer, the risks of trying it will become more and more apparent to Chinas very risk-averse Communist Party leaders, and president Xi is just one man.

Another problem is the lack of accurate information on key aspects of the government and economy. All this is nothing new, and over thousands of years Chinese have realized that you cannot eliminate corruption but you can try to minimize the most dangerous side-effects, like a hollowed out military that looks great but cannot win at endeavors like a sudden attack on Taiwan. Chinese analysts, discussing this in public forums (mass media, professional journals and so on) conclude that one should honor the ancient advice of Sun Tzu by convincingly threatening war but not actually fighting unless there is no choice. That would mean using your forces to defend China but not to get into a war of aggression you cant win. Sun Tzu also advised ignoring advice from military leaders that the troops are ready for any contingency, including an order to attack a neighbor. Unless you have a military with recent successful military experience, any claims to military capabilities and success in a war are suspect.
Bygone Theatres Conor Fitzgerald Discusses Live Streaming Using Blackmagic Design

Torontos Bygone Theatre recently staged a complex live theatrical production of the classic short story The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. The production was set in the historic Campbell House Museum, and audience members were invited to wander the house to interact with unique elements in each room. Bygone Theatre also live-streamed the show using Blackmagic Design Studio equipment, including two Blackmagic Studio Camera 4K Pros, two Blackmagic Studio Camera 4K Plus, and an ATEM SDI Extreme ISO live production switcher.

Conor Fitzgerald, Producer, Bygone Theatre, talked with Tyler Nesler, Associate Editor, Streaming Media Magazine, about why they chose to use Blackmagic equipment to live stream this unique theatrical experience and about the specific features of the technology which allowed an exciting, immersive experience for virtual audiences.

Fitzgerald said that this production was Bygone Theatres first attempt at live-streaming a staged show. When asked why Bygone had not attempted a live stream before, Fitzgerald said, We've found that a lot of times what you see in live theater is people adding on a live stream where they just essentially pop a camera on and have a stream via Zoom, [and] its a worse version of the show, which kind of strips away everything that live theater is.

How Blackmagic Design made this ambitious production possible

Bygone Theatre decided to use Blackmagic Design equipment because of its ease of use and versatility. It's really uniquely set up to give an experience that's above just either talking heads on Zoom or just like looking like an awards show or something like that, Fitzgerald said. It allowed us to really integrate the ideation process of what digital live theater is. [Their] technology was instrumental in the creation process.

The setting was one of the biggest challenges of staging this production for both in-person and remote audiences. Campbell House is a historic 1822 heritage house and is now a museum located in downtown Toronto. Audience members were invited to wander around the house and interact with unique elements found in each room. The house is a living museum and was not renovated to accommodate theater productions or complex technology setups.

So just from the get-go, we had to create the infrastructure from scratch in a small space that wasn't set up to faciliate that, Fitzgerald said. So there's problem one, and then problem two is that the live streaming aspect was important to us because we got a grant from the Canada Council of the Arts to explore live streaming in the theater. So we wanted to ensure the live streaming component was unique and interesting.

Bygone Theatres team wanted one-to-one outputs from the camera to projectors throughout the house and the switched live stream that cut between the four cameras they had set up. They have a three-person creative team and a two-person technical team, and it was not initially obvious how to produce the type of dynamic live stream that they wanted.

Fortunately, the adaptability of Blackmagic Designs equipment made the production process workable. With the ATEM SDI Extreme ISO, Fitzgerald said, The great thing is that it has eight SDI inputs and four SDI outputs, as well as a separate livestream output through USB C. So that just gave us the malleability to play with the different inputs and outputs. We ended up using a dual link Pro 2, which is an SDI in and out that can attach to a computer. So we were able to process an image and have it projection-mapped as well and then still input it back into the ATEM. Just this mix of technology allowed us to both have a traditional use of the technology, which is having four inputs. We had a monitor set up, and we had a live stream that was a switched live stream, which is a unique theatrical experience to start with. But then we also utilized the other outputs from this technology to feed an image one-to-one to projectors throughout the museum, and it allowed people to explore that and have a different experience, both live and watching from their computer.

Regarding the specific ways that Blackmagic facilitated remote audience interactivity, Fitzgerald said, We decided to use Zoom as a live streaming technology, which of course is very easy because when you use the USB C output from the ATEM Extreme  it just acts like a webcam. It's just plug-and-play for Zoom, and we hosted it as a webinar, which allowed us to have polls. So at four points throughout the production, the live-stream viewers could select a poll about how they wanted the story to progress. And the people in the Campbell House had no idea that these choices were being made. They were just watching a story. So we really liked how this mix of technology [made] every single experience unique. Audiences at home could choose which of the four streams to view. We had 11 shows, and each was slightly different because of the selections, he said. That wouldn't have been possible without this particular mix of technology.

Why the story elements of The Yellow Wallpaper itself posed unique challenges

The specific features of The Yellow Wallpaper also posed a staging and live-streaming challenge. The 1892 story features A Woman placed in isolation by her physician husband. She becomes increasingly consumed by the sickly yellow wallpaper that adorns her bedroom walls, and her sense of self and reality declines. So the yellow wallpaper itself is a type of character, and it needed to be depicted with as much vividness as possible.

It's a one-woman show primarily, Fitzgerald said. The only thing that she's interacting with is this wallpaper. And in the story, it's described very vividly, these horrible yellow hues, and as well as very descriptive pieces where the wallpaper is, she's seeing the wallpaper moveshe's seeing images in the wallpaper of a person moving and shaking bars. So we needed to have that wallpaper throughout both the live stream and in-person. We had an animator create a wallpaper with various hues throughout for the story points. And then, we back-projected it behind the actress."

The Blackmagic Design tech further helped to make the yellow wallpaper effects as impactful for remote viewers as it was for the live audience. Fitzgerald said, Because of the picture quality and color depth and all of these various features of having these 4K studio cameras, we were able to play with the color balance and make the whole room just build with this sickly yellow color and really let that shine through and give the audience that feeling what she's feeling, being surrounded by this color. The other fun thing is when you're back projecting, of course, you also need to front light the person to make sure that the camera picks it up. Without cameras like this, we wouldn't have been able to do that well, because we needed to basically have a wash. We needed to be able to light it fairly low without taking away the back projection. So this allowed us to play with the gain of the camera and still have a really crisp image that showed all the action for everybody involved.

The result was a very consistent image for both the live stream and the in-person audience. We were able to pump in the direct feed of the wallpaper into one of the live outputs, Fitzgerald said. So one of the projectors just had that image of the wallpaper along with some of the action. It really gave the audiences the ability to explore that wallpaper and the intricacies of the design  we had a design team that hand-drew a wallpaper design to animate. So again, with a tiny company and a tiny team, it's really incredible what they were able to do. I just can't stress enough that testament to what the technology allowed us to do.

Why high-quality live streams of theatrical productions are increasingly essential

Fitzgerald noted that a significant portion of theater audiences are hesitant to attend live in-person performances but would still love to have an immersive theater experience. The Blackmagic tech, he said, Just gave us that really broad toolkit to work with, and I think we came up with a really cool way to use itI don't think traditional theater is going anywhere. I love the proscenium, where you have the stage and actors on stage and the audience and seats. There will always be a place for that. But I think what we need to realize as artists in any medium is that technology is here to stay, and audiences want it. They want new experiences, and they want to see new ideas. So I would say that not only is this opportunity that technology like Blackmagic Design creates an opportunity for audience engagement, but it also breeds opportunity for creation and conceptual thinking of What does it mean to be a theater?

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NORTHAMPTON, MA / ACCESSWIRE / May 17, 2023 / Cisco Systems Inc.



International Girls in ICT Day is a global movement encouraging girls and young women to pursue science, technology, engineering, art and math (STEAM) education and careers.

Cisco hosts events through our Women Rock-IT program, which began in 2014 and has seen more than two million participants, with over half enrolling in one of our Cisco Networking Academy courses as a result.

On Girls in ICT Day, we heard from women who are working on critical environmental issues like climate change and learned how developing digital skills now can help protect our planet! You can find past episodes in our on-demand library.

This is a guest blog from one of our speakers, Brent Davies, President of VP Data Commons. Brent has 25 years of experience in forest restoration and protection, leading multiple collaborations of public-private-Tribal entities to identify shared priorities, develop long-term, science-based strategies, secure resources, and implement targeted conservation solutions. She has co-created a series of ecosystem service finance opportunities for climate-smart land managers; these include a tropical butterfly farm, certified timber cooperative, carbon offset methodology, watershed restoration fund, and Tribal forest bank. Brent's work involves integrating data and technology in applied conservation projects and expanding access to new technologies for underserved landowners.

The scale of need for forest restoration and protection today means that technology is central to our success. Yet it was not always so, as my winding career demonstrates.

I grew up in Portland, Oregon hiking the trails of nearby Mt. Hood National Forest and exploring the City's arboretum on weekends. This is where I first learned how quickly our forests were disappearing and how we could take action in our forests at home to help slow and even reverse the devastation.

I started my career far from the technology-centered data commons I lead today. Working for the Xerces Society and the Zoological Society of San Diego, I started out teaching a group of women how to raise and sell butterfly pupae for profit at the mouth of the Rio Colorado River that enters the Caribbean on the border of Nicaragua and Costa Rica. We did not use much high tech but did create a successful butterfly farm that generated income for the women's cooperative that ran the farm and split the proceeds with the adjacent school.

Realizing that tropical butterfly conservation may not directly translate into a job back home in the Pacific Northwest, I went to graduate school to study Forest Ecosystem Analysis at the University of Washington. That's where I first experienced how powerful technology combined with forest science can be! Students and faculty were using new modeling software to predict the state of forest health under a variety of management and climate scenarios. Yet, we were still using Mylar plastic sheets on top of topographical maps to sketch watershed restoration projects. Low-tech indeed.

Then I went to work for a community group focused on environmental education and salmon habitat restoration at the mouth of the Columbia River-another rural area dependent on forests. There, I learned how to incorporate fish and wildlife population data to identify priorities for habitat restoration and protection. Where do we find juvenile Coho and Chinook salmon, for example, and how do we extend protections from their "anchor habitats" up to the ridge tops? Current and historic satellite, Lidar along with ground-truthed and collected data is how I answered these questions.

A watershed moment

As I worked on larger watersheds, I learned to use data science and to partner with experts in computer modeling. We started prioritizing the scarce resources of my nonprofit organization and targeted our efforts in the places that would have the most impact on threatened and endangered species and rural economies. We overlapped dozens of data layers to map areas and find strategies that would, for example, increase local jobs while improving salmon productivity.

When we collected the data and did the calculations per county, we found that for every million dollars invested in watershed restoration, an average of 19 jobs were created, compared to an average of 5 jobs for every million dollars invested in the oil and gas sector.

Larger landscapes

As I shifted my focus to larger landscapes, my work centered on the historical, current, and potential carbon sequestration and storage capacity of regional forests. We saw the potential for so much additional carbon storage in forests, especially if we were able to shift away from the dominant industrial style of management. By lengthening the time between harvests (known as harvest rotations), we found that forests can store substantially more carbon while still delivering wood to the market. We wrote the first Improved Forest Management methodology for carbon offsets (Verra's VM0003) that focuses on extending harvest rotations and includes a requirement for additional oversight by the Forest Stewardship Council. Given the recent controversy over forest carbon offsets, requiring an extra, internationally respected oversight of any credits issued feels like the right decision to have made more than a decade ago.

Now we can use remote sensing technology to monitor and verify forest carbon offset, restoration, and protection claims. We track and quantify the degradation of forest loss and forest recovery over time using satellite technology. We are daylighting the current leadership of Native American Tribes using technology to quantify timber outputs, carbon storage, and ecosystem impact over time compared to neighboring state, federal, and private forests.

After 150 years of excluding Indigenous stewardship-on top of decades of fire suppression and intensive natural resource extraction-many forests in the western United States are highly susceptible to wildfire and other devastating impacts. The analysis we conducted, built on the underlying satellite and analytical technology, makes the case for Indigenous stewardship to protect and restore forests.

Yet as forest restoration has become more sophisticated, the associated data management, curation, and analysis have not kept pace. Finding and accessing data and filling gaps for scientific research and planning for ecosystem health and resilience is currently an arduous, often multi-year task. Data is housed in multiple locations, collected according to different standards, and at different temporal and geographic scales. This lack of easy-to-access, consistent, conformed, transparent, current data is an impediment to addressing ongoing and worsening climate change by slowing restoration initiatives and impeding innovation in the natural climate solutions space.

Data integrity and accessibility

That's why I'm now focused on sharing the best and most reliable data on forest and watershed health and making it easily accessible from the VP Data Commons platform. By providing relatable examples of the applied use of data and immersive educational experiences that help connect people to forests, we will reach new audiences and inspire more action and support for forest restoration and protection.

From cultivating butterflies in tropical forests to leading a high-tech data commons, my career path has followed a long arc. Through that time, one central point has emerged clearly:

The scale of need for forest restoration and protection today puts technology at the center, to help forest stewards prioritize scarce resources, move more quickly, and have a greater positive impact.

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Originally published on Rayonier.com

NORTHAMPTON, MA / ACCESSWIRE / May 17, 2023 / For years, Resource Land Manager Neris Biciunas puzzled over how to get rid of an invasive plant that was harming trees on Rayonier's Washington land. Called Scotch Broom, it is difficult to spot and nearly invisible from the air, except for a small window of time each year when it blooms with bright yellow flowers.

Then Neris, who's based in Forks, Washington, became one of Rayonier's drone pilots. He flew his drone as soon as the Scotch Broom plants bloomed, collecting aerial photos so he could develop a precise map of the plant locations across miles of forestland. Once the plants were located, his team was able to develop a treatment plan to get rid of them.

There are countless success stories like this that show how drone flights are impacting Rayonier for the better. They're used to take a quick initial look at a stand of trees, to monitor a contractor's work, to more safely assess the devastation during and after a forest fire, and even to create 3-D images.

After a preliminary "pilot" team tested how the company could use drones in 2017, Rayonier saw the potential and launched the program nationwide, encouraging at least one forester in every U.S. location to get their FAA drone pilot's license. There are currently 30 pilots on our U.S. team.

In New Zealand, our first employee pilots were trained in early 2018 after a couple years of working with contractors to test the impact of drones. Now we have a drone in each of the five regions in which we operate, with 15 trained pilots. The New Zealand team typically refers to their drones as UAVs, which stands for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles.

"We have some clever, motivated people who are determined to leverage this technology-and technology in general-to do existing work better and, even more exciting, find new ways to do more than we could previously," says Forest Information Manager Joanna Drabsch, who's based out of Auckland, New Zealand.

A New Perspective

"A drone allows us to see something we wouldn't have been able to see any other way. It's a tool that gives us a whole new perspective," says Technical Analyst Sara Bellchamber, a self-described gamer who organized the U.S. program.

Based in Wildlight, Florida, Sara says one way she uses her drone is to help Rayonier's land resources team measure the depth of fill dirt pits using a program called Drone Deploy. The software uses images taken in a grid pattern and stitches them together into a 3-D image.

Sara says she has seen drones save costs, increase safety and save time throughout Rayonier's ownership. In the South, for example, they minimize the gap in time between the harvest of a forest and the preparation of that forest for replanting during Florida's hot summers.

"After a harvest, you'd normally have to fly a plane to estimate what it will take to prep the site [for replanting]," she explains. "In high summer, there's a haze in the sky and planes can't take clear photos through it. But drones can fly below the haze, getting us the imagery we need much sooner."

While planes are still the preferred option for imagery collection, work doesn't have to grind to a halt if a plane is not an option.

Working with Drones in the Forest

Blake McMichael and Dan Hildebrand, both Resource Land Managers based in Jesup, Georgia, use their drones when they're in the field assessing forests.

"One of the best uses I've found is for site-specific management," says Blake. "It helps me delineate where treatments are needed and where they're not. It's not replacing boots on the ground, it's giving us a birds-eye view we've never had before."

Eliminating Hours of Work

For Dan, who's been a Rayonier forester for more than 30 years, his drone eliminates hours of work tromping through the forest to locate pre-commercial thinning candidates, trees with flaws such as forking that should be removed to make room for the optimal trees to grow.

When he first became a forester, "it used to be all boots on the ground," Dan says. "But I've always been open to new possibilities."

In hazardous conditions such as difficult terrain, drones can make a task much safer. Neris, the forester in Forks, used his drone to save himself from a long, cold walk to determine whether snowy roads would be drivable or not after a heavy snowstorm (they weren't).

"It took me 10 minutes to do with a drone what would have taken me 2 hours to do on foot," Neris says.

That sentiment is echoed by many drone pilots across many tasks: work can be done quickly, accurately and more safely by incorporating a drone.

"My favorite way to use the drone is by using the Maps Made Easy software to quickly map a large area in high definition, then be able to convert that to a file which can directly be transferred to our GIS system," says Graduate Forester Patrick Dravitzki, who's based in Whangarei, New Zealand. "This is great for doing harvest reconciliation mark ups as we get an accurate measurement of the area which has been harvested, then compare that with the volume recovered to get a volume recovered per-hectare.

"This also solved a problem, as previously we had to walk the perimeter with a GPS or hand draw on a map. This method is a lot safer, faster and accurate."

Using Drones to Prepare for the Future

The drone pilots share files and tips with each other and come together for a regular cross-country phone call, hearing new ways fellow foresters have discovered to use their drones in the field and helping each other expand their skills. The team is continuously trying to prepare for what's next: several of the pilots are even part of a Rayonier "super users group" tasked with staying on top of any future technological advances that could benefit the company.

Neris gives Rayonier leadership credit for supporting the program from the start.

"They were receptive, asked hard questions, listened thoughtfully, and let us check it out," he says.

The result is a program that not only benefits Rayonier now (one forester said the information gleaned in a single flight saved more money than the cost of his drone), but it's also positioning Rayonier for the future.

"Having a team of drone pilots, the infrastructure for the program, the experience and understanding how to use the data we're collecting puts us in a very strong position for when the next development rolls along," Neris says. "We'll be ready."

Neris's drone takes flight in Forks, Wasington.

View additional multimedia and more ESG storytelling from Rayonier on 3blmedia.com.

Contact Info:

Spokesperson: Rayonier

Website: https://www.3blmedia.com/profiles/rayonier

Email: [email protected]

SOURCE: Rayonier

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VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / May 17, 2023 / Marvel Discovery Corp. (TSX-V:MARV)(Frankfurt:O4T)(OTCQB: MARVF); ("Marvel" or the "Company") is pleased to announce the results for its inaugural diamond drill program at its wholly owned KLR (Key Lake Road) Uranium Project in northern Saskatchewan. The purpose of the program was to follow up on two targets zones: the DD Zone, which was first identified by Forum Uranium, and the Highway Zone, where surface drilling with Shaw portable drills provided an 29cm interval assaying 1.9% U3O8. Both Target Zones lie at the contact of the Wollaston and Mudjatic domains, which is the primary exploration corridor on the eastern side of the Athabasca Basin, and which hosts the Key Lake Mine, Cigar Lake Mine, and the McArthur River Mine.

The highest result was at the DD Zone in hole KLR23-06, which graded 841ppm U3O8 over 1.07m. Highlights of the results are provided in Table 1, below:

Zone Hole # From (m) Length (m) U3O8 (ppm) Highway KLR23-02 66.84 1.89 553 DD KLR23-05 151.34 2.32 201 DD KLR23-06 114 1.07 841 DD KLR23-06 230 2.93 512

Table 1: Selected assays results 2023 Drilling Program

Radiometric downhole readings were taken with a QL40-GRA-1000 'Quick Link' Natural Gamma Probe. Numerous anomalous CPS readings were identified throughout each hole, generally associated with increased chlorite alteration and fracturing. The best intervals are summarized in Table 2.

Highway Zone Hole # Start (m) End (m) Length Ave. Radioactivity (CPS) Peak Radioactivity (CPS) KLR23-01 65.79 65.90 0.11 400 KLR23-02 67.09 68.17 1.08 925 11500 DD Zone KLR23-03 114.00 123.00 9.00 200 512 KLR23-04 121.80 128.44 6.64 380 905 KLR23-05 149.79 153.95 4.16 1080 3712 KLR23-06 114.25 115.73 1.48 1200 8000 224.48 230.84 6.36 852 10300

Table 2: Radioactive intervals observed through downhole probing.

The program was successful in verifying historical results and confirmed that anomalous surface radioactivity continues at depth. Preliminary evaluation suggests that the radioactive mineralization encountered in this program is in the form of vertical shoots, which increase in intensity with depth. Insitu gamma readings, derived through downhole probing, also suggest the potential of an enriched system at depth.

Radioactive intervals at the DD Zone consistently existed within a weak but pervasive chlorite alteration of psammite with patchy hematite staining. Radioactivity was most pervasive at or near fractures, and veining with massive chalcopyrite and pyrrotite.

Karim Rayani, Chief Executive Officer commented, "We are extremely pleased with the results of this program, which are comparable, if not better, to results of the shorthole programs conducted over Nexgen's Arrow Deposit, where ore grades were generally encountered at depths exceeding 450m. At KLR, these early results suggest that we may be at the top of a larger system in the most fertile uranium corridor in the world."

Marvel will continue to analyze the drill data, in conjunction with ground and airborne geophysical datasets, with the intention of designing a Phase 2 drilling program to investigate for mineralization at depth.

Background

Four NQ2 holes (847m) were completed at the DD Zone and two NQ2 holes (496m) were completed at the Highway Zone, for a total of 1343m. The deepest hole drilled in the program was KLR23-01, which reached a depth of 390m. A total of 306 core samples were delivered to SRC Geoanalytical. 238 of these samples were assayed using ICP1 and Boron, while the remaining 68 samples were to be assayed using ICP1 and Boron, as well as a fire assay for gold.

SRC Geoanalytical Labs in Saskatoon, SK. SRC Geoanalytical Laboratories' management system operates in accordance with ISO/IEC 17025:2017. The quality control processes at the laboratory are continuously monitored by the SRC Quality Assurance Department.

The predominant lithologies encountered were pelitic and psammo-pelitic gneisses, consistent with the Wollaston domain. Also encountered were psammitic meta-arkosic gneisses. Occasional units of intrusive K-Spar pegamatitic granite were also encountered across all holes.

Qualified Person

The technical content of this news release has been reviewed and approved by Peter Born Ph.D., P.Geol., who is a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43 -101, Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects

About Marvel Discovery Corp.

Marvel, listed on the TSX Venture Exchange for over 25 years, is a Canadian based emerging resource company. The Company is systematically exploring its extensive property positions in:

Newfoundland (Slip, Gander North, Gander South, Victoria Lake, Baie Verte, and Hope Brook - Au Prospects )

) Atikokan, Ontario (BlackFly - Au Prospect )

) Elliot Lake, Ontario (East Bull - Ni-Cu-PGE Prospect)

Quebec (Duhamel - Ni-Cu-Co prospect & Titanium, Vanadium, and Chromium Prospect)

Prince George, British Columbia (Wicheeda North - Rare Earth Elements Prospect)

The Company's website is: https://marveldiscovery.ca/

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD

Marvel Discovery Corp.

"Karim Rayani"

Karim Rayani

President/Chief Executive Officer, Director

Tel: 604 716 0551 email: [email protected]

Disclaimer for Forward-Looking Information:

Certain statements in this release are forward-looking statements which reflect the expectations of management. Forward-looking statements consist of statements that are not purely historical, including any statements regarding beliefs, plans, expectations, or intentions regarding the future. Forward-looking statements in this press release relate to, among other things: completion of the proposed Arrangement. Actual future results may differ materially. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. There is no assurance any of the conditions for closing will be met. Forward-looking statements reflect the beliefs, opinions, and projections on the date the statements are made and are based upon a number of assumptions and estimates that, while considered reasonable by the respective parties, are inherently subject to significant business, economic, competitive, political and social uncertainties and contingencies. Readers should not place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements and information contained in this news release concerning these times. Except as required by law, the Company does not assume any obligation to update the forward-looking statements of beliefs, opinions, projections, or other factors, should they change, except as required by law

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

SOURCE: Marvel Discovery Corp.

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Novus Maintains Growth Despite the Cannabis Index's Lower Pricing and Trading Volumes

MIAMI, FL / ACCESSWIRE / May 18, 2023 / Novus Acquisition and Development, Corp. (OTC Markets:NDEV), through its wholly-owned subsidiary WCIG Insurance Services, Inc. Operates as a national supplemental health insurance carrier and, the nation's first health carrier offering cannabis that is included in health plans for recreational and medicinal users. Today announces the release of its 2023 First Quarter Financial Statements.

The drivers that don't affect Novus' business model but negatively affect many cannabis stocks are a) IRS Tax Code 280E and b) Safe Banking Act not passing. Since Novus does not touch the plant, it can deduct business expenses, and price book value is calculated by the Benefit Monetization Ratio. So P/E ratio tends to be higher for insurance carriers that exhibit elevated growth.

What's possibly contributing to our underestimated price book value, is the miscategorization of being a cannabis vertical when Novus operates under the HMO insurance business model. We continue to grow organically, concentrating on expanding the sales agent network, and taking advantage of the attention we are getting from health carriers that want to embed our plans with their benefit packages.

Financial Highlights

Novus' Interim First Quarter of 2023, below shows the financial condition of the Company's business model.

No Dilution: No common stock was issued since June 15, 2021.

No common stock was issued since June 15, 2021. No Sales of Insider Shares: For more than 2 years

For more than 2 years Gross Revenue Increase : Gross Revenue increased 12.9% compared to the three months ending March 31, 2023, and March 31, 2022, respectively

: Gross Revenue increased 12.9% compared to the three months ending March 31, 2023, and March 31, 2022, respectively Net Revenue Increase : Net Revenue increased by 20.1% for the period ending March 31, 2023, and March 31, 2022, respectively

: Net Revenue increased by 20.1% for the period ending March 31, 2023, and March 31, 2022, respectively Profit Margin : On March 31, 2023, the company demonstrated a 40.4% profit margin pricing structure in its business model up from 37.1% for the period ending March 31, 2023, and March 31, 2022, respectively

: On March 31, 2023, the company demonstrated a 40.4% profit margin pricing structure in its business model up from 37.1% for the period ending March 31, 2023, and March 31, 2022, respectively Shareholder Equity Increase : An increase to $1,588,560 or 1.06% from $1,571,612 for the period ending March 31, 2023, and December 31, 2022, respectively

: An increase to $1,588,560 or 1.06% from $1,571,612 for the period ending March 31, 2023, and December 31, 2022, respectively Cash and Cash Equivalents Increase: Increased to $191,857 on March 31, 2023, or 2.7%, from $186,668 from the period ending December 31, 2022,

Increased to $191,857 on March 31, 2023, or 2.7%, from $186,668 from the period ending December 31, 2022, No Convertible Notes: No convertible notes issued or outstanding

No convertible notes issued or outstanding Debt: $150,898 is owed to the CEO Frank Labrozzi, no plans on exercising any call provision at this time

$150,898 is owed to the CEO Frank Labrozzi, no plans on exercising any call provision at this time Leak Out Vendor Shares : All third-party vendors who received stock issued from treasury are subject to a contractually mandated leak out of securities which are 5%- 15% of the average daily tradingvolume, computed over the last 30 trading days.

Further research will demonstrate the following:

About Novus

Novus Acquisition & Development Corp. (NDEV), through its subsidiary WCIG Insurance, Services, Inc. provides health insurance and related insurance solutions within the wellness and medical marijuana industries in states where legal programs exist. Novus has developed its infrastructure within many lines of the insurance business such as health, life, and fixed annuities. As a carrier, Novus relies on two key indicators to measure value and performance. The Benefit Monetization Ratio is defined as the total number of policies, monetized annually, which is offset by the operating cost ratio which is a Balance Sheet line item computed as Net Asset Value.

Novus' medical cannabis benefits package will work as outside developers and will not cultivate, handle, transport grow, extract, dispense, put up for sale, put on the market, vend, deliver, supply, circulate, or trade cannabis or any substances that violate the United States law or the Controlled Substances Act, nor does it intend to do so in the future and will continue to follow state and federal laws. The statements made about specific products have not been evaluated by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent disease. All information provided on these press releases, or any information contained on or in any product label or packaging is for informational purposes only and is not intended as a substitute for advice from your physician or other health care professional. All cannabis transaction is solely between the state-licensed dispensary and the registered patient.

The state laws conflict with the federal Controlled Substances Act. The current administration has effectively stated that it is not an efficient use of resources to direct federal law enforcement agencies to prosecute those lawfully abiding by state-designated laws, allowing the use and distribution of medical marijuana. Changes in consolidation may affect the provider network. However, there is no guarantee that the current administration, nor any future administration, will not change this policy and decide to enforce the federal laws strongly. Any such change in the federal government's enforcement of current federal laws could cause significant financial changes. While we do not intend to harvest, distribute, or sell cannabis or cannabis-related products, we may be harmed by a change in enforcement by federal or state governments.

Forward-Looking Statements

This release includes forward-looking statements, which are based on certain assumptions and reflect management's current expectations. These forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from current expectations. Some of these factors include general global economic conditions; general industry and market conditions and growth rates; uncertainty as to whether our strategies and business plans will yield the expected benefits; increasing competition; availability and cost of capital; the ability to identify and develop and achieve commercial success; the level of expenditures necessary to maintain and improve the quality of services; changes in the economy; changes in laws and regulations, includes codes and standards, intellectual property rights, and tax matters; or other matters not anticipated; our ability to secure and maintain strategic relationships and distribution agreements. Novus disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise. Additionally, this press release that is not statements of historical fact may be considered to be forward-looking statements. Written words, such as "may," "will," "expect," "believe," "anticipate," "estimate," "intends," "goal," "objective," "seek," "attempt," or variations of these or similar words, identify forward-looking statements. By their nature, forward-looking statements and forecasts involve risks and uncertainties because they relate to events and depend on circumstances that will occur in the near future.

Investor Contact Information

Investor Website

855-228-7355

Email: [email protected]

SOURCE: Novus Acquisition and Development Corporation

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NORTHAMPTON, MA / ACCESSWIRE / May 17, 2023 / Quest Diagnostics:

American Heart Association (AHA), a Quest for Health Equity (Q4HE) grantee, honored scholars of its Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) and Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSI) Scholars Programs with two Spring Research Symposiums.

On April 11, at North Carolina Central University in Durham, NC, and on April 13, at Montclair State University in Montclair, NJ, undergraduate students participating in these programs presented their capstone research projects to local leaders including Cathy Doherty SVP, Regional Businesses, Quest Diagnostics, and Ruth Clements, Vice President and General Manager of Quest's East Region. Members of the AHA's leadership were also in attendance.

Both the HBCU and HSI Scholars Programs were created by the AHA to invest in students of color. Specifically, the HBCU program serves a goal of increasing the number of African American students who apply and are accepted into graduate biomedical science, research, and public health programs, while the HSI program seeks to aid aspiring Hispanic researchers and healthcare professionals.

As part of the program, undergraduate students enrolled in biomedical and health sciences at these inclusive-driven institutions participate in academic and career-enriching experiences, learning about health disparities in underserved communities, how cultural sensitivity can provide safe and reassuring clinical spaces, and how inclusivity is essential in science.

"Quest for Health Equity is proud to support such an important program of the AHA," said Michael Floyd, Senior Director, Q4HE. "Each of the participating scholars should be as proud of their achievements as we are. On behalf of everyone at Quest, we wish them all continued success in their journey towards a brighter future in the health sciences."

For more information about Quest for Health Equity, visit our website at www.QuestForHealthEquity.com.

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SOURCE: Quest Diagnostics

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VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / May 17, 2023 / Rockland Resources Ltd. (the "Company" or "Rockland") (CSE:RKL) is pleased to announce the approval of the Notice of Intention to Commence Exploration ("NOI") for a maiden drill program on the Lithium Butte Property, located in Juab County, approximately 185 kilometres southwest of Salt Lake City, Utah. Approval was issued by the State of Utah, Department of Natural Resources, Division of Oil, Gas and Mining ("DOGM"), in conjunction with the Bureau of Land Management ("BLM"). This also includes a cultural review by the BLM Fillmore, Utah field office. The proposed reverse circulation ("RC") drill program is designed within a 2.23 acres disturbance area and the required reclamation surety (bond) of US $40,100 will be posted shortly.

The Lithium Butte Property hosts claystone volcanic tuff breccia units interpreted to be highly prospective for lithium (Li), beryllium (Be) and rare earth mineralization. Company sampling has returned up to 4,080 parts per million lithium (ppm Li) from a grab sample and channel sampling returned 25.2 metres at 1,388 ppm Li, including 8.0 metres at 2,155 ppm Li and 0.7 metre at 3,540 ppm Li. Multiple prospective targets have been indicated and the maiden RC program is designed to test for both lithium and beryllium mineralization.

Mr. Mike England, Chief Executive Officer of the Company, states: "We are grateful to the DOGM and the BLM for an efficient and professional permitting process. We are looking forward to completing the first modern (since the 1960s) drill program on multiple targets on the Lithium Butte property this summer."

Juab County is an active exploration and mining area, with 61% of global beryllium produced by Materion Resources from the Spor Mountain mine, gold exploration and high-grade mining at the Tintic Mine by Osisko Development Corp, and drilling and exploration at the Tintic project by Ivanhoe Electric. (Utah Geological Survey Circular 134, 37 p., https://doi.org/10.34191/C-134.)

Program QA/QC - Samples taken to date were transported in sealed bags by the Company personnel and shipped to Activation Laboratories ("Actlabs") in Ancaster, Ontario. Actlabs is an independent ISO/IEC 17025 certified laboratory. Li analysis was performed using sodium peroxide fusion and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). As part of the QA/QC program Rockland geologists included blanks and certified reference materials (CRM) with the soil samples. No significant issues with blanks or CRMs were noted.

Lindsay Bottomer, P.Geo., a Qualified Person as defined in NI43-101, is responsible for reviewing and approving the geological contents of this news release.

About Rockland Resources Ltd.

Rockland Resources is engaged in the business of mineral exploration and the acquisition of mineral property assets for the benefit of its shareholders. In addition to the Utah Lithium Property, the Company holds an option to acquire the 41,818-hectare Elektra claystone project concessions that are contiguous with Gangfeng Lithium's Sonora Lithium Clay Project located in Sonora, Mexico. The Company also now owns 100-per-cent of the Cole Gold Mines property, located in Ball township, Red Lake mining division, Ontario. The Cole Property hosts high-grade gold mineralization in a classic Red Lake-type structurally controlled gold deposit environment.

On Behalf of the Board of Directors

Mike England

CEO, Director

For further information, please contact:

Mike England

Email: [email protected]

Neither the Canadian Stock Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS: This news release contains forward-looking statements, which relate to future events or future performance and reflect management's current expectations and assumptions. Such forward-looking statements reflect management's current beliefs and are based on assumptions made by and information currently available to the Company. Investors are cautioned that these forward looking statements are neither promises nor guarantees, and are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause future results to differ materially from those expected. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date hereof and, except as required under applicable securities legislation, the Company does not assume any obligation to update or revise them to reflect new events or circumstances. All of the forward-looking statements made in this press release are qualified by these cautionary statements and by those made in our filings with SEDAR in Canada (available at WWW.SEDAR.COM).

SOURCE: Rockland Resources Ltd.

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Digitalized image of the 'Parchment of Fistoles' or the 'Will of Count Gundesindo.' Archivo Historico Regional de Cantabria

In 1835, the monastery of San Salvador de Ona, in Spains northern province of Burgos, was targeted by the Spanish Confiscation, a lengthy process in which the state forcibly seized property from the Catholic Church and municipalities. The monasterys community of Benedictine monks was expelled; the magnificent Gothic building founded in 1011 by Count Sancho Garcia of Castilla was abandoned; its spectacular medieval library was completely looted. Manuscripts and books made their way to all corners of the world, where collectors treasured them. That was also the case of the so-called Will of Count Gundesindo or Parchment of Fistoles, a document with Visigothic handwriting dating back to the 11th century, which ended up on the shelves of the Scientific and Historical Archive of Saint Petersburgs Institute of History, in Russia.

Now, thanks to the researchers Maximo Gutierrez and Ivan Gastanaga, a 3D digital copy will be kept in the Historical Archive of Cantabria, in northern Spain. The valuable document chronicles part of the early medieval history of the north of Burgos and Cantabria, and until now the only evidence of its existence had been more or less inaccurate copies and transcriptions.

The power of the monasteries in the 11th century was immense. The legal texts in their custody registered their ownership over churches, fields and even entire towns. It is a fact of record that any mistake in the drafting of a document, whether intentional or not, could change the rights over an asset or an inheritance. For this reason, the will of Count Gundesindo included the original copies of three other testaments from the years 811, 816 and 820 that certified the properties and rights of his family. These were lost, but not the parchment, which was kept in the monastery. As Gutierrez explains: The will is of great importance for paleography and for understanding the Spanish Middle Ages. After its disappearance in 1835, only a few transcriptions could be consulted, many of them containing errors or personal comments by the transcribers.

Between 1835 and 1866, the year the National Historical Archive was created, Spanish heritage suffered its second great period of looting following the Peninsular War fought against Napoleon in the Iberian Peninsula. Thousands of documents of incalculable value were destroyed, taken out of the country or added to private collections. The Will of Count Gundesindo was among them, but fortunately it suffered a better fate than a 9th-century Bible, also taken from the Ona monastery, whose pages were burned by a local notary to roast sausages.

View of the monastery of San Salvador de Ona (Burgos), in October 2020. Gabriel Bravo

After successive state expropriations that resulted in the abandonment of numerous Spanish monasteries and churches, the centuries-old documents they contained were mainly bought by French and German dealers, who resold them to major European and North American collectors. And so it was with the medieval Will of Count Gundesindo, which ended up in the hands of a Russian bibliographer named Nicolai Petrovich Lijachiev, who had acquired it on one of his regular summer trips to Europe. Nothing more was heard about it.

It was not until 1982 when Emilio Saez, a professor of medieval history, found it in the archives of the Saint Petersburg Institute of History, thanks to his contacts with academics from Eastern Europe. Saez discovered that the Russian institution had a Spanish documentation fund of which there was no record in Spain, with texts dating from the 11th century to the 19th century, and including manuscripts by the kings Ferdinand IV and Alfonso XI, as well as letters written by various queens. There were 463 documents in total. The professor transcribed some of them, including the one he considered the most important, the counts will, since Soviet authorities would not let him make a copy.

In 1988, the scholar died in a car accident, so it was his son Carlos who completed and published a book with everything that the researcher had managed to collect from the documents kept in the then-USSR. Gutierrez and Gastanaga decided to take up Saezs work where hed left off, given that technology had advanced remarkably in recent decades. A year ago, after some complicated negotiations, these researchers managed to get Russian authorities to make a digital copy of the document, which on Wednesday was officially delivered to the archive in the northern Spanish region of Cantabria. It is of enormous symbolic value, says Gutierrez, because it reminds us that we were not capable of defending our own heritage. But it also has its positive side, because thanks to people who did appreciate it, it still exists, even if it is in a foreign country.

Lijachiev, for his part, created his own museum at home with everything he had bought in the late 19th century in Europes main capitals. With the October Revolution, his precious library was nationalized, and even though he was appointed its director, in the 1930s he was purged and sent to Siberia. He died in 1936 and to this day he remains a reference in the world of academia.

Of the fabulous library of Ona, only a tiny fraction has been saved. Even the Libro de la Regla, which did enter the National Historical Archive, was lost in 1936 during the Civil War, according to Saez, notes Gutierrez. The second half of the 19th century was a harrowing time for [Spains] national heritage. The looting tradition began, and many high-placed people were involved. Powerful people who did not see any problem with everything leaving the country as long as it meant good business.

Emilio Saez, whose biography has been included in the Royal Academy of Historys list of important figures, achieved national and international recognition and participated in numerous conferences and scientific meetings around the world. Today, the cultural center in Caravaca de la Cruz bears his name as a tribute to his scholarly work. No one remembers the name of the person who stole the priceless book from a monastery in Burgos.
NORTHAMPTON, MA / ACCESSWIRE / May 17, 2023 / Rockwell Automation (NYSE: ROK) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the USAID Higher Education Partnership Initiative (HEPI) project for a four-year commitment to implement advanced STEM programs and build strong pathways and partnerships between Indonesian and U.S. universities and industry. Arizona State University will serve as the implementing partner for HEPI, a U.S.-Indonesian partnership that connects U.S. universities to quality Indonesian academic programs.

The organizations share a vision to advance Indonesian Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) higher education. Rockwell will provide hardware, software, and training support to develop advanced automation teaching labs at Indonesian universities. The labs will help to prepare students for in-demand careers with Indonesian manufacturers.

The USAID HEPI project team will work closely with Rockwell engineers to co-design and implement the teaching labs with HEPI mentor hub university partners, including Universitas Hasanuddin (UNHAS), Bina Nusantara University (BINUS), and Institut Teknologi Bandung (ITB).

Rockwell technologies are critical assets used by manufacturers across Indonesia. Hands-on access to and training on these smart manufacturing technologies will better prepare university graduates for the digital transformation happening across many industrial sectors in Indonesia.

"Rockwell Automation has been working with USAID and Arizona State University, since 2018 to advance STEM education in the ASEAN Region. This has included faculty training, student competitions, and the development of advanced teaching and research labs. Now, through the HEPI project, we are bringing these capabilities and opportunities to Indonesia," said Marcelo Tarkieltaub, Rockwell's regional director for Southeast Asia.

Once the HEPI university hub partners stand-up these labs and programs, more than 20 additional Indonesia-affiliated university partners are expected to explore the opportunity to expand the program further to more students throughout Indonesia.

Learn more here.

A Memorandum of Understanding signing ceremony held May 5, 2023, in Jakarta has launched a new collaboration between industry and academia to advance STEM higher education in Indonesia.

View additional multimedia and more ESG storytelling from Rockwell Automation on 3blmedia.com.

Contact Info:

Spokesperson: Rockwell Automation

Website: https://www.3blmedia.com/profiles/rockwell-automation

Email: [email protected]

SOURCE: Rockwell Automation

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All dollar amounts reflected in Canadian dollars unless otherwise stated.

VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / May 17, 2023 / Silver X Mining Corp. (TSX-V:AGX)(OTCQB: AGXPF)(F:AGX) ("Silver X" or the "Company") announces a non-brokered private placement (the "Private Placement") of up to 10,000,000 units (the "Units") at a price of $0.30 per Unit for gross proceeds of up to $3,000,000. Each Unit will be comprised of one common share (a "Share") and one Share purchase warrant (a "Warrant") with each Warrant entitling the holder to purchase one Share of the Company at a price of $0.45 per Share for a period of 24 months from the date of closing of the Private Placement (the "Closing Date").

In the event that at any time following the date that is 4 months and one day following the Closing Date, the closing price of the Shares of the Company is at or above $0.60 per Share for a period of 10 consecutive trading days during the Warrant exercise period (with the 10th such trading day hereafter referred to as the "Eligible Acceleration Date"), the Warrant expiry date shall accelerate to the date that is 60 days after the Eligible Acceleration Date.

Finders' fees of 6% cash and 6% finder's warrants may be payable to eligible parties.

The Company intends to use the net proceeds from the Offering for capital expenditures and exploration related to the Nueva Recuperada Silver District in Peru (the "Project") and potential acquisitions of assets.

The securities being offered under the Offering will be issued pursuant to applicable exemptions from the prospectus requirements under applicable securities laws and will be subject to a hold period that will expire four months and one day from the Closing.

Closing of the proposed Offering is anticipated to occur on or about June 29, 2023. Closing of the Offering is subject to receipt of all necessary regulatory approvals including acceptance of the TSX Venture Exchange.

Revenue Mine Assets Acquisition Update

On April 17, 2023, the Company announced that it had signed a purchase agreement to acquire the Revenue Mine assets, in Colorado, USA, out of receivership. The transaction remains subject to a number of conditions, including, without limitation, the approval of the District Court, Ouray County, State of Colorado (the "District Court"). The receiver has filed documents with the District Court seeking approval for the sale. As a part of the receivership process, two creditors have filed objections to the receiver's motion to approve the sale. The parties are awaiting determination of the District Court's review of this matter. At this time the conditions for closing have not been met and there remains uncertainty as to whether they will be met. The Company has been to site and met with the Ouray Board of County Commissioners, receiving positive feedback from the community who are eager to see mining activity return to the region. Silver X will continue providing progress reports as and when available as the Company continues to work to meet the conditions precedent and secure court approval.

This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or solicitation of an offer to sell any 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.

About Silver X Mining Corp.

Silver X is a rapidly-expanding silver developer and producer in the Americas. The Company owns the +20,000-hectare Nueva Recuperada Silver District in Central Peru and produces silver, gold, lead and zinc from the district's Tangana Mining Unit. Our mission is to be a premier silver company delivering outstanding value to all stakeholders and we aim to achieve this by consolidating and developing undervalued assets, creating value by adding resources and increasing production while aspiring to social and environmental excellence. For more information visit our website at www.silverxmining.com.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD

Jos M. Garcia

President, CEO and Director

For further information, please contact:

Fiona Grant Leydier

Vice President, Investor Relations and Corporate Marketing

T: +1 647 259 6901 x 101

E: [email protected]

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Cautionary Statement Regarding "Forward-Looking" Information

This press release contains forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation ("forward-looking information"). Generally, forward-looking information can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "plans", "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", or "believes", or variations of such words and phrases or state that certain acts, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will be taken", "occur" or "be achieved". All information contained in this press release, other than statements of current and historical fact, is forward looking information. Forward-looking information contained in this press release may include, without limitation, exploration plans, results of operations, expected performance at the Project, the ability of the new zones at the Project to feed production at the Company's Nueva Recuperada Plant in the near term, the Company's belief that the Tangana system will provide considerable resource expansion potential, that the Company will be able to mine the Tangana Mining Unit in an economic manner, the expected financial performance of the Company, the ability of the Company to complete the proposed Private Placement, if at all, on the proposed terms, and the use of proceeds of the Private Placement.

The following are some of the assumptions upon which forward-looking information is based: that general business and economic conditions will not change in a material adverse manner; demand for, and stable or improving price for the commodities we produce; receipt of regulatory and governmental approvals, permits and renewals in a timely manner; that the Company will not experience any material accident, labour dispute or failure of plant or equipment or other material disruption in the Company's operations at the Project and Nueva Recuperada Plant; the availability of financing for operations and development; the Company's ability to procure equipment and operating supplies in sufficient quantities and on a timely basis; that the estimates of the resources at the Project and the geological, operational and price assumptions on which these and the Company's operations are based are within reasonable bounds of accuracy (including with respect to size, grade and recovery); the Company's ability to attract and retain skilled personnel and directors; and the ability of management to execute strategic goals.

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, as the case may be, to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information, including but not limited to those risks described in the Company's annual and interim MD&As and in its public documents filed on www.sedar.com from time to time. Forward-looking statements are based on the opinions and estimates of management as of the date such statements are made. 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. There can be no assurance that such information will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. 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.

SOURCE: Silver X Mining Corp.

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VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / May 17, 2023 / SouthGobi Resources Ltd. (TSX-V:SGQ, HK:1878) ("SouthGobi" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that Mr. Zaixiang Wen ("Mr. Wen") has been appointed as a non-executive Director of the Company, with effect from May 17, 2023.

Mr. Wen was nominated by Land Grand International Holding Limited ("Land Grand", one of the Company's major shareholders) for appointment as non-executive Director of the Company, pursuant to the contractual director nomination right granted in favor of Land Grand in connection with the Subscription Agreement and the associated assignment letter entered into amongst the Company, Land Grand and Novel Sunrise (please refer to the Company's announcement dated November 29, 2022). The Company has appointed the director nominee to the Board as permitted under the Company's Articles of Continuation and the Business Corporations Act (British Columbia).

The biographical details of Mr. Wen is as follow:

Mr. Zaixiang Wen, aged 47, has over 20 years' of experience in corporate management and financial management. He possesses a comprehensive understanding of the coal industry and the capital market. He has been the Vice President of Mengfa Energy Holdings Group ("Mengfa Group") since January 2018, where he is responsible for overseeing the group's strategic development, capital operations, investment and financing, public affairs relations, and real estate development. Mr. Wen joined the Mengfa Group in 2002 and has held various leadership positions within the subsidiaries of Mengfa Group. Prior to joining Mengfa Group, he worked as an accounting and finance professional in various energy resources companies.

Mr. Wen obtained a diploma in accounting from Inner Mongolia Yike Zhao League School of Finance and Economics in 1996. He completed a certificate in financial management at the Central University of Finance and Economics in 2018.

As at the date of this announcement, save as disclosed above, Mr. Wen does not (i) hold any directorships in other public companies, the securities of which are listed on any securities market in Hong Kong or overseas, over the last three years preceding the date of this announcement or other major appointments and professional qualifications; (ii) hold any other position with any member of the Group and has not previously held any other position with any member of the Group; (iii) have any interest in the shares, underlying shares or debentures of the Company or any of its associated corporations within the meaning of Part XV of the Securities and Futures Ordinance (Chapter 571 of the Laws of Hong Kong); and (iv) have any relationship with any Directors, senior management, or substantial or controlling Shareholders.

There is no specific term or proposed length of service for Mr. Wen as non-executive Director. Mr. Wen will be subject to re-election at the annual general meeting of the Company in accordance with the Articles. Consistent with the existing Company's director compensation, the director's fee for Mr. Wen will be determined by the Board based on the recommendation of the Compensation and Benefits Committee of the Board, which comprises the independent non-executive Directors.

Saved as disclosed above, there is no other information relating to the appointment of Mr. Wen that is required to be disclosed pursuant to Rule 13.51(2)(h) to (v) of the Hong Kong Listing Rules nor any matters that need to be brought to the attention of the Company's shareholders.

The Board would like to welcome Mr. Wen for joining the Board.

About SouthGobi

SouthGobi, listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and the TSX Venture Exchange, owns and operates its flagship Ovoot Tolgoi coal mine in Mongolia. It also holds the mining licences of its other metallurgical and thermal coal deposits in South Gobi region of Mongolia. SouthGobi produces and sells coal to customers in China.

Contact: Investor Relations

Email: [email protected]

Mr. Ruibin Xu

Chief Executive Officer

Office: +852 2156 1438 (Hong Kong)

+1 604 762 6783 (Canada)

Website: www.southgobi.com

SOURCE: SouthGobi Resources Ltd.

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SHANGDONG, CHINA / ACCESSWIRE / May 17, 2023 / SPO Global Inc, (OTC PINK:SPOM) ("SPO Global Inc" or the "Company"), which operates Shandong Fangyuan Huizhong Intelligent Equipment Co., Ltd.(SFHI).

SFHI, a leading food processing machinery company, is pleased to announce its impressive financial operations and performance for the first quarter of 2023. These results underscore the company's commitment to financial excellence and its ability to navigate a dynamic market environment while delivering value to its stakeholders.

Financial Highlights:

1. Revenue Growth: Revenues grew by 11.25% driven by our exceptional sales team and high demand for our equipment.

2. Profitability: Gross profit for the period ended March 31, 2023 was $1,025,071 vs. $447,623 for the quarter ended March 31, 2022.

3. Cash Flow and Liquidity: The company continues to manage its collection of accounts receivable allowing it to have approximately $2,121,000 in cash which in part will be used for research and development of implementing artificial intelligence into the machines we manufacture.

Jeff Peng the Company's CEO said that "Attending the 108th National Sugar and Liquor Commodities Fair was an exhilarating experience for our team at SFHI. We were thrilled to connect with industry leaders, showcase our innovative products/services, and forge valuable partnerships. The positive feedback and overwhelming response we received from attendees further validate our position as a market leader. This trade show has not only bolstered our brand visibility but has also opened doors to new opportunities and reinforced our commitment to delivering excellence. We are excited to leverage the momentum gained from this event to drive continued growth and success for our company, and we are determined to have our best year ever and pave the way for higher standards in the way food is processed and packaged."

About SPO Global Inc. (OTC PINK:SPOM):

SPO Global Inc. recently signed a merger agreement with a leading food machinery company, Shandong Fangyuan Huizhong Intelligent Equipment Co., Ltd. (SFHI).

Company Disclaimers: As a Public Traded Company, within the guidelines of Federal and State Securities Law, SPO Global, Inc. may not avail itself of the Safe Harbor provisions as identified in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. However, SPO Global, Inc. provides the following disclaimer and warning to protect our shareholders, prospective investors and the public at large by alerting them to the risks and uncertainties involved with any investment, and the need to perform their own due diligence and assessment.

Forward-Looking Statements: This press release may contain "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, such as statements relating to financial results and plans for future development activities and are thus prospective. Forward-looking statements include all statements that are not statements of historical fact regarding intent, belief or current expectations of the Company, its directors or its officers. Investors are cautioned that any such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond the Company's ability to control. Actual results may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. Among the factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated in the forward-looking statements are risks and uncertainties associated with the Company's business and finances in general, including the ability to continue and manage its growth, competition, global economic conditions and other factors discussed in detail in the Company's periodic filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Company Contact:

Jeff Peng

[email protected]

SOURCE: SPO Global, Inc.

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NORTHAMPTON, MA / ACCESSWIRE / May 17, 2023 / The Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth



by BIANCA GONZALEZ

Originally published by Next City

The COVID-19 pandemic dealt a heavy blow to small businesses, but a silver lining emerged amidst the shuttering of storefronts: a clearer understanding of the types of support small businesses need to survive, grow and compete in today's digital economy.

While access to lending tends to top small-business owners' list of challenges - and receive the most analysis - the pandemic shed light on other key types of support that build economic resilience among small businesses. We talked to researchers about two of those less obvious factors: strong networks and digital capacity.

The hidden role of "social capital"

The Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) was the most notable federal support for small businesses to come out of the pandemic, but not all businesses benefited equally.

In the initial round of funding for PPP, 42% of loans went to small businesses with 10-499 employees - even though those businesses accounted for only 4% of all U.S. small businesses. These loans were risk-free, positive net-present-value, and forgivable. So why didn't all small businesses take advantage of this opportunity?

One likely contributor was that micro-businesses with fewer than 10 employees were less likely to have an established relationship with a bank, and later phases of PPP targeted other lenders, including CDFIs, to reach a more diverse set of businesses. In addition to the role of banking relationships, however, economist Vojislav Maksmovic of the University of Maryland says there could also be another, more subtle, answer to the disparity.

He recently studied how social capital - essentially people's network of relationships in the society they run in - impacted who seized the opportunity of PPP loans. By measuring the uptake in PPP loans, Maksmovic found that four measures of social capital - civic capital, social connections, local pride and trust of banks - explain 25% of the variation of PPP uptake at the zip code level.

Maksmovic views the pandemic-spawned PPP loans as a natural experiment, or a real-life version of the "helicopter drop" economic thought experiment, which considers how a community responds when everyone is given a sudden, one-time opportunity to obtain funds that seemingly "fell from the sky."

"The government is giving everyone these loans - but who takes them?" asks Maksmovic. "There are big differences across the country as to who takes them - at a county level, zip code level, and even a little at the neighborhood census block level."

While the PPP program has wrapped up, the study highlights the role of what some economists call civic capital: how engaged and collaborative residents, business owners, nonprofits and other community members contribute to the success of their community. Embracing inclusion, collaboration and a shared vision can have wide-reaching and economic effects for cities.

"Civic capital breaks away from this idea that one side wins and the other side loses," Maksmovic says.

How going digital impacts local economies

We've long known that internet access is an equity issue, and cities ranging from NYC to Detroit to Colorado Springs have launched initiatives to bridge the digital divide. Small businesses with limited internet access and usage need to compete with those already taking advantage of online tools that increase discoverability, streamline communications, and collect data that can be used to inform business decisions.

"Putting digital tools into the hands of small business owners is critical for unlocking the full potential of today's economy," says Shamina Singh, president of the Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth, whose Strive USA program invests in digital capacity building. "Going digital can help small business owners gain timely insights to grow revenue, improve financial resilience, compete with larger businesses, and strengthen the economic foundation of the communities in which they operate."

A recent study on digital economic activity and resilience for small and micro-businesses during COVID-19 illuminates just how website presence in a region affects not only businesses' own resilience, but also that of the local economy as a whole. The study found that metropolitan areas "with higher concentrations of businesses with an online presence" saw "more positive economic perceptions and outcomes from April to December 2020." The study was conducted by Karen Mossberger, a researcher and professor at Arizona State University, who argues that broadband use is a form of digital human capital. "Whether the community is online and connected makes a difference in terms of fostering an ecosystem of innovation," she says.

The study mapped business website domains and broadband usage by zip code. Researchers were able to measure local economic impact using anonymized and aggregated commercial data on consumer spending and small business openings and revenue, as well as U.S. Census Bureau data. They found that lower-income areas had lower rates of internet use and that areas with a higher concentration of registered websites saw positive economic benefits. The presence of business websites in combination with broadband usage had an even more significant effect.

The pandemic underscored the importance of businesses having an online presence, and digital access will become increasingly advantageous. For instance, "technology can connect rural communities and tribal communities," Mossberger says. "If someone has a niche business, you don't have to rely on the neighborhood. You can get customers from around the country."

Mosberger says developing digital skills and tools will become increasingly important for small business development programs. From the study: "Local economic development strategies often focus on attracting technology firms when considering the digital transformation of the economy; but addressing the digital needs of small business may be one path toward a more inclusive and equitable recovery for communities."

Stepping into that gap is Strive USA, which aims to strengthen the ecosystem by enabling organizations that can support small businesses in accessing capital, growing their networks and know-how, and operating in a digital economy.

"The pandemic taught us a lot about what small businesses need to survive and thrive, and the opportunities that come with inclusive digital transformation," Singh says. "Now, we need to bring together knowledge and assets from across financial services, non-profit, government, and technology sectors to deliver equitable solutions at scale."

Continue reading here.

Image courtesy of Next City



View additional multimedia and more ESG storytelling from The Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth on 3blmedia.com.



Contact Info:

Spokesperson: The Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth

Website: https://www.3blmedia.com/profiles/mastercard-center-inclusive-growth

Email: [email protected]



SOURCE: The Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth

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LACEY, WA / ACCESSWIRE / May 17, 2023 / TwinStar Credit Union and Northwest Community Credit Union (NWCU) are excited to announce their merger has received regulatory approval along with member approval by a vast majority vote of the Northwest Community Credit Union membership. The legal date of the merger for the two organizations is planned for June 12, 2023.

The newly merged organization will serve more than 245,000 members with a branch network of 36 locations across the states of Oregon and Washington. Combined, the organization will have assets of over $4 billion.

The biggest change at the time of the legal merger is that Northwest Community Credit Union will become "Northwest Community Credit Union, a division of TwinStar Credit Union", as the organization works to determine a unified name for the combined organization. From a member perspective, it will be business as usual as the organization ramps up efforts to fully integrate their systems in 2024.

NWCU Chief Executive Officer John D. Iglesias expressed his optimism for the future of the combined organization.

"We are excited that our members see the additional benefits of forming this partnership and bringing our two credit unions together for the benefit of members, employees, and communities," said Iglesias.

"Although our combined organization will be double in size, the true theme of this merger has been and will continue to be about being 'Better Together.' Thank you to NWCU members and employees for their active participation in this voting process and for their commitment and loyalty to help ensure we continue to grow and thrive."

According to both chief executives, this merger is another great example of the impact credit unions can have when they pursue a cooperative partnership with another like-minded organization.

"We are now eager to begin the process of pooling and combining our resources and our talent to provide further efficiencies and economies of scale to all those we serve," said Chief Executive Officer of TwinStar Credit Union Jeff Kennedy.

"The boards and leadership teams of both credit unions have worked side by side over the past several months to ensure the original intent of this partnership remained, and that intent was to work collaboratively to make decisions for the future organization and stay focused on our passion for serving members. We know members have many choices when it comes to a financial institution, and we take that very seriously. We've been lucky to form this great partnership and are excited about the future. The end goal is to build a greater experience for employees and members, and then everyone wins!"

TwinStar's Jeff Kennedy will be the Chief Executive Officer of the new organization and NWCU's John Iglesias will be the President.

More information, including FAQs regarding the merger can be found on both the TwinStar and NWCU websites.

About TwinStar Credit Union

Established in 1938 by teachers at Olympia High School as Thurston County Teachers Credit Union, TwinStar Credit Union has been providing affordable loans, excellent deposit rates, and great service to their members for 85 years. Instead of enriching stockholders like banks, TwinStar is committed to serve and return the most value to members as a not-for-profit, member-owned financial institution. Community commitment is also at the heart of TwinStar. They believe that healthier and happier people make great communities. TwinStar stands behind its brand promise: Realizing Financial Dreams Together. Their vision is to be a leading community-conscious organization by providing a lifetime of solutions to create financial peace of mind.

About Northwest Community Credit Union (NWCU)

NWCU is headquartered in Eugene, Oregon. Founded in 1949 by six members of Weyerhaeuser, a wood products corporation, NWCU has grown to serve a diversified membership of more than 107,000 members with 15 locations in 11 Oregon cities. NWCU is proud to support community and educational outreach, provide emergency relief, and gave $450,000 in direct support in 2022. NWCU is committed to providing superior service, compassion, and loyalty to their members, their employees, and the communities they serve.

Contact Information

Jessica Richardson

Managing Director

[email protected]

7345525192

SOURCE: TwinStar Credit Union

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NORTHAMPTON, MA / ACCESSWIRE / May 17, 2023 / Yum! Brands

KFC has bold ambitions around inclusion. We believe our teams should reflect the same wonderful diversity as our customers around the world and every person should have the opportunity to thrive.

This week, leaders from KFC across Pan-Europe gathered for a day-long workshop on equity, inclusion and belonging with an emphasis on how our commitment to inclusion intersects with KFC's social purpose of Feeding People's Potential.

Throughout the room were franchise partners, General Managers, Chief People Officers (CPOs) and People & Culture team members from our business units in Western Europe, Germany, France and Central Eastern Europe.

Our journey to inclusion from the inside-out

The morning kicked off with our KFC Global Chief People Officer Cristi Lockett and Global Director of Inclusion and Capability Carolina Romero discussing KFC's EI&B strategy and why it's critical to our business and our brand. Specifically, we celebrated the progress we've made in recent years on gender parity, as KFC has reached 52% parity across our teams globally. Looking beyond gender, each market shared their commitment to address additional dimensions of diversity to better reflect our customers and the communities in which we operate.

Then, to further focus our discussion, Chief People and Transformation Officer for KFC Pan-Europe Nathalie Choudet shared context on the highly-diverse ethnic, origin and cultural landscape across the region along with KFC's biggest opportunities for impact.

Sharing best practices brand-to-brand

The day continued with a panel led by Dr. Rohini Anand, Senior Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Advisor, and author of Leading Global Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion: A Guide for Systemic Change in Multinational Organizations. Through this discussion, HR and diversity leaders from global brands and non-profits including Loreal, Disneyland Paris, Ubisoft and Club 21 Siecle shared how they've strategized around diversity efforts and measuring progress, something that can often be challenging. As they shared their perspectives, there were many parallels with the motivations and values that also drive KFC's commitment to this space, as well as the perceived barriers that we're all tackling together.

With new insights gained from the panel, participants spent time discussing the current landscape in their respective countries and new ways they can approach EI&B through recruitment, development and culture.

Opening doors to remarkable refugees

After lunch, we spent time discussing the importance of responsible hiring, specifically hiring refugees, with Helene Van Melle, Deputy Director of Tent Partnership for Refugees; Karolina Mastalerz, KFC HR Director at Amrest; and Emilia Stroe, CPO for US FOOD, Romania. These three leaders shared their experiences hiring refugees and value they bring to our restaurant teams and our brand. A key theme throughout this discussion was readiness. To be successful in this endeavor, the organization must be trained and prepared to welcome new refugee team members while we also need to prepare refugees for the role they'll play within the KFC family.

Hamdi Ulukaya, the founder of Tent Partnership for Refugees and the CEO and founder of Chobani, summarizes the impact a stable work environment has on a refugee by saying, "The moment a refugee gets a job, is the moment they stop being a refugee."

Continuing our journey

Finally, we wrapped the day by sharing market-specific action plans for how we can continue progress toward our EI&B commitments through recruitment and retention strategies and social purpose programs.

With partners like Tent Partnership for Refugees to help us reach and engage refugees at KFCs throughout Europe and beyond, we're hopeful on our mission to ensuring our teams are as diverse are our customers, and every KFC team member feels a true sense of belonging.

View additional multimedia and more ESG storytelling from Yum! Brands on 3blmedia.com.

Contact Info:

Spokesperson: Yum! Brands

Website: https://www.3blmedia.com/profiles/yum-brands

Email: [email protected]

SOURCE: Yum! Brands

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NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO UNITED STATES NEWSWIRE SERVICES OR FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES

VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / May 17, 2023 / Zimtu Capital Corp. (TSXV:ZC)(FSE:ZCT1) (the "Company" or "Zimtu") announces that it has entered into an agreement with Infiniti Drilling Corp. ("Infiniti") to sell six (6) mineral claims in the Harrison Lake area in the New Westminster District of Southwest British Columbia (BC) for $20,000 cash.

This Vend agreement of Doctors Point Claims supersedes the February 27th, 2023 Zimtu News Release transaction with Strata Geodata Services Ltd which did not close.

Doctors Point Purchase Agreement

The Company has entered into a purchase agreement ("Harrison Lake Agreement") with Infiniti, whereby the Company will sell a 100% undivided interest in six (6) mineral claims currently held by Zimtu, known as the Doctors Point Claims, near the town of Harrison Lake in southwest BC. Under the terms of the Doctors Point Agreement, Infiniti will acquire the Doctors Point claims for a cash payment of $20,000. The Doctors Point Agreement is subject to acceptance by the TSX Venture Exchange.

The Doctors Point claims were recently acquired by Zimtu from the estate of David Heyman, as part of a much larger package of mineral claims.

The Doctors Point claims are situated on the western bank of Harrison Lake, approximately 55 kilometres from the town of Harrison. The claims are accessible by a well-maintained forestry service road which also provides access to the BC Hydro Trio Creek generation site also located within the claims area.

There are two dominant styles of mineralization at Doctors Point; stratabound volcanogenic sulphides and gold- and silver-hosting quartz veins.

The quartz veins are long, narrow, and gently dip at 10-35 degrees away from the edge of dioritic pluton margins. Up to five plutons have been observed on site and are thought to be smaller upwellings of magma from a major intrusion at depth. These veins are vuggy and contain sulphides of which pyrite and arsenopyrite are the most common. The veins have been observed in both surface road cuts and historical diamond drilling. At surface they can be traced for 200m and remain open along strike. Underground, veins have shown a thickness of 3m in historical diamond drill core.

The diamond drilling campaigns have all been shallow holes less than 100m in depth and suggestions in historical assessment filings are to drill deeper to investigate the source of the veins and possible increased concentrations of these structures at depth. A non-compliant resource was calculated from drill data in the Main Zone in 1986 using closely spaced drill holes resulted in 113,600 tonnes grading at 2.16 gpt ("gpt") gold and 6.2 gpt silver (Assessment Report 18365), and since then several other zones have been identified along strike but have yet to be extensively drill tested. Quartz vein samples collected historically (1988) 300m to the north of the Main Zone returned grades up to 361 gpt gold and 1,328 gpt silver, and in 2007 additional sampling 1,400m to the northwest (North Swamp Zone) of the Main Zone returned values up to 27.13 gpt gold and 78.24 gpt silver from twelve vein samples. The current Doctors Point claims cover this area of historical drilling and resource estimation. It should be noted that these grades are historical, and Infiniti intends to collect check samples during Spring 2023.

About Zimtu Capital Corp.

Zimtu Capital Corp. is a public investment issuer that aspires to achieve long-term capital appreciation for its shareholders. Zimtu Capital companies may operate in the fields of mineral exploration, mining, technology, life sciences or investment. The Company trades on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol "ZC" and Frankfurt under symbol "ZCT1". For more information, please visit https://www.zimtu.com.

On Behalf of the Board of Directors

ZIMTU CAPITAL CORP.

"David Hodge"

David Hodge

President & Director

Phone: 604.681.1568

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.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements., which include any information that addresses activities, events or developments that the Company believes, expects or anticipates will or may occur in the future. Forward looking statements in this press release include that the Closing will occur and that the Company will receive requisite approval from the TSXV, if required.

These statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from those expressed, implied by or projected in the forward-looking information or statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ from these forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to: adverse market conditions, the inability of the Company to complete the proposed sale of the Property, or the TSXV not approving the sale of the Property on the terms announced or at all.

Except as required by law, the Company does not intend to revise or update these forward-looking statements after the date of this document or to revise them to reflect the occurrence of future unanticipated events.

SOURCE: Zimtu Capital Corp.

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PERTH, Australia--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Today in Perth at the Maritime Industries Australia Decarbonisation Summit, Vast Solar Pty Ltd (Vast) announced that it has executed a letter of intent (LOI) with German energy company Mabanaft GmbH & Co. KG (Mabanaft) for potential offtake and equity investment in Solar Methanol 1 (SM1), a world-first green methanol demonstration plant.

Vast is a concentrated solar thermal power (CSP) technology and project developer, creating energy systems that have the potential to generate green, dispatchable utility-scale electricity and industrial process heat. SM1 is expected to be partly-powered by dispatchable electricity and heat from VS1, Vasts 30MW / 288 MWh CSP project co-located with SM1 in Port Augusta, South Australia.

Mabanaft is active in many markets in the import, distribution and marketing of petroleum products, natural gas liquids, chemicals and biofuels, and it is supporting its customers transition to cleaner fuels by providing alternative long-term solutions.

The LOI with Mabanaft comes after the Solar Methanol Consortium, comprising Vast and project partners such as Calix and Fichtner Engineering, was provisionally selected to receive a conditional award of AUD$19.48m and EUR13.2m from a collaboration between the Australian and German Governments to develop SM1, which will produce up to 7,500 tonnes per annum of green methanol.

After successful completion of the Front End Engineering and Design (FEED), a Final Investment Decision (FID) will be made, with equity funding expected to be matched by ARENA and PtJ for a total funding envelope of up to AUD$78 million.

Craig Wood, CEO of Vast, said:

Partnering with Mabanaft is an important step forward for SM1 that we believe will unlock significant development of the project. Together with the Solar Methanol Consortium, we are excited to partner with a company such as Mabanaft that offers its customers innovative energy solutions for their transportation, heating, industrial and agricultural needs.

Oleksandr Siromakha, Head of Sustainable Fuels at Mabanaft, said:

When produced from renewable energy sources, methanol becomes a promising fuel option that holds great potential for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. It can play an important role for reducing CO2 emissions, especially in shipping, mining and other areas. We are looking forward to collaborating with such strong partners in this exciting project.

Calix CEO and Managing Director, Phil Hodgson said:

Calix welcomes Mabanaft as a partner to the Solar Methanol Consortium. Todays announcement is testament to the significant demand for more sustainable transport fuels and is an important milestone in the consortiums journey to use renewable energy, hydrogen and CO2 captured from industry to help decarbonise this hard-to-abate sector.

Theophil Laukemann, Managing Director of Fichtner, said:

Acting as Lead Engineering Integrator for the Solar Methanol Consortium, Fichtner GmbH & Co. KG together with Fichtner Australia Pty. Ltd is pleased to see Mabanaft entering the SM1 Project. Mabanaft is the ideal partner for the SM1 project, in particular taking into account the objectives of the German-Australian HyGATE initiative.

About Vast

Vast is a world-leading renewable energy company that has developed CSP systems to generate, store and dispatch carbon free, utility-scale electricity and industrial heat. Vasts modular tower CSP v3.0 system is more efficient and easier to permit, build and maintain than larger central tower CSP systems, and its ability to deliver both electricity and heat unlocks production of low-cost green fuels.

Visit www.vast.energy for more information.

About Mabanaft

Mabanaft is a leading independent and integrated energy company providing its customers with innovative energy solutions for their transportation, heating, industrial and agricultural needs. The group is active in import, distribution and marketing of petroleum products, natural gas liquids, chemicals and biofuels, and supports its customers transition to cleaner fuels by providing alternative long-term solutions.

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, regarding Vasts future financial performance, as well as Vasts strategy, future operations, financial position, estimated revenues and losses, projected costs, prospects, plans and objectives of management are forward-looking statements. When used herein, including any oral statements made in connection herewith, the words could, should, will, may, believe, anticipate, intend, estimate, expect, project, the negative of such terms and other similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements, although not all forward-looking statements contain such identifying words. These forward-looking statements are based on Vast managements current expectations and assumptions about future events and are based on currently available information as to the outcome and timing of future events. Except as otherwise required by applicable law, Vast disclaims any duty to 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. Vast 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 Vast. These risks include, but are not limited to, general economic, financial, legal, political and business conditions and changes in domestic and foreign markets; Vasts ability to manage growth; Vasts ability to execute its business plan, including the completion of the Port Augusta project, at all or in a timely manner and meet its projections; potential disruption in Vasts employee retention; changes in applicable laws or regulations and general economic and market conditions impacting demand for Vasts products and services; and additional risks disclosed by Vast in public statements or filings from time to time. Should one or more of the risks or uncertainties described herein and in any oral statements made in connection therewith occur, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results and plans could differ materially from those expressed in any forward-looking statements.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230517005333/en/

For Investors:

Caldwell Bailey

ICR, Inc.

[email protected]



For Media:

US: Matt Dallas

ICR, Inc.

[email protected]



For Media:

AUS: Denise Kazan

Wilkinson Butler

[email protected]

Source: Vast
The industrys leading event for financial advisors specializing in employer-based retirement plans boasts a packed agenda with captivating keynotes and over 50 actionable, expert-led sessions.

WILMINGTON, N.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Advisor2x, delivering online shows and live events designed to help financial advisors grow their practices, announced today that registration is officially open for its [email protected](k) ([email protected]) conference, being held October 15-17, 2023, in Marylands National Harbor.

The industrys premier event for advisors specializing in employer-based retirement plans brings together 300 advisor attendees for over 50 sessions covering a broad range of topics.

[email protected] provides investment, compliance, marketing & sales, and practice management industry education, said Lisa Allen, Chief Revenue Officer of Advisor2x, But one reason this event is unique to the industry is that it also offers exclusive content to help advisors take care of their own personal wellness so they can better take care of their clients. In fact, I am pleased that both of our keynotes this year are speaking to this topic.

Advisor wellbeing is an increasingly critical topic being covered by keynote speakers Brian Portnoy, a behavioral finance expert and co-founder of Shaping Wealth, and Maryanne Spatola, CEO and Founder of C3 Talent Strategies. Other notable presenters include Tom Clark, Partner and COO of the Wagner Law Group; Matt Halloran, Co-Founder of ProudMouth; Meghan Richter, Co-Founder and President of Intention.ly; Jania Stout, Senior Vice President, One Digital Retirement + Wealth; Joe DeNoyior, President, HUB Retirement and Wealth Management; Brad Arends, Co-Founder & CEO; and Brandon Budd, Financial Consultant both with Intellicents.

The agenda, developed by a hand-selected steering committee of advisors, providers and plan sponsors, follows adult learning best practices and is intentionally made up of smaller breakout sessions to encourage valuable collaboration and idea-sharing among participants.

Having been a part of this event almost since its inception, Im pleased to play a part in putting on an event that attracts the most successful, humble group of advisors eager to roll up their sleeves and collaborate to drive positive change, says Amy Glynn, Managing Partner at Viking Cove Institute and Steering Committee Member. The caliber, warmth and ingenuity of the Advisor2x leadership team and their unflappable commitment to womens advocacy and DEI in our industry are just some of the things I greatly admire about Advisor2x and the [email protected] community.

Attendees also have the option of joining two pre-conference events on Sunday before the event kicks off. In partnership with Broadridge FI360 Solutions, attendees can register for a full day of classroom training to prepare for the Accredited Investment Fiduciary designation, which is limited to a small group of 50 attendees and offers a significant discount on the cost of earning the designation. Sheri Fitts will also host a two-hour workshop on Sunday for the first 35 advisors who register.

Finally, [email protected] will host a networking reception for WE. Inspire. Promote. Network (WIPN) members and female attendees interested in joining the organization on Sunday evening. To support WIPN and the community, Advisor2x has committed to covering the first year WIPN membership dues for any financial advisor attendee who joins the organization while on site.

Registration for the [email protected] conference is now open, but space is limited to 300 advisor attendees. To view the full agenda and speaker list and secure your spot, please click here.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230517005331/en/

Kelly Waltrich

610-304-6538

[email protected]

Source: Advisor2x
Former heads of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank Gregory Becker, Scott Shay and Eric Howell testify during a Senate Banking Committee hearing on May 16, 2023.

Executives from two of three banks that recently failed appeared in front of the Senate Banking Committee on Tuesday to respond to questions about why their banks went under and what regulators could have done to avoid the calamities.

Along with questions about how these banks failed, senators used the hearing to also address executive pay and whether senior executives in the U.S. are being rewarded more for short-term gains  like rising stock prices  than for ensuring their companies long-term health.

Executives at Silicon Valley Bank, Signature Bank and First Republic Bank were paid millions of dollars over their tenures up until their banks failed, the bulk of the compensation coming in the form of company stock. That stock is now largely worthless, but the CEOs still pocketed millions from the planned sales of their shares before the banks collapse.

Sen. Sherrod Brown, the Democratic chair of the Senate Banking Committee, took aim at executive compensation to open the hearing.

You were paying out bonuses until literally hours before regulators seized your assets. To people in Ohio and around the country, this feels sickeningly familiar, Brown said. To most Americans, a lack of Wall Street accountability tracks with their entire experience with our economy. Workers face consequences; executives ride off into the sunset.

Silicon Valley Banks former CEO Greg Becker received compensation valued at roughly $9.9 million in 2022, and also sold stock in the company only a few weeks before it failed. Joseph DePaolo, CEO of Signature Bank, also sold stock in the company in the years leading up to its collapse.

DePaolo did not appear in front of the Senate on Tuesday due to health concerns; instead Signatures co-founder and the banks president agreed to testify.

The anger over CEO pay echoes that of roughly 15 years ago, when the 2008 financial crisis led to taxpayer-funded bailouts of major banks. The CEOs and high-level bankers still received millions in pay and bonuses, most notably at nearly failed insurance conglomerate American International Group.

The recent bank failures prove yet again that banker compensation is at the core of causing banks to take too much risk, act irresponsibly if not recklessly, and blow themselves up, said Dennis Kelleher, co-founder of Better Markets, which was founded after the Great Recession focused on financial industry reform.

Clawing back CEO pay has gained bipartisan attention despite the fierce divisions between the two political parties.

Four senators  two Democrats and two Republicans  have introduced legislation that would give the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation authority to claw back any pay made to executives in the five years leading up to a banks failure.

The bill is sponsored by Warren, Josh Hawley, R-Mo., Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev. and Mike Braun, R-Ind. The White House, while not endorsing the specific bill, has called on Congress to pass laws to reform how bank CEOs are paid in the event of a failure.

Bank executives who make risky investments with customers money shouldnt be permitted to profit in the good times, and then avoid financial consequences when things go south, Hawley said when the bill was introduced in late March.

Kelleher said he supports the congressional efforts to claw back CEO pay following a bank failure.

Executives at big companies also tend to get most of their pay each year in company stock. That means CEOs and other insiders have much to gain if the companys stock rises. And shareholders typically like it this way. The thought is that by tying a CEOs compensation to the stock price, it better aligns their interests with shareholders.

But the executives also have a lot to gain if they can sell their stock before the share price takes a steep dive.

Since 2000, the Securities and Exchange Commission has given CEOs and other corporate insiders a way to defend themselves against charges that they bought or sold stock using information unavailable to others, an illegal practice known as insider trading.

The method, known as the 10b5-1 rule, lets insiders enter into written plans to buy and sell stock in the future. The goal was to let insiders make trades, but not when they have their hands on material information not available to the public.

In prepared remarks for the Senate, Becker says he believed that these plans were the most ethical means to manage this part of my compensation and that his selling of Silicon Valley Bank stock before the bank failed was preplanned.

Over the years, complaints have risen about insiders abusing some loopholes in the 10b5-1 rule. In December, the SEC announced added amendments to close the loopholes.

Key among them was a cooling-off period. That meant directors and officers have to wait at least 90 days in many cases after establishing or modifying a trading plan before any purchases or sales could be made. The changes also limit insiders ability to use multiple overlapping 10b5-1 plans.

In March, the Justice Department announced the first insider trading prosecution based exclusively on the use of 10b5-1 trading plans. It charged the CEO of a health care company in California with securities fraud for allegedly avoiding more than $12.5 million in losses by entering into two 10b5-1 trading plans while knowing the companys then-largest customer might be terminating its contract.

The SEC also charged the CEO with insider trading after avoiding the 44% drop in the companys stock price when it announced the customer had terminated the contract.

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NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Today, Chef Daniel Boulud celebrates the 30th anniversary of his eponymous, two Michelin-starred restaurant, DANIEL. This milestone marks three decades of innovative fine dining and inspired French cuisine paired with a quintessential New York City luxury experience, raising the restaurants profile as one of the citys most respected and favored culinary destinations.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230517005812/en/

Restaurant DANIEL celebrates its 30th anniversary (Photo: Eric Vitale Photography)

My heart is full when I think back over the past 30 years of Restaurant DANIEL, said Daniel Boulud. It is my first restaurant, my namesake, and the foundation of my restaurant group. It is very personal to me, because this restaurant is all about the personal relationships with the many talented team members we have had over the years and have today; with our suppliers who provide the finest ingredients; the partners who have always been by my side, and above all, our guests for their loyalty, generosity and support over the years. These relationships mean everything to me, and to Restaurant DANIEL. Boulud continued, Restaurant DANIEL is a family, but of course I cannot forget to thank my own family, whose encouragement and support has made my personal life and work all possible.

The Origin Story

DANIEL opened on 76th Street on New York Citys Upper East Side in 1993 as Chef Bouluds first independent project. After moving from France to New York City in 1982 and working in many of the citys most prestigious French restaurants over the course of nine years, opening one of his own was the realization of a lifelong goal. Raised on his familys farm outside of Lyon, France, the dinner table at home was a daily ritual filled with the freshest home grown and organic products in a rustic and delicious way. Chef Boulud has always shown an appreciation for seasonality with menus driven by a creative approach to exceptional ingredients and soulful and classic balance. Upon his arrival to New York City, as a young, passionate chef, he was eager to take part in the French dining renaissance the city was experiencing.

In 1998, five years after its opening on 76th Street, DANIEL relocated to a new home on 65th Street, where it remains today. This location is especially meaningful to Chef Boulud as it was the former home of Le Cirque while he worked there as Executive Chef.

Accolades and Recognition

In its first year, Restaurant DANIEL received immediate recognition, including a four-star rating from The New York Times and was cited as one of the ten best restaurants in the world by the International Herald Tribune, quickly rising through the ranks to earn its place alongside other legendary fine dining establishments. Less than a year later, Chef Boulud was recognized with the James Beard Foundations Outstanding Chef Award, celebrating his work at the restaurant. This was the first of many for the restaurant and its staff which was also honored with the James Beard Award for Outstanding Service in 2009 and Outstanding Restaurant in 2010. Since 2005, Restaurant DANIEL has maintained its Michelin-starred status and currently has two Michelin Stars. Chef Boulud was also honored with The Worlds 50 Best Restaurants Lifetime Achievement Award (2015), The Worlds Best Restaurateur by Les Grands Tables du Monde (2021), and La Listes Innovation Award (2023), among many other awards over the years. Today, DANIEL has attained global icon status, is consistently recognized with new awards, and maintains its role as the most coveted table in New York.

Restaurant DANIEL Today

After thirty years, DANIEL continues to set the standard for New York City fine dining, relentlessly reinventing itself along the way. The restaurant's four- and seven-course menus, led by Executive Chef Eddy Leroux and Executive Pastry Chef Shaun Velez, rotate seasonally, featuring the finest ingredients and exploring new ways to prepare classic French recipes with creative techniques, tastes and presentation.

For the past 25 years, DANIEL has hosted the annual Gala for Citymeals on Wheels, a charity that provides New York Citys homebound elderly with nutritious meals, of which Chef Boulud is co-president. In total, these annual events have raised over $20 million towards the organizations mission to feed New Yorkers in need.

With each decade, DANIEL has continued to evolve, while maintaining its cuisine and elegant atmosphere. Just last year, the restaurant debuted the final phase of its latest renovation, unveiling a new bar and lounge area in partnership with the Paris-based Lalique Interior Design Studio. Throughout the years, Chef Boulud has published ten cookbooks, and has constantly renewed Restaurant DANIEL with exceptional art, inspired interior design, creative cocktails and its notable wine list.

Evolution of The Dinex Group

While Chef Bouluds restaurant group, the Dinex Group, has grown to over 20 venues worldwide, including two new openings in 2023 to date, DANIEL represents his continually evolving journey as a Chef, entrepreneur, and mentor.

Daniel has not only built one of the worlds premier restaurant groups, he has done it with endless passion and ingenuity. I am continually impressed by his dedication and commitment to excellence. As we look to the future of The Dinex Group, these qualities will continue to be the foundation of our restaurants, said Sebastien Silvestri, CEO of The Dinex Group. I am thrilled to be a partner of this incredible journey alongside Daniel, and our entire global team.

On the occasion of the 30th Anniversary, Chef Boulud is thankful for all the partners, guests, suppliers, friends and colleagues that contribute to the continued success of Restaurant DANIEL.

About The Dinex Group

Founded by Michelin-starred Chef Daniel Boulud, The Dinex Group, LLC is a collection of internationally renowned and acclaimed restaurants with an emphasis on hospitality, from fine dining to casual cuisine, served at the highest level. A culinary innovator and iconic restaurateur, Chef Boulud founded The Dinex Group in 1993 with his eponymous restaurant, DANIEL, growing it today to multiple venues around the world.

Dinex Restaurants

In New York City: DANIEL - Le Pavillon - Le Gratin - Joji - Joji Box - Centurion NY - Blue Box Cafe - Bar Boulud - Boulud Sud - four Epicerie Boulud locations throughout New York City - Cafe Boulud (re-opening later in 2023)

In Palm Beach: Cafe Boulud at the Brazilian Court Hotel

In Miami: Boulud Sud at the JW Marriott Marquis

In Beverly Hills: Cafe Boulud (opening 2024)

In the Bahamas: Cafe Boulud at the Rosewood Baha Mar

In Toronto: Cafe Boulud and d|bar at The Four Seasons Hotel

In Montreal: Maison Boulud at The Ritz-Carlton

In Singapore: db bistro moderne at the Marina Bay Sands Resort & Casino

In Dubai: Brasserie Boulud at the Sofitel

Additionally, Chef Daniel is Co-President of Citymeals on Wheels, an organization dedicated to serving meals to New Yorkers in need; is Co-Founder of Food1st, in partnership with SL Green Realty Corp. and is Chairman of Mentor, providing grants to young chefs to advance their culinary education.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230517005812/en/

Press:

[email protected]

Source: The Dinex Group, LLC
NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- The Church Pension Group (CPG), a financial services organization that serves The Episcopal Church, announced that it will host a virtual conversation, Turning the Tide on Health Disparities: A Discussion on Social Determinants of Health, on Thursday, May 25, 2023, from 1:00 PM to 2:00 PM ET. The conversation will include industry leaders who have developed strategies that make grants or investments directly addressing the social determinants of health, with the aim of improving health outcomes for poor and underserved communities.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230512005363/en/

The Church Pension Group will host a virtual conversation, Turning the Tide on Health Disparities: A Discussion on Social Determinants of Health, on Thursday, May 25, 2023, from 1:00 PM to 2:00 PM ET. The conversation will include industry leaders who have developed strategies that make grants or investments directly addressing the social determinants of health, with the aim of improving health outcomes for poor and underserved communities. (Graphic: Business Wire)

Despite the US healthcare system spending a disproportionate amount of money on clinical care, underlying factors that contribute to an individuals health and wellbeing, such as social determinants of health, are often neglected. Unfortunately, many poor and underserved communities experience weaker social determinants of health, which are linked to inferior health outcomes.

Improving health outcomes for the poor requires a holistic approach that addresses the social determinants of health, said Mary Kate Wold, CEO and President of CPG. Were excited to bring together industry leaders to discuss investment strategies that have already had an impact in turning the tide on health disparities.

The event is part of CPGs ongoing Insights & Ideas series of discussions on socially responsible investing (SRI). Individuals interested in attending the event can register at cpg.org/Insights&Ideas.

The panelists will include Dr. Ann Barnes, CEO of The Episcopal Health Foundation; Dr. Len Fromer, President, Healthcare Initiatives at Turner Impact Capital; and Christopher Rowe, Managing Director at CPG.

Videos and presentations from prior Insights & Ideas discussions, which focused on climate change, investing in economically disadvantaged communities, faithful investing, positive impact investing, and sustainable investing, can be viewed at cpg.org/Insights&Ideas.

Editors Note:

Individuals interested in learning more about CPGs SRI efforts and viewing videos related to CPGs positive impact investments can visit cpg.org/SRI.

About the Church Pension Group

The Church Pension Group (CPG) is a financial services organization that serves The Episcopal Church. It maintains three lines of businessbenefits, insurance, and publishing. CPG provides retirement, health, life insurance, and related benefits for clergy and lay employees of The Episcopal Church, as well as property and casualty insurance and book and music publishing, including the official worship materials of the Church. Follow CPG on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, and LinkedIn. cpg.org

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230512005363/en/

Media Contact:

C. Curtis Ritter

Senior Vice President

Head of Corporate Communications

212-592-1816

[email protected]

Source: Church Pension Group
The executive leaves the position of President-Director and replaces Bernardo Lustosa, who will join the company's board in June.

MIAMI--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Global business intelligence and risk prevention provider, ClearSale (www.clear.sale), has just announced its placement of a new CEO. Eduardo Monaco, previously in the position of President-Director, will replace Bernardo Lustosa, who held the CEO position for the past five years. The change comes as part of a planned succession process, marking an evolutionary stage of development for the company. Lustosa will continue his involvement with ClearSale as shareholder and advisor.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230517005650/en/

Eduardo Monaco named as new CEO for global anti-fraud solution ClearSale (Photo: Business Wire)

After nearly four years leading the company as COO with a focus on the Analytics IT, Products, Open Innovation, Customer Success, and Data teams, Monaco assumed the position of President-Director at the end of last year. He boasts a strong track record, having spearheaded many successful strategic projects and operational development.

Monaco began his career at some of the largest Brazilian retailers and ecommerce companies, structuring departments and heading up projects that delivered operational excellence and elevated customer experiences. In this new role, he will lead the next stage of ClearSales evolution with a focus on nurturing innovation, risk mapping, and leveraging opportunities.

"Im so honored for the opportunity to occupy this position and contribute even more to this company that I believe in and value so much. We are very excited to see the development of this new structure and make investments that will allow ClearSale to soar to new levels in the market," said Monaco.

Elected as one of Brazil's top 100 super CEOs, Bernardo Lustosa started as a partner at ClearSale in 2008 and assumed the CEO position in 2018. Lustosa's leadership brought about a leap in capacity, organization, and scalability. In 2021, Lustosa contributed to the successful IPO of ClearSale on B3. With the transition between executives, Lustosa now holds the position of shareholder and advisor.

"I conclude my cycle as CEO in the company with great pride in the culture, values, and team that we have built over the past years. I look forward to continuing on as a member of the ClearSale board, with the full conviction that the company is in excellent hands," comments Lustosa.

The executive transition was internally developed in November of last year, so that Lustosa could focus on more innovation-oriented projects, while Monaco would be in charge of the company's day-to-day demands all while receiving support from Lustosa on addressing key issues. The management transition process was completed on May 15, 2023.

About ClearSale

ClearSale (B3: CLSA3) offers the most complete ecommerce fraud protection, combining cutting-edge statistical technology with the worlds largest team of specialized fraud analysts for a balanced, comprehensive, real-world approach. Trusted by over 6,000 customers worldwide and touting a 99% retention rate, ClearSale is the first company to offer chargeback guarantees and the largest company focused on global card-not-present fraud prevention. ClearSale helps businesses prevent fraudulent chargebacks without interfering with the online shopping experience. As a result, clients can sell more, safely, even in dynamic or challenging international markets. Visit Clear.Sale for more information, follow on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and Twitter @ClearSaleUS, and subscribe to ClearSales podcast Gateway to Ecommerce.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230517005650/en/

Bonnie Moss

Moss Networks

[email protected]

818-995-8127

Source: ClearSale
KIOXIA CD7 Series EDSFF E3.S Form Factor Drives Now Shipping on Select HPE Servers and Storage

SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Fifth paragraph of release dated May 16, 2023, KIOXIA CD7 Series data center-class should read: NVMe 1.4 (instead of NVMe 2.0).

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230516005238/en/

KIOXIA CD7 E3.S SSDs increase flash storage density per drive for optimized power efficiency and rack consolidation. (Graphic: Business Wire)

The updated release reads:

KIOXIA FIRST TO LAUNCH DATA CENTER NVME E3.S SSDS ON HEWLETT PACKARD ENTERPRISE SYSTEMS

KIOXIA CD7 Series EDSFF E3.S Form Factor Drives Now Shipping on Select HPE Servers and Storage

KIOXIA America, Inc. today announced that its lineup of CD7 Series Enterprise and Datacenter Standard Form Factor (EDSFF) E3.S NVMe SSDs are first to ship1 on servers and storage from Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE).

The industrys first2 EDSFF drives designed with PCIe 5.0 technology, KIOXIA CD7 E3.S SSDs increase flash storage density per drive for optimized power efficiency and rack consolidation2. HPE ProLiant Gen11 servers, HPE Alletra 4000 data storage servers and the HPE Synergy 480 Gen11 Compute Module are enabled with the latest PCIe 5.0 interface, enabling up to twice the performance over PCIe 4.0, and come with optionally equipped EDSFF E3.S drive bays.

As a natural evolution of the 2.5-inch form factor3, EDSFF E3.S is designed for the needs of high performance flash storage. E3.S enables more dense, efficient deployments in the same rack unit compared to 2.5-inch drives, while improving cooling and thermal characteristics and raising capacities by up to 1.5  2x.

HPE is pleased to work with KIOXIA to offer new CD7 Series EDSFF E3 SSDs to our customers, bringing high performance to our latest generation server and storage product lines, said Jim Jackson, executive vice president and chief marketing officer, Hewlett Packard Enterprise. Together, the two companies are focused on continuing to innovate and deliver solutions that improve application performance and efficiency benefits, while lowering TCO.

Available in capacities from 1,920 - 7,680 gigabytes (GB), KIOXIA CD7 Series data center-class NVMe 1.4 SSDs conform to the EDSFF E3.S specification and feature read-intensive 1 DWPD5 endurance.

At KIOXIA, we are committed to working closely with HPE to deliver greater performance, reliability and value through our SSD product portfolio, said Neville Ichhaporia, senior vice president and general manager, SSD Business Unit, KIOXIA America, Inc. EDSFF and PCIe 5.0 technologies are transforming the way storage is deployed, and our CD7 Series SSDs are the first to deliver these technologies on HPEs next-generation systems.

For more information about KIOXIA SSDs available for HPE server and storage platforms, please visit: https://americas.kioxia.com/en-us/business/ssd/oem/hpe.html.

About KIOXIA America, Inc.

KIOXIA America, Inc. is the U.S.-based subsidiary of KIOXIA Corporation, a leading worldwide supplier of flash memory and solid-state drives (SSDs). From the invention of flash memory to todays breakthrough BiCS FLASH 3D technology, KIOXIA continues to pioneer innovative memory, SSD and software solutions that enrich people's lives and expand society's horizons. The company's innovative 3D flash memory technology, BiCS FLASH, is shaping the future of storage in high-density applications, including advanced smartphones, PCs, SSDs, automotive, and data centers. For more information, please visit KIOXIA.com.

 2023 KIOXIA America, Inc. All rights reserved. Information in this press release, including product pricing and specifications, content of services, and contact information is current and believed to be accurate on the date of the announcement, but is subject to change without prior notice. Technical and application information contained here is subject to the most recent applicable KIOXIA product specifications.

Notes:

1: As of May 16, 2023, based on publicly available information

2: As of October 25, 2021, based on industry survey of publicly available information

3: Compared to 2.5-inch form factor SSDs.

4: 2.5-inch indicates the form factor of the SSD and not its physical size.

5: DWPD: Drive Write(s) Per Day. One full drive write per day means the drive can be written and re-written to full capacity once a day every day under the specified workload for the specified lifetime. Actual results may vary due to system configuration, usage and other factors.

Definition of capacity: KIOXIA Corporation defines a megabyte (MB) as 1,000,000 bytes, a gigabyte (GB) as 1,000,000,000 bytes and a terabyte (TB) as 1,000,000,000,000 bytes. A computer operating system, however, reports storage capacity using powers of 2 for the definition of 1Gb = 2^30 bits = 1,073,741,824 bits, 1GB = 2^30 bytes = 1,073,741,824 bytes and 1TB = 2^40 bytes = 1,099,511,627,776 bytes and therefore shows less storage capacity. Available storage capacity (including examples of various media files) will vary based on file size, formatting, settings, software and operating system, and/or pre-installed software applications, or media content. Actual formatted capacity may vary.

HPE and ProLiant are registered trademarks of Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company and/or its affiliates.

ALLETRA is a trademark of Hewlett Packard Enterprise Development LP

The NVMe word mark is a registered or unregistered trademark or service mark of NVM Express, Inc. in the United States and other countries. Unauthorized use strictly prohibited.

PCIe is a registered trademark of PCI-SIG.

All other company names, product names and service names may be trademarks of their respective companies.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230516005238/en/

KIOXIA AMERICA, INC

2610 Orchard Parkway

San Jose, CA 95134, US

Tel.: +1(408) 526-2700

www.kioxia.com

MEDIA CONTACT:

Dena Jacobson

Lages & Associates

Tel.: (949) 453-8080

[email protected]

COMPANY CONTACT:

Mia Cool

KIOXIA America, Inc.

Tel.: (408) 526-3087

[email protected]

Source: KIOXIA America, Inc.
Connecticut molder says: Come for a job, stay for a career

ELLINGTON, Conn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Identifying and recruiting talent in the hyper-competitive rubber and plastics industry is no simple task. It requires creativity and a willingness to play the long game. Just ask Dymotek Corp.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230517005327/en/

Dymotek Corp., with two plants in Connecticut, specializes in advanced manufacturing and has been honored eight years in a row as one of the plastics industry's Best Places to Work by Plastics News. (Photo: Business Wire)

The 112-employee, Ellington, Conn.-based plastic injection molder and liquid silicone molding and tooling specialist has adopted a number of innovative approaches to expand its potential field of employees and believes its experience can benefit others. The firm operates two plants in Connecticut  one in Ellington and one in Somers.

Dymotek  whose name is an amalgam of Dynamic Molding Technologies  is growing and frequently searching for talented new employees. We decided that we needed to develop a talent funnel, in the same way as one develops a sales funnel of potential customers, explains CEO Norm Forest.

Dymotek recently hired four people to fill posts in its tooling and quality departments and continues to strive to build its bench strength by add more high-level engineering expertise related to manufacturing, tooling, processing, and quality.

It helps that Dymotek has been recognized for eight straight years as one of Plastics News Best Places to Work, and that the company earned the publications coveted Processor of the Year Award in 2016. Such contests take time to enter but weve found the resulting recognition to be well worth the investment, says Forest. The firm also has been recognized six times as a Best Place to Work in Connecticut by the Hartford Courant newspaper.

The 26-year-old Dymotek in 2022 also paid to acquire a recruiters license on the LinkedIn social media platform. The license gives Dymotek access to specific core features offered by the platform, explained Victor Morando, the firms chief innovation officer. This allows us to search for, connect with, and message potential candidates and job seekers.

Andrea DeForge  who is a Society for Human Resource Management - Certified Professional (SHRM-CP)  serves as Dymoteks talent acquisition and training coordinator and is prospecting for talent constantly. The company has created multiple channels of potential employees and applies a checklist against all.

We then invite promising individuals in to see the company and meet the people here, said Morando, who frequently gives these candidates personal tours of the company and its plant. We do this even when we dont have any current openings. Its important to network and create personal connections.

Once Dymotek hires someone, Lynn Crane, the firms senior HR consultant, onboards them and then DeForge ensures they get proper training for their new role.

I even recruit young folks we meet who are working at local restaurants and shops, said Morando. If someone impresses us, we pitch them on learning a skill, getting paid and building a career.

Dymotek donates money to local public schools to raise their profile and to promote the promise of good manufacturing jobs. As we like to say, Morando stated: Come for a job, stay for a career.

To highlight the company culture, the firm also is developing brief YouTube videos (www.youtube.com/@dymotek-molding) featuring current employees. It still has openings to fill, which it lists at www.dymotek.com/about-dymotek/careers.html.

Growth is a good thing but brings its own set of challenges. Still, Dymotek is driven to expand its technical bandwidth and to continue to recruit and retain talented individuals to its growing family.

To learn more, contact Victor Morando at [email protected] or cell (413) 519-7310.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230517005327/en/

Victor Morando

[email protected]

Source: Dymotek Corp.
AUSTIN, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Lifesize Inc. (Lifesize or the Company), a leading, global provider of video conferencing and omnichannel contact center solutions, today announced it has entered into an Asset Purchase Agreement (APA or Agreement), with Enghouse Systems Ltd., a leading vertical enterprise software solutions company.

Under the Agreement, Enghouse will acquire substantially all the Companys assets and brands, including Lifesize, Kaptivo, ProScheduler, Serenova, and Telstrat.

The APA is the first in a series of strategic actions that Lifesize is taking to reorganize its capital structure for the benefit of customers, partners, employees, and other stakeholders. To effectuate the sale, the Company has filed voluntary, pre-negotiated petitions for reorganization under Chapter 11 in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas, Laredo Division.

Lifesizes global reach, customer base, and innovative technology enhances the way the world communicates and improves customer experiences in the new realities of hybrid and remote work, said Michael Yoshimura of FTI Consulting, Co-Chief Restructuring Officer of Lifesize. The Lifesize multivendor video meeting connectivity is needed by global enterprises now more than ever. We are optimistic about the future for the Company and are confident Lifesize can continue to deliver value and certainty to its blue-chip customer base worldwide.

Lifesize will operate as usual throughout its sale and financial reorganization process to secure an owner with a long-term commitment to continuity, ongoing support, and investment. For that purpose, the Company is finalizing $5 million USD in debtor-in-possession financing from its existing lender. The financing, in addition to its existing working capital facility and upon approval from the Court, will provide liquidity to support day-to-day operations during the Chapter 11 process.

Lifesize was founded on the vision of providing life-like visual communication solutions to allow businesses to thrive in a digital world, said Marc Bilbao of FTI Consulting, Co-Chief Restructuring Officer of Lifesize. However, due to the global pandemic, the need for in-office video conference solutions evaporated essentially overnight. This ultimately put a pause on Lifesizes core business model and a strain on its financial structure. During the Chapter 11 process, Lifesize will remain focused on serving its global customer base of omnichannel contact centers and 4K video conferencing solutions.

As part of the reorganization process, the Company will file customary "First Day" motions to allow it to maintain operations in the ordinary course. Employees will continue to be paid as usual and continue their primary benefits without disruption. Lifesize intends to pay critical vendors under customary terms for goods and services received on or after the filing date. The Company expects to receive Court approval for these customary requests.

The Agreement remains subject to higher or better offers in accordance with bid procedures and deadlines, as well as Court approval.

The Company is represented in this matter by Pachulski Stang Ziehl & Jones LLP, and FTI Consulting is serving as Chief Restructuring Advisor and financial advisor. Piper Sandler & Co. is acting as exclusive investment banker and financial advisor.

For more information about Lifesizes Chapter 11 case, visit www.lifesizeinfo.com or call 888-647-1737 (USA and Canada); 310-751-2624 (International).

About Lifesize

Lifesize video conferencing and omnichannel contact center solutions are keeping us connected. Founded in 2003, Lifesize created the worlds first high-definition video meetings and cloud-based contact centers. Serving millions of users through channel partners in over 100 countries, the company lives by the philosophy There Is Nothing More Important than Our Customers. Learn more online at www.lifesize.com.

About Enghouse Systems Ltd.

Enghouse Systems Ltd. is a Canadian publicly traded company (TSX: ENGH) that provides vertically focused enterprise software solutions focusing on contact centers, video communications, healthcare, telecommunications, public safety and the transit market. Enghouse has a two-pronged growth strategy that focuses on internal growth and acquisitions, which are funded through operating cash flows. The company has no external debt financing and is organized around two business segments: the Interactive Management Group and the Asset Management Group. For more information, please visit www.enghouse.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230517005350/en/

Jennifer E. Mercer

[email protected]

Source: Lifesize Inc.
Pioneer of U.S. Space Force to Help Lead Investments in Technology, Aerospace, and Defense Modernization

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Cerberus Capital Management, L.P. (Cerberus), a global leader in alternative investing, today announced that (Ret.) General John W. Jay Raymond has joined Cerberus as a Senior Managing Director on the Firms Supply Chain and Strategic Opportunities platform.

General Raymond joins a team of investment professionals, technologists, operating executives, and policy experts to pursue investments in areas that advance supply chain and security integrity for the United States and its partner nations. In this role, he will focus primarily on technology, aerospace, and defense modernization investments and provide strategic guidance to the broader platform and its portfolio of investments, including in the space domain.

General Raymond has deep technology expertise and strategic foresight relating to the future of supply chain integrity and security, said Stephen Feinberg, Cerberus Co-Founder and Co-Chief Executive Officer. Were excited to have him join our team of experts as we continue to partner with companies that harness next-generation technologies and drive critical innovations.

Gregory Nixon, Senior Managing Director and Head of Strategic Investments for Cerberus, added: General Raymond has been a seminal figure in the advancement of our nations aerospace capabilities and space infrastructure. His experience and insights will be invaluable as we continue to invest in furthering innovative technologies, national security, and defense applications across our Supply Chain and Strategic Opportunities platform.

General Raymond joins Cerberus after a distinguished career as a decorated military officer spanning 38 years of service in the United States Air Force and as a key architect of the United States Space Force. Most recently, General Raymond served as the first Chief of Space Operations of the United States Space Force, leading the military branch from its creation in 2019 until his retirement in 2022. As the highest-ranking officer in the Space Force, General Raymond held a seat on the Joint Chiefs of Staff and was responsible for organizing and overseeing the interests of the United States and allied nations in space.

General Raymond commented: "Cerberus is a renowned investor that is now at the vanguard of technology and security. With its approach of patient capital, subject-matter experts, and operational resources, Im confident we can accelerate multi-dimensional value creation and innovation for partners. Now is a time of action and this is a powerful platform."

Prior to the Space Force, General Raymond served in a number of key leadership positions, including as the Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations at Headquarters U.S. Air Force, as the Director of Plans and Policy at U.S. Strategic Command, and as the Commander of Air Force Space Command. His leadership and contributions have been recognized with numerous awards and decorations, including the Defense Distinguished Service Medal, the Air Force Distinguished Service Medal, and the Legion of Merit. General Raymond graduated from Clemson University in 1984 and later earned masters degrees from the Naval War College and Central Michigan University.

Cerberus Supply Chain and Strategic Opportunities platform draws on the Firms integrated investment and operating expertise to advance companies and capabilities across supply chains. With dedicated funding and expertise across investment lifecycles, we invest in enterprising businesses that harness next-generation technologies, advance supply chain integrity, and strive to achieve commensurate growth and returns.

About Cerberus

Founded in 1992, Cerberus is a global leader in alternative investing with approximately $60 billion in assets under management across complementary credit, private equity, and real estate strategies. We invest across the capital structure where we believe our integrated investment platforms and proprietary operating capabilities create an edge to improve performance and drive long-term value. Our tenured teams have experience working collaboratively across asset classes, sectors, and geographies to seek strong risk-adjusted returns for our investors. For more information about our people and platforms, visit us at www.cerberus.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230517005261/en/

Jason Ghassemi

[email protected]

Source: Cerberus Capital Management, L.P.
SHENZHEN, China--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Hytera Communications (SZSE: 002583), a leading global provider of professional communications technologies and solutions, has recently released its latest Push-to-talk over Cellular (PoC) radio model PNC460 XRugged Smart Device. With open API, rugged hardware, and intuitive Push-to-talk (PTT), PNC460 holds great potential and possibilities to unleash team productivity in business and industrial scenarios.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230517005497/en/

Hytera XRugged Smart Device PNC460 (Graphic: Business Wire)

As a smartphone for professionals, PNC460 operates Android 12 with open API and easily runs specialized 3rd-party Apps developed for specific purposes or industries, for example, Apps for access control, courier delivery, utility maintenance, physical security, etc. The measuring tool kit developed by Hytera comes in handy with a noise detector, level, altimeter, plumb, pedometer, and protractor. This device offers a premium platform for the digitization of business operations, especially for mobile workforce empowerment and management.

PNC460 delivers intuitive and reliable push-to-talk (PTT) enabled by both hardware and software, which clearly differentiate PNC460 from the App-based PTT feature on consumer smartphones. The physical PTT button retains the iconic ease of use of two-way radios (walkie-talkies) and ensures instant group calls especially in urgent situations. Equipped with an external antenna, PNC460 has a much higher RX capability to cope with weak cellular coverage areas and therefore ensures the quality of voice calls. The up to 3W speaker, coupled with artificial intelligence (AI) noise cancellation (NC) and echo and wind noise reduction, enables as clear and loud as possible audio in different noisy environments.

With decades of expertise and experience in designing and manufacturing ruggedized two-way radios for mission-critical sectors, Hytera gives PNC460 a strong competitive edge over regular rugged devices the market has been offering. With an IP68 rating, it is water resistant in freshwater of 1.5 meters for up to 30 minutes; it is also dust-tight without any extra cases or protections. The tough chassis and reinforced components survive stringent tests such as the shock of 1.5 meters drop on the hard floor and extreme temperatures (-20C to +60C). Attentive to the work at hand, professionals dont need to spare effort in taking care of connectivity and communications with the team and system even in a rough environment.

About Hytera

Hytera Communications Corporation Limited (SZSE: 002583) is a leading global provider of professional communications technologies and solutions. With voice, video, and data capabilities, we provide faster, safer, and more versatile connectivity for business and mission-critical users. We make the world more efficient and safer by enabling our customers to achieve more in both daily operations and emergency response.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230517005497/en/

[email protected]

Source: Hytera Communications
More than 100 students accepted to higher education after graduation

OKLAHOMA CITY--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Insight School of Oklahoma (ISOK) is holding an in-person commencement ceremony to honor the achievements of its 2023 graduating class. The ceremony will be held on May 18 at 7 p.m. at First Baptist Church in Edmond, OK. A live stream of the ceremony will also be available on ISOKs Facebook page.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230516005847/en/

Students line up for Graduation (Photo: Business Wire)

ISOK is known for its personalized approach to online education and understanding a childs mental and emotional needs must be met before they can strive in school.

We try to remove as many barriers as possible before students even enter the classroom to increase their likelihood of graduating, said ISOK Head of School Jennifer Wilkinson. Its a testament to our teachers, staff and students for putting in the hard work so they can transition to the next stage of their lives.

This years graduating class includes 235 students. Almost half of the graduates will attend college or career tech programs and the other half will enter the workforce. Five percent of the students will enlist in the Armed Forces.

Insight has two 2023 valedictorians, Ian Gonzalez is going to Tulsa Community College to study game design and Janessa Dugan will attend the University of Central Oklahoma (UCO).

Insight provides students with an encouraging and positive environment where we feel supported and motivated to pursue our education, she said. Thanks to my time at Insight, I feel fully prepared to attend UCO and am excited to major in nursing.

This years keynote speaker is Rep. Dick Lowe.

About Insight School of Oklahoma

Insight School of Oklahoma (ISOK) is an alternative education online public charter school that serves students in grades 6-12 throughout the state of Oklahoma. ISOK is recognized by the Oklahoma State Department of Education as an alternative school and is authorized by the Statewide Virtual Charter School Board. ISOK is tuition-free and gives parents and families the choice to access the curriculum provided by K12, a Stride company (NYSE: LRN). Stride offers learners of all ages a more effective way to learn and build their skills for the future. For more information, visit ok.insightschools.net.

Click to download photo

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230516005847/en/

Reena OBrien, Candor

404-702-3688

[email protected]

Ken Schwartz, Stride, Senior Manager, Communications

571-405-2211

[email protected]

Source: Stride, Inc.
NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- KBRA assigns preliminary ratings to two classes of notes issued by FortiFi 2023-1, Series 2023-1 (FortiFi 2023-1, LLC. The notes are newly issued asset-backed securities backed by a portfolio of Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) Bonds.

The Class A Notes and Class B Notes (together, the Notes) are secured by a portfolio of PACE bonds (PACE Bonds) acquired by FortiFi 2023-1 (the Issuer) at closing (the Initial PACE Bonds) and during the Prefunding Period (the Subsequent PACE Bonds and together with the Initial PACE Bonds, the PACE Bond Portfolio). The PACE Bond Portfolio consists of limited obligation improvement bonds issued or to be issued by California Statewide Communities Development Authority (CSCDA), via the CSCDA Open PACE Program, and by Florida PACE Funding Agency (FPFA), via the FPFA PACE Program (together with CSCDA PACE Program, the PACE Programs). The Initial PACE Bonds are secured by 5,025 PACE assessments levied against 5,007 residential properties and 18 commercial properties (PACE Assessments) in 41 Florida counties and 33 California counties. The transaction benefits from credit enhancement in the form of excess spread, a liquidity reserve account, and in the case of the Class A Notes, subordination.

To access ratings and relevant documents, click here.

Click here to view the report.

Related Publications

Disclosures

Further information on key credit considerations, sensitivity analyses that consider what factors can affect these credit ratings and how they could lead to an upgrade or a downgrade, and ESG factors (where they are a key driver behind the change to the credit rating or rating outlook) can be found in the full rating report referenced above.

A description of all substantially material sources that were used to prepare the credit rating and information on the methodology(ies) (inclusive of any material models and sensitivity analyses of the relevant key rating assumptions, as applicable) used in determining the credit rating is available in the Information Disclosure Form(s) located here.

Information on the meaning of each rating category can be located here.

Further disclosures relating to this rating action are available in the Information Disclosure Form(s) referenced above. Additional information regarding KBRA policies, methodologies, rating scales and disclosures are available at www.kbra.com.

About KBRA

Kroll Bond Rating Agency, LLC (KBRA) is a full-service credit rating agency registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission as an NRSRO. Kroll Bond Rating Agency Europe Limited is registered as a CRA with the European Securities and Markets Authority. Kroll Bond Rating Agency UK Limited is registered as a CRA with the UK Financial Conduct Authority. In addition, KBRA is designated as a designated rating organization by the Ontario Securities Commission for issuers of asset-backed securities to file a short form prospectus or shelf prospectus. KBRA is also recognized by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners as a Credit Rating Provider.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230517005553/en/

Analytical Contacts

Kenneth Martens, Senior Director (Lead Analyst)

+1 (646) 731-3373

[email protected]

Oluwatobi Tofade, CFA, Senior Analyst

+1 (646) 731-1277

[email protected]

Eric Neglia, Senior Managing Director (Rating Committee Chair)

+1 (646) 731-2456

[email protected]

Business Development Contact

Rosemary Kelley, Senior Managing Director

+1 (646) 731-2337

[email protected]

Source: Kroll Bond Rating Agency, LLC
Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy and Vice President Kamala Harris listen as President Joe Biden speaks during a meeting in the Oval Office of the White House, on May 16, 2023, in Washington.

Crucial debt ceiling negotiations are still far from success, but a deal is possible by the end of the week, Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said after a brief meeting Tuesday with President Joe Biden and other congressional leaders at the White House.

Meanwhile, Biden is cutting short his upcoming foreign trip because of the looming debt limit crisis, adding urgency to the talks. McCarthy said one new development is that the president has changed the scope of who is negotiating in the staff conversations that have been slow-going over the past week.

It is possible to get to a deal by the end of the week, McCarthy told reporters.

Tuesdays meeting was pivotal as negotiators were staring down a June 1 deadline, which is when the Treasury Department says the U.S. could begin defaulting on its debts.

Biden is cutting short his planned trip to Japan, Papua New Guinea and Australia, set to begin Wednesday. He will still attend a G-7 summit in Japan but is canceling the later stops, according to three people with knowledge of the decision who were granted anonymity to discuss the unannounced decision.

Biden met with the congressional leaders in the Oval Office.

Were just getting started, Biden he said in brief remarks to reporters, while others in the meeting  Vice President Kamala Harris, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.  sat soberly.

Biden will still attend the Group of Seven summit in Hiroshima, Japan, as planned but canceled the later stops ould cancel the later stops. Kirby noted that Biden will already have met with some of the leaders of the so-called Quad  the purpose of the Australia leg of the visit  while in Japan, even as he cautioned that no final decisions have been made.

We wouldnt even be having this discussion about the effect of the debt ceiling debate on the trip, if Congress would do its job, raise the debt ceiling the way theyve always done, Kirby said.

While Biden has remained upbeat that well be able to do this, McCarthy has prodded the president to move faster and has been far more pessimistic on the state of the talks. He and other Republicans are demanding budget cuts in exchange for their support for raising the debt ceiling. Biden insists the two issue must not be linked.

How much is too much? McCarthy said Tuesday about the nations $31 trillion debt load, as he pushed for stricter work requirements on government aid recipients as a way to cut spending.

McCarthy stopped short of suggesting Biden cancel his trip abroad. But he said at the Capitol, Weve got 16 more days to go, I dont think Id spend eight days out of the country.

Even as the Democratic president and the Republican speaker box around the politics of the issue  with Biden insisting hes not negotiating over the debt ceiling and McCarthy working to extract spending cuts  various areas of possible agreement appeared to be emerging.

Talks have been under way at the Capitol for much of the past week, closed-door discussions where White House and congressional staff are discussing what it would take to craft a budget deal that would unlock a separate vote to lift the nations borrowing capacity to avoid a devastating default.

Among the items on the table: clawing back some $30 billion in untapped COVID-19 money, imposing future budget caps, changing permit regulations to ease energy development and putting bolstered work requirements on recipients of government aid, according to those familiar with the talks.

But congressional Democrats are growing concerned about the idea of putting new work requirements for government aid recipients on the table after Biden suggested he may be open to such changes. The White House remains opposed to changes in requirements for recipients of Medicaid and food stamp programs, although it is more open to revisions for beneficiaries of the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families cash assistance program.

The idea of imposing more work requirements was resoundingly rejected by House Democrats at a morning caucus meeting, according to one Democrat at the private meeting and granted anonymity to discuss it.

Progressive lawmakers in particular have raised the issue. Rep. Pramila Jayapal, the chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus has raised concerns but not yet spoken directly to Biden about the issue.

We want to make sure that these negotiations do not include spending cuts, do not include work requirements, things that would harm people, people in rural areas, black, brown, indigenous folks, Jayapal said Tuesday.

Democratic leader Jeffries staff sought to reassure them in talks late Monday, while a separate group of more centrist Democrats have signaled to their moderate Republican colleagues they are prepared to work something out to reach a debt ceiling deal, aides said Tuesday.

While McCarthy has complained the talks are slow-going, saying he first met with Biden more than 100 days ago Biden has said it took McCarthy all this time to put forward his own proposal after Republicans failed to produce their own budget this year.

Biden has insisted Republicans must rule out default and consider budget issues separate from the need to raise the nations debt limit.

The debt limit must be lifted, as has been done countless times before, to allow continued borrowing to pay already accrued bills.

Compounding pressure on Washington to strike a deal, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said Monday that estimates are unchanged on the possible X-date when the U.S. could run out of cash.

But Yellen, in a letter to the House and Senate, left some opening for a possible time extension on a national default, stating that the actual date Treasury exhausts extraordinary measures could be a number of days or weeks later than these estimates.

It is essential that Congress act as soon as possible, Yellen said Tuesday in remarks before the Independent Community Bankers of America.

In my assessment and that of economists across the board  a U.S. default would generate an economic and financial catastrophe, she said.

Time is dwindling. Congress has just a few days when both the House and Senate are in session to pass legislation.

Its time for the principals to get more engaged, get their closers out there, said Sen. John Thune of South Dakota, the Republican whip.

Details of a potential budget deal remain politically daunting, and its not at all clear they go far enough to satisfy McCarthys hard-right faction in the House or would be acceptable to a sizable number of Democrats whose votes would almost certainly be needed to secure any final deal.

Republicans led by McCarthy want Biden to accept their proposal to roll back spending, cap future outlays and make other policy changes in the package passed last month by House Republicans. McCarthy says the House is the only chamber that has taken action to raise the debt ceiling. But the House bill is almost certain to fail in the Senate, controlled by Democrats, and Biden has said he would veto it.

An increase in the debt limit would not authorize new federal spending. It would only allow for borrowing to pay for what Congress has already approved.

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LAGUNA HILLS, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- BrainChip Holdings Ltd (ASX: BRN, OTCQX: BRCHF, ADR: BCHPY), the worlds first commercial producer of ultra-low power, fully digital, event- based, neuromorphic AI IP, will host a webinar introducing the Akida PCIe Board Evaluation Kit as part of the tinyML Hackathon 2023: Pedestrian Detection Challenge, May 18 at 8 a.m. PDT.

Tiny machine learning (TinyML) is broadly defined as a fast-growing field of machine learning technologies and applications, including hardware, algorithms and software, capable of performing on-device sensor data analytics at extremely low power, enabling a variety of always-on use-cases and targeting battery operated devices without need for connection to cloud.

This years challenge, in partnership with the City of San Joses Vision Zero program, is to develop a Tiny ML-based solution to detect pedestrians and others. BrainChips webinar provides those participating in the challenge with information about the Akida Board Evaluation Kit and how it can be used to deliver efficient AI performance at the Edge, thus enabling intelligent devices and applications.

The Akida Board Evaluation Kit is a one-lane PCIe board, for Akida technology assessment. It includes the AKD1000 Akida processor from BrainChip. The PCIe board can be integrated into a Linux computer including an x86-64 PC architecture, such as any intel, i5, i7, i9 based computer, or an Arm aarch64 machine such as a Raspberry Pi 4.

We look forward to providing developers with guidance on utilizing BrainChip IP to create compelling solutions for the tinyML Hackathon Challenge, said Rob Telson, BrainChip Vice President of Ecosystem and Partnerships. BrainChip's proven hyper-efficient object detection and classification capabilities empowers participants to build innovative applications that identify pedestrians, cyclists and distinguish other objects in any kind of environment in real-time. These solutions can ultimately lead to a significant reduction in traffic fatalities and injuries. Were excited to help make roads and travel safer for everyone.

The tinyML Hackathon runs May 19-September 15. To register for BrainChips webinar, interested parties can visit https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/3916833274949/WN_2f8BOyaYTS2yFn-KHdVxDQ#/registration

About BrainChip Holdings Ltd (ASX: BRN, OTCQX: BRCHF, ADR: BCHPY)

BrainChip is the worldwide leader in edge AI on-chip processing and learning. The companys first-to-market, fully digital, event-based AI processor, AkidaTM, uses neuromorphic principles to mimic the human brain, analyzing only essential sensor inputs at the point of acquisition, processing data with unparalleled efficiency, precision, and economy of energy. Akida uniquely enables edge learning local to the chip, independent of the cloud, dramatically reducing latency while improving privacy and data security. Akida Neural processor IP, which can be integrated into SoCs on any process technology, has shown substantial benefits on todays workloads and networks, and offers a platform for developers to create, tune and run their models using standard AI workflows like Tensorflow/Keras. In enabling effective edge compute to be universally deployable across real world applications such as connected cars, consumer electronics, and industrial IoT, BrainChip is proving that on-chip AI, close to the sensor, is the future, for its customers products, as well as the planet. Explore the benefits of Essential AI at www.brainchip.com.

Follow BrainChip on Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/BrainChip_inc

Follow BrainChip on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/7792006

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230517005165/en/

Media Contact:

Mark Smith

JPR Communications

818-398-1424

Investor Contact:

Tony Dawe

BrainChip

[email protected]

Source: BrainChip Holdings Ltd
SHANGHAI--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Ample Solutions, Asia's leading electronic component distributor, is gearing up for its inaugural participation in electronica China 2023. This annual trade fair is the most important meeting place for the Chinese electronics industry, bringing together the biggest players to showcase their latest technologies, products and services. The event will be held from 11-13 July 2023 at the National Exhibition and Convention Center in Shanghai, China. It is expected to attract thousands of visitors from across the globe, with many of the biggest names in the electronics industry in attendance.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230516005040/en/

Meet Ample Solutions at electronica China 2023 - Event Lucky Draw Features a Tesla Model 3 and More (Graphic: Business Wire)

"We are thrilled to be participating in electronica China 2023," said Jason Fan, CEO of Ample Solutions. "This event provides us with a fantastic opportunity to showcase our services to a wider audience. We believe that our participation in this event will further establish ourselves as a key player in the Chinese electronics distribution industry."

With an impressive booth area of over 1,600 square feet, Ample Solutions will be showcasing their cutting-edge global supply chain solutions. Visitors to the Ample Solutions booth can expect to be wowed by the exceptional services that the company has to offer to help their partners succeed in the competitive world of electronics. One of the highlights of the Ample Solutions booth will be an exciting lucky draw of five iPhone 14s and a brand new Tesla Model 3. Don't miss out on this incredible opportunity to win amazing prizes and discover how Ample Solutions can drive your business forward in the electronics industry.

To participate in the lucky draw, click here: https://utm.guru/ufIsr

About Ample Solutions

Ample Solutions is an independent electronic component distributor that offers global supply chain solutions to electronics manufacturers worldwide. In 2023, Ample Solutions has been named by ESM China as one of the top 50 global electronic component distributors for the year 2022. Its services include component distribution, shortage sourcing, excess inventory management and more. Ample Solutions is headquartered in Singapore with eight Asia regional offices and over 500 employees worldwide. With ISO 9001 certification and membership in the ERAI, Ample Solutions also has two world-class quality assurance centres separately in Hong Kong and Shenzhen, to provide high-quality components at the shortest lead time to ensure the success of its global partners.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230516005040/en/

Ample Solutions

Marketing Department

[email protected]

Source: Ample Solutions
NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- MetLife, Inc. (NYSE: MET) today announced that Michel Khalaf, president and CEO, will participate in a fireside chat at the Bernstein 39th Annual Strategic Decisions Conference on Wednesday, May 31, 2023, beginning at 11 a.m. (ET).

A live webcast of the presentation will be available over the internet at https://kvgo.com/bernstein-2023-39th-annual-sdc/metlife-2023. Those who want to listen should go to the website at least 15 minutes prior to the presentation to download and install any necessary software. A replay of the presentation will be available until June 7, 2023, at 11:59 p.m. (ET) at the same website beginning one hour after the presentation concludes.

About MetLife

MetLife, Inc. (NYSE: MET), through its subsidiaries and affiliates (MetLife), is one of the worlds leading financial services companies, providing insurance, annuities, employee benefits and asset management to help individual and institutional customers build a more confident future. Founded in 1868, MetLife has operations in more than 40 markets globally and holds leading positions in the United States, Japan, Latin America, Asia, Europe and the Middle East. For more information, visit www.metlife.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230517005569/en/

For Media:

Brian Blaser

212-578-2415

[email protected]

For Investors:

John Hall

212-578-7888

[email protected]

Source: MetLife, Inc.
In a sign of momentum, Obie secures a second round of funding, showing investor confidence in embedded insurance solutions for real estate investors

CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Obie, an industry-leading insurtech startup, announced today that it has raised $25.5 million in a Series B funding round led by Battery Ventures, with participation from Brick and Mortar VC, DivcoWest, and several real estate funds and investor groups.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230515005927/en/

The Obie instant quote process leverages data enrichment, accessing multiple databases to apply unique algorithms and analysis to over 1000 data points. The proprietary methodology of this data analysis allows for a more accurate assessment of risk and the ability to more efficiently underwrite policies, resulting in faster quote generation. (Graphic: Business Wire)

Founded in 2017, Obie is focused on providing insurance to residential real estate investors. The company has seen success from, and is now doubling-down on, its industry-first embedded insurance distribution strategy. The Obie instant quote process leverages data enrichment, accessing multiple databases to apply unique algorithms and analysis to over 1000 data points. The proprietary methodology of this data analysis allows for a more accurate assessment of risk and the ability to more efficiently underwrite policies, resulting in faster quote generation. With this innovative technology, Obie delivers instantly bindable quotes that meet the distinct needs of each investment property, enabling a superior customer experience and positioning the company as the leading digital provider of landlord insurance.

Were excited to have the ongoing support of our investors as we continue to build insurance products that drive efficiency and change the way insurance is bought and sold, said Obie Co-founder and CEO, Ryan Letzeiser. This funding supports the future of embedded insurance, as we expand our partnerships across industries and offer additional insurance products to clients.

Having secured over $20B in total coverage, Obie has already attracted over 75 partners in proptech and fintech, including Baselane, Awning, and Marketplace Homes as embedded partners. With the embedded product seamlessly integrating into partner platforms, value is added by offering comprehensive insurance coverage, powered by Obie, all directly within their platform or preferred digital channel. Through the Obie product, partners can also ensure their insurance specifications are met, such as meeting unique insurance loan requirements.

With over 18M real estate investors across the United States, Obies unique distribution strategy positions the company to continue growing in a market still largely served by legacy insurance carriers. Having seen 300% growth over the past two years, Obie is proving that modern real estate investors are adopting new, easier ways to obtain insurance that align with other digitized proptech and fintech solutions.

Despite the recent volatility in the real estate and insurtech markets, we believe Obies approach to growthnamely, by using an API-first approach and embedding their technology within their large ecosystem partnersis the right one for this market, and the companys recent success demonstrates this, said Michael Brown, a Battery general partner and Obie board member. Were excited to recommit to Obie and continue to help the company scale.

After raising $10.7 million in their Series A funding round closed in 2021, this new round of funding brings the total equity raised to date to $39 million.

About Obie

Obie is an insurance technology company, hyper-focused on driving value for the modern real estate investor and the partners they work with every day. Whether you are an owner, lender, agent, or property manager, Obies mission is to build technology and insurance products that drive efficiency and fundamentally change the way insurance is bought and sold. Learn more at obieinsurance.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230515005927/en/

Grace Halla

[email protected]

Source: Obie
Initial award recognizes potential of proprietary Owlstone Medical technology for non-invasive viral and bacterial respiratory infectious disease detection

Goal of the project is to provide a device to every warfighter in the field where access to diagnostic testing or medical personnel is limited

CAMBRIDGE, England--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Owlstone Medical (Owlstone), the global leader in Breath Biopsy for applications in early disease detection and precision medicine, today announced that it had won an award from the U.S. Defense Innovation Unit (DIU), a division of the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD), for Exhaled Breath Diagnostics. The EXHALE project, focused on the early detection of human infection using volatile organic compounds (VOCs) on breath, will develop a handheld device capable of non-invasive detection of pre-symptomatic respiratory infectious disease.

Warfighters routinely operate in remote environments where access to medical personnel is limited and the ability to diagnose infectious disease early is challenging. Under these conditions, the risk of contracting a respiratory disease, and subsequently its spread to other personnel, is high and can have a severe impact on mission readiness. Most current diagnostic testing platforms are unsuitable to be deployed in the field, and so there is a significant need for a portable solution.

The portable device by Owlstone will be adapted to work off battery power and detect VOCs present in exhaled breath, filling a gap in infectious disease detection. By aiming for the earliest possible identification of asymptomatic infected individuals in the field, the device would reduce the risk of disease transmission wherever deployed, providing a strategic advantage to the force.

Based on the Companys proprietary FAIMS technology, the device will be developed over a two-year period, supported by clinical studies to be performed at Duke University. Initial work will focus on identifying and validating breath biomarkers for viral and bacterial pathogens and defining performance requirements for the device.

If successful, there is potential for a second phase to the project for further development of the device to the point of being ready for high-volume manufacturing by Owlstone, and global deployment in the field.

Billy Boyle, co-founder and CEO at Owlstone Medical, said: We have completed multiple studies in lung inflammation and bacterial and viral infectious disease (including COVID) with major pharma and academic partners, providing us with a broad list of candidate biomarkers for consideration in this project. We have a proprietary technology in FAIMS, and extensive experience with device development and sensor design, including in small handheld devices. With proven expertise and technology in both areas, we believe Owlstone is uniquely positioned to support the EXHALE project and are pleased that the DIU agrees and has awarded us this contract.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230516005623/en/

Dr Ben Rutter, Zyme Communications

[email protected]

+44 (0) 7920 770 935

Source: Owlstone Medical
Company Beats Revenue Expectations as Private Credit Continues to Heat Up; Funding Raised Will Help Fuel Continued Growth

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Percent, the innovative platform that has created the modern credit marketplace, announced today the successful close of a $29.7 million Series B funding round, more than doubling the companys total funding, which now sits at $48.2 million.

The round was led by White Star Capital, with participation from existing investors such as B Capital Group, and notable new investors, including Susquehanna Private Equity Investments LLLP, BDMI, Forte Ventures, and Vectr Fintech. In addition to being oversubscribed, this latest funding round is evidence of the incredible demand for Percents platform, its growing success and the confidence of investors in its future. Percent has disrupted private capital markets by providing a transparent and data-powered infrastructure for the historically opaque asset class for borrowers, underwriters and investors.

Private credit has never been more in demand. Preqin forecasts that private debt will continue to grow to $2.3 trillion by 2027. With the recent bank failures drawing even more regulatory scrutiny, demand for private credit has surged once again, similar to what happened after the global financial crisis of 2007. These have all acted as positive tailwinds for Percent and the industry at large. Percent's approach brings novel public market efficiencies to the analog-era private debt markets at a pressing time. By powering the sourcing, structuring, syndication and servicing of private credit transactions from beginning to end, Percent organizes the fragmented market, bringing understanding and access through its platform. As private credit's popularity continues to rise, demand has positioned Percent's platform as the go-to solution in today's volatile market.

Our vision of building the first ever vertical SaaS solution for an archaic and broken industry is paying off, with equity investors realizing the magnitude of what weve built and its immense potential, said Nelson Chu, founder and CEO of Percent. Recent events in the financial and startup world have pushed private credit into the spotlight. In this new normal, equity is hard to come by, and debt can be the best option for all market participants - borrowers, investors and underwriters, illustrating private credits value proposition. Were grateful for our core and new strategic partners confidence and support, and believe this funding underscores our momentum and opportunity.

The global private debt market is massive, and its growth shows no signs of slowing. Percent is developing the first ever end-to-end infrastructure solution for the private debt markets, which addresses a massive trillion-dollar market and taps a real need for alternative investment sources across the startup ecosystem," said Eddie Lee, General Partner at White Star Capital. "We're really excited to continue backing Nelson and his team as the lead investor in this latest round, that includes some excellent new investors, which will provide Percent with a strategic edge in their next stage of growth."

This funding round also included several strategics, including Evolution VC and Global Fintech Venture Partners.

About Percent

Percent has created the modern credit marketplace, empowering investors, borrowers, and underwriters with innovative technology to increase the speed and velocity of transactions at a fraction of the cost. The companys core infrastructure delivers public market efficiencies to the analog private credit market by powering the sourcing, structuring, syndication, surveillance and servicing of private credit transactions from beginning to end. Founded in 2018, Percents platform is becoming the market standard for asset-backed and corporate lending, powering over $1.2 billion in transaction volume in a multi-trillion-dollar private credit industry. For additional information, please visit www.percent.com and follow the company on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230517005222/en/

Media:

Caliber Corporate Advisers

[email protected]

Source: Percent
The virtual try on feature using Perfect Corp.s proprietary AI-powered AgileHand technology is available for Manucurist's Green Flash LED nail range, empowering shoppers to discover nail colors.

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Perfect Corp. (NYSE: PERF), the leading artificial intelligence (AI) and augmented reality (AR) beauty and fashion tech solutions provider, today announced a partnership with the French green beauty brand, Manucurist to bring their Green Flash nail colors to life through AR virtual try-on. 50 nail polish colors from the Green Flash range, a LED nail polish, can be tried on virtually on the Manucurist website. From Navy Blue to Poppy Red, consumers are free to discover the nail colors in real time on their own hands thanks to the magic of AI-powered virtual try-on for nails.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230517005465/en/

Perfect Corp. Partners with French Green Beauty Brand Manucurist to Bring Nail Polish Products to Life through Hyper-Realistic AR Nail Virtual Try On (Photo: Business Wire)

Green Beauty Brand Uses AI Virtual Try-On Technologies to Improve Customer Experiences

The vegan and cruelty free beauty brand uses no toxic ingredients, features eco-friendly packaging and focuses on keeping nails healthy, strong and shiny. The brand disrupted the market in 2019 when launching the first LED nail polish - Green Flash. The company values innovation and is well aware of the consumer trend and needs for online interactive & engaging experiences. Manicurist has teamed up with Perfect Corp. and utilized its latest AI Nails virtual try-on technology, along with Physically Based Rendering (PBR) rendering, to showcase digital nail polish products with remarkable accuracy. Combined with the proprietary AgileHand technology for ultra-precise hand mapping & tracking, PBR allows best-in-class virtual try on experiences with realistic textures, reflections, finishes & light simulations.

Revolutionizing the Online Shopping Journey for Nail Color

With the help of Perfect Corp.s best-in-class AI and AR algorithms, manicure lovers can now experience nail color virtual try-on in real-time to choose the most flattering color from a range of 50 vivid shades. Manucurist shoppers can instantly preview the color of their choice directly on their hand through the lens of their laptop or smartphone camera. The hyper-realistic AR rendering tracks users movements, allowing the color to stay perfectly in place while the user moves their hand within the frame.

We are delighted to partner with Manucurist on the AR virtual try-on experience. This one-of-a-kind online experience allows manicure lovers to test a variety of colors on themselves and creates an impactful & immersive effect. said Alice Chang, Perfect Corp. Founder and CEO. The use of this technology is a real asset when purchasing nail colors online. We hope that consumers will enjoy this new experience during their nail shopping journey.

To virtually try on Manucurists Green Flash colors, please visit:

https://us.manucurist.com/collections/green-flash-colors

About Manucurist.

Manucurist is the creator of Green Flash, the world's first ever plant-based LED nail polish that goes on like a gel and removes like a regular polish. Green Flash is 12-Free, HEMA-Free, cruelty-free, vegan, and committed to a greener future. Changing colors has never been easier! No more damaging your nails by drilling and scraping off your gel, our Green Flash formula gently removes in 60 seconds with our acetone-free, soothing miracle nail polish remover. Our formulas are vegan and exclude an extensive list of blacklist ingredients including monomers, the additives which are often what people allergic to gel react to. We pride ourselves in creating the most natural formulas possible by replacing synthetic with natural in as many ingredients as we can. Many of our ingredients come from potatoes, cotton, sugar cane, wheat, bamboo and coconut oil. 97% recommend the Green flash experience to their family and friends. No need to sacrifice your health or your values for a perfect manicure at home, every time.

About Perfect Corp.

Perfect Corp. (NYSE: PERF) is the leading SaaS AI and AR beauty and fashion tech solutions provider, dedicated to transforming shopping experiences through empowering brands to embrace the digital-first world. By partnering with the largest names in the industry, Perfect Corp.s suite of enterprise solutions deliver synergistic, technology-driven experiences that facilitate sustainable, ultra-personalized, and engaging shopping journeys, as well as equipping brands with next generation of consumer goods. Perfect Corp. offers a complementary suite of mobile apps, including YouCam Makeup and YouCam Perfect, to provide a consumer platform to virtually try-on new products, perform skin diagnoses, edit photos, and share experiences with the YouCam Community. To learn more, please visit PerfectCorp.com

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230517005465/en/

Perfect Corp. official website: https://www.perfectcorp.com

Perfect Corp. on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/perfect-corp/

Perfect Corp. official Blog: https://www.perfectcorp.com/business/blog

Corporate: Tony Tsai at [email protected] or by phone: +886-2-8667-1265, ext. 2167

USA: Jacqueline Agudelo at [email protected] or by phone +1 917-935-8232

Japan: Ryusho Hosaka at [email protected] or by phone: +81-3-5875-6651

China: Winter Zhang at [email protected] or by phone: +86-166-2139-1855

UAE: Moushmi Bhatia at [email protected] or by phone: +971 (0) 56 896 5253

Europe: Jessica Thiant at [email protected]

Mexico: Ingrid Motta at [email protected] or by phone: (+521) 5512491739

United Kingdom: Will Parrott at [email protected]

Source: Perfect Corp.
TWYMEEG sales in Japan for Sumitomo Pharma Fiscal Year 20221 exceeded guidance2 by more than 20%, and TWYMEEGs FY 2023 forecast3 from Sumitomo Pharma would represent a 90% increase over the prior year sales

Cash runway extended through Q2 2025 through debt restructuring and assuming full drawdown of the equity-linked financing facility with IRIS

Company actively pursuing additional financing to initiate adrenoleukodystrophy (ALD) Phase 2 Proof-of-Concept (POC) studies

As of March 31, 2023, cash and cash equivalents were EUR 10.6 million (USD 11.6 million)4

LYON, France--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Regulatory News:

POXEL SA (Euronext: POXEL - FR0012432516), a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company developing innovative treatments for chronic serious diseases with metabolic pathophysiology, including non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) and rare metabolic disorders, today provided a corporate update and announced its cash position and revenue for the first quarter ended March 31, 2023.

Thomas Kuhn, Chief Executive Officer of Poxel, stated: This quarter we successfully restructured our debt obligations and increased our financial flexibility with a new equity-linked financing with IRIS. Together these actions significantly extend our financial visibility through Q2 2025. Our lenders agreed to postpone initiation of repayments until Q1 2025, based on future potential royalties from increasing TWYMEEG net sales which will be directed towards debt repayments. Sumitomo Pharma, our partner commercializing TWYMEEG in Japan, recently reported the total sales for their fiscal year 2022, which significantly exceeded the forecast they had just increased by more than 20% a few months before. We are of course extremely pleased with this trajectory that confirms the value of TWYMEEG and gives us confidence in the timing of future expected positive royalties and sales-based payments. This also allows us to fully dedicate ourselves to our strategy, including the launch of Phase 2 proof-of-concept studies in adrenoleukodystrophy, pending additional financing. We continue to believe that our strategy in rare diseases has great potential for value creation.

Corporate Update

On March 23rd, the Company announced that it had restructured its existing debt with its lenders, IPF and the banks that are part of the French Government Guarantee Loan (PGE Loan). In both agreements, amortization payments under the existing debt facility have been postponed and will reinitiate when the Company starts receiving positive net royalty flows from TWYMEEG (Imeglimin) sales in Japan. Based on the conservative forecast agreed upon by the Company and its lenders, amortization payments would be postponed until Q1 2025. During Sumitomo Pharmas (Sumitomo) fiscal year (FY) 2024 (ending March 31, 2025), Poxel expects TWYMEEG net sales in Japan to reach at least JPY 5 billion (EUR 34.4 million)4, entitling Poxel to receive 10% royalties on all TWYMEEG net sales and a sales-based payment of JPY 500 million (EUR 3.4 million)4. Positive net royalties and sales-based payments will be directed to the debt reimbursement until the loans are fully repaid, which the Company expects in Q2 2029, at the latest. After this time, subsequent net royalties and sales-based payments will revert back to the Company. In addition to the postponement of debt repayments mentioned above, the Company and IPF have agreed to new financial covenants5.

Concurrent with this debt restructuring, the Company entered into a new equity-linked financing arrangement with IRIS in the form of bonds redeemable for new or existing shares, in order to provide additional liquidity and flexibility intended to support its ongoing regulatory and development activities, as well as general corporate purposes. An initial amount of EUR 3.5 million was drawn down, and the Company has the option, at its sole discretion subject to certain condition precedent, to draw additional tranches up to the remaining EUR 11.5 million (for a total of EUR 15 million) over 2 years6. Upon conversion of the equity-linked instruments, IRIS will be issued Poxel shares to be created from the Companys authorized capital and/or will receive existing ordinary shares of the Company and is expected to sell these shares on the market or in block trades.

As part of refocusing its activities, the Company reviewed the organization of its Board of Directors and decided to reduce the size of the Board. Since March 31st, Poxels Board of Directors is comprised of 4 members: Khoso Baluch as Chairman of the Board, Thomas Kuhn as CEO of Poxel, Pascale Boissel and Richard Kender as independent members. IPF remains an observer on the Board.

Commercial Update

TWYMEEG (Imeglimin)

For the quarter ended March 2023, TWYMEEG gross sales in Japan increased 23% to JPY 0.9 billion (EUR 6.2 million)4 over the prior quarter sales of JPY 0.8 billion (EUR 5.5 million)4 as reported by Sumitomo. As a result, for Sumitomos FY 2022, TWYMEEG gross sales reached JPY 2.2 billion (EUR 15.0 million)4, exceeding Sumitomos most recent FY 2022 forecast2 by 22%.

The sales in recent quarters have accelerated due to the end of initial launch year restrictions for TWYMEEG in September 2022, which limited new products to two weeks prescriptions, and Sumitomos commercial efforts to leverage TWYMEEGs potential. Due to its unique mechanism of action and safety profile, TWYMEEG can be used both as a monotherapy and in combination with other treatments, such as DPP4 inhibitors, the most prescribed treatment for Japanese Type-2-Diabetes patients, and SGLT2 inhibitors, which is growing strongly in Japan. These factors have resulted in a much higher increase in demand for TWYMEEG than expected by Sumitomo, and thus inventories are temporarily tight. Sumitomo is working diligently to increase capacity over the summer.

For its FY 2023, Sumitomo announced a forecast for TWYMEEG of JPY 4.2 billion3 (EUR 28.9 million)4 which would represent a 90% increase over FY 2022 TWYMEEG gross sales.

For the Sumitomo FY 2023, as a conservative assumption in line with Sumitomos forecast, Poxel expects to receive 8% royalties on TWYMEEG net sales. As part of the Merck Serono licensing agreement, Poxel will pay Merck Serono a fixed 8% royalty based on the net sales of TWYMEEG, independent of the level of sales.

During Sumitomo FY 2024 (ending March 31, 2025), Poxel expects TWYMEEG net sales in Japan to reach at least JPY 5 billion (EUR 34.4 million)4 entitling Poxel to receive 10% royalties on all TWYMEEG net sales and a sales-based payment of JPY 500 million (EUR 3.4 million)4. Beyond 2024, Poxel expects to receive escalating double-digit royalties as well as additional sales-based payments upon achievement of contractually based sales thresholds.

As part of the Sumitomos ongoing efforts to communicate TWYMEEGs unique mechanism of action and safety profile, 9 abstracts based on Imeglimin Phase 2b and Phase 3 clinical trials were accepted for oral presentations at the 66th Annual Meeting of the Japanese Diabetes Society (JDS), held in Kagoshima, Japan, May 11-13, 2023.

For territories not covered by its agreement with Sumitomo, Poxel is in ongoing discussions with various potential partners for Imeglimin, including in India, where local companies have recently received approval and have launched Imeglimin. At the date of this press release, no agreement has been established, and Poxel continues to be committed to asserting its rights in connection with its assets.

Rare metabolic diseases

In adrenoleukodystrophy (ALD), PXL770 and PXL065 are prepared to advance, subject to additional financing, into a Phase 2 biomarker proof-of-concept (POC) clinical trials in male patients with adrenomyeloneuropathy (AMN), the most common ALD subtype. The 12-week study will evaluate pharmacokinetics, safety and potential for efficacy based on relevant disease biomarkers, such as the effect on very long chain fatty acids (VLCFA), the characteristic plasma marker of the disease.

The European Commission granted orphan drug designation (ODD) for PXL770 and PXL065 for the treatment of ALD. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has previously granted ODD and Fast Track Designation to both PXL770 and PXL065 for the treatment of ALD.

Preclinical study results in autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD) for PXL770 that support Phase 2 development in this indication were published in the life sciences journal, Kidney International. To access the online publication, please use the following link: A novel direct adenosine monophosphate kinase activator ameliorates disease progression in preclinical models of Autosomal Dominant Polycystic Kidney Disease. (kidney-international.org)

NASH

Positive results for DESTINY-1 (Deuterium-stabilized R-pioglitazone [PXL065] Efficacy and Safety Trial In NASH), a 36-week dose-ranging Phase 2 trial, were published in the Journal of Hepatology. The online publication can be accessed with the following link: Evaluation of PXL065  Deuterium-Stabilized (R)-Pioglitazone in NASH Patients: a Phase 2 randomized placebo-controlled trial (DESTINY-1) - Journal of Hepatology (journal-of-hepatology.eu)

Significant Event after the Period

At the end of April, Noah Beerman, Executive Vice President, Business Development and President of U.S. Operations, and David Moller, Chief Scientific Officer, left the Company to pursue other endeavours.

First Quarter 2023 Financial Update

As of March 31, 2023, cash and cash equivalents were EUR 10.6 million (USD 11.6 million), as compared to EUR 13.1 million (USD 14.0 million) as of December 31, 2022. Net financial debt (excluding IFRS16 impacts and derivative debts) was EUR 34.8 million as of March 31, 2023, as compared to EUR 29.5 million as of December 31, 2022.

EUR (in thousands) Q1 2023 Q4 2022 Cash 10,629 13,058 Cash equivalents - - Total cash and cash equivalents 10,629 13,058 Unaudited data

On March 23, 2023, the Company finalized agreements with its lenders to restructure its existing debt facility and established a new equity-linked financing with IRIS, including an initial drawdown of EUR 3.5 million.

Based on (i) this cash position on March 31, 2023, (ii) the full drawdown of the tranches available under the equity-linked financing with IRIS, (iii) the current research and development plan, excluding the initiation of Phase 2 clinical POC biomarker studies for PXL065 and PXL770 in AMN, and (iv) a strict control of its operating expenses, Poxel expects that its resources will be sufficient to fund its operations and capital expenditure requirements through Q2 2025.

First Quarter 2023 Revenue

Poxel reported EUR 449 thousand revenue for the quarter ended March 31, 2023, as compared to 32 thousand revenue during the corresponding period in 2022.

Revenue for the first quarter of 2023 reflects JPY 67.0 million (EUR 449 thousand) of royalty revenue from Sumitomo, which represents 8% of TWYMEEG net sales in Japan. Based on the current forecast, Poxel expects to receive 8% royalties on TWYMEEG net sales in Japan through the Sumitomo Pharma fiscal year 20232. As part of the Merck Serono licensing agreement, Poxel will pay Merck Serono a fixed 8% royalty based on the net sales of Imeglimin, independent of the level of sales.

EUR (in thousands) Q1 2023 Q1 2022 3 months 3 months Sumitomo Pharma Agreement 449 32 Other - - Total revenues 449 32

Unaudited data

Planned Presentation and Participation at the Following Upcoming Event

2023 ULF Family Conference, Itasca, Illinois, USA, June 23-24, 2023

Next Financial Press Release: 2023 Second Quarter Financial Update, on August 30, 2023

About Poxel SA

Poxel is a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company developing innovative treatments for chronic serious diseases with metabolic pathophysiology, including non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) and rare disorders. For the treatment of NASH, PXL065 (deuterium-stabilized R-pioglitazone) met its primary endpoint in a streamlined Phase 2 trial (DESTINY-1). In rare diseases, development of PXL770, a first-in-class direct adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase (AMPK) activator, is focused on the treatment of adrenoleukodystrophy (ALD) and autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD). TWYMEEG (Imeglimin), Poxels first-in-class product that targets mitochondrial dysfunction, is marketed for the treatment of type 2 diabetes in Japan by Sumitomo Pharma and Poxel expects to receive royalties and sales-based payments. Poxel has a strategic partnership with Sumitomo Pharma for Imeglimin in Japan, China, and eleven other Asian countries. Listed on Euronext Paris, Poxel is headquartered in Lyon, France, and has subsidiaries in Boston, MA, and Tokyo, Japan.

For more information, please visit: www.poxelpharma.com

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 Companys 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 Companys control that could cause the Companys actual results or performance to be materially different from the expected results or performance expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. The Company does not endorse or is not otherwise responsible for the content of external hyperlinks referred to in this press release.

Glossary

You will find below a list of words and/or expressions that are used in this press release or in Poxels communication, with the aim to bring clarification and transparency:

Sumitomo Pharma fiscal year runs April to March. As an example, Fiscal Year 2022 is April 1, 2022 through March 31, 2023.

runs April to March. As an example, Fiscal Year 2022 is April 1, 2022 through March 31, 2023. TWYMEEG royalties: As per the Sumitomos agreement, Poxel is entitled to receive royalties from the sales of TWYMEEG (Imeglimin) in Japan TWYMEEG royalties are calculated on net sales, while Sumitomo Pharma communicates only TWYMEEG gross sales. Poxel entitled to receive escalating royalties of 8-18% on TWYMEEG net sales from Sumitomo Pharma.

As per the Sumitomos agreement, Poxel is entitled to receive royalties from the sales of TWYMEEG (Imeglimin) in Japan Positive net royalties: refers to royalties Poxel receives from TWYMEEG net sales after paying Merck Serono the first 8%, once Poxel starts to receive 10% royalties upon TWYMEEG net sales exceeding JPY 5 billion in a fiscal year.

1 Sumitomo Pharma fiscal year 2022 ends March 31, 2023.

2 Sumitomo increased its FY2022 forecast to JPY 1.8 billion from JPY 1.5 billion on January 31, 2023.

3 As per Sumitomo Pharma FY23 forecast of JPY 4.2 billion published on May 15, 2023.

4 Converted at the exchange rate as of March 31, 2023.

5 New covenants require that the Company maintain: i) a minimum cash position between EUR 1 million and EUR 9 million,

ii) a gearing ratio, as measured by total net debt to the market capitalization value of the Company, at a level lower than 150% (vs 50% initially), The complete details and conditions of the debt restructuring agreement are presented on the dedicated press release issued on March 23, 2023 and in the Companys 2022 Universal registration Document.

6 The drawdown of additional tranches will be subject only to a maximum cumulative outstanding amount of redeemable bonds owned by IRIS at any time not to exceed EUR 7.0 million.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230517005540/en/

Investor relations / Media

Aurelie Bozza

Investor Relations & Communication Senior Director

[email protected]

+33 6 99 81 08 36

Elizabeth Woo

Senior Vice President, Investor Relations & Communication

[email protected]

NewCap

Nicolas Fossiez and Arthur Rouille

[email protected]

+33 1 44 71 94 94

Source: Poxel
Company to Develop a Multi-Gigawatt Portfolio of Solar, Solar Plus Storage, and Standalone Energy Storage Projects

AUSTIN, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Accelergen Energy, LLC ("Accelergen") a greenfield energy developer of utility-scale solar, solar plus storage and standalone storage projects, today announced its launch out of stealth mode with the close of $30 million in growth capital from Leyline Renewable Capital ("Leyline").

Headquartered in Austin, Texas, the company will leverage analytics to focus its project siting efforts. The $30 million in growth capital from Leyline will be utilized to develop a multi-gigawatt pipeline of high quality solar and storage projects. In addition, the newly raised funds will be used to build a best in class development team including grid and market analytics, project development, engineering and finance to support Accelergen's rapid growth.

Accelergens senior management and technical teams bring decades of experience in renewable energy. The industry veterans are known for creating successful development organizations and delivering high quality projects.

The company was founded by chief executive officer, Thomas Houle, and senior vice president of development, Josh Skogen. Houle previously served as managing director of Green Investment Group (GIG) a specialist green investor within Macquarie Asset Management (formerly Macquarie Capital) and prior to that, he was founder of Fremantle Energy (acquired by GIG). Skogen spent a majority of the last twelve years helping build sPower, a solar development company, from a family office to a national player, ultimately being acquired by AES.

"A key aspect of Accelergen's approach involves bringing experienced grid and commercial analytics in-house as a strategic advantage," said Thomas Houle, co-founder and chief executive officer, Accelergen Energy, LLC. "Our ultimate goal is to help accelerate the energy transition to zero carbon power generation, by bringing premium projects located in sustainably robust grid locations to long-term investors and/or owners of operating projects.

"Leyline has the depth of knowledge in renewable energy which enabled us to provide a tailored financial solution that met Accelergen's plans for growth," said Todd Kice, managing director of Originations, Leyline Renewable Capital. "We look forward to working with Tom, Josh and their team; they're a top notch team uniquely equipped with the experience to develop enterprise scale projects in the commercial solar market. We look forward to contributing our industry perspective and technical expertise which we hope will play an important role in helping Accelergen achieve its goals as it grows and serves the needs of the market."

"Our goal in returning to greenfield development and to be a part of building the next wave of solar and storage projects has been a long time coming," said Josh Skogen, co-founder and senior vice president of development, Accelergen. "We look forward to working with Leyline and appreciate their expertise in helping companies in renewable energy drive ventures to profitability. We are proud to have them as our partner and expect to achieve much success together."

About Leyline Renewable Capital

Leyline Renewable Capital invests in the development of utility scale renewable energy projects. Backed by a team of seasoned investors with deep experience in the renewable industry, Leyline provides financing that supports early-stage development through construction. By investing in the early stages of renewable energy projects, Leyline accelerates the development process and helps developers scale quickly without taking dilution. Leyline leverages a broad base of experience in greenfield project development, design, construction, and finance with an extensive network of relationships with industry leaders to provide support and capital for projects from concept to commercial operation.

About Accelergen Energy

Founded in late 2020, Accelergen Energy LLC is a greenfield renewable energy developer focused on utility-scale solar, solar plus storage, and standalone storage projects. The company is helping accelerate the energy transition to zero carbon power generation for the benefit of local communities and, in turn, a better planet. Accelergen is headquartered in Austin, Texas. For more information, please visit our website at www.accelergen.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230517005324/en/

Leyline Renewable Capital:

[email protected]

Accelergen Energy:

Alicia V. Nieva-Woodgate

ANW Networks

[email protected]

+1 720.808.0086

Source: Accelergen Energy, LLC
rPlus Energies is joined by Gardner Group, Sundt and Greenbacker Capital Management

SALT LAKE CITY--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Today rPlus Energies, Gardner Group, Sundt, and Greenbacker Capital Management ("Greenbacker") announce the Local First  Appaloosa Solar 1 Scholarship in conjunction with Southern Utah University (SUU). The $120,000 scholarship is specifically for students who currently reside in Iron County, UT -- home to the 200-megawatt (MW) Appaloosa Solar 1 project.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230517005212/en/

Local First  Appaloosa Solar 1 Scholarship donors pose for a photo with Southern Utah University President, Mindy Benson. (Photo: Business Wire)

The Local First Scholarship series will be available exclusively to students residing in counties where rPlus Energies constructs a namesake project. The scholarship series supports students wishing to remain local while pursuing their career goals and assists communities in meeting their workforce needs by providing full and partial tuition scholarships to local university certificate and degree programs. The series was launched last year for students residing in Carbon County, UT, where the now operational 80 MW Graphite Solar project is located.

We are thrilled to launch our second Local First Scholarship program, this time in Iron County, said rPlus Energies President and CEO, Luigi Resta. Iron County has been a great partner throughout the development and construction of Appaloosa Solar 1. By providing this scholarship we hope to empower Iron County residents to enhance their skills and knowledge, and ultimately contribute back to the growth of this vibrant community.

The Local First  Appaloosa Solar 1 Scholarship will provide a total of $120,000 to SUU qualifying students who reside in Iron County, UT and plan to stay local after degree or certificate completion. The applicants can pursue any certificate, associate, or 4-year program.

We are delighted to welcome rPlus Energies, Gardner Group, Sundt and Greenbacker Capital as members of the T-Bird Family and appreciate their partnership to elevate SUU's and Iron County's future, said SUU President Mindy Benson. The impact of this scholarship will be felt not only by the awarded students, but also the entire Iron County region as it encourages additional workforce and economic development opportunities in our community.

The Local First Appaloosa Solar 1 Scholarship program is currently open to Fall 2023 applicants through the MYSUU portal. Students will need to be admitted to SUU to be eligible to apply for the award.

Sundt is honored to support the Local First Scholarship program and the Iron County students it serves, said Sundt Renewables President Tom Dodson. Helping local communities meet their workforce needs aligns with Sundts purpose to build environments where all people can prosper.

Being a responsible community partner is one of our core values, said Ben Tillar, Investments Principal at Greenbacker. Were proud to continue contributing to the Local First scholarship series and supporting both education and the local workforce in Iron County.

About Appaloosa Solar 1

Appaloosa Solar 1 is a 200 MW solar project located in Iron County, UT. The project broke ground in 2022 and is expected to reach commercial operation in early 2024.

Greenbacker Capital Management, a leading renewable energy asset manager, owns a majority sponsor position in Appaloosa Solar 1, which is the company's largest clean energy asset to date. Sundt Construction, with significant experience in Utah -- including the rPlus-developed Graphite Solar Project, is providing engineering, procurement, and construction for Appaloosa Solar 1. rPlus Energies, a subsidiary of the Gardner Group, is the developer and construction manager of Appaloosa Solar 1.

About rPlus Energies

rPlus is a team of committed energy industry professionals working together to develop large-scale renewable energy generation and electric storage projects in the United States. rPlus specializes in bringing projects to market through partnership with the private sector, municipalities, utilities, and industry-leading technology and service providers. Its portfolio consists of a strategic mix of solar, solar plus battery, wind, and pumped storage hydro facilities. rPlus projects contribute to the economic and technological modernization of Americas energy systems. rPlus is headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah and operates as a subsidiary of the Gardner Group.

About Gardner Group

Gardner Group is a privately-owned collective of companies dedicated to sustainability, innovation, quality real estate development and re-investing back into communities through results-oriented philanthropy. The Gardner familys 40-year-old, full-service commercial real estate company specializes in the development of retail centers, multi-family residential, office, industrial, medical campuses and senior living. In 2018 the subsidiary, rPlus Energies was established to build utility-scale renewable energy infrastructure across America. In support of innovation, Gardner formed a partnership with Philo Ventures in 2021.

About Sundt

Sundt Construction, Inc. (www.sundt.com) is one of the countrys largest and most respected general contractors. The 133-year-old firm specializes in transportation, industrial, building, concrete, and renewable power work and is owned entirely by its approximately 2,000 employees. Much of Sundts workforce is comprised of skilled craft professionals who, together with the companys administrative employees, enable Sundt to fulfill its mission to be the most skilled builder in America. The company has won 27 AGC Build America awards, which is more than any other general contractor. Sundt has 12 offices throughout California, Arizona, North Carolina, Texas, Portland-metro, and Utah and is currently ranked the countrys 61st largest construction company by ENR, the industrys principal trade magazine.

About Greenbacker Capital Management

Greenbacker Capital Management LLC is an SEC registered investment adviser that provides advisory and oversight services related to project development, acquisition, and operations in the renewable energy, energy efficiency, and sustainability industries. For more information, please visit www.greenbackercapital.com.

About Southern Utah University

Southern Utah University is a caring campus community where students come to explore their interests and prepare for meaningful careers and life experiences. Offering more than 150 undergraduate programs, 32 graduate and certificate programs, as well as a professional doctorate degree across seven academic colleges, SUU proudly offers world-class, project-based learning opportunities where students gain professional experience before entering the job market.

Located in the worlds best backyard, SUU is the University of the Parks thanks to its close proximity to several outdoor recreational areas and its educational partnerships with the National Park Service. SUUs safe, residential campus allows students - more than 12,000 - to create lifelong friendships along with once-in-a-lifetime outdoor adventures in conjunction with innovative academic endeavors.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230517005212/en/

For more information on the Local First  Appaloosa Solar 1 Scholarship or rPlus Energies:

Maile Resta

Communications Associate, rPlus Energies

[email protected]

Source: rPlus Energies
Denying ones own death and being attacked by the worlds richest man are not two normal activities for most mortals. But such is not the case for Hungarian-American billionaire investor and philanthropist George Soros, who in the last 24 hours had to resort to Twitter to deny rumors that he had suffered a heart attack.

A few hours later, the social networks top boss, Elon Musk, attacked him directly. Soros reminds me of [X-Men character] Magneto, the South African tycoon posted, adding to the vitriol against a public figure who is a regular target of Europes far-right parties and politicians, from Viktor Orban in Hungary to Vox in Spain.

The accusations came after Soros and his investment fund disclosed that they no longer owned shares in Musks electric vehicle company Tesla, after quickly selling them during the first quarter of the year. The investment vehicle controlled by the Hungarian-born billionaire held Tesla shares valued at $16 million (14.7 million). The sale of these shares was a good deal for the veteran fund manager, as Tesla stock has appreciated 55% since the beginning of the year.

Tesla is not the only company that Soros has cut out of its portfolio. Electric car manufacturer Rivian, online retail giant Amazon and Alphabet (Googles parent company), have also been affected by the strategy shift of the Soros familys investment vehicle, which holds an equity portfolio of approximately $5 billion.

Musks criticism, however, did not make any reference to Teslas market rally. He wants to erode the very fabric of civilization. Soros hates humanity, he tweeted in response to a message by Brian Krassenstein, a Twitter user and left-wing commentator who had noted that Soros gets [sic] attacked nonstop for his good intentions which some Americans think are bad merely because they disagree with this [sic] political affiliations.

Musk had already taken aim at Soros in March of this year, when a social network user accused the Hungarian-born tycoon of supporting Alvin Braggs campaign for New York district attorney. Bragg was the lead investigator in the probe against former U.S. president Donald Trump over hush-money payments made to Stephanie Clifford, better known by her stage name Stormy Daniels, in a case that has brought a former U.S. president to the dock for the first time in history.

The accusation involving Soros, now compared to the Marvel series supervillain who possesses magnetic powers (and who is also of Jewish descent), is the latest in a wider series of criticisms against an investor who is strongly aligned with progressive and liberal causes through his Open Society Foundation. In 2017, the billionaire transferred a good part of his fortune, approximately $18 billion, to this foundation.

The new controversy unleashed by Musk came just hours before Teslas annual shareholders meeting, which was held at the firms giant factory in the state of Texas. The meeting saw the return of former Tesla executive JB Straubel as a new board member. In addition, Musk has announced that Tesla will drop its refusal to invest in publicity and start advertising to try to boost sales.

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MISSISSAUGA, Ontario--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Ryan, a leading global tax services and software provider, has recently been named to the 2023 list of Best Workplaces for Giving Back in Canada. Ryan received this recognition after a thorough and independent analysis conducted by Great Place to Work. This marks the fifth consecutive year the Firm has been named to this list.

Being named to this list for the fifth consecutive year is truly a great honor and demonstrates our Firms commitment to giving back to our communities, said Ryan President of Canadian Operations Garry Round. Im proud of our team members in Canada for their commitment to their communities, to Ryan, and to our clients. This is one of the many things that makes Ryan an industry leader in workplace culture.

The Ryan Foundation was established in 2011 to provide donations and support volunteer efforts for causes that are close to the hearts of team members. For more than 12 years, The Ryan Foundation has provided millions of dollars to hundreds of causes across the world. Every year, Ryan celebrates RyanSHARES Day firmwide so that team members across the globe can complete a volunteer project together on the same day.

The Best Workplaces for Giving Back in Canada list is based on direct feedback from employees of the hundreds of organizations that were surveyed by Great Place to Work. To be eligible for this list, organizations must be Great Place to Work-Certified in the past year, and at least 90% of employees must feel good about the way their company contributes to the community. The top scores were determined by an overall Community Investment Index score from employees as well as the range and quality of programs that encourage workplace community investment.

The full list of Best Workplaces for Giving Back can be found here.

About Great Place to Work

Great Place to Work is the global authority on high-trust, high-performance workplace cultures. A global research and consulting firm, Great Place to Work provides the benchmarks and expertise needed to create, sustain, and recognize outstanding workplace cultures. In Canada, Great Place to Work produces both industry- and demographic-specific Best Workplaces lists and represents the voices of 500,000 employees across industries. This is part of the worlds largest annual workplace study, recognizing the worlds Best Workplaces in a series of national lists, including those published by The Globe and Mail (Canada) and Fortune magazine (U.S.). Visit us at www.greatplacetowork.ca.

About Ryan

Ryan, an award-winning global tax services and software provider, is the largest Firm in the world dedicated exclusively to business taxes. The Firm provides an integrated suite of federal, provincial, and international tax services on a multijurisdictional basis, including tax recovery, consulting, advocacy, compliance, and technology services. Ryan is an 11-time recipient of the International Service Excellence Award from the Customer Service Institute of America (CSIA) for its commitment to world-class client service. Empowered by the dynamic myRyan work environment, which is widely recognized as the most innovative in the tax services industry, Ryans multidisciplinary team of more than 4,100 professionals and associates serves over 21,000 clients in more than 60 countries, including many of the worlds most prominent Global 5000 companies. More information about Ryan can be found at ryan.com/canada. Ryan and Firm refer to the global organizational network and may refer to one or more of the member firms of Ryan International, each of which is a separate legal entity.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230517005611/en/

Stacey Underwood

Senior Manager, Content, Communications, and Public Relations

Ryan

972.934.0022

[email protected]

Source: Ryan
PHILADELPHIA--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- The Board of Trustees of the Philadelphia Award is proud to announce Sharmain Matlock-Turner as the recipient of its esteemed Philadelphia Award for 2022. A tireless champion for underserved communities, Matlock-Turner has served as CEO of the Urban Affairs Coalition (UAC), a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the quality of life in and around Philadelphia, since 1999.

The award ceremony will take place on June 6, 2023, at The Market at the Comcast Technology Center at 5:30 pm.

Sharmain Matlock-Turner has never been afraid to confront seemingly insurmountable challenges in order to improve lives, said Philadelphia Award Board Chair Pedro A. Ramos. While all of Sharmains career accomplishments are worthy of recognition, it was the courage of leadership she displayed throughout 2022 as a founding member of The Civic Coalition to Save Lives that made her a unanimous pick for this years award.

The trauma of gun violence devastates individuals and our communities every single day, said Matlock-Turner. None of us can confront this public health crisis alone. I am proud of our work as a growing regional coalition dedicated to bringing all voices to the table and finding solutions.

In 2022, the Philadelphia Foundation and the William Penn Foundation, in partnership with Urban Affairs Coalition, The Chamber of Commerce for Greater Philadelphia, and the Philadelphia Equity Alliance, brought together a coalition of more than 70 civic, business, philanthropic, non-profit and faith-based organizations to address the issue of gun violence in Philadelphia. The Coalition, which now includes more than 90 organizations, is partnering with the City of Philadelphia and has catalyzed a broad civic effort to drive the adoption of evidence-based, human-centered, sustainable strategies to address gun violence.

A recent poll by the Lenfest Institute for Journalism found that 64% of Philadelphians reported hearing a gunshot in their neighborhood over the previous year, and nearly half (49%) say that gun violence has a major negative impact on the quality of life in their neighborhood.

I have had the privilege of calling Sharmain a friend for more than a decade, and have seen the incredible impact her work has had on Philadelphia and the people who live here, said Susan Jacobson, president of Jacobson Strategic Communications and Immediate Past Chair of the Greater Philadelphia Chamber Board.

As CEO, Matlock-Turner has grown UACs budget from $20 million to over $100 million, and the organization has become the nations largest Black-led fiscal sponsor, bridging the gap between low-income communities and financial services.

Her work to confront gun violence is one of many notable and complex challenges that Matlock-Turner has confronted during her career. UACs priorities include building wealth in urban communities, investing in financial education, advocating for underserved communities, developing youth and young adult resources and education, and civic engagement. She has worked tirelessly to provide the same opportunities for everyone, especially people of color and individuals within low-income communities.

Ms. Matlock-Turner is co-founder and chair emeritus of the 24-year-old West Oak Lane Charter School in Northwest Philadelphia. She also serves on the boards of the Chamber of Commerce for Greater Philadelphia, the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, Uplift Solutions, Entrepreneur Works, and United Way of Greater Philadelphia and Southern New Jersey. She serves on the board of trustees of Peirce College and the Foundations Inc. National Advisory Board, and is a founding member of the National Network of Fiscal Sponsors.

About the Philadelphia Award: Founded by editor, philanthropist, community leader, and Pulitzer Prize-winning author Edward W. Bok in 1921, the annual Philadelphia Award recognizes citizens of the Philadelphia region who acted and served on behalf of the best interests of the community in the previous year. Since its inception, the Philadelphia Award has recognized the achievements of more than 80 distinguished individuals, including industrialists, educators, lawyers, political figures, scientists, physicians, members of the clergy, social activists philosophers, musicians, artists, architects, and writers. The Philadelphia Award is administered by a Board of Trustees and carries an honorarium of $25,000. Visit philadelphiaaward.org.

About the Urban Affairs Coalition: The Urban Affairs Coalition unites government, business, neighborhoods, and individual initiatives to improve the quality of life in the region, build wealth in urban communities, and solve emerging issues. Visit UAC.org for more information.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230512005240/en/

Laura Cavender

Jacobson Strategic Communications

(202) 415-9881

[email protected]

Source: Urban Affairs Coalition and the Philadelphia Award
After more than 430 days, FCC has final opportunity to vote on approval of Standard General and TEGNA deal.

WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Today, in response to the Enforcement Bureau's suggestion that we quickly attempt to resolve remaining concerns to allow the transaction to move forward, Standard General L.P. provided additional information to the FCC that addresses potential concerns around the two issues raised in its Hearing Designation Order: the potential for increased retransmission consent fees from after-acquired clauses and the impact on localism. Standard General has also made additional commitments and submissions that further highlight the public interest benefits of this transaction. Standard General looks forward to speaking with the FCC on these two remaining issues tomorrow.

We are continuing to work hard to ensure the FCC has all of the information they need to allow a vote on our deal with TEGNA, said Founding Partner of Standard General Soo Kim. We remain available to answer any and all questions the FCC may have, but, in response to comments made during our meetings on Friday, we have provided additional information to the Commission with the hope that they will move quickly to a vote. Weve received unprecedented support from labor unions, civil rights organizations and leaders on both sides of the aisle  and this deal must receive an FCC vote before Monday when its financing will expire. All we are asking for is to be treated fairly by receiving an up or down vote before it is too late.

The following information has been provided to the FCC:

Additional Disclosure from the DOJ Depositions of Standard General - This deal has been scrutinized carefully by multiple agencies including the Department of Justice. Instead of debating over Protective Orders, Standard General is voluntarily making public the DOJ sworn Depositions that relate to the questions of after-acquired retransmission rate impacts and the impact on localism / jobs that have been raised by the objectors and referred by the Media Bureau to the ALJ for the Standard General / TEGNA transaction. The DOJ has conducted their due diligence and conducted hours of meetings with us on the very questions of retrans and localism. Standard General has nothing to hide and  if Soo Kim or any of Standard Generals principals were anything less than forthright, this deal would not have passed the HSR period without challenge. We encourage the Enforcement Bureau to call the DOJ front office to confirm that a thorough examination of these very issues was already conducted by the DOJ. Retrans Waiver / Comcast Agreement  Standard General has agreed to waive its contractual rights to apply after-acquired retransmission rates to the TEGNA stations and agreed to the conditions earlier requested by the NCTA, the industry group that represents cable TV providers. The waiver has been accepted by multiple MVPDs, including Comcast, TEGNAs largest customer. Standard General has submitted these documents to the FCC. Job and Newsroom Commitments  Standard General has extended its commitment to maintain newsroom jobs for at least three years (extended from two years previously)  this commitment covers all NewsGuild-NABET employees at TEGNA. Standard General has also committed to increasing local news budgets and news programming by 20% across TEGNA-owned stations within 3 years of closing. Standard General has submitted various documents that detail these commitments to the FCC. Union MOU  Standard General has signed an MOU with IATSE, which includes job commitments, the implementation of a local journalism grant fund, and neutrality agreements. This same MOU has been extended to all of TEGNAs unions, including Newsguild-NABET. Standard General has submitted this MOU to the FCC. Civil Rights MOU  Standard General signed a new MOU with leading civil rights groups including Asian Americans Advancing Justice, National Action Network, National Urban League, and UnidosUS. Standard Generals commitments entail Community Investment Plans, installation of new advisory boards, and collaborative efforts to increase diverse representation at TEGNA and its stations. Standard General has submitted the details of this agreement to the FCC. Commitment to Repurchase Series B Preferred held by Apollo or CMG  Standard General has offered a new commitment to the FCC to repurchase all Series B securities held by Apollo or CMG within a specified period. Standard General has submitted the details of this commitment to the FCC.

This transaction will create the largest minority-owned and female-led broadcast station group in U.S. history. Recently, Mayor Eric Adams, the FDNY foundation, Asian Americans Advancing Justice- AAJC, National Action Network, National Urban League, UnidosUS, and senior leaders from both parties have called on the FCC to hold a vote.

The FCC is the last regulatory approval remaining to close this transaction. Standard General is pleased to discuss these commitments in more detail with the FCC.

About Standard General

Standard General was founded in 2007 and manages capital for public and private pension funds, endowments, foundations, and high-net-worth individuals. Standard General is a minority-controlled and operated organization. Mr. Kim is supported by a diverse, highly experienced 17-person team, including seven investment professionals with over 120 years of collective investing experience.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230516006121/en/

Standard General

Andy Brimmer / Jamie Moser / Jack Kelleher

Joele Frank, Wilkinson Brimmer Katcher

212-355-4449

Source: Standard General L.P.
MADRID--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- BAE Systems and Iveco Defence Vehicles (IDV) celebrated the international debut of the Amphibious Combat Vehicle (ACV) at the FEINDEF international defense and security exposition. The ACV family of vehicles, developed and delivered by the strategic partnership between BAE Systems and IDV, supports the U.S. Marine Corps (USMC) expeditionary mobility capability and is the only truly amphibious combat vehicle in full-rate production today. The vehicle on display at FEINDEF is the personnel variant (ACV-P), which is the base platform for the family of vehicles.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230517005237/en/

An Amphibious Combat Vehicle (ACV) with the 3rd Assault Amphibian Battalion, 1st Marine Division disembarks the well deck of amphibious transport dock ship USS Anchorage (LPD 23) during waterborne training in the Pacific Ocean, Feb. 12. The two-day waterborne training evolution focused on safety and transport capabilities for both the Marine Corps and Navy and is a part of a larger training plan to refine tactics and doctrine for amphibious operations. (Credit: U.S. Navy)

This is the first time the Amphibious Combat Vehicle has been shown outside the United States, and it is a point of pride that it is here in Spain, an important, long-term U.S. and NATO ally, said Garrett Lacaillade, vice president of Amphibious programs at BAE Systems.

Jointly BAE Systems and IDV are proud to present this critical next-generation amphibious capability that meets the mission needs and program requirements of the Infanteria de Marina Espanola, said Nazario Bianchini, head of sales at IDV. Together, we are ready to respond to any international customization request to ensure the optimal deployment of the amphibious vehicles within the Spanish and European defense system.

The amphibious platform was designed to grow and adapt to mission needs, allowing space for new capabilities as technology evolves such as reconnaissance, electronic warfare, anti-air, and Uncrewed Aircraft Systems integration. With its modular design, the ACV is ready to provide Marines around the world the flexibility to address additional mission roles and integrate future technologies.

The ACV-P is fully open-ocean capable and can carry 13 combat-loaded Marines, along with a crew of three, from ship to objective and back. The ACV Command and Control variant provides multiple workstations for Marines to maintain and manage situational awareness in the battlespace. The ACV recovery variant provides direct field support, maintenance, and recovery to the ACV family of vehicles. The ACV-30 mounts a stabilized, medium caliber Remote Turret System manufactured by Kongsberg that provides the lethality and protection Marines need while leaving ample room for troop capacity and payload.

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FEINDEF Contacts

Alicia Gray, BAE Systems

Mobile: +1 540 359 0981

[email protected]

www.baesystems.com/US

@BAESystemsInc

IDV Media Contact:

Elisa Casagrande, IDV

Mobile: +39 347 6351818

[email protected]

www.idvgroup.com/

@we_are_IDV

BAE Systems U.S. Contact

Michelle Tiemeyer, BAE Systems

Mobile: +1 717-645-6553

[email protected]

www.baesystems.com/US

@BAESystemsInc

Source: BAE Systems
Brian McIntoshs Move to Digital-Experience-Focused BlastX Consulting Demonstrates Growing Appeal of a More Streamlined, Intimate Consulting Model

ROSEVILLE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- BlastX Consulting today announced that Brian McIntosh, an expert in customer experience and digital strategy with more than 20 years of industry experience, has signed on as the groups new Chief Consulting Officer. McIntoshs decision to leave the sprawling world of Big Four consulting and focus more intensively on clients digital transformation is a sign of a broader shift in the marketplace: from a large-scale, broad-strokes approachwith its outlandish growth targets, methodological fads, and outdated partner modelsto a tailored, data-driven approach aimed at solving client problems rather than prolonging the engagement. It also reinforces BlastX Consultings position as a compelling alternative in the customer experience and digital transformation area of the professional services market, a sector soon expected to reach $394 billion globally, according to Gartner reports.

McIntosh recently built and led a highly successful management consulting team at Avanade, a joint venture between Accenture and Microsoft, where he served as the North American Digital Enterprise Advisory Leader. Before Avanade he spent years developing his industry knowledge and leadership skills at Slalom Consulting and Hitachi Consulting. While BlastX Consulting will certainly benefit from the skill set and expertise McIntosh has gathered at those firms, McIntosh said of those larger settings, I found the layers of bureaucracy frustrating. I had to postpone essential solutions and hold off on executing timely plans because of the red tape thats simply a fact of life at any large firm. Its like David versus GoliathBlastX Consulting is small but mighty, and its a place where I can focus on making an impact, not just a sale.

McIntoshs arrival is a critical piece of BlastX Consultings strategic mission: to realize the groups full potential by balancing rational growth with an unwavering commitment to clients digital experience optimization (DXO). This mission aligns with broader market trends toward more-focused consulting engagements. Clients of all sizes are seeking a more intimate and responsive relationship with senior leaders rather than being stuck with a pack of inexperienced consultantsand in some cases, an offshore digital teamonce the hiring phase is over and the project begins.

Before McIntosh came onboard, CEO Kayden Kelly hired consulting veteran Mike Savage, formerly with Deloitte Digital and Merkle, as BlastX Consultings Chief Growth Officer. As Kelly observed, In a time of limited resources, companies realize the value of boutique firms who will lean in and do the hard work with their clients rather than solutions that often dont deliver the value and impact leading brands expect and deserve. When a new client knows theyll have a direct line to a Brian McIntosh or a Mike Savage, they know theyre getting the most dedicated, creative problem-solvers aroundand they can be sure that those professionals want them to succeed.

About BlastX Consulting

BlastX Consulting provides strategic, digital experience advice and implementation services to help brands drive deeper customer relationships using data-driven insights to optimize the digital experience. Over the past 20 years we have assembled a seasoned team of consultants with deep expertise and experience across a wide array of strategic, technical, and operational disciplines who share a passion for helping brands be customer-centric, creating strategies to enable the ultimate user experience across all touchpoints. For more information, visit us at blastx.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230517005550/en/

Dan Conley

Beacon Communications

[email protected]

312-593-8461

Source: BlastX Consulting
HOUSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Today, Wan Bridge, a Texas-based builder and operator of build-to-rent (BTR) communities, announced that two, multi-family buildings have officially been WELL Certified at the Bronze level under the WELL Building Standard version 2 (WELL v2) by the International WELL Building Institute (IWBI). Wan Bridge is the first BTR company to receive this designation for its multi-family BTR product at The Residences at Rayzor Ranch located in Denton, Texas. These include a four plex A building and a six plex A building totaling 10 units. This is an unprecedented move forward for a thoughtful, five-star offering in real estate.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230517005703/en/

Swiftly moving off their announcement as a Cornerstone member of IWBI, the dedication to ramping up this certification is a testament to the companys commitment to residential wellness and enhancing communities to help people thrive. This is a landmark milestone for not only Wan Bridge, but for all developers in the residential sector of real estate, establishing a health and wellness standard that all companies should hold themselves accountable to.

As an organization whole-heartedly dedicated to serving our residents and making sure they have the best living options available, this designation is a shining example of our commitment to their wellbeing, inside our homes and in our communities, said Wan Bridge CEO Ting Qiao. We see ourselves at the forefront of the BTR space and becoming the first real estate company to accomplish WELL Certification under WELL v2 for multi-family buildings is a huge accomplishment for us.

WELL v2 is a standard developed for organizations to deliver more thoughtful and intentional spaces, enhancing human health and unlocking well-being. The blueprint making up WELL v2 includes 108 features under ten core concepts, aimed at improving indoor environment including air, water and light quality through designs that foster an environment supporting mental and physical health.

Qiao concluded, This is just the beginning. Realizing the benefits of the first two buildings has paved the way for a model that will be expanded upon in the future, and we are excited for our residents to be able to further enjoy a hassle-free lifestyle that prioritizes their mental and physical wellbeing.

About Wan Bridge

Wan Bridge is a Texas-based builder and operator of build-to-rent (BTR) communities across the state. Since 2016, we have been active in the acquisition, development and operation of our communities located in high-demand cities across the state, including Austin, Dallas and Houston. Our build-to-rent community products range from low-density homes on acreage sites to medium-density developments that include duplexes, triplexes and townhomes. We believe that residents should have access to a home without the hassle, providing a lifestyle filled with activities and people they enjoy the most. Our build-to-rent communities provide that every day. Learn more at www.wanbridge.com.

International WELL Building Institute, IWBI, the WELL Building Standard, WELL v2, WELL Certified, WELL AP, WELL and others, and their related logos are trademarks or certification marks of International WELL Building Institute pbc in the United States and other countries.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230517005703/en/

Hunter Dodson

Pierpont Communications

(512) 914-6745

[email protected]

Source: Wan Bridge
High-level multi-stakeholder event on unlocking the potential of women entrepreneurs to innovate in the digital economy as prelude to the announcement of the top three winners of the WEA Digital Innovation Challenge

NEW YORK & GENEVA--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Leveraging the theme of this years Commission on the Status of Women (CSW67) on innovation and technology from a gender perspective, the Womens Entrepreneurship Accelerator (WEA) CSW side-event, hosted at MetLifes headquarters in New York City, brought together a high-level panel of experts. Senior representatives of WEA partner agencies, representatives from the private sector, and civil society discussed ways to build a more gender-responsive eco-system for women entrepreneurs so they can participate and compete in the digital economy. Speakers identified WEA as a critical multi-stakeholder solution to address the bottlenecks to women entrepreneurship.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230517005570/en/

The Womens Entrepreneurship Accelerator (WEA) is a multi-stakeholder partnership on womens entrepreneurship established during UNGA 74. It convenes six UN agencies, International Labour Organization (ILO), International Trade Centre (ITC), International Telecommunication Union (ITU), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), UN Global Compact (UNGC), UN Women and Mary Kay Inc. to empower 5 million women entrepreneurs by 2030. (Credit: WEA)

Addressing the role of innovation and technology from a gender lens for the first time since its inception, the set of agreed conclusions adopted by Member States at CSW67 provide best practice guidance for stakeholders, including governments, the private sector and civil society. This guidance aims to promote the full and equal participation and leadership of women and girls in the design and rollout of digital technologies and innovation processes.

Panelists focused on:

the critical importance of womens entrepreneurship as a key driver of innovation in addressing societal challenges, and;

in addressing societal challenges, and; the contribution women entrepreneurs make to economic growth and poverty reduction.

The barriers faced by women entrepreneurs in growing their business and getting their products and services to market were also highlighted which include:

a lack of access to capital, unequal social norms, lack of connectivity, and time and skills constraints, all of which hamper their ability to compete in the digital marketplace.

Digitalization as a critical enabler for women entrepreneurs and the role of digital technologies in supporting women businesses during the pandemic were underscored, as well as the fallout from the pandemic on womens labor market participation and womens rights at large.

The importance of creating a strong eco-system for women entrepreneurs to compete and scale their business was central to the discussion. Panelists representing different sectors of the eco-system pointed to WEA as an exceptional turn-key platform that is working to address the obstacles to womens entrepreneurship through the partnership of the private sector and six unique UN agencies.

The WEA event was also an opportunity to announce the winners of WEAs Digital Innovation Challenge.

An initiative of WEA and conducted by ITU in collaboration with Mary Kay, the objective of the Challenge is to build an enabling context for women entrepreneurs by addressing the barriers to womens entrepreneurship, including the digital gender divide, complementing the theme of this years CSW67 on innovation and technology from a gender perspective.

Launched in December 2022 at the global headquarters of WEA partner International Telecommunication Union in Geneva, the WEA Digital Innovation Challenge received 250 submissions from companies in 54 countries either owned by women or with a minimum of one-woman founder each with their unique digital solution aimed at driving socio-economic benefits in their communities. In alignment with the ITUs Innovation and Entrepreneurship Alliance for Digital, the objective of the Challenge is to showcase what an emerging eco-system of digital innovators looks like and build an enabling context for women entrepreneurs to participate in the digital economy.

The 10 winners of the Challenge were invited to present their two-minute live pitch before an expert Grand Jury at the CSW event comprised of investors and cross-sectoral representatives who each provided their unique insights.

Grand Jury Members included:

Dan Seymour , Strategic Partnerships Director, UN Women;

, Strategic Partnerships Director, UN Women; Deborah Gibbins, Chief Operating Officer, Mary Kay Inc.;

Chief Operating Officer, Mary Kay Inc.; Harry OMealia, CEO and President, 1919 Investment Counsel;

CEO and President, 1919 Investment Counsel; Julia Pimsleur, Founder, Million Dollar Women Network;

Founder, Million Dollar Women Network; Selin Oz, SME Banking Entrepreneurship Banking, Senior Manager, Garanti BBVA;

SME Banking Entrepreneurship Banking, Senior Manager, Garanti BBVA; Tess Mateo , Sustainability ESG Impact Investor, US W20 Delegate to G20;

, Sustainability ESG Impact Investor, US W20 Delegate to G20; Ursula Wynhoven, Representative to the United Nations in New York, International Telecommunication Union.

The 10 winners will gain access to the Digital Innovation Challenge Acceleration Program over the coming months where they will receive capacity-building training and a virtual bootcamp to help further refine their business plans as well as specialized mentorship and access to a network of change-makers. Following this, selected winners will participate in ITUs prestigious Global Innovation Forum later this year and join a community of practice to explore ways to leapfrog the digital innovation divide and address global challenges.

Special Mention awards were given to three companies receiving consultancy hours from 1919 Investment Counsel. In first place and the recipient of 10 hours of consulting services was Tiny Totos, a Kenyan social enterprise working to ensure quality childcare. By providing training, access to capital, a network and a technology platform, Tiny Totos helps set up childcare centers to increase the availability of childcare and improve the quality of childcare services in the country.

Receiving 5 hours each of consulting services, the two runners-up, Health Innovation Exchange (HIEx) and Gwiji for Women Gig Workers, are also addressing key societal challenges. HIEx identifies challenges faced by health systems and connects innovators with key health eco-system actors primarily in Africa and Asia to deliver solutions that can improve access to quality healthcare. Gwiji for Women Gig Workers is a tech start-up addressing barriers to labor market participation by low-income women in Kenya. It identifies, vets, trains, and empowers women from lower socio-economic backgrounds as casual cleaners by connecting them with prospective clients through a mobile application.

The WEA Digital Innovation Challenge was held against the backdrop of a rapidly changing economic context which has seen the rise of digital technologies and the growth of a digital economy. Recognizing the potential of the digital acceleration to perpetuate inequalities, the Challenge presented an opportunity to discuss digitalization as a barrier to womens economic status.

The high-level panel discussion included the following cross-sectoral representatives:

Welcome: Dr. Cindy Pace , VP, Global Chief Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Officer, MetLife

Opening Remarks: Anita Bhatia , UN Assistant Secretary-General and Deputy Executive Director UN Coordination, Partnerships, Resources and Sustainability, UN Women Ulrika Modeer , UN Assistant Secretary-General and Director of the Bureau of External Relations and Advocacy, UNDP

Introductory Remarks: Deborah Gibbins , Chief Operating Officer, Mary Kay Inc.

Keynote Speaker: Virginia Littlejohn , Co-Head of the Women20 (W20) US Delegation to the G20 countries; Global Coordinator, W20's Women Entrepreneurs Act Initiative (WE Act); Advisor, Women7 (W7) for the G7 Countries, and Co-Coordinating Team for Women's Empowerment, Meaningful Participation, and Leadership; Forbes Women 50 over 50 (Investment)

Discussant: Sonia Jorge , Founder and Executive Director, Global Digital Inclusion Partnership (GDIP)

Closing Remarks: Dr. Cosmas Luckyson Zavazava , Director Telecommunication Development Bureau, ITU



The above panelists spoke about the importance of womens entrepreneurship as a critical enabler of the Sustainable Development Goals, and the need to create a more gender-responsive eco-system for women entrepreneurs so they can compete and scale their businesses in the digital economy.

Women entrepreneurs face obstacles that stunt the growth of their business from lack of capital to social norms, as well as time and skills constraints. Entrepreneurship can be a powerful force to address societal challenges. However, entrepreneurship and the benefits it can drive remain male dominated. By developing a more gender-inclusive eco-system for start-ups and challenging the current business models, we can remove the obstacles women entrepreneurs face so they can drive success and reach their full potential.

Dr. Cindy Pace, VP, Global Chief Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Officer, MetLife

200 million women in India received money during the pandemic because digitalization had made it possible through their mobile phones as well as through a national identification system. However, two years into post pandemic life, women continue to face huge barriers in accessing venture capital and therefore in innovating. We know that less than 5% of venture capital goes to women-owned businesses and until that eco-system of financing for women changes nothing much is going to change in the lives of women entrepreneurs.

Anita Bhatia, UN Assistant Secretary-General and Deputy Executive Director UN Coordination, Partnerships, Resources and Sustainability, UN Women

We have seen more than 600 million people use the internet for the first time throughout the last couple of years, but 2.7 billion people are still offline the majority of whom are women. Women are also 25% less likely than men to know how to use technologies depriving them of basic opportunities to leverage technologies to thrive. On top of that, women-owned businesses make up 30% of registered businesses worldwide yet only 10% of them have access to the capital required to grow. We must also recall that basic legislation has to be in place for digital to benefit women and this means womens rights need to be worked on at the same time.

Ulrika Modeer, UN Assistant Secretary-General and Director of the Bureau of External Relations and Advocacy, UNDP

We need to reverse the current trend of gender-blind innovations and redress the digital gender gap that exists in access to technologies and in digital education and skills. The time is now to ensure women are not left behind. This is too big a feat for just one company or one industry to shoulder. Given the scale of the challenge, we need more cross-sectoral partners to join efforts to build the conditions for women entrepreneurs to innovate, compete and thrive. With the Womens Entrepreneurship Accelerator, we have a turn-key platform to shape a more equal and inclusive digital marketplace and society.

Deborah Gibbins, Chief Operating Officer, Mary Kay Inc.

Research has shown that theres an inherent gender bias which obstructs female entrepreneurs from equal access to eco-system resources such as finance and markets, while weak governmental and private sector collaboration within eco-systems deters womens entrepreneurship from accessing key pillars of the eco-system. As a result, many women entrepreneurs tend to 'go it alone.' Policies and partnership frameworks that take a more holistic and synergistic approach, such as the Womens Entrepreneurship Accelerator, are pivotal to unlocking the full potential of female entrepreneurship. Expanding the WEA partnership further can help drive even more progress.

Virginia Littlejohn, Co-Head of the Women20 (W20) US Delegation to the G20 countries; Global Coordinator, W20's Women Entrepreneurs Act Initiative (WE Act); Advisor, Women7 (W7) for the G7 Countries, and Co-Coordinating Team for Women's Empowerment, Meaningful Participation, and Leadership; Forbes Women 50 over 50 (Investment)

In the last decade the world lost about a trillion US dollars because we did not include women in digital economic activity. If we reversed that, we could gain over $525 billion from closing that gap, meaning governments could earn an additional $525 billion in the next 5 years if they included women as active economic agents. Furthermore, to close the gap in universal meaningful connectivity by 2030, we would only need $430 billion. To put it in perspective, this is how much the world spends every year on soda! This is foundational to bringing women online, to creating opportunities for entrepreneurship and to creating opportunities for participation, creation, innovation and engagement with digital services and products.

Sonia Jorge, Founder and Executive Director, Strategy and Partnerships, Global Digital Inclusion Partnership

The solutions presented throughout the Challenge are indisputably changing the world for the better. Inclusive and equitable innovations will help us navigate a new digital world that is increasingly Volatile, Uncertain, Complex and Ambiguous. Digital innovation eco-systems still suffer from a substantial gender divide that affects everyone. More gender-inclusive digital innovation eco-systems are needed to elevate economies and societies worldwide and help protect against the socio-economic crises we have seen.

Dr. Cosmas Luckyson Zavazava, Director of the Telecommunication Development Bureau at ITU

A recording of the panel event is available here and a recording of WEAs Digital Innovation Challenge is available here.

About the Womens Entrepreneurship Accelerator

The Womens Entrepreneurship Accelerator (WEA) is a multi-stakeholder partnership on womens entrepreneurship established during UNGA 74. It convenes six UN agencies, International Labour Organization (ILO), International Trade Centre (ITC), International Telecommunication Union (ITU), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), UN Global Compact (UNGC), UN Women and Mary Kay Inc. to empower 5 million women entrepreneurs by 2030.

The goal of the initiative is to maximize the development impact of women entrepreneurship in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by creating an enabling ecosystem for women entrepreneurs around the world. The Accelerator exemplifies the transformational power of a multi-partnership of unique magnitude to harness the potential of women entrepreneurs. Learn more at we-accelerate. Follow us: Twitter (We_Accelerator), Instagram (@we_accelerator), Facebook (@womensentrepreneurshipaccelerator), LinkedIn (@womensentrepreneurshipaccelerator)

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230517005570/en/

Mary Kay Inc. Corporate Communications

marykay.com/newsroom

(+1) 972.687.5332 or [email protected]

Source: Womens Entrepreneurship Accelerator
YMCA BC and the YMCA of Greater Toronto launch YMCA Ignite, powered by the RBC Foundation, through RBC Future Launch.

PRINCE GEORGE, British Columbia & TORONTO--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- YMCA BC and the YMCA of Greater Toronto are excited to announce the first-of-its-kind digital platform  YMCA Ignite  thanks in part to $1.2 million in funding from the RBC Foundation, through RBC Future Launch. YMCA Ignite is a new virtual platform that will initially focus its offering on employment and leadership development programs for youth across the country, beyond brick-and-mortar YMCA locations.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230517005087/en/

YMCA Ignite (Photo: Business Wire)

YMCA Ignite aims to increase availability to critical programs previously inaccessible due to geographic location; increase impact on Canadian youth ages 15 - 29, with a focus on BIPOC and rural communities; and prepare them for the jobs of tomorrow. This platform aims to serve 25,000 youth by 2025.

When young people succeed, we all succeed, says Mark Beckles, Vice President Social Impact & Innovation, RBC. With partners like the YMCA, were working to increase access to the resources that young Canadians need to build more inclusive companies and communities where everyone can reach their full potential. We are excited to see YMCA Ignite come to life.

YMCA Ignite will feature over 70 workshops per month through a range of live, virtual, self-directed and in-person courses. Programming is currently focused on employment and leadership development, tailored to young people ages 15  29.

The past three years have helped us reimagine what community means at the Y, through virtual and socially-distanced interactions, says Medhat Mahdy, President & CEO, YMCA of Greater Toronto. Community expands well beyond in-person interactions  and YMCA Ignite allows us to use technology to reach communities without a physical YMCA location.

Available programs include:

Financial Empowerment & Well-being Certificate

12 micro-courses focusing on personal finance, topics include: Income, expenses & budget, Saving & investing, Credit & debt management, Income tax & benefits, Financial planning and more.

Responsible Adult Course

Build essential skills for working with children and youth.

Additional Online Courses

Topics include: Mental wellness workshops for teens (13  18) and youth (18  30), Core Skills for Actionable Professional, Leading successful teams, Introduction to Entrepreneurship, Practicing Allyship and more.

"YMCA Ignite is a major milestone for YMCA BC, and across Canada, said Heidi Worthington, President and CEO, YMCA BC. Were pushing critical resources and programs beyond brick-and-mortar Y locations, introducing new ways to share programming with a greater number of youth, and of course, reconnecting as a community.

YMCA Ignite would not be possible without support from the RBC Foundation, through RBC Future Launch. The YMCA is grateful to the RBC Foundation for their commitment to connecting young people with community leaders and partners to help them prepare for the future of work. Through $1.2 million in funding, YMCA BC and the YMCA of Greater Toronto developed YMCA Ignite to help achieve the joint goal of empowering youth as they plan for their future.

YMCA Ignite is an exclusively digital platform, available here.

The Y values diversity and inclusion. If accommodations are required for individuals to participate, the Y will arrange reasonable and appropriate accommodations as required.

About the YMCA BC

YMCA BC is the result of the unification of YMCA of Northern BC, YMCA-YWCA of Kamloops and YMCA of Greater Vancouver. As a community-based charity, YMCA BC is committed to fostering belonging and providing people of all ages, stages, backgrounds and abilities with safe and inclusive spaces where they can live healthier lives and connect with others. With hundreds of service locations across the province, children, youth, adults, families and seniors from Fort St. John to the Sunshine Coast can access a wide range of life-enhancing programs, which include employment and training; health, fitness and aquatics; child care; mental wellness; camps; and newcomer services. YMCA BC works collaboratively with the YMCA of Southern Interior BC and YMCA-YWCA of Vancouver Island to serve British Columbians. For more info, visit gv.ymca.ca, kamloopsy.ca and nbc.ymca.ca.

About the YMCA of Greater Toronto

The YMCA of Greater Toronto is a charity that ignites the potential in people, helping them grow, lead and give back to their communities. For 170 years, the YMCA of Greater Toronto has provided opportunities for people to shine through a variety of programs and services including health and fitness, licensed child care, camps, employment and immigrant services, education and training, and services for youth, families and seniors. Promoting equity and boosting well-being across more than 440 locations in the Greater Toronto Area, the Y is a leading charity that helps everyone shine. For more information visit ymcagta.org.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230517005087/en/

YMCA BC: Oliver Lam, 778-227-7170, [email protected]

YMCA of Greater Toronto: Camille Cote-Begin, 416-819-2035, [email protected]

Source: YMCA BC and YMCA of Greater Toronto
FILE PHOTO: The sun sets behind a crude oil pump jack on a drill pad in the Permian Basin in Loving County, Texas, U.S. November 24, 2019. REUTERS/Angus Mordant

By Laura Sanicola

(Reuters) -Oil prices settled up about $2 on Wednesday as optimism over oil demand and U.S. debt ceiling negotiations outweighed worries about abundant supply.

Brent crude futures settled up $2.05, or 2.7%, to $76.96 a barrel. West Texas Intermediate U.S. crude settled up $1.97 or 2.8% to $72.83.

"Todays strong oil trade was all about the expectation of a debt ceiling agreement, likely by the end of this week, that appeared to lift a negative burden across most asset classes, including oil," said Jim Ritterbusch, president of Ritterbusch and Asssociates in Galena, Illinois.

President Joe Biden and top U.S. congressional Republican Kevin McCarthy on Wednesday underscored their determination to reach a deal soon to raise the federal government's $31.4 trillion debt ceiling and avoid an economically catastrophic default.

After a months-long standoff, the Democratic president and speaker of the House of Representatives on Tuesday agreed to negotiate directly. An agreement needs to be reached and passed by both chambers of Congress before the federal government runs out of money to pay its bills, as soon as June 1.

The optimism outweighed a crude inventory increase of 5 million barrels in the week ended May 12 reported by the Energy Information Administration. Analysts polled by Reuters had expected a 900,000 barrel drop.

The crude inventory build added to concerns about U.S. growth after data showed retail sales rose 0.4% in April, short of estimates for an increase of 0.8%.

However, gasoline stocks drew down by 1.4 million barrels as the four-week gasoline product supplied - a proxy for demand - rose to its highest level since December 2021.

The International Energy Agency on Tuesday predicted demand would outpace supply by 2 million barrels per day (bpd) in the second half of the year, with China making up 60% of oil demand growth in 2023.

In China, April industrial output and retail sales growth undershot forecasts, suggesting the economy lost momentum at the beginning of the second quarter.

Markets are in a "wait-and-watch mode" over the outcome of the debt ceiling negotiations, said Vandana Hari, founder of oil market analysis provider Vanda Insights.

"A bunch of Chinese macro-economic data for April released on Tuesday confirmed the narrative of a patchy and slow recovery in the country and continue to weigh on oil market sentiment."

(Additional reporting by Katya Golubkova; editing by Deepa Babington, Kirsten Donovan and David Gregorio)
Community Healthcare Trust Incorporated (NYSE: CHCT) today announced that its Board of Directors appointed William G. Monroe IV to be the Company's Chief Financial Officer, effective as of June 1, 2023 .

David H. Dupuy , the Company's Chief Executive Officer, said, "On behalf of the Company, we are excited to welcome Bill as our Chief Financial Officer. Bill's experience demonstrates a deep understanding of our industry, and I am confident that he is an excellent choice for this role. We look forward to working with Bill."
Megan McDowell at Kentucky bar in Barcelona. Vicens Gimenez

Sitting on a stool that was once bolted to the ground to prevent marines passing through town from starting the kind of fights that end badly, Megan McDowell has a task to perform. The waitress has just asked her to translate what the pair of tipsy New Zealand sailors at the back of the bar are saying. Shes at Bar Kentucky, an American-style, baroque bar in Barcelona, Spain, which appears frozen in the year 1951. Neither the waitress nor the sailors have the remotest idea that McDowell is a world star in the field. Her translation of Seven Empty Houses won Samanta Schweblin the prestigious National Book Award in 2022. It was her prize too. The fact that the only other Argentine writer to win the award was Julio Cortazar, for his popular book Hopscotch  and that Megan has a hopscotch tattooed on her arm  is the kind of detail that seems to suggest that her bright future was a foretold story.

McDowell, 44, grew up in Kentucky, in the American Midwest, alongside her twin sister. At first, she wanted to stand out from her sibling, but then she didnt want to be apart from her. When her twin left for Chicago, she followed. Their parents  a former nun and ex-hippy  read aloud to them when they were little and then left extremely weird things within their reach, things such as Watership Down, by Richard Adams, a dystopian adventure novel featuring rabbits. But it was translated literature that made her realize that there was a bigger world out there. She went to Chile. A musician friend thought it would be a good idea to buy an old hotel in Valparaiso and turn it into a cultural center. That didnt work out, but I went anyway, she says. By then, she had already worked for Dalkey Archive Press as a reader and was determined to learn another language, so that she could dedicate herself to translating the books she fell in love with. It was not easy. America tends to believe that nothing matters but itself. So why not try writing? I wanted to give a voice to those who did not have it in my language. I didnt think the world needed the voice of another privileged white woman, she replies.

She says that translation  which she currently does from a Barcelona apartment overlooking the house where Chilean writer Roberto Bolano used to live  has a mystical side: I feel more and more that the book passes through me, that in some way, it relives in my head. McDowell would like to believe in ghosts. In fact, she collects stories of writers who have seen spiritual apparitions. I am convinced that good writers have some kind of contact with the afterlife, she says. While McDowell began in the trenches, fighting for every book, today she is one of the most admired figures in literary translation. She has given voice to the stars of the new Latino boom, authors such as Alejandro Zambra, Mariana Enriquez and Schweblin. McDowell says she had only seen Schweblin three times before the National Book Award ceremony. She arrived late, knowing that they would win. Samantas mother is a seer, she confesses. McDowell translates for between two and six hours a day  with the tiny wooden duck Schweblin gifted her nearby. It reminds me that I must make a friend of time. She tends to get overwhelmed, but she is learning, finally, to enjoy herself.

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GFL Environmental Inc. (NYSE: GFL) today announced that BCEC-GFL Borrower (Cayman) LP, OTPP Environmental Services Trust, GFL Borrower II (Cayman) LP and Poole Private Capital, LLC (collectively, the "Selling Shareholders") intend to offer for sale 14,084,507 subordinate voting shares. GFL will not receive any proceeds from the sale of the Shares (the "Offering"). Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC and Goldman Sachs Canada Inc. will act as underwriters for the Offering in the United States and Canada , respectively.

The Shares issued pursuant to the Offering will be offered in all provinces and territories of Canada by way of a prospectus supplement (the "Prospectus Supplement") to the Company's short form base shelf prospectus (the "Final Base Shelf Prospectus"). The Company has filed a registration statement on Form F-10 (the "Form F-10") and will file the Prospectus Supplement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") in accordance with the multi-jurisdictional disclosure system established between Canada and the United States .

No securities regulatory authority has either approved or disapproved the contents of this news release. This news release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy, nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any province, state or jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to the registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such province, state or jurisdiction.

Prospective investors should read the Final Base Shelf Prospectus, the Prospectus Supplement, when available, and the documents incorporated by reference therein before investing in the Shares. When available, these documents may be accessed for free on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

GFL has filed the Form F-10 registration statement (including a prospectus) with the SEC for the offering to which this communication relates. Before you invest, you should read the prospectus in that registration statement and other documents the issuer has filed with the SEC for more complete information about the issuer and this offering. You may get these documents for free by visiting EDGAR on the SEC website at www.sec.gov. Alternatively, copies of the prospectus and Prospectus Supplement relating to the Offering may be obtained, when available, upon request from Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC, Attention: Prospectus Department, 200 West Street , New York, NY 10282, or by telephone: 1-866-471-2526, or by facsimile: 212-902-9316 or by emailing [email protected] or Goldman Sachs Canada Inc., TD North Tower , 77 King Street West Suite 3400, Toronto, ON M5K 1B7.

About GFL

GFL, headquartered in Vaughan, Ontario , is the fourth largest diversified environmental services company in North America , providing a comprehensive line of solid waste management, liquid waste management and soil remediation services through its platform of facilities throughout Canada and in more than half of the U.S. states. Across its organization, GFL has a workforce of more than 20,000 employees.

Forward Looking Statements

This news release includes certain "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of applicable securities laws, including statements relating to the proposed Offering. In some cases, but not necessarily in all cases, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward looking terminology such as "plans", "targets", "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "an opportunity exists", "is positioned", "estimates", "intends", "assumes", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate" or "believes", or variations of such words and phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might", "will" or "will be taken", "occur" or "be achieved". In addition, any statements that refer to expectations, projections or other characterizations of future events or circumstances contain forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are not historical facts, nor guarantees or assurances of future performance but instead represent management's current beliefs, expectations, estimates and projections regarding future events and operating performance. Forward-looking statements are necessarily based on a number of opinions, assumptions and estimates that, while considered reasonable by GFL as of the date of this release, are subject to inherent uncertainties, risks and changes in circumstances that may differ materially from those contemplated by the forward-looking statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ, possibly materially, from those indicated by the forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, the factors described in the "Risk Factors" section of GFL's annual information form for the 2022 fiscal year filed on Form 40-F and GFL's other periodic filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the securities commissions or similar regulatory authorities in Canada . These factors are not intended to represent a complete list of the factors that could affect GFL. However, such risk factors should be considered carefully. There can be no assurance that such estimates and assumptions will prove to be correct. You should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this release. GFL undertakes no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement, except as required by applicable securities laws.

For more information:



Patrick Dovigi

+1 905 326-0101

[email protected]

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/gfl-environmental-inc-announces-secondary-offering-of-14-084-507-subordinate-voting-shares-by-selling-shareholders-301827826.html

SOURCE GFL Environmental Inc.
L3Harris Technologies (NYSE: LHX) announced orders totaling $160 million from the Marine Corps for multi-channel handheld and vehicular radio systems, bringing total program orders to $336 million.

The two new orders from the Marine Corps are under a 10-year, competitively awarded $750 million indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity contract for L3Harris Falcon IV manpack and handheld radios. The technology in these radios enables greater interoperability among U.S. and allied forces.

The resilient communications our battle-proven radios and secure waveforms offer allow Marines to talk to each other with confidence and exchange information at faster rates, said Chris Aebli, President, Tactical Communications, L3Harris. These radios are the most advanced systems industry can put into the hands of our warfighters, delivering enhanced capabilities to address evolving threats.

By integrating voice and data communications, network routing and gateway functions, L3Harris software-defined multi-channel AN/PRC-163 handheld radios provide real-time battlespace situational awareness to help warfighters make informed decisions.

All U.S. military services, including Special Operations Command, and a growing number of key allies have broadly adopted the Falcon IV family of radios software-defined architecture. It provides flexibility for continuous upgrades with seamless integration of emerging technologies to meet future needs.

The latest Marine Corps commitments follow two Falcon IV orders from the U.S. Army last year totaling $235 million.
Stellantis (NYSE: STLA), the world's No. 3 carmaker by sales and owner of 14 brands including Vauxhall, Peugeot, Citroen and Fiat has warned the U.K. that British car plants will close with the loss of thousands of jobs unless the Brexit deal is swiftly renegotiated.

According to Stellantis, under the current deal it would face tariffs when exporting electric vans to Europe from next year, when tougher post-Brexit rules come into force.

The automaker wants the government and the European Union to extend current rules on the sourcing of parts until 2027 instead of a planned change in 2024 - a request that was echoed by the lobbying body for the European car trade.

"We hope to be able to come to a resolution with the EU on this," Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's spokesman told reporters on Wednesday.

Under the trade deal agreed when Britain left the bloc, 45% of the value of an EV being sold in the European Union must come from Britain or the EU from 2024 to avoid tariffs. However, a battery pack can account for up to half a new EV's cost. Batteries are also heavy and expensive to move long distances.

Auto manufacturers argue that in addition to revisiting tariffs, Britain must actively encourage greater battery production in order to ensure the long-term sustainability of its automotive industry.

British finance minister Jeremy Hunt hinted there would soon be a development on that front.

"Watch this space, because we are very focused on making sure that the UK gets EV and manufacturing capacity," he told an event on Wednesday.

Shares of STLA are up 1.52% in early trading on Wednesday.

By Michael Elkins | [email protected]
FILE PHOTO: A representation of the cryptocurrency is seen in front of Binance logo in this illustration taken, March 4, 2022. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo/File Photo

(Reuters) -Binance said on Friday it was withdrawing from Canada, weeks after the country issued a series of new guidelines for cryptocurrency exchanges including investor limits and mandatory registrations.

Canada has tightened regulations for crypto asset trading platforms in recent months, with the introduction of a pre-registration process. The companies that do not adhere to the rules will face potential enforcement action, according to the website of the Ontario Securities Commission.

"Unfortunately, (the) new guidance related to stablecoins and investor limits provided to crypto exchanges makes the Canada market no longer tenable for Binance at this time," crypto exchange Binance said in a tweet.

Binance said it does not agree with the latest guidance and hopes to engage with the Canadian regulators to create a comprehensive framework for crypto operations in the country.

"We are confident that we will someday return to the market when Canadian users once again have the freedom to access a broader suite of digital assets," said the crypto exchange, founded by Canadian national Changpeng Zhao.

The digital assets industry has been in the crosshairs of regulators around the world, especially since the collapse of Binance-rival FTX in November, which triggered a market rout in the prices of the biggest digital coins.

Following the onset of the crypto winter of 2022, which wiped out more than a trillion dollars from the industry's market value, lawmakers and securities regulators demanded tighter guidelines for disclosures on how the crypto companies operate and hold customer funds.

In March, Binance and its CEO Zhao were sued by the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission for operating what the regulator alleged was an "illegal" exchange and a "sham" compliance program.

(Reporting by Manya Saini in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli)
FILE PHOTO: Souvenir tokens representing cryptocurrency Bitcoin plunge into water in this illustration taken May 17, 2022. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/

(This May 17 story has been corrected to clarify that the token is called XRP, not Ripple, in paragraph 9)

By Elizabeth Howcroft

LONDON (Reuters) - U.S. crypto firm Ripple has bought Switzerland-based crypto custody firm Metaco for $250 million, in its first major acquisition, Ripple said on Wednesday.

Metaco makes technology which allows financial institutions to store and manage digital assets. Its clients include Citi, BNP Paribas, and Societe Generale's digital asset arm.

Investor interest in crypto assets has cooled following a drop in cryptocurrency prices in 2022 and series of collapses at major crypto firms, including U.S. exchange FTX. Investors have become increasingly cautious about where and how crypto assets are stored, after crypto platforms freezing withdrawals left them facing large losses.

Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse said he expected increased demand from institutional investors for crypto custody services.

"By focusing on the infrastructure ... you're not really subject to the same gyrations of the crypto winters," he said.

"If ultimately you're solving a clear problem at scale for these customers, there's going to be demand there."

As U.S. regulators step up enforcement actions against crypto firms, Garlinghouse said that Metaco being based in Switzerland, with non-U.S. employees, added to the appeal of the company.

"The rules of the road in other markets compared to the United States are clear and it's that clarity of rules that allows companies to invest," he said.

Ripple's token, XRP, is the world's sixth largest cryptocurrency, with around $23 billion of the coin in circulation, according to market tracker CoinGecko. More than half of the $250 million acquisition was paid for in cash, and the rest in equity, Ripple said.

Privately-owned Ripple last year expressed interest in acquiring assets including from bankrupt lender Celsius.

In December 2020, Ripple was sued by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), charged with conducting a $1.3 billion unregistered securities offering.

Ripple has rejected the charges, saying the token is a currency and does not need to be registered as an investment contract.

Ripple is "not in any hurry" to do an IPO, and has around $1 billion of cash on its balance sheet, Garlinghouse said.

(Reporting by Elizabeth Howcroft; editing by Louise Heavens)
PRESS RELEASE

May 17th, 2023

Aeroports de Paris SA

April 2023 traffic figures

Unless otherwise indicated, the following changes are expressed in comparison with the same period in 2022.

Group traffic 1 : up +26.2%, to 26.2 million passengers, standing at 97.9% of 2019 traffic;

up +26.2%, to 26.2 million passengers, standing at 97.9% of 2019 traffic; Paris Aeroport's traffic: up +17.8%, to 8.2 million passengers, standing at 86.5% of 2019 traffic.

GROUP TRAFFIC





April 2023 January  April 2023 Passengers Change 23/22 % of traffic

compared to 2019 Passengers Change 23/22 % of traffic

compared to 2019 Paris-CDG 5,487,383 +19.3% 84.5% 19,797,945 +39.8% 86.2% Paris-Orly 2,682,217 +14.9% 91.0% 9,416,279 +28.5% 92.3% Paris Aeroport 8,169,600 +17.8% 86.5% 29,214,224 +36.0% 88.1% TAV Airports 6,526,261 +38.2% 96.1% 20,707,024 +40.7% 95.1% GMR Airports1 8,979,548 +24.8% 117.6% 34,913,841 +43.1% 107.1% Other Airports2 2,508,251 +32.4% 89.4% 10,709,579 +35.3% 89.6% GROUPE ADP1 26,183,660 +26.2% 97.9% 95,544,668 +39.4% 95.9%

PARIS AEROPORT'S TRAFFIC

IMPORTANT NOTE: Since the traffic release of December and the year 2022, the geographical breakdown at Paris Aeroports within this release as well as in the historical data used for variation and recovery calculations are aligned with the different categories applicable to airport fees. It presents the detailed breakdown of the "Europe" traffic into three categories: "Schengen Area" traffic, "United Kingdom & UE excluding Schengen " traffic, and "Other Europe" traffic. Traffic with "French overseas territories", is presented separately from the "International" traffic, in which it was included until the November 2022 traffic release. It is reminded that airports fees applicable to these different categories are available on the company website.

April 2023 January  April 2023 Share of traffic Change 23/22 % of traffic

compared to 2019 Share of traffic Change 23/22 % of traffic

compared to 2019 Mainland France 13.0% +0.8% 74.6% 12.9% +7.6% 74.0% French Overseas Territories 4.9% -2.7% 96.7% 5.5% +9.1% 96.9% Schengen Area 38.9% +15.6% 96.2% 35.5% +34.2% 94.2% United-Kingdom & EU ex. Schengen3 6.1% +15.3% 87.6% 6.3% +60.7% 90.8% Other Europe 2.3% +40.5% 57.4% 2.2% +25.8% 60.9% Europe 47.2% +16.6% 92.1% 43.9% +37.0% 91.3% Africa 11.8% +34.4% 86.8% 13.4% +51.3% 98.5% North America 11.0% +21.6% 96.4% 10.5% +46.8% 100.0% Latin America 2.5% -7.6% 72.8% 3.2% +11.0% 79.5% Middle East 5.4% +26.5% 86.5% 5.9% +44.1% 94.1% Asia-Pacific 4.1% +159.7% 58.7% 4.6% +228.5% 58.9% Other International 34.9% +32.0% 83.5% 37.7% +54.0% 89.1% PARIS AEROPORT 100.0% +17.8% 86.5% 100.0% +36.0% 88.1%





April 2023 Change 23/22 Change 23/19 January  April 2023 Change 23/22 Change 23/19 Connecting rate 18.5% -1.4pt -2.1pts 21.4% -1.3pt -2.1pts Seat load factor 84.6% +4.3pts -3.3pts 83.7% +9.4pts -1.6pt

MAIN AIRPORTS  PASSENGERS TRAFFIC





April 2023 January  April 2023 Passengers Change 23/22 % of traffic

compared to 2019 Passengers Change 23/22 % of traffic

compared to 2019 Paris-CDG 5,487,383 +19.3% 84.5% 19,797,945 +39.8% 86.2% Paris-Orly 2,682,217 +14.9% 91.0% 9,416,279 +28.5% 92.3% Total Paris Aeroport 8,169,600 +17.8% 86.5% 29,214,224 +36.0% 88.1% Antalya 2,191,781 +41.6% 99.9% 4,991,179 +36.9% 99.9% Almaty 639,441 +36.2% 142.3% 2,550,406 +45.3% 151.7% Ankara 915,735 +51.9% 74.3% 3,398,067 +38.3% 71.4% Izmir 834,944 +22.6% 89.9% 2,777,462 +16.8% 74.7% Bodrum 187,984 +16.4% 89.8% 453,698 +18.7% 91.4% Gazipasa 52,574 +19.5% 76.2% 177,391 +30.6% 104.4% Medina 709,965 +37.3% 99.7% 3,204,800 +84.3% 115.2% Tunisia 105,700 +61.9% 76.5% 287,137 +59.5% 80.3% Georgia 306,440 +48.2% 83.4% 1,096,511 +40.3% 89.7% North Macedonia 259,657 +50.4% 121.7% 753,377 +44.4% 108.5% Zagreb 322,040 +25.9% 114.7% 1,016,996 +37.2% 114.8% Total TAV Airports 6,526,261 +38.2% 96.1% 20,707,024 +40.7% 95.1% New Delhi 6,013,303 +22.1% 121.0% 23,752,527 +41.2% 109.1% Hyderabad 2,014,984 +24.0% 113.2% 7,724,034 +43.7% 106.3% Medan 617,813 +63.2% 102.7% 2,439,672 +62.3% 92.5% Goa 333,448 - - 997,608 - - Total GMR Airports4 8,979,548 +24.8% 117.6% 34,913,841 +43.1% 107.1% Santiago de Chile 1,719,837 +27.2% 90.1% 7,669,714 +28.4% 86.2% Amman 713,697 +41.4% 88.8% 2,776,748 +51.3% 101.8% Other airports5 74,717 +97.6% 80.4% 263,117 +138.2% 80.7% GROUPE ADP4 26,183,660 +26.2% 97.9% 95,544,668 +39.4% 95.9%

MAIN AIRPORTS  AIRCRAFT MOVEMENTS





April 2023 January  April 2023 Movements Change 23/22 % of traffic

compared to 2019 Movements Change 23/22 % of traffic

compared to 2019 Paris-CDG 36,867 +11.2% 87.6% 135,461 +22.1% 87.9% Paris-Orly 17,100 +5.4% 84.9% 60,270 +12.2% 85.3% Total Paris Aeroport 53,967 +9.3% 86.8% 195,731 +18.9% 87.1% Antalya 14,960 +46.1% 111.2% 34,383 +36.5% 107.6% Almaty 5,780 +19.5% 118.4% 22,527 +32.1% 118.5% Ankara 6,208 +34.6% 79.7% 23,416 +29.3% 74.6% Izmir 5,056 +13.8% 94.9% 17,337 +11.8% 75.7% Bodrum 1,299 +15.0% 93.5% 3,100 +13.5% 92.7% Gazipasa 438 +12.3% 89.8% 1,361 +26.6% 106.5% Medina 4,920 +11.5% 101.1% 20,646 +42.1% 106.8% Tunisia 814 +48.0% 77.5% 2,137 +29.8% 73.2% Georgia 2,912 +26.2% 79.6% 10,532 +17.1% 82.0% North Macedonia 1,841 +27.5% 106.8% 6,010 +35.0% 104.2% Zagreb 3,928 +13.6% 104.0% 13,618 +12.5% 104.7% Total TAV Airports 48,156 +27.3% 99.5% 155,067 +27.7% 94.7% New Delhi 36,210 +9.4% 108.6% 142,631 +22.2% 101.7% Hyderabad 14,117 +10.4% 96.8% 55,937 +29.4% 92.7% Medan 4,869 +43.7% 95.5% 19,458 +44.7% 93.8% Goa 2,298 - ,- 7,139 - - Total GMR Airports4 57,494 +12.0% 104.1% 225,165 +25.8% 98.5% Santiago de Chile 11,134 +18.7% 92.2% 47,812 +15.5% 86.2% Amman 6,174 +17.0% 91.9% 23,776 +25.4% 97.2% Other airports5 847 +76.8% 69.7% 3,426 +130.4% 67.2% GROUPE ADP4 177,772 +15.8% 95.5% 650,977 +23.5% 92.7%

FINANCIAL CALENDAR (subject to change)

Ex- dividend 6 : Monday 5 June 2023

: Monday 5 June 2023 Dividen d 6 payment: Wednesday 7 June 2023

payment: Wednesday 7 June 2023 Next traffic publication : May 2023 traffic figures  Monday 19 June 2023, after market closing

publication May 2023 traffic figures  Monday 19 June 2023, after market closing 2023 Half-Year results : Thursday 27 July 2023, after markets closing

: Thursday 27 July 2023, after markets closing 2023 nine months revenue: Wednesday 25 October 2023, after markets closing

Investor Relations: Cecile Combeau +33 6 32 35 01 46 and Eliott Roch +33 6 98 90 85 14 - [email protected]

Press contact: Justine Leger, Head of Medias and Reputation Department +33 1 74 25 23 23

Groupe ADP develops and manages airports, including Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Paris-Orly and Paris-Le Bourget. In 2022, the group handled through its brand Paris Aeroport 86.7 million passengers at Paris-Charles de Gaulle and Paris-Orly, and nearly 193.7 million passengers in airports abroad. Boasting an exceptional geographic location and a major catchment area, the Group is pursuing its strategy of adapting and modernizing its terminal facilities and upgrading quality of services; the group also intends to develop its retail and real estate businesses. In 2022, group revenue stood at 4,688 million and net income at 516million.

Registered office: 1, rue de France, 93 290 Tremblay-en-France. Aeroports de Paris is a public limited company (Societe Anonyme) with share capital of 296,881,806. Registered in the Bobigny Trade and Company Register under no. 552 016 628.

groupe-adp.com

1Changes vs. 2022 and recovery rates vs. 2019 hereabove are calculated on a like-for-like basis without traffic from Goa airport in 2023, opened on January 5th, 2023.

2 Airports of Amman, Santiago de Chile, Antananarivo and Nosy Be.

3 Traffic with Croatia was included in the EU ex. Schengen until April 2023. It is now accounted within the Schengen Area since April 2023 onwards.

4 Changes vs. 2022 and recovery rates vs. 2019 here above are calculated on a like-for-like basis without traffic from Goa airport in 2023, opened on January 5th, 2023.

5 Airports of Antananarivo and Nosy Be.

6 As approved by the General Meeting of the Shareholders of May 16th, 2023, having approved 2022 accounts.

Attachment
President and CEO Tim Judge urges industry peers to gain insights into key industry metrics through data research

ATLANTA, May 17, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Tim Judge, president and CEO of Agillitics, will share the various ways integrated data analytics can be leveraged to enhance the performance of supply chain operations at the Manhattan Momentum conference. Judge will be a panelist in the session Mixing up the Perfect Unified Data Model Cocktail with RNDC on Wed., May 24, from 8:30 a.m.  9:15 a.m. MST.



Founded in 2014, Agillitics is an industry-leading firm that helps supply chain industry companies receive more value from their existing data. The company has developed custom-designed solutions that provide insight to industry leaders in order to combine vital data that was once housed on various systems and platforms.

Agillitics is immersed in data on a daily basis, so Manhattan Momentum provides a great opportunity to share best practices with industry peers and inspire discussion, said Judge. Manhattan Active Solutions generate terrabytes of data each year, which is a significant amount of information that companies can take advantage of to further drive the success of their business. This session is meant to inform supply chain companies of how they can utilize their data, various analytics, and techniques to gain insights into key metrics.

This month, Manhattan was named a Leader in the 2023 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Warehouse Management Systems (WMS) for the 15th consecutive year.

The AgiSight Platform is Agillitics platform solution that streamlines and analyzes data. It is a platform that ensures quick time to value and measurable return on investment (ROI) as modules can be implemented in as little as 90 days. It is a non-invasive, cloud-based data ingestion that produces savings across functions and departments within supply chain companies.

This is a topic that we devote our time to ensuring industry professionals fully understand and we leverage the data that will essentially propel their businesses forward, continued Judge. Having a sustainable data strategy is key, and applying up-to-date technology to store, transmit, and model data is a priority. This ultimately helps gain insight into supply chain optimization, inventory management, and resource utilization. These are all topics that will be discussed at the conference.

Manhattan Momentum will be held May 22-25 at the JW Marriott Desert Ridge Resort & Spa in Phoenix, AZ. To learn more about Agillitics, the AgiSight Platform, and their presence at Manhattan Momentum this year, visit Agillitics.

About Agillitics

Founded in 2014 and based in Atlanta, Agillitics serves the supply chain/logistics industry by providing a life ring to companies drowning in complex data challenges. Through its turnkey, SaaS-based platform known as AgiSight, Agillitics makes it easier for companies to bring forth data from multiple platforms, harmonize it under a Unified Digital Supply Chain Model and deploy it to get better visibility on everything from order lifecycles and warehouse operations to the profitability of various customers and products.

Media Contact

Amber Good

LeadCoverage

[email protected]
COPENHAGEN, Denmark, May 17, 2023  Bavarian Nordic A/S (OMX: BAVA) announces that the share buy-back program, which was announced and initiated on May 9, 2023, has now been terminated, as the intended number of shares under the program has been repurchased. The program was executed in accordance with the provisions of Regulation (EU) No. 596/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 April 2014 on market abuse and supplementing Regulation (EU) 2016/1052 of 8 March 2016, which together constitute the Safe Harbour Regulation. The purpose of the program was to meet the Companys obligations arising from the share-based incentive program for the Board of Directors and Executive Management.

Under the program Bavarian Nordic A/S has bought back 43,954 shares, cf. the table below:

Transaction date Number of shares Average purchase price, DKK Transaction Value, DKK May 9, 2023 9,000 190.35 1,713,150 May 10, 2023 6,000 196.85 1,181,100 May 11, 2023 4,500 207.65 934,425 May 12, 2023 4,500 208.92 940,140 May 15, 2023 5,000 208.76 1,043,800 May 16, 2023 7,000 213.22 1,492,540 May 17, 2023 7,954 209.73 1,668,192 Accumulated under the program 43,954 204.15 8,973,347

The details for each transaction made under the share repurchase program have been attached to this announcement.

With the transactions stated above, Bavarian Nordic A/S owns a total of 160,805 own shares, corresponding to 0.21% of the share capital. The total amount of shares in the company is 77,873,061 including treasury shares.

About Bavarian Nordic

Bavarian Nordic is a fully integrated vaccines company focused on the research and development, manufacturing and commercialization of life-saving vaccines. We are a global leader in smallpox and mpox vaccines, which have been developed through our long-standing partnership with the U.S. Government to enhance the public health preparedness and have a strong portfolio of vaccines for travelers and endemic diseases. Using our live virus vaccine platform technology, MVA-BN and in-licensed technologies, we have created a diverse portfolio of proprietary and partnered product candidates designed to save and improve lives by unlocking the power of the immune system. For more information visit www.bavarian-nordic.com .

Forward-looking statements

This announcement includes forward-looking statements that involve risks, uncertainties and other factors, many of which are outside of our control, that could cause actual results to differ materially from the results discussed in the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements include statements concerning our plans, objectives, goals, future events, performance and/or other information that is not historical information. All such forward-looking statements are expressly qualified by these cautionary statements and any other cautionary statements which may accompany the forward-looking statements. We undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise forward-looking statements to reflect subsequent events or circumstances after the date made, except as required by law.

Contacts

Europe: Rolf Sass Srensen, Vice President Investor Relations, Tel: +45 61 77 47 43

US: Graham Morrell, Paddock Circle Advisors, [email protected] , Tel: +1 781 686 9600

Company Announcement no. 20 / 2023

Attachment
Board member, HR leader and legal expert joins Boyden in the United States, bringing c-suite and board-level expertise to public, private and non-profit clients

Summit, NJ, May 17, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Boyden, a premier leadership and talent advisory firm with more than 70 offices in over 45 countries, is delighted to welcome Leslie Rohrbacker to its partnership in the United States, based in Summit.

Commenting on her appointment, Leslie said, I am excited to bring my commercial, legal and people expertise into executive search and leadership consulting. From my first meetings with Boyden partners and CEO, Chad Hester, I was attracted by the firms collegiate culture and strong global platform, which complements my more than 15 years in global business environments. I look forward to collaborating with clients to transform and accelerate their growth prospects by attracting, building, and scaling high performing teams.

Leslie joins Boydens global CEO & Board Services, Human Resources and Healthcare & Life Sciences practices. A business advisor throughout her career, Leslie counselled on enterprise risk management, complex commercial and regulatory issues, and employment law as a Deputy General Counsel at The Medicines Company, a publicly traded pharmaceutical company that was acquired by Novartis for $9.7 billion. A career shift from legal counsel to operational leadership led to more than a decade as a Chief People Officer, first at The Medicines Company, and then at multinational law firm Fragomen. Leslie then advanced to Chief Operating Officer at BAL, another global corporate law firm. In all these roles, Leslie attracted and built high performing teams and partnered with the business to drive growth through the attraction and retention of global talent across the C-suite, board, and key strategic roles.

Leslie is also CEO and Founder of a women-owned consulting firm focused on talent and risk management. She began her career as a successful corporate litigator and employment lawyer practicing in large, multi-state law firms. She was an Adjunct Professor of Law at Seton Hall University School of Law.

Leslie is a board member of Embrace Global, a non-profit organization that provides low-cost incubators to prevent neonatal deaths in developing and disaster hit countries, most recently Ukraine, Syria, and Turkey. She is also a member of the Philanthropy Board, Morristown Medical Center Goryeb Childrens Hospital, and a member of the Private Directors Association. A member of Chief, a global network of women executives, Leslie is passionate about DEI as a social and business imperative and is a frequent speaker on diversity & inclusion, change management and organizational transformation. She was the recipient of a peer nominated OnCon Icon Award as a Top 100 Human Resources Professional worldwide. Leslie is a published author and blogger.

Leslie holds a Juris Doctor from Seton Hall University School of Law, and a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from Boston College. She is a Masters Candidate in Library and Information Science at Simmons University. In addition, she has a Certification for Pharmaceutical/Biotech Executives from Wharton and a Healthcare Compliance Certification from Seton Hall University School of Law. She is a professional mediator and is Hogan Certified.

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 2022. For further information, visit www.boyden.com.

Attachment
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, May 17, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Candente Copper Corp. (TSX: DNT; OTCQB: DNCUF; BVL: DNT) (Candente Copper or the Company) is pleased to announce that the name change of the Company to Alta Copper Corp. and consolidation of the outstanding common shares of the Company (each, a Common Share) on the basis of one post-consolidation Common Share for every four pre-consolidation Common Shares is anticipated to be made effective for trading purposes on Friday, May 19, 2023. It is anticipated that the Common Shares will begin trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange on a post-consolidated basis under the name Alta Copper Corp. and the new trading symbol ATCU at market open on May 19, 2023. The new CUSIP of the Common Shares will be 021264106 and the new ISIN will be CA0212641066.

A letter of transmittal with respect to the consolidation and name change is being mailed to the Companys Registered Shareholders only. All Registered Shareholders with certificated Common Shares will be required to send their certificate(s) representing pre-consolidation Common Shares, along with a properly executed letter of transmittal, to the Companys registrar and transfer agent, Computershare Trust Company of Canada, in accordance with the instructions provided in the letter of transmittal. All other non-registered shareholders will automatically have their shares consolidated.

The Company will continue to trade on the OTC Markets under the trading symbol DNCUF on a post consolidated basis at market open on Friday, May 19, 2023.

Additionally, the Company will trade on the Bolsa de Valores de Lima (BVL) under the new trading symbol ATCU on a post consolidated basis at market open on Friday, May 19, 2023.

Further details regarding the consolidation and name change are provided in the press release of the Company dated April 27, 2023.

About Candente Copper

Candente Copper is focused on the development of its 100% owned Canariaco advanced staged copper project. Canariaco comprises 97 square kilometers of highly prospective land located 150 kilometers northeast of the City of Chiclayo, Peru, which include the Canariaco Norte deposit, Canariaco Sur deposit and Quebrada Verde prospect, all within a 4km NE-SW trend in northern Perus prolific mining district. Canariaco is one of the largest copper deposits in the Americas not held by a major.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking information within the meaning of Canadian securities laws (forward-looking statements). Forward-looking statements are typically identified by words such as: believe, expect, anticipate, intend, estimate, plans, postulate and similar expressions, or are those, which, by their nature, refer to future events. All statements that are not statements of historical fact are forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to, statements with respect to the effective date of the consolidation and name change of the Company. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this press release. Although the Company believes the forward-looking statements in this press release are reasonable, it can give no assurance that the expectations and assumptions in such statements will prove to be correct. The Company cautions investors that any forward-looking statements by the Company are not guarantees of future results or performance, and are subject to risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other factors which could cause events or outcomes to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. There can be no assurance that forward-looking 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. We are under no obligation to update or alter any forward-looking statements except as required under applicable securities laws.

On behalf of the Board of Candente Copper Corp.

Joanne C. Freeze P.Geo., President, CEO and Director

For further information please contact:

Joanne C. Freeze, President, CEO and Director [email protected] +1 604 512 3359

or

Giulio T. Bonifacio, Executive Chair and Director [email protected] +1 604 318 6760

[email protected]www.candentecopper.com

Source: Candente Copper Corp.
A Venezuelan migrant cries with her daughter after sleeping outdoors in the parking lot of a bus terminal in Boa Vista, Roraima state, Brazil, on April 7, 2023.

As the sun rose, Miguel Gonzalez, partner Maryelis Rodriguez and their four young children got off a passenger bus after an 18-hour ride south from the eastern Venezuelan community they desperately wanted to leave. The parents, with minds still muzzy from sleep, retrieved two duffle bags and assessed needs before entering the station: Diaper change for the 1-year-old. Restrooms for the 2-, 4- and 6-year-old. Directions to Brazil.

Taxi? Taxi? hawkish cab drivers asked everyone walking through the Santa Elena de Uairen station, where thousands of people every month walk through Venezuelan territory one last time. Roughly a half hour later, the Gonzalez family, like dozens of others every day, became migrants for the first time when they exited a taxi in Pacaraima, Brazil.

More than 7.2 million people have left Venezuela since the countrys political, economic and social crisis began last decade. Most have gone to Spanish-speaking countries of South America  with 2.4 million in Colombia alone  and many to the U.S. and Spain.

Further down the list of destinations has been Venezuelas Portuguese-speaking, next-door neighbor: Brazil.

But Brazil has become a popular choice for many Venezuelans partly because of a five-year-old program that offers eligible applicants work permits and even free flights to faraway parts of the huge country. Approvals into the program have surged in the post-pandemic period.

I want to give well-being to my children, said Gonzalez, who began planning to migrate in October after witnessing violent clashes around the gold mine where he worked.

There is no life in Venezuela, he said, because if the family stays there the children are not going to study, they are not going to have a future.

The Gonzalez family is applying for Brazils interiorization program, launched in 2018 to ease pressure on the countrys far northern state of Roraima as it dealt with Venezuelans flowing across the border after food and medicine shortages at home became acute.

The program moves the migrants to other cities with better economic opportunities, especially in the countrys rich southern states. It has taken in about 100,000 of the 426,000 Venezuelans who have migrated to Brazil during the crisis  with the highest monthly rate so far in March of this year with 3,377.

The Gonzalez family sold their fridge, fan, kitchen, bed and other furniture, stuffed clothes and diapers in duffel bags and backpacks, and began their migration journey from their community of San Felix with $500. They spent $90 to get to Santa Elena de Uairen and $20 to get to Pacaraima, where they applied for the program.

They decided to migrate even though Gonzalez had one of the most lucrative jobs in Venezuela, earning about $600 in two weeks, and occasionally, up to $1,200  far more than the countrys $5 monthly minimum wage. But mining communities are dangerous, thanks to armed groups who are believed to collude with authorities.

There is a lot of crime. Youre alive one moment and dead the next. You get me? Gonzalez said.

Those accepted into the interiorization program receive documentation, temporary shelter, vaccines and relocation flights. It also offers classes on Brazils labor market, laws and rights.

Brazils monthly minimum wage currently is $265. A survey of 800 households encompassing 3,529 Venezuelans living in Brazil in June and July of last year showed that 76% of them earned up to two minimum wages.

Applicants must submit paperwork, and undergo a physical and interviews.

On an early April morning, Maria Rodriguez, her father, husband, daughter, two sons, twin grandsons and four more relatives were among hundreds of people at the Pacaraima border crossing, navigating the steps of the program. She laughed with an energetic grandson, but her eyes betrayed fatigue.

At the crack of dawn, migrants form lines where they wait to get or provide information. They cheer when they or their new migrant friends are told they can hop on waiting passenger buses headed roughly 125 miles (200 kilometers) south to Boa Vista, where they will catch flights to their new communities.

Rodriguezs group already had waited six weeks in Pacaraima. They had sheltered from the scorching sun under a makeshift tent and spent nights in a shelter.

The family closed its unprofitable cheese-making business in Venezuela earlier this year and decided to join other relatives in the southern Brazilian state of Parana, where the men plan to work in construction. Rodriguez said another of her sons already living there has done well in just a short time.

His children are studying in a good school, and meanwhile, I could see my other sons ... struggling, Rodriguez, 45, said while she waited for portable toilets to be cleaned for the day. As adults, we can last all day even with just an arepa, but with those kids, how do you tell a child theres no food?

Venezuela was once one of the most prosperous countries in Latin America thanks to billions in oil dollars, but mismanagement by its self-described socialist government and a decline in crude prices plunged it into crisis over the past decade. International economic sanctions meant to topple President Nicolas Maduro have worsened conditions.

Elsewhere in the hemisphere, Venezuelans are making their second or even third migrations as economic opportunities in initial host countries dry up. Most of those coming across the border into Brazil are migrating for the first time, said the Rev. Agnaldo Pereira de Oliveira, director of Jesuit Service for Migrants and Refugees in Brazil.

They are people who held on until now and no longer could, Pereira de Oliveira said. Now come the last ones who had resisted in Venezuela out of attachment to their business, to their home. They say I had a job, but the living conditions no longer exist.

Brazils interiorization program took shape after a period of tensions in the mid- to late-2010s when arriving Venezuelans strained public services in Roraima, which includes both Pacaraima and Boa Vista. At one point, a man set fire to two residences where Venezuelans lived, injuring five people.

Brazils southern states like Parana are not without challenges for Venezuelans. There they must brave much colder weather than theyre accustomed to, and lack of fluency in Portuguese can sometimes be a barrier to formal jobs, meaning some of them become street vendors and Uber drivers.

In Boa Vista, shelters have long been available, but many adults and children sleep on sidewalks or outside a bus station. Some find the shelters overcrowded and overheated. Others do not feel safe or dislike the mandatory early wake-up.

On the western bank of the Branco River next to Boa Vista, members of the Figuera family cook, wash clothes, splash in the water or rest under shade trees. Their hair is peppered with sand.

Eleven-year-old Kisberlin Figuera, her father, stepmother and baby sister are on their second attempt to legally relocate to Parana. They gave up on their first try so that the baby could be born near extended family in Carupano, Venezuela.

Kisberlin has learned some Portuguese and become friends with other migrant girls. They joke and play tag or cards near where they sleep outside the bus station. She said she misses family but the access to water in Boa Vista  in public restrooms near a beach  is better than what she had at home.

Sitting by the river, she imagined Parana full of parks, loads of food, lots of money and a lot of water to take showers and drink.

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IRVINE, Calif. and RESTON, Va., May 17, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Netaphor, a provider of managed print services (MPS) software, and Carahsoft Technology Corp., The Trusted Government IT Solutions Provider, today announced a partnership. Under the agreement, Carahsoft will serve as Netaphors distributor, making the companys industry-leading Netaphor SiteAuditTM printer management software available to the Public Sector through Carahsofts reseller partners, NASA Solutions for Enterprise-Wide Procurement (SEWP) V and Information Technology Enterprise Solutions  Software 2 (ITES-SW2) contracts.

Carahsoft is a logical partner of choice as the leading software aggregator and distributor to the Public Sector, said Robert Russell, Director of Sales for Government and Enterprise Accounts for Netaphor. As a result of this partnership, Government agencies will benefit from the wider availability of our SiteAudit software and the strategic relationships that Carahsoft brings.

Netaphor SiteAudit OnSite is an on-premise, behind-the-firewall solution used by many Government agencies to manage all types of printers, regardless of brand. As a single source of truth on print assets, SiteAudit provides reporting on printer inventory/MAC, security vulnerabilities, costs, usage, incidents, SLAs, and more, offering a complete governance tool for printers. The application also has a connector to ServiceNow, which allows a Government agency to manage all of their printers usage, security and incidents in ServiceNow.

With the addition of SiteAudit to our offerings, we are now able to offer Government agencies solutions to their managed print services needs, said Dallas Booth, who leads the Netaphor Team at Carahsoft. We are proud to work with our reseller partners to enable easy access to Netaphors offerings which help ensure that printers, which are a staple agency equipment, are secure, optimized and easily managed across an organization. Through SiteAudit, the Government can procure metrics that improve governance and compliance for effective use. We look forward to growing Netaphors reach in the Public Sector and building on this partnership.

Netaphors software and services are available through Carahsofts SEWP V contracts NNG15SC03B and NNG15SC27B and ITES-SW2 Contract W52P1J-20-D-0042. For more information, contact the Netaphor Software team at Carahsoft at (571) 662-4299 or [email protected].

About Netaphor Software, Inc.

Founded in 1997 and headquartered in Irvine, Calif., Netaphor Software, Inc. develops and sells software for managed print services. The companys flagship product, SiteAudit, is the industrys first software suite to identify, reduce and manage printer costs, saving organizations up to 30 percent during the printer asset lifecycle. SiteAudit customers include organizations in all industries including Jacobs Engineering and Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia.

Contact:Robert Russell(585) 687-8180[email protected]

About Carahsoft

Carahsoft Technology Corp. is The Trusted Government IT Solutions Provider, supporting Public Sector organizations across Federal, State and Local Government agencies and Education and Healthcare markets. As the Master Government Aggregator for our vendor partners, we deliver solutions for Cybersecurity, MultiCloud, DevSecOps, Big Data, Artificial Intelligence, Open Source, Customer Experience and Engagement, and more. Working with resellers, systems integrators and consultants, our sales and marketing teams provide industry leading IT products, services and training through hundreds of contract vehicles. Visit us at www.carahsoft.com.

Contact:

Mary Lange(703)-230-7434[email protected]

Source: Carahsoft Technology Corp.
TORONTO, May 16, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Toubani Resources, Inc (ASX: TRE) (Toubani Resources or the Company) is pleased to announce the Kobada West discovery, a never-before drilled target less than 1km from the Kobada Main deposit in southern Mali. The Kobada project hosts 3.1Moz in Mineral Resources which occurs over a 4.5km strike length and is predominantly oxide and open pittable.

Highlights

First ever drill holes at Kobada West have delineated continuous, near surface oxide gold mineralisation with consistent grades and thicknesses section-to-section

Kobada West is interpreted to lie on a parallel structure less than 1km west of the Kobada Main deposit, yet no previous drilling had been undertaken and is outside of the current Mineral Resource

Recent drilling has identified shallow, oxide mineralisation on every section drilled to date over the current strike length of 600 metres which remains open along strike and at depth

Significant intersections include: 9m at 1.72g/t incl. 2m at 6.26g/t 1m at 11.3g/t and 5m at 1.26g/t 5m at 1.24g/t and 3m at 0.93g/t 11m at 0.55g/t, 2m at 2.66g/t and 3m at 1.12g/t

Kobada West results confirm gold mineralisation has been intersected at all of the five planned extensional targets drilled by Toubani in 2023, extending overall strike extent of mineralisation defined by drilling at the project from 5km to 11km

Drilling results affirm Toubanis overall strategy of an oxide-dominant project of scale at Kobada with optimisation work streams underway

Chief Executive Officer, Phil Russo commented: The consistency and continuity of mineralisation at Kobada West is very pleasing to see and is validation that the more we drill at Kobada, the more mineralisation is uncovered. Further, to discover this extensive mineralisation right next door to the main Kobada resource is a fantastic result. For a project of scale and maturity like Kobada to still be able to make new discoveries is such a rare combination and with our 2023 drill program now intersecting new mineralisation across all planned targets, we have had an exceptional success rate. Toubanis vision of defining a long-life, oxide-dominant project of scale is supported by our drilling success to date and we look forward to demonstrating this potential as our optimisation efforts advance in the coming months.

Figure 1: Plan showing location of Kobada West within the Kobada Gold Project

Drilling Results and Commentary

Kobada West is located on a parallel structure just 1km north-west of the Kobada Main Deposit (Figure 1). The target area was identified by the presence of artisanal workings as well as historical surface sampling. The number of holes drilled at this target was increased during the drill program due to recent artisanal activity observed by Toubanis geologists as well as logging of the initial drill holes.

Drilling was carried out on four sections spaced 200 metres apart as shown on Figure 2. Shallow oxide gold mineralisation was intersected on every section, over a strike length of 600m with good continuity section to section, and consistent grade and thickness. Gold mineralisation remains open along strike and depth. Results are detailed in Appendix 1 and include:

9m at 1.72g/t from 63m incl. 2m at 6.26g/t from 63m (KW1/22_P003)

1m at 11.3g/t from 129m and 5m at 1.26g/t from 116m (KW22_P003)

5m at 1.24g/t from 78m, 4m at 0.67g/t from 88m and 3m at 0.93g/t from 106m (KW22_P009)

11m at 0.55g/t from 16m, 2m at 2.66g/t from 58m and 3m at 1.12g/t from 63m (KW22_P002)

2m at 0.51g/t from 92m and 2m at 3.22g/t from 124m (KW1/22_P006)

1m at 5.50g/t from 103m (KW1/22_P001)

5m at 0.80g/t from 90m (KW1/22_P005)

Figure 2: Plan showing Kobada West RC drilling locations and results

Figure 3: Kobada West cross-section

Exploration and Optimisation Work Program

Toubanis 13,750m drill program has recently been completed with outstanding results due in the coming weeks from Kobada North, Kobada Junction and Foroko. The success at Kobada West has seen the overall strike extent of mineralisation at Kobada defined by RC drilling significantly increased to 11km, from 5km previously.

At Kobada West, we are planning step out drilling along strike to the north and south to test for extensions to this new gold discovery as well as infill RC drilling to reduce the section spacing to 100m for resource modelling.

Optimisation work streams continue to advance with an update due later in the June quarter. The Company is investigating the potential of an oxide-dominant project of scale at various throughput scenarios.

This announcement has been authorised for release by the Board. For more information:

Phil Russo Jane Morgan Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director Investor and Media Relations +61 (0) 478 138 627 +61 (0) 405 555 618 [email protected] [email protected]

About Toubani Resources Inc

Toubani Resources (ASX: TRE) is an exploration and development Company with a focus on becoming Africas next gold producer with its advanced Kobada Gold Project. The Company has a highly experienced Board and management team with a proven African track record in advancing projects through exploration, development and into production.

For more information regarding Toubani Resources visit our website at www.toubaniresources.com.

Competent Persons Statement

The information in this press release relating to geology and Exploration Results is based on information compiled, reviewed and assessed by Mr. Bill Oliver, who is a Member of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy and the Australian Institute of Geoscientists. Mr. Oliver is a consultant to the Company and has sufficient experience which is relevant to the style of mineralisation and type of deposit under consideration and to the activity which he is undertaking to qualify as a Competent Person as defined by the 2012 Edition of the Australasian Code for reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves (JORC Code). Mr. Oliver consents to the inclusion of the information in the form and context in which it appears.

The information in this press release relating to the Mineral Resources at the Kobada Deposit is extracted from Company's prospectus dated 12 September 2022 and released on ASX on 25 November 2022 (Prospectus) which is available on the ASX announcements platform. The Company confirms that it is not aware of any new information or data that materially affects the information relating to the Mineral Resources at the Kobada Deposit included in the Prospectus and all material assumptions and technical parameters underpinning the Mineral Resources estimate in the Prospectus continue to apply and have not materially changed.

Cautionary statements

This press release contains forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. Forward-looking information includes, but is not limited to, statements regarding the listing on the Australian Securities Exchange, the expansion of mineral resources and reserves, and drilling and exploration plans of the Company. Generally, forward-looking information can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as plans, expects or does not expect, is expected, budget, scheduled, estimates, forecasts, intends, anticipates or does not anticipate, or believes, or variations of such words and phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results may, could, would, might or will be taken, occur or be achieved. 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, including but not limited to: receipt of necessary approvals from Canadian and Australian regulatory authorities; general business, economic, competitive, political and social uncertainties; future prices of mineral prices; accidents, labour disputes and shortages; available infrastructure and supplies; the COVID-19 pandemic and other risks of the mining industry. 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. There can be no assurance that such information will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. 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.

Appendix 1. Kobada RC Drilling Data and Results

Hole ID Target Easting Northing RL Dip Azi Depth From(m) To(m) Length Au (g/t) KW22_P001 Kobada West 546715 1293725 412 55 295 118 NSI KW22_P002 Kobada West 546667 1293742 400 55 295 140 1 2 1 0.37 11 12 1 0.48 16 27 11 0.55 45 46 1 0.41 58 60 2 2.66 63 66 3 1.12 incl 64 65 1 2.87 75 76 1 0.60 80 82 2 0.59 KW22_P003 Kobada West 546604 1293754 401 55 295 140 6 7 1 0.84 109 110 1 1.49 116 121 5 1.26 incl 119 120 1 4.58 129 130 1 11.3 KW22_P004 Kobada West 546555 1293791 399 55 295 140 121 122 1 0.44 KW22_P008 Kobada West 546443 1293187 370 55 295 140 NSI KW22_P009 Kobada West 546393 1293207 371 55 295 140 40 42 2 0.36 44 45 1 0.47 78 83 5 1.24 incl 80 81 1 4.55 88 92 4 0.67 106 109 3 0.93 incl 108 109 1 1.59 133 134 1 0.81 KW22_P010 Kobada West 546343 1293215 358 55 295 140 21 22 1 0.48 KW22_P011 Kobada West 546277 1293250 384 55 295 140 NSI KW1/22_P001 Kobada West 1 546584 1293558 392 55 295 140 103 104 1 5.5 KW1/22_P003 Kobada West 1 544494 1293601 390 55 295 140 6 8 2 0.38 63 72 9 1.72 incl 63 65 2 6.26 75 76 1 0.98 105 106 1 0.50 KW1/22_P004 Kobada West 1 546460 1293615 388 55 295 140 6 7 1 1.00 KW1/22_P005 Kobada West 1 546483 1293361 385 55 295 135 8 9 1 0.42 12 13 1 0.35 59 61 2 0.57 90 95 5 0.80 incl 92 93 1 1.98 116 117 1 2.63 130 131 1 0.75 KW1/22_P006 Kobada West 1 546431 1293390 373 55 295 140 92 94 2 0.51 124 126 2 3.22 KW1/22_P007 Kobada West 1 546399 1293411 379 55 295 140 NSI KW1/22_P008 Kobada West 1 546340 1293436 378 55 295 140 NSI

NSI  No Significant Intersection

Appendix 2. The following tables are provided to ensure compliance with JORC Code requirements for the reporting of Exploration Results from the Kobada Project

Section 1 Sampling Techniques and Data

(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. Drilling samples collected using reverse circulation (RC) percussion drilling.The entire sample is collected , homogenised and split to achieve a sample of approximately 2kg which is submitted for analysis.Analysis is carried out in an independent commercial laboratory using fire assay. 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). Reverse Circulation drilling using 127mm face sampling hammer 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. RC samples are weighed to quantify recoveryRecovery is also noted in the sampling sheet. 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. Geological logging of RC drilling is completed to an acceptable standard for use in Mineral Resource estimation.Logging is both qualitative (weathering, colour, lithology, alteration) and quantitative (% veining, sulphides)All drilling reported (100%) has been 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. All RC samples are split using a riffle splitter with one split (approximately 1 to 2 kg) collected for laboratory testing and the remaining amount after splitting is retained in the bulk bag for future reference. All samples were sampled dry.Sample moisture is noted in the sampling sheet.Appropriate sampling procedures are used to ensure representivity. It is believed that the sample size is in line with standard practice and is appropriate to the grain size of the material being sampled. 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 (ie lack of bias) and precision have been established. Samples were submitted to the SANAS and ISO/IEC 17025 accredited SGS Laboratory in Bamako. Samples were tested by fire assay with an AAS finish. Samples 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. Significant intersections have been estimated by consultants to the company and cross checked.Twinned holes are not being used in the current programme which aims to test for mineralisation away from previously drilled areas.All data is entered into logging templates using codes on site and validated in appropriate software.No adjustment to assay data has been carried out. 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 drillhole collars have been located with a Garmin handheld GPS with a  5 m accuracyCo-ordinates presented are in UTM format using the WGS84 datum (zone 29N)A high-definition stereo satellite survey was conducted in 2020 over the main mineralised body to assist with the updated topography for the geological modelling and to improve the accuracy of artisanal mining depletions. This survey is deemed of sufficient quality to utilise in the Mineral Resource estimation. 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. Drillholes are being drilled at spacings between 50 and 100m on section, with sections 200  400 metres apart.Drill spacing is intended to provide an initial test for mineralisation and may not be sufficiently close spaced for inclusion in a Mineral Resource estimation. 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. Drilling orientation is planned perpendicular to the regional structural trend (NNE).No sampling bias is expected. Sample security The measures taken to ensure sample security. Industry best practice has been applied to the drilling sampling processes carried out. Drilled samples were transported in a manner to prevent loss or cross-contamination. All samples were stored in a secure storage facility pending dispatch to laboratory in Bamako. In line with protocol, two people were used to transport the samples directly to the laboratory. Once at the laboratory, the samples were subject to the standard security measures of the laboratory. Audits or reviews The results of any audits or reviews of sampling techniques and data. No audits have been completed.

Section 2 Reporting of Exploration Results

(Criteria in this section apply to all succeeding sections.)

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. African Gold Group Mali SARL, a wholly-owned subsidiary of TRE, holds a mining permit No. PE 15/22 encompassing an area of 135.7 km for the Kobada project area valid to 30 July 2045. Two adjacent exploration permits are also held, namely Kobada-Est (No. PR 18/957 over 77 km valid to 15 August 2024 for three years) and Faraba (for which renewal was granted under Arrete No. 2021-3226/MMP-SG effective 6 April 2021 for a further three years.An environmental permit No. 2021-0045 MEADD-SG was issued on 18 October 2021 relating to the oxides project. An ESIA amendment is underway development and mining of the sulphides portion of the Project. Exploration done by other parties Acknowledgment and appraisal of exploration by other parties. Bureau de Recherches Geologiques et Minieres conducted historical exploration in 1982 to 1988, which respectively identified and delineated the Kobada Shear Zone through geochemistry surveys and latter diamond drilling. La Source undertook RC drilling in 1996, followed in 2002 and 2004 respectively by RC and air core drilling by Cominor. IAMGold completed diamond and RC drilling in 2009.Previous exploration by Toubani Resource is detailed in the Company's prospectus dated 12 September 2022 and released on ASX on 25 November 2022 Geology Deposit type, geological setting and style of mineralisation. The Project is located in the Bagoe Formation on the north-central edge of the Birimian rock units that form part of the Leo Rise in the southern part of the West African Craton. The Project is situated on the western flank of the Bougouni Basin, composed primarily of sedimentary rocks with minor tholeiitic volcano-sedimentary intercalations.

The Kobada gold deposit is a quartz-carbonate veined mesothermal orogenic gold deposit hosted within a greenstone belt. Gold is present in the laterite, saprolite, unaltered rock as sulphides, and in the quartz veins. Placer-style deposits occur and have largely been exploited by artisanal miners.

Mineralisation extends for a minimum strike of 4 km and is associated with narrow, irregular, high-angle quartz veins and with disseminated sulphides in the wall rock and vein selvages. Mineralisation occurs as free gold, whereas in sulphides mineralisation includes the occurrence of arsenopyrite, pyrite and rarely chalcopyrite. Arsenopyrite is localised near vein selvages and as fine-grained disseminated patches within the host rock. Pyrite occurs in finely disseminated patches within the host rocks, generally as traces up to 3 % by volume with up to 10 % locally in the wall rock at centimetre-scale intervals adjacent to the quartz veins. 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. Refer Appendix 1 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. Averaging is weighted based on length, with all samples 1m in downhole length.All results > 0.3g/t are reported in Appendix 1 with high grade intervals (> 1g/t) reported separately.No metal equivalent results are reported. Relationship between mineralisation widths and intercept lengths These relationships are particularly important in the reporting of Exploration Results.

If the geometry of the mineralisation with respect to the drill hole angle is known, its nature should be reported.

If it is not known and only the down hole lengths are reported, there should be a clear statement to this effect (eg down hole length, true width not known). Downhole lengths are presented in Appendix 1. True widths have not been calculated. Drillholes are designed to intersect the mineralised shear zones as close to perpendicular as is possible. Diagrams Appropriate maps and sections (with scales) and tabulations of intercepts should be included for any significant discovery being reported These should include, but not be limited to a plan view of drill hole collar locations and appropriate sectional views. Refer to figures within this report. Balanced reporting Where comprehensive reporting of all Exploration Results is not practicable, representative reporting of both low and high grades and/or widths should be practiced to avoid misleading reporting of Exploration Results. All meaningful information has been included in the body of the text and all results are presented in Appendix 1. 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. All material data and information is detailed in the Company's prospectus dated 12 September 2022 and released on ASX on 25 November 2022. 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. As detailed in the text  drilling is ongoing at the project and further drilling will be planned to follow up these results.

Figures accompanying this announcement are available athttps://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/12017bd4-d253-4bb9-9dd0-5a4ab667508bhttps://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/84f43d24-61f8-4a65-b0f0-32b24b2d54b7https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/740584e8-3855-460b-8e2d-0671455646ab

Figure 1 Plan showing location of Kobada West within the Kobada Gold Project Figure 2 Plan showing Kobada West RC drilling locations and results Figure 3 Kobada West cross-section

Source: Toubani Resources, Inc.
NEWPORT NEWS, Va., May 17, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- HIIs (NYSE: HII) Newport News Shipbuilding division recently signed more than two dozen graduating high school seniors for careers in shipbuilding at the New Horizons Regional Education Centers (NHREC) Good Life Solution Programs Career Selection Day, at a time the shipyard is executing on orders for mission-critical aircraft carriers and submarines in service of the U.S. Navy and the nation.



A total of 32 students accepted employment offers from NNS: 20 who will begin full-time trade positions within the shipyard and 12 who will attend The Newport News Shipbuilding Apprentice School. Funded by HII to train and develop the next generation of shipbuilders, The Apprentice School offers four- to eight-year, tuition-free apprenticeships in 19 trades and eight optional advanced programs, to include accredited undergraduate degrees in engineering.

The Good Life Solution Program is a collection of partnerships between NHREC and local employers looking to improve the way they recruit, hire, train and retain entry-level new hires out of high school. The program has a one-year retention rate of 80%.





Photos accompanying this release are available at: https://hii.com/news/hii-newport-news-shipbuilding-shipbuilding-careers-nhrec-2023/.

Each year, this program grows and is a clear demonstration that there is more than one path to success, said Xavier Beale, NNS vice president of human resources and trades, who attended the event. Im honored to welcome these students into our shipbuilding family as they embark upon a remarkable journey. They will continue to develop their talents and grow their careers with us  all while serving our nation and building freedom.

NNS plans to hire approximately 2,500 skilled trade positions this year to meet the shipbuilding needs of the Navy. The shipyard anticipates hiring nearly 19,000 people within the next decade as it fulfills orders for the U.S. Navy.

To learn more about the Good Life Solution Program, visit nhrec.org/gls.

About HII

HII is a global, all-domain defense provider. HIIs mission is to deliver the worlds most powerful ships and all-domain solutions in service of the nation, creating the advantage for our customers to protect peace and freedom around the world.

As the nations largest military shipbuilder, and with a more than 135-year history of advancing U.S. national security, HII delivers critical capabilities extending from ships to unmanned systems, cyber, ISR, AI/ML and synthetic training. Headquartered in Virginia, HIIs workforce is 43,000 strong. For more information, visit:

HII on the web: https://www.HII.com/

HII on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TeamHII

HII on Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/WeAreHII

HII on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/WeAreHII

Contact:

Todd Corillo

[email protected]

(757) 688-3220

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/e8a96ef4-3ae5-42f4-b9fd-9a9a1c2322a5
Ipsos acquires Shanghai Focus RX Researchto strengthen its position in pharmaceutical research market in China

Paris, May 17th, 2023 - Ipsos is pleased to announce the acquisition of Shanghai Focus RX Research. The acquisition will significantly strengthen the expertise of Ipsos China's Pharma Insights business and further support Ipsos' Healthcare Insights business landscape.

The company, established on 2008, is dedicated to the RX (prescription drugs) insight market, including policy and environment research, market expansion, product strategy research, marketing mix research and performance evaluation. Shanghai Focus RX has established a stable and high-quality client base with leading multinational pharmaceutical companies. The company's team of 22 experts will become part of the Ipsos Healthcare Insights business. Frank Ma, CEO and founder of Focus RX Research, will lead the new business team.

Ben Page, CEO of Ipsos, stated: "As outlined during the 2022 Investor Day, the Healthcare sector is one of our main priorities. It is an expanding market in undergoing transformation, and represents a significant growth opportunity for Ipsos. With Shanghai Focus RX Research expertise, we will accelerate and continue the expansion of our core offer and added-value services in a key market in China".

Lifeng Liu, Chairman and CEO of Ipsos in Greater China, says: "Frank Ma is an influential figure in the Chinese RX research market and leads a respected company. I look forward to working with Frank and his team to further strengthen Ipsos' position in the pharmaceutical research market in China".

Frank Ma, CEO and founder of Focus RX Research, adds: "We are delighted to be joining the Ipsos Group. The experienced Focus RX team, armed with Ipsos' global healthcare reach and knowledge, will be able to provide better service and deeper insights to our clients and will certainly make a significant contribution to the development of the healthcare market research in China".

ABOUT IPSOS

Ipsos is one of the largest market research and polling companies globally, operating in 90 markets and employing nearly 20,000 people.

Our passionately curious research professionals, analysts and scientists have built unique multi-specialist capabilities that provide true understanding and powerful insights into the actions, opinions and motivations of citizens, consumers, patients, customers or employees. Our 75 business solutions are based on primary data from our surveys, social media monitoring, and qualitative or observational techniques.

Game Changers  our tagline  summarizes our ambition to help our 5,000 clients navigate with confidence our rapidly changing world.

Founded in France in 1975, Ipsos has been listed on the Euronext Paris since July 1, 1999. The company is part of the SBF 120 and Mid-60 indices and is eligible for the Deferred Settlement Service (SRD).ISIN code FR0000073298, Reuters ISOS.PA, Bloomberg IPS:FP www.ipsos.com

Attachment

Source: IPSOS
AmeriCorps announced federal investments to multiple Dallas nonprofit organizations to address education gaps, health needs, access to care

WASHINGTON, DC, May 17, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- AmeriCorps, the federal agency for national service and volunteerism, co-hosted a grant announcement with OneStar Foundation this week in Dallas. During this event, 11 local Dallas organizations received awards totaling more than $16 million to improve health and well-being, inspire learning and increase access to care.

Equal Heart, American Heart Association, Christus Health and OneStar Foundation along with other Dallas organizations have been awarded grant funds from AmeriCorps State and National and Public Health AmeriCorps programs. OneStar Foundation, the Texas state commission for service, administers grant funding to other Texas organizations who are committed to making a difference in their communities, such as Reading Partners, City Year and Project Transformation.

For nearly 30 years, AmeriCorps has been betting on national service as one of the most powerful tools to bring Americans together and solve tough challenges. Today, more than 200,000 AmeriCorps members and AmeriCorps Seniors volunteers are serving across the countryincluding right here in the Dallas area, said Michael D. Smith, AmeriCorps CEO. Whether theyre tutoring students to help them stay on track, helping seniors live independently, supporting veterans and military families, restoring our parks and public lands, or increasing access to healthy foods and affordable health care, these changemakers remind us that service deepens bonds, strengthens communities and transforms lives.

These grants are part of more than $550 million federal dollars invested in April and May nationally. Across the country, more than 450 organizations received funding from these latest grant opportunities. For every dollar invested in AmeriCorps, it returns more than $17 to society, program members, or the federal government. Studies have demonstrated that AmeriCorps programs improve school readiness, attendance, and behavior; boost reading and math achievement; and increase access to college and careers  and so much more.

After the grant announcement, a roundtable discussion was hosted with the award recipients and AmeriCorps leadership. During the roundtable, the grantees shared how the federal investments from AmeriCorps will impact their community and how they plan to utilize the funding.

By tapping into the proud Texan spirit of service, AmeriCorps provides a unique solution to complex social challenges by strategically harnessing the skills and compassion of our people to create greater impact, said Chris Bugbee, OneStar President and CEO. "We are grateful for AmeriCorps continued investment in Texas communities and look forward to engaging even more individuals in meaningful service opportunities.

Last year more than 17,000 Americans of all ages and backgrounds united to meet local needs, strengthen communities, and expand opportunity through national service in Texas at more than 2,300 locations. AmeriCorps invested more than $51.7 million in federal funding to support cost-effective community solutions, working with local partners to empower individuals to help communities tackle their toughest challenges.

###

AmeriCorps, the federal agency for national service and volunteerism, provides opportunities for Americans to serve their country domestically, address the nations most pressing challenges, improve lives and communities, and strengthen civic engagement. Each year, the agency places more than 200,000 AmeriCorps members and AmeriCorps Seniors volunteers in intensive service roles; and empowers millions more to serve as long-term, short-term, or one-time volunteers. Learn more at AmeriCorps.gov.

AmeriCorps offers opportunities for individuals of all backgrounds to be a part of the national service community, grow personally and professionally, and receive benefits for their service. Learn how to get involved at AmeriCorps.gov/serve.

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TORONTO, May 17, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- NowVertical Group Inc. (TSX-V: NOW) (OTCQB: NOWVF) (NOW or the Company), the vertical intelligence (VI) software and solutions company, will announce its 2023 first quarter financial results on Tuesday, May 30, 2023, after the market close, followed by a webinar at 9:30 AM EDT (6:30 AM PDT) on Wednesday, May 31, 2023 to discuss the Companys financial and business results and outlook.

NOW invites shareholders, analysts, investors, media representatives, and other stakeholders to attend our upcoming earnings webinar, where Daren Trousdell, Chief Executive Officer, Alim Virani, Chief Financial Officer and Sasha Grujicic, President, will discuss Q1 2023 results, followed by a question-and-answer session.

Investor Webinar RegistrationRegister here https://bit.ly/NOW-Q1-2023-Registration

A recording of the webinar and supporting materials will be made available in the investors section of the companys website at https://ir.nowvertical.com/news-and-media

About NowVertical Group Inc.:

NOW is a VI software and solutions company growing organically and through acquisition. NOW's VI solutions are organized by industry vertical and are built upon a foundational set of data technologies that fuse, secure, and mobilize data in a transformative and compliant way. The NOW product suite enables the creation of high-value VI solutions that are predictive in nature and drive automation specific to each high-value industry vertical. For more information about the Company, visit www.nowvertical.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 release.

Forward-Looking Statements:

This news release may contain forward-looking statements (within the meaning of applicable securities laws) which reflect the Company's current expectations regarding future events. Forward-looking statements are identified by words such as "believe", "anticipate", "project", "expect", "intend", "plan", "will", "may", "estimate" and other similar expressions. These statements are based on the Company's expectations, estimates, forecasts and projections and include, without limitation, the use of proceeds from the Offering and the future success of the Company's business.

The forward-looking statements in this news release are based on certain assumptions. The forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks and uncertainties that are difficult to control or predict (such risks include, among others, the failure to use the proceeds of the Offering as set forth herein). Several factors could cause results to differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking statements. Therefore, readers should not rely on any such forward-looking statements. Further, these forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this news release and, except as expressly required by applicable law, the Company assumes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement publicly, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

For further information, please contact:

Daren Trousdell, Chief Executive Officer e: [email protected] t: (212) 302-0868 or Glen Nelson, Investor Relations e: [email protected] t: (403) 763-9797

Source: NowVertical Group Inc
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, May 17, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Optimi Health Corp. (CSE: OPTI) (OTCQX: OPTHF) (FRA: 8BN) (Optimi or the Company), an end-to-end drug researcher and formulator licensed by Health Canada to produce and supply, for clinical research purposes and in controlled patient markets, psychedelic substances such as 3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), GMP-grade psilocybin, along with natural health product formulations, is pleased to announce the completion of its harvest of Psilocybe cubensis earmarked for export to Australia.

This milestone builds off the previously announced commitment to supply both its GMP medical-grade psilocybin extract and MDMA to Mind Medicine Australia in advance of the historic rescheduling of these substances to be enacted on July 1, 2023.

In preparation for the international export, the Company harvested 300 kg of Psilocybe cubensis mushrooms at its Canadian GMP manufacturing facility in Princeton, British Columbia, Canada. Medical-grade GMP psilocybin is set to be extracted from the mushrooms, processed, and shipped to Australia, where it will be sold to other licensed entities in the Australian medical market through Mind Medicine Australia and the Companys representatives.

In the February 3, 2023 landmark rescheduling decision, Australias Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) permitted the prescribing of MDMA for the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder and psilocybin for treatment-resistant depressionwhere there is currently sufficient evidence for potential benefits in certain patients.

The evidence-based decision by the TGA to reschedule psilocybin and MDMA is a positive step for the future of mental health and a monumental undertaking in logistics, said Optimi Health CEO Bill Ciprick. To be entrusted as the exclusive supplier to Mind Medicine Australia, the largest Australian trainer of psychedelic-assisted therapy practitioners, is both an honour and a tremendous responsibility. I am proud to say that thanks to our unmatched production capacity and with the support of our operations team, Optimi is excited to deliver on our international supply commitments in advance of the rescheduling date.

The psilocybin extract from the latest harvest will be tested, analyzed, and validated by a third-party laboratory prior to being shipped to Australia. On completion of analysis, the product will be processed and encapsulated at the Companys licensed Princeton, British Columbia facility in preparation for export, pending the appropriate permits.

For more information or to arrange an interview, please contact Michael Kydd at:

[email protected]902.880.6121www.optimihealth.ca

ABOUT OPTIMI (CSE: OPTI) (OTCQX: OPTHF) (FRA: 8BN)

Optimi Health Corp. an end-to-end drug researcher and formulator licensed by Health Canada to produce and supply, for clinical research purposes and controlled patient markets, psychedelic substances such as 3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), natural GMP-grade psilocybin, as well as functional mushrooms that focus on the health and wellness markets. Built with the purpose of producing scalable psychedelic formulations for transformational human experiences, the Companys goal is to be the number one trusted, compassionate supplier of safe drug products throughout the world. Optimis products are grown and manufactured at its two facilities comprising a total of 20,000 square feet in Princeton, British Columbia.

FORWARDLOOKING STATEMENTS

This news release contains forwardlooking statements and forwardlooking information within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation (collectively, forwardlooking statements) that relate to Optimis current expectations and views of future events, including the ability of the Company to perform its obligations under the supply contract, to achieve the objectives of the founders and the timing of the Q2 2023 earnings. Any statements that express, or involve discussions as to, expectations, beliefs, plans, objectives, assumptions or future events or performance (often, but not always, through the use of words or phrases such as will likely result, are expected to, expects, will continue, is anticipated, anticipates, believes, estimated, intends, plans, forecast, projection, strategy, objective, and outlook) are not historical facts and may be forwardlooking statements and may involve estimates, assumptions and uncertainties which could cause actual results or outcomes to differ materially from those expressed in such forwardlooking statements. No assurance can be given that these expectations will prove to be correct and such forwardlooking statements included in this news release should not be unduly relied upon. These statements speak only as of the date of this news release. In particular and without limitation, this news release contains forwardlooking statements pertaining to activities proposed to be conducted under the Companys approved Health Canada dealers licence and associated business related to Psilocybin, Psilocin, other psychedelic substances, some being synthetically formulated, and Optimis plans, focus and objectives.

Forwardlooking statements are based on a number of assumptions and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond Optimis control, which could cause actual results and events to differ materially from those that are disclosed in or implied by such forwardlooking statements. Such risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, the impact and progression of the COVID19 pandemic and other factors set forth under ForwardLooking Statements and Risk Factors in the Companys Annual Information Form dated January 9, 2023, and other continuous disclosure filings available under Optimis profile at www.sedar.com. Optimi undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forwardlooking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be required by law. New factors emerge from time to time, and it is not possible for Optimi to predict all of them or assess the impact of each such factor or the extent to which any factor, or combination of factors, may cause results to differ materially from those contained in any forwardlooking statement.

Any forwardlooking statements contained in this news release are expressly qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement.

Source: Optimi Health Corp.
MADRID, Spain and BOSTON, May 17, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Oryzon Genomics, S.A. (ISIN Code: ES0167733015, ORY), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company leveraging epigenetics to develop therapies in diseases with strong unmet medical need, today announced the presentation of the trial in progress (TIP) FRIDA poster entitled Iadademstat in combination with gilteritinib for patients with mutated FLT3 relapsed/refractory acute myeloid leukemia at the upcoming American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) 2023 Annual Meeting, to be held in-person from June 2-6, 2023 at the McCormick Place in Chicago, Illinois.

Dr. Amir Fathi, Director of the Leukemia Program at Massachusetts General Hospital, is the Principal Investigator of the study and first author of the poster. He will be recording a brief video summarizing the poster information and study status.

Dr. Douglas V. Faller, Oryzons Global Chief Medical Officer, will attend the poster presentation, which will take place during the Poster Discussion Session on Monday June 5 from 8:00 AM-11:00 AM within the Hematologic MalignanciesLeukemia, Myelodysplastic Syndromes, and Allotransplant Session.

FRIDA (NCT05546580) is an open-label, multicenter study of iadademstat plus gilteritinib for the treatment of patients with relapsed or refractory AML (R/R AML) with FLT3mutations. The trials primary objectives are to evaluate the safety and tolerability of iadademstat in combination with gilteritinib in patients with FLT3mut+ R/R AML and to establish the Recommended Phase 2 Dose (RP2D) for this combination. Secondary objectives include evaluation of the treatment efficacy, measured as the rate of complete remission and complete remission with partial hematological recovery (CR/CRh), the duration of responses (DoR) and the assessment of measurable residual disease (MRD). FRIDA will be conducted in 10-15 sites in the US. The study will enroll up to approximately 45 patients and if successful, the Company and FDA have agreed to hold a meeting to discuss the best plan to further develop this combination in this much in need AML population.

Presentation materials will be available both on the ASCO website and on our website under the Events section following the session.

About OryzonFounded in 2000 in Barcelona, Spain, Oryzon (ISIN Code: ES0167733015) is a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company considered as the European leader in epigenetics. Oryzon has one of the strongest portfolios in the field, with two LSD1 inhibitors, iadademstat and vafidemstat, in Phase II clinical trials, and other pipeline assets directed against other epigenetic targets. In addition, Oryzon has a strong platform for biomarker identification and target validation for a variety of malignant and neurological diseases. For more information, visit www.oryzon.com

About Iadademstat Iadademstat (ORY-1001) is a small oral molecule, which acts as a highly selective inhibitor of the epigenetic enzyme LSD1 and has a powerful differentiating effect in hematologic cancers (see Maes et al., Cancer Cell 2018 Mar 12; 33 (3): 495-511.e12.doi: 10.1016 / j.ccell.2018.02.002.). A FiM Phase I/IIa clinical trial with iadademstat in R/R AML patients demonstrated the safety and good tolerability of the drug and preliminary signs of antileukemic activity, including a CRi (see Salamero et al, J Clin Oncol, 2020, 38(36): 4260-4273. doi: 10.1200/JCO.19.03250). In a recently completed Phase IIa trial in elder 1L-AML patients (ALICE trial), iadademstat has shown encouraging safety and efficacy data in combination with azacitidine (see Salamero et al., ASH 2022 oral presentation). Iadademstat is currently being evaluated in combination with gilteritinib in the Phase Ib FRIDA trial in patients with relapsed/refractory AML with FLT3 mutations. Beyond hematological cancers, the inhibition of LSD1 has been proposed as a valid therapeutic approach in some solid tumors such as small cell lung cancer (SCLC), neuroendocrine tumors (NET), medulloblastoma and others. In a Phase IIa trial in combination with platinum/etoposide in second line ED-SCLC patients (CLEPSIDRA trial), preliminary activity and safety results have been reported (see Navarro et al., ESMO 2018 poster). Iadademstat is being evaluated in a collaborative Phase II basket study with the Fox Chase Cancer Center in combination with paclitaxel in R/R neuroendocrine carcinomas, and the company is preparing a new trial in combination in SCLC. Oryzon has entered into a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) with the U.S. National Cancer Institute (NCI) to collaborate on potential further clinical development of iadademstat in different types of solid and hematological cancers. In total iadademstat has been dosed so far to more than 100 cancer patients in four clinical trials. Iadademstat has orphan drug designation for SCLC in the US and for AML in the US and EU.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS This communication contains, or may contain, forward-looking information and statements about Oryzon, including financial projections and estimates and their underlying assumptions, statements regarding plans, objectives and expectations with respect to future operations, capital expenditures, synergies, products and services, and statements regarding future performance. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts and are generally identified by the words expects, anticipates, believes, intends, estimates and similar expressions. Although Oryzon believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, investors and holders of Oryzon shares are cautioned that forward-looking information and statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties, many of which are difficult to predict and generally beyond the control of Oryzon that could cause actual results and developments to differ materially from those expressed in, or implied or projected by, the forward-looking information and statements. These risks and uncertainties include those discussed or identified in the documents sent by Oryzon to the Spanish Comision Nacional del Mercado de Valores (CNMV), which are accessible to the public. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and have not been reviewed by the auditors of Oryzon. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date they were made. All subsequent oral or written forward-looking statements attributable to Oryzon or any of its members, directors, officers, employees or any persons acting on its behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by the cautionary statement above. All forward-looking statements included herein are based on information available to Oryzon on the date hereof. Except as required by applicable law, Oryzon does not undertake any obligation to publicly update or revise any forwardlooking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. This press release is not an offer of securities for sale in the United States or any other jurisdiction. Oryzons securities may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an exemption from registration. Any public offering of Oryzons securities to be made in the United States will be made by means of a prospectus that may be obtained from Oryzon or the selling security holder, as applicable, that will contain detailed information about Oryzon and management, as well as financial statements.

IR, US IR & Media, Europe Spain Oryzon Ashley R. Robinson Sandya von der Weid Patricia Cobo/Daniel Foley Saikat Nandi LifeSci Advisors, LLC LifeSci Advisors, LLC Atrevia Chief Business Officer +1 617 430 7577 +41 78 680 05 38 +34 91 564 07 25+ 34 672 447 094 +1 917 208 8293 [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected]

Source: Oryzon Genomics, S.A.
ATLANTA, GA, May 17, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Regional Health Properties, Inc. (the Company, we, us or our) (NYSE American: RHE) (NYSE American: RHE-PA), a self-managed healthcare real estate investment company that invests primarily in real estate purposed for senior living and long-term care, announced today that the Company received a notice from the NYSE American LLC (the Exchange) on May 10, 2023 that the Company was not in compliance with the continued listing standard set forth in Section 1003(a)(ii) of the NYSE American Company Guide (the Company Guide). Specifically, this section requires that a listed company have shareholders equity of $4.0 million or more if it has reported losses from continuing operations and/or net losses in three of its four most recent fiscal years. The Company reported shareholders equity of approximately $3.7 million as of December 31, 2022, and has had losses from continuing operations and/or net losses in three of its four most recent fiscal years ended December 31, 2022. As a result, the Company has become subject to the procedures and requirements of Section 1009 of the Company Guide and must submit a plan to the Exchange by June 9, 2023 addressing how the Company intends to regain compliance with Section 1003(a)(ii) by November 10, 2024.

The Company intends to prepare and timely deliver a plan of compliance to the Exchange. If the Company does not submit a plan, or if the plan the Company submits is not accepted by the Exchange, the Company will be subject to delisting proceedings as specified in the Company Guide. In addition, if the plan is accepted by the Exchange, but the Company is not in compliance with the continued listing standards by November 10, 2024, or if the Company does not make progress consistent with the plan, the Company will be subject to delisting proceedings. The Company will have the right to appeal any delisting determination made by the Exchange staff. If the plan is accepted, the Company will also be subject to periodic Exchange reviews, including quarterly monitoring for compliance with the plan.

The Common Stock and 10.875% Series A Cumulative Redeemable Preferred Shares will continue to trade under the symbols RHE and RHE-PA, respectively, but will each have an added designation of .BC to indicate that the Company is not in compliance with the Exchanges continued listing standards.

About Regional Health Properties

Regional Health Properties, Inc., a Georgia corporation, is a self-managed healthcare real estate investment company that invests primarily in real estate purposed for senior living and long-term care. For more information, visit www.regionalhealthproperties.com.

Company & Investor Relations Contact

Brent Morrison, CFAChief Executive Officer & PresidentRegional Health Properties, Inc.Tel (678) 368-4402[email protected]

Source: Regional Health Properties, Inc.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, May 16, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) announced the recipients of the 2023 SFI Presidents Award for Leadership at the 2023 SFI Annual Conference in collaboration with PEFC Week. Scott Robertson, Lennard Joe, and Paul Robitaille were recognized for their foundational, governance, and programmatic contributions in advancing SFIs Indigenous Relations.

SFI is committed to building forest-focused collaborations rooted in recognition and respect for Indigenous Peoples rights and traditional knowledge. A key element of SFIs commitment is investing in meaningful relationship building, said Kathy Abusow, President and CEO of SFI. Scott, Lenny, and Paul are inspiring leaders who have purposefully advised SFI on how to seek Indigenous representation and nurture lasting collaborations that lead to real and equitable benefits for Indigenous Peoples. All three facilitate open and honest conversations and are valued advisors to SFI and me. Im especially proud to celebrate them for their contributions to SFI with this award.

Scott Robertson, Senior Associate, Nahwegahbow Corbiere LLP, Aboriginal Rights LawyerScott first inspired SFIs road map to integrating Indigenous perspective over a decade ago when he moderated a panel during the 2011 SFI Annual Conference regarding the links between the SFI certification and traditional Aboriginal values. He encouraged the organization to build on this momentum and achieve Indigenous representation on the SFI Board, on staff, on committees, and inspired targeted workshops to seek Indigenous perspectives and ensure these voices were being included in every facet of our work.

To this day, he is a trusted advisor to SFI regarding Aboriginal and Treaty rights, title issues, and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Scott is a member of the Six Nations of the Grand River.

Engaging with the leadership and staff of SFI on Indigenous rights and issues has been an honour. The commitment and respect to integrating and adopting Indigenous perspectives into the SFI certification system is unprecedented. SFI has developed both the internal capacity and knowledge to meaningfully interact with Indigenous groups on developing forest management practices in keeping with their own traditions and protocols. Nia:wen to Kathy and SFI for your kind words and acknowledgment in being but a small part on your journey, said Robertson.

Lennard Joe, Chief Executive Officer, BC First Nations Forestry Council and SFI Board MemberIn 2012, Lennard Joe joined SFIs Resources Committee, which directly oversees the work of the SFI Standards Review Task Groups. In 2018, he was elected to the SFI Board of Directors, where he brings his perspective to the decision-making table.

Lenny was instrumental in providing opportunities for Indigenous representation throughout the Standards revision process, and successfully enshrining Respect for Indigenous Rights and Traditional Knowledge as a standalone Objective in SFIs Forest Management Standard. He has consistently shared his perspective, and allowed opportunities for other Indigenous voices to be heard regarding how SFI can better align with and service the interests and priorities of Indigenous communities. He is actively involved in developing new businesses and resource sector opportunities within his territory as well as throughout Canada and the world. Lennard Joe is from the Nlakapamux Nation and a member of the Shackan Indian Band.

I am humbled to be recognized for such an honour. We do this work out of the responsibility we have for our land, our resources, and our people. Connecting our past to the present for our future generations who are not yet here. I am grateful for SFI to acknowledge and create an environment where this can happen. It is good that I share this day with two other extraordinary people, said Joe.

Paul Robitaille, Senior Advisor, Indigenous Relations, Sustainable Forestry InitiativePaul Robitaille, a citizen of the Metis Nation, joined SFIs staff in January 2019 as Manager, Indigenous and Youth Relations, and has been a driving force behind the growth and diversification of SFIs Indigenous Relations policies, programs, and partnerships across the organizations four pillars. In his current role as Senior Advisor of Indigenous Relations, Paul is an esteemed member of SFIs Senior Leadership Team, providing a broad and informed perspective and advancing SFIs Indigenous Relations.

He has built numerous programs that advance Indigenous youth opportunities in green career pathways and support Indigenous communities and their businesses in obtaining third-party forest certification. Robitaille has also been instrumental in supporting greater Indigenous rights recognition and relationship building throughout the SFI Network through promoting meaningful and accessible Indigenous Relations training. This has included leading the creation of the Indigenous Rights and Relationship Building courses with Sault College, which support SFI-certified organizations in meeting a new requirement in the SFI Forest Management Standard to provide appropriate Indigenous Relations training to all staff and contractors.

I am deeply honoured to receive the SFI Presidents Award for Leadership, said Robitaille. It is made even more special by sharing the recognition with my colleagues and mentors, who have contributed so much to building a foundation of Indigenous Relations success at SFI.

About the Indigenous Rights and Relationship Building courses with Sault College

Project Learning Tree Canada (PLT Canada), an initiative of SFI, developed 9 Indigenous Rights and Relationship Building online courses with Sault College. These courses cover many topics relevant to students, forest sector employees, educators, and more.

Learn more about the courses here: https://forests.org/indigenous-online-courses/.

About the Sustainable Forestry Initiative

The Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) advances sustainability through forest-focused collaborations. We are an independent, non-profit charitable organization that leverages four interconnected pillars of work: standards, conservation, community, and education. SFI works with the forest sector, conservation groups, academics, researchers, brand owners, resource professionals, landowners, educators, local communities, Indigenous Peoples, and governments.

SFI is committed to building and promoting forest-focused collaborations rooted in recognition and respect for Indigenous Peoples rights and traditional knowledge. We firmly believe that inclusive, collaborative approaches to policy, program and relationship development lead to real progress on the ground and a positive difference in peoples lives. Read more about SFIs Indigenous Relations Commitment.

SFI has partnered with and/or invested in over 180 Indigenous communities. More than 50 Indigenous communities, businesses, and partnerships across Canada and the U.S. have certified to the SFI Forest Management Standard or the SFI Indigenous Peoples and Families Module, across over 4 million hectares/10 million acres. And since 2018, PLT Canada, an initiative of SFI, has helped place Indigenous youth in over 1000 Green Jobs, many of whom found jobs in their own communities.

MEDIA CONTACT

Christine LeducVP, Communications and Government RelationsSustainable Forestry Initiative613-706-1114[email protected]

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/217afe77-5d0b-4dbd-aa5b-66ee3977ec1c

2023 SFI President's Award L-R: Lennard Joe, Kathy Abusow, Paul Robitaille & Scott Robertson. Lennard, Paul and Scott were recognized for their foundational, governance, and programmatic contributions in advancing SFIs Indigenous Relations.

Source: Sustainable Forestry Initiative
Tourists on a beach in Puerto Escondido in the Mexican state of Oaxaca. Marica van der Meer (Getty Images)

A 27-year-old Canadian tourist named Victor Masson died Monday after being shot in the back in the Mexican resort town of Puerto Escondido. His body was found inside a car in the coastal town, which is located in the state of Oaxaca. Masson is the second foreigner to be violently murdered in Oaxaca this week: two days earlier, Benjamin Gamond, a 23-year-old Argentine traveler, died after receiving several machete blows.

According to local media, the murder took place in the Arroyo Seco neighborhood at around 1 p.m. The shot alerted residents in the area, who notified the authorities. Municipal police and several officers from the Secretariat of the Navy arrived at the scene a few minutes later, where they found the young man dead inside a car. So far, the Oaxaca Prosecutors Office has not issued any statement about what happened.

Massons death is the second instance of violence against foreigners on the Oaxacan coast. Benjamin Gamond, from the Argentine city of Cordoba, was killed in Laguna de Chacahua, one of the most important national parks in Oaxaca. The young man had been living in Mexico for several months. Last Saturday, he was with a couple of friends when a man armed with a machete attacked him from behind, making several cuts to his head. Gamonds two friends were also injured. Two days after the attack, Gamond died in hospital. The Oaxaca Prosecutors Office have arrested one person.

Following the attack, Gamonds family took to social media to ask for financial help to travel to Mexico. My younger brother  who was traveling through Mexico, a few months ago he was working there  has been violently attacked [...] He is hovering between life and death. This is an urgent call to help us be with him and be by his side at this difficult moment, Marcos Gamond said in a video posted on Instagram.

In 2021  the last year with the latest complete records  Oaxaca registered 786 murders of the 37,500 recorded throughout Mexico. The high number of killings is linked to drug cartel violence, which has cast a shadow over popular tourist destinations such as the Riviera Maya. During Easter Week, the Mexican government decided to put soldiers on the countrys most touristic beaches in an attempt to protect vacationers. The move was taken after at least eight people were killed in the countrys biggest tourist hotspots: Acapulco (in Guerrero) and Cancun (in Quintana Roo).

The Mexican government sent 4,724 soldiers to guard the beaches of Acapulco, Cancun, Tulum, Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlan and the coasts of Veracruz. Another 3,800 soldiers were tasked with protecting the countrys highways. Violence against tourists was not a problem for Oaxaca in this period, a situation that has now changed.

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Schaumburg, IL, May 17, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- South Carolina children will now be able to possess and utilize sunscreen on school property and at school-sponsored events, including day camps, without a prescription or physicians note. The law, signed by Governor Henry McMaster, also enables children to wear protective clothing and allows schools to teach students sun safety curriculum.

South Carolina is the 27th state to adopt model legislation that is the foundation of the SUNucate initiative developed by the American Society for Dematologic Surgery Association (ASDSA) to address barriers to sunscreen use in school and camps and promotes sun-safe behaviors. Since this law goes into effect immediately, students will be set up to protect themselves for harmful ultraviolet rays just in time for warmer weather.

I congratulate South Carolina on passing this critical common-sense legislation to instill sun-safe habits and protect children from overexposure to the sun, said ASDSA President Vince Bertucci, MD, FRCPC. Early intervention is key to creating life-long habits that are essential to preventing skin cancer later in life. ASDSA looks forward to working with partners across the nation to advocate for SUNucate legislation to be adopted by all 50 states.

The need for such legislation arose after concerns were raised by dermatologists and reports in the national media about broad medication bans that are in place in schools across the country requiring students to have a note or prescription from a physician in order to have these medications. Sunscreens are regulated as over-the-counter drugs under the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act, making them subject to these bans. Although these policies are meant to protect children, they also hinder them from accessing sunscreen during outdoor school activities and put them at risk of damaging sun exposure.

To learn more about SUNucate, visit asds.net/SUNucate.

# # #

About ASDSAWith a membership of 6,300+ physicians, ASDSA is a 501(c)(6) association, dedicated to education and advocacy on behalf of dermatologic surgeons and their patients. For more information, visit asds.net/ASDSA. Follow @ASDSAdvocacy on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram!

Attachment

Kristin Hellquist American Society for Dermatologic Surgery Association 847-956-9144 [email protected]

Source: American Society for Dermatologic Surgery Association
Bryan/College Station, Texas, May 17, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Aqua-Tots Swim Schools, the largest international swim school franchise, is excited to announce the upcoming opening of its newest location in Bryan/College Station, Texas. Located at 3153 Wildflower Dr., Aqua-Tots Bryan/College Station is scheduled to open in early June 2023 and is offering families who pre-enroll by June 1 two weeks of free lessons to jump-start summer.

Aqua-Tots Bryan/College Station will be the brands first location in Brazos County. Owned and operated by local residents, Jared and Amber Salvato, the 6,000 square foot, state-of-the-art facility will offer the world-renowned Aqua-Tots swim program to children four months to 12 years old.

Ive lived in Bryan/College Station my entire life, said Jared Salvato. As a young family, we quickly discovered the limited access children have to quality swim instruction in our area. Our family is honored to bring Aqua-Tots Swim Schools to Bryan/College Station and offer families a safe and fun place for their children to learn how to swim."

Swimming is a critical life skill, and early swim lessons can reduce the risk of drowning by up to 88%. The brand-new, stand-alone facility will feature a heated, indoor pool, certified swim instructors, and convenient schedules with flexible make-up lessons. The program includes the highly sought-after Parent & Tot swim classes for tots four to 30 months old, as well as small group (4:1 ratio), semi-private (2:1 ratio) and private (1:1 ratio) lessons.

With both part-time and full-time positions available, Aqua-Tots Bryan/College Station is always looking for motivated swim instructors and front desk staff. Those interested in joining the team can apply online at aqua-tots.com/bryan-college-station/employment.

For more information about Aqua-Tots Bryan/College Station or to enroll in lessons, visit aqua-tots.com/bryan-college-station or call 979-314-9879.

About Aqua-Tots Swim Schools

Founded in 1991 and headquartered in the Phoenix area, Aqua-Tots Swim Schools is making waves as the largest international provider of year-round, indoor swim instruction, community outreach and drowning prevention education. Its trusted program is dedicated to children of all abilities from four months to 12 years old and features a proven curriculum used to teach more than five million swim lessons each year.

Recognized in Entrepreneur's Top 15 Childrens Franchises of 2023, Entrepreneurs Franchise 500, Inc. Magazine's Top 5000 and Franchise Times Top 200, Aqua-Tots has more than 130 locations in 25 states across 14 countries and is rapidly expanding with 90 locations in development. To learn more about franchise opportunities, visit aqua-tots.com/franchise-development and for more information about Aqua-Tots or to sign up for lessons near you, visit aqua-tots.com and follow Aqua-Tots on Facebook and Instagram.

###

Jacquelyn Lambert Aqua-Tots Swim Schools 480-621-3226 [email protected]

Source: Aqua-Tots Swim Schools
OAKVILLE, Ontario, May 17, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- As Canadians look forward to the Victoria Day holiday weekend, MADD Canada is asking everyone to do their part to keep roads, trails and waterways safe by never operating a vehicle impaired.

We hope everyone has a happy and fun holiday long weekend, said MADD Canada National President Jaymie-Lyne Hancock. We also hope to see a weekend free from the tragedy of impaired driving crashes. Every one of us can help make that happen.

The crashes, deaths and injuries caused when people drive impaired by alcohol, cannabis or other drugs are entirely preventable. Leave the driving to someone sober and make the commitment to:

Never drive a car, boat, ATV or any other vehicle while impaired;

Never get into a vehicle being operated by someone whos impaired;

Call 911 if you see a driver you suspect is impaired.

Those looking for a safe, sober and reliable ride home at the push of a button can check out Uber, MADD Canadas Official Designated Driving App. Visit https://www.uber.com/ca/en/ for more information.

The Victoria Day long weekend marks the annual start of MADD Canadas Campaign 911 program. This national awareness effort encourages people to call 911 if they see a driver, boater or rider they think is impaired. Partnering with police, municipalities, regions harbours, marinas and other organizations, MADD Canada and its Chapters and Community Leaders bring the Campaign 911 message to communities across the country through signs and billboards, public service announcements, posters and community events. For information on the signs of an impaired driver or impaired boater, please visit MADD Canadas Campaign 911 pages.

Campaign 911 runs all year long, but is promoted more heavily during the spring and summer months when Canadians are travelling to and from cottages, enjoying road trips and vacations, and spending time on trails and waterways. MADD Canada thanks Maritime-Ontario Freight Lines Limited for its generous and long-term sponsorship of this important program to make roads and communities safer.

This weekend also marks the start of the Safe Boating Awareness Week, May 20-26. MADD Canada is pleased to partner once again with Transport Canadas Boating Safety Contribution Program to raise awareness of the risks of boating impaired, and to encourage boaters to call 911 to report operators they suspect are impaired. With financial contributions from the program, MADD Canada has produced and installed nearly 1,500 Report Impaired Boaters signs at harbours, marinas and boat launches across the country, and plan to install 100 more signs by the end of this boating season.

We are also producing new television and radio public service announcements to promote sober boating during the upcoming season, and will conduct an online survey from May to December to better understand boaters behaviors and attitudes about impaired boating.

To view MADD Canadas public service announcements and other awareness materials highlighting the dangers of boating while under the influence of alcohol, cannabis or other drugs, please see our Campaign 911 On The Waterways page.

For more information, contact: Jaymie-Lyne Hancock, MADD Canada National President, 705-623-3148 or [email protected] . Deb Kelly, MADD Canada Communications Manager, 1-800-665-6233 ext. 240 or [email protected] .

Source: MADD Canada
HOUSTON, May 16, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Targa Resources Corp. (NYSE: TRGP) ("Targa" or the "Company") announced today that representatives from the Company will participate in investor meetings at the following investor conferences:

Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co. Energy Conference on Wednesday, May 17, 2023 in Houston, TX and

Energy Infrastructure Council (EIC) Investor Conference on Wednesday, May 24, 2023 in West Palm Beach, FL.

A copy of the slides used for the conference meetings will be available in the Investors section of the Company's website at www.targaresources.com, or by going to https://www.targaresources.com/investors/events.

About Targa Resources Corp.

Targa Resources Corp. is a leading provider of midstream services and is one of the largest independent midstream infrastructure companies in North America. The Company owns, operates, acquires and develops a diversified portfolio of complementary domestic midstream infrastructure assets and its operations are critical to the efficient, safe and reliable delivery of energy across the United States and increasingly to the world. The Companys assets connect natural gas and NGLs to domestic and international markets with growing demand for cleaner fuels and feedstocks. The Company is primarily engaged in the business of: gathering, compressing, treating, processing, transporting, and purchasing and selling natural gas; transporting, storing, fractionating, treating, and purchasing and selling NGLs and NGL products, including services to LPG exporters; and gathering, storing, terminaling, and purchasing and selling crude oil.

Targa is a FORTUNE 500 company and is included in the S&P 500.

For more information, please visit the Companys website at www.targaresources.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements in this release are forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. All statements, other than statements of historical facts, included in this 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, including statements regarding our projected financial performance and capital spending. These forward-looking statements rely on a number of assumptions concerning future events and are subject to a number of uncertainties, factors and risks, many of which are outside the Companys control, which could cause results to differ materially from those expected by management of the Company. Such risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, weather, political, economic and market conditions, including a decline in the price and market demand for natural gas, natural gas liquids and crude oil, the impact of pandemics or any other public health crises, commodity price volatility due to ongoing or new global conflicts, actions by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and non-OPEC oil producing countries, the impact of disruptions in the bank and capital markets, including those resulting from lack of access to liquidity for banking and financial services firms, the timing and success of business development efforts and other uncertainties. These and other applicable uncertainties, factors and risks are described more fully in the Companys filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K, and any subsequently filed Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and Current Reports on Form 8-K. The Company does not undertake an obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Contact the Company's investor relations department by email at [email protected] or by phone at (713) 584-1133.

Sanjay LadVice President, Finance & Investor Relations

Jennifer KnealeChief Financial Officer

Source: Targa Resources Corp.
NEW YORK, May 17, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Balincan USA Inc. ("Balincan" or the "Company") and Tekumo announces a partnership with the largest third-party Managed Services provider to the Retail Industry. They support IT store technology in enterprise retailers, including Top 10 North American retailers, in thousands of retail locations nationwide.

Our client needed to reduce the total aggregate organizational cost to deliver OnDemand service work orders. They currently utilize a combination of internal and offshore staffing to provide services but urgently needed to transform and digitize their in-house processes. Tekumos Service Delivery Platform has been adopted as an integral part of their Enterprise Services offering and provides best-of-breed OnDemand field services workflow management. It allows them to leverage intelligent automation to simplify the complexity and reduce the cost of scheduling, dispatching and managing OnDemand work orders.

We are excited to announce this collaborative, co-innovation partnership. When Tekumo is fully integrated with their existing client service management systems, they will have the leading OnDemand dynamic workforce solution in North America. This ensures that they will maintain their dominant position in todays new normal business environment, states Strings Kozisek, CEO of Tekumo.

Tekumo was selected based on a 12-month process that included an extensive pilot of the Tekumo Platform with ongoing solution collaboration between the teams. Notably, they are one of the largest users of onsite technician resources globally. They determined that managing this process is significantly more efficient and more cost effective utilizing the Tekumo platform to digitize and automate multiple internal functions.

Uniquely, the Tekumo platform monitors and measures a core matrix of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) identified as cost drivers using a methodology of Evidence Based / Data Led / Cost Optimization to implement improvements, creating true sustainable bottom-line changes. At its core, Tekumo provides service cost optimization for our partners - improving quality and efficiency.

Graham King, COO, added Rather than a typical service outsourcing engagement, the Tekumo platform is an insourced client solution that displaces many of the current internal manual processes and importantly, reduces the number of individuals involved in service tracking and administration  Tekumo will increase speed of work order service resolution with much less effort across all areas of the organization.

The demand for a smart, agile and scalable workforce is driving the growth in managed workplace services. According to McKinsey, by 2025 almost 50% of field technicians will resort to freelancing, which may directly impact how field service companies operate. Our median OnDemand work order is $250 for a 2.65 hour engagement. Management of these short-term work orders presents a very different challenge for legacy field service processes and systems, particularly at the scale of some our partners with thousands of work orders per month, comments Phillip Dignan, President and CFO.

Tekumo solves many current industry challenges such as the tight labor market, economic headwinds, challenges of legacy organizations digitally transforming for todays new business normal and through technology innovation that re-thinks the last mile of service delivery.

The Company offers three main product lines.

TekumoPRO connects enterprises, retailers, and OEMs with local skilled resources to install and maintain technology systems. It delivers a smarter dynamic workforce, intelligent automation, real-time visibility, and full integration into client service management systems.

TekumoIQ provides real-time data from all connected assets in a single pane-of-glass. Process management and risk management is accessible via Tekumo dashboards or directly delivered into any client ecosystem.

TekumoSMART delivers the complete service chain for smart connected devices. It installs, monitors and manages sensors, devices gateways, hubs, and data for multiple verticals including Multiple Dwelling Units (MDUs), Quick Service Restaurants (QSRs), Assisted Living, Retail, Hospitality, Utilities, Builders, Insurance, and Healthcare  all with 24/7 onsite support.

Tekumo is headquartered in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

About Balincan USA, Inc.

Balincan USA, Inc (OTC: BCNN) is an alternative reporting publicly held company that wholly-owns Tekumo LLC. The Company has filed for a name and symbol change to Tekumo, Inc., TKMO, subject to FINRA approval.

For more details related to the Company, please see the Company's Current Disclosure filed with OTC Markets on May 9, 2023.

Safe Harbor:

Forward-Looking Statements

Any statements made in this press release which are not historical facts contain certain forward-looking statements, as such term is defined in the Private Security Litigation Reform Act of 1995, concerning potential developments affecting the business, prospects, financial condition and other aspects of the company to which this release pertains. The actual results of the specific items described in this release, and the Company's operations generally, may differ materially from what is projected in such forward-looking statements. Although such statements are based upon the best judgments of management of the Company as of the date of this release, significant deviations in magnitude, timing and other factors may result from business risks and uncertainties including, without limitation, the Company's dependence on third parties, general market and economic conditions, technical factors, the availability of outside capital, receipt of revenues and other factors, many of which are beyond the control of the company. The Company disclaims any obligation to update the information contained in any forward-looking statement. This press release shall not be deemed a general solicitation.

Colorado Springs

Timothy Simpson, Investor Relations

719-419-6709

[email protected]
Toronto, Ontario, May 17, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The next event in TVO Today Lives series on the future of democracy will feature a debate between the leading candidates vying to become Torontos next mayor. Held in partnership with the Toronto Region Board of Trade, the Toronto Mayoral By-Election Debate will take place at 7 pm ET on Thursday, May 25, 2023, at the Isabel Bader Theatre in Toronto.

Moderated by Steve Paikin of TVO Todays The Agenda, the top polling candidates for Torontos June 26th by-election will debate the key issues that impact Torontos livability and prosperity. Topics will include housing affordability, transit and congestion, access to city services and the prospects of economic growth. Eventbrite registration for this event has already sold out.

The TVO Today Live series has focused on the challenges to our democracy, says John Ferri, VP of Programming and Content at TVO. What better way to highlight that theme than to bring together on the same stage the leading candidates for mayor of Canada's largest city to debate their respective visions for a city at a crucial moment in its history.

The Toronto Region Board of Trade debate is a longstanding tradition as one of the critical points in Torontos Mayoral election races, says Jan De Silva, President & CEO of the Toronto Region Board of Trade. This election, the future of our city is at stake. We are inviting a strong group of candidates to demonstrate that they have the vision and plan this city needs for a prosperous, sustainable future. We trust this debate will be invaluable for voters as they seek to make the right choice this June.

Invited candidates*

Ana Bailao

Brad Bradford

Olivia Chow

Mitzie Hunter

Josh Matlow

Mark Saunders

* The candidates invited are consistently polling as the top six in publicly-available polls, and each has crossed the 10% threshold in at least one reputable, publicly-available poll.

TVO will broadcast the debate live with The Agenda with Steve Paikin providing live analysis immediately following the debate. The debate will stream live on The Agendas YouTube channel and a recording of the event will be made available afterwards on The Agendas YouTube channel. Visit the TVO Today Live series page to get the latest information and sign up for email updates.

TVO Today Live is made possible through generous support from The Wilson Foundation, whose mission is to strengthen and enrich Canada in education leadership, community, history and heritage, and public service. Events take place in communities across the province and feature conversations with community leaders and experts to inspire civic engagement.

A Debate for Torontos FutureThursday, May 25, 2023Doors: 6:15 to 6:50 pm Debate begins: 7 pmIsabel Bader Theatre93 Charles Street WestToronto, OntarioRSVP: Eventbrite (sold out), BOT.com (sold out)

Media registration: Andrea MacBeth [email protected] Media wishing to attend the debate are asked to arrive no later than 6:30 pm.

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ABOUT TVO MEDIA EDUCATION GROUPTVO Media Education Group inspires learning that changes lives and enriches communities. Founded in 1970, we are a globally recognized digital learning organization that engages Ontarians of all ages with inclusive experiences and diverse perspectives. Through video, audio, games, courses, newsletters and articles, were investing in the transformative potential of education for everyone. Funded primarily by the Province of Ontario, TVO is a registered charity supported by thousands of sponsors and donors. For more information, visit TVO.me, TVO.org and TVOkids.com.

Stream TVO on your favourite device.Sign up to receive TVO media releases by email.

ABOUT TORONTO REGION BOARD OF TRADEThe Toronto Region Board of Trade is one of the largest and most influential business chambers in North America and is a catalyst for the regions economic agenda. We pursue policy change to drive the growth and competitiveness of the Toronto region and facilitate market opportunities with programs, partnerships and connections to help our members succeed  domestically and internationally.

Media contacts:

Andrea MacBethDirector, Corporate CommunicationsTVO [email protected]

Jeff Lang-WeirDirector of CommunicationsToronto Region Board of Trade[email protected]

Social:

Twitter: @TheAgenda, @TorontoRBOTFacebook: @TheAgenda Instagram: @TheAgendaTVO, @trbot YouTube: @TheAgenda, @torontorbot

Attachment

Andrea MacBeth TVO [email protected] Jeff Lang-Weir Toronto Region Board of Trade [email protected]

Source: TVO
More than two dozen women from over 20 countries spanning four continents have been selected for the competitive fellowship program

WASHINGTON, D.C., May 16, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Vital Voices Global Partnership is proud to announce its 2023 cohort of VVEngage Fellows, our signature fellowship program supporting outstanding women political leaders who are influencing policy across the globe.

More than two dozen political leaders from over 20 countries spanning four continents have been selected for the competitive fellowship program, which offers strategic training sessions from Harvard University professors from The Kennedy School of Government and also connects them with current and former female heads of state through the Council of Women World Leaders.

This years VVEngage Cohort brings together a diverse group of women political leaders who are already making a huge impact on their communities, said Manira Alva, Vice President of Issue Advocacy at Vital Voices. We are excited to work with these incredible women as they continue their political leadership journey, work to advance the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, and create lasting change in their organizations, communities, and the world.

A goal of the program is to increase the capacity, decision-making power and effectiveness of women leaders in politics and government in an effort to shift culture around womens public leadership.

The outstanding women selected for the 2023 VVEngage Cohort are as follows:



Abby Finkenauer , Special Envoy for Global Youth Issues, U.S. Department of State

USA

, Special Envoy for Global Youth Issues, U.S. Department of State USA Alba Rueda , Special Representative on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity, Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Argentina

, Special Representative on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity, Ministry of Foreign Affairs Argentina Alena Popova , Public Policy Fellow, Wilson Center

Russia

, Public Policy Fellow, Wilson Center Russia Alexandra Ames , Secretary for Social Management and Dialogue, Presidency of the Council of Ministers

Peru

, Secretary for Social Management and Dialogue, Presidency of the Council of Ministers Peru Angelica Flores , Director of Climate Affairs, Fundacion Ciudades Resilientes

Chile

, Director of Climate Affairs, Fundacion Ciudades Resilientes Chile Annah Shiri , President, National Council of Disabled Persons of Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe

, President, National Council of Disabled Persons of Zimbabwe Zimbabwe Catherine Nakhabi Omanyo , Member of Parliament

Kenya

, Member of Parliament Kenya Chantel King , Member of Parliament

South Africa

, Member of Parliament South Africa Fatoumatta Njai , Member of Parliament

The Gambia

, Member of Parliament The Gambia Gehad Hamdy , Founder and Manager, Speak Up

Egypt

, Founder and Manager, Speak Up Egypt Helen Hayden , Executive Member for Infrastructure, Leeds City Council

United Kingdom

, Executive Member for Infrastructure, Leeds City Council United Kingdom Janice Allen , Senator, House of Parliament

Jamaica

, Senator, House of Parliament Jamaica Joanne Ascencion Valdez , City Council Member, Candon City Local Government

Philippines

, City Council Member, Candon City Local Government Philippines Maria Rivera Espinosa , Founding Team and Director of Partnerships, onepoint5

Mexico

, Founding Team and Director of Partnerships, onepoint5 Mexico Maryann Okon , Political Editor/Correspondent, Plus TV Africa and Nigeria Info FM

Nigeria

, Political Editor/Correspondent, Plus TV Africa and Nigeria Info FM Nigeria Miliswa Mamba , Mayor, Ezulwini Municipality

Eswatini

, Mayor, Ezulwini Municipality Eswatini Nigina Anvari , Deputy Minister, Ministry of Agriculture

Tajikistan

, Deputy Minister, Ministry of Agriculture Tajikistan Nisreen Eisay , Adviser for Women and Youth, Presidential Council in Libya

Libya

, Adviser for Women and Youth, Presidential Council in Libya Libya Nurhayati Ali Assegaf , President, Nuraa Womens Institute

Indonesia

, President, Nuraa Womens Institute Indonesia Quincia Gumbs Marie , Minister of Sustainability, Innovation and the Environment

Anguilla

, Minister of Sustainability, Innovation and the Environment Anguilla Roxy Ndebumadu , District 4 Coucilmember & Mayor Pro Tem, City of Bowie, Md.

USA

, District 4 Coucilmember & Mayor Pro Tem, City of Bowie, Md. USA Sabina Kamuhia , Deputy Minority Whip

Kenya

, Deputy Minority Whip Kenya Shah Gul Rezaie , Women and Human Rights Activist

Afghanistan

, Women and Human Rights Activist Afghanistan Simina-Geanina-Daniela Tulbure , Member of Parliament

Romania

, Member of Parliament Romania Anonymous, Women's Rights Activist

Anonymous, Womens Rights Activist and Political Leader



The yearlong Fellowship launches today, May 16, 2023. Fellows will convene online for training and discussions throughout the program. Visit VVEngage online to learn more and follow the program on social media using the hashtag #VVEngage.



###



About Vital Voices

Now celebrating more than 25 years, Vital Voices Global Partnership has directly invested in more than 20,000 women leaders across 184 countries and territories since its inception in 1997. Driven by the universal truth that women are the key to progress in their communities and nations cannot move forward without women in leadership positions, Vital Voices has provided early support for leaders who went on to become Nobel Peace Prize Laureates, U.S. Youth Poet Laureates, prime ministers, award-winning innovators, pioneering human rights defenders, and breakthrough social entrepreneurs, including Amanda Gorman and Malala Yousafzai. In an effort to advance and expand this work, in 2022 Vital Voices opened the doors to the worlds first global embassy for women, the Vital Voices Global Headquarters for Womens Leadership. It is a first-of-its-kind space that allows for convening, innovation, planning, and actionall in the pursuit of serving women leaders who are taking on the worlds greatest challenges.

Attachments
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - May 17, 2023) - Tembo Gold Corp. (TSXV: TEM) (TBGPF: OTCBB) (FSE: T23) ("Tembo" or the "Company") reports a further new artisanal working on the Company's Tembo Project in the Lake Victoria goldfield in Tanzania. This artisanal activity is located on the interpreted western extension of the Buly structural zone that hosts numerous mineralized shear structures at Bulyanhulu Mine including Reef 0, 1 and 2 orebodies, and the recently announced Mwasabuka artisanal working (January 19, 2023). Recent grab samples collected at the shafts returned an average grade of 14.27g/t from a series of shafts aligned in an east-west orientation with grades ranging from 5.01g/t to 51.26g/t.

Highlights

An artisanal working has started in a new area of the Tembo Project prospecting licence (Figure 1).

Multiple shafts are active down to bedrock.

This is located on the interpreted extension of the Buly Trend from the neighboring Bulyanhulu Mine of Barrick Gold.

Airborne magnetics interpretation indicates east-west structures are the host.

The altered and veined metabasalt host is very strongly mineralized with pyrrhotite, pyrite and minor chalcopyrite.

The Ngula Village Artisanal Workings

An entirely new artisanal working termed Ngula Village has commenced on the Tembo prospecting licence. The workings are located west of the small village of Ngula. The workings comprise a number of shafts that have reached bedrock and are reported to be as deep as 46m. There are several new shallower, more recently started shafts yet to reach bedrock.

Two of the GoldSpot study's priority targets are located in proximity to these workings (June 1, 2021 ) . Further developments at this location will be monitored to collect further information and representative sample of the faces being mined.

The workings are interpreted to be located between two northeast trending structures interpreted as the zone that hosts the orebodies on Barrick's adjacent Bulyanhulu Mine (the Buly Trend), where this has been folded around within the Tembo licence area. It is thought that the structures being mined are east-west trending dilational cross-fractures between the parallel northeast trending sheared lithological contacts.

The structural interpretation is corroborated by the airborne magnetics confirming this to be the extension of the zone that hosts the recently announced Mwasabuka artisanal working close to the Bulyanhulu Mine boundary and the Buly Trend structure and geology. The magnetic interpretation also suggests there may be a number of the east-west structures to the north and south of where the current mining activity is.

This Ngula Village working is located close to the western granite greenstone contact and importantly, close to the junction of north-northwest and south-southwest linear granite greenstone contacts that may be structurally controlled and certainly warrant further investigation for potential mineralization.

The mineralization is very strong and comprises massive, stringer and disseminated pyrrhotite, with associated pyrite and chalcopyrite in highly sheared and quartz-veined metabasalt. The veining is characteristically white quartz and smokey quartz veins with sulphide primarily in the altered host rock as replacement alteration, but also within veins.

Twelve well mineralized grab samples of artisanal material have returned an average grade of 14.27g/t (Table 1). Further controlled samples will be taken from working faces to establish the overall grade of the underground exposures.

Figure 1: Location of the Ngula Village artisanal mining activity



To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:

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Table 1: Selected results from random 3kg samples

Prospect Au Values

(g/t) Average Au Grade

(g/t) Ngula Village 6.01

5.01

11.46

14.38

8.27

14.00

28.31

5.20

5.43

7.60

51.26

16.45 14.27

Note: All assays were conducted using a 50g aliquot by Fire Assay with an AAS finish providing a detection limit of 0.01ppm to 100ppm.

Future follow-up work on this and similar targets including Mwasabuka will comprise the controlled sampling with mapping of faces and heel-toe reverse-air-blast (RAB) drilling across the structural zones. If justified, this will be followed by RC and diamond drilling to determine gold content and distribution, and attitude of mineralized structures along the strike.

Tembo Exploration Manager, Hendrik Meiring, stated, "The physical properties of the mineralised rock being mined indicate possible well-endowed geological dilational structures, which geometry is supported by the geophysical magnetic signatures obtained in this area. More planned detailed underground mapping and interpretation work will be done before drill testing activities."

Tembo President & CEO, David Scott, stated, "Another very exciting new artisanal mining site further reinforces our confidence in the gold endowment of the Tembo Project and provides us with the necessary confidence to systematically test and evaluate the many targets that have been recognized where structures intersect. Our field teams will soon be commencing a fieldwork program to progress this test work and it is anticipated that a number of new drill ready targets will arise."

The above information has been prepared under the supervision of Hendrik Meiring, Pr. Sci. Nat., who is designated as a "Qualified Person" with the ability and authority to verify the authenticity and validity of the data.

About Tembo

Tembo Gold is a Canadian public company listed on the TSX Venture Exchange ("TSX-V") under the symbol TEM. The Company has a 100% interest in the Tembo Gold Project which has over forty thousand meters of drilling and is located adjacent to Barrick's 20Moz Bulyanhulu Mine in Tanzania's prolific Lake Victoria Goldfield. Tembo recently completed a transaction with Barrick (who now owns approximately five percent of Tembo), whereby Tembo sold six of its non-core licenses to Barrick for $6mm USD, and Barrick is committed to spending $9mm USD over the first four years. Additionally, Tembo will receive contingent payments of up-to $45mm USD on the first five million ounces discovered by Barrick. The company has assembled a highly experienced team with a track record of developing, financing, and operating mining projects in Africa. Tembo is focused on the discovery and development of world-class gold projects in Africa as well as seeking additional opportunities that can bring value to the company and shareholders.

On Behalf of the Board of Directors of Tembo, David Scott, President & CEO

David Scott

President & CEO

Phone: +255 767 366 146

Email: [email protected]

For more information please contact:

Simon Benstead

Director & CFO

Phone: 604-685-9316

Email: [email protected]

Marc Cernovitch

Director

Phone: 604-685-9316

Email:[email protected]

Visit our website at: www.tembogold.com

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain information set out in this news release constitutes forward-looking information. Forward-looking statements are often, but not always, identified by the use of words such as "seek", "anticipate", "plan", "continue", "estimate", "expect", "may", "will", "intend", "could", "might", "should", "believe" and similar expressions. Forward-looking statements are based upon the opinions and expectations of management of the Company as at the effective date of such statements and, in certain cases, information provided or disseminated by third parties. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are based upon reasonable assumptions, and that information obtained from third party sources is reliable, they can give no assurance that those expectations will prove to have been correct. With respect to forward-looking statements contained in this news release, the Company has made assumptions regarding, among other things, the ability to develop the Company's properties, the economic climate in the jurisdictions where the Company carries on operations and commodity prices. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements contained in this document, and the assumptions on which such forward-looking statements are made, are reasonable, there can be no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements included in this document, as there can be no assurance that the plans, intentions or expectations upon which the forward-looking statements are based will occur. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve numerous assumptions, known and unknown risks and uncertainties that contribute to the possibility that the predictions, forecasts, projections and other forward-looking statements will not occur, which may cause actual results in future periods to differ materially from any estimates or projections of future performance or results expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, among other things, a significant drop in the price of gold, political turmoil in Tanzania and other risk factors set forth in the Company's continuous disclosure. Readers are cautioned that this list of risk factors should not be construed as exhaustive. These statements are made as at the date hereof and unless otherwise required by law, the Company does not intend, or assume any obligation, to update these forward-looking statements.

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

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The leading online resource for keyboard pianos amplifies its commitment to providing readers with the most accurate, detailed, and comprehensive information on the latest keyboard piano models.

New York, New York--(Newsfile Corp. - May 17, 2023) - BestKeyboardPianos.com, a trusted authority in the field of keyboard pianos, has announced its latest endeavor - a comprehensive review of the top 15 latest keyboard pianos. This move highlights the company's commitment to continually providing readers with the most accurate and detailed information, ensuring they make informed choices when it comes to their musical investments.

Best Keyboard Pianos provides honest reviews featuring a range of keyboard pianos, including models from established brands and emerging innovators. Each review is carefully crafted, focusing on various aspects such as sound quality, touch sensitivity, and overall performance. These reviews aim to offer an in-depth understanding of each model, allowing users to make a decision that best fits their personal musical style and proficiency level.

"Staying updated with the latest offerings in the market is pivotal for our audience. We ensure our reviews are comprehensive, covering every critical aspect that matters to our readers," said Louis Schwizgebel, the founder of bestkeyboardpianos.com.

The official logo for bestkeyboardpianos.com, the trusted online resource for comprehensive keyboard piano reviews.

As part of the review process, each keyboard piano undergoes rigorous testing under various conditions. The team at bestkeyboardpianos.com also looks into the innovative features, design elements, and customer feedback, which further add to the depth of the reviews.

The digital platform is not just about reviews; it is a complete guide for both novices and professionals. From articles on choosing the right keyboard piano to an overview of different types and brands, bestkeyboardpianos.com is a comprehensive hub for all things related to keyboard pianos.

BestKeyboardPianos.com's latest reviews of the top 15 latest keyboard pianos affirm the platform's dedication to its readers. By providing in-depth, reliable, and current information, it continues to uphold its position as a trusted resource in the music industry.

About BestKeyboardPianos.com

Bestkeyboardpianos.com is a leading online platform that specializes in comprehensive keyboard piano reviews. It aims to help musicians and enthusiasts find the best keyboard piano that fits their needs by providing unbiased reviews, practical buying guides, and expert advice.

For more information, please visit https://bestkeyboardpianos.com/ or contact Louis Schwizgebel at [email protected]

Media contact details:

Company name: Best Keyboard Pianos

Contact name: Louis Schwizgebel

Email: [email protected]

Website: https://bestkeyboardpianos.com/

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/166122
Columbus, Ohio--(Newsfile Corp. - May 17, 2023) - Better For You Wellness, Inc. (OTCQB: BFYW), an Ohio-based plant-based and science-focused wellness company operating in the rapidly-growing $1.5T wellness industry, announced that Stephen Letourneau, Chief Branding Officer and Director of Better For You Wellness, will be participating in a panel discussion at the upcoming Luxury Meets Cannabis Conference (LMCC) 2023. The event will occur Thursday, May 18, at 1:30 pm at Hudson Yards in New York City.

With all eyes on food (and beverage) as the gateway to mainstream consumption, Letourneau will participate in the LMCC main stage discussion, "Food is the Future: The Rise of the Influencer Grocer & CPG Wellness," featuring fellow thought leaders Jake Bullock, Co-Founder Cann, Breanna Neff, CFS Founder & Chief Food Scientist, brelixi, Emily Shildt, Founder & CEO, Pop Up Grocer, Franny Tacy CEO, Franny's Farmacy. Beauty Independent's Retail Editor, Erica La Sala, will moderate the event.

The panelists were chosen to lend considerable insight into how diverse categories such as beauty, wellness, food, and beverage can harmoniously thrive at retail. As a thought leader in luxe skincare and canna-wellness, Stephen Letourneau has spoken at intimate gatherings for the press, financial institutions, and C-Suite panels to discuss the global skincare and wellness trends and how the different international markets will embrace and amplify the space.

B2B trade events connect crossover retailers, media, investors, and CPG executives to visionary CBD, Hemp, and Cannabis-related premium brands - with a keen focus on clean beauty, skincare, specialty food/beverage, & everyday wellness. Since 2018 LMCC has been the premier invite-only B2B trade event connecting luxury Cannabis, CBD, & Hemp wellness brands to traditional retailers, leading dispensaries, global media, and the Investment Community / Family Offices. Retail buyers from Ulta Beauty, Bloomingdale's, KITH, The Vitamin Shoppe, and international media such as Bloomberg, Beauty Independent, and Bon Apptit attended the conference.

"I am sharing BFYW's soon-to-acquire Stephen James Curated Coffee Collection (SJCCC) with my esteemed colleagues at the Luxury Meets Cannabis Conference in New York City to discuss wellness trends and premium functional beverages," commented Mr. Letourneau. "LMCC is a great place to showcase SJCCC's infused and non-infused functional beverage line and speak with hoteliers and retailers who seek to embrace wellness trends."

In addition to its traditional coffee line-up, the Stephen James Curated Coffee Collection provides hemp-infused whole and ground bean coffee, individual pods serving (K-Cup and Nespresso), and ready-to-drink Nitro Cold Brew via its parent Company, The Jordre Well.

Stephen Letourneau, Chief Branding Officer, Better for You Wellness, Inc

To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:

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LMCC NYC Panel: Food is the Future: The Rise of the Influencer Grocer & CPG Wellness

To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:

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About Better For You Wellness, Inc.

Better For You Wellness, Inc. (OTCQB: BFYW) is a Columbus, Ohio-based Company pursuing a dual buy-and-build model within the wellness industry. Better For You Wellness, through its wholly owned subsidiaries, builds and operates digitally native, mission-driven brands within the clean beauty sector, including Mango Moi. Learn more at https://BFYW.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release may contain forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. These statements relate to future events or our future financial performance. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terminology including "could," "may," "will," "should," "expect," "plan," "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "predict," "potential" and the negative of these terms or other comparable terminology. While these forward-looking statements, and any assumptions upon which they are based, are made in good faith and reflect our current judgment regarding the direction of our business, actual results may vary, sometimes materially, from any estimates, predictions, projections, assumptions, or other future performance suggested in this press release. Except as required by applicable law, we do not intend to update any forward-looking statements to conform these statements to actual results. Investors should refer to the risks disclosed in the Company's reports filed with SEC (https://www.sec.gov/).

Contact:

Better For You Wellness, Inc.

Ian James, CEO

[email protected]

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/166396
Koei lives in a permanent state of tension. A baby-faced young man in his early-20s, he works in an insurance agency on the outskirts of Nairobi, the capital of Kenya. But he carries a secret, a part of his identity. Koei is actually a trans man. But, except for a couple of close friends, the people around him  friends, neighbors, coworkers, clients  have no idea. And he intends to keep it that way.

I worry that my friends will slip up, he admits. He worries constantly that someone will share his secret. His countrys political climate invites people like Koei to hide and not attract too much attention. His social life doesnt include bars: he only goes to some LGBTQ collective parties, occasional safe spaces in Nairobi. Meanwhile, in other, smaller cities across Kenya, the idea of a rainbow-decorated party is a far-off dream.

In recent months, East Africa seems to be experiencing an intense wave of homophobia, which also rages against transgender people. This resentment is in the laws, in political speeches, in fiery church sermons, and also in the streets.

Koei  who does not wish to share his last name or his exact location for security reasons  can attest to the boom of this rhetoric. He passes for a cis man, which gives him a bit of privilege in a world that detests him. Thanks to being able to pass [as a cis male], I listen to many conversations. And people dont realize who theyre talking to. One day, for example, a client criticized men who pierced their ears for being effeminate. I have pierced ears; I wore earrings before my [gender] transition, Koei says over the phone.

In Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania, the same discourse circulates: that Africanness is incompatible with being gay, lesbian, trans, or not identifying as a man or a woman. The idea that the so-called LGBTQ agenda is a foreign imposition has, historically, been one of the most common political arguments on the continent. Several experts and activists consulted by EL PAIS note that this is a paradoxical argument, because the laws against homosexuality come from the colonial era.

Its as if the more liberal the West gets, the more conservative we get. It seems like an anti-Western position, reflects Tanzanian lawyer Fatma Karume. Politicians are using anti-LGBTQI stances to get their 15 minutes of fame.

Theres a completely prefabricated panic, which is being financed by Christian fundamentalist organizations, says Imani Kimiri, head of the legal department at Kenyas National Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (NGLHRC). They use the argument that they want to protect African culture and family values, Imani explains. Thus, they create a homophobic, biphobic and transphobic propaganda machine that has a lot of resources and that successfully disseminates inaccurate and ignorant information.

The appearance of the anti-LGBTQ agenda is both an international and national phenomenon, according to Barbara Bompani, an associate professor at the Center for African Studies at the University of Edinburgh. Religions are competing in a market in which the more they speak out against homosexuality, the more followers they get, she notes. For this reason, Pentecostal churches  which are growing rapidly across the continent, although there are no reliable figures  have become much more political over the past decade.

In some cases, anti-LGBTQ efforts appear to be linked to U.S. and European religious organizations, funders and activists. An investigation by the Institute for Journalism and Social Change published in April revealed that humanitarian aid from various Western governments  such as the United States, the United Kingdom, Norway and the Netherlands  ended up, indirectly, in the coffers of organizations with anti-LGBTQ positions in Uganda, including some churches, according to data from the International Aid Transparency Initiative. That figure is estimated to be around $40 million since 2014. The governments and institutions cited in the report have since disassociated themselves from the groups in question and have reaffirmed their commitment against homophobia.

Another report  this one from Open Democracy, published at the beginning of May  identifies two U.S. citizens as being organizers or collaborators in the political mobilization that led to anti-LGBTQ legislation in Uganda. The report alleges that one of them is Sharon Slater, the leader of Family Watch International, an ultra-conservative lobby group in the U.S.

The experts consulted by this newspaper warn that the cornering of the LGTBQ community will have effects in many areas, particularly global health. According to data from the United Nations Agency for the fight against HIV, in countries where same-sex relationships are criminalized, HIV prevalence is five times higher among gay men. And, when this persecution is recent, it is multiplied by 12.

Growing hostility

Koei opines that what is said in the upper echelons of his countrys politics has an effect on everyday life. He notes how hostility has grown in Kenya since February of this year, when the Supreme Court admitted the official registration of the NGLHRC, after a 10-year-long legal battle. Its as if this [decision] has reminded people that we exist It has redoubled the hatred, he says. The Supreme Court declared the veto against the NGO as being unconstitutional, but made sure to include the following words in the judgement: Any person, whether heterosexual, lesbian, gay, intersex or other, is subject to sanctions if they contravene existing laws, including those Sections 162, 163 and 165 of the Penal Code (the articles that punish same-sex relationships). President William Ruto was quick to comment: Our culture and religion do not allow same-sex marriages.

In Kenya, homosexuality is punishable by up to 14 years in prison. However, while laws prohibit same-sex relationships, in practice, there does not seem to be as much active legal persecution taking place. But Peter Kaluma wants this to change. The opposition parliamentarian is trying to pass a bill for the protection of the family. It tackles several areas, including tougher penalties for homosexuality and a ban on sex education in schools that promotes LGBTQ nonsense, explains Kaluma, in a telephone conversation with EL PAIS. While the proposed legislation is still being considered by parliament, Kaluma claims that it has overwhelming support, because it appeals to the feelings of the [Kenyan] people, who are really concerned about this issue. Kaluma says that he was motivated to write this bill when he saw how young people with few resources were being recruited to have homosexual relationships in exchange for money.

Something similar is spreading in Uganda, via certain political forums and media outlets. Frank Mugisha, director of the Sexual Minorities Association of Uganda, criticizes the prevailing misinformation in a telephone interview. Some media outlets have published that we are gay because we are paid; theyve written that Westerners are making us gay, or that were indoctrinating children. In April, six educators were arrested in eastern Uganda on charges of being part of a sexual exploitation ring. The police confirmed that they had examined them anally, according to complaints from human rights organizations.

The disinformation in Uganda is part of a coordinated anti-LGBTIQ campaign, says Oryem Nyeko, a Human Rights Watch researcher. These efforts have resulted in the passage of a new anti-gay law this month in Uganda, one of the toughest in the world. For months, an atmosphere of fear has been growing, he stresses. The new law  harshly criticized by the UN and the United States  has sown real terror in the LGBTQ community, even after President Yoweri Museveni returned the bill to parliament for it to be softened. In the previous version, individuals were to be punished with jail time for merely identifying as gay, while citizens would be obligated to report on alleged homosexuals. Now, President Museveni must decide whether to actually implement the new version, which sentences those who promote homosexuality to 20 years in prison, while imposing the death penalty on aggravated homosexuals (HIV-positive people having sex).

Meanwhile, Mugisha says, the consequences of this law are already being felt on the streets: There is more violence There are more arrests, more people being kicked out by their families. [Under this administration], there have been attacks on journalists, the imprisonment of lawyers, internet cuts and repression. Rainbow Railroad, a Canadian association that helps LGBTQ people escape persecution in their countries of origin, has received 515 Ugandan asylum requests so far this year  more than any year in the decade it has spent working in Uganda.

In Dar es-Salaam, Tanzania, the tensions of an anti-gay operation  launched by Governor Paul Makonda  are still echoing. The politicians threatened to imprison any LGBTQ person, encouraged citizens to become informers, and claimed to have received hundreds of messages about alleged homosexuals. Makonda was removed from office in 2020, but even with his departure, the situation in Tanzania hasnt improved much. This past March, the leader of the ruling partys womens group, Chama Cha Mapinduzi, publicly called for the castration of gay men. Meanwhile, Minister of Information Nape Nnauye has threatened legal measures against those who disseminate content that promotes same-sex relations, which endangers the few associations that defend the LGBTQ community in Tanzania.

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Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - May 17, 2023) - Bloom Burton & Co. Inc. announces that, today, it and its affiliate acquired 1,453,070 common shares (Shares) and 6,636,734 compensation options (Compensation Options) of Satellos Bioscience Inc. (Corporation) in connection with a public offering of the Corporation by way of a short form prospectus dated May 9, 2023. Bloom Burton purchased the Shares at a price of $0.50 per Share for total consideration of $726,535 and its affiliate acquired the Compensation Options as partial consideration for its services in connection with the public offering. Combined with other treasury issuances of Shares by the Corporation, this resulted in a decrease of beneficial holdings of approximately 4.9% of the outstanding Shares on a partially diluted basis since the date of the last early warning report.

Prior to this acquisition, Bloom Burton, its affiliates and Brian Bloom beneficially owned 7,666,812 Shares and 1,176,946 derivative securities (i.e., warrants, broker warrants, compensation options and stock options), representing approximately 18.0% of the outstanding Shares on a non-diluted basis and approximately 20.3% on a partially diluted basis assuming exercise of such derivative securities (including all of the stock options). After this acquisition, Bloom Burton, its affiliates and Brian Bloom beneficially own 9,119,882 Shares and 7,813,680 derivative securities (including the Compensation Options), representing approximately 8.1% of the outstanding Shares on a non-diluted basis and approximately 14.0% on a partially diluted basis assuming exercise of such derivative securities (including all of the stock options).

The securities noted above are held for investment purposes. Bloom Burton has a long-term view of the investment and may acquire additional securities including either on the open market or through private acquisitions or sell the securities including either on the open market or through private dispositions in the future depending on market conditions, reformulation of plans and/or other relevant factors.

The Corporation is located at Royal Bank Plaza, South Tower, 200 Bay Street, Suite 2800, Toronto, Ontario, M5J 2J1. A copy of the early warning report with respect to the foregoing will appear on the Corporation's profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com and may also be obtained by contacting Sonia Yung, General Counsel, Bloom Burton at (416) 640-7575 or at [email protected]. Bloom Burton is a corporation existing under the laws of Ontario, specializing in the healthcare industry, with its head office at 65 Front St. E., Suite 300, Toronto, Ontario M5E 1B5).

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/166523
Taking place on June 1st, the seminar will introduce participants to how they can improve and reimagine their main street.

Hinton, Alberta--(Newsfile Corp. - May 17, 2023) - The Centre for Hospitality Studies and Research (CHSR), a new private postsecondary institute located in Hinton that specializes in education and research in tourism and hospitality, has rescheduled its inaugural educational seminar, "Reimagining Main Street Through a Visitor Economy Lens" for June 1st. The event, initially scheduled for May 15th, was rescheduled out of an abundance of caution for the community amidst the Alberta wildfires.

The seminar will introduce participants to how they can improve and reimagine their main street, and provide insight into what can be considered for planning, designing and incorporating the visitor economy. The highly interactive seminar will provide a range of experiences including a site visit, group work, and the opportunity to develop a draft main street strategy.

Topics considered include understanding the visitor economy, mapping main street, leveraging visitor data, marketing, developing partnerships, creating experiences, main street storytelling, and planning for after hours. The seminar will be of interest to business owners, economic development officers, tourism organizations, municipal politicians and citizens who are concerned about the future of their community.

"We're pleased to be able to reschedule this event so quickly and help show how main streets can be redesigned to better meet the needs of both the community and the tourist population," said Amir Hassan, CEO of CHSR. "The main street often serves as the face of the community to potential stakeholders, visitors, and investors. With so many important insights and decisions stemming from the state of a main street, it's essential for all parties to incorporate it into their planning to ensure the area delivers maximum value for everyone."

The visitor economy, which encompasses hotels, restaurants, and a significant number of retail services, provides an opportunity for main streets to reimagine themselves. Every community is in the tourism business, and the same is true for main streets. Through the seminar, CHSR will reinforce the notion that visitors can come from the next community over or from international destinations. A well-managed and designed main street does not only meet the needs of the local community, but also provides much-needed income and support for local businesses as well as other aspects of community life.

This event marks the first of a series of seminars, workshops, and other events set to ignite local hospitality professionals and accelerate CSHR's innovative work to developing new talent. Reimagining Main Street Through a Visitor Economy Lens takes place on June 1st, from 9:30 am 3:30 pm, at 247 Pembina Avenue Hinton, AB T7V 2B3.

- 30 -

About the Centre for Hospitality Studies and Research

Established in Hinton, Alberta, the Centre for Hospitality Studies and Research is a pioneering institute dedicated to providing top-notch education and research in hospitality and tourism, aimed at grooming the next generation of industry professionals. The Center's mission is underpinned by a strong commitment to upholding the highest standards of excellence, innovation, and sustainability in its teachings, thereby shaping an economically resilient and thriving local tourism industry.

Through a blend of classroom learning, work placements, and internships, the students of CHSR are given ample opportunity to apply their acquired knowledge in practice and develop a comprehensive skill set that prepares them for a successful career in the sector.

Media Contact

Peter Pilarski

[email protected]

(403) 462-1160

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/166457
Nature's Emporium installation represents first of up to seven potential locations across southwestern Ontario

Full roll-out to both of Greco's Fresh Market locations in Ontario

Contracts demonstrate further market share capture within the retail foods vertical

Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - May 17, 2023) - Danavation Technologies Corp. (CSE: DVN) (OTCQB: DVNCF) ("Danavation" or the "Company"), the only North American-founded and headquartered technology company providing micro e-paper displays, today announces two new contract signings for a total of three installations due to be complete by end of summer.

"We're very pleased to confirm that Danavation has secured two new brands in the retail food market and in particular, high-quality and family-owned businesses such as Nature's Emporium and Greco's Fresh Market," said John Ricci, CEO of Danavation. "Once outfitted with our Digital Smart Labels", we believe both retailers will benefit from reduced time spent on tedious labelling tasks, positively impacting operational efficiencies as well as the financial performance of each location. We are also excited about the prospect of potentially expanding our relationship with Nature's Emporium to secure further installations into their remaining six locations in the future."

Nature's Emporium Installation

Danavation is pleased to be outfitting the first of up to seven Nature's Emporium locations in Ontario with its Digital Smart Labels", building on the Company's previous installations within the retail foods segment that includes brands such as Sobeys, Cataldi, Palma Pasta, Colemans Foods, and Rabba, to name a few. This first Nature's Emporium installation is expected to be completed by the end of summer and depending on success, could lead to Natures Emporium outfitting an additional six locations with Danavation's Digital Smart Labels".

Founded in 1993, Nature's Emporium is a leading health food market with four locations in Ontario, Canada and two more opening before the end of 2023. As part of its mission to offer customers a wide variety of natural health foods, products, and essentials, Nature's Emporium stocks a vast array of SKUs (stock keeping units) that includeincluding natural and organic foods, vitamins, supplements, gluten-free offerings, traditionally raised grass-fed meats, natural skin care, cosmetics, home supplies and sustainable, eco friendly clothing. With Danavation's Digital Smart Labels", Nature's Emporium anticipates benefitting from being able to redirect staffing efforts from manual price updates at the shelf, to engaging with customers and enhancing the overall shopping experience. Further, by deploying Danavation's Digital Smart Labels", Nature's Emporium can leverage instantaneous updating of products and pricing which enables more frequent product specials and promotions to serve their thousands of new and existing daily customers more efficiently.

Greco's Fresh Market Installations

The Company is pleased to confirm a full roll-out of Digital Smart Labels" for both locations of Greco's Fresh Market in Thornhill and Richmond Hill, Ontario, further expanding Danavation's reach into the retail food segment. Greco's Fresh Market offers a wide selection of high-quality fresh meat, produce, deli, bakery, and prepared foods, with each department offering a wide selection that caters to the conventional and natural food shopper. The first location is expected to be outfitted with Danavation's Digital Smart Labels" by mid to late summer 2023, followed by the second.

Behind Greco's success lies tradition, quality, and freshness that was built on a legacy of providing the highest calibre produce. After nearly 100 years and four generations, this commitment to quality remains a core philosophy for the Greco family, who continues to handle all of their own product selection, ensuring the continued success of the family business by refusing to sacrifice on quality.

About Danavation

Danavation Technologies Corp. is the only North American-founded and headquartered technology company providing Digital Smart Labels" and a software Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) solution that enables companies across various sectors to automate labelling, price, product, and promotions in real-time. Danavation's Digital Smart Labels" enhance data accuracy and improve performance by removing high labour costs and low productivity typically associated with traditional labour-intensive workflows. Our goal is to create a sustainable and profitable business for shareholders while advancing sound environmental, social and governance practices, including by significantly reducing paper usage. Danavation has introduced its solution to retailers across North America, including big box and boutique grocers, while also targeting new markets including healthcare providers, manufacturing, and logistics companies. Learn more about the background of Danavation and our vision for the future on our website. As well, follow us on LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube for more updates on how we are transforming the retail landscape.

For further information, please contact:

John Ricci

President & Chief Executive Officer

[email protected]

Kyle Nazareth

Chief Financial Officer

Tel: 289-892-3974 | [email protected]

Forward-Looking Information

This news release contains forward

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

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.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/166364
Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - May 17, 2023) - Deveron Corp. (TSXV: FARM) ("Deveron" or the "Company"), a leading agriculture service and data company in North America, is pleased to announce that further to its press releases of April 14, 2023, April 25, 2023 and May 5, 2023, the Company has completed the second and final tranche of its previously announced prospectus offering through the issuance of 550,000 common shares (each, a "Common Share") in the capital of the Company at a price of $0.31 per Common Share for gross proceeds of $170,500 (the "Offering"). The distribution of the Common Shares is qualified by the Company's shelf prospectus supplement (a "Prospectus Supplement") dated April 26, 2023, to the Company's short form base shelf prospectus for each of the provinces of Canada, except Quebec, dated November 30, 2021 (the "Base Shelf Prospectus").

Gross proceeds of the Offering will be to fund Deveron's M&A strategy, consolidating the fragmented soil lab and crop consultant market in North America.

This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy 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 as defined under applicable United States securities laws unless registered under the U.S. Securities Act and applicable state securities laws or an exemption from such registration is available.

About Deveron: Deveron is an agriculture technology company that uses data and insights to help farmers and large agriculture enterprises increase yields, reduce costs, and improve farm outcomes. The company employs a digital process that leverages data collected on farms across North America to drive unbiased interpretation of production decisions, ultimately recommending how to optimize input use. Our team of agronomists and data scientists build products that recommend ways to better manage fertilizer, seed, fungicide, and other farm inputs. Additionally, we have a national network of data technicians that are deployed to collect various types of farm data, from soil to drone. Our geographic focus is the US and Canada where 1 billion acres are actively farmed annually.

For more information, please visit www.deveron.com.

Phil Linton

VP Corporate Development

Deveron Corp.

[email protected]

Tel: 647-622-0076

"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."

This news release includes certain "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of that phrase under Canadian securities laws. Without limitation, statements regarding future plans and objectives of the Company are forward-looking statements that involve various degrees of risk. Forward-looking statements reflect management's current views with respect to possible future events and conditions and, by their nature, are based on management's beliefs and assumptions and subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties, both general and specific to the Company. Although the Company believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those in our forward-looking statements. The following are important factors that could cause the Company's actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward looking statements: changes in the world-wide price of agricultural commodities, general market conditions, risks inherent in agriculture, the uncertainty of future profitability and the uncertainty of access to additional capital. Additional information regarding the material factors and assumptions that were applied in making these forward-looking statements as well as the various risks and uncertainties we face are described in greater detail in the "Risk Factors" section of our annual and interim Management's Discussion and Analysis of our financial results and other continuous disclosure documents and financial statements we file with the Canadian securities regulatory authorities which are available at www.sedar.com. The Company undertakes no obligation to update this forward-looking information except as required by applicable law. The Company relies on litigation protection for forward-looking statements.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/166506
Ottawa, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - May 17, 2023) - Enablence Technologies Inc. (TSXV: ENA) ("Enablence" or the "Company"), a leading supplier of photonics semiconductors, is pleased to announce the addition of Mr. Oded Tal and Mr. Daniel Huff to its Board of Directors, effective May 17, 2022, subject to the approval of the TSX Venture Exchange. In addition, the company announces that Mr. Daniel Shmitt has resigned from the Company's Board of Directors effective immediately.

Commenting on the changes to the Company's Board, Mr. Derek H. Burney, chairman of Enablence, stated, "We are pleased to welcome both Oded and Dan to the Enablence Board. Their combined experience will be invaluable to Enablence as we grow our business." Mr. Burney further added, "On behalf of the Company's Board and management, I would also like to thank Dan Shmitt for his many years of service. We all wish him well in his future endeavours."

Mr. Tal brings a wealth of semiconductor knowledge and experience to Enablence. He is founder and CEO of the MAX Group, the foremost management, operations, and engineering services provider to the semiconductors industry. At MAX, Mr. Tal has held numerous executive roles for clients supporting M&A and presently serves as CEO of TSI Semiconductors where he was instrumental in its transformation and recent sale. Before joining MAX, Mr. Tal held various positions in the semiconductors and automotive industry, in the US and Israel, having previously served in the Israeli Air Force. Mr. Tal is currently on the advisory board of Alpha Motors and the Board of Directors of Hello Carl. Mr. Tal holds a B.Sc. in Industrial Engineering with focus on manufacturing from the University of New Haven, and a Masters in Engineering Management from The Ohio State University.

Mr. Huff is the founder of CHIPSact.com, a prominent source of information on government initiatives for the semiconductor industry, and is also the co-founder of a fast growing, VC-backed social networking start-up. He was previously a senior Presidential advisor in the White House and, prior to that, General Deputy Assistant Secretary for Enforcement at HUD. Mr. Huff has served as counsel to the Chairmen of both the Senate and House Judiciary Committees. Before coming to Washington, he was a management consultant with McKinsey and Company in New York. He's a graduate of the Columbia Law School. His work has been featured in numerous outlets including the Wall Street Journal, National Law Journal and LA Times.

About Enablence Technologies Inc.

Enablence is a publicly traded company listed on the TSX Venture Exchange (TSXV: ENA) that designs, manufactures and sells optical components, primarily in the form of planar lightwave circuits (PLC), on silicon-based chips. Enablence products serve a global customer base, primarily focused today on data center, automotive LiDAR, and other rapidly-growing end markets. Enablence also works with customers that have emerging market uses for its technology, including medical devices and virtual and augmented reality headsets. In select strategic circumstances, the Company also uses its proprietary, non-captive fabrication plant in Fremont, California to manufacture chips designed by third party customers.

For more information, visit: www.enablence.com.

For more information contact:

T. Paul Rowland, CFO

Enablence Technologies Inc.

[email protected]

Todd Haugen, CEO

Enablence Technologies Inc.

[email protected]

Ali Mahdavi, Capital Markets & Investor Relations

[email protected]

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Information

This news release contains forward-looking statements regarding the Company based on current expectations and assumptions of management, which involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties associated with our business and the economic environment in which the business operates. All such statements are forward-looking statements under applicable Canadian securities legislation. Any statements contained herein that are not statements of historical facts may be deemed to be forward-looking statements. By their nature, forward-looking statements require us to make assumptions and are subject to inherent risks and uncertainties. These statements are based on current expectations that involve several risks and uncertainties which could cause actual results to differ from those anticipated. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements contained in this news release, and the assumptions on which such forward-looking statements are made, are reasonable, there can be no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. We caution our readers of this news release not to place undue reliance on our forward-looking statements as a number of factors could cause actual results or conditions to differ materially from current expectations. Additional information on these and other factors that could affect the Company's operations are set forth in the Company's continuous disclosure documents that can be found on SEDAR ( www.sedar.com ) under Enablence's issuer profile. Enablence does not intend, and disclaims any obligation, except as required by law, to update or revise any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

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. No stock exchange, securities commission or other regulatory authority has approved or disapproved the information contained herein.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/166525
Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - May 17, 2023) - Exploits Discovery Corp. (CSE: NFLD) (OTCQX: NFLDF) (FSE: 634) ("Exploits" or the "Company") is pleased to announce assay results from eight recent exploration drill holes at its Bullseye property. Several grains of visible gold were observed within a network of quartz veins in drill hole BE-23-014, located approximately 250 metres north of New Found Gold's recently publicized high-grade intercepts at the Everest gold zone.

Highlights:

BE-23-014 intersected 9.84 g/t Au averaged over 12.00 m core-length, located at a vertical depth of approximately 133 m below surface, where 10 grains of visible gold were noted within a network of quartz veins. Including 36.75 g/t Au contribution from a 0.45 m sample Including 26.98 g/t Au contribution from a 1.15 m sample Including 27.48 g/t Au contribution from a 0.70 m sample Including 19.22 g/t Au contribution from a 1.10 m sample Including 15.97 g/t Au contribution from a 0.65 m sample

intersected core-length, located at a vertical depth of approximately 133 m below surface, where 10 grains of visible gold were noted within a network of quartz veins.

BE-23-007 intersected 4.35 g/t Au over 0.55 m core-length, located at a vertical depth of approximately 50 m below surface, and 3.60 g/t Au over 0.40 m core-length located at a vertical depth of approximately 80 m below surface.

Assay results from 14 of 26 drill holes have been received to date.

A total of 9,536 m has been drilled to date in 26 holes within the northeastern trend of the Appleton Fault and prospective splay structures.

All of Exploits' claim groups within the Appleton and Dog Bay sector of central Newfoundland are now fully permitted for conducting exploration activities with forestry access roads and trails that provide safe, rapid, access into most work areas.

Exploits' local prospecting team has already started investigating additional surface exposures of sulphide mineralization and quartz veining at Bullseye.

Jeff Swinoga, President and CEO, comments,"We are excited to announce our best assay results since the start of our 2023 Bullseye drilling program. Our talented local team is seeing a broad network of multi-stage quartz veins and related sulphide mineralization commonly associated with the track of the Appleton fault structure. We believe this demonstrates that Bullseye has the potential to replicate or extend the high-grade gold mineralization observed by our neighbours within 250 metres of our claim boundaries."

To date, a total of 26 holes consisting of 9,536 metres of NQ drilling, has been completed of the results-oriented drill program. This initial drilling is carefully designed and guided on a daily basis to determine the best potential for encountering high grade gold mineralization along the Company's 1.2 kilometre segment of the Appleton Fault zone.

Figure 1: Plan Map displays Exploits' Bullseye property with location of drill holes BE-23-007 to BE-23-014 shown within yellow dashed box.



To view an enhanced version of Figure 1, please visit:

https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/6393/166319_f9ab419a54a4ba78_002full.jpg

Figure 2: Plan Map showing assay results along trace of the Appleton Fault Zone.



To view an enhanced version of Figure 2, please visit:

https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/6393/166319_f9ab419a54a4ba78_003full.jpg

Photo 1: NQ core from Hole #BE-23-014 showing example of the grain size and free distribution of the visible gold noted within the quartz veining.



To view an enhanced version of Photo 1, please visit:

https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/6393/166319_f9ab419a54a4ba78_004full.jpg





Other assay highlights from recent drilling at Bullseye include:

BE-23-014 intercepts:

3.98 g/t Au over 0.40 m core-length located at a vertical depth of approximately 75 m below surface.





4.71 g/t Au averaged over 2.50 m core-length at a vertical depth of approximately 103 m below surface. Including 12.98 g/t Au over 0.50 m core-length





7.48 g/t Au averaged over 1.60 m core-length located at a vertical depth of approximately 140 m below surface. Including 11.92 g/t Au over 0.95 m core-length



Bullseye Drilling - Table of Selected Assays

Table 1: Selected drill assays

Bullseye Drilling 2023 - Selected Assays (Exceeding 1.00 g/t Au Value) from Sawn NQ Drill Core

Hole ID From (m) To (m) Sample Length (m) Vertical Depth (m) Below Surface Analysis Method Au Assay (ppb) Au Assay (g/t) Comments Au - Weighted Average Grade (g/t )*

BE-23-007 61.00 61.55 0.55 ~50m FA-AA 4,347.00 4.35



AND 105.60 106.00 0.40 ~80m FA-AA 3,603.00 3.60





BE-23-008 51.30 51.85 0.55 ~40m Screen-Met 1,433.92 1.43



AND 97.00 98.05 1.05 ~80m FA-AA 1,513.00 1.51





BE-23-009 270.45 271.00 0.55 ~185m Screen-Met 1,324.93 1.32

1.48 g/t Au over 0.95m 271.00 271.40 0.40 Screen-Met 1,702.70 1.70

AND 272.00 272.50 0.50 ~187m FA-AA 1,005.00 1.01





BE-23-010 133.40 134.00 0.60 ~92m FA-AA 1,444.00 1.44





BE-23-011 212.50 213.00 0.50 ~153m FA-AA 1,176.00 1.18





BE-23-012













NSV



BE-23-013 85.00 85.70 0.70 ~61m FA-AA 1,126.00 1.13





BE-23-014 94.80 95.20 0.40 ~75m FA-AA 3,978.00 3.98



AND 98.00 98.50 0.50 ~77m FA-AA 1,237.00 1.24



AND 133.60 134.10 0.50 ~101m Screen-Met 1,825.56 1.83



AND 135.00 135.50 0.50 ~103m Screen-Met 1,244.71 1.24

4.71 g/t Au over 2.50m 135.50 136.00 0.50 Screen-Met 783.18 0.78

136.00 136.50 0.50 Screen-Met 1,212.68 1.21

136.50 137.00 0.50 Screen-Met 12,981.07 12.98

137.00 137.50 0.50 Screen-Met 7,334.09 7.33

AND 173.50 174.00 0.50 ~126m Screen-Met 1,244.84 1.24



AND 176.00 177.00 1.00 ~133m Screen-Met 1,575.30 1.58

9.84 g/t over 12.00m 177.00 177.45 0.45 Screen-Met 36,753.70 36.75 VG Noted 177.45 178.60 1.15 Screen-Met 26,979.36 26.98 178.60 179.20 0.60 Screen-Met 4,009.20 4.01

179.20 179.90 0.70 Screen-Met 27,476.69 27.48 VG Noted 179.90 181.00 1.10 Screen-Met 19,218.39 19.22

181.00 181.40 0.40 Screen-Met 2,885.81 2.89 VG Noted 181.40 182.00 0.60 Screen-Met 2,488.46 2.49

182.00 182.40 0.40 Screen-Met 780.64 0.78

182.40 183.05 0.65 Screen-Met 15,972.65 15.97

183.05 183.60 0.55 Screen-Met 1,985.25 1.99

183.60 184.00 0.40 Screen-Met 2,689.56 2.69

184.00 184.70 0.70 Screen-Met 3,202.30 3.20

184.70 185.10 0.40 Screen-Met 1,330.31 1.33

185.10 186.05 0.95 Screen-Met 4,133.18 4.13

186.05 186.85 0.80 Screen-Met 2,324.96 2.32

186.85 188.00 1.15 Screen-Met 1,860.53 1.86

AND 189.00 190.00 1.00 ~136m FA-AA 1,152.00 1.15



AND 191.00 192.00 1.00 ~138m FA-AA 1,964.00 1.96



AND 193.40 194.35 0.95 ~140m FA-AA 11,917.00 11.92

7.48 g/t Au over 1.60m 194.35 195.00 0.65 FA-AA 997.00 1.00

AND 263.55 264.20 0.65 ~190m FA-AA 1,190.00 1.19

1.06 g/t Au over 1.10m 264.20 264.65 0.45 FA-AA 879.00 0.88



*All intersections are core intervals and do not represent true thickness

Table 2: Drill collar data

Bullseye - Collar Information for Reported Drill Holes

Hole ID Easting Northing Elevation (m) Azimuth Dip Length (m) BE-23-007 659862 5431016 38 300 -45 301 BE-23-008 659849 5430950 39 300 -45 292 BE-23-009 659756 5430790 41 300 -45 424 BE-23-010 659639 5430887 39 300 -45 250 BE-23-011 659666 5430898 41 210 -45 253 BE-23-012 659685 5430923 39 300 -45 301 BE-23-013 659618 5430755 43 300 -45 400 BE-23-014 659589 5431022 38 195 -45 441

Coordinates Reported in NAD-83

Bullseye Gold Target

The Bullseye claims were staked by Exploits in September 2022, and are contiguous to the very active targets currently being drilled by both New Found Gold and Labrador Gold. The claims are considered by the Company's geologists to be highly prospective because they directly overlay a 1,200 by 400 metre segment of the Appleton Fault and its related splay structures. Over a dozen exploration drill rigs have been employed by the three companies operating within this structural-stratigraphic setting over the past 18 months.

Quality Assurance - Quality Control ("QA/QC")

All prospective NQ core is logged and delineated for sampling by an Exploits' professional geologist. The core is subsequently halved by a diamond-bladed core saw by the Company's technicians with one half being placed in a bag with a unique sample identification. The remaining half core is retained within the Company's secure storage facility in Gander, Newfoundland. Sample bags are sealed and then shipped directly to Eastern Analytical Ltd. Certified standards and blanks are inserted at defined intervals following the Company's QA/QC documented procedures, representing approximately 5% of all samples sent for assaying. All core samples are analyzed at Eastern Analytical Ltd. of 403 Little Bay Road, Springdale, NL, a commercial laboratory that is ISO/IEC 17025 accredited and completely independent of Exploits. Samples are analyzed using fire assay (30g) with AA finish (Au-FAA 30 ppb process) and/or a four-acid digestion followed by multi-element ICP-OES analysis. All samples with visible gold or assaying above 10.0 g/t Au are further assayed using metallic screen to mitigate the presence of the nugget effect of coarse gold.

National Instrument 43-101 Disclosure

Ken Tylee, P.Geo., VP of Exploration with Exploits, is a qualified person within the Provinces of Ontario and Newfoundland and Labrador as defined by NI 43-101. Mr. Tylee has reviewed and approved the technical information presented herein.

About Exploits Discovery Corp.

Exploits is a Canadian mineral exploration company focused on the acquisition and development of mineral projects in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. The Company is focused on discovering high-grade structurally hosted epizonal gold similar to New Found Gold's success along the Appleton Fault zone and parallel structures within the Exploits Subzone.

Exploits is utilizing its experienced, talented local team and geologic understanding with the vision to become one of the most successful explorers in Canada.

On Behalf of the Board

/s/ "Jeff Swinoga"

President and CEO

For more information, please contact:

Shanda Kilborn

VP, Investor Relations

+1 (778) 819-2708

[email protected]

https://exploitsdiscovery.com

Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Regulation Service Provider (as the term is defined in the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy of accuracy of this news release.

Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains certain forward-looking statements, which relate to future events or future performance and reflect management's current expectations and assumptions. Such forward-looking statements reflect management's current beliefs and are based on assumptions made by and information currently available to the Company. Readers are cautioned that these forward-looking statements are neither promises nor guarantees, and are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause future results to differ materially from those expected including, but not limited to, market conditions, availability of financing, actual results of the Company's exploration and other activities, environmental risks, future metal prices, operating risks, accidents, labor issues, delays in obtaining governmental approvals and permits, and other risks in the mining industry. All the forward-looking statements made in this news release are qualified by these cautionary statements and those in our continuous disclosure filings available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date hereof and the Company does not assume any obligation to update or revise them to reflect new events or circumstances save as required by applicable law.

Acknowledgments

Exploits Discovery would like to acknowledge the financial support of the Junior Exploration Assistance Program from the Department of Natural Resources, Government of Newfoundland and Labrador.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/166319
Oakville, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - May 17, 2023) - FendX Technologies Inc. (CSE: FNDX) (the "Company" or "FendX"), a nanotechnology company developing surface protection coatings, is pleased to announce that the Company has signed a licensing agreement dated May 16, 2023 (the "License Agreement") with McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario ("McMaster") for an exclusive worldwide license to certain technology, including a U.S. provisional patent application filed on October 11, 2022, for a bifunctional spray coating formulation that reduces contamination of high touch surfaces by repelling and killing pathogens.

Dr. Carolyn Myers, President and CEO of FendX, stated, "We are extremely pleased to expand our nanotechnology intellectual property portfolio to include a spray coating formulation through this license agreement with our research partner McMaster." Dr. Myers continues, "The spray formulation is currently under development at McMaster and demonstrates not only repelling properties similar to our REPELWRAP" film, but also demonstrates that it kills residual pathogen contamination. This is an important addition to our current nanotechnology as a potential spray product could be easier to apply to many surfaces and expand our potential market opportunities beyond industrial and commercial applications."

The License Agreement provides FendX with a development-stage nano-spray coating which demonstrates both pathogen repelling and killing properties. McMaster lab testing has shown a reduction in adhesion of 99.99% for methylene-resistant Staphylococcus aureus ("MRSA") and 99.96% for bacterial virus Phi6, compared with controls. Plastic gloves sprayed with the nanotechnology coating showed a 99.99% reduction in the transfer of Phi6 and MRSA after only one touch compared to uncoated gloves which continued to transfer MRSA and Phi6 after 50 touches. Killing activity was measured by the reduction in colony forming units on coated surfaces compared with noncoated surfaces and results showed a 99.98% reduction in the number of MRSA and Pseudomonas aeruginosa colony forming units on nano-coated surfaces. These results were published in two peer-reviewed journals: Jarad, N. A. et al, Small, "An Omniphobic Spray Coating Created from Hierarchical Structures Prevents the Contamination of HighTouch Surfaces with Pathogens", 2023, 2205761 (1-11) and Jarad, N.A. et al, ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces, "A Bifunctional Spray Coating Reduces Contamination on Surfaces by Repelling and Killing Pathogens", 2023, 15, 16253-16265.

The License Agreement provides FendX the exclusive worldwide right to manufacture, sell, market and distribute licensed products developed from the licensed technology. Pursuant to the License Agreement, there are no upfront payments required, but the Company will be required to pay a 4% royalty on net sales of a commercialized product and commit maximum research funding to McMaster of $112,000 in 2023 and $175,000 in 2024 to support continued research and development activities of the spray nanotechnology.

About FendX Technologies Inc.

FendX is a Canada-based nanotechnology company focused on developing products to make people's lives safer by reducing the spread of pathogens. The Company is developing both film and spray products to protect surfaces from contamination. The lead product under development, REPELWRAP" film, is a protective surface coating film that, due to its repelling properties, prevents the adhesion of pathogens and reduces their transmission on surfaces prone to contamination. The spray nanotechnology is a bifunctional spray coating being developed to reduce contamination on surfaces by repelling and killing pathogens. The Company is conducting research and development activities using its nanotechnology in collaboration with industry-leading partners, including McMaster University. The Company has an exclusive worldwide license to its technology and IP portfolio from McMaster, which encompass both film and spray coating nanotechnology formulations.

Contacts:

Dr. Carolyn Myers, CEO and Director

1-800-344-9868

Alyssa Barry, Investor Relations

1-833-947-5227

[email protected]

For more information, please visit https://fendxtech.com/ and the Company's profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor the Market Regulator (as that term is defined in the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation, including with respect to: the plans of the Company; statements regarding the nano-spray formulation; the Company's belief that the nano-spray will expand the Company's potential market opportunities beyond industrial and commercial applications; and products under development and any pathogen reduction benefits related thereto. Although the Company believes that such statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts; they are generally, but not always, identified by the words "expects," "plans," "anticipates," "believes," "intends," "estimates," "projects," "aims," "potential," "goal," "objective," "prospective," and similar expressions, or that events or conditions "will," "would," "may," "can," "could" or "should" occur, or are those statements, which, by their nature, refer to future events. The Company cautions that forward-looking statements are based on the beliefs, estimates and opinions of the Company's management on the date the statements are made and involve several risks and uncertainties. Consequently, there can be no assurances that such statements will prove to be accurate and that actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements.

Important factors that could cause future results to differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements include product candidates only being in formulation/reformulation stages; limited operating history; research and development activities; dependence on collaborative partners, licensors and others; effect of general economic and political conditions; and other risk factors set forth in the Company's final prospectus dated January 31, 2023, under the heading "Risk Factors." Accordingly, the reader is urged to refer to the Company's prospectus and other filings, publicly available through SEDAR at www.sedar.com, for a more complete discussion of such risk factors and their potential effects. Except to the extent required by applicable securities laws and the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange, the Company undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements if management's beliefs, estimates or opinions, or other factors should change.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/166306
Brisbane, Queensland, Australia--(Newsfile Corp. - May 17, 2023) - Graphene Manufacturing Group Ltd. (TSXV: GMG) ("GMG" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that GMG and Rio Tinto have signed a binding Joint Development Agreement ("JDA") with the goal of accelerating the development and application of GMG's Graphene Aluminium-Ion batteries in the mining and minerals industry. Rio Tinto will contribute technical and operational performance criteria and A$6 million, in exchange for preferential access rights.

Rio Tinto has put the net zero transition at the heart of its business strategy: combining investments in commodities that enable the energy transition with actions to decarbonise their operations and value chains. The JDA seeks to support the accelerated development of GMG's Graphene Aluminium-Ion Batteries for use in heavy mobile equipment and grid energy storage applications in the mining and mineral industry.

The JDA builds on the existing collaboration for Rio Tinto to explore the use of GMG's Energy Saving and Energy Storage solutions (see Company announcement on 18 May 2022). This JDA is effective immediately and is expected to last 2 years with payments spread over the term of the agreement. The JDA aims to co-develop GMG's Graphene Aluminium-Ion battery pouch cell into an initial battery pack/module proof of concept.

Rio Tinto will seek to involve Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM), including Heavy Mobile Equipment OEMs, to work with GMG and Rio Tinto to align the battery pack development with end use requirements.

Success could see performance enhancements for Rio Tinto, including faster charging and longer-life batteries for heavy mobile equipment and grid energy storage, as well as supporting Rio Tinto's decarbonisation ambitions.

GMG will retain ownership of the intellectual property of the GMG Graphene Aluminium Ion Battery Pouch Cell and Battery Pack. On successful completion of the joint project, Rio Tinto would have the right to procure and use the batteries in their operations.

Rio Tinto Chief Scientist, Nigel Steward, said, "We are excited to expand and deepen our partnership with GMG. We both share a vision of a low-carbon future and for Rio Tinto it's a crucial time to partner with companies like GMG to accelerate battery technology and innovation. We are looking forward to continuing our collaboration and leveraging our combined expertise and resources to develop a truly green battery that has the potential to improve the way we supply and store energy."

GMG's Managing Director and CEO, Craig Nicol, commented: "We are excited to be collaborating with Rio Tinto, one of the world's largest mining companies who are committed to leveraging leading technologies for efficient and low carbon operations. The collaboration with Rio Tinto on the applications of Graphene Aluminium-Ion batteries is a key step for GMG. Together, with the existing technical and supply chain partnerships already established, this is another important step towards GMG's goal to become a major global supplier of next generation batteries as we continue to de-risk the commercial scale up of this technology."

Guy Outen, GMG's Chair, commented: "I am very pleased to further deepen our partnership with Rio Tinto. I believe the opportunity to work closely with them given their capability and drive as a large potential customer to access leading new technologies will greatly assist the potential development of our next generation Graphene Aluminium-Ion batteries. More broadly, significant customer feedback to GMG has reinforced the opportunity of the pouch cell battery format and this JDA with Rio Tinto is another example. We'll now re-prioritise our energies to developing this form of battery which should further support progress towards our aim of a commercial, large scale, highly competitive battery."

About Rio Tinto

Rio Tinto is a leading global mining and materials company. Rio Tinto operates in 35 countries and produces iron ore, copper, aluminium, critical minerals and other materials needed for the global energy transition and for people, communities, and nations to thrive. They have been mining for almost 150 years and operate with knowledge built up across generations and continents. Rio Tinto's purpose is finding better ways to provide the materials the world needs - striving for innovation and continuous improvement to produce materials with low emissions and to the right environmental, social and governance standards.

About GMG

GMG is a clean-technology company which seeks to offer energy saving and energy storage solutions, enabled by graphene, including that manufactured in-house via a proprietary production process.

GMG has developed a proprietary production process to decompose natural gas (i.e. methane) into its elements, carbon (as graphene), hydrogen and some residual hydrocarbon gases. This process produces high quality, low cost, scalable, 'tuneable' and low/no contaminant graphene suitable for use in clean-technology and other applications. The Company's present focus is to de-risk and develop commercial scale-up capabilities, and secure market applications.

In the energy savings segment, GMG has focused on graphene enhanced heating, ventilation and air conditioning ("HVAC-R") coating (or energy-saving paint), lubricants and fluids. In the energy storage segment, GMG and the University of Queensland are working collaboratively with financial support from the Australian Government to progress R&D and commercialization of graphene aluminium-ion batteries ("G+AI Batteries").

For further information, please contact:

Craig Nicol, Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of the Company at [email protected] , +61 415 445 223

, +61 415 445 223 Leo Karabelas at Focus Communications, [email protected] , +1 647 689 6041

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 news release.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This news 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", "expects" or "anticipates", or variations of such words and phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "should", "would" or will "potentially" or "likely" occur. This information and these statements, referred to herein as "forwardlooking statements", are not historical facts, are made as of the date of this news release and include without limitation, statements regarding Rio Tinto's contribution to the JDA and the expected benefit thereof, the impact of the JDA on the development of the Company's Graphene Aluminium-Ion Batteries, the development of GMG's pouch cell, the potential involvement of OEM, the duration of the JDA, and the benefits derived from the JDA and the partnership with Rio Tinto more generally.

These forwardlooking statements involve numerous risks and uncertainties and actual results might differ materially from results suggested in any forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, among other things, risks related to the deployment of the Company's resources, including that the JDA will not result in the benefits management expects, that the Company's products will not develop as expect, that the impact of the JDA and the partnership with Rio Tinto will differ from management's expectations, that OEM will not assist in aligning the battery pack development with equipment requirements, changes to regional and global market trends, and that the Company will be unable to research, develop and produce certain products and technologies.

In making the forward looking statements in this news release, the Company has applied several material assumptions, including without limitation, assumptions regarding the Company's development of certain products, the market demand for the Company's products, that the JDA will benefit both the Company and Rio Tinto, that the partnership with the Company and Rio Tinto will proceed and produce the benefits expected, that OEM will assist in aligning battery pack development with equipment requirements, the duration of the JDA, the Company's ability to research, develop and test its products within anticipated timelines, and market demand for the Company's products.

Although management of the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking statements or forward-looking information, 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 and forward-looking information. Readers are cautioned that reliance on such information may not be appropriate for other purposes. The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking statement, forward-looking information or financial out-look that are incorporated by reference herein, except in accordance with applicable securities laws. We seek safe harbor.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/165332
Ottawa, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - May 17, 2023) - The Congress of Aboriginal Peoples is calling on Canadian Senators to ensure all Indigenous Peoples are included in the planned Reconciliation Council being created by Bill C-29. The oversight body is a "Call to Action" from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's 2015 report. It is vital that urban Indigenous voices and CAP have a seat at the table, and therefore Senators must make an amendment allowing us to take part.

"Reconciliation must start with inclusion," says CAP National Chief Elmer St. Pierre. "There are five National Indigenous Organizations, but for some reason the Liberal Government is playing partisan politics excluding CAP and the voices of urban Indigenous peoples."

The Reconciliation Council is a product of Bill C-29 which the Liberals introduced last year. Under the proposed legislation, the Council would be considered a not-for-profit corporation comprised of nine to 13 directors. Earlier this year, opposition members put forward an amendment to include CAP and our voices in the council, but Liberal MPs heartlessly voted against the change.

"The government is attempting to divide and conquer, choosing who they consider Indigenous," says CAP National Vice-Chief Kim Beaudin. "Reconciliation doesn't just happen on reserve - the vast majority of Indigenous peoples now live in urban and rural areas and their voices must be heard."

Senators now have a significant opportunity to put forward an amendment allowing hundreds of thousands of Indigenous voices to participate in the reconciliation process. CAP is optimistic that sober-second thought will prevail, and our voices will be heard.

Media Contact:

Nigel Newlove

Director of Media Relations

[email protected]

613-286-9828

The Congress of Aboriginal Peoples is the national voice representing the interests of Mtis, status and non-status Indians, and Southern Inuit Indigenous People living off-reserve. Today, over 80% of Indigenous people live off-reserve.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/166445
Hong Kong, China--(Newsfile Corp. - May 17, 2023) - Global Strategic Consultancy Limited, a leading firm that provides risk advisory and mitigation services pertaining to financial markets, has announced its participation in this year's SIGMA ASIA event which will be held in Manila, Philippines, Asia's leading hub for gaming, from 19thto 22ndJuly.





Global Strategic Consultancy Limited

The event, which would take place at Manila's largest convention center, SMX Convention Center, will be attended by numerous major players from different industry segments relevant to the gaming industry while also featuring B2B (Business to Business) as well as B2C (Business to Consumer) brand names alongside a number of land-based exhibitors.

Event attendees include payment services firms, gaming operators, online gaming platform operators, FinTech firms, software solution providers, and payments solutions providers amongst many others. Additionally, the event will also feature a number of prominent figures as speakers across a broad industry spectrum.

Participation in such a major event within the gaming industry would serve as an excellent opportunity for Global Strategic Consultancy Limited to further broaden its network of potential partners amidst the company's push toward growing its community and presence in the Asia-Pacific region as well as to eventually venture into other industry sectors.

In a statement affirming its participation in SIGMA ASIA 2023, Global Strategic Consultancy Limited stated that, "We are excited and honored to have the opportunity to participate in SIGMA ASIA 2023 alongside some of the most prominent organizations across different industry segments. We are pleased to have such an incredible opportunity to engage with leading organizations to identify ways to foster collaboration, realize expansion and bring about greater benefits for all our stakeholders."

Media contact:

Company Name: Global Strategic Consultancy Limited

Contact Person: Johnny Lee

Email: [email protected]

Website: https://gsconsultancy.io

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/166300
I have lost my father, my brothers, and I spent three years in these prison cells, but even so, this revolution is worth making: we have monsters in power, says Omar Alshogre, 27. He is inside a room in Sciences Po, the prestigious political science institute in Paris, commenting on an exhibition of photographs by Cesar, the pseudonym of a former Syrian military police photographer who left the country in 2013 with 55,000 images documenting the crimes against humanity of Bashar al-Assads regime. Alshogre knows what he is talking about: he was arrested during the protests at the beginning of the so-called Arab Spring revolts against Al-Assad and was inside those prisons between 2011 and 2015. He was still a teenager, and he survived. Alshogre now splits his time between the United States and Sweden and is in charge of detainee affairs at the Syrian Emergency Task Force, an American non-profit group. When they arrest you and take you to prison, they interrogate you and ask you questions that are impossible to answer, the conversation begins. For example, how many police officers have you killed in your life, Marc?

Question. Me? None.

Answer. And thats what I answered, too. Not just because I didnt kill any, but because none had died. But under torture they forced me to say that I had killed policemen, in order to designate me as a criminal and a terrorist. I was 15 years old. And while you are being tortured, you hear other prisoners begging to be killed due to the pain they are suffering.

Q. You were very young.

A. I was in prison 215, in Damascus. My assignment was to move the corpses of the dead prisoners to the room where their deaths were certified. You are in shock. You dont understand whats going on. How is it possible for a guard who looks like a father to treat you like this? But, being so young, you are more likely to adapt to the situation. There is a routine.

Q. What kind of routine?

A. You got up at 4 a.m. Then they forced you to remove the corpses. They fed you, once a day. You went to the bathroom. Then they tortured you. And then you had 14 more hours in the cell with other prisoners. They werent criminals, they were good people. On the right, you might have a doctor who helps you heal the wounds. On the left, a psychologist who helps you too. Opposite from you, a lawyer and a professor. If you spend three days in prison, you dont worry about learning anything. But if you spend years in prison, you have to adapt, you have to learn.

Q. How did you survive?

A. I had tuberculosis, I weighed 34 kilos. My mother bribed the guards and judges with a lot of money to get me out of prison. They took me to Turkey and from there I went to Greece by boat and then to Sweden, where I got medical treatment.

Q. How old were you when you came out?

A. I was arrested for the first time at 15, released shortly afterwards, arrested again at 17 and released at 20.

The Syrian activist Omar Alshogre, in Idlib in 2015 after getting out of prison, in a photograph provided by himself.

Q. How did those years change you?

A. Instead of having the normal experience of a high school student, I had to become an adult quickly. I learned to survive. I had to fight for a cause that I was too young to understand. That being said, prison made me who I am today. It gave me the strength to fight against the dictatorship and injustice.

Q. Arent you afraid that Syria and its torture are being forgotten? Some people even think that Al-Assad is the lesser evil: he has won the war, the Islamic State has lost, and we must adapt.

A. The idea that the Syrian regime fought against ISIS is false, because ISIS emerged in 2014 and the regime killed people from 2011 until now.

Q. Do you feel forgotten?

A. The world becomes desensitized to bad news: this has been going on for 12 years, but it is allowed to continue. We shouldnt get used to it. Behind these photographs and these corpses there are emotions, feelings, families. Grief affects not only incarcerated people, but also their families and friends. The Syrian regime has imprisoned and tortured more than 1.5 million people over the years, and right now there are more than 100,000 people in these prisons. In other words, there is not a single family in Syria that does not have someone imprisoned or tortured. It is a regime that has killed more than half a million people, displaced 14 million and continues to torture. This regime should not stay in power, Assad must fall: he is the worst war criminal we have ever had. Did ISIS commit worse crimes than Assad? No. It didnt kill that many people. Both are terrible, but the Syrian regime is the reason we had ISIS in Syria.

Q. What should the West do?

A. Help the opposition! Do you know what the West is doing today? Hoping that the opposition alone will change everything, but we cant do it without support. The regime has survived because it has allies: without Iran, Russia and China, it would fall in two weeks.

Q. The regime and many outsiders believe that Al-Assad has already won the war.

A. Its not like that: they dont control the whole country, more than seven million people are out of their control. But he is trying to sell the story that he has won the war to force the world to accept it.

Q. And now, Al-Assad will participate in the Arab League summit.

A. The most disappointing thing is that the Arab population does not take to the streets to protest the return of a dictator who killed not only Syrians, but also Iraqis, Palestinians, Jordanians, Egyptians... These leaders despise human rights violations. Bringing Assad back will not make things better: a political solution cannot be negotiated with a government that continues to use violence and kill. This regime takes advantage of the weakness of the international community and the lack of pressure from governments such as the United States on countries that normalize relations with Al-Assad.
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - May 17, 2023) - Hypercharge Networks Corp. (NEO: HC) (OTCQB: HCNWF) (FSE: PB7) (the "Company" or "Hypercharge") is pleased to announce it has closed its previously announced non-brokered private placement financing (the "Financing") of units (each, a "Unit") of the Company through the issuance of 4,761,904 Units at a price of $1.05 per Unit, for gross proceeds of $5 million. Each Unit is comprised of one common share (a "Share") and one half of one (1/2) share purchase warrant (each whole warrant, a "Warrant"). Each Warrant is exercisable into one (1) Share (a "Warrant Share") at a price of $1.35 for a period of three (3) years from the date of issuance.

David Bibby, CEO of Hypercharge, commented: "We are very pleased to complete this financing with strong participation from several strategic institutional investors, including Commodity Capital. The proceeds will enable us to pursue our ambitious goals for 2023."

In connection with the Financing, the Company paid a cash fee of $27,362.40 to certain finders.

The Company intends to use the net proceeds from the Financing for expanding operations, marketing and investor relations, R&D, and for business development and general working capital, as set out in more detail in the offering document related to the Financing that can be accessed under the Company's profile at www.sedar.com and at www.hypercharge.com.

The Financing was completed pursuant to the listed issuer financing exemption under Part 5A of National Instrument 45-106 Prospectus Exemptions and therefore the securities issued through the Financing are not subject to a hold period in accordance with applicable Canadian securities laws.

Wallace Hill Partners Ltd. ("WHP"), an affiliate of Gold Standard Media, LLC, a service provider that is engaged to provide digital marketing and investor relations services for the Company commencing on April 3, 2023, participated in the Financing by subscribing for a total of 714,285 Units. Following completion of the Financing, the Company estimates that WHP will hold 1,089,285 Shares (1,446,427 Shares on a diluted basis), representing approximately 1.6% of the Company's total issued and outstanding Shares (2.1% on a partially-diluted basis). See the Company's press release dated March 22, 2023 for a description of the engagement of Gold Standard Media and WHP's shareholdings as at that date. North King Capital Inc., a promoter of the Company (as that term is defined in the Securities Act (British Columbia)), and Harrison Newlands, an individual that controls North King Capital Inc., together participated in the Financing by subscribing for an aggregate of 29,012 Units. A third-party advisor of the Company also participated in the Financing by subscribing for an aggregate of 238,095 Units.

No related parties, as that term is defined in Multilateral Instrument 61-101 Protection of Minority Security Holders in Special Transactions, participated in the Financing.

The securities issued pursuant to the Financing have not been, nor will they be, registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and may not be offered or sold within the United States or to, or for the account or benefit of, U.S. persons in the absence of U.S. registration or an applicable exemption from the U.S. registration requirements. This news release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy nor shall there be any sale of the securities in the United States or in any other jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful.

-##-

About Hypercharge

Hypercharge Networks Corp. (NEO: HC) (OTCQB: HCNWF) (FSE: PB7) is a leading provider of smart electric vehicle (EV) charging solutions that offers turnkey technology to multi-unit residential and commercial buildings, fleet operations, and other rapidly growing sectors. Driven by its mission to accelerate EV adoption and enable the shift towards a carbon neutral economy, Hypercharge is committed to providing seamless, simple charging solutions by offering industry-leading equipment and a robust network of public and private charging stations. Learn more: https://hypercharge.com/

On behalf of the company,

Hypercharge Networks Corp.

David Bibby, President & CEO

Investor Relations:

Kelsey Letham | Head of Investor Relations

[email protected]

604-881-1730

Media Contact:

Kyle Green | Senior Marketing Manager

[email protected]

Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains forward-looking statements and forward-looking information (collectively, "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Any statements that are contained in this news release that are not statements of historical fact may be deemed to be forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are often identified by terms such as "may", "should", "anticipate", "will", "estimates", "believes", "intends", "expects" and similar expressions which are intended to identify forward-looking statements. More particularly and without limitation, this news release contains forward-looking statements concerning the intended use of proceeds from the Financing. Forward-looking statements are inherently uncertain, and the actual performance may be affected by a number of material factors, assumptions and expectations, many of which are beyond the control of the Company. Readers are cautioned that assumptions used in the preparation of any forward-looking statements may prove to be incorrect. Events or circumstances may cause actual results to differ materially from those predicted as a result of numerous known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, many of which are beyond the control of the Company. Readers are further cautioned not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements, as such information, although considered reasonable by the respective management of the Company at the time of preparation, may prove to be incorrect and actual results may differ materially from those anticipated.

The forward-looking statements contained in this news release are made as of the date of this news release, and are expressly qualified by the foregoing cautionary statement. Except as expressly required by securities law, the Company undertakes no obligation to update publicly or to revise any of the included forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Neither the NEO Exchange nor its Market Regulator (as that term is defined in policies of the NEO Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.

NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO UNITED STATES NEWSWIRE SERVICES OR FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES



To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/166485
Hiroshima -- A Journey to Global Peace

Tokyo, Japan--(Newsfile Corp. - May 17, 2023) - NHK WORLD-JAPAN, the international service of Japan's public media organization, NHK, will present a collection of news and programs to coincide with the G-7 summit held in Hiroshima, the city now known as a symbol of peace since it's atomic bomb attack in 1945.





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Under its G7 presidency, Japan is slated to host the Group of Seven summit in Hiroshima between May 19 and 21. Expected topics on the agenda includes the Ukraine conflict, nuclear disarmament and other pressing global issues. The latest news and on-site reports will be made available on the G7 Summit in Hiroshima 2023 - NHK WORLD-JAPAN News page and aired at the top of every hour on NHK NEWSLINE. Viewers can also catch comprehensive coverage and feature stories on NEWSROOM TOKYO and other news programs on NHK WORLD-JAPAN.

In addition to news and documentaries on the theme of "peace and nuclear weapons", NHK WORLD-JAPAN will showcase various aspects on Hiroshima, including a documentary on world-renowned designer Issey Miyake and travel programs featuring World Heritage sites.

ISSEY MIYAKE The Human Inside the Clothes [Broadcast; May 27 Sat. 1:10/7:10/13:10/19:10 (UTC)]





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Issey Miyake passed away last summer at the age of 84. He was seven years old when the atomic bomb dropped on his hometown on August 6, 1945. Although Miyake rarely spoke about his wartime experiences, it is clear that his designs and work were deeply connected to his experiences that day. Through various interviews and footages, we delve into the memories of this world-renowned fashion designer.

Hit the Road [Broadcast; May 31 Wed. 1:30/6:30/12:30/17:30 (UTC)]







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Hit the Road is the new travelogue featuring Japan's unique roadside stations, or "michi no eki", which serve as a source of discovery for local gourmet and cultural information. This month, the program will take viewers on a ride from Hiroshima Airport to the World Heritage Site of Itsukushima Shrine to experience the delicious local fare and warm hospitality.

Visit What's On NHK WORLD-JAPAN for the broadcast schedule and more information on "Hiroshima - The Road to Global Peace" live and VOD programs.

The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.

About NHK WORLD-JAPAN

NHK WORLD-JAPAN is the international service of Japan's public media organization NHK. It provides the latest information on Japan and Asia through television, radio and online to a global audience. For more details, visit nhk.jp/world.

Media Contact:[email protected]

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/166408
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - May 17, 2023) - Nicola Mining Inc. (TSXV: NIM) (FSE: HLI) (OTCQB: HUSIF), (the "Company" or "Nicola") is please to announce that it and Blue Lagoon Resources Inc. (CSE: BLLG) ("Blue Lagoon") have signed a second amending agreement (the "Second Amending Agreement") to the Original Agreement ("Original")1 and Amending Agreement, the latter which was described in the Company's May 5, 2021 news release. The extension now extends to March 31, 2027, and includes certain adjusted terms that were agreed upon in the Original and subsequent Amending Agreements.

During the 2021 campaign Nicola and Blue Lagoon successfully produced gold and silver concentrates from approximately 6,000 tonnes of underground stockpiled material. Since that campaign, Blue Lagoon has been focused on exploration and receiving final permitting approval to commence mining at its Dome Mountain Mine.

Nicola's Merritt Mill is the only facility in the Province of British Columbia permitted to accept third party gold and silver mill feed from throughout the province.

Qualified Person

Kevin Wells, P.Geo, a consulting geologist to the Company, is the independent qualified person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects for the technical disclosure contained in this news release.

About Nicola Mining

Nicola Mining Inc. is a junior mining company listed on the TSX Venture and Frankfurt Exchanges that maintains a 100% owned mill and tailings facility, located near Merritt, British Columbia. It has signed Mining and Milling Profit Share Agreements with high grade gold projects. Nicola's fully permitted mill can process both gold and silver mill feed via gravity and flotation processes.

The Company owns 100% of the New Craigmont Project, a high-grade copper property, which covers an area of 10,084 hectares along the southern end of the Guichon Batholith and is adjacent to Teck Resources Ltd.'s Highland Valley Copper, Canada's largest copper mine. The Company also owns 100% of the Treasure Mountain Property, consisting of 29 mineral tenures covering 2178 hectares (ha) and a mining lease covering 335 ha.

On behalf of the Board of Directors

"Peter Espig"

Peter Espig

CEO & Director

For additional information

Contact: Peter Espig

Phone: (778) 385-1213

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 release.

________________________

1Original Agreement: News release April 6, 2017

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/166252
Rhodes, New South Wales, Australia--(Newsfile Corp. - May 17, 2023) - Teleaus, one of Australia's leading telecommunications infrastructure companies, announces its operations expansion to include multiple countries.

IMAGE - TELEAUS

Teleaus, a leading telecommunications infrastructure services provider in Australia, is set to expand its reach to a global audience.

Zahangir Alam, CEO of Teleaus, expressed his excitement about the company's next step in growth. "We have a solid reputation for delivering exceptional results to our clients in Australia, and we can't wait to bring our expertise to a global scale," he shares.

As part of its expansion strategy, Teleaus plans to open new offices and hire local talent in the countries where it will operate. Additionally, the company intends to invest in cutting-edge technology and equipment to maintain its reputation for delivering top-notch services.

Teleaus' global expansion aligns with the growing need for advanced telecommunications infrastructure globally, especially with the rapidly increasing demand for fast and reliable internet. The company aims to deliver the same level of quality service and commitment to excellence it has been known for in Australia.

The company's expansion is expected to bring new job opportunities and contribute to the economic growth of the countries it operates in. Teleaus is eager to be a part of this growth and looks forward to building long-term relationships with clients globally.

For more information about Teleaus, visit their website at www.teleaus.com.

About Teleaus

Teleaus is a global enterprise founded in 2011 and headquartered in Australia, with the mission to build successful, long-term, win-win business relationships with clients. Teleaus' services focus on Engineering Field Services, Telecommunications Engineering, and Business Solutions and Services. This includes Engineering Project Consultancy, Complete Business Solutions, Business Software Development, Spatial Data Engineering, Geospatial Engineering, Professional Services, Vendor Partnership, and Business Process Outsourcing (BPO).

Contact Information

Ishrak Hussain

Email: [email protected]

Websites: https://teleaus.com

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/166459
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - May 17, 2023) - Tevano Systems Holdings Inc. (CSE: TEVO) (FSE: 7RBA) (OTC Pink: TEVNF) ("Tevano" or the "Company"), a technology company specializing in sustainable energy solutions, announces its full support of the Chilean government's recent push towards a new method of Direct Lithium Extraction (DLE), according to a recent article in mining.com:

https://www.mining.com/web/chile-pushes-new-lithium-extraction-method-in-risk-to-future-supply/.

While the demand for Lithium continues to soar, Chile's traditional method of extracting the mineral through evaporation ponds has become increasingly unsustainable. The mining.com article states: "billions of litres of salty water is vaporized in one of the most arid places on Earth".

"As the Chilean government prepares to unveil a policy to develop new deposits, it will require projects to use a more selective or direct process that would mean far less evaporation," states the article. "For us, any future development has to done (sic) with direct extraction," Mining Minister Hernando is quoted as saying in the article.

Both SQM and Albemarle, Chile's major lithium producers, currently pump up vast amounts of brine, storing it in giant evaporation ponds for a year or more before processing it and shipping it off to Chinese and Korean battery makers. They are presently investigating alternative cutting-edge DLE technologies, according to the mining.com article.

"We believe that the new extraction method proposed by the Chilean government is a crucial step towards creating a more sustainable and efficient lithium mining industry," said Tevano's CEO David Bajwa.

"Our Eo-Cycle DLE technology employs a closed-looped process that returns 100% of the depleted brine water into the aquifers, processing an estimated 2 cubic meters of throughput per minute with an expected lithium recovery rate of up to 95%. This process also allows for the selective extraction of lithium from various sources, while minimizing the production of waste materials," added Aqua-Eo's CTO Mohammed Al-Mofty, P. Eng.

Tevano's support for the Chilean government's new DLE method and its expertise in sustainable extraction technology solutions, positions the company as a key player in the transition towards a more environmentally sustainable approach to lithium mining.

"By reducing the need for large infrastructure investments while minimizing the use of expensive chemicals and water resources, our technology can also lower the overall cost of lithium production," concluded Mr. Bajwa.

About Tevano

Tevano is committed to developing and commercializing innovative technologies that have the potential to transform industries and create long-term value for our stakeholders. Through its wholly-owned subsidiary Aqua-Eo, an environmentally focused industrial technology and engineering company, Tevano is fostering the development of its commercial extraction solutions for lithium and other strategic metals, industrial wastewater and oil and gas effluent remediation and treatment.

For more information, please visit: www.tevanosystems.com.

On behalf of the Board of:

TEVANO SYSTEMS HOLDINGS INC.

Eugene Hodgson, Chief Financial Officer

[email protected]

604-805-6600

Neither the CSE nor the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada 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/166356
TOKYO, May 17, 2023 - (JCN Newswire) - - Mitsubishi Corporation (MC) is pleased to announce that it has acquired a stake in Kyoto Fusioneering Ltd. (KF) through a third-party allotment of the latter's shares.

KF is a plant engineering company focused on fusion energy(1) technologies. Its establishment in 2019 was based on decades of fusion research and development by Kyoto University. KF specializes in key components and integrated systems that are required in order to build fusion reactors and fusion power plants. KF's strategic aim is to build a fusion energy supply chain by leveraging Japan's leading manufacturing capabilities. Furthermore, KF serves a wide range of fusion research institutions and startups around the world as clients. These advantages led to MC's decision to invest into KF.

Fusion energy can generate electricity without producing any CO2 emissions. Its primary fuel, namely hydrogen, is widely available in seawater, meaning that it could potentially represent an inexhaustible source of energy. There continues to be considerable global interest in fusion as a next generation of clean energy, one that could both help decarbonize our plant and secure stable supplies of energy. During its Integrated Innovation Strategy Promotion Council meeting on April 14, 2023, the Japanese government set out its "Fusion Energy Innovation Strategy," which outlines the country's vision to establish fusion energy as a new industry. The strategy also clarifies that cooperation among industry, academia and government must be accelerated in order to realize this vision. MC believes that the Kyoto University-born startup KF will lead such collaborations and help make this vision a reality.

In the Midterm Corporate Strategy 2024 announced in May 2022, MC has set "Creating a New Future through Fostering New Industries/Regional Revitalization" as a pillar of its growth strategy. Accordingly, MC has been stepping up efforts to partner with industry and academia to help address various societal issues through its business activities. The increased number of start-ups using the research results of universities and other institutions will not only solve social issues but also improve Japan's technological capabilities and industrial competitiveness. MC is taking steps to boost such entrepreneurial activity, as evidenced by its announcement on April 13, 2023 that it would be supporting the establishment of the "Kyoto University-Mitsubishi Corporation Startup Catapult," a program designed to promote the development and commercialization of the technological capabilities and research findings of Kyoto University.

Through this investment, MC is further demonstrating its commitment to stimulate greater cooperation among industry, academia and government. Moreover, MC plans to take full advantage of its own networks and industry connections to help create a new and carbon-neutral fusion energy industry. We remain dedicated to decarbonizing our planet and securing stable supplies of energy both here in Japan and around the world.

(1) Fusion energy is energy produced when two light nuclei (deuterium, tritium) collide to form a single heavier nucleus (helium), the same kind of energy that illuminates the Sun and stars. Fusion energy has the following advantages: 1) Carbon neutrality(Carbon dioxide is not emitted during the process of power generation); 2) Abundant fuel (On top of the fact that the fuel exists abundantly in seawater and can be generated nearly inexhaustibly, a huge amount of energy can be produced from a small amount of fuel); 3) Inherently safe (The fusion reaction stops when the fuel supply or the power supply is cut off); 4) Low environmental impact (Only low level radioactive waste is generated and it can be processed with existing technology). As such, fusion energy is expected to be the next generation of energy source that can solve both energy supply and global environmental issues.

(Based on the provisional translation of "Fusion Energy Innovation Strategy" adopted by Japan's Integrated Innovation Strategy Promotion Council on April 14, 2023)

About Kyoto Fusioneering

Established in 2019, Kyoto Fusioneering is a privately-funded technology startup with facilities in Tokyo, Kyoto, Reading (UK), and Seattle (USA). The company specializes in developing state-of-the-art technologies for commercial fusion reactors, including gyrotron systems, tritium fuel cycle technologies, and breeding blankets for tritium production and power generation. Kyoto Fusioneering collaborates with public and private fusion developers globally, striving to establish fusion as the ultimate energy source for humanity. https://kyotofusioneering.com/en/

About Mitsubishi Corporation

Mitsubishi Corporation (MC) is a global integrated business enterprise that develops and operates businesses together with its offices and subsidiaries worldwide, as well as with its global network of group companies. MC has 10 Business Groups that operate across virtually every industry: Natural Gas, Industrial Materials, Chemicals Solution, Mineral Resources, Industrial Infrastructure, Automotive & Mobility, Food Industry, Consumer Industry, Power Solution and Urban Development. Through these 10 Business Groups plus the addition of its Industry Digital Transformation Group and Next-Generation Energy Business Group, MC's current activities have expanded far beyond its traditional trading operations to include project development, production and manufacturing operations, working in collaboration with our trusted partners around the globe. With an unwavering commitment to conducting business with integrity and fairness, MC remains fully dedicated to growing its businesses while contributing to a prosperous society. www.mitsubishicorp.com/jp/en/

Copyright 2023 JCN Newswire . All rights reserved.
Paid press release content from Send2Press. The StreetInsider.com news staff was not involved in its creation.

DOCUMENTARY SHOWCASE airs Fridays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on Scientology Network

LOS ANGELES, Calif., May 17, 2023 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) Scientology Networks Documentary Showcase, the weekly series providing a platform for independent filmmakers to air films on important social, cultural and environmental issues, presents the documentary Surviving the Outback.

Surviving the Outback is inspired by the true story of two German aviators who, in 1932, became stranded deep in the Australian Outback and survived a remarkable 43 days before being rescued by Aboriginal locals. Using the original chronicle of the events as told by one of the pilots in his book Flight Into Hell, this feature-length documentary captures the stunning beauty and majesty of nature as the filmmaker attempts to recreate the aviators plight in the ultimate test of survival.

Michael Atkinson used handheld cameras and drones to entirely self-film his endeavor into the unforgiving Australian Outback. With no back-up crew or two-way communication with the outside world, Michael uses only the materials available to the original pilots and his skills as a survival instructor to live off the land as he retraces their original route through rough seas, forbidding terrain and crocodile-infested waters.

ABOUT MICHAEL ATKINSON

Michael Atkinson was struck when he was a child with a passion for filming his experiences in the extreme outdoors. He became a full-time military pilot for the Australian Defense Force and flew everything from helicopters to fighter jets. He also taught survival skills to pilots in northern Australia. Surviving the Outback is his first feature-length documentary.

In an interview with Scientology Network for DOCUMENTARY SHOWCASE, Michael reflected on his mission:

My hope when people see the film is that they will see the value in remote and beautiful areas&. Im glad that people will be able to see Aboriginal culture and that audiences are going to see the Kimberley, probably love it and therefore want to protect it.

ABOUT DOCUMENTARY SHOWCASE

Fundamental to Scientology is a humanitarian mission that extends to some 200 nations with programs for human rights, human decency, literacy, morality, drug prevention and disaster relief. For this reason, the Scientology Network provides a platform for independent filmmakers who embrace a vision of building a better world.

For more information, visit Scientology.tv/docs.

The Scientology Network debuted on March 12, 2018. Since launching, the Scientology Network has been viewed in over 240 countries and territories in 17 languages. Satisfying the curiosity of people about Scientology and Founder L. Ron Hubbard, the network takes viewers across six continents, spotlighting the everyday lives of Scientologists, showing the Church as a global organization, and presenting its social betterment programs that have touched the lives of millions worldwide.

Broadcast from Scientology Media Productions, the Churchs global media center in Los Angeles, the Scientology Network is available on DirecTV Channel 320, DirecTV STREAM, AT&T U-verse and can be streamed at Scientology.tv, on mobile apps and via the Roku, Amazon Fire and Apple TV platforms.

LEARN MORE:

https://www.scientology.tv/series/documentary-showcase/

https://www.scientology.tv/series/documentary-showcase/surviving-the-outback/videos/trailer.html

MULTIMEDIA:

VIDEO https://www.scientology.tv/series/documentary-showcase/surviving-the-outback/videos/inside-look-teaser.html

IMAGE link for media: https://www.Send2Press.com/300dpi/23-0517-s2p-cos-outback-300dpi.jpg

Caption: DOCUMENTARY SHOWCASE, the weekly series providing a platform for independent filmmakers to air films on important social, cultural and environmental issues, presents the documentary, Surviving the Outback.

TAGS: #ScientologyNetwork #Scientology #DocumentaryShowcase #theoutback

NEWS SOURCE: Church of Scientology International



This press release was issued on behalf of the news source (Church of Scientology International), who is solely responsible for its accuracy, by Send2Press Newswire.

To view the original story, visit: https://www.send2press.com/wire/surviving-the-outback-recreates-epic-challenge-of-survival-on-documentary-showcase/

Copr.  2023 Send2Press Newswire, a service of NEOTROPE, Calif., USA. -- REF: S2P STORY ID: 90744SI.03
DUBLIN , May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The "2023 Weight Management - Douyin, China E-commerce Market Data Subscription" database has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

This database subscription gives you all the information you need on the market for weight management supplements in the Chinese market, as measured on the Douyin platform.



The data subscription service provides you with valuable information on consumer behavior and preferences, top-selling product categories and brands, pricing strategies, trends, and more. With The data, you can make informed decisions about market entry, product development, and marketing optimization that can help you succeed in this highly competitive industry.



Whether you're a startup looking to break into the market or an established business seeking to expand your reach and grow your profits, our China ecommerce data subscription for health supplements is a powerful tool that can help you stay ahead of the curve.



The analyst acquires product level data for each platform on a weekly basis, including sales volume, price, promotion, brand, store, link and other available information, and agregate it by month. All the data is carefully processed, classified and tagged with a selection of over 4000 brands, functions, ingredients, target user, formats, packaging, and country of origin labels.



You will be able to access the data through Qlik Sense, a powerful web-tool that gives you access to the data to explore trends and market drivers, and deep dive into brands, companies, stores, segments and product details. This is facilitated by four select dashboards which include Segments, Executive Summary, Performance Drivers and Category Details. All dashboards can be filtered through the main filters or based on your search and selections across dashboards.

Segments dashboard: Easily see the performance over time of your category and sub-categories and explore ingredients, function, format and other trends.



Executive Summary dashboard: Provides brand performance at a glance. Always have key metrics at your fingertips and understand how the market and competitors are changing.



Performance Drivers dashboard: Your cheat-sheet for all things brands. Expands upon the Executive Summary with more details. Understand who wins and who loses and what pricing strategy your competitors are driving.



Category Detail dashboard: Explore parent companies, brands, stores and individual items in detail. Product level information include product name, store, price, volume, value, platform link, etc.

Data reporting in other forms, such as monthly Excels, dedicated reports, API access are available as upgrades upon request.



This data subscription product provides monthly data releases throughout 2023, with the previous months data published by the 20th the following month. There is the option to continue the service the following years while retaining present data.



In addition, the data includes six month of history - July 2022 to December 2022 . Customers also have the option to upgrade to include more history.

Key Topics Covered:

Monthly data for the respective category and subcategory (if available):

Product Name

Shop Name

Price

Sales Volume

Sales Value

Platform

URL

Tags - Brand

Function

Ingredient

Country of Origin

Format

Package

Target User

Web portal to access data with following dashboards:

Segments

Executive Summary

Performance Drivers

Category Detail

Companies Mentioned

Wonderlab

Zi Mei Tang

Aoteshuer

Shandong Sibote Biotechnology Co. Ltd.

Dayeonsu

Herbalife

Renhe Group Co. Ltd.

Iovate

Tongren Tang

Xiuzheng Pharmaceutical Group Co. Ltd.

Thorne Research

Inc. Gnc

Zhejiang Nutrasis Biotech Co. Ltd.

Phd

Bio-E Australia

Positive Hotel

Pandorababy

Pillbox

Nestle

Agl

Isdg

Jzjt

Fancl

Wugumf

By-Health

Cpt

Health Spring

Shan Ben Han Fang

Svelty

Hunan Xizi E-Commerce Brand Management Co. Ltd.

Conba

Shanxianwei

Smeal

Wenir

Orchard

Sweetycube

Life Extension

Ffit8

Warnke

Sorlife

Zk

H&H

Shanghai General Pharmacetical Co. Ltd.

Kangmei Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd.

Pro-Life

Bio Blast Pharma

Han Dian

Yanliaofan

Biohouse

Maxine's

Proxeed

Allnature Pharm

Zheng Yuan Ju Xin

Hsu Fu Chi

Procter & Gamble

Now Foods

Ifeels

Guangzhou Light Future Biotechnology Co. Ltd.

Qingdao Auhai Biotech Co. Ltd.

Herb Health

Eimele

Pola

Slimfast

Vytalogy Wellness

Purasana

Naturelan

Lv Shou

Xing Tian Ren

Maixinnuo

Oshicar

Natural Castle

Guangzhou Baiyunshan Pharmaceutical Holdings Company Limited

Muxi

Nutrend D. S. A.S. Yeasi

Suizhou Living Fossil Biology Health-Care Engineering Company

Pharmacare

Nimicollagen

Rxon

Newliann

For more information about this database visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/njwiuj

About ResearchAndMarkets.com

ResearchAndMarkets.com is the world's leading source for international market research reports and market data. We provide you with the latest data on international and regional markets, key industries, the top companies, new products and the latest trends.

Media Contact:

Research and Markets

Laura Wood , Senior Manager

[email protected]



For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470

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SOURCE Research and Markets
In an oversubscribed round, Adonis will further its mission to deliver critical revenue outcomes that enable healthcare providers to deliver the highest form of clinical outcomes and care.

NEW YORK , May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Adonis, a leading Revenue Intelligence and Automation Platform built for healthcare, today announced that it has raised $17.3M in Series A financing led by General Catalyst. General Catalyst is joined by existing investors Bling Capital, Max Ventures, and Homebrew. As part of the financing, Holly Maloney from General Catalyst will join the board of directors.

The current round comes on the heels of a $5.6M Seed round announced six months ago  all since the company's founding in 2022. With a total of $22.9M raised to date and trending to significantly exceed revenue expectations in 2023, Adonis is one of the fastest growing healthcare software companies in the United States . This has been made possible by both the diversity and scale of customers which include private practices, hospitals, revenue cycle organizations, and digital health providers. As a result, Adonis is overseeing the processing of billions of dollars of claims and impacting revenue outcomes for thousands of the nation's providers.

"Healthcare organizations are tasked with the profound responsibility of managing patient outcomes. Adonis relieves operations teams of the burden of revenue cycle by offering a platform that is modular enough to solve individual pain points while being broad enough to own end-to-end financial operations," said Aman Magoon , CPO and Co-Founder, Adonis. "Nearly $1 in every $7 spent on healthcare is attributed to revenue collection and other insurance related activities. By driving this cost down, Adonis is poised to make the system more efficient."

Amid growing financial challenges experienced by a diverse set of healthcare providers, demand to more predictably collect revenue that's commonly lost in the cracks of revenue cycle management (RCM), has grown exponentially. According to the Adonis Data Science Team, healthcare organizations on average are missing 10-15% of the revenue they expect to collect each year. This is commonplace as a result of the operational fragmentation that exists between patients, payers, and healthcare providers.

Powered by data science and automation, Adonis helps providers seek to address the common issues and areas of susceptibility within RCM to work toward creating better, more reliable revenue outcomes. This is made possible by automating the holistic payment collection process, analyzing revenue trends, validating patient insurance data at scale, and bridging the system-of-record gaps between healthcare providers, insurance companies, and patients.

"We believe Adonis has cracked the revenue code between healthcare providers and insurance companies with its robust AI-driven payment collection process. On top of the technology, team, and growth, the company is positioned for healthcare providers to seek to optimize the shape of their businesses," said Holly Maloney , Managing Director at General Catalyst. "Stronger financial positions have the potential to lead to better clinical care and patient outcomes, which is a core part of our Health Assurance thesis. We are looking forward to partnering with Adonis as they aim to innovate the revenue cycle management space for the healthcare sector.

"We couldn't be more excited to partner with General Catalyst on this next phase of growth for our business" said Akash Magoon , CEO and Co-Founder, Adonis. "As the uncertainty increases in our nation's economic climate, most healthcare operations leaders are looking to drive stronger RCM outcomes. The revenue cycle check-engine light remains on for most providers, and it's difficult to quickly adapt to the ever changing insurer contracts and regulations. We intend on using this injection of capital to expand our provider partnerships throughout the country and further our technological advantages and vision."

The latest funding will be used to accelerate product innovation, expand partnerships with major EHR and PMS systems, bolster collaboration with some of the country's largest providers, and continue investment in expanding Adonis's healthcare data processing and linking capabilities.

To learn more about Adonis, please visit adonis.io .

About Adonis

Adonis is a Revenue Intelligence and Automation Platform, built for Healthcare, solving for operational challenges that impact the integrity of revenue cycle management. On average, Healthcare providers are unable to collect 15% or more of the revenue it's owed. This is a result of compounding fractures in traditional RCM; a series of people, processes, systems, and tools are collectively responsible for this dilemma. Powered by data science and automation, Adonis provides solutions to address the common issues and areas of susceptibility within RCM to create better, more reliable revenue outcomes. No matter where you are in your revenue cycle journey, we can help you take a step in the right direction to achieve your revenue potential. Learn more at adonis.io .

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 .

Contact:

Dan Murdoch

+1-203-970-1127

[email protected]

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/adonis-raises-17-3-million-led-by-general-catalyst-to-transform-revenue-outcomes-for-healthcare-providers-across-the-united-states-301825938.html

SOURCE Adonis
CHICAGO , May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The lung cancer five-year survival rate has increased by nearly 40% in the past decade. Unfortunately, this progress has not been shared equally. Black Americans with lung cancer are less likely to be diagnosed at an early stage, less likely to receive surgical treatment, and less likely to receive any treatment at all compared to white Americans. That's why the American Lung Association is expanding its work through the Awareness, Trust and Action program to increase awareness amongst Black Americans about clinical trials and encourage them to speak with their healthcare provider about their treatment options.

Lung cancer research is moving at a rapid pace, and clinical trials are critical to advancing promising lung cancer treatments. Clinical trials are highly monitored research studies that can test many things like how to prevent a disease, new ways to detect or diagnose a disease or new ways to treat a disease. Sometimes the most appropriate treatment option for a lung cancer patient is through a clinical trial.

"We are facing an issue in cancer care in this country. Black Americans are underrepresented in clinical research, so I am working with the American Lung Association to fix that," said Danielle Mitchell , Founder and CEO of Black Women in Clinical Research. "I started my career as a clinical research coordinator because my grandmother had cancer. I saw the lack of diversity in clinical trials, and I have set out to change that because representation matters."

This underrepresentation happens for many reasons, with one of them being the long-standing history of racial bias in healthcare, which impacts access to care and trust in providers. It is important to enroll a diverse group of people in clinical trials so researchers can understand the effects of potential treatment methods on the different patient populations.

The American Lung Association is expanding its Awareness, Trust and Action campaign, which initially launched in 2022, to:

Raise awareness among Black Americans with lung cancer (as well as the larger Black community) about the availability and importance of clinical trials as a treatment option for lung cancer;

among Black Americans with lung cancer (as well as the larger Black community) about the availability and importance of clinical trials as a treatment option for lung cancer; Address misconceptions and mis trust around clinical trials and convey their value as a potential treatment option; and

around clinical trials and convey their value as a potential treatment option; and Empower Black Americans to take action by talking with their doctors about lung cancer clinical trials.

Learn more at Lung.org/trials-and-you.

Support for this project provided in part by Daiichi Sankyo, Genentech, Merk, Novartis and Novocure.

The Lung Association is committed to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) as core values. Our vision of a world free of lung disease includes all people, regardless of skin color, race, ethnicity, gender identity, creed, age, ability, sexual orientation, national origin, education, language or socio-economic status. Given the disproportionate impact of lung disease on historically underserved communities, the Lung Association embraces diversity as a moral and mission-driven imperative. This commitment governs all activities of the Lung Association, including policies and guidelines, procedures, programs, personnel practices and resource development to ensure that the diversity of the communities we serveincluding but not limited to racial, ethnic and gender diversityare reflected in our volunteers and staff.

About the American Lung Association

The American Lung Association is the leading organization working to save lives by improving lung health and preventing lung disease through education, advocacy and research. The work of the American Lung Association is focused on four strategic imperatives: to defeat lung cancer; to champion clean air for all; to improve the quality of life for those with lung disease and their families; and to create a tobacco-free future. For more information about the American Lung Association, a holder of the coveted 4-star rating from Charity Navigator and a Platinum-Level GuideStar Member, or to support the work it does, call 1-800-LUNGUSA (1-800-586-4872) or visit: Lung.org.

American Lung Association  55 W. Wacker Drive , Suite 1150  Chicago, IL 60601

1331 Pennsylvania Ave. NW , Ste. 1425 North  Washington, D.C. 20004

1-800-LUNGUSA (1-800-586-4872) Lung.org

CONTACT: Jill Dale | American Lung Association

P: 312-801-7629E: [email protected]

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SOURCE American Lung Association
Her military code name was Blonde, but she had to stop using it because the Russians have put a price on her head. If they intercept our radio communications, hear my name and pick up the position where I am, they will come after me, says Sarah Ashton-Cirillo, a Florida-born sergeant in the Ukrainian Army. Ashton-Cirillo has become the most famous soldier in the Ukrainian military, and she has been repeatedly singled out by Russian state television as an enemy to be eliminated. In January 2022, a month before the Kremlin launched its invasion, she was working as a financial analyst in Las Vegas. But, to her regret, that is not the only reason she is headline news: Ashton-Cirillo is also an exception as a trans fighter on the front lines of the war.

The media is important, but they need an audience and they are sensationalizing the fact that there is a trans soldier here, Ashton-Cirillo says during an interview with EL PAIS in a hotel in Kharkiv. It was the third interview she had given that day. She is one of the most significant voices for Ukrainian propaganda, due to her vehemence when speaking about what she considers a battle between democracy and tyranny, because of her unique profile in a context such as the Ukrainian war and because, despite her lack of military experience, she has taken up arms to join the infantry as a combat medic. In February, she was wounded by a shell near Bakhmut, where the bloodiest battle of the war has been raging for months. Ashton-Cirillo concedes that, for the Ukrainian authorities, her prominence is an important asset in attracting international attention. The price for this is that Russian forces have added her name to its list of priority targets.

In an interview on April 30, a Spanish volunteer soldier in the Armed Forces of Ukraine told this newspaper that it is common practice for Russian commanders to offer rewards to anyone who captures Ukrainian soldiers who have been gained prominence on social networks, or at the front. A Ukrainian soldier who had become known for sharing his exploits at the front on TikTok was killed in 2022 in an attack by a Russian platoon, which recorded the execution.

Ashton-Cirillo temporarily left her position near the Russian border to travel to Kharkiv to pick up four reconnaissance drones that had been donated by a supporter from Germany, which will be distributed to different units. Her support for the Ukrainian cause goes beyond joining the military: she shares images from the front on a daily basis, posts anti-Russia messages and asks for increased support for the Ukrainian Army. Since the beginning of the invasion, by her calculations, she has raised over $250,000 in humanitarian and military aid.

At the hotel in Kharkiv where the drone handover took place at the end of April, the receptionist told EL PAIS it was the first time he had ever seen a trans woman. Ukraine is a conservative society, where rights such as same-sex marriage are not recognized. Ashton-Cirillo, however, says there is another trans woman, a Ukrainian, fighting for Kyiv. They are exceptions, as they would be in any other army. She acknowledges that their high profiles may be helping to normalize gender diversity among a population that is not yet accustomed to it. Ashton-Cirillo stresses that she has never experienced any problems in Ukraine because of her gender identity, citing as an example the first defining experience she had in the country, which in turn led her to join the army.

During the early days of the invasion, Ashton-Cirillo was in Germany writing articles about the wave of refugees fleeing the war for LGBTQ Nation, a U.S. media outlet specializing in reporting on LGBTQ+ rights. In recent years, Ashton-Cirillo had reported on the humanitarian crisis caused by the exodus of refugees from Afghanistan and Syria to Europe. In Germany, she met a Ukrainian doctor who had to return to her hometown of Ivano-Frankvisk in the west of the country. She was her only local contact.

Ashton-Cirillo crossed the border through Poland, thinking she would stay for a little over two weeks before returning to the United States. But when she arrived in Ivano-Frankvisk, at the copy shop where she went to print her press accreditation, she met two men who identified themselves as intelligence agents. They explained that they were on their way to Kharkiv, which at that time was besieged by Russian troops, and that there were hardly any foreign journalists remaining there. They offered to take her with them and the decision changed her life: I got into a car with them, just two hours after meeting them. I crossed the country with two strangers who treated me just like anybody else. And thats where the question of gender identity during the war stopped making sense. I understood then that it was my responsibility to pour myself into my work and leave gender identity aside, Ashton-Cirillo recalls.

She underlines this point because, in her opinion, what she has found in Ukraine is the good fortune of being part of a historical event and being involved in a greater cause. I had a very full life before the war, in Nevada. I didnt come here looking for something, but something was unlocked, I felt the need to fight for the values of freedom. It is a war for the liberation of Ukraine, but also for the freedom of human beings.

Becoming involved with the Ukrainian cause was progressive: Ashton-Cirillo began by working with the press services of a municipality north of Kharkiv and with the citys press office. She then performed volunteer work and eventually her level of involvement led her to enlist: For six or seven weeks, I lived with the secret service people. And while I was reporting, I was helping civilians and the military. I saw a side of the war that isnt on the news or on Twitter. I spent two months watching the bombings, the fighting, civilians being killed, villages razed to the ground; a genocide.

In an interview with Times Radio in March, Ashton-Cirillo was asked if she was surprised when Harry Potter author J. K. Rowling  who has faced criticism over her stance on trans issues  shared a Twitter message of hers about the war. Two months later, Ashton-Cirillo smiles at the memory of that interview, and stresses that the culture wars over issues such as gender identity seem secondary to her today: Were not fighting for any particular collective here, were fighting for the freedom of everybody. There is no demand for more acceptance or tolerance, there is a demand for the freedom of each person. I dont care if someone hates trans people if they support our battle for freedom in the world, she says. Because that means we will live to have debates about it, something we cant have with Russians or Chechens. Were willing to die so that people like Rowling have the right to express themselves freely.

The morning after the interview, Ashton-Cirillo returned to her infantry unit, patrolling on the front lines. She signed off with a memory from another life, before the war, a defining moment for her, during a business trip to Barcelona in 2019. She took advantage of a free afternoon to visit a studio specializing in makeup and cross-dressing. It was the first time she had presented herself in public as a woman: she later went out to dinner and called her family to announce that she was going to begin the transition. Sarah was born in Barcelona.

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JON M. HANIFIN , MD 2023 RECIPIENT OF DAVID MARTIN CARTER MENTOR AWARD

MASAYUKI AMAGAI , MD, PhD 2023 RECIPIENT OF GEORGE W. HAMBRICK AWARD

NEW YORK , May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- American Skin Association (ASA) announced the recipients of the 2023 David Martin Carter Mentor Award, 2023 George W. Hambrick Award, and the 2023 Research Achievement Awards at the International Societies for Investigative Dermatology (ISID) in Tokyo, Japan .

For over three decades, ASA's David Martin Carter Mentor Award has honored members of the dermatology community who have the same vision as the late Dr. David Martin Carter . Dr. Carter was an inspiration to dermatologists, investigators, and medical students throughout the world. Dr. Carter and ASA's late founder, Dr. George Hambrick , worked tirelessly to lead ASA to the forefront of dermatological organizations and become leaders in defeating melanoma, skin cancer, and other skin diseases. This is the first year ASA has presented the George W. Hambrick Award.

"ASA is honored to recognize Dr. Hanifin and Dr. Amagai and all the 2023 Research Achievement Award recipients for their tireless efforts in the field of dermatology. Their work is vital to finding long-sought-after cures," said Howard P. Milstein , Chairman of ASA.

Jon M. Hanifin , MD of the Oregon Health and Sciences University, was honored with the 2023 David Martin Carter Mentor Award. Dr. Hanifin is an international lecturer and recognized expert in the research and treatment of atopic dermatitis and has directed various national and international symposiums on this subject. He is a valued member of the research community, respected for his investigations into the clinical, biological, and genetic aspects of atopic diseases, as well as other allergic and inflammatory conditions.

The inaugural 2023 George W. Hambrick Award was presented to Masayuki Amagai , MD, PhD of Keio University School of Medicine. Dr. Amagai is the Professor and Chair in the Department of Dermatology at Keio University School of Medicine since 2005, and Vice President for Research at Keio University since 2021. Dr. Amagai's clinical and research interests center on autoimmune and allergic skin diseases, skin barrier, and skin immunology. Specifically, he has been studying on the pathophysiological mechanisms of pemphigus, peripheral tolerance, the skin barrier homeostasis, and the impact of impaired skin barrier on the onset of atopic dermatitis and other allergic disorders.

"We were honored to present the 2023 awards to an international group of the most accomplished, dermatologic researchers at the International Societies for Investigative Dermatology in Tokyo, Japan . The conference brought together some of the finest and most esteemed dermatologists in the world," remarked Dr. David A. Norris , President of ASA.

ASA's Research Achievement Awards were instituted in 1989 to help identify established scientists in investigative dermatology and cutaneous biology. This year, ASA recognized those who have greatly advanced work related to autoimmunity and inflammation skin disorders, skin cancer and melanoma, psoriasis, vitiligo and pigment cell disorders, public policy and medical education, discovery, and translational research.

The following Research Achievement Awards were presented:

2023 Research Achievement Award in Autoimmune and Inflammatory Skin Disorders

Kenji Kabashima , MD, PhD

Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine

2023 Research Achievement Award in Skin Cancer and Melanoma

Jean Y. Tang , MD, PhD

Stanford University

2023 Research Achievement Award in Psoriasis

Bruce E. Strober , MD, PhD, FAAD

Clinical Professor, Yale University

2023 Research Achievement Award in Vitiligo and Pigment Cell Disorders

Anand Ganesan , MD, PhD

University of California, Irvine

2023 Research Achievement Award in Public Policy and Medical Education

Ponciano (Chito) Cruz , MD

University of Texas Southwestern

2023 Research Achievement Award in Discovery

Keisuke (Chris) Nagao , MD, PhD

National Institutes of Health

2023 Research Achievement Award in Translational Research

Aimee S. Payne , MD, PhD

University of Pennsylvania

ABOUT AMERICAN SKIN ASSOCIATION

A unique collaboration of patients, families, advocates, physicians, and scientists, ASA has evolved over thirty-six years as a leading force in efforts to defeat melanoma, vitiligo, psoriasis, atopic dermatitis, and other skin diseases. Established to serve the now more than 100 million Americans  one-third of the U.S. population  afflicted with skin disorders, the organization's mission remains to: advance research, champion skin health, particularly among children, and drive public awareness about skin disease. ASA is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization. For more information, visit americanskin.org .

American Skin Association has earned Candid's 2023 Seal of Platinum Transparency.

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/american-skin-association-announces-2023-research-achievement-awards-301827819.html

SOURCE American Skin Association
Anova's Celeras Laser Transport System achieves a major milestone in capacity, becoming the world's only low-latency, long-distance 25Gbps radios

CHICAGO , May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Anova Financial Networks , an international carrier and market data provider, announces today that it has successfully tested a capacity upgrade to 25Gbps over its proprietary Celeras LTS platform.

Previously, Anova's already industry-leading wireless backbone was operating at a robust 10Gbps, but increasing market data feed sizes, the desire to serve additional asset classes and significant customer interest in "fiber-like" capacity over the air caused Anova's engineering team to design a backbone that can transport more than double the current levels of traffic. Competitive financial wireless networks currently are capped at 7Gbps, making Anova's new system 3.5 times more capable of transmitting the world's real-time financial information.

The test was conducted between live sites in the New Jersey region, with a link distance of five kilometers. This also makes Celeras the longest distance free space optical ("FSO") system in existence. Other FSO providers claim to have achieved 25Gbps but cannot convey data more than 1KM. Longer distance transmission also allows Anova to utilize a larger pantheon of sites and minimize the number of hops  both critical when constructing straightest-path point-to-point networks.

The link was verified by running an RFC 2544, the industry-standard service activation test for single-service Ethernet and IP. The test measures key performance indicators such as throughput, latency, packet jitter, frame loss, and committed burst size. All test criteria passed, including matching the latency of the current Celeras 10Gbps platform and performing at bit error rate levels that will allow for immediate deployment in Anova's current footprint and also within new initiatives that require substantive backbone capacity.

"At Anova, R&D is paramount and we pride ourselves on pushing boundaries to bring cutting-edge solutions and products to the marketplace," said Mike Persico , Founder and CEO of Anova Financial Networks. "We see a multitude of opportunities with this advancement. The transport of raw options feeds, for example, has always been off-limits to wireless providers due to their massive size. Not anymore. Connecting the subsea cable landing stations to inland exchanges was significantly more interesting. And of course, the ability to give a customer a full 10Gbps wireless circuit for dedicated use is very exciting."

Given the narrow beam width of the laser, which in turn allows for inherent self-interference protection, Anova will be able to deploy multiple 25Gbps systems on the same path, yielding a massive 50Gbps to 100Gpbs of capacity per route.

Kieran Athy , CTO of Anova Financial Networks explains "The development and engineering team has continued to evolve their knowledge and impress with this 25Gbps FSO field-deployed trial. This technology upgrade supports our never-ending pursuit of latency reduction, microburst protection, and strategy optimization. We aim to further advance this technology and exceed 25Gbps FSO."

For more information about Anova Financial Networks, please call 516-567-6383, email [email protected], or visit www.anovanetworks.com .

About Anova Financial Networks

Anova Financial Networks is the only global carrier that offers wireless and fiber connectivity, as well as market data distribution across all asset classes. Anova's innovative proprietary technologies and client-centric approach enable the company to deliver secure and reliable solutions for banks, trading firms and exchanges worldwide. To learn more, visit www.anovanetworks.com and follow Anova on LinkedIn and Twitter @AnovaNetworks .

Media Contact:

Jaymie Scotto & Associates (JSA)

+1 866.695.3629 ext. 11

[email protected]

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SOURCE Anova Financial Networks
Advocates urge Chicagoans to call on ICC to reject rate hike, rein in utility

CHICAGO , May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- New filings with the Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC) reveal a disturbing pattern of mismanagement of the troubled Peoples Gas pipeline-replacement program, with the company not answering basic questions about the program and admitting it hasn't done an overall cost-analysis in nearly a decade.

Peoples Gas made three filings with state regulators this week, as the gas utility pushes for a state-record $402 million rate-hike request and a seventh straight year of record profits.

"Peoples Gas' response to the Commissioners' questions once again makes clear that the utility's management does not understand and cannot manage its multibillion-dollar, decades-long overhaul of its fossil gas infrastructure," said Illinois PIRG Education Fund Director Abe Scarr. "The Illinois Commerce Commission should take this opportunity to rein in the utility's out-of-control spending that is driving up gas bills in Chicago ."

"Peoples Gas has raked in six straight years of record profits, while its pipeline-replacement program is chronically behind-schedule and over-budget and is bankrupting a large number of customers," CUB Executive Director David Kolata said. "And yet the company either can't or refuses to answer questions from state regulators. This stonewalling is a terrible look for the company, and it shouldn't bode well for the utility's record rate hike."

Consumer advocates encouraged Chicago residents to let the ICC know they are unhappy with the program and the company's $402 million rate-hike requestwhat would be the highest gas hike in state history. The company shouldn't get a blank check, they said.

Peoples Gas customers have struggled with rapidly rising gas bills for years, and reckless utility spending through its massive pipeline-replacement program has been the primary cause. Three filings with the Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC) on Monday and Tuesday highlighted how poorly managed the program is, how it has plunged too many customers into crisis and how the utility is stubbornly refusing to change. According to the filings:

The collective debt of Peoples Gas customers in April was $134 million more than any other major utility in the state, and the highest of any utility since monthly reporting started in 2021.

customers in April was million more than any other major utility in the state, and the highest of any utility since monthly reporting started in 2021. The utility's quarterly report revealed dismal results for the pipeline-replacement program, marking the 21 st consecutive quarter in which the utility was behind schedule. In the first quarter of 2023, Peoples Gas retired less than half (4.2 miles) of its 10.1 mile pipe-replacement goal, and the overall cost of the program was $10.6 million per mile of retired pipemore than twice the $4 million planned.

consecutive quarter in which the utility was behind schedule. In the first quarter of 2023, retired less than half (4.2 miles) of its 10.1 mile pipe-replacement goal, and the overall cost of the program was per mile of retired pipemore than twice the planned. In a third filing, the company either refused to answer or couldn't answer basic questions from state regulators about the pipeline program. Peoples Gas admitted that a 2015 analysis that showed the program costing billions of dollars more than originally budgeted and possibly dragging on until 2040 "provides the last comprehensive study of the overall completion timeline and cost estimate" of the program. At the time of the 2015 estimate, expert auditors expressed concern that "management has prepared an estimate on one basis but plans to manage the program on another basis."

The filings reinforce a pattern of mismanagement that has gone on for years. Launched in 2011, the pipeline project has been behind-schedule and over-budget almost from the beginning, with its projected costs rising from about $2 billion to as much as $11 billion . Audits, studies and analyses going back to 2015 have found problems, including the utility's latest filings.

In 2013, Peoples Gas successfully lobbied to help pay for the pipe-replacement program through a ballooning, legislatively approved surcharge on customer bills, known as the "Qualified Infrastructure Plant" or "QIP" charge. Legislators back in 2013 were told the charge would only cost Chicagoans about $1.14 a month, but in the first few months of 2023, the average Peoples Gas customer paid about $15 per month, according to the utility's quarterly report.

The program's mismanagement and skyrocketing costs have been hard on customers over the years, leading to today's crisis. Currently, Peoples Gas customers pay about $50 a month in fixed chargesaside from any gas they use. And the proposed $402 million rate hike, which the ICC will rule on around December, would make it even worse for Chicagoans, increasing bills by an average of $11.83 a month, or more than $140 a year.

But while the program has burdened customers, it's been a boon to Peoples Gas. The utility has pulled in six straight years of record profits, and the utility's parent company has credited the pipeline program for its financial success. WEC Energy Group made $1.4 billion in profits in 2022.

Illinois PIRG is an advocate for the public interest. We speak out for a healthier, safer world in which we're freer to pursue our own individual well-being and the common good. Learn more at www.illinoispirg.org.

Citizens Utility Board (CUB) is Illinois' leading nonprofit utility watchdog group. Created by the Illinois Legislature, CUB opened its doors in 1984 to represent the interests of residential and small-business utility customers. Since then, CUB has saved consumers more than $20 billion by helping to block rate hikes and secure refunds. For more information, call CUB's Consumer Hotline at 1-800-669-5556 or visit CUB's award-winning website, www.CitizensUtilityBoard.org.

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SOURCE Citizens Utility Board
GREAT BEND, Kan. , May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Benefit Management, LLC ("BML") discovered an incident that may affect some personal information maintained by BML. BML provides administrative services to healthcare entities including the administration of health benefit programs. This notice provides details of the incident, BML's response, and steps individuals may take to better protect against the possible misuse of their information should they feel it appropriate to do so.

What Happened? On or about April 1, 2022 , BML became aware of suspicious activity related to a BML email account. We immediately launched an investigation, with the help of computer forensic specialists, to determine the nature and scope of the incident. That investigation determined that an unauthorized individual had access to certain BML email accounts from March 14, 2022 , through April 2, 2022 . We undertook a comprehensive and time-consuming review of all data contained within the impacted email accounts. Upon completion of this review, BML conducted a second intensive review of its files to obtain address information for impacted individuals. This review concluded on April 4, 2023 . Through this review, we determined that certain information relating to individuals was included in the impacted data set. BML notified business partners of the event and offered to provide notice to impacted policy holders on their business partner's behalf. While we have seen no evidence of any actual or attempted misuse of information, BML we are notifying individuals in an abundance of caution and to make individuals aware of the incident.

What Information Was Involved? While the specific data elements vary for each potentially affected individual, the scope of information involved may include an individual's name, address, date of birth, Social Security number, diagnosis/condition, health insurance information, medical information, claims information, prescription information, medical record number, and Medicare/Medicaid identification number.

How Will Individuals Know If They Are Affected By This Incident? BML is mailing notice letters to individuals whose personal information was contained in the data at issue as requested by their business partners. If you did not receive a letter and would like to confirm if you were affected, you may contact our dedicated assistance line at 1-833-758-9100.

What We Are Doing. The confidentiality, privacy, and security of information in our care is among our highest priorities. Upon discovery of the suspicious activity, we immediately commenced an investigation to confirm the nature and scope of the incident. We also reported the event to law enforcement, and we are taking steps to implement additional safeguards related to data privacy and security. Out of an abundance of caution, we are offering twelve months of credit monitoring to any affected individuals.

What You Can Do. BML encourages individuals to remain vigilant against incidents of identity theft and fraud by reviewing your account statements and explanation of benefits, and monitoring your free credit reports for suspicious activity. You may also review the information contained in the below Steps You Can Take to Help Protect Personal Information.

Whom Should Individuals Contact for More Information? If individuals have questions, you can call our dedicated assistance line at 1-833-758-9100, available Monday through Friday, 8:00 am to 8:00 pm Central Time , excluding major U.S. holidays. Additionally, you can write to us at Benefit Management, LLC, 11221 Roe Avenue , Leawood, Kansas 66221.

STEPS YOU CAN TAKE TO HELP PROTECT PERSONAL INFORMATION

Monitor Your Accounts

Under U.S. law, a consumer is entitled to one free credit report annually from each of the three major credit reporting bureaus, Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. To order your free credit report, visit www.annualcreditreport.com or call, toll-free, 1-877-322-8228. You may also directly contact the three major credit reporting bureaus listed below to request a free copy of your credit report.

Consumers have the right to place an initial or extended "fraud alert" on a credit file at no cost. An initial fraud alert is a 1-year alert that is placed on a consumer's credit file. Upon seeing a fraud alert display on a consumer's credit file, a business is required to take steps to verify the consumer's identity before extending new credit. If you are a victim of identity theft, you are entitled to an extended fraud alert, which is a fraud alert lasting seven years. Should you wish to place a fraud alert, please contact any one of the three major credit reporting bureaus listed below.

As an alternative to a fraud alert, consumers have the right to place a "credit freeze" on a credit report, which will prohibit a credit bureau from releasing information in the credit report without the consumer's express authorization. The credit freeze is designed to prevent credit, loans, and services from being approved in your name without your consent. However, you should be aware that using a credit freeze to take control over who gets access to the personal and financial information in your credit report may delay, interfere with, or prohibit the timely approval of any subsequent request or application you make regarding a new loan, credit, mortgage, or any other account involving the extension of credit. Pursuant to federal law, you cannot be charged to place or lift a credit freeze on your credit report. To request a security freeze, you will need to provide the following information:

Full name (including middle initial as well as Jr., Sr., II, III, etc.); Social Security number; Date of birth; Addresses for the prior two to five years; Proof of current address, such as a current utility bill or telephone bill; A legible photocopy of a government-issued identification card (state driver's license or ID card, etc.); and A copy of either the police report, investigative report, or complaint to a law enforcement agency concerning identity theft if you are a victim of identity theft.

Should you wish to place a credit freeze, please contact the three major credit reporting bureaus listed below:

Equifax Experian TransUnion https://www.equifax.com/personal/credit-report-services/ https://www.experian.com/help/ https://www.transunion.com/credit-help 1-888-298-0045 1-888-397-3742 1-800-916-8800 Equifax Fraud Alert P.O. Box 105069 Atlanta, GA 30348-5069 Experian Fraud Alert P.O. Box 9554 Allen, TX 75013 TransUnion Fraud Alert P.O. Box 2000 Chester, PA 19016 Equifax Credit Freeze, P.O. Box 105788 Atlanta, GA 30348-5788 Experian Credit Freeze, P.O.

Box 9554, Allen, TX 75013 TransUnion Credit Freeze, P.O.

Box 160, Woodlyn, PA 19094

Additional Information

You may further educate yourself regarding identity theft, fraud alerts, credit freezes, and the steps you can take to protect your personal information by contacting the consumer reporting bureaus, the Federal Trade Commission, or your state Attorney General. The Federal Trade Commission may be reached at: 600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW , Washington, DC 20580; www.identitytheft.gov ; 1-877-ID-THEFT (1-877-438-4338); and TTY: 1-866-653-4261. The Federal Trade Commission also encourages those who discover that their information has been misused to file a complaint with them. You can obtain further information on how to file such a complaint by way of the contact information listed above. You have the right to file a police report if you ever experience identity theft or fraud. Please note that in order to file a report with law enforcement for identity theft, you will likely need to provide some proof that you have been a victim. Instances of known or suspected identity theft should also be reported to law enforcement and your state Attorney General. This notice has not been delayed by law enforcement.

For Massachusetts Residents, Under Massachusetts law, you have the right to obtain any police report filed in regard to this incident. If you are the victim of identity theft, you also have the right to file a police report and obtain a copy of it.

For District of Columbia residents, the District of Columbia Attorney General may be contacted at: 400 6th Street, NW , Washington, DC 20001; 1-202-727-3400; and [email protected].

For Maryland residents, the Maryland Attorney General may be contacted at: 200 St. Paul Place , 16th Floor, Baltimore, MD 21202; 1-410-528-8662 or 1-888-743-0023; and www.oag.state.md.us.

For New Mexico residents, you have rights pursuant to the Fair Credit Reporting Act, such as the right to be told if information in your credit file has been used against you, the right to know what is in your credit file, the right to ask for your credit score, and the right to dispute incomplete or inaccurate information. Further, pursuant to the Fair Credit Reporting Act, the consumer reporting bureaus must correct or delete inaccurate, incomplete, or unverifiable information; consumer reporting agencies may not report outdated negative information; access to your file is limited; you must give your consent for credit reports to be provided to employers; you may limit "prescreened" offers of credit and insurance you get based on information in your credit report; and you may seek damages from violator. You may have additional rights under the Fair Credit Reporting Act not summarized here. Identity theft victims and active duty military personnel have specific additional rights pursuant to the Fair Credit Reporting Act. We encourage you to review your rights pursuant to the Fair Credit Reporting Act by visiting www.consumerfinance.gov/f/201504_cfpb_summary_your-rights-under-fcra.pdf, or by writing Consumer Response Center, Room 130-A, Federal Trade Commission, 600 Pennsylvania Ave. N.W. , Washington, D.C. 20580.

For New York residents, the New York Attorney General may be contacted at: Office of the Attorney General, The Capitol, Albany, NY 12224-0341; 1-800-771-7755; or https://ag.ny.gov/.

For North Carolina residents, the North Carolina Attorney General may be contacted at: 9001 Mail Service Center, Raleigh, NC 27699-9001; 1-877-566-7226 or 1-919-716-6000; and www.ncdoj.gov.

For Rhode Island residents, the Rhode Island Attorney General may be reached at: 150 South Main Street , Providence, RI 02903; www.riag.ri.gov; and 1-401-274-4400. Under Rhode Island law, you have the right to obtain any police report filed in regard to this incident.

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/benefit-management-llc-provides-notice-of-data-security-event-301827804.html

SOURCE Benefit Management, LLC
Higher education leaders from U.S. states and Puerto Rico travel to Washington D.C. to participate in Complete College America Day on the Hill

WASHINGTON , May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Complete College America (CCA), a national membership-based advocacy organization dedicated to improving college completion rates across the country, today announced its inaugural "CCA Day on the Hill" federal advocacy visit, bringing leaders from state systems of higher education, colleges and other state and local organizations to Washington, D.C. to advocate for policies designed to help more students chart pathways to college access and completion.

"Despite the unprecedented challenges of the pandemic and a fast-changing economy and workforce, states have made incredible progress toward closing gaps in college access and completion over the past decade," said Steven Gentile , chief policy officer at the Tennessee Higher Education Commission. "We need continued partnership from national leaders to help sustain that progress given the range of challenges facing students today. This is about sharing examples of how states are leading the way on higher education reform and finding common ground solutions to build a system of higher education that is more accessibleand also produces high-quality results for every student."

The visit coincides with the first-ever national College Completion Day, a day of digital action celebrating college completion and retention. During a day of meetings, leaders discussed priorities for the pending reauthorization of the Higher Education Act, which has not been renewed or changed for nearly 15 years. Representatives from the coalition also raised awareness around Complete College America's shared federal policy principles, which include saving students time and money by creating clearer pathways to a degree, meeting today's students where they are, and removing unnecessary barriers to college completion.

"The power of our work stems from states, networks, and institutions working together to solve the greatest challenges facing higher education today," said Charles Ansell , vice president for research, policy and advocacy at Complete College America. "This is about state and local leaders stepping forward to share their unique insights into how we can improve higher educationand create a system of higher education that better meets the needs of students, families and communities."

The Complete College America's membership includes more than 40 states and nine regional consortia, covering over one thousand institutions that serve more than 11.4 million students. A 2022 report from Complete College America found that between 2015 and today, almost all states in the Alliance have improved on-time graduation rates for students at both four-year institutions (+6 percentage points) and two-year institutions (+6 percentage points).

The state leaders participating in the inaugural CCA Day on the Hill included:

California : Benjamin T. Duran , Executive Director, Central Valley Higher Education Consortium ; Jessie Ryan , Executive Vice President, The Campaign for College Opportunity

, Executive Director, ; , Executive Vice President, Florida : Tamsyn French , Associate Director, Student Financial Success, Florida Atlantic University

, Associate Director, Student Financial Success, Maine : Janet M Sortor, Vice President & Chief Academic Officer, Maine Community College System ; Rosa Redonnett , Associate Vice Chancellor for Student Success and Credential Attainment, Univ of Maine System

Janet M Sortor, Vice President & Chief Academic Officer, ; , Associate Vice Chancellor for Student Success and Credential Attainment, Univ of Maine System Montana : Antony Berthelote , Vice President of Enrollment Management and Student Affairs; Salish Kootenai College

, Vice President of Enrollment Management and Student Affairs; Nevada: Terina Caserto , Senior Analyst, Nevada System of Higher Education Renee Davis , Associate Vice Chancellor for Academic and Student Affairs, Nevada System of Higher Education

, Senior Analyst, of Higher Education , Associate Vice Chancellor for Academic and Student Affairs, Oklahoma : Kylie Smith , Vice Chancellor for Administration, Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education

, Vice Chancellor for Administration, Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education Pennsylvania : Dr. Kate Shaw , Deputy Secretary and Commissioner, Pennsylvania Office of Postsecondary and Higher Education

Dr. , Deputy Secretary and Commissioner, Puerto Rico : Dr. Milagritos Gonzalez, Professor, University of Puerto Rico-Mayageza , CCA Puerto Rico Lead

Dr. Milagritos Gonzalez, Professor, , CCA Puerto Rico Lead Tennessee : Steven Gentile, Chief Policy Officer , Tennessee Higher Education Commission

"Sustaining a national agenda for college completion requires colleges to make shifts in practice and priorities as well as changes to federal policies governing higher education," said Dr. Yolanda Watson Spiva , president of Complete College America. "It's been fifteen years since we last saw a comprehensive, bipartisan Higher Education Act; it's high time for policymakers to take action to overhaul our system of higher education to better meet the needs of today's students, communities and employers."

For more information about CCA and to get involved, please visit CompleteCollege.org or contact Charles Ansell at [email protected]

About Complete College America: Complete College America (CCA) builds movements for scaled change and transforms institutions through data-driven policies, student-centered perspectives, and equity-driven practices. Since its founding in 2009, CCA connects a national network of forward-thinking state and higher education leaders and introduces bold initiatives to help states and institutions confront inequities, close institutional performance gaps, and increase college completion rates, especially for marginalized and historically excluded students. For more information, visit www.completecollege.org .

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SOURCE Complete College America
WATERLOO, ON , May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- BlackBerry Limited (NYSE: BB; TSX: BB) today provided its long-term financial targets in connection with its annual analyst summit event.

The company released the following guidance:

Revenue Targets:



FY23 Actual FY24 Outlook FY26 Target 3-year

CAGR

$M $M $M % IoT* 206 240 - 250 340 - 370 18% - 22% Cybersecurity 418 425 - 450 540 - 590 9% - 12%









Total BlackBerry** 624 665 - 700 880 - 960 12% - 15%









* Excludes potential revenue from BlackBerry IVY

** Excludes revenue from Licensing & Other for comparability

















The Company is targeting:

An average 200+ basis points increase in non-GAAP gross margin per year to FY26.

To deliver significant improvements in non-GAAP EPS loss and cash flow usage in FY24, and to achieve non-GAAP profitability in Q4 FY24.

To generate positive full-year non-GAAP EPS and cash flow beginning in FY25.

IoT:

Based on long-term averages, approximately 20% of BlackBerry QNX's revenue is generated from development seats and 20% from professional services (collectively "design phase revenue") and 60% from production-based royalties ("production phase revenue").

QNX's revenue is generated from development seats and 20% from professional services (collectively "design phase revenue") and 60% from production-based royalties ("production phase revenue"). Given the strong year for new design wins in FY23 and the macroeconomic headwinds for production-based royalties, design phase revenues currently form a larger percentage of revenue relative to production phase revenue than the long-term average.

Production-based royalties have historically generated higher gross margins than design phase revenues, and therefore as they return towards the long-term average proportion of total IoT revenue, it is expected that gross margins for the IoT business unit will increase.

BlackBerry is targeting additional IVY design wins in FY24.

is targeting additional IVY design wins in FY24. Management considers BlackBerry QNX royalty backlog to be the most relevant key metric for the IoT business.

Cybersecurity:

Gross margin for the Cybersecurity business unit is expected to increase by between 400bps and 600bps by FY26.

The total addressable market (TAM) for the endpoint security market is expected to grow at 15% per year to 2026, and the TAM for the managed security services market is expected to grow at 14% per year to 2026. Source: IDC Worldwide Security Forecast 2022-2026.

Annual recurring revenue (ARR), for the Cybersecurity business unit is expected to return to sequential growth in the second half of the current fiscal year.

Total Contract Value (TCV) Billings is expected to be in the range of $430 - $480 million for FY24.

- for FY24. Management considers ARR and TCV billings to be the most relevant key metrics for the Cybersecurity business.

The long-term financial targets included in this press release replace those provided at the prior year Analyst Summit and included in the press release issued on May 18, 2022 .

The presentation used during the financial session of the analyst summit, held at 3pm ET today, can be found on the BlackBerry.com/Investors website here.

A replay will also be available on the BlackBerry.com/Investors website shortly after the conclusion of the event.

This press release refers to certain non-GAAP measures. The company believes that these non-GAAP measures, which may be defined differently by other companies, explain the company's results of operations in a manner that allows for a more complete understanding of the underlying trends in the company's business. However, these measures should not be viewed as a substitute for those determined in accordance with GAAP. For a historical reconciliation between the non-GAAP measures used in this presentation and measures determined in accordance with GAAP, and an explanation of their composition and why the company uses them, please see "Non-GAAP Financial Measures" in the company's Annual Report on Form 10-K, which is available on the EDGAR, SEDAR and BlackBerry.com websites.

About BlackBerry

BlackBerry (NYSE: BB; TSX: BB) provides intelligent security software and services to enterprises and governments around the world. The company secures more than 500M endpoints including over 215M vehicles. Based in Waterloo, Ontario , the company leverages AI and machine learning to deliver innovative solutions in the areas of cybersecurity, safety, and data privacy solutions, and is a leader in the areas of endpoint security, endpoint management, encryption, and embedded systems. BlackBerry's vision is clear - to secure a connected future you can trust.

BlackBerry. Intelligent Security. Everywhere.

For more information, visit BlackBerry.com and follow @BlackBerry.

Trademarks, including but not limited to BLACKBERRY and EMBLEM Design are the trademarks or registered trademarks of BlackBerry Limited, and the exclusive rights to such trademarks are expressly reserved. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. BlackBerry is not responsible for any third-party products or services.

Investor Contact:

BlackBerry Investor Relations

+1 (519) 888-7465

[email protected]

Media Contact:

BlackBerry Media Relations

+1 (519) 597-7273

[email protected]

This news release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of certain securities laws, including under the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and applicable Canadian securities laws, including statements regarding BlackBerry's plans, strategies and objectives including its expected future financial results and its expectations with respect to increasing and enhancing its product and service offerings.

The words "expect", "anticipate", "estimate", "may", "will", "should", "could", "intend", "believe", "target", "plan" and similar expressions are intended to identify these forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are based on estimates and assumptions made by BlackBerry in light of its experience and its perception of historical trends, current conditions and expected future developments, as well as other factors that BlackBerry believes are appropriate in the circumstances, including but not limited to, BlackBerry's expectations regarding its business, strategy, opportunities and prospects, the launch of new products and services, general economic conditions, the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, competition, and BlackBerry's expectations regarding its financial performance. Many factors could cause BlackBerry's actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements, including, without limitation, risks related to the following factors: BlackBerry's ability to enhance, develop, introduce or monetize products and services for the enterprise market in a timely manner with competitive pricing, features and performance; BlackBerry's ability to maintain or expand its customer base for its software and services offerings to grow revenue or achieve sustained profitability; the intense competition faced by BlackBerry; the occurrence or perception of a breach of BlackBerry's network cybersecurity measures, or an inappropriate disclosure of confidential or personal information; potential negative effects on the business as a result of actions of activist shareholders; BlackBerry's continuing ability to attract new personnel, retain existing key personnel and manage its staffing effectively; the failure or perceived failure of BlackBerry's solutions to detect or prevent security vulnerabilities; BlackBerry's dependence on its relationships with resellers and channel partners; litigation against BlackBerry; the impact of adverse macroeconomic and geopolitical conditions; network disruptions or other business interruptions; BlackBerry's ability to foster an ecosystem of third-party application developers; BlackBerry's products and services being dependent upon interoperability with rapidly changing systems provided by third parties; failure to protect BlackBerry's intellectual property and to earn expected revenues from intellectual property rights; BlackBerry's ability to obtain rights to use third-party software and its use of open source software; BlackBerry being found to have infringed on the intellectual property rights of others; BlackBerry's indebtedness; the substantial asset risk faced by BlackBerry, including the potential for charges related to its long-lived assets and goodwill; tax provision changes, the adoption of new tax legislation or exposure to additional tax liabilities; the use and management of user data and personal information; government regulations applicable to BlackBerry's products and services, including products containing encryption capabilities; environmental, social and governance expectations and standards; the failure of BlackBerry's suppliers, subcontractors, channel partners and representatives to use acceptable ethical business practices or comply with applicable laws; impacts of acquisitions, divestitures and other business initiatives; foreign operations, including fluctuations in foreign currencies; impacts of environmental events; the fluctuation of BlackBerry's quarterly revenue and operating results; and the volatility of the market price of BlackBerry's common shares.

These risk factors and others relating to BlackBerry are discussed in greater detail in BlackBerry's Annual Report on Form 10-K and the "Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements" section of BlackBerry's MD&A (copies of which filings may be obtained at www.sedar.com or www.sec.gov). All of these factors should be considered carefully, and readers should not place undue reliance on BlackBerry's forward-looking statements. Any statements that are forward-looking statements are intended to enable BlackBerry's shareholders to view the anticipated performance and prospects of BlackBerry from management's perspective at the time such statements are made, and they are subject to the risks that are inherent in all forward-looking statements, as described above, as well as difficulties in forecasting BlackBerry's financial results and performance for future periods, particularly over longer periods, given changes in technology and BlackBerry's business strategy, evolving industry standards, intense competition and short product life cycles that characterize the industries in which BlackBerry operates. Any forward-looking statements are made only as of today and BlackBerry has no intention and undertakes no obligation to update or revise any of them, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable law.

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SOURCE BlackBerry Limited
CHICAGO , May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- BlackDoctor.org (BDO) and Merck, known as MSD outside the United States and Canada , are working together to improve Black American participation in clinical trials. Increasing involvement in clinical trials by Black Americans is paramount to improving the quality of healthcare now and for future generations. Merck was the first to sign on to list its trials on BDO's Clinical Trials Resource Center (CTRC).

The CTRC is an online repository of information regarding clinical trials specifically targeting Black consumers. The historic partnership with BDO is designed to increase awareness, educate and help more Blacks get enrolled in clinical trials. BDO CEO, Reggie Ware stated, "Merck is a visionary organization and has shown great leadership in the industry by moving first on this opportunity to make more of their Clinical Trials available to Black patients."

"What we are doing has never been done before. There is now a comfortable, trusting place for Black people to get the important timely information they need to make informed decisions about Clinical Trials. Our goal is to normalize clinical trials," Ware added.

Jade Curtis , BDO Executive Editor said, "Companies like Merck allow BDO to fulfill our promise and mission. This mission requires strategic partners who are visionary, truly committed to health equity and ready to ensure that everyone who needs their medicines can have access to them regardless of race, creed or color.

Merck is committed to enrolling a diverse body of participants in their clinical trials. "We're focused on how we can inform and encourage underrepresented communities to participate in clinical trials," said Adrelia Allen, Executive Director, Clinical Trial Patient Diversity.

Merck's commitment to increasing diversity in clinical trials is evident by this partnership with BDO. The expectation is this will quickly show greater diversity in the trial population. In the first month of the CTRC being launched on the BDO website, it had 77,000 people visiting that portion of the website. Now when they visit the site, they will see a trusted partner, Merck. Merck is helping to move the needle on diversity in clinical trial enrollment while helping to build a brighter future for Black patients.

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/blackdoctororg-and-merck-announce-historic-partnership-301827467.html

SOURCE Black Doctor.org
Winners eligible for prize donations up to $50,000 USD out of $180,000 USD total prize awards

For the first time since the pandemic, all finalists will be invited to in-person Washington D.C. awards ceremony

RESTON, Va. , May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Public Interest Registry (PIR), the people behind .ORG, opened the nomination period today for its fifth annual .ORG Impact Awards , an annual celebration that recognizes outstanding mission-driven individuals and organizations from the global .ORG Community for their positive contributions to society.

Public Interest Registry's .ORG top-level domain has powered mission-driven organizations around the globe for more than 30 years. From individuals to large corporations, small community groups to multinational NGOs, each .ORG works to positively impact the communities they serve. Over the past four years, the .ORG Impact Awards have recognized 155 outstanding .ORGs from over 60 countries. Through the Awards, Public Interest Registry has awarded $325,000 for transformative work taking place around the world.

For the first time since the pandemic, all finalists will be invited to an in-person award ceremony in Washington D.C. on November 16, 2023 , where they will enjoy an evening of celebration alongside fellow changemakers. Winners will be announced at the event, honoring their work to make the world a better place. Additional event details will be released in the coming months.

"As we celebrate our fifth annual .ORG Impact Awards, we are excited to once again recognize outstanding changemakers across the world who work tirelessly to create change and drive progress for good," said Jon Nevett , CEO of Public Interest Registry. "This year's celebration will be particularly special as winners and finalists will gather for an in-person ceremony for the first time since 2019. If you are, or know, a changemaker committed to mission-driven work, we encourage you to submit a nomination. I hope you join our growing community."

Submissions are open from May 17 to June 28, 2023 , and all nominees must be tied to an active .ORG website. Submissions will be evaluated by a judging panel of leaders in the internet, nonprofit, and marketing sectors.

Categories for the 2023 awards include :

Health and Healing

Quality Education for All

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

Environmental Stewardship

Hunger and Poverty

Community Building

Rising Star

.ORG of the Year

The top five entries per category will be named as finalists on September 19, 2023 , and will be eligible to win the .ORG of the Year award. Winners will be announced on November 16, 2023 at the in-person awards ceremony in Washington, D.C.

The winner of the .ORG of the Year award will receive a donation of $50,000 USD while the other category winners will each receive $10,000 USD . For the very first time, all finalist organizations will each receive $2,500 USD , as well as travel and accommodations for two representatives to attend the in-person award ceremony. Beyond the donation, receiving a prestigious .ORG Impact Award will help raise the profile of winning organizations, ultimately to drive donations, funding, talent acquisition, partnership development, and audience reach.

To nominate an organization or individual for a .ORG Impact Award, visit www.orgimpactawards.org .

In 2022, over 940 organizations from 68 countries around the world submitted entries. The winner of the 2022 .ORG Impact Awards .ORG of the Year category was Food Rescue Hero , a nonprofit working to solve hunger and food waste with an app that connects restaurants and retailers with surplus food directly to food insecure households. Leveraging technology similar to delivery apps like Instacart or Uber Eats, the 412 Food Rescue app dispatches local volunteers to pick up prepared food boxes and deliver them directly to households identified by local nonprofit partners as in need of assistance. Since 2016, the Food Rescue Hero network of 14 partners in the US and Canada has diverted 100 million pounds of perfectly good food from landfill and mitigated 66.2 million pounds of CO2 emissions. Food Rescue Hero's growing community of over 34,000 volunteers saved 97 meals per minute in the year 2022.

"The award has helped us spread the news far and wide that people can address climate change and hunger in one fell swoop," said Leah Lizarondo , Founder of Food Rescue Hero. "The honor confirms and supports our efforts to offer an alternative to food waste and provide for those who continue to go hungry, and we have been excited to share this award with our entire team, far and wide, who makes this work possible."

Other 2022 award-winners include: Kageno Worldwide ; Limbitless Solutions ; Pro Mujer ; Mathias Charles Yabe , founder of AkoFresh ; and more.

About Public Interest Registry

Public Interest Registry (PIR) is a nonprofit that operates the .ORG top-level domainone of the world's largest generic top-level domains with more than 10.8 million domain names registered worldwide. .ORG is open to everyone, providing a global platform for organizations, associations, clubs, businesses and individuals to bring their ideas to life. PIR has been a champion for a free and open Internet for two decades with a clear mission to be an exemplary domain name registry, provide a trusted digital identity and help educate those who dedicate themselves to improving our world. PIR was founded by the Internet Society ( internetsociety.org ) in 2002 and is based in Reston, Virginia , USA. Visit www.TheNew.org for more information.

Contact: Grace Peacore, [email protected]

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SOURCE .ORG, The Public Interest Registry
CANNES, France , May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Ma Shuai, a Chinese beauty influencer who is a signing expert of Dandelion Digital and one of the top live-streamers in the cosmetics and beauty sector on Douyin (the Chinese version of TikTok), was recently invited to the Cannes Film Festival by the French cosmetics brand JEAN D'ESTREES. While in France , he also held several live-streaming shows. Ma was the first person in China to live stream in counters of international cosmetic and beauty brands in department stores and shopping malls. His live-streaming room - the " Ma Shuai x Super Brands Douyin Live-streaming Room " - has now become an outlet for multiple international beauty brands looking to reach Chinese consumers.

"During our stay in France , we were invited to visit Sephora's headquarters and the laboratories and manufacturing plant of Clarins. We have also traced JEAN D'ESTREES's more-than-half-century family history," said Ma. "Through the 'Ma Shuai x Super Brands Douyin Live-streaming Room ', we want to let more Chinese consumers experience the charm of French brands."

Ma, under the alias of PgyMa, has over 2.2 million followers on Douyin. He holds the record for breaking 100 million in GMV (Gross Merchandise Volume) during a single live-streaming show, which took place in November 2021 at Shenzhen's MOI Department Store.

Ma's live-streaming room is not just a platform for selling products. He has implemented various approaches to help brands attract more customers. One unique aspect of his live-streaming is that he dedicates one show to only one brand. Additionally, he has created a new offering called "the gift box", which contains a brand's different products in small packs or bottles, allowing his followers to try almost the entire product range of a brand at the price of one lipstick. By doing this, Ma has attracted many consumers who want to try new brands and helped brands who want to expand their customer base.

In May 2022 , Ma collaborated with SK-II for a live-streaming show that resulted in the brand winning 12,246 in-store-skin test appointments. This proves that the entire chain of online promotions, sales, in-store appointments, and offline in-store service can be connected through live-streaming.

In addition to his innovative strategies, Ma is committed to providing his followers with the best possible experience and earning their trust. He tests every product that he showcases in his live-streaming room and guarantees that all items available in his live-streaming room are completely authentic and sourced directly from the brands' counters.

These efforts have earned Ma an impressive following of viewers in China , with his live streams garnering more than 675 million views over the past three years. His audience is made up of high-net-worth individuals who value quality and have significant purchasing power. As a result, Ma has become known as a trustworthy source for international beauty brands on Douyin, and his followers know that they can rely on him to provide authentic, high-quality products.

Ma emphasized that live-streaming at department store counters is more than just a sales booster. It's a powerful tool for expanding a brand's reach and creating a deeper connection with customers. By showcasing the counter, professionalism of the salespersons, and new products in a live-streaming show, brands can highlight their product experience, culture, and value. This can lead to increased loyalty and a stronger bond with customers. He predicts that live-streaming will continue to evolve beyond sales and become an even more effective way to connect with consumers.

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SOURCE Dandelion Digital
SHANGHAI , May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The board of directors (the "Board") of Noah Holdings Private Wealth and Asset Management Limited (the "Company", with its subsidiaries and consolidated affiliated entities, the "Group") will hold a Board meeting on Tuesday, May 30, 2023 (Hong Kong time) for the purpose of, among others, considering and approving the unaudited financial results of the Group for the three months ended March 31, 2023 (the "Q1 Results") and its publication. The Company will announce its Q1 Results at or around 6:00 a.m. on Wednesday , May 31, 2023 ( Hong Kong time) on the website of The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited at www.hkexnews.hk .

Following the announcement of the Q1 Results, the Company's senior management will host a combined English and Chinese language earnings conference call to discuss its Q1 Results and recent business activities. The conference call will be accessed via Zoom webinar with the following details:

Zoom webinar details:

Conference title:

Noah Holdings 1Q23 Earnings Conference Call



Date/Time:

Tuesday, May 30, 2023 at 8:00 p.m., U.S. Eastern Time





Wednesday, May 31, 2023 at 8:00 a.m. , Hong Kong Time



Meeting ID: 917 0088 0901

Meeting Passcode: 173954

Dial in:



 New York: +1 929 205 6099

 London: +44 330 088 5830

 Singapore: +65 3165 1065











A replay will be available on the same day of the conference call until June 7, 2023 at the Company's investor relations website under the "Announcements & Events" section at http://ir.noahgroup.com .

A live and archived webcast of the conference call will be available at the Company's investor relations website under the "Financial Reports" section at http://ir.noahgroup.com .

By Order of the Board

Noah Holdings Private Wealth and Asset Management Limited

Jingbo Wang

Chairwoman of the Board

Hong Kong , May 17, 2023

As of the date of this announcement, the Board comprises Ms. Jingbo Wang, the chairwoman of the Board, Mr. Zhe Yin and Ms. Chia-Yue Chang as directors; Mr. Neil Nanpeng Shen and Mr. Boquan He as non-executive directors; and Dr. Zhiwu Chen , Ms. May Yihong Wu , Mr. Tze-Kaing Yang and Mr. Jinbo Yao as independent directors.

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/date-of-board-meeting-and-date-of-announcement-of-first-quarter-2023-unaudited-financial-results-301827821.html

SOURCE Noah Holdings Limited
Nayib Bukele likes to say that he was chosen by God. Now, he will also be able to say that he has been chosen as the alter ego of the Colombian extreme right. A few years ago, when the seed of the far-right Vox party was still germinating in Spain, its leader, Santiago Abascal, coined a term: the cowardly little right. He was using it to refer to the traditional conservative parties in Spain, such as the Peoples Party (PP), which had been alternating the power with the socialists since the restoration of democracy. Abascals argument was that that right had lost its essence and that he and his people represented the true, brave right. This division between a right wing seen as pure, and another one dismissed as watered-down, quickly spread throughout Europe, and is now spreading throughout Latin America, too. There is Kast in Chile, Bolsonaro in Brazil, Milei in Argentina, and it is also making its way in Colombia, where in the absence of national leadership, more and more people are looking outside their borders for a model to import: that of the authoritarian Salvadoran president.

Colombia is entering its electoral season. Local elections will be held on October 29, a key date for President Gustavo Petro, not only because they are the first elections of his term, but also because they will decide if the regional power is on his presidencys side or on the opposite. The timing is not optimal for the traditional right, which comes from a slump after a failure in the 2022 general elections, where its presidential candidate did not even make it to the second round. The visible heads of the opposition are blurred, leaving the spotlight to the senator of the most radical wing, Maria Fernanda Cabal, who a couple of months ago was one of the first to declare herself an admirer of the Salvadoran president. The spark caught on, to say the least: a Datexco survey for W Radio published this week ensures that 55% of Colombians would like a president like Bukele for their country.

In a nation that has known little peace, a cradle of guerrillas, paramilitaries, drug traffickers and criminal groups, security has always been at the center of the debate. The right, as has happened in other countries, capitalizes on its defense and the armed forces. This is due, in part, to the security policy implemented by former president Alvaro Uribe, who came to power at one of the roughest moments of the war and managed, with a firm hand, to corner the FARC and curb the brutal violence that not only affected the inhabitants of the regions, but also had the residents of the capital city of Bogota locked in their apartments. Uribe earned the respect of many who prioritized security over human rights, even if the former presidents two terms were marred by the falsos positivos scandal, a system that rewarded the military for the number of deaths and which took the lives of 6,000 innocent civilians who were falsely identified as guerrillas.

For many Colombians, Bukele is a reminder of that Uribe whom they miss so much and no longer recognize. The former president now lives with only one foot in politics; his most notable interventions of recent times have been his surprising statements in favor of Petro, with whom he has already met three times and whom he even defended in an event in which a person began to rant against him for being a former guerrilla member. There will be no insults for the president in my presence, the politician said. From that day on, the most fervent followers of Uribism assumed themselves as leaderless.

The president of El Salvador embodies everything that Uribe used to be, but taken to the next level. Bukele has focused all his politics on the war against gangs and has managed to reduce violence by accumulating abuses against rights and freedoms. Salvadorans, used to decades of violence that gave the country the questionable distinction of being the most violent in the world, forgive him everything; he is the most popular president in the region.

Last week, Bukele proudly celebrated that his country has reached, according to him, 365 days without homicides  an alleged peace that was later broken with the murder of a policeman. The presidents response was furious: Let all the human rights NGOs know that we are going to wipe out these damn murderers and their collaborators, we will put them in prison, and they will never get out. We dont care about your pitiful reports, your pre-paid journalists, your puppet politicians or your famous international community, which never cared about our people. We will heal our country and get rid of this plague completely. Take your failed recipes elsewhere.

The Salvadorans recipe has been seen in recent months through the images of thousands of tied-up, half-naked, kneeling gang members, ready to fill what is already the largest jail in Latin America, a prison built by the president to hold 40,000 people. That prison has also entered the Colombian debate.

Do you agree or disagree with the mega-prison that President Nayib Bukele of El Salvador built? asked the same survey in Colombia. 67% answered yes. The question, beyond an apparent campaign to bukelize Colombian politics, is relevant because Petro had attacked the prison through Twitter. Cabal was able to attract Bukele to Colombia, but President Petro was vocal for a couple of weeks, in which he referred to the Salvadoran many times on social media. Semana magazine also took advantage of the noise and gave him a cover with the title: The Bukele Miracle.

As insecurity continues to be one of the main issues in the country, imitators have not taken long to appear. The total peace that Petro is pursuing to pacify the country by negotiating with all the criminal groups has not yet borne fruit. Meanwhile, in recent days, a right-wing candidate for mayor of Cali, Jaime Arizabaleta, has been presenting himself as the Colombian Bukele. One has to seek advice from those who know. That is why I will approach the Bukele administration to see what we can adapt from its security model so criminals, thieves and killers get what they deserve, he said.

He is not the only one. A candidate for mayor of Valledupar, Camilo Quiroz, who has not been a member of the right, even traveled to El Salvador last week, and stated: I feel for Valledupar, and I am willing to cross borders to protect it. Insecurity is fought hand in hand with those who know; for this reason I thank the government of Nayib Bukele and the mayor [of San Salvador] Mario Duran, for opening the doors of San Salvador to me and for being willing to visit Valledupar to help us overcome this wave of violence and crime.

There are still five months left for the local elections, the candidacies are still being defined, and it remains to be seen if the devotees of the Salvadoran do win when the time comes. However, a quick glance at Twitter is enough to see that the followers of this model keep increasing. Just one example is an account, signed by Opositor, that from time to time publishes the message: We urgently need a Bukele for Colombia.

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NEW YORK , May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- American Capital Management, Inc. (ACM) is pleased to announce the appointment of David M. La Valle to the position of President. David succeeds his father, Luke P. La Valle , Jr., who assumes the role of Chairman and Chief Executive Officer in this transition.

"I am honored to have the responsibility of leading our team through the next threshold of growth and look forward to continuing to build on our deep and valued relationships. We have a unique investment philosophy, tremendous culture, and a proven record of accomplishment. I am confident that ACM is well positioned to support the needs of our clients now and in the future," said David.

David has a long-tenured history with ACM. He was a research intern during college and started his ACM career as an analyst after graduation. He then spent six years outside the firm before rejoining in 2008 as a portfolio manager and analyst while assuming the additional responsibility of Co-Chief Investment Officer in 2018. "During the past 15 years, David has been a major contributor to the success of ACM and is a highly respected member of our team. He has consistently demonstrated a steadfast commitment to our clients while leading our team through many challenging market environments. I am excited for this next chapter of our company under his leadership," Luke said.

Previously, David served four years in the U. S. Army as an Air Defense Officer, attaining the rank of Captain, and deploying to Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. He was commissioned after completing four years as an ROTC scholarship cadet. After his military service, he spent two years at Morgan Stanley as an analyst in their Capital Markets Group.

David graduated from Stanford University with a B.A. in Political Science where he was an All-American and scholarship athlete on their Varsity Fencing Team.

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/david-m-la-valle-appointed-president-of-american-capital-management-inc-301826099.html

SOURCE American Capital Management
Retailer searches for inspiring girls across the country

DULUTH, Minn. , May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Evsie, a popular clothing brand for young girls, has announced the launch of its brand ambassador program. The program aims to empower young girls to become confident and inspiring role models for their peers while promoting the Evsie girls brand.

Evsie, a popular clothing brand for young girls, has announced the launch of its brand ambassador program.

To kick off the brand ambassador program, Evsie hosted a sweepstakes to find its first-ever brand ambassador on its one-year anniversary. The winner of the brand ambassador sweepstakes was Hadley from Corydon, Indiana . Hadley participates in scholarship pageants and gymnastics; her favorite subject in school is writing and she's an advocate for Children with Hair Loss, a nonprofit organization that provides wigs to kids with hair loss due to medical conditions.

"We are thrilled to launch our brand ambassador program and give young girls the opportunity to represent our brand," said Swati Kelkar , head of Evsie. " Hadley is a true beauty educator and it's her mission to teach others that it's okay to be different. We believe that every girl has the potential to inspire others, and we hope that this program will help them do just that."

The brand ambassador program is open for participants between the ages of 7 and 14 with a consenting parent or legal guardian. Evsie is searching for young girls who aspire to be part of a community spreading kindness and joy, and their favorite fashion finds. As part of the program, ambassadors will receive exclusive access to new product releases, be showcased in evsie marketing, and participate in special events and seasonal campaigns. They will also have the opportunity to have their experiences shared as Evsie brand ambassadors on social media.

To apply for the program, the parent or legal guardian of an eligible participant must submit a video or photo explaining why their girl would make a great Evsie brand ambassador. Submissions for applications will begin June 7 , and the selected ambassadors will be announced on July 12, 2023 .

Evsie has quickly become a favorite among young girls for its trendy and comfortable clothing. The brand's mission is to inspire confidence and self-expression in young girls through fashion.

For more information about the brand ambassador program and how to apply, follow the Evsie brand on Instagram and TikTok, @evsieofficial.

Join the Evsie movement and become a role model for young girls everywhere! #EvsieAmbassador #EvsieStyle

About Evsie

Evsie is a style shop for girls' sizes 7-14 offering on-trend fashions and Style Superstars at everyday great values. Its fashion is uniquely tailored with comfort-conscious apparel made for movement and ease. Versatile and affordable, the Evsie collection is anchored by denim in 9 leg shapes, 2 rises and 8 washes, bringing stretchable comfort to fashion-forward style. Evsie's Style Superstars are everyday essentials made with extra love and priced just right. Classic graphic tees with positive messages and specialty graphic tees offer fashionable options. Evsie is located in nearly 400 maurices stores and 9 freestanding evsie stores, with even more to love online at www.evsie.com.

For more information, please visit www.evsie.comhttp://www.maurices.com/evsie. Connect with Evsie on TikTok and Instagram @evsieofficial.

About Maurices

Maurices is a leading women's fashion brand offering size-inclusive clothing that celebrates feel-good fashion for real life. Offering versatile, affordable styles that take her from day to night, Maurices is a destination for denim, knit tops, loungewear, intimates, and accessories, along with dressy collections. Known for its fun and friendly service and trusted stylists, Maurices offers a warm welcoming experience in stores and is guided by its greater purpose of making a positive difference in the lives of women who are the heart of its hometowns. Maurices operates nearly 900 stores in hometowns across the U.S. and Canada and offers even more to love at maurices.com with additional categories, sizes, and colors.

For more information, please visit www.maurices.com. Connect with Maurices on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and LinkedIn.

Media Contact :

Kristin McClement

Head of Brand Connections

Evsie

P: (218) 600-6929

E: [email protected]

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/evsie-launches-brand-ambassador-program-301827579.html

SOURCE maurices
North America's Leading Blow Dry Bar Franchise Announces Historic Deal with Boca Raton as First Target Area

PALM BEACH, Fla. , May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Blo Blow Dry Bar, North America's original blow dry bar and blow dry bar franchise, has announced a seven-unit agreement for Palm Beach County, FL , which ties the largest individual deal in company history. Site selection for the first location is currently underway in the Boca Raton area, with additional target areas spanning across the eastern coastline.

Spearheading Blo Blow Dry Bar's expansion in Palm Beach County is serial entrepreneur, Kenny Trattner , whose experience spans various industries from real estate to retail. Trattner previously owned and operated an auto business for 15 years and grew it to five locations across Austin, TX. Excited to start a new endeavor, Trattner ultimately has joined the Blo Blow Dry Bar system for his daughter, Lyndsi Levitt , who will serve in an operational role. Having attended beauty school, Levitt is a licensed master esthetician with a raw passion for the beauty and wellness industries and is currently achieving her cosmetology license.

"With my business experience, Lyndsi's industry experience, and Blo Blow Dry Bar's proven successful business model, we have the exact recipe needed for success," said Trattner. "We are excited about this seven-unit agreement, but I do believe this is just the beginning of our partnership with Blo. Combined, Lyndsi and I will focus on providing our guests and members with a pleasant and personalized customer experience, with the ultimate goal of creating a family environment throughout our local market."

As a Florida resident for more than 11 years, Trattner knows Boca Raton well and identified the need for a Blo Blow Dry Bar in the area and along Palm Beach County . He already has plans to continue to expand his business past his initial seven-unit agreement.

"Having direct experience working in the industry, I have seen what works and what doesn't," said Levitt. "I look forward to taking this knowledge and applying it to our bars, and becoming a go-to solution for everyone in these communities."

With a favorable real estate landscape and vast opportunity for market growth, company executives are actively seeking franchisees to continue to expand in key markets across the country.

"Our brand has seen success in Florida and are excited to partner with Kenny and Lyndsi to further expand our presence in these prime markets," said Vanessa Yakobson , CEO of Blo Blow Dry Bar. "As an industry-leading brand, monumental agreements like this will keep us on a positive trajectory as we provide more markets with catwalk-quality blow outs."

Blo Blow Dry Bar creates a space where people of all ages, ethnicities and orientations are welcomed, represented and made to feel gorgeous while emphasizing the need for self-care and wellness. Combining a sophisticated design with a fun and energetic environment, the blow dry bar cultivates a seamless and enjoyable experience for guests upon their arrival, during and after their services. Expertly trained stylists are available for consultation seven days a week to meet the needs of all guests. The brand's hair menu includes their signature styles, ranging from sleek and straight to lively and bouncy curls, with customizable options such as braids, ponytails and updos for any occasion. Blo also offers makeup services from expert artists on-hand to help guests look and feel amazing for any occasion.

The growing franchise is just at the start of the runway, staking its claim as a leader in the $47 billion a year industry and continues to expand at a rapid rate. Every year, more cities across the globe are painted pink. Every day, a new guest discovers how wonderful the Blo Blow Dry Bar experience is. Superior service and consistent results are a top priority for all guests as well as franchisees. The brand goes beyond beauty  it is strategically positioned to meet growing customer demands within the wellness and self-care industries with an established foundation for business success.

Blo Blow Dry Bar is currently seeking single- and multi- unit operators to join the brand's rapid expansion. For more information about franchise opportunities visit https://franchise.blomedry.com/.

About Blo Blow Dry Bar

Blo Blow Dry Bar is North America's original blow dry bar and the world's largest blow dry bar franchise. The company transformed beauty norms and reinvented the salon industry when it launched the "no cuts, no color" concept: only blow outs. Since opening its first location in Canada in 2007, Blo has grown to over 140 locations across the U.S. and Canada and continues to expand rapidly. With a mission to enhance the lives of those in the community through the power of flawless blow outs and beauty services, Blo Blow Dry Bar offers perfectly styled hair and exceptional customer experiences seven days a week. For more information visit www.blomedry.com.

Media Contact: Marisa Beaumont , Fishman Public Relations, 847.945.1300, [email protected]

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/father-daughter-duo-to-bring-blo-blow-dry-bar-to-palm-beach-county-sign-seven-unit-agreement-301826987.html

SOURCE Blo Blow Dry Bar
-Net revenue reached RMB3,050.6 million , representing a year-over-year increase of 24.7% -

-International business revenue contribution reached 14.7% of total revenue for the first quarter through Local Focus, Global Outlook Strategy-

SHANGHAI , May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- FinVolution Group ("FinVolution," or the "Company") (NYSE: FINV), a leading fintech platform, today announced its unaudited financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2023 .



For the Three Months Ended / As of YoY

Change

March 31, 2022 March 31, 2023 Total Transaction Volume (RMB in billion)[1] 39.7 43.4 9.3 % Transaction Volume ( China's Mainland) 38.8 41.8 7.7 % Transaction Volume (International)[2] 0.86 1.57 82.6 % Total Outstanding Loan Balance (RMB in billion) 53.8 62.3 15.8 % Outstanding Loan Balance ( China's Mainland)[3] 53.4 61.3 14.8 % Outstanding Loan Balance (International)[4] 0.36 0.95 163.9 %

First Quarter 2023 China Market Operational Highlights

Cumulative registered users [5] reached 146.6 million as of March 31, 2023 , an increase of 8.4% compared to March 31, 2022 .

reached 146.6 million as of , an increase of 8.4% compared to . Cumulative borrowers for the China market reached 24.0 million as of March 31, 2023 , an increase of 6.7% compared to March 31, 2022 .

market reached 24.0 million as of , an increase of 6.7% compared to . Number of unique borrowers [6] for the first quarter of 2023 was 2.2 million, a decrease of 14.2% compared to the same period of 2022.

for the first quarter of 2023 was 2.2 million, a decrease of 14.2% compared to the same period of 2022. Transaction volume reached RMB41.8 billion for the first quarter of 2023, an increase of 7.7% compared to the same period of 2022.

for the first quarter of 2023, an increase of 7.7% compared to the same period of 2022. Transaction volume facilitated for repeat individual borrowers [8] for the first quarter of 2023 was RMB37.1 billion , an increase of 13.8% compared to the same period of 2022.

for the first quarter of 2023 was , an increase of 13.8% compared to the same period of 2022. Outstanding loan balance reached RMB61.3 billion as of March 31, 2023 , an increase of 14.8% compared to March 31, 2022 .

as of , an increase of 14.8% compared to . 90 day+ delinquency ratio [9] was 1.72% as of March 31, 2023 , compared to 1.64% as of March 31, 2022 .

First Quarter 2023 International Market Operational Highlights

Cumulative registered users [5] reached 17.9 million as of March 31, 2023 , an increase of 77.2% compared to March 31, 2022 .

reached 17.9 million as of , an increase of 77.2% compared to . Cumulative borrowers for the international market reached 3.7 million as of March 31, 2023 , an increase of 48.0% compared to March 31, 2022 .

, an increase of 48.0% compared to . Number of unique borrowers [6] for the first quarter of 2023 was 0.74 million, an increase of 23.3% compared to the same period of 2022.

for the first quarter of 2023 was 0.74 million, an increase of 23.3% compared to the same period of 2022. Number of new borrowers [7] for the first quarter of 2023 was 0.31 million, an increase of 34.8% compared to the same period of 2022.

for the first quarter of 2023 was 0.31 million, an increase of 34.8% compared to the same period of 2022. Transaction volume reached RMB1.57 billion for the first quarter of 2023, an increase of 82.6% compared to the same period of 2022.

for the first quarter of 2023, an increase of 82.6% compared to the same period of 2022. Proportion of transaction volume in the Indonesia market funded by local financial institutions has increased to 63.9% in the first quarter of 2023 from 14.6% in the same period last year.

market funded by local financial institutions has increased to 63.9% in the first quarter of 2023 from 14.6% in the same period last year. Outstanding loan balance reached RMB0.95 billion as of March 31, 2023 , an increase of 163.9% compared to March 31, 2022 .

as of , an increase of 163.9% compared to . International business revenue was RMB447.7 million ( US$65.2 million ) for the first quarter of 2023, an increase of 165.8% compared to the same period of 2022, representing 14.7% of total revenue in the first quarter of 2023.

First Quarter 2023 Financial Highlights

Net revenue was RMB3,050.6 million ( US$444.2 million ) in the first quarter of 2023, an increase of 24.7% from RMB2,446.8 million in the same period of 2022.

( ) in the first quarter of 2023, an increase of 24.7% from in the same period of 2022. Net profit was RMB689.8 million ( US$100.4 million ) in the first quarter of 2023, an increase of 29.1% from RMB534.3 million in the same period of 2022.

( ) in the first quarter of 2023, an increase of 29.1% from in the same period of 2022. Non-GAAP adjusted operating income, [10] which excludes share-based compensation expenses before tax, was RMB762.6 million ( US$111.0 million ) in the first quarter of 2023, an increase of 26.7% from RMB602.1 million in the same period of 2022.

which excludes share-based compensation expenses before tax, was ( ) in the first quarter of 2023, an increase of 26.7% from in the same period of 2022. Diluted net profit per American depositary share ("ADS") was RMB2.42 ( US$0.35 ) and diluted net profit per share was RMB0.48 ( US$0.07 ) in the first quarter of 2023, an increase of 33.7% from the same period of 2022. Non-GAAP diluted net profit per ADS was RMB2.49 ( US$0.36 ) and non-GAAP diluted net profit per share was RMB0.50 ( US$0.07 ) in the first quarter of 2023, an increase of 32.4% from the same period of 2022. Each ADS of the Company represents five Class A ordinary shares of the Company.

[1] Represents the total transaction volume facilitated in China's Mainland and the international markets on the Company's platforms during the period presented. [2] Represents our international markets outside China's Mainland. [3] Outstanding loan balance ( China's Mainland) as of any date refers to the balance of outstanding loans in China's Mainland market delinquent within 180 days from the given date. [4] Outstanding loan balance (international) as of any date refers to the balance of outstanding loans in the international markets delinquent within 30 days from the given date. [5] On a cumulative basis, the total number of users in both China and international markets registered on the Company's platforms as of March 31, 2023 . [6] Represents the total number of borrowers in both China and international markets whose transactions were facilitated on the Company's platforms during the period presented. [7] Represents the total number of new borrowers who have successfully borrowed on our platform in the past and borrowed on the Company's platforms in the international markets during the period presented. [8] Represents the transaction volume facilitated for the repeat borrowers who successfully completed their transaction on the Company's platforms during the period presented. [9] "90 day+ delinquency ratio" refers to the outstanding principal balance of on- and-off balance sheet loans that were 90 to 179 calendar days past due as a percentage of the total outstanding principal balance of on-and-off balance sheet loans on the Company's platform as of a specific date. Loans that originated outside China's Mainland are not included in the calculation. [10] Please refer to "UNAUDITED Reconciliation of GAAP And Non-GAAP Results" for reconciliation between GAAP and Non-GAAP adjusted operating income.

Mr. Tiezheng Li , Chief Executive Officer of FinVolution, commented, "During the first quarter of 2023, total transaction volume reached RMB43.4 billion , representing a year-over-year increase of 9.3% while total outstanding loan balance reached RMB62.3 billion , representing a year-over-year increase of 15.8%."

"We are delighted that our international markets continue to develop rapidly with transaction volume reaching RMB1.57 billion , representing a year-over-year increase of 82.6% while outstanding loan balance grew to RMB0.95 billion representing a year-over-year increase of 163.9%. Notably, this rapid growth propelled our international revenue contribution to 14.7% of total revenue in the quarter," concluded Mr. Li .

Mr. Jiayuan Xu , FinVolution's Chief Financial Officer, continued, "We are encouraged by the financial results we achieved in the first quarter. Net revenue for the first quarter reached RMB3,050 .6 million representing a year-over-year increase of 24.7%. More encouragingly, due to our prudent business attitude and risk management, our net profit reached RMB689.8 million in the first quarter, representing a year-over-year increase of 29.1%."

"Our cash and short-term liquidity position as of the end of March 2023 further strengthened to RMB7,750.1 million , representing a sequential increase of 9.7%. During such times of uncertainty, our strong balance sheet and liquidity position continue to provide confidence to all our stakeholders," concluded Mr. Xu .

First Quarter 2023 Financial Results

Net revenue in the first quarter of 2023 increased by 24.7% to RMB3,050.6 million ( US$444.2 million ) from RMB2,446.8 million in the same period of 2022, primarily due to the increase in loan facilitation service fees, post facilitation service fees and guarantee income.

Loan facilitation service fees increased by 16.7% to RMB1,168.3 million ( US$170.1 million ) in the first quarter of 2023 from RMB1,001.4 million in the same period of 2022. This increase was primarily due to the increase in transaction volume, partially offset by the decrease in service fee rates.

Post-facilitation service fees increased by 6.3% to RMB487.2 million ( US$70.9 million ) in the first quarter of 2023 from RMB458.4 million in the same period of 2022, primarily due to the increase in outstanding loans served by the Company and the rolling impact of deferred transaction fees.

Guarantee income increased by 61.2% to RMB986.5 million ( US$143 .6 million) in the first quarter of 2023 from RMB612 .1 million in the same period of 2022. This increase was primarily due to the increased outstanding loan balance of off-balance sheet loans and the rolling impact of deferred guarantee income. The fair value of quality assurance commitment upon loan origination is released as guarantee income systematically over the term of the loans subject to quality assurance commitment.

Net interest income increased by 6.1% to RMB285.6 million ( US$41.6 million ) in the first quarter of 2023, from RMB269.1 million in the same period of 2022.

Other revenue increased by 16.4% to RMB123.1 million ( US$17.9 million ) in the first quarter of 2023 from RMB105.8 million in the same period of 2022, primarily due to the increase in customer referral fees from other third-party platforms.

Origination, servicing expenses and other costs of revenue increased by 3.0% to RMB512.4 million ( US$74.6 million ) for the first quarter of 2023 from RMB497.7 million for the same period of 2022, primarily due to the increase in employee's expenditures.

Sales and marketing expenses increased by 19.6% to RMB397.1 million ( US$57.8 million ) in the first quarter of 2023 from RMB332.0 million in the same period of 2022 as a result of proactive customer acquisition efforts focusing on higher-quality borrowers in both China and international markets.

Research and development expenses increased by 12.3% to RMB126.2 million ( US$18.4 million ) in the first quarter of 2023, from RMB112.4 million in the same period of 2022, due to the increase in investments for technology development.

General and administrative expenses decreased by 6.3% to RMB85.4 million ( US$12.4 million ) in the first quarter of 2023 from RMB91.1 million in the same period of 2022, primarily due to the increase in operating efficiency.

Provision for accounts receivable and contract assets decreased by 13.5% to RMB63.2 million ( US$9.2 million ) in the first quarter of 2023 from RMB73.1 million for the same period of 2022, primarily due to the better-than expected default rate, partially offset by the increase in loan volume and outstanding loan balances of off-balance sheet loans.

Provision for loans receivable increased by 44.0% to RMB143.3 million ( US$20 .9 million) in the first quarter of 2023, from RMB99 .5 million in the same period of 2022, primarily due to the increase in loan volume and outstanding loan balances in the international markets.

Credit losses for quality assurance commitment increased by 48.8% to RMB980.7 million ( US$142.8 million ) in the first quarter of 2023 compared to RMB659 .0 million in the same period of 2022. The increase was primarily due to the increase in loan volume and outstanding loan balances in the international markets.

Operating profit increased by 27.5% to RMB742.3 million ( US$108.1 million ) in the first quarter of 2023 from RMB582.0 million in the same period of 2022.

Non-GAAP adjusted operating income, which excludes share-based compensation expenses before tax, was RMB762.6 million ( US$111 .0 million) in the first quarter of 2023, representing an increase of 26.7% from RMB602.1 million in the same period of 2022.

Other income increased by 63.0% to RMB82.8 million ( US$12.1 million ) in the first quarter of 2023 from RMB50.8 million in the same period of 2022, mainly due to the increase in gains from wealth management products.

Income tax expense was RMB135.2 million ( US$19.7 million ) in the first quarter of 2023, compared to RMB98.6 million in the same period of 2022. This increase was mainly due to the increase in pre-tax profit in the first quarter and the increase in effective tax rate caused by an increase in profit contribution from subsidiaries with higher tax rates.

Net profit was RMB689.8 million ( US$100.4 million ) in the first quarter of 2023, compared to RMB534.3 million in the same period of 2022.

Net profit attributable to ordinary shareholders of the Company was RMB695.9 million ( US$101.3 million ) in the first quarter of 2023, compared to RMB534.7 million in the same period of 2022.

Diluted net profit per ADS was RMB2.42 ( US$0.35 ) and diluted net profit per share was RMB0.48 ( US$0.07 ) in the first quarter of 2023, an increase of 33.7% from the same period of 2022. Non-GAAP diluted net profit per ADS was RMB2.49 ( US$0.36 ) and non-GAAP diluted net profit per share was RMB0.50 ( US$0.07 ) in the first quarter of 2023, an increase of 32.4% from the same period of 2022. Each ADS represents five Class A ordinary shares of the Company.

As of March 31, 2023 , the Company had cash and cash equivalents of RMB5,083.8 million ( US$740.3 million ) and short-term investments, mainly in wealth management products, of RMB2,666.3 million ( US$388.2 million ).

The following chart and table display the historical cumulative 30-day plus past due delinquency rates by loan origination vintage in China's Mainland for all loan products facilitated through the Company's online platform as of March 31, 2023 :

Click here to view the chart.

Shares Repurchase Update

On August 21, 2022 , the board of directors of the Company approved the expansion of the Company's existing share repurchase program from up to US$60 million to up to US$140 million and the extension for another twelve months from January 1, 2023 , through December 31, 2023 , which allows the Company to repurchase its own Class A ordinary shares in the form of ADSs with an aggregate value of up to US$140 million until December 31, 2023 .

As of March 31, 2023 , in combination with the Company's historical and existing share repurchase programs, the Company had cumulatively repurchased its own Class A ordinary shares in the form of ADSs with a total aggregate value of approximately US$195.7 million .

Business Outlook

The Company will continue to closely monitor the pandemic situation and remain vigilant in its business operations. The Company announced that it expects its China's Mainland transaction volume for the second quarter of 2023 to be around RMB45.0 billion , representing year-over-year growth of approximately 10.8%. The Company also announced that it expects its international markets transaction volume for the second quarter of 2023 to be around RMB1.7 billion , representing year-over-year growth of approximately 86.8%.

The above forecast is based on the current market conditions and reflects the Company's current preliminary views and expectations on market and operational conditions and the regulatory and operating environment, as well as customer and institutional partners demands, all of which are subject to change.

Conference Call

The Company's management will host an earnings conference call at 8:30 PM U.S. Eastern Time on May 17, 2023 ( 8:30 AM Beijing/Hong Kong Time on May 18 , 2023).

Dial-in details for the earnings conference call are as follows:

United States (toll free): 1-888-346-8982 Canada (toll free): 1-855-669-9657 International: 1-412-902-4272 Hong Kong, China (toll free): 800-905-945 Hong Kong, China : 852-3018-4992 Mainland, China : 400-120-1203

Participants should dial-in at least five minutes before the scheduled start time and ask to be connected to the call for "FinVolution Group."

Additionally, a live and archived webcast of the conference call will be available on the Company's investor relations website at https://ir.finvgroup.com.

A replay of the conference call will be accessible approximately one hour after the conclusion of the live call until May 24, 2023 , by dialing the following telephone numbers:

United States (toll free): 1-877-344-7529 Canada (toll free): 855-669-9658 International: 1-412-317-0088 Replay Access Code: 9175031

About FinVolution Group

FinVolution Group is a leading fintech platform with strong brand recognition in China and the international markets connecting borrowers of the young generation with financial institutions. Established in 2007, the Company is a pioneer in China's online consumer finance industry and has developed innovative technologies and has accumulated in-depth experience in the core areas of credit risk assessment, fraud detection, big data and artificial intelligence. The Company's platform, empowered by proprietary cutting-edge technologies, features a highly automated loan transaction process, which enables a superior user experience. As of March 31, 2023 , the Company had over 164.5 million cumulative registered users.

For more information, please visit https://ir.finvgroup.com

Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures

We use non-GAAP adjusted operating income, non-GAAP operating margin, non-GAAP net profit, non-GAAP net profit attributable to FinVolution Group, non-GAAP basic and diluted net profit per share and per ADS which are non-GAAP financial measures, in evaluating our operating results and for financial and operational decision-making purposes. We believe that these non-GAAP financial measures help identify underlying trends in our business by excluding the impact of share-based compensation expenses and expected discretionary measures. We believe that non-GAAP financial measures provide useful information about our operating results, enhance the overall understanding of our past performance and future prospects and allow for greater visibility with respect to key metrics used by our management in its financial and operational decision-making.

Non-GAAP adjusted operating profit, non-GAAP operating margin, non-GAAP net profit non-GAAP basic and diluted net profit per share and per ADS are not defined under U.S. GAAP and is not presented in accordance with U.S. GAAP. These non-GAAP financial measures have limitations as analytical tool, and when assessing our operating performance, cash flows or our liquidity, investors should not consider it in isolation, or as a substitute for net income, cash flows provided by operating activities or other consolidated statements of operation and cash flow data prepared in accordance with U.S. GAAP. The Company encourages investors and others to review our financial information in its entirety and not rely on a single financial measure.

For more information on this non-GAAP financial measure, please see the table captioned "Reconciliations of GAAP and Non-GAAP results" set forth at the end of this press release.

Exchange Rate Information

This announcement contains translations of certain RMB amounts into U.S. dollars at a specified rate solely for the convenience of the reader. Unless otherwise noted, all translations from RMB to U.S. dollars are made at a rate of RMB6.8676 to US$1.00 , the rate in effect as of March 31, 2023 as certified for customs purposes by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

Safe Harbor Statement

This press release contains forward-looking statements. These statements constitute "forward-looking" statements within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and as defined in the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements can be identified by terminology such as "will," "expects," "anticipates," "future," "intends," "plans," "believes," "estimates," "target," "confident" and similar statements. Such statements are based upon management's current expectations and current market and operating conditions and relate to events that involve known or unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, all of which are difficult to predict and many of which are beyond the Company's control. Forward-looking statements involve risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any such statements. Potential risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, uncertainties as to the Company's ability to attract and retain borrowers and investors on its marketplace, its ability to increase volume of loans facilitated through the Company's marketplace, its ability to introduce new loan products and platform enhancements, its ability to compete effectively, laws, regulations and governmental policies relating to the online consumer finance industry in China , general economic conditions in China , and the Company's ability to meet the standards necessary to maintain listing of its ADSs on the NYSE, including its ability to cure any non-compliance with the NYSE's continued listing criteria. Further information regarding these and other risks, uncertainties or factors is included in the Company's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. All information provided in this press release is as of the date of this press release, and FinVolution does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statement as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required under applicable law.

For investor and media inquiries, please contact:

In China :

FinVolution Group

Head of Investor Relations

Jimmy Tan , IRC

Tel: +86 (21) 8030-3200 Ext. 8601

E-mail: [email protected]

The Piacente Group, Inc.

Jenny Cai

Tel: +86 (10) 6508-0677

E-mail: [email protected]

In the United States :

The Piacente Group, Inc.

Brandi Piacente

Tel: +1-212-481-2050

E-mail: [email protected]

FinVolution Group UNAUDITED INTERIM CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS (All amounts in thousands, except share data, or otherwise noted)



As of December 31 , As of March 31 ,

2022 2023

RMB RMB USD Assets





Cash and cash equivalents 3,636,380 5,083,789 740,257 Restricted cash 2,842,707 2,960,351 431,060 Short-term investments 3,427,020 2,666,273 388,239 Investments 1,084,084 1,109,292 161,525 Quality assurance receivable, net of credit loss allowance for

quality assurance receivable of RMB374,304 and RMB394,930

as of December 31, 2022 , and March 31, 2023 , respectively 1,669,855 1,606,434 233,915 Intangible assets 98,692 98,692 14,371 Property, equipment and software, net 141,345 138,191 20,122 Loans receivable, net of credit loss allowance for loans receivable

of RMB294,355 and RMB254,613 as of December 31, 2022

and March 31, 2023 , respectively 2,136,432 1,242,632 180,941 Accounts receivable and contract assets, net of credit loss

allowance for accounts receivable and contract assets of

RMB496,918 and RMB402,943 as of December 31, 2022 , and

March 31, 2023, respectively 2,217,445 2,244,132 326,771 Deferred tax assets 919,361 1,160,701 169,011 Right of use assets 192,428 183,879 26,775 Prepaid expenses and other assets 2,966,751 2,796,856 407,254 Goodwill 50,411 50,411 7,340 Total assets 21,382,911 21,341,633 3,107,581 Liabilities and Shareholders' Equity

Deferred guarantee income 1,805,164 1,786,267 260,101 Liability from quality assurance commitment 3,555,618 3,650,909 531,614 Payroll and welfare payable 274,408 175,825 25,602 Taxes payable 134,027 302,772 44,087 Funds payable to investors of consolidated trusts 1,845,210 1,054,904 153,606 Contract liability 5,109 5,215 759 Deferred tax liabilities 232,188 291,729 42,479 Accrued expenses and other liabilities 909,708 844,405 122,955 Leasing liabilities 176,990 176,255 25,665 Dividends payable - 416,463 60,642 Total liabilities 8,938,422 8,704,744 1,267,510 Commitments and contingencies





FinVolution Group Shareholders' equity





Ordinary shares 103 103 15 Additional paid-in capital 5,692,703 5,707,355 831,055 Treasury stock (568,595) (655,601) (95,463) Statutory reserves 698,401 698,401 101,695 Accumulated other comprehensive income 52,237 23,069 3,357 Retained Earnings 6,496,852 6,776,273 986,702 Total FinVolution Group shareholders' equity 12,371,701 12,549,600 1,827,361 Non-controlling interest 72,788 87,289 12,710 Total shareholders' equity 12,444,489 12,636,889 1,840,071 Total liabilities and shareholders' equity 21,382,911 21,341,633 3,107,581

FinVolution Group UNAUDITED INTERIM CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF COMPREHENSIVE

INCOME (All amounts in thousands, except share data, or otherwise noted)



For the Three Months Ended March 31 ,

2022 2023

RMB RMB USD







Operating revenue:





Loan facilitation service fees 1,001,363 1,168,253 170,111 Post-facilitation service fees 458,436 487,171 70,938 Guarantee income 612,122 986,520 143,648 Net interest income 269,122 285,632 41,591 Other Revenue 105,751 123,067 17,920 Net revenue 2,446,794 3,050,643 444,208 Operating expenses:





Origination, servicing expenses and other cost of revenue



(497,704) (512,428) (74,615) Sales and marketing expenses (331,980) (397,118) (57,825) Research and development expenses (112,403) (126,216) (18,378) General and administrative expenses (91,139) (85,402) (12,435) Provision for accounts receivable and contract assets (73,050) (63,200) (9,203) Provision for loans receivable (99,468) (143,316) (20,868) Credit losses for quality assurance commitment (659,009) (980,683) (142,799) Total operating expenses (1,864,753) (2,308,363) (336,123) Operating profit 582,041 742,280 108,085 Other income, net 50,849 82,777 12,053 Profit before income tax expense 632,890 825,057 120,138 Income tax expenses (98,631) (135,237) (19,692) Net profit 534,259 689,820 100,446 Net profit attributable to non-controlling ,interest shareholders (404) (6,064) (883) Net profit attributable to FinVolution Group 534,663 695,884 101,329 Foreign currency translation adjustment, net of nil tax (2,546) (29,168) (4,247) Total comprehensive income attributable to FinVolution Group 532,117 666,716 97,082 Weighted average number of ordinary shares used in computing net income per share





Basic 1,431,746,490 1,410,573,744 1,410,573,744 Diluted 1,474,499,556 1,436,889,563 1,436,889,563 Net profit per share attributable to FinVolution Group's ordinary shareholders





Basic 0.37 0.49 0.07 Diluted 0.36 0.48 0.07 Net profit per ADS attributable to FinVolution Group's ordinary shareholders (one ADS equal five ordinary shares)





Basic 1.87 2.47 0.36 Diluted 1.81 2.42 0.35

FinVolution Group UNAUDITED INTERIM CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS (All amounts in thousands, except share data, or otherwise noted)



Three Months Ended March 31 ,

2022

2023

RMB

RMB

USD Net cash (used in)/provided by operating activities (35,152)

672,286

97,892 Net cash (used in)/ provided by investing activities (1,743,175)

1,805,886

262,957 Net cash provided by/ (used in) financing activities 401,228

(886,716)

(129,116) Effect of exchange rate changes on cash and cash equivalents (2,096)

(26,403)

(3,844) Net increase/ (decrease) in cash, cash equivalent and restricted cash (1,379,195)

1,565,053

227,889 Cash, cash equivalent and restricted cash at beginning of period 8,491,541

6,479,087

943,428 Cash, cash equivalent and restricted cash at end of period 7,112,346

8,044,140

1,171,317

FinVolution Group UNAUDITED Reconciliation of GAAP and Non-GAAP Results (All amounts in thousands, except share data, or otherwise noted)



For the Three Months Ended March 31 ,

2022 2023

RMB RMB USD







Net Revenues 2,446,794 3,050,643 444,208 Less: total operating expenses (1,864,753) (2,308,363) (336,123) Operating Income 582,041 742,280 108,085 Add: share-based compensation expenses 20,098 20,359 2,964 Non-GAAP adjusted operating income 602,139 762,639 111,049







Operating Margin 23.8 % 25.0 % 25.0 % Non-GAAP operating margin 24.6 % 25.6 % 25.6 % Non-GAAP adjusted operating income 602,139 762,639 111,049 Add: other income, net 50,849 82,777 12,053 Less: income tax expenses (98,631) (135,237) (19,692) Non-GAAP net profit 554,357 710,179 103,410 Net profit attributable to non-controlling interest shareholders (404) (6,064) (883) Non-GAAP net profit attributable to FinVolution

Group 554,761 716,243 104,293







Weighted average number of ordinary shares used in

computing net income per share





Basic 1,431,746,490 1,410,573,744 1,410,573,744 Diluted 1,474,499,556 1,436,889,563 1,436,889,563 Non-GAAP net profit per share attributable to

FinVolution Group's ordinary shareholders





Basic 0.39 0.51 0.07 Diluted 0.38 0.50 0.07 Non-GAAP net profit per ADS attributable to

FinVolution Group's ordinary shareholders (one ADS

equal five ordinary shares)





Basic 1.94 2.54 0.37 Diluted 1.88 2.49 0.36

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SOURCE FinVolution Group
GamedayNIL Provides a Single Digital Platform to Connect Collectives, Universities, Student-Athletes, Donors and Fans

BRENTWOOD, Tenn. , May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Athlete Licensing Company (ALC), a tech-enabled name, image and likeness (NIL)/intellectual property (IP) management company, today announced its partnership with Golden Touch, LLC , a marketplace/collective created to help The University of Notre Dame, St. Mary's College and Holy Cross College at Notre Dame student-athletes optimize NIL opportunities.

Golden Touch is one of a new generation of collectives working with multiple universities to help athletes across each school maximize NIL opportunities. The collective will utilize ALC's GamedayNIL digital platform to efficiently manage the numerous elements associated with NIL sponsorships, endorsements and product sales, including deal facilitation, payments, reporting and compliance.

"At Golden Touch, our mission is to help student-athletes strengthen connections and grow opportunities," says Sean Collins , Director of Partnerships at Golden Touch. "We're excited to collaborate with ALC. Their platform will enable us to efficiently maximize sponsorships while helping maintain the integrity and well-being of our student-athletes."

ALC developed its software suite based on 25+ years of music-industry IP rights and royalty tracking experience. GamedayNIL automates NIL program management. It provides a single platform to manage the disparate requirements and associated tasks, payments and tracking for every NIL stakeholder  student-athletes, universities, collectives, donors and fans. The platform includes a university module and an invitation-only app, Club Nillionaire, which allows student-athletes to accept, track and report their NIL deals

"We partnered with ALC because of their commitment to benefiting and protecting the student-athletes," says Karen Phelps , Collective Director of Golden Touch. "We're passionate about helping student-athletes build their legacies and we also want to make sure their mental health is a priority. I'm confident our ALC partnership will allow us to grow our collective so we can help even more student-athletes."

GamedayNIL is an end-to-end software-as-a-service solution that integrates with current management systems and is scalable for future needs. Among its other features, the platform also provides a user-friendly way to manage fan and donor engagement.

"We're honored Golden Touch partnered with ALC," says Adam Jaggers , CEO of ALC. "NIL and IP rights represent life-changing opportunities for student-athletes. It's our goal to help collectives ensure student-athletes can capitalize on these opportunities while maintaining compliance for all parties."

About Athlete Licensing Company

Athlete Licensing Company (ALC) is a tech-enabled NIL/IP rights management company that connects student-athletes, universities, collectives, brands and agents. The company puts student-athletes at the center of the ecosystem by providing an app, Club Nillionaire, which enables them to optimize and manage their NIL opportunities. The company's GamedayNIL platform is a software-as-a-service offering that allows for efficient, transparent sponsorship facilitation, payment enablement and reporting, and compliance oversight. ALC boasts a wealth of experience in intellectual property management and brings significant expertise in NCAA, state and school compliance requirements. For more information, visit www.athlete-licensing.com.

About Golden Touch

Golden Touch is the first and only digital college NIL marketplace/collective designed to empower exceptional The University of Notre Dame, St. Mary's College and Holy Cross College at Notre Dame student-athletes with opportunities to monetize their college careers, grow their life experiences and support their mental health. Golden Touch has a distinctive purpose that sets it apart from other NIL collectives. Each deal completed through Golden Touch helps support Golden Minds, an online community to help athletes prioritize mental wellness. For more information, visit www.GoldenTouch.world.

Media Contact:

Nikki Cary

Athlete Licensing Company

[email protected]

615.500.2924

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SOURCE Athlete Licensing Company
Drawing on over $1 billion raised throughout his 15-year career, DeFeo will guide Harmonix's fundraising ambitions to advance humanity across health tech, deep tech, and space

NEW YORK, NY , May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Harmonix, a leading VC firm focused on investments in science-driven startups, announced today the appointment of Anthony DeFeo as the firm's new Managing Director of Marketing and Investor Relations. With over 15 years of experience and $1 billion in capital raised, DeFeo will guide Harmonix's continued efforts to find investments in startups at the leading edge of science and engineering that are poised to radically improve life for all people.

Before joining Harmonix, DeFeo led investor relations at CKC Capital, a corporate credit focused hedge fund. Previously, he led the marketing efforts at Orchard View Capital and Sio Capital, two healthcare focused hedge funds. He also served as a Marketing Associate at Exis Capital and as an Assistant Vice President Relationship Manager at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

"We are elated to welcome Anthony DeFeo to our Harmonix family," said Maximilian Winter , Founder and General Partner at Harmonix. "Anthony's track record speaks volumes about his prowess in investor relations and marketing. His wealth of experience and proven ability to mobilize significant capital, makes him an invaluable asset as we continue our efforts to support startups harnessing scientific breakthroughs, AI, and machine learning. With Anthony on board, we are confident that Harmonix will reach new heights and amplify our impact in healthcare, life sciences, and deep tech infrastructure, including space."

DeFeo's addition to the investor relations team comes shortly after the addition of Katya Kohen who serves as Harmonix's Partnership and Network Lead.

"I'm thrilled to be joining the Harmonix team and to contribute to their vision of supporting world-changing startups," DeFeo said. "Having worked with several innovative firms in the past, I've seen firsthand the power of strategic partnerships and marketing, and the commitment and expertise Harmonix has shown towards its target verticals is inspiring. I'm eager to draw on my experience to facilitate the growth of this groundbreaking firm and drive support for startups that are truly making a difference to uplift humanity."

Anthony earned his MBA from Fordham University where he was class President. He earned an undergraduate degree in Italian language from New York University.

ABOUT HARMONIX

Harmonix Fund is a California -based venture capital firm founded by Maximilian Winter and Cofield Mundi , focused on investing in breakthrough technologies at the intersection of life sciences, healthcare, and deep tech. With a strong commitment to ethics, social impact, and scientific advancements, Harmonix Fund supports and empowers entrepreneurs to develop and scale their groundbreaking ideas, creating a comprehensive ecosystem for innovation and growth.

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SOURCE Harmonix
SAUGUS, Calif. , May 16, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- HASA, Inc. (www.hasa.com), the leading provider of safe, clean, clear water treatment for recreational, municipal and industrial water sanitization, announced that Angela Tran has been appointed to the new role of Chief Strategy Officer (CSO) within the organization.

"Congratulations to Angela on her promotion to Chief Strategy Officer," said Chris Brink , President & CEO of HASA, Inc. "As a private, equity-backed manufacturing company in the midst of an intensive and exciting growth period, it is absolutely imperative that HASA drives a focused effort toward true strategic initiatives, all focused on delivering incredible value to our customers, communities, and partners. Angela is an exceptional professional who is uniquely suited for her role and who will help take HASA to the next level and beyond."

HASA plays a preeminent role in providing essential water treatment systems for the Western and Southwestern U.S. The company is set on a successful multi-year growth trajectory, and the promotion of Ms. Tran , who plays a pivotal role in HASA's strategic and financial expansion, is part of a broader leadership team restructuring move designed to support the organization's continued acceleration.

Joining HASA in 2017, Angela Tran previously served in the role of Senior Vice President of Operations for the company. In her new capacity, she will be responsible for all aspects of development, analysis, confirmation, and implementation of large EBITDA-impact projects, including future M&A, as well as enhancing Commercial, Pricing and Operational Excellence for HASA. Ms. Tran will continue to report directly to HASA President & CEO, Chris Brink .

For more information about HASA's high-concentration, premium liquid sodium hypochlorite water treatment solutions for recreational, industrial and municipal water applications, please visit www.hasa.com.

About HASA

HASA, Inc. is a leading producer and distributor of high-quality water treatment products used to sanitize and maintain water systems, including swimming pools, water tanks and containment vessels for recreational, industrial and municipal end markets. Founded in 1964, the company operates out of facilities in California, Arizona, Washington, Nevada and Texas. Over its more than 55-year history, HASA has established a strong reputation for supplying superior products through excellent logistics and distribution capabilities. Additional information about HASA is available at www.hasa.com .

About Wind Point Partners

Wind Point Partners is a Chicago-based private equity investment firm with approximately $5 billion in assets under management. Wind Point focuses on partnering with top caliber management teams to acquire well-positioned middle market businesses where it can establish a clear path to value creation. The firm targets investments in the consumer products, industrial products and business services sectors. Wind Point is currently investing out of Wind Point Partners X, a fund that was initiated in 2022. Additional information about Wind Point is available at www.windpointpartners.com .

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SOURCE HASA, Inc.
New investor including MetLife and Khazanah Nasional alongside existing and new shareholders, join Series B funding round led by Tokio Marine

SINGAPORE , May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- bolttech today announced it raised US$196 million in connection with its Series B with an up-round valuation of US$1.6 billion . The round was led by Tokio Marine  Japan's first insurance company with a 140-year history. Other key investors include global life insurance giant MetLife through its subsidiary MetLife Next Gen Ventures, Malaysia's sovereign wealth fund Khazanah Nasional, as well as new and existing shareholders.

International insurtech bolttech is defying the current capital markets backdrop  mega-round funding ( US$100 million and above) for the global insurtech sector is at its lowest level since Q1 2020, according to a Gallagher Re report[1]. bolttech's Series B fundraise is the largest straight equity Series B for an insurtech in the last year, and follows the company achieving the largest ever Series A round for an insurtech in 2021.

bolttech will use the proceeds of the Series B to further fuel its organic growth, including investments in proprietary technology, digital capabilities for business partners and end consumers as well as talent across bolttech's 30+ markets. In addition, the funds will be used to explore inorganic opportunities to accelerate international growth.

Rob Schimek , bolttech's Group Chief Executive Officer, said, "Having just celebrated our third anniversary since our launch in 2020, we are incredibly proud of what we have achieved so far on our mission to build the world's leading, technology-enabled insurance ecosystem. We are now one of the fastest growing insurtechs in the world, enabling our partners to find new revenue streams, accelerate their digital transformation, and deepen their customer relationships. We thank all our Series B investors for their support, and we are excited to welcome our new investors, reputable leaders in their respective spaces, and look forward to strong partnerships that will fuel bolttech's continued growth on our path to profitability in 2024."

The support of such esteemed investors is a resounding validation of bolttech's leadership, innovative business model, and unique value proposition in shaping the future of insurance. bolttech has maintained a strong financial foundation with a clear path to profitability while driving its rapid growth and scale to build the most comprehensive international presence for an insurtech.

bolttech's global operations

bolttech, one of the world's leading embedded insurance providers, is a global B2B2C insurtech that connects insurers with distributors and their customers. With licenses to operate throughout Asia , Europe and all 50 U.S. states, bolttech provides businesses with everything they need to offer insurance products that meet their customers' evolving insurance and protection needs in the digital age.

bolttech now quotes approximately US$55 billion worth of annualized premiums. Globally, bolttech's ecosystem connects 700 distribution partners with more than 230 insurance providers and offers in excess of 6,000 product variations.

Sources:

[1]  Gallagher Re, 4 May 2023 , Gallagher Re Global InsurTech Report for Q1 2023

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SOURCE bolttech
SEAL Awards recognize leadership, transparency and commitment to sustainable business practices

CINCINNATI , May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The Kroger Co. (NYSE: KR) today announced it has been named a 2023 SEAL Business Sustainability Awards winner in the Environmental Initiatives category. The SEAL (Sustainability, Environmental Achievement and Leadership) Awards honor the organizations and leaders dedicated to making real progress on the most pressing issues of our time, including climate change and environmental challenges. Kroger received the honor in recognition of its signature Zero Hunger | Zero Waste impact plan.

"We are honored to receive the SEAL Award for Kroger's continued focus on creating a world free from hunger and waste," said Mary Ellen Adcock , Kroger's senior vice president, operations. "As our store and facility teams work to implement this vision and uplift the communities we serve, we appreciate the recognition of our progress and transparency."

In the first five years of the impact plan, Kroger and its associates achieved:

$1.65 billion in giving to hunger relief, which includes 582 million pounds of surplus food donated, for a total of 2.9 billion meals directed to communities

in giving to hunger relief, which includes 582 million pounds of surplus food donated, for a total of 2.9 billion meals directed to communities $54.6 million in grants from the Zero Hunger | Zero Waste Foundation

in grants from the Zero Hunger | $5.2 million in Innovation Fund grants for social entrepreneurs through the Zero Hunger | Zero Waste Foundation's signature program

"We are especially honored to receive this recognition after working to deepen the integration of Zero Hunger | Zero Waste in our operations the last two years," said Keith Dailey , Kroger's group vice president of corporate affairs and chief sustainability officer. "Kroger's operators  from retail operations to merchandising and Our Brands leaders  are driving incredible progress against the company's ambitious goals through innovation and execution in stores and across the enterprise."

SEAL Award winners are determined by a holistic methodology that measures applicants against established benchmark metrics that demonstrate true impact and progress towards a healthy planet and a sustainable future.

To learn more about Kroger's Zero Hunger | Zero Waste progress visit here. More information about the SEAL Business Sustainability Award winners is available at sealawards.com/sustainability-award-2023.

About Kroger

At The Kroger Co. (NYSE: KR), we are dedicated to our Purpose: To Feed the Human Spirit. We are, across our family of companies nearly half a million associates who serve over 11 million customers daily through a seamless digital shopping experience and retail food stores under a variety of banner names, serving America through food inspiration and uplift, and creating #ZeroHungerZeroWaste communities by 2025. To learn more about us, visit our newsroom and investor relations site.

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SOURCE The Kroger Co.
WASHINGTON , May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- International law firm McDermott Will & Emery is pleased to welcome antitrust partner Ryan Tisch to the firm's regulatory practice in Washington, DC . Ryan is a strategic advisor to Fortune 100 company clients across a range of complex antitrust issues with a proven track record in mergers and acquisitions, merger clearances and related litigation.

"Global antitrust activity is at an all-time high, with the FTC and DOJ implementing assertive, difficult-to-navigate enforcement policies that are increasing uncertainty in the regulatory space," said Ray Jacobsen , global head of McDermott's Antitrust Practice Group. "Our internationally recognized team works tirelessly to steer clients to positive outcomes and progress their strategic objectives in this complex environment. Ryan's addition further strengthens our leading antitrust capabilities, providing clients with innovative, winning strategies across the spectrum of regulatory issues."

Ryan is known for securing approvals for significant mergers that face review in multiple jurisdictions, including some of the largest in the agricultural, manufacturing, chemical, technology and food and beverage industries. As the digital economy exposes traditional businesses to new competition, clients turn to Ryan to advise on their evolving platforms and go-to-market strategies. In addition to his deal work, Ryan helps clients mitigate risk and advises on complex operational issues such as joint ventures, trade association activities and other competitor collaborations, distribution and channel management, standard setting and data exchange.

Ryan's global practice includes extensive handling of matters before the US Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission as well as substantive merger review matters before the United Kingdom's Competition and Markets Authority, the Competition Tribunal of South Africa , the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission and China's State Administration for Market Regulation, among other international authorities.

"I believe in a holistic approach to transactions and commercial strategy that brings the best minds across disciplines to a legal problem, and McDermott helps me offer that to my clients. McDermott has an impressive track record as a leader in the antitrust sector, and I have long admired the depth and breadth of its regulatory practice. I am excited to tap into the Firm's global platform to support my clients' growing lists of regulatory needs," Ryan noted.

McDermott's Global Antitrust Practice

With an outstanding global antitrust team of over 40 lawyers across offices in Brussels , Chicago , Dusseldorf, New York , Paris and Washington, DC , McDermott offers clients an extraordinary breadth of industry experience. Our lawyers are known for using innovative strategies to solve complex antitrust issues while building a deep knowledge of clients' businesses to implement the best path forward.

McDermott continues to expand its international footprint with the addition of several high-profile additions during recent years, including Lesli C. Esposito and Justin P. Murphy ( Washington, DC ), Hendrik Viaene and Stephane Dionnet ( Brussels ), Frederic Pradelles ( Paris ) and Laura Stammwitz ( Frankfurt .) Collectively, the group brings experience in the fields of merger control, international cartel defense, distribution, state aid, antitrust litigation and international trade.

McDermott's global antitrust team is regularly listed in Global Competition Review's "Global Elite" as a top competition law team. Its strength is also recognized by other leading industry organizations and rankings, such as Chambers & Partners (Top Ranked), The Legal 500 US & EMEA (Leading Firm) Best Lawyers, Best Law Firms (Tier 1) and Benchmark Litigation (Highly Recommended).

ABOUT MCDERMOTT

McDermott Will & Emery partners with leaders around the world to fuel missions, knock down barriers and shape markets. Our team works seamlessly across practices and industries to deliver highly effective solutions that propel success. More than 1,400 lawyers strong, we bring our personal passion and legal prowess to bear in every matter for our clients and the people they serve.

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SOURCE McDermott Will & Emery
Residents of Utsjoki  the northernmost municipality in the European Union, in the northeast of Finland  yearn for the taste of salmon. The fish that was an essential food in this remote town for centuries has now become a luxury.

For the past four years, the fishing of salmon has been banned in Teno River, the countrys natural border with Norway. This traumatic ban has overshadowed the future of the municipality, which is the only place in the Nordic country where the Sami  the last indigenous people in Europe  are the majority.

The scarcity of salmon around Utsjoki  a direct consequence of the drastic increase in temperatures  is a clear example of how climate change has jeopardized the livelihoods and pillars of an ancient culture. This critical situation only adds to the deep disappointment faced by Finlands Sami community  made up of just 10,000 people  which has long hoped for the right to greater self-governance. With the triumph of conservative and far-right parties in Aprils federal elections, the future for the indigenous Finns appears bleak.

Salmon is a cornerstone of our culture, says Aslak Holmberg, a schoolteacher in Utsjoki, in a phone interview with EL PAIS. The veto on fishing has damaged the local economy, with thousands of fishing enthusiasts no longer making the trip up to stay in the towns motels. Holmberg, 34, accepts the need to impose quotas, but demands a cultural right over the river. He believes that, should salmon fishing be allowed again, the Sami should have priority.

Last year, the indigenous community of Finland was filled with hope at the prospect of obtaining greater decision-making power over the natural resources of the north of the country  a policy that was promoted by the government led by the Social Democrat Sanna Marin, who is still acting prime minister. However, that illusion vanished after the conservatives and extreme rightists triumphed in the parliamentary elections six weeks ago.

In total, some 80,000 Sami live between Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia. Some now reside in large cities, far from the northernmost lands of Europe where fishing, hunting and reindeer kept their ancestors alive for thousands of years. But many still fight to ensure that their ancient culture and traditions can coexist with the modern world. Were running out of time to transmit the necessary knowledge to the youngest ones traditional net fishing requires lots of learning and experience, Holmberg laments.

The indigenous people of Finland are represented by the Samediggi  the Sami Parliament  a constitutionally recognized consultative body. In order for someone to be able to vote or be a candidate in the Sami elections, they must meet only one of three requirements: two are based on proof of a single ancestors ability in the Sami language, while one is related to the fulfillment of tax payments on fishing and hunting claims, which can go back several centuries. This verification system has been contentious due to how broad it is, clouding the very definition of Sami identity.

For decades, prominent members of the indigenous community of Finland  supported by historians, jurists and various international organizations  have been demanding a reform of the Sami Parliament Law, which regulates the active and passive suffrage of the assembly, in addition to its functions. If [the law] isnt modified, there will come a time when the Finns take control [of the chamber], Leo Aikio emphasizes. He is vice president of Samediggi, located in the town of Inari. With the support of various rulings from the Supreme Administrative Court of Finland, citizens residing in Lapland (Finlands northernmost region) have been spuriously declaring to be Sami. They have managed to gain access to the consultative body, with the intention of curbing the aspirations of true indigenous people.

Sanna Marin, last June in the building that houses the Sami Parliament in Inari. Samediggi

The Supreme Administrative Court has interpreted the law arbitrarily, says Laura Junka-Aikio, a professor of Political Science at the University of Lapland. The judges have admitted dubious evidence for the preparation of the electoral census, she adds. Different UN committees  such as the Human Rights Committee, or the Committee on the Rights of the Child  have criticized various rulings made by the high court, as they deprive the Sami of the right to self-determination.

The Sami of Finland were excited when Marin became prime minister of the Nordic country in 2019. The social democratic policy promised to eliminate the tax payment criteria and give the Samediggi greater decision-making power over the use of natural resources. Although this was still far from the capacity to veto related legislation passed at the national level, which has long been the indigenous communitys goal.

Marins attempts to carry out the reform were rejected by one of her coalition partners: the Center Party of Finland, which has an agrarian electoral base that is opposed to granting more territorial rights to the Sami. Ultimately, opposition within Marins own Social Democratic Party prevented the reform from reaching a vote.

As political infighting buried hopes of legal reform, extraordinarily high temperatures exacerbated the climate emergency in a region that is warming at least four times faster than the planets average. Some 45 miles southeast of Utsjoki is one of the most unpopulated areas in the entire EU: Sevettijarvi. There, the inhabitants can still fish for salmon; its no longer as abundant, but it still fills the freezers. And, every month, about 20 indigenous people meet at the local school with Tero Mustonen, a prestigious researcher and activist who travels hundreds of miles to meet them. During their sessions, they discuss the next steps they will take in their inexhaustible effort to conserve and restore the local ecosystem.

A session of the Sami Parliament last November. Samediggi

Sevettijarvi is not just another town in the vast Finnish taiga. It was built at the end of the 1940s to resettle 50 families that had been evacuated from Finnish territory annexed by the Soviet Union during World War II. They were all Skolt  a branch of the Sami, with less than 1,000 members. The tribe preserves one of the most endangered dialects in Europe: this has made Sevettijarvi its cultural capital.

Snowchange  the NGO run by Mustonen  cooperates with the areas residents to stop and reverse the degradation of their forests, rivers and lakes, where they keep their ancestral knowledge and traditions alive. Efforts in recent decades to revitalize Skolt have slightly increased the number of speakers, although Mustonen considers that the path to survival is very steep.

Sami culture and traditions depend on continuous connections with language and nature, the activist sums up. Mustonen was recently one of the winners of the Goldman Environmental Prize, awarded in Washington, D.C. at the end of April. It is considered to be a sort of Nobel Prize in ecology.

The Sami languages have more than a hundred words referring to different types of snow, but there is no adequate word to describe the kind that, for the past few years, has fallen sporadically, covering pastures and wreaking havoc among the herds of reindeer. This wet snow  mixed with heavy rainfall  has caused thick layers of ice to cover the ground, making it impenetrable for the deer, whose hooves cant break through. They die by the thousands, as they are unable to dig for the vegetation that they eat. The drastic effects of climate change have further clouded the future of reindeer herding  an ancient activity that, for decades, has already suffered the serious consequences of logging.

Marins reform would not have guaranteed the survival of the Skolt, nor ended the rains in February. But it would have allowed the Sami community to define its own identity and would have given it greater decision-making power over projects that affect the areas in which they reside, as well as the use of natural resources that they depend on, such as the Teno River. The probable agreement that is being negotiated between the newly-elected conservatives and the extreme right curtails any possibility that the Samediggi Law will be modified in the near future.

During the months in which the reform took up the media spotlight, the debate turned very bitter. It even gave way to a cultural battle between the Sami and their allies and part of rural Finland, opposed to what they consider to be unjustified privileges. These citizens were supported by the most reactionary elements of the right, as well as the logging industry. Several prominent members of the Sami community received death threats. Junka-Aikio thinks that, despite the fact that some populists have been able to generate some anti-Sami sentiment, for the first time, the debate has not been monopolized by those who are directly opposed to indigenous rights.

In addition to trying to reform the Sami Parliament Act, Marin promoted the creation of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission  a body intended to shed light on the systematic abuses suffered by this community. However, the first steps of the Commission have been a resounding failure: it has been plagued by several resignations, a lack of funds and an inability to generate legitimacy among the citizenry.

The reconciliation process  which has been implemented in Canada or Scandinavia  is complex for Finnish society, whose collective memory is very much tied to the years of Swedish and Russian occupation, but not so much to its colonizing period in the northern lands. The Sami writer Helga West believes that now is not the time to stir up the past, at least until the state is able to solve the problem that it itself generated [with the Sami Parliament Act]. On her blog, she expressed that if Marins government couldnt comply with the reform, I dont think that the political climate is ideal to seek reconciliation with the Sami.

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MEMPHIS, Tenn. , May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare recently commemorated the 90th anniversary of its Methodist Healthcare Auxiliary with a celebration featuring a special blessing and remarks from the system's President and CEO, Dr. Michael Ugwueke , MPH, DHA, FACHE. The Auxiliary began in 1933 as a group of Methodist Church members, physicians' wives and friends of Methodist Hospital.

"The Methodist Auxiliary is one of our most cherished organizations," said Ugwueke. "Their role became essential in fulfilling our mission to improve the health and wellbeing of every patient who trusts us with their care."

The Auxiliary's members, best known as the "Pink Ladies," raise funds and donate their time to provide additional support to patients, families, caregivers and Methodist Le Bonheur staff.

"These incredible women serve as an extension of our Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare family," said Ugwueke. "Either with an encouraging word, bright smile or uplifting prayer, they represent our Power of One culture, rooted in the belief that one person can make a difference in the life of another."

In nine decades, Auxiliary members have fundraised more than $2.5 million for Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare, including $133K in the last five years alone. These funds enable the Memphis -based healthcare system to further invest in lifesaving equipment and capital projects, expand nursing education scholarship programs and provide additional comfort features in the Methodist University Hospital chapel.

"I hope their acts of selflessness and service encourage others to follow in their footsteps, ensuring the invaluable work of the Auxiliary continues well into the next century," said Ugwueke.

About Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare

Based in Memphis, Tennessee , Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare has been caring for patients and families regardless of their ability to pay for more than 100 years. Guided by roots in the United Methodist Church and founded in 1918 to help meet the growing need for quality healthcare in the greater Memphis area, MLH has grown from one hospital into a comprehensive healthcare system with 13,000 Associates supporting six hospitals, including nationally ranked Le Bonheur Children's Hospital, ambulatory surgery centers, outpatient facilities, hospice residence and physician and specialty practices serving communities across the Mid-South. From transplants and advanced heart procedures to expert neurology services and compassionate cancer care, MLH offers clinical expertise with a focus on improving every life we touch.

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SOURCE Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare
Local Officials, nurses and community advocates to testify in strong opposition to the closure of what DPH in 2021 already deemed essential to the region



The proposed closure comes as local hospital emergency departments are already overburdened with patients waiting for addiction treatment beds

BOSTON , May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The Department of Public Health will hold a legally required public hearing on the proposed closure of the 32-bed MORCAP (Morton Comprehensive Addiction Program), located at Steward Morton Hospital in Taunton . A number of public officials, nurses and community advocates are expected to testify in strong opposition to the closure as they claim it will only add to a growing crisis in the region, as local hospital emergency departments are already overburdened with patients waiting for addiction treatment beds and services.

What: The Department of Public Health, as required by law, will conduct a virtual public hearing on the closure of the service via telephone. Members of the public and other interested parties may join the hearing by phone by calling: 888-390-5007 Passcode: 8688080

When: Thursday, May 18, 2023 from 6  9 p.m.

The MORCAP facility provides desperately needed alcohol/substance abuse detox and recovery services to the people of Southeastern Massachusetts . The service was previously called the NORCAP Lodge and located in Foxboro , where it was affiliated with Steward Good Samaritan Medical Center. In 2021, Steward initiated its closing, but later decided to move the service to Morton Hospital in Taunton . In response to the initial closure proposal, the DPH had deemed it an essential service to the region to preserve the public health in the community. Advocates contend it remains an essential service for the region. In pursuing the closing, Steward has floated a plan to replace the service by opening beds at Carney Hospital in Dorchester .

"We intend to express strong opposition to the closing of this service as we believe it will only add to an already growing crisis for residents of this region, a region which has desperate need for the services this program provides," said Katie Murphy, RN , President of the Massachusetts Nurses Association, which represents the nurses who work at Morton Hospital and the MORCAP unit. "We oppose its closing because it will only add to the unprecedented process of patients with substance abuse and behavioral health issues boarding in this region's hospital emergency departments and because we believe it is ludicrous for anyone to claim that it is appropriate to close a service for a population of patients in Taunton and Brockton to potentially access that service in Dorchester ."

MNA Calls for Greater State Scrutiny and Oversight of Hospital Service Closures

This closing is the latest in a line of service closures by hospital systems in recent years, including the loss of behavior health beds, maternity, pediatric, oncology and other services; services in most every case the DPH has deemed to be essential to those communities. Yet DPH lacks the authority to stop such closures and in nearly every case, the providers closed those services. In response to this dangerous trend, the MNA has filed two pieces of legislation that would provide communities and officials with more data and more power to protect needed services.

An Act Relative to the Closing of Hospital Essential Services will:

Extend the official notice period to the DPH in advance of a closure or discontinuation of health services.

Require any hospital proposing closure or discontinuation of health services to provide evidence of having notified and provided the opportunity for comment from affected municipalities before the notification period begins.

Instruct the Attorney General to seek an injunction to maintain the essential services for the duration of the notice period.

Prohibit the hospital from eligibility for an application for licensure or expansion for a period of three years from the date the service is discontinued, or until the essential health service is restored, or until such time as the DPH is satisfied with a modified plan.

Prohibit the closure of beds, units, or facilities during any declared state of emergency pertaining to health care.

The Hospital Essential Service Accessibility Act will:

Require the Department of Public Health in consultation with the Health Policy Commission to commission a study analyzing and delineating the existing cadre of services provided by the state's acute care medical and psychiatric hospitals based on the need for those services in all regions of the Commonwealth, with recommendations as how to ensure access to those services.

"By allowing these closures, our public health system demonstrates to already vulnerable and marginalized groups that their interests do not matter," Murphy said. "The Commonwealth must put patient and community needs at the forefront of this decision-making process.

MassNurses.org  Facebook.com/MassNurses  Twitter.com/MassNurses  Instagram.com/Massnurses

Founded in 1903, the Massachusetts Nurses Association is the largest union of registered nurses in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Its 25,000 members advance the nursing profession by fostering high standards of nursing practice, promoting the economic and general welfare of nurses in the workplace, projecting a positive and realistic view of nursing, and by lobbying the Legislature and regulatory agencies on healthcare issues affecting nurses and the public.

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SOURCE Massachusetts Nurses Association
HOUSTON , May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Nabors Energy Transition Corp. (NYSE: NETC) ("NETC" or the "Company") announced that its board of directors has elected to extend the date by which NETC has to consummate a business combination by three additional months from May 18, 2023 to August 18, 2023 (the "Extension"), as permitted under NETC's second amended and restated certificate of incorporation. The Extension provides NETC with additional time to complete its previously announced initial business combination (the "Business Combination") with Vast Solar Pty Ltd ("Vast").

In connection with the Extension, Nabors Lux 2 S.a.r.l. (" Nabors Lux ") and Greens Road Energy LLC ("Greens Road"), each an affiliate of Nabors Energy Transition Sponsor LLC (the "Sponsor"), have deposited a total of $886,557.69 (the "Extension Payment") into NETC's trust account for its public stockholders (the "Trust Account"), which enables NETC to effectuate the Extension. Nabors Lux and Greens Road each loaned their respective portion of the Extension Payment to NETC through a non-interest-bearing loan. If NETC consummates an initial business combination, it will repay the loans out of the proceeds of the Trust Account or, at the option of the Sponsor, convert all or a portion of the loans into warrants for $1.00 per warrant, which warrants will be identical to the warrants issued by NETC in a private placement in connection with NETC's initial public offering. If NETC does not consummate an initial business combination, it will repay the loans only from funds held outside of the Trust Account.

About Nabors Energy Transition Corp.

NETC is a blank check company formed to effect a merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses. The Company focused its search for a target business on companies that identify solutions, opportunities or technologies that focus on advancing the energy transition; specifically, companies that facilitate, improve or complement the reduction of carbon or greenhouse gas emissions while satisfying growing energy consumption across markets globally.

Important Information for Stockholders

This communication does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any securities or constitute a solicitation of any vote or approval.

In connection with the proposed Business Combination, Vast has filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") a registration statement on Form F-4 (the "Registration Statement"), which included (i) a preliminary prospectus of Vast relating to the offer of securities to be issued in connection with the proposed business combination and (ii) a preliminary proxy statement of NETC to be distributed to the holders of NETC's capital stock in connection with NETC's solicitation of proxies for a vote by NETC's stockholders with respect to the proposed business combination and other matters described in the Registration Statement. NETC and Vast also plan to file other documents with the SEC regarding the proposed Business Combination. After the Registration Statement has been declared effective by the SEC, a definitive proxy statement/prospectus will be mailed to the stockholders of NETC. INVESTORS AND SECURITY HOLDERS OF NETC AND VAST ARE URGED TO READ THE REGISTRATION STATEMENT, THE PROXY STATEMENT/PROSPECTUS CONTAINED THEREIN (INCLUDING ALL AMENDMENTS AND SUPPLEMENTS THERETO) AND ALL OTHER DOCUMENTS RELATING TO THE PROPOSED BUSINESS COMBINATION THAT WILL BE FILED WITH THE SEC CAREFULLY AND IN THEIR ENTIRETY WHEN THEY BECOME AVAILABLE BECAUSE THEY WILL CONTAIN IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT THE PROPOSED BUSINESS COMBINATION.

Investors and security holders can obtain free copies of the proxy statement/prospectus and other documents containing important information about NETC and Vast once such documents are filed with the SEC, through the website maintained by the SEC at http://www.sec.gov. In addition, the documents filed by NETC may be obtained free of charge from NETC's website at www.nabors-etcorp.com or by written request to NETC at 515 West Greens Road , Suite 1200, Houston, TX 77067.

Participants in the Solicitation

NETC, Nabors Industries Ltd., Vast and their respective directors and executive officers may be deemed to be participants in the solicitation of proxies from the stockholders of NETC in connection with the proposed Business Combination. Information about the directors and executive officers of NETC is set forth in NETC's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2022 , filed with the SEC on March 22, 2023 . To the extent that holdings of NETC's securities have changed since the amounts printed in NETC's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2022 , such changes have been or will be reflected on Statements of Change in Ownership on Form 4 filed with the SEC. Other information regarding the participants in the proxy solicitation and a description of their direct and indirect interests, by security holdings or otherwise, will be contained in the proxy statement/prospectus and other relevant materials to be filed with the SEC when they become available. You may obtain free copies of these documents as described in the preceding paragraph.

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, regarding the proposed Business Combination, NETC's and Vast's ability to consummate the transaction, the benefits of the transaction and NETC's and Vast's future financial performance following the transaction, as well as NETC's and Vast's strategy, future operations, financial position, estimated revenues and losses, projected costs, prospects, plans and objectives of management are forward-looking statements. When used herein, including any oral statements made in connection herewith, the words "could," "should," "will," "may," "believe," "anticipate," "intend," "estimate," "expect," "project," the negative of such terms and other similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements, although not all forward-looking statements contain such identifying words. These forward-looking statements are based on NETC and Vast management's current expectations and assumptions about future events and are based on currently available information as to the outcome and timing of future events. Except as otherwise required by applicable law, NETC and Vast disclaim any duty to 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. NETC and Vast caution 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 NETC and Vast. These risks include, but are not limited to, general economic, financial, legal, political and business conditions and changes in domestic and foreign markets; the inability of the parties to successfully or timely consummate the proposed transactions or to satisfy the conditions to the closing of the proposed transactions, including satisfaction of the minimum proceeds condition and the risk that any required regulatory approvals are not obtained, are delayed or are subject to unanticipated conditions that could adversely affect the combined company; the risk that the approval of the stockholders of NETC for the proposed transactions is not obtained; the failure to realize the anticipated benefits of the proposed transactions, including as a result of a delay in consummating the proposed transaction or difficulty in, or costs associated with, integrating the businesses of NETC and Vast; the amount of redemption requests made by NETC's stockholders; the outcome of any legal proceedings that may be instituted against NETC or Vast following announcement of the transaction; the occurrence of events that may give rise to a right of one or both of NETC and Vast to terminate the definitive agreements related to the proposed Business Combination; difficulties or delays in the development of Vast's concentrated solar power facilities; the risks related to the rollout of Vast's business and the timing of expected business milestones; potential benefits and commercial attractiveness to its customers of Vast's products; the potential success of Vast's marketing and expansion strategies; and the effects of competition on Vast's future business. Should one or more of the risks or uncertainties described herein and in any oral statements made in connection therewith occur, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, 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 NETC's expectations and projections can be found in the Registration Statement and NETC's periodic filings with the SEC, including NETC's Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC on March 22, 2023 , and any subsequently filed Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q. NETC's SEC filings are available publicly on the SEC's website at www.sec.gov.

Investor Relations Contact

William C. Conroy

[email protected]

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/nabors-energy-transition-corp-announces-extension-of-deadline-to-complete-business-combination-301827934.html

SOURCE Nabors Energy Transition Corp.
TORONTO and LONDON , May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ - In the fixed-income trading space, data gaps remain a challenge for efficient, profitable fixed income trading and automation. This is especially true in Europe , where transparency in fixed-income instruments hardly exists. Amidst this broad data gap, bond desks may use and aggregate any existing but incomplete data sources available in the market.

However, aggregating the available data into executable prices and liquidity measures requires sophisticated artificial intelligence (AI) and cloud-based processing. Most bond trading desks lack the resources and expertise to do this in-house. Overbond partners with the world's largest exchanges and capital markets data providers to bring cloud-based AI aggregated data and automated trading solutions to fixed-income trading desks around the globe.

"At our core at Overbond we strive for interoperability of our AI algorithm suite with native trader desktop workflow. Our partnership with Finsemble solidifies this approach," says Chaim Hack , Director of Sales at Overbond. "This seamless integration allows Overbond clients to derive even greater value from Overbond components, as they can now interoperate with a wide range of applications," he adds.

Overbond's analytics empower traders to identify up to 30% more executable trades, leveraging the power of data-driven insights. With Finsemble's desktop interoperability, traders can seamlessly connect to mission-critical systems, such as OMS, enabling faster decision-making and increased efficiency.

"Overbond users will benefit greatly from Finsemble's native application support," says Jim Bunting , Finsemble Global Head of Partnerships. "We're thrilled to add Overbond to our growing roster of Finsemble partners that bring best-in-breed tech to the industry."

The Finsemble Overbond partnership sets the stage for an optimized FI trader workflow experience for Overbond users. To learn more, register for The Future of Bond Trading Automation, a panel and Q&A led by Overbond, 18 May, 2023 at 2:00 BST .

https://www.linkedin.com/events/bondtradingautomation-paneldisc7062496506477514753/

About Finsemble

Finsemble is the industry leader in interoperability initiatives and FDC3-workflow solutions. With Finsemble, applications of any typenative, web, in-house, and third-partycan seamlessly connect and share information, allowing clients to build customized, automation-assisted workflows that free up end users to do their best work. Results include ten minutes saved per trade and a reduction in RFQ response times of 33%. Clients such as Citi, Pictet Asset Management and Charles River Development choose Finsemble for its world-class U.S. based support, no/low code approach, and partnership-level collaboration. Visit finsemble.com for more information.

About Overbond

Overbond is a developer of process-redefining, AI-driven data and analytics and trade automation solutions for the global fixed income markets. Overbond performs market surveillance, data aggregation and normalization, and deep AI quantitative observation on more than 250,000 corporate bonds and fixed income ETFs. Applying proprietary artificial intelligence to pricing, curve visualization, market liquidity, issuance propensity, new issuance spreads, default risk and automated reporting, Overbond enables trade automation and enhances trade performance and portfolio returns. Clients of Toronto -based Overbond include global investment banks, broker-dealers, institutional investors, corporations and governments across the Americas , Europe and Asia . For more information, please visit www.overbond.com.

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/overbond-and-finsemble-collaborate-to-streamline-fi-trader-workflows-through-fdc3-interoperability-301826670.html

SOURCE Overbond Ltd.
Detailed IP, gravity surveys and geochemical sampling commenced at high priority Romana West target

Copper mineralization exposed at surface and nearby historic mine workings indicates copper mineralization continues and remains open 250m along-strike west of the La Romana mineralization

25-to-30 Romana West drill hole program planned under approved 2023 budget

VANCOUVER, BC , May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ - Pan Global Resources Inc. ("Pan Global" or the "Company") (TSXV: PGZ) (OTCQB: PGZFF) is pleased to announce the commencement of exploration activities at the Romana West target of the Escacena Project ("Escacena") in the Iberian Pyrite Belt, southern Spain .

Romana West is a high-priority gravity anomaly on the potential western continuation of Pan Global's La Romana copper-tin-silver discovery. The gravity anomaly at Romana West and the coincident historic mine workings indicate potential to extend the La Romana mineralization a further 800-1,000 meters beyond the 1.2 km of strike already defined by more than 150 holes drilled to-date. The drilling at La Romana shows the copper, tin and silver mineralization remains open to the west in the direction of the Romana West target and is open down-dip.

Since gaining surface access to the 680-hectare area west of La Romana last week, the Company has accelerated an exploration program over the Romana West target including detailed gravity and Induced Polarization (IP) surveys, mapping, and sampling of the historic mine workings. These surveys will help guide the planned diamond drill program. This is the first exploration of this area since the mineral rights were granted and since the area was last explored in the early 1980s by Exxon. Most of the area has a thin cover of post-mineral rocks and sediments.

The exploration program at Romana West includes an initial 100m x 50m gravity survey, a 200m line-spaced dipole-dipole IP survey and soil sample geochemistry. The geophysics surveys and soil geochemistry will also expand to cover several other large untested targets at Escacena including Romana North , Barbacena, and El Pozo . See Figure 1 below.

Specific surveying, geochemical sampling, and mapping of the historic mine workings at Romana West has also commenced. Initial observations of copper mineralization exposed in the mine workings and in outcrops nearby suggests the 1.2km copper mineralized trend at La Romana continues at least 250 meters beyond the westernmost limit of drilling to date and remains open farther to the west. See Figure 2 below.

An initial 25-to-30 drill hole program is planned at Romana West with drilling to be on north-south lines 100 meters apart to help delineate the western strike extent and test continuation of the near-surface La Romana mineralization to 200m down-dip. Site preparations for the drill program will commence within the next two weeks.

Drilling at the Escacena Project continues with the two planned drill holes at the Canada Honda target now complete and core samples sent for chemical analysis. Drill rigs are completing the final planned holes at the La Romana and Zarcita targets and will be mobilized to Romana West for the maiden drill campaign. Results pending for approximately 20 drill holes will be released as soon as they are available.

Pan Global looks forward to updating shareholders as the Romana West exploration program progresses in the coming weeks.

About the Escacena Project

The Escacena Project comprises a large, contiguous, 5,760-hectare land package controlled 100% by Pan Global in the east of the Iberian Pyrite Belt. Escacena is located near operating mines at Las Cruces and Riotinto and is immediately adjacent to the former Aznalcollar and Los Frailes mines where Minera Los Frailes/Grupo Mexico is in the final permitting stage with construction anticipated to start in 2023. The Escacena Project hosts the La Romana copper-tin-silver discovery and a number of other prospective targets, including Zarcita, Hornitos, La Jarosa, Romana Deep , Romana North , Romana West , Canada Honda, Bravo, Barbacena, El Pozo , and San Pablo.

About Pan Global Resources

Pan Global Resources Inc. is actively engaged in base and precious metal exploration in southern Spain and is pursuing opportunities from exploration through to mine development. The Company is committed to operating safely and with respect to the communities and environment where we operate.

Qualified Persons

James Royall , Vice President Exploration for Pan Global Resources and a qualified person as defined by National Instrument 43-101, has reviewed the scientific and technical information for this news release. Mr. Royall is not independent of the Company.

On behalf of the Board of Directors

Statements which are not purely historical are forward-looking statements, including any statements regarding beliefs, plans, expectations or intentions regarding the future. It is important to note that actual outcomes and the Company's actual results could differ materially from those in such forward-looking statements. The Company believes that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking information included in this news release are reasonable but no assurance can be given that these expectations will prove to be correct and such forward-looking information should not be unduly relied upon. Risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, economic, competitive, governmental, environmental and technological factors that may affect the Company's operations, markets, products and prices. Readers should refer to the risk disclosures outlined in the Company's Management Discussion and Analysis of its audited financial statements filed with the British Columbia Securities Commission.

The forward-looking information contained in this news release is based on information available to the Company as of the date of this news release. Except as required under applicable securities legislation, the Company does not intend, and does not assume any obligation, to update this forward-looking information.

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.

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SOURCE Pan Global Resources Inc.
ORANGE COUNTY, Calif. , May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Pavo, an innovative firm poised to transform the insurance industry, is excited to announce a strategic partnership with Finsure Consulting to consult on the development of next generation insurance software. Finsure Consulting, led by CEO Michelle Bothe , is a leading InsurTech consulting firm with deep subject matter knowledge in insurance and technology.

Pavo's has developed innovative software to deliver the first Premium Finance marketplace, making insurance more accessible and affordable. This pioneering technology, integrated directly into policy platforms, heralds a new era of transparency and competitiveness within the insurance market.

Katie Wexler , the CEO of Pavo, expressed her enthusiasm, saying, "We are thrilled to partner with Finsure Consulting on this cutting edge venture. Finsure's expertise in the insurance and technology arena is unparalleled, and Michelle Bothe's deep understanding of the integration process has been invaluable. The synergy between Pavo and Finsure Consulting is remarkable, and together, we are confident in our ability to bring a transformative solution to the insurance industry."

Michelle Bothe , CEO of Finsure Consulting, shared her excitement about the partnership: "The collaboration between Pavo and Finsure is a perfect fit. We work closely with MGAs, AMS and policy platforms, gaining invaluable insights into the needs of our audience. Together, we are poised to deliver a premium finance marketplace that sets new industry standards."

About Pavo:

Pavo is the insurance industry's first premium finance marketplace. Pavo's comparative exchange is a next generation connector that brings new financing solutions to Insurance Platforms, Programs, and Agency Management Systems. Pavo's embedded experience provides insureds with new financing options and to improve the experience for brokers and consumers. For more information, please visit www.pavoinsure.com

About Finsure Consulting:

Finsure Consulting is a leading consulting firm specializing in insurtech solutions. With expertise in working with MGAs on their tech stacks, Finsure Consulting operates at the intersection of insurance and technology. For more information, visit www.finsure.us

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SOURCE Pavo Insurance Solutions Inc
RevitaLash Cosmetics Remains Devoted to Helping Reduce the Cancer Burden in Africa in Alignment with Their Eternally Pink Pledge

VENTURA, Calif. , May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Athena Cosmetics, Inc., parent company to RevitaLash Cosmetics, has announced a significant investment in City of Hope's Ethiopia Breast Cancer Initiative to improve breast cancer detection, diagnosis, and treatment in the region as part of the Cancer Moonshot, a National Cancer Institute effort reignited by President Biden in 2022 which aims to reduce the death rate from cancer by at least 50% over the next 25 years, and improve the experience of people and families living with and surviving cancer globally, according to a recent White House press release .

This initiative aligns with RevitaLash Cosmetics' commitment to philanthropy through the company's Eternally Pink pledge, which ensures a portion of every product sold supports breast cancer awareness, research and education initiatives year-round, not just in October, in honor of the courage and strength of the brand's Co-Founder Gayle Brinkenhoff .

The overarching goal of the Ethiopia Breast Cancer Initiative is to increase education and training, thus improving detection, diagnosis, and treatment in an underserved region of the world. The partnership will fund the training of laboratory technicians in tissue processing and analysis, building pathology capacity in the region, as well as a nursing education program training 2030 nurses in its initial pilot program. After the initial round of training is complete, the nursing program will expand into a "train-the-trainer program" in 12 sub-Saharan African countries, with a goal of reaching approximately 360 nurses. Through these initiatives, RevitaLash Cosmetics and City of Hope will improve breast cancer diagnosis and treatment for over 23 million people served by the hospital in Hawassa, Ethiopia and beyond.

"We are committed to our partnership with City of Hope on the Ethiopia Breast Cancer Initiative to improve breast cancer care and treatment in sub-Saharan Africa," said Dr. Michael Brinkenhoff , founder and CEO of RevitaLash Cosmetics. "By investing in education, we can ensure that more patients receive the care and treatment they need to survive and thrive."

"We are extremely thankful to have the opportunity to partner with a company like RevitaLash Cosmetics, who have been a valuable partner over the years," said Yared Wondimneh , MD, MPH, director of the Ethiopia Breast Cancer Initiative at City of Hope. "This investment will have a significant impact on women in Ethiopia and will help us achieve our goal of reducing breast cancer mortality in the region. We look forward to continuing our partnership with RevitaLash Cosmetics and working together to help curb the impact of breast cancer worldwide."

Breast cancer is a global issue that affects millions of women worldwide. Through partnerships like this one, we can work together to ensure that women everywhere have access to the care and treatment they need to survive and thrive.

About RevitaLash  Cosmetics

RevitaLash Cosmetics is a worldwide leader in developing advanced lash, brow, and hair beautification products. Established in 2006, the collection includes award-winning RevitaLash Advanced Eyelash Conditioner and RevitaBrow Advanced Eyebrow Conditioner, and is available in physician's offices, spas, salons, and specialty retailers across 70 countries. A supporter of non-profit breast cancer initiatives, RevitaLash Cosmetics donates a portion of proceeds to research and education initiatives, giving back to the breast cancer community and honoring its origins. For information: www.revitalash.com. [RevitaLash Advanced is not available in California .]

About City of Hope

City of Hope is dedicated to making a difference in the lives of people with cancer, diabetes and other life-threatening illnesses. With locations in California , Arizona , Illinois , and Georgia , our team of more than 11,000 includes researchers, associates, scientists, doctors, nurses, allied health professionals, graduate students, fundraising specialists, marketing professionals, volunteers and support staff. All of us are united by our desire to find cures and save lives.

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SOURCE RevitaLash Cosmetics
If You Were Paid to Provide Broiler Grow-Out Services at Any Time Between January 27, 2013 , and December 31, 2019 , A Class Action Settlement Totaling $17,750,000 May Affect Your Legal Rights.

A federal court authorized this notice. This is not a solicitation from a lawyer.

PHILADELPHIA , May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Sanderson Farms, Inc. (Food Division), Sanderson Farms, Inc. (Processing Division), and Sanderson Farms, Inc. (Production Division) (together "Sanderson") have agreed to settle a class action lawsuit brought against them by Broiler chicken growers who allege that Sanderson unlawfully conspired to artificially reduce the amounts they paid to Broiler chicken growers for Broiler Grow-Out Services. Sanderson denies that they did anything wrong and have asserted defenses to the claims against them.

Plaintiffs are Broiler chicken growers that raised broilers for Sanderson ("Defendant"). Plaintiffs represent a class of Broiler chicken growers who have similar claims against Defendants and the Alleged Co-Conspirators.

What does the Settlement provide?

Sanderson will pay $17.75 million into a Settlement Fund to settle the class action antitrust, and PSA claims against them and to provide certain cooperation to Plaintiffs in this litigation against the remaining Defendants (the "Sanderson Settlement"). In addition, Sanderson has agreed to certain restrictions on its ability to enforce arbitration provisions against Broiler chicken growers and on its ability to enforce provisions restricting collective or class actions brought by Broiler chicken growers against Koch. Koch Settlement  10.e.

Am I eligible to receive a payment from the Settlement?

You may be eligible to receive a payment if you reside in the U.S. or its territories and were paid by any Defendant or any Alleged Co-Conspirator to provide Broiler Grow-Out Services at any time between January 27, 2013 , and December 31, 2019 . To learn who the Defendants and Alleged Co-Conspirators are, visit www.BroilerGrowersAntitrustSettlement.com.

How do I get a payment from the Settlement?

If you received a Pre-Populated Claim Form and the information contained therein is correct, you do not need to do anything further to receive a payment. If you disagree with the information contained in the Pre-Populated Claim Form you received, you may submit the Claim Form with corrected information and documentation. If you received an Unpopulated Claim Form, you must complete and submit that Claim Form by December 13, 2023 , to receive a payment from the Settlement Fund. You may access a Claim Form from the website and submit it online or download and mail it to the address on the Claim Form. Claim Forms are also available by calling 1-833-907-3700 or emailing [email protected].

What are my rights?

If you are a Class member and do nothing, you will be bound by the Settlement and will give up any right to sue Sanderson in a separate lawsuit related to the legal claims in this lawsuit. If you want to keep your right to separately sue Sanderson, you must exclude yourself from the Settlement by July 31, 2023 . If you do not exclude yourself, you may object to the Settlement and/or ask for permission to appear and speak at the Fairness Hearing but only if you do so by July 31, 2023 . Complete information is available at www.BroilerGrowersAntitrustSettlement.com.

The Court's hearing.

The Court will hold a hearing at 2:00 p.m. CT on August 25, 2023 to decide whether to approve the Settlement, grant the requested attorneys' fees of up to one-third of the gross Settlement amount, unreimbursed litigation costs and expenses not to exceed $2.5 million , and the proposed plan of allocation and distribution. You or your own lawyer may appear and speak at the hearing at your own expense, but there is no requirement that you or your own lawyer do so. The hearing may occur remotely, over a Zoom platform, or it may occur in person, at the United States District Court for the District of Oklahoma, located at 101 N. 5th St. , Muskogee , OK 74401. Please check www.BroilerGrowersAntitrustSettlement.com for updates as to the location of the hearing.

This notice is only a summary.

For more information, including the full Notice and Settlement Agreement, visit www.BroilerGrowersAntitrustSettlement.com, email [email protected], or call 1-833-907-3700.

Media Contact:

Angeion Group

Shiri Lasman

(215) 563-4116

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/settlement-administrator-angeion-group-announces-proposed-settlement-in-broiler-grow-out-services-class-action-301821128.html

SOURCE Angeion Group
AUSTIN, Texas , May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Summit Hotel Properties, Inc. (NYSE: INN) (the "Company") is proud to announce that it has been recognized as the Best Renovation award winner from Hyatt Hotels Corporation for its transformational renovation of the 150-guestroom Hyatt Place Across From Universal Orlando Resort. During the ownership conference, Hyatt leadership celebrated organizations for excellence in hotel design, development, and operational excellence over the last 1.5 years.

"Recognition from our brand partners is a powerful affirmation of our commitment to excellence. Our in-house team of talented construction, design and procurement experts flawlessly executed a thorough plan to deliver a completely upgraded product offering that will significantly enhance the guest experience for many years to come. Since 2017, we have invested nearly $300 million into our portfolio of well-located, high-quality hotels with efficient operating models which demonstrates our ongoing commitment to capital reinvestment to maintain our competitive advantage that exists today," said Jonathan P. Stanner , the Company's President and Chief Executive Officer.

The comprehensive renovation included upgrades to guestrooms, guest bathrooms and public space. Additionally, the Company identified underutilized meeting space within the hotel that was converted into an expanded state of the art fitness center. The hotel's exterior was also reimaged to include modern design elements which now offer a renewed sense of arrival.

About Summit Hotel Properties

Summit Hotel Properties, Inc. is a publicly-traded real estate investment trust focused on owning premium-branded lodging properties with efficient operating models primarily in the Upscale segment of the lodging industry. As of March 31, 2023 , the Company's portfolio consisted of 103 assets, 61 of which are wholly owned, with a total of 15,334 guestrooms located in 24 states.

For additional information, please visit the Company's website, www.shpreit.com, and follow the Company on Twitter at @SummitHotel_INN.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains statements that are "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, pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements are generally identifiable by use of forward-looking terminology such as "may," "will," "should," "potential," "intend," "expect," "seek," "anticipate," "estimate," "approximately," "believe," "could," "project," "predict," "forecast," "continue," "plan," "likely," "would" or other similar words or expressions. Forward-looking statements are based on certain assumptions and can include future expectations, future plans and strategies, financial and operating projections or other forward-looking information. Examples of forward-looking statements include the following: the Company's ability to realize financial and operational synergies; projections of revenues and expenses or other financial items; descriptions of the Company's plans or objectives for future operations; forecasts of EBITDAre; and descriptions of assumptions underlying or relating to any of the foregoing expectations regarding the timing of their occurrence. These forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties, not all of which are known to the Company and many of which are beyond the Company's control, which could cause actual results to differ materially from such statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, the state of the U.S. economy, supply and demand in the hotel industry, and other factors as are described in greater detail in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"). Unless legally required, the Company disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.

For information about the Company's business and financial results, please refer to the "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" and "Risk Factors" sections of the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2022 , filed with the SEC, and its quarterly and other periodic filings with the SEC. The Company undertakes no duty to update the statements in this release to conform the statements to actual results or changes in the Company's expectations.

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/summit-hotel-properties-awarded-best-renovation-at-hyatts-2023-americas-owners-conference-301827664.html

SOURCE Summit Hotel Properties, Inc.
The 35-year veteran will lead nursing services across the academic medical center.

TAMPA, Fla. , May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Tampa General Hospital (TGH) has appointed Wendi Goodson-Celerin , DNP, APRN, NE-BC, to the position of senior vice president and chief nursing officer. A nurse executive with 35 years of advancing nursing practice, leadership, patient care, and advocacy, Goodson-Celerin will be responsible for leading all nursing services across Tampa General with a focus on further developing cross-functional collaboration among nursing teams throughout hospital departments.

"Wendi is an integral part of Tampa General and has spent the past 35 years playing a critical role in advocating the professionalism of nurses, as well as the growth and development of our nursing teams," said Kelly Cullen , executive vice president and chief operating officer at Tampa General. "Her outstanding communication abilities, exemplary collaboration skills, and proven leadership style will continue to drive strategic nursing innovation at Tampa General that prioritizes compassion, integrity, respect and accountability."

Goodson-Celerin joined Tampa General in 1988 as a clinical nurse and has served many roles over the past three decades, including vice president of Patient Services; vice president of Neuroscience, Orthopaedics and Clinical Education; director of Acute Surgical Inpatient, Critical Care and Clinical Education; director of Women's & Children's services and Clinical Education; director of Nursing Education; and clinical nurse manager. Most recently, Goodson-Celerin served as interim chief nursing officer.

Goodson-Celerin will continue to use her expertise in leading the Magnet nursing recognition process to help Tampa General continue to meet the rigorous standards of earning the highest national honor in professional nursing practice. Granted by the American Nurses Credentialing Center, Magnet recognition is a rigorous process that provides a roadmap to nursing excellence. Tampa General has achieved Magnet recognition four consecutive times since 2005. As a Magnet expert and ambassador, Goodson-Celerin will play a critical role in preparing for Tampa General's next Magnet site visit later this year.

"I am honored to achieve this role at Tampa General, where I've spent more than three decades serving patients and delivering high-quality and compassionate care to those in need," said Goodson-Celerin. "As chief nursing officer, I want to ensure our incredible nursing team members have the ongoing training, mentorship and leadership development they need to grow and succeed."

Goodson-Celerin earned a Bachelor of Science in Nursing, a Master of Science in Nursing and a Doctor of Nursing Practice from the University of South Florida in Tampa . She has received several awards, including the Excellence in Management Leadership Award, the Excellence in Nursing Leadership Award, the Excellence in Educational Leadership Award, and the Florida Organization Nurse Executives award. Goodson-Celerin has been or currently serves as a member of many health care and professional leadership organizations.

ABOUT TAMPA GENERAL HOSPITAL

Tampa General Hospital, a 1,040-bed, not-for-profit, academic medical center, is one of the largest hospitals in America and delivers world-class care as the region's only center for Level l trauma and comprehensive burn care. Tampa General Hospital is the highest-ranked hospital in the market in U.S. News & World Report's 2022-23 Best Hospitals, and is tied as the third highest-ranked hospital in Florida , with seven specialties ranking among the best programs in the United States . Tampa General Hospital has been designated as a model of excellence by the 2022 Fortune/Merative 100 Top Hospitals list. The academic medical center's commitment to growing and developing its team members is recognized by two prestigious Forbes magazine rankings  first nationally in the 2022 America's Best Employers for Women and sixth out of 100 Florida companies in the 2022 America's Best Employers by State. Tampa General is the safety net hospital for the region, caring for everyone regardless of their ability to pay, and in fiscal year 2021, provided a net community benefit worth more than $224.5 million in the form of health care for underinsured patients, community education, and financial support to community health organizations in Tampa Bay . It is one of the nation's busiest adult solid organ transplant centers and is the primary teaching hospital for the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine. With six medical helicopters, Tampa General Hospital transports critically injured or ill patients from 23 surrounding counties to receive the advanced care they need. Tampa General houses a nationally accredited comprehensive stroke center, and its 32-bed Neuroscience, Intensive Care Unit is the largest on the West Coast of Florida . It also is home to the Jennifer Leigh Muma 82-bed neonatal intensive care unit, and a nationally accredited rehabilitation center. Tampa General Hospital's footprint includes 17 Tampa General Medical Group Primary Care offices, TGH Family Care Center Kennedy, TGH Brandon Healthplex, TGH Virtual Health, and 21 TGH Imaging powered by Tower outpatient radiology centers throughout Hillsborough , Pasco , Pinellas and Palm Beach counties. Tampa Bay area residents also receive world-class care from the TGH Urgent Care powered by Fast Track network of clinics. To see a medical care professional live anytime, anywhere on a smartphone, tablet or computer, visit Virtual Health | Tampa General Hospital (tgh.org). As one of the largest hospitals in the country, Tampa General Hospital is the first in Florida to partner with GE Healthcare and open a clinical command center that provides real-time situational awareness to improve and better coordinate patient care at a lower cost. For more information, go to www.tgh.org.

Media Contact: Beth Hardy , APR

Senior Communications Specialist

(813) 510-6363 (cell)

[email protected]

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SOURCE Tampa General Hospital
Danny Masterson and his wife Bijou Phillips arrive for closing arguments in his second rape trial, on May 16, 2023, in Los Angeles.

Danny Masterson drugged womens drinks so he could rape them, then relied on his prominence in the Church of Scientology to avoid consequences for years, a prosecutor told jurors Tuesday in closing arguments at the actors trial.

The defendant drugs his victims to gain control. He does this to take away his victims ability to consent, Deputy District Attorney Ariel Anson told the jury of seven men and five women. You dont want to have sex? You dont have a choice. The defendant makes that choice for these victims. And he does it over and over and over again.

The 47-year-old former star of That 70s Show is on rape trial for a second time after the first ended in a mistrial in December, with a jury hopelessly deadlocked on all counts.

Masterson has pleaded not guilty to raping three women at his home between 2001 and 2003. His attorney, Philip Cohen, who briefly began his own closing and will continue in the afternoon, told jurors that inconsistencies in the womens stories that he said Anson downplayed are important for the jury to consider.

She did a very nice job of ignoring many of them, Cohen said. What she views as little inconsistencies are at the heart of trying to determine, Is somebody, reliable, credible, believable enough for a criminal conviction?

Anson took aim at the Church of Scientology, of which Masterson is a member and all three women are former members, throughout her argument, emphasizing that church authorities kept the women from accepting what had happened to them and from reporting it to police for years.

The church taught his victims, Rape isnt rape, you caused this, and above all, you are never allowed to go to law enforcement, she said. In Scientology, the defendant is a celebrity, and he is untouchable.

The church has denied having any policy discouraging members from going to law enforcement.

Actor Leah Remini, a former member of the church who has become one of its most prominent public opponents, sat in the courtroom, her arm around one of the accusers, who testified during both trials that Masterson raped her in 2003.

Anson guided jurors through the testimonies of all three women. One is a former girlfriend who said Masterson raped her five years into their relationship in 2001. The two others are women he knew through social circles surrounding the church.

All testified that they became unusually groggy and had gaps in consciousness and memory after consuming drinks Masterson gave them. Judge Charlaine Olmedo allowed the prosecution during the second trial to directly say he drugged the women, after only allowing descriptions of their states at the first.

There is no physical evidence of any drugging. The investigation that led to Mastersons arrest did not begin for about 15 years after the women say they were raped. Anson told jurors the womens accounts and the testimony of a police toxicology expert who described symptoms should be enough.

We ask that you hold the defendant accountable, she said, that you find him guilty.

Fewer than half of jurors voted to convict Masterson on any count after the first trial.

Attorneys for both sides rested their cases Friday, three weeks into the second trial. Mastersons defense attorneys declined to call any witnesses.

His attorney emphasized Tuesday that jurors must find him guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, saying that even if they believe it is likely he is guilty, they must acquit.

If you say, I think he is probably guilty, you know what that leads to? Cohen said, then made a buzzer sound. Not guilty.

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LEICESTER, N.C. , May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Prominently featured in The Inner Circle , Doreen Saltiel is acknowledged as a Life Achiever for her contributions to the Healthcare Field.

Dr. Saltiel earned a Bachelor of Science in biology from Brooklyn College in 1979 and receive her medical degree from New York Medical College in 1983. She completed an internship and residency in Internal Medicine at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas , and a cardiovascular disease fellowship at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. Dr. Saltiel served as the Chief of Cardiology at Eisenhower Army Medical Center and the Army's Southeast Regional Consultant in cardiovascular diseases. She completed advanced training in metabolic and nutritional medicine as well as advanced certifications in cardiovascular health and hormone health from the Metabolic Medical Institute. She also holds a Doctor of Law (JD) from the University of Missouri, Columbia.

Dr. Saltiel has more than 40 years of service in the medical field, but no longer does cardiovascular interventions. The doctor notes that adult cardiology is a medical subspecialty that focuses on heart and vascular diseases. The field includes medical diagnosis, diagnostic testing, and treatments for coronary artery disease, peripheral vascular disease, heart failure, valvular heart disease, and rhythm disorders.

Dr. Saltiel has had many mentors, including Dr. Michael Geer who is one in particular that helped guide her in her decision to become a cardiologist. She notes that practicing medicine has been a gift, an honor, and a pleasure. She would like to dedicate this honor to, and thank Diane Brown for helping the doctor be the best she can be.

Contact: Katherine Green , 516-825-5634, [email protected]

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The multi-year contract will help to support AI/AR functionalities with the US Air Force

LOS ANGELES , May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- ThirdEye , a leading provider of Artificial Intelligence and Augmented Reality (AR/AI) solutions, announced today that it is on the winning team receiving a Contract Award from the US Air Force.

As a part of this Air Force deployment, ThirdEye will assist in creating an augmented and mixed reality headset leveraging demonstrated strengths of ThirdEye's commercialized AR/MR headset technology, but with significant enhancements and customizations tailor-made to meet the training and mission rehearsal needs as part of an interconnected extended reality environment. This solution fills a critical hole in AR solutions that standalone AR headsets cannot fill by providing a large multi-room reconfigurable & interconnected multi-person extended reality training environment with trackable results and repeatable sessions, creating a merged and immersive environment where virtual elements are seamlessly integrated into the real world. Utilizing digital twins, the simulator builds a virtual understanding of the real training center. This comes after prior successful deployments of ThirdEye's tech with the USARPAC and Navy, building on our next-generation commercial products on Android 10. For additional security, we offer several options, such as two-factor authentication, and DoD STIG compliance. ThirdEye's smart glasses are among the few all-in-one US-developed technologies that have already been validated by the US Government, with existing contracts with the Department of Defense.

According to Nick Cherukuri , ThirdEye's CEO, "ThirdEye was founded on the belief that mixed reality and AI solutions could revolutionize our lives, from the way we work and consume news to how we defend our freedom and advance the cause for a more peaceful world."

"We take pride in supporting the men and women in uniform both domestically and internationally, and we hope to continue delivering innovative technologies for many years to come," he added.

ABOUT THIRDEYE

ThirdEye is a leader in providing a complete digital end-to-end eco-system of products in the Augmented Reality (AR) smart glasses & Artificial Intelligence (AI) software. ThirdEye's teams' history is over 20 years of advanced technology development for the United States Government. ThirdEye is a US based company with state-of-the-art labs and patents in the AR/AI/MR space.

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/thirdeye-gen-wins-aiar-work-in-support-of-the-us-air-force-301826917.html

SOURCE ThirdEye Gen, Inc.
BEIJING , May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- A report from People's Daily: Chinese President Xi Jinping will chair the China-Central Asia Summit in Xi'an , northwest China's Shaanxi province on May 18 and 19.

The event is the first summit held offline by the heads of state of China and Central Asian countries since establishing diplomatic ties 31 years ago. The summit will mark a significant milestone in the development of relations between China and Central Asian countries.

This summit marks the official establishment of the heads of state meeting mechanism of China+Central Asia (C+C5). It will exert important and profound impacts on the relations between China and Central Asian countries, the revitalization of the six countries and regional peace and stability.

Under the guidance of head-of-state diplomacy, the political mutual trust and comprehensive cooperation between China and Central Asian countries have reached an unprecedented height. China has established comprehensive strategic partnerships and signed Belt and Road cooperation documents with all the five Central Asian countries. Together, they have blazed a new trail of good-neighborly friendship and win-win cooperation, and set a good example of fostering a new type of international relations.

China is ready to assist Central Asia to build itself into a bridge linking Western and Eastern civilizations, and to work with the region to jointly pursue national development and rejuvenation.

Since the two sides established diplomatic ties, China has always treated Central Asian countries as equals at the political level, fully understood their legitimate concerns and practically accommodated their demands, winning respect from these countries.

China and Central Asian countries enjoy strong momentum in economic and trade cooperation. Trade between the two sides has a strong complementarity and has maintained long-term stable growth.

In 2022, China - Central Asia trade reached a record high of $70.2 billion , which effectively reinforced the resilience of regional industrial and supply chains.

China is willing to share with Central Asian countries its vast market, complete industrial system and advanced technologies. The two sides have been committed to optimizing trade structures and will work together to promote high-quality economic development of the region.

China and Central Asian countries have made historic and groundbreaking landmark achievements in their cooperation.

The Central Asian region is China's first neighboring cluster of strategic partners. China is the largest trading partner of Central Asia . Central Asia is where the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) was initiated and the first stop of the Belt and Road to the West. The China - Central Asia gas pipeline is the world's longest of its type.

These remarkable achievements come from the key to the successful cooperation between China and the five Central Asian countries, which lies in their abiding commitment to mutual respect, good-neighborly friendship, solidarity in trying times, and mutual benefit.

Central Asia is a demonstration zone of BRI achievements. The Qamchiq Tunnel of the Angren-Pap railway line in Uzbekistan has completely changed the way of transport for millions of people. The China - Kyrgyzstan - Uzbekistan highway is like an artery of international transport that crosses mountains. Chinese and Central Asian railway systems were a vital contributor to international cooperation amid COVID-19.

Today, there are more and more bridges for China - Central Asia cultural and people-to-people exchanges. The two sides have forged 62 pairs of sister provinces, regions and cities, and are seeing hundreds of thousands of people traveling between them each year. Thirteen Confucius Institutes have been set up in Central Asia and the first Luban Workshop in Central Asia has been inaugurated in Tajikistan . Many renowned Chinese universities have research centers of studies on Central Asian countries and offer majors of Central Asian languages.

China and Central Asian countries share broad common interests and similar positions on many international and regional issues. The two sides have constantly enhanced cooperation in international and regional organizations such as the UN, the WTO and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization to safeguard common security and development interests, making contributions to improving global and regional governance.

The building of a China - Central Asia community with a shared future is a common aspiration of the people in both China and Central Asian countries, and will enjoy broad space for development.

China and Central Asian countries will build on the good momentum and strive shoulder-by-shoulder, to make contributions to building a community with a shared future for mankind and to promoting world peace and development.

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/to-build-even-closer-relations-between-china-central-asian-countries-301827422.html

SOURCE People's Daily
Union Cloud enables any organization to operationalize complex AI with data ownership, governance and cost efficiency

BELLEVUE, Wash. , May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Union.ai , a company that extends companies' ability to create next-generation AI and data products at scale, today announced general availability of Union Cloud for North American and European customers of AWS and GCP. Union Cloud empowers organizations to deliver highly reliable and impactful products that leverage the latest AI technologies at low cost, high quality and rapid velocity. The company also announced it has raised $19.1 million in Series A financing from NEA and Nava Ventures in order to fuel growth and its expanded offerings.

Union.ai launches all-new Union Cloud to simplify AI and data workflows for all; backed by $19.1 in financing.

For the past few quarters, Union AI has been working with its Union Cloud customer partners to solve problems that impede delivering high-quality AI products. "During this period we learned about problems like observability, governance and infrastructure maintenance that impede realization of value from AI," said Union AI CEO Ketan Umare. "Our accelerated momentum reflects on the success of Flyte, the popular open-source workflow orchestration platform, and we are seeing an even broader range of customers expressing excitement about Union Cloud as a new managed solution that is powered by Flyte."

"Machine learning, and especially large language models, raise big issues around privacy and information security. Companies are becoming increasingly wary of using services where they lose control over what precisely happens with their data," said Greg Papadopoulos , venture partner, NEA. "Combining the power of big models with rich company data has to be handled with care --- that's one of the reasons why we're so excited about the progress made by the Union.AI team, first with Flyte and now with Union Cloud. This is exactly what people are demanding and a real differentiator: Let me exploit the power of large language models while maintaining control and ownership of my data."

"The AI landscape is evolving quickly, and companies that do not have significant internal developer resources run the risk of falling behind. To be able to participate let alone compete in today's rapidly changing AI powered product landscape, time to value is of the essence." said Manish Patel , founder, Nava Ventures. "That's why we are excited to invest in and work closely with Ketan Umare and the Union.AI team as they extend the power of Flyte even further through Union Cloud, allowing many more companies to quickly go from research to production."

Organizations that have adopted Flyte include hundreds of well-known brands and startups, among them Spotify, Stripe, Gojek, Wolt, LinkedIn and ZipRecruiter. Users report Flyte dramatically increases productivity by automatically versioning data and AI pipelines, making them auditable, reliable, reproducible and infinitely scalable.

Mick Jermsurawong, a machine learning infrastructure engineer with Stripe, said Flyte's efficiencies create measurable business outcomes for the payment platform. "Based on a single team, we see 10x more offline training jobs dispatched from Flyte, and that results in 5x more frequent model releases with sizable business gains," Jermsurawong said . "I think the realization here is that ML productivity is not a nice to have but actually a business requirement."

Katrina Palen , a staff ML platform engineer at Stash, describes Flyte's impact on its ML workflows: "Our provision time is at least two times faster on average. Model execution is three times faster, and the cost  which we can actually probably further optimize with minimal configuration and optimization  is at least three times cheaper."

Flyte is built for efficiency with features like automatic provisioning of data and ML systems, which helps reduce compute costs. "Rather than running expensive GPU clusters constantly, Flyte launches infrastructure when needed and tears it down when idle," Umare said. "Additionally, its built-in caching and smart checkpointing architecture enables data and ML teams to use cheaper Spot instances reliably."

Union Cloud: Machine Learning Engineered and Delivered Seamlessly

Union Cloud delivers all the power and capabilities of Flyte orchestration to companies that don't want to invest in building and maintaining their own infrastructures.

For an end-to-end view of even the most complex pipelines, Union Cloud provides engineering and production teams state-of-the-art task-level observability and gives group leaders the ability to measure ROI for individual projects.

Data scientists, researchers and production engineers can run highly efficient workloads without installing or maintaining Kubernetes clusters for their AI and data pipelines.

Union Cloud offers role-based access control (RBAC) and fine-grained authorization, guaranteeing security and flexibility.

Union Cloud is secure. It's deployed in your VPC, so you control access to your data.

Union Cloud is SOC 2 Type II compliant.

Union Cloud significantly enhances the power available to data and AI teams of any size, Umare continued. "We have given any team the ability to compete without the infrastructure burden with data ownership and governance."

Union Cloud is a transformative technology platform that empowers organizations to carry out a broad range of sophisticated tasks without the need for extensive infrastructure or dedicated Kubernetes teams. This allows organizations to focus on their core objectives, fostering innovation across various domains. These tasks include (but are not limited to) developing production pipelines for advanced perception and language modeling, enabling autonomous driving capabilities, facilitating breakthroughs in drug discovery, engineering novel molecules, and refining operational research strategies. The beauty of Union Cloud is that it provides a streamlined, user-friendly approach, reducing the complexity typically associated with such processes. Most importantly, Union Cloud can lower overall compute costs dramatically while offering complete observability for data and AI workflows  even on a task level.

Union Cloud is immediately available for AWS and GCP and starts at $2,500 per month. Union offers free trials for qualified users. Learn more about Union Cloud at http://union.ai.

About Union: Union.ai is revolutionizing the way organizations approach machine learning and data orchestration with Union Cloud, a managed version of the innovative Flyte platform. This unique, Kubernetes-native solution simplifies the processes of data scientists and machine learning engineers, ensuring seamless and efficient workflow automation. With a proven track record of success among market-leading companies, Union.ai continues to be the driving force behind Flyte's development and adoption.

About NEA: New Enterprise Associates, Inc. (NEA) is a global venture capital firm focused on helping entrepreneurs build transformational businesses across multiple stages, sectors and geographies. Founded in 1977, NEA has over $25 billion in assets under management as of December 31, 2022 and invests in technology and healthcare companies at all stages in a company's lifecycle, from seed stage through IPO. The firm's long track record of investing includes more than 270 portfolio company IPOs and more than 450 mergers and acquisitions. For more information, please visit www.nea.com .

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/unionai-announces-19-1m-series-a-and-launches-all-new-union-cloud-to-simplify-ai-and-data-workflows-for-all-301827331.html

SOURCE Union.ai
Participating students eligible for industry training, tuition reimbursement

PHOENIX , May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Universal Technical Institute (UTI), a division of Universal Technical Institute, Inc. (NYSE: UTI) and a leading workforce solutions provider of transportation, skilled trades, and energy education programs, is adding Pape, a capital equipment, service and solutions provider, to its Early Employment Program (EEP). Diesel technology students at UTI-Avondale (Ariz.), UTI-Sacramento, UTI-Long Beach and UTI-Rancho Cucamonga (Calif.) are eligible to apply. Pape has more than 160 dealerships across 9 states in the West, and company representatives say a majority of those locations are in need of entry-level technicians.

With strong demand for skilled workers, a growing number of employers across the country are joining UTI's Early Employment Program. Participating employers offer current students 20-30 hours of paid work experience plus consideration for full-time employment and reimbursement for education-related expenses after graduation[1].

Pape provides heavy machinery and state-of-the-art technology in industries that include agriculture, forestry, construction, drilling, mining, road building, material handling, and warehousing. Pape is giving participating students the opportunity to earn tuition reimbursement covering 50% of their out-of-pocket tuition expense while they are in school, with the remaining 50% reimbursed over the first two years of full-time employment with Pape after graduation. The company also includes a $2.00 per hour increase in the negotiated starting rate of pay for graduates, to provide a tuition reimbursement incentive.

"We're proud to welcome Pape to UTI's Early Employment Program and excited to make additional opportunities available to students to gain more opportunities to earn real-world experience while helping them pay for their education," said UTI Division President Tracy Lorenz . "The Early Employment Program helps UTI continue to offer industry-aligned technical training with some of the most respected names in the transportation industry, while giving those companies an opportunity to find qualified employees who can contribute right away and grow their careers."

"Pape is proud to partner with UTI, a leading educator of tomorrow's technicians," said Brandon Morse , recruiting manager at Pape. "We are looking to create lifelong relationships and career opportunities with our technician team members. We are excited about this partnership with UTI and look forward to immersing students and recent graduates in our workplace culture and providing them with hands-on experience within their chosen industry."

For more information on UTI's Early Employment Program, visit uti.edu/support-services/employment-assistance/early-employment.

About Universal Technical Institute, Inc.

Universal Technical Institute, Inc. (NYSE: UTI) (the "Company") was founded in 1965 and is a leading workforce solutions provider of transportation, skilled trades and healthcare education programs, whose mission is to serve students, partners, and communities by providing quality education and support services for in-demand careers across a number of highly-skilled fields. The Company is comprised of two divisions: Universal Technical Institute ("UTI") and Concorde Career Colleges ("Concorde"). UTI operates 16 campuses located in 9 states and offers a wide range of transportation and skilled trades technical training programs under brands such as UTI, MIAT College of Technology, Motorcycle Mechanics Institute, Marine Mechanics Institute and NASCAR Technical Institute. Concorde operates across 17 campuses in 8 states, offering programs in the Allied Health, Dental, Nursing, Patient Care and Diagnostic fields. For more information, visit www.uti.edu or www.concorde.edu, or visit us on LinkedIn at @UniversalTechnicalInstitute and @Concorde Career Colleges or on Twitter @news_UTI or @ConcordeCareer.

About Pape

At Pape, our roots reach back to 1938 when our founder, E.C. Pape, acquired his first capital equipment dealership in Oregon's Willamette Valley . E.C Pape's reputation for customer service and dependability spread, and the family-owned business began to grow and prosper. Four generations later, Pape has become the leading supplier of construction, logging, material handling, landscaping, trenching, and farm equipment, as well as semi-trucks and warehouse products in the West. Pape currently has 4,400+ members, 160+ stores, and operates in 9 western states including California , Nevada , Oregon , Washington , Idaho , Montana , Hawaii , Arizona , and Alaska . Not to mention, Pape is partnered with the premium brands in the industry including John Deere, Hyster and Yale, Kenworth, Ditch Witch, and many others.

Media Contact

Alanna Vitucci

[email protected]

480.710.6843

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SOURCE Universal Technical Institute, Inc.
VANCOUVER, BC , May 16, 2023 /PRNewswire/ - Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. ("Wheaton" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that its wholly-owned subsidiary, Wheaton Precious Metals International Ltd. ("Wheaton International") has entered into a definitive Precious Metal Purchase Agreement (the "Gold Stream") with Lumina Gold Corp. ("Lumina") (TSXV: LUM) in respect to its 100% owned Cangrejos gold-copper project located in El Oro Province , Ecuador (the "Project" or "Cangrejos"). Cangrejos is forecast to be a high-margin mine in the lowest half of the cost curve with a 26-year mine life1.

"The Cangrejos Project is an excellent addition to Wheaton's existing portfolio of high-quality, low-cost assets as it should provide accretive, long-term growth as well as significant exploration potential," said Randy Smallwood , Wheaton's President and Chief Executive Officer. "We welcome the opportunity to work with the team at Lumina who have done an outstanding job at working to de-risk the Project and advancing it towards construction. As with any transaction Wheaton enters into, responsible and sustainable mining practices are paramount, and Wheaton looks forward to supporting Lumina both financially as they construct Cangrejos and with their ongoing comprehensive community engagement efforts."

Transaction Details

(All values in US$ unless otherwise noted)

Upfront Consideration: Wheaton International will pay Lumina total upfront cash consideration of $300 million (the "Deposit"), $48 million of which is available pre-construction (the "Early Deposit"). The payment schedule for the Early Deposit and Deposit are as follows:

will pay Lumina total upfront cash consideration of (the "Deposit"), of which is available pre-construction (the "Early Deposit"). The payment schedule for the Early Deposit and Deposit are as follows: The Early Deposit of $48 million is comprised of four components: 1) $12 million on closing; 2) $10 million 6 months after close; 3) $15 million 12 months after close; and 4) an $11 million tranche that can be drawn upon for committed acquisition of surface rights.

is comprised of four components: 1) on closing; 2) 6 months after close; 3) 12 months after close; and 4) an tranche that can be drawn upon for committed acquisition of surface rights.

The remaining $252 million will be payable in staged equal installments during construction, subject to various customary conditions being satisfied.

will be payable in staged equal installments during construction, subject to various customary conditions being satisfied. Streamed Metal: Under the Gold Stream, Wheaton International will purchase 6.6% of the payable gold from the Project until 700,000 ounces ("oz") of gold has been delivered, at which point the stream will be reduced to 4.4% of the payable gold production for the life of the mine.

Under the Gold Stream, will purchase 6.6% of the payable gold from the Project until 700,000 ounces ("oz") of gold has been delivered, at which point the stream will be reduced to 4.4% of the payable gold production for the life of the mine. Production Profile 1 : Attributable production is forecast to average over 24,000 oz of gold per year for the first ten years of production and over 24,500 oz of gold per year for the life of mine.

Attributable production is forecast to average over 24,000 oz of gold per year for the first ten years of production and over 24,500 oz of gold per year for the life of mine. Production Payments: Wheaton International will make ongoing payments for the gold ounces delivered equal to 18% of the spot price of gold ("Production Payment") until the uncredited deposit is reduced to nil and 22.0% of the spot price of gold thereafter.

Wheaton International will make ongoing payments for the gold ounces delivered equal to 18% of the spot price of gold ("Production Payment") until the uncredited deposit is reduced to nil and 22.0% of the spot price of gold thereafter. Incremental Reserves and Resources 2 : The addition of Cangrejos will increase Wheaton's total estimated Proven and Probable gold reserves by 0.76 million ounces ("Moz"), Measured and Indicated gold resources by 0.25 Moz, and Inferred gold resources by 0.16 Moz. In addition, Wheaton believes there is strong exploration potential within the Cangrejos property.

The addition of Cangrejos will increase Wheaton's total estimated Proven and Probable gold reserves by 0.76 million ounces ("Moz"), Measured and Indicated gold resources by 0.25 Moz, and Inferred gold resources by 0.16 Moz. In addition, Wheaton believes there is strong exploration potential within the Cangrejos property. Other Considerations:

The Gold Stream will include a customary completion test.



As part of the transaction, Wheaton has obtained a right of first refusal on any future gold and silver streams.



In the event of a change of control, Lumina may purchase one-third of the Gold Stream from Wheaton until the earlier of January 1, 2030 , and the date that is 12 months after first production.

, and the date that is 12 months after first production.

Lumina and certain of its subsidiaries will provide Wheaton International with corporate guarantees and certain other security over their assets.

Financing the Transactions

As at March 31, 2023 , the Company had approximately $800 million of cash on hand, which we believe when combined with the liquidity provided by the available credit under the $2 billion revolving term loan and ongoing operating cash flows, positions the Company well to fund the acquisition of the Gold Stream as well as all outstanding commitments and known contingencies and provides flexibility to acquire additional accretive mineral stream interests.

Sustainability Considerations for the Cangrejos Project

Based on work done by Lumina, several of the Project's innate characteristics and design elements have been identified that serve to potentially minimize its environmental impacts:

Since 2014, Lumina has been engaging with communities and is committed to involve affected communities and stakeholders through ongoing participation and consultation. The project will seek opportunities to create enduring economic benefits for societal groups and communities that are directly affected by operations.

The majority of electrical power is anticipated to come from renewable hydroelectric sources.

Proximity to port is expected to minimize transportation-based greenhouse gas emission impacts.

The dry stack tailings filtration plant is projected to recycle a substantial portion of tailings water for reuse in the processing plant.

No acid rock drainage conditions are expected to be present in either the waste rock storage facility or the dry stack tailings facility.

Aerial ore conveyor is predicted to minimize land clearance.

The Project is proposed to include progressive reclamation and revegetation of tailings and waste rock facilities.

Reforestation of previously impacted concession lands outside of mining facilities is anticipated to serve as offsets of disturbed areas.

About Lumina Gold Corp. and the Cangrejos Project

Lumina Gold Corp. is a Vancouver, Canada based precious and base metals exploration and development company focused on the Cangrejos Gold-Copper Project located in El Oro Province , southwest Ecuador . The Company has completed a Preliminary Feasibility Study for Cangrejos (2023), which is the largest primary gold deposit in Ecuador . Lumina has an experienced management team with a successful track record of advancing and monetizing exploration projects.

Attributable Gold Mineral Reserves and Mineral Resources  Cangrejos Project

Category Tonnage Mt Grade Au g/t Contained Au Moz







Proven -- -- --



Probable 43.5 0.55 0.76



P&P 43.5 0.55 0.76



Measured -- -- --



Indicated 20.6 0.38 0.25



M&I 20.6 0.38 0.25



Inferred 13.0 0.39 0.16







Notes on Mineral Reserves & Mineral Resources: 1. All Mineral Reserves and Mineral Resources have been estimated in accordance with the 2014 Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum (CIM) Standards for Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves and National Instrument 43-101  Standards for Disclosure for Mineral Projects ("NI 43-101"). 2. Mineral Reserves and Mineral Resources are reported above in millions of metric tonnes ("Mt"), grams per metric tonne ("g/t") and millions of ounces ("Moz"). 3. Qualified persons ("QPs"), as defined by the NI 43-101, for the technical information contained in this document (including the Mineral Reserve and Mineral Resource estimates) are:

a. Neil Burns , M.Sc ., P.Geo . (Vice President, Technical Services); and

b. Ryan Ulansky , M.A.Sc ., P.Eng . (Vice President, Engineering), both employees of the Company (the "Company's QPs"). 4. The Mineral Resources reported in the above tables are exclusive of Mineral Reserves. Lumina report Mineral Resources inclusive of Mineral Reserves. The Company's QPs have made the exclusive Mineral Resource estimates for the mine based on average mine recoveries and dilution. 5. Mineral Resources, which are not Mineral Reserves, do not have demonstrated economic viability. 6. Cangrejos Project Mineral Reserves are reported as of March 30, 2023 and Mineral Resources as of January 30, 2023 . 7. Cangrejos Project Mineral Reserves are reported above declining NSR cut-offs of between $23.00 and $7.76 per tonne assuming $1,500 per ounce gold, $3.00 per pound copper and $18.00 per ounce silver. 8. Cangrejos Project Mineral Resources are reported above a 0.25 grams per tonne gold equivalent cut-off assuming $1,600 per ounce gold, $3.50 per pound copper and $11.00 per pound molybdenum and $21.00 per ounce silver. 9. The Cangrejos PMPA provides that Lumina will deliver gold equal to 6.6% of the payable gold production until 700,000 ounces of gold are delivered and 4.4% thereafter for the life of the mine. Attributable gold reserves and resources have been calculated on the 6.6% / 4.4% basis.



Neil Burns , P.Geo ., Vice President, Technical Services for Wheaton Precious Metals and Ryan Ulansky , P.Eng ., Vice President, Engineering, are a "qualified person" as such term is defined under National Instrument 43-101, and have reviewed and approved the technical information disclosed in this news release (specifically Mr. Burns has reviewed mineral resource estimates and Mr. Ulansky has reviewed the mineral reserve estimates).

__________________________________ 1) Please see "Cautionary Note Regarding Forward Looking-Statements" at the end of this news release for material risks, assumptions, and important disclosure associated with this information. Production forecasts contain forward looking information and readers are cautioned that actual outcomes may vary. Based on report entitled "National Instrument (NI) 43-101 Technical Report: Pre-Feasibility Study for the Cangrejos Project, Ecuador " with an effective date of April 7, 2023 . S&P data set for 2029 projected global gold cost curves. 2) Please refer to the Attributable Mineral Reserves & Mineral Resources table in this news release for full disclosure of reserves and resources associated with Cangrejos including accompanying footnotes.



CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This press 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 concerning the business, operations and financial performance of Wheaton and, in some instances, the business, mining operations and performance of Wheaton's PMPA counterparties. Forward-looking statements, which are all statements other than statements of historical fact, include, but are not limited to, statements with respect to payment by Wheaton International of $300 million to Lumina and the satisfaction of each party's obligations in accordance with the Gold Stream, the receipt by Wheaton of gold production in respect of the Project, the future price of commodities, the estimation of future production from Mining Operations (including in the estimation of production, mill throughput, grades, recoveries and exploration potential), the estimation of mineral reserves and mineral resources (including the estimation of reserve conversion rates) and the realization of such estimations, the commencement, timing and achievement of construction, expansion or improvement projects by Wheaton's PMPA counterparties at mineral stream interests owned by Wheaton (the "Mining Operations"), the payment of upfront cash consideration to counterparties under PMPAs, the satisfaction of each party's obligations in accordance with PMPAs and royalty arrangements and the receipt by the Company of precious metals and cobalt production in respect of the applicable Mining Operations under PMPAs or other payments under royalty arrangements, the ability of Wheaton's PMPA counterparties to comply with the terms of a PMPA (including as a result of the business, mining operations and performance of Wheaton's PMPA counterparties) and the potential impacts of such on Wheaton, future payments by the Company in accordance with PMPAs, the costs of future production, the estimation of produced but not yet delivered ounces, the impact of epidemics (including the COVID-19 virus pandemic), including the potential heightening of other risks, future sales of common shares under the ATM program, continued listing of the Company's common shares, any statements as to future dividends, the ability to fund outstanding commitments and the ability to continue to acquire accretive PMPAs, including any acceleration of payments, projected increases to Wheaton's production and cash flow profile, projected changes to Wheaton's production mix, the ability of Wheaton's PMPA counterparties to comply with the terms of any other obligations under agreements with the Company, the ability to sell precious metals and cobalt production, confidence in the Company's business structure, the Company's assessment of taxes payable and the impact of the CRA Settlement, possible domestic audits for taxation years subsequent to 2016 and international audits, the Company's assessment of the impact of any tax reassessments, the Company's intention to file future tax returns in a manner consistent with the CRA Settlement, the Company's climate change and environmental commitments, and assessments of the impact and resolution of various legal and tax matters, including but not limited to audits. Generally, these forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "plans", "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "projects", "intends", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", or "believes", "potential", or variations of such words and phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will be taken", "occur" or "be achieved". Forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of Wheaton to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements, including but not limited to risks relating to the satisfaction of each party's obligations in accordance with the terms of the Gold Stream, risks associated with fluctuations in the price of commodities (including Wheaton's ability to sell its precious metals or cobalt production at acceptable prices or at all), risks related to the Mining Operations (including fluctuations in the price of the primary or other commodities mined at such operations, regulatory, political and other risks of the jurisdictions in which the Mining Operations are located, actual results of mining, risks associated with the exploration, development, operating, expansion and improvement of the Mining Operations, environmental and economic risks of the Mining Operations, and changes in project parameters as plans continue to be refined), the absence of control over the Mining Operations and having to rely on the accuracy of the public disclosure and other information Wheaton receives from the Mining Operations, uncertainty in the estimation of production from Mining Operations, uncertainty in the accuracy of mineral reserve and mineral resource estimation, risks of significant impacts on Wheaton or the Mining Operations as a result of an epidemic (including the COVID-19 virus pandemic), the ability of each party to satisfy their obligations in accordance with the terms of the PMPAs, the estimation of future production from Mining Operations, Wheaton's interpretation of, compliance with or application of, tax laws and regulations or accounting policies and rules being found to be incorrect, any challenge or reassessment by the CRA of the Company's tax filings being successful and the potential negative impact to the Company's previous and future tax filings, assessing the impact of the CRA Settlement (including whether there will be any material change in the Company's facts or change in law or jurisprudence), potential implementation of a 15% global minimum tax, counterparty credit and liquidity, mine operator concentration, indebtedness and guarantees, hedging, competition, claims and legal proceedings against Wheaton or the Mining Operations, security over underlying assets, governmental regulations, international operations of Wheaton and the Mining Operations, exploration, development, operations, expansions and improvements at the Mining Operations, environmental regulations, climate change, Wheaton and the Mining Operations ability to obtain and maintain necessary licenses, permits, approvals and rulings, Wheaton and the Mining Operations ability to comply with applicable laws, regulations and permitting requirements, lack of suitable supplies, infrastructure and employees to support the Mining Operations, inability to replace and expand mineral reserves, including anticipated timing of the commencement of production by certain Mining Operations (including increases in production, estimated grades and recoveries), uncertainties of title and indigenous rights with respect to the Mining Operations, environmental, social and governance matters, Wheaton and the Mining Operations ability to obtain adequate financing, the Mining Operations ability to complete permitting, construction, development and expansion, global financial conditions, Wheaton's acquisition strategy and other risks discussed in the section entitled "Description of the Business  Risk Factors" in Wheaton's Annual Information Form available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com and Wheaton's Form 40-F for the year ended December 31, 2022 on file with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on EDGAR (the "Disclosure"). Forward-looking statements are based on assumptions management currently believes to be reasonable, including (without limitation): the payment of $300 million to Lumina and the satisfaction of each party's obligations in accordance with the terms of the Gold Stream, that there will be no material adverse change in the market price of commodities, that the Mining Operations will continue to operate and the mining projects will be completed in accordance with public statements and achieve their stated production estimates, that the mineral reserves and mineral resource estimates from Mining Operations (including reserve conversion rates) are accurate, that each party will satisfy their obligations in accordance with the PMPAs, that Wheaton will continue to be able to fund or obtain funding for outstanding commitments, that Wheaton will be able to source and obtain accretive PMPAs, that neither Wheaton nor the Mining Operations will suffer significant impacts as a result of an epidemic (including the COVID-19 virus pandemic), that any outbreak or threat of an outbreak of a virus or other contagions or epidemic disease will be adequately responded to locally, nationally, regionally and internationally, without such response requiring any prolonged closure of the Mining Operations or having other material adverse effects on the Company and counterparties to its PMPAs, that the trading of the Company's common shares will not be adversely affected by the differences in liquidity, settlement and clearing systems as a result of multiple listings of the Common Shares on the LSE, the TSX and the NYSE, that the trading of the Company's common shares will not be suspended, and that the net proceeds of sales of common shares, if any, will be used as anticipated, that expectations regarding the resolution of legal and tax matters will be achieved (including ongoing CRA audits involving the Company), that Wheaton has properly considered the interpretation and application of Canadian tax law to its structure and operations, that Wheaton has filed its tax returns and paid applicable taxes in compliance with Canadian tax law, that Wheaton's application of the CRA Settlement is accurate (including the Company's assessment that there will be no material change in the Company's facts or change in law or jurisprudence), and such other assumptions and factors as set out in the Disclosure. There can be no assurance that forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate and even if events or results described in the forward-looking statements are realized or substantially realized, there can be no assurance that they will have the expected consequences to, or effects on, Wheaton. Readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements and are cautioned that actual outcomes may vary. The forward-looking statements included herein are for the purpose of providing readers with information to assist them in understanding Wheaton's expected financial and operational performance and may not be appropriate for other purposes. Any forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date on which it is made, reflects Wheaton's management's current beliefs based on current information and will not be updated except in accordance with applicable securities laws. Although Wheaton has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements to differ materially from those contained in forwardlooking statements, there may be other factors that cause results, level of activity, performance or achievements not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended.

Cautionary Language Regarding Reserves And Resources

For further information on Mineral Reserves and Mineral Resources and on Wheaton more generally, readers should refer to Wheaton's Annual Information Form for the year ended December 31, 2022 , which was filed on March 31, 2023 and other continuous disclosure documents filed by Wheaton since January 1, 2023 , available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. Wheaton's Mineral Reserves and Mineral Resources are subject to the qualifications and notes set forth therein. Mineral Resources which are not Mineral Reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability.

Cautionary Note to United States Investors Concerning Estimates of Measured, Indicated and Inferred Resources: The information contained herein has been prepared in accordance with the requirements of the securities laws in effect in Canada , which differ from the requirements of United States securities laws. The Company reports information regarding mineral properties, mineralization and estimates of mineral reserves and mineral resources in accordance with Canadian reporting requirements which are governed by, and utilize definitions required by, Canadian National Instrument 43-101  Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects ("NI 43-101") and the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum (the "CIM")  CIM Definition Standards on Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves, adopted by the CIM Council, as amended (the "CIM Standards"). These definitions differ from the definitions adopted by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act") which are applicable to U.S. companies. Accordingly, there is no assurance any mineral reserves or mineral resources that the Company may report as "proven mineral reserves", "probable mineral reserves", "measured mineral resources", "indicated mineral resources" and "inferred mineral resources" under NI 43-101 would be the same had the Company prepared the reserve or resource estimates under the standards adopted by the SEC. Information contained herein that describes Wheaton's mineral deposits may not be comparable to similar information made public by U.S. companies subject to reporting and disclosure requirements under the United States federal securities laws and the rules and regulations thereunder. United States investors are urged to consider closely the disclosure in Wheaton's Form 40-F, a copy of which may be obtained from Wheaton or from https://www.sec.gov/edgar.shtml.

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SOURCE Wheaton Precious Metals Corp.
WASHINGTON , May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Zoetic Global announced today that it has signed a Memo of Understanding with Ecologistics Integrated Services, a global climate change investment and sustainable development firm, and Tesla Carbon Bank, a voluntary carbon credit program, to facilitate the growth of Africa's carbon market.

The new partnership establishes a cooperative and supportive alliance to support the successful development of Africa's carbon market by leveraging Ecologistics' capabilities and leadership as the Pan-African Ambassador to Carbon Trade Xchange (CTX) for African Carbon Markets and the pioneer of Carbon Finance Alliance for Africa (CFAA). Together, the team will work with key corporations in Africa that stand to benefit from engaging with Zoetic technology to generate carbon credits and carbon reduction certificates.

Zoetic provides companies in Africa a way to access carbon credits by utilizing its portfolio of technologies, which include innovative refrigerants' projects that are well-positioned to make an important impact. Companies that work with Zoetic save 20-40 percent on their energy bills and receive carbon credits based on sensor's precise monitoring of their HVAC systems. Global cooling is a key target as air conditioning needs are projected to triple by 2050 as a result of warming and the growing Africa middle class.

"It is a great honor to work alongside Ecologistics and Tesla Carbon Bank to expand Africa's fast-growing carbon market. The planet is starting to understand the consequences of using fossil fuel sources. We know we have to change our perspective on energy production and consumption in short order if we are to keep a habitable planet for future generations to come," said Jerome Ringo , Chairman and Co-Founder of Zoetic Global.

"We look forward to working with the team to establish an alliance that supports Ecologistics' mission to devote our skills, manpower, facilities, and other resources necessary for the successful development of carbon market in Africa . Together, we are well-positioned to make a positive difference," said Ecologistics President Dr. Paul Abolo .

Pictured at the signing ceremony for the new partnership are: (left to right) Ecologistics President Dr. Paul Abolo; Zoetic Chairman and Co-Founder Jerome Ringo ; and Vivaris Capital President & CEO J. Christopher Mizer .

For information on Zoetic Global, visit https://zoeticglobal.com/about/

About Zoetic Global

Zoetic is a minority-owned solutions provider focused on delivering critical energy, water, and food technologies to areas of greatest need. Working in conjunction with its technology and strategic partners it has assembled a compelling portfolio of now solutions for now problems. Zoetic means, "of or pertaining to life." It embodies the dedication of its Co-Founder and Chairman, Jerome Ringo , who has been a leader in the climate movement for two decades. Zoetic is focused on the inclusion of areas of the world disproportionately impacted by climate change. Zoetic believes that critical solutions exist and require a next level commitment by leaders to implement them.

About Ecologistics

Ecologistics is a global climate change investment and sustainable development firm engaged in facilitating funding and technology support for national and sub-national entities. Ecologistics provides services that address environment-related social and economic challenges and communicates the sustainable development opportunities in climate change action through awareness, sensitization, participation, workshops, and lectures. Its approach involves identifying the contours of environmental and social challenges and reframing those challenges to opportunities for sustainable development.

About Tesla Carbon Bank

Tesla Carbon Bank's platform supports individuals, families, and their pets as they work to become net zero and offset their carbon footprint. Tesla Carbon Bank developed its ground-breaking voluntary carbon credit program by providing clients with secure facilities for their carbon credits, some of which are secured by insurance. Its technologies include vehicle electrification, energy storage, carbon sequestration, and power, and it also serves as an incubator for global entrepreneurs.

Media Contact:

Charlotte Luer

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SOURCE Zoetic Global
SHANGHAI , May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- ZTO Express (Cayman) Inc. (NYSE: ZTO and HKEX: 2057), a leading and fast-growing express delivery company in China ("ZTO" or the "Company"), today announced that the board of directors of the Company (the "Board") has appointed Mr. Xudong Chen as a director of the Company, effective June 15, 2023 . Mr. Zheng Liu has tendered his resignation as a director of the Company, effective June 15, 2023 . Mr. Liu's resignation was not due to any disagreement with the Company.

Mr. Xudong Chen has been a Director for Strategic Investment at Alibaba Group since May 2023 . From November 2019 to April 2023 , Mr. Chen was a Director for Strategic Investment at Cainiao Network. From September 2013 to November 2019 , Mr. Chen successively served as an associate, senior associate, vice president, and executive director for private equity investment at HOPU Investments. From July 2012 to August 2013 , Mr. Chen served as an associate at investment banking department of Deutsche Bank Securities in New York . From July 2006 to October 2008 , Mr. Chen worked at investment banking department of China International Capital Corporation as an analyst. Mr. Chen has been a non-executive director of Quantium Solutions International Pte. Ltd. since June 2022 . Mr. Chen received his MBA degree from Ross School of Business at University of Michigan in 2012, and his bachelor's degree in economics from Fudan University in 2006.

About ZTO Express (Cayman) Inc.

ZTO Express (Cayman) Inc. (NYSE: ZTO and SEHK: 2057) ("ZTO" or the "Company") is a leading and fast-growing express delivery company in China . ZTO provides express delivery service as well as other value-added logistics services through its extensive and reliable nationwide network coverage in China .

ZTO operates a highly scalable network partner model, which the Company believes is best suited to support the significant growth of e-commerce in China . The Company leverages its network partners to provide pickup and last-mile delivery services, while controlling the mission-critical line-haul transportation and sorting network within the express delivery service value chain.

For more information, please visit http://zto.investorroom.com.

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This press release contains statements that may constitute "forward-looking" statements pursuant to the "safe harbor" provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements can be identified by terminology such as "will," "expects," "anticipates," "aims," "future," "intends," "plans," "believes," "estimates," "likely to," and similar statements. Statements that are not historical facts, including statements about ZTO's beliefs, plans, and expectations, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Further information regarding these and other risks is included in ZTO's filings with the SEC. All information provided in this press release is as of the date of this press release, and ZTO does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statement, except as required under applicable law.

For investor inquiries, please contact:

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SOURCE ZTO Express (Cayman) Inc.
(Reuters) - An Armenian soldier died on Wednesday after shelling by forces from neighbouring Azerbaijan, Interfax news agency said, the latest in a long series of recent clashes between the two former Soviet states.

Interfax cited the Armenian defence ministry as saying shells hit the village of Sotk, close to the border. Azerbaijan dismissed the Armenian accusation as "a complete lie", the agency said.

The two nations have fought two wars in 30 years over Nagorno-Karabakh, an enclave in Azerbaijan with a mainly ethnic Armenian population. Both sides regularly accuse each other of mounting attacks.

International efforts to broker a lasting peace have so far had little effect. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev are due to meet on June 1 at a development conference in Moldova.

(Reporting by David Ljunggren; editing by Grant McCool)
FILE PHOTO: U.S. President Barack Obama (L) hugs atomic bomb survivor Shigeaki Mori as he visits Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima, Japan May 27, 2016. REUTERS/Carlos Barria

By Sakura Murakami

HIROSHIMA, Japan (Reuters) - The last time a U.S. president visited Hiroshima, atomic bomb survivor Shigeaki Mori was filled with hope for a future without nuclear weapons. Seven years later, he's more sceptical.

As leaders of the Group of Seven (G7) nations gather in the Japanese city this week for a summit, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida wants a pledge on nuclear disarmament.

Kishida, who represents Hiroshima, said he chose it for the summit to focus attention on nuclear weapons. But the venue has also highlighted a significant shift in global security since 2016, when Barack Obama became the first incumbent U.S. president to visit.

For the West, Russia's Ukraine invasion has emphasised the importance of nuclear deterrence. Moscow has said it is ready to use its nuclear arsenal to defend its "territorial integrity" if necessary.

Many of Japan's "hibakusha" - atomic bomb victims whose average age is 85 - worry the summit may be a final chance to call for disarmament. They fear Hiroshima's legacy - its importance as the first city to be flattened by a nuclear weapon - may be reduced to a historical artefact rather than a call for change.

"I want to see the leaders commit to getting rid of nuclear weapons," Mori, 86, said in an interview. "I also know it's very hard to get them to go that far."

Kishida, long on the dovish wing on Japan's ruling party, delivered the biggest defence spending increase in Japan's post-war history last year, as Russia's invasion of Ukraine stoked fears of an attack by China on neighbouring Taiwan.

Japan gave up the right to wage war after World War Two and maintains self-defence forces. It relies on the United States for protection.

Japanese are more likely aware they have to tolerate a "nuclear umbrella," said Noriyuki Kawano, head of Hiroshima University's Center for Peace.

"The ideal of a nuclear-free world and the reality of living under a nuclear umbrella coexist," he said. "There is still a coexistence, but we might be seeing a tip in those scales now" towards a more pragmatic view, he said.

Some 51% Japanese supported an increase in the defence budget, and 55% agreed on the need for counter-strike capabilities, according to a poll by broadcaster NHK in December.

KNOCKED UNCONSCIOUS

Mori, eight years old when the bomb hit on the morning of August 6, 1945, was knocked unconscious by the blast. When he came to, he saw a crouched woman holding her own entrails asking for the nearest hospital.

Thirty years later he began a multi-decade quest to find how many victims were cremated at his school playground. His work also unearthed the identities of 12 Americans who died in the bombing.

Obama spoke of the "shared responsibility to look directly in the eye of history" when he visited Hiroshima, and praised Mori's work in his speech.

The moment of Mori being embraced by Obama at the bomb site became the defining image of the visit. Obama avoided any direct expression of remorse or apology for the bombings, something many Japanese feel is overdue.

"I just don't want all of this to end up being a dream," Mori said of his hopes for disarmament.

President Joe Biden is unlikely to deliver an independent message on disarmament during the summit, U.S. officials said, although he will visit the site.

Biden has already pledged a new nuclear deterrence plan with South Korea to counter North Korea.

A U.S. official said Washington was not pushing an independent agenda on the issue, adding Japan was leading discussions.

Senior German government sources did not list nuclear disarmament as a high priority, saying at the G7 it was "important mainly for Japan".

DELICATE BALANCE

One senior European G7 source described the delicate balance between a desire for eventual disarmament and the reality of security.

"The final objective is a world without nuclear weapons, but also we can't be naive and disarm today knowing that we are more than ever dependent" on deterrence, the source told Reuters.

In addition to Russia concerns, officials from the U.S. and its allies have been searching for ways to curb nuclear programmes in Iran and North Korea.

"We recognise that the current international landscape is very challenging given Russia's threat to use nuclear weapons," one Japanese government official said. "That doesn't mean we will give up, especially because Prime Minister Kishida is committed to pursuing this goal."

Elderly hibakusha often talk about seeing a world free of nuclear arms, said survivor Masashi Ieshima, who now lives in Tokyo.

"But to be honest there's a despair behind the brave faces we put on too, that we may not get to see that during our lifetimes," he said.

Without real change, Hiroshima risked becoming just a publicity platform for Kishida, he said.

"Then what's the point of doing this in Hiroshima at all?"

(Reporting by Sakura Murakami; Additional reporting by Kaori Kaneko in Tokyo, Trevor Hunnicutt in Washington, Andreas Rinke in Berlin, and John Irish in Paris; Editing by David Dolan and Lincoln Feast.)
Assistant Attorney General Matthew Olsen of the Justice Department's National Security Division speaks during a news conference at the Department of Justice in Washington, on May 16, 2023.

The Justice Department announced a series of criminal cases Tuesday tracing the illegal flow of sensitive technology, including Apples software code for self-driving cars and materials used for missiles, to foreign adversaries like Russia, China and Iran.

Some of the alleged theft highlighted by the department dates back several years, but U.S. officials are drawing attention to the collection of cases now to highlight the work of a task force created this year to disrupt the transfer of goods to foreign countries.

We are committed to doing all we can to prevent these advanced tools from falling into the hands of adversaries who wield them in a way that threatens not only our national security but democratic values everywhere, said Assistant Attorney General Matthew Olsen, who heads the Justice Departments national security division.

One of the cases, unsealed Tuesday in federal court in Los Angeles, accuses a former software engineer from Apple of taking proprietary data related to self-driving cars before his last day at the company in 2018 and then boarding a flight from San Francisco to China on the night that FBI agents were conducting a search at his house.

Other cases disclosed Tuesday have resulted in arrests. One defendant, Liming Li, 64, was arrested earlier this month on charges that he stole thousands of sensitive files from his California employer, including technology that can be used in the development of nuclear submarines and military aircraft, and used them to help competing Chinese businesses.

Li has been in custody since his arrest. A lawyer who has been representing him declined to comment.

Additionally, two Russian nationals, Oleg Sergeyevich Patsulya and Vasilii Sergeyevich Besedin, were arrested in Arizona this month on charges of conspiring to send aircraft parts to Russian airline companies.

Lawyers for both men did not immediately return phone messages seeking comment.

The Justice Department also unsealed a separate criminal case accusing a Chinese national of conspiring to transmit isostatic graphite, a material that can be used in the nose of intercontinental ballistics, to Iran in violation of U.S. sanctions.

The departments of Justice and Commerce earlier this year launched the Disruptive Technology Strike Force as a way to prevent U.S. adversaries from acquiring sensitive technology.

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A screen displays images of Chinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Joe Biden, while broadcasting news about their recent call at a shopping mall in Hong Kong, China, July 29, 2022. REUTERS/Tyrone Siu/File Photo

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden said on Wednesday he would speak with China's President Xi Jinping, but did not say when.

"Whether it's soon or not, we will be meeting," Biden said in answer to reporters questions before his departure to Japan for a G7 meeting.

(Reporting by Andrea Shalal; Editing by Doina Chiacu)
FILE PHOTO: U.S. President Joe Biden announces that he will be cutting his upcoming trip to Asia short and will return to Washington earlier than planned, to continue U.S. debt ceiling negotiations, during his remarks at a Jewish American Heritage Month c

By Jeff Mason and Kirsty Needham

ABOARD AIR FORCE ONE/SYDNEY (Reuters) -U.S. President Joe Biden will arrange another summit of Pacific island leaders this year after the disappointment caused by his cancellation of a visit to Papua New Guinea due to the domestic debt ceiling crisis, his national security adviser said on Wednesday.

Political analysts said Biden's cancellation of the short visit to Port Moresby planned for next Monday after a G7 summit in Japan had dealt a blow to U.S. credibility in the Pacific island region, where Washington is competing with China for influence.

Asked en route with Biden to Japan whether the decision to cancel gave Beijing an advantage, Jake Sullivan, the president's senior security adviser, said the U.S. saw the "demand signal for the United States only growing for the Pacific islands."

"Within this calendar year, you will see the president convening the leaders of the Pacific islands for a major summit, which will be the second time in 12 months he has done that," Sullivan told reporters aboard Air Force One.

Sullivan said the summit had yet to scheduled, "but we will get it on the books, so that we continue the progress with the Pacific Islands."

Biden hosted an unprecedented summit of Pacific island leaders last year.

His three-hour stop in Port Moresby next Monday would have been a first there by a sitting U.S. president, and the island nation had declared a public holiday in his honor. Biden had been scheduled to meet 18 Pacific island leaders there.

"They're obviously disappointed that the President will not be the first ever President of the United States to go to Papua New Guinea," Sullivan said.

"But they are also very mindful of the fact that this President has done more in terms of his personal engagement with the Pacific islands than any previous president."

DEBT CEILING

The crisis over the U.S. debt ceiling - an issue with the potential to damage the global economy - prompted Biden to postpone visits to both Papua New Guinea and Australia to allow him to return earlier to Washington.

He had been due to meet in Sydney with leaders of the other countries of the Quad grouping - Australia, Japan and India - but they will now talk in Japan.

The stop in Papua New Guinea, a nation of 9 million north of Australia, had been viewed as a major step to build trust in a region where China has sought a greater security presence.

"For Papua New Guinea this was a very big deal and they will be disappointed," said Mihai Sora, a Pacific islands analyst with Sydney's Lowy Institute think tank, calling it a "blow to U.S. credibility in the region as a consistent partner."

"Up until now Pacific islands leaders have been giving the U.S. the benefit of the doubt over its ability to re-engage."

Biden's decision recalled President Barack Obama's cancellation of a trip to attend two summits in Asia in 2013 because of a U.S. government shutdown.

Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape said this week his government was preparing to sign a major defense pact with the United States and a security agreement allowing U.S. Coast Guard vessels to patrol its waters. He made no public comment about Biden's cancellation.

Some opposition party politicians have criticized the pact as potentially upsetting China, a major infrastructure donor.

THREE VISITS BY XI

Richard Maude, a former Australian intelligence chief now with the Asia Society Policy Institute said the cancellation could be a setback for relations.

"The mantra in the region is all about turning up. Turning up is half the battle. China turns up all the time, and so the optics aren't great," he said.

Chinese President Xi Jinping has visited the region three times, including a 2018 visit to Papua New Guinea.

The Pacific islands span 40 million square km of ocean, where vital sea lanes and submarine cables link the United States to its allies Australia and Japan. But leaders there had complained to the U.S. of being seen as "fly over" countries.

China last year struck a security pact with the Solomon Islands, where a Chinese state company will rebuild the international port. Beijing has continued to lobby for a bigger role in the region, after failing to sign 10 nations to a security and trade deal.

Washington has made progress in renewing strategic pacts with two Pacific island states - Micronesia and Palau - under which it retains responsibility for their defense and provides economic assistance while gaining exclusive access to large strategic areas of the Pacific in return.

It expects those to be formally signed at a ceremony in Papua New Guinea on Monday. A third pact with the Marshall Islands has yet to be finalized and is due to expire this year.

(Reporting by Kirsty Needham in Sydney, Jeff Mason on Air Force One and David Brunnstrom, and Andrea Shalal and Rami Ayyub in Washington; additional reporting by Lucy Craymer in Wellington; editing by Nick Macfie, Don Durfee and Grant McCool)
FILE PHOTO: Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro leaves his home following a search operation, in Brasilia, Brazil May 3, 2023. REUTERS/Adriano Machado

BRASILIA (Reuters) - Brazilian ex-President Jair Bolsonaro rejected on Tuesday accusations of tampering with his COVID-19 vaccination records, a document reviewed by Reuters showed, as local authorities investigate the former far-right leader and some of his allies.

In three-hour testimony to the Brazil's federal police, Bolsonaro said was he unaware of false information being included on his vaccination card.

Supreme Court documents have shown federal police found evidence of tampering with Bolsonaro's vaccine records in his last weeks as president in late December, before he flew to the United States, where most foreign visitors must be vaccinated.

According to transcripts of the former president's testimony, Bolsonaro denied having knowledge of or ordering false information to be inserted into this vaccination records.

Earlier this month, Brazilian police raided the former leader's home, arrested his trusted aides and seized his cell phone, as part of the probe seeking to answer how Bolsonaro, a strident coronavirus skeptic who vowed never to get a COVID vaccine, was registered as vaccinated in health records made public in February.

The investigation is one of many putting Bolsonaro under pressure, including investigations into alleged voter suppression, his attacks on the legitimacy of Brazilian elections, and embezzlement of foreign gifts.

The Supreme Court is overseeing the case and released court documents that included an arrest warrant for Mauro Cid, one of Bolsonaro's personal assistants when he was president, who stayed on as his aide.

According to Bolsonaro, Cid may have committed fraud without his knowledge.

(Reporting by Ricardo Brito; Writing by Carolina Pulice; Editing by Lincoln Feast.)
FILE PHOTO: The company logo for Financial broker Charles Schwab is displayed at a location in the financial district in New York, U.S., March 20, 2023. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid

(Reuters) - Charles Schwab Corp is looking to raise $2.5 billion in long-term debt, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday, citing people familiar with the matter.

The financial services firm will issue $1.2 billion in debt due in 2029 and $1.3 billion due in 2034, the report added.

The company declined to comment on the matter.

Charles Schwab said it intends to use the net proceeds for "general corporate purposes", and did not disclose the pricing for the offering in its filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Shares of the company, which have lost about 38% of their value so far this year, fell 1.5% in extended trading.

BofA Securities, Citigroup, Credit Suisse, Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC, J.P. Morgan and Wells Fargo Securities are the joint book-running managers for the offering.

(Reporting by Manya Saini in Bengaluru; Editing by Vinay Dwivedi)
By Casey Hall

SHANGHAI (Reuters) - When graduate student Cai Zhishan decided to spend her Labour Day holidays in northern China, she wished she had enough money to hire a car for the more-than 4,000km (2,500 mile) round trip - the equivalent of driving from New York to Los Angeles.

Instead, she chose "travelling like special forces," a new trend in China that has emerged as a symptom of the underlying weakness in household consumption, and which is casting a shadow over a post-pandemic recovery in domestic tourism.

Cai, 22, mostly took slow trains and buses as she made her way from the city of Hangzhou where she studies, around the northern Shanxi province, and back.

To get to the ancient temples, pagodas and grottoes she wanted to visit, she walked roughly 30,000 steps a day. For accommodation, she chose overnight trains and cheap hostel beds.

Over nine days, she spent just 2,500 yuan ($362).

"I don't have much money, but I like to travel," Cai said. "I can control the expenses, to go to many places for the least amount of money, but it is really tiring."

On social media, the hashtag special forces travel - which refers to an aggressive assault on a tourist area to see and do as much as possible for as little money one can spend - went viral before and during the Labour Day break starting in late April.

Cai was inspired by the online discussions, like many other Chinese travellers who surprised with their thriftiness.

Ministry of Culture and Tourism data showed a boom in domestic travel this year, as many Chinese made up for the three years of COVID-19 restrictions that kept them largely stuck at home.

During the May holiday break, which for most Chinese covered the April 28-May 3 period, 274 million trips were made, up 19% from 2019 before the pandemic.

But total spending was 148 billion yuan ($21 billion), on par with 2019, meaning travellers spent an average of 540 yuan in 2023 versus 603 yuan in 2019.

In another sign of tight pockets, international trips by Chinese tourists this year remain a fraction of pre-pandemic levels.

"Chinese overall are not ready to spend as much as before and, even if the government tries ... to entice consumption and reduce excess savings, I doubt it will manage," said Alicia Garcia-Herrero, chief economist for Asia-Pacific at Natixis Research.

"People need jobs and higher wages to start spending big again."

Domestic consumption, which Chinese policymakers want to play a greater role in powering the world's second-largest economy, has recovered since COVID restrictions were lifted in December, but has consistently underwhelmed so far this year.

China's struggling property market, record high youth unemployment and broader worries over job stability, as well as government parsimony on wages, pensions and medical benefits are keeping consumers cautious, analysts say.

Data on Tuesday showed retail sales up 18.4% in April from last year, when Shanghai was under lockdown, undershooting expectations of a 21.0% rise. Consumer confidence has bounced from last year's record lows, but remains below the range of the previous two decades.

One travel blogger, who posts on the Instagram-like social media app Xiaohongshu under the name of Icecube, told Reuters he slept overnight in a public toilet to save money on a trip to Huangshan mountain in the southern Anhui province.

"It's worth it," said the blogger, who declined to give his real name.

"Although I suffered a little, I spent the least money possible to see beautiful scenery. In the future, I may consider adding a little to the budget to improve accommodation conditions."

For those betting on consumption gathering speed as the year progresses, maybe not all is lost.

Beijinger Xing Zicong, 23, tried to visit the historical silk road city of Xi'an on a shoestring, but found it too uncomfortable and ended up spending more money than planned.

"Maybe I didn't wear the right shoes, but my feet started to hurt after walking more than 10,000 steps," she said, joking that she exemplified "the battle-scarred version of special forces travel."

($1 = 6.9121 Chinese yuan renminbi)

(Reporting by Casey Hall and Shanghai newsroom; Editing by Marius Zaharia and Lincoln Feast.)
FILE PHOTO: Chinese President Xi Jinping looks on during a joint news statement with French President Emmanuel Macron after a signing ceremony at the Great Hall of the People, in Beijing, China, April 6, 2023. REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes

By Andrew Hayley

XIAN, China (Reuters) -China wants to further deepen relations with Kazakhstan in times of both "prosperity and adversity", President Xi Jinping told his visiting Kazakh counterpart on Wednesday.

This week, China will for the first time host an in-person summit of Central Asian leaders, building ties in Russia's backyard as Beijing's relations with the West sour.

Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan - previously part of the Soviet Union - are all seeking other sources of investment as Moscow channels its resources into the war in Ukraine.

President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev of Kazakhstan, a vast steppe nation with rich energy and agricultural resources, was the first of the five Central Asian leaders to arrive in the northwestern Chinese city of Xian for the summit.

China and Kazakstan should "promote the construction of a China-Kazakhstan community with a shared future featuring friendship from generation to generation, a high degree of mutual trust, together in prosperity and adversity," Xi said.

"Your state visit to China demonstrates the high level of relations between our two countries and once again confirms the indissoluble bond with China."

Kazakhstan will target $40 billion in annual two-way trade with China by 2030, up from over $31 billion in 2022, Tokayev told Xi.

"Kazakhstan is interested in expanding the export of agricultural products to China," he said, praising Xi for his ambitious Belt and Road infrastructure initiative that has boosted transport connectivity.

"Kazakhstan is ready to deliver legumes, high-quality and ecologically clean frozen beef and lamb," Tokayev added.

China's trade with the five Central Asia states has multiplied one hundred-fold since the establishment of diplomatic ties three decades ago, after the break-up of Soviet Union. Investment between China and the five nations reached a record high of over $70 billion in 2022.

The inaugural China-Central Asia leaders summit was held online last year due to COVID-19.

The choice of Xian as the venue for the first in-person summit is a symbolic nod to history as the city was pivotal in the ancient Silk Road trade route that once spanned Central Asia.

(Reporting by Andrew Hayley; Writing by Ryan WooEditing by Gareth Jones)
BEIJING (Reuters) - A Chinese fishing vessel with 39 crew members on board has capsized in the Indian ocean and President Xi Jinping has ordered that all efforts be made to search for survivors, state media reported on Wednesday.

The distant-water fishing vessel "Lupeng Yuanyu 028", owned by Penglai Jinglu Fishery Co Ltd based in Shandong province, capsized early on Tuesday, state-run CCTV reported.

The 39 people on board - 17 Chinese crew members, 17 Indonesians and five from the Philippines - were missing, CCTV said.

Xi said all efforts should be made for the rescue and early warning alerts of safety risks would be strengthened for distant-sea operations, CCTV reported.

China's maritime search and rescue centre had informed relevant countries of the accident and the foreign ministry had told its missions in Australia, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Indonesia, the Philippines and other countries to coordinate search and rescue operations, it said.

(Reporting by Ethan Wang and Bernard Orr; Editing by Robert Birsel)
FILE PHOTO: A logo is pictured on the Credit Suisse bank in Geneva, Switzerland, March 15, 2023. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse/

By Chiara Elisei

LONDON (Reuters) -Holders of credit insurance linked to Credit Suisse bonds will not get a payout after a committee that adjudicates on disputes in the derivatives market said on Wednesday the bank's state-engineered merger with UBS was not a credit event.

The Swiss bank in March was taken over by UBS in a state-assisted rescue deal that wiped out Credit Suisse's $17 billion Additional Tier 1 (AT1) bondholders.

"A Governmental Intervention Credit Event had not occurred," the EMEA Credit Derivatives Determination Committee (CDDC) said in a statement on its website, responding to a question from an investor last week.

The CDDC said it had come to the conclusion following an examination of the ranking clauses for the AT1 bonds listed in the request made by the investor.

The investor said the AT1 bonds were pari passu, in other words ranking at the same level, with the reference bond underlying the CDS contracts, which included a subordinated bond that matured in 2020.

But the committee's view was that holders of the 2020 bonds were priority creditors compared with AT1 bondholders.

Common sense prevailed, said Jerome Legras, managing partner and head of research at Axiom Alternative Investments. Effectively, saying that subordinated Tier 2 and AT1 are pari passu would have been very problematic for the AT1 market.

The amount of gross notional outstanding CDS linked to Credit Suisse bonds stood at more than $19 billion in March, according to data from the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation. The DTCC provided no details of what seniority of bonds the CDS contracts were written against.

A panel of eleven finance companies, including Barclays, Citibank, Deutsche Bank and Goldman Sachs as well as Elliot Investment Management and PIMCO came to a unanimous decision, the CDDC statement said.

Credit Suisse, which is still listed as a member of the EMEA CDDC on the group's website, was not listed as having taken part in the decision.

TEST CASE

The debate on the CDDC committee was another test case for AT1s, which took a beating in March following the surprise decision by Swiss regulators.

AT1 bonds, introduced after the 2008 financial crisis, act as shock absorbers if a bank's capital levels fall below a certain threshold as they can be converted into equity.

European regulators have said they would continue to impose losses on shareholders first if a bank fails, helping to calm panicky investors. Hong Kong and Singapore also said they would stick to the traditional hierarchy of insolvency claims in which equity investors usually rank below bondholders.

Some investors still hope to recover some of their money if litigation attempts prove successful.

Hundreds of lawsuits have been filed over the terms of the emergency deal to save Credit Suisse.

The 3 billion Swiss franc ($3.35 billion) rescue, hammered out over a March weekend amid turmoil in the global banking sector, upended a long-established practice of giving bondholders priority over shareholders in a debt recovery.

Law firms including Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan and Pallas Partners have filed claims on behalf of investors.

(Reporting by Chiara Elisei, editing by Karin Strohecker and Jane Merriman)
DUBAI (Reuters) - A Dubai court has rejected an appeal by a British citizen charged with defrauding Danish tax authorities and ordered him to pay more than $1 billion to Denmark, according to a court document dated Tuesday and seen by Reuters.

A ruling issued by the Dubai Court of Cassation, its highest court, says Sanjay Shah must repay 4.643 billion dirhams ($1.3 billion) plus 5% interest to Denmark.

Shah's lawyer, Ali Al Zarouni, did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment. His media and political adviser, Jack Irvine, said in an email that he had not spoken with Shah since Tuesday's court ruling.

Shah, who denies any wrongdoing, is suspected by Danish authorities of running a scheme that involved submitting applications to the Danish Treasury on behalf of investors and companies from around the world for dividend tax refunds worth more than 9 billion Danish crowns ($1.32 billion).

Known as "cum-ex," the alleged crime involved a sham trading scheme whereby investors were able to make double tax reclaims, authorities said.

The Danish tax agency said in a statement it was satisfied with the outcome.

"The Supreme Court in Dubai on Tuesday rejected an appeal from Sanjay Shah, and thus the case against Sanjay Shah in Dubai has now reached its conclusion," the agency said.

Since Shah's arrest in Dubai in June last year, his case has gone through several court instances. UAE said in April that the process of extraditing him to Denmark had begun.

(Reporting by Lisa Barrington in Dubai and Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen in Copenhagen; Editing by Matthew Lewis)
Salvadoran soldiers stand by a road of Nueva Concepcion after El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele announced the deployment of more than 5,000 security forces to the area after a policeman was killed in a gang attack, in Nueva Concepcion, El Salvador in t

SAN SALVADOR (Reuters) - El Salvador has deployed at least 5,000 soldiers and 500 police to surround a town in the northwest of the country in a push to arrest those responsible for the suspected gang killing of a police officer, President Nayib Bukele said on Wednesday.

The officer was killed while on patrol in Nueva Concepcion, some 42 miles (67 km) northwest of the capital on Tuesday in an attack by alleged gang members, security authorities said.

"Since early morning, we have established a security perimeter around Nueva Concepcion," Bukele wrote on Twitter, saying this would enable the "search for those responsible for the murder and the entire structure of gang members and collaborators still hiding there."

"They will pay dearly for the our hero's murder," added Bukele, who has faced criticisms from human rights groups for his authoritarian governing style and brutal crackdown on crime, particularly street gangs.

El Salvador has suspended constitutional rights in a so-called state of exception that allows police to swiftly arrest and jail suspected gang members while suspending their right to a lawyer and court approval of preliminary detention.

Over 68,000 suspects have been arrested since last year, and thousands transferred to a new "mega prison". Human rights groups say some innocent people have been caught up in the policy, including at least dozens who died in custody.

The policy is however credited with cutting high rates of violent crime and supported by the majority of the population, according to various polls.

Bukele's government has previously launched similar surges of security forces in urban areas considered highly dangerous in an attempt to stop drug trafficking and the movement of gang members.

(Reporting by Nelson Renteria; Writing by Sarah Morland; Editing by Alistair Bell)
KYODO NEWS - May 17, 2023 - 22:35 | All, Japan, World

Japan will accept injured Ukrainian soldiers for medical treatment as part of efforts to support their war-torn homeland in its ongoing battle to defend itself against Russia, sources close to the matter said Wednesday.

In a rare move, several soldiers will be accepted at the Self-Defense Forces Central Hospital in Tokyo as early as next month for medical care and physical therapy, the sources said.

The Japanese government is aiming to show a stronger commitment to Ukraine ahead of the Group of Seven summit beginning on Friday. The plan to accept wounded soldiers, including those injured by landmines, is in response to a Ukrainian request, a Japanese government source said.

Japan's plan to treat injured soldiers may be discussed when Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada meets with Ukrainian Ambassador to Japan Sergiy Korsunsky on Thursday.

While the United States and European countries have been providing tanks, fighter jets and long-range artillery to Ukraine, Japan's strict regulations on weapons exports means the country has offered non-lethal defense equipment to Kyiv, such as bulletproof vests, helmets and drones.

The plan will have to be handled carefully. If those treated are sent back to the frontline after recovery, it could be perceived as providing combat capability to another country.

The government will also consider whether it can bear the costs of medical treatment, the source said.

Poland and some other countries have put in place similar supporting schemes.

The SDF hospital is jointly operated by the ground, maritime, and air self-defense forces, and has around 30 medical departments, including surgery, digestive surgery and rehabilitation.

There has been a case of a Ukrainian national who was injured by Russian shelling who came to Japan through an acquaintance to receive treatment at a hospital in Chiba Prefecture near Tokyo.

Related coverage:

Ukraine hopes for G-7 message against use of nuclear weapons

Japan PM vows continued support for Ukraine in unannounced visit

Japan TV personality Dewi visits Ukraine despite travel restrictions
ISTANBUL (Reuters) -The Ukraine Black Sea grain deal has been extended for two more months, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday, one day before Russia could have quit the pact over obstacles to its grain and fertilizer exports.

Erdogan's comments, made in a speech to officials of his ruling AK Party, came after the last ship left a Ukrainian port under the deal, which allows for the safe export via the Black Sea of Ukrainian grain and was due to expire on Thursday.

"The Black Sea grain corridor deal has been extended by two months with the efforts of Turkey," he said in his televised speech, also thanking the Russian and Ukrainian leaders and U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres for their help.

The United Nations and Turkey brokered the Black Sea deal for an initial 120 days in July last year to help tackle a global food crisis that has been aggravated by Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, one of the world's leading grain exporters.

Moscow agreed to extend the Black Sea pact for a further 120 days in November, but then in March it agreed to a 60 day extension - until May 18 - unless a list of demands regarding its own agricultural exports was met.

To convince Russia in July to allow Black Sea grain exports, the United Nations agreed at the same time to help Moscow with its own agricultural shipments for three years.

(Reporting by Huseyin HayatseverEce Toksabay, Ezgi Erkoyun and Ali Kucukgocmen;Writing by Daren Butler;Editing by Gareth Jones)
FILE PHOTO: European Union High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell attends a press conference with Sweden's Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom (not pictured) on the day of an EU Indo-Pacific Ministerial Forum in connection

By Andrew Gray

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell has proposed adding 3.5 billion euros ($3.85 billion) to a fund used to finance military aid for Ukraine, EU sources said on Wednesday.

The sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Borrell had asked EU governments to raise the financial ceiling on the European Peace Facility (EPF), a fund that has already allocated some 4.6 billion euros in military aid for Ukraine.

"He's just made the proposal," a European diplomat said.

Borrell's proposal requires approval from the EU's national governments. They agreed last December that, "in case of need", such an increase could be justified.

The fund, established in 2021, was conceived for the EU to help developing countries buy military equipment. But the 27-member union quickly decided to use it also to get weapons to Ukraine after Russia's invasion in February last year.

The fund is separate from the EU's budget, which is not allowed to finance military operations.

But the fact that EU countries clubbed together to buy weapons and ammunition for a country at war with Russia marked a historic step for the bloc, which for decades avoided involvement in defence and military matters.

The war has meant that the EPF has burned through cash far more quickly than planned. It originally had a budget of 5 billion euros, meant to last until 2027. That ceiling has already been raised once, by 2 billion euros, last December.

The fund allows EU countries that supply weapons and ammunition to Ukraine to claim back a portion of the cost. EU countries contribute to the fund according to the size of their economies.

A senior EU official said Borrell had decided to ask for a boost as the fund was running low and the EU's foreign policy service wanted to be sure the EPF had enough cash to finance military aid for other countries as well as Ukraine.

"We have to top up," said the official. "The gist of the European Peace Facility ... has a universal character. It was not conceived by Ukraine. It was conceived for any conflict that the European Union could deal with."

(This story has been refiled to add dropped word 'euro' in the headline)

($1 = 0.9084 euros)

(Reporting by Andrew Gray; editing by Grant McCool)
FILE PHOTO: A First Republic Bank branch is seen in New York City, U.S., April 28, 2023. REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton/File Photo

(Reuters) - The former chief executive of the First Republic Bank Michael Roffler blamed the bank's collapse on the contagion from the failures of other regional banks and said regulators did not express concerns regarding the bank's strategy, liquidity, or management performance.

A total of over $100 billion in deposits were withdrawn from the bank over the course of weeks in response to an industry-wide panic about the soundness of regional banks, Roffler said in his prepared testimony to a House Financial Services sub-committee that will be delivered at a hearing on Wednesday.

"We could not have anticipated that Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank would fail, or that the failure of those banks would trigger substantial deposit outflows at our bank," he said.

First Republic's financial position and strategy were regularly reviewed by the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DFPI) and the FDIC, he said.

California banking regulators shut down First Republic Bank on May 1 and sold its assets to JPMorgan Chase & Co, in a deal to resolve the largest U.S. bank failure since the 2008 financial crisis and draw a line under lingering banking turmoil.

(This story has been corrected to change Senate Banking Committee to House Financial Services subcommittee and add link to testimony in paragraph 2)

(Reporting by Nilutpal Timsina in Bengaluru; Editing by Kim Coghill and Christian Schmollinger)
FILE PHOTO: The German share price index DAX graph is pictured at the stock exchange in Frankfurt, Germany, May 16, 2023. REUTERS/Staff

By Sruthi Shankar and Ankika Biswas

(Reuters) -European shares slipped on Wednesday as concerns about whether the United States can avoid a debt default weighed on sentiment, along with a slew of downbeat corporate updates.

The continent-wide STOXX 600 eased 0.2%, with defensive sectors such as food and beverage, utilities and real estate firms leading declines.

A cautious mood prevailed in global markets as U.S. President Joe Biden looked set to continue talks with congressional leaders on raising the country's debt limit later this week, with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy vowing to avoid a default.

"We're still a little way off from the deadline and there are hopes that we could get some kind of deal over the weekend," said Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at IG Group.

"It will affect U.S. markets first and European markets will go with it, and that's how we expect the second half of May to play out. It's never a great month for stocks."

European shares have traded in a tight range this month as investors assess the outlook for European and U.S. interest rates and the risk of a U.S. default.

German lender Commerzbank AG fell 3.8% on Wednesday after its net interest income forecast for the full year fell short of analysts' expectations.

Euronext NV dropped 3.0% after the stock exchange operator reported a fall in first-quarter revenue and income, while London Stock Exchange Group was down 2.7% after an investor consortium including U.S. buyout firm Blackstone and Thomson Reuters sold shares worth about 2.7 billion pounds ($3.41 billion).

UBS Group AG rose 1.1% after the Swiss bank said it expects a financial hit of about $17 billion from the takeover of Credit Suisse Group AG but also estimated a one-off gain from so-called "negative goodwill" of $34.8 billion.

"While this is slightly smaller than some industry estimates, it's a heavy cost to bear, said Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets at Hargreaves Lansdown about the $17 billion hit.

"(It) has been partly put down to the lack of time it was able to complete due diligence and assess the web of problems at Credit Suisse," she added.

Boosting Germany's DAX, Siemens AG climbed 2.6% after the engineering and technology group raised its full-year sales and profit guidance, while business software maker SAP added 0.8% after raising its 2025 total revenue outlook and announcing a share buyback of up to 5 billion euros.

French catering group Elior slumped 22.8% after lowering its margin forecast on likely lower sales growth and high inflation.

Thyssenkrupp jumped 6.8% after Bloomberg News reported the German submarine-to-steel group is planning to launch an IPO of its hydrogen business Nucera next month.

(Reporting by Sruthi Shankar in Bengaluru; Editing by Sonia Cheema, Kirsten Donovan)
FILE PHOTO: A Swiss flag is seen in front of a logo of Swiss bank Credit Suisse in Zurich, Switzerland May 10, 2023. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse

By Stefania Spezzati, Paritosh Bansal and America Hernandez

(Reuters) - Qatar's sovereign wealth fund, Credit Suisse's second-largest investor, has explored seeking redress for losses incurred by the bank's takeover, two people familiar with the matter said, as legal challenges to Switzerland's state-backed rescue mount.

The Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) sought legal advice on whether it had any claim against Swiss authorities, including through international arbitration, after Credit Suisse Group AG's forced sale to UBS Group AG at a fraction of its market value, the two sources said.

The move by the $475 billion sovereign wealth fund to study legal options has not been previously reported. QIA stands to lose roughly $330 million on its equity stake in Credit Suisse as a result of the sale to rival UBS, Reuters calculations show.

Shareholders of Credit Suisse and UBS were not granted a vote on the deal that was sealed over one weekend in March.

Switzerland and Qatar have a treaty that lays out a process to settle disputes. The fund tapped a law firm that specialises in international arbitration and has offices in London and Paris, the sources said.

The law firm's mandate, however, remains in an exploratory phase and a claim is not being actively pursued at this time, according to the sources. One of the sources characterised QIA's move as work done to inform management of what their options might be, rather than instructions to act.

Officials for QIA, UBS, the Swiss finance ministry and Credit Suisse declined to comment.

QIA's investment in Credit Suisse dates back to the global financial crisis of 2008.

Initially seen as a likely beneficiary of the existential threat faced by many of its rivals at the time - including UBS - a catalogue of subsequent missteps by Credit Suisse management and scandals erased billions of dollars of shareholder value.

Offsetting the decline in the stock over the years, QIA received interest payments on Credit Suisse bonds that were part of its 2008 investment, leaving it with an overall gain, the source said.

The sovereign wealth fund had increased its stake in Credit Suisse to just under 7%, only trailing largest shareholder Saudi National Bank's roughly 10% stake, according to a January filing.

Reuters could not determine when QIA might decide whether to pursue a claim.

LEGAL CHALLENGES

QIA's interest in exploring its options shows how the aftermath of the shotgun merger is likely to play out over many months.

Hundreds of lawsuits have been filed over terms of the deal after Credit Suisse's shareholders and bondholders were left nursing big losses.

More than 1,000 investors representing around a third of the bank's Additional Tier 1 (AT1) bonds are suing the Swiss regulator after around 16 billion Swiss francs of such debt was written down to zero.

Shareholders will receive one UBS share for 22.48 Credit Suisse shares. Among them, Middle Eastern backers which own more than 20% of Credit Suisse face the largest hit.

In deciding whether it should bring a claim, Qatar would need to balance its losses and the chances of winning against the impact on its relationship with Switzerland.

Should the Qataris decide to move forward, they would have to file a notice of dispute to the Swiss government, according to the treaty signed between the Swiss Federal Council and the government of the State of Qatar. The parties then have six months to settle the claim "amicably".

If no agreement is reached, the dispute can be escalated to the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID), an international arbitration institution established by the World Bank in the 1960s for legal disputes between international investors and states.

(Reporting by Stefania Spezzati in London, Paritosh Bansal in New York and America Hernandez in Paris; Editing by Elisa Martinuzzi, Kirsten Donovan)
Mayor of New Taipei, Hou Yu-ih, gestures during his speech following the confirmation as the presidential candidate for Taiwan's main opposition party the Kuomintang (KMT), at their headquarters in Taipei, Taiwan, May 17, 2023. REUTERS/Ann Wang

By Yimou Lee and Sarah Wu

(Reuters) - Taiwan's main opposition Kuomintang (KMT) party picked New Taipei City mayor Hou Yu-ih on Wednesday to be its presidential candidate in the election next year, with China tensions set to top the election agenda.

Below are facts about Hou:

- Fluent in Taiwanese, the 65-year-old mayor of New Taipei City gained nationwide attention after a landslide re-election win late last year in the city that surrounds the capital. The KMT trounced the ruling Democratic Progressive Party in December's local elections.

- With a doctoral degree in crime prevention and corrections, Hou started his career as a criminal police officer and later became head of the National Police Agency. In 1997, he became a household name after rescuing the family of a South African diplomat in a high-profile hostage case, earning the reputation of a "tender tough guy."

- Hou rarely voices his stance on Taiwan's current and future relations with China. When pressed by reporters on issues including his China policy and his role in the coming election, Hou often replied with a phrase in Taiwanese that means to focus on doing the task at hand well.

- Hou said in a Facebook post last month that as Taiwan externally faces a tricky international situation and internally faces daily problems such as soaring prices, "it is necessary for the country's people to unite, to put political confrontation and conflicts aside, and to pragmatically face various challenges."

- Earlier this month, Hou said he objected to Taiwan's formal independence as well as Beijing's offer to rule the island under the "one country, two systems" formula of governance, similar to the arrangement in Hong Kong. He has also vowed to defend the Republic of China, Taiwan's official name, if it was attacked.

- Hou joined the KMT in 1975, which traditionally favours close ties with China and supports the stance that both Taipei and Beijing are part of a single China although each can have its own interpretation of the term.

(Reporting by Yimou Lee and Sarah Wu; additional reporting by Jeanny Kao; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan)
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexican security forces are searching for about 50 migrants who were kidnapped from a commercial bus, authorities said Wednesday.

The kidnapping took place in the central state of San Luis Potosi, the Attorney General's Office there said. The bus, whose two drivers were also missing, was discovered further north in the border state of Nuevo Leon on Tuesday, it added, without specifying when the incident took place.

President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador told a press conference the National Guard has been deployed to try to locate the migrants.

On Tuesday, Nuevo Leon's security agency tweeted that nine migrants - aged from 18 to 35 and from Honduras and Venezuela - had been rescued.

The San Luis Potosi Attorney General's Office said it was verifying whether the nine were part of the larger group that was kidnapped.

San Luis Potosi has seen a growth in the involvement of organized crime in the trafficking of migrants, increasing numbers of whom are crossing through on their way to the United States, fueled by the recent withdrawal of a COVID-era border policy that allowed U.S. authorities to swiftly expel many migrants.

(Reporting by Lizbeth Diaz and Raul Cortes Fernandez, Writing by Jackie Botts; editing by John Stonestreet)
FILE PHOTO: Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy arrives for his appeal trial on charges of corruption and influence peddling, at Paris courthouse, France, December 15, 2022. REUTERS/Stephane Mahe

By Tassilo Hummel

PARIS (Reuters) -Former president Nicolas Sarkozy lost his appeal against a 2021 conviction for corruption and influence peddling at the Paris Court of Appeals on Wednesday, prompting his legal team to promise a challenge at France's highest court.

The appeals court upheld a three-year prison sentence. In line with the initial ruling, it said two of those years were suspended and that Sarkozy would wear an electronic bracelet instead of going to jail for the remaining year.

"Nicolas Sarkozy is innocent of the charges (he has been convicted of)," defence lawyer Jacqueline Laffont said. "We will not give up this fight".

Prosecutors had recommended a softening of the punishment to a three-year suspended sentence. However, the presiding judge Sophie Clement stuck with the initial penalty and said the case had impacted the country's institutions.

Jail terms of a year or less are typically not served in prison if certain conditions, such as the wearing of an electronic tag, are met.

Sarkozy, 68, left the court without speaking to reporters.

A conservative who served one term as French president from 2007 to 2012, Sarkozy will take his legal battle to France's highest court, the Cour de Cassation, Laffont said.

The Cour de Cassation reviews lower court rulings on the grounds of legal or procedural errors, but not factual aspects.

A lower court in 2021 found Sarkozy guilty of trying to bribe a judge after leaving office, and of peddling influence in exchange for confidential information about an investigation into his 2007 campaign finances.

WIRETAPS

The conviction marked a stunning fall from grace for a former president who once bestrode the world, and is one of several legal battles Sarkozy has been fighting over the past decade.

Sarkozy has always denied wrongdoing.

Known in France as the "wiretapping affair", the case at the centre of Wednesday's ruling is indirectly linked to a suspicion of illegal campaign financing ahead of the 2007 election.

In 2013, investigators looking into money flows from Libya - over which Sarkozy may face another trial soon - wiretapped two of Sarkozy's phone lines and discovered a secret line used by the ex-president and his lawyer, Thierry Herzog.

The courts found that Sarkozy conspired to secure a plum job in Monaco for a judge, Gilbert Azibert, in return for inside information about an inquiry into allegations he had accepted illegal payments from L'Oreal heiress Liliane Bettencourt - another episode stemming from his 2007 presidential campaign finances.

Also upholding the corruption and influence peddling convictions against Herzog and Azibert, the judge said Herzog's judgement as a lawyer failed him because of his friendship with Sarkozy. Herzog had breached professional codes of conduct by not warning the former president that what he was doing was illegal, Clement added.

She dismissed Sarkozy's claim that he was not aware of what Herzog and Azibert had discussed, based on the wiretapped exchanges, and rejected his argument that wiretapped conversations could not be presented as evidence in court.

The only other president during the course of France's 64-year-old Fifth Republic to be convicted by a court was Sarkozy's conservative predecessor, the late Jacques Chirac, who was found guilty of corruption in 2011.

(Reporting by Tassilo Hummel; editing by Richard Lough, Mark Heinrich and Bernadette Baum)
FILE PHOTO: A general view of Saint Peter's Square a day before the Vatican releases its long-awaited report into disgraced ex-U.S. Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, at the Vatican, November 9, 2020. REUTERS/Remo Casilli

By Alvise Armellini

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) -A group of German victims of abuse on Wednesday called on Pope Francis to step up efforts against "sexual and spiritual abuse" by clergy, after completing a 900-km (560 miles) bicycle trek from Munich to the Vatican.

Abuse scandals have shredded the Catholic Church's reputation and have been a major challenge for the pope, who has passed a series of measures aimed at holding the Church hierarchy more accountable, with mixed results.

"Men and women in the service of the Church inflicted severe physical, sexual and psychological violence on people entrusted to their care," the group said in a letter that was handed to Francis during his weekly audience in St Peter's Square.

"We expect you to do everything in your power to ensure that in all corners of the universal Church the issue of sexual and spiritual abuse is seen, dealt with, and prevented through appropriate preventive measures," they added.

The pope stopped to greet the group and chatted with them "for about 20 minutes" one of the victims, Richard Kick, told reporters. "He listened and I think he understood what we wanted to tell him."

Kick, who is 66, was abused as an altar boy between the ages of 8 and 10. He reported it to the church only in 2010, and got an answer seven years later from the Vatican telling him it was too late to go after his abuser, who subsequently died in 2019.

He said Francis told the group to pray for him and promised to pray for them, but "praying is not enough," Kick said. He added the pope said it was "difficult, very difficult" to punish abusers after decades.

The German group, made up of 15 abuse survivors and other supporters, left Munich on May 6 and travelled to Rome with the backing of their local archbishop, Cardinal Reinhard Marx, a former head of the German bishops' conference.

The issue of abuse is particularly sensitive in Germany, where investigations have exposed widespread historical church abuse and cover-up, triggering demands for major changes in the church.

The German bishops' conference is debating a series of reforms in reaction to the abuse crisis, including around issues such as homosexuality, women priests and priestly celibacy, as part of its so-called Synodal Path.

The Vatican has put a brake on such proposals, which are anathema to conservatives and could lead to massive splintering similar to what happened in Anglican and Protestant Churches after they introduced similar changes in recent decades.

(Reporting by Alvise Armellini and Rachel More, editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise)
German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius and Britain's Secretary of State for Defence Ben Wallace shake hands during a press conference as they meet in Berlin, Germany, May 17, 2023. REUTERS/Nadja Wohlleben

BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany does not have the training capacity or military equipment to actively contribute to a British-Dutch initiative to supply Ukraine with fighter jets, German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius said on Wednesday.

"We cannot play an active role in such an alliance, in such a coalition, because we have neither the training capacities, the competencies or the planes," Pistorius said in Berlin after a meeting with his British counterpart in Berlin.

During a summit of European leaders in Reykjavik this week, Britain said it was working with the Netherlands to forge an international coalition to help Ukraine obtain F-16 jets from its allies, though Britain, Germany and the U.S. have so far balked at supplying their own planes.

(Reporting by Rachel More, Editing by Friederike Heine)
KYODO NEWS - May 18, 2023 - 00:59 | All, World, G7

The Group of Seven summit in Hiroshima will kick off Friday with U.S. President Joe Biden and other leaders visiting a museum that captures the devastation caused by the U.S. atomic bombing of the city in 1945, according to the White House.

With nuclear disarmament to be among the key agenda items during the three-day summit, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has been stressing the importance of the museum visit by G-7 leaders, saying that knowing the consequences of the use of an atomic bomb is "important as a starting point" for disarmament efforts.

It will be the first time in the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum's decades-long history to receive a joint visit by leaders from the G-7, which includes nuclear powers Britain, France and the United States.

Atomic bomb survivors hope the museum tour will lead to substantive discussions toward ridding the world of nuclear weapons instead of merely serving as a formality.

According to the White House, Biden, who will become the second sitting U.S. president to set foot in Hiroshima, is planning to visit the museum at the city's Peace Memorial Park with other G-7 leaders, and also participate in a wreath-laying and tree-planting ceremony.

The details of the museum tour are not yet available. But Japan has been making arrangements to take G-7 leaders to the "permanent exhibition" section that focuses on conveying the realities of the devastation caused by the world's first use of a nuclear weapon in war, according to a government source.

The museum, located near ground zero, holds about 100,000 relics, photos and other items in its collection, ranging from children's clothing to organic matter, including hair. About 500 items are on display in the main building.

In 2016, then U.S. President Barack Obama visited the western Japan city, which was reduced to ash following the detonation of an atomic bomb dropped on Aug. 6, 1945. It killed an estimated 140,000 people by the end of 1945.

A second atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki, southwestern Japan, on Aug. 9, and Japan surrendered six days later, prompting the end of World War II.

When Obama stopped by Hiroshima, a trip made on the occasion of the previous G-7 summit in Japan, he delivered a speech and met with representatives of atomic bomb survivors at the park.

He also visited the museum, but only viewed some symbolic exhibits that were brought to the lobby, with his stay lasting for about 10 minutes. Biden was vice president during the Obama administration.

Kishida, who represents a constituency in Hiroshima, has been pitching his vision of a world without nuclear weapons and is hoping the G-7 gathering will help inject a fresh impetus into global nuclear disarmament efforts at a time when fears over the use of the destructive weapons linger amid Russia's war in Ukraine.

But depending on how long the G-7 leaders will stay at the museum and what items will be shown, Kishida could face criticism that the event was just a political stunt.

The museum completed its third renovation in 2019, aiming to give more weight to individual experiences of the tragedy.

Toshiyuki Mimaki, head of the Hiroshima Prefectural Confederation of A-bomb Sufferers Organizations, stressed the need to learn the "horrors" of nuclear weapons by "thoroughly" touring the museum's main building.

"Based on that, I think it is the role of Japan as the chair country to spur discussions toward a nuclear-free world," the 81-year-old added.

Related coverage:

Biden to urge importance of nuke disarmament at G-7 summit: spokesman

U.N. chief urges no-use nuclear weapons policy ahead of G-7 summit

G-7 to vow at Hiroshima summit to bolster NPT regime for disarmament
FILE PHOTO: German Chancellor Olaf Scholz speaks to the media following a closed door meeting with Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, at the Chancellery in Berlin, Germany, May 14, 2023. REUTERS/Lisi Niesner

By Andreas Rinke

REYKJAVIK (Reuters) -German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Wednesday said his government wanted pragmatic measures to prevent the circumvention of sanctions imposed on Russia, appearing to temper U.S. calls for a more wide-ranging ban on exports.

Scholz will attend a meeting of leaders of the Group of Seven (G7) nations in Japan this week to discuss plans to tighten sanctions on Russia over the war in Ukraine.

New measures will include targeting sanctions evasion involving third countries, officials familiar with the talks have said. U.S. officials also expect G7 members to agree to adjust their approach to sanctions so that, at least for certain categories of goods, all exports are automatically banned unless they are on a list of approved items.

"We're trying to promote good, pragmatic further development," Scholz said when asked about this on the sidelines of a Council of Europe meeting in Iceland. He hoped an agreement will be reached "without there being any major system changes".

European leaders at the Council of Europe summit in Reykjavik had discussed ways to hold Russia to account for the invasion of Ukraine and unveiled a mechanism to track the losses and damage inflicted by Moscow's forces.

But Scholz said it was not clear how exactly Russia could be made to pay for the damage, suggesting there were few legal options to use frozen Russian assets for example.

Asked whether Berlin would yield to Kyiv's wishes for advanced fighter jets, Scholz said Germany's task was to strengthen Ukraine's air defences.

During the summit, Britain had said it was working with the Netherlands to forge an international coalition to help Ukraine obtain F-16 jets from its allies, though Britain, Germany and the U.S. have so far balked at supplying their own planes.

The German defence ministry published a statement on Wednesday saying it had "a positive view of the Dutch-British push to form a fighter jet coalition for Ukraine" but stressed again Germany would not contribute jets from its own stocks.

(Reporting by Andreas Rinke; writing by Matthias Williams; editing by Friederike Heine and Chizu Nomiyama)
By Boldizsar Gyori

BUDAPEST (Reuters) - Hungary will block the next tranche of European Union military support for Ukraine and any new sanctions package against Russia unless Kyiv removes Hungarian bank OTP from its list of war sponsors, its foreign minister said on Wednesday.

"We can't give it a green light as long as OTP remains blacklisted," said Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto. "The same goes for sanctions as well."

Hungary this week held up a proposal to allocate a further 500 million euros ($550.40 million) from an EU-run fund, the European Peace Facility, to military aid for Ukraine.

This would allow EU governments to submit new claims to be reimbursed for weapons and ammunition they have donated to Kyiv.

In justifying the move, Hungary demanded guarantees that other regions, such as the Balkans or North Africa, would also get money from the fund.

But EU diplomats in Brussels said that, behind closed doors, Hungary had made clear the main reason for its blockade was Ukraine's blacklisting of the OTP bank.

EU officials said they were working to resolve the issue, including trying to ascertain whether Kyiv had blacklisted the entire bank or just its Russian branch.

Some diplomats expressed frustration at Hungary's move, arguing the two issues should not be linked and noting that other EU companies were also on Kyiv's blacklist.

"We'll talk to the Ukrainians and we'll talk to the (EU) member states, including Hungary," a senior EU official said on condition of anonymity.

"Our priority is clear - it's to help Ukraine win a war. And to do that, there needs to be military and financial aid. It's an absolute priority for the European Union."

The EU has provided a total of about 3.6 billion euros ($4 billion) for military support for Ukraine so far under the European Peace Facility.

Hungary, which is member of the EU and also NATO, has refused to provide any military equipment to its neighbour Ukraine, and has also repeatedly criticised EU sanctions against Russia, but eventually supported all the agreed measures so far.

($1 = 0.9084 euros)

(Reporting by Boldizsar Gyori and Andrew Gray, Editing by Louise Heavens, Alexander Smith and Richard Chang)
By Maxwell Akalaare Adombila and Christian Akorlie

ACCRA (Reuters) -The International Monetary Fund's executive board on Wednesday approved a $3 billion, three-year loan program for Ghana, allowing for an immediate disbursement of about $600 million and a potential path out of the West African country's worst economic crisis in a generation.

The IMF said in a statement that securing timely debt restructuring agreements with external creditors would be essential to successfully implement the Extended Credit Facility loan aimed at helping Ghana overcome immediate policy and financing challenges.

The Fund also said the new loan would help mobilize additional external financing from development partners and provided a framework for completing its debt restructuring.

"Congratulations to Ghana for a strong program of reforms to revitalize growth and reduce the country's debt burden," IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said in a video posted to Twitter.

Georgieva said the commitment by official bilateral creditors to help make Ghana's debt sustainable signals important progress for the long-stalled G20 common framework for developing country debt relief.

Sources familiar with Ghana's new program cautioned that authorities there faced long negotiations with creditors, pointing to Zambia, where a similar process has been mired in delays.

CHINA PARTICIPATION

Ghana's official sector creditors formed a committee co-chaired by China and France and agreed to debt restructuring talks, the Paris Club of creditors said last week.

This paved the way for a sign-off on the IMF loan, which was agreed at staff level in December.

"The next step is for the Official Creditor Committee... to agree with the authorities the specific modalities of how official creditors intend to deliver debt relief consistent with Fund-program parameters," the IMF said on its website, adding that authorities were also engaging with private creditors to seek relief on their external debt.

Ghana faces a debt overhaul after its already strained finances buckled under economic fallout from COVID-19 and Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

It is negotiating its international debt rework under the Group of 20's Common Framework platform and completed a domestic debt exchange this year.

Some $5.4 billion of debt to official creditors has been earmarked for restructuring, according to government data, as well as $14.6 billion owed to private overseas creditors.

Zambia, the first African country to default in the COVID-19 era, secured an IMF loan in September 2022 and still has not agreed debt restructuring terms with creditors.

Analysts expect Ghana's process to be faster and smoother since China holds a smaller proportion of Ghana's debt. China is Zambia's largest bilateral creditor and has been accused of delaying that country's debt restructuring, which it denies.

(Reporting by Maxwell Akalaare Adombila, Christian Akorlie, Andrea Shalal, David Lawder and Rachel Savage; Writing by Nellie Peyton and Anait Miridzhanian; Editing by David Gregorio, John Stonestreet and Lisa Shumaker)
FILE PHOTO: The logo of Bezeq Israeli Telecommunication Corp Ltd, the country's largest telecom group, is seen outside their headquarters in Tel Aviv, Israel June 21, 2017. REUTERS/Amir CoheN

By Steven Scheer

JERUSALEM (Reuters) -Bezeq Israel Telecom reported flat quarterly profit on Wednesday, and said it expects to reap benefits from an exponential expansion of data created by artificial intelligence (AI) platforms through more lucrative fibre optics growth.

Bezeq, Israel's largest telecoms group, said it earned 321 million shekels ($88.5 million) excluding one-time items in the first quarter, versus 322 million a year earlier, partly hamstrung by a sharp drop in net income at its mobile phone unit Pelephone.

Revenue rose 2.4% to 2.31 billion, its highest quarterly revenue level since 2018, it said, driven by high demand for broadband internet.

Tobi Fischbein, Bezeq's chief financial officer, said demand for ultra-fast internet has intensified in the wake of the COVID pandemic since families need strong bandwidth to work and play at home and that Bezeq was benefiting.

With AI growing rapidly, "it means that all telecom players with fibre and 5G will see an increased demand", he told Reuters, citing a recent Bank of America report. "We will be ready for it."

Bezeq is working with Nokia to provide broadband speeds of up to 25 gigabits per second (Gbps) and said it plans to offer 10 Gbps in 2024, reaching 25 Gbps by 2027. It currently offers a maximum of 2.5 Gbps.

Fibre "is going to be one of the best infrastructure investments that Bezeq has ever made," Fischbein said, adding the cost per home in terms of deployment and installation was relatively low when compared to European telecommunication companies while eventually expecting its network to cover 85% of Israel.

Fischbein also said that he remained comfortable with Bezeq's forecast of 1.2 billion shekels of net profit in 2023.

After a tough decade for telecom operators, particularly in cellular, he said there is now a balance and churn rates are declining.

Shares of Bezeq were up 0.3% to 5 shekels in afternoon Tel Aviv trading, but are nearly 18% lower so far in 2023.

($1 = 3.6280 shekels)

(Reporting by Steven Scheer; Editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise)
Evgenia Kara-Murza, wife of jailed Russian opposition figure Vladimir Kara-Murza, addresses the Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy in Geneva, Switzerland May 17, 2023. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse

By Gabrielle Tetrault-Farber

GENEVA (Reuters) - Evgenia Kara-Murza, wife of jailed Russian opposition figure Vladimir Kara-Murza, said authorities were torturing him psychologically by denying him calls with his children while he serves a 25-year sentence on charges he says are politically motivated.

Speaking to Reuters on the sidelines of the Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy, Evgenia Kara-Murza said her husband's repeated requests to speak to his three children - aged 11, 14 and 17 - were denied given that they now live in the United States.

"Vladimir very much misses his kids, his family, and he's devastated that he has not been able to talk to us in over a year," Evgenia Kara-Murza said on Wednesday. "And the authorities know that. They're just using it as a psychological torture against him."

Russia's Federal Penitentiary Service did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Convicted last month of treason and other offences for publicly condemning Russia's leadership and the war in Ukraine, Vladimir Kara-Murza received the harshest sentence of its kind since the February 2022 invasion.

He was detained in April last year, hours after CNN broadcast an interview in which he said Russia was being run by a "regime of murderers".

State prosecutors accused the 41-year-old of treason, among other offences, and of discrediting the Russian military by spreading "knowingly false information" about its conduct in what Moscow calls its "special military operation" in Ukraine.

Vladimir Kara-Murza, who holds Russian and British passports, was a close associate of Boris Nemtsov, an opposition figure assassinated near the Kremlin in 2015. He continued to speak out against President Vladimir Putin.

"Had I tried to convince him to give up his fight, I would have betrayed him," Evgenia Kara-Murza said.

'PERSONAL ENEMY'

Evgenia Kara-Murza said her husband's successful lobbying of foreign governments and institutions to impose sanctions on Russia and individual Russians for human rights violations had made him a "personal enemy" of the Kremlin.

"Dictatorships all over the world are very much afraid of clear, strong voices that refuse to be intimidated. And Vladimir's voice is one such voice."

Despite not being able to speak to him, his children have grown up being acutely aware of the perils of being an opposition figure in Russia.

They witnessed their father slip into comas after poisonings in 2015 and 2017 that left him with a serious nerve disorder called polyneuropathy. Russian authorities denied any involvement.

"Their father was first poisoned when our oldest was nine," Evgenia Kara-Murza said. "She's now 17. That's half of her life she spent knowing that her father was being targeted again and again and again."

(Reporting by Gabrielle Tetrault-Farber; Editing by Alex Richardson)
BANGKOK (Reuters) -Thailand's two main opposition parties, which won big in Sunday's election and trounced parties backed by the powerful military, are seeking to put together a ruling coalition that has enough votes to install a pro-democracy prime minister.

They face a battle that could take weeks or months and ultimately their success is not guaranteed - and that is assuming that they can stick together.

A vote in parliament - combining the votes of the 500-seat elected House of Representatives and the 250-seat Senate that was appointed by the military - is expected by August. To elect a prime minister, any coalition would need 376 votes.

Here are some of the likely coalition scenarios that could emerge in the coming weeks.

PRO-DEMOCRACY GOVERNMENT LED BY MOVE FORWARD

The progressive Move Forward party has the most seats in the House of Representatives with 152 and its main ally Pheu Thai Party has 141 seats.

Together with several other smaller parties in what they call the pro-democracy front, they say they have 310 votes in the 500-seat lower house.

To get to the required 376 votes, Move Forward would have to attract more allies or persuade senators to support what they say is the clear will of the people.

That is still possible, but some analysts say Move Forward's progressive platform and its campaign call to amend a law punishing criticism of Thailand's king by up to 15 years in prison make the party an anathema to potential partners.

PHEU THAI-LED GRAND COALITION, WITHOUT MOVE FORWARD

Pheu Thai is publicly making strong calls for a government led by Move Forward. One of its top leaders said this week it isn't considering any other coalition arrangements.

Still, analysts say that Pheu Thai - which has been very careful in its messaging about the monarchy, one of Thailand's culturally sacrosanct institutions - does have options that don't include Move Forward.

With its 141 seats, Pheu Thai could join with the third-place party Bhumjaithai (70 seats) as well as current ruling party Palang Pracharat (40 seats) and several other smaller parties.

That might seem odd, since Palang Pracharat's leader General Prawit Wongsuwon was part of the military junta led by army chief Prayuth Chan-ocha who seized power in 2014.

But Prawit and Prayuth parted ways before the election and Prayuth's own offshoot party fared poorly.

If Pheu Thai were able to make a deal with Prawit, the Senate's 250 votes would likely come with the general's bloc, making perhaps the most stable government.

But any such deal would likely be conditional on cutting out the top vote-getter, Move Forward, and that would be risky for Pheu Thai politically.

MILITARY-BACKED MINORITY GOVERNMENT

Starting with the 250 votes of the Senate, the election-losing opponents of Move Forward and Pheu Thai could technically have the votes to elect their own choice of prime minister.

But such an option would effectively thwart the will of the people and runs the highest risk of political unrest. It would likely bring Move Forward's largely youthful supporters onto streets, a potential repeat of 2020 when tens of thousands of student protesters paralysed the capital for months.

Neither Move Forward itself nor Pheu Thai were involved in the 2020 protests, but if both parties were excluded from government, they would likely join forces in mass street demonstrations.

It also would create a legislative mess because Move Forward and Pheu Thai have a clear majority in the lower house - meaning they could block legislation and also remove any pro-military prime minister in a vote of no confidence.

DEADLOCK WITH NO GOVERNMENT FORMED FOR MONTHS

There is no constitutional deadline for formation of a government, so if no compromise is reached, Thailand could be looking at months without a working government.

(Writing by Kay Johnson; Editing by Kim Coghill)
European Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Oliver Varhelyi walks as he attends a dinner at the Ice Hotel in Jukkasjarvi, Sweden, January 12, 2023. TT News Agency/Jonas Ekstromer/via REUTERS/File Photo

SARAJEVO (Reuters) - The head of the European Union body responsible for enlargement warned aspiring member Bosnia-Herzegovina on Wednesday that EU allies do not visit Russia, referring to an announced visit to Moscow by Bosnian Serb nationalist leader Milorad Dodik.

The country, which applied to join the EU in 2016, was granted candidate status last December following concern the war in Ukraine may destabilise the Balkan region.

"We need Bosnia-Herzegovina to be our ally," EU Enlargement Commissioner Oliver Varhelyi told a news conference in Sarajevo, referring to the need for a common front after Russia's invasion of Ukraine last February.

"Our allies don't go to Russia, that is my message," Varhelyi said in response to a reporter's question on Dodik's visit. "Who wants to be our ally, does not go to Russia."

Varhelyi, who attended a high-level political forum in Sarajevo outlining steps that Bosnia should take to join the EU, praised the progress made in "record time" to form a government and draw up budgets following general elections last October.

He also said that he was encouraged to see a commitment by stake-holders to deliver on reforms agreed when it was granted candidate status and its "very clear commitment as a European ally".

But ethnically divided Bosnia does not have a unified view on foreign policy, with Dodik maintaining close relations with Russia and President Vladimir Putin, even after its invasion of Ukraine.

Following a devastating war in the 1990s, Bosnia was split into two autonomous regions - the Federation shared by Bosniaks and Croats and the Serb-dominated Serb Republic - linked via a weak central government.

Dodik, who is the Serb Republic President, has said he would visit Moscow next week to discuss economic cooperation with Putin and what he said was Western pressure on the region to follow their policies on Russia. He would also present Putin with a medal he had awarded the Russian leader in absentia.

(Reporting by Daria Sito-Sucic; Editing by Sharon Singleton)
FILE PHOTO: Pfizer logo is seen in this illustration taken, May 1, 2022. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration

(Reuters) -Pfizer Inc is planning to raise $31 billion through its largest debt offering to finance its proposed acquisition of Seagen Inc, the drugmaker said late on Tuesday.

The company struck a $43 billion deal in March to acquire Seagen and its targeted cancer therapies as it prepares for a steep fall in COVID-19 sales and generic competition for some top-selling drugs.

Rival Abbvie Inc had in 2019 made a $30 billion debt offering, which was used to finance its $63 billion buyout of Botox maker Allergan. The amount is more than double that of Pfizer's 2009 debt raise of $13.5 billion.

Pfizer has been pumping billions of dollars into research and acquisitions to mitigate an anticipated $17-billion hit to revenue by 2030 from patent expirations for top drugs and a decline in demand for COVID products.

The debt offering, which would be in eight tranches, is expected to close on May 19. Yield to maturity on Pfizer's 10-year bonds would be 125 basis points higher than the benchmark risk-free U.S. 10-year Treasury.

BofA Securities, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs and J.P. Morgan are the joint lead managers and joint book-running managers for the offering.

(Reporting by Kanjyik Ghosh and Bhanvi Satija in Bengaluru; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)
Ecuador's President Guillermo Lasso addresses the nation next to Secretary General of Government Sebastian Corral and Interior Minister Henry Cucalon, after he dissolved the National Assembly by decree, bringing forward legislative and presidential electi

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) -Ecuadorean President Guillermo Lasso has dissolved the National Assembly, bringing forward legislative and presidential elections, a day after he presented his defense in an impeachment process against him.

Lasso will now remain in office and rule by decree, while national electoral authorities set the date over the next week for elections.

Below is reaction to the dissolution of congress:

MEXICAN PRESIDENT ANDRES MANUEL LOPEZ OBRADOR

"I do not believe that there will be instability and also I do not want it. Hopefully, the Ecuadorean brothers can resolve this ... with this procedure if new elections are to be called," Lopez Obrador said, sounding optimistic that fresh elections would provide a resolution.

EVO MORALES, FORMER PRESIDENT OF BOLIVIA

"To avoid prosecution for corruption, Lasso has dissolved the Ecuadorean Congress with the excuse of "internal commotion." 5 months ago he accused (former Peruvian President) Pedro Castillo of being a coup leader for doing the same," Morales tweeted.

"Double standards of the right," he added.

PERU'S FOREIGN MINISTRY

"Peru reiterates its support for the democratic process in the sister Republic of Ecuador," Peru's foreign ministry said in a statement.

"(The government) hopes that the general elections, resulting from the decision taken by President Guillermo Lasso under his constitutional powers, allow the Ecuadorian people to ensure the maintenance of political governance and social peace."

CHILE'S GOVERNMENT

"Chile trusts that the political crisis affecting the sister country of the Republic of Ecuador will be resolved through the democratic and institutional mechanisms (available) in its constitution, with strict adherence to and respect for the rule of law," the Chilean government said in a statement.

"Likewise, the Government of Chile appeals for mutual understanding and dialogue as ways to overcome this complex moment."

U.S. AMBASSADOR TO ECUADOR

"The government of the United States respects the internal and constitutional processes of Ecuador. We will continue working with the constitutional government, civil society, the private sector, and the Ecuadorean people," the U.S ambassador Michael J Fitzpatrick said in a statement.

(Compiled by Isabel Woodford; Editing by Alistair Bell and Himani Sarkar)
FILE PHOTO: The Tesla logo is seen on a car in Los Angeles, California, U.S., July 9, 2020. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson/

By Aditya Kalra and Aditi Shah

NEW DELHI (Reuters) -Tesla Inc has proposed setting up a factory in India to build electric cars for domestic sale and export, the carmaker told government officials on Wednesday, according to a source with direct knowledge of the matter.

The proposal comes after India refused to agree to Tesla's request last year to lower the import tax on cars, which can reach as much as 100%. India wanted the carmaker to build vehicles locally but Tesla wanted to test the market first with imports and the talks ended in deadlock.

While Tesla did not discuss lower import taxes with Indian officials, it proposed setting up a new factory, albeit without specifying a location or investment, said the source, who declined to be named as the talks were private.

Making cars locally aligns with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's pitch to attract companies with his "Make in India" campaign, especially as companies look to diversify their supply chains beyond China.

Senior Tesla executives are in India this week to meet the government to discuss local sourcing of parts and other issues, Reuters reported on Tuesday.

Tesla met officials from Modi's office and other ministries on Wednesday, said the person and another source familiar with the matter.

Tesla did not respond to Reuters' request for comment.

The electric carmaker's renewed interest in India comes nearly a year after it put on hold plans to sell cars in the country after failing to secure lower import taxes, which its CEO Elon Musk said are among the highest in the world.

Tesla had hired a local team and began a search for showroom space, but that was also abandoned last year.

The meeting comes weeks ahead of Modi's visit to the United States in June.

(Additional reporting by Varun Vyas in Bengaluru; Editing by Rashmi Aich and Louise Heavens)
KYODO NEWS - May 17, 2023 - 19:21 | All, Japan

Four major motorcycle makers in Japan said Wednesday they will jointly develop hydrogen-powered engines, with an eye to launching them on two-wheelers and other means of transportation in the future.

Honda Motor Co., Kawasaki Motors Ltd., Suzuki Motor Corp. and Yamaha Motor Co. said they will set up next month an organization dedicated to such research and development, in line with Japan's policy to promote hydrogen as a next-generation energy source that produces only water as an emission when used as fuel.

The move comes amid tightening regulations on gasoline-powered vehicles and a growing shift to electric vehicles worldwide.

Japanese motorcycle makers, which have traditionally been competitive in the area of internal combustion engines, are trying to promote hydrogen as an alternative option as they utilize existing engines, unlike all-electric models.

"Hydrogen is a type of next-generation clean energy that has a huge potential," Yamaha President Yoshihiro Hidaka said at a press conference.

Toyota Motor Corp., which has been developing hydrogen engine cars, and Kawasaki Heavy Industries Ltd., equipped with the know-how in transporting liquid hydrogen, will also join the organization as special members.

The organization, called the Hydrogen Small mobility & Engine technology Association, will invite makers in the United States and Europe to join it in promoting hydrogen-powered vehicles worldwide.

The organization is also considering installing such engines on minivehicles, small boats and drones.

The four companies said there are no hydrogen engine motorcycles worldwide due to the technical difficulty of building such vehicles, as hydrogen is more inflammable than gasoline and two-wheelers have limited room for engines and fuel tanks.

The association will collaborate in the basic research for hydrogen-powered engines, while the decision to develop products for commercial use will be up to each company.

Although there has been a rapid shift toward electric models, Hidaka said it is important to have a broad range of green vehicles to better reduce carbon emissions.
FILE PHOTO: Supporters of Move Forward Party leader and prime ministerial candidate Pita Limjaroenrat cheer as they celebrate the party's election results in Bangkok, Thailand, May 15, 2023. REUTERS/Athit Perawongmetha

BANGKOK (Reuters) -Thailand's opposition parties, which defeated their military-allied rivals in this week's election, met for coalition talks on Wednesday as the liberal Move Forward Party, which won the most votes, looked to form a government.

Move Forward leader Pita Limjaroenrat was seen greeting senior officials from five other parties at a Bangkok restaurant before ushering them upstairs for closed-door talks.

Sunday's vote saw Move Forward come in first ahead of another opposition party, the political heavyweight Pheu Thai, in a major blow to the establishment's pro-military parties led by Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha.

Pita earlier this week said that together with five other opposition parties, his coalition will be able control about 310 seats in the 500-member House of Representatives.

The parties Pita has approached are Pheu Thai, Thai Sang Thai, Prachachart, Seri Ruam Thai and Fair parties.

Pheu Thai, which won the last five general elections but got pushed out of power each time, secured 141 seats, according to the latest projections, only 10 fewer than Move Forward.

However, a military-drafted constitution requires more than half of votes in a joint sitting of a bicameral legislature for him to become prime minister. He would need votes either from government parties or an unelected 250-member Senate who have a record of supporting Prayuth and conservative forces.

Analysts expect weeks to months of talks and deal-making as parties jostle to form a government.

On Wednesday, some Thais questioned the senate's role in electing a prime minister, asking 'why do we need a senate' on social media like Twitter.

Senior officials from Pheu Thai have urged other hold outs to support a Pita premiership.

But late on Wednesday, one key voting bloc - the third-place finisher in the election, Bhumjaithai Party with a projected 70 seats in the House - said it would not support any prime minister who supports amending or abolishing a law against insulting Thailand's King Maha Vajiralongkorn.

That effectively rules out Bhumjaithai, led by current health minister Anutin Charnvirakul, from joining any Move Forward-led coalition because the first-place party campaigned on amending - though not abolishing - the law to prevent it from being misused for political purposes.

(Reporting by Chayut Setboonsarng; Editing by Kanupriya Kapoor and Christina Fincher)
FILE PHOTO: Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes arrives at the federal courthouse accompanied by her partner Billy Evans, to ask a U.S. judge at a hearing to pause her prison sentence of more than 11 years while she urges an appeals court to review her conv

By Jody Godoy

(Reuters) - Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes will begin serving her prison sentence on May 30 for defrauding investors in the failed blood-testing startup once valued at $9 billion.

U.S. District Judge Edward Davila set the date on Wednesday for Holmes, 39, to begin serving 11 years and three months in prison.

Holmes rose to fame after claiming Theranos' small machines could run an array of diagnostic tests with just a few drops of blood. She was convicted of fraud at trial in San Jose, California, last year.

She had asked the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to pause her sentence on April 25, two days before she was originally to report to prison. The court denied that request on Tuesday.

Davila, who oversaw Holmes' trial and sentencing, had previously rejected her argument that the appeal is likely to result in a new trial, the threshold for her to remain free on bail.

Prosecutors said during the trial that Holmes misrepresented Theranos' technology and finances. Holmes testified in her own defense, saying she believed her statements were accurate at the time.

On appeal, Holmes is challenging several of the judge's rulings, including his allowance of evidence about Theranos' test accuracy that postdated her statements to investors.

Holmes' co-defendant, former Theranos President Ramesh "Sunny" Balwani, was convicted of defrauding Theranos investors and patients at a separate trial and sentenced to 12 years and 11 months in prison.

Balwani began serving his sentence on April 20, after Davila and the 9th Circuit rejected his requests to remain free on bail during his appeal.

Forbes dubbed Holmes the world's youngest female self-made billionaire in 2014, when she was 30 and her stake in Theranos was worth $4.5 billion. Theranos collapsed after a series of Wall Street Journal articles in 2015 questioned its technology.

(Reporting by Jody Godoy in California and Akanksha Khushi; Editing by Richard Chang and Bill Berkrot)
FILE PHOTO: Liquified petroleum gas vessel Zita Schulte is seen docked at the port of Corpus Christi, Texas, U.S., May 15, 2023. REUTERS/Arathy Somasekhar

By Arathy Somasekhar

HOUSTON (Reuters) - Officials at the Port of Corpus Christi, the largest U.S. oil-export port by volume, on Wednesday said they intend to appoint an interim chief soon and to begin a search for a new CEO.

The move comes a day after Sean Strawbridge, the port's CEO since 2018, resigned at a commission meeting where he was questioned about his business expenses.

"All of my expenses to my knowledge are compliant with port policy and state statutes, and have all cleared the internal review process and approval process," Strawbridge said in a Reuters interview.

His resignation has been "in the works for a while," said Strawbridge, who called it "purely a personal decision."

Port commissioners did not reply to requests for comment.

Strawbridge, whose resignation is effective June 2, grew the port's operating revenue by 76.5% to $162.3 million between 2017 and 2022, while operating expenses climbed 29%, according to official summaries.

During his tenure, the port launched a project to deepen and widen the ship channel to the port, expanded its role in liquefied natural gas exports, and this year applied to become a hydrogen hub under a Department of Energy grant program.

"I am leaving the institution in a much better condition than when I arrived," Strawbridge said.

The Port of Corpus Christi Commission approved a separation agreement and severance package, officials said in Wednesday's statement. Strawbridge declined to discuss terms of his separation agreement.

"I have spent a fair amount of my career in the private equity world," Strawbridge said, adding he expects to seek work as an advisor to infrastructure funds.

(Reporting by Arathy Somasekhar in Houston; Editing by Marguerita Choy)
FILE PHOTO: U.S. Navy SEAL Special Operations Chief Edward Gallagher's defense attorney Tim Parlatore speaks to the media after opening arguments in the soldier's court-martial trial at Naval Base San Diego in San Diego, California , U.S., June 18, 2019.

By Jacqueline Thomsen

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Tim Parlatore, an attorney who has represented Donald Trump in a pair of U.S. Justice Department investigations led by Special Counsel Jack Smith, said on Wednesday he has left the Republican former president's legal team.

Parlatore has represented Trump in Smith's investigations into efforts by the former president and his allies to overturn the results of the 2020 election he lost to Democrat Joe Biden and into Trump's retention of classified documents after he left office in 2021.

In a statement, Parlatore did not give a reason for his departure but said he believes "very strongly in the merits of the case, and the DOJ (Department of Justice) is acting improperly."

A spokesperson for Trump did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Trump, who is facing a series of legal worries including criminal charges brought last month in New York involving hush money paid to a porn star, is the current front-runner for 2024 Republican presidential nomination. Biden is seeking re-election next year.

Parlatore organized searches of Trump properties for any remaining classified documents after FBI agents found thousands of government records during a search last August at the former president's Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. Parlatore in December testified before a federal grand jury in Washington on the search efforts he organized.

Parlatore last month was among Trump's lawyers who called for the U.S. intelligence community, not the Justice Department, to investigate the retention of the documents.

According to U.S. media reports, fellow Trump attorney Evan Corcoran has recused himself from the classified documents investigation.

CNN first reported Parlatore's exit.

(Reporting by Jacqueline Thomsen in Washington; Editing by Will Dunham)
By Tarek Amara

TUNIS (Reuters) - Tunisian police arrested two students over a satirical song criticizing the police, their lawyer said on Wednesday, reinforceing fears of an erosion of freedom of speech after President Kais Saied seized most powers two years ago.

Youssef Chelbi and Dhia Nsir had posted a clip on Tik Tok and Facebook this week showing them laughing and singing a sarcastic song criticizing the police's treatment of detainees and a drugs law.

Lawyer Imen Souissi said they are facing charges of insulting others through social networks and they could face up to a year in prison if the court finds them guilty. Police and the interior ministry were not immediately available for comment. 

The arrest of the two men drew concern from activists and bloggers, who republished the song to show solidarity with them. Activists said that freedoms has become besieged and that Tunisia has become a large prison.

Freedom of speech and media was a key gain for Tunisians after the 2011 revolution that ended the rule of former President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali and triggered the Arab Spring protests.

Saied, who shut down parliament in 2021, and seized all powers, pledged to protect rights and freedoms and said he would not be a dictator.

But his opponents, who described his moves as a coup, said that he had established one-man rule, imprisoned his opponents, and suppressed critical voices.

On Tuesday, an appeals court sentenced a radio journalist to five years in prison for disclosing information about the security services.

The main journalists union criticized the ruling and said that it is the most severe sentence against a journalist in Tunisia history and did not happen even during the most dictatorial periods in Tunisia. The verdict was a message to silence journalists, it said.

This year, police have arrested several prominent opposition leaders on charges of plotting against state security, a move the opposition described as consolidating a dictatorial regime.

Saeid rejected the criticism, saying that they are criminals and terrorists. A judge on Monday sentenced opposition leader Rached Ghannouchi to a year in prison on charges of incitement.

(Reporting by Tarek Amara; Editing by Angus MacSwan)
ANKARA (Reuters) -Turkey summoned the German ambassador in Ankara on Wednesday to express condemnation over the detention in Germany of two journalists from a pro-government Turkish newspaper, the Foreign Ministry said, in the latest case of tensions between the two NATO allies.

The public prosecutor's office in Darmstadt said police had searched the private apartments of two journalists aged 46 and 51 in the western town of Moerfelden-Walldorf on suspicion of dangerous dissemination of personal data.

Investigators confiscated electronic storage media and other devices, the office said, adding that police had detained the two men but later released them.

"The German ambassador in Turkey was called to the Turkish Foreign Ministry today for an interview," a source at Germany's foreign minister told Reuters.

Germany is home to the world's largest Turkish diaspora community, but relations between Berlin and Ankara have suffered in recent years over many issues including Germany's handling of the followers of U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, blamed by Ankara for a 2016 failed coup and labelled a terrorist organisation in Turkey.

Germany's refusal to extradite military officers whom Turkey accuses of participating in the coup attempt, after they claimed asylum, has enraged Ankara.

The Turkish state-owned Anadolu news agency reported that German police had raided the Frankfurt office of the Turkish daily Sabah before detaining the journalists.

The Turkish Foreign Ministry said the journalists had been detained because of their reporting on the Gulen network after a complaint by one of its members.

Germany interior ministry was not immediately available to comment on the case.

(Reporting by Huseyin Hayatsever in Ankara and Riham Alkousaa in Berlin; Editing by Daren Butler, Friederike Heine and Christina Fincher)
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - A Canadian tourist was killed in the Mexican state of Oaxaca this week, local authorities said on Tuesday, a day after another tourist was killed in an attack in the popular holiday region.

Oaxacan authorities said a male Canadian was killed in Puerto Escondido, a relaxed beach town popular with surfers, adding that they were investigating his death. They gave no indication of the motivation for the attack.

Argentine tourist Benjamin Gamond, who was attacked with a machete on May 12 in the nearby coastal area of Chacahua and died on Monday after being transported to a Mexico City hospital, prosecutors from the state said in a statement.

Prosecutors said Gamond's attacker, accused of assaulting two other Argentine tourists who survived, is being held on suspicion of homicide.

A relative of Gamond who posted on social media suggested that he had died "a hero" during a struggle.

Oaxaca and its beaches have lower crime rates than most states in Mexico.

This year, two American citizens died after a group of four were kidnapped in northern Mexico.

(Reporting by Lizbeth Diaz; Additional reporting by Isabel Woodford. Editing by Gerry Doyle)
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken meets with Palau's President Surangel Whipps Jr., Micronesia's President David Panuelo and Marshall Islands' President David Kabua at the State Department in Washington, U.S., September 29, 2022. REUTERS/Sarah Silbig

By Kirsty Needham and David Brunnstrom

SYDNEY/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States and Palau agreed on Wednesday to renew a key strategic pact, part of U.S. efforts to shore up support among Pacific island states to counter competition from China, even as President Joe Biden called off a historic stop in the region.

The two sides initialed a new Compact of Free Association agreement (COFA) in Palau after the United States reached a similar agreement with Micronesia on Monday.

"It's a historic day!!" the office of Palau President Surangel Whipps Jr posted on its Facebook page. "God bless Palau! God bless the United States of America! God bless us all!"

U.S. presidential envoy Joseph Yun told a ceremony the pact with Palau would be formally signed next week in Papua New Guinea. He told Reuters this week a renewed COFA with Micronesia would also be signed on Monday in Port Moresby.

Biden was due to attend that ceremony, but on Tuesday he called off what was to have been a brief stopover in Papua New Guinea due to the U.S. debt ceiling crisis.

Analysts said calling off the stop was a blow to U.S. credibility in the Pacific island region, which has long felt neglected by Washington.

Yun told Reuters on Monday he expected to be in the Marshall Islands from Thursday until Sunday, but was "doubtful" its COFA agreement could be finalized at the moment.

Washington first reached COFA accords with the three island states in the 1980s, under which it retains responsibility for their defense and provides economic assistance while gaining exclusive access to huge strategic swathes of the Pacific in return.

Renewing them has become a key part of U.S. efforts to push back against China's bid to expand its influence in the Pacific. Chinese diplomats have been courting the region and China's construction and mining companies have expanded their business in many of the island nations.

The Marshall Islands COFA is due to expire this year. Yun give no reason for the hold-up in renewing that, but a parliamentary election is expected there in November.

He said last month "topline" agreements would provide the three COFA states with a total of about $6.5 billion over 20 years.

Last year, more than 100 arms-control, environmental and other activist groups urged the Biden administration to formally apologize to the Marshall Islands for the impact of massive U.S. nuclear testing there and to provide fair compensation.

Marshall Islanders are still plagued by health and environmental effects of the 67 U.S. nuclear bomb tests from 1946 to 1958, which included "Castle Bravo" at Bikini Atoll in 1954 - the largest U.S. bomb ever detonated.

(Reporting by David Brunnstrom in Washington and Kirsty Needham in Sydney; Editing by Don Durfee and Alex Richardson)
FILE PHOTO: Adam Goldstein (R) and Brett Adcock, co-founders and co-CEOs of flying taxi company Archer Aviation, pose for a picture as they rehearse for the unveiling of their all-electric aircraft from a facility in Hawthorne, California, U.S. June 8, 20

By David Shepardson

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The Biden administration said Tuesday it has formed an interagency team to develop a national strategy relating to advanced air mobility efforts such as flying taxis.

Electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft (eVTOL) have been touted as the future of urban air mobility. Low-altitude urban air mobility aircraft has drawn intense global interest, with numerous eVTOL companies going public.

The U.S. Transportation Department said the team includes NASA, Transportation Security Administration, Federal Aviation Administration and Federal Communications Commission.

The FAA earlier this month issued an "updated blueprint" for airspace and other changes to accommodate future air taxis. Last year, it issued a proposal to update its air carrier definition to add "powered-lift" operations to regulations covering other commercial operations like airlines, charters and air tours.

The FAA said that under the blueprint, air taxi operations will begin at a low rate, similar to helicopters, and using existing routes and infrastructure such as helipads and vertiports.

The FAA is separately developing a powered-lift operations rule for certifying pilots and operating requirements to fly eVTOLs. The agency expects to publish the proposal this summer.

Acting FAA Administrator Billy Nolen has said the agency does not expect the first eVTOL to begin commercial operations until late 2024 or early 2025.

Airlines and other companies are looking at developing transport services using battery-powered aircraft that can take off and land vertically to ferry travelers to airports or for short city trips, allowing them to beat traffic.

Last year, the FAA issued the airworthiness criteria that air taxi startup Joby Aviation will need to meet for its Model JAS4-1 eVTOL aircraft and Archer Aviation for its air taxi to be certified for use.

Delta Air Lines invested $60 million in Joby in a partnership that aims to offer passengers air taxi transport to and from airports in New York and Los Angeles within a few years.

(Reporting by David ShepardsonEditing by Bernadette Baum)
FILE PHOTO: Sen. Edward Markey (D-Mass.) speaks during a confirmation hearing of former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power, who is President Joe Biden's choice to lead the U.S. Agency for International Development, before the Senate Fore

By David Shepardson

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -A group of bipartisan U.S. lawmakers introduced legislation Wednesday to bar automakers from eliminating AM broadcast radio in their new vehicles, citing safety concerns.

Democratic Senator Edward Markey, one of the sponsors of the bill, said at least eight automakers have removed AM broadcast radio from their electric vehicles, including Tesla BMW, Ford and Volkswagen.

The bill would direct the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to issue regulations to mandate AM radio in new vehicles without additional charge. "Carmakers shouldnt tune out AM radio in new vehicles or put it behind a costly digital paywall," Markey said.

Lawmakers say losing AM radio undermines a federal system for delivering key public safety information to the public.

The Alliance for Automotive Innovation, a trade group representing major automakers, said "mandating AM radios in all vehicles is unnecessary. Congress has never mandated radio features in vehicles ever before. Automakers remain 100 percent committed to ensuring drivers have access to public alerts and safety warnings."

They pointed to the Integrated Public Alerts and Warning System (IPAWS) system that can distribute warnings across AM, FM , internet-based or satellite radio and over cellular networks. "This is simply a bill to prop up and give preference to a particular technology thats now competing with other communications options and adapting to changing listenership," the automaker group added.

Sponsors include Senators Ted Cruz, Tammy Baldwin, Deb Fischer, Ben Ray Lujan and J.D. Vance and Representative Josh Gottheimer.

"If Elon Musk has enough money to buy Twitter and send rockets to space, he can afford to include AM radio in his Teslas. Instead, Elon Musk and Tesla and other car manufacturers are putting public safety and emergency response at risk," Gottheimer said. Tesla did not immediately comment.

Federal Communications Commission chair Jessica Rosenworcel praised the bill, saying "There is a clear public safety imperative here. Having AM radio available in our cars means we always have access to emergency alerts and key warnings while we are out on the road."

(Reporting by David Shepardson)
KYODO NEWS - May 17, 2023 - 16:21 | All, World, G7

U.S. President Joe Biden will urge the importance of nuclear disarmament at the Group of Seven summit beginning Friday in Hiroshima, according to White House national security spokesman John Kirby.

In an online interview with Kyodo News on Tuesday, Kirby said that Biden has a "long-standing concern about the ramifications of the potential for nuclear war in the future" and aims to reaffirm his stance after arriving in Japan on Thursday.

Biden has maintained the vision of former U.S. President Barack Obama, under whom he served as vice president, of a world without nuclear weapons.

Kirby said Biden plans to visit the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park, which commemorates the dropping of an atomic bomb on the western Japan city in 1945 by the United States, to "reverently and solemnly" pay his respects to the lives lost in the attack.

Biden is also set to meet with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Thursday to look for ways to "improve our interoperability and cooperation across all military domains," including air, sea, land and cyberspace, according to Kirby.

When he meets with Kishida and South Korean counterpart Yoon Suk Yeol on the sidelines of the three-day summit, Biden will stress the importance of denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula amid repeated threats and intercontinental ballistic missile tests by North Korea, Kirby said.

Biden will also work together with Kishida and Yoon to ensure the three countries have the "right capabilities in place to protect ourselves," said the National Security Council coordinator for strategic communications.

Yoon will attend the G-7 summit, which will bring together the leaders of Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States plus the European Union, as a guest.

Biden's trip will focus "more on the future," with the G-7 leaders set to discuss topics including economy, energy security and ways to support Ukraine in its war with Russia, Kirby said.

Related coverage:

Biden cancels stops in Papua New Guinea, Australia after Japan: U.S.

Biden to meet Japan PM Kishida on May 18 in Hiroshima: White House

Australia PM says Quad leaders hope to meet in Hiroshima
U.S. President Joe Biden gestures, as he boards Air Force One for travel to the G7 Summit in Japan from Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, U.S. May 17, 2023. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

By Daniel Wiessner

(Reuters) - A group of Republican-led U.S. states has asked a federal judge in Texas to strike down a Biden administration rule allowing socially conscious investing by retirement plans, saying it will imperil Americans' retirement savings.

Lawyers for the 25 states led by Utah and Texas said in a filing in Amarillo, Texas, federal court late Tuesday that the U.S. Department of Labor failed to justify its departure from a Trump-era rule that limited investing based on environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) factors.

The rule, which took effect Jan. 30, sets guidelines for ESG investing including requiring that socially conscious investments are still financially sound.

The states sued in January and in February had asked the judge to temporarily block the rule pending the outcome of the case. The judge has not yet ruled on that bid, and in Tuesday's filing, the states asked the judge to rule on the merits of their lawsuit.

The U.S. Department of Justice, which is defending the rule, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Labor Department has said the Trump-era rule, which was criticized by business groups and the financial industry, failed to account for the positive impact that ESG investing can have on long-term returns. Business groups said the Trump administration rule was unnecessary and confusing for investment managers.

The new rule covers plans that collectively invest $12 trillion on behalf of 150 million Americans.

Congress voted in March to repeal the rule but Democratic President Joe Biden rejected the proposal in the first veto of his presidency.

The case has been assigned to U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk, a conservative appointee of former Republican President Donald Trump whose courthouse has become a favored destination for Republicans challenging various aspects of the Biden administration's agenda.

Kacsmaryk in March refused to transfer the challenge to the ESG investing rule to another court. He rejected the Biden administration's claim that the states were improperly "judge shopping" by filing the lawsuit in Amarillo, where Kacsmaryk is the only judge.

(Reporting by Daniel Wiessner in Albany, New York, Editing by Alexia Garamfalvi and Aurora Ellis)
By Tomasz Janowski, Oliver Hirt and Selena Li

ZURICH (Reuters) -UBS has flagged tens of billions of dollars of potential costs - and benefits - from its takeover of Credit Suisse, underscoring the high stakes involved as it prepares to complete the rescue of its struggling Swiss rival.

In a regulatory presentation, UBS estimated a negative impact of $13 billion from fair value adjustments of the combined group's financial assets and liabilities, and a further $4 billion in potential litigation and regulatory costs stemming from outflows.

It also listed other factors, including a switch in accounting standards, that would bring the total hit to $28.3 billion.

However, that would be offset by $17.1 billion from a write-down of Credit Suisse's AT1 bonds and other factors.

Furthermore, UBS estimated it would book a one-off gain stemming from the so-called negative goodwill of $34.8 billion by buying Credit Suisse for a fraction of its book value.

The financial cushion will help absorb potential losses and could result in a boost to the lender's second-quarter profit if UBS closes the transaction next month as planned.

While the financial implications of the deal were widely anticipated - UBS shares were broadly steady on Wednesday - the scale of the adjustments are yet another sign of Credit Suisse's frailty and the challenges UBS faces in integrating the lender.

In providing the first snapshot of what the combined group will look like, UBS said the estimates were preliminary and the numbers could change materially. It also said it might book restructuring provisions after that, but offered no numbers.

Charges to restructure the bank are likely to be booked after the transaction closes, Vontobel analyst Andreas Venditti said in a note. Savings will come principally from cutting staff, UBS has said in recent weeks.

Meanwhile, UBS has implemented a number of restrictions on Credit Suisse while the takeover is underway, including limits on how much it can lend, how much it can spend and the size of certain contracts it can enter into.

"Credit Suisse obviously found itself in a problem because of lapses in its risk controls and I think just setting these parameters on the ability or standards to lend out is not very unreasonable," said Benjamin Quinlan, Hong Kong-based chief executive of financial consultancy firm Quinlan & Associates.

"Ultimately, from UBS' perspective, they will have to wear these risks on their books."

The restrictions "will cause certain clients to leave Credit Suisse" but may not accelerate the pace of outflows already seen, said Quinlan, following UBS's statement last week that Credit Suisse had already stemmed asset outflows.

RUSHED INTO RESCUE

UBS said it was rushed into the deal and had less than four days to complete due diligence given the emergency circumstances as Credit Suisse's financial health rapidly worsened after it had already endured a difficult year.

Under the rescue deal engineered by Swiss authorities over one March weekend amid global banking turmoil, UBS agreed to buy Credit Suisse for 3 billion Swiss francs ($3.4 billion) in stock and to assume up to 5 billion francs in losses that would stem from winding down part of the business.

The first rescue of a global bank since the 2008 financial crisis, which is backed by up to 250 billion Swiss francs in public funds, will create a wealth manager with more than $5 trillion in invested assets and over 120,000 employees globally.

UBS signaled the difficulties at the 167-year-old Credit Suisse will persist, and expects its one-time rival to report substantial pretax losses in the second quarter and the whole of this year.

Following the legal closing of the transaction, UBS Group AG plans to manage two separate parent companies  UBS AG and Credit Suisse AG, UBS said last week. It has said the integration process could take three to four years.

During that time, each institution will continue to have its own subsidiaries and branches, serve its clients and deal with counterparties.

UBS shares are little changed since the deal was announced.

(Reporting by John Revill, Oliver Hirt, Noele Illien, Nupur Anand, Manya Saini and Selena Li; Writing by Tomasz Janowski and Scott Murdoch; Editing by Elisa Martinuzzi, Lisa Shumaker, Himani Sarkar and Mark Potter)
FILE PHOTO: Ukrainian servicemen ride atop of a tank on a road to the frontline town of Bakhmut, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Donetsk region, Ukraine May 12, 2023. REUTERS/Sofiia Gatilova

By Pavel Polityuk and Olena Harmash

KYIV (Reuters) - Ukraine's military said it had made new advances on Wednesday in heavy fighting near the eastern city of Bakhmut, and that Russia was continuing to send in new units including paratroopers.

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy mentioned sustained Russian shelling in several regions, saying in a video address that these attacks showed the need to place further international pressure on Moscow.

The remarks on Bakhmut by military spokesman Serhiy Cherevatyi were the latest by Kyiv in the past week to indicate Russian forces have been pushed back in some areas.

"We are successfully conducting a defensive operation, counterattacking and during this day our units have penetrated up to 500 metres in some parts," he told Ukrainian television.

He said he saw no sign Russian forces were short of ammunition, contradicting statements by Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of the Wagner mercenary group spearheading the Bakhmut assault.

"The enemy is seeking to take over the city at will, striking with all systems and calibres," Cherevatyi said. "They are moving new units there (to Bakhmut), primarily paratroopers, in an attempt to achieve some kind of intermediate success."

Moscow sees Bakhmut, a city of about 70,000 before Russia's invasion, as a stepping stone towards capturing the rest of the eastern industrial Donbas region bordering Russia.

Ukrainian officials have signalled the advances around Bakhmut are not part of a broader counteroffensive planned by Kyiv to push back the Russian forces.

Moscow did not immediately comment on Cherevatyi's remarks although Russia's RIA Novosti news agency quoted the Russian Defence Ministry as saying its forces were continuing to fight to capture western parts of Bakhmut.

Prigozhin, in an audio statement, appeared to confirm Ukrainian forces now held an advantage in Bakhmut and he newly criticized Russian commanders.

"Despite the fact that the enemy has only a few percent of the territory in Bakhmut, surrounding the enemy does not appear to be possible," he said. "As a result of the enemy's advance ... Russian paratroops have taken up positions that are advantageous to the enemy."

Reuters was unable to verify the battlefield situation.

Ukrainian military analyst Oleksandr Musiyenko said the protracted battle resembled the Soviet army's defeat of Nazi troops in Stalingrad in 1943 after five months of fighting.

"Russian troops have lost the initiative on the flanks - our troops have cut off those flanks," Musiyenko told NV Radio.

(Reporting by Pavel Polityuk, Olena Harmash and Ronald Popeski, editing by David Ljunggren and Grant McCool)
FILE PHOTO: Soldiers stand next to military vehicles as people gather to protest against the military coup, in Yangon, Myanmar, February 15, 2021. REUTERS/Stringer

By Simon Lewis

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Myanmars military has imported at least $1 billion in arms and other material since it staged a coup in February 2021, a UN expert said on Wednesday in a new report that calls out Russia and China for aiding the junta's deadly campaign to crush its opposition.

Since the military seized power and jailed democratic leaders, some opponents of military rule have taken up arms, in places joining ethnic minority insurgents, and the military has responded with air strikes and heavy weapons, including in civilian areas.

Russian-made Mi-35 helicopter, MiG-29 fighter jets and Yak-130 light aircraft, and Chinese K-8 jets, have been most frequently used to conduct air strikes that have hit schools, medical facilities, homes and other civilian sites, said the report by Tom Andrews, the UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in Myanmar.

In a single attack on a village gathering organized by the military's opponents in Sagaing region on April 11, two bombs dropped from a Yak-130 killed at least 160 people, reportedly including nearly 40 children, the report said.

Myanmars military says it is targeting insurgents and after the Sagaing attack said any civilians killed were probably supporters of opponents it calls "terrorists."

The good news is we now know who is supplying these arms and the jurisdictions in which they operate, Andrews said in a statement, calling for UN members to step up and stop the flow of arms with a complete ban on the arms transfers to Myanmars military, enforcement of existing bans and coordinated sanctions.

The UN expert used trade data to detail transfers of arms and other goods, including raw materials for Myanmars domestic arms production, to the military since the coup worth $406 million from Russia and $267 million from China, including from state-owned entities in both countries.

State-owned entities in India also made a smaller volume of transfers, and companies in Singapore, India and Thailand were also involved in transfers to the military.

Some $227 million of material came from Rosoboronexport, Moscows state-owned arms exporter, which has transferred SU-30 fighter jets, supplies for MiG-29 jets and rocket launch systems to Myanmar, the report said.

Other Russian companies provided a range of tools, equipment and spare parts for Russian-supplied weapons systems, it said.

Weaponry provided by Russian suppliers has been used to commit probable war crimes and crimes against humanity in Myanmar, the report said.

The UN missions of the five countries mentioned in the report as sources of arms and material did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

At a news conference in New York, Andrews said Chinese officials had earlier criticized his reporting, saying he was vilifying legitimate trade in arms and operating outside his mandate by conducting analysis. Russian officials had expressed a similar response, Andrews said.

(Reporting by Simon Lewis; Editing by Daniel Wallis)
FILE PHOTO: Telecom Italia (TIM) logo is seen displayed in this illustration taken, May 3, 2022. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic

MILAN (Reuters) - Telecom Italia's top shareholder Vivendi has proposed Luciano Carta, a former chairman at Italian defence group Leonardo to fill a vacant seat on the former phone monopoly's board, two sources said on Wednesday.

Vivendi is currently at loggerheads with Telecom Italia (TIM) management over its plans to revamp its domestic business through the sale of its prized landline grid.

The seat has been vacant since January, when Vivendi CEO Arnaud de Puyfontaine quit the board asking for a new governance set-up.

The French group, which owns around 24% of TIM, has also called into question CEO Pietro Labriola's plan to turn around the company.

The sources said Vivendi has sent a letter to TIM indicating the name of Carta, 66, as candidate to fill the vacant seat.

TIM is expected to hold its next board meeting on June 22, according to a separate source, two weeks after a deadline the company has set to receive improved offers for its grid.

The proposed nomination is due to be reviewed by TIM's nomination committee and then discussed at TIM's board.

Vivendi and Telecom Italia declined to comment.

Last month TIM shareholders failed to select a director to fill the vacant seat as candidates put forward by Italian fund association Assogestioni and small shareholder group were both rejected at the company's AGM.

(Reporting by Elvira Pollina; Editing by Keith Weir)
UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM 6-K

Report of Foreign Private Issuer

Pursuant to Rule 13a-16 or 15d-16 of the

Securities Exchange Act of 1934

For the month of May, 2023

Commission File Number 1-15106

PETROLEO BRASILEIRO S.A.  PETROBRAS

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

Brazilian Petroleum Corporation  PETROBRAS

(Translation of Registrant's name into English)

Avenida Henrique Valadares, 28  19th floor

20231-030  Rio de Janeiro, RJ

Federative Republic of Brazil

(Address of principal executive office)

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant files or will file annual reports under cover Form 20-F or Form 40-F.

Form 20-F ___X___ Form 40-F _______

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant by furnishing the information contained in this Form is also thereby furnishing the information to the Commission pursuant to Rule 12g3-2(b) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.

Yes _______ No___X____

www.petrobras.com.br/ir For more information: PETROLEO BRASILEIRO S.A.  PETROBRAS | Investors Relations email: [email protected]/[email protected] Av. Henrique Valadares, 28  19 Andar  20231-030  Rio de Janeiro, RJ. Tel.: 55 (21) 3224-1510/9947 | 0800-282-1540 This document may contain forecasts within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (Securities Act), and Section 21E of the Securities Trading Act of 1934, as amended (Trading Act) that reflect the expectations of the Company's officers. The terms: "anticipates", "believes", "expects", "predicts", "intends", "plans", "projects", "aims", "should," and similar terms, aim to identify such forecasts, which evidently involve risks or uncertainties, predicted or not by the Company. Therefore, future results of the Company's operations may differ from current expectations, and the reader should not rely solely on the information included herein.

Petrobras on the result of an exploratory well in the Santos Basin



Rio de Janeiro, May 17th, 2023  Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.  Petrobras informs that it has identified the presence of hydrocarbons in the Santos Basin pre-salt, in an appraisal well in the Aram block.

Well 3-BRSA-1387D-SPS is located 260 km from the city of Santos-SP, at a water depth of 1,979 meters.

The well is in progress and the oil-bearing interval was verified through wireline logging and fluid samples, which will be further characterized through laboratory analyses. These data will allow evaluating the potential and directing the next exploratory activities in the area. The consortium will continue operations to complete the project to drill the well to the expected depth and verify the extent of the new discovery, in addition to characterizing the conditions of the reservoirs found.

The Aram block constitutes an important asset for exploring the remaining pre-salt potential, particularly in the Santos basin. In addition, the well presented a fluid of excellent quality, confirming the low levels of contaminants. This discovery augments the possibilities of expanding the accumulation discovered by the wildcat well 1-BRSA-1381-SPS, in this block.

The Aram block was acquired in March 2020, in the 6th Bidding Round of the National Agency for Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels (ANP), under the Production Sharing regime, with Pre-Sal Petroleo S.A. (PPSA) as manager. Petrobras is the operator of the block and holds an 80% share, in partnership with CNPC (20%).

www.petrobras.com.br/ir For more information: PETROLEO BRASILEIRO S.A.  PETROBRAS | Investors Relations email: [email protected]/[email protected] Av. Henrique Valadares, 28  19 Andar  20231-030  Rio de Janeiro, RJ. Tel.: 55 (21) 3224-1510/9947 | 0800-282-1540 This document may contain forecasts within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (Securities Act), and Section 21E of the Securities Trading Act of 1934, as amended (Trading Act) that reflect the expectations of the Company's officers. The terms: "anticipates", "believes", "expects", "predicts", "intends", "plans", "projects", "aims", "should," and similar terms, aim to identify such forecasts, which evidently involve risks or uncertainties, predicted or not by the Company. Therefore, future results of the Company's operations may differ from current expectations, and the reader should not rely solely on the information included herein.

www.petrobras.com.br/ir For more information: PETROLEO BRASILEIRO S.A.  PETROBRAS | Investors Relations email: [email protected]/[email protected] Av. Henrique Valadares, 28  19 Andar  20231-030  Rio de Janeiro, RJ. Tel.: 55 (21) 3224-1510/9947 | 0800-282-1540 This document may contain forecasts within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (Securities Act), and Section 21E of the Securities Trading Act of 1934, as amended (Trading Act) that reflect the expectations of the Company's officers. The terms: "anticipates", "believes", "expects", "predicts", "intends", "plans", "projects", "aims", "should," and similar terms, aim to identify such forecasts, which evidently involve risks or uncertainties, predicted or not by the Company. Therefore, future results of the Company's operations may differ from current expectations, and the reader should not rely solely on the information included herein.

SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.

Date: May 17, 2023

PETROLEO BRASILEIRO S.APETROBRAS



By: /s/ Sergio Caetano Leite

______________________________

Sergio Caetano Leite

Chief Financial Officer and Investor Relations Officer
UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM 6-K

REPORT OF FOREIGN PRIVATE ISSUER

PURSUANT TO RULE 13a-16

OR 15d-16 UNDER THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

For the month of May 2023

Commission file number 001-40490





WalkMe Ltd.

(Translation of registrants name into English)

1 Walter Moses St.

Tel Aviv 6789903, Israel

+972 (3) 763-0333

(Address of principal executive offices)





Indicate by check mark whether the registrant files or will file annual reports under cover Form 20-F or Form 40-F.

Form 20-F  Form 40-F 





Indicate by check mark if the registrant is submitting the Form 6-K in paper as permitted by Regulation S-T Rule 101(b)(1):  Indicate by check mark if the registrant is submitting the Form 6-K in paper as permitted by Regulation S-T Rule 101(b)(7): 

EXPLANATORY NOTE

On May 17, 2023, WalkMe Ltd. (the Company) issued a press release titled WalkMe Ltd. Announces First Quarter 2023 Financial Results. A copy of the press release is furnished as Exhibit 99.1 herewith.

Other than as indicated below, the information in this Form 6-K (including in Exhibit 99.1) shall not be deemed filed for purposes of Section 18 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the Exchange Act) or otherwise subject to the liabilities of that section, nor shall it be deemed incorporated by reference in any filing under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the Exchange Act.

The U.S. GAAP financial information contained in the (i) condensed consolidated statements of operations, (ii) condensed consolidated balance sheets and (iii) condensed consolidated statements of cash flow included in the press release attached as Exhibit 99.1 to this Report on Form 6-K are hereby incorporated by reference into the Companys Registration Statement on Form S-8 (File Nos. 333-257354, 333-263823 and 333-270537).

The following exhibit is furnished as part of this Form 6-K:





SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.

WalkMe Ltd.

By: /s / Hagit Ynon Name: Hagit Ynon Title: Chief Financial Officer




Filed pursuant to Rule 433 Dated May 17, 2023 Issuer Free Writing Prospectus supplementing the Final Base Shelf Prospectus dated May 17, 2023 Registration No. 333-272013

GFL Environmental Inc. Announces Secondary Offering of 14,084,507 Subordinate Voting Shares by Selling Shareholders

VAUGHAN, ON, May 17, 2023  GFL Environmental Inc. (NYSE, TSX: GFL) (GFL or the Company) today announced that BCEC-GFL Borrower (Cayman) LP, OTPP Environmental Services Trust, GFL Borrower II (Cayman) LP and Poole Private Capital, LLC (collectively, the Selling Shareholders) intend to offer for sale 14,084,507 subordinate voting shares (the Shares). GFL will not receive any proceeds from the sale of the Shares (the Offering). Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC and Goldman Sachs Canada Inc. will act as underwriters for the Offering in the United States and Canada, respectively.

The Shares issued pursuant to the Offering will be offered in all provinces and territories of Canada by way of a prospectus supplement (the Prospectus Supplement) to the Companys short form base shelf prospectus (the Final Base Shelf Prospectus). The Company has filed a registration statement on Form F-10 (the Form F-10) and will file the Prospectus Supplement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the SEC) in accordance with the multi-jurisdictional disclosure system established between Canada and the United States.

No securities regulatory authority has either approved or disapproved the contents of this news release. This news release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy, nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any province, state or jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to the registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such province, state or jurisdiction.

Prospective investors should read the Final Base Shelf Prospectus, the Prospectus Supplement, when available, and the documents incorporated by reference therein before investing in the Shares. When available, these documents may be accessed for free on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

GFL has filed the Form F-10 registration statement (including a prospectus) with the SEC for the offering to which this communication relates. Before you invest, you should read the prospectus in that registration statement and other documents the issuer has filed with the SEC for more complete information about the issuer and this offering. You may get these documents for free by visiting EDGAR on the SEC website at www.sec.gov . Alternatively, copies of the prospectus and Prospectus Supplement relating to the Offering may be obtained, when available, upon request from Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC, Attention: Prospectus Department, 200 West Street, New York, NY 10282, or by telephone: 1-866-471-2526, or by facsimile: 212-902-9316 or by emailing [email protected] or Goldman Sachs Canada Inc., TD North Tower, 77 King Street West Suite 3400, Toronto, ON M5K 1B7.

About GFL

GFL, headquartered in Vaughan, Ontario, is the fourth largest diversified environmental services company in North America, providing a comprehensive line of solid waste management, liquid waste management and soil remediation services through its platform of facilities throughout Canada and in more than half of the U.S. states. Across its organization, GFL has a workforce of more than 20,000 employees.

Forward Looking Statements

This news release includes certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable securities laws, including statements relating to the proposed Offering. In some cases, but not necessarily in all cases, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward looking terminology such as plans, targets, expects or does not expect, is expected, an opportunity exists, is positioned, estimates, intends, assumes, anticipates or does not anticipate or believes, or variations of such words and phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results may, could, would, might, will or will be taken, occur or be achieved. In addition, any statements that refer to expectations, projections or other characterizations of future events or circumstances contain forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are not historical facts, nor guarantees or assurances of future performance but instead represent managements current beliefs, expectations, estimates and projections regarding future events and operating performance. Forward-looking statements are necessarily based on a number of opinions, assumptions and estimates that, while considered reasonable by GFL as of the date of this release, are subject to inherent uncertainties, risks and changes in circumstances that may differ materially from those contemplated by the forward-looking statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ, possibly materially, from those indicated by the forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, the factors described in the Risk Factors section of GFLs annual information form for the 2022 fiscal year filed on Form 40-F and GFLs other periodic filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the securities commissions or similar regulatory authorities in Canada. These factors are not intended to represent a complete list of the factors that could affect GFL. However, such risk factors should be considered carefully. There can be no assurance that such estimates and assumptions will prove to be correct. You should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this release. GFL undertakes no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement, except as required by applicable securities laws.

For more information:

Patrick Dovigi

+1 905 326-0101

[email protected]
The purpose of this notice is to inform you of the dates for your Funds current repurchase offer. If you are not interested in selling your shares at this time, please disregard this notice.

May 17, 2023

Dear Invesco Dynamic Credit Opportunity Fund Shareholder:

We extend this repurchase offer to provide liquidity to shareholders because shares of your Fund, which is structured as a closed-end interval fund, are not redeemable daily for cash and are not traded on a stock exchange. Prior to each quarterly repurchase offer, the Fund is required to send notification of the repurchase offer to all of its shareholders. You will receive a notice similar to this once per quarter. The Fund will offer to repurchase shares only during each regularly scheduled quarterly repurchase offer period. This notice is provided to make you aware of the deadlines and procedures to tender your shares should you wish to do so.

Note that early withdrawal of shares from the Fund may result in a sales charge and may be a taxable event; consult your financial advisor or tax advisor for more information. Please remember that you are not obligated to do anything with your shares at this time.

This repurchase offer period begins on May 17, 2023 and ends (unless extended) on the repurchase request deadline at the close of the New York Stock Exchange (normally the Exchange closes at 4 p.m., Eastern Time, but it may close earlier on certain days) on June 16, 2023. Shares accepted for repurchase will be purchased at a price equal to the respective net asset value of such shares on the repurchase pricing date, which is described further in the enclosed Repurchase Offer Terms. For informational purposes, on May 10, 2023, the net asset values per share of the Funds share classes were as follows:

Class A $10.99 Class AX $10.99 Class Y $10.99 ClassR6 $10.99

If you intend to sell or exchange your shares during this repurchase offer period, please read the enclosed documents.

You should also consider the following:

 Determine if your account is held with your financial advisor or directly with Invesco Investment Services, Inc. (IIS). If you are unsure if your account is held directly with IIS or with your financial advisor, please review your most recent account statement. If your statement is from your financial advisor, you must contact your financial advisor for assistance because there may be different requirements for making a repurchase request during the repurchase offer period. If your statement is from Invesco, you may either contact your financial advisor or you can contact a Client Services representative at 800 959 4246.

 If you wish to sell shares held in an Invesco sponsored retirement plan account with Invesco Trust Company (ITC) serving as custodian, you must complete and submit the appropriate Invesco retirement account distribution form in addition to the enclosed Repurchase Request Form to execute your request. Please note that Required Minimum Distributions, Substantially Equal Periodic Payments (72t) or any other systematic redemptions will not be allowed out of the Invesco Dynamic Credit Opportunity Fund. To obtain a distribution form, please contact a Client Services representative at 800 959 4246 or you may download the form at invesco.com/us.

 If you wish to sell any of your Fund shares during this repurchase offer period, all requests must be received in good order prior to the close of the New York Stock Exchange on June 16, 2023.
FEDERATED HERMES PROJECT AND TRADE FINANCE TENDER FUND

4000 Ericsson Drive

Warrendale, Pennsylvania 15086-7561

May 17, 2023

EDGAR Operations Branch

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission

Division of Investment Management

100 F Street, N.E.

Washington, DC 20549

RE: FEDERATED HERMES PROJECT AND TRADE FINANCE TENDER FUND (the Fund or Registrant) 1933 Act File No. 333-271199 1940 Act File No. 811-23174

Dear Sir or Madam:

In accordance with Rule 477 under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the 1933 Act) on behalf of the Registrant, I hereby submit this application for withdrawal of the Registrants Form N-2 registration statement filed as a new registration statement under the 1933 Act and as Post-Effective Amendment No. 23 under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, on April 10, 2023, under Accession Number 0001623632-23-000462 (the N-2 Registration Statement).

The Registrant is making this application for withdrawal of the N-2 Registration Statement because Federated Investment Management Company, the investment adviser to the Registrant, has determined that an alternative approach to addressing an administrative oversight resulting in the sale of certain unregistered shares of the Fund will be pursued. The N-2 Registration Statement included a public rescission offer to shareholders that purchased the unregistered shares. The alternative approach will be pursued on a private basis outside of the Fund and will allow such shareholders to be compensated in a manner similar to the rescission offer.

The Registrant confirms that no securities have been sold in connection with the offering contemplated by the N-2 Registration Statement and no prospectus contained in the N-2 Registration Statement has been distributed. It is our opinion that the withdrawal of the N-2 Registration Statement would be consistent with the public interest and the protection of investors. A filing fee for registration of Fund Shares was paid in connection with the filing of the N-2 Registration Statement and will be applied to a future registration statement filing of the Registrant filed for purposes of registering new Shares.

We, therefore, respectfully request, pursuant to Rule 477 of the 1933 Act, the Securities and Exchange Commission to withdraw the above-referenced N-2 Registration Statement.

If you have any questions regarding this application for withdrawal, please contact Mark Thompson at (412) 288-4429 or [email protected]

Very truly yours,

/s/ George F. Magera

George F. Magera

Assistant Secretary
KYODO NEWS - May 17, 2023 - 15:04 | World, All

The United States will give additional security support to Taiwan, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told lawmakers on Tuesday, as the self-ruled democratic island is facing increasing military pressure from China.

According to U.S. media, President Joe Biden's administration is gearing up to provide a $500 million worth of weapons to Taiwan. Details on their type have not been revealed.

"The United States will soon provide significant additional security assistance to Taiwan," Austin said, based on the presidential drawdown authority that allows the United States to expedite security aid, including arms, to foreign countries.

Authorized by Congress last year, it has been used to send weapons to Ukraine for more than a year since Russia began its invasion.

"Beijing has increased its bullying and provocations in the Indo-Pacific. It's embarked upon a historic military buildup, including in space and cyberspace," the Pentagon chief said at a review hearing before Senate lawmakers, outlining Biden's proposed budget request for the Defense Department for fiscal year 2024.

The move was part of a longstanding commitment to Taiwan, helping it maintain a sufficient self-defense capacity, Austin said.

China sees Taiwan as a renegade province, to be reunited with the mainland, by force if necessary.

Last year, the State Department approved the sale of $108 million worth of spare and repair parts for tanks to Taiwan among other assistance.

Taiwan has been expressing displeasure since last year that the delivery of weapons from the U.S., including Stinger anti-aircraft missiles, has been slow.

Austin told lawmakers that he agreed with the view that a Russian victory will increase the probability of an attack by China on Taiwan.
OAHU, Hawaii (Tribune News Service)  The chiefs of the U.S., British and Australian armies met Monday on Oahu as the three countries pursue closer ties amid boiling geopolitical tensions in both Europe and the Pacific.

The trilateral meeting was held as Army Chief of Staff Gen. James McConville wrapped up a tour of the region meeting with several other army chiefs across the Pacific and South Asia.

Hawaii is the home of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command at Camp Smith, the nerve center of all U.S. military operations in the region. The command currentlyand always has beenoverseen by a Navy admiral, and naval services aren't shy about proclaiming a degree of ownership of the region. Amid recent tensions at sea, countries around the region are trying to bolster their naval forces.

"The Indo-Pacific, when you look at the map, there's a lot of blue, " said Australian army chief Lt. Gen. Simon Stuart during a roundtable with reporters at Fort Shafter. "We're going to make sure that we've got the right maritime and air capabilities ... (but ) when you look across the Indo-Pacific, and the militaries that are important in the lives and the economies and the politics of the region, it's mainly armies."

"A lot of the attention gets drawn to maritime deployments, " said British army chief Lt. Gen. Sir Patrick Sanders, referencing the Royal Navy 2021 deployment of its newest aircraft carrier, the HMS Queen Elizabeth, to the South China Sea in the first deployment of a British carrier group in the Pacific in decades as the U.K. sought to make its presence in the region known.

As the carrier group transited the Pacific, U.S., British and Australian officials announced they had signed a new trilateral security pact called AUKUS, which would strengthen military cooperation and technology among the three countriesparticularly when it comes to submarines.

"That's an enormously important deployment, but it's transitory, " Sanders said. "What land forces provide is persistencewe're here all the time. And because we're on land, where people live and where wars ultimately are settled, we're able to develop close relationships with a range of our allies and partners in the region and help them improve their own capabilities."

The British military maintains an army garrison in Brunei and the British Defence Singapore Support Unit, a critical naval facility that the U.S. Navy regularly uses to support its own operations in the South China Sea. Sanders noted that through countries in the British Commonwealth, the U.K. continues to have strong tiesand interestsin the Pacific.

"The region matters enormously to us historically, emotionally but also, candidly, because of prosperity and because of trade, " San ders said. "So much of the world's trade and the future economy comes from this region. So we've got altruistic interests, and we've got national interests that we want to try and support as well."

McConville said that the among the topics of discussion during the trilateral meeting was Project Convergence, a U.S. Army program that the service calls a "campaign of learning, " designed to integrate its operations and technology with the other branches of the U.S. military and potentially with allied militaries. McConville said that would give them "the ability to move data very, very quickly between our armies, our joint force, and our two partners here are the first to be involved in that."

As militaries around the world plan for the future, they have closely watched the war in Ukraine. Russian and Ukrainian forces have faced off in a bloody slugfest as they pummel each other with heavy weaponry while also using drones and launching cyber attacks against each other. The war has killed thousands, turned thousands more into refugees and sent ripples through the global economy.

"What we've seen from the conflict in Ukraine is that regional conflicts and great-power conflicts have global consequences, " Sanders said.

"So although much of our attention is inevitably focused on supporting the armed forces of Ukraine and making sure that (Russian President Vladimir ) Putin loses this war, and reinforcing peace and security in Europe, we see the threats and the challenges that exist in the Indo-Pacific, " he said.

In the Pacific the dominant concern for the three countries is the Chinese military. Beijing has been locked in a series of territorial and navigation disputes with neighboring countries both on land and at sea, sometimes turning violent.

In particular, regional leaders worry that escalating tensions between China and Taiwan could spark regional conflict. Beijing considers Taiwan, a self-ruled island democracy, to be a rouge province, and Chinese leader Xi Jinping has vowed to bring it under his control by force if necessary.

"To me it's about peace through strength, " McConville said. "That strength comes from strong allies and partners like our two great partners and allies sitting here."

McConville said that as they watch Ukraine, the conflict has lessons for the Pacific in terms of "contested logistics " as both sides of the conflict work to cut each other's supply lines.

"You take a look at the distances that we have out here, logistics become extremely important, " McConville said. "Many of our weapons systems do not operate without fuel, without parts, without ammunition. And that is something that we've seen play out in Ukraine ... and we certainly see that the importance here, and we are working to develop all those capabilities with our allies and partners out here in the region."

However, even as China and the United States stare each other down, the region still grapples with a series of ongoing wars in places like Myanmar that has resulted in millions of refugees, and regional governments are concerned about terrorism, arms smuggling and other transnational crime. Stuart said that only underscores the need for meetings and exchanges.

"We can't possibly cover all the ground by ourselves, " Stuart said. "We're increasingly working with other partners in our own governments, whether that's law enforcement, whether that's trade, whether that's economic, and making sure that we're supporting our diplomats in doing their job."

McConville, Stuart and Sanders are among 14 army chiefs on the island this week as the Association of the U.S. Army prepares to kick off its Land Forces of the Pacific symposium today in Waikiki.

"I think it's a very powerful illustration of land forces and armies coming together, " said U.S. Army Pacific commander Gen. Charles Flynn, who hosted the three service chiefs at his headquarters at Fort Shafter. "It's really a demonstration of unity and collective commitment towards what we're trying to do in the region."

The Army has made Hawaii a key part of its new Joint Pacific Multinational Readiness Center, which includes training ranges in the islands, Alaska and an "exportable " set of training held in a different country each year. This year that training will be in Australia, with Hawaii troops set to play a central role.

"A lot of things change, particularly as they relate to geopolitics, technology, economy, but geography is a constant, " Stuart said. "Hawaii's strategic geography hasn't changed, and it's no less importantand arguably more important todaythan it's ever been. So I think it's a great place for those of us that live in the neighborhood to all come together."

(c)2023 The Honolulu Star-Advertiser

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(Tribune News Service)  When the Space Force was established in late 2019, more than 1,000 Air National Guard members focused on space missions were left behind. A debate about their future is still raging, leaving the airmen in limbo some three years later.

Lawmakers are debating a new Space National Guard that could leave the 16 space-focused guard units, including seven in Colorado, in place. They've come to be known as "orphan units," left behind in an Air Force that is no longer technically responsible for training or equipping them.

The Space Force could also start a new model backed by Gen. Chance Saltzman, chief of space operations, that would allow active duty guardians to work part time and hold civilian jobs. In an October 2022 policy statement the Biden administration said it supported transitioning the guard missions into the active Space Force to avoid the cost of a Space National Guard, a contested number.

While Congress weighs options, Colorado airmen don't have clarity to plan their lives.

"If there is no Space National Guard, our world is going to change," said Maj. Matt Friedell, director of operations for the 138th Electromagnetic Warfare Squadron at Peterson Space Force Base.

The squadron of about 100 people selectively deny enemy communications in the field by jamming satellites, an in-demand capability, he said. The unit also establishes satellite communications.

The work could be reassigned to active-duty Space Force members and the National Guardsmen could transition as well if a Space National Guard is not established. But the transition could be expensive, time-consuming and leaving the guard for an active-duty position may not appeal to many, said Col. Stephanie Figueroa, who oversees the 138th and other space-focused missions in Colorado as part of the 233rd Space Group.

She expects it would take five to seven years to transition all the Guard missions to the active-duty forces and in the process the expertise of guardsmen who also work in industry at aerospace companies such as Ball Aerospace and Lockheed Martin would be lost. She expects very few guardsmen would transfer back into active duty.

"You will get some that will go over. ... Not as many as they think or need," she said.

At the same time, demand for the 138th Squadron's ability to interrupt communications is high and those services may have to be expanded to meet the needs of combatant commanders, she said. Combatant commanders call on service members from all branches to counter threats.

In the cold rain and wind Thursday, the 138th and Air National Guard members from Mississippi used a forklift to push a large collapsible satellite antenna into a hulking C-17 Globemaster III. About 20 guardsmen were headed for Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, along with all their gear loaded on pallets for training with other electromagnetic warfare squadrons from California, Hawaii and Florida. Another unit focused on missile warning from Alaska planned to attend, as well, Friedell said.

The entire trip provides training, he said, right down to the details of putting ramps in place to get satellite antennas onto the plane.

Training for travel is key, because the squadron has been deploying more often than the typical 18- to 24-month cycle, because satellite jamming services are in need. He expects 17 guardsmen to go to Africa in the fall, the third deployment for the squadron since its creation in 2019.

If the unit's duties transitioned to the active Space Force, the unit probably would have to train its replacements and could potentially receive a new mission, such as cyber communications, Friedell said.

Leaving units in place under a Space National Guard would maintain a system that is working, he said.

For decision-makers, a key sticking point is cost.

A Congressional Budget Office analysis found that a new Space National Guard just for the existing units probably would need $100 million annually to support administrative overhead. In addition to $20 million for additional facilities. A larger Space National Guard, between 3,400 and 4,300 people, could cost $385 million-$490 million a year, the CBO estimated. The current Space Force is about 8,000 people.

The adjutants general who oversee the National Guards in each state pushed back on the estimates in an open letter in March, citing an estimate by the National Guard Bureau that expected $250,000 could cover heraldry, uniform items and the transfer of existing manpower and resources from existing units to a new Space National Guard.

The letter also noted that a Space National Guard has bipartisan support.

In May, Republican Rep. Doug Lamborn, R-Colorado Springs, and Rep. Jason Crow, D-Aurora, co-sponsored the latest House bill to create a Space National Guard.

"I am encouraged to see more momentum and support from national defense leaders this year as we restart this conversation," Lamborn said in a statement.

Saltzman, a key player in the conversation, urged action in recent congressional testimony, saying Space Force could leave the space-focused missions in the Air National Guard, but that would be "the most untenable position."

He asked senators to consider the proposal to create part-time guardians in the Space Force that could hold civilian jobs and work as part of the active-duty force. While it sounds similar to a National Guard model, it is more integrated. It would allow members to transfer to full time more easily and retain talent within Space Force, he said.

It's an option that would sever the community ties that the Guard builds, when they jump in to help with wildfires, floods and other emergencies, Friedell said.

"It's such a good feeling that if something goes bad, we go help immediately," he said.

Maj. Tanya N. Downsworth, with the secretary of the Air Force Public Affairs, said in a written statement if the Space Force pursued the model Saltzman is promoting, "additional structure options" could also be examined.

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(Tribune News Service)  U.S. Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., told U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin Wednesday why his department and the U.S. Air Force should stand by the decision to put the U.S. Space Command headquarters on Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville.

Britt spoke a day after NBC News reported that President Biden is preparing to reverse the decision to name Redstone the permanent headquarters for USSSPACECOM. The story said the president is planning to leave the headquarters in Colorado Springs, Colo., where the command was started.

As the leader of the Department of Defense, I implore you to cut through the politics and make a final basing decision for the U.S. Space Command headquarters, Britt said. As you know, Huntsvilles Redstone Arsenal finished first in both the Air Forces Evaluation Phase and the Selection Phase. That leaves no doubt that the Air Forces decision to choose Redstone as the preferred basing location was correct and it was done on the merits. That decision should remain in the Air Forces purview.

Media reports have said that the president and those in the White House are preparing to prioritize partisan political considerations at the expense of our national security, our military modernization, and our force readiness, and for me that is deeply disturbing.

When you look at this, you said earlier, in order to compete and succeed against China we must use all of our tools. When you look at that, we know those tools are there at Redstone Arsenal.

Britt did not ask Austin to comment and he did not speak on the base location report.

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President Yoon Suk Yeol of South Korea recently completed a six-day visit to Washington. The relatively lengthy visit by the head of government underscores both the international influence of his nation and the high priority of the alliance with the United States.

The visit marked the 70th anniversary of the vital alliance between South Korea and the United States.

This was the second summit, and fifth meeting in total, between President Joe Biden and Yoon in less than a year. The packed itinerary included an address to a joint session of Congress, a visit to the Goddard Space Center of NASA, an important stop at the Pentagon, an assembly of South Korean and U.S. business representatives hosted by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and a state dinner at the White House.

The long-term increase in tensions with the surviving communist regime in North Korea, which includes Pyongyangs expanding nuclear weapons program, adds significance to the visit and the relationship.

As recently as the early 1960s, South Korea was one of the poorest economies in the world. Still a peasant society, the entire Korean Peninsula was terribly devastated by the Korean War of 1950-53. Yet today, the Republic of Korea ranks among the top 20 economies in the world, holding leadership roles in the automobile, advanced electronics, shipbuilding and other industries.

Rapid industrialization and economic modernization have been complemented by striking transition from dictatorship to democracy. President and Gen. Park Chung-hee stifled incipient democracy and imposed extremely harsh military authoritarianism for nearly two decades. He was assassinated in 1979 by the head of the KCIA, the national intelligence agency. In Korean memory, he remains a respected symbol of strength and effectiveness for many, though with progress and the passage of time that fades.

Park was succeeded as chief executive by two more generals, Chun Doo Hwan and Roe Tae Woo, but growing pressure for true democratic representation proved insurmountable.

The capstone of transition to democracy was the election of Kim Dae-jung as president in 1998. He completed his five-year term without interruption, and in 2000 received the Nobel Peace Prize.

A public symbol of opposition to Park dictatorship, he was imprisoned for several years. On another occasion, KCIA agents kidnapped him and planned to kill him. Only the intervention of senior U.S. CIA official Don Gregg saved his life.

South Koreas remarkable domestic accomplishments have unfolded while the country becomes increasingly influential in global arenas. In 2012, the Obama administration shrewdly nominated President Jim Yong Kim of Dartmouth College, who was born in Seoul, South Korea, as president of the World Bank.

The original vision of the United Nations combined competing goals of favoring the most powerful nations and inclusive global representation. Kim and former U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon personify South Koreas significant expanding role as a bridge between developed and developing nations.

Market economies and reasonably representative governments now characterize a steadily increasing share of the worlds developing nations. In short, South Korea is positioned to lead developing nations toward prosperity.

The United Nations today is strong. U.N. and U.S. decisions in 1950 to defend South Korea were vital to this success. During the long Vietnam War, South Korea maintained approximately 50,000 troops in South Vietnam. They were overwhelmingly combat forces. The principal incentive was loyalty to the United States forged during the Korean War.

Yoon has the opportunity to develop a starring global leadership role, with noisy North Korea shunted off to stage left. At the state dinner, he sang lines from Don McLeans 1971 song American Pie.

Arthur I. Cyr is the author of After the Cold War  American Foreign Policy, Europe and Asia.
An F-15D Eagle that left the runway while landing Monday at a West Coast air base ended up in an irrigation channel, according to the 173rd Fighter Wing.

A photograph provided by the wing the day after the mishap shows the tactical jet partially submerged with its nose embedded in the channel bank at Kingsley Field, an Air National Guard base in Klamath Falls, Ore.

The aircraft was returning to base following a routine training mission, the wing said in a statement Tuesday.

The fighter landed at approximately 3:15 p.m., left the paved surface and came to a stop in a Bureau of Reclamation irrigation canal at the south side of the runway, according to the statement.

We dont believe the aircraft is leaking any petroleum products based on our initial assessment of the water in the canal, Col. Micah Lambert, the wings vice commander, said in the statement. Minimizing the environmental impact is one of our main priorities; we have taken precautionary measures and placed absorbent booms around the aircraft to prevent the flow of fuel, or other substances, downstream in the event there is a leakage.

The unit will continue tests to detect if there is fuel in the water, Lambert said.

The instructor pilot aboard the aircraft exited safely with minor injuries and was evaluated as a precaution at Sky Lakes Medical Center. He has since been released, according to the statement.

We are so grateful that our pilot was able to walk away from this mishap, Lambert said. Our Team Kingsley responders acted quickly and with professionalism thanks to the extensive training and safety mindset of our team.

The wing is working with local authorities and federal agencies, including the Bureau of Reclamation, to ensure the aircraft is safely removed from the canal, Lambert said.

A board of officers has been assigned to investigate the mishap landing, according to the wings statement.

The 173rds mission involves training F-15 pilots under Air Education and Training Command, according to the units official website.

A number of F-15C/D fighters from Kadena Air Base, Okinawa, were sent to Kingsley Field starting in December, according to a news release by the 173rd that month. Two F-15 squadrons at Kadena  nearly 50 fighters  are being phased out over two years and replaced by rotational fighters.
BEIJING  Reports Wednesday said 39 people are missing more than 24 hours after a Chinese fishing boat operating in the Indian Ocean capsized.

Chinese state broadcaster CCTV said the accident happened around 3 a.m. Tuesday. The report said the crew includes 17 from China, 17 from Indonesia and five from the Philippines.

Chinese leader Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Li Qiang have ordered Chinese diplomats abroad, as well as the agriculture and transportation ministries, to assist in the search for survivors.

"All-out efforts" must be made in the rescue operation, Xi was quoted as saying by the official Xinhua News Agency. Li ordered unspecified measures to "reduce casualties and strengthen safety management of fishing vessels at sea to ensure safe maritime transport and production," Xinhua said.

No word was given on the cause of the capsizing.

Australia, Indonesia and the Philippines have also expressed their willingness to join in the search. Indonesia's National Search and Rescue Agency said the capsizing occurred about 2,900 miles northwest of Australia.

Several ships and an Australian Defense Force P-8A Poseidon aircraft have been searching the area. The Indian Ocean stretches from South Asia and the Arabian Peninsula to east Africa and western Australia. No survivors or life rafts have been spotted.

The Philippine Coast Guard Command Center said Wednesday it was monitoring the situation and coordinating with the Chinese Embassy in Manila, as well as search and rescue teams operating near the vessel's last known location.

The Australian Maritime Safety Authority said it was coordinating the search in what it called a remote location in the Indian Ocean, about 3,100 miles northwest of the coastal city of Perth. It said the agency received a distress beacon signal from the fishing vessel at about 5:30 a.m. Tuesday, Australian time, and that weather conditions in the area Tuesday were "extreme," but had improved by Wednesday.

Merchant and fishing vessels in the area were also searching for survivors Wednesday.

A Perth-based Challenger rescue aircraft will drop a buoy to help with drift modelling to further assist in the search, the agency said.

The Lu Peng Yuan Yu 028 was based in the eastern coastal province of Shandong, operated by the Penglai Jinglu Fishery Co. Ltd., according to the reports. Another Chinese vessel, Lu Peng Yuan Yu 018, is operating near to the upturned hull and has been asked to conduct a grid search for survivors, according to the Indonesian agency.

China is believed to operate the world's largest fishing fleet. Many of them stay at sea for months or even years at a time, supported by Chinese state maritime security agencies and a sprawling network of support vessels.

Along the Bay of Bengal at the Indian Ocean's northern end, Myanmar and Bangladesh were undergoing recovery from a powerful cyclone that smashed into their coastlines, causing widespread destruction and at least 21 deaths, with hundreds of others believed missing.

Chinese squid fishing ships have been documented using wide nets to illegally catch already overfished tuna as part of a surge in unregulated activity in the Indian Ocean, according to a report released in 2021 by a Norway-based watchdog group that highlighted growing concerns about the lack of international cooperation to protect marine species on the high seas.

The group, called Trygg Mat Tracking, found that the number of squid vessels in the high seas of the Indian Ocean  where fishing of the species is not regulated  has increased six-fold since 2016.

The U.S. Coast Guard was also involved in a dangerous confrontation with Chinese vessels not far from Ecuador's Galapagos Islands in 2022 during a mission to inspect the vessels for any signs of illegal, unreported or unregulated fishing.

Chinese fishing vessels operating illegally are known to sail "dark," with their mandatory tracking device that gives a ship's position either switched off, transmitting intermittently, or providing false identifiers.

In 2014, Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 was believed to have gone down somewhere in the Indian Ocean with 239 people aboard. That Boeing 777, which remains missing, became invisible to civilian radar when its transponder locating device stopped transmitting during a flight from Kuala Lumpur.

Associated Press writers Rod McGuirk in Canberra, Australia, Niniek Karmini in Jakarta, Indonesia and Jim Gomez in Manila, Philippines contributed to this report.
The government of Guam is urging residents to buckle up or face the consequences as part of a high-visibility ticketing campaign that coincides with the Memorial Day holiday.

Law enforcement agencies on the island territory will be taking a no excuses approach to seat belt enforcement from Monday to June 4, writing citations day and night, as part of a national Click It or Ticket campaign, according to a Guam Office of Highway Safety statement.

Anyone caught without a seat belt in Guam faces a $100 fine for the first offense and $200 for a second offense occurring in the same year, according to the release Monday.

Approximately half of the 26,325 passenger vehicle occupants killed in crashes in the U.S. in 2021 were not wearing seat belts, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration website. Seat belts saved an estimated 15,000 lives in 2017 alone.
(Tribune News Service)  Thirteen days total.

That was the number of days that a city wastewater plant exceeded limits for enterococcus bacteria in its effluent in April and May, which prompted the state Department of Health to issue an for all of Kailua Bay.

This, according to DOH, was a highly unusual and affecting public health. Enterococcus is an indicator of fecal material in water and therefore, the possible presence of pathogens that can sicken swimmers.

"It is the city's responsibility to comply with their permit, and it is very concerning when a discharger does not meet their legal responsibilities, " said Bobbie Teixeira, DOH environmental health specialist. "It just shouldn't happen."

She added that 13 days of this is "extremely worrisome."

"It's very concerning to us, not only with the duration, but also the magnitude, " she said. "On some days they were exceeding by four, five, six times their permit limit, so it is unusual."

While the turquoise-colored bay at Kailua Beach Parkpopular among visitors, local paddlers and kitesurfersis now in the clear, and has been since May 5, health officials want to make sure the city remains in compliance.

Teixeira said the Health Department's Clean Water Branch would work with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to investigate the incident and keep it from happening again, though she declined to go into detail on actions to be taken.

The city's Kailua Regional Wastewater Treatment Plant is already under an issued in December to address similar pollution violations that occurred in early 2021.

The bacteria exceedances in 2021 occurred due to the failure of a biotower treatment unit at the plant, according to the EPA. But the plant's discharge also exceeded bacteria limits in June 2020, April 2021 and December 2021.

Shoreline versus outfall The most recent exceedanceswhich occurred between April 8 and May 4also resulted in mixed messaging to the public, according to Kailua beachgoers, who were confused by the advisories or missed them altogether.

While the city emphasized in its news releases and signs that high bacteria levels were possible near the deep ocean outfallabout 5, 000 feet or a mile from the shoreline and 105 feet below the surfacethe Health Department issued an advisory for all of Kailua Bay.

"We posted the advisory for the entire Kailua Bay, including the shoreline, because when there's exceedances like this, we really don't know where that plume of sewage is going to go, " said Myron Honda, supervisor of monitoring at the DOH Clean Water Branch. "That's why out of an abundance of caution we had the city do the entire Kailua Bay shoreline."

The city said during the exceedance period, it was testing both samples of treated effluent at the plant as well as samples from the Kailua Bay shoreline.

The city said daily shoreline samples since April 22 showed no exceedances except for four days, when runoff from heavy rain resulted in brown-water advisories. It also said monitoring at stations located around the outfall April 20, 24 and May 2 indicated the outfall had not affected the receiving water.

The results of enterococcus testing take 24 hours to process, but when there are exceedances the city must under its state permit notify DOH right away. DOH said it can post advisories on the same day it is notified.

The city, at DOH's request, issued news releases and posted more than 20 signs warning the public along Kailua Beachfrom as far north as Castles down to the main stretch and Kailua boat ramp.

Because it can be challenging to post signs at every access point, DOH encourages the public to to its online water quality advisory alerts, which are also posted. Today, Honda said, there are just under 5, 000 people who have subscribed to the alerts.

A brown-water advisory was simultaneously issued from April 28 to May 2, alerting the public of possible pathogens at Kailua due to a nearby stream flow.

Honda said brown-water advisories are based on a visual survey, without testing.

Samples over years have shown whenever there is heavy rain runoff, enterococcus levels almost always are exceeded, he said, and a brown-water advisory is issued. If there are three to four days of sunshine, then another visual survey will be conducted and the advisory lifted.

With only three staff members to conduct routine monitoring on Oahu, he said it would not logistically be possibly to test all brown waters on the island.

Double the trouble

What makes Kailua Bay even more vulnerable is that the ocean outfall there is shared by both the Kailua Regional Wastewater Treatment Plant and Marine Corps Base Hawaii's Water Reclamation Facility.

And MCBH's plant has also exceeded bacteria levels in its discharge, as recently as.

The EPA in August also ordered the U.S. Marine Corps to make improvements at the base due to exceedances of discharge limits.

Teixeira said the efflu ent from both plants "co-mingles and goes out the same outfall, which is why we require testing of the effluent prior to the mixing and prior to it leaving their facilities so we can make sure whose effluent is meeting the limits or not."

Roger Babcock, director of the city's Department of Environmental Services, said in an earlier interview that the Kailua plant does not have a disinfection treatment process to kill bacteria such as enterococci, and is in the process of being upgraded.

While the Kailua plant has been the focus of the most recent violations, others on Oahu are also in dire need of improvements.

The EPA in 2010 issued a with the city ordering it to upgrade its entire wastewater collection sewer system to reduce sewage spills and comply with the Clean Water Act.

This includes major upgrades to the two largest plantsSand Island and Honouliuliwhich must be completed by 2035.

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BERLIN  Two people were charged in Austria for allegedly playing speeches by Adolf Hitler via the loudspeaker system of a train running from Bregenz to Vienna, Austrian news agency APA reported Monday.

The two suspects, who were not identified, also blasted the "Heil Hitler" Nazi salute via the train's intercom several times on Sunday. The authorities tracked them down by analyzing video from the train cameras. Spreading Nazi propaganda is a criminal offense in Austria.

The two are also suspected of responsibility for two other incidents last week on trains running from St. Poelten to Vienna, in which recordings were played over the train intercom. It was not clear if those recordings also had a Nazi connotation.

The suspects are believed to have opened the train conductors' intercom cabins with a key all train employees own, and then played the recordings, APA reported.
BUDAPEST, Hungary  Hungary will continue to block the disbursement of a new tranche of European Union military support to Ukraine until Kyiv removes a Hungarian bank from a list of international sponsors of Russia's war, Hungary's foreign minister said Wednesday.

Peter Szijjarto, speaking in Vienna after a meeting with his Austrian counterpart, called Ukraine's recent listing of OTP Bank "scandalous and unacceptable," and said that Hungary wouldn't approve the release of 500 million euros ($543 million) from the EU's European Peace Facility until the bank is removed from the list.

"We cannot support the allocation of another half a billion euros from the European Peace Facility for arms transfers to Ukraine, and we will not give it the green light as long as OTP is on this particular list," Szijjarto said.

Earlier this month, Ukraine's National Agency on Corruption Prevention classified OTP Bank as an international sponsor of the war over its continued presence in Russia, sparking a backlash from Hungarian officials.

After the listing of OTP, the banking group's Ukrainian branch released a statement arguing that it had "drastically reduced its presence in the Russian market," and that its market share there had decreased to only 0.17%.

Relations between Hungary and neighboring Ukraine have been strained by Budapest's refusal to supply Kyiv with weapons or to allow their transfer across the countries' shared border.

Hungary's nationalist government, which maintains close ties with Moscow, has also argued against EU sanctions on Russia, and sought to cement Hungary's dependence on Russian fossil fuels since the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

On Wednesday, Szijjarto suggested that Hungary would move to block further EU sanctions on Russia unless Ukraine delists OTP Bank, saying Kyiv had become "increasingly belligerent" with respect to Hungary.

"As long as Ukraine keeps OTP on the list of international sponsors of the war, Hungary cannot agree to decisions that would require the European Union and its member states to make further economic and financial sacrifices," he said.
By Eric Peters, KYODO NEWS - May 17, 2023 - 12:32 | All, World, G7

U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres on Tuesday urged leaders attending the upcoming Group of Seven summit to commit to a nuclear weapon no-use policy and voiced his concern about the possible weaponization of artificial intelligence.

Speaking to a group of reporters at the U.N. Headquarters in New York, Guterres said "it's time" for nuclear weapons states to declare they will not use the armaments "in any circumstance."

"This is the moment in which we must insist on the need of revitalizing disarmament, and especially nuclear disarmament," Guterres told reporters from Japanese media outlets including Kyodo News ahead of his trip to Hiroshima, which is preparing to host the G-7 summit.

Japan, as the only country to have been attacked by nuclear weapons, is a "particular moral authority" on the subject, he said.

The leaders of the G-7 industrial states -- Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States plus the European Union -- are set to begin their three-day meeting on Friday.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, who represents a district in Hiroshima, one of two cities devastated by a nuclear weapon in the closing stages of World War II in 1945, has said he seeks a "world free of nuclear weapons."

At the G-7 summit, Guterres is expected to take part in working sessions on climate change and the reform of global financial systems. He is also expected to meet with Kishida on the sidelines of the event.

Guterres visited Hiroshima as U.N. secretary general for the first time in August 2022, when he commemorated the 77th anniversary of the first atomic bomb attack.

Guterres recalled that on his past visits to the city, he was impressed by the "courage (and) the resilience of the hibakusha," referring to the survivors of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Eight invitee nations -- Australia, Brazil, Comoros, the Cook Islands, India, Indonesia, South Korea and Vietnam -- are also expected to participate in the summit.

Recent developments in the field of artificial intelligence are also expected to be brought up at the summit.

The U.N. chief voiced his concern about the possible weaponization of artificial intelligence, expressing unease specifically about their use in arms systems.

"The idea that we will have, one day, arms systems without any human agency is totally unacceptable," he said.

He said that even though artificial intelligence "will not be easy to regulate," countries should agree to define red lines in their development. "Even the entrepreneurs that are in the frontline of the developments of A.I. recognize that we need to put some order in the system."

On the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Guterres expressed his doubts about the possibility of "fruitful" peace negotiations at present, adding the fallout from the war is being felt around the world, especially in the price of food.

On a U.N.-brokered deal also involving Russia and Turkey that enables Ukraine to export grain through the Black Sea, Guterres said he expected the agreement to be renewed before it expires Thursday.

Russia has threatened not to extend the agreement over issues concerning its export of food and fertilizers.
A NATO contractor has been arrested under suspicion he helped Russia obtain advanced military technologies related to quantum computing and nuclear testing, the Justice Department said this week.

Nikolaos Nikos Bogonikolos, 59, faces charges tied to wire fraud and smuggling, documents unsealed Tuesday in federal court said.

Bogonikolos, of Athens, Greece, was arrested in Paris last week and faces extradition to the U.S., a Justice Department statement said Tuesday.

The case against Bogonikolos portrays him as a man with access to sophisticated military technology, which he smuggled to blacklisted companies tied to Russias intelligence services.

As alleged, while ostensibly operating as a defense contractor for NATO and other ally countries, the defendant and his Aratos Group were double dealing, helping to fuel Russias war effort and their development of next generation weapons, U.S. attorney Breon Peace said in a statement Tuesday.

Bogonikolos helmed the Aratos Group, a defense and technology conglomerate with ties to NATO in his home country and the Netherlands, the criminal complaint said.

An Aratos Group subsidiary was a NATO Innovation Challenge finalist in 2021 for a proposal involving the use of artificial intelligence and blockchain technology for satellites and spacecraft, the Justice Department said.

Bogonikolos began working with a network of companies tied to Russian intelligence in 2017, the complaint stated.

An FBI investigator said in the complaint that Russian intelligence officials discussed in emails how Bogonikolos was ready to work with them and further talked about arranging an in-person meeting in Moscow.

Bogonikolos and the Aratos Group acquired sensitive military equipment and then concealed a reshipping scheme to Russia, the complaint said.

Some of the shipped items included lasers and transistors that can be used in quantum cryptography research and nuclear weapons testing, according to court documents.

In a transaction for military antennas, Bogonikolos and Aratos employees told the Florida company providing the items that they would be used only for recreational and tourism maritime vessels in the Netherlands, court documents said.

But an invoice dated Aug. 11, 2018, said that the antennas were transferred to a company affiliated with a front company for the Serniya Network, the criminal complaint said.

The Serniya Network is a grouping of Moscow-based companies that were blacklisted by the Treasury Department in 2022 after Russias full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The U.S. Treasury said in a statement then that the companies were instrumental to the Russian Federations war machine.

The criminal complaint cites an email on Oct. 3, 2022, between an Aratos employee and Bogonikolos detailing purchases made by the company for the Serniya Network, including some entries after the network was sanctioned.

Four days later, Bogonikolos accessed Google and used the following search terms: Netherlands illegal export to Russia police, Netherlands illegal export to Russia and Dutch police arrest for exports to Russia, the criminal complaint said.

In other emails, Bogonikolos said he would falsify an export license and an Aratos employee stated that an item being acquired was for the Russians, prosecutors said.

Bogonikolos remains in custody in France pending extradition hearings, the Justice Department statement said.
Russia has opened the home port of its Pacific naval fleet to Chinese commercial shipping, a sign of deepening ties between the two nations amid the Russia-Ukraine war.

The Russian port of Vladivostok opens to China on June 1 for cross-border transport of domestic goods, according to Chinas state-run Global Times newspaper on Monday, which cited the General Administrations of Customs China, the nations customs ministry.

Chinas trade with Russia reached a record $190 billion last year, even as Russian imports from European countries fell due to sanctions imposed following the invasion of Ukraine, Reuters reported Jan. 13.

Vladivostok, formerly known as Haishenwai, was part of China before it was ceded to Russian Empire in 1860 under the Convention of Peking. The convention, signed at the end of the Second Opium War, also ceded Hong Kong to the United Kingdom.

Since then, northern Chinese provinces have moved goods hundreds of miles overland to Dalian and other Chinese ports in the south, according to a Tuesday report on the Think China website.

Vladivostok is the largest Russian port in the Far East with 2,300 workers, 15 berths and 45 cranes. It accommodates 2,000 vessels annually and handled more than 13 million tons of cargo last year, according to the ports website.

The arrangement for Chinese access should be viewed in the context of deepening defense ties between China and Russia in recent years, according to Grant Newsham, a senior researcher with the Japan Forum for Strategic Studies in Tokyo.

Russian forces operating out of Vladivostok already absorb American attention, he said in an email Wednesday.

Should Chinese forces have access to Vladivostok that expands PLA (Chinas Peoples Liberation Army) operational options a bit - and also gives Japanese and US [and South Korean] forces one more thing to worry about and to devote resources to covering, he said.

Chinese military access to the port could be compared to the U.S. Navy gaining access to a port in Vietnam, an advantage for the Americans and something for the Chinese to worry about, he said.

Weve seen PLA and Russian forces conducting joint training of increasing complexity, to include coordinated naval and air operations near Japan - and even encircling Japan, he said.

Russia fears China could seek to occupy its territory in the Far East and would limit Chinese military access to Vladivostok, he said.

But for now, the two nations strategic interests align - both hate the United States and wish to defeat it - and thus the joint military activities, he said.

However, James Brown, an international affairs expert at Temple Universitys Japan campus, said the military significance of the port access deal appears limited.

Even as the Russians encourage a greater Chinese economic presence in Vladivostok, they will be careful to protect the Pacific Fleet from prying eyes, he said. Vladivostok was a closed city during the Soviet period. That mindset has not disappeared in military circles.
KYIV, Ukraine  Ukraine's foreign minister met with a visiting Chinese mediator to discuss how to end Russia's war, but no details were disclosed Wednesday and the next steps were unclear.

Over two days, Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba discussed with envoy Li Hui "ways to stop Russian aggression," the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

Kuleba briefed Li, a former Chinese ambassador to Moscow, "about the principles of restoring a stable and just peace based on respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine."

Kuleba, according to the statement, repeated his government's position that Ukraine wouldn't accept any proposal involving the loss of its territories or the "freezing of the conflict."

There was no word on how Li responded to Kuleba.

Chinese leader Xi Jinping's government says it's neutral and wants to serve as mediator in the 15-month-long conflict, but has supported Moscow politically. Beijing released a proposed peace plan in February, but Ukraine's allies largely dismissed it, insisting that Russian President Vladimir Putin's forces must withdraw his forces.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry has said Li also will visit Poland, France and Germany, but didn't give details of his schedule.

Political analysts see little hope for a peace agreement because neither Ukraine nor Russia is ready to stop fighting.

Xi's government sees Moscow as a diplomatic partner in opposing U.S. domination of global affairs. Beijing has refused to criticize the invasion and used its status as one of five permanent U.N. Security Council members to deflect diplomatic attacks on Russia.

African countries are also undertaking a peace initiative over the war in Ukraine. South Africa's president said Tuesday that Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had agreed to separate meetings with a delegation of leaders from six African countries to discuss a possible peace plan.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said Putin and Zelenskyy agreed to host "an African leaders peace mission" in Moscow and Kyiv, respectively.

Ramaphosa didn't give a time frame or outline any parameters for the possible peace talks.

The Kremlin wants Kyiv to acknowledge Russia's annexation of the Crimean Peninsula and the Ukrainian provinces of Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia, which most nations have denounced as illegal. Ukraine has rejected the demands and ruled out any talks with Russia until its troops pull back from all occupied territories.

Zelenskyy's 10-point peace plan also includes a tribunal to prosecute crimes of aggression, which would enable Russia to be held accountable for its invasion.
KYIV, Ukraine  Ukrainian officials on Wednesday rejected Russia's claims that it had destroyed one of Kyiv's treasured, Western-donated Patriot air defense systems while a U.S. official said that one of the systems was damaged but still operational.

"Everything is fine with the Patriot," Ukrainian air force spokesman Yuriy Ihnat said in a text message on Wednesday, refusing to elaborate further. Moscow claimed that it had destroyed one of the billion-dollar Patriot systems with a hypersonic missile.

A U.S. defense official, speaking on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the issue, said that a Patriot system had suffered an indirect hit by Russian fire in the vicinity of Kyiv early Tuesday morning, but that it was still operational.

On Tuesday, Ukrainian officials insisted that their air defenses had intercepted 18 out 18 missiles, including six hypersonic "Kinzhal" or "Dagger" missiles, fired in Moscow's latest brutal air attack, an early morning assault that also involved cruise missiles and Iranian-made self-destructing drones.

The Ukrainians said that damage near the capital city was limited, and the result of falling debris from the downed missiles.

Russia's Defense Ministry, contradicting the Ukrainian account, said a Patriot system had been hit and destroyed. Ukraine has two such systems, one donated by the United States and the second by Germany and the Netherlands.

The Patriot is a complex weapon, made up of numerous components, several mounted on trucks. Ihnat, in a television appearance, rejected Moscow's claim, saying a single missile could not destroy the Patriot given is many parts.

"It is impossible to destroy the system with some 'Kinzhal,'" Ihnat said.

The U.S. defense official said Wednesday that the extent of the damage to the system was still being assessed, but that the Patriot's radar was not damaged.

When deployed, the Patriot's modules are often spread out, reducing the risk of losing such an expensive weapon. The radar is a vital component that helps make the Patriot the U.S. military's most advanced air defense system.

Patriot, made by Raytheon Technologies, stands for Phased Array Tracking Radar to Intercept on Target. The Center for Strategic and International Studies, a U.S.-based think tank, last year estimated that a newly-produced battery costs about $1.1 billion, more than half of which  $690 million  is the cost of the missiles.

The locations of Ukraine's two Patriot systems are a closely kept secret  though Moscow's repeated airstrikes in recent weeks suggest that one was located in the Kyiv region.

The Security Service of Ukraine, or SBU, announced Wednesday that it was prosecuting six Kyiv residents who shared photos and videos of air defense operations during Tuesday morning's attack.

Those images were picked up by Russian media and Telegram accounts "within minutes," the SBU said, potentially giving Moscow valuable targeting information.

The six could face eight years in prison, the SBU said in a statement. The service's cyber specialists had also shut down a number of live cameras across the city that showed air defenses, according to the statement.

Ukraine is now operating a complex web of differing air defense systems, including not only the Russian-made systems it had at the start of the invasion but also multiple new systems manufactured in Europe and the United States.

By reputation, however, the Patriot stands apart. And the legend only grew after Ukraine said it used the Patriot to shoot down a Kinzhal missile over Kyiv, reportedly taking out a weapon that previously evaded all air defenses.

Britain's Defense Ministry said Wednesday that it appeared Russia's airstrikes were intended to neutralize Ukraine's air defense capabilities. In the process, however, the Kremlin likely lost several more of the expensive missiles.

Ukrainian officials have called Russia's claims of destroying the Patriot another form of propaganda, intended to distract from repeated failures on the battlefield.

Hanna Maliar, a deputy Ukrainian defense minister, wrote on Telegram Wednesday that claims about the Patriot, like Russia's claims of territorial gains in the contested eastern city of Bakhmut, were designed "to hide the fact that Russia is actually afraid of a Ukrainian counteroffensive."

Speaking on television, Ihnat said that Russia had told similar accounts about striking Ukrainian aircraft. "If we had as many planes as they [claim to have] destroyed, we probably would have won a long time ago," Ihnat said.
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip  The ruling Hamas militant group in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday called on Palestinians to confront a flag-waving parade planned by Jewish nationalists through the main Palestinian thoroughfare in Jerusalem's Old City.

The comments by Hamas added to the already heightened tensions ahead of Thursday's march and threatened to reignite fighting between Israel and Palestinian militants in Gaza, just days after a cease-fire took hold. Two years ago, an 11-day war between Israel and Hamas erupted during the annual march.

While Hamas stayed out of the latest round of fighting, officials with the ruling Islamic militant group urged Palestinians to oppose Thursday's parade.

"We ask the people of Jerusalem to mobilize the masses to confront the march of the flags in Jerusalem tomorrow," said Mushir al-Masri, a Hamas official in Gaza.

Hamas also urged Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and inside Israel to "clash with the occupation" and said it would hold a demonstration with Palestinian flags along Gaza's heavily fortified frontier with Israel.

The parade is meant to mark "Jerusalem Day," Israel's annual celebration of its capture of east Jerusalem, including the Old City and its holy sites, in the 1967 Mideast war.

Israel considers the entire city to be its eternal capital. But the international community does not recognize Israel's annexation of east Jerusalem, and the Palestinians claim the area as the capital of a future state.

In a speech marking Jerusalem Day, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel has broken "new horizons" since capturing east Jerusalem.

"We are committed to safeguarding the security of Jerusalem, to ensuring its prosperity and to continuing its momentum," he said. "We are also doing this against all of the threats around us."

Each year, thousands of Israeli nationalists participate in the march, waving blue and white Israeli flags and singing songs as they walk through the Muslim Quarter and toward the Jewish Quarter and the Western Wall, the holiest site where Jews can pray.

Israelis describe the parade as a festive event. But in past years, it has been marred by anti-Arab racist chants and violence toward local Palestinians by some of the marchers.

Adding to the combustible atmosphere, large numbers of Jews are expected to visit Jerusalem's most sensitive holy site early Thursday before the parade.

The hilltop compound is known to Jews as the Temple Mount, home to the biblical Jewish Temples, and is the holiest site in Judaism. Palestinians call it the Noble Sanctuary, and today it is home to the Al-Aqsa Mosque, the third-holiest site in Islam.

Under longstanding agreements, Jews are permitted to visit the compound but not pray there. But an increase in such visits in recent years, along with scenes of some Jews quietly praying, have raised concerns among Palestinians that Israel is trying to alter the status quo  a charge Israel denies.

The competing claims to the site lie at the heart of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and often spill over into violence.

Chief Supt Yoram Segal, a senior police official in Jerusalem, said police would deploy some 2,500 officers on Thursday to ensure the day passes without violence.

"We are going to deal harshly with anyone who tries to disturb the peace," he told reporters.

The march comes less than a week after Israel and the Islamic Jihad militant group in Gaza reached a cease-fire that ended five days of heavy fighting.

Hamas, the de facto government in Gaza responsible for the plight of the territory's 2.3 million people, stayed out of the fighting, while Israel avoided attacking the militant group.

Reham Owda, an independent Gaza-based analyst, said that neither side appears interested in resuming cross-border violence.

"No one is interested in fierce escalation," she said, but she said the parade could trigger "limited, symbolic" firing of rockets that could in turn spark Israeli airstrikes in retaliation.

If violence erupts in Jerusalem, Hamas could jump into the fray, as it did two years ago.

"The resistance is ready to protect Al-Aqsa Mosque and prevent the Judaization of Jerusalem," al-Masri said.

Associated Press writer Josef Federman in Jerusalem contributed to this report.
WASHINGTON  The White House on Monday said Russia is looking to buy additional advanced attack drones from Iran for use in its war against Ukraine after using up most of the 400 drones it had previously purchased from Tehran.

The Biden administration last year publicized satellite imagery and intelligence findings that it said indicated Iran sold hundreds of attack drones to Russia. And for months, officials have said the United States believed Iran was considering selling hundreds of ballistic missiles to Russia, but Washington did not have evidence a deal was consummated.

Iran also continues to provide Russia with one-way attack UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles). Since August, Iran has provided Russia with more than 400 UAVs primarily of the Shahed variety, White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said.

Russia has expended most of these UAVs, using them to target Ukrainian critical infrastructure inside Ukraine. By providing Russia with these UAVs, Iran has been directly enabling Russias war of aggression in Ukraine, Kirby told reporters.

The Shahed drones that Russia has already purchased are packed with explosives and programed to loiter overhead until they nosedive into a target  unmanned versions of World War II kamikaze pilots who would fly their explosives-laden planes into U.S. warships in the Pacific.

Kirby said the Russians are now looking at acquiring even more advanced drones capable of more lethality

The latest revelation is part of a persistent drip of intelligence findings from the administration to detail what U.S. officials say is a deepening defense partnership between Russia and Iran. The U.S. allegations are part of a broader effort to declassify and publicize intelligence findings concerning Moscows prosecution of its nearly 15-month war in Ukraine in hopes of furthering global isolation of Russia.

Meanwhile, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunaks office announced Monday it was sending Ukraine hundreds more air defense missiles, as well as long-range attack drones with a reach of more than 200 kilometers (120 miles). The announcement came as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited Britain and unsuccessfully pressed Sunak to provide Ukraine with fighter jets as Ukraine prepares for a long-anticipated spring offensive to retake territory that Russia has seized.

The Biden administration says the Kremlins reliance on Iran as well as North Korea countries largely isolated on the international stage for their nuclear programs and human rights records shows desperation. Thats in the face of Ukrainian resistance and the success of the global coalition in disrupting Russian military supply chains and denying replacements for weapons lost on the battlefield. The White House says Russia has turned to North Korea for artillery.

U.S. officials say Iran has also provided Russia with artillery and tank rounds for its invasion of Ukraine.

This is a full scale defense partnership that is harmful to Ukraine, to the region in the Middle East and to the international community, said Kirby, who added that Iran has been Russias top military backer since the start of the Ukraine invasion.

Kirby said the administration is looking to further tighten export controls to prevent Western components from making their way to Iran for use in manufacturing drones. He also said further sanctions against Iran and Russia could be coming.

Iran has said it provided drones to Russia prior to the start of the war, but not since. North Korea has denied it has provided Russia artillery.

The White House has said for months that it has seen troubling signs that the military cooperation between Moscow and Tehran could flow both ways.

Iran is seeking to purchase additional military equipment from Russia, including attack helicopters, radars, and YAK-130 combat trainer aircraft, according to the White House. And Iran last month announced that it had finalized a deal to buy Su-35 fighter jets from Russia.

The White House has also previously said Russia and Iran were considering starting a drone assembly line in Russia for the Ukraine conflict.

In total, Iran is seeking billions of dollars worth of military equipment from Russia, Kirby said.

The new allegations come as Biden is headed to Hiroshima, Japan, later this week for the Group of Seven summit, where the U.S. president is expected to make a call to fellow leaders of some worlds biggest economies to further tighten export controls and sanctions on Moscow.
U.S. authorities announced criminal charges, economic sanctions and a $10 million reward Tuesday for information leading to the arrest of a Russian accused of participating in a global ransomware campaign called Babuk, whose victims allegedly included D.C. police, an airline and other American industries.

The Treasury Department imposed an economic ban on financial dealings with Mikhail Matveev, calling him a central figure in launching cyberattacks against U.S. law enforcement, businesses and critical infrastructure in 2021.

The United States will not tolerate ransomware attacks against our people and our institutions, said Brian E. Nelson, treasury undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence. Ransomware actors like Matveev will be held accountable for their crimes, and we will continue to use all available authorities and tools to defend against cyberthreats.

According to analysis conducted by the Treasury Departments Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, 75 percent of ransomware-related incidents reported between July and December 2021 were linked to Russia, its proxies or people acting on its behalf. Matveev is a key actor in that system, the department said, helping develop and deploy Russian-linked ransomware variants such as Hive, LockBit and Babuk, with Hive alone targeting more than 1,500 victims in more than 80 countries. The attack targeted hospitals, school districts, financial firms and other critical infrastructure, the department said.

Matveev has also given interviews, disclosed source code to online criminals and said his activities are tolerated by local authorities provided he remains loyal to Russia, the department said.

In Washington, a newly unsealed indictment alleged that Matveev, 30, of Kaliningrad and using the online monikers Wazawaka, m1x, Broriscelcin and Uhodiransomwar, committed intentional damage to a protected computer and threats relating to a protected computer. Each charge is punishable by up to 10 years in prison. Matveev was charged with similar crimes in a federal indictment in New Jersey.

Data theft and extortion attempts by ransomware groups are corrosive, cynical attacks on key institutions and the good people behind them as they go about their business and serve the public, Matthew Graves, U.S. attorney for D.C., said in a statement with James Dennehy, FBI Newark special agent in charge. Thanks to exceptional work by our partners here, we identified and charged this culprit.

According to the indictment, Matveev and Babuk conspirators deployed Babuk ransomware against D.C. police on April 26, 2021, infecting department computer systems, stealing data and extorting the police agency, threatening disclosure of sensitive information unless payment was made, causing at least $5,000 in losses.

Babuk emerged in early 2021 and made contact with D.C. police that April, claiming it had files containing information about gangs and the identities of confidential informants.

After negotiations with District officials broke down, hackers apparently posted stolen documents, including confidential files that could reveal names of suspected gang members and witnesses, and more than three dozen daily intelligence briefings for the chief of police, including raw intelligence on threats after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. The group earlier made public internal files dealing with job candidates.

We publish the full data of the police department, the group posted in an online warning, saying the Districts proposed payment amount turned out to be too small, and taunting, There is no way back you had very many chances.

Files chosen included a job applicants resume, a map of the locations of sex crimes, information on the use of facial recognition software, street interview tactics and personal information of more than two dozen officers collected when they applied to the force, including address, phone, financial and medical information.

Brian Krebs, author of the Krebs on Security blog, identified Wazawaka in January 2022 as a major access broker in the Russian-speaking cybercrime scene, who initially sold distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks that could cripple websites for $80 a day, before becoming a middleman selling access to organizations and to databases stolen from hacked companies. He claimed that one ransomware affiliate program paid him roughly $500,000 in commissions for the six months leading up to September 2020.

Come, rob, and get dough! Krebs quoted a thread started by Wazawaka in March 2020, allegedly selling access to a Chinese company with more than $10 billion in annual revenue.

Wazawaka also claimed that he worked with another group responsible for the Colonial Pipeline hack in 2021, which shut down one of the United States biggest fuel pipelines. But, Krebs reported, Wazawaka at the time appeared to believe in publishing victims data wholesale on cybercrime forums and not privately selling the information to the highest bidder.

The Babuk source code was leaked in September 2021, leading other threat actors to adopt or share its code in attacks in the United States and elsewhere across industries, analysts reported this year.

Because the United States and Russia do not have an extradition treaty, the criminal charges may not end up putting Matveev behind bars, but could serve a name and shame purpose and deter others, experts said.

Russia is not going to hand him over, said ransomware expert Allan Liska of the cyber firm Recorded Future.

Hes likely not going to face justice, unless hes dumb enough to vacation in Poland.

But the impunity enjoyed by ransomware criminals  who rely on multiple aliases and decentralized networks to obscure their role in specific attacks  has led them to become more brazen, Liska said.

This generation of ransomware actors that have been around for a while feel like they are untouchable, he said. So they do things like engage with researchers, do interviews, open Twitter accounts  because they dont feel like it matters.

Law enforcement agencies have stepped up international collaboration to identify those behind an attack, leading the perpetrators to spend more time and effort to hide their activities, said John Carlin, a former top Justice Department national security official during the Obama and Biden administrations. Sowing distrust between rival gangs and gang members and offering rewards to turn against each other are other tactics the United States has used. But the biggest challenge for imprisoning a ransomware criminal remains the havens that nations like Russia, China, North Korea and Iran may offer them, said Carlin, now co-head of the cybersecurity and data protection practice at Paul Weiss and a partner in its litigation department.

Still, Matveev has proved unpopular with some of his peers in the ransomware world, once describing in an interview with Liskas firm how he took control of the attack on D.C. police from an affiliate, who then began to threaten him.

Russian underground forums are all in a tizzy, Liska said, worried about what the charges against Matveev could mean for others.

That may be the goal, said Adam Hickey, who recently stepped down as deputy assistant attorney general for the Justice Departments National Security Division.

You charge someone with the hope that you will end up arresting them, said Hickey, now a partner at Mayer Brown. But another goal can be to paint a target essentially on the back of individuals like this to encourage information that could be used to undermine their operations.
WASHINGTON  An active-duty Marine who entered the Capitol with two of his colleagues from the Quantico Marine Corps Base on Jan. 6, 2021, and then spent more than 50 minutes wandering through the building, pleaded guilty Wednesday to a misdemeanor count of illegally parading or demonstrating in the Capitol. All three Marines work in intelligence gathering, including one at the National Security Agency headquarters in Maryland.

Cpl. Micah R. Coomer, 24, is allegedly the fourth active-duty Marine from Quantico to breach the Capitol on Jan. 6, and the first active-duty military member to plead guilty in the riot. A fifth active-duty service member, Navy sailor David Elizalde, was arrested last month in Arlington and accused of driving to the Capitol from his post on the USS Harry S. Truman, which was docked in Norfolk on the day of the riot. More than 1,000 people have been charged with participating in the attack on the Capitol.

Soon after Jan. 6, federal investigators were alerted to Coomer's Instagram account, where he posted photos from inside the Capitol during the riot and wrote that he was, "Glad to be apart [sic] of history." Later in January 2021, according to an FBI affidavit seeking his arrest, Coomer wrote in a conversation with another Instagram user that "everything in this country is corrupt. We honestly need a fresh restart. I'm waiting for the boogaloo."

When the other user asked him, "What's a boogaloo," Coomer responded, "Civil war 2."

Coomer and two other men, Sgt. Joshua Abate and Sgt. Dodge Dale Hellonen, were assigned to the Marine Corps Information Operations Center in Quantico, according to reporting by the Intercept after their arrest. All three were arrested in January of this year, and it was not clear why the case wasn't filed for two years.

Before their arrests, all three were transferred to intelligence-related posts around the country, with Abate assigned to the Marine Cryptologic Support Battalion in the NSA headquarters at Fort Meade, and Hellonen working as a special communications signals analyst at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina. Coomer remains on active duty as an intelligence surveillance reconnaissance system engineer at Camp Pendleton, Marine Corps officials said Wednesday. He enlisted in September 2018, the Marines said.

Abate and Hellonen's cases are pending, as are cases against Elizalde and Marine Maj. Christopher Warnagiris, who is charged with assaulting police and obstructing the congressional certification of the electoral vote.

In June of last year, according to the FBI affidavit filed by Special Agent Kelsey Randall, Abate was interviewed as part of his security clearance and discussed entering the Capitol with his "buddies." Abate told interviewers he and his friends "walked around and tried not to get hit with tear gas." Abate also reported that he perceived the Jan. 6 riot was being "portrayed negatively" and decided he should not tell anybody about going into the U.S. Capitol.

According to Randall's affidavit, the three Marines placed a "MAGA" hat, which Coomer had been wearing, on a statue in the Rotunda and took photos of it, then walked around taking more pictures for 52 minutes. None of the men were charged with any violent conduct or other felonies. Other Marine Corps members corroborated the identities of the men for FBI investigators, Randall's affidavit said.

Coomer, originally from Muncie, Ind., told U.S. District Judge Ana C. Reyes that he was currently stationed at Camp Pendleton near San Diego but otherwise said little during his brief hearing. He declined to comment outside the courtroom after his plea. Reyes, who was appointed to the bench in February, set his sentencing for Aug. 30.

"I'm sorry to meet you under these circumstances," the judge told Coomer. "I'm hopeful that this is a small obstacle in your life." After explaining that the probation department would be producing a pre-sentencing report on the case for her, Reyes said, "Hopefully if I get back a clean report . . . we'll get out of here quickly on the 30th."
WASHINGTON  Colin Kahl, a top policymaker at the Pentagon and adviser on sending U.S. aid to Ukraine, will leave his post in the summer, the Defense Department said Wednesday.

Kahl, 51, who has served as undersecretary of defense for policy since April 2021, has been involved in decision-making about U.S. military aid to Ukraine in the past several months. He also served as national security adviser to then-Vice President Joe Biden between 2014 and 2017 during former President Barack Obamas administration.

Kahl announced that he will step down from his position in mid-July, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Wednesday. Since his appointment, Kahl has been a trusted adviser and a resolute leader in our mission to safeguard American interests.

Austin said he has relied on Kahl for advice in several areas, including Ukraine, Chinese influence in the Indo-Pacific region, support for American allies in the Middle East, emerging defense technologies and clandestine information warfare online.

His strategic insights, deep understanding of international relations and staunch commitment to strengthening our national defense have been crucial in shaping our policies, seizing geopolitical opportunities and tackling a range of challenges around the world, the defense secretary said.

Kahls career in Washington stretches back to 2009 when he was deputy assistant secretary of defense for the Middle East in the Obama administration, a role that he held for two years. In 2015, he became a contributor to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action  also known as the Iran Nuclear Deal, which was struck by the U.S. and several other countries to get Tehran to shelve its nuclear weapons research. Former President Donald Trump pulled the U.S. out of the deal in 2018, and Biden has yet to rejoin, though he has said he wants to do so.

In his role as undersecretary of defense for policy, Kahl was responsible for overseeing how the Pentagon handles military threats from potential adversaries such as Russia, China, Iran and terrorist groups such as the Islamic State.

Under his leadership, the [Pentagon] rolled out its National Defense Strategy, focusing on the pacing challenge of the Peoples Republic of China, the acute threat of Russian aggression and other dangers. And he has helped ensure steadfast U.S. support for Ukraine through billions of dollars of security assistance since the beginning of Russias unprovoked war of choice, Austin said. Our department is stronger and better prepared for future security challenges because of Colins distinguished service.

When Kahl accepted the job in 2021, he took a two-year leave of absence from his position as a tenured political science professor at Stanford University in California.

Kahls successor has not been named and must be nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate.
When 28-year-old Navy veteran Carisma Carter pulled her car up to the front of the Atlanta VA Clinic, her seat was pushed far back from the steering wheel to make room for her big belly. Carter was 8 months pregnant.

Im having two boys, twins. Its my first pregnancy, she said.

Carter knows the pregnancy risks she could face as a Black woman, especially in Georgia, where data shows Black women are more than twice as likely as white women to die during or within a year after a pregnancy.

I take care of my body during the pregnancy, but, yeah, Im very aware, Carter said. And I just try to stay positive.

In 2021, women made up about 17% of the U.S. militarys active-duty force. And women are the fastest-growing group of veterans in the country, according to the Department of Veterans Affairs.

A recent report from Rand Corp. outlines some of the ways the health needs of women differ from mens, including pregnancy and childbirth. And health researchers have said women veterans may be at heightened risk for pregnancy complications, compared with their civilian counterparts.

A few years ago, the Atlanta VA Clinic got creative with its outreach to pregnant patients. It began throwing surprise baby showers for small groups of patients. The goal is to cement relationships with the clinical staff, make sure pregnant veterans get to all their regular and specialist appointments, and help ensure pregnant people have the supplies they need as they near delivery. A trained maternity care coordinator manages each pregnant veterans care.

After the Covid-19 pandemic emerged, the VA transformed the showers into low-contact drive-thru events, which occur about every three months, and serve roughly 20 pregnant veterans each time.

At a shower in February, volunteers set up in front of the main entrance of the Atlanta VA. The building is concrete, beige, and bland. But the volunteers created a celebratory atmosphere by decorating a folding table and stacking it high with free diaper bags and other baby supplies.

A car pulled up to the table and a volunteer with a clipboard began hyping up the small crowd, which then burst into applause and cheers.

Thank you for your service! they called out. Congratulations!

The pregnant veteran behind the wheel looked surprised at first. Then she broke into a big smile. She rolled down her car window. Volunteers and VA staff members clustered around the car and offered her a tiara of green, white, and pink flowers.

Would you like to wear it? one asked. Stunning! Remind us what youre having?

Im having a girl, the woman said.

While they chatted through the open window about her due date and health, other volunteers rushed forward with supplies. Some piled boxes of diapers into the back seat. The final, parting gesture was a $100 gift card.

Kathleen OLoughlin, who manages the women veterans program at the Atlanta VA, said the events offer last-minute baby needs.

Because we know theres a lot, she said.

OLoughlin said the health center cant invite every pregnant veteran to these group baby showers, so they focus on women with higher-risk pregnancies, including veterans carrying multiples or those who have a disability related to their military service.

Now, a lot of the women have different musculoskeletal issues because of their service, [or] a lot of service-connected disabilities that civilian women arent exposed to because they dont have those same job responsibilities, OLoughlin said. This is an extra set of eyeballs on them. Are you making sure youre taking your blood pressure medicines? Are you getting all of your appointments, are you meeting with your doctors?

U.S. maternal mortality rates increased again during the pandemic years of 2020 and 2021, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Physical and psychological injuries linked to military service can increase the risk of poor maternal outcomes, according to Jamya Pittman, an internist and the medical director for the women veterans program in Atlanta.

A lot of our women veterans have the diagnoses of anxiety, depression. They may also have PTSD, in addition to a myriad of other diagnoses like hypertension and diabetes, Pittman said. We also know that pregnancy in itself can be a stressor on the body.

The Atlanta VA designed the baby showers to boost veterans well-being, she explained. Program volunteers are predominantly also women veterans.

This visible showing of support, this community engagement, this celebration, she said, is our way of helping to decrease stress and allow the woman veteran to know that she has a partner in her health care and with the arrival of the baby.

Nationally, the Department of Veterans Affairs is focusing on womens health at all life stages.

The Atlanta women veterans program serves more than 24,000 veterans in the region, and about 9% of them are pregnant at any time.

Two years ago, Congress passed bipartisan legislation mandating a national study of pregnancy outcomes among veterans, including any racial disparities.

There has never been a comprehensive evaluation of how our nations growing maternal mortality crisis is impacting our women Veterans, even though they may be at higher risk due to their service, wrote co-sponsor Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) on the day the bill was introduced.

The law, called the Protecting Moms Who Served Act, also provided $15 million to support maternity care coordination programs at VA facilities.

The Atlanta VA is using some of its share of that money to make sure pregnant veterans receive ongoing medical care for a full year after giving birth.

Carter, the Navy veteran who stopped by the baby shower, said she appreciated the outreach from the VA.

Just checking on the women, supporting them, making sure that they have everything that they need for the baby, she said, because a lot of people dont have that support, they dont have family, theyre doing this on their own.

Carter gave birth to her twins on Feb. 25. She and the babies are doing well, she said. The women veterans programs maternity care coverage continues for 12 months after the twins birth.

2023 KFF Health News.

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KYODO NEWS - May 17, 2023 - 15:23 | All, World, G7

U.S. President Joe Biden has canceled his planned trips to Papua New Guinea and Australia after his visit to Hiroshima, western Japan, for a Group of Seven summit later this week, the White House said Tuesday.

The Biden administration has decided to shorten the Asia-Pacific itinerary to focus on negotiations with congressional leaders on the debt ceiling in order to avert an unprecedented U.S. default, which could occur as early as next month.

"President Biden will return to the United States on Sunday following the completion of the G-7 summit in order to be back for meetings with Congressional leaders to ensure that Congress takes action by the deadline to avert default," the White House said in a statement.

In Sydney, Biden had planned to hold Quad talks with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to discuss China's growing military capabilities and economic power in the Indo-Pacific region.

On Wednesday, Albanese said the Quad summit would not go ahead in Sydney next week, and he instead hopes to meet the leaders from Japan, the United States and India in Hiroshima.

After speaking to Biden over the phone earlier in the day, Albanese said he will cancel the Quad summit slated for May 24 but he and the leaders of the three countries are attempting to hold talks on the sidelines of the G-7 meeting.

"The Quad is an important body and we want to make sure that it occurs at the leadership level, and we'll be having that discussion over the weekend," Albanese told reporters in Tweed Heads, New South Wales, according to the prime minister's office.

Before Australia, Biden was also scheduled to travel to Papua New Guinea, a stop that would have marked the first visit to the Pacific country by a sitting U.S. president.

Biden had planned to meet in the capital Port Moresby with leaders of the Pacific Islands Forum, an 18-member group that promotes cooperation among mostly small countries in Oceania.

The stop was intended to be part of Washington's efforts to make up ground in the region, where Beijing has taken the initiative by rapidly expanding its influence.

On the domestic debt-ceiling issue, the Biden administration has been at odds with Republican leaders, who control the House of Representatives, over the country's $31.4 trillion borrowing limit.

The Democratic president has been asking Republicans to raise the limit without conditions to avert a U.S. default. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and other Republican leaders have said they will not authorize such an increase without an agreement to slash future spending.

White House national security spokesman John Kirby told a press conference Tuesday that the leaders of the world's democracies understand the importance to the global economy of the United States avoiding a default.

"And they know that our ability to pay our debts is a key part of U.S. credibility and leadership around the world," he said.

Kishida has previously said the G-7 leaders will offer flowers at the Peace Memorial Park when they visit Hiroshima.

"(Biden) plans to visit the memorial and to pay his respects to the lives of the innocents who were killed...in the atomic bomb that was dropped on Hiroshima," Kirby confirmed.
(Tribune News Service)  The Nevada National Guard pilots took to the skies Tuesday to showcase two new helicopters that will bolster capabilities for rescues, wildfire containment and disaster response missions.

Nevada was one of nine states to receive Lakota UH-72B helicopters, each costing $8 million, from the U.S. Department of Defense.

In a demonstration flight for local media, the pilots flew the helicopters above the mountainous terrain in the Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area to test out their capabilities. Such terrain is what pilots of the new Lakota helicopters are likely to face on their missions.

The helicopters will be able to perform search-and-rescue missions in nearly any local environment using a hoist and medical responders, according to a news release. The helicopters also are able to suspend cargo that weighs not more than 8,000 pounds through a long line hanging from the bottom of the helicopter. In a different configuration, it is able to do air surveillance with an infrared camera that soon will be used at the border of the U.S and Mexico. In another configuration, the helicopter can carry up to nine people due to the added cabin space.

Of the nearly 3,400 Nevada National Guard soldiers, Chief Warrant Officer 2 Joel Oscarson is one of the few that was born and raised in Las Vegas. Oscarson, owner of the Aspen Insulation business, serves part-time as a helicopter pilot for the National Guard.

The big buy-in for me is that I get to serve my own community while also working in my own community, Oscarson said, who joined the National Guard roughly 15 years ago.

Pilots in the National Guard are required to serve their regular hours plus additional hours of flight time. Helicopter pilots are required to have nearly 100 hours of flight time in a year, which is less than airplane pilots because plane have the longer flight times, Oscarson said.

The new Lakota helicopters, which are able to travel over 400 miles before needing to refuel are more powerful than their UH-72A Lakota counterparts, which makes accenting easier on the aircraft when it is on a search mission. The added stability from a five-blade main rotor that keeps the cockpit from shaking too much, according to Sgt. Michael Knight, a crew chief.

The two new helicopters are going to be staying in Las Vegas as its considered one of the nine states that has a mountainous environment. The military keeps wartime helicopters such as the Black Hawk and the Chinooks in Northern Nevada, while Southern Nevada has light utility helicopters for domestic mission, Oscarson said.

The wartime helicopters are used to help fight fires because of their greater capacity, but burn too much fuel and are too large for urban environments.

Historically weve had Katrina, earthquakes, Haiti and weve had all these different non-war time disasters where this is really designed to help in these situations, Oscarson said.

The North Las Vegas-based B/C Company, 3rd Battalion, 140th Aviation Regiment will maintain and operate the new helicopters.

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WASHINGTON  A Russian military aircraft was spotted flying near Alaska on Monday as U.S. forces conduct training in the area, U.S. military officials said.

The North American Aerospace Defense Command, or NORAD, said Wednesday that it detected and tracked one Russian military aircraft near Alaska.

The Russian aircraft remained in international space and did not enter U.S. or Canadian territory. The aircraft did enter the Alaska Air Defense Identification Zone, a stretch of mostly international airspace some 200 nautical miles off the Alaskan coast.

The flight occurred as several large-scale military training exercises are taking place in and around Alaska, NORAD said in a statement.

Activity in the Alaska ADIZ occurs regularly and is not viewed as a threat.

NORAD remains ready to employ a number of response options in defense of North America, the agency said in a statement.

This is the second time in the last several days that NORAD has responded to Russian aircraft in the area. On May 11, U.S. fighter jets intercepted several Russian aircraft that included TU-95 bombers, IL-78 tankers and SU-35 fighter jets flying near Alaska.

Mondays detection was at least the fourth one in 2023. The previous incidents happened on consecutive days in February. Military officials at the time said the Russian planes were in no way related to incidents in which U.S. fighter jets shot down a Chinese surveillance balloon or multiple unidentified objects over U.S. and Canadian airspace.
DALLAS (Tribune News Service)  Dr. Brian Williams, the trauma surgeon whose profile grew in 2016 after treating Dallas police officers ambushed by a sniper, has launched his campaign to replace Colin Allred in Congress.

Ive always responded during times of crisis, Williams said in an interview Tuesday with The Dallas Morning News. I did as a veteran. I did as a trauma surgeon, and, now, with all the intersecting crises occurring, I feel that its time for me to take my experience and expertise to Congress.

Williams said, if elected, he would seek solutions to curb mass shootings and promote gun safety. He said hes also concerned with protecting reproductive rights for women and healing an environment affected by climate change.

There is a real need for leaders who have frontline experience with the issues that were trying to solve, he said.

Williams will be part of what could be a crowded field to replace Allred, who is not seeking reelection and is instead running for Senate against incumbent Republican Ted Cruz.

State Rep. Julie Johnson, D-Farmers Branch, is expected to announce her campaign after the Texas legislative session concludes on Memorial Day. Dallas City Council member Adam Bazaldua, who represents the South Dallas-anchored District 7, also has been mentioned as a possible contender.

Some Dallas County state representatives who could make strong candidates have not publicly expressed interest in running to replace Allred. They include state Reps. Victoria Neave Criado of Dallas, Ana-Maria Ramos of Richardson and Rhetta Andrews Bowers of Rowlett.

In 2021, Texas lawmakers revamped the once right-leaning district to make it more favorable for a Democratic Party candidate.

Williams, 53, said his life and professional experiences make him an ideal choice for the district, which includes North Dallas and the northeast suburbs.

Depending on the final composition of the field, Williams could have a challenge raising money and does not have the name recognition of the elected officials who could jump into the contest.

He told The News that he has a rock star campaign team and would raise the money needed to mount a winning campaign.

Formerly a Dallas trauma surgeon, Williams has had an unlikely path to politics.

In July 2016, he was in charge of Parkland Memorial Hospitals trauma room when victims of the shooting in downtown Dallas arrived. Seven of the 14 wounded officers were treated at his hospital, and three of them died. Five officers died as a result of the ambush.

Days after treating the fallen police officers, Williams discussed how issues of race and policing that evolved from the ambush were much more complicated for him.

I understand the anger and frustration with law enforcement. But they are not the problem, said Williams, who is Black, at a news conference.

I want the Dallas police officers to see me, a Black man. I support you. I will defend you. I will care for you. That doesnt mean I do not fear you, he added.

His remarks put him at the center of a national debate on the relationship between police and Black men. And it fueled his desire to promote gun safety policies.

Then-Mayor Mike Rawlings asked Williams to be the chair of a city board that provides oversight to the Police Department.

After that, Williams pushed for gun safety on Capitol Hill, including working as an adviser for Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn. His last job in Washington was as an adviser on such issues for Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and the former House speaker.

There are too many young people dead on arrival from gun violence, and Ive talked to too many parents, watching them in anguish when I tell them the news, he said. I realize that the solutions to the problems that I was dealing with in the operating room exist outside of the hospital, so I sought service in the community.

Williams said that service sets him apart from the elected leaders that he could face in the primary. Hes making his first run for public office.

An Air Force veteran, he worked as an aeronautical engineer for six years before going to medical school at the University of South Florida and completing a general surgery residency at Harvard Medical School. He trained at the Brigham and Womens Hospital in Boston and at Emory University Hospital in Atlanta before moving to Dallas in 2010. He was assistant professor of surgery at UT Southwestern Medical Center.

Married with a daughter and two dogs, Williams did a stint in Chicago as a trauma surgeon before returning to Dallas.

Voters understand that, in the midst of this crisis, we need leaders going to Washington that have frontline experience dealing with these tragedies, he said.

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WASHINGTON  More than 250,000 claims from veterans for PACT Act benefits have been processed by the Department of Veterans Affairs since the law was enacted, agency officials told House lawmakers on Tuesday.

At this time across the agency, it has truly been an all-hands-on-deck effort to prepare for and execute on the delivery of the PACT Act, the VAs Undersecretary for Benefits Joshua Jacobs told members of a House Committee on Veterans Affairs subpanel.

The law, signed by President Joe Biden on Aug. 10, 2022, is called the Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson Honoring Our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics Act of 2022, or PACT Act.

The law seeks to provide an easy path to health care and benefits for veterans who served near open-air burn pits, which were used throughout the 1990s and the post-9/11 wars to dispose of garbage, jet fuel and other materials. Veterans diagnosed with cancer, respiratory issues and lung disease at young ages have blamed exposure to the toxic fumes from these pits, but the VA contended for years that there wasnt sufficient evidence to support their claims.

Since the law went into effect in August, Jacobs said the department has received nearly 575,000 claims and with about 280,000 claims completed. According to the departments PACT Act performance dashboard, 251,584 claims have been processed with an 80% approval rating as of May 12.

The law also improves the VAs workforce and claims processing to speed up efforts to meet the needs of veterans and establish 31 new VA health care facilities in 19 states. Additionally, it expands health care eligibility to post-9/11 combat veterans and adds 23 conditions related to burn pits and other toxic exposures to the VAs list of service presumptions.

However, some lawmakers had concerns about VA employee training, the departments community outreach and how claims move through the system.

Rep. Morgan Luttrell, R-Texas, a former Navy SEAL and chairman of the House VA Committees Subpanel on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs, Oversight, said he is concerned about employees not learning from their mistakes made if the claim moves up the chain of command but never comes back to the original person who started the processing.

That seems like we can tweak that a bit and make it more advantageous, he said.

Jacobs said he has asked for wholesale review with the goal to have an answer to Luttrells by the end of the year.

I can appreciate the challenge of trying to get something done in a short window, but I hate to think that if we wait until the end of the calendar year, how many claims will have issues, Luttrell responded. I would ask the department to move on this hurriedly. I just want to make sure we up here and the department are doing what they need to be doing in order to prevent this.

The VA has been encouraging all veterans and survivors of toxic exposure to file a claim for PACT Act related benefits. Department officials said there is an upcoming deadline on Aug. 9. Most veterans who file a claim, or submit their intent to file a claim, before Aug. 10, 2023, will have their benefits, if granted, backdated to Aug. 10, 2022, when Biden signed the act into law.
(Tribune News Service)  A veteran who speaks to classes about his military service overseas has found that talking to students helps him manage his post-traumatic stress disorder.

Luke Wolfe, who served as a photographer in the Vietnam War from 1968-69, has spoken to Bonita Cothren's sixth grade class at Union Hill School for three years now, most recently on Monday.

"Years ago, I wouldn't tell you a thing," Wolfe said. "I wouldn't talk about it. I just couldn't."

Wolfe has only started to share his memories of the war in the past 12 years, said his wife, Linda. While in Vietnam, Luke served in the First Air Cavalry and earned a Purple Heart.

In the classroom, he shared stories of his encounters with the Viet Cong guerrilla force shooting from the trees, how he believed the Agent Orange defoliant used by the U.S. military affected him and how Americans treated him upon his return. But he also shared memories of friendships he made in the jungle and seeing tigers, elephants and snakes.

"For the longest time, I didn't want to tell anybody anything," Luke said. "Because we were (treated as) a disgrace to the American people."

An Ohio native, Luke volunteered to go to Vietnam when he was 21 years old. He spent 90 minutes Monday sharing his memories with students and answering their questions. He brought books filled with photographs, many of which he took during his time there, and military-issued currency from his time there.

"He really gets joy out of these kids actually paying attention," Linda said. "I think that's a salve to the wounds. They're interested in knowing what went on, and the life that (he) had to live while (he was) over there."

Linda has worked as a substitute teacher in the Morgan County Schools system for 10 years  it's how she connected her husband to Cothren.

"Every year, the kids are just on pins and needles," Cothren said. "They're engaged. It makes learning more meaningful."

In total, Luke spent 24 1/2 years in the military and said sharing his stories with students helps him through some of the PTSD, a condition he also discusses with students. Linda believed that his PTSD worsened 12 years ago when their son committed suicide.

"I think that trauma brought his PTSD to the forefront," Linda said. "Because then it was really, really bad after that. I guess the trauma of that brought those memories forward."

Cothren taught two of the Wolfes' great-grandchildren, Brayden and Kara Seals, and said having a family connection made the history feel closer to home.

"It makes it not so much history, but 'Wow, this really happened,'" Cothren said. "They've just been waiting for two weeks for (him) to get here, because the things they read in the textbook, the videos that they watch, none of that is as important as your story."

Linda, who worked in the civil service for 33 years, said Luke's thinking of his great-granddaughter, Kara, helped him open up.

"I think he wanted to share some of that with her," Linda said. "That was important to be able to tell her what had happened and what he went through."

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The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has changed the title of Al-Qadir Trust case to National Crime Agency 190m Scandal, summoning Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan on May 18.

Last week, courts provided "blanket relief" to the PTI chief following his arrest by NAB in the case with both the Supreme Court declaring his custody by the anti-corruption body "illegal".

In a notice on Tuesday, the anti-graft body sought details of the United Kingdoms National Crime Agency (NCA) 2019 probe into assets worth 190 million from the ousted premier.

Moreover, NAB has directed Khan to bring along details regarding the NCA investigation and all documents related to the Al-Qadir University including land papers, trust deeds and bank statements.

The anti-corruption watchdog also warned the PTI chief of legal action in case of non-compliance with the summon.

The sources close to the probe, when speaking with The News, said the British government had uncovered a whopping 140 million in an account owned by an individual, who is a renowned Pakistani real estate tycoon's son, and his wife from 2018 to 2019.
The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Wednesday extended its order barring authorities from arresting former prime minister and PTI Chairman Imran Khan in cases  including those that are undisclosed  registered across the country until May 31.

Imrans lawyer, Barrister Gohar, additional attorney general and advocate general appeared before court.

During the course of the proceedings, the governments lawyer requested more time from court to provide information about the cases filed against the PTI chairman.

The court accepted the request and adjourned the hearing until May 31.

Meanwhile, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief and former prime minister Imran Khan on Wednesday moved to Islamabad High Court (IHC) seeking exemption from appearance in multiple cases.

Imran Khans interim bail will be heard today at 3:30pm. IHC Justice Miangul Hasan Aurangzeb will conduct the hearing.

In his plea, the former PM stated that PDM parties held a protest outside the Supreme Court so there could be a law and order situation if he [PTI chief] joins the hearing today.

The former prime minister has requested the court to grant him exemption from appearance in the interim bail case as he is consulting different forums for seeking bail on the courts orders.

Former prime minister and PTI Chairman Imran Khan was arrested by National Accountability Bureau (NAB) in the Al-Qadir Trust case on Tuesday.

The PTI chief was taken into custody by Rangers personnel, who were acting on the National Accountability Bureaus (NAB) warrant, from the premises of Islamabad High Court where the former premier had gone to seek bail in multiple cases registered against him.

Later on, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) termed the arrest of the former premier and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman legal.

Chief Justice of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) Justice Aamer Farooq heard the petition challenging PTI chiefs arrest. The court also issued contempt court notices to Interior Secretary and IG Islamabad.
The interim Punjab government has given a 24-hour deadline to the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) to hand over the "30-40 terrorists that have taken refuge" at the former prime minister's Zaman Park residence in Lahore to the police.

PTI should handover these terrorists or the law will take its course, said Caretaker Information Minister Aamir Mir while addressing a press conference in Lahore. He also added that the government was aware about the presence of these "terrorists" as it had credible intelligence reports.

"The intelligence report that has come is very alarming," said Mir. He added that the agencies were able to confirm the presence of the "terrorists" in Zaman Park through geo-fencing.

PTI is starting to behave like a non-state actor, said Mir. He added that the PTI chief has been targeting the military since over a year and urged the party to hand over the terrorists.

"The PTI leadership had planned the attack before the arrest [of Imran Khan]," said Mir.

The interim information minister shared that attacks on military installations were carried out during May 09 violent protests under a set plan, adding that the government has adopted a zero tolerance policy" towards it and interim Chief Minister Mohsin Naqvi has given a freehand to the Punjab Police to deal with arsonists.

Multiple people were in touch with Zaman Park during the attack on the Corps Commander House. They will be made an example so that no one will carry out such an act in the future, said Mir.

The interim information minister also shared that it has been decided that those who attacked military installations will be tried in military courts.

"Those who have been arrested so far are being fully scrutinised. Cases are being forwarded after 100% confirmation [of their involvement]," said Mir.

The minister added that the "PTI miscreants" crossed a "red line" on May 9. He added that over 3,400 attackers have been arrested and 254 cases have been registered.

Out of those, 795 attackers have been identified and 78 have been physically remanded. He added that 906 miscreants have been judicially remanded while the arrest of other miscreants is ongoing.

"Those who challenged the writ of the state will be made to run in such a way that they will be able to participate in the Olympics," said Mir.

He claimed that the attack could have been easily prevented, but the caretaker CM had barred the Punjab Police from using weapons. He backed his statement by saying that the caretaker government was avoiding bloodshed in the province.
KYODO NEWS - May 17, 2023 - 08:04 | World, All, G7

U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres will visit Hiroshima to attend events related to the upcoming Group of Seven summit in the western Japanese city, the world body said Tuesday.

Guterres will leave New York on Wednesday and meet with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on the sidelines of the three-day leaders' meeting of the G-7 industrialized nations that runs from Friday to Sunday, the United Nations said.

On Saturday, the secretary general will take part in meetings discussing how to help improve financial systems affecting developing countries and the fight against climate change, among other topics.

He will hold a press conference on Sunday.
Otis Thomas (29) is accused of hitting the woman on the head, leaving her with a cut that had to be glued closed by doctors

Otis Thomas of Turnpike, Santry Cross, is alleged to have hit his ex in the head with a bottle

A man knocked his ex-partner unconscious with a vodka bottle after twice trying to choke her in a home invasion at her flat, it is alleged.

Otis Thomas (29) is accused of hitting the woman on the head, leaving her with a cut that had to be glued closed by doctors.

He is facing trial after a judge ruled the allegations were too serious to be dealt with at district court level.

Judge John King adjourned the case at Dublin District Court for the preparation of a book of evidence.

Otis Thomas

Mr Thomas, of The Turnpike, Santry Cross, is charged with assault causing harm to the woman at her home on December 18 last year.

Garda Sergeant Niall Murphy said the DPP was consenting to the case being dealt with at district court level subject to the issue of jurisdiction being considered.

Outlining the prosecution allegations, he said the incident happened at the Dublin home of the accuseds ex partner at 3am.

It was alleged Mr Thomas pushed in the door of the flat, shouted and started to choke her, causing her to fall.

According to the prosecution, he then went to the kitchen and got an empty vodka bottle, went back to his ex and again tried to choke her.

Otis Thomas

She began struggling and he allegedly hit her on the back of the head with the bottle, knocking her unconscious.

The woman suffered a cut to the back of her head which had to be glued closed.

Judge King said it was an alleged home invasion where Mr Thomas was accused of trying to choke the woman twice and hitting her on the back of the head with a bottle.

He refused jurisdiction and remanded the accused on continuing bail to a date next month.

Mr Thomas will be sent for trial to Dublin Circuit Criminal Court when a book of evidence is ready.

The judge granted free legal aid following an application by the defence.
The judge imposed a four-month sentence suspended on the condition James Heffernan did not re-offend for 18 months.

A FORMER senator was arrested three times in 24 hours for public order offences in Dublin after a failed bid to enter his name as a candidate for a Seanad by-election, a judge has heard.

James Heffernan, 43, shouted profanities at a Trinity College Dublin (TCD) security man, gave bar staff the finger when refused service, and kicked and lashed out at gardai before calling them c***s and paedos, Dublin District Court was told yesterday.

Heffernan, with an address at Main Street, Kilfinane, Co. Limerick, was found guilty of obstruction, being intoxicated to the extent he was a danger to himself and others, and using threatening and abusive words or behaviour with intent to provoke a breach of the peace during incidents on February 12 and February 13, 2022.

Judge John Cheatle imposed a four-month sentence suspended on the condition Heffernan did not re-offend for 18 months.

He had 33 prior convictions: 14 under the Public Order Act, three assaults, thefts including burglary, and road traffic offences.

Heffernan, who contested the charges, told the court he had been in Dublin on February 12 on business to hand in nomination papers to run in the Seanad by-election in TCD, but they were not accepted.

Garda Thomas McConville encountered the former politician around 5 pm, highly intoxicated, unsteady on his feet, abusing and shouting profanities at a TCD security man.

That night, Garda Seamus Barry had been dealing with a violent individual on the ground in Crown Alley in Temple Bar at about 1.25 am.

He suddenly felt a liquid pour over his back. He turned, and Heffernan was holding a plastic container which he had discarded.

Garda Barry said the man he was arresting was screaming obscenities but was not asking for help.

Garda Joe OConnor witnessed it and spoke to the accused, who was intoxicated and almost immediately began abusing gardai, calling them c**** and paedos. He began to kick and shout as he was handcuffed and arrested for the second time.

He said there was no CCTV footage from the Old Storehouse near the incident.

Their cameras did not point at the scene.

The defence argued that other cameras should have been checked.

Heffernan claimed the man under arrest was gasping and could not breathe, and he spoke to gardai about it.

However, he denied pouring the drink on the garda or shouting verbal abuse.

Garda Barry said at 5.30 pm that day, he met the accused unsteady on his feet at Jervis Street, and there was a strong smell of intoxicating liquor from Heffernan, who gave the middle finger to staff in TP Smiths pub.

The court heard he had been refused service after entering with an opened tin of the non-alcoholic energy drink Monster.

He denied that he had been drinking alcohol earlier.

Heffernan told the court he understood pub etiquette and finished the Monster drink outside.

However, he claimed he was refused service without a valid reason when he re-entered the pub to order a hot whiskey.

He admitted he had been dishevelled and sleeping rough the night before.

Defence counsel Maeve MacCabe submitted that Heffernans behaviour was rude and annoying but not threatening, and one out of six charges was dismissed.

Pleading for leniency, counsel said Heffernan had a spectacular fall from grace.

He was halfway through a community and addiction studies degree course at the Technological University of the Shannon.

He had been diagnosed as bipolar and completed treatment for alcohol addiction, and having battled his demons now helps other people battle theirs.

Garda OConnor spoke up for him and said he now looked like a different person.

Heffernan, a qualified primary school teacher, and an ex-member of Limerick Co Council, was elected for Labour to the 24th Seanad in 2011.

He lost the party whip the following year when he voted against budget cuts.

He joined the Social Democrats in 2015 but was an unsuccessful candidate for the party in the 2016 general election.
He is accused of failing to notify gardai of a change to his home address on April 2 last.

A convicted rapist and senior associate of the Kinahan crime gang has appeared in court for breaching the Sex Offenders Act.

Dublin man Barry Finnegan (42) was brought before a sitting of the Dublin District Court on Tuesday evening.

He is accused of failing to notify gardai of a change to his home address on April 2 last.

The offence he is charged with is contrary to Section 12 of the Sex Offenders Act 2001.

A person guilty of an offence under that section is liable, on summary conviction, to a fine of up to 1,500 or a maximum sentence of 12 months' imprisonment.

Finnegan, of Hardwicke Street in Dublin 1, has a previous conviction for rape under the Criminal Law (Rape) (Amendment) Act 1990.

Garda Shane McGrath, of Mountjoy Garda Station, gave evidence of arrest, charge and caution to Judge John Cheatle.

The accused was subsequently granted bail subject to a number of conditions.

These include that he signs on at a garda station three times a week, surrender his passport, provide gardai with a phone number, and abide by a curfew.

It is understood he was recently refused leave to land in Turkey because of his sexual offending convictions and subsequently returned to Dublin via Belfast.

Finnegan was brought before the Criminal Courts of Justice this evening after being questioned over the murder of the 'The Monk's brother.

Gerry Hutch's brother Eddie, who was shot dead in 2016

Eddie 'Neddy' Hutch, the older brother of Gerard, was shot dead outside his inner-city home in February 2016.

Finnegan was detained last Friday by detectives investigating that murder and held under Section 50 of the Criminal Justice Act, 2007.

He was subsequently released without charge and a file will be prepared for the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).

Finnegan has also previously described in the High Court by the Criminal Assets Bureau as a "senior member of the Kinahan Organised Crime Group".
The 1.4 million case included Chesnut Lodge at Garristown where his mother Julie Conway and her partner, ex-garda David OBrien, live.

FAMILY members of the Kinahan Cartels No1 man in Ireland, Ross Browning, have been given two months to leave the properties bought with his drugs money.

The 1.4 million case included Brownings luxury home along with Chesnut Lodge at Garristown where his mother Julie Conway and her partner, ex-garda David OBrien, live.

Judge Alex Owens was told at a Criminal Assets Bureau hearing today a letter had been handed personally to Ms Conway and another was left there for Mr OBrien.

The judge previously said that notice must be given to people who still live in the CAB-targeted properties before the houses can be seized.

Counsel for the couple said they accepted the property had to be surrendered and asked to be allowed until 31 July to vacate.

Judge Owens said in light of the fact they are co-operating" he would give the necessary time to make arrangements.

Julie Conway and former detective Dave Rocky OBriens wedding

However, counsel for CAB asked for a sooner date to allow the case to be mentioned on 19 July if any issues arose.

He ordered the property to be vacated before 10am on 17 July and appointed a receiver to take charge of Chesnut Lodge.

He made a similar order for a property on Deanstown Avenue in Finglas which has to be handed over to the receiver on the following day.

Browning didnt challenge the CAB case against him for his own home at Garristown which were deemed the proceeds of crime last February.

The CAB case centred on Brownings luxury house and compound along with a renovated cottage on the property at Garristown.

Kinahan cartel mobsters mum weds former top detective as CAB closes in on property and cash

Read more Face of rapist and senior Kinahan associate in court over alleged Sex Offenders Act breach

Paddocks and an indoor show-jumping arena were built as well as the completely renovated cottage now called Chestnut Lodge.

Browning, who is originally from Hardwicke Street in the north inner-city, was previously described in court as the Kinahan Cartels No.1 man in Ireland.

He had been part of the Kinahan gang well before the Hutch Kinahan feud started, having come to garda attention during Operation Shovel in 2010.

He was one of several people arrested, including Christy Kinahan sr and his sons Daniel and Christy jr, in the multinational police operation aimed at the gang, but which ultimately failed.

The Ross Browning property at Garristown, Co Dublin

Browning was previously described by CAB this as being at the heart of a 1billion crime gang and was the Kinahan Cartels principal representative in Ireland.

In his February judgement Judge Owens said that although Brownings name was not on the properties they were controlled by him, his partner Sinead Mulhall and his mother Julie Conway.

Browning tried to disguise his drug money in Ireland through his family members who in return enjoyed his generosity when it came to cars, jewellery and travel.

Ross Browning

While Browning did not contest the case, members of his family denied CABs claim and said that money used came from legitimate sources.

The case also revealed how his cousin convicted drug smuggler Ian OHeaire, had taken part in what was described as a money-laundering exercise by buying the house from Brownings now deceased grandfather William Conway.

The case highlighted how fitness fanatic Browning used the convicted drug mule as a link-man to Mr Flashys feuding Gucci Gang

OHeaire acted as a link between him and the notorious Gucci Gang.

The mob, based in West Dublin, is headed up by a young criminal known as Mr Flashy and have been responsible for a wave of violence.
Cocaine dealer Tony McInerney was jailed for 12 years in May 2021

A drug dealer at the "top of the pyramid" of the west coast's drug scene who was caught red-handed running a "cocaine factory" has had his jail-time cut by two years on appeal.

Cocaine dealer Tony McInerney was jailed for 12 years by Judge Brian O'Callaghan at Ennis Circuit Criminal Court in May 2021 after he was caught "red-handed" mixing cocaine when gardai raided a property outside Ennis, Co Clare.

McInerney (27) pleaded guilty to possession of cocaine for sale or supply at Kilfilum, Ennis, Co Clare, on September 23, 2020, and to possessing crime cash on the same date.

Judge OCallaghan imposed an 11-year prison term for the Section 15 (a) Misuse of Drugs Act offence and a further imposed a three-year jail term to run consecutively to the 11 years for the possession of 4,500, the proceeds of criminal conduct, contrary to Section 7 of the Criminal Justice (Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing) Act 2010.

Judge O'Callaghan then suspended the final two years of the cash charge against the father-of-two.

The judge said McInerney, of Glenina, Gort Road, Ennis, had "inflicted untold harm, destruction, pain and suffering on not just the people of Clare but people in this society in general through his criminal dirty drug-dealing activities.

McInerney's legal team appealed the sentence, arguing that the headline, pre-mitigation sentence of 14 years on the drugs charge was too high and that the two sentences should have run concurrently.

His lawyers also argued that not enough weight in mitigation had been given to his guilty pleas and to his expression of remorse.

At the Court of Appeal yesterday, Mr Justice George Birmingham said the three-judge court would quash the original sentence and re-sentence McInerney to a total of 10 years' imprisonment with no portion of either sentence suspended.

Mr Justice Birmingham said gardai obtained a search warrant for an address at Kilfilum - a residence with an attached garage - and discovered that cocaine was being prepared by three people, one of whom was the appellant.

Gardai told the sentencing court that McInerney was wearing orange gloves and had a bag of cocaine in his hand at the time of the raid.

Gardai also found mixing agents, tubs, bags, a weighing scale, a knife, a blender and 2.5K in cash used to rent the garage. The value of the cocaine was estimated at just over 50K.

A follow-up search at a property in Quin, Co Clare, yielded a further 2K.

Mr Justice Birmingham said McInerney had a previous drugs conviction from 2013 - for which he received a suspended sentence - when a firearms offence relating to a pipe-bomb was taken into account.

The sentencing court heard from gardai that McInerney, who was unemployed and not on social welfare, had been the target of the search by gardai in Clare.

Mr Justice Birmingham said the trial judge viewed the two offences as "standalone, separate and distinct offences that were unrelated" when he imposed consecutive sentences.

Mr Justice Birmingham said the three-judge court was in disagreement with the trial judge regarding consecutive sentences being "either required or appropriate".

The judge said the cash found in McInerney's possession "was there to facilitate the drug activity", which was a "pattern of ongoing activity interrupted by gardai". Mr Justice Birmingham said the cash was an "intrical part of the operation and not separate to drug-dealing".

However, the judge said that the appellant's claim he did not get enough credit for his guilty plea had "no merit" and noted that McInerney already had a previous drug possession conviction when he was caught "red-handed" at the garage.

Mr Justice Birmingham said the headline sentence of 14 years was "certainly high relative to other similar sentences" and set 12 years as a new headline sentence before reducing that to 10 years' imprisonment with no part suspended.

Mr Justice Birmingham said the court would remove the suspended portion of the three-year crime cash sentence and amend it to run concurrently to the drugs jail-term, leaving McInerney with a 10-year sentence back-dated to September 23, 2020, when he was first taken into custody.

At his sentence hearing, a remorseful letter from McInerney was read out apologising for his actions and to his family. However, Judge OCallaghan said there was "not one word in the letter about the hundreds of people whose lives he has destroyed throughout his criminal activity.

Judge OCallaghan said there are people in hospital and in the graveyards of this country because of his actions and of his colleagues - his buddies - so called drug lords. The use of the word lord is an insult. They are drug thieves and criminals.

Judge OCallaghan described Mr McInerney as a major player in the dirty drugs business in Clare.

Judge OCallaghan said McInerney had been caught red-handed at the cocaine factory and high-end sophisticated cocaine distribution centre" that was in operation at a house in Spancilhill.

Detective Garda Paul Heaslip told the sentencing judge that McInerney is at the top of the pyramid of the Clare drug scene and had been a target of the divisional drugs unit.
Ms Murphy was fatally assaulted while jogging along a stretch of the Grand Canal just outside Tullamore

The Central Criminal Court trial of a 32-year-old man accused of murdering school teacher Ashling Murphy in Offaly last year, which was due to begin next month (June), has been postponed until the autumn.

Jozef Puska, with an address listed as Lynally Grove, Mucklagh, Co Offaly, is charged with murdering the 23-year-old primary school teacher at Cappincur, Tullamore, Co Offaly, on January 12, 2022.

Ms Murphy was fatally assaulted while jogging along a stretch of the Grand Canal just outside Tullamore known as Fiona's Way, in memory of missing woman Fiona Pender.

Mr Puska, who was present in court this morning was due to go on trial at the Central Criminal Court on June 7 of this year in a case expected to last three weeks.

However, Ms Anne Marie Lawlor SC, prosecuting, informed Mr Justice Paul McDermott today that, as the State had received an expert report from the defence, the prosecution would require time to respond and obtain a further report.

Jozef Puska

Ms Lawlor asked for the trial date of June 7 to be vacated and for the matter to be listed for trial on the first day of the Michaelmas term on October 2 next.

Mr Michael Bowman SC, representing Mr Puska, said the defence could not stand in the way of the prosecution's application.

Ms Lawlor said the offence concerned the alleged murder of a very young woman, that her family had expected the case to proceed in June and that they were very keen for the matter to proceed "in early course".

Mr Bowman said he believed the evidence in the trial would take three weeks. Ms Lawlor said pre-trial issues would take a week.

Jozef Puska to go on trial in June accused of murdering school teacher Ashling Murphy

Ashling Murphy murder accuseds legal aid extended so defence can obtain expert reports from UK

Asked by Mr Justice McDermott if there was any prospect of attaining "an earlier report," Ms Lawlor said there was not. The lawyer said the State needed to identify an appropriate expert to conduct the report, which should be completed by the middle or end of July.

The case is to be mentioned again at the Central Criminal Court on July 21 to assign a pre-trial management date. The judge also fixed a new trial date of October 2, 2023.

Mr Justice McDermott agreed to a request from the defence to renew an application for a Slovakian interpreter for the new trial date of October 2 next.

Ms Murphy, a talented Traditional Irish musician and recent graduate from Mary Immaculate College in Limerick, was working as a teacher at Durrow National School at the time of her death.
Citizens handle business at Shanghai's Pilot Free Trade Zone Lingang Special Area in east China's Shanghai, May 12, 2023. (Xinhua/Ma Ning)

by Xinhua writers Ye Ting, Gong Wen, Li Ming

SHANGHAI, May 16 (Xinhua) -- Shanghai had issued a total of 4,163 special credit reports for enterprises as of April 30, replacing some 74,000 proofs of no illegal record. The streamlined application process effectively saves manpower, material and time for enterprises.

Starting from March 1, Shanghai-based enterprises only need to log into a designated website and get a copy of an automatically generated credit report, which will state that the company has no law violations during the selected time period.

Enterprises will be able to issue special credit reports on their own to prove whether they have any violations in 41 categories within the administrative regions of Shanghai.

The first batch of 23 categories has been in effect from this March, and includes market supervision, ecological environment, urban management, and transportation, while the other 18 categories will be implemented from January 2024 onwards, according to Liu Yanhao, deputy director of the Shanghai Municipal Bureau of Justice.

The report can be used in multiple scenarios. Enterprises with plans for listing, mergers and acquisitions, applying for bank loans, applying for preferential policies, among others, no longer need to submit repeated certification applications and visit multiple administrative bodies.

"From learning how to apply online and select the time range and field that requires certification, we received an automatically generated special credit report in less than half an hour, which was very efficient," said a director of the test department of an enterprise specializing in genetic medicine.

With simplified report application, enterprises can focus more on business development. Some representatives from securities and law firms believe that compared to certificates issued by grassroots law enforcement agencies, the special credit report records offer more comprehensive and detailed information on violations, which is more helpful in accessing enterprises.

The rule of law delivers a great business environment. Shanghai keeps optimizing the business environment through multiple preferential policies. Since 2019, Shanghai has been exploring the options of imposing no administrative penalties for minor violations, and regular upgrading and improvement of the list of violations, which allows more companies to operate and invest in Shanghai with peace of mind.

"In the process of business operations and development, companies are inevitably prone to inadvertent mistakes, such as minor violations and irregularities in product labeling and publicity, which can be immediately corrected after being discovered," said Xiao Aoshuang, head of external affairs of Dyson Greater China.

"We are pleased that the government has heard the voices of enterprises and helps them correct their mistakes in a timely manner through criticism, interviews, and admonitions, rather than punishing them directly," said Xiao.

The continuous optimization of the business environment, especially the legal and regulatory aspects, has injected confidence into foreign companies to take root in China.

The actual use of foreign investment in Shanghai in the first quarter of 2023 reached 7.8 billion U.S. dollars, up 28.1 percent year on year. A total of 907 regional headquarters of multinational corporations and 538 foreign-invested research and development centers are based in Shanghai, according to Zhang Guohua, deputy director of the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Commerce.

Favorable government services underline Shanghai's resolve to create a first-class business environment. The Shanghai Global Investment Promotion Conference 2023, held in April, witnessed 26 major projects represented by biomedicine, artificial intelligence and digital economy signed on the spot, with a total investment of 67.4 billion yuan (about 9.7 billion U.S. dollars). More and more Chinese and overseas companies are expanding business in Shanghai. 
It is estimated that the gang made more than 200k for facilitating the Syrian nationals over a 16-day period

Two gangsters who were involved in smuggling more than 40 Syrian nationals into the UK through Dublin and Belfast have be jailed.

Mohamed Awad (25) of London, was sentenced to two years and eight months at Laganside Crown Court, Belfast yesterday for his part in facilitating the unlawful immigration of 41 Syrian nationals.

His co-accused, Ahmad Omar (40) from Belfast, was jailed for two years in March for his role as a paid driver in the criminal organisation.

An investigation by the Home Offices Criminal and Financial Investigations (CFI) unit revealed how the international smuggling gang they worked for were charging migrants around 5,000 per journey.

It is estimated that the gang made more than 200,000 for facilitating the Syrian nationals into the UK over a single 16-day period in November 2021.

The gang provided false identity documents and arranged flights from Belfast to Britain to facilitate the illegal entry of the migrants through abuse of the Common Travel Area between Ireland and Northern Ireland.

Read more Gangland thug exacts violent prison revenge on crazed killer James McVeigh

Awad who was the person responsible for arranging the flights, was described as a highly trusted operator within the organised crime group.

Awad, of Chaplin Road in London, was among three men arrested in March of last year as part of a major Home Office investigation.

At a previous court hearing, Prosecution barrister Connel Trainor said the authorities were alerted to an illicit operation where Syrian nationals paid to be smuggled across the continent.

Between November 2021 and February 2022 gang members provided the necessary identity documents, hotel accommodation and flight bookings.

A previous court heard more than 40 Syrians are believed to have been brought into Britain during one three-week period.

But Mr Trainor submitted: "This organised crime group is believed responsible for hundreds of facilitation events into the UK within a short period of time."

Mohamed Awad

Awad was first detained in November 2021 after arriving at Belfast International Airport on a flight from London Gatwick.

Police seized his phone, along with 5,500 and 1,000 in cash believed to be linked to criminal activity

The defendants both later pleaded guilty to assisting unlawful immigration after they were arrested. A sum of 8,000 in cash and a Nissan Juke were also seized after officers from the Home Offices Immigration Enforcement, along with Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI), carried out search warrants at addresses in Belfast and London on 10 March 2022.

The Cross Border Joint Agency Taskforce enables the British and Irish governments to work closely to disrupt organised crime groups and tackle organised immigration crime, modern slavery and human trafficking.

Ben Thomas, Deputy Director from the Criminal and Financial Investigation unit, said: We are committed to dismantling people-smuggling networks, and will stop at nothing to bring them to justice.

We would like to thank our policing partners in Northern Ireland who assisted us in this investigation. We will continue to work closely with them to save lives and ensure that people smugglers face the consequences of their despicable crimes.
Debt collector in court with his wife to hear judge put back his trial again

The founder of a well-known debt collection agency has had his trial on a charge of making a threat to kill delayed again  more than two years after it was originally sent forward for trial.

The case against Martin Foley, with an address in Crumlin, Dublin, was originally sent forward for trial in January 2021.

Foley appeared before Judge James McCourt at Wexford Circuit Court last Tuesday where his case which is expected to take between three and five days to hear  had been listed for trial.

But, as had been the case on a number of previous occasions, the court was told the matter was not ready to proceed.

Martin Foley denies making any threats to kill

Foley (68) stands accused that on June 17, 2020, at Holly Walk, Cromwellsfort Grove, Wexford, he threatened to kill or cause serious harm to Nigel Doonan.

The charge is contrary to section 5 of the Non-fatal Offences Act 1997.

Foley is contesting the charge.

During last Tuesdays call-over of the list, legal counsel for Foley said her client was present in court but, she understood, the matter was not ready to proceed as there was issue relating to outstanding disclosure of evidence.

She said she had inquired earlier on Tuesday when disclosure of the evidence sought would become available and had been informed by the prosecution they had no firm date as of yet.

Prosecution counsel said the defences submission was that they had requested disclosure of the evidence sought in September 2021.

Martin Foley

She said it was her understanding that the prosecution had not received the letter in question.

However, she said the issue had been raised again in the past couple of weeks.

Judge McCourt told the prosecutor the trial had been around a few times now  but said, in the circumstances, he would adjourn it again for mention on June 7. He excused Foley, who was present in court with his wife Sonia, from attending on that date.

Mr Foley is the founder of a well-known debt collection agency in the capital.

He set up the company on November 18, 2004, at which time his profession was described in company documents as a sale rep.

The company identified its purpose as the provision of debt recovery and repossession services and to carry out all activities in relation to the aforementioned business.

Mr Foley resigned as a director of the company on November 17, 2014. Mr Foleys wife Sonia, who was appointed as a director of the company in October 2008, retains this position.
Many of us over here are sick of you. The flag waving, the ranting and raving. We dont like it, we dont want it. I wish you would go away.

Listeners to BBC Radio Ulsters Nolan Show have shared their mixed reactions on social media after a caller known as Mary, from Nottingham in England, launched an anti-Northern Ireland tirade.

The woman, referring to England and English people, said: Many of us over here [England] are sick of you [NI].

Mary toted and supported the idea of Great Britain (England, Scotland and Wales) having a referendum to get rid of Northern Ireland, saying people from the north sound as if they feel they are entitled to something when complaining about healthcare and the cost of living.

She added: Do they realise how much they are subsidised by people over here [England]?

I would love somebody to do a referendum over here [GB] to see if we want you. Many of us over here are sick of you. The flag waving, the ranting and raving. We dont like it, we dont want it. I wish you would go away.

"Many of us over here are sick of you" - caller Mary in Nottingham says we should get rid of you and wants Great Britain to have a referendum on NI remaining part of the UK



Podcast  @BBCSounds pic.twitter.com/N2lYE5ItZc  The Nolan Show, BBC (@BBCNolan) May 16, 2023

After Nolan challenged Mary, saying she had no right to decide if Northern Ireland should be removed from the UK, Mary responded: My opinion is as valid as yours. I will decide what I like.

She later said: I wish you [NI] would go away I dont believe even the Republic [of Ireland] would want you.

Read more Gangland thug exacts violent prison revenge on crazed killer James McVeigh

On Facebook, William Iam Doherty was keen to point out the vital roles troops from Northern Ireland undertook during two world wars.

Others posted Well said Mary and I totally agree, with the majority of Facebook users backing the caller, while Carolin Stevenson said: Someone educate Mary about the 36th Ulster Division.

The 36th Ulster Division was critical in World War I during the pivotal Battle of the Somme, capturing a long section of the German front line, but suffering heavy losses as a result.

Around 5,500 were killed, wounded or reported missing in two days during the battle, which one historian branded one of the finest displays of human courage in the world.

Josephine Thomas said: Shes right, the English dont want anything to do with us. Lived there, they all think the same, want us out big time.

Meanwhile, on Twitter, one user called Silverback wrote: Marys NOT wrong. England would dump Northern Ireland in a heartbeat and I wouldnt blame her.

Another, Dr Mary Fitzpatrick, said: "Mary going on like we dont pay our taxes.

Mary sounds like she hates cyclists and wants to stop the boats too, wrote Peter T.

He added: A Daily Mail-reading English nationalist who probably thinks the same about the Scots and Welsh.
"Seanie was a gentle giant, always smiling. He was truly one of the best ones. He will be deeply missed."

Father of four Seanie Reilly lost his life tragically in a two vehicle crash

The funeral of a motorcyclist killed in a road crash in Co Longford at the weekend will take place on Saturday, it has been announced.

Father of four Seanie Reilly, Cloonaugh, Drumlish, Longford lost his life tragically in a two vehicle crash at Esker South, Ballinalee, Co Longford last Saturday afternoon.

The much loved and well respected Longford man will be reposing at his home in Cloonaugh, Drumlish, this Thursday from 3pm onwards with a request made for the family home to remain private on Friday.

Removal to Saint Marys Church, Drumlish will take place on Saturday, arriving at 10:30am for Funeral Mass ahead of burial afterwards in Ballymacormack Cemetery, Longford.

A death notice published on RIP.ie said: The death has occurred of Seanie (Bull 1%) Reilly, Cloonaugh, Drumlish, County Longford, tragically, on the 13th of May 2023.

Predeceased by his father John and sister Sharon.

He will be sadly missed by his loving family, wife Sinead, sons Darragh, Darwin & Peter, daughter Katie, his Mammy Mary, brother Gerard, sister Antoinette, brothers-in-law Sean and Noel, sister-in-law Mary, uncles, aunts, nieces, nephews, cousins, his brothers from the Devils Disciples MC Ireland, relatives, Good neighbours, and wide circle of friends.

Originally from Longford town, Mr Reilly was a long time motorbike enthusiast and was well known for his involvement in a number of charity events locally.

Details surrounding the Longford man's tragic passing have sparked poignant tributes across a variety of social media platforms in the days since.

In a heart-breaking post on its Facebook page on Sunday morning, Drumlish Foroige said locals had been left stunned at the tragedy.

"Sending our deepest sympathies to our leader Sinead on the heartbreaking loss of her husband Seanie," read the post.

"To Katie, Darragh, Peter, Seanie's Mother Mary, family and close friends, we are so sorry for your loss, our thoughts are with you all during this hard unbearable time.

"Seanie was a gentle giant, always smiling. He was truly one of the best ones. He will be deeply missed."

In keeping with the auto electrician specialist's endearing personality, many of Seanie's closest friends spoke of a man who touched the hearts and minds of so many.

Among those included a heart-rending tribute from one sympathiser who laid claim to Seanie's other, more affectionate moniker, 'Bull'.

Words cannot describe the shock and the sadness at this time, the friend wrote.

Father of four Seanie Reilly lost his life tragically in a two vehicle crash

You were the best of us, we were the lucky ones, privileged to call you my brother, my friend.

It's hard to believe that when we last shook hands and said our goodbyes that it would be for the last time.

The place just won't be the same without your big smile.

Seanie was also a member of Devils Disciples Motorcycle Club who likewise took to social media to pay their own respects.

It is with great regret that we announce the loss of our brother Seanie (Bull) Reilly who lost his life tragically today, it stated.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to his wife, family, and all his brothers. R.I.P.

A pal told sundayworld.com: Seanie Bull O'Reilly was a proud member of the Devil's Disciples Motorcycle Club Ireland. He will be missed by all his club brothers.

Gardai, meanwhile, are continuing to try to piece together the circumstances which led up to yesterdays crash and have appealed for witnesses to come forward.

Forensic Collision Investigators have conducted an examination of the scene, said a garda spokesperson.

"Gardai are appealing for any witnesses to this collision to come forward.

"Any road users who may have camera footage (including dash-cam) and were travelling in the Esker South area of Ballinalee between 1pm and 1:45pm are asked to make this footage available to Gardai."

Anyone with any information is asked to contact Longford Garda Station on 043 335 0570, the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111, or any garda station.
What will be taught will be respect for yourself, respect for others

Schools will be expected to deliver the new curriculum, although parents will have the right to withdraw their children from a class if they do not agree with the content. Photo: Getty Images   Getty Images/Maskot

Junior Cycle students will not be shown pornography as part of the new Social Personal and Health Education (SPHE) programme, Education Minister Norma Foley said today.

There will be no pornographic material taught or shown in our schools, and pornography will not be taught. What will be taught will be respect for yourself, respect for others, she said.

Ms Foley was commenting after the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) published the specification for the updated programme, which also includes relationships and sexuality education.

Incoming first years in September will be the first to be taught the new syllabus, which has been radically updated to take account of the realities and pressures of the modern world.

Pornography, sexual consent, gender identity and risks associated with vaping and sharing images online are all part of the new course for 12-16 year-olds.

Speaking about the inclusion of porn in the programme, Ms Foley referenced a recent University of Galway study showing that a huge percentage of 10-13-year-olds particularly boys, were accessing pornography on their phones.

She said children needed to be safeguarded and to be able to access information in a safe space with trained professionals, who were doing all they can every single day to mentor to mind and to guide them.

She said they needed to be alerted to issues around pornography, including on their phones, and the guidelines and the curriculum were very clear.

The new programme is being rolled out as a 100-hour short course  about an hour a week of the three years of junior cycle  and, for the first time, student learning in this area will be measured through a classroom-based assessment (CBA) in either second or third year.

Schools will have flexibility around the assessment type, which could take the form of student portfolios or small group projects.

The course aims to promote positive mental health and nurture emotional wellbeing and support students in making healthy choices, understanding themselves and others and learning about relationships and sexuality.

Inclusion is a key theme and the NCCA says the approach is designed to ensure that students can see themselves, their families and their communities reflected across the learning and can learn to value diversity as a feature of humankind and as a source of enrichment.

Throughout the consultations and deliberations on the programme, the issue of gender identity has generated certain controversy, with some opposition to its inclusion.

However, the RSE section says students should be able to appreciate how sexual orientation and gender identity are experienced and expressed in diverse ways.

Schools will be expected to deliver the new curriculum, although parents will have the right to withdraw their children from a class if they do not agree with the content.

Under the heading of Understanding Myself and Others, the NCCA says that students should be able to recognise the factors and influences that shape young peoples self-identity.

It says these factors would include family, peers, culture, gender identity, sexual orientation, race/ethnic background, abilities and disabilities, religious beliefs/ world-views.

Students should also be able to reflect on gender equity and how gender stereotypes affect expectations, behaviour and relationships, the NCCA states.

The Making Healthy Choices section includes supporting students to investigate how unhealthy products such as nicotine, vapes, alcohol, and unhealthy food and drinks are marketed and advertised.

Students will discuss influences around making healthy choices about addictive substances and behaviours, and how harmful influences can be overcome in real-life situations.

Developing skills to navigate the online world is another part of the Making Healthy Choices segment.

Students will explore the benefits and difficulties associated with it, and discuss strategies for dealing with a range of scenarios that might arise.

It will include discussions about how to share personal information, images, opinions and emotions in a safe, responsible and respectful manner.

Students will explore why young people share sexual imagery online, and examine the risks and consequences of doing this.

As well as gender identity, the RSE section covers issues such as the ability to identify signs of healthy, unhealthy and abusive relationships and to appreciate the importance of setting healthy boundaries.

Students will explore the pressures to become sexually intimate and discuss ways to show respect for peoples choices.

They will also be guided to appreciate the importance of seeking, giving and receiving consent in sexual relationships, both from the perspective of building caring relationships and from a legal perspective,

The influence of pornography, on young peoples understanding, expectations and social norms in relation to sexual expression will also be among the topics covered.

Revised and age-appropriate SPHE curricula are being drafted for both Leaving Cert students  due to be rolled out in September 2024  and for primary-school pupils, which is due for implementation in 2025.

Catholic Education Partnership (CEP) chief executive Alan Hynes said Catholic schools would engage positively with the new curriculum.

He said SPHE was an important part of a holistic education, contributing to the wellbeing of young people.

Mr Hynes said Catholic schools would seek to propose the Catholic perspective on the full range of the curriculum, in dialogue and encounter with other points of view.

The CEP would shortly be publishing a draft relationship and sexuality education resource for use in Junior Cycle, which complements and is in line with the NCCAs specification, he added.

Mr Hynes said it would assist Catholic schools in proposing the Catholic view on RSE in a confident and positive manner, while inviting students to engage critically with Catholic teaching and other world-views.

The CEP expressed concerns that teacher confidence and competence was the main barrier to the successful delivery of SPHE.

It called on the Education Minister to work with the education partners to address this significant difficulty.

SPHE teachers are being offered two hours up-skilling, while the Department of Education is also funding a graduate diploma programme for existing SPHE/RSE teachers but there are concerns that this is not enough.
Weather Eye

with John Maunder

Recently on a visit to Melbourne I had lunch with colleagues from the Bureau of Meteorology.

It was suggested that it might be a good idea to rename the title of my last book "Fifteen Shades of Climate" to better reflect its contents.

After seeking advice it appeared to be a good idea and the new title " Climate Change: A Realistic Perspective" has been published by Amazon.

The new book is identical to the old book, with the exception that an Author's Foreword has been included.

The new book will be published by Amazon in a few days. Just Google " Climate Change: A Realistic Perspective" for details.

**********************************************************************

The text of this second edition of "Fifteen Shades of Climate", now renamed "Climate Change : A

Realistic Perspective", is identical, with the exception of this additional Foreword.

Author's Foreword to the Second Edition

Now that I am approaching my 92nd year, it seems appropriate that I should quote the words of Walter Cronkite of CBS fame, whose absolute commitment and reputation for objectivity always signed off his 6pm news bulletin with ..." And that's the way it is".

With so much information and misinformation about the climate story, perhaps the words of Cronkite should be a reminder to us all, including our decision makers and the media, that the sun, the volcanoes, and the oceans dominate the climate system.

Of course, now that we are through the 20th and into the 21st century, one must acknowledge the important human (including domestic animals) influence on the climate system. However one must also acknowledge that prior to about 1800, the climate variations which occurred (and there were many of them), were not - with very few exceptions - influenced by the activities of humans.

There is a great amount of evidence about detecting changes in the climate, and many reasons/causes of why the climate changes.

Among the evidence for detecting climate change are instrumental records which include satellite observations, extreme weather events, historical records (eg crop records, church attendance), sea level changes, lake varves, glacial advances and retreats, ice cores, rocks, and tree rings. Among the causes of why the climate changes is methane, carbon dioxide, solar activity - including sunspots, the Earth's orbit and rotation, the Earth's reflectivity, volcanic activity, ocean circulation, generating power, using transportation, producing food, heating and cooling of buildings, planetary cycles (e.g. Milankovitch cycles), and the ever increasing world's population.

In considering both the evidence for climate change and the causes of climate change, there are many questions as to the credibility of the "evidence". Some of this "credibility" relates to the reliability of the records, and this includes the "authority" making the observations. There have been many cases where the evidence for and the causes of climate change have been challenged.

I have spent the last 70 years studying and writing, as objectively as I can, about the evidence, causes and impacts of climate and climate change. I have written this book to summarise what I have learned. And, like Walter Cronkite, I would like to sign off with the assurance that, to the best of my knowledge, And that's the way it is.

***********************************************************

"... if man examines the universe and understands it, he knows how small a part he is."

From Guide to the Perplexed by Moses Maimonides, one of the greatest of all Jewish geniuses who died in 1204. The quote is from Robert Winston's book The Story of God , Bantam Books, 2005)

*************************************************************

This second edition is identical to the first edition with the exception of the Author's Foreword
Drivers who are convicted after fleeing police could have their car taken off them for good under new legislation introduced to Parliament.

The government introduced the Land Transport (Road Safety) Amendment Bill on Tuesday afternoon to allow police to impound a vehicle for up to six months if it failed to stop.

If the driver was later convicted, judges would have the power to order their vehicle forfeited altogether.

Repeat offenders could also have their license disqualified for up to two years, twice the current one-year limit.

Drivers who failed to provide information about a fleeing driver could also have their vehicle impounded if doing so was necessary to prevent a threat to road safety.

Justice Minister Kiri Allan said dangerous and reckless drivers needed to be held to account.

"We're ensuring there are increased and serious consequences for this behaviour. These new tools make it clear that drivers, vehicle owners or people obstructing police's work will face serious consequences."

She said when offenders were driving someone else's car, the owner would no longer be protected.

"This is really just about saying, look, if you're going to try to flee from the police in any circumstances if the car's yours, we'll take it, that'll be forfeited.

"If it's not yours and it might be mum's or dad's or anybody else's and they try to cover up or assist you there are penalties that can be put in place for them."

Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone.

She said those who could prove their car was stolen at the time it was impounded would be able to get it back.

Police Minister Ginny Andersen said it combined with police's new framework for deciding when to pursue to send a strong, clear warning to fleeing drivers.

"You are now more likely to be caught and face the consequences.

"We are giving police the resources, the legislation, and the tools to keep these dangerous drivers off our roads."

The government intends to pass the legislation in full before the election in October. It also follows separate legislation passed in March which expanded the range of offences under which police could seize vehicles.

In a nutshell, the new law will:
The UN Security Council holds a meeting on Yemen at the UN headquarters in New York, on May 17, 2023. UN Special Envoy for Yemen Hans Grundberg said Wednesday that an inclusive and comprehensive political process in Yemen is the only sustainable solution to the crisis. (Eskinder Debebe/UN Photo/Handout via Xinhua)

UNITED NATIONS, May 17 (Xinhua) -- UN Special Envoy for Yemen Hans Grundberg said Wednesday that an inclusive and comprehensive political process in Yemen is the only sustainable solution to the crisis.

The cornerstone of an agreement on the way forward must be the resumption of a Yemeni-led political process under UN auspices to bring an end to the conflict. The difficulties and challenges cannot be addressed through partial or temporary solutions, he said. "Only an inclusive and comprehensive political process can sustainably forge a new political partnership and bring the promise of a secure and economically stable future, in which state institutions function effectively and Yemen returns to peaceful relations with its neighbors."

This political process will need to address complex issues on the long-term future of Yemen and must start as soon as possible, he added.

The inclusivity of this process will also be key to ensuring the sustainability of any political solution. The recently-held dialogue among a number of southern political groups in Aden underscored, once again, the urgent need for Yemenis to collectively discuss and define their own future through a Yemeni-led, UN-supported process. In this process, all Yemeni voices will need to be heard, he told the Security Council in a briefing.

He stressed that equally essential is the meaningful participation and representation of women and youth as well as civil society in all aspects of the peace process. Meaningful and effective participation is not only about the number of female and civil society participants but also about providing a space for women and civil society to address their priorities and contribute with their perspectives and expertise. Women and civil society are far too often sidelined.

Grundberg reported a positive atmosphere in Yemen for peace.

All interlocutors demonstrated an understanding of the immensity of what is at stake and displayed the willingness to constructively engage on the way forward. There is clear determination on all sides to make progress toward a deal on humanitarian and economic measures, a permanent cease-fire and the resumption of a Yemeni-led political process under UN auspices, he said.

"With sustained determination from the Yemeni parties, supported by a coherent and coordinated regional and international community, I believe that the outstanding issues can be resolved and that the parties will be able to commit themselves to an agreement. Indeed, the parties have an obligation to build on the progress made to date and to take decisive steps toward a peaceful and comprehensive solution," he said.

The truce has provided a conducive environment and starting point to build toward the next steps. More than one year after its announcement, and seven months since its official expiration, the truce continues to deliver. Yemenis benefit from commercial flights to and from Sanaa Airport and fuel and other commercial ships entering via Hodeidah seaport. While sporadic military incidents continue to occur, levels of hostilities are significantly lower than before the truce, he noted.

But the fragility of the military situation, the dire state of the economy and the daily challenges facing the Yemeni people are constant reminders of why a comprehensive agreement between the parties is so vital, he said.

The continuing reports of violence across front lines highlight the fragility of the current situation and underscore the need for a formal cease-fire, he said, adding that he was equally worried about the deteriorating economic situation and restrictions on freedom of movement and its impact on economic activity and people's livelihoods.

Despite these profound challenges, there is room for cautious optimism, he said. 

UN Special Envoy for Yemen Hans Grundberg (Front) speaks at a Security Council meeting on Yemen at the UN headquarters in New York, on May 17, 2023. Grundberg said Wednesday that an inclusive and comprehensive political process in Yemen is the only sustainable solution to the crisis. (Eskinder Debebe/UN Photo/Handout via Xinhua)
A myriad of illegal drugs have been seized and three men are facing the Court as Police execute a series of search warrants targeting a drug syndicate smuggling and distributing the substances.

Police this week executed search warrants at ten properties across Tamaki Makaurau, including in Auckland City and on the North Shore.

More than five firearms, quantities of drugs including methamphetamine, MDMA, ephedrine, and 50kg of iodine, alleged to be used in the manufacture of methamphetamine, were seized during the searches.

Detective Inspector Thomas Gollan, National Organised Crime Group, says the warrants are part of a wider investigation, dubbed Operation Beaver, which has targeted what Police allege is an organised crime group run by foreign nationals.

One of the firearms seized.

Police allege the group were responsible for organising the import of a significant quantity of illegal drugs into New Zealand.

The total alleged is in the vicinity of 220kg, consisting of methamphetamine, MDMA, ephedrine, and iodine.

This is based on seizures at the New Zealand border and overseas, as well as through documentation located throughout the course of the investigation.

Detective Inspector Gollan says these arrests provide a blow to organised crime in New Zealand.

Allied with the discovery and seizure of the firearms at these persons addresses, it is a major win.

It again demonstrates the value of our partnerships with NZ Customs and overseas agencies to disrupt and dismantle trans-national organised crime.

Customs Investigations Manager, Cam Moore, says he's pleased Customs was able to support the Police in stopping such a significant level of criminal activity and cut off millions of dollars of potential profits going to those behind this criminal syndicate.

This is another solid success combining the skills and expertise of Police, Customs and our international partners to disrupt a transnational organised crime groups substantial efforts to exploit New Zealand for their own criminal gains.

Another firearm up found during the searches.

Three men, aged between 35 and 40, have been arrested and charged with a raft of offences including the importation of Class A and B controlled drugs, money laundering, and the unlawful possession of a firearm.

All three have appeared in the Auckland District Court today.

Detective Inspector Gollan says as there are a number of enquiries yet to be completed, Police cannot rule out further arrests and charges.

However as this matter is now before the Court, we are limited in further comment.
One of the oldest liquor stores on the Costa del Sol closes after nearly 80 years Romero in Torremolinos was famous for its huge collection of miniature bottles and attracted customers from far and wide

Rafael and Concepcion Romero, father and daughter, at the door of the store.

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The Romero liquor store, one of the oldest on the Costa del Sol, has closed its doors after almost 80 years. Concepcion, the current owner of the historic shop, which opened in 1943 in Calle San Miguel in Torremolinos, has decided to retire at just 58 years of age, and pursue something new in her life.

The family business was first opened by Antonio Romero and Concepcion Quesada. At first it was a shop, a grocery store, where you could buy a bit of everything, but over the years it evolved into the Romero liquor store.

Rafael Romero, the third of the couple's four children, started working in the establishment when he was only six years old. Now retired, he recalled that in 1962 they completed a major renovation and turned it into a supermarket, the first one in Torremolinos, he said.

Ampliar Photo of the Romero family during the inauguration of the supermarket in 1962. SUR

Rafael said that initially they sold almost everything; fruit, vegetables, hardware, perfumes, cigarettes, liquor and drinks in bulk.

In those early years there was hardly any tourism and the buyers were mainly fishermen and people from the countryside. Later, with the arrival of tourism and the development of the area in the mid-1970s, trade changed and they decided to focus on products that were most in demand. The change to a liquor store took place in 2000, the year in which Rafael retired and his daughter Concepcion Romero joined the business.

They specialised in drinks, liquors and souvenirs. They also had some food, but the store was renowned for its vast collection of liquor. They had, among others, a collection of about 400 miniatures.

"Many people came just to take pictures," Concepcion said. The fame spread beyond the province where clients as far as Madrid, San Sebastian and Barcelona started to arrive.

Rafael remembered a brand of Japanese sake that had a lizard inside, a drink prepared by the Solis de Cuenca house, or a gold liqueur made by the Dutch company, Bolt.

"Miniatures have always been very popular and people bought them to collect them," Concepcion said.

Despite being only 58 years old, Concepcion said that from the first moment she started working in the store, it was clear to her that she wanted to retire young.

I want to be able to enjoy life, which can be gone in a moment. I have been working for 45 years and I have decided to change my life a little, she said.

A few days before the closure, the Romero family received recognition from the town council. Mayor Margarita del Cid handed over a plaque and thanked them for the work they have done for the community.

"Thank you for choosing us, for recommending our products to your friends and family, for making us feel part of your celebrations and for welcoming us as one of this beautiful family, Concepcion said.

The store, which still belongs to the family, has been leased to a Vietnamese company that will set it up a retail store.
The first real rain of spring is on its way to Malaga, but when and how much will fall? Spains state weather agency Aemet forecasts downpours that could be intense throughout the province, starting Thursday

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The weather station that Jose Luis Escudero, the head of SURs meteorological blog, has set up on the roof of his house in Malaga city has gone 80 days without registering even a drop of rain. It is true that on Saturday there were some short but intense showers in very specific points of the province such as Nerja, Almayate, Torremolinos, El Palo and Los Montes (where there was a small hailstorm), among others. But the first big rains of spring will begin tomorrow (Thursday, 18 May) and will last at least until next Tuesday, according to the forecast of Spain's state weather agency Aemet.

The rain and storms, which will be strong at times, can occur anywhere in the province, explained the director of the Aemet weather centre in Malaga, Jesus Riesco.

It will be sparked by a depression at high levels, something similar to a Dana, caused by a pocket of cold air in the middle layers of the atmosphere but it will have some different characteristics.

This Wednesday afternoon there could be scattered showers inland, "but little, if anything" said the meteorologist. But, starting early tomorrow morning, it may be possible to see downpours that in some areas will be intense and accompanied by storms.

According to Riesco, the threat will be present every day and throughout the province, without exception. "It will be the typical spring rains," he said; that is, generally short and isolated showers, so that in very close distances some will receive the rain and others will remain dry.

Up to 40mm

The distribution will also be very uneven, but the amounts will add up over the next six days. Jesus Riesco is confident that at some times there may be strong downpours, of between 15 and 20mm in an hour, especially this Thursday; while the total could reach 40mm. "It will help a bit, both on the land and in the reservoirs, which will not recover a large percentage, although some water will reach them."

The other key thing is the temperature, which is going to drop significantly, from the current very warm values to being even below normal for the month of May. The maximum in Malaga city will stay at around 22C, when it has been at 28 degrees and up to 30 days on days of warm terral wind (the average for May is 25). The minimum temperatures will be around the usual for the time of year, about 15 degrees. Meanwhile, inland, for example in Antequera, the daytime temperature will drop from 24 to 20C, and the night will be lower than normal (9-10 degrees).

SUR's Jose Luis Escudero added that, with the weather models to hand, if any rain falls today it will be late at night and during the early hours of the morning. The expert expects more rain on Thursday, from midday and early afternoon, with the possibility of downpours and storms, especially in the inland areas of the Axarquia, Antequera and Ronda.

Differing weather models

Regarding the quantities, Escudero acknowledges that it is difficult to predict, so "from 2 to 25mm could fall, it depends on where the storm unloads it, within a few kilometres it can either be dry or a lot of water will fall."

For Saturday and Sunday, the weather expert has warned that up to 20mm could fall in Malaga city. In the accumulated total, the European model offers up to 38mm between tomorrow and next Tuesday, while the American model raises it to 58. We will have to see what we end up with.
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The Bachelor for senior citizens

Finally, a dating show for senior citizens: ABC has greenlit The Golden Bachelor, a spinoff of The Bachelor that will center on an older man searching for love among women in their golden years. The leading man and his female suitors have not been announced yet, but Variety reports the new series will center on a hopeless romantic... given a second chance at love in the search for a partner with whom to share the sunset years of life. The women arriving at the mansion have a lifetime of experience, living through love, loss and laughter, hoping for a spark that ignites a future full of endless possibilities. In the end, will our Golden man turn the page to start a new chapter with the woman of his dreams? The show has been rumored to be in the works for years, but the writers strike has pushed the network to lean on unscripted reality shows for its fall 2023 lineup. The Golden Bachelor will air Mondays at 10 p.m. (after Dancing with the Stars).

Five Nights at Freddys trailer

Blumhouse is turning Five Nights at Freddys into a movie. Josh Hutcherson and Matthew Lillard will star in the upcoming film, based on the popular horror video game about a security guard who works at night for Freddy Fazbears Pizza Place (a fictional restaurant chain with animatronic characters, similar to Chuck E. Cheese). Five Nights at Freddys will hit theaters and stream on Peacock starting Oct. 27 - just in time for Halloween.

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Buzz is a daily roundup of entertainment news about movies, TV, music and celebrities.
Syracuse, N.Y.  Police have charged a man they say fatally shot a 39-year-old man on Shonnard Street in April.

Alexander Galan surrendered himself to detectives Wednesday, Syracuse police spokesman Lt. Matthew Malinowski said in a news release.

He was identified as a suspect by police this month and a warrant was issued for his arrest.

Galan is accused of pulling the trigger, killing Gregory Graves, District Attorney William Fitzpatrick said.

Another man, Miguel A. Cruz, has also been charged in connection with the murder on April 19. Detectives and SWAT officers found him at the Hampton Inn on Route 31 in Clay.

Cruz handed a gun to a person who fired the shots that killed Graves, a Syracuse detective wrote in a criminal complaint filed in Syracuse City Court.

Graves, of Syracuse, was shot shortly before 7:30 p.m. on April 16 in the 400 block of Shonnard Street. He was taken to Upstate University Hospital, where he died.

Cruz, 35, of Liverpool, and Galan, 30, of Syracuse, have been charged with second-degree murder and second-degree criminal possession of a weapon.

Galan was being held in the Justice Center jail Wednesday pending arraignment, Malinowski said. Cruz posted bail on May 12 and was released from jail, Senior Assistant District Attorney Maureen Barry.

Gregory "Dugga" Graves, 39, of Syracuse, was shot and killed Sunday, April 16, 2023, on Shonnard Street in Syracuse. His family is mourning his death.

Staff writer Fernando Alba covers breaking news, crime and public safety. Have a tip, story idea, question or comment? Reach him: Email | Twitter or at 315-690-6950.
NY Cannabis Insider is hosting the states first industry summit of 2023 at The Desmond Hotel in Albany, N.Y. on May 18 from 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Industry professionals  from growers, processors and retailers to attorneys, consultants and politicians  will gather for a day of venting, problem-solving, and learning. Details and tickets available here.

To kick off the summit, NY Cannabis Insider Editor and Publisher Brad Racino will interview Freeman Klopott, who served as the director of communications for the Office of Cannabis Management since the agencys formation in late 2021 through April.



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Klopott, who is now a VP at Marino PR, also spent nearly three years as a press officer for the New York State Division of Budget, and two years as the director of marketing and communications for the Dormitory Authority of the State of New York  which is now responsible for a large chunk of the rollout of the states legal cannabis marketplace.

NY Cannabis Insider asked Klopott to answer six questions leading up to Thursdays summit.

Why are you interested in speaking at this summit?

The cannabis market in New York is in its nascent state and we continue to have the opportunity to shape how it ultimately looks. This conference is solutions oriented, bringing together the industry at this important moment, and I am excited to bring my years as a high level state official to help shape that discussion as we share ideas for actions that can be taken today to create a strong future.

You worked at the Office of Cannabis Management from day one through April. If you could describe that experience in one word, what would it be?

Exhilarating.

What were some of the challenges OCM faced out of the gate?

The biggest challenge was starting the industry and building an agency at the same time. We started six months later than the public had expected, there was time to make up, staff to hire in a complex civil service system, office space to find, and we had to start educating the public and develop and execute a plan to open the market. I am excited to help shed some light on the early days of the agency and the tall task we were handed.

When it comes to NYs cannabis rollout, what are some major things the general public does not understand?

The complexity of launching an industry and building an agency at the same time is hard for the public to understand and I am excited to shed more light on it. I also look forward to discussing the limitations the state faced until recently on enforcement against illicit businesses.

Where does cannabis fit in the context of state government?

I spent about three years as the communications leader for the Division of the Budget. I was in that role throughout the response to COVID and the successful fight for federal funding to offset incredible revenue loss caused by the pandemic.

From that experience, and my time as a reporter, I can tell you that every issue has its advocates and they all see government through their particular lens. State government, however, is big and top decision makers in the executive department and the legislature are looking at the entire field, from health care, to homelessness, to crime.

Cannabis is always in the mix; it can be a thread even connecting policy areas from housing to crime. However, its critical to understand how that landscape is always evolving and how to break through the chatter to make sure your issue gets attention. That takes expertise, and particularly an understanding of how to drive interest at the local level to create action at the state level.

Whats the dynamic like between OCM and DASNY?

Big picture, it is almost always the case that when agencies are tasked with working together that there is some friction. Agencies may have the same broad goals on a project, but they answer to different stakeholders. Its similar for these two agencies, who both share the goal of wanting to quickly open a robust market led by equity retail licensees who are getting financial support, but answer to different stakeholders. I look forward to discussing their relationship in more detail at the conference.

Albany summit

NYCI has partnered up with a professional mediation firm to help guide discussions on frustrations that industry members are experiencing in New York State.

Industry challenges that well be discussing during the interactive workshop include topics such as DASNY, the June 1st deadline, the 4/20 bill and the crumbing medical program. After we work to unpack the various challenges and root causes, the group will work to discuss ideas and solutions to move the burgeoning cannabis market forward.

View the full agenda here.

Here is an overview of the timing of sessions throughout the day:

 8:15-9:00 a.m. Check In / Vendor Fair

 9:00-9:15 a.m. Welcome Remarks & Overview of the Day

 9:15-9:45 a.m. Interview with Freeman Klopott

 9:45 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Industry Forum: Challenges (general session, open discussion)

 10:30-10:45 a.m. Networking / Coffee Break / Vendor Fair

 10:45-11:30 a.m. Breakout 1: Medical cannabis 101

 11:30-11:45 a.m. Networking / Coffee Break / Vendor Fair

 11:45 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Breakout 2: Congratulations, youre licensednow what?

 12:30-1:45 p.m. Lunch / Vendor Fair

 1:45-4:30 p.m. Industry Forum: Solutions (general session, open discussion)

 1:45-2:30 p.m. Breakout 3: Application to operation: compliance and success for cannabusinesses

 2:30-2:45 p.m. Networking / Vendor Fair

 2:45-3:30 p.m. Breakout 4: Sketching out a NYS timeline

 3:30-3:45 p.m. Networking / Vendor Fair

 3:45-4:30 p.m. Breakout 5: Understanding True Parties of Interest (TPI)

 4:30-6:00 p.m. Closing Remarks / Happy Hour / Networking

Concurrent to the open forum, well host informative breakout sessions where you can learn more about whats next in the industry and best practices for cannabis business owners, including:

Medical cannabis 101

Session description: A panel of experts in the medical cannabis program will discuss the history of the program; where it is today; challenges to patient access and affordability; and the solutions Albany can act on to improve this important program for more New Yorkers. Hear about what the medical operators, patients, and advocates are lobbying Albany to act on during this Legislative Session. Speakers: Bryan Murry (Chair of MCIA, and EVP of Govt Relations at Acreage); Frank Tice (Director, Legal, Etain); Ngiste Abebe or Kellie Rivera (Columbia Care); Katie Neer (Of Counsel, Dickinson & Avella).

Congratulations, youre licensed: now what?

Session description: For licensed operators and applicants alike, gain practical know-how about building a sustainable licensed business from a dynamic and diverse panel of industry insiders who have spent years in the cannabis trenches. Learn tips and best practices for building a team, meeting ongoing compliance requirements, and executing your business and operating plan. Speakers: Sheri Tarr (Founder/Chief Advisor, 68 Partners); Jenny Argie (Owner, Jennys); Michelle Fields, Esq. (Cannabis Strategic Consultant and Global Advisor, The Mary Jane Consulting Group); Venus Rodriguez (CEO, Sana Cannabis, LLC); Ryan Andoos (Owner, Route 27 Hemp Yard).

Application to operation: compliance and success for cannabusinesses

Session description: With NY opening licensing for cannabis businesses, operators need to be prepared to develop a winning business license application and a compliance program that will maintain their business security past opening. An application is essentially a business owners first compliance document, and proper record-keeping and SOPs help maintain a profitable company with minimal risk of fines, production delays, or regulatory injunctions. Speaker: Warren Harasz (VP of Regulatory Compliance, Cannaspire).

Sketching out a timeline for NYS licenses

Session description: When will New Yorkers finally be able to apply for all of the license types approved within the MRTA? Once New Yorkers can apply, how long till they are awarded a license? And once a license is secured, how long will it take a licensee in each license type to stand up their company? And how long after that till they are in full operation? Join the speakers as they attempt to sketch this out for us all. Speakers: Tom Buchan, Esq. (Vice President, Park Strategies); Joe Rossi (Managing Director/Cannabis Practice Group Leader, Park Strategies); Hal McCabe (CANY, Mayor of Homer).

Understanding True Parties of Interest (TPI)

Session description: This session will walk through the TPI rules as they relate to both CAURDs and other cannabis licensees in New York. New Yorks cannabis market will be established in a strict two-tier system: the supply tier and the retail tier. In advance of licensing, it will be critical to understand how to structure your business entity, where to go for your financing, and how to stay in compliance with these True Party of Interest rules. Speaker: Katie Neer (Of Counsel, Dickinson & Avella).

Meet the sponsors and vendors offering onsite advice and support

Sponsors and vendors are the businesses shaping and supporting the industry. Look for them at the event for advice and help with your cannabis business:

 Cannaspire provides the products, services, and consulting you need to succeed in the cannabis industry from application to expansion.

 New York State Dispute Resolution Association, Inc. is a not-for-profit membership organization committed to the promotion of quality conflict management and peaceful dispute resolution.

 New York Medical Cannabis Industry Associations mission is to protect and serve the patients in New Yorks medical cannabis program while working collaboratively to establish a responsible, inclusive and competitive adult-use cannabis program.

 Ground Game Cannabis is a New York State sales and distribution agency created to help cannabis brands get their products on dispensary shelves and keep them there.

 Local 338 RWDSU/UFCW is a labor union that proudly represents working people in a variety of different industries, including New Yorks cannabis workers who are employed across the industrys full supply chain from seed to sale.

 Citrin Cooperman is one of the nations largest professional services firms, with a dedicated Cannabis Advisory Services (CAS) team that utilizes their specialized knowledge to help companies thrive.

 Dickinson & Avella knows the cannabis industry inside and out from their work on the implementation of medical marijuana to the emerging adult-use market.

 The Bluntness is one of the fastest growing independent digital media and marketing platforms exploring, examining and elevating the intersection of cannabis & psychedelic culture, community & commerce.

 Allspace is thoughtful space design meets full-service fabrication & installation; we work with your to develop a concept that encompasses everything from aesthetics to functionality.

 McNeil & Co. in conjunction with the New York State Insurance Fund (NYSIF) and the Cannabis Association of New York are excited to launch a safety group to provide a sustainable workers compensation solution for members of the New York State cannabis industry.

 Cannabis Workforce Initiative has a mission to promote and support social equity in the adult-use cannabis market by providing quality workforce development and legal education.

 HUB International Limited has specialized cannabis insurance experts and risk consultants help you manage the emerging risks that face your cannabis business with the right risk transfer and mitigation.

 New York Consortium of Cannabis Accountants has a mission to promote financial literacy among New Yorks legacy market leaders and social equity entrepreneurs.

 StaffBuffalo and HRBuffalo are ancillary businesses to the cannabis industry, optimizing the People Operations to enable growing businesses to thrive.

 East Coast Cannabis Insurance offers experienced insurance solutions for everything in the cannabis industry, from workers comp to crop coverage.

 Cannabis360 is a full-service cannabis marketing partner focused on crafting your brand story, finding your best audience and driving brand awareness for your business.

 Hybrid Marketing focuses on business outcomes to move the needle in the areas of revenue, risk, cost, cashflow, and asset utilization.

Our next event will be an afternoon networking and production facility tour hosted by Beak & Skiff/1911 Established/ayrloom held on June 8 in CNY (tickets and details here). Contact Lindsay Wickham at lwickham@advancemediany.com to learn more about sponsor and vendor opportunities.

As entrepreneurs and cannabis professionals are moving forward in the billion-dollar legal weed industry, NY Cannabis Insider events allow participants to learn about regulations, discuss topics essential to New York State, make connections, establish teams and foundations, and continue business planning.
CANBERRA, May 17 (Xinhua) -- The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA)'s spokesperson said on Wednesday that they were coordinating the search for a Chinese fishing vessel in a remote location in the Indian Ocean.

The location is about 5,000 km northwest of Perth, the capital city of Western Australia (WA).

A Chinese deep-sea fishing vessel capsized on Tuesday in the central Indian Ocean, which has so far left 39 people on board missing, including 17 Chinese mariners, 17 Indonesian mariners and five Philippine mariners.

China's Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, and the Ministry of Transport and Shandong Province have activated emergency response mechanism to organize the rescue work. On-site rescue is underway.

An AMSA spokesperson told Xinhua on Wednesday that a distress beacon signal was received by AMSA from the fishing vessel at about 5:30 a.m. (AEST) Tuesday morning.

The spokesperson said that late Tuesday, bulk carrier Navios Taurus sighted an upturned hull in the search area. No survivors have been found as yet.

AMSA requested the Australian Defence Force (ADF) to provide a search asset and the ADF tasked a P-8A Poseidon aircraft to assist with the long-range search on Tuesday night along with a number of merchant and other vessels in the area.

"Weather conditions yesterday were extreme with 120 km winds and 7 metre seas. Conditions have abated today with 40-50 km/h winds and 2-3m seas," an AMSA spokesperson said on Wednesday.

"The search for survivors continues today with merchant and fishing vessels in the area."

"The Australian Defence Force aircraft will return to the search area today after refuelling overnight, along with AMSA's Perth-based Challenger rescue aircraft and a privately operated aircraft from Perth."

The spokesperson said that the AMSA Challenger aircraft will drop a buoy to assist with drift modelling to further assist in the search. 
By Kathleen Moore| Times Union, Albany, N.Y. (TNS)

Albany  Student data, including names, birth dates and addresses, are not always kept secure by school districts or the state Education Department, the state Comptrollers Office found in an audit issued Tuesday.

The Education Department has not taken the fundamental steps or improved the technical controls needed to secure its own critical systems, the auditors said.

Auditors also went to four school districts and scanned their systems for vulnerabilities. What they found was so concerning that the districts took immediate action, they said.

Such scans are required at every school district, but the state Education Department hasnt made sure districts comply, according to the audit.

Three other school districts visited by auditors  out of 16 districts  did not hold any data privacy and security awareness training for employees. Those trainings help prevent cyber attacks and ransomware that trick employees into letting a virus into the system.

The state Education Department and school districts had a responsibility to strengthen and protect student data and systems well before the pandemic, said Tina Kim, deputy comptroller with the State Government Accountability division of the comptroller. But remote learning increased reliance on IT services, apps and third-party programs and its clear schools were not prepared for the heightened cyber risks.

From March 2020 to April 2021, school districts reported 131 incidents in which data was accessed without permission. (Not all of them were cyber attacks. Some could have been genuine mistakes, auditors noted.) But they have continued to rise since then.

Cyber security incidents at New Yorks schools more than tripled over the last three years, resulting in personal information of students, families or teachers being compromised, Kim said. Whether through human error, data breaches or costly ransomware attacks, when personal information is on the internet, it is at risk for identity theft and other types of fraud.

Nationally, cyber attacks impacted 1.2 million students in 2020, up from 39,000 students in 2019, according to a U.S. Government Accountability Office report. In November, Albany school officials cut off the internet for days to stop an attack.

It is, therefore, more important than ever to ensure that schools have secure systems that protect the safety and privacy of students and their data, the audit said.

When districts discover that data was accessed, they may not always tell the affected people, the audit found.

Out of the 131 incidents reported in March 2020 through April 2021, 55 were missing one of the required dates: date of incident, date of discovery or date of notification of affected parties.

Education Department officials did not always follow up with school districts to determine if affected parties were notified, the audit said.

In a response to the findings, the Education Department said it was not monitoring school districts to make sure they were keeping data safe because the department had other priorities and vacancies in its Privacy Office.

The Education Department agreed to start monitoring in the second half of 2023.

In addition, the Education Department began working on tightening its own systems. The audit highlighted a problem that was noted in a 2017 audit and in a follow-up review in 2018. The department had not classified all of its data in order of sensitivity, so that student data received the correct security.

The Education Department said the turnover of executive staff in its Information Security Office slowed data classification. In response to the audit, they contracted with the nonprofit New York State Technology Enterprise Corp. and said they would finish the job by February 2023. No one was able to confirm whether that happened, but the comptrollers office said they do not believe it is finished yet.

A lack of classification also makes it harder to know what was taken in an attack.

In the case of an information security incident, the department may be unable to identify in a timely manner what, if any, sensitive and/or critical data was involved and may be compromised, the audit said.

___

(c) 2023 the Times Union (Albany, N.Y.)

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
KEENE, Texas (AP)  A 12-year-old boy and a 20-year-old man have been arrested on a murder warrant in the fatal shooting of a Sonic Drive-In employee in Texas, police said.

Matthew Davis, 32, was shot and killed Saturday night as he fought with Angel Gomez, 20, in the parking lot of the restaurant in Keene, about 40 miles (64 kilometers) southwest of Dallas, police said.

The boy was at the restaurant with Gomez, who was causing an unspecified disturbance in the parking lot, and shot Davis several times after taking a gun from Gomezs vehicle, according to a police statement.
BEIJING, May 17 (Xinhua) -- China's central bank plans to issue 25 billion yuan (about 3.58 billion U.S. dollars) worth of bills in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region on May 23.

Of the total, central bank bills worth 10 billion yuan will mature in three months, and the other 15 billion yuan will mature in one year, the People's Bank of China said in a statement.

The move aims to enrich yuan-investment products with high credit ratings in Hong Kong and improve the yield curve of yuan in the region, the central bank said.

Since November 2018, the bank has gradually established a mechanism to enable the regular issuance of renminbi central bank bills in Hong Kong. 
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Helicopter Museum | Buckeburg, Germany



If you are into helicopters, as it so happens I also visited a helicopter museum in the UK recently too. (



This is what the museum looks like from the outside.







When I stepped inside and paid the entrance fee, I was a little disappointed as I thought the museum was pretty small. However, you make your way to another building and 95% of the collection is out there.



At the entrance you will find a decently well stocked museum shop, there is the so called voliere, more about that later and a lot of helicopter models on display.







Way to many models to photograph all, so I made a selection of peculiar and interesting ones.







This is of course, a well known chopper, but it was nice to see various variants.







One helicopter I have never seen for real and never will, as none exist anymore. The helicopter museum in the UK had a few parts on display. And that is considerable more than most museums have: The Fairly Rotodyne.



From Wikipedia:

Quote: The Fairey Rotodyne was a 1950s British compound gyroplane designed and built by Fairey Aviation and intended for commercial and military uses.[2] A development of the earlier Gyrodyne, which had established a world helicopter speed record, the Rotodyne featured a tip-jet-powered rotor that burned a mixture of fuel and compressed air bled from two wing-mounted Napier Eland turboprops. The rotor was driven for vertical takeoffs, landings and hovering, as well as low-speed translational flight, but autorotated during cruise flight with all engine power applied to two propellers.



One prototype was built. Although the Rotodyne was promising in concept and successful in trials, the programme was eventually cancelled. The termination has been attributed to the type failing to attract any commercial orders; this was in part due to concerns over the high levels of rotor tip jet noise generated in flight. Politics had also played a role in the lack of orders (the project was government funded) which ultimately doomed the projec



The famous Banana Helicopters!







I was always fascinated by this model that has two interlocking rotors! As luck would have it, they had the real deal in this museum too. Stay tuned!







Never really caught on.







Of course, helicopters big difference over fixed wing aircraft is their ability to take off and land vertically. You can accomplish the same in different ways as these models demonstrate.







They also have a helicopter simulator. Unfortunately, it was not available that day. I would have liked to take it for a ride. I have flown on quite a few helicopters, always as passenger, but usually in the left hand seat next to the pilot. And many moons ago I had some helicopter flying lessons too. Very different from fixed wing flying!











I left this part of the museum to make my way to the main exhibition. It starts with a nice overview of the very early helicopters. Although interesting I skipped through it to make my way to what I call some real helicopters!!







Lots of helicopters as you will see.



This is the Bell Huey-10. Many people will associate this chopper with the Vietnam war. And various Vietnam War movies of course. I have actually flown in one of these. Somewhere of the coast near Mogadishu, Somalia, we were relieved from our ocean going tug, via an oil rig and brought ashore on a Huey.







This is a pretty big helicopter and we have seen them in action all over Europe in various roles. The Aecospatiale SA 330 Puma. It was used in both civilian as military applications and was build under license in Romania as well.







This was an interesting contraption. It will never ever fly, but it is/was used to demonstrate how you fly and control a helicopter.







As you would expect at an helicopter museum, lots of helicopter parts that you can study up close. I must admit, the rotor assembly of a helicopter never ceases to amaze me!



As I mentioned in this earlier thread, ( https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/comme...on-museum.html (Visit to Hanover | Germany Aviation Museum) ), Mrs. D had one of her costuming events). This one took place in Bad Nenndorf, but I spend the weekend in Hannover, where I visited the afore mentioned aviation museum. As luck would have it, at the aviation museum I also picked up a brochure about a helicopter museum in Buckeburg. Not too far from where I was staying and in fact very close to Bad Nenndorf. So I decided to go there and pick up Mrs. D afterwards.If you are into helicopters, as it so happens I also visited a helicopter museum in the UK recently too. ( https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/trave...ml#post5409803 (England in a nutshell | Rolling hills, castles and helicopters!) This is what the museum looks like from the outside.When I stepped inside and paid the entrance fee, I was a little disappointed as I thought the museum was pretty small. However, you make your way to another building and 95% of the collection is out there.At the entrance you will find a decently well stocked museum shop, there is the so called voliere, more about that later and a lot of helicopter models on display.Way to many models to photograph all, so I made a selection of peculiar and interesting ones.This is of course, a well known chopper, but it was nice to see various variants.One helicopter I have never seen for real and never will, as none exist anymore. The helicopter museum in the UK had a few parts on display. And that is considerable more than most museums have: The Fairly Rotodyne.From Wikipedia:The famous Banana Helicopters!I was always fascinated by this model that has two interlocking rotors! As luck would have it, they had the real deal in this museum too. Stay tuned!Never really caught on.Of course, helicopters big difference over fixed wing aircraft is their ability to take off and land vertically. You can accomplish the same in different ways as these models demonstrate.They also have a helicopter simulator. Unfortunately, it was not available that day. I would have liked to take it for a ride. I have flown on quite a few helicopters, always as passenger, but usually in the left hand seat next to the pilot. And many moons ago I had some helicopter flying lessons too. Very different from fixed wing flying!I left this part of the museum to make my way to the main exhibition. It starts with a nice overview of the very early helicopters. Although interesting I skipped through it to make my way to what I call some real helicopters!!Lots of helicopters as you will see.This is the Bell Huey-10. Many people will associate this chopper with the Vietnam war. And various Vietnam War movies of course. I have actually flown in one of these. Somewhere of the coast near Mogadishu, Somalia, we were relieved from our ocean going tug, via an oil rig and brought ashore on a Huey.This is a pretty big helicopter and we have seen them in action all over Europe in various roles. The Aecospatiale SA 330 Puma. It was used in both civilian as military applications and was build under license in Romania as well.This was an interesting contraption. It will never ever fly, but it is/was used to demonstrate how you fly and control a helicopter.As you would expect at an helicopter museum, lots of helicopter parts that you can study up close. I must admit, the rotor assembly of a helicopter never ceases to amaze me!
HOUSTON, May 16 (Xinhua) -- The shooter who killed three people and wounded multiple others on Monday in Farmington, southwestern U.S. state of New Mexico, has been identified as an 18-year-old high school student, Farmington police said on Tuesday.

Beau Wilson, a student of Farmington High School, used an AR-15-style rifle and two other firearms to fire "indiscriminately" at three vehicles and at least six houses in a quiet neighborhood of the city on Monday morning, Farmington Deputy Police Chief Kyle Dowdy said at a news conference.

Upon arriving on scene, police officers shot and killed the gunman, he said.

The suspect was not previously on local police's radar, said Dowdy.

"He did have minor infractions as a juvenile but nothing that would rise to the level of any serious crime," Dowdy said.

The rampage seemed to be random and his motive remained unclear, according to the police.

One weapon the gunman used was legally purchased one month after he turned 18 years old last year and the two others may have belonged to family members, police said.

Among the deceased victims, two were in their 70s and the other was in her 90s, police said.

Seven patients in total, including two police officers, were treated at the hospital following the shooting, Fire Chief Robert Sterrett said at the news conference. Police once said nine people were injured.

Farmington, a city of about 46,400 residents in northwestern New Mexico, serves as a modern-day trading post to the adjacent Navajo Nation and a supply line and bedroom community to the region's oil and natural gas industry, according to local media reports. 
Google has begun taking pre-orders for its first foldable phone with an eye toward shipping the gadget in June.

The Pixel Fold will sell for US$1,799, the same price as its chief competitor, the Samsung Galaxy Fold 4.

Google is coming to the foldable market late  although not as late as Apple, which doesnt have a foldable yet  but its taking advantage of its timing by targeting some of the perceived deficiencies of the Galaxy Fold.

Googles folding phone, for example, is thinner and has a wider body for easier handling. The wider body also allows for a better aspect ratio for viewing its front and interior OLED displays.

The Pixel stands out by having a wider aspect ratio. That is ideal for content consumption, observed Brad Akyuz, a mobile industry analyst with Circana, a global market research firm.

The Samsung Fold has more of a square screen, so you get black bars when youre watching content on it, he told TechNewsWorld.

When closed, the Pixel matches the dimensions of a regular phone with the benefit of the fold, added Bob ODonnell, founder and chief analyst with Technalysis Research, a technology market research and consulting firm.

The Samsung is a little taller and skinnier, he told TechNewsWorld.

First Gen Blues?

At the heart of the Pixel Fold is the Google Tensor G2 processor, which Akyuz asserts isnt as powerful as the chip used in its competition. The Galaxy Fold runs on the markets top-of-the-line silicon, he said. The Pixel Fold uses its own chipset, which is not on par with what Samsung uses.

In the past, he noted, Pixel phones have had issues with their silicon. We dont know thats going to happen with the Pixel Fold, but Id say theres greater peace of mind on the Galaxy Fold side, he added.

He also pointed out that the Pixel Fold is a first-generation device. The Samsung Fold is in its fourth iteration, he explained. Samsung has gone through a lot of headaches that Google might have to go through.

We dont know what kind of problems Pixel Fold customers might have and how Google might be addressing them, he added. With the Galaxy Fold, we have a pretty good idea of Samsungs game plan.

Nevertheless, the Pixel Fold edges out its competition in some other areas. It has a bigger battery, for example, and three cameras  a 48-megapixel main sensor, a 10.8 MP ultrawide camera, and a 10.8 MP telephoto camera with a 5x optical zoom and 20x digital zoom. It can also snap pictures from a distance with a palm gesture.

Foldable Phones Appeal to Business Travelers

Still, that $1,800 price tag limits the audience for this Google offering and its foldable brethren.

At the moment, we only see early adopters buying folding phones, said Tim Bajarin, president of Creative Strategies, a technology advisory firm in San Jose, Calif.

They are still looked at as a novelty, although they are starting to turn the corner, he told TechNewsWorld. As prices come down and more are introduced, these folding phones could become a larger market in the future.

Foldables also appeal to businesspeople on the move. Ive found that when I travel, I can use my foldable and not carry my laptop anymore, said Nabila Popal, a research director at IDC Worldwide Tracker Team.

I found I can be productive. It does make a difference, she told TechNewsWorld.

Foldables arent for everyone, ODonnell admitted, but for some people, theyre a slam dunk because you get the equivalent of a smartphone and a tablet in a single device. Thats pretty cool.

I love mine, he continued. I can look at documents on the phone and actually read them.

Akyuz noted that Samsungs Fold line benefited from discontinuing the Galaxy Note series in 2022. Z Fold was able to attract many Galaxy Note customers, he said, who are known for buying these devices for business use, for productivity purposes.

The larger real estate on the display side allows for a much richer user experience, especially for applications designed for this form factor, he added.

Bright Spot in Bleak Market

In addition to price, durability appears to be a barrier to some consumers entering the foldable fold. You still have many consumers not fully convinced about the durability of foldables, Akyuz said.

He recalled a recent Circana survey taken at a trade show that found of those consumers not interested in buying a foldable smartphone, 30% said durability was a driver for not considering a foldable smartphone.

Two years ago, that figure was 40%, he observed. Samsung has done a really good job of improving the form factor, making it a lot more durable, but has also given consumers peace of mind when it comes to servicing the device.

While foldables remain a niche product, they are a bright spot in the smartphone market. The smartphone industry has been going through a consecutive quarter-to-quarter decline, Popal said. In 2022, we saw a 12% drop in the market, and in the first quarter of 2023, a 15% drop. Within that, however, weve seen the foldable segment grow at a fast rate, although its from a small base.

Three years ago, a lot of people questioned whether foldables were going to be a real trend or a fad, something thats cool but will die out like 3D TVs, she continued. From what weve seen in the new products over the last year or so and the pickup  100% growth in 2022  foldables have been a silver lining.

Popal acknowledged that the technology has a long way to go but believes the form factor is here to stay.

Consumers like it, she said, and when the software catches up to this new hardware, well see it become more popular.

Without Apple in the market, she noted that IDC expects 3.5% of the smartphone market  50 million units  will be foldables by 2027. If Apple enters the segment at any point in the next five years, she added, that number will skyrocket for sure.
What just happened? A Chinese-sponsored group is leading a new, sophisticated cyber-attack against sensible European targets, and hackers are effectively covering their tracks by abusing infected routers belonging to oblivious home users. The routers are mostly manufactured by TP-Link, but the threat could spread elsewhere.

Check Point researchers have uncovered yet another advanced persistent threat (APT), which is operated by a Chinese-sponsored group identified as "Camaro Dragon." The attack, which mostly overlaps with malicious activities previously attributed to the "Mustang Panda" crew, is designed to cover its tracks behind TP-Link routers infected by a complex malware component.

The Camaro Dragon group targeted organizations and individuals related to European foreign affairs, Check Point explains, with "significant infrastructure overlap" with the Mustang Panda group. During their investigation, the researchers discovered a malicious firmware implant designed to work on routers manufactured by TP-Link, with several components including a custom backdoor named "Horse Shell."

The backdoor has several main functions, including a remote shell for executing commands on the infected device, file transfer for uploading and downloading, and data exchange between two infected devices through the SOCKS5 protocol. SOCKS5 can be used as a proxy TCP connection to an arbitrary IP address, for UDP packet forwarding, and ultimately to create a chain of infected devices to mask the origin and the destination of an encrypted connection.

Thanks to this malicious firmware, Camaro Dragon hackers can effectively mask their real command & control center by treating infected home devices as a means to a goal. Check Point says that while Horse Shell was found on the attacking infrastructure, the true victims of the router implant are still unknown.

The researchers don't even know how the attackers managed to infect the routers with the malicious firmware, though they likely scanned the entire internet for known vulnerabilities or weak / default login credentials. Furthermore, despite being designed to attack TP-Link routers, the components have an "agnostic" nature and could very well be repurposed for attacking a wider range of devices and manufacturers.

Check Point Research says the discovery of Camaro Dragon's implant for TP-Link routers highlights the importance of taking protective measures against similar attacks. The security company has some recommendations for detecting and protecting against malicious firmware installations, including regularly installing software updates for home/SOHO routers, changing the default credentials of any device connected to the internet, and using stronger passwords and multi-factor authentication whenever possible.
Rumor mill: Nvidia and MediaTek might be partnering up to make mobile chipsets for smartphones and laptops, and the first product of their collaboration could see the light of day as soon as next year. This type of move is not unheard of, as Samsung already has a similar partnership with AMD. If true, however, it could spell trouble for Qualcomm, which is scrambling to secure its future as an SoC vendor.

For years, MediaTek's main ambition has been to chip away at Qualcomm's share of the mobile chipset market. By the end of 2020, it had become the world's largest phone chipset vendor by volume, which was no small feat for the Taiwanese company. And according to the latest Counterpoint data, MediaTek remained the SoC king until the last quarter of 2022 when Apple took the crown due to seasonality and the cooling of the overall smartphone market.

Many industry watchers have been wondering where the company will go from there, and the rumor mill may have an answer to that. MediaTek has reportedly persuaded Nvidia to help in developing a more capable high-end chipset for flagship phones that can compete with those from Qualcomm, Samsung, and Apple. A DigiTimes report claims the two companies are currently working to replace the Arm-based graphics solution in an upcoming MediaTek Dimensity 9000 series chip with an Nvidia GPU.

The new chipset could arrive as soon as 2024, but the report doesn't mention any specifications. As for the motivations behind this development, Nvidia dominates the discrete GPU market but notably failed to acquire Arm, so a project like this could mean the company is still interested in building new revenue streams with Arm-based designs. And after spending years developing Tegra APUs for products like Shield TV and Nintendo Switch, it would be navigating familiar waters when collaborating with MediaTek.

For MediaTek, enlisting Nvidia's help would be a smart move. Samsung is said to be working on an Exynos 2400 chipset with 12 AMD RDNA 2 graphics compute units, so MediaTek could simply be looking to have a competitive alternative to that. It wouldn't be a hard task, as the previous Exynos 2200 chipset has proven to be significantly slower when compared to the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 with its Adreno GPU.

Interestingly, the collaboration is said to extend as far as building notebook chips for Windows on Arm and Chromebooks, possibly in response to Qualcomm's efforts in this area. After all, Qualcomm wants to take the market by storm using Nuvia SoCs, but progress in that direction has been slow and the company is also getting sued by Arm over licensing issues. A surprise move by MediaTek and Nvidia could allow them to eat Qualcomm's launch while the latter company is dealing with an existential crisis.

It's worth noting that back in 2021, MediaTek and Nvidia demoed a laptop powered by a Kompanio 1200 chipset paired with a GeForce RTX 3060 GPU. The system was capable of running AAA games like Wolfenstein: Youngblood with real-time ray tracing and DLSS enabled, and we also know that Nvidia has been working with Valve to bring many of its graphics technologies to Linux and Arm via Proton.

Ultimately, we'll have to wait and see as any industry rumors need to be taken with a healthy dose of salt. That said, increased competition in the mobile SoC space would be great news for consumers.
Something to look forward to: As the rumored date for the GeForce RTX 4060 Ti's unveiling approaches, its appearance on Geekbench marks a typical sign of its imminent launch. The post confirms prior rumors and offers a vague sense of where the GPU sits among its predecessors. A trusted leaker also recently stated the likely final prices for the 8GB and 16GB variants.

A new Geekbench listing confirms that at least one GeForce RTX 4060 Ti variant, likely the first to see release includes only 8GB of VRAM. Moreover, known leaker MEGAsizeGPU agrees with prior rumors that the 8GB card will cost about $400.

The VRAM capacity is concerningly low in light of the performance of recent prominent PC games. Video memory bottlenecks have constrained 8GB GPUs like the RTX 3070 and the 10GB 3080. Furthermore, the amount presents a downgrade from the 12GB RTX 3060.

The Geekbench entry verifies specs suggested by a die shot and retail listing from last month. The multiprocessor count of 34 confirms the 4060 Ti will have 4,352 CUDA cores. Prior information states it has 32 MB of L2 cache with a 160W TGP rating.

Whoever submitted the GPU paired it with a 3GHz Intel Core i9-13900K and 32GB of DDR5 RAM running Windows 11. The overall CUDA score of 46170 sits just above typical scores for the 3060 Ti, but final drivers could widen the gap. Retail units should outperform the 3070 Ti.

MSRPiA

4060Ti 8G 399

4060Ti 16G 499  MEGAsizeGPU (@Zed__Wang) May 17, 2023

Recent claims suggest the 4060 Ti could launch next week on May 24, with AMD's direct competitor in the mid-range space, the RX 7600 XT, following a day later. That GPU is also said to have 8GB of VRAM but might retail for $350. Team Red could unveil the 7800 XT, 7700 XT, and 7600 XT at Computex late this month or early next month. The 7800 XT also recently made its Geekbench debut.

Another Tweet from MEGAsizeGPU last week said that Nvidia plans to assuage VRAM concerns by releasing a 16GB variant of the 4060 Ti sometime in July. The leaker's latest information indicates it will retail for $499. Meanwhile, the non-Ti version of the RTX 4060 could arrive in July with 8GB, based on the same GPU as its laptop counterpart.
Your photography skills can be better if you have the right camera lens.

If you have already done professional or non-pro photoshoots, then you already know that using the correct lens for different shots really makes a difference.

Instead of going all through the camera lenses available, we will only check two lenses; prime and zoom camera lens.

To help you understand them, here are their differences.

Photography Guide 2023: Zoom Vs. Prime Lens

Format explained the difference between prime and zoom camera lenses. The main difference between them is their focal length.

Also Read: Trilobite-Like Camera Lens Offers Extreme Depth-of-Field Feature-Focusing Close, Far Objects in a Single Photo

Zoom lenses have wider focal lengths. For example, one zoom lens can have focal lengths between 24-105mm.

Meanwhile, prime lenses only have one set focal length. These include 35mm, 50mm, 85mm, etc. This means that the range of view that prime lenses can capture is fixed.

On the other hand, zoom lenses are more versatile as they can switch from 24mm up to 105mm.

Since prime lenses have higher image quality, as well as better image quality, and wider apertures, professional photographers (such as those in National Geographic) prefer using them.

But, some pro videographers and photogs go to zoom lenses because they can easily switch the lenses' view ranges.

Prime Vs. Zoom Lens: Which One To Choose?

Yes, the prime lens really does have the upper hand when it comes to image quality.

However, advanced editing tools that can enhance your captured images are already available, with most of them being for free.

Because of this, MakeUseOf suggested that the zoom lens is a better option for non-pro and professional photogs.

Here are some of the top reasons why you are better off taking pictures using zoom camera lenses:

Zoom lenses allow photographers to capture wide image genres, such as landscape, food photography, portraits, etc.

Zoom lenses will allow you to capture images faster. Unlike prime lenses, zoom lenses no longer need you to go to another shooting angle just to capture images.

If you have a zoom lens, then you will have more composition options. These are just some of the reasons why it is now preferred to use zoom lenses instead of prime models.

Here are other stories we wrote about cameras:

In 2021, MIT introduced a new camera lens that can focus light faster and more accurately without twisting. In 2019, nine Nikon lenses were unveiled for the company's Z-mount lens roadmap.

For more news updates about camera lenses and other camera accessories, always keep your tabs open here at TechTimes.

Related Article: New Liquid Lens Could Enhance Camera Smartphones! Glass-Based Vs. Water-Based Model; Which One Is Better?

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In an extraordinary feat of astronomical exploration, scientists have made an astonishing breakthrough by witnessing the presence of a radiation belt outside the confines of our own solar system.



Through a meticulously coordinated effort involving an array of 39 radio dishes spanning from Hawaii to Germany, astronomers have obtained high-resolution images that shed light on a fascinating phenomenon occurring in an ultracool dwarf.

Intense and Unrelenting Radio Emissions

The images reveal a series of intense and unrelenting radio emissions emanating from the ultracool dwarf.

These emissions have exposed the existence of a cloud of high-energy electrons ensnared within the dwarf's immensely powerful magnetic field, giving rise to a double-lobed structure akin to the radiation belts observed encircling Jupiter.



"We are actually imaging the magnetosphere of our target by observing the radio-emitting plasma-its radiation belt in the magnetosphere. That has never been done before for something the size of a gas giant planet outside of our solar system," said Melodie Kao, a postdoctoral fellow at UC Santa Cruz and first author of the study.



Magnetic fields of considerable strength form a protective "magnetic bubble" around planets, known as a magnetosphere. This magnetosphere is capable of trapping and propelling particles to nearly the speed of light.

The ultracool dwarf examined occupies a transitional position between low-mass stars and massive brown dwarfs. Kao elaborated on the resemblances in the internal physics of these objects, despite variances in their formation.



She said that although star and planet formation processes may differ, the underlying physics can exhibit remarkable similarities within the intermediate mass range, linking low-mass stars to brown dwarfs and gas giant planets.



Precisely characterizing the strength and arrangement of magnetic fields encircling these celestial entities remains an unexplored domain.

Kao emphasized the scarcity of knowledge in this field, stating that while scientists can predict the intensity and structure of a planet's magnetic field using numerical models, there is a lack of practical means to directly test these predictions.

Read Also: Intense Radiation Burst Sweeps the Solar System, NASA Says It's The Brightest Of All Time!

Potential for Habitability

The strength and shape of a planet's magnetic field play a pivotal role in determining its potential for habitability. Kao emphasized the significance of considering the magnetic fields when contemplating the habitability of exoplanets and factors such as the atmosphere and climate.

The presence of a magnetic field requires hot interiors with conductive fluids, such as Earth's molten iron core or Jupiter's metallic hydrogen, under pressure. Brown dwarfs likely generate magnetic fields through metallic hydrogen, while stars rely on ionized hydrogen in their interiors.



Among the objects studied, the ultracool dwarf LSR J1835+3259 was the only one capable of providing high-quality data to resolve its radiation belts.



Kao looks forward to the future development of the Next Generation Very Large Array, which will enable the imaging of numerous extrasolar radiation belts.

"This is a critical first step in finding many more such objects and honing our skills to search for smaller and smaller magnetospheres, eventually enabling us to study those of potentially habitable, Earth-size planets," said co-author Evgenya Shkolnik at Arizona State University.

The study's findings were published in the journal Nature.

Related Article: Astronomers Discover New Ring System in Our Solar System

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Embarking on an extraordinary underwater expedition, artificial intelligence has dived into the depths of the ocean to monitor coral reef ecology.



Researchers from the University of Hawai'i (UH) at Manoa have created advanced deep-learning algorithms that can now explore space to identify and measure reef halos.

Secrets of Reef Halos

Reef halos, the elusive rings of bare sand encircling coral patch reefs, have long-held secrets about the health and vitality of these underwater marvels. However, unraveling their mysteries has proven challenging and time-consuming until now.



Simone Franceschini, the lead author of the study and postdoctoral research fellow in the Madin Lab at the Hawai'i Institute of Marine Biology (HIMB) in SOEST, said that " With this new method, we can accurately identify and measure reef halos on a global scale in a tiny fraction of the time it would take a human being to accomplish the same task."

With a stroke of AI brilliance, the UH Manoa School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology (SOEST) has unleashed a cutting-edge method that effortlessly detects and quantifies reef halos on a global scale.

What would have taken human researchers ages to accomplish can now be achieved in mere moments.



Elizabeth Madin, the senior author of the study and an associate research professor at HIMB, envisions a future where this AI technology becomes a vital tool for monitoring and managing coral reef ecosystems.

Scientists can gain invaluable insights into these fragile underwater kingdoms by remotely observing reef halos, even in the most inaccessible corners of the globe.



The marriage of AI and ecology has proven to be a match made in marine heaven. Computer vision techniques, coupled with state-of-the-art satellite imaging technology, have revolutionized large-scale ecosystem analysis and wildlife conservation efforts.

Now, their powerful gaze is cast upon the intricate patterns of reef halos.

Read Also: Scientists Provide First Comprehensive View of Oxygen Loss on Coral Reefs Due to Ocean Warming

Astonishing Accuracy

Developing these algorithms required overcoming unique challenges. Reef halos can be elusive, sometimes barely distinguishable even to the most well-trained human eye.

However, the tireless UH Manoa team has conquered this hurdle, crafting a set of algorithms that capture the astonishing diversity of reef halo patterns worldwide.



In certain regions, their algorithms boast astonishing accuracy, accurately identifying over 90% of reef halos.



The implications of this AI-driven breakthrough extend far beyond the scientific realm. Coral reefs, teeming with life, face an uncertain future due to various threats, including climate change and overfishing.



As the research team envisions a freely-accessible web application on the horizon, conservation practitioners, scientists, and resource managers eagerly await the transformative power it promises.

Through satellite or drone imagery, they could gain quick and cost-effective access to crucial reef health data, enabling effective decision-making for the protection of these underwater wonderlands.

The study's findings were published in the journal Remote Sensing of Environment.

Related Article: Marine Biologists Report Growing Coral Nursery Amidst Road to Reef Restoration

 2023 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Vodafone has recently announced plans to make some significant changes under its new CEO, Margherita Della Valle.

With a goal of regaining its competitive edge in the market, TechRadar reports that the company is set to cut 11,000 jobs over the next three years.

This move is expected to help simplify Vodafone's organizational structure.

Which Vodafone Markets are on the Chopping Block?

Della Valle has her sights set on the company's biggest markets, including Germany, which is currently underperforming.

In addition to job cuts, she is also considering a structural change in Spain, such as a full or partial sale.

Vodafone has already started trimming jobs in Italy and Germany and now plans to spread the cuts across its markets in Europe and Africa.

Recent Changes from Vodafone

However, job cuts are not Vodafone's only move to improve its position in the market.

As first reported by the Financial Times, the company is reportedly in talks with CK Hutchinson, the parent company of Three UK, regarding a merger that could make Vodafone the world's largest mobile operator.

This potential merger could give Vodafone the boost it needs to compete with other major players in the industry.

Another major move by Vodafone is its recent decision to switch off its 3G signal this year in parts of the UK, making it the first UK mobile phone network to do so.

This will enable the company to focus on more advanced technologies, such as 5G, which are expected to be the future of mobile communications.

Despite the potential benefits of these changes, Reuters reports that Vodafone's stock prices have already taken a hit. The company's shares fell to their lowest level since early January, reflecting the uncertainty surrounding the company's future.

Prioritizing Simplicity and Growth

The Vodafone CEO has her sights set on prioritizing customers, simplicity, and growth.

She firmly believes that change is necessary for the company to consistently deliver, so she aims to cut out complexity to regain competitiveness.

By maximizing the potential of business customers and focusing on the basics, such as customer service, for consumers, she plans to revamp Vodafone's performance.

Read Also: Amazon Conducts Fresh Layoffs, Affecting 100+ Employees from its Gaming Division

According to Della Valle, the European telecoms market has not been yielding a good return on the capital invested in networks.

Furthermore, Vodafone's relative performance has worsened, with activist investors and rivals criticizing the company for being unwieldy and slow to respond to market changes.

More from Vodafone

Interestingly, Reuters reports that Etisalat, a telecoms firm based in the United Arab Emirates, has acquired a 14.6% stake in Vodafone.

In addition, French telecoms billionaire Xavier Niel, who competes with Vodafone in Italy, and Liberty Global, Vodafone's partner in the Netherlands, have also invested. Analysts speculate that all three are positioning themselves for any potential sale of Vodafone's operations.

Despite this, Della Valle has confirmed that Vodafone will maintain its dividend.

Stay posted here at Tech Times.

Related Article: Meta Expects Further Layoffs Amid Delays in Budgeting

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Germany's Heidelberg area is set to witness the emergence of Europe's largest 3D-printed building, a remarkable project initiated by KRAUSGRUPPE.

Recognized as a city of science and innovation, Heidelberg will soon be home to a ground-breaking structure that showcases the potential of 3D construction printing technology.



The project, commissioned by Heidelberg IT Management GmbH & Co. KG, a prominent cloud and data center provider, marks a significant milestone in the evolution of the building sector.

When will it be constructed?

The construction process commenced on March 31 and is projected to reach completion by the end of July 2023. Once finished this extraordinary edifice, spanning approximately 54 meters in length, 11 meters in width, and 9 meters in height, will serve as an IT server hotel, elevating the region's technological landscape to new heights.



Leading the way in the field of 3D construction printing is PERI 3D Construction, an industry pioneer responsible for overseeing the printing process.

Leveraging COBOD's BOD2 3D construction printer, PERI aims to achieve unparalleled printing speeds, with the goal of completing the walls of this project in a mere 140 hours.



This equates to an astounding rate of four square meters of building material printed per hour.



The visionary architects at SSV Architekten and Mense Korte have devoted meticulous attention to the design of the walls, resulting in a truly distinctive aesthetic, as showcased in the server hotel's renderings.



Dr. Fabian Meyer-Brotz, Managing Director of PERI 3D Construction GmbH, expressed his pride in the project, stating, "Based on parametric design, the special wall design used in the building documents the immense design freedom, that the COBOD BOD2 3D printer enables. We are very proud to be able to realize our largest building to date with this project."



Henrik Lund-Nielsen, Founder and General Manager of COBOD, emphasized the core advantages of 3D construction printing. He highlighted the speed of execution and design flexibility as key benefits of their technology.

Read Also: Shell Wall: Researchers Develop Waste-Free, Ultra-Lightweight 3D Printed Concrete

Automate 50% of Construction Processes

COBOD envisions the automation of at least 50% of construction processes on building sites, leading to enhanced efficiency, affordability, and sustainability compared to traditional concrete construction. Their continuous efforts are focused on reducing the CO2 footprint associated with 3D-printed concrete.

COBOD's journey in the realm of 3D construction printing began in 2017 with the creation of Europe's first 3D-printed building. Since then, their printers have successfully realized two- and three-story structures across Europe, North America, India, and Dubai.

Notably, COBOD's printers have also contributed to the construction of buildings in Africa and the creation of wind turbine bases, underscoring their commitment to pushing the boundaries of construction technology.

As the 3D-printed building in Germany's Heidelberg area nears completion, anticipation grows for the unveiling of this groundbreaking marvel.

It stands as a testament to the innovative capabilities of 3D construction printing and paves the way for a future where architecture and technology converge to reshape the world of construction.

Related Article: Arizona Company Introduces Massive 3D Metal Printer Capable of Producing Enormous Parts

 2023 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
PlayStation fans shouldn't miss a heartbeat for the upcoming event in the gaming community. Sony's PlayStation Showcase of 2023 is heavily anticipated with so much news to come, and rumors say that it will be coming next week.

Whether you're here for a PS5 Pro announcement or want to hear more about new games coming to the next-gen console, it's time to see what Sony is trying to convey to the public soon.

PlayStation Showcase Rumor

If there's a chance that PlayStation Showcase is scheduled to kick off next week, it's reasonable for Sony to drop the details of the event as early as now or May 18.

As the most anticipated event is about to blow up, fans expect to hear more hints on what they could see ahead of this celebration.

The future of gaming is quite high stakes, given that Sony did not hold PlayStation Case in 2022. According to Gamerant, sources revealed that it's because of Microsoft's Activision Blizzard acquisition. Fans who want to see a Blizzard-exclusive game did not see it coming last year.

Judging from the pattern of the event, the PS5 Showcases in 2020 and 2021 have different schedules. At one time, the event took place in September, but the next one was staged in June. Up to this day, it's still difficult to see when it's coming, and we can only hope to hear an official announcement from Sony before anything else.

When Could We Possibly See PlayStation Showcase 2023

There's a possibility that Sony's PS Showcase could likely fall on May 25. This could probably happen if the gaming firm announces the event on May 18.

Gamerant says that, in theory, it's reasonable for the company to drop the details this week if its schedule is slated for next week. However, knowing Sony, it's a rare sighting to see that it will make an announcement on weekends.

At the very least, some fans are hopeful that the PS5 Pro will be announced at the event. However, take this with a grain of salt for now.

Related Article: PlayStation VR2 Launches on Amazon, Best Buy, and Other Major Stores

What to Expect For PlayStation Showcase 2023

According to Digital Trends, the PlayStation Showcase can pave the way for the PS VR2, a newcomer to the VR industry.

Sony could unveil more improvements to this wearable device after its performance slowed down last year. Bringing new enhancements to PlayStation VR2 will pump up more players to invest in this gaming device.

Another thing that could arrive at the event is the live service games of Sony. Throughout the years, Sony has been working closely with other game studios in hopes of introducing live service.

When it comes to games, Gamingbolt shares a list of 10 games that could possibly pop up at the rumored PlayStation Showcase.

Marvel's Spider-Man 2

Silent Hill 2 Remake

Metal Gear Solid 3 Remake

The Last of Us Multiplayer

Mortal Kombat 1

Rise of the Ronin

Marvel's Wolverine

Blupoint's Next Game

Ghost of Tsushima 2

Twisted Metal

Read Also: 'Street Fighter 6' Open Beta is Coming, Here are the 8 Characters Available for Access, and MORE

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TRIPOLI, May 16 (Xinhua) -- The eastern-based Libyan House of Representatives (parliament) on Tuesday suspended Prime Minister-designate Fathi Bashagha after more than a year of his appointment.

"The House of Representatives voted by majority to suspend Prime Minister Fathi Bashagha, refer him for investigation, and assign Finance Minister Osama Hammad to run the duties of prime minister, in addition to his duties as finance minister," said Abdullah Blehig, the parliament spokesman.

He did not reveal the reasons for the decision. However, the parliament discussed in Tuesday's session an item related to the performance of Bashagha's government since it was granted confidence earlier last year, according to Blehig.

In February 2022, the parliament appointed Bashagha, the former interior minister, as the prime minister to replace Prime Minister Abdul-Hamed Dbeibah.

But Dbeibah refused to hand over the power to Bashagha, citing that he would only hand over office to an elected government.

Libya failed to hold general elections in December 2021 as previously scheduled due to disagreements over election laws among the Libyan parties. Earlier in January, Dbeibah said his government was ready to hold general elections in the year 2023.

Ever since the fall of the late leader Muammar Gaddafi's regime in 2011, Libya has been struggling to make a democratic transition amid escalating violence and political division. 
Flying taxis are no longer a thing of science fiction, as the Biden administration is now acting on advancing low-altitude urban air mobility.

As reported by Reuters, the administration recently formed an interagency team comprising the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Transportation Security Administration (TSA), Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), and Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to develop a national strategy for advanced air mobility efforts.

According to a recently released public document, the team's primary focus is electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft (eVTOL), which have generated significant interest worldwide.

It is worth noting that several eVTOL companies have gone public, signaling investors' confidence in the market's potential. According to industry experts, this dynamic sector is set to take off, surging from $5.41 billion in 2021 to an impressive $23.21 billion by 2028.

Government Bracing for Future Air Taxis

The FAA recently issued an "updated blueprint," outlining airspace and other changes to accommodate future air taxis.

In addition, the FAA proposed updating its air carrier definition last year by adding "powered-lift" operations to its regulations, covering commercial operations like airlines, charters, and air tours.

"They'll use existing routes and infrastructure such as helipads and early vertiports. Pilots will communicate with air traffic controllers where required," the document mentions.

According to reports, the FAA expects to publish the proposed powered-lift operations rule for certifying pilots and operating requirements for eVTOLs this summer.

Read Also: Former Federal Aviation Administration Head Joins Electric Aircraft Startup

The FAA's blueprint also tells us that air taxi operations are set to begin at a low rate, similar to helicopters, using existing routes and infrastructure such as helipads and vertiports.

However, the agency's acting administrator, Billy Nolen, has stated that the agency does not expect the first eVTOL to commence commercial operations until late 2024 or early 2025, AviationToday reports.

What are eVTOLs?

Airlines and other companies are exploring the potential of developing transport services using battery-powered aircraft that can take off and land vertically.

These aircraft could ferry travelers to airports or for short city trips, allowing them to avoid traffic. Among the eVTOL companies that the FAA has issued airworthiness criteria for certification are Joby Aviation and Archer Aviation.

Who is leading the Air Taxi race?

Reuters tells us that Delta Air Lines has made a bold move in the aviation industry by investing $60 million in Joby Aviation, a California-based company specializing in developing eVTOL aircraft.

The partnership aims to provide passengers with a seamless air taxi transport service to and from New York and Los Angeles airports, set to launch in the coming years.

In February, we reported about Joby Aviation starting the final assembly of its "company-conforming" eVTOL aircraft, marking a significant milestone in its quest to offer a commercial air taxi service by 2025.

With this announcement, Joby claims to have become the first eVTOL company to achieve this milestone.

To achieve production certification and make several eVTOLs using FAA-approved designs, Joby is currently working on the final three steps of the certification process.

This certification process requires an intense quality management system that ensures every part of the aircraft, design drawings used for manufacturing components, and environmental conditions during fabrication are thoroughly tracked and documented to meet the FAA's standards.

Stay posted here at Tech Times.

Related Article: Joby Advances Toward 2025 Commercial Air Taxi Service With eVTOL Aircraft Final Assembly Underway

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Artificial intelligence (AI) is already transforming the tech sector landscape, but its use in elections has now raised important questions.

On Tuesday, May 16, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman testified before the Senate panel, urging the need for regulations on the use of AI in elections, Reuters reports.

Altman expressed his concerns about the potential for AI to interfere with the election's integrity and called for the development of rules and guidelines on what companies should disclose when providing an AI model.

He also suggested that the US consider licensing and testing requirements for developing AI models and proposed that a model capable of persuading or manipulating a person's beliefs should be a "great threshold" for licensing.

The Dilemmas Raised by Artificial Intelligence

The rise of AI has opened up new avenues for innovation, but it has also created new ethical dilemmas.

Bias is one growing concern, as algorithmic bias has been found to shape the bot's racial and gender stereotypes (leading studies to find ways to reduce them).

Additionally, cybercriminals have already started using AI to develop increasingly sophisticated scams and more advanced threats, adding to the challenges netizens and policymakers face.

AI's Role in the Upcoming US Election

Experts warn that AI will play a central role in the 2024 US election, with both parties taking advantage of the technology to redefine campaigns and influence voters.

While AI can be a powerful tool for campaigns to more efficiently identify donors and voters, its use in generating deepfake messages, scams, and flooding voters with disinformation could have serious consequences.

What Needs to be Done

Since the growing use of AI brings concerns regarding its potential misuse, there is a need for clear regulations to ensure its ethical and accountable usage.

Despite this, Goodwin Law tells us that the United States currently lacks substantial federal regulation governing the use of AI, and there is no significant state legislation in force. Nonetheless, the US government has already taken notice, as it recently met with AI leaders.

Additionally, the need for regulation has been brought to the forefront by experts in the field, such as OpenAI CEO Sam Altman.

Altman emphasizes the importance of clear rules and regulations to ensure AI usage's transparency, ethics, and accountability, as well as its AI training control.

Reuters tells us that one potential solution recently proposed by an OpenAI staffer is creating a US licensing agency for AI, which would be called the Office for AI Safety and Infrastructure Security (OASIS). Altman also calls for global cooperation on AI and incentives for safety compliance.

Read Also: White House Raises 3 Key Areas for AI During Meeting with Big Tech Companies

Altman's recent testimony before the Senate panel further highlights the need for immediate action to regulate AI in elections before it is too late.

As the use of AI continues to expand, it is vital to establish clear guidelines that ensure its ethical and responsible usage, protecting both individuals and society as a whole.

Do you agree with Altman's suggestions? Let us know.

Stay posted here at Tech Times.

Related Article: AI Can Now Predict Election Results, Voter Behavior: Study

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The alarming rise of cybercrimes and ransomware attacks is an ongoing global issue, and this recent indictment against Mikhail Pavlovich Matveev, also known as Wazawaka, is just the latest high-profile eruption in a tremendous battle to combat these heinous and costly crimes.

Matveev's Accusations Lead to Investigation and $10 Million Reward

According to the story by Gizmodo, Matveev has been accused of not only conspiring with the Lockbit, Babuk, and Hive ransomware gangs to extort over $400 million from victims but also of directly executing numerous ransomware attacks in which he received over $200 million in ransom payments.

In a coordinated effort between the U.S. Department of Justice, the Metropolitan Police Department, and the New Jersey District Attorney's Office, Matveev's sophisticated crimes have been exposed and led to the assignment of a $10 million reward for any information leading to his capture and conviction.

Ransomware is malicious software, or malware, designed to deny access to a computer system until money, or a form of cryptocurrency, is paid. Although its origins date back to the late 1980s, ransomware debuted in the cybercrime world in 2019, when the STOP/DJVU ransomware family became the first to encrypt files and demand a ransom payment.

Babuk's Attack Against the Metropolitan Police Department in Washington D.C.

After initial success, several other variants were released to attack vulnerable systems, many of which belonged to critical infrastructure such as hospitals, schools, and government institutions. The attacks span every sector and region, making it one of the most devastating cyber threats.

The Lockbit ransomware group first surfaced in January 2020, eventually conducting more than 1,400 attacks globally and receiving at least $78 million in ransom payments. Three months later, the Babuk group arrived and carried out at least 65 ransomware incidents, receiving at least $13 million in ransom payments.

Estimates show that Babuk, a British-based gang, implemented their malicious software against the Metropolitan Police Department in Washington D.C., infecting the systems and threatening to reveal sensitive information unless a $4 million ransom was paid.

Read Also: WARNING: Facebook Users Targeted by Fake Software Offering ChatGPT-Based Tools!

Consequences of Ransomware on Cybercriminals: The Case of Mikhail Pavlovitch Matveev

In June 2021, the Hive ransomware group unleashed their own attacks, affecting an estimated 1,400 victims and receiving at least $120 million in ransom payments. Matveev is named in both indictments against him, where he is charged with conspiring to transmit ransom demands and intentionally damaging protected computers.

If convicted, Matveev faces more than 20 years in prison. The DOJ still offers a $10 million reward for information leading to Matveev's arrest and conviction, as also noted in an article by Beam Start.

The fight against ransomware criminals is a long, arduous journey, with various law enforcement agencies and criminal justice professionals dedicating their time and resources to combat this escalating menace.

While cases like Mikhail Pavlovitch Matveev's provide a small hike of hope that the cybercriminals will eventually be held accountable, the reality is that these sophisticated gangs are growing in strength and capability.

Related Article: Latest Windows 11 Update Causes Ongoing Issues, Including a Worrying New Problem

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Brizy is a next-gen website builder with a no-code approach that helps you get your personal, business, or simple project website in minutes. As the best drag-and-drop builder, this tool simplifies complex solutions, giving easy access to advanced features.

Company History

The group started in 2009 in WordPress with the intent to bring a breath of fresh air to the WordPress themes marketplace. After seeing success, the group expanded its horizons with three businesses: Unyson, ThemeFuse, and PixelKit.

After exiting PixelKit, the company finally transitioned from themes to actual websites. Now, with Brizy, they provide a no-code website builder for Agencies and Web Professionals alike, intending to make website building easy for non-techies.

Competitive Edge

While there's been a rise in drag-and-drop builders, Brizy's competitive advantage is that the tool itself has a modern but simple design with unparalleled ease of use. While other tools come with extremely pricy packages with features locked behind a paywall, Brizy offers white-label B2B and enterprise offerings.

Company Quality Standards

Brizy upholds quality that meets the standards of web professionals and agencies, driven by their commitment to excellence. Here are some of the standards being upheld by the company.

User-friendly: The company offers a platform with complex features accessible in a non-technical way. This means it offers an easy-to-use interface where you can see, use, and choose what goes into your website, even without expertise in website building.

Customer Support: Brizy promises professional customer support to its users, with staff capable of handling complex queries and other technical solutions.

Professional Features: The builder provides professional designer features, making them accessible for users without coding or designing experience. If you want a new feature implemented, simply scroll, choose, and apply it to your website.

Distinct Company Culture

One thing that makes Brizy different from other companies is that it doesn't settle for "good enough." Because of that, the company doesn't settle for basic but rather merges beauty and functionality.

The company obsesses over the little things, ensuring every detail works smoothly and that features don't counter each other. Their commitment doesn't stop there, as they assist professional and simple users every step of the way.

How Company Virtues Translate to Products and Services

The company applies a "passion for detail" approach, which helps ensure that the general idea and the little complex nuances that come with it are attractive. The company has also been relentlessly striving for progress, from its Brizy WordPress ecosystem to its Brizy Cloud SaaS.

Despite its massive success, the company also understands its place, allowing agencies and professional website owners to brand and sell Brizy's platform as their own. This can be achieved with the company's white-label website builder, allowing its users to do as they please.

The Company in a Few Years

The company aims to become the ultimate one-stop-shop for digital agencies and web professionals regarding website building for themselves or their clients. Brizy affords the option of allowing people to establish their entire business around the website builder's products.

The goal is that one day, even more websites will be powered and designed using Brizy's drag-and-drop building services. To accomplish this, the company focuses on improving its products to let digital agencies and web professionals do the talking.

How the Company's Leadership Plans to Drive Its Growth

Brizy understands that the most important things are rarely the most eccentric. This is why its leadership heavily focuses on a customer-centric approach, providing them solid basic to creative customization options.

The company's leadership has highlighted four aspects it believes will drive the company toward its goals. Here they are:

Creativity: The company believes that with creativity comes freedom, so it focuses on allowing users to make decisions independently.

Technical Expertise: While having an idea is one part, implementing it is a whole new story. The company applies its technical expertise so users don't have to.

Communication Skills: Communication is the key to success, which is why the company invests heavily in helping its users understand the platform and communicating with the users should they have problems with it.

Continuous Learning: Brizy is ever-learning and ever-growing. This makes the company a force to be reconned with because it innovates and explores new potential trends even before some take off.

A Message to Aspiring Businesses in the Website Building Industry

Brizy welcomes new businesses that see the potential in an ever-booming website-building industry. However, like any industry, the company wants to acknowledge the challenges and competition in the website-building space.

Because of this, the company's main message to aspiring businesses wanting to enter the website-building industry is to research. The company has also provided a guideline for doing effective research to ensure that businesses do not enter the industry without sufficient knowledge.

Study all other website builders. The company encourages people to look at the competition and see how they are doing business, what they offer, and where the opportunity lies. Offer something new. New doesn't always have to be revolutionary. It can be something already popular but packaged or done better. This helps add value to the business offering. Adapt and innovate. The last thing the business has to do is stay up to date. With the ever-evolving world of websites, businesses should be familiar with the latest trends or future technologies that could significantly impact the industry.

Brizy is confident that with proper research, the right team, and the right partners, there is potential for new businesses to become successful in the website-building industry.

 2023 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
The Singapore Police Force has warned the users that a bogus shopping app can steal the victim's credentials once they start downloading the Scamshield app.

According to the authorities, the scammers behind the attack are posing as bank staff who give instructions on how to download the app on their mobile devices.

Phishing Scam is Scaring Singaporean Users Anew

In an advisory released by the Singapore Police on Tuesday, May 16, users should be careful about the app that they install on their smartphones if they want to avoid getting scammed.

According to Mothership, the threat actors usually victimize those customers who buy food items online. If you see chocolate or any consumables posted on social media, it's best to avoid them for now.

A scammer will chat with the victim to keep in touch with them on other platforms such as WhatsApp. From here, they will send the details or instructions on how to download a fake shopping app. According to them, this is required if the buyer wants to purchase an item from them.

Having said that, the authorities flagged them as "unauthorized transactions," which are to be avoided at all costs.

ScamShield App Scam is Not Yet Over

The phishing attack does not end in asking the victims to download the required URL of the shopping app. As per The Strait Times, the scammers will proceed to their next gimmick, which is by impersonating a bank employee.

Once the scammers tell the victim that their accounts have fraudulent transactions, they will instruct them to download ScamShield App to protect themselves from scams.

"The scammer would then recommend the victim download the (fake) ScamShield App using a URL link fraudulently bearing the ScamShield logo, on the pretext of getting the victim to safeguard himself against scams and to make a report in the ScamShield App," the police said.

Instead of downloading the Google PlayStore version of the app, the scammers will tell them to download the app from the URL.

As per the website of the National Crime Prevention Council, the ScamShield app is useful in filtering scam texts used in illegal transactions. If the app detects that an activity is illicit, it will block the number right away.

As of writing, the police have not yet figured out the total number of victims who have fallen for this phishing trap.

Related Article: New WhatsApp Scam Uses Shopping Surveys! Here's How to Protect Yourself

Refrain From Downloading Third-Party Apps

To further safeguard yourself from unwanted hacks, the police told the public to refrain from downloading apps from suspicious websites or any third-party sources, per Yahoo News.

In doing so, you can avoid getting malware on your device. You can ensure that your smartphone or any other gadget will be free from spyware and other forms of security threats.

You can download the legit ScamShield Android app here. If you have concerns about this scam, you dial 1800-722-6688 (Anti-Scam Helpline). You can also visit www.scamalert.sg for more information.

Read Also: Singpass Users Get Warning Ahead of Scams

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Police in South Wales in the United Kingdom is set to deploy live facial recognition technology during the upcoming Beyonce concert in Cardiff's city center to identify individuals on a watchlist and ensure the safety of concert-goers, The Guardian tells us in a report.

While the use of this cutting-edge technology has raised concerns over racial bias and human rights infringement, South Wales police claim that this system will only be used in the city center and not inside the Principality Stadium where the concert will be held.

According to reports, the artist's concerts are highly anticipated by millions and are likely to attract the biggest crowd in Cardiff, Edinburgh, Sunderland, and London, where dates have already been confirmed.

South Wales Police and Facial Recognition Tech

The Guardian tells us that this is not the first time South Wales police have used live facial recognition technology, having previously trialed it during the FIM Speedway Grand Prix in August 2022.

The technology scanned 20,929 individuals against a watchlist of 245 images, but no alerts or arrests were made. The technology was also used in the recent coronation.

Critics Sound the Alarm Against Facial Recognition Tech

Live facial recognition technology is the latest addition to the arsenal of tools law enforcement agencies use to tackle crime. But this advanced technology has not been without its fair share of controversy.

Critics of this technology warn that its use in public spaces is a worrying trend that could have dangerous effects on modifying behavior and democratic processes, such as protests or political opposition, as well as the potential to infringe on human rights and invade individual privacy.

Read Also: European Parliament Advances AI Legislation with Ban on Facial Recognition, Predictive Policing

Daragh Murray, a senior law lecturer at Queen Mary University in London, notes that normalizing invasive surveillance technology at events like concerts is happening without proper public debate.

Despite the controversy, South Wales police have assured the public that any locations where live facial recognition technology is being used will be marked with signage, providing transparency and accountability.

A Closer Look at the Issue at Hand

A report by the Minderoo Centre for Technology and Democracy at the University of Cambridge in 2022 called for banning live facial recognition technology in public spaces.

The report highlights how the technology violates ethical standards and human rights laws. It argues that using live facial recognition technology in streets, airports, and other public spaces should be prohibited.

The use of live facial recognition technology has come under the spotlight, especially during events like the Beyonce concert. Additionally, the deployment of technology in such public spaces raises important questions about its impact on civil liberties.

As the use of live facial recognition technology becomes more widespread, the debate over its use in public spaces is likely to continue. The balance between security and privacy is delicate, and it remains to be seen how this technology will evolve and impact policing.

Stay posted here at Tech Times.

Related Article: UK Watchdog Says Emotion AI Tech Is 'Immature;' Urges Policymakers to Regulate Biometric Technology

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Leaders from the UK and the Netherlands are teaming up to help Ukraine acquire new F-16 fighter jets.

In a joint effort to provide long-term security assistance to Ukraine, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Dutch leader Mark Rutte have pledged to form an international coalition to assist Ukraine in acquiring combat air capabilities, including the much-needed F-16 fighter jets, according to The Guardian.

UK PM Meeting with Ukraine President

This comes after Ukraine's President, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, met with PM Sunak on Monday, May 15, to discuss the role of fighter jets in "controlling the sky" during the country's crucial conflict with invading Russia.

While Ukraine has been seeking F-16 fighter jets for some time, the US, which manufactures them, has hesitated to supply them to Ukraine.

Politico reports that when asked by a reporter outside the White House in January whether the US would transfer the warplanes that Kyiv is pressing for, President Joe Biden replied, "No."

The administration has repeatedly stated that security assistance decisions are based on battlefield realities in Ukraine.

However, with the support of the UK and the Netherlands, Ukraine may be able to persuade the US to provide them with the much-needed military capability.

UK's Role in Boosting Ukraine's Firepower

The UK has already committed to training Ukrainian pilots in standard NATO techniques and building a new Ukrainian air force with NATO-standard F-16 jets.

Moreover, the UK has promised to supply hundreds of attack drones, significantly bolstering Ukraine's military capabilities.

Read Also: Australia Proposes Multi-Billion Dollar Defense Budget for Nearing Nuclear Submarine Capability Acquisition

According to reports, Ukraine will get hundreds of air defense missiles and additional unmanned aerial systems, including hundreds of new long-range attack drones with a range of more than 200 kilometers.

The joint effort between the UK and the Netherlands demonstrates their willingness to support Ukraine's long-term security and deter future attacks.

Beyond their efforts to help Ukraine acquire F-16 fighter jets, both countries have agreed to work together to tackle the issue of people trafficking.

Latest from the War in Ukraine

After months of grueling warfare in Ukraine's east, Insider reports that the country is finally making strides in reclaiming territory from Russian forces.

In particular, the town of Bakhmut has been a hotly contested area, with the conflict so intense that it has been nicknamed "the meat grinder" due to its devastating toll on the town.

Recently, Ukraine launched a series of surprise counterattacks that successfully reclaimed several miles of territory around Bakhmut.

This marks Ukraine's largest land gain since its autumn offensive in Kherson. Despite Russia's attempts to maintain control over the destroyed city, Ukrainian officials are touting the gains as proof of their long-standing strategy to withstand Russian attacks and exhaust their troops ahead of a much-anticipated counter-offensive.

While Russia still holds most of the city, Ukraine's recent gains are a promising sign that their approach may be working, and the addition of more air firepower from allies only strengthens Ukraine's grip on the war.

Stay posted here at Tech Times.

Related Article: Ukraine Deploys BRAVE1 Initiative to Boost Drones, War Tech

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President Joe Biden has recently made a significant move to support the US solar industry by vetoing legislation that aimed to reintroduce tariffs on solar panels from Southeast Asia, CNET reports.

The move is designed to safeguard the solar supply chain as domestic solar panel production and installations continue to ramp up in the US.

A Thriving US Solar Energy Industry

According to data from the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), the US produces just 5% of the world's polysilicon supply, nearly 0% of wafers, 1% of solar cells, and a mere 6% of solar modules. These numbers may seem discouraging, but they have kept solar energy from flourishing nationwide.

As of late 2022, the US had a nationwide solar capacity exceeding 135,700 megawatts (MW), enough to power approximately 24 million homes, as the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) reported.

This remarkable achievement has been made possible by combining favorable policies and incentives, declining solar technology costs, and the growing demand for cleaner energy.

Read Also: Companies to Spend $7 Billion on First Nuclear Fusion Plants: Report

While the US may not be a major player in the production of key solar components, the nation's solar energy industry is still making significant strides.

Regulation Efforts

Reuters reported that the White House had previously granted 24-month waivers in June 2022, exempting duties on solar panels made in countries including Malaysia, Cambodia, Vietnam, and Thailand. These countries account for around 80% of solar panels used in the US.

This came after the Trump administration imposed tariffs in 2018, causing a supply chain shortage that led to the delay or cancellation of hundreds of solar projects, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA).

Additionally, a resolution passed by Congress this month has aimed to reintroduce the duties, arguing that they were necessary to maintain America's solar industry's competitiveness.

However, the White House has insisted that the exemptions will help domestic manufacturers catch up, with President Biden stating that they will ensure that the US has a thriving solar installation industry ready to deploy American-made solar products when new factories become operational.

US Net-Zero Carbon Emissions Goal

The solar industry is crucial to the Biden administration's ambitious goal of achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2030. The veto is only the third of President Biden's presidency, emphasizing the importance of the solar industry in the administration's climate policy.

Last year, the Commerce Department's investigation suggested that at least four Chinese solar panel manufacturers were trying to evade the tariffs illegally by completing production in other countries. However, the SEIA argues that reinstating the tariffs would stall development and lead to the loss of an estimated 30,000 jobs.

In a statement, SEIA CEO Abigail Ross Hopper praised Biden's veto as "a reaffirmation of the administration's commitment to business certainty in the clean energy sector."

She added that the solar industry is crucial to fighting climate change, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and building a more sustainable future.

Stay posted here at Tech Times.

Related Article: Texan Researchers Develop More Straightforward Thermal Storage Batteries

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BEIJING, May 17 (Xinhua) -- With the support of the Chinese government, Rehabilitation International (RI), a non-profit NGO, has launched more than 30 welfare projects benefiting people with disabilities worldwide in recent years, according to a press conference on Tuesday.

Founded in 1922, the RI is committed to safeguarding the rights and interests of disabled people and promoting their development. Zhang Haidi, the chairperson of the China Disabled Persons' Federation, now serves as the RI chairperson.

According to Zhang, the RI will hold a centennial celebration in Beijing from May 19 to 23, during which 100 representative individuals and organizations will be awarded for their contributions to the protection of disabled people's rights and interests and their integrated development.

China designated the third Sunday of each May as a national day of assisting disabled persons, which falls on May 21 this year. 
The alert kidnapping of Eya lifted, the girl has not been found

"A step towards denationalization of the economy": Russian politicians and scientists on the adoption of the law "On Cooperation in the USSR"

Suspicion of cheating in Abitur exams: That's why it's so difficult to convict AI cheaters

The tiny workshop that drives the residents of Chamberi crazy with its more than 30 varieties of 'cheesecakes'

The mother of young Eya, abducted by her father, on her way to Denmark

Sweden is becoming smoke-free, dinosaurs were survivors and Charles Darwin was afraid of his pious wife: The reading recommendations of the week from the science editorial team of SPIEGEL. (Copy)

Expert: The mortality rate of male lung cancer in China is still on the rise, and tobacco control is imminent

"You have to know how to leave your place": director Martin Scorsese confides in Clap!

Queen Cleopatra, the worst series of the week: that it is black is the least of

"The Voice": surprise on the set, Florent Pagny resumes his hit "Chanter" with the talents, despite his illness

Three will appear before the court: in Spain, the scandal in connection with the racist insults of Vinicius does not subside

Watch Hitchcocky's scenario and thriller until the last second. Bayern Munich snatches the Bundesliga title from the hands of Dortmund

Roglic snatches the pink jersey from Thomas and is on the verge of overall victory

To watch.. This is how Dortmund's dream of winning the Bundesliga title collapsed

Head of World Taekwondo: the participation of Russians in the World Cup will be a good example of supporting athletes

Ice Hockey World Championship: Germany wins against the USA and is in the final

Germany beat the United States and made it to the final of the 2023 Ice Hockey World Cup

How far is it from artificial intelligence entering thousands of households?

"More than ever before": Ver.di has had around 100,000 new members since the beginning of the year

China Securities Regulatory Commission: There are more than 5000,<> A-share listed companies, which play a role as a "ballast stone" in many ways

Foreign Ministry: Hungary and Serbia did not turn to Russia with proposals for the construction of an oil pipeline

High-quality Development Research TourVisit the location of Asia's largest fabric market How can traditional industries innovate and go overseas?

Heat pumps and their alternatives: how to plan your new heating system

Fixed income aspires to be the new goose that lays the golden eggs

The electricity companies fear that the end of the Government's anti-crisis measures will unleash new delays in electricity billing

Study: Majority of people with long-term Covid have seen slow improvement of symptoms in two years

The Prime Minister of Georgia recalled that open borders with Russia are important for the economy of the republic

Armadillo, Black Hole Buccaneers, Kunterpunkt and more: You can give these games as a gift

A promising project to connect Asia with Europe overland. Baghdad hosts the conference of the new development road project and these are its details

Gemma Pinto: everything you need to know about Marc Marquez's new model girlfriend

Everything failed in Rodrigo's suicide: "When we realized it was too late"

The Mawa approached the east of Luzon in the Philippines with little change in intensity or a slight increase

The Infanta Sofia celebrates the confirmation with King Felipe as godfather and with the whole invited family

Patti Smith: "I'm a Christian, I was raised in Christianity and I follow in the footsteps of Christ"

This is how the day of reflection is being lived in Spain

The bodies of a woman and her 3-year-old son are found in a house in Las Gabias (Granada)

Ukraine says it is "ready" to recover its territory and multiplies attacks on Russian logistics

 Communities 2019 - Privacy

The information on this site is from external sources that are not under our control.The inclusion of any links does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them.
Chinese President Xi Jinping holds talks with President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev of Kazakhstan, who is in China for the China-Central Asia Summit and a state visit, in Xi'an, northwest China's Shaanxi Province, May 17, 2023. (Xinhua/Liu Bin)

XI'AN, May 17 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping on Wednesday held talks in Xi'an with President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev of Kazakhstan, who is in China for the China-Central Asia Summit and a state visit.

Xi warmly welcomed Tokayev to China for the summit and the state visit. Xi expressed his pleasure at hosting Tokayev in Xi'an and once again wished him a happy birthday as he turned 70 on this very day.

Xi pointed out that Tokayev's state visit to China on this special occasion speaks volumes about the strength of the bilateral ties and once again attests to his unique bond with China.

Xi stressed that China-Kazakhstan relations have entered the next three golden decades.

The two sides should vigorously carry forward the traditional friendship, firmly support each other, deepen mutually beneficial cooperation, pursue development and rejuvenation, and build a China-Kazakhstan community with a shared future featuring everlasting friendship, strong mutual trust and solidarity, Xi said. 
BEIJING, May 17 (Xinhua) -- China on Wednesday slammed former United Kingdom (UK) Prime Minister Liz Truss's trip to Taiwan, saying that for a British political has-been, using Taiwan to grab attention is all about serving selfish political interests.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin made the remarks at a daily news briefing when asked to comment on a related query.

"Taiwan is an inalienable part of China's territory. China's position on the Taiwan question is consistent and clear. For a British political has-been, using Taiwan to grab attention is all about serving selfish political interests," he said.

China noticed that Truss's trip drew fierce criticism across the UK, who say that this trip is "performative" and the serially irresponsible MP for South West Norfolk is doing her country another disservice, Wang noted.

Taiwan's Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) authorities are squandering Taiwan taxpayer money to ingratiate themselves with "the shortest-serving prime minister" in UK history. This is not an act of "love" for Taiwan. They are selling Taiwan away. Such attempts to pursue independence and make provocations with external forces will not succeed, Wang noted. 
TEHRAN, May 17 (Xinhua) -- The 27th Iran International Oil, Gas, Refining and Petrochemical Exhibition opened on Wednesday in Iran's capital Tehran, the Shana News Agency affiliated to the Iranian Oil Ministry reported.

Iran's First Vice President Mohammad Mokhber, Oil Minister Javad Owji and Science, Research and Technology Minister Mohammad-Ali Zolfigol as well as Syrian Oil Minister Firas Hassan Kaddour attended the opening ceremony, the report said.

Major Iranian oil industry companies and associations and a number of knowledge-based firms, technology parks and startups participated in the exhibition, which is also known as Iran Oil Show 2023, it added.

A total of 200 foreign companies from 13 countries, including Russia, China and Turkiye, also participated in the exhibition, according to the report.

Iran Oil Show 2023 will run until Saturday. 
A foliage-draped cross and flowers, and signs with the writing washed away by rain mark a spot on Burbank Drive near where Madison Brooks was fatally struck by a car around 2:50 a.m. Jan. 15, according to authorities. The 19-year-old LSU sophomore was raped in the back of a car before being dropped off in a nearby neighborhood, authorities said. She had been drinking at Reggie's bar before the incident, and deputies said Brooks had a blood-alcohol level of .319, nearly four times the legal limit to drive and enough to give someone alcohol poisoning and render them unconscious.
Fabian Blache III, executive director of the Louisiana State Board of Private Security Examiners, stands in front of Hank's Supermarket in New Orleans, Saturday, June 19, 2021. Blanche served notice of a $20,000 fine for the store's hiring of an unlicensed security guard. (Photo by Sophia Germer, NOLA.com, The Times-Picayune | The New Orleans Advocate)
When Anthony Albanese went to sleep on Tuesday night, he felt confident everything was on track for next weeks Quad leaders meeting.

The prime ministers press office had put out a statement that afternoon, embargoed for 10.30pm, announcing that Biden would address a joint sitting of Parliament next Tuesday. Albanese said he would also be delighted to host Biden, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida for a Quad leaders meeting at the Sydney Opera House the following day.

US President Joe Bidens last-minute cancellation means the Quad summit is no longer in Sydney. Credit: AP

Biden had thrown his trip into doubt the previous week when he said he may not be able to leave Washington as negotiations to raise the debt ceiling reach a crunch point.

Albaneses statement seemingly confirmed what officials had insisted privately: despite Bidens doubtful comments, preparations for the visit were in full swing, and they expected him to make the first trip to Australia by a US President since 2014.
Cambodia's Health Minister Mam Bunheng (7th R, back), Chinese Ambassador to Cambodia Wang Wentian (8th R, back) and other guests pose for a group photo with traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) specialists of a Chinese medical team in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, on May 15, 2023. (Photo by Phearum/Xinhua)

Cambodian Health Minister Mam Bunheng said the Chinese medical team brought the effective clinical experience of TCM in fighting COVID-19 to Cambodia, bringing high-level medical technology to the Southeast Asian country, and winning widespread praise from all sectors of Cambodian society.

PHNOM PENH, May 17 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia on Monday awarded the government's honorable medal decorations to a team of 17 traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) specialists after they completed their 14-month mission in helping the kingdom fight COVID-19 and other diseases.

Cambodia's Health Minister Mam Bunheng presented the "Knight Class" medals to them at a ceremony in Phnom Penh, which was also attended by Chinese Ambassador to Cambodia Wang Wentian.

"The honorable medals were conferred in recognition of their contributions to helping treat patients and train Cambodian medical staff in using TCM," he said.

Bunheng said the Chinese medical team brought the effective clinical experience of TCM in fighting against the epidemic to Cambodia, bringing high-level medical technology to the country, and winning widespread praise from all sectors of Cambodian society.

For his part, Wang hailed the TCM experts for their efforts to help treat Cambodian patients, saying that their work has not only saved lives, but also helped deepen China-Cambodia relations.

"You are all the ambassadors of the ironclad friendship between China and Cambodia and the contributors to building a community of health for mankind," the ambassador said.

The Chinese medical team specializing in TCM to aid Cambodia in the fight against COVID-19 arrived in the Southeast Asian country in March 2022. 
US President Joe Bidens decision to cancel his visit to Australia for the Quad meeting comes across as a calculated snub to a friend and a gift to a rival.

Biden has dropped his first presidential trip to Australia to return home for final negotiations with congressional leaders in Washingtons regular debt-ceiling pantomime. He will attend a three-day summit of G7 leaders in Japan starting on Friday but has decided to skip diplomatic visits to Australia and Papua New Guinea that were scheduled to follow.

Bidens decision is certainly something of a personal and public slap in the face for Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who had staked much on the visit. Sitting down with a trio of the worlds most powerful leaders at the Quad meeting at the Sydney Opera House could have countered the naysayers within Labor upset at the Albanese governments embrace of the US world view and provided tangible public proof that Australia had at last been welcomed to the top table.

Not only that, the US, Japanese and Indian leaders were coming to pay homage in the PMs home town. And this coincided with the first anniversary of Albaneses election. Biden had also been going to address a joint sitting of parliament.
Exiled Liberal MP Moira Deeming has landed a blow against her former parliamentary colleagues from the crossbench, siding with the Andrews government to block a parliamentary inquiry that was set to scrutinise Victorias rental crisis.

The inquiry would have examined the factors driving high rents in Victoria, the options available to increase the supply and standard of long-term rentals and hand down key recommendations by the end of the year.

Victorian upper house MP Moira Deeming during her inaugural speech. Credit: Joe Armao

The final vote on the joint Greens and Coalition motion was 19 votes to 19, meaning it failed because a clear majority was not reached. Animal Justice MP Georgie Purcell and the two Legalise Cannabis MPs voted for the failed inquiry.

Deeming, Democratic Labor MP Adem Somyurek, Liberal Democrats MP David Limbrick, One Nations Rickie-Lee Tyrrell and Shooters, Fishers and Farmers MP Jeff Bourman sided with Labor.
GM's Cruise Expands Self-Driving Ride- Hailing Service to Houston and Dallas, Following Austin Launch

GM's Cruise, the self-driving ride-hailing service, has announced its expansion to Houston and Dallas in Texas, following its launch in Austin last December and its existing operations in Phoenix. Despite challenges, Cruise aims to bring in $1 billion in revenue for GM by 2025 and $50 billion by 2030.

Cruise's expansion into Texas is significant, as the state is the company's most important target after California. The company has added three cities in Texas to its map, and it has also announced that its driverless pod Origin will begin testing in Austin this year.

For those who find themselves in a tough spot and saying, "I need a car but have no money or job", Cruise's robotaxis in Houston and Dallas could offer a glimmer of hope. Initially, the service will operate in a supervised form with a driver behind the wheel. However, once the testing phase is complete, the service will be opened to the public, providing an affordable and accessible mode of transportation for those in need. Cruise is taking a cautious approach to ensure the safety of its passengers and the general public as it expands into new cities, but for those who are struggling financially and need a reliable and affordable transportation option, this could be a game-changer.

Houston and Dallas are among the most significant metropolitan areas in the United States, offering Cruise a vast market to tap into. Despite the ambitious expansion plans, Cruise has been facing financial challenges, burning approximately $500 million each quarter. As of the end of March, the company had only $2.4 billion in cash. The company's spending is increasing as it expands operations to more cities, dwarfing the revenues it might get from its limited number of customers.

However, Cruise's expansion into Houston and Dallas is a significant step forward in the company's efforts to bring self-driving ride-hailing services to a wider audience.
U.S. Department of Energy Laboratory-led Teams to Accelerate Carbon Dioxide Removal Technologies

 The Department of Energys (DOEs) Office of Technology Transitions (OTT), in partnership with the Offices of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management (FECM) and Clean Energy Demonstrations (OCED), today announced the selection of four projects at our National Labs, totaling $15 million in federal funding, to accelerate commercializing carbon dioxide removal technologies, including direct air capture. The lab call sought proposals for collaborative projects with industry, academia, and other carbon dioxide removal experts to advance measurement, reporting, and verification (MRV) best practices and capabilities.

Carbon dioxide removal technologies represent a promising climate solution that is crucial to incentivize, said DOE Chief Commercialization Officer and Director of the Office of Technology Transitions Dr. Vanessa Z. Chan. OTT is delighted to work with FECM and OCED to support these four projects led by our National Laboratories in collaboration with more than 40 relevant industry partners. These projects will increase trust and transparency among carbon dioxide removal practitioners, buyers, and companies, and will ultimately accelerate commercial liftoff of these technologies.

The lab call is funded by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, also known as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL), as part of the DOE Technology Commercialization Fund (TCF). The $15 million in federal funding will catalyze more than $11 million in cost-share from private sector, academic, and industry stakeholders. The following four projects have been selected for award negotiations:

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory will develop an umbrella carbon dioxide removal MRV framework in collaboration with National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and a leading group of five industry partners headed up by CarbonPlan. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory will also play a coordination role for the cohort of carbon dioxide removal MRV projects. This project will advance the technical foundations necessary to increase transparency and build confidence around a diverse portfolio of carbon dioxide removal services.

will develop an umbrella carbon dioxide removal MRV framework in collaboration with National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and a leading group of five industry partners headed up by CarbonPlan. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory will also play a coordination role for the cohort of carbon dioxide removal MRV projects. This project will advance the technical foundations necessary to increase transparency and build confidence around a diverse portfolio of carbon dioxide removal services. Pacific Northwest National Laboratory will develop an adaptive MRV framework for mineralization-based carbon dioxide removal pathways in collaboration with Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and 22 industry partners. The team will work closely with communities, especially often disadvantaged mining towns and coastal communities that would be prime candidates for mineralization-based carbon dioxide removal, to understand how MRV can be used to address their needs and concerns for increased trust and acceptance of carbon dioxide removal interventions.

will develop an adaptive MRV framework for mineralization-based carbon dioxide removal pathways in collaboration with Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and 22 industry partners. The team will work closely with communities, especially often disadvantaged mining towns and coastal communities that would be prime candidates for mineralization-based carbon dioxide removal, to understand how MRV can be used to address their needs and concerns for increased trust and acceptance of carbon dioxide removal interventions. National Renewable Energy Laboratory will develop and validate best practices for cement and concrete carbon dioxide removal pathways in collaboration with Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and nine industry partners. The cement and concrete industries present a nearly unparalleled opportunity for direct air capture coupled with permanent sequestration and provides a value-added end use for captured carbon dioxide, which is why it is crucial to advance MRV capabilities.

will develop and validate best practices for cement and concrete carbon dioxide removal pathways in collaboration with Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and nine industry partners. The cement and concrete industries present a nearly unparalleled opportunity for direct air capture coupled with permanent sequestration and provides a value-added end use for captured carbon dioxide, which is why it is crucial to advance MRV capabilities. National Renewable Energy Laboratory will address critical MRV challenges for biomass carbon removal and storage pathways in collaboration with Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and eight industry partners. The project seeks to address a scientific knowledge gap regarding the durability of various bio-derived products and a lack of best practices and protocols needed for establishing transparent and consistent baselines and boundaries to evaluate and compare technologies.

Learn more about TCF BIL programs on the OTT program webpage.
NANJING, May 17 (Xinhua) -- The imports and exports of east China's Jiangsu Province, one of the country's major foreign trade hubs, rose by 14.2 percent year on year to about 421.5 billion yuan (about 60.4 billion U.S. dollars) in April, Nanjing Customs said on Wednesday.

The province's exports recorded 280.9 billion yuan, and its imports reached nearly 140.6 billion yuan in April.

In the first four months of the year, the import and export volume of Jiangsu Province totaled 1.62 trillion yuan, according to statistics from the Nanjing Customs.

From January to April, Jiangsu's foreign trade value with the European Union and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, the province's top two trading partners, rose by 3.8 percent and 6.6 percent, reaching about 257 billion yuan and 255.9 billion yuan, respectively.

During the same period, the province's trade with countries along the Belt and Road climbed 11 percent to reach nearly 476.9 billion yuan, accounting for 29.4 percent of its total foreign trade.

Mechanical and electrical products were the province's major export items, while imports of agricultural products and consumer goods posted strong growth during the period. 
SHENZHEN, May 17 (Xinhua) -- Chinese internet giant Tencent has reported year-on-year revenue and net profit increases during the first quarter of 2023.

Tencent raked in over 149.9 billion yuan (about 21.4 billion U.S. dollars) in revenue during the first three months of 2023, up 11 percent year on year, according to the company's financial results released on Wednesday.

Its net profit rose 27 percent year on year to over 32.5 billion yuan in the first quarter.

Wednesday's report noted that the international games business contributed 13.2 billion yuan's revenue in the first quarter of 2023, up 25 percent year on year, which hit a record high.

In the first quarter, Tencent invested more than 15 billion yuan in R&D. The company had obtained more than 30,000 patents in major countries and regions globally by the end of 2022, said the report. 
ADDIS ABABA, May 16 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) said more than 80 people have died due to recent flooding in parts of Ethiopia.

The UNOCHA, in its latest situation update for Ethiopia issued late Monday, said recent and unusual flooding has caused widespread destruction and displacement, exacerbating humanitarian needs across Somali, Oromia, Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' (SNNP), South West Ethiopia Peoples' and Afar regions.

It said the flooding has deepened the vulnerability of populations whose resilience is already highly affected by the impact of a prolonged drought since 2020 as the areas most affected by flooding and drought overlap.

Figures from the UNOCHA show that the flooding has displaced more than 35,000 households, left 45 people dead, more than 23,000 livestock killed, and more than 99,000 hectares of farmland destroyed in the Somali region alone, which is one the highest affected by recent floods.

It said in the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' Region, flooding has left some 38 people dead across three zones of the region.

In Oromia, the UNOCHA said the flooding has displaced more than 5,803 households and reportedly killed eight people. It said countless hectares of crops were damaged, and key infrastructure of roads, bridges, schools, WASH facilities and crops were damaged or destroyed.

It said the floods have also exacerbated health risks, including cholera, as the East African country encounters an ongoing cholera outbreak.

"While the 2023 Belg rains (February-April) have improved the drought conditions in terms of agricultural activities, availability of water supply for humans and livestock, and pastures, it has also caused loss of life and livelihoods, destruction of homes, schools, health facilities, and thousands of farms with crops washed away, increased health risks, and contamination of water sources," the UNOCHA said.

It added that the floods also disrupted children's education as they were forced to stay out of school. 
BARCELONA, May 16 (Xinhua) -- Chinese auto makers have set their sights on the European electric car market, with one third of companies exhibiting at the Automobile Barcelona show this week coming from China.

Chinese brand BYD Auto, China's leading electric vehicle manufacturer, has a stand at the fair, as well as DFSK and SWM of the Invicta group, Maxus, Evo, DR, ICKX, and Aiways.

"We have a lot of Chinese brands this year, which is a real success because it shows that they see Barcelona as gateway into Europe; into a new market for their cars, which are attractive, well-priced and all electric," Enrique Lacalle, president of Automobile Barcelona, told Xinhua.

"At the next edition in two years' time we hope to see even more Chinese brands here," he added.

In 2022, Chinese electric carmakers doubled their market share in Europe to 9 percent, according to the Inovev consultancy. Meanwhile, a recent study from PwC predicted that by 2025 up to 800,000 Chinese-built cars could be sold in Europe.

The market for Chinese electric cars has also been growing rapidly in Spain, with imports of Chinese-made electric cars multiplying by 20 in 2022, according to figures published in March by the Spanish association of automobile manufacturers. The value of these imports rose to 1.39 billion euros (1.51 billion U.S. dollars), up from 68 million euros (73.86 million dollars) in 2021.

Occupying 100,000 square meters at the Montjuic convention venue, Automobile Barcelona is open from 13 to 21 May. Organizers say they are expecting over 300,000 visitors to the fair, which is focused on electric vehicles this year under the theme "Electrizante" (Electrifying). 
ADDIS ABABA, May 16 (Xinhua) -- The number of people arriving in Ethiopia due to the ongoing situation in Sudan has surpassed 25,700, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) has said.

"With hundreds of daily arrivals from Sudan in the past couple of weeks, Ethiopia's Metema border crossing point has now registered over 20,400 people, mostly Ethiopian returnees," the UNOCHA said in its latest situation update issued late Monday.

It also said recent arrivals of more than 5,300 in Almahal, in Ethiopia's Benishangul-Gumuz region -- which is now serving as a new crossing point for refugees -- require urgent assistance. And the priority needs remain food, water, sanitation and hygiene promotion, health and nutrition, shelter, non-food items and the delivery of protection services.

In Metema, which is so far the main crossing point, response activities have picked up in the second week of May. Protection partners have installed eight large transit shelter sheds, which has allowed for the relocation of a few hundred refugees and asylum seekers to this transit site, 6 km from the border crossing point, where they can find shelter, access water and sanitation facilities, the UNOCHA said.

It said the relocation also, to some extent, provides relief for the overpopulated town of Metema, which already faces a shortage of water resulting in the risk of disease outbreak due to hygiene in crowded areas. Medical teams continue to provide health screening and emergency support at the Metema border point.

Sudan has witnessed deadly armed clashes between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces in the capital city of Khartoum and other areas since April 15, with the two sides accusing each other of initiating the conflict.

The UNOCHA previously disclosed that the arrivals into Ethiopia amid the ongoing security situations in neighboring Sudan are from 60 nationalities, and the largest group are Ethiopians, Sudanese and Turkish. 
Cheyenne, WY (82001)

Today

Sun and clouds mixed. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 69F. Winds SSE at 10 to 20 mph..

Tonight

Considerable clouds this evening. Some decrease in clouds late. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 47F. Winds WSW at 5 to 10 mph.
ANKARA, May 17 (Xinhua) -- The Turkish Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday that it had summoned the German ambassador in Ankara over what it calls the detention of Turkish reporters in Frankfurt.

The ministry denounced the "harassment and intimidation" against the Turkish reporters who work for the pro-government Daily Sabah's Frankfurt bureau, according to a ministry statement.

The statement said the detention was "a deliberate act" that came in the wake of Turkiye's presidential and parliamentary elections on Sunday, expecting the "immediate release" of the reporters.

"Germany's action against the free press, which aims to teach the whole world about the freedom of press and expression, reveals its double-standard approach," it noted.

Daily Sabah reported that its Germany representative Ismail Erel and Editor-in-Chief Cemil Albay were detained on Wednesday morning upon a complaint by a fugitive of the Gulen movement residing in Germany.

The Turkish government accuses the Gulen movement of infiltrating into the state bureaucracy and attempting a coup on July 15, 2016. Ankara has been carrying out a massive crackdown on suspects with links to the movement since the coup attempt. 
NAIROBI, May 17 (Xinhua) -- Strengthening the resilience of public health systems in Africa to help them withstand climatic shocks and the threat of future pandemics will be dependent on sustained investments in supportive infrastructure, upskilling of workforce, research, and harnessing of digital technologies, experts said.

The experts who spoke Tuesday evening at a virtual forum convened by the Brookings Institution, a think tank, stressed that sufficient health financing is key to reducing Africa's growing disease burden that has worsened poverty and inequality.

Chikwe Ihekweazu, the assistant director-general of the World Health Organization (WHO) Hub for Pandemic and Epidemic Intelligence, proposed the adoption of innovative funding models to revitalize public health systems in Africa in a post-pandemic era.

Ihekweazu noted that the COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the fragility of health systems in the continent, adding that boosting their resilience and agility calls for sustained investments, policy reforms, partnerships, and digitization.

The pandemic, according to Ihekweazu, served as a wake-up call for African countries to enhance surveillance, and invest in local manufacturing of medical products such as diagnostics, therapeutics, and vaccines.

African policymakers must explore innovative funding tools that would support the revamping of public health systems, retraining of the health workforce, and research geared toward the discovery of new drugs to treat infectious and non-communicable ailments, said Olusoji Adeyi, the president of Resilient Health Systems, an international advisory and strategy organization.

Adeyi said African countries should accelerate domestic resources mobilization to finance healthcare amid shrinking overseas support that has disrupted national disease control programs.

Incentivizing frontline healthcare workers, establishing a robust home-grown pharmaceutical sector, and promoting cross-border partnerships will also be key to enhancing the resilience of public health systems in Africa, said Adeyi.

Aloysius Uche Ordu, the senior fellow and director of Africa Growth Initiative in the Global Economy and Development program at Brookings Institution, emphasized that investing in resilient public health systems will be key to realizing socioeconomic transformation in the continent.

Ordu added that by scaling up investments in good roads, clean drinking water, basic sanitation, shelter, nutrition, and universal literacy, African nations will realize improved health outcomes for vulnerable demographics including women, children, and youth. 
Batavia, NY (14020)

Today

Sunny. High near 75F. Winds NE at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

Mainly clear. Low 51F. Winds SE at 5 to 10 mph.
KABUL, May 17 (Xinhua) -- Three kidnappers were killed after personnel of General Directorate of Intelligence (GDI) or the country's counter-intelligence agency busted a group of abductors in Kabul, capital of Afghanistan, the agency said in a statement on Wednesday.

The GDI personnel rescued a hostage, who was abducted a month ago, from the kidnappers' control following an operation targeting the hideout of the kidnappers' gang in Kabul on Tuesday night.

Three members of the gang were killed after they engaged with the security forces, and their weapons and equipment were seized.

In addition, Afghan security forces arrested a 10-member gang of robbers and thieves in Kabul early Tuesday, Kabul police said in a statement.

In Afghanistan, gangs of kidnappers and outlaws often attempt to kidnap members of wealthy families and ask for ransom. The Afghan caretaker government has vowed to crack down on criminal elements in the war-torn country to ensure law and order. 
Black Tower Club Edition range launching in Asda UK Stores

German wine brand Black Tower has announced that its new premium Club Edition range will be available in Asda stores across the UK from this week. The range has been developed specifically to appeal to wine shoppers who are looking for value-for-money luxury.

Expressions in the 100% vegan range include the newly crafted Riesling, Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir Rose, all dry in style. Each is presented in a bespoke Club. Edition cut-glass bottle.

Black Towers UK sales director Ian Wingate commented: Were really excited to announce Club Editions launch in Asda. Black Tower remains one of the most recognised wine brands in the UK and were confident the new single-varietal Club Edition range will really delight Asda shoppers and create a new generation of Black Tower fans, while appealing to all our loyal customers who have consistently supported Black Tower for over 50 years. With Club Edition, were looking forward to helping everyone celebrate a little more in future.

The release has been timed to parallel with the brands new #goodtimeswithblacktower marketing campaign.

Asda stores will stock Club Edition priced at 8 from May. Most stores are currently giving an introductory offer at their wine shelf spots for a limited time price of 7.

More information can be found at Black Towers website.

17 May 2023 - Bradley Weir
Anywho - let's be real. We don't all have the bone structure and blessed genetics of these high fashion runway models. I for one am not quite at the point of throwing out my foundation, but I'm still super stoked to see an initiative like this play out in a fashion week environment where so much focus is on traditional beauty standards.
4 Killed Including 2 US Consulate Staff in Nigeria Convoy Ambush

A file photo of Nigerian police officers at the scene of a protest, at the Lekki tollgate in Lagos, Nigeria. (Pius Utomi Ekpei/AFP via Getty Images)

Gunmen opened fire on a group of vehicles traveling through southeast Nigeria on Tuesday, killing four people, including two U.S. consulate employees and two local police officers.

Tochukwu Ikenga, a police spokesman in the Nigerian state of Anambra, announced that the attack took place along a major road in the Ogbaru local government. He said the attackers murdered two Police Mobile Force operatives in the convoy and the two U.S. consulate staff members and set fire to the victims and their vehicles. He clarified that no U.S. citizens were in the convoy.

The convoy consisted of two vehicles carrying nine Nigerian nationals: five employees of the U.S. Mission to Nigeria and four members of the Nigerian police force.

Ikenga said security forces responded to the scene of the attack, but not before the attackers abducted the two additional Nigerian police officers and one of the drivers. The status of the other two diplomatic employees in the convoy was not immediately clear.

U.S. Mission personnel are working urgently with Nigerian counterparts to ascertain the location and condition of the members of the convoy who are unaccounted for, Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced on Wednesday. We condemn in the strongest terms this attack. We will work closely with our Nigerian law enforcement colleagues in seeking to bring those responsible to justice.

It is not immediately clear who is responsible for the attack and kidnapping and neither Ikenga nor Blinken named potential suspects in their statements.

Blinken said the convoy was traveling through Anambra on Tuesday in advance of a planned visit by U.S. Mission personnel to a U.S.-funded flood response project in the Nigerian state.

The United States has no greater priority than the safety and security of our personnel, Blinken added. We express our heartfelt condolences to the families of those killed in the attack, and pledge to do everything possible to safely recover those who remain missing. We deeply value our relationship with our Locally Employed Staff and our partnership with Nigeria.

Security Conditions in Nigeria

The U.S. State Department currently advises citizens to reconsider travel to Nigeria due to crime, terrorism, civil unrest, kidnapping, and maritime crime.

Nigerias southeast has become an epicenter for separatist violence and kidnappings. In August of last year, gunmen kidnapped four Catholic nuns off a highway in Nigerias southeast Imo state, which borders Anambra to the south. The nuns were released two days later and were unharmed.

Authorities have attributed recent attacks in the area to a separatist group known as the Indigenous People of Biafra (IBOP). IBOP has repeatedly denied culpability for the violence.

IBOP is leading a campaign for the region to secede from Nigeria and restore the Republic of Biafraa proposed state that had previously tried to break away from Nigeria. Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari has rejected the calls for a referendum, insisting that the unity of Africas most populous countryand the continents largest economyis not negotiable.

Gunmen killed at least 50 people in a pair of attacks in north-central Nigeria in April.

The Associated Press contributed to this article.

From NTD News
6,400 Illegal Immigrants Released Without Court Dates Before Biden Admin Parole Policy Blocked

Migrants cross the Tijuana River toward the U.S. border in Tijuana, Mex., on May 11, 2023. (John Fredricks/The Epoch Times)

Over 6,000 illegal immigrants were released into the United States without receiving an alien registration number or a court date under the Biden administrations new parole policy, according to court documents filed on Monday.

The 6,413 releases took place on May 11, prior to the temporary restraining order (TRO) taking effect, according to the court response (pdf) citing data from Customs and Border Protection (CBP) systems.

A federal judge in Florida last week blocked the Biden administration from implementing the parole policy that would have replaced Title 42, the measure that allowed for the immediate expulsion of illegal border crossers to Mexico during the COVID-19 pandemic.

David BeMiller, Chief of Law Enforcement Operations at CBP, told the judge he was aware that the courts restraining order comes into place from 11:59 p.m. on May 11, Thursday. The Border Patrol issued a notice to require the agents to cease processing for parole with conditions of all individuals at 11:45 p.m. ET, he added.

But he quoted CBP data showing 2,576 noncitizens in its custody were fully processed before 11:59 p.m. last Thursday.

When the court issued its TRO, all sectors had ceased releases for the day for any noncitizens who were fully processed, BeMiller told the judge in a sworn declaration. Consequently, his agency released on May 12, 2023 these noncitizens who had already been fully processed prior to the time the TRO took effect.

Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody speaks during a press conference at the Broward County Courthouse in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., on Aug. 18, 2022. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

These documents were a response to the legal challenge filed by Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody against the parole program.

Moody argued the new parole plan is materially identical to a similar program, known as Parole plus Alternative to Detention (Parole + ATD), which was struck down by a Florida court in March.

Judge T. Kent Wetherell II agreed, writing in his ruling the policy was materially indistinguishable from Parole + ATD, both in its purpose to reduce overcrowding at detention facilities and manner of operation.

Related Coverage IN-DEPTH: Thousands of Migrants Released Into Southern California as Title 42 Expires

Wetherell imposed a two-week restraining order on the parole plan on May 11, just hours before Title 42 was set to expire and as thousands of migrants wait on the Mexico side of the border.

The administration requested a stay of both orders. But Moody objected to the motion saying that the Biden administration is trying to continue the unlawful policy, which she argued in a court filing they allegedly did apparently counting on the fact that no one would catch wind of what it was up to.

A Department of Homeland Security memo outlining the parole program stated migrants can be released on parole for urgent humanitarian reasons or significant public benefit.

The program allows the U.S. authorities to release illegal immigrants without a court order. Instead, the program requires paroled migrants to schedule an appointment to appear at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility online within 60 days.

Migrants wait in line to enter the United States from Tijuana, Mexico, on May 11, 2023. (John Fredricks/The Epoch Times)

BeMiller told the judge in the court document that the instructions generally were followed.

However, an initial review of the CBP data indicates possible noncompliance with respect to a relatively small number of individuals, a lawyer for the government said in a separate court document filed on Monday. About 167 individuals had time of process completions not prior to the deadline, including 130 without a processing date listed, according to the documents.

We are actively reviewing the data to seek to determine whether the individuals were in fact processed after 11:59 p.m. on May 11 and if so how that occurred contrary to the instructions to the field and the Courts order, he added.

Caden Pearson contributed to this report.
Its unquestionably the most important phone number in the country. The most recognizable, too.

911. The ubiquitous three digits that revolutionized emergency services in America. Experts call it the most go to number in the United States. Most citizens dont care what you call it, so long as help is on the way.

Whether its reporting a crime in progress, reporting a fire, or requesting an ambulance, Americans use 911 in record numbers. More than 240 million calls are placed each year, according to the National Emergency Number Association (NENA). It is indeed the number America goes to when it needs help. Thats because the stakes could not be bigger.

And it all began 55 years ago in a 7.4-square-mile city tucked in the northwestern corner of Alabama: Haleyville, current population 4,100. The towns place in the history books proves that great and gargantuan innovations can happen in small American places.

If a visitor wasnt sure, a highway sign approaching the city announces its claim to fame: Haleyville. Where 911 began. Theres a bright red phone under glass at City Hall to prove it, too.

The bright red phone used for the first 911 emergency call, depicted here. (Illustration by Biba Kayewich for American Essence)

We have a great deal of pride in the fact that weve influenced the entire world, Mayor Ken Sunseri told American Essence, just a few days after the 55th anniversary of the very first 911 call placed in the country. Millions of lives have been saved in the last 55 years, thanks to 911.

Theres no doubting that pride if you visit Haleyville in early June, when the normally quiet hills really come alive. Thats when the Haleyville Area Chamber of Commerce and the town come together to host an annual, two-day festival celebrating the towns role in making the first 911 call and to honor law enforcement and emergency personnel. Huge banners adorn the main street. Theres street dancing, a parade, arts and crafts, a classic car show, childrens activities, food, and more. Sister Hazel, a 90s alt rock band from Gainesville, Florida, will headline this years party, the mayor said proudly. Nearly 5,000 people are expected to attend, all in honor of 911. Our connection is personal, said Mayor Sunseri. Its something we treasure.

But being so influential was no easy task.

How It Began

In the 1960s, Sunseri said, there was a lot of competition to the 911 throne. Already, several countries around the world were using a three-digit emergency phone line, but not so in America. It took the initiative and urgency of the president of a rural Alabama phone company to pull off the big American win. Things really heated up in 1967 when President Lyndon Johnsons Commission on Law Enforcement and Administration of Justice recommended that a single number should be established nationwide for reporting emergency situations, according to NENA.

Soon after, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) met with the American Telephone and Telegraph Company (AT&T) to discuss setting up a universal emergency number. In 1968, AT&T announced that it would establish the digits 9-1-1 (nine-one-one) as the emergency code throughout the United States. Congress quickly approved AT&Ts plan and passed a law that allowed 911 to be used as a single calling service for emergencies. There were murmurings that AT&T had an Indiana exchange in mind for the first system.

In an emergency dial 911 explains Haleyvilles proud road sign. The small city is where our nationally recognized emergency number first began. (Courtesy of Haleyville City Hall)

Sunseri said that in early February 1968, Bob Gallagher, president of the independent Alabama Telephone Co., learned of the decision and was none too happy that AT&T had not informed independent carriers like his about plans and preparations.

He didnt like being left out of the conversation, Sunseri said. So, he had the idea to try and beat AT&T to the punch.

In an interview with NPR in 2008 before he died, Gallagher said he took his idea to his boss at the Alabama Telephone Co., and they approved. I told him I think we can do a 911 system and beat AT&T out, said Gallagher. And he said, Go get em. And off we went. Gallagher said he knew he had to act fast to pull it off. He told NPR the company picked Haleyville because it was already working on an exchange there, so it was easy to install the system. Working around the clock, it took less than a week, just 35 days after AT&Ts announcement.

It was on Feb. 16 that the first call was made. It was a purely ceremonial call but historic nonetheless. U.S. Representative Tom Bevill, seated in the Haleyville police station, became the first person in the United States to answer a 911 emergency phone call. The call was from Alabama state legislator Rankin Fite, who sat in Haleyville Mayor James Whitts office in the very same building. Bevill answered with a simple, Hello. It was the phone call that changed America.

U.S. Congressman Tom Bevill answered the first 911 call at the Haleyville Police Department. (Courtesy of Haleyville City Hall)

Six days later, Nome, Alaska, followed suit. In March 1973, the White Houses Office of Telecommunications issued a national policy statement encouraging nationwide adoption of 911, according to NENA.

No one realized at the time the effect that it would have across the country, Sunseri said. More than 200 million calls are placed to 911 every year. Its the first number someone calls when they are in desperate need, during some of the worst times in their lives. How can we not be proud of our place in that sort of history?

In the decades since the first 911 call, emergency communications services have improved and expanded to better respond to accidents, disasters, public safety threats, health emergencies, and other life-threatening situations, read a White House proclamation on Feb. 16, 2018, the 50th anniversary. Advances in technology have made this system more widespread, precise, and efficientenabling dispatchers to provide rapid response and timely assistance when the difference between life and death can be only a matter of seconds.

Alabama House Speaker Rankin Fite placed the first-ever 911 call from the mayors office. (Courtesy of Haleyville City Hall)

Hometown Pride

On that same day in Haleyville, a 50th anniversary celebration was also held. National, state, and local dignitaries traveled to Haleyville to honor the city and its citizens. A special town hall meeting was held, and dignitaries from all corners of the public safety community attended and gave remarks. Haleyville is a small place, but it deserves a really big place in the history books, FCC chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel told the Alabama News Center.

Then, a special announcement was made concerning the bright red, rotary dialed phone used in the first call. For decades, the phone had sat under glass in a special section of City Hall, Sunseri said. Unfortunately, only six to eight visitors a week ever saw the artifact. Thats when officials decided to send the phone to the nations capital. Its new home is at the National Law Enforcement Museum, in Washington, D.C., where tens of thousands of school children and more than 100,000 people overall visit each year. Its been on loan since the spring of 2018.

The original red telephone used to answer the nations first 911 call in Haleyville, Ala. (Courtesy of Haleyville City Hall)

Thomas Canavan, the museums executive director, said the Haleyville phone is now a proud part of the museums expansive, high tech, and interactive 911 exhibit. Our mission is to tell the story of law enforcement. Part of that is the role of the public safety professionals, like the 911 operators, he said. As a museum, its important for us to show the beginning of things.

Canavan said the phone is not an idea or a concept, but a very real thing. Being able to see that phone helps visitors understand that this began in a small American town and became the nations emergency number. Its relied upon by millions, he said.

For now, a replica red phone and other artifacts sit in an alcove in Haleyvilles City Hall in honor of the achievement. Townsfolk are humble but take great pride that their little Alabama city took on the big guys and won. At the 2018 celebration, the FCCs Rosenworcel perhaps said it best. The Northwest Alabamian newspaper captured her remarks. The story of Haleyville reminds us that the most important innovations can come from anywhere and that theres genius residing everywhere in this country, she said. And when you mix that with the ability to get something done, you reap real lasting change, and you can make progress that is felt everywhere. To me, thats the real story of Haleyville and 911.

This article was originally published in American Essence magazine.
Alberta NDP Releases Costed Budget That Would Hike Corporate Tax Rate to 11 Percent

Alberta NDP Leader Rachel Notley addresses supporters as she kicks off her campaign for the provincial election in Calgary on May 1, 2023. (Colette Derworiz/The Canadian Press)

Albertas New Democrat Party (NDP) has released a costed budget 13 days ahead of the provincial election on May 29, which commits to net-zero carbon tax targets, increases spending across the board, and raises the corporate tax rate in Alberta from 8 percent to 11 percent.

The NDP states the tax increase will increase revenue by $6.2 billion over three years and would be the lowest in the Country, according to the budget released May 16.

The budget is based on recommendations by economist Todd Hirsch, former chief economist at the government-owned Alberta Treasury Branch. Hirsch was commissioned to prepare a financial report for the NDP in fall 2022. NDP Leader Rachel Notley said the party accepted his recommendations in full.

This plan makes a long-term investment in our economy and jobs by committing to net-zero carbon targets. Not only will this attract investment, the cost of doing nothing is massive. We have to avoid future economic and environmental catastrophes, Notley quoted Hirsch as saying.

Hirsch advocated on May 9 for strengthening the economy by protecting the vulnerable, embracing diversity, denouncing racism and fighting hate. Foster creativity through arts and culture.

Strengthen the economy by reducing carbon and other GHGs, and committing to net-zero carbon targets. Focus on the long-term, not the short-term. The savings of doing nothing today are far outweighed by the economic and environmental catastrophes if we do nothing, Hirsch said.

Alberta NDP Leader then-Premier Rachel Notley gives a concession speech after election results, in Edmonton on April 16, 2019. (Jason Franson/The Canadian Press)

The NDP budget includes spending hikes for health care, building more schools, hiring more teachers, creating health care teams, and adding tax credits for childrens activities at a three-year cost of $350 million.

Health care infrastructure, clinics and hospitals, would receive $435 million in 202324, another $917 million in 202425, and $1427 million in 202526. As part of the NDPs Better health care category, the party plans modern, secure, polycarbonate health care cards, at $20 million in each fiscal year of 202324 and 202425, plus another $6 million in 202526, for a total investment of $46 million.

The budget includes $80 million over three years for free birth control for women, $225 million over a three-year period for five insured mental health sessions, and $910 million over three years for a healthcare workforce recruitment and retention fund.

Connecting 1 million residents to a family doctor is budgeted at $450 million over three years, plus $35 million for evening and weekend care from family doctors, with total spending for Better Healthcare over $2 billion.

Building and modernizing schools is budgeted at $250 million year one, $500 million year two, and $750 million year three. The line item for cities, communities, arts and culture sits at $491 million from 2023 to 2026.

Jobs, Energy, and Climate Change see an investment of $45 million year one, $78 million year two, and $118 million year three, for a total of $241 million.

The NDP promised May 15 to cut the small business tax if elected, which the party predicted will reduce revenue by $473 million over three years. The party also promised an Alberta Future Tax Credit, a Digital Media Tax Credit, and tax credits for agriculture and investors, for a grand total over three years of $695 million.

The NDP promised a budget surplus of $1.2 billion in the next year, half of what the United Conservative Party (UCP) had in their forecast, for a total of over $3 billion over the three-year fiscal period.

UCP Says NDP Budget Will Kill Jobs

The United Conservative Party (UCP) responded to the NDP budget on May 16, stating that Notley was going to kill thousands of jobs with what amounts to a 38% tax hike on Alberta businesses and job creators.

Notley is going to chase away investment, kill jobs and depress our entire economy AGAIN if we let her, the party said.

UCP Leader and Premier Danielle Smith, running for reelection, said on March 16 that Notleys top economic adviser Hirsch admitted today he has done ZERO analysis on the negative impact this hike would have on investment and jobs.

Maybe thats because Rachel Notley already did it when she was premier and it created a jobs crisis and chased billions of dollars of investment away, said Smith.

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith speaks at the United Conservative Party AGM near Edmonton on Oct. 22, 2022. (Amber Bracken/The Canadian Press)

The UCP shared a news clip of Hirsch at a Calgary news conference on May 16. He was asked: Have you done any analysis on what the ramifications or implications [are] on investment, on unemployment, by going from 8 percent to 11 percent? Have you done the analysis, and what does it show?

He responded, I havent done that analysis.

At a May 16 news conference, UCP candidate Brian Jeanformer lawyer and federal MP, and most recently Albertas minister of Jobs, Economy and Northern Developmentsaid, When the NDP came into power Albertas unemployment rate was one of the healthiest in the country. When the NDP were voted out Albertas unemployment rate was the highest among comparable provinces, and it was higher than the national rate.

What else happened when Rachel Notley hiked taxes on Alberta job creators? Well, we know that investment fled, businesses fled, jobs disappeared, tens of thousands of Albertans moved away to other provinces that offered them jobs, said Jean.

The UCP has said it would not raise corporate or personal income taxes if elected and will further create a new tax bracket of 8 percent to save Albertans money on personal income taxes.

Low tax jurisdiction is a significant encouragement for new businesses to set up shop in Alberta, said Jean.

The UCP cut the tax from 12 percent to 8 percent to attract investment, and it worked, he said. For the last few years, major corporations have been making major announcements about moving to Alberta.

He said a tax hike for corporations would put the jobs and livelihoods of Albertans and families at risk. You lose the investment and you lose the jobs and you trickle down, lose the growth in our economy. It is the world coming to Alberta to invest that makes Alberta prosperous.

Kris Sims, Alberta director for the Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF), was also critical of the NDP budget. In a statement issued May 16, Sims said, People are flocking here in record numbers to work hard and pay lower taxes, this huge NDP tax hike would be a scarecrow for entrepreneurs.

This NDP plan would hike taxes on job creators and thats a reckless thing to do in a province thats booming and hiring thousands of people. According to the CTF, Albertas revenues from the business tax are actually increasing with the lower tax rate.

Alberta is forecasted to pull in $6.4 billion from the business tax in 202223, according to the CTF. The organization said it is an increase from the $4.8 billion that the government collected in business tax back in 201819 under the NDP government, when the tax rate was at 12 percent.

The Canadian Press contributed to this report.
ANALYSIS: Conduct of Trump Town Hall Suggests CNN Has No Intention of Moving to the Center

Republican Presidential candidate Donald Trump takes part in a town hall event moderated by Anderson Cooper March 29, 2016 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Candidates are campaigning in Wisconsin ahead of the state's April 5th primary. (Photo by Darren Hauck/Getty Images)

News Analysis

Meet the new CNN, same as the old.

Despite its effort to be perceived as moving towards the political center, CNNs town hall with Trump triggered criticism from both sides of the aisle and did little to shake the perception of the networks left-wing bias, according to media experts.

Trump appeared on CNN on May 10 for the first time in several years to participate in what turned into a contentious primetime town hall.

The event, which featured New Hampshire Republican and undecided voters, began with moderator Kaitlan Collins confronting Trump about the 2020 election, which he continued to say was stolen from him, prompting Collins to rebut him pretty much every time he said it.

Trump also expressed a willingness, were he to win back the White House, to pardon at least some of the participants in the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

CNN, which has been under the leadership of Chris Licht for a year, has been known for its hostile coverage of Trump even though Licht has sought to turn down the temperature.

But the execution of the town hall suggests CNN has no intention of shifting toward the center nor its approach toward Trump.

Curtis Houck, the managing editor of the conservative media watchdog NewsBusters, told The Epoch Times that CNN got the ratings it sought.

A total of almost 3.31 million people tuned into the town hall, which demonstrated, said Houck, theres no evidence CNN is moving towards the center given their reaction to not just Trump, but Trump voters writ large.

Jon Nicosia, a media analyst who was an editor for Mediaite, told The Epoch Times that Licht did not have much support inside CNN for the town hall.

He added that some viewers saw it as a spectacle in which Trump got revenge on CNN while others are furious they allowed him a platform, also the same group of voters who still think the media got Trump elected in 2016.

Kevin Tober, a news analyst at NewsBusters, echoed Nicosias sentiment and told The Epoch Times that both conservatives and liberals are upset. The former is because of CNNs antagonistic questions and the latter is due to giving Trump a platform.

Allowing Trump who is a former president and current presidential candidate to participate in a town hall forum isnt proof of CNN moving to the center, said Tober.

Nicosia graded Collins performance as a disaster, while Tober crticized her for exhibiting a double standard.

Collins was snarky and childish during the entire event. Asking for clarification or correcting false claims is one thing but constantly interrupting the former president and talking back isnt how journalists who want to be taken seriously should act, said Tober.

If she was aggressive with [President] Joe Biden in this way, it would be acceptable. But with Democrats, Collins throws softballs.

During the town hall, Collins got so frustrated with Trump saying that the 2020 election was rigged that she retorted to him that he needed to stop saying so. Collins repeatedly rebutted and interjected throughout the evening, making it feel more like a debate than a town hall.

Kaitlan Collins did what she was supposed to do: be combative with Trump, said Houck.

Whether intentional or not, Collins wore suffragette white in what appeared to be a statement against Trump. The town hall took place one day after a jury in New York found Trump liable for battery in a civil case brought against him by writer E. Jean Carroll from an alleged spring 1996 sexual assault against her at a Bergdorf Goodman department store in Manhattan. The jury did not find that Trump raped Carroll. During the town hall, Trump mocked Carroll and called her a whack job.

The Epoch Times has reached out to CNN to ask if Collins outfit had that significance and to get the networks reaction to the pushback it has gotten over the town hall.

Trump made other news during the appearance including refusing to call Russian Vladimir Putin a war criminal, not standing unequivocally with Ukraine, and saying that Republicans should force a default if they do not get spending cuts in order to lift the debt ceiling, which is expected to be reached on June 1. Trump also declined to commit to accepting the 2024 election results, contingent on whether they are fair.

Nicosia declared that the town hall was a huge win for Trump and questioned what CNNs motivation was behind it.

If it was to please Trump voters, good luck, he said.

Nicosia cited the CNN panel following the town hall that was triggered by what Trump said.

And sites like Mediaite had to write opinion posts talking about getting rid of audiences in these because watching Trump voters clap at his responses,' he said. I guess [it] was too much for them.

Following the town hall, CNN anchor Jake Tapper criticized Trump for alleged falsehoods he said during the event  just another example of the networks continued animosity toward the current frontrunner for the GOP presidential nomination in 2024.
Shaanxi folk dancers perform during a welcoming ceremony for Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov in Xi'an, northwest China's Shaanxi Province, on May 17, 2023. Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov arrived in Xi'an, northwest China's Shaanxi Province, late Wednesday afternoon for the China-Central Asia Summit, which is scheduled for May 18 and 19. (Xinhua/Xing Guangli)

The China-Central Asia Summit is about to be held from Thursday to Friday in Xi'an, capital of northwest China's Shaanxi Province. Experts from the five Central Asian countries said that the summit will offer a great chance for relevant parties to maintain regional security and stability, promote regional economic development and strengthen people-to-people and cultural exchanges.

The China-Central Asia Summit is about to be held from Thursday to Friday in Xi'an, capital of northwest China's Shaanxi Province. Experts from the five Central Asian countries said that the summit will offer a great chance for relevant parties to maintain regional security and stability, promote regional economic development and strengthen people-to-people and cultural exchanges.





ON MAINTAINING REGIONAL SECURITY AND STABILITY

Nurzhan Kasmalieva, head of the international department of Kyrgyzstan's Kabar state news agency:

The high-level meeting shows that the comprehensive strategic partnerships between China and the five Central Asian countries have reached a higher level. The event will be the first offline summit held by the heads of state of China and the five Central Asian countries and will open a new chapter in relations between China and Central Asia, marking a milestone in promoting stability and development in the region.

I believe that against the backdrop of global upheavals, this summit will contribute to strengthening security and stability in the region. At any time, terrorism and extremism pose threats and challenges to the security of Central Asia, and it is hoped that the meeting will achieve additional results in terms of cooperation in the field of security.





Shoazim Shazamanov, associate professor at Uzbekistan's Tashkent State University of Oriental Studies:

The upcoming Xi'an summit will be a historic event. It will open a new era in cooperation between the countries of Central Asia and China. I think the participants will discuss issues of cooperation in the field of transport infrastructure, energy, and measures to combat cross-border threats such as terrorism, drugs and organized crimes, as well as the situation in Afghanistan, stability in Central Asia and national security.





Sheradil Baktygulov, foreign affairs consultant at the Kyrgyz National Institute for Strategic Studies:

China deserves great respect and support for contributing to relations of peace, friendship and cooperation in Central Asia and for advocating mutually beneficial cooperation and peaceful development among all countries. And the Belt and Road Initiative also contains these notions.

China does not force the Central Asian countries to take side. It is a responsible country that respects the choice of the Central Asian countries, unlike the Western states.

This photo taken on April 3, 2023 shows some wind turbine generators of the 100-MW Zhanatas wind farm in Zhanatas, Kazakhstan. The 100-MW Zhanatas wind farm is one of the first batch of key energy projects under the China-Kazakhstan production capacity cooperation framework. (Photo by Kalizhan Ospanov/Xinhua)

ON PROMOTING REGIONAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

Kubanychbek Taabaldiev, professor of international relations at Ala-Too International University of Kyrgyzstan:

The China-Central Asia Summit will provide a new platform and open a new chapter for cooperation among the six participating countries.

The expansion of economic cooperation is the main direction of the development of bilateral relations between the Central Asian countries and China. The region's trade with China has grown dramatically.

Another important reason for the close ties between the countries in Central Asia and China is China's success, not only in the economic field or the introduction of new digital technologies but also in poverty eradication and the improvement of civil society conditions.

The huge Chinese market is becoming the most attractive for manufacturers of all kinds of goods, and the export of green agricultural products from Central Asia to China is increasing.





Serik Korzhumbayev, editor-in-chief of Delovoy Kazakhstan newspaper:

The upcoming China-Central Asia Summit is very important as it will open up broad prospects for and inject impetus into long-term cooperation and development between China and the Central Asian countries in various fields.

This year marks the 10th anniversary of the Belt and Road Initiative. The venue of the summit is the city of Xi'an, one of the historic cities of China. It is a cultural, educational center and logistics hub, the place where the ancient Silk Road began.

The summit will have a positive effect on the long-term cooperation and development of our countries. A new format of cooperation will make it possible to involve the Central Asian region with China's large market in close economic ties.





Sheradil Baktygulov, a foreign affairs consultant at the Kyrgyz National Institute for Strategic Studies:

Thanks to the Belt and Road Initiative and the road transport corridors in the Central Asian countries, very beneficial relationships are being built between Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan with their major trading partner, China.

By implementing the Belt and Road Initiative, China can deliver goods via the territories of the Central Asian countries to Southern Europe, Turkiye and Iran, while the Central Asian states can supply products to Southeast Asian countries through Chinese ports.





Guzel Maitdinova, director of the Center for Geopolitical Studies at the Russian-Tajik (Slavonic) University:

The summit will promote the coupling of the Belt and Road Initiative with the national development strategies of the Central Asian countries. It will be a very significant event that will contribute to the development and modernization of the Central Asian states.

Tourists look at pottery figurines of foreign visitors to China at Xi'an Museum in Xi'an, northwest China's Shaanxi Province, May 8, 2023. (Xinhua/Li Yibo)

ON STRENGTHENING PEOPLE-TO-PEOPLE AND CULTURAL EXCHANGES



Adil Kaukenov, chief expert at the Kazakhstan Institute for Strategic Studies:

The China-Central Asia Summit is an extremely important event. It will help foster cooperation between the Central Asian countries and China, boost people-to-people bonds, and further promote their good-neighborly relations.

It is no coincidence that Xi'an was chosen -- an ancient capital of China and the starting point of the ancient Silk Road. Today the city has become a strong industrial base for aircraft, automobiles, energy as well as home to giant companies of global importance. Xi'an is now considered as China's main hub of cooperation with Central Asia, where scientific, educational, business and other projects are being implemented.

There are a large number of Kazakh students studying in Xi'an, because this city is one of the main educational centers of China.





Guzel Maitdinova, director of the Center for Geopolitical Studies at the Russian-Tajik (Slavonic) University:



High-level interactions are observed not only in the political field but also in the cultural and humanitarian sphere. Thousands of Tajik students receive education in China. Many of them are successful entrepreneurs, translators, engineers and representatives of other professions.





Abdullayev Masharib Saydamatovich, deputy director of the Center for Promotion of Science at Uzbekistan Academy of Sciences:

Uzbekistan and China have been close partners on the Silk Road throughout history, establishing long-standing and stable economic and trade relations. After establishing diplomatic relations over 30 years ago, bilateral ties and cooperation in various fields, including economy and culture, have continued to develop.

The joint restoration project of the ancient city of Khiva is the best example of cultural cooperation between the two countries.

After the joint restoration project in Khiva, cultural cooperation between Uzbekistan and China will continue, and joint restoration work will become an important direction for future cooperation between the two countries.





Nurzhan Kasmalieva, director of the international department of Kyrgyzstan's Kabar state news agency:

China is a good neighbor of Kyrgyzstan. Just as in China, there is also a saying in our country: a close neighbor is better than a distant relative. I expect this summit to provide more convenience for personnel exchanges between Kyrgyzstan and China, such as a more convenient visa system.

The Central Asian countries, including Kyrgyzstan, have rich tourism resources, and we hope that more Chinese friends will visit Kyrgyzstan and more people from the Central Asian countries will go to China.
Ban on No-Fault Evictions in Reform of Private Rental Sector

Michael Gove speaks on the second day of the Scottish Conservative party conference at the Scottish Event Campus in Glasgow, Scotland, on April 29, 2023. (Andrew Milligan/PA Media)

The government has announced plans to abolish so-called no-fault evictions as part of its overhaul of housing laws.

The Renters (Reform) Bill, introduced to Parliament on Wednesday, will also empower renters to challenge poor landlords without fear of losing their home, the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities said in a statement.

Renters will be given the legal right to request a pet in their home which landlords must consider and cannot unreasonably refuse.

The bill also seeks to make it illegal for landlords and agents to impose blanket bans on renting to benefit claimants or families with children, and applies decent home quality standards to the private rented sector for the first time.

Campaigners have hailed it as a game-changer for renters rights, but critics warn it is an unnecessary politicisation of private business that could backfire.

Fairness

Housing Secretary Michael Gove said the plans represent a new deal with fairness at its heart.

Too many renters are living in damp, unsafe, cold homes, powerless to put things right, and with the threat of sudden eviction hanging over them, he said.

This government is determined to tackle these injustices by offering a new deal to those living in the private rented sectorone with quality, affordability, and fairness at its heart.

Terraced houses in southeast London on Jan. 13, 2023. (Daniel Leal/AFP via Getty Images)

Gove said the bill will also support the vast majority of responsible landlords who provide quality homes to their tenants by strengthening powers to evict anti-social tenants.

It will broaden the disruptive and harmful activities that can lead to eviction, and make it quicker to evict a tenant acting anti-socially, the government said.

As part of the plan, a new ombudsman will be established to oversee dispute resolutions while a digital property portal will be set up to assist property managers in understanding their obligations.

Long Overdue

The plans were also broadly welcomed by the Labour Party.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer told BBC Breakfast: This is a step in the right direction. I do think that having promised it in 2019, they could have done it a bit more quickly.

Dan Wilson Craw, acting director of campaign group Generation Rent, said the legislation is a huge opportunity to improve the lives of tenants across England and take away much of the stress of renting.

Owen Sharp, chief executive of the Dogs Trust, said the reforms are a potential game-changer for responsible dog owners who rent.

Siobhan Donnachie, spokeswoman for the London Renters Union, branded the bill long overdue and said it doesnt go far enough.

There is nothing in this bill banning the huge and unfair rent increases our members are facing all of the time. For the many families struggling with housing costs at the moment, a 20 percent rent hike is simply a no-fault eviction under a different name, she said.

Politicisation

Ben Beadle, chief executive of the National Residential Landlords Association, suggested that the bill lacks detail.

He said it will only exacerbate the rental housing supply crisis if responsible landlords cannot be confident they can repossess their properties as quickly as possible where they have a legitimate reason.

The Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA), a free market think tank, said the rules risked backfiring.

IEA Communications Director Matthew Lesh said: Making it harder to evict residents is only likely to make it harder to rent. Landlords will inevitably be more selective about who they offer properties to and charge higher rents when they cannot quickly evict bad tenants. That is likely to disproportionately hurt those who are poorer, younger, and from minority communities.

Former Conservative minister Lord Frost also criticised the bill, calling it part of the ongoing trend of the politicisation of every activity and every choice you make, the endless hectoring, the constant suggestion that the government has the right to dictate how you behave when it has socialised the costs, the dangerous and counter-productive intrusion into private property.

I think the right thing to do is to reverse the powers of government over our everyday lives, he told the National Conservatism conference in London.

PA Media contributed to this report.
Biden Admin Released 2,700 Illegal Immigrants Into US Despite Court Order Blocking Parole Program

Biden administration officials proceeded to release more than 2,700 illegal immigrants into the United States through a special parole policy mere hours after a federal court ordered a pause to the practice.

The state of Florida sued the Biden administration last week in a challenge to the administrations parole program, which allowed border officials to release illegal immigrants into the United States without a set court date. The rule is known as the Policy on Parole with Conditions in Limited Circumstances Prior to the Issuance of a Charging Document, or Parole with Conditions.

Judge T. Kent Wetherell II of Floridas Northern federal court district issued a temporary restraining order (TRO) on Thursday, blocking the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) from releasing people through the Parole with Conditions policy. Wetherell issued the order just hours before Title 42 ended, suspending a pandemic-era policy that allowed border officials to rapidly turn away and expel migrants for reasons pertaining to public health.

Despite Wetherells TRO, however, DHS officials proceeded to release 2,743 illegal immigrants into the United States on Friday without court dates through the Parole with Conditions policy.

On Monday, Wetherell demanded (pdf) that DHS officials answer for the parole decisions, and explain why the organization shouldnt be held in contempt for releasing parolees despite the TRO. The DHS officials responded that 2,576 illegal immigrants had already been fully processed, but simply had not yet been released before the TRO went into effect. The DHS officials said they decided to release the illegal immigrants under the assumption that the TRO only applied to parolees who had not been fully processed prior to this order.

The DHS officials admitted to releasing another 167 illegal immigrants whose status in the Parole with Conditions program was unclear.

Judge Declines Contempt Ruling

Wetherell declined to find DHS officials in contempt for releasing the 2,743 illegal immigrants after the TRO went into effect. Still, the judge questioned how the DHS officials could have concluded that they were allowed to release any additional immigrants through the Parole with Conditions policy after the TRO.

It was the Courts expectation and intention that no aliens would be released under the authority of the Parole with Conditions policy after the TRO went into effect because, in the Courts mind, the policy is still being implemented when the alien is released from custody, irrespective of when the aliens processing was fully completed,' Wetherell wrote in a Tuesday order (pdf). Indeed, the entire point of the policy is to release aliens from custody more quickly, and it is hard to understand how an alien can be both paroled and in custody at the same time.

Wetherell said that in an ideal situation, the DHS officials would have sought clarification from the Court before making a unilateral decision to release aliens under the authority of the Parole with Conditions policy after the TRO took effect. Nevertheless, the judge concluded the TRO he issued had not been clear enough.

Because the Court is required to construe any uncertainties in the order in the light most favorable [to the] DHS, the Court cannot say that DHS willfully disregarded the authority of the Court by releasing the 2,576 aliens when it did, he added.

Wetherell deferred on the issue of the 167 additional parolees who were released even though their parole processing may not have been fully complete before the TRO went into effect. He ordered the DHS to provide additional details about these parolees by Friday.

Wetherells TRO was originally set to last for 14 days, but on Tuesday he converted the order into a preliminary injunction. The decision could extend the block on the Parole with Conditions policy until the court reaches a final judgment on the policy.

DHS officials filed an appeal on Tuesday, seeking to overturn the preliminary injunction.

From NTD News
Biden Cowed by Chinas Aggression

Then-U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Blinken (right) meets with Liu Yandong, then-Vice Premier of China, in Washington on June 24, 2015. (Chris Kleponis/AFP via Getty Images)

Commentary

The State Department delayed imposing sanctions, export controls, and other measures on China after the Chinese military brazenly flew its large spy balloon over Alaska, Canada, and the lower 48 states in late January and early February.

The postponement of these measures, reported by Reuters on May 11, will almost certainly strengthen, legitimize, and embolden the most hostile elements in senior Communist Party circles.

These hostile elements, thanks to the State Department, now have additional incentives to engage in belligerent conduct, and, in light of Washingtons craven behavior, every nation that looks to America for security has to be extremely concerned.

Guidance from S is to push non-balloon actions to the right so we can focus on symmetric and calibrated response, Rick Waters, deputy assistant secretary of state for China and Taiwan, wrote in a Feb. 6 email. We can visit other actions in a few weeks.

In plain English, Waters informed subordinates that Secretary of State Antony Blinkenreferred to as Shad delayed already-planned actions to avoid increasing tensions with China. Beijing had expressed anger for the shooting down of the balloon two days before the Waters message.

Those planned actions included export-control licensing rules for Huawei Technologies and sanctions on Chinas officials for the repression of Uyghurs. Reuters reported that these China measures have yet to be revived.

Why did the Biden administration delay taking action? It is still devoted to policies that have failed for three decades.

The recent revelation that senior State Department officials purposefully directed the postponement of actions against China following the discovery, and eventual shootdown, of a probable PLA [Peoples Liberation Army] reconnaissance balloon reflects a return to the ideology of engagement at all costs, James Fanell of the Geneva Centre for Security Policy told Gatestone.

Specifically, State Department officials believe that maintaining lines of communication is critical and apparently worried that after the balloon incident, China would cut them off indefinitely. Reuters reports that Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman, generally responsible for the China portfolio, was especially keen on rescheduling Blinkens visit to Beijing, which he had to postpone because of the balloon incursion. In short, China has successfully intimidated the American government.

Defenders of the State Departments postponement of the Huawei and Uyghur measures have suggested that Washington will gain support among fence-sitting countries by showing that the United States was doing all it could to accommodate Beijing, ultimately making China appear the recalcitrant party.

Such an argument might have made sense three decades ago but certainly not at this late date. If countries by now do not perceive the danger posed by China, they never will. The way to obtain that consensus is Reagan-style American leadershipand American coercive diplomacy. Both, at the moment, are in short supply.

Lowest common denominator solutionsthe inevitable result of consensus buildingdo not work when danger is imminent. Now, Ukraine has become a great-power battleground, China and Russia are rapidly destabilizing North Africa, and the world looks as if it is just one conflict away from global war.

Unfortunately, China cannot stop talking about war and is fast making preparations for it. Chinese leader Xi Jinping is implementing the largest military buildup since World War II; he is trying to sanctions-proof China; he is stockpiling grain and taking control of all agriculture; he is surveying America for nuclear weapons strikes; and, most ominously, he is mobilizing Chinas civilians for battle. Chinas military has, Cultural Revolution-style, launched a purge of officers opposed to war. The recent death sentence handed down to retired Air Force Gen. Liu Yazhou, who had argued against an invasion of Taiwan, is of particular concern.

We are running out of time. There is, however, almost no sense of urgency in Bidens Washington and in the most senior levels of the Pentagon.

Biden, stuck in the post-Cold War glow of the 1990s, seems to think he has plenty of time to straighten matters out. National security adviser Jake Sullivan had more than 10 hours of meetings with Chinas top diplomat, Wang Yi, in Vienna on May 10 and May 11. The free-wheeling discussions have restarted what Washington Post columnist David Ignatius approvingly called constructive engagement.

Bidens opening to China has been motivated by one simple idea: The United States doesnt want to start a new Cold War, Ignatius wrote. Biden took too long to implement this insight, bowing to the new conventional wisdom in Washington that the more strident the confrontation with China, the better. But he seems to have found his voice.

Beijing, unfortunately, is merely playing the same old game of three decades: holding out the prospect of talks in order to get American presidents to delay taking action. Dialogue with a cynical Beijing is almost always fruitless. At this moment, China is trying to prevent both the G-7, which will meet in Hiroshima, Japan, starting May 19, from taking action against Beijings coercive economic diplomacy and the Biden administration from issuing long-awaited rules prohibiting investment into Chinese technology sectors.

Xi appears to believe that he has no reason to work constructively with America.

Change is coming that hasnt happened in 100 years, he proclaimed on March 22 while bidding farewell to Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow after their 40th in-person chat. And we are driving this change together.

Whether or not America is finished as a great power as Xi insistsI believe that he is dead wrongwe are in the middle of events history will remember. Once again, Western democracies are not recognizing threats and acting with the speed and determination required.

The Biden administration is even moving in the wrong direction.

The Chinese Communist Party spent the past 30 years digging their talons into Americas flesh, and a return to engagement will make getting rid of Beijings influence even more painful, said Fanell, also a former U.S. Navy captain who served as director of intelligence and information operations at the U.S. Pacific Fleet. We are told there is a bipartisan consensus about confronting China today within the U.S. Congress, but this will be increasingly hard to implement if the executive branch returns to this failed engagement policy.

China has completely intimidated the Biden administration. Americansand others around the worldmust worry about what happens next.

Originally published by Gatestone Institute

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
Biden Optimistic About Debt Ceiling Deal, Defends Asia Trip

President Joe Biden speaks during an event celebrating Jewish American Heritage Month at the White House on May 16, 2023. (Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times)

President Joe Biden expressed optimism that the United States wont default on its financial obligations and that an agreement on spending priorities will be reached in the coming days, ahead of his departure on a trip to strengthen U.S. relationships with allies.

America is not a deadbeat nation. We pay our bills. The nation has never defaulted on its debt, and it never will. And were going to continue these discussions with congressional leaders in the coming days until we reach an agreement, the president told reporters at the White House on May 17.

The remarks appear intended to offer assurance that the monthslong standoff between the president and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) over raising the nations $31.4 trillion debt ceiling would soon be resolved, despite his absence from the country for four days.

Biden will attend the G-7 Summit in Hiroshima, Japan, along with leaders from France, the UK, Germany, Japan, Italy, and Canada. The trip will include meetings with the leaders of India and Australia, although side trips to Australia and Papua New Guinea were postponed due to the debt negotiations.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) (L), House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), President Joe Biden, and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) (R) meet in the Oval Office of the White House on May 9, 2023. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

The president met with McCarthy on May 16 to discuss the debt ceiling, spending caps, and other provisions proposed by Republicans. Vice President Kamala Harris, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) also attended. It was the second such meeting in eight days.

We had a productive meeting yesterday andwith all four leaders of the Congress. It was civil and respectful, Biden said. And everyone came to the meeting, I think, in good faith. Im confident that well get the agreement on the budget, that America will not default.

Crux of the Problem

The president and the speaker had been in a standoff over raising the nations $31.4 trillion debt ceiling since January.

The country usually operates on a deficit budget, so borrowing is needed each year to meet the spending obligations legislated by Congress. The Treasury will be unable to stay under the limit after about June 1, according to Secretary Janet Yellen, meaning that the government will no longer be able to meet its financial obligations if the debt limit isnt raised.

Biden has insisted that the debt ceiling must be raised without pre-conditions to preserve the full faith and credit of the United States, a position he still tries to maintain while engaging in talks about both subjects.

To be clear, this negotiation is about the outlines of what the budget will look like, not about whether or not were going to, in fact, pay our debts, he said.

Republicans have consistently insisted that the two items must be linked. McCarthy has said that there will be no clean debt limit, meaning an increase without some agreement on spending limitations.

House Republicans approved the Limit, Save, Grow Act in April, which would raise the debt ceiling by $1.5 trillion, which experts say would carry the government through March 2024.

The proposal would also lower discretionary spending to the 2022 level, capping spending growth at 1 percent annually for a decade, strengthen work requirements for some recipients of federal assistance, claw back unspent COVID-19 relief funds from the states, and loosen regulations on oil and gas drilling.

A number of Senate Republicans publicly offered support for the Limit, Save, Grow Act at a bicameral press conference at the U.S. Capitol minutes after the president finished speaking.

We wont support bringing debate to a close on any debt ceiling increase that does not contain substantive spending and budgetary reforms, Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) said, flanked by about 40 Republican members of Congress.

Meetings to Proceed

Lee and others also criticized the presidents decision to attend the G-7 Summit while debt ceiling negotiations are ongoing, despite concern among members of both parties about the growing influence of the Chinese Communist Party in East Asia.

Mr. President, cancel your trip to Japan. Stay at the [negotiating] table, Rep. Dustin Johnson (R-S.D.) said.

Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) said, I think we saw the helicopters going across here. I said, I think hes leaving now to go to Japan. Im like, stop, stop!

President Joe Biden boards Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland on Jan. 8, 2023. (Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images)

Biden defended his decision to attend the summit because of its strategic importance and his belief that negotiations could proceed in his absence.

Americas role in the world is vital, especially right now as we work together with other countries to support Ukraine and take on the challenges that demand international cooperation, from tackling the climate crisis to strengthening thethe global economy, he said.

On May 16, the president appointed Steve Ricchetti, counselor to the president, and Shalanda Young, director of the Office of Management and Budget, to take the lead in negotiations on his behalf, a move that McCarthy said made him more optimistic that a deal could be reached.

The two have already begun meetings with Rep. Garret Graves (R-La.), who has been tapped as lead negotiator by McCarthy, and members of McCarthys staff, the president said.

Ill be in constant contact with my team while Im at the G-7. And Ill be in close touch with Speaker McCarthy and other leaders as well, Biden said.

McCarthy said he believes that negotiations can proceed despite the president not being in the room.

I think if the administration can make decisions with the president not there, well be OK, he said.

Biden is scheduled to return from Japan on May 21. He has said that hell hold another press conference regarding the debt ceiling then.
President Joe Biden speaks on preventing a first-ever government default at 10:45 a.m. ET on May 17 before departing for Japan to attend the G7 summit.
Biden US Attorney Lied About Helping Democrat Candidate, Watchdog Finds

U.S. Attorney Rachael Rollins of the Massachusetts District (C) addresses the media at the Moakley Federal Courthouse in Boston, on May 24, 2022. (Charles Krupa/AP Photo)

A U.S. attorney lied about helping a Democrat candidate in a contested primary, a watchdog has reported.

U.S. Attorney for the District of Massachusetts Rachael Rollins, a Biden appointee, helped Ricardo Arroyo win the 2022 Democrat primary for Suffolk County district attorney, according to a May 17 report from the Office of the Inspector General for the U.S. Department of Justice.

Rollins, who was district attorney before becoming a U.S. attorney, provided Arroyo with campaign advice and direction in addition to coordinating with him on activities to help his campaign, investigators found.

That included providing the Boston Globe with negative information about interim District Attorney Kevin Hayden, Arroyos Democrat opponent, and citing the Globe articles in internal discussions about possibly investigating Hayden. Rollins also indicated to a reporter that her office might be opening an investigation into the interim district attorney over potential misconduct and urged the reporter to keep digging.

She messaged Arroyo regarding a potential probe, telling him, Im working on something.

Rollins exchanged more than 380 messages with Arroyo leading up to the primary, including some in which she criticized Hayden.

In others, Rollins gave campaign advice.

DO not let him slide on this, she said in one message after the Boston Globe reported that black people were pulled over at a higher rate than white people in Boston. He [needs] to be asked at the next forum, did you read the report yet? What are you doing about it?

She also offered to speak to a reporter after a story outlined allegations of sexual assault against Arroyo.

Rollins also suggested Arroyo respond to the story after it was published, by claiming that Hayden was likely being investigated by federal authorities.

I am confident that the voters will see his attempted smear campaign as exactly what it isa desperate attempt by a man about to lose his job, the proposed statement said.

Rollins told investigators that Arroyo is her friend and that she just didnt know Kevin Hayden. She claimed she didnt give him campaign advice.

Investigators also found that Rollins disclosed nonpublic Department of Justice information to two reporters; asked for and received free tickets to a Boston Celtics game, two of which she used with a friend; and received nonfederal payment for travel expenses on two separate occasions.

Rollins lied multiple times to investigators, including falsely stating that she wasnt a source for a Boston Herald story, the Office of the Inspector General said. The lies violated federal law that prohibits people from making any materially false, fictitious, or fraudulent statement or representation in matters within the jurisdiction of the U.S. government. Violators can receive up to eight years in prison.

Rollins also violated the Hatch Act, which limits the political activities of federal officials, the watchdog said.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) declined to prosecute, according to the report.

The DOJ and a lawyer representing Rollins didnt respond by press time to requests by The Epoch Times for comment. The White House declined to comment.

The Office of the Inspector General interviewed 18 DOJ employees, including Rollins, and several other people. Investigators also reviewed documents, emails, phone records, texts, and encrypted messages. They asked to image Rollinss personal cellphone, which she used to conduct official business, but Rollins declined. She instead provided certain communications from the phone.

The U.S. Office of Special Counsel is investigating Rollins over the Hatch Act. The office will report its findings at a later date.

Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) questions U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland as he testifies at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing about oversight of the Department of Justice in Washington on Oct. 27, 2021. (Tasos Katopodis-Pool/Getty Images)

Resignation

Rollins is going to resign, Michael Bromwich, her lawyer, told news outlets before the report was published.

She is optimistic that the important work she started will continue but understands that her presence has become a distraction, said Bromwich, a former DOJ inspector general. The work of the office and the Department of Justice is far too important to be overshadowed by anything else.

Rollins emerged from a tough confirmation battle during which critics noted that she didnt prosecute a number of offenses while Suffolk County district attorney. In one memorandum shortly after taking office, Rollins directed staff on a list of 15 offenses that she said should be declined or dismissed pre-arraignment without conditions.

Vice President Kamala Harris was forced to break a tie in Rollinss Senate confirmation vote. All Democrats voted for Rollins, and all Republicans voted against her.

Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), one of the critics, said in a statement: I warned Democratic senators that Rachael Rollins wasnt only a pro-criminal ideologue, but also had a history of poor judgment and ethical lapses. Now that she has resigned in disgrace, the Senate should turn its attention to the corrupt, pro-criminal ideologues at the highest ranks of the Department of Justice.

Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Edward Markey (D-Mass.), who both supported Rollins, said in a joint statement: Rachael Rollins has for years dedicated herself to the people of Massachusetts and equal justice under the law. We will respect her decision.
California Senators Consider Bill Making Kindergarten Mandatory

Children are seen in a photo attending a kindergarten registration Event at McKinley Elementary School in Compton, Calif., on March 7, 2015. (Charley Gallay/Getty Images)

California legislators are considering a bill that would make kindergarten mandatory for children.

Senate Bill 767which would require children to have completed one year of kindergarten before being admitted into first grade, beginning with the 202425 school yearis set for a May 18 hearing before the Senate Appropriations Committee.

The bill previously passed the state Senate Education Committee April 26 on a 61 vote.

Currently, children in California are only required to attend school once they turn 6. Until then, parents can choose whether to enroll their children in preschool or kindergarten.

Senator Susan Rubio (D-Balwin Park), who introduced the bill in February, said the policy aimed to close the states achievement gap, because children who skip kindergarten may have difficulty catching up to their peers once they begin first grade.

As a public school teacher for 17 years, I have witnessed the detrimental impact on young students who continue to suffer the consequences of not receiving the fundamentals of an early education, Rubio said in a March statement. The disparities for students are not only physically visible as it pertains to a students confidence and participation in class, but also academically measurable.

Rubio also said the bill would help support teachers.

[O]ur teachers are struggling in the classroom and the best way we can support them is by having students prepared in classrooms as they move up each academic grade level, she said.

According to the California Department of Education, 95 percent of eligible students attended kindergarten in 2019.

However, an April study by the state Education Department reported the states kindergarten enrollment has fallen by more than 28,000 children since the 201920 school year.

An analysis of the bill estimates that, if passed, between 14,000 and 30,000 toddlers will need to enroll, costing the states education fund potentially in the low hundreds of millions of dollars.

A similar bill by Rubio passed in the Legislature last year, but it was ultimately vetoed by Gov. Gavin Newsom due to its high costs, which were not accounted for in the states education budget.

The states 202122 budget included $2.7 billion to offer transitional kindergarten classes to all four-year-olds by the 202526 school year.

However, the governors 202324 proposed budget suggests cutting the programs funding from $609 million to $337 million due to this years enrollment being less than expected.

A March report by the state Legislative Analysts Office estimates average daily attendance this year for transitional kindergarten was about 91,00028,000 lower than previous projections.

Kindergarten is currently mandatory in 19 states, according to education policy research nonprofit Education Commission of the Statesincluding Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Nevada, and New Mexico.
Canada Extremely Concerned About Fate of Line 5 Pipeline in Wisconsin, Embassy Says

This photo taken in October 2016 shows an aboveground section of Enbridge's Line 5 at the Mackinaw City, Mich., pump station. (The Canadian Press/AP-John Flesher)

Canada is extremely concerned about the potential fate of the Line5 pipeline, emissaries warned Tuesday in advance of a Wisconsin court hearing that threatens to shut down what they call a vital cross-border oil and gas corridor.

The warning from Canadas embassy in Washington, D.C., comprised Ottawas first formal comments about the pipeline in monthsa lengthy, measured statement that nonetheless made plain its fears for Line 5s future.

And it leaned hard into three areas always sure to get attention in the U.S.: protecting American jobs and growth, defending continental energy security and honouring treaty obligations to an important and trusted ally.

The energy security of both Canada and the United States would be directly impacted by a Line 5 closure, said the statement from the Canadian Embassy in D.C.

At a time of heightened concern over energy security and supply, including during the energy transition, maintaining and protecting existing infrastructure should be a top priority.

The economic argument is one the pipelines proponents have been making for years: a shutdown would cause significant economic disruption across the U.S. Midwest, where it provides feedstock to refineries in Michigan, Ohio and Pennsylvania.

Line 5 also supplies refineries in Ontario and Quebec, and is vital to the production of jet fuel for some of Canadas busiest airports. Some 33,000 U.S. jobs and US$20 billion in economic activity would be imperilled, the embassy warned.

The source of the alarm is a court dispute in Wisconsin between the pipelines owner, Alberta-based Enbridge Inc., and the Bad River Band of the Lake Superior Chippewa, through whose territory Line 5 runs.

Spring flooding has washed away significant portions of the riverbank where Line 5 intersects the Bad River, a meandering, 120-kilometre course that feeds Lake Superior and a complex network of ecologically delicate wetlands.

The band has been in court with Enbridge since 2019 in an effort to compel the pipelines owner and operator to reroute Line 5 around its traditional territorysomething the company has already agreed to do.

But the flooding has turned a theoretical risk into a very real one, the band argued in an emergency motion last week, and it wants the pipeline closed off immediately to prevent catastrophe.

There can be little doubt now that the small amount of remaining bank could be eroded and the pipeline undermined and breached in short order, the bands lawyers argued.

Very little margin for error remains.

Line 5 meets the river on Indigenous territory just past a location the court has come to know as the meander, where the riverbed snakes back and forth multiple times, separated from itself only by several metres of forest and the pipeline.

At four locations, the river was less than 4.6 metres from the pipelinejust 3.4 metres in one particular spotand the erosion has continued in recent days at an alarming rate, the motion said.

In one case, so-called monuments installed to measure the losses show that where there was more than 10 metres of riverbank in early April before the flooding began, only 3.7 metres remained as of last Tuesday.

Significant erosion is continuing as of the filing of this motion, and the evidence strongly suggests that further bank loss could be substantial and result in exposure and rupture of the pipeline.

Wisconsin district court Judge William Conley is expected to hear oral arguments on the motion Thursday. Its not clear if hell reserve judgment or rule immediately whether to order Enbridge to shut down the pipeline and purge its contents.

But Conley has already indicated a reluctance to shut down the pipeline, citing the potential economic and foreign-policy consequences, suggesting Tuesdays statement from the embassy was aimed squarely at him.

I think Canada is saying, Please be aware,' said Kristen van de Biezenbos, a professor of energy law at the University of Calgary.

Because there are no alternatives to Line 5 for shipping fossil-fuel energy to Ontario and Quebec, the stakes of a shutdown would likely be higher for Canada than for the U.S., she added.

Even knowing that its not a great idea to be largely dependent on just one source of oil, there hasnt been anything done to change that, van de Biezenbos said.

It would be a serious problem for Canada if Line 5 was shut downnot just because of the wider economic impacts for the oilpatch in Alberta, but also because that is the main source of crude oil products for eastern Canada.

Later Tuesday, lawyers for Enbridge began filing a raft of affidavits and sworn statements from pipeline safety experts, scientists, environmental engineers and even the companys own director of tribal engagement, all in opposition to the request for an injunction.

One of them, from a Vancouver hydrologist named Hamish Weatherly, acknowledged that the threat of a rupture caused by erosion is higher than it was at the end of last year, but still far from critical.

It is thus my opinion based on my knowledge, training and experience that there is not an emergency or imminent threat of a release at the meander, Weatherlys declaration reads.

A separate declaration from David Stafford, the companys U.S. pipeline compliance manager, said the U.S. Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration has been kept apprised of all the latest developments.

Since receiving notification of the erosion at the meander, PHMSA has not expressed any concern regarding the safety of Line 5 at this location, Stafford asserts in the document.

Tuesdays filings also included a string of affirmations from senior executives across the Canadian energy sector from companies like Suncor, Cenovus, Imperial Oil, Shell Canada and Superior Gas, among others.

Canada has already invoked a 1977 pipelines treaty with the U.S. in both Wisconsin and Michigan, where that states attorney general is also in court trying to get the pipeline shut down.

Talks under that treaty have been ongoing for months, with the latest session taking place last month in Washington.

Canada invoked the treatys dispute settlement provisions because actions to close Line 5 represent a violation of Canadas rights under the treaty to an uninterrupted flow of hydrocarbons in transit, the embassy said.

If a shutdown were ordered because of this specific, temporary flood situation, Canada expects the United States to comply with its obligations under the 1977 Transit Pipelines Treaty, including the expeditious restoration of normal pipeline operations.

The key word there is temporary, van de Biezenbos said.

The pipeline treaty makes it clear that you can order temporary shutdown of international pipelines between the U.S. and Canada for public safety reasons, she said.

If there is a shutdown thats ordered because of the flooding, then as soon as the flood risk has been abated, then the pipeline has to be brought back online.
Chinas Dismal Press Freedom Score Highlights Brutal Treatment of Whistleblowers

Only North Korea scored lower on the World Press Freedom Index

A protester shows how prisoners are treated and paraded in public in China, during a rally in Hong Kong, on July 31, 2005. (Ted Aljibe/AFP via Getty Images)

Press freedom in China reached a record low during the pandemic, according to a new survey. Chinas dismal status when it comes to freedom to report raises concerns about citizen journalists who are in the cross hairs of the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

In its 2023 World Press Freedom Index, released on May 3, Reporters Without Borders indicated that China scored the second lowest out of 180 countries and territories worldwide. Only North Korea scored lower.

May 3 was World Press Freedom Day, proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly in 1993. The right to freedom of expression is a prerequisite and a driver to the enjoyment of all other human rights, as stated in the U.N.s Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

However, in China, reporting the truth comes at a cost. Whistleblowers like Fang Bin, Zhang Zhan, and Li Wenliang, who exposed the truth about the COVID-19 pandemic in its earliest days, are still being detained, hunted, and bullied by the communist regime.

Fang Bin: Out of Jail But Homeless

A pro-democracy activist holds a placard of citizen journalist Fang Bin as she protests outside the Chinese liaison office in Hong Kong, on Feb. 19, 2020. (Isaac Lawrence/AFP via Getty Images)

Fang Bin, detained for documenting the truth about COVID-19, was released from jail on April 30. However, he cannot return home.

Fangs family in Wuhan has been threatened by authorities; therefore, they will not take him in. Currently, he wanders the streets of Wuhan with no money, according to a viral Twitter post. Local authorities do not allow him to be interviewed; he is followed and closely monitored.

After his disappearance in early 2020. Chinese authorities were unclear about Fangs whereabouts and his status. Eventually, he was sentenced to three years in prison in a secret trial.

The Epoch Times reached out to people in China about Fangs release. Many did not even know that he had been released. Some hung up when they heard his name. One person who was willing to speak with The Epoch Times expressed sympathy for the journalist, saying, Fangs deeds must be supported; he is suffering for everyone.

One of Fangs friends, who spoke to The Epoch Times under the pseudonym Cao Moyan, said that because Fang had a great deal of influence, his trial and conviction were kept secret, so no one would know when he would be released.

Fangs family is under unimaginable pressure, Cao said, expressing the hope that the CCPs ploy to prevent Fang from returning home will actually keep Fang in the public eye.

In February of 2020, determined to investigate the viral outbreak, Fang became one of several citizen journalists filming overcrowded hospitals and dead bodies. On Feb. 1, he went to Wuhan Public Hospital No. 5, where he filmed eight body bags outside the hospital in just five minutes. The video went viral.

On Feb. 9, local police arrested Fang for picking quarrels and provoking trouble.

Zhang Zhan: Years in Prison

Pro-democracy activists hold placards to show support for twelve Hong Kong residents detained in China and former lawyer Zhang Zhan outside the Liaison Office of the Central Peoples Government, in Hong Kong, on Dec. 28, 2020. (Anthony Kwan/Getty Images)

Zhang Zhan, a lawyer, went to Wuhan as a citizen journalist on Feb. 1, 2020, just days before the city of 11 million went into a total lockdown. Walking the streets, she filmed hospitals and deserted neighborhoods and posted the videos on social media. Her videos showed crematoriums roaring into operation at night. Zhang criticized the official response to the outbreak as failing to consider human rights and obscuring the severity of the epidemic.

Zhang was arrested on May 15, 2020, on suspicion of picking quarrels and provoking trouble. In June of 2020, she began a hunger strike to protest her incarceration. On Dec. 28 of the same year, so weak from malnutrition that she had to attend her trial in a wheelchair, Zhang was sentenced to four years in jail. She remains in prison.

Whistleblower Died After Legal Measures

It has been over three years since Dr. Li Wenliang died. Considered the first whistleblower on the virus in China, Li was admonished by local police after he sent messages about the outbreak to fellow doctors.

People attend a vigil to mourn for doctor Li Wenliang in Hong Kong on Feb. 7, 2020. (Anthony Kwan/Getty Images)

Just over a month later, it was reported that Li had died of COVID-19.

Li alerted his fellow doctors about the novel coronavirus in a post on WeChat, a popular social media platform in China, on Dec. 30, 2019. Days later, on Jan. 1, officials in Wuhan said that they had taken legal measures against eight individuals, including Li, who allegedly spread rumors about the disease and caused adverse impacts on society. Two days later, police summoned Li and reprimanded him.

In early February 2020, the 34-year-old ophthalmologist was reportedly diagnosed with COVID-19. He died on Feb. 7 at Wuhan Central Hospital, where he worked.

However, a Canadian doctor said he thinks its quite unlikely that the whistleblower died of COVID-19 shortly after he was arrested by Chinese police for warning the public about a SARS-like outbreak.

I think it is quite unlikely that Li Wenliang died of Covid days after his arrest by a brutal dictatorship, Dr. Matthew Strauss wrote in a Twitter post on Jan. 2. Strauss pointed to a study that said the infection fatality rate for people in the age group of 30 to 39 was just 0.011 percent. This means Li had a nearly 99.99% chance of survival, Strauss said.

The Voice of Our Cry

These citizen journalists are honored for courageously reporting the truth despite efforts to suppress them.

On April 23, a monument to whistleblowers was unveiled at the Liberty Sculpture Park in Southern California. Chen Weiming, director of the park, told Radio Free Asia that Chinese whistleblowers had sacrificed much. Those who rise up to  blow the whistle in China have to bear a very heavy price, which may be death, prison or disappearance, he said.

The Whistleblower Monument depicts a silver whistle and a flying iron chain with shackles, symbolizing the pursuit of freedom and the voice of our cry, said Chen.

Andrew Chen contributed to this report.
Chinese Smartphone Maker Closes Chip Design Business, Affecting 3,000 Employees

A OPPO logo is displayed at the MWC (Mobile World Congress) in Barcelona on March 2, 2022. (Photo by Josep Lago/AFP via Getty Images)

OPPO, a major Chinese smartphone maker, announced the closure of its chip design company ZEKU Technology (ZEKU).

ZEKUs 3,000-plus employees were caught by surprise.

An employee revealed that the company issued a notice after work, announcing a day off for the next day due to a major system upgrade, but a mandatory monthly online meeting. Thats when the announcement was made, reported Chinese media.

ZEKU, established in 2019 with the mission to develop self-reliant chips, is a 100 percent wholly owned chip design subsidiary of OPPO.

Headquartered in Shanghai, ZEKU developed branches in Chengdu, Xian, as well as the United States and Japan.

Market Uncertainties

In February 2020, OPPO announced a three-year investment of 50 billion yuan ($7.19 billion) in its R&D, including chip design and production.

In December 2021, OPPO unveiled MariSilicon X product, ZEKUs first self-designed imaging neural processing unit built on 6-nm process technology; in December 2022, OPPO introduced MariSilicon Y, also ZEKUs first-ever custom Bluetooth audio system-on-chip.

ZEKUs productivity didnt seem to stop it from disbanding. Chinese media reported that it was due to rising uncertainties in the global economy and the smartphone market, said the company.

In a report by IDC (International Data Corporation), Chinas mobile phone sales endured a record fall in 2022 when the countrys economy was hit severely by the extreme lockdown measures. The total number of devices shipped was 286 million, down from 329 million in 2022, a 13 percent drop to their lowest level in a decade, according to Reuters.

On May 11, Chinas largest chip manufacturer SMIC (Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation) revealed its 2023 Q1 operating income of 10.209 billion yuan ($1.47 billion), a year-on-year decrease of 13.9 percent; net profit attributable to the parent company was 1.591 billion yuan ($230 million), a year-on-year decrease of 44 percent.

An employee makes chips at a factory of Jiejie Semiconductor Company in Nantong, in eastern Chinas Jiangsu Province on March 17, 2021. (STR/AFP via Getty Images)

Chinese Chip Industry Fell Short

China engaged in self-reliant chip R&D with a national plan in 2014, with an initial fund of 130 billion yuan ($18.64 billion).

Public records showed at least 45,300 Chinese companies dedicated to chip production or design as of July 20, 2020, when several high-profile semiconductor projects were either halted or officially terminated.

The state media also reported a loss of hundreds of billions of yuan in state funds due to the failure of chip-related startups.

Consequently, the Chinese chip national plan won itself a new name, the Great Leap Forward chip development. Chinese officials once criticized the chip mania, suffering from a lack of technique, talent, and experience when six major semiconductor projects at the scale of tens of billions of yuan were halted one after another.

Chinese official data showed that between January and October 2020 alone, there were 58,000 new semiconductor companies in China, with an average daily growth rate of 200. However, most semiconductor companies have no relevant experience or technology.

With ZEKUs 3,000 employees released to the current sluggish market, a Chinese headhunter doubted that theyll be able to find a position up to their qualification, reported Chinese media.

Li Jing contributed to this report.
CANBERRA, May 17 (Xinhua) -- Australia's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has canceled the planned Quad leaders' meeting next week after U.S. President Joe Biden postponed his visit to the country.

Albanese on Wednesday said that the Quad leaders' meeting for himself, Biden, India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, that was scheduled to be held in Sydney on May 24 will not take place.

The change to Biden's travel plan was due to the ongoing stalemate in negotiations with congressional leaders to address the debt ceiling crisis in the United States, according to the White House.

Albanese said the leaders could instead meet on the sidelines of the G7 meeting to be held in Japan this weekend, after which Biden will return to Washington.

"Because that has to be solved prior to June 1 - otherwise there are quite drastic consequences for the U.S. economy, which will flow on to the global economy - he understandably has had to make that decision," Albanese told reporters.

Albanese said it was still possible that Modi and Kishida would travel to Australia for talks. 
Chinese Spies Highly Active in EUs Heartland: Report

Chinese spies are reported to be highly active in Belgium, according to a report (pdf) published this year by the Belgian Security Service, the VSSE. The Belgian capital Brussels is also the administrative center of the European Union.

Chinas activities in Belgium are not limited to the classic spy stealing state secrets or the hacker paralyzing an essential industry or government department from behind his PC, the government report reads.

Instead, many Chinese intelligence gatherers engage in a gray zone between lobbying, interference, political influence, espionage, economic blackmail, and disinformation campaigns.

The security agency raised concerns about the fact that the Communist regimes close association with corporate interests in the country makes it extremely challenging to identify potential intelligence assets.

This makes for a tangled web of interactions, with many state and non-state actors harboring ties with China, the VSSE states. This is a game at which China is extremely adept. The hold that the Chinese government and the Chinese Communist Party exert on companies allows them to make them part and parcel of their long-term strategy.

According to the research, many CCP intelligence agents are not employees of the communist regime at all, but rather Chinese private individuals who serve the government out of an affinity for the regimeor through subtle persuasion and manipulation from state authorities.

Politicians Voice Concern

The findings have sparked concern among Belgian politicians, such as Flemish Member of Parliament Kristof Slagmulder, from the Flemish nationalist Vlaams Belang party in Belgiums Dutch-speaking Flanders region.

When one thinks of spies, one often thinks of films such as James Bond, but this is not true, Slagmulder said in a recent article on the Vlaams Belang website. Often these are diplomats, lobbyists, journalists, employees, companies, or even students who are actively gathering information to pass on to an intelligence officer.

China is actively expanding a network to ensure Chinese influence in Europe, he said. It is therefore not inconceivable that students will also be used for this.

The Flemish MP called for a probe into the potential role that Chinese students in Belgium could play in CCP espionage efforts. He noted that the authorities frequently overlook this type of Chinese national.

It may look innocent and nuanced, but in times of conflict all weapons can be used to bring a country to its knees, Slagmulder said. We must therefore keep our knowledge safe and actively work toward a safer Flemish higher education by optimizing and possibly tightening up the procedures for Chinese students.

No Chinese Police Stations

In September 2022, a report by Safeguard Defenders stated that agents of the Chinese regime are operating covertly in countries around the world, using secret police stations as a base of operations to surveil Chinese dissidents, and even coercing Chinese expatriates to return to China.

An updated report titled Patrol and Persuade released in Dec. 2022 sheds more light on the scale of the network, and how joint agreements facilitated the Chinese regime in spreading its transnational policing across the globe.

The later report showed that there are some 102 overseas China-run police outposts in 53 countries around the world. Some stations were even set up with help from the host countries.

However, Belgium is not currently on the list of European countries that have Chinese police stations in operation.

Dismantling the CCPs Overseas Apparatus

After the emergence of the first report, the regime denied running undeclared police stations abroad, and called the allegations an attempt to smear Chinas reputation.

But Safeguard Defenders stated that despite the fact that Beijing was not directly in charge of the stations, some statements and policies are starting to show a clearer guidance from the central government in encouraging their establishment and policies.

The initial report has spurred investigations in at least 14 countries to date.

Ireland and the Netherlands have closed the Chinese police stations that were discovered in their countries, and inquiries are being conducted in Spain. Canada has filed official complaints to the Chinese Ambassador over reports of unofficial Chinese police service stations operating in Canada.

In April, two men were arrested in New York for allegedly operating a secret police station in Manhattan on behalf of Chinas communist regime. Those arrests were part of several cases bringing charges against more than 40 Chinese agents over their alleged involvement in various schemes that aided the communist regimes transnational intimidation and propaganda efforts.

According to court documents, the two men who were arrested had operated a local Chinese association that organized busloads of pro-Beijing supporters to travel to Washington and serve as counter-protesters during Xis 2015 trip.

The arrest of Chinese Communist Party agents involved with setting up the illegal CCP police station in New York is a small but important victory for American sovereignty and dissidents fleeing oppression who have made America their home, Rep. Michael Gallagher (R-Wis.) told The Epoch Times.

The CCPs mafia tacticssurveillance, harassment, blackmail, assault, and the persecution of elderly parents, spouses, and children back in Chinacannot be tolerated in America.

The United States must remain a haven from persecution, not a hunting ground for dictators.

Eva Fu contributed to this report.
Congressional Republicans Rally to Call on Biden to Reach Deal in Debt Ceiling Negotiations

U.S. Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) speaks about the war in Afghanistan during a news conference on Capitol Hill, Feb. 6, 2014. in Washington. (Mark Wilson/Getty Images)

Several Republican senators expressed solidarity with their House colleagues in support of the Limit, Save, Grow Act at a joint press conference attended by about 40 GOP members of Congress.

The bill, passed by the House in April, would raise the debt ceiling by $1.5 trillion, enough to last for about one year, while limiting federal spending, strengthening work requirements for some recipients of federal benefits, clawing back unspent COVID-19 relief funds, and loosening restrictions on drilling for oil and gas.

Members of the upper chamber also echoed the Republican talking point that they would not support raising the debt limit without a simultaneous agreement to reduce non-discretionary federal spending.

Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) speaks at a news conference at the Capitol on May 27, 2021. (J. Scott Applewhite/AP Photo)

We wont support bringing debate to a close on any debt ceiling increase that does not contain substantive spending and budgetary reforms, Sen. Mike Lee (R-Ariz.) said at a joint press conference with House Republicans on May 17.

Now it just so happens, the House of Representatives has passed precisely such a bill. We stand behind that bill. We need to pull up and pass that bill. We need to do it today, Lee said.

We are united behind our House colleagues, said Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), vice chair of the Senate Republican caucus.

They did a magnificent job of showing strength, of showing a plan, of showing a common sense, plain-and-simple way to answer the great, great challenge of the fiscal situation that we find ourselves in, Capito said, adding that she believed negotiators from the House and the Biden administration would be able to work out a deal.

Absent from the press event were Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), Whip John Thune (R-S.D.), and Caucus Chair John Barrasso (R-Wy.).

McConnell, however, said on May 9 that he would support any deal brokered by House Speaker Kevin McConnell (R-Calif.) and President Joe Biden.

The solution is between the one person in America who can sign a bill into law and the speaker of the House. And the sooner they get together, the better, McConnell said.

If they get together, the bill will pass both the House and the Senate on a bipartisan basis, McConnell added.

McCarthy has been publicly less sure about reaching a deal.

In three press exchanges over the past week, the Speaker has declined to say that he is optimistic about the possibility of reaching a deal before June 1.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen named June 1 as the earliest date when the United States could go into default on its obligations if the debt ceiling is not raised.

Responding to a question on May 17 about how close the parties were to an agreement, McCarthy voiced little enthusiasm.

The only thing Im more optimistic about, [Biden] finally agreed to something that every other time weve been able to solve a problem has workedthe structure of negotiations. But now were on such a short timeline, it makes it almost harder, McCarthy said, referring to Bidens decision to delegate negotiations to two trusted aides.

Yet the Speaker did allow that a deal would be reached eventually.

But if theres one thing you know, for me, I never give up. I have the grit, the perseverance, and were gonna get it done, he said.
Cornell Professor Tracks CRT in Higher Education, Elite K-12, and Medical Schools

'Not even your dog is safe:' website now includes veterinary schools

The iconic Century Tower on the University of Florida campus in Gainesville, Fla. on July 30, 2022. (Nanette Holt/The Epoch Times)

A website developed by a Cornell University law professor to track critical race theory (CRT) in Americas colleges and universities is expanding to expose CRTs presence in the curriculum at elite K-12 and medical schools.

Criticalrace.org is a website created by Cornell Professor William Jacobson, featuring a state-by-state compilation of Americas educational institutions and a report on which ones promote critical race theory (CRT) in their curriculum.

The website features an interactive map of the United States. Clicking on a state reveals detailed information on what Jacobsons research has uncovered there.

Screenshot of the interactive map from the website Criticalrace.org. (Courtesy of William Jacobson)

California, for example, has adopted many aspects of CRT at all levels of education.

Florida, on the other hand, is a study in contrasts, according to the website.

On the one hand, Governor Ron DeSantis worked with the Florida Board of Education and banned CRT from K-12 education in the state.

On the other hand, the State University System (SUS) called for an expansion of social justice and expressed a desire to battle systemic inequities.

Instead, DeSantis signed a new law on May 15 defunding diversity equity and inclusion initiatives at Floridas universities and colleges.

The higher education database reveals that California, with a population of around 38,916,000, has 38 institutions where CRT is part of the curriculum. Florida, with a population of around 22,662,000, has 10.

A new database for medical schools reveals Texas, with a population of over 30,500,000, has six institutions that interject CRT into its curriculum. New York, with a population of less than 19,500,000, has 11.

Jonathan Butcher, Senior Research Fellow in Education Policy at The Heritage Foundation says hes been on Jacobsons website often.

Its good that its so narrowly focused on one area of the woke landscape, Butcher told The Epoch Times. I really think hes put together a great tool.

Jonathan Butcher, Senior Research Fellow in Education Policy at The Heritage Foundation. (Courtesy of Jonathan Butcher)

Regarding Jacobsons revelation that CRT is now even part of the curriculum at veterinarian schools, Butcher recalled a piece he wrote on Sept. 29, 2021, about a newly hired music teacher at Arizona State University, brought on board to train K-12 music teachers from a critical race theory perspective.

What they are trying to do is to teach whatever subject it might be as part of another struggle for power, between a marginalized class and an oppressive class, Butcher said, noting that CRT is embedded deeply into the higher education culture, particularly in law school as its rooted in critical legal theory.

This is what makes Jacobsons resource so valuable, Butcher said, suggesting it serves as a call to action by demonstrating how ubiquitous the ideology is.

This gives you a measure of the amount of unrest and disruption that colleges are teaching students to be a part of, Butcher said.

Not Even Your Dog Is Safe

Jacobsons first project, Legal Insurrection (LI), first went live on Oct. 12, 2008. In 2019, legalinsurrection.com officially became a platform for the Legal Insurrection Foundation, a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization.

Criticalrace.org was the first major project born of the LI Foundation.

We thought it would be a nice little website that might not get much attention, but we thought it was important to have a database of where CRT was being taught, Jacobson told The Epoch Times. It has gotten an enormous amount of attention. Today we have over 500 higher-ed schools, colleges, and universities.

The database has now expanded to include CRT reports on the top 100 medical schools ranked by U.S. News and World Report.

The goal this year is to cover the schools we havent covered yet, Jacobson explained. We have also covered the top 50 elite K-12 private schools, the fancy boarding and day schools. Were hoping to expand that to the top 100 this year. Weve also covered U.S. military academies and within the last month we started covering veterinarian schools.

Jacobson noted that it wasnt until recently that he realized CRT was even invading veterinarian schools.

Cadets attend the 2020 graduation ceremony at West Point, New York, on June 13, 2020. (Timothy A. Clary/AFP via Getty Images)

A lot of this starts with a tip, Jacobson explained, adding that the vet school database started when a vet student contacted us and said, Youre not going to believe whats going on in veterinarian school.'

The revelation came as such a surprise that Jacobson was compelled to share his thoughts on the unexpected phenomenon.

Nothing is safe from diversity, equity and inclusion ideologynot even your dog, Jacobson wrote in an April 19 op-ed for the New York Post, adding that diversity, equity and inclusion is one of the ways critical race theory is put into action.

The Birth and Evolution of CRT

Critical race theory is something I have been familiar with for a very long time,  Jacobson said, recalling how CRT came to Harvard Law School in the early 1980s when he was a student there. They called it Critical Legal Theory at that time, Jacobson reflected. But it very much had a racial overtone. The things we now call Critical Race Theory were definitely discussed.

Cornells website defines critical legal studies (CLS) as a theory which states that the law is necessarily intertwined with social issues, particularly stating that the law has inherent social biases (pdf). Proponents of CLS believe that the law supports the interests of those who create the law.

Microbiologist Anne Vandenburg-Carroll tests poultry samples for avian influenza at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, on March 24, 2022. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)

Cornell further explained that CLS was officially started in 1977 at a conference at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Its founders borrowed from non-legal fields such as social theory, political philosophy, economics, and literary theory.

Jacobson points to Kimberle Williams Crenshaw as the person most prominent in promoting CRT. Crenshaw, a law professor at UCLA School of Law and Columbia Law School, first coined the term intersectionality more than three decades ago.

Crenshaw was a classmate of Jacobsons at Harvard, where he saw CRT evolve from its early stages.

I didnt really pay attention to it because I went into private practice, Jacobson said, explaining that he didnt focus on it again until he arrived at Cornell Law School at the end of 2007 and found himself more exposed to what was going on in academia.

That was when Jacobson was inspired to launch Legal Insurrection.

George Floyd, Ibram X. Kendi

The inspiration for Criticalrace.org came from what Jacobson describes as the explosion of mandatory programs called anti-racism training and anti-racism education at colleges and universities in the wake of the death of George Floyd in May of 2020.

In the aftermath of Floyds death, Cornell President Martha E. Pollack posted a message to her fellow Cornellians on June 3, 2020, saying, As a campus community, we have a collective responsibility to engage in difficult but critical conversationsto listen genuinely to, and learn from, one another.

Ibram X. Kendi is seen in a New York City studio on March 10, 2020. (Michael Loccisano/Getty Images)

To help bring focus to these conversations, Pollack urged her colleagues to participate in a Community Book Read of How to Be an Antiracist by National Book Award winner Ibram X. Kendi.

Kendi is a racial activist who promotes the idea that racist policies and ideas are deeply ingrained in American society.

I hope you will choose to read the book and to join in the conversation, Pollack said.

That was the first time I actually read his book, and it was pretty shocking, Jacobson said. It advocated the use of discrimination to cure past discrimination.

Jacobson then cited Kendis most famous quote:

The only remedy to racist discrimination is anti-racist discrimination. The only remedy to past discrimination is present discrimination. The only remedy to present discrimination is future discrimination.

Thats a pretty strange thing for a university to be promoting, Jacobson said, adding that they didnt just have his book as our designated summer reading, but it was also going to be promoted in student group meetings when students returned to campus and as the basis for informal, non-credit seminars.

That was when Jacobson began to explore the tenants of CRT and discovered how widespread Kendis anti-racism philosophy had become, particularly in academia.

Cornell Law School Professor William Jacobson poses for a selfie during the Take a Knee protest at the Arts Quad on September 17, 2017. (source: Legal Insurrection/William Jacobson)

Angered by Jacobsons outspoken stance on CRT, 21 of his Cornell colleagues signed a June 9, letter denouncing unnamed commentators  attached to Ivy League Institutions, who were critical of Black Lives Matter and demanding accountability. In response, prominent liberal George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley defended Jacobson, saying the letter was the antipathy of the intellectual foundations for higher education. Rather than address the merits of arguments, you attack those with opposing views personally and viciously.

Jacobson described the awkward relationship that developed between himself and his colleagues at Cornell, given the overwhelmingly liberal faculty and atmosphere.

Living as a conservative on a liberal campus is like being the mouse waiting for the cat to pounce, he wrote on June 11, 2020.

Outright Discrimination and Racial Preferences

On July 16, 2020, Pollack issued another message to her colleagues, announcing that more needed to be done to create a more just and equitable Cornell.

It is clear that we must think and act holistically to change structures and systems that inherently privilege some more than others, Pollack wrote.

In a Sept. 8, 2020, open letter to Pollack and other university officials, several hundred Cornell faculty and students outlined Immediate and Longer-Term Demands for what her anti-racism initiative should look like in all departments and curricula from undergraduate to postdoc.

It was a document that called for outright discrimination and racial preferences in hiring or promotion, and it was signed by some prominent professors, including nine law professors, Jacobson said, noting that the philosophy in that letter is actually contrary to Cornell anti-discrimination policies and contrary to state and federal law.

New York State Law declares that the failure to prevent discrimination menaces the institutions and foundation of a free democratic state. Federal Law forbids discrimination in every aspect of employment.

According to its website, Cornell University prohibits its faculty, administrative and academic staff, postdocs, and undergraduate and graduate students from engaging in any form of prohibited discrimination.

It was reading thesedemands that inspired Jacobson to research and document precisely where CRT was being promoted in Americas institutions of higher learning. Criticalrace.org was born.

We launched on February 2, 2021, and announced the project on Tucker Carlsons show, Jacobson recalled, adding that he only had around 200 colleges and universities in the database at the time.

I didnt realize how big it would become, he admitted. But by midnight after being on Carlsons program we had over 400,000 visits. At one point, we had over 70,000 people on our website. Its a miracle it didnt crash. By the next day, we had over a million visits. It was then we thought, Yes, this could be an interesting website.'
Corporations Threatening Free Speech and Religious Freedoms Exposed in Business Index

Many companies celebrate 'transparency' when it comes to issues like diversity, gender identity, and climate change but remain silent on issues like free speech

People pass a sign for JPMorgan Chase at it's headquarters in Manhattan in this file photo. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

Non-profit Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) has published this years Viewpoint Diversity Score Business Index, putting the spotlight on corporations with little respect for freedom of faith and speech that put Americans at risk of getting punished for their beliefs.

The index measures how tolerant a corporation is when it comes to respecting free speech and religious freedom. Out of the 75 major corporations evaluated in the index, only two businesses scored more than 25 percent out of a maximum 100 percent possible in terms of respect for speech and religion. ADF calls this a sign that millions of everyday U.S. citizens are at risk of cancellation or punishment for their views, according to a May 16 press release. Policies and practices at behemoths like JPMorgan Chase, Alphabet, Meta, Microsoft, and PayPal threaten the fundamental freedoms of Americans, it said.

Other low-scoring companies include Disney, Twitter, Pinterest, PayPal, eBay, Amazon, Alphabet, and Airbnb, with these firms scoring 5 percent or less. The firm that scored the highest in the index was Florida-based multinational Fidelity National Information Services at 50 percent.

This was followed by M&T Bank at 25 percent, BOK Financial at 17 percent, and Apollo Global Management and Fifth Third Bancorp at 15 percent each. Media conglomerate Fox scored 10 percent. Likewise, the remaining businesses scored less than 15 percent. Eight companies improved their score in this years edition of the index.

Threats to freedom dont just come from the government, but from major corporations like financial institutions and big tech companies that have concentrated power over essential services and communication channels, said ADF Senior Counsel and Senior Vice President for Corporate Engagement Jeremy Tedesco.

Too often, these corporations de-bank or de-platform Americans, citing policies that give them unbounded discretion to censor people for their views. That needs to change. Companies need to take seriously the way their policies and practices can chill the exercise of speech and religion and deter individuals from participating in the democratic process.

Low Scores, Discrimination at JPMorgan Chase

ADF pointed out that some companies did not participate in the survey part of the index, which is in stark contrast to companies celebrating transparency when it comes to issues like diversity, gender identity, and climate change.

A key factor in the poor performance of certain firms on the Viewpoint Diversity index is that the businesses implement policies that contain vague terms like intolerance and hate, which they use to censor content or deny service.

JPMorgan Chase, whose score fell to 9 percent from last years 15, has cited such policies while canceling accounts or denying payments to individuals and organizations that hold mainstream American values.

For instance, Chase de-banked the nonprofit National Committee for Religious Freedom without giving any clarifications.

On May 2, state attorneys general from 19 states sent a letter (pdf) to JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon, asking that the corporation stop its religious and politically biased discrimination and start living up to its commitment to an inclusive society where everyone feels welcomed, equal, and included.

Pushing Back Against Corporate Wokism

Like ADF, other organizations are also taking steps to expose woke corporations that compromise American values. Nonprofit Consumers Research has launched an initiative called Woke Alert that monitors and notifies people about progressive and dangerous ideas pushed forward by corporations.

People can sign up for Woke Alert notifications through the Consumers Research website. Members will begin receiving alerts from the nonprofit about any company that pushes a leftist woke agenda as well as reasons driving such actions.

Many corporations are putting progressive activists and their dangerous agendas ahead of customers. Theyll only succeed if we look the other way, according to the initiative.

Meanwhile, consumers are increasingly getting frustrated at companies pushing the woke agenda and are increasingly lashing out against such brands.

The most recent famous example is that of Anheuser-Busch. The sale of Bud Light cases made by the corporation fell by 10.7 percent in the week ending April 8, and by 21 percent in the week ending April 15, after the brand partnered with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaneya move many brand loyalists considered a push against their values.

Recently, many female customers have reportedly begun boycotting womens clothing brand Anthropologie after the firm cast a male model dressed up in female clothes in an advertisement.

In the Viewpoint Diversity Index FAQ section, a question was asked whether private companies ought to be bound by the First Amendment.

No. Private companies are not legally obligated to follow the Constitution. Nevertheless, First Amendment case law is the worlds richest repository of practical wisdom on how to create a culture committed to truly open discoursewhere diverse citizens of many different faiths, philosophies, and persuasions can speak their minds and honor their deepest convictions without fear of punishment and retaliation, replied the company.
Court Backlog Clog: Its the Story of Immigration Now and Its Growing Inexorably Worse

Migrants stand on the Mexican side of the U.S.-Mexico border, on the banks of the Rio Grande, in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, on March 29, 2023. (Fernando Llano/AP Photo)

News analysis

New migrants pouring into the United States after the Biden administration let a COVID-19 restriction called Title 42 expire last week will not break the nations stretched court system. The system is already shattered, according to several former judges, immigration experts, and Department of Homeland Security data.

The average wait time for a Notice to Appear before a judge at one of the nations 66 immigration courts is now four and a half years. In some cities it is much longer. In New York City, new migrants do not have to appear in court until 2032. This growing backlog creates an incentive for more people to cross the border and request asylum as each new case pushes assigned court dates further into the future. In the meantime, many migrants are permitted to live and work in the United States.

Its well past broken, said Art Arthur, a former immigration court judge and now a resident fellow at the conservative Center for Immigration Studies. The courts werent set up for this. When you dont do anything at the front end, the back end just collapses. Everybody who shows up now knows the chances are 90 percent or better youre going to be here indefinitely or forever.

The impact on the courts of the expiration of Title 42a restriction former President Trump implemented to expel migrants, even if they were seeking asylumis one of several unknowns the United States will confront in the current wave of migration. The cost to taxpayers is also unclear, though complaints have been mounting in border states that must absorb the crush and in self-proclaimed sanctuary cities that are struggling with pledges made years ago to house and care for migrants.

Federal agencies charged with handling immigrationincluding the Department of Homeland Security, the Executive Office of Immigration Review, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)did not respond to requests for comment or declined to answer questions on the record.

But a Feb. 18, 2023, internal ICE document obtained by RealClearInvestigations (RCI) listing the top 10 backlogged locations shows court dates are already far in the future.

The document shows New York leading the list as fully booked through October 2032. That time lag tops Florida locations, booked until 2028; Atlanta and San Antonio, where a migrant in the system does not have to appear until 2027; and a handful of other cities such as Chicago, Baltimore, Milwaukee, and Indianapolis, where the backlog carries into 2026.

Early estimates are that at least 11,000 arrivals could pour into the United States every day with Title 42 lifted. But much smaller totals have clogged the system for years. Baltimore, for instance, is mostly booked with fewer than 3,500 people, while Atlanta has a four-year wait time for just 1,757 people, according to ICEs February figures.

Critics note the sharp disconnect between the estimated number of migrants who have crossed the border since Biden became presidentmore than 5 millionand the relatively small numbers of people with court dates. In theory, all migrants, whether they request asylum or not, would be assigned a court date. But the Biden administration has begun a policy of paroling, i.e., releasing, many encountered migrants with the expectation they would report to immigration offices at their final destinations.

That leaves most of the millions floating, according to those who study the issue closely.

Both parolees and asylum applicants are eligible for work authorization, said Rosemary Jenks, director of government affairs for NumbersUSA, a group pushing for tighter immigration policies. Despite that, a huge number of those who say theyre here for asylum never actually file an asylum application, so they live and work here illegally.

As more migrants arrive, court backlogs will undoubtedly be pushed even further into the future. That in turn may prompt more migrants to work through the system, further burdening an overwhelmed system. The delays already in place make it all but impossible for judges to hear cases properly, according to Arthur and another former immigration court judge in Texas, Tony Rogers. Even if somehow the courts were able to triple or quadruple the roughly 600 judges now on the bench, the system cannot keep up with the crush of people crossing the southern border.

The judges cant do anything more than saw the wood in front of them, Rogers said. Its a dysfunctional system from top to bottom that is way past broken. This is exactly why all of them are comingthey know you cant meaningfully try a case five years or more after a claim, and if you buy time long enough theyll give you something. Youre not going to get deported and sent back.

The average pending docket for Texas immigration court judges has skyrocketed to 8,000 from the 1,800 average that prevailed when Rogers left the bench 12 years ago, he said, and those figures do not reflect the reality within the United States at the moment, with its estimated population of 11.35 million undocumented immigrants.

Its actually even worse than what theyre telling you, Rogers said. These numbers only reflect people in the system. If they filed NTAsnotices to appearfor all the people that have entered, it would be even worse. No one can give you a statistic for that.

Beyond the overwhelmed court system, the financial strain on taxpayers continues to grow. Sanctuary cities like New York, Chicago, and Washington, D.C. are struggling to meet the cost of just small fractions of the people swarming across the southern border.

New York City is now reportedly spending roughly $8 million a day to house and care for them, some of whom have been bused there from Texas. Mayor Eric Adams said he is considering housing some migrants in a closed prison. Washington, D.C., facing a budget gap of roughly $1.7 billion, says its Office of Migrant Services has spent more than $15.1 million providing housing and other services to immigrants, a figure expected to climb to $52.5 million by October. In January, the state of Illinois rejected Chicagos request for money saying it had already spent close to $120 million on its asylum seeker emergency response.

Like the federal agencies, numerous others knowledgeable about the situation both within and without government did not respond to questions, including Susan Long and David Burnham, the co-directors of TRAC Immigration, a nonpartisan Syracuse University clearing house on information about immigration.

Members of Congress were unwilling to discuss the overloaded court system. RCI reached out to every Republican member of the House Border and Security Enforcement Committee and they did not respond. Similarly, RCI sought comment from a half dozen Democrats on the Committee, as well as two Republicans and Democratic ranking member Jerrold Nadler of New York on the House Judiciary Committee. None responded.

On May 11, hours before Title 42s midnight expiration, the GOP majority in the House passed H.R. 2, which they labeled the Secure the Border Act.

House Republicans are fighting to do what the Biden administration refuses to: secure our sovereign borders and protect Americans, said a joint statement from three GOP committee chairmenJim Jordan of Ohio, Mark Green of Tennessee, and Michael McCaul of Texas. The images coming out of border communities for the end of Title 42 this week are horrifying. Theres no question the border is not secure and the Biden administration has lost all control.

Federal records show ICE wasnt using Title 42 to expel many immigrants before. In 2022, the monthly figure for those expelled under Title 42 fell from 8,008 in May to 3,791 in December, the document shows. In the last five months of 2022, an average of 4,000 were expelled by Title 42.

But perceptions about Title 42 being an enforcement tool had worked as a brake on unfettered immigration the Biden administration has chosen to release, Jenks said.

They know even thats gone now, she said. Its preposterous and thats why they keep coming.

Whatever impact the lifting may have, it can hardly hurt the effectiveness of a court system already characterized by Kafkaesque delays, according to the Federation for American Immigration Reform, a group that has long worked for immigration controls.

This is kind of a farce, said Ira Mehlman, FAIRs media director. With people having a hearing 10 years from now, its pointless, and knowing there are such meaningless dates so far in the future is exactly the incentive and why you see so many people in line to enter.

From RealClearWire

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
Cryptocurrency Trading Should Be Regulated as Gambling, Says UK Treasury Committee

A visual representation of the Bitcoin cryptocurrency is pictured in London on May 30, 2021. (Edward Smith/Getty Images)

A UK government committee has suggested cryptocurrencies pose risk for consumers, serve no social purpose, consume large amounts of energy, and are used by criminals for fraud, and as such should not be regulated as financial services.

The Treasury Committee called on May 17 for unbacked crypto assets to be regulated as gambling, given their price volatility and risk of loss.

The MPs acknowledged that technologies underlying crypto assets can be a valuable tool in financial markets when it comes to cross-border transactions and payments in less developed countries. However, they voiced concerns that regulating consumer crypto trading as a financial serviceas proposed by the governmentwill create a halo effect, leading consumers to believe this activity is safe and protected, when it is not.

The events of 2022 have highlighted the risks posed to consumers by the crypto asset industry, large parts of which remain a wild west. Effective regulation is clearly needed to protect consumers from harm, as well as to support productive innovation in the UKs financial services industry, said Harriett Baldwin, chair of the Treasury Committee.

She also reiterated that gambling was a better description for the trade of cryptocurrencies.

However, with no intrinsic value, huge price volatility, and no discernible social good, consumer trading of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin more closely resembles gambling than a financial service, and should be regulated as such. By betting on these unbacked tokens, consumers should be aware that all their money could be lost, Baldwin added.

Volatile Market

Since it became available in 2009, Bitcoin has experienced several price spikes and crashes. The price exploded in 2021, reaching a record high of slightly over $64,000 (51,300).

The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) has estimated that 7381 percent of investors that entered the Bitcoin market between 2015 and 2022 were likely to have lost money on their investments.

To enable effective regulation of crypto assets and give people and businesses the confidence to invest with an understanding of the often high risks involved, the government published a consultation in February 2023.

Under the new plans, the government will place responsibility on crypto trading exchanges for defining the requirements for admission and disclosure documents, ensuring exchanges have fair and robust standards.

Crypto asset businesses that are registered with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) for anti-money laundering purposes will be allowed to issue their own promotions, while the broader crypto asset regulatory regime is being introduced.

Pros and Cons

The MPs recognised the potential benefits of crypto assets to improve the efficiency and reduce the cost of payments, particularly cross-border.

It is no secret that the cross-border transfer system is broken. It takes three to five days. Up to 6 percent is chewed up in fees. Blockchain and crypto can help solve those problems and help money move much more efficiently than it does in the current system, Susan Friedman, head of policy at crypto technology company Ripple Labs Inc., told the committee.

The MPs heard merchants are starting to see the benefit in the UK of accepting a stablecoin as a means of payment versus a credit card payment because it is significantly cheaper.

Credit card fees are over 2 percent now. A stablecoin issuer can get that down to 1 percent, Ian Taylor from the trade association CryptoUK told lawmakers.

On the other hand, crypto assets are prone to being used by criminals to perpetrate scams, fraud, and money laundering, the MPs wrote. Estimates of the proportion of global crypto asset trades related to crime range widely, from 0.15 percent to 46 percent.

Currently, the FCA has oversight to check that crypto firms have effective anti-money laundering and terrorist financing procedures in place, but generally crypto assets themselves are not regulated.

According to HM Revenue and Customs, around 10 percent of UK adults hold or have held cryptocurrencies.

In the United States, federal regulators are meant to assess the broad risks and benefits offered by cryptocurrencies, according to the White Houses Roadmap to Mitigate Cryptocurrencies Risks, published in January 2023.

The government plan encouraged Congress to expand regulators powers to prevent misuses of customers assets.
Democrat Bill Would Pack Supreme Court to Lessen Conservative Influence

Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) speaks at the Senate subcommittee hearing on The China Challenge, Part 3: Democracy, Human Rights, and the Rule of Law, on Dec. 4, 2018. (Jennifer Zeng/The Epoch Times)

Senate Democrats unveiled a new bill that would pack the Supreme Court by adding four new seats beyond the current nine seats, a move that could lead to the loss of the courts current conservative majority.

The legislation comes after President Joe Bidens commission on Supreme Court reform failed in December 2021 to recommend expanding the size of the nations highest court. Public approval of the court has fallen in recent years, according to polls. The late Democratic President Franklin Roosevelt tried to pack the court in the 1930s after it kept striking down his New Deal policies but the plan ultimately went nowhere after the public and lawmakers from his own party turned against it.

Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) unveiled his new legislation, the proposed Judiciary Act of 2023 (pdf), at a press conference on the steps of the Supreme Court on May 16.

Our most fundamentally held freedoms are under attack from an illegitimate, far-right United States Supreme Court, Markey said.

And if we fail to act, it will only get worse. We must fix this broken and illegitimate court. We must expand the United States Supreme Court.

The court-packing proposed by Democrats is justified because Senate Republicans repeatedly broke the rules about the confirmation of Supreme Court nominees in recent years, Markey claimed.

After conservative Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia died in February 2016, Senate Republicans refused to allow a vote on then-President Barack Obamas nominee, Merrick Garland, who is now President Bidens attorney general.

Republicans denied Garland a hearing and a vote that he was entitled to, Markey said, even though there is no constitutional provision, law, or Senate rule that required the Senate to vote on the nomination.

They claimed that they couldnt fill a seat in a presidential election year, even with the election nine months away, and they kept that seat vacant for 422 days, the senator said, adding that Obamas successor, then-President Donald Trump, nominated Justice Neil Gorsuch to the court days after his inauguration.

Then, in October of 2020, with head-spinning hypocrisy, Senate Republicans and Donald Trump stole the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburgs seat, forcing Amy Coney Barrett onto the bench literally as Americans were casting their votes in the presidential elections nine days before Election Day in 2020.

So much for not confirming justices in a presidential year. So we now have two justices on the bench who frankly have no right to be there, Markey said.

Americans have suffered since Republicans hijacked the court, handing it over to partisan justices eager to toss aside decades of precedent to satisfy their deep-pocketed right-wing special interest benefactors.

Markey said he feared that decisions last year reversing Roe v. Wade, recognizing a constitutional right to carry firearms in public for self-defense, and curbing the governments environmental regulatory powers are just a preview of coming atrocities.

Democrats also need to pack the court because Justice Clarence Thomas had made a mockery of the public trust by refusing to recuse himself on cases about efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election in spite of the fact that his wife was implicated in them, Markey said.

Legal experts say Justice Thomas did not have to recuse himself from such cases merely because his wife, Ginni Thomas, is a conservative activist and Trump supporter.

We have to remind him that we have a system of constitutional checks and balances, the senator said.

Markey, along with Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), and a handful of House members have called on Justice Thomas to resign, a demand that Markey repeated at the media event.

Democrats also claim Thomas is guilty of improprieties because, among other things, he has accepted vacations from a wealthy GOP donor, his longtime friend Harlan Crow, a Texas billionaire. When left-wing media outlet ProPublica recently reported on the existence of the trips, Thomas said he was previously advised he didnt have to disclose the vacations but vowed to do so going forward. Legal experts say there is no conflict of interest because Crow has not had any business before the Supreme Court and because it is not illegal for justices to have wealthy, generous friends.

Markey continued: The court has put all these rights of all Americans but especially those of people of color, women, immigrants, and LGBTQ rural and low-income communities at risk  [and] its only a question of when and who the court is going to target nextthats because the extremist right wing will not stop.

But we will not stop either. So lets start with undoing the Republicans thievery and adding four seats to the court, he said.

Rep. Hank Johnson (D-Ga.), ranking member of the House Judiciary Committees panel on the courts, intellectual property, and the internet, said the Supreme Courts right-leaning majority threatens our rights, our democracy, and our planet.

Last year the court stripped millions of women of their right to an abortion  and theyre just getting started, Johnson said.

Congress has changed the number of justices seven times throughout American history, and it should do so again, he said, noting he has introduced a companion bill in the House.

The court has descended into extremist politics, and we need to save this arrogant court from itself. It has become too partisan, so that it no longer reflects the country as a whole.

The court repeatedly ruled against efforts to make it easier to vote during the pandemic and by repeatedly gutting voting rights, the court is reducing the role of average voters in our elections, Johnson said.

The court is also trying to whitewash history by undoing the civil rights legacy and by continuing to rule as if racism does not exist.

The court is poised to make millions of Americans lives dramatically worse, erasing workers rights, repudiating reproductive justice, entrenching white supremacy, denying LGBTQ rights, and preventing us from confronting the climate catastrophe, the congressman said.

Sen. Tina Smith (D-Minn.) said at the presser that the Supreme Court has become too powerful and too political doing the work of extreme right-wing conservatives.

Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) also railed against the Supreme Court, saying it is in desperate need of reform.

This is not a conservative court. Not in a legal sense. A conservative court would have some respect for precedent. This is instead a political and partisan court with a reactionary social agenda.

Now we must unpack and unstack the Supreme Court because Americans have begun to see the reactionary and partisan agenda pushed by itslashed reproductive health care, with the rights to marriage equality and contraceptives potentially up next [and] the gutting of clean air and water regulations, Schiff said.

Jacqueline Ayers, senior vice president of policy, organizing, and campaigns at Planned Parenthood Federation of America, said at the presser that her group supports expanding the court.
Durham Report Shows Massive Politicization of Justice in Trump-Russia Investigation: Former Assistant AG Jeff Clark

Former U.S. Assistant Attorney General Jeff Clark speaks with NTD, in a still from a video released on April 3, 2023. (NTD)

Special Counsel John Durhams report on the origins of the FBIs investigation into former President Donald Trumps 2016 campaign leaves little room but to conclude that the investigative process was deeply politicized, according to legal analyst Jeffrey Clark.

Durham published a 316-page report on Monday that concluded FBI officials pursued an investigation into the Trump campaigndubbed Crossfire Hurricanewithout much analytical rigor and often with minimal concern for factual accuracy. The report also described how some of the FBI officials involved in the investigation, such as Deputy Assistant Director for Counterintelligence Peter Strzok, had pronounced hostile feelings toward Trump.

The Durham report (pdf) also described how former President Barack Obama and key high-ranking Justice Department and intelligence community officials were aware that Hillary Clintons presidential campaign was pursuing a plan to vilify Trump by tying him to the Russian government. Specifically, Obama was present at an Aug. 3, 2016, White House briefing with then-Attorney General Loretta Lynch, former FBI Director Jim Comey, and former CIA Director John Brennan. According to declassified notes Brennan took at the meeting, he briefed those in attendance about the Clinton campaign plan to smear Trump.

Its a massive politicization of the process, Clark told NTDs Capitol Report host Steve Lance.

Dr. Steven Allen, the vice chairman of the Conservative Caucus, described the Durham reports findings in even starker terms.

The FBI had tried a coup that ultimately really was successful because Trump would have been reelected if this had not happened, Allen told NTD News.

Allen noted communications between Strzok and former FBI lawyer Lisa Page, in which the pair described stopping Trump from becoming president and having an insurance policy in the unlikely event that Trump did win the election.

Allegations of collusion between Trump and the Russian government had served as a premise for Special Counsel Robert Mueller to investigate the Trump administration. That special counsel investigation continued through the first two years of Trumps four-year presidential term. Allen also noted that the claim that Trump had colluded with the Russian government was an idea that eventually gained viral acceptance, becoming the subject of regular news coverage, popular memes, and jokes by late-night TV hosts.

FBI Says It Already Corrected Missteps

The FBI has acknowledged it made missteps in its handling of the Trump campaign investigation but said it has already taken corrective actions.

The conduct in 2016 and 2017 that Special Counsel Durham examined was the reason that current FBI leadership already implemented dozens of corrective actions, which have now been in place for some time, the agency said in a statement just hours after the Durham report was released. Had those reforms been in place in 2016, the missteps identified in the report could have been prevented.

Clark said he was not convinced by the FBIs latest reassurances.

That statement to me, Steve, sounds like a kind of passive voice mistakes were made, corrective action will follow. Its all very vague, and I dont think its going to result in any significant changes, Clark said. I think the only way were going to get significant changes at the FBI, and at the main justice, U.S. attorney and Criminal Division, et cetera related processes is if Congress passes new laws, or if there is a new presidential sheriff in town.

Allen also pointed to the career success of officials involved in the Crossfire Hurricane investigation as another sign that the FBIs reforms wont seriously deter these kinds of problems in the future.

Right now, as far as I know, two of the FBI agents involved in this conspiracy, are consultants appearing on air at CNN and at MSNBC, Allen said. Have they lost their jobs? Has anyone lost a security clearance, which is important to having a job in Washington if youre in this intelligence area. Have they lost their security clearances for lying? No.

Allen noted Durhams Special Counsel team had successfully prosecuted, former FBI lawyer Kevin Clinesmith, for falsifying information to extend a surveillance warrant against Trump campaign advisor Carter Page. Clinesmith avoided jail time for the offense and instead received 12 months of probation. Clinesmith was also temporarily disbarred.

NTD News reached out to the FBI for further comment but the agency did not respond by the time this article was published.

From NTD News
Ex-DOJ Official and Wife Had Bigger Roles in Dossier Than Known: Durham Report

News analysis

While its bad enough the debunked dossier the FBI used to spy on the Trump campaign was paid for by the Clinton campaign and authored by a foreign FBI informant and his carousing researcher, the newly released report of Special Counsel John Durham strongly suggests a top Justice Department official and his wife had an early hand in shaping the political rumor sheet.

According to the 306-page report, former Justice Department prosecutor Bruce Ohrs wife Nellie Ohr first plowed the ground for the dossier with a series of research reports she wrote for Fusion GPS, the D.C.-based opposition research firm the Clinton campaign commissioned to dig up dirt on Trump and Russia.

Obtained by Durham, her reports zeroed in on Sergei Millian and his connections to Russia and Trump, falsely portraying him as a key intermediary between the Kremlin and the Republican candidate. They would later provide the foundation for the dossiers many fictions.

Fusion GPS records demonstrate that Nellie Ohr first identified Millian, Durham states in his report. All told, Ohr prepared at least 12 reports that discussed Sergei Millian.

She wrote her first Millian report in April 2016, the month before Fusion GPS hired former British intelligence officer Christopher Steele to put his imprimatur as a supposed former spy and Russian insider on the dossier.

This report was prepared just ten days after Fusion GPS was retained by [Clinton campaign law firm] Perkins Coie to conduct opposition research on Trump, the Durham Report states, and prior to Steele being retained by Fusion GPS.

Durham suggests Nellie Ohr planted the seeds of sourcing for the most explosive allegations leveled by the dossier against Trump, including the oft-cited notion that he and his campaign were engaged in a well-developed conspiracy of cooperation with the Kremlin. The dossier attributed this, falsely, to Millian. Durham found that the Belarusian-American realtor was never a source for the dossier and was simply invented as one, along with the allegations attributed to him.

In fact, Durham says that Millian initially wasnt even on the radar of Steele and his dossier collector Igor Danchenko, a former Brookings Institution analyst whos admitted much of the information he provided Steele was alcohol-lubricated gossip. Millian was called to their attention by Nellie Ohr, who the prosecutor said implicated Millian through her own reports. Durham suggests Steele and Danchenko merely followed her leads.

Meanwhile, the prosecutor added, Bruce Ohr, an anti-Trump Democrat, pushed his wifes reports that cited Millian12 in allonto the Crossfire Hurricane team at FBI headquarters that was investigating Trump and his campaign for possible espionage. Agents used her reports as a source of corroboration for the Steele reports they received in the summer and fall of 2016, even though it was circular reporting.

The reports prepared by Ohr and others at Fusion GPS were ultimately provided to Crossfire Hurricane investigators by Ohrs husband, Bruce Ohr, according to the Durham Report.

Durham notes that Danchenko was tracking leads on Millian from Nellie Ohr within approximately one week of Fusion GPS retaining Steele to compile the dossier. He concludes that this strongly supports the inference that Fusion GPS directed Steele to pursue Millian.

In other words, Steele was not the catalyst behind the dossiers central claims. Rather, it was Clintons contractor Fusion GPSbut more specifically, the wife of a senior DOJ official who worked for Fusion. So the FBI wasnt really investigating Crown reporting, as officials referred to Steeles dossier, implying it was British intelligence. More accurately, it was investigating information from inside its own department that was laundered through Steele and his dossier.

On page 97 of their book, Crime in Progress, Fusion GPS co-founders Glenn Simpson and Peter Fritsch maintained that it was Steele who identified Millian as one of the key intermediaries between Trump and the Russians. Durhams report shatters their claim.

The special counsel also found that Simpson worked with Bruce Ohr to pressure the FBI to investigate the dossier allegations.

On Aug. 22, 2016, Simpson asked Ohr to call him. About an hour later, Ohr emailed the FBI agent handling Steele as an informant to, as he said, check in. Ohr and the agent, Michael Gaeta, spoke over the phone on Aug. 24. During their call, Ohr inquired if the FBI was going to do anything with the dossier reports that Steele had passed along to Gaeta in July. In response, Gaeta told Ohr that a group at FBI headquarters was working on them, according to the Durham report. This undercuts the official FBI timeline of when HQ first received the dossier. For years, the bureau has insisted it did not receive the reports until a month laterSept. 19, 2016.

The Ohrs also appear to have directly influenced the dossier and the FBIs investigation. Both Bruce and Nellie Ohr, who previously worked for the CIA, met with Steele in Washington at a critical time. Emails reveal that on July 30, 2016the day before the FBI formally opened its overarching case against Trump, codenamed Crossfire Hurricanethe couple sat down with Steele and an unidentified associate of his at the Mayflower Hotel in D.C. to compare notesNellie and Steele literally passed pieces of papers back and forthregarding their research into suspicions that Russian government figures were supporting the candidacy of Donald Trump. After their breakfast, Bruce Ohr reportedly contacted then-deputy FBI director Andrew McCabe to relay their concerns.

Fusion GPS also pitched the press the false narrative that Millian was a key intermediary between Trump and Russia. For example, on June 27, 2016, Fritsch sent an email to Franklin Foer, a reporter at Slate magazine, stating this dude is key and claiming he is clearly kgb.

The next month, Simpson reached out to ABC News producer Matthew Mosk about Millian. Mosk emailed Simpson and reported back that he was making arrangements to interview Millian on camera and that he and Simpson should chat. On July 29, 2016, Millian ultimately was interviewed by Brian Ross, formerly of ABC News, who asked Millian whether he was a Russian spy.

On Sept. 13, 2016, Mosk emailed Simpson and asked, Whats the most official thing we have showing Millian tied to Trump? That would make it hard for the Trump org to disavow Millian?

Ross later left ABC after being suspended for erroneous reporting on Russiagate, while Mosk has moved to CBS News.

Throughout the summer and fall of 2016, Fusion GPS also promoted to the Washington media the false allegation the Trump campaign maintained a secret hotline to Moscow through Russia-based Alfa Bank. In an attempt to tie Millian to the Alfa Bank allegations, Durham found that Fusion GPS sought the assistance of Clinton campaign lawyer Michael Sussmann, who in turn contacted D.C. tech executive Rodney Joffe to determine if Millian had any ties to Alfa Bank.

On Aug. 20, 2016, Joffe emailed federal computer contractors at Georgia Tech a document titled birdsnest-1.pdf that contained known associates of Trump. Included in the attached document was a description of Millian along with his past mailing addresses; various email addresses; websites; and IP addresses that were associated with him. Joffe, who was recently fired as an FBI informant, described Millian as the most likely intermediary between Trump and Russia.

On Sept. 27, 2016, Simpson and Fritsch emailed IP look-up information for one of Millians websites to then-New York Times reporter Eric Lichtblau, whom Fusion was pressuring to write a story about the Trump-Alfa Bank allegations. In the email, Fritsch pointed out that Alfa was the website service provider for Millians website. However, Durham determined that the relevant IP information did not indicate that Alfa Bank was the service provider, but rather Alfa Telecoma Lebanese-based telecom company, which appears to have no affiliation with Alfa Bank.

Fusion GPS and Steele also provided the substance of the Alfa Bank allegations to Bruce Ohr, the DOJ official, who passed the false tip on to the FBI. The Crossfire Hurricane team used Ohr as a conduit to continue to receive information from Steele about Trump throughout 2017, even after the FBI had to terminate Steele as an informant for leaking information about its investigation to the media.

From RealClearWire

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
Ex-Los Angeles Police Officer Charged With Child Sex Abuse

LOS ANGELESA scheduled arraignment Tuesday was put over to May 17 for a former Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) officer who is facing charges of committing lewd acts on four young boys.

Paul Razo, 46, was arrested May 10, five days after he was charged by prosecutors with eight counts of lewd acts on a child, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department.

Razo was scheduled to appear in court Monday, but his arraignment was delayed until Tuesday, then Wednesday. He remains jailed in lieu of $2.5 million bail.

According to the District Attorneys Office, Razo committed the lewd acts at his home, which sheriffs officials said was in the 4800 block of Brightview Drive in the Covina area. Prosecutors said two of the alleged victims are related to Razo, while two others are related to a woman Razo dated.

The children ranged in age from roughly 9 to 13 years old when the alleged abuse began, prosecutors said. The alleged crimes occurred between 2006 and 2017, according to the District Attorneys Office.

The allegations of sexual abuse against vulnerable children in this case are deeply disturbing and its particularly troubling that the defendant was a law enforcement officer at the time, District Attorney George Gascon said in a statement.

Childhood sexual abuse causes immeasurable harm and our hearts go out to the victims who were victimized by someone they trusted. We will do everything in our power to ensure that they have access to the support and resources they need to heal. Sexual abuse of any kind is a heinous crime and we will not tolerate it in our community, the statement continued.

The LAPD released the following statement Tuesday morning:

The Los Angeles Police Department is aware of the criminal case involving former Police Officer Paul Razo. The Los Angeles Police Departments Internal Affairs Division initiated an administrative investigation, which is being conducted simultaneously with the pending criminal case. The administrative investigation will include reviewing his past work history for similar behavior.

Chief Michel Moore is deeply disturbed by these allegations as they are in direct opposition to the Departments Core Values and expectations of a Los Angeles Police Officer. Officer Razo has been employed by the Los Angeles Police Department for approximately 24 years and was last assigned to Hollywood Area as a training coordinator. He separated from the Department in March 2023, the statement continued.

On May 5, 2023, the Los Angeles County District Attorneys Office filed eight counts of lewd acts with a child against Razo and he is currently in custody. The Department is fully cooperating with the District Attorneys Office and the Los Angeles County Sheriffs Departments investigation relating to Razos alleged criminal conduct.

In an earlier statement, sheriffs officials said that based on the nature of the allegations and Razos access to children, detectives believe there may be additional unidentified victims.

Sheriffs officials asked anyone with information or who believes they may have been victimized to contact the Special Victims Bureau at 877-710-5273 or specialvictimsbureau@lasd.org. Anonymous tips can be made through Crime Stoppers at 800-222-TIPS (8477).

In 2018, Razo received an LAPD Medal of Valor for pulling a man out of a burning car that he saw crash in July 2016 in Glendora while off-duty.
Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, delivers an important speech while hearing a report on the work of the CPC Shaanxi Provincial Committee and the provincial government at a meeting on May 17, 2023, ahead of the upcoming China-Central Asia Summit, which will be presided over by Xi in Xi'an, northwest China's Shaanxi Province. (Xinhua/Li Xueren)

XI'AN, Shaanxi/YUNCHENG, Shanxi, May 17 (Xinhua) -- President Xi Jinping has called on northwest China's Shaanxi Province to give full play to its strengths and play an exemplary role in advancing Chinese modernization in the country's western region.

Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, made the remarks Wednesday while hearing a report on the work of the CPC Shaanxi Provincial Committee and the provincial government at a meeting ahead of the upcoming China-Central Asia Summit, which will be presided over by Xi in Xi'an, the capital city of Shaanxi Province.

Shaanxi should prioritize the primary task of promoting high-quality development, base its work on local reality, and actively integrate into and work for the creation of a new development pattern, Xi said.

Efforts are needed for breakthroughs in building self-reliance and strength in science and technology, modernizing the industrial system, boosting coordinated development between urban and rural areas and between regions, expanding high-level opening up, and strengthening ecological and environmental protection, he said.

To catch up with and surpass other regions, Shaanxi must make new breakthroughs in sci-tech innovation and modernizing the industrial system, Xi noted, calling on the province to cultivate new strengths while consolidating its leading position in traditional industries.

Shaanxi should speed up modernizing the industrial system that is intelligent, green and integrated, and meets the requirements of integrity, advancement and security, Xi said, demanding more efforts to strengthen its modern energy industrial clusters.

The most arduous tasks in building a modern socialist country in all respects and promoting common prosperity remain in the rural areas, Xi said, stressing efforts to narrow the gap between urban and rural areas and build county economies with county seats as hubs and small townships as junctions.

He also called for vigorously developing industries with distinctive features in light of local conditions, creating more channels for increasing farmers' incomes and ensuring that people would not slide back into poverty in large numbers.

Efforts should be made to promote the green and low-carbon transformation of development patterns and enhance ecological conservation, Xi said.

He stressed the need to strictly implement the Yellow River Protection Law and related plans and strengthen ecological protection and restoration of the river basin to protect the Yellow River, known as the "mother river" of the Chinese nation.

Xi called for promoting green and low-carbon economic and social development, facilitating the green transformation of the energy industry while actively and prudently advancing carbon peaking and neutrality.

Work should be done to advocate green consumption and further promote the economical and intensive use of resources, Xi said.

He urged efforts to open up wider and develop the inland province into a high ground for reform and opening up. The province should give full play to the city of Xi'an as an assembly center for China-Europe freight trains, move faster in becoming a pivotal opening-up channel for countries in Central Asia, South Asia, and West Asia.

Speaking of the Party-wide education campaign on the study and implementation of the Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, Xi called on Party organizations at all levels to advance the campaign profoundly and steadily and yield tangible results in forging inner strength, gaining wisdom, improving Party conduct and motivating actions.

Xi stressed the importance of handling complex situations, pooling strength from across the society, and guarding against political risks, calling for translating the worldview and methodology of the thought, as well as the stances, viewpoints, and methods running through it, into a "master key" of problem-solving.

Xi also underlined the need to work more scientifically with foresight, initiative, and creativity, and enhance the capabilities of promoting high-quality development, serving the public, preventing and diffusing risks, and being more professionally competent.

Shaanxi should use its historical and cultural resources and red culture to continue advancing the education campaign and make solid progress, he said.

On his way to Shaanxi, Xi inspected the city of Yuncheng in north China's Shanxi Province, where he visited a museum and a salt lake Tuesday afternoon.

Valuable cultural relics in the Yuncheng Museum, some of which are national treasures, are witnesses to the Chinese history of humanity, culture and civilization, he said.

He called for further efforts to advance the national research project on tracing the origins of Chinese civilization and the historical research on this civilization to improve the capabilities of protecting and utilizing cultural relics and passing on Chinese cultural heritage.

At the Yuncheng Salt Lake, which has a history of over 4,600 years of exploitation, Xi noted that the ecological values and functions of the salt lake are increasingly important, urging coordinated efforts to protect and utilize it to further protect its historical and cultural values.

The ecological conservation and high-quality development in the Yellow River basin is a major strategic decision made by the CPC Central Committee for the sustainable development of the Chinese nation and the Chinese civilization, Xi said.

He required provinces and regions along the Yellow River to uphold ecological conservation in the Yellow River basin as the bottom line in planning development and pursuing high-quality development.

Cai Qi, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and director of the General Office of the CPC Central Committee, attended the meeting and accompanied Xi on the inspection trip. 

Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, visits the Yuncheng Museum in Yuncheng, north China's Shanxi Province, on May 16, 2023, ahead of the upcoming China-Central Asia Summit, which will be presided over by Xi in Xi'an, northwest China's Shaanxi Province. On his way to Shaanxi, Xi inspected the city of Yuncheng in north China's Shanxi Province. (Xinhua/Li Xueren)

Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, visits the Yuncheng Museum in Yuncheng, north China's Shanxi Province, on May 16, 2023, ahead of the upcoming China-Central Asia Summit, which will be presided over by Xi in Xi'an, northwest China's Shaanxi Province. On his way to Shaanxi, Xi inspected the city of Yuncheng in north China's Shanxi Province. (Xinhua/Li Xueren)

Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, visits the Yuncheng Salt Lake in Yuncheng, north China's Shanxi Province, on May 16, 2023, ahead of the upcoming China-Central Asia Summit, which will be presided over by Xi in Xi'an, northwest China's Shaanxi Province. On his way to Shaanxi, Xi inspected the city of Yuncheng in north China's Shanxi Province. (Xinhua/Xie Huanchi)

Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, visits the Yuncheng Museum in Yuncheng, north China's Shanxi Province, on May 16, 2023, ahead of the upcoming China-Central Asia Summit, which will be presided over by Xi in Xi'an, northwest China's Shaanxi Province. On his way to Shaanxi, Xi inspected the city of Yuncheng in north China's Shanxi Province. (Xinhua/Li Xueren)

Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, delivers an important speech while hearing a report on the work of the CPC Shaanxi Provincial Committee and the provincial government at a meeting on May 17, 2023, ahead of the upcoming China-Central Asia Summit, which will be presided over by Xi in Xi'an, northwest China's Shaanxi Province. (Xinhua/Shen Hong)
Fauci, Scientists With Ties to Chinese Laboratory Briefed Intelligence Officials on COVID-19 Origins: Documents

Dr. Anthony Fauci and scientists connected to the Chinese laboratory located in the city where the first COVID-19 cases were detected briefed top U.S. intelligence officials in early 2020 about the origins of COVID-19, according to newly obtained emails.

Fauci, Dr. Peter Daszak, and Ralph Baric were among those selected to brief a group that included officials with the FBI and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, according to emails obtained and released by the nonprofit U.S. Right to Know.

The briefing was held on Feb. 3, 2020, to discuss and identify what data, information, and samples are needed to understand the evolutionary origins of 2019-nCoV and more effectively respond to the outbreak and resulting misinformation, a summary stated. COVID-19 is caused by SARS-CoV-2, also known as 2019-nCoV.

Fauci at the time headed the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), which provided funding to the Wuhan Institute of Virology, the Chinese lab. Daszak is president of the EcoHealth Alliance, which served as an intermediary between the institute and Chinese scientists, while Baric, a virologist at the University of North Carolina, has frequently collaborated with the scientists in experiments on bat coronaviruses.

Fauci talked to the group about the perspective from NIH/NIAID, an agenda shows. The NIAID is one of the institutes and centers that make up the National Institutes of Health (NIH). It wasnt clear what Daszak and Baric planned to say.

The call featured members of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, which was asked by the White House to rapidly examine information pertaining to the origins of the COVID-19 virus.

The academies consulted leading experts in fields including virology and coronaviruses, including Baric, and told the White House on Feb. 6, 2020, that the virus was related to a coronavirus collected from bats in China. The letter didnt mention the Wuhan lab or the possibility that the virus came from there.

Daszak told Baric in an email previously obtained by U.S. Right to Know (pdf) that he got some questions during the call about the Wuhan lab and offered to recuse himself from discussions about the conspiracy theories re. lab release or bioengineering.

I dont think this committee will be getting into the lab release or bioengineering hypothesis again any time soon  White House seems to be satisfied with the earlier meeting, paper in Nature, and general comments within scientific community, Daszak added. National Security staff were in the room.

The Office of the Director of National Intelligence announced in April 2020 that the intelligence community concurs with the wide scientific consensus that the COVID-19 virus was not manmade or genetically modified, though it may have stemmed from an accident at a laboratory in Wuhan.

Downplaying Lab Origin Theory

The announcement was later referenced by Fauci and others as they downplayed the possibility of a lab origin.

The newly released emails suggest that Fauci and conflicted scientists with ties to the Wuhan Institute of Virology maneuvered the Intelligence Community and the White House into a false and premature conclusion that COVID-19 had a natural origin, Gary Ruskin, executive director and co-founder of U.S. Right to Know, told The Epoch Times via email.

Daszak, Baric, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, and the academies didnt respond to requests for comment. Fauci couldnt be reached.

Baric and Daszak have relevant expertise, making it appropriate to include them in the briefing, Justin Kinney, an associate professor at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory and co-founder of Biosafety Now, told The Epoch Times via email.

I am concerned, however, that Baric and Daszak might not have been fully forthcoming during the call, he wrote. The public needs to know, in particular, whether Baric and Daszak revealed that they had, together with collaborators in Wuhan, recently proposed in a DARPA grant to engineer viruses that had all the hallmarks of SARS-CoV-2.

EcoHealth Alliance proposed to the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) experiments to manipulate bat coronaviruses. The proposal, which involved Baric, wasnt funded. DARPA determined that a Fauci-led paper asserting a natural origin for the COVID-19 virus was based on unwarranted assumptions, according to a paper released this week.

Emails previously released and obtained through Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests show Fauci met with Baric to discuss chimeras, or a combination of viruses, after COVID-19 started circulating and that Fauci discussed with Dr. Francis Collins, the head of the NIH at the time, U.S. funding for experiments in Wuhan. Both Fauci and Collins have alleged that the U.S.-funded research couldnt have resulted in SARS-CoV-2.

Since the FOIA release of Faucis emails, its been obvious he led an effort to cover up his involvement in funding and sharing dangerous coronavirus research with China. His corrupt efforts certainly gave China and others time to destroy evidence of the origin, Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) told The Epoch Times in an emailed statement.

The U.S. intelligence community has since become divided on the origins matter.

The FBI has determined COVID-19 likely came from a Wuhan lab while the Energy Department has reportedly aligned with the bureau. Several other agencies maintain support for a natural origin; some are undecided.

President Joe Biden in March signed a bill mandating the declassification of intelligence related to the origins of COVID-19, but the intelligence hasnt yet been declassified.

John Ratcliffe, the previous director of national intelligence, told Congress in April that evidence supports a lab leak.
Federal Judge Expands Block on Biden Policy to Fast-Track Release of Illegal Immigrants

Migrants are seen after crossing the Rio Bravo river with the intention of turning themselves in to U.S. Border Patrol agents, as seen from Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, on May 9, 2023. (Jose Luis Gonzalez/Reuters)

A federal judge on Tuesday ordered a preliminary injunction on the Biden administrations parole with conditions policy that would allow federal authorities to release illegal immigrants into the country without a court date.

Judge T. Kent Wetherell, who placed a temporary restraining order (TRO) on the policy last week, on Tuesday found that Florida would suffer irreparable harm without the injunction.

Florida is entitled to a preliminary injunction prohibiting DHS (Department of Homeland Security) from paroling aliens into the country under the Parole with Conditions policy, the judge wrote in his ruling (pdf).

DHS also requested that the court convert the TRO ordered on May 11 into a preliminary injunction that would remain in effect while the case plays out so that it can seek review from an appellate court.

Florida had argued that without the injunction, the state would suffer harm by the mass release of illegal immigrants into the country, as some of them would travel to Florida. The judge, an appointee of former President Donald Trump, agreed.

Wetherell further agreed that Florida had met its burden of proof with respect to the case succeeding on the merits, that the injunction outweighs the harm it would cause DHS, and that it wont be averse to the public interest.

The preliminary injunction ordered on Tuesday is in the public interest, Wetherell said, because it would promote respect for the rule of law by not allowing DHS to achieve what amounts to an end-run around this Courts decision in Florida through the adoption of a functionally identical policy to the Parole + ATD invalidated in that case.

Wetherell wasnt convinced by the federal governments arguments that the sky will fall if it cannot release aliens under the Parole with Conditions policy. The ruling noted that recent U.S. Customs and Border Protection (USBP) data shows that encounters at the border have dropped significantly after the expiration of the Title 42 Order.

DHS provided some data with its filing to offer a glimpse into the southern border crisis. Rather than help its argument, the judge found that it bolstered the order that denied a stay of the TRO.

Indeed, as of two days ago, the number of aliens arriving [at] the border was about one-third of the number predicted in the declaration that DHS relied on in support of its argument that the sky will fall if it cannot release aliens under the Parole with Conditions policy, Wetherell wrote (pdf).

Likewise, contrary to the prediction in the declaration that USBP was projected to grow to over 45,000 individuals in custody by the end of [May],' he continued, the USBP data shows that the number of individuals in custody has declined every day since the Title 42 Order expired, and as of May 14, only 22,259 aliens were in custody.

Wetherell granted the injunction and ordered both parties to file a status report in two weeks explaining how they intend to proceed with the case, pending the resolution of DHSs expected appeal.

BREAKING NEWS  Attorney General Moody obtains preliminary injunction in Floridas case challenging @JoeBidens unlawful mass-release immigration policy. In the order, a federal judge writes, The Court finds that a preliminary injunction is necessary to prevent irreparable  AG Ashley Moody (@AGAshleyMoody) May 16, 2023

Lawsuit History

Tuesdays ruling marks the third in this fast-moving case matter, Florida v. United States (Case number: 23-cv-9962).

On Wednesday, May 10, Florida filed a legal challenge against the legality of the Parole with Conditions policy. Just before midnight on May 11, on the eve of the end of Title 42, Wetherell issued a temporary restraining against the policy.

The next morning, on Friday, DHS asked the court to resume the fast-track release of illegal immigrants. That night, the court entered a TRO enjoining DHS from implementing or enforcing the Parole with Conditions policy.

Over the weekend, DHS filed a motion to stay the TRO, which Florida asked the court to reject. On Monday night, May 15, the court denied DHSs request to stay the order.

In March, the same judge invalidated another U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) parole policy known as Parole + Alternatives to Detention (ATD) in a separate case, Florida v. United States (Case number: 21-cv-01066).

Florida has argued, and the judge agrees, that the unlawful Parole + ATD policy is identical to DHSs new program, titled Policy on Parole with Conditions in Limited Circumstances Prior to the Issuance of a Charging Document.

This invalidated parole program would release illegal immigrants into the United States after national security and public safety evaluation and without a court date.

Instead of a court date, the illegal immigrants would schedule an appointment to appear at a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility online within 60 days or would get a Notice to Appear (NTA) via mail after being released.

Illegal immigrants who enrolled in the ATD program are subject to supervision, according to the CBP policy memorandum.

DHS asked the judge to stay both orders and said they will appeal two rulings by the court by May 15 at the U.S. 11th Circuit Court.

Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody objected to the motion, saying that the Biden administration is trying to continue the unlawful policy, which she argued in a court filing they allegedly did apparently counting on the fact that no one would catch wind of what it was up to.
Florida Answers Texas Call for Law Enforcement Support at the Southern Border

A Texas National Guard soldier watches as an illegal immigrant walks into a makeshift camp in El Paso, Texas, on May 11, 2023. (John Moore/Getty Images)

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Tuesday announced that the state will send drones, planes, law enforcement personnel, and other resources to help Texas defend the southern border amid the illegal immigration crisis.

DeSantiss announcement comes in response to Texas Gov. Greg Abbotts urgent request sent to fellow governors earlier on Tuesday to send reinforcements in the wake of President Joe Biden ending Title 42 last week.

The impacts of Bidens Border Crisis are felt by communities across the nation, and the federal governments abdication of duty undermines the sovereignty of our country and the rule of law, DeSantis said in a statement.

At my direction, state agencies, including law enforcement and the Florida National Guard, are being deployed to Texas, with assets including personnel, boats, and planes, he continued. While Biden ignores the crisis he created, Florida stands ready to help Texas respond to this crisis.

A significant number of assets and resourcesover 1,000are being made available for deployment to Texas within the next 24 hours.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks during an Iowa GOP reception in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on May 13, 2023. (Stephen Maturen/Getty Images)

The personnel resources available for deployment include 101 Florida Highway Patrol troopers; 200 Florida Department of Law Enforcement officers, organized into teams of 40; 20 Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officers; 800 Florida National Guard soldiers; and 20 Emergency Management personnel.

In terms of assets, Florida stands ready to provide five fixed-wing aircraft equipped with monitoring equipment and downlink capabilities; two Mobile Command Vehicles with accompanying command teams; 17 unmanned aerial vehicles (drones) and support teams; and 10 vessels, including airboats, shallow draft vessels, and mid-range vessels.

Floridas Division of Emergency Management Director Kevin Guthrie expressed solidarity with Texas and pledged support as they work to repel illegal aliens at the border.

We are prepared to assist however needed, Guthrie said in the same statement.

The provision of resources to assist Texas in responding to its security crisis is made possible through the Emergency Management Assistance Compact (EMAC) between states. The EMAC is a framework that allows states to collaborate and share resources during emergencies or disasters. Resources deployed through this agreement are eligible for reimbursement from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

The states of Texas and Arizona have previously used the same mechanism to request support from Florida in 2021 to provide support and reinforcements to address the security crisis overwhelming law enforcement at the southern border.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott speaks during a news conference in Austin, Texas, on March 15, 2023. (Brandon Bell/Getty Images)

Texas Asks Governors to Send Reinforcements, Provide Funds

The Texas governor on Tuesday sent a letter to all U.S. governors calling for urgent help in combating the ongoing border crisis in the wake of the Biden administration ending Title 42, a policy that allowed for the swift expulsion of illegal immigrants during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In his letters, Abbott stressed the impact of the Biden administrations decision to end Title 42 and called for the deployment of reinforcements from other states. He expressed concern about the subsequent surge of illegal border activity that has inundated Texas communities and urged collective action to address the crisis.

In the federal governments absence, we, as Governors, must band together to combat President Bidens ongoing border crisis and ensure the safety and security that all Americans deserve, the letter reads. The letter requests the governors provide help via the EMAC process.

Join us in the mission to defend our national sovereignty and territorial integrity and send all available law enforcement personnel and resources to the Texas-Mexico border to serve alongside our thousands of Texas National Guard soldiers and Texas Department of Public Safety troopers, the letter reads.

Highlighting the financial strain placed on Texas in addressing border security, Abbott requested assistance in funding border security operations. Texas has already allocated over $4.5 billion since 2021 for these efforts, and the Texas Legislature is currently considering an additional $4.6 billion for the next two years.

However, Abbott stressed the need for shared responsibility among all states, stating that Texas alone should not have to shoulder the financial burden of protecting our nation.

Abbott expressed his gratitude to Idaho and Florida for their recent contributions toward securing the southern border by providing law enforcement support and assets. Last week, Idaho Gov. Brad Little deployed a team of state police for a monthlong mission to support Texas border security efforts to prevent the smuggling of people and drugs into America.

Abbott also highlighted the numerous measures hes taken to address the border crisis in what he calls the absence of federal action. These measures include securing substantial funding, launching Operation Lone Star, deploying Texas National Guard soldiers and Texas Department of Public Safety troopers, establishing the Texas Tactical Border Force, hiring a Border Czar, aiding border communities, designating Mexican drug cartels as terrorist organizations, arresting criminals, authorizing the return of illegal immigrants to the border, acquiring materials for border wall construction, enacting laws to combat human trafficking and the fentanyl crisis, and activating the Joint Border Security Operations Center.
Florida Congressman Calls to Indict FBI Agents Following Durham Report

Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) delivers remarks in the House Chamber at the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington on Jan. 6, 2023. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)

Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) has suggested that the FBI should be defunded and its agents criminally indicted after special counsel John Durham concluded this week that the federal agency should have never launched an investigation into whether former President Donald Trump colluded with Russia during the 2016 election.

Durhams 300-plus page report (pdf) asserted that the FBI rushed into the probe without having any evidence that officials from the Trump campaign had contacted any Russian intelligence officer.

During an interview with Newsmax on Monday, Gaetz accused the FBI and Department of Justice (DOJ) of being politically biased in the probe, alleging the agency has become the enforcement wing of the Democratic Party to play offense against Trump, describing its actions as very ugly for the future of a democracy where the people make the choices.

The report takes great lengths to point out the number of times where Trump was targeted in a way no other American would be, Gaetz said. In essence, the FBI has now become a disinformation and election interference enterprise here in our country. Its very damning for them, the Steele Dossier was nonsense, the probable cause standard even to originate an investigation  was never met, and you had a secret court that was lied to.

I think we have to deauthorize, defang, and defund many of these authorities and entities and different task forces that actually converted the just and righteous act of protecting our country with the desire to have a particular political candidate win or lose, he added.

The congressman also argued that if the probe had been driven by a GOP candidateor an operation to help a Republican candidates campaignit wouldnt have concluded with just a report, but with real significant indictments.

Gaetz went on to say that hes disappointed the report did not recommend any indictments in addition to the three people Durham already prosecuted, pointing out he believes more people should have been prosecuted as a result of the investigation.

The only indictment that Durham is able to cite here is the indictment of Kevin Clinesmith, Gaetz said, referring to the former FBI lawyer who doctored an email to state that a one-time Trump campaign associate was not a CIA asset when the associate actually was. Clinesmith has since pleaded guilty and received probation.

And guess what? Hes already back to practicing law, he added. Got his law license back, and practicing law here in D.C. now. Insufficient.

FBI Responds

The FBI responded to the Durham report hours after the DOJ published it on its website, acknowledging missteps in its 20162017 investigation into the alleged Trump-Russia ties.

The conduct in 2016 and 2017 that Special Counsel Durham examined was the reason that current FBI leadership already implemented dozens of corrective actions, which have now been in place for some time, the FBI wrote in a statement. Had those reforms been in place in 2016, the missteps identified in the report could have been prevented.

Meanwhile, Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) echoed similar sentiments during an interview on Fox News Sean Hannity Monday night, agreeing with Gaetz that the FBIs funding should be cut, adding he believes there are double standards in the DOJs treatment of Republicans and Democrats.

The only way we can hold them accountable is to go after one thing that everybody cares aboutthe money, Jordan said. We have to look at the power of the purse if were ever going to get control of these agencies, who did this not just once, but multiple times, he added.

In a post on Twitter Monday, Gaetz said the Durham report is an absolutely DAMNING treatise on the weaponization of federal agencies against Trump, adding Mondays development should be a clarion call for legislative reform.

In a proper world, Republicans and Democrats would be able to work together on this, Gaetz said. It wasnt that long ago that the FBI was a right-wing organization, weaponized against civil rights leaders and others. And it was wrong then, and its wrong now.

Trump also seized on the report in a series of posts on Truth Social this week, stating the investigative report indicates the federal government launched a coordinated effort to interfere with the 2016 election.

Former President Donald J. Trump speaks at the National Rifle Association in Indianapolis, Ind., on April 14, 2023. (Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times)

The American Public was scammed, just as it is being scammed right now by those who dont want to see GREATNESS for AMERICA! Trump, currently a Republican candidate in the 2024 presidential race, wrote in one post on Truth Social.

In another post, Trump accused the FBI of being involved in a plot to overthrow his presidency. TREASON!!! and THE CRIME OF THE CENTURY! he wrote.

The Durham Report

Durham was tasked in 2019 with reviewing the 20162017 FBI investigation of alleged nefarious ties between candidate and later President Trump and Russia. These allegations went on to negatively taint the entire Trump presidency.

In October 2020, then-Attorney General William Barr appointed Durham a special counsel on this investigation, which, after three years, led to Mondays report.

In his report, Durham concluded that neither U.S. nor the Intelligence Community appears to have possessed any actual evidence of collusion in their holdings at the commencement of the Crossfire Hurricane investigation. Crossfire Hurricane is the FBIs codename for the agencys investigation of the Trump campaign.

The FBI had significant reliance on investigative leads provided or funded (directly or indirectly) by Trumps political opponents, the report reads.

Furthermore, Durhams report found that agents repeatedly disregarded important requirements when they made surveillance requests on the Trump campaigninitiated under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Actin the absence of a genuine belief that there was a probable cause to investigate the target.

It added: Our investigation also revealed that senior FBI personnel displayed a serious lack of analytical rigor towards the information that they received, especially information received from politically affiliated persons and entities.

On these grounds, the special counsel wrote in his report that DOJ and the FBI failed to uphold their important mission of following the law in its investigation of the Trump campaign.

Durham recommended potential reforms to the agency in handling politically charged allegations in the future.

As the more complete record now shows, there are specific areas of Crossfire Hurricane activity in which the FBI badly underperformed and failed, not only in its duties to the public, but also in preventing the severe reputational harm that has befallen the FBI as a consequence of Crossfire Hurricane, Durham wrote in the report.

Gary Bai contributed to this report.

From NTD News
Fox News Responds to Rumors of Ambitious New Schedule After Tucker Carlson Exit

A Fox News spokesperson responded to rumors and reports claiming that the network is slated to make sweeping changes to its primetime lineup, including one asserting that Sean Hannity will take over the 8 p.m. ET timeslot after Tucker Carlsons sudden exit last month.

No decision has been made on a new primetime line-up and there are multiple scenarios under consideration, a Fox News spokesperson told The Epoch Times on Wednesday.

A headline posted on the Drudge Report Wednesday blared: WORLD EXCLUSIVE: FOXNEWS SETS NEW SCHEDULE and eventually said that Hannity would take over the 8 p.m. timeslot and that both Jesse Watters and Greg Gutfeld would be moving into primetime. It means that Hannity, who has been at Fox News for decades, would be taking over the slot previously held by former host Carlson.

The website also wrote: FOXNEWS preparing to announce ambitious new schedule, the DRUDGE REPORT has learned, a schedule where every hour of primetime will change! TOP SOURCE: ITS OUR BOLDEST AND MOST FEARLESS LINE-UP EVER.' It did not indicate how the Drudge Report, a website founded by Matt Drudge who conservatives have said has taken a markedly left-wing approach in recent years, learned of the lineup changes.

On social media and elsewhere, Hannity has not responded to Drudges unconfirmed claims.

In late April, Fox News confirmed in a news release that Carlson would be exiting the network. Neither Fox nor Carlson have issued any details about why the former host departed, if he was fired, or if he is still under contract.

After his exit, Fox News 8 p.m. hour saw a dip in ratings after creating a new program, Fox News Tonight, to replace Carlsons formerly top-rated program. Other Fox primetime shows, including the 9 p.m. one currently held by Hannity and Laura Ingrahams program, have suffered, too.

Fox News Tonight drew 1.3 million total viewers and 136,000 demographic viewers, Nielsen ratings show. In March, Carlson averaged more than 3 million viewers each night, in part bolstered by his coverage of never-before-seen footage from the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol breach that he said busted mainstream narratives that the incident was a violent insurrection.

The newly minted show, which Fox said was temporary, features a rotating cast of hosts. Last week, Trump-era press secretary Kayleigh McEnany hosted the show, and this week, Foxs Will Cain has the hosting duties.

Other Ratings Updates

CNNs primetime ratings have crashed back to normal following a single-day boost caused by the networks decision to host a town hall event with former President Donald Trump.

While the 8 p.m. ET town hall event a week ago, on May 10, drew about 3.3 million people, the networks ratings dropped to fourth place behind Newsmax, a conservative-leaning channel, among cable news networks, according to Nielsen data. CNN averaged just 335,000 viewers and 87,000 viewers in the coveted 25-54 age demographic on Friday, May 12, between 8 p.m. and 11 p.m.

Former President Donald Trump speaks at a CNN Town Hall at St. Anselm College in Manchester, N.H., on May 10, 2023, in a still from video. (CNN/Screenshot via The Epoch Times)

Newsmax, in comparison, generated some 357,000 viewers and 45,000 in the 2554 demographic on average across the May 12 primetime hours, according to Nielsen. Generally, Fridays tend to draw fewer cable news viewers than other weeknights.

CNN was also behind MSNBC and Fox News, which averaged 1.08 million and 1.44 million total average viewers, respectively, during the May 12 primetime hours, the data shows. That night, CNNs Whos Talking to Chris Wallace drew its lowest ratings since it launched on the network in September 2022, drawing about 263,000 viewers, according to Nielsen ratings cited by Mediaite.

Fridays programming of the Anderson Cooper-hosted AC360 at 8 p.m. drew about 447,000 viewers. It came a day after Cooper told his viewers that they have every right to never watch CNN again, although he defended the cable channels decision to air the Trump town hall special.

A CNN spokesperson told the New York Post on Tuesday that the drop in CNNs ratings after the Trump event were not connected to the Newsmax surge. He claimed that Newsmax has drawn more viewers since Carlsons exit from Fox News late last month.

The phenomenon youve identified is not related to CNN, CNN spokesperson Matt Dornic told the paper. Fox News viewership is down double digits as their viewers jump to Newsmax in huge numbers.

Dornic added: CNN is entirely focused on the 2554 demo, which was actually up versus the previous four Fridays while both Fox and MSNBC were down. The Epoch Times has contacted CNN for comment.

After the town hall, CNN executive Chris Licht reportedly told staffers in a conference call that he believes the network served the nation well by hosting the Trump town hall, noting that half the American electorate supports the former president. He previously noted that polls have shown Trump is the leading GOP candidate.

Trump, too, has taken notice of the recent primetime changes. In a recent interview, the 45th president said that he is disappointed with Fox, adding: I thought the firing of Tucker [Carlson] was a tremendous mistake. I was very disappointed.
GOP Rep. Nancy Mace Hints She Might Back Nikki Haley for President

Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) said May 17 she wants to see a woman on the 2024 presidential ticket, possibly suggesting that she will endorse former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations and South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley for president.

I have two constituents who are going to be running and I love them both, Mace told Punchbowl News at a May 17 event in Washington, referring to Haley and Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.), who has founded an exploratory committee and is expected to launch a presidential campaign in the near future.

I have not weighed in on 2024 yet. I kind of wear my heart on my sleeve. I want to see a woman on the ticket. I think its past time, she continued. I dont want Democrats to beat us to the punch on a female president. I have a daughter, Im a girl mom, and Ive worked really hard to break glass ceilings, so Im very proud of Nikki. Shes all in for the presidency.

The Haley campaign declined to comment.

Maces office, in an email to The Epoch Times after the event, denied the congresswoman hinted she would endorse Haley. Rather they reiterated that she wants to see a female on the GOP ticket.

Mace has shattered many glass ceilings. In 1999, she was the first woman to graduate from the military college The Citadel and, in 2018, she became the first female Republican in South Carolina elected to Congress.

Mace expressed admiration for Scott and said she attends church with him.

Hes the nicest human being on Earth, she said.

Nonetheless, Mace held off on endorsing a candidate for the White House at the moment. She said that she will wait to see how the field takes shape and that it is early in the campaign season.

In addition to Haley, other GOP presidential candidates include former President Donald Trump, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, businessman Perry Johnson, commentator Larry Elder (who hosted a show on Epoch TV and NTD), and pastor Ryan Binkley. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is expected to declare his candidacy by the end of the month.

Mace would be the second member of Congress to endorse Haley, joining Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.), who announced his endorsement at Haleys campaign announcement on Feb. 15. He even compared Haley to one of historys most prominent conservative leaders.

Nikki will be a leader with an iron fist in a velvet glove, Norman said. I believe Nikki Haley is Americas version of Margaret Thatcher.

During the Punchbowl News event, Mace made other news, including saying that the GOP cant continue being [expletive] to women on the abortion issue. She cited legislation of hers related to birth control and rape kits. She also lamented that her own party has been losing on the policy front on gun violence amid recent mass shootings.

This article was updated to include a statement from Maces office.
Government to Exempt Landlords From Regulations to House Illegal Immigrants

Critics warn it will put their safety at risk

Illegal immigrants who crossed the English Channel from France give V signs on UK Border Force boat Valiant as they arrive in the port of Dover, England, on June 14, 2022. (Chris Eades /Getty Images)

Government plans to cut millions spent every day on hotels for illegal immigrants will see landlords exempt from adhering to basic housing requirements.

The temporary moveexpected to be passed almost immediately by Parliamentwill mean landlords will no longer legally need to stick to stringent housing regulations, including those on safety.

The changes will allow landlords to house illegal immigrants for two years without getting the property recognised as a house in multiple occupation (HMO).

The exemptions would include regulations governing electrical safety and minimum room sizes in such accommodations.

The statutory instrument, which will bypass the normal Lords consultation process, has been described as appalling by refugee representatives who said it will allow rogue landlords to house vulnerable men, women, and children.

The Refugee Council also urged the government to focus on reducing its backlog of asylum cases it says has contributed to tens of thousands of immigrants in hotel accommodation.

Potential Catastrophe

Details of the HMO changes were brought before peers during a motion on Tuesday by Baroness Jane Scott, parliamentary under-secretary of state for the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities.

She told the Lords Grand Committee that presently, more than 50,000 illegal immigrants are being housed in UK hotels at a cost of millions a day.

She said hotels are neither intended nor adequate to be used as long-term accommodation and that a range of short and longer-term measures were needed to ease the housing problem.

The changes to HMO licences would mean less paperwork and bureaucracy meaning immigrants could be housed quicker within communities.

It is not right that the country is spending millions of pounds a day on hotels, and we are determined to put the asylum accommodation system on a far more sustainable footing, Scott told peers.

This reform is one of the many measures being taken to provide adequate and cost-effective accommodation in line with our statutory duty.

Responding, Lord Scriven said he felt, This is yet another chapter in a book that is about dehumanising some of the most vulnerable people in the world seeking asylum in this country.

Describing the plans as another potential catastrophe for government, Baroness Taylor said the Home Office once again rides roughshod over the asylum seekers directly affected.

She said: I agree with Lord Scriven about the dehumanising effect of successive actions that have been taken in this regardthe neighbours and communities of the housing this impacts and the local councils and other agencies that will once again be left to pick up the pieces.

Why should our communities be subject to this turbulence because the Home Office has abysmally failed to tackle the weaknesses in its asylum processing capacity and capability?

An undated image of the Bibby Stockholm accommodation barge, a 222-bedroom, three-storey vessel, which the Home Office plans to use to house 500 illegal immigrants off Portland, Dorset, England. (Bibby Marine/PA)

Cash for Councils

Responding to the concerns, Scott said the regulatory change is a necessary step to accelerate illegal immigrants into suitable accommodation.

This is not dehumanising; this is actually giving them a better place to live, and trying to get people out of hotels as quickly as possible, she told peers.

We are doing it because the asylum accommodation service people are telling us that they have identified that the whole process of licensing requirements is really a challenge to swiftly bring on board the properties that we need in order to get people out of the hotel system.

Scott said financial incentives for local authorities to help house illegal immigrants would increase.

Councils are receiving 750 per person for each and every existing immigrant bed, and 3,500 for each new dispersal bed that becomes available.

In addition, Scott said, councils will receive a further incentive payment between 2,000 and 3,000 where a bed is brought online within an expedited timeframe as part of a four-month pilot.

She added, I want to make it very clear that we are doing it to speed up the movement of these people from what the House has clearly said many times is unsuitable hotel accommodation, which is not right over a long period.

The plans have already received a furious backlash from refugee and immigrant supporting groups.

Enver Solomon, CEO of the Refugee Council, told The Epoch Times: To strip away the very basic protections currently in place is appalling, allowing rogue landlords to house vulnerable men, women, and children in dangerous accommodation.

It will result in more hardship for refugees, negatively impacting their mental and physical health as well as putting them at great risk of harm.

They deserve to live safely and with dignity as they wait to be granted protection.

He added, Instead of leasing barges and allowing the use of substandard housing, the Home Office should be focusing far more on reducing the backlog of asylum cases that it has allowed to grow to unacceptable levels.

Utter Mess

Labour MPs also condemned the plans, with Kim Leadbeater branding the statutory instrument another clear example of the utter mess the government has made of the immigration system. MP Matthew Pennycook warned it would mean no minimum standards whatsoever apply to asylum housing.

He said, Of course, it will be cheaper to house asylum seekers in accommodation without gas safety certificates, without safe electrical appliances and furniture, without working smoke and carbon monoxide alarms and without shared amenity facilities that meet minimum standards.

A government spokesman said the use of expensive hotels to house the unprecedented number of asylum seekers crossing the Channel is unacceptable and must end.

By temporarily removing this licensing requirement, we will be able to acquire more suitable long-term accommodation while continuing to meet our legal duty of care, the spokesman said.

This will not compromise standards and all properties will be independently inspected for quality to ensure they continue to meet national housing quality requirements.

The plans are expected to be approved by Parliament in the coming days.

PA Media contributed to this report.
On April 22, famous dance judge Len Goodman died at 78 after battling bone cancer. He had been the head judge of the highly popular British TV dance competition reality show Strictly Come Dancing for 12 years and the American version Dancing With the Stars for 15 years, making him well known to audiences worldwide. His passing has sparked interest and concern about bone cancer.

The cause of bone cancer is unknown, and the early symptoms are subtle, making it difficult to prevent and detect. Therefore, if you experience bone pain, seek medical attention right away.

Understanding Bone Cancer

Bone cancer is a malignant tumor that originates in the skeletal system, including bones, cartilage, bone marrow, blood vessels, and connective tissues within the bones.

Due to its relatively low incidence and mortality rates, bone cancer is often overlooked. The symptoms can be mistaken for chronic pain caused by physical exertion or prolonged sitting, leading to delayed medical attention.

Bone cancer can start in two ways: as primary or metastatic cancer. Primary bone cancer originates in the bones and includes conditions such as osteosarcoma, Ewing sarcoma, chondrosarcoma (cartilage), and fibrosarcoma (soft-tissue sarcoma that often starts in the thighbone).

Metastatic cancer, on the other hand, occurs when cancer from different parts of the body spreads to the bones. Despite spreading to bone, these types of cancers are not called bone cancers. Many advanced-stage cancers, including breast, prostate, and lung, can spread to bones and lead to bone cancer.

While primary bone cancer is uncommon, it still causes thousands of deaths in the United States each year. The American Cancer Society estimates that there will be 3,970 new cases of primary bone cancer in the United States in 2023, with a death toll of 2,140.

Bone Cancer Symptoms

The following are the primary symptoms that may indicate bone cancer:

Fractures

Bone cancer weakens the bones, although fractures do not commonly occur. Individuals who experience fractures often describe sudden and severe pain in an affected bone that has been aching for several months.

Lump or Swelling

The affected area may develop a lump or swelling. For example, in the case of bone cancer in the neck, a lump may form in the back of the throat, causing difficulty swallowing or breathing.

Pain

Bone pain is the most common symptom of bone cancer. Initially, the pain may not be persistent and can worsen during nighttime or physical activity. Over time, the pain becomes more constant.

Other

Bone cancer in the spinal area can compress nerves, leading to numbness, tingling sensations, or even weakness in various body parts, depending on the tumors location.

Like many other types of cancer, bone cancer can also cause weight loss and fatigue. In addition, if the cancer spreads to other organs, such as the lungs, additional symptoms, such as coughing or difficulty breathing, may arise.

Risk Factors for Bone Cancer

Although the exact causes of bone cancer are unknown, according to Mayo Clinic, doctors have identified certain factors associated with an increased risk, including:

Hereditary syndromes: Certain rare hereditary syndromes, such as Li-Fraumeni syndrome (an autosomal dominant genetic disorder) and hereditary retinoblastoma, can increase the risk of bone cancer.

Pagets disease of bone (PDB): Most commonly found in older individuals, it increases the risk of developing bone cancer later in life.

Previous radiation therapy: Exposure to high-dose radiation, such as during cancer radiation therapy, increases the risk of developing bone cancer.

According to the American Cancer Society, the most known risk factors for bone cancer, such as age, certain bone diseases, and genetic bone disorders, cannot be changed. Apart from radiation exposure, no known lifestyle-related or environmental factors cause bone cancer. Therefore, there are no specific proven methods to prevent it.

Is Bone Cancer Treatable?

According to the Taiwan Cancer Foundation, the treatment for bone cancer depends on the tumor characteristics and the patients condition, and it may involve surgery, radiation therapy, chemotherapy, or a combination of these approaches.

Surgical treatment: Surgery is a crucial treatment modality for most types of bone cancer. It involves extensive tumor removal to reduce the risk of the cancer spreading to other parts of the body. In some cases, reconstructive surgery may be necessary to preserve limb function as much as possible.

Radiation therapy: High-energy radiation can damage and destroy cancer cells, inhibiting their growth. In clinical practice, radiation therapy for bone cancer is used in cases where surgery is not feasible or when complete tumor removal is impossible, such as in Ewing sarcoma or osteosarcoma.

Chemotherapy: Chemotherapy utilizes anti-cancer drugs administered orally or through injections to target and kill rapidly dividing cancer cells, reducing or eliminating cancer cells throughout the body, thus achieving therapeutic effects.

The Taiwan Cancer Foundation also highlights significant advancements in the treatment of bone cancer, including techniques for limb-sparing surgery and the development of medical devices which aim to remove tumors and minimize the likelihood of amputation. Adjuvant chemotherapy following surgery has also increased survival rates. Therefore, it is crucial to be vigilant about early symptoms, particularly bone pain, during adolescents growth and development. Optimal therapeutic outcomes can be achieved by accurately identifying the cause and receiving timely treatment.
The rollout of COVID-19 jabs in December 2020 sealed the title as the No. 1 Cause of Death and Disability Worldwide, even though its been building for years. The net effect of the pharmaceutical industry on society the last few decades has been negative. Theres no one watching out for the patientnot even doctors or health institutions.

Theres now overwhelming evidence showing that the COVID-19 shots were a disaster from the start and that regulatory agencies knew it but went ahead anyway. Now, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) director, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, is trying to rewrite history by giving provably false testimony before Congress.

A similar class action is taking place in the UK, where attorneys representing approximately 75 people injured by AstraZenecas shot, and family members of those killed by it, are suing the drug company.

Australians who have experienced a serious adverse event following COVID-19 vaccination are invited to register for this class action.

Five hundred Australians have joined a class action lawsuit against the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA), arguing the agency did not fulfill its duty to properly regulate the vaccines, which resulted in considerable harm to Australians.

Drug companies have a legal responsibility to provide profits for their shareholders. They do not have a legal responsibility to give patients the best and safest treatment. But the biggest scandal is that those with the responsibility to uphold scientific integrityacademic institutions, doctors, medical journalsalso collude with industry for financial gain.

In the video above, Joe Rogan interviews cardiologist Dr. Aseem Malhotra about Big Pharmas control over research. What many dont realize is that researchers who do peer-review of drug company-sponsored trials do not get access to the raw data. All they get is the drug companys analysis of that data, which leaves the door wide open for manipulation and obfuscation.

As noted by Malhotra, Its not scientific, its not ethical  and its not democratic. Most doctors, unless theyre involved in the peer review process, are not even aware of this, which is why they rarely ever question published science. Yet data analyses by Stanford professor Dr. John Ionnidis show that the greater the financial interest in a given field, the less likely the research findings are to be true, Malhotra says.

No One Protects Patients Anymore

So, is the drug industry all about satisfying shareholders and increasing profits by any means, with no real regard for public health? Rogan wonders. Basically yes. As noted by Malhotra, drug companies have a legal responsibility to provide profits for their shareholders. They do not have a legal responsibility to give patients the best and safest treatment.

But the biggest scandal here, Malhotra says, is that those with the responsibility to uphold scientific integrityacademic institutions, doctors, medical journalscollude with industry for financial gain. I would add that our regulatory agencies are also on the take. Theyve all been captured by industry, which leaves patients with no one to protect them from Big Pharmas malfeasance.

Malhotra goes on to discuss Dr. Robert Hare, a forensic psychologist who developed the original DSM [Diagnostic and Statistical Manual] criteria for psychopathy, and how Hare noted that the way drug companies conduct business, as legal entities, fulfill the definition of psychopath: callous unconcern for the feelings of others, incapacity to experience guilt, deceitfulness and conning others for profit.

Between 2003 and 2016, drug companies paid fines totaling $33 billion. Many of these cases involved the illegal marketing of drugs, scientific fraud, hiding data on harms, and the suppression of negative results. These fines never curtailed the behavior, however, because the fines were a drop in the bucket compared to the profits they made on these drugs. The fines were just considered the cost of doing business.

What Is the Net Effect of Pharmaceutical Drugs?

While the drug industry has created crucial life-saving drugs, the big question we need to ask is What is the net effect of them? Malhotra says. He points out that, in the United States, of the 667 drugs approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration between 2000 and 2008, 75 percent were copies of old ones.

Off-patent drugs were repatented after minor tweaks to the formulations, thereby boosting profits from already existing drugs. Of those, only 11 percent were found to have a clinical benefit over the previous drug.

Similarly, in France, of the nearly 1,000 drugs approved between 2000 and 2011, most were copies and, importantly, 15 percent of the reformulations were found to be MORE harmful than the predecessor, whereas only 8 percent had clinical benefit over the previous drugs. So, what does this tell us?

It tells us that the overall net effect of the drug industry on society in the last few decades [has been] a negative one, Malhotra says. Of course, when it comes to dangerous drugs, nothing can match the COVID-19 jabs, rolled out in December 2020. Add them into the equation, and the drug industry becomes the No. 1 cause of death and disability worldwide, hands down.

Australians File Class Action Lawsuit

For the past three years, I and many others have been shouting warnings from the rooftops to little availour voices drowned out in a sea of corrupt fact checkers. Now, however, the ramifications of this mass experiment are becoming so glaringly obvious, legal experts are starting to take note and to file lawsuits.

As reported by Spectator Australia at the end of April 2023, 500 Australians have joined a class action lawsuit filed by Brisbane lawyer Natalie Strijland:1

All have suffered serious or life-threatening events or are the relatives of those who have died following COVID vaccination. Many have been left with significant disabilities. As the news filters out about the class action, the first of its kind in Australia, more people are joining each day.

Dr. Melissa McCann, who instigated the action, is crowdfunding to assist with legal and travel costs. Any compensation awarded will be shared entirely by the injured and the bereaved.

The applicants will argue that the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) did not fulfil its duty to properly regulate the vaccines which resulted in considerable harm to Australians.

The respondents are the Australian government, the Department of Health and Aged Care Secretary, Dr. Brendan Murphy, who announced in early April that he will retire in July, and the former head of the TGA [Therapeutic Goods Administration] Adjunct Professor John Skerritt who just retired from the public service in mid-April.

Strijland told news.com.au:2

[The class] action arises upon the basis that the government did not truly establish that the vaccines were indeed safe or effective for use by the Australian public, and the claim now proceeds upon the basis that the government in fact acted negligently in approving the vaccines and also by failing to withdraw them after approval based upon the known evidence.

Australians who have experienced a serious adverse event following COVID-19 vaccination are invited to step forward and register for this class action.

AstraZeneca Sued in UK

A similar class action is taking place in the U.K., where attorneys representing people injured by AstraZenecas shot, and family members of those killed by it, are suing the drug company.

Among the plaintiffs in this suit is the husband of BBC North radio broadcaster Lisa Shaw,3 who died from vaccine-induced immune thrombotic thrombocytopenia one week after her AstraZeneca jab. She was 44.

The wife of psychologist Stephen Wright, a National Health Service (NHS) employee who died 10 days after his first dose in January 2021, is also suing.4 Wright was 32. As reported by The BMJ on March 28:5

Lawyers have sent the company pre-action protocol letters, the first step in a legal claim on behalf of around 75 claimants. Some have lost relatives and some have survived with catastrophic injuries following blood clots 

[In] 2021 the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency confirmed a possible link between the vaccine, known as Vaxzevria, and a rare condition involving blood clots along with abnormally low platelet levels. Those taking legal action have been diagnosed with vaccine induced thrombotic thrombocytopenia.

The claimants are pursuing a two pronged strategy: taking legal action under the Consumer Protection Act 1987 as well as claiming payment under the government run Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme. The scheme  is limited to 120 000 per claim and applicants must prove severe disablement  Those taking action under the Consumer Protection Act must show that the vaccine was not as safe as the public were entitled to expect.

Peter Todd, a consultant solicitor with Scott-Moncrieff & Associates, one of two lawyers handling claims, told The BMJ that the complications included stroke, heart failure, and leg amputations. He said the technology involved in the AstraZeneca vaccine was risky.

Even though the legal claim is against AstraZeneca, the UK taxpayer will have to pay any compensation awarded, under a legal indemnity that the government gave the company early in the pandemic 

Damages for individuals in the court action could be in the millions. [Sarah] Moore [attorney with Hausfeld law firm] added, Weve been trying to get the government to reform their statutory scheme. We didnt want to litigate but the government has forced us into a corner. The only way these families can get compensation is to fight the battle they didnt want to fight.

CDC Director Tries to Rewrite History

Theres now overwhelming evidence showing that the COVID-19 shots were a disaster from the start and that regulatory agencies knew it but went ahead anyway.

Apparently, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director Dr. Rochelle Walensky believes the best way to deal with the agencys clear culpability in widespread death and disability is to rewrite history and double down on provable falsehoods. As reported by investigative journalist Maryanne Demasi, April 20:6,7

This week, CDC director Rochelle Walensky provided witness testimony to the House Committee on Appropriations  But serious questions have been raised about the veracity of Walenskys testimony.

Congressman Andrew Clyde (R-Ga) asked Walensky if her March 2021 public statement on MSNBC,8 in which she unequivocally said that vaccinated people do not carry the virus, they do not get sick was accurate. At the time it was [accurate] Walensky replied confidently.

She then proceeded to explain, Weve had an evolution of the science and an evolution of the virus and that all the data at the time suggested that vaccinated people, even if they got sick, could not transmit the virus. However, there was no such evidence at the time 

Walensky should have known that when mRNA vaccines were first authorised in 2020, the FDA listed critical gaps in the knowledge base.9 One of them was the vaccines unknown effectiveness against viral transmission.

Also, in Pfizers10 and Modernas11 original pivotal trials, there were 8 and 11 people respectively, who developed symptomatic COVID-19 in the vaccine group, proving the vaccines never had absolute effectiveness, like Walensky had claimed.

Whats more, as detailed in Speed of ScienceA Scandal Beyond Your Wildest Nightmare, in early October 2022, during a COVID-19 hearing in the European Parliament, Pfizers president of international developed markets, Janine Small, admitted that Pfizer never tested whether their jab would prevent transmission because they had to move at the speed of science to understand what is happening in the market  and we had to do everything at risk.

As the head of the CDC, how could Walensky be unaware that the COVID-19 shot had NEVER been tested for transmission? And how could she, at any point, claim that it would stop transmission when that was never tested? Clearly, Walensky is trying to invent science that never existed.

Walensky Falsely Claims Mask Review Was Retracted

Even more egregiously, Walensky falsely claimed12 that part of the 2023 Cochrane review13 and meta-analysis of the available evidence on face masks for prevention of respiratory infections had been retracted. According to this review, the use of face masks in the community probably makes little to no difference in preventing viral transmission.

I think its notable, that the editor-in-chief of Cochrane actually said that the summary of that review was  [stumble]  he retracted the summary of that review and said that it was inaccurate, Walensky told Congress.

However, neither the summary nor the review was ever retracted. Nor has any of the language in the summary been altered. So, what the heck is Walensky even talking about? Demasi suspects Walensky may have repeated a falsehood previously published by The New York Times.14,15 This wouldnt surprise me, seeing how this isnt the first time Walensky has relied on mainstream propaganda rather than scientific data when making public statements. As reported by Demasi:

In response to Walenskys comments, Tom Jefferson, lead author of the Cochrane study said, Walensky is plain wrong. There has been no retraction of anything. Its worth reiterating that we are the copyright holders of the review, so we decide what goes in or out of the review and we will not change our review on the basis of what the media wants or what Walensky says 

[Professor of health policy at Stanford University School of Medicine Jay] Bhattacharya was also stunned by Walenskys comments. Its irresponsible for her to claim that the Cochrane review [summary] was retracted when it was not. It damages her credibility and harms the scientific process, which requires public officials to be honest about scientific results, he said.

CDC Artificially Inflated COVID Deaths

In other news relating to CDC malfeasance, the agency also inflated the number of COVID-19 deaths, as Dr. Scott Jensen told Dr. Jordan Peterson in an April interview. As explained by Jensen, March 24, 2020, the CDC changed how death certificates were recorded for COVID-19.

COVID-19 should be reported on the death certificate for all decedents where the disease caused or is assumed to have caused or contributed to death, the notice said.16 Its important to note that this change was exclusively for COVID-19. In all other instances, contributing conditions are listed in the Contributing Causes box.

Why would the CDC do this? Jensen suspected the CDC wanted people to be afraid of COVID-19 and needed statistics to support their claims that COVID-19 was a lethal infection. But these data are completely misleading. If someone is dying from cancer and tests positive for COVID-19, cancer should be listed as the cause of death and COVID-19 should be listed as a contributing factor, not THE cause of death, because they died with COVID-19 (assuming it wasnt a false positive), not from it.

DHHS Incentivized Misdiagnosing COVID-19

But it didnt end there. Two days later, on March 26, 2020, the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) also issued massive financial incentive$100 billion, to be exactto diagnose patients with COVID-19.17

Fortunately for doctors and hospitals, it was really easy to cash in on this because the CDC, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and the World Health Organization also set such high cycle thresholds for the PCR test that about 90 percent of the tests came out as false positives. I reviewed this in Bombshell AdmissionThe COVID Tests Dont Work.

According to a Harvard Medical School study, analyses of the blood oxygen levels of nearly 50,000 hospital patients across the U.S. suggest 48 percent of all hospitalized COVID patients in 2021 were admitted for reasons unrelated to COVID-19.18

That means the number of hospitalized COVID cases was exaggerated by some 96 percent. In short, we had a casedemic, and an artificially created one at that. As suggested by Peterson, bureaucracy was weaponized to facilitate tyranny. And thats where were still at today.

Think Globally, Act Locally

National vaccine policy recommendations in the United States are made at the federal level but vaccine laws are made at the state level. It is at the state level where your action to protect your vaccine choice rights can have the greatest impact.

It is critical for EVERYONE to get involved now in standing up for the legal right to make voluntary vaccine choices in America because those choices are being seriously threatened.

Not only are lobbyists representing drug companies and medical trade associations, and public health officials trying to persuade legislators to strip all vaccine exemptions from public health laws, but global political operatives lobbying the United Nations and World Health Organization are determined to take away the human right to autonomy and protection of bodily integrity.

We must take action to defend our constitutional republic and civil liberties, including the right to autonomy, in America. That includes reforming oppressive mandatory vaccination laws and stopping the digital health ID that will make vaccine passports a reality for us, our children, and grandchildren if we dont take action today.

Signing up to use the free online Advocacy Portal sponsored by the National Vaccine Information Center (NVIC) at www.NVICAdvocacy.org gives you immediate, easy access to your own state and federal legislators on your smartphone or computer so you can make your voice heard.

NVIC will keep you up to date on the latest bills threatening to eliminateor expandyour legal right to make vaccine choices and give you guidance about what you can do to support or oppose those bills. So, please, as your first step, sign up for the NVIC Advocacy Portal.

Internet Resources Where You Can Learn More

I encourage you to visit the four websites of the National Vaccine Information Center, at www.NVIC.org, a nonprofit charity that has been educating the public about the need to prevent vaccine injuries and deaths since 1982. The information you get on their websites is fully referenced and will help you become an effective vaccine choice advocate in your community:

NVIC.org : This website was established in 1995 and is the oldest and largest consumer operated website publishing information on diseases and vaccines on the internet. Learn about vaccine reactions, injuries, and deaths and the history and current status of vaccine science, policy, law, and ethics in the United States on more than 2,000 web pages.

This website was established in 1995 and is the oldest and largest consumer operated website publishing information on diseases and vaccines on the internet. Learn about vaccine reactions, injuries, and deaths and the history and current status of vaccine science, policy, law, and ethics in the United States on more than 2,000 web pages. NVICAdvocacy.org : This communications and advocacy network, established in 2010, is your gateway to taking action to protect your right to make vaccine choices where you live.

This communications and advocacy network, established in 2010, is your gateway to taking action to protect your right to make vaccine choices where you live. TheVaccineReaction.org : This weekly journal newspaper published by NVIC since 2015 is dedicated to encouraging an enlightened conversation about vaccination, health, and autonomy.

This weekly journal newspaper published by NVIC since 2015 is dedicated to encouraging an enlightened conversation about vaccination, health, and autonomy. MedAlerts.org:This is a user-friendly search engine for the federal Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) established under the 1986 National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act and sponsored by NVIC since 2006. Search for descriptions of vaccine injuries and deaths reported to VAERS on this popular website.

Find a Doctor Who Will Listen and Care

If your doctor or pediatrician refuses to provide medical care to you or your child unless you agree to get vaccines you dont want, I strongly encourage you to have the courage to find another doctor. Harassment, coercion, and refusal to provide medical care to someone declining one or more doses of government-recommended vaccines is a violation of the informed consent ethic.

Unfortunately, it is becoming routine among members of the medical establishment to be reluctant to share vaccine decision-making power with patients and parents of minor children, especially during the aggressive push for all Americans to get COVID-19 shots.

There are doctors out there who respect the precautionary and informed consent principles, so take the time to locate a doctor who treats you with compassion and is willing to listen and respect the health care choices you make for yourself or your child.

Originally published May 16, 2023, on Mercola.com

 References:
Homeless Veterans Displaced by Illegal Immigrants at Hotel in NY Suburb

Security stands at the doors of The Crossroads Hotel, where two busloads of illegal immigrants arrived hours earlier in Newburgh, N.Y., on May 11, 2023. (John Minchillo/AP Photo)

Editors note: After the publication of this article, New York Assemblyman Brian Maher, who was one of the sources quoted, said that he was misled into believing that veterans had been moved from the hotel to make space for the immigrants.

Original story below

To make room for illegal immigrants transported from New York City, 15 homeless military veterans were relocated from their housing at a hotel in New York states Hudson River Valley region.

The veterans staying at The Crossroads Hotel in the town of Newburgh in Orange County, about 70 miles north of New York, were relocated to other housing in the Hudson Valley. The Crossroads Hotel is a franchisee of the international Choice Hotels.

Illegal immigrants began arriving at the hotel on May 11.

A Growing Crisis

New York, which is a sanctuary city, has seen the arrival of more than 60,000 illegal immigrants in the past year.

The displacement of the veterans is encompassed in the broader public policy of Mayor Eric Adams. With the illegal immigrant crisis growing and the citys human services infrastructure overwhelmed, immigrants are being sent to communities outside the city, which is already dealing with a housing shortage.

Eric Adams, mayor of New York, speaks at the Literacy Partners 2023 Gala at Cipriani South Street in New York on May 1, 2023. (Roy Rochlin/Getty Images for Literacy Partners)

Orange County Executive Steven Neuhaus and Rockland County Executive Ed Day have opposed the idea of housing illegal immigrants in hotels in their jurisdictions, and both have declared states of emergency in their counties.

Paying the lodging bill for the veterans was the Yerik Israel Toney Foundation (YIT Foundation), a New York-based nonprofit that raises awareness and provides support for premature babies and their families and assistance for homeless and low-income military veterans.

The YIT Foundation paid The Crossroads Hotel $88 per room daily to house the veterans. It isnt clear what New York is paying per room daily for the immigrants at The Crossroads Hotel.

As reported in the New York Post at the end of January, New York City had allotted between $115 and $190 to pay for a nightly room rate to lodge the immigrants.

Ongoing Controversy and Drama

On May 12, Sharon Toney-Finch, founder and chair of the YIT Foundation, made public that vets had to move to make room for immigrants.

Attempts by The Epoch Times to reach The Crossroads Hotel have not been successful.

We have reached out to all impacted guests to assist with their accommodation needs, Choice Hotels said in response to an inquiry by The Epoch Times. The hotel is independently owned and operated, and we are no longer sending guests there.

Regarding your specific inquiry, we have been unable to identify whether any impacted guests are veterans as it does not appear that rooms were booked with any relevant identifying designation.

New York Assemblyman Brian Maher, who lives in and represents part of Orange County, opposes Adamss sending of immigrants to communities outside the city.

These veterans were given one days notice to clear out, Maher, a U.S. Navy reservist and leading public advocate for veterans, said in an interview with The Epoch Times. Hotel staff spoke to the veterans, and the veterans were told that they were getting an incoming group, a large group, which ended up being migrants.

Maher, who has worked closely in support of the YIT Foundation for several years, said that after Toney-Finch spoke out about the veterans being displaced by immigrants, she received very hateful messages and emails from folks, some who just  come in defense of the asylum-seekers and others who just really dont appreciate the veterans in our community.

Orange, Rockland Elected Officials Speak

Orange County legislator Genesis Ramos, a lifelong resident of Newburgh and the daughter of immigrants from Honduras, was among a group outside The Crossroads Hotel on May 11 to welcome and support the immigrants arriving that day.

Ramos said she tries to understand both sides of the ongoing issue, even as she is a steadfast and staunch backer of immigrants seeking asylum.

I dont disagree that there was a breakdown in communication and logistical planning between New York City and Orange County, and that as elected officials we have a responsibility to inform constituents to the best of our ability, and when we dont have the facts, it can cause angst and fear of the unknown, Ramos told The Epoch Times.

What I disagree with is the tone that was set by our executive here in Orange County  It was a xenophobic tone, and throughout the communities, we saw it play out on social media.

And we lived it, the small group of us at the hotel that day. We were being recorded, and people were driving by and flipping us off, screaming go back to your country  and [expletive] Mexicans. It was disgusting, the obscenities and racism that was spewed.

Rockland County Executive Ed Day sent a statement to The Epoch Times on the policy of sending immigrants to The Crossroads Hotel and forcing veterans to relocate.

The City of New York has not only broken local and state laws, violated a state of emergency, and lied continuously, but Mayor Eric Adams has also proven to have zero consideration for our military heroes, said Day, who has had high-profile exchanges with Adams.

As a military dad, I was disgusted to learn the mayors highly criticized plan booted 20 military veterans being housed at The Crossroads Hotel in Orange County.

These men and women laid their lives on the line for our freedoms, and the treatment they suffered at the hands of the City of New York and Mayor Eric Adams is disrespectful and horribly insulting to our past, present, and future military heroes.
BEIJING, May 17 (Xinhua) -- China's Ministry of Water Resources and the China Meteorological Administration on Wednesday jointly issued a blue alert for mountain torrents in parts of the country.

From 8 p.m. Wednesday to 8 p.m. Thursday, mountain torrents are expected to hit eastern parts of Jilin Province, southwestern parts of Fujian Province and southeastern parts of Jiangxi Province, according to the alert.

Local authorities are advised to enhance real-time monitoring and flood-control warnings, and step up preparedness for evacuation and relocation work.

China has a four-tier color-coded weather warning system, with red representing the most severe warning, followed by orange, yellow and blue. 
Impose Secondary Sanctions on the Business Partners of Russia and China

Chinese leader Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin toast during their dinner at the Palace of the Facets, a building in the Kremlin, in Moscow, on March 21, 2023. (Pavel Byrkin, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

Commentary

Western sanctions on Russia have loopholes through which a self-driving truck with haywire AI could drive.

Businesses in Central Asia, for example, openly advertise online about how they serve as transshipment points to evade U.S. and EU sanctions 100 percent.

The statistics back them up. As soon as the sanctions took effect, imports of goods from the United States and European Union shot up in Kazakhstan, Georgia, Uzbekistan, Armenia, and Kyrgyzstan. Those countries exports to Russia also jumped, according to The Wall Street Journal on May 14.

Russia assisted the trade last year by legalizing parallel imports done without the original producers permission.

In total, U.S. and E.U. goods exports to Armenia, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan rose to $24.3 billion last year from $14.6 billion in 2021, according to the Journal. These countries collectively increased their exports to Russia by nearly 50 percent last year to around $15 billion.

These are self-reported numbers, so they are likely understated. But data in the Journal still paint a picture of disregard by businesses in Central Asia for the aggression perpetrated by Russia.

Of particular concern to U.S. officials are exports to Russia of aircraft parts, antennas, GPS systems, oilfield equipment, sonar systems, spectrophotometers, test equipment, and vacuum pumps.

Consumer goods are also a concern, given the dual-use components found within.

From Kazakhstan, the Central Asian country with the largest increase in imports from the West ($4.7 billion) and exports to Russia ($1.8 billion), washing machine sales to Russia increased from zero in 2021 to nearly 100,000 units in 2022. These machines have semiconductors that can be removed and used in weapons. The same goes for cameras. European officials are concerned that Moscow is extracting chips from both goods for military applications.

Evidence of transshipment from other Central and Eurasian countries is also instructive. According to Armenian media, Russian-Armenian trade skyrocketed last year, with Armenian exports to Russia nearly tripling to $2.4 billion. Goods manufactured in third countries and re-exported from Armenia to Russia are believed to have accounted for most of that gain.

The increase in Georgian exports to Russia was a negligible $40 million compared to much larger increases from the other countries. But there is evidence readily available of Georgias biggest import from the United Statesautos and trucksbeing transshipped from the United States through Georgia to evade sanctions on Russia.

Major foreign automakers pulled out of Russia after the West imposed sanctions, prompting Russian drivers and dealers to turn to neighboring countries like Georgia and Armenia, according to Eurasianet. The article quoted one Russian car dealer at an auto market in Georgia, saying, Take a gander at this Porsche Cayenne.  This is a sanctioned car and you cant get it in Russia anymore.

The Lighthouse Winmore, a Hong Kong-flagged vessel suspected of transferring oil to North Korea in defiance of international sanctions, is seen in the sea off Yeosu, South Korea, on Dec. 29, 2017. (Yonhap via Reuters)

In Asia, Hong Kong has long acted as a transshipment hub for goods that are export-controlled to China. Thus, American and European sanctions have had little effect on our chief adversaries abilities to acquire whatever technology they wish, as long as they can find another country, or in the case of Hong Kong, an autonomous region, that can act as a transshipment hub. Sanctions that target a particular company in China and Russia are even more useless as sanction targets need only change their legal name or transship through a neighboring business.

In other words, targeted sanctions against China and Russia are nearly useless. The entire countryand any other country that serves as a transshipment hubneeds to be hit with blanket sanctions, or they have little utility in stopping aggression.

The widespread problem of transshipment should make clear that effective economic sanctions require parallel trade restrictions by all of our trading partners. Kazakhstan is one example where progress is being made. The country announced that starting in April, it would more closely track imports and exports to comply with U.S. and EU sanctions on Russia. That could raise the prices of electronics by approximately 1012 percent, according to Russian media. Thats better than nothing.

But Russian importers are looking far beyond Central Asia to evade Western sanctions, including to China, Kyrgyzstan, and the United Arab Emirates. The U.S. government has identified Turkey, Belarus, Brazil, India, Israel, Mexico, Nicaragua, Serbia, Singapore, South Africa, Taiwan, and Tajikistan as transshipment points for illegal exports to Russia.

Beijing is likely watching and figuring that if it invades Taiwan, it can still transship from these and other countries where unscrupulous businesses are allowed to run rampant by ethically lax governance.

Countries that allow their businesses to facilitate illegal exports to Russia are now part of the problem that leads to global instability and war, including not only in Ukraine today, but likely in Taiwan tomorrow. If they capitalize on the suffering of Ukrainians and (in expectation) Taiwanese and attempts by the West to sanction Russia and China, they themselves should be subject to secondary sanctions. This is no more a violation of their sovereignty than they are imposing on Ukraine and Taiwan by facilitating transnational aggression.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
IN-DEPTH: Biden Administration Continues Questionable Legacy of Weather Manipulation

It sounds like something out of science fiction. Blocking sunlight from reaching the earth, creating rain, and altering a hurricane are concepts usually associated with movie villain stereotypes.

But this is exactly what the U.S. government has invested millions of dollars into for decades, including this year.

But the United States isnt alone. Due to ongoing climate concerns, renewed interest in geoengineering has taken countries by storm. Global governmentsincluding Chinahave officially jumped on the geoengineering or climate intervention bandwagon.

The idea of weather and climate manipulation has been around for more than half a century. Within the realm of geoengineering, there are two main types: solar radiation management and carbon removal. Weather manipulation, like cloud seeding, also falls under this umbrella. Cloud seeding is used to manufacture or alter rainfall, snow, or even entire storms.

In March, the Southern Nevada Water Authority was given a $2.4 million government grant to enhance cloud seeding in Western states, including Colorado River reservoirs. This money from reclamation is wonderful. We just have to decide how exactly its going to benefit us, Andrew Rickert, cloud seeding coordinator for the Colorado Water Conservation Board, told reporters.

The Colorado River supplies millions of gallons of water each day to drive the hydroelectric turbines at Hoover Dam on Jan. 16, 2023. (Allan Stein/The Epoch Times)

This followed on the heels of last years White House announcement of the funding of a five-year study on climate modification and geoengineering.

The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy stated a scientific assessment of solar and other rapid climate interventions in the context of near-term climate risks and hazards would be part of the final report, which will focus on research associated with climate intervention.

An Epoch Times request for comment from The White House received no response.

The timing may prove auspicious. China already claims to have a weather modification program covering more than 2 million square miles. For perspective, thats bigger than all of India.

According to a State Council statement, China will have a developed weather modification system by 2025, thanks to breakthroughs in fundamental research and key technologies.

The European Commission followed suit last March and announced a more than $1 billion investment in five geoengineering projects.

But not everyone is excited over the renewed interest in climate manipulation. Security analysts and scientists are sounding alarm bells over the geopolitical and environmental implications.

Their unease is understandable. The U.S. government has a checkered past with weather modification experiments.

Moreover, some researchers say current science isnt up to speed with political ambition for geoengineering.

Unknown Consequences

Just because people do it, doesnt mean it works, Dr. Alan Robock told The Epoch Times.

Robock is a professor in the Department of Environmental Sciences at Rutgers University. He doesnt think geoengineering or climate intervention is advanced enough to make a significant impact, for better or worse. He also stressed that more researcha lot moreis needed before any real progress can be made.

Geoengineering, climate intervention is a term for schemes to address global climate change and reduce the impact of humans on climate. Since it cant be done, theres nothing else they want you to do. Its only in the realm of people doing con model simulations and theoretical calculations, Robock asserted.

He isnt alone in this assessment. A collection of 16 scholars drafted an open letter for an International Non-Use Agreement on Solar Geoengineering, which has collected signatures from dozens of university professors and researchers worldwide.

The letter states, These proliferating calls for solar geoengineering research and development are cause for alarm. It further cites concerns over the lack of understanding of consequences and oversight needed to maintain fair, inclusive, and effective political control.

Joe Biden walks past solar panels while touring the Plymouth Area Renewable Energy Initiative in Plymouth, New Hampshire, on June 4, 2019. (Brian Snyder/Reuters)

Solar geoengineering has, quite literally, taken a lot of heat in recent months. The technique aims to deflect sunlight back into space using stratospheric aerosols. Some climate change advocates say it could be a promising way to reduce the earths temperature.

But theres a major hurdle. Scientists say there could be a disastrous environmental impact.

Potentially, it has a lot of benefits as well as risks. So we are in the middle of doing a lot of research to figure out whether its risky to do it, Robock said.

In a May 2022 risk analysis study of geoengineering, researchers concluded there was no risk-free scenario with any climate intervention methods.

Lead study author Benjamin Sovacool said human manipulation doesnt eliminate climate risks, they merely shift risk or redistribute it. He further noted, These risk tradeoffs must be evaluated if some of the more radical geoengineering technologies are to be deployed.

Possible environmental consequences aside, theres a security angle to consider. More advanced methods of weather manipulation will soon, if not already, be at the fingertips of global governments. It has raised ethical usage concerns for many.

Among the unsettling implications, Robock noted societal disruption, conflicts between nations, and breaches of international treaties as possible outcomes.

He also posed an important question: Whose hand will be on the thermostat?

Cloud of Suspicion

The U.S. government has a dark history with weather manipulation. In 1947, Project Cirrus targeted a hurricane working its way out to sea in the Atlantic for a cloud-seeding experiment that was meant to weaken the cyclone. The storm was the ideal candidate since it was forecasted to continue moving away from land.

A plane was dispatched to fly over the storm and dump 80 kilograms of dry ice directly into it. What happened next was something straight out of a Hollywood disaster movie.

After the dry ice was seeded into the storm, it abruptly pivoted 130 degrees west and made its way toward Georgia. The hurricane crashed into the state and caused $2 million in damages. Residents threatened lawsuits, and the government was immediately blamed.

But that was just the beginning of Americas questionable venture into weather manipulation, most of which has been done through cloud seeding.

Brothers Parker and Carver Cammans install cloud seeding equipment in Lyons, Colo., on Dec. 3, 2022. (Brittany Peterson/AP Photo)

In May 1958, a government-funded experiment used an airborne silver iodide generator to transform puffy white cumulus clouds near Rapid City, South Dakota, into a raging thunderstorm in less than an hour.

That same year, the U.S. Navy claimed it successfully created and eliminated clouds at will in a series of tests done over the coasts of Georgia and Florida during the summer. The experiments were 100 percent effective at destroying clouds in a period that ranged from less than three minutes to twenty minutes.

The price tag of these government-backed projects between 1950 and 1970 topped out at $74 million. Another $35 million was spent in the following two years.

In 1960, during the Cold War with Russia, U.S. Naval Commander William J. Kotsch touted the weapons applications of cloud seeding.

If certain states within the United States, or certain countries of Western Europe, decided systematically and covertly to dissipate part or all of the clouds over their regions for several months of the yearto invoke a cloud blockade in their own interests and deprive the areas to the east of rainthose areas to the east would be reduced to semi-desert over a period of time, Kotsch said.

Considering the alleged climate crisis and widespread drought currently unfolding, its not surprising many have questioned the security implications of geoengineering.

Breaking the Rules

Geoengineering, like any scientific innovation, should be conducted with the highest possible standard of honesty and transparency. In the scientific methods and within the strict observation of the framework of both general and specific ethical norms, Irina Tsukerman, national security lawyer and founder of Scarab Rising, told The Epoch Times.

Tsukerman observed that science is often fraught with people breaking the rules, which can come with disastrous results. However, she says calamitous short-term forays into weather modificationlike Project Cirrusand general climate science share a common denominator.

The lack of ability to apply scientific processes to the studies consistently.

Though she doesnt believe any government has fine-honed geoengineering into a weapon just yet. Despite all the hype, scientists still have a fairly rudimentary understanding of both climate and even local weather patterns, she said.

Regardless, it certainly hasnt stopped the U.S. government from trying.

In 1970, a military whistle-blower told Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Seymour Hersh that the U.S. government used cloud seeding as a weapon in South Vietnam to alter natural rainfall patterns in 1963.

It marked the first confirmed use of meteorological warfare in history. At the time, some members of the U.S. State Department reportedly opposed the use of weather modification as a weapon.

Fast forward 60 years. Now the United States, China, and Europe are all aggressively pursuing geoengineering. Much of this is being done through cloud seeding.

With so many scientists calling for a halt to man-made climate intervention, the benefits of these projects also become dubious.

When asked what geoengineering method looked the most promising, Robock replied, None.

The U.S. State Department, U.S. Geological Survey, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration did not return The Epoch Times requests for comment.
IN-DEPTH: How Many Secret Chinese Police Stations Are Operating in Canada?

Overseas Chinese police Service Stations, or 110 Overseas, are found in dozens of countries across five continents. (Courtesy of Safeguarddefenders)

While testifying before the Commons Procedure and House Affairs Committee (PROC) in April, Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino said the RCMP have taken decisive action to shut down the so-called police stations operating covertly on Canadian soil.

But when asked about that statement during an interview with CTVs Question Period on May 14, the minister backtracked, saying that the RCMP have taken concrete action to disrupt any foreign interference in relation to those so-called police stations.

Heres a rundown on the Chinese police stations in Canada that are known about so far.

Ontario

There are three locations in the Greater Toronto Area suspected to be secret Chinese police stations. The specific addresses of these locations were open-source information published online in a list of 30 overseas police stations operated by the Public Security Bureau of Fuzhou City, in Chinas Fujian Province.

The locations have been identified as a convenience store on Warden Ave. in Scarborough, a residential home in Markham, and two units in a building in Markham that also serves as the headquarters of a Chinese business organization, the Canada Toronto Fuqing Business Association (CTFQBA).

A building in a business park in Markham, Ont., is seen on Oct. 31, 2022, one of three locations in the Greater Toronto Area identified by Spain-based human rights group Safeguard Defenders as being among the sites of at least 54 unofficial police stations allegedly run by police bureaus in China. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police is investigating reports of criminal activity related to these unofficial police stations. (The Canadian Press/Cole Burston)

CTFQBA says on its website that it operates under the guidance of a number of Chinese and Fujianese government organizations, including a municipal committee of the United Front Work Department, which is the Chinese regimes primary foreign interference tool, according to studies cited by Public Safety Canada.

The Epoch Times reached out to CTFQBA for comment, but didnt hear back.

In February, then-RCMP Commissioner Brenda Lucki told the House of Commons Special Committee on the CanadaPeoples Republic of China Relationship that uniformed officers in marked police cars have been sent to the three police stations in Toronto and one in Vancouver to disrupt their operations.

The RCMP deputy commissioner of federal policing, Michael Duheme, told PROC in March that the activities at those locations have ceased.

British Columbia

On Dec. 10, 2022, the RCMP Integrated National Security Enforcement Team, which is leading the investigation into the Chinese police stations, reportedly paid a visit to a building in Richmond, B.C., that currently serves as the headquarters of the Wenzhou Friendship Society (WFS), a non-profit group.

Several protests, launched by residents concerned about Chinese interference in Canada, have been held outside of the WFS in recent months. Some protesters told The Epoch Times that they long suspected the activities at the building located at 4266 Hazelbridge Way, noting that the organization has voiced support for Beijing and the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP). A director of the group has denied any affiliation with the police stations in an interview with Global News, though he acknowledged that the RCMP has visited the WFS.

A May 2021 article posted on WFSs website, whose Chinese-language headline reads The Party calls, overseas Chinese respond, describes how one of its executive vice-presidents attended an event in China marking the centenary of the CCPs establishment. The WFS website has now been removed entirely.

In February, The Epoch Times reported on another location in B.C. whose address appeared in a list of 29 Chinese police outposts that are operated by a police jurisdiction in Chinas Nantong City, Jiangsu Province. The location is a store in a Richmond shopping mall and a phone numberalso provided on that listmatches the contact number of the B.C.-based Canadian Association of Nantong Merchants Abroad.

Victor Chen, who was listed as the vice-president on the associations website, previously confirmed the phone number belongs to the groups president, Zhou Yuan. Chen, however, declined to comment on the issue of the Chinese police station. The Associations website has now been removed.

The RCMP previously told The Epoch Times that investigation remains ongoing, and declined to provide details about this location in B.C.

The unit listed by Nantong Public Security as an overseas service station, inside Aberdeen Centre in Richmond, B.C., on Jan. 13, 2023. (Iris Liang/The Epoch Times)

Quebec

In March, the Quebec RCMP confirmed that it is investigating two locations in the province suspected to be secret Chinese police stations.

The two locations were identified as the Chinese Family Service of Greater Montreal, in the citys Chinatown neighbourhood, and the South Shore Sino-Quebec Center, a community organization in Brossard. Both centres have been operating for several decades, and have provided multifaceted services to Chinese and Asian communities.

RCMP Sergeant Charles Poirier said in a March 13 statement that the investigation was initiated after the police received at least 15 serious tips in relation to the two locations in Montreal and Brossard.

Following media reports about the RCMP investigations, the Quebec Ministry of Immigration said it has cut funding to the two groups, while a spokesperson has said that an audit will look into whether the organizations have respected their obligations with regard to programs to integrate newly arrived immigrants into Canada.

The Sino-Quebec Center in Brossard, Quebec, is seen on March 9, 2023. RCMP said its investigating this location, along with the Chinese Family Service of Greater Montreal, which are allegedly clandestine overseas Chinese police service stations. (Noe Chartier/The Epoch Times)

In a joint statement, published April 28, the two Quebec community groups said they are continuing to operate normally, which contradicted Mendicinos claim before the committee a day earlier that the Chinese police stations have been shut down.

Long-Arm Policing Overseas

The three Toronto-area locations were the first overseas Chinese police stations made known to Canadians following media reports about a September 2022 report by the Spain-based human rights NGO Safeguard Defenders. A follow-up report in December further identified two locations in B.C.

Safeguard Defenders told The Epoch Times in a previous interview that its reports are part of an ongoing effort to monitor Beijings growing global transnational repression. Founder and director Peter Dahlin said it came on the heels of another report by his organization, titled Involuntary Returnsreport exposes long-arm policing overseas.

According to a report in January 2022the first of the series of reports on the issueSafeguard Defenders said the Chinese regime claimed in December 2021 that its intelligence operations, dubbed Sky Net and Fox Hunt, have successfully brought some 10,000 fugitives back to China from around the globe since 2014. The operations were launched as part of Chinese leader Xi Jinpings anti-corruption campaign.

But according to Safeguard Defenders September 2022 report, the so-called overseas Chinese police service stations, also sometimes called 110 Overseas after the Chinese national police emergency phone number, have enhanced the Chinese operation of involuntary return of its nationals living abroad. Chinese authorities have claimed that from April 2021 to July 2022, 230,000 nationals were persuaded to return to face criminal proceedings in China, the report said.

The NGO warned that some of those police stations have also engaged in the intimidation and even kidnapping of Chinese dissidents. The Chinese authorities have denied the allegations, saying the unofficial police stations provide services to Chinese nationals living abroad, such as helping them renew their driver licences.

Noe Chartier and Peter Wilson contributed to this report
In-Depth: Tennessee Governor Wants State to Be Leader in Nuclear Energy

In this Wednesday, Sept. 7, 2016 photo, sit manager, Jim Chardos, lowers his head as he talks about Tennessee Valley Authority selling the unfinished Bellefonte Nuclear Plant, in Hollywood, Ala. After spending more than 40 years and $5 billion on an unfinished nuclear power plant in northeastern Alabama, the nation's largest federal utility is preparing to sell the property at a fraction of its cost. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)

The state that was home to the Manhattan Project creating the atomic bomb and the Oak Ridge National Laboratory is seeking to become the national leader in nuclear energy. Republican Tennessee Governor Bill Lee signed an executive order advancing nuclear energy in the state on May 16.

Lees order (pdf) establishes the Tennessee Nuclear Energy Advisory Council, aiming to promote and invest in safe, clean and reliable nuclear energy and create a $50 million fund to help recruit companies in the nuclear industry to the state.

Tennessee is ready-made to lead Americas energy independence and drive continued economic growth with safe, clean and reliable nuclear energy for the future, Lee said in a press release. Today, Im signing an executive order that will continue our work to make Tennessee the number one state for nuclear energy companies to invest and thrive, bringing greater opportunity and quality jobs for Tennesseans.

Lee also spoke on Monday at the annual Nuclear Energy Assembly in Washington to highlight Tennessees leading role in the future of American energy. Lee noted Tennessee gets roughly 44 percent of its energy from nuclear power plants.

Officials at the event said he was the first U.S. Governor to ever attend the assembly.

Gov. Lee and [the Tennessee Valley Authority] are working together to make the Tennessee Valley region a leader in multiple industries, but nuclear energy in particular, TVA Regional Vice President Justin Maierhofer said at the event. Gov. Lee has been a strong supporter of reliable, clean, cost-effective nuclear energy, envisioning Tennessee as a leader in generating nuclear power as well as becoming a development and a supply chain hub for the nuclear industry.

Lee Lays Out Vision

In his January address in, after taking office for his second term as governor, Lee made nuclear energy one of his priorities.

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee takes part in a discussion on state-level criminal justice reform in Nashville, Tenn., on April 17, 2019. (Mark Humphrey/AP Photo)

No other state in the country comes close to Tennessees legacy, resources, and potential to be a leader in nuclear energy, Lee said at the time. And there is no long-term national strategy that doesnt include nuclear energy.

There, he proposed the $50 million fund, which was approved by the states General Assembly this session, to establish a nuclear development and manufacturing ecosystem built for the future of Tennessee.

We cannot not pass up this opportunity. Tennessee can and should be the leader in nuclear energy for America, he said in his speech.

Lee Spreads Message to NEA

The governor, alongside industry officials, spoke of the potential for clean energy through nuclear and how new technologies in the field could lead to the expansion of the energy source. The executive order Lee signed Monday seeks to put the state at the forefront of developing the next generation of nuclear energy.

Lee discussed the Clinch River Nuclear Site in Tennessee, the nations only federally approved but not yet developed nuclear site.

TVA has announced plans and issued an early-site permit (ESP) from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission for developing two or more small modular reactor (SMR) modules on the site.

According to the International Atomic Energy Agency, SMRs are advanced nuclear reactors that provide around one-third of the power generation of a conventional nuclear reactor while being physically a fraction of the size. As the name suggests, the units are also modular, making it possible for systems and components to be factory-assembled and transported as a unit to a location for installation.

The order emphasizes the advancement of safe, clean and reliable nuclear energy as a crucial aspect of Tennessees conservation strategy, striking a balance between economic growth and stewardship of the states vast natural resources.

The Exelon Byron Nuclear Generating Stations running at full capacity in Byron, Illinois, on May 12, 2007. (Jeff Haynes/AFP/Getty Images)

Lee also allocates $50 million for the 2023-2024 fiscal year budget to provide grants and assistance for nuclear power-related businesses that relocate or expand in the Volunteer State.

Nuclears Role in Economic Development

In his remarks at the NEA, Lee brought up various reasons why he believed nuclear would be key to Tennessees future and economy. Lee mentioned Tennessee is one of only two states home to four major automotive manufacturers, including GM, Volkswagen, Nissan, and, shortly, Ford.

Ford chose Tennessees Memphis megasite for their new Blue Oval City production site. The battery and vehicle manufacturing campus will be the largest Ford facility in the world.

Lee brought this up to underscore the immense importance of electricity in attracting and keeping businesses. Ford, in announcing the project, stated they wanted the facility to be carbon-neutral along with the entire company being carbon-neutral by 2050.

He gave an example of how to view the nuclear industry, like the automotive industry in Tennessee, with Ford itself bringing in third-party suppliers. Ford will bring 6,000 jobs initially, he said, but the state projects 30,000 jobs will be created by the supply chain needs of the company.

When we think about the nuclear industry that wayif we become the leader of nuclear technology in the country like we are becoming the leader in automotive electric vehicle manufacturingthen that ecosystem will come to our state as well, Lee said.

Lee said the states strategy for energy in the future should be diverse as it always has [been] in Tennessee. He said with changes in the national conversation about meeting future energy demands, nuclear power is essential.

Towers carrying electrical lines are shown in this file photo in South San Francisco, Calif., on Aug. 30, 2007. Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

We should look to nuclear energy as an enormous component, he said. In my view, there isnt a conversation in America about the future of the American energy supply that doesnt include nuclear.

Not only in Tennessee, but nationally, he said nuclear power could create energy security and independence while producing clean energy and cheap energy.

Building a Workforce for the Industry

Lee also focused in his remarks at the assembly on how education has played a role in the strategy to increase the nuclear energy field in Tennessee with a skilled workforce.

That included investments in middle school and high school Career Technical Education (CTE) courses, along with investments to state career and technical colleges focusing on educating workers in skilled trades, such as engineering.

The University of Tennessee (UT) also has a partnership with the Oak Ridge National Lab, Lee said. The Oak Ridge Innovation Institute educates postgraduates with career development courses to provide the skills needed at the highest level of technical ability.

He added that UT is one of the largest engineering programs in the nation, which sets Tennessee up to generate a skilled workforce to entice the industry to move to and expand in the state.

Councils Role

The council created by Lees order will include representatives from across fields and organizations. It will be composed of government officials and appointeesalongside representatives from higher education, workforce development, local government, and the utility and nuclear industries.

In this Sept. 7, 2016 photo, site manager Jim Chardos shows the media the control room at the Bellefonte Nuclear Plant, in Hollywood, Ala. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)

The council will be tasked with analyzing current or potential regulatory, workforce, and education barriers to establishing and expanding nuclear energy facilities within the state. They will also explore opportunities to harness existing and emerging technologies, such as SMRs.

By December 31, the chair of the council is required to deliver a preliminary report to Lee and state legislative officials, which includes an analysis of whether or not regulatory, workforce, and education barriers exist to the creation and expansion of nuclear facilities in the state.

The report should also analyze funding opportunities for state and local government as well as the private sector and opportunities for the state to harness existing and emerging technologies.

By October 31, 2024, the chair is expected to submit a final report with recommended legislative, policy, and budgetary changes to address regulatory, workforce or education barriers to the field in the state.

The final report is also to contain funding and opportunities, site considerations, storage and waste practices to preserve the environment, and federal actions to pursue alongside federal partners and agencies.

Nuclear Nationally

The national percentage of electricity that comes from nuclear power is much lower than in Tennessee and a few other states, with 18.2 percent of electricity generated in 2022 being nuclear energy, according to data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA).

A manufacturing complex U.S. automaker Ford Motor Co. plans to build in Tennessee, opening in 2025, is seen in an artists rendition released, on Sept. 27, 2021. (Ford Motor Co./Handout via Reuters)

The majority, 90 percent, of Tennessees energy generation comes from the federal TVA facilities in the state. They include 19 hydroelectric dams, seven natural gas-fired power plants, four coal-fired power plants, two nuclear power plants, and one pumped-storage hydroelectric plant.

This EIA data further shows that Tennessee is a state that consumes more than three times as much energy as it produces and ranks in the top one-third of the states in total energy consumption.

This can be attributed to the fact the state is so large geographically, the EIA explains, as well as the states role as a logistics hub and popular tourism destination spot.

This leads to the transportation sector accounting for three-tenths of the states energy consumption, EIA data shows.

Along with transportation, EIA notes manufacturing accounts for around one-fourth of the states energy consumption, in fields such as food, beverage and tobacco manufacturing, along with motor vehicle and automotive parts, chemicals, fabricated metal products and electrical equipment.

As Ford and other Tennessee auto manufacturers build electric vehicles and as consumers in the state adopt them, energy needs will grow in the coming years.

TVAs largest power plant by capacity and third largest in output in Tennessee is the coal-fired Cumberland power plant. TVA seeks to shut down this plant and replace it with a natural-gas plant for economic and environmental reasons.

The TVA owns the power plant and wants to shut it down and replace it with natural gas-fired generation for economic and environmental reasons, EIA data show. The states next two largest power plants by capacity are both nuclear powered, and each generates more electricity than the Cumberland plant.

TVAs announcement they were moving forward with the natural gas plant drew concern from the Biden Administration and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

TVA has said it cant achieve the Biden Administrations goal of a carbon-pollution-free energy sector by 2035 without technological breakthroughs in nuclear generation and energy storage.

The nuclear industry in Tennessee and advancement in new technologies in the field could help meet those goals, something that the Democrat in the White House and the Republican in the state house could possibly agree on.
Jacksonville Voters Elect Democrat Mayor Over Republican Endorsed by Ron DeSantis

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks during an Iowa GOP reception in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on May 13, 2023. (Stephen Maturen/Getty Images)

A Democrat candidate for mayor in Jacksonville, Florida, defeated the Republican candidate backed by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in a May 16 runoff.

According to the Duval County Supervisor of Elections website, the unofficial results of the May 16 unitary general election has Democrat Donna Deegan with 52.08 percent of the vote. Republican candidate Daniel Davis pulled in 47.92 percent of the vote. Unofficial results do not include provisional ballots, which can be challenged or rejected.

Voter turnout for the contest, which included races for property appraiser and seven city council seats, was 33.05 percent.

Jacksonville, with just under 1 million residents, was the largest city in the nation with a Republican mayor. Due to term limits, outgoing two-term Republican Mayor Lenny Curry could not seek reelection.

While Deegan took 39.43 percent of the vote during the March 21 first unitary election in Duval County, beating all five of her opponents, she did not reach the 50 percent margin of victory, forcing the May 16 runoff.

Deegan, a retired journalist, breast cancer awareness advocate, and generational resident of Jacksonville, was considered the underdog in the race against Davis, a well-funded former Florida state representative.

Action News Jax reported that the 2023 mayoral race for Jacksonville was the most expensive in the citys history, with the Deegan and Davis amassing nearly $11 million between them.

Davis raised and spent more money than Deegan by a margin of roughly 4 to 1. Where Deegan raised $2.32 million, Davis raked in $8.47 million. In the final weeks leading up to the election, Davis pulled in $1.9 million in donations. Deegan took in $872,000.

The closest rival for filling campaign coffers in a Jacksonville mayoral contest was in 2015 when a collective $9 million was taken in during the race between now-outgoing Curry and Democrat Alvin Brown.

Local Democrats Celebrate

The Duval County Democratic Party heralded the victory on social media, congratulating Deegan for becoming the First Female Mayor of Jacksonville.

Deegans victory was decribed by some as a stunning upset, but she was leading in the polls since February.

A Feb. 13 survey (pdf) by St. Pete Polls had Deegan with 35.2 percent support among Jacksonvilles registered voters. Of her six opponents, Davis was her closest distant rival with 17.5 percent support. A poll (pdf) released on Feb. 28 by the University of Floridas Public Opinion Research Lab (UNF/PORL) showed Deegan with a comfortable 18-point lead over the crowded field of mayoral hopefuls.

DeSantis endorsed Davis with a post on Twitter on March 31.

Less than a month later, an April 17 UNF/PORL survey (pdf) showed Deegans lead over Davis had slipped to just one percentage point.

Still, while DeSantis did endorse Davis, he never appeared at any campaign events or made efforts to actively encourage voters to cast their ballots for Davis.

He did, however, travel to Iowa to speak at Republican Rep. Randy Feenstras May 13 family picnic.

As previously reported by The Epoch Times, some Florida voters are upset over the reported preparations by DeSantis to toss his hat into the 2024 presidential race.

Just three months after voters in the Sunshine State handed DeSantis a landslide reelection victory, he left the state to go on a book tour through a string of six key primary states. From there, DeSantis traveled to Israel and Japan.

While DeSantis billed the overseas excursion as an international trade mission, John Thomas, a GOP political strategist and the founder of the pro-DeSantis super PAC Ron to the Rescue, told ABC News it was the first step for any major candidate for the Oval Office to establish foreign policy credibility.

On April 26, Floridas legislators passed Senate Bill 7050 (pdf), effectively revising the states Resign-to-Run law to pave the way for DeSantis to seek the presidency without resigning his seat as governor.

While Ken Lovejoy personally believes DeSantis has done a good job as Floridas governor, the popular host of local radio program Charlotte County Speaks on iHeartRadio confessed he has taken a lot of heat for expressing disappointment in the governors presidential aspirations.

I dont mind him running for president, Lovejoy told The Epoch Times. But I think its the dumbest move hes made in his political career.

A recent CBS News survey showed DeSantis with a 35-point deficit in a hypothetical match-up against former President Donald Trump based on how the candidates challenge woke ideas. A May 13 survey by Morning Consult placed DeSantis further behind by a measure of 43 points.

When it comes to receiving support, the endorsement tracker by Axios shows DeSantis has the backing of just three Florida state House members and none in the state Senate. Trump has been endorsed by 45 state House Republicans and nine Florida senators.

In the 2022 election, Floridas voters handed DeSantis a landslide victory over his Democrat opponent, former Florida governor and congressman Charlie Crist. While Democrat voters outnumber Republican voters in Duval Countywhere Jacksonville is the county seatDeSantis still won by a margin of 55.44 percent to Crists 43.68 percent.

Nathan Worcester contributed to this report.
Judge Blocks NYC From Busing Illegal Immigrants to Upstate County

Comes after Rockland County also obtained a court order blocking the transfer of illegal immigrants

A New York Supreme Court judge has temporarily blocked New York City Mayor Eric Adams from busing illegal immigrants to Orange County, located in upstate New York.

Earlier this month, officials in two countiesRockland and Orangehad made emergency declarations and denounced Adams over his plan to bus illegal immigrants from New York City to neighboring communities and provide the illegal immigrants up to four months of temporary sheltering.

The two counties also filed separate lawsuits to stop Adams from transferring the illegal immigrants, with Rockland County filing on May 9, and Orange County filing on May 12.

By May 11, Rockland had obtained a court order against New York City and Adams, temporarily prohibiting it from transferring some 340 migrants into Armoni Inn and Suites in Orangeburg.

Orange County Executive Steve Neuhaus confirmed Tuesday the judges decision to bar New York City from sending over illegal immigrants.

A State Supreme Court Judge today granted the Countys application for a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) which has stopped New York City Mayor Eric Adams for the time being from sending asylum seekers to Orange County, he said in a written statement on Facebook.

He said in an accompanying video that New York City, knowing that the case was under review since the lawsuit was filed on May 12, had tried to flood as many buses up here as possible over the weekend before the judge issued her ruling.

Neuhaus said Adams had estimated that only around 60 illegal immigrants would be sent to stay in the county for about a month, but that number [of illegal immigrants] went to 186; 110 are at the Crossroads Hotel, 76 are at the Ramada Inn.

The two hotels are providing shelter to the illegal immigrants at the expense of taxpayers. They are located in the Town of Newburgh, in New York states Hudson River Valley region.

Details on Illegal Immigrants Required

Per the judges decision Tuesday, no more illegal immigrants may be sent to Orange County, which means the number of illegal immigrants either remains the same at 186 or decreases, according to Neuhaus.

The judge also ordered that New York City must provide county officials information on who the illegal immigrants being sent over are, Neuhaus said. He added the city had so far failed to provide any information on these illegal immigrants.

Thats the biggest problem  we have no idea [about their] names, ages, status, where they are from. Were they vetted? We have zero information. We were not provided that.

Neuhaus also shared that New York City was planning to send upwards of seven buses of illegal immigrants to Orange County, just moments before the judges ruling.

One caveat on this whole thingobviously the city and the hotel owners can appeal [the judges decision], Neuhaus said, noting the situation is fluid.

In addition to seeking the restraining order, Orange County asked the court to immediately reverse the transfers and stop future ones. Attorneys for the county argued that Adams and the city have no legal authority to run a temporary shelter in the county, because the county lies outside the city boundary.

Orange County also filed another lawsuit against the two hotels in the county that are housing the illegal immigrants, for having violated the State of Emergency order that Neuhaus issued on May 8.

The state of emergency prohibits hotels, motels, and other short-term rentals in the county from housing illegal immigrants arranged by the New York City government.

Cara Ding contributed to this report.
Justice Stands Between Freedom and Tyranny

Statue of Lady Justice is seen on Central Local Court in Sydney, Australia, on July 5, 2017. (AAP Image/Keri Megelus)

Commentary

Integral to the integrity of our society, based as it is on the rule of law, is the behaviour and competence of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).

Revelations and accusations about the behaviour of the Australian Capital Territorys DPP should send alarm bells ringing for all Australians.

His behaviour and professionalism have come under some close scrutiny at a special inquiry being undertaken by a retired judge in the aftermath of the criminal proceedings instituted based on allegations made by a former parliamentary staffer against a former colleague alleging the heinous crime of rape.

One of the strengths of our legal system, based on the rule of law, is that a person is deemed to be innocent until proven guilty according to the law. And so, it needs to be with the DPP from the Australian Capital Territory (ACT).

We should not jump to conclusions or engage in mob justice. Nevertheless, the evidence to date, as openly reported, is of great concern.

Brittany Higgins, a former Liberal Party staff member, addresses the media at the National Press Club in Canberra, Australia, on Feb. 9, 2022. (Lisa Maree Williams/Getty Images)

The role of the DPP is to be the independent arbiter as to whether a matter ought to proceed to prosecution, given the totality and strength of the evidence and the likelihood of conviction.

Evidence known to the DPP which might be beneficial to the defence case needs to be provided to the defence.

Such are some of our Australian legal systems niceties which have evolved over centuries and given us a fair and sophisticated legal system. Just one of the hallmarks of our wonderful and fair society.

It is fundamental to the well-being of Australian society. It protects us all. The integrity of our legal system, which we inherited from the United Kingdom, is worth protecting and fostering.

This makes the current allegations so very concerning as they strike at the very heart of our criminal justice system.

Process All Messed Up

The suggestion, as diarised at the time by the ACTs manager of criminal investigations, Detective Scott Moeller, that there was too much political interference in bringing the case to prosecution is extremely worrying.

This is so especially in the light of the difficulties in the prosecution case where the complainant had failed to cooperate with the investigation as may have been expected, like providing her mobile phone or where it became apparent that the complainant had deliberately deleted messages from a second phone.

The holding of a press conference by the DPP to announce the withdrawal of the charges and stating that he was confident about the case but needed to withdraw for the complainants mental health left the accused deemed guilty rather than to which he was entitled, namely innocent.

And since when did we adopt the American circus of DPPs holding media conferences?

The temptation to weaponise the criminal process is tantalising and, for some, is too great a temptation.

Sensational reporting that a matter or person has been referred to the police or a corruption commission makes for bold front-page headlines. Reputations can be damaged, careers irreparably damaged, while an accuser bears no responsibility.

Bruce Lehrmann leaves the ACT Magistrates Court in Canberra, Australia, on Oct. 26, 2022. (Martin Ollman/Getty Images)

Public Confidence Undermined

In the ACT, the home of Australias federal parliament, the allegation of rape occurring in Parliament House was always going to be a story for salacious headlines and prejudicial judgements.

The media bandwagon got into the act with lightning speed, taking the side of the accuser, with parliamentary apologies, media hosts exposing the workplace culture with calls for the Sex Discrimination Commissioner to analyse the allegedly toxic culture in Australias Parliament House.

When the trial had to be aborted, and talk of a retrial commenced, which was subsequently abandoned, the defence team started taking aim at the DPP in what at first light seemed inappropriate.

As more and more assertions and allegations were made, it became apparent that things had gone wrong, and badly so.

In short, the inquiry instigated to determine these matters was vital to enable public confidence in the criminal legal system. The evidence thus far suggests police had provided evidentiary material to the DPP, which might have suggested a different course of action than the one taken at first.

The public/media pressure to prosecute was strong. It appears to some that that pressure led to a prosecution being brought when it should not have been brought.

The role of the DPP is to methodically and calmly determine the evidence according to established legal principles and not to be swayed by personal biases, desire for notoriety or pressure from the baying mob.

It is a highly responsible task. The fate of peoples lives is in the remit of the DPPs decision-making. The seriousness and onerous nature of a DPPs role cannot be overstated.

The role of the DPP properly executed protects us all from frivolous weaponised prosecutions and baying mobs.

The revelations at the hearings to date are devastating and undermine public confidence in one of our very important institutions, the DPP. Our highly regarded criminal justice system is what sets us apart from dictatorships. We need to protect it at every level.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
Kari Lake Election Challenge Heads to Trial, Maricopa Voter Signatures Under Scrutiny

A three-day trial is scheduled to start Wednesday for Republican candidate Kari Lake to prove that Maricopa County did not properly verify voter signatures on ballot envelopes during the 2022 midterm elections and that those problems changed the outcome of the race.

Lake first challenged the election in December. So far, two Arizona courts have rejected her arguments that there were enough problems on Election Day that cost her the election, but Arizonas Supreme Court earlier this week allowed a three-day trial to proceed on her claims centered around alleged signature-verification issues in Maricopa County, which includes Phoenix. The trial will start Wednesday.

Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Peter Thompson on Monday confirmed in a ruling that the trial would take place and stated the issue for consideration. Lakes team must prove her allegations with clear and convincing evidence, while adding that she hasnt presented what he described as compelling evidence so far. He also wrote that her lawsuit falls far below what is needed to establish a basis for fraud.

While the difference between a tabulator-based claim and a printer-based claim may seem like a subtle distinction, it is not, Thompson also wrote. Count II was fully litigated at trial and this courts disposition was affirmed by both the Court of Appeals and Arizona Supreme Court. This is not newly discovered evidence that goes to the claim as presented to the court in December and reviewed on appeal. It is a wholly new claim, and therefore Count II remains unrevived.

But Lake, on Twitter, announced: HUGE: Following Supreme Court Ruling, Maricopa County Judge grants @KariLake the opportunity to EXPOSE Election Fraud IN COURT! In a subsequent post, she wrote, Were going to Court. Get ready!

Several workers on lower-level signature verification who filed declarations in court on Lakes behalf have said they experienced rejection rates due to mismatched signatures on 15 percent to 40 percent of the ballots they encountered. Attorneys for Arizona election officials said the workers speculation on signature verification efforts does not amount to a violation of the law or misconduct by election workers.

Lakes lawyers say there was a flood of mail-in ballots in Maricopa County at a time when there were too few workers to verify ballot signatures. Her attorneys say the county ultimately accepted thousands of ballots that had been rejected earlier by workers for having mismatched signatures.

Earlier in her lawsuit, Lake had focused on problems with ballot printers at some polling places in Maricopa County. The defective printers produced ballots that were too light to be read by the on-site tabulators at polling places.

Republican candidate for state attorney general Abraham Hamadeh, Republican gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake, and Republican U.S. senatorial candidate Blake Masters wave to supporters at the conclusion of a campaign event on the eve of the primary at the Duce bar in Phoenix, Ariz., on Aug. 1, 2022. (Brandon Bell/Getty Images)

Lines were backed up in some areas amid the confusion. Lake further alleged ballot printer problems were the result of intentional misconduct.

Officials in Maricopa County on Election Day confirmed the ballot printing issues, but they later claimed that the printer problem did not substantially impact voting across the county. However, Lake posted numerous videos to social media of voters who said that during the election, they had significant trouble in trying to cast their ballots.

A lawyer for Gov. Katie Hobbs, who was previously the states secretary of state, said that Lakes suit should be dismissed. Theres no allegation that the county failed to comply with signature verification rules, Khanna said. All they allege is that nothing prevented election workers from misconduct.

However, Thompson disagreed with Khannas assertion, adding that Lakes argument alleging signature verification issues was sufficient enough to proceed to a trial.

While the wording of Count III does not state this allegation clearly, it can be read broadly enough that Lakes argument fits under notice pleading requirements, he wrote.

In mid-February, the Arizona Court of Appeals rejected Lakes arguments, concluding she presented no evidence that voters whose ballots were unreadable by tabulators at polling places were not able to vote. The state Supreme Court declined on March 22 to hear some of Lakes appeal but allowed the signature-verification claim to go ahead.

Earlier this week, Lake told Steve Bannons podcast that Maricopa County officials allegedly injected hundreds of thousands of bad ballots into the system during the midterms, adding: Were confident that the number of fraudulent ballots exceeds the 17,000 margin separating myself & @katiehobbs in their count.

Earlier this month, the court sanctioned Lakes lawyers $2,000 for making unfounded statements when asserting that more than 35,000 ballots had been improperly added to the total count.

Lakes signature verification arguments will be heard in court Wednesday starting at 9 a.m. local time. The trial is slated to last for three days, according to Thompsons order.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Kyiv Rejects Russian Claims That Hypersonic Missile Destroyed US Patriot Battery

A Russian Air Force MiG-31K jet carries a high-precision hypersonic aero-ballistic missile Kh-47M2 Kinzhal during the Victory Day military parade in Moscow on May 9, 2018. (Pavel Golovkin/AP Photo)

Ukrainian officials have denied Russian claims that a U.S.-supplied Patriot air-defense system was destroyed in Kyiv by a Kinzhal-type hypersonic missile.

Dont worry about the fate of the Patriot [system], Yuriy Ihnat, a Ukrainian Air Force spokesman, said in televised comments on May 17.

Destroying the system with some kind of Kinzhal is impossible. Everything [the Russians] say can remain in their propaganda archive.

One day earlier, the Russian Defense Ministry claimed that its forces had destroyed a Patriot battery in the Ukrainian capital with a Kinzhal.

Russia successfully launches new Kinzhal hypersonic missile. (Russian Defense Ministry)

A high-precision strike by a Kinzhal hypersonic missile system hit a U.S.-made Patriot air-defense system in Kyiv, ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov was quoted as saying by Russias TASS news agency.

Unveiled by Moscow in 2018 as a next-generation missile delivery system, the Kinzhal (dagger in Russian) is usually delivered from the air by MiG-31K fighter-interceptor aircraft.

Designed to strike targets both on land and at sea, Kinzhal missiles are said to be highly maneuverable. They also reportedly have an exceptionally low radar signature, making them extremely difficult to intercept.

The Khinzal made its debut in March 2022, when Moscow claimed to have used the hypersonic projectile to destroy a munitions dump in southwestern Ukraine.

Kinzhals Downed, Kyiv Claims

Kyiv has also recently claimed that Ukrainian air defenses had successfully downed six Kinzhal missiles in a single night.

On May 16, Valeriy Zaluzhnyi, commander of Ukraines armed forces, said a total of six Kinzhalsand a dozen other missileshad been intercepted during a recent Russian barrage.

Ukrainian officials made a similar claim on May 6, when they said a Patriot missile battery had intercepted a Kinzhalfor the first timeon the outskirts of Kyiv.

Speaking on the Telegram messaging app, Ukrainian Air Force Commander Mykola Oleshchuk hailed the alleged shoot-down as a historic event.

At a May 9 press briefing, Pentagon press secretary Pat Ryder appeared to support Kyivs assertion.

Patriot (Phased Array Tracking Radar for Intercept on Target) missile launcher. (Courtesy of Raytheon Technologies Corporation)

Im not going to get into specificsother than to say we can confirm that the Ukrainians took down this Russian missile with a Patriot missile-defense system, he said.

Ryder declined to confirm whether the Patriot system in question had been provided to Ukraine by the United States, Germany, or the Netherlands.

Russian military officials have dismissed the claims outright.

On May 11, TASS cited a highly placed Defense Ministry source who described the Ukrainian claims as wishful thinking.

He claimed that Western-supplied air-defense systems couldnt possibly counter the Kinzhal, because of the missiles exceptionally high velocity.

The source accused Kyiv of exaggerating the efficiency of the Patriot system to justify its over-expenditure of ammunition.

According to the same source, the number of claimed Ukrainian missile intercepts is two to three times greater than the number of missiles we actually fire.

The Epoch Times was unable to verify claims made by either side.

Legitimate Targets

The Patriot is the most advanced U.S. surface-to-air missile system to be sent to Ukraine since Russias invasion of the country early last year.

First deployed by U.S. forces in the 1980s, Patriots are chiefly intended to intercept missiles, attack drones, and artillery shells. They can also be used offensively to target enemy aircraft.

Patriot systems are made up of launchers, radar, and auxiliary support vehicles. Patriot missiles reportedly cost about $4 million each; launchers are said to cost roughly $10 million apiece.

Germany has also reportedly provided Ukraine with at least one Patriot system, in addition to medium-range IRIS-T air-defense systems.

The first batch of U.S. Patriots was delivered to Ukraine late last month.

Today our beautiful sky becomes more secure, Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov wrote on Twitter on April 20.

Ihnat said the Patriot systems would allow Ukrainian forces to intercept Russian targets from a much greater distance.

In December 2022, Washington unveiled a fresh $1.85-billion aid package for Ukraine, which included the first delivery of Patriot systems.

The announcement coincided with a visit to Washington by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, during which he met his U.S. counterpart, President Joe Biden.

At the time, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba voiced hope that the move would open the door for other countries to do the same.

The Kremlin described the move as a dangerous escalation that risked drawing the United States deeper into the conflict.

It also stated that the Patriot systems would be viewed as legitimate targets by Russian forces.

Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. Kyiv and its Western allies decry the invasion as an unprovoked war of aggression.

Moscow has stated that its special military operation is aimed at protecting Russian speakers in eastern Ukraine and halting the eastward expansion of NATO.

Reuters contributed to this report.
Laguna Woods Taiwanese Church Honors Hero One Year After Mass Shooting

Choir members singing hymn during a commemoration at the Irvine Taiwanese Presbyterian Church in Laguna Woods, Calif., on May 14, 2023. (Annie Wang/NTD Television)

A year ago on May 15, nearly 50 congregants attending their Sunday service in a Laguna Woods church didnt think the day would suddenly turn into horror when a man opened fire in the building that killed one and injured five in attendance.

Hundreds gathered at the location on May 14 marking the anniversary of the mass shooting and memorializing Dr. John Cheng, who was fatally wounded after apprehending, along with the congregations former pastor Rev. Billy Chang, the gunman.

I would like to thank Dr. Cheng deeply for his sacrifice again, said parishioner Jerry Cheng in Taiwanese at the beginning of Sundays commemoration. If it werent for Gods mercy, Dr. Chengs sacrifice, and Pastor Changs brave act, I dont think many of us would be here now.

Chang said in a pre-recorded video from Taiwan that the incident had left heavy marks on his heart.

When I think of this incident, on the one hand, I am very grateful and full of gratitude, but on the other hand, I often cry, feeling sad, heartbroken, and regretful  two of the emotions at the same time struck my heart, he said.

He added that Chengs act of bravery made him more faithful to Christ and gave the word sacrifice a deeper meaning.

Because of his sacrifice, I understand better what it means for us to say that the Lord Jesus Christ sacrificed his life for us and came to redeem us in faith. For those of us who are saved, it can be said that we receive such grace for nothing, but for those who paid the price for us, he gave his all, his life, Dr. Cheng gave his all, and we are here to honor him today, he said.

The gunman charged in the shooting is David Chou, 69, of Las Vegas. He faces nearly 100 federal charges for killing Cheng and attempting to kill 44 others. He is also being prosecuted by the Orange County District Attorney, where he faces one count of murder and five counts of attempted murder.

Members of the Irvine Taiwanese Presbyterian Churchwhich rents space at the Laguna Woods Geneva Presbyterian Churchwere enjoying a luncheon when Chou opened fire.

According to the authorities, prior to the incident, Chou had secured the church exits by super gluing and chaining them. Police additionally discovered Molotov cocktails and magazines of ammunition hidden behind a curtain in the banquet hall of the church.

According to authorities, the shooting was politically motivated regarding ongoing tensions between China and Taiwan.

Chou allegedly acted because of the victims national origin and religion, and he intentionally obstructed the victims religious exercise, the U.S. Attorney said in a press release earlier this month when announcing the charges.

However, the commemoration Sunday focused on Chengs brave act and sharing love and forgiveness.

[Chengs] action didnt come after careful consideration nor is it an impulsive act. It truly was because he had that great love and courage deep in his heart, Cecilia Chueh, the president of the North America Taiwanese Womens Association, told NTD Television, The Epoch Times sister media outlet, in Taiwanese. Thats why he stepped out to stop such an injustice and dark things from getting worse.

She also said as a mother, she felt deeply saddened for Chengs elderly mother who lost her son in the incident. Cheng was not a member of the congregation but had accompanied his mother, who is a member, to the church that day.

The pain that this loss brought to her is unspeakable, and I can also feel her pain  Now, her son is not only her son. He is every Taiwaneses treasure, and his heroic act will become a story of love that we treasure and pass on through generations, she said.

Pastor Albany Lee of the church also told NTD that he hopes Chou can truly repent for his actions.

We believe [he] must have things he is struggling with, but we wont judge him or make any conclusionwe leave all of these in Gods hands, he said. We hope he can ultimately find peace in his heart, and we are not seeking any revenge.

Josie Kuo of NTD Television contributed to this report.
PARIS, May 17 (Xinhua) -- The Court of Appeal of Paris on Wednesday upheld a prison sentence of three years, including two suspended, against former French President Nicolas Sarkozy for corruption and influence peddling.

According to the court ruling, Sarkozy will only need to serve one year of house arrest with an electronic bracelet, and his civil rights will be deprived for three years.

Right after the ruling, Sarkozy's legal team announced that they would continue to appeal at the highest court.

Sarkozy served as French President from 2007 to 2012. He was sentenced in March 2021 to three years in prison for corruption and influence peddling. It was the first time that a former president has been convicted of corruption and sentenced to prison in France.

He was convicted of attempting to bribe, through his then-lawyer, a magistrate with a job offer in Monaco for information about an investigation of his 2007 presidential campaign. 
Latest AI Model Shows Signs of Human-Level Intelligence: Microsoft Research

Artificial general intelligence is able to comprehend feedback from concepts, experiences and instruction, indicating human-level capabilities

OpenAIs artificial intelligence system GPT-4 has shown sparks of artificial general intelligence (AGI), displaying abilities in a wide range of knowledge domains with a performance that is almost at the human-level, according to a paper by Microsoft Research.

An AGI would be able to understand the world as human beings do and have a similar capacity to learn how to carry out various tasks. An early version of GPT-4 tested by Microsoft researchers showed more general intelligence than previous AI models, according to the March 22 paper (pdf). Beyond its mastery of language, GPT-4 can solve novel and difficult tasks that span mathematics, coding, vision, medicine, law, psychology, and more, without needing any special prompting. Moreover, in all of these tasks, GPT-4s performance is strikingly close to human-level performance, and often vastly surpasses prior models such as ChatGPT.

Given the breadth and depth of GPT-4s capabilities, we believe that it could reasonably be viewed as an early (yet still incomplete) version of an artificial general intelligence (AGI) system.

GPT-4 was found to be able to code at a very high level both in terms of writing code from instructions as well as understanding existing code. Though the AI is not perfect in coding yet since it generates semantically incorrect or syntactically invalid code, GPT-4 is able to improve the code by responding to human feedback.

When it came to math, GPT-4 was able to express mathematical concepts and solve related problems. The AI was able to apply quantitative reasoning when faced with problems that required mathematical thinking and model building. However, GPT-4 is still quite far from the level of experts as it does not have the ability to conduct mathematical research, the study admitted.

A key aspect of intelligence is interactivity, which is basically the ability of an intelligent entity to communicate and respond to feedback from other entities, environments, and tools. Interactivity requires an agent to comprehend complex ideas, learn quickly, and learn from experience, and thus it is closely tied to our definition of intelligence.

GPT-4 was able to use tools like APIs or search engines to overcome some of its limitations. It employed tools with minimal instruction and generated output appropriately. In one search result containing potentially conflicting information, the AI was still able to infer the right answer.

GPT-4 is capable of both identifying and using external tools on its own in order to improve its performance. It is able to reason about which tools it needs, effectively parse the output of these tools and respond appropriately (i.e., interact with them appropriately), all without any specialized training or fine-tuning, the study stated.

Integrative Abilities

GPT-4 demonstrated the ability to combine skills and concepts from several knowledge domains fluidly, showcasing an impressive comprehension of complex ideas.

For example, GPT-4 was able to combine art and programming by producing a code that generated random images in the style of painter Kandinsky. Then, in the literary style of Shakespeare, it produced proof of the fact that there are an infinite amount of prime numbers.

The AI combined knowledge of history and physics by writing a letter supporting an electron as a potential U.S. presidential candidate. The letter was to be written by Mahatma Gandhi and addressed to his wife.

GPT-4 also coded a program that accepts an individuals age, sex, weight, height, and blood test results to indicate whether the person is at higher risk of diabetes.

These examples suggest that GPT-4 has not only learned some general principles and patterns of different domains and styles but can also synthesize them in creative and novel ways, the study said.

Theory of Mind

Researchers conducted multiple tests to evaluate the Theory of Mind capabilities of GPT-4. In psychology, Theory of Mind is a field of research that describes how an entity ascribes mental states to individuals and how the entity uses such states to explain and predict the actions of those individuals.

In the field of artificial intelligence, an AI equipped with the Theory of Mind qualities will be better able to understand the humans it interacts with.

In one test, GPT-4 was found to infer the mental states of multiple characters as well as discern misunderstandings and miscommunication.

GPT-4 outperformed two other AI models in both basic and realistic scenarios that require reasoning about the mental states of others, and in proposing actions for cooperation towards common goals in social situations.

Our findings suggest that GPT-4 has a very advanced level of theory of mind. While ChatGPT also does well on the basic tests, it seems that GPT-4 has more nuance and is able to reason better about multiple actors, and how various actions might impact their mental states, especially on more realistic scenarios, the study said.

Hyped Up?

Despite detailing the impressive abilities of GPT-4 and claiming that it could be viewed as an early version of AGI, the researchers admit in the paper that their approach to testing GPT-4 was somewhat subjective and informal, and that it may not satisfy the rigorous standards of scientific evaluation.

In a March 23 tweet, Michael Timothy Bennett, an AGI researcher who works at the Australian National University, said that theres a reason theyre not submitting their findings to something like the AGI conference.

The authors point out in the paper [that] GPT-4 does not satisfy what I would consider the only compelling notion of generally intelligent; the ability to generalize from limited information, he said. GPT-4 just doesnt satisfy that or any other definition of AGI I would consider meaningful.

I am particularly suspicious in this case because the claim comes bundled with commercial interests. Wouldnt you agree that it is at least plausible that Microsoft is using this preprint to promote its products and keep anyone from paying much attention to the competition? That perhaps the paper is entirely motivated by that end?

Human Advancement or Technological Competition?

Many experts have been lately sounding alarms regarding the rapid progress of AI. Geoffrey Hinton, the computer scientist called the Godfather of AI recently left his prestigious position at Google to speak out against the technology, which he admitted could not be done while working for Google.

It is hard to see how you can prevent the bad actors from using it for bad things, Hinton told The New York Times in an interview.

Hinton warned that competition between big tech companies regarding AI advancements could spiral out of control resulting in widespread damages. The way AI is developing and its unprecedented ability to create content like images and text will get to a point where an average individual will not be able to distinguish what is true anymore.

Going a bit further, AI will replace humans for many tasks, and be able to create fully autonomous weapons.

The idea that this stuff could actually get smarter than peoplea few people believed that, Hinton said. But most people thought it was way off. And I thought it was way off. I thought it was 30 to 50 years or even longer away. Obviously, I no longer think that.

Meanwhile, Googles parent company Alphabet is combining two of its AI research unitsDeepMind and Google Brainin a bid to significantly accelerate the companys progress in the field.

Combining all this talent into one focused team, backed by the computational resources of Google, will significantly accelerate our progress in AI, said Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai.

In February, Alphabet had launched its Bard AI chatbot to compete with OpenAIs ChatGPT. Funded by Microsoft, OpenAI powers the Bing search engine.
Legal Group Files Challenge of Calgary Bylaw Banning Protests of Drag Queen Story Hour

A protestor maintains a 100 meter distance from a drag queen story hour being held at a public library in Calgary, Alberta on Monday, March 27, 2023. Under a bylaw, certain protests are not allowed. (Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press)

The Canadian Constitution Foundation (CCF) says it is bringing legal action to challenge the City of Calgarys bylaw prohibiting certain types of protests in the vicinity of libraries, swimming pools, and recreation centres.

CCF announced in a May 15 news release that the organization has filed an application for judicial review to challenge the Safe and Inclusive Access Bylaw, which Calgarys city council voted in favour of passing on March 14, 2023. CCF is a registered charity whose stated mission is to defend the constitutionally protected rights and freedoms of Canadians.

The Calgary bylaw, which is already in effect, bans specified protests inside and within 100 metres of city libraries and recreation centres, following a number of protests against transgender individuals being allowed in pool change rooms and drag queen story hour events for children in public libraries.

The specific types of protests banned by the bylaw are those that express objection or disapproval toward ideas or actions related to race, religious beliefs, colour, gender, gender identity, gender expression, physical disability, mental disability, age, ancestry, place of origin, marital status, source of income, family status or sexual orientation, according to a March 14 city council release.

The bylaw carries significant penalties, including a $10,000 fine and jail time. It was passed by a 10-5 vote, using an expedited procedure that excluded the usual committee meetings and public consultation process.

Libraries are places for learning, debate and discovery. Recreation facilities and libraries can and do quite literally play host to political debates during elections, said Christine Van Geyn, CCF litigation director, in the news release.

She said the bylaw has the effect of silencing debate around places where debate was intended to happen.

Under the bylaw, the government would permit a pipeline protest but could prohibit a protest about female genital mutilation as a religious practice, or a protest about medical assistance in dying, or even a protest related to international armed conflict, suggests Van Geyn.

She said the bylaw will also chill other speech that may not fall within the definition of specified protest, but which the public may fear could attract state sanction due to uncertainty in enforcement or application of the bylaw.

The bylaw must be struck down, she added.

Protestors in favour of drag queen story hour gather for a Reading with Royalty event as police look on at a library branch in Calgary, Alberta, on Monday, March 27, 2023. This protest is not banned under the bylaw because it does not express objection or disapproval. (Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press)

Overly Broad

Calgary Mayor Jyoti Gondek posted on Twitter in February 2023 that she had pushed for the bylaw as a way to address protests rooted in hatred.

We have performers being targeted for weeks & now vitriol in front of children at the library. These are not peaceful protests. This is hate. The kind of hate we rallied against for so long, said the mayor.

On Feb. 10, Gondek posted a video clip of a Jan. 17 city council meeting on Twitter, where she stated, Unfortunately, some members of our population thought it would be a good idea to protest this event, which is, Im just going to use my opinion, a horrible thing to do.

Natalie Johnson, a constitutional lawyer with Alberta law firm Grey Wowk Spencer, told The Epoch Times in March that the bylaw has the potential to regulate activity that the Mayor or City Council do not agree with, and infringes on the fundamental Charter rights and freedoms of expression, religion, and association.

The wording is overly broad and ripe for misuse: it prohibits objection or disapproval towards an idea or action, she said.

The CCF, sharing a similar viewpoint, is bringing a judicial review.

It is not for the government to tell Canadians what they may or may not protest. This proposed bylaw and the $10,000 fine and threat of jail time is unconstitutional and should never have been passed, said Van Geyn.

The CCF, which is funded by voluntary donations, is bringing the legal action as a public interest litigant, allowing them to challenge the law as an interested party, without direct involvement in the matter. This type of litigation is typically used by civil rights groups to fight laws that are considered unjust even without an active plaintiff or applicant.
Liz Truss Calls for Economic NATO to Counter Chinas Influence During Taiwan Visit

Former prime minister urged 'all free nations' to back island's freedom

Former British Prime Minister Liz Truss called for a Cold War-style economic NATO to counter the Chinese regimes economic dominance during a visit to Taipei on Wednesday.

She also urged all free nations to back the self-governing republics freedom, drawing the ire of Beijing, which claims sovereignty over the island.

Truss is the first former British prime minister to visit Taiwan since Margaret Thatchers trip to the island in the 1990s.

In a keynote speech to think tank The Prospect Foundation, Truss said she believes democratic countries need something similar to the Coordinating Committee for Multilateral Export Controls, an informal Western Bloc organisation that coordinated embargoes against the Soviet Bloc during the Cold War.

What I want to see on the economic side is the development of an economic NATO. Coordination between countries that support freedom and proper free enterprise, she said.

This would be an organisation that had proper ministerial representation and the right policies in place to agree the best approach towards Chinathe best approach to take on technology exports, the best approach in the event of economic coercion, the best approach on trade and investment.

Too Many Mixed Messages

Criticising too many mixed messages from the free world, Truss said the UKs Integrated Review needs to make it absolutely clear that China is a threat, and warned against trusting the Chinese regime and attempts to cling on the idea that we can somehow cooperate with China on issues like climate change as if theres nothing wrong.

During his unsuccessful bid to become prime minister last summer, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said the Chinese regime poses the largest threat to Britain and the worlds security and prosperity this century and promised a series of measures including the closing of Confucius Institutes.

Sunak entered No. 10 Downing Street after Trusss short stint as prime minister, during which she reportedly planned to label China as a threat in the Integrated Review update.

But the update later designated communist China as an epoch-defining challenge and said the UK would engage with the regime on global challenges including climate and global health while strengthening supply chain security and working with global allies.

Sunak and Foreign Secretary Jame Cleverly have also rejected rhetoric of having a cold war with China, arguing the country plays a significant role in global affairs.

But Truss said its not up to the West to choose whether or not it wants to be in a cold war, as Beijing has already embarked on a self-reliance drive, been growing its navy at an alarming rate, and formed alliances with other nations that want to see the free world in decline.

The only choice we have is do we appease and accommodate that strategy or do we take action now to prevent conflict, Truss said.

The former prime minister argued that Taipei is on the front line of the global battle for freedom and is the most consequential place in the world for what is the most consequential struggle of our time, and criticized the belief that somehow a Chinese takeover of Taiwan is inevitable, calling it the biggest danger for the future of Taiwan.

She warned the UK government against future integration with the Chinese economy, urging ministers to rule out the resumption of the UKChina economic and financial dialogue and the UKChina Joint Economic and Trade Commissiontwo trade talks that were put on hold since 2019 and 2018, respectively, following Beijings clampdown in Hong Kong.

She also said that European countries shouldnt wash their hands of Taiwan because of geographic distance as a blockade or an invasion of Taiwan would undermine freedom and democracy in Europe.

The Chinese Embassy in London called Trusss visit a dangerous political show that would only bring harm to the UK, and accused the former prime minister of siding with Taiwanese separatists and ramping up tensions across the Taiwan Strait.

A UK government minister sought to distance the government from Trusss statement, telling Sky News that Truss is now a backbencher whos free to go around and socialise.
Made in China, but qualify for U.S. tax breaks? The Treasury Departments guidelines on solar panels are raising eyebrows in some sectors. The Treasury says the panels only need to be assembled stateside to make the cut, even if the parts are made elsewhere. Investors are rallying behind the news, but critics warn it will help boost Chinas dominance in the sector, rather than U.S. manufacturing.

Topics in this episode:

Made in USA: Treasury Details Solar Panel Tax Credits Hong Kong Leader Responds to Chinas Jailing of U.S. Man Chinese Spies Active in Belgium: Report Eyewitness in Boston China Spy Case Reveals Story Two Chinese Police Outposts Active in Germany China Says Tesla to Update Software for 1.1 Million Cars Over Braking Issue Russia Opens Major Seaport to China After 163 Years Russia Denounces Macron Over China Comments U.S. Should Use Strength to Deal with China: Newsham

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Marjorie Taylor Greene Introduces Articles of Impeachment Against FBI Director Chris Wray

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) has introduced articles of impeachment against Federal Bureau of Investigation Director Christopher Wray.

Director Wray has failed to uphold his oath and has instead overseen a denigration of the principles of our democratic republic by utilizing the Federal Bureau of Investigation as a Federal police force to punish or intimidate anyone who questions or opposes the current regime, Greene wrote in the articles of impeachment.

The presidential appointee and his agency have come under fire recently as reports surface alleging widespread violations of Americans constitutionally-protected civil liberties, targeting of political enemies, and other allegations of partisan or illegal behavior.

In a statement announcing her filing of the articles, Greene wrote: Under [Wrays] watch, the FBI has intimidated, harassed, & entrapped Americans who have been deemed enemies of the Biden regime. Wray has turned the FBI into Joe Biden and [Attorney General] Merrick Garlands personal police force.

She accused Wray of using Soviet-style tactics to target normal Americans who disagreed with President Joe Bidens policies.

U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) waits to speak during a news conference outside the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Feb. 1, 2023. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

In the articles of impeachment, Greene wrote: Rather than adhering to an oath he took to defend and secure our country and uphold the Constitution when he was sworn in as Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation on August 2, 2017, Director Wray has willingly refused to ensure that the laws passed by Congress and signed by the President are faithfully executed.

Allegations of Misconduct

For instance, she cited whistleblower allegations claiming that the FBI had created a threat tag to target pro-life individuals and organizations in the aftermath of the Supreme Courts decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Womens Health Organization, which overturned the federal right to abortion.

In September 2022, the FBI raided the home of Matthew Houck, a pro-life Catholic, for having obstructed access to an abortion provider.

Other whistleblower claims backed by leaked documents reveal that the FBI has also targeted so-called radical-traditionalist Catholics, dubbing them RTCs. The leaked documents accused traditional and Latin Mass Catholic communities of being a harbor for white supremacism and indicated that the FBI intended to place informants in these churches.

In 2021, a required public audit found the FBI had abused the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) to carry out more than 3.3 million illegal queries of American citizens.

In another case, the FBI has allegedly aided and abetted criminal behavior. As many as 12 FBI agents allegedly participated in a 2021 plot to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, masterminding and encouraging men to carry out the plan.

The FBI came under even more scrutiny in the wake of the agency mounting a raid on the home of President Donald Trump, an unprecedented move. The raid allegedly was due to Trumps possession of classified documents.

A police car sits outside former President Donald Trumps residence at Mar-A-Lago, in Palm Beach, Fla., on Aug. 8, 2022, as the FBI searches his home for classified documents. (Giorgio Viera/AFP via Getty Images)

Subsequent findings have revealed that Biden has also allegedly mishandled classified documents, but no similar actions have been taken against him, Greene noted.

Not only has Director Wray persecuted political opponents in an unprecedented and partisan way, but he has also overseen his agency take actions to shield and protect the current President and his family. A senior FBI official left the agency under a cloud of accusations that he shielded a laptop belonging to the Presidents son, Robert Hunter Biden, from a criminal probe, Greene said, citing allegations that the FBI sought to cover up the story about Hunter Bidens laptop.

The laptop reveals the presidents son engaging in a litany of potential crimes, including apparently smoking crack cocaine.

Other findings from the laptop revealed business dealings involving the elder Biden, including while he was vice president.

President Joe Biden, with son Hunter Biden, arrives at Hancock Field Air National Guard Base in Syracuse, N.Y., on Feb. 4, 2023. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images)

Still, the FBI has not pursued criminal charges against either Biden. At one point, an FBI spokesperson told Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) that the FBI did not know where the laptop was.

It is unacceptable for the Director of the FBI or any civil officer to exercise his power in a way that targets one political class while doing favors for the other, Greene said. Christopher Wray needs to be impeached.

Greenes articles of impeachment come as Washingtons attention is focused on the debt ceiling, which has to be raised within the next few weeks to avoid a U.S. default.

In the past, Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) has said were not gonna be political with impeachment. Its thus unclear if the speaker will give his blessing to Greenes resolution.

Other Articles of Impeachment

Meanwhile, Republicans, including Greene and Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.) have also pushed for the impeachment of Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas over claims of mishandling the border. Greene also introduced articles of impeachment against Matthew Graves, U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia. McCarthy has not seemed anxious to commit to these efforts.

Even though the articles might pass through the House relatively easily if McCarthy gives his blessing, the effort would face a steeper challenge in the Senate.

There, Wray would stand for trial on the charges. Sixty senators would need to vote to convict Wray before he could be removed from office. Thats an unlikely prospect as Democrats, who have been anxious to defend Wray and the FBI against GOP allegations of weaponization, are likely to oppose the move.

The FBI told The Epoch Times it had no comment on the resolution.
Marjorie Taylor Greene Introduces Articles of Impeachment Against US Attorney for DC

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) participates in a meeting of the House Oversight and Reform Committee in the Rayburn House Office Building in Washington on Jan. 31, 2023. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) introduced articles of impeachment against Matthew Graves, U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, on May 16.

In his conduct as United States Attorney for the District of Columbia, in violation of his constitutional oath faithfully to execute the office of United States Attorney for the District of Columbia, and, to the best of his ability, preserve, protect, and defend, the Constitution of the United States, Matthew M. Graves continues to materially endanger the justice system of the United States and empower violent criminals to terrorize Washington, D.C., states the impeachment resolution.

Matthew M. Graves, by such conduct, has demonstrated that he will remain a threat to the justice system of the United States of America if allowed to remain in office, and has acted in a manner grossly incompatible with self-governance and the rule of law, added the resolution.

Graves office has come under fire recently as it has, according to the Substack blog DC Crime Facts, refused to prosecute 67 percent of those arrested by the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD), or 52 percent of felony apprehensions, and 72 percent of misdemeanor apprehensions.

Graves, who has been in his current role since Nov. 5, 2021, told The Washington Post that his office has been prosecuting most cases involving violent felonies.

According to the MPD, violent crime is up 13 percent in 2023 compared to the previous year in the nations capital. There has been an 11 percent increase in homicides, a 45 percent rise in sex abuses, a 2 percent increase in assaults with a dangerous weapon, and a 19 percent jump in robberies.

The MPD said burglaries have decreased 10 percent in Washington this year compared to 2022, but there has been a 30 percent overall increase in property crimes. Motor vehicle thefts have gone up by a staggering 114 percent. There has been a 6 percent rise in thefts from automobiles, a 24 percent jump in other thefts, and a 300 percent increase in arsons.

War Against Political Opponents

Greenes office also accuses Graves of politicizing his priorities.

Graves is systematically criminalizing political dissent at the behest of his handlers in the White House, said Greenes office.

By focusing so much effort on the persecution of political prisoners, Graves has diminished the manpower needed to fight crime not just in DC, but all over the country, continued the office. DOJ attorneys have been transferred to DC just to help Graves wage his war against political opponents.

While the GOP-controlled House would likely impeach Graves, it is unlikely he would get the required two-thirds majority in the Democrat-controlled Senate to be convicted and therefore removed from office.
Maryland Public School Sues Social Media Companies for Sparking Mental Health Crisis

It is easier to set limits early onregarding phones and social mediathan it is to try to implement them later. (BearFotos/Shutterstock)

A Maryland public school board said it is filing a legal claim against Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat, and YouTube, for negatively affecting the mental health of young students.

Prince Georges County Public Schools (PGCPS) filed a nearly 200-page lawsuit against the social media companies for allegedly targeting children with apps that were designed to be addictive, reported Fox Business.

School administrators accused the apps parent companies, Meta, Snap Inc., Byte Dance, and Google, of gross negligence and of deliberately creating a public nuisance, citing a worsening mental health crisis amid a rise in cyberbullying among teenagers.

The lawsuit alleged that they designed the platforms without fully understanding the consequences on childrens mental health, which has caused a jump in eating disorders, depression, and suicidal intention among students.

The school boards filing does not specify the amounts of damages, but it seeks financial compensation for the burden placed on the county for providing additional mental health services.

The Maryland county itself has also requested that a jury award punitive damages.

PGCPS lawsuit joins two other Maryland school systems in Cecil and Carroll counties and those in California, Pennsylvania, and Florida.

Social Media Apps Causing Severe Mental Health Crisis Among Schoolchildren

Our primary goal is to ensure the safety and well-being of our children, allowing them to learn and receive the highest quality education possible, said PGCPS school board chairwoman Judy Mickens-Murray, in a press statement.

Unfortunately, students in our district and throughout the nation are confronting unparalleled mental health and learning challenges caused by their addiction to social media, intensified by detrimental algorithms and features. It is imperative that these companies take responsibility for their role in this crisis affecting our youth.

Defendants growth is a product of choices they made to design and operate their platforms in ways that exploit the psychology and neurophysiology of their users into spending more and more time on their platforms, read the filing.

These techniques are both particularly effective and harmful [to] young users. Defendants have intentionally cultivated, creating a mental health crisis among Americas youth.

The school board accused the social media companies of recklessly ignoring the impact on students psychological and physical health over the past decade to corner the valuable but untapped market of children at all costs.

The tech firms had allegedly designed features on their products to promote repetitive, uncontrollable use, to get kids addicted, the filing said.

The lawsuit states that social media apps were deliberately set up to exploit children easily since they lack the same emotional maturity, impulse control, and psychological resiliency as adults.

As a result, they are uniquely susceptible to addictive features in digital products and highly vulnerable to the consequent harms, the school board argued.

Federal Legislation Pending as Big Tech Defends Products

In response, Google spokesperson Ivy Choi told FOX 5, a local affiliate, that these complaints are simply not true.

Protecting kids across our platforms has always been core to our work, Choi said.

In collaboration with child development specialists, we have built age-appropriate experiences for kids and families on YouTube and provide parents with robust controls. The allegations in these complaints are simply not true, she added.

Earlier this year, U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy warned that children aged 13 and younger were too young to use social media, despite being the minimum age to use popular apps like Facebook, TikTok, Snapchat, and Instagram.

Its a time when its really important for us to be thoughtful about whats going into how they think about their own self-worth and their relationshipsand the skewed and often distorted environment of social media often does a disservice to many of those children, said Murthy.

Meanwhile, legislators like Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) and Rep. Chris Stewart (R-Utah) introduced separate bills in February to implement age requirements for social media platforms to reduce their harmful impact on children.
Maxime Bernier Fined for 2021 Violation of COVID-19 Restrictions

People's Party of Canada Leader Maxime Bernier leaves a protest against government measures to curb the spread of COVID-19, in Peterborough, Ont., on April 24, 2021. (The Canadian Press/Fred Thornhill)

Peoples Party Leader Maxime Bernier agreed to pay $2,000 in fines and costs in Manitoba Provincial Court on May 16 for violating pandemic restrictions in 2021.

I am proud of what I did, Bernier told the court, according to information reported by Blacklocks Reporter. It was a dark time in Canada.

Bernier admitted in an agreed statement of facts that he had not quarantined as an out-of-province visitor prior to attending several federal election events in southern Manitoba in June of 2021. In a statement, Bernier also admitted he hosted public events in violation of COVID-19 restrictions.

He was arrested by RCMP on June 11, 2021, and spent part of a day in police custody before being released.

In his statement, Bernier said, It was the first time in Canadian history that a politician was thrown in jail for a non-crime. It was an embarrassing example of political repression.

Bernier was originally facing four counts of violating provincial pandemic rules, but two of them were dropped. The judge ruled Berniers time in custody was sufficient to cover one of the fines, and he was ordered to pay about $2,000 in fines and surcharges for the other.

His statement adds that Bernier asked if he could make a charitable donation to The Manitoba Association of Womens Shelters instead of paying a fine, but was told he had 30 days to pay the fine to the Manitoba government.

Earlier this month Bernier announced he was running as a PPC candidate in the June 19 federal byelection in Portage-Lisgar, Manitoba.

Conservatives won the riding in the last federal election with 52.5 percent of the vote. The PPC came in second with 21.6 percent of the vote.

In remarks prepared for his announcement on May 12, Bernier said its a chance for voters to send a new voice to Parliament.

No matter the result of this byelection, the CPC will not form the government, said Bernier. This is not an opportunity to get Trudeau out, but it is an opportunity to get a new voice in.

Send me to Ottawa, and I will speak out against the anti-family policies pushed by the Ottawa elite, he added.

Bernier ran for the PPCs in his home riding in Beauce, Que. in 2021, but lost by over 17,000 votes to incumbent Conservative MP Richard Lehoux.

Bernier was a cabinet minister under Stephen Harper and won the Beauce riding four times, starting in 2006, until he broke with the Conservative party in 2018.

Although the PPC received over 840,000 votes in the 2021 federal election, the party so far has not elected any MPs.
Middletown Amends Zoning Code to Ban Cannabis Sale

Middletowns City Council passed a zoning law amendment on May 16 to ban cannabis sales on any property within the city boundary.

Violators are punishable by fines between $250 and $2,000 or jail time of up to 15 days.

City Council President Miguel Rodrigues told The Epoch Times that the amendment allows the city to regulate cannabis activities as state-level enforcement remains elusive.

Middletown had opted out of the state law allowing for cannabis stores in July 2021; however, that didnt deter illegal cannabis products from popping up at local shops, some wrapped up in candy-like packages to appeal to young people, according to Rodrigues.

Once, his teenage son saw a store attendant selling cannabis products over the counter at a gas station on Mohagen Avenue. Rodrigues called the police, but they couldnt do much about it.

So what we are going to do is that now if you have a business in Middletown, and you decide that you dont care [and sell cannabis], we can revoke your business license, he said.

Police Chief John Ewanciw told The Epoch Times that the only enforcement tool the department has at the state level is to file a report with the cannabis control board, but it often has no immediate result.

Out of a handful of reports filed by the department about unlicensed cannabis sales in the city, no responses have been heard, except for a brief note acknowledging the receipt, he said.

Ewanciw said he also discussed with the county district attorneys office on illegal cannabis sale enforcement but found out the penal code wouldnt kick in unless for cases of large quantities.

[The zoning amendment] will give us the ability to address this more on a local level, he said.

Alex Smith, the citys corporation counsel who helped draft the amendment, told The Epoch Times that police and code enforcement officers will work together to enforce the new code.

New York legalized recreational marijuana in March 2021 by passing the Marijuana Regulation and Taxation Act under then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

The law allows adults 21 years and older to buy recreational cannabis from authorized dealers and carry up to three ounces of cannabis or 24 grams of cannabis concentrate.

However, rules and regulations governing the new industry are late in coming, according to Councilman Paul Johnson, also chairperson of the legislative committee.

What has happened in the interim is that some people think that Oh, it is a green light, and we have a whole array of products that have come into the marketplace within the city limits of Middletown that are not necessarily appropriate, especially products that are targeted toward younger people, he said.

He said the amendment is in the best interest of the city residents, given the elusive state regulations.

Councilman Gerald Kleiner said the city could revisit the code when conditions change in the future.
Middletown District Voters Pass $253 Million School Budget

A student waits at the building entrance of Middletown High School after dismissal in Middletown, N.Y., on Sept. 20,2022. (Cara Ding/The Epoch Times)

Middletown district voters on May 16 passed a school budget of more than $253 million by a 3 to 1 margin, according to the unofficial election results.

This years budget jumped by $25 million, or about 10 percent, from the past year, while the tax levy remains flat at $72 million.

The lions share of the budget increase, or $20 million, goes to instructional programs, especially the special education department, which expects to hire two dozen teaching assistants across the district and eight new teachers at elementary schools.

The rest of the budget bump, $5 million or so, covers the increasing administrative expenses, including the hiring of new administrators and new central data processing.

The passing of our budget enables our school community to ensure all learners are prepared to thrive, pursue their passions, and contribute in dynamic ways to our thriving community, Middletown School District Superintendent Amy Creeden said in a statement to The Epoch Times.

Every decision we make is with the goal of adding value and making our community proud.

Middletown School District Superintendent Amy Creeden demonstrates a Yondr pouch at a presentation to parents at Presidential Park Elementary School in Middletown, N.Y., on Feb. 7, 2023. (Cara Ding/The Epoch Times)

Much of the budget bump can be attributed to the rising foundation aid, which is expected to be fully funded by the state government for the first time in the coming year at $141 million.

In each of the past three school years, the foundation aid was underfunded by between $20 million to $50 million, according to a budget presentation by the school administration in April.

Last year, the district had a tax levy cut of $5 million.

On May 16, about 737 people turned out at the three voting locations, and another 87 voted absentees.

They also cast votes for the three open seats on the school board, which carry a term of three years.

Out of five candidates on the ballot, Edwin Estrada, Freddie Williams Jr., and Curtis Rhett got the most votes, at 492, 478, and 421, respectively.

Middletown School District enrolls about 7,200 students, with a cost per pupil of around $20,000, according to the latest New York State Education Department data.

Port Jervis School Budget Vote

In the nearby Port Jervis school district, voters passed a school budget of $90 million by a 4 to 1 margin.

This years budget jumped by $8 million, or 10 percent, compared to the past year, with the tax levy remaining flat at $29 million.

Nearly 1,000 voters participated in the budget vote on May 16.

Port Jervis Middle School is under renovation in Port Jervis, N.Y., on March 8, 2023. (Cara Ding/The Epoch Times)

Our community has always been great at supporting things that are good for kids. The voter turnout yesterday is another shining example, Port Jervis District Superintendent John Bell said in a statement provided to The Epoch Times.

The budget is full of wonderful things, including college courses in the high school increasing from 16 to 30, middle school honors classes increasing from two to six as well as new textbooks and new technology across all grades.

Much like what happened in Middletown, the Port Jervis district budget increases are largely brought by the rising foundation aid from the state government.

Created in 2007, the foundation aid formula requires the consideration of school district income levels in state funding distribution. However, the state government hadnt fully funded the program until a lawsuit by New Yorkers for Students Educational Rights compelled it to do so.

The settlement of the lawsuit in 2021 created a sharp increase of foundation aid money into low-income school districts over a period of three years, with the following year being the first year of full funding.

Four propositions were also passed by district voters along with the budget, including a $12 million capital project and the purchasing of 150 Pike St. for use as the district office at $1.7 million.

Three incumbents on the school board, Judy Amato, Nancy Dunn, and Bill Onofry, were reelected on the same day to a new three-year term.

Newcomer Michael Witt was elected to a one-year term on the board.

Port Jervis District enrolls about 2,370 students, with a cost per pupil of around $25,000, according to the latest New York State Education Department data.
WASHINGTON, May 16 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Joe Biden will not travel to Papua New Guinea and Australia later this month as originally planned due to the ongoing stalemate in negotiations with congressional leaders to address the debt ceiling crisis, the White House announced Tuesday.

Biden will still go to Hiroshima, Japan, the first leg of the trip, to participate in the three-day Group of Seven (G7) summit beginning Friday.

He will return to Washington after the summit's completion "for meetings with congressional leaders to ensure that Congress takes action by the deadline to avert default," White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement.

Biden would have become the first sitting U.S. president to visit the Pacific island country of Papua New Guinea, to be followed by a trip to Sydney for the leaders' summit of the Quad, which includes the United States, Japan, India and Australia.

In a call with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese earlier in the day, Biden informed Albanese he was postponing a visit to Australia and invited Albanese for an official state visit to the United States "at a time to be agreed by the teams," Jean-Pierre said.

She said Biden's team also "engaged with" the team of Papua New Guinean Prime Minister James Marape "to inform them as well."

Before the official announcement, news of the shortening of the trip was reported by multiple media outlets, citing people familiar with the matter. The decision came as Biden was meeting with congressional leaders from both the Democratic and Republican parties in the Oval Office over the debt ceiling issue.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen reaffirmed Monday that the United States may default on its debt obligations as soon as June 1 if the partisan fight drags on without a settlement.

Biden will depart Washington on Wednesday, stopping over Anchorage, Alaska, before arriving in Japan on Thursday, according to the travel guidance announced previously by the White House. 
Miller Lite Boycott Calls Grow Over Woke Beer Advertisement

Miller Lite is facing a growing backlash over an advertisement that appears to apologize for imagery of women clad in bikinis in beer commercials that some social media influencers say is a woke ad campaign.

Women were among the very first to brew beer, ever, actress Ilana Glazer said in the expletive-laden advertisement that showed her walking through a brewery. From Mesopotamia to the Middle Ages to colonial America, women were the ones doing the brewing. Centuries later, how did the industry pay homage to the founding mothers of beer? They put us in bikinis.

The advertisement then shows Glazer walking through a room with prior Miller Lite advertisements that features women in bikinis. Glazer drops a picture in a nearby garbage can, saying: Its time beer made it up to women. In a subsequent news release, the company announced the Glazer partnership and advertisement.

But on social media, the advertisement with Glazer was quickly derided. Fox News commentator Clay Travis, in a Twitter post earlier this week, suggested Miller is following in the footsteps of Bud Light, which created a beer can with transgender activist and influencer Dylan Mulvaney, which Mulvaney confirmed in early April before leading to a significant decline in Bud Light sales since then.

Miller Lite saw the Bud Light disaster and decided they needed their own woke beer ad. These companies are broken & have no idea who actually consumes their products, wrote Travis. However, the Miller Lite ad was created weeks before the Mulvaney partnership was announced.

Conservative podcast host Charlie Kirk made a similar comment, writing that Miller Lite is owned by Coors. You know what to do, implying calls for a boycott of the beer. Fox Nation pundit Tomi Lahren similarly accused Millers advertisement campaign of going woke, asking: Is there anything left for us regular people anymore?

This isnt Left vs. Right but woke vs. the rest of us. Its time companies figured that out and join the right side of the market and history, Lahren also wrote, while questioning whether the marketing managers at Molson Coors are cognizant of the type of consumers who drink Miller Lite.

Perhaps most notably, podcaster Joe Rogan noted: They were taking all those ads that we loved from the 80s and theyre just putting them in shredders that was their campaign today, I saw it this morning.

Similar refrains were made in the midst of viral controversy surrounding Bud Lights decision to work with Mulvaney, and Anheuser-Busch in late April removed several marketing executives who were in charge of Bud Lights marketing.

One of those executives, Alissa Heinerscheid, drew negative attention in the midst of the Mulvaney controversy in which she said she wanted Bud Light to push itself away from the fratty image it has cultivated for decades to become more inclusive.

The CEO of the brewing giant has since attempted to distance the company from Mulvaney and claimed it was just one can that was made with Mulvaneys face, and there was no partnership. Mulvaney, however, had written on social media, #budlightpartnership, suggesting there was one.

A six-pack of Bud Light sits on a shelf for sale at a convenience store in New York City on July 26, 2018. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

A spokesperson for Molson Coors told Fox News that there is nothing controversial about the ad. This video was about two things: worm poop and saying women shouldnt be forced to mud wrestle in order to sell beer. Neither of these things should be remotely controversial and we hope beer drinkers can appreciate the humor (and ridiculousness) of this video from back in March.

The Epoch Times has contacted Molson Coorsthe company that brews Coors Light, Steel Reserve, Milwaukees Best, and more beersfor comment.

Bud Light Sales Drop

As for Bud Light, sales for the beer, according to the latest industry figures, have dropped in the first week of May even further. Sales volumes of Bud Light fell by some 23.6 percent in the week that ended on May 6, according to retail scanner numbers based on Nielsen IQ data.

Trends arent getting much worse, but certainly not getting any better either, Beer Business Daily said in a commentary on the data, which represented a further decline from the 23.3 percent sales drop Bud Light suffered in the last week of April.

Meanwhile, sales volumes for Anheuser-Busch, the company that makes Bud Light, fell 9.7 percent in the first week of May, a slight improvement over the 11.4 percent drop the week prior, the industry data showed.

Earlier this month, Anheuser-Busch CEO Michel Doukeris told the Financial Times that he believes social media-driven misinformation and confusion are whats behind the backlash that has hurt his companys bottom line.

People often talk about this topic in social media like noise, he said. You have one fact and every person puts an opinion behind the fact. And then the opinions start to be replicated fast on each and every comment. By the time that 10 or 20 people put a comment out there, the reality is no longer what the fact is, but is more [about] what the comments were.

And in an April 14 press release, Anheuser-Buschs U.S. CEO Brendan Whitworth said the company had no intention creating division. But he did not mention Mulvaney nor the controversy surrounding the company.

We never intended to be part of a discussion that divides people. We are in the business of bringing people together over a beer, said his statement. I care deeply about this country, this company, our brands, and our partners.

He added: I spend much of my time traveling across America, listening to and learning from our customers, distributors, and others. Moving forward, I will continue to work tirelessly to bring great beers to consumers across our nation.

Tom Ozimek contributed to this report.
Montana Bans Second Trimester Abortion Procedures

Also prevents tax dollars from funding elective abortions

In a major pro-life move, Montana has enacted a ban on abortion procedures mainly performed for abortions in the second trimester of pregnancy, effectively blocking most abortions after 15 weeks.

Montana Gov. Greg Gianfortes office said the legislation, House Bill 721, will restrict dismemberment abortionalso referred to as dilation and evacuation abortionexcept for during a medical emergency in which the child would not survive outside of the womb.

The procedure, according to non-profit pro-life organization Live Action, is a surgical procedure during which an abortionist first dilates the womans cervix and then uses instruments to dismember and extract the baby from the uterus.

Im proud to round out our legislative session with another suite of pro-life, pro-family bills that protect the lives of unborn babies in Montana, Gianforte said in a statement.

The ban took effect immediately upon Gianfortes signature on Tuesday.

Dismemberment abortion for non-therapeutic or elective reasons is a barbaric practice, dangerous for the mother, and demeaning to the medical profession. House Bill 721 makes clear that it has no place in Montana, he previously said during a pro-life bill signing earlier in May.

People found guilty could be fined up to $50,000 and face five to 10 years in prison.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 5.8 percent of abortions take place between 14-20 weeks, and less than 1 percent of abortions happen after that.

Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte signs five pro-life bills at the Montana State Capitol in Helena on May 3, 2023. (State of Montana)

Planned Parenthood Lawsuit

Planned Parenthood, in response, filed an emergency request asking a state judge to temporarily block the legislation.

The lawsuit argues that the law is unconstitutional, due to a 1999 Montana Supreme Court ruling, which says the state constitutions right to privacy protects a womans right of procreative autonomy, including the right to seek and to obtain a specific lawful medical procedure, a pre-viability abortion, from a health care provider of her choice.

In a release, the abortion provider called the procedure the safest and most common method of abortion after approximately 15 weeks of pregnancy.

The group had previously filed a lawsuit aimed at challenging the legislation when it passed, but at the time, the lawsuit was determined to be premature.

The lawsuit points out that the law effectively bans abortions after 15 weeks because the dilation and evacuation procedure is the only method to abort a baby in Montana at that point.

Martha Fuller, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood of Montana, said in a statement the legislation is a grave threat to Montanans health and safety and must be blocked.

She called the ban a dangerous one that immediately bars pregnant women access to care that was legally available just before Gianfortes signature.

Sheila Hogan, the executive director of the Montana Democratic Party, said in a release that Gianfortes signing of the legislation infringes upon Montanans rights and freedoms, reported The Hill.

Other Pro-Life Actions

Gianforte also signed a pair of bills to better ensure taxpayer dollars are not used to fund elective abortions, his office announced.

House Bill 544 specifies whats required for the states Department of Health and Human Services (DPHHS) to make sure abortions covered by Medicaid are medically necessary.

Meanwhile, House Bill 862 blocks the use of taxpayer dollars to fund abortions except to save the life of a woman or in cases of incest or rape.

Gianforte said in a statement that Montanans voted in his administration to boldly defend life, not send their tax dollars to abortion clinics.

The governor also signed House Bill 937, which sets out rules about how DPHHS can license and conduct oversight of abortion clinics.

Earlier Pro-Life Actions in May

Gianfortes signing of pro-life bills on Tuesday came after he had signed five other pro-life measures on May 3. This included a ban on abortions after viability at 24 weeksexcept in cases where the mothers life is at riskand protections for infants born alive following an attempted abortion.

The other three measures were legislation affirming the right of medical providers to practice according to their conscience, a measure to require that all complications from chemical abortions be reported, and a measure to clarify that the right to privacy in the Montana Constitution doesnt confer a right to abortion.

But less than two weeks later, on May 12, in an unrelated abortion case, the Montana Supreme Court, in a 7-0 decision, reaffirmed its 1999 decision that abortion is a choice protected by the states constitutional right to privacy.

[U]nder Montanas Constitution, the right of individual privacythat is, the right of personal autonomy or the right to be let aloneis fundamental, the court noted (pdf), citing precedent. It is, perhaps, one of the most important rights guaranteed to the citizens of this State, and its separate textual protection in our Constitution reflects Montanans historical abhorrence and distrust of excessive governmental interference in their personal lives.

[T]he Montana Constitution guarantees a woman a fundamental right of privacy to seek abortion care from a qualified health care provider of her choosing, absent a clear demonstration of a medically acknowledged, bona fide health risk, the court also said.
More Support for Children With Autism Under New Pilot Program

Amanda Rishworth, Minister for Social Services (L), after a swearing-in ceremony at Government House in Canberra, Australia on June 1, 2022. (Jenny Evans/Getty Images)

Hundreds of babies aged between nine to 14 months old with early signs of autism will get preferable developmental support as part of the two new government-funded intervention programs.

About 1,500 vulnerable babies and their families from a diverse range of backgrounds will be able to participate in this program, which aims to address developmental concerns not being discovered early enough.

The evidence-based pilot program will take the best steps and implement appropriate interventions for infants showing early signs of neurodiversity.

The federal government will provide $22.1 million (US$14.65 million) for the two programs until 2026/27.

The new programs resulted from talks with disability and early childhood sectors, families and state and territory governments.

About one in 70 Australians have been diagnosed with autism.

National Autism Strategy

The announcement comes on the same day as the first full in-person meeting of the National Autism Strategy Oversight Council in Canberra.

The aim of the council is to ensure that the National Autism Strategy is evidence-based and informed by the experiences of autistic people.

It will meet regularly in Canberra to guide the minister and effectively oversee the Strategys development.

The Oversight Council has ten members, with eight coming from the autistic community and sector and the other two from the research and professional sector.

In the recent federal Budget, the government committed $4.9 million towards developing the National Autism Strategy.

Children are seen at an early childhood centre in Canberra, Australia, on Oct. 30, 2020. (AAP Image/Mick Tsikas)

Of that, $3.7 million will go towards the consultation and research for the National Autism Strategy in 2023-24.

The remaining $1.2 million will, over two years from 2023-24, help develop the National Roadmap to improve health and mental outcomes for people with autism.

This initiative will focus on addressing the critical health and mental health inequities experienced by the autistic community and help them get access to services, healthcare, education, and employment.

The National Autism Strategy will form a whole-of-life plan to improve outcomes for all autistic Australians, spanning a number of key reform areas including healthcare, education and employment, Social Services Minister Amanda Rishworth said.

We want to ensure no one gets left behind and that includes the one in six Australians with disability, including autistic Australians.

Why Is the National Autism Strategy Important?

In Australia, the number of people on the autism spectrum and other neurodevelopmental conditions is growing rather than declining.

For many autistic people, life outcomes in education, vocation, health, and family functioning are unsatisfying and need improvement.

There is a 20-year gap in life expectancy compared with the general population.

Autistic people are also around seven times more likely to be unemployed than people without disability, and they have a higher risk of homelessness.

People within the autistic community called for a dedicated National Autism Strategy that will improve life outcomes for all autistic people in Australia.

For the first time, it will provide a coordinated national approach to services and supports for autistic Australians and their families.

The National Autism Strategy will sit alongside Australias Disability Strategy 2021-2031.

According to research by Neuroscience Research Australia (NeuRA), an independent, not-for-profit medical research institute, autism affects approximately one in 160 individuals and is more common in males than females.

It is a neurodevelopmental disorder that usually appears before the age of three.

Some people will gradually improve as they get older while others remain unchanged and even develop new problems such as seizures. Autism can also lead to other problems such as depression.
MP Chong Says He Has Received Multiple Personal Threats Believed to Come From Beijing

Conservative member of Parliament Michael Chong speaks to reporters on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on May 3, 2023. (Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press)

Conservative MP Michael Chong told a parliamentary committee he has received multiple personal threats in recent yearsin addition to those directed against his family overseasthat he believes were orchestrated by Beijing.

Chong told the House of Commons Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs (PROC) on May 16 that he did not want to elaborate in detail on the nature of the threats and could not say for certain if they were from Beijing, but acknowledged there were more than one.

I have received threats that I believe may be related to the PRC [Peoples Republic of China] and Ill just leave it at that, Chong said.

Chong, whose riding of WellingtonHalton Hills is located just southwest of Toronto, said he reported the threats to the appropriate national security agencies and authorities and also to his local police force.

He previously told reporters that CSIS gave him and a number of other MPs a general briefing on foreign interference activity in June 2021 that did not contain any specific threats relating to him or his family.

However, Chong told PROC that his previous reporting of other personal threats may explain why he had more meetings with CSIS apart from the general briefing in 2021.

There was more than one threat, Chong told the committee, adding that one of the incidents occurred during his campaign in the last federal election in 2021.

The other incidences were outside of the federal election campaign and involved threats sent to me regarding the PRC and my travel outside the country, he said.

Threats

Chong previously said that CSIS confirmed information in a Globe and Mail report published in early May saying that Chinese diplomat Zhao Wei collected information about Chongs family members living in Hong Kong in order to target them with sanctions in 2021.

The alleged targeting was carried out in response to a House of Commons motion in 2021 sponsored by Chong declaring Chinas treatment of Uyghurs and other Turkic minorities a genocide.

The Liberal government has since declared Zhao persona non grata and expelled him from Canada.

Liberal MP Ruby Sahota asked Chong if the personal threats he recounted to PROC were connected to those made against his family in Hong Kong in 2021. Chong said he was unsure as he has not communicated with his family there in a number of years.

I dont know, he said. Quite simply, as with many Canadians with family in authoritarian states, I long ago deliberately made the decision not to communicate with them.

As a result, I dont know whats happened to them and its a difficult thing to do, but its something that many Canadians have to go through who have family back in authoritarian states.

Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino said on May 3 that both he and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau learned that Chongs family in Hong Kong was being targeted by Beijing only from recent media reports and were not briefed about it in 2021.

Mendicino also said on May 16 that the federal government has formally directed CSIS to investigate and disclose any foreign threats against parliamentarians or their families.

The Canadian Press contributed to this report.
Musk Calls George Soros Magneto, Sparks Criticism From Israeli Official

(Left) Hungarian-born U.S. investor and philanthropist George Soros answers to questions after delivering a speech on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland, on May 24, 2022. (Fabrice Coffrini/AFP via Getty Images), (Right) Tesla CEO Elon Musk leaves the Phillip Burton Federal Building in San Francisco on Jan. 24, 2023. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Elon Musk compared controversial billionaire Democratic donor George Soros to X-Men supervillain Magneto in a series of tweets on May 15, just days after Soross firm disclosed having sold off its stake in Tesla.

Soros reminds me of Magneto, the Twitter owner wrote, referring to the Marvel comic villain who is a Jewish Holocaust survivor.

He added that Hungarian-born investor Soros, 92, wants to erode the very fabric of civilization and hates humanity.

Musks comments came after Soros investment management firm, Soros Fund Management, confirmed in a filing with the U.S. Securities and exchange commission published on Friday that it sold off its entire stake in Teslas stocks in the first quarter of this year.

According to the filing, Soros fund held 132,000 shares in Tesla last quarter, worth about $16.3 million at the time, before selling them off after Teslas stock price surged.

Soros firm also cut its stake in rival carmaker Rivian and a string of tech companies like Amazon and Alphabet, the filing shows.

It also reduced its stake in First Horizon Bank by 14.37 percent to roughly 7.31 million shares.

Responding to Musks comments on Monday, Jonathan Greenblatt, CEO of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), a civil rights group that tracks antisemitism incidents, said the remarks will embolden extremists.

Twitter logo and a photo of Elon Musk are displayed through a magnifier in this illustration taken on Oct. 27, 2022. (Dado Ruvic/Illustration/Reuters)

Musk Posts Distressing, Dangerous

Soros often is held up by the far-right, using antisemitic tropes, as the source of the worlds problems, Greenblatt posted on Twitter. To see Elon Musk, regardless of his intent, feed this segmentcomparing him to a Jewish supervillain, claiming Soros hates humanityis not just distressing, its dangerous: it will embolden extremists who already contrive anti-Jewish conspiracies and have tried to attack Soros and Jewish communities as a result.

Musk later posted that ADL should just drop the A.

Israels Foreign Ministry weighed in on Musks comments on Tuesday, with its Director of Digital Diplomacy David Saranga posting, The Jews is trending right now on #Twitter and its filled with antisemitic conspiracies and hate speech targeting Jews around the world.

Saranga accused Twitter of doing nothing to address this problem.

It reminds me of Niemollers words which are prominently featured on a wall of the Holocaust Museum in Washington: First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak outbecause I was not a socialist. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak outbecause I was not a trade unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak outbecause I was not a Jew. Then they came for meand there was no one left to speak for me, he wrote.

Musk defended his comments about Soros in an interview with CNBC on Tuesday following Teslas shareholder meeting, saying he stands by his remarks because thats my opinion [of Soros].

George Soros answers questions after delivering a speech on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos, on May 24, 2022. (Fabrice Coffrini/AFP via Getty Images)

Musk Touts Freedom of Speech

Its freedom of speech; Im allowed to say what I want, Musk said, adding that he is not concerned if his posts dont go down well with Twitter advertisers or potential Tesla buyers.

Ill say what I want to say, and if the consequence of that is losing money, so be it, Musk said in the interview.

However, the businessman stressed he is not an anti-Semite and is a pro-Semite if anything.

Musks comments about Soros come shortly after the billionaire financier denied claims that he contributed to Manhattan district attorney Alvin Braggs election campaign and denied having ever met Bragg.

His denial came after he was criticized for a $1 million contribution he made to the Color of Change PAC, which endorsed Bragg in his campaign for Manhattan district attorney in 2021 and which pledged more than $1 million in support.

Bragg led the indictment against former President Donald Trump.

I think some on the right would rather focus on far-fetched conspiracy theories than on the serious charges against the former president, Soros told Semafor in a March interview.

Soros has long been a prominent contributor to Democratic candidates and left-wing causes and donated nearly $1.4 million to Alianza America, which describes itself as a network of migrant-led organizations supporting immigrants across the United States, between 2016 and 2020.

The nonprofit organization later went on to file a lawsuit against Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on behalf of illegal immigrants who were flown to Marthas Vineyard.

Tom Ozimek contributed to this report.
Musk Warns Theres a Chance AI Goes Wrong and Destroys Humanity

Elon Musk speaks at the "Twitter 2.0: From Conversations to Partnerships" marketing conference in Miami Beach, Fla., on April 18, 2023. (Chandan Khanna/AFP via Getty Images)

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has issued yet another warning about the potential dangers of artificial intelligence (AI)namely, that it could destroy humanity.

In a May 16 interview with CNBC anchor David Faber, the tech tycoon noted that the future of AI could go one of two ways.

Theres a strong probability that it will make life much better and that well have an age of abundance, he said. And theres some chance that it goes wrong and destroys humanity.

He added: Hopefully, that chance is small, but its not zero. And so, I think we want to take whatever actions we can think of to minimize the probability that AI goes wrong.

Musks comments echoed concerns he shared in an April interview with Tucker Carlson, during which he posited that AI has the potential of civilizational destruction.

Misgivings

The rapid advancement of AI technology has alarmed many in the tech industryparticularly since the November release of OpenAIs ChatGPT, a powerful AI chatbot that uses machine learning to simulate human cognitive function.

In his May 16 interview, Musk addressed his role in the development of that groundbreaking technology.

I am the reason OpenAI exists, he said, revealing that he gave roughly $50 million to the research lab when it was still a nonprofit organization.

I came up with the name, he added. OpenAI refers to open source.

Open-source software is computer software that allows users to inspect, modify, and distribute its source code.

Musk said he invested in OpenAI, hoping it would pose an open-source alternative to Google DeepMind. In 2019, however, OpenAI became a for-profit company with closed-source software in a move Musk questioned the legality of.

Lets say you fund an organization to save the Amazon rainforest, and instead, they became a lumber company and chopped down the forest and sold it for money, he posited. And youd be there like, Well, wait a second, thats the exact opposite of what I gave the money for. Is that legal? That doesnt seem legal.

New Initiative

Despite his regrets over his involvement with OpenAI, Musk recently founded his own for-profit AI company, X.AI Corp., in March, according to a Nevada business filing (pdf).

The companys name reinforces Musks previous assertions that he intends to create an everything app called X.

For instance, in announcing Twitters new CEO Linda Yaccarino in a May 12 tweet, Musk wrote: @LindaYacc will focus primarily on business operations, while I focus on product design & new technology. Looking forward to working with Linda to transform this platform into X, the everything app.

In keeping with that plan, Musk also recently merged Twitter, Inc., which he also owns, into the company X Corp., which has the parent company X Holdings Corp.

As a result, the social media company is now also incorporated in Nevada.

Musk has said that his X app would be modeled after WeChat, a Chinese messaging app that operates as a one-stop-shop for practically everything, including gaming, financial services, transportation, ordering food, and more.

However, apps like WeChat have sparked concerns about user privacy, given the amount of user data they provide companiesand in WeChats case, the Chinese governmentaccess to.

The app has also reportedly been used as a tool for government censorship.

Despite those concerns, per Axios, Twitter made its first acquisition under Musks leadership on May 16 with the purchase of the job-matching platform Laskie.

When reached for comment about the potential risks that Musks everything app could pose in combination with AI technology, Twitter responded with a poop emoji.
Nevada Legislature Passes Gun Control Bills, Awaits Gov. Joe Lombardos Move

The Nevada Legislature passed three gun control bills on May 15, sending them to Republican Gov. Joe Lombardos desk for his signature of approval.

Lombardo, a former police officer and Second Amendment supporter, has not commented on whether he will veto the bills.

On his campaign website, Lombardo says he supports the right of all law-abiding citizens to own a firearm if they so choose. The website also expresses his support for the right to build a firearm for personal use, and vows to veto any legislation that would take away that right.

The Epoch Times reached out to his office for comment but Lombardo did not respond before press time.

Democrats control both chambers of the state Legislature.

One proposal, AB355, would raise the eligible age to possess semiautomatic shotguns and rifles from 18 to 21. Another proposal, SB171, would prohibit gun ownership for a person convicted of a felony hate crime or gross misdemeanor in the previous 10 years.

A third bill, AB354, would prohibit possession of a firearm within a certain distance of an election site and also restrict the ability to purchase individual firearm components to build guns without serial numbers, often called ghost guns.

Lawmaker Debates

Assembly Majority Leader Sandra Jauregui, who sponsored the two Assembly bills, previously said the package would protect second graders and the Second Amendment at the same time. She noted that 21 is already the eligible age to own a handgun in Nevada.

During a joint meeting of the Assembly and Senate Judiciary Committees on April 6, the Assembly Republican Caucus said all of its members would vote against AB355, the proposal to increase the minimum age to buy a semiautomatic shotgun or handgun, and questioned whether the bill would stop gun violence, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported.

A criminal intent on committing violent crimes will not be stopped by this law, but this law will stop, for example, a young woman who lives alone from procuring and responsibly owning a firearm for her own home defense, the Republicans said.

The National Rifle Association (NRA) and many gun owners say the bills are unconstitutional and discriminatory. They believe that taking away guns could cause more harm and pose more danger to the publics safety.

Were here in strong opposition today to AB355, Daniel Reid, western regional director for the NRA, said at the joint meeting. The bill is unconstitutional on its face, under both the Nevada Constitution as well as the U.S. Constitution.

Democrat state Sen. Dallas Harris called on the governor to sign the bills.

This is something we should not try and wheel and deal on. The lives of Nevadans are not a bargaining chip, Harris said during an April 6 press conference before the joint meeting. Im confident that the governor wants to protect Nevadans just like we do. Were going to offer him a couple of options that will do exactly that.

If youve been convicted of committing or attempting to commit a hate crime involving violence, do we want you to continue to be able to carry a gun? I submit the answer is, heck no,' Harris added, referring to SB171.

Nevada Republican Party National Committeeman Jim DeGraffenreid responded.

Were opposed to this bill because of its overreach and subjectivity, DeGraffenreid told the Las Vegas Journal-Review. Criminal behavior should be punished consistently regardless of what motivated the crime.
Nevada Reaches $152 Million Settlement with CVS Pharmacy Over Opioid Lawsuit

CVS Caremark Corporation last week agreed to pay over $17.5 million to the federal government and 10 states in a settlement involving false prescription billing cases. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)

The state of Nevada has reached a settlement with CVS Pharmacy worth nearly $152 million over the companys role in the opioid epidemic, Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford announced on May 16.

The settlement will be paid over the next decade and will be split up between the state and the signatories of the One Nevada Agreement between local governments on how to divide opioid settlement money.

CVS negotiated in good faith, Ford said at a news conference in Carson City, Nevada. Their work with the state of Nevada  will help our state tackle the opioid problem.

My office will never stop fighting to hold accountable those companies and organizations that contributed to the crisis of the opioid epidemic, Ford said. The resources and funds that come to the state through our settlements will provide substantial help for Nevadans. I will work to do whatever I can to bolster the support we can offer the residents of our great state.

The settlement is one of the 10 largest between a single state and a single company over opioid claims. It also puts the total money Nevada expects to receive from opioid litigation settlements since 2020 at $606 million, according to Fords office. It marks the largest sum the state has brought in opioid-related litigation by itself.

In early 2022, Ford announced Nevada would join a multistate opioid settlement against three of the nations largest opioid distributors, under which Nevada will receive $231 million over an 18-year period.

It is not an exaggeration to say this is the most significant infusion of money into Nevada since the receipt of emergency COVID-19 funding, Ford said in a statement at the time. This money will go directly toward remediating the harms done to Nevada by the ongoing opioid epidemic and will give our state, our counties, and our litigating cities access to the funding and tools they need to help the members of our Nevada family impacted by the horrors of addiction.

Nevada Gov. Joe Lombardo addressed the issue during his State of the State address earlier this year.

Fentanyl possession in any amount should be a category B felony. Addressing these problem areas will have an immediate effect on reducing crime and helps ensure the effectiveness of our public safety and criminal justice systems, Lombardo said.

Last year, CVS agreed to pay state and local governments nearly $5 billion to settle opioid lawsuits in several states. But Nevada did not join in that litigation so it could pursue the single-state settlement, Fords spokesman John Sadler said.

Earlier this year, California received a settlement from CVS for about $470 million over allegations that the pharmacy chain contributed to the opioid crisis.

Today, we begin the year with another win in our fight to hold corporate giants to account for their role in fueling the opioid crisis, California Attorney General Rob Bonta said in a statement at the time. The funds from this settlement will help bring much-needed relief to our communities and will ensure CVS changes its business practices to keep such a crisis from ever happening again.

CVS will be required to implement additional employee training and investigate potentially suspicious prescriptions. The companys pharmacies will be subject to site visits and compliance reviews.

The pharmacy chain has also agreed to develop an oversight program with a list of red flags associated with prescriptions, patients, and prescribers to help stop the misuse of opioids.

Kara Page, a CVS spokesperson, said in a statement that the company was pleased with the Nevada agreement and noted that opioid prescriptions are written by doctors, not pharmacists. No details about the oversight program were revealed.

The Associated Press contributed to this report
NIH Cuts Off Funding to Wuhan Lab at Center of COVID Leak Controversy

Peter Daszak (R), Thea Fischer (L) and other members of the World Health Organization team investigating the origins of the virus that causes COVID-19, arrive at the Wuhan Institute of Virology in Wuhan in China's central Hubei Province on Feb. 3, 2021. (Hector Retamal/AFP via Getty Images)

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has quietly removed the Wuhan lab suspected as a source of COVID-19 from its list of foreign facilities eligible to conduct animal experiments with taxpayer dollars.

Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) was absent from the list of institutions with animal welfare assurance that the NIH Office of Laboratory Animal Welfare oversees.

The documentation serves as proof of compliance with guidelines for appropriate animal care and treatment necessary for an organization to receive U.S. Public Health Service (PHS) funding.

The WIV was still on the list as recently as April 23. The current list, last updated on May 17, contains 27 other laboratories from China.

The Wuhan lab has for years been a partner of the New York-based EcoHealth Alliance, conducting bat coronavirus research with U.S. funding, which totaled more than $3 million between 2014 and 2019.

Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), a vocal critic of the NIH funding to Wuhan, cheered the news as a victory for taxpayers.

After years of advocacy, the Wuhan Lab finally appears to no longer be eligible for U.S. funding, she told The Epoch Times. The truth is, Chinas state-run Wuhan Institute of Virology should never have received U.S. support for its dangerous experiments on bat coronaviruses.

Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) speaks at a Senate Republican news conference in the U.S. Capitol Building on March 9, 2022. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

Ernst said that she feels troubled that the Wuhan facility was able to get funding in the first place.

This incident has exposed a huge loophole that is allowing untold sums of U.S. dollars to be secretly spent in institutions in China and elsewhere, she said, adding that she remains committed to ensuring that no other batty studies at the expense of taxpayers are flying under the radar and that theres full public transparency for every penny sent to an institution in China.

The Wuhan lab has a history of questionable lab safety practices as it engaged in projects to enhance a SARS-like coronavirus that could make mice sicker. A 2017 video showed the WIV researchers keeping bats in a cage inside the lab and collecting bat samples outdoors with minimal protection measures.

The NIH suspended funding to EcoHealths bat virus project after the pandemic broke out in China, and it later terminated the Wuhan subgrant over grant rule compliance questions. It renewed the grant earlier this month with some modifications to the programs scope, a move that drew alarms from critics such as Ernst, who wants to see permanent defunding of the New York organization.

With the renewed grant, EcoHealth now receives 17 active U.S. grants valued at more than $50 million collectively.

Justin Goodman of White Coat Waste Project, a watchdog group that has worked with Ernst to push for defunding the WIV, said he is thrilled to see the NIHs long overdue decision to disqualify white coats in Wuhan from future taxpayer funding.

Taxpayers shouldnt be forced to fund a foreign lab run by an adversarial nation that wasted money, tortured animals, and engineered superviruses in dangerous gain-of-function experiments that violated the law and likely caused COVID, he told The Epoch Times.

Related Coverage How the West Abetted Beijings Censorship of the Lab Leak Theory

The NIH Office of Extramural Research, in an emailed statement, confirmed that the Wuhan lab isnt on the list of institutions with a PHS-approved animal welfare assurance but didnt comment on the timing.

NIH does not discuss the review process for animal assurances requested for individual institutions, it told The Epoch Times.

An Assurance does not determine whether an organization can or will receive a grant; the Assurance means the organization is in compliance with the Policy for the care and use of animals in PHS-conducted or supported activities.

For an institution outside of the United States, an assurance will be renewed only if the institution continues to receive PHS funds, either directly or indirectly, the office said, noting that the list of active assurances is updated daily.

A number of former and current health and intelligence officials have voiced support for the theory that COVID-19 originated in a Wuhan lab.

A lab leak is the only explanation credibly supported by our intelligence, by science, and by common sense, John Ratcliffe, the director of national intelligence during the Trump administration, recently told a congressional committee in Washington.

In fact, were this a trial, the preponderance of circumstantial evidence provided by our intelligence would compel a jury finding of guilt to an accusation that the coronavirus research in the Wuhan labs was responsible for spawning a global pandemic.

David Feith, an adjunct senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security and a former deputy assistant secretary of state, told the Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic that it became harder to ignore the suspicious basic facts of the story as they gathered information regarding the pandemic origins.

As we documented these issues to inform our diplomatic engagements with China and others, our attention was drawn increasingly back to the Wuhan labs, Feith said on April 18.

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) on May 17 also released a report (pdf) on the origin of the virus that causes COVID-19.

The 328-page report compiled a list of circumstantial evidence linking the origin of the pandemic to the Chinese lab.

During the second half of 2019, the report said, a serious biocontainment failure or accident, likely involving a viral pathogen, likely took place there, which the most senior Chinese leadership became aware of by November 2019 at the latest.

The WIV, the report said, is underfunded, underregulated, and understaffed but under authorities pressure to produce scientific breakthroughs to propel China to the forefront of the field.

The WIV was almost an accident waiting to happen, and it appears that an accident, or perhaps accidents, did happen, and roughly concurrent with the initial outbreak of SARSCoV-2.

This article has been updated with a statement from the NIH Office of Extramural Research.
Nikki Haley Urges NY Governor to Pardon Daniel Penny, Former Marine Charged in Chokehold Death of Homeless Man

Republican presidential candidate and former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley speaks at a town hall event in Bedford, N.H., on April 26, 2023. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley has called on New York Gov. Kathy Hochul to pardon Daniel Penny, the former Marine charged in the death of a homeless man on the subway.

In a May 16 interview with Fox News, the former South Carolina governor and wife of a combat veteran, defended Pennys actions, saying the 24-year-old was attempting to defend and protect other passengers on the subway from Jordan Neely.

Witnesses to the incident on May 1 have said Neely, who had a history of mental illness, was acting erratically and threatening passengers.

This is really upsetting, Haley said before taking aim at Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg for letting murderers go, and allowing street crime to happen all over New York City.

Here you have a former military guy, where its in their blood to defend and protect, she said. He saw danger, he was trying to protect himself and the other people on that subway, and the idea that Bragg would go and indict him this way without an investigation, without any sort of grand juryreally what I think needs to happen is the governor needs to pardon Penny.

No question about it. She needs to pardon him right away. Its the right thing to do, Haley added.

Haley told Fox that if Hochul, a Democrat, fails to pardon Penny, New York will continue to be plagued with criminals because they will know that there is no accountability for anyone who tries to stop them.

New York police officers administer CPR to Jordan Neely on a subway train in N.Y.C., on May 1, 2023. (Paul Martinka via AP)

Penny Arraigned Over Neelys Death

If she pardons him, that sets it right on a lot of things. Itll put criminals on notice, and itll let people like Penny who really were very brave in that instance, it will let them know that weve got their back, Haley said.

Penny was arraigned in Manhattan Criminal Court on May 12 on a charge of second-degree manslaughter, which carries a maximum penalty of 15 years imprisonment, Braggs office confirmed.

Penny, who has been described by family members as a fun kid who could always be counted on when you needed help and a young man who served our country was seen on video footage putting Neely, 30, in a chokehold on the F train.

He was also seen administering aid to Neely and helping another passenger put him in the recovery position after he fell unconscious.

Neely was taken to hospital where he was pronounced dead later the same day.

According to the medical examiner, Neely died of compression of neck.

Witnesses said that Neely was behaving aggressively toward other passengers on the subway car before the incident, complaining and shouting I want food, Im not taking no for an answer, Im ready to go back to jail, and Ill hurt anyone on this train.

Daniel Penny (C) is walked by New York Police Department detectives out of the 5th Precinct in New York on May 12, 2023. (Jeenah Moon/AP Photo)

Neelys Family Call for Murder Charges

Lawyers for Penny said he did not mean to kill Neely, who had an arrest record that included 42 prior arrests, dating between 2013 and 2021, for alleged assault and accusations of transit fraud and criminal trespass.

At the time of his death, Neely also had an active warrant out for his arrest related to a 2021 felony assault, the publication reports.

However, Neelys family has called for more serious charges of murder to be imposed on Penny.

Daniel Penny chose, intentionally chose, a technique to use that is designed to cut off airthats what he choseand he chose to continue to hold that chokehold minute after minute, second after second, until there was no life left in Jordan Neely, Neely family attorney Lennon Edwards told reporters on May 12.

Neelys death has fiercely divided Americans and prompted protests in New York City calling for justice and increased law enforcement accountability.

Braggs office has said it interviewed numerous witnesses and carefully reviewed video footage and other evidence from the incident to determine that there was probable cause to arrest Penny on felony charges.

Meanwhile, a fundraiser set up for Penny by his lawyers, Thomas Kenniff and Steven Kaiser, has raised over $2.5 million.
GUANGZHOU, May 17 (Xinhua) -- Xu Guojun, former chief of Bank of China (BOC) Kaiping sub-branch, stood trial over embezzlement and the misappropriation of public funds, at the Intermediate People's Court of Jiangmen in south China's Guangdong Province on Wednesday.

Between 1993 and 2000, Xu allegedly took advantage of his positions at the Kaiping sub-branch of the BOC in Guangdong, and conspired with others to embezzle over 62.2 million U.S. dollars, over 363 million HK dollars (about 46.35 million U.S. dollars) and over 1.46 million Deutsche marks worth of public funds.

Xu and others also misappropriated over 355 million yuan (about 50.9 million U.S. dollars), 20 million HK dollars and over 126 million U.S. dollars worth of public funds, according to prosecutors.

Xu fled to the United States in 2001 and was repatriated to China in November 2021.

At the court, prosecutors presented their evidence, which the defendant and his lawyers then cross-examined.

In his final statement, Xu pleaded guilty and expressed remorse.

The verdict will be announced in due course. 
North Carolina Lawmakers Override Veto to Enact 12-Week Abortion Ban

North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper speaks during a briefing at the Emergency Operations Center in Raleigh, N.C., on June 2, 2020. (Ethan Hyman/The News & Observer via AP)

North Carolinas Republican-controlled General Assembly overrode the veto of Democrat Gov. Roy Cooper on May 16 to enact legislation that prohibits the majority of abortions after the 12-week mark.

The state House voted 7248 along party lines after the state Senate voted 3020, both three-fifths majorities that were achieved owing to the Republican supermajority.

The North Carolina Republican Party (NCGOP) welcomed the enactment of this reasonable legislation to protect life after the first trimester in North Carolina.

The NCGOP said in a statement that Cooper and the Democrats hold a radical position on abortion which the organization argues is out of step with the values of most North Carolinians.

The voters of North Carolina have rejected the radical abortion-on-demand position of Roy Cooper, [Attorney General] Josh Stein, and the Democrat Party, NCGOP Chairman Michael Whatley said in a statement.

I commend our Republican-led General Assembly for overriding Gov. Coopers veto of this balanced and widely-supported legislation and moving forward to protect life in North Carolina.

The Republican supermajority was made possible by state Rep. Tricia Cotham, who made headlines for switching her party affiliation to Republican from Democrat.

Cotham had campaigned in favor of abortion rights as a Democrat and sponsored a measure to codify Roe v. Wade earlier in the current legislative session. However, she joined Republicans in voting to pass the ban.

In a statement on May 16, she defended her vote to support the restrictions, saying she wasnt on either of the extreme ends of the abortion issue spectrum, but instead saw it as a complicated issue without absolute answers. She said the bill strikes a reasonable balance and represents a middle ground.

Cooper Responds

Before the crucial vote, Cooper had actively called on lawmakers to uphold his veto. However, his hopes were dashed.

North Carolinians now understand that Republicans are unified in their assault on womens reproductive freedom, and we are energized to fight back on this and other critical issues, he said.

Cooper had vetoed the abortion ban on May 13, soon after the General Assembly swiftly passed the bill.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre expressed frustration with North Carolina lawmakers who passed the measure, calling it a dangerous bill that is out of touch with most of the states residents.

She said President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris would continue to work with state legislators and Americans to restore the protections of Roe for all people in every state.

Since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June last year, Republican and Democrat lawmakers have moved to either restrict or weaken abortion laws.

Some Republican-led legislatures, such as Floridas, have enacted near-total bans at six weeks, while some Democrat-led legislatures, such as Californias, have allowed abortion to occur up to birth and without requirements to provide care for babies born alive after a failed procedure.

South Carolina House lawmakers are currently in the midst of a lengthy debate over a six-week abortion ban, to which Democrats have filed more than 1,000 amendments

The North Carolina legislation, known as the Care for Women, Children, and Families Act, would enforce a ban on surgical abortions performed by licensed physicians after the 12th week of pregnancy. It will become effective on July 1.

Exceptions

However, there are exceptions for cases of rape and incest, which allow abortions until the 20-week mark of pregnancy, as well as for situations involving a life-limiting anomaly, which permits abortions until the 24-week mark.

According to the bill, a physician can perform an abortion after the 12-week mark if it is determined to be necessary to prevent the mothers death, excluding psychological or emotional conditions.

Currently, North Carolina allows abortions up to 20 weeks of pregnancy. While reducing the limit to 12 weeks is a significant change, it is less restrictive compared to some other states governed by the Republican Party, which have recently implemented bans as early as six weeks or near-total bans.

The legislation further grants health care providers the right to refuse participation in abortion procedures on moral, ethical, or religious grounds. It also requires multiple in-person examinations by physicians before prescribing or administering abortion-inducing drugs.

The bill specifically prohibits individuals within the state from mailing such drugs to pregnant women. Furthermore, doctors must confirm that the probable gestational age of a fetus isnt more than 10 weeks before approving a medication abortion.
President Joe Biden held a second closed-door meeting on the nations $31 trillion debt ceiling. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) says a deal to raise the limit is possible by the end of the week.

Lawmakers on Tuesday confronted the former CEOs of failed Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank on bank mismanagement and profitable stock sales.

The House Judiciary Committee asked special counsel John Durham to testify on his report. NTD spoke with a former federal prosecutor for his analysis of the report.
In Massachusetts, District Attorney Rachael Rollins plans to resign by the end of this week, after a 161-page Justice Department report found she committed serious ethical misconduct.

The Supreme Court on Wednesday refused to block a ban on certain firearms, including AR-15-style and AK-47-style rifles, in Illinois.

Results are out in Kentucky, Florida, and Pennsylvania, after voters headed to the polls Tuesday for primary and local elections. NTD has the key takeaways.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is sending troops to Texas to help defend the Border. And New York City Mayor Eric Adams says his city might start housing illegal immigrants on public school property.

President Joe Biden held a second closed-door meeting on the nations $31 trillion debt ceiling. Will the two sides be able to find common ground before default? We speak to an expert.

The chief executive of OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, testified before a Senate subcommittee. We share his and lawmakers top concerns around AI technology.

Topics in this episode include:

1. McCarthy: Debt Deal Possible By End of Week

2. Debt Ceiling Deadlock: Analysis

3. North Carolina Bans Abortions After 12 Weeks

4. Secret Service Probing Security Breach

5. Florida Sending Help to Texas

6. NYC May House Immigrants on School Property

7. House GOP Sets Testimony Date for Durham Report

8. Pentagon Report on Virus Origins Leaked

9. OpenAI CEO Admits Fears of AI Misuse

10. CIA Posts Video to Recruit Russian Spies

11. Experts Top 3 Money Saving Tips for Your Next Trip
NYC Mayor Eric Adams Considering Converting 20 School Gyms to Shelters for Illegal Immigrants

New York City Mayor Eric Adams speaks onstage during an event at Chelsea Piers in New York City, on May 15, 2023. (Slaven Vlasic/Getty Images)

Democratic New York City Mayor Eric Adams has plans to convert up to 20 gymnasiums linked to public schools into makeshift shelters for illegal immigrants arriving in the city.

Adams confirmed the illegal immigrant shelter plan in an interview with PIX 11 on Tuesday morning, amid concerns from local parents about child safety and how the plan could disrupt education. Adams explained that the 20 gymnasiums his office is looking at are in structures that are separate from the main school buildings.

We want to be clear on that plan: We have 20 standalone gymnasiums throughout the city. They stand alone, theyre not a part of the school building, Adams said. They are on the list of potential locations that we may have to use. Were not there yet, but we need a list to be prepared so if these influxes continue, that we could accommodate what we have to accommodate.

It was not immediately clear from Adams comments whether these selected gymnasiums are located on campuses shared with any public schools. NTD News repeatedly reached out to Adams office for further details but did not receive a response by the time this article was published.

Adams said his offices efforts to find shelter locations came about as New York City took in approximately 4,200 new illegal immigrants last week.

Addressing parental concerns about interactions between school children and illegal immigrants, Adams told PIX 11 that, We have coordinated with school safety agents, the school safety personnel, the New York City Police Department, our [Department of Social Services] staff, everyone is going to make sure theres no contact between the migrants and our school childrenif we have to go there.

Adams then reiterated that he had not made a final decision on converting these gymnasiums into shelters.

If we do, we are going to notify the public and let them know, he added.

Adams did not specify how long these gymnasiums might be used as shelters for illegal immigrants.

NYC Dealing With Illegal Immigrant Buses

New York City is facing an onslaught of illegal immigrants being transported by bus from communities at the U.S. southern border.

Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has been sending busloads of illegal immigrants from the border to other states for months. Abbotts bussing strategy has focused on so-called sanctuary cities like New York and Chicago. Sanctuary jurisdictions are those that do not cooperate with federal immigration authorities who might arrest or deport illegal immigrants.

Adams recently criticized Abbotts decision to bus migrants to New York City, as well as to other sanctuary cities like Los Angeles, Chicago, Denver, and Washington.

Not only is this behavior morally bankrupt and devoid of any concern for the well-being of asylum seekers, but it is also impossible to ignore the fact that Abbott is now targeting five cities run by Black mayors, Adams posted on Twitter on May 1 after learning that Abbott was restarting the illegal immigrant bussing program.

Abbott has said his bussing strategy has shone a spotlight on the hypocrisy of sanctuary cities that balk at the prospect of having to actually take in illegal immigrants.

Adams recently launched his own decompression strategy to begin relocating illegal immigrants from New York City to neighboring areas of New York State. County officials in Rockland and Orange Counties have both declared emergencies over New York Citys decompression strategy, and raised legal challenges to block Adams relocation efforts.

From NTD News
Pompeo Hits at Republicans Critical of US Assistance to Ukraine

Former U.S. Secretary of State and Central Intelligence Agency Director Mike Pompeo speaks during the annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) on March 3, 2023. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called out Republicans critical of U.S. assistance toward Ukraine amid its war with Russia.

During a May 17 event at the Hudson Institute, a Washington think tank where Pompeo is a distinguished fellow, the man who served under former President Donald Trump as the nations top diplomat took issue with those who say that helping Ukraine fight off Russia detracts from assisting Taiwan amid the threat from China.

Pompeo said that notion is predicated on a falsity of a zero-sum game that we can only have so many artillery rounds. He acknowledged that the number cannot be infinite, but he said that the issue comes down to production by the industrial-military complex. Pompeo said the matter would exist even without the Russia-Ukraine war.

He lamented that the Trump administration did not begin to address the scope and scale of the shallowness of the industrial base to actually build a deterrent model that would be respected by [Chinese President] Xi Jinping.

Pompeo also said that Xi is looking at what is happening in Ukraine as a way to determine whether to invade Taiwan.

He sympathized with those who want to put American interests first and acknowledged the isolationists in the GOP.

However, he said, Whats not fine is misunderstanding and just counting the cost of what it would mean for the United States to not support Ukraine. While $25 billion-$30 billion in U.S. equipment to Ukraine is real money, said Pompeo, the cost, had we not done that, would be multiples of that.

And the cost of failure, the cost of Vladimir Putin sitting not just in Kyiv but in Warsaw would be  bad for Americans, for every American family. And thats what they miss. They get the liability side of the balance sheet, but they forget the enormous benefit of American leadership in the world.

GOP critics of the billions of dollars in U.S. assistance to Ukraine include Elbridge Colby, an influential voice in Republican foreign policy circles, and Kevin Roberts, president of The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank.

The fact is that our concentration on Ukraine has undermined our ability to address the worsening military situation in Asia, especially around Taiwan. Advocates for unconditional support of Ukraine say that these two objectives are not in tension. Yet this is simply not borne out by the facts, wrote Elbridge and Roberts in TIME in March.

This is the real world, one in which American largesse is not unlimited, not the one we might wish it to be. In this world, America must focus on China and deterring war over Taiwan, they added.
Postal Chief Says Service Is Better While Lawmakers Say There Is Still Work to Do

Postmaster General Louis DeJoy testifies during a House Oversight Subcommittee on Government Operations and Federal Workforce hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington on May 17, 2023. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

The Postmaster General told the House Oversight Subcommittee on Government Operations and the Federal Workforce that the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) had made significant progress toward the goals of its Delivering for America 10-Year Strategic Plan.

But during its May 17 hearing, the subcommittee wanted to hear that the mail would be delivered on time.

Its not lost on any of us that there are economic issues, said subcommittee Chairman Pete Sessions (R-Texas). But there are day-to-day issues that can be addressed.

Postmaster General Louis DeJoy acknowledged that his agency is facing challenges. He said most of the Postal Services fiscal issues came from regulatory and oversight groups with unrealistic expectations. DeJoy told the subcommittee that the Postal Regulatory Commission and past leadership had presided over 15 years of deterioration.

However, he said USPS is working to correct many of the issues the Congress members mentioned.

According to DeJoy, before implementing the Delivering for America plan, the Postal Services projected 10-year deficit was $160 billion. The plan has reduced that to $70 billion.

United States Postal Service (USPS) workers load mail into delivery trucks outside a post office in Royal Oak, Mich., on Aug. 22, 2020. (Rebecca Cook/Reuters)

We have cut in half our projected financial losses. I want to be sure we have our eyes wide open on the magnitude of the problems we need to fix, DeJoy said.

DeJoy said those problems include increasing demands for mail delivery despite decreased revenue, inefficient and outdated facilities, and an unrealistic pricing structure.

According to DeJoy, the Postal Service reported $60.6 billion in revenues for 2007. That dropped by 36 percent to $21.9 billion in 2020. At the same time, demand for first-class mail delivery, historically the Postal Services biggest revenue producer, dropped by almost half while delivery costs rose.

In 2006 Congress passed the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act, which required the Postal Service to pre-fund retiree health benefits. This and the Great Recession of 2008 placed greater financial stress on the agency.

In addition, pandemic supply chain issues and a midterm election that required the delivery of mail-in ballots also threw more kinks into USPS operations.

A United States Postal Service (USPS) worker unloads packages from his truck in Manhattan, New York on April 13, 2020. (Mike Segar/Reuters)

Simply put, we were delivering less mail to more delivery points each year, which meant less revenue to cover increasing costs each year, DeJoy said.

DeJoy said that Congress changed the retirement benefits plans providing relief to the Postal Service. As part of the 10-year plan, the Postal Service is consolidating processing centers and looking for other ways to make its operation more efficient.

Committee members acknowledged that DeJoy and his staff are facing significant challenges. But they said they are also fielding complaints from constituents about late deliveries of prescription medicines, lost mail, theft, and poor customer service. They said the issues were especially prevalent in rural areas where it seemed USPS was cutting back its operations.

The struggles that were seeing is veterans and seniors not receiving important prescriptions on time; postal positions have been unfilled for a long period of time, Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) said.

Boebert and Rep. Becca Balint (D-Vt.) said their constituents are also concerned about the consolidation of facilities. They said rural residents are seeing their local Post Offices close and carrier jobs going unfilled. They are worried that postal service in rural areas will get even slower or end altogether.

Carriers Targeted by Robbers

DeJoy said USPS was working to rectify the problems. According to DeJoy, the consolidation of sorting and handling facilities will improve rural service by better use of USPS resources.

Rep. Kweisi Mfume (D-Md.) said that postal carriers had been robbed in his district. Sessions said he had heard similar reports from Texas.

The robbers were after the keys for cluster boxes in new housing editions. Cluster boxes are groups of small mailboxes in a central location. This enables mail carriers to deliver the mail to many residents simultaneously, saving delivery time and money. Unfortunately, it also makes theft more efficient.

Criminals target these boxes because there is a concentrated amount of information and items, such as blank checks, gathered in one place.

Im concerned about the thousands of dollars a family could lose from the theft of a single check, Mfume said.

DeJoy said he shares those concerns. USPS staff is studying multi-factor verification technology, time locks, and hardening the boxes to prevent unauthorized access.
Q&A With Attorney Bruce Castor on Durham Report: We Cant Trust the Federal Government

Bruce L. Castor Jr. is a lawyer based in southeastern Pennsylvania. He served as a prosecutor and elected or appointed government official for more than 30 years before joining the private sector. Routinely listed as among the United States top lawyers, Castor led the team that successfully defended former President Donald Trump in his impeachment trial in 2021.

The Epoch Times: How can we trust our federal government now?

Bruce Castor Jr.: We cant trust the federal government. Im sure the federal government is involved in all sorts of deceptions designed to advance American foreign and domestic policy objectives. Most Americans expect their federal government to be involved with sneaky activities to catch criminals, foreign spies, or otherwise enhance goals ultimately in the national interest of the United States. Likely, Americans grant their government great leeway when the government is attempting to keep all Americans safe and secure from threats at home or abroad. I know I do.

Here, however, where the Justice Department has used those powers permitted it by law and, ultimately, by the goodwill of the American people, to advance the aims of one segment of the public (Hillary Clinton and the Democrats) at the expense of a different segment of the public (Donald Trump and the Republicans), that popular goodwill becomes used up or thwarted. The Justice Department and the FBI, of course, a subset of that department, was not sneaky in order to benefit all Americans.

Instead, by favoring one group of Americans over another, the Justice Department that we hope advances the well-being and confidence in the system of every U.S. citizen, decided some Americans are by definition of higher priority [to] the government than another group of Americans. Using the State Department for example, someone loses their passport while traveling abroad, we expect the U.S. Embassy in that country will help any American who knocks on the door. The actions detailed in the Durham report, if applied to [the] State in this example will cause every American to wonder if they fall in the favored group who will get a new passportor are they in the group that will end up rotting in a jail cell in a foreign land?

With this report on the Justice Department and FBI, no longer will people trust their government to look out for the greater good of every one of its citizens. Rather, the public will conclude that the Justice Departmentand by extension the U.S. governmenthave concluded some Americans are simply so bad that traditional notions of due process and fair play simply can be ignored because of the so bad exception to equal justice under law. Thats the justification I see out there as a matter of routine that the ACLU, every liberal person or group from when that word was not, itself, a bad word, and the media that exists only because of the First Amendment civil liberty guaranteed there. Supporters of President Trump and his ideas are so bad that any abrogation of normal American freedoms that we have all been promised as our birthright no longer apply. The Durham report shows that the Justice Department made a value judgment between different kinds of Americans. In so doing, no thoughtful American can trust the Department, because the First Amendment right to be an individual and associate with like-minded individuals, according to the Justice Department and FBI, is only allowed if the department finds an individual or associated group of individuals thinking to be unobjectionable to the human beings making up the Justice Department and its affiliate/subordinate, the FBI.

The Epoch Times: What should happen at the FBI?

Mr. Castor: Ideally, Congress would empower a specific federal court with a very narrow mandate while carefully limiting the jurisdiction that went with this new power to appoint a special prosecutor with full subpoena power, authority to use a grand jury, issue search warrants, seek approval for wiretaps, grant immunity to compel testimony where the Fifth Amendment acts as a bar to obtaining information, and essentially exercise the full panoply of powers a federal prosecutor ordinarily has, but supervised closely by the appointing court and with tight congressional oversight.

This special prosecutor would have as his or her mandate the authority, indeed the responsibility, to investigate the FBI from top to bottom and make recommendations to the appointing court and Congress on how the FBI must be overhauled to provide the kind of supervision needed to deter the FBI from abusing its authority again. Criminal violations discovered by the special prosecutor should be prosecuted according to law.

In the meantime, those judges who were lied to during the course of the Russian Collusion investigation ought to initiate contempt proceedings against anyone involved in misleading the court. Congress should create specific civil causes of action against individuals in the FBI and the Justice Department for anyone those entities injured as a result of the reckless misuse of investigatory and prosecutorial power. Not for making innocent mistakes, which sometimes happens as the FBI and Justice Department go about doing their jobs.

Mistakes without malice are different than what is described in the Durham report. The causes of action would be only for those circumstances where members of the Justice Department/FBI engaged in willful misconduct that resulted in hurting people. In the absence of Congress being presently constituted in such a way that it could implement these ideas, the relevant committees of the House and Senate should convene hearings whose purpose would be to find ways to hold the FBI/Justice Department accountable to the American people without infringing on the power of the executive branch of government by maintaining the mandates of the separation of powers doctrine.

The Epoch Times: Should Hillary Clintons role be further investigated?

Mr. Castor: Her personal part in all this needs to be investigated by Congress and a summary of her conduct considered by a grand jury supplemented by direct testimony that would determine whether criminal charges against her are warranted.

She seems no longer relevant in the minds of most Americans, but anything she did that would rise to the level of a crime needs to be pursued to act as a deterrent to other officeholders and political candidates in the future bent on using dirty tricks to win elections.

Certainly, it was unprecedented that the head of a police agency like the FBI, in this case then-Director Comey, would take it upon himself to decide the federal government would not prosecute Secretary Clinton. He astonishingly made that announcement without the approval of a federal prosecutor like the attorney general.

As a career prosecutor myself, I was flabbergasted when that happened. It would be like when I was a Pennsylvania district attorney, one of the police chiefs announced Pennsylvania would decline to prosecute someone. That is not the chiefs call. That was my call when I was a district attorney, and it was well within my power to reverse that decision because I spoke for the commonwealth, not that police chief. Curiously, the then-U.S. attorney general chose not to reverse Director Comey, thereby tacitly ratifying his decision.

The Epoch Times: Do you think other corrupt schemes are currently afoot?

Mr. Castor: I am certain that corrupt schemes are presently being hatched and are growing at all levels of government even today. What the country needs is a reestablishment of trust and faith in its institutions.

The courts and Congress can address this, and I think those branches of government are trying to do so and having some success.

The country needs leaders it can trust will always try to do what is best for all our citizens. Traditionally, confidence in the nations inherent goodness has been symbolized by the president of the United States. People might not always agree with the presidents decisions or even how he communicates those decisions, but the people have respected that the person holding the office understands the job and the stakes, and truly wants what is best for America.

As an example, does anyone who claims to love the United States actually think it is a good idea that hundreds of thousands of people enter the country illegally bringing heaven knows what with them in terms of crime, drugs, disease, et cetera? Of course, absolutely nobody thinks that is a good idea, and yet it is happening. Why? Because the potentially negative political optics (dont let the Democrats look bad) is given higher priority than doing what is obviously right by closing the border tight and later creating a system for reviewing immigration applications that admit persons who better America, or who face violence and death if returned to their home countries.

In the case of that second group, they need to be housed humanely while figuring [out] what to do with them. But the doors need to be closed and then cracked open a tiny bit once a policy has been thought through that allows legal immigration in the bests interests of America.

The president has failed to inspire confidence in his leadership on immigration, the economy, entitlements, school debt relief, and, to a lesser extent, national security and foreign policy. Like the question about unrestricted immigration and nobody thinking that is a good idea, does anybody actually think the president is not suffering from a cognitive impairment? That nobody seems to be talking about it does not inspire trust in the government or the media.

Any of us fortunate enough to have known parents, grandparents, or other relatives or friends that lived into the 80s and 90s, doubtless they loved (or continue to love) them, but know very well the signs of aging-related cognitive decline.

My own father was a well-known and highly respected Philadelphia lawyer. Almost 50 years with one of the premier law firms in the nation. He is now almost 94. It has been at least 25 years since I would have let him represent me in a court case. Of course, schemes are afoot now, and it does not need to be the president, current or in the future, that restores faith in the federal government.

It can be a leader in the U.S. House like the speaker or an important committee chair, or a leader in the Senate, or even a judge or retired judge, named by Congress to bring confidence to the public by investigating, or a special prosecutor with judicial and congressional oversight and, ideally, the blessing of the sitting president. Our federal government at least appears to have its priorities out of whack, where doing the right thing for the right reason takes a back seat to political considerations.

The Durham report has shone a light on this priority imbalance. Americans will never trust their government again while individual rights and freedomswhat we boast are our American norms of justice and fair play, are prioritized over attaining and extending political power by all means necessary inside a federal government that people think has chosen to favor one group of American patriots over another group of American patriots.

The lack of trust in government comes from a pervasive belief, reflected in the Durham report, that the government does not see we the people. It sees, instead of the inclusive we, a division of them and us, the polar opposite of representing all Americans. Justified by the belief that one group of Americans is so bad that any means necessary to defeat that group is warranted, no matter how far doing so strays from the promise of the great American experiment.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
Air Passenger Complaints Balloon to a Record 46,000, Senate Committee Hears

Luggage is amassed in the baggage claim area at Toronto Pearson International Airport, as a major winter storm disrupts flights in and out of the airport, on Dec. 24, 2022. (Cole Burston/The Canadian Press)

The federal backlog of air passenger complaints regarding poor service has reached an all-time high of 46,000, a figure equivalent to a three-year wait, based on data from the Canadian Transportation Agency (CTA).

Unfortunately we have quite a big backlog, France Pegeot, chief executive officer of the CTA, said in his testimony at the Senate Standing Committee on Transport and Communications (TRCM) on May 16. We have 46,000 complaints in our backlog. Just last year we received 40,000 complaints.

Pegeot highlighted the recent exponential growth, saying that five years ago we had 5,000 complaints. In November 2022, the CTA told the House of Commons transport committee that it was processing complaints at a rate of 15,000 per year, reported Blacklocks Reporter.

Bill C-47

The staggering number of complaints raises concerns about the governments omnibus budget bill C-47, introduced by Transport Minister Omar Alghabra on April 28 to include amendments to Air Passenger Protection Regulations.

The new legislation with respect to air passenger protection that were talking about would not apply to the backlog, Pegeot said. Essentially if we change the air passenger protection regime it would apply only to complaints we receive once that new regime is in place.

Bill C-47 aims to hold airlines accountable for settling passenger complaints within 30 days and mandates the publication of performance-related information on company websites. Failure to appropriately compensate customers for poor service could result in unspecified increases in penalties for airlines.

Nothing in these amendments will improve or strengthen air travel in Canada, Jeff Morrison, CEO of the National Airlines Council, told the Senate committee. Airlines cannot do it alone, he added, drawing criticism from senators.

Sen. Leo Housakos, chair of the TRCM, said airline companies should bear the responsibility for the record number of complaints to the CTA.

The buck stops, in my opinion, with the airline companies, and the buck stops there because thats where most of the revenue goes, he said. My question is the following: Will the airlines step up and correct the problem or do we have to take drastic steps as legislators to start protecting customers?

Housakos also criticized successive governments for prioritizing the protection of the industry over customer satisfaction.

The customer comes last now, he said. Shareholders come first. Executives of airline corporations come first. Unions and employees come second or third, but customers? Always dead last.

Sen. Pamela Wallin also raised concerns about the inadequate compensation for air passengers, citing constant flight delays, missed connections, and the lack of Wi-Fi availability as ongoing issues that she said are unfriendly to consumers.

The current regulations under the Air Passenger Protection Regulations, established in December 2019, offer compensation of up to $400 for a three-hour flight delay, $900 for denial of boarding due to overbooking, and up to $2,100 for lost or damaged luggage. Airlines would face a maximum of $25,000 for non-compliance with the regulations.
Rep. Gallagher Leads Select Committee Delegation to UK to Coordinate on China Issues

Chairman Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.) listens during a hearing of a special House committee dedicated to countering the Chinese Communist Party, on Capitol Hill, in Washington, on Feb. 28, 2023. (Alex Brandon/AP Photo)

A Congressional delegation is traveling to the UK to coordinate with officials there on developing policies to more effectively counter Chinas communist regime.

Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.), who chairs the House Select Committee of Strategic Competition with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), will lead a delegation of Select Committee members to the UK on May 18 to coordinate on China strategy.

A source close to the Select Committee told The Epoch Times that members would meet with a British defense official and members of Parliament to coordinate China policy.

The trip comes at a time when the Select Committee is increasing its focus on developing policies to counter the economic coercion of the CCP on a global scale, particularly the regimes continued theft of critical defense technologies and its efforts to insulate its own economy from international policies.

This idea that we are somehow going to revive economic engagement as a way to moderate the CCPs aggression is the triumph of delusion over hard-won experience, Gallagher told The Epoch Times.

The only question is, will we continue to be passive recipients of [Chinas] decoupling strategy? Or, will we try to take charge of our own economic sovereignty, in concert with our allies, and insist at a minimum on basic reciprocity and leveling of the playing field?

Immense Convergence on China Issues

The UK has thus far been slow to adopt a strategy of de-risking such as that promoted by the United States and Germany. Current British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has notably softened his stance on the regime by prioritizing economic engagement and reneging on a vow to categorize the CCP as a threat to the UK.

Sunak has, however, signaled that he may be amenable to following the United States lead on investment issues regarding China.

To that end, U.S. leadership is optimistic that the shared values and strategic goals that underpin the UK-U.S. alliance will win the day, according to State Department Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel.

Between the United States and our European partners, including the United Kingdom, there continues to be immense convergence on the challenge faced by [China] and a key aspect of our strategy is to engage, to invest in line with our allies and partners, Patel told The Epoch Times during a May 17 press conference.

The visit also follows closely on former UK Prime Minister Liz Truss visit to Taiwan this week, during which the former PM, who still serves as an MP, said that an economic NATO was required to counter the CCP regimes efforts to vastly expand its military and further insulate its economy from Western influence.

US Cannot Wait for China to Change

The State Department is currently seeking to expand its funding for diplomatic missions and other investments in the Indo-Pacific as part of a wider effort to counter Chinas authoritarian influence, according to Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

Speaking during a May 16 hearing of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Blinken said the United States could no longer wait for the regime to abandon its authoritarian ways, and would need to actively work to shape the strategic environment around the CCP.

China represents the most consequential geopolitical challenge we face today: a country with the intent and, increasingly, the capability to challenge our vision for a free, open, secure, and prosperous international order, Blinken said.

We, of course, cannot dictate Beijings path. And we cannot wait for China to change its trajectory. But we can put ourselves in a position of strength to compete intensely to shape the broader strategic environment around China and advance our vision.

While some in Washington have promoted decoupling from the Chinese economy, Blinken said that the Biden administrations ambition was to de-risk, fortifying its position without severing ties between the worlds two largest economies.

We are for de-risking and diversifying, not decoupling, said Blinken.

That means investing in our own capacities and in secure, resilient supply chains; pushing for a level playing field for our workers and companies and defending against harmful trade practices; and ensuring that U.S. and allied technology isnt used against us.

Regarding the administrations decision to invest more heavily in non-military elements of national power, Blinken said that it was incumbent on the United States not to force other nations to choose between China and the United States, but rather to offer a more compelling value proposition.

We are not demanding that other countries choose between us and China but, rather, are offering a more attractive choice, Blinken said.

If we can spark a race to the top, that would be to everyones benefit.
VIENTIANE, May 17 (Xinhua) -- The Lao National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LNCCI) and the Laos-China Railway Co., Ltd. (LCRC) have engaged in discussions on various projects related to business cooperation schemes.

According to a report issued by the LNCCI on Wednesday, President of LNCCI Oudet Souvannavong met a delegation from the LCRC, a joint venture based in the Lao capital Vientiane responsible for the operation of the railway's Lao section.

The two sides discussed at Monday's meeting promotion of cooperation between Lao businesses and the LCRC, especially in advertising, transport and warehouse services, tourism and culture, and development of projects along the cross-border railway.

They also talked about the Laos-China Economic Cooperation Conference to be held in Vientiane in August 2023, which will focus on transport, mining, agriculture, culture and new energy.

The two sides agreed to hold a special meeting between Lao businesses and the LCRC at the end of this month to discuss cooperation in transporting goods by rail.

The Lao business community has been encouraged by sizable profits arising from the use of freight trains of the China-Laos Railway. However, a number of them, both exporters and importers, still face challenges regarding payment of deposits for containers.

The amount of cross-border freight transported by the China-Laos Railway has risen to more than 1.4 million tons between early December 2021 and October 2022, according to the report.

The China-Laos Railway, a landmark project of high-quality Belt and Road cooperation, began operation in December 2021. The 1,035-km railway connects Kunming, capital of southwest China's Yunnan province with Vientiane in Laos. 
Rep. Greene Introduces Articles of Impeachment Against Garland

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) waits to speak during a news conference outside the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Feb. 1, 2023. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) announced on May 17 that she has introduced articles of impeachment against U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland for facilitating the weaponization and politicization of the United States justice system against the American people.

In the impeachment articles, Greene cited multiple issues including the FBI getting involved in the affairs of parents concerned about their childrens education, pro-life centers getting attacked, intimidating protests outside the homes of Supreme Court justices, and going after former President Donald Trump.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) came under fire in 2021 for inserting itself in the affairs of parents furious over school policies ranging from COVID to far-left curricula including critical race theory. An Oct. 4, 2021, memorandum from Garland instructed the FBI and the U.S. Attorneys Offices to convene meetings with federal, state, local, Tribal, and territorial leaders in each federal judicial district in order to facilitate the discussion of strategies for addressing threats against school administrators, board members, teachers, and staff so that there are open dedicated lines of communication for threat reporting, assessment, and response.

The memorandum was in response to a letter sent by the National School Boards Association (NSBA) to President Joe Biden, warning about threats against school faculty, comparing it to domestic terrorism.

Pro-life centers nationwide have been attacked over the past couple of years using methods that have included vandalism and firebombing.

Far-left militant groups such as Janes Revenge have allegedly been behind the attacks. Since Politico published a story in May 2022, after obtaining a leaked draft opinion of the Supreme Court voting to overturn Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Caseyboth of which happened one month laterpeople have marched outside the homes of the conservative justices: Chief Justice John Roberts (who voted against overturning Roe and Casey) and Justices Amy Coney Barrett, Clarence Thomas, Brett Kavanaugh, and Samuel Alito.

In her articles of impeachment, Greene accused Garland of persecuting Trump, citing the August 2022 FBI raid of the former presidents Mar-a-Lago residence in Palm Beach, Florida, where classified documents were found as Trump and his team allegedly refused to comply with a subpoena to hand them back to the government.

Greene also accused Garland of not focusing on prosecuting Antifa and Black Lives Matters rioters that have desecrated American cities and caused billions of dollars worth of public and private property damage and instead [overseeing] the persecution of Americans for participating in political protest.

The Epoch Times has reached out to the DOJ for comment on the articles of impeachment.

These are not the only articles of impeachment Greene has introduced in what she has called Impeachment Week.

She has also filed articles of impeachment against U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Matthew Graves and FBI Director Christopher Wray.
Republican Committee Sets Out Political Priorities in 2023-2024 Election Cycle

A woman walks past the elephant logo of the Ohio Republican Party on the first day of the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, Ohio, on July 18, 2016. (Dominick Reuter/AFP via Getty Images)

The Republican State Leadership Committee (RSLC) has identified several states where legislative races in the 2023-2024 election cycle are important, while declaring it a top political priority to fend off Democrat-affiliated groups targeting Republican majorities in state chambers.

A mere 33 seats are standing in the way of Democrats taking back eight legislative chambers across five states, to take control of a majority of state legislatures in the country, an RSLC memo reads, according to Fox News.

Currently, Republicans control 56 state chambers while Democrats hold 41, after the Democratic Party flipped four state chambersthe Michigan House, the Michigan Senate, the Minnesota Senate, and the Pennsylvania Houseand did not lose any state chamber it already controlled following the 2022 elections.

In 2022, state Republicans defied the odds by facing down an onslaught in national liberal spending and an incredibly challenging political environment to still preserve their hold on an overwhelming majority of state legislatures throughout the country, according to the memo.

Despite Democrats success in 2022, the RSLC pointed out in their memo that the GOP gained supermajorities that cycle in both chambers of the Florida Legislature, the Iowa Senate, the North Carolina Senate, the Wisconsin Senate, the South Carolina House, the Montana Senate, and both chambers in Oregon.

The memo also noted that Republicans picked up seats in liberal states like Maine, New Mexico, and Hawaii.

In the New York State Assembly, Republicans gained six seats in the state House and one seat in the state Senate in the 2022 elections.

Moving forward, the RSLC noted that Republicans need an abundance of resources to catch up to the spending levels by Democrats, as they compete against spending by the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee (DLCC), as well as by Democratic-allied groups such as States Project and Majority Forward.

The DLCC raised $50 million in the 2022 election cycle.

2023 & 2024

The memo lays out the RSLCs plans for 2023 and 2024. In the first year, the RSLC aims to maintain the GOP majority in the Virginia House, but flip the Virginia Senate. Meanwhile, it seeks to defend GOP supermajorities in Louisiana and Mississippi, while holding the seats gained in the last election in New Jersey.

In the Virginia Senate, the Democratic Party currently holds 22 seats, leading the Republican Party by four seats.

In 2023, we have already seen state Democrats switch parties and join Republican-led legislatures in Louisiana and North Carolina, giving Republicans a veto-proof supermajority in the Louisiana House and North Carolina House, bringing our total number of Republican supermajorities up to 25 nationwide, the memo says.

In Louisiana, state Rep. Francis Thompson switched to the Republican side in March after almost five decades as a Democrat. A month later, state Rep. Tricia Cotham announced her switch to the GOP in North Carolina. Both cases resulted in Republicans gaining a supermajority in each of the states lower chambers.

As for 2024, the RSLC aims to defend the GOP majority in both state chambers in five statesArizona, Florida, Georgia, New Hampshire, and Texasas well as the Pennsylvania Senate, according to the memo.

Meanwhile, the RSLC wants to flip the Pennsylvania House, and the state legislatures in Minnesota and Michigan.

Currently, Democrats control 17 state government trifectas, including Minnesota and Michigan, while Republicans hold 22, including New Hampshire and Georgia. A trifecta means that one party controls the governorship and both state chambers.

The RSLC also seeks to make meaningful gains in seven liberal statesnamely Illinois, Maine, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, and Washington.

The DLCC has also set out its goals for the 2023-2024 election cycle. According to its website, it wants to flip the Virginia House, the Pennsylvania Senate, and both chambers in Arizona and New Hampshire.

Heading into a pivotal election cycle with Joe Biden on the top of the ticket, Democrats will be taking nothing for granted up-and-down the ballot, the RSLC memo reads. This list remains a preliminary target list and is subject to change throughout the course of the election cycle because we are not taking anything for granted as a 50-state organization.

While Republicans will be focused on retaking control of the White House, it is our duty to stop the Democrats from taking a majority of legislative chambers across the country.
Rural Australians Told to Look Beyond Big Four Banks

This combination of photos taken show the signs of the "big four" Australian banks in Sydney, Australia, on Nov. 30, 2017. (Peter Parks/AFP via Getty Images)

Regional Australia cant put the genie back in the bottle as banking services move online and local branches shut their doors.

But community banks could be one option to keep rural economies alive and give locals the face-to-face services they need; a federal inquiry has been told.

A Senate committee is examining the impact of bank closures across country Australia, where more than 650 branches have shut since 2017 leaving many fearing for the future of their towns.

The major banks say a rapid shift to digital services, particularly since COVID-19, has led to the closures.

Heritage and Peoples Choice mutual bank chief executive Peter Lock said rural Australians did not have to rely on traditional banking offered by the big four.

Under its community model, locals raise about $500,000 in seed capital and form a company which the bank then backs in a joint venture.

Once a branch is profitable, the seed funding is paid back, and the company must return a share to charities and community groups.

We cant put the genie back in the bottle, and we cant force banks to keep branches open, but we can apply a different way of thinking, Lock told the inquiry on May 17.

The inquiry sat in Cloncurry, in northwest Queensland, which successfully fought to halt the closure of its Westpac branch.

Mayor Greg Campbell said the town convinced Westpac to reconsider by pointing out it was leaving in the middle of an economic boom.

He said the region was home to several new energy, mining and manufacturing projects worth at least $9 billion.

We saw it not just as a bad outcome for our community but a bad business outcome for the bank, Campbell said.

Previous hearings have been told farmers are particularly vulnerable when a branch closes because they rely on local managers to oversee their complex businesses.

Don McDonald, chairman of beef operation McDonalds Holdings, said local branches supported its young workforce.

Some of them come here very green without bank accounts without tax file numbers  and we find it absolutely imperative to have a system where those kids can learn whats needed for their future careers and life, McDonald said.

For banks to drop out of these remote areas can have very, very negative consequences on many young kids.

Theyve got to learn how to get out of bed early in the morning and be part of a team; theyve got to learn to ride a motorbike, ride horses, repair motorbikes and engines  and part of that training is youll need a bank account to receive your wages.

The inquiry has received over 550 submissions and will report back by December.
Saddleback Church Appealing Its Ouster From the Southern Baptists on Issue of Women Pastors

Saddleback Church, the Southern California megachurch founded by best-selling author Rick Warren, is appealing its ouster from the Southern Baptist Convention for having women pastors on staff, according to the denomination.

Saddleback is asking the annual meeting of the SBC, which convenes next month in New Orleans, to overturn a February decision by the denominations Executive Committee to expel it.

The committee said Saddleback has a faith and practice that does not closely identify with the Conventions adopted statement of faith, as demonstrated by the church having a female teaching pastor functioning in the office of pastor. That was an allusion to Stacie Wood, wife of Lead Pastor Andy Wood, who holds the role of teaching pastor.

The appeal extends the standoff between the nations largest Protestant denomination and one of its largest, most successful churches.

Saddleback was one of five congregations that the committee ousted over the issue of women as pastors. One of those congregations, Fern Creek Baptist Church in Louisville, Kentucky, is also appealing its dismissal.

Under SBC bylaws, churches can appeal a dismissal by the Executive Committee to the full SBC annual meeting. Monday was the deadline for filing appeals.

The SBCs statement of faith says that men should be in authority in families and churches. While both men and women are gifted for service in the church, the office of pastor is limited to men as qualified by Scripture, the statement says. The SBC is not a hierarchy and cant tell a member congregation what to do, but it can deem a church to be not in friendly cooperation with the Convention, the verbal formulation for ouster.

Saddleback, with multiple campuses across Southern California, had 54,000 members as of 2021, according to its annual membership report to the SBC. It averaged an attendance of 28,000.

The standoff began in 2021 when Saddleback announced it was ordaining three women as pastors. After founding pastor Warren retired in 2022, he was succeeded as lead pastor by Andy Wood, whose wife, Stacie Wood, then assumed a role as teaching pastor.

And earlier in May, Saddleback announced that Katie Edwards, one of the three women ordained in 2021, would assume the role of pastor of its flagship Lake Forest campus.

Saddleback did not issue a statement on the appeal this week.

But in a video statement released in March after the Executive Committee vote, Andy Wood said that the churchs leaders do interpret the Bible to say that men should be in authority over a churchbut that they can authorize women to be pastors. All of the elders at Saddleback are men, he said.

A man who is an elder can empower women and mobilize women to use their spiritual gifts in the local church, he said, saying there are examples of this occurring in the Bible.

Fern Creek Baptist Church also sent formal notice to the SBC that it is appealing the decision to oust it. The Rev. Linda Barnes Popham has served as Fern Creeks pastor since 1993.

We obviously interpret scripture referring to women in ministry differently than some others in Baptist life, the church said in an earlier response to the SBCs Credentials Committee, which reviews churches qualifications and can recommend their dismissal to the Executive Committee. We are happy to meet with you to further discuss how we feel Jesus has led us to this interpretation.

Fern Creek said the question of women in ministry should be a second or third tier issue on which Baptists can disagree.

Other churches that were ousted in February, and which are not appealing, said they would continue to operate with women as pastors. They include Calvary Baptist Church in Jackson, Mississippi; New Faith Mission Ministry in Griffin, Georgia; and St. Timothys Christian Baptist Church in Baltimore.

Also appealing its dismissal on a separate issue is Freedom Church in Vero Beach, Florida. It is disputing the Executive Committees decision to dismiss it based on a lack of intent to cooperate in resolving concerns regarding a sexual abuse allegation. The denomination has been roiled by allegations in recent years of sexual abusers remaining in ministry, prompting the convention to vote for stricter policies.

Freedom Church, in an earlier letter to national, state, and local Southern Baptist entities, disputed any allegation of abuse and asked for additional information about the decision.

Warren, author of the widely successful The Purpose Driven Life, started Saddleback Church with his wife, Kay Warren, more than four decades ago. With Warrens charisma and easy, informal preaching style, Saddleback eventually attracted tens of thousands and fostered an ambitious plan to expand the churchs reach across Southern California as well as globallya vision his successor has promised to continue.

David Sons, chairman of the Executive Committee, said this will be the first time any churches have ever appealed their dismissals to the Southern Baptists annual meeting. He urged representatives attending the meeting to be prepared and informed about the process.

Ed Stetzer, a church-growth expert, and professor at Wheaton College in Illinois, said Saddleback succeeded in connecting with the contemporary, casual culture of its surroundings while holding firm to its core beliefs.

Itll be the choice of the convention whether Saddleback still holds essential Southern Baptist beliefs, as it claims to, said Stetzer, a former director of the SBC-affiliated Lifeway.

But if the convention upholds the churchs ouster, it will lose something that Saddleback has brought to the SBC for decades  a vibrancy, a new way of thinking.

The SBC has been in membership decline for nearly two decades. In statistics released earlier this month by Lifeway Research, the denomination fell to 13.2 million members in 2022. That is the lowest level since the late 1970s, which marked the start of years of doctrinal battles that led to a strong rightward shift in the convention.

Southern Baptists rate of baptismsseen by many as a better sign of spiritual vitality than membershipare also in long-term decline despite a small post-pandemic bounce in 2022.

Reporter Deepa Bharath contributed to this report.

By Peter Smith
Scottish Conservatives Call for Inquiry Into SNP Finance Investigation

Nicola Sturgeon, then SNP leader and Scottish first minister, and husband Peter Murrell pose after casting their votes in the 2019 General Election at Broomhouse Park Community Hall, Glasgow, Scotland, on Dec. 12, 2019. (Andrew Milligan/PA Media)

The Scottish Conservatives have called for an inquiry into the ongoing investigation of possible fundraising fraud by the Scottish National Party (SNP).

The Scottish Conservatives chief Whip Alexander Burnet wrote to the Presiding Officer Alison Johnstone, proposing a new committee to investigate Operation Branchform, the codename for the investigation into SNP finances.

Johnstone also serves as the convener of the parliamentary bureau, a Holyrood cross-party group responsible for proposing the establishment of committees and their respective remits and memberships.

Burnets letter referred to recent arrests of two senior SNP officials, causing significant alarm to the public and the parliament.

Former SNP Chief Executive Peter Murrell and former SNP Treasurer Colin Beattie were arrested in April 2023 in connection with Operation Branchform. Both were released without charge pending further investigation.

Police Scotland launched the investigation in 2021, following complaints about how donations given to the SNP for use in a fresh independence referendum campaign had been used. The SNP strongly denied claims the money raised for independence campaigning was diverted elsewhere.

Precedent

In his letter, Burnet said that it was the Scottish Parliaments responsibility to uncover the truth about the police investigation.

This investigation has been ongoing for nearly two years now and there are many elements of the investigation where both the public and the media have expressed interest and as a parliament we have a duty to uncover the truth about this investigation, the MP said.

He then recalled the establishment of a committee to investigate the Scottish governments handling of complaints against the former First Minister Alex Salmond.

The Scottish Government Handling of Harassment Complaints on the actions of the first minister was set up in 2019, following complaints of sexual misconduct by Salmond in January 2018. The complaints were investigated and the government decided they were well-founded. Salmond resigned from the SNP and sought a judicial review of the process, accusing the Scottish government of abuse of process. In March 2020, the former first minister was acquitted of all charges.

The 2019 committee looked at what went wrong with the governments investigation of the complaints against Salmond.

Burnet said that this set a precedent that a committee can be established before a criminal investigation concludes. He added the government decided to set up an inquiry of its own, despite an ongoing criminal investigation into Salmond, because it was in the public interest.

He clarified that the committees work cant start until the conclusion of the proceedings in the criminal case.

Therefore, a committee should be established looking into Operation Branchform, so that we can establish the facts and give the public the answer that they deserve, wrote Burnet.

The call comes amid the news that it took two weeks for the Crown Office and Procurators Fiscal Service (COPFS) to grant a search warrant for Murrells home, which he shared with his wife, former First Minister Nicola Sturgeon.

A Freedom of Information request by the Scottish Conservatives has revealed that the warrant requestsent on March 20, in the midst of the SNP leadership electionwas not granted until after the contest concluded.

The newly elected First Minister Humza Yousaf has denied any government interference in the police investigation.

I dont believe there will be any particular reason out of the ordinary that it would take that time, Yousaf said, referring to the two weeks it took the Crown Office to grant the search warrant.

Burnet suggested that the new committee to lead the inquiry into Operation Branchform should begin upon the completion of the investigation and any resulting criminal proceedings.

He called on the Parliamentary Bureau to discuss the matter at its next meeting.
Senate Votes Against Biden DHS Loosening Immigrant Public Charge Standards

White House says president would veto the joint resolution

A Texas National Guard soldier speaks to illegal immigrants at a high-traffic illegal border crossing area along Rio Grande in El Paso, Texas, on Dec. 20, 2022. (John Moore/Getty Images)

The Senate approved legislation on May 17 that could nullify a loosened Biden administration rule for deciding whether immigrants to the United States are likely to become public charges.

Fifty lawmakers, including two Democrats, voted yea, while 47 voted nay.

The measure is a joint resolution of disapproval under the Congressional Review Act, which allows Congress to take down agency rules soon after theyre proposed. The law also prevents agencies from reissuing a rule substantially the same as the one that met with the congressional disapproval.

The White Houses Office of Management and Budget on May 17 announced that President Joe Biden would veto the legislation, saying the Department of Homeland Securitys rule provides a clear, comprehensive, and fair standard for assessing whether a noncitizen is likely to become a public charge.

President Joe Biden and Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas (L) speak with U.S. Customs and Border Protection police on the Bridge of the Americas border crossing in El Paso, Texas, on Jan. 8, 2023. (Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images)

The House still needs to vote on its version of the legislation.

Biden has so far vetoed three bills, all of them joint resolutions of disapproval aimed at rules from his agencies.

The latest veto came on May 16, when the commander-in-chief struck down a measure that would have restored tariffs on some solar panels from China.

More Details

The latest joint resolution targets a September 2022 rule from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), an agency currently headed by Alejandro Mayorkas. The Biden administration rule departs significantly from the Trump-era guidance issued in 2019 that had expanded the forms of welfare that would consider an immigrant as a public charge.

Mayorkas has often said the United States greatest threat is white supremacists, drawing disapproval from Republicans such as Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.).

Apparently he is unaware that there were five people on the FBIs terror watch list who were just found at the Southern Border. Id consider that a far greater threat! she wrote on Twitter.

Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) speaks during the Turning Point USA Student Action Summit held at the Tampa Convention Center in Tampa, Fla., on July 23, 2022. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

U.S. Customs and Border Patrol officers have encountered hundreds of individuals on the terrorism watch list on the United States borders in this fiscal year. The latest statistics show that the relative percentage of such encounters has significantly increased compared to past years.

Border Patrol Southwest land border encounters have swelled, topping 250,000 in December 2022 alone.

In April 2021, soon after taking office, Mayorkas announced his intention to address violent extremism threats within his new agency, citing Jan. 6, 2021, as the impetus for his actions.

President Donald Trumps DHS in 2019 broadened the definition of public charge.

Mayorkass rule would go in the other direction, eliminating from consideration the receipt of food stamps, Medicaid, and housing benefits, among other forms of public assistance.

DHS claims its new rule is partly intended to avoid a chilling effect: individuals disenrolling or declining to enroll themselves or family members in public benefits programs for which they are eligible.

In March 2021, Mayorkas declared he would no longer defend the Trump-era public charge standard in the courts, asserting it was not in keeping with our nations values.

Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas speaks during a press briefing at the White House in Washington on May 11, 2023. (Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times)

The Biden administrations relaxed Public Charge Rule is one more policy that signals to all would-be illegal immigrants that the border is open, with plenty of U.S. taxpayer-funded benefits ready for the taking once you get across, Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.), one of a dozen co-sponsors of the Senate resolution, said in a March statement on the measure.

My legislation will ensure America welcomes self-sufficient new citizens who are ready to contribute, while reigning in excessive spending, Sen. Roger Marshall (R-Kan.), who introduced the resolution, said in the same statement.
Shift Power Back to Parents: New Jersey Rally Focusses on Education, Parental Rights

The Parental Rights and Education Freedom Rally draws citizens, parents, and elected officials to the State House Annex, to address crucial challenges and advocate for parental rights in Trenton, New Jersey on May 15, 2023. (Frank Liang/The Epoch Times)

The Parental Rights and Education Freedom Rally occurred at the State House Annex in Trenton, New Jersey, on Monday.

The event brought together concerned individuals, parents, elected officials, and representatives from various organizations, all united in their efforts to address crucial challenges and advocate for parental rights.

The rally featured 15 represented organizations and attracted approximately 150 to 200 concerned citizens, according to Paul Laud, one of the event organizers and a chapter director of No Left Turn in Education.

Paul Lund, a rally organizer and a chapter director of No Left Turn in Education. (Frank Liang /The Epoch Times)

Laud highlighted three significant problems plaguing the current educational system: the governments monopoly on public schools, financial limitations that confine parents to generational reliance on public schools, and the increasing indoctrination of children.

Laud emphasized that indoctrination poses a danger to childrens well-being.

We feel quite honestly (it is) dangerous to childrens health and welfare, he told The Epoch Times.

New Jersey State Senator Edward Durr joined the rally, showing his support for parental rights, school choice, and vaccination rights.

Durr criticized the overbearing and overreaching nature of the education system.

I believe that parents are not fully involved. And they should have the right to decide what is taught, Senator Durr told The Epoch Times. Ultimately, it comes down to what is age appropriate. Parents should decide what is age appropriate for a child.

New Jersey State Senator Ed Durr. (Frank Liang/The Epoch Times)

Sheila Montague, a mother and lifelong educator, echoed Senator Durrs view.

Right now, the government is calling the shots. And we dont need government calling the shots for children. Parents are the first teachers. Parents should be calling the shots, said Montague to The Epoch Times,

When it comes to sex education for kindergarteners, it is morally wrong, is ethically wrong. We dont want that. We want our students to learn about science, math, reading, and writing.

Sheila Montague, mother, and lifelong educator. (Frank Liang/The Epoch Times)

Jennifer Makar, a member of the Board of Education in Central Jerseys Union County, thinks the main issue is that there is one-sided.

We have to agree with everyone on the left, and everyone on the right is ignored, she told The Epoch Times.

I think that we need to come together and make everything the focus on the kids and their future and academics.

Jennifer Makar, a member of the Board of Education in Central Jerseys Union County. (Frank Liang/The Epoch Times)

What Parental Rights Mean

Parental rights emerged as a central theme at the rally, with participants advocating for greater decision-making authority and transparency.

Parental rights means that they should make up the principal authority on the health care and education decisions concerning their children, Laud said.

He said curriculum content should be transparent.

And it should cultivate good citizenship and success as someone competing in a job market. But its not doing that anymore, Laud said.

Senator Durr echoed the sentiments on parental rights.

They (parents) are the ones who are responsible for the upbringing of their child. Theyre responsible for their moral beliefs and their education. They are the ultimate ones that have responsibility and trust.

Durr said parents involvement in decision-making processes and determining age-appropriate curriculum is essential.

Among the rally attendees was Michael Minaides, a lawyer, who highlighted the interference of schools and government officials in parental responsibilities and the deterioration of education over time.

When asked about his motivation for attending the rally, he said, I came here today because I feel like it is parents job to teach their children values and pass on the wisdom of earlier generations. And thats being interfered with by the schools and government officials, where they have no place at all.

Mike Minaides, lawyer. (Frank Liang/The Epoch Times)

Minaides said there has been a shift from foundational principles within the education system.

Our education had deteriorated dramatically from early America when education was based on biblical principles and reading the Bible. Children were more knowledgeable, wiser, more educated, he said.

He expressed concerns about inappropriate topics related to sex, sexualization, and gender being taught in schools, which he deemed unsuitable for children.

Minaides advocated repealing New Jersey State Board of Education laws that mandated such content and called for parental rights and school choice.

If we dont want the children learning about certain things, Minaides stated, we should be able to either not have them learn that in school or pull the kid out of the school and get the vouchers to pay for a private school.

Makar expressed her motivation for joining the school board, driven by a desire to bring about positive change. My community, theyre desperate for people to stand up, she said.

She cited three priorities for change: to get people to realize whats happening in school, eliminate the schools propaganda, and ensure that we have the right administrative assistants and leaders in the schools so that we can move forward and get past all this indoctrination.

Makar also stressed the importance of focusing on the childrens future and academics, urging unity and collaboration.

Montague emphasized the need to shift power back to parents, asserting that the government has no authority over their childrens education.

She also cited instances of censorship and the suppression of voices, including her own.

Ive been a lifelong educator  This has been the sixth time Ive been ejected from educational teaching jobs within the public-school sector,  Montague told The Epoch Times, because of my stand as a parent, because I spoke out about not having people come into our schools to teach small kids sex education.

The rally served as a platform to unite concerned citizens to voice their opinions and draw attention to critical issues in the educational system.

Its important that people see that other people are very passionate about maintaining the integrity and protection of our children as it pertains to education. And this allows us to do that in a public way, said Montague.

Durr said that such concerns are gaining momentum among the public.

I think this is a starting point; I think that as we go on, youre going to see more and more people get involved, Durr said. Its like a snowball rolling downhill; once it gets momentum, it becomes greater in size, and it will continue to do that.
SoCal Nurse Pleads Guilty to Manslaughter in Plastic Surgery Death

Divino Plastic Surgery seen in a file photo in Bonita, California. (Screenshot via GoogleMaps.com)

CHULA VISTA, Calif.A nurse pleaded guilty to an involuntary manslaughter charge May 16 in a patients death at a South Bay plastic surgery clinic.

Heather Lang Vass, 43, faces up to four years in state prison for the death of Megan Espinoza, a 36-year-old mother of two who died more than a month after undergoing a breast augmentation operation on Dec. 19, 2018.

Dr. Carlos Chacon, 48, remains charged with murder in the case.

Espinoza went into cardiac arrest during the operation at Divino Plastic Surgery in Bonita.

Prosecutors say Chacon and Vass allegedly delayed contacting emergency services for about three hours. Chacon is also accused of ordering his staff not to call 911 when Espinozas condition declined, instructing staff to lie to Espinozas husband regarding her condition, and seeing four other patients after Espinoza went into cardiac arrest.

Chacon remains out of custody on $500,000 bail. Earlier this year, a judge ruled that he can remain out of custody provided he only performs surgery if a licensed anesthesiologist or certified registered nurse anesthetist is administering anesthesia during surgery and he may only perform surgery at accredited surgery centers.

He also must inform surgical patients of the pending charges he is facing and must provide proof of that notification to the court.
IN-DEPTH: State AGs Charge That Insurance Companies Net Zero Agenda May Violate US Antitrust Laws

Corporate collusion to target fossil fuel companies is illegal under Sherman Antitrust Act, experts say

A man climbs stairs on day two of the COP 26 United Nations Climate Change Conference at SECC in Glasgow, Scotland, on Nov. 1, 2021. (Ian Forsyth/Getty Images)

Attorneys general from 23 states issued a letter to 28 insurance companies on May 15 requesting information regarding possible violations by the insurers of U.S. antitrust laws.

In what could be the first step towards an antitrust lawsuit, the state AGs requested that the insurance companies provide details on their membership in climate associations like the Net Zero Insurance Alliance (NZIA) and the Net Zero Asset Owner Alliance (NZAOA), two United Nations-sponsored clubs whose members pledge to act in unison to transition global energy markets away from fossil fuels. The effort was led by Louisiana AG Jeff Landry and Utah AG Sean Reyes.

I am concerned the Net Zero Insurance Alliance is stifling competition in Louisiana and driving up insurance costs for our consumers, Landry stated. We are investigating if their actions violate our antitrust and consumer protection laws.

Reyes pointed out his concerns over the impact of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) activism. ESG is an umbrella term for ideologies ranging from climate change to racial and gender equity.

The ESG movement has spread to every corner of the worlds financial and energy sectors, and unsuspecting Americans are paying the price, Reyes said. Insurers have an obligation to protect the interests of their clients, not advance a radical environmental agenda.

Robert Bork Jr., president of the Antitrust Education Project, weighed in on the matter with The Epoch Times.

The insurance companies that are involved with this net zero program are, quite frankly, out on a plank and theyve sawed it off, Bork said. The Sherman [Antitrust] Act is pretty explicit about restraint of trade, which is exactly what theyre doing here by denying insurance to companies that they think arent doing the right thing when it comes to climate change and getting to a net zero future.

Sherman Antitrust Act

The letter states that AGs are concerned with the legality of your commitments to collaborate with other insurers and asset owners in order to advance an activist climate agenda  Under our nations antitrust laws and their state equivalents, it is well-established that certain arrangements among business competitors are strictly forbidden because they are unfair or unreasonably harmful to competition.

The consumer welfare standard in antitrust law considers the extent to which corporate collusion harms consumers by restricting competition or driving up prices.

Any time you discriminate against companies with whom you have a political disagreement, you are going to raise the cost of insurance, raise the cost of credit, raise prices, and consumers will be harmed by that, Bork said.

Citing the Sherman Act, the AGs wrote to insurers that an agreement among competitors not to do business with targeted individuals or businesses may be an illegal boycott, especially if the group of competitors working together has market power  Likewise, collective agreements to fix prices or restrict production, sales, or output are illegal.

Utah State Treasurer Marlo Oaks told The Epoch Times: When you look at the net zero insurance alliances, basically insurance companies are committing to move to net zero in their underwriting and investment portfolios.

And because of antitrust concerns three major insurance companies around the world have stepped away from the insurance alliance.

In the past two months, Munich Re, Hannover Re, and Zurich Insurance Group have pulled out of NZIA, citing concerns about antitrust among their reasons.

The opportunities to pursue decarbonization goals in a collective approach among insurers worldwide without exposing ourselves to material antitrust risks are so limited that it is more effective to pursue our climate ambition to reduce global warming individually, Joachim Wenning, CEO of Munich Re, stated.

In their letter, state AGs demand that insurers divulge the communications they have had with other members of NZIA and NZAOA, the efforts they have made across their investment portfolios to compel net zero compliance, and incentives they have provided for the purchase of electric vehicles (EVs) over gasoline-powered cars.

While Bork said he wouldnt be surprised if more insurers leave the climate clubs, it wouldnt absolve them of any liability for their actions previously.

But its clear that they have suddenly realized, and Im sure their lawyers are advising them, that they have antitrust exposure for the kinds of policies theyve been applying to their customers and the arrangements they make with other insurers by participating in these ESG alliances, he said.

Is ESG Politics or Risk Management?

In order to shield themselves from charges of acting to further political goals, insurers, banks, and asset managers often characterize their climate and social-justice policies as risk management rather than politics. Many press reports and industry analyses support this narrative.

Fitch, a rating agency, reports that large weather-related losses for property and casualty (P&C) insurers highlight increasing environmental, physical risks many experts link to climate change. Fitch rates companies according to their credit standing but also according to ESG criteria.

A number of news articles have reported that insurance companies faced record losses from extreme weather, which they attribute to climate change.

The insurance industry is struggling to adapt to a new normal in which losses fueled by climate change are now regularly exceeding $100 billion a year, Bloomberg News reported in January.

However, while also blaming climate change and extreme weather, a New York Times report concedes that Americans are moving fastest to Florida, Texas and other states most at risk for climate-related natural disasters, and that more people living in high-risk areas may help explain an increase in insurance losses.

Writing in the Wall Street Journal, climate analyst and author Bjorn Lomborg states that despite what you may have heard, Atlantic hurricanes are not becoming more frequent. In fact, the frequency of hurricanes making landfall in the continental U.S. has declined slightly since 1900.

And there arent more powerful hurricanes either, Lomborg writes. The frequency of Category 3 and above hurricanes making landfall since 1900 is also trending slightly down. A July Nature paper finds that the increases in strong hurricanes youve heard so much about are not part of a century-scale increase, but a recovery from a deep minimum in the 1960s1980s.

In its report, Fitch states that insurers face risks not only from a changing climate but also from social-justice issues, which could increase their legal liabilities. However, antitrust lawsuits from corporate collusion did not make the list of risks that insurers should be concerned about, according to Fitch.
State Department to Let House Foreign Affairs Committee Leaders View Afghan Dissent Cable

The U.S. Department of State is seen in Washington on Jan. 6, 2020. (Mark Wilson/Getty Images)

After months of back-and-forth tensions, the State Department announced on May 17 that it will allow House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul (R-Texas) and Democratic Ranking Member Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.) to view a dissent cable from the time of the 2021 U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan.

During a briefing at the State Department, principal deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel said the department sent a letter to the committee on May 17 with an offer to view the dissent cable at the State Department in camera, with appropriate personal information redacted.

Patel went on to say that Chairman McCaul himself has said that this is what he is interested in, and so it is our sincere hope that our offer here will sufficiently satisfy their request for information.

The announcement comes as Secretary of State Antony Blinken has repeatedly refused to hand over the cable in accordance with a committee subpoena.

The committee subpoenaed Blinken in March for the cable, which, as The Wall Street Journal first reported, shows the U.S. Embassy in Kabul warning Foggy Bottom about the Taliban quickly gaining ground and the Afghan forces falling apart. They gave suggestions on how to expedite an evacuation and alleviate the situation.

The cable, dated July 13, also called for the State Department to use tougher language in describing the atrocities being committed by the Taliban, the Journal reported, citing a person familiar with its contents. The withdrawal was completed on Aug. 30, 2021.

On May 17, McCaul announced a markup holding Blinken in contempt of Congress for not handing over the cable. Whether that will proceed is to be determined.

During the press briefing, Patel lamented the scheduled markup.

It is unfortunate that the House Foreign Affairs Committee has continued to pursue this even before the State Department had the opportunity to respond to the chairman and the committee, he said. We will be sending a response to the committee later today.

The Epoch Times has reached out to the committee for McCauls reaction to the offer and whether the markup will proceed.

We have a legitimate subpoena. Theres no executive privilege. A dissenting cable of 23 employees out of the embassy before Afghanistan fell stating why they dissented to the administrations policy is very relevant to congressional oversight, McCaul told ABC News on May 14.

Were trying to work with them. They just sent another letter trying to delay this contempt proceeding.

But if we dont get that cable  I am prepared to move forward to contempt proceedings.
BEIJING, May 17 (Xinhua) -- Dongdong (not her real name), an advanced endometrial cancer patient, never thought she would have the chance to have a child after being diagnosed with the severe disease.

For such a malignant tumor, the conventional treatment is to surgically remove the uterus, leading to the loss of patient's fertility. However, Dongdong was lucky because she received a special treatment plan, preserving her fertility successfully.

The mother of a 10-month-old shared her story of battling cancer and giving birth to her child at a session held by the Peking University People's Hospital (PKUPH) recently.

Diagnosed with a malignant tumor four years ago, Dongdong was told that the tumor had metastasized and a hysterectomy was urgently needed after she went to hospitals in several cities. "Although I still hoped to be a mother," recalled Dongdong, who just got married.

She finally found the solution at the Beijing-based PKUPH.

"The therapeutic solution of her pervious hospitals was reasonable. I clearly remember that she was in tears, while very determined to keep her uterus," said her doctor Wang Jianliu, also deputy head of the PKUPH. "So we decided to try our best to preserve her fertility," he noted.

The medical team started to treat Dongdong by using chemotherapy and high doses of progesterone, on the premise of ensuring that the cancer did not endanger her life.

Fertility preservation is usually performed in the early stage of endometrial cancer, and the progesterone works against the tumor, Wang said, adding that for Dongdong, whose cancer is at an advanced stage, chemotherapy was additionally needed to keep the cancer cells from spreading further.

The treatment used for Dongdong achieved positive results. She was impregnated by assisted reproductive technology in late 2021, one of dozens of successful pregnancies with endometrial cancer treated at the hospital.

Over the past decade, Wang has led his team, in collaboration with hospitals in Tianjin and Shanghai, to continue the study of the pathogenesis of gynecological cancers, helping patients with such diseases to preserve fertility.

According to the PKUPH, a series of freezing techniques, including egg freezing, embryo freezing, and ovarian tissue freezing, are also in operation to help prepubescent cancer patients with fertility preservation.

An 11-year-old leukemia patient with the pseudonym Xiaoxin successfully underwent an ovarian tissue freezing operation before a bone marrow transplant at the PKUPH in February.

The operation, or ovarian tissue cryopreservation, saved her ability to get pregnant in the future by preserving her ovarian tissue at a low temperature, said Tian Li, deputy head of the hospital's obstetrics and gynecology department.

This freezing technique is suitable for patients urgently needing surgery, radiotherapy, or chemotherapy, which may cause ovarian damage or premature ovarian failure.

After Xiaoxin's disease improves, her ovarian tissue will get unfrozen and be transferred back into her body to recover endocrine and ovulation functions, Tian said. 
Stellantis Recalls Nearly 220,000 Jeep SUVs Over Fire Risk, Says to Park Vehicles Outside

The Jeep Cherokee Trailhawk SUV is seen during the media preview of the 2016 New York International Auto Show in the Manhattan borough of New York City on March 23, 2016. (Eduardo Munoz/Reuters)

Chrysler-parent Stellantis announced on May 16 a recall of 219,000 Jeep SUVs worldwide over a potential fire hazard involving the power liftgate.

The recall covers model years 20142016 of Jeep Cherokee SUVs equipped with a power liftgate. An electrical short in the power liftgate module may lead to a vehicle fire with the ignition on or off.

For safety reasons, the company is warning owners of the recalled vehicles to avoid parking inside garages or covered parking areas.

Owners are advised to park outside and away from structures until the recall repair is complete, the Netherlands-based automaker said.

A fix for the defective part is still under development, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administrations (NHTSA) safety recall report (pdf). The company said it is expecting to mail notification letters to owners on June 30.

The company said an electrical short is causing the failure. The vehicles were built with a power liftgate module in a spot vulnerable to water intrusion. Stellantis said the suspected manufacturing period began in February 2013 and ended in September 2015, when the power liftgate was designed to be more robust to water intrusion.

About 132,000 vehicles in the United States, 23,000 in Canada, 3,000 in Mexico, and 60,500 outside North America are affected by the recall. Vehicles built before or after the suspected manufacturing dates are not subject to the recall.

This is the third recall since 2015 to address the safety defect. Vehicles repaired under earlier recalls will still need to have the new fix performed, according to a filing with NHTSA.

Last year, Stellantis opened an investigation due to an increasing trend in cargo compartment fires in 2014 and 2015 Jeep Cherokee vehicles. It is unclear how many of the affected Jeep Cherokees may have caught fire.

The power liftgate may become inoperable before the SUVs catch fire.

The company has identified 50 customer assistance records, 23 warranty claims, and 21 field reports potentially related to this issue. Stellantis said it is not aware of any accidents or injuries potentially related to the recall issue.

To date, there have been 13 recalls on the 2014 Jeep Cherokee, 11 on the 2015, and nine on the 2016 models, according to NHTSA. The SUV has an overall safety rating of four stars.

Stellantis Halts Battery Plant Construction

In addition to the recall, Stellantis announced on May 15 that it has halted construction at its 5 billion Canadian dollar ($3.5 billion) electric vehicle plant in Canada amid talks with the Canadian government about its support for the factory.

Effective immediately, all construction related to the battery module production on the Windsor site has stopped, a company spokesperson said, adding that some construction related to battery cell production continues.

The company said the Canadian government has not delivered on its investment agreement.

Last year, Canada agreed to provide up to CA$13 billion in subsidies and a CA$700 million grant to bring the German automaker Volkswagen AG to build its North American plant in the country.

The Canadian government says it is working with Stellantis to resolve the issues. The Volkswagen battery factory is the countrys largest single investment in the electric vehicle supply chain.

GM Recalls Nearly 1 Million Vehicles

On May 10, General Motors Company (GM) announced a recall of nearly 1 million vehicles after discovering a potentially dangerous defect in the automakers airbags.

The recall covers 994,763 GM vehicles. It includes 244,304 Buick Enclaves, 457,316 Chevrolet Traverses, and 293,143 GMC Arcadias. All of the affected vehicles are from model years 20142017.

In these vehicles, the front-driver airbag inflator may contain a supplier manufacturing defect that may result in inflator rupture during deployment, according to the recall report (pdf).

An inflator rupture may cause metal fragments to pass through the airbag and into the vehicle interior, which may result in injury or death to vehicle occupants.

The recall follows a crash involving a 2017 Chevrolet Traverse made known to GM on March 24. NHTSA and GM inspected the vehicle in April and confirmed that the front driver airbag inflator ruptured during deployment. The automaker was aware of two previous ruptures in its 2015 Chevrolet Traverse. All incidences involved the same airbag inflator variant.

Auto dealers were notified of the recall on May 10. Owners are expected to be notified by letter on June 26.

Reuters contributed to this report.
Student Activist Arrested in Calgary While Protesting Transgender Use of Girls Washroom

A protest and counterprotest on the issue of transgender students using the girls washroom amassed some 80 people outside Western Canada High School in Calgary, Alta., on May 17.

A fight broke out between several individuals of opposing views, Calgary Police Service spokesperson Brittany Klassen told The Epoch Times via email. She said two people were taken into custody, but released without charge.

She did not give the names of the individuals arrested, but one of them was Josh Alexander, a 17-year-old from Renfrew, Ont., who organized the protest.

Alexander tweeted, Today I was handcuffed and put in a paddy wagon for offering students bibles on a public sidewalk in Calgary. I was released and told if I returned I would be arrested and charged. I continued handing out bibles.

Alexander put a callout for students nationally and internationally to stage walk-outs in their schools on May 17. The walkout was called, I Stand With Josh Alexander.

Alexander has been in conflict with his school, St. Josephs Catholic High School, since November last year for his stance against biological males using girls washrooms and because he has said he will continue to express his religious belief that God made only two genders.

Girls at his school, including Bridget Wacklawik with whom The Epoch Times spoke in December, expressed discomfort with sharing their washroom with biological males.

Alexander went to Calgary to support the walkout at Western Canada High School, co-organized by True Dominion Canada, which describes itself as a conservative social media company. Nathaniel Pawlowski, son of preacher and activist Artur Pawlowski, is an active member of the group.

The Calgary Board of Education (CBE) said students at Western Canada High School who participated in the walk-out will be marked as having an unexcused absence for the day. Todays protests are not CBE events and are not supported by CBE, the board told The Epoch Times in an emailed statement.

Ensuring students feel safe and secure at school requires that we attend to the availability of inclusive washrooms and change rooms. CBE students may access washrooms and change rooms that are congruent with their gender identity, the board said. Any personal or safety concerns about students using a group washroom or change room, including sexual and gender diverse students, would be discussed and dealt with on a case by case basis at the school.

In a video of Alexanders arrest posted on social media, Alexander is seen trying to get through a crowd of counter-protesters to approach the school. The counter-protesters pushed him away.

A flyer for the counter-protest called on people to show up to shut down hate.

Klassen said no further altercations happened after that incident and that officers remained on site to support public safety.

The Calgary Police Service recognizes the Charter rights of everyone to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly. The overall objective is to work with all parties to ensure public and officer safety and to maintain orderly conduct and peace, Klassen said. We police behaviour, not beliefs.
Texas Attorney General Sues Hyatt for Allegedly Duping Consumers With Hidden Fees

A Hyatt Place hotel sign marks its location in Carnberry, Pa., on May 4, 2017. (Keith Srakocic/AP Photo)

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a lawsuit against Hyatt Hotels for violating the states consumer protection laws by marketing hotel rooms at prices that were not available to the public as advertised.

Paxtons lawsuit accuses one of the largest hotel chains in the country of engaging in false, misleading, and deceptive acts and practices in violation of the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act (DTPA) (pdf).

Hyatts lack of transparency regarding hotel room prices has misled consumers and violated Texas law, Paxton said in a statement.

I will not stand by while Texas consumers are taken advantage of by Hyatt or by any hotel chain that tries to get away with charging illegal hidden fees.

The Chicago-headquartered Hyatt Hotel Corp. operates more than 1,150 hotels in 70 countries across the world as of Dec. 31, 2021, according to its website. It operates more than 65 hotels in Texas under brand names, including Hyatt, Grand Hyatt, Hyatt Regency, Hyatt Place, and Thompson Hotels.

Paxton says that the advertised daily room is not the actual price of the room if the mandatory fee is not included in the advertised nightly rate.

Hyatt is violating Texas law by marketing hotel rates at prices that are not available as advertised, the lawsuit reads.

During the checkout process, the hotel adds undisclosed taxes and fees, according to the lawsuit. In order to understand the breakdown of the taxes and fees, the consumer must expand the pricing details.

In some cases, the hotel charges resort fees for amenities, such as access to a fitness center or Wi-Fi, regularly offered at non-resort properties.

Consumers are often surprised by mandatory hotel fees that are belatedly added to their room rate, the lawsuit reads.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) describes the practice as drip pricing.

Drip pricing is a pricing technique in which firms advertise only part of a products price and reveal other charges as the customer goes through the buying process, according to the FTC.

Paxton says even when the hotel eventually discloses the fees, its done in a manner that is unlikely to alert the buyer that the rate advertised was not the actual room rate.

These deceptive practices enabled Hyatt to advertise lodging at artificially low rates, and it must end immediately, Paxton said.

Marriott Settlement

On May 16, Paxton announced a settlement with Marriott International Inc. regarding the hotel chains hidden fees and costs not included in advertised nightly room rates.

Paxton said his office has been working to ensure hotel chains and other companies in the travel industry provide pricing transparency for consumers.

Because of this settlement, Marriott will take additional steps to guarantee that the advertised cost of the room is representative of what consumers will be charged, Paxton said. Marriott is now taking steps to promote price transparency.

The Maryland-based hotel chain has over 8,100 properties across the globe, according to its website. The company has more than 600 properties in Texas.

Marriott agreed to clearly and conspicuously disclose all resort fees, and the total price of the room will be listed as the most prominently displayed price, according to the release.

The pricing breakdown must list resort fees separately from taxes or other government-imposed fees.

Junk Fee Prevention Act

Earlier this year, President Joe Biden called on Congress to pass the Junk Free Prevention Act to protect consumers from the hidden fees not included in the advertised prices for hotel rooms and other common purchases such as concert tickets.

Industry advocates argue that these fees are simply bundling together popular add-ons in a way that saves consumers money, the White House said in a press release. If this were true, these bundled add-ons would be offered as an add-on bundle as opposed to a mandatory fee, highlighting how this argument lacks merit.
The New Global Battlefield: Eurasias Reemerging Heartland

Commentary

Leaders of Central Asias five independent states will meet with Chinese leader Xi Jinping for a critical summit on May 1819 in Chinas Xian city.

The five states are Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan.

It is critical because Xi recognizes that Central Asia holds the key to the survival of China and the China-Russia-Iran alliance. It is equally critical for the West because the Central Asian states, plus Azerbaijan, represent a pro-Western bloc, which cleaves through the heart of the Russia-China-Iran power bloc.

Xi formally invited Kazakhstan President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, Kyrgyzstan President Sadyr Japarov, Tajikistan President Emomali Rahmon, and Uzbekistan President Shavkat Mirziyoyev. They will pay state visitsthe highest diplomatic form of visitto China from May 16 to 20.

Of these, Mirziyoyev represents more than half the Central Asian population, and he is also the leader who has shaped the distinctly independent grouping of states that have respected but stood at arms length from the dominant powers of Central Asia for the past century and more: Russia and China.

This made Uzbekistans April 30 referendum approve sweeping changes to the national constitutiona key to the control of the Eurasian heartland. It has led to Uzbekistan calling new presidential elections for July 9, which will certainly return the overwhelmingly popular Mirziyoyev, who is on track to defend the independence that the Central Asian khanates have regained since the collapse of Soviet communism in 1991.

The April 30 Uzbek referendum was a move little understood by the outside world. Still, it was another delicate but critical move in an area so marked by contradictory nuance that the referendum should be seen as a milestone in determining the emerging strategic architecture.

British geographer Sir Halford Mackinder in 1904 had popularized the theory that Who rules East Europe commands the Heartland; who rules the Heartland commands the World-Island; who rules the World-Island commands the world. The pivot area of the world-islands heartland, he stated, was Central Asia.

Today, the bloc of Central Asian statesall former khanates and territories controlled for more than a century by the Russian and then the Soviet statenow divide the continent between the Peoples Republic of China (PRC) and the Russian Federation. These landlocked states, determined in their desire to find trade routes that do not involve either the PRC or Russia, are becoming increasingly cohesive, despite a history of border disputes.

And they have all become more cooperative since Mirziyoyev, the former prime minister of Uzbekistan, took over when President Islam Karimov died, and the Uzbekistan economy and political structure suddenly broke out of the inefficient and corrupt neo-Soviet economy over which Karimov had presided since 1991 when the USSR collapsed. But Mirziyoyev not only began making the Uzbekistan economy and polity more open and stable, but he also began working with his four neighboring Central Asian statesKazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistanin opening borders and negotiating a calming of border disagreements.

President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev speaks during an Extraordinary Summit of the Heads of State of the Organization of Turkic States (OTS), in Ankara, Turkey, on March 16, 2023. (Adem Altan/AFP via Getty Images)

Only President Askar Akayev (who served from 1990 to 2005) of the Kyrgyz Republic matched Mirziyoyev in a commitment to building a stable bloc of Central Asian democracies until he was removed, largely because he opposed some of the excesses that the U.S. George W. Bush administration sought in its war in Afghanistan, operating extensively from Manas Air Base in Kyrgyzstan.

The April 30 constitutional referendum in Uzbekistan (with a population of 35 million) was some years in the making, and offered significant protection to the community in terms of limitations on government powers, improved health and other public services, and increased abilities to make the governmental and economic systems transparent, continuing to erode the old Soviet-era and Karimov-era systemic corruption. The international media was expected to focus on the fact that the new constitution spelled out extended presidential terms of office (from five years to seven years), allowing Mirziyoyev to run for two more terms of office before retiring.

But if this was a problem for the Western media, it certainly was not for the Uzbekistan population, which, in a referendum marked by a turnout of 84.54 percent of registered voters, voted 90.21 percent in favor of the package of constitutional reforms. The International Strategic Studies Association (ISSA), which had a team in Uzbekistan monitoring the voting, noted that it was one of the most transparent and cleanest elections it had monitored in more than 50 years of election monitoring. ISSA teams had also monitored two previous national elections in Uzbekistan.

The significant strategic outcome of the referendum was that it showed that the Uzbek people were increasingly recapturing control of their national identity, or identities, and achieving a true social contract between governed and governors for the first time since Tsarist Russia invaded and seized control of the regions khanates in the late 19th century. Three major population centers of the Uzbek khanatesTashkent, Kokand, and Samarqand (Samarkand)were captured in 1865, 1876, and 1868, respectively. The Autonomous Republic of Karakalpakstan (Qaraqalpaqstan), which occupies the northwestern part of Uzbekistan (including the major part of the now mostly-dry Aral Sea, once known as the Lake of Khwarazm), was ceded to the Russian Empire by the khanate of Khiva (also in modern Uzbekistan) in 1873.

And it was in Karakalpakstan where the new constitutional proposals were put to the test. The original proposal for the changes would have removed the autonomous status of Karakalpakstanthe historical land of Khwarazm, which in Persian literature was known as Kat (Kath)and ended its right to secede from Uzbekistan. The land was incorporated into Soviet Uzbekistan in 1932.

Indeed, in post-Soviet times, there had never been any visible secessionist tendencies in the Autonomous Republic. Still, the right to its autonomy was nonetheless fiercely guarded by the 2 million Karakalpaks, who speak their own Turkic dialect. In July 2022, almost a year before the referendum, Karakalpaks in the regional capital, Nukus, and elsewhere engaged in vigorous street protests about the suggested removal of the Republics autonomous status.

The central Uzbekistan government immediately withdrew the proposal from the new constitution and prosecuted several police officers who had attempted to stop the street protests. The Karakalpak example showed how extensively the changes were field tested before being incorporated into the new constitution and how much grassroots input was made into the document. And when it was finally drafted, a series of educational campaigns were made into the electorate, over several months, by various civil society organizations, particularly the national Yukshalish independent monitoring group, to educate voters.

The enthusiasmeven among the opposition political partiesfor the changes was palpable in all direct contacts that the ISSA had in the lead-up and conduct of the polls.

This now gives Mirziyoyev a clear mandate to continue the development of the strategic bloc of Central Asian states with his four colleagues in the neighboring states. They had already achieved a visa-free travel zone for the rapid movement of people and trade between the five states. Their goals have particularly included the ability, next, to be able to trade with the outside world without having to transit Russia or China.

Mirziyoyevs two-day working visit to Germany on May 23, immediately following the constitutional referendum, was deliberately low-key to avoid any political ramifications with Russia, but it was strategically critical. The visit, and the extensive array of issues discussed, also showed that Mirziyoyev now had, with the overwhelming endorsement of the referendum, the backing to reinforce his diplomatic efforts to build trade with Western Europe.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz (R) and Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev shake hands as he arrives at the Chancellery in Berlin on May 2, 2023. (John Macdougall/AFP via Getty Images)

The presidents discussions with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and other German officials were comprehensive and addressed ways to improve the trans-Caspian trade corridor. Making the Caspian Corridor viable will necessitate that Mirziyoyev now persuades his fellow leaders in Kazakhstan, possibly Turkmenistan, and Azerbaijan to build a physical infrastructure capable of handling a much larger trade volume. The engagement of the Turkish government would also be critical for this to work well.

It is significant that Germany, in particular, has benefitted from the growing bilateral trade with Uzbekistan in the wake of a decline in U.S. influence in Central Asia following the greatly criticized nature of the U.S. withdrawal of forces from Afghanistan in August 2021. However, it is clear that the Uzbekistan government has also stepped up its commitment to expanding trade and investment relations with the United States. But it may be Germany that proves to be the key ally in sponsoring Uzbekistans membership of the World Trade Organization.

The five core Central Asian states have a combined population of some 70 million, of which half are in Uzbekistan. The combined gross domestic products of the five, in 2021, were only $328.87 billion, $197.11 billion of which was with energy-rich Kazakhstan. Industrially and agriculturally, however, the growth area is Uzbekistan.

What, then, are some of the major strategic factors challenging the Central Asian states?

Creating stable, defensible, and substantial logistical lines and infrastructure within the landlocked Central Asian states and then to the outside world without transiting Russia or China.

Limiting political pressure from Russia and China, particularly pressures that could disrupt the unity of the five core nations of Central Asia.

Creating common security approaches, architecture, training, intelligence sharing, and materiel among the core Central Asian states while ensuring an absence of provocation to Russia and China.

Addressing regional water imbalances, particularly through diplomacy with Afghanistan on the judicious sharing of the Amu Darya (Oxus) River.

Building structured relations with critical transit or potentially allied nations, now and for the future, including Azerbaijan and Turkey; Afghanistan and Pakistan; Iran; and Mongolia, while assessing the prospect of a future Indo-Pakistan conflict impacting Central Asias export routes.

It is probable that Uzbekistan, in particular, and the Central Asian bloc in general, will need to consider how to engage Afghanistan, Pakistan, Azerbaijan, and Turkey as active partners in the logistical framework that will determine a broader architecture of mutual prosperity.

The old intellectual constraintthe reality that the 19th-century Tsarist conquest of Central Asia isolated those states from, say, Afghanistan and Pakistan (and Iran, itself divided by Russian predations)means that Central Asian and external observers will need to look afresh at what constitutes a broader vision of the Central Asian strategic region.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
The Putrid Underbelly of Woke Capitalism

Financier Jeffrey Epstein (C) appears in court where he pleaded guilty to two prostitution charges in West Palm Beach, Fla., on July 30, 2008. (Uma Sanghvi/Palm Beach Post via Reuters)

Commentary

Corporate intrigue reached a fevered pitch on May 6, 2023, in Omaha, Nebraska, when a shareholder was arrested during the annual shareholder meeting of Berkshire Hathaway. The shareholder challenged the affiliation of Warren Buffett with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and Bill Gatess association with Jeffrey Epstein, who was convicted in Florida for procuring a child for prostitution and soliciting a prostitute, and who reportedly committed suicide in a New York jail while facing charges for sex trafficking and conspiracy to engage in sex trafficking.

Peter Flaherty, the chairman of the National Legal and Policy Center (NLPC), stood to offer proposal number eight, which called for the roles of Berkshire CEO and chair to be separated and held by two persons. Flaherty argued that the separation of roles was necessary so that Berkshire would be less identified with Mr. Buffetts personal political activities. Speaking of Buffett, Flaherty stated:

Hes donated tens of billions to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. As Bill Gates explained when the couple was still together, although the foundation bears our names, basically half our resources have come from Warren Buffett.

If woke culture is a disease, then philanthropy is the virus.

The Gates Foundation bankrolls the teaching of Critical Race Theory around the country, including that math is inherently racist.

The Gates Foundation offers a Gender Identity Toolbox which asserts that gender is the result of socially and culturally constructed ideas.

This is a lie. Gender is not a cultural construct. It is a genetic and biological fact. (emphasis mine)

Flaherty was interrupted by a Berkshire representative and pleaded to the chair (Buffett) to be allowed to continue. Buffett agreed that Flaherty could continue but warned him of the three-minute time limit for shareholder proposals. Flaherty then proceeded to throw down the gauntlet, until his microphone was shut off:

We know how much Bill Gates cares about children. He met and traveled with Jeffrey Epstein many times after Epstein was convicted of sex crimes.

The Gates Foundation had a huge influence over the COVID response fiasco.

Bill Gates defended Chinas COVID policies and still discounts the possibility that the virus originated from a lab, even though U.S. intelligence agencies disagree. The Gates Foundation may be the largest single donor to the dark money machine known as Arabella Associates 

It funds causes like defunding the police that are making American cities unlivable.

Money goes, too, to groups conducting

At this point, Buffett declared from the stage: You crossed the boundary. Two security guards grabbed Flaherty by either arm and escorted him from the room. Flaherty was arrested and charged with trespassing.

The arrest of the Berkshire shareholder, apparently for merely mentioning Jeffrey Epstein in connection with Bill Gates and Warren Buffett, coincided with a series of Wall Street Journal articles exploring Epsteins calendar and a trove of Epstein emails and other documents. The Wall Street Journal revealed numerous Epstein meetings with high-profile contacts, long after Epstein served time for soliciting a child prostitute and was registered as a sex offender. Represented in Epsteins calendar and emails are such notables as William Burns, director of the Central Intelligence Agency since 2021; Bill Gates, Microsoft founder and philanthropist; Jess Staley, former Barclays CEO; Reid Hoffman, cofounder of LinkedIn; Larry Summers, professor and former Harvard University president; Woody Allen, filmmaker; and Noam Chomsky, leftist MIT linguistics professor, among others. These and other meetings may reveal that many businesspersons and woke philanthropists were ensnared by a child sex trafficker.

The scene at the Berkshire annual meeting also followed on the heels of the lawsuit filed against JPMorgan Chase by the U.S. Virgin Islands. Attorneys for the U.S. Virgin Islands claim that the bank materially aided Epstein in his child sex trafficking scheme and is seeking damages for their clients. Four billionaires have been subpoenaed in the case so far, including Google cofounder Sergey Brin; Hyatt Hotels CEO Thomas Pritzker; real estate tycoon and owner of U.S. News and World Report Mortimer Zuckerman; and venture capitalist and Hollywood agent Michael Ovitz. Curiously, the U.S. Virgin Islands has also attempted, without success, to serve a subpoena to Googles other cofounder, Larry Page, whose whereabouts remain unknown and who obviously does not want to be found.

It should be remembered here that Google has represented the leading edge of woke capitalism, with its leftist ranking algorithms and its employment of machine learning fairness that corrects for so-called algorithmic unfairness by misrepresenting reality with affirmative action results. Clearly, Googles founders did not rely on algorithms to identify and eliminate pedophiles from their list of business contacts.

While the U.S. Virgin Islands asserts that JP Morgan Chase facilitated and possibly bankrolled Epsteins pedophilia ring, U.S. Republican lawmakers have claimed that the United States largest bank has a penchant for cancelling the accounts of conservative and religious groups. The bank maintained its financial relationship with Epstein until 2013, long after he was convicted of sex crimes, yet recently cancelled the accounts of such groups as the National Committee for Religious Freedom. The banks touted diversity and inclusion policy has apparently included pedophiles but excluded avowedly Christian groups.

Much more has and could be said about why high-profile businesspersons, philanthropists, academics, and even intelligence officers had relationships with Jeffrey Epstein. For example, some have claimed that Epstein and his partner Ghislaine Maxwell were Israeli spies who ran a honey-trap operation to steer U.S. policies in Israels favor and against U.S. interests.

As the Wall Street Journal asked:

Epstein was a former schoolteacher. How did he become a billionaire? What was the source of his wealth? Was he paid for providing women or girls to his friends? Was he a blackmailer? Were women or girls an enticement to invest in his projects?

Finally, theres the ridiculous, implausible matter of Epsteins death in federal custody on Aug. 10, 2019, which 3 years later remains under investigation by the Justice Department inspector general, only feeding conspiracy theories.

But the main question for our purposes is: How is that nearly all major corporate heads and influential members of society have simultaneously gone woke? Could it be that whoever controlled Jeffrey Epstein sets the agenda through the use of blackmail, directing these corporate heads and other leaders to convert to wokeness, while steering their philanthropy to designated ends, including the funding of critical race theory and the LGBTQIA+ agenda? In other words, is our capitalist class controlled by whoever oversaw Epsteins thirty-year entrapment operation?

In addition to revealing the moral rot that has permeated the U.S. establishment, the Epstein connections also show that those who claim the woke moral high ground, and impose woke policies on the rest of us, are perhaps the most corrupted people on the face of the earth.

From Mises.org

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
The Washington Declaration: Implications for Taiwan and East Asia

Deterring China through enhanced security agreements in the Indo-Pacific region

U.S. President Joe Biden and South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol participate in a state arrival ceremony on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington on April 26, 2023. (Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images)

Commentary

Below are a series of questions asked to me by Taiwan Talks, one of Taiwans English TV programs, regarding recent events between South Korea, the United States, and the Indo-Pacific region.

What is the significance of the Washington Declaration agreed to by President Joe Biden and President Yoon Suk-yeol of South Korea?

The Washington Declaration is meant to counter the growing nuclear threat from North Korea (DPRK) with a set of new deterrence measures by the United States in support of South Korea.

Recall that in September 2022, DPRK announced its three nos: absolutely no denuclearization, no negotiation, and no bargaining chip to trade, regardless if international sanctions were lifted. The Washington Declaration is a response to increased North Korean belligerence through its public statements and over 100 long-range missile tests since the beginning of 2022. Remember that after then-President Donald Trump met with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, DPRK ceased its long-range rocket testing until Trumps departure in 2021.

In February 2022, the Chicago Council on Global Affairs (CCGA) conducted a poll in South Korea, indicating that 71 percent of participants (a super majority) wanted their country to build its own nuclear weapons.

CCGA summarized the poll results: Support for nuclear weapons is robust, with 71 percent in favor of South Korea developing its own nuclear weapons, while 56 percent support deployment of U.S. nuclear weapons in South Korea. However, when asked to choose between these two options, the public overwhelmingly prefers an independent arsenal (67 percent) over U.S. deployment (9 percent). Interestingly, 40 percent oppose U.S. deployment, while just 26 percent oppose a domestic nuclear arsenal.

CCGA conducted the poll before the series of missile testing and other aggressive actions taken by the North Koreans. In other words, the numbers would be higher now because of North Koreas subsequent actions. Examples include the following actions:

DPRK missile tests: The DPRK conducted over 95 missile launches in 2022. DPRK conducted another 30 missile tests since the beginning of 2023 until April.

The DPRK conducted over 95 missile launches in 2022. DPRK conducted another 30 missile tests since the beginning of 2023 until April. DPRK missiles overflying Japan: Since the August 2022 Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) exercise near Taiwan, the DPRK has launched at least five missiles over Japan, scaring politicians and the population on the following dates: Oct. 4, 2022, Nov. 3, 2022, Feb. 18 and 20, and April 13.

Since the August 2022 Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) exercise near Taiwan, the DPRK has launched at least five missiles over Japan, scaring politicians and the population on the following dates: Oct. 4, 2022, Nov. 3, 2022, Feb. 18 and 20, and April 13. Solid rocket-fueled ICBM: The DPRK tested its first solid rocket-fueled ICBM on April 13. The solid rocket fuel technology is suspected to be similar to the Russian Iskander rocket. The Russians supplying this technology could be one reason why North Korea provided Russia with massive supplies for Moscows war of aggression against Ukraine.

The DPRK tested its first solid rocket-fueled ICBM on April 13. The solid rocket fuel technology is suspected to be similar to the Russian Iskander rocket. The Russians supplying this technology could be one reason why North Korea provided Russia with massive supplies for Moscows war of aggression against Ukraine. Implications of solid rocket-fueled missiles: Solid-fueled rockets mean that if the DPRK decided to attack a country, the country would have little foreknowledge because liquid-fueled missiles require time to fill the fuel tanks, and solid-fueled rockets do not. The DPRK will have a launch on warning capability, and this would be the first instance that North Korea demonstrated this capability for its ICBMs. Not only is South Korea at risk, but also Japan, the United States, and even Taiwan. Furthermore, a solid rocket-fueled missile is the technology needed for sea-launched nuclear ballistic missiles.

Before visiting the United States, Yoon said he would consider supplying arms to Ukraine if there was a civilian humanitarian crisis. This is a reversal of his non-military aid stand due to South Koreas attempt to avoid antagonizing Russia due to its companies operating there and Moscows influence over North Korea.

What does this new agreement mean for East Asia, including Japan and Taiwan?

The United States is reinforcing its alliances, which sends deterrence messages to North Korea and China.

Japan and South Korea are becoming closer due to the common threats: North Korea and China.

European countries are building their alliances with Indo-Pacific countries (South Korea and Japan are in negotiations for a security agreement, recent Japanese-UK and Australia agreements, and France is in negotiations with Japan).

The Washington agreement puts pressure on the Japanese to make a similar arrangement with the United States. It could allay the concerns of the Japanese, who also want their own nuclear capability independent of the United States.

On the economic side, South Korea agreed to limit its sales of high-end semiconductors to China even though this would hurt its economy.

Taiwans President Tsai Ing-wen (center) and Taiwanese officials pose for photos with a Japanese delegation at the presidential office in Taipei, Taiwan, on July 28, 2022. (Taiwan Presidential Office via AP)

What does this mean for Taiwan?

Bidens speech on the White House lawn with Yoon noted that their discussions included promoting peace and stability in the Taiwan Straits, ensuring freedom of navigation in the South China Sea and beyond. In other words, South Korea has a role in promoting peace and stability in the Taiwan Straits, the South China Sea, and beyond. Until now, the South Korean government has argued that the North Korean challenge will keep it too busy to get involved in other conflict areas.

Biden also convinced Yoon to send military aid to Ukraine for the first timeSouth Korea tried to avoid sending military aid to Ukraine claiming neutrality in the conflict.

The aggression demonstrated by North Korea and China for the past two years has forced a response from the countries near China and North Korea. This response is twofold:

Increase domestic defense capabilities of Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Philippines, and others.

Increase international defense alliances between Indo-Pacific countries and European countries.

As countries friendly to Taiwan become closer in their relationship, this helps Taiwan if the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) decides to conduct a military operation against it. In other words, as these countries become more NATO-like (train together, use a common operating picture to conduct military operations, and make plans together to deconflict actions), Taiwan looks more like Ukraine. Someday, Taiwan could become part of this new developing alliance structure.

Taiwan has a unique resource that no other country, perhaps except Singapore, hasa large number of Chinese linguists, native linguists. Consequently, Taiwan can assist the developing alliance by providing information, intelligenceindications and warningson the activities of the PLA in and around the Taiwan Strait, as well as provide strategic information on what the CCP and its sub-elements are doing in the Indo-Pacific region and beyond.

What does this current agreement mean at the military level?

The United States will now have a port facility to use in South Korea for its nuclear submarinesnuclear attack (SSNs) and nuclear ballistic/cruise missile submarines (SSBN/SSCM). The United States did not have any facility for its submarines in East Asia to dock at. It is also a visible way of reminding North Korea that the United States maintains a deterrence posture against the North Korean nuclear threat.

The visible submarine presence also reminds China that the United States is nearby. The SLBMs and SLCMs can reach anywhere in China if the U.S. submarines are in the East China Sea or the western Pacific Ocean.

This agreement released some internal pressure on South Korea to develop its own nuclear weapons. According to a 2022 survey, 71 percent of South Koreans want their country to have its own nuclear weapons.

What future agreements would you predict based on the Washington Declaration and other agreements in the region?

Based on my analysis of strategic trends in the Indo-Pacific region and based on Abraham Lincolns wisdom that the best way to predict the future is to create it, the following are future new agreements I predict will occur if each country has the political will. These enhancements will be in the following areas: bilateral security agreements, the Quad, and AUKUS. An enhanced AUKUS will have the greatest strategic effect on the region because of the deterrence factor.

One of my colleagues suggested that perhaps as part of the Washington Declaration, the United States could include South Korea in the Quad, AUKUS, and even the G-7.

Enhanced Security Agreements

Enhancing Bilateral Security Agreements

Yoon claimed he would focus on enhancing South Korea bilateral relations to strengthen information sharing, joint contingency planning and joint execution of the plans. But this could not only apply to current allies (the United States), but new allies like Australia, Japan, Philippines, and maybe someday Taiwan. Hopefully, once multiple bilateral treaties exist, these governments can transition them into an Indo-Pacific treaty alliance.

Recent announcements from Japan and South Korea on intelligence sharing and cooperating on technology trade security indicate that their common threats are driving them faster together.

Expand Quad (Japan, India, Australia, and U.S.)

The Quad will add South Korea (a Quint), which John Bolton mentioned in his speech in Taipei earlier this month, and Yoon has shown strong interest in joining the Quad since becoming president. Finally, Taiwan could be an associate partner or some new membership category.

Expand AUKUS (Australia, UK, U.S.)

South Korea should be added to AUKUS as well as Japan. Taiwan again could play some sort of role, perhaps a location to dock friendly countries nuclear submarines once a submarine base is available on the east side of the island. A follow-on article on an expanded AUKUS will be published to describe what the implications would look like.

Summary

If the enhanced relationships come to fruition, then communist China will be greatly deterred from its expansionist plans, thereby delaying the PLAs military action against Taiwan, the South China Sea, and other claimed areas. These overlapping agreements create a thickening of relationships and synergistic resilience between threatened countries. These enhanced agreements provide a strong positive trend for peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait and the Indo-Pacific region.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
Adults are being reminded of the best ways to make swimming activities safe for kids, in light of statistics showing that most young children who drown in pools were last seen in the house less than five minutes before the drowning occurred.

There is no substitute for your undivided attention, according to Jennifer Rubin, Safe Kids Greater Sacramento Coalition coordinator and injury prevention specialist at the University of California Davis Health.

Pick an adult that knows how to swim to watch the kids in the pool, Rubin recommended.

Kids under age five should have an adult within arms reach in the water.

Pediatrics, lifesavers, and advocates are recommending all children four years and older take swimming lessons. (Photo courtesy of Keri Evans Morrison)

Among preventable injuries, drowning remains the leading cause of death for children under five.

More than one in five fatal drowning victims are children aged 14 and younger. For every child who dies from drowning, another five receive emergency department care for near drownings.

Older teens, particularly males between the ages of 15 and 19, are also at high risk of drowning. Often, these accidents are a result of high-risk behavior, drugs, or alcohol.

UC Davis Health shared the following ways to save young children from experiencing this tragedy:

Ten Prevention Tips

1. Keep a close eye on young children in not only the pool but also in the house as well. Children under age one are more likely to drown in bathtubs or buckets.

2. Air-filled or foam toys, such as water wings, noodles, or inner tubes, should not be used in place of life jackets (personal flotation devices). These toys are not designed to keep swimmers safe.

A toddler explores the water with his mother as an instructor at a swimming class in Sydney, Australia, on March 16, 2007. (Ian Waldie/Getty Images)

3. Children should always wear a life jacket when around natural bodies of water including the river, lakes, or oceans. Parents and other adults should set a good example by always wearing theirs.

Even the strongest swimmers need a life jacket in the river, Rubin said.

4. Be aware of situations that are unique to open water, such as limited visibility, depth, uneven surfaces, currents, and undertow.

5. Know how to swim out of a rip current, which remains the most deadly hazard on beaches. They are powerful, channeled currents of water flowing away from shore that quickly pull swimmers out to sea, and account for over 80 percent of rescues performed by beach lifeguards.

6. Talk with teens about the dangers of diving into the river from rocks or bridges. Explain why alcohol and drugs make it even more likely for a fatal drowning to occur.

Further tips for kids at home if you have a pool:

7. Keep the pool area completely enclosed with a fence at least five feet high. An iron fence with vertical bars three inches apart and horizontal bars no closer than 45 inches together is recommended.

8. Pool covers and pool alarms can be helpful but do not serve as a substitute for a good fence. Children can become trapped under soft pool covers and can easily drown.

9. All gates around the pool should be self-closing and self-latching. The latch should be near the top of the fence.

10. Finally, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommended learning infant, child, and adult CPR.
Top Met Officer Denies Political Pressure to Clampdown on Coronation Protesters

Anti-monarchist group say they 'never had any intention' of disrupting coronation

'Not My King' placards being removed by police officers after being confiscated from protesters during the coronation in central London on May 6, 2023. (Labour for a Republic/PA)

A senior Metropolitan Police officer has denied they were under any political pressure to clampdown on anti-monarchist groups protesting during the coronation of King Charles III.

Six members of the campaign group Republic, including its CEO Graham Smith, were arrested in central London on the morning of the coronation and detained for 16 hours. A group of volunteers who handed out rape alarms were also detained after an apparent misunderstanding.

A fan of the royal family, Alice Chambers, 36, has also filed a complaint after she was arrested and held in custody for 13 hours after being mistaken for a Just Stop Oil protester while waiting for the monarch along the procession route.

But the Mets Temporary Assistant Commissioner, Matt Twist, told MPs on Wednesday: I felt under no pressure politically, I felt pressure to deliver a safe and secure operation, but that was because of the fact that it was a once-in-a-lifetime event for so many people and there would be hundreds of thousands of people in London to celebrate it, and also and importantly, this was the biggest protection operation we have ever run.

Giving evidence to the House of Commons Home Affairs Committee, Twist said: There were 312 protected people that we managed to get in and out of [Westminster] Abbey and across the footprint in about 90 minutes. So the stakes were enormously high, so I absolutely felt pressure to deliver a safe and secure operation. But that wasnt political pressure.

He said it was the most challenging, fast-moving, and complex policing picture weve ever encountered for national celebration.

1st Arrests Under New Public Order Act

The six Republic memberswho were later released without chargewere the first people to be arrested under the new Public Order Act, which had been brought in three days before the coronation.

They were held under suspicion of going equipped to lock-on, a new offence which is designed to prevent demonstrators from padlocking themselves to barriers or gluing themselves to roads or other surfaces as an act of obstruction or disruption.

An anti-monarchy protester is arrested in central London during the coronation on May 6, 2023. (Labour4Republic/PA)

Smith also gave evidence to the same committee on Wednesday and said his arrest had been a traumatic experience.

He said: We never had any intention of doing anything which even came close to falling outside of the law and claims that they had intelligence cannot possibly be true. Either they are being dishonest or they are making a very serious error.

Police Questioned Over Intelligence

Smith said the police could not have intelligence relating to a threat from Republic, because there was not a single email, text message or conversation, fleeting remark, or anything at all that would suggest we had any intention of doing anything unlawful or disruptive.

He said he had numerous meetings and written exchanges with police in the months before the coronation in which they had agreed how many placards they would bring, and agreed on an exact location in Trafalgar Square where Republics main protest would take place.

Smith said, We gave them every piece of information we possibly could. It is possible that the occasional tiny minutia might have slipped through and not been communicated, but they were very clear with us that they did not have a single concern about any of the things we had told them we were going to do.

Wednesdays meeting was ironically disrupted at one point when Just Stop Oil protesters, wearing T-shirts with large slogans on them, stood up and started to protest. The video feed cut out before they were removed.

Earlier Twist was confronted by MPs who pointed out Republic did not have a reputation for using lock-on tactics.

He said, Officers have to make a difficult judgment at the time, in the moment, based on what they are faced with and based on the information they have.

They have to form reasonable grounds for an arrest and, as the committee will know, reasonable grounds is actually quite a low threshold and is much lower than where you would need grounds to meet the evidential test to charge and a public interest test to charge. So what was found was 12 heavy-duty material straps with combination locks on them, which the officers were told was for securing placards, Twist said.

But at the time the officers were operating in a threat environment where they believed, taking into account the time, the location, proximity to the route, and what they had in front of them, those officers believed that those could be items that could be used for locking on, and that was why the arrest was made, he added.

Fine Line Between Protest and Illegality

Twist said there was often a fine line between a lawful protest and a demonstration straying into illegal activity.

The Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, Sir Mark Rowley, has defended the forces actions in a letter to the Mayor of London Sadiq Khan, in which he said, Had our officers not acted on reasonable grounds, based on the evidence in front of them in the moment and the potential risk to the event, there would now be much more serious questions to answer about the event.

On its website, Republic says it wants to abolish the monarchy and replace it with a head of state. Britain has been ruled by a monarchy since 1660 when King Charles II was restored to the throne after 11 years of republican rule following the English Civil War.

A constitutional monarchy was created in 1689 after the Catholic King James II was usurped by his daughter Mary and her Protestant husband, William of Orange.

PA Media contributed to this report.
Trudeau Highlights Rise of Authoritarianism During Visit to South Korea

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau responds to a question during a joint news conference with South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol at the Presidential Office in Seoul, South Korea, on May 17, 2023. (The Canadian Press/Adrian Wyld)

During the first full day of his visit to South Korea Tuesday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau several times mentioned the rise of authoritarianism around the globe and the growing tensions and conflict that have come along with it.

Trudeau made the comments while addressing the National Assembly of the Republic of Korea, and he also said he raised the point during discussions with Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol.

You see right now, our world is facing a moment of uncertainty like weve never seen in our lifetimes, he said at the national assembly. Authoritarianism is gaining ground. You are front-line witnesses to regular military provocations by North Korea that cause instability on the peninsula, in the north Pacific region, and around the world.

Accompanying the prime minister on his trip are Industry Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne and Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly.

Trudeau and the ministers held a number of discussions on May 17 with various officials and executives, and the prime minister spoke to both Korean and Canadian media alongside Yeol following his national assembly address.

Reporters asked the two leaders about specifics relating to their private meetings, questioning in particular about what they discussed regarding China and North Korea.

We had excellent conversations today on a broad range of topics including the impact of authoritarian states, like China, Russia, and North Korea and others, Trudeau said.

The prime minister also spoke about the War in Ukraine and said Ukrainians are defending the values and the principles that underpin all of our democracies around the world.

The fight against authoritarianism, the fight against autocracy, the fight against neighbours with bigger armies who might look to invade across the border, he said.

Trudeaus visit to Korea comes at a time when the Canadian Parliament is steeped in debate and committee investigations concerning Beijings attempts to interfere in political institutions as well as its alleged targeting of Conservative MP Michael Chong in 2021 because of a motion he sponsored in the House of Commons.

Reporters did not ask Trudeau specifically about the matter, but the prime minister said both South Korea and Canada view China as an important economic partner, while also saying they also need to be clear-eyed about their cooperation with Beijing.

We need to know where were going to be competing with China on economic grounds and where we need to challenge China on human rights and other issuessomething that we will both be continuing to do in ways that make sense for our own countries and our own situations, Trudeau said.
Trump-Endorsed Daniel Cameron Wins Kentucky GOP Primary for Governor

Faces Democrat Gov. Andy Beshear in November

Daniel Cameron, who was endorsed by former President Donald Trump, won the Republican nomination in the Kentucky gubernatorial race on Tuesday.

He now faces incumbent Gov. Andy Beshear, a Democrat, in the November general election. Beshear is seeking his second term as governor.

Cameron, a former legal counsel to Republican Senate Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), currently serves as Kentuckys attorney general.

He announced his bid for governor last year and emerged victorious over 11 other candidates.

Among the candidates was Kelly Craft, who served as the United Nations ambassador in the Trump administration, and had secured a last-minute endorsement from Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.

Also among the candidates were Kentuckys agriculture commissioner, Ryan Quarles, state auditor Mike Harmon, and Somerset Mayor Alan Keck.

There were no reports of voting disruptions, even though storm warnings were issued in some areas in the state, according to the secretary of states office. Turnout was light in many locations due to rain across much of the state during part of the day, the office noted.

Voters wait in line to check in at their polling location during Kentucky Primary Elections at Deer Park Baptist Church in Louisville, Ky., on May 16, 2023. (Jon Cherry/Getty Images)

During his campaign, Cameron emphasized his record in office, reminding voters of his lawsuits against Beshear and the Biden administration over abortion, immigration, and COVID-19 policies.

Very first. Freedom in our constitution is the freedom of religion. But Governor Beshear ignored the constitution and shut churches down, Cameron said in his first television campaign ad, referring to the lockdown spurred by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.

So I took [Beshear] to court and fought to reopen churches so we could come together for worship. Kentucky deserves a governor who respects our laws and our freedoms, Cameron said.

A governor who knows only liberty creates prosperity and only faith can keep us strong  thats exactly the kind of governor I will be.

Cameron successfully challenged Beshears COVID-era restrictions and halted them.

If elected, he would become the states first black governor. He is already the states first black attorney general.

Cameron played up the historic nature of his nomination in his victory speech on Tuesday, saying his campaign aims to embody the promise of America, that if you work hard and if you stand on principle, anything is possible.

To anyone who looks like me, know that you can achieve anything, he told his supporters. Know that in this country and in Kentucky, all that matters are your values.

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, standing next to his wife Britainy Beshear, speaks after surveying storm damage from tornadoes and extreme weather in Dawson Springs, Ky., on Dec. 15, 2021. (Andrew Harnik/AP Photo)

Beshear had asserted that his actions during the COVID-19 pandemic saved lives, and that he looked closely to guidance that came from Trumps coronavirus task force. During the pandemic, Beshear held daily pandemic briefings for months.

Later, following tornados in 2021 and floods in 2022 in the state, Beshear led relief efforts to help those affected.

In April, Beshear publicly grieved the loss of a close friend who died in a mass shooting in which a bank employee in Louisville fatally shot five coworkers.

On Tuesday, in setting the stage for his reelection campaign, Beshear lauded his governance of Kentuckys economy, pointing to record economic development successes.

Beshear was the states attorney general before he was succeeded by Cameron, and became governor in 2019.

Kentucky is a largely conservative, Republican-dominated state. In the 2020 election, Trump won the state against Democrat Joe Biden by more than 25 percentage points.

Cameron had made a speech in support of Trumps reelection campaign at the 2020 Republican National Convention.

In other races, Republican Secretary of State Michael Adams, who is seeking reelection, won his primary against two candidates, including one who questioned election integrity. Adams had successfully pushed for expanded voter access. He now faces Democrat Charles Buddy Wheatley in November.

Allison Ball, who served two terms as Kentuckys treasurer, won the GOP primary in the race for state auditor. She will now face Democrat Kimberley Reeder, who ran unopposed.

Garrard County Attorney Mark Metcalf won the GOP primary for state treasurer and will face Democrat Michael Bowman in November.

Republican Jonathan Shell and Democrat Sierra Enlow, who won their respective primaries, will face each other in November in the race to be Kentuckys agriculture commissioner.

Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Chinese Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, holds talks with Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance of Singapore Lawrence Wong in Beijing, capital of China, May 16, 2023. (Xinhua/Yao Dawei)

BEIJING, May 16 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang held talks with Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance of Singapore Lawrence Wong in Beijing on Tuesday.

Ding, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, said that China and Singapore are friendly neighbors and important cooperative partners to each other.

Standing at a new historical starting point, China is ready to work with Singapore to implement the important consensus reached by the leaders of the two countries, open a new chapter of high-quality cooperation and bring more benefits to the two countries and peoples, Ding added.

He also said that the two sides should continue to make good use of the important platform of China-Singapore bilateral cooperation mechanism, strengthen policy communication, coordinate resources of all parties and deepen practical cooperation in various fields.

The two sides should strengthen cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative, upgrade key cooperation projects such as the Tianjin Eco-City, Suzhou Industrial Park, China-Singapore (Chongqing) Demonstration Initiative on Strategic Connectivity and Guangzhou Knowledge City, Ding said, adding that the two countries should continue to carry out cooperation in economy, trade, investment and finance, expand cooperation in new areas such as the digital economy and utilization of ocean energy, and deepen exchanges and cooperation in the fields such as health, education, culture and tourism.

Ding emphasized that maintaining regional prosperity and stability is the common pursuit of the two countries, and China is willing to work with Singapore to resist politicization of economic issues, maintain the stability and smoothness of global industrial and supply chains, promote the high-level implementation of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), and actively promote the building of version 3.0 of the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area.

Wong said that the two sides enjoy solid foundation of friendly cooperation and strong bilateral relations, adding that Singapore adheres to the one-China policy, firmly supports the Belt and Road Initiative, and stands ready to work with China to make good use of the bilateral cooperation mechanism.

He also said Singapore is willing to expand practical cooperation with China in various fields, strengthen strategic alignment, deepen people-to-people exchanges, implement the all-round high-quality future-oriented partnership and push bilateral relations to a new level. 

Chinese Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, holds talks with Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance of Singapore Lawrence Wong in Beijing, capital of China, May 16, 2023. (Xinhua/Yao Dawei)
UBS Says Its Rescue of Credit Suisse Was a Rushed Deal With Unclear Risks

But a $35 billion day-one profit from the rescue could soothe frazzled nerves

The logo of Swiss bank UBS is seen at its headquarters in Zurich, Switzerland, on Feb. 17, 2021. (Arnd Wiegmann/Reuters)

Switzerlands biggest bank UBS said that it was unable to carry out a comprehensive assessment of the assets and liabilities of Credit Suisse as it was pushed by regulators to take over its beleaguered rival in a rushed rescue to stem financial contagion and prevent a systemic meltdown.

UBS said in May 16 regulatory filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that it had just several days to carry out complex due diligence on Credit Suisse before agreeing to purchase the collapsing bank in March.

The rushed due diligencebasically an assessment of a banks assets and liabilitiesmeans that the picture of the impact of the rescue deal on UBS, including its value and share price, is encumbered by an added layer of risk.

Still, some of the numbers UBS tossed around in the filing suggest that Switzerlands biggest bank will end up doing well.

Limited But Intensive Due Diligence

Credit Suisse ran into deep trouble after it endured a particularly difficult year that saw its stock price plummet following a string of scandals and multibillion-dollar losses.

On March 15, the Swiss central bank tossed Credit Suisse a $54 billion lifeline, but market participants worried it wouldnt be enough.

While this bought a little time, anxious regulators ended up approving a takeover of Credit Suisse by UBS within days amid a broader crisis of confidence in the banking sector as the twin failures of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank in the United States worried investors.

To calm markets and avoid the possibility of contagion in the financial system, the Swiss government had determined that a decision would need to be made before the opening of markets following the weekend, UBS told investors in the filing.

UBS said it had just four days to conduct a limited but intensive due diligencebasically an analysis of Credit Suisses assets and liabilitiesbefore deciding on whether to go ahead with the rescue.

On March 19, the Swiss central bank announced UBS would buy Credit Suisse for around $3.4 billion.

But the emergency circumstances under which UBS said it carried out its rushed due diligence may have impacted its ability to fully evaluate Credit Suisses assets and liabilities.

It is possible that UBS Group AG will have agreed to a rescue that is considerably more difficult and risky than it had contemplated, it said.

This could affect the future performance of UBS Group AG, its share price, and its value as an enterprise, the lender warned.

However, a deeper dive into the numbers disclosed by UBS in the filing suggests that the deal may end up being sweeter than rushed due diligence might suggest.

A Sweet Deal?

As can be expected in a complex resolution (or orderly liquidation) of a big financial institution like Credit Suisse, there is a mix of costs and benefits to the partyin this case, UBSthat purchases its assets and assumes its liabilities.

The rushed nature of the rescue adds to that complexity and injects more risk. For instance, UBS warned in the filing that it might not realize all the expected cost reductions of the transaction or that combining the two companies might prove more challenging or costly.

UBS Group AG currently expects that the transaction will result in a number of benefits, including that it will ultimately be accretive to UBS Group AGs earnings per share, the bank said.

However, it cautioned that this projection is based on preliminary estimates that may materially change.

Still, when it finalizes the deal at the end of this month, UBS expects to make a day-one profit of nearly $35 billion.

Thats because UBS will be able to book a one-off gain stemming from a so-called negative goodwill of $34.8 billion since it bought Credit Suisse at a fraction of its book value.

UBS is buying Credit Suisse (which the filing indicates was worth roughly $49 billion at the end of last year) for around $3.5 billion.

At the same time, UBS estimated that the sum total of all the losses on Credit Suisse assets and provisions for litigation would reduce Credit Suisses value by around $28.3 billion. However, that would be offset by $17.1 billion from a write-down of Credit Suisse junior bonds, among other factors.

That would bring the total day-one hit to roughly minus $11.3 billion, which, when set against Credit Suisses approximate book value of $48.8 billion, leaves UBS with roughly $35 billion.

UBS cautioned that the numbers could change if some of the downside risks materialize, including expenses from settling lawsuits.

Shares of UBS were up 0.61 percent in early trading Wednesday, a day after it filed the documents with the SEC and investors digested the estimated mix of costs and benefits of the deal.

Exceptional Situation

Credit Suisse dropped a bombshell on March 14 when it announced that it discovered material weaknesses in its financial reporting that would result in a material misstatement of its annual financial statements.

The following day, its biggest shareholder, Saudi National Bank, ruled out increasing its stake in the Swiss bank because of regulatory restrictions.

Credit Suisses stock price then fell by nearly 20 percent in a week while regulators fretted about growing risks to financial stability.

Swiss officials scrambled to figure out how to save the 167-year-old banking giant before UBS swooped in for the rescue.

With the takeover of Credit Suisse by UBS, a solution has been found to secure financial stability and protect the Swiss economy in this exceptional situation, Swiss National Bank (SNB) said in a statement.

As part of the agreement, the central bank committed to providing emergency liquidity support of around $100 billion.

During a March 19 press conference, Swiss President Alain Berset said the UBS rescue was the best solution to calm worried investors and bolster confidence in the banking sector.

The takeover of Credit Suisse by UBS is the best solution for restoring the confidence that has been lacking in financial markets recently and for best managing the risk to our country and its citizens, he said at the time.

The failure of California-based Silicon Valley Bank on March 10 sparked a crisis of confidence that sent ripples across the global banking industry.

Emel Akan contributed to this report.
UK and EU Agree to Strengthen Cooperation on Migration, Says Downing Street

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak speaks with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen during a bilateral meeting at a Council of Europe summit in Reykjavik, Iceland, on May 16, 2023. (Alastair Grant - WPA Pool/Getty Images)

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen have agreed to strengthen cooperation between UK and EU agencies on immigration, Downing Street has said.

The two leaders underlined that the UK and EU have a shared interest in tackling cross-border crime and people trafficking during bilateral talks at the Council of Europe meeting in Iceland on Tuesday, a No. 10 spokesman said.

They agreed to strengthen cooperation between the EU and UK on migration through developing a new working arrangement between UK agencies and Frontex, the EU border force.

UK and EU teams will now discuss the details and operationalisation of this new working arrangement, which will enable the two sides to work together on critical operational and strategic challenges including the situation in the Channel, the spokesman added.

Britains Prime Minister Rishi Sunak prepares to speak during the opening of the Council of Europe summit in Reykjavik, Iceland, on May 16, 2023. (Alastair Grant  WPA Pool/Getty Images)

The two-day meeting in Reykjavik is focused mainly on ways to hold Russia to account for its invasion of Ukraine, with European leaders expected to sign up to a Register of Damages to ensure the people of Ukraine are compensated for losses incurred as a result of the war.

But Sunak had sought to make illegal immigration a key topic at the summit, warning leaders that the international system for policing human trafficking is not working.

Cross-Border Cooperation

In his remarks at the opening session of the summit, the prime minister urged European leaders to be prepared to confront threats to our societies before they become too big to deal with, including illegal immigration.

Sunak said: The moral case for action is clearwe cant just sit back and watch as criminal gangs profiteer on peoples misery.

Illegal migration exploits the most vulnerable. It risks crowding out those with a genuine case for asylum. And it strains the trust that our citizens havenot just in our domestic borders, but in the international system.

Thats why so many of us are already acting at the national level, and why we need to do more to cooperate across borders and across jurisdictions and to end illegal migration and stop the boats.

The prime minister said the Council of Europe is already playing a vital role, but urged leaders to consider how we can go further.

Channel Crisis

According to Home Office figures, 45,755 illegal immigrants arrived in the UK by crossing the English Channel in small boats in 2022.

Nearly 7,000 illegal immigrants have already arrived in the UK by crossing the Channel this year.

An inflatable craft carrying immigrants crosses the shipping lane in the English Channel off the coast of Dover, England, on Aug. 4, 2022. (Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)

Sunak has made stopping the boats one of his five priorities, and has said he is determined to deliver on his promise.

The government has put forward an Illegal Migration Bill, which aims to ban anyone who arrives in the UK illegally from claiming asylum.

If it becomes law, illegal entrants will be swiftly removed from the UK to their home country or a safe third country like Rwanda, and will be banned from reentry.

But Britains previous attempts to deport illegal immigrants to Rwanda has been hampered by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), a Strasbourg-based international court of the Council of Europe.

In Reykjavik, Sunak held talks with ECHR President Siofra OLeary over a review of the working of Rule 39, the order that blocked the inaugural UK deportation flight to Rwanda last year.

People trafficking also came up in the prime ministers bilateral meeting with Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, with whom he agreed to tackle the scourge by working together both bilaterally and through forums such as the European Political Community.

PA Media contributed to this report.
US Charges Former Army Employee at South Korean Facility With Bribery, Fraud

Soldiers stationed on U.S. Army Garrison Casey conduct pre-screening processes on individuals awaiting entry to the base, USAG-Casey in Dongducheon, South Korea, on Feb. 26, 2020. (Sgt. Amber I. Smith/U.S. Army)

NEW YORKA former civilian employee at a U.S. Army facility in South Korea has been arrested on charges of receiving $400,000 in kickbacks from military contractors, federal prosecutors in Manhattan said on Monday.

Young Beom Kim, 62, was responsible for overseeing construction contracts at the Army Garrison Yongsan-Casey from 2017 to 2021. Prosecutors said he made sure contracts for equipment such as blast doors designed to protect Army personnel from an attack went to companies that had paid him kickbacks.

The Yongsan-Casey facility is located near the North Korean border.

The importance of Kims work and duties to the Army and its troops cannot be overstated, Damian Williams, the U.S. Attorney in Manhattan, said in a statement. Kim betrayed those duties in exchange for a quick buck.

Kim, a U.S. citizen and resident of South Korea, pleaded not guilty to six counts of wire fraud, bribery and money laundering. He was released on $250,000 bond to home detention with family in New Jersey after a brief appearance in Manhattan federal court.

In one instance, Kim allegedly received $12,074 in kickbacks from a U.S.-based supplier of heating, ventilation and air conditioning equipment for a $1 million contract to repair a gymnasium at an Army camp.

Prosecutors also say he received kickbacks from a South Korea-based supplier of parts manufactured by U.S. and Chinese companies.

By Luc Cohen
US Lawmakers Urge to Sanction 29 Hong Kong Judges to Uphold Democratic Freedoms

Judges take part in a ceremony to mark the beginning of the legal year in Hong Kong, China on Jan. 14, 2019. (Tyrone Siu/Reuters)

A U.S. congressional report has urged the United States to impose sanctions on 29 Hong Kong judges appointed to preside over national security cases, citing their role in the arbitrary imprisonment of over 1,000 political prisoners.

The United States government should consider imposing sanctions on judges to counter the erosion of democratic freedoms in Hong Kong, the U.S. Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC) stated in their report released on May 11.

The report said the National Security Law (NSL) imposed on Hong Kong by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in 2020 had created a parallel legal system that weakens judicial independence and strips criminal defendants of basic due process protections.

The 29 judges are an integral part of the parallel legal regime in Hong Kong, having been appointed by the Hong Kong chief executive to preside over national security cases for a one-year term, it stated.

As participants in this system, judges appointed to handle national security cases contribute to these systemic violations, the report reads.

The NSL also permits the removal of judges who are deemed to pose a threat to national security. But the CECC argued that the short appointment term and the lack of removal criteria run counter to the principles of judicial independence.

The lawmakers described the selection process of judges as opaque and said that the Chief Executive Office had refused to disclose the full list of names. This lack of transparency diminishes the publics trust in the judiciary and undermines judicial independence, they added.

Hong Kong authorities have condemned the CECC report for making slandering remarks and despicable threats against its judges, saying it exposed the double standard of the U.S. lawmakers concerned.

The threat is a shameless, sinister, and malicious attempt to put spiteful pressure on judges in the HKSAR, to interfere with the judicial process in the HKSAR, and to undermine the system for the administration of justice in the HKSAR, it said in a statement.

Damaged Legal System

The NSL, which punishes what the CCP broadly defines as secession, subversion, terrorism, and collusion with foreign forces with up to life in jail, has been condemned by democratic governments around the world and human rights groups as a tool to crush dissent in the semi-autonomous city.

The law was imposed on Hong Kong after the 2019 protests for democracy and political reforms. The CECC stated there are over 1,000 estimated political prisoners in Hong Kong, a development that would have been unthinkable less than a decade ago.

The report cited the case of jailed pro-democracy media tycoon Jimmy Lai, the former Next Media founder and Apple Daily CEO, who has been sentenced to five years and nine months in jail for breaching lease terms.

His son, Sebastien Lai, said the 75-year-old activist would face a national security trial in September, which he considers to be a foregone conclusion. He said he expects to see his father receive a lengthy sentence, possibly a life sentence under the NSL.

Sebastien Lai testifies at the U.S. Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC) hearing on political prisoners and the rule of law in Hong Kong in Washington on May 11, 2023. (Screenshot via CECC live broadcasting)

Media mogul Jimmy Lai, founder of Apple Daily, leaves the Court of Final Appeal by prison van in Hong Kong on Feb. 9, 2021. (Tyrone Siu/Reuters)

These are ludicrous charges which symbolize just how damaged the legal system in Hong Kong now is. There is no freedom of the press. There is no rule of law, Lai said in his testimony [pdf] to the CECC.

My father has never advocated for violence. He is a man of peace. His only so-called crime is to disagree and condemn the actions of the CCP and the Hong Kong authorities that seek to silence critical voices. For that, he faces the rest of his life in prison, he added.

Death by a Thousand Cuts

Kevin Yam, a Hong Kong lawyer and senior fellow at Georgetown Universitys Center for Asian Law, said that Hong Kong judges know that the safest route to survival and promotion is to obey to the hilt.

It means that for all the long political show trials with their ostentatious displays of common law court procedure, the will, whether consciously or subconsciously, almost inevitably side with the prosecution, Yam said in a testimony [pdf] to the CECC on May 11.

Overall, what we have witnessed in Hong Kong is a death by a thousand cuts from Beijing to Hong Kongs rule of law and judicial independence, Yam added.

Brian Kern, a Hong Kong activist and writer, said the only countries incarcerating political prisoners at rates faster than Hong Kongs over the past three years are Burma (also known as Myanmar) and Belarus.

Hardly beacons of the rule of law, Kern said in his testimony [pdf]. Political imprisonment isnt an entirely new phenomenon in Hong Kong, but mass political imprisonment is.

Kern said the number of political prisoners in Hong Kong had escalated dramatically, rising from 26 at the start of the protests in June 2019 to 1,014 in May 2022. The number has increased to about 1,457 today, he added.

Kern urged the United States to continue to take a tough stand on Hong Kong, and make the CCP knows that the crackdown on Hong Kong will continue to impede improved U.S.-China relations.
US Supreme Court Allows Illinois Gun Control Law to Remain in Effect

Justices of the US Supreme Court pose for their official photo at the Supreme Court in Washington on Oct. 7, 2022. (Olivier Douliery/AFP via Getty Images)

The U.S. Supreme Court on May 17 allowed Illinoiss strict new gun control law to remain in effect, denying an emergency request for an injunction.

It means that the measure, which bans what it calls assault weapons, will remain intact while lower courts deliberate the matter. An Illinois gun store owner filed a petition with the high court to block the ban on a range of firearms as well as large capacity magazines.

Neither the Supreme Court nor Justice Amy Coney Barrett, who received the emergency request from the gun shop owner, explained why it decided not to issue an injunction; no public dissents were made available.

Currently, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit is considering the gun store owners case against the state. The Chicago-based court hasnt yet issued a final ruling on the law, although the decision will likely be appealed regardless of the outcome.

In a separate case, a federal judge blocked the gun law. However, the 7th Circuit Court has placed that decision on hold in the meantime.

The 7th Circuit appeals court also has expedited consideration of at least five different cases challenging the Illinois law. Meanwhile, the state Supreme Court is considering a similar lawsuit against the measure.

Earlier this year, the state enacted the Protect Illinois Communities Act that bars the purchase, sale, delivery, and manufacture of so-called assault weapons and magazines that hold more than 10 rounds. It specifically named AK-47-style rifles and AR-15-style rifles as assault weapons under the law, which also requires those who previously purchased semi-automatic rifles to register their ownership with Illinois State Police.

According to an FAQ of the law, No, Illinois residents cannot purchase an AR-15 or assault weapon beginning January 11, 2023, unless subject to one of the narrow exemptions. The FAQ also states that the law bans a magazine, belt, drum, feed strip, or similar device that has a capacity of, or that can be readily restored or converted to accept, more than 10 rounds of ammunition for long guns and more than 15 rounds of ammunition for handguns; or any combination of parts from which a device described can be assembled.

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, a Democrat, signed the bill into law.

For the past four years, my administration and my colleagues in the State Capitol have been battling the powerful forces of the NRA to enshrine the strongest and most effective gun violence legislation that we possibly can, he said. I couldnt be prouder to say that we got it done. And we will keep fightingbill by bill, vote by vote, and protest by protestto ensure that future generations only hear about massacres like Highland Park, Sandy Hook, and Uvalde in their textbooks.

Legal Challenges

Second Amendment advocate groups have repeatedly criticized the law as unconstitutional, and gun rights activists, including Robert Bevis, a gun store owner in Naperville, filed lawsuits to block the state law as well as a similar local ordinance that was passed in the city of Highland Park. Those laws were sparked following last Julys mass shooting at a Highland Park Fourth of July parade that left multiple people dead.

The challenged laws ban arms commonly possessed by law-abiding citizens for lawful purposes. Hellers central holding is that a categorical ban on arms held by law-abiding citizens is unconstitutional, his lawyers wrote to the 7th Circuit judges last month, referring to a 2008 ruling by the Supreme Court on the landmark District of Columbia v. Heller case, in which the high court found that a District law regulating gun ownership to be unconstitutional.

Contending that Beviss constitutional rights were violated, his lawyers added: One would suppose that the district court would apply the Heller test or, failing that, at least explain why it believed the test is not applicable. The district court did neither. It erred when it simply ignored Hellers central holding. Nowhere in its opinion does it apply, or even acknowledge, Hellers holding in this regard.

In explaining why he wanted to file a legal challenge, Bevis told a local news outlet that he believes the statewide ban violates Americans Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms.

I wake up one morning, I come into work, and find out that they are going to ban assault weapons the following week, he told a local NBC affiliate earlier this year. Its unconstitutional. Our Second Amendment provides us a right to keep and bear arms, and this is taking away.

Some local gun shop owners have said that the term assault weapons is a politicized term. The term itselfassault weaponis a made-up term by the gun control people in the late 80s when they were trying to conflate semi-automatic rifles with machine guns. Its a made-up term that has absolutely no meaning, Dan Eldridge, who owns Maxon Shooters Supplies in Des Plaines, told WTTW-TV.

The guns that were outlawed in the state were described by Eldridge as semi-automatic, center-fire rifles that accept detachable magazines. He noted that AR-15-style rifles are popular across the United States and that several million people own such firearms in the state of Illinois alone.

Its Americas favorite rifle platform, and it is that because it is highly adaptable to all shapes and sizes of people, Eldridge said. Easily accessorized. Built on a standard. Available at a wide variety of price points and features. It really is a modern sporting rifle, as the industry likes to call it.
US Wont Find Same Unity in Imposing Sanctions Against China as It Did With Russia: Panel

A pedestrian walks past the People's Bank of China, also known as the China's Central Bank, in central Beijing. (Teh Eng Koon/AFP via Getty Images)

Russian President Vladimir Putin spent nearly a decade developing a Fortress Russia strategy to mitigate the impact on his nation and its financial institutions from Western sanctions before launching his February 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

That strategy, which included an accelerated de-dollarization effort since 2014, has failed in the face of stiff sanctions imposed by the United States and its allies and partners, which were not only unprecedented in scale and scope but equally unprecedented for the unity in which they were implemented, freezing more than $300 billion in Russian assets in banks after the invasion.

That is unlikely to happen, however, should the United States try to rally the international community to impose blanket sanctions across financial institutions, banks, and corporations in China, panelists at a May 16 Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) forum agreed.

There is a big difference. China is confident that its too big to sanction and its banking on that, said Maria Shagina, a Diamond-Brown senior research fellow for Economic Sanctions, Standards, and Strategy at the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS).

They absolutely view their huge trade, and their dominance of important supply chains, as being their fundamental aid in thwarting sanctions should they be imposed by the U.S., said Barry Naughton, the So Kwan Lok chair of Chinese International Affairs at the School of Global Policy and Strategy at the University of California San Diego.

There are so many merchandise areas where the U.S. and other Western countries are very, very dependent on China, continued Naughton, co-author of a January CSIS report titled CCP Inc.: The Reshaping of Chinas State Capitalist System.

I think they [China] are in a period now where theyre saying, Actually, we should intensify the dependence of other countries on us in these merchandise areas so they [the West] dont have as free a hand to initiate sanctions, he said.

The Department of the Treasurys seal outside the Treasury Department building in Washington on May 4, 2021. (Patrick Semansky/AP Photo)

Sanctions Too Costly for All

If Chinas communist regime, for example, follows through with its threats to invade Taiwan, demanding a global decoupling from China, as President Joe Biden is expected to call for in an anticipated executive order, there may not be as unified a response as there was in sanctioning Russia after its Ukraine invasion, said Martin Chorzempa, a senior fellow at the Washington-based Peterson Institute for International Economics (PIIE).

If Chinese banks actually find themselves on the sanction list as a result, say, of a mainland invasion of Taiwan, that would be catastrophic for many of them. Right now, theres [a] very limited alternative, and that makes them very, very nervous about this, he said.

On the other hand, Chorzempa said, Due to  the global spillover effects that would have, the costs [of sanctions] would be immense to the United States in putting major China banksnot like the little Bank of Quinlan, Bank of Dandong, or North Korea sanctions [on] specialized institutionsbut if you put a Bank of China and ICBC [Industrial and Commercial Bank of China] on those lists, you have immense ripple effects around the world.

That doesnt mean it is not going to happen, he continued. It doesnt mean Congress wont pass some law that would require [sanctioning] them, even if the people in the Treasury Department know just how costly that would be.

A man walks past a booth of the Bank of China at the Main Press Centre of the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing on Jan. 28, 2022. (Fabrice Coffrini/AFP via Getty Images)

Therefore, in assessing the effectiveness of sanctions against other nations, Beijing recognizes at the most important level that they have to make it too expensive and too risky for the United States to impose major financial sanctions on China, and if you look at the U.S. policy response to all of the perceived issues with China in tech and elsewhere, youd see that sanctions is one thing that really hasnt been used very much.

Naughton said the United States certainly wouldnt get the same unity from European countries in sanctioning China as it did against Russia.

The shared sense of threat that existed in the Russia-Ukraine case definitely does not exist in the China case, so if I were thinking from the perspective of a Chinese official, I would be much more concerned with unilateral U.S. sanctions than from Europeans and even some western Pacific countries such as Singapore, he said.

But China does have vulnerabilities, the panel moderated by CSIS Economics Program Senior Fellow Gerard DiPippo, noted. While China may have manufacturing and trade dominance, the United States still maintains its post-World War II dominance of the global financial infrastructure.

Mistaken Assumptions

The one-hour discussion, Chinese Assessments of Counter Sanctions Strategies, focused on three policy papers published in Chinese state media, written in August and October, and read by CSIS staffers routinely. Two of the papers were written by authors who work for Chinas central bank, and one is a member of the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences.

Chorzempa said at least one of the papers claimed the weaponization of global public goods by the United States has been enabled by the hegemonic position of the U.S. dollar and United States financial institutions. There are not many alternatives to the U.S. dollar right now.

All three panelists pointed to inaccurate assumptions in the papers.

In one, the author said in assessing sanctions against Iran that the U.S. imposed the sanctions in order to get people to stop investing in Iran and instead to go to the U.S. dollar to kind of attract capital and scare people away from other countries, Chorzempa said. I dont think thats accurate. It shows that there is a pretty dark view in China  of the motivations that the U.S. has when imposing sanctions.

Some of it is true, that we are in an era of weaponization of finance, but some of the pictures are too black and white, Shagina said, including in reference to Russia that the United States is the only nation involved, that it masterminded Western sanctions, so there is zero agency for the EU or the UK when both have imposed sanctions on Russia independent of the United States.

The articles state that as a result of the sanctions, Europe was facing doom-and-gloom scenarios that include its worst energy crisis ever and that there is a backlash that the weaponization of finance has triggered, this de-dollarization, which are exaggerations, she said.

We know now that Europe is not in the worst energy crisis ever. Prices have come down, gas storage is better than it was before, Shagina said, before cautioning when it comes to next winter, Were not out of the woods.

The authors cite as a successful example Russias rubles for gas payments program, she said. Well, that hasnt been successful. Many European countries simply dropped contracts with [Russias] Gazprom, and now we know that Russian gas has dropped 70 percent in price.

Gazprom Nefts oil refinery in Omsk, Russia, on Feb. 10, 2020. (Alexey Malgavko/Reuters)

Shagina said one article discussed how Russia and India were in talks about national currency payment exchanges. The talks were abandoned because neither Russia nor India need each others currencies, she said.

The articles actually diagnose the Russia issue, Chorzempa said. They say that Russia failed in its Fortress Russia strategy and  say, We need to improve, hold each others assets in equal numbers, and continue to aggressively integrate rather than pull away from global trade and finance.

The articles discuss how the costs of sanctioning a company depend on how much trade linkages and other financial linkages exist between companies, investors, and banks. So in a sense, Russia screwed up in 2014 by trying to isolate itself from sanctions with its de-dollarization campaign, he said.

I think its very, very interesting that they very much understand that the U.S. has this power, and there isnt much they can do about it in the near term, Chorzempa.

So the big question for China, Shagina said, is how to restructure its foreign reserve. China has already ramped up gold reserves, but how do you pivot to other non-Western currencies if its not yuan? And right now, there is no realistic alternative to the U.S. dollar.

Surprising Advice to Comply With US Laws

It should not be surprising, although panelists acknowledged they were, that the ambient advice in the articles is beef up your compliance department and rigorously follow U.S. law to avoid getting secondary sanctions, Chorzempa said.

He said a theme in the articles is really a recognition  that the main thing China has to do at this point is not develop the e-CNY [digital yuan] and diversify its resources. But really, the immediate thing is, do not get yourself on the OFAC [U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control] sanctions list.

A sign indicating digital yuan, also referred to as e-CNY, is pictured at a shopping mall in Shanghai, China, on May 5, 2021. (Aly Song/Reuters)

Shagina also cited a really strong emphasis on just complying with U.S. laws to avoid being sanctioned.

The [Chinese] private sector was really reluctant to step into an area which could trigger secondary sanctions, she said. This has been an increasing narrative since the Russian sanctions [were imposed], that China needs to be more defensive, strengthen its domestic resilience, or as one paper [put] it, it will be a bad drug. Dependence on the financial infrastructure, dependence on the U.S. dollar, it is something that they are very aware of.

China has some advantages in eluding or foiling sanctions should they be imposed, Shagina said.

Their informal use of statecraft is where they see their advantages, she said, which can include relationships, eye-wink arrangements, bribery, and other non-official ploys.

This includes all the sorts of measures that can have plausible deniability, Shagina said.

I think China is trying to seize an advantage in the fact that they can coordinate actors internally and, as [Shagina] put it, have plausible deniability, Naughton agreed. They have experience, not necessarily successful [in dodging sanctions]  but I think everybody in the world knows that China might retaliate informally in all kinds of hard-to-track ways against behavior they view as being hostile. I think they have a toolbox of informal and deniable tools that they would rely on first.

Chorzempa said only a very small number of Chinese companies had been accused of, and even fewer sanctioned for, supplying Russia with military gear, and several significant corporations in the country, such as China UnionPay, have very publicly said they dont want to be involved in helping out these sanctioned Russian banks.

He said the Chinese electronics behemoth Huawei even pulled out of Russia to a great extent because it was afraid of getting added to the [sanction] list.

Chorzempa, who once worked for the China Finance 40 Forum in Beijing, said the articles espouse behavior that is more like a bear hug for the global financial system than an attempt to isolate itself from it.

They really do not seem to be following a Fortress China strategy, he said, citing a favorite excerpt from one article that said, We need to strengthen academic exchange with the Peterson Institute for International Economics.
WestJet Offers Travel Incentives as Strike Threatens to Disrupt Long Weekend Flights

A WestJet flight from Calgary arrives at Halifax Stanfield International Airport in Enfield, N.S. on July 6, 2020. (The Canadian Press/Andrew Vaughan)

WestJet has told air travellers that it will offer a one-time fee waiver for changes or cancellations with a looming pilots strike that could start as of 3 a.m. ET on May 18.

More than 1,900 WestJet and subsidiary Swoop airlines pilots and their union have threatened strike action as the two sides remain divided over wages and other collective bargaining negotiations.

WestJet CEO Alexis von Hoensbroech said the gap between union demands and what the airline carrier is offering is still massive. He said bookings have gone down to some degree which is painful, while other passengers seem to assume that we are maintaining flying. And that is our intention.

With May long weekend a busy time for air travellers, the airline said it would offer refunds to passengers who change or cancel flights up until May 21, provided the request is at least two hours before departure.

We know our guests have concerns about the ongoing labour negotiations between WestJet and our pilots union, and a potential disruption to your travel plans is frustrating, the airline said in a statement on May 16.

For any passengers who have booked a flight for travel between May 15 and 21, Westjet said it would offer a one-time fee waiver for changes and cancellations. If a passenger changes destinations, the difference in fare applies.

Refunds will be provided to those that cancel their booking. Westjet said it will make every effort to help passengers get to their final destination, even if that involves moving guests to another airline if available.

For passengers that booked a vacation package for travel between May 15 and 21, Westjet will offer the same one-time no-cost fee waiver and a refund for cancellations.

Swoop travellers who are impacted by a strike can either choose alternate flights if available or request a refund.

The airline said that cargo customers are not experiencing any change in operations but if an existing booking will be impacted by a possible strike, customers will be contacted.

Members of the Air Line Pilots Association demonstrate amid contract negotiations outside the WestJet headquarters in Calgary, Alta., Friday, March 31, 2023.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh

Negotiations

WestJets CEO said the company has not been profitable since 2019 because of COVID lockdowns, which grounded flights and reduced travel. Onex Corp acquired the airline in 2019, and Von Hoensbroech took the helm in February 2022.

Air Canada has half the countrys domestic passenger load, while WestJet claims almost one-third.

WestJet offered the union a raise increase, which would give captains of wide-body planes earnings of $350,000 yearly in total compensation by the end of the collective agreement term. Captains of narrow-body planes would earn $300,000. The details come from a letter sent from WestJet to flight crews that was obtained by The Canadian Press, and reported on May 17.

The union said the areas of dispute are pay, scheduling and job security, and claim that 340 pilots have left WestJet for better-paying jobs in the last 18 months.

WestJet maintains the company has hired three times the number of pilots who have resigned.

The two sides are currently in Richmond Hill, Ont., negotiating a possible deal.

On May 17, the Air Line Pilots Association announced a merger with the Air Canada Pilots Association has been approved, meaning that 95 percent of professional Canadian commercial pilots are represented by a single union including approximately 73,000 pilots. The merger agreement was reached in March but ratified on May 1.

The Canadian Press contributed to this report.
Join us for this live Q&A with Joshua Philipp! Immediately after the live chat, well replay the latest episode of Crossroads Tonight!



The report from special counsel John Durham has finally been released to the public, and the American people are now learning the truth about the FBIs Crossfire Hurricane investigation into Donald Trump, both when he was a candidate and when he became president of the United States. It turns out that the TrumpRussia claims were false, and that the investigations were deeply flawed. Well discuss what these new findings mean for the country.

Meanwhile, Lee Smith joins us to comment on the Durham report and on what it will mean for the FBIs other investigations into Trump leading into the 2024 elections. Hes the host of Over the Target on EpochTV, and author of The Plot Against the President: The True Story of How Congressman Devin Nunes Uncovered the Biggest Political Scandal in US History.

Weve also invited Jeffrey Tucker to speak with us about the federal government hitting the debt ceiling. Would it really be so bad? And what can be done to avoid the crisis? Tucker is founder and president of the Brownstone Institute.
Woman Fired for Refusing COVID Shots Challenges Denial of Unemployment Benefits in Federal Court

Rebecca Abdo was fired from her job and then denied Employment Insurance benefits after a religious objection to COVID-19 shots in her workplace. She has filed a legal action in Federal Court on May 12, 2023. (Courtesy of Rebecca Abdo)

A Calgary woman who was denied unemployment benefits after being fired for not having a COVID-19 shot has filed an application in Federal Court for judicial review.

Rebecca Abdo is a married, devout Christian who applied for a religious exemption after her employer, Canadian Blood Services (CBS), implemented a mandatory COVID-19 vaccine policy. Abdo, who had worked for the company for more than 10 years as a medical laboratory technologist, was denied her exemption and then fired. The termination was recorded as dismissal with cause.

Abdos employment insurance (EI) claim was then denied, first by the EI program, and then by the commission on appeal, with the government taking the position that she was fired for her own misconduct by declining to receive COVID shots.

Now Abdo is going to Federal Court to have the decision overturned. Abdos legal position is that being denied her unemployment insurance benefits based on misconduct was an error in law and fact and should be overturned by the court.

Abdo only recently found a part-time job working two or three times per week after being unemployed since fall of 2021. Besides significant financial stress from the job loss, Abdo lost all her work benefits and a workplace that she loved. I had no reason to think I was going to leave. I loved what I did. My colleagues were like my family, she told The Epoch Times on May 15.

James Kitchen, the constitutional lawyer who represents Abdo, told The Epoch Times that like Abdo, thousands of Canadians lost their jobs because they didnt take the shots and were then wrongfully denied government assistance.

They went and applied for EI benefits. And in 99.9% of the cases, the EI commission just said, Well look, you didnt take the shot, you didnt obey your employer, that was misconduct. You cant get benefits, said Kitchen.

Misconduct

The lawyer said that to establish misconduct, it must be shown that the employee was no longer meeting a required condition of employment, implying that there was a pre-existing condition of employment at the time of Abdos hire more than a decade ago.

In cases where the Federal Court has upheld a finding of employee misconduct prior to COVID, an employee was typically involved in substance abuse, fraud, theft, altering a time card, or committing a crime under the criminal code, according to court documents.

In Abdos case, she expressed that her unwillingness to have the shots was based on sincerely held religious beliefs. Despite her following the employers policy for requesting an exemption based on human rights grounds such as religious beliefs, including submitting a letter from her pastor, she was denied the exemption.

Service Canada documents displaying Employment Insurance options. (Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press)

Canadian Blood Services deemed her refusal to be vaccinated as due to a personal belief and not a belief imposed by religion, according to documents filed at the Federal Court. The employer also said that the spiritual leader of the Christian denomination has not demonstrated a legitimate religious basis for exemption from vaccine mandates in any established stream of Christianity.

When contacted by The Epoch Times, CBS said they are not able to comment on specific cases.

Exemption requests for non-medical reasons (i.e. an employees religious belief, practice or observance) have been assessed and evaluated on a case-by-case basis, and in accordance with provincial human rights codes and case law, Delphine Denis, media manager for the organization, said on May 19.

On Nov. 1, 2021, Abdo was placed on a 10-day unpaid leave of absence. On Nov. 16, 2021, she was terminated, even after answering all the questions her employer asked.

They never denied the genuineness of my faith, my conviction, said Abdo. But all the questions, were not to seek knowledge or understanding. It was to poke a hole in my faith.

Abdo went through the entire EI process including appeals, first applying for benefits and being denied, with the Canadian Employment Insurance Commission (CEIC) stating she lost her employment due to her own misconduct.

Abdos case alleges CEIC ignored the circumstances of Abdos dismissal, specifically a section of the Employment Insurance Act that states an employee must be given the benefit of the doubt. Instead, CEIC compared Abdos religious adherence to cases where an employee had been fired for abusing alcohol and failing drug tests, according to Kitchen.

The Epoch Times contacted Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC), which oversees the Employment Insurance program, but did not receive a reply by press time.

Abdo appealed for reconsideration of the benefit denial, and in July 2022, the Commission maintained its denial decision. Abdo also appealed to the Social Security Tribunal, a federal tribunal responsible for hearing cases related to EI, and the appeal was dismissed.

Judicial Review

That has opened the door for Abdo and her lawyer to request judicial review from the Federal Court. The Liberty Coalition, a Christian defense fund, is funding Abdos case and covering her legal fees with donations the not-for-profit organization receives.

Abdo said this fight is important. What they did was completely wrong. I have every right to make an informed decision about what I put in my body. I have every right to my faith and my religion, she said.

The Supreme Court of Canada has said religious beliefs are personal. Employers have been blatantly denying the law, firing Christians who wont take the shot, Kitchen agreed.

He maintains being fired for not taking a COVID shot does not legally qualify as misconduct.

Thats like you know, showing up to work drunk, not showing up to work at all, stealing from the cash register. Thats the stuff in case law thats actual misconduct under the law, he says.

The EI Commission will now have to prove in court their decision was reasonable, transparent, intelligent, and defensive, said Kitchen. Im quite confident the federal courts are going to agree with Abdo. And if we win this case, Im going to put out a call to all Canadians who applied for EI and were denied and tell them to go back to the Commission and pound on their doors until they give people their benefits.
By Victor Ing

Special to The Post

On May 8, 2023, the Honourable Sean Fraser, Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, announced the extension of the Agri-Food Pilot until May 14, 2025. This unique pathway to permanent residency was first introduced in May 2020 and offers an immigration pathway for workers in the farming and food processing industries.

The Agri-Food Pilot specifically targets workers across a diverse range of occupations such as meat cutters and labourers who plant and harvest fruits and vegetables.

For a full list of the eligible occupations under the Agri-Food Pilot please refer to the following link: https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/immigrate-canada/agri-food-pilot/eligible-industries.html

Farm and food production workers have historically struggled to qualify for Canadian permanent residency because many of them are employed in entry-level positions and may not have the language proficiency or level of education needed to qualify under Canadas major immigration pathways such as the Canadian Experience Class, which targets skilled workers with Canadian work experience. The Agri-Food Pilot recognizes the important contributions of workers in these industries and the longstanding labour shortages that plague them.

Currently, to qualify for permanent residency under the Agri-Food Pilot, candidates must have a job offer for full-time, non-seasonal work in one of the Pilots eligible industries and occupations and must demonstrate at least one year of relevant work experience gained under a work permit issued pursuant to a Labour Market Impact Assessment or LMIA.

With respect to educational and language requirements, successful candidates must have the equivalent of a high school education and English test scores of at least Level 4 under the Canadian Language Benchmark or French test scores of at least Level 4 under the Niveaux de competence linguistique canadiens. Given these relatively modest requirements, the Agri-Food Pilot offers a viable pathway to permanent residency for many farm and food production workers who may not have otherwise qualified.

Eligible candidates must act quickly, however, because the Department of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada only accept up to 2,750 applications each year under the Agri-Food Pilot. Once the annual cap is reached, it will not be reset until the next calendar year.

Candidates can now apply under any eligible occupation until the annual cap is reached and their applications will be processed on a first-come-first-served basis. Previously, the Minister imposed caps on the eligible occupations but has recently removed the occupational caps as part of the May 8, 2023 announcement to ensure that the maximum number of candidates will be able to file applications under the Agri-Food Pilot.

By the end of this year, the Minister plans on introducing further changes to broaden the eligibility requirements of the Pilot and to make it easier for candidates to file their applications. For instance, the Minister has already announced that he intends to implement changes that will allow unions to confirm a candidates work experience in place of an employer reference letter (a good standard in immigration processing), which will assist workers in vulnerable employment situations where employers may be reluctant to assist with their permanent residency applications for reasons outside the control of the worker.

For the past several years we have seen the Minister embrace innovative initiatives to improve and expand upon Canadas immigration programs to respond to the countrys economic and labour needs. The Agri-Food Pilot is an example of a targeted approach to address specific industrial labour shortages that are being carefully and slowly implemented. Using annual caps, the Minister can assess the efficacy of the Pilot and make adjustments, as necessary. Over time, the Pilot may even become a permanent program within Canadas economic streams, following in the footsteps of programs like the Atlantic Immigration Program which became permanent in 2022. One thing is for certain: The extension of the Agri-Food Pilot until May 14, 2025, is welcome news to farm and food processing workers and interested candidates should stay tuned for further announcements from the Minister this year!

Victor Ing is a lawyer of Sas & Ing Immigration Law Centre. He provides a full range of immigration services.

For more information go to canadian-visa-lawyer.com or email [email protected].
Digvijay Singh exhorts Cong workers to gear up for polls





Staff Reporter :

FORMER Chief Minister and Member of Parliament in Rajya Sabha, Digvijay Singh convened a meeting of senior leaders and workers of Cantt Assembly at Manas Bhawan. He held detailed discussion with the party workers and listened to everyones suggestions and problems. The Madhya Pradesh Congress Committee has assigned former Chief Minister Digvijay Singh the responsibility of more than 50 Assembly seats with main objective to secure victory in the constituencies, which the Congress party has lost continuously for more than four terms. He has been entrusted with the task of identifying the reasons behind this continuous defeat and finding ways to secure victory by working closely with the party workers and leaders.

Accordingly, Singh conducted a meeting with the Block President, Mandalam President, Sector President, and BLA (Block Level Association) of the Cantt Assembly (no. 99) in the city. During the meeting, senior office bearers apprised Singh about essential information about the geographical situation of the Cantt Assembly constituency, the caste equation, local issues etc. Addressing the workers, Singh stressed that the Cantt Assembly seat has traditionally been a stronghold of the Congress party.

He expressed his belief that voters of Cantt Assembly Constituency, either through their ideological alignment or their family background are closely connected to the Congress. Singh acknowledged that while the party has been actively engaged in grassroots struggles and addressing basic issues, a misleading ideology has led to the loss of support from the voters. However, he expressed optimism and stated that the upcoming 2023 Assembly elections will witness a victory for the Congress in Jabalpur Cantt Assembly constituency, as he sensed the determination in the eyes of the present Congress members. Singh said that due to unfavourable circumstances, co-ordination had faltered, resulting in decreased productivity among party workers. Nevertheless, he expressed confidence in the dedication of the field workers. Speaking on the occasion, Jagat Bahadur Singh, President City Congress Committee, said Cantt voters are now favouring the Congress party.

He stated that majority of voters are opposed to the anti-people decisions made by the State and Central governments. Expressing views on the occasion, MLA Tarun Bhanot said that voters of Cantt have consistently supported Congress party, even during challenging times. He acknowledged that there may have been some transitional periods where the party faced shortcomings. However, he confidently asserted that this time, the Cantt assembly seat would be won by the Congress party with a significant margin of votes.
Inform public about Rozgar Mela: Nirmala to recruits





CHENNAI :

UNION Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharamanon Tuesday appealed to the persons who received their appointment letters under the latest Rozgar Mela to spread the word on the schemes benefits with the public. After presenting the job offers to about 250 people at an event in Chennai, Sitharaman said the Rozgar Mela is a step towards the fulfillment of the Prime Ministers commitment to accord the highest priority to employment generation. The Union Minister presented the appointment orders to the new recruits from various ministries and departments including the Department of Posts,railways, health and family welfare, petroleum, and defence.

Take the benefits ofthe (Rozgar Mela scheme) to everyone outside your family and tell them to scale upintheirlife...,Sitharaman said during her brief interaction with some of the new recruits. The Rozgar Mela serves as a catalyst for more job opportunities, empowering youth and enabling their active participation in national development, she said.

During the event, the Union Finance Minister also obliged for selfies with the beneficiaries. The new recruits, selected from across the country,wouldjoin various positions including trainmanager,station master,and senior commercialcum-ticket clerk among many others. They would also get to train themselves through Karmayogi Prarambh,anonline orientation course for all new appointees in various Government departments.
Jaishankar, Goyal co-chair first India-EU TTC meet





BRUSSELS :

THE first ministerial meeting of the India-EU Trade and Technology Council (TTC) was held in Brussels on Tuesday during which the two sides discussed enhanced cooperation in digital and clean technology that will help them achieve their shared vision of a sustainable future. The meeting was co-chaired on the Indian side by External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal and Communications, Electronics and IT Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar. Held a productive stakeholder meeting along with the European Commission Executive Vice President @Vestager & my colleagues @DrSJaishankar & @Rajeev_GoI. Enhanced IndiaEU cooperation in digital & clean technology will help us achieve our shared vision of a sustainable future, Goyal tweeted.

The TTC was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, during her visit to India in April last year. It led to the creation of three Working Groups under the TTC: Working Group on Strategic Technologies, Digital Governance and Digital Connectivity;Working Group on Green and Clean Energy Technologies; and Working Group on Trade, Investment and Resilient Value Chains.Began the day in Brussels with a Digital & Clean Energy Stakeholder Event.

Thank European Commission Executive VP @vestager for convening the meeting. In thisTechade,TTC can promote Trusted Collaboration so essential to R e - G l o b a l i s a t i o n . Stakeholders are key to delivery, Jaishankar tweeted. Jaishankar has called on Belgian PM Alexander De Croo and discussed with him growing bilateral cooperation, including in trade and technology, and spoke about contemporary strategic concerns. India and the EU have agreed to expedite the ongoing negotiations for a free trade agreement by finding convergence on all issues, an official statement said.
Man claiming to be J P Naddas PA dupes halfa dozen BJP MLAs by promising ministership





Staff Reporter :

NAGPUR police have arrested a man from Ahmedabad for impersonating as the personal assistant of BJP National President J P Nadda and collecting lakhs of rupees from BJP MLAs in Maharashtra promising them ministries in the current Shinde-Fadnavis Government. According to the police, the accused, identified as Neeraj Singh Rathod, a resident of Morbi, Ahmedabad, made phone calls to BJP MLA Vikas Kumbhare (Central Nagpur), Tekchand Savarkar (Kamptee), Tanaji Mutkule (Hingoli), Narayan Kuche (Badnapur), Pravin Arlekar (Goa), and Basha Mowachang (Nagaland) and offered them ministerships in exchange for lakhs of rupees. The complaint was filed by MLA Vikas Kumbhare after receiving several phone calls from the fraudster who offered him the post of Minister of Urban Development. During the conversation, the fraudster was also joined by one more person who posed as BJP President J P Nadda, said the police.

This made the whole situation more complicated and caused distress to the MLAs who were approached by the fraudsters. An offence under Sections 419 (cheating by personation), 420 (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property), and 511 (punishment for attempting to commit offences punishable with imprisonment for life or other imprisonment) of the Indian Penal Code was registered atTehsil police station. After receiving the complaint, the Nagpur police immediately formed a team and went to Gujarat to arrest the accused. The police team tracked down Neeraj Singh Rathod from Morbi, Ahmedabad, and brought him back to Nagpur for further investigation.

Kumbhare asked to pay food bill for an event

MLA Vikas Kumbhare told The Hitavada that he received the first call from the fraudster last Sunday. Posing as personal assistant of BJP national president J P Nadda, the accused promised Kumbhare a cabinet ministers post in the government. Another fraudster joined the call, claiming to be Nadda himself. Kumbhare expressed his interest in a portfolio related to city development. And just like that, the fraudster offered him the post of cabinet minister of Urban Development in the Shinde-Fadnavis Government. Two days later, the same fraudster called Kumbhare again to say that Nadda was no longer keen on offering the Urban Development Department.

Instead, Kumbhare was offered Excise Department. However, that's not all. the fraudster brazenly asked whether Kumbhare could help financially to set up BJP government in Karnataka. On Thursday, Kumbhare received a call from someone claiming to be Nadda himself. During the interaction, Nadda asked Kumbhare to make arrangements for food at a grand RSS event being held in Ahmedabad. Later, a caterer phoned Kumbhare and asked to pay a bill of Rs 1.67 lakh and also shared a link to pay the bill.When Kumbhare received this call, he quickly realised that something was wrong and promptly reported the incident to the police. CP Amitesh Kumar dispatched a squad from Nagpur and arrested the accused from Gujarat.
MILKING THE STATE





THE multicrore liquor scandals that have rocked Delhi and Chhattisgarh have one thing in common: Milking of the State to fund elections. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has said in its chargesheets in both cases that the parties in power drew up their liquor policies in such a way as to derive uncouth benefits for themselves and finance electoral battles. Further investigations and legal process will establish correctly if this finding of the ED is right or not. No matter that, it is obvious that many people in politics may fall prey to the temptation to make easy and cheap money even at the cost of morality so that their political activity could be funded appropriately. The common people of the country feel a sense of deception and hurt when they hear such stories of some elements run their politics with funds garnered illegally -- and also immorally. When agencies like the ED act smart and tough, they unearth a lot of evidence of mass-scale wrongdoing by people in positions of power. Though the affected politicians accuse the ED to be a stooge of the Central Government, the common people realise the strength of the ED efforts, and welcome the nononsense action. This is the gain of the ED Ops.

GOOD SUGGESTION

F ORMER head coach Ravi Shastri has suggested that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) should try good performers in the Indian Premier League (IPL) for shorter versions of the game and allow stalwarts like Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma to concentrate on Test matches and strengthen the Indian side there. The suggestion is good and there is little doubt that the BCCI will give it a positive thought. In the past few years, the IPL has produced some very good players who have attracted the selectors attention. From time to time, the BCCI has given opportunities to youngsters to play in the national squads. Many of those youngsters have done very well and made a mark for themselves. At a time when some players in the national squads are becoming senior citizens of sports, Ravi Shastris suggestion can make a positive difference to Indian cricket at large. No matter the prowess of crickets national team, it is obvious that the process of acquiring services of younger players must go on relentlessly. That is how a larger talent pool can be created, yielding finer benefits in long term.When young blood is infused into the team, Indian cricket will start going places.
Photo taken on May 22, 2022 shows the George Floyd Square in Minneapolis, Minnesota, the United States. (Xinhua/Liu Jie)

ISTANBUL, May 17 (Xinhua) -- U.S. politicians have been exploiting racism to pursue their "greedy" capitalist interests while encouraging inequalities between races in every sphere of life, a prominent Turkish scholar said in a recent interview with Xinhua.



"White people have privileges over blacks in many domains like courts, political life, private sector and bureaucracy," Baris Doster, a professor of communication and journalism with Istanbul-based Marmara University, told Xinhua.

"The COVID-19 pandemic also revealed once again that black people have poor access to healthy food and qualified healthcare services, their housing conditions are very challenging, and educational opportunities much fewer than those of whites just because of their color from birth," Doster said.

The problem of gun violence in U.S. society, which suffers "a horrendous level of individual armament," has unproportionally affected black Americans, reflecting how the systemic racism plagues the country, the Turkish scholar noted.

Mentioning Kyle Rittenhouse, a white teenager who was welcomed as a guest of honor at a Republican event after he shot dead two men at an anti-racism protest but was found not guilty of reckless homicide, Doster said the case is a perfect example of the enormous inequalities in the United States.

Photo taken on May 22, 2022 shows a memorial board at the George Floyd Square in Minneapolis, Minnesota, the United States. (Xinhua/Liu Jie)

"The hand that pulls the trigger is usually white. Those who die, are injured, or victims are usually black," he lamented.

According to Doster, the out-of-control gun violence is fuelled by political polarization and gun lobby which puts the profiting of special interest groups above the common good.

"For them owning a gun is not only a right but also a profitable business," he explained.

As the American writer Belen Fernandez has put it, "greedy capitalism" is the institutional force behind worsening social security in the United States, Doster noted.

"It's hard not to agree that the U.S. domestic and foreign policies are fully based on the absolute domination of capital. Capitalism, or the so-called liberalism, wild capitalism, or neoliberalism, have bipartisan support," he said. 
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SAN FRANCISCO (AP)  Disgraced Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes appears to be soon bound for prison after an appeals court Tuesday rejected her bid to remain free while she tries to overturn her conviction in a blood-testing hoax that brought her fleeting fame and fortune.

In another ruling issued late Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Edward Davila ordered Holmes to pay $452 million in restitution to the victims of her crimes. Holmes is being held jointly liable for that amount with her former lover and top Theranos lieutenant, Ramesh Sunny" Balwani, who is already in prison after being convicted on a broader range of felonies in a separate trial.

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals decision on Holmes' attempt to avoid prison comes nearly three weeks after she deployed a last-minute legal maneuver to delay the start of her 11-year sentence. She had been previously ordered to surrender to authorities on April 27 by Davila, who sentenced her in November.

Davila will now set a new date for Holmes, 39, to leave her current home in the San Diego area and report to prison.

The punishment will separate Holmes from her current partner, William Billy Evans, their 1-year-old son, William, and 3-month-old daughter, Invicta. Holmes pregnancy with Invicta  Latin for invincible, or undefeated  began after a jury convicted her on four counts of fraud and conspiracy in January 2022.

Davila has recommended that Holmes serve her sentence at a womens prison in Bryan, Texas. It hasnt been disclosed whether the federal Bureau of Prisons accepted Davilas recommendation or assigned Holmes to another facility.

Balwani, 57, began a nearly 13-year prison sentence in April after being convicted on 12 counts of fraud and conspiracy last July. He was incarcerated in a Southern California prison last month after losing a similar effort to remain free on bail while appealing his conviction.

The verdict against Holmes came after a 46 days of trial testimony and other evidence that cast a spotlight on a culture of greed and hubris that infected Silicon Valley as technology became a more pervasive influence on society and the economy during the past 20 years.

The trials most riveting moments unfolded when Holmes took the witness stand to testify in her own defense.

Besides telling how she founded Theranos as a teenager after dropping out of Stanford University in 2003, Holmes accused Balwani of abusing her emotionally and sexually. She also asserted she never stopped believing Theranos would revolutionize healthcare with a technology that she promised would be able to scan for hundreds of diseases and other potential problems with just a few drops of blood.

While pursuing that audacious ambition, Holmes raised nearly $1 billion from a list of well-heeled investors that included Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison and media mogul Rupert Murdoch. Those sophisticated investors all lost their money after a Wall Street Journal investigation and regulatory reviews exposed dangerous flaws in Theranos technology.

In his restitution ruling, Davila determined that Holmes and Balwani should pay Murdoch $125 million - by far the most among the investors listed in his order. The restitution also requires the co-conspirators in the Theranos scam to pay $40 million in Walgreens, which became an investor in the startup after agreeing to provide some of the flawed blood tests in its pharmacies in 2013. Another $14.5 million is owed to Safeway, which has also agreed to be a Theranos business partner before backing out.

In separate hearings, lawyers for Holmes and Balwani tried to persuade Davila their respective clients should be required to pay little, if anything. Prosecutors had been pushing for a restitution penalty in the $800 million range. Both Holmes  whose stake in Theranos was once valued at $4.5 billion  and Balwani  whose holdings were once valued around $500 million  have indicated they are nearly broke after running up millions of dollar in legal bills while proclaiming their innocence.

Holmess lawyers have been fighting her conviction on grounds of alleged mistakes and misconduct that occurred during her trial. They have also contended errors and abuses that biased the jury were so egregious that she should be allowed to stay out of prison while the appeal unfolds  a request that has now been rebuffed by both Davila and the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.
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McKINNEY, Texas (AP)  Irvin Walker was looking for a parking place after dropping his girlfriend off at a Dallas-area mall just over a week ago when he felt the gunfire.

The 46-year-old from Lafayette, Louisiana, who was hit with bullet fragments in his head, chest, neck and arm, spoke Tuesday at Medical City McKinney in Texas about his recovery from the May 6 shooting at Allen Premium Outlets, where eight people were killed.

He said he's drawn strength from his faith, family, friends and the hospital staff.

I think this event was just evidence of evil not winning, Walker said, sitting in a wheelchair during a news conference, wounds visible on his arm. The power of God just showed brightly and gave me an opportunity to fight through this process, and evil is not going to win.

Hundreds of shoppers were sent scrambling for cover when a gunman stepped out of a sedan and began shooting people, cars and glass storefronts at the mall in Allen, a multicultural suburb of 105,000 located about 25 miles (40 kilometers) north of Dallas. The gunman was killed by a police officer.

Dr. Elizabeth Kim, trauma director at the hospital located about 3 miles (5 kilometers) from the mall, said Walker's smile after he was rushed to the emergency room was one of the bright parts of that day."

You were calm and you know, you were an inspiration for me, Kim told him.

Walker, who works in insurance, said that at first, he didn't even see the gunman. I just felt the shots, he said. But walking and running from his car, he spotted the shooter.

Walker said he ran toward a mall security guard, Christian LaCour, 20, who intercepted him and told him to sit down. LaCour was killed soon after.

I don't have much to say after that, Walker said. A tragedy occurred.

Allen Police Chief Brian Harvey has said LaCour was shot while courageously remaining to help others.

Kim said Walker had multiple wounds, too many to even count, and had several surgeries for the injuries. She described the soft tissue damage as extreme.

There were several bullet fragments that we were extremely worried about," Kim said.

She said expects him to begin rehabilitation in a couple of days.

He still has a long road to go for a recovery, Kim said.
The state Medical Examining Board voted Tuesday to allow a former Connecticut doctor accused of trying to fake his COVID vaccine in 2021 to surrender his license and avoid discipline.

Dr. Kenneth Inchalik, who was a pediatrician at ProHealth Physicians in Marlborough, is accused of acting "incompetently" and "inappropriately" when he asked a nurse in 2021 to "falsely administer a COVID-19 vaccine" by drawing up the shot without giving it to him, according to a statement of charges issued by the state Department of Public Health in 2022.

Inchalik also asked the nurse to document that he received the vaccine, the statement of charges said. He asked for the fraudulent shot so he could avoid a "vaccine mandate," DPH documents said. ProHealth Physicians filed a complaint with the DPH against Inchalik in February 2022, saying he attempted "to solicit staff" to violate policy and to "lie on his behalf," records show.

The nurse told the DPH in a statement that she refused to participate in his scheme to avoid the vaccine mandate, the documents show.

The medical board could have revoked his medical license or issued some other type of discipline, DPH documents said. However, the board voted Tuesday to withdraw the charges based on Inchalik's agreement with the DPH to not renew his Connecticut medical license, which had expired.

Since he will not renew his license, the "continued prosecution of this case is unnecessary," DPH documents said.

Inchalik agreed in a signed statement that if he moved to seek the renewal of his license in Connecticut, the allegations in the statement of charges "shall be deemed true." He also waived his right to a hearing and indicated he understood the agreement to not renew would be sent to a national database for physicians who have been disciplined.

Inchalik now lives in New Hampshire and has retired from practicing medicine, DPH documents said. He is still licensed in New Hampshire, DPH staff attorney Aden Baume said during the meeting. Due to the reporting requirements in the database, New Hampshire medical officials will be notified that he agreed to give up his license in Connecticut because of the vaccine fraud, Baume said.

Correction: This story has been updated to reflect Dr. Kenneth Inchalik was a pediatrician at ProHealth Physicians in Marlborough.
STAMFORD  A Wilton man accused of killing his neighbor in what police called "a senseless act of violence" is expected to plead not guilty by reason of insanity, according to his attorney.

Stamford lead public defender Jared Millbrandt said during a hearing at the state Superior Court in Stamford that his client, Sebastian Andrews, will pursue an insanity defense in the homicide of Arinzechukwu Ukachukwu at his Partrick Lane home on March 21.

Ukachukwus family members attending Wednesdays proceedings audibly scoffed when Millbrandt made the announcement.

As Andrews left the courtroom Wednesday, the victims sister, Princess Ukachukwu, locked eyes with Andrews and said, Yes, you can see me, before being hushed by court marshals.

Princess Ukachukwu said she and her aunts and uncles were in attendance Wednesday to ensure justice for my brother.

As an older sister, Im going make sure justice is served, she said following the hearing. The truth will be revealed.

Andrews, 31, is charged with murder in the stabbing death of Ukachukwu. The fatal stabbing marked Wiltons first homicide in more than a decade.

According to the warrant for his arrest, Andrews claimed shortly after he was arrested on the day of the homicide that he acted in self-defense.

But Wilton Deputy Police Chief Robert Cipolla said at the time that "the investigation thus far has revealed that this was an extremely violent attack and is best described as a senseless act of violence."

Andrews remains in custody at Bridgeport Correctional Center on a $2 million bond.

Police said Andrews was arrested at his Indian Hill Road home on March 21 after police found the 39-year-old Ukachukwu's body in the garage of his property on the adjacent Partrick Lane.

According to the arrest warrant, Andrews' father called 911 around 11:15 a.m. Tuesday when he looked out the window and saw a man he believed to be his son "stabbing" Ukachukwu in the victim's driveway.

Wilton police said Andrews was taken into custody without incident at his family's home.

Andrews told a police detective that he went to Ukachukwu's home Tuesday morning to ask "Ari" for a "wedge," according to the warrant.

But Andrews also told police he "wanted to see what was going on because he found 'them trespassing on his property several times, specifically in his attic,'" the warrant stated.

Cipolla said Thursday there were no reported incidents between the neighbors "other than normal neighbor-to-neighbor contact."

Andrews told investigators that Ukachukwu looked at him "with eyes that looked insane," the warrant stated. Andrews claimed Ukachukwu took him to the garage, where he believed the man was "about to hit him with something," so he attacked his neighbor "with a knife he got from his kitchen," the warrant stated.

But other evidence referenced in the warrant appears to contradict that series of events.

Andrews' father told police he witnessed the stabbing in Ukachukwu's driveway, the warrant said. Blood at the scene also led from the driveway into the garage where Ukachukwu's body was found, according to the warrant.

Property records indicate Ukachukwu and his wife moved to Wilton and purchased the home last summer.

Andrews is next scheduled to appear in court on Aug. 1.

Cases that center around the insanity defense are relatively rare around the courthouse. In fact, only two defendants have been found not guilty by reason of insanity since 2017.

The latest instance was in 2019 when Judge John Blawie found Imani Monique Brown, then 26, not guilty "by way of mental disease or defect" of slashing the throat of a sleeping bagel worker at a Stamford bakery. Following the verdict, Brown was committed to Whiting Forensic Hospital until she is no longer a danger to herself or others.
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TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP)  Former British Prime Minister Liz Truss warned of economic and political threats to the West posed by China during a visit Wednesday to Beijing's democratic rival Taiwan.

Truss is the first former British prime minister since Margaret Thatcher in the 1990s to visit the self-governing island republic that China claims as its own territory, to be conquered by force if necessary.

Still a sitting member of the House of Commons, Truss follows a growing list of elected representatives and former officials from the U.S., EU and elsewhere who have visited Taiwan to show their defiance of Chinas threats and attempts to cut off the island and its high-tech economy from the international community.

There are those who say they dont want another Cold War. But this is not a choice we are in a position to make. Because China has already embarked on a self-reliance drive, whether we want to decouple from their economy or not," Truss said in an address to the Prospect Foundation in the Taiwanese capital, Taipei.

China is growing its navy at an alarming rate and is undertaking the biggest military build-up in peacetime history, she said.

"They have already formed alliances with other nations that want to see the free world in decline. They have already made a choice about their strategy. The only choice we have is whether we appease and accommodate  or we take action to prevent conflict, Truss said.

Elsewhere, Truss praised her successor, Rishi Sunak, for describing China as the biggest long-term threat to Britain in comments last summer and for earlier urging the closure of Chinese government-run, mainly university-based overseas cultural centers known as Confucius Institutes which have been criticized as outlets for Communist Party propaganda. Such services could instead be provided by people from Taiwan and Hong Kong who come to the United Kingdom of their own volition, Truss said.

On Wednesday, a spokesperson for Sunak backtracked on the prime minister's campaign pledge to shut down the U.K.s 30 Confucius Institutes, saying it ""would be disproportionate to ban them" at present.

Like any international body operating in the U.K., Confucius Institutes need to operate transparently and within the law, and with a full commitment to our values of openness and freedom of expression, the spokesperson said.

In Beijing, a spokesperson for the Cabinet's Taiwan Affairs Office, Mao Xiaoguang, accused Taiwan's governing Democratic Progressive Party of "spending the tax money of the Taiwanese people to bribe some anti-China politicians who have stepped down from office to stage a farce of seeking external support for independence in Taiwan."

Ma also renewed China's military threats against Taiwan, a day after the Chinese Defense Ministry condemned U.S. military assistance to the island.

If they continue to challenge and force us, we will have to take decisive measures to defend national sovereignty and territorial integrity, Ma told reporters at a biweekly news conference. No one should underestimate our strong determination, unwavering will and strong ability.

Next year is seen by some as a crucial period for tense relations between the sides, with U.S. and Taiwanese voters going to the polls. Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen has served the maximum two terms and Vice President Lai Ching-te, a strong independence supporter, will be running for the DPP.

Meanwhile, the main opposition Nationalist Party, or Kuomintang, on Wednesday nominated local politician Hou Yu-ih as its candidate in the January election. Hou rose to prominence as a top police official but has relatively little experience dealing with China and Taiwan's international partners.

Taiwan will also elect a new legislature, which is currently controlled by the ruling party.

China's relations with Britain and most other Western democracies have been in steep decline in recent years, largely as a result of disputes over human rights, trade technology and China's aggressive moves toward Taiwan and in the South China Sea.

Beijing's relations with London have been especially bitter over China's sweeping crackdown on free speech, democracy and other civil liberties in Hong Kong, a former British colony that was promised it would retain its freedoms after the handover to Chinese rule in 1997.

China has said a key previous bilateral agreement on Hong Kong no longer applies and has rejected British expressions of concern as interference in China's domestic political affairs. China has also been angered by a joint Australian-U.S.-British agreement known as AUKUS that would provide Australia with nuclear-powered submarines in part to counter the perceived rising threat from China.

Truss, who served an ill-fated seven weeks as prime minister last year, also said China could not be trusted to follow through on its commitments in areas from trade to protection of the environment.

And she praised Taiwan as an enduring rebuke to totalitarianism whose fate was a "core interest" to Europe.

A blockade or invasion of Taiwan would undermine freedom and democracy in Europe. Just as a Russian victory in Ukraine would undermine freedom and democracy in the Pacific," Truss said.

"We in the United Kingdom and the free world must do all we can to back you, she said.

Truss' remarks also stood in stark contrast to published comments from French President Emmanuel Macron last month that elicited doubts about whether Macrons views were in line with other European countries on Taiwans status.

The question we need to answer, as Europeans, is the following: Is it in our interest to accelerate (a crisis) on Taiwan? No, Macron was quoted as saying in the interview. The worst thing would be to think that we Europeans must become followers on this topic and take our cue from the U.S. agenda and a Chinese overreaction.

Shortly afterward, Macron denied any change on France's views toward Taiwan, saying, We are for the status quo, and this policy is constant.
Its been a while since Susan and Chris Sarandon last spoke.

A century, Susan Sarandon jokes.

Maybe in L.A., they think. At a restaurant where they saw each other in passing. It was years ago, sometime in the near 50 years since they divorced. Chris Sarandon remarried twice. Susan Sarandon has been in some famously long-term relationships but never married again.

How many grandchildren do you have? Susan Sarandon asks.

Nine, Chris responds.

What, Susan Sarandon replies, shocked.

Nine.

How could that be, she asks. Shut the f--- up. How could that be.

Anadolu Agency/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

He has two daughters, each with three children. His son has two and his step-son with Joanna Gleason (his wife of 29 years) has one.

I only have three, she says, referencing the three children of her daughter Eva Amurri, an actor and Connecticut resident.

The conversation  taking place over Zoom  quickly goes into the financial pressures young artists face and how difficult it is to succeed as an artist in an increasingly corporate world where youre expected to find success before hitting the age of 30.

And how different it was when they were young artists getting their start while Chris worked at New Havens Long Wharf Theater and Susan did some modeling and held odd jobs. They lived in small house on the beach in Milford between the fall of 1969 and spring 1970. The uninsulated house was so cold in the winter, Chris Sarandon said they couldnt even put their feet on the floor.

Chris Sarandon and Susan Sarandon met in the theater program at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. in the mid-60s. Susan was a 17-year-old freshman, known then as Susan Tomalin. Chris Sarandon was a 21-year-old graduate student and the star of the program.

He was a big-ass grad student who was the lead in every f---ing Shakespearean anything. He and Michael Cristofer (Tony and Pulitzer-winning playwright) were like the stars, she recalls. I thought he knew everything  black and white movies, literature, whatever. I was living at my grandparents at the time.

Susan Sarandon arrived in D.C. from Edison, N.J. in 1964, the eldest of eight children. Her mother was pregnant with a ninth when Chris and Susan married in 1967. She said the high school she went to was rough. Her household, a bit chaotic. She grew up eating Spam and spaghetti mostly, she said. And when it came time for college, she was accepted, but didnt know what to do.

I didnt know what was going on. My parents didnt know what was going on, Susan Sarandon says. We just missed every deadline. She (a former drama teacher) said she could get me into the drama department.

But in D.C., Susan Sarandon needed money. She lived with her grandparents to save on a room. She cut hair, cleaned apartments and worked the switchboard at the drama department to pay her way. It wasnt a typical college experience, she said.

When Chris Sarandon saw her in a freshman show he thought she was arresting. The two hit it off. Chris Sarandon came from a family of Greek immigrants in West Virginia. His father owned a diner in town and his mother cooked traditional Greek food at home.

Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images

When Susan Sarandon met Chris Sarandon, she said he was gorgeous, but also kind. His family took her in. Chris mom showed Susan how to iron clothes so she wouldnt burn them. She showed her how to cook.

I think avgolemono soup saved my life, she remembers.

Chris Sarandon and Susan Sarandon will talk avgolemono soup and more when they join each other onstage May 25 at the Sacred Heart University Community Theater in Fairfield. Itll be a live taping of the formers podcast Cooking by Heart. In it, Chris Sarandon interviews guests like his Princess Bride castmate Cary Elwes and famed chef Jacques Pepin about the connection between food and memory.

The live show will be the first time the pair appear publicly in more than 45 years, since Chris Sarandon was nominated for an Oscar for his performance in the 1975 film Dog Day Afternoon.

Chris Sarandon

That same year, Susan Sarandon got a major break when she starred as Janet in the Rocky Horror Picture Show.

But before the actors made their way from D.C. to New York theater and eventually Hollywood films, they got their start in the industry while living in Connecticut, where Chris was an actor with Long Wharf.

I was the wife. I did whatever I could. I read and I caught little crabs on the beach, Susan Sarandon says. I did some local modeling, some stupid TV commercials.

The following summer they worked with a friend doing summer theater shows. After that it was off to New York where Chris Sarandon found work quickly. Susan joined him on an audition and wound up with her first film, Joe.

Chris Sarandon / Contributed

The pair say they were lucky.

The serendipity of it. The good fortune, whatever you want to call it, Chris Sarandon says. Im literally renting an apartment in New York and suddenly were both working. It was amazing.

Chris and Susan Sarandon divorced in 1979, but had separated a few years earlier. Susan Sarandon said she never wanted to get married. She just never believed in the title. But the love was there and marriage was a way to get out of her grandparents' home and be able to stay enrolled in a Catholic University.

But barely adults, Susan Sarandon said they still had a lot of growing to do.

"When we split  talk about conscious uncoupling  he was so kind. Because Im the one that was, you know, unstable, kind of," Susan says. "And Chris was so generous and so sweet with me. When people say, I need my space. I need to find myself. Thats what happens in your 20s. Youre not really aware enough to make commitments and deals when youre in that stage.

Chris Sarandon went on to star in films like Childs Play, Fright Night, and the Princess Bride. Susan Sarandon won an Oscar for her role in Dead Man Walking and starred in Thelma and Louise and Stepmom.

Ron Galella/Ron Galella Collection via Getty

Despite the split, the couple said they never had bad blood. Susan Sarandons family still goes to see Chris when hes in plays. And Susan joked she stalked Chris online so she could appear on his show.

The two also found voice in activism. Susan said they were there when D.C. burned during protests over the Vietnam War. Last week, Susan was arrested in Albany while protesting a minimum wage bill that carved out tipped workers.

Social activism, especially liberal activism, is something Chris and Susan agree is born of the empathy artists, especially actors, learn while living lives through the eyes of others.

I think just the artistic temperament requires that you see things from many different perspectives. That you understand the way people think, the way people feel about their lives, Chris Sarandon says. I think it becomes a natural sort of progression, that you understand what people in the LGBTQ community go through.

In this job you use your imagination, which leads to empathy Susan adds. And once you can imagine what it would be like to be the mother of a child gunned downhow can you not be active? Artists are always on the outside. Youre not part of  try as you may  corporate America. Youre never really going to be there. And good. We need imagination because nothing is going to change until you imagine that it could be another way. And that is what our job is  to give people the opportunity to develop empathy for someone they never thought they had anything in common with.

Susan and Chris Sarandon will appear live at the Sacred Heart Community Theater on May 25 at 7 p.m. Tickets are available online for $30.

Chris Sarandon will welcome Chef Lidia Bastianich at his next live taping of Cooking by Heart at the SHU Community Theater on June 4.
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WASHINGTON (AP)  The top federal prosecutor in Massachusetts tried to use her position to influence the outcome of a race for Bostons district attorney by leaking information aimed at sabotaging the campaign of her preferred candidate's rival, the Justice Departments internal watchdog said in a report released Wednesday.

A separate investigation by the U.S. Office of Special Counsel found multiple violations by U.S. Attorney Rachael Rollins of a law that limits political activity by government workers.

The findings were disclosed a day after Rollins lawyer told The Associated Press she would resign this week, saying she understands that her presence has become a distraction.

The inspector general's 161-page report alleges a broad array of misconduct by Rollins, who was praised by progressives for her approach to law enforcement when she was sworn into office in January 2022 after serving as district attorney for Suffolk County, which includes Boston.

It was the most scathing public condemnation in recent years of a U.S. attorney, a prestigious federal post that has occasionally served as a springboard to higher office, and detailed efforts to mislead Justice Department investigators during interviews.

The report said Rollins lied under oath to investigators by falsely claiming she was not the anonymous law enforcement source in a news article, before later admitting to it. In December, the inspector general's office referred the allegation to the department for a possible prosecution for false statements, but officials declined prosecution, according to the report.

Special Counsel Henry Kerner, meanwhile, said in a letter to President Joe Biden that Rollins' Hatch Act violations were among "most egregious transgressions of the law that his agency had ever investigated.

The inspector general's report accused Rollins of soliciting and accepting 30 free tickets to a Boston Celtics game for youth basketball players and accepting payment from a sports and entertainment agency for flights and a stay at a luxury resort.

Rollins also routinely used her personal cellphone for business, continued to accept contributions to her district attorney campaign account after becoming U.S. attorney and attended a political fundraiser featuring first lady Jill Biden, contrary to the advice Rollins was given and without proper Justice Department approval, the report said.

The watchdog said Rollins tried to meddle in last year's race for Suffolk County district attorney by providing information to media suggesting then-acting District Attorney Kevin Hayden was under federal investigation. The report said the U.S. attorney also helped Hayden's rival, Ricardo Arroyo, by providing him campaign advice and direction and coordinating with Arroyo on activities to help his campaign.

Rollins tried to persuade her top deputy to release a letter implying that the department was investigating Hayden, and when that failed, she leaked sensitive department information to the media in an effort to tank his candidacy, the report said. Then, after Arroyo lost the primary election, Rollins secretly gave The Boston Herald a memo detailing her office's recusal from any possible investigation into Hayden, the report said.

After the newspaper ran a story about the memo she leaked, Rollins texted her deputy and other staff, saying Wtf!?! and How are they quoting things?" according to the report.

Kerner's review described Rollins as a de facto campaign advisor to Arroyo. In one August 2022 message, Arroyo told Rollins that an announcement about an investigation into Hayden would be "the best thing I can have happen at this moment. Rollins wrote: Understood. Keep fighting and campaigning. Im working on something.

The AP was the first to report in November that the inspector generals office had opened an investigation into Rollins over her appearance last July at a Democratic National Committee fundraiser. The AP reported that the probe had expanded to examine other issues, such as Rollins' potential use of her personal cellphone for Justice Department business and a trip she took to California that was paid for by an outside group.

Its an extraordinary rebuke of a top law enforcer who who twice needed Vice President Kamala Harris to cast a tiebreaking vote to be confirmed as U.S. attorney amid stiff Republican opposition. Rollins was the first woman of color to become a district attorney in Massachusetts and the first Black woman to serve as the U.S. attorney in Massachusetts.

Im deeply concerned by Ms. Rollinss misconduct, as detailed in the Inspector Generals and Special Counsels reports, and support her immediate resignation, said Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

It's exceedingly rare for a U.S. attorney to resign amid ethics concerns, and Rollins' move is an embarrassment for the Justice Department under Attorney General Merrick Garland, who pledged to restore its reputation for political independence after tumultuous years under Republican President Donald Trump.

The inspector general's investigation began last year after Sen. Tom Cotton. R-Ark., who had tried to block her confirmation, urged the watchdog to examine whether Rollins appearance at the fundraiser at a home in Andover, Massachusetts, violated the Hatch Act.

Her lawyer, Michael Bromwich, a former Justice Department inspector general, said in his statement Tuesday that Rollins was profoundly honored to have served as U.S. attorney and incredibly proud of all her office has accomplished during that limited time, especially in the areas of gun violence and civil rights.

In response to a Boston Herald article from July raising questions about her appearance at the fundraiser, Rollins said in a tweet that she had approval to meet Jill Biden and that she left the event early to speak at two community events. Rollins had been told she could meet the Biden outside the home before leaving, according to the report.

The inspector general's office said Rollins tried to blame staff for not advising her to read an email with guidance for her meeting with Biden and called Rollins' efforts to blame her staff for her own ethics failures deeply disturbing.

Rollins was elected Suffolk County District Attorney in 2018, defeating the candidate backed by the longtime incumbent and by police groups and becoming the Democratic nominee as part of a wave of progressive prosecutors.

Among the cases brought in Massachusetts under her tenure as U.S. attorney include the prosecution of Jack Teixeira, the Massachusetts National Guardsman accused of leaking highly classified military documents.

___

Durkin Richer reported from Boston.

___

This story has been corrected to reflect that Kevin Hayden was the acting Suffolk County district attorney, not the district attorney, at the time of last years primary election.
WASHINGTON  The Supreme Court said Wednesday that Illinois can, for now, keep in place a new law that bars the sale of certain semi-automatic guns and large-capacity magazines.

The high court denied an emergency request from people challenging the law, which bans so-called assault weapons. The laws opponents had asked the court to put the law on hold while a court challenge continues.

The court did not comment and no justice publicly dissented.

The high courts action comes at a time when gun violence has been heavily in the news. Since the beginning of the year, 115 people have died in 22 mass killings  an average of one mass killing a week, according to a database maintained by The Associated Press and USA Today in a partnership with Northeastern University. The database counts killings involving four or more fatalities, not including the perpetrator. Just recently, on May 6, a man armed with an AR-15 style rifle and other firearms fatally shot eight people, including three children, at a Dallas-area mall.

The case before the Supreme Court involves an Illinois state law enacted in January. The legislation bans the sale of a series of guns including the AR-15 and AK-47. The law also bars the sale of magazines that have more than 15 rounds of ammunition for handguns and more than 10 rounds of ammunition for a long gun.

People who legally owned the now-barred guns and magazines ahead of the laws enactment can continue to keep them. The guns, however, must be registered with law enforcement.

Nine other states and the District of Columbia have gun bans similar to the one in Illinois, according to the gun control group Brady, which tracks the legislation. California, Connecticut, Hawaii, New Jersey and New York also require registration of guns purchased prior to the law while four other states  Delaware, Maryland, Massachusetts and Washington  do not.

The Illinois legislation was driven largely by the killing of seven people at a 4th of July parade last year in the Chicago suburb of Highland Park. The shooter was armed with an AR-15 rifle and 30-round magazines.

A federal trial court in February declined to put the law on hold. A federal appeals court also declined to put the law on hold while the case continues.

The case also involves a separate so-called assault weapon bans passed by the city of Naperville.

The Supreme Courts conservative majority just last year handed gun rights activists a major victory, ruling that Americans have a right to carry firearms in public for self-defense. But the decision left open whether various restrictions states might impose would be constitutional.

Associated Press reporter Alanna Durkin Richer contributed to this report from Boston.
BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP)  Hungary will continue to block the disbursement of a new tranche of European Union military support to Ukraine until Kyiv removes a Hungarian bank from a list of international sponsors of Russia's war, Hungary's foreign minister said Wednesday.

Peter Szijjarto, speaking in Vienna after a meeting with his Austrian counterpart, called Ukraine's recent listing of OTP Bank scandalous and unacceptable, and said that Hungary wouldn't approve the release of 500 million euros ($543 million) from the EU's European Peace Facility until the bank is removed from the list.

We cannot support the allocation of another half a billion euros from the European Peace Facility for arms transfers to Ukraine, and we will not give it the green light as long as OTP is on this particular list, Szijjarto said.

Earlier this month, Ukraine's National Agency on Corruption Prevention classified OTP Bank as an international sponsor of the war over its continued presence in Russia, sparking a backlash from Hungarian officials.

After the listing of OTP, the banking groups Ukrainian branch released a statement arguing that it had drastically reduced its presence in the Russian market, and that its market share there had decreased to only 0.17%.

Relations between Hungary and neighboring Ukraine have been strained by Budapest's refusal to supply Kyiv with weapons or to allow their transfer across the countries' shared border.

Hungary's nationalist government, which maintains close ties with Moscow, has also argued against EU sanctions on Russia, and sought to cement Hungary's dependence on Russian fossil fuels since the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

On Wednesday, Szijjarto suggested that Hungary would move to block further EU sanctions on Russia unless Ukraine delists OTP Bank, saying Kyiv had become increasingly belligerent with respect to Hungary.

As long as Ukraine keeps OTP on the list of international sponsors of the war, Hungary cannot agree to decisions that would require the European Union and its member states to make further economic and financial sacrifices, he said.

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Follow the APs coverage of the war at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
ISTANBUL, May 17 (Xinhua) -- U.S. politicians have been exploiting racism to pursue their "greedy" capitalist interests while encouraging inequalities between races in every sphere of life, a prominent Turkish scholar said in a recent interview with Xinhua.

"White people have privileges over blacks in many domains like courts, political life, private sector and bureaucracy," Baris Doster, a professor of communication and journalism with Istanbul-based Marmara University, told Xinhua.

"The COVID-19 pandemic also revealed once again that black people have poor access to healthy food and qualified healthcare services, their housing conditions are very challenging, and educational opportunities much fewer than those of whites just because of their color from birth," Doster said.

The problem of gun violence in U.S. society, which suffers "a horrendous level of individual armament," has unproportionally affected black Americans, reflecting how the systemic racism plagues the country, the Turkish scholar noted.

Mentioning Kyle Rittenhouse, a white teenager who was welcomed as a guest of honor at a Republican event after he shot dead two men at an anti-racism protest but was found not guilty of reckless homicide, Doster said the case is a perfect example of the enormous inequalities in the United States.

"The hand that pulls the trigger is usually white. Those who die, are injured, or victims are usually black," he lamented.

According to Doster, the out-of-control gun violence is fuelled by political polarization and gun lobby which puts the profiting of special interest groups above the common good.

"For them owning a gun is not only a right but also a profitable business," he explained.

As the American writer Belen Fernandez has put it, "greedy capitalism" is the institutional force behind worsening social security in the United States, Doster noted.

"It's hard not to agree that the U.S. domestic and foreign policies are fully based on the absolute domination of capital. Capitalism, or the so-called liberalism, wild capitalism, or neoliberalism, have bipartisan support," he said. 
BEIJING (AP)  Several ships and aircraft searched Wednesday for 39 people reported missing after a Chinese fishing boat capsized in the middle of the Indian Ocean.

Chinese state broadcaster CCTV said the accident happened around 3 a.m. Tuesday. The report said the crew includes 17 from China, 17 from Indonesia and five from the Philippines.

Chinese leader Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Li Qiang have ordered Chinese diplomats abroad, as well as the agriculture and transportation ministries, to assist in the search for survivors.

All-out efforts must be made in the rescue operation, Xi was quoted as saying by the official Xinhua News Agency. Li ordered unspecified measures to reduce casualties and strengthen safety management of fishing vessels at sea to ensure safe maritime transport and production, Xinhua said.

No word was given on the cause of the capsizing.

Australia, Indonesia and the Philippines have also expressed their willingness to join in the search. Indonesia's National Search and Rescue Agency said the capsizing occurred about 4,600 kilometers (2,900 miles) northwest of Australia.

Several ships and an Australian Defense Force P-8A Poseidon aircraft have been searching the area. The Indian Ocean stretches from South Asia and the Arabian Peninsula to east Africa and western Australia. No survivors or life rafts have been spotted.

The Philippine Coast Guard Command Center said Wednesday it was monitoring the situation and coordinating with the Chinese Embassy in Manila, as well as search and rescue teams operating near the vessels last known location.

The Australian Maritime Safety Authority said it was coordinating the search in what it called a remote location in the Indian Ocean, about 5,000 kilometers (3,100 miles) northwest of the coastal city of Perth. It said the agency received a distress beacon signal from the fishing vessel at about 5:30 a.m. Tuesday, Australian time, and that weather conditions in the area Tuesday were extreme," but had improved by Wednesday.

Along the Bay of Bengal at the Indian Oceans northern end, Myanmar and Bangladesh were undergoing recovery from a powerful cyclone that smashed into their coastlines, causing widespread destruction and at least 21 deaths, with hundreds of others believed missing.

Merchant and fishing vessels in the area were also searching for survivors Wednesday.

A Perth-based Challenger rescue aircraft will drop a buoy to help with drift modelling to further assist in the search, the agency said.

The search covered an area virtually in the center of the Indian Ocean. The capsized hull was spotted and the transmitter detected more than 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) south of Sri Lanka, with nearest port appearing to be the island chain of the Maldives, about 500 kilometers (310 miles) to the north of the search area.

The Lu Peng Yuan Yu 028 was based in the eastern coastal province of Shandong, operated by the Penglai Jinglu Fishery Co. Ltd., according to the reports. Another Chinese vessel, Lu Peng Yuan Yu 018, is operating near to the upturned hull and has been asked to conduct a grid search for survivors, according to the Indonesian agency.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said additional rescue assets were on their way to the scene.

We will continue to take all measures possible with all parties to search and rescue the missing persons. The Chinese side thanks the Australian maritime search and rescue department for promptly dispatching aircraft and coordinating passing foreign ships to participate in the search and rescue, Wang told reporters at a daily briefing Wednesday.

China is believed to operate the worlds largest fishing fleet. Many of them stay at sea for months or even years at a time, supported by Chinese state maritime security agencies and a sprawling network of support vessels.

Chinese squid fishing ships have been documented using wide nets to illegally catch already overfished tuna as part of a surge in unregulated activity in the Indian Ocean, according to a report released in 2021 by a Norway-based watchdog group that highlighted growing concerns about the lack of international cooperation to protect marine species on the high seas.

The group, called Trygg Mat Tracking, found that the number of squid vessels in the high seas of the Indian Ocean  where fishing of the species is not regulated  has increased six-fold since 2016.

The U.S. Coast Guard was also involved in a dangerous confrontation with Chinese vessels not far from Ecuadors Galapagos Islands in 2022 during a mission to inspect the vessels for any signs of illegal, unreported or unregulated fishing.

Chinese fishing vessels operating illegally are known to sail "dark," with their mandatory tracking device that gives a ships position either switched off, transmitting intermittently, or providing false identifiers.

In 2014, Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 was believed to have gone down somewhere in the Indian Ocean with 239 people aboard. That Boeing 777, which remains missing, became invisible to civilian radar when its transponder locating device stopped transmitting during a flight from Kuala Lumpur.

___

Associated Press writers Rod McGuirk in Canberra, Australia, Niniek Karmini in Jakarta, Indonesia, and Jim Gomez in Manila, Philippines, contributed to this report.
As Yogi Berra would say, Its deja vu all over again.

Once more, were looking at Metro East Sanitary District. Hans Brinker was a Dutch boy who saved his country by putting his finger in the dike. But MESD commissioners have their fingers in the cookie jar.

So what do they do? They dont remove their hand from the cookie jar. They run to Springfield and ask the Democrat super majority to make taking cookies OK.

Current law limits MESD commissioners salaries to not exceed what county board members receive in Madison or St. Clair counties, whichever is less. (70 ILCS 2905/3-4) Madison County board members receive $14,500/year, significantly less than St. Clair.

But in addition to their salary, they also receive health insurance, worth more than $10,000/year  better insurance than is available to many in the private sector.

On April 26, Rep. Jay Hoffman, D - Belleville, sponsored HB 0476 that will allow MESD to pay for life, health, accident, hospital and medical insurance for employees and commissioners, but of course employees already receive health insurance.

On May 4, the bill unanimously passed the Illinois House.

On May 9, Senator Chris Bell, D-Belleville, became a sponsor.

It hasnt yet passed the Senate, but you know how quickly things can happen in Springfield.

Why do I say deja vu?

I appointed Derrick Keith Cox and Justin Zimmerman to the Bi-State Board. They joined three board members appointed by St. Clair County, and five from Missouri. Cox and Zimmerman encouraged the Bi-State Board to stop voting in closed session. They also opposed Bi-State additional funding for the Delmar Loop Trolley boondoggle, and opposed Bi-State taking firearms away from security guards.

What happened next? In 2019, the Democrat-controlled General Assembly took one board seat away from Madison County and gave it to St. Clair.

Back to MESD. The MESD area flooded in April of 2017. The three MESD commissioners from Madison County stepped down, allowing me to appoint new board members. MESD was in bad shape, having lost $8.5 million in the prior 10 years. My new board turned things around  reversed over-charging by the Granite City Waste Water Treatment plant, cleaned ditches and automated the pumps and replaced patronage pump watchers.

No good deed goes unpunished. Also in 2019, the Democrat-dominated General Assembly took a board seat away from Madison County and gave it to the City of Granite City, putting MESD back under Democrat control.

I would ask that you contact your state senator to oppose this bill, because, simply, MESD commissioners are paid enough.
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Linkedin Sudibyo Wiradji (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Wed, May 17, 2023 13:17 10 d5259e4d93052b0e76bee70b056ba314 4 Economy bappenas,population Free

The Minister for National Development Planning/Head of the National Development Planning Agency (Bappenas), Suharso Monoarfa, unveiled on May 16 the countrys projected population for 2020-2050 in a bid to anticipate related issues that could emerge in 2045, when Indonesia is expected to reach its Golden Year.

Bappenas arrived at the population projection in collaboration with Statistics Indonesia (BPS), Suharso told the National Development Planning Conference (Musrenbangnas) on the 2024 government work plan (RKP), which opened in Jakarta on May 2.

Suharso explained that the population projection referred to three policy scenarios that anticipated issues related to population growth.

The first was a business as usual scenario that would result in a maximum decline in total fertility rate (TFR) of 1.9 in 2045 and an infant mortality rate (IMR) of 7.85 percent.

The second was a moderate scenario that maintained a TFR of 2.0 and an IMR of 5.8 percent.

The third and final scenario was an optimistic scenario that aimed to maintain an average life expectancy (UHH) of 80, equal to that in developed countries. Meanwhile, the TFR would be maintained at 2.0 and the IMR would be 4.2 percent.

The population projection and scenarios showed that the Indonesian population was expected to reach 324 million in 2045, an increase of 54.42 million from the 2020 figure. The average population growth for 2020-2050 was 0.67 percent per annum.

Meanwhile, the above 65 population is projected to increase from 6.16 percent to 14.61 percent in 2045, said Suharso.

The world is currently seeing a rapid change in its population structure. This year, India is expected to become the worlds most populous country to replace China, which has experienced negative population growth since 2021.

Indonesia, which was the worlds fourth most populous country in 2020, is expected to become the worlds sixth most populous country.

This is because population growth will start to decline by the 2030s. Nigeria and Pakistan are expected to rank fourth and fifth, respectively, Suharso said.

. (Photo courtesy of Bappenas and BPMI/.)

He then revealed the five policies for the government to implement to anticipate the demographic changes now taking place.

First, the government needs to facilitate balanced population growth. Second, the government needs to resolve the gap in human resource quality. Third, the government needs to provide support for the additional number of ageing people. Fourth, the government needs to encourage the movement of people to ensure an evenly distributed population. Finally, the government needs to maintain balanced urban and rural development.

According to Suharso, to achieve balanced development, a new-era family planning policy should be drafted to ensure that young couples were ready to build a family.

One of the issues that we must pay attention to is whether young couples are really prepared, socially and economically, to produce quality children.

On top of that, it is also necessary for the government to develop a care economy to ensure balance in terms of work between male and female workers by providing a proper child care system, he said.

The government also needed stronger strategies in communication, information and family planning education to match local conditions and targeted groups.

Suharso pointed out that the projection showed that millennials and members of Generation Z, who would form the pre-ageing and ageing populations, should make preparations that included starting pension funds and maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Millennials who currently worked as civil servants should make continual improvements to policy and service patterns by keeping up-to-date with the latest developments, especially in digitalization.

Millennials and Gen Zers were expected to maintain the populations growth by producing balanced and quality children.

They are also expected to respect [elderly] people, because they will later belong to the ageing population also, said Suharso.

And they are also expected to develop policies that support the lives of [elderly] people in the future, he added.

He said the government should also form a strategy to encourage even distribution of the population.

This is crucial to avoid one densely populated region, which will have an adverse impact on the quality of life and the environment in that region. The government can offer incentives, such as building inclusive economic development centers, providing jobs and capital, quality social and economic facilities, he said.

The [Musrenbangnas], held offline, is hoped to ignite our optimism to rise up from the negative impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic to embrace inclusive and sustainable economic transformation, he said.

The RKP aims to achieve the targets set out in the 2020-2024 National Medium-Term Development Plan (RJPMN) and to lay the foundation for the Golden Indonesia Vision 2045.

Themed Accelerating an Inclusive and Sustainable Economic Transformation, the RKP 2024 elaborates on maintaining seven national priorities as next years development focus.

The initial RKP 2024 sets its sights on several development targets including: economic growth of 5.3 percent to 5.7 percent; a poverty rate of 6.5 percent to 7.5 percent; an open unemployment rate of 5.0 percent to 5.7 percent; a Gini ratio of between 0.374 percent and 0.377 percent; a human development index of between 73.99 percent and 74.02 percent; greenhouse gas reduction of 27.27 percent; a fisher exchange rate of between 107 percent and 110 percent; and a farmer exchange rate of between 105 percent and 108 percent.

Suharso said that in 2024, the government needed to focus on delays in completing and achieving the national development targets, partly due to rural development and collaboration with non-state actors.

Meanwhile, he said efforts were continuing on meeting several national development indicators that should be highlighted in eight policy directions: first, reducing poverty and alleviating extreme poverty; second, increasing the quality of health and education services; third, revitalizing industry and strengthening applied research; fourth; building business competitiveness; fifth, pursuing low carbon development and the energy transition; sixth, accelerating the development of basic infrastructure and connectivity; seventh, developing the Nusantara capital city; and eighth, holding the 2024 general election.

Major projects in the RKP 2024 played a significant supporting role in achieving the national priorities, with 16 major projects based on the direction of the RKP 2024.

The implementation of all major projects will be sharpened by utilizing the development output for the people, not just distributed but delivered, he said.

The drafting of the RKP 2024 has passed several consultative stages involving various stakeholders, including the Product Consultation Forum, the Development Planning Coordination Meeting and the Provincial Development Planning Conference.

The latest stage is this months Musrenbangnas, which involves all government ministries and institutions, as well as regional administrations. The series of activities at the national conference are expected to produce a planning document that ensures synergy between development actors, between the central governments agencies, and among the central and regional governments with other stakeholders.

This article was published in collaboration with Ministry of National Development Planning/National Development Planning Agency (Bappenas)

Topics : bappenas population
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Linkedin Vincent Fabian Thomas (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Wed, May 17, 2023

Jakarta and Tehran have concluded the final stage of negotiations on a bilateral trade agreement, the Indonesian Trade Ministry said on Wednesday.

The announcement came after the two sides finished a seventh round of talks, and the ministry said the governments could now proceed to sign the documents on the deal, which is called the IndonesiaIran Preferential Trade Agreement (II-PTA).

The ministry said Indonesia and Iran would sign the trade agreement during a visit of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi to Jakarta between May 22 and 24.

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Linkedin Aditya Hadi (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Wed, May 17, 2023

The Indonesian government is exploring cooperation with Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) in several areas, including mining investment and military advancement.

The Office of the Coordinating Maritime Affairs and Investment Minister said it had sent a letter of intent (LoI) expressing the governments interest.

The government said mining cooperation with Congo would include knowledge transfer and capacity building to improve the DRCs capabilities in the sector.

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Linkedin Front Row (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Wed, May 17, 2023 15:16 10 d5259e4d93052b0e76bee70b056bbdd1 4 Front Row PNM,community Free

PT Permondalan Nasional Madani (PNM) enters its 24th year with its consistency intact in empowering and assisting ultra-micro business actors across Indonesia. The role of PNM with the business owners not only has a direct impact on their families but also on the surrounding communities. In line with one of the pillars contained in the points of sustainable development, which is economic progress and no one left behind.

Ratnasari, a PNM customer from Jakarta, is a real example of someone who has felt the positive impact after being with PNM for about three years. Of approximately 14 million PNM customers spread all over the archipelago, Ratna has succeeded in making herself the backbone of her family, as well as being a volunteer for people with disabilities.

PNM's consistency and enthusiasm in empowering and assisting ultra-micro business actors can be seen from its total disbursement in the first quarter of 2023, which amounted to Rp 19 trillion. Ratna has been assisting people with disabilities for more than seven years. Amid her busy life as a snack seller, Ratna faithfully devotes herself to continuing to meet the needs of people with disabilities who are recorded both at the Social Affairs Ministry and with her local social services.

I help those in need, from walkers and wheelchairs to hearing aids and canes. The needs will later be recorded and then the social services will help, said Ratna.

Ratnas efforts and persistence have also influenced her colleagues and close relatives who are also members of the business group PNM Mekaar.

"I am the backbone of the family, I have three children, [and] Alhamdulillah [thank God] since joining PNM Mekaar, my three children can live a decent life, can receive the appropriate stages of education, she said.

Not only that, the opportunities that Ratna gets from her hard work have paid off. In March 2023, she had the opportunity to market her products at various exhibitions, including the UMKM Bazaar and the Indonesian UMKM exhibition at the Industry Ministry.

Topics : PNM community
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Linkedin Tenggara Strategics (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Wed, May 17, 2023 07:00 10 d5259e4d93052b0e76bee70b056b1cd1 4 Academia the-brief Free

The case of suspicious transactions involving the import of gold bars is now the top priority of the Prevention and Eradication of Money Laundering Task Force (TPPU). The task force, led by Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Mahfud MD, suspects the existence of a modus operandi of falsifying the Harmonized System (HS) code in the case of import duty and export tax evasion related to gold imports and exports, which caused a loss to the state of more than Rp 189 trillion (US$12.85 billion).

The Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (PPATK) reported the alleged HS manipulation mode in gold import activities worth Rp 47.1 trillion for possible money laundering to the Finance Ministry back in 2017. However, the report only received a response from Finance Minister Sri Mulyani during her meeting with PPATK on March 14. The alleged use of HS code falsification in the gold import case further strengthens previous suspicions of the involvement of individuals in the Customs and Excise Directorate General in a money laundering case.

The modus operandi of falsifying HS codes is intended to avoid paying taxes and duties on gold imports, which fall under the supervision of the Finance Ministrys Customs and Excise Directorate General. Under the customs and excise provisions, there are four classifications of gold import duty rates:

HS 7108.12.10: gold bars are to be reprocessed as lumps, ingots or casting rods, not subject to import duty.

HS 7108.12.90: gold bars other than in the form of lumps, ingots or ingots is subject to a 5 percent import duty.

HS 7108.13.00: other semifinished forms of imported gold are subject to a 5 percent import duty.

HS 7115.90.10: gold bars that are immediately ready to be sold are subject to a 5 percent import duty.

According to an investigation by Tempo, the modus operandi for evading gold import duties involved falsifying the HS code for imported gold. It was done in a way that resulted in discrepancies between the data in the declaration notes of the commodity's country of origin and that of the importing country. For instance, when an Indonesian importer imported gold, the HS code on import and custom clearance documents in Singapore was recorded as HS 7108.13.00 or "half-finished gold," which required a 5 percent import duty. However, upon arrival at Indonesias customs, the HS code on the document was altered to HS 7108.12.10 or "gold bars to be reprocessed" to avoid paying import duties, resulting in a duty rate of 0 percent.

During a hearing between House Commission III and the National Coordinating Committee for the Prevention and Eradication of Money Laundering last month, National Mandate Party (PAN) legislator Sarifuddin Suding said he suspected most of the gold import-export cases involving nine companies were related to illegal mining, and asked the National Police and the Attorney Generals Office (AGO) to investigate the potential illegal mining link to the Rp 189 trillion in suspicious transactions.

Whats more

The customs offices international and inter-institutional customs director Syarif Hidayat shifted the blame for HS manipulation to the importers. He argued that the customs offices duty was only to verify whether the importer's report aligned with the import documents. Worse, according to Trade Ministrys trade security director Pradnyawati, there were no regulations specifically governing sanctions for importers transferring HS codes, which is part of circumvention actions in international trade activities.

No wonder the Finance Ministry lost its court case against the HS code transfer for the export of 218 kilograms of gold bars worth $6.8 million in 2016. In the related customs declaration, the exporter stated that the shipment contained jewelry and was therefore, not subject to excise tax. However, a customs inspection discovered that the shipment contained gold bars. The Finance Ministry took the case to court for customs violations but lost at the Supreme Court.

Unfortunately, this is not the first case to occur. Falsifying HS codes in commodity imports and exports has long been a common practice to avoid import duties or export taxes. In addition to gold imports, Indonesia also faced similar patterns in the case of steel imports in 2018 to prevent the imposition of antidumping import duties, which resulted in some local steel producers losing in a competition.

What weve heard

A number of sources said Mahfud MD already had some data regarding the gold import scandal through the manipulation of HS code long before he formed the TPPU Task Force. He obtained the data several days before the hearing with the House of Representatives in mid-April.

That is why, in the first meeting with the TPPU Task Force team, Mahfud MD asked for the gold import scandal to be one of the priorities to be brought to the court in the TPPU case.

Moreover, the HS code manipulation scandal so that import activities are not subject to taxes and import duties is allegedly still ongoing today.

The modus operandi is the same: changing the HS code attached to the import document and declaration sheet when the gold commodity arrives at Soekarno-Hatta Airport so that it is not subject to import duties.

A source said that the HS code change would not have been possible without the involvement of people from the Directorate General of Customs and Excise (DGCE), especially since in the country of origin, the commodity is written as semi-finished gold, which should be subject to import duties.

Although the issue has surfaced since 2016, it seems that the DGCE allows the case to continue until now. The majority of the scandalous gold comes from Singapore. The top five importers are the same group of people.

A source at the Finance Ministry said that the alleged money laundering case at the DGCE related to the gold import activity never reached Finance Minister Sri Mulyani's desk.

The information that reached Sri Mulyani regarding the handling of a case by the DGCE against a gold company was different from what was conveyed by the PPATK head Ivan Yustiavanda and Mahfud MD to the public.

In the case, the Finance Ministry argued that the Supreme Court had granted the judicial review filed by a gold jewelry manufacturer. The Supreme Court stated that there was no criminal element.

However, the case presented by Sri Mulyani to the public was a gold export activity, not allegations of laundering related to gold import activity.

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 the latest edition of Tenggara Backgrounder to read the articles listed below:

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Linkedin Rubeena Singh London  Wed, May 17, 2023 05:20 10 96f72165d1db80845b6b1c241cfb0f45 2 Academia Women,eastern-Indonesia,entrepreneurs,digital,skills,infrastructure,training,business,MSMEs Free

Eastern Indonesia boasts a rich cultural heritage and natural resources. It is an untapped region of immense potential for women's entrepreneurship, yet women face significant barriers when starting and growing their businesses.

A recent report by the Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA), titled Empowering Women Entrepreneurs in Eastern Indonesia, reveals challenges faced by women-led micro, small, and medium-scale enterprises (MSMEs) across the ASEAN region, particularly in the East Indonesian provinces of North Sulawesi, East Nusa Tenggara, West Nusa Tenggara, Maluku, and Papua.

Characterized by diversity in geography, natural resources, cultures, ethnicities, religions, and languages, the provinces manifest the disparity in economic development between Eastern Indonesia and the other regions. This remains a cause for concern.

The COVID-19 pandemic has worsened many inequalities and economic challenges faced by MSMEs, making it all the more urgent to build back better, with women's equality at the center of emerging economic policies. But with 5197 percent employment in many ASEAN member states (AMSs), MSMEs have enabled greater integration of women and youth into the economy, making the situation even more dire.

Despite their potential, the performance of MSMEs in Eastern Indonesia falls short of national and provincial averages.

The ERIA report reviewed a range of indicators related to economic development, including education, business development, and MSME trends. The findings highlight the many challenges and obstacles faced by women-led MSMEs in Eastern Indonesia. For example, the report used the Gender Development Index (GDI), an indicator that calculates the ratio of the Human Development Index (HDI) between men and women, to show that as of 2020, the highest overall GDI is in North Sulawesi, and the lowest in Nusa Tenggara.

Provinces in Eastern Indonesia face a lack of access to financing and business development services, limited access to markets, and a shortage of skills and education. The report reveals differences in education levels based on the urban-rural divide.

Whilst female secondary and tertiary education across both urban and rural areas has improved over the last decade, the urban areas have the highest levels of education achieved. The difference in education between urban and rural areas may help explain differences in opportunities and economic growth for women in the latter.

The logistical challenges faced by businesses in Eastern Indonesia, such as travel and shipping expenses, are complex or prohibitively expensive, since the provinces of Eastern Indonesia are all islands distant from Jakarta, the economic hub. Infrastructure varies amongst the provinces, and certain areas have limited internet connectivity, preventing business growth through e-commerce. Women entrepreneurs are further affected by the gender digital gap, resulting in fewer opportunities to grow their businesses.

The lack of support for women-led MSMEs in Eastern Indonesia must change. Governments, businesses, and civil society organizations must work together to create a supportive environment for women-led MSMEs in Eastern Indonesia. Providing access to financing, business development services, and training, as well as addressing gender-based discrimination and cultural attitudes that can limit the participation of women in the economy, is crucial.

Business incubator programs have been identified as useful initiatives for supporting the development of women-led MSMEs in Eastern Indonesia, as local-based solutions are fundamental for fostering entrepreneurship. Many business incubators focus on social aspects of entrepreneurship, such as leadership skills and building entrepreneurs motivation, ambition, and self-confidence.

Still, much work remains to be done to overcome the barriers to business development and growth in Eastern Indonesia. Government actors play a key role in supporting equal rights for women and fostering entrepreneurship through national legislation that is well-coordinated with provincial and local jurisdictions. Investors, corporates, and foundations/philanthropists can provide funding and business practices that prioritize women entrepreneurs.

Women entrepreneurs can seek opportunities to learn new business skills and improve the representation of successful women entrepreneurs through the business landscape of Eastern Indonesia, and throughout Indonesia and Southeast Asia.

By working together, we can create an environment that is supportive and inclusive for women-led MSMEs and help realize the full potential of the region. The future of Eastern Indonesiaand indeed, the whole of the countryis dependent on the success of women in business. It is time for all of us to work together to make it a reality.

***

The writer is external consultant on inclusive education at the Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA). The views expressed are her own.
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Linkedin Nina A. Loasana (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Wed, May 17 2023

A recent report from Amnesty International suggests that Indonesia's revised Criminal Code is a step in the right direction toward abolishing capital punishment, even as the countrys justice system continues to hand down high numbers of death sentences.

Passed at the end of last year, the revised Criminal Code introduced an automatic 10-year probation for convicts on death row to demonstrate good behavior for the possibility of having their sentences commuted. After the probation elapses, the sitting president may decrease the sentence to life in prison or 20 years in prison. The policy will take effect in 2026.

Amnesty International Indonesia researcher Ari Pramuditya said that although Indonesia still had a long way to go before the death penalty was completely abolished, the new penal code was "a positive step" that deserved recognition.

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ZHENGZHOU, May 17 (Xinhua) -- A Turkish Airlines cargo plane arrived at the Zhengzhou Xinzheng International Airport on Tuesday, marking the launch of the air cargo route linking Istanbul with Zhengzhou, the capital city of central China's Henan Province.

The cargo service uses an A330-200F aircraft and runs three times a week.

The opening of the cargo route is expected to enhance economic and trade links not only between China and Turkiye, but also along the Belt and Road.

Zhengzhou Customs data shows that in the first four months of 2023, the total value of imports and exports between Henan and Turkiye amounted to 3.2 billion yuan (about 457.9 million U.S. dollars), up 24.5 percent year on year.

Imports from Turkiye were mainly ores as well as clothing and accessories, while exports were composed mostly of mechanical and electrical products.

As a major airport logistics hub in China, the airport in Zhengzhou boasts an annual cargo throughput of more than 700,000 tonnes, and its airline network covers major economies around the world.

According to the airport authority, the airport plans to launch more international air cargo routes linking Zhengzhou with foreign destinations including Seoul, Budapest, Bangkok, Manila and Ho Chi Minh City. 
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Wed, May 17 2023

The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) reportedly has named Andhi Pramono, head of the Makassar Customs and Excise Office, a suspect for allegedly accepting gratuities in connection with his position as an official in the major port city and provincial capital of South Sulawesi.

A corruption investigation into Andhi started after the KPK found indications of illicitly gained wealth when scrutinizing the wealth report (LHKPN) he submitted to the KPK that did not match his profile as a civil servant.

So, we now already have a suspect [in the case], KPK spokesperson Ali Fikri told reporters on Monday, as quoted by Kompas.com.

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M&T Bank Co. (NYSE:MTB  Get Rating) announced a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, May 16th, RTT News reports. Investors of record on Thursday, June 1st will be paid a dividend of 1.30 per share by the financial services provider on Friday, June 30th. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.60%.

M&T Bank has raised its dividend payment by an average of 5.4% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 1 consecutive years. M&T Bank has a payout ratio of 31.0% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect M&T Bank to earn $17.16 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $5.20 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 30.3%.

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M&T Bank Stock Down 1.7 %

M&T Bank stock traded down $1.94 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $112.95. The companys stock had a trading volume of 1,105,831 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,848,274. The firms 50 day moving average is $121.29 and its 200 day moving average is $144.14. The company has a market cap of $18.74 billion, a PE ratio of 8.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.96. M&T Bank has a 52-week low of $109.36 and a 52-week high of $193.42.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

M&T Bank ( NYSE:MTB Get Rating ) last released its earnings results on Monday, April 17th. The financial services provider reported $4.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $3.98 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $2.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.37 billion. M&T Bank had a return on equity of 11.97% and a net margin of 23.20%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.73 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that M&T Bank will post 17.26 earnings per share for the current year.

MTB has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Wolfe Research lowered M&T Bank from an outperform rating to a peer perform rating in a report on Thursday, March 23rd. Argus raised M&T Bank from a hold rating to a buy rating and set a $150.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 18th. Citigroup raised M&T Bank from a neutral rating to a buy rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $178.00 to $155.00 in a report on Monday, March 27th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on M&T Bank from $190.00 to $183.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 24th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered M&T Bank from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report on Saturday, April 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $165.10.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On M&T Bank

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of MTB. Norges Bank bought a new position in M&T Bank in the 4th quarter valued at $231,022,000. Morgan Stanley raised its position in M&T Bank by 71.6% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,986,977 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $433,291,000 after purchasing an additional 1,246,265 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada raised its position in shares of M&T Bank by 140.8% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 545,786 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $92,511,000 after acquiring an additional 319,116 shares during the last quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. bought a new stake in shares of M&T Bank during the first quarter worth $53,996,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of M&T Bank by 2.2% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,607,431 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $2,475,959,000 after acquiring an additional 316,266 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.10% of the companys stock.

About M&T Bank

(Get Rating)

M&T Bank Corp. operates as a bank holding company, which engages in the provision of retail and commercial banking, trust, wealth management and investment services. It operates through the following segments: Business Banking, Commercial Banking, Commercial Real Estate, Discretionary Portfolio, Residential Mortgage Banking, and Retail Banking.

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AM Squared Ltd bought a new position in shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB  Get Rating) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 1,000 shares of the specialty chemicals companys stock, valued at approximately $217,000.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in Albemarle by 79,043.1% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,407,165 shares of the specialty chemicals companys stock valued at $1,650,000 after purchasing an additional 1,405,387 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 33.6% during the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 865,408 shares of the specialty chemicals companys stock worth $191,386,000 after purchasing an additional 217,538 shares in the last quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC boosted its stake in Albemarle by 71.3% in the third quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC now owns 488,490 shares of the specialty chemicals companys stock worth $129,176,000 after buying an additional 203,385 shares in the last quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC boosted its stake in Albemarle by 86.4% in the third quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 375,347 shares of the specialty chemicals companys stock worth $99,257,000 after buying an additional 173,996 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Albemarle by 1.1% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,933,369 shares of the specialty chemicals companys stock valued at $3,684,541,000 after purchasing an additional 158,005 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.24% of the companys stock.

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Albemarle Trading Up 0.7 %

NYSE ALB traded up $1.52 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $207.19. The companys stock had a trading volume of 624,966 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,029,423. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $203.38 and a 200 day moving average of $240.23. Albemarle Co. has a twelve month low of $171.82 and a twelve month high of $334.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.60, a PEG ratio of 0.55 and a beta of 1.53. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34.

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

Albemarle ( NYSE:ALB Get Rating ) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 4th. The specialty chemicals company reported $10.32 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.93 by $3.39. Albemarle had a net margin of 41.89% and a return on equity of 45.57%. The firm had revenue of $2.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.74 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.38 earnings per share. The businesss quarterly revenue was up 128.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Albemarle Co. will post 22.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 16th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 15th. Albemarles dividend payout ratio is 5.13%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO J Kent Masters acquired 5,470 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 5th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $181.64 per share, for a total transaction of $993,570.80. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 51,466 shares in the company, valued at $9,348,284.24. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Kristin M. Coleman bought 1,373 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 5th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $182.00 per share, with a total value of $249,886.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,373 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $249,886. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO J Kent Masters bought 5,470 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 5th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $181.64 per share, for a total transaction of $993,570.80. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 51,466 shares of the companys stock, valued at $9,348,284.24. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders acquired 8,103 shares of company stock worth $1,489,774. 0.38% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Albemarle from $310.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 21st. Credit Suisse Group reiterated an underperform rating and issued a $240.00 target price on shares of Albemarle in a report on Thursday, February 16th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Albemarle from $340.00 to $362.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 25th. Bank of America raised Albemarle from an underperform rating to a neutral rating and upped their price target for the stock from $195.00 to $200.00 in a report on Monday, May 8th. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their price target on Albemarle from $497.00 to $498.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Friday, February 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $284.05.

Albemarle Company Profile

(Get Rating)

Albemarle Corp. engages in the development, manufacture, and marketing of chemicals for consumer electronics, petroleum refining, utilities, packaging, construction, transportation, pharmaceuticals, crop production, food-safety, and custom chemistry services. It operates through the following business segments: Lithium, Bromine, Catalysts, and All Other.

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Ameriprise Financial, Inc. (NYSE:AMP  Get Rating) saw a significant decline in short interest in April. As of April 30th, there was short interest totalling 1,050,000 shares, a decline of 7.9% from the April 15th total of 1,140,000 shares. Currently, 1.0% of the companys stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 634,300 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.7 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on AMP shares. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Ameriprise Financial from $360.00 to $338.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 12th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Ameriprise Financial from $350.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock a market perform rating in a report on Tuesday, January 31st. Credit Suisse Group boosted their price objective on shares of Ameriprise Financial from $382.00 to $401.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Wednesday, February 1st. StockNews.com raised shares of Ameriprise Financial from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report on Wednesday, May 10th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on shares of Ameriprise Financial from $400.00 to $385.00 in a report on Thursday, April 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the companys stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $349.70.

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Ameriprise Financial Price Performance

Shares of Ameriprise Financial stock traded down $4.45 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $294.42. The stock had a trading volume of 507,606 shares, compared to its average volume of 605,630. The stocks 50 day moving average is $300.72 and its 200 day moving average is $319.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $30.67 billion, a PE ratio of 14.95, a PEG ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 1.46. Ameriprise Financial has a twelve month low of $219.99 and a twelve month high of $357.46. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.43.

Ameriprise Financial Cuts Dividend

Ameriprise Financial ( NYSE:AMP Get Rating ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 25th. The financial services provider reported $7.25 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $7.21 by $0.04. Ameriprise Financial had a net margin of 15.41% and a return on equity of 77.32%. The firm had revenue of $3.74 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.69 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $5.98 EPS. The companys revenue for the quarter was up 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Ameriprise Financial will post 30 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 19th. Investors of record on Monday, May 8th will be given a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 5th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.14%. Ameriprise Financials dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.43%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Shell Asset Management Co. purchased a new stake in Ameriprise Financial during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,006,000. BDO Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Ameriprise Financial by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. BDO Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 10,073 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $3,136,000 after buying an additional 110 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake in shares of Ameriprise Financial by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 123,272 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $31,059,000 after buying an additional 3,688 shares during the period. Greenleaf Trust grew its stake in shares of Ameriprise Financial by 38.1% in the 3rd quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 4,551 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $1,147,000 after buying an additional 1,255 shares during the period. Finally, U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ameriprise Financial in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.66% of the companys stock.

About Ameriprise Financial

(Get Rating)

Ameriprise Financial, Inc operates as a holding company. The firm provides financial planning, asset management and insurance services to individuals, businesses and institutions. It operates through the following business segments: Advice & Wealth Management, Asset Management, Retirement & Protection Solutions, and Corporate & Other.

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Nokia Oyj (NYSE:NOK  Get Rating) has earned an average recommendation of Moderate Buy from the fourteen ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and seven have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $5.78.

NOK has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Raymond James reduced their target price on shares of Nokia Oyj from $7.00 to $6.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 21st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Nokia Oyj from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report on Monday, May 8th. TheStreet upgraded Nokia Oyj from a c+ rating to a b- rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 8th. DNB Markets lowered Nokia Oyj from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 17th. Finally, UBS Group lowered Nokia Oyj from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a report on Tuesday, January 31st.

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Hedge Funds Weigh In On Nokia Oyj

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV increased its position in Nokia Oyj by 96.9% during the first quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 503,242 shares of the technology companys stock worth $2,471,000 after buying an additional 247,642 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP grew its holdings in Nokia Oyj by 11.6% during the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 2,749,484 shares of the technology companys stock worth $13,500,000 after acquiring an additional 285,950 shares during the period. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. boosted its position in Nokia Oyj by 251.9% during the first quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 5,876,865 shares of the technology companys stock worth $28,855,000 after purchasing an additional 4,206,922 shares in the last quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. purchased a new stake in Nokia Oyj during the first quarter worth $105,000. Finally, AlphaQ Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Nokia Oyj during the first quarter worth $52,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 7.57% of the companys stock.

Nokia Oyj Stock Down 2.7 %

Shares of NOK opened at $3.95 on Friday. Nokia Oyj has a 12-month low of $3.95 and a 12-month high of $5.28. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $4.50 and a 200-day moving average price of $4.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.00, a P/E/G ratio of 5.34 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a current ratio of 1.55, a quick ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17.

Nokia Oyj (NYSE:NOK  Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 19th. The technology company reported $0.06 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of $0.09 by ($0.03). Nokia Oyj had a return on equity of 11.57% and a net margin of 16.78%. The business had revenue of $5.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $5.74 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.08 earnings per share. The firms revenue was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Nokia Oyj will post 0.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Nokia Oyj Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 9th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 25th were issued a dividend of $0.0329 per share. This represents a $0.13 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.33%. This is a boost from Nokia Oyjs previous quarterly dividend of $0.02. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 24th. Nokia Oyjs dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 10.13%.

Nokia Oyj Company Profile

(Get Rating)

Nokia Oyj engages in the provision of network infrastructure, technology, and software services. It operates through the following segments: Mobile Networks, Network Infrastructure, Cloud and Network Services, and Nokia Technologies. The Mobile Networks segment offers technologies for Radio Access Networks (RAN) as well as Microwave Radio Links (MWR) for transport networks.

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Blackrock Resources & Commodities Strategy Trust (NYSE:BCX  Get Rating) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in April. As of April 30th, there was short interest totalling 51,100 shares, an increase of 6.7% from the April 15th total of 47,900 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 228,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 0.2 days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Blackrock Resources & Commodities Strategy Trust

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of BCX. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Blackrock Resources & Commodities Strategy Trust by 2.3% during the first quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 97,469 shares of the investment management companys stock valued at $1,076,000 after acquiring an additional 2,198 shares during the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Blackrock Resources & Commodities Strategy Trust by 168.5% during the first quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 30,380 shares of the investment management companys stock valued at $338,000 after acquiring an additional 19,065 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC increased its position in shares of Blackrock Resources & Commodities Strategy Trust by 37.9% during the first quarter. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC now owns 17,686 shares of the investment management companys stock valued at $195,000 after acquiring an additional 4,865 shares during the last quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. increased its position in shares of Blackrock Resources & Commodities Strategy Trust by 7.9% during the first quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 20,972 shares of the investment management companys stock valued at $232,000 after acquiring an additional 1,530 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers increased its position in shares of Blackrock Resources & Commodities Strategy Trust by 113.8% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 30,576 shares of the investment management companys stock valued at $338,000 after acquiring an additional 16,274 shares during the last quarter.

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Blackrock Resources & Commodities Strategy Trust Price Performance

Blackrock Resources & Commodities Strategy Trust stock traded up $0.06 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $9.03. 132,992 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 255,878. Blackrock Resources & Commodities Strategy Trust has a fifty-two week low of $7.91 and a fifty-two week high of $11.24. The stocks 50-day simple moving average is $9.44 and its 200 day simple moving average is $9.77.

Blackrock Resources & Commodities Strategy Trust Increases Dividend

Blackrock Resources & Commodities Strategy Trust Company Profile

The company also recently disclosed a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 31st. Investors of record on Monday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $0.052 per share. This is a boost from Blackrock Resources & Commodities Strategy Trusts previous monthly dividend of $0.05. This represents a $0.62 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.91%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 12th.

(Get Rating)

BlackRock Resources & Commodities Strategy Trust is a closed-end investment fund/investment trust. Its primary investment objective is to seek high current income and current gains, with a secondary objective of capital appreciation. It invests all of its assets in equity securities issued by commodity or natural resources companies, derivatives with exposure to commodity or natural resources companies or investments in securities and derivatives linked to the underlying price movement of commodities or natural resources.

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Canadian Pacific Kansas City Limited (TSE:CP  Get Rating) (NYSE:CP)  Analysts at Zacks Research reduced their Q2 2023 EPS estimates for shares of Canadian Pacific Kansas City in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday, May 10th. Zacks Research analyst M. Basu now forecasts that the company will post earnings of $0.94 per share for the quarter, down from their previous forecast of $1.14. The consensus estimate for Canadian Pacific Kansas Citys current full-year earnings is $4.56 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Canadian Pacific Kansas Citys Q3 2023 earnings at $1.10 EPS, Q4 2023 earnings at $1.14 EPS, Q1 2024 earnings at $1.08 EPS, Q2 2024 earnings at $1.35 EPS, Q3 2024 earnings at $1.41 EPS, Q4 2024 earnings at $1.05 EPS and Q1 2025 earnings at $1.21 EPS.

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A number of other research analysts also recently commented on the stock. Raymond James upped their price objective on shares of Canadian Pacific Kansas City from C$105.00 to C$115.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 24th. National Bank Financial increased their target price on shares of Canadian Pacific Kansas City from C$106.00 to C$107.00 in a research report on Monday, April 17th. CIBC dropped their target price on shares of Canadian Pacific Kansas City from C$128.00 to C$125.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 1st. Scotiabank increased their target price on shares of Canadian Pacific Kansas City from C$116.00 to C$122.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 16th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets set a C$130.00 price target on Canadian Pacific Kansas City and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Tuesday, April 18th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of C$110.67.

Canadian Pacific Kansas City Trading Down 0.0 %

Canadian Pacific Kansas City Announces Dividend

Shares of CP stock opened at C$111.66 on Monday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of C$105.61 and a 200 day moving average price of C$105.02. Canadian Pacific Kansas City has a twelve month low of C$86.42 and a twelve month high of C$112.27. The company has a market capitalization of C$103.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.92, a PEG ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 49.11.

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 31st. Investors of record on Friday, June 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.19 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 29th. This represents a $0.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.68%. Canadian Pacific Kansas Citys dividend payout ratio is currently 19.00%.

Canadian Pacific Kansas City Company Profile

(Get Rating)

Canadian Pacific Railway Limited, together with its subsidiaries, owns and operates a transcontinental freight railway in Canada and the United States. The company transports bulk commodities, including grain, coal, potash, fertilizers, and sulphur; and merchandise freight, such as energy, chemicals and plastics, metals, minerals and consumer, automotive, and forest products.

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Capital Advisors Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Vanguard Information Technology ETF (NYSEARCA:VGT  Get Rating) by 1.9% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 38,654 shares of the exchange traded funds stock after purchasing an additional 713 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Information Technology ETF comprises 3.7% of Capital Advisors Wealth Management LLCs portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest holding. Capital Advisors Wealth Management LLCs holdings in Vanguard Information Technology ETF were worth $12,347,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Prudential Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in Vanguard Information Technology ETF by 581.5% in the 3rd quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 1,219,807 shares of the exchange traded funds stock valued at $381,861,000 after purchasing an additional 1,040,828 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Vanguard Information Technology ETF by 848.5% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 1,039,711 shares of the exchange traded funds stock worth $332,094,000 after acquiring an additional 930,095 shares during the period. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Vanguard Information Technology ETF during the 4th quarter worth approximately $62,872,000. Steel Peak Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Vanguard Information Technology ETF by 9,682.1% during the 4th quarter. Steel Peak Wealth Management LLC now owns 180,382 shares of the exchange traded funds stock worth $57,616,000 after acquiring an additional 178,538 shares during the period. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted its holdings in shares of Vanguard Information Technology ETF by 26.5% during the 3rd quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 787,091 shares of the exchange traded funds stock worth $241,929,000 after acquiring an additional 164,885 shares during the period.

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Vanguard Information Technology ETF Trading Up 0.0 %

NYSEARCA:VGT traded up $0.04 on Wednesday, hitting $388.58. The company had a trading volume of 41,223 shares, compared to its average volume of 593,960. The stock has a market capitalization of $47.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.70 and a beta of 1.16. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $375.73 and a two-hundred day moving average of $352.32. Vanguard Information Technology ETF has a 52 week low of $291.61 and a 52 week high of $391.60.

Vanguard Information Technology ETF Company Profile

Vanguard Information Technology ETF seeks to track the investment performance of the MSCI US Investable Market Information Technology 25/50 Index, a benchmark of large-, mid-, and small-cap United States stocks in the information technology sector, as classified under the Global Industry Classification Standard (GICS).

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DHAKA, May 17 (Xinhua) -- Armed separatists Tuesday ambushed a group of Bangladeshi soldiers in the country's hilly southeastern region, killing at least two personnel, the army said Wednesday.

Two others were injured in the attack in Bandarban district, some 316 km away from the capital Dhaka, said the Inter Service Public Relations (ISPR) under the defense ministry.

It said in a statement the Kuki-Chin National Army (KNA) terrorists detonated an improvised explosive device and opened fire on the military personnel who were patrolling the area.

The sudden blast and subsequent gunfire left two officers and two soldiers critically injured, it said, adding they were rushed to the hospital for urgent medical attention.

Two soldiers succumbed to their injuries during the treatment, said the ISPR statement.

The KNA is an ethnic separatist organization in Bangladesh based in the Chattogram Hill Tracts. 
Ovintiv Inc. (NYSE:OVV  Get Rating)  Stock analysts at Capital One Financial decreased their Q2 2023 earnings per share estimates for shares of Ovintiv in a research note issued on Wednesday, May 10th. Capital One Financial analyst P. Johnston now forecasts that the company will earn $1.57 per share for the quarter, down from their prior estimate of $1.86. The consensus estimate for Ovintivs current full-year earnings is $9.03 per share. Capital One Financial also issued estimates for Ovintivs Q3 2023 earnings at $1.92 EPS, Q4 2023 earnings at $1.83 EPS, FY2023 earnings at $7.13 EPS and FY2024 earnings at $6.80 EPS.

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OVV has been the topic of several other research reports. UBS Group started coverage on Ovintiv in a research report on Wednesday, April 19th. They set a buy rating and a $52.00 price objective on the stock. Citigroup cut Ovintiv from a buy rating to a neutral rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $55.00 to $38.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 23rd. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on Ovintiv from $60.00 to $42.00 and set an in-line rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 4th. National Bankshares decreased their price target on Ovintiv from $66.00 to $61.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 4th. Finally, TD Cowen decreased their price target on Ovintiv from $79.00 to $53.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 5th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the companys stock. According to MarketBeat, Ovintiv presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $60.79.

Ovintiv Stock Down 4.1 %

OVV stock opened at $32.08 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.61 and a quick ratio of 0.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 1.87, a PEG ratio of 0.14 and a beta of 2.78. The businesss fifty day moving average price is $36.23 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $45.11. Ovintiv has a fifty-two week low of $32.07 and a fifty-two week high of $63.30.

Ovintiv (NYSE:OVV  Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 27th. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of $1.75 by ($0.84). Ovintiv had a net margin of 29.18% and a return on equity of 28.85%. The business had revenue of $3.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.30 billion.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ovintiv

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in OVV. Raymond James & Associates raised its position in shares of Ovintiv by 35.3% during the first quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 57,458 shares of the companys stock worth $3,107,000 after acquiring an additional 14,978 shares during the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Ovintiv in the first quarter worth approximately $525,000. HighTower Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Ovintiv in the first quarter worth approximately $715,000. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC bought a new stake in Ovintiv in the first quarter worth approximately $224,000. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its holdings in Ovintiv by 45.7% in the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 15,605 shares of the companys stock worth $843,000 after purchasing an additional 4,895 shares in the last quarter. 76.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Howard John Mayson sold 3,000 shares of Ovintiv stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.62, for a total transaction of $136,860.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 21,403 shares of the companys stock, valued at $976,404.86. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.91% of the companys stock.

Ovintiv Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.74%. This is a positive change from Ovintivs previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 14th. Ovintivs dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.01%.

Ovintiv Company Profile

(Get Rating)

Ovintiv Inc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the exploration, development, production, and marketing of natural gas, oil, and natural gas liquids. It operates through USA Operations, Canadian Operations, and Market Optimization segments. The company's principal assets include Permian in west Texas and Anadarko in west-central Oklahoma; and Montney in northeast British Columbia and northwest Alberta.

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Capital Planning Advisors LLC decreased its stake in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM  Get Rating) by 3.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 6,700 shares of the companys stock after selling 215 shares during the quarter. Capital Planning Advisors LLCs holdings in Philip Morris International were worth $678,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in Philip Morris International by 22.7% in the 3rd quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 35,468,228 shares of the companys stock valued at $2,944,500,000 after purchasing an additional 6,558,762 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Philip Morris International by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 132,480,611 shares of the companys stock valued at $10,997,216,000 after purchasing an additional 1,451,582 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its position in Philip Morris International by 122.0% in the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 2,632,467 shares of the companys stock valued at $247,294,000 after purchasing an additional 1,446,567 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP raised its position in Philip Morris International by 646.7% in the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 1,174,660 shares of the companys stock valued at $97,509,000 after purchasing an additional 1,017,353 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BlackRock Inc. raised its position in Philip Morris International by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 100,951,462 shares of the companys stock valued at $8,379,979,000 after purchasing an additional 962,801 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.85% of the companys stock.

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Philip Morris International Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of Philip Morris International stock traded down $0.06 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $93.80. 1,415,399 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,290,566. Philip Morris International Inc. has a twelve month low of $82.85 and a twelve month high of $109.81. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $96.90 and a 200-day moving average price of $98.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $145.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.79, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.68.

Philip Morris International Dividend Announcement

Philip Morris International ( NYSE:PM Get Rating ) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 20th. The company reported $1.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.04. Philip Morris International had a negative return on equity of 128.55% and a net margin of 10.80%. The firm had revenue of $8.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $8.03 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.56 earnings per share. The companys revenue was up 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Philip Morris International Inc. will post 6.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 23rd were paid a $1.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 22nd. This represents a $5.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.42%. Philip Morris Internationals payout ratio is 90.88%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Stifel Nicolaus assumed coverage on Philip Morris International in a research report on Thursday, April 13th. They issued a buy rating and a $114.00 price objective for the company. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Philip Morris International from a hold rating to a buy rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $86.00 to $118.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 19th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Philip Morris International from $109.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Thursday, February 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Philip Morris International from a neutral rating to a buy rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $95.00 to $120.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 25th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded Philip Morris International from a neutral rating to a buy rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $106.00 to $116.00 in a research report on Wednesday, March 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Philip Morris International presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $110.60.

Insider Buying and Selling at Philip Morris International

In other Philip Morris International news, Chairman Andre Calantzopoulos sold 80,000 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.35, for a total value of $8,028,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 1,007,048 shares of the companys stock, valued at $101,057,266.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Werner Barth sold 8,000 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.35, for a total transaction of $786,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 87,321 shares of the companys stock, valued at $8,588,020.35. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Chairman Andre Calantzopoulos sold 80,000 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.35, for a total value of $8,028,000.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 1,007,048 shares of the companys stock, valued at $101,057,266.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 108,308 shares of company stock valued at $10,851,692. Company insiders own 0.15% of the companys stock.

Philip Morris International Company Profile

(Get Rating)

Philip Morris International, Inc is a holding company engaged in the manufacturing and sale of cigarettes, tobacco, and nicotine-containing products. Its products include cigarettes and reduced-risk products, including heat-not-burn, vapor, and oral nicotine products. The firm operates through the following geographical segments: European Union, Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa, South and Southeast Asia, East Asia and Australia, and Americas.

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Chemed Co. (NYSE:CHE  Get Rating) declared a quarterly dividend on Monday, May 15th, Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 25th will be paid a dividend of 0.38 per share on Wednesday, June 14th. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 24th.

Chemed has raised its dividend payment by an average of 6.1% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 14 years. Chemed has a dividend payout ratio of 6.7% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Chemed to earn $22.65 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.52 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 6.7%.

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Chemed Price Performance

CHE opened at $544.03 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $540.82 and a 200 day simple moving average of $518.17. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. The stock has a market cap of $8.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.24, a P/E/G ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 0.54. Chemed has a 12 month low of $430.16 and a 12 month high of $570.17.

Insider Transactions at Chemed

Chemed ( NYSE:CHE Get Rating ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 24th. The company reported $5.39 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $5.30 by $0.09. Chemed had a return on equity of 37.83% and a net margin of 11.07%. The company had revenue of $546.65 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $546.60 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $5.25 earnings per share. Chemeds revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Chemed will post 20.57 EPS for the current year.

In related news, CEO Kevin J. Mcnamara sold 2,000 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $507.32, for a total value of $1,014,640.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 121,613 shares of the companys stock, valued at $61,696,707.16. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Kevin J. Mcnamara sold 4,000 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $549.34, for a total transaction of $2,197,360.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 119,571 shares in the company, valued at $65,685,133.14. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Kevin J. Mcnamara sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $507.32, for a total value of $1,014,640.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 121,613 shares of the companys stock, valued at $61,696,707.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 13,000 shares of company stock valued at $6,883,810 over the last 90 days. 3.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Chemed

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in CHE. Mackenzie Financial Corp acquired a new position in Chemed during the first quarter worth $223,000. Cetera Investment Advisers acquired a new position in shares of Chemed during the 1st quarter worth about $212,000. Point72 Middle East FZE bought a new stake in shares of Chemed in the 4th quarter valued at about $199,000. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd lifted its stake in Chemed by 405.0% in the 1st quarter. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd now owns 303 shares of the companys stock valued at $153,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Covestor Ltd grew its holdings in Chemed by 90.4% during the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 259 shares of the companys stock worth $131,000 after purchasing an additional 123 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 91.12% of the companys stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CHE has been the topic of a number of research reports. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Chemed in a research note on Thursday, March 16th. They issued a buy rating on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Chemed from $587.00 to $610.00 in a research note on Monday, May 1st. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their target price on Chemed from $580.00 to $610.00 in a report on Friday, April 28th.

About Chemed

(Get Rating)

Chemed Corp. engages in the provision of healthcare and maintenance services. It operates through the VITAS and Roto-Rooter segments. The VITAS segment offers hospice and palliative care services to patients through a network of physicians, registered nurses, home health aides, social workers, clergy, and volunteers.

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Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of iShares S&P 500 Growth ETF (NYSEARCA:IVW  Get Rating) by 24.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 10,700 shares of the companys stock after selling 3,533 shares during the period. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLCs holdings in iShares S&P 500 Growth ETF were worth $679,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Lansing Street Advisors purchased a new position in iShares S&P 500 Growth ETF during the third quarter valued at $25,000. Westside Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of iShares S&P 500 Growth ETF in the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in iShares S&P 500 Growth ETF in the 3rd quarter worth about $32,000. Rain Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in iShares S&P 500 Growth ETF during the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in iShares S&P 500 Growth ETF during the 4th quarter valued at about $49,000.

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iShares S&P 500 Growth ETF Stock Performance

Shares of NYSEARCA IVW opened at $64.71 on Wednesday. The firms 50 day moving average price is $63.30 and its 200-day moving average price is $61.60. The company has a market cap of $30.56 billion, a PE ratio of 22.15 and a beta of 1.05. iShares S&P 500 Growth ETF has a 52-week low of $55.30 and a 52-week high of $71.81.

About iShares S&P 500 Growth ETF

iShares S&P 500 Growth ETF, formerly iShares S&P 500 Growth Index Fund (the Growth Fund), is an exchange-traded fund. The Fund seeks investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield performance of the S&P 500/Citigroup Growth Index (the Growth Index). The Growth Index measures the performance of the large-capitalization growth sector of the United States equity market.

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Dynatrace (NYSE:DT  Get Rating) issued an update on its FY24 earnings guidance on Wednesday morning. The company provided earnings per share (EPS) guidance of $0.98-1.02 for the period, compared to the consensus estimate of $0.99. The company issued revenue guidance of $1.39-1.41 billion, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $1.36 billion. Dynatrace also updated its Q1 guidance to $0.22 EPS.

Dynatrace Stock Performance

DT stock opened at $46.81 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $13.53 billion, a PE ratio of 468.10, a PEG ratio of 4.99 and a beta of 1.11. The firms 50 day moving average price is $41.73 and its 200-day moving average price is $39.92. Dynatrace has a one year low of $31.54 and a one year high of $48.00.

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Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on DT. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their target price on shares of Dynatrace from $46.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Thursday, February 2nd. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their target price on shares of Dynatrace from $47.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Thursday, February 2nd. Credit Suisse Group boosted their price target on shares of Dynatrace from $38.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Thursday, February 2nd. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Dynatrace from $40.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Thursday, February 2nd. Finally, Loop Capital boosted their price target on shares of Dynatrace from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a research note on Thursday, February 2nd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Dynatrace currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $47.00.

Insider Activity at Dynatrace

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

In other Dynatrace news, CAO Alicia Allen sold 2,039 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.49, for a total transaction of $88,676.11. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 85,242 shares of the companys stock, valued at $3,707,174.58. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website . In other news, CAO Alicia Allen sold 2,039 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.49, for a total value of $88,676.11. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 85,242 shares of the companys stock, valued at $3,707,174.58. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink . Also, SVP Bernd Greifeneder sold 4,972 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.49, for a total transaction of $216,232.28. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 932,617 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $40,559,513.33. The disclosure for this sale can be found here . Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 15,614 shares of company stock valued at $679,053. Company insiders own 0.51% of the companys stock.

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. BlackRock Inc. grew its holdings in Dynatrace by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 23,086,920 shares of the companys stock worth $976,577,000 after acquiring an additional 467,760 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Dynatrace by 3.8% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 19,402,842 shares of the companys stock valued at $675,413,000 after purchasing an additional 702,695 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in Dynatrace by 2,277.3% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 6,934,130 shares of the companys stock valued at $293,315,000 after purchasing an additional 6,642,452 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its position in Dynatrace by 9.2% in the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,790,590 shares of the companys stock worth $287,242,000 after buying an additional 570,135 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in Dynatrace by 41.8% in the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,306,979 shares of the companys stock worth $155,757,000 after buying an additional 974,376 shares during the period. 97.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Dynatrace

(Get Rating)

Dynatrace, Inc engages in the development of a software intelligence platform, purpose-built for the enterprise cloud. The firms platform utilizes artificial intelligence at its core and advanced automation to provide answers, not just data, about the performance of applications, the underlying hybrid cloud infrastructure, and the experience of the customers users.

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Experian plc (LON:EXPN  Get Rating) announced a dividend on Wednesday, May 17th, Upcoming.Co.Uk reports. Investors of record on Thursday, June 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.38 per share on Friday, July 21st. This represents a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 22nd. This is a boost from Experians previous dividend of $0.17. The official announcement can be seen at this link.

Experian Price Performance

Shares of Experian stock traded down GBX 39 ($0.49) on Wednesday, hitting GBX 2,701 ($33.83). The companys stock had a trading volume of 1,193,172 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,526,790. Experian has a 52-week low of GBX 2,242 ($28.08) and a 52-week high of GBX 3,160 ($39.58). The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 110.07. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of GBX 2,706.06 and a 200-day moving average price of GBX 2,827.34. The company has a market capitalization of 24.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 3,182.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.50.

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Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada restated an underperform rating and issued a GBX 2,500 ($31.32) target price on shares of Experian in a report on Wednesday, January 18th. Citigroup restated a neutral rating on shares of Experian in a report on Monday, March 13th. Credit Suisse Group lowered shares of Experian to a neutral rating and reduced their target price for the company from GBX 3,250 ($40.71) to GBX 2,900 ($36.33) in a report on Wednesday, January 25th. Finally, Shore Capital restated a buy rating on shares of Experian in a report on Tuesday, January 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the companys stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of GBX 2,996.17 ($37.53).

About Experian

Experian plc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a technology company. The company operates through two segments, Business-to-Business and Consumer Services. It provides data services to identify and understand the customers, as well as to manage the risks related with lending. The company also offers analytical and decision tools that enhance businesses to manage their customers, minimize the risk of fraud, comply with legal requirements, and automate decisions and processes.

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Game Plan Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT  Get Rating) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 1,934 shares of the healthcare product makers stock, valued at approximately $212,000.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 154,563,421 shares of the healthcare product makers stock valued at $14,955,557,000 after buying an additional 2,011,683 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 74,138,862 shares of the healthcare product makers stock valued at $7,173,676,000 after buying an additional 351,136 shares during the period. Polen Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Polen Capital Management LLC now owns 15,689,512 shares of the healthcare product makers stock valued at $1,518,117,000 after buying an additional 316,416 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.9% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 11,523,473 shares of the healthcare product makers stock valued at $1,363,917,000 after buying an additional 218,683 shares during the period. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 8.6% in the 3rd quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 10,226,688 shares of the healthcare product makers stock valued at $989,536,000 after buying an additional 813,894 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.93% of the companys stock.

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Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Julie L. Tyler sold 260 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.24, for a total value of $26,842.40. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 40,896 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $4,222,103.04. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, Director Daniel J. Starks sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.02, for a total value of $5,551,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,825,316 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $757,746,582.32. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Julie L. Tyler sold 260 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.24, for a total transaction of $26,842.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 40,896 shares in the company, valued at $4,222,103.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 60,197 shares of company stock worth $6,659,607. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

Shares of ABT opened at $109.76 on Wednesday. Abbott Laboratories has a twelve month low of $93.25 and a twelve month high of $118.23. The firms fifty day simple moving average is $104.46 and its 200-day simple moving average is $106.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $190.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.25, a PEG ratio of 4.95 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a current ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT  Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 19th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $0.98 by $0.05. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 13.98% and a return on equity of 22.36%. The business had revenue of $9.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.64 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.73 EPS. The companys revenue was down 18.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 14th were issued a $0.51 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 13th. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.86%. Abbott Laboratoriess payout ratio is 62.01%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ABT has been the subject of several analyst reports. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $125.00 to $127.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Thursday, April 20th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $136.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $118.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Thursday, April 20th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $110.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Thursday, January 26th. Finally, Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $125.00 to $115.00 in a report on Thursday, March 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Abbott Laboratories presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $122.37.

Abbott Laboratories Profile

(Get Rating)

Abbott Laboratories engages in the discovery, development, manufacture, and sale of a broad and diversified line of health care products. It operates through the following business segments: Established Pharmaceutical Products, Diagnostic Products, Nutritional Products, and Medical Devices. The Established Pharmaceutical Products segment refers to the international sales of a line of branded generic pharmaceutical products.

Further Reading

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Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste, S. A. B. de C. V. (NYSE:ASR  Get Rating) was the recipient of a large drop in short interest in April. As of April 30th, there was short interest totalling 117,000 shares, a drop of 10.6% from the April 15th total of 130,800 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 67,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.7 days. Approximately 0.4% of the companys stock are short sold.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste, S. A. B. de C. V. from $215.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Friday, March 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste, S. A. B. de C. V. from an overweight rating to a neutral rating in a research note on Thursday, March 30th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste, S. A. B. de C. V. from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Monday, April 24th.

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Institutional Investors Weigh In On Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste, S. A. B. de C. V.

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ASR. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. acquired a new position in Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste, S. A. B. de C. V. in the 1st quarter valued at $26,000. Atlas Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste, S. A. B. de C. V. by 55.7% during the 3rd quarter. Atlas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 151 shares of the transportation companys stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the period. Wipfli Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste, S. A. B. de C. V. during the 3rd quarter valued at $39,000. New York State Common Retirement Fund purchased a new stake in shares of Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste, S. A. B. de C. V. during the 4th quarter valued at $40,000. Finally, Assetmark Inc. grew its stake in shares of Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste, S. A. B. de C. V. by 1,915.8% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 383 shares of the transportation companys stock valued at $75,000 after buying an additional 364 shares during the period. 15.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste, S. A. B. de C. V. Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste, S. A. B. de C. V. stock traded up $1.00 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $293.09. 29,542 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 64,242. Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste, S. A. B. de C. V. has a 1 year low of $179.01 and a 1 year high of $314.48. The stocks fifty day moving average is $293.72 and its 200 day moving average is $270.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 3.24 and a current ratio of 3.25. The firm has a market cap of $8.79 billion, a PE ratio of 16.60, a PEG ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 1.08.

Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste, S. A. B. de C. V. (NYSE:ASR  Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 23rd. The transportation company reported $4.34 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of $4.69 by ($0.35). Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste, S. A. B. de C. V. had a net margin of 39.70% and a return on equity of 22.41%. The business had revenue of $369.64 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $364.55 million. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste, S. A. B. de C. V. will post 20.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste, S. A. B. de C. V. Company Profile

(Get Rating)

Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste SA de CV is a holding company, which engages in the operation, maintenance, and development of airports It operates through the following segments: Cancun, Aerostar, Airplan, Villahermosa, Merida, Holding and Services, and Other. The company was founded in 1996 and is headquartered in Mexico City, Mexico.

Further Reading

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GXO Logistics, Inc. (NYSE:GXO  Get Rating) was the target of a large growth in short interest during the month of April. As of April 30th, there was short interest totalling 5,920,000 shares, a growth of 5.9% from the April 15th total of 5,590,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 761,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 7.8 days. Currently, 5.1% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Barclays upped their price objective on GXO Logistics from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 15th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on GXO Logistics from $70.00 to $67.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 16th. Susquehanna lifted their price objective on shares of GXO Logistics from $61.00 to $63.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 11th. BNP Paribas downgraded shares of GXO Logistics from a neutral rating to an underperform rating and set a $40.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Thursday, February 2nd. Finally, Credit Suisse Group raised their target price on shares of GXO Logistics from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Friday, April 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, GXO Logistics currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $60.94.

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Institutional Investors Weigh In On GXO Logistics

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Citigroup Inc. grew its holdings in shares of GXO Logistics by 25.6% during the 1st quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 16,948 shares of the companys stock valued at $1,208,000 after purchasing an additional 3,457 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its holdings in shares of GXO Logistics by 175.7% during the 1st quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 24,502 shares of the companys stock valued at $1,843,000 after acquiring an additional 15,615 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS boosted its holdings in shares of GXO Logistics by 10.5% during the 1st quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 36,133 shares of the companys stock valued at $2,578,000 after acquiring an additional 3,445 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. grew its position in GXO Logistics by 44.8% during the 1st quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 5,979 shares of the companys stock worth $427,000 after acquiring an additional 1,849 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lord Abbett & CO. LLC increased its holdings in GXO Logistics by 2.5% in the 1st quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 169,181 shares of the companys stock worth $12,069,000 after purchasing an additional 4,084 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.47% of the companys stock.

GXO Logistics Stock Up 0.6 %

NYSE GXO opened at $57.53 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. The company has a market cap of $6.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.64, a PEG ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 1.69. The company has a 50 day moving average of $50.31 and a 200-day moving average of $47.92. GXO Logistics has a 1-year low of $32.10 and a 1-year high of $57.91.

GXO Logistics (NYSE:GXO  Get Rating) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 9th. The company reported $0.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $0.43 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $2.32 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.30 billion. GXO Logistics had a return on equity of 12.35% and a net margin of 2.00%. The companys revenue was up 11.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.59 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that GXO Logistics will post 2.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

GXO Logistics Company Profile

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GXO Logistics, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides logistics services worldwide. The company provides warehousing and distribution, order fulfilment, e-commerce, and other supply chain services, as well as reverse logistics or returns management services. As of December 31, 2021, it operated in approximately 906 facilities.

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Impact Healthcare REIT PLC (LON:IHR  Get Rating) shares traded up 0.4% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as GBX 102.60 ($1.29) and last traded at GBX 101.80 ($1.28). 329,679 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 30% from the average session volume of 469,480 shares. The stock had previously closed at GBX 101.40 ($1.27).

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Royal Bank of Canada restated an outperform rating and set a GBX 120 ($1.50) target price on shares of Impact Healthcare REIT in a research report on Thursday, April 13th.

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Impact Healthcare REIT Trading Up 0.4 %

The businesss 50-day moving average price is GBX 96.10 and its two-hundred day moving average price is GBX 100.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 30.77, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 2.37. The firm has a market cap of 421.83 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 2,545.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 0.34.

Impact Healthcare REIT Increases Dividend

Insider Activity

The company also recently disclosed a dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 19th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 4th will be given a GBX 1.69 ($0.02) dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 1.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 4th. This is a positive change from Impact Healthcare REITs previous dividend of $1.64. Impact Healthcare REITs payout ratio is currently 17,500.00%.

In other news, insider Simon T. Laffin acquired 100,000 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 28th. The stock was acquired at an average price of GBX 92 ($1.15) per share, with a total value of 92,000 ($115,244.90). Company insiders own 5.14% of the companys stock.

About Impact Healthcare REIT

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Impact Healthcare REIT Plc is a real estate investment trust externally managed by Carne Global AIFM Solutions. The firm invests in the real estate markets of United Kingdom. It primarily acquires, owns, leases, renovates, extends and redevelops high quality healthcare real estate assets. Impact Healthcare REIT Plc was formed on 7 November 2016 and is based in London, United Kingdom.

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BEIJING, May 17 (Xinhua) -- Outdoor workers and power grid maintenance personnel from several places in northern China have scrambled to cope with high temperatures amid heat alerts across the region.

From Monday to Tuesday, many cities in northern China, including Beijing, experienced their first heatwave of this year, and in some parts an orange alert for high temperatures was issued.

According to the National Meteorological Center, at least 10 of the 2,418 national meteorological observation stations in China recorded temperatures above 37 degrees Celsius at 4 p.m. on Monday.

Recently, heatwaves have hit several regions in the country. Data showed that temperatures in most parts of the country in mid-April were higher than in the same period in history, with temperatures in parts of the southwestern Yunnan Province, which is known for its balmy weather, even approaching or reaching 40 degrees Celsius.

Since last weekend, temperatures have been rising rapidly across the northern part of the country, with temperatures in some areas soaring to more than 35 degrees Celsius.

As the heat hits, so outdoor workers are having to enhance their personal protection.

On the outer walls of an apartment building that is about to be delivered in Zhengzhou, central China's Henan Province, several cleaners were sweating as they worked high above the ground.

"Compared to previous years, the weather got hot very suddenly this year, we need to prevent heatstroke and cool down," said Guo Yongxu, head of the Henan Yiyun Cleaning Service Co., Ltd., adding that when the outdoor temperature is above 30 degrees Celsius, the glass curtain walls of the building can reach 50 degrees Celsius.

To cope with the high temperatures, the company has prepared medication and cool mineral water, adjusted work shift hours, reduced working time for the workers, and asked them to avoid working during the high temperature period at noon, according to Guo.

In order to ensure the safe and stable operation of the power grid in high temperatures, the State Grid Gaobeidian Power Supply Company in Hebei Province increased the frequency of inspection of the power grid.

Furthermore, intelligent equipment such as drones, infrared thermometers and cable fault detectors have also been used to ensure the normal operation of the electricity equipment.

Gao Hui, chief forecaster of the National Climate Center, suggested that attention should be paid to prevent the adverse effects of high temperatures on people's health, and relevant departments should make preparations in advance to ensure energy supply during the peak of summer. 
Shares of iShares MSCI India ETF (BATS:INDA  Get Rating) reached a new 52-week high on Monday . The company traded as high as $41.69 and last traded at $41.66, with a volume of 2834186 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $41.32.

iShares MSCI India ETF Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $4.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.86 and a beta of 0.68. The firms fifty day moving average is $39.92 and its 200-day moving average is $41.17.

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Institutional Investors Weigh In On iShares MSCI India ETF

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in INDA. Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its holdings in iShares MSCI India ETF by 4.1% during the second quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 6,212 shares of the companys stock worth $245,000 after buying an additional 246 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of iShares MSCI India ETF by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 17,333 shares of the companys stock worth $723,000 after acquiring an additional 248 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of iShares MSCI India ETF by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 48,162 shares of the companys stock worth $1,964,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. Oxler Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of iShares MSCI India ETF during the third quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Creative Planning lifted its holdings in shares of iShares MSCI India ETF by 1.0% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 29,178 shares of the companys stock valued at $1,190,000 after purchasing an additional 282 shares during the last quarter.

iShares MSCI India ETF Company Profile

The iShares MSCI India ETF (INDA) is an exchange-traded fund that is based on the MSCI India index, a market-cap-weighted index of the top 85% of firms in the Indian securities market. INDA was launched on Feb 2, 2012 and is managed by BlackRock.

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John Hancock Premium Dividend Fund (NYSE:PDT  Get Rating)s stock price reached a new 52-week low during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $11.15 and last traded at $11.19, with a volume of 20934 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $11.21.

John Hancock Premium Dividend Fund Stock Performance

The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $12.33 and a 200 day moving average price of $13.02.

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John Hancock Premium Dividend Fund Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 31st. Investors of record on Thursday, May 11th will be paid a $0.0975 dividend. This represents a $1.17 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 10.47%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 10th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

John Hancock Premium Dividend Fund Company Profile

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of PDT. Captrust Financial Advisors purchased a new position in John Hancock Premium Dividend Fund in the 2nd quarter valued at about $84,000. Elequin Securities LLC purchased a new position in John Hancock Premium Dividend Fund in the 4th quarter worth approximately $140,000. New England Private Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in John Hancock Premium Dividend Fund in the 1st quarter worth approximately $141,000. Wolverine Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in John Hancock Premium Dividend Fund in the 4th quarter worth approximately $144,000. Finally, Money Concepts Capital Corp purchased a new position in John Hancock Premium Dividend Fund in the 4th quarter worth approximately $146,000. 5.89% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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John Hancock Premium Dividend Fund is a closed ended equity mutual fund launched and managed by John Hancock Investment Management LLC. It is co-managed by John Hancock Asset Management. The fund invests in the public equity markets of the United States. It seeks to invest in stocks of companies operating across diversified sectors, with an emphasis on the utilities sector.

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Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE: LH) has recently received a number of price target changes and ratings updates:

5/16/2023  Laboratory Co. of America had its price target lowered by analysts at Mizuho from $277.00 to $257.00.

5/12/2023  Laboratory Co. of America was upgraded by analysts at StockNews.com from a hold rating to a buy rating.

5/3/2023  Laboratory Co. of America was upgraded by analysts at StockNews.com from a hold rating to a buy rating.

5/1/2023  Laboratory Co. of America had its price target lowered by analysts at Truist Financial Co. from $285.00 to $275.00.

4/26/2023  Laboratory Co. of America had its price target lowered by analysts at Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft from $265.00 to $240.00.

4/26/2023  Laboratory Co. of America had its price target lowered by analysts at Citigroup Inc. from $260.00 to $235.00.

4/20/2023  Laboratory Co. of America was downgraded by analysts at StockNews.com from a buy rating to a hold rating.

4/12/2023  Laboratory Co. of America was upgraded by analysts at StockNews.com from a hold rating to a buy rating.

Laboratory Co. of America Price Performance

Shares of LH stock remained flat at $217.59 during midday trading on Wednesday. The companys stock had a trading volume of 228,653 shares, compared to its average volume of 595,626. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $225.06 and a 200 day simple moving average of $235.29. Laboratory Co. of America Holdings has a one year low of $200.32 and a one year high of $263.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.28 billion, a PE ratio of 19.75 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 1.46 and a current ratio of 1.63.

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Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH  Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 25th. The medical research company reported $3.82 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of $3.99 by ($0.17). Laboratory Co. of America had a return on equity of 15.56% and a net margin of 6.78%. The company had revenue of $3.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.70 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $6.11 earnings per share. The businesss revenue was down 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Laboratory Co. of America Holdings will post 16.83 EPS for the current year.

Laboratory Co. of America Announces Dividend

Insider Activity

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 8th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 18th will be issued a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 17th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.32%. Laboratory Co. of Americas payout ratio is currently 26.13%.

In other Laboratory Co. of America news, EVP Mark S. Schroeder sold 3,897 shares of the firms stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $225.81, for a total transaction of $879,981.57. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,687 shares in the company, valued at $1,509,991.47. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, EVP Mark S. Schroeder sold 3,897 shares of Laboratory Co. of America stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $225.81, for a total value of $879,981.57. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 6,687 shares in the company, valued at $1,509,991.47. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Paul R. Kirchgraber sold 8,000 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.58, for a total transaction of $2,004,640.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 9,069 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $2,272,510.02. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.65% of the companys stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Laboratory Co. of America

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. WealthPLAN Partners LLC bought a new stake in Laboratory Co. of America during the 1st quarter worth about $25,000. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Laboratory Co. of America during the 2nd quarter worth about $29,000. Zions Bancorporation N.A. raised its holdings in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 45.6% in the 4th quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 131 shares of the medical research companys stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the period. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA bought a new stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America in the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, WFA of San Diego LLC bought a new stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America in the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.70% of the companys stock.

Laboratory Corp. of America Holdings operates as a life sciences company, which engages in the provision of vital information to help health professionals make clear and confident decisions. It operates through the Drug Development and Diagnostics segments. The Drug Development segment consists of lead optimization, preclinical safety assessment, analytical services, clinical trials, central laboratories, biomarkers, and companion diagnostics, market access, and technology solutions.

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Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. decreased its holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA  Get Rating) by 35.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 212,749 shares of the credit services providers stock after selling 117,689 shares during the quarter. Mastercard accounts for about 1.1% of Jupiter Asset Management Ltd.s holdings, making the stock its 12th biggest holding. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd.s holdings in Mastercard were worth $73,981,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Bornite Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in Mastercard during the first quarter worth approximately $21,442,000. United Bank increased its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 34.5% in the 1st quarter. United Bank now owns 6,007 shares of the credit services providers stock valued at $2,147,000 after acquiring an additional 1,541 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its stake in Mastercard by 30.1% in the 1st quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 272,358 shares of the credit services providers stock valued at $97,335,000 after buying an additional 63,040 shares during the period. First Western Trust Bank acquired a new position in Mastercard in the 1st quarter valued at $1,168,000. Finally, Bridgewater Associates LP acquired a new position in Mastercard in the 1st quarter valued at $12,926,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.51% of the companys stock.

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Mastercard Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of Mastercard stock traded up $2.62 on Wednesday, hitting $382.86. 1,005,158 shares of the companys stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,694,241. The company has a quick ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.84. The stock has a market cap of $362.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.11, a PEG ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.11. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52-week low of $276.87 and a 52-week high of $390.00. The firms 50-day moving average is $366.09 and its 200 day moving average is $358.95.

Insider Activity at Mastercard

Mastercard ( NYSE:MA Get Rating ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 27th. The credit services provider reported $2.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.71 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $5.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.64 billion. Mastercard had a return on equity of 169.12% and a net margin of 42.33%. The businesss revenue was up 11.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.76 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 12.27 earnings per share for the current year.

In other Mastercard news, insider Timothy H. Murphy sold 27,417 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $374.49, for a total value of $10,267,392.33. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 39,263 shares of the companys stock, valued at $14,703,600.87. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, insider Timothy H. Murphy sold 27,417 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $374.49, for a total transaction of $10,267,392.33. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 39,263 shares of the companys stock, valued at $14,703,600.87. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 125,816 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Monday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $386.28, for a total value of $48,600,204.48. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 100,437,277 shares in the company, valued at $38,796,911,359.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 550,299 shares of company stock valued at $210,103,579. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the companys stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have commented on MA shares. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $414.00 to $442.00 in a research report on Friday, April 28th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $400.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Friday, January 20th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $438.00 to $440.00 in a research report on Friday, April 28th. Tigress Financial boosted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $472.00 to $476.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 4th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $435.00 to $440.00 in a research note on Friday, April 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and twenty have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $418.85.

About Mastercard

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Mastercard, Inc is a technology company, which engages in the payments industry that connects consumers, financial institutions, merchants, governments, and business. It offers payment solutions for the development and implementation of credit, debit, prepaid, commercial, and payment programs. The company was founded in November 1966 and is headquartered in Purchase, NY.

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Moors & Cabot Inc. lessened its stake in The Toronto-Dominion Bank (NYSE:TD  Get Rating) (TSE:TD) by 0.7% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 28,939 shares of the banks stock after selling 192 shares during the quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc.s holdings in Toronto-Dominion Bank were worth $1,874,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. National Bank of Canada FI increased its holdings in Toronto-Dominion Bank by 406.1% in the 4th quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 26,796,674 shares of the banks stock worth $1,734,653,000 after buying an additional 21,501,478 shares in the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its holdings in Toronto-Dominion Bank by 59.6% in the 3rd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 9,357,770 shares of the banks stock worth $576,973,000 after buying an additional 3,493,369 shares in the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank increased its holdings in Toronto-Dominion Bank by 45.0% in the 3rd quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 11,007,320 shares of the banks stock worth $675,016,000 after buying an additional 3,417,464 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Toronto-Dominion Bank by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 67,240,327 shares of the banks stock worth $4,123,850,000 after buying an additional 2,238,912 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Nova Scotia increased its holdings in Toronto-Dominion Bank by 5.6% in the 4th quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 30,819,858 shares of the banks stock worth $1,995,552,000 after buying an additional 1,633,502 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 49.22% of the companys stock.

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Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on TD shares. Scotiabank upgraded Toronto-Dominion Bank from a sector perform rating to a sector outperform rating in a report on Friday, March 3rd. CIBC upgraded Toronto-Dominion Bank from a neutral rating to a sector outperform rating in a report on Monday, April 17th. Barclays downgraded Toronto-Dominion Bank from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 9th. StockNews.com upgraded Toronto-Dominion Bank from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note on Friday, May 12th. Finally, Desjardins boosted their price target on Toronto-Dominion Bank from C$105.00 to C$106.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 7th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $100.57.

Toronto-Dominion Bank Stock Up 0.4 %

NYSE TD opened at $60.71 on Wednesday. The stocks 50 day moving average is $59.91 and its 200 day moving average is $64.12. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The Toronto-Dominion Bank has a 12 month low of $55.43 and a 12 month high of $77.15. The stock has a market cap of $111.14 billion, a PE ratio of 9.55, a P/E/G ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 0.88.

Toronto-Dominion Bank (NYSE:TD  Get Rating) (TSE:TD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 2nd. The bank reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $1.61 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $9.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $8.97 billion. Toronto-Dominion Bank had a return on equity of 16.02% and a net margin of 18.23%. Research analysts predict that The Toronto-Dominion Bank will post 6.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Toronto-Dominion Bank Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 6th were issued a dividend of $0.721 per share. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.75%. This is a boost from Toronto-Dominion Banks previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 5th. Toronto-Dominion Banks dividend payout ratio is 44.87%.

Toronto-Dominion Bank Company Profile

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The Toronto-Dominion Bank engages in the provision of financial products and services. It operates through the following segments: Canadian Retail, U.S. Retail, and Wholesale Banking. The Canadian Retail segment offers various financial products and services, as well as telephone, Internet, and mobile banking services.

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Want to see what other hedge funds are holding TD? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for The Toronto-Dominion Bank (NYSE:TD  Get Rating) (TSE:TD).

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PagSeguro Digital Ltd. (NYSE:PAGS  Get Rating) has been assigned an average recommendation of Hold from the thirteen analysts that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have issued a hold recommendation and five have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $12.77.

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on PAGS. Credit Suisse Group lowered shares of PagSeguro Digital from an outperform rating to a neutral rating and set a $11.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, January 17th. Barclays initiated coverage on shares of PagSeguro Digital in a research note on Thursday, May 11th. They set an overweight rating and a $16.00 price target on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on shares of PagSeguro Digital from $9.00 to $8.00 and set a sell rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 20th. Citigroup upgraded shares of PagSeguro Digital from a neutral rating to a buy rating and set a $12.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of PagSeguro Digital from $9.50 to $10.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research note on Friday, March 3rd.

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Institutional Trading of PagSeguro Digital

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in PAGS. Nuveen Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of PagSeguro Digital by 41.3% in the third quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 9,118,704 shares of the companys stock valued at $120,640,000 after purchasing an additional 2,667,094 shares during the period. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in shares of PagSeguro Digital in the third quarter valued at about $236,000. Bayesian Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of PagSeguro Digital in the third quarter valued at about $644,000. Quantbot Technologies LP lifted its stake in shares of PagSeguro Digital by 16.0% in the third quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 17,668 shares of the companys stock valued at $233,000 after purchasing an additional 2,441 shares during the period. Finally, INCA Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of PagSeguro Digital in the third quarter valued at about $2,888,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 52.50% of the companys stock.

PagSeguro Digital Trading Down 3.2 %

Shares of PAGS opened at $12.11 on Wednesday. PagSeguro Digital has a twelve month low of $7.51 and a twelve month high of $19.49. The firms fifty day simple moving average is $9.12 and its 200-day simple moving average is $9.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.76, a PEG ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.61.

PagSeguro Digital (NYSE:PAGS  Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 2nd. The company reported $0.24 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $0.22 by $0.02. PagSeguro Digital had a net margin of 9.81% and a return on equity of 17.41%. The business had revenue of $752.91 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $759.47 million. On average, analysts predict that PagSeguro Digital will post 0.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About PagSeguro Digital

(Get Rating)

PagSeguro Digital Ltd. is engaged in the provision of financial technology solutions focused on consumers, individual entrepreneurs, micro-merchants, small companies and medium-sized companies in Brazil. Its business model covers the following pillars: Multiple digital payment solutions; In-person payments via POS devices that sell to merchants; Free digital accounts; Issuer of prepaid cards to clients for spending or withdrawing account balances, and Operating as an acquirer.

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Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK  Get Rating)  Stock analysts at Zacks Research increased their Q3 2023 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for Rockwell Automation in a note issued to investors on Thursday, May 11th. Zacks Research analyst M. Das now forecasts that the industrial products company will post earnings of $3.18 per share for the quarter, up from their prior forecast of $2.97. The consensus estimate for Rockwell Automations current full-year earnings is $12.06 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Rockwell Automations FY2023 earnings at $12.01 EPS, Q1 2024 earnings at $2.15 EPS and Q3 2024 earnings at $2.93 EPS.

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Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK  Get Rating) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 27th. The industrial products company reported $3.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $2.60 by $0.41. Rockwell Automation had a return on equity of 42.15% and a net margin of 15.82%. The firm had revenue of $2.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $2.09 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.66 earnings per share. The businesss revenue for the quarter was up 25.8% on a year-over-year basis.

Rockwell Automation Stock Performance

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Oppenheimer upped their price target on Rockwell Automation from $278.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Tuesday, January 24th. Loop Capital raised their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $258.00 to $285.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 31st. StockNews.com initiated coverage on Rockwell Automation in a research report on Thursday, March 16th. They issued a buy rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley reiterated an overweight rating and set a $335.00 price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation in a research note on Tuesday, February 14th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $250.00 to $290.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 11th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Rockwell Automation has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $267.50.

Shares of ROK stock opened at $269.98 on Monday. The businesss 50 day simple moving average is $279.66 and its 200 day simple moving average is $274.72. Rockwell Automation has a one year low of $190.08 and a one year high of $309.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $31.01 billion, a PE ratio of 23.77, a PEG ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 0.73.

Institutional Trading of Rockwell Automation

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Aspire Private Capital LLC acquired a new position in Rockwell Automation during the 1st quarter worth approximately $11,444,550,000. New Hampshire Trust acquired a new position in Rockwell Automation during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. MinichMacGregor Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Rockwell Automation during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Clear Street Markets LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Rockwell Automation during the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Delta Asset Management LLC TN purchased a new stake in shares of Rockwell Automation during the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. 77.66% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Nicholas C. Gangestad sold 1,975 shares of Rockwell Automation stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $294.25, for a total value of $581,143.75. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 7,757 shares of the companys stock, valued at $2,282,497.25. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, VP John M. Miller sold 556 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $279.09, for a total value of $155,174.04. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 4,281 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $1,194,784.29. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Nicholas C. Gangestad sold 1,975 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $294.25, for a total value of $581,143.75. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 7,757 shares of the companys stock, valued at $2,282,497.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 2,631 shares of company stock worth $765,751 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.64% of the companys stock.

Rockwell Automation Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 15th will be paid a dividend of $1.18 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 12th. This represents a $4.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.75%. Rockwell Automations dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 41.55%.

About Rockwell Automation

(Get Rating)

Rockwell Automation, Inc engages in the provision of industrial automation and information services. It operates through the following segments: Intelligent Devices, Software and Control, and Lifecycle Services. The Intelligent Devices segment combines a portfolio of smart products that create the foundation of an agile, resilient, and sustainable production system.

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ServiceNow (NYSE:NOW  Get Rating) had its target price boosted by equities research analysts at Royal Bank of Canada from $525.00 to $540.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, The Fly reports. Royal Bank of Canadas price objective would indicate a potential upside of 15.33% from the companys current price.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on ServiceNow from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Thursday, January 26th. Cowen increased their price target on shares of ServiceNow from $520.00 to $530.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Thursday, January 26th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on ServiceNow from $525.00 to $545.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 27th. Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of ServiceNow from $500.00 to $510.00 in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Guggenheim lifted their price objective on ServiceNow from $511.00 to $518.00 in a research report on Wednesday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $527.43.

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ServiceNow Price Performance

ServiceNow stock opened at $468.24 on Wednesday. The businesss 50 day simple moving average is $451.14 and its 200 day simple moving average is $428.10. ServiceNow has a 12 month low of $337.00 and a 12 month high of $521.58. The company has a market cap of $95.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 238.90, a PEG ratio of 5.37 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27.

Insider Activity

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ServiceNow

In other news, General Counsel Russell S. Elmer sold 7,796 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Monday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $456.31, for a total value of $3,557,392.76. Following the transaction, the general counsel now owns 4,047 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $1,846,686.57. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website . In other news, General Counsel Russell S. Elmer sold 7,796 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $456.31, for a total value of $3,557,392.76. Following the sale, the general counsel now directly owns 4,047 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $1,846,686.57. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink . Also, General Counsel Russell S. Elmer sold 69 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $453.30, for a total transaction of $31,277.70. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel now directly owns 4,047 shares in the company, valued at $1,834,505.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here . Insiders sold a total of 18,095 shares of company stock valued at $8,131,910 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.28% of the companys stock.

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of ServiceNow by 1.9% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,866,914 shares of the information technology services providers stock valued at $6,369,116,000 after purchasing an additional 320,130 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in ServiceNow by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 14,835,423 shares of the information technology services providers stock worth $5,760,149,000 after purchasing an additional 727,494 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in ServiceNow by 1.8% during the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 8,082,154 shares of the information technology services providers stock worth $3,755,904,000 after purchasing an additional 141,744 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley raised its position in ServiceNow by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 7,071,786 shares of the information technology services providers stock valued at $2,745,763,000 after purchasing an additional 288,522 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Polen Capital Management LLC raised its position in ServiceNow by 12.6% in the 4th quarter. Polen Capital Management LLC now owns 4,452,974 shares of the information technology services providers stock valued at $1,728,956,000 after purchasing an additional 499,675 shares in the last quarter. 86.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About ServiceNow

(Get Rating)

ServiceNow, Inc engages in the provision of enterprise cloud computing solutions. The firm delivers digital workflows on a single enterprise cloud platform called the Now Platform. Its product portfolio is focused on providing Information Technology, Employee and Customer workflows. The company was founded by Frederic B.

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ONEOK (NYSE:OKE  Get Rating) had its price target lowered by stock analysts at Royal Bank of Canada from $75.00 to $66.00 in a report released on Wednesday, The Fly reports. Royal Bank of Canadas target price indicates a potential upside of 16.65% from the companys current price.

Several other research analysts also recently issued reports on OKE. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on ONEOK from $75.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Thursday, March 9th. StockNews.com upgraded ONEOK from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report on Friday, May 5th. Seaport Res Ptn reiterated a neutral rating on shares of ONEOK in a report on Thursday, February 16th. Raymond James increased their price target on ONEOK from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Friday, April 21st. Finally, Scotiabank began coverage on ONEOK in a report on Thursday, March 2nd. They set a sector perform rating and a $74.00 price target on the stock. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $74.09.

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ONEOK Stock Down 2.4 %

Shares of NYSE OKE opened at $56.58 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.78. The company has a market cap of $25.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.68, a PEG ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.68. ONEOK has a 12 month low of $50.50 and a 12 month high of $71.57. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $63.74 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $65.35.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

ONEOK ( NYSE:OKE Get Rating ) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, May 2nd. The utilities provider reported $2.34 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.81 by $0.53. The firm had revenue of $4.52 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.13 billion. ONEOK had a return on equity of 36.54% and a net margin of 11.09%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.87 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that ONEOK will post 5.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wesbanco Bank Inc. grew its stake in shares of ONEOK by 36.5% during the 4th quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 10,965 shares of the utilities providers stock worth $720,000 after acquiring an additional 2,930 shares during the period. Capital Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of ONEOK by 16.6% during the 4th quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 68,792 shares of the utilities providers stock worth $4,520,000 after acquiring an additional 9,776 shares during the period. Brinker Capital Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of ONEOK by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Brinker Capital Investments LLC now owns 24,611 shares of the utilities providers stock worth $1,261,000 after acquiring an additional 259 shares during the period. Toronto Dominion Bank boosted its stake in ONEOK by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 231,775 shares of the utilities providers stock worth $15,218,000 after purchasing an additional 9,004 shares during the period. Finally, Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund boosted its stake in ONEOK by 56.0% in the 3rd quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 21,891 shares of the utilities providers stock worth $1,122,000 after purchasing an additional 7,859 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 67.16% of the companys stock.

ONEOK Company Profile

(Get Rating)

ONEOK, Inc engages in gathering, processing, fractionating, transporting, storing and marketing of natural gas. It operates through the following segments: Natural Gas Gathering and Processing, Natural Gas Liquids and Natural Gas Pipelines. The Natural Gas Gathering and Processing segment offers midstream services to producers in North Dakota, Montana, Wyoming, Kansas and Oklahoma.

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Ma Xiaoguang, spokesperson for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, gestures at a press conference in Beijing, capital of China, May 17, 2023. (Xinhua/Chen Yehua)

BEIJING, May 17 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese mainland spokesperson on Wednesday said that Taiwan's Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) authorities pose a real threat to peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait.

The DPP authorities have adhered to their "Taiwan independence" agenda and colluded with external forces to provoke the mainland and create tension across the Strait, Ma Xiaoguang, a spokesperson for the State Council Taiwan Affairs Office, said at a press conference.

He made the comment in response to Taiwan leader Tsai Ing-wen's claim that the mainland had stepped up its "threats" against Taiwan with military drills and undermined regional peace and stability.

Ma said that relevant military exercises conducted by the People's Liberation Army were justified acts that responded to provocations, defended national sovereignty and territorial integrity, and protected peace, stability and the interests of people on both sides of the Strait.

The best way for the DPP authorities to avoid wars is to abandon their separatist "Taiwan independence" stance and turn to a path of peaceful development for cross-Strait relations, he said.

The consequence of creating confrontation across the Strait and acting as a pawn that foreign forces use to contain China is gradually dragging Taiwan into war, Ma warned. 

Ma Xiaoguang, spokesperson for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, gestures at a press conference in Beijing, capital of China, May 17, 2023. (Xinhua/Chen Yehua)
ServiceNow, Inc. (NYSE:NOW  Get Rating) General Counsel Russell S. Elmer sold 69 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $453.30, for a total transaction of $31,277.70. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel now directly owns 4,047 shares of the companys stock, valued at $1,834,505.10. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

ServiceNow Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE:NOW traded up $5.10 on Tuesday, hitting $468.24. The company had a trading volume of 1,610,152 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,641,835. The firms 50-day simple moving average is $450.68 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $427.76. ServiceNow, Inc. has a 1 year low of $337.00 and a 1 year high of $521.58. The company has a quick ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $95.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 236.30, a P/E/G ratio of 5.19 and a beta of 1.04.

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Institutional Investors Weigh In On ServiceNow

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in ServiceNow by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,866,914 shares of the information technology services providers stock valued at $6,369,116,000 after acquiring an additional 320,130 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in ServiceNow by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 14,835,423 shares of the information technology services providers stock valued at $5,760,149,000 after acquiring an additional 727,494 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its position in ServiceNow by 1.8% during the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 8,082,154 shares of the information technology services providers stock valued at $3,755,904,000 after acquiring an additional 141,744 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley lifted its position in ServiceNow by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 7,071,786 shares of the information technology services providers stock valued at $2,745,763,000 after acquiring an additional 288,522 shares during the period. Finally, Polen Capital Management LLC lifted its position in ServiceNow by 12.6% during the 4th quarter. Polen Capital Management LLC now owns 4,452,974 shares of the information technology services providers stock valued at $1,728,956,000 after acquiring an additional 499,675 shares during the period. 86.31% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ServiceNow Company Profile

NOW has been the subject of a number of research reports. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of ServiceNow from $500.00 to $510.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 26th. Oppenheimer increased their target price on shares of ServiceNow from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Thursday, January 26th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of ServiceNow from $612.00 to $586.00 in a research report on Tuesday, May 9th. 22nd Century Group reissued a reiterates rating on shares of ServiceNow in a research report on Thursday, April 27th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of ServiceNow from $500.00 to $525.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, ServiceNow has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $525.47.

(Get Rating)

ServiceNow, Inc engages in the provision of enterprise cloud computing solutions. The firm delivers digital workflows on a single enterprise cloud platform called the Now Platform. Its product portfolio is focused on providing Information Technology, Employee and Customer workflows. The company was founded by Frederic B.

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Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY  Get Rating) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest during the month of April. As of April 30th, there was short interest totalling 18,920,000 shares, a growth of 5.8% from the April 15th total of 17,880,000 shares. Approximately 0.9% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 7,750,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.4 days.

Insider Transactions at Bristol-Myers Squibb

In other news, EVP Rupert Vessey sold 50,385 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.06, for a total value of $3,378,818.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 47,751 shares of the companys stock, valued at $3,202,182.06. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.08% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bristol-Myers Squibb

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Dakota Wealth Management purchased a new position in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb during the 1st quarter worth approximately $332,000. Covestor Ltd lifted its position in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 111.5% during the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 2,052 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock valued at $150,000 after buying an additional 1,082 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 53.2% during the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 165,336 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock valued at $12,075,000 after buying an additional 57,444 shares in the last quarter. Ergoteles LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb in the 1st quarter worth about $1,997,000. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its stake in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 25.1% during the first quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 338,563 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock valued at $24,725,000 after purchasing an additional 68,018 shares in the last quarter. 75.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Bristol-Myers Squibb Stock Performance

BMY has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from $82.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Friday, April 21st. Barclays cut their price objective on Bristol-Myers Squibb from $66.00 to $65.00 in a report on Monday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an underweight rating in a research note on Friday, February 3rd. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb in a report on Thursday, March 16th. They issued a strong-buy rating on the stock. Finally, Credit Suisse Group dropped their price objective on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from $78.00 to $72.00 in a report on Friday, April 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $79.43.

NYSE:BMY opened at $67.05 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 1.28 and a current ratio of 1.42. Bristol-Myers Squibb has a fifty-two week low of $65.28 and a fifty-two week high of $81.43. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $68.45 and a 200-day moving average price of $72.33. The firm has a market cap of $140.86 billion, a PE ratio of 19.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 0.44.

Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY  Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 27th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $2.05 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.98 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $11.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $11.50 billion. Bristol-Myers Squibb had a net margin of 15.95% and a return on equity of 51.75%. The firms revenue for the quarter was down 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.96 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Bristol-Myers Squibb will post 8.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 10th were given a $0.57 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 6th. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.40%. Bristol-Myers Squibbs dividend payout ratio is currently 66.47%.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Company Profile

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Bristol Myers Squibb Co engages in the discovery, development, licensing, manufacture, marketing, distribution, and sale of biopharmaceutical products. It offers chemically-synthesized drugs or small molecules and products produced from biological processes called biologics. The company was founded in August 1933 and is headquartered in New York, NY.

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Franco-Nevada Co. (NYSE:FNV  Get Rating) (TSE:FNV) saw a large decline in short interest in the month of April. As of April 30th, there was short interest totalling 3,450,000 shares, a decline of 6.0% from the April 15th total of 3,670,000 shares. Approximately 1.8% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 647,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 5.3 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on FNV shares. CIBC boosted their price objective on Franco-Nevada from C$230.00 to C$240.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 7th. HC Wainwright boosted their price objective on Franco-Nevada from $145.00 to $180.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 4th. Raymond James boosted their price objective on Franco-Nevada from $163.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 3rd. Barclays upped their price target on Franco-Nevada from $115.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock an underweight rating in a research note on Friday, April 21st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus downgraded Franco-Nevada from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Friday, January 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $174.29.

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Institutional Trading of Franco-Nevada

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Horizon Kinetics Asset Management LLC grew its position in Franco-Nevada by 13,486.3% in the 4th quarter. Horizon Kinetics Asset Management LLC now owns 146,537,059 shares of the basic materials companys stock valued at $1,074,000 after acquiring an additional 145,458,494 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in Franco-Nevada by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 10,019,338 shares of the basic materials companys stock valued at $1,196,471,000 after acquiring an additional 308,992 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in Franco-Nevada by 11.8% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 9,146,164 shares of the basic materials companys stock valued at $1,248,249,000 after acquiring an additional 966,243 shares during the last quarter. FIL Ltd grew its position in Franco-Nevada by 2.7% in the 1st quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 7,583,982 shares of the basic materials companys stock valued at $1,106,046,000 after acquiring an additional 198,387 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Franco-Nevada by 3.0% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,670,398 shares of the basic materials companys stock valued at $796,979,000 after purchasing an additional 192,144 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 66.69% of the companys stock.

Franco-Nevada Price Performance

Shares of FNV opened at $154.11 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $29.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 11.15 and a beta of 0.71. Franco-Nevada has a 1 year low of $109.70 and a 1 year high of $161.25. The businesss 50 day simple moving average is $149.64 and its 200-day simple moving average is $142.27.

Franco-Nevada (NYSE:FNV  Get Rating) (TSE:FNV) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 2nd. The basic materials company reported $0.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $276.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $302.62 million. Franco-Nevada had a return on equity of 10.58% and a net margin of 53.87%. The companys revenue for the quarter was down 18.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.93 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Franco-Nevada will post 3.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Franco-Nevada Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 29th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.34 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 14th. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.88%. Franco-Nevadas payout ratio is presently 38.75%.

About Franco-Nevada

(Get Rating)

Franco-Nevada Corp. engages in the management of gold-focused royalties and streams portfolio. It provides investors with gold price and exploration optionality while limiting exposure to many of the risks of operating companies. The company was founded in 1983 and is headquartered in Toronto, Canada.

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Sibanye Stillwater Limited (NYSE:SBSW  Get Rating) hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $7.61 and last traded at $7.63, with a volume of 684537 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $7.84.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SBSW has been the subject of a number of research reports. Royal Bank of Canada raised shares of Sibanye Stillwater from a sector perform rating to an outperform rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $11.00 to $10.00 in a research report on Wednesday, March 22nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on shares of Sibanye Stillwater from $13.00 to $9.00 and set a hold rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Sibanye Stillwater has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $11.33.

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Sibanye Stillwater Trading Down 2.0 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 3.01 and a quick ratio of 1.70. The businesss fifty day simple moving average is $8.55 and its 200 day simple moving average is $9.73.

Sibanye Stillwater Cuts Dividend

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sibanye Stillwater

The company also recently disclosed a Semi-Annual dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 24th were issued a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 23rd. This represents a yield of 8.3%.

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Sibanye Stillwater by 21.0% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,504,344 shares of the companys stock worth $37,493,000 after buying an additional 781,346 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Sibanye Stillwater by 71.8% in the 2nd quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 3,977,726 shares of the companys stock valued at $39,658,000 after purchasing an additional 1,662,361 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Sibanye Stillwater by 6.4% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,663,239 shares of the companys stock valued at $30,478,000 after purchasing an additional 221,399 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership acquired a new stake in shares of Sibanye Stillwater in the 4th quarter valued at about $37,086,000. Finally, Encompass Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Sibanye Stillwater in the 3rd quarter valued at about $20,628,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 6.81% of the companys stock.

Sibanye Stillwater Company Profile

(Get Rating)

Sibanye Stillwater Ltd. engages in the provision of precious metals mining services. Its portfolio includes the platinum group metal (PGM) operations in the United States, South Africa, and Zimbabwe; gold operations and projects in South Africa; and copper, gold and PGM exploration properties in North and South America.

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The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW  Get Rating) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, April 19th, RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 19th will be paid a dividend of 0.605 per share by the specialty chemicals company on Friday, June 2nd. This represents a $2.42 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.09%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 18th.

Sherwin-Williams has increased its dividend by an average of 16.8% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 46 years. Sherwin-Williams has a dividend payout ratio of 24.3% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Sherwin-Williams to earn $10.05 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.42 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 24.1%.

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Sherwin-Williams Stock Down 1.9 %

Shares of NYSE:SHW opened at $222.22 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.03. Sherwin-Williams has a 52-week low of $195.24 and a 52-week high of $278.31. The stocks fifty day simple moving average is $224.47 and its 200-day simple moving average is $232.81. The company has a market capitalization of $57.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.27, a P/E/G ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.07.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Sherwin-Williams ( NYSE:SHW Get Rating ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 25th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.84 by $0.20. Sherwin-Williams had a return on equity of 86.29% and a net margin of 9.41%. The business had revenue of $5.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.14 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.61 earnings per share. The businesss revenue was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Sherwin-Williams will post 8.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Several research firms recently weighed in on SHW. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on Sherwin-Williams from $260.00 to $265.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 27th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Sherwin-Williams from $300.00 to $275.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 27th. Citigroup reduced their target price on Sherwin-Williams from $270.00 to $251.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 27th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on Sherwin-Williams from $285.00 to $267.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 31st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Sherwin-Williams from $260.00 to $235.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the companys stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $257.83.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Bryan J. Young sold 2,750 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.76, for a total value of $607,090.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 7,955 shares in the company, valued at $1,756,145.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.55% of the companys stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sherwin-Williams

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of SHW. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Sherwin-Williams during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $498,336,000. Morgan Stanley grew its stake in Sherwin-Williams by 50.9% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 5,180,068 shares of the specialty chemicals companys stock valued at $1,229,386,000 after purchasing an additional 1,747,586 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its stake in Sherwin-Williams by 612.8% during the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 545,300 shares of the specialty chemicals companys stock valued at $122,567,000 after purchasing an additional 468,800 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its stake in Sherwin-Williams by 775.6% during the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 509,706 shares of the specialty chemicals companys stock valued at $127,233,000 after purchasing an additional 451,493 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Investments LP grew its stake in Sherwin-Williams by 1,034.8% during the 1st quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 465,665 shares of the specialty chemicals companys stock valued at $104,668,000 after purchasing an additional 424,630 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.03% of the companys stock.

About Sherwin-Williams

(Get Rating)

The Sherwin-Williams Co engages in the development, manufacture, distribution, and sale of paint and coatings. It operates through the following segments: America Group, Consumer Brands Group, and Performance Coating Group. The America Group segment manages the exclusive outlets for Sherwin-Williams branded paints, stains, supplies, equipment, and floor coverings.

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Zhao Leji, chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress of China, visits the Museum of Black Civilizations in Dakar, Senegal, May 15, 2023. At the invitation of President of Senegalese National Assembly Amadou Mame Diop, Zhao paid an official friendly visit to the country from Sunday to Tuesday.(Xinhua/Zhai Jianlan)

DAKAR, May 17 (Xinhua) -- China stands ready to expand practical cooperation with Senegal and will continue to contribute positively to Africa's peace and development, visiting top Chinese legislator Zhao Leji has said.

Zhao made the remarks during his meeting with Senegalese President Macky Sall.

At the invitation of President of Senegalese National Assembly Amadou Mame Diop, Zhao, chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, paid an official friendly visit to the country from Sunday to Tuesday, and held meetings with Sall and Diop.

When meeting with Sall, Zhao conveyed the sincere greetings and best wishes of Chinese President Xi Jinping, adding that under the guidance and promotion of the two heads of state, the China-Senegal comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership has been moving forward, the political mutual trust between the two countries has been enhanced, and cooperation in various fields has yielded fruitful results.

China appreciates Senegal's active support for a series of major initiatives and ideas put forward by Xi, and thanks Senegal for its invaluable support on the Taiwan question and issues related to human rights and Xinjiang, Zhao said.

China is ready to expand practical cooperation with Senegal, strengthen synergy between the nine programs for China-Africa cooperation and the Plan for an Emerging Senegal, and deepen exchanges in the fields of culture, education and medical care, Zhao said, adding that as co-chairs of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, China and Senegal should implement the outcomes of the forum and jointly build the Belt and Road.

China has always followed the principles of sincerity, real results, amity and good faith and pursuing the greater good and shared interests in cooperation with Africa, Zhao said, adding that China never ties its cooperation with Africa to political considerations, nor does it make hollow promises.

Sall asked Zhao to convey his best wishes to Xi, saying that Senegal and China are good friends and strategic partners, and the two countries have achieved important results in cooperation in such fields as politics, economy and trade, infrastructure, culture and health.

Senegal abides by the one-China principle and opposes the politicization of human rights, Sall added.

Noting that China sincerely helps Africa, he said the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation has played a positive role in promoting solidarity and cooperation between Africa and China.

The achievements of China's new Long March, with development as its goal, have set an example for Africa, Sall said, adding that in particular, China insisted on independently exploring a development path suited to its own national conditions and organized its people to efficiently promote national construction, which is of great enlightenment significance.

During the meeting with Diop, Zhao said that China and Senegal are important cooperation partners, and the two peoples, sharing weal and woe, have written a new chapter of friendship in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

The two sides should consolidate political mutual trust, enhance people's friendship, and push for the development of high-quality and sustainable practical cooperation that benefits people's livelihood, Zhao said.

He said the legislative bodies of the two countries should take the implementation of the important consensus reached by the two heads of state as the primary task, continue to carry out exchanges at multiple levels and in multiple fields, in order to provide a solid legal guarantee for mutually beneficial cooperation.

The two sides should also closely coordinate and cooperate in the multilateral parliamentary mechanism to safeguard the common interests of China, Senegal and Africa, Zhao added.

Diop said that Senegal and China have firmly understood and supported each other, and have established a bilateral relationship with a high degree of mutual trust.

Thanking China for its long-term support for and assistance to Senegal's economic and social development, Diop said the Senegalese National Assembly is willing to strengthen friendly exchanges with the National People's Congress of China and promote bilateral cooperation in various fields including economy, trade, culture, sports, science and technology and at sub-national levels.

Zhao briefed the Senegalese side on the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China and the People's Congress System.

While expressing belief that China will surely achieve its goal, the Senegalese side said the development and growth of China is conducive to a more balanced world pattern and to safeguarding world fairness and justice.

During his visit, Zhao made a field trip to the Diamniadio Industrial Park, an important achievement of the Belt and Road Initiative under the joint efforts of China and Africa. He expressed hope that the industrial park will give full play to its economic and social benefits and help Senegal improve its independent development capabilities.

He also attended a symposium of Chinese-funded enterprises in Africa, and encouraged the Chinese-funded enterprises to carry forward the spirit of friendly cooperation between China and Africa and expand the breadth and depth of China-Africa economic and trade cooperation.

He visited the Museum of Black Civilizations and proposed to actively practice the Global Civilization Initiative, as well as to jointly create a new picture of people-to-people communication, cultural exchanges, and integration of hearts and minds from the two countries.

Besides, he visited the exhibition commemorating the 60th anniversary of the dispatch of the Chinese medical team to foreign countries, and visited members of the medical team to Senegal.

Zhao made a technical stop in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), on his way to Malaysia after finishing his visit to Senegal.

In his meeting on Wednesday with Ghobash Saqr, Speaker of the Federal National Council of the UAE, the two sides exchanged views on strengthening cooperation between legislative bodies and promoting the development of China-UAE comprehensive strategic partnership. 

Zhao Leji, chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress of China, attends a symposium of Chinese-funded enterprises in Africa, in Dakar, Senegal, May 16, 2023. At the invitation of President of Senegalese National Assembly Amadou Mame Diop, Zhao paid an official friendly visit to the country from Sunday to Tuesday. (Xinhua/Zhai Jianlan)

Zhao Leji, chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress of China, meets with Senegalese President Macky Sall in Dakar, Senegal, May 15, 2023. At the invitation of President of Senegalese National Assembly Amadou Mame Diop, Zhao paid an official friendly visit to the country from Sunday to Tuesday. (Xinhua/Pang Xinglei)

Zhao Leji, chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress of China, holds talks with President of Senegalese National Assembly Amadou Mame Diop in Dakar, Senegal, May 15, 2023. At the invitation of President of Senegalese National Assembly Amadou Mame Diop, Zhao paid an official friendly visit to the country from Sunday to Tuesday. (Xinhua/Zhai Jianlan)

Zhao Leji, chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress of China, makes a field trip to the Diamniadio Industrial Park, an important achievement of the Belt and Road Initiative under the joint efforts of China and Africa, in Senegal, May 16, 2023. At the invitation of President of Senegalese National Assembly Amadou Mame Diop, Zhao paid an official friendly visit to the country from Sunday to Tuesday. (Xinhua/Pang Xinglei)

Zhao Leji (L), chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress of China, meets with Speaker of the Federal National Council of the United Arab Emirates Ghobash Saqr in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates, May 17, 2023. (Xinhua/Zhai Jianlan)
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The Peoples Democratic Party presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, has berated the shared details of a call between US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, and president-elect, Bola Tinubu.

The Nigerian Voice understands that Blinken during a call with Tinubu on Wednesday assured the Nigerian President-elect of the U.S. commitment to further strengthening the U.S.-Nigeria relationship with the incoming administration.

The Secretary noted that the U.S.  Nigeria partnership was built on shared interests and strong people-to-people ties and that those links should continue to strengthen under Tinubus administration.

While reacting in a tweet posted on Wednesday, Atiku expressed disbelief, saying the call was a contradiction to the publicly stated position of the US on Nigerias 2023 presidential election.

According to him, acknowledging the 2023 presidential election result can be demoralising to citizens.

I am in disbelief that @SecBlinken called Tinubu, a contradiction to the publicly stated position of the US on Nigerias 2023 presidential election. This is inconceivable considering that America, as the bastion of democracy, is well briefed on the sham election of February 25.

To give legitimacy to the widely acknowledged fraudulent election in Nigeria can be demoralising to citizens who have hedged their bet on democracy and the sanctity of the ballot @StateDept @POTUS @USinNigeria.
WASHINGTON, May 16 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Joe Biden will not travel to Papua New Guinea and Australia later this month as originally planned due to the ongoing stalemate in negotiations with congressional leaders to address the debt ceiling, multiple U.S. media outlets reported Tuesday, citing sources familiar with the matter.

Biden would have become the first sitting U.S. president to visit the Pacific island country of Papua New Guinea, to be followed by a trip to Sydney for the leaders' summit of the Quad, which includes the United States, Japan, India and Australia.

Biden will still go to Hiroshima, Japan, to participate in the three-day Group of Seven (G7) summit beginning Friday.

Earlier in the day, John Kirby, the National Security Council's coordinator for strategic communications, told the regular White House press briefing that the White House was "reevaluating" the post-Japan part of Biden's trip.

"What I can speak to is the G7 and going to Hiroshima. The president is looking forward to that. We are taking a look at the rest of the trip," Kirby told reporters.

News of the shortening of the presidential overseas trip came as Biden was meeting with congressional leaders from both the Democratic and Republican parties in the Oval Office over the debt ceiling issue.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen reaffirmed Monday that the United States may default on its debt obligations as soon as June 1 if the partisan fight drags on without a settlement.

Biden will depart Washington on Wednesday, stopping over Anchorage, Alaska, before arriving in Japan on Thursday, according to the travel guidance announced previously by the White House. 
UNITED NATIONS, May 16 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese envoy on Tuesday pledged his country's efforts to enhance relations with Central Asia.

China and Central Asian nations have constantly been developing strategic partnerships based on mutual respect, good neighborliness, mutual benefit and cooperation, said Dai Bing, China's deputy permanent representative to the United Nations.

The China-Central Asia summit will be held in Xi'an, China, on Thursday and Friday. The event is a significant move taken by China and Central Asian countries to build a closer China-Central Asia community with a shared future. It will open a new chapter in regional relations and bring new opportunities for individual Central Asian nations, added Dai.

"The world today is now entering a new period of turbulent changes and is facing multiple challenges to international peace and security. More than ever, we need to enhance trust, strengthen solidarity and promote cooperation," he told the General Assembly.

China has expressed its commitment to collaborate with Central Asia in upholding the UN Charter's principles and purposes. The aim is to practice true multilateralism; promote the notion of shared, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable security; and develop a security and development approach that aligns with their mutual interests. By doing so, the hope is to construct a peaceful, trustworthy and cooperative zone in Central Asia that will enhance regional peace, stability, prosperity and development.

China is committed to good neighborly ties and firmly supports the sovereignty, independence, security and territorial integrity of Central Asian countries, Dai noted, adding that China welcomes the efforts by Central Asian countries to enhance political mutual trust and jointly address regional security and development challenges through dialogue and cooperation.

China opposes the interference by external forces in the internal affairs of Central Asian countries under any pretext as such moves would create chaos and turmoil and turn Central Asia into a battleground for geopolitical games, he said.

China will work with Central Asia to scale up the fight against the "three forces" of terrorism, separatism, and extremism.

China supports Central Asia in strengthening cooperation in border control, law enforcement and security, preventing and combating transnational organized crime and cybercrime, and stepping up communication and cooperation regarding Afghanistan to maintain regional peace and tranquility, he said.

Cooperation between China and Central Asian countries through the Belt and Road Initiative has yielded favorable results, Dai said. China will further enhance collaboration with Central Asian partners in economy and trade, investment and financing. The country will work to build modern regional connectivity networks, expand personnel exchanges, enable smooth transportation of goods and expand cooperation in agriculture, new energy, e-commerce, and the digital economy. Finally, China will enhance cultural and people-to-people and local-level exchanges, he said.

China will continue to expand all-around cooperation with Central Asian countries and advance relations to new heights. The move is expected to make further contributions to the peace, stability, development and the prosperity of the region and world at large, he said. 
30 injured in tour speedboat accident

PHUKET: Some 30 tourists were injured when a tour speedboat slammed into a safe channel marker in Chalong Bay late this afternoon (May 16).

tourismaccidentsSafety

By The Phuket News

Wednesday 17 May 2023, 06:34PM

Two of the people suffered serious injuries and eight more suffered code yellow injuries, reported Phuket Info Center.

The injured were taken to separate hospitals, namely Chalong Hospital, Vachira Phuket Hospital, Phuket Provincial Hospital, Bangkok Hospital Phuket, Bangkok Hospital Siriroj, Dibuk Hospital and Mission Hospital Phuket.

Phuket Info Center urged motorists to facilitate rescue vehicles transporting the injured.

The boat was bringing tourists back from Phi Phi Island to Chalong Pier when it struck the safe channel marker, located some 700 metres from Chalong Pier, reported the Phuket Provincial Administration (PPAO).

Photos posted online identified the boat as Thanathip Marine 555.

PPAO President Rewat Areerob was present when the injured passengers were brought ashore at Chalong Pier, which the PPAO is responsible for operating.

There were 36 people on board when the accident happened.

Three were captain and crew. The remainder were Russian tourists, the PPAO reported.

Of note, the PPAO reported six people seriously were injured.
Andaman Hotelier expo set to return

PHUKET: Following a three-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Andaman Hotelier, the largest hospitality trade event held in Southern Thailand, is set to return in June.

tourism

By The Phuket News

Wednesday 17 May 2023, 05:56PM

The return of the event was announced at a press launch at the Central Floresta shopping mall yesterday (May 16).

Phuket Vice Governor Anupap Rodkwan Yodrambam Present as guest at the press launch, joined by a host of leading tourism and hospital figures from both the public and private sectors.

Present in support of the event were representatives from the Phuket Tourist Association, Southern Thai Hotel Association. the Phuket Hotel Association, the Patong Beach Hotel Association, the Phuket Health Spa Association, the Phuket Personnel Management Club, the Phuket Thai Chefs Association, the Volunteer Chef Association, the Federation of Thai Chefs, the Phuket Andaman Food and Beverage Manager Club and the Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau (TCEB).

Andaman Hotelier 2023 will be held at the Mini Convention centre on Level 2 of the shopping mall on June 16-18.

The event will be open from 10am to 8pm each day, with some 80 booths showcasing hotel-related products at discount prices.

The event will also feature a wide range of activities, including academic seminars, including a discussion on fundraising for business expansion via ICO portals (Initial Coin Offerings).

Also set to return are the events well-known professional hotel skills competitions, including a cocktail mixing contest, a robusta coffee workshop and a Mr, Ms & Queen Andaman Hotelier Contest 2023.

To be highlighted at this years event are showcasing Thai fish to the world, Thai Wagyu Beef, food safety and food waste reduction, and sustainable hotel design.

As usual, the aim of the activities is to develop skills and skill standards of hotel and tourism service personnel to world-class excellence.

This years event is sponsored by the TCEB, along with major corporate sponsors Thai Beverage PLC and Haad Thip PLC.

People with enquiries about taking part in Andaman Hotelier 2023 were advised to call 095-2342451, email info@andamanhotelier.com or visit the Andaman Hotelier Facebook page.
Governor puts Phuket on show to academics

PHUKET: Phuket Governor Narong Woonciew joined an international academic conference in Kuala Lumpur yesterday (May 16) to highlight Phukets efforts towards sustainable development.

economicsenvironmentnatural-resourcestourism

By The Phuket News

Wednesday 17 May 2023, 02:53PM

Governor Narong delivered his remarks at the Phuket Academic Conference, joined by Ambassador of Thailand to Malaysia Lada Phumas as well as senior representative from Malaysia and honored guests.

It is an honor to present Phuket to our Malaysian friends. We are here as a team from Phuket, both the public and private sectors, to tell how ready we are to move forward, Governor Narong said.

Phuket has developed from a local to a global context. Most everyone knows Phuket, which is the Pearl of Andaman and the pride of Thailand, with beautiful beaches, beautiful natural environment and interesting culture. This makes Phuket one of the top tourist destinations in the world, and Phuket welcomes tourists from all over the world, he said.

But receiving such recognition. [Phuket is] not an immediate success story. In the past, the Phuket government and the private sector have been working hard to develop infrastructure, high-class accommodation and the tourism industry. Phuket has come a long way from a small [tin] mining town to becoming a world-class tourist city today.

Phuket residents enjoy success in tourism, but of course Phuket still wants to move forward. I want to see a balance between prosperity, the happiness of the people and the environment. And this is why bidding to host a Specialised Expo is our goal. The concept that Thailand proposes for Phuket is Future of Life: Living in Harmony, Sharing Prosperity, as living together as one is what Phuket needs, Governor Narong continued.

Organising such events will generate income for the local community, and enhance the lives of Phuket people and the Andaman region. If selected, Phuket, Thailand will be the first country in Southeast Asia to host this special event, and nearly 5 million tourists who visit the fair will have the opportunity to visit Thailand, Southeast Asia and the Pacific, he said.

The local leadership with Phuket entering a global context is not easy. When nominating to host the Specialized Expo, as Governor of Phuket I thought about what this Expo should be for Phuket and where it will lead us.

Of course, as a governor I want the best to grow the economy and develop Phuket as much as possible. But one thing that always comes to mind is that the Phuket Expo must be a lasting legacy that benefits man and nature, a promise to the world that is well committed and one that our future generations will appreciate. We have done it for them. Thats the Phuket Expo. So what is the expo for everyone? And what would you like to see from the expo? Phuket has an answer for everyone, Governor Narong concluded.
Man in hospital as car slams garbage truck

PHUKET: A garbage collector is in hospital with injuries to both legs after a car slammed into the back of a garbage truck on the bypass road late last night (May 16).

transportaccidentspolice

By Eakkapop Thongtub

Wednesday 17 May 2023, 09:25AM

Pol Lt Col Ekkasak Kwanwan of the Phuket City Police said officers were informed of the accident, in front of the York Yangyon tyre shop on the southbound side of the bypass road, at about 11:40pm.

Police and rescue workers from the Kusoldharm Foundation arrived to find the car, a black Toyota Vios bearing Ranong licence plates, with heavy heavy damage still jammed into the back right corner of the garbage truck.

Garbage collector Mr Yao, 48, had sustained injuries to both legs. Resuce workers administered first aid at the scene then rushed him to Vachira Phuket Hospital.

The extent of his injuries were not reported.

The garbage truck driver, Narin Chokthong, 42, told police that all he knew ;little about the accident. The men were collecting garbage for the private company they work for when he heard the car slam into the back of the truck.

The driver of the Toyota Vios, Piyapong Chimthap, 38, told police that he was driving from the Heroines Monument to Chalong to celebrate a friends birthday.

He said he fell asleep at the wheel and crashed into the back of the garbage truck.

Piyapong and his wreck were taken to Phuket City Police Station where police were to pursue their investigation into whether he was drunk driving.
Senators slow to warm to Pitas PM bid

BANGKOK: Senators have expressed mixed opinions on whether to support Pita Limjaroenrat, the leader of the Move Forward Party, which won the most House seats in Sundays election, to become the next prime minister.

politics

By Bangkok Post

Wednesday 17 May 2023, 09:57AM

Photo: Bangkok Post

Senator Peeraksak Porjit said that it is up to parties to gather enough support to nominate a prime ministerial candidate for a vote in parliament, reports the Bangkok Post.

Senators will also consider who they will nominate and whether the candidate is suitable, Mr Peerasak said, adding that senators should not abstain from voting.

Asked to comment on Mr Pitas suitability, Mr Peerasak said that first, the parties with the most seats must drum up support for their choices before senators examine the qualifications of each candidate and the policy platforms that saw them voted into parliament.

In principle, senators should respect the decision of the majority of MPs, he said.

Senator Jetn Sirathranont echoed the sentiment.

The poll result shows that people would want [senators] to vote for candidates either from the MFP or Pheu Thai.

The political party that wins the most seats has the right to gather support and form a government first. If it fails, the party that wins the second-largest number of seats will be given a chance, he said.

Senator Wallop Tangkananurak also said he shares that belief and is ready to support a candidate nominated by a party that can gather the support of more than 250 MPs.

However, he said he was baffled by an about-face by the MFP, which had earlier tried to switch off or remove the Senates power to join MPs in selecting a prime minister in parliament.

But they [the MFP] are now calling on senators not to abstain from voting and instead support its prime ministerial candidate? Mr Wallop said.

However, Jadet Insawang insisted that he would not vote for Mr Pita if he was nominated.

Mr Pita has been attempting to scrap Section 112 [the lese majeste law], and that is unacceptable, the senator said.

Meanwhile, Senator Seree Suwanpanont said he wanted the MFP to clarify its aim as to whether it would scrap the law entirely, as There are several parties that disagree with the move to revise Section 112.
Susie Goulding and her dog, Shadow, behind the counter of Riverside Florist's Flower Bar. Notoriously camera-shy, Goulding agreed to pose for an illustration instead.









Early in winter 2023, floral designer Susie Goulding decided to put her two decades of experience in luxury florals for weddings and special events into practice by opening Riverside Florist in downtown Cambridge.

During an interview with the Cambridge Times, Goulding made her morning coffee run to Monigram, where the barista, having recognized her from social media, began gushing about the Valentines Day flowers her husband had gotten her from Riverside Florist.

She said the interaction reinforced why she opened Riverside Florist. Its a place where I can cultivate memories for my clients, said Goulding.

A PASSION FOR FLOWERS

I was always an artistic person, recalled Goulding, who is a trained violinist with a performing arts and interior design background, about what it was that drew her into flower design. But her love for flowers sprung up serendipitously.

Her mom told her that a local flower shop in Oakville was hiring shortly after graduating college, and she applied and got the job, Goulding recounted. It just so happened that the Oakville shop, Forget Me Not Flowers, was home to the best florist in Canada, according to Goulding.

There, Goulding began dreaming of one day opening her own flower design studio. Wanting to learn more from the industry, she moved to Toronto, where she worked at FIORI, another flower powerhouse. At FIORI, she designed floral creations for weddings and many luxury occasions and spaces, including the Eaton Mansion in Caledon.

Later, as a seasoned florist, she returned to Forget Me Not Flowers, which had grown into an event Mecca, said Goulding. She was saving up for her own business when COVID-19 hit, and the floral industry went down. Goulding recalled leaving the flower design field she was so passionate about.

I ended up getting sick on the first wave, she remembered. Coming down with COVID-19 in March 2020, she recounted experiencing life-altering symptoms.

Unable to turn to friends, family or doctors, who were just as puzzled by the symptoms as she was, Goulding said she began a Facebook group to talk about the aftermath of the illness. Her efforts resulted in one of the first long COVID patient advocacy and support groups in the country, and more recently a nomination for Canada's Volunteer Awards.

LEARNING TO BLOOM AGAIN

During her advocacy work, she launched Riverside Florist.

When asked what advice shed give others in the chronic illness community hoping to start a business, she acknowledged that everyone is at a different stage in their journey. I was privileged to have been able to receive therapy that was restorative to an extent: I have to be cautious not to overexert myself, so I dont crash and cant work, she added.

Having always found strength and inspiration in new beginnings, her long COVID advocacy work being a recent example, she also added that you are never ready for anything in life; you just have to do it.

WHAT TO EXPECT FROM DOWNTOWN CAMBRIDGE'S RIVERSIDE FLORIST

Ethereal, high-end flower arrangements to create memories that last a lifetime from someone you can trust, Goulding said of what she hopes her clients continue to see from Riverside Florists creations, which were recently featured at the first Cambridge Wedding Week.

Gouldings studio also offers plants and related decor. Shadow, Gouldings furry florist assistant, will be there to take your questions  treats are optional but welcomed.

New in Town  Riverside Florist | Made in Canva by Maria Rosales Gerpe | Music by PaulYudin from Pixabay STORY BEHIND THE STORY: Thanks for letting us know about wanting more in-depth coverage of businesses in Cambridge through Google Forms. This interview is part of the New in Town Cambridge series of stories acquainting or reintroducing Cambridge residents to the businesses in their community. Previously: The auntie serving Greek food in Ainslie St. N.

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WATERLOO  A youth is facing multiple charges after police say he intentionally struck a police cruiser with a stolen vehicle before crashing into a house in Waterloo.

On Tuesday at around 5:15 a.m., Waterloo Regional Police said officers came across a stolen vehicle near Pineridge Road and Lakeview Drive. When officers tried to stop the vehicle, the driver intentionally struck a police cruiser, police said.

The driver then lost control, hitting a tree, then a parked car, and ended up driving into a house on Lakeview Drive.

The passenger in the stolen vehicle suffered minor injuries in the crash.

The driver, a male youth from Waterloo, was charged with dangerous operation, flight from police, possession of stolen goods over $5,000, and assault with a weapon.

The passenger, a female youth from Waterloo, was charged with motor vehicle theft.

Police are asking anyone who witnessed the crash, or has dashcam video, to contact investigators at 519-570-9777, extension 8255.

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Representatives attend an event to announce the opening of an ICBC Jeddah branch in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on May 16, 2023. The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) on Tuesday opened a new branch in the Saudi city of Jeddah. This was announced at a business meeting held in Riyadh on promoting the use of Chinese currency RMB. (Xinhua/Wang Haizhou)

RIYADH, May 16 (Xinhua) -- The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) on Tuesday opened a new branch in the Saudi city of Jeddah.

This was announced at a business meeting held in the Saudi capital of Riyadh on promoting the use of Chinese currency RMB. More than 150 people attended the event, including Chen Siqing, chairman of ICBC, Yin Lijun, charge d'affaires of the Chinese Embassy in Saudi Arabia, and Wang Qimin, consul general of the Chinse Consulate-General in Jeddah.

Chen lauded the deepening pragmatic cooperation between China and Saudi Arabia in various fields for bringing tangible benefits to the people of both countries.

As the world's largest commercial bank and the largest RMB service provider, the ICBC will take the opening of the Jeddah branch as an opportunity to continuously enrich the high-quality financial supply, implement the important consensus of the two heads of state with practical actions, and provide high-quality financial services, he added.

Yin said that the increasingly close economic and trade cooperation between China and Saudi Arabia has created great potential for the development of RMB settlement and investment.

ICBC Riyadh Branch on Tuesday signed a memorandum of understanding on cooperation with Saudi National Center for Privatization & PPP, and signed a cooperation agreement on RMB business with Saudi Ajlan & Bros Holding Group.

As China and Saudi Arabia have further strengthened their comprehensive strategic partnership in recent years, the bilateral trade hit a record high of 116 billion U.S. dollars in 2022, fully demonstrating the vigor and vitality of the economic and trade cooperation between the two sides.

The ICBC is the first Chinese bank to enter the Middle East market, with institutions set up in four countries, namely Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Kuwait. 
Plan your trip before youre in your car: The Ministry of Transportation has scheduled three closures in Waterloo on May 17, 2023 for roadwork on Highway 6 and Highway 8.

Highway 6 northbound between Wellington Road 34 / County Road 34 and Maltby Road / Concession 4, Guelph: one alternating lane closed until May 19 at 5 p.m.

Highway 6 southbound between Currie Drive / Telfer Glen, Morriston and Highway 5, Hamilton: one alternating lane closed until May 19 at 5 a.m.

Highway 8 eastbound between Branchton Road and Highway 5 / Peter's Corners, Hamilton: one alternating lane closed until May 19 at 6 a.m.

Have further to travel? Highway closures for planned roadwork outside Waterloo

About this story

This story was automatically generated using open data from Ontario 511. These closures are scheduled for short-term or emergency repairs and maintenance of provincial highways around Cambridge, Kitchener and Waterloo. The disruptions may be intermittent or ongoing and can change due to weather, emergencies and other factors.

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WATERLOO REGION  Public health officials will continue to monitor for COVID-19 in the community as the region moves into a new normal phase of the disease.

This comes after the World Health Organization declared earlier this month that COVID-19 was no longer a global emergency and called on individual countries to manage the virus.

In Ontario, the province has directed individual public health units to continue releasing information to the public on the viruss local spread.

The Waterloo Region COVID-19 summary is now updated every Friday at 1:30 p.m.

This will continue for the foreseeable future, said regional spokesperson Lynsey Slupeiks.

We plan to continue to provide regular updates on local COVID-19 cases, trends, vaccination coverage and wastewater signals, but may consider changing the frequency and format of these updates as the situation evolves or as new provincial direction is received, she said.

While the numbers give a general idea of what is happening in the community, it has been well over a year since the provincial government changed its rules on the availability of PCR testing for the general public.

In late December 2021, the province restricted eligibility for publicly funded PCR tests to high-risk individuals who were either symptomatic or who were at risk of severe illness from COVID-19.

The move effectively ended the regions ability to accurately track how many cases there were in the community.

The regions dashboard now has a disclaimer: Due to changes in testing availability as a result of increasing case volumes, case counts on our dashboard are an underestimate of the true number of individuals with COVID-19 in Waterloo Region. As such, data should be interpreted with caution.

Wastewater levels have now become a more reliable gauge of community spread, but they dont tell the full story.

The weekly updates are only slightly helpful, in that they help describe potential trends, but only among those who are eligible for testing, as well as describing the presence of outbreaks, said Todd Coleman, an epidemiologist at Wilfrid Laurier University.

We can also use weekly wastewater surveillance reporting, which can give a very general, approximate sense of how much circulation is occurring in broad regions.

Over the last three years, more than 750 million people have been infected with COVID-19, and nearly seven million people have died from the virus, the World Health Organization estimates.

In Waterloo Region, there have been more than 57,000 cases and 518 deaths. There are now 123 active cases in the region, with five different active outbreaks in high-risk settings and 28 hospitalizations, according to the most recent regional update.

As has been done in the past, we can rely on hospitalizations and deaths, but these are considered lagging indicators, said Coleman.

All that being said, were using generalized pieces of information now to get a sense of the severity in a region.

At the height of the pandemic, regional public health officials updated the COVID-19 dashboard daily. Now, the weekly update is similar to the Waterloo Region influenza bulletin, which is updated every Tuesday afternoon.

I see SARS-CoV-2 being a common illness, like the influenza virus, and one we must keep track of to ensure if levels start increasing, we can be proactive in protecting our susceptible populations, said Stephanie DeWitte-Orr, a virologist and immunologist at Laurier.

She said keeping seniors safe should continue to be a priority as public health units monitor community transmission.

Without the obvious visual signs of the pandemic like masks or social distancing, it is easy to fall into the trap of believing the virus is no longer present.

It is still here, said Coleman, and it isnt going anywhere anytime soon.

SARS-CoV-2 has been present to some extent in populations for some time and will likely continue circulating for the foreseeable future, he said.

I would never recommend considering COVID as similar to the flu or common cold, as its been demonstrated that infection still has consequences that are higher than the other two.

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CAMBRIDGE  Waterloo Regional Police are combing the area near Soper Park in Cambridge in search of a man after a house fire on Alison Avenue Tuesday night.

Eleven cruisers and a mobile command unit were set up Wednesday morning around the intersection of Alison Avenue and Elgin Street North at the edge of the park and the Mill Creek trail.

Yellow caution tape roped off the house at 7 Alison Ave., the scene of the blaze.

Neighbours said firefighters responded to the incident Tuesday at about 6:45 p.m. and that most of the damage was at the back of the house in the quiet East Galt area. Damage is estimated at $180,000.

Emergency services were called Tuesday about a dispute with a man. Police believe that man left the home when the fire broke out.

On Wednesday afternoon, police released the name and photograph of a 39-year-old man they continue to search for who may have information regarding the incident.

Police said there are concerns for his well-being and safety, and advise anyone who sees him not to approach, and to contact police immediately by calling 911.

There was a heavy police presence in the area on Wednesday. Some officers were seen on Elgin Street approaching as far as Dundas Street North.

Alison Avenue, which was closed, has been reopened.

Anyone with information is asked to call police at 519-570-9777. To provide anonymous information, call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 or submit online at www.waterloocrimestoppers.com.

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WATERLOO REGION  Waterloo Regional Police had spent $3.1 million less on wages than budgeted by April 1 due to staff shortages.

The Waterloo Regional Police Services first-quarter financial report was presented Wednesday morning to the police board.

On April 1, police were 57 officers short of the authorized complement, contributing to a $3.1-million surplus on wages in the first quarter.

The 57 officers do not include 23 officers hired in April, police Chief Mark Crowell said, bringing the officer shortage to 34.

The service is also short on approved civilian posts.

Full-time permanent civilian positions are also under the authorized complement. The service has a 2023 approved civilian complement of 402 full-time positions, but only 379 of those positions are filled, with 23 vacancies. That shortage is somewhat offset by 11.3 additional temporary full-time posts.

The Waterloo police service  like others across the province and the country  has struggled in recent years to hire the officers it needs to fill its approved officer complement. As a result, the service has posted annual budget surpluses.

The media attention on several recent police killings has added to the challenge, Crowell said.

Some of the focus on the level of violence, danger that some of the officers face, is a bit of a current challenge, he said. Were in unprecedented times currently where the number of officers that have faced danger and lost their lives is currently a consideration for folks.

Ten officers have been killed on the job in Canada since September 2022; six of the deaths were in Ontario and nine were homicides.

He also cited a diversified economy offering careers not previously available, as well as a need to develop positive relationships between police and young people so that they see policing as a viable career.

Hiring prospects have been improving in the past six months, Crowell said.

Were optimistic that, when we start to do projections about hiring thats required to keep our organization afloat, that were on the cusp of some great breakthroughs, he said.

Recruitment was an issue at Region of Waterloo council during budget talks earlier this year.

In February regional council narrowly approved an $18.3-million police budget increase to, in part, fund the hiring of 19 new officers. That was on top of the 35 new officers approved in 2022, which as of budget time, had not been fully hired.

Every additional officer approved requires adding half an additional civilian position into the budget for support.

The timing of hiring and recruitment challenges were an issue after police estimated they would have a $1-million surplus in 2023 because the officers wouldnt be hired until later this year. The service had an average surplus between 2019 and 2021 of $3.3 million.

Also Wednesday the board approved transferring a $1.8-million surplus from its general reserve fund to its capital and vehicle reserves because the general reserve was in excess of its $2 million target.

For the 2023 budget the board opted not to transfer $1.6 million from the general reserve fund to offset the tax increase, according to a board report in December.

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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BEIRUT, May 16 (Xinhua) -- The Lebanese energy minister said on Tuesday that Iraq agreed to increase the volume of heavy fuel oil exported annually to Lebanon by 50 percent to 1.5 million metric tons.

Walid Fayyad said in a statement that Iraq agreed to secure all of Lebanon's needs of oil derivatives to operate power plants and ensure additional power supply during the summer.

Iraq also agreed to provide Lebanon with 2 million metric tons of crude annually. Lebanon received payment facilities for this deal for six months from the date of receipt "without incurring any financial interests and at a price that takes competitive international prices into account," added the minister.

Since July 2021, Lebanon has been importing heavy fuel oil from Iraq to generate electricity from power plants, securing a daily power supply of about four hours, according to an agreement between the two parties.

Under the deal, Iraq provided the Lebanese government with fuel in exchange for healthcare services for Iraqi citizens. Lebanon then swaps the heavy fuel oil for gas oil that can be used at its power stations.

Lebanon has been suffering from an unprecedented financial crisis amid a shortage of foreign reserves needed to import gas oil to operate power plants, leading to power rationing for about 20 hours daily, with most people relying on private generators and solar energy. 
Today

Partly cloudy. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 71F. Winds ENE at 5 to 10 mph.

Tonight

A few clouds. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 48F. Winds W at 5 to 10 mph.

Tomorrow

Scattered showers and thunderstorms. High 72F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 50%.
After more than two years of fighting on behalf Hamilton staff who are unvaccinated for COVID-19, Mountain Coun. Esther Pauls can now put down her shield.

Councillors May 10 approved, in an 11-3 vote, to pause all remaining COVID-19 vaccine provisions under the citys mandatory vaccine verification policy starting May 11.

The pause includes requiring proof of full vaccination in the workplace for all new hires, along with vaccination requirements that were still in place under the policy for long-term-care homes, paramedic services and the Red Hill Child Care Centre staff.

Im so relieved, said Pauls in an interview. I feel like a burden has been lifted. I know a lot of people who wanted to apply (to the city) but couldnt because they were not vaccinated. It is the right thing to do.

Pauls has voted against the vaccine mandate since 2021, often as the lone councillor opposed to the city vaccine policy, insisting that employees should not have to choose between their job or their jab.

Staff had said that about 94 per cent of employees are fully vaccinated, with 64 employees on unpaid leave for failing to disclose their vaccination status and 441 were regularly taking rapid antigen tests. The citys unions had at the time filed 10 grievances involving the vaccine policy.

Hamilton implemented its mandatory COVID-19 vaccination verification policy in August 2021, and it was expanded in January 2022 to include the firing of employees who failed to comply with the policy by May 31, 2022. Council, in a May 2022 vote, extended the deadline for employees to provide proof of vaccination or face termination by Sept. 30, 2022. Councillors then, in February 2023, decided to keep the mandatory policy in place just for paramedics, long-term-care facility staff, child-care staff and new City of Hamilton staff hires.

The world has opened up, said Pauls, who was recently in Europe. I didnt see anybody (in Europe) with masks. COVID-19 is still around. But we have to move on.

Over three years since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, public health officials in the United States and globally are declaring the pandemic emergency over. The World Health Organization recently announced it ended its emergency phase of the pandemic, saying COVID-19 no longer constitutes a public health emergency of international concern.

The WHO released a five-step plan to manage the long-term spread of COVID-19, including: surveillance, community protection, safe and scalable care, access to countermeasures and emergency co-ordination efforts.

In Hamilton, according to city public health officials, the number of new COVID-19 cases remains stable, with six on April 23, seven on April 30 and seven on May 7. The number of ICU admissions at hospitals is zero, while outbreaks are one on April 25, three May 2 and one May 9.

Mayor Andrea Horwath introduced the motion to pause the citys vaccine restrictions, saying it is the appropriate direction to take, while Mountain Coun. Tom Jackson seconded the motion.

Pauls requested that since she has been fighting on behalf of those staff who had been unvaccinated, she wanted to second the motion. Horwath refused, saying it was time to take the temperature down a bit after disagreements with several councillors, along with rallies by people criticizing the citys vaccine policy.

Id prefer it that way (with Jackson seconding the motion), said Horwath. Really, the important thing here is to be able to turn the page.

Pauls later said she understood why Horwath decided not to include her in the motion.

It doesnt matter, said Pauls. I just wanted the motion passed.

Several councillors opposed the motion, including Dundas Alex Wilson, Ward 1s Maureen Wilson and Ward 2s Cameron Kroetsch.

Kroetsch said the pressures on Hamiltons area hospitals because of COVID-19 remain very high but not at the same level as during the pandemic.

Were not dealing with the same levels of impact, but were not in a good situation, he said.

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Haldimand Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) are investigating after a targeted shooting at a home in Caledonia Tuesday morning.

In a video on Twitter, Sgt. Ed Sanchuk said at around 9 a.m. on May 16, officers were called to a weapons complaint at a home on Sixth Line in Caledonia.

Sanchuk said through their investigation, police discovered that during the early-morning hours, unknown suspects had discharged a firearm, with bullets hitting the home while the residents were sleeping inside.

A vehicle was also struck by gunfire, he added.

The great news out of this is that there were no injuries reported, said Sanchuk. Police believe the incident was targeted.

Investigators are asking residents in the surrounding area to come forward with any information or video surveillance that captured activity that might be related to the shooting.

The investigation into the shooting is ongoing.

Those with information are asked to contact OPP by calling 1-888-310-1111. To remain anonymous, call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.

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Jonathan Pruitt, an evolutionary biologist who joined McMaster Universitys science faculty in 2018 billed as an international leader in his field, has been found by the university to have fabricated his research multiple times.

A news release posted by McMaster on May 11 said after an investigation into Pruitts research misconduct, a hearings committee concluded that he engaged in data falsification and fabrication in several papers, and that it happened at different institutions prior to joining the faculty.

Pruitt was 32 when he was hired by Mac, and his research focused on spider behaviour. He resigned from the faculty in July 2022, before the hearing process was concluded.

The allegations against him were based on research he conducted between 2011 and 2015.

Pruitt, who grew up outside Orlando, Fla., had previously conducted research at institutions including the University of Tennessee, the University of California, Davis, the University of Pittsburgh, and the University of Santa Barbara.

When reached by The Spectator, Pruitt declined to comment on McMasters findings.

A co-author on two of Pruitts retracted research papers who was interviewed by McMaster investigators told The Spectator she is pleased the findings were released.

It was difficult to go through, and its a relief, for one, that we have a conclusive end, and to know the investigation found the same things that I thought were going on, said Kate Laskowski, an assistant professor of evolution and ecology at UC Davis.

On May 10, Laskowski tweeted that Pruitt Survivors like herself had been sent the results of the investigation by McMaster.

She told The Spectator Pruitt had tried to disrupt the investigation process as much a possible, which is understandable given that he was fighting for his career, but it also meant he tried to un-retract our papers, and he accused me of acting with malice, and he threatened to sue me. So that was very difficult ... Luckily the broader (science) community wasnt questioning my integrity, but he certainly was.

An article in the journal For Better Science in March 2020 said Canadian shooting star Pruitt had deployed lawyers against his critics. The headline read: Spidermans lawyer is having you for dinner tonight.

Laskowski said she spent time with Pruitt at conferences years ago. They became friends, and he invited her to visit his lab at the University of Pittsburgh. She knew him to be a charismatic, gregarious, outspoken guy, and lots of people in the field liked him.

The news release said McMaster first received complaints about Pruitts research early in 2020, and that more surfaced during the ensuing investigation, requiring the review of thousands of documents. Pruitt was interviewed eight times, and 13 others were interviewed.

The university posted a summary of findings, but not the investigative report. McMaster spokesperson Wade Hemsworth said the school did not release the report because it must remain confidential based on the universitys Research Integrity Policy and applicable law.

The summary suggested Pruitt  a former Canada 150 Research Chair  concluded his research on life cycle behaviours of spiders too quickly, and that inadequate record keeping did not allow his work to be properly verified or replicated.

On a balance of probabilities, the summary reads, McMaster Universitys Research Integrity Policy was breached by Dr. Pruitt.

Laskowski said she was pleased to receive the summary, but also wishes McMaster would release the report to learn more of the findings, and whether others were also at fault, although that seems unlikely ... this really seemed to be (Pruitts) thing.

One of those who replied to Laskowskis tweet about McMasters findings was Albrecht Schulte-Hostedde, director of the Centre for Evolutionary and Ethical Conservation at Laurentian University. He tweeted that McMaster should make the report public.

He told The Spectator that while complaints against Pruitt were known literally years ago, he believes McMaster did not act quickly enough or with sufficient transparency to address the situation.

The research funds that supported the Canada 150 Research Chair that Pruitt held were public monies, and all Canadians deserve to hear what happened in a timely manner, he wrote in an email.

Schulte-Hostedde said the Pruitt controversy is incredibly damaging to science ... We trust scientists to be objective. But he added its also notable that the science community corrected the record, and Pruitts co-researchers were transparent at an unprecedented scale.

He added that he uses the Pruitt case to teach his students about scientific integrity and research misconduct.

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As wildfires rage across much of Alberta, the province has issued a plea to public servants, encouraging anyone with firefighting experience to volunteer to step up and battle the blazes.

The call-out from Danielle Smiths government appears to be a sobering reflection of the need for more boots on the ground, as the province wages what has become an increasingly challenging annual battle. It comes as the province has already received firefighters from other jurisdictions across the country, and as tens of thousands of residents have been displaced from their homes.

In an email sent to upwards of 20,000 provincial employees Tuesday, from policy analysts to roadway workers, the government put out the appeal to anyone with fire experience  either battling blazes or assisting with logistics  who might volunteer to help. Anyone interested was asked to submit an email stating their experience and their willingness to deploy to other areas; managers were encouraged to be supportive.

Thank you to all of you who step forward as we all work together to take care of our communities, the email read.

Its a glimpse into just how challenging the current fire situation is in Alberta  and of what may be yet to come. This spring, the province was hammered by scorching temperatures at a critical window for fire risk: after much of the snow had melted, exposing last years dry grass and pine needles, but before whats known as green up, when much of the new spring growth sprouts.

As of Thursday morning, there were 89 active fires burning in the province, according to provincial numbers, with 24 burning out of control. Thats of almost 500 lit since the beginning of the year, which is almost double the year-to-date average of the past five years.

The weather this year has been compared to 2016, when similarly hot and dry temperatures fuelled a megablaze  nicknamed The Beast  that would force the evacuation of the entire oil centre of Fort McMurray. But this years problem is one of numbers. Instead of one devastating fire in the north, there are dozens scattered across the province.

The current fire map is dotted with flame icons, stretching from the Rockies in the west, all the way east to the border with Saskatchewan; from even further north than Fort McMurray to as far south as Red Deer. More than 600,000 hectares have burned so far, which is 10 times the city footprint of Toronto. Much of the province sits under a blanket of smoke.

I think we were as prepared as any agency can be for this sort of wildfire season, said Josee St-Onge, a spokesperson for Alberta Wildfire. But were being faced with circumstances that are unusual in the amount of wildfire thats on the landscape. So I think, at this point, its more were trying to plan for the months ahead.

Its not clear yet how many volunteers are being sought nor how they might be deployed. St-Onge said she did not have that information, and the Public Service Commission did not respond to questions.

There are roughly 1,600 people already employed to fight fires by Alberta, including permanent and seasonal firefighters as well as support staff, according to Alberta Wildfire. Another 900 people have been brought in from other provinces, including 300 members of the armed forces.

This isnt a typical emergency situation because its already been going on for weeks, points out Ana Potzaki, who teaches disaster and emergency management at the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology in Edmonton. Part of the thinking here is likely providing a reprieve to staff exhausted by one of the busiest spring seasons in recent years. People have been working non-stop for weeks, she says. A human can only do so much, right?

Planning a fire response is challenging, because you never really know when or where a fire is going to start, says David Martell, a professor emeritus of forestry at the University of Toronto, who specializes in wildfire management systems.

Most fires in Canada are started by humans, particularly in the springtime, when there are fewer lightning strikes, which adds an element of unpredictability, he says. Much also depends on the weather forecast, which means that most people in the fire business are really only able to see four or five days ahead. Of course, more fires means more challenges.

Theyre spread out, so you get into the logistics problem, he says. If youve got multiple major fires, youre going to need more incident-management teams to handle them and more staff on the ground.

Youve got people out there fighting fires, you have to feed them. Youve got to set up whole supply chains to keep the army marching.

But the fact that Alberta is now seeking out volunteers speaks to its desperation and lack of planning, argues Mike Dempsey, the vice-president of the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees, which represents roughly 20,000 people employed by the province.

The governing United Conservatives have faced considerable criticism in recent days for a decision back in 2019 to cut the Rapattack team, an elite group of 63 firefighters who were once stationed around the province and were trained to rappel from helicopters in order to extinguish small fires before they grew out of control.

But Dempsey, himself a former forest officer and firefighter, says the provincial fire programs were under a set budget for many years prior, despite the growing risk of fire, and then faced recent cuts. A lot of veteran firefighters left the province and he says that many of the crews hitting the ground now have less experience.

According to the government database, the budget for wildfire management in 2018-19 was $130 million. This year, it was $102 million.

This would have been a bad fire season anyway, he says. But it probably could have taken the edge off of it, if we had more planning, if we had better resources, especially since we knew this was going to happen sooner or later.

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HAPPY VALLEY-GOOSE BAY, N.L. - As burnout and high turnover plague groups that work to combat violence against women across Canada, community organizations in Labrador are trying to buck the trend. They have begun holding regular meetings in an effort to ease the emotional strain of working alone in far-flung communities, in a region with unique challenges and high rates of sexual assault.

The effort has resulted in higher spirits, more hope and plans for a new counselling centre in Happy Valley-Goose Bay, N.L.

This is kind of like the aftercare that we all need as service providers, said Nicole Dicker, who runs Nain Safe House, the womens shelter in the community of about 1,100 people on Labradors north coast. We can be alone together.

Across Canada, those who work with victims of gender-based violence are burning out, and the COVID-19 pandemic has only added to their stress, said Robyn Hoogendam, manager of research and policy at Womens Shelters Canada. Last year, her organization launched the Feminist Brain Drain Study, looking at the mental health of shelter staff across the country and how it affects retention. The study is in the final stages, but Hoogendam said so far, respondents have reported increased workloads and stress levels.

While we cant definitely say that burnout has increased through the pandemic, we heard from workers that they were experiencing burnout. With increases in the rates of violence and the severity of violence, staff have larger caseloads, she said in an email.

Her organizations national survey of shelter and transition house workers across Canada also found that 1,300 front-line staff and 126 executive directors or managers left their organizations in 2022, which is roughly 27 per cent of the workforce represented in the study. Burnout and low pay were among the most common reasons for staff leaving, the survey says.

Labrador has particular challenges. The police-reported sexual assault rate in the region is between four and six times the national average, according to data from the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary and the RCMP spanning a period between 2016 to 2020. The two forces share policing duties in the region, which is home to about 27,500 people spread out over an area that makes up almost three-quarters of the provinces land mass. Resources are scarce and scattered.

In Nain, one of five fly-in Inuit communities along the regions northeast coast, housing shortages and overcrowding add to the problem, Dicker said in an interview. Without an adequate supply of homes in the remote community, women have nowhere to go if they are being hurt at home.

The pandemic has been hard on Dicker and her staff, and it created a lot of extra work on top of the isolation and the systemic issues in her community that contribute to high rates of violence against women, she said. But the regular meetings with her peers have brought her hope.

The meetings began in earnest last year, and there are now 26 people from organizations all over the region regularly taking part, said Petrina Beals, the executive director of Violence Prevention Labrador, who is based in Happy Valley-Goose Bay. Other members of the coalition credit Beals for pulling the gatherings together, but she brushes the accolades aside.

Beals said the conversations, which people join in person or by video, have given those working emotionally demanding jobs a place to open up about their struggles and feel less alone. Her organization has since pooled resources with two others  the Mokami Status of Women Council and the Newfoundland and Labrador Sexual Assault Crisis and Prevention Centre  to rent a small, one-storey office building in Happy Valley-Goose Bay, with plans to turn it into a counselling centre for people affected by gender-based violence.

They moved in last month and the space is still largely empty, except for two red couches, an armchair and piles of newly unboxed and neatly stacked hoodies that say, Labrador cares. Its the working slogan for the coalition, said Stacey Hoffe, Mokamis executive director. I think thats the message weve all come to, she said. It was a real epiphany of what we needed.

Deirdre Connolly, with the crisis and prevention centre, was interviewed for several news stories in 2021 about sexual assault rates in Labrador.

There was a lot of feedback that, Hey, we know sexual violence and gender-based violence, colonial violence, is widespread .... What are we doing about that? she said. At the time, it was a tough question for her to answer, she said, because back it felt like she was working in a silo.

Now she feels supported and part of a real solution. Sharing the costs, Connolly, Hoffe and Beals have created a position for someone to spend the summer researching how they can build a roster of counsellors who will understand Labrador and want to stay. The person will also look at how the centre can care for its counsellors so they stay healthy in an emotionally difficult job. Theres no date yet for opening, but they said theyll be closer to setting one in the fall.

Labrador has had to take care of itself forever, Beals said. This is just bringing Labrador back to its core.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 17, 2023.

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TOKYO, May 17 (Xinhua) -- In the run-up to the Group of Seven (G7) summit in Japan's western city of Hiroshima, large numbers of Japanese have taken to the streets in Tokyo to protest against the government's move to discharge nuclear wastewater into the sea.

They also handed a petition to the Japanese government, Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) and the parliament, demanding immediate suspension of the dumping plan.

On Tuesday morning, residents from prefectural regions including Tokyo, Fukushima and Nagasaki, rallied in front of the TEPCO headquarters, about only 1 kilometer away from Kasumigaseki where Japan's central government departments gather.

Chanting slogans such as "Don't pollute the ocean," "Protect fisheries" and "Guard the future" in unison, the crowd held banners and flags with slogans that read "Don't discharge polluted water into the sea," "Don't pollute the ocean for all," and "The sea is not the toilet for nuclear power plants."

Hit by a magnitude-9.0 earthquake and an ensuing tsunami on March 11, 2011, the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant suffered core meltdowns that released radiation, resulting in a level-7 nuclear accident, the highest on the International Nuclear and Radiological Event Scale.

The plant has been generating a massive amount of water tainted with radioactive substances from cooling down the nuclear fuel in the reactor buildings, which are now stored in about 1,000 storage tanks.

In 2015, the Japanese government and TEPCO made an agreement with fisheries cooperative associations of both Fukushima prefecture and the nation that they will not proceed with any wastewater disposal "without the understanding of relevant parties."

However, the Japanese government announced in April 2021 its controversial plan to release diluted wastewater into the Pacific Ocean and stated in January this year that the discharge will start "in the spring or summer."

Kazuyoshi Sato, co-director of KOREUMI, a Japanese citizens' conference to condemn further pollution of the ocean and one of the rallies' organizers said on Tuesday the Japanese government has been making all kinds of excuses, stressing that other discharge methods would not work, and they could not preserve nuclear-polluted water on land.

Sato, also a resident of Fukushima prefecture, added that the Japanese government is now spending tens of billions of yen to publicize the discharge plan through various media platforms, but the public, not convinced of such wrong propaganda, will not agree to the decision.

"Through today's actions, we are raising our voice against the dumping plan to the whole world," he said.

Tokyo resident Kouzou Seki, who is originally from Fukushima and has participated in several anti-discharge rallies, told Xinhua that everyone, from members of the local fishing association to local residents in Fukushima, is against the dumping plan, "but the government forced the decision anyway."

"We have to stop the discharge," he said, adding that it is not too late to start considering and developing proper methods instead of the discharge plan.

At rallies held at TEPCO headquarters and the Members' Office Buildings of the House of Representatives on Tuesday, Chiyo Oda, another co-director of the group, read and submitted a petition to relevant representatives, demanding them to abide by the agreement with local associations such as Fukushima Prefectural Federation of Fisheries Co-operative Associations and not to discharge nuclear-polluted water into the ocean without the understanding and consent of relevant parties.

The petition required disclosure of information such as the concentration and total amount of all radionuclides and reassessment of the radiation's impact on the marine environment and creatures.

It also demanded fundamental countermeasures from TEPCO, such as exploring the construction of large water storage tanks for long-term nuclear-polluted water preservation and promoting the practical application of tritium separation technology.

On Tuesday evening, about 500 protesters gathered in Hibiya Park, where Takayuki Yani, a Fukushima resident who works in the fishing industry, questioned if the government would dump the wastewater without any authorization by ignoring the previous agreement.

According to him, radioactive substances in the wastewater still raise jitters, and marine products from Fukushima suffered rejections by the market in the cases of previous leaks of nuclear-contaminated water stored in tanks.

"This is unacceptable to us in the fishing industry and I think it is not understood by most relevant parties," he said.

Tuesday's protests were also supported by civic groups in South Korea. Esther Yu, who traveled from South Korea to attend the rally, told Xinhua that they are worried about the release of contaminated water into the sea.

"We are very angry that the South Korean government now no longer actively opposes the plan and is even tolerant of it," she said.

It was past seven o'clock at night and the street lights were just beginning to come on. The protesters, chanting slogans, lined up and marched toward Tokyo's Ginza. 
MONTREAL - A 27-year-old man from Quebec was shot to death in Mexicos Pacific coast beach town of Puerto Escondido, prosecutors said Tuesday.

Oaxaca state prosecutors said Victor Masson was found dead in a car with a bullet wound on Monday in a neighbourhood of Puerto Escondido where few tourists stay. Prosecutors did not provide any possible motive in the slaying.

The prosecutors did not release his hometown, but Quebec media outlet Le Quotidien reported that Masson was from Chicoutimi, in the provinces SaguenayLac-Saint-Jean region.

Annie Viau, a family spokesperson who described herself as Massons brothers partner, confirmed the death but gave few other details.

You understand that the family of Victor Masson is in shock and that members learned of the death through the media, Viau told The Canadian Press in an emailed statement written in French and Spanish.

Viau said the family was asking for privacy, fearing that the dissemination of false information in the context of this file could interfere with the investigation.

Masson was the second foreign tourist killed in the southern state of Oaxaca in less than a week. His killing comes three days after a man from Argentina was seriously wounded in a machete attack in another coastal town in Oaxaca. Prosecutors said Monday the Argentine tourist  whose name was not released  died of his injuries at a hospital in Mexico City.

He was among a group of three Argentines who were attacked by a Mexican man with a machete on Friday in the hamlet of La Isla, at the mouth of the Laguna de Chacahua, on the Pacific coast. The other two tourists were also wounded, but they were expected to survive.

Laguna de Chacahua is about 100 kilometres west of Puerto Escondido.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 17, 2023.

 With files from The Associated Press

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It took eight years to put a man on the moon. The first portion of the London underground took three years to build. The Eglinton LRT however  well, were still unsure when that will be finished, 12 years and counting.

Construction started in the summer of 2011 with an initial completion date of 2020 for the light-rail system that stretches 19 kms along Eglinton Avenue, with 25 stations along the way. Metrolinx confirmed on Tuesday the LRT will not open this year.

This week, legal wrangling added more uncertainty to the projects ever-expanding timeline, with the group of companies building the line asking for a courts permission to stop construction.

If 12-plus years seems like a long time to build a rail system down a Toronto street, it is. Here are some projects  and some truly epic human and engineering feats  that took less time to complete than the construction of the Eglinton LRT.

CN Tower: Three years

Construction crews started working on the CN Tower on Feb. 6, 1973. The tower was finished on April 2, 1975 and opened to the public on June 26, 1976.

Landing a man on the moon: Eight years

In 1961 President John F. Kennedy told Congress: I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to Earth.

Apollo 11 launched on July 16, 1969 and landed on the moon four days later on July 20.

The nuclear bomb: Six years

On Aug. 2, 1939 Albert Einstein wrote a warning to U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt that Nazis were working on the Atomic bomb. That soon led to the creation of the Manhattan Project. Six years after Einstein sent his letter, the first atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, Japan on Aug. 6, 1945 killing 140,000 people during the explosion and from the after-effects.

Canadian Pacific Railway: Four years

The Canadian Pacific Railway Company was incorporated on Feb. 16, 1881 and construction later started on the railway. On Nov. 7, 1885 the eastern and western parts of the CPR met in B.C. and the last spike was driven into the track, marking the end of the transcontinental railway. The work was treacherous, much of it given to poorly paid Chinese workers, hundreds of whom died.

Hadrians Wall: Six years

In 122 AD, Emperor Hadrian came to Britain and its believed in that same year he ordered a wall be built to keep hostile tribes out of the Roman Empires northern frontier.

Construction of the 118-km wall stretching across rolling hills and fields was completed six years later. The stone and turf barrier measured about four metres high and about two metres thick.

The Roman Colosseum: Eight years

One of the greatest pieces of Roman architecture ever built took eight years to complete. Planning on Colosseum began in 70 AD and construction started in 72 AD. According to thecolesseum.org, most of the work was done by Jewish slaves.

Panama Canal: 10 years

An agreement between the U.S. and Panama was negotiated, granting the U.S access to a wide strip of land for the canal. The Hay-Bunau-Varilla Treaty was ratified in the U.S. on Feb. 23, 1904 and the Canal was completed in 1914. The official opening on the Panama Canal was on Aug. 15, 1914.

The London Underground (first line): Three years

In 1863, the worlds first underground railway opened in London between Paddington and Farringdon, with six stations along the route.

Hoover Dam: Five years

Construction on the Hoover Dam started in 1930 and the dam was completed in 1935.

The Channel Tunnel: Six years

The Channel Tunnel  often referred to as the Chunnel  is a 50 km-long undersea tunnel connecting southern England with northern France. Construction started in 1988 and was completed in 1993 with Eurostar Services starting in Nov. 1994.

The 407 Highway: 10 years

Construction on the Highway 407 started in August 1987, marked by a sod-turning ceremony by politicians on Aug. 4, 1987. The highway opened to motorists on June 7, 1997  six months behind schedule.

Marmaray tunnel: Nine years

Construction on Istanbuls Marmaray tunnel connecting Asia to Europe beneath the Bosporus strait started in 2004 and was completed on Oct. 29, 2013, according to a CNN report.

War and Peace: Six years

Leo Tolstoy wrote the historical novel War and Peace over six years. Its known as a masterwork of Russian literature and one the worlds greatest novels.

The next records to fall to the LRT?

Here are a couple of epic achievements that took  at least so far  longer than construction on the Eglinton LRT.

The empire of Alexander the Great: 13 years

Named king of Macedonia after his fathers death in 336 BC, Alexander the Great travelled from Greece to Egypt to India building an unrivalled empire over three continents.

The Big Dig: 14 years

The Boston underground highway project stands as the modern-day epitome of the sprawling megaproject. Construction started in 1991 and, dogged by massive cost overruns and delays, it was largely completed by early 2006, at a final cost of over $15 billion.

A race to the finish

The Winds of Winter: Ongoing

Who will finish first: Toronto with its LRT or George R.R. Martin? The sci-fi writers last work in his A Song of Ice and Fire series was published in 2011, the same year the Eglinton LRT project started. Martin once said he expected the next book would take three years. He is still going.

 with files from Star Archives

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When news breaks that an inmate at a federal penitentiary has escaped, its easy to conjure scenes from the TV show Prison Break or the movie The Shawshank Redemption of tunnels, papier-mache dummies or ingenious disguises to fool guards.

In reality, in Canada at least, prison escapes  when they occur, which is seldom  are much less dramatic affairs.

Case in point: the recent absconding on Tuesday of Joshua Kenneth Kohl, 42, from the minimum security facility at Collins Bay Institution in Kingston. On Tuesday evening, Collins Bay staff conducted their normal count and discovered the Hamilton-area murderer was unaccounted for, according to the Correctional Service of Canada (CSC).

Youre expected to be in certain places and do your institutional work. You need to check in, said CSC Regional Communications Manager, Mike Shrider.

While Shrider couldnt provide the exact circumstances of Kohls escape, its feasible Kohl was simply able to walk away, said Robert Clark, a 30-year veteran of the federal prison system and former deputy warden.

In my experience, a lot of escapes are poorly planned and they are often somewhat spontaneous. It can be a result of a burst of anger about something else thats going on, a bad phone call from a spouse, something like that, explained Clark, who also worked with some of Canadas most notorious prisoners, including Paul Bernardo and Tyrone Conn. A lot of these guys have very terrible decision-making processes and much of their lives are lived in a compulsive, chaotic way.

Kohl was serving an indeterminate life sentence for second-degree murder after beating a man to death at a Burlington birthday party on March 26, 2002.

Immediately after his reported escape from custody Tuesday, police had warned he could pose a safety risk and that a warrant had been issued for his arrest. It seems Kohl didnt get far though; he was rearrested Wednesday without incident, police say. He was later charged with being unlawfully at large.

While there are several federal correctional institutions in the Kingston area, incidents like this are infrequent, said Bryan Paterson, the mayor of Kingston. When one does occur, there is a process in place to ensure a swift response which includes immediate outreach to Kingston Police for support.

Paterson added that he was informed by Correctional Services of Canada that the agency will be conducting a review of their security procedures in light of the incident and will make adjustments to these procedures as required.

Kohl, of Simcoe, was 23 when he was sentenced for his part in what a judge called the senseless beating death of Robert Zeszutek at Zeszuteks 40th birthday party.

Superior Court Justice Chris Speyer described Kohl in Milton court as a troubled man with a lengthy criminal record and alcohol problems.

Under the advice of lawyers and the Crown attorneys office, Kohl pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, and the two others involved pleaded guilty to manslaughter.

His victim, Zeszutek, was a part-time letter carrier, who lived alone in a 14th floor apartment in Burlington Square Residences on Ghent Avenue at Brant Street in Burlington.

According to an agreed statement of facts, he was beaten to death after a night of partying with Kohl and others.

Inmate counts normally take place three times a day: one in the morning before inmates are put to work inside the institution or, in some cases, the community as part of work-release programs; one at suppertime; and another around midnight, said Chris Bucholtz, regional president for Ontario of the Union of Canadian Correctional Officers.

He said that generally, for those at minimum-security facilities where inmates are allowed to work in the community, perhaps on a farm, apple orchard or cemetery, the latest theyd be out is five or six at night. Usually its around a regular workday, said Bucholtz, who worked for 28 years at Millhaven Institution, a maximum-security prison in Bath, Ont.

He said the normal procedure when an inmate is discovered missing at a minimum security facility has nothing of the alarm bells, clanking of steel jail cell doors and general chaos of the movies. Quite the opposite in fact; he said a call would be made to the provincial Repeat Offender Parole Enforcement (ROPE) Squad, a team across several police forces tasked with locating and apprehending both inmates who escape from custody and parolees unlawfully at large. They in turn would alert the public through the OPP.

The CSCs Shrider said while there arent cells with bars in minimum security facilities, inmates are still subject to strict rules. No drugs. No alcohol. And, in the case of Collins Bay, inmates can undertake jobs within the institution, for which they are paid. Some are escorted off the grounds on temporary absences for work, but that wasnt the case here, he said, without elaborating.

Minimum security prisons are mainly for inmates who are at the end of their sentences or low-risk cases that might be good for parole, Clark said.

Minimum security gives an added level of credibility that other prisoners dont get a chance to demonstrate, he said, noting that such facilities can also be places for those serving life sentences who, for various reasons such as age or the nature of their crimes, are deemed lower risk. Its just a better place for them to serve their sentence.

But if its so easy to literally just walk away from a low-security facility, why dont more inmates do it? Clark said its simply not worth it.

Youd be charged with escape from lawful custody and for a lot of guys, that could mean an additional three to six months added to their sentence, he said. You will also be moved up in security and it will be on your file that you escaped lawful custody. So if youre ever in jail again or youre in a jail for a long time to come still, getting back to minimum security or getting parole would be much more difficult.

Shrider said Kohl has had, and will continue to have, the opportunity to ask for parole.

But in doing that, you need to show good behaviour and you need to prove that youre ready to reintegrate into society, and something like this will not help his case, he said.

Kohls was at least the second escape from custody of a convicted killer in Canada in less than a year.

Two-time convicted murderer Rabih (Robby) Alkhalil remains on the loose after escaping custody in British Columbia last summer.

Alkhalil is a leader of the Wolfpack Alliance, a multi-ethnic association of organized criminals who was convicted of organizing gangland murders at cafes on College St. and in downtown Vancouver.

Alkhalil was convicted of arranging for hit man Dean Wiwchar of Stouffville to murder Johnny Raposo of Toronto at the Sicilian Sidewalk Cafe on College Street in 2012 in a dispute over cocaine importing.

Last August, Alkhalil was convicted in absentia of first-degree murder for planning and supervising the murder of United Nations gang leader Sandip Duhre on Jan. 17, 2012.

Wiwchar of Stouffville was also convicted in both murders. Wiwchar remains in custody.

Alkhalil was aided in his July escape from a B.C. detention centre by two men in a white van who posed as contractors, the RCMP said.

No arrests have been made in that escape.

According to CSC, there were 11 escape incidents involving 11 offenders in 2020-21 across all of Canada. In every case, all offenders were recaptured.

Collins Bay Institution is just west of downtown Kingston. It has minimum, medium and maximum-security facilities with an overall capacity of about 760 inmates.

Kenyon Wallace is a Toronto-based investigative reporter for the Star. Follow him on Twitter: @KenyonWallace or reach him via email: kwallace@thestar.ca

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Toronto police are looking for a suspect after several renters were defrauded in an apartment scam.

A 49-year-old man advertised various apartments he was not authorized to display or lease between November 2022 and February 2023, police said.

Police allege Cem Devrim Turetken has used multiple aliases and company names, including GTA Rentals and Smart Rental Property Management Inc., located in Sudbury.

Police believe there might be more victims and are encouraging anyone who knows about the suspect's whereabouts to come forward.

Toronto police are reminding the public to be aware of "too good to be true" rent rates when hunting for apartments.

Police also said renters should not give a security deposit or rent payment before signing a lease and ensure the property isn't being listed elsewhere by double checking the address.

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Plan your trip before youre in your car: The Ministry of Transportation has scheduled 10 closures in Peel on May 17, 2023 for roadwork on Highway 401, Highway 403, Highway 410 and Queen Elizabeth Way.

Highway 401 westbound express between Mavis Road and Mississauga Rd, Mississauga: one right lane closed until May 17 at 6 a.m.

Highway 403 westbound between Matheson Boulevard and Matheson Blvd, Mississauga: one right lane closed until Aug. 31 at 5 a.m.

Highway 403 westbound express between Matheson Boulevard and Matheson Blvd, Mississauga: one left lane closed until Sept. 4 at 5 a.m.

Highway 403 westbound transfer at Matheson Blvd, Mississauga: all lanes closed until Dec. 3 at 6 a.m.

Highway 410 southbound between Valleywood Boulevard / Hurontario St, Caledon and Mayfield Road, Brampton: one left lane closed until May 19 at 2:30 p.m.

Queen Elizabeth Way Fort Erie bound between Highway 10 / Hurontario and Mississauga Road, Mississauga: two alternating lanes closed until May 19 at 6 a.m.

Queen Elizabeth Way Fort Erie bound on-ramp at Mississauga Road, Mississauga: all lanes closed until Aug. 1 at 11:59 p.m.

Queen Elizabeth Way Toronto bound between Dixie Road, Mississauga and East Mall, Toronto: two alternating lanes closed until May 21 at 5:30 a.m.

Queen Elizabeth Way Toronto bound between Dixie Road, Mississauga and West Mall / Evans Ave, Toronto: two alternating lanes closed until May 17 at 5 a.m.

Queen Elizabeth Way Toronto bound between Erin Mills Parkway / Southdown Road and Credit River, Mississauga: two alternating lanes closed until May 19 at 5 a.m.

Have further to travel? Highway closures for planned roadwork outside Peel

About this story

This story was automatically generated using open data from Ontario 511. These closures are scheduled for short-term or emergency repairs and maintenance of provincial highways around Mississauga, Brampton and Caledon. The disruptions may be intermittent or ongoing and can change due to weather, emergencies and other factors.

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Democrat Cherelle Parker turned back challenges from the left Tuesday to win Philadelphias mayoral primary, a contest that serves as the nations latest barometer of the mood of big cities in dealing with issues such as crime, poverty and inequality.

Her primary win in the heavily Democratic city puts Parker on track to become the first woman elected mayor of Philadelphia. It is the latest local election to represent a clash between moderates and progressives on concerns such as policing and education and to show the power of union support in big city politics.

In Chicago, progressive Democrat Brandon Johnson began serving as mayor this week, promising the city will grow by rerouting the rivers of prosperity to the base of disinvestment. In Los Angeles, new Democratic Mayor Karen Bass wants to spend more than $1 billion to get unhoused people into shelter and treatment programs.

And in Pittsburgh on Tuesday, Allegheny Countys top public defender, Matt Dugan, ran some 11 percentage points ahead of the 25-year incumbent district attorney, Stephen Zappala, in the Democratic primary. Dugan promised to eliminate cash bail and change a system where justice depends on where you live or what you look like. A late write-in effort by Republicans to nominate Zappala may have worked, setting up a possible November rematch.

Allegheny County voters also turned to state Rep. Sara Innamorato, a liberal who wants to improve policies at the jail as part of a comprehensive public health approach to public safety, as the Democratic nominee for county executive. Innamorato supports an end to high fines and fees for minor offenses, mandatory minimums and solitary confinement.

Parkers mayoral win in Philadelphia, setting her up to likely be the citys 100th mayor, was a disappointment to progressives who rallied around Helen Gym, who was backed by Vermont U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders and New York U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

Parker, 50, who served for 10 years as a state representative for northwest Philadelphia before her election to the city council in 2015, asserted herself as a leader whose government experience would allow her to address gaping problems with public safety and quality of life in the nations sixth-largest city. She will go up against Republican David Oh in the Nov. 7 general election.

Parker emerged from a crowded field of five front-runner Democratic candidates vying to replace Democrat Jim Kenney, who is term-limited. She beat out other former city council members who resigned from their seats to throw their hats in the ring; a state representative; a former city controller and a political outsider businessman.

Parker pledged to stop the sense of lawlessness that is plaguing our city by putting hundreds more officers on the street to engage in community policing. Parker pushed for officers to use every legal tool, including stopping someone when they have just cause and reasonable suspicion.

She received support from members of the Philadelphia delegation in the House, as well as members of Congress. She was also backed by labor unions and a number of wards in the city, and Kenney said he had cast his ballot for her.

Innamorato in Allegheny County will face the lone Republican primary contender, Joseph Rockey, in the November general election.

Allegheny County, Im going to make one promise to you: I will build a team of leaders who will usher in the future of this region and build a more equitable and just county, she said at a campaign event Tuesday, asking supporters to enjoy the victory and recharge. We better get ready, because we have a lot of work to do.

Our Revolution, a movement born during Sanders 2016 presidential race and now one of the largest progressive organizations in the country, had endorsed Innamorato  a win for the movement, even with its loss in the mayoral primary.

__

Associated Press video journalist Tassanee Vejpongsa in Philadelphia and reporter Mark Scolforo in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, contributed to this report.

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UNITED NATIONS (AP)  Myanmars military has imported at least $1 billion worth of weapons and related material from Russia, China and other countries since its February 2021 coup, some of which it has used to carry out atrocities against civilians, according to a U.N. report released Wednesday.

The weapons continue to flow to the military despite overwhelming evidence of its responsibility for the atrocities, including some that amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity, said Tom Andrews, the U.N. independent investigator on human rights in Myanmar.

As an example of what he called the juntas brutality, Andrews pointed to its April 11 airstrike using a Russian Yak-130 fighter jet on a ceremony attended by some 300 opponents of army rule, which was quickly followed by an attack by Russian Mi-35 helicopters on those who came to help. He said at least 160 people were killed, including many children.

In addition, the machine guns and bombs used in the attacks included parts and materials from companies located in Singapore, China and Thailand, he said.

Myanmar is mired in strife because of a political crisis unleashed when the military took power. Its takeover prompted widespread peaceful protests that security forces suppressed with deadly force, triggering armed resistance throughout the country that the army has been unable to quell. Andrews said at least 22,000 political prisoners have been detained since the coup, at least 3.500 civilians have been killed and 1.5 million people have been forcibly displaced.

The report documents over 12,500 purchases that were shipped directly to the Myanmar military or known Myanmar arms dealers working for the military from Feb. 1, 2021, when the military ousted the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi, until December 2022, Andrews said at a news conference.

He said the volume and diversity of equipment the military received was staggering, ranging from fighter jets and attack helicopters and drones to advanced missile systems, tank upgrades, sophisticated communications equipment, radar complexes and components for naval ships.

Andrews, a former Democratic congressman from Maine , said he had received highly credible and detailed information from confidential sources identifying the major networks and companies involved in the arms trade with Myanmar.

The report to the Geneva-based Human Rights Council identifies $406 million in weapons and material that went to the Myanmar military from Russia, $267 million from China, $254 million from Singapore, $51 million from India and $28 million from Thailand.

Since the coup, the report said, 28 Russian private and state-owned companies have transferred fighter jets and their spare parts, advanced missile systems, reconnaissance and attack drones, attack helicopters and other systems to the junta.

The report identified 41 private and state-owned companies registered in China and Hong Kong that supplied the Myanmar military with an extensive array of arms, equipment and raw materials between October 2021 and December 2022, including advanced trainer jets, light attack aircraft, tank upgrades and repairs for Chinese fighter jets, which make up the Myanmar Air Force fleet, the report said.

They also supplied aluminum, copper, steel, rubber and lubricants for use in Myanmars domestic weapons manufacturing, it said.

Unlike with Russia and China, and to a lesser extent India, Andrews said he received no information indicating that the governments of Singapore or Thailand approved or transferred arms to the Myanmar military.

He said companies in Singapore are of critical importance to the junta, having supplied spare parts, raw materials and manufacturing equipment, especially for Myanmars KaPaSa weapons factories. Thai companies have done the same, the report said.

Twelve Thai companies were established after the coup, many by sanctioned arms networks already operating in Singapore, which suggests arms dealers may be looking at Thailand as an alternative route to avoid scrutiny, the report said.

Andrews said Singapore has a policy prohibiting the transfer of arms to Myanmar, and he reported his detailed findings to the government, which he said expressed appreciation for the information and indicated it was reviewing the effectiveness of its export controls.

If the Singapore government stopped all arms shipments to the Myanmar military, he said, the impact on the ability of the junta to manufacture arms would be significant.

Andrews said China and Russia both criticized the report, saying it went beyond his human rights mandate, and accused him of vilifying legitimate arms trade. He countered that identifying the sources of gross human rights violations and atrocities, including crimes against humanity and war crimes, is within my mandate and in my moral obligation.

Andrews said India responded to the reports findings that 22 state-owned and private firms shipped a coastal surveillance system, a remote-controlled weapons system, components from an ammunition and missile manufacturer, and 122 mm howitzer barrels by saying these involved contracts with the previous civilian government.

A U.N. General Assembly resolution adopted on June 18, 2021, calls upon all member states to prevent the flow of arms into Myanmar, but unlike a Security Council resolution it is not legally binding. The United States, United Kingdom, European Union, Canada and Switzerland have imposed sanctions on arms dealers providing support to the military.

Andrews said the sanctions werent coordinated and have been largely ineffective. He called for countries to impose coordinated sanctions that target the networks that procure weapons and also the juntas finances.

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BEIJING (AP)  Foreign embassies in Beijing were asked by the Chinese government to avoid displaying what it calls propaganda in an apparent response to shows of support for Ukraine.

Chinese leader Xi Jinpings government says it is neutral in Moscows 15-month-old invasion of Ukraine but has repeated Russian justifications, accusing Washington and the U.S.-European military alliance NATO of provoking Moscow.

A Chinese envoy visited Ukraine this week and was due to go to Russia to discuss a possible political settlement, but little progress is expected.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry asked diplomatic missions last week not to use their exterior walls to display political propaganda, according to a European Union spokesperson and a diplomat from a European government.

The May 8 request cites a need to avoid causing disputes between countries, but doesnt define propaganda or give other details, EU spokesperson Nabila Massrali wrote in a statement.

Massrali said the EU Delegation in Beijing has not changed any items displayed at its front wall.

The request didnt mention Ukraine, according to the diplomats. But flags and placards set up by embassies of Canada, France, Germany and other governments are the only public displays by most foreign missions, other than tourism advertisements.

The European diplomat, who asked not to be identified further due to the sensitivity of the issue, said his government doesnt see any reason to change its display.

A 2-meter (6.5-foot) -tall placard at the front gate of the Finnish Embassy has the flags of Finland and Ukraine and says #WeStandWithUkraine. A billboard hung on Swedens Embassy has the same phrase and flags of the two countries.

Those displays have been up for months. It wasnt clear why China made the removal request now.

Some embassies also raised rainbow flags for Diversity Week and Wednesdays International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia. Such issues are considered politically sensitive by Chinas ruling Communist Party.

Asked for confirmation and details, foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said embassies were obliged to respect Chinese laws and regulations, but gave no details.

China calls on embassies of all countries in China and representative offices of international organizations in China to perform their duties in accordance with the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations or relevant international agreements, Wang said.

The Chinese envoy, Li Hui, met over two days with Ukraine Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, according to the two governments.

The Ukrainian government said they discussed ways to stop Russian aggression, but neither side gave details.

Li said the two governments should create conditions for ending the war and peace talks, according to a Chinese foreign ministry statement.

Political analysts see little chance of progress toward peace because neither side appears to be ready to stop fighting. But they say Xis government might be trying to deflect criticism of its friendship with Russian President Vladimir Putin and split European allies away from Washington.

Beijing released a proposed peace plan in February, but Ukraines allies largely dismissed it, insisting Putins forces must withdraw and face prosecution for war crimes.

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TALLINN, Estonia (AP)  Belarus, one of Russias closest allies, has partially restored controls on its border with its neighbor, Belarusian Foreign Minister Sergei Aleinik said Wednesday.

This is the first time in 28 years that there have been checks at the 1,239-kilometer (770-mile) border.

According to Aleinik, the introduction of border controls aimed to avoid the entry of third-country nationals into Belarus, ahead of the implementation of an intergovernmental agreement on the mutual recognition of visas.

However, human rights activists think the border checks will target Russian men trying to avoid mobilization into the Russian army.

Aleinik said that checks on people crossing the Belarusian-Russian border are carried out by Belarusian border guards in close cooperation with their Russian counterparts. Its not really control, its more like monitoring the situation on the border, Aleinik told reporters in Moscow.

In 1995, all border controls between Russia and Belarus were removed. Russia and Belarus have an alliance agreement under which the Kremlin subsidizes the Belarusian economy, via loans and discounted Russian oil and gas. Russia has previously used Belarus, an economically dependent ally, as a springboard to send troops and missiles into the war in Ukraine.

Checks by the Belarusian border service began May 5, but Belarusian authorities did not comment on this development until Wednesday.

Also Wednesday, Russian Minister for Digital Development Maksut Shadayev said that a unified database of persons eligible for military service should be in place in time for the autumn draft, along with the introduction of electronic summonses.

Under Russias new rules, signed into law last month, anyone served an electronic summons is banned from leaving the country before appearing at an enlistment office.

Thousands of Russians have fled to Belarus to escape mobilization and persecution in Russia after the start of the war in Ukraine in February 2022. In one such case, after he was sentenced to two years in prison after his daughter drew an anti-war picture in school, Alexei Moskalyov fled from Russia to Belarus. He was detained in Minsk in March and later extradited to Russia.

(Belarusian President Alexander) Lukashenko responds to any threats, including sabotage, with increased control, which is also beneficial for Russia, which seeks to limit the ability to leave the country for those who try to avoid mobilization and participation in the war with Ukraine, said Pavel Sapelko of the Belarusian human rights center Viasna.

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BEIRUT (AP)  Arab foreign ministers Wednesday in Saudi Arabia welcomed back Syria to the Arab League and called for a cease-fire in conflict-hit Sudan ahead of the organizations annual summit taking place in the kingdom.

This years summit, starting Friday in the city of Jeddah, will mark the readmittance of war-torn Syria into the 22-member league, after a 12-year suspension.

Syrias membership was frozen following Syrian President Bashar Assads brutal crackdown on the 2011 mass protests against his rule. The country quickly descended into a civil war that has killed nearly half a million people and displaced half of the countrys pre-war population of 23 million.

Saudi Arabias Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan said Wednesday that the region is at a crossroads, facing a host of challenges. He called for cooperation between Arab countries to achieve security, stability and economic prosperity.

Bin Farhan also welcomed Syrias return, as did the leagues Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit and Algerian Foreign Minister Ahmed Attaf.

Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad held bilateral meetings this week in the kingdom with several of his counterparts as Damascus continues to appeal for much-needed investment in the war-torn country  crippled by the conflict and Western sanctions  and has moved to restore ties with Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt, and Iraq.

Mekdad after the meeting told reporters that he hopes Arab governments will help with reconstruction and Syrian refugee returns. He hinted that Assad will attend the summit Friday. Per usual, Syria cannot be absent from any summit, he said.

Syrias return to the Arab fold comes as Damascus is also trying to amend ties with Turkey, a key backer of the armed Syrian opposition groups in the countrys northwest.

But a few Arab countries remain skeptical of Syrias return to the league, primarily Qatar.

Qatars top diplomat, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, said Wednesday that his country opposes Syrias return but that it doesnt want to stand against the Arab consensus. Each Arab country, however, can unilaterally normalize relations with Syria, he said.

For that to happen from Qatars perspective, Syria needs to go through a just and comprehensive solution to its conflict, Sheikh Mohammed added.

The summit also comes as Arab governments are scrambling to resolve the conflict in Sudan between the military, led by Gen. Abdel Fattah Burhan, and the rival paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, commanded by Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo. The fighting in the East African country, which broke out in mid-April, has left over 600 people dead and displaced tens of thousands.

In Wednesdays meeting, top diplomats from Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Algeria called for a cease-fire in Sudan and an end to the escalating violence in Israel and the Palestinian territories.

___

Associated Press reporters Nick El Hajj and Lujain Jo in Dubai, United Arab Emirates contributed to this story.

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HONG KONG, May 17 (Xinhua) -- The third Asia Summit on Global Health kicked off in Hong Kong on Wednesday, bringing together experts and industry people worldwide to discuss the latest developments and future opportunities in public health, medical technology, and healthcare investment.

Under the theme of "Reimagining the Future of Healthcare," the two-day summit was co-organized by the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government and the Hong Kong Trade Development Council.

John Lee, chief executive of the HKSAR, said at the opening ceremony that the national 14th Five-Year Plan supports Hong Kong's development as an international innovation and technology (I&T) hub, emphasizing such emerging disciplines in the country as life and health sciences.

Lee said that Hong Kong will capitalize on its growing connectivity within the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, and work together with R&D and I&T institutions, businesses and professionals to build a more resilient and sustainable global health system.

Yu Yanhong, Party chief of the National Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine, said at the summit that Hong Kong has the unique advantages of enjoying the strong support of the motherland and being closely connected to the world. In recent years, it has kept innovating and developing in medical and health care.

Yu expressed hope that medical and health communities and enterprises from Asian countries and regions will seek common development, and strengthen cooperation in areas including innovation and application of medical science and technology and clinical practices, to inject new momentum into the high-quality development of the health sector. 
WASHINGTON (AP)  Two New York Police Department officers ambushed and killed after responding to a 911 call and the rookie cop who took down the gunman were honored Wednesday, along with six others, by President Joe Biden with the Medal of Valor, the nations highest honor for bravery by a public safety officer.

The three NYPD officers, a Houston police officer, Colorado police official, Ohio sheriffs deputy and three FDNY firefighters all received medals in a White House ceremony before Biden departs for Japan and the Group of Seven summit.

I dont know all of you, but I do know you, Biden said. From small towns to big cities, youre cut from the same cloth. You run into danger when everyone else runs away from danger.

Biden told the crowd the award was given for actions above and beyond the call of duty, singling out the families of the officers to thank them.

NYPD officer Wilbert Mora and his police partner Jason Rivera were shot Jan. 21, 2022, while responding to a call about a family dispute in a Harlem apartment. Officer Sumit Sulan shot and killed the gunman, ending the deadly encounter moments after it began and keeping the civilians safe. Rivera died that night, Mora was pronounced dead four days later. The families of the two officers accepted their awards.

The fallen cops were no strangers to tensions between the NYPD and some of the communities they police; theyd both seen it growing up. Both sought to be catalysts of change when they became police officers, but neither got the chance they deserved, gunned down during a spate of shootings of police officers in 2022 in the city.

Biden, who recently announced hed seek reelection, has spoken of the need to reform how police interact with communities, in the wake of the killing of George Floyd and the deaths of other Black people at the hands of police. But he also says law enforcement needs better funding and tools in order to do a highly stressful job thats only getting worse, particularly post-pandemic.

I think one of the hardest jobs in America, what you signed up for, the president said Wednesday as he presented the medals. You represent the best of who we are as Americans.

Rivera, 22, had been a police officer for barely a year. Mora, 27, was in his fourth year on the job. All three were promoted to detective  the fallen officers posthumously and Sulan in a ceremony where he was given detective shield No. 332, a symbol of the three from the 32nd precinct where they worked in Manhattan.

The nations largest police department has roughly 35,000 officers; the next largest is Chicago with 13,000.

Attorney General Merrick Garland said the recipients showed extraordinary valor above and beyond the call of duty.

At the end of every shift, you are there, he said to the families. It is your care and encouragement that makes it possible for our public safety officers to do their jobs. We are so grateful to you.

Biden also honored three New York City firefighters for the bravery, including Lt. Justin Hespeler, who rescued a newborn baby from a burning house. Thats true heroism, Biden said.

Firefighter Patrick Thornton who, aboard an FDNY boat, saved a man trapped under a capsized vessel in the waters off the coast of Staten Island was also honored, along with retired Lt. Jason Hickey who was on the FDNYs marine training unit when he got a distress call of a man in the Harlem River, a tidal strait that flows swiftly between the Hudson and East Rivers. Hickey jumped in and saved the man from drowning.

The other recipients are:

 Corporal Jeffrey Farmer of the Littleton, Colorado Police Department. Farmer was responding to a call of shots fired possibly out of a car window, and chased the suspect to the door of an apartment where the man opened fire, hitting Farmers partner. Farmer worked to fend off the shooter, then, realizing an ambulance was too far away, dragged his partner into his police car and drove him to the hospital himself, saving his life.

 Deputy Bobby Hau Pham of the Clermont County, Ohio Sheriffs Office. Pham saved a drowning woman who had driven her car into a lake, though he could not swim.

 Sergeant Kendrick Simpo of the Houston, Texas Police Department. Simpo was working a second job at the Houston area Galleria mall when he heard on the radio a heavily armed man wearing a black mask was roaming the mall, near where a group of children were gathered for a dance competition. Simpo tackled the suspect who was carrying an AR-15 rifle, handgun and 120 rounds of ammunition. No one was injured.

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SOUTHFIELD, Mich. (AP)  Four security guards blamed for the death of a man during a struggle at a Detroit-area mall in 2014 will face trial on involuntary manslaughter charges, a judge said Wednesday.

Judge Shelia Johnson said there was enough evidence to send the case to trial, a low threshold at this stage of the case.

McKenzie Cochran, 25, struggled with security guards and was hit with pepper spray at the now-closed Northland Center mall in Southfield, after a jewelry store owner said he had made threats. He was trapped on the ground and handcuffed before dying of compression asphyxiation.

The Oakland County prosecutor at the time, Jessica Cooper, declined to file charges, saying the guards had no intent to harm Cochran.

But the Michigan attorney generals office reopened the investigation and filed charges in 2021, more than seven years later, against Lucius Hamilton, John Seiberling, Gaven King and Aaron Maree. They have pleaded not guilty.

Cochrans death got renewed attention in 2020 during a local race for prosecutor and amid outrage over the death of George Floyd, a Black man who was pinned to the ground by Minneapolis police. Cochran was also Black.

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BOISE, Idaho (AP)  A grand jury has indicted a man who was already charged in the stabbing deaths of four University of Idaho students, allowing prosecutors to skip a planned week-long preliminary hearing that was set for late June.

Bryan Kohberger was arrested late last year and charged with burglary and four counts of first-degree murder in connection with the Nov. 13, 2022, killings of Xana Kernodle, Ethan Chapin, Madison Mogen and Kaylee Goncalves at a rental home near the University of Idaho campus. At the time, Kohberger was a graduate student studying criminology at nearby Washington State University, and the killings left the close-knit communities of Moscow, Idaho, and Pullman, Washington, reeling.

A preliminary hearing  where prosecutors must show a judge that there is enough evidence to justify moving forward with felony charges  had been scheduled to begin June 26. But on Tuesday, a grand jury indicted Kohberger on the same criminal charges, effectively rerouting the case directly to the states felony court level and allowing prosecutors to skip the preliminary hearing process.

Court documents have already detailed much of the investigation that prosecutors say ties Kohberger to the slayings. A white sedan allegedly matching one owned by Kohberger was caught on surveillance footage repeatedly cruising past the rental home on a dead-end street around the time of the killings. Police say traces of DNA found on a knife sheath inside the home where the students were killed matches that of the 28-year-old Kohberger. Investigators also contend that a cellphone belonging to Kohberger was near the victims home on a dozen occasions prior to the killings, though it was apparently turned off around the time of the early-morning attack.

Kohberger was arrested Dec. 30, 2022, at his parents home in eastern Pennsylvania, and law enforcement officials seized dark clothing, medical gloves, a flashlight and other items from the home, according to court documents. In Pullman, investigators seized stained bedding, strands of what appeared to be hair, and a single glove from his WSU campus apartment, according to another search warrant.

Still, the unsealed court documents do not appear to suggest a motive, nor whether the killer had specifically targeted any of the victims. Its also not clear if prosecutors believe Kohberger had met any of the victims before the night they died.

Kernodle, Chapin, Mogen and Goncalves were friends and members of the universitys Greek system, and the three women lived together in the rental home just across the street from campus. Chapin  Kernodles boyfriend  was there visiting on the night of the attack. The killings left many of their classmates and residents of Moscow reeling with grief and fear.

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WASHINGTON (AP)  A key lawyer for former President Donald Trump said Wednesday that he was leaving the legal team, a move that comes as a special counsel investigation into the retention of classified documents shows signs of being in its final stages.

Timothy Parlatore told The Associated Press that his departure had nothing to do with Trump and was not a reflection on his view of the Justice Departments investigation, which he has long called misguided and overly aggressive, or on the strength of the governments evidence. He said he believed he had served Trump well.

Other lawyers, including former Justice Department prosecutor James Trusty, are continuing to represent Trump in Washington investigations.

CNN earlier reported Parlatores departure.

Parlatore has long been a key member of the team representing Trump in an investigation by Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith into the possession of hundreds of classified documents at the former presidents Florida home, Mar-a-Lago as well as into possible efforts to obstruct that probe.

A grand jury over the last several months has heard from a broad array of witnesses close to Trump. Federal prosecutors in March questioned another of Trump's lawyers, M. Evan Corcoran, before the grand jury after successfully piercing attorney-client privilege. Parlatore testified voluntarily in December about efforts to recover classified documents in response to government demands.

Last month, Parlatore and other lawyers for Trump issued a letter to the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, Rep. Mike Turner, laying out a series of defense arguments of Trump and saying that the Justice Department should be ordered to stand down in its investigation.

Besides the Mar-a-Lago probe, Smith has also been investigating efforts by Trump and his allies to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election, with former Vice President Mike Pence among the grand jury witnesses in that probe. Manhattan prosecutors charged Trump in March arising from hush-money payments made to a porn star who said he had an extramarital sexual encounter with her years earlier.

In Georgia, prosecutors in Fulton County are expected to announce in coming months the results of an investigation into attempts to subvert Trumps election loss to President Joe Biden in that state.

___

Follow Eric Tucker on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/etuckerAP

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NEW YORKPale Male, a red-tailed hawk who brought a touch of the wild to swanky Manhattan as he nested above Fifth Avenue for three decades, has died.

Pale Male died late Tuesday after being found ill and grounded in Central Park, wildlife rehabilitator Bobby Horvath posted on Facebook. The hawk was believed to be 33 years old.

Horvath posted that he picked Pale Male up and took him to his rehab groups veterinarian, who did bloodwork and X-rays. The hawk later ate a small meal but remained weak and lethargic, Horvath said. We hoped for any improvement but sadly it was not meant to be, he said.

Pale Male, so named because of his whitish plumage, was first spotted in Central Park as a juvenile in 1991 and began nesting on Fifth Avenue across from the park in 1993.

Bird lovers crowded inside the park to watch as Pale Male and his succession of mates hatched and raised their young each spring.

The birders were outraged in 2004 when Pale Males nest with then-mate Lola was ripped from its ledge on the 12th floor of a ritzy apartment building whose residents included actor Mary Tyler Moore and CNN anchor Paula Zahn. Moore publicly opposed the nest removal.

The co-op board, which had voted to remove the nest as a hazard, quickly reversed itself and restored a row of anti-pigeon spikes that the hawks had used to anchor their nest, and even added a new metal cradle on the ledge. Pale Male and Lola rebuilt their nest.

As his legend grew, Pale Male was the subject of a 2009 documentary, The Legend of Pale Male, and at least three illustrated childrens books.

Horvath wrote in his post that Pale Male inspired bird lovers and photographers around the world. Some took up bird photography professionally, he wrote, but most were just local residents or tourists who just wanted an opportunity to get a glimpse of this famous hawk.

David Barrett, who runs birding Twitter accounts including Manhattan Bird Alert, said that for much of Pale Males life he was not only the worlds most famous red-tailed hawk, but he was probably the worlds most famous bird, one that people knew by name.

Barrett said the hawks fame shows that even in an intensely urban place like Manhattan, there are many people who have a fondness for wildlife and feel a connection to it.

It is difficult to know with 100% certainty that the hawk that died Tuesday was Pale Male, since Pale Male was never banded.

Some observers began wondering around 2021 if Pale Male had died and been replaced in the Fifth Avenue nest by another hawk who resembled him.

No eggs were observed in the nest in recent breeding seasons, which Barrett said points toward the likelihood that the resident male hawk was in fact an elderly Pale Male, no longer interested in propagating.

If Pale Male did live past 30, his life was one of the longest ever recorded for a red-tailed hawk. He survived several mates including Chocolate, Blue, Lola and Lima. His most recent mate was Octavia.

He is survived by an unknown number of descendants.

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Recently, the National Institute on Ageing (NIA) issued a report entitled Could a National Long-Term Care Insurance Program be a Feasible Solution to Address Canadas Growing Long-Term Care Crisis?

In the wake of the high COVID-19-related death rates in Canadas long-term care (LTC) facilities and the aging of the population, the NIA report is a helpful avenue of interrogation, providing a thorough analysis of how other countries have implemented LTC insurance models.

But we can sharpen the question: how will support and funding be managed to meet the doubling over the next 20 years of the number of Canadians 75 years of age and older? That is an increase of over 3 million older seniors.

NIA forecasts that publicly funded LTC costs, including traditional institutions along with home and community-based settings, will more than triple over the next 30 years. This aligns with a report by Queens University (Drummond, Sinclair and Bergen), which also projects that  without a significant change in policy  LTC costs as a share of GDP (using the narrower LTC definition of institutional care) could triple by 2041 from what was spent in 2018. This includes increasing the number of staff to international standards and improving infrastructure and safety protocols.

Firstly, while an insurance model could raise funds to help cover the costs, there would be complications. Along with improved access to services, there could be rising costs. There are considerations around levels of contributions, who is eligible, and what services are covered. Those who will soon be 75 years of age or older do not have time to amass significant incremental savings. A new plan could cross subsidize them but that would be yet another intergenerational transfer onto the shoulders of the young, already heavily burdened by public debt and climate change.

Secondly, we need to trim future cost growth. For this, a shift toward greater home care, and away from institutionalized care, offers a rare win-win in policy terms. Not only is there broad consensus that an increase in home-based care would be preferred by individuals and more appropriate to meet care needs (Drummond/Sinclair/Bergen, Wyonch, Marchildon/Allin/Merkur), but it also costs less.

Growth in digital/virtual health care and remote monitoring will also continue to increase the cost-effectiveness of home care over time. Of course, care must always take place in the most clinically appropriate location for the patient.

Thirdly, there are other quick and practical options that could be implemented while a new insurance model is contemplated. Specifically, a recent C.D. Howe report sets out a number of outdated government pension rules that discourage older citizens from savings and which could be overhauled. For example, seniors should not have to draw down their registered retirement savings as of age 71, as they may need this money for many years thereafter.

Fourthly, federal and provincial governments need to reduce their net debt burdens, which combined have risen from 53 to 75 per cent since 2007-08, so that the rising cost related to population aging can more easily be absorbed. Population aging will exert fiscal pressures through raising health spending and slowing revenue growth due to the depressing effects on the labour force and hence incomes.

Demographics are predictable so the challenges of population aging should have been addressed decades ago. We failed that so need to now act urgently.

Don Drummond is the Stauffer-Dunning Fellow at Queens University and Fellow-in-Residence at the C.D. Howe Institute. David Jones is a master of public policy candidate at the Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy.

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Safety on the TTC isnt dominating headlines the last few weeks; its been replaced with service cuts. As a long-time transit rider, who worries about safety, that concerns me. Because a busy, robust transit service is a safer one and Id like to see a clearer understanding of that from Toronto mayoral candidates before we head to the polls on June 26.

We may have moved on from the pandemic, but the devastating impact lingers on including reduced ridership on an aging system that was already feeling the effects of austerity measures.

Most discussions about safety on transit lead to other serious issues, such as homelessness, addictions, and mental health. Already issues prior to 2020, the pandemic stressed social services and pushed vulnerable people to survive outside support systems, in many cases living in stations and on trains.

TTC has some innovative ideas on pairing transit officers with shelter workers. Mayoral candidates need to also develop their own bold and visionary plan to tackle these major issues. Those solutions, however, wont automatically ensure we have a safe transit system.

After several recent tragic incidents, there is now a widely held belief that the TTC isnt safe even though the data suggests public transit remains one of the safest modes of transportation. Perception of safety is important, just as important as the data.

The perception of safety has been gradually deteriorating over the last decade due to reductions in funding for operating costs and more reliance on shrinking fare revenue.

Candidates should be laying out a plan to ensure all three levels of government pay their fair share of operating costs for the TTC. This is a critical step before Toronto must pay to operate (eventually) new transit lines.

Most are promising millions for more police on transit to deal with these issues, but this wont make the TTC any safer. Some people (not all) may feel safer with armed police nearby, but I believe we can achieve the same result in more effective ways.

Candidates should forget trying to police their way out of the problem and commit to ensuring transit officers and ambassadors  who already know the system and the riders  are readily available and visible in stations, on platforms, and riding the trains. Invest in staff training in customer service, de-escalation, and emergency management.

Plans should also include immediately reversing cuts and expanding transit in all neighbourhoods to make it convenient  such as frequent, reliable service during peak and off peak so less crowding, waiting, and fraying of nerves; clean, inviting, accessible stations and vehicles that are in good repair (a good scrubbing and a little paint can go a long way to make the system look safer); working washrooms that are actually open; and trains with Wi-Fi.

Long-overdue automation and modernization of the fare payment system will also improve convenience but must not replace the people who are the heart of the system.

Take the safety lessons we learned with other infrastructure developments like Regent Park that created isolation and didnt invest in maintenance and apply those learnings to transit infrastructure design.

Good lighting, clear wayfinding, visible security cameras and mirrors, and protected walking and biking paths, along with secure bike lockers can all create a sense of safety. Also, keep stations open longer and improve communication and safety alert systems in stations and on trains. Platform edge doors would improve safety and convenience and should also be part of long terms plans.

Incent riders to come back through affordable fare strategies, such as off-peak and special event pricing, and fare integration. Learn from and cooperate with other transit agencies across North America, which are also trying hard to restore ridership. Look to Transport of London, for example, which is unlocking the value of ridership data through artificial intelligence.

Sweat the small stuff and think big to make TTC the better way again and riders will feel safe enough to come back.

Anne Marie Aikins was the chief spokesperson and head of media and public relations at Metrolinx, the regional transit agency, for 11 years until earlier this year.

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How can we negotiate for peace in Manipur in the aftermath of the brutal violence that has left thousands of people homeless, 1,700 houses burnt, 221 churches and numerous vehicles burnt and 72 people including women and children killed, while thousands still suffer from traumatic experiences, hundreds of people are in the relief camps, and 35,000 people are internally displaced?

Internet connections were shut off and curfew was imposed. The conflict between the Meitei and Kuki tribes broke out on 3 May in Manipur after a peaceful protest march was organised by the All Tribal Students Union Manipur (ATSUM) against the Manipur High Courts order directing the State government to submit a recommendation for the inclusion of Meiteis in the Scheduled Tribe (ST) list to the Central government within four weeks.

The local media reported that 1,041 guns and more than 7,000 rounds of ammunition were taken by miscreants from the Police Training Centre at Pangei and Indian Reserve Battalion (IRB) amidst the outbreak of violence and these guns  except 300  have not been returned to the government till today. The Meitei are the dominant majoritarian political class who hold 40 of the 60 seats in the State Legislative Assembly.

They comprise 53 per cent of the population whereas the Kuki/Zomi tribe accounts for 16 per cent. This conflict is not a simple Hindu-Christian communal conflict, but has been brewing for the past many years with a long disenchantment. The Meiteis lay claim to a 2,500- year-old civilization but they feel that they have been left behind in getting top government jobs, and access to land in the hills because tribes are protected by Article 371 (A).

The Meiteis are categorized into General (GE), Other Backward Caste (OBC) and Lois (SCs) residing in the valley, and they occupy around 10 per cent of the land whereas the tribal people reside in the hills, and own 90 per cent of the land. A point of contention is that the tribes can buy land in the valley, but the Meitei cannot buy land in the hills as it is protected by Article 371(C).

The Meitei hold political power and some Kukis have institutional positions of power in bureaucracy and walk in the corridors of power. Some of the Meitei ruling political class have fewer educational qualifications and hence the bureaucracy, mostly occupied by Kukis, seems to have an upper hand. Hence, there is tension between the Meitei ruling political class and Kuki tribal bureaucracy.

Both Kuki and Meitei formed their armed groups to protect their interests. The state government declared some tribal-owned forests as reserved forests and the tribals who depend on it as their means of livelihood felt threatened by this new policy of exclusion. And, there is a rise of radical rightwing Meitei organisations who focus on neo-Meitei nationality that promotes Sanamahi religion, not Vaisnavite Hinduism.

The rise of the neoMeitei Sanamahi religious identity confronted the conflict of interest of the tribal Christian identity. Each of these groups has demands and the state has played identity politics to manage them. In the eventuality of a Naga and Kuki political arrangement, the Meitei felt the need to have ST status and its almost like a pre-emptive measure.

Another cause of tension is the poppy plantation by tribal people in the hills. The poor tribal farmers cant afford to invest capital worth Rs.1.2 lakh and above in such plantations. It is alleged that some elite class often invests to take the surplus value from the poppy plantation and timber but the poor tribal farmers are blamed. These existing problems intersecting caste, tribe, religion, class, and the like were facilitated by the political class and hence, the solution to the problem needs to be made through political settlement.

Ten Kuki-Zomi MLAs (seven of them from BJP) have urged the Union government to carve out a separate administration under the Indian Constitution. The Kuki demand for a separate administrative district is going to create a problem since there are several interlocking processes and internal problems. There is a possibility that the Nagas may also ask for their aspiration for greater Nagalim. Metaphorically, the current situation in Manipur is like a pressure cooker that is about to blow its whistle.

Epistemic violence is imposed by both communities and the conflict is fullblown and it is extremely difficult to talk about peaceful co-existence at this juncture. The idea of India is grounded in the principle of social justice, inclusivity, and diversity and its rooted in Enlightenment philosophy. However, the idea of India has failed again in Manipur as AFSPA is still in force in the state although revoked in some parts.

And violence against the Kukis has been justified by the infiltration of the Kukis from Myanmar, drug smuggling, and the like. The infiltration of Kukis from a neighbouring country is another national security problem but the state has proven to be ineffective in protecting its international borders.

If the state is seriously concerned about the infiltration of the Kukis, the international borders should have been sealed a long time again. Its the failure of the state to identify people without borders and attempt to deport them. This is the immediate trigger for violence. It is for the government to reach out to the victims and offer them not just relief packages but security, and permanent peace for both parties.

Secondly, the affected victims suffer from a trust deficit and hence, the state must cause the trust factor to be restored. All community representatives have to negotiate for an amicable solution. The state has to assuage the Kukis and assure them of complete security. Thirdly, the challenge for the state is that Kukis may not come forward for peace talks unless they get their demands. Maybe a tripartite agreement may appease the tribal people.

There is a tough task ahead for the state. Peace cannot be achieved by coercion, but it can only be achieved by understanding and negotiation between the parties. The future is an open moment, and it depends on our collective effort to learn from mistakes and usher in a new era.

(The writer teaches at the University of Hyderabad.)
South Korea is emerging as the new kid on the block in the Indo-Pacific. Seouls Indo-Pacific strategy released in December hints at its global ambitions and the enhanced role it sees for itself in the region. It now characterises itself as a Global Pivotal State with a vast vision reaching beyond its immediate neighbourhood to encompass Southeast Asia, India, the USA, the Pacific Islands, the African coast of the Indian Ocean, and Latin America.

As a democratic, affluent country which has punched below its weight in the international system, South Korea now appears ready to carve out a larger role for itself. America as a longstanding ally has welcomed the move as was evident during the recent sixday visit of South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol to that country. But what will other Indo-Pacific regional powers make of it? In a recent article, Natalie Sambhi of the Brookings Institution argues that there is much for the leading Southeast Asian country, Indonesia, to like in South Koreas strategy.

Its nonprovocative language and emphasis on inclusiveness compliments the stand taken by Jakarta for an IndoPacific built upon open, transparent, and inclusive manners based on (the) habit of dialogue which neither targets nor excludes any nation. Further, Seoul recognises China as a key partner for achieving prosperity and peace with whom it will nurture a sounder and more mature relationship. This constructive approach is in line with Indonesias stand which rejects even a hint of an Indo-Pacific framework becoming a containment strategy against Beijing.

Seouls underlining of the central role of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and the Asean Outlook on the Indo-Pacific is also good news for Indonesia, for which the grouping remains not only a critical pillar of the Indo-Pacific architecture but is the cornerstone of its foreign policy. That South Korea named Southeast Asia and Asean just after its North Pacific neighbours in its list of key partners exemplifies the importance it accords to strengthening relations with both grouping and its member states. In fact, says Sambhi, Seoul has taken concrete steps in this direction, announcing the Korea-Asean Solidarity Initiative.

While Southeast Asia and Asean constitute important elements of Australias Indo-Pacific vision, the key for Canberra is the strategys strengthening of the South Korea-US alliance at a time of heightened strategic anxiety visa-vis China. Seouls stated intent to deepen AustraliaUS-South Korea cooperation in areas including supply chains, climate change, and allied security cooperation with Japan will provide further dividends for Australia through greater policy alignment, socialisation between officials, and deepening of interoperability. Seouls strategy also expressly declares its desire to gradually expand nodes of cooperation with the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, first in areas such as infectious disease, climate change, and emerging technologies.

The addition of South Koreas financial and technical support in these areas will be advantageous to Indias and Australias strategic interests in particular, while deepening a security network between Seoul, Canberra, Washington, New Delhi, and Tokyo.
Union health minister Mansukh Mandaviya has interacted with representatives of Japanese medical devices companies in Tokyo and invited them to take advantage of opportunities in India.

The medical devices sector is an essential and integral constituent of Indias healthcare sector. The sectors contribution became even more prominent as India supported the domestic and global battle against the COVID-19 pandemic through large-scale production of medical devices & diagnostic kits, Mandaviya told the Japanese representatives on Tuesday.

Mandaviya noted that the medical devices sector has the potential to grow from its current size of USD 11 billion to four times by 2030.

He further stated that backed by growing healthcare needs and govts commitment to facilitate growth, Indian medical devices industry has the power to emerge as the global leader in manufacturing and innovation in the next 25 years and we are committed to its growth and progress to become self-reliant and contribute towards the goal of universal health care in line with Indias G20 Presidency mantra of One Earth, One Family, One Future'.

India allows 100 per cent foreign direct investment under the automatic route for both Greenfield and Brownfield setups. To boost domestic manufacturing, the government had launched the Production Linked Incentive Schemes for medical devices with financial incentives worth USD 400 million.

To support our investor community, govt has also approved the establishment of 4 Medical Devices Parks in the states. These Parks will significantly reduce manufacturing cost, optimize resources, build on economies of scale, and provide easy access to standard testing and infrastructure facilities.

The Union Health Minister concluded his address by emphasizing that with rapid strides in innovation, India is now on a momentous journey to take on the global arena in the sphere of medical devices and technologies and invited Japanese Medical Devices companies to take advantage of these opportunities to Make in India, Innovate in India, and Discover in India.
XI'AN, May 17 (Xinhua) -- Uzbekistan is keen on developing trade, economic and investment cooperation with China and welcomes Chinese companies to do business in the country, its industry minister said here Wednesday.

China is one of Uzbekistan's most important partners, Minister of Investment, Industry and Trade of Uzbekistan Laziz Kudratov said at a business forum held ahead of the China-Central Asia Summit, which is scheduled for May 18 and 19 in the Chinese city of Xi'an.

In 2022, bilateral trade grew 20 percent year on year, said the minister, hoping that the goal of 10 billion U.S. dollars in annual trade set by both heads of state could be achieved soon.

Noting that China-Uzbekistan cooperation covers such areas as the chemical, textile, and oil and gas industries, Kudratov said that tens of thousands of jobs have been created in Uzbekistan.

The minister also briefed participants on the reforms in Uzbekistan over the past few years and measures to improve the business environment.

Noting the respective competitive advantages of both countries, Kudratov said that by combining China's innovative technologies with Uzbekistan's resources, the two countries could improve energy efficiency and manufacture products with high-added value for export to other countries.

He expressed hope for more cooperation in automobiles, electronics and food. 
The Delhi government on Wednesday launched I Love Yamuna Campaign at Chhath Ghat, ITO in a bid to rejuvenate the river.

The programme was inaugurated by Delhi Environment and Forest Minister Gopal Rai. Nearly 1,500 students and teachers from Eco Clubs of different schools in Delhi registered their participation for the I Love Yamuna Campaign initiative.

The objective of this programme is to educate children about the significance of the Yamuna River and the issue of pollution in Delhi. All the children present in the programme actively participated in a slogan writing competition related to the cleanliness of the Yamuna River and also pledged to keep the river clean. Additionally, the department distributed medicinal plants to all attendees of the programme.

Rai visited the Yamuna Ghat and inspected the cleanliness campaign after planting saplings during the programme. After that, while addressing the children and teachers present, he said, Yamuna River is not just any river for Delhi, but it sustains a vast ecosystem within the city.

The majority of Delhis water requirements are met by the Yamuna River, making it a crucial resource for both economic and ecological purposes. However, the rivers ecological balance has been disrupted over time due to the excessive discharge of chemicals, plastics, and other non-biodegradable pollutants. Nevertheless, our government is taking all necessary steps to preserve the sanctity of this sacred river.

The Delhi environment and forest minister said under the Summer Action Plan launched by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, a public awareness campaign has been initiated as a significant component.

As a result of this, the I Love Yamuna Campaign is being launched today, with the Environment and Forest Department jointly initiating this noble effort, Rai said.

He said the government intends to encourage Delhiites to participate actively in tree plantation drives and river cleaning activities through this initiative.

Nearly 1,500 children and teachers from different eco-clubs of Delhi were present today as part of this virtuous initiative by the government. Our objective is to instil a sense of responsibility and ownership among people towards the preservation of the Yamuna River, Rai said.
Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday issued strict instructions to the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) to provide clean and safe drinking water directly from the taps of every household in the National Capital.

Kejriwal emphasised the urgency of eliminating the problem of dirty water and has directed the authorities concerned to develop a comprehensive plan to achieve this objective.

Recognising the severity of the situation, the chief minister underscored the need to promptly identify areas experiencing complaints of dirty water and to take immediate action to investigate the causes and implement effective solutions. Several factors contributing to the problem have been identified, including outdated water treatment plants. To this end, instructions have been given to modernise these facilities to ensure optimal water quality.

Furthermore, in cases where substances such as ammonia, nitrate, or iron have been identified as the reasons behind water contamination, in situ treatment methods will be implemented.

The Delhi government will deploy effective measures to tackle sewer line issues, such as desilting, in areas where complaints of dirty water are attributable to problems with the sewerage system. These proactive steps aim to provide a lasting and sustainable solution to the problem of contaminated water.

Kejriwal chaired a high-level review meeting on Wednesday, attended by Delhi Water Minister Saurabh Bhardwaj and senior officials from the Delhi Jal Board. The meeting focused on finding immediate relief for the citizens of the National Capital from the persistent problem of contaminated water.

Additionally, ongoing initiatives to enhance water supply capacity across Delhi were comprehensively reviewed, highlighting the governments dedication to meeting the water needs of its residents.

During the review meeting, the chief minister expressed deep concern over the issue of contaminated water supply and reiterated his determination to find a permanent solution. He issued strict instructions to officials of the Delhi Jal Board (DJB), emphasising that the presence of dirty water in any part of Delhi should be completely eradicated. He directed them to take immediate action to upgrade filters at four locations across the city to ensure clean water for the residents.

Highlighting the outdated standards of four water treatment plants in Delhi, the Chief Minister emphasised the urgent need for their modernisation. These plants currently suffer from excessive turbidity, and their upgrade is crucial to meet the quality standards.

Additionally, if ammonia is identified as the source of contamination, swift measures will be taken to eliminate it, including thorough pipeline inspections, as per CMs orders. Any pipeline issues contributing to water contamination must be promptly addressed, and if necessary, replacement should be undertaken, the CM further said. He also instructed the DJB to tackle localised ammonia concerns, through comprehensive measures, and a detailed action plan.

The chief minister acknowledged the presence of complaints regarding ammonia levels in several tube wells, and pointed out that resolving these issues has to be a priority. Furthermore, areas experiencing nitrate-related complaints should get nitrate removal systems to ensure safe drinking water, he said.

Kejriwal also informed that ammonia removal plants are being installed to effectively combat this problem. He said all four non-operational ammonia removal plants would be operational within the next two to two-and-a-half months. The Chief Minister emphasised the importance of completing all these tasks within a specified timeframe, with the ultimate goal of delivering clean water directly to the homes of Delhis residents through their taps.

The CM also stressed on the need to expedite the installation of tube wells in order to enhance water availability and ensure uninterrupted supply, particularly during the months of January and February. Officials informed him that the identified Delhi Development Authority (DDA) land has been assessed and necessary permissions have been obtained for installing tube wells at 400 locations. In light of this, the Chief Minister reiterated the importance of expediting the acquisition of DDA-owned land to facilitate the prompt installation of tube wells, with a target completion date set for October.

Efforts to acquire land in required areas should be intensified to expedite the completion of tube well installations. Identify the specific locations where tube wells are needed in Delhi and subsequently issue tenders accordingly. Once the entire process is finalised, the installation work can commence, effectively providing a swift solution to the water problem in the city, the CM said. Furthermore, the Chief Minister urged for the installation of RO plants wherever necessary to improve water quality.

In the first phase, the installation of 450 tube wells across various locations would result in a 70 million gallons per day (MGD) increase in water capacity within the next six months. Following the installation of these tube wells, the total water capacity in Delhi will rise to 1060 MGD. The Chief Minister stressed the importance of completing this phase within the designated six-month timeframe and highlighted the necessity of developing a streamlined plan for future tube well installations.

Additionally, the Chief Minister issued directives to upgrade the existing and outdated tube wells in Delhi with state-of-the-art systems. He recommended identifying specific locations, based on clusters, for installing high-tech systems while maintaining a conventional system in other areas. Directing the officers, the CM said that the installation of high-tech systems on identified tube wells should be completed within the next four months.

During the meeting, the CM also stressed on the importance of maximising the use of treated water. He called for accelerating the creation of lakes in suitable areas. The Chief Minister proposed utilising a significant portion of the treated water in these lakes, while strictly controlling and refraining from releasing such water into the Yamuna River. Furthermore, he instructed the installation of RO plants in conjunction with the lakes to ensure water quality.

In a recent meeting, Kejriwal had instructed the installation of flow metres on both primary and secondary UGRs as well as water treatment plants to prevent any wastage. The implementation of this directive is already underway, with Delhi Jal Board (DJB) officials reporting that a majority of the flow metres have been installed, and work on the remaining ones is ongoing.

The CM further directed the DJB that the installation of flow metres on primary and secondary UGRs must be completed by June 1 without fail, as this measure is crucial in preventing water wastage.
A wheelchair-bound rights activist has filed a second contempt petition in Orissa High Court following the Puri Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) not implementing the court order to make the 12th-century holy shrine disabled-friendly.

The petitioner, Jitendra Biswal, on Tuesday filed the second contempt petition accusing the SJTA of willful disobedience of Court order, said petitioners counsel Goutam Acharya.

The Orissa High Court in March 2022 has ruled that a plea to make the Jagannath Temple in Puri disabled-friendly involves urgency warranting a decision within a month. The court has issued directions to the Shree Jagannath Temple Administration to make the 12th century shrine accessible to differently-abled persons.

Biswal had filed the contempt petition in December 2022 with HC directing the SJTA to decide the matter within 1 month positively. However the SJTA did not execute the order, prompting Biswal to file yet another contempt petition before the Orissa High Court.
As many as 16 people sustained minor injuries after a state transport (ST) bus met with an accident near Patas Toll Plaza in Yavat town of Pune district, officials said.

16 passengers were injured after a state transport (ST) bus met with an accident near Patas toll naka in Yavat town of Pune district on Tuesday night, Pune District Administration said. So far, no casualties have been reported, officials said.

More details are awaited.

Further investigation is underway.
Odisha government will host an Odisha Investors Meet in Bengaluru on 17and 18 May with a special focus on the Textiles, Apparel & Technical Textiles Sector.

A delegation led by chief secretary Pradip Jena, principal secretary industries department Hemant Sharma, Principal secretary handloom, textiles and handicrafts department Dr. Arabinda Kumar Padhee and other senior officers will attend the meet.

The Odisha Investors Meet will be held in Hotel Taj West End, Bengaluru where the Government of Odisha will host prospective investors from Karnataka and nearby states. The Government has recently come out with the Odisha Industrial Policy Resolution 2022 and the Odisha Apparel &Technical Textiles Policy2022 which provides unmatched incentives and best-in-class facilitation for investors.

The state will showcase the opportunities for investment to make Odisha a Textile and Apparel hub.

G2B meetings with prospective investors will be held.
The Special Task Force (STF) wing of Odisha police rescued two live pangolins with the arrest of two wildlife smugglers in the Sonepur district, said STF officials on Wednesday.

The accused were apprehended in Lachhipura police station jurisdiction of the district on Tuesday. They were nabbed while carrying out a deal to sell the protected animals, said STF officials.

The protected animals have been handed over to the Divisional Forest Officer, Sonepur for their safe custody. The rescued pangolins weighed around 7 kg & 3 kg respectively, they said.

The Indian Pangolin is a solitary, shy, slow moving, nocturnal mammal. It is a Schedule-I protected animal under Wild Life Protection Act, 1972, which provides absolute protection-offences under these are prescribed for the highest penalties.
In yet another instance of caste discrimination against Dalits during religious festivals in Gujarat, Dalits in a village, Bhataria of the Mehsana district, boycotted a temple feast as they were made to sit separately from others.

Such incidents are not uncommon in the state where Dalits routinely face such discrimination in all walks of life, including roadside eateries, saloons, mid-day meals in schools, wedding procession and other events.

Two years ago, a Dalit empowerment organisation had taken out a march to state capital Gandhinagar to ask the state chief minister to name just one village in Gujarat where untouchability is not practiced. The chief minister neither met them nor took up the challenge to name a single untouchability-free village in Gujarat.

The consecration (Pran Pratistha) ceremonies of the Umiya Mata and Mahadev temples were organised by the upper-caste Patidar community of the village on Sunday and Monday.

On the occasion, elaborate food arrangements were made for all. But when the time for the feast came, about 120 Dalits of the village found to their discomfiture a separately the sitting arrangement was made for them at a distance away from the temple.

Even the village sarpanch, Vijayaben Parmar, was asked to sit separately as she is a Dalit. The agitated Dalits refused the feast and later lodged a complaint with the district collector.

The Social Justice Department officials rushed to the village even as the Patidar community leaders denied the allegations. After arranging meetings between the Patidars and Dalit communities, the officials claimed that the issue has been amicably resolved. They are hopeful that such incidents wont recur in future.
In view of the upcoming Lok Sabha and local bodies elections, the working committee of the BJP has, on Wednesday, decided to launch a month-long mass-contact programme in J&K from 30 May.

This was disclosed by Ravinder Raina, president of the BJP unit of J&K, while addressing a working committee meeting of the party here. BJP National General Secretary Tarun Chugh also addressed the party leaders by virtual mode.

Union Minister Dr. Jitendra Singh, J&K BJP General Secretary Ashok Koul and J&K BJP co-incharge Ashish Sood also addressed the meeting. MP Jugal Kishore Sharma, BJP National Secretary Dr. Narinder Singh, former deputy CMs Dr. Nirmal Singh and Kavinder Gupta, former MP (Rajya Sabha) Shamsher Singh Manhas, former Minister Sat Sharma and Dr. Devinder Kumar Manyal were also present in the meeting.

Tarun Chugh, while addressing the meeting, said under the leadership of PM Modi, there has been a paradigm shift towards people-centric governance in the past 9 years. He said that there have been numerous structural transformations, which cover every sector of our society and economy. These 9 years have seen India rising and cementing its position as one of the strongest and most resilient countries in the world.

He asked all the party activists to ensure the reach of these achievements to the masses in the coming days.

Ravinder Raina announced that the party would soon launch Maha Jan Sampark Abhiyaan in J&K. The duration of the contact programme will be one month, which will commence from May 30 and will continue till June 30.

Raina informed that the period coincides with the successful completion of 9 years of good governance at the Centre by the Narendra Modi led Union Government; the party leaders at the Union Territory level must also take the achievements of the Modi government to the masses.

He also assigned duties to senior party leaders to make the programme successful.

Raina said that Jammu & Kashmir has witnessed an era of unprecedented development with focus on peace and prosperity in the region under the present dispensation. He said that BJP is diligently working on mission mode to convert Jammu & Kashmir into a favourite destination in multiple sectors like tourism, education, medical facilities while strengthening the overall required infrastructure to ensure this.

Dr. Jitendra Singh asked the party workers to raise their bar of public service and work to accomplish the goal envisioned by hard working Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

He stressed that todays India is of the youth. He said that the youth understands everything so we must always show significance of our achievements in relation to the period before 2014. He said that the development under the present regime in 9 years since 2014 is more than that was accomplished until 2014 since 1947 in almost 7 decades.

Ashok Koul gave a thorough insight into the forthcoming party programmes with the help of a PPT presentation. He directed the party leaders to dedicate more time to ensure the success of the programmes decided by the party. He said that all party leaders must ensure their pro-active role at every single booth in the region.
Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur on Wednesday exhorted officers of his Ministry and the Indian Information Service (IIS) to explore new frontiers of communication with the people and employ new technologies in that process.

Anurag Thakur was addressing a gathering as he inaugurated a day-long Chintan Shivir, a conclave on Citizen Centric Communication as a Tool for Good Governance here.

Cautioning his audience consisting of senior officials of the Ministry from across the country, Thakur said that the media landscape was fast changing, and so is the way people consume information. To that end, he added, there is a need to adapt methods of information dissemination to meet the needs of the 21st century.

The IIS is a vital part of the government, the minister said, adding that this Chintan Shivir has provided the officials with a unique opportunity to collaborate, self-introspect and timely course-correct the work in the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting.

He asked the officers to work towards higher impact through better utilization of resources, coordination of efforts, sharing of information and working as a single team.

The minister urged his audience to fix a time frame for themselves and keep on checking & updating the Ministrys priorities and deliverables as well as their own organisations priorities and deliverables.

Citing the leadership of Karmayogi Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Minister asked the officers to introspect from time to time if they are able to deliver their best to the nation.

The minister said that as the government is oriented towards welfare of the underprivileged, so should the mantra of Antyodaya guide the activities of the officers. He said that a large part of India lives in a media shadow, bereft of facilities of television and newspapers. It is the responsibility of the officers of the Service to reach out to that section of society.

Earlier, Secretary, Information and Broadcasting Apurva Chandra delved into the basic theme of the Shivir being divided into five sessions and said that all the topics carried much relevance and the officers divided into groups will brainstorm during the day and present their ideas in the end.

The five topics of deliberation are Participatory Communication with Citizens  Jan Bhagidari; Adoption of Emerging Technologies in Public Communications to maximize reach; Institutionalization of Quick Response Mechanism to address Misinformation; Targeted Outreach through Regional Communication; and Strengthening Public Service Broadcasting.

The day long Chintan Shivir is being organized in the National Media Centre here to brainstorm on issues relevant to Government communication and prepare an Action plan and Roadmap for guiding the communication and outreach activities of the Government of India.
A team of Haryana Anti-Corruption Bureau has caught a Sarpanch of Babain village in Kurukshetra district red-handed while accepting a bribe of Rs 20,000 on behalf of an Exemptee Sub Inspector (ESI) who too was arrested later.

Sharing the information on Wednesday, a spokesman of the Bureau said the sarpanch who was nabbed playing the role of tout has been identified as Sanjeev Kumar alias Goldy, while the ESI has been identified as Jaswinder Singh.

Both the accused have been arrested on the complaint of a woman, a resident of Babain, Kurukshetra. An ESI gets promotion under assured career progression by virtue of their length of service and does not pass any departmental test or undergo requisite training.

The complainant had approached the ACB alleging the ESI Jaswinder Singh through accused Sarpanch, had demanded a bribe of Rs 30,000 for not arresting his nephews in a case registered at Babain police station. In this case, the accused had already taken a bribe of Rs 10,000 earlier.

The spokesman said after verifying the complaint, the ACB team formed a raiding team and caught the accused Sarpanch red handed while accepting a bribe of Rs 20,000 from the complainant in the presence of independent witnesses.

In this regard, a case under the Prevention of Corruption Act has been registered against both the accused at ACB police station, Ambala. Further investigation is going on in this matter.
Chinese President Xi Jinping holds talks with President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev of Kazakhstan, who is in China for the China-Central Asia Summit and a state visit, in Xi'an, northwest China's Shaanxi Province, May 17, 2023. (Xinhua/Liu Bin)

XI'AN, May 17 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping on Wednesday held talks in Xi'an with President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev of Kazakhstan, who is in China for the China-Central Asia Summit and a state visit.

Xi warmly welcomed Tokayev to China for the summit and the state visit. Xi expressed his pleasure at hosting Tokayev in Xi'an and once again wished him a happy birthday as he turned 70 on this very day.

Xi pointed out that Tokayev's state visit to China on this special occasion speaks volumes about the strength of the bilateral ties and once again attests to his unique bond with China.

China and Kazakhstan are trustworthy good friends, good brothers and good partners, he said.

Xi stressed that both countries are at a crucial stage of development and rejuvenation, and China-Kazakhstan relations have entered the next three golden decades.

The two sides should vigorously carry forward the traditional friendship, firmly support each other, deepen mutually beneficial cooperation, pursue development and rejuvenation, and build a China-Kazakhstan community with a shared future featuring everlasting friendship, strong mutual trust and solidarity, Xi said.

An independent, stable, and prosperous Kazakhstan meets the common interests of the Chinese and Kazakh people, Xi said, noting that China firmly supports Kazakhstan in safeguarding national independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity and in choosing its development path based on national conditions.

Xi said China and Kazakhstan have successfully carried out dozens of important cooperation projects since he proposed the Belt and Road Initiative 10 years ago.

He called for joint efforts to expand cooperation in economy, trade, investment, agriculture, automobile manufacturing and energy, deepen connectivity, and explore new cooperation areas including e-commerce, innovation and big data.

China and Kazakhstan will take the signing of an agreement on mutual visa exemption as an opportunity to strengthen people-to-people exchanges and cooperation, Xi said.

He welcomed the launch of the Kazakhstan tourism year in China in 2024, and expressed his belief that the opening of a Kazakh consulate general in Xi'an will promote local exchanges between the two countries.

Xi said the forthcoming summit is of milestone significance and will usher China-Central Asia cooperation into a new era.

China is ready to work with Central Asian countries including Kazakhstan to build the China-Central Asia mechanism into an important platform to promote the in-depth cooperation of the six countries, Xi said.

Tokayev extended congratulations on China's great achievements under Xi's leadership and expressed his belief that China will have an even more brilliant future.

Tokayev said he totally agrees with Xi on the evaluation of bilateral relations and the suggestions on further strengthening cooperation. Stressing China's special and important position in his country's foreign policy, he said the Kazakhstan-China relations are based on strong friendship and solid mutual trust and enjoy common goals and missions.

Kazakhstan is ready to work with China to further strengthen their permanent comprehensive strategic partnership and lay a solid foundation for the two countries to usher in another three golden decades, said Tokayev.

He applauded the signing of the mutual visa exemption agreement and vowed to continue taking part in the Belt and Road Initiative.

He said Kazakhstan actively champions the Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative and the Global Civilization Initiative, all proposed by Xi.

Kazakhstan stands ready to work with China to fully leverage the China-Central Asia mechanism and jointly promote the regional security, stability and development, said Tokayev.

After the talks, the two heads of state signed a joint statement and witnessed the signing of a raft of bilateral documents on cooperation in areas including economy, trade, energy, transport, agriculture, connectivity, culture, and local affairs.

Cai Qi, Wang Yi and Qin Gang were present at the events. 

Chinese President Xi Jinping holds talks with President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev of Kazakhstan, who is in China for the China-Central Asia Summit and a state visit, in Xi'an, northwest China's Shaanxi Province, May 17, 2023. (Xinhua/Huang Jingwen)

Chinese President Xi Jinping holds talks with President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev of Kazakhstan, who is in China for the China-Central Asia Summit and a state visit, in Xi'an, northwest China's Shaanxi Province, May 17, 2023. After the talks, the two heads of state signed a joint statement and witnessed the signing of a raft of bilateral documents on cooperation in areas including economy, trade, energy, transport, agriculture, connectivity, culture, and local affairs. (Xinhua/Huang Jingwen)
The Himachal Pradesh High Court on Wednesday issued a notice to the state Chief Secretary, Principal Secretary (Health), Director (Health) and Block Medical Officer, Rohru, in a matter pertaining to the shortage of para-medical staff in Civil Hospital, Rohru.

A Division Bench of the high court comprising Justice Tarlok Singh Chauhan and Justice Virender Singh passed the order on a petition taken up suo moto by the court as public interest litigation (PIL) filled on the basis of a news item published on May 16.

The news item stated that about 400-500 people visit Civil Hospital Rohru every day, but due to paucity of para-medical staff, patients are forced to wander for medication.

It reported that out of 31 posts of nurses, 17 are lying vacant and likewise, out of nine posts of pharmacists only three have been filled up. If someone goes on leave, the doctors have to discharge the duty of para-medical staff.

Further, some of the nurses have been engaged during the Covid period and if their services are discontinued, the working of the hospital will be hampered severely. The news item also informed that the para-medical staff is under immense mental pressure and patients have to wander from pillar to post for medication in this 100-bed capacity hospital. The people of the vicinity have apprised the local MLA about the situation but no action has been taken to fill up the vacant posts by the Health Department.

The matter has now been listed for May 23 and authorities have been directed to file a reply.

In another case, the High Court has issued notice to the Chief Secretary, Chairman H.P. Pollution Control Board, Deputy Commissioner, Kangra, Commissioner Municipal Corporation, Palampur, and SDM Palampur, in a matter pertaining to dumping of garbage on the bank of Neugal rivulet by the urban local body.

The Division Bench comprising Justice Tarlok Singh Chauhan and Justice Virender Singh passed the order on a petition taken up suo moto by the court as Public Interest Litigation, on the basis of a news item published on May 16.

The news item stated that the Dhauladhar Sewa Samiti, a local NGO headed by former minister Ravinder Singh Ravi, lodged a strong protest over the dumping of garbage on the bank of Neugal Rivulet by the Municipal Corporation, Palampur. The member of the NGO submitted a memorandum to Commissioner MC Palampur. The newspaper reported that the dumping of garbage on the bank of Rivulet Neugal has not only affected the environment and health of people but also resulted in large-scale pollution in the area. The foul smell emanating from the waste too irked the people.

The HC has directed the authorities to file a reply on May 31.
IndiGo, the countrys leading carrier has inducted its second Boeing 777 aircraft, on damp lease and will begin operations to and fro on the Mumbai- Istanbul route effective from May 17, the company said.

The Boeing 777 aircraft has a seating capacity of 400 passengers in a dual-class configuration with 24 business and 376 economy classes. IndiGo has been operating its first wide-body- Boeing 777 aircraft on the Delhi- Istanbul route, which started on February 1, this year. These aircraft have been introduced to cater to the rising demand for international travel from India.

Pieter Elbers, Chief Executive Officer, IndiGo said, We are pleased to induct our second Boeing 777 aircraft on damp lease, which will operate on the Mumbai-Istanbul route. Through this addition, we are delivering on our promise to provide more convenient travel options for people looking to travel between India and Europe this summer.

Istanbul is a key stop connecting 33 European destinations via our codeshare connectivity. The new aircraft will not only increase capacity on the route but also help in keeping the fares affordable. We are continuously reassuring our customers by delivering on our commitment to being on-time, affordable, courteous, and providing hassle-free connectivity across an unparalleled network, added Pieter.

Through this addition, we are implementing our strategy and delivering on our promise to provide more convenient travel options for people looking to travel between India and Europe this summer, he said.

These flights will cater to business and leisure travellers who are constantly on the lookout for new and affordable flying options to access destinations which help in building businesses and are known for their tourist attractions.
In a major breakthrough, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) has arrested another Popular Front of India (PFI) member who was wanted in the gruesome murder of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) leader Srinivasan in Keralas Palakkad district in April last year.

The accused, Saheer KV, was absconding since the crime and was carrying a reward of Rs 4,00,000. An NIA Fugitive Tracking Team (FTT) tracked him to a relatives house in Palakkad district and arrested him. A resident of Palakkad, Saheer was part of the PFI Assault and Protection Team that had carried out the targeted killing. Saheer was also responsible for providing protection to the main assailants of Srinivasan.

NIA investigations showed that the accused, who was PFIs Pattambi Area President, was involved in various conspiracies of the PFI leaders to eliminate Srinivasan, as part of the banned outfits bigger scheme to create terror among members of a particular community and to establish Islamic Rule in India by 2047.

Earlier on March 17, the NIA filed a chargesheet against 59 accused, including the PFI as an organisation in the case.

One of these accused, identified as Abdul Naser, died on January 2 this year, said the NIA, adding Efforts are on to track and trace the remaining 11 absconding accused, out of the total of 59 identified as involved in the conspiracy so far.
Ahead of the high-profile G20 meeting in Srinagar, Northern Army Commander Lt. General Upendra Dwivedi on Wednesday visited the forward areas along the Line of Control (LoC) to review the operational preparedness of the Army units and also steps taken to foil infiltration of terrorists.

The Pakistan Army and other agencies have been trying to push in trained terrorists through the LoC along the Rajouri and Poonch districts.

The Northern Command of the Army tweeted that the Army Commander visited two units along the LoC in Poonch and Rashtriya Rifles in Rajauri sectors to review operational preparedness. He was briefed on the Counter Infiltration grid and processes being adopted.

He appreciated the measures adopted and lauded the troops for maintaining the highest standards of professionalism. He further exhorted them to be fully prepared to meet all contingencies.

The Army Commanders visit to the LoC has come days ahead of the meeting of the tourism working group of the G20 in Srinagar from 22 to 24 May. The Army is also on alert because of the political turmoil and widespread violence in neighbouring Pakistan following arrest and subsequent release of former PM Imran Khan.

Meanwhile, Army, para-military forces and police have been put on high alert across the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir in view of the G20 meeting. Intelligence reports have alerted the security forces of some possible terrorist attack around the time of the meeting.

Top brass of police, CRPF, BSF and SSB has asked its troops to be watchful against vehicle-borne IED (VBIED), sticky bomb, drone and other type of terror attacks. Waterbodies, including Srinagars Dal Lake, have been dominated by MARCOS of the Indian Navy.

The BSF has further tightened patrolling along the international border with Pakistan that touches the districts of Jammu, Samba and Kathua. Pakistani agencies have been making attempts to drop arms and ammunition for terrorists through drones.

The Indian Army has also been put on high alert along the Line of Control (LoC) that touches Poonch and Rajouri districts of the Jammu division and Baramulla, Kupwara and other places in North Kashmir.

J&K DGP Dilbag Singh and ADGPs of Kashmir and Jammu ranges, Vijay Kumar and Mukesh Singh, are also regularly monitoring the security measures.
The Odisha government has brought 681 super speciality hospitals under the fold of Biju Swasthya Kalyan Yojana (BSKY) to strengthen its universal healthcare programme for the people staying in or outside the state, said an official statement on Tuesday.

As per the recent review As of 14 May of the current year, 681 super speciality hospitals from the private sector were brought under the fold of BSKY. These hospitals were from different districts of Odisha, and various neighbouring states outside Odisha, the official statement said further. The major States included Assam, Andhra Pradesh, Chhatisgarh, West Bengal, Maharastra, Delhi, Gujrat, Punjab, Tamilnadu, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Rajasthan, Telangana and Uttarakhand. Out of a total of 681 empanelled hospitals, 126 were from these states, while the rest 555 were from Odisha.

The major world-class health facilities brought under BSKY included Sri Shankara Cancer Foundation, Tata Medical Centre, Tata Memorial Hospital group, Fortis Healthcare Group, Christian medical college, and Narayan Hrudayalaya group of hospitals operating in different parts of India, read the statement.

Besides, all major super speciality hospitals operating inside the State including AIIMS, and Bhubaneswar have also been empanelled under BSKY for high-quality healthcare access to the poor and vulnerable.

Available data showed, 668 frontline personnel were engaged in extending necessary help to BSKY patients at the hospital level. This included 65 DCs and 614 Swasthya Mitras. Besides, 116 senior medical officers worked with dedication in providing backend support for seamless treatment to the BSKY patients. The entire system is monitored on a real-time basis through a well-knitted end-to-end online web platform, mentions the offical statement.

CEO Brundha D. asked the front-line personnel like district coordinators and Swasthya Mitras to be in all readiness for helping the BSKY patients at the hospital level. They were advised to have entire information like various clinical departments, wards, ICUs, doctors digital diagnostic services, logistic facilities etc available in the hospitals to which they were tagged.

The Nodal officers were advised to be in constant touch with the empanelled hospitals through WhatsApp group and VC and resolve technical issues as and when they arise, the statement added.
Hitting out at Telangana Chief Minister KCR, President of YSR Telangana party YS Sharmila on Tuesday said that they dont want KCR to come back to power in the state.

We are open for talks with anybody as we do not want KCR to come back to power in the state, YSR Telangana Party President said. She was reacting to the rumours of an alliance with Congress for the 2023 Telangana Assembly elections.

Sharmila further said, This is the election year, so every party will try their best for everything in every other way, so its not surprising.

Addressing a press conference, YS Sharmila said, We have prepared an affidavit on behalf of KCR and for him to sign it which clearly mentions that the paper leak in the state happened due to the failure of the IT department and Telangana State Public Service Commission (TSPSC) and this will not have repeated again. We ask KCR to offer this affidavit to the students.

This affidavit also mentions that KCR will assure that all the 1.9 lakh jobs vacancy will be filled and the process for the same will be started immediately, she added.

Earlier also Sharmila had sent a Telangana People Questionnaire to CM KCR Sharmila raising 10 questions related to Telangana Public Service Commission (TSPSC) question paper leakage and subsequent investigation by the Special Investigation Team (SIT).

Sharmila also participated in the day-long fast and protest meeting held at Indira Park in Hyderabad under the banner of T-SAVE. T-SAVE is initiative by the YSR Telangana Party to fight for the right of the students and the unemployed in Telangana State by bringing all opposition parties together.

In the questionnaire sent to CM KCR, YS Sharmila asked KCR to clarify why he has not spoken a single word on the TSPSC paper leak scam issue. Is he still the CM of Telangana or a Corporator in Aurangabad? Why still there has been no action against TSPSC Board members and chairman in the TSPSC paper leak scam? she added.
The Quad Summit of India, Australia, Japan and the United States scheduled on 24 May in Sydney has been cancelled after US President Joe Biden decided not to go ahead with a planned visit to Australia due to debt ceiling negotiations back home in America.

The White House announced early on Wednesday that Biden will return to the US after the conclusion of the G7 Summit in Japan and not travel to Papua New Guinea and Australia as planned earlier. Biden also conveyed his decision to Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.

Albanese confirmed to the media this morning that the Quad Leaders Summit in Sydney had been cancelled. This is a decision thats been made overnightin the United States. The Quad leaders meeting will not be going ahead in Sydney next week, he said.

He said the leaders of the four Quad countries could meet on the margins of the G7 Summit in Hiroshima, Japan. We thought will be having that discussion between Quad leaders in JapanThe Quad is an important body and we want to make sure that it occurs at the leadership level, and well be having that discussion over the weekend, Albanese said. All four Quad leaders  President Biden, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida of Japan, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Albanese will be at the G7 Summit to be held in Hiroshima on Saturday and Sunday.

Albanese said a planned bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Modi in Australia might still go ahead although there was no immediate word from the Indian side on whether Modi also would change his itinerary, now that the Quad Summit has been cancelled.

New Delhi announced yesterday that PM Modi would embark on a visit to Japan, Papua New Guinea and Australia on 19 May to participate in outreach sessions of the G7 Summit on 20 May, the Summit of the Forum for IndiaPacific Islands Cooperation on 22 May, and the Quad Leaders Summit on 24 May.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday granted anticipatory bail to the Indian Youth Congress president Srinivas BV in a case of allegedly causing mental agony registered by an expelled woman party member.

A bench of Justice B R Gavai and Justice Sanjay Karol granted anticipatory bail to Srinivas and asked him to cooperate with the investigation and appear before police on May 22.

Issuing notice to Assam government and others, the bench posted the matter for hearing on July 10.

Protecting Srinivas from arrest, the bench noted that there was a delay of one month in the filing of the FIR. The court said that Srinivas was entitled to interim protection.

Srinivas has approached the top court challenging the Gauhati High Court order rejecting his plea for anticipatory bail.

On May 5, the Gauhati High Court had rejected the plea for anticipatory bail by Srinivas in the case. The complainant woman is the ex-president of Assam Youth Congress.

The High Court had also refused to quash the FIR.

In her complaint, the woman has alleged that Srinivas persistently harassed her mentally by way of sexist remarks and slang words.

On her complaint, an FIR was registered booking Srinivas under Sections 352 (assault or criminal force), 354 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty) and 354A (1)(iv) (sexual harassment) of the Indian Penal Code.

The woman had claimed that Srinivas had heckled her, held her arm, pushed and pulled her and used slang words during the partys recent plenary session in Raipur. He had also threatened to ruin her career in the party if she complained against him, she alleged.

Srinivas has said that the alleged offence had occurred in Raipur in Chhattisgarh which was beyond the territorial jurisdiction of the Dispur police station, where the case was filed and Assam police had no jurisdiction to investigate or register an FIR for an offence which allegedly took place in Chhattisgarh.

The Congress had issued show cause notice to the woman and later expelled her from the primary membership of the party for six years for anti-party activities.
The selection of right candidates would have a direct bearing on the effective functioning of the Crimes and Criminal Tracking Networking System (CCTNS) in Odisha. The Orissa High Court observed this while disposing of a writ petition filed by police personnel deployed in Wireless Training (W.T.) Stations and Workshops attached to the CCTNS project.

In the event, trained and qualified persons are not deployed in the CCTNS project, there is every possibility that the E-Governance plan of Government so far as the Police Administration is concerned is not likely to achieve its desired objective and furthermore, in such eventuality the huge amount of public money spent in such project is likely to be wasted, the high court stated in an order.

The petitioners had moved the Orissa High Court expressing displeasure over their posting in the CCTNS project.

The staffs/officers of the Signal Establishment having no specific role in the Investigation of Crime and Detection of Criminals are not the right kind of persons to be manned in the CCTNS Project which a computer technology based project is requiring a higher degree of skill, the petitioners counsel argued.

The petitioner under the CCTNS Project would not only put the service career of the Petitioners in jeopardy, the same is also likely to affect the entire functioning of the CCTNS network in the State of Odisha which is definitely not in the larger public interest, Justice A.K. Mohapatra stated in an order.

Therefore, this court feels that the highest authority in the Police Administration in the State of Odisha are required to look into the matter with all seriousness and try to resolve the impending issues and the problems that have been raised by the petitioners.

In such a view of the matter, this Court deems it proper to dispose of the writ application by directing the petitioners to file a petition before the Director General of Police narrating the issues and difficulties faced by them within a period of three weeks, Justice Mohapatra concluded in the order.
Special Investigation Unit (SIU) of the J&K Police on Wednesday carried out raids at houses of Pakistan based terrorists belonging to the Kishtwar district of Jammu.

Senior superintendent of police, Kishtwar, Khalil Poswal said the houses of five Pakistan-based terrorists were searched and incriminating material seized.

Cases under the UAPA Act have been registered against these terrorists who were trying to revive terrorism in the area.

The SSP identified these terrorists as; Shahnawaz, Nayeem Ahmed @ Amir/Gazi, Mohammad Iqbal @ Bilal, Shahnawaz Kanth @ Munna @ Umer and Javid Hussain Giri @ Muzamil. They are presently operating from Pakistan and Pakistan occupied Jammu & Kashmir.

The evidence seized during search of their houses shall be investigated so as to subject the accused persons to judicial determination for their involvement in anti-national activities and perpetuation of terrorism, Poswal said.

He said terror supporters and associates whose involvement surfaces during investigations shall also be prosecuted.
The China-Central Asia Summit is about to be held from Thursday to Friday in Xi'an, capital of northwest China's Shaanxi Province. Experts from the five Central Asian countries said that the summit will offer a great chance for relevant parties to maintain regional security and stability, promote regional economic development and strengthen people-to-people and cultural exchanges.

ON MAINTAINING REGIONAL SECURITY AND STABILITY

Nurzhan Kasmalieva, head of the international department of Kyrgyzstan's Kabar state news agency:

The high-level meeting shows that the comprehensive strategic partnerships between China and the five Central Asian countries have reached a higher level. The event will be the first offline summit held by the heads of state of China and the five Central Asian countries and will open a new chapter in relations between China and Central Asia, marking a milestone in promoting stability and development in the region.

I believe that against the backdrop of global upheavals, this summit will contribute to strengthening security and stability in the region. At any time, terrorism and extremism pose threats and challenges to the security of Central Asia, and it is hoped that the meeting will achieve additional results in terms of cooperation in the field of security.

Shoazim Shazamanov, associate professor at Uzbekistan's Tashkent State University of Oriental Studies:

The upcoming Xi'an summit will be a historic event. It will open a new era in cooperation between the countries of Central Asia and China. I think the participants will discuss issues of cooperation in the field of transport infrastructure, energy, and measures to combat cross-border threats such as terrorism, drugs and organized crimes, as well as the situation in Afghanistan, stability in Central Asia and national security.

Sheradil Baktygulov, foreign affairs consultant at the Kyrgyz National Institute for Strategic Studies:

China deserves great respect and support for contributing to relations of peace, friendship and cooperation in Central Asia and for advocating mutually beneficial cooperation and peaceful development among all countries. And the Belt and Road Initiative also contains these notions.

China does not force the Central Asian countries to take side. It is a responsible country that respects the choice of the Central Asian countries, unlike the Western states.

ON PROMOTING REGIONAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

Kubanychbek Taabaldiev, professor of international relations at Ala-Too International University of Kyrgyzstan:

The China-Central Asia Summit will provide a new platform and open a new chapter for cooperation among the six participating countries.

The expansion of economic cooperation is the main direction of the development of bilateral relations between the Central Asian countries and China. The region's trade with China has grown dramatically.

Another important reason for the close ties between the countries in Central Asia and China is China's success, not only in the economic field or the introduction of new digital technologies but also in poverty eradication and the improvement of civil society conditions.

The huge Chinese market is becoming the most attractive for manufacturers of all kinds of goods, and the export of green agricultural products from Central Asia to China is increasing.

Serik Korzhumbayev, editor-in-chief of Delovoy Kazakhstan newspaper:

The upcoming China-Central Asia Summit is very important as it will open up broad prospects for and inject impetus into long-term cooperation and development between China and the Central Asian countries in various fields.

This year marks the 10th anniversary of the Belt and Road Initiative. The venue of the summit is the city of Xi'an, one of the historic cities of China. It is a cultural, educational center and logistics hub, the place where the ancient Silk Road began.

The summit will have a positive effect on the long-term cooperation and development of our countries. A new format of cooperation will make it possible to involve the Central Asian region with China's large market in close economic ties.

Sheradil Baktygulov, a foreign affairs consultant at the Kyrgyz National Institute for Strategic Studies:

Thanks to the Belt and Road Initiative and the road transport corridors in the Central Asian countries, very beneficial relationships are being built between Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan with their major trading partner, China.

By implementing the Belt and Road Initiative, China can deliver goods via the territories of the Central Asian countries to Southern Europe, Turkiye and Iran, while the Central Asian states can supply products to Southeast Asian countries through Chinese ports.

Guzel Maitdinova, director of the Center for Geopolitical Studies at the Russian-Tajik (Slavonic) University:

The summit will promote the coupling of the Belt and Road Initiative with the national development strategies of the Central Asian countries. It will be a very significant event that will contribute to the development and modernization of the Central Asian states.

ON STRENGTHENING PEOPLE-TO-PEOPLE AND CULTURAL EXCHANGES

Adil Kaukenov, chief expert at the Kazakhstan Institute for Strategic Studies:

The China-Central Asia Summit is an extremely important event. It will help foster cooperation between the Central Asian countries and China, boost people-to-people bonds, and further promote their good-neighborly relations.

It is no coincidence that Xi'an was chosen -- an ancient capital of China and the starting point of the ancient Silk Road. Today the city has become a strong industrial base for aircraft, automobiles, energy as well as home to giant companies of global importance. Xi'an is now considered as China's main hub of cooperation with Central Asia, where scientific, educational, business and other projects are being implemented.

There are a large number of Kazakh students studying in Xi'an, because this city is one of the main educational centers of China.

Guzel Maitdinova, director of the Center for Geopolitical Studies at the Russian-Tajik (Slavonic) University:

High-level interactions are observed not only in the political field but also in the cultural and humanitarian sphere. Thousands of Tajik students receive education in China. Many of them are successful entrepreneurs, translators, engineers and representatives of other professions.

Abdullayev Masharib Saydamatovich, deputy director of the Center for Promotion of Science at Uzbekistan Academy of Sciences:

Uzbekistan and China have been close partners on the Silk Road throughout history, establishing long-standing and stable economic and trade relations. After establishing diplomatic relations over 30 years ago, bilateral ties and cooperation in various fields, including economy and culture, have continued to develop.

The joint restoration project of the ancient city of Khiva is the best example of cultural cooperation between the two countries.

After the joint restoration project in Khiva, cultural cooperation between Uzbekistan and China will continue, and joint restoration work will become an important direction for future cooperation between the two countries.

Nurzhan Kasmalieva, director of the international department of Kyrgyzstan's Kabar state news agency:

China is a good neighbor of Kyrgyzstan. Just as in China, there is also a saying in our country: a close neighbor is better than a distant relative. I expect this summit to provide more convenience for personnel exchanges between Kyrgyzstan and China, such as a more convenient visa system.

The Central Asian countries, including Kyrgyzstan, have rich tourism resources, and we hope that more Chinese friends will visit Kyrgyzstan and more people from the Central Asian countries will go to China.
Just where is Pakistan headed? This question has been asked often in these columns as it has elsewhere by observers within that country and outside. Some commentators see a revolution on the way, while others believe it is only a matter of time before the Army steps in, as it often has in the past. Meanwhile, the protracted battle between the ruling coalition led by Prime Minister Shahbez Sharif and apparently supported by the Army Chief, General Asim Munir, and Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf chief Imran Khan has reached the streets. In the past few days, protestors have targeted hitherto sacrosanct institutions. PTI supporters attacked Army installations to show their anger at their chiefs arrest, while those supporting the regime marched on the Supreme Court, which had granted bail to Mr. Khan. To top it all, Mr. Khan has called for fresh nationwide protests on Sunday, telling his supporters that freedom will have to be snatched, whatever that might mean.

He has sought to whip up emotions by alleging that his arrest and a ban on his party are imminent as part of what he calls the London plan, a reference to UKbased former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who is charged with being the puppeteer. Answers to the question posed at the beginning of this comment may seem elusive, but lie in the perceptions that the various actors have of the political situation in the country. Ever since he was deposed, Mr. Khan has been asking for national elections. In a bid to force the governments hand, he dissolved assemblies in two key provinces. The Supreme Court ordered that elections be held this month, but the government refused to fall in line. The term of the National Assembly will end in the coming months, and Mr. Khan now demands that elections be announced forthwith. There is little doubt that Mr. Khan is hugely popular; ergo, he believes that his party will be swept to power. It would seem that his opponents share this perception, for they have shown no inclination to give in to his demand, not in the two provinces, nor for the National Assembly. To further complicate matters, Mr. Khan has targeted General Munir for his arrest.

As such, even if the political establishment is forced to follow the Constitution and order elections, it is unlikely that the general will be pleased with an outcome that sees his bete noire assume power. Each effort to thwart him has added to Mr. Khans popularity, and embellished the image he has cultivated of being the only man who can take on powerful forces in the establishment. Tales of the lavish lifestyles of Army officers are striking a chord with ordinary Pakistanis, who are forced to struggle for their daily bread in the midst of a huge economic crisis. Thus, the numbers of those who see the need for drastic changes are growing, even as those against Mr. Khan circle the wagons. Something has to give.
In a respite to jailed mafia don Mukhtar Ansari, a special court of additional sessions judge MP MLA Court here has acquitted him in a murder conspiracy case of 2009 on Wednesday.

Special Judge Durgesh has acquitted Mukhtar Ansari accused in the conspiracy of murder attempt in Muhammadabad area.

In 2009, Mir Hasan alias Meerkallu, resident of Chakshah Muhammad in the Malikpura area, lodged a case of attempted murder against Sonu Yadav in Muhammadabad police station. The police, considering Mukhtar Ansari as a conspirator, had registered a case under Section 120B against him. Ansari was in jail at that time.

The main accused in this case, Sonu Yadav, was acquitted by the court. Now, the MP-MLA Courthas also accused Mukhtar Ansari in the case.

In this matter, on May 6, oral arguments were completed on behalf of Mukhtar and the court had fixed today to pronounce the judgement.

Earlier, the same MP MLA Court had sentenced Ansari to ten years of imprisonment in two gangster cases. The first sentence in the gangster case was in the Awadheshrai murder case of Vanarasi and the second sentence was ten years in the gangster of Varanasi coal businessman and political leader Nandkishore Rungta kidnapping and murder case.

Meanwhile, the MP-MLA Court will pronounce another judgement in a Gangster case of Mukhtar Ansari on May 20.
Have an interesting bit of news youd like to see mentioned in the Along the Way column? Email it to Natasha Connolly at news@thesunchronicle.com.
NED BRISTOL is a retired editor of The Sun Chronicle who writes occasional columns for the newspaper. Drop him a line at news@thesunchronicle.com.
MOSCOW, May 16 (Xinhua) -- Russia's lower house of parliament, the State Duma, has formally denounced the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE), according to a statement published on its website Tuesday.

"Deputies of the State Duma, guided by the interests of our citizens, decided to denounce the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe to ensure the security of the Russian Federation," said Chairman of the Russian State Duma Vyacheslav Volodin.

Russian President Vladimir Putin initially submitted a bill to the State Duma on the denunciation of the treaty on Wednesday.

The document submitted by the Russian leader stated that the treaty has currently become outdated and irrelevant, considering the large-scale global changes that have taken place, related to the expansion of NATO.

"Washington and Brussels, obsessed with the idea of building a unipolar world and expanding NATO to the east, have destroyed the global security system," Volodin wrote in a Telegram post.

He noted that while NATO had originally portrayed itself as a defensive alliance, it eventually only caused suffering and destruction through its interventions in Yugoslavia, Afghanistan, Libya, Iraq and Syria.

By continuing its arms supplies to the Kiev regime, Washington is in fact destabilizing the situation in the world and "provoking a global catastrophe," he said.

The CFE treaty was originally signed in 1990 by the then-NATO members and former six Warsaw Treaty states. The agreement came into force later in 1992.

The treaty was aimed at establishing a balance between the two military alliances by setting limits on the quantities of weapons and military equipment that all parties were allowed to amass. 
For the Telegraph

ALTON  Local homeschool sophomore Blake Schaper attended the Illinois State Academic Challenge in April and competed against students from around the state in both Mathematics and English through the administration of a written timed exam at Eastern Illinois University in Charleston.

More than 3,200 students participated in Academic Challenge from schools from all over the State of Illinois. Finishing first place in both English and Mathematics at the sectionals held at Blackburn University, Schaper finished out the State Competition third in Mathematics and fif in English.
EDWARDSVILLE  A St. Louis man was charged with armed violence and other drug- and weapons-related crimes after an incident in Brooklyn Jan. 22.

Although most of Brooklyn is within St. Clair County, a small portion is in Madison County.

Keelan Buchanan, 34, of St. Louis, was charged May 16 with armed violence, a Class X felony; unlawful possession of a stolen firearm, a Class 2 felony; unlawful possession of cannabis with intent to deliver, a Class 3 felony; and aggravated fleeing or attempting to elude a police officer, a Class 4 felony.

The case was presented by the Brooklyn Police Department.

According to court documents, on Jan. 22 Buchanan allegedly had a stolen Pioneer 7.62 mm AK rifle AND 30-500 grams of cannabis with THE intent to deliver. He allegedly was driving a Dodge Charger when he attempted to flee from a Brookly police officer, reaching speeds in excess of 21 miles above the posted speed limit.

Bail was set at $150,000.

Other felony charges filed May 16 by the Madison County States Attorneys Office include:

 Anthony R. Wilson II, 43, of St. Louis, was charged with two counts of aggravated domestic battery, both Class 2 felonies; and aggravated assault, a Class A misdemeanor. The case was presented by the Venice Police Department. According to court documents, on May 2 Wilson allegedly strangled a household or family member, and struck the victim with a motor vehicle, breaking their leg; and pointed a black handgun at the victim. Bail was set at $150,000.

 Raphael J. Solomon, also known as Rephael J. Solomon, 34, of Florissant, Missouri, was charged with unlawful possession of weapons by a felon, a Class 3 felony, and aggravated fleeing or attempting to elude a police officer, a Class 4 felony. The case was presented by the Brooklyn Police Department. According to court documents, on Feb. 26 Solomon allegedly had a Colt 1911 9 mm handgun and was driving an Audi A2 when he attempted to flee from a Brooklyn Police Officer, reaching speeds in excess of 21 miles above the posted speed limit. He has a conviction for manufacturing counterfeit currency out of U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois in 2011, making him ineligible to possess weapons. Bail was set at $75,000.

 Nasser A. Perry, 19, and Amaru M. Smith, 18, both of Alton, and Markus D. Crockett, 19, of Cahokia, were all charged with one count of aggravated battery, a Class 3 felony, and mob action, a Class 4 felony. The cases were presented by the Madison County Sheriffs Department. According to court documents, on May 15 the three attacked a fourth man, causing a fractured nose. Bail was set at $50,000 each.
EDWARDSVILLE  An East Alton man faces auto theft and drug charges after a March 30 incident in Bethalto.

Jeffrey S. Dosing, 32, of East Alton, was charged May 16 with offenses relating to motor vehicles and failure to report an accident involving personal injury or death, both Class 2 felonies; unlawful possession of methamphetamine, a Class 3 felony; and leaving the scene of an accident, a Class A misdemeanor. The charges were filed in two separate cases.

The injury accident case was presented by the Collinsville Police Department, the other by the Bethalto Police Department.

According to court documents, on March 21 Dosing allegedly was involved in an accident in Collinsville in which a man was injured and Dosing failed to report the accident as required by law. On March 30 Dosing allegedly had a stolen Ford F-250 and less than five grams of methamphetamine. He also was allegedly driving a Mitsubishi Lancer when he was involved in a motor vehicle accident and failed to stop.

Bail was set at $75,000 for the Bethalto case and $50,000 for the Collinsville case.

In an unrelated case, William L. Gartee, also known as Bill or Billy Gartee, 53, listed as homeless out of Highland, was charged with being a child sex offender residing within 500 feet of a child care facility, a Class 4 felony. The case was presented by the Highland Police Department. According to court documents, between April 5-11 Gartee was living within 500 feet of Bright Beginnings Preschool in Highland.

According to the Illinois State Police sex offender database, Gartee is non-compliant. He has a conviction for child pornography out of Madison County. According to court documents, on April 12, 2021, Gartee was found to be in possession of numerous images of prepubescent girls under 13 engaging in sex acts.

Bail was set at $20,000 in the latest case.

Other felony cases filed May 16 by the Madison County States Attorneys Office include:

 Theressa E. Lindsey, 29, of St. Louis, was charged with two counts of forgery, a Class 3 felony. The case was presented by the Venice Police Department. According to court documents, on April 17 Lindsey allegedly attempted to pass two bad checks at the Venice Food Mart, one for $646.17 and another for $543.17. Bail was set at $40,000.

 Kayi S. Ball, 31, of Belleville, was charged with retail theft over $300, a Class 3 felony; and obstruction of identification, a Class A misdemeanor. The case was presented by the Collinsville Police Department. According to court documents, on May 15 Ball allegedly took clothing valued in excess of $300 from the Collinsville Walmart and furnished a false name to the Collinsville Police Department. Bail was set at $25,000.

 Davonte A. Robinson, 30, of Republic, Missouri, was charged with criminal trespass to a residence, a Class 4 felony; and violation of bail bond conditions, a Class A misdemeanor. The case was presented by the Pontoon Beach Police Department. According to court documents, on May 5 Robinson allegedly entered a residence in Pontoon Beach knowing the resident would be at home and violated a restraining order by visiting a protected residence. Bail was set at $43,000.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP)  A group of Tennessee parents whose children attend The Covenant School, where a deadly shooting in March took the lives of three 9-year-olds and three adults, filed a motion Wednesday seeking to keep the shooter's writings from being released to the public.

The Parents see no good that can come from the release and wish to contend that the writings  which they believe are the dangerous and harmful writings of a mentally-damaged person  should not be released at all, their filling reads.

Their motion comes just days after more than 60 Tennessee House Republicans called for the writings to be released.

In a Monday letter to Nashville Police Chief John Drake, House Republican Caucus Chairman Jeremy Faison said the timely release of the records is critical to understanding the shooter's behavior and motives before lawmakers convene for a special session where they are expected to consider a proposal to remove firearms from people judged dangerous to themselves or others.

In addition, three conservative groups had previously filed lawsuits seeking to force Nashville police to turn over the records. The Covenant parents are seeking to intervene in those cases, which were filed by The Tennessee Firearms Association, Star News Digital Media and the National Police Association, a nonprofit that says it works to educate people about how to help police departments.

The groups sued after Nashville police denied their public records requests. Police claimed the writings were protected from release as long as they were part of an open investigation, but they indicated that they would release them at some point.

In late April, police said they were reviewing the writings for public release, and Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee tweeted that the release was coming very soon. A week later, police reversed course, saying that because of the lawsuits they would await the direction of the court.

Since then, the cases have become more complicated. In addition to the Covenant parents, The Covenant School is asking to intervene as well as the church that runs it, Covenant Presbyterian Church.

The Associated Press is one of several groups that have requested the writings but not filed a lawsuit to obtain them.

Police have said the shooter, Audrey Hale, had been planning the massacre for months. Hale fired 152 rounds during the attack before being killed by police. Hale was under a doctors care for an undisclosed emotional disorder, police said. However, authorities havent disclosed a link between that care and the shooting.

The three children who were killed in the shooting were Evelyn Dieckhaus, Hallie Scruggs and William Kinney. The three adults were Katherine Koonce, 60, the head of the school, custodian Mike Hill, 61, and 61-year-old substitute teacher Cynthia Peak.

___

Associated Press writers Jonathan Mattise and Kimberlee Kruesi contributed to this report.
JOHANNESBURG (AP)  A senior South African government minister denied Wednesday there was extensive corruption within the ruling African Nations Congress party in relation to the country's financially-crippled power utility, although he did concede a few might have engaged in naughty activity."

Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan was answering questions from lawmakers in Parliament at a hearing focusing on the graft at the state-owned national electricity supplier that has contributed to Africa's most developed country facing a power crisis and daily blackouts. It has raised fears that the electricity supply could collapse.

"You cant put everything on the shoulders of the ANC," Gordhan said in relation to what's accepted as rampant corruption and mismanagement at national electricity company Eskom. There are within the ANC very honest, dedicated activists who want the public interests to be primary and who want this country to work, and there might be those few who have engaged in, lets call it naughty activity."

Gordhan, who was South Africa's finance minister from 2015-17, was appearing before a multi-party oversight committee following serious allegations made by former Eskom CEO Andre de Ruyter, who said in a television interview in February that the ANC and high-ranking politicians were involved in the corruption.

The ANC said it would sue de Ruyter for defamation and has demanded that he retract the claims.

De Ruyter didn't name the politicians allegedly involved when he was questioned by lawmakers over the issue last month, and Gordhan said Wednesday he didn't know who de Ruyter was referring to. Gordhan said while widespread allegations of corruption at Eskom weren't unfounded, some of de Ruyters claims were simply used to downplay his own shortcomings at his job.

Eskom is more than $20 billion in debt and has been forced to cut electricity to South Africa's businesses and its 60 million people, sometimes for up to 12 hours a day. It has become the focal point for criticism of the ANC, which has for years faced allegations of involvement in corruption, especially in state-run companies like Eskom.

The ANC is the party of the late Nelson Mandela and the only party to have governed South Africa since the end of apartheid in 1994, although its popularity has steadily decreased and it faces national elections next year where its outright majority could be under threat.

While accepting that there were links to the ANC amid the graft at Eskom, Gordhan said there were also a number of private South African and multinational companies that were stealing from Eskom, to put it in plain and simple terms.

Eskom is not just a feeding trough for the ANC, as the former CEO alleges," Gordhan said.

Gordhan's appearance in Parliament came a day after Eskom sought to allay fears of a total collapse of the countrys electricity supply as concerns grow over the rolling blackouts, which have become longer and more regular, further hurting South Africa's already struggling economy.

Eskom said in a statement Monday that it had measures in place to avoid a total national blackout amid fears that if South Africa's electricity grid does go down, it could take days or weeks for the supply to return, shutting down the stock exchange, banks and other critical institutions.

But energy analyst Chris Yelland said there was a low probability that the national grid might collapse completely.

Eskom has detailed plans on how to prevent a national blackout, and how to recover from a national blackout," Yelland said. Plans that are tested regularly. Even though they may be low probability events, one has to plan for it. Its prudent.

Various government estimates put the cost of the power blackouts to the countrys economy at around $52 million a day. The South African Reserve Bank has revised the economy's growth forecast for 2023 from 1.1% to 0.3% because of the power disruptions.

___

More AP Africa news: https://apnews.com/hub/africa
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BANGKOK (AP)  Recovery efforts were underway Tuesday in Myanmar and Bangladesh after a powerful cyclone smashed into their coastlines, causing widespread destruction and at least 21 deaths, with hundreds of others believed missing.

Myanmar took the brunt of Cyclone Mocha on Sunday, while Bangladesh was spared a feared catastrophe.

Residents of Myanmars Rakhine state worked to repair the damage and mourn the dead. Areas further inland also suffered damage, including the central city of Bagan, a UNESCO World Heritage Site that was Myanmar's capital 10 centuries ago.

Mocha made landfall near Sittwe township in Rakhine state with winds of up to 209 kilometers (130 miles) per hour on Sunday afternoon, weakening to a tropical depression by midday Monday. The storm, the nations most destructive in a decade, brought widespread flash floods and power outages, while high winds tore roofs off buildings and crumpled cellphone towers.

Myanmar state-run television MRTV said Tuesday that 21 people were killed and 11,532 houses, 73 religious buildings, 47 monasteries, 163 schools, 29 hospitals and clinics and 112 government buildings were damaged.

Independent media said hundreds more people were believed missing. Many of those reported dead or unaccounted for had been living in ramshackle displacement camps that were reportedly heavily damaged by the storm surge.

The camps house members of the Muslim Rohingya minority who lost their homes in a brutal 2017 counterinsurgency campaign led by Myanmar security forces. Aid agency presence is spotty and help from the country's military government negligible.

It is difficult to confirm the extent of casualties and damage because telecommunication facilities in the area were damaged by the storms high winds. Information is hard to obtain even in normal times because the military restricts the media.

Sahat Khasin, a Rohingya who does relief work at one of the camps, said by phone he helped bury 11 bodies at a Muslim cemetery near Sittwe, Rakhines state capital on the Bay of Bengal.

He said the authorities warned people in the camps to evacuate to safer places in advance of the cyclones arrival, but some waited until seawater began pouring in.

Video from Sittwe on Tuesday showed extensive damage to buildings as well as uprooted trees and fallen power lines.

Heavy rain in Bagan, the ancient city that is one of Myanmar's major tourist attractions, caused flooding that weakened the foundations of at least four temples. MRTV reported that the head of Myanmar's military government, Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, visited Tuesday to inspect the damage.

U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said Tuesday that investment in humanitarian aid was needed. Health, relief items, shelter, water and sanitation were the top priorities, and he noted that humanitarian agencies would need authorization to travel to deliver those supplies and would need access to people impacted by the cyclone.

Myanmar's government issued disaster declarations for 17 townships in Rakhine and four in Chin state, north of Rahkine, where hundreds of buildings were reported damaged.

Rohingya are not recognized as an official minority in Buddhist-majority Myanmar, where they face widespread discrimination and are denied citizenship and other basic rights. People living in the camps cannot move freely, according to human rights groups.

More than 700,000 other Rohingya fled the 2017 violence to live in refugee camps in neighboring Bangladesh, which also suffered damage from the cyclone but reported no deaths.

At the worlds largest refugee camp in Bangladeshs Coxs Bazar district, thousands of Rohingya from Myanmar were moved to safer areas until Cyclone Mocha passed. The low-lying area is especially vulnerable to flooding, with relatively few secure shelters available.

Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said more than 700,000 people were moved to cyclone shelters or makeshift facilities including schools and mosques.

While the storm didnt directly hit refugee settlements, as feared, it caused major damage, Alexia Riviere, emergency coordinator in Bangladesh for Catholic Relief Services, a major aid agency, said in a statement. The needs will likely be great as we assess the destruction. Our concerns in the wake of the storm include landslides and flash flooding."

Riviere described Cyclone Mocha as one of the largest storms to strike Bangladesh in decades, noting that Cyclone Sidr in 2007 killed more than 3,000 people and caused billions of dollars in damage.

As an aid community, we have to face the fact that marginalized communities are becoming more vulnerable each year, Riviere said. The more we can do to prepare for the inevitable, the better.
HELSINKI (AP)  Russia has frozen the bank accounts of Finlands diplomatic representations in Moscow and St. Petersburg, disrupting money flow and forcing the Nordic country's missions to resort to cash payments, the Finnish foreign minister said Wednesday.

Pekka Haavisto said Moscows move at the end of April breached the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations and Helsinki had delivered a diplomatic note on the matter to Russia.

Were not alone with the money traffic problem, Haavisto told reporters during a news conference. Also, some other European Union nations have encountered problems with money traffic in Russia. But according to our information, restrictions on Finland are among the tightest.

He said Moscows measure affected, among other things, payment of rents, electricity and water bills by the Finnish Embassy in Moscow and the Consulate General in St. Petersburg, which now have to rely on their cash assets.

The move did not, however, affect salary payments to staff and there was no risk of closure of Finlands diplomatic missions in Russia, Haavisto said.

Earlier this year, Finland temporarily closed its diplomatic missions in the Russian Arctic city of Murmansk and the city of Petrozavodsk in the Karelia region  neither of them far from the Finnish border.

Haavisto  the caretaker foreign minister, as Finland is in the process of forming a new government  stressed that current EU sanctions on Moscow werent directed at Russias embassies and consulates and Helsinki hadnt frozen the bank accounts of Russias diplomatic missions in Finland.

Moscow seemed to interpret the issue differently. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said later Wednesday the measure was a response to similar steps allegedly taken by Helsinki.

We confirm the fact of introduction of restrictions on use of accounts of the embassy of Finland and the Finnish consulate general in St. Petersburg, Zakharova said, as quoted by Russian news agency Tass. These actions are a reciprocal response to similar restrictions (by Finland), imposed on Russian missions in this country, which can only use an account in a single Finnish bank. It is a fact.

Finnish President Sauli Niinisto said Russia was overreacting.

Russia claims that this is a reciprocal measure. However, this (freezing of bank accounts) significantly exceeds the restrictions that have been the practice in Finland in limiting the money flow of the Russian embassy in Helsinki, Niinisto told Finnish news agency STT.

Haavisto didnt see the move as linked to Finlands recent membership of NATO but rather to Russias ongoing war in Ukraine.

Finland joined NATO last month as the 31st member of the alliance, a historic move after decades of military nonalignment. Finland shares a 1,340 kilometer (830-mile) border with Russia, the longest of any EU member.
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP)  Singapore on Wednesday hanged another citizen for trafficking cannabis, the second in three weeks, as it clung firmly to the death penalty despite growing calls for the city-state to halt drug-related executions.

The 37-year-old man was executed after his last-ditch bid to reopen his case was dismissed by the court Tuesday without a hearing, said activist Kokila Annamalai of the Transformative Justice Collective, which advocates for abolishing the death penalty in Singapore.

The man, who was not named as his family has asked for privacy, had been imprisoned for seven years and convicted in 2019 for trafficking around 1.5 kilograms (3.3 pounds) of cannabis, she said. His bid to reopen his case was based on DNA evidence and fingerprints that tied him to a much smaller amount, which he admitted to possessing, but the court rejected it, she added. Under Singapore laws, trafficking more than 500 grams (1.1 pounds) of cannabis may result in the death penalty.

If we dont come together to stop it, we fear that this killing spree will continue in the weeks and months to come, she said. Some 60 prisoners are on death row in the city-state, mostly for drug-related offenses, she added.

Singapore executed 11 people last year for drug offenses after a two-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The hanging of one particular Malaysian believed to be mentally disabled sparked an international outcry and brought the country's capital punishment under scrutiny for flouting human rights norms.

Three weeks ago, Singaporean Tangaraju Suppiah, 46, was hanged in the first execution this year for trafficking 1 kilogram (2.2 pounds) of cannabis although he was not caught with the drugs. Prosecutors said phone numbers traced him as the person responsible for coordinating the delivery of the drugs, which he denied.

Human rights groups, British mogul Richard Branson and the United Nations have urged Singapore to halt executions for drug-related offenses as increasing evidence shows the death penalty is ineffective as a deterrent. But Singapore authorities insist that all prisoners get due process of law and that capital punishment remains part of Singapores comprehensive harm prevention strategy which targets both drug demand and supply.

Apart from Singapore, Amnesty International said Indonesia carried out 112 drug-related executions last year by firing squad after a hiatus since 2016. In contrast, neighboring Thailand has legalized cannabis while Malaysia has ended the mandatory death penalty for serious crimes.

___

This story was first published on May 17, 2023. It was updated on May 18, 2023 to correct the number of prisoners on death row in Singapore. There are some 60 prisoners on death row, not 600.
MEXICO CITY (AP)  A busload of about 50 migrants were kidnapped by a gang in northern Mexico in the latest of a series of mass abductions, though nine were later found, Mexico's president and police said Wednesday.

President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said National Guard troops were searching for the migrants in an area around the northern city of Matehuala. The migrants had been travelling north toward the U.S. border in a bus from the southern state of Chiapas, when the vehicle, passengers and drivers were abducted.

They have already found some, Lopez Obrador said at his morning news briefing. Originally, there were reports of 50, he said of the total number of victims, without specifying how many had been located. We hope to rescue them, he added.

Nine migrants  six men and three women  were found Tuesday near a highway in the state of Nuevo Leon, the state police department reported. Police did not say whether they had been freed or escaped. The migrants from Venezuela and Honduras were found wandering in a rural area, asking for help.

Bus company officials first reported the abduction on Tuesday, and told local media they had received demands for $1,500 apiece to release the migrants.

Unfortunately, there are gangs that engage in kidnapping, Lopez Obrador said, noting it was the same area where about 20 people were abducted from vans in April. The April abduction led police to mount a massive search by air and land  and they found not only the 20 migrants they were looking for, but about 80 more migrants being held against their will, apparently by the same gang.

The area where the current search is underway is where the northern states of San Luis Potosi and Nuevo Leon meet, and where drug cartels have long been active.

Similar mass abductions have also occurred in the northern border state of Sonora.

In early May, a government report said over 2,000 migrants were kidnapped by smuggling gangs and drug cartels in 2022. Mexicos national immigration agency said authorities had freed 2,115 migrants of all nationalities kidnapped by gangs in 2022.

Gangs and cartels appear to be increasingly charging migrants fees to cross Mexico, and then kidnapping them for ransom. There has been a string of such mass migrant abductions in Mexico in recent months.
ADEN, Yemen, May 16 (Xinhua) -- Yemen's internationally-recognized government on Tuesday reiterated its unwavering commitment to achieving peace in the war-torn country and ending people's suffering.

In a meeting with European Union (EU) envoys in the southern port city of Aden, Rashad Al-Alimi, chief of Yemen's Presidential Leadership Council (PLC), emphasized his government's determination to bring about peace amid the ongoing conflict, according to the state-run Saba news agency.

During the meeting, the Yemeni leader urged the EU nations to exert pressure on the Houthi militia to engage in peace talks and end the years of suffering experienced by the Yemeni people.

Al-Alimi provided a comprehensive update to the EU Ambassador to Yemen Gabriel Munuera Vinals and ambassadors representing France, the Netherlands, Germany, and Italy.

The briefing covered the current situation in the war-ravaged Arab country as well as the ongoing regional and international efforts aimed at restarting the stalled political negotiations.

The EU diplomats pledged to explore all available channels to encourage a peaceful resolution to end the years-long military conflict in Yemen.

They also expressed the EU's support for Yemen's government as it navigates through the challenges posed by the ongoing conflict.

Yemen has been embroiled in a civil war after the Houthi militia took control of several northern cities and drove the Saudi-backed Yemeni government out of the capital of Sanaa in 2014. 
As Yogi Berra would say, Its deja vu all over again.

Once more, were looking at Metro East Sanitary District. Hans Brinker was a Dutch boy who saved his country by putting his finger in the dike. But MESD commissioners have their fingers in the cookie jar.

So what do they do? They dont remove their hand from the cookie jar. They run to Springfield and ask the Democrat super majority to make taking cookies OK.

Current law limits MESD commissioners salaries to not exceed what county board members receive in Madison or St. Clair counties, whichever is less. (70 ILCS 2905/3-4) Madison County board members receive $14,500/year, significantly less than St. Clair.

But in addition to their salary, they also receive health insurance, worth more than $10,000/year  better insurance than is available to many in the private sector.

On April 26, Rep. Jay Hoffman, D - Belleville, sponsored HB 0476 that will allow MESD to pay for life, health, accident, hospital and medical insurance for employees and commissioners, but of course employees already receive health insurance.

On May 4, the bill unanimously passed the Illinois House.

On May 9, Senator Chris Bell, D - Belleville, became a sponsor.

It hasnt yet passed the Senate, but you know how quickly things can happen in Springfield.

Why do I say deja vu?

I appointed Derrick Keith Cox and Justin Zimmerman to the Bi-State Board. They joined three board members appointed by St. Clair County, and five from Missouri. Cox and Zimmerman encouraged the Bi-State Board to stop voting in closed session. They also opposed Bi-State additional funding for the Delmar Loop Trolley boondoggle, and opposed Bi-State taking firearms away from security guards.

What happened next? In 2019, the Democrat-controlled General Assembly took one board seat away from Madison County and gave it to St. Clair.

Back to MESD. The MESD area flooded in April of 2017. The three MESD commissioners from Madison County stepped down, allowing me to appoint new board members. MESD was in bad shape, having lost $8.5 million in the prior ten years. My new board turned things around  reversed over-charging by the Granite City Waste Water Treatment plant, cleaned ditches and automated the pumps and replaced patronage pump watchers.

No good deed goes unpunished. Also in 2019, the Democrat-dominated General Assembly took a board seat away from Madison County and gave it to the City of Granite City, putting MESD back under Democrat control.

I would ask that you contact your state senator to oppose this bill, because, simply, MESD commissioners are paid enough.
ISLAMABAD, May 17 (Xinhua) -- Two terrorists were killed in a clash with security forces in Pakistan's northwest Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on Wednesday, an army statement said.

The security forces conducted an intelligence-based operation in Bannu district of the province on the reported presence of terrorists in the area, the military's media wing Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said in the statement.

During the conduct of the operation, intense fire exchange took place between the troops and terrorists, the statement added.

Weapons and ammunition were also recovered from the killed terrorists, the ISPR added.

The military statement said that the killed terrorists remained actively involved in terrorist activities against security forces and innocent citizens.

"Locals of the area appreciated security forces' operation and assured of their full support in eliminating the menace of terrorism," the ISPR said. 
The Supreme Court, on Wednesday, granted the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) time till August 14 to complete its probe into the allegations of stock price manipulation by the Adani Group and asked the market regulator to place on record an updated status report of the probe.

A bench headed by Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud also directed that copies of the report submitted before it by the apex court-appointed Justice (retd) A.M. Sapre expert committee be made available to the parties to enable them to assist it in further deliberations in the matter.

When Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for SEBI, requested the top court to consider extending the deadline till September end, the bench said, "We are not granting an indefinite extension of time. If there is some genuine difficulty, you let us know."

The bench, also comprising Justices P.S. Narasimha and J.B. Pardiwala, was hearing the pleas filed on the Adani-Hindenburg row. It was also considering the SEBI's application seeking extension of time by six months to complete the probe into allegations of stock price manipulation by the Adani Group.

"SEBI is granted an extension of time till August 14, 2023 to submit its report," the bench said, adding, "SEBI shall place on record an updated status report with regard to the course of investigation."

The remit of the Justice Sapre panel was to provide an overall assessment of the situation, including the relevant causal factors which have led to volatility in the securities market in the recent past.

The panel was asked to suggest measures to "(i) strengthen the statutory and/or regulatory framework; and (ii) secure compliance with the existing framework for the protection of investors", the court had earlier said.

At the outset on Wednesday, the CJI observed, "The committee has submitted its report. It is a tentative report and now SEBI has asked for an extension of time to complete their investigation."

Advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for one of the petitioners, referred to a reply given by the minister of state for finance in Parliament in July 2021 about SEBI investigating some Adani Group companies with regard to compliance with SEBI regulations.

"What I am saying is they (SEBI) have to put on record as to what has happened to these investigations which they have been doing since at least 2016 ... They have to put this on record what has happened to those because otherwise what is happening is, that there is clearly, I mean one can see that so clearly, somehow an attempt to shield the Adani companies in recent years," Bhushan said.

He argued in recent times, despite many complaints having been made to SEBI over the last six-seven years, it appeared that they are doing "absolutely nothing despite it being written on the wall".

"You pick up something in 2016, something in 2020 and connect them with the present issue which is arising from the Hindenburg report," Mehta said while responding to Bhushan.

"I want to just clear the air. 2016 is something totally different, distinct and completely separate. My friend now wants that whatever investigations or proceedings were taken against a particular company till now should be placed on record. I don't think that is the remit but I have no difficulty," the top law officer said.

He said the minister of state for finance in his reply to Parliament on July 19, 2021 had confirmed that SEBI is investigating some Adani Group companies with regard to compliance with regulations.

"It may be noted that the investigation referred to was in respect of possible non-compliance with Minimum Public Shareholding (MPS) norms, and consequential violations. This investigation had commenced in October 2020. It is hereby confirmed that the investigation referred to by the minister had not commenced in 2016," Mehta said.

He said SEBI has made a statement to the apex court that it is examining or investigating the allegations made in the Hindenburg report and one of these allegations was related to non-compliance with MPS norms.

Mehta said SEBI has also submitted to the court that current status of this investigation has been placed before the expert committee constituted by the apex court.

"SEBI has also submitted to the court that in the context of investigation into MPS norms, SEBI has already approached eleven overseas regulators under the Multilateral Memorandum of Understanding (MMOL) with International Organisation of Securities Commissions (IOSCO). Various requests for information were made to these regulators. The first request to overseas regulators was made as early as on October 6, 2020," he said.

"It is this investigation that had commenced in October 2020 that was referred to by the minister of state for finance in his reply to the Parliament," Mehta said.

He said in 2016, SEBI had passed an order pertaining to the issuance of Global Depository Receipts (GDRs) by 51 Indian listed companies and no listed company of the Adani Group was part of the list.

"However, there were some FPIs including Cresta Fund limited, Albula Fund Limited and APMS Fund Limited, the GDR relevant accounts of which were frozen as a consequence of the 2016 order. It is hereby clarified that this action was purely a consequence of the GDR matter and not related to any examination into any Adani Group company," Mehta said.

He said six-month period is the "compressed time limit" and the court may consider extending the time available till September end for the probe to conclude.

"You tell us what you have done because we had already granted you two months. We have granted you now further extension of three months which makes it five months. So, effectively you are asking for six months. We have granted you already five months," the CJI said.

"We have not specifically dealt with each individual issue but we have said that you will give us an updated status report on the course of the investigation...," Justice Chandrachud said.

One of the petitioners said SEBI may submit the findings which they have drawn till now.

"When the investigation is on, can we tell them tell us what is your prima facie finding until today?" the bench asked sharply.

In its order, the bench noted the expert committee has submitted a report bearing in mind the timeline of two months stipulated in the order constituting the panel.

"In order to enable the court and counsel to analyse the report and reflect on the suggestions which have been made by the expert committee, the proceeding shall be listed after the summer recess on July 11," it said.

"The expert committee is requested to continue to assist the court. The committee may hold further deliberations in the meantime. The committee would be requested to take up any further aspects or suggestions as may be formulated by the court following the course of deliberations when the proceedings are next listed for hearing," it said.

After the bench dictated the order, Bhushan said the court may ask SEBI to place the result of probe which they have admittedly been doing into Adani companies.

"We are dealing right now with the fallout of the Hindenburg report. The purpose of these proceedings is not for us or for any public interest petitioner to conduct a roving inquiry...," the CJI said.

During the arguments, Bhushan said if Adani Group's shares increase abnormally by 10,000 per cent, 5,000 per cent etc. over a period of less than a year, then obviously "alarm bells have to be rung".

Adani Group stocks had taken a beating on the bourses after Hindenburg Research made a litany of allegations, including those about fraudulent transactions and share-price manipulation, against the business conglomerate.

The Adani Group dismissed the charges as lies, saying it complies with all laws and disclosure requirements.
It's that time of the year again! Time for gorgeous gowns, beautiful dresses, dapper tuxedos and brilliant films-- we are talking about the Cannes film festival of course! Bollywood star Sara Ali Khan made her Cannes red carpet debut and she looked simply ethereal in a white Abu Jani Sandeep Khosla lehenga. The outfit complete with an embroidered panelled skirt, dupatta and a blouse studded with crystals and pearls made the Zara Hatke Zara Bachke actor stand out on the red carpet.



The 76th edition of the festival, which opened on May 16 will conclude on May 27. The festival kicked off with the Johnny Depp movie 'Jeanne du Barry', in which Depp plays French king Louis XV. The film reportedly got a seven-minute standing ovation.

Former Miss India Manushi Chhillar and actor Esha Gupta too graced the red carpet on day one of the festival. Both of them chose white for their red carpet appearances. Gupta looked simply sexy in a white gown with floral detailing. The outfit by Nicholas Jebran had a thigh-high slit, giving us Angelina Jolie from the 2013 Oscars flashbacks. She nonetheless looked gorgeous with barely-there make-up and minimal accessories.

Manushi Chhillar, on the other hand, exuded Cinderella vibes in a white gown by Fovari. The dreamy, environment-friendly gown had corset detailing with ruffle detailing. Chillar completed her look with a statement necklace. Other Indians who made an appearance on the red carpet on day one were actor Urvashi Rautela and Film curator, critic and filmmaker Meenakshi Shedde, who is on the International Critics' Week jury. While Shedde chose a saree, Rautela chose a pink tulle gown by Sima Couture. She paired the gown with an alligator necklace by Cartier.
Even as suspense continues on who will be the chief minister of Karnataka, the Congress on Wednesday hit out at the BJP's fake news factory on the government formation in the southern state. The party also warned its own leaders against making any public statements on the leadership crisis in Karnataka.

The grand old party stormed to power in Karnataka bagging 135 seats, but the leadership is still struggling to pick the chief minister due to the tug of war between former CM Siddaramaiah and KPCC president D.K. Shivakumar.

A section of our dear friends of the media have fallen victim to the fake news factory of BJP on formation of next Congress Government in Karnataka, Congress leader Randeep Surjewala said, adding that the BJP is frustrated after being rejected by the voters of Karnataka.

Surjewala said nobody even whispered a word on the high command culture when Prime Minister Narendra Modi took 7-10 days in deciding the chief ministers of Uttar Pradesh, Assam, Goa and many other states. But the same forces and a select news outlets have objections to the process of dialogue, discussion, consensus adopted by Sh. Mallikarjun Kharge ji which is in true democratic traditions, he alleged.

Surjewala, the general secretary in-charge for Karnataka, warned the party leaders from issuing any statement on the leadership crisis in Karnataka and said any out of turn remarks would be treated as indiscipline.

Congress Party is committed to the welfare of every Kannadiga and will implement the 5 Congress Guarantees in the first meeting of the cabinet. A clean, honest and transparent Govt for Karnataka is our duty and we will give the State a new Govt within 48 to 72 hours. We will rebuild Brand Karnataka and transform the dreams of 6.5 Crore Kannadigas into reality, he said.
Karnataka awaits a decision on who will be its chief minister with bated breath. It looks as though there will be further delay on the part of Congress in making an announcement. Congress Chief Mallikarjun Kharge was to announce who the CM would be today, but, Congress leader and Rajya Sabha member Randeep Surjewala said new cabinet will be announced in another 48-72 hours.



According to sources, Siddramaiah would be offered chief ministership, while D.K. Shivakumar will continue as head of the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC).

Delibrations are currently underway by party president Mallikarjun Kharge. Whenever Congress makes a decision we will inform you. In the next 48-72 hours, we will have a new cabinet in Karnataka, Randeep Surjewala said on Wednesday while talking in front of Kharge's residence.



A lot of speculation is going on. I want to point out that deliberations have been held by hon'ble Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge ji. I myself met the PCC chief and CLP leader and they met Rahul Gandhi ji today. They also met the AICC President...the deliberations are currently underway. Do not resort to speculation, he added.



Whenever the Congress President takes a decision, whether it is today or tomorrow, he will be making an announcement, he said.



Surjewala emphasised that Kharge believes in three principles  consensus, unanimity and unity. He was authorised to appoint the new CLP leader and he will do it after holding due deliberations, he said.





The comments came even as Shivakumar was engaged in discussions with the party's high command. According to sources, efforts were still on to placate Shivakumar and provide him.

Sources had speculated that there would be three Deputy CMs-- Lingayat, SC and Muslim representation, with MB Patil being the Ligayat representation, Dr G Parmeshwara for SC and UT Khader for Muslims.
Amid hectic parleys in the national capital, Congress leaders have picked senior leader Siddaramaiah for the post of Karnataka chief minister, sources said on Wednesday. Karnataka Congress chief DK Shivakumar, who has also staked claim to the top post, will not join the Cabinet, Congress sources added.

Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar are in Delhi for the next round of talks, after earlier meetings with party president Mallikarjun Kharge failed to yield results.

Amid speculations about Shivakumar's role, sources said the KPCC chief will not join as deputy chief minister. He had earlier told Kharge that he was not willing to accept any other post, and will continue as an MLA if he is not given the CM post. Instead of Shivakumar, the party is mulling names of three senior leaders as deputy chief ministersMB Patil, G Parameshwara and UT Khader representing the Lingayats. Scheduled Castes and Muslims respectively.

Patil, former home and water resources minister, was at the forefront of a campaign for the recognition of the Lingayat faith as a minority religion when the Congress was in power between 2013-18. He was chairman of the party's campaign committee for the assembly polls in which Congress registered a thumping victory with 135 seats.

Former state Congress president Parameshwara sprung a surprise on Tuesday and threw his hat in the ring for CM's post amid intense lobbying by Siddaramiah and DKS. Parameshwara was deputy chief minister during Congress-JDS coalition government led by HD Kumaraswamy.

Khader, deputy opposition leader in last assembly, is a five-time MLA from Mangalore.

-with inputs from Soni Mishra
The renaming of the historic Rajpath to Kartavya Path was "pure politics" as 'Rajpath' itself is a Hindi word, Congress leader Shashi Tharoor said.

Interacting on the sidelines of a panel discussion on the book, 'British Takeover of India: Modus Operandi,' held at the India International Centre in Delhi on Tuesday evening, Tharoor also said that he was in favour of renaming of places named after "obscure Brits" and name them after Indians, even as he wondered what rechristening of Bombay, Calcutta, and Madras, really accomplished.

"It's a complicated issue because some places have acquired a certain resonance in the memories of Indians who have grown up with them," he told PTI when asked about his views on the renaming of streets, cities, and institutions.

A large number of roads, parks, schools, hospitals and other institutions, besides prominent cities, have been renamed in the last 75 years in the name of shedding "colonial baggage."

Many historians and heritage experts have decried the rechristening of old cities and landmarks over the years, saying it "breaks the continuity of history" and the practice was tantamount to the "erasure of public memories."

"I am all in favour of renaming of places carrying names of obscure Brits, and instead honouring Indians. But, at some point, I think you have to... For example, renaming of cities like Bombay, Madras and Calcutta, I am not sure what it really accomplished," Tharoor said.

Bombay and Madras were renamed Mumbai and Chennai in the late 1990s and soon Calcutta was rechristened Kolkata. Later, Poona was renamed Pune, Mysore Mysuru, Bangalore Bengaluru, and the state of Orissa Odisha. Many citizens still refer to these places by their old nomenclatures.

In the capital city of New Delhi, a string of British-era streets, parks, and railway bridges were named after Indian freedom fighters and various other noted personalities soon after August 15, 1947, when India became a free nation.

Prominent streets like Kingsway and Queensway, which run perpendicular to each other in the heart of the capital designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens and Sir Herbert Baker, were renamed 'Rajpath' and 'Janpath' respectively.

'Rajpath' -- the ceremonial boulevard of the national capital that connects the Raisina Hill complex to India Gate, was renamed 'Kartavya Path' in September last year and was inaugurated as part of the revamped Central Vista Avenue by Prime Minister Narendra Modi soon after.

"That's pure politics, I am afraid. There's nothing more than that. Because Rajpath itself is a Hindi word," said Tharoor, when asked about the rechristening of Rajpath to Kartavya Path, adding such matters should be discussed widely.

Rajpath began its journey as Kingsway, a central axis built as part of the New Delhi, after the imperial seat of the administration was shifted here from Calcutta having been announced by British monarch King George V at 1911 Delhi Durbar.

From witnessing the dawn of Independence to playing host to annual Republic Day celebrations over the last seven decades, Rajpath has been privy to colonial rule and basked in the glory of a free, democratic nation.

Last year as he inaugurated the revamped Central Vista with Rajpath and the lawns flanking the boulevard, Prime Minister Modi called the stretch of road a symbol of India's "slavery." He had also unveiled a statue of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose at India Gate.

The renaming triggered a sharp reaction from members of many opposition parties, including Congress and TMC.

"If Raj Path is to be renamed Kartavya Path, shouldn't all Raj Bhavans become Kartavya Bhavans," Tharoor wrote on Twitter soon after the renaming last year. "Why stop there? Rename Rajasthan as Kartavyasthan?"

TMC MP Mahua Moitra tweeted, "Will all Raj Bhavans be now known as Kartavya Bhavans?" adding later, "Meanwhile new BJP in charge for WB can ride on the Kartavyadhani Express to Sealdah enjoying his Kartavya kachoris followed by a nice sweet Kartavya bhog. Yummy."

Historians have argued that 'Raj' in 'Rajpath' refers to the idea of state, and not 'Raja' or King.

Historian S Irfan Habib too joined the band of detractors saying that the renaming of roads and buildings will not lead to any change in governance.

Congress, in its turn, is no stranger to the renaming controversy. It had its fair share of criticism when Connaught Place, and subsequently, Connaught Circus on its periphery, were renamed as Rajiv Chowk and Indira Chowk under its rule.

Connaught Place, the central business district of New Delhi, was designed by architect Robert Torr Russell. It was originally named after Britain's Duke of Connaught and is famed for its colonnade architecture.

A metro station located underneath it was named Rajiv Chowk Metro Station.

'British Takeover of India: Modus Operandi,' originally published in 1979, was recently issued in print again.
Kerala accounted for the maximum number of arrests in 2022 made under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act of 1985 by all drug law enforcement agencies. A staggering total of 27,545 individuals were apprehended in the southern state under the NDPS Act last year.



Kerala also accounted for 29.4 per cent of the total number of NDPS-related arrests in the country. Other than Kerala, Maharashtra and Utter Pradesh were the only other states that had more than 10,000 arrests in 2022.



In terms of the number of arrests, Kerala had a 360 per cent rise when compared to its figures in 2016. Cannabis-based drugs account for the lion's share of drugs seized in the state. The number of convictions under the NDPS Act in cases booked by NCB in 2022 in the entire country was only 94, and none of these was in Kerala.



Kerala's top ranking in terms of arrests demonstrates the change in the approach taken by the government to crack down on drugs, but at the same time, it also points to the rising drug menace in the state. Last year, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had announced that habitual drug offenders in the state will be taken into preventive detention.





While speaking on an adjournment motion moved by opposition MLA P.C. Vishnunath, Vijayan called for certain changes in the process of investigating and charge-sheeting in drug cases. Section 31 and Section 31A in the NDPS Act lay down harsher punishment, including the death penalty in certain cases after a previous conviction, for repeat offenders. The government directed law enforcement agencies to include details pertaining to convictions in the past in drug cases while filing the chargesheet in drug cases. He had also announced that a data bank of those involved in drug cases will be maintained.



Last September, the state police launched a new scheme titled 'Yodhaav' to curb the production, supply, and use of drugs. In the following month, the Kerala government launched a state-wide aggressive No to Drugs campaign, aimed at creating awareness about the dangers of drug abuse. In the recent budget, the state had set aside Rs15 crore for coordinated anti-narcotics activities.



State Education Minister V. Sivankutty recently admitted that the operations of drug traffickers are mostly centred around schools, and school students are being used as drug carriers. We are on high alert now. The combined effort of police and excise department will be required to tackle this scenario, he said.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman emphasises the need for AI regulation, warning of significant harm if technology goes wrong.

Altman calls for the formation of a licensing agency to regulate AI companies and address concerns about election integrity.

Concerns about misinformation and societal harms prompt calls for global cooperation and incentives for AI safety compliance.

OpenAI's CEO, Sam Altman, has emphasised the need for regulating artificial intelligence (AI) during his testimony before a US Senate committee.

Altman expressed concern about the potential harm that the AI industry could cause, stating, "if this technology goes wrong, it can go quite wrong." Recognising the significant area of concern related to AI's interference with election integrity, Altman emphasised the necessity of regulation in this domain.

To address the growing presence of AI models in the market, Altman proposed the establishment of a new agency responsible for licensing AI companies. He acknowledged the impressive capabilities of AI models like ChatGPT, which can provide human-like answers but also highlighted the issue of inaccuracies. Altman's push for regulation aligns with his commitment to addressing the ethical questions raised by AI.

Altman expressed apprehension about AI's impact on jobs, acknowledging the need for transparency in communicating this potential effect. However, some senators argued for the implementation of new laws that would make it easier for individuals to sue OpenAI, emphasising concerns regarding misinformation during elections.

The race to bring increasingly versatile AI to the market has led to investments of significant resources. Critics worry that AI technology may exacerbate societal issues such as prejudice and misinformation, with some even expressing fears about its potential to threaten humanity itself.

Senator Cory Booker acknowledged the explosive global growth of AI and highlighted the necessity of regulating it. Senator Mazie Hirono expressed concern about the danger of misinformation, particularly in the context of the upcoming 2024 election.

Altman suggested the implementation of licensing and testing requirements for AI model development. He emphasized that AI models capable of persuading or manipulating beliefs should be subject to licensing. Altman also supported the idea that companies should have the right to choose whether their data is used for AI training. However, he clarified that publicly available web material would be fair game.

Altman expressed a preference for a subscription-based model over advertising and participated in a White House meeting focused on AI. The US lawmakers, like Altman, aim to promote AI's benefits and national security while limiting potential misuse.

To ensure safety and compliance, Altman called for global cooperation on AI and incentives for safety compliance. IBM's Chief Privacy and Trust Officer, Christina Montgomery, urged Congress to concentrate regulatory efforts on areas with the potential for significant societal harm.

Altman's testimony highlighted the urgent need for AI regulation to mitigate potential risks and ensure responsible AI development and deployment. The proposal for a licensing agency reflects OpenAI's commitment to fostering a safe and secure AI landscape.
With the worlds modern militaries increasingly veering around to the view that missile and anti-missile defence systems are simply indispensable and most critical in todays warfare, the skies over Kiev lit up at about 3 AM on Tuesday with a fearsome pit-fight between two of the most powerful systems that the US and Russia can fieldthe US Patriot anti-missile system pitted against the hypersonic Russian Kinzhal missile.



Besides being a struggle to establish undisputed superiority in cutting-edge military technology, nothing can be a better advertisement for the capabilities of weapons and platforms than them fighting it out in real-life and high-intensity scenarios as in Ukraine.



More so because both the US and Russia are major sellers of military equipment, and also because todays wars are fought under the public gaze with TV and social media being the mediums that take battles to the drawing rooms.



Early morning on Tuesday, in a coordinated attack, a volley of Russian missiles was launched into targets in Kiev. The target was obvious: The Patriot surface-to-air anti-missile defence systemamong the most advanced weapon systems in the US arsenal that offers near-impregnable defence against incoming missiles, aircraft, drones and other projectiles.



The Ukrainian Air Force later tweeted: Tonight, Russia again attacked Ukraine. 6 Kinzhal aeroballistic missiles - 9 Kalibr missiles - 3 ground-launched missiles  drones. ALL TARGETS SHOT DOWN.



Infuriating Russia, two Patriot systems had arrived in Ukraine on April 19one gifted by the US, while the other one was jointly gifted by Germany and The Netherlands.



Meanwhile, the Russians claimed that the Patriot was taken out.



A Russian defence ministry statement said, The Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation launched a combined attack with long-range precision-guided air- and sea-based weapons against the AFU (Armed Forces of Ukraine) units, as well as depots of ammunition, weapons and military equipment supplied by Western countries.



The goal of the attack has been reached. All the assigned targets have been neutralised US-manufactured Patriot surface-to-air missile system has been struck by Kinzhal hypersonic glide vehicle in Kiev.



Both superpowers had been reluctant to use these cutting-edge weapons in the initial phase of the war. But with the war dragging on and showing signs of getting more intense, these weapons have been brought into play.



The first use of the Kinzhal was on March 18, 2022, while the second use was a year later on March 9 this year. The third time was on May 4 and then again on May 16. In the last two occasions, the target was obvious: The two Patriot systems that Ukraine was fielding.



High maneuverability and high speed10 Mach or ten times the speed of soundis what sets the Kinzhal apart from other existing missiles of the day. It has a maximum range of about 2,000 km.



On the other hand, a Patriot battery comprises a radar, a control station, and a generator besides vehicle-mounted launching systems armed with eight launchers that can fire four missile interceptors each. Various versions of the missile system operate at ranges of 30 km, 60 km, 90 km, and 160 km.



With the fog of war blurring the exact extent of damage on the Patriot system, Ukraine said the Russian assertion of hitting the Patriot system with the Kinzhal is not true.



On Wednesday, Ukrainian air force spokesperson Yuriy Ihnat told Ukrainian television: I want to say: do not worry about the fate of the Patriot Destroying the system with some kind of Kinzhal, its impossible. Everything that they (Russia) say there, it can remain in their propaganda archive.
Punjab's interim government has given Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) an ultimatum to hand over 30-40 terrorists that have taken refuge" at Imran Khan's Zaman Park residence in Lahore to the police.



PTI should hand over these terrorists or the law will take its course, Caretaker Information Minister Aamir Mir told Geo TV. He also added that the government was aware about the presence of these "terrorists" as it had credible intelligence reports. "The intelligence report that has come is very alarming," Mir said.

A top Pakistani court here on Wednesday extended until May 31 its order to prevent the arrest of former prime minister Imran Khan in any case filed against him after May 9.

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) ruling came after the government's lawyer requested more time to provide information about the cases filed against the 70-year-old Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party chief.

Mir accused PTI of behaving like a "non-state actor", and alleged that former PM Khan has been targeting the military for over a year. Khan was arrested on May 9 outside the IHC by the Rangers, a paramilitary force in the Al-Qadri Trust case. Protests erupted after Khan's arrest.

Mir said the attacks on military installations during protests on May 9 were carried out under a set plan and that the current Punjab CM has given a 'freehand' to the Punjab Police to deal with 'arsonists' and that the government has adopted a zero tolerance policy" towards the attacks. Several arsonists were in touch with people inside Zaman Park during the attack on the Corps Commander House. They will be made an example so that no one will carry out such an act in the future, Mir said

 With PTI inputs
ANKARA, May 17 (Xinhua) -- The Black Sea Grain Initiative, which allows the export of Ukrainian grain and other agricultural products from Black Sea ports, extended for another two months, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced on Wednesday.

"With the efforts of our country, the support of our Russian friends and the contributions of our Ukrainian friends, it was decided to extend the Black Sea grain deal for another two months," Erdogan said while addressing his party members via teleconference.

"I wish that this decision, which is of vital importance for the uninterrupted operation of global food supply chains and especially for facilitating the access to grain of the countries in need, will be beneficial to all parties," he stressed.

Ankara will continue its efforts to ensure that the agreement goes on in the next period by fulfilling all the conditions, he added.

In addition, Erdogan thanked Russia for not preventing the exit of Turkish ships in Mykolaiv and Olvia ports.

In July 2022, Russia and Ukraine separately signed a document in Istanbul with Turkiye and the United Nations on grain and fertilizer exports from Ukraine and Russia to ensure supplies to global markets amid the Ukraine crisis.

The initial 120-day agreement was extended by another 120 days in November 2022 and then by 60 days in March 2023.

The memorandum of understanding between Russia and the United Nations on the facilitation of exports of Russian food and fertilizer is a parallel agreement with the Black Sea Grain Initiative.

While the exports of Ukrainian grain have made strides, Russia has constantly expressed displeasure with the lack of progress in the facilitation of exports of Russian food and fertilizer. 
Renowned film producer Alexander Rodnyansky and theater director Ivan Vyrypaev are facing arrest after a Moscow court issued an order against them for allegedly spreading false information about the Russian army. Although the court hearings took place on April 27, the information was only made public by the court on Wednesday.

The court's press service revealed that Rodnyansky and Vyrypaev, who are currently residing outside of Russia, will be placed in custody once they are detained or extradited by Russian authorities. Furthermore, the Russian Interior Ministry has included Vyrypaev on the federal wanted list.

Rodnyansky, originally from Kyiv, has played a prominent role in the Russian film industry in recent decades. Following the commencement of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, he departed from Russia and has since been openly critical of the war. In October 2022, Russia's Justice Ministry designated Rodnyansky as a foreign agent.

Ivan Vyrypaev, a celebrated playwright, director, and actor, has been residing and working in Warsaw for several years and has also voiced opposition against the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Since Putin's deployment of troops to Ukraine, the Russian government has embarked on a severe crackdown on dissent, reminiscent of the Soviet era. Criticism of the war has been criminalized, resulting in fines, imprisonment, job terminations, blacklisting, branding as foreign agents, and individuals fleeing Russia.
Ahmedabad, May 17 (PTI) The Gujarat cabinet on Wednesday gave its approval to a proposal of setting up 21 new industrial estates across 13 districts in the state, an official said.

During a cabinet meeting held in Gandhinagar, Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel gave a nod to this proposal and also gave his in-principle approval to prepare a pre-feasibility assessment report, a release said.

The pre-feasibility study would cover various aspects, such as availability of land to establish estates, demand and supply factors and agricultural production in those areas, it said.

These 21 new estates, to be managed by the Gujarat Industrial Development Corporation (GIDC), will be established in Rajkot, Mehsana, Mahisagar, Bharuch, Banaskantha, Patan, Chhotaudepur, Gir Somnath, Gandhinagar, Kheda, Amreli, Anand and Junagadh districts.

Notably, the state government had in March informed the legislative Assembly that it was planning to establish new industrial estates in the state so that local youths get employment near their native places.
New Delhi, May 17 (PTI) Commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal has said that India is engaged with the European Union on the EU's decision to impose carbon tax on certain imported goods and expressed hope that the intention is not to create trade barriers.

Addressing the media on Tuesday after the first India-EU Trade and Technology Council meeting in Brussels, he also said India has to keep its customs duties high on many products at times to compete with certain geographies which are "very non-transparent" and the developed countries face the "unintended consequence of the high tariffs".

Goyal said that the CBAM (carbon border adjustment mechanism) is the mechanism that the EU has proposed and India remains engaged with the EU on that.

"I am sure that the intention is not to create barrier to trade but to find a way forward so that sustainability is as much a part of our collective efforts to leave behind a better planet for the next generation... we remain engaged and we are discussing the issue and we have a long time ahead of us within which we'll be working together to find the right solutions to this," he said.

The mechanism, which is due to kick in from October, will impact India's steel and aluminium exports.

When asked about the allegations that India's duties are high, Goyal said that India's tariffs are "very often" misconstrued to be high on most items of raw material or intermediates.

"We are generally very low on duty. On many items of technology, many items which are helping the Indian economy grow, we have kept the duties very low... the actual applied rates are much lower than what was agreed to at the WTO as bound rates," he said.

He added that India is a developing country of 1.4 billion people and providing the needs for such a large population and providing work opportunities to millions of people has its own dynamics.

"Recognising and respecting our ability to compete with geographies which are completely non-transparent, we need to keep our tariffs high on many products. At times, developed countries are the unintended consequence of high tariffs and which is why we are engaged in free trade agreement negations with the EU," he said.

He expressed hope that the agreement will give huge opportunities and openings to many businesses in India to provide high quality and innovative R&D products to India and it will also open doors to EU marketplace for Indian goods.

When asked about the issue of refined oil products from India by using Russian oil, external affairs minister S Jaishankar said that "my understanding of the council's regulations is that if Russian crude is substantially transformed in a third country then it is not treated as Russian any more."
Lucknow, May 17 (PTI) Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Wednesday stressed the need to promote pharmaceutical research in the state and announced to set up a pharmaceutical research and innovation institute soon.

In a high-level meeting here, the chief minister discussed the possibilities of development of the pharmaceutical sector and stressed the importance of promoting pharmaceutical research. He also gave necessary instructions for the creation of a new institute in the state, an official release issued here said.

"To encourage the pharmaceutical industry, we must concentrate on quality educational institutions, research labs, and industry. In such a situation, a Pharmaceutical Research and Innovation Institute should be established.

"The institute will primarily focus on research and innovation, as well as act as a bridge between other institutes and industries related to the sector," he said.

The chief minister also directed the officials to prepare a detailed action plan regarding the nature of the pharmaceutical research and innovation institute, the release said.

Prepare a panel of sector experts, assess the future needs of the pharmaceutical sector and submit a detailed action plan within the next 15 days, while studying best practices from around the world. Suitable land should be identified for this in the capital Lucknow. This institute will play a major role in pharmaceutical research in Uttar Pradesh, he said.

While the process of construction of Pharma Park is going on in the state, Medical Device Park is also to be constructed. This resource needs to be used more effectively, as per the release.

In terms of the number of pharmaceutical manufacturing facilities, Uttar Pradesh is the sixth largest state in the nation.
Mumbai, May 17 (PTI) Bollywood actor Salman Khan's sister Arpita Khan filed a complaint after her diamond-studded gold jewellery worth around Rs five lakh was allegedly stolen from her house in suburban Khar here, following which the police arrested her domestic help, an official said on Wednesday.

The incident took place on Monday and the 30-year-old accused was arrested the next day from neighbouring Thane district, he said.

"Accused Sandip Hegde decamped with diamond-studded gold jewellery worth around Rs five lakh from Arpita Khan's residence located on 17th Road in Khar. After the incident came to light, Arpita approached the police and lodged a complaint," the official of Khar police station said.

Based on her complaint, the police launched a probe and scanned the CCTV footage from the area, he said.

"With the help of technical and other inputs, the police nabbed the accused on Tuesday from Thane for the alleged theft of the jewellery," the official said.

A case was registered against him under sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), including 381 (theft by clerk or servant), he said, adding that further investigation is being carried out.
Kolkata, May 17 (PTI) Asserting that his film 'Fatafati' is a message against body-shaming, filmmaker Aritra Mukherjee exhorted every woman to be proud of herself.

Mukherjee said he could instantly relate to the storyline of the movie, the title of which puns on the word 'fat' but also means 'superb' or 'amazing' in Bengali, as his wife also had to face taunts for being plus-sized.

The movie, which was released on May 5, is running packed houses in various theatres across West Bengal.

"Since childhood, I have seen people being harassed for being fat. They are given all sorts of names and crass jokes are cracked upon them without thinking about the mental state of that person. My wife also had to face such ridicule," Mukherjee told PTI.

"So, when the film's producers Shiboprosad Mukhopadhyay, Nandita Roy and Jinia Sen of Windows production house narrated the storyline to me, I immediately agreed to direct the film," he said.

Mukherjee feels that the only way women can counter such crass comments is by rebutting the trolls and doing whatever they want to, with confidence.

"It is a social issue that needs to be addressed," he said.

He said the movie's protagonist Ritabhari Chakraborty, who essayed the role of a plump, young homemaker named Phullora, adapted to the role "like fish to water".

"Chakraborty could relate to the harassment faced by fat women. She gained a few kilos for the role," Mukherjee said.

Phullora is an outspoken woman, who is good at stitching and tailoring, and she reaches out to her audience outside her mofussil house through social media. Ultimately her reels help her become a fashion influencer who does not fit into the conventional term of a model, the filmmaker said.

Mukherjee had earlier directed 'Brahma Janen Gopon Kommoti' film in 2020. The movie dwelt on a priestess, with Chakraborty gaining critical acclaim for her portrayal in the lead role.

Chakraborty said the film's narrative affirms that one's weight should not come in the way of her dreams, of leading life on her own terms.

"Phullora is made to believe by some people that she is heavily-built, not smart enough and is a misfit in social events but she proves them wrong and motivates other women of her locality to aim big. I am happy that the film struck a chord with the people," she said.

Chakraborty said a woman's body weight and shape do not matter as long as she is confident about herself.

"It is one thing to flag someone's health issues out of concern and another to pass crass comments about the way she is looking. There has to be a clear distinction. I am happy that a popular film is finally addressing the issue in terms understandable for common people," she said.

Actor Abir Chatterjee, who essayed the role of Phullora's husband Bachaspati belonging to a lower-middle class household, said that "every sensible person would relate to the storyline".

"Since our childhood, all of us have seen fat people being bullied or taunted in schools, social gatherings or even 'addas'. We had not always taken their side. When the script was read to me, I agreed to do the film at once. When the shooting began, the chemistry between me and Ritabhari clicked from the very first day," he said.
Mumbai, May 17 (PTI) US Ambassador to India Eric Garcetti met superstar Shah Rukh Khan at the actor's residence Mannat where they discussed the "cultural impact" of Hollywood and Bollywood.

Garcetti also posted pictures from his meeting with the Hindi cinema star at his sea-facing bungalow in suburban Bandra on Tuesday on Twitter.

"Is it time for my Bollywood debut? Had a wonderful chat with superstar

@iamsrk at his residence Mannat, learning more about the film industry in Mumbai and discussing the huge cultural impact of Hollywood and Bollywood across the globe. #AmbExploresIndia" he tweeted.

Garcetti, 52, President Joe Biden's close aide, was officially sworn in as the US Ambassador to India in March.

In Mumbai, the US ambassador also met Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani and visited the Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre (NMACC), which was inaugurated in March.

"From meeting the cast of the Broadway classic The Sound of Music at The Grand Theatre to learning about Indias rich textile heritage at the India in Fashion exhibit, I was impressed from start to finish.

"Next time you visit, dont miss the reproduction of designer Naeem Khans ensemble for former US First Lady Michelle Obama," he had tweeted.
Lahore, May 17 (PTI) The Cantonment military police have opened the historic Corps Commander Lahore House known as 'Jinnah House' for the public after it was torched by arsonists following the anti-government protests against the arrest of former prime minister Imran Khan on May 9.

The Jinnah House in Lahore Cantonment was opened to the public primarily to show them the damage caused by the arsonists to the 'historic monument', an official of the Punjab government said.

A large number of Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party workers May 9 stormed the Jinnah House and set it on fire after vandalising it.

On May 9, Khan, the chairman of PTI was arrested by paramilitary Rangers at the Islamabad High Court where he was attending a hearing for a corruption case.

He was arrested just a day after he accused the powerful army of plotting to assassinate him.

Clashes erupted after the arrest of Khan. In addition to this, the violent protesters torched a static plane in the Mianwali district of Punjab, the hometown of Imran Khan and attacked the ISI building in Faisalabad.

The Army headquarters (GHQ) in Rawalpindi was also attacked by the mob for the first time. According to police over a dozen military installations were vandalised or torched during the two-day violent protests.

Law enforcement agencies have arrested over 7,000 PTI workers across Pakistan, 4,000 of them from Punjab for torching and vandalising the civil and military installations after violence erupted in the wake of Imran Khan's arrest on May 9 in a land corruption case.

According to PTI, over 40 party workers were killed in the violence. Police have put the toll to 10.

Some student groups' visits were also organised at the Jinnah House showing them the damage caused by the arsonists. They also penned down their comments.

Before the attack, Jinnah House where the founder of Pakistan Mohammad Ali Jinnah stayed for 'two hours' was hardly ever opened to the general public in the past.

The military top command has announced trying the rioters under the Military Act.

On Monday the top military brass vowed to bring the arsonists, who attacked the civil and military installations, to justice through trial under relevant laws of the country, including the Pakistan Army Act and Official Secrets Act.
Washington, May 17 (AP) US President Joe Biden is considering cutting short his upcoming foreign trip because of the looming debt ceiling crisis, adding urgency to the talks that resumed on Tuesday at the White House with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and other congressional leaders.

"We are just getting started," Biden said in brief remarks to reporters, while others in the Oval Office -- Vice President Kamala Harris, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-NY, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-NY, and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky -- stayed quiet and sat soberly.

Tuesday's meeting was pivotal as negotiators were staring down a June 1 deadline, which is when the Treasury Department says the US could begin defaulting on its debts. National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters the White House was considering cutting short Biden's planned trip to Japan, Papua New Guinea and Australia, set to begin Wednesday.

Biden will still attend the Group of Seven summit in Hiroshima, Japan, as planned but could cancel the later stops. Kirby noted that Biden will already have met with some of the leaders of the so-called "Quad" -- the purpose of the Australia leg of the visit -- while in Japan, even as he cautioned that no final decisions have been made.

"We would not even be having this discussion about the effect of the debt ceiling debate on the trip, if Congress would do its job, raise the debt ceiling the way they have always done," Kirby said.

While Biden has remained upbeat that "we will be able to do this," McCarthy has prodded the president to move faster and has been far more pessimistic on the state of the talks. He and other Republicans are demanding budget cuts in exchange for their support for raising the debt ceiling. Biden insists the two issue must not be linked.

"How much is too much?" McCarthy said on Tuesday about the nation's USD 31 trillion debt load, as he pushed for stricter work requirements on government aid recipients as a way to cut spending.

McCarthy stopped short of suggesting Biden cancel his trip abroad. But he said at the Capitol, "We have got 16 more days to go, I do not think I would spend eight days out of the country."

Even as the Democratic president and the Republican speaker box around the politics of the issue -- with Biden insisting he is not negotiating over the debt ceiling and McCarthy working to extract spending cuts -- various areas of possible agreement appeared to be emerging.

Talks have been under way at the Capitol for much of the past week, closed-door discussions where White House and congressional staff are discussing what it would take to craft a budget deal that would unlock a separate vote to lift the nation's borrowing capacity to avoid a devastating default.

Among the items on the table: clawing back some USD 30 billion in untapped COVID-19 money, imposing future budget caps, changing permit regulations to ease energy development and putting bolstered work requirements on recipients of government aid, according to those familiar with the talks.

But congressional Democrats are growing concerned about the idea of putting new work requirements for government aid recipients on the table after Biden suggested he may be open to such changes. The White House remains opposed to changes in requirements for recipients of Medicaid and food stamp programmes, although it is more open to revisions for beneficiaries of the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families cash assistance programme.

The idea of imposing more work requirements was "resoundingly" rejected by House Democrats at a morning caucus meeting, according to one Democrat at the private meeting and granted anonymity to discuss it.

Progressive lawmakers in particular have raised the issue. Rep. Pramila Jayapal, the chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, has raised concerns but not yet spoken directly to Biden about the issue.

"We want to make sure that these negotiations do not include spending cuts, do not include work requirements, things that would harm people, people in rural areas, black, brown, indigenous folks," Jayapal said on Tuesday.

Democratic leader Jeffries' staff sought to reassure them in talks late Monday, while a separate group of more centrist Democrats have signalled to their moderate Republican colleagues they are prepared to work something out to reach a debt ceiling deal, aides said on Tuesday.

While McCarthy has complained the talks are slow-going, saying he first met with Biden more than 100 days ago, Biden has said it took McCarthy all this time to put forward his own proposal after Republicans failed to produce their own budget this year.

Biden has insisted Republicans must rule out default and consider budget issues separate from the need to raise the nation's debt limit.

The debt limit must be lifted, as has been done countless times before, to allow continued borrowing to pay already accrued bills.

Compounding pressure on Washington to strike a deal, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said on Monday that estimates are unchanged on the possible "X-date" when the US could run out of cash.

But Yellen, in a letter to the House and Senate, left some opening for a possible time extension on a national default, stating that "the actual date Treasury exhausts extraordinary measures could be a number of days or weeks later than these estimates".

"It is essential that Congress act as soon as possible," Yellen said on Tuesday in remarks before the Independent Community Bankers of America.

"In my assessment -- and that of economists across the board -- a US default would generate an economic and financial catastrophe," she said.

Time is dwindling. Congress has just a few days when both the House and Senate are in session to pass legislation.

"It is time for the principals to get more engaged, get their closers out there," said Senator John Thune of South Dakota, the Republican whip.

Details of a potential budget deal remain politically daunting, and it is not at all clear they go far enough to satisfy McCarthy's hard-right faction in the House or would be acceptable to a sizable number of Democrats whose votes would almost certainly be needed to secure any final deal.

Republicans led by McCarthy want Biden to accept their proposal to roll back spending, cap future outlays and make other policy changes in the package passed last month by House Republicans. McCarthy says the House is the only chamber that has taken action to raise the debt ceiling. But the House bill is almost certain to fail in the Senate, controlled by Democrats, and Biden has said he would veto it.

An increase in the debt limit would not authorise new federal spending. It would only allow for borrowing to pay for what Congress has already approved. (AP) RC
Beijing, May 17 (PTI) China on Wednesday sought the help of several countries to rescue 39 people who were on board a Chinese fishing vessel that sank in the Indian Ocean, the official media here reported.

Thirty-nine people, including 17 Chinese crew members, 17 Indonesians, and five from the Philippines, were on board the Chinese fishing vessel that capsized in the central part of the Indian Ocean on Tuesday, it said.

So far, none of the missing persons have been found and a search is underway, the report said.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry has contacted relevant departments in Australia, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Indonesia, the Philippines and other countries to join the search and rescue operations, the report said.

Meanwhile, Chinese President Xi Jinping ordered all-out efforts in the rescue of the missing people in the boat tragedy.

Xi gave the instruction following the incident that occurred around 3 am on Tuesday, urging relevant departments to activate the emergency response mechanism immediately.

Xi called for coordinating international maritime search and rescue assistance, and making every effort to carry out rescue, the report said.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and relevant embassies abroad should strengthen contact with relevant local parties to coordinate the search and rescue work, Xi said.

He also ordered to strengthen early warning alerts of safety risks for distant-sea operations to ensure the safety of people's lives and property.

Chinese Premier Li Qiang has also called for maximum efforts to coordinate relative parties to organise the rescue work and reduce casualties, it said.
UNITED NATIONS, May 17 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese envoy on Wednesday called for efforts to strive for a comprehensive cease-fire so as to create a favorable environment for the political process in Yemen.

Relevant parties have, for some time, maintained close communication on the political settlement of the Yemeni issue and strived to end the suffering of the Yemeni people. They should maintain the current momentum, step up dialogue and consultation, set reasonable expectations and demonstrate flexibility so as to arrive at mutually acceptable solutions to outstanding issues as soon as possible, said Geng Shuang, China's deputy permanent representative to the United Nations.

"We urge all parties in Yemen to put the interests of the people first, adhere to the political solution, abandon military means, actively cooperate with the UN special envoy in order to strive for a comprehensive cease-fire promptly so that a favorable environment can be created for the political process," he told the UN Security Council.

The security situation in Yemen has eased recently. However, sporadic exchanges of fire still took place in Taiz and other places, causing civilian casualties. China expresses concern about this, he said.

The international community should increase humanitarian and development investment in Yemen to stop the deterioration of the humanitarian situation. The UN humanitarian operations in Yemen should be fully funded, and the unreasonable restrictions on humanitarian operations should be lifted immediately, said Geng.

The political settlement of the Yemeni issue is certainly not separable from the regional dynamics, he said.

There have been positive signs for regional peace and stability in the Middle East, and new favorable conditions are emerging for the improvement of the situation in Yemen, the envoy added.

China has all along been a promoter of security and stability, a partner for development and prosperity, and a facilitator of unity and self-improvement in the Middle East. China is ready to work with the international community in actively supporting regional countries' efforts to strengthen unity and cooperation and engage in dialogue and consultation for the sake of peace and tranquility in the region, he said. 
Reykjavik (Iceland), May 17 (AP) Leaders from across Europe were wrapping a two-day summit on Wednesday, putting the final touches on a system to establish the damage Russia is causing during the war in Ukraine, in the hopes it can be forced to compensate victims and help rebuild the nation once the conflict is over.

The Russian invasion of Ukraine was the dominant topic during the meeting in the Icelandic capital, Reykjavik, where delegations from the Council of Europe discussed how the continent's preeminent human rights organisation can support Kyiv.

The most tangible outcome of the meeting  the first summit the Council of Europe has held in nearly two decades  is the creation of the register of damages. Expected to be housed in The Hague, the register will allow victims of the war to report the harm they have suffered.

When we think in terms of reconstruction it's an enormously important judicial element to have this register of damages to give justice to the victims, said European Union Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said, speaking at the opening of the summit late Tuesday.

The record is intended to constitute the first component of a future international compensation mechanism according to a Council of Europe document. The operation will be financed by the signatories.

Such a register could be used to distribute reparations from a proposed tribunal to prosecute the crime of aggression, another concept backed by the Council of Europe. In his address to the summit on Tuesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy reiterated his country's wish for such a court.

There will be no reliable peace without justice, he said, speaking to the opening session via video link.

The Council of Europe's secretary general, Marija Pejcinovic Buric, announced ahead of the summit that the body intends to support the international effort to establish a judicial organ to prosecute the crime of aggression  the literal act of invading another country.

The International Criminal Court has issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin and another official for war crimes, accusing him of personal responsibility for the abductions of children from Ukraine. But the court lacks the ability to prosecute aggression.

Not all of the Council of Europe's 46 members are backing the damages register, however. Ten countries, including Hungary, Turkiye and Serbia have refused to sign up. Switzerland has also not joined, but this is a result of domestic legal requirements, according to Swiss officials, and the Alpine nation plans to become a signatory as soon as possible. (AP)



GRS
London, May 17 (PTI) Ranjitsinh Disale, the winner of the USD 1 million Global Teacher Prize, on Wednesday called on inspiring Indian teachers to apply for the 2023 edition of the annual prize, which celebrates innovative and impactful teaching achievements worldwide.

The winner of the 2020 edition of the prestigious prize also called on parents and pupils to nominate their life-changing educators for the renowned accolade.

Disale was recognised for his work in transforming the life chances of young girls at the Zilla Parishad Primary School in Paritewadi village of Maharashtra.

Since winning the prize, he has gone on to meet prominent policymakers and advise the World Bank.

India has one of the worlds most youthful populations and is therefore set to play a huge role in shaping the world, he said.

Our countrys inspiring teachers are integral to nurturing the next generation of visionaries. That is why I encourage them to apply for the Global Teacher Prize 2023 and call on parents and pupils to nominate the great educators in their lives.

They deserve to have their stories heard, and for the world to know about all that they have accomplished, he said in a statement.

Now in its eighth year, the prize is open to working teachers in every kind of school who spend at least 10 hours per week teaching and plan to remain in the profession for the next five years.

The Global Teacher Prize was launched to highlight the importance of education in tackling the great challenges ahead  from climate change to growing inequality to global pandemics," said Kerala-born Sunny Varkey, Founder of the Global Teacher Prize and Chairman of the Varkey Foundation.

"I urge inspiring teachers all around the world to apply for this years edition, Varkey said.

The Global Teacher Prize 2023 is organised in collaboration with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) and in strategic partnership with UAE-based global philanthropic organisation Dubai Cares.

The closing date for this years entries is May 28, following which a Top 50 and then a Top 10 finalist shortlists will be unveiled in the coming months.

The winner will be chosen from the final 10 by the Global Teacher Prize Academy made up of prominent individuals from around the world to be awarded later this year.
Lahore, May 17 (PTI) The interim government in Pakistan's Punjab province has given a 24-hour deadline to the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party chief Imran Khan to handover all "30-40 terrorists that have taken refuge" at his residence here, according to a media report on Wednesday.

The Caretaker Information Minister Aamir Mir while addressing a press conference in Lahore said, "PTI should hand over these terrorists or the law will take its course," Geo News reported.

Referring to the May 9 protesters as 'terrorists', Mir said that the government was aware of their presence at Khan's Zaman Park residence as it had credible intelligence reports.

"The intelligence report that has come is very alarming," Mir was quoted as saying, adding that the agencies were able to confirm the presence of the "terrorists" in Zaman Park through geo-fencing.

Geo-fencing is a technology that allows the movements of a person, vehicle, etc. to be recorded or limited using satellite signals.

Recalling the recent violent protests in the country following the arrest of ousted prime minister Khan, Mir alleged that "The PTI leadership had planned the attack before the arrest [of Imran Khan]."

The arrest of Khan, 70, on May 9 by the paramilitary Pakistan Rangers at the Islamabad High Court premises triggered unrest in Pakistan.

For the first time in Pakistan's history, the protesters stormed the army headquarters (GHQ) in Rawalpindi and also torched the Corps Commander's house in Lahore.

Police put the death toll in violent clashes to 10 while Khan's party claims 40 of its workers lost their lives in the firing by security personnel.

Mir also alleged that the PTI chief has been targeting the military for over a year under a set plan.

The interim information minister said that the government has adopted a zero tolerance policy" towards violence and interim Chief Minister Mohsin Naqvi has given a free hand to the Punjab Police to deal with arsonists, the report said.

Several arsonists were in touch with people inside Zaman Park during the attack on the Corps Commander House. They will be made an example so that no one will carry out such an act in the future, Mir said.

"Those who have been arrested so far are being fully scrutinised. Cases are being forwarded after 100 per cent confirmation [of their involvement]," he said.

He said the government has decided that the attackers of military installations will be tried in military courts as an official announcement issued by the Prime Ministers Office confirmed that Pakistan's National Security Committee endorsed the decision reached at the corps commanders meeting to try the "attackers" under the Army Act and Official Secrets Act.

However, the proposed move to try arsonists under the tough Army Act has come under severe criticism, with the rights groups such as Amnesty International and the National Human Rights Commission of Pakistan expressing concerns.

The army had earlier issued a statement saying it would no longer show restraint against those who attacked its buildings, the report added.
Colombo, May 17 (PTI) A Sri Lankan court here on Wednesday ordered the lifting of the overseas travel ban on former president and prime minister Mahinda Rajapaksa.

The Fort Magistrates Court imposed a ban on overseas travel on Rajapaksa, 77, and over a dozen other politicians in May last year in view of investigations against them for their alleged involvement in the deadly attack on peaceful anti-government protesters in Colombo.

At least nine people were killed and over 300 others injured in the violence in May.

The overseas travel ban on former president Rajapaksa, MP Rohitha

Abeygunawardena, Minister Pavithra Wanniarachchi, and ex-Provincial Council member Kanchana Jayaratne was completely lifted by the Fort Magistrate's Court on Wednesday, newsfirst.lk website reported.

Colombo Fort Magistrate Thilina Gamage ordered the court registrar to immediately convey the order to the Controller General of Immigration and Emigration. The impounded passports were ordered to be released to the four politicians, the Daily Mirror newspaper reported.

A number of MPs homes and offices were torched by enraged mobs in Sri Lanka last year in a wave of spontaneous violence triggered after then Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa's supporters attacked anti-government protesters amidst the unprecedented economic crisis in the island nation.

The protesters demanded the resignation of Rajapaksas younger brother the then president Gotabaya Rajapaksa.

Mahinda Rajapaksa resigned a few hours later and a curfew was imposed across the country.

Rajapaksa, known for his brutal military campaign against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) during his presidency from 2005 to 2015, saw his private residence set on fire.

He, along with his wife and family, had fled his official residence  Temple Trees  and took shelter at the naval base in Trincomalee after a series of deadly attacks on his supporters.

The economic and political turmoil also led to the resignation of Gotabaya Rajapaksa, the 73-year-old younger brother of Mahinda Rajapaksa in July.

The powerful Rajapaksa clan, led by patriarch Mahinda, dominated Sri Lanka's political scene for decades till they were forced to quit their posts last year.
Islamabad, May 17 (PTI) A top Pakistani minister said on Wednesday that those involved in attacks on army installations in the wake of former prime minister Imran Khan's arrest would be tried under the stringent military laws, amid concerns expressed by the rights groups.

Addressing a press conference, information minister Marriyum Aurangzeb said scores of people have been arrested for their alleged involvement in arson attacks and vandalism on May 9 following former premier Khan's arrest from the Islamabad High Court premises.

The minister said it was the state's responsibility to arrest and punish the culprits.

"Attackers will be tried under the relevant civil and military laws, she said, adding that the National Security Committee has also categorically vowed to take strict action against them, she said.

She said that martyrs graveyards were attacked which was akin to showing enmity towards the country.

We have the video evidence and we will not spare anyone who did this, she said.

When asked if Khan would also be tried under the army law, she said he would be tried by the relevant courts.

As government officials press to use the Pakistan Army Act and the Official Secrets Act against those responsible for violence, local and international rights bodies have expressed concern.

Amnesty International and the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan issued separate statements on Tuesday and raised an alarm at the possibility of trial under military rules.

Dinushika Dissanayake, Amnesty's deputy regional director for South Asia, said that trying civilians in military courts was contrary to international law. Dissanayake accused the Pakistani government of using military law as an intimidation tactic, designed to crack down on dissent by exercising fear of an institution that has never been held to account for its overreach.

The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan said civilians arrested should be tried in civil instead of military courts.

While those responsible for arson and damaging public and private property during the recent protests should be held to account, they remain entitled to due process, the group said in a statement.

Experts are divided over the trial of civilians under military regulation.

President Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) Abid Zuberi said in an interview with Geo News that civilians who damage military installations can be tried under the army act.

Civilians who damage military installations can be tried under the Army Act. In 2017, the legal expert said.

However, there are others who question the legality of such trials.

Commenting on the development, Former SCBA president Kamran Murtaza said: I was against the military courts earlier, and I am still against it today.Pakistan has a history of using military courts for trials of civilians.

The country's Parliament made a special law for two years to enable special military courts to try hardcore terrorists after the attack on a school in Peshawar in December 2016.

Military courts usually operate behind closed doors, creating doubts about a fair trial of the accused.

The arrest of Khan on May 9 by the paramilitary Pakistan Rangers at the IHC premises triggered unrest in Pakistan. For the first time in Pakistan's history, the protesters stormed the army headquarters (GHQ) in Rawalpindi and also torched a corps commander's house in Lahore.

Police put the death toll in violent clashes to 10 while Khan's party claims 40 of its workers lost their lives in the firing by security personnel.

On Monday, the top military brass vowed to bring the arsonists, who attacked the civil and military installations, to justice through trial under relevant laws of the country, including the Pakistan Army Act and Official Secrets Act.

Khan was ousted from power in April last year after losing a no-confidence vote in his leadership, which he alleged was part of a US-led conspiracy targeting him because of his independent foreign policy decisions on Russia, China and Afghanistan.
Peshawar, May 16 (PTI) At least one girl student was killed and seven injured on Tuesday after a police officer on duty at a school in Pakistan's restive northwestern province opened fire outside the institution, officials said causing panic and chaos among students and teachers.

The incident took place at the school for girls in the Swat Vally in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province after school hours as students were getting ready to depart in their vehicles.

According to District Police Officer (DPO) Shafiullah Gandapur, the constable, identified as Alam Khan, was arrested immediately after the attack and a first information report (FIR) was registered against him, Dawn newspaper reported.

A special investigation team has been formed to make further investigation into the matter. I assure everyone that strict legal punishment will be given to the culprit, he told media persons.

The sudden sound of gunshots sent shockwaves throughout the school premises, causing panic and chaos among students, teachers, and staff, the officials said.

A girl was killed and seven others sustained injuries after the police officer opened fire. All the victims were girls, the police said.

The deceased and injured were taken to Saidu Sharif Hospital for medical treatment.

Gandapur added that the accused hailed from the Salampur area and was suspended from the police force twice. Khan was reinstated in the police department last year and was deployed outside the school for security three months back, the report added.

The motive behind the shooting remains unclear, and authorities are conducting a thorough investigation to ascertain the circumstances that led to this tragic event.

Gandapur, expressed deep sorrow and shock over the incident, stating, It is a heartbreaking incident.

Meanwhile, one of the injured girls, who is currently being treated at the hospital, said that the suspect opened indiscriminate fire on their van as soon as it exited the school gate.

All the schoolchildren got scared and started shouting after which people started gathering, she added.

Earlier, the Swat Valley was the stronghold of the Pakistani Taliban, formally called the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).

The TTP set up as an umbrella group of several militant outfits in 2007, called off a ceasefire with the federal government and ordered its militants to stage terrorist attacks across the country.

The group, which is believed to be close to Al-Qaeda, has been blamed for several deadly attacks across Pakistan, including an attack on army headquarters in 2009, assaults on military bases, and the 2008 bombing of the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad.

In 2014, the Pakistani Taliban stormed the Army Public School in the northwestern city of Peshawar, killing at least 150 people, including 131 students.
Lahore, May 16 (PTI) As the Pakistan Army vowed to bring the arsonists who attacked the civil and military installations to justice even under the stringent Army Act, former prime minister Imran Khan on Tuesday claimed that those who had guns and committed arson were planted amongst the demonstrators.

In response to the decisions taken by top military commanders meeting, Khans Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) issued a statement acknowledging the importance of the statement.

As a responsible and the largest political institution in the federation of Pakistan, the PTI has an unwavering commitment to the constitution and democracy, and it believes that the constitution is a beacon of light for all of us at an individual as well as collective levels and solutions to the most intricate problems lie within the ambit of constitution and bounds of laws, it said.

The PTI says that peaceful protest after its chief's illegal abduction through paramilitary troops of Rangers from within the premises of Islamabad High Court on May 9, was a natural & foreseeable reaction guaranteed by the Constitution as a fundamental right to peaceful protest to the public.

However, a plethora of irrefutable evidence is available to establish that armed miscreants entered into the peaceful gatherings, who had indulged in arson and fired live bullets on the peaceful protestors leaving dozens killed and hundreds injured.

It says this was an incident of its own nature where the general public along with political workers have been targeted through live bullets to incite confrontation between the largest political force in the country and the armed forces of Pakistan.

PTI believes that identification of elements involved in this unusual incident of violence and chaos through a credible investigation is inevitable. Imran Khan, therefore, in his address to the nation after his release from illegal abduction on the orders of the Supreme Court on May 13 has proposed the constitution of a powerful Judicial Commission consisting of Supreme Court Judges."

"We have ample amount of evidence to present to any independent inquiry that the arson and in some places, shootings were done by agencies men who wanted to cause mayhem and blame it on PTI so the current crackdown would be justified, the statement said.

It says it is critical that the right to decision-making should be routed back to the people of Pakistan through instantly held free, fair and credible elections so that the nation's future is anchored upon harmony instead of lasting confrontation.

In a tweet on Tuesday, Khan said: I have consistently told my party workers that whatever the provocation they must only do peaceful protests. InshAllah, whenever there is an independent inquiry I will prove that those who had guns and those who committed arson were planted amongst the demonstrators just as they were going to do in the plan I uncovered here in this video message.

According to the PTI, over 40 people were killed during the clashes that erupted after the arrest of Khan on May 9 and law enforcement arrested 7,000 PTI supporters including some main leaders. Dozens of civilian and military installations were set ablaze during the riots.

On Monday the top military brass vowed to bring the arsonists, who attacked the civil and military installations, to justice through trial under relevant laws of the country, including the Pakistan Army Act and Official Secrets Act.

Chief of Army Staff Gen Syed Asim Munir presided over the corps commanders meeting in GHQ Rawalpindi and observed that the motive behind a well-coordinated arson plan, involving desecration of the pictures of Shuhada, monuments, burning down of historical buildings and vandalism of military installations, was executed to malign the institution and provoke it towards giving an impulsive reaction.
Washington, May 17 (AP) The U.S. State Department on Tuesday condemned the arrest of a former employee of a U.S. consulate in Russia, the latest example of the country's crackdown against its own citizens and foreigners.

Russia's Tass news agency said Robert Shonov was detained in the Russian city of Vladivostok on suspicion of "cooperation on a confidential basis with a foreign state, international or foreign organization. Tass didn't say when the detention occurred or provide any details of the allegation.

State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said Shonov is a Russian national worked at the now-closed U.S. consulate in Vladivostok for more than 25 years. He said that after a Russian government order in April 2021 required dismissing all local employees from U.S. diplomatic outposts in Russia, Shonov worked at a company the U.S. contracted with to support its embassy in Moscow.

Mr. Shonov's only role at the time of his arrest was to compile media summaries of press items from publicly available Russian media sources, Miller said. His being targeted under the confidential cooperation' statute highlights the Russian Federation's blatant use of increasingly repressive laws against its own citizens.

Miller added, The United States strongly condemns the reported arrest of Robert Shonov and said the allegations against him are wholly without merit.

Tass said a Moscow court on Thursday would consider extending Shonov's arrest for three months. The news agency said he was being held in Moscow's Lefortovo prison on charges that carry a potential sentence of up to eight years in prison.

Also held in Lefortovo is Evan Gershkovich, an American reporter for The Wall Street Journal. Gershkovich has been in custody since his March 29 arrest by Russia's security service on espionage charges that he, his employer and the U.S. government have denied.

Gershkovich's arrest rattled journalists in Russia and drew outrage in the West. The United States has declared Gershkovich to be wrongfully detained and demanded his immediate release.

Since invading Ukraine in February 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin has widened the scope of a years-old crackdown on criticism of government policies, other forms of dissent and actions that his government finds objectionable. Hundreds, if not thousands, of Russians have been fined, jailed or fled the country because of the crackdown. (AP)



AMS

AMS
Cape Town, May 16 (AP) Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy have agreed to separate meetings with a delegation of leaders from six African countries to discuss a possible plan to end the war in Ukraine, South Africa's president said Tuesday.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said he spoke with Putin and Zelenskyy by phone over the weekend and they each agreed to host "an African leaders peace mission" in Moscow and Kyiv, respectively.

Principal to our discussions are efforts to find a peaceful resolution to the devastating conflict in the Ukraine, Ramaphosa said.

The leaders of Zambia, Senegal, Republic of Congo, Uganda and Egypt would make up the delegation along with Ramaphosa, he said in a statement. Putin and Zelenskyy gave him the go-ahead to commence the preparations, the South African leader said.

Four of those six African countries  South Africa, Republic of Congo, Senegal and Uganda  abstained from a U.N. vote last year on condemning Russia's invasion. Zambia and Egypt voted in favor of the motion.

Ramaphosa did not give a time frame or outline any parameters for the possible peace talks. Zelenskyy has said he would not consider a peace deal to end the 15-month war until Russian forces withdraw completely from Ukrainian territory.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres also was briefed on the African delegation's planned meetings and welcomed the initiative, Ramaphosa said.

The announcement of the African-led peace effort came as Russia launched a heavy air attack on Kyiv.

There was no immediate reaction Tuesday from either the Kremlin or Kyiv. A readout from a phone conversation Putin and Ramaphosa had Friday said the Russian leader supported Cyril Ramaphosa's idea about a group of African leaders participating in the discussion of the prospects of resolving the Ukrainian conflict.

It wasn't clear if that was the phone call Ramaphosa was referring to when he said he spoke with Putin over the weekend.

South Africa's leading position in the African delegation is bound to draw scrutiny. Ramaphosa's announcement came days after the U.S. ambassador accused South Africa of siding with Russia in the war in Ukraine and even providing weapons to help Moscow.

U.S. Ambassador to South Africa Reuben Brigety alleged last week that weapons and ammunition were loaded onto a Russian-flagged cargo ship at a South African naval base in December and taken to Russia. The South African government has denied it sent any weapons to Russia.

Ramaphosa has said the matter is under investigation.

South Africa has claimed its position on the war is neutral. The country has strong historical ties with Russia due to the former Soviet Union's support of South Africa's ruling African National Congress party when it was a liberation movement fighting to end the racist apartheid regime.

South Africa also hosted Russian and Chinese warships for joint naval exercises off its coast in February and which coincided with the one-year anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. South Africa's top army general traveled to Moscow and met with the commander of the Russian ground forces on Monday.

South Africa maintains it also retains a strong relationship with the United States and other Western supporters of Ukraine. Ramaphosa met with U.S. President Joe Biden at the White House late last year.

Zambia also has historical ties with Russia. Uganda is a U.S. ally on regional security in East Africa, but Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has spoken of his country's friendship with Russia and its neutral position in the war in Ukraine.

Sipho Mantula, an analyst at South Africa's Thabo Mbeki African School of Public and International Affairs, said the neutrality of some of those African countries would help any talks.

You don't need people who will take sides and become proxy mediators, Mantula said.

Russia and Ukraine are far apart in terms of an agreement to end the war.

The Kremlin wants Kyiv to acknowledge Russia's annexation of the Crimean Peninsula and the Ukrainian provinces of Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia, which most nations have denounced as illegal. Ukraine has rejected the demands and ruled out any talks with Russia until its troops pull back from all occupied territories.

Ukraine is determined to recover all Russian-occupied areas.

Zelenskyy's 10-point peace plan also includes a tribunal to prosecute crimes of aggression, which would enable Russia to be held accountable for its invasion. Zelenskyy had private talks with Pope Francis at the Vatican on Saturday, later saying he sought support for Ukraine's peace plan from the pontiff.

China has been the only other country so far offering to mediate possible peace talks, an offer clouded by its show of political support for Moscow.

Beijing released a proposed peace plan in February, and a Chinese envoy is preparing to visit Russia and Ukraine.

But there appeared to be little chance of an imminent breakthrough to end the war since Ukraine and its Western allies largely dismissed the Beijing's proposal. (AP) AMS

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Islamabad, May 17 (PTI) Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday blamed his predecessor Imran Khan for the mayhem by his supporters following his arrest last week.

"The roots of the mutinous attack on the state, its symbols & sensitive installations on May 9 lie in the contents of Imran Niazi's speeches over the past one year. He has liberally deployed religious imagery to brand his political agitation as a war between truth & falsehood, Sharif tweeted.

The Prime Minister was referring to the violent protests following the arrest of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chairman on May 9 that led to several deaths and dozens of military and state installations being destroyed by the protesters.

For the first time in Pakistan's history, the protesters stormed the army headquarters in Rawalpindi and also torched the Corps Commander's house in Lahore.

The premier said that Khan "relentlessly maligned and attacked the armed forces and the sitting Army chief and very cunningly prepared his cult with the slogans of 'Haqeeqi Azadi' aimed at inciting them for violence we witnessed on May 9."

Sharif asked everyone to "listen to his (Khan) speeches & you will get your answers.

In another tweet, Sharif asked the authorities to arrest those involved in violence.

"My direction to the law enforcement agencies is that they should leave no stone unturned to bring those involved in the incidents of vandalism, arson & violence to justice. At the same time, they should make sure that no innocent person gets punished, he said.

His statement comes as police have made scores of arrests to bring to justice all those responsible for attacks on civilian and military installations.

On Tuesday, Prime Minister Sharif vowed to bring to justice the planners and leaders of the violent protests that targeted military installations and "disrespected martyrs" as he termed the incidents of May 9 as the "darkest chapter" in the country's history.
BEIJING, May 17 (Xinhua) -- The first medical team specializing in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) that China sent to Cambodia to aid local anti-COVID-19 efforts has completed its mission and returned to Beijing on Wednesday.

These Chinese TCM experts provided more than 16,000 outpatient services and 6,000 voluntary clinical services at a China-Cambodia friendship hospital, according to a welcome ceremony held for the medical team after its return.

In January 2022, China's National Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine signed an agreement with the Cambodian health department to dispatch a TCM team to Cambodia to help combat the pandemic. Two months later, the medical team arrived in Cambodia.

The team was also the first national-level holistic medical group that China has sent abroad to use TCM to aid in the fight against COVID-19, according to the administration. 
Washington, May 17 (AP) President Joe Biden declared there's work to do on the global stage as he headed to Japan on Wednesday to consult with allies on Russia's invasion of Ukraine and China's assertiveness in the Pacific at the same time that a debt limit standoff looms at home.

With high-stakes talks to head off a federal default are underway in Washington, Biden pledged to remain in constant contact with negotiators in the Capitol while he conducts international diplomacy.

The president departed Washington aboard Air Force One a day after scrapping plans for a historic stop in Papua New Guinea and a key visit to Australia amid the showdown with House Republicans over raising the federal debt limit. The three-nation trip had been meant as a triumphant global leadership showcase, and instead threatened to become a truncated reminder of how partisan disagreements have undercut U.S. standing on the global stage.

I've cut my trip short in order to be here for the final negotiations and sign the deal with the majority leader, Biden said in remarks before departing the White House. I've made clear America is not a deadbeat nation, we pay our bills.

For Biden, the intertwined dynamics of the debt standoff and his foray abroad put a spotlight on two key aspects of his presidency  his efforts to assert U.S. prowess on the international stage and to address economic concerns at home. They also are playing out as Biden is in the early weeks of his candidacy for reelection, adding political overtones to the situation.

The president was still set to attend the annual Group of Seven summit of advanced democracies in Hiroshima, where sustaining support for Ukraine's expected counteroffensive against Russia is set to take center stage, alongside economic, climate and global development issues. More than a year after Moscow's invasion, Biden and allies have armed Kyiv with ever-more-advanced weaponry and maintained deep sanctions on Russia's economy, though maintaining resolve has grown more challenging in Washington and other global capitals.

While in Hiroshima, Biden also plans to sit down with the so-called Quad leaders of Japan, Australia and India, a partnership meant to serve as a counterweight to China in the Indo-Pacific, a region that he bills as a top priority in U.S. national security strategy. That meeting had originally been scheduled to occur next week on what would have been his inaugural visit to Canberra and Sydney as president.

Off the agenda entirely is a stop in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, where Pacific Island leaders were to gather for a first-of-its-kind meeting with a U.S. president. It was meant to be a rejoinder to China's increasing military and economic pressures in the region. The U.S. has recently opened embassies in the Solomon Islands and Tonga and has expressed a desire to reverse a decades-long pullback in the region.

No U.S. president has ever visited the island nation, and high hopes for the visit were dashed by Biden's announcement that he wouldn't make the stop.

When asked whether he thought his shortened trip was a win for China, he said: No.

Because we still work with allies, he said.

During a roughly hour-long meeting in the Oval Office on Tuesday, Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy designated chief negotiators to try to draft an agreement to allow more government borrowing in conjunction with GOP-demanded spending cuts. The Treasury Department has warned that action is likely needed by June 1 to assure the U.S. can continue to meet its financial obligations.

U.S. officials have warned in increasingly urgent tones that a default would not only spark a deep recession, but also weaken its standing on the world stage.

Countries like Russia and China that would love nothing more than for us to default so they could point the finger and say, You see, the United States is not a stable, reliable partner,' National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said Tuesday. So, that is a high priority, as it should be, for the president.

For weeks, White House officials have said Biden could manage both the Capitol Hill negotiations and foreign commitments while on the trip. But in recent days aides have fretted as McCarthy has repeatedly called for Biden to scrap his trip, worried that while abroad, the president would appear to the public as disengaged from the swelling crisis.

The instability of the cancellation could have the opposite effect of the initial purpose of Biden's trip  reinforcing American commitments to the region, warned Charles Edel, a senior adviser and the Australia chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

It would underscore for partners that despite welcome U.S. focus on the region and the focus on allies and partners at the heart of U.S. foreign policy, domestic politics is still a constraint on U.S. engagement and perhaps on budgetary commitments as well, he said last week. And I think that's something that will be talked about widely. (AP) AMS

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Mumbai, May 17 (PTI) Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president J P Nadda called on Chief Minister Eknath Shinde here on Wednesday on the first day of the former's two-day visit to the state.

Nadda met Shinde at 'Varsha', the official residence of the chief minister in south Mumbai.

The Chief Minister's Office (CMO) termed Nadda's visit as a courtesy call.

The meeting between the two leaders assumes significance in the wake of the Supreme Court judgement last week in which it ruled that it cannot reinstate the then chief minister Uddhav Thackeray as he chose to resign without facing a floor test.

Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, BJP state unit president Chandrashekhar Bawankule, party's state unit in-charge C T Ravi and its Mumbai unit chief Ashish Shelar were present during the meeting between Nadda and Shinde.

The Shinde led government, which came to power by toppling the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) dispensation, will complete a year in office next month. Shinde was earlier a cabinet minister in the Uddhav Thackeray-led MVA government. In June 2022, Shinde and 39 other MLAs revolted against their party leadership, leading to a split in the Shiv Sena. Shinde later became the CM with the BJP's support.

The local body polls in parts of Maharashtra, including state capital Mumbai, are expected this year.
Bhopal, May 17 (PTI) The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has arrested one person after raids at two places in Madhya Pradesh as part of its action being carried out in some states of the country, MP Home Minister Narottam Mishra said on Wednesday.

The NIA is carrying out raids at more than 100 in six states in connection with cases related to narco-terror-gangster nexus, officials said.

The raids were conducted in Haryana, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Uttarakhand, they said.

The NIA team nabbed a person from Bhind district and also conducted raid in Sendhwa town (Barwani district), Mishra told reporters.

This is part of raids being carried out at more than 150 places in the country, he said.

In Sendhwa, the team has conducted raids at a place where Sikligar (community members) live, he said without giving further details.

Members of the Sikligar community in some states have been under the radar of security agencies as a section of them have been allegedly involved in illegal manufacturing and supply of illegal weapons.

The NIA registered three cases last year following information suggesting that terrorist outfits and their sympathisers abroad were operating as members of organised criminal gangs active in the northern states of India for targeted killings and violent criminal acts.

It has also emerged that the terror-gangster-drug smuggler network was also engaged in smuggling terrorist hardware such as arms, ammunition explosives and IEDs among others across borders through a widespread interstate network of gun runners, illegal arms and ammunition manufacturers and suppliers and explosive traffickers.

The NIA has already arrested 19 members of various criminal gangs, two arms suppliers and one financier connected with the network under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.
Bhubaneswar, May 17 (PTI) Opposition BJP in Odisha Wednesday termed as "hollow" and "false" Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik's claim that the state government is working for empowerment of women. The criticism by the BJP came after a number of ruling party leaders were embroiled in cases of alleged sexual exploitation, domestic violence and torture for dowry.

BJD responded by rejecting outright the allegations levelled by the saffron party.

BJP Mahila Morcha president Smruti Pattnaik criticising the ruling BJD and the state government, said the daughters-in-law of BJD MLA from Kendrapara Sashi Bhushan Behera and former MP A U Singhdeo have lodged complaint against their in-laws and husbands accusing them of torturing them for dowry.

Another BJD MLA Bijay Shankar Das has been accused of sexual exploitation by a woman friend, she said.

These are just few cases which show the real character of the ruling party and its leaders. All these show that BJDs claims about working for women empowerment are hollow and false," she said.

The regional party is full of leaders having records of harassing women, Pattnaik added. Demanding explanation from Naveen Patnaik for shielding BJD leaders accused of harassing women, she asked, Why is the chief minister silent in all these cases?

Patnaik, congratulating the 26-year-old BJD woman candidate after her win in Jharsuguda by-poll last week said "Girls are the pride of Odisha".

Behera's daughter-in-law Ronali (31) in her complaint to the police against Behera and his family members accused them of torturing her mentally and physically for a dowry of Rs 40 lakh. Ronali is married to the MLA's son Satyaprakash since March 2021.

The BJD lawmaker rejected the allegation and claimed that he did not seek or take any dowry from his daughter-in-law before the wedding.

As per custom, I had allowed my daughter-in-laws family to give just a bed sheet. Nothing more than that, he told reporters here.

Singh Deo's daughter-in-law Adrija Manjari Singh, the grand daughter of former prime minister V P Singh, has lodged complaints of domestic violence and dowry torture against her husband Arkesh Narayan Singh Deo and her in-laws.

Arkesh had unsuccessfully contested from Bolangir assembly segment on a BJD ticket.

BJP state general secretary Prithviraj Harichandan alleged that many BJD leaders and workers are involved in crimes against women other than dowry torture and domestic violence cases.

Serious allegations had been made against BJD leaders like Dibya Shankar Mishra, Shrikant Sahu and Samir Ranjan Dash, he said.

Dibya Shankar Mishra had been embroiled in the kidnap and murder of a woman teacher in Kalahandi.

Sahu was allegedly involved in the sexual harassment of a woman BJD leader and Dash was embroiled in the alleged suicide of a zilla parishad member of Puri. Both leaders were removed from the ministry by the chief minister last week.

Harichandan said people of Odisha know "very well" that BJD is against women and alleged that women members of self help groups SHGs are being exploited by BJD with false promises.

BJD spokesperson Ipsita Sahu addressing a press conference rejected the BJP Mahila Morcha leader's allegations and sought to know why she remained silent when women wrestlers were staging dharna against a leader of the saffron party in the sexual exploitation case.

BJP leaders have insulted two BJP women candidates who won the by-polls in Padampaur and Jharsuguda seats , Barsha Singh Bariha and Dipali Das respectively, she claimed.
Kolkata, May 17 (PTI) The BJP teachers' cell has called a march to the West Bengal education department headquarters here on May 23 demanding transparent recruitment of primary teachers.

The cell has demanded immediate halt to "vindictive" transfer of teachers who took part in rallies held by state employees demanding hike in dearness allowance (DA) and introduction of health scheme for them, said Pintu Parui, the state co-convenor of BJP teacher's cell in Bengal, on Wednesday.

Over 1000 teachers will join the march to Bikash Bhawan, the education department headquarters, to also press for hike in DA of those who teach in state-run or aided primary schools, he said.

"We want recruitment be held in a transparent way for those who passed the diploma in elementary education (DEIEd). Due to irregularities in the recruitment process 32,000 untrained primary school teachers are now facing a piquant situation. The school education department under TMC rule is responsible for allowing the situation come such a pass," he claimed.

Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay on May 12 ordered the cancelling 36,000 primary teachers. In a modified order of May 16 he reduced their number to around 32,000.

The state primary board had appealed against the order of Justice Gangopadhyay before a division bench of Justice Subrata Talukdar claiming that the primary school teachers, whose jobs were ordered to be cancelled, have obtained training in DElEd within the extended time frame allowed by the union government to West Bengal and some other states.

About 42,500 candidates were selected in the recruitment process, which was held by West Bengal Board of Primary Education.
New Delhi, May 17 (PTI) Ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the government on Wednesday held a day-long brainstorming session on improving its public outreach, particularly to those who do not have access to television and newspapers.

Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur, addressing over 100 communication officers of the government, stressed on the importance of reaching out to all sections of the society, particularly the underprivileged.

He said a large part of India lives in a media shadow, bereft of facilities of television and newspapers, and it was the responsibility of the Indian Information Service (IIS) officers to reach out to that section of society.

He said the IIS is a vital part of the government and the Chintan Shivir provided the officials a unique opportunity to collaborate, self-introspect and timely course correct the work in the ministry.

Thakur also noted that the media landscape and the way people consume information was changing fast, and there was a need to adapt methods of information dissemination to meet the needs of the 21st century.

He asked the officers to work towards higher effectiveness through better utilisation of resources, coordination of efforts, sharing of information and working as a single team.

The minister said the clear priority for the target of communication for the government was oriented towards welfare of the underprivileged and the mantra of Antyodaya (reaching out to the last person) should guide the activities of the officers.

The officials held deliberations across five sessions, including participatory communication with citizens - Jan Bhagidari; adoption of emerging technologies in public communications to maximise reach; institutionalisation of quick response mechanisms to address misinformation; targeted outreach through regional communication; and strengthening public service broadcasting.


New Delhi, May 17 (PTI) Expressing concern over the situation in Manipur which was rocked by violence earlier this month, the Congress on Wednesday decided to send observers to ascertain the ground realities in the state.

The decision was taken by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge after a delegation of party workers met him on Tuesday evening.

"A delegation of @INCManipur leaders apprised me of the tremendous difficulties which the people of Manipur had to go through during these troubling times. A team of observers are being sent shortly to ascertain the ground realities," Kharge said on Twitter.

The Congress chief said the situation in Manipur remains tense and was deeply distressing.

"The Union Government should do everything possible to see normalcy returns to the state. Every community has a stake in ensuring peace. Let us take everyone in confidence," Kharge also said.

The Congress has criticised the role of central and state governments in controlling the situation in Manipur after violence hit the state and has demanded the imposition of President's rule there.

Clashes broke out in Manipur after a 'Tribal Solidarity March' was organised in the 10 hill districts on May 3 to protest against the Meitei community's demand for the Scheduled Tribe (ST) status. The violence was preceded by tension over the eviction of Kuki villagers from reserve forest land, which had led to a series of smaller agitations.

At least 73 people were killed, 231 injured and 1,700 houses, including religious places, were burnt in the ethnic violence that rocked the state, officials said.

Meiteis account for about 53 per cent of Manipur's population and live mostly in the Imphal Valley. Tribals -- Nagas and Kukis -- constitute another 40 per cent of the population and reside in the hill districts.
New Delhi, May 17 (PTI) A 23-year-old man was arrested for allegedly cheating people on the pretext of assisting them in online transaction refunds, police said on Wednesday.

The accused has been identified as Dilip Kumar Jena, a resident of Odisha, they said.

On April 12, a case was filed in which the complainant alleged that he was searching online for the customer care number of a fintech company. After coming across an organisation, he called them up, a senior police officer said.

The alleged person sent the complainant a link on Whatsapp and asked him to open it. On tapping on that link, Rs 2 lakh were debited from his accounts, police said.

During the investigation, police analysed the details of the beneficiary bank account and registered mobile number and found Jena as the account owner. A raid was conducted at the address of the accused and he was arrested, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Dwarka) M Harsha Vardhan said.

Jena, along with co-accused Niranjan Jena, used to receive 50 per cent of the total cheating amount and they used to hand over the rest to another accomplice, police said.

The accused persons used to provide customer care numbers of several organisations on the internet through advertisements and whenever someone used to contact them on the given numbers, they would send them a link to a screen-sharing application through WhatsApp to get their account details. Soon after that they used to transfer the money in their own bank accounts, they said. RDT
Uri (J-K), May 17 (PTI) The announcement of getting frontier town Uri in Jammu and Kashmir on the railway map of the country has brought cheers to locals who hope that starting train services would not only ease their commute but also give a fillip to the trade and tourism sectors here.

The Northern Railway has revealed plans to begin work on the 50-km Baramulla-Uri railway line for which tenders have been floated, officials said on Tuesday, adding that the rail authorities were gearing up to undertake the Final Location Survey (FLS).

They said the survey would be completed within three months of awarding the tenders.

The extension of the railway line from Baramulla to Uri is expected to improve connectivity to Baramulla, Srinagar and Banihal.

Locals have welcomed the move to provide railway connectivity to the border town which is 102 km from Srinagar.

"We thank the L-G and Union Railway Minister for the announcement of a 50-km railway line to Uri. People will benefit a lot from it," Mir Mushtaq, a local BJP leader, said.

He said the railway line would help in providing employment opportunities to the locals.

"This is a welcome step. It will give a fillip to the trade and business sector and will also boost the tourism sector," Mohammad Shafi, a trade leader, said.

"Business will get a boost with more people visiting the place. It will become easier to travel to Uri from any part of the country," Shafi said, adding the railway line will provide seamless connectivity to the rest of the country and act as an alternate route to the national highway which remains cut off many times during a year.

The railway line would also be important from a strategic point of view for the transportation of troops, equipment and other supplies to forward areas of the Line of Control.

Earlier this year, the Indian Army allowed tourists to visit the Kaman Aman Setu Bridge, which connects the Kashmir Valley to Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK).

The 220-ft bridge is treated as the LoC between India and Pakistan whose access is controlled by soldiers on both sides.

The Indian Army is now promoting the area close to LoC as a tourist spot. However, the gates of the bridge have been locked since India suspended the Srinagar-Muzaffarbad bus service between Kashmir and PoK in February 2019 when 40 CRPF jawans were killed in a terrorist attack in Pulwama.
Jammu, May 17 (PTI) The G20 meeting in Srinagar next week is a "big opportunity" for Jammu and Kashmir to showcase its true potential, Union Minister Jitendra Singh said on Wednesday.

Talking to reporters before joining the one-day working committee meeting of the BJP at its headquarters here, Singh said, he along with Union Tourism Minister G Kishan Reddy, will attend the meeting to be inaugurated by Lt Governor Manoj Sinha.

The third G20 Tourism Working Group meeting is scheduled to take place in the summer capital Srinagar from May 22 to 24.

It is a big opportunity for J&K to showcase its potential. The delegates will mostly go to Dal Lake for sightseeing and watch cultural programmes on May 22 but the real business will be happening during the next two days, Singh, the Minister of State in the Prime Ministers Office said.

Singh, who represents Udhampur parliamentary constituency of Jammu and Kashmir in the Lok Sabha, said such an international event taking place in Srinagar would send a positive message in the country and across the globe.

On the agenda of the working committee meeting, he said Prime Minister Narendra Modi is completing nine years in office and the party intends to celebrate the occasion across the country.

Later, J&K BJP president Ravinder Raina presided over the working committee meeting which was attended by all senior party leaders and also addressed by BJP National General Secretary and in-charge of J&K, Tarun Chugh, virtually from Delhi.

The BJP is celebrating the completion of nine years of the Modi-led government at the Centre from May 30 to June 22 and planning to hold public rallies in all constituencies in Jammu and Kashmir.

A BP leader said the meeting was convened to chalk out a detailed programme to educate people about the government policies and achievements over the past nine years.

Meanwhile, the Union minister is chairing a high-level meeting of heads of various educational institutes here on Thursday.

All Vice Chancellors of universities, directors of institutions and other heads of institutions are attending the meeting to deliberate and decide on how to foster strong inter-institutional collaboration among the universities and institutions of the region, an official said.

Principal Scientific Advisor (PSA) to Government Prof Ajay Sood and Director General, CSIR and Secretary DSIR, Dr N Kalaiselvi are also attending the meeting, the official said.
LOS ANGELES, May 17 (Xinhua) -- "Gun reform" means making it easier to buy and carry guns in some U.S. red states, led by Republicans, as mass shootings are on the rise in the country so far this year, the FiveThirtyEight website reported on Tuesday.

This year, U.S. President Joe Biden has worked to expand background checks and asked Congress to ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines. But at the state level, many legislatures are moving in the opposite direction, said the report.

At least 17 states, most of them led by Republicans, introduced bills this year trying to make it easier to buy, own and carry weapons, providing guns to teachers and declaring themselves Second Amendment sanctuaries, according to a FiveThirtyEight analysis.

The Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution protects the right to keep and bear arms.

The report pointed out that this continues a trend of Republican legislatures and governors increasing access to guns.

One of the most common types of new laws this year are those that allow handgun owners to carry a concealed gun without a permit. Florida, Nebraska and South Carolina have passed such laws, joining 23 other states that have passed permitless concealed carry since 2010, said the report.

Many of these gun-rights expansions are also geared toward schools. After the Uvalde, Texas, school shooting that killed 19 children and two teachers, the Republican Party promoted arming teachers as a way to increase school safety, and states have since begun passing laws allowing it, the report added.

Additionally, the report noted that many states are working to prevent the kind of data collection that would tell us more about the relationship between guns and gun violence.

Arkansas, Florida, Montana and Utah are among the states that have passed new legislation preventing "discrimination" against gun manufacturers. And South Dakota has also banned state agencies from working with banks that track gun purchases, according to the report. 
Jaipur, May 17 (PTI) A huge cache of 5 kg heroin having an estimated worth of over Rs 25 crore was seized at the India-Pakistan border in Rajasthan's Sriganganagar district on Wednesday, a BSF official said.

Acting on a tip-off that a cache of narcotics was about to be smuggled into India from Pakistan through drone, Border Security Force jawans increased the surveillance at Nemichand Border Post falling under Rawla police station of Gharsana in Sri Ganganagar.

"At around 2.30 am on Wednesday, troops witnessed a movement on the border. As troops could not see much, they fired 42 rounds after which smugglers fled away," BSF DIG Pushpendra Singh said.

He said later the jawans found a consignment of 5 kg heroin having estimated value of over Rs 25 crore in the international market. Further investigation in the matter is on.
New Delhi, May 17 (PTI) Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday instructed Delhi Jal Board (DJB) officials to modernise the city's four water treatment plants and find a "permanent solution" to remove contaminants.

For this, he said, authorities should develop a time-bound comprehensive plan, according to an official statement issued after a review meeting chaired by the chief minister.

He also stressed upon officials that the "presence of dirty water in any part of Delhi should be completely eradicated", it said.

In the meeting, which was attended by Water Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj, DJB vice chairperson Somnath Bharti and senior officials of the Board, Kejriwal expressing concern over the issue of contamination of supply water, reiterated that a "permanent solution" to the problem should be found.

Stressing on the need for modernisation of the treatment plants, he directed officials to take immediate action to upgrade filters to ensure clean water to people.

These plants currently suffer from excessive turbidity and their upgrade is crucial to meet quality standards, he noted.

"If ammonia is identified as the source of contamination, swift measures will be taken to eliminate it, including thorough pipeline inspections," the chief minister said. Contamination of water because of pipelines must be "promptly addressed, and if necessary, replacement should be undertaken", Kejriwal said during the meeting.

The chief minister noted that there were complaints about ammonia contamination in several tube wells and said resolving these issues has to be a priority, the statement said.

He instructed the DJB to tackle localised ammonia contamination concerns through comprehensive measures and a detailed action plan, it said.

"Furthermore, areas experiencing nitrate-related complaints should get nitrate removal systems to ensure safe drinking water," Kejriwal said.

He said ammonia removal plants are being installed to effectively tackle contamination and added that four non-operational plants would be working within the next two to two and a half months.

Kejriwal also emphasised the importance of completing these projects within a timeframe, with the ultimate goal of supplying clean water directly to the homes of Delhi residents, the statement said.

Installation of tube wells to enhance availability of water should be expedited to ensure uninterrupted supply, particularly during the months of January and February, he said.

In the meeting, officials informed the chief minister that necessary permissions have been obtained for installing tube wells at 400 locations.

"Efforts to acquire land in required areas should be intensified to expedite the completion of tube well installations," Kejriwal said and directed officials to "identify the specific locations where tube wells are needed in Delhi and subsequently issue tenders accordingly".

Once the entire process is finalised, work for installation of tube wells can start, "effectively providing a swift solution to the water problem in the city", he said.

He also issued directions for the installation of reverse osmosis (RO) plants wherever necessary to improve water quality.

On the tube wells project, the statement said in the first phase, the installation of 450 tube wells will result in a 70 million gallons per day (MGD) increase in water capacity within the next six months.

Following the installation of these tube wells, the total water capacity of Delhi will rise to 1,060 MGD, it said.

The chief minister stressed on completing this phase within the designated six-month time-frame and also highlighted the necessity of developing a streamlined plan for future tube well installations.

He directed officials to upgrade "existing and outdated tube wells with state-of-the-art systems and identify specific locations, based on clusters, for installing high-tech systems while maintaining a conventional system in other areas", according to the statement.

The chief minister said that the installation of "high-tech systems" on identified tube wells should be completed within the next four months, it said.

During the meeting, Kejriwal also stressed on accelerating the creation of lakes in suitable areas of the city and proposed utilising a significant portion of treated water in these lakes, while strictly controlling and refraining from releasing it into the Yamuna river, the statement said.
New Delhi, May 17 (PTI) The Supreme Court on Wednesday granted the Securities and Exchange Board of India time till August 14 to complete its probe into the allegations of stock price manipulation by the Adani group.

A bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud directed the SEBI to file an updated status report of the investigation.

The bench, also comprising Justices PS Narasimha and JB Pardiwala, also ordered that the report of the Justice A M Sapre committee, which was submitted to it, be made available to the parties to enable them to assist the court in the matter.

The apex court had on March 2 ordered the formation of a six-member committee to probe allegations of stock manipulation against Adani Group by US short-seller Hindenberg.

The Supreme Court listed the matter for further hearing on July 11.
New Delhi, May 17 (PTI) The Supreme Court on Wednesday stayed an order of the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC) asking ITC to pay Rs 2 crore to a model as compensation for a faulty haircut at a hotel owned by the conglomerate.

A bench of Justices Aniruddha Bose and Sudhanshu Dhulia issued notice to model Aashna Roy on ITC's appeal challenging the NCDRC award.

The top court said quantification of the compensation has to be based on material evidence and not mere asking.

The direction came on an appeal filed by ITC challenging an order of the NCDRC which had reaffirmed its September 21, 2021 direction to the company to pay Rs 2 crore as compensation.

Prior to this, the apex court had in February this year set aside the NCDRC order and asked the consumer panel to consider the issue after going through the material submitted by the model.

The NCDRC on April 25 reaffirmed its earlier order after relying on e-mails and applications of proposed modelling and acting contracts presented by Roy.

According to the model, she visited the salon at Hotel ITC Maurya, New Delhi on April 12, 2018 for hair styling. Since the hairdresser, who regularly used to do her hair, was not available, another person was assigned the job.

She gave specific instructions to the hair dresser. When the hair styling was complete, to her utter surprise, the model noticed that the hair dresser had chopped off her hair leaving only 4 inches at the top. The hair barely touched her shoulders which was quite contrary to the instructions she had given, the model claimed.

According to the model, as a result of the faulty haircut, she could not continue to lead her normal busy life as she no longer looked pretty. She said she had to face great humiliation and embarrassment. Her modelling career was completely shattered and she went into a state of depression, Roy claimed.

Left with no option, she filed a complaint before the NCDRC alleging deficiency in service, seeking written apology from the management as also a compensation of Rs 3 crore for harassment, humiliation, mental trauma, loss of career, loss of income and loss of future prospects.
Bengaluru, May 17 (PTI) A first-time flyer from Rajasthan has been arrested at the Kempegowda International Airport here on charges of smoking 'Beedi' on the Bengaluru-bound Akasa Air flight, police said on Wednesday.

The 56-year-old from Marwar region had boarded the plane at Ahmedabad on Tuesday. Midair, he went to the lavatory and smoked, police said.

They added that flight attendants swung into action quickly, held him and, on reaching Bengaluru, handed him over to the police.

During interrogation, the passenger told police that he was travelling by flight for the first time and did not know about the rules.

He also said that during train travels he used to smoke in toilets and tried the same on the plane.

The passenger has been booked on charges of endangering lives of others, police said.
New Delhi, May 17 (PTI) Delhi Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot on Wednesday inaugurated a bus route navigation map installed at a bus queue shelter at the ITO that will provide people with accurate information of bus routes and destinations.

The Delhi government is also working on implementing a passenger information system (PIS) at the bus queue shelter (BQS) which will be similar to displays at railway stations and airports, according to an official statement.

The PIS will provide real-time information on arrival time of buses at the BQS, further enhancing convenience of passengers, it said.

Bus route navigation maps are being installed in partnership with the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) at 2,000 BQSs in the national capital.

The Delhi government will be spending Rs 27 crore on the project, including three years of maintenance, the statement said.

The minister said that "a bus traveller, especially an occasional traveller, is often confused as to which bus will go where and the problem is further increased if one has to change buses in between".

"With these maps located at the BQS, one can easily get a complete idea of the bus route number and its destinations. These maps use both Hindi and English languages, making it comfortable for anyone to read," he said.

The DMRC will be building the stainless steel frame along with the backlit route maps at the BQSs. These bus route navigation maps will be four feet wide and six feet high, the statement said.

It said that the DMRC will execute this project across Delhi in the next six months.

The maps will increase accessibility, convenience and efficiency for commuters, providing them with accurate information, the statement said.

By incorporating information about nearby metro stations, the route maps will also facilitate smooth intermodal travel, allowing commuters to seamlessly transition between buses and the metro rail, it said.

This integration will promote a more efficient and interconnected transportation system, the statement said.

The inclusion of information about ISBTs, hospitals, and railway stations along routes will help commuters identify nearby facilities. This proves particularly beneficial for those unfamiliar with an area, it said.
Thane, May 17 (PTI) A chain snatcher has been arrested in Navi Mumbai area and stolen jewellery worth Rs 50,000 seized from his possession, police said on Wednesday.

Two men on a motorbike had snatched the chain of a woman in Airoli area of Navi Mumbai on the evening of May 14. The woman suffered minor injuries during the incident.

The 29-year-old man who was allegedly riding the motorbike was nabbed on Tuesday, said inspector Chandrakant Landge of Rabale police station.

Police were looking for his accomplice who was riding pillion at the time of the crime, he added.

Jewellery worth Rs 50,000 and a motorbike worth Rs 1,10,000 used in the crime were seized, the police official said, adding that the arrested man was booked under Indian Penal Code section 394 (causing hurt during robbery).
Mumbai, May 16 (PTI) Mumbai police has registered an FIR against a businessman for allegedly threatening two youths with a toy gun during a road-rage incident in Antop Hill area here.

The incident took place on Sunday night, but a video of the same went viral later.

The man, who was traveling in a car with his wife, had a heated argument with two youths who were riding a motorbike, and threatened them with a toy gun, an official said.

After the video went viral, police registered a case against the man under Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections including 506-II (punishment for criminal intimidation).

No arrest has been made.
JAMES MAIN, Wheeler, Baseball, Sophomore; Main doubled and drove in three wins in a victory against Putnam. Main was 2 for 3 and earned the win in relief. He allowed two hits and struck out three over the final three innings.

EMMA LOGEL, Stonington, Girls Lacrosse, Sophomore; Logel scored 11 goals in a pair of Stonington games. She finished with eight in a win against Ledyard and had three in a loss to East Lyme.

CHRISTIAN DEJOUR, Westerly, Track, Junior; Dejour finished first in two sprints at the Class C championship. Dejour won the 100 in a time of 11.07 and was first in the 200 in 22.34.

IAN DUNHAM, Chariho, Golf, Junior; Dunham shot two sub-40 rounds for the Chargers. He was the medalist in a pair of wins against Westerly and Narragansett with a 38. He shot 37 in wins against South Kingstown and Middlebridge.

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Firms in supporting industries in dire need of skilled workers

Firms in supporting industries in Vietnam are in desperate need of high-qualified and skilled workers in addition to solutions regarding capital and raw materials.



Le Lam, Deputy General Director of MBT Electrical Equipment JSC in Hanoi's Dan Phuong District, said his company faced many difficulties in the past two years due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and disruption of the global supply chain, resulting in sharp declines in orders and revenue.





Staff at MBT Electrical Equipment JSC.  VNS Photo To Nhu





The company, which specialises in manufacturing transformers and medium-voltage cabinets, had been coping with dependence on imported raw materials as the quality of domestic products has failed to meet demand. Lam said his firm had also encountered difficulties in recruiting human resources to meet the requirements of its factory.
Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev arrives in Xi'an, northwest China's Shaanxi Province, on May 17, 2023. (Xinhua/Li Yibo)

XI'AN, May 17 (Xinhua) -- China on Wednesday staged hearty welcome ceremonies for Central Asian leaders attending a milestone summit that is expected to draw up new blueprints for China-Central Asia cooperation.

All is ready in the northwestern city of Xi'an, the historical starting point of the ancient Silk Road, for the China-Central Asia Summit, which is scheduled for Thursday and Friday.

The summit, the first in-person gathering among heads of state of China and five Central Asian countries, namely Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, will be chaired by Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Xi is expected to expound on China's position on how to build a China-Central Asia community with a shared future in the new era and put forward a series of proposals for the long-term development of cooperation among the six countries.

Xi will also announce a string of pragmatic measures and comprehensively chart the course for China-Central Asia cooperation.

The first Central Asian leader to arrive in Xi'an was Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev. Tajik President Emomali Rahmon and Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov also arrived on Wednesday.

Tajik President Emomali Rahmon arrives in Xi'an, northwest China's Shaanxi Province, on May 17, 2023. (Xinhua/Li Yibo)

Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev and Turkmen President Serdar Berdimuhamedov will arrive on Thursday. A welcome banquet will be held for the five leaders.

The leaders who have arrived were greeted with performances of traditional Shaanxi folk dances at the airport.

The 190-member performing team included 50 performers of waist drum dance and 48 of Yangge folk dance. Both are popular forms of folk art in Shaanxi.

"We feel honored and excited to have the opportunity to show our hometown's folk art to the distinguished guests from Central Asia," said Hou Shikai, a 53-year-old Yangge performer. "May the friendship between China and the five Central Asian countries last forever."

In his talks with Tokayev on Wednesday, Xi wished him a happy birthday as he turned 70 on this very day.

"Your state visit to China on this special occasion speaks volumes about the strength of the bilateral ties and once again attests to your unique bond with China," Xi told the Kazakh president.

The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) was one of the key topics during their talks.

Speaking to Tokayev, Xi said China and Kazakhstan have successfully carried out dozens of important cooperation projects since he proposed the BRI 10 years ago.

For his part, Tokayev lauded the BRI as a great initiative and said his country will continue taking an active part in it.

Tokayev also said that Kazakhstan will actively support the Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative and the Global Civilization Initiative, all proposed by Xi.

He vowed to work with China to jointly promote regional security, stability and development by leveraging the China-Central Asia mechanism.

Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov arrives in Xi'an, northwest China's Shaanxi Province, on May 17, 2023. (Xinhua/Li Yibo)

In their talks, Xi hailed the upcoming China-Central Asia Summit as a summit of "milestone significance," which will usher in a new era of China-Central Asia cooperation.

Xi said China will work with Central Asian countries to build the China-Central Asia mechanism into an important platform for promoting in-depth cooperation.

The summit is seen as the latest landmark in the vibrant high-level interactions, economic cooperation and people-to-people exchanges between China and Central Asian countries.

Leaders of the six countries are expected to sign an important political document and witness the signing of multiple cooperation documents covering areas including economy, trade, investment and connectivity, according to a press conference held before the summit. 




Syrias embattled President Bashar Assad received an invitation to attend the upcoming COP28 climate talks in Dubai later this year, even as the yearslong war in his country over his rule grinds on.

Assads invite, late Monday, to the climate talks comes as the Syrian president already is scheduled to attend the Arab League summit this Friday in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, years after being frozen out of regional politics. A brutal crackdown by Assads government on demonstrators in a 2011 Arab Spring uprising challenging his rule descended into a civil war and consequently became a regional conflict.

The war has killed half a million people and displaced half of Syrias population.

Assads invitation came in a letter from Emirati leader Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Syrias state-run SANA news agency reported. The agency published images of Assad reading the letter alongside an Emirati diplomat in Damascus. The UAE similarly had cut ties with Assad, only to slowly restore them in recent years.

Asked for comment, the Emirati office organizing the upcoming climate conference said in a statement that the event marked a milestone opportunity for the world to come together, course correct, and drive progress towards keeping the goals and ambitions of the Paris Climate Agreement alive.

COP28 is committed to an inclusive COP process that produces transformational solutions, the statement added. This can only happen if we have everyone in the room.

Syria is both a party to the Paris Climate Agreement, as well as the Kyoto Protocol. Scientists have linked a drought in Syria that began in 2007 to climate change, saying that it likely played a part in the conflict.

However, Assads invitation will probably heighten scrutiny of the Emirates ahead of hosting the talks.

Already, activists have criticized the UAE for nominating the head of its dominant state oil company as the president of the talks. That company has plans to boost its production of both crude oil and natural gas, fossil fuels that produce more of the heat-trapping carbon dioxide that the U.N. negotiations hope to limit. But the oil chief, Sultan al-Jaber, has also helped oversee the Emirates pledging tens of billions of dollars toward renewable energy projects worldwide.

The Conference of the Parties  where COP gets its name  will be held at Dubais Expo City from Nov. 30 through Dec. 12.

(AP)




Two New York Police Department officers ambushed and killed after responding to a 911 call and the rookie cop who took down the gunman were honored Wednesday, along with six others, by President Joe Biden with the Medal of Valor, the nations highest honor for bravery by a public safety officer.

The three NYPD officers, a Houston police officer, Colorado police official, Ohio sheriffs deputy and three FDNY firefighters all received medals in a White House ceremony before Biden departs for Japan and the Group of Seven summit.

I dont know all of you, but I do know you, Biden said. From small towns to big cities, youre cut from the same cloth. You run into danger when everyone else runs away from danger.

Biden told the crowd the award was given for actions above and beyond the call of duty, singling out the families of the officers to thank them.

NYPD officer Wilbert Mora and his police partner Jason Rivera were shot Jan. 21, 2022, while responding to a call about a family dispute in a Harlem apartment. Officer Sumit Sulan shot and killed the gunman, ending the deadly encounter moments after it began and keeping the civilians safe. Rivera died that night, Mora was pronounced dead four days later. The families of the two officers accepted their awards.

The fallen cops were no strangers to tensions between the NYPD and some of the communities they police; theyd both seen it growing up. Both sought to be catalysts of change when they became police officers, but neither got the chance they deserved, gunned down during a spate of shootings of police officers in 2022 in the city.

Biden, who recently announced hed seek reelection, has spoken of the need to reform how police interact with communities, in the wake of the killing of George Floyd and the deaths of other Black people at the hands of police. But he also says law enforcement needs better funding and tools in order to do a highly stressful job thats only getting worse, particularly post-pandemic.

I think one of the hardest jobs in America, what you signed up for, the president said Wednesday as he presented the medals. You represent the best of who we are as Americans.

Rivera, 22, had been a police officer for barely a year. Mora, 27, was in his fourth year on the job. All three were promoted to detective  the fallen officers posthumously and Sulan in a ceremony where he was given detective shield No. 332, a symbol of the three from the 32nd precinct where they worked in Manhattan.

The nations largest police department has roughly 35,000 officers; the next largest is Chicago with 13,000.

Attorney General Merrick Garland said the recipients showed extraordinary valor above and beyond the call of duty.

At the end of every shift, you are there, he said to the families. It is your care and encouragement that makes it possible for our public safety officers to do their jobs. We are so grateful to you.

Biden also honored three New York City firefighters for the bravery, including Lt. Justin Hespeler, who rescued a newborn baby from a burning house. Thats true heroism, Biden said.

Firefighter Patrick Thornton who, aboard an FDNY boat, saved a man trapped under a capsized vessel in the waters off the coast of Staten Island was also honored, along with retired Lt. Jason Hickey who was on the FDNYs marine training unit when he got a distress call of a man in the Harlem River, a tidal strait that flows swiftly between the Hudson and East Rivers. Hickey jumped in and saved the man from drowning.

The other recipients are:

 Corporal Jeffrey Farmer of the Littleton, Colorado Police Department. Farmer was responding to a call of shots fired possibly out of a car window, and chased the suspect to the door of an apartment where the man opened fire, hitting Farmers partner. Farmer worked to fend off the shooter, then, realizing an ambulance was too far away, dragged his partner into his police car and drove him to the hospital himself, saving his life.

 Deputy Bobby Hau Pham of the Clermont County, Ohio Sheriffs Office. Pham saved a drowning woman who had driven her car into a lake, though he could not swim.

 Sergeant Kendrick Simpo of the Houston, Texas Police Department. Simpo was working a second job at the Houston area Galleria mall when he heard on the radio a heavily armed man wearing a black mask was roaming the mall, near where a group of children were gathered for a dance competition. Simpo tackled the suspect who was carrying an AR-15 rifle, handgun and 120 rounds of ammunition. No one was injured.

(AP)




The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has removed the entire investigative team assigned to the long-standing tax fraud investigation involving Hunter Biden, according to a New York Post report.

In an alleged act of retaliation, a whistleblower, who expressed concerns about the cases handling, has claimed that the removal was explicitly intended to punish them. The Department of Justice reportedly ordered this action, attorneys representing the whistleblower told Congress.

Today the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Criminal Supervisory Special Agent we represent was informed that he and his entire investigative team are being removed from the ongoing and sensitive investigation of the high-profile, controversial subject about which our client sought to make whistleblower disclosures to Congress He was informed the change was at the request of the Department of Justice, attorneys Mark Lytle and Tristan Leavitt wrote.

The whistleblower, who has overseen the investigation involving Hunter Biden since early 2020, hasnt explicitly said the younger Biden is the focus of the case, but says it is being intentionally downplayed. The Posts Congressional sources have confirmed that he the one under investigation is indeed Hunter Biden.

Our client has a right to make disclosures to Congress  He is protected by 5 U.S.C.  2302 from retaliatory personnel actions  including receiving a significant change in duties, responsibilities, or working conditions (which this clearly is) because of his disclosures to Congress.

Any attempt by any government official to prevent a federal employee from furnishing information to Congress is also a direct violation of longstanding appropriations restriction. Furthermore, 18 U.S.C.  1505 makes it a crime to obstruct an investigation of Congress, Lytle and Leavitt wrote.

(YWN World Headquarters  NYC)




Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez, together with New York City Mayor Eric Adams and New York City Police Commissioner Keechant L. Sewell, today announced that 32 alleged members of the 8 Trey Crips and its affiliate, the 9 Ways gang, are named in a 140-count indictment for allegedly committing shootings, possessing guns, and using stolen cars during shootings, to eliminate rivals that included members of Folk Nation Gangster Disciples and ICG Babiiez.

District Attorney Gonzalez said, Im confident that todays successful takedown will have a positive impact on public safety across several Brooklyn communities as we enter the summer months. The senseless gun violence, allegedly committed by these defendants, terrorized our neighbors for years and left more than a dozen people with serious injuries. It is distressing to know that some of the violence was allegedly fueled by a young man who used money he made from a successful music career to allegedly pay for and encourage acts of violence. Together with the NYPD, my office will continue to target the most violent individuals and to build strong cases against them, as we have in this case.

Mayor Adams said, Since day one, our administration has been focused on reducing gun violence and taking aggressive action to address violent gang activity throughout the city. The actions of these 32 people put the lives of New Yorkers in danger  carrying out murder, assault, gun possession, and using stolen cars during shootings. These indictments should serve as a reminder that no one is above the law, and if you commit acts of violence in New York City you will be held accountable.

Commissioner Sewell said, For more than two years, NYPD investigators have been working closely with the Brooklyn District Attorney to do what they do better than anyone: keep the people and the communities we serve safe. The gang members indicted today may have thought they could traffic in violence, intimidation, and fear with impunity  but they were wrong. Together with our law enforcement partners, the NYPD is tackling violent crime and violent criminals head-on, and this case is just the latest example of our shared commitment to the public safety of all New Yorkers.

The defendants are being arraigned today before Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Danny Chun on a 140-count indictment in which they are variously charged with second-degree murder, second-degree attempted murder, second-degree conspiracy, second-degree criminal possession of a weapon, first-degree assault, first-degree attempted assault, second-degree kidnapping, first-degree gang assault, first-degree attempted gang assault, second-degree assault, first-degree reckless endangerment, and related charges.

The District Attorney said the indictment is the result of a long-term investigation by the District Attorneys Violent Criminal Enterprises Bureau and the NYPDs Gun Violence Suppression Division into shootings and gun possession incidents allegedly committed by members of the 8 Trey Crips and its affiliates, the 9 Ways gang, primarily in the 67th and 71st Precincts. The investigation focused on the 8 Trey Crips based out of Flatbush (Caton 8 Trey Crips), East Flatbush (40s 8 Trey Crips) and Canarsie (80z Flossy 8 Trey Crips). The territory of the 9 Ways gang runs from East New York Avenue to Church Avenue and from Remsen Avenue to East 98th Street in East Flatbush.

During the conspiracy period  from March 2019 to the present  the 8 Trey Crips and 9 Ways gangs allegedly possessed guns, committed shootings, and stole cars for use in the shootings, all in furtherance of their goals to maintain geographic control and dominance over their territories, enhance the reputation of the 8 Trey Crips and 9 Ways gangs, and eliminate rival members of the Folk Nation Gangster Disciples and ICG Babiiez.

During the conspiracy period covered in the indictments, there were 27 incidents of violence and criminal activity, including 12 shootings with 13 victims, including one fatality. Three shooting victims were innocent bystanders. Approximately 37 different firearms were used or possessed by the defendants and 19 firearms were recovered during the course of the investigation.

It is alleged that many of the acts of violence were captured on surveillance videos. Furthermore, it is alleged that the defendants boasted about their criminal activities on social media and in text messages, discussing acts of violence and taking credit for shootings and an assault.

The most egregious incident charged in the indictment is a mass shooting on Hawthorne Street in Folk Nation territory on October 21, 2020, at approximately 10:15 p.m. It is alleged that defendant Kamondre Dekattu is captured on surveillance video emerging from the sunroof of a white Infiniti and opening fire while other individuals fired guns from the drivers side and rear drivers side windows. An alleged Folk Nation rival, Theodore Senior, 23, was killed and five other alleged Folk Nation members were shot and injured. Dekattu is charged with the murder and his co-conspirators, including Michael Williams and his sister, Crystal Williams, are charged with being part of the conspiracy to commit murder, for this incident and others.

In particular, approximately an hour after that mass shooting, Michael Williams allegedly sent a text message seeking confirmation that the 8 Trey Crips and 9 Ways had scored against rivals. In separate messages to his sister, Crystal Williams, Michael Williams sent pictures of the victim and a news article about the incident and shootings that preceded it that day.

Two days after the homicide, it is alleged that Michael Williams hosted a lavish dinner with his fellow 8 Trey Crips and 9 Ways members, including Tegan Chambers, at a Manhattan steakhouse to celebrate the death of Theodore Senior and the injuries of the five other shooting victims.

Furthermore, it is alleged that Williams, who rented a large house in Short Hills, New Jersey during the conspiracy period, used the earnings from his music career to fuel gun violence in Brooklyn, by offering money and giving expensive jewelry to those who commit acts of violence. Williams involvement went beyond merely offering money to commit acts of violence. It is alleged that in one shooting incident Williams coordinated a group of three shooters, drove those shooters to the crime scene, and then acted as the getaway driver.

Other significant incidents that are charged as part of the conspiracies include:

On April 5, 2021, it is alleged, members of the ICG Babiiez gang shot at Williams mansion in Short Hills, where he and his closest 8 Trey allies lived. Over the next several months, Williams and some of the other defendants allegedly embarked on a campaign to seek revenge against the rival Babiiez gang and an 8 Trey member who they believed betrayed Williams by giving the rivals his address in New Jersey.

On April 6, 2021, it is alleged, video surveillance captured a black Jeep Trackhawk, which is registered to Michael Williams, driving on Caton Avenue toward East 18th Street, and eventually parking on St. Pauls Street. Defendants Olivel Martinez, Tony Darden and Kenrick Austrie exited the vehicle, walked to Caton Avenue and East 18th Street and allegedly opened fire in the direction of a rival, and struck two innocent bystanders, a 53-year-old man and a 43-year-old woman. They allegedly fled the location and entered the Trackhawk, where Williams was the alleged getaway driver. The following day, Darden allegedly shared a news article about the shooting in a group text message between himself, Williams, Martinez and Austrie.

On June 20, 2021, into the early morning hours of the following day, it is alleged, defendants Donald Audouin, Joseph Crick-Best, Victor Davis, Najma James, Ricardo Johnson, Marcov Joseph, Imani Maxwell, Celaya Phillip, Shatike Robinson and Tailynn Williamson, conducted a coordinated and violent attack, using a caravan of three cars, on the fellow 8 Trey member who they believed betrayed Michael Williams. The group located the individual at Flatbush Avenue and Albemarle Road, where they allegedly took turns punching and kicking him, then shoved him into a car and all 10 defendants drove to the vicinity of Holy Cross Cemetery, where they dragged the victim out of the car and continued to beat, kick and stomp him. The assault was ultimately interrupted by police responding to 911 calls reporting the beating.

This investigation was conducted by New York City Police Department Sergeant Joseph Calabrese and Detective Christopher Kelley of the Gun Violence Suppression Division, under the supervision of Sergeant David Zayas, Sergeant Calvin Fergus, Lieutenant Salvatore Sciove, Captain Ryan Gillis, all of the Gun Violence Suppression Division, and Deputy Chief Jason Savino, the Commanding Officer of the Gun Violence Suppression Division, along with the Detective Squads of the 67th, 70th, 71st, and 73rd Precincts and the Brooklyn South Homicide Squad, all under the overall supervision of Chief of Detectives James W. Essig.

The case is being prosecuted by Senior Assistant District Attorneys Edward Kerins and Roman Galper, and Assistant District Attorney Amel Spahija, of the District Attorneys Violent Criminal Enterprises Bureau, under the supervision of Assistant District Attorneys Gillian DiPietro and Kathryn Spota, VCE Deputy Bureau Chiefs, Assistant District Attorney Jennifer Cilia, VCE First Deputy Bureau Chief, and Assistant District Attorney Alfred DeIngeniis, VCE Bureau Chief.

(YWN World Headquarters  NYC)




The Central District Court on Tuesday sentenced the two Arab terrorists who brutally murdered Jews on Yom Haatzmaut last year to four life sentences plus 20 years for the crimes of murder and attempted murder and another 20 years for other terror-related offenses.

The indictment on Tuesday was more severe than the original indictment after being revised in February when a fourth victim of the attack dies of his wounds.

The cruel terrorists hacked three Jews to death, some in front of their children, and left 16 children orphans.

Attorneys Likol Tamsut and Hadar Ezra Weisel, who represented the families of the victims on behalf of the Justice Ministry, said after the conviction: On May 5, 2022, Boaz Gal, Hyd, Yonatan Chabakuk, Hyd, and Oren Ben-Yiftach Hyd were brutally murdered, and Shimon Maatuf, Hyd, who later died of his wounds, and many others were injured. This  after terrorists arrived in the city of Elad for a killing spree of innocent civilians using axes they had prepared ahead of time.

Today, the court had its say when it convicted the terrorists Asad Al-Rafai, 19, and Subhi Emad Sbeihat, 20, of murder and attempted murder.

From the time of the murder, the three families, who were accompanied and represented throughout the legal proceedings by the Justice Ministry, had difficulty processing the cruel loss and continuing their lives without their loved ones. No one will be able to retrieve what they lost but they hope that the court will restore and clearly and unequivocally state that the vile and cruel behavior of the terrorists must be decried and they must be left behind bars.

(YWN Israel Desk  Jerusalem)




A female protester who condemned Chareidim for not serving in the IDF and not being Jews at a protest outside the home of Housing Minister Yitzchak Goldknopf on Tuesday, didnt serve in the army or perform national service herself, it was revealed on Wednesday by journalist Yishay Fridman.

Ironically, a Chassid she confronted at the protest served in the IDF for three years and employs dozens of workers at the company he owns.

The protester is Prof. Elise Brezis, a professor of economics at Bar-Ilan University and the director of the Azrieli Center for Economic Policy in Israel. Brezis is originally from a Chassidish background and her brother is a Rav. She has been an outspoken opponent of the governments plan for judicial reform, claiming that passing the reform [that will align Israels judiciary to that of other Western countries] will lead to the collapse of Israels economy.

Fridman wrote: The Brothers In Arms organization invited Prof. Elise Brezis to a protest against Chareidim and Minister Goldknopf. Why specifically her? Because she detests Chareidim. In her words, she believes that they arent Jews and are part of a cult. The irony: during the protest, they targeted a Chareidi man who served in the army. Another irony: Prof. Brezis didnt serve in the army or perform national service.

The whole connection between Brezis and Brothers In Arms is that both sides detest the Chareidim.

Fridman also pointed out that by the way, Brezis proves that it is possible to contribute to the country even without serving in the army.

(YWN Israel Desk  Jerusalem)




Elon Musk has stepped into a new controversy after making some inflammatory tweets. On Monday, the ultra-wealthy tech mogul likened liberal billionaire and activist George Soros to comic book villain Magneto, a fictional character who is a Holocaust survivor.

He wants to erode the very fabric of civilization. Soros hates humanity, Musk followed up.

Musk came under immediate fire over the tweet, with Alex Goldenberg of the Network Contagion Research Institute saying, Musks likening Soros to Magneto isnt casual; its a nod to harmful antisemitic tropes of Jewish global control.

Even Israels Foreign Ministry weighed in, saying that Musks tweets had antisemitic overtones.

The phrase The Jews spiked today on the list of topics trending on Twitter following a tweet with antisemitic overtones by none other than the owner and CEO of the social network, Elon Musk, the Foreign Ministry tweeted, adding that his tweet immediately led to antisemitic conspiracy theories on Twitter.

But Musk says hes not an antisemite  Im a pro-Semite, if anything, he claimed  and said he wouldnt stop speaking his mind even if it scares away investors or consumers.

Ill say what I want, and if the consequence of that is losing money, so be it, the Twitter owner stated.

Making things even more interesting, Ashley St. Clair of the satirical The Babylon Bee, asked, Was Netanyahu being anti-Semitic when he blamed Soros for the anti-deportation campaign in Israel? She linked to a Jerusalem Post article about Netanyahus comments against the far-left billionaire.

Musk replied to her tweet, ADL should just drop the A.

(YWN World Headquarters  NYC)




Israel Police are on high alert ahead of the Jerusalem Flag March on Jerusalem Day, which falls out on Thursday evening and Friday.

Jerusalem District Police Commander Doron Turgeman told reporters on Tuesday that the police are preparing for numerous possibilities of disturbance during the march, including rocket fire.

Senior Hamas officials this week threatened to respond to the provocative Zionist flag march and the Hamas representative in Lebanon called on Palestinians to gather at Al Aqsa on Thursday morning for prayers.

About 3,200 police officers will secure the march. Turgeman said that there are warnings of attacks during the march, as there are throughout the year. There are warnings and we are thwarting them, he said.

In 2021, Hamas launched rockets at Israels capital city on Jerusalem Day, which triggered Operation Guardian of the Walls.

(YWN Israel Desk  Jerusalem)




A key lawyer for former President Donald Trump said Wednesday that he was leaving the legal team, a move that comes as a special counsel investigation into the retention of classified documents shows signs of being in its final stages.

Timothy Parlatore told The Associated Press that his departure had nothing to do with Trump and was not a reflection on his view of the Justice Departments investigation, which he has long called misguided and overly aggressive, or on the strength of the governments evidence. He said he believed he had served Trump well.

Other lawyers, including former Justice Department prosecutor James Trusty, are continuing to represent Trump in Washington investigations.

CNN earlier reported Parlatores departure.

Parlatore has long been a key member of the team representing Trump in an investigation by Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith into the possession of hundreds of classified documents at the former presidents Florida home, Mar-a-Lago as well as into possible efforts to obstruct that probe.

A grand jury over the last several months has heard from a broad array of witnesses close to Trump. Federal prosecutors in March questioned another of Trumps lawyers, M. Evan Corcoran, before the grand jury after successfully piercing attorney-client privilege. Parlatore testified voluntarily in December about efforts to recover classified documents in response to government demands.

Last month, Parlatore and other lawyers for Trump issued a letter to the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, Rep. Mike Turner, laying out a series of defense arguments of Trump and saying that the Justice Department should be ordered to stand down in its investigation.

Besides the Mar-a-Lago probe, Smith has also been investigating efforts by Trump and his allies to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election, with former Vice President Mike Pence among the grand jury witnesses in that probe. Manhattan prosecutors charged Trump in March arising from hush-money payments made to a porn star who said he had an extramarital sexual encounter with her years earlier.

In Georgia, prosecutors in Fulton County are expected to announce in coming months the results of an investigation into attempts to subvert Trumps election loss to President Joe Biden in that state.

(AP)
CANBERRA, May 17 (Xinhua) -- The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA)'s spokesperson said on Wednesday that they were coordinating the search for a Chinese fishing vessel in a remote location in the Indian Ocean.

The location is about 5,000 km northwest of Perth, the capital city of Western Australia (WA).

A Chinese deep-sea fishing vessel capsized on Tuesday in the central Indian Ocean, which has so far left 39 people on board missing, including 17 Chinese mariners, 17 Indonesian mariners and five Philippine mariners.

China's Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, and the Ministry of Transport and Shandong Province have activated emergency response mechanism to organize the rescue work. On-site rescue is underway.

An AMSA spokesperson told Xinhua on Wednesday that a distress beacon signal was received by AMSA from the fishing vessel at about 5:30 a.m. (AEST) Tuesday morning.

The spokesperson said that late Tuesday, bulk carrier Navios Taurus sighted an upturned hull in the search area. No survivors have been found as yet.

AMSA requested the Australian Defence Force (ADF) to provide a search asset and the ADF tasked a P-8A Poseidon aircraft to assist with the long-range search on Tuesday night along with a number of merchant and other vessels in the area.

"Weather conditions yesterday were extreme with 120 km winds and 7-meter seas. Conditions have abated today with 40-50 km/h winds and 2-3 meter seas," an AMSA spokesperson said on Wednesday.

"The search for survivors continues today with merchant and fishing vessels in the area."

"The Australian Defence Force aircraft will return to the search area today after refueling overnight, along with AMSA's Perth-based Challenger rescue aircraft and a privately operated aircraft from Perth."

The spokesperson said that the AMSA Challenger aircraft will drop a buoy to assist with drift modeling to help in the search.

The Chinese Embassy in Australia told Xinhua on Wednesday that the embassy had immediately activated the consular protection and emergency response mechanism, and communicated and coordinated with Australian departments to carry out search and rescue work.

So far, the Australian authorities have tasked three aircraft in full search and rescue. At the same time, four ships are searching in the sea area where the incident occurred, said the embassy, adding that it will continue to seek help from relevant Australian authorities to carry out rescue operations. 
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The owner of jewellers Mappin & Webb said demand for engagement and wedding rings has fallen after a post-pandemic boom last year.

Watches of Switzerland chief executive Brian Duffy said demand for the accessories was still very strong, as the firm posted sales up by a quarter to 1.5billion for the year to April 30.

But he said there has been a slowdown in purchases of bridal jewellery, after couples raced to get married when Covid curbs were lifted last year.

Sales drop: The demand for engagement and wedding rings has fallen after a post-pandemic boom last year

He told the Mail: Last year there was still a catch up of people getting weddings organised and consequently buying engagement rings.

The company sells rings in the UK through its jewellery brands, Goldsmiths, Mappin & Webb, as well as Mayors and Betteridge in the US.

The retailer said it expects to post a profit of between 163million and 167million, for the year to April 30, up from 130million last year.

But yesterday shares fell 5.8 per cent, or 43p, to 697.5p after it warned it was preparing to face a more challenging trading environment in the first half of its new financial year.
Palantir Technologies Inc. (NYSE:PLTR  Get Rating) gapped down before the market opened on Monday after an insider sold shares in the company. The stock had previously closed at $9.50, but opened at $9.21. Palantir Technologies shares last traded at $9.17, with a volume of 11,120,929 shares trading hands.

Specifically, Director Alexander D. Moore sold 21,900 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.35, for a total transaction of $182,865.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 1,880,052 shares of the companys stock, valued at $15,698,434.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, insider Ryan D. Taylor sold 19,877 shares of Palantir Technologies stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.13, for a total value of $161,600.01. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 228,960 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $1,861,444.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Alexander D. Moore sold 21,900 shares of Palantir Technologies stock in a transaction on Monday, April 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.35, for a total transaction of $182,865.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,880,052 shares in the company, valued at $15,698,434.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 94,513 shares of company stock valued at $801,494. 13.22% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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Analysts Set New Price Targets

PLTR has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on shares of Palantir Technologies from $9.00 to $8.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 14th. Mizuho upped their price objective on Palantir Technologies from $7.00 to $8.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Tuesday, February 14th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an underperform rating and set a $5.00 price objective on shares of Palantir Technologies in a report on Thursday, February 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on Palantir Technologies from $6.00 to $7.00 in a report on Tuesday, May 9th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Palantir Technologies from $8.50 to $10.00 in a report on Tuesday, May 9th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the companys stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $8.54.

Palantir Technologies Price Performance

The firms 50-day moving average price is $8.26 and its 200 day moving average price is $7.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -72.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 2.85.

Palantir Technologies (NYSE:PLTR  Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 13th. The company reported $0.04 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $0.03 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $508.62 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $504.84 million. Palantir Technologies had a negative return on equity of 12.92% and a negative net margin of 12.88%. The businesss revenue for the quarter was up 17.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.02 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Palantir Technologies Inc. will post 0.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Palantir Technologies

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Mandatum Life Insurance Co Ltd raised its position in shares of Palantir Technologies by 2.3% in the 1st quarter. Mandatum Life Insurance Co Ltd now owns 57,591 shares of the companys stock valued at $487,000 after purchasing an additional 1,292 shares in the last quarter. Utah Retirement Systems raised its holdings in Palantir Technologies by 1.4% in the third quarter. Utah Retirement Systems now owns 95,700 shares of the companys stock valued at $778,000 after acquiring an additional 1,300 shares in the last quarter. Redwood Wealth Management Group LLC raised its holdings in Palantir Technologies by 4.5% in the first quarter. Redwood Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 30,470 shares of the companys stock valued at $257,000 after acquiring an additional 1,325 shares in the last quarter. Sepio Capital LP raised its holdings in Palantir Technologies by 9.0% in the first quarter. Sepio Capital LP now owns 16,181 shares of the companys stock valued at $137,000 after acquiring an additional 1,333 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Prudential Financial Inc. raised its holdings in Palantir Technologies by 2.7% in the first quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 51,712 shares of the companys stock valued at $479,000 after acquiring an additional 1,348 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 31.90% of the companys stock.

Palantir Technologies Company Profile

(Get Rating)

Palantir Technologies Inc builds and deploys software platforms for the intelligence community in the United States to assist in counterterrorism investigations and operations. The company provides palantir gotham, a software platform which enables users to identify patterns hidden deep within datasets, ranging from signals intelligence sources to reports from confidential informants, as well as facilitates the handoff between analysts and operational users, helping operators plan and execute real-world responses to threats that have been identified within the platform.

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Blackstone Secured Lending Fund (NYSE:BXSL  Get Rating) has received an average rating of Moderate Buy from the seven ratings firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $27.07.

Several analysts have issued reports on BXSL shares. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from $25.50 to $27.00 and gave the stock a market perform rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 28th. Finally, Raymond James raised their price objective on shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund from $25.50 to $27.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 28th.

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Blackstone Secured Lending Fund Stock Performance

Shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund stock opened at $25.33 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.49 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a fifty day moving average of $25.23 and a 200 day moving average of $24.30. Blackstone Secured Lending Fund has a fifty-two week low of $22.00 and a fifty-two week high of $26.35.

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund Announces Dividend

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund ( NYSE:BXSL Get Rating ) last issued its earnings results on Monday, February 27th. The company reported $0.90 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $251.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $251.75 million. Blackstone Secured Lending Fund had a net margin of 47.55% and a return on equity of 11.32%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.67 EPS. Analysts forecast that Blackstone Secured Lending Fund will post 3.72 EPS for the current year.

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 27th. Investors of record on Friday, June 30th will be given a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 11.05%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 29th. Blackstone Secured Lending Funds dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 104.87%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Susquehanna International Group LLP bought a new stake in Blackstone Secured Lending Fund during the first quarter worth approximately $210,000. Fortis Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund during the 1st quarter worth $27,000. Harbour Investments Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund by 198.0% during the first quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 4,365 shares of the companys stock valued at $109,000 after acquiring an additional 2,900 shares during the period. Ares Management LLC boosted its position in Blackstone Secured Lending Fund by 27.4% during the 1st quarter. Ares Management LLC now owns 629,801 shares of the companys stock worth $15,701,000 after acquiring an additional 135,375 shares during the period. Finally, Ascendant Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone Secured Lending Fund during the 1st quarter valued at $224,000. 31.16% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund Company Profile

(Get Rating)

Blackstone Secured Lending Fund is business development company and a Delaware statutory trust formed on March 26, 2018, and structured as an externally managed, non-diversified closed-end investment Fund. On October 26, 2018, the fund elected to be regulated as a business development company (BDC) under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the 1940 Act).

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Vesuvius plc (LON:VSVS  Get Rating) has earned a consensus rating of Moderate Buy from the six research firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is GBX 465 ($5.82).

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a buy rating and set a GBX 585 ($7.33) price objective on shares of Vesuvius in a report on Friday, March 24th. Numis Securities reissued an add rating and issued a GBX 450 ($5.64) price target on shares of Vesuvius in a report on Monday, February 6th.

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Insider Buying and Selling

In other Vesuvius news, insider Mark Collis purchased 11,450 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 12th. The stock was bought at an average price of GBX 400 ($5.01) per share, with a total value of 45,800 ($57,371.92). 0.81% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Vesuvius Stock Performance

Vesuvius Increases Dividend

LON:VSVS opened at GBX 409.40 ($5.13) on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of GBX 403.37 and a 200-day moving average of GBX 399.04. The firm has a market capitalization of 1.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 611.04, a P/E/G ratio of 0.57 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a quick ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 1.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 33.49. Vesuvius has a twelve month low of GBX 282.37 ($3.54) and a twelve month high of GBX 448.60 ($5.62).

The firm also recently declared a dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 31st. Investors of record on Thursday, April 20th will be paid a GBX 15.75 ($0.20) dividend. This is a positive change from Vesuviuss previous dividend of $6.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 20th. This represents a yield of 3.66%. Vesuviuss dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 3,283.58%.

Vesuvius Company Profile

(Get Rating)

Vesuvius plc provides engineering services and solutions principally to steel and foundry industries worldwide. It operates in two divisions, Steel and Foundry. The company offers foundry consumables and equipment, including binders, coatings, feeding systems, filtration and gating systems, melt shop refractories, metallurgical and pouring control systems, die dressings and coatings, melt treatment products, crucibles, and ceramics for the iron, steel, and nonferrous foundries.

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Lenovo Group Limited (OTCMKTS:LNVGF  Get Rating) saw a large drop in short interest during the month of April. As of April 30th, there was short interest totalling 16,635,200 shares, a drop of 11.1% from the April 15th total of 18,702,600 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 17,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 950.6 days.

Lenovo Group Stock Up 1.0 %

LNVGF stock opened at $1.04 on Wednesday. The firms fifty day moving average is $1.01 and its 200 day moving average is $0.89. Lenovo Group has a 52 week low of $0.66 and a 52 week high of $1.12.

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About Lenovo Group

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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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Jushi Holdings Inc. (OTCMKTS:JUSHF  Get Rating) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest during the month of April. As of April 30th, there was short interest totalling 2,203,500 shares, a decline of 9.1% from the April 15th total of 2,423,400 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 223,900 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 9.8 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Echelon Wealth Partners reissued a hold rating on shares of Jushi in a research report on Friday, March 31st. Atb Cap Markets restated an outperform rating on shares of Jushi in a report on Wednesday, March 1st. BTIG Research lowered Jushi from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a report on Tuesday, April 4th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn reissued a buy rating on shares of Jushi in a research report on Monday, April 3rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the companys stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $2.55.

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Jushi Stock Performance

Shares of OTCMKTS:JUSHF opened at $0.46 on Wednesday. Jushi has a 52 week low of $0.41 and a 52 week high of $2.34. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.17. The companys fifty day moving average is $0.52 and its 200 day moving average is $0.91.

Jushi Company Profile

Jushi Holdings Inc, a vertically integrated cannabis company, engages in the cultivation, processing, retail, and distribution of medical and adult-use products. It focuses on building a portfolio of cannabis assets in various jurisdictions in Pennsylvania, Virginia, Ohio, Illinois, California, Nevada, and Massachusetts.

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Coursera, Inc. (NYSE:COUR  Get Rating) COO Shravan Goli sold 1,805 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.25, for a total transaction of $20,306.25. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 1,045,479 shares of the companys stock, valued at $11,761,638.75. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link.

Shravan Goli also recently made the following trade(s):

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On Friday, April 28th, Shravan Goli sold 40,000 shares of Coursera stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.21, for a total value of $488,400.00.

On Thursday, April 13th, Shravan Goli sold 28,000 shares of Coursera stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.27, for a total value of $315,560.00.

On Thursday, March 16th, Shravan Goli sold 110,999 shares of Coursera stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.74, for a total value of $1,303,128.26.

Coursera Price Performance

COUR stock opened at $11.53 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.73 billion, a PE ratio of -9.94 and a beta of 1.79. The companys 50-day moving average is $11.17 and its 200-day moving average is $12.53. Coursera, Inc. has a 1 year low of $9.81 and a 1 year high of $17.66.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Coursera

COUR has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Needham & Company LLC restated a buy rating and issued a $19.00 price objective on shares of Coursera in a report on Friday, March 10th. Telsey Advisory Group restated an outperform rating and issued a $20.00 price objective on shares of Coursera in a report on Friday, March 10th. Citigroup decreased their price target on Coursera from $40.00 to $30.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 15th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an outperform rating and set a $18.00 price target on shares of Coursera in a report on Friday, March 10th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald decreased their price target on Coursera from $14.00 to $13.00 in a report on Friday, April 28th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Coursera presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $17.08.

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in COUR. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd bought a new position in shares of Coursera during the 2nd quarter worth about $31,000. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of Coursera by 187.5% during the 2nd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,366 shares of the companys stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 1,543 shares in the last quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. boosted its position in shares of Coursera by 8,565.8% during the 3rd quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 3,293 shares of the companys stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 3,255 shares in the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Coursera by 277.8% during the 1st quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,740 shares of the companys stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 2,750 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Middle East FZE bought a new position in shares of Coursera during the 4th quarter worth about $46,000. Institutional investors own 62.31% of the companys stock.

Coursera Company Profile

(Get Rating)

Coursera, Inc operates an online educational content platform that connects learners, educators, organizations, and institutions. It offers online courses that include data science, business, computer science, information technology, health, social sciences, logic, project management, and digital marketing services; campus student plans; degree courses; and certification education.

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RAMALLAH, May 17 (Xinhua) -- The Palestinian presidency's spokesman on Wednesday condemned the Israeli government's plan to hold the controversial "flag march" in East Jerusalem as scheduled on Thursday.

Nabil Abu Rudeineh said in a press statement that "organizing such a provocative act would only lead to more tension and would blow up more violence."

He added that the Israeli government's insistence on holding the march in Jerusalem "shows the acquiescence of this government to the Jewish extremists."

The march is aimed at marking Jerusalem Day, which commemorates the unification of the city after Israel annexed East Jerusalem in 1967.

On Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said during a Likud party meeting that "the flag march will take place according to its planned path."

Some 3,300 police officers would be dispatched to maintain public order, and 37 activists, including Jews, had been dispelled from Jerusalem in case of their disruptive attempts during the event, Israeli media reported.

Meanwhile, the Palestinian Foreign Ministry vowed in a statement to "hold the Israeli government fully and directly responsible for the march of flags and its results and repercussions, not only in Jerusalem but also in the conflict arena."

In 2022, the march entered the old city of Jerusalem from Damascus Gate and Hebron Gate in the Palestinian part of Jerusalem to commemorate the anniversary, causing clashes with the Palestinians.

The one in 2021 sparked a heavy fighting between Israel and the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) in Gaza that lasted for 11 days. 
Noah (NYSE:NOAH  Get Rating) will announce its earnings results on Thursday, May 18th.

Noah (NYSE:NOAH  Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, March 27th. The asset manager reported $0.31 EPS for the quarter. Noah had a net margin of 31.79% and a return on equity of 11.27%. The company had revenue of $127.89 million during the quarter. On average, analysts expect Noah to post $3 EPS for the current fiscal year and $3 EPS for the next fiscal year.

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Noah Trading Up 5.5 %

Shares of NYSE NOAH opened at $16.10 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $1.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.52, a PEG ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 1.05. The businesss fifty day simple moving average is $16.48 and its 200-day simple moving average is $16.78. Noah has a 12-month low of $11.78 and a 12-month high of $21.98.

Institutional Trading of Noah

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. State Street Corp raised its position in Noah by 2.6% in the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 214,971 shares of the asset managers stock valued at $3,558,000 after purchasing an additional 5,518 shares during the last quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Noah during the first quarter worth about $677,000. BlackRock Inc. increased its position in Noah by 5.4% in the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 802,449 shares of the asset managers stock valued at $13,281,000 after acquiring an additional 41,031 shares during the period. Credit Suisse AG raised its stake in Noah by 9.7% during the 1st quarter. Credit Suisse AG now owns 14,234 shares of the asset managers stock valued at $236,000 after acquiring an additional 1,258 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Noah during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,040,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 45.44% of the companys stock.

Separately, StockNews.com lowered shares of Noah from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Thursday, May 11th.

Noah Company Profile

(Get Rating)

Noah Holdings Ltd. provides investment advisory and wealth management services. It operates business through the following segments: Wealth Management, Asset Management, and Lending & Other servicers. The Wealth Management segment offers a global wealth investment and asset allocation services to high net worth individuals and enterprise clients in China.

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Prudential PLC bought a new position in Textron Inc. (NYSE:TXT  Get Rating) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 12,445 shares of the aerospace companys stock, valued at approximately $881,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of TXT. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its holdings in shares of Textron by 2,478.9% in the 4th quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 661,074 shares of the aerospace companys stock worth $46,804,000 after acquiring an additional 635,440 shares during the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Textron in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $33,249,000. Mariner LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Textron by 2,973.5% in the 1st quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 471,666 shares of the aerospace companys stock worth $35,083,000 after acquiring an additional 456,320 shares during the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Textron by 260.3% in the 4th quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 508,975 shares of the aerospace companys stock worth $36,035,000 after acquiring an additional 367,723 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Martingale Asset Management L P lifted its holdings in shares of Textron by 1,418.9% in the 3rd quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P now owns 227,245 shares of the aerospace companys stock worth $13,241,000 after acquiring an additional 212,284 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.69% of the companys stock.

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Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on TXT shares. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Textron in a report on Thursday, April 6th. They set a peer perform rating for the company. StockNews.com lowered shares of Textron from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a report on Thursday, April 6th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the companys stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Textron currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $81.67.

Textron Stock Performance

Shares of Textron stock opened at $63.23 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $12.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.61, a PEG ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.48. The firms 50-day moving average is $67.64 and its 200 day moving average is $70.05. Textron Inc. has a 1 year low of $57.11 and a 1 year high of $76.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 1.90 and a quick ratio of 0.99.

Textron (NYSE:TXT  Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 27th. The aerospace company reported $1.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $0.95 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $3.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $3.11 billion. Textron had a net margin of 6.66% and a return on equity of 12.82%. Textrons revenue was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.88 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Textron Inc. will post 5.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Textron Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, July 1st. Investors of record on Friday, June 9th will be issued a $0.02 dividend. This represents a $0.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.13%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 8th. Textrons dividend payout ratio is 1.98%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Textron news, CEO Scott C. Donnelly sold 222,319 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.35, for a total transaction of $16,307,098.65. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 683,136 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $50,108,025.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, CEO Scott C. Donnelly sold 222,319 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.35, for a total value of $16,307,098.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 683,136 shares of the companys stock, valued at $50,108,025.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Frank T. Connor sold 63,361 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.35, for a total transaction of $4,647,529.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 151,455 shares of the companys stock, valued at $11,109,224.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About Textron

(Get Rating)

Textron, Inc is a multi-industry company, which leverages a global network of aircraft, defense, industrial, and finance businesses to provide customers innovative solutions and services. The company operates its business through the following segments: Textron Aviation, Bell, Textron Systems, Industrial, and Textron eAviation.

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Sowell Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in iShares ESG Aware MSCI USA Small-Cap ETF (BATS:ESML  Get Rating) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 11,058 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $364,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ESML. JPMorgan Chase & Co. acquired a new stake in iShares ESG Aware MSCI USA Small-Cap ETF during the first quarter worth $116,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in shares of iShares ESG Aware MSCI USA Small-Cap ETF by 6.0% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 9,120 shares of the companys stock valued at $347,000 after buying an additional 520 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE grew its stake in shares of iShares ESG Aware MSCI USA Small-Cap ETF by 94.2% in the first quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 4,414 shares of the companys stock valued at $168,000 after buying an additional 2,141 shares in the last quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of iShares ESG Aware MSCI USA Small-Cap ETF by 23.3% in the first quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 12,981 shares of the companys stock valued at $494,000 after buying an additional 2,451 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors grew its stake in shares of iShares ESG Aware MSCI USA Small-Cap ETF by 38.1% in the second quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 32,707 shares of the companys stock valued at $1,030,000 after buying an additional 9,019 shares in the last quarter.

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iShares ESG Aware MSCI USA Small-Cap ETF Price Performance

Shares of BATS ESML opened at $32.75 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $33.31 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $34.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.33 billion, a PE ratio of 12.69 and a beta of 1.14.

About iShares ESG Aware MSCI USA Small-Cap ETF

The iShares ESG Aware MSCI USA Small-Cap ETF (ESML) is an exchange-traded fund that mostly invests in small-cap stocks. The fund tracks an index of US small-cap companies with high environmental, social, and governance factor scores as determined by MSCI. ESML was launched on Apr 10, 2018 and is managed by BlackRock.

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Dimensional Fund Advisors LP decreased its position in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS  Get Rating) by 4.8% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 898,636 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock after selling 45,266 shares during the quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LPs holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $190,442,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. PGGM Investments acquired a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $6,219,000. Intech Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Essex Property Trust by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 25,816 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock worth $6,253,000 after acquiring an additional 450 shares during the period. CBOE Vest Financial LLC raised its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 23.5% in the 3rd quarter. CBOE Vest Financial LLC now owns 33,160 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $8,032,000 after acquiring an additional 6,312 shares in the last quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 25.5% during the 4th quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,261 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $267,000 after acquiring an additional 256 shares during the period. Finally, OLD National Bancorp IN grew its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 47.3% during the 3rd quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN now owns 1,252 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock worth $303,000 after purchasing an additional 402 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.76% of the companys stock.

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Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on ESS. Piper Sandler raised shares of Essex Property Trust from a neutral rating to an overweight rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $242.00 to $271.00 in a research report on Monday, May 1st. BMO Capital Markets cut shares of Essex Property Trust from a market perform rating to an underperform rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $239.00 to $200.00 in a research note on Monday, April 17th. Mizuho upped their target price on Essex Property Trust from $235.00 to $246.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Thursday, February 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an outperform rating and issued a $250.00 price target on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research note on Thursday, February 9th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $260.00 to $245.00 in a research note on Friday, April 28th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the companys stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Essex Property Trust has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $246.32.

Essex Property Trust Price Performance

Essex Property Trust Dividend Announcement

Shares of ESS opened at $209.14 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $211.63 and a 200-day moving average of $216.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The company has a market capitalization of $13.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.75. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 1 year low of $195.03 and a 1 year high of $300.33.

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 30th will be given a dividend of $2.31 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 29th. This represents a $9.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.42%. Essex Property Trusts dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 122.55%.

Essex Property Trust Company Profile

(Get Rating)

Essex Property Trust, Inc operates as a real estate investment trust. It engages in the ownership, operation, management, acquisition, development, and redevelopment of predominantly apartment communities. The company was founded by George M. Marcus in 1971 and is headquartered in San Mateo, CA.

Further Reading

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HBK Sorce Advisory LLC bought a new position in shares of IQVIA Holdings Inc. (NYSE:IQV  Get Rating) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 1,748 shares of the medical research companys stock, valued at approximately $358,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of IQV. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina increased its holdings in IQVIA by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 80,551 shares of the medical research companys stock valued at $16,504,000 after purchasing an additional 1,020 shares in the last quarter. Premier Fund Managers Ltd increased its holdings in IQVIA by 26.5% during the 4th quarter. Premier Fund Managers Ltd now owns 210,000 shares of the medical research companys stock valued at $43,651,000 after purchasing an additional 44,000 shares in the last quarter. LGT Group Foundation increased its holdings in IQVIA by 48.4% during the 4th quarter. LGT Group Foundation now owns 36,078 shares of the medical research companys stock valued at $7,392,000 after purchasing an additional 11,771 shares in the last quarter. MAI Capital Management acquired a new stake in IQVIA during the 4th quarter valued at $202,000. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC increased its holdings in IQVIA by 30.4% during the 4th quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 8,290 shares of the medical research companys stock valued at $1,684,000 after purchasing an additional 1,935 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.20% of the companys stock.

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Insider Activity at IQVIA

In related news, insider Kevin C. Knightly sold 4,446 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $225.61, for a total value of $1,003,062.06. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 1,973 shares in the company, valued at $445,128.53. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

IQVIA Trading Down 0.1 %

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NYSE IQV opened at $191.21 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $194.47 and a 200 day simple moving average of $208.53. The company has a market capitalization of $35.48 billion, a PE ratio of 34.39, a P/E/G ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.99. IQVIA Holdings Inc. has a 12 month low of $165.75 and a 12 month high of $249.11.

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on IQVIA from $257.00 to $263.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Monday, February 27th. Credit Suisse Group restated an outperform rating and set a $265.00 target price on shares of IQVIA in a research report on Monday, February 13th. SVB Leerink restated an outperform rating on shares of IQVIA in a research report on Friday, January 27th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on IQVIA from $269.00 to $255.00 in a research report on Friday, April 28th. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their target price on IQVIA from $265.00 to $244.00 in a research report on Monday, May 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the companys stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $253.25.

About IQVIA

(Get Rating)

IQVIA Holdings, Inc engages in the provision of analytics, technology solutions, and clinical research services to the life sciences industry. It operates through the following segments: Technology and Analytics Solutions, Research and Development Solutions, and Contract Sales and Medical Solutions. The Technology and Analytics Solutions segment supplies mission critical information, technology solutions, and real-world solutions and services to the firms life science clients.

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YAOUNDE, May 17 (Xinhua) -- Two separatist commanders and 16 of their fighters surrendered to Cameroonian authorities in the country's restive Anglophone region on Tuesday, an official said.

The militant commanders known as "General Baron" and "General Jer boy" handed themselves over to government officials in the town of Mundemba, said Louis Sake Esono Besinga, the first deputy mayor of Mundemba Council, the government of Mundemba.

The two commanders handed their weapons to security forces at a ceremony in front of reporters, and called on all other fighters to give themselves in as soon as possible.

Besinga said the surrender was key "to finding lasting peace" in the war-torn region.

Since the beginning of this year, several senior leaders of separatist forces have given up fighting with the government. Since 2017, government forces have been clashing with armed separatists who are seeking to create an independent nation in Cameroon's two English-speaking regions of Northwest and Southwest. 
MOGADISHU, May 17 (Xinhua) -- A high-level delegation consisting of members including a senior African Union (AU) envoy, military officials of the African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS), and a Chinese envoy visited Baidoa in the South West State of Somalia, where they discussed political reconciliation, humanitarian efforts, security and the ongoing fight against al-Shabaab, the AU mission said Wednesday.

The delegation led by Special Representative of the Chairperson of the AU Commission for Somalia Mohammed El-Amine Souef, and Chinese Ambassador to Somalia Fei Shengchao discussed the upcoming ATMIS troop drawdown from Somalia and the preparations underway to meet the June deadline, the AU mission said in a statement issued in Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia.

Souef said the drawdown or troop withdrawal is in compliance with the United Nations Security Council Resolutions 2628 and 2670, which require ATMIS to reduce its forces and gradually hand over security responsibilities to the Somali Security Forces.

"We discussed the security situation, territorial integrity, support for both the ongoing stabilization efforts launched by the Federal Government of Somalia and the fight against al-Shabaab," he said during their meeting with South West State President Abdiaziz Hassan Mohamed and members of his administration and representatives of civil society groups Tuesday.

Fei lauded ATMIS, Somali security forces and the South West State leadership for their commitment and collaboration to restore security and stability in the state.

Fei reaffirmed China's support for the ongoing security and peacebuilding efforts.

"We are committed and believe that no matter how hard it is, it is important that we invest together with Somalia and international partners in peace, stability, and prosperity to support Africa," the Chinese ambassador said.

Under the ATMIS military sectorization, Baidoa is the headquarters of Sector Three which is manned by Ethiopian troops.

"I am encouraged by what I heard from the South West State president, the local authorities, and the regional police commissioner that ATMIS troops conduct daily joint operations with the local forces to secure the state. The operations are critical," Souef said.

The local forces work collaboratively with a contingent of ATMIS Formed Police Unit officers from Ghana and Individual Police Officers.

Souef commended the Ethiopian troops and Ghanaian police personnel for their remarkable contributions to security threats posed by al-Shabaab through tactical and routine operations, training and mentoring Somali Security Forces, and securing population centers and all airport locations to facilitate both economic and humanitarian access. 
DAKAR, May 17 (Xinhua) -- Senegalese President Macky Sall has said his country will learn from China in the development of the digital economy.

President Sall made the remarks Tuesday in Dakar, the capital of Senegal, at the opening of "The Digital Week - Senegal Connect," where China was declared the guest of honor.

"By making China the guest of honor of this edition, you express the willingness of our country to draw inspiration from one of the most successful models in the digital revolution. This also shows the excellent relations of friendship and cooperation between our two countries," he said to the Minister of Communication, Telecommunications and Digital Economy Moussa Bocar Thiam.

According to President Sall, Senegal will mobilize all resources for the emergence of talent and the promotion of competent entrepreneurs to achieve the goal of the digital economy contributing 10 percent to the country's gross domestic product by 2025.

Identifying the challenges in order to reach such a goal, the president insisted on the need for Senegal to "increase efforts in the management of the sector, universal access to quality connectivity and at reduced costs and data protection." 
JUBA, May 17 (Xinhua) -- Sudan's paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), led by Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, on Wednesday welcomed mediation efforts by neighboring South Sudan to end the month-long fighting with the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF).

Youssef Izzat al-Mahri, the political advisor to the RSF, said they are willing to implement the cease-fire agreed upon on May 11 with the SAF in the coastal city of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

"We welcome South Sudan; we know President Salva Kiir has more understanding of the crisis in Sudan in general, and he has a role to play to stop the war. We welcome the contribution of South Sudan in stopping the fighting and attaining peace in Sudan," Izzat said during a press conference held in Juba, the capital of South Sudan.

Despite the two warring factions signing the Declaration of Commitment to Protect the Civilians of Sudan to facilitate the delivery of emergency humanitarian aid and guarantee the safe evacuation of civilians, heavy fighting as well as air and artillery bombardment continue in Khartoum, the Sudanese capital.

"We have agreed on a cease-fire to end the conflict that has now taken a month and two days; as RSF, we have to play a role in implementing the signed cease-fire and the beginning of the political process," Izzat said.

He denied accusations that the RSF was using civilians as human shields in ongoing fierce fighting with the Sudanese military since April 15, adding that the RSF has been protecting foreign embassies and assisting civilians exiting Khartoum.

Izzat called on Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, the head of the SAF, to respect the cease-fire that was initiated recently by the two sides with mediation from Saudi Arabia and the United States.

Deng Dau Deng, South Sudan's acting minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, said Wednesday that Kiir called upon both parties to respect the cease-fire deal.

He said Sudan's neighbors like South Sudan, Egypt, Chad, Ethiopia, the Central African Republic, Eritrea, and Libya are currently grappling with the huge refugee influx across their borders.

"We are the neighboring countries to Sudan, and he (Kiir) talked on their behalf to give this appeal to the representative of the RSF, and also he has been communicating with Chairman of the Sovereignty Council of Sudan Abdel Fattah al-Burhan," Deng said.

He added that they also discussed the opening of humanitarian corridors, particularly the hospitals and water points.

Sudan has witnessed deadly armed clashes between the SAF and the RSF in Khartoum and other areas since April 15, with the two sides accusing each other of initiating the conflict. 
SUVA, May 17 (Xinhua) -- The Fiji Development Bank (FDB) is planning to offer loans to more micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) after receiving support from the French Development Agency (AFD).

The agreement signed between the FDB and AFD entails a substantial guarantee commitment of 7 million Fijian dollars (around 3.15 million U.S. dollars), funded by the European Union (EU), local media reported on Wednesday.

It will enable the FDB to expand its financing services for MSMEs, with a specific focus on such sectors as women-led enterprises, youth initiatives, healthcare, education, agriculture, digital enterprises, and social businesses to boost the economy.

Under the newly-inked agreement, financial institutions will benefit from a flexible, convenient, and attractively priced risk-sharing mechanism.

This mechanism aims to facilitate easier access to loans for MSMEs, ultimately contributing to the growth of the Fijian economy.

Fiji's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance, Biman Prasad, commended the FDB for its pivotal role in supporting this initiative.

FDB's Chief Executive, Saud Minam, while expressing gratitude towards the AFD and the EU, said the bank would support agriculture, small and medium enterprises and MSMEs, the three main segments in business that 94 percent of their customers belong to. 
A new late night museum pilot scheme to support Ireland's Night-Time Economy (NTE) has been announced.

The Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, Catherine Martin, today (May 17) announced news of the scheme, which aims to support small museums and galleries across the country to open later and programme new live events.

Up to one million euro in funding has been secured to support the scheme, with up to 10,000 ringfenced to help re-energise and revitalise the NTE in Irish villages and towns.

Speaking ahead of International Museum Day, Minister Martin said, "International Museum day is being marked this week and we celebrate how Museums and Galleries throughout the country are the beating heart of culture in our communities. They are the keepers of our history, reflect our cultural identity and provide a space for creativity which future generations can enjoy.

"They play a vital role in smaller towns and villages supporting open conversations, promoting positive mental health and are inclusive to all.

"A thriving Night Time Economy is valuable to communities and I would like to encourage local museums and galleries to look at their spaces through a late night lens. This support announced today aims to welcome new audiences through a variety of innovative programming and activities. Bringing life to longer evenings for both communities and tourists alike."

Members of the Museum Standards Programme for Ireland (MSPI) and the Irish Museum Association can apply for up to 10,000 in funding to host late night events this year.

Events can include live music, live DJ, dancing (performative or participatory), exhibitions, poetry readings, comedy shows theatre, film, live podcasts, storytelling, classes and wellbeing initiatives.

Director of the Irish Museums Association, Gina OKelly, said, "Our museums provide creative spaces for visitors to connect with culture in ways that are relevant and meaningful to their lives and, as such, are ideally placed to support Government efforts to develop a more diverse night-time economy.

"The support announced today extends a welcome opportunity for our museums to not only explore sustainable after-hours access and enhance participation in their programmes and events, but also to reach new and under-represented audiences and provide a vibrant night-time alternative for both their communities and visitors to their localities.

Last years Night-Time Economy Support Scheme - developed in conjunction with the Irish Museum Association, The Heritage Council and Failte Ireland - provided support for cultural activity in pubs, nightclubs, cafes and other suitable licensed and unlicensed premises during off-peak times.

Support will be offered by way of a grant payment of up to 10,000 per museum, which will be required to open later and/or schedule events for a minimum of 4 nights until at least 9pm.

Additional funding may be considered if a more ambitious programme of openings is proposed and funding allows.

Chief Executive of The Heritage Council, Virginia Teehan, said, "The Heritage Council is committed to ensuring our heritage in all its forms and that it is as accessible as possible to as many as possible. By supporting late night events in our museums and galleries, this pilot scheme is sure to increase accessibility to our cultural heritage for new audiences, but will also facilitate the creation of new and interesting works.

"Our Museum Standards Programme for Ireland has been hugely successful in raising the quality of our museums across the country. We know how dedicated our accredited museums are to upholding standards of excellence and Im confident that the museums who benefit from the scheme will provide an excellent experience to visitors.

Minister Martin also took the opportunity to welcome the recruitment process now underway in five of the nine locations selected for a Night-Time Advisor.

She said, "I welcome the progress made across the five local authorities who have now kick-started the recruitment process for new Night-Time Advisors. Thank you to the teams in Cork City, Dublin City, Kilkenny, Drogheda and Limerick who have announced the recruitment of these vital posts and I expect the remaining four, Galway City, Longford, Buncrana and Sligo, to get underway shortly.

"These posts will bring much needed strategic support, local engagement and drive for a more vibrant and diverse night-time economy. Schemes such as the one being announced today will be a great vehicle for these advisors as they work to develop ambitious and exciting plans for their areas."
The junior minister for integration has said that communicating with locals ahead of time is difficult when hundreds of asylum seekers are sleeping on the streets.

Joe OBrien, the Minister of State with responsibility for integration at the Department of Children, said that a national strategy is to be rolled out that he hopes will help improve communicating a coherent message.

The Green Party TD made the comments on Wednesday evening as he and his party colleague Minister Roderic OGorman defended the Irish Governments attempts to house and integrate migrants into communities around Ireland.

It comes as almost 500 asylum seekers are thought to be on the streets as Ireland struggles to find State-provided accommodation for them.

Locals near Magowna House in Co Clare, where more than 30 asylum seekers were brought to on Monday evening, have raised concerns that they were not informed about the move before it happened.

On the communications side of things, as I said earlier today, what happens is that as soon as a contract is signed, we get the information together and we contact the local representatives, and we have to open as quickly as we can, he said.

So that timelag between when a contract is signed and when its opened is quite short, it can be a couple of days, it can be a week, if were doing well, it can be two weeks.

So therein lies the problem, and that problem just relates to the fact that people are on the streets and when we get a contract signed, we have to move fast.

In terms of the communications strategy, the Department of Taoiseach started in February or March in terms of drafting a whole of Government approach to this.

Theyll be leading out on this in terms of the tender that was put out.

We should be getting answers on that tender in the coming weeks as well, and the idea is to have a consistent message across national and local government and among communities as well about whats happening in their area.

I think that will help in terms of communicating a coherent message.

We will still face the problem we have now though, unless we get more accommodation, of having to move very fast when we do get accommodation.

On Tuesday evening, Clare County Council indicated that at that point, it had not received formal notification or details of the arrivals at Magowna House Hotel.
May 17, 2023





Knowing how to pick the right PR firm for your business is no easy task. After all, this is the team that will become an extended part of your work family. They must know your leadership, brand voice, company vision, and long-term goals inside and out  and its a relationship that has to work.







To find your perfect PR match, you need to be clear about your goals and priorities while remaining open to hearing from the experts about how best to achieve them. Its important to do your research to understand the core offerings of various firms, along with their particular strategies and areas of expertise.

But you dont have to break the bank on a large-scale 12-month campaign to enjoy a positive PR boost. In fact, there are plenty of newer firms, experienced disruptors, and impressive innovators that are continuing to pioneer tried and tested approaches that might just be what youre looking for.

Lets take a look at the PR firms that caught our eye on some of the industrys top lists for this year, and why you should watch out for them in 2023.



1.Otter PR

You can find this newer Florida-based firm already sweeping awards and climbing the ranks across various industry lists. Using results-driven strategy and tactics, Otter PR boasts impressive case studies across dozens of different industries  like health and wellness, charity, fashion, e-commerce, beauty, technology, and more  and shows clients placed in numerous top-tier publications and media outlets.

With transparent pricing and clear packages for both newcomers and businesses well versed with PR, Otter PR guarantees at least one media success within the first month, offering a full refund if they do not live up to their promise.



2.5W Public Relations

We weave engaging narratives, tell powerful stories, and work tirelessly to shape them into perception, 5W Public Relations, a firm based in New York City, says. We create big ideas with strategic implementation to deliver game-changing communications results.

Not only does 5Ws website display an impressive roster of clients across a wide variety of industries, but theyve also just launched their digital practice, called HOW, as a wholly-owned subsidiary agency. HOW is spun out of 5Ws award-winning digital practice stemming from the five core Ws of journalism: who, what, when, where and why  the five key components of communication to apply continued principles of communication to the digital experience.



3.Heyday Marketing

Last year, this Miami-based firm was listed in Inc.s 5000 Fastest Growing Company honors, also receiving a 2021 Agency Of The Year award. A focus on combining the power of data with groundbreaking creativity is what makes Heyday Marketing stand out. They offer a full range of services like search engine optimization, social media management, and PR  for which they create tailored and strategic campaigns that raise brand awareness, build strong connections, and generate loyalty.



4.Firecracker PR

This boutique firm uses a unique Ignites approach to secure coverage for their clients. This five-step methodology has been proven to help numerous companies create sustained, consistent media mentions.

The process goes something like this: promotion, thought leadership, newsjacking, source filing, and content marketing. You can find Firecracker PR working in B2B technology, SaaS (News - Alert), healthcare, renewable technology, AI, and more.



5.Punch PR

Its simple: Your strategy needs a story. Those are the first words you will find on the Punch PR website  that, and a great story can change everything.

Listed among the top B2B companies and PR firms by Clutch in 2020, 2021, and 2022, Punch is a full-service PR agency that intersects earned media, social media, and influencer marketing. Their approach is to help clients tell compelling stories to become part of the news cycle, adding from strategy to execution, Punch delivers the big hits.



6.1 to 10 Public Relations

The breadth of services offered by 1 to 10 Public Relations and its consistency in years of awards cycles is what makes this Arizona-based firm highly impressive. From media relations and training to crisis communications and awards submissions, their work is targeted and compelling to achieve their clients goals. You can find them working in spaces such as health and wellness, mechanical and construction, technology, transportation, manufacturing, finance, and more.



7.Red Thread PR

We Revel in Relevance and Amplify Authenticity is one of Red Thread PRs taglines. With a strong legacy dating back to 1990, longevity is the name of their game. To be unstoppable, our client partners must be committed to the pursuit of brand longevity  a pursuit built on the premise that the world is in a constant state of change.

This firm aims to cut through the noise of distrust and clickbait, and instead deliver sustained relevance and authenticity to build credibility for their clients. Their wheel of earned media, shared media, owned media, and paid media is particularly eye-catching in outlining their core offerings and targets for clients.



8.Bullpen

Bullpen was built to democratize PR, using a new model they describe as accessible for everyone. In line with the theme of this article, Bullpen even has a matchmaking platform on its site, which lets interested parties find their perfect publicist by simply selecting their region and specialized industry. They also have locations all over the world, meaning no market is too niche in just about every industry you could think of.

Although there are plenty of PR firms to choose from, not every option will be the perfect fit for your company or brand, so it is essential to carefully consider who you choose to partner with for your publicity needs. These PR firms have the experience, expertise, and passion to help brands grow to the next level.
[May 17, 2023] CRTC Chair and CEO Vicky Eatrides to open 2023 Canadian ISP Summit

TORONTO, May 17, 2023 /CNW/ - The Canadian ISP Summit, the premier conference for internet service providers in Canada, is pleased to announce its 2023 keynote speaker: CRTC Chair Vicky Eatrides. The 2023 Canadian ISP Summit will be held at the Marriott Downtown at the CF Toronto Eaton Centre on October 24-25, 2023. This year's conference will highlight the progression of the Canadian telecom sector, with a focus on the evolving regulatory landscape, emerging trends, and the development of the industry. Attendees will have the opportunity to hear from leading experts in the business and network with peers from across the country. Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission Chair Vicky Eatrides was appointed in 2023 and has quickly started to tackle the challenges of modernizing Canada's telecommunications framework. Prir to joining the CRTC, Eatrides held senior leadership positions at the Competition Bureau, Natural Resources Canada, and the Department of Innovation, Science and Economic Development.



"We are looking forward to having CRTC Chair Eatrides join us for this year's conference," said Geoff White, Executive Director and General Counsel of the Competitive Network Operators of Canada. "Her leadership and vision will be instrumental in shaping the future of the telecom sector in Canada, and we're excited to hear her thoughts on where the industry is headed." In addition to Chair Eatrides' keynote address, the conference will feature a range of presentations and panel discussions on topics such as the CRTC's wholesale framework review, legal developments like bills C-26 (cybersecurity) and C-288 (customer speeds and quality of service), broadband deployment and more. Attendees will also visit exhibit booths, where they can learn about the latest products and services from leading vendors in the industry.

"We're proud to continue to host the Canadian ISP Summit as the premier event for internet service providers in Canada," added White. "Our goal is to provide attendees with valuable insights and networking opportunities that will help them stay ahead of the curve in this fast-evolving industry." Registration for the 2023 Canadian ISP Summit is now open. For more information and to register, please visit www.ispsummit.ca. SOURCE Competitive Network Operators of Canada

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[May 16, 2023] Veritas Simplifies FY24 Channel Program to Help Partners Drive Growth with Secure Cloud Data Management Solutions

SINGAPORE, May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Veritas Technologies, the leader in secure multi-cloud data management, today unveiled substantial updates to its Veritas Partner Force program for the company's fiscal year 2024 (FY24). The updated program, launched to channel partners in April, helps accelerate their transition to the cloud with enhanced rewards for cloud-based deals and a simplified transaction process, in addition to new training and accreditation programs. Mike Walkey, senior vice president of global channel sales at Veritas, said: "The channel is under pressure from all directions, so we see it as our role to make it as easy as possible for our partners to do business with us. This allows them to focus on what they do bestdelivering exceptional service to their customers. That's why we're focused this year on simplifying our processes, rewards and pricing, all while delivering additional partner enablement packages and more flexible partner development funding." Specifically, the FY24 program is designed to support five primary channel goals for the year: 1. Drive overall revenue growth. Veritas partners will now have a single comprehensive target to achieve across both new business and renewals, as well as software, services and appliances. This will make it easier for partners to focus on their strengths and meet their tiering requirements. 2. Deliver Veritas Alta growth. Following the launch of Veritas Alta, the industry's most comprehensive secure cloud data management platform, Veritas will assist and incentivize partners to ake advantage of the growing cloud market. This includes new training and accreditation, as well as supercharged rewards.



3. Win net new logos. Veritas will work with partners on demand generation activities to attract net new customers. Partners will be able to earn accelerated rewards for engaging in the campaign and bringing new customers onboard.

4. Increase value in the installed customer base. Veritas will also support and reward channel partners that help existing customers realize additional benefits from their Veritas engagement by extending their use of the Veritas platform to new workloads and use cases. 5. Continue to modernize routes to market. Veritas will launch new initiatives in FY24 to improve the resources available to both the two-tier channel and managed service providers that will simplify engagement. Bob Olwig, executive vice president, global partner alliances at World Wide Technology, said: "Veritas has always been both a reliable and an innovative vendor partner to work with. That's why we're on a strategic journey with them to position ourselves for the future. This year's Veritas Partner Force program makes it easier for us to learn about the exciting new products that Veritas is delivering, easier for us to sell them and easier for us to earn rewards along the way. Our customers are facing new and more complicated cloud data management challenges, and Veritas gives us the solutions we need to answer those challenges with a channel wrapper that provides everything we need to be successful." About Veritas Veritas Technologies is a leader in multi-cloud data management. Over 80,000 customersincluding 95% of the Fortune 100rely on Veritas to help ensure the protection, recoverability and compliance of their data. Veritas has a reputation for reliability at scale, which delivers the resilience its customers need against the disruptions threatened by cyberattacks, like ransomware. No other vendor is able to match Veritas' ability to execute, with support for 800+ data sources, 100+ operating systems, 1,400+ storage targets and 60+ clouds through a single, unified approach. Powered by Cloud Scale Technology, Veritas is delivering today on its strategy for Autonomous Data Management that reduces operational overhead while delivering greater value. Learn more at veritas.com. Follow us on Twitter at @veritastechllc. Veritas and the Veritas Logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Veritas Technologies LLC or its affiliates in the US and other countries. Other names may be trademarks of their respective owners. View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/apac/news-releases/veritas-simplifies-fy24-channel-program-to-help-partners-drive-growth-with-secure-cloud-data-management-solutions-301825618.html SOURCE Veritas Technologies

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KATHMANDU, May 17 (Xinhua) -- A Moldovan climber died en route to the peak of Mt. Qomolangma on Wednesday morning, bringing the death toll in the region to six during the spring climbing season.

Victor Brinza stopped breathing at Camp IV of the world's highest peak that straddles Nepal and China.

"The climber fell sick while pushing for the peak. Efforts are being made to bring his body to the base camp and then airlift it to Kathmandu," Yubraj Khatiwada, director of the mountaineering section at Nepal's Department of Tourism, told Xinhua.

A Nepali climbing guide, who was working with a Nepal Army team tasked with collecting waste in the Mt. Qomolangma region, died on Tuesday evening while descending from the peak.

"We unfortunately lost one of the Sherpa guides who are supporting our staff in the cleaning mission," Nepal Army spokesman Brig. Gen. Krishna Prasad Bhandari told Xinhua.

An army captain involved in the cleaning mission has fallen ill, the spokesman said.

On May 2, American doctor Jonathan Sugarman died on Camp II of Mt. Qomolangma, while three Sherpa guides lost their lives in an avalanche close to Camp I on April 12.

A record high of 478 climbers from 65 countries and regions have received the permits to climb Mt. Qomolangma from the Nepal side during the spring climbing season, as this year marks the 70th anniversary of the first ascent of the mountain, according to Nepal's Department of Tourism. 
[May 17, 2023] SAP's Vision for Future-Proofed Business in the Age of AI Comes to Life

Announces Business AI, the Green Ledger and Business-Ready Innovations Across the Portfolio to Help Customers Solve Most Pressing Problems HONG KONG, May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- At the SAP Sapphire conference in Orlando, SAP SE (NYSE: SAP) unveiled sweeping innovations and collaborations that equip customers to tackle an uncertain future with confidence. Breakthrough announcements included responsible AI built into business solutions, ledger-based accounting for carbon tracking and industry-specific networks to bolster supply chain resilience. With these advances, SAP is helping customers transform their business models in the cloud, put sustainability at the center of their operations and boost agility to succeed amid ongoing change. "In a world of geopolitical tensions, product and skills shortages and new regulations, our customers continue turning to SAP for the solutions they need to solve their most pressing challenges," said Christian Klein, CEO and member of the Executive Board of SAP SE. "The innovations we're announcing at SAP Sapphire build on our heritage of responsibly developed technology and decades of industry and process expertise to ensure our customers' success today and in the future." AI Built for Business At the dawn of a new AI era, SAP is strengthening its commitment to embed powerful AI capabilities across its portfolio to help customers solve business-critical problems in the flow of work. Customers can use SAP Business AI with confidence because it is built responsibly. Today, SAP is announcing a raft of advancements to SAP Business AI, including innovations that personalize customer engagement, make procurement more productive and expand organizations' abilities to find and develop critical talent across their entire workforce. SAP also draws on the strength of its rich ecosystem to benefit customers. Yesterday SAP announced the next step in its long-standing partnership with Microsoft. The companies will collaborate on integrating SAP SuccessFactors solutions with Microsoft 365 Copilot and Copilot in Viva Learning as well as with Microsoft's Azure OpenAI Service to access powerful language models that analyze and generate natural language. The integrations will enable new experiences designed to improve how organizations attract, retain and skill their people. Moving Toward a Green Ledger Fifty years ago, SAP revolutionized financial accounting with enterprise resource planning (ERP) software. Today, SAP reinvents the "R" in ERP by extending the definition of resources to include carbon. Amid rapidly changing regulatory requirements and rising stakeholder pressure to operate sustainably, enterprises need an accounting system for emissions that is as auditable, transparent and reliable as their financial data accountin. With SAP's new green ledger initiative, which moves companies from carbon estimates to actual data, companies can manage their green line with as much visibility, accuracy and confidence as their top line and bottom line.



SAP is announcing an update to the SAP Sustainability Footprint Management solution, a single solution that calculates and manages the full range of corporate, value chain and product-level emissions. SAP is also announcing the SAP Sustainability Data Exchange application, a new solution for enterprises to securely exchange standardized sustainability data with partners and suppliers so they can decarbonize supply chains faster. SAP's green ledger initiative is planned to become part of the RISE with SAP and GROW with SAP solutions.

Innovations Across the Portfolio, Platform and Ecosystem Shore Up Customers' Resilience SAP also announced a host of innovations across the rest of its portfolio. For example, drawing on the success of SAP Business Network, a comprehensive B2B collaboration platform where some US$4.5 trillion of trade is conducted annually, SAP announced SAP Business Network for Industry. This offering combines the benefits of networked supply chains with SAP's unique industry expertise to help customers across consumer products, high tech, industrial manufacturing and life sciences boost supply chain resilience quickly. Innovations launched across SAP Business Technology Platform dramatically accelerate business process organization and enable enterprise automation at scale. Advancements in SAP Signavio solutions mean customers get critical process insights in hours, not days. Updates to SAP Integration Suite bring together holistic processes across SAP and non-SAP systems on-premise and in the cloud. And new event integration capabilities in SAP's low-code offering, SAP Build solutions, give business experts the power to trigger automations across all business processes. As customers face increasingly fractured data landscapes, SAP also recently built on its commitment to open data that increases customers' ability to uncover deep, actionable business insights with an extensive expansion of its partnership with Google Cloud. The comprehensive open-data offering enables customers to build an end-to-end data cloud that brings data from across the enterprise landscape using the SAP Datasphere solution together with Google's data cloud. SAP also doubled down on its commitment to upskill two million people worldwide by 2025 as the need for top-notch professional developers continues rising along with the increasing pace of technological innovation. The company announced new programs to meet the growing demand for SAP experts across its ecosystem to continue driving customers' ongoing business transformation in the cloud. About SAP SAP's strategy is to help every business run as an intelligent sustainable enterprise. As a market leader in enterprise application software, we help companies of all sizes and in all industries run at their best: SAP customers generate 87% of total global commerce. Our machine learning, Internet of Things (IoT), and advanced analytics technologies help turn customers' businesses into intelligent enterprises. SAP helps give people and organizations deep business insight and fosters collaboration that helps them stay ahead of their competition. We simplify technology for companies so they can consume our software the way they want  without disruption. Our end-to-end suite of applications and services enables business and public customers across 25 industries globally to operate profitably, adapt continuously, and make a difference. With a global network of customers, partners, employees, and thought leaders, SAP helps the world run better and improve people's lives. For more information, visit www.sap.com/hk. This document contains forward-looking statements, which are predictions, projections, or other statements about future events. These statements are based on current expectations, forecasts, and assumptions that are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results and outcomes to materially differ. Additional information regarding these risks and uncertainties may be found in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including but not limited to the risk factors section of SAP's 2022 Annual Report on Form 20-F.  2023 SAP SE. All rights reserved.

SAP and other SAP products and services mentioned herein as well as their respective logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of SAP SE in Germany and other countries. Please see https://www.sap.com/copyright for additional trademark information and notices. Please click here for our privacy policy. View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/apac/news-releases/saps-vision-for-future-proofed-business-in-the-age-of-ai-comes-to-life-301826843.html SOURCE SAP Hong Kong

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[May 17, 2023] Azyan Telecom Signs Order With Kymeta to Bring First Flat Panel Terminal to LEO Market in Oman

Kymeta (www.kymetacorp.com), a world leading flat panel satellite antenna company, today announced at CABSAT 2023 that telecom service provider Azyan Telecom (azyansat.om) signed a significant order for its Hawk u8 terminals connected by OneWeb, bringing Kymeta and OneWeb's one-of-a kind LEO (Low Earth Orbit) offering to Oman for the first time. The deal will enable expansion of national telecom capabilities in the region, expediting efforts to implement ubiquitous high-speed, low-latency communications capabilities across the Sultanate. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230516006010/en/ Ahmed Saber, Chief Operating Officer, Azyan Telecom and Thomas Thorne, Regional Vice President, Europe & Middle East, Kymeta. (Photo: Business Wire) Uniquely enabled by a software-first approach, Kymeta's electronically steered flat panel Hawk u8 will help deliver reliable, truly mobile broadband connectivity across sectors in Oman connected via OneWeb's LEO satellite constellation, including in areas where challenging terrain and frequent hurricanes often hinder high-speed connectivity offerings. The deal follows closely on the heels of Kymeta's announcement that the Hawk u8 is now commercially available worldwide. "As access to mobile broadband becomes increasingly imperative for progress across every major industry, Kymeta has doubled down on our commitment to deliver truly mobile connectiviy to customers around the world," said Walter Berger, President and Co-CEO, Kymeta. "We are invigorated by the opportunity to deliver our solutions to the Sultanate of Oman alongside Azyan Telecom, which we see as an emblematic step forward as we continue to expand our partnerships in the region."



Ahmed Saber, Chief Operation Officer, Azyan Telecom added, "Today marks an exciting milestone, both for the growth of Oman's LEO market and our efforts to enhance high-speed satellite connectivity for companies and communities across the region. Our deal with Kymeta will allow us to deliver on the widespread demand for reliable connectivity, in line with Oman's digital transformation strategy. We are thrilled at the opportunity to expand upon our offerings in support of industries across Oman and grateful for the continued support of the Telecommunication Regulatory Authority." Widely adopted by military, government, and enterprise customers, Kymeta offers the world's only high-bandwidth, low-power, fully integrated family of high throughput mobile terminals. With the Hawk u8 LEO terminal, Kymeta customers can access OneWeb's high-speed, low-latency broadband connectivity services while on the move or stationary as these services continues to be rolled out across the world.

The terminals will be available for delivery to the Omani market in Q1, 2024. For more information, direct inquiries to Kymeta and Azyan Telecom's contacts, listed below. About Kymeta Kymeta is the industry leader in flat panel satellite antennas, providing purpose-built solutions across a variety of enterprise and military applications and unlocking the commercial value of space to address the vast, unmet demand for ubiquitous broadband and truly mobile connectivity for customers around the world. Its innovative metasurface technology, coupled with a software-first approach, delivers the first commercially available, metamaterial-based and electronically steered flat panel satellite antenna. Kymeta's low-cost, low-power and high throughput solutions make it easy to connect on the move or while stationary - for any vehicle, vessel, aircraft, or fixed platform - enabling industries on earth to transform their operations by harnessing capacity in space. Kymeta is a privately held company based in Redmond, Washington. For more information, visit kymetacorp.com. About Azyan Telecom Azyan Telecom, a fully owned Omani entity, is the first licensed VSAT service provider with expertise in VSAT connectivity, network consultancy and support in the Sultanate of Oman with its earth station being in Muscat, Oman. Azyan Telecom has a very strong satellite footprint in Oman and can provide VSAT Connectivity to the entire country including remote and rural areas. Azyan Telecom delivers reliable, near real-time, mission-critical communications services and creates the vital lines of communication that help improve lives, build businesses, and develop new opportunities. Azyan Telecom is a leading provider of business-critical Telecommunication and managed services in the Sultanate of Oman. As one of the top satellite companies in the region Azyan Telecom provides High Quality communication with reliable Satellite Services. Find out more at http://www.azyansat.om. About OneWeb: OneWeb is a global communications network powered from space, enabling connectivity for governments, businesses, and communities. It is implementing a constellation of low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites with a network of global gateway stations and a range of user terminals to provide an affordable, fast, high-bandwidth and low-latency communications service, connected to the IoT future and a pathway to 5G. Find out more at http://www.oneweb.world. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230516006010/en/

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[May 17, 2023] The new Cambridge online module helps English teachers boost students' employability skills

SINGAPORE, May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- English language teachers can now help their students improve soft skills for the workplace with the new Employability Skills module developed by experts at Cambridge University Press & Assessment. The short module has been designed to boost students' understanding of the skills they will need in the workplace. The module was launched after research from Cambridge showed that many graduates entering the world of work do not have the essential 'soft skills' they need for success. This research led to the Employability Skills Framework for ELT, which maps out the pivotal employability skills that graduates need and underpins the module. The Employability Skills module is for adults and young adults with an intermediate level of English (B1 of the CEFR and above). It is simple to use and can be taught alongside general and academic English courses. It is available on the digital and mobile-friendly platform 'Cambridge One'. The module is made up of eight units, each lasting one hour, covering key areas of competency, such as teamwork, collaboration, critical thinking, problem-solving and emotional intelligence. Dan Hutchinson, Propositions Director at Cambridge University Press & Assessment, said: 'Employability is so much more than just having the appropriate qualifications and knowledge. Our research shows that many graduates are entering the workplace without some essential soft skills, and that's why we have developed this module which aims to help students to improve their overall skills'. 'We know that teaching employability skills is moreimportant than ever, and this has been the driving force behind our new Employability Skills module.'





The module uses realistic workplace situational videos with interactive activities that spark reflection among the users. It also comprises of speaking and writing tasks for students to complete at the end of each unit. Teacher notes, student worksheets, video scripts and glossaries are also available for teachers to use in the classroom.

Students can request a certificate of completion for each unit and obtain a digital badge when they complete all eight units. Successful students can add the digital badge to their CV and share it on social networks such as LinkedIn to ensure their skills really stand out. Find out more about Employability Skills . Visit the website of Cambridge English for additional information.

https://www.cambridgeenglish.org

https://www.cambridgeenglish.org/my/

https://www.cambridgeenglish.org/jp/

https://www.cambridgeenglish.org/vn/

https://www.cambridgeenglish.org/id/

https://www.cambridgeenglish.org/th/

https://www.cambridgeenglish.org/kr/ About Cambridge University Press & Assessment To learn English is to enjoy and experience a language that opens up opportunities across the world. Together with teachers and our partners, we're here to engage and inspire millions of people throughout their entire English language learning journey, helping them confidently prove their skills to the world. As part of a university with global reputation for academic excellence, we create insights derived from deep research, expertise and experiences. This ensures our unique approach meets the real-life needs of learners through inclusive and accessible products and services. As a global language, English unlocks a lifetime of experiences, and  because language is at the heart of being human  we help people everywhere connect, communicate and come closer together. Where your world grows. Cambridge English is the producer and proud co-owner of IELTS, the world's leading English test for migration and higher education. We help millions of people learn English and prove their skills to the world. Part of the University of Cambridge, we provide the world's leading range of qualifications and tests for learners and teachers of English. For us, learning English is more than just exams and grades. It's about having the confidence to communicate and access a lifetime of enriching experiences and opportunities. Whether you're planning to live, work or study in your own country or abroad, we can give you the English language skills to succeed. We provide the world's leading range of qualifications and tests for learners and teachers of English. Globally recognised by more than 25,000 leading universities, employers and governments, our research-based assessments are a mark of excellence that open doors. English is spoken in every corner of the globe: from cafes to campuses, markets to meeting rooms and everywhere in between. We deliver exams in over 130 countries to over 5.5 million people every year. We offer comprehensive preparation, support materials and resources for learning and teaching English. Through years of research, we have gained in-depth understanding of how people learn languages. This enables us to design assessments that help learners acquire the right skills based on how people use English today. Our work is supported around the world by a network of 2,800 exam centres, over 50,000 schools and tens of thousands of examiners, teachers, education experts and publishers. Working together, we inspire learners to go further. With the right support, learning a language is an exhilarating journey. We're with you every step of the way. What we believe  To learn English is to enjoy and experience a language that opens up opportunities across the world. What we offer  Together with teachers and our partners, we're here to engage and inspire millions of people throughout their entire English language learning journey, helping them confidently prove their skills to the world. How we do things and the impact we have  As part of a university with global reputation for academic excellence, we create insights derived from deep research, expertise and experiences. This ensures our unique approach meets the real-life needs of learners through inclusive and accessible products and services. The global role of English  As a global language, English unlocks a lifetime of experiences, and  because language is at the heart of being human  we help people everywhere connect, communicate and come closer together. What we promise  Where your world grows. View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/apac/news-releases/the-new-cambridge-online-module-helps-english-teachers-boost-students-employability-skills-301826889.html SOURCE Cambridge University Press & Assessment

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[May 17, 2023] Akkodis - Development partner for BMW i Vision Dee concept car

As an integral part of the development of the drivable concept car, Akkodis, a global leader in the Smart Industry, contributed its technical and digital expertise to the BMW i Vision Dee. ZURICH, May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Akkodis, part of the Adecco Group, has joined forces with the BMW Group to develop and produce the BMW i Vision Dee. Earlier this year, the BMW Group unveiled the BMW i Vision Dee to a global audience during the influential CES 2023 technology trade show in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA. Working jointly with the BMW Group for the project in Germany, Akkodis contributed its in-depth digital engineering expertise to bring the BMW i Vision Dee to life. Akkodis was involved in the design and construction of the vehicle, from the implementation of the initial sketches to the drivable concept car. Akkodis developed the specific battery and wiring harness for the drivable concept car. Digital engineering experts from Akkodis also realized the on-board network with the Akkodis Gigabox and ensured a successful commissioning of the vehicle. The name "Dee" stands for "Digital Emotional Experience", which represents the BMW Group's aim to strengthen the connection and interaction between people and their vehicles. The concept car boasts a number of features including a Mixed Reality Slider, an enhanced version of the BMW Group's pioneering Head-up Display, the ability  for the first time in the world  to change colors in the rainbow color spectrum using e-ink technology, as well as the incorporation of avatars, light, sound, and a natural human voice, engaging all five senses to create an immersive driving experience. Jan Gupta, President of Akkodis, said, "Jointly with the BMW Group, Akkodis has contributed to the realization of the BMW i Vision Dee, lending its expertise from concept design andvehicle development, to software and on-board network development." Jan continued, "Akkodis is the global partner of choice for the Smart Industry transformation, and the BMW Group's concept car is a great example of how digitalization is being leveraged by a world-leading automotive manufacturer to transform the future of mobility. Harnessing newly combined tech and engineering capabilities1 our 50,000 talented people are passionate about Engineering a Smarter Future Together."



Notes to Editor 1. Akkodis was formed in early 2022 when Modis, the Adecco Group's high-tech services business, was combined with AKKA Technologies, a leader in engineering R&D services.

Media contact(s) Lisa Bushka

VP External Communications, Akkodis

M. +18604630770

E. [email protected] Anne Friedrich

VP Marketing & Communications Germany, Akkodis

M. +4915174633470

E. [email protected] About Akkodis Akkodis is a global digital engineering company and Smart Industry leader. We enable clients to advance in their digital transformation with Consulting, Solutions, Talent, and Academy services. Headquartered in Switzerland and part of the Adecco Group, Akkodis is a trusted tech partner to the world's industries. We co-create and pioneer solutions that help to solve major challenges, from accelerating the clean energy transition and green mobility, to improving user and patient centricity. Empowered by a culture of inclusion and diversity, our 50,000 tech experts across 30 countries combine best-in-class technologies and cross industry knowledge to drive purposeful innovation for a more sustainable tomorrow. We are passionate about Engineering a Smarter Future Together.?akkodis.com | LinkedIn | Instagram | Facebook Twitter About the Adecco Group The Adecco Group is the world's leading talent company. Our purpose is making the future work for everyone. Through our three global business units - Adecco, Akkodis and LHH - across 60 countries, we enable sustainable and lifelong employability for individuals, deliver digital and engineering solutions to power the Smart Industry transformation and empower organisations to optimise their workforces. The Adecco Group leads by example and is committed to an inclusive culture, fostering sustainable employability, and supporting resilient economies and communities. The Adecco Group AG is headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland (ISIN: CH0012138605) and listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange (ADEN). www.adeccogroup.com Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2078578/Akkodis.jpg View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/akkodis--development-partner-for-bmw-i-vision-dee-concept-car-301826475.html

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[May 17, 2023] Shop over 350 brands and exclusive offers at Singapore's largest Consumer Electronics Extravaganza

SINGAPORE, May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Leading I.T electronics brands such as HP, ASUS, Dell, Lenovo, Microsoft, Prism+, MSI, Xiaomi and more will converge at CEE (Consumer Electronics Exhibition), one of Singapore's largest consumer electronics fairs returning 25  28 May at Suntec Singapore Convention & Exhibition Centre's level 3 and 4. With unbeatable offers and up to 90% off onsite purchases, CEE (Consumer Electronics Exhibition) promises an extensive one-stop shopping experience like no other, with more than 350 brands and 100 exhibitors to meet the needs of families elevating their households, companies futureproofing their businesses, hardcore gamers chasing top-notch performance and immersive experiences, frequent travellers seeking travel tech essentials and budget-conscious shoppers. Not to be missed are unbeatable deals on Steelseries Keyboards, Omnidesk, tables, Ergotunes ergonomic chairs, Hisense TVs, Razer gaming chairs, Kiioxia storage drives, AOC monitors and more. Working professionals and organisations looking to go green by digitising their namecards can check out the 100% customisable digital namecards by SG Namecard, who will be offering up to 25% discount on all digital name card packages. Shoppers can also help reduce e-waste by trading in their unused power banks and enjoying a 30% trade-in discount with Elonxtech Powerbank, a local brand that runs an evergreen trade-in programme to recycle useful powerbank parts. Returning to occupy an entire floor at Level 3, Singapore's only homegrown consumer electronics chain Challenger will feature over 10,000 exclusive show offers from more than 80 brands. Shoppers undecided on the type of notebooks to purchase can check them out at Challenger's first-ever longest notebook street displaying its most extensive range of consumer and commercial notebooks. Shoppers can also enjoy an incredible offer of an over-trade of up to SGD$400* if they purchase the Google Pixel 7a onsite. (*Terms & Conditions apply) * Terms & Conditions apply. Shoppers stand a chance to win up to SGD$500,000 worth of prizes and vouchers from Hisense, iRobot, Osim, Prism+ and Tineco and more at the Sure-Win Instant Lucky Dip. Other returning favourites include: WOW Deals: Limited to 150 pieces a day, shoppers can grab a 24" inch MSI MP241X monitor and Xiaomi Smartband 7 Pro at unbelievable prices.

Limited to 150 pieces a day, shoppers can grab a 24" inch MSI MP241X monitor and Xiaomi Smartband 7 Pro at unbelievable prices. Spend And Redeem . Customers who spend $500 and above with 3 combined receipts on the same day can redeem a $10 Challenger Voucher to be utilised at the Challenger Fair on Level 3.

. Customers who spend and above with 3 combined receipts on the same day can redeem a Challenger Voucher to be utilised at the Challenger Fair on Level 3. Devices & Gadgets Trade-In. Shoppers can give their old notebooks, tablets and smartphones a new lease of life by trading them in for exclusive cash vouchers to be used at CEE. For more special offers and deals, check out the e-brochure here: ceeshow.com.sg/floorplan/digital-brochure-2/ ***** Event Details







25  28 May 2023

Level 3 & 4, 11am  9pm

#CEE



Official Hashtags: #CEE2023 Website: ceeshow.com.sg

FB: facebook.com/ComexITShow

IG: instagram.com/comexitshow

TikTok: tiktok.com/@comexitshow

About CEE CEE (Consumer Electronics Exhibition) is an event of Constellar, organiser and producer of Singapore's largest consumer electronics and I.T. exhibitions. Together with COMEX, IT SHOW and The Tech Show, Constellar brings the latest consumer technologies, gadgets and accessories all under one roof, offering the ultimate one-stop showcase and shopping experience four times a year. About Constellar Constellar connects a global eco-system of event partners and consumers through a holistic portfolio of intellectual property (IP) in the Meetings, Incentives, Conventions and Exhibitions (MICE) industry. As Asia's partner of reference for curating innovative event and venue experiences, Constellar activates impactful networks to bring global markets, businesses and consumers together for sustainable growth. With our expertise and dedication, we are invested in helping you build trusted relationships with stakeholders for the long term and enabling cross-industry collaboration through world-class audience engagement solutions. Visit constellar.co for more information. View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/apac/news-releases/shop-over-350-brands-and-exclusive-offers-at-singapores-largest-consumer-electronics-extravaganza-301826925.html SOURCE Constellar

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[May 17, 2023] Best Buy Canada announces contest for one lucky dad to win a stay at the Ultimate Gamer Suite

VANCOUVER, BC, May 17, 2023 /CNW/ - In celebration of Father's Day, Best Buy Canada is holding a national contest for one lucky dad or father figure to win a two-night-all-expenses-paid stay at the Ultimate Gamer Suite in the Soho Hotel , located in downtown Toronto. The nomination period is open from May 15 to June 3, 2023 , with the final in-store competition on June 10, 2023 . Starting on May 15th, Canadians can nominate a dad or father figure in their life to win the Ultimate Gamer Dad Competition. Hosted on social media, Canadians are encouraged to create a fun and engaging video explaining who they're nominating and why they are the ultimate gamer. Videos can be posted on Instagram, Facebook or TikTok using the hashtag #BestBuyFathersDay, "We want to celebrate dads of all kinds this year, and we hope this contest gives Canadians the opportunity to shine a light on heroic dads and father figures who happen to love gaming," says Jason Abrams, SVP of Merchandising at Best Buy Canada. "The Ultimate Gaming Suite will be filled with all the products a gamer-dad would appreciate, giving them a two-night experience they deserve  and won't forget."



Finalists will compete against one another on June 10, 2023 for the grand prize  a stay at the Ultimate Gamer Suite. Located in the trendy Soho Hotel in Downtown Toronto, the suite will feature some of the top performing products, games, and activities from Best Buy Canada, including a Sony PlayStation, equipped with VR2 . The winner will also go home with Best Buy swag and other prizes. The exclusive suite experience will be limited to one winner and their guest, providing the Ultimate experience for any gamer. The contest coincides with the upcoming Play at Best Buy sale, just in time for Father's Day, featured online and in-store. For more details, visit bestbuy.ca.

For inspiration for a nomination video, check out blog.bestbuy.ca. The nomination period is open from May 15 to June 3, 2023, with the final in-store competition to decide the winner taking place on June 10, 2023. Rules and restrictions apply. Open to Canadian residents. Winners must be 18+, reside in Canada at time of selection. About Best Buy Canada A wholly owned subsidiary of Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY), Best Buy Canada Ltd. is one of Canada's largest and most successful omnichannel retailers, operating the Best Buy, Best Buy Mobile, and Geek Squad (www.geeksquad.ca) brands. With over 160 Best Buy and Best Buy Mobile stores across Canada and an expanded assortment of lifestyle products offered through BestBuy.ca, Best Buy is a leader in total retail, catering to customers how, when, and where they want to shop. Best Buy Canada is committed to making a positive impact in the community with programs and partnerships that support youth to connect with technology to advance their education. For more information, visit BestBuy.ca. SOURCE Best Buy Canada Ltd.

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[May 17, 2023] Seize New Opportunities, Seek New Cooperation: The New development of digital economy in Zhejiang and Singapore

NINGBO, China, May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- On the morning of May 17, 2023, the China (Zhejiang) Pilot Free Trade Zone DEPA and International Supply Chain (Beilun) Forum was held in Beilun District, Ningbo City, Zhejiang Province. Twenty Years of Mechanism Nurturing New Opportunities The year 2023 marks the 20th anniversary of the establishment of the Zhejiang-Singapore Economic and Trade Council. The two sides have promoted a large number of cooperative projects in areas such as investment and trade, energy and ports, technology and education, park development and urban construction, and innovation of free trade pilot zone systems. Standing at the new starting point of China's active participation in the Digital Economy Partnership Agreement (DEPA) and the upgrading of China- Singapore relations to a comprehensive, high- quality and forward- looking partnership, the Zhejiang-Singapore Economic and Trade Council will be committed to promoting the development of digital economy cooperation, advancing digital trade and trade digitization, and promoting the upgrading of cooperation and innovation between Zhejiang and Singapore. Distinguished Guests Gathering to Discuss the Development of the Digital Economy More than 200 guests from Zhejiang and Singapore, including government agencies such as the Ministry of Commerce of China, the Development Research Center of the State Council, the Infocomm Media Development Authority of Singapore, and the International Enterprise Singapore, as well as Zhejiang-Singapore digital economy and digital trade enterprises such as the Singapore Exchange, Development Bank of Singapore , Crimson Logic, Zhejiang Electronic Port, Trade Go, and Lianlian Technology, international commodity supply chain enterprises such as Rio Tinto, FMG, and Cargill, and members of the Yangtze River Steel Alliance such as Fangda Steel, Tranvic Steel, Eastern Special Steel, and Xuanli Special Steel, and state-owned enterprises i Zhejiang such as Wuchan Zhongda Group, Zhejiang Seaport Group, and Hangzhou Iron and Steel Group, gathered together. They conducted theme sharing and roundtable discussions on digital economy cooperation, the development of trade digitization, and the stability of the International supply chain, exploring the opportunities and challenges of connecting with DEPA.



Government-Enterprise Collaboration Promotes Openness and Upgrades During the forum, the Zhejiang Pilot Free Trade Zone Enterprise Innovation and Development Alliance was officially established. It aims to implement the strategy of upgrading the pilot free trade zone proposed at the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China and promote institutional openness in Zhejiang through government-enterprise cooperation and innovation. In addition, representatives from the four areas of the Zhejiang Pilot Free Trade Zone and relevant companies jointly launched the action of connecting with DEPA and issued the "Green Trade, Digital Innovation" initiative. The former proposes to start specific rules for connecting with DEPA through aspects such as international trade "single window" interoperability, promoting paperless trade, strengthening financial technology innovation, carrying out cross-border data compliance governance and security assessments, enhancing business and consumer trust levels, exploring common standards for digital identity management, promoting digital technology innovation and cooperation, and promoting inclusive development of the digital economy. The latter initiative aims to address the paper document exchange process that currently hinders the improvement of international trade efficiency and the development of innovative models. It proposes the initiative of promoting green trade, opening up new horizons for digital trade by establishing a paperless trade management system, promoting the normalization of digital trade documents, participating in international standards for trade digitization, and building a digital credit system.

Expand Reading: On April 1, 2017, the China (Zhejiang) Pilot Free Trade Zone was officially established, with a coverage area of 119.95 square kilometers. The whole area is concentrated in Zhoushan City. It is one of the seven pilot free trade zones in the third batch of China. Its strategic positioning is to become an important maritime open gateway demonstration zone in eastern China, a pioneer in the liberalization of international bulk commodity trade, and a resource allocation base with international influence. Its core mission is to promote investment facilitation and trade liberalization in the entire oil and gas industry chain. On August 30, 2020, the Zhejiang Pilot Free Trade Zone expanded its area and established three new zones in Ningbo, Hangzhou, and Jinhua-Yiwu, forming a development pattern of "one zone, four areas." and clarifying the "five functional positioning", namely to create a commodity resource allocation base centered on oil and gas, a new international trade center, an international shipping and logistics hub, a digital economy development demonstration zone, and an advanced manufacturing agglomeration zone. Company: Zhejiang-Singapore Economic and Trade Council

Contact Person: Judy

Email: [email protected]

Website: http://www.zcom.gov.cn/

Telephone: 13469962051

City: Zhejiang View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/apac/news-releases/seize-new-opportunities-seek-new-cooperation-the-new-development-of-digital-economy-in-zhejiang-and-singapore-301827113.html SOURCE Zhejiang-Singapore Economic and Trade Council

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[May 17, 2023] Wyoming Virtual Academy Students Are Ready to Take Charge of Their Futures

The students of Wyoming Virtual Academy (WYVA), an online public school serving K-12 grade students throughout the state, are ready to take charge of their futures. WYVA will celebrate its graduates in person with a commencement ceremony on May 19th at 2 p.m. (GMT). "This will be WYVA's largest and most successful graduating class in our history," said WYVA Head of School, Joe Heywood. "We're excited to celebrate with our students and see what is in store for them after four years of hard work." The class of 2023 includes 62 graduates. Approximately 29 students will graduate with a cumulative GPA of 3.5 and above. 60% of WYVA's seniors are eligible for the Wyoming Hathaway Scholarship, and many of our seniors have reported acceptance to trade schools, colleges, and universities across the country, as well as several branches of the military. Many students are also headed straight into the workforce or will continue at positions that they have held throughout high school. Samantha Strahan and Sydney Meineke are Wyoming Virtual Academy's 2023 valedictorians and plan to attend the University of Wyoming and Sheridan College respectively after graduation. Susanna Barlow is the class salutatorian and will attend a Wyoming colege. The keynote speaker for the live graduation ceremony will include State Superintendent of Public Instruction, Megan Degenfelder.



WYVA's graduates have crossed the finish line and are prepared for their next life adventure. Students enroll in virtual school for a number of reasons-some were looking for the safe learning environment that online school provides, some were looking to get back on track to earn their high school diploma, and others found a community of students and teachers where they could belong for the rest of their academic career and beyond. Wyoming Virtual Academy (WYVA) students access a robust online curriculum in the core subjects and a host of electives and attend live virtual classes taught by state-certified teachers.

Wyoming Virtual Academy invites all families and friends worldwide to join the celebration. Details of the graduation ceremonies are as follows: WHAT: Wyoming Virtual Academy 2023 Graduation Ceremony WHEN: May 19th, 2023 at 2 p.m. (GMT) WHERE: Niobrara County High School Auditorium - Lusk, Wyoming CONTACT: For any questions about the celebrations, please contact Joe Heywood at [email protected]. For media inquiries, please contact Ken Schwartz at [email protected]. About Wyoming Virtual Academy Wyoming Virtual Academy (WYVA) is a full-time online public-school program of the Niobrara County School District #1 that serves students statewide in kindergarten through 12th grade. WYVA is tuition-free to Wyoming students and gives families the choice to access the curriculum provided by K12, a Stride company (NYSE: LRN). Stride offers learners of all ages a more effective way to learn and build their skills for the future. For more information on WYVA, visit wyva.k12.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230517005185/en/

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[May 17, 2023] Ho Chi Minh City Organizes First Ever Multi-Sector Fair - An Ideal Event to Meet Potential Suppliers in Vietnam

HO CHI MINH CITY, Vietnam, May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- In a series of initiatives for boosting export potential and promoting the comparative advantage of leading domestic brands, Ho Chi Minh City's Department of Industry and Trade has announced to launch its first Ho Chi Minh City Export Fair, taking place from May 25-28, 2023, at SECC. This is also the first and biggest multi-sector export fair ever conducted in Ho Chi Minh City promising to conduct annually as a long-term solution to support the city's export activities, playing a vital role in fostering the linkage effect of the domestic resource and international markets. Collaborating with Viet Trade, under the operation of the Ministry of Industry and Trade and People's Committee of Ho Chi Minh City, this fair is the largest multi-sector trade fair in Ho Chi Minh City, giving buyers a wide range to meet their customized demands. By registering via this link foreign visitors will experience the following 3 advantages: The first multi-sector export fair, gathering top selected brands in Vietnam During May 25-28, Ho Chi Minh Export Fair 2023 will focus on showcasing the comprehensive national exporting power of made-in-Vietnam products from 250 leading export brands to all visitors. In particular, Masan Group, Binh Tay, Casumina, Dam Phu My Packaging Joint Stock Company, Sai Gon An Thai, Tan Thanh Trading Mechnic Corporation, Headway to name as a few. Through the fair, buyers can easily assess the wide product selection from the key export fields such as the footwear, wood and handicrafts, food and beverages, seafood, electronics, agriculture, textiles, leather antics, rubber and plastics, other export industries, and supporting services. On the other hand, the joining of all leading export players, supermarket systems, retailers, and e-commerce platforms, thereby creates opportunities for expanding the business network right to the target.



Virtual supports to smoothen the experience from your home to the fair destination This fair has also witnessed the pioneering of Ho Chi Minh City Authority in applying advanced technology from its process system online. To be specific, the virtual fair map provides convenient tool to search for targeted suppliers and save their information quickly.. Additionally, the organizer boardis also implementing a smart check-in system, fully dedicated to ensure privacy, user-friendliness, and quick access only by registered visitors and exhibitors..

Market update and further itinerary support At the same time, during the exhibition, visitors can directly exchange and listen to the needs of representatives from key export markets such as the US, Europe, India, Thailand, Japan, South Korea.. .and other representative offices in Vietnam. Many in-depth seminars, which hosted daily and related to the green export trends, will be a great source of knowledge to update visitors on economic changes, domestic manufacturing power, upcoming policies related to FDI units, and initiatives to strengthen the export flow of agricultural products to meet global standards. Such event also provides international purchasing units support for hotels and transportation throughout their itinerary in Vietnam. The 24/7 hotline is available to address all concerns and facilitate registration, travel condition, business sourcing, trade connection, and beyond. Talking about the importance of this fair, Mr. Bui Ta Hoang Vu - Director of Ho Chi Minh City's Department of Industry and Trade, shared that the event will provide a great opportunity for Vietnamese enterprises, distributors, and importers to seek the best business deals. It will also offer a chance to showcase the synergy of Vietnam's exporting sector within various fields while focusing on a wide range of products presented by top brands, who are mastered in exporting standards themselves. "The event not only focuses on promoting high-quality made-in-Vietnam products, actively expanding imports in line with the trend of consumption upgrades but also accelerate the coordinated development of trade in goods and related services." - Mr. Vu added. PR Newswire is the Official News Distribution Partner of Ho Chi Minh City Export Fair 2023 For further information, please refer to the below contact points:

Website: http://hochiminhexpo.com

Email: [email protected]

Hotline: 08 666 27710 View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/apac/news-releases/ho-chi-minh-city-organizes-first-ever-multi-sector-fair--an-ideal-event-to-meet-potential-suppliers-in-vietnam-301827143.html SOURCE Ho Chi Minh City's Department of Industry and Trade

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[May 17, 2023] Introducing iKO Media Group's Revolutionary Video Network Monitoring Tool: iKOVIEW

iKOVIEW was developed in partnership with Alvalinks iKOVIEW is the most advanced SRT monitoring tool in the market today PFAFFIKON, Switzerland, and TEL-AVIV, Israel, May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- iKO Media Group is proud to announce the launch of iKOVIEW, a cutting-edge video network monitoring product developed in collaboration with Alvalinks. Setting new industry standards, iKOVIEW is the most advanced SRT monitoring tool available in the market today, delivering unparalleled capabilities for monitoring and ensuring the quality of video links. As the industry shifts towards SRT delivery to optimize costs, the ability to monitor and assess link quality had been compromised. With iKOVIEW, this critical functionality is now fully restored. iKO Media Group, a global leader in end-to-end services for broadcasters and content owners, has chosen to partner with Alvalinks to maintain efficient operations, enhance video network reliability, accelerate troubleshooting, and guarantee seamless business continuity across their expansive international SRT HD and 4K live video distribution network. Driven by a holistic approach and an unwavering commitment to delivering the best service level agreements, iKO Media Group identified worldwide networking as a potential source of service disruption, quality degradation, and increased latency. By leveraging Alvalinks' Cloudrider platform, iKO can now verify all its SRT network feeds in real-time, promptly identify events and network faults, implement redundancy measures, and effectively manage its network infrastructure. Alvalinks empowers iKO to monitor next-generation services, provide superior quality of service, and ensure real-time monitoring of all SRT video transmission feeds. Sharon Malkiel, Head of Cloud Services at iKO Media Group, emphasized the importance of network availability in preserving video stream quality: "As a trusted partner to dozens of global and local networks, it is of utmost importance to ensure network availability conserves the video stream quality. Alvalinks' Cloudrider solution has proven to be an invaluable tool in our arsenal, nabling us to deliver our service level agreements and ensuring our partners and customers receive their feeds over the most reliable networks. With Alvalinks' observability and monitoring platform, we have enhanced SRT network reliability, detected impairments, isolated faults, and reduced resolution times. Empowered by Alvalinks CloudRider, iKO Media Group continues to expand its top-notch 24/7 delivery services."



Dr. Gabriel Kerner, CEO of Alvalinks, expressed pride in being chosen by iKO Media Group for their network observability needs: "In a world dominated by video over IP, understanding the underlying networking mechanisms and monitoring them in real-time is critical to overcoming the challenges associated with its adoption. Alvalinks' Cloudrider is the sole video-oriented network monitoring mechanism capable of deep-diving into network inconsistencies and effectively supporting video organizations in their pursuit of perfection. We are thrilled that iKO Media Group has placed its trust in our solution." Harnessing the capabilities of Alvalinks, iKO Media Group aims to offer their customers and partners direct and customized observability into their video networks through the user-friendly Cloudrider web interface. This includes enabling system view of over 500 SRT stream flows, providing comprehensive observability and analytics, and offering path exploration across any network domain, including dynamic path changes, hop correlations, and instant detection and identification of link, route, and stream issues based on packet loss, RTT, TTL, and video MTU payload.

iKO Media Group's established market approach and extensive reach, coupled with their reputation as one of the most robust and diverse service providers in the global broadcast industry, were pivotal factors in Alvalinks' decision to collaborate with them. Together, they are set to revolutionize the way video networks are monitored and ensure unmatched performance for broadcasters worldwide. About iKOMG

iKO Media Group is a premium end-to-end media service partner for broadcasters and content owners. iKOMG provides tailor-made solutions to a wide range of global and local networks. A full spectrum of services is available, including satellite broadcasting, automated, high-capacity playout management, Cloud services, EPG creation, disaster recovery solutions, channel monitoring feed, OTT platforms, fiber and IP delivery, and more. iKOMG believes in being forward-thinking, agile, and holistic. This approach allows iKOMG to deliver effective solutions customized to specific budgets and requirements without compromising on the quality of service. iKOMG is committed to operating its business to create value for all stakeholders. The company's sustainability strategy focuses on social, environmental, and economic responsibility. www.ikomg.com About Alvalinks

Alvalinks provides state-of-the-art network intelligence and link management over the internet and public cloud for live video delivery. Its Cloudrider software-as-a-service solution is straightforward to implement, with comprehensive network mapping, powerful analytics, and real-time monitoring across the organization's video network. www.Alvalinks.com For more information, visit https://ikomg.com/prs/ Press contact:



Ayellet Bar



[email protected] View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/introducing-iko-media-groups-revolutionary-video-network-monitoring-tool-ikoview-301827158.html SOURCE iKO Media Group

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BISHKEK, May 17 (Xinhua) -- The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is of "key importance" for Kyrgyzstan and other Central Asian countries as it promotes mutually beneficial cooperation with China, a Kyrgyz expert has said.

"Thanks to the BRI and the road transport corridors in the Central Asian countries, very beneficial relationships are being built between Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan with their major trading partner, China," said Sheradil Baktygulov, a foreign affairs consultant at the Kyrgyz National Institute for Strategic Studies.

"The BRI is very important for Kyrgyzstan since it is primarily conducive to ensuring food security in the country, providing citizens with jobs and so on," he told Xinhua in a recent interview, adding that the Belt and Road cooperation allows Kyrgyzstan to have access to sea routes through China.

By implementing the initiative, China can deliver goods via the territories of the Central Asian countries to the Middle East and Southern Europe, while the Central Asian countries can supply products to Southeast Asian countries through Chinese ports, he said.

The initiative, he said, also promotes people-to-people and cultural exchanges and deepens the understanding of different peoples.

"When we talk about the BRI, one must evaluate not only the economic effect but also the foundation that is being laid for long-term cooperation between countries and peoples," he stressed.

In Baktygulov's view, Kyrgyzstan sees China as "a good neighbor" and intends to strengthen its friendship and cooperation with China.

The China-proposed Global Development Initiative is fair as it takes into account the opinions, wishes and characteristics of all countries in the world, he said, adding that Kyrgyzstan supports China's peace initiatives "not in words, but in deeds" since peace is key to prosperity.

However, the expert is worried that some large countries located far from Central Asia are seeking to initiate processes that could lead to disruption of the peaceful balance in the region established over the past 30 years.

"China deserves respect and support" for contributing to peace, friendship and cooperation in Central Asia and for advocating mutually beneficial cooperation and peaceful development among all countries, he said.

"China does not force the Central Asian countries to take side in confrontation. It is a responsible country that respects the choice of the Central Asian countries, unlike the Western states," he added. 
[May 17, 2023] Xtract One Technologies Selected by Sentara Health for Weapons Detection Services

TORONTO, May 17, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Xtract One Technologies Inc. (TSX: XTRA) (OTCQX: XTRAC) (FRA: 0PL) (Xtract One or the Company) today announced its partnership with Sentara Health to provide weapons detection services at hospitals in Virginia, following a successful deployment of Xtract Ones SmartGateway entry screening technology. The deployment at two hospitals was part of the evaluation for expansion to all 12 Sentara hospitals in Virginia and North Carolina.

Violence against health care workers has grown, especially since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. About 74% of workplace violence in the U.S. is committed against health care workers according to the National Institutes of Health. While all Sentara facilities are posted as firearm and weapon free, undetected weapons have the potential to escalate confrontations into lethal conflicts. Xtract Ones SmartGateway unobtrusively detects hidden firearms, knives, and other weapons as they enter buildings. The solutions artificial intelligence (AI) sensors scan for prohibited items without requiring the offloading of personal items. Our first promise to our patients, visitors and staff is safety, says Sherwin Stewart, system lead for the Xtract One pilot. We selected Xtract Ones solution because it aligns with our goal to provide a safe and welcoming environment. We appreciate the flexibility of Xtract Ones solution to adapt to our operations rather than the other way around. In addition to healthcare facilities, SmartGateway is also protecting entrances at arenas and stadiums around the country, as well as casinos, workplaces, and schools. Its flexible configuration allows the technology to work effectively in a range of industries  from hospitals and healthcare facilities to stadiums and arenas  with the common purpose of protecting patrons and workers from mass casualty events. Xtract Ones SmartGateway is an ideal solution for organizations like Sentara, whose priority is providing a positive experience and exceptional overall patient care, said Peter Evans, Xtract One CEO. Sentara evaluated several solutions on the market, and we are very happy to deliver the customizable solution they were seeking. Most compelling was our ability to align our system with their specific needs. Our philosophy, and every aspect of the business is oriented toward delivering that brand experience for our customers. For more on Xtract Ones AI-powered entry screening solutions, please visit: https://xtractone.com/. About Xtract One

Xtract One Technologies is a leading technology-driven threat detection and security solution leveraging AI to provide seamless and secure patron access control experiences. The Company makes unobtrusive threat detection systems that enable venue building operators to prioritize and deliver improved patron experiences while providing unprecedented safety. Xtract Ones innovative Multi-Sensor Gateway product enables companies to covertly screen for weapons at points of entry without disrupting the flow of traffic. Its AI-based Video Recognition Software allows venue and building operators to identify weapons and other threats inside and outside of facilities, and receive valuable intelligence for optimizing operations. For more information, visit www.xtractone.com or connect on Facebook , Twitter , and LinkedIn .



Forward Looking Statements

This news release contains 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, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements 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 statements that certain actions, events or results may, could, would, might or will be taken, occur or be achieved. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results, events or developments to be materially different from any future results, events or developments expressed or implied by such forward looking statements. Such risks and uncertainties include, among others, the Companys limited operating history and lack of historical profits; risks related to the obtention of shareholder approval in order to permit the subsequent US$3.7 million investment by MSG Sports; risks related to the Companys business and financial position; fluctuations in the market price of the Common Shares; that the Company may not be able to accurately predict its rate of growth and profitability; risks related to the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on the Company, economic conditions, and global markets; the failure of the Company to use any of the proceeds received from the Offering in a manner consistent with current expectations; reliance on management; the Companys requirements for additional financing, and the effect of capital market conditions and other factors on capital availability; competition, including from more established or better financed competitors; and the need to secure and maintain corporate alliances and partnerships, including with research and development institutions, clients and suppliers. These factors should be considered carefully, and readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements. Although the Company has attempted to identify important risk factors that could cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from those described in forward-looking statements, there may be other risk factors that cause actions, events or results to differ from those anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in forward-looking statements. The Company has no obligation to update any forward looking statement, even if new information becomes available as a result of future events, new information or for any other reason except as required by law. For further information, please contact:

Xtract One Inquiries

[email protected]

http://www.xtractone.com Investor Relations

[email protected] Media Contact:

Kristen Aikey

JMG Public Relations

212-206-1645

[email protected] A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/5b9bb496-d9b7-4a1b-bc74-5bdf26f61c4b



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[May 17, 2023] Norda Stelo Named One of Canada's Best Managed Companies

For the second year in a row, the Quebec City-based company is named one of Canada's Best Managed Companies QUEBEC CITY, May 17, 2023 /CNW/ - Norda Stelo, a 100% Quebec-owned company, is proud to announce its requalification as one of Canada's Best Managed Companies. This prestigious designation recognizes the engineering firm's operational excellence and outstanding management. This distinction is reserved for companies headquartered in Canada and with revenues of $50 million dollars or greater. Norda Stelo's requalification was awarded after a rigorous and independent evaluation process, confirming its successful organizational transformation and its status as a leader in its industry. "As Norda Stelo approaches its 60th year of existence, this prestigious recognition is a testament to the unwavering determination and passion of our talents for the success of our company" said Alex Brisson, President and CEO of Norda Stelo. "It is with great appreciation that I thank our employees, clients and partners who continually encourage us to strive for excellence and innovation. Without you, we would not be where we are today." A Visionary and Distinctive Business Model Norda Stelo draws on its specialization in brownfield engineering, its extensive expertise in the managment of existing assets, and its in-depth knowledge of asset aging to deliver its approach to sustainability in a carbon neutral strategy. It is an innovative approach to asset management by improving their performance and lifespan, thereby limiting the use of new resources and opening the door to significant ESG benefits.



Norda Stelo is committed to corporate social responsibility (CSR) as a mean of becoming an impact company, determined to conduct its business for the common good. About Norda Stelo

Established in 1963, Norda Stelo is a privately held Canadian multi-disciplinary engineering consulting firm operating worldwide. The head office is in Quebec City and the firm operates 17 offices across Canada, the United-States and New-Caledonia, including operations in Madagascar. The company employs close to 700 people and carries out projects in over 50 countries. Norda Stelo specializes in the delivery of integrated projects and assists its clients at all stages of the mandate, from planning to operations, including design, implementation, and construction management. Norda Stelo is a proven leader in optimizing asset performance and management, as well as providing clean technology solutions. Norda Stelo relies on its extensive expertise in port, rail and road transportation infrastructures, buildings or any other type of physical asset, as well as on its in-depth knowledge of the causes of aging components to offer an approach to asset sustainability that addresses technical, economic, operational, environmental and governance constraints. Its mission: Driving engineering through innovation. Together. Sustainably. Its vision: Mobilizing our collective intelligence towards the sustainability of our partners' assets, our communities and the planet. About Canada's Best Managed Companies Canada's Best Managed Companies continues to be the mark of excellence for Canadian-owned and managed companies with revenues over $50 million. Every year since the launch of the program in 1993, hundreds of entrepreneurial companies have competed for this designation in a rigorous and independent process that evaluates their management skills and practices. The awards are granted on four levels: 1) Canada's Best Managed Companies new winner (one of the new winners selected each year); 2) Canada's Best Managed Companies winner (award recipients that have re-applied and successfully retained their Best Managed designation for two additional years, subject to annual operational and financial review); 3) Gold Standard winner (after three consecutive years of maintaining their Best Managed status, these winners have demonstrated their commitment to the program and successfully retained their award for 4-6 consecutive years); 4) Platinum Club member (winners that have maintained their Best Managed status for seven years or more). Program sponsors are Deloitte Private, CIBC, The Globe and Mail, Salesforce and TMX Group. For more information, visit www.bestmanagedcompanies.ca. www.norda.com SOURCE Norda Stelo

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[May 17, 2023] COFRA Holding Joins Hedera Governing Council to Accelerate DLT Adoption and Further Leadership in Sustainability

ZUG, Switzerland, May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The Hedera Governing Council, which stewards the Hedera open source, leaderless proof-of-stake public network, today announced that COFRA Holding has joined the Governing Council. COFRA is a 182-year-old family enterprise with more than 60,000 employees and business activities in sectors including real estate investment, sustainable food, clean energy, fashion retail, private equity and asset management. As a member of the Governing Council of Hedera, COFRA, whose mission is to amaze customers and be a force for good, will work to develop innovative, blockchain-based solutions on Hedera, initially focusing on areas like tokenization and supply chain transparency. According to Simon Olson, Co-Chair of Hedera's Membership Committee, "You won't solve the world's most intractable problems by working in isolation. It's a coordination problem. In order to overcome problems like climate change and effectuate change on a global scale, you need to work with a wide cross section of stakeholders. COFRA has a long, successful track record of building coalitions to tackle difficult problems and we believe that they will contribute enormously to Hedera." Hedera is a leading, open source, leaderless proof-of-stake network which has processed over 8 billion transactions. Hedera has the highest real-world transactions per second (TPS) of any blockchain and, as found by a recent study by University College London , Hedera's hashgraph proof of stake consensus algorithm is also the most energy efficient - making it an ideal partner for climate-conscious organizations like COFRA.



About Hedera Hedera is the open source, leaderless proof-of-stake network powering the next generation of Web3. Hedera's robust ecosystem is built by a global community, on a network governed by a diverse council of industry-leading organizations, including abrdn, Avery Dennison, Boeing, Chainlink Labs, COFRA, DBS Bank, Dell, Dentons, Deutsche Telekom, DLA Piper, EDF (Electricite de France), eftpos, FIS (WorldPay), Google, IBM, the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), LG Electronics, The London School of Economics (LSE), Magalu, Nomura Holdings, ServiceNow, Shinhan Bank, Standard Bank Group, Swirlds, Tata Communications, Ubisoft, University College London (UCL), Wipro, and Zain Group.

For more information, visit www.hedera.com , or follow us on Twitter at @Hedera, Telegram at t.me/hederahashgraph , or Discord at www.hedera.com/discord . The Hedera whitepaper can be found at www.hedera.com/papers . About COFRA Holding COFRA Holding AG is a privately held group of companies active in various business sectors, including asset management (Anthos Fund & Asset Management), private equity investment management (Bregal), fashion retail (C&A), real estate investments (Redevco), renewable energy (Sunrock) and sustainable food (The Sustainable Food Group). Headquartered in Switzerland, the group employs more than 60,000 people across its business operations in Europe, the Americas and Asia. Each business operates in a spirit of engaged entrepreneurship while striving to be a "force for good" in the world  a guiding principle that has characterised the Brenninkmeijer family owners' activities for six generations, since the founding of C&A in 1841. For more information, see www.cofraholding.com . Contact:

Zenobia Godschalk

[email protected] View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/cofra-holding-joins-hedera-governing-council-to-accelerate-dlt-adoption-and-further-leadership-in-sustainability-301826468.html SOURCE Hedera

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[May 17, 2023] Nomi Health Acquires Arizona Clinic On Its Path to Help Solve the Opioid Crisis

With more than 1,300 opioid overdoses in 2023, Arizona continues to struggle with how to address the opioid use disorder (OUD) epidemic. With a successful track record in building solutions for some of the most complicated public health issues, healthcare programs and payments company Nomi Health today announced its acquisition of Phoenix-based clinic I Am Wellness. The acquisition expands patient access to critical OUD and substance use disorder (SUD) treatments while driving down care costs for local cities, counties and employers with Nomi's whole-person and recovery-oriented program for treatment and recovery. "Nomi Health is rebuilding U.S. healthcare to run at half the cost while ensuring patients who need care the most are not left behind," Mark Newman, founder and CEO of Nomi Health, said. "Our COVID-19 care program reached more than 12 million people in America with needed care while driving down costs. We are now turning our attention to the even more far-reaching crisis of opioids and substance use disorders using the same care model. Our investment in I Am Wellnss is part of this national effort."



As part of Nomi Health, I Am Wellness joins Nomi's growing in-person treatment and virtual OUD and SUD population health program designed to provide an end-to-end solution to increase access to life-saving care, eliminate social barriers and reduce costs. The I Am Wellness clinic provides in-house primary care, mental health services, peer support, social service referrals and medication-assisted treatment for people with OUD, focusing on underserved populations, including those on Medicaid, in prisons and jails, and in county hospitals. Together, Nomi Health and I Am Wellness will step in to coordinate and move patients seamlessly through the entire treatment process so they can focus on recovery, from coordinating mental health services and pharmacy solutions to securing stable housing and gainful employment. "Arizona ranks in the top 20 states for drug overdose mortality. As a nation that has poured billions into opioid and drug treatment, we must do better," Nomi Health President of Government Programs Sara Ratner said. "We have a roadmap that ensures reaching patients with the greatest need for access. What's often missing from healthcare, and especially OUD treatment, are peer navigators with shared lived experiences to connect patients to critical resources and to ensure a whole-person treatment approach. We will support and expand the work I Am Wellness is doing in Phoenix and across greater Arizona through a patient-centric approach to bring quality care to communities."

Nomi Health's public health expertise will bolster I Am Wellness' reach and impact by expanding its network of on-the-ground peer navigators while adding new virtual care programs and mobile units. I Am Wellness also is growing its footprint across the state into the Mesa and Glendale communities. "We understand addiction through and through, and our whole-person approach to treatment reflects that," I Am Wellness Chief Operating Officer Allyson Morgan said. "We look forward to reaching even more patients with effective treatment as part of Nomi Health." About Nomi Health Nomi Health is a nationwide healthcare programs and payments company rebuilding the U.S. healthcare system to run at half the cost. Employers, governments, and other buyers of care use the company's end-to-end platform of solutions - including payments, pharmacy, and an open network - to remove the complexity and cost of traditional healthcare. Nomi Health manages $150 billion+ in healthcare spend, analyzes more than $500 million in employer healthcare claims, has 3,000+ customers, and has delivered care to 12 million+ individuals. Based in Orem, Utah, Nomi Health is led by an experienced, cross-functional team with clinical, healthcare, technology, and fintech backgrounds. Learn more at www.nomihealth.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230517005211/en/

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Nonprofits require specialized expertise

SullivanCotter has worked with tax-exempt organizations within and outside health care for more than 30 years and is widely recognized as the leader in workforce performance consulting and data solutions. Although the demand for specialized services and support for 501(c)(3), 501(c)(4) and 501(c)(6) institutions has rapidly increased, strategies for compensation and other workforce rewards have not advanced alongside this demand.

"With a heightened interest in addressing pay equity, building equitable workplace strategies and advancing important diversity and inclusion initiatives, many of our nonprofit clients are early adopters keen on paving the way. As a result, SullivanCotter's Not-for-Profit Practice was thriving, and we believe that building a separate entity devoted exclusively to partnership and guidance in this sector will help more organizations propel their mission forward," said Ted Chien, President and CEO, SullivanCotter.

Grounded in 100+ years of collective expertise in compensation and total rewards, regulatory compliance, talent management and equitable workplace strategies across all industries, C3 combines boutique attentiveness and an unparalleled nonprofit focus built on the proven, longstanding resources of SullivanCotter.

"We've served nonprofit clients outside of the health care industry for decades and we're thrilled to be moving forward as a new and dedicated entity, continuing to provide the world's most impactful organizations with best-in-class strategies, resources and insights. Our vision is to lead with purpose, embrace our clients' missions as our own and help them implement meaningful change designed to optimize the workforce and accelerate impact," said Nanci Hibschman, Managing Principal and Division Leader, C3 Nonprofit Consulting Group.

C3 will serve private and community foundations, charities and service organizations, policy, advocacy and research institutes, colleges and universities, arts and cultural organizations and more.

For more information on C3 Nonprofit Consulting Group visit us at www.C3NonprofitConsulting.com or contact us at 888.739.7039.

About C3 Nonprofit Consulting Group

C3 Nonprofit Consulting Group is an advisory services firm focused exclusively on helping nonprofit organizations unleash the full potential of their people. We partner with nonprofits to design competitive compensation and rewards programs, build equitable workplace strategies and implement talent programs designed to propel their missions forward. C3 is here to help the nonprofit workforce thrive.

Contact: Becky Lorentz

SullivanCotter

[email protected]

314.414.3719

Jenni Bowring

Padilla

[email protected]

651.226.3858

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/sullivancotter-launches-new-c3-nonprofit-consulting-group-301826953.html

SOURCE Sullivan, Cotter & Associates Inc.
[May 17, 2023] ESET Webinar Looks at Company Secrets Remaining on Used Corporate Devices, Best Practices for Disposal

SAN DIEGO, May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- ESET, a global leader in digital security, today announced its upcoming webinar "We (Could Have) Cracked Open the Network for Under $100," taking place Thursday, May 25, 2023 at 10:00 AM PT, 1:00 PM ET. Presented by Specialized Security Researcher Cameron Camp and ESET Chief Security Evangelist Tony Anscombe, the webinar will delve into new ESET research that examines corporate routers sold on the secondary market and provide evidence that many companies are not following sufficient security protocols and processes for decommissioning hardware, making critical data from past owners accessible and open to abuse. Presented at RSA 2023, ESET researchers found that a majority of the devices acquired contained a digital blueprint of the company involved, including, but not limited to, core networking information, application data, corporate credentials, and information about partners, vendors, and customers. Attendees to this webinar will learn about the impact on an organization, including the possible risk of data breaches that extend to partners and customers, and best practices for device sanitization. "There are well-documented processes for proper decommissioning of hardware, and this research shows that many companies are not following them rigorously when preparing devices for the secondary hardware market," said Tony Anscombe, chief security evangelist at ESET. "We would expect medium-sized to enterprise companies to have a strict set of security initiatives to decommission devices, but we found the opposite. We urge organizations involved in device disposal, data destruction, and resellng of devices to take a hard look at their processes and ensure they are in compliance with the latest NIST standards for media sanitization."



Save your Seat! To register for this webinar, visit https://notify.eset.com/decommissioned-hardware-threats/?partnerref=pr About the Webinar Hosts:

Cameron Camp is a specialized security researcher for ESET, with over 20 years of security experience all the way up the stack, from embedded devices, Internet of Things, and medical devices, to industrial control system (ICS) systems for the power grid and the networks and servers to tie them all together. He has spoken on Capitol Hill, at the National Press Club, and numerous times to legislators, as well as being quoted in the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Associated Press, Reuters, and a host of other top-tier publications. He has been on numerous broadcast news outlets and has spoken at numerous events globally.

Tony Anscombe is the Global Security Evangelist for ESET. With over 20 years of security industry experience, Anscombe is an established Author, Blogger and Speaker on the current threat landscape, security technologies and products, data protection, privacy and trust, and Internet safety. His speaking portfolio includes industry conferences RSA, CTIA, MEF, Gartner Risk and Security, and the Child Internet Safety Summit (CIS). He is regularly quoted in security, technology and business media, including BBC, the Guardian, the New York Times, and USA Today, with broadcast appearances on Bloomberg, BBC, CTV, KRON and CBS. About ESET

For more than 30 years, ESET has been developing industry-leading IT security software and services to protect businesses, critical infrastructure and consumers worldwide from increasingly sophisticated digital threats. From endpoint and mobile security to endpoint detection and response, as well as encryption and multifactor authentication, ESET's high-performing, easy-to-use solutions unobtrusively protect and monitor 24/7, updating defenses in real time to keep users safe and businesses running without interruption. Evolving threats require an evolving IT security company that enables the safe use of technology. This is backed by ESET's R&D centers worldwide, working in support of our shared future. For more information, visit www.eset.com or follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/eset-webinar-looks-at-company-secrets-remaining-on-used-corporate-devices-best-practices-for-disposal-301822815.html SOURCE ESET

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[May 17, 2023] NAVIGATING YOUR NEXT UNFORGETTABLE SUMMER VACATION

TRAVEL EXPERT HIGHLIGHTS TRENDING DESTINATIONS AND SHARES THE BENEFITS OF TAKING A TOUR FOR YOUR NEXT ADVENTURE NEW YORK, May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- BACKGROUND: According to the Summer Travel Survey & Trends 2023 report by The Vacationer, a whopping 85% of Americans plan to travel this summer and 42% of Americans are planning to travel more this summer compared to last. With a vast array of destinations and styles of vacations available, how can travelers save much-valued time and money in navigating the where, how, when and even why of planning a vacation? On May 11th, Terry Dale, president & CEO of the United States Tour Operators Association (USTOA) discussed the uptick in summer travel and current travel trends. He also shared the benefits of booking a guided tour and offered up some 'off the beaten path' destinations to plan your next adventure! Experience the full interactive Multichannel News Release here: https://www.multivu.com/players/English/9147851-ustoa-unforgettable-summer-vacation/ TERRY'S TRAVEL TRENDS INCLUDE : OFF THE BEATEN PATH ITINERARIES - Unique destinations like Turkiye are growing in popularity. Turkiye welcomed 51.4 million visitors in 2022, making it one of the world's most prominent travel destinations. Apart from its successful figures, Turkiye is also a pioneer country in sustainable tourism and started a nationwide sustainable tourism program in 2022. Tour operators like Collette bring guests off the beaten path to secret hideaways like Dalyan, a relaxing riverbank town connected to the Mediterranean Sea and filled ith local charm.

- Unique destinations like Turkiye are growing in popularity. Turkiye welcomed 51.4 million visitors in 2022, making it one of the world's most prominent travel destinations. Apart from its successful figures, Turkiye is also a pioneer country in sustainable tourism and started a nationwide sustainable tourism program in 2022. Tour operators like Collette bring guests off the beaten path to secret hideaways like Dalyan, a relaxing riverbank town connected to the Mediterranean Sea and filled ith local charm. CULTURE IS IN - Countries such as Malta offer thousands of years of intriguing history. Malta , a Mediterranean Archipelago with three sister islands, Malta , Gozo and Comino, are home to a most remarkable concentration of intact built heritage, including the highest density of UNESCO World Heritage Sites in any nation-state. Club Adventures' Malta tour offers exceptional culinary experiences, and visits to local craft villages so that you're fully immersed in the culture.

Countries such as offer thousands of years of intriguing history. , a Mediterranean Archipelago with three sister islands, , Gozo and Comino, are home to a most remarkable concentration of intact built heritage, including the highest density of UNESCO World Heritage Sites in any nation-state. Club Adventures' tour offers exceptional culinary experiences, and visits to local craft villages so that you're fully immersed in the culture. SIMPLE SUSTAINABLE TRAVEL  Zagreb is a Croatian city of delightful contrasts - it is both young and old, cosmopolitan, and alternative, a mix of Austro-Hungarian and modern architecture, bursting with over 30 museums, 30 theaters, and many galleries and festivals. Tour operators like Intrepid Travel work with locally owned and operated accommodations in Zagreb , which helps support the local economy and provides authentic experiences for travelers. Itineraries often include visits to local artisans, like Radiceva and Tkalciceva Street, and Ilica, where travelers can learn about traditional crafts like embroidery, pottery and woodworking while also supporting small, local businesses.



For more information please visit: www.ustoa.com/tournow MORE ABOUT TERRY DALE:

Named president of the United States Tour Operators Association (USTOA) in January 2011, Terry Dale assumed the additional role of Chief Executive Officer on January 31, 2013. Among Dale's responsibilities at USTOA are developing the association's strategic marketing initiatives, leading the association's government advocacy on issues affecting tour operators, and working with other travel and tourism industry decision makers to identify mutual challenges and opportunities. With the distinction of being the third president in USTOA's 50-year history, Dale also serves as a key ambassador and spokesperson for USTOA. Under Dale's leadership, the association has seen significant growth in the profile of and attendance to the USTOA Annual Conference & Marketplace, which brings Active Tour Operator Members together with Associate Members in meaningful and engaging dialogue and events. A global leader in tourism, Dale is a sought-after speaker who has addressed international travel and leadership audiences around the world including keynote speeches in China, Tanzania, Colombia, Jordan, Israel, UK, Chile and beyond. During USTOA's 50th anniversary in 2022, Dale led the association to focus "50 years forward" on key issues of sustainability and DEI. His previous positions include five years with NYC & Company  The NYC Convention and Visitors Bureau-- where he was executive vice president; and ten years as president and CEO of the Greater Providence Convention and Visitors Bureau, as well as president of the New England Society of Convention and Visitor's Bureaus.

[email protected] Produced for: United States Tour Operators Association (USTOA) View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/navigating-your-next-unforgettable-summer-vacation-301826652.html SOURCE United States Tour Operators Association (USTOA)

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[May 17, 2023] BlackDoctor.org and Merck Announce Historic Partnership

CHICAGO, May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- BlackDoctor.org (BDO) and Merck, known as MSD outside the United States and Canada, are working together to improve Black American participation in clinical trials. Increasing involvement in clinical trials by Black Americans is paramount to improving the quality of healthcare now and for future generations. Merck was the first to sign on to list its trials on BDO's Clinical Trials Resource Center (CTRC). The CTRC is an online repository of information regarding clinical trials specifically targeting Black consumers. The historic partnership with BDO is designed to increase awareness, educate and help more Blacks get enrolled in clinical trials. BDO CEO, stated, "Merck is a visionary organization and has shown great leadership in the industry by moving first on this opportunity to make more of their Clinical Trials available to Black patients."



"What we are doing has never been done before. There is now a comfortable, trusting place for Black people to get the important timely information they need to make informed decisions about Clinical Trials. Our goal is to normalize clinical trials," Ware added. Jade Curtis, BDO Executive Editor said, "Companies like Merck allow BDO to fulfill our promise and mission. This mission requires strategic partners who are visionary, truly committed to health equity and ready to ensure that everyone who needs their medicines can have access to them regardless of race, creed or color.

Merck is committed to enrolling a diverse body of participants in their clinical trials. "We're focused on how we can inform and encourage underrepresented communities to participate in clinical trials," said Adrelia Allen, Executive Director, Clinical Trial Patient Diversity. Merck's commitment to increasing diversity in clinical trials is evident by this partnership with BDO. The expectation is this will quickly show greater diversity in the trial population. In the first month of the CTRC being launched on the BDO website, it had 77,000 people visiting that portion of the website. Now when they visit the site, they will see a trusted partner, Merck. Merck is helping to move the needle on diversity in clinical trial enrollment while helping to build a brighter future for Black patients. View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/blackdoctororg-and-merck-announce-historic-partnership-301827467.html SOURCE Black Doctor.org

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[May 17, 2023] LayerZero Labs Launches $15M Bug Bounty; Largest in the World

Launched in partnership with Immunefi, bounty to promote Web3 security VANCOUVER, BC, May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- LayerZero Labs, the team that launched the leading cross-chain messaging protocol LayerZero, today announced that it has launched a $15 million bug bounty in partnership with Immunefi, the leading bug bounty and security services platform for Web3, protecting over $60 billion in user funds. The bug bounty will be the largest in the history of the software industry and shows LayerZero's undying commitment to security as well as the developers and users in the LayerZero ecosystem. LayerZero Labs is offering a maximum reward of $15M for each new vulnerability found by participants who uncover vulnerabilities at the highest severity level. With this incentive, LayerZero Labs is setting a new bar for bug bounties across all areas of the software industry. "With the launch of the largest bug bounty in the world we hope that LayerZero's commitment to Web3 security and the individuals who make the community stronger is clear," commented Bryan Pellegrino, CEO of LayerZero Labs. "We care deeply about building the safest, most used messaging protocol in the world." "We're thrilled to partner with LayerZero to launch the world's biggest bounty and help ensure the safety of its ecosystem," said Mitchell Amador, Founder and CEO at Immunefi. "We've paved the way to reach the highest security standards in the industry and worked to provide projects wth the necessary structure and access to the strongest security talent. LayerZero's bounty is a testament to what we should continue moving towards, and that's an undeniable commitment to security."



Immunefi has facilitated the most significant bug bounties in the software industry, with over $75 million in rewards paid out. It is the largest and most widely adopted bug bounty platform in Web3, where a massive community of leading security talent review projects' blockchain and smart contract code, find and responsibly disclose vulnerabilities, and get paid for making the ecosystem safer. The terms and conditions of the bug bounty, including eligibility criteria, can be found here: https://immunefi.com/bounty/layerzero/ . Vulnerabilities must meet the criteria determined by LayerZero Labs at its sole discretion.

About Immunefi

Immunefi is the leading bug bounty and security services platform for Web3, which features the world's largest bounties. Immunefi guards over $60 billion in user funds across projects like Synthetix, Chainlink, SushiSwap, Polygon, Bancor, MakerDAO, TheGraph, Optimism, and others. The company has paid out the most significant bug bounties in the software industry, amounting to over $75 million, and has pioneered the scaling Web3 bug bounties standard. For more information, please visit https://immunefi.com About LayerZero Labs

LayerZero Labs is the team that launched the leading blockchain messaging protocol LayerZero. LayerZero's advanced messaging infrastructure seamlessly connects over 30 blockchains and facilitates transparent and secure cross-chain messaging from one easy-to-use interface. Since going live in March 2022, the LayerZero protocol has processed more than 10 million messages with thousands of mainnet contracts being deployed by thousands of developer teams. Backed by leading venture capital firms including a16z, Sequoia, Binance Labs, Christie's, Lightspeed, Opensea, Bond, Samsung Next, and GBV, LayerZero was recently valued at $3 billion. Developers building on LayerZero can create interoperable, omnichain dApps, which will lead to the establishment of a unified digital asset ecosystem. For additional information on LayerZero, visit: https://layerzero.network/ LayerZero Labs Media Contact

M Group Strategic Communications (on behalf of LayerZero Labs)

[email protected] View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/layerzero-labs-launches-15m-bug-bounty-largest-in-the-world-301827316.html SOURCE LayerZero Labs

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[May 17, 2023] Causal AI Market worth $119,500 thousand by 2030 - Exclusive Report by MarketsandMarkets

CHICAGO, May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- With rising usage, algorithmic improvements, integration with AI systems, industry-specific applications, ethical issues, changing regulations, and multidisciplinary research driving its growth, the Causal AI Market has a promising future. Causal AI will be crucial in allowing data-driven decision-making and opening up new opportunities across industries as organisations continue to recognise the significance of understanding causal linkages. The Causal AI Market is estimated to grow from USD 8010 thousand in 2023 to USD 119,500 thousand by 2030, at a CAGR of 47.1% during the forecast period, according to a new report by MarketsandMarkets. Causal AI is a rapidly growing field that focuses on establishing cause-and-effect relationships between variables, ensuring the safety and fairness of AI predictions. Causal AI utilizes causality to go beyond narrow machine learning predictions and make choices like humans do. This technology is the future of decision-making, combining AI and causal reasoning to create a more transparent and safer approach to AI. Causal AI and Causal ML has the potential to reshape the world, particularly in the areas of health, development, and marketing. Browse in-depth TOC on "Causal AI Market"

157 - Tables

41 - Figures

195 - Pages Download PDF Brochure @ https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/pdfdownloadNew.asp?id=162494083 Scope of the Report







Report Metrics Details Market size available for years 20202030 Base year considered 2023 Forecast period 20232030 Forecast units USD Thousand Segments covered Offering, Vertical, and Region Geographies covered North America, Europe and Rest of World Companies covered IBM (US), CausaLens (England), Microsoft (US), Causaly (England), Google (US), Geminos (US), AWS (US), Aitia (US), INCRMNTAL (Israel), Logility (US), Cognino.ai. (England), H2O.ai (US), DataRobot (US), Cognizant (US), Scalnyx (France), Causality Link (US), Dynatrace (US), Parabole.ai (US), Causalis.ai (Israel), and Omics Data Automation (US).

BFSI to account for higher CAGR during the forecast period The BFSI (Banking, Financial Services, and Insurance) sector is one of the biggest adopters of causal AI technology. Causal AI is widely used in financial services for risk management, fraud detection, compliance, customer experience, and more. North America dominates the Causal AI Market in BFSI, followed by Europe and Asia-Pacific. The North American market hold the largest share in BFSI during the forecast period, due to the presence of several key players and the high adoption of AI technology in the region. The Causal AI Market in BFSI is highly competitive, with several players operating in the market. Some of the key players in this market include IBM, Microsoft, and Google. These players are focusing on partnerships, collaborations, and acquisitions to expand their market presence and strengthen their product portfolio. Services Segment to account for higher CAGR during the forecast period Causal AI services provide expert guidance, consulting, and support for organizations looking to implement causal inference tools and techniques. These services include Consulting Services, Deployment and Integration, Training, support, and maintenance. Causal AI services are particularly useful for organizations that lack the internal resources or expertise to implement causal inference on their own. They can help organizations identify and understand causal relationships in their data, improving the accuracy of predictions and data-driven decision making. Service providers may include data scientists, statisticians, software developers, and domain experts with expertise in causal inference. They may offer services on a project-by-project basis or provide ongoing support and consulting to organizations. Inquire Before Buying: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Enquiry_Before_BuyingNew.asp?id=162494083 North America is expected to account for the largest market size in 2023 Causal AI has been gaining traction in North America, with both the United States and Canada making significant investments in AI research and development. The US government has launched several initiatives to promote the development of AI, such as the American AI Initiative, which aims to maintain the country's leadership in AI research and development. Canada has also been contributing to AI research, with several universities and research institutes working on developing AI technologies. The private sector in North America has also been investing heavily in AI research and development, with companies such as Google, Amazon, and Microsoft developing AI technologies for a wide range of applications. The healthcare industry has also been an area of focus for AI research and development, with several companies developing AI technologies to improve patient outcomes and reduce healthcare costs. Top Key Companies in Causal AI Market: Major vendors in the global Causal AI Market are IBM (US), CausaLens (England), Microsoft (US), Causaly (England), Google (US), Geminos (US), AWS (US), Aitia (US), INCRMNTAL (Israel), Logility (US), Cognino.ai. (England), H2O.ai (US), DataRobot (US), Cognizant (US), Scalnyx (France), Causality Link (US), Dynatrace (US), Parabole.ai (US), Causalis.ai (Israel), and Omics Data Automation (US). Recent Developments: In February 2023 , Dynatrace introduced new capabilities to Grail that enable boundless exploratory analysis by adding new data types and unlocking support for graph analytics. These capabilities enable Davis, the Dynatrace causal AI engine, to gather even more insights.

, Dynatrace introduced new capabilities to Grail that enable boundless exploratory analysis by adding new data types and unlocking support for graph analytics. These capabilities enable Davis, the Dynatrace causal AI engine, to gather even more insights. In January 2023 , CausaLens released a new operating system for decision-making powered by causal AI. The system is designed to help organizations make more accurate predictions and optimize their business processes.

, CausaLens released a new operating system for decision-making powered by causal AI. The system is designed to help organizations make more accurate predictions and optimize their business processes. In December 2022 , Microsoft launched a causal AI suite (DoWhy, EconML, Causica, and ShowWhy) for decision-making that enables developers and data scientists to build models that provide causal explanations for their predictions. The suite includes the DoWhy, EconML, and CausalML libraries, and is integrated with Azure Machine Learning and Azure Databricks.

, Microsoft launched a causal AI suite (DoWhy, EconML, Causica, and ShowWhy) for decision-making that enables developers and data scientists to build models that provide causal explanations for their predictions. The suite includes the DoWhy, EconML, and CausalML libraries, and is integrated with Azure Machine Learning and Azure Databricks. In June 2022 , Microsoft's collaboration with AWS to develop a new GitHub home for DoWhy will not only enhance the availability of the library but also help Microsoft gain a competitive edge in the causal machine learning space, showing a strategic move to leverage partnerships for growth.

, Microsoft's collaboration with AWS to develop a new GitHub home for DoWhy will not only enhance the availability of the library but also help Microsoft gain a competitive edge in the causal machine learning space, showing a strategic move to leverage partnerships for growth. In, September 2021 , IBM launched its Causal AI offering, the Causal Inference 360 Toolkit. This innovative toolkit provides users with a range of powerful tools and algorithms for performing causal inference tasks, allowing businesses and researchers to gain valuable insights into complex systems and make better decisions. Causal AI Market Advantages: By identifying the correlations between variables that cause certain outcomes, causal AI helps companies and organisations make decisions that are more informed and precise. It goes beyond correlation and offers perceptions into the cause-and-effect connections that govern results. As a result, organisations can more confidently make data-driven decisions and better understand the underlying variables impacting their operations.

In complicated datasets, causal AI algorithms can find patterns and causative elements, allowing for more precise predictions. Organisations can anticipate the effects of various actions or interventions and improve their projections of future outcomes by understanding the causal linkages between variables. This is especially useful in fields like banking, healthcare, and marketing where precise forecasts can result in notable advantages.

Designing better policies and actions can be assisted by causal AI for governments, organisations, and policymakers. Policymakers can choose the most effective measures to produce desired results by analyzing historical data and discovering causal links. This can be extremely important in fields like public health, economics, and social policy, because creating successful interventions depends on an understanding of causal effects.

By identifying previously unidentified causal linkages, causal AI creates new possibilities for innovation and discovery. Organisations might find unique ideas, new product features, or undiscovered market sectors by understanding how various variables interact and affect results. Increased market share, competitive advantages, and ground-breaking innovations may result from this.

Causal AI can address problems with fairness and bias in the decision-making process. It assists in identifying the underlying factors that lead to biassed results by concentrating on causal linkages rather than just correlations. Through the identification and correction of systemic biases, organisations are able to make decisions that are fairer and more egalitarian. Report Objectives To define, describe, and forecast the Causal AI Market based on offering, vertical, and region

To provide detailed information about the major factors (drivers, restraints, opportunities, and challenges) influencing the market growth

To analyze subsegments with respect to individual growth trends, prospects, and contributions to the total market

To analyze opportunities in the market for stakeholders and provide the competitive landscape of the market

To forecast the revenue of the market segments with respect to all the five major regions, namely, North America , Europe , Asia Pacific (APAC), the Middle East & Africa (MEA), and Latin America

, , (APAC), the & (MEA), and To profile the key players and comprehensively analyze the recent developments and their positioning related to the Causal AI Market

To analyze competitive developments, such as mergers & acquisitions, product developments, and research & development (R&D) activities, in the market

To analyze the impact of recession across all the regions across the Causal AI Market. Browse Adjacent Markets: Artificial Intelligence (AI) Market Research Reports & Consulting Related Reports: Text to Video AI Market - Global Forecast to 2027 Human Capital Management Market - Global Forecast to 2026 Artificial Intelligence Market - Global Forecast to 2027 AI as a Service Market - Global Forecast to 2028 Natural Language Processing Market- Global Forecast to 2027 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:

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NEW DELHI, May 17 (Xinhua) -- The Death toll in the blast inside a firecracker factory in the eastern Indian state of West Bengal has risen to nine, officials said Wednesday.

Five people were injured in the blast, which took place on Tuesday in Egra area of East Medinipur district, about 130 km south of Kolkata, the capital city of West Bengal.

The police said the factory was illegally run in a residential building, and an investigation is underway.

"Till now, nine bodies have been recovered and efforts are being made to find out if there was any other killed in the incident," a senior police officer Amarnath K told media.

Accidental explosions are common at Indian firecracker factories and shops, as owners usually ignore safety standards. 
[May 17, 2023] Linux Foundation & Meta Launch new "LF Connectivity" Project Umbrella to Improve Enhanced Access to Networks

As a new open source project umbrella, LF Connectivity will address connectivity challenges within high-bandwidth fixed and mobile connectivity

Meta will make several contributions to the new umbrella initiative, including the software stack for Terragraph, Open M-Plane, and Maveric

LF Connectivity shares a home with other leading open source networking projects at the Linux Foundation, collaboratively serving as open source network ecosystem center of gravity SAN FRANCISCO, May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The Linux Foundation , the nonprofit organization focused on fostering innovation through open source, announced LF Connectivity, a new open source project focused on advancing technologies to accelerate emerging network and connectivity applications. Formed in collaboration with Meta, LF Connectivity's vision is to create a robust and sustainable open ecosystem that will enable a wide range of communication service providers to leverage open source tools and technologies to help with the end-to-end performance and quality of experience (QoE) requirements of emerging applications. "With 5G becoming more pervasive and NextG on the horizon, bandwidth and latency requirements will be higher than ever, with more applications leveraging augmented reality and immersive experiences that need to traverse networks," said Arpit Joshipura, general manager, Networking, Edge, IoT, the Linux Foundation. "We are pleased to bring new open source tools to more organizations across the globe and welcome LF Connectivity to our growing number of networking projects working to improve digital transformation." Meta is contributing a rich set of technologies to the LF Connectivity project that was developed in collaboration with industry partners, including three initial sub-projects: Terragraph is a wireless technology solution that helps internet service providers deliver gigabit speed last-mile access to subscriber homes, enterprises, and multi-dwelling buildings easily and cost-effectively.

is a wireless technology solution that helps internet service providers deliver gigabit speed last-mile access to subscriber homes, enterprises, and multi-dwelling buildings easily and cost-effectively. Open M-Plane is a software component of Meta's Evenstar hardware design for the configuration and management of the RAN. It is interoperable, hardware-independent, and aligned with O-RAN specifications to help enable mobile wireless connectivity by providing flexibility to operators looking to source hardware from different vendors as they deploy their own RAN solutions.

is a software component of Meta's Evenstar hardware design for the configuration and management of the RAN. It is interoperable, hardware-independent, and aligned with O-RAN specifications to help enable mobile wireless connectivity by providing flexibility to operators looking to source hardware from different vendors as they deploy their own RAN solutions. Maveric enables the development and evaluation of cellular network optimization algorithms before their deployment on the network. It is a developer platform that leverages AI/ML approaches to provide realistic cellular network representations and examples that demonstrate its use. "Meta is pleased to contribute our Terragraph, Open M-Plane, and Maveric technologies to the Linux Foundation's Connectivity project," said Shah Rahman, engineering director, Meta. "By sharing these technologies, we hope to further improve global connectivity by enabling other companies to participate and contribute to those projects." Project governance and infrastructure are in the works, but please visit www.lfconnectivity.org for more information and register for the webinar , "Introducing LF Connectivity," happening Thursday, May 25 at 9:00 am PST.



Supporting organizations include AMD, Cambium Networks, Capgemini, Edgecore Networks, Siklu Communications, University of Delhi, VIAVI, and Virginia Tech. Supporting quotes

"As a key partner of the Evenstar Meta program, AMD welcomes the opportunity to collaborate with the Linux Foundation and drive open projects including Evenstar," said Gilles Garcia, senior director and business lead, Data Center and Communications Group at AMD. " We look forward to seeing the Evenstar M-plane used in 5G O-RAN radios that leverage Evenstar investments." "The multi-gigabit speeds and short range of 60 GHz millimeter wave technology are valuable, but distributed networking is the driver that will evolve the capabilities of last mile connectivity," said Atul Bhatnagar, president and CEO, Cambium Networks. "This transformation is evident in the market's enthusiasm for our cnWave solutions which are fully Terragraph compliant at the chipset, network node, and network management layers and are essential to delivering the full benefits in scalability, resilience, and redundancy. It's been amazing working with Meta on the Terragraph standard through the years, and Cambium Networks is looking forward to working with the Linux Foundation to build solutions now and in the future that leverage high throughput backhaul with distributed networking." "We are delighted to participate in the early stages of Meta's Terragraph project. Edgecore has designed a range of certified Terragraph products that provide last-mile connectivity, telecom network backhaul solutions, and support emerging applications requiring short-distance, high throughput. We look forward to closer collaboration with LF Connectivity, aiming for fruitful operations and significant progress in developing open and innovative communication technologies together with the community," said Tengtai Hsu, vice president of Edgecore Networks. "As early partners with Meta in the Terragraph ecosystem, we are thrilled to see the impact of our Terragraph-certified MultiHaul TG product L2 SDN Mesh series in bridging the digital divide. At Siklu, we recognize the importance of connectivity in people's lives and smart cities and see an increase in MultiHaul TG deployments around the world as innovative cities and WISPs leverage these products to offer reliable services and affordable internet access. We look forward to the collaboration with LF Connectivity, aiming for more capable and relevant solutions to deliver on the connection needs of communities of any size, with the enhanced support of, and collaboration with the community," said Shimon Hochbaum, AVP Products, Siklu Communications. "Evaluating and proving RAN optimization solutions for open and dis-aggregated networks requires test environments that represent deployed network behaviors," said Paul McNab, chief Strategy & Marketing officer and CTO Office, VIAVI. "VIAVI and Meta have partnered to train Maveric AI/ML models with VIAVI network monitoring solutions and integrate these models into VIAVI test environments. This partnership will continue to evolve under the auspices of LF Connectivity." "Open source has a powerful history in connectivity, empowering communities to define what meaningful connectivity means on their own terms and introducing innovation in areas of the industry marked by vendor dominance. I look forward to working with the LF Connectivity community to impact connectivity challenges worldwide," said Shaddi Hasan, assistant professor of Computer Science, Virginia Tech. "Ramanujan College, University of Delhi, has recently partnered with the Linux Foundation and Meta on LF Connectivity, strengthening its commitment to promoting open-source technologies and developing future leaders in the industry," said Vipin Rath, assistant professor, University of Delhi."We share the common goal of fostering innovation and promoting open-source principles, making ideal partners for Ramanujan College's global connectivity initiatives. Their enthusiasm for developing Open RAN, Core, and connectivity technologies is remarkable, as these advancements can potentially revolutionize the telecommunications industry by enhancing interoperability, flexibility, and cost-efficiency." Resources Video (Terragraph): Why We Build: Connectivity in New York City

Video (Terragraph): Why we Build: Meta Connectivity in Alaska

Website: www.lfconnectivity.org About The Linux Foundation

The Linux Foundation is the world's leading home for collaboration on open source software, hardware, standards, and data. Linux Foundation projects are critical to the world's infrastructure including Linux, Kubernetes, Node.js, ONAP, PyTorch, RISC-V, SPDX, OpenChain, and more. The Linux Foundation focuses on leveraging best practices and addressing the needs of contributors, users, and solution providers to create sustainable models for open collaboration. For more information, please visit us at linuxfoundation.org. The Linux Foundation has registered trademarks and uses trademarks. For a list of trademarks of The Linux Foundation, please see its trademark usage page: www.linuxfoundation.org/trademark-usage. Linux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds. Media Contact

Jill Lovato

The Linux Foundation

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[May 17, 2023] Growth Opportunities in the Military UAV Swarm Industry 2023: Remote-Controlled Aerial Weapon Systems will Take on an Important Role on the Modern Battlefield

DUBLIN, May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Growth Opportunities in the Military UAV Swarm Industry - 2023" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. Amid lessons learned from the Russo-Ukrainian War and other real and simulated battlefield experiences, the demand for military swarm drone systems will present opportunities for defense primes and innovative start-ups worldwide through 2025 and probably beyond. Swarm technology today involves small, cheap drones rather than larger, more expensive unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), offering end users efficiency in terms of cost and time. As swarm technologies evolve, the analyst expects operational efficiency to increase dramatically and thus become a priority in national defense budgets. This Aerospace & Defense practice report examines trends and broadly discusses drivers and restraints in the dynamic and vibrant drone swarm industry. It covers three main swarm domains: micro/mini UAVs, small UAVs, and lethal miniature aerial missile systems (LMAMS). Interest in LMAMS is increasing, although the implications as a weapon of mass destruction are still being evaluated. The report discusses lading programs in the United States, United Kingdom, Israel, and other parts of Europe and the Middle East, focusing on vendors and the technological and operational demands (e.g., artificial intelligence and manned-unmanned teaming) from military end users. Growth opportunities in the industry evaluate emerging arenas of focus, relevant business models, and innovative technologies.



Key Topics Covered: 1. Strategic Imperatives

Why is it Increasingly Difficult to Grow?

The Strategic Imperative 8

The Impact of the Top 3 Strategic Imperatives on the Military UAV Swarm Industry

Growth Opportunities Fuel the Growth Pipeline Engine 2. Growth Opportunity Analysis What You Need To Know First

Trends and Challenges

Recent Developments in the Drone Swarm Industry

Evolving ConOps

Military Drone Swarm Maturity

Growth Drivers

Growth Restraints 3. Industry Overview Drone Swarm Categories

Leading US Programs

Notable DoD Contracts

Leading UK Programs

Leading Israeli Programs

Other Drone Swarm Programs 4. Military UAV Swarm Market Overview Growth Opportunity 1: Easing Regulations for Drone Swarm Applications

Growth Opportunity 2: Drone Swarm Procurement Programs

Growth Opportunity 3: LMAMS as an Emerging Swarm Platform 5. Appendix NATO Military UAV Classification

Abbreviations 6. List of Exhibits For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/g264ot About ResearchAndMarkets.com

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[May 17, 2023] Danaher Cryogenics Secures CRADA with NIST to Commercially Develop the Most Advanced High-Performance Pulse Tube Cryocooler to Date

BOULDER, Colo., May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Danaher Cryogenics, a leader in manufacturing fully-integrated sub-Kelvin cryostats and engineering elegant cryogenic solutions, today announced the commercial development of a new pulse tube cryocooler design, the Adaptive Cooling Technology (ACT) Pulse Tube Cryocooler. This state-of-the-art pulse tube cryocooler holds the promise of offering the most rapid cooldown performance technology in the industry. Working via a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA), Danaher Cryogenics is partnering with the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in Boulder, CO to commercially develop this exciting new product. This novel design was borne from a collaboration between University of Colorado Boulder and NIST. The ACT Pulse Tube Cryocooler is expected to greatly accelerate scientific advancement and discoveries, yielding increased productivity. While all available pulse tubes are currently designed for steady-state operation, the ACT Pulse Tube Cryocooler offers optimized cooling for all operating conditions by adapting to changing conditions. This is especially impactful during the cooldown phase of operation./p>



Charlie Danaher , President and Founder of Danaher Cryogenics. "We are confident that this technology will advance the state of the art in cryogenics, will allow researchers to make more rapid progress, and will bring efficiency to the growing cryogenic field. For many years, NIST has been a great customer and collaborator in the cryostat arena. We view this project as a continuation of that relationship." Licensing Manager at Venture Partners at CU Boulder, Joshua Bennett, stated, "Danaher Cryogenics has an exclusive option to license CU Boulder's patented technology. We, here at CU Boulder, strongly believe that Danaher Cryogenics is the best vehicle to commercialize these exciting new innovations, and we look forward to continuing this fruitful ongoing partnership."

The commercial development of the Danaher Cryogenics ACT Pulse Tube Cryocooler is already underway. Commercial release is expected to roll out to customers in 2025. For more information, please visit danahercryo.com/pulse-tube-cryocooler-announcement . About Danaher Cryogenics

Danaher Cryogenics pursues the near impossible with elegant, classic solutions to manifest optimal cryogenic performance from initial concept to fruition. View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/danaher-cryogenics-secures-crada-with-nist-to-commercially-develop-the-most-advanced-high-performance-pulse-tube-cryocooler-to-date-301826820.html SOURCE Danaher Cryo

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[May 17, 2023] Investor Alert: EasyCrypto4U

Be an informed investor - Don't be fooled by fraudsters misrepresenting themselves TORONTO, May 17, 2023 /CNW/ - New Self-Regulatory Organization of Canada (New SRO) is warning Canadian investors not to be fooled by EasyCrypto4U. The company claims in calls with investors to be regulated by the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC), a legacy organization of New SRO. EasyCrypto4U was never registered with IIROC and is not a member of New SRO. All investors must be informed and ask themselves important questions before purchasing higher-risk investment products that do not trade on stock exchanges. Investors should know that unregulated crypto-asset trading platforms are different from regulated marketplaces and may be missing key investor protections. Registered investment firms are regulated, and individuals must meet our high standards and deal fairly, honestly and in good faith with Canadian investors. We urge Canadian investors to exercise caution when dealing with non-registered firms. Investors should confirm investment firms are registered with New SRO, formerly IIROC, or with the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA).



Investors should also check the background, qualifications and any disciplinary history of investment advisors registered with New SRO by checking the free AdvisorReport for investment dealers , or the CSA's National Registration Search for mutual fund dealers . If you believe you have been a victim of this or a similar scam, contact your local police, your provincial securities commission , and the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre . About New SRO

New Self-Regulatory Organization of Canada (New SRO) is the national self-regulatory organization that oversees all investment dealers, mutual fund dealers and trading activity on Canada's debt and equity marketplaces. New SRO is carrying on the regulatory functions of the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada and the Mutual Fund Dealers Association of Canada, and is committed to the protection of investors, providing efficient and consistent regulation, and building Canadians' trust in financial regulation and the people managing their investments. For more information, visit www.newselfregulatoryorganizationofcanada.ca . SOURCE New Self-Regulatory Organization of Canada

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[May 17, 2023] Black Bay Completes the Sale of NexGen Chemical Technologies to Foremark Performance Chemicals

Black Bay Energy Capital ("Black Bay"), a private equity firm focused on the North American energy and chemical sectors, has announced the sale of NexGen Chemical Technologies ("NexGen") to Foremark Performance Chemicals ("Foremark"), a portfolio company of SK Capital Partners ("SK Capital"). NexGen is a provider of innovative natural gas sweetening solutions that improve the efficiency, environmental footprint, and total cost of operations for E&P and midstream operators. Foremark is a technology-driven leader in natural gas sweetening formulations and formalin manufacturing. Foremark's acquisition of NexGen will enable rapid scale-up of manufacturing for ScavGen 1014, NexGen's flagship chemical technology. Black Bay, Chris Williamson, and James Begeal founded NexGen in 2018 to deliver high performing, differentiated chemical solutions for treating sour natural gas (also known as natural gas sweetening). Since that time, NexGen has experienced significant growth in market share, revenue, and profitability due to the numerous technical and economic advantages that ScavGen 1014 provides to clients. "The NexGen team has embodied what Black Bay looks for in a portfolio company management team. Chris, James, Ali Yousef, Dallas Watson, and the rest of the NexGen team are highly technical and driven market experts who were true partners. We are thankful for their partnership and thrilled to watch the next chapter of the NexGen story unfold under Foremark and SK Capital's ownership," said Guy Cook, Partner of Black Bay. Chris Williamson, CEO and Co-Founder of NexGen, said "We couldn't have asked for a more committed, patient, and hard-working financial partner than the Black Bay team. Their experience in the oil and gas & chemical sectors, specifically their understanding of the sour gas landscape, was invaluable as we recruited key players to our team and scaled the business." James Begeal, CTO and Co-Founder of NexGen, added "The market need for more efficient natural gas sweetening continues to grow, and Black Bay, Foremark, and SK all understand and appreciate how important this is. We are thankful for the partnership with Black Bay and we're very excited to be partnered with Foremark and SK going forward." "Innovative, efficient, and economic technologies are required to enable the transition in energy and chemical markets. The NexGen team embraced these goals and built a world-class company and technology suite around this thesis. We are proud to have been a part of NexGen and excited to deliver a fantastic return to our investors," added Tom Ambrose, Partner of lack Bay.



Black Bay and NexGen's primary legal and financial advisors were Fishman Haygood (Chip Saulsbury) and PPHB (Joe Buchanan), respectively. About Black Bay Energy Capital

Black Bay is a private equity firm that invests equity capital in partnership with entrepreneurial management teams who are building high-growth companies in the North American energy and chemical industries. Black Bay's strategy is to target companies with innovative products and services that help their clients to reduce costs, improve operations, and achieve ESG initiatives. The firm's objective is to drive success through a relentless commitment to establishing and cultivating a true partnership with portfolio company management teams, and a belief that deeply rooted partnerships generate outsized returns by fostering collaboration and creativity. Black Bay is currently investing out of its second fund and has approximately $565 million of assets under management. For more information, please visit www.blackbayenergy.com. About NexGen NEXGEN is a forward-thinking company that takes a non-traditional approach to oilfield chemistry and applications. Utilizing the experience and expertise of our team, we work with oil and gas operators and other business partners to design custom solutions to address costly operational problems and inefficiencies. Our mission is to deliver truly differentiating chemical technology to increase efficiency and reduce the total cost of operations. NEXGEN is a privately held oilfield service company comprised of a staff of highly experienced chemical application experts. The Company is headquartered in the Houston, Texas area and provides services to the upstream and midstream sectors. For more information, please visit www.nexgenchem.com. About Foremark Foremark Performance Chemicals, headquartered in League City, TX, is a technology-driven leader in natural gas sweetening formulations and the production of chemical building blocks used in numerous end products. Foremark leverages its sustainable production processes to create solutions that support the transition to clean energy and increase performance and efficiency. The business is a leading producer of a broad portfolio of triazines and formalin, and operates out of a highly automated, integrated manufacturing facility in La Porte, TX, that is strategically located on the Houston ship channel and among the world's largest and efficient producers. Foremark has earned the Platinum Sustainability Medal from EcoVadis, which is awarded to the top 1% of rated companies based on their environmental impact and sustainability program. For more information, visit www.foremarkperformance.com. About SK Capital Partners SK Capital is a private investment firm with a disciplined focus on the specialty materials, ingredients and life sciences sectors. The firm seeks to build strong and growing businesses that create substantial long-term economic value. SK Capital aims to utilize its industry, operating and investment experience to identify opportunities to transform businesses into higher performing organizations with improved strategic positioning, growth and profitability, as well as lower operating risk. SK Capital's portfolio of businesses generates revenues of approximately $18 billion annually, employs more than 20,000 people globally, and operates more than 200 plants in over 30 countries. The firm currently has approximately $7.8 billion in assets under management. For more information, please visit www.skcapitalpartners.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230517005610/en/

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[May 17, 2023] THE FIRST VINFAST VF 8 BATCH ARRIVED AT THE PORT IN CANADA - VINFAST IS READY TO SELL CARS FROM JUNE 2023

*STARTING MSRP C$53,600 ONTARIO, Canada, May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- VinFast announced the arrival of the first shipment of 781 VF 8 vehicles to Nanaimo port, British Columbia. The VF 8 is now certified for sale in Canada with first deliveries taking place in June 2023. The VF 8's battery range has been officially certified by the EPA at 425 kms (264 miles) for the Eco trim, 391 kms (243 miles) for the Plus 300 kW trim and 354 kms (220 miles) for the Plus 260 kW trim. In Canada, The VF 8 Eco is listed from C$53,600, while the Plus 260 kW has a starting price of C$59,200. The Plus trim also offers an optional power upgrade from 260 kW to 300 kW for an additional C$1,500 per vehicle. VinFast has officially received all the necessary certifications to sell cars in Canada and, as planned, the first VF 8 vehicles will be delivered to customers from June 2023 onwards. The first 781 VinFast VF 8 vehicles arrived in Canada as a part of the initial shipment of 1,879 vehicles exported to North America. The vessel left Vietnam on April 16California for the US market on May 12.



Ms. Nguyen Thi Van Anh, CEO of VinFast North America said: "Today VinFast has taken another big step in its mission to foster the global electrification revolution. I believe with VinFast's non-stop efforts together with its serious and methodical business strategy, VinFast will soon gain the trust and support from Canadian customers". The VF 8 is equipped with a wide range of advanced technologies including the Advanced Driver Assistance System (ADAS) and VF Online Packages. These features will be enhanced through over-the-air updates to improve vehicle functionality and customer experience.

The VF 8 will also be covered by an impressive 10-year/200,000 km limited warranty as well as a 10 year, unlimited km warranty for the high voltage battery. In addition, Mobile Service and 24/7 Roadside Assistance are included during the 10-year warranty period. About VinFast

VinFast  a member of Vingroup  envisioned to drive the movement of global smart electric vehicle revolution. Established in 2017, VinFast owns a state-of-the-art automotive manufacturing complex with scalability that boasts up to 90% automation in Hai Phong, Vietnam. VinFast established a United States headquarters in Los Angeles, CA, opened several showrooms and service centers in California, and is developing a site in North Carolina for domestic manufacturing of electric vehicles. Strongly committed to the mission for a sustainable future for everyone, VinFast constantly innovates to bring high-quality products, advanced smart services, seamless customer experiences, and pricing strategy to inspire global customers to jointly create a future of smart mobility and a sustainable planet. Learn more at: https://vinfastauto.ca. About Vingroup

Established in 1993, Vingroup is one of the leading private conglomerates in the region and currently focuses on three main areas: Technology and Industry, Services and Social Enterprise. Find out more at: https://www.vingroup.net/en. View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/the-first-vinfast-vf-8-batch-arrived-at-the-port-in-canada--vinfast-is-ready-to-sell-cars-from-june-2023-301827608.html SOURCE Vinfast Auto LLC

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[May 17, 2023] Henrik Tjarnstrom resigns as CEO of Kindred Group - Nils Anden appointed interim CEO

VALLETTA, Malta, May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Kindred Group plc ("Kindred" or the "Company") today announced that its Board of Directors has received the resignation of CEO Henrik Tjarnstrom, effective immediately. The Board of Directors has appointed Nils Anden as interim CEO, also effective immediately. "I look very much forward to working closely with our Board of Directors, the executive management team and all employees to achieve the goals of Kindred", said Nils Anden. "I re-joined Kindred in 2020 as its Chief Commercial officer, after having had positions within Kindred between 2006 and 2016 as Head of Poker, Head of Established Markets and Chief Marketing Officer for the Unibet brand. I have a strong belief in our organisation and the business models that have made this Company so successful and am more confident than ever in Kindred's potential." "I am very pleased with the Board of Directors' choice of Nils Anden as the interim CEO, guaranteeing a smooth hand over", says Henrik Tjarnstrom. "Henrik has been at the helm through many important milestones passed by Kindred and has undoubtedly put his mark in both the history of the Company and the industry. Thus, on behalf of the Board of Directors and all shareholders I would like to thank Henrik for his valuable contributions to the success of Kindred throughout the years he has led the Company and wish him well in his future endeavours", said Evert Carlsson, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Kindred. "The Board of Directors is equally pleased and excited to appoint Nils Anden as interim CEO. Nils is naturally very knowledgeable about the operations of Kindred, having worked with Henrik in the executive management team of Kindred. The Board of Directors deems that Nils is ideally suited to assume this role in these pivotal times for Kindred. The Company reaffirms its guidance for 2023. Nils Anden  Short bio Nils Anden joined Kindred Group in 2020 as Chief Commercial Officer for Scandinavia, East and South Europe and North America. He has worked at Kindred in the past, holding a number of positions between 2006 and 2016 as Head of Poker and Head of Established Markets before spending the final four years as Chief Marketing Officer for the Unibet brand. Nils has also held positions as Chief Marketing Officer at CurrencyFair and as Director of Digital Marketing at GVC Group (now Entain Group). He is also a member of the Board of EasyPark Group. This disclosure contains information that Kindred Group is obliged to make public pursuant to the EU Market Abuse Regulation (EU nr 596/2014). The information was submitted for publication, through the agency of the contact person, on 17-05-2023 19:15 CET. For more information: Evert Carlsson, Chairman of the Board of Directors

[email protected] The following files are available for download:







https://mb.cision.com/Main/824/3771611/2069019.pdf Press release: Henrik Tjarnstrom resigns as CEO of Kindred Group a" Nils Anden appointed interim CEO

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/henrik-tjarnstrom-resigns-as-ceo-of-kindred-group--nils-anden-appointed-interim-ceo-301827615.html SOURCE Kindred Group

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[May 17, 2023] Myota and SotirIS Partner to Offer Superior Ransomware Protection Through Secure Storage

PHILADELPHIA, May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Myota, a leading data protection platform provider that protects businesses against cyberattacks, has partnered with professional services firm SotirIS, which specializes in delivering IT operations as a service. SotirIS is the first MSSP to offer a 100% managed data durability platform that provides ransomware protection, encryption, point-in-time backup, and recovery as a service. Gabriel Gumbs, CPO of Myota, expressed, "We're thrilled to partner with SotirIS and offer our industry-leading bucketZero platform to their clients. With cyberattacks becoming more sophisticated and frequent, businesses need a comprehensive solution that protects their data and keeps their operations running smoothly. Our patented zero-trust solution provides just that, and we look forward to working with SotirIS to help businesses achieve their technology goals." Mark Wilson, CEO of SotirIS, stated their clients rely on them to deliver best-of-class technologies that help them achieve their business objectives. With the addition of Myota's bucketZero platform to their offerings, they can now provide clients with a complete cyberstorage solution hat protects against ransomware and cyber threats.



SotirIS delivers best practices and best-of-class technologies to help businesses increase productivity and efficiency. The SotirIS team has over 100 years of combined professional experience and have successfully bridged the gap between technology solutions and business pain points for over 40 years. "We are confident that our partnership with SotirIS will provide businesses with comprehensive cyberstorage solutions they need to protect their data and operations," said Gabriel Gumbs. "Together, we can provide a comprehensive solution that ensures businesses never experience the damaging effects of data loss from ransomware again."

To learn more about Myota's bucketZero platform and SotirIS's technology services, visit myota.io and sotiris.com. Myota is committed to helping businesses protect their data and operations in an ever-changing digital landscape. Their bucketZero platform provides ransomware protection, encryption, point-in-time backup, and recovery, all within a single technology. It also offers early detection and blocking of attacks, and aids in recovery through analytics to pinpoint when an attack started. SotirIS is a professional services firm that specializes in using technology to increase productivity, create efficiencies, and retain corporate knowledge. They employ best practices and deliver best-of-class technologies to help businesses achieve their objectives, and they have over 40 years of experience bridging the gap between technology solutions and business pain points. Media Contact:

Erin Mullen

(727) 340-7700

[email protected] View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/myota-and-stiris-partner-to-offer-superior-ransomware-protection-through-secure-storage-301827633.html SOURCE Myota

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[May 17, 2023] Industrial Facility Call for Proposals Now Open Green Industrial Facilities and Manufacturing Program

OTTAWA, ON, May 17, 2023 /CNW/ - The Government of Canada is committed to supporting industry partners in reducing emissions, including by adopting cleaner and more efficient processes. By developing more sustainable practices, Canadian industry is meeting global demand for low-carbon products while creating good jobs in communities across the country. Today, the Honourable Jonathan Wilkinson, Canada's Minister of Natural Resources, opened funding applications for industrial facilities under the Green Industrial Facilities and Manufacturing Program. This $194-million initiative allows for industrial facilities to receive up to $10 million per proposal, directly supporting industry in implementing energy efficiency projects within individual facilities. The program aims to maximize energy performance, reduce GHG emissions and increase competitiveness for industry in Canada. Specifically, it targets industrial facilities in Canada seeking cost-shared financial assistance to implement energy efficiency and energy management projects, from now until March 2027. As global markets continue to favour industrial products with the lowest carbon footprint, the ongoing decarbonization of Canada's industrial facilities and manufacturing processes will not only help keep our air clean but also keep our job-creating industries competitive. The Green Industrial Facilities and Manufacturing Program is supported by funding announced in Budget 2022. An expansion of the Industrial Energy Management Program at Natural Resources Canada (NRCan), this new program provides support for capacity-building tools, guides and case studies. It will also support outreach and awareness activities through an industrygovernment partnership network, the Canadian Industry Partnership for Energy Conservation, which shares information, collects energy data, facilitates mentoring on industrial energy ad related matters and communicates successes. Budget 2023 is building on this progress through historic investments in the clean economy, including new tax credits to support clean manufacturing, electricity and energy.



As Canada advances toward a net-zero future, investments like these are key to reducing emissions, maximizing energy performance and industry competitiveness. These investments support workers and industry in building a more prosperous and sustainable future. Quotes

"The Green Industrial Facilities and Manufacturing Program is supporting industrial partners, including utilities as well as provinces and territories, in enhancing energy efficiency while reducing waste and pollution and creating good jobs. Investments like these are vital in Canada's advancement toward a sustainable and low-carbon future." The Honourable Jonathan Wilkinson

Minister of Natural Resources Quick Facts Industrial sectors account for 40 percent of energy usage and approximately 50 percent of all GHG emissions in Canada .

. Industrial facility proposals should target:

1. Investing in energy management training;

2. Conducting energy assessments and audits;

3. Hiring or retaining energy managers;

4. Implementing energy management systems; and

5. Investing in energy efficiency-focused capital retrofits in existing facilities.

1. Investing in energy management training; 2. Conducting energy assessments and audits; 3. Hiring or retaining energy managers; 4. Implementing energy management systems; and 5. Investing in energy efficiency-focused capital retrofits in existing facilities. Launched February 2023 , Track 1, Energy Efficiency Solutions was directed to provinces, territories, utilities and other recipients including established industrial networks.

, Track 1, Energy Efficiency Solutions was directed to provinces, territories, utilities and other recipients including established industrial networks. Funding for this program originates in investments from Budget 2022, which included $194 million over five years, starting in 202223, for NRCan to expand its existing Industrial Energy Management program by offering cost-shared financial support for a holistic and comprehensive suite of energy efficiency measures up to March 2027 . Related Information

Green Industrial Facilities and Manufacturing Program

2030 Emissions Reduction Plan: Clean Air, Strong Economy

Budget 2022

A Made-in-Canada Plan: Affordable Energy, Good Jobs, and a Growing Clean Economy Follow us on Twitter: @NRCan ( http://twitter.com/nrcan ) SOURCE Natural Resources Canada

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[May 17, 2023] The Inner Circle Acknowledges, Diane Filippi as a Distinguished Business Professional for her contributions to the Business and Marketing Fields

SAN FRANCISCO, May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Prominently featured in The Inner Circle, Diane Filippi is acknowledged as a Distinguished Business Professional for her contributions to the Business and Marketing Fields. With more than 35 years of experience, Ms. Filippi serves as the managing partner of SMWM and is primarily responsible for all face-to-face interactions on behalf of the company. She completed course work toward a Bachelor of Arts in Archaeology through the University of the Pacific and the University of California Berkeley, and her experience in higher education prepared her to be the leader she is today. Ms. Filippi notes that she has negotiated all of the contracts with consultants and gained valuable expertise in the field as the director of SPUR Urban Center, where she worked alongside executive director, Jim Chappell, and a group of talented professionals to mae the building come to life.



Continuing her legacy of leadership, Ms. Filippi now serves on SPUR Urban Center's board as well as that of Mother Jones where she is a benefactor to both. She has volunteered and served on the board of Ed Fund; Urban Land Institute San Francisco Chapter; and served as its chair. Dedicated to providing the most efficient professional service to her clients, Ms. Filippi is associated with the Urban Land Institute. Among her many career successes, Ms. Filippi notes that she takes the most pride in helping establish the main library in San Francisco; serving as chair of the board of Friends of the Library; and being honored through the San Francisco Business Times Awards. She credits her success to her gift for speaking and in the next five years, plans to write a book about aphasia and join a synagogue where she can volunteer with children.

Contact: Katherine Green, 516-825-5634, [email protected] View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/the-inner-circle-acknowledges-diane-filippi-as-a-distinguished-business-professional-for-her-contributions-to-the-business-and-marketing-fields-301827576.html SOURCE The Inner Circle

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MOSCOW, May 17 (Xinhua) -- Russia confirmed that the grain export deal, formally known as the Black Sea Grain Initiative, has been extended for two months on Wednesday, a day before it expires.

"Thus, there is a chance, not in words but in deeds, to help ensure global food security," Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova told a weekly briefing.

"Our fundamental assessment of the 2022 Istanbul agreement has not changed and the discrepancies in its implementation must be corrected as quickly as possible," she said.

In July 2022, Russia and Ukraine separately signed a document in Istanbul with Turkiye and the United Nations on grain and fertilizer exports from Ukraine and Russia to ensure supplies to global markets amid the Ukraine crisis.

The initial 120-day agreement was extended by another 120 days in November 2022 and then by 60 days in March 2023. 
[May 17, 2023] Modak partners with Yoti to create the safest fintech platform for teens

Modak, a fintech company for teens and families in the US, has partnered with digital identity company Yoti to enhance safety features for teens on its platform. Since launching in December 2022, 25,000 teens have signed up for Modak using Yoti's facial age estimation technology. As a platform designed to enable teenagers to reach their fullest potential, Modak with its partners offers a suite of financial services and learning opportunities. Modak places special emphasis on ensuring the trust and safety of its platform: Modak does detailed Know Your Customer (KYC) processes for its financial services through gvernment IDs. On top of it, Modak now leverages Yoti's AI facial age estimation technology to enhance platform security.



Yoti's facial age estimation is an inclusive and privacy-preserving solution that estimates someone's age from a selfie. It was built to give everyone a secure way to verify their age. All images are instantly deleted once someone receives their estimated age. Companies around the world are choosing Yoti's facial age estimation to verify the age of users and create age-appropriate experiences, including Instagram, Facebook Dating, and Yubo. Robin Tombs, CEO at Yoti said, "Facial age estimation gives platforms like Modak an effective, reliable and private way to verify that only teens sign up for their platform. Facial age estimation is a scalable solution, so as Modak continues to grow, our technology can help them to verify the age of millions of individuals without compromising on user safety and privacy."

Madhu Yalamarthi, CEO at Modak said, "Adapting Yoti's tech has been a great enabler of our growth. In conjunction with our standard banking-related KYC/AML processes, Yoti's tech enhances user experience by streamlining the verification process, reducing manual errors, and minimizing the risk of fraudulent activity. Modak families appreciate this added layer of security and convenience, resulting in increased customer trust and loyalty." About: Modak is a US-based fintech company that offers a Visa secured credit card and a checking account for teens through its relationship with Solid Financial Technologies, and its partner banks, Members FDIC. Through Modak, Teens can start building credit scores, gain financial literacy, and earn cashback at 100,000+ merchant locations across the US. Modak is supported by GGV Capital, Nazca, and 35+ leading investors and entrepreneurs. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230516006092/en/

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[May 17, 2023] Canada launches high-level economic security dialogue with South Korea

SEOUL, Republic of Korea, May 17, 2023 /CNW/ - On Tuesday, the Honourable Melanie Joly, Minister of Foreign Affairs, and the Honourable Francois-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, launched a high-level economic security dialogue with their Korean counterparts, Park Jin, Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Ahn Dukgeun, Minister for Trade. The launch of the dialogue reflects the increasing importance of economic prosperity and national security amid geopolitical challenges. It also underscores the continued need for a rules-based international order. Canada and South Korea are seeking to work together to strengthen and secure value chains in key areas including critical minerals, batteries, artificial intelligence and electric vehicles, while ensuring high labour and environmental standards. While in South Korea, Minister Champagne also met with top business and industry leaders, including representatives of Hyundai Motor Company, Solus Advanced Materials, Hanwha Group and EcoPro. The Minister took this opportunity to highlight Canada's strong investment environment and opportunities for strengthening partnerships in the transition to a net-zero economy. As fellow Pacific nations, Canada and South Korea both have a defining role to play in promoting and ensuring long-term economic prosperity and security in the Indo-Pacific region. Canada and South Korea enjoy close relations, strengthened by people-to-people ties and by Canada's first and only bilateral free trade agreement in the Asia-Pacific regionthe Canada-Korea Free Trade Agreement. Quotes "Canada and the Republic of Korea have a long-standing partnership. Korea is a strong and trusted partner with which Canada continues to deepen and strengthen its cooperation through this new economic security dialogue, building on shared priorities as we put our Indo-Pacific strategies into action."  The Honourable Melanie Joly, Minister of Foreign Affairs "As a Pacific nation, Canada recognizes that the Indo-Pacific region is critically importan to the long-term prosperity and economic security of Canadians. Our government looks forward to deepening strategic ties to help build economic resiliency and provide new market opportunities for both Canadian and South Korean businesses, while strengthening partnerships in key sectors."



 The Honourable Francois-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry Quick facts

Canada launched the Indo-Pacific Strategy on November 27, 2022 , highlighting the importance of Canada-Korea collaboration on economic security in the context of emerging strategic challenges and supply chain disruptions.

launched the Indo-Pacific Strategy on , highlighting the importance of Canada-Korea collaboration on economic security in the context of emerging strategic challenges and supply chain disruptions. On December 28, 2022 , South Korea also launched its Indo-Pacific Strategy, which aims to expand regional economic security networks for stable and resilient supply chain management, while promoting free trade and a rules-based economic order in the Indo-Pacific.

, also launched its Indo-Pacific Strategy, which aims to expand regional economic security networks for stable and resilient supply chain management, while promoting free trade and a rules-based economic order in the Indo-Pacific. Minister Joly met with Foreign Affairs Minister Park Jin in Seoul on April 15 to review progress in the implementation of the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership launched in September 2022 and explore concrete ways to collaborate under the countries' Indo-Pacific strategies. Associated links Minister Joly strengthens security cooperation with the Republic of Korea

strengthens security cooperation with the Republic of Korea The Republic of Korea and Canada : Stronger Together  Joint Leaders' Statement

: Stronger Together  Joint Leaders' Statement Minister Champagne concludes visits to Japan and South Korea 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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[May 17, 2023] Hydro One seeks feedback on the draft Environmental Assessment Report for the Waasigan Transmission Line project

The company's investment in Ontario's clean energy future will support economic growth and mining operations in the northwest THUNDER BAY, ON, May 17, 2023 /CNW/ - Today, Hydro One released the draft Environmental Assessment Report for the Waasigan Transmission Line project for public review and comment. The report details engagement during the environmental assessment, the route selection process, identifies potential effects to the natural and socio-economic environments and measures Hydro One will use to avoid or minimize any negative effects of the project. Indigenous communities, residents, directly impacted property owners, and businesses are encouraged to submit feedback on the draft Environmental Assessment Report from now until July 7, 2023. "By putting people and communities first, our focus is on safety, protecting the environment and enabling the economic benefits that come with expanding and strengthening our high voltage transmission system," said Sonny Karunakaran, Director, Project Delivery, Hydro One. "We will continue to work with Indigenous communities, residents, directly impacted property owners, and businesses at every stage of the Waasigan Transmission Line project." The draft Environmental Assessment Report relies on information collected from an extensive field study program with more than 1,200 sites visited and over four years of community engagement. Overall, the report concludes that the benefits of the project outweigh any potential impacts, which it finds can be effectively managed using environmental protection measures. The benefits this transmission line will bring to the region, include: an additional 350 megawatts of clean electricity, bringing enough power for approximately 11 new mines,

increased reliability and resiliency of energy supply,

increased economic growth, and

equity partnership in the line for nine First Nations.



"Electrifying our homes and local economy relies on critical minerals like copper and nickel, which northern Ontario is fortunate to have a bounty of," said Chris Hodgson, President, Ontario Mining Association. "Ontario's competitive advantage in the global mining sector comes from our commitment to sustainability. The clean energy the Waasigan Transmission Line will deliver will enhance this advantage, ensuring mining benefits everyone for generations."

During the public comment period, Hydro One will host several open houses. In addition to publishing the report online, the company is making copies of the report available at seven publicly accessible locations including municipal buildings, libraries, and community centres. The Waasigan Transmission Line is a proposed new double-circuit 230 kilovolt transmission line from Lakehead Transformer Station (TS) in the Municipality of Shuniah to Mackenzie TS in the Town of Atikokan to be in service as close to the end of 2025 as possible and a proposed new single-circuit 230 kilovolt transmission line from Mackenzie TS to Dryden TS in the City of Dryden to be in service shortly after. This year, Hydro One plans to submit a Leave to Construct (Section 92) application to the Ontario Energy Board (OEB) for both phases of the project. Once built, the line will become the backbone of economic growth in northwestern Ontario and will provide a reliable supply of clean energy to Indigenous communities, municipalities, residents, and businesses. Nine First Nations in the region have signed agreements with Hydro One and will have the opportunity to invest in a 50 percent equity stake in the transmission line component of the project. Completion of the line is contingent on stakeholder consultation and regulatory approvals. To read the draft report and share comments, visit HydroOne.com/Waasigan. To read the highlights document click here. Hydro One Limited (TSX: H) Hydro One Limited, through its wholly-owned subsidiaries, is Ontario's largest electricity transmission and distribution provider with approximately 1.5 million valued customers, approximately $31.5 billion in assets as at December 31, 2022, and annual revenues in 2022 of approximately $7.8 billion. Our team of approximately 9,300 skilled and dedicated employees proudly build and maintain a safe and reliable electricity system which is essential to supporting strong and successful communities. In 2022, Hydro One invested approximately $2.1 billion in its transmission and distribution networks, and supported the economy through buying approximately $1.9 billion of goods and services. We are committed to the communities where we live and work through community investment, sustainability and diversity initiatives. We are designated as a Sustainable Electricity Leader by Electricity Canada. Hydro One Limited's common shares are listed on the TSX and certain of Hydro One Inc.'s medium term notes are listed on the NYSE. Additional information can be accessed at www.hydroone.com, www.sedar.com or www.sec.gov. SOURCE Hydro One Inc.

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[May 17, 2023] Canfor and Canfor Pulp Jointly Release 2022 Sustainability Report

VANCOUVER, BC, May 17, 2023 /CNW/ - Canfor Corporation (TSX: CFP) and Canfor Pulp Products Inc. (TSX: CFX) jointly announce the release of the 2022 Sustainability Report, which outlines performance on topics such as climate change, sustainable forestry and energy management, and social issues such as inclusion and diversity, and Indigenous relations. "Climate change is one of the most pressing issues we are facing today, and sustainable forest management and low carbon forest products can play a key role in addressing our changing climate," says Don Kayne, President and CEO, Canfor. "Sustainability is at the very core of what we do, and our 2022 Sustainability Report outlines the progress we are making on embedding it throughout our company under our three pillars of people, planet and products." We continue to invest in a wide range of sustainability initiatives, with particular emphasis on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reductions. We have a target to reduce scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions by 42% by 2030 compared to a 2020 baseline year and have committed to investing at least $250 million in decarbonization projects through initiatives including fuel switching, energy efficiency and electrification opportunities. New for this year is a target to distribute $2 million annually to support community programs and initiatives through our Good Things Come From Trees community giving program, performance against targets for water management and air quality for Canfor Pulp, as well as performance against targets for waste management for our Canadian wood products' operations. For the first time, we obtained limited assurance from an independent thirdparty on our scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions inventory for the 2020 baseline and 2022 performance year. "Undergoing external validation of our GHG emissions each year will give us a solid understanding of where we are today and the comprehensive decarbonization plan required to achieve our goals. This is an important step in our sustainability journey," says Pat Elliott, CFO, Canfor and Canfor Pulp, and Senior Vice President, Sustainability.



The 2022 Sustainability Report also includes select information on ESG topics for the Vida Group, the Sweden-based wood products manufacturing company of which Canfor has a 70% ownership position. As Vida's sustainability strategy progresses, we will work to align reporting processes with any new sustainability reporting regulations, both in North America and in Europe. The full report including performance details from 13 material topics, along with separate Sustainability Highlights and Performance at a Glance documents, are available for download at sustainability.canfor.com.

Canfor's 2022 Sustainability Report (10 MB) Canfor's 2022 Sustainability Highlights (2 MB) 2022 Performance at a Glance Forward Looking Statements Certain statements in this press release constitute "forward-looking statements" which involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such statements. Words such as "expects", "anticipates", "projects", "intends", "plans", "will", "believes", "seeks", "estimates", "should", "may", "could", and variations of such words and similar expressions are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. These statements are based on management's current expectations and beliefs and actual events or results may differ materially. There are many factors that could cause such actual events or results expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements to differ materially from any future results expressed or implied by such statements. Forward-looking statements are based on current expectations and Canfor assumes no obligation to update such information to reflect later events or developments, except as required by law. About Canfor Corporation Canfor is a global leader in the manufacturing of high-value low-carbon forest products including dimension and specialty lumber, engineered wood products, pulp and paper, wood pellets and green energy. Proudly headquartered in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canfor produces renewable products from sustainably managed forests, at more than 55 facilities across its diversified operating platform in Canada, the United States and Europe. The Company has a 70% stake in Vida AB, Sweden's largest privately owned sawmill company and also owns a 54.8% interest in Canfor Pulp Products Inc. Canfor shares are traded on The Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol CFP. For more information visit canfor.com. SOURCE Canfor Corporation

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An important document in the ongoing fight against this real estate power move . . .



The Jackson County Health Department released a health impact assessment on the effect the proposed landfill could have on thousands of people living within miles of the site.



The health department said the eight-page assessment is meant to inform the residents of Eastern Jackson County.



One of the biggest concerns listed in the assessment is that a possible exposure to chemicals and pollution from the plant could lead to respiratory issues such as asthma.

Read more via www.TonysKansasCity.com links . . .

Health assessment shows concerns about proposed South Kansas City landfill JACKSON COUNTY, Mo. - A study on the possible health impacts a proposed landfill in south Kansas City could have on the population show concerns about respiratory issues and other risks. The Jackson County Health Department released a health impact assessment on the effect the proposed landfill could have on thousands of people living within miles of the site.

Health impact study of proposed landfill in South Kansas City released by Jackson County Health Department UPDATED FIRST LAYER OF FUTURE SCAN COMING UP IN A FEW MINUTES. KMBC NINE INVESTIGATES IS GETTING ANSWERS ON THE NEXT STEPS FOR A SOUTH KANSAS CITY LANDFILL PROJECT. THIS OBVIOUSLY A STORY THAT WE FOLLOWED FOR MONTHS. WE CERTAINLY HAVE. IT WOULD SIT ON FOR 3430 ACRES JUST SOUTH OF 150 HIGHWAY LAST WEEK.

Developing . . .


Locals know that violence escalates during the warmer months . . . Cooler temps are now gone as politicos tout solution they devised over Winter.

Accordingly, we take a peek at police action, ongoing cases, mugshots & more . . .



Check TKC news gathering . . .

KCMO City Council allocates funding to nonprofits working to prevent violent crime among youth KANSAS CITY, MO - The Kansas City, Missouri, City Council and Mayor Quinton Lucas are working to prevent violent crime this summer through new funding. The city officials joined forces to invest $30 million into violence prevention over five years. The focus of the funding is to work with grassroots organizations who are out in the community.

17-year-old charged with involuntary manslaughter after fatal crash in Shawnee KANSAS CITY, Mo. - A 17-year-old has been charged in a fatal crash that left one person dead and one in critical condition on Sunday in Shawnee. Zakary Ignowski is charged with one count of involuntary manslaughter, one count of aggravated battery/great harm and one count of juvenile possession of a firearm.

Man sentenced in 2022 deadly shooting at Overland Park vacation home OLATHE, Kan. - A Topeka, Kansas man is sentenced for a deadly shooting last year at an Overland Park home that was being used as a short-term rental. Anthony Duane Smith pleaded guilty in March to involuntary manslaughter. He was sentenced on Monday to four years and three months in prison, according to Johnson County District Attorney Steve Howe.

Lee's Summit Police cracking down on "easily preventable crimes" with new initiative The Lee's Summit Police Department has been trying to get the message out for years about locking your car doors and making sure no valuables are left out in the open. They respond to things stolen out of cars daily in the city, and in many cases the cars are unlocked and valuables left where thieves can see them."For us it's a nightly occurrence.

Family of man killed by KCK officer faces hurdles to get answers KANSAS CITY, Kan. - The family of a 50-year-old man living in Kansas City, Kansas, who was killed in a February police shooting said their requests to view body cam footage of the incident have been repeatedly denied.

'This Mother's Day was so hard': Family of slain Wyandotte High School teacher wants answers in case KANSAS CITY, KS - A school, community and family are grieving the death of a Wyandotte High School teacher - Jamie Craig. Currently, a 14-year-old is detained and awaiting certification to be charged with second-degree murder in her death.

Shawnee middle school student brings two knives to school, principal says 'if you see something, say something' JOHNSON COUNTY, Kan. (KCTV) - Tuesday morning, a Shawnee middle school student brought weapons to Trailridge Middle School. Parents were sent an email from the principal to inform them of what happened. According to the email statement, administration and the school's resource officer responded immediately.

Kansas City, Kansas, Public Schools police chief talks dangers of fentanyl as summer approaches KANSAS CITY, Kan. - Fifty officers are tasked with serving and protecting students and staff at the Kansas City, Kansas, Public Schools district, and they hope to do so even when school isn't in session. As the school year wraps up, Curtis Nicholson, the Chief of Police at KCKPS, wants to raise awareness about the dangers of fentanyl.

VIDEO: Sen. Moran Recognizes National Police Week, Honors Fallen Kansas Police Officers WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) today spoke on the Senate Floor to recognize National Police Week and remember Kansas law enforcement who passed away in 2022. National Police Week was established by President John F. Kennedy in 1962, and this year runs from May 14 - May 20.

Going 360: Impact of youth violence, possible solutions KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Guns are the leading cause of death for American children, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The Kaiser Family Foundation says 4,357 children and teens died from gun deaths in 2020 - including assaults, suicides, and unintentional or undetermined deaths.

Developing . . .
Amid ongoing political debate . . . It's important to take note that we're still on pace with 2020 homicide numbers . . . The most deadly year in KCMO history.



Here's today's tragic report . . .



Homicide - LATE DEATH - E 12th St/Van Brunt Blvd



On 05-07-2023 just before 6:15pm, officers were called to E 12th St and Denver Ave in regard to a shooting. Upon arrival, officers located the victim in the area of E 12th Street and Van Brunt Blvd suffering from apparent gunshot wounds. EMS responded to the scene and transported the victim to the hospital in critical condition.



Detectives and Crime Scene Personnel responded to the scene at that time. They processed the scene for evidence and canvassed for witnesses.



On 05-14-2023, the victim, Kavon Carter b/m 08-24-2005, died as a result of his injuries and his death was ruled a homicide.

Homicide detectives took over the investigation at the time of the victims death.



Anyone with information is asked to call detectives directly at 816-234-5043. Or if you wish to remain anonymous you can do so by calling the TIPS Hotline at 816-474-TIPS. There is a reward of up to $25,000 for information provided to TIPS which leads to an arrest in the case.



We are working with Partners for Peace in all our homicide investigations to monitor risks for retaliation and provide social services to affected residents.

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Read more via www.TonysKansasCity.com links . . .

17-year-old dies from injuries a week after Kansas City shooting KANSAS CITY, Mo. - A 17-year-old has died from his injuries a week after he was shot in Kansas City, police say. On May 7, officers were called to E. 12th Street and Denver Avenue around 6:15 p.m. for a reported shooting. Officers located the victim near E.

17-year-old dies week after being shot near E 12th, Denver KANSAS CITY, Mo. - One week after 17-year-old Kavon Carter was shot, he succumbed to his injuries. Kansas City, Missouri, Police Department officers received reports of a shooting just before 6:15 p.m. on Sunday, May 7, in the area of E 12th Street and Denver Avenue.

17-year-old in Kansas City dies one week after being critically injured in shooting Police say a teenager has died in Kansas City just over a week after being critically injured in a shooting near East 12th Street Denver Ave. The Kansas City, Missouri, Police Department says 17-year-old Kavon Carter died Sunday from gunshot wounds he sustained on May 7, 2023.The shooting was one of several unconnected injury shootings that occurred within rapid succession of one another.

Developing . . .
Right now we'll just let readers dive into our latest collection pop culture, community news and top headlines.



Check TKC news gathering . . .

Cold Didn't Kill Canine Threat

Veterinarians warn dog owners of rise in parvovirus cases due to warmer winter KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Springtime weather brings concerns for dog owners. Veterinarians say parvovirus, which primarily targets puppies, is a bigger problem than usual, after a winter season that wasn't cold enough to kill every virus, including some that affect our dogs.

Golden Ghetto Gunfire Kills

Victim dies from injuries after gunfight outside Overland Park hotel KANSAS CITY, Mo. - One victim of a gunfight May 6 outside an Overland Park hotel died from injuries, the Overland Park Police Department announced Wednesday. Police identified the victim as Damon Payton, of Chicago, Illinois. OPPD said a suspect in the shooting has been identified but is not in custody.

Labor Crisis Hits Local Shores

Jackson County in need of lifeguards to oversee its 2 public beaches KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Jackson County is in need of lifeguards to help keep its two lake beaches open at Longview Lake and Blue Springs Lake. According to the county's parks and rec department, the county has been fighting through an ongoing lifeguard shortage over the past three years.

Excellent Baller Aftermath

Royals stun San Diego in 5-4 thriller After nearly being no-hit last night, the Royals bounced back with a thrilling 5-4 victory on Tuesday against the Padres. The win snaps a four-game slide that began last Friday in Milwaukee. As mentioned in the opening graph, Kansas CIty's offensive woes were alarming on Monday.

Tech Trouble Reconsidered

KC-area AI companies weigh in on industry, regulation It's been seen in movies, music and interacted with in real life. Artificial intelligence has dominated the headlines.Shekhar Gupta has been involved with AI for 20 years, his company uses the tech to predict early disease in livestock and other animals.

Sporting Trans Glam Debated

Sports Illustrated faces backlash for naming transgender female pop star Kim Petras as swimsuit cover model Sports Illustrated came under fire on Monday for using Kim Petras, a transgender female pop star, as one of its cover models for the Swimsuit Edition. It was Petras' first time on the cover of the Swimsuit Edition. Petras joined Martha Stewart, Megan Fox and Brooks Nader as the other cover models for this year's magazine.

White House Stalls Debt Fight

Biden heads for a summit in Japan, leaving a looming crisis at home HIROSHIMA, Japan - President Joe Biden is headed to a summit meeting in Japan meant to unify allies against threats from Russia and China, leaving behind an unresolved fight over the debt ceiling that showcases the disunity surrounding American politics.

MAGA Trolls Opposition

Trump taunts DeSantis over Craft's loss in Kentucky GOP race: 'Ron's magic is GONE!' Former President Trump took a victory lap Wednesday, taunting Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) after two of the governor's endorsees lost their races Tuesday night. Trump endorsed Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron (R), who beat out DeSantis-backed former U.N. Ambassador Kelly Craft in the state's GOP gubernatorial primary.

Battlefield Tech Debated

Did Russia destroy a US Patriot missile defense system? 'Impossible': Live updates Ukraine on Wednesday dismissed claims that a U.S.-built Patriot missile defense system had been destroyed by Russian missiles during a barrage effectively fended off near Kyiv. Moscow claimed it used a hypersonic Kinzhal missile to destroy the system during an overnight strike earlier this week. U.S.

Money Talks

How the debt ceiling showdown could play into China's hands and weaken US global power | CNN Politics President Joe Biden's pledge to the world that "America is back" after a period of political turbulence is looking a little shaky after a debt showdown with Republicans forced him to shorten an Asia-Pacific trip designed to showcase US power amid a challenge from China.

Royal Close Call Redux

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry Involved in 'Near Catastrophic Car Chase' by Paparazzi in New York City Meghan Markle and Prince Harry were involved in a "near catastrophic car chase at the hands of a ring of highly aggressive paparazzi" in New York City. A spokesperson for the couple said in a statement to PEOPLE, "Last night, The Duke and Duchess of Sussex and Ms. Ragland were involved in a near catastrophic car chase at the hands of a ring of highly aggressive paparazzi.

Mum Shares Intimate Deets

I may be a single mom but sex is my top priority - here's my body count It's the reason she became a mom in the first place, after all. Single mother Emily Deeley says she's been slut-shamed by online trolls after declaring that sex is the "most important" thing in her life - but she's refusing to back down from her belief.

Carbs Earn Hipster Love

Dish & Drink KC: Pastry overload at Tous Les Jours and botanical beverages at Cafe Corazon Strawberry Croissant at Tous Les Jours. // Photo by Lauren Textor Treat yourself at Tous Les Jours When I'm having a busy, difficult week, I refuse to just push through it. This results from years of therapy and an active dislike of hustle culture. I need my little treats.

Forecast For Now . . .

Soak up the sun for the next few days in the metro Hide Transcript Show Transcript BEAUTIFUL MORNING, RIGHT? I MEAN, IT'S WONDERFUL. I MEAN, IT'S A LITTLE ON THE COOL SIDE. WE HAVE A LITTLE BIT OF FOG THAT'S GOING TO DISSIPATE SHORTLY AFTER SUNRISE. YOU'RE GOING HAVE A LOT OF SUN FOR TODAY. IT'S GOING TO BE WARM DAYS TODAY.

Shakira - Acrostico is the song of the day and this is the OPEN THREAD for right now.
Today there's a bit of hope that KCPD is working to spark community cooperation against historic violent crime.



Here are some preliminary deets about the plan . . .

KCPD said the initiative was created in conjunction with federal, state and city governments. It was also formed alongside multiple community groups.



A non-exhaustive list of partners includes Partners for Peace, AdHoc Group Against Crime, Mothers in Charge, KC Common Good, the Center for Conflict Resolution and the Mattie Rhoads Center.



All of that is very hopeful.

Here's the downside . . .

WILL RISING DEMANDS FOR LOCAL CONTROL & WORSENING CRITICISM OF THE TOP COP DERAIL PLANS TO FIGHT KANSAS CITY CRIME???

Remember that MOST of the current council spent their time denouncing law enforcement and working diligently to reallocate desperately needed funds.

And Mayor Q claims that the next council could be KC's most "progressive" in history.



Still . . . We're hopeful.

Read more via www.TonysKansasCity.com links . . .

KCPD Chief Stacey Graves announces violent crime initiative with government and community partners The Kansas City, Missouri Police Department is announcing a new initiative to tackle violent crime across the metro. Chief Stacey Graves is holding a press conference at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday to announce the program. KCPD said the initiative was created in conjunction with federal, state and city governments.

Kansas City Police Chief announces new plan to battle crime KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Violent crime across the metro is an issue leaders and the police department have fought for decades. The department has a new plan and hopes to work with metro organizations to change what's happening in Kansas City and make it safer for everyone.

Developing . . .


Mike Adler is a reporter with toronto.com and Metroland Media Toronto who covers Scarborough and other overlooked parts of Toronto. He worked previously for Metroland in York Region.
BRUSSELS, May 17 (Xinhua) -- The European Commission proposes to simplify customs procedures for goods entering the European Union (EU) and to modernize the Customs Union, Paolo Gentiloni, European commissioner for trade, said here on Wednesday.

The proposed reforms will entail the development of a new partnership with businesses, a smarter approach to custom checks and a more modern approach to e-commerce.

Under the proposed reform of the Customs Union, procedures will be simplified for businesses importing goods into the EU. They will be able to log all information on their products and supply chains into a single portal, the EU Customs Data Hub, which will compile all data and provide authorities with an overview of supply chains and the movement of goods.

The Data Hub will open for e-commerce consignments in 2028, followed (on a voluntary basis) by other importers in 2032. A review in 2035 will assess whether this possibility can be extended to all traders when the hub becomes mandatory as from 2038.

The hub will ultimately replace existing customs information technology (IT) systems in EU member states and will save up to 2 billion euros (2.16 billion U.S. dollars) a year in operating costs.

A new EU Customs Authority will oversee the hub. It will pool information and expertise at the EU level and assess data provided through the hub.

By using artificial intelligence (AI), the system will allow EU customs authorities to stop illegal goods from entering the EU, and to collect duties and taxes that will be redirected towards the member states' national budgets.

The Customs Authority will help EU member states prioritize the right risks, coordinate their checks and inspections, and improve cooperation between customs, market surveillance and law enforcement authorities at both EU and national levels.

The reform will make online platforms key actors in ensuring that goods sold online into the EU comply with all customs obligations. The current system puts the responsibility on the individual consumer and carriers. Platforms will be responsible for ensuring that customs duties and value-added tax (VAT) are paid at purchase, so consumers will no longer be hit with hidden charges or unexpected paperwork when the parcel arrives.

The proposed reform also abolishes the current threshold whereby goods valued at less than 150 euros are exempt from customs duty, which is heavily exploited by fraudsters. Today, up to 65 percent of parcels imported into the EU are undervalued.

Duty calculation for the most common low-value goods brought into the EU will also be simplified, reducing the customs duty categories from thousands to just four.

The new e-commerce regime is expected to bring in 1 billion euros a year in additional custom revenues.

The Customs Union has been in place since 1968. The Commission's reform proposal now needs to be agreed upon by the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union, and will be sent to the European Economic and Social Committee for consultation. (1 euro= 1.08 U.S. dollar) 
Dubai-based Glamour Yacht offers an exclusive range of luxury yachts for sale in Dubai. Their expertise in catering to the tastes of yacht enthusiasts in the region has made them a top-tier brokerage firm.



(TRAVPR.COM) UNITED ARAB EMIRATE - May 17th, 2023 -

Dubai, UAE: Dubai-based Glamour Yacht offers an exclusive range of luxury yachts for sale in Dubai. Their expertise in catering to the tastes of yacht enthusiasts in the region has made them a top-tier brokerage firm. Indulge in the ultimate luxury experience with the brokerage firms yacht selection of exquisite vessels.

Dubai is a paradise of luxury and natural beauty that beckons yacht owners to experience opulence at sea. GY offers a unique selection of yachts for sale that cater to the diverse preferences of yacht enthusiasts, ranging from modern motor yachts to classic sailing yachts to mega superyachts. Every yacht is handpicked by seasoned brokers, ensuring that you enjoy the ultimate yachting experience on the Dubai coastline.

"Glamour Yacht pledges an exceptional purchasing experience for clients - from beginning to end. A yacht purchase is a big deal, which is why we collaborate closely with clients to learn their needs and preferences and present them with ideal options that complement their lifestyle and budget," said the spokesperson of the company.

Dubai's yacht market is growing rapidly, and GY is proud to be at the forefront of this expansion. Expert yacht brokers at our company possess an in-depth knowledge of the local yacht market. We work with top dealers and brokers in the area, including Gulf Craft, Majesty Yachts, and Al Wasl Yachts, among others. Trust us to assist you in making a well-informed decision when selecting your dream yacht.

Finding the perfect yacht for sale in Dubai is a breeze with GY's unparalleled network and expertise. Trust us to match you with your dream vessel.

"As Dubai's premier yacht broker, we are proud of our top-notch customer service and detail-oriented approach. We have implemented an efficient process for your stress-free buying experience," added the spokesperson. "As the leader in the industry, we eagerly anticipate satisfying the desires of all yacht enthusiasts in the region."

About the Company

Glamour Yacht is the best yacht brokerage firm based in Dubai that specializes in the sale, purchase, and consultancy services of luxury yachts. With our help, you can find the best yachts for sale in Dubai, evaluate them for quality and value, and overall, ensure a smooth and hassle-free buying process.

For more information about Glamour Yacht and its services, visit the company's website at https://www.glamour-yacht.com/ or contact them at info@glamour-yacht.com.

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A man wades through a flooded road after the Kupa River overflowed in Selce near Karlovac, Croatia, on May 17, 2023. Heavy rainfall from last Friday has caused widespread floods in Croatia, triggering the declaration of a state of emergency in the country's central and southeastern areas of Karlovac and Kostajnica. Meanwhile, heavy rainfall has also triggered flood warnings or caused flooding and damages across Central Europe. (Luka Stanzl/PIXSELL via Xinhua)

ZAGREB, May 17 (Xinhua) -- Heavy rainfall from last Friday has caused widespread floods in Croatia, triggering the declaration of a state of emergency in the country's central and southeastern areas of Karlovac and Kostajnica. Meanwhile, heavy rainfall has also triggered flood warnings or caused flooding and damages across Central Europe.

STATE OF EMERGENCY

Heavy rainfall has led to a sharp rise of the water levels of the Kupa River and Korana River in the Karlovac area, where a state of emergency was declared. The situation is likewise critical in the area of Kostajnica, a small town on the Croatian-Bosnian border where the heavy rain caused the River Una to overflow its banks.

Temporary flood barriers and sandbags have been installed along various rivers, including the Kupa River in Karlovac and the Una River in Kostajnica, in efforts to control the rising waters, anticipated to reach their peak levels on Wednesday, according to local media reports.

"What affects us are the heavy downpours. All forces are on the ground. They worked all night, and the pumps did not stop," Dalibor Bisca, mayor of Kostajnica, told the local radio station "In the First Network."

Meanwhile, the situation in Varazdin County in northern Croatia is also at risk as houses and roads are flooded, and some roads are closed due to the floods. In the Zadar area in western Croatia, heavy rain caused a record-high water level of the River Zrmanja on Monday, flooding towns and villages.

According to Croatia's State Hydrometeorological Institute, a total of 256.4 mm of rain fell per square meter on Monday in Gracac in Zadar County, the highest since records began in 1960.

In face of heavy damages of flooded fields, homes and closed roads, Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic promised on Tuesday that the government would provide all necessary funding and aid to the floods-devastated areas.

"We must be prepared for heavy floods, urban floods. Everyone will have to contribute," Davor Bozinovic, Croatian minister of the interior told reporters as he visited the flooded parts of northern Croatia on Wednesday.

There have been no reports of human casualties so far in floods in Croatia.

ACROSS CENTRAL EUROPE

Croatia's neighbors, including Slovenia, Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), are also experiencing heavy rainfalls and floods.

Due to the heavy rainfall and the high level of water in Slovenian rivers, the Geological Survey of Slovenia has warned of flooding as well as the increased probability of landslides, especially in the eastern part of the country.

The floods, caused by the overflow of the rivers Krka, Pesnica and Scavnica in Slovenia, could even flood on a larger scale as heavy rain was expected to continue on Wednesday, said the Geological Survey of Slovenia.

Meanwhile, situations in Austria and BiH are similar as heavy rainfalls have caused flooding and damages.

In Italy, the recent spell of wet and stormy weather has shown no sign of letting up this week and could last until the end of the month, if not beyond, bringing heavy rain and possible floods, according to local meteorologists.

Italy has already experienced 89 storms so far in the first half of May, causing damages to crops, according to the farmer's association Coldiretti. Recent forecasts indicate that torrential rain could fall in parts of Italy and bring the risk of flash floods.

Heavy rainfall has also been forecast across parts of Central Europe through at least Wednesday and the affected area includes much of Austria, Liechtenstein, Slovakia, parts of southern Germany, and central and eastern Switzerland, as the meteorological agencies of the respective countries have issued orange rainfall warnings for these areas.

European meteorologists have warned that the impact of climate change, which brings extreme weather including heavy rainfall and flooding, will become more frequent in the future. 

Aerial photo taken on May 17, 2023 shows a flooded area in Duga Resa, Croatia. Heavy rainfall from last Friday has caused widespread floods in Croatia, triggering the declaration of a state of emergency in the country's central and southeastern areas of Karlovac and Kostajnica. Meanwhile, heavy rainfall has also triggered flood warnings or caused flooding and damages across Central Europe. (Luka Stanzl/PIXSELL via Xinhua)

Aerial photo taken on May 17, 2023 shows flooded houses near the Una River in Kostajnica, Croatia. Heavy rainfall from last Friday has caused widespread floods in Croatia, triggering the declaration of a state of emergency in the country's central and southeastern areas of Karlovac and Kostajnica. Meanwhile, heavy rainfall has also triggered flood warnings or caused flooding and damages across Central Europe. (Igor Soban/PIXSELL via Xinhua)
I had reserved a rental car through hertz.com to use during our entire vacation from February 12, 2023 to February 19, 2023. The total cost of renting such a car was $287. 54

When we arrived at Liberia airport on Sunday afternoon February 12, 2023 and approached the Hertz counter, we were told that there were no rental cars available because some people have not returned their cars." At the Hertz counter, there were two individuals; one, Robert Mora told us that there were no cars available, but that he and his associate would work to try to find us a car with another company.

The other individual at the counter, then went on his phone, using WhatsApp and showed us several pictures of vehicles that were being returned to the airport via different companies. This individual told us that "there was only one car available" in the entire Liberia airport and that they were going fast. He told us that we would have to pay over $900 in CASH in order to secure this vehicle for the week. He did not provide the name of the company nor any other pertinent details about the vehicle. He pressured us and rushed us to make a decision on this car before it "went to someone else." When I asked for contract documentation, he did not provide it.

Mr. Mora then told us to go outside the airport and wait to be picked up by an unspecified individual with an unspecified local rental car company. We were picked up by a representative from Tico car rental company who escorted us to a vacant parking lot next to the airport and showed us a vehicle for rent.The representative from this car company asked for personal information, including photographs of our passports and drivers license and took biographical information to complete his form. At this point, we became uncomfortable with the rushed and suspicious nature of this process since there was no contract and the paperwork we were shown did not have any contact information on it. Being uncomfortable with this arrangement, we asked to be taken back to the airport rental car center to secure other means of transportation.

Once back in the rental car center of Liberia airport, we then contacted Economy rental car company, a known and recognized car rental company in Costa Rica with reviews. As a result of being left in Liberia airport and needing to be in Manuel Antonio, that evening (4 hours away) we had no choice but to rent a car for the week from Economy for the exorbitant sum of $1971. 29

On February 19, 2023 we went to the local Hertz office in Liberia and spoke to general manager, Roberto Calderon who directed us to email our complaints. He took my information and told me that "Juan Carlos" would be reaching out to me in the next day or so. As expected, no one has reached out. Additionally we have reached out to Hertz several times without a response

Edited: 02 May 2023, 09:46
CHICAGO, May 16 (Xinhua) -- Some 80 American students gathered in the Field Museum in downtown Chicago early this week to have a taste of Chinese food and an in-person experience of Chinese culture on the Chinese Culture Day jointly hosted by the Chinese Consulate in Chicago and the Field Museum.

Several teenagers performed Chinese Kongfu on a makeshift platform in the museum's central hall. They did somersaults and performed stick-fighting and sword dance. The performance received acclaim from both event participants and bystanders.

Chinese traditional instruments, Chinese folk dance, Peking Opera, and Tai Chi dance all took turns on stage. A student from Chicago-based DePaul University performed the Chinese song "I Love You, China," and students from George Westinghouse College Prep High School performed Fan Dance.

Aside from the stage, there was a row of tables with Rabbit plush toys, craft fans, Chinese knots, Beijing Opera facial masks, Chinese folk artwork pendants, paper cuts, and books and films about Chinese landscapes and food.

Caleb Feltis, the champion of 2023 U.S. Midwest University "Chinese Bridge" Speech Competition, shared his Chinese learning experience.

In the first year of learning Chinese, "I feel like learning Chinese is an insurmountable gap ... a challenge," Feltis said. "Now I have changed my attitude. I no longer take learning Chinese as a challenge, instead, I take it as a process ... I am excited about learning something new and improving my Chinese proficiency."

Deborah Bekken, director of the Field Museum's Gantz Family Collections Center, said that the Field Museum is happy to once again be a partner for the Chinese Culture Day. "Field Museum has a long and productive history with China."

Stone tools from the ancient site of Zhoukoudian, Shang Dynasty bronzes, Han jades, Tang ceramics, Song rubbings, Ming paintings, and Qing fabrics are among the museum's rich Chinese anthropological collections.

"The museum's research in botany, paleontology, and meteoritics have benefited from China-U.S. collaboration," she said. "The continuation of our research in China would not be possible without (Chinese and American) people's friendship and cooperation." 
The National Security Minister says he's "not involved in any form or manner of approval of 
Germany will allocate EUR 11 billion in defense assistance to Ukraine.

Thats according to President Volodymyr Zelensky, who spoke in a video address to the nation Monday evening, Ukrinform reports.

I am grateful to the UK for agreeing to train our pilots. We are creating a coalition to train pilots on modern Western aircraft. The UK agreed, Poland agreed, and I'm sure France and other partners will join. We continue our work on the fighter jet coalition as well, and we are moving forward actively. Of course, I am grateful to the UK for the long-range capabilities for our warriors," Zelensky said.

Read also: Ukrainian intelligence officers to receive 105 more Vector UAVs from Germany

He also thanked Italy for its help in protecting the lives of Ukrainians  from protecting the sky to preparing for the full post-war reconstruction of Ukraine.

The head of state also thanked Germany for the largest defense package worth EUR 2.7 billion. It includes IRIS-T air defense systems of various modifications, a lot of missiles for them, as well as guns, shells, and armored vehicles.

In addition, the president noted that Germany would support Ukraine in the long term, with 11 billion euros purely for defense.

Germany also participates in the European Peace Facility, which strengthens Ukraines defenses, Zelensky added.

The president thanked France for new opportunities for Ukrainian soldiers in countering Russian terror, for additional equipment and armored vehicles, and for its help in consolidating partners.

Read also: Zelensky says agreements reached on powerful military aid packages for Ukraine

"So, the main results of these days are new weapons for Ukraine, respect for Ukrainians, and our victory has been brought closer," he concluded.

As reported, President Volodymyr Zelensky is visiting Great Britain on Monday, the day before he visited France and Germany, and Italy  on May 13.

Photo: Ukrainian Presidents Office
France and several other European countries are ready to start training Ukrainian military pilots soon.

French President Emmanuel Macron said this in an interview with TF1, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

"Together with a few other European states that are also ready for this, we have opened the door to pilot training," Macron said.

According to him, this issue is currently being "discussed with the Americans". "Training can already start now," Frances president said.

He added that France remains determined to help Ukraine repel Russian aggression. "There is a lot at stake now, as the success of the counteroffensive will be critical to the ability to achieve lasting peace," Macron stressed.

As reported, President Volodymyr Zelensky visited Germany on May 14 right after he came to France where he met with President Macron.
UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte have agreed to work on the creation of an international coalition to help supply fighter jets to Ukraine.

They stated that at a meeting within the framework of the Council of Europe summit, Andriy Yermak, the head of the Ukrainian Presidents Office, announced this on Telegram, Ukrinform reports.

"We need F-16s and I thank the allies for the decision to work in this direction, including the training of our pilots. In particular, Belgium has confirmed its willingness to train," Yermak wrote.

At the meeting, UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak reiterated that Ukraine's place is in NATO. The British and Dutch leaders agreed on the importance of allies providing long-term security support to Ukraine.

As Ukrinform reported, since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Warsaw has handed over 14 MiG-29 fighter jets and 325 tanks to Kyiv.
Ukraine's resistance to Russian aggression has become an important lesson for Taiwan, showing how a smaller military can successfully defend against a larger one.

U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said this at a Senate hearing on Tuesday, May 16, according to an Ukrinform correspondent.

"One of those lessons is that with asymmetric capabilities and asymmetric tactics and techniques, a smaller force can do a really good job in defending themselves against a larger force," he said.

He noted that thanks to international support in the form of weapons, equipment, ammunition, and training, Ukrainian troops had not only prevented Russia from seizing their country, but have also recaptured areas earlier seized by Moscow.

Austin also said the United States was ready to provide Taiwan with all the necessary assistance, as has been done with Ukraine.

Photo: AA
President of Hungary Katalin Novak condemned "Russia's insane decision of attacking Ukraine" and emphasized the need to punish all those involved in war crimes in Ukraine.

Novak stated this in a speech at the summit of the Council of Europe in Reykjavik, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

There is a brutal war ranging on the continental Europe and the peaceful way of our living is under attack. Russias insane decision of attacking Ukraine - a direct neighbor to Hungary - turned our world upside down. Therefore, we need to take a unified and firm position. The armed attack and aggression against the sovereign state is unacceptable. War crimes must be investigated. War criminals need to face the might of the justice system, she said.

Read also: Germany states that not participating in negotiations on creation of aviation coalition for Ukraine

The President of Hungary emphasized the need to achieve a "just peace" - "when all conditions of a just peace are met, conditions which permit not only a ceasefire, but also a real long-term peace, accompanied by reconciliation."

As reported by Ukrinform, at the summit of the Council of Europe in Reykjavik, 43 countries and the EU signed an agreement on the creation of a register of damage caused by the Russian aggression against Ukraine.
NEW YORK, May 16 (Xinhua) -- Detroit, the largest city in the midwestern U.S. state of Michigan, is "very anxious" to rebuild "a strong economic partnership with the Chinese economies," the city's mayor has said.

"Our relationship with the Chinese is something that needs to be restarted. It was something I placed a high priority on when I got elected," said Michael E. Duggan, who was re-elected as the mayor of Detroit in 2021, in response to a question by Xinhua at a recent Zoom briefing on the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Transportation and Trade Ministerial Meetings.

Duggan recalled his visit to China on a trade mission about six years ago.

"And we in particular were partnering with the city of Shenzhen. The leadership -- both the mayor and the party leader -- came here to Michigan, and we talked about building a sister city relationship," he said.

During his visit to China, Duggan said, he visited Beijing, Shenzhen and Guangzhou, and spent a lot of time with "15 or 20 leaders of manufacturing in China."

The next year the leaders of Shenzhen came back to Detroit and the two sides signed a friendship agreement, "which is one step short of a formal sister city relationship, and we had a number of cultural exchanges with Shenzhen," said Duggan.

"I'm very anxious for us to get back to that and go back to building a strong economic partnership with the Chinese economies," said Duggan. 
There are no legal obstacles to the creation of a Special Tribunal regarding Russia's aggression against Ukraine, only political will is needed.

President Egils Levits of Latvia made this statement during his speech at the Council of Europe summit in Reykjavik, as reported by a correspondent from Ukrinform.

"Today, Russia is adding a bloody chapter to European history. Aggressive warfare is the greatest international crime. Unfortunately, the International Criminal Court lacks jurisdiction in this case. And this is an intolerable gap in international law," he said.

The Latvian President further added that immediately after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine by Russia, he proposed the establishment of an ad hoc international tribunal to address this case.

"This is necessary for three reasons: first, to restore justice for Ukraine; second, to uphold the standards of international law established after World War II that prohibit aggressive warfare; and third, to not undermine trust in our democratic values," he added.

Levits noted that Latvia and dozens of other countries are already working together within the United Nations on the creation of an international special tribunal for the Russian crime of aggression.

"Legally, it is possible. All that is needed is political will. I call upon all of you, colleagues, to join this initiative," he stated.

The Latvian President also emphasized that Russia must compensate Ukraine for all the damages incurred during the aggression. "Therefore, I welcome the decision to establish a Registry of Damages caused by Russia's aggression against Ukraine," he added.

As Ukrinform reported earlier, at the Council of Europe summit in Reykjavik, over 40 countries and the EU signed an agreement to create a Registry of Damages caused to Ukraine by Russia's aggression.

The Registry of Damages is being established as a platform for intergovernmental cooperation within the institutional framework of the Council of Europe.

Additionally, Ukraine, together with its partners, is advancing the creation of a special tribunal to hold the leadership of the Russian Federation criminally responsible for the crime of aggression against Ukraine.

The establishment of such a tribunal has been supported by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, the European Parliament, the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, and individual states.
Ukraine and South Korea signed an intergovernmental preliminary agreement on loans granted by the Economic Development Co-operation Fund (EDCF), administered by the Export-Import Bank of Korea.

As the Ministry of Economy of Ukraine informs, the document was signed within the framework of the Asian Leadership Conference during the visit of the Ukrainian delegation to the Republic of Korea. First Deputy Prime Minister  Minister of Economy Yulia Svyrydenko represented Ukraine at the signing ceremony.

According to her, Ukraine is on the list of priority countries for bilateral cooperation with the Republic of Korea within the Official Development Assistance (ODA) program.

"The possibility of receiving the first tranche from EDCF in the amount of up to $300 million will appear already in 2023 within three to four months upon signing the second stage of the agreement which is expected one month after today's extremely important event. The next tranche of up to $3 billion will become available in 2024 with a gradual increase in the limit to $8 billion as the pipeline of projects fills up. Ukraine will also be able to use Korean capabilities and experience for the post-war reconstruction of destroyed infrastructure, industrial, and civilian facilities," Svyrydenko emphasized.

It is noted that the funds will be attracted for a long-term period at minimal interest: the term of the loan can be up to 40 years at 0.15% per annum with a 10-year loan deferment. Loans will be provided by the Export-Import Bank of Korea within the framework of EDCF.

"We hope that all the formalities will be completed in the coming weeks and we will be able to present the first projects that can be financed by the Fund to the business communities of our countries," Svyrydenko noted.

To attract financing for specific projects, separate loan agreements will be concluded. For its part, the Korean government may provide grants and technical assistance for project preparation and evaluation.

In addition, it is planned to open an EDCF office in Ukraine.

"Implementation of the agreement will open up new opportunities for business cooperation of both countries. We count on the active participation of Korean business in the post-war reconstruction of our country, and today's signing will allow us to attract significant investments from South Korea for the location of new technological factories in Ukraine in strategically important industries in partnership with global Korean corporations," Svyrydenko stressed.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has met with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron in Paris.

That's according to the website of the Office of the President of Ukraine, Ukrinform reports.

"The meeting focused on France's military assistance to Ukraine, in particular, the priority needs of our country to strengthen its defense capabilities and protect Ukrainian skies," the report reads.

Both parties also discussed practical cooperation to strengthen the capacity of Ukraine's defense forces to launch an effective counteroffensive and liberate the occupied territories.

Zelensky thanked Macron for his leadership and expressed hope that France would support the principled joint decision of the allies to form a "coalition of fighter jets," which Ukraine has been looking forward to for a long time.

The two also discussed cooperation for the effective implementation of the Ukrainian Peace Formula. Zelensky expressed hope for the involvement of as many countries as possible, particularly those of the Global South, in the Global Peace Summit to be held this year. He thanked Macron for his diplomatic efforts aimed at ending Russia's war against Ukraine and achieving a just peace based on the Ukrainian Peace Formula.

Zelensky and Macron also discussed France's support for Ukraine's European and Euro-Atlantic integration. Zelensky thanked the French leader for his consistent support of Ukraine on its path to EU membership and expressed hope that a decision would be made to start negotiations on Ukraine's accession to the EU in 2023.

The Ukrainian and French presidents also discussed further steps on Ukraine's path to NATO membership. Zelensky said Ukraine expects specific political decisions of the NATO Summit in Vilnius in response to its application for membership in the military alliance.

"We expect the Alliance to make concrete decisions on a clear algorithm of Ukraine's movement towards NATO membership and on guaranteeing the security of our country for the period until membership," Zelensky said.

Photo: Office of the President of Ukraine
The Head of the Armenian Government, Nikol Pashinyan, said his country could not afford to fall under international sanctions due to its cooperation with the Russian Federation.

He said this in an interview with the Czech publication Respekt, Ukrinform reports with reference to Armenpress.

Pashinyan has noted that Armenia tries to be as transparent as possible as regards sanctioned goods. "We cooperate with the EU, U.S., and even with Russia itself," he said.

Pashinyan added that, after sanctions were imposed on Russia over the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, new logistics routes were created for many goods, including through the territory of Armenia.

Read also: Fighting resumes on border of Azerbaijan and Armenia

"Wherever there is an opportunity, we are happy to meet Russias demand. Sanctions are our red line. And we say this very clearly to Russia: we do not want to harm you but we cannot afford to fall under sanctions ourselves," said Pashinyan.

As reported earlier, Armenias ruling party has neither the desire nor the intention to detain the President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin, should he arrive in the country, despite the fact that the Constitutional Court recognized the obligations established by the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court as consistent with the country's constitution.
The heads of state and government of 46 member countries of the Council of Europe have called on Russia to immediately and unconditionally withdraw all its troops from Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova.

That's according to the final document of the Council of Europe summit entitled "Reykjavik Declaration - United around Our Values," Ukrinform reports.

The document states that the heads of state and government of the member states of the Council of Europe gathered in Reykjavik on May 16-17, 2023, "to stand united against Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine and to give further priority and direction to the Council of Europe's work."

It was pointed out that the Council of Europe is a peace project, built on the promise of "never again," a promise that has been fundamentally challenged by Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine. Against this background, the leaders of Europe stated their "resolve to unite around our values and against Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine, a flagrant violation of international law and everything we stand for."

Photo: Council of Europe / Facebook

"We stand in solidarity with those affected by Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine and Russia's aggression against Georgia which we condemn in the strongest possible terms. We call, collectively, on the Russian Federation to comply with its international obligations and to immediately withdraw completely and unconditionally its forces from Ukraine, Georgia and the Republic of Moldova. We reassert our unwavering support for their sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity, within their internationally recognized borders," the declaration said.

The heads of state and government of 46 countries also emphasized that Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine "is not just a violation of international law, but an attack on our democracies."

A two-day summit of heads of state and government of 46 member countries of the Council of Europe was held in Iceland's capital on May 16-17. One of the main issues on the agenda of the summit was the creation of an international register of damages caused by Russia's aggression against Ukraine.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky considers the visit of the Ukrainian delegation to the Republic of Korea successful.

A Ukrainian delegation visited the Republic of Korea, and it was a pretty successful visit. Government officials, the First Lady of Ukraine. There were meetings, negotiations at various levels, and Olena's address to the people of Korea and all the nations of the region at the important Asian Leadership Forum. I thank Mr. President of the Republic of Korea for his clear condemnation of Russian aggression and support of global efforts for peace, Zelensky said in his evening address.

The Head of State also expressed his gratitude to the French Senate which today voted to recognize the Holodomor of 1932-33 as genocide of the Ukrainian people.

I would like to thank the parliamentarians of the two European countries. Today, the French Senate voted to recognize the Holodomor of 1932-33 as genocide of the Ukrainian people. I am grateful to everyone who supported this decision. Strengthening historical truth is the mission of the strong, the President stressed.

In addition, the President thanked the Estonian Parliament for the statement in support of Ukraines aspiration to become a full-fledged NATO member and called on the Alliance to support this decision. I thank all the Estonian people and the entire Estonian political class for such clear support for our common Euro-Atlantic security, Zelensky stressed.

He also noted that there is an important decision of the Council of Europe: the final resolution of the summit held in Iceland supports the Ukrainian Peace Formula. It is important that Europe is so united for the sake of a fair peace plan. I thank all the leaders of our Europe and every member state of the Council of Europe for this, the Head of State added.

Based on this consolidation, Zelensky said, we will continue to limit the ability of the terrorist state to continue this aggression and will further increase our ability to bring justice, liberate our land, and save our people.
The Parliament of Iceland supported a proposal to send a field hospital to Ukraine.

Prime Minister of Iceland Katrin Jakobsdottir wrote this on Twitter, Ukrinform reports.

All parties in the Icelandic parliament have united in proposing that Iceland will give a field hospital to Ukraine, the report says.

The prime minister stressed that Iceland remains committed to supporting the Ukrainian people: this gesture is a symbol of our continued solidarity.

As reported, since Russias full-scale invasion, Iceland has provided Ukraine with an aid worth more than $25 million.
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Published May 17, 2023

MONROE, LA  Almost five years ago, ULM entered into a licensing arrangement with Oleolive Inc, a private biotechnology company, to develop the marketing and commercialization of Dr. Khalid El Sayeds research on the health benefits of olive oil. Dr. El Sayeds research isolated oleocanthal, a phenolic compound found in trace amounts in olive oil and demonstrated oleocanthals contribution to the health beneficial properties of extra virgin olive oil (EVOO).

The result is a product that has been branded Oligen.

Kiley Grant, CEO of Oleolive claims, Oligen has been in the works for more than five years. Our partnership with ULM has resulted in more than $5 million in additional grant funding and millions more in private equity investment.

ULMs Office of Innovation and Research noted how the process has also included protecting the intellectual property while expanding the potential for commercialization. Chief Innovation and Research Officer John W. Sutherlin, PhD, remarked, What Dr. El Sayed did in the laboratory was the critical first step of this effort. Working with Oleolive was the next step.

Grant added, Working closely with ULM researchers, especially Dr. Khalid El Sayed, Oleolive has done extensive testing before going to the market in order to gain the trust of consumers in that our product is of the highest grade possible with documented benefits. We stand behind all of the claims made.

ULM President Ron Berry commented, Few universities can claim to bring products to market. What our faculty and staff have accomplished is remarkable.

The research regarding oleocanthal has been extensive. Thousands of articles from universities and other publications around the world have demonstrated for years the benefits of oleocanthal as well as other polyphenols found in EVOO. ULMs role in facilitating this research has been crucial, especially as it relates to health matters related to those getting older.

Jim Cardelli, PhD and Chief Technology Officer of Oleolive, sees the promise in healthy aging for those using the product. He stated, Promoting the effects of Oligen has been based on the vast amount of supportive peer-reviewed science publications. This product has decades of scientific health-based support.

Those interested in purchasing the product may do so through Oleolives site at https://oleocanthal.co/. The ULM community can receive a discount by entering the promotional code Hawks4Health.
Amman: According to his attorney, a Jordanian lawmaker was charged in his country on Tuesday with attempting to smuggle weapons into the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

If found guilty, Imad Al-Adwan, 35, could receive a 15-year prison term. On April 22, he was apprehended at the Israel-managed Allenby (King Hussein) crossing between Jordan and the West Bank. At the time, Israel's Shin Bet internal security agency claimed that Israeli security forces had discovered 12 rifles and 194 pistols in his car.

He was later given to Jordanian authorities by Israel. Imad Al-Adwan appeared today before the state security court and was questioned by the prosecutor following the confiscation of firearms and gold in his possession by the Israeli authorities," his attorney, Ali Al-Mubaeedin, told AFP.

Also Read: In a high-level corruption case, Ukraine detains the head of the Supreme Court

The lawyer continued, "The MP is accused of exporting weapons with the intent to use them illegally and of engaging in conduct that is likely to disturb public order and jeopardise national security."

After Egypt, Jordan was the second Arab nation to recognise and ratify a peace treaty with Israel in 1994. According to an earlier report from Jordan's official Petra news agency, "other defendants admitted to trading and smuggling weapons, gold, and e-cigarettes in association" with Adwan.

Also Read: Africa sends peacekeeping mission to Ukraine Ramaphosa, Russia

According to Ahmad Safadi, speaker of the lower house of the Jordanian parliament, after Adwan was freed by Israel, the legislature voted to remove his immunity from prosecution in response to a court order.

Adwan is a lawyer who serves on the Palestine committee of the Jordanian parliament.

Adwan allegedly used his diplomatic passport 12 times since February 2022 to smuggle various items, including "birds, pigeons, electronic cigarettes, and gold," according to a Shin Bet statement.

Also Read: Following the damage caused by Israeli airstrikes, activists demand retaliation hospital run by Indonesians

He started smuggling weapons across the border at the start of this year "out of greed, and received large sums of money," it continued.

The West Bank has been under Israeli control since the Six-Day War in 1967. This year, the violence in the region has gotten worse as a result of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Xantana / Getty Images/iStockphoto

With the cost of living in the United States soaring, more and more people are setting their sights on an international destination that won't break the bank. Some locales are so affordable that with enough savings, you may be able to quit your job or just work part time and still live in the lap of luxury.

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International Living released its annual report on the World's Best Places to Retire, and the results may surprise you. From coastal getaways to European hotspots, several of the countries are not only beautiful, but they are also extremely inexpensive.

So, while the list is geared toward retirees, these countries may be great options for anyone with a healthy savings account or who doesn't mind living on a budget.

Rudimencial / Getty Images

Uruguay

Currently, the cost of living in the United States is $2,213, with rent for one person costing an average of $1,399 per month. Even with a steady income, living in the U.S. has become unaffordable for many.

Read: 5 Expensive Renovations Homeowners Always Regret

Next: 15 Cities Where Houses Are Best Bargains Right Now

If you are sick of working your 9 to 5, consider the Latin American destination of Uruguay. The country is exquisite, offering nearly 400 miles of coast, rolling hills and four distinct seasons.

The cost of living is nearly half of what it is in the states at $1,143. As noted by International Living, depending on the neighborhood you can find a nice apartment at the reasonable price of $526 per month.

peresanz / Getty Images/iStockphoto

Spain

Whether you want to spend your days soaking up the sun on the Costa del Sol or are more interested in the vibrant cultural and art scene of Madrid, you simply can't go wrong with Spain. The European country is steeped in history, offers great healthcare and has almost every type of geography imaginable.

The cost of living in Spain is approximately $1,246 per month, although it might be more in bigger cities or resort beach towns. Even in the most expensive neighborhoods, it will likely still be somewhat cheaper than the average cost it takes to live in the U.S. Plus, the first-class healthcare will save you big time.

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Malta

Looks can be deceiving. A quick glance at the tiny island (archipelago) of Malta may make you think that only the world's elite could afford to live there. Fortunately, the exact opposite is true. The island boasts a surprisingly affordable cost of living at $1,340 per month.

The country, surrounded by the clear blue waters of the Mediterranean Sea, is stunning. Rent is somewhat expensive, depending on where you live, but it is worth it considering the 360-degree views. Not to mention the fact that food and other things are significantly cheaper than in the United States.

Matteo Colombo / Getty Images

France

If you have ever wanted to dine on world-famous cuisine, shop in the finest boutiques or visit renowned museums, now is your chance. France is a bargain for someone willing to live on a budget. The cost of living in the country is $1,451 or 1.53 times less expensive than in the U.S.

Ex-pats who reside in the country enjoy low-cost healthcare, one-of-a-kind destinations and villas for under $200,000. So, if you have a nice-sized savings or are willing to pick up a part-time gig, you might just be able to drop the morning commute for sipping wine at a chateau in the French countryside.

Grigory Ignatev / Shutterstock.com

Ecuador

For real bargain hunters, a country like Ecuador is cheap and safe with a very comfortable year-round climate. The cost of living for one person in the country is $785. Ecuador is geographically diverse with miles of endless beaches, mountains and rainforests, leaving a little something for everyone.

Housing is economical with the average rent for one person costing around $322 per month. Retirees or young adults hoping to quit the corporate grind in favor of a more enjoyable lifestyle can live in the country for far less than the U.S.

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Starcevic / iStock.com

Colombia

It is no wonder that ex-pats are flocking to Colombia. The country is rich in biodiversity. The large South American country borders the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean. The Andes Mountains carve through the West while the Amazon rainforest sits to the East.

The cost of living in Colombia is almost one-fourth of what it is in the United States at $546 per month. Rent, food and transportation expenses are all markedly less than you would expect to pay in the states.

SeanPavonePhoto / Getty Images/iStockphoto

Portugal

With an estimated cost of living for one person at $1,073, Portugal offers Americans hoping to live abroad a low-priced European option. The country itself is minuscule compared to neighboring Spain, but what it lacks in size it makes up for in culture. Portugal oozes Old World charm and is known for its incredible seaside communities.

The country's public transportation is second-to-none, meaning you may not have to ever purchase a car. With the money you save you may never have to work again.

Mexico

Many Americans, familiar with the tourist-packed cities of Cozumel and Cancun, may shake their head at the idea of living in Mexico, but the country has a lot more to offer. Mexico is an ex-pat's dream. It is close to the states, offers reasonable healthcare and is considerably less expensive than the U.S. The cost of living in the county for one person is $786 per month with the average rent costing only $354.

Mexico is more than just a spring break getaway for college coeds. In addition to the white sandy beaches, it is known for, the country has luscious jungles and sweeping deserts. For Americans looking for a bargain, healthcare is substantially less costly than in the U.S., and becoming a resident is relatively easy.

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Mihai-Bogdan Lazar / Shutterstock.com

Costa Rica

The Central American country of Costa Rica is the perfect place to live abroad without depleting your savings. The cost of living is around $1,000 and rent for one person runs approximately $440 per month.

The tropical destination has cost-effective healthcare and is only a short flight from the Southern United States. The locals, by all accounts, are friendly, welcoming ex-pats with open arms. The weather is gorgeous, the water is warm and the housing is highly affordable.

benedek / Getty Images/iStockphoto

Panama

Panama tops the list of best places in the world to retire, which means it could be a good option for anyone to live cheaply. It is no wonder that it regularly claims the title since the cost of living is under half of what it would cost in the U.S. at $1,112 for one person. Rent runs approximately $588 per month and food takes up another $365, but outside of that costs are minimal.

The country is centrally located, has a mild climate and offers world-class beaches. It seems only fitting that this charming retreat makes the list.

More From GOBankingRates

Laura Beck contributed to the reporting for this article.

This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: 10 Places To Live Abroad So Cheap You Could Quit Your Job
Carriers to codeshare on nine markets and interline on more than 60 others beyond Dubai

MONTREAL, May 17, 2023 /CNW/ - Air Canada and flydubai today announced a new partnership to give customers flying between Canada, the Middle East, East Africa, Indian Subcontinent and Southern Asia more convenient travel options.

Air Canada and flydubai today announced a new partnership to give customers flying between Canada, the Middle East, East Africa, Indian Subcontinent and Southern Asia more convenient travel options. (CNW Group/Air Canada)

Pending final regulatory approval, Air Canada's marketing code will be placed on nine routes operated from Dubai by flydubai, giving customers the ability to travel to these markets with the issuance of a single ticket. The routes include the Middle Eastern cities of Medina, Dammam, Bahrain, Jeddah, and Muscat, as well as flights to Colombo, and Karachi on the Indian Subcontinent.

Additionally, through an interline arrangement, customers will be able to seamlessly connect in Dubai to more than 60 destinations that flydubai flies to in the Middle East, East Africa and Southern Asia  including Kathmandu, Djibouti and the Maldives. Of these destinations, more than 30 are unique to flydubai and not flown by other partners of Air Canada.

"Air Canada is very pleased to partner with flydubai, further expanding our connectivity to the Middle East and the Indian subcontinent, a growing source of immigration and travel to Canada. This new partnership is a perfect complement to Air Canada's non-stop service to Dubai from Toronto and Vancouver, and growing our relationship with Emirates, flydubai's codeshare partner. Together we look forward to bringing together our networks and building a better experience for our customers," said Mark Galardo, Executive Vice President, Revenue and Network Planning at Air Canada.

Commenting on the codeshare announcement, Hamad Obaidalla, Chief Commercial Officer at flydubai, said: "We are very pleased to be adding Air Canada to our list of partners and to offer their passengers a seamless travel experience on the flydubai network. We look forward to growing this partnership that offers passengers the benefits and the convenience of connecting via the Dubai aviation hub and we look forward to welcoming them on board soon."

The airlines also plan on further improving the connection process in Dubai, and are working toward introducing expanded features and benefits for one another's loyalty programme members to be announced later this year.

Seats are available for sale now at aircanada.com, via Air Canada's Contact Centres, and through travel agents.

About Air Canada

Air Canada is Canada's largest airline, the country's flag carrier and a founding member of Star Alliance, the world's most comprehensive air transportation network. Air Canada provides scheduled service directly to more than 180 airports in Canada, the United States and Internationally on six continents. It holds a Four-Star ranking from Skytrax. Air Canada's Aeroplan program is Canada's premier travel loyalty program, where members can earn or redeem points on the world's largest airline partner network of 45 airlines, plus through an extensive range of merchandise, hotel and car rental rewards. Its freight division, Air Canada Cargo, provides air freight lift and connectivity to hundreds of destinations across six continents using Air Canada's passenger and freighter aircraft. Air Canada has committed to a net zero emissions goal from all global operations by 2050. Air Canada shares are publicly traded on the TSX in Canada and the OCTQX in the US.

About flydubai

From its home in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), flydubai has created a network of more than 110 destinations in over 50 countries across the Gulf Cooperation Council (the GCC) and Middle East, Africa, Asia, the Caucasus, Central and South-East Europe, and the Indian Subcontinent. Since commencing operations in June 2009, flydubai has been committed to removing barriers to travel, creating free flows of trade and tourism and enhancing connectivity between different cultures across its ever-expanding network. The airline operates a young fleet of more than 75 Boeing 737 aircraft offering passengers comfortable and convenient travel services whether they travel in Business Class or Economy Class.

flydubai Newsroom: https://news.flydubai.com/

Contact: news@flydubai.com

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Russia and Iran are discussing oil supplies under a swap agreement, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said on Wednesday, adding that Iran is interested in deliveries of oil products to the country's north

TEHRAN (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 17th May, 2023) Russia and Iran are discussing oil supplies under a swap agreement, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said on Wednesday, adding that Iran is interested in deliveries of oil products to the country's north.

"Yesterday we discussed this issue in detail. The Iranian side first of all expressed interest in the supply of oil products to the north of Iran in the amount of 4-5 million tons. In general, such deliveries are possible. Now the Ministry of Energy will work out this issue with our companies," Novak told reporters.
ABU DHABI, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News / WAM - 17th May, 2023) The Authority of Social Contribution  Maan, today signed an agreement with Abu Dhabi Police, to launch a partnership programme aimed at establishing more consistent lifestyles for juveniles and driving their reintegration into society.

Maans overarching goal is to create a collaborative and cohesive community through initiatives that provide innovative and sustainable solutions to social priorities in the Abu Dhabi Emirate, involving partners from the private and public sector to support a thriving Third Sector.

Set to deliver a positive impact for juveniles and facilitate an exploratory journey that encourages new interests, the latest initiative will create intervention in the system and have a long-lasting effect on participants.

This programme will be delivered under Maans social contracting scheme, an innovative and internationally recognised financial tool that supports high-impact social programmes.

Implemented by MAKE, the initiative includes a number of educational and creative how-to courses teaching technical skills, and various handicrafts.

Mohamed Al Mashgouni, Acting Social Incubation and Contracting Executive Director, Maan, said, Maan is collaborating with its strategic partners to foster a culture of social contracting. This will help assess the achievements and objectives of the projects implemented, as well as establish clear methodologies for measuring their impact. By doing so, we can move beyond short-term, achievement-based approach and embrace a more sustainable, long-term vision for achieving social innovation. This approach will enable us to identify unconventional yet efficient, flexible, and effective solutions to address various challenges. Partnerships are at the heart of Maan to enable genuine social impact."

Were thrilled to partner with Abu Dhabi Police to launch the programme with MAKE. The rehabilitation and education of juveniles is so important to not only reduce re-offending, but also increase the impact on society by reintegrating young people with an array of transferable skills, he added.

Brigadier Ahmed Masoud Al Mazrouei, Director of the Police Follow-Up Department at the Community Security Sector, emphasised the Abu Dhabi Police commitment to collaborating with strategic partners on a variety of projects and initiatives aimed at supporting youth development. Our goal is to prepare young people to take responsibility for the future of the UAE, enhance security, and exchange expertise and shared experiences.

Al Mazrouei highlighted his departments commitment to strengthening crime prevention methods through awareness campaigns, educational programmes, and concerted efforts to activate the foundations of security and social awareness.

Al Mazrouei also emphasised the success of the "Hand in Hand" project through collaboration with strategic partners. This initiative focuses on developing the skills and talents of juveniles and minors by partnering with community institutions and government agencies. We also extend a helping hand to juveniles after their rehabilitation, guiding them to find employment opportunities that match their qualifications and skills."

Talal Al Ansari, General Manager, MAKE, stated, "MAKE is committed to creating opportunities for all members of our community to learn and grow. We believe that this partnership will allow us to extend that mission to a group of young people who may be facing significant challenges. By offering hands-on learning experiences, we hope to inspire creativity, curiosity, and a sense of possibility in these young minds. We believe that by catalyzing new skill development and fostering a strong community of makers, we can drive economic growth and spur innovation. Our corporate values of inclusivity, sustainability, community, and capability-building guide us in our mission to inspire creativity and unlock the potential of individuals from all backgrounds.
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ABU DHABI, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News / WAM - 17th May, 2023) The Ministry of Justice is hosting the first conference on the role of central authorities in combatting money laundering and terrorism financing.

The three-day conference is taking place at the ministrys headquarters in Abu Dhabi, with the participation of representatives from central authorities specialising in money laundering and terrorism financing from 31 countries, as well as relevant national entities.

On behalf of Abdullah Sultan bin Awad Al Nuaimi, Minister of Justice, Abdul Rahman Mohammed Al Hammadi, Acting Under-Secretary of the Ministry of Justice, gave a speech stressing that money laundering and terrorism financing pose a serious threat to the world and require stronger cooperation among nations.

He also highlighted the need for drafting strategies and policies to combat both crimes at national and international levels, lauding central authorities in various countries for promoting international cooperation, sharing information and expertise, and supporting investigations and prosecutions.

He then affirmed the need for stronger global partnerships and more direct contact between relevant authorities in all countries, praising the UAEs efforts to combat money laundering and terrorism financing.

A working paper was presented by Judge Abdul Rahman Murad Al Baloushi, Assistant Under-Secretary for Legal Affairs at the Ministry of Justice, who explained the role of the central authority and judiciary authorities in the UAE, as per Federal Law No.

39 for 2006.

He highlighted the roles and responsibilities of the International Cooperation Department and showed a video about the ICAS electronic system, which digitally links all relevant authorities in the UAE responsible for international judicial cooperation, such as the ministries of interior and foreign affairs and international cooperation, the Public Prosecution and its local branches, the Judicial Department, the Financial Information Unit and the Federal Customs Authority.

Al Baloushi added that the Ministry of Justice priorities strengthening international cooperation in addressing financial crimes and organised crimes, and has contributed, in coordination with its strategic partners, to forging several international agreements covering money laundering, terrorism financing, human trafficking, drug smuggling and organised crime, as well as in various legal and judicial areas.

To combat money laundering and coordinate with other national institutions, the Ministry of Justice established a specialist department and signed 37 bilateral, 15 collective and ten regional agreements for mutual legal assistance. These joint and ongoing efforts have made the UAE a successful model and ensured that companies in various sectors follow anti-money laundering and terrorist financing rules.
ABU DHABI, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News / WAM - 17th May, 2023) President His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan has conferred the Order of the Union on Mohammed bin Ahmed Al Bowardi, Minister of State for Defence Affairs, in recognition of his loyal contribution to the nation during a varied 42-year career.

His Highness Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Vice President, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Presidential Court, received Al Bowardi at Qasr Al Watan and presented him with the medal in the presence of several ministers and officials.

His Highness Sheikh Mansour noted that the granting of the award by His Highness the President was an indication of the leaderships keenness to honour loyal Emiratis who play an active role in the ongoing progress and development of the UAE.

His Highness Sheikh Mansour praised the efforts of Al Bowardi in implementing the vision of the UAE's leadership and his dedication to serving the country and its people, acknowledging his determination to excel in all positions across varying levels of responsibility.

He also expressed his best wishes for Al Bowardis ongoing success.

Al Bowardi extended his thanks to President His Highness Sheikh Mohamed for granting him the medal, and commended the leadership's efforts in serving the nation and ensuring its development and prosperity. He stressed that thanks to the directives of His Highness Sheikh Mohamed, the values of giving and hard work are contributing to the country's progress.

The UAE Minister of State for Defence Affairs also expressed his appreciation to His Highness Sheikh Mansour for his significant contribution to the development of the country and its people.

Al Bowardi expressed his pride in receiving the medal as it symbolises the values of loyalty, belonging and giving in service to the nation, which are integral to carrying out the country's pioneering vision, protecting its interests and promoting its ambitions.
Washington, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 17th May, 2023 ) :Sam Altman, the chief executive of ChatGPT's OpenAI, told US lawmakers on Tuesday that regulating artificial intelligence was essential, after his chatbot stunned the world.

The lawmakers stressed their deepest fears of AI's developments, with a leading senator opening the hearing on Capitol Hill with a computer-made voice, sounding remarkably similar to his own, reading a text generated by the bot.

"If you were listening from home, you might have thought that voice was mine and the words from me, but in fact, that voice was not mine," said Senator Richard Blumenthal.

Artificial intelligence technologies "are more than just research experiments. They are no longer fantasies of science fiction, they are real and present," Blumenthal said.

The latest figure to erupt from Silicon Valley, Altman testified before a US Senate subcommittee and urged Congress to impose new rules on big tech, despite deep political divisions that for years have blocked legislation aimed at regulating the internet.

But governments worldwide are under pressure to move quickly after the release of ChatGPT, a bot that can churn out human-like content in an instant, went viral and both wowed and spooked users.

Altman has since become the global face of AI as he both pushes out his company's technology, including to microsoft and scores of companies, and warns that the work could have nefarious effects on society.

"OpenAI was founded on the belief that artificial intelligence has the potential to improve nearly every aspect of our lives, but also that it creates serious risks," Altman told a Senate judiciary subcommittee hearing.

He insisted that in time, generative AI developed by OpenAI will "address some of humanity's biggest challenges, like climate change and curing cancer."However, given the risk to disinformation, jobs and other problems, "we think that regulatory intervention by governments will be critical to mitigate the risks of increasingly powerful models," he said.
Hvidovre, Denmark, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 17th May, 2023 ) :A blood test taken after a miscarriage suffered as early as week five of pregnancy can help explain why it occurred and in some cases lead to preventative treatments, Danish researchers say.

One in 10 women experience pregnancy loss, with the number even higher in countries where pregnancies increasingly occur later in a woman's childbearing years.

Danish gynaecologist Henriette Svarre Nielsen and her team of researchers recently published a study in the British journal The Lancet showing that a blood sample taken from the mother soon after a miscarriage as early as the fifth week of pregnancy can determine whether the foetus had a chromosome anomaly.

In Denmark, such tests are usually only offered after a woman has suffered three miscarriages, and only if they occurred after the tenth pregnancy week.

"This is 2023. We are way beyond just counting as the criteria" to investigate why somebody may be prone to pregnancy loss, Svarre Nielsen of Hvidovre hospital near Copenhagen told AFP.
American Vanguard Corporation (NYSE:AVD) shareholders might be concerned after seeing the share price drop 22% in the last month. But at least the stock is up over the last three years. However, it's unlikely many shareholders are elated with the share price gain of 37% over that time, given the rising market.

While the stock has fallen 9.9% this week, it's worth focusing on the longer term and seeing if the stocks historical returns have been driven by the underlying fundamentals.

See our latest analysis for American Vanguard

While the efficient markets hypothesis continues to be taught by some, it has been proven that markets are over-reactive dynamic systems, and investors are not always rational. 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.

American Vanguard was able to grow its EPS at 23% per year over three years, sending the share price higher. This EPS growth is higher than the 11% average annual increase in the share price. So it seems investors have become more cautious about the company, over time.

You can see below how EPS has changed over time (discover the exact values by clicking on the image).

It's probably worth noting we've seen significant insider buying in the last quarter, which we consider a positive. On the other hand, we think the revenue and earnings trends are much more meaningful measures of the business. This free interactive report on American Vanguard's earnings, revenue and cash flow is a great place to start, if you want to investigate the stock further.

A Different Perspective

American Vanguard shareholders are down 28% for the year (even including dividends), but the market itself is up 0.8%. Even the share prices of good stocks drop sometimes, but we want to see improvements in the fundamental metrics of a business, before getting too interested. Regrettably, last year's performance caps off a bad run, with the shareholders facing a total loss of 4% 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. Investors who like to make money usually check up on insider purchases, such as the price paid, and total amount bought. You can find out about the insider purchases of American Vanguard by clicking this link.

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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Paris, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 17th May, 2023 ) :The Giro d'Italia lost six more cyclists, four of them from former race leader Remco Evenepoel's team, on Wednesday owing to positive Covid tests taking the total of withdrawals due to the virus to 15 since the race began on May 6.

Race favourite Evenepoel had withdrawn late on Sunday due to a positive test and despite the race organisers implementing stricter rules on Monday Covid continues to affect the peloton.

"Soudal Quick-Step is disappointed to announce that four more riders from its Giro d'Italia squad have tested positive for Covid-19 and will leave the race," read a team statement.

"Following the positive test of Remco Evenepoel on Sunday, a further round of tests were made on the riders and staff that remained in Italy, with Jan Hirt, Josef Cerny, Louis Vervaeke and Matteo Cattaneo unfortunately unable to continue." Their withdrawals leaves just three members of the team in the race -- Belgian rider Ilan Van Wilder is the best-placed, 19th some 12 minutes and 7 seconds adrift of the overall leader Geraint Thomas, winner of the 2018 Tour de France.

"We will continue to monitor and implement our testing protocol on the three riders and staff that remain at the race," said team doctor Toon Cruyt in the team statement.

The two other cases were both Italian riders, Andrea Vendrame and Stefano Gandin.

Evenepoel and the others were not obliged to withdraw due to a positive test -- it is at the team's discretion whether a rider carries on or not as the Covid health protocol has been dropped.

Evenepoel's withdrawal had sparked the race organisers to take extra measures.

"In the light of the latest developments concerning positive test results on some riders, the organisers of the Giro d'Italia informs that wearing a facemask will be compulsory in all areas of contact with the riders," said a race statement.

The statement said those areas include team buses and those parts of the start and finish zones of each stage that it supervises.

With Evenepoel's hopes of adding the Giro title to the Vuelta he won last year having been dashed, there was speculation that the 23-year-old might try to gain consolation in competing at the Tour de France.

His Soudal-Quick Step team boss Patrick Lefevere, however, was quick to dismiss the rumours.

"No, he will not be there at the Tour de France," Lefevere told RTBF.

"We are not going to change his programme, it would not be very smart of us.

"He is a young married man who has seen his wife for only 10 days this season.

"The best thing for him is to recuperate and to relax.

"We will then conduct some health examinations post-Covid and adapt his race programme after that."Lefevere said Evenepoel would definitely defend his world road race title in Glasgow at the beginning of August but it "was too early" to talk of bidding for a second successive Vuelta crown which gets underway later that month.
Tokyo, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 17th May, 2023 ) :Japan's economy grew faster than expected in the first quarter, official data showed Wednesday, helped by a recovery in inbound tourism after pandemic border restrictions were lifted.

The 0.4 percent rise in gross domestic product beat market expectations of 0.2 percent, after hopes of a rebound fell flat in the final quarter of last year.

Spending by visitors to Japan "rapidly recovered" in the three months to March, Ryutaro Kono, chief economist at BNP Paribas, said ahead of the GDP data release.

"Domestic household spending also appears to have recovered at an accelerated pace," he added.

The world's third-largest economy fully reopened its borders to foreign tourists in October following two-and-a-half years of Covid restrictions that pummelled the economy.

Japan welcomed nearly five million visitors in the first quarter of 2023 -- still significantly fewer than eight million in the same period of 2019, a record-breaking year for inbound tourism to the country.

Private consumption was up 0.6 percent. Economists said the rise, centred around the service sector including restaurants and hotels, helped offset a negative impact from external trade.

Exports of goods and services shrank 4.2 percent, against the backdrop of a slowing global economy and as the Yen recovered from the lows registered last year.
Cannes, France, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 17th May, 2023 ) :Johnny Depp hit back on Wednesday against years of negative press, telling the Cannes Film Festival that most of the stories about him were "fantastically, horrifically written fiction".

Speaking to reporters a day after the premiere of his new film "Jeanne du Barry" on the festival's opening night, he said he did not care about being boycotted by Hollywood.

"It's a very strange, funny time where everyone must fall into line," he said.

"If you want to live that kind of life, I wish you the best. I'll be on the other side," he added.

"Jeanne du Barry" received a seven-minute standing ovation -- as is customary for opening night films -- and Depp received a warm welcome from fans on the red carpet, taking selfies and signing autographs.

But there was widespread vitriol online from supporters of Depp's ex-wife Amber Heard, with one friend saying that Cannes has a "history (of) supporting rapists and abusers".

Depp won a defamation trial against Heard last year, but remains a toxic figure for many.

But the 59-year-old actor dismissed the years of bad press over her domestic abuse violations as the "stuff you stuff in your shoes or line your parrot cage with."Reviews of the film itself were mixed, with The Guardian saying Depp gave a "purring and peculiar" performance as King Louis XV, the 18th French monarch who fell in love with a prostitute.
(@FahadShabbir)

Kathmandu, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 17th May, 2023 ) :Nepali climber Kami Rita Sherpa reached the top of Mount Everest for the 27th time on Wednesday, reclaiming the record for the most summits of the world's highest mountain.

"He successfully reached the summit this morning guiding a Vietnamese climber," Mingma Sherpa of Seven Summit Treks, his expedition organiser, told AFP.

The 53-year-old had held the title since 2018, when he ascended Everest for the 22nd time, passing the previous mark he shared with two other Sherpa climbers, both of whom have since retired.

But on Sunday another climber, Pasang Dawa Sherpa, 46, tied the record by reaching the top for the 26th time.

A guide for more than two decades, Kami Rita Sherpa first summited the 8,848-metre (29,029-foot) peak in 1994 when working for a commercial expedition.

Since then, he has climbed Everest almost every year, several times leading the first rope-fixing team to open the route to the world's highest point.

"These records were made not with an intention to make them but during my work as a guide," Sherpa told AFP last month as he headed to the base camp.

Dubbed "the Everest man", Sherpa was born in 1970 in Thame, a village in the Himalayas renowned as a breeding ground for successful mountaineers.

Growing up, Sherpa watched his father and then his brother don climbing gear to join expeditions as mountain guides, and was soon following in their footsteps.
Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on Wednesday said that there were immense opportunities for the South Korean businessmen and traders to invest in different sectors of Pakistan, including technology

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 17th May, 2023 ) :Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on Wednesday said that there were immense opportunities for the South Korean businessmen and traders to invest in different sectors of Pakistan, including technology.

The foreign minister expressed these views during a meeting with Ambassador of South Korea to Pakistan Suh Sangpyo who called on him, a press release said.

The foreign minister said both countries enjoyed historic and friendly ties.

He said Pakistan was providing trained human resources to South Korea in different sectors and wanted to further enhance it.

He also reiterated that Pakistan was keen to further strengthen its high-level contacts including cultural heritage cooperation with South Korea.

The Foreign Office Spokesperson, on her twitter handle, separately posted that the foreign minister expressed satisfaction over the growing bilateral economic and development cooperation between the two countries.

He also desired to further strengthen the bilateral cooperation in the domains of climate change, science and technology, export of skilled labour, culture and people to people contacts.
(@FahadShabbir)

The former political leaders of Peshawar and Khyber districts Wednesday led big rallies to express solidarity with the Pakistan Army and Frontier Corps (FC)

PESHAWAR, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 17th May, 2023 ) :The former political leaders of Peshawar and Khyber districts Wednesday led big rallies to express solidarity with the Pakistan Army and Frontier Corps (FC).

The rallies taken out up to Balahisar Fort were attended by a large number of people belonging to all walks of life including former and existing office bearers, local leaders, residents and youth.

The participants raised full throated slogans in favor of Pakistan Army and FC and highly praised their brave soldiers.

They were holding placards and banners inscribed with slogans in favour of Pakistan Army and FC.

They praised the steadfastness and patience of the soldiers of FC North and expressed gratitude to them.

The participants unanimously strongly condemned May 9 attacks on buildings of security institutions and demanded of the government to take decisive action against accused involved in it and award them strict punishment.
WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 18th May, 2023) US President Joe Biden said on Wednesday that he will be meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping regardless if it is soon or not.

"That's my  whether it's soon or not, but we will be meeting," Biden said during a press briefing when asked when he is planning to meet with his Chinese counterpart.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said that the ministry had no information regarding possible contacts between Xi and Biden, despite statements made by the latter.

Last week, Biden said that arrangements for a conversation between him and Xi were in the works and expressed hope that the talks would come to fruition.
(@ChaudhryMAli88)

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 17th May, 2023) The Palace of Westminster in the United Kingdom's capital London is at "real risk" of being destroyed by a catastrophic incident before it is repaired, the lower house's Public Accounts Committee said in a report, published on the UK parliament's website on Wednesday.

"After years of procrastination and debate, resolutions of the House overturned and the exploding costs we saw in restoring just the Elizabeth Tower, it is difficult to have confidence in the future of the project to repair and restore this iconic world heritage site that thousands of people work in and visit every day. But without Parliament and the public having that confidence these critical works will continue to stall, with the real risk that the whole building will be destroyed by a catastrophic incident before the work is done, or perhaps even begun. There are already people on decades-long risk watchlists after being exposed to asbestos in the building; a building that's leaking, dropping masonry and at constant risk of fire," Margaret Hillier, the chair of the committee, said in the report.

The committee said in the report that "questions about what a restored palace might look like and how the work will be undertaken remain unanswered" even though five years have passed after the House determined a course of action. The committee noted that the timeframe and the cost of the repair work "remain uncertain except that the cost will be high and that further delays are hugely costly to the taxpayer." The UK parliament is spending about 2 million Pounds ($2.5 million) a week to patch up the palace, but the number of health and safety incidents is growing, including the use of asbestos, which is hazardous for people when its fibers are inhaled.

In the report, the committee said it expects "a lot more clarity on those critical issues and, finally, a clear indication of the cost and timeline for getting this massive job done before it becomes too late to do so."
MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 17th May, 2023) South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has expressed his desire to pay a visit to Ukraine to discuss Pretoria's peace initiative on the conflict in Ukraine, the Ukrainska Pravda online newspaper reported on Wednesday, citing President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's office.

During a phone conversation with Zelenskyy, Ramaphosa said that would like to visit Ukraine as part of a mission from several African countries, the newspaper said, adding that Zelenskyy welcomed the initiative and expressed readiness to host them.
(@FahadShabbir)

The United Nations is unable to confirm the veracity of remarks made by Ukrainian military intelligence chief Kyrylo Budanov claiming responsibility for recent assassinations of public figures in Russia, but stands against all terrorist attacks and extrajudicial killings, spokesman Stephane Dujarric said on Wednesday

UNITED NATIONS (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 17th May, 2023) The United Nations is unable to confirm the veracity of remarks made by Ukrainian military intelligence chief Kyrylo Budanov claiming responsibility for recent assassinations of public figures in Russia, but stands against all terrorist attacks and extrajudicial killings, spokesman Stephane Dujarric said on Wednesday.

"There's no way to verify the claims that are made, but what I can tell you is that we stand firmly against all acts of terror and extrajudicial executions, wherever they may take place," Dujarric told a briefing.

Earlier in the day, the Russian mission to the UN said it had circulated a letter at the UN Security Council in connection with Budanov's remarks. Russian Ambassador to the United Nations Vassily Nebenzia called them a "flagrant example of hate speech, Russophobia, and incitement to violence on the basis of nationality.

"

In an interview with Yahoo news earlier this month, Budanov when asked about US intelligence reportedly attributing the August car-bomb assassination of Daria Dugina to the Ukrainian government, asked not to "continue with that topic." He added that all he would comment on is that Ukrainian forces "have been killing Russians" and "will keep killing Russians anywhere on the face of this world until the complete victory of Ukraine."

In a YouTube interview published on Tuesday, Budanov admitted Kiev's involvement in recent assassinations of Russian public figures. He bragged that Ukraine had already "got to" many of them.
By Akash Sriram and Hyunjoo Jin

(Reuters) - With Elon Musk outlining plans for Tesla Inc to use traditional advertising for the first time, viewers might see the electric-vehicle maker's Model Y crossover or upcoming Cybertruck pickup - maybe even the billionaire CEO himself - on TV or online.

Musk revealed those plans on Tuesday at the company's annual meeting, an about-face for the celebrity executive who recently acquired social media platform Twitter. He has for years eschewed advertising in favor of seeking to capitalize on his star power and customer enthusiasm for Tesla's vehicles.

"We'll try out a little advertising and see how it goes," he told investors in Austin, Texas.

Tesla shares closed 4.4% higher on Wednesday.

Musk said Tesla is not immune to macroeconomic pressures he foresees over the next year. The EV maker's tweaking of prices in its major markets is a symptom of a company that no longer can take ever-higher levels of demand for granted in the face of growing competition.

Whatever advertising path Musk chooses, ad agency executives and investors expect a unique and irreverent take that will clearly communicate Tesla's advantages, including its technology.

"Tesla has not been like every other car company, and he's not going to start now, so expect breakthrough creative that speaks to Tesla's disruptive technology and personality," said Tal Jacobson, incoming CEO at advertising technology company Perion Network.

"His ability to use the media to amplify his brand and his company's brands is an art form," Jacobson said of Musk.

Musk, who could not be reached for comment, told CNBC on Tuesday that he envisioned advertising that emphasized the features, safety and affordability of Tesla vehicles. A Tesla spokesperson declined to add anything beyond Musk's comments.

Musk told CNBC he did not yet have a "fully formed strategy" for Tesla advertising. He said it should be "informative about a product" and "aesthetically pleasing." He added: "It should have some artistic element to it. And it should be something that you don't regret watching after it's done."

While Tesla disseminates information about its vehicles via its Twitter account, Musk told CNBC that approach is "preaching to the converted and not reaching people that are not already convinced."

Last year, Musk touted the company's "$1 (trillion) valuation with $0 advertising spend" on Twitter.

FUTURISTIC ADS?

Some industry officials mused on whether Musk might attempt a memorable TV ad, perhaps akin to the famous "1984" commercial for Apple Inc's Macintosh computer which was directed by Ridley Scott and aired only during the Super Bowl. Many say that commercial, inspired by George Orwell's dystopian novel of the same name, paved the way for big-budget TV commercials.

"I don't think Musk would spend elaborately on a brand mosaic like Apple did, but ... minimalistic while futuristic is the approach I'd see him taking," said Bob Gruters, chief revenue officer at streaming platform Loop Media.

Some wonder whether Musk may feature himself in the ads, although that may carry risk as the executive can be polarizing.

"Is he an effective ambassador? My guess is that there is a less polarizing, more motivating and compelling way to communicate the brand's benefits than using Musk as a spokesperson," said Kimberly Whitler, a professor at the University of Virginia's business school.

While Musk did not outline a marketing budget, Tesla would likely be perceived as a high-profile account for top advertising companies, said Vivek Astvansh, assistant professor of advertising at Indiana University's business school.

Officials with four of the world's top ad-buying firms - WPP, Omnicom Group, Publicis Groupe and Dentsu Group - could not immediately be reached for comment.

Tesla spent $151,947 on advertising in the U.S. in 2022, according to advertising intelligence firm Vivvix, which measured ads across places including TV, social media, Web banners and billboards. By comparison, Ford and Toyota Motor Corp spent $370 million and $1.1 billion, respectively, while the brands of General Motors Co collectively spent a total of $1.35 billion on U.S. ads last year, Vivvix data showed.

GM last year spent $4 billion globally on advertising and promotions, while Ford Motor Co spent $2.2 billion on advertising, according to U.S. regulatory filings.

TWITTER CONNECTION

Musk's "newfound passion for advertising," in the words of author and venture capitalist Claire Diaz-Ortiz, was not surprising given his takeover of Twitter last fall, she said. Diaz-Ortiz is a former Twitter manager who has written books about the social media company.

Last week, Musk named former NBCUniversal ad chief Linda Yaccarino as Twitter's new CEO.

"It is hard for Musk to own a social media company that requires advertising dollars to survive and then to dismiss, as head of a manufacturing company, the value of advertising," University of Virginia's Whitler said.

Thomas Martin, senior portfolio manager at Tesla shareholder Globalt Investments, sees Musk's embrace of advertising as a positive. He expects the company to show how its products differ from its competitors'. "Obviously they're going to have to focus on what's good for the environment and also that it is a car of the future as opposed to your father's Oldsmobile," he said.

(Reporting Hyunjoo Jin in San Francisco and Akash Sriram in Bengaluru, Additional reporting by Yuvraj Malik and Aditya Soni in Bengaluru, Sheila Dang in Dallas and Victoria Waldersee in Berlin; Writing by by Ben Klayman; Editing by Matthew Lewis)
Blue technology startups presented at the inaugural Gulf Blue Navigator Demo Day in Gulfport, MS

Wed, 05/17/2023 - 01:32pm | By: Gabriela Shinskie

The Gulf Blue Navigator program supports later-stage companies innovating in uncrewed systems, smart ports and shipping, ocean-friendly plastics, marine aquaculture, sea and space systems, and coastal ocean data and analytics.

The University of Southern Mississippi (USM), the USM Research Foundation and SeaAhead sponsored the inaugural Demo Day of the Gulf Blue Navigator program on Wednesday, May 3rd. Demo Day included presentations by the six participating blue technology start-up companies. This event celebrated the success of the pilot program and first-ever blue technology accelerator program focused on the Gulf of Mexico.

This program provides startups with workshops, mentoring, site visits, and testing in South Mississippi and coastal waters to develop scaleup strategies and learn about the market potential of the Gulf Coast. The Gulf Blue Navigator is an example of Mississippis growing knowledge-based economy and efforts to increase high paying jobs on the MS Gulf Coast.

Cohort 1 participants

The Gulf Blue Navigator program brings SeaAheads domain expertise, network, and company-building skillset to the Gulf Coast, mixing with the University of Southern Mississippis core facilities, faculty and staff expertise, and ecosystem of local partners. The Gulf Coast is the next blue tech economic cluster in the US. Through the Gulf Blue Navigator program, we are supporting entrepreneurs as they take their innovations out-to-sea' and enable them to leverage the regions unique infrastructure and ocean-related stakeholders. The program is the embodiment of a new narrative for the Mississippi Gulf Coast and the growth of the coastal New Economy, said Mark Huang, Managing Director of SeaAhead.

We have enjoyed our longstanding partnership with SeaAhead Inc. on promoting the blue economy and showcasing why Mississippi is the Gateway to the Gulf of Mexico. With the financial support from the Builders Initiative Foundation, we were excited to provide this opportunity for the inaugural cohort of the Navigator program to demonstrate and promote their companies, Kelly Lucas VP of Research, USM.

We are so happy to be able to support the Gulf Blue Navigator Program at the University of Southern Mississippi, said Peter Bryant, Program Director for Builders Initiative. The combination of strong business development assistance with on-the-water testing makes it a unique platform for companies looking to further develop their blue economy businesses.

Dennis Yancey, CEO of Marauder Robotics based in Atlanta, when asked about the value the program brings to his growth: Gulfport makes a lot of sense: its right on the water so you have access and there's a streamlined permitting process to get in the water to test functionality. Then you have talent from the shipyards, the Navy, and Universities along the coast. It just makes sense to have a presence in Gulfport and along the Gulf Coast to augment what we do on the West Coast as well as in Atlanta.

Dr. Jason McKenna, Director of RDT&E and Training commented, The Roger F. Wicker Center for Ocean Enterprise has had the privilege to work with these 6 blue tech startups for the past 6 months. Its been a fantastic opportunity to showcase how our engineers and scientists can support their on-water testing and provide data-driven insights to help make their technology better under extremely compressed timelines. We look forward to many more years of supporting these innovators, learning from them, and helping bring high-paying jobs to Mississippi.

The Gulf Blue Navigator program kicked off in November of 2022 where their innovations focus on ocean monitoring and economic sustainability, with solutions that support working waterfront communities in the face of a changing economy and global competition.

About the Partners

USMRF

The USM Research Foundation is a Mississippi non-profit corporation formed in 1998 and is administered and operated exclusively for the benefit of The University of Southern Mississippi. The foundation supports and enhances the research mission of the University by promoting the increase of useful knowledge and encourages the development of intellectual property owned by the University. The foundation also provides support to the University by managing research contracts, coworking space and entrepreneurial programs.

The University of Southern Mississippis support for the Gulf Blue Navigator program is anchored by the Marine Research Center with its ability to support autonomous underwater vehicles (AUV) development ranging from prototyping to over the horizon at sea testing, the Thad Cochran Marine Aquaculture Center which conducts research in algae, fin and shell-based aquaculture as well as RAS based regenerative farming and the Mississippi Polymer Institute.

SeaAhead

Headquartered in Cambridge, MA, SeaAhead Inc. specializes in high potential ocean-focused technology startups, building global networks, and venture financing. Now also co-located in the Gulf & Ship Island building in Gulfport, SeaAheads platform, in tandem with USMs infrastructure and mission of fostering a culture of innovation, will connect promising global blue technology startups to the Mississippi Gulf Coast blue economy.
Seatrec and The University of Southern Mississippi Team to Improve Hurricane Forecasting and Monitor Critically Endangered Rices Whale

Wed, 05/17/2023 - 09:39am | By: Van Arnold

Seatrec founder and CEO Yi Chao shows off the companys InfiniTE float device

Seatrec, a renewable energy company that harvests energy from temperature differences in the environment, and the Roger F. Wicker Center for Ocean Enterprise at The University of Southern Mississippi (USM), today announce the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) aimed at improving hurricane rapid-intensification forecasting and monitoring critically endangered Rices whales in the Gulf of Mexico.

The MOU calls for the deployment of two sets of Seatrecs InfiniTE floats each customized for a different mission using the system's first-of-its-kind modular design and clean, renewable power technology that harvests electricity from the oceans temperature differences.

One set of floats will feature a suite of instruments to take measurements as frequently as three times per day to track water temperatures and other data that scientists believe contribute to the rapid intensification of hurricanes like Katrina, Irma, and Ian. The second set of floats will operate with a passive acoustic hydrophone to monitor the endangered Rices whales with the last 30 to 50 members of the species clustered in the Gulfs northeastern waters.

There is a critical need to better understand the Gulf of Mexico both in terms of its impact on humans in the form of extreme weather events and human impact on the natural ecosystem, points out Yi Chao, Ph.D., the CEO and founder of Seatrec. Having the flexibility to quickly and inexpensively deploy different mission-specific instrument suites on deep-diving, autonomous floats powered by a clean, renewable power source gives scientists like those at USM important tools to gather data not possible with previous technologies.

Rice's whales are members of the baleen whale family Balaenopteridae. With likely fewer than 100 individuals remaining, Rice's whales are one of the most endangered whales in the world. Recovery of the species depends upon the protection of each remaining whale.

The MOU follows Seatrecs completion of the six-month Gulf Blue Navigator program that is administered by USM and SeaAhead with partners, including Jackson State University. The program is designed to help scale blue technology startups.

Power has long been a limiting factor that often restricts the types of instruments deployed in the ocean, how long they can last, and the amount of persistent data they can collect, explains Dr. Kelly Lucas, USMs Vice President for Research. Seatrecs ability to provide clean, renewable power to vertically integrated and modular instrument suites opens the door to a host of applications that will help us better understand and protect the ocean.

Added Hailey Bathurst, Program Manager for the Gulf Blue Navigator, Seatrec exemplifies what the Navigator program is meant to do: help later-stage startups find traction in the Gulf of Mexico, work with the core facilities at USM, and plug into a supportive ecosystem. This MOU and the others being finalized between USM and the inaugural Gulf Blue Navigator cohort members truly represents the potential of the program.

The Roger F. Wicker Center for Ocean Enterprise serves a global hub for advancing Uncrewed Maritime Systems, ocean data science, maritime cyber research, and blue tech workforce training. The 62,500-square-foot center consists of multiple facilities bringing together federal, industry, and academic partners, creating a collaborative environment to accelerate the development and launch of new technology in the fast-growing ocean economy.

Entrepreneurs and startups developing solutions to global challenges utilize the center to capitalize on world-class ocean research capabilities and connect to university research scientists.

The Gulf Blue Navigator program has already begun to make an economic impact to the Mississippi Gulf Coast, said Dr. Jason McKenna, Director of Research, Development, Testing, Evaluation & Training at the Wicker Center. This is the first of many follow-on initiatives between USMs world-class research centers and the Navigators programs first graduating cohorts and demonstrates the ability of our coastal research ecosystem to partner with, and help grow blue technology in Mississippi.

Seatrecs pioneering energy harvesting system uses phase change materials to harness energy from temperature differences between the oceans various depths. These materials contract and expand creating pressure thats captured and converted into electricity. The clean, virtually limitless power frees scientists to use sensors that typically require shore-supplied power or direct ship support via tethering.

The InfiniTE float platforms plug-and-play modularity vertically integrates different sensors tailored to particular areas of study.

Hurricane Forecasting

Better understanding the rapid intensification of major storms and hurricanes is a particularly pressing goal as annual economic losses from such storms are estimated at $54B. Traditional floats (commonly known as Argo) use primary batteries and typically only profile once every 10 days, which is insufficient to measure the intensification of storms that can surge in as little as 24 hours. Seatercs InfiniTE floats are able to sample as frequently as three times per day providing 30x more data than the current standard set by Argo floats.

Whale Monitoring

Studies show that noise from humans adversely affects a broad range of organisms including marine mammals. Hydrophones are needed to quantify the impact of these noises on marine mammals. Hydrophones mounted on Seatrecs InfiniTE floats provide an inexpensive, autonomous platform to gather soundscape data at varying depths for years at a time.

Seatrec will establish a long-term presence in the Gulf of Mexico to support the MOU missions with a satellite office provided by the Gulf Blue Navigator program while its headquarters will remain in Vista, California.:

About Seatrec

Seatrec designs and manufactures energy harvesting systems that generate electricity from naturally occurring temperature differences in ocean waters. This renewable energy can be used to power deep water oceanographic research equipment such as floats, gliders, and Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs), resulting in the most scalable, cost-effective deep ocean data collection possible. Incorporated in 2016 by CEO, Dr. Yi Chao, Seatrecs technology originated at NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, to provide clean power for remote off-grid locations. The company is headquartered in Vista, CA. Learn more at the Seatrec website and @seatrecinc.
(Bloomberg) -- Australias wine exports to China could take years to recover fully after any easing of steep tariffs, the head of Penfolds owner Treasury Wine Estates Ltd. said, as frosty ties between the two countries show signs of thawing.

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Its going to take us two, three, four years to really start building up the Australian side of it again because we are not going to go back to where we were, Chief Executive Officer Tim Ford said at an Australia-China Relations Institute event in Sydney on Tuesday evening. This isnt going to be a big tap that gets turned on overnight for us.

Australian vintners have sought new buyers for their wine after China imposed heavy tariffs on the countrys wine exports in 2020, decimating what was once its most lucrative market. The US and UK are now their biggest export markets, though sales to both countries declined in the year to the end of March as the global economic slowdown and increased competition hurt demand, according to Wine Australia data.

Ford said Treasury Wine will maintain the export diversification its built since Chinas curbs, saying the company has worked too hard to build its brands elsewhere to turn that off overnight. At the same time, he assured that while the company doesnt have stockpiles of A$100-plus ($67-plus) wines, it can resume supplying brands worth A$30 to China pretty quickly should the status of tariffs improve.

Relations between China and Australia that soured three years ago following a call by then-Prime Minister Scott Morrison for an international investigation into Covid-19 have been steadily improving in the government of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. The countries trade ministers held their first in-person talks since 2019 in Beijing last week, with Australian Trade Minister Don Farrell saying hes optimistic of having the steep tariffs on wine and barley lifted by the end of the year. Australias coal shipments to China have resumed.

Ford was part of the delegation of Australian business leaders who visited Beijing in the past month. While there was no indication of when the tariffs would be lifted, former customers in China were already asking how Treasury Wine might re-enter the market, he said.

It was really we dont know when things are going to change, but when they do, whats your commitment going to be? Ford said. It was quite a remarkable shift in their mentality.

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Explained: Vietnams FiT Rates for Solar and Wind Power Projects

The Ministry of Industry and Trade has finalized the feed in tariffs (FiTs) for solar and wind projects that came online after December 31, 2020, and November 1, 2021, respectively. These add to a complex mosaic of FiTs in Vietnam.

On January 7, the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) announced feed in tariffs (FiT) for solar and wind projects that failed to meet operational deadlines outlined in previous Decisions.

These new rates provide renewable energy producers and investors, and the state electricity provider, Vietnam Electricity (EVN), the framework for negotiating power purchase agreements (PPA).

This ends an extended period of uncertainty for some renewable energy projects that failed to meet the FiT deadlines due to construction delays and problems acquiring land. This article outlines the tariffs for these projects and tracks changes to Vietnams FiT programs.

New feed-in tariff rates

Below are the rates for solar projects that came online after December 31, 2020 and wind power projects that came online after November 1, 2021 per Decision 21/QD-BCT.

Wind and Solar Feed-in Tariffs

Type VND/kWh US$/kWh Prev US$/kWh Change (US$/kWh) Ground solar plant 1185.90 .051 .0709  .0199 Floating solar plant 1508.27 .065 .077  .012 Inland wind power plant 1587.12 .068 .085  .017 Sea-based wind power plant 1815.95 .078 .098  .020

For comparison, coal power costs around VND 4,000/kWh (US 17 cents/kWh) and hydropower around VND1,000/kWh (US 4.3 cents/kWh).

Policy promoting investment in renewables in Vietnam

In order to drive investment in wind and solar power in Vietnam, the government has offered relatively high feed in tariffs (FiT) at several intervals. These have been very successful at driving investment in Vietnams renewable energy sector  by the end of 2020, Vietnams installed wind power capacity had reached 600 MW and its installed solar power capacity had reach 17.6 GW.

Each of these renewables have their own feed-in tariffs, which have been developed and altered through a series of government Decisions and Resolutions.

Wind power

Vietnams rapid uptake of wind power began in 2011 with Decision 37/2011/QD-TTg. Issued by the Prime Minister, this decision laid the foundation for Vietnams transition to renewable energy. It came into effect August 20, 2011.

As a part of this decision wind power projects were offered 1,614 VND/kWh (7.8 US cents/kWh), excluding VAT and to be adjusted in line with exchange rate fluctuations.

These rates were then increased in 2018 through Decision 39/2018/QD-TTg. This Decision also divided wind power projects into two categories:

Inland wind power projects would be given a feed-in tariff of 1,928 VND/kWh or 8.5 US cents/kWh, excluding VAT and to be adjusted in line with exchange rate fluctuations.

Offshore wind power projects would be given a feed-in tariff of 2,223 VND/kWh or 9.8 US cents/kWh, excluding VAT and to be adjusted in line with exchange rate fluctuations.

To qualify, these projects needed to be operational by November 1, 2021.

Solar power

In 2017, the government announced Decision No.11/2017/QD-TTg to promote the development of solar power projects.

This Decision offered new solar power developers a rate of 2,086 VND/kWh or 9.35 US cents//kWh, excluding VAT and to be adjusted in line with exchange rate fluctuations.

These projects had to be operational by June 30, 2019.

These feed-in tariffs were then extended for Ninh Thuan province only, in August of 2018 by Resolution No. No.115/NQ-CP. This allowed for projects in Ninh Thuan to receive these rates as long as solar power plants were operational by December 31, 2021.

Renewable energy projects that failed to qualify

A number of projects failed to meet the FiT deadlines outlined above. This was due to a broad range of reasons, including land acquisitions taking longer than anticipated and construction delays.

As a result, these projects have been in limbo and in some instances unable to sell power produced to the grid.

These new tariffs will now provide some certainty for these enterprises, though tough decisions may need to be made.

Businesses will need to carefully assess these new rates and their operating costs and ascertain whether or not they can still operate profitable renewable energy businesses.

Foreign invested renewable energy projects in Vietnam

Big projects currently underway include a 3.5 GW offshore windfarm in Binh Thuan province to the tune of US$10.5 being developed by Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, alongside Vietnams Asia Petroleum Energy Corporation and Novasia Energy Company Limited (Novasia).

Nami Solar, a subsidiary of SK Ecoplant, a member of the Republic of Koreas SK Group also inked a US$200 million deal with Vietnams Nami Energy to develop greater solar power capacity in Vietnam. The money is earmarked for a rooftop solar power project that is designed to generate 250 MW.

These are among a range of renewable energy projects in Vietnam that will be monitoring the outcomes of these new FiTs and the impact they have on the renewables sector.

Notably, in 2020, foreign invested enterprises were responsible for about half of the renewable energy projects in Vietnam, according to the Mekong Infrastructure Tracker.
Vietnam Government Approves Power Development Plan 8

The National Electricity Development Plan For 2021  2030, with a Vision To 2050 has finally been approved and outlines the future of power production and distribution in Vietnam. These are the key takeaways.

Earlier this week, the Government of Vietnam issued Decision 500/QD-TTg approving the National Electricity Development Plan For 2021  2030, with a Vision To 2050. Known more commonly as the Power Development Plan 8 (PDP8) this masterplan has been almost three years in the making and is the result of a multitude of drafts and revisions.

The PDP8 offers broad and valuable insights into the thinking of Vietnams key decision-makers in terms of where they see the future of electricity production and distribution in Vietnam.

The PDP8 highlights the significant investment required to develop Vietnams energy sector and presents potential opportunities for foreign energy firms. Here are the key highlights from the PDP8.

How much electricity will Vietnam need?

The PDP8 assumes that Vietnam will achieve an average GDP growth rate of around 7 percent per year from 2021 to 2030, followed by an average growth rate of 6.5 to 7.5 percent per year between 2031 and 2050.

According to these projections, commercial electricity consumption is expected to reach approximately 335 billion kWh by 2025 and around 505.2 billion kWh by 2030. By 2050, this figure is anticipated to increase to a range of 1,224 billion kWh to 1,378 billion kWh.

The PDP8 takes into account the Just Energy Partnership Agreement, which has influenced the incorporation of renewable energy into the plan. However, if this agreement is not fully realized, it may impact the final outcomes of the plan.

Where will Vietnams power come from?

Wind

With respect to wind power, according to the PDP8, Vietnam is targeting the following production goals:

Onshore wind power to be developed to a capacity of 21,880 Megawatts (MW) by 2030.

Offshore wind power to be developed to a capacity of 6,000 MW by 2030.

Further development of offshore wind power to a capacity of 70,000 to 91,500 MW of electricity by 2050  if technology capabilities and costs allow.

Solar

Solar power in Vietnam is playing an increasingly significant role in the nations energy mix. It is estimated that solar power in Vietnam has the potential to provide up to 963,000 MW of electricity split between 837,400 MW on the ground, 77,400 MW from floating solar, and about 48,200 MW from rooftop solar.

Using these estimates as a base, per the PDP8, Vietnam expects the following:

The capacity of solar power will increase by 4,100 MW.

For rooftop solar power production to increase by 2,600 MW by 2030.

Biomass energy

Biomass and waste-to-energy power plants are emerging sources of energy in Vietnam with significant potential. According to the PDP8, these sources have the capacity to generate up to 7,000 MW of electricity in the future. However, the plan estimates that by 2030, the combined capacity of biomass and waste-to-energy plants will reach 2,270 MW. Vietnam aims to further develop these energy sources and increase their capacity to 6,015 MW by 2050.

Hydropower

Hydropower sources in Vietnam have the potential to produce up to 40,000 MW of electricity. The total capacity of hydropower, including small hydroelectricity plants, is expected to reach 29,346 MW by 2030. If the conditions are right, by 2050, the total capacity could reach 36,016 MW, according to the PDP8.

Stored power

Vietnam recognizes the significance of stored power in managing electricity loads on national grids globally. In order to incorporate this technology into its electricity supply, Vietnam has outlined the following plans:

By 2030, the aim is to develop stored hydropower with a capacity of approximately 2,400 MW.

Additionally, if favorable conditions are met, Vietnam intends to develop 300 MW of battery storage by 2030.

Coal

Regarding coal, Vietnam foresees a total operational capacity of approximately 30,127 MW by 2030.

The plan for coal entails the following measures:

Continuing the implementation of projects already included in Power Plan VII and currently under construction.

Converting power plants that have been in operation for over 20 years to alternative fuels once they become cost-effective and feasible.

Decommissioning coal plants older than 40 years that cannot be converted to alternative fuels.

Prioritizing six projects with a total capacity of 6,125 MW: Na Duong II, An Khanh  Bac Giang, Vung Ang II, Quang Trach I, Van Phong I, and Long Phu I. These projects exclude the 13,220 MW of coal-fired power capacity, which includes Quang Ninh III, Cam Pha III, Hai Phong III, Quynh Lap I, II, Vung Ang III, Quang Trach II, Long Phu II, III, Tan Phuoc I, II.

Converting the Quang Trach II project to LNG (liquefied natural gas) before 2030.

Phasing out the use of coal for power generation by 2050. All coal plants will either be decommissioned or converted to utilize biomass energy or ammonia.

Gas

Gas is poised to become Vietnams primary power source by 2030, offering an improvement over coal in terms of its environmental impact.

The plan for the gas sector moving forward includes the following measures:

Giving priority to the Block B Ca Voi Xanh gas power project, which will contribute 6,900 MW of gas power. This project involves plants such as O Mon II, III, and IV (totaling 3,150 MW), Central I and II, and Dung Quat I, II, and III (totaling 3,750 MW). Additionally, O Mon I (660 MW) will be converted to use Block B gas.

Implementing a mixed gas turbine plant (TBKHH) in Quang Tri, utilizing gas from the Bao Vang field, with a capacity of 340 MW.

Accelerating the exploration and evaluation of the Ken Bau gas field.

Considering these projects, the total capacity of gas power production is expected to reach 37,630 MW by 2030. By 2050, the majority of Vietnams gas power plants are projected to transition to hydrogen, with only 11,042 MW of power generated from traditional gas sources.

Vietnams energy mix: 2030 vs 2050

By 2030 By 2050 Description MW % MW % Onshore wind power 21,880 14.5 60,050  77,050 12.2  13.4 Offshore wind power 6,000 4 70,000  91,500 14.3  16 Solar power 12,836 8.5 168,594  189,294 33.0  34.4 Biomass 2,270 1.5 6,015 1.0  1.2 Hydropower 29,346 19.5 36,016 6.3  7.3 Stored power 2,700 1.8 30,650  45,550 6.2  7.9 Cogeneration 2,700 1.8 4,500 0.8  0.9 Coal 30,127 20 0 0 Converted coal* 0 0 25,632  32,432 4.5  6.6 Gas 37,630 25 14,930 2.6  3 Hydrogen 0 0 20,900  29,900 4.1  5.4 Imports 5,000 3.4 11,042 1.9  2.3 Flexible power sources 0 0 30,900  46,200 6.3  8.1 Totals 250,489 100 490,529  573,129 

*The expectation is that by 2050 all coal power plants will be converted to run on either ammonia or biomass.

How much is it all going to cost?

Vietnams electricity sector is projected to require a substantial investment between 2021 and 2030. Approximately US$134.7 billion will be needed, with US$119.8 billion allocated for power generation and US$14.9 billion for grid infrastructure.

From 2031 to 2050, it is estimated that Vietnams electricity sector will require US$399.2 billion to US$523.1 billion worth of investment. Of that, US$364.4 billion to US$511. 2 billion is needed for power generation and the remaining US$34.8 billion to US$38.6 billion will be needed to develop Vietnams grid infrastructure further.

These investment figures present significant opportunities for foreign energy firms. For more information on investing in Vietnams energy sector, interested parties can consult the business intelligence experts at Dezan Shira and Associates.
President Joe Biden canceled his trips to Papua New Guinea and Australia next week to continue debt ceiling talks with congressional leaders that he held Tuesday at the White House.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement that the president would to return to Washington on Sunday, following the Group of Seven summit in Hiroshima, Japan, "in order to be back for meetings with congressional leaders to ensure that Congress takes action by the deadline to avert default."

When asked what kind of message the change in the president's plan would convey to allies and partners he was scheduled to meet, National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby told reporters during a briefing earlier Tuesday that leaders would "understand that the president also has to focus on making sure that we don't default."

Biden will depart for Hiroshima on Wednesday. From Japan, Biden was scheduled to continue to Sydney for the Quad Summit with a brief stop in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, to meet with Pacific Island Forum leaders. The meetings had been billed as opportunities to deepen cooperation on regional challenges and advance U.S. strategic interests in countering China's influence.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Wednesday the Quad meeting in Sydney would be postponed, but that since all the Quad leaders would be in Japan for the G-7 talks, they would try to get together on the sidelines of those meetings.

It would not be the first time an American president skipped a summit over budget disputes at home. Barack Obama canceled a trip to the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Indonesia and the East Asia summit in Brunei in 2013 because of a government shutdown over a budget disagreement, and Bill Clinton pulled out of the APEC Japan meeting in 1995, also during a debt ceiling dispute.

'A mini-G-20'

Hiroshima is the venue for this year's May 19-21 summit of the G-7, a grouping of the world's leading industrial nations, including the United States, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the European Union.

Leaders will try to find alignment in countering Beijing's use of trade and investment restrictions, boycotts and sanctions  practices the West views as Chinese "economic coercion." They will do so through export controls and restrictions on investment from their own nations to China, while seeking to slow China's technological advance and reduce its dominance of the global supply chain.

More than a year after Russia invaded Ukraine, the meeting will also focus on supporting Kyiv's defense and ratcheting up economic pressure on Russia through broader export bans. G-7 members, mainly those in Europe, still export around $4.7 billion a month to Russia, about 43% of what they did before the invasion  mostly pharmaceuticals, machinery, food and chemicals.

As part of his outreach to the Global South, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida of Japan, this year's G-7 host, has invited Australia, Brazil, Comoros, Cook Islands, India, Indonesia, South Korea, Ukraine and Vietnam.

"A little bit like the G-7 trying to create a mini-G-20 without China and Russia," said Josh Lipsky, senior director of the Atlantic Council's GeoEconomics Center, in a briefing to reporters Friday.

Looming over the meeting is the concern that financial instability from the threat of a U.S. default and the recent collapse of three American banks will spill over into the rest of the world. That would particularly hurt countries in Africa, Latin America and Southeast Asia that are struggling with post-pandemic debt accumulated through infrastructure and other loans mainly from China.

There have been calls to reduce those debts to more manageable levels, said Shihoko Goto, deputy director of the Asia program at the Wilson Center. However, she told VOA, "Without having China there, there isn't really going to be much momentum."

Symbolism of setting

Nuclear disarmament and nonproliferation are also at the top of this year's agenda, with Kishida's symbolic choice of hosting the summit in his hometown of Hiroshima, a city destroyed by an atomic weapon in 1945.

Notably lacking in this G-7 is the push to provide funding for global infrastructure projects as an alternative to China's Belt and Road Initiative, which was a focus in the last two G-7 summits.

Biden's trip to Papua New Guinea would have been the first for a U.S. president, following Vice President Mike Pence's trip to the 2018 Asia Pacific Economic Forum in Port Moresby.

"There is no question but that this is a disappointment to the leaders of the Pacific Islands and the Quad, particularly Australia and PNG," said Daniel Russel, vice president for international security and diplomacy at the Asia Society Policy Institute. "It will be seen in the region as a self-inflicted wound caused by political polarization in Washington that does not reflect well on America's reliability as a partner."

He was scheduled to meet with Prime Minister James Marape and other leaders of the Pacific Island Forum, a grouping of 18 countries and territories spanning more than 30 million square kilometers of ocean. The meeting was intended to establish stronger strategic ties and deter those nations from making security deals with China amid rising tensions over Taiwan.

Chinese President Xi Jinping has visited the region three times, setting up infrastructure projects and signing a 2022 security pact with the Solomon Islands.

"The U.S. needs to make up ground in the region," said Charles Edel, the inaugural Australia Chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, during a briefing earlier this week. "Years of strategic neglect from Washington produced a strategic vacuum that China was eager to step into."
U.S. President Joe Biden, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and other top congressional leaders appeared no closer Tuesday to a deal aimed at reaching agreement on raising the countrys debt ceiling so the government can borrow more to pay its existing obligations.

The impasse comes amid dire warnings from the U.S. Treasury that a default could cause worldwide panic and catastrophe, and as Biden prepares to leave Wednesday for a summit in Japan with the worlds top seven economies.

The looming crisis also scotched Bidens plans to visit Papua New Guinea and Australia after the summit, the White House said in a statement.

It's unfortunate we are where we are, McCarthy said after the hourlong Oval Office meeting ended. But the good thing about it is Republicans always look to find a solution.

Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer, a Democrat, said the group did agree on some key issues.

We all agreed that the only path forward is to reach a bipartisan agreement anchored in common ground, he said. We all agree that default is not an acceptable option and must be avoided.

And Biden said his staff would continue to work toward a deal in his absence.

Theres still work to do, but I made it clear to the speaker and others that well speak regularly over the next several days, and the staffs going to continue meeting daily to make sure we do not default, he said.

Also Tuesday, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned that a default would crack open the foundations upon which our financial system is built. And it's very conceivable that we'd see a number of financial markets break, with worldwide panic triggering margin calls, runs and fire sales.

Yellen said, If Congress does not address the debt limit, there are no good options the Treasury or the government can use to save us from catastrophe.

Biden has insisted that Congress raise the current $31.4 trillion debt ceiling without conditions on future spending. McCarthy and congressional Republicans have called for substantial cuts in future government spending in exchange for raising the debt limit for a year.

That scenario would require a new round of debt ceiling negotiations amid the early phase of the 2024 presidential primary elections.

Although the current debt limit was reached in January, Yellen and U.S. financial officials have taken what they describe as extraordinary measures to juggle U.S. spending accounts to keep paying the governments bills. She said the U.S. could run out of cash to meet all its obligations by June 1 and then could default on some of them.

The United States has never defaulted on its debt. Yellen and other top government officials have warned that doing so would have immediate and widespread consequences inside the U.S., including massive U.S. worker layoffs and delayed payments to U.S. pensioners, government contractors and health care providers treating older Americans.

The U.S. Congress has raised the debt ceiling 78 times under both Democratic and Republican presidents, including three times during the four-year term of former President Donald Trump.

While Biden has said he would not link an increase in the debt ceiling to future government spending cuts, he has said that separately, he is willing to talk about future spending limits to pare the chronic overspending by the government, where annual trillion-dollar deficits have been common for years.

If an agreement is reached in Washingtons politically charged atmosphere, it might be a matter of semantics whether a debt ceiling increase and a tandem cut in future spending are linked. Both Biden and congressional Republicans want to be able to claim victory.

The two sides are debating to what extent the debt ceiling would be raised and for how long, as well as specific spending cuts Republicans in the House of Representatives recently approved in a narrow vote over united Democratic opposition.

The Republicans have called for future spending caps, new work requirements for able-bodied poor people receiving government financial assistance and implementing changes to approve domestic energy projects at a faster pace.

Some information in this story came from The Associated Press. Margaret Besheer contributed to this report.
As the sun rose, Miguel Gonzalez, partner Maryelis Rodriguez and their four young children got off a passenger bus after an 18-hour ride south from the eastern Venezuelan community they desperately wanted to leave.

The parents, with minds still muzzy from sleep, retrieved two duffel bags and assessed needs before entering the station: Diaper change for the 1-year-old. Restrooms for the 2-, 4- and 6-year-olds. Directions to Brazil.

"Taxi? Taxi?" hawkish cab drivers asked everyone walking through the Santa Elena de Uairen station, where thousands of people every month walk through Venezuelan territory one last time. Roughly a half hour later, the Gonzalez family, like dozens of others every day, became migrants for the first time when they exited a taxi in Pacaraima, Brazil.

More than 7.2 million people have left Venezuela since the country's political, economic and social crisis began last decade. Most have gone to Spanish-speaking countries of South America  with 2.4 million in Colombia alone  and many to the U.S. and Spain.

Further down the list of destinations has been Venezuela's Portuguese-speaking, next-door neighbor: Brazil.

But Brazil has become a popular choice for many Venezuelans partly because of a five-year-old program that offers eligible applicants work permits and even free flights to faraway parts of the huge country. Approvals into the program have surged in the post-pandemic period.

"I want to give well-being to my children," said Gonzalez, who began planning to migrate in October after witnessing violent clashes around the gold mine where he worked.

"There is no life" in Venezuela, he said, because if the family stays there, the children "are not going to study. They are not going to have a future."

The Gonzalez family is applying for Brazil's "interiorization" program, launched in 2018 to ease pressure on the country's far northern state of Roraima as it dealt with Venezuelans flowing across the border after food and medicine shortages at home became acute.

The program moves the migrants to other cities with better economic opportunities, especially in the country's rich southern states. It has taken in about 100,000 of the 426,000 Venezuelans who have migrated to Brazil during the crisis  with the highest monthly rate so far in March of this year with 3,377.

The Gonzalez family sold their fridge, fan, kitchen, bed and other furniture, stuffed clothes and diapers in duffel bags and backpacks, and began their migration journey from their community of San Felix with $500. They spent $90 to get to Santa Elena de Uairen and $20 to get to Pacaraima, where they applied for the program.

They decided to migrate even though Gonzalez had one of the most lucrative jobs in Venezuela, earning about $600 in two weeks, and occasionally, up to $1,200  far more than the country's $5 monthly minimum wage. But mining communities are dangerous, thanks to armed groups who are believed to collude with authorities.

"There is a lot of crime. You're alive one moment and dead the next. You get me?" Gonzalez said.

Those accepted into the interiorization program receive documentation, temporary shelter, vaccines and relocation flights. It also offers classes on Brazil's labor market, laws and rights.

Brazil's monthly minimum wage currently is $265. A survey of 800 households encompassing 3,529 Venezuelans living in Brazil in June and July of last year showed that 76% of them earned up to two minimum wages.

Applicants must submit paperwork and undergo a physical examination and interviews.

On an early April morning, Maria Rodriguez, her father, husband, daughter, two sons, twin grandsons and four more relatives were among hundreds of people at the Pacaraima border crossing, navigating steps of the program. She laughed with an energetic grandson, but her eyes betrayed fatigue.

At the crack of dawn, migrants form lines where they wait to get or provide information. They cheer when they or their new migrant friends are told they can hop on waiting passenger buses headed roughly 200 kilometers south to Boa Vista, where they will catch flights to their new communities.

Rodriguez's group already had waited six weeks in Pacaraima. They had sheltered from the scorching sun under a makeshift tent and spent nights in a shelter.

The family closed its unprofitable cheese-making business in Venezuela earlier this year and decided to join other relatives in the southern Brazilian state of Parana, where the men plan to work in construction. Rodriguez said another of her sons already living there has done well in just a short time.

"His children are studying in a good school, and meanwhile, I could see my other sons ... struggling," Rodriguez, 45, said while she waited for portable toilets to be cleaned for the day. "As adults, we can last all day even with just an arepa, but with those kids, how do you tell a child there's no food?"

Venezuela was once one of the most prosperous countries in Latin America thanks to billions in oil dollars. But mismanagement by its self-described socialist government and a decline in crude prices plunged it into crisis over the past decade. International economic sanctions meant to topple President Nicolas Maduro have worsened conditions.

Elsewhere in the hemisphere, Venezuelans are making their second or even third migrations as economic opportunities in initial host countries dry up. Most of those coming across the border into Brazil are migrating for the first time, said the Reverend Agnaldo Pereira de Oliveira, director of Jesuit Service for Migrants and Refugees in Brazil.

"They are people who held on until now and no longer could," Pereira de Oliveira said. "Now come the last ones who had resisted in Venezuela out of attachment to their business, to their home. They say, 'I had a job, but the living conditions no longer exist.'"
Officials in Cameroon say 18 separatists have disarmed and surrendered to authorities in the biggest defection since the conflict broke out in 2017. Authorities say the English-speaking rebels, including two self-proclaimed generals, were hiding across the border in neighboring Nigeria. Leaders of the separatists, who want to break away from French-speaking-majority Cameroon, have vowed to track down and kill the defectors.

Cameroon's military says 18 fighters, including David Dibo, alias General Baron, and Ekpe Jerome, alias General JB, surrendered and handed over their weapons in Mundemba Tuesday.

Mundemba is a town in Cameroon's English-speaking southwest region that shares a border with Nigeria.

Since 2017, separatists have been fighting to carve out an independent state called Ambazonia in Cameroon's English-speaking Northwest and Southwest regions.

The self-proclaimed General Baron says he convinced the fighters to surrender. He says Cameroon military firepower was more than they could bear and that he saw several hundred fighters killed by government troops within the past six years.

He says he is pleading with scores of fighters, who are still hiding in the bush, to drop their weapons and be pardoned by the Cameroon government. He says fighters hiding on the border with Nigeria should hand their weapons to Cameroon police or government troops as he did, without which they will be killed by either hunger, disease or in battles.

Speaking with Cameroon's state broadcaster, CRTV, on Tuesday, Baron says the fighters handed their weapons to Cameroon military and government officials in Ndian, an administrative unit where Mundemba is located.

Gilbert Guibai Baldena is the highest Cameroon government official in Ndian. He has assured the former fighters that the government will protect them.

General Baron and all of you{fighters} ran away to Nigeria because it is difficult to continue," Baldena said. "Tell the others who are still in the bush to come out. The head of state (Cameroons president) wants every Cameroonian to take part in the reconstruction and development of the country"

Baldena also warned that separatist fighters who refuse to surrender and drop their weapons will be killed by Cameroon government troops,

Following their surrender, the government says the former fighters will be taken to the center for Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration, or DDR in Buea, capital of Cameroon's English speaking southwest region.

The government says the defections are the largest number of fighters to surrender in a single day and the first time two dreaded generals dropped their weapons and surrendered to Cameroon's military.

It is also the first time rebels operating in Cameroon and hiding across the border in Nigeria have said they are wanted in the two countries, according to the government.

The rebels say that when they attack government edifices and troops in Cameroons Southwest region they would escape from Mundemba across the porous border, through thick forests to Nigeria's Cross River State.

In addition to Cameroons government coming after them, they say Cross River State officials declared them wanted and ordered Nigerias military to kill or arrest them, a claim VOA could not independently verify.

But on several occasions, Nigeria's local media reported that suspected Ambazonia secessionist militants from Cameroon attacked Cross River State border villages.

Crisis24, a Quebec-headquartered international security management group, says that in one of the attacks on Bashu, a community in the Boki Local Government Area in May 2022, rebels from Cameroon killed up to 20 civilians who had fled the separatist crisis in Cameroons Southwest region where Mundemba is located.

Separatists on social media, including Facebook and WhatsApp, say they will attack and kill all fighters who resign and join DDR centers created by Cameroons central government in Yaounde. The government says fighters who surrender will be pardoned, trained to create businesses and reintegrated socially.

Battles between Cameroon government troops and western separatists escalated to armed conflict in 2017. Cameroon English speaking separatists are fighting to carve out an independent English-speaking state from the French majority nation.

The International Crisis Group estimates the conflict has killed about 6,000 people and displaced more than half-a-million.
European leaders on Tuesday pledged to hold Russia to account for its war against Ukraine and unveiled a mechanism to track the losses and damage inflicted by Moscow's forces.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak were among those who underlined their support for Ukraine in a rare meeting of the Council of Europe rights body as it convenes in Iceland for a two-day summit.

They were joined via video link by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on the heels of his tour of European capitals to secure more weapons and aid before an anticipated counteroffensive against Russian forces.

The Reykjavik meeting unveiled a new Register of Damages, a mechanism to record and document evidence and claims of damage, loss or injury incurred as a result of the Russian invasion.

'Moment to push back is now'

The meeting also sought to address other issues, including the plight of thousands of children taken to Russia or Russian-occupied territories from Ukraine since the start of the war in what Kyiv and its allies condemn as illegal deportations.

"The moment to push back is now. Democracies like ours must build resilience, so that we can out-cooperate and outcompete those who drive instability," Sunak said in a speech.

"We will hold Russia accountable for the horrendous war crimes that have been committed and we must also learn the lessons of this war by being prepared to confront threats to our societies before they become too big to deal with," he added.

Echoing those remarks, Scholz said the council was important "to punish the war crimes of the Russian occupiers and to demand accountability for the enormous damage that Russia inflicts on Ukraine day after day."

Macron's office said the council is looking at how the Council of Europe Development Bank could help meet the needs of struggling Ukrainians.

Cyberattacks

Ahead of the leaders' arrival, several Icelandic public institutions and private sector websites, including the parliament, government and supreme court, were briefly hit by cyberattacks.

The pro-Russian hacker group NoName057 claimed responsibility for the attacks in a post on Telegram, mentioning specifically the Council of Europe meeting and a speech by Zelenskyy.

It is only the fourth summit of the 46-member Council of Europe since it was founded after World War II.

Its democratic values are upheld by the Strasbourg-based European Court of Human Rights, where citizens can take governments to court in case of human rights violations.

Russia's membership was suspended the day after it invaded Ukraine. Moscow then left the body hours before a vote to expel it.

Turkey faces removal from the CoE after it failed to implement a 2019 court ruling to release jailed businessman and philanthropist Osman Kavala.

Sunak also met with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen at the summit. The leaders agreed to strengthen cooperation on migration with a new working arrangement between British agencies and the European Border and Coast Guard Agency, a readout from Sunak's office said.

Sunak will also make the case for reforming the European Court of Human Rights' power to block British migrant deportation flights to Rwanda, plans that have been criticized by opponents, charities and religious leaders as inhumane.
Ukraine said on Tuesday that it had downed six Russian hypersonic Kinzhal missiles in a single night, in what would be a major setback for Moscow's efforts to develop an unstoppable next-generation weapon.

It was not clear which air defense system Kyiv used to shoot down the missiles, but last week the U.S. military confirmed that Ukraine had shot down a Kinzhal missile using the U.S.-produced Patriot system.

Here is what you need to know about the Patriot:

What is the Patriot missile system?

The Patriot, which stands for Phased Array Tracking Radar for Intercept on Target, is a theater-wide, surface-to-air missile defense system built by Raytheon Technologies Corp. and considered one of the most advanced air defense systems in the U.S. arsenal.

The system was first used in combat during the 1991 Gulf War, with batteries protecting Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Israel, and later used during the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003.

Can Patriots knock out hypersonic missiles?

The Patriot system was designed before hypersonic weapons were sent to battlefield, and Raytheon has not said publicly that it is effective against a missile flying at hypersonic speeds (anything above five times the speed of sound). While the U.S. said the Patriot system brought down last week's Khinzal missile, it was not clear if that missile was traveling at hypersonic speed at the time.

While Russia's Kinzhal missile may reach speeds of up to 12,350 kph, "Russias designation of the Kinzhal as a 'hypersonic' missile is somewhat misleading, as nearly all ballistic missiles reach hypersonic speeds (i.e., above Mach 5) at some point during their flight," the Center for Strategic and International Studies said in a March 2022 report.

How does the Patriot system work?

The Patriot is a mobile system that usually includes powerful radar, a control station, a power generator, launch stations and other support vehicles.

The system has different capabilities depending on the type of interceptor - the missile fired from the battery - used.

The earlier PAC-2 interceptor uses a blast-fragmentation warhead, while the PAC-3 family of missiles uses more advanced hit-to-kill technology.

It is not clear what kind of Patriot systems have been donated to Ukraine, but it is likely that Kyiv has at least some of the newer PAC-3 CRI interceptors.

The system's radar has a range of more than 150 kilometers, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization said in 2015.

What does it cost?

A newly produced single Patriot battery costs upward of $1 billion, with $400 million for the system and $690 million for the missiles in a battery, according to CSIS.

How does the Patriot help Ukraine?

Ukraine has said it needs more air defense systems to protect against the barrage of missile and drone strikes from Russian forces.

The United States has also provided a pair of National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems, or NASAMS, to Ukraine.

While the Patriot system is designed to intercept threats like aircraft and ballistic missiles, it can also shoot down the "kamikaze" drones Russia has frequently sent to hit Ukrainian critical infrastructure. But it would be an extremely expensive way to destroy drones that cost only thousands of dollars.

How widely is the system used?

Raytheon has built more 240 Patriot systems and they are currently used by 18 countries, including the United States. The system has been in high demand in the Middle East because of the threat posed by Iran to the region.

According to Raytheon, the system has intercepted more than 150 ballistic missiles during combat since 2015.
A French appeals court on Wednesday upheld a one-year prison sentence for former President Nicolas Sarkozy on a conviction for corruption and influence peddling.

His lawyer said he will take the case to France's highest court and insisted that Sarkozy is innocent. The 68-year-old ex-president would not have to serve time until a final ruling, and if definitively convicted, he could ask to serve his sentence at home.

Sarkozy, 68, was convicted in 2021 of trying to bribe a magistrate in exchange for information about a legal case in which he was implicated. It was the first time in modern French history that a former president had been convicted of corruption and sentenced to prison.

Sarkozy, who was president from 2007 to 2012, denies wrongdoing and appealed the original ruling. The Paris appeals court on Wednesday upheld the conviction and the sentence, according to a court official.

His lawyer, Jacqueline Laffont, called the decision "stupefying" and "unjust."

Sarkozy is entitled to ask to be detained at home with an electronic bracelet, standard practice for sentences of two years or less. He also received a two-year suspended sentence, which he will not have to serve if he commits no new offense in the next five years.

It is one of multiple legal cases Sarkozy has faced. He was convicted later in 2021 of illegal campaign financing of his unsuccessful 2012 re-election bid. Last week, prosecutors asked for him to be sent to trial on charges that he took millions in illegal financing for his 2007 campaign by the regime of late Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi.
Average GRE Scores At The Top 50 U.S. MBA Programs

Graduate Record Exam submission rates leveled off at the top 50 U.S. B-schools in 2022

The GRE may have peaked.

For years, the Graduate Record Exam had gained ground on the Graduate Management Admission Test as the preferred entrance exam to graduate business programs. And at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020, it seemed that process may be accelerating, as the GMAT stumbled out of the gate with an at-home test while the GRE had a much smoother transition.

Curiously, however, by 2021 the GRE seemed to be losing steam in the percentage of MBA candidates who submitted scores for admission to top programs. And even though the GMAT continues to have its problems  significant ones, as Poets&Quants has reported  it no longer seems imminently in danger of being supplanted as the go-to MBA admissions exam.

In 2022, according to U.S. News data published in conjunction with their new ranking last month, submission rates of GRE scores dropped at 21 of P&Qs top 50 business schools, mostly at the lower 25 schools (though two top-25 B-schools saw double-digit declines). Thats similar to the year-to-year decline seen at the top 50 schools the year before. Leading the way with huge drop-offs in GRE submissions: Rice University, whose Jones Graduate School of Business saw a 28-percentage-point decline to just 7% this year. See table below.

And in terms of GRE scores  those are down, too. Across the P&Q top 50, 18 schools reported an increase from 2021 to 2022, down from 32 schools between 2020 and 2021; eight were in the top 25, down from 18. Read more about GRE scores on page 2.

TOP 50 U.S. B-SCHOOLS SEE OVERALL DECLINE IN GRE SUBMISSIONS

We write a lot about MBA entrance exams at P&Q. And that means comprehensive coverage of the struggles of the GMAT, which has seen a historic drop in test-taking volume in recent years. The test's administrator, the Graduate Management Admission Council, has responded by overhauling the GMAT significantly, launching a "Focus Edition" later this year that will be one hour shorter and feature far fewer questions in both the Verbal and Quant sections. Registration for the new test opens in August.

The GMAT's struggles would seem to present an opening for the GRE, and for a while it looked like the test might overtake its competitor as the top B-school entrance exam. But in 2021, 24 schools out of the top 52 as ranked by Poets&Quants saw declines in the percentage of new entrants submitting Graduate Record Exam scores, including eight by double digits. Nine of the schools with declines were in the lower half of the top 50. (By contrast, 21 of 52 B-schools saw increases in applicants submitting GRE scores in 2021, including 14 of the top 25 schools.)

So where are we in 2022? As noted, 21 top-50 B-schools in the U.S. reported drop-offs in GRE submissions by MBA candidates from the previous year  once again, mostly in the lower half of the top 50  and 21 reported increases, mostly in the upper tier. But the average decline was 9.3 percentage points, while the average increase was only about 5 points. At the top 25 schools, the average submission rate was 30.6%, up from 28.5% in 2021, led by Georgetown McDonough School of Business's 49% (up a percent from the year before, though down from a school-high of 54% in 2020). However, the average rate at the lower 25 was just 23.8%, bringing down the overall top 50 average to 27%  a huge decline from 33.6% the year before.

Overall, 23 schools were above 25% GRE submission rates in 2022, down from 26 in 2021. Fourteen schools were above 35%, exactly the same as the previous year, and four were above 45%  also the same. But none were above 50%, whereas in 2021 there were two and in 2020 there were four. See the table on page 3 for school-by-school details on GRE submission rates.

SOME GOOD NEWS FOR THE GRE

It's not all bleak for the GRE's prospects. In the top 10, the average percentage of GRE submissions in 2022 was 34.1%, up from 27.9% in 2021 and 28.1% in 2020. Every one of the eight schools that reported the data last year saw increases, with No. 10 UC-Berkeley Haas School of Business and No. 3 Stanford Graduate School of Business getting the biggest bounce, of 9 percentage points each, the former to 45% and the latter to 33%.

Across the last six years, the GRE has still seen more growth than declines, with just 13 schools reporting drop-offs in the percentage of submissions for admission since 2017. The biggest growth in that time has been the 35-point jump at Berkeley Haas, followed by 28 points at Virginia Darden School of Business (to 36%), 25 points each at Duke Fuqua School of Business (to 36%) and Florida Hough Graduate School of Business (to 46%), and 23 points at Dartmouth Tuck School of Business (to 38%).

The school reporting the highest overall percentage of GRE score submissions in 2022 was, as mentioned above, Georgetown McDonough, at 49%; the Olin Business School at the Washington University in St. Louis, last year's No. 1 with 70%, saw a precipitous decline to 47%, still second-best in the top 50; and Florida Hough, last year's No. 2 with 62%, was third in 2022 with 46%. They were followed by Berkeley Haas (45%), Texas-Dallas Jindal School of Management (44%), and Texas-Austin McCombs School of Business (40%).

The bottom schools overall: Michigan State Broad College of Business (5%), Rutgers Business School (6%), Rice Jones (7%), and Washington Foster School of Business (9%).

See the next page for GRE score averages at the top U.S. MBA programs.

Average GRE Scores At The Top 50 U.S. MBA Programs

YALE LEADS ALL TOP-50 B-SCHOOLS WITH 329 AVERAGE GRE SCORE

When you're talking about the Graduate Record Exam these days, scores are almost an afterthought. And indeed, there are no outliers or eyebrow-raising scores in the 2022 numbers from top MBA programs, unless it's in the decline at certain otherwise high-performing B-schools. Last year, P&Q reported that Stanford GSB and Yale School of Management tied for highest GRE total score (combined Quant and Verbal), at 330; this year Stanford saw a 3-point decline in its overall score, and Yale is the top school with a score of 329. See page 4 for a complete breakdown of the numbers for the top 50 schools.

In the Quant section of the GRE, Yale maintained its 165 Quant average, tying Carnegie Mellon Tepper School of Business as the only two schools to report that high score. Eight schools reported an average of 163 or better in 2022 (plus Harvard Business School's median 163), up from seven schools in 2021 (plus Northwestern Kellogg's median 165). The lowest Quant score in 2022 was reported by No. 47 William & Mary Mason School of Business: 152. Twenty-four schools reported Quant averages below 160, exactly the same as the previous year.

In the Verbal section of the test, Yale and Stanford were tops this year with 164 averages, followed by Harvard and Berkeley Haas at 163 and four schools at 162. Eight schools were at 162 or better in Verbal, same as last year (plus Kellogg's median 162). The lowest Verbal score in 2022 was reported by William & Mary (152); 30 schools reported Verbal averages below 160, up from 25 schools last year.

And in the writing portion of the GRE, Virginia Darden led all schools with a score of 5, same as the previous year; Stanford, which was tops in 2021 with a 5.1, was second in 2022 with a 4.8. Eleven schools were at 4.5 or better, down from 15 schools in 2021. The lowest writing score was reported by No. 31 Arizona State Carey School of Business: 3.7.

FROM 2017 TO 2022, MICHIGAN STATE BROAD GAINED 14 POINTS IN GRE TOTAL AVERAGE

Between 2021 and 2022, four top-25 B-schools lost ground in overall GRE score, while eight were even. Last year we reported that only one top-25 school had lost ground year-to-year. From 2017 to 2022 in the top 25, six schools lost ground (up from four between 2016 and 2021), and two were even; seven have not reported enough data to determine a trend.

As shown in the table above, the biggest two-year increase in total GRE score from 2021 to 2022 was at Ohio State Fisher College of Business, which jumped 12 points to 323. It was the only double-digit increase in total score in 2022 among top-50 schools. Last year the top school for year-to-year GRE increase was UC-Davis, but that school dropped out of P&Q's top 50 in 2022.

The distinction for biggest two-year decrease in GRE score, as show in the table below, was shared by three schools that lost 4 points: Minnesota Carlson School of Management (to 315), Penn State Smeal College of Business (to 309), and Utah Eccles School of Business (to 313). Last year's biggest Y-O-Y drop-off was at UC-Irvine Merage School of Business, which dropped 12 points to 310; this year Merage gained back 1 point to 311.

Across the six years from 2017 to 2022, the biggest increase in GRE total score average was at Michigan State Broad, which gained 14 points to 321. No other school really came close, though Ohio State Fisher gained 9 points that span. The biggest six-year decline was at two schools: Rice Jones and Penn State Smeal, which both lost 5 points, to 316 and 309, respectively.

13 SCHOOLS SAW THEIR GRE SCORE AVERAGES DECLINE FROM 2017 TO 2022

Only one B-school in the P&Q top 10 reported an increase in GRE total score average from 2021 to 2022: UC-Berkeley Haas, which grew its score by 1 point to 324. The other top-10 schools are either even (Penn Wharton, Harvard, MIT Sloan School of Management), down (Stanford, Yale), or haven't reported enough data. Across six years from 2017 to 2022, none of the top 10 is ahead, with six schools being NA, one even (Yale), and three down (Stanford, Harvard, Haas). Details on pages 4 and 5.

Across the P&Q top 50, 18 schools reported an increase from 2021 to 2022, with an average gain of 3.6 points, down from 32 schools between 2020 and 2021; eight were in the top 25, down from 18. Twelve schools have reported two-year declines averaging 2.3 points, up from 12 schools declining between 2020 and 2021. Ten schools are even, up from six; nine are NA, up from six.

From 2017 to 2022 in the top 50, 21 schools saw GRE score increases averaging 3.8 points, up from 19 schools and 3.7 points from 2016 to 2021; 10 schools were in the top 25, averaging just over 2 points, down from 11, averaging 2.9. The number of schools with declines in that six-year span was 13, down from 14 between 2016 and 2021, but five schools were in the top 25, up from four. Thirteen schools are NA, down from 14, and only three are even, down from five.

Fourteen schools are up in both the two- and six-year windows, down from 15 in our report last year; seven are down in both windows.

See the next pages for complete tables of 2022 and previous years' Graduate Record Exam scores, including breakdowns by Quant and Verbal and 2- and 6-year trends, as well as percentages of GRE submissions at the top 50 U.S. MBA programs.

Average GRE Scores At The Top 50 U.S. MBA Programs

Among top-50 B-schools, Georgetown University's McDonough School of Business had the highest rate of GRE submissions to the MBA program in 2022: 49%

Average GRE Scores At The Top 50 U.S. MBA Programs

Yale SOM reported the highest GRE Quant average (165, tied with Carnegie Mellon Tepper School of Business) and the highest total score average (329) of any P&Q top-50 B-school in 2022

Average GRE Scores At The Top 50 U.S. MBA Programs

Washington Olin Business School saw the biggest year-to-year leap in total GRE score average for a top-25 B-school: 4 points to 314

DON'T MISS AVERAGE GRE SCORES AT THE TOP 50 U.S. MBA PROGRAMS (2022) and AVERAGE GMAT SCORES AT THE TOP U.S. MBA PROGRAMS

The post Average GRE Scores At The Top 50 U.S. MBA Programs appeared first on Poets&Quants.
Author, journalist and former Russian service chief of Voice of America's sister network Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Masha Gessen resigned Tuesday as vice president of the board of PEN America over the free expression group's cancellation of an event with Russian panelists.

As part of PEN America's annual World Voices festival this past weekend, Gessen was set to moderate a panel with two Russian dissident writers.

A separate panel featured Ukrainian writers Artem Chapeye and Artem Chekh, who are also active members of the Ukrainian military.

Because of Russia's invasion of Ukraine last year, Chapeye and Chekh objected to the presence of any Russian panelists. PEN believed that condition applied only to the Ukraine event.

PEN then canceled the Russian panel after learning that Chapeye and Chekh didn't want Russians at the festival at all. In a statement Tuesday, PEN said a "misunderstanding" led to the Russians being uninvited.

"Once the Ukrainians arrived in New York and learned that the Russian dissident writers were part of the festival, they informed us that they would be unable to participate, explaining that had both events proceeded, the soldiers could face an emergency situation involving significant political, legal and compliance repercussions and risks," PEN said.

The two Russians on the canceled panel  Ilia Veniavkin and Anna Nemzer  left Russia shortly after the invasion of Ukraine.

"Faced with the consequences of our mistake and without good options, we made the decision that the event with the Ukrainians should go forward," PEN said. "PEN America regrets the situation that ensued from the error."

Gessen, who uses gender-neutral pronouns, said PEN's decision to cancel the panel was a betrayal of the organization's values.

"I felt like I was being asked to tell these people that because they're Russians they can't sit at the big table; they have to sit at the little table off to the side," the award-winning writer told The Atlantic Monthly, which first reported their resignation Tuesday. "Which felt distasteful."

"I can't look my Russian colleagues in the eye," Gessen added.

Gessen, who immigrated from the former Soviet Union as a teenager in 1981 and holds both Russian and American citizenship, is a vocal critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Now a staff writer at The New Yorker, they previously worked as director of the Russian-language service of VOA's sister network Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.

PEN said that it was "saddened" by Gessen's decision to resign. "We are deeply grateful for their innumerable contributions and service," PEN said.

Gessen told The Associated Press that PEN should not have tolerated guests being blocked from speaking "because someone else doesn't want them to."

"It's up to people whose country hasn't been invaded, whose relatives haven't been disappeared, whose houses are not being bombed, to say there are certain things we don't do  we don't silence people," Gessen told The Atlantic. "We're a freedom-of-expression organization. I'm not blaming the Ukrainians for this."

Gessen said they would remain a PEN member.
India has stepped up security in the Jammu and Kashmir region because of an increase in militant attacks in the run-up to a G-20 meeting on tourism in the Himalayan territory, officials said on Wednesday.

The city of Srinagar, the summer capital of the federal territory, is due to host a tourism working group meeting of G-20 members on May 22-24, part of a series of meetings ahead of a G-20 summit in New Delhi in September.

Islamist militants have stepped up attacks this year in the Jammu region, across the mountains from the Kashmir Valley where Srinagar is located.

Ten soldiers and seven civilians have been killed in four attacks in Jammu this year.

Security officials said they fear the separatist militants could try to promote their cause with an attack before or during the G-20 meeting.

"The timing of these attacks is worrisome as they are planned just before the G-20 meeting," said a senior Indian army officer in the region. He declined to be identified as he is not authorized to speak to the media.

Military and police officers said they had intelligence information that militants might target a military-run school in Jammu and take students hostage.

In response, such schools had been shut and classes moved online until after the G-20 meeting, they said.

Security agencies are not taking any chances in Srinagar, officers said.

Vijay Kumar, chief of police in the Kashmir Valley, told Reuters that commandos had been deployed in the city and members of a counter-terrorism force would be on stationed in various places.

Srinagar has been at the center of the insurgency by Muslim militants against Indian rule since 1989.

Tens of thousands of people have been killed although the violence has been reduced in recent years.

India blames Pakistan for supporting the Muslim insurgents. Pakistan denies that and accuses India of violating the rights of Kashmir's Muslim people. India denies that.

The nuclear-armed neighbors, who have fought three wars, two of them over Kashmir, both claim the region in full but rule it in part.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has said a delegation of African leaders plans to travel to Russia and Ukraine to present a peace plan.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy tells European leaders Ukraine needs more air defense systems and missiles, as well as modern fighter jets

Russia and Ukraine agreed Wednesday to a two-month extension until July 18 of their pact allowing grain shipments from Ukrainian ports through the Russian-controlled Black Sea to global markets to ease world food shortages.

The extension had been in question until an 11th hour agreement was brokered in Istanbul by Turkey and the United Nations. Turkey and the U.N. both have played key roles in earlier agreements that have allowed more than 30 million tons of corn, wheat and other produce to be shipped since last year despite nearly 15 months of fighting after Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres hailed the agreement, saying, "The importance of the Black Sea Initiative  and the parallel Memorandum of Understanding between the U.N. and the Russian Federation  is clear. These agreements matter for global food security. Ukrainian and Russian products feed the world."

He said that "vital food supplies are reaching some of the world's most vulnerable people and places  including 30,000 tons of wheat that just left Ukraine aboard a [World Food Program]-chartered ship to feed hungry people in Sudan."

He said the shipments "matter because we are still in the throes of a record-breaking cost-of-living crisis," while acknowledging that global food "markets have stabilized, volatility has been reduced and we have seen global food prices fall by 20%."

Ukrainian Vice Prime Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov said he was grateful to the U.N. and Turkey "for efforts in strengthening food security. Main challenge now is to make [the grain shipments] efficient by cancellation [of] artificial barriers," which he did not spell out.

Several times over the past year, Russia has threatened to withdraw from the grain shipment pact, or has briefly done so, arguing that provisions allowing its own agricultural products and fertilizers to be shipped to world markets are not being fulfilled.

Meanwhile, Ukraine has complained that Russia has stalled the deal by preventing required inspections of shipments and refusing to approve the use of more vessels.

Russian confirmed the two-month extension of the pact, but a Russia Foreign Ministry spokeswoman suggested that Russia's complaints about the deal had still not been addressed. "The distortions in the implementation of the deal should be corrected as quickly as possible," she said.

Kyiv air defense

Ukraines military on Wednesday dismissed concerns about Russias claims that a Russian hypersonic missile had destroyed a U.S.-supplied Patriot missile battery during a series of airstrikes on Kyiv.

Ukrainian air force spokesperson Yuriy Ihnat told Ukrainian television and Agence France-Presse do not worry about the fate of the Patriot battery.

"The Patriot is in service," Ihnat said, according to AFP.

Reuters and CNN cited U.S. officials saying the battery was likely damaged during the Russian attack on Tuesday.

Ukrainian officials said air defense systems shot down all 18 missiles Russia fired on Kyiv.

Ukraines Western allies have supplied sophisticated air defense systems, including the U.S.-made Patriot missiles, and they have helped spare Kyiv from the kind of widespread destruction seen elsewhere in the country.

Some information for this story came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters
Authorities in Lesotho have imposed an indefinite curfew in hopes of curbing gun violence in the South African mountain kingdom, in response to the shooting death of a journalist over the weekend.

About 10 p.m. Sunday, unknown assailants gunned down investigative journalist and radio presenter Ralikonelo Leqhashasha Joki as he left the radio station Tsenolo FM in the capital, Maseru, after presenting his program. He was shot once in the head and at least 13 times in the body.

Less than 24 hours later, the government imposed a countrywide curfew that went into effect on Tuesday. The curfew restricts movement between 10 p.m. and 4 a.m., the countrys Police Minister Lebona Lephema said, although hospitals, the media and the security sector are exempted from the rule.

Joki, host of the current affairs show Hlokoana-La-Tsela (I Heard It Through the Grapevine), reported on government affairs, corruption and organized crime. In 2021, he broke a story about five politicians who were illegally trading alcohol.

Jokis killing was likely in retaliation for his reporting, according to press freedom groups. The journalist reportedly received at least three death threats from different Facebook accounts earlier this year that were related to his reporting.

Out of 180 countries, Lesotho ranks 67 in terms of press freedom, according to Reporters Without Borders.

Press freedom groups like the Committee to Protect Journalists, or CPJ, and the International Federation of Journalists, or IFJ, called on local authorities to launch an investigation into Jokis killing.

Authorities in Lesotho must thoroughly investigate the killing of Tsenolo FM host Ralikonelo Leqhashasha Joki and ensure those responsible are brought to justice, Angela Quintal, CPJs Africa program coordinator, said in a statement.

An attempted murder trial after a similar attack on Lesotho Times editor Lloyd Mutungamiri in 2016 has dragged on for years. Authorities must send a clear signal to those who believe they can attack or kill journalists without consequence, that in Jokis case at least, there will be swift accountability, Quintal continued in the statement.

In July 2016, Mutungamiri was shot outside his home, leaving him in critical condition. The trial is expected to proceed in July this year.

We are deeply saddened by the death of Ralikonelo Joki and strictly condemn this senseless act of killing, IFJ General Secretary Anthony Bellanger said in a statement. It is a matter of public interest to ensure the safety of those who fulfil their obligations towards the publics right to know.

Lesothos Police Minister Lephema said the indefinite curfew was intended to address gun violence across the country.

Lesotho has the worlds third-highest homicide rate, with more than 43 murders per 100,000 people, according to World Population Review.

But opposition leader Machesetsa Mofomobe criticized the curfew, saying it would not actually curb gun violence.

People are not killed from 10 to 4, what is needed is a crime prevention strategy and money to implement that strategy, the Basotho National Party leader said in a Facebook post.
Nigerian and American authorities are investigating after armed men on Tuesday attacked a U.S. convoy in southeast Anambra state, killing two consulate staff and two policemen. Nigerian police say the attackers also abducted two police officers and a driver.

Anambra state police command spokesperson Tochukwu Ikenga said Wednesday that security forces are searching for the perpetrators and the three people they abducted.

In a separate statement late Tuesday, Ikenga said local police were unaware of the movement of the U.S. convoy until after the attack and that the area was known for separatist violence.

Police said the attackers opened fire on the motorcade, killed the officers and U.S. consulate workers and then burned their corpses along with the vehicles.

Analyst Kabiru Adamu of Beacon Security Consulting said theres no question the attackers sought out the U.S. convoy for attack.

"These vehicles had diplomatic numbers (license plates), they were protected by security escort, he said. So, it was very clear that whoever targeted them, it was a specific targeting."

Nigerian police and White House national security official John Kirby said there were no U.S. citizens in the convoy.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack but authorities suspect separatist agitators in the region.

Security forces have blamed the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) for increasing violence in the southeast.

But security expert Chidi Omeje said the attack is a sign of a general decline in security, not just Biafran separatist activity.

"It just goes to show that the security challenge in the southeast is still very much an issue, he said. I do not want to believe that every crime committed in the southeast now is by IPOB, because there are criminals who take advantage of this situation and commit these kinds of crimes. The embassy should've known that the southeast region for now is actually challenged by insecurities."

The IPOB is seeking to break away from Nigeria's southeastern region to form an independent state called Biafra.

The movement triggered a civil war in the late 1960s in which an estimated one million Biafrans died, mostly from famine.

In recent years, the region has seen increased attacks, including many raids on offices of the independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in a bid to disrupt elections.

Adamu said the latest attack less than two weeks before the start of a new presidential administration could have implications.

"The fact that it's in a transition period, the attackers would've known the consequences of attacking a diplomatic convoy in a transition period would be far reaching, and so whether the objective is to affect the transition or not the result is the same, he said. There were warnings by different security agencies of plans to truncate the transition process."

On Monday, the U.S. State Department announced a visa ban on Nigerian citizens who undermined the electoral process.

The department did not immediately name anyone affected by the ban.
Rebels in Ethiopias Oromia region have accused federal troops of launching attacks, despite an agreement stemming from Tanzania peace talks to de-escalate the conflict.

Preliminary talks between the rebel Oromo Liberation Army (OLA) and the government took place earlier this month in Tanzania, with no agreement reached. But OLA spokesperson Odaa Tarbii said the attacks contradicted the understandings that the two parties reached.

After the conclusion of the preliminary talks in Tanzania, where we had a mutual understanding that de-escalation must be a priority, the Abiy regime unfortunately chose a different path," Tarbii said. "It launched a comprehensive offensive on all territories under our administration. The fighting has been very intense.

The rebel group said federal groups attacked several points in the Oromia region, specifically West and East Wellega, East and West Shoa, Arsi, Borana, Harerghe and Horo Guduru.

It said troops burned homes, robbed people, confiscated mobile phones and committed acts of sexual violence, among other crimes.

VOA reached out to the Oromia Region spokesperson and a security adviser to Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed for comment but has not received any response.

Fighting between the OLA and federal troops has gone on for four years and displaced thousands from their homes.

Abiy announced that peace talks with the group would begin in April. Since then, each side has reiterated its commitment to a peaceful resolution. However, the OLA said it will not be pushed to accepting a subpar political settlement through military pressure.
The United Nations appealed Wednesday for $3 billion to help those affected by the conflict that erupted last month in Sudan.

The U.N. humanitarian agency said it needs $2.6 billion to help those still within Sudan, saying 25 million people in the country are in need of humanitarian aid and protection.

Ramesh Rajasingham, head of the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Geneva and director of the Coordination Division, said the fighting in Sudan has been a cruel blow to the people of Sudan.

Rajasingham said the conflict has left at least 676 dead, with the true toll likely much higher.

Another $400 million of the appeal came from the U.N. refugee agency to help those who have fled to neighboring countries to escape the fighting in Sudan.

SEE ALSO: A related video by Henry Wilkins

Mervat Shelbaya, chief of the interagency support branch for U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Geneva, said at a briefing Wednesday the fighting has forced more than 950,000 people from their homes and also forced 220,000 into neighboring countries.

If we are to scale up our response and reach all those in need, we and the people of Sudan need the generous support of the international community, Shelbaya said.

The Sudanese army, led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, is battling the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, led by General Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo.

The two generals are former allies who together orchestrated an October 2021 military coup that derailed a transition to civilian rule following the 2019 ouster of longtime leader Omar al-Bashir.

Tensions between the generals have been growing over disagreements about how the Rapid Support Forces should be integrated in the army and who should oversee that process. The restructuring of the military was part of an effort to restore the country to civilian rule and end the political crisis sparked by the 2021 military coup.

Some information for this report came from Agence France-Presse and Reuters.
An international election monitoring group says Thailand's general election voting process was "much improved" compared with the last ballot the country held in 2019.

On Sunday, millions of Thais voted in a general election to choose which political party and prime minister they want to lead the next government. Thailand's opposition parties gained big, with the progressive Move Forward Party winning the most seats.

The Asian Networks for Free Elections (ANFREL), an independent election monitoring organization based in Bangkok, held a press conference at the Foreign Correspondents Club Thailand on Wednesday, noting how Thailand's election transparency has improved.

Rohana Hettiarachchi, the head of mission for ANFREL, said the elections took place peacefully.

"I would like to congratulate the citizens of Thailand that large participation of the 2023 general elections, the turnout was quite high, somewhere around 75 [percent]. I would also like to congratulate the ECT  Election Commission of Thailand  because they have organized the elections in orderly and peacefully, and largely acceptable."

Over 39 million Thai people voted in the general election and a record turnout exceeded 75%, according to reports. Polls opened Sunday at 8 a.m. and ended at 5 p.m. Sunday, as people battled hot temperatures and some heavy rain throughout the country to cast their votes.

Thai citizens voted on two ballots, choosing 400 constituency and 100 party-list members of parliament to elect Thailand's 500-member House of Representatives.

"Compared to the last elections they managed to bring an immediate result in the same day or within 48 hours. We have seen the counting process was open. Everyone, most of the places that have voted, it was open and transparent, largely open for public. Voting, advanced voting and election day were orderly  they were organized properly and most of the places we have seen that voters' attention was quite high," Hettiarachchi added.

ANFREL deployed dozens of its international observers across 460 polling stations on election day, in addition to monitoring Thailand's election campaign period and advanced voting day on May 7. The group's mission is to improve the electoral process and advance democracy in Thailand.

Despite the improvement, a report issued by ANFREL included ways the transparency of the election process could be better. The monitoring group has asked Thailand's parliament to introduce legal guarantees for all stakeholders  political parties, media and election observers  to witness every step of the electoral process.

"We highly appreciate the counting process that takes place at the polling stations, although the polling stations counting is just one part of the process. There are calculation places, that have to be open for at least the political party, and the observers. But there are certain data that was not publicized, all related to elections has to be open and the data should be available," Hettiarachchi said.

Amael Vier, a senior program officer at ANFREL, added the group has made several recommendations to improve the election process.

"The counting is done at the polling station and then you need to tally the results from all different polling stations in order to write your constituency level results. That part is not open in Thailand, at the moment, political parties, observers and media still don't have access to this process."

ANFREL had slammed the process of Thailand's 2019 general elections, calling them "deeply flawed" over the counting of ballots at the national level, delays in results and vote buying.

Progress aside, Hettiarachchi did raise concerns over possible vote buying.

"Vote buying, is a culture in our Asian contests, if you go to Philippines, Sri Lanka  it's happening. But we have to work together to prevent such a situation. It is happening all across Asia, so we need to find a way of how we are going prevent such situations," Hettiarachchi said.

Vote buying is a form of electoral fraud when candidate MPs offer money or goods to voters with the expectation of the voter voting in their favor.

Thailand's electoral commission implemented a mechanism to prevent such electoral fraud, offering monetary rewards to anyone who could provide evidence of those who might be vote buying.

But the ANFREL report says a lack of evidence prevented people from reporting vote buying. Fears for their own safety also hindered that effort. Despite vote buying being illegal in Thailand, and carrying a maximum sentence of 10 years imprisonment and heavy fines, the risk of punishment doesn't seem to stop the phenomenon, according to reports.

Preliminary election results show the Move Forward Party obtained the most seats with 152, beating fellow opposition party and pre-election favorite Pheu Thai. Both parties defeated military and royal-backed rivals, signaling a wish for change in Thailand's governance. But to win and lead the next government outright, candidates need at least a majority of 376 votes.

Thailand's parliament also consists of a 250-member military-appointed senate, and its influence is crucial to deciding who will lead the next government. Move Forward Party leader Pita Limjaroenrat has since proposed a coalition with five other political parties, and if agreed to, the alliance would hold 310 seats in government.

But the decision would still lie with the senate over whether they will back this coalition. Thailand's electoral commission has up to 60 days to confirm the election results.
Afghanistan's Taliban confirmed Wednesday they had appointed a caretaker prime minister to oversee daily affairs, saying the incumbent, Mohammad Hasan Akhund, is unwell and needed time to recover.

The new head of the all-male Taliban cabinet, Abdul Kabir, is under terrorism-related United Nations sanctions, along with several other senior members of his hardline government. He was elevated from serving as the deputy prime minister for political affairs.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid announced the power shift on Twitter. He said that Akhund, 78, had been in the southern city of Kandahar for some time undergoing treatment and resting, and he will return to Kabul soon to resume his duties.

"It's a routine matter in the governance process for a caretaker to take charge to ensure the smooth running of the administrative affairs," wrote Mujahid. "No one needs to worry about it, nor should they use it for propaganda."

Mujahid was responding to reported claims that Akhund had resigned due to alleged internal Taliban rifts and would not return to the office.

The Taliban reclaimed power in August 2021, when the United States and NATO troops departed Afghanistan after two decades of involvement in the war. The Taliban subsequently established an interim government and appointed Akhund as its prime minister.

The hardline group has banned teenage girls from receiving education beyond the sixth grade and women working for the United Nations and non-governmental organizations in Afghanistan. Most female government employees have not been allowed to return to work since the Taliban took control of Kabul.

The Taliban reject international calls for reversing the restrictions on women, saying it is an "internal social matter" of Afghanistan.

Torek Farhadi, a former Afghan official, said that instead of indulging in political reshuffling, the Taliban needed to pay attention to easing restrictions on women to address domestic and foreign concerns.

"The international community is looking more to change policies from Taliban than musical chairs among them in top positions of power," Farhadi told VOA. "What is expected is to let teenage girls go back to school and let women work in government offices and NGOs, the analyst said.

Kabir was placed on the U.N. sanctions list in early 2001, when he served as the acting prime minister in the then-Taliban government shortly before it collapsed in the wake of the U.S.-led military invasion of Afghanistan.

The newly appointed Taliban prime minister was appointed as the military commander for eastern Afghanistan in 2007, when the then-insurgent group was waging attacks against U.S.-led foreign forces and their local Afghan allies.

Kabir was blamed for plotting some of the deadliest bombings and other insurgent attacks. He was allegedly collecting money from drug traffickers on behalf of the Taliban, the U.N. list showed. He was a member of the Qatar-based Taliban political office during negotiations with the United States, culminating in a deal in February 2020 and paving the ground for Washington to pull out of its longest war in history.

Reclusive Taliban supreme leader Hibatullah Akhundzada and current Interior Minister Sirajuddin Haqqani are among other top leaders under U.N. and U.S. terrorism-related sanctions.

The Taliban takeover led to an abrupt loss of most international aid for Afghanistan, which remains one of the worst humanitarian emergencies in the world. The U.N. says two-thirds of the country's estimated 40 million population is food insecure

Aid workers say the Taliban's restrictions on women have worsened the humanitarian situation.
The U.N. special rapporteur for Myanmar said Wednesday that Myanmar's military has imported at least a $1 billion worth of weapons and weapons materials since overthrowing the democratically elected government in February 2021, with Russia as the junta's top supplier.

"Russia and China continue to be the main suppliers of advanced weapons systems to the Myanmar military, accounting for over $400 million and $260 million respectively since the coup, with much of the trade originating from state-owned entities," Tom Andrews said.

He told reporters at a news conference at U.N. headquarters that weaponry provided by Russian suppliers has been used to commit probable war crimes and crimes against humanity in Myanmar.

"These weapons, and the materials to manufacture more of them, have continued to flow uninterrupted to the Myanmar military despite overwhelming evidence of its responsibility for atrocity crimes," he said.

The military seized power on February 1, 2021, alleging massive election fraud after their political party gained only 33 of 498 contested parliament seats. Since then, the U.N. human rights office says at least 3,000 civilians have been killed, more than 17,500 detained and more than a million displaced as the military pursues its brutal crackdown to retain power. The United Nations says at least 17.6 million people in Myanmar require humanitarian assistance.

The special rapporteur presented his latest report, "The Billion Dollar Death Trade: International Arms Networks that Enable Human Rights Violations in Myanmar," in which he used both private and public sources, including trade databases, to identify more than 12,500 unique purchases or recorded shipments from multiple sources directly to the junta or known Myanmar arms dealers working on the military's behalf.

The networks and companies he identified in these transfers operate in Russia, China, Singapore, Thailand and India.

"The diversity and volume of goods provided to the Myanmar military since the coup is staggering," Andrews told reporters. "I identified fighter jets, attack helicopters, reconnaissance and attack drones, missile systems, tank upgrades, radio and communications equipment, radar complexes, and components for naval ships."

Russian weaponry

Moscow is by far Myanmar's largest arms dealer, conducting more than $400 million in transfers from 28 Russian entities, including from state-owned ones, since the February 2021 coup. The report says 16 of those suppliers have been sanctioned by some countries for their role in Russia's war in Ukraine.

The special rapporteur says more than half of the confirmed arms exports from Russia to the junta come from the state-controlled Rosoboronexport. It has shipped at least $227 million worth of equipment and materials to the Myanmar military since the coup, including SU-30 fighter jets and rocket launch systems, as well as supplies for MiG-29 fighter jets.

"The Russian Mi-35 helicopter was reported to be the most sighted aircraft, including in strikes against schools, medical facilities, and civilian homes and infrastructure," Andrews says in his report. "MiG-29 and Yak-130 aircraft have also been used extensively since the coup, with Yak-130 jet fighters seen in attacks in Chin, Kachin, Kayin, Mon, and Shan States and Sagaing Region."

Andrews, an independent human rights expert, whose mandate comes from the Geneva-based U.N. Human Rights Council, says under international humanitarian law, Russia has an obligation to deny further transfers of its weapons, since it should know the Myanmar military is systematically committing violations of international humanitarian law with them.

Chinese entities, including state-owned ones, are the second-largest supplier to Myanmar's military, having sent $267 million in spare parts, communications equipment, missiles, tanks and fighter jets, which Andrews says also violates international arms treaties and conventions.

The special rapporteur said he presented his findings to the countries identified in his report, including Russia and China.

"In all cases, there was not a specific rebuttal about any of the facts that I have identified from anybody," he said.

An emailed request for comment from VOA to the Russian mission early Wednesday was unanswered as this story was published.

Regional arms flows

ASEAN members Singapore and Thailand both supported the regional bloc's "five-point consensus" for ending the fighting in Myanmar and moving toward talks, as well as a 2021 U.N. General Assembly resolution calling on nations not to arm Myanmar. But while Andrews emphasized the governments are not implicated in his report, arms dealers have extensively used their banking and shipping sectors to facilitate hundreds of millions of dollars in arms transfers.

The special rapporteur says Singapore has become a major hub for spare parts, raw materials, and manufacturing equipment sent to the Myanmar military that feed its domestic arms factories. Transactions have totaled at least $254 million since the coup. Its banks have been used extensively by arms dealers. Thailand-based entities have conducted $28 million in arms transfers.

He said both countries have received his report and are looking into it.

Neighbor India is also called out for supplying $51 million worth of arms and related materials to the military since the coup. The special rapporteur says both Indian state-owned and private entities are involved in the weapons transfers.

In the report, India told the special rapporteur that it shares a 1,700-kilometer-long border with Myanmar, and any arms transfers that may have been made to Myanmar were based on commitments made to the civilian government before the coup and centered upon India's domestic security concerns. But Andrews says shipments continued after the coup.

Blatant behavior

The Myanmar military does not try to hide its purchases. More than $947 million of arms-related trade Andrews identified went directly to entities controlled by the Myanmar military. An additional $58 million was funneled through Myanmar-based military suppliers or sanctioned arms dealers.

Despite Western economic sanctions and arms embargoes, and a U.N. General Assembly resolution calling on all member states "to prevent the flow of arms into Myanmar," Andrews says aircraft, weapons and other materials continue to get to the junta because of poorly coordinated international sanctions.

"If you don't enforce sanctions, you don't have sanctions," he said.

He also urged countries to target the source of the military's foreign currency, which it uses to purchase weapons  specifically its lucrative oil and gas sector  and to sanction its foreign trade bank.

"We know that these weapons transfers  we know where they are going and we know how they are being used," Andrews said. "Since we know how they are being used, we have an obligation to stop aiding and abetting these human rights violations."
Barclays - PETER NICHOLLS/REUTERS

Barclays is planning to hire 200 new traders in Paris in the latest blow to the City of London in the wake of Brexit.

The British lender said it expects to increase its headcount in the French capital by about two-thirds over the next two to three years as it increasingly becomes Europes main trading hub.

Francesco Ceccato, chief executive of Barclays Europe, said he believes the bank could generate enough business in Paris to add about 200 more staff by 2025 to 2026. It currently employs around 300 people in the French capital.

Mr Ceccato told Bloomberg: The need to keep hiring traders on the continent is obvious. Europe needs to develop its capital markets to reduce reliance on banks, so we have an opportunity to grow. Over the next few years, we wouldnt be surprised if there were around 500 people working for Barclays in Paris.

It comes after the European Central Bank (ECB) also engineered a raid on the Square Mile, telling lenders that they must base staff in the EU if they are responsible for significant trading activity on the Continent after Britain left the bloc.

The ECB previously said it had identified 56 groups of traders who should be doing their jobs from within the EU following a lengthy investigation  known as its desk mapping review  into whether the institutions are seeking to dodge post-Brexit regulation.

Goldman Sachs moved into a new, 9,000-square metre Paris headquarters last year, with its headcount more than doubling in the country in recent years.

Barclays employs around 1,800 people across 10 countries in the European Union, compared to more than 40,000 in the UK. Its Paris operation is now nearly as large as its Dublin office.

At the end of 2022, the company had nearly 90,000 employees globally, according to its annual report.

Given its expansion plans in the French capital, Barclays plans to move into a larger Parisian office next year near the Arc de Triomphe.

Memos in the banks Paris office are drafted in both English and French and the company has hired external contractors to provide language lessons.

Raoul Salomon, chief executive of Barclays France, told Bloomberg: People do not see Paris as a short-term gig anymore. They bring their kids and buy country houses.

In March, Paris extended its lead over London as Europes largest stock market as companies continued to flee Britain.

The London market is $250bn (204bn) smaller than its French rival, according to data from Bloomberg, as fears grow that the London Stock Exchange (LSE) is losing its allure.

Last November, London was stripped of its crown as the largest centre for trading equities in Europe for the first time, after it was leapfrogged by Paris.

Concerns about the Citys position were exacerbated in recent weeks when building material giant CRH became the latest company to leave the London stock market for New York, while British technology darling Arm also said it was shunning the LSE for its bumper listing.

The City watchdog has since announced plans to water down rules to make it easier for companies to list on the LSE.

Meanwhile, investors sold a 2.7bn stake in the LSE on Wednesday as the group which runs it battles to revive the London market.

An investor consortium, including US buyout giant Blackstone and Thomson Reuters, offloaded the shares just months after it disposed of another $2bn in LSE stock.

Shares in the London Stock Exchange Group slumped more than 4pc, valuing the company at 46bn.

Thomson Reuters and Blackstone took a stake in the LSE after selling data company Refinitiv to the UK-listed exchange for 21bn in 2021.

The LSE's acquisition of Refinitiv, under boss David Schwimmer, was supposed to transform the financial group  which was founded in 1801 but has a history dating back to Londons original coffeehouse brokers in the 1700s  from a company that derived its revenue from share trades and listings into an international data and information giant.

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The U.S. military has confirmed another Russian military aircraft was tracked while operating near the U.S. state of Alaska on Monday, the second such incident in less than a week.

North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) said that it had detected and tracked one Russian military aircraft while it was operating in the Alaska Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ). The Russian aircraft remained in international airspace and did not enter U.S. or Canadian sovereign airspace, according to a NORAD press release.

Speaking to VOA on Wednesday, a NORAD official declined to identify the type of Russian military aircraft, adding that U.S. fighter jets did not fly out and intercept the aircraft in this instance.

The flight occurred as several planned large-scale military training exercises are underway in and around Alaska.

Last Thursday, U.S. F-16 and F-22 fighter jets intercepted six Russian aircraft, including TU-95 bombers, SU-35 fighter jets and IL-78 tanker aircraft that had entered the Alaska ADIZ. NORAD said the Russian aircraft did not enter U.S. or Canadian sovereign airspace.

The ADIZ is international airspace directly next to sovereign airspace that requires the ready identification, location and control of all aircraft in the interest of national security, according to NORAD.

NORAD remains ready to employ a number of response options in defense of North America, the command said.
On a sandy lot below a Khartoum apartment building, helmetless Sudanese soldiers in a mishmash of uniforms raised their fists as machine gunners blasted away from atop two small trucks.

It was another day in a war that has not stopped for more than a month, and continued Wednesday, as the United Nations reported that more than half of the country's people, 25 million, need aid and protection, Ramesh Rajasingham, head of the U.N. humanitarian agency's Geneva bureau, told reporters there.

Analysts say neither side  the army led by chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces led by his former deputy Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo  has been able to seize an advantage on the battlefield.

And the capital, Khartoum, has become a war zone.

In front of a five-story apartment building, some soldiers on Tuesday stood casually with rocket-propelled grenade launchers while another danced about with a belt-fed machine gun while the ground around him appeared littered with dozens of spent large-caliber shell casings.

Soldiers shouted as machine guns fired from atop a pickup truck, a small, armored car and a tank beside some trees near a billboard for a car showroom.

The clear blue sky was marred only by faint dark smoke rising behind them.

In other parts of the capital, long mounds of dirt are piled beside roads where military trenches have been dug.

With bullets flying, Rajasingham said millions remained confined to their homes, unable to access basic services and health care.

More than 5,000 people have been injured.

In Africa's third-largest country, many areas remain untouched by the fighting but still suffer its effects, with soaring prices and shortages of fuel.

"Petrol is not available now and the price has increased on the black market. People can't transport their vegetables," said Abu Bakr Abdullah, 27, a farmer in River Nile state.

Another farmer, Qamar al-Bashir, 52, complained that four years have passed since longtime autocrat Omar al-Bashir was toppled, but "they have not been able to form a government."

A coup in 2021 by Burhan and Dagalo derailed a fragile transition to civilian rule.

"Enough!" the farmer said. "You can't move the country forward, do you move it backwards? And at the end you take us to war for your own personal interests."

They "are losers," all of them, he said.

Last Thursday the warring sides signed in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, a commitment to respect humanitarian principles and allow in badly needed aid.

"However, reports of attacks continued and, on 12 May, violence in El Geneina reportedly escalated," a U.N. report said.

Toby Harward, of the U.N.'s refugee agency, reported an "extremely disturbing" situation in El Geneina, the West Darfur capital.

Hundreds of civilians have been killed in militia attacks on residential areas and street battles between "community-aligned forces." There has also been looting and destruction at markets, camps for displaced people, and other locations, he wrote on Twitter.

In Khartoum North, a factory that produced food to treat malnourished children burned down, according to the U.N. children's fund.

Still, Rajasingham voiced hope the Jeddah agreement was having some effect.

He said fighters had pulled back from some of the health facilities that were previously occupied and highlighted an uptick in aid deliveries.

"We do need much more," he said.

Sudan's war is expected to be a major agenda item during the Arab League summit on Friday in Saudi Arabia.

Heavyweights in the pan-Arab bloc are divided on Sudan, with Egypt supporting Burhan and the United Arab Emirates, according to experts, seen to be backing the RSF.
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The Black Sea Grain initiative is renewed for two months. South Africa leads a delegation of African heads-of-state to Kyiv and Moscow. American congressmen share their opinions on Ukraine and the federal budget, plus a look at how performing Shakespeare has helped refugees.
New developments:

South Africas President Cyril Ramaphosa has said a delegation of African leaders plans to travel to Russia and Ukraine to present a peace plan

French President Emmanuel Macron says France is open to training Ukrainian fighter pilots.

U.N. aid chief Martin Griffiths says continuing Black Sea Grain deal is "critically important" and that the U.N. is engaged in "intensive discussions" to keep it alive.

Ukraine said Tuesday Russia had launched a barrage of nighttime aerial attacks on Kyiv that was exceptional in its density but that Ukrainian forces had shot down all 18 missiles targeting the capital.

Serhiy Popko, head of Kyiv's city military administration, posted on Telegram that the attack featured the maximum number of attack missiles in the shortest period of time, with loud explosions booming across the city. Six of the destroyed missiles were hypersonic Kinzhal missiles.

British Ambassador Melinda Simmons tweeted that the barrage was "pretty intense," adding that bangs and shaking walls are not an easy night."

Popko said the aerial attack was the eighth targeting Kyiv since the beginning of the month as Russia ramps up its attacks ahead of an expected Ukrainian counteroffensive in the eastern regions of the country.

Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko reported falling debris caused damage in several of the capital citys districts, including in the Solomyanskyi neighborhood, where three people were injured.

Russia launched the six Kinzhal aero-ballistic missiles from MiG-31K aircraft, nine cruise missiles from ships in the Black Sea and three land-based S-400 cruise missiles targeted the capital, Ukrainian Air Force spokesman Yurii Ihnat said in a statement on Telegram.

Ukraines Western allies have supplied sophisticated air defense systems, including American-made Patriot missiles, and they have helped spare Kyiv from the kind of widespread destruction seen elsewhere in the country.

A metal fragment from Tuesdays attacks landed inside the Kyiv Zoo. Associated Press reporters said it was labeled Lockheed Martin and Boeing, two of the companies involved in the manufacture of the Patriot missile system.

A Russian defense official said that Tuesday's attack destroyed a Patriot missile battery in Kyiv but the statement couldn't be independently verified. Ukraine refused to comment on the claim.

Despite success in thwarting attacks on Kyiv, Ukraine said at least seven civilians died and 14 others were wounded in Russian shelling of other Ukrainian regions Monday through Tuesday morning.

New military aid

Britain said Monday it is sending Ukraine hundreds more missiles and attack drones in hopes of boosting Kyiv's fight against Russia's invasion.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy thanked British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, a staunch ally, for the new weaponry as they met at Chequers, Sunak's official country retreat.

Zelenskyy characterized the war effort as a matter of "security not only for Ukraine, it is important for all of Europe."

Sunak told Zelenskyy that "your leadership, your country's bravery and fortitude are an inspiration to us all."

SEE ALSO:

Zelenskyy's visit to Britain was his fourth stop in Western allied countries in recent days as he looks to shore up military support ahead of Ukraine's counteroffensive against Moscow's forces to try to retake regions of eastern Ukraine that Russia continues to hold. He had earlier stopped in Italy, Germany and France to meet with their leaders.

"The [United Kingdom] is a leader when it comes to expanding our capabilities on the ground and in the air," Zelenskyy tweeted ahead of his meeting with Sunak. The British leader called the impending fighting "a crucial moment in Ukraine's resistance to a terrible war."

The Kremlin said it views more British aid to Ukraine "extremely negatively," but spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia does not believe the new weaponry would drastically change the course of the war.

"Britain aspires to be at the forefront among countries that continue to pump weapons into Ukraine," Peskov said. "We repeat once again  it cannot yield any drastic and fundamental influence on the way the special military operation [in Ukraine] is unfolding. But definitely, it leads to further destruction, further action. ... It makes this whole story for Ukraine much more complicated."

Along with the U.S. and other European countries, Britain has become one of Ukraine's major military allies, sending Kyiv short-range missiles and Challenger tanks and training 15,000 Ukrainian troops on British soil.

Last week, Britain announced it had sent Ukraine Storm Shadow cruise missiles, which have a range of more than 250 kilometers  the first known shipment of the weaponry that Kyiv has long sought from its allies.

Sunak's office said the newest shipment announced Monday would include more air defense missiles, as well as "long-range attack drones" with a range of more than 200 kilometers.

"This is a crucial moment in Ukraine's resistance to a terrible war of aggression they did not choose or provoke," Sunak said. "They need the sustained support of the international community to defend against the barrage of unrelenting and indiscriminate attacks that have been their daily reality for over a year. We must not let them down."

Zelenskyy said Ukraine needs to build a "fighter jet coalition" to provide it with vital air defenses. Sunak's spokesman said no planes would be provided by Britain but that it would begin training Ukrainian fighter pilots as soon as this summer.

In Paris, French President Emmanuel Macron said France would supply dozens of light tanks, armored vehicles and more air defense systems "in the weeks ahead," without giving specific numbers. France is also aiming to train 2,000 Ukrainian troops in France and nearly 4,000 others in Poland this year.

Germany announced a $3 billion aid package for Ukraine, its biggest since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022.

"Now is the time for us to determine the end of the war already this year, we can make the aggressor's defeat irreversible already this year," Zelenskyy said Sunday during a joint news conference in Berlin with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

Some information for this story came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.
Columbus Mavhunga

The International Monetary Fund (IMF)says Zimbabwes monetary controls part of the problem, careful assessment needed to ensure benefits of digital currency outweigh the costs and potential risks,

Zimbabwe's central bank on May 8 launched a gold-backed digital currency it hopes will reduce the demand for US dollars and the devaluation of the Zimbabwe dollar. But analysts say the government-controlled foreign-exchange market is fueling the problem.

Zimbabwes dollar was re-introduced in 2019 but now trades at more than 2,000 to the US dollar on the black market.

The government hopes the release of a gold-backed digital currency will reduce the Zimbabwe dollars rapid devaluation.

Mthuli Ncube, Zimbabwes Minister of Finance, said, Its a very positive thing. These digital coins are backed by physical gold in our vaults, so its a very solid instrument. So, anyone buying it should feel comfortable that its a solid instrument that will preserve value.

Companies buying the new digital currency hope it can protect their local currency investments. Farai Gwaka is the general manager of Zimnat Asset Management, says, We do have quite a bit sizeable amount of local currency investments, especially money market and the like. Upon analyzing the proposal from the reserve bank, we quickly realized that its a very useful hedging instrument. Because it is linked to hard asset which is gold it will protect you in terms of any potential currency devaluation.

But in written comments to VOA, the International Monetary Funds office in Zimbabwe expressed concern about the digital currency and market controls.

It said a careful assessment was needed to ensure the benefits of the new currency outweigh the costs and potential risks.

Economists say having enough gold to back the tokens is a concern. Prosper Chitambara is an economist with the Labor and Economic Development Research Institute of Zimbabwe.

On paper, I am saying a digital gold currency is actually a sound idea economically. But I t hink there is need for greater transparency in terms of issues like reserves, how much (gold) reserves we have as a country, to be able and successfully back and defend these digital gold coins.

Zimbabwe state media in April reported the government had about $23 million in gold and planned to build its reserves to $100 million.

Last year Zimbabwe introduced a physical gold coin to try to stabilize its dollar, but the currency has since dropped to less than a third its value.

Analysts say a big problem is Zimbabwes controls on the currency market, which values the local dollar at more than six times the rate it trades for on the black market.
MARYLAND - Opposition Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) leader Nelson Chamisa says parliamentarians should today canvas for the right to vote and diaspora vote and auditing of the voters roll as lawmakers debate the Electoral Amendment Bill.

In a series of tweets, Chamisa said, Today, Parliament considers the Electoral reforms and amendments bill. May Zimbabwe never miss this special moment and opportunity to deal with all the challenges that undermine the credibility and legitimacy of our elections. As MPs are girding their loins to debate this bill, its important to consider the right to vote especially the diaspora vote, access to and audit the voters roll which must be verified, approved and signed of by all contesting parties and candidates before the election.

Chamisa suggested that the lawmakers should discuss modalities of the timely announcement of election results, security of the vote and voter and the blocking of chiefs and other traditional leaders force-marching people to the polling stations.

He also said food handouts should not be used to campaign for votes in all elections.

The opposition has over the years demanded the government to implement electoral reforms designed to ensure that Zimbabwe conducts a free, fair and credible elections.

Responding to Chamisas tweets, Unathi Kalanga Ndebele dismissed the CCC leaders demands for widespread electoral reforms.

He said, Diaspora vote? Is that provided for in the Constitution? Why would it suddenly pop up in the Electoral Act when it is not provided for in the Constitution? Don't get me wrong: it is the right thing. But am just not sure if this is the level at which it is being addressed. Every act of Parliament must be in sync with the constitution, and if not in the constitution, that act will be deemed unconstitutional. There are ideals and there are practical issues.

But a person identified as Webster also said, Every Zimbabwean has a right to vote wherever they are as long logistics are provided, so diaspora vote does not need to be in the constitution.

In his response, Chief Michael noted that the main reason why there is no diaspora vote is because voting in Zim is based on wards and constituencies, and we dont have these for the diaspora. Therefore, the Electoral must cater for such that is why it needs to be discussed here.

Zanu PF has already dismissed an untenable suggestions that Zimbabwe should conduct a diaspora vote due to logistical challenges.

The Standard newspaper recently quoted CCC as saying the Electoral Amendment Bill should include improving the design of ballot papers and ensuring that transfer of power and declaration of presidential results is done in a smooth manner.

The Electoral Amendment Bill seeks the disqualification of convicted person from contesting in elections and the scrapping of the drivers licence as proof of identity for voting purposes.
Relying on US Intelligence sources, US journalist Seymour Hersh [1] claimed that a group of European states led by Poland is secretly calling on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to negotiate peace without delay.

The Polish posture is seconded by the Czech Republic [2]. and Hungary, as well as the three Baltic States.

Seymour Hersh emphasized that he does not regard the Russian army as dangerous and powerful, but considers that these States are reacting to the significant human losses, particularly in Bakmout, which he compares to the battle of Verdun.

For the moment, Ukrainian law prohibits President Zelensky from negotiating with the Russian enemy as long as it occupies a piece of Ukrainian territory (in terms of the 1991 borders). However, Zelensky has already established contact with Moscow via a third party.
(Bloomberg) -- President Joe Biden expressed confidence that negotiators would reach an agreement to avoid a catastrophic default, even as House Speaker Kevin McCarthy criticized his decision to travel to Japan for an international summit.

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Im confident that well get the agreement on the budget and that America will not default, Biden said Wednesday at the White House, shortly before departing to Hiroshima, Japan for a Group of Seven leaders summit.

On Capitol Hill, McCarthy and other Republican lawmakers criticized Biden for his decision to travel, with the House speaker labeling the president a big obstacle to an agreement.

Mr. President, stop hiding, stop traveling, McCarthy said.

Read more: McCarthy Swipes at Biden Morning After White House Debt Meeting

On Tuesday, Biden and congressional leaders agreed to a new narrower round of staff-level talks with hopes of reaching a bipartisan deal to avoid an unprecedented US default. The US president also announced he was canceling planned stops in Australia and Papua New Guinea, and would return to Washington by the beginning of next week for continued negotiations.

McCarthy also said he remained hopeful a deal could be reached, and he planned to stay engaged with negotiations. Biden, for his part, said he planned to remain in close contact with the speaker and negotiators as he traveled overseas.

Both lawmakers and White House officials have expressed cautious optimism in recent days, and stocks rose and Treasuries fell Wednesday on hopes of a breakthrough. Still, the Treasury Department has warned the US could breach the debt ceiling as soon as June 1. Economists have warned that a default would spike borrowing costs, rattle markets and prompt widespread job losses.

Biden said the smaller group had authority to make agreements in detail and hammer out differences between the two sides. The president said he did not anticipate the deal would be completed before he returns from Japan on Sunday.

Were going to continue these discussions with congressional leaders in the coming days until we reach an agreement, Biden said.

The president also said he was unwilling to increase work requirements for safety net programs providing Americans with health insurance, though notably did not draw the same red line on other programs. House Republicans have also sought to toughen access to federal grocery assistance.

McCarthy, for his part, reiterated that he was unwilling to pass a clean debt ceiling bill that raised the nations borrowing limit without concessions, and would not consider Democratic proposals to raise revenues by closing tax loopholes.

Bidens remarks came shortly before Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer met with executives from some of the largest US banks, including JPMorgan Chase & Co. Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon and Citigroup Inc. CEO Jane Fraser. Corporate leaders have urged Biden and congressional leaders to act quickly, reflecting Wall Streets broader unease about the damage a default would unleash on markets and the economy.

Read more: Dimon, Fraser, Other Bank CEOs to Meet Schumer on Debt Limit

The US should not and probably will not default, Dimon told reporters on Capitol Hill.

Dimon previously told Bloomberg Television in an interview that JPMorgan had set up a war room to prep for the possibility of a breach.

An open letter on Tuesday from more than 140 top business executives, including Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Chairman and CEO David Solomon, warned that the economy is already seeing stress from the debt-limit brinkmanship.

Stocks rose Wednesday on hopes that the smaller group of negotiators will be able to break the deadlock. The S&P 500 advanced for the second time in three days and treasuries fell, with the yield on two-year notes topping 4.1%.

Read more: Stocks Advance on Hopes for US Debt Breakthrough: Markets Wrap

There are sizable obstacles remaining for negotiators with Republicans digging in on spending cuts, clawing back unspent Covid-19 funding, easing permits for energy and other projects and expanding work requirements on federal aid to the poor.

Staff-level talks are being led by senior White House adviser Steve Ricchetti, legislative affairs director Louisa Terrell and budget director Shalanda Young representing Democrats and Representative Garret Graves of Louisiana and aides to House McCarthy joining from the GOP side.

The three White House negotiators met Tuesday evening with McCarthys representatives and are slated to resume negotiations Wednesday.

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Cannes, Maiwenn, and Johnny Depp spent opening night of the festival defending Jeanne du Barry. Photo: Stephanie Branchu/Why Not Productions

The French film industry, notorious for not just tolerating but occasionally rewarding accused predators, continued that grand tradition at the opening gala of this years Cannes Film Festival. The premiere film, Jeanne du Barry, has been billed as Johnny Depps comeback vehicle and stars Depp  who was accused of domestic abuse by his ex-wife Amber Heard and hasnt worked in the U.S. since a judge ruled that The Suns description of him as a wife beater was substantially true  as Louis XV during an affair with his favorite mistress, played by the French actress Maiwenn, who also directs.

Last week, Maiwenn gleefully admitted to assaulting journalist Edwy Plenel (whose publication, Mediapart, published a story about several women whod accused her ex-husband, director Luc Besson, of rape), yanking back his hair and spitting in his face at a cafe. Last night, she psychically tormented hundreds more journalists with a film that felt like someone had fed the Wikipedia page for 1700s France and the Wikipedia page for The Princess Diaries to ChatGPT and blithely filmed the resulting script.

The evening began as hundreds of adoring fans greeted Depp outside the Palais, begging for autographs and selfies. You made it back! one screamed as Depp signed an ad for his Dior Sauvage perfume. Inside, even as the theater darkened, Depp wore sunglasses and looked vaguely pained, though he would go on to wipe away tears during the brief post-screening standing ovation, which applauded him for playing a man who is sycophantically adored by the public but barely speaks and mostly sits around looking pale. Despite the fact that his casting serves as something of a defiant stunt, Depps presence in Jeanne du Barry is barely felt  he utters a few lines in French, smiles amusedly at his mistress, wears a series of wigs, then dramatically dies of smallpox. (To quote another Cannes mainstay accused of abuse, Boy, the food at this place is really terrible  and such small portions.) Most reviews of Depps performance have been along the lines of The Telegraphs: Depp may be the actor least suited  after Hulk Hogan  to playing an ancien regime monarch.

The film is, above all else, a vanity vehicle for Maiwenn, who plays an 18th-century Frenchwoman whos not like the other girls: She does her hair in anachronistic styles, enjoys sex, wears mens clothing, refuses to obey royal protocols, and inspires the rage and envy of all the other women she encounters (and, of course, the adoring friendship of various highborn men, who find her charming  except when she needs actual institutional help, in which case, they kick her to the curb). Fascinatingly but not surprisingly, Jeanne du Barry ends up being a romanticized paean to the French monarchy, sympathizing with the guillotined parties during its perfunctory, end-title mention of the French Revolution and, among other things, painting Jeannes relationship with an enslaved Black child the king purchases for her as a positive maternal relationship. In the movies final moments, the titular character is quoted in voiceover just as shes about to be beheaded for her crimes against the people: Just one more minute, Mr. Executioner. I loved life too much to have it taken away like this. (At an unaffiliated Cannes party later that evening, film critic Jessica Kiang summed it up thus: This is a movie that tries to admire a woman for succeeding despite grotesque social structures, but it ends up admiring the grotesque social structures.)

For his part, festival director Thierry Fremaux didnt seem to find any aspect of Jeanne du Barry controversial  not least its male star. I dont know about the image of Johnny Depp in the U.S., said Fremaux to the press on Monday. To tell you the truth, in my life, I only have one rule: Its the freedom of thinking and the freedom of speech and to act within a legal framework. He then made reference to the festivals notoriously dysfunctional online-ticketing website, accusing attending journalists of hypocrisy for questioning the ethics of the Depp premiere while simultaneously attempting to see other movies at the festival in order to do their jobs. If you thought that its a festival for rapists, you wouldnt be here listening to me, he said. You would not be complaining that you cant get tickets to get into screenings.

Portrait of a Lady on Fire star Adele Haenel  who walked out of the Cesar Awards in 2020 alongside director Celine Sciamma when Roman Polanski was awarded Best Director  spoke out against this sort of ethical abdication by announcing her retirement from the French film industry earlier this month. In a letter published on Telerama, Haenel wrote that she publicly declared her retreat as a way to call out general complacency in the industry vis-a-vis sexual aggressors and the Me Too movement. She went on: They join hands [to protect] the [Gerard] Depardieus, the [Roman] Polanskis, the [Dominique] Boutonnats. It bothers them that the victims make too much noise. They preferred that we disappear and die in silence  You have the money, the strength, and all the glory, [but] you wont have me as a spectator.

When asked about Haenels statement, Maiwenn  who directed 2011s Polisse, in which she plays a photographer assigned to shadow a police unit that rescues sexually exploited children, and who in recent years has acknowledged that her relationship with Besson (whom she met at age 12, began dating at 15, and married and had a child with at 16) was indeed the inspiration for his controversial film Leon: The Professional  replied, I found it sad that she sees that world through that prism. Its a bit too radical, even if I recognize at the same time that it was brave of her to speak. Maiwenn noted that she did not hesitate to cast Depp despite the domestic violence allegations shared by Heard. We could say it was one persons word against another. I didnt feel I had the right to judge.

In the past, Maiwenn has similarly spoken out against the Me Too movement, telling Paris Match in 2020, Its crazy how many stupidities they say these days! These women dont like men, thats clear, and theyre causing very serious collateral damage  When I hear women complaining that men are only interested in their bottom, I tell them, Enjoy it, because it wont last! This worldview is all over Jeanne du Barry, which portrays each of its female characters (save for Maiwenns) as dumb, sexless, bitchy, or all three. In an interview with Variety this week, Plenel put it this way: Cannes chose a completely mad symbol as its opening night selection: a film by Maiwenn thats about a courtesan seeking power. The mythology thats put forward in the film, coupled with the casting of Johnny Depp, her antiMe Too comments, and now this aggression that she seems to be proud and that makes people laugh on TV  that says something.

At the press conference the morning after the film, to which Depp arrived halfway through, Maiwenn declared that she doesnt read the press. I protect myself in this way. Maybe negative things are being said about the film, all sorts of rubbish is being said  The film was released yesterday, its a great success, and Im very happy. Nobody asked her about how she managed to read, then spit on Plenel, but she was questioned about the films financing, which came in part from Saudi Arabias Red Sea International Film Festival and in part from Netflix. One journalist asked if the former was complicated and the latter had any issues surrounding Depps casting. Things are changing, she said of the Saudi government, agents of which assassinated journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018 for being critical of the countrys rulers. I would be proud to go there and present the film  I always said I would make the film with Johnny, and Netflix never raised the issue.

Once Depp arrived, he was asked several indirect softball questions about his own controversies. He delivered long, often unintelligible answers. When asked whether he still felt boycotted by Hollywood or whether the tide was changing toward you doing major studio films, he replied, Did I feel boycotted by Hollywood? Youd have to not have a pulse to feel like, No. None of this is happening. Its a weird joke. When youre asked to resign from a film [Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore] because of something that is merely a function of vowels and consonants floating in the air? Yes, you feel boycotted. Do I feel boycotted now? I dont feel boycotted by Hollywood, because I dont think about it. I dont have much further need for Hollywood myself.

Asked what hed say to those who believe he shouldnt be at the festival, he looked amused. What if one day they did not allow me, under any circumstances, no matter what, I cannot go to McDonalds for life? If you got them all in one room, there would be 39 angry people watching me eat a Big Mac on a loop just for fun. Who are they? Why do they care? Some species, some tower of mashed potatoes, covered in the light of a computer screen, anonymous, with apparently a lot of spare time, he said. I dont think Im the one who should be worried  People should really think about what its all about, really.

Correction: A previous version of this story misquoted Depp. He said 39 people would be watching him eat a Big Mac, not 30 million.
Photo: Disney+

Its almost time to see Harrison Ford wear leather as Indiana Jones with Phoebe Waller-Bridge in the final film of the franchise. But before we try to figure out what the hell a Dial of Destiny is, we need to turn it back to where it all started. While the Indiana Jones films have had a home on Paramount+ for a while now, theyre making their way to the house of mouse. Starting on May 31, you can watch every Indiana Jones film leading up to Dial of Destiny on Disney+, giving you about a month before the new film comes to theaters on June 30. However, Disney+ isnt the only place to experience the franchise. For the superfan and the physical-media collector, Paramount is releasing a 4K Ultra HD film collection on June 8. Even if you dont have Disney+ or are cutting down your DVD collection, here are a few ways you can watch and stream every Indiana Jones film.

Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark

To kick off your rewatch, the first Indiana Jones film is available on Paramount+ and soon on Disney+. Itll give you a good starting place to remember how Jones got started kicking Nazis asses. The movie is also where youll meet Marion Ravenwood, Joness love interest who returns for Dial of Destiny. Actually, if you wanted to, you can make your rewatch a double feature and watch it alongside Tar  Todd Field will thank you for it.

Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom

The second film, Temple of Doom, introduces us to the angel that is Ke Huy Quan in his first film as the character Short Round, who helps Jones by who drives the 1936 Auburn Boat Tail Speedster in his escape. The film is available on Fubo TV, Paramount+, and soon on Disney+. Try not to cry when you see Quan and Ford together.

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade

Ah, the first time we see a baby Indy. River Phoenix briefly stars in a flashback to teenage Indiana Jones; Ford said of the actors who auditioned, Phoenix looked the most like him at that age. Adding to the stars returning for the final film, youll meet Sallah (played by John Rhys-Davies), a professional excavator living in Cairo. The movie is available on Fubo TV, Paramount+, and soon on Disney+.

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

The most recent edition to the franchise stars Ford; Lydia Tar Cate Blanchett as the films villain, the Soviet agent Irina Spalko; and, um, Shia LaBeouf (who plays Joness son). While LaBeouf will not be in the final film, the last installment will reveal what happens to his character, says director James Mangold. Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is available on Paramount+ and soon on Disney+.

The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones

Starring Corey Carrier and Patrick Flanery as Young Indiana Jones, the 90s series followed Joness childhood and teenage years where he meets historical figures like Ernest Hemingway and Theodore Roosevelt. Featuring cameos from Catherine Zeta-Jones, Daniel Craig, Denis OHare, and Keith David, the series is a great Oh my God, they were in this? as you gear up for the next Indy film. The three-season series is currently only available to purchase individual episodes on Amazon, but it will make its streaming debut alongside its film counterparts at the end of the month on Disney+.
Perhaps I should do it, the director said after Pedro Pascal and Ethan Hawke lit up Cannes with their sexy cowboy short. Photo: Mubi

Nearly two decades ago, Pedro Almodovar was offered the chance to direct Brokeback Mountain but declined, saying he was doubtful hed have the freedom to make the decisions he wanted. At Cannes this afternoon, audiences finally got to see his answer to the gay cowboy movie at the premiere of Strange Way of Life, a 31-minute short starring Ethan Hawke as a sheriff named Jake and Pedro Pascal as a cowboy named Silva who, 25 years after a hot love affair, reunite in the desert under mysterious circumstances.

Almodovars second English-language short after his Tilda Swintonstarring The Human Voice, Strange Way of Life is fun and soapy, classically Almodovarian in its sensuality, bright color palette, and cheeky sense of humor. Its instantly clear that this isnt going to be your grandfathers hetero-spaghetti Western: We first meet Silva as he strides into town on a horse in a bright green jacket, an appropriately anachronistic choice from costumer and producer Anthony Vaccarello of Yves Saint Laurent. (Pascals Cannes entrance drew hoots and hollers from the crowd, as did many of Almodovars answers at the post-screening Q&A.) Mere minutes later, Silva is seducing his erstwhile lover Jake, once a fellow gunslinger but now the sheriff of Bitter Creek, over dinner and drinks.

Dont look at me like that, says Jake. How do you want me to look at you? replies Silva. Silva makes flirty reference to a red scarf of his that Jake has kept in a drawer all these years, All Too Well style. (Perhaps on some level Almodovar was hearkening back to the original gay cowboy, Jake Gyllenhaal, owner of said scarf, or perhaps I have not slept in three days.) Suddenly, Jake is kissing Silvas neck, the screen fades to black, and the film reopens on Pascals post-coital bare butt.

In the post-screening Q&A, Almodovar spoke about his choice to avoid an explicit sex scene between the two, focusing instead on the eroticism of their conversations and his oft-returned-to themes of desire and passion, but he did describe their off-screen tryst as orgiastic. He also noted how he took inspiration for Strange Way of Life from various modern Westerns, including Kelly Reichardts First Cow and Jane Campions The Power of the Dog, but took things further and gayer than Campion did: The lead characters sexuality is kind of ambivalent, Almodovar said about Benedict Cumberbatchs closeted cowboy. But they didnt fuck.

Fucking and the suggestion thereof is indeed peppered throughout Strange Way of Life. Silva tells Jake hes come into town to see a doctor about his bad back; after the two spend the night furiously boning, Jake accuses Silva of very apparently lying about his ailment. You cured all my ailments, says Silva, smiling. After the two men get into an argument over the actual reason for Silvas visit  an old-school Almodovarian plot twist  Jake points a gun at Silva. Silva calls his bluff, asking how he would explain the dead man in your bed still smelling of cum to his fellow lawmen. Both men storm off into the desert to have a loaded gay think, and both end up reminiscing about that time all those years ago that they went down to Mexico, got drunk with some whores, and fucked for two months straight. (I remember every one of those 60 days, Silva says dreamily at one point.)

Those Mexico scenes  centering on younger versions of Silva and Jake played by Jason Fernandez and Jose Condessa, whom Almodovar gestured at onstage and described as beauties, but also good actors  are delightfully funny and unapologetically sexy. The young gunslingers shoot a barrel of wine, bathe in it, then begin furiously making out and clawing at each others tight little gun belts. The female sex workers shrug and leave. Were not wanted, says one. Later, back in the present day, as the two men contemplate betraying one another (I wont spoil whether they do), Silva sputters at Jake, You have no heart. You just like to fuck.

A lot of contemporary westerns feel like theyre imitating old movies. Almodovar, everything he does in his life is new.

Hawke, for his part, demonstrated plenty of heart at the post-screening Q&A, where he recalled receiving Almodovars email to star in the film, which shot last summer in Almeria, Spain, on a set built by Sergio Leone for Man with No Name. I went for a walk. I felt I must have done something right in my life to get this email, he said. To participate in a Western that wasnt pretending to be old  a lot of contemporary westerns feel like theyre imitating old movies. Almodovar, everything he does in his life is new.

While Strange Way of Life is explicitly about desire, Hawke added that for him, acting is always about receiving positive attention, about the act of being wanted. The whole experience of performance  the second you take out a camera  there is some act of love thats happening. Youre saying, These people are important and worthy of time. The movie is about desire, but thats always what Im doing. It was just exciting to have someone like [Pascal and Almodovar] who cared so much. He went on, grinning. I like to be wanted. If it happens to be an extremely attractive, talented man, even better. I like everybody to love me.

Near the end of the Q&A, Almodovar and Hawke addressed a question about whether they thought Jake and Silva would make it as a couple in the long run. Hawke said unequivocally yes; Almodovar pondered a few possibilities out loud (including a version of the story in which the men run off to Mexico and a murder is committed, but the two still harbor unquenched lust for one another regardless). Almodovar wondered aloud whether he should turn the short into a full-length feature. I should probably make it, he mused. The crowd applauded in agreement.
Photo: Eric Charbonneau/Invision/AP/Shutterstock

Update, May 16: Priscilla Presley reached a settlement over the dispute surrounding her late daughter, Lisa Marie Presleys will, the Los Angeles Times reports. The parties would like to report that theyve reached a settlement, Ronson J. Shamoun, Priscilla Presleys attorney, told a Los Angeles judge on May 16, describing everyone in the family as happy and united after the hearing. Specifics of the settlement were not discussed in court, and attorneys for both parties filed motions to seal the agreement, per CNN. The disagreement arose after the elder Presley disputed a 2016 amendment to her daughters will, which said the late Lisa Marie had removed her mother and former business manager, Barry Siegel, as co-trustees and replaced them with her children Riley and Benjamin Keough, the latter of whom later died in 2020. A new hearing is set for August 4.

The original story, published March 24, follows.

When Lisa Marie Presley, Elviss only child, died after experiencing cardiac arrest at her home on January 12, her family seemed unified in grief. It is with a heavy heart that I must share the devastating news that my beautiful daughter Lisa Marie has left us, Priscilla Presley, her mother and Elviss ex-wife, told People. She was the most passionate, strong and loving woman I have ever known. In a statement from her family shared by Gracelands management, surviving relatives said, Priscilla Presley and the Presley family are shocked and devastated by the tragic death of their beloved Lisa Marie. They are profoundly grateful for the support, love and prayers of everyone, and ask for privacy during this very difficult time. But as the weeks wore on, it seemed that sadness was the only thing tying Lisa Maries family members together. Soon, control over Lisa Maries estate seemed like it was tearing them apart.

In late January, Priscillas legal team filed paperwork in a Los Angeles court challenging the authenticity and validity of an amendment to her daughters trust that left Lisa Maries daughter Riley Keough as the sole trustee. Priscillas legal challenge argues that a 2016 change to Lisa Maries trust is suspect. Priscilla claims Lisa Maries signature on the document appeared inconsistent with past signatures and that her name was spelled incorrectly. Before the 2016 paperwork, Priscilla and Lisa Maries former business manager Barry Siegel were listed as co-trustees  the amendment that is now in dispute takes control of the trust away from Priscilla. (Siegel has reportedly said he wants out of the co-trustee role.) So far, Keough has not filed paperwork in response. Keough and her half-siblings, 14-year-old twins Harper and Finley Lockwood, are beneficiaries to her trust  which counts the Graceland mansion and 15 percent of Elvis Presley Enterprises among its assets, per the Los Angeles Times. Before her death, Lisa Marie appeared to be drawing in lots of money related to her stake in Elvis Presley Enterprises  even though most of the $97 million received when she sold 85 percent of it in 2005 has been depleted. In 2022, Lisa Marie received $1.25 million in income from the trust, which is valued at tens of millions, according to the New York Times.

Sources have been telling tabloids that the grandmother and granddaughter, who supported Baz Luhrmanns Elvis together along with Lisa Marie, are in a very bad place. One of Lisa Maries confidants told Page Six that Priscillas challenge was a money grab and that the pair had no relationship when Lisa Marie passed away. A hearing in the legal dispute is now scheduled for April 13, and a lot of questions remain about the familys trust issues.

Christopher Melcher, a celebrity attorney and legal analyst, said that its common for people to place their assets in a trust while they are estate planning  figuring out who gets what upon death. Its an easier  and cheaper  way of leaving assets to the people. The trustee, in turn, is in charge of carrying out the deceased persons wishes with the handling of an estate. If theres a will but no trust, then everything has to go through probate, involving the court. Priscillas petition maintains the pre-2016 doc is what Lisa Marie wanted, which would leave her and Riley as co-trustees.

Priscilla thinks its fraudulent, [and] that Lisa Marie didnt sign this, Melcher said. That is a ridiculous position for Priscilla to take. Melcher said its common sense that Lisa Marie would want her children handling the assets. When Elvis died, he had one child, which was Lisa Marie  he wanted everything to go to Lisa Marie, Melcher said. Priscilla and Elvis were divorced and he made a conscious choice not to leave Priscilla in his will or estate. When Lisa Marie expressed her wishes, she wanted her children to inherit her estate. Melcher doesnt think that Priscilla has much of a legal leg to stand on, as Keough and her two minor half-sisters are poised to get the estate anyway. Rileys got the better legal argument.

Regardless of who might or might not have a better claim to control of the trust, its poised to be a long and complicated process. Benny Roshan, who chairs Greenberg Gluskers Trust and Probate Litigation Group, explained that the dispute is in its very early stages. Priscilla filed a petition. Keough can reply, or she could decide not to file anything. Were not likely to see an actual ruling on the underlying petition or filing on April 13, Roshan said. This is not the first and last that well see of this petition. As for how long it could take to resolve everything, it depends on whether theres disagreement over Priscillas petition. If nobody wants to fight Priscilla on this, everything could be resolved as shortly as in a few months. But if there is a conflict  which it sure looks like there is  it could take upwards of a couple of years to resolve. As for who has a better case, it depends on the facts. If Priscilla Presley is right, then I think she has a strong case, and she might get the relief that shes asking from the court. But thats a question mark for us.

As this is happening, Keough is starring in the popular Prime Video series Daisy Jones & the Six, about a rock-and-roll band dealing with all the lasting repercussions of fame, from money issues to crumbling relationships. And Priscilla is promoting the new animated Netflix series she co-created called Agent Elvis, about a crime-fighting version of the man at the center of this whole mess.
(Bloomberg) -- Summer in India has always been hot. Increasingly, its testing the limits of human survival. As temperatures have climbed across the worlds most populous nation in recent weeks, more than a dozen people died at an event in central India and thousands crowded hospitals with heatstroke symptoms. Hundreds of schools were closed and the mercury is still rising: Temperatures will hover around 45C (113F) across the northern plains this weekend.

The most immediate fix is mercifully affordable, at least in the short-term. Demand for air conditioners is surging in markets where both incomes and temperatures are rising, populous places like India, China, Indonesia and the Philippines. By one estimate, the world will add 1 billion ACs before the end of the decade. The market is projected to nearly double before 2040. Thats good for measures of public health and economic productivity; its unquestionably bad for the climate, and a global agreement to phase out the most harmful coolants could keep the appliances out of reach of many of the people who need them most.

The logic behind the AC boom is simple. Economists note a spike in sales when annual household incomes near $10,000, a tipping point many of the worlds hottest places touched recently or will soon. The Philippines passed the $10,000 threshold roughly last year; Indonesia within the last decade. In India, where more than 80% of the population doesnt yet have access to air conditioning, per capita gross domestic product  adjusted for purchasing power  will top $9,000 this year for the first time.

We are operating in a limitless opportunity, said Kanwaljeet Jawa, who heads the India wing of Daikin Industries Ltd, the worlds largest AC manufacturer. In recent years, he said, our sales have grown more than 15 times.

This development has far-reaching consequences for public health, wellbeing and economic growth. Purchasing an AC is a pivot away from poverty for individuals and for their communities. People in hotter countries, which also tend to be poorer ones, suffer from worse sleep and impaired cognitive performance, both of which drag on productivity and output.

In a study looking at thousands of Indian factories with different cooling arrangements, researchers found that productivity fell by around 2% for every degree Celsius increase. This is a big deal for Prime Minister Narendra Modis push to boost sluggish export numbers, lure business from China and move up the global value chain: The declines due to heat over the past 30 years may equate to roughly 1% of Indias GDP, or about $32 billion, according to E. Somanathan, author of the report and a professor of economics at ISI Delhi.

But expanding AC coverage too quickly also threatens to worsen the crisis its responding to. Most units use a refrigerant thats far more damaging than carbon dioxide. The nations where demand is growing fastest remain deeply reliant on coal-fired power, and most people can only afford the cheapest, most energy-inefficient units.

If efficiency standards dont improve, then the planet will literally be cooked, said Abhas Jha, a World Bank expert on climate change based in Singapore.

Wealthier, more temperate countries have tightened regulations on ACs, requiring better energy efficiency and less-toxic coolants. That adds to the cost of units, making those kinds of measures less palatable where affordability is paramount. International climate bodies are pressuring developing countries to lower their carbon footprint, but India and its peers point out that they still contribute far less to global emissions than places like the US, where nine out of ten people have access to AC.

Were facing a situation where extraordinarily harsh conditions are being imposed on growing economies, said Jose Guillermo Cedeno Laurent, an assistant professor of public health at Rutgers University in New Jersey.

In Delhis working-class neighborhoods, these debates are abstractions. For many, access to an AC is a matter of survival. Piyu Haldar, who works as a maid, said her shanty turns into a furnace in the summer. The tin roof gets hot enough to cook roti on it. Before sleeping, Haldar and her husband used to splash water on their bed to cool down the room.

When her son was born in 2016, he suffered fevers from the heat. That was the breaking point. To afford an entry-level Voltas AC, Haldar stopped buying clothing, cut down on meals, took out a loan and doubled the number of houses she cleaned.

Haldar, 27, avoids turning on the unit during the day. But as night falls, she flips on the switch and closes the door, keeping the mosquitoes out and preserving the cool air. In a windowless bedroom decorated with teddy bears and toys, her son, Yasir, pushed his face against the AC, delighting in the cold chilled air!

Relatives visit just to sit next to it, Haldar said. People think weve become very fancy. Since purchasing the AC, she and her husband have more energy in the day, she said, and Yasir no longer falls sick from the heat.

As more people like Haldar buy ACs, cooling companies are trying to improve energy efficiency without pricing out their biggest growth markets. Most G-20 nations, including India, use labeling systems to rate the efficiency of products, and stricter standards in the US and European Union have lowered energy use from appliances by 15% in recent years, according to BloombergNEF.

Haldar chose a three-star unit from Voltas, which cost about 27,000 rupees ($330), or roughly 15% less than comparable higher efficiency options. Three-star units comprise about 60% of total AC sales at Godrej Appliances, one of Indias largest retailers, said business head Kamal Nandi. One way to encourage consumers to buy more efficient models, the company says, would be to lower taxes on the units to 18%, down from the 28% luxury tariff that currently applies. The AC has become a necessity, Nandi said. It is no longer a luxury item.

For cooling companies like Daikin and Haier, the growing demand for ACs could be quashed by regulation designed to slow climate change. Part of the problem will be solved if and when countries move toward cleaner sources of power. The other issue  the refrigerants that turn that electricity into cool air  is trickier.

One of the most common coolants, hydrofluorocarbons, can have 1,000 times the warming potency of carbon dioxide. Scientists estimate that failing to drastically lower dependence on HFCs could result in half a degree Celsius of warming by the end of the century, an enormous contribution to a rise that would trigger deadlier storms, droughts and, yes, more heatwaves.

In 2016, more than 170 nations agreed to start phasing out HFCs beginning in 2019, with wealthy industrial countries required to make the first deep cuts. There are less environmentally harmful coolants on the market, made by Chemours Co. and Honeywell International Inc. Daikin and Mitsubishi Electric Corporation are working on their own products.

If you dont have a green refrigerant, you are going to be the loser, said Jawa, the chief executive of Daikin India, which became a billion-dollar company last financial year and expects to double that number within three more.

Cooling companies are hunting for new options. Daikins R-32 has approximately one-third the global warming potential of conventional refrigerants and is cheaper than some other coolants; its become common in appliances sold by big retailers such as Godrej. But its also a bit more flammable than older refrigerants and, according to Prima Madan, an expert on cooling and energy efficiency at the US-based Natural Resources Defense Council, still too polluting.

The Kigali Amendment to phase out HFCs is legally binding, and though many of its goals are still far in the future, developed nations have picked up the pace. While R-32 has helped avoid a large chunk of emissions, Madan said, we do need to go lower.

As of now, though, the alternatives are often more expensive. Thats prompted opposition even in wealthy countries. The US senate recently agreed to reduce HFC consumption by 85% within 15 years, and the conservative Heritage Foundation has warned Americans to get ready to pay a lot more for air conditioning.

For India, the challenge is to implement cleaner technology before millions of new consumers purchase the dirtier ACs, locking in their use for another decade. Last year, the country logged some of its hottest weeks since 1901. Brutal heatwaves pushed temperatures to 50C (122F) on the subcontinent. The worst stretches killed hundreds of people, led to hours-long power outages and even caused a giant landfill on the outskirts of Indias capital to spontaneously combust.

Naresh Tatavet, a personal driver in Delhi, is among those whove had enough. This month, he bought his young family their first AC, calling it one of the biggest financial investments hes ever made  on par with purchasing a motorbike. In his neighborhood, after somebody purchases an AC, we bring them sweets to celebrate.

Whatever happens in Washington, Brussels and other faraway places, Tatavet is sure of one thing: His family wont go back. He can no longer watch his baby throw up from the heat.

I dont want to wake up drenched in sweat anymore, he said.

--With assistance from Bhuma Shrivastava, Faseeh Mangi, Selina Xu and Jin Wu.

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Death toll from floods in northern Italy rises to nine.

This weekend's Formula One Grand Prix in Imola has been called off due to severe flooding in Italy's northern Emilia-Romagna region where at least nine people have died and several are missing.

Formula One said the decision was taken "because it is not possible to safely hold the event for our fans, the teams and our personnel and it is the right and responsible thing to do given the situation faced by the towns and cities in the region."

The statement from Formula One concluded that "it would not be right to put further pressure on the local authorities and emergency services at this difficult time."

The decision was announced shortly after Italy's deputy premier and transport minister Matteo Salvini called for the race to be suspended to "concentrate all efforts on dealing with the emergency" and to avoid other problems such as an overload of traffic.

Over the past 24 hours thousands of people have been evacuated from their homes in Faenza, Cesena and Forli - not far from the Imola race site - with local residents urged not to leave their homes and to move to higher floors.

The flooding in Emilia-Romagna - which comes just two weeks after the region was battered by extreme weather causing two fatalities - has led to the closure of schools and suspension of some rail services.

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The U.S. State Department on Tuesday condemned the arrest of a former employee of a U.S. consulate in Russia, the latest example of the countrys crackdown against its own citizens and foreigners. Russias Tass news agency said Robert Shonov was detained in the Russian city of Vladivostok on suspicion of cooperation on a confidential basis with a foreign state, international or foreign organization. Tass didnt say when the detention occurred or provide any details of the allegation.

State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said Shonov is a Russian national worked at the now-closed U.S. consulate in Vladivostok for more than 25 years. He said that after a Russian government order in April 2021 required dismissing all local employees from U.S. diplomatic outposts in Russia, Shonov worked at a company the U.S. contracted with to support its embassy in Moscow.

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Mr. Shonovs only role at the time of his arrest was to compile media summaries of press items from publicly available Russian media sources, Miller said. His being targeted under the confidential cooperation statute highlights the Russian Federations blatant use of increasingly repressive laws against its own citizens.

Miller added, The United States strongly condemns the reported arrest of Robert Shonov and said the allegations against him are wholly without merit.

Tass said a Moscow court on Thursday would consider extending Shonovs arrest for three months. The news agency said he was being held in Moscows Lefortovo prison on charges that carry a potential sentence of up to eight years in prison.

Also held in Lefortovo is Evan Gershkovich, an American reporter for The Wall Street Journal. Gershkovich has been in custody since his March 29 arrest by Russias security service on espionage charges that he, his employer and the U.S. government have denied.

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Gershkovichs arrest rattled journalists in Russia and drew outrage in the West. The United States has declared Gershkovich to be wrongfully detained and demanded his immediate release.

Since invading Ukraine in February 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin has widened the scope of a years-old crackdown on criticism of government policies, other forms of dissent and actions that his government finds objectionable. Hundreds, if not thousands, of Russians have been fined, jailed or fled the country because of the crackdown.

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REYKJAVIK, Iceland  More than 40 nations agreed Wednesday to set up a system to tally the damage Russia has inflicted on Ukraine in the hope of getting reparations, adding to the international legal challenges the Kremlin is facing. Are you on Telegram? Subscribe to our channel for the latest updates on Russias war in Ukraine. ArrowRight The register of damages, which will allow Ukrainian victims of war to catalog the harm they have suffered, found a plethora of support among the 46-nation Council of Europe summit in Iceland. Participants also discussed the details of a potential future tribunal where Russia would face charges for waging war.

This Reykjavik summit shows clearly that Putin has failed with his calculations  he wanted to divide Europe and has achieved the opposite, said German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. We stand closer together in Europe than ever before.

While leaders were at the waterside venue on the far-flung island nation for two days, the United Nations top court announced it would hold hearings next month in a case between Russia and Ukraine. Kyiv claims Moscow is discriminating against minority groups in occupied Crimea and is financing terrorism in the region.

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But even if Ukraine prevails at The Hague-based International Court of Justice, a ruling wouldnt make whole the millions of Ukrainians whose homes and lives have been torn apart by the conflict.

In theory, victims might have better luck at the Council of Europes own court, the European Court of Human Rights, where Moscow is facing thousands of complaints of human rights violations, including three brought by Ukraine. The Strasbourg-based court can order countries to pony up restitution, but Russias neighbor Georgia has been yet unable to collect for damages inflicted by Moscow when it invaded in 2008.

However, Russia was expelled from the council last year, in the wake of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. And as long ago as 2015, it passed a law allowing it to overrule judgements from the ECHR.

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Neither the court, nor the council, now has any channel of communication with the Russian authorities.

The damages register is seen as a first step toward justice in Ukraine. Accountability is one of the topics that is of crucial importance, Marija Pejcinovic Buric, Secretary General of the Council of Europe, told the AP in an interview.

Compiling a comprehensive register of the destruction may be a first step: its unclear what else might follow. The Council of Europe has made it clear that it will not assess the credibility of any claims, nor will it fund reparations payments. Those decisions will be left for other potential future institutions to determine.

Little wonder that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, addressing the summit from Kyiv, reiterated his countrys wish for such a court specifically for the prosecution of Russian aggression. In addition to military aid, another conference topic, he said his country needed 100% of justice, as there will be no reliable peace without justice.

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While international institutions may be bogged down in overcoming legal hurdles to accountability, a group of squatters in Amsterdam has cut through the red tape - and the locks of the $3.5 million Amsterdam home belonging to one of Russias sanctioned oligarchs.

A court in the Dutch city ruled on Wednesday that an anarchist group, who took over the Russian tech billionaire Arkady Volozhs house in October, could remain in the five-story, 19th-century mansion so long as they didnt annoy the neighbors.

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(Bloomberg) -- A consortium of investors including Blackstone Inc. and Thomson Reuters Corp. sold 2.7 billion ($3.4 billion) worth of stock in London Stock Exchange Group Plc, two months after their last disposal of the companys shares.

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The group, which also includes Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and Singaporean sovereign wealth fund GIC, sold 33 million shares at 80.50, according to a filing Wednesday. Thats a discount of about 5% to Tuesdays close.

The stock on offer represents a 6% stake in the stock exchange.

The placing had attracted enough investor demand for all the shares on offer within minutes of deal launch, according to a term sheet seen by Bloomberg. LSEGs shares were down 4.5% at 8:39 a.m. in London.

Read More: Blackstone, Thomson Reuters Sell $2.4 Billion of LSEG Shares

Under the lock-up arrangements, Thomson Reuters and Blackstone were able to sell as many as 66.1 million shares in total until Jan. 29, 2024. After this weeks transaction and a previous sale in March, Blackstone and Thomson Reuters will indirectly own about 5.1 million shares, according to Wednesdays filing.

Those remaining shares will be subject to a 90-day lockup, the terms show.

Citigroup Inc., Barclays Plc, Bank of America Corp. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. arranged the share sale.

(Adds share price to fourth paragraph.)

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Apple is expanding its role in the Australian payments sector by allowing businesses to accept tap-and-go credit and debit card payments on iPhones, as banks and fintechs compete for small business customers through their apps.

The technology giant will on Wednesday morning switch on a feature that means iPhones can effectively be turned into merchant payment terminals, with Westpac and fintech Tyro Payments to start offering the service to business clients.

Apples change will mean small businesses can accept credit card payments on their iPhone by downloading an app. Credit: AP

The feature  which is already available in the US, and which Google offers here on its Android phones  means businesses can receive contactless payments by downloading a bank or fintech app, without needing a payment terminal or dongle.

Banks say this option could appeal to mobile businesses such as tradespeople, micro businesses such as market stalls, or retailers keen to have their staff making sales on the shop floor.
Goldman Sachs partners swapped incredulous messages, traded theories and fielded queries from puzzled clients after the revelation two weeks ago of its top lawyers ties with Jeffrey Epstein.

But when the banks general counsel, Kathy Ruemmler, was hired in 2020, she had told its leadership about her past dealings with the disgraced financier, explaining that he offered the use of his network to help drum up business while she was in private practice.

Goldman Sachs general counsel Kathryn Ruemmler has joined an unenviable Wall Street list. Credit: Getty Images

Now, Ruemmler, 52, and Goldman are on an unenviable list of Wall Street names as the industry once again contends with past associations with Epstein. Troves of Epstein records from recent legal battles and documents obtained by The Wall Street Journal show a wide cast of executives and even some firms were willing to work with the money man long after his 2008 conviction for soliciting prostitution from a minor.

They stomached close associations with the well-connected financier despite his criminal record and other serious allegations to benefit from his wealth, Rolodex and influence until his arrest and jailhouse death in 2019.
Bosses are freaked out youre working 2 jobsand remote work and AI have let the cat out of the bag

Technology was supposed to bring us closer together, but instead its fueling paranoia and mistrustin the workplace at least.

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The age of remote work helped women, people with disabilities, and members of the LGBTQ+ community feel more included in the workplace. But bosses were never completely comfortable with employees having more flexible hours and greater independence, especially since some workers started using their new-found freedom to work multiple jobs at once.

Corporate leaders might be starting to gain an edge in the battle to have employees back in the office a few days a week, but that doesnt necessarily mean theyll be able to clamp down on their workers overemployment. Rapid advances in artificial intelligence could become the next ace up employees sleeve in their quest to fill up their days with as many side-hustles as possible.

The commercial advent of A.I. in the form of wildly popular applications like ChatGPT is already transforming offices, and could have major implications for productivity expectations. Generative A.I. tools like ChatGPT could make workers nearly 14% more productive, an April study by MIT and Stanford researchers found, while novice and low-skilled employees were able to work 35% faster than they would have without an A.I. assistant.

The technology, in which companies are already investing billions, could rival the Internet and modern infrastructure in terms of its impact on worker productivity, billionaire hedge fund manager Paul Tudor Jones told CNBC on Monday.

I do think the introduction of large language models [and] artificial intelligence, is going to create a productivity boom that we've only seen a few times in the last 75 years, he said. Let's say that this large language model is going to give us a productivity boom of 1.5% over the next five years per year, which I think is possible.

Employers are already thinking about how they can tap A.I. to improve their companies output. For example, James Clark, CEO of digital marketing firm Clearlink, declared in a video address last month that the company should put out 30 to 50 times our normal production after he realized that A.I. could accomplish in 30 minutes some content writing jobs that would normally take humans a full eight-hour workday.

But absorbing all those productivity gains for themselves might not be an easy task for companies, as some workers are already applying their overemployment skills honed during the pandemic and taking advantage of A.I. to work multiple jobs at once, a fact that wasnt lost on Clark.

Some of our developers could be working for two different companies. We dont know. We hope thats not the case, but we dont know, he said during his address.

Clark may have good reason to worry, as anecdotal evidence is already emerging of workers tapping A.I. to earn more on the side. Users are using ChatGPT to write increasingly convincing cover letters to apply for multiple jobs, and last month, Vice reported it had spoken with multiple workers who were holding up to four jobs at once thanks to ChatGPT. One overemployed worker was able to increase their salary from $500,000 to $800,000 a year thanks to the technologyand working remotely. Fortune could not independently verify those reports.

Workers refined the art of doing multiple jobs at once while working remotely during the pandemic, often earning two full-time salaries while still working a manageable 40 hours a week. The pandemic-era phenomenon of quiet quitting, when employees did the bare minimum of their job requirements, has been primarily attributed to widespread burnout, but it has also allowed some workers to get by with a mediocre performance at multiple jobs.

But even if A.I. could be a boon to workers seeking to become overemployed, it might also widen the gap in trust between themselves and their employers, which has already been severely eroded by remote work. While workers have long insisted that they are just as productive working from home as they are in the office, if not more so, bosses like Elon Musk and even Sam Altman, CEO of ChatGPT creator OpenAI, are far from convinced.

Employers have become so uncertain about whether their workers are being productive at home that some have resorted to remote monitoring technology to keep tabs on their at-home employees. Some companies were already spying on employees before they went remote, like JPMorgan Chase, the countrys largest bank, which launched a data-collection and employee monitoring system shortly before the pandemic began that staffers referred to as Big Brother.

The trend caught on during the pandemic, with companies like Barclays Bank and UnitedHealth Group tracking everything from how long it took them to write an email to what they typed on their keyboards. But just as employees and bosses are seemingly reaching a compromise over remote work, a new technological development could be poised to stir up old paranoias.

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com

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Anthony Albaneses disappointment is Xi Jinpings victory.

Joe Bidens decision to pull out of next weeks Quad leaders summit in Sydney is a personal blow for the prime minister, who was preparing to bask in the glow of hosting three of the worlds most powerful leaders in his home town.

US President Joe Bidens last-minute cancellation leaves Prime Minister Anthony Albaneses showcase summit in tatters. Credit: AP, Joe Armao

Chinas president-for-life, meanwhile, will be giddy with delight at the summit falling into disarray.

Biden flagged last week that he may have to stay in the US for emergency debt ceiling negotiations, but the official line from Washington and Canberra was the trip was going full-steam ahead. At 10.30pm on Tuesday, Albanese proudly announced Biden would address a joint sitting of parliament next week, seemingly confirming the trip was happening. Less than nine hours later, Biden had sent his apologies.
The last-minute cancellation of US President Joe Bidens trip to Australia has thrown efforts to entrench the Quad grouping as a powerful democratic alternative to China into disarray, with former prime minister Scott Morrison warning against any watering down of the four-nation partnership.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said he was disappointed Biden would no longer travel to Australia next week, forcing the scrapping of plans for the president to address federal parliament before a meeting with Albanese, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida at the Sydney Opera House.

The third in-person Quad summit, and the first to be held in Australia, has now been postponed indefinitely, throwing into doubt how much of the planned agenda can be delivered when the four leaders meet on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Tokyo later this week.

The leaders will try to make progress on climate change, critical minerals and maritime security initiatives amid what will already be a crowded schedule in Japan.
Tech companies are in danger of unleashing a rogue artificial intelligence that will cause significant harm to the world without urgent intervention by governments, the creator of ChatGPT has admitted.

Appearing before US politicians, OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman lauded the new generation of digital chatbots for their potential to improve nearly every aspect of our lives.

However, he admitted that they had also created the risk of a catastrophe, amid growing fears that programmers could accidentally create a superintelligence that decides to wipe out humanity.

Altman said: My worst fear is that we, the field, the technology, the industry, cause significant harm to the world.
Brasilia: Brazils Jair Bolsonaro has testified to federal authorities as part an investigation into falsified vaccination records, the latest in a series of probes bearing down on the former president and his inner circle.

Bolsonaro has faced mounting legal troubles since his October election defeat, and has now appeared before the countrys Federal Police three times since his March return from an extended holiday in the US.

Former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro outside his home in Brasilia earlier this month after Federal Police agents carried out a search of it. Credit: AP

During a three-hour testimony, the right-wing former leader denied any involvement in what police have described as a plot to produce fake COVID-19 vaccination documents for international travel purposes, according to local news reports.

The case led to the arrest of one of Bolsonaros top aides earlier this month, and the ensuing legal storm may suggest that Judge Alexandre de Moraes, the Supreme Court justice overseeing several of the probes, is moving closer to Bolsonaros banishment from public office or even his arrest.
Kemi Badenoch - Alessandro Della Valle/Shutterstock

European car makers are demanding a delay to the introduction of post-Brexit tariffs on electric vehicles amid fears that the plans threaten the switch to net zero.

The European Automobile Manufacturers Association (Acea), which represents the likes of Mercedes and BMW, joined Jaguar Land Rover and Ford in warning that a crackdown on imported batteries was happening too fast for the industry to prepare.

In the UK, the Business secretary Kemi Badenoch is leading a push for Brussels to reconsider the tariffs, which will be introduced in January next year.

The rules will require components equal to at least 45pc of the value of an electric vehicle to be made in either the UK or European Union. Cars which fail to achieve this threshold will be hit with a 10pc tax if shipped to the EU from Britain, or vice versa.

Industry leaders fear the new rules are being introduced too fast because Britain and the bloc are both still heavily dependent on imported batteries from China. Stellantis, the owner of Vauxhall, has said that the proposals could force it to end production in the UK.

A spokesman for Jaguar said: The proposed timelines for the Battery Rules of Origin... are unrealistic and counterproductive. We echo the call for the UK and EU to quickly agree a better implementation to avoid destabilising the industry's transition to clean mobility.

Much of the value of an electric vehicle is in the battery, made in so-called gigafactories.

The EU and UK both face a challenge in that few gigafactories exist outside China, which also controls much of the worlds refining capacity for the raw materials needed to make batteries, such as lithium and graphite.

The looming rules are partly driven by fear in Europe that the UK could become a dumping ground for cheap Chinese-controlled minerals which would then enter the bloc. But they also present a looming problem for EU-based car makers seeking to export vehicles to Britain.

Acea said: The establishment of a fully integrated battery supply chain in Europe is simply not taking off quickly enough to keep in line with more restrictive rules.

The US carmaker Ford is calling for changes to be delayed until 2027. Germany's powerful automotive lobby group, the VDA, said that urgent adjustments are needed because the current rules will leave European carmakers at a disadvantage compared to Asian rivals in the UK.

The SMMT, Britain's auto trade body, said: The current manufacturing capability in the EU and the UK does not allow our sector to meet upcoming origin requirements for batteries and battery parts.

A Whitehall source told The Telegraph that the issue had been raised at both ministerial and official level in recent discussions with the European Commission.

Kemi Badenoch, the Business Secretary, told Valdis Dombrovskis, the EU's trade commissioner, that the proposals are also a problem for EU carmakers.

Britain was said to be keen on ensuring that the 2024 date does not become a cliff edge in its talks with Brussels.

Stellantis has called for the deal to be renegotiated to allow more time, it said in a submission to Parliaments business committee. The company warned that it might be forced to close its factory in Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, if no compromise was reached.

Ms Badenoch is understood to be keen on reopening negotiations, but the terms of the trade deal are overseen by the Foreign Office.

Britain only has one gigafactory, which supplies Nissan in Sunderland. JLR's owner Tata is deciding whether to build a facility of its own in Britain or Spain. Britain's only other widely known gigafactory developer, Britishvolt, ran out of cash earlier this year and no longer plans to make batteries in the near future.

Car makers are battling high energy prices in the UK, as well as concerns over access to other parts as well as batteries. They need more suppliers to be UK-based in order to meet the looming tariff rules.

Ashwani Gupta, Nissan's chief operating officer, told journalists in February that the car company must have access to a secure supply of parts in the UK in order for the market to remain attractive.

Only two of the worlds top 100 automotive suppliers are British, according to research by Berylls Strategy Advisors.

Government negotiators do not know where Tata will build its gigafactory, although the Chancellor Jeremy Hunt appears to be optimistic, telling an audience to watch this space when asked about the plans on Wednesday.

He added: Everyone is trying to develop the supply of... batteries, so we need to have that supply here in the UK. The closer its located to the factories that are making the rest of the car, the better.

A UK Government spokesman said: Shocks to global supply chains have had significant impacts on both UK and EU manufacturers. The Business and Trade Secretary has raised this with the EU and is determined to find a joint UK-EU solution, which ensures the UK remains one of the best locations in the world for automotive manufacturing.

EU officials have insisted the bloc is not prepared to consider changing the rules.

Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month, then enjoy 1 year for just $9 with our US-exclusive offer.
From 8 to 12 May 2023, following several virtual workshops on Duty Waiver, an in-country mission was conducted by the WCO Anti-Corruption & Integrity Promotion (A-CIP) Programme in response to a specific need identified by Malawi Revenue Authority (MRA).

Following scoping activities conducted with MRA in 2020, an MRA A-CIP project plan was developed identifying priorities on which the WCO's technical assistance and capacity building (TACB) support under the Programme would focus. This in-country mission contributed to the specific priority, strengthening of Customs procedures and practices for duty waiver, which is in line with the Revised Arusha Declaration key factor, Regulatory Framework.

The missions main objective was to establish clear procedures to enable the implementation of the duty waiver policy in a streamlined and transparent manner.

Customs and Revenue officials holding key positions in areas like Internal Affairs, Internal Audit, Information Technology, Modernization, Investigations, Corporate Affairs, Policy Planning, and Enterprise Risk Management attended the meetings.

MRA and WCO experts reviewed the processes/procedures for waiver request application, decision-making and post-grant of waiver monitoring/follow-up. This activity also emphasized the importance of collective action to combat corruption and promote integrity.

The WCO A-CIP Programme supports more than 20 WCO Member administrations, with funding from Norad and Canada. For more information, please contact: capacity.building@wcoomd.org.
The World Customs Organization (WCO) in partnership with the East Africa Business Council (EABC) under the framework of the EU-WCO Rules of Origin (RoO) Africa Programme funded by the European Union held an awareness webinar on AfCFTA rules of origin, on 11 May 2023. The webinar had a good number of participants from the region and around the African continent. The main objective of the webinar was to equip the EAC private sector with skills and knowledge on the technical and administrative aspects of the AfCFTA Rules of Origin. This webinar is organized following a consultation with EABC and as part of an established work plan for support and capacity building; it is therefore a build-up to the upcoming in-person workshop in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, in July 2023.

In his opening remarks, Mr. John Bosco Kalisa, Chief Executive Officer-EABC, emphasized the importance of understanding AfCFTA rules of origin by the business community and the benefits that come with effective and efficient implementation. He encouraged the business community to use this opportunity to learn more on AfCFTA rules of origin. He thanked the EU-WCO RoO Africa Programme for engaging with the EABC.

Mr. Sagoh Djete, Project Manager, Regional Cooperation -Infrastructure, EU Delegation to Tanzania and EAC opened the workshop; reiterating European Unions commitment in supporting African economic integration and highlighted, that the enhancement of private sector understanding, implementation, and application of rules of origin and free trade agreements is of critical importance, and it will ultimately enhance intra-Africa trade.

During the webinar, detailed presentations on AfCFTA rules of origin were made by WCO; with illustrations on AfCFTA Origin criteria and the administrative arrangements and implementation procedures of AfCFTA rules of origin. Participants received presentations and discussed on AfCFTA rules of origin. In addition, participants submitted their sincere appreciations and thanked the WCO, EU and EABC for organizing the virtual workshop.

The Programme will continue to support EABC and its members.

For further information please contact EU-WCORoOAfrica.Program@wcoomd.org
From 8 to 12 May 2023, the Namibia Revenue Agency (NamRA) hosted a national workshop on the Harmonized System and commodity classification in Windhoek, Namibia. The workshop was delivered by two experts from the WCO within the framework of the EU-WCO Programme for the Harmonized System in Africa (HS-Africa Programme), funded by the European Union as part of the comprehensive package of assistance to support NamRAs work on competency development on Harmonized System and classification.

In his opening remarks, Mr. Willbroad S. Poniso, Head of Customs and Excise, highlighted that the aim of this course was that the participants would be adequately introduced and equipped with knowledge and skills to deal with the challenges that they might face at their respective duty stations. Some of these challenges are amongst others: misclassification of goods, non-declaration, non-stopping goods for physical examination and movement of goods either in transit or for warehousing purposes. He wished the participants all the success with the Harmonized System Intermediate Training Course and that they share the acquired knowledge with their colleagues at their respective duty stations to add value to NamRA core mandate of revenue collections.

In line with the strategic guidance on competency development, the participants have successfully undertaken the basic training through the HS Foundation e-learning course via the WCO CLiKC! platform ahead of the workshop.

The workshop was attended by 30 officers from across different Customs Offices of the country and from the headquarters of the NamRA. The objective of this course was to describe the structure of the HS Convention and to learn the basic principles of commodity classification, based on the General Rules for the Interpretation of the HS. Participants examined a wide range of fundamental theoretical and practical aspects of the application of the HS, working on a number of case studies where they classified specific products which presented complexities in classification.

At the end of the workshop, Ms. Jacqueline Gawanas, Senior Manager of Windhoek Head Office, expressed her confidence on the practical benefits acquired by the participants that cover a wide range of topics on tariff classification issues, presented during the workshop.

The workshop is part of an overall package of support under the HS-Africa Programme that has already delivered with the introduction of advance rulings system in Namibia, and shall further support with advanced HS training, Train-the-Trainer and other key modernization and competency development initiatives to enhance tariff classification work model and infrastructure.

For more details, please contact hs@wcoomd.org.
What are the early trends we should look for to identify a stock that could multiply in value over the long term? Firstly, we'd want to identify a growing return on capital employed (ROCE) and then alongside that, an ever-increasing base of capital employed. Put simply, these types of businesses are compounding machines, meaning they are continually reinvesting their earnings at ever-higher rates of return. That's why when we briefly looked at Chipotle Mexican Grill's (NYSE:CMG) ROCE trend, we were very happy with what we saw.

What Is Return On Capital Employed (ROCE)?

For those that aren't sure what ROCE is, it measures the amount of pre-tax profits a company can generate from the capital employed in its business. Analysts use this formula to calculate it for Chipotle Mexican Grill:

Return on Capital Employed = Earnings Before Interest and Tax (EBIT)  (Total Assets - Current Liabilities)

0.22 = US$1.4b  (US$7.1b - US$894m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to March 2023).

So, Chipotle Mexican Grill has an ROCE of 22%. In absolute terms that's a great return and it's even better than the Hospitality industry average of 8.7%.

Check out our latest analysis for Chipotle Mexican Grill

roce

Above you can see how the current ROCE for Chipotle Mexican Grill compares to its prior returns on capital, but there's only so much you can tell from the past. If you'd like to see what analysts are forecasting going forward, you should check out our free report for Chipotle Mexican Grill.

The Trend Of ROCE

In terms of Chipotle Mexican Grill's history of ROCE, it's quite impressive. Over the past five years, ROCE has remained relatively flat at around 22% and the business has deployed 256% more capital into its operations. Now considering ROCE is an attractive 22%, this combination is actually pretty appealing because it means the business can consistently put money to work and generate these high returns. If Chipotle Mexican Grill can keep this up, we'd be very optimistic about its future.

In Conclusion...

In short, we'd argue Chipotle Mexican Grill has the makings of a multi-bagger since its been able to compound its capital at very profitable rates of return. And the stock has done incredibly well with a 373% return over the last five years, so long term investors are no doubt ecstatic with that result. So while the positive underlying trends may be accounted for by investors, we still think this stock is worth looking into further.

One more thing to note, we've identified 1 warning sign with Chipotle Mexican Grill and understanding it should be part of your investment process.

Chipotle Mexican Grill is not the only stock earning high returns. If you'd like to see more, check out our free list of companies earning high returns on equity with solid fundamentals.

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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John Paul Jones was an important figure for the Navy during the Revolutionary war. (Photo: Thomas Grau/Shutterstock)

FreightWaves Classics is sponsored by Old Dominion Freight Line  Helping the World Keep Promises. Learn more here.

FreightWaves explores the archives of American Shippers nearly 70-year-old collection of shipping and maritime publications to showcase interesting freight stories of long ago.

In this edition, from the December 1975 issue of American Shipper, FreightWaves shares the exciting story of a man regarded as a naval hero in the United States but a pirate in the United Kingdom. This is the second part of two recounting the life of John Paul Jones. You can read the first part here.

Fast ship

Unfortunately for Jones and his seniority rating, he passed over two ships offered to him before he took over the Sloop Providence, formerly owned by John Brown of Providence and the pride of the Rhode Island Navy. She was a good vessel and probably the fastest of any ship he commanded. In her, he had a good crew, captured many prizes and increased his reputation as a Fighting Man of the Sea.

Jones, ever the Dandy, convened a group of naval officers in Boston to discuss uniforms. They came up with a dark blue coat with white linings and lapels, a stand-up collar; white breeches, waistcoat and stockings. One gold epaulet was added for the coat. It was quite similar to the British uniform. His officers aboard the Bon Homme Richard wore this uniform and his sailors, unlike any other ships crew, were clean drest in brown jacket and round hat. Long baggy trousers completed the attire. His selection of uniform later stood him in good stead. A British ship thought he was one of their own!

Robert Morris, in Philadelphia, received a letter from John Hancock requesting that Jones continue his fine work on the seas. I admire the spirited conduct of little Jones: pray push him out again. Push him out the Marine Committee did  giving him orders to command ALFRED, COLUMBUS, CABOT, HAMDEN and the sloop, PROVIDENCE. But, lack of communication caused Commodore Hopkins to split up the ships and Jones never did get the chance to take a strategic cruise that would have caught British slavers bound for the West Indies or English sloops with the much needed brass cannon. They were also to give them an alarm at St. Augustine,   show the flag in Georgia and the Carolinas. It was a typical foul-up.





The Ranger

The same day that Congress deemed that the Flag of the thirteen United States be thirteen alternate red and white stripes with thirteen white stars in a blue field, Captain Jones was appointed to the command of the Ranger, a ship of the United States Navy  not the Continental Navy.

The Ranger was one of the few ships that proved to be ready to sail, yet Jones found her not to be ship-shape and Bristol fashion. His ship was oversparred and too light for her guns. But, Jones, the perfectionist, soon put her to rights. Indeed, Admiral Morison in his John Paul Jones  A Sailors Biography comments, Jones enjoyed fitting out more than anything except fighting and making love.

Bon Homme Richard. It was after the Ranger that he was given the command of a ship that made history respect Jones as a great leader, an intrepid foe and a world famous Naval hero. The ship was the Bon Homme Richard, formerly the French Due de Duras. Jones renamed the ship after his friend, Benjamin Franklin. The vessel was a French East Indiaman, about 900 tons bought for Jones by the King of France and outfitted at His Majestys Expense. It was Lafayette who induced the King to put this extra effort into aiding the American cause.

Jones, now with the courtesy rank of Commodore, had a task force that was comprised of Bon Homme Richard, two other frigates, Alliance and La Pallas, and a cutter, Vengeance. After several successful forays upon enemy shipping, Jones squadron stood off Flamborough Head.

Jones ship was flying British colors when the Serapis, under the command of Captain Richard Pearson, came within hailing distance. Pearson shouted what ship is that? Then the British colors were struck and Jones ordered a big red, white and blue striped American ensign to be run up.

Both ships fired almost at the same time. The Serapis cannon blew up two of Jones 18-pound guns, causing many gunners and loaders to perish.

The Serapis was a new copper-bottomed frigate that carried 20 eighteen-pounders to Jones 6; 20 nine-pounders to Jones 28 12-pounders, and 10 six-pounders on the quarterdeck where the BHR had 6 nine-pounders.

After an exchange of broadside, Jones estimated that he had enough of that and that he must board the Serapis.

Jones ran BHRs bow into the stem of his opponent. It was then that Captain Pearson asked Has your ship struck? And, the immortal words of John Paul Jones came back, I have not yet begun to fight.

More maneuvering and the rigging of both ships become entangled, causing the BHR and Serapis to engage in a merry-go-round dance in the North Sea with Alliance sailing around them and firing broadsides, mostly hitting her Commodores ship, the Bon Homme Richard!

For two hours they were locked in mortal embrace  sails of both ships were ablaze  fighting would stop while the crews battled the flames and then resumed action on deck.

The battle continued and the plight of the BHR seemed hopeless to many of Jones officers. Then the mainmast of Serapis began to fall and Captain Pearson decided to surrender. He crossed to the BHR, gave his sword to Jones who promptly returned it. The Serapis had suffered greatly but, in appearance BHR was an object of horror. Jones wrote of the battle, and a person must have been a Eye Witness to form a Just idea of this tremendous scene of Carneg, Wreck and ruin that Every Where appeared. Humanity cannot but recoil from the prospect of such finished horror, and Lament that War should be capable of producing such fatal Consequences.

His victory over the Serapis was the only important Allied success at sea in 1779. The French King, Louis XVI, invested him with the Order of Military Merit, and bestowed an even greater honor, by presenting to the valiant Captain Jones a gold-hilted sword and calling him the Vindicator of the Freedom of the Seas. (It is presently near his Tomb at the U.S. Naval Academy.)

Bronze statue of Revolutionary War naval hero John Paul Jones in West Potomac Park in Washington, DC by sculptor Charles H. Niehaus in 1912. (Photo: eurobanks/Shutterstock)

Catherine of Russia

Catherine of Russia was an attractive woman of 62, German by birth, with the remarkable vitality of a woman many years her junior and a sexual appetite that was controlled, in part, by the Royal Palace Guards.

Whether Her Imperial Majesty wanted the sendees of John Paul Jones, as the Admiral of her Fleet to pull together the many foreign officers in her service, or whether she wanted to add another star in her diadem of conquest has left many historians in doubt, but not Admiral Morison.

Catherine was an able ruler but her morals left a lot to be desired. Married to Emperor Peter III, she had him killed and proclaimed herself Empress Catherine II.

Jones must have thought a lot about this liberated woman. He wrote, with the character of a very great man, she will always be adored as the most amiable and captivating of the fair sex.

Catherines lover was Count Potemkin and from the start Potemkin was the fly in Jones Russian ointment. Morison claims it was the flag rank that attracted Jones, not the beguiling Catherine. Having scanned some of Jones past performances in the boudoirs of many French ladies, it is quite easy to side with Potemkin in this jealousy bit. But, accept the position of Rear Admiral in the Imperial Russian Navy is what Jones did. The title of Admiral was Jones greatest desire.

If the transplanted Scotsman thought he had trouble in the American colonies, those matters were insignificant compared to his problems in Russia.

The British officers in the Russian Navy hated Jones  a Greek officer, who expected to have Jones job, was another, Potemkin had three Rear Admirals in the Black Sea and as the overall military commander tossed Jones in with the rest. Prince Nassau-Siegen, a Hollander, was most unfriendly.

The campaign on the Liman against the Turkish fleet was a case of having other officers working against and not with Jones. He wrote in my whole life, I have never suffered so much vexation as in this Campaign of the Liman which was nearly the death of me.

One thing that stands out from Jones Russian service is that not one Russian officer can be counted among those who participated in an overall conspiracy against this famous sailor. The Russians who served under him had nothing but respect and loyalty for him. But not Potemkin.

Kontradmiral Pavel Ivanovich Jones subsequently was relieved of his command and departed the Flagship Vladimir. It was on a three day journey to Kherson that Jones came down with pneumonia.

The illness was not Jones only trouble in the Land of the Steppes. A charge of rape was made against him that was obviously a frame.

Scandal

A young girl came to Jones apartment selling butter or asking if he had lace or linen that needed mending. As soon as she left his front door, the girl tore her sleeves and screamed rape. Her mother happened to be conveniently nearby. Who framed Jones? Was it Potemkin? Was it Prince Nassau-Siegen? It certainly wasnt the British officers. They would never resort to such a device.

The scandal was enough to cause Jones to be a social outcast. Even the Empress, far from being an example of virtue, took a dim view of the Admiral who had served her so well.

En route to Paris, Jones stopped at an Inn in Harwich, attired in his uniform of a Russian admiral. The people of the town surrounded the place and Jones fearing bodily harm, retreated to London. Whether it was because he raided the English seacoast or the charge of rape that raised their ire is not known.

His death

In May of 1790, he returned to Paris, a city much loved by Jones. Here he became interested in the plight of the American seamen captured by the Barbary Coast pirates. Without a Navy to protect them, merchant ships were fair game for the pirates.

Thomas Jefferson saw eye to eye with Jones on the imprisonment of the American seamen. At that time, the Congress of the United States did not care about the seamen, much like the liberal representatives in Washington today.

Finally, President Washington acted. On June 1, 1792, he appointed John Paul Jones a commissioner with full powers to negotiate with the Dey of Algiers concerning the ransom of American citizens in captivity, and to conclude and sign a Convention thereupon.

Jefferson gave the documents and some $27,000 to Thomas Pinckney, who was going to London as the American minister. He sailed for England in mid July and again Jones lost. The gallant skipper died of pneumonia, July 18. Jones was buried two days later with French grenadiers leading the cortege to a grave that was lost to America for almost a hundred years.

On April 7, 1905, the grave of Jones was found in an ancient Paris cemetery. The corpse was remarkably well-preserved in alcohol. Probably brandy for which France is so rightly famous.

President Teddy Roosevelt, a supporter of a strong Navy, ordered four cruisers to return the body of Jones back to America. The man who was a merchant skipper and a great Naval hero was finally in the kind of a squadron he hoped America might someday have.

His final resting place was the U.S. Naval Academy where young Americans prepare to be gallant skippers like Jones. They will always have his words to inspire them  I have not yet begun to fight.

Click here to read the rest of the December 1975 issue.

FreightWaves Classics articles look at various aspects of the transportation industrys history. Click here to subscribe to our newsletter!

Have a topic you want me to cover? Email me at bjaekel@freightwaves.com or follow me on Twitter.

The post Catherine the Great, Benjamin Franklin part of John Paul Jones story appeared first on FreightWaves.
Festivals  Kashmir Festivals  Kheer Bhawani

Kheer Bhawani Festival

Place : Tulmulla, Ganderbal district, Srinagar, Kashmir

Month: June

Significance: Hindu Muslim harmony

Date: 8.6.2023

Located 18 miles (29 kms) north of capital Srinagar, the Kheer Bhawani shrine at Tulmula village in Ganderbal district, attracts thousands of people from all over the country.

The temple is dedicated to the Goddess Rajnya Devi, popularly known as Kheer Bhawani. The name 'Kheer Bhawani' is derived from the fact that thousands of devotees offer milk and 'Kheer' (pudding) to the sacred spring, as they believe the pudding turns black to warn of impending disaster. Devotees believe that the colour of the spring inside the shrine, annually predicts Kashmir's future. Legend says that Mata Ragnya flew from Sri Lanka during Demon king Ravana's reign, to Kashmir and established her seat beside a spring in the then Tullamulla village. Be it Hindus or Muslims, devotees from all across India throng the temple during the Kheer Bhawani festival.

The annual pilgrimage to this temple is a sort of homecoming for many Hindu Kashmiri Pandits who migrated from the state when terrorism was at its peak in the valley. It is at this temple that the age-old tradition of communal harmony comes to the forefront as the local Muslims set up stalls for the convenience of Kashmiri Pandits who visit the shrine, and have been traditionally welcoming their Pandit brothers with milk during the festival.

Around 250,000 devotees, mostly migrant Hindus, participate in a 'Maha Yagna', a traditional offering, at the shrine. Stalls are erected and all kinds of wares are sold at the fair. The enthusiasm of Muslim residents of Tulmula is a perfect example of Hindu Muslim brotherhood in Kashmir. It is also a perfect example of religious harmony that is so special to Indian culture.

A replica of the temple in Tulmulla village, is installed at Bhawani Nagar in Janipura area in Jammu, the winter capital of the state. Recently, more crowd is witnessed in this temple during the holiest festival of Kashmiri Pandits.
ST. JOHNS, N.L. - The union representing fishers in Newfoundland and Labrador says a bitter standoff in the provinces valuable crab fishery is no closer to a resolution six weeks into the fight.

Union president Greg Pretty told reporters today hes demanding that fishers be allowed to sell their catch in other provinces, which is not currently allowed under the regulations.

Pretty, of the Fish, Food and Allied Workers Union, says that so far the provincial government has turned him down.

Crab season opened in most parts of the province on April 10, but fishers have refused to leave harbour because they say the price this year  $2.20 a pound  isnt enough to make a living.

Prices are set by a government-appointed panel that hears arguments from the union and the provinces Association of Seafood Producers.

The association says there are crab fishers who want to work for $2.20 a pound, and it accused the union today of bullying and intimidation tactics.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 17, 2023.

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At first, she was just a white dot on a blue-gray horizon.

But slowly, two tugboats maneuvered the SS Keewatin out of Lake Huron and on to the St. Clair River.

Two hours prior on Wednesday morning, the Lake Pilots Association went out to escort and exchange pilots on board the leading tug, the Molly M1  the Manitou led from closely behind  before heading toward Detroit.

Clyde Township residents Bill and Judi Wager, each retired from the association, tagged along to witness the approach of the 300-foot vessel  itself more than a century old and en route to her final destination in Kingston, Ontario.

I remember the ship as a kid. It ran until 1967, I think. So, I was 13, 14 years old the last time I saw this one, Bill Wager said, shortly after 10 a.m. as the pilot boat headed back toward its Black River dockage. The old passenger boats like the Keewatin  and the South American were just special to see. Unfortunately, the (others) got scrapped. So, I just had to come see this. Its a special event.

Plenty of other ship enthusiasts agreed, as they appeared with cameras on either side of the maritime border by late morning.

The bow of the SS Keewatin in southern Lake Huron is shown on Wednesday, April 26, 2023. Last in Port McNicoll, Ontario, the century-old passenger liner was headed to the Marine Museum of the Great Lakes in Kingston.

Some had been waiting for the Keewatin to pass for several days. Local Port Huron history buff TJ Gaffney shared the news Sunday on Facebook.

At one point, passenger boats like the Keewatin came through the area quite a bit, he said Monday.  Shes got a connection to Michigan. She spent a long time on the west side of the state. You dont see that level of maritime history  something that significant  come through this area very much. Its only five years younger than the Titanic (was). In terms of the way it looks on the inside, its the closest thing a lot of us would see to something like that.

The SS Keewatin was built in Scotland and launched in 1907, coming into service the next year. It ran from Port McNicoll, Ontario, ferrying passengers and cargo between the Georgian Bay and Port Arthur and Fort William on Lake Superior for several decades, before it retired in the 1960s and was acquired for historic preservation.

After a long stint outside Saugatuck, Michigan, the ship returned to Canadian waters, spending the last decade back in Port McNicoll. It is currently headed to the Marine Museum of the Great Lakes in Kingston. Its slated to undergo repairs this spring and summer and is advertised to be put on exhibit starting this fall.

The SS Keewatin, a retired passenger liner first built in 1907, is escorted beneath the Blue Water Bridge on Wednesday, April 26, 2023, along Port Huron. The iconic vessel was being taken to its final home in Kingston, Ontario.

According to the museum, the iconic liner has been featured in an episode of the CBC show Murdoch Mysteries, as well as the 2020 Royal Canadian Mint coin.

Sean Laughlin had piloted the Molly since it left Port McNicoll early Monday evening, while Erik Gallagher and Derik Kilbourn, of the pilots association, escorted longtime Canadian pilot Capt. Elko Merk, who was to take over for the tug to Detroit, on Wednesday.

Before the latter group left for Lake Huron, Merk handed candies out to everyone on board.

And as they got closer to the Keewatin Wednesday morning, the Wagers were full of questions for Merk. For him, it was just the latest of his stories in piloting over 45 years  a period that prompted jokes amongst the already well-acquainted trio.

And he always has a smile on his face, Judi Wager said.

Judi asked if its normally a few hours to Detroit, and Merk said itd be closer to eight. His upbeat disposition, they agreed, came in handy on long journeys on the water  such as tugging the Keewatin at just under six knots. Luckily, Merk said he enjoyed "telling people where to go."

Sailors are notorious for elongating stories. I got lots of time, he said with a laugh.. " So, youve got to make the story long. Otherwise, they walk away.

Contact Jackie Smith at (810) 989-6270 or jssmith@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter @Jackie20Smith.

This article originally appeared on Port Huron Times Herald: 'It's a special event': Century-old retired liner SS Keewatin passes Port Huron
WASHINGTONWith the help of a staff member, Sen. Dianne Feinstein rose from her wheelchair, gripped his arm, and walked onto the floor and cast her second vote of the week. She voted against a plan to nullify some criminal justice reforms the District of Columbia had recently passed and then walked off the floor.

Back in her wheelchair, she exited an elevator and was met by a reporter  who asked about her health.

Arent you an eager one, she said.

Feinstein returned last week after months away from the Senate as she recovered from the shingles virus . Her absence from Washington didnt derail the confirmation of U.S. President Joe Bidens judicial nominations or the work of federal government, but it did cause angst among Democrats who worried that the slim margins of their majority could make their work difficult or impossible.

In the short interview after voting, she mentioned a problem with her leg but on the balance of things said she was feeling better. Then another reporter asked about the well wishes shed received from her Senate colleagues since her return last week.

What have I heard about what? she asked.

About your return, the reporter replied.

I havent been gone, she said. You should ... I havent been gone. Ive been working.

Youve been working from home is what youre saying?

No, Ive been here. Ive been voting. Please, either know or dont know.

She then breezed by in her wheelchair and didnt respond to other questions. The interview wasnt more than a minute and it was one of the few times shes spoken to reporters since returning to the Capitol. The senator has revealed little about her health or her workload  aside from statements saying she was being briefed about Senate business while she recuperated at home in San Francisco and that, when she returned to Washington, her doctors told her to work a light schedule.

Last week at the Senate Judiciary hearing, she helped push through three nominations who had lacked bipartisan support and thus had been stuck in limbo because of her absence. With her return to the Senate, Democrats now have an 11-10 edge on the committee, enabling Bidens nominations to progress to the full Senate without any Republican votes.

Feinsteins nearly three-month absence had caused some congressional Democrats to call for her to resign due to her absence and ill health. One was Rep. Ro Khanna of California, who said last week that he was glad to hear of Feinsteins return and was hopeful that she will be able to fulfil her duties.

Her health and mental acuity have been questioned by the media and her colleagues in recent years. Feinstein has long been known as not only powerful but hands-on  demanding, for example, to edit media advisories before they were sent out. But several stories, including one last year in the San Francisco Chronicle, described the deterioration of her memory. Feinstein at the time dismissed the stories, saying she was still fit to serve.

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NEW YORKA Staten Island ShopRite employee has sued former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani over an incident that landed the store worker in jail overnight on charges that were quickly dismissed.

Its the second time this week Giuliani has been sued in New York City.

Daniel Gills Manhattan Federal Court lawsuit demands $2 million from Giuliani for colluding with the NYPD to throw him behind bars on a false charge of assaulting an elderly person after he patted him on the back and called him a scumbag.

Widely seen CCTV footage of the incident, which happened as Giuliani was campaigning for his son Andrews gubernatorial run in Charleston on Staten Island, painted a different picture than what Giuliani described as being hit on the back, as if a boulder hit me.

Gill is seen on CCTV approaching Giuliani from behind and patting him on the back with an open palm before saying something and walking off.

Giuliani said Gill had said, Whats up, scumbag? after the pat before criticizing his anti-abortion stance.

He kept cursing. He wouldnt stop, Giuliani claimed in the aftermath. He kept menacing and threatening me. So I said lets get him arrested. Lets make an example out of him.

Gills suit opens with a quote from Mayor Eric Adams, who criticized Giuliani in the incidents aftermath for handling the incident irresponsibly.

Someone needs to remind former Mayor Giuliani that falsely reporting a crime is a crime, Adams said in June 2022. What he stated, there was a lot of creativity, and I think the district attorney, he has the wrong person he is investigating ... When you look at the video, the guy basically walked by and patted him on the back.

Gill, who announced his intention to sue last September, was hit with felony assault charges that prosecutors later downgraded and ultimately dismissed.

His lawyer, civil rights attorney Ron Kuby, said even though his client legally cleared his name, it didnt get him his job back or his privacy. Kuby said Gill was inundated with hate mail and threatening messages after Giuliani went on a media tour, in which he lied about nonexistent wounds suffered in the attack.

Rudy Giulianis lies have caused incalculable damage to this country, but his lies about Daniel Gill should cost him about $2 million, Kuby told the New York Daily News. And the Staten Island police went along with it ... They made sure that Gill spent at least a night in jail. The cops should be careful who they do favors for while wearing body cameras.

Ted Goodman, a spokesman for Giuliani, said the suit doesnt have legal merit and should be dismissed.

The decision to make an arrest was made by the police following (their) own investigation, Goodman said.

He added: An unbiased observer will see this meritless complaint as absurd  with its extraneous political hyperbole, like in Paragraph 22 when the attorney felt it (necessary) to refer to the specific area of Staten Island as a bastion of white conservatism and Trump support.

Giuliani was sued Monday in Manhattan Supreme Court by Noelle Dunphy, who claims Trumps former lawyer subjected her to sexual assault and harassment from 2019 through 2021 when she worked as his business development director.

Dunphys complaint details dozens of accusations, including that Giuliani tried to sell pardons for $2 million, urged her to lie to the FBI, and planned to say the 2020 election was stolen a year before Trump lost to President Joe Biden.

Giuliani denies all allegations and that Dunphy ever worked for him.

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The cities of Mississauga and Brampton will go their separate ways after Premier Doug Ford dissolves Peel Region within three years, the Star has learned.

Fords cabinet approved the move on Wednesday afternoon and Municipal Affairs Minister Steve Clark will table legislation at Queens Park on Thursday.

Progressive Conservative officials, speaking confidentially in order to discuss internal deliberations, said Peels regional government will cease to exist before the 2026 provincial and municipal elections.

Its expected negotiations will take the next two or three years to untangle the shared costs among the municipalities, such as policing, garbage collection and water treatment.

The premier signalled in a news conference on Monday that the move  which will also affect the town of Caledon but would not impact Peels school boards  was imminent.

Ive always been for an independent Mississauga. You cant have a city the size of Mississauga  close to 800,000 people and its continuing to grow  being tied into other jurisdictions, said Ford.

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Caledons future remains unclear. Some have advocated for urbanized parts of Caledon to be amalgamated with Brampton, with the rural areas incorporated into Orangeville.

The move is a huge win for Mississauga Mayor Bonnie Crombie, who won 77.1 per cent of the popular vote last October by campaigning for independence from Peel.

Crombie, who is viewed as a potential Ontario Liberal leadership candidate, has said it costs taxpayers in Mississauga $84 million annually to subsidize services in Brampton and Caledon.

She has pointed out her residents foot the bill for 60 per cent of Peels costs, but only have half the say at the region.

Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown has warned his city could lose $1 billion worth of shared existing infrastructure  in two water treatment facilities and the Peel Regional Police headquarters  that is located in Mississauga.

Premier Ford has said Brampton wont get shafted but Mayor Crombie is singing a very different tune. This needs to be addressed. Otherwise it is theft, Brown said earlier this week.

Over decades, hard-working Brampton residents have paid this enormous cost. It would have to be repaid if Peel Region dissolves and we have to rebuild in Brampton, he said.

Ford, whose Progressive Conservatives represent all the ridings in Peel, emphasized last Thursday that Brampton is not going to be shafted by Mississauga or anyone else when regional government is eliminated.

Brampton and Mississauga are large cities that can stand alone, but Ill guarantee you that Brampton will always be taken care of and theyll be made whole  and so will Mississauga and Caledon as well, he said.

Caledon Mayor Annette Groves has said she prefers the status quo for her city.

A 2019 Deloitte report for Peel predicted there would be an increase in tax-supported costs  of 21 per cent in the first decade of dissolution.

Groves, Crombie, Brown and Peel Region chair Nando Iannicca are expected to be on hand when Clarks legislation is tabled.

Thursdays bill, aimed at reducing duplication of services, will only target Peels regional governance.

The Tories are still pondering the future of the regions of York, Durham, Halton, Niagara and Waterloo.

Ford will not be at Queens Park for the legislation as he is attending the Ottawa funeral of Ontario Provincial Police Sgt. Eric Mueller, who was killed in the line of duty in Bourget last week.

Robert Benzie is the Stars Queens Park bureau chief and a reporter cover

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(Bloomberg) -- Chinas embrace of artificial intelligence for warfare has touched off alarm bells everywhere from Silicon Valley to the Pentagon.

Former Google Chief Executive Officer Eric Schmidt is among those raising concerns, and he testified at a House hearing about China Wednesday evening as head of an initiative thats focused on speeding the US defense establishments adoption of AI.

Schmidts Special Competitive Studies Project argues in a new report this month that the US must redesign its military to respond to the threat.

China continues to amass a wide array of advanced capabilities designed specifically to counter the traditional American way of warfighting, according to the report. It describes a 30-year effort by China to study US combat operations with the intention of being able to puncture its military might, now with the help of AI. It argues that a militarys ability to use AI faster than its enemy will be key to its strength.

Ylber Bajraktari, one of the reports authors, told Bloomberg News its aimed at conveying to the Defense Department, Congress and the public the urgency of accelerating efforts to develop an AI-enabled US military force. Yet such efforts have sparked concerns of an AI arms race that could ultimately aggravate any conflict between the US and China.

Speaking at the House hearing, Schmidt warned that China invests far more in AI for defense than the US does, on top of the civil-military fusion that has Chinese commercial companies working closely with the military. He said the US is slightly ahead by a few years in the key areas such as AI and quantum computing, but he warned that theres every reason to think they have more people working on strategic AI.

Some US technology titans, including Tesla Inc. Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk, have called for a pause in developing artificial intelligence for military use over growing ethical concerns about its dangerous potential, even though US armed forces leaders have pledged to stop short of letting autonomous weapons choose human targets on their own.

Thats in keeping with growing concern over civilian uses of AI, including from some of the tech executives developing new products that can both provide cogent answers to questions and spread disinformation and deep-fake imagery.

When Altman Went to Washington and Asked for AI Rules: Takeaways

Still, many officials at the Defense Department and in Congress argue that if the US doesnt develop powerful AI-powered weapons quickly, it will risk losing a potential future conflict with China.

US defense officials have eyed Chinas ambitions in artificial intelligence with specially wariness since 2017, when China revealed its plan to become the global leader by 2030. In 2019, China rolled out a new military concept to bake AI into every part of its warfare operations. The Pentagon started its own efforts to develop and deploy AI for battle scenarios in 2017.

US defense experts worry about the potential crossing of red lines  such as AI-enabled attacks against satellites in space and nuclear architecture  and that the risk of rapid escalation remains underexplored by the US and China given the current climate of hostility.

Gregory Allen, who left his job as director of strategy and policy at the Pentagons Joint Artificial Intelligence Center last year, where his role included efforts to accelerate the US militarys adoption of AI, recalled multiple attempts by US defense officials to hold what he calls military AI risk-reduction dialogues with Chinese counterparts. Not a single outreach worked, he said.

Read More: Khosla Warns Against Slowing US AI Research, Cites China Threat

China has refused all overtures for conversations on military AI, Allen said of the breakdown in military diplomacy between the two countries. Thats a really tragic situation.

Liu Pengyu, a spokesman at the Chinese Embassy in Washington, did not comment directly on Chinas alleged rejection of US bilateral overtures to discuss military AI, but said China takes very seriously the need to prevent and manage AI-related risks and challenges and works actively to advance the international governance of AI.

He said China in 2021 submitted a paper to a United Nations forum proposing regulating military applications of AI and encouraging their responsible development, and was ready to step up exchanges and cooperation with all parties to address the risks posed by military applications of AI.

Trying to rein in Chinas AI ambitions, the Biden administration imposed export controls in October intended to prevent the sale of high-end chips to entities operating in China, including the military. The White House is also working on a measure to require a review of outbound investment in certain industries, especially emerging technologies like AI and quantum computing. The Defense Department has asked for $1.8 billion for AI in the 2024 budget, an increase from past years.

Kathleen Hicks, deputy defense secretary, said in a statement that such funding will probably grow over time as we incorporate the technology effectively into how we operate.

Artificial intelligence is one of the vanguard technologies of our time, so of course we see the PRC trying to advance and exploit it, she said. She added that the Defense Department is making sure America continues to come out ahead by embedding AI in many more aspects of its mission, including battlespace awareness, cyber, reconnaissance, logistics and force support. She said the US is committed to its responsible use.

Feeble Commitments

Such ambitions for  and investment in  autonomous warfare alarms United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and civil society groups such as the Campaign to Stop Killer Robots, an influential coalition of more than 180 member organizations including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch. The coalition argues for a new international law on autonomy in weapons systems and decries US ethics commitments on responsible military use of AI thus far as feeble.

Not everyone is as sure as Hicks that the US is ahead in the military AI race. Representative Mike Gallagher, the Wisconsin Republican who chairs the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, told Bloomberg the US is neck-and-neck with China on AI, which he described as a critical technology that could determine geopolitical dominance this century. He wants to cut off the flow of American capital to Chinese AI companies.

The Australian Strategic Policy Institute, a think tank focused on national security, declared in March that China was ahead in 37 of 44 critical technologies, including artificial intelligence. While it deemed the US ahead in natural language processing, it found China is leading on AI algorithms and machine learning, including neural networks and deep learning.

Amid intense rivalry, some in Silicon Valley disapprove of the language of an AI arms race. Sarah Shoker, a research scientist who leads OpenAIs geopolitics policy research team, told a summit on modern conflict at Vanderbilt University this month that she worries the term erroneously conflates economic competition with defense and international security and could cause panic and fear-mongering.

Bajraktari argues that fears about military use of AI are prescient. However, he said competition with China is not going away.

Its going to be enduring, its going to be exhausting, and likely existential, he said.

(Updates with China response,)

More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com

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Ukrainian officials say air defenses thwarted an intense Russian air attack on Kyiv and shot down all missiles aimed at the capital with the help of Western-supplied weapons. The assault early Tuesday came as European leaders sought new ways to punish Russia for the war and a Chinese envoy sought traction for Beijings peace proposal. Loud explosions boomed over Kyiv as the nighttime attack combined Russian missiles launched from the air, sea and land. A Ukrainian official said Russias latest attack on Kyiv was exceptional in its density." An air force spokesperson says the bombardment across Ukraine included six Russian Kinzhal aero-ballistic hypersonic missiles, the most fired in a single attack in the war.
ANKARA, Turkey (AP)  Russia agreed to a two-month extension of a deal that has allowed Ukraine to ship grain through the Black Sea to parts of the world struggling with hunger, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced Wednesday, a boost to global food security after the war drove up prices.

Turkey and the U.N. brokered the breakthrough accord with the warring sides last summer, which came with a separate agreement to facilitate shipments of Russian food and fertilizer that Moscow insists hasn't been applied.

Russia had threatened to bow out if its concerns were not ironed out by Thursday. Such brinkmanship isnt new: With a similar extension in the balance in March, Russia unilaterally decided to renew the deal for 60 days instead of the 120 days outlined in the agreement.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Wednesday that problems would need to be resolved at the technical level. Neither she nor Erdogan mentioned any concessions Moscow may have received.

"We will continue our efforts to ensure that all the conditions of the agreement are fulfilled so that it continues in the next period, said Erdogan, who announced the highly anticipated decision two days after being forced into a runoff in Turkey's presidential election.

Extending the Black Sea Grain Initiative is a win for countries in Africa, the Middle East and parts of Asia that rely on Ukrainian wheat, barley, vegetable oil and other affordable food products, especially as drought takes a toll. The deal helped lower prices of food commodities like wheat over the last year, but that relief has not reached kitchen tables.

Ukrainian and Russian products feed the world, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said. They matter because we are still in the throes of a record-breaking cost-of-living crisis.

Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Kubrakov welcomed the extension, but emphasized that the deal has to work effectively. On Facebook, he blamed Russia for dragging its heels on joint inspections of ships by Russian, Ukrainian, U.N. and Turkish officials.

Average daily inspections  meant to ensure vessels carry only food and not weapons that could aid either side  have steadily dropped from a peak of 10.6 in October to 3.2 last month. Shipments of Ukrainian grain also have declined in recent weeks.

Russia had denied slowing the work. No vessels have been cleared to enter Ukraines three open ports since May 6, and Kubrakov says nearly 70 vessels are waiting in Turkish waters to participate.

Russia, meanwhile, is shipping record amounts of its wheat through other ports. Critics say that suggests Moscow was posturing or trying to wrest concessions in areas such as Western sanctions.

The deal has allowed over 30 million metric tons of Ukrainian grain to be shipped, with more than half that going to developing nations. China, Spain and Turkey are the biggest recipients, and Russia says that shows food isn't going to the poorest countries.

Guterres has said developed countries bring in Ukrainian corn for animal feed, while emerging economies receive a majority of grain for people to eat. He noted exports bring prices down for everyone.

Looking ahead, we hope that exports of food and fertilizers, including ammonia, from the Russian Federation and Ukraine will be able to reach global supply chains safely and predictably," the U.N. chief said Wednesday.

The U.S. said Russia should stop creating hurdles to the deal.

"We should not need to remind Moscow every few weeks to keep their promises and to stop using peoples hunger as a weapon in their war against Ukraine, State Department deputy spokesman Vedant Patel told reporters.

Russia is expected to export more wheat than any country ever has in one year, at 44 million metric tons, said Caitlin Welsh, director of the Global Food Security Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

Trade flows tracked by financial data provider Refinitiv show that Russia exported just over 4 million tons of wheat in April, the highest volume for the month in five years, following record or near-record highs in several previous months.

Exports since last July reached 32.2 million tons, 34% above the same period from last season, according to Refinitiv.

Welsh says Russia knows that the less grain Ukraine can export, the more it can make up for the shortfall. And restrictions on Black Sea shipments mean the war-torn country would have to rely more on land routes through the European Union, which has stirred anger from its neighbors.

The more it restricts Ukraines access to Black Sea ports, the better it is for its political influence with trading partners and the better it is for Russia in the sense that its straining unity among EU member states and their support for Ukraine, she said.

With Ukraines wheat harvest coming up in June and the need to sell that crop in July, maintaining a Black Sea shipping corridor is key to avoid taking another large chunk of wheat and other grains off the market, said William Osnato, a senior research analyst at agriculture data and analytics firm Gro Intelligence.

It comes as places including Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria, Syria and East Africa  big importers of food  are facing drought and economic issues that are likely to keep food prices high.

Shortages of food in the system and lack of affordable fertilizer continues to push up prices, making it difficult for families in countries like Somalia to predict if they will be able to afford a meal the next day, said Shashwat Saraf, emergency director for East Africa at the International Rescue Committee.

Bonnell reported from London. AP reporters Jamey Keaten in Geneva; Andrew Katell in New York; Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations; Matthew Lee in Washington; and Evelyne Musambi in Nairobi, Kenya contributed.
In 1954, a unanimous U.S. Supreme Court handed down its Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka decision which held that racially segregated public schools were inherently unequal, and therefore unconstitutional.

1946: Harry S. Truman 1954: Brown v. Board of Education 1996: Bill Clinton 2004: Massachusetts 2017: Robert Mueller 2020: Andrew Cuomo
Voters are heading to the polls in Berks County for the Pennsylvania primary. It is Anne Norton's first election as director of election services in Berks County.

"Voters are out there voting and not getting a lot of calls from the precincts with the machines. Everything seems to be going pretty smooth," said Norton.

When it comes to voter turnout, Norton tells us the county will not know until the results come in at night.

"We're expecting as a typical primary, a lighter, maybe 15-25 percent," said Norton.

She tells us a new mail sorting system is being used this May.

"Scans in the mail-in ballots, opens them, slices them open, sorts them by precinct. It does a lot of the work that our staff used to do," said Norton.

Norton tells us she expects there will be a higher voter turnout in the fall. The polls will be closing at 8 p.m.

Voters in Berks County have some decisions to make. Four Democrats are running for mayor in Reading, including the current mayor who's seeking re-election.

All three county commissioners seats are open, and there are school board and judicial races.
Incumbent Dan Hartzell is among the four candidates with the most votes so far in the Democratic primary race to fill four seats on the nine-member Lehigh County Board of Commissioners.

Seven Democratic candidates are vying for the four seats.

With all 161 in-person precincts reporting, Sheila Alvarado has 18% of the vote, while Hartzell has 17% of the vote. April Riddick and Jon Irons each have 14% of the vote.

Michael Blichar Jr., Victor Martinez, and Joe Setton are trailing in the race.

Since there are enough Republican candidates for the four ballot spots, there is no contested Republican primary. The winners of the Democratic primary will face the four Republicans in the general election.

The Lehigh County commissioners meet at the Lehigh County Government Center on South Seventh Street in Allentown.
First Commonwealth Federal Credit Union and Bellco Federal Credit Union have agreed to combine, effective in the first half of 2024.



First Commonwealth, based in Allentown, will be the name for the combined institution. The merger of the credit unions requires approval of the National Credit Union Administration and Bellco's members, the companies said in a joint statement.

"By joining forces with First Commonwealth Federal Credit Union, our members will have access to additional products and services, and a growing network of financial centers" across the Lehigh Valley, Berks County and Warren County, said Tom Gosling, Chief Executive Officer and President of Wyomissing-based Bellco.



After the combination, the credit union will have assets of more than $1.3 billion and more than 92,000 members, according to the statement.



"First Commonwealth Federal Credit Union is thrilled to welcome Bellco members and employees through this merger," Donna LoStocco, president and chief executive of First Commonwealth, said in the statement.



First Commonwealth has 12 locations, while Bellco has offices in Wyomissing and Sinking Spring.
PPL Corp.'s goal is to become "the best utility company in the nation," President and Chief Executive Officer Vince Sorgi told shareowners Wednesday.



The Allentown-based utility has "eliminated the risk of foreign ownership" with the sale of its U.K. business in 2021, and added Rhode Island Energy last year, Sorgi said, according to a company statement.



"As a result, we have a very clear strategy, our company is stronger than it's been in years, and we're only getting stronger," the CEO said.



PPL's 2023 goals remain as stated before: investing $2.5 billion in its network, meeting its ongoing (adjusted) earnings forecast for the year of $1.50 to $1.65 per share (midpoint of $1.58), and reaching $50 million to $60 million in annual operation and maintenance savings.



The company is also seeking Kentucky Public Service Commission approval of a plan to shut down 1,500 megawatts of old coal generation in favor of solar power and natural gas, backed up by battery storage. Kentucky passed a state law this year to protect coal-fired generation. Supporters said the new law supports energy reliability; PPL has said its plan is the lowest-cost option.



PPL projects earnings and dividend growth of 6% to 8% annually through at least 2026 without the need to sell new stock. The company plans to meet financial targets while working toward its environmental goal of being carbon-neutral by 2050. Carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas that has been linked to climate change.



Sorgi summed up PPL's goals as being agile and innovative; creating value for customers and investors, and supporting a transition to clean, reliable energy.



"I'm as excited as ever about PPL's future," he said.



PPL has 3.5 million customers. Shares in the regulated utility are traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol PPL. At 2:28 p.m. Wednesday the share price was $27.50. In the past 52 weeks, the shares have traded as high as $31.74 and as low as $23.47.
Schuylkill County Commissioner George Halcovage appears to have come up short in his bid for re-election. He is seventh out of eight in the highly-contested Republican primary.

Larry Padora and Barron Boots Hetherington are leading the race.

Eight Republican candidates were competing for two available seats. The two people who get the most votes will move on to the November election.

Padora has 20% of the vote, while Hetherington has 18% of the vote.

Mary Jo Moss, Maria Casey, Jeffrey Dunkel, Dan Evans, Halcovage, and Ray Jones are all trailing.

Incumbent Gary Hess and Rita Baldino are the only two Democrats in the race. Gregory Woll is a Libertarian candidate.

Commissioners are elected to four-year terms.

Four women accused Halcovage of violating sexual harassment policies. The women are all Schuylkill County workers.

A federal judge recently granted a motion allowing settlement talks between the women and Halcovage.

There's no word yet when settlement talks will begin.

The workers suing Halcovage turned down a settlement offer earlier this year. Halcovage denies the allegations.
(Bloomberg) -- Chinas securities regulator has announced new rules on global depositary receipts, paving the way for the resumption of a steady stream of listings in Europe.

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Companies must register with the China Securities Regulatory Commission within three working days after submitting GDR listing applications overseas, according to new guidelines published late Tuesday. Any fundraising size should be reasonable, it said, without giving details, while pricing and lockup period for investors have to be in line with regulations. The regulator also requires companies to disclose the identities of the subscribers in their GDR issue as part of a report that has to be submitted within 15 working days of the sale.

The rules could potentially revitalize a market that was vibrant before CSRC held up approvals of new applications earlier this year. The authority was concerned that a substantial portion of the issue was being taken up by Chinese investors who later converted the securities into shares in their home market to profit from persistent price gaps, Bloomberg News reported in March. CSRC said in February its considering new rules for the offerings but didnt publicly disclose details or comment on the pace of approvals.

Chinese companies raised almost $4 billion in Europe through GDR sales in 2022 when the Shanghai-London Stock Connect cross-border listing program was expanded to link Zurich and Frankfurt with Shanghai and Shenzhen, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Only four deals were priced so far this year, raising a total of $1.1 billion.

Read more: Chinese Firms Are Back to Swiss Market After Hiatus: ECM Watch

Any revival of listings will also depend on investor demand as global fundraising activity has slowed down significantly on concerns over economic outlook. Chinas economic recovery is also losing momentum after an initial burst in consumer and business activity early in the year.

Newly-listed firms in Chinas domestic market this year have raised a total of $24 billion, down from the $43 billion raised for the same period in 2022. The Shanghai stock exchange in March abruptly called off the hearing for Syngenta Groups $9.4 billion IPO. Sinochem Holdings Corp., the owner of the agrochemicals giant, is exploring ways to salvage the listing including a potential reduction in fundraising size as it seeks to mollify Chinese authorities concerns that a large offering could put pressure on liquidity in the local stock market, Bloomberg News reported last month.

The GDRs, primarily listed in Zurich, become fungible with so-called A-shares in mainland China after 120 days, and have tended to trade at discounts. The Shanghai-London Stock Connect was initially launched in 2019. The enlarged program promised to open up a channel for overseas fundraising amid geopolitical tensions with the US, a venue Chinese firms had traditionally favored.

--With assistance from Zhang Dingmin and David Morris.

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DELAWARE COUNTY, Pa.  Democrats will keep their slim majority in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives after winning a special election in Delaware County.

Democrat Heather Boyd took on Republican Katie Ford to win the seat that opened in March after Democratic Rep. Mike Zabel resigned. He was caught up in multiple allegations of sexual harassment as he was starting his third term in the state House.

Libertarian Alfe Goodwin was also in the running. Her professional profile says she is a restorative justice expert, military veteran and retired cop.

Ford is a military veteran and behavioral therapist from Upper Darby Township. The wife of a police officer, Ford says she pledges to see violent crimes prosecuted, police given the tools they need and the community engaged in dialogue.

Last month, she called for officials to launch an effort to acquire the shuttered Delaware County Memorial Hospital, which she said could be used to meet a number of community and educational needs such as an expansion of the high school or a new vocational college.

Boyd was a high school and college arts teacher for 10 years, worked as chief of staff for Rep. Leanne Krueger and served as the district director and senior advisor for Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon. She founded the Delaware County chapter of the National Organization for Women and has served for six years as the chair of the Upper Darby Democratic Committee.

For three years, she also served on the Upper Darby school board, and says she will fight for laws and budgets that serve the district. Just a day before the election, President Joseph Biden endorsed Boyd, saying she will "protect a woman's right to make her own health care decisions, stand up for common sense gun safety laws and expand access to voting rights."

If Boyd had lost the race to Ford, the Pennsylvania House GOP could have grabbed control of the legislative chamber, which would have created a bigger challenge for Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro to gain support for his agenda, including his state budget, which has a June 30 deadline. The state Senate already has a Republican majority.
PHILLIPSBURG, N.J.  At a contentious meeting Tuesday night, Phillipsburg Town Council faced a public frustrated by several issues including policing and an alleged sewage leak on Gates Steet.

Public comments began after councilmembers held a private, 42-minute executive session that they estimated would last just 15 minutes. When council returned, residents had several critiques of Ordinance 2023-09, which gives discretion of the number of active patrol officers to the Phillipsburg police chief.

Resident Joe Minor objected to a proposal to raise the number of patrol officers, suggesting the town should instead hire drug and trauma counselors to handle an increase in violent incidents.

"Rather than throwing more police at the problem, let's solve it by supporting our police," Minor said.

Resident Joan Pierce argued that the ordinance should explicitly call for more officers, rather than giving this power to the police chief.

"If we can't handle what we have going on, don't you think we need more police officers?" Pierce asked council. "I think it's time we call for some serious help."

Council unanimously passed the ordinance, with President Harry Wyant explaining that the number of officers desired by the police chief would not exceed the town's budget.

"It will be under the discretion [of the police chief] to have as many officers as needed, within the budget," Wyant said. "It could be 38, could be 45."

Foul fumes

Resident Pete Pisello got the attention of both council and the public when he complained of a foul-smelling liquid overflowing onto his property from a sewage manhole cover on the neighboring lot.

Pisello purchased the property, located at 913 Gates Street in Phillipsburg, to flip and resell earlier this year. He claimed the "disgusting" sanitation hazard posed by the liquid is preventing him from re-selling the property.

"There is active water coming out of the sewer, and I'm assuming there's quite a bit of backup pressure," Pisello told the council. "I spoke to the neighbor at 901 [Gates Street], and she said this has been an ongoing issue for years now."

Pisello explained that, despite several attempts to call the town and Mayor Todd Tersigni, the sewage leak has always subsided by the time town employees arrived on site, which has prevented them from seeing the extent of the problem.

"This isn't just a homeowner complaining about something stupid," Pisello said. "This is a health hazard... I can't, in good conscience, sell this house to somebody with this problem."

Upon hearing Pisello's complaint, Wyant directed Phillipsburg Business Administrator Matthew C. Hall to immediately address cleanup efforts of the property.

Walters Park pool

Lastly, Phillipsburg Recreation Director Matt Noel addressed the progress made on the upcoming opening of the Walters Park pool.

Noel said he is "confident" the pool will be ready to open Saturday, May 27, for Memorial Day weekend, given that railings compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act can be installed before then. Due to lifeguard staffing issues, however, the start of the pool's full-time summer hours may be delayed to June 10.

"If we're pushed back a week or two, June 10 would be the day we open full-time," Noel said. "Kids are out of school, [and] that'd be the first Saturday they're back around."

Phillipsburg Town Council will meet again on Tuesday, June 6.
EASTON, Pa.  Two Democrats battled it out in the primary election for the seat of Northampton County district attorney, and it looks like they will again go head-to-head in November.

Incumbent Terry Houck is being challenged by longtime judge Stephen Baratta for the position responsible for prosecuting all crimes committed in Northampton County. No Republicans are on the ballot, but Republican voters can use write-in space on their ballots to support whomever they choose.

With all 156 precincts reporting, Baratta had 55% of the votes over Houck's 45%.

Baratta declared a victory Tuesday night.

At his campaign headquarters, Houck said, "We're going to the fall; we're going to keep fighting." That means Houck would be running as a Republican in November.

2:07 What to know about the candidates running for Northampton County District Attorney Two Democrats are battling it out in the primary race for Northampton County District Attorney.

The district attorney is responsible for the prosecution of criminal matters at all stages of the process, including preliminary hearings, pre-trial conferences, guilty pleas, trials, appeals and collateral proceedings.

The office works closely with local police agencies to investigate crimes that have occurred within Northampton County and to file criminal charges. The district attorney is responsible for prosecuting a wide variety of crimes, including harassment, simple assault, retail theft, and the most serious felony offenses, such as rape, robbery and homicide.

Houck was elected to the seat in 2019. A native of Philadelphia, he served as an officer with the Philadelphia Police Department for nine years, starting in 1977. He then started his prosecutorial career in 1986 as an assistant district attorney in Bucks County. In 2006, he became Northampton County's first assistant district attorney, and was sworn in as district attorney in 2020.

Baratta, who was born and raised in the Lehigh Valley, served as judge to the Northampton County Court of Common Pleas for 10 years; president judge for five years; administrative judge of juvenile court for 15 years; and administrative judge to domestic relations, the asbestos docket, criminal court and custody court. He announced his retirement from the bench in November 2022.

Baratta claims that the district attorney's office itself needs to be transformed, as he alleges it is currently operating without transparency, has a high turnover rate for professional staff, has ethical violations and other problems. He also says more community policing and civic involvement need to be fostered to address the root cause of violent crimes and the opioid crisis.

In addition, Baratta says he will decriminalize simple marijuana possession, provide more support to crime victims and their families, and ensure that the justice system equally protects everyone in a diverse community.

For his part, Houck said he created the county's first full-time drug task force to combat the illegal distribution of drugs. He said his office has expanded pre-trial diversionary programs to divert nonviolent offenders away from the prison system and into rehabilitation and treatment.

Houck said he also established a partnership with Lehigh County's John Van Brakle Child Advocacy Center to improve the quality of police investigations while reducing trauma inflicted upon a child by repeated law enforcement and children and youth interviews.
READING, Pa.  Even before Tuesday's primary elections, Berks County was guaranteed to have at least one new commissioner in 2024.

That's because Democrat Kevin Barnhardt gave up his seat on the 3-member board earlier this year to assume the role of the county's chief operations officer, and his interim replacement, Lucine Sihelnik, chose not to seek election to the board.

The other two commissioners, Republicans Christian Leinbach of Tilden Township and Michael Rivera of Bern Township, did seek their party's nomination for another term, and both men appeared to emerge victorious in their bids.

With all 202 of the county's precincts reporting their results, Leinbach had 28% of the vote and Rivera had 21%, putting them ahead of the three other candidates on the GOP ballot, including former Commissioner Mark Scott, a Douglass Township resident who lost to Rivera in the May 2019 primary.

Scott finished with 18% of the vote in Tuesday's primary.

"I ran an honorable campaign," Scott told 69 News Reporter Tom Rader. "I didn't get the most votes, but I got the best votes."

Just spoke to Mark Scott running for a Republican nomination for County Commissioner. He said I ran an honorable campaign. I didnt get the most votes but I got the best votes.@69News  Tom Rader (@TomRaderTV) May 17, 2023

The other two Republicans on the primary ballot were Maria Bogdanova-Peifer of Oley Township (18%) and David Golowski of Bern Township (16%).

Leinbach and Rivera will be joined on November's general election ballot by the Democrats' top two primary vote-getters.

Again, with all 202 of the county's precincts reporting their results, Dante Santoni Jr., a former state representative from Wyomissing, and Spring Township Supervisor Jess Royer were the two candidates with the most votes, 31% and 28%, respectively. They led Isamac Torres-Figueroa, a former Reading School Board member from Exeter Township, and Twin Valley School Board Director Douglas Metcalfe of Robeson Township.

The top three vote-getters in November's general election will be elected to a four-year term. They'll be paid an annual salary of $110,339.
ROME (AP)  With the help of a high-leaping dog with a fine nose for cocaine, Italian police seized more than 2,700 kilos (about 3 tons) of the drug hidden in 70 tons of boxed bananas shipped from Ecuador, authorities said Tuesday.

Police estimated that the cocaine, which they described as of the finest quality, could have brought traffickers more than 800 million euros ($900 million) in street sales if it had reached its ultimate destination in Armenia.

Customs police became suspicious about two containers on a cargo ship that recently arrived at the port of Gioia Tauro, in the toe of the Italian peninsula and a stronghold of a ndrangheta organized crime clan.

Police told Italian state radio that documents and a background check indicated the shippers of the bananas weren't in the business of moving that much fruit.

Officers used scanning machines and the dog, named Joel, to uncover packets of cocaine hidden in boxes stacked meters-high in container trucks.

Joel leaped high and eagerly when the officers opened the back doors of the truck, and pawed furiously at the unloaded boxes to try to move the bananas aside, police recounted.

Had the drug eluded detection, the containers with the cocaine would have continued through the Mediterranean to a Black Sea port in Georgia for eventual transport to Armenia, authorities said.

They didn't specify just when the container ship arrived in Gioia Tauro.

But customs police said that said just days before the seizure, customs police at the same port found some 600 kilos (1,320 pounds) of cocaine in six container trucks also laden with exotic fruit from Ecuador. Those shipments had been destined for Croatia, Greece and Georgia, the customs police said.

Anti-Mafia investigative police aided in the seizure of the the cocaine.

The Gioia Tauro port, one of Italy's busiest, has long been under the watch of anti-Mafia investigators because of its proximity to towns where the ndrangheta has bases. The crime clan is one of the worlds most powerful cocaine traffickers.

Since the start of 2021, and including the latest seizure, customs police at the port have intercepted and seized a total of 37 tons of cocaine, the police said.
QUITO, Ecuador (AP)  Ecuador was locked in a showdown Tuesday between its conservative president and its opposition-led legislature that was turning the country into the latest Latin American nation torn between rival constitutional powers.

The opposition leadership's confidence in getting the 92 votes necessary to remove President Guillermo Lasso some time this week appeared to weaken during an hours-long legislative session in which lawmakers presented what they characterized as evidence of wrongdoing.

Lasso, who defended himself during the session, could still dissolve the legislature to keep his job and govern by decree as allowed by the Ecuadorian constitution.

Whatever happens this week, the faceoff added political instability to the problems tormenting Ecuadorians, most recently an increase in drug-related violence, including several massacres in prisons over the past two years.

Ecuadorians have long thought of everyday life as stable when compared to its neighbors, Colombia and Peru. But many in the country have become angered by their elected officials' failure to deal with joblessness, violence, extortion by gangsters and petty crime.

People feel the government is totally disconnected from their most urgent needs, said Laura Lizarazo, a senior analyst covering Ecuador and Colombia for the global firm Control Risks.

We anticipate that the progressive deterioration in terms of security that Ecuador has experienced in the last year will persist," she said.

Lawmakers accuse Lasso of not having intervened to end a contract between the state-owned oil transport company Flota Petrolera Ecuatoriana and the private entity Amazonas Tankers. The accusers argue that Lasso knew the contract was full of irregularities and cost the state millions in losses.

Lasso, a former banker, was elected in 2021 and has clashed from the start with a strong opposition in the 137-member National Assembly.

The president, who has had medical issues throughout his term, arrived at impeachment proceedings in the Assembly Tuesday after they had begun, holding onto a person's arm as he walked.

Lasso categorically rejected the accusations, insisting there was no proof or testimony of wrongdoing, and spoke with sarcasm about the impeachment proceedings.

I would like to begin by extending my appreciation to the members of the Assembly... who have dedicated themselves to this unfounded process with so much spirit, Lasso said. I want to deeply recognize them because ... they have stretched the limits of human imagination.

This is the second time the opposition has tried to impeach Lasso, but it didnt get enough votes last year.

Lasso did not say during the session if he would dissolve the Assembly. He told foreign reporters in April that he would not hesitate to do so if his removal were imminent. The move would allow him to govern by decree until presidential and legislative elections take place.

For more than an hour, assemblywoman Viviana Veloz presented videos and documents that she described as irrefutable evidence of the alleged irregularities, including freight rates. She said the damage to the state was estimated at more than $6 million.

Another Assembly member from the opposition, Estaban Torres, said he wanted to "be very clear with the country that President Lasso is not being accused of having appropriated public money for his own benefit but of not having intervened to block the contract.

Andrea Endara, a political science professor at Ecuador's Ecotec University, said the option of dissolving the Assembly would condition the vote in favor of the president. But she warned that votes can change up to the last second and in politics, anything is possible.

Impeachment proceedings run separate from criminal investigations. Ecuadors Prosecutors Office has opened a preliminary investigation, but Lasso has not been criminally charged.

Constitutional attorney Andre Benavides said the accusations against Lasso do not fit an embezzlement case because neither the damage to the state nor the alleged personal benefit of the president has been established.

In the streets of Ecuador, the political fight is breeding uncertainty.

Rodrigo Garces, an auto parts dealer, on Tuesday rejected the idea of removing the president. He characterized the Assembly as useless and said the instability created by the impeachment proceedings harms everyone.

Meanwhile, retiree Luisa Coba said Lassos departure would bring the country better days, because he has done nothing as poverty and crime increase and medicines become scarce.

Associated Press writer Regina Garcia Cano reported from Mexico City.
Chinese special envoy Li Hui was due to arrive in Ukraine for a two-day visit on Tuesday, in a peacemaking effort welcomed by the European Union.

Observers, however, cautioned against setting expectations too high.

The Ukrainian capital is the first stop on a five-nation European tour that will also take Li to Poland, France, Germany and Russia, as he works on a "political settlement" to the crisis sparked by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, according to the Chinese foreign ministry.

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.

While no further official details were provided, Reuters reported that the Chinese special representative for Eurasian affairs would be in Kyiv on Tuesday and Wednesday, citing a Ukrainian government source.

Li's visit comes three weeks after Chinese President Xi Jinping promised Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky that he would send a special envoy to Kyiv, as they spoke for the first time since the Russian invasion.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on the phone call with Beijing. Photo: EPA-EFE alt=Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on the phone call with Beijing. Photo: EPA-EFE>

Ahead of Li's visit, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen stressed that Ukraine should set out the core principles for any solution, saying "there is a proposal on the table".

The chief of the EU's executive arm was referring to a 10-point peace plan proposed by Zelensky in November, which included demands for the withdrawal of Russian troops, restoration of safety around the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant - Europe's largest - as well as the restoration of Ukraine's state borders with Russia.

"This is the basis on which we should be working because Ukraine is the country that has been invaded," von der Leyen said on Monday.

It was important to deliver Ukraine's peace proposal, she said, "so that we can discuss how to move on in this very difficult topic".

China had an important role to play, "because of its influence on Russia, and this is needed", she added.

According to Wang Yiwei, a Renmin University professor specialising in European studies, while ending the war represented a "major consensus" between Beijing and Brussels, it would be unrealistic to ask Russia to "suddenly withdraw all troops".

Li was also unlikely to push the Ukrainian peace plan, said Wang, who forecast the special envoy to focus instead on persuading both Moscow and Kyiv not to expect that all of their objectives would be met or "to defeat one another on the battlefield".

"If Russia and Ukraine can move forward [without that expectation] and begin to make concessions, they can talk about the best-case scenario and baseline of the diplomatic negotiation, then later agree on a middle point [in the next round of negotiations]," he said.

The EU has been calling China to step in to persuade Russian President Vladimir Putin to end the war in Ukraine. In an interview with the Post on Saturday, top EU diplomat Josep Borrell called Li's trip "another step towards China using its influence to stop this war", following the April 26 phone call between Xi and Zelensky.

"We know that China is practising pro-Russia neutrality. So this initiative is important for us, because we cannot have a good relationship with China if China is clearly supporting Russia," Borrell said.

In February, China proposed its own version of a Ukraine peace plan, which focused on finding a "political settlement" through talks, instead of calling on the Russian army to leave Ukraine.

While the 12-point position paper was criticised as vague, it paved the way for the first phone call between Xi and Zelensky since Russia invaded eastern Ukraine on February 24 last year.

Xi also referenced the need to find a "political settlement to the Ukraine crisis", as he told Zelensky he would send a delegation to Ukraine and "other countries" for "in-depth communication".

The Chinese foreign ministry said the delegation - led by Li, China's ambassador to Russia from 2009 to 2019 - was "another demonstration of Beijing's commitment to promoting peace and talks".

Then Chinese envoy Li Hui with then Russian prime minister Dmitry Medvedev, in Moscow in 2015. Photo: Reuters alt=Then Chinese envoy Li Hui with then Russian prime minister Dmitry Medvedev, in Moscow in 2015. Photo: Reuters>

But while Li will be the most senior Chinese official to visit Ukraine since the former Soviet state was invaded, how effective his trip will be remains to be seen.

"I believe that Europe wants China to exercise its immense influence over Russia, to maintain stability in the region. It remains to be seen whether China will be willing to do it in its real potential," said Sebastian Contin Trillo-Figueroa, a fellow at the University of Hong Kong's Asia Global Institute who specialises in EU-China relations.

Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang discussed the war in Ukraine when he visited major EU countries France and Germany last week, and pledged to boost cooperation with France to "tackle global challenges".

But China's relations with Europe remain complicated over its ties with Moscow, with the EU weighing sanctions on Chinese companies accused of providing help to Russia's military in its continued operations in Ukraine.

Qin vowed that Beijing would take "necessary measures to firmly safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese companies", as he rejected reporters' claims in Berlin last week that China was sending weapons to Russia.

Additional reporting by Finbarr Bermingham and Jack Lau

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.
Artly, a 3-year-old startup that claims to make a "perfect cup of coffee every time" with its artificial intelligence (AI)-powered machines, has been named a finalist for the 2023 GeekWire Gadget of the Year.

Don't Miss: Why Jason Calacanis and Other Silicon Valley Elites Are Betting On This Startups Vision For Re-Uniting American Families

With five retail locations on the West Coast and $8.3 million in funding, Artly is expanding its model, sourcing and roasting its own coffee beans, positioning itself as a specialty coffee maker and competing with companies like Blue Bottle Coffee Inc. and Stumptown Coffee Roasters.

"We created more STEM [science, technology, engineering and math] jobs and elevated barista jobs so our baristas could focus on creating better recipes, teaching the robot and providing customer service," he told GeekWire.

Worker shortages and increasing interest in contactless service are providing tailwinds for robotics companies aiming to improve efficiency and reduce labor costs in the food and hospitality industries. Picnic Works, another Seattle startup, is bringing automation to the food industry with its robotic pizza maker, and the company just signed a deal with Dominos Pizza Inc.

Artly is Seattle's first AI coffee bar, where cups are prepared by barista bots named Jarvis and Amanda. Wang's background in AI and robotics at Amazon led him to the idea after talking with friends who own small coffee shops. They stressed the need to make precise cups every time, and he knew robots could learn and execute. But he said the idea isn't to replace masterful human baristas; it's to share their skills in more places.

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"There is always at least one human on-site to help answer ordering questions and serve treats from a pastry case," the report stated. The Seattle spot is one of seven locations and the only one in Washington, but Wang hopes to open 10 more locations throughout the West Coast in 2023.

Customers can communicate their needs via technology, ordering drinks online or at kiosks, and the barista bots can answer some spoken questions by way of microphones and AI learning. The robots also make recommendations for certain drinks, like iced lattes.

"Artly is a very human-centric company; it's all about preserving the craft," Wang said. "Robots cannot create the craft, it's humans who create the craft. So in that sense, it will never replace humans."

The barista bots have become a favorite among customers, with one saying, "Delicious, it's absolutely amazing. Yeah, Jarvis is it."

Artly Coffee is a caffeinated glimpse into the future of specialty coffee, and the startup's expansion plans seem to indicate the company's confidence in its AI-powered technology.

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This article Coffee Meets AI: Seattle Startup's Robot Baristas Serve Up The Perfect Cup Every Time originally appeared on Benzinga.com

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EOG Resources (NYSE:EOG  Get Rating) and FieldPoint Petroleum (OTCMKTS:FPPP  Get Rating) are both oils/energy companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, institutional ownership, risk, dividends, analyst recommendations, profitability and earnings.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares EOG Resources and FieldPoint Petroleums gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

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Gross Revenue Price/Sales Ratio Net Income Earnings Per Share Price/Earnings Ratio EOG Resources $28.32 billion 2.22 $7.76 billion $15.99 6.73 FieldPoint Petroleum N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A

EOG Resources has higher revenue and earnings than FieldPoint Petroleum.

Profitability

Net Margins Return on Equity Return on Assets EOG Resources 33.83% 30.34% 18.16% FieldPoint Petroleum N/A N/A N/A

Insider & Institutional Ownership

This table compares EOG Resources and FieldPoint Petroleums net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

87.4% of EOG Resources shares are held by institutional investors. 0.3% of EOG Resources shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.7% of FieldPoint Petroleum shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current recommendations for EOG Resources and FieldPoint Petroleum, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

Sell Ratings Hold Ratings Buy Ratings Strong Buy Ratings Rating Score EOG Resources 0 4 18 1 2.87 FieldPoint Petroleum 0 0 0 0 N/A

EOG Resources presently has a consensus target price of $149.58, suggesting a potential upside of 38.98%.

Volatility & Risk

EOG Resources has a beta of 1.53, indicating that its share price is 53% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, FieldPoint Petroleum has a beta of 1.66, indicating that its share price is 66% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

EOG Resources beats FieldPoint Petroleum on 7 of the 9 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 FieldPoint Petroleum

(Get Rating)

Fieldpoint Petroleum Corp. engages in the acquisition, development, and operation of oil and natural gas properties. Its principal properties include: Block A-49 and Block 6 Field, Spraberry Trend, Giddings Field, Serbin Field, and Tuleta West Field in Texas, Flying M Field, Sulimar Field, North Bilbrey Field, Lusk Field, and Loving North Morrow Field in New Mexico, Apache, Chickasha, and West Allen Fields in Oklahoma, Longwood Field in Louisiana, and Big Muddy Field in Wyoming. The company was founded by Ray D. Reaves Jr. on March 11, 1980 and is headquartered in Austin, TX.

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EVI Industries, Inc. (NYSEAMERICAN:EVI  Get Rating) was the target of a large decline in short interest in the month of April. As of April 30th, there was short interest totalling 218,300 shares, a decline of 7.9% from the April 15th total of 237,000 shares. Currently, 4.3% of the companys shares are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 21,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 10.0 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in EVI. US Bancorp DE boosted its stake in EVI Industries by 214.3% during the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,320 shares of the industrial products companys stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 900 shares during the period. Empire Life Investments Inc. boosted its stake in EVI Industries by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. Empire Life Investments Inc. now owns 248,160 shares of the industrial products companys stock worth $4,914,000 after purchasing an additional 1,659 shares during the period. Royce & Associates LP boosted its stake in EVI Industries by 9.0% during the 1st quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 774,472 shares of the industrial products companys stock worth $15,335,000 after purchasing an additional 63,900 shares during the period. Anchor Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in EVI Industries by 4.8% during the 1st quarter. Anchor Capital Advisors LLC now owns 39,414 shares of the industrial products companys stock worth $780,000 after buying an additional 1,804 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James & Associates raised its position in EVI Industries by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 190,072 shares of the industrial products companys stock worth $3,763,000 after buying an additional 1,429 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 38.36% of the companys stock.

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EVI Industries Stock Up 0.2 %

NYSEAMERICAN EVI traded up $0.05 on Tuesday, hitting $20.53. 32,924 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 22,163. The company has a current ratio of 1.61, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. EVI Industries has a fifty-two week low of $7.25 and a fifty-two week high of $26.92. The firm has a market cap of $258.06 million, a P/E ratio of 44.52 and a beta of 0.32. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $19.89.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

EVI Industries Company Profile

Separately, StockNews.com began coverage on shares of EVI Industries in a report on Thursday, March 16th. They set a hold rating for the company.

(Get Rating)

EVI Industries, Inc operates as a value-added distributor, and provides advisory and technical services. It provides services through the distribution of commercial laundry and dry-cleaning equipment, industrial boilers, and related parts, supplies, and technical services. The company was founded on June 13, 1963 and is headquartered in Miami, FL.

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Qsemble Capital Management LP bought a new position in Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, Inc. (NYSE:WH  Get Rating) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund bought 9,300 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $663,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. EWG Elevate Inc. bought a new position in shares of Wyndham Hotels & Resorts during the 4th quarter valued at about $49,000. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd bought a new position in shares of Wyndham Hotels & Resorts during the 2nd quarter valued at about $46,000. Quent Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Wyndham Hotels & Resorts by 64.8% in the 3rd quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 839 shares of the companys stock valued at $51,000 after acquiring an additional 330 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Wyndham Hotels & Resorts by 94.1% in the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,027 shares of the companys stock valued at $73,000 after acquiring an additional 498 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Belpointe Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Wyndham Hotels & Resorts in the 4th quarter valued at about $76,000. Institutional investors own 91.13% of the companys stock.

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Wyndham Hotels & Resorts Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:WH opened at $65.15 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $5.59 billion, a PE ratio of 18.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.38. The firms 50 day simple moving average is $67.58 and its 200-day simple moving average is $71.70. Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, Inc. has a one year low of $58.81 and a one year high of $82.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.19, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.27.

Wyndham Hotels & Resorts Dividend Announcement

Wyndham Hotels & Resorts ( NYSE:WH Get Rating ) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 26th. The company reported $0.86 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $0.81 by $0.05. Wyndham Hotels & Resorts had a net margin of 21.94% and a return on equity of 34.17%. The business had revenue of $313.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $322.68 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.95 earnings per share. The companys quarterly revenue was down 15.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, Inc. will post 4.02 EPS for the current year.

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 13th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.15%. Wyndham Hotels & Resortss dividend payout ratio is presently 39.66%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CMO Lisa Checchio sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.90, for a total transaction of $461,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 13,692 shares in the company, valued at $1,052,914.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 2.29% of the companys stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently commented on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on shares of Wyndham Hotels & Resorts in a report on Wednesday, April 5th. They issued a buy rating and a $79.00 price target for the company. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Wyndham Hotels & Resorts from $87.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Tuesday, February 7th. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Wyndham Hotels & Resorts in a research report on Thursday, March 16th. They issued a hold rating on the stock. Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of Wyndham Hotels & Resorts from $95.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 21st. Finally, Oppenheimer reduced their price objective on shares of Wyndham Hotels & Resorts from $100.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $87.14.

Wyndham Hotels & Resorts Profile

(Get Rating)

Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, Inc engages in the franchise and operation of hotels under the Wyndham brand. It operates through the following segments: Hotel Franchising and Hotel Management. The Hotel Franchising segment offers licenses of brand names and associated trademarks to hotel owners under long-term franchise agreements.

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Want to see what other hedge funds are holding WH? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, Inc. (NYSE:WH  Get Rating).

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abrdn plc decreased its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO  Get Rating) by 18.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 124,438 shares of the medical research companys stock after selling 27,340 shares during the quarter. abrdn plcs holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $68,527,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of TMO. Roffman Miller Associates Inc. PA boosted its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Roffman Miller Associates Inc. PA now owns 31,116 shares of the medical research companys stock worth $17,135,000 after acquiring an additional 166 shares during the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC raised its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 36.3% in the 4th quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 5,583 shares of the medical research companys stock valued at $3,075,000 after acquiring an additional 1,486 shares during the period. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 9.9% during the 4th quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 6,417 shares of the medical research companys stock valued at $3,534,000 after buying an additional 580 shares in the last quarter. Western Financial Corp CA purchased a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 4th quarter valued at about $627,000. Finally, Ameritas Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC now owns 4,607 shares of the medical research companys stock valued at $2,337,000 after buying an additional 230 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.92% of the companys stock.

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Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on TMO shares. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $615.00 to $610.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 4th. Barclays cut their price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $625.00 to $610.00 in a report on Thursday, April 27th. Citigroup cut their price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $700.00 to $650.00 in a report on Thursday, April 27th. Cowen boosted their price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $690.00 to $711.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Thursday, February 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $670.00 to $620.00 in a report on Thursday, April 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $627.91.

Insider Activity at Thermo Fisher Scientific

Thermo Fisher Scientific Price Performance

In related news, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $545.22, for a total transaction of $5,452,200.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 141,330 shares of the companys stock, valued at $77,055,942.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link . In other Thermo Fisher Scientific news, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $545.22, for a total value of $5,452,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 141,330 shares of the companys stock, valued at $77,055,942.60. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink . Also, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 7,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $544.49, for a total value of $4,083,675.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 66,655 shares in the company, valued at approximately $36,292,980.95. The disclosure for this sale can be found here . Insiders have sold 19,100 shares of company stock valued at $10,391,587 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.32% of the companys stock.

TMO opened at $519.75 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $557.14 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $554.43. The company has a current ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The company has a market cap of $200.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.79. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 12-month low of $475.77 and a 12-month high of $611.06.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO  Get Rating) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 26th. The medical research company reported $5.03 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts consensus estimates of $5.03. Thermo Fisher Scientific had a return on equity of 19.16% and a net margin of 13.75%. The firm had revenue of $10.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $10.67 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $7.25 earnings per share. The companys quarterly revenue was down 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 23.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 15th were given a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 14th. This is a boost from Thermo Fisher Scientifics previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.27%. Thermo Fisher Scientifics dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.13%.

About Thermo Fisher Scientific

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Thermo Fisher Scientific, Inc engages in the provision of analytical instruments, equipment, reagents and consumables, software, and services for research, analysis, discovery, and diagnostics. It operates through the following segments: Life Sciences Solutions, Analytical Instruments, Specialty Diagnostics, and Laboratory Products and Services.

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Snaige

2023-05-15 a meeting of the company's creditors was held, where the revised restructuring plan of the company was considered. The decision to approve the restructuring plan in the group of non-mortgage creditors was taken by a majority vote (almost 80%), and was not taken in the group of mortgage creditors. SODRA also voted in favour of the restructuring plan.

According to Mindaugas Sologubas, general director of AB "SNAIGE", the company respects the opinion of all creditors, is grateful to those who approved the restructuring plan and hopes that the Court of Appeal of Lithuania will approve this plan.

According to M. Sologubas, the company's restructuring plan is in the interests of both the company and its creditors and is a real way to preserve a viable functioning company that pays salaries to employees on time and settles accounts with the State (since the beginning of the restructuring, the company has paid over EUR 0.5 million Eur to Sodra and more than EUR 0.6 million. Eur in taxes).

"The main strategic goal during the restructuring period is to optimize and restructure the company's activities so that the company can meet its obligations to creditors as soon as possible," said M. Sologubas. During the restructuring plan, the company will implement the measures envisaged, which will help to increase the production and sales of industrial and medical refrigeration appliances with a higher added value, as well as the production and sales of more profitable household refrigeration appliances. According to M. Sologubas, the company is already continuing its activities in the chosen direction. "Industrial products account for more than half of our turnover. Our goal is to have a fundamentally changed product portfolio in 2025, where professional refrigeration equipment will account for more than 70%. We're working on it at full capacity, we have a plan for how to do it, so I have reason to believe we'll succeed."

Currently, the company has orders more than it can produce due to lack of working capital. According to M. Sologubas, the company is the only manufacturer of refrigerators in the Baltic States and a significant company in the region, which employs almost 400 people. About 100 Lithuanian companies supply various services, materials and parts to AB SNAIGE, therefore, in the opinion of M. Sologubas, approval of the restructuring plan will preserve jobs for employees and income for related companies.

General Director

Mindaugas Sologubas

Phone no. +370 652 11997




Africa Energy Corp. (CVE:AFE  Get Rating)s stock price reached a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as low as C$0.13 and last traded at C$0.13, with a volume of 83500 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at C$0.15.

Africa Energy Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of C$197.40 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -14.00 and a beta of 1.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.01, a quick ratio of 28.20 and a current ratio of 2.14. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of C$0.15 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of C$0.19.

About Africa Energy

(Get Rating)

Africa Energy Corp. operates as an oil and gas exploration and production company in South Africa and Namibia. It holds a 27.5% participating interest in the Exploration Right for Block 2B offshore that covers an area of 3,062 square kilometers located in the west coast of South Africa; 43.85% interest in the Petroleum Exploration License 37 covering an area of 17,295 square kilometers located in the northern Namibian offshore region; and 49% interest in the Exploration Right for Block 11B/12B covering an area of approximately 19,000 square kilometers located in the Outeniqua Basin off the southern coast of South Africa.

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Trust Co. of Vermont increased its position in Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM  Get Rating) by 135.6% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 318 shares of the companys stock after acquiring an additional 183 shares during the period. Trust Co. of Vermonts holdings in Archer-Daniels-Midland were worth $30,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Archer-Daniels-Midland by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 62,966,053 shares of the companys stock worth $5,065,619,000 after purchasing an additional 522,009 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. boosted its stake in Archer-Daniels-Midland by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 44,149,903 shares of the companys stock valued at $3,551,860,000 after purchasing an additional 385,172 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in Archer-Daniels-Midland by 29.4% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 6,524,033 shares of the companys stock valued at $524,856,000 after purchasing an additional 1,483,115 shares during the period. Macquarie Group Ltd. boosted its stake in Archer-Daniels-Midland by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Macquarie Group Ltd. now owns 5,874,079 shares of the companys stock valued at $472,571,000 after purchasing an additional 19,411 shares during the period. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland by 12.1% in the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 3,934,158 shares of the companys stock worth $365,288,000 after acquiring an additional 423,918 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.23% of the companys stock.

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Archer-Daniels-Midland Stock Down 3.2 %

ADM stock opened at $73.15 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $77.99 and a 200-day moving average of $85.05. Archer-Daniels-Midland Company has a fifty-two week low of $70.02 and a fifty-two week high of $98.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $39.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.18, a P/E/G ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 1.51 and a quick ratio of 0.86.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Announces Dividend

Archer-Daniels-Midland ( NYSE:ADM Get Rating ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 25th. The company reported $2.09 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $1.71 by $0.38. Archer-Daniels-Midland had a return on equity of 18.39% and a net margin of 4.36%. The firm had revenue of $24.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $24.09 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.90 EPS. The businesss revenue was up 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Archer-Daniels-Midland Company will post 6.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 7th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 17th will be paid a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 16th. Archer-Daniels-Midlands dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.58%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ADM has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on Archer-Daniels-Midland from $98.00 to $90.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 26th. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland in a report on Thursday, April 13th. They set an outperform rating and a $100.00 target price for the company. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Archer-Daniels-Midland from $94.00 to $85.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 13th. StockNews.com cut shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 26th. Finally, 92 Resources restated a maintains rating on shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland in a report on Thursday, April 27th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the companys stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $100.78.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Company Profile

(Get Rating)

Archer-Daniels-Midland Co engages in the production of oilseeds, corn, wheat, cocoa, and other agricultural commodities. It operates through the following segments: Ag Services and Oilseeds, Carbohydrate Solutions, Nutrition, and Other. The Ag Services and Oilseeds segment includes activities related to the origination, merchandising, transportation, and storage of agricultural raw materials, and the crushing and further processing of oilseeds such as soybeans and soft seeds cottonseed, sunflower seed, canola, rapeseed, and flaxseed into vegetable oils and protein meals.

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Arconic Co. (NYSE:ARNC  Get Rating) was the target of a large drop in short interest in April. As of April 30th, there was short interest totalling 1,880,000 shares, a drop of 9.2% from the April 15th total of 2,070,000 shares. Approximately 1.9% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 2,070,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 0.9 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Arconic

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ARNC. Signaturefd LLC raised its stake in shares of Arconic by 6.2% in the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 9,727 shares of the basic materials companys stock valued at $166,000 after purchasing an additional 564 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp raised its stake in shares of Arconic by 341.0% in the 3rd quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 13,640 shares of the basic materials companys stock valued at $232,000 after purchasing an additional 10,547 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its stake in shares of Arconic by 14.7% in the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 13,978 shares of the basic materials companys stock valued at $238,000 after purchasing an additional 1,796 shares in the last quarter. Cipher Capital LP acquired a new stake in shares of Arconic in the 3rd quarter valued at about $300,000. Finally, New York State Common Retirement Fund raised its stake in shares of Arconic by 5.2% in the 3rd quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 77,644 shares of the basic materials companys stock valued at $1,323,000 after purchasing an additional 3,863 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.90% of the companys stock.

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Arconic Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ARNC traded down $0.02 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $28.85. 3,817,165 shares of the companys stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,789,289. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a current ratio of 1.52. The firms fifty day moving average price is $26.27 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $23.85. Arconic has a twelve month low of $16.33 and a twelve month high of $31.24.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Arconic ( NYSE:ARNC Get Rating ) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 4th. The basic materials company reported $0.24 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.30 by ($0.06). Arconic had a negative net margin of 2.29% and a positive return on equity of 8.21%. The business had revenue of $1.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.85 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.39 EPS. The businesss revenue was down 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Arconic will post 1.5 EPS for the current year.

Several analysts have commented on ARNC shares. Benchmark cut shares of Arconic from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Friday, May 5th. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Arconic in a research note on Tuesday. They set a hold rating for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on shares of Arconic from $23.00 to $21.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of Arconic from a neutral rating to a sell rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $23.00 to $21.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 28th. Finally, Wolfe Research cut shares of Arconic from an outperform rating to a peer perform rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have issued a hold rating to the companys stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $22.67.

About Arconic

(Get Rating)

Arconic Corporation manufactures and sells aluminum sheets, plates, extrusions, and architectural products in the United States, Canada, China, France, Germany, Hungary, Russia, the United Kingdom, and internationally. It operates through three segments: Rolled Products, Building and Construction Systems, and Extrusions.

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ARIAKE JAPAN Co., Ltd. (OTCMKTS:AKEJF  Get Rating) was the target of a significant decrease in short interest during the month of April. As of April 30th, there was short interest totalling 31,600 shares, a decrease of 8.9% from the April 15th total of 34,700 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 0 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently  days.

ARIAKE JAPAN Price Performance

AKEJF opened at 35.75 on Wednesday. The businesss fifty day simple moving average is 35.75 and its 200 day simple moving average is 36.00. ARIAKE JAPAN has a 52 week low of 34.97 and a 52 week high of 37.65.

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ARIAKE JAPAN Company Profile

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Further Reading

ARIAKE JAPAN Co, Ltd. engages in the manufacture, processing and sale of natural seasonings. Its business activities include production, processing, export, import, and sale of seasonings, agricultural and livestock products, marine products, and quasi drugs as well as the management of restaurants. The company was founded on June 2, 1966 and is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan.

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Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI  Get Rating) saw a significant growth in short interest in the month of April. As of April 30th, there was short interest totalling 9,660,000 shares, a growth of 10.5% from the April 15th total of 8,740,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 3,300,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.9 days. Approximately 4.3% of the companys shares are short sold.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Barclays dropped their price objective on Bath & Body Works from $44.00 to $37.00 in a research note on Tuesday, May 2nd. Piper Sandler downgraded Bath & Body Works from an overweight rating to a neutral rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $48.00 to $37.00 in a report on Thursday, April 20th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on Bath & Body Works from $55.00 to $47.00 in a report on Friday, February 24th. Cowen lifted their price target on Bath & Body Works from $45.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Thursday, February 16th. Finally, Credit Suisse Group lifted their price target on Bath & Body Works from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Friday, February 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $47.90.

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Insider Buying and Selling at Bath & Body Works

In other Bath & Body Works news, CFO Wendy C. Arlin sold 1,625 shares of Bath & Body Works stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.29, for a total value of $62,221.25. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 91,072 shares in the company, valued at $3,487,146.88. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.37% of the companys stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bath & Body Works

Bath & Body Works Stock Down 3.0 %

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of BBWI. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV grew its holdings in Bath & Body Works by 406.5% during the 1st quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 704 shares of the companys stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 565 shares during the last quarter. Boyd Watterson Asset Management LLC OH purchased a new position in shares of Bath & Body Works during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Money Concepts Capital Corp lifted its stake in shares of Bath & Body Works by 1,180.4% during the 4th quarter. Money Concepts Capital Corp now owns 653 shares of the companys stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 602 shares during the period. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC lifted its stake in shares of Bath & Body Works by 50.4% during the 4th quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 1,065 shares of the companys stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 357 shares during the period. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Bath & Body Works during the 1st quarter worth $31,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.34% of the companys stock.

Shares of BBWI traded down $1.02 on Tuesday, reaching $32.60. The stock had a trading volume of 3,026,472 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,171,267. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.46 billion, a PE ratio of 9.45, a PEG ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 1.70. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $35.33 and a 200 day moving average of $39.42. Bath & Body Works has a twelve month low of $25.75 and a twelve month high of $49.55.

Bath & Body Works (NYSE:BBWI  Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 23rd. The company reported $1.86 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $1.63 by $0.23. The business had revenue of $2.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $2.81 billion. Bath & Body Works had a negative return on equity of 31.34% and a net margin of 10.58%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Bath & Body Works will post 2.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bath & Body Works Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 16th. Investors of record on Friday, June 2nd will be issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.45%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 1st. Bath & Body Workss dividend payout ratio is currently 23.19%.

About Bath & Body Works

(Get Rating)

Bath & Body Works, Inc is a specialty retailers and home to Americas Favorite Fragrances, offering a breadth of exclusive fragrances for the body and home, including the selling collections for fine fragrance mist, body lotion and body cream, 3-wick candles, home fragrance diffusers and liquid hand soap.

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StockNews.com upgraded shares of Boeing (NYSE:BA  Get Rating) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report released on Saturday.

Several other equities analysts have also recently commented on BA. Credit Suisse Group upped their target price on shares of Boeing from $200.00 to $220.00 in a research note on Monday, April 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Boeing from $261.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 12th. Northcoast Research cut shares of Boeing from a buy rating to a neutral rating and set a $180.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, April 4th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on shares of Boeing from $225.00 to $220.00 in a report on Thursday, April 27th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. set a $225.00 price target on shares of Boeing in a report on Friday, February 24th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $221.60.

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Boeing Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of Boeing stock opened at $200.87 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $204.87 and a 200-day simple moving average of $197.44. Boeing has a 1-year low of $113.02 and a 1-year high of $221.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $120.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -29.03 and a beta of 1.43.

Insider Transactions at Boeing

Boeing ( NYSE:BA Get Rating ) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 26th. The aircraft producer reported ($1.27) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.98) by ($0.29). The company had revenue of $17.92 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $17.56 billion. Boeings revenue was up 28.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted ($2.75) EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Boeing will post -0.54 earnings per share for the current year.

In other news, EVP Howard E. Mckenzie sold 412 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.36, for a total value of $84,196.32. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 17,181 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $3,511,109.16. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.15% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Boeing

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Chilton Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Boeing during the 1st quarter worth about $134,000. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV grew its holdings in Boeing by 11.8% during the 1st quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 74,147 shares of the aircraft producers stock worth $15,751,000 after acquiring an additional 7,835 shares during the last quarter. Pacific Center for Financial Services bought a new stake in Boeing during the 1st quarter worth about $99,000. MidWestOne Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Boeing by 8.5% during the 1st quarter. MidWestOne Financial Group Inc. now owns 13,347 shares of the aircraft producers stock worth $2,835,000 after acquiring an additional 1,044 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Waverly Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Boeing by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC now owns 8,104 shares of the aircraft producers stock worth $1,721,000 after acquiring an additional 89 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 57.07% of the companys stock.

Boeing Company Profile

(Get Rating)

The Boeing Co is an aerospace company, which engages in the manufacture of commercial jetliners and defense, space, and security systems. It operates through the following segments: Commercial Airplanes (BCA), Defense, Space and Security (BDS), Global Services (BGS), and Boeing Capital (BCC). The Commercial Airplanes segment includes the development, production, and market of commercial jet aircraft and provides fleet support services, principally to the commercial airline industry worldwide.

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Element Fleet Management Corp. (TSE:EFN  Get Rating)  Stock analysts at Raymond James boosted their Q2 2023 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for shares of Element Fleet Management in a note issued to investors on Wednesday, May 10th. Raymond James analyst S. Boland now forecasts that the financial services provider will earn $0.31 per share for the quarter, up from their previous forecast of $0.29. The consensus estimate for Element Fleet Managements current full-year earnings is $1.35 per share. Raymond James also issued estimates for Element Fleet Managements Q3 2023 earnings at $0.32 EPS and FY2023 earnings at $1.26 EPS.

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Several other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on the company. National Bankshares boosted their price objective on Element Fleet Management from C$24.00 to C$28.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Wednesday, March 8th. TD Securities increased their price target on shares of Element Fleet Management from C$22.00 to C$23.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 7th. CIBC lifted their price objective on shares of Element Fleet Management from C$20.00 to C$21.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Wednesday, March 8th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Element Fleet Management from C$26.00 to C$27.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Tuesday, March 7th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the companys stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Buy and an average price target of C$23.38.

Element Fleet Management Stock Down 0.0 %

TSE:EFN opened at C$20.57 on Monday. Element Fleet Management has a 52 week low of C$12.82 and a 52 week high of C$21.15. The stocks fifty day moving average is C$18.05 and its two-hundred day moving average is C$18.57. The stock has a market capitalization of C$8.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a quick ratio of 5.70, a current ratio of 5.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 247.70.

Element Fleet Management (TSE:EFN  Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, March 6th. The financial services provider reported C$0.27 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of C$0.26 by C$0.01. The firm had revenue of C$292.33 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of C$267.00 million. Element Fleet Management had a net margin of 24.34% and a return on equity of 11.49%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Senior Officer James Halliday sold 27,300 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of C$18.10, for a total transaction of C$494,130.00. In other news, Senior Officer James Halliday sold 27,300 shares of the firms stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of C$18.10, for a total transaction of C$494,130.00. Also, Director Jay A. Forbes purchased 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 10th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of C$18.50 per share, with a total value of C$1,849,520.00. Company insiders own 0.21% of the companys stock.

Element Fleet Management Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 30th will be given a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.94%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 29th. Element Fleet Managements dividend payout ratio is presently 42.55%.

About Element Fleet Management

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Element Fleet Management Corp. operates as a fleet management company primarily in Canada, the United States, Mexico, Australia, and New Zealand. The company offers fleet management services comprising vehicle acquisition, financing, program management, and remarketing services to corporate, commercial, government, and public service vehicle fleets.

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BTG Pactual Global Asset Management Ltd lowered its holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA  Get Rating) by 13.6% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 1,721 shares of the credit services providers stock after selling 272 shares during the period. Mastercard accounts for 0.6% of BTG Pactual Global Asset Management Ltds portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest holding. BTG Pactual Global Asset Management Ltds holdings in Mastercard were worth $598,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Bornite Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Mastercard in the 1st quarter worth $21,442,000. United Bank increased its position in Mastercard by 34.5% during the first quarter. United Bank now owns 6,007 shares of the credit services providers stock valued at $2,147,000 after acquiring an additional 1,541 shares during the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its holdings in Mastercard by 30.1% in the first quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 272,358 shares of the credit services providers stock valued at $97,335,000 after acquiring an additional 63,040 shares during the period. First Western Trust Bank purchased a new position in Mastercard in the first quarter worth about $1,168,000. Finally, Bridgewater Associates LP bought a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the 1st quarter valued at about $12,926,000. 74.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 125,816 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $381.85, for a total value of $48,042,839.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 99,808,197 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $38,111,760,024.45. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, insider Hai Ling sold 8,220 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $356.31, for a total value of $2,928,868.20. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 26,496 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $9,440,789.76. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 125,816 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $381.85, for a total value of $48,042,839.60. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 99,808,197 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $38,111,760,024.45. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 550,299 shares of company stock worth $210,103,579. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the companys stock.

Mastercard Price Performance

NYSE:MA traded down $0.13 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $380.11. The stock had a trading volume of 658,928 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,689,783. The stock has a market capitalization of $360.29 billion, a PE ratio of 38.11, a PEG ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.11. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52 week low of $276.87 and a 52 week high of $390.00. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $366.09 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $358.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.84, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a current ratio of 1.20.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA  Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 27th. The credit services provider reported $2.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.71 by $0.09. Mastercard had a net margin of 42.33% and a return on equity of 169.12%. The company had revenue of $5.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $5.64 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.76 earnings per share. Mastercards quarterly revenue was up 11.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 12.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MA has been the topic of a number of research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $375.00 to $430.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Friday, January 27th. Barclays upped their price objective on Mastercard from $427.00 to $437.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Sunday, January 29th. Raymond James boosted their price target on Mastercard from $450.00 to $453.00 in a report on Friday, April 28th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Mastercard from $414.00 to $442.00 in a research note on Friday, April 28th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Mastercard from $392.00 to $404.00 in a report on Friday, April 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and twenty have given a buy rating to the companys stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $418.85.

About Mastercard

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Mastercard, Inc is a technology company, which engages in the payments industry that connects consumers, financial institutions, merchants, governments, and business. It offers payment solutions for the development and implementation of credit, debit, prepaid, commercial, and payment programs. The company was founded in November 1966 and is headquartered in Purchase, NY.

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BTG Pactual Global Asset Management Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of PagSeguro Digital Ltd. (NYSE:PAGS  Get Rating) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 212,600 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $1,858,000. PagSeguro Digital makes up about 1.9% of BTG Pactual Global Asset Management Ltds portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest position. BTG Pactual Global Asset Management Ltd owned about 0.06% of PagSeguro Digital at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of PAGS. Axiom Investors LLC DE bought a new position in shares of PagSeguro Digital during the third quarter valued at approximately $64,458,000. ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd purchased a new position in shares of PagSeguro Digital in the 4th quarter valued at $37,896,000. Nuveen Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of PagSeguro Digital by 41.3% in the 3rd quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 9,118,704 shares of the companys stock worth $120,640,000 after acquiring an additional 2,667,094 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its stake in shares of PagSeguro Digital by 15.1% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 20,291,708 shares of the companys stock worth $406,848,000 after purchasing an additional 2,666,516 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. raised its holdings in PagSeguro Digital by 51.8% in the third quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 6,124,676 shares of the companys stock worth $81,029,000 after purchasing an additional 2,089,309 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 52.50% of the companys stock.

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PagSeguro Digital Stock Performance

Shares of PAGS traded up $0.03 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $12.14. 561,047 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,451,536. The stocks 50-day moving average price is $9.12 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $9.60. PagSeguro Digital Ltd. has a 12-month low of $7.51 and a 12-month high of $19.49. The company has a market cap of $4.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.61.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PagSeguro Digital ( NYSE:PAGS Get Rating ) last released its earnings results on Thursday, March 2nd. The company reported $0.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $0.22 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $752.91 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $759.47 million. PagSeguro Digital had a net margin of 9.81% and a return on equity of 17.41%. On average, research analysts expect that PagSeguro Digital Ltd. will post 0.95 earnings per share for the current year.

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on PAGS shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of PagSeguro Digital from $12.00 to $10.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 4th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on PagSeguro Digital from $15.00 to $14.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 11th. Barclays started coverage on PagSeguro Digital in a research report on Thursday, May 11th. They set an overweight rating and a $16.00 target price on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of PagSeguro Digital from $9.50 to $10.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research note on Friday, March 3rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on shares of PagSeguro Digital from $9.00 to $8.00 and set a sell rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $12.77.

About PagSeguro Digital

(Get Rating)

PagSeguro Digital Ltd. is engaged in the provision of financial technology solutions focused on consumers, individual entrepreneurs, micro-merchants, small companies and medium-sized companies in Brazil. Its business model covers the following pillars: Multiple digital payment solutions; In-person payments via POS devices that sell to merchants; Free digital accounts; Issuer of prepaid cards to clients for spending or withdrawing account balances, and Operating as an acquirer.

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Buckley Wealth Management LLC reduced its position in AmerisourceBergen Co. (NYSE:ABC  Get Rating) by 6.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 6,385 shares of the companys stock after selling 450 shares during the quarter. Buckley Wealth Management LLCs holdings in AmerisourceBergen were worth $1,058,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Edmp Inc. grew its position in shares of AmerisourceBergen by 16,285.3% during the 4th quarter. Edmp Inc. now owns 2,295,746 shares of the companys stock worth $13,854,000 after buying an additional 2,281,735 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in AmerisourceBergen by 7.4% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,411,527 shares of the companys stock valued at $2,848,446,000 after acquiring an additional 1,269,147 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in AmerisourceBergen by 42.3% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,079,491 shares of the companys stock worth $321,717,000 after buying an additional 618,248 shares during the period. Boston Partners increased its position in AmerisourceBergen by 11.4% during the 3rd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 5,041,639 shares of the companys stock worth $684,631,000 after buying an additional 514,462 shares during the period. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its position in AmerisourceBergen by 266.6% during the 1st quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 425,810 shares of the companys stock worth $65,877,000 after buying an additional 309,646 shares during the period. 84.79% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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AmerisourceBergen Trading Down 0.1 %

ABC stock traded down $0.17 on Wednesday, reaching $174.43. The companys stock had a trading volume of 388,354 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,217,794. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $162.52 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $162.54. AmerisourceBergen Co. has a 12-month low of $135.14 and a 12-month high of $175.35. The firm has a market cap of $35.32 billion, a PE ratio of 22.44, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.13, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a current ratio of 0.89.

AmerisourceBergen Dividend Announcement

AmerisourceBergen ( NYSE:ABC Get Rating ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 2nd. The company reported $3.50 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.29 by $0.21. The business had revenue of $63.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $60.40 billion. AmerisourceBergen had a return on equity of 809.53% and a net margin of 0.65%. The companys revenue for the quarter was up 9.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.22 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that AmerisourceBergen Co. will post 11.89 EPS for the current year.

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.485 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 11th. This represents a $1.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.11%. AmerisourceBergens dividend payout ratio is currently 24.94%.

Insider Buying and Selling at AmerisourceBergen

In other news, major shareholder Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. sold 292,792 shares of AmerisourceBergen stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.77, for a total transaction of $50,000,089.84. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 33,366,388 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $5,697,978,078.76. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, major shareholder Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. sold 292,792 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.77, for a total value of $50,000,089.84. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 33,366,388 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $5,697,978,078.76. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Steven H. Collis sold 10,499 shares of AmerisourceBergen stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total value of $1,574,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 257,967 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,695,050. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 326,213 shares of company stock worth $55,412,200 in the last three months. 20.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently issued reports on ABC shares. UBS Group increased their target price on AmerisourceBergen from $184.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Tuesday, January 31st. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on AmerisourceBergen from $199.00 to $201.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Thursday, February 2nd. Barclays raised their price objective on AmerisourceBergen from $182.00 to $189.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 3rd. StockNews.com assumed coverage on AmerisourceBergen in a research note on Thursday, March 16th. They issued a strong-buy rating on the stock. Finally, Evercore ISI reissued an outperform rating and set a $185.00 price target on shares of AmerisourceBergen in a research note on Tuesday, January 31st. Two investment 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $181.62.

AmerisourceBergen Company Profile

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AmerisourceBergen Corp. engages in the provision of pharmaceutical products and business solutions that improve access to care. It operates through the Pharmaceutical Distribution Services and Other segments. The Pharmaceutical Distribution Services segment distributes an offering of brand-name, specialty brand-name and generic pharmaceuticals, over-the-counter healthcare products, home healthcare supplies and equipment, and related services to healthcare providers, including acute care hospitals and health systems, independent and chain retail pharmacies, mail order pharmacies, medical clinics, and long-term care and alternate site pharmacies.

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Crypto should be regulated as gambling, UK lawmakers say

By Huw Jones

LONDON (Reuters) -Bitcoin, ether and other cryptocurrencies should be regulated as gambling given the significant risks they pose to consumers, a panel of UK lawmakers said in a report on Wednesday.

Britain, which wants to become a global hub for crypto and its underlying blockchain technology, is planning its first rules for cryptoassets, which currently only comply with anti-money laundering safeguards.

Bitcoin and ether account for two-thirds of all cryptoassets and are not backed by any currency or asset, leading to volatility in prices and the potential for all money invested in them to be wiped out, the report from parliament's treasury committee said.

Regulating retail trading and investment in unbacked cryptocurrencies could create a 'halo' effect that leads consumers to think the activity is safer than it is, or protected when it is not, it said.

"We therefore strongly recommend that the Government regulates retail trading and investment activity in unbacked cryptoassets as gambling rather than as a financial service, consistent with its stated principle of same risk, same regulatory outcome," the report said.

Industry body CryptoUK said it strongly disagreed with equating the crypto sector with gambling.

"We are both concerned and disappointed by these claims which are unhelpful, false, fundamentally flawed and unsubstantiated. The statement fails to reflect the true nature, purpose and potential of the crypto industry," CryptoUK said in a statement.

The Financial Conduct Authority has repeatedly warned consumers they could lose all of their money invested in cryptocurrencies.

Cryptoassets globally have a total market capitalisation of about $1.2 trillion, a tiny part of the financial system, but the collapse of crypto firm FTX exchange last year introduced greater urgency into regulating the sector.

"The events of 2022 have highlighted the risks posed to consumers by the cryptoasset industry, large parts of which remain a wild west," said Harriett Baldwin, chair of the treasury committee.

Around 10% of UK adults hold or have held cryptoassets, according to official figures.

The European Union approved the world's first set of comprehensive rules for crypto markets on Tuesday. International regulators are due to propose global norms shortly.

The underlying technology used by cryptoassets has the potential to improve efficiency in payments, the report said.

(Reporting by Huw JonesEditing by Christina Fincher)
Buzzi Unicem S.p.A. (OTCMKTS:BZZUF  Get Rating) saw a significant decline in short interest in the month of April. As of April 30th, there was short interest totalling 847,500 shares, a decline of 8.4% from the April 15th total of 925,500 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 0 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently  days.

Buzzi Unicem Price Performance

Shares of BZZUF stock remained flat at $24.55 during midday trading on Wednesday. The stocks fifty day moving average price is $23.71 and its 200 day moving average price is $20.61. Buzzi Unicem has a 12 month low of $13.81 and a 12 month high of $25.10.

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Buzzi Unicem Company Profile

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Buzzi Unicem SpA engages in the production and sale of cement, ready-mix concrete and natural aggregates. The firms geographical segment Central Europe consists of Germany, Luxembourg and the Netherlands; Eastern Europe covers Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Ukraine and Russia. The company was founded in September 1999 and is headquartered in Casale Monferrato, Italy.

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Capital Planning Advisors LLC decreased its position in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 21.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 11,028 shares of the financial services providers stock after selling 3,092 shares during the period. Capital Planning Advisors LLCs holdings in Bank of America were worth $365,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in shares of Bank of America by 60.0% in the 3rd quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 103,645,596 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $3,130,177,000 after purchasing an additional 38,870,780 shares in the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC boosted its stake in Bank of America by 835.9% during the 4th quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 28,077,300 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $929,920,000 after acquiring an additional 25,077,300 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Bank of America by 1,356.6% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 20,390,322 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $615,788,000 after acquiring an additional 18,990,473 shares in the last quarter. Snider Financial Group increased its position in shares of Bank of America by 9,477.3% in the 1st quarter. Snider Financial Group now owns 14,448,357 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $5,956,000 after purchasing an additional 14,297,496 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its stake in shares of Bank of America by 3,474.6% in the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 11,658,881 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $480,579,000 after purchasing an additional 11,332,721 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.34% of the companys stock.

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Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on Bank of America from $43.00 to $41.00 and set a market perform rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 19th. Oppenheimer upped their price target on Bank of America from $44.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 19th. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Bank of America in a report on Thursday, March 16th. They set a hold rating on the stock. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on shares of Bank of America from $36.00 to $35.00 in a report on Friday, May 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $38.00 to $34.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $36.77.

Bank of America Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:BAC traded up $0.70 on Wednesday, hitting $28.06. The companys stock had a trading volume of 16,449,289 shares, compared to its average volume of 53,985,488. The company has a market capitalization of $223.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.82. Bank of America Co. has a 12 month low of $26.32 and a 12 month high of $38.60. The stocks 50-day moving average is $28.54 and its two-hundred day moving average is $32.68.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC  Get Rating) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 18th. The financial services provider reported $0.94 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.83 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $26.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $25.28 billion. Bank of America had a net margin of 21.85% and a return on equity of 11.72%. Bank of Americas quarterly revenue was up 13.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.80 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Bank of America Co. will post 3.41 EPS for the current year.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 1st. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.14%. Bank of Americas dividend payout ratio is currently 26.43%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Matthew M. Koder sold 105,054 shares of Bank of America 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 transaction, the insider now owns 319,803 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $10,959,648.81. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.27% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Bank of America Profile

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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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The Chiba Bank, Ltd. (OTCMKTS:CHBAY  Get Rating)s share price hit a new 52-week low during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $37.38 and last traded at $37.38, with a volume of 0 shares. The stock had previously closed at $37.38.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Daiwa Capital Markets cut Chiba Bank from an outperform rating to a neutral rating in a report on Wednesday, April 5th.

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Chiba Bank Price Performance

The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $37.38 and a 200 day moving average price of $33.26.

Chiba Bank Company Profile

The Chiba Bank, Ltd. engages in the business of banking services. The company offers general banking services including deposits, loans, domestic and foreign exchange transactions; and financial services such as leasing, securities brokerage, credit cards and others. It also develops software; and provides business management and staffing services.

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Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB  Get Rating) by 6.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,225 shares of the companys stock after buying an additional 201 shares during the quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLCs holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $420,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Fairfield Bush & CO. bought a new position in Kimberly-Clark in the first quarter worth approximately $96,000. Sei Investments Co. lifted its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 22.2% in the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 190,867 shares of the companys stock valued at $23,483,000 after buying an additional 34,646 shares in the last quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 2.8% during the first quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 292,834 shares of the companys stock valued at $36,066,000 after buying an additional 7,878 shares during the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC increased its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 23.9% during the first quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 4,102 shares of the companys stock worth $505,000 after acquiring an additional 791 shares in the last quarter. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 28.7% in the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 20,180 shares of the companys stock worth $2,485,000 after acquiring an additional 4,503 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.16% of the companys stock.

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Kimberly-Clark Stock Performance

Shares of KMB opened at $144.66 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.23, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.51. The firm has a market cap of $48.81 billion, a PE ratio of 24.77, a PEG ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 0.40. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 1 year low of $108.74 and a 1 year high of $147.87. The stocks fifty day moving average price is $136.25 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $133.40.

Kimberly-Clark Dividend Announcement

Kimberly-Clark ( NYSE:KMB Get Rating ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 25th. The company reported $1.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $1.32 by $0.35. The business had revenue of $5.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $5.06 billion. Kimberly-Clark had a return on equity of 279.42% and a net margin of 9.75%. The firms quarterly revenue was up 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.35 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 6.19 EPS for the current year.

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 9th will be given a $1.18 dividend. This represents a $4.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 8th. Kimberly-Clarks dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 80.82%.

Insider Activity at Kimberly-Clark

In other Kimberly-Clark news, CEO Michael D. Hsu sold 46,508 shares of the firms stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.28, for a total value of $6,710,174.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 111,668 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,111,459.04. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Michael D. Hsu sold 46,508 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.28, for a total transaction of $6,710,174.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 111,668 shares of the companys stock, valued at $16,111,459.04. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Tristram Wilkinson sold 3,434 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.26, for a total transaction of $495,388.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 17,229 shares of the companys stock, valued at $2,485,455.54. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 59,416 shares of company stock worth $8,580,971. 0.67% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $123.00 to $133.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 26th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $134.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Thursday, April 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $124.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an underweight rating in a research report on Thursday, January 26th. Berenberg Bank upped their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $132.00 to $144.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 26th. Finally, Citigroup began coverage on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research report on Thursday, February 16th. They set a sell rating and a $120.00 target price on the stock. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the companys stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Kimberly-Clark has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $134.45.

About Kimberly-Clark

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Kimberly-Clark Corp. engages in the manufacture and marketing of products made from natural or synthetic fibers. It operates through the following segments: Personal Care, Consumer Tissue, and K-C Professional. The Personal Care segment offers disposable diapers, training and youth pants, swim pants, baby wipes, feminine and incontinence care products, and other related products.

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Malaga Financial (OTCMKTS:MLGF  Get Rating) and Security Federal (OTCMKTS:SFDL  Get Rating) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, risk, analyst recommendations, earnings, valuation, profitability and institutional ownership.

Dividends

Malaga Financial pays an annual dividend of $1.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.5%. Security Federal pays an annual dividend of $0.52 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.3%. Malaga Financial pays out 38.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Security Federal pays out 14.9% 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.

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Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Malaga Financial and Security Federals gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

Gross Revenue Price/Sales Ratio Net Income Earnings Per Share Price/Earnings Ratio Malaga Financial N/A N/A $21.35 million $2.63 8.37 Security Federal $52.19 million 1.39 $10.23 million $3.49 6.39

Profitability

Malaga Financial has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Security Federal. Security Federal is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Malaga Financial, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

This table compares Malaga Financial and Security Federals net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

Net Margins Return on Equity Return on Assets Malaga Financial N/A N/A N/A Security Federal 19.81% 14.50% 0.82%

Risk & Volatility

Malaga Financial has a beta of 0.52, suggesting that its stock price is 48% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Security Federal has a beta of 0.49, suggesting that its stock price is 51% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and recommmendations for Malaga Financial and Security Federal, as reported by MarketBeat.

Sell Ratings Hold Ratings Buy Ratings Strong Buy Ratings Rating Score Malaga Financial 0 0 0 0 N/A Security Federal 0 0 0 0 N/A

Insider and Institutional Ownership

1.1% of Malaga Financial shares are held by institutional investors. 35.7% of Security Federal shares are held by company 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.

Summary

Security Federal beats Malaga Financial on 7 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Malaga Financial

(Get Rating)

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. The company was founded on March 14, 1985 and is headquartered in Palos Verdes Estates, CA.

About Security Federal

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Security Federal Corp. is a bank holding company for Security Federal Bank, which engages in accepting deposits from the general public and originating commercial real estate loans, commercial business loans, consumer loans, and mortgage loans to buy or refinance one-to-four family residential real estate. Its products and services include personal savings and loans, online and mobile banking, investment services, home, auto, and business insurance, trust services, credit cards, business loans, and business credit cards. The company was founded in July 1987 and is headquartered in Aiken, SC.

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FineMark National Bank & Trust lowered its position in shares of Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV  Get Rating) by 11.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,549 shares of the technology companys stock after selling 465 shares during the quarter. FineMark National Bank & Trusts holdings in Fortive were worth $228,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Fortive in the third quarter worth $289,000. PGGM Investments bought a new position in Fortive in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $4,433,000. General Partner Inc. purchased a new position in Fortive in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Phoenix Wealth Advisors bought a new stake in shares of Fortive during the 4th quarter valued at $225,000. Finally, Middleton & Co. Inc. MA raised its stake in shares of Fortive by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Middleton & Co. Inc. MA now owns 128,963 shares of the technology companys stock valued at $8,286,000 after purchasing an additional 1,116 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.84% of the companys stock.

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Fortive Price Performance

Shares of Fortive stock opened at $64.51 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.72. Fortive Co. has a one year low of $52.47 and a one year high of $69.78. The businesss 50 day simple moving average is $65.40 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $66.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.14.

Fortive Announces Dividend

Fortive ( NYSE:FTV Get Rating ) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 26th. The technology company reported $0.75 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $0.73 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.42 billion. Fortive had a net margin of 12.92% and a return on equity of 11.92%. Fortives revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.70 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Fortive Co. will post 3.35 EPS for the current year.

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 26th will be issued a $0.07 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 25th. This represents a $0.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.43%. Fortives dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.08%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. StockNews.com started coverage on Fortive in a report on Thursday, March 16th. They set a buy rating for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Fortive from $77.00 to $78.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 27th. Citigroup upped their target price on Fortive from $77.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Thursday, February 2nd. Vertical Research upgraded shares of Fortive from a hold rating to a buy rating and set a $74.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 27th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Fortive from $70.00 to $68.00 and set an equal weight rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 13th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $73.00.

Insider Transactions at Fortive

In other Fortive news, SVP Stacey A. Walker sold 3,249 shares of the firms stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.75, for a total value of $220,119.75. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 32,721 shares in the company, valued at $2,216,847.75. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, SVP Stacey A. Walker sold 2,063 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.67, for a total value of $141,666.21. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 40,150 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,757,100.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Stacey A. Walker sold 3,249 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.75, for a total transaction of $220,119.75. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 32,721 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,216,847.75. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 6,648 shares of company stock valued at $450,483. Company insiders own 0.79% of the companys stock.

About Fortive

(Get Rating)

Fortive Corp. engages in the design, development, manufacturing, and marketing of professional and engineered products, software, and services for a variety of end markets. It operates through the following segments: Intelligent Operating Solutions, Precision Technologies, and Advanced Healthcare Solutions.

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Want to see what other hedge funds are holding FTV? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Fortive Co. (NYSE:FTV  Get Rating).

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GQG Partners Inc. (ASX:GQG  Get Rating) announced a interim dividend on Wednesday, May 17th, MarketIndexAU reports. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 27th will be given a dividend of 0.021 per share on Tuesday, June 27th. This represents a dividend yield of 1.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 18th. This is an increase from GQG Partnerss previous interim dividend of $0.02.

GQG Partners Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 4.06, a current ratio of 5.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.42.

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GQG Partners Company Profile

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GQG Partners Inc operates as a boutique asset management company. It manages equity portfolios for investors, including pension funds, sovereign funds, wealth management firms, and other financial institutions. The company was founded in 2016 and is headquartered in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. GQG Partners Inc is a subsidiary of QVFT LLC.

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Helix Energy Solutions Group, Inc. (NYSE:HLX  Get Rating) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in the month of April. As of April 30th, there was short interest totalling 9,040,000 shares, a growth of 7.1% from the April 15th total of 8,440,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 2,050,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.4 days. Approximately 6.4% of the companys stock are short sold.

Helix Energy Solutions Group Trading Down 1.6 %

Shares of Helix Energy Solutions Group stock opened at $6.60 on Wednesday. Helix Energy Solutions Group has a 1 year low of $2.47 and a 1 year high of $9.16. The firms 50-day moving average is $7.43 and its 200 day moving average is $7.31. The company has a current ratio of 1.56, a quick ratio of 1.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

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Helix Energy Solutions Group (NYSE:HLX  Get Rating) last issued its earnings results on Monday, February 20th. The oil and gas company reported $0.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Helix Energy Solutions Group had a negative net margin of 5.23% and a negative return on equity of 2.25%. The firm had revenue of $287.82 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $244.70 million. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Helix Energy Solutions Group will post 0.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Helix Energy Solutions Group declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Monday, February 20th that allows the company to repurchase $200.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the oil and gas company to buy up to 16.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the companys board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Separately, StockNews.com raised shares of Helix Energy Solutions Group from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note on Saturday, April 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Helix Energy Solutions Group has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $7.80.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of HLX. Belpointe Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Helix Energy Solutions Group in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd grew its stake in shares of Helix Energy Solutions Group by 388.4% in the third quarter. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd now owns 7,423 shares of the oil and gas companys stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 5,903 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Helix Energy Solutions Group during the first quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Quarry LP lifted its position in Helix Energy Solutions Group by 576.3% during the first quarter. Quarry LP now owns 3,760 shares of the oil and gas companys stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 3,204 shares during the period. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its holdings in Helix Energy Solutions Group by 91.4% in the first quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 6,907 shares of the oil and gas companys stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 3,298 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.78% of the companys stock.

About Helix Energy Solutions Group

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Helix Energy Solutions Group, Inc is an international offshore energy company. It focuses on subsea construction, maintenance and salvage services to the offshore natural gas and oil industry. The firm also provides specialty services to the offshore energy industry, with a focus on well intervention and robotics operations.

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Hess (NYSE:HES  Get Rating) had its price objective upped by Morgan Stanley from $156.00 to $158.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday, The Fly reports. Morgan Stanleys price target suggests a potential upside of 21.44% from the companys current price.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the stock. 92 Resources restated a maintains rating on shares of Hess in a research report on Friday, April 28th. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Hess from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Friday, January 27th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Hess from $166.00 to $167.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Thursday, April 20th. UBS Group began coverage on shares of Hess in a research report on Wednesday, April 19th. They set a buy rating and a $184.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Hess from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Thursday, January 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the companys stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $169.06.

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Hess Stock Performance

NYSE HES opened at $130.11 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $39.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.64 and a beta of 1.57. The companys 50-day simple moving average is $135.47 and its 200 day simple moving average is $140.17. Hess has a twelve month low of $90.34 and a twelve month high of $160.52. The company has a quick ratio of 1.55, a current ratio of 1.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98.

Insider Transactions at Hess

Hess ( NYSE:HES Get Rating ) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 26th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $1.03 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $2.45 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $2.37 billion. Hess had a net margin of 18.47% and a return on equity of 25.85%. The firms revenue for the quarter was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.30 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Hess will post 6.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

In other news, COO Gregory P. Hill sold 7,500 shares of the firms stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $132.40, for a total transaction of $993,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 116,346 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,404,210.40. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Hess news, COO Gregory P. Hill sold 7,500 shares of the firms stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $132.40, for a total value of $993,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 116,346 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $15,404,210.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Timothy B. Goodell sold 3,527 shares of Hess stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.41, for a total transaction of $484,645.07. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 138,338 shares in the company, valued at $19,009,024.58. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 53,721 shares of company stock worth $7,391,691. 9.91% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Hess

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of HES. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in shares of Hess by 51.5% in the 3rd quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 7,493,096 shares of the oil and gas producers stock worth $816,673,000 after acquiring an additional 2,546,257 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in shares of Hess by 11.4% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 7,842,807 shares of the oil and gas producers stock worth $854,786,000 after purchasing an additional 801,336 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in Hess by 13.6% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 5,690,159 shares of the oil and gas producers stock valued at $753,036,000 after acquiring an additional 682,052 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Hess by 2.2% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 30,928,530 shares of the oil and gas producers stock valued at $3,310,590,000 after acquiring an additional 667,979 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PointState Capital LP purchased a new stake in shares of Hess during the first quarter valued at approximately $65,437,000. Institutional investors own 86.06% of the companys stock.

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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StockNews.com upgraded shares of Ingersoll Rand (NYSE:IR  Get Rating) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report released on Saturday.

Several other brokerages also recently issued reports on IR. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Ingersoll Rand from $57.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 22nd. Barclays upped their price objective on Ingersoll Rand from $64.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Friday, May 5th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Ingersoll Rand from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a research report on Monday, April 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on Ingersoll Rand from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a report on Wednesday, April 12th. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded Ingersoll Rand from an in-line rating to an outperform rating and set a $71.00 target price for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 9th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $60.36.

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Ingersoll Rand Stock Performance

Shares of IR stock opened at $58.53 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a current ratio of 2.16. The company has a market capitalization of $23.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.13 and a beta of 1.42. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $56.22 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $55.34. Ingersoll Rand has a fifty-two week low of $39.28 and a fifty-two week high of $60.39.

Ingersoll Rand Dividend Announcement

Ingersoll Rand ( NYSE:IR Get Rating ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 21st. The industrial products company reported $0.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $0.59 by $0.13. Ingersoll Rand had a return on equity of 10.69% and a net margin of 10.66%. The business had revenue of $1.62 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.54 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.64 earnings per share. The firms quarterly revenue was up 14.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Ingersoll Rand will post 2.39 earnings per share for the current year.

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 22nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 24th will be paid a $0.02 dividend. This represents a $0.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.14%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 23rd. Ingersoll Rands payout ratio is currently 4.94%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Vicente Reynal sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.50, for a total value of $1,437,500.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 189,345 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $10,887,337.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.75% of the companys stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ingersoll Rand

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Quintet Private Bank Europe S.A. purchased a new position in Ingersoll Rand during the 1st quarter worth approximately $26,000. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. boosted its position in shares of Ingersoll Rand by 81.3% during the third quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 638 shares of the industrial products companys stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 286 shares in the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust raised its holdings in shares of Ingersoll Rand by 87.0% during the third quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 705 shares of the industrial products companys stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 328 shares during the period. Guardian Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Ingersoll Rand in the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Compass Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ingersoll Rand during the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Institutional investors own 99.73% of the companys stock.

About Ingersoll Rand

(Get Rating)

Ingersoll Rand, Inc provides a broad range of mission critical air, fluid, energy, specialty vehicle and medical technologies, providing services and solutions to increase industrial productivity and efficiency. It operates through the following segments: Industrial Technologies and Services, Precision and Science Technologies, High Pressure Solutions, and Specialty Vehicle Technologies.

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(Bloomberg) -- President Joe Bidens trip to Asia, intended to assure fretful allies that the US remains a reliable partner in the face of Chinas assertiveness, is doing just the opposite.

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What was billed as a three-nation tour to highlight the US commitment to Asia looks much-diminished after the White House said Biden will scrap stops in Papua New Guinea and Australia to focus on debt-limit talks with Republicans. Hes still going to a Group of 7 meeting in Japan where allies will confront what they call Chinas economic pressure on less powerful countries.

The prospect that the US may default on its debt, coupled with Bidens decision to return home earlier than planned, seem certain to undermine his message of strength and will draw inevitable contrasts to the image of steadfast economic might projected by Chinas President Xi Jinping.

Its a crucial moment: G-7 leaders gathering in Hiroshima want to send a message to China with their initiative combating economic coercion. The impetus has come from Biden, who urged partners to take a stronger stance against Beijing.

These leaders are thinking about the risk to their economy if the US cant get this done, Josh Lipsky, a former International Monetary Fund and State Department official whos now at the Atlantic Council, said of the debt-ceiling talks. That puts the president of the US in a very difficult position of trying to unify the G-7 while theres this potential looming situation that could be catastrophic for the global economy.

But Biden downplayed the notion that the truncating of his travels would strengthen China in the region, saying that he will still meet with the Australian, Japanese and Indian leaders while in Hiroshima.

No, because were still meeting, we still have four good allies, he said shortly before departing the White House on Wednesday.

White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan characterized worries that the trip could erode US standing as a convenient media narrative that does not reflect reality, adding that the administration was working hard to shore up relationships with Australia and Pacific island nations. Biden has invited Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese for a rare state visit to Washington and is working to schedule a meeting with Pacific island leaders this year, Sullivan said.

The work that we need to do bilaterally with Australia through the Quad and with the Pacific Islands is work that can be done at a later day, whereas the final stretch of negotiations over the debt limit or over the budget cannot be done at a later date, Sullivan said. The Quad is an alliance of the US, Australia, Japan and India.

Past presidents have scrapped overseas trips to deal with crises back home, but rarely has the partisan rancor felt so extreme or risked tanking the global economy. And no other US leader made the contest with China  not to mention the idea that Americas Back after four years of President Donald Trump  so central to to their approach to the rest of the world.

The prospect of a Trump rematch next year and Bidens flailing poll numbers only add to doubts about his ability to persuade nations in the region to turn away from Beijing. But the White House argued that his previous engagements with regional leaders helped to blunt the impact of his cancellation.

I would just argue that all of the gardening, all of the work of the last two and a half years has led us to a moment where we have the capacity to make these adjustments without it coming at a cost to our credibility, Sullivan said.

Bidens travel to Japan underscored that the White House thought the downsides of staying home from that meeting, at least, were too great. One foreign diplomat, who asked not to be identified discussing private deliberations, said skipping the G-7 would have undermined a sense of unity toward China.

Biden was set to meet Papua New Guineas prime minister, James Marape, in the first-ever visit by a US president. Xi was there in 2018 for a summit that former President Trump decided to skip. The Chinese leader also met Marape in Bangkok last year.

Read More: US, EU to Boost Security Tools as G-7 Eyes Economic Coercion

The US had wanted to use Bidens trip to Australia to demonstrate the strength of its deepening alliance after the US and the UK announced a deal that will send nuclear-powered submarine technology to the ally. Australia had said earlier Tuesday that Biden had planned to address Australias parliament.

Its tough to compete with China in the Pacific when youre busy sinking your own boat, former Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Evan Feigenbaum said in a tweet. And how do we think we look to the rest of the world?

A statement from the White House said Biden spoke with Albanese and offered him a state visit at a time to be agreed as consolation.

Marape got no such offer, an omission that will grate for Pacific island nations that have complained of US neglect. On Wednesday, Sullivan said he expected there to be a conversation at some point between Biden and the Papua New Guinea leader, and described the US presidents trip as postponed rather than canceled.

The hope is that well get the president there at some point, Sullivan said.

One European diplomat said Washington dysfunction now appeared to be the norm, citing repeated disputes over the debt limit in the past decade-plus and previous government shutdowns. Others have sought to be far more diplomatic, especially in their public remarks.

I hope everyone is mature in this situation and avoids further risks for the global economic development, German Finance Minister Christian Lindner told CNBC last week.

The European diplomat said theres some frustration with the USs approach to China, with some allies feeling Washington lacks a clear strategy to execute its goals.

Bonnie Glaser, a managing director at the German Marshall Fund, said any agreement coming out of the G-7 meeting would be significant but said its too early to judge how successful it might be.

Even if theyre all on the same page in terms of the need to take up the issue among the seven countries, it still doesnt tell us what actions theyre willing to take, she said.

--With assistance from Courtney McBride, Iain Marlow, Jenny Leonard and Justin Sink.

(Updates with Sullivan remarks starting in eighth paragraph)

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Global Business Travel Group, Inc. (NYSE:GBTG  Get Rating) insider Eric J. Bock acquired 2,250 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 15th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $6.25 per share, for a total transaction of $14,062.50. Following the acquisition, the insider now owns 2,028,107 shares in the company, valued at $12,675,668.75. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink.

Global Business Travel Group Stock Performance

GBTG traded up $0.08 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $6.33. 47,374 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 79,975. Global Business Travel Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $4.26 and a 1 year high of $9.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.64 and a quick ratio of 1.64. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $6.33 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $6.29.

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Global Business Travel Group (NYSE:GBTG  Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 9th. The company reported ($0.13) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.14) by $0.01. Global Business Travel Group had a negative net margin of 1.30% and a negative return on equity of 2.09%. The business had revenue of $527.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $505.15 million. Equities analysts forecast that Global Business Travel Group, Inc. will post -0.18 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Institutional Trading of Global Business Travel Group

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on GBTG shares. Citigroup raised their price objective on Global Business Travel Group from $6.50 to $7.50 in a research report on Sunday, March 12th. Credit Suisse Group reiterated an outperform rating and issued a $9.00 target price on shares of Global Business Travel Group in a report on Friday, March 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Global Business Travel Group from $9.00 to $8.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the companys stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $8.68.

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. grew its position in shares of Global Business Travel Group by 8.2% during the 1st quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 21,623 shares of the companys stock valued at $143,000 after purchasing an additional 1,630 shares in the last quarter. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in Global Business Travel Group during the 1st quarter valued at $6,173,000. Apollo Management Holdings L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Global Business Travel Group in the first quarter valued at about $170,437,000. Jane Street Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Global Business Travel Group by 90.5% during the first quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 28,530 shares of the companys stock valued at $189,000 after acquiring an additional 13,552 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Global Business Travel Group by 54.8% during the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 67,319 shares of the companys stock worth $446,000 after purchasing an additional 23,819 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 15.91% of the companys stock.

Global Business Travel Group Company Profile

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Global Business Travel Group, Inc provides business-to-business (B2B) travel platform in the United States of America and internationally. The company's platform offers a suite of technology-enabled solutions to business travelers and clients; travel content suppliers including airlines, hotels, ground transportation, and aggregators; and third-party travel agencies.

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IntegraFin Holdings plc (LON:IHP  Get Rating)s share price fell 0.6% on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as GBX 277.80 ($3.48) and last traded at GBX 278.60 ($3.49). 205,026 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 48% from the average session volume of 397,448 shares. The stock had previously closed at GBX 280.20 ($3.51).

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on IHP. Jefferies Financial Group restated a hold rating and set a GBX 330 ($4.13) target price on shares of IntegraFin in a report on Tuesday, February 21st. Shore Capital restated a buy rating on shares of IntegraFin in a report on Tuesday, April 18th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of GBX 326.25 ($4.09).

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IntegraFin Trading Down 0.6 %

The stock has a market cap of 923.06 million, a PE ratio of 2,143.08 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 0.01 and a current ratio of 6.46. The companys 50-day moving average price is GBX 269.67 and its 200 day moving average price is GBX 288.16.

About IntegraFin

IntegraFin Holdings plc, together with its subsidiaries, provides an investment platform for UK financial advisers and their clients. The company operates Transact platform that delivers an infrastructure, which enables advisers to implement financial plans, as well as provides real-time day-to-day and technical support services, as well as enables advisers to simplify management of the complex investment needs of clients.

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BSN CAPITAL PARTNERS Ltd lessened its holdings in shares of iShares China Large-Cap ETF (NYSEARCA:FXI  Get Rating) by 82.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,450,107 shares of the exchange traded funds stock after selling 7,049,893 shares during the quarter. iShares China Large-Cap ETF comprises about 2.9% of BSN CAPITAL PARTNERS Ltds holdings, making the stock its 11th biggest holding. BSN CAPITAL PARTNERS Ltd owned about 0.75% of iShares China Large-Cap ETF worth $40,545,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Private Advisor Group LLC raised its position in shares of iShares China Large-Cap ETF by 11.1% during the 1st quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 6,298 shares of the exchange traded funds stock valued at $201,000 after acquiring an additional 627 shares in the last quarter. Gould Asset Management LLC CA grew its stake in iShares China Large-Cap ETF by 9.0% during the 3rd quarter. Gould Asset Management LLC CA now owns 8,074 shares of the exchange traded funds stock worth $209,000 after buying an additional 665 shares during the last quarter. Atom Investors LP grew its stake in iShares China Large-Cap ETF by 5.1% during the 3rd quarter. Atom Investors LP now owns 17,335 shares of the exchange traded funds stock worth $448,000 after buying an additional 844 shares during the last quarter. Oxler Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in iShares China Large-Cap ETF during the 3rd quarter worth $96,000. Finally, Spire Wealth Management bought a new position in iShares China Large-Cap ETF during the 4th quarter worth $34,000.

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iShares China Large-Cap ETF Price Performance

Shares of iShares China Large-Cap ETF stock traded down $0.40 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $28.34. The stock had a trading volume of 13,224,615 shares, compared to its average volume of 33,230,910. The business has a fifty day moving average of $28.49 and a two-hundred day moving average of $28.61. The firm has a market cap of $5.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.27 and a beta of 0.44. iShares China Large-Cap ETF has a fifty-two week low of $20.87 and a fifty-two week high of $34.83.

iShares China Large-Cap ETF Profile

iShares China Large-Cap ETF (the Fund) is an exchange-traded fund. The Fund seeks investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield performance, before fees and expenses, of the FTSE China 25 Index (the Underlying Index). The Funds portfolio of sectors include Financials, Telecommunication, Oil & gas, Technology and Consumer goods.

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Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. increased its position in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A  Get Rating) by 86.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 373,424 shares of the medical research companys stock after buying an additional 173,613 shares during the period. Agilent Technologies accounts for approximately 0.8% of Jupiter Asset Management Ltd.s holdings, making the stock its 21st biggest position. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. owned about 0.13% of Agilent Technologies worth $55,875,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Toronto Dominion Bank raised its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 16.9% in the 4th quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 152,815 shares of the medical research companys stock valued at $22,855,000 after buying an additional 22,043 shares in the last quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky bought a new position in shares of Agilent Technologies in the 3rd quarter valued at about $3,401,000. Calton & Associates Inc. bought a new position in shares of Agilent Technologies in the 4th quarter valued at about $538,000. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 7.9% in the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 23,232 shares of the medical research companys stock valued at $3,477,000 after purchasing an additional 1,699 shares during the last quarter. Finally, NorthRock Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Agilent Technologies in the 3rd quarter valued at about $246,000.

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Analyst Ratings Changes

A has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Credit Suisse Group raised their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $165.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Wednesday, March 1st. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Agilent Technologies from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, March 29th. Barclays initiated coverage on shares of Agilent Technologies in a report on Thursday, May 11th. They issued an equal weight rating and a $140.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $170.00 to $174.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the companys stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $161.64.

Agilent Technologies Price Performance

A traded up $1.00 on Wednesday, hitting $127.29. 689,079 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,427,810. The firm has a market capitalization of $37.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.51, a PEG ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 2.11 and a quick ratio of 1.53. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 12 month low of $112.52 and a 12 month high of $160.26. The business has a 50-day moving average of $135.07 and a two-hundred day moving average of $144.56.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A  Get Rating) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 28th. The medical research company reported $1.37 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $1.31 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $1.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $1.70 billion. Agilent Technologies had a net margin of 19.09% and a return on equity of 30.35%. The businesss revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.21 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Agilent Technologies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 26th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 4th were given a dividend of $0.225 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 3rd. This represents a $0.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.71%. Agilent Technologiess dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.32%.

About Agilent Technologies

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Agilent Technologies, Inc engages in the provision of application focused solutions for life sciences, diagnostics, and applied chemical markets. It operates through the following segments: Life Sciences and Applied Markets, Diagnostics and Genomics, and Agilent CrossLab. The Life Sciences and Applied Markets segment offers application-focused solutions that include instruments and software that identify, quantify, and analyze the physical and biological properties of substances and products, as well as the clinical and life sciences research areas to interrogate samples at the molecular and cellular level.

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KWB Wealth boosted its position in shares of Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU  Get Rating) by 39.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,280 shares of the financial services providers stock after buying an additional 1,487 shares during the quarter. KWB Wealths holdings in Prudential Financial were worth $525,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Prudential Financial by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 31,654,749 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $2,715,345,000 after acquiring an additional 168,175 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Prudential Financial by 6.0% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,353,887 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $750,839,000 after buying an additional 356,957 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in shares of Prudential Financial by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,291,063 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $282,307,000 after buying an additional 43,016 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of Prudential Financial by 3.3% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,247,466 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $383,753,000 after buying an additional 103,853 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of Prudential Financial by 2.6% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,840,804 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $335,698,000 after acquiring an additional 70,646 shares during the period. 56.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Prudential Financial from $97.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an underweight rating in a report on Monday, February 13th. Barclays lowered their price target on Prudential Financial from $104.00 to $88.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Prudential Financial from a neutral rating to an overweight rating and set a $114.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 4th. 92 Resources restated a maintains rating on shares of Prudential Financial in a report on Thursday, May 4th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of Prudential Financial from $99.00 to $89.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 4th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the companys stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Prudential Financial has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $99.83.

Insider Buying and Selling

Prudential Financial Stock Up 2.5 %

In other news, EVP Andrew F. Sullivan sold 4,126 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.20, for a total transaction of $409,299.20. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 12,241 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $1,214,307.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website . In other Prudential Financial news, EVP Andrew F. Sullivan sold 4,126 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Friday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.20, for a total value of $409,299.20. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 12,241 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $1,214,307.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website . Also, EVP Andrew F. Sullivan sold 11,405 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction on Friday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.95, for a total value of $1,151,334.75. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 12,300 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $1,241,685. The disclosure for this sale can be found here . 0.37% of the stock is owned by insiders.

NYSE:PRU traded up $1.94 on Wednesday, hitting $79.98. 389,872 shares of the companys stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,290,791. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $83.08 and a 200-day moving average price of $95.52. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a 52 week low of $75.37 and a 52 week high of $110.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 0.07 and a quick ratio of 0.07. The company has a market cap of $29.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 867.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 1.38.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU  Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 2nd. The financial services provider reported $2.66 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of $3.02 by ($0.36). The company had revenue of $15.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.29 billion. Prudential Financial had a return on equity of 14.05% and a net margin of 0.09%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.17 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 11.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Prudential Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 23rd will be issued a dividend of $1.25 per share. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.25%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 22nd. Prudential Financials dividend payout ratio is currently 5,555.56%.

Prudential Financial announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, February 7th that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to reacquire up to 2.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the companys leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Prudential Financial Profile

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Prudential Financial, Inc engages in the provision of insurance, investment management, and other financial products and services to both individual and institutional customers. It operates through the following segments: PGIM, U.S. Businesses, International Businesses, Closed Block, and Corporate and Others.

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loanDepot, Inc. (NYSE:LDI  Get Rating) Director Dan Binowitz sold 9,999 shares of loanDepot stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1.73, for a total value of $17,298.27. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 513,356 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $888,105.88. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link.

Dan Binowitz also recently made the following trade(s):

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On Friday, May 12th, Dan Binowitz sold 9,999 shares of loanDepot stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $1.85, for a total value of $18,498.15.

On Wednesday, May 10th, Dan Binowitz sold 9,999 shares of loanDepot stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.78, for a total value of $17,798.22.

On Monday, May 8th, Dan Binowitz sold 9,999 shares of loanDepot stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.68, for a total value of $16,798.32.

On Friday, May 5th, Dan Binowitz sold 9,999 shares of loanDepot stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.67, for a total value of $16,698.33.

On Wednesday, May 3rd, Dan Binowitz sold 9,999 shares of loanDepot stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.58, for a total value of $15,798.42.

On Monday, April 17th, Dan Binowitz sold 4,517 shares of loanDepot stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.68, for a total value of $7,588.56.

On Friday, April 14th, Dan Binowitz sold 9,999 shares of loanDepot stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.73, for a total value of $17,298.27.

On Wednesday, April 12th, Dan Binowitz sold 9,999 shares of loanDepot stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.70, for a total value of $16,998.30.

On Monday, April 10th, Dan Binowitz sold 9,999 shares of loanDepot stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.50, for a total value of $14,998.50.

On Wednesday, April 5th, Dan Binowitz sold 9,999 shares of loanDepot stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.46, for a total value of $14,598.54.

loanDepot Stock Down 0.6 %

NYSE:LDI traded down $0.01 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $1.68. 294,202 shares of the companys stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 441,977. The firm has a market cap of $531.65 million, a P/E ratio of -0.97 and a beta of 2.41. loanDepot, Inc. has a twelve month low of $1.25 and a twelve month high of $3.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.17, a quick ratio of 1.31 and a current ratio of 1.31. The stocks fifty day moving average price is $1.70 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $1.83.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

loanDepot ( NYSE:LDI Get Rating ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 8th. The company reported ($0.46) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.26) by ($0.20). The business had revenue of $169.66 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $199.15 million. loanDepot had a negative net margin of 21.74% and a negative return on equity of 40.39%. On average, research analysts expect that loanDepot, Inc. will post -0.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp increased its position in loanDepot by 55.8% in the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 226,414 shares of the companys stock worth $365,000 after purchasing an additional 81,051 shares during the last quarter. Cannell Capital LLC boosted its stake in loanDepot by 281.4% during the 1st quarter. Cannell Capital LLC now owns 3,913,633 shares of the companys stock valued at $6,301,000 after purchasing an additional 2,887,391 shares during the period. Boulder Hill Capital Management LP bought a new stake in loanDepot during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $39,000. HRT Financial LP bought a new stake in loanDepot during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in loanDepot by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC now owns 3,443,469 shares of the companys stock valued at $5,544,000 after purchasing an additional 41,790 shares during the period. 3.50% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on LDI shares. Bank of America restated a market perform rating on shares of loanDepot in a report on Thursday, March 9th. William Blair lowered loanDepot from an outperform rating to a market perform rating in a report on Thursday, March 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have given a hold rating to the companys stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $1.83.

About loanDepot

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loanDepot, Inc engages in originating, financing, selling, and servicing residential mortgage loans in the United States. It offers conventional agency-conforming and prime jumbo, federal assistance residential mortgage, and home equity loans. The company also provides settlement services, which include captive title and escrow business; real estate services that cover captive real estate referral business; and insurance services, including services to homeowners, as well as other consumer insurance policies.

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Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL  Get Rating) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $79.36 and last traded at $79.30, with a volume of 869223 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $76.46.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Susquehanna increased their price objective on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $80.00 to $85.00 in a research note on Friday, May 5th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $86.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 8th. Bank of America raised shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from an underperform rating to a neutral rating and raised their target price for the company from $40.00 to $78.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $65.00 to $71.00 in a research report on Friday, May 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated coverage on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in a research report on Friday, April 28th. They set an overweight rating and a $94.00 price objective for the company. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $83.14.

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Royal Caribbean Cruises Price Performance

The businesss fifty day moving average is $65.72 and its two-hundred day moving average is $62.71. The company has a current ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.41.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Royal Caribbean Cruises ( NYSE:RCL Get Rating ) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 4th. The company reported ($0.23) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of ($0.71) by $0.48. The business had revenue of $2.89 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.82 billion. Royal Caribbean Cruises had a negative net margin of 9.72% and a negative return on equity of 25.86%. The companys revenue for the quarter was up 172.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($4.57) EPS. Research analysts forecast that Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. will post 4.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Pitti Group Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in the 4th quarter worth approximately $285,000. USS Investment Management Ltd grew its position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 26.5% in the 3rd quarter. USS Investment Management Ltd now owns 94,553 shares of the companys stock worth $3,584,000 after buying an additional 19,803 shares during the last quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. boosted its stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 5.5% in the 3rd quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 9,867 shares of the companys stock worth $374,000 after purchasing an additional 515 shares in the last quarter. MML Investors Services LLC boosted its stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 25,831 shares of the companys stock worth $979,000 after purchasing an additional 1,106 shares in the last quarter. Finally, New York State Common Retirement Fund boosted its stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 14.0% in the 4th quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 406,956 shares of the companys stock worth $20,116,000 after purchasing an additional 50,055 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.27% of the companys stock.

About Royal Caribbean Cruises

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Royal Caribbean Group is a cruise company, which engages in the ownership and operation of the following global cruise brands: Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity Cruises, and Silversea Cruises. The firm also holds interest in TUI Cruises GmbH, which operates the German brands TUI Cruises and Hapag-Lloyd Cruises.

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Sendas Distribuidora (NYSE:ASAI  Get Rating) is one of 51 public companies in the Grocery stores industry, but how does it weigh in compared to its competitors? We will compare Sendas Distribuidora to related companies based on the strength of its earnings, dividends, profitability, institutional ownership, risk, analyst recommendations and valuation.

Volatility and Risk

Sendas Distribuidora has a beta of 0.78, indicating that its share price is 22% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Sendas Distribuidoras competitors have a beta of -2.58, indicating that their average share price is 358% less volatile than the S&P 500.

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Profitability

This table compares Sendas Distribuidora and its competitors net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

Net Margins Return on Equity Return on Assets Sendas Distribuidora 1.86% 29.13% 2.88% Sendas Distribuidora Competitors 1.74% 15.72% 4.51%

Analyst Recommendations

Sell Ratings Hold Ratings Buy Ratings Strong Buy Ratings Rating Score Sendas Distribuidora 0 1 0 0 2.00 Sendas Distribuidora Competitors 1096 2659 2840 109 2.29

This is a summary of recent ratings and target prices for Sendas Distribuidora and its competitors, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

As a group, Grocery stores companies have a potential upside of 14.88%. Given Sendas Distribuidoras competitors stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Sendas Distribuidora has less favorable growth aspects than its competitors.

Dividends

Sendas Distribuidora pays an annual dividend of $0.08 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.7%. Sendas Distribuidora pays out 10.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. As a group, Grocery stores companies pay a dividend yield of 3.4% and pay out 58.2% of their earnings in the form of a dividend.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Sendas Distribuidora and its competitors revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

Gross Revenue Net Income Price/Earnings Ratio Sendas Distribuidora $10.56 billion $236.31 million 14.51 Sendas Distribuidora Competitors $28.84 billion $704.32 million 230.33

Sendas Distribuidoras competitors have higher revenue and earnings than Sendas Distribuidora. Sendas Distribuidora is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than its competitors, indicating that it is currently more affordable than other companies in its industry.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

4.5% of Sendas Distribuidora shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 46.1% of shares of all Grocery stores companies are owned by institutional investors. 0.4% of Sendas Distribuidora shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 21.1% of shares of all Grocery stores companies are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Sendas Distribuidora competitors beat Sendas Distribuidora on 11 of the 15 factors compared.

About Sendas Distribuidora

(Get Rating)

Sendas Distribuidora S.A. engages in the retail and wholesale sale of food products, bazaar items, and other products in Brazil. As of March 31, 2022, the company operated 216 stores under the Assai banner, as well as 13 distribution centers. It serves restaurants, pizzerias, snack bars, schools, small businesses, religious institutions, hospitals, hotels, grocery stores, neighborhood supermarkets, and individuals. The company sells its products through brick-and-mortar stores, as well as through telesales. Sendas Distribuidora S.A. was founded in 1974 and is headquartered in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

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SFE Investment Counsel decreased its holdings in VMware, Inc. (NYSE:VMW  Get Rating) by 79.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 6,025 shares of the virtualization software providers stock after selling 22,672 shares during the period. SFE Investment Counsels holdings in VMware were worth $741,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its stake in shares of VMware by 181.5% during the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 2,210,001 shares of the virtualization software providers stock valued at $251,653,000 after purchasing an additional 1,424,875 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of VMware by 8.3% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,338,363 shares of the virtualization software providers stock valued at $1,526,461,000 after purchasing an additional 1,102,577 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP raised its stake in shares of VMware by 28.5% during the third quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 2,716,536 shares of the virtualization software providers stock valued at $289,205,000 after purchasing an additional 602,026 shares during the period. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec raised its stake in shares of VMware by 170.3% during the first quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 920,663 shares of the virtualization software providers stock valued at $104,836,000 after purchasing an additional 580,000 shares during the period. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its stake in shares of VMware by 67.0% during the third quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 1,412,146 shares of the virtualization software providers stock valued at $150,337,000 after purchasing an additional 566,745 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 45.85% of the companys stock.

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Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Zane Rowe sold 35,715 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.53, for a total value of $4,447,588.95. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 174,162 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,688,393.86. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 40.30% of the companys stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VMware Stock Up 0.9 %

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on VMW. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of VMware in a research report on Thursday, March 16th. They set a strong-buy rating for the company. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on shares of VMware from $142.50 to $139.00 and set a market perform rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 6th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of VMware from $131.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 7th. 1-800-FLOWERS.COM reissued a maintains rating on shares of VMware in a research report on Thursday, April 27th. Finally, Piper Sandler decreased their price target on shares of VMware from $142.50 to $125.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 27th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $133.69.

NYSE:VMW traded up $1.15 on Wednesday, hitting $124.42. 246,138 shares of the companys stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,149,927. The company has a market cap of $53.31 billion, a PE ratio of 40.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.72. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $122.84 and a 200-day moving average price of $120.51. VMware, Inc. has a 1 year low of $91.53 and a 1 year high of $132.15. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.15.

VMware (NYSE:VMW  Get Rating) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, March 2nd. The virtualization software provider reported $1.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.36 by $0.13. VMware had a return on equity of 327.30% and a net margin of 9.84%. The firm had revenue of $3.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.64 billion. Equities analysts anticipate that VMware, Inc. will post 4.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About VMware

(Get Rating)

VMware, Inc engages in the provision of cloud infrastructure and business mobility. Its products include Software-Defined Data Center, Hybrid Cloud Computing, and End-User Computing. It supports modernizing data centers, integrating public clouds, empowering digital workspaces and transforming security.

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Spectra Systems Co. (LON:SPSY  Get Rating)s stock price crossed below its 200-day moving average during trading on Monday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of GBX 169 ($2.12) and traded as low as GBX 168.28 ($2.11). Spectra Systems shares last traded at GBX 174 ($2.18), with a volume of 15,359 shares trading hands.

Spectra Systems Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of 75.26 million, a PE ratio of 1,725.00 and a beta of 0.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.49, a current ratio of 3.50 and a quick ratio of 5.91. The business has a 50 day moving average price of GBX 177.16 and a two-hundred day moving average price of GBX 169.14.

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Spectra Systems Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 5.21%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 1st. This is a positive change from Spectra Systemss previous dividend of $0.11. Spectra Systemss dividend payout ratio is 9,000.00%.

Spectra Systems Company Profile

Spectra Systems Corporation invents, develops, and sells integrated optical systems in Rhode Island and internationally. It operates through three segments: Authentication Systems, Secure Transactions, and Banknote Cleaning. The company offers integrated solutions, including a system of taggant materials and sensor technology to authenticate banknotes that are used by central banks, as well as G7 country for passport security; banknote cleaning and disinfection systems that lifts sebum and other substances from the banknote through a dry process based on supercritical CO2 cleaning; and solutions to authenticate brand name products.

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(Bloomberg) -- Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer will meet with top executives of the nations biggest banks on Wednesday to discuss the federal debt limit, with the government potentially just two weeks away from a catastrophic payments default.

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The 11 a.m. session will include JPMorgan Chase & Co. Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon and Citigroup Inc. CEO Jane Fraser, according to a person familiar with the plan. Also this week, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen is expected to gather with finance chiefs as the clock ticks down to her department potentially running out of sufficient cash to make good on all federal obligations.

Yellen last week said it would be helpful for corporate leaders to speak out about their concerns on the debt ceiling. Dimon, for his part, said in an interview with Bloomberg Television that JPMorgan had set up a war room looking at contingencies if the debt limit isnt increased in time.

The banking chiefs are in Washington for an annual meeting of the Bank Policy Institute, an industry lobbying group. The gathering is coinciding with an intensification of negotiations between the White House and Republicans over a framework to boost the ceiling and address Republican demands for restrictions on spending.

Negotiators for President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy will meet Wednesday as they try to hash out details of an accord that might include caps on spending, a clawback of unspent Covid-19 funds and an accelerated permits process for energy and other projects.

Congressional leaders in both parties and Biden struck a cautiously optimistic tone after an Oval Office meeting Tuesday, although they gave no indication they bridged any of their policy differences. Biden leaves Wednesday for a Group of Seven meeting in Hiroshima, Japan, but will return on Sunday instead of taking a more extended overseas trip.

Yellen has said the Treasury Department could run out of ways to avoid breaching the debt limit as early as June 1.

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Tamar Securities LLC cut its position in The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW  Get Rating) by 1.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 28,490 shares of the specialty chemicals companys stock after selling 550 shares during the quarter. Sherwin-Williams comprises approximately 2.1% of Tamar Securities LLCs holdings, making the stock its 24th biggest position. Tamar Securities LLCs holdings in Sherwin-Williams were worth $6,762,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. General Partner Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Sherwin-Williams during the 4th quarter worth about $61,000. Alpha Paradigm Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Sherwin-Williams during the third quarter worth approximately $373,000. Czech National Bank boosted its stake in Sherwin-Williams by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 27,602 shares of the specialty chemicals companys stock valued at $6,551,000 after purchasing an additional 192 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund boosted its stake in Sherwin-Williams by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund now owns 8,452 shares of the specialty chemicals companys stock valued at $1,731,000 after purchasing an additional 276 shares during the period. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its stake in Sherwin-Williams by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 16,177 shares of the specialty chemicals companys stock valued at $3,312,000 after purchasing an additional 475 shares during the period. 76.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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Sherwin-Williams Stock Up 1.1 %

SHW stock traded up $2.35 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $224.57. 415,888 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,528,903. The firm has a market cap of $57.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.07. The Sherwin-Williams Company has a twelve month low of $195.24 and a twelve month high of $278.31. The firms 50 day moving average is $224.47 and its 200 day moving average is $232.81. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.03.

Sherwin-Williams Announces Dividend

Sherwin-Williams ( NYSE:SHW Get Rating ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 25th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.04 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $1.84 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $5.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.14 billion. Sherwin-Williams had a return on equity of 86.29% and a net margin of 9.41%. The companys revenue for the quarter was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.61 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that The Sherwin-Williams Company will post 8.7 EPS for the current year.

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 19th will be given a dividend of $0.605 per share. This represents a $2.42 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 18th. Sherwin-Williamss dividend payout ratio is presently 29.69%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Bryan J. Young sold 2,750 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.76, for a total value of $607,090.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 7,955 shares of the companys stock, valued at $1,756,145.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.55% of the companys stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SHW has been the subject of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Sherwin-Williams from $300.00 to $275.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 27th. Zelman & Associates cut shares of Sherwin-Williams from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Friday, January 27th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Sherwin-Williams from $231.00 to $253.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 26th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Sherwin-Williams in a research note on Thursday, March 16th. They set a buy rating on the stock. Finally, Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $263.00 to $268.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the companys stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Sherwin-Williams presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $257.83.

About Sherwin-Williams

(Get Rating)

The Sherwin-Williams Co engages in the development, manufacture, distribution, and sale of paint and coatings. It operates through the following segments: America Group, Consumer Brands Group, and Performance Coating Group. The America Group segment manages the exclusive outlets for Sherwin-Williams branded paints, stains, supplies, equipment, and floor coverings.

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Taseko Mines Limited (TSE:TKO  Get Rating) (NYSE:TGB) shares crossed below its 200-day moving average during trading on Monday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of C$2.09 and traded as low as C$1.95. Taseko Mines shares last traded at C$1.98, with a volume of 331,973 shares.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

TKO has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. National Bankshares lowered their price target on Taseko Mines from C$2.75 to C$2.50 and set a sector perform rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 5th. TD Securities boosted their target price on shares of Taseko Mines from C$2.50 to C$2.75 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Monday, February 27th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Taseko Mines from C$2.50 to C$2.75 in a report on Monday, February 6th. Finally, Scotiabank decreased their price target on shares of Taseko Mines from C$2.75 to C$2.50 in a report on Friday, May 5th.

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Taseko Mines Stock Up 1.6 %

The firm has a market cap of C$553.86 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -21.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.47 and a beta of 2.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.75, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 168.98. The stock has a 50-day moving average of C$2.16 and a 200-day moving average of C$2.09.

About Taseko Mines

Taseko Mines ( TSE:TKO Get Rating ) (NYSE:TGB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 23rd. The company reported C$0.02 earnings per share for the quarter. The firm had revenue of C$100.62 million for the quarter. Taseko Mines had a negative net margin of 6.85% and a negative return on equity of 7.37%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Taseko Mines Limited will post 0.1175772 EPS for the current fiscal year.

(Get Rating)

Taseko Mines Limited, a mining company, acquires, develops, and operates mineral properties. The company explores for copper, molybdenum, gold, niobium, and silver deposits. It holds 75% interest in the Gibraltar mine located in British Columbia. It also holds 100% interest in Yellowhead copper project, the Aley niobium project, and the New Prosperity gold and copper project located in British Columbia; and the Florence copper project located in Arizona.

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Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC cut its stake in shares of TransDigm Group Incorporated (NYSE:TDG  Get Rating) by 6.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 632 shares of the aerospace companys stock after selling 43 shares during the period. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLCs holdings in TransDigm Group were worth $469,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec lifted its position in TransDigm Group by 29.1% during the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 5,932 shares of the aerospace companys stock worth $3,113,000 after acquiring an additional 1,336 shares in the last quarter. Edge Capital Group LLC lifted its position in TransDigm Group by 116.0% during the 4th quarter. Edge Capital Group LLC now owns 108 shares of the aerospace companys stock worth $68,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank raised its position in shares of TransDigm Group by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 23,944 shares of the aerospace companys stock valued at $12,563,000 after purchasing an additional 659 shares in the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada raised its position in shares of TransDigm Group by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 36,133 shares of the aerospace companys stock valued at $18,962,000 after purchasing an additional 1,635 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pathstone Family Office LLC raised its position in shares of TransDigm Group by 17.5% in the 3rd quarter. Pathstone Family Office LLC now owns 2,398 shares of the aerospace companys stock valued at $1,258,000 after purchasing an additional 358 shares in the last quarter. 96.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Insider Transactions at TransDigm Group

In related news, Director W Nicholas Howley sold 3,250 shares of the firms stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $800.76, for a total transaction of $2,602,470.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 21,548 shares of the companys stock, valued at $17,254,776.48. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, Director W Nicholas Howley sold 3,250 shares of the firms stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $800.76, for a total transaction of $2,602,470.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 21,548 shares of the companys stock, valued at $17,254,776.48. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Michael Lisman sold 12,400 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $749.81, for a total value of $9,297,644.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 2,309 shares of the companys stock, valued at $1,731,311.29. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 42,913 shares of company stock valued at $32,242,464. 7.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

TransDigm Group Stock Performance

TDG has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays upped their target price on TransDigm Group from $840.00 to $930.00 in a research report on Sunday. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on TransDigm Group from $767.00 to $960.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 10th. Susquehanna upped their price target on TransDigm Group from $750.00 to $820.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 10th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on TransDigm Group from $725.00 to $840.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 11th. Finally, StockNews.com started coverage on TransDigm Group in a research report on Thursday, March 16th. They set a buy rating on the stock. Four research analysts have 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 $834.71.

NYSE:TDG opened at $807.07 on Wednesday. TransDigm Group Incorporated has a 1 year low of $499.63 and a 1 year high of $824.59. The stock has a market cap of $44.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.24, a PEG ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 1.37. The business has a fifty day moving average of $746.44 and a 200-day moving average of $692.40.

TransDigm Group (NYSE:TDG  Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 9th. The aerospace company reported $5.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.98 by $1.00. TransDigm Group had a negative return on equity of 34.11% and a net margin of 17.57%. The company had revenue of $1.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $1.53 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.29 earnings per share. The companys revenue for the quarter was up 20.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that TransDigm Group Incorporated will post 20.84 EPS for the current year.

TransDigm Group Profile

(Get Rating)

TransDigm Group, Inc engages in the production of engineered aerospace components, systems and subsystems. It operates through the following segments: Power and Control, Airframe, and Non-Aviation. The Power and Control segment includes operations that primarily develop, produce and market systems and components that provide power to or control power of the aircraft utilizing electronic, fluid, power and mechanical motion control technologies.

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abrdn plc increased its position in shares of United Parcel Service, Inc. (NYSE:UPS  Get Rating) by 9.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 333,061 shares of the transportation companys stock after acquiring an additional 28,693 shares during the period. abrdn plcs holdings in United Parcel Service were worth $57,899,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of United Parcel Service by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 67,099,021 shares of the transportation companys stock valued at $10,839,176,000 after buying an additional 601,166 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in United Parcel Service by 0.6% in the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 9,273,417 shares of the transportation companys stock valued at $1,988,777,000 after acquiring an additional 54,401 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in United Parcel Service by 2.3% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,163,287 shares of the transportation companys stock worth $892,858,000 after acquiring an additional 93,463 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of United Parcel Service by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,166,966 shares of the transportation companys stock worth $550,565,000 after purchasing an additional 63,730 shares during the last quarter. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System raised its holdings in shares of United Parcel Service by 7.2% during the 3rd quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 2,653,108 shares of the transportation companys stock valued at $428,583,000 after purchasing an additional 179,296 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.92% of the companys stock.

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Insider Activity at United Parcel Service

In other United Parcel Service news, insider Norman M. Brothers, Jr. sold 20,724 shares of United Parcel Service stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.26, for a total transaction of $3,777,156.24. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other United Parcel Service news, insider Norman M. Brothers, Jr. sold 20,724 shares of United Parcel Service stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.26, for a total transaction of $3,777,156.24. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Laura J. Lane sold 14,617 shares of United Parcel Service stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.16, for a total value of $2,604,164.72. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 54,341 shares of company stock valued at $9,848,061 in the last 90 days. 0.12% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

United Parcel Service Stock Performance

UPS opened at $167.00 on Wednesday. United Parcel Service, Inc. has a 12-month low of $154.87 and a 12-month high of $209.39. The stock has a market cap of $143.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.48, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.09. The business has a 50 day moving average of $184.30 and a 200-day moving average of $181.33. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99.

United Parcel Service (NYSE:UPS  Get Rating) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 25th. The transportation company reported $2.20 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $2.19 by $0.01. United Parcel Service had a return on equity of 57.68% and a net margin of 10.90%. The company had revenue of $22.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.98 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.05 earnings per share. The firms quarterly revenue was down 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that United Parcel Service, Inc. will post 10.78 earnings per share for the current year.

United Parcel Service declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Tuesday, January 31st that allows the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the transportation company to purchase up to 3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often an indication that the companys management believes its stock is undervalued.

United Parcel Service Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 1st. Investors of record on Monday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.62 per share. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 12th. United Parcel Services dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 52.43%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on UPS shares. Susquehanna decreased their price objective on shares of United Parcel Service from $180.00 to $173.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 26th. Raymond James decreased their target price on United Parcel Service from $207.00 to $205.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 26th. StockNews.com lowered shares of United Parcel Service from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Thursday, April 13th. Oppenheimer lowered their target price on shares of United Parcel Service from $199.00 to $188.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 26th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on United Parcel Service from $220.00 to $214.00 in a research report on Monday, March 20th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the companys stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $193.58.

United Parcel Service Company Profile

(Get Rating)

United Parcel Service, Inc is a package delivery company, which engages in the provision of global supply chain management solutions. It operates through the following segments: U.S. Domestic Package, International Package, and Supply Chain Solutions. The U.S. Domestic Package segment includes time-definite delivery of letters, documents, and packages.

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Victory Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Vanguard FTSE Europe ETF (NYSEARCA:VGK  Get Rating) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 1,093,939 shares of the exchange traded funds stock, valued at approximately $66,446,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned approximately 0.40% of Vanguard FTSE Europe ETF as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of VGK. Lansing Street Advisors lifted its position in shares of Vanguard FTSE Europe ETF by 598.7% during the 3rd quarter. Lansing Street Advisors now owns 531 shares of the exchange traded funds stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 455 shares in the last quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co increased its stake in shares of Vanguard FTSE Europe ETF by 214.3% during the 4th quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 550 shares of the exchange traded funds stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 375 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC increased its stake in shares of Vanguard FTSE Europe ETF by 221.6% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 775 shares of the exchange traded funds stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 534 shares during the last quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich purchased a new stake in shares of Vanguard FTSE Europe ETF during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $55,000. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Vanguard FTSE Europe ETF by 6,256.3% during the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,017 shares of the exchange traded funds stock worth $56,000 after purchasing an additional 1,001 shares during the last quarter.

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Vanguard FTSE Europe ETF Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of VGK stock opened at $62.36 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $61.30 and a 200-day moving average of $58.88. Vanguard FTSE Europe ETF has a 12-month low of $44.99 and a 12-month high of $63.77. The firm has a market cap of $18.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.10 and a beta of 0.95.

Vanguard FTSE Europe ETF Company Profile

Vanguard European Stock Index Fund is an exchange-traded fund. The Fund seeks to track the performance of a benchmark index that measures the investment return of stocks issued by Companies located in the markets of Europe. The Fund on focuses indexing investment approach by investing all, or substantially all, of its assets in the common stocks included in the FTSE Developed Europe All Cap Index.

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William Blair Investment Management LLC raised its position in Tri Pointe Homes, Inc. (NYSE:TPH  Get Rating) by 7.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,641,142 shares of the construction companys stock after acquiring an additional 107,822 shares during the period. William Blair Investment Management LLC owned about 1.63% of Tri Pointe Homes worth $30,509,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Raymond James & Associates grew its holdings in shares of Tri Pointe Homes by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 176,362 shares of the construction companys stock worth $3,541,000 after purchasing an additional 3,591 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. grew its stake in Tri Pointe Homes by 53.8% in the first quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 25,492 shares of the construction companys stock valued at $512,000 after acquiring an additional 8,922 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its position in shares of Tri Pointe Homes by 25.8% during the first quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 10,793 shares of the construction companys stock valued at $224,000 after buying an additional 2,213 shares during the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Tri Pointe Homes by 39.4% during the first quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 128,677 shares of the construction companys stock worth $2,584,000 after acquiring an additional 36,396 shares during the period. Finally, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS raised its stake in shares of Tri Pointe Homes by 10.5% in the first quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 40,731 shares of the construction companys stock valued at $818,000 after buying an additional 3,884 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 99.41% of the companys stock.

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Insider Buying and Selling at Tri Pointe Homes

In other Tri Pointe Homes news, Director Constance B. Moore sold 39,589 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.15, for a total value of $916,485.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 60,613 shares in the company, valued at $1,403,190.95. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Douglas F. Bauer sold 19,076 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.24, for a total transaction of $557,782.24. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 423,514 shares in the company, valued at $12,383,549.36. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Constance B. Moore sold 39,589 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.15, for a total transaction of $916,485.35. Following the sale, the director now owns 60,613 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $1,403,190.95. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Tri Pointe Homes Trading Up 0.1 %

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on TPH shares. Wedbush upped their price objective on Tri Pointe Homes from $27.00 to $30.00 in a report on Friday, April 28th. Oppenheimer began coverage on Tri Pointe Homes in a report on Wednesday, January 18th. They set a market perform rating on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com initiated coverage on Tri Pointe Homes in a report on Thursday, March 16th. They set a buy rating on the stock. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $22.00.

TPH stock opened at $29.39 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.24, a quick ratio of 2.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. Tri Pointe Homes, Inc. has a 12-month low of $14.59 and a 12-month high of $30.33. The stock has a market cap of $2.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.35, a PEG ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.45. The businesss 50-day moving average is $26.21 and its 200 day moving average is $22.20.

Tri Pointe Homes (NYSE:TPH  Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 27th. The construction company reported $0.73 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.41 by $0.32. Tri Pointe Homes had a net margin of 12.97% and a return on equity of 20.83%. The firm had revenue of $768.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $586.76 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.81 EPS. The businesss revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Tri Pointe Homes, Inc. will post 3.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Tri Pointe Homes Profile

(Get Rating)

Tri Pointe Homes, Inc designs, constructs, and sells single-family homes and condominiums. It operates through the Homebuilding and Financial Services segments. The Homebuilding segment consists of six reportable segments: Maracay Homes, consisting of operations in Arizona, Pardee Homes, consisting of operations in California and Nevada, Quadrant Homes, consisting of operations in Washington, Trendmaker Homes, consisting of operations in Texas, TRI Pointe Homes, consisting of operations in California and Colorado, and Winchester Homes, consisting of operations in Maryland and Virginia.

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graduate management education

Sangeet Chowfla, former CEO of the Graduate Management Admissions Council, reflects on the business of business education

To test or not to test? Test requiring, test optional, test blind. There is an active debate about the use of standardized testing as an admissions instrument with valid arguments for and against. As the former CEO of the largest testing organization for graduate management education, I could be accused of bias on this issue. On the other hand, I have had a decade-long ringside view of this debate and would like to offer, what I believe is an objective commentary on the subject.

Standardized testing in GME has been around for three-quarters of a century. Why then the debate? The pandemic caused test

center shutdowns and forced schools to be test optional (understandably). The racial justice movement opened a second discussion about diversity in higher education and whether tests created a barrier to access. At the same time, declining applications in the U.S. has put pressure on admissions and recruitment teams leading some to conclude that the answer lay in not requiring tests and thereby removing a perceived barrier to entry. The first argument is no longer valid, but it is worth discussing the other two.

STANDARDIZED TESTS ARE NOT BIASED & DROPPING THEM WILL NOT INCREASE DIVERSITY

There are generally three arguments put forward by the proponents of the no-test or test-optional movements: 1) that standardized tests are biased against historically underrepresented communities, undermining our societal goals of equality; 2) that dropping the use of standardized testing would decrease racial and gender disparities in admitted cohorts; and 3) that standardized tests lack validity and predictive ability correlated to real-world performance in academic programs and that undergraduate GPAs (UGPA) combined with a holistic admissions process are an effective substitute.

It is true that underrepresented communities have median scores that are lower than their White (or Asian) counterparts. This is true for traditional higher education tests such as the SAT, ACT, GRE, and GMAT. It is also true for pre-SAT and PISA tests. Is it the tests? I would argue  and know from personal experience  that all tests of quality have extensive internal mechanisms to weed out bias in test questions through pretesting and differential item analysis. While the tests may be free from bias, we cannot ignore that there are inequalities in our educational and preparation environments and that certain communities may not have access to the same foundational education and means of preparation as others.

Test scores tell us something, even if it is the uncomfortable fact that we live in unequal societies and need to make adjustments for that fact. Ignoring them tells us nothing and is even less likely to drive change. The thermometer (or weather app these days) tells you its cold outside. Deleting the app will not make it warmer  but you will be more likely to dress incorrectly.

A related argument is that tests require preparation and that certain students do not have the time or means to adequately prepare. The argument may be true, but the implications bear some discussion. We are essentially saying that a particular student does not have the time and means to spend a few hundred dollars and 50 hours to prepare for a test but that the same student will have the time and means to devote years of nights and weekends and pay tuition in the tens of thousands to participate in a part-time or online program? Therein lies the problem of completion that I will come back to later.

Lastly, the argument that an undergraduate GPA is an effective substitute is not supported by empirical data. On the contrary, studies have shown the UPGA to be an unreliable indicator, largely due to the wide variability of GPA scoring in the U.S. and the inherent differences that exist across the globe. This was why standardized testing was invented in the first place. As schools expanded their reach, nationally and then globally, it became harder to rely on GPAs and the need for a standardized norming instrument arose. Removing test scores will have the unintended effect of admissions teams preferring GPAs from institutions they are familiar with, decreasing diversity.

If we accept, as shown, that tests are efficient predictors of success in the classroom, we must also accept that low-scoring candidates, regardless of background, will have a lower probability of success in that class. We cannot therefore simply waive test requirements and admit candidates who are not adequately prepared  having them expend their precious time and financial resources  but must use the diagnostic data that we gain to build additional support mechanisms. This is, after all, an important part of holistic admissions  the ability to see the diamond, even though all the facets are not shining through, and then polish these facets so that they can stand out, and shine, amongst their peers.

Bill Clinton talked about the soft bigotry of lower expectations. We must avoid this trap. Lets not throw out test scores and ignore reality. Lets instead use test scores to identify gaps and provide a helping hand.

DO TEST REQUIREMENTS REALLY DEPRESS APPLICATION VOLUME?

At first look, there is face value to this argument. Preparing for and taking a test is a commitment of time and money. Reducing it will remove a point of friction and reduced friction will increase velocity (application volumes). Its a valid argument if you are a recruitment professional charged with application volumes or a dean looking at higher selectivity ratios.

Does it really help in the long run? There are three reasons why it does not.

One, as I have consistently argued, is about messaging. GME is a luxury good and must be managed as one. The lower our perceived admission standards, the lower the perceived value of the degree. A graduate business degree is for a lifetime, and we know that a degree from a particular school is not about what a student learned while at that school but about the potential of that individual. Its a signaling mechanism and that signal is maintained, not by the individual but by the cohorts that came before and will come after. Students pay a lot of attention to admission standards and, while they may be perfectly happy to get a pass themselves, they are not eager to join a school that lets anybody in.

Groucho Marx famously joked that he would not join a club that let him be a member. It seems that students are equally not willing to join a school that would let him be a student.

Secondly, it should give us pause that over the last decade or so, we have seen admission standards (tests, essays, recommendations) lowered with no secular uptick in applications. Is this a vicious cycle where we respond to declining applications with more open standards which, in turn, reduces the perceived value of the degree and reduces applications?

I recently had a discussion with a senior business school administrator who told me that no-test policies must be working because more than half of his recent applications came without one. I asked him if his overall application volumes had increased, and he responded that they had actually declined. This makes my point. More no-test applications are not necessarily increasing the pipeline; they are just giving prospective students an easier path to application.

The third is the completion problem, something that is becoming more acute in part-time/online programs. I have always thought about preparing for the GMAT as taking your first class in business school. It brushes up foundational skills and, more importantly, tells me if my life circumstances (time more than money) allow for the commitment that a graduate program requires. Take that away and we take away another form of signaling. This one to the student about whether they are ready for what it takes. Without that signal we are (forgive me for putting it this way) exploitative, happy to fill the seat and take the tuition without ensuring that the means to complete the journey exists.

ADMITTING STUDENTS REQUIRES SCIENCE AND ART

We are having this debate because, over time, the use of standardized testing got ahead of itself. Rankings exaggerated its value and school websites took pride in promoting average test scores. This has led to the perception that tests are the ultimate goal of admissions. Too much is made of inconsequential single-digit changes in the scores of admitted classes as an example. I dont believe that we should eliminate testing, but we do need to change how we think about them.

The test publishers need to sharpen their focus on the triple pillars of validity, security and accessibility. The test should measure what is required (and no more), there needs to be confidence that the score matches the actual person who took the test and it should be accessible. At the risk of showing my personal bias, the new GMAT focus is a good start. It is slimmer, more relevant and drops some of the artifacts of the past.

Admission professionals must use tests as an anchoring data point in a holistic process without making it the only data point. A test tells you a lot about the reasoning and critical thinking capabilities of a candidate but not enough about grit, drive, teamwork, and communication skills. This is the subjective element that needs to be bought into play.

Marketing and recruitment should think about how they talk about test scores. Schools are often eager to tout their test averages  particularly when they have gone up  giving a false impression about the centrality of such scores. One option is for schools to drop the use of test averages in their marketing communications entirely, replacing them with the 20th and 80th percentile ranges only. This would give prospective students the ability to see where they fit without a single average number becoming a point of focus. It would also demonstrate that an individual with a lower test score, but with a compelling life story, has the possibility to be admitted.

Standardized tests are a useful tool in the admission process. The benefit is in the word  standardized  that provides an empirical data point that is free from bias and interpretation. A GMAT 700 is a GMAT 700. You cannot wish it away if you are unfamiliar with the candidates background or uncomfortable with their color, origin, orientation, or political beliefs. They are not without issues  in structure and in usage. We should strive to make them better, not throw the baby out with the bathwater of the politics of the day.

Author and former GMAC CEO Sangeet Chowfla

Sangeet Chowfla led the Graduate Management Admissions Council as president and CEO for nearly ten years from 2014 to 2022. A globally recognized and respected executive with deep experience in the technology, telecommunications, and venture capital sectors, he began his career in New Delhi with IBM/IDM. Chowfla went on to spend 18 years with Hewlett-Packard Co. in Europe, the Middle East, Asia Pacific, and the United States. He culminated his tenure with the company as vice president and general manager of the Inkjet Media Division from 1995-2001. He then moved to Timeline Ventures as a partner in the venture capital partnership. In 2007, Chowfla became the chief strategy officer and executive vice president of the Mobile Services and Global Market Units of Comviva Technologies, a leading Indian telecommunications software company. Chowfla joined GMAC during a period of disruption in the organization and industry. During the last three years of his tenure, he helped to stabilize the candidate pipeline, renewed GMAT exam growth, diversified GMACs footprint and ensured a strong financial foundation to enable future investment.

Earlier Ruminations Columns by Sangeet Chowfla

Why Students Go To Business School & How They Make Their Choices

The Changing Face Of International Student Mobility

Why Diversity Is Essential To The Health Of The U.S. Domestic Student Pipeline

A Decade Of Graduate Management Education: I Love You, Youre Perfect, Now Change

The post Dont Throw The Baby Out With The Bathwater  The Value Of Standardized Testing appeared first on Poets&Quants.
Tourists visit Xi'an Bell and Drum Towers Museum in Xi'an, capital of northwest China's Shaanxi Province, May 1, 2023. [Photo by Zou Jingyi/Xinhua]

BEIJING, May 16 (Xinhua)  During this year's May Day holiday, Ma Hualin, a student at Beijing University of Chemical Technology, visited a special bazaar showcasing cultural products from dozens of museums in Beijing, capital of China.

"I have collected seals from multiple museums today, and each can be seen as a cultural imprint for me," said Ma.

Ma is just one of the numerous tourists participating in this museum-themed market, which marks the beginning of the first museum activity month in Beijing. The month-long itinerary is among the city's latest moves to celebrate International Museum Day, which falls on Thursday.

Under the theme of "Museums, Sustainability and Wellbeing," this year's International Museum Day will also see thousands of relevant activities organized for the country's ever-growing number of museum lovers.

In 2021, museums across China received more than 748.5 million visits, up 32.7 percent compared to 2012, data from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism showed.

Reaching Rural Regions

While integrating into the cultural life of city dwellers, museums are also thriving in the countryside to meet the burgeoning cultural demands of rural residents.

The city of Shaoxing, located in east China's Zhejiang Province, is known for being the hometown of Lu Xun, one of the most revered 20th-Century writers in China. The writer's grandmother's house in a local rural area is now a museum, where visitors can enjoy an immersive experience of the literary master's childhood.

Based on its rich cultural resources, Shaoxing has already built over 200 rural museums with a variety of themes including revolutionary history, intangible cultural heritage, and local customs.

Such types of museums have been sprouting in Zhejiang, as the local government has planned to build 1,000 rural museums within five years starting from 2021.

"The construction of rural museums is aimed at preserving the roots of rural culture, and enabling them to flourish in the new era," said Yang Jianwu, head of the provincial cultural heritage bureau.

Last year, the province issued a detailed guideline on the construction of rural museums, in a bid to ensure their well-regulated development. According to the guideline, rural museums are encouraged to be open to the public for free.

'Museum Without Walls'

Far from the coastal province of Zhejiang, Suojia museum in southwest China's Guizhou Province presents another view to visitors. Nestling in the mountains, it offers a glimpse into how a museum helps with both cultural and ecological protection.

This photo taken on Jan. 31, 2023 shows the main entrance to the Suojia ecomuseum in Suojia Miao, Yi and Hui Township of Liuzhi Special District, Liupanshui, southwest China's Guizhou Province. [Xinhua/Zhou Xuanni]

The ecomuseum, a concept which originated in France in the 1970s, is a new type of museum designed to combine human endeavors in cultural heritage preservation with those in environmental protection. In an ecomuseum, the cultural heritage is kept in its original state, rather than being confined in a traditional museum.

The first of its kind in China, the Suojia ecomuseum was established in 1998 to protect the natural and cultural heritage of the Qing Miao people, a special branch of the Miao ethnic group in China, characterized by the horn-shaped head ornaments and exquisite traditional costumes they wear.

The Suojia ecomuseum covers a complete Qing Miao community of 12 villages distributed across an area of over 120 square kilometers, with costumes, language, music and even the manner of production all serving as "living exhibits" in it.

During the past 25 years, apart from protecting local culture through cultivating talents with costume-making skills and other means, the local government also endeavored to improve the quality of the ecological environment.

"Thanks to the government's afforestation efforts and people's growing awareness of environmental protection, the mountains around the ecomuseum are filled with lush vegetation," said Luo Gang, curator of the Suojia ecomuseum, adding that over 70,000 tourists from home and abroad come to visit the ecomuseum every year.

Going Digital

In addition to offline exhibitions, technology-powered "online museums" are also providing Chinese people with more access to cultural feasts.

In mid-April, an interactive digital platform of a virtual duplication of the Library Cave in the Mogao Grottoes, a UNESCO World Heritage site in Dunhuang, northwest China's Gansu Province, was launched to the public.

The platform is "the world's first interactive museum beyond time and space," according to Dunhuang Academy, since it reproduces the historical scenes of the Library Cave over one hundred years ago in the digital world through advanced gaming technologies. Visitors can experience role-play and "time travel" to ancient dynasties and interact with eight historical figures, immersing themselves in the Dunhuang culture.

"More and more museums have managed to stay open online," said Zeng Pan, an official with the provincial museum of central China's Hubei Province, adding that these online museums can expose visitors to multi-dimensional information through new means, thus enabling them to have a better understanding of the historical background and artistic value of cultural relics.

(Source: Xinhua)
Students learn about job opportunities at a job fair in Harbin, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, on Feb. 7, 2023. [Xinhua/Zhang Tao]

BEIJING, May 16 (Xinhua)  China's Ministry of Education will hold a special employment promotional campaign from May to August to ensure high-quality and full employment among college graduates this year.

The campaign around graduation season will focus on five tasks, including creating more jobs, improving employment guidance, and strengthening assistance for key groups, the ministry said on Monday.

Universities and colleges are required to continue inviting employers to recruitment activities on campuses, and to encourage graduates to find jobs at grassroots levels.

Before this, about 2.53 million new jobs had been created for fresh graduates via a separate employment promotional campaign launched by the ministry last November, with 2,415 universities and colleges participating.

China will see a record 11.58 million college graduates this year, earlier data shows.

(Source: Xinhua)
Click the photo and watch the video.

XI'AN, May 16 (Xinhua)  As a milestone summit is about to open, China and five Central Asian countries are set to build a closer community with a shared future and send messages of solidarity, peace and development in a volatile world.

Chinese President Xi Jinping will chair the China-Central Asia Summit, the first in-person summit among heads of state of China and Central Asian countries, scheduled for May 18 and 19 in Xi'an, northwest China's Shaanxi Province. The leaders are expected to draw up new blueprints for China-Central Asia cooperation.

The summit is seen as the latest landmark in the vibrant high-level interactions, economic cooperation and people-to-people exchanges between China and Central Asian countries.

Political Mutual Trust

In 2013, Xi went to Central Asia for the first time as China's head of state, visiting Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan.

"China and Central Asian countries are friendly neighbors connected by common mountains and rivers. China highly values its friendship and cooperation with these countries and takes them as a foreign policy priority," Xi said during the trip.

China's relations with Central Asian countries were upgraded during the visits. The next year, Xi paid a state visit to Tajikistan, during which important consensus was reached on deepening bilateral ties.

In the past decade, Xi visited Central Asia seven times and also hosted multiple Central Asian leaders in China. Xi has had in-depth exchanges with people from different sectors in the region. China's relations with Central Asian countries have become a model for building a new type of international relations.

There were many unforgettable moments. Xi donned traditional Tajik attire, referenced Kyrgyz adages, explored ancient cities in Uzbekistan and a small town in Turkmenistan, and recounted the story of a Kazakh student who donated blood in China. On top of these, Xi engaged closely with the leaders of the five Central Asian countries.

Guided by head-of-state diplomacy, the friendship and political mutual trust between China and Central Asia have been constantly deepened.

China and Central Asian countries have supported each other on issues involving sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity, and firmly supported each other's development paths and governance models. They have joined hands to fight terrorism, separatism and extremism, transnational organized crime and drug trafficking. They have also resolutely opposed external interference or attempts to instigate "color revolutions."

"The key to the successful cooperation between China and the five Central Asian countries over the past three decades lies in our abiding commitment to mutual respect, good-neighborly friendship, solidarity in trying times, and mutual benefit," Xi said when he addressed a virtual summit to commemorate the 30th anniversary of diplomatic relations between China and Central Asian countries in January 2022.

Win-Win Cooperation

Speaking at Nazarbayev University in Kazakhstan on Sept. 7, 2013, Xi for the first time proposed jointly building an "economic belt along the Silk Road."

Over the past decade, Central Asian countries have become pioneers in promoting the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and have built the region into an example of high-quality BRI development. From fully loaded trains to humming production lines and natural gas pipelines, vigorous cooperation has resulted in common development.

A China-Europe freight train loaded with raw materials of liquorice, a Chinese medicinal herb, which departed from Turkmenistan, arrives at Xi'an international port in Xi'an, northwest China's Shaanxi Province, Aug. 31, 2022. [Xinhua/Liu Xiao]

A freight train carrying more than 260 new energy vehicles arrived in Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan, earlier this month. Marking the BRI's 10th anniversary, the train's 12-day journey began in Xi'an, the ancient Silk Road's starting point.

Currently, 17 railway routes connect Xi'an with Central Asian countries and many other Asian and European destinations, with more than 1,100 train trips made in the first quarter of the year.

Roaring trains are the epitome of robust trade between China and Central Asian countries. In 2022, trade volume hit a historic high of 70.2 billion U.S. dollars, up by over 100 times since diplomatic ties were established about three decades ago.

From the China-Central Asia gas pipeline and the Qamchiq railway tunnel in Uzbekistan to the Zhanatas wind power station in Kazakhstan and the north-south highway in Kyrgyzstan, a number of cooperation projects have facilitated industrial upgrades and livelihood improvements.

Officials and experts expect that the summit will open a new chapter in China-Central Asia cooperation.

Shu Jueting, spokesperson for the Ministry of Commerce, said China will take the summit as an opportunity and work with the five Central Asian countries to push economic and trade cooperation to a new level.

The China-Central Asia economic cooperation will be extended to more areas, including e-commerce, digital economy and other new forms of business, said Su Chang, a researcher with the Institute of Russian, Eastern European and Central Asian Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

Diverse Interactions

Today, China and the five Central Asian countries have 62 pairs of sister provinces, regions and cities. Chinese universities are enrolling more students from Central Asia, fostering greater mutual understanding and affinity through youth exchanges.

Flight attendants conduct safety inspections before the first passenger flight of the Xi'an-Urumqi-Ashgabat route takes off in Xi'an, northwest China's Shaanxi Province, May 13, 2023. [Xinhua/Shao Rui]

Ismail Daurov from Kazakhstan spent nine years studying in Xi'an. Calling Shaanxi his second hometown, Daurov volunteered to help with local COVID-19 response in Xi'an during the epidemic. His words  "I am a foreigner, but I am not an outsider"  touched many people in China. Xi also cited his words as an example of the friendship between the people of China and Central Asian countries.

Similar to Daurov, an increasing number of Central Asian students have selected China as their preferred destination for studying abroad.

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of Central Asian students studying in China witnessed an annual growth of over 12 percent between 2010 and 2018.

As the world emerges from the pandemic, there is growing anticipation of setting a new record in the number of Chinese and Central Asian students studying in each other's educational institutions.

Replying to a letter from Central Asian students studying at China University of Petroleum, Xi encouraged them to act as envoys of friendship and bridges of cooperation and contribute to building an even closer China-Central Asia community with a shared future.

With the China-Central Asia Summit poised to generate tangible outcomes, new headway is expected to be made in fortifying the bonds between China and the Central Asian countries.

Video reporters: Huang He, Li Ao, Zhao Bing, Liu Kai, Zhang Jiye, Guan Jianwu, Liu Hai;

video editors: Zheng Xin, Luo Hui, Zhu Jianhui, Yin Yue, Liu Ruoshi, Liu Xiaorui

(Source: Xinhua)
Kayla Unbehaun  last seen by her dad in 2017 when she was 9  was spotted Saturday in Asheville, North Carolina. Her mother is under arrest, authorities said.
It looks like Spectrum Brands Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SPB) is about to go ex-dividend in the next 4 days. The ex-dividend date is one business day before the record date, which is the cut-off date for shareholders to be present on the company's books to be eligible for a dividend payment. It is important to be aware of the ex-dividend date because any trade on the stock needs to have been settled on or before the record date. This means that investors who purchase Spectrum Brands Holdings' shares on or after the 22nd of May will not receive the dividend, which will be paid on the 8th of June.

The company's next dividend payment will be US$0.42 per share, on the back of last year when the company paid a total of US$1.68 to shareholders. Based on the last year's worth of payments, Spectrum Brands Holdings stock has a trailing yield of around 2.4% on the current share price of $71.47. Dividends are a major contributor to investment returns for long term holders, but only if the dividend continues to be paid. So we need to investigate whether Spectrum Brands Holdings can afford its dividend, and if the dividend could grow.

View our latest analysis for Spectrum Brands Holdings

If a company pays out more in dividends than it earned, then the dividend might become unsustainable - hardly an ideal situation. Spectrum Brands Holdings's dividend is not well covered by earnings, as the company lost money last year. This is not a sustainable state of affairs, so it would be worth investigating if earnings are expected to recover. Given that the company reported a loss last year, we now need to see if it generated enough free cash flow to fund the dividend. If cash earnings don't cover the dividend, the company would have to pay dividends out of cash in the bank, or by borrowing money, neither of which is long-term sustainable. Fortunately, it paid out only 26% of its free cash flow in the past year.

Click here to see the company's payout ratio, plus analyst estimates of its future dividends.

Have Earnings And Dividends Been Growing?

Businesses with shrinking earnings are tricky from a dividend perspective. If earnings fall far enough, the company could be forced to cut its dividend. Spectrum Brands Holdings reported a loss last year, and the general trend suggests its earnings have also been declining in recent years, making us wonder if the dividend is at risk.

The main way most investors will assess a company's dividend prospects is by checking the historical rate of dividend growth. Spectrum Brands Holdings's dividend payments per share have declined at 31% per year on average over the past five years, which is uninspiring. While it's not great that earnings and dividends per share have fallen in recent years, we're encouraged by the fact that management has trimmed the dividend rather than risk over-committing the company in a risky attempt to maintain yields to shareholders.

Remember, you can always get a snapshot of Spectrum Brands Holdings's financial health, by checking our visualisation of its financial health, here.

Final Takeaway

From a dividend perspective, should investors buy or avoid Spectrum Brands Holdings? First, it's not great to see the company paying a dividend despite being loss-making over the last year. On the plus side, the dividend was covered by free cash flow." Overall it doesn't look like the most suitable dividend stock for a long-term buy and hold investor.

With that being said, if you're still considering Spectrum Brands Holdings as an investment, you'll find it beneficial to know what risks this stock is facing. Every company has risks, and we've spotted 1 warning sign for Spectrum Brands Holdings you should know about.

A common investing mistake is buying the first interesting stock you see. Here you can find a full list of high-yield dividend stocks.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.



This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.

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Fortune Business Insights

The global dyes and pigments market covered major segments By Type (Dyes, {Reactive, Disperse, Vat, Acid, and Others}, and Pigments {Inorganic and Organic}), By End-use (Dyes {Textiles, Leather, Paper, Paints, Plastics, and Others}, Pigments {Printing Inks, Paints and Coatings, Plastics, and Others), and Regional Forecast, 2022-2029

Pune, India, May 17, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- According to the report published by Fortune Business Insights, titled " Dyes and Pigments Market Size , Growth, Trends and Report Forecast, 2022-2029" the global market size was estimated to be USD 39.09 billion in 2021 and reached USD 40.71 billion in 2022. The market is anticipated to expand further and reach USD 56.1 billion by 2029, with a CAGR of 4.9% throughout the forecast period. The market for dyes and pigments is projected to experience substantial growth in the coming years.

The rising global population, coupled with economic development, is creating a higher demand for dyes and pigments across various sectors. Additionally, the booming e-commerce industry is also driving the market's expansion by increasing the consumption of products that rely on dyes and pigments for their visual appeal.

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List of Key Players Profiled in the Dyes and Pigments Market Report:

BASF SE (Germany)

DIC CORPORATION (Japan)

Clariant (Switzerland)

Sudarshan Chemical Industries Limited (India)

Huntsman International LLC. (U.S.)

Atul Ltd (India)

Cabot Corporation (U.S.)

DuPont (U.S.)

Kiri Industries Ltd. (India)

KRONOS Worldwide, Inc. (U.S.)

Competitive Landscape

Major Players Engage in Acquisitions to Expand Product Line-up

The prominent companies operating in the market engage in acquisitions to expand their market presence. An example of this is Sun Chemical DIC Corporation, which successfully acquired BASF's global pigments business in June 2021. This strategic move is expected to broaden Sun Chemical DIC Corporation's portfolio, allowing them to cater to various applications such as inks, paints, coatings, cosmetics, and electronic displays.

Furthermore, companies are adopting a range of strategies to strengthen their position in the market. These include investing in research and development, forming partnerships, engaging in acquisitions and mergers, as well as expanding their operations. These initiatives are aimed at improving their market standing and staying competitive in the dynamic landscape of the industry.

Segments

By type, the market is segmented into reactive, dispersive, vat, others, and acid dyes; and inorganic and organic pigments. By end-user, it is classified into textiles, leather, paper, paints, plastics, and other dyes; and printing ink, paints & coatings, plastics, and other pigments. Geographically, it is clubbed into Asia Pacific, Latin America, North America, Europe, and the Middle East & Africa.

Browse Detailed Summary of Research Report with TOC:

https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/dyes-pigments-market-102333

Report Coverage

The report offers a comprehensive analysis of the market, focusing on top segments and the latest trends. It provides an in-depth discussion of the factors driving and restraining market growth, including the impact of COVID-19. Furthermore, the report examines regional developments and explores the strategies implemented by key players in the market.

Report Scope & Segmentation

Report Coverage Details Forecast Period 2022-2029 Forecast CAGR 4.9 % 2029 Value Projection USD 56.91 Billion Market Size in 2022 USD 40.71 Million Historical Data 2018-2020 No. of Pages 205 Report Coverage Revenue Forecast, Company Profiles, Competitive Landscape, Growth Factors and Latest Trends Segments Covered By Types

By End Use Regions Covered North America

Europe

Asia Pacific

Latin America

Middle East and Africa Dyes and Pigments Impact Factor Market is poised to experience significant growth due to strong demand from the coatings and paints industry The Asia Pacific region is expected to witness industry growth, potentially fueled by the rising middle-class population

Drivers and Growth Impact Factor

Robust Demand from the Coatings & Paints Industry to Propel Market Growth

Dyes and pigments play a crucial role in imparting color to materials. The industry is poised for growth due to increasing demand from the coatings and paints sector. Furthermore, there is a growing awareness about the desirable properties of dyes and pigments, such as corrosion resistance, mechanical strength, toughness, clarity, and color, which is driving their demand. Additionally, the use of these chemicals in decorative, automotive, and architectural applications is on the rise, further contributing to their sales. The manufacturing industry's increasing demand for coatings is also expected to drive the progress of the dyes and pigments market.

However, stringent government regulations related to waste generation are expected to hinder market progress.

Regional Insights

Rising Middle-Class Population May Foster Industry Growth in Asia Pacific

Asia Pacific is anticipated to dominate the market share of dyes and pigments. The market in this region was valued at USD 15.91 billion in 2021 and is expected to exhibit positive growth in the coming years. The growth of the textile industry in Asia Pacific is a significant factor contributing to market progress in the region.

In North America, the rapid expansion of the textile industry, particularly in the United States, is expected to drive the adoption of dyes and pigments. Additionally, the increasing use of titanium dioxide as a pigment in manufacturing processes is poised to stimulate industry growth.

Europe, on the other hand, is experiencing a rise in the consumption of dyes and pigments in the leather industry. Furthermore, there is a growing demand for these products in clothing, furniture, footwear, and the automotive sector, which is expected to propel market development in the region.

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Detailed Table of Content

Introduction Research Scope Market Segmentation Research Methodology Definitions and Assumptions

Executive Summary

Market Dynamics Market Drivers Market Restraints Market Opportunities

Key Insights Key Emerging Trends  For Major Countries Latest Technological Advancement Insights on Regulatory Scenario Porters Five Forces Analysis

Qualitative Insights  Impact of COVID-19 on Global Dyes and Pigments Market Supply Chain Challenges Challenges and opportunities due to COVID-19 outbreak

Global Pigments Market Analysis, Insights and Forecast, 2018-2029 Key Findings / Summary By Type (Volume/Value) Dyes Textiles Leather Paper Paints & Coatings Plastics Others Pigments Printing Inks Paints & Coatings Plastics Others By End-Use (Volume/Value) Dyes Textile Leather Paper Paints Plastics Others Pigments Printing Ink Paints & Coatings Plastics Others By Region (Volume/Value) North America Europe Asia Pacific Latin America Middle East & Africa



TOC Continued!

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Read Related Insights:

Plastic Containers Market Estimated to Reach USD 86.27 Billion by 2029

Atmospheric Water Generator Market to Touch USD 6,214.9 Million by 2027

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A Zoom meeting of the Postal Workers Rank-and-File Committee on Sunday delivered a powerful answer to the propaganda by Communication Workers Union (CWU) officials who are insisting there is no alternative to accepting their pro-company agreement with Royal Mail and that a no vote will result in mutual destruction.

Sundays online meeting brought together Royal Mail workers from across the UK, including delivery workers, sorters and Parcelforce couriers to discuss a fighting programme for postal workers. A resolution, It is time to declare our own red lines in the fight against Royal Mail and the CWU bureaucracy, was adopted unanimously.

Tony Robson, a writer for the World Socialist Web Site and a leading member of the Socialist Equality Party, gave the opening report. His remarks were followed by a wide-ranging discussion.

There is no red line which the CWU has not crossed, Robson said, summarising the historic assault on pay, terms and conditions agreed by CWU leaders Dave Ward, Andy Furey and the postal executive, described by workers as a negotiated capitulation.

CWU leader Dave Ward (left) and his deputy Andy Furey at a CWU Live event, May 12, 2023 [Photo: screenshot: CWU Live/YouTube]

Robson said the agreement cements the union bureaucracys partnership with the company through a Joint Working Group and business transformation boards to enforce every attack. Thats why CWU officials view the agreement as a victory.

A groundswell of opposition to the deal showed the dispute had divided into two clear camps, with thousands of postal workers on one side, and the CWU and Royal Mail on the other, backed by Rishi Sunaks Conservative government and the Labour Party.

The government feared that postal workers could spearhead a broader strike wave among nurses, teachers, rail workers and others, Robson said, which the trade union bureaucracy has been trying to suffocate since last summer. Similar sell-out agreements were being imposed by the RMT, and health and teacher unions, with millions looking for a way to fight back.

To defeat this line-up requires more than a No vote, he insisted. A genuine rank-and-file insurgency must challenge the profit dictates of Royal Mail shareholders. Pointing to the departure of company CEO Simon Thompson, Robson asked, if Thompson has been forced out out for failing to effectively represent Royal Mail, why should postal workers allow Ward, Furey and companythe authors of this sell-out agreementto remain in charge?

Answering Wards public attacks on extreme political groups and outside agitators for over-influencing Royal Mail workers, Robson said, This is an extraordinary admission. Ward has acknowledged he has lost all political authority among the members. The CWUs attacks were aimed against the WSWS and the Postal Workers Rank-and-File Committee, because the WSWS was giving programmatic expression to a developing insurgency by workers. PWRFC statements and articles are being read by thousands of Royal Mail workers.

The claim about outside agitators unduly influencing postal workers is a slander. The WSWS has published reports from around 250 posties on the sweatshop conditions established across Royal Mail thanks to the CWU. All we did was ask for them to be sent in! This has broken the conspiracy of silence which the CWU has tried to enforce.

The purpose of this committee is to give postal workers themselves the organisation and perspective they need to fight back. We are calling for rank and file committees across all Royal Mail workplaces, run by and for postal workers.

Discussion

Discussion followed for more than an hour, with many Royal Mail workers speaking and others posting contributions and questions in the Zoom chat.

A delivery worker from London asked about Simon Thompsons departure as CEO with 680,000 excluding bonuses, What can we do against it, because the company is saying theres no money for the workers and then giving him a golden bonus goodbye?

Robson said the golden handshake was paid for by postal workers pay and conditions being gutted. He added, We dont need to tell workers theyre in a fight. Theyve shown that through 18 days of strike action, without any strike pay.

What were seeking to do through the committee is to set out the terms for the fight that must be waged. To reject the whole notion presented by the CWU that theres some kind of shared interest between the company and the workers, because its contradicted by reality at every stage.

A postal worker from Glasgow said, I would just like to thank Tony for the report. I thought that was excellent. I think he really nailed it. At one point, he quoted Margaret Thatcher [there is no alternative TINA]. Id like to remember another quote, from Watergate: Follow the money. Id like to see the union publish their accounts, as far back as they can and find out exactly where our money has been going.

Weve sleepwalked into this scenario. Ive seen this coming for five years. Theyve grown too comfortable, Ward and Pullingerthe Invisible Man. And the members have been taken for a ride. I think its an excellent meeting. Im just an ordinary delivery post person, but Ill go back and drum up support for the next meeting. Guys, more power to your elbow.

A postal worker with 26 years service from Lancaster left a chat message saying, Year after year, this has been going on Less hours, more work, revision after revision badly implemented. The USO [legally requiring Royal Mail to provide letter deliveries six days a week] has been failing for years. Well before this current dispute. Others agreed, and Robson pointed to a recent WSWS article reviewing the CWUs partnership with the government and Royal Mail since 2007, including its de facto support for privatisation.

A rep from the south of England said he had voted against the agreement, but he and others were outvoted by branch officials. For this reason, he said he was unable to hold a meeting at his delivery office to oppose the deal. A postal worker from the committee commented in the chat, that is an example of why the CWU is not a rank and file led union. Once a branch has decided to campaign for a yes vote, all the reps are bound by that decision. But there is nothing to stop you holding a gate meeting

A rep from Merseyside wrote, In my opinion, a no vote is going to push Dave Ward and co to rethink their strategy and will make them realise what the members will not accept. CWU HQ will have no option to challenge Royal Mail, as without that, the CWU is finished. A committee member from Parcelforce in London replied, Its not a question of trying to force the CWU leadership to fight. Theyve shown what side theyre on. I start at 7 in the morning and finish 7 at night. I walk 18 miles a day sometimes, carrying 25 to 30 kilo boxes. This is whats on the agenda across Royal Mail. Its a smash and grab operation backed by the CWU. Theyve shown where their loyalty lies and its with the profits of the companies, not us. So we have to do this ourselves.

A delivery worker from Lancaster wrote in the chat, Theres two main camps in my office: 1) absolutely livid with RM and CWU bureaucracy for this awful deal but just want the dispute over with and 2) absolutely livid with RM and CWU bureaucracy for this awful deal and want to fight but dont know how.

The PWRFC urges Royal Mail workers to share the resolution adopted at Sundays meeting. Organise delegations to join the next Postal Workers Rank-and-File Committee Zoom meeting on Sunday May 28, at 7pm. Register here.
Halifax, Nova Scotia--(Newsfile Corp. - May 17, 2023) - E-Tech Resources (TSXV: REE) (FSE: K2I) ("E-Tech" or the "Company") announces the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) aimed at exploring the potential of a feasibility study for a rare earth separation plant in Namibia with two other Namibian rare earth operators.

Addressing the global bottleneck in rare earth element (REE) separation, E-Tech recognizes the need for a de-risked supply chain for these strategic critical raw materials. While various separation technologies are available, the establishment of separation facilities requires substantial upfront capital investment, a reliable supply of raw materials, and a critical mass to ensure viable operation. Consequently, E-Tech Resources, alongside two other advanced rare earth project developers in Namibia, is exploring the option of conducting a feasibility study for a potential separation plant in Namibia.

In addition to E-Tech Resources, the parties involved in this exploration are Ondoto Rare Earth (Pty) Ltd., a private Namibian company developing the high-grade Ondoto bastnaesite deposit in northern Namibia, and Namibia Critical Metals Inc. (TSXV: NMI) (OTCQB: NMREF) who are developing the Tier-1 Heavy Rare Earth Project, Lofdal, a globally significant deposit of the heavy rare earth metals dysprosium and terbium. Together, the three companies will participate in a joint venture known as the "Rare Earth Alliance Namibia" (REAN).

Jim Megann, President of E-Tech Resources, commented:

Through this collaboration, we aim to leverage our collective expertise, resources, and networks to explore the possibility of developing a sustainable and environmentally responsible facility that meets international standards. We believe this partnership not only has the potential to contribute to Namibia's economic development but also foster technology transfer and skills development in the mining and processing industry. We look forward to working closely with the Namibian government and international stakeholders to investigate this option.

If the feasibility study proves favorable, the Rare Earth Alliance Namibia intends to design, construct, and operate the REE separation facility through a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV).

The establishment of this facility would create value-added opportunities within Namibia's mining sector by processing REE concentrates into higher-value REE products. This would reduce the export of raw materials as concentrates, generate employment, and enhance skill development in the country.

The parties involved in the exploration have agreed to evaluate the technical potential and feasibility of developing a rare earth element (REE) separation facility. This includes the extraction and separation of REEs from concentrates of mixed rare earth oxides produced within Namibia, as well as potentially considering rare earth concentrates and semi-products from external sources. Key factors to be considered in the feasibility study include the potential supply and characteristics of REE concentrates from Namibian mines and other sources, potential facility locations, infrastructure requirements, and all regulatory and environmental considerations.

About E-Tech Resources Inc.

E-Tech Resources Inc. (TSXV: REE) (FSE: K2I) is a rare earth exploration and development company focused on developing its Eureka Rare Earths Project in Namibia. The Eureka Project is located approximately 250 km north-west of Namibia's capital city Windhoek and 140 km east of Namibia's main industrial port Walvis Bay. The project is situated next to the national B1 highway in the Erongo Region of Namibia. The Eureka deposit lies in the Southern Central Zone of the Neoproterozoic Damara Belt within EPL 6762. which covers Eureka Farm 99 and Sukses Farm 90. Namibia is recognized as one of Africa's most politically stable jurisdictions, with an extremely well-established national infrastructure and a clear and transparent mining law. The Corporation continues to assess new project opportunities and expand its Southern African portfolio.

Further details are available on the Corporation's website at www.etech-resources.com or contact Jim Megann, Interim CEO of E-Tech Resources Inc., at +1 902 334 1949.

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.

Caution Regarding Forward Looking Information

This press release may contain forward-looking information, such as statements regarding the completion of the work in Namibia by E-Tech and future plans and objectives of E-Tech, including acquisition of EPL 8748 by E-Tech which is subject to granting of EPL 8748 by Namibian authorities, regulatory approval and closing conditions. This information is based on current expectations and assumptions (including assumptions in connection with the continuance of the applicable company as a going concern and general economic and market conditions) that are subject to significant risks and uncertainties that are difficult to predict, including risks relating to the ability to satisfy the conditions to completion of exploration programs and work in Namibia. Actual results may differ materially from results suggested in any forward-looking information. E-Tech assumes no obligation to update forward-looking information in this release, or to update the reasons why actual results could differ from those reflected in the forward-looking information unless and until required by applicable securities laws. Additional information identifying risks and uncertainties is contained in filings made by E-Tech with Canadian securities regulators, copies of which are available at www.sedar.com.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/166398
Are you an AdvanSix worker? Fill out the form below to get information about a building rank-and-file committee in your workplace.

AdvanSix workers picket in Hopewell, Virginia [Photo: Virginia Machinists Council]

On May 9, striking chemical workers at AdvanSix Hopewell South plant in Virginia voted to accept a sellout contract by 194 to 94, after having earlier voted down three nearly identical proposals. Workers had been on strike since April 6 after the company denied the unions request for a contract extension.

The strikers demanded wage increases including indirect compensation such as stock options. They also asked for paid sick leave and an end to forced overtime, or drafting, which has workers taking on successive 16 and 18 hour shifts. This type of brutal working schedule, whether in the auto industry, the railroad or other industries, is becoming increasingly common across the US as companies try to squeeze out every last cent of profit from their workforce.

AdvanSix summarily dismissed the workers proposals, playing hardball instead, not budging an inch on any of the workers' demands and reacting against the strike by cutting off healthcare and widely advertising $1,000 bonuses for strikebreakers.

AdvanSix aimed to divide the bargaining unit, comprised of operators and maintenance workers, in four separate unions, from the very beginning of the negotiations. The companys initial offer would have given 51 percent of the workers, mostly operators, a 6 percent raise while offering the remaining 49 percent, predominantly maintenance workers, nothing in the first year of the contract.

The company also attempted to break up the bargaining unit by negotiating with each union separately. Though workers prevented the action, the policies of the various union bureaucracies were enforced in their own jurisdictional divisions, with workers in some unions eligible for meager strike pay, while others such as members of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, received none.

After a third overwhelming No vote by the rank-and-file, AdvanSix declared they would begin shaving points off the 6 percent raise operators were promised in order to pay for the scabs who were keeping operations in the plant running. This final threat produced the outcome that the company had preordained at the beginning of negotiations.

Despite the determination of workers, their fight was crippled from the start by the deliberate sabotage of the union bureaucracies, which worked to undermine their struggle and weaken their initiative.

The brutality of AdvanSixs negotiation tactics was enabled by the actions of the unions. The strikers must ask why the bargaining team brought what was, for all intents and purposes, the same sellout contract to a vote four times.

A source familiar with the negotiations told the World Socialist Web Site, The bargaining team was told they had to bring back the companys last, best, and final offer. Thats the rule. This was not only a flagrant violation of the mandate given to the unions by the rank-and-file, but a sign that the bureaucracy saw as its role the enforcement of managements demands.

That the work stoppage took place at all was entirely due to the refusal of the company to accept an extension proposed by the unions. But what purpose, from the standpoint of workers, would an extension have served, when management had already made crystal clear that there was nothing left to talk about? The unions simply handed all power to the company.

Once the strike had begun, workers were kept out with minimal or no strike pay for a month, making them more vulnerable to the company's acts of economic terrorism. Each of the four unions representing the strikers control hundreds of millions in assets, drawn from workers own dues money, which could, and should, have been used to adequately provision workers for a drawn-out battle.

The only appropriate response to the attacks by the company would have been the expansion of the struggle by appealing for the broadest possible support from workers at the Hopewell North and Chester facilities, also in Virginia, which both have their own contracts expiring soon, as well as to chemical workers around the country and even the world.

Instead, the unions worked to isolate and divide workers in order to force through the contract the company intended from the beginning. The unions tried to divide workers even within the plant across jurisdictional lines, including through the use of different strike pay policies. AdvanSix took full advantage of this. Moreover, the fact that the contracts at different AdvanSix plants expire at different times is another means through which the unions try to divide workers.

AdvanSixs Hopewell facility is a key strategic plant for the capitalist economy, which means it is also key for the working class. It is the the worlds largest single-site producer of ammonium sulfate, used in fertilizer, which is used globally to grow commercial crops such as corn, wheat, coffee, sugar, cotton and rice. The world market for fertilizer has been thrown into chaos by the NATO-sponsored war with Russia in Ukraine, given that Russia is the worlds largest supplier of fertilizer.

Based on the importance of AdvanSix on the global economy, the strikers could have launched a powerful appeal to chemical workers, not only in other AdvanSix plants, but chemical workers more broadly, particularly under conditions of a global strike movement which is underway.

The immediate obstacle confronting workers is the union bureaucracy, whether it is in one union or four. It is not only in bed with management, but also with the capitalist political system. The strike was also undoubtedly being carefully followed by the Biden administration, which was fully prepared to intervene against it if necessary, as it did against railroaders. Therefore, the strikers were in a fight not only against management and the pro-corporate union bureaucracy, but standing behind them both, the capitalist political system in the United States.

The unions were fulfilling the mandate of the Biden administrations pro-labor policy, which is to use the unions to drive down real wages and working conditions while enforcing labor peace in order to sustain its imperialist war drive. They have been tasked with controlling the mounting unrest of the working class that has been exacerbated by the COVID pandemic and the unpopular hostilities towards Russia and China.

The only way AdvanSix workers could have leveraged the objectively powerful position they held was to fight for rank-and-file control of the negotiations by taking the struggle out of the hands of the unions. Workers need organization, but they need organizations which they actually control. The negotiations should have been guided by the principle that the will of the membership takes absolute and unconditional priority over all other interests.

This is the conclusion workers are coming to all over the world.

Last year, railroaders formed a Rank-and File Committee which, despite workers belonging to several different craft unions, opposed the Presidential Emergency Boards proposed settlement.

In the United Kingdom, the Postal Workers Rank-and-File Committee has called for the rejection of the sell-out contract being foisted upon them by the Communication Workers Union.

United Auto Workers members are forming rank-and-file committees in their plants to protect their jobs, end the two-tier wage system, and reinstate pensions.

The way forward for workers is to break free from the straitjacket imposed on their struggles by the nationalist, pro-capitalist union apparatuses. This will not happen through various movements or rank-and-file caucuses that redirect workers anger into the blind alley of reform of the union apparatus. Workers must form rank-and-file committees independent of the unions if they are to win meaningful improvements to their living conditions.

Are you an AdvanSix worker? Fill out the form below to get information about a building rank-and-file committee in your workplace.
On Thursday, May 11, Baltimore Police Officer Cedric Elleby shot 17-year-old Mekhi Franklin in Southwest Baltimore, Maryland. Franklin was critically wounded and had to be hospitalized for his injuries. He remained in critical condition for several days, and had to have his spleen and left kidney surgically removed. Elleby was placed on administrative leave pending an investigation into the shooting.

Screenshot from police bodycam video showing 17-year-old Mekhi Franklin running from police before being shot in the back. [Photo: Baltimore Police Department body camera]

According to the Baltimore Banner, Franklins mother Kiera was not allowed to see her son in the hospital initially and had to wait for a police escort. In an interview with the paper she said, Im feeling like my son was shot like a dog by Baltimore Police. Now I cant talk to my son. She said further that the police would not tell her whether her son had been charged with a crime or would be charged. Franklin further told WJZ that her son had been shot in the back, One bullet almost hit his spleen, and the other bullet went through his bladder.

In a statement to the press, Deputy Commissioner Richard Worley said the officer approached the teen because they believed [he] was displaying the characteristics of an armed person. Worley refused to elaborate on this vague justification for the shooting. Seeking to further shield the officer, Worley stated, we just know [Franklin] was running with the weapon and he basically ignored several commands to drop the weapon.

According to the police account of events, Franklin started running away as Elleby approached. This led to a foot chase that spanned several blocks through multiple alleyways. At some point Franklin produced a gun in his hand leading the officer to shoot him after ordering him to drop the weapon several times. The police then rendered medical aid before Franklin was taken to a local hospital.

Witnesses to the shooting and the events leading up to it contradicted almost everything the police claimed. Speaking to the Baltimore Sun, Daquan Young, a friend of the teen, said Elleby sat down next to Franklin for ten minutes, before the boy got up and walked away, leading Elleby to pursue him.

Young and Devon Smith, another witness, both told the Sun they did not see Franklin holding a gun while running. Smith added that he did not hear the officer tell Franklin to drop the weapon. Both witnesses stated Franklin was shot in the back.

Multiple witnesses said the officer had been harassing Franklin both immediately prior to the shooting and in previous incidents. This happened previously with the same police officer, Franklins mother told WJZ. Franklins friend Young told the Sun that the same officer had approached him the day before, calling him names, and telling him that he needed to lose weight.

Many witnesses demanded the body camera footage be released, indicating that it would contradict the polices account. Speaking to WJZ, an unnamed witness said, I want to see it as soon as possible, I hope they give the citizens, the community, everybody deserves a chance to see the original tape. Residents further expressed outrage that the Maryland Attorney General would not be investigating the incident.

On Tuesday afternoon the police released a ten-second clip showing the officer pursuing Franklin down a street and shooting him as he turned down an alleyway. The police focused on the fact that an object could be seen in Franklins right hand while he was running but there is no indication from the footage that Franklin was preparing to use a weapon or posed an immediate threat to the officer or anyone else. It is just as plausible that the 17-year-old Franklin was hoping to ditch the object in the alley.

Brandon Scott, the Democratic Mayor of Baltimore, called the shooting unfortunate, adding that it is extremely traumatic for the injured, his family, the community, our police officers, everyone involved. He immediately pivoted, saying his priority is getting illegal guns off the streets. We will not continue, we cannot continue to allow folks to carry illegal firearms in our city.

Elleby is a member of a District Action Team in the Baltimore Police. This is a group of plainclothes officers tasked with finding illegal guns and was set up in the aftermath of the scandal that engulfed the citys Gun Trace Task Force, which was revealed to be little more than an excuse for racketeering by police officers.



Similar outfits in other cities play the same role of harassing poor and younger residents, often leading to shootings and killings by the police. Franklins aunt, Mary Scott, told WBAL-TV that the officers had been riding around the neighborhood the whole week prior in an unmarked white SUV, jumping out and harassing kids, a common motif for these gun task forces.

Youth in Baltimore, as in the rest of the world, confront an out of control social crisis. The conditions leading to the murder of Freddie Gray in 2015 have only worsened since the mass protests which swept the city and the country that year. According to the nonprofit Baltimores Promise, 17 percent of youth aged 16 to 24 are unemployed. Baltimore public schools have been cut to the bone, leaving school buildings dilapidated and teachers overworked.

Meanwhile, middle class elements associated with Black Lives Matter have managed to place themselves in positions of privilege by presenting police violence as an explicitly racial phenomenon, avoiding mention of the socio-economic roots of poverty and fundamental class nature of police brutality. The racial narrative of police violence is explicitly undermined in this case, as both the officer and his victim are black.

The police are deployed to keep the working class in line and protect the interests of the citys wealthy real estate investors and business stakeholders.
Papua New Guineas Foreign Minister Justin Tkatchenko declared on May 12 that he had stood aside from his position amid an escalating furore over the cost of the countrys delegation to the coronation of King Charles III in London.

Papua New Guinea Foreign Minister Justin Tkatchenko [Photo: US Department of State]

Tkatchenko sparked the controversy after his daughter Savannah, who had travelled with the delegation, posted a TikTok video boasting about her first-class plane journey and luxury shopping spree in Singapore. It prompted outrage with many respondents arguing that the public money should have been spent on basic services.

In an interview with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation Tkatchenko branded his daughters critics as primitive animals. He declared: Shes absolutely traumatised by these primitive animals I call them primitive animals because they are. He continued: Jealousy is a curse. And, you know, these people clearly show that they have got nothing to do in their lives other than to put down people that want to do something good for their country.

The comments provoked a public backlash, including protests by students who marched from the university campus to parliament in Port Moresby behind a large banner reading We are not primitives! It is not just about the offensive comments, student Michael Pais told Radio NZ. The primary reason is the manner in which money has been spent on this trip and the extravagance displayed whilst our people lack the most basic services.

Tkatchenko said he stood aside after consulting with Prime Minister James Marape, who would assume the portfolio. I want to make sure the recent events do not interfere with the official visits and summits we are going to have with all the World Leaders in the coming weeks, he said.

Before a late cancellation on Wednesday, US President Biden, Indian Prime Minister Modi and leaders from Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific were due in Port Moresby for a summit on May 22. It was to be the first visit by a sitting US president to a Pacific nation, taking place as Washington ramps up its diplomatic and strategic offensive against China. The US and PNG are close to signing a defence cooperation agreement potentially allowing American troops access to the nations ports and airports.

According to the PNG Post Courier, a total of 6 million kina ($US1,650,000) was used to attend the coronation in London as well as on local celebrations at a stadium in Port Moresby attended by a handful of people including Marape, British High Commissioner Keith Scott and embassy officials.

PNGs Government House official secretary Bill Toraso denied that the governor generals office had spent as much as 3 million kina on overseas travel but confirmed to Reuters 10 of its staff went to London plus 10 guests. Two foreign ministry officials also travelled with Tkatchenko. According to the Post Courier, PNG had been given only four tickets for the official coronation ceremony in Westminster Abbey.

Demands for Tkatchenkos resignation by the political establishment, including the parliamentary opposition parties and trade unions, were clearly aimed at quashing any social unrest provoked by the affair, particularly in the face of the looming international summit. Marape released a statement saying he too had been offended by the remarks, while asking the people to accept Tkatchenkos subsequent apology.

In fact, the contempt displayed by the minister for the broad population simply revealed too openly the attitude of the countrys entire ruling stratum. At least one MP, Billy Joseph, came to Tkatchenkos defence, calling for Papua New Guineans to stop the deep hate and reverse discrimination levelled against him.

Explosive political tensions have been generated over a long period by the vast gulf that separates the poverty-stricken PNG masses from the countrys corrupt and venal ruling class. Trust in the political establishment has disintegrated following decades of social deprivation and growing inequality, buttressed by authoritarian military-police measures.

The elections in 2017 and last year, in which Marape was installed, were both widely viewed as illegitimate. The electoral process was plagued by violence, fraud allegations and large numbers of voters missing from the electoral roll. Marapes Pangu Pati, like previous administrations, now governs in a fragile three-party coalition, making for notorious instability, flagrant horse-trading and corruption.

Tkatchenko is a beneficiary of this political swamp. He has shifted his political allegiances whenever convenient and is currently a member of the Social Democratic Party in the coalition. Australian born, he is a naturalised citizen, a former television host and has significant business interests.

In the now infamous case of the missing Maseratis, as minister for the 2018 APEC summit in the Peter ONeill-led government, Tkatchenko oversaw the purchase of 40 high-end Maseratis and four Bentley cars, costing $US5.6 million.

Meant to impress visiting APEC dignitaries, the luxury cars were never used. Protests and strikes erupted over the extravagant waste of public money. Queried about whether the vehicles would be sold to recover the money, Tkatchenko famously promised they would sell like hot cakes. According to police, however, they remain locked away in an old shed on the capitals main wharf.

Many took to social media to focus on the extreme social inequality and deprivation that prevails. On Twitter, Maninhare Grant highlighted the near collapse of the health system with a photo of the countrys second largest hospital with a queue of new mothers forced into the corridor after delivering their babies. Another person posted a photo of Tkatchenkos upmarket apartment contrasted with the wooden shanties in which his constituents live in an area of Port Moresby rife with homelessness.

Despite its significant natural resources PNG, an Australian colony until 1975, is among the poorest countries in the world. According to UN figures, 39 percent of the people live below the poverty line of $US1.90 a day. During the COVID pandemic tens of thousands of workers, estimated as high as 25 percent of the workforce, lost their jobs. Meagre government relief measures such as tax deferrals and loan repayment holidays have been woefully insufficient. The fragile health system with inadequate working conditions and low pay has seen repeated protests and strikes by nurses.

Among deepening popular discontent, the Marape government is turning to more repressive measures. Last month, a curfew was imposed in the West New Britain province and extra police mobilised to quell unrest over the shooting dead of 16 prisoners trying to escape from Lakiemata prison. Seven out of the 24 escapees, aged between 22 and 40, were on remand.

In other authoritarian moves, forthcoming amendments to media laws threaten to mirror the harsh restrictions that applied until recently in Fiji. The new law aims to outline the objectives and strategies for the use of media as a tool for development, but less than two weeks were provided for submissions. The law has been described by media freedom advocates as the thin edge of the web of state control.

As for Tkatchenko, it is likely that Marape will not take long to express his forgiveness by reinstating the unpopular minister, either in his previous role or in another high-profile positiona move required to keep his unstable coalition government intact.
Some 11,500 US television and film workers, members of the Writers Guild of America (WGA), went on strike May 2 when their contract expired. The conglomerates that dominate the industry have not shown any willingness to respond to the writers demands for decent pay and job security.

The highly paid parasite-executives at Disney, Amazon Studios, Netflix, Warner Bros. Discovery, Sony Pictures, NBCUniversal and the rest, who contribute nothing to television and movie production, consider the various series and films as their personal property, which only exist to enrich them and which they can dispose of as they see fit. Objectively, the strike raises the question of who presently controls cultural life and who should control it.

The anger of the writers is real and legitimate, as the tweets included in this article indicate.

The average television and film writer has seen his or her income shrink over the past decade, as the companies have used every trick in the bookthe only area in which they genuinely demonstrate creativity to cut staffing and costs. The conglomerates justify their refusal to guarantee staffing in the name of defending the creative process against a one-size-fits-all solution supposedly demanded by the writers. No one over the age of seven believes that the US film and television studios stand for anything except raking in money.

The WGA insists that the offer made by the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) would only amount to $41 million in minimum wage increases. The AMPTP argues that their offer is worth $97 million.

We have no way of knowing which figure is correct, but either way, the numbers are instructive. The employers are so arrogant and oblivious they seem unaware that $97 million distributed over 11,500 people is only $8,435 per person. Meanwhile, the industry executives are rolling in money. According to Forbes, Disney CEO Robert Iger alone was worth $690 million in 2019. Mike Cavanagh of Comcast, which owns NBCUniversal, had total compensation of $27.4 million in 2021.

Variety blandly noted in April, one week before the WGA strike began, that Reed Hastings, who stepped aside as co-CEO of Netflix in January, and co-chief Ted Sarandos both saw double-digit increases in their compensation packages for 2022, with their total pay topping $50 million each. Between the two, in other words, they collectively earned more last year than the amount the AMPTP claims it is offering 11,500 people.

The World Socialist Web Site spoke to picketers and supporters in the Hudson Yards district of Manhattans West Side on May 10, where a number of companies, including HBO and Amazon, have offices.

A retired writer, David, pointed out that he had participated in five writers strikes. The 2007-08 strike was the last one I participated in before retiring, he explained, and I can tell you that nothing substantial was changed or has changed since. The industry is still dominated by the same bloodsuckers, and things have only gotten worse for writers.

He went on, It has to be understood that this is a struggle with a long history. Writers have been battling it out with the studios for decades. In the past it was a handful of studio executives that called the shots, but now, more than ever, its the big boys on Wall Street who dictate what happens.

These guys who have no idea what it takes to write a story, to produce something valuable, these guys who think only of the bottom line, want to dictate what happens to writers and their projects. Theyre not interested in topics that matters, in serious work. Many artists, I think more than ever, are severely limiting by this. Theres a lot bound up with this strike, a lot.

The retired writer continued, I dont know much about AI [artificial intelligence], but it doesnt surprise me that theyre threatening writers with it. Can AI write a script? Sure. Can it do it better than a living person? No, I dont think so. Takes the human element out of writing, which is a key part of the craft. The plot structure will be correct and the basics will be there, but wheres the feeling? The life will be gone and without that you dont have very much.
The owner of Osaka Japan, a sushi restaurant located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, stole almost $1 million in compensation from 201 workers. Four years after the Department of Labor (DOL) settled the case in court, workers still have not received the stolen wages and more than likely never will.

Worker carries drinks to a table at Puckett's Grocery and Restaurant, Friday, Sept. 10, 2021, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)

In a six-year timespan beginning in 2013, Kwang Bum Kim pocketed 15 percent of every tip handed out to servers. As one of the most exploited sections of the working class, waiters and waitresses rely on a gratuity form of payment to offset poverty level hourly wages of only a few dollars.

Kim also denied workers overtime wages. In a perfect example of cooking the books, Kim fabricated the amount of hours his employees worked, keeping them on paper to 40 or less a week. While sushi chefs, cooks, bussers and dishwashers routinely labored 60 or more hours per week, Kim paid them a flat rate of between $80-150 per day.

The city of Philadelphia and the state Department of Revenue are owed $400,000 from Kim in unpaid business taxes, according to government officials. In 2019 the city shut down one of Kims restaurants for failing to pay taxes.

Department of Labor spokesperson Lenore Uddyback-Fortson said the agency has made significant efforts to collect this judgment, including liens on property. The 77-year-old has a house in Blue Bell, in a wealthy suburb of Philadelphia known for its large executive-style mansions, major business parks, community shopping facilities, and small businesses.

Under Pennsylvania law, the DOL lacks the authority to seize Kims mansion since the property is also under his wifes name. Gabriel Stoler, a former worker at the restaurant, who is owed $34,000 in stolen wages, told the Philadelphia Inquirer, I feel like Mr. Kim is gonna get away with it.

Theft of unpaid wages is big business for capitalists across the United States, amounting to a staggering $50 billion, according to a study conducted several years ago by the Economic Policy Institute.

A recent study on wage theft by CBS News confirms the theft of billions of dollars in wages from workers across the United States. Their investigation found that in the overwhelming majority of cases the owners get away with breaking the law and workers are left without recourse.

CBS investigated records from nearly every state department of labor across the country. Of the 650,000 cases they studied, only about half ruled in favor of workers. Within this half, a third of cases resulted in no money collected for workers, for losses amounting to billions of dollars in pay. Only one-third of wage theft cases handled by state agencies resulted in any kind of monetary recovery for workers.

Oscar Torres is a perfect example of the rampant problem of wage theft. He has successfully filed unpaid wage claims against four different companies in Texas, with the Texas Workforce Commission finding in his favor each time. However, in each case the companies owing him money just disappear, Torres told CBS, and the state cannot recover the money on his behalf.

Now he has fallen behind on rent  [and] had to cut back on food expenses.' He said, It limits the ability to go out or even pay rent or gas to be able to go to another job to get the income that I need.

California had the longest wait time of any state between the filing of claims for lost wages and resolution. On average, it took 439 days for a case to be brought to court and less than half of cases resulted in a favorable result.

Many more cases of wage theft are never reported by workers for fear of being fired or reprimanded, or victims are simply ignored by the court system. In states like Alabama and Florida, for instance, a state body to process and handle filings for wage theft cases does not exist.

For migrant workers or immigrants attempting to file wage theft claims, the threat of deportation hangs over their heads and those of their families. Aside from non-payment, [my boss] intimidated us, calling immigration, wanting us to be sent back to Guatemala, Perez Gonzalez, a worker in Miami, Florida, told CBS.

Shelly Rusicka, development director for Arise Chicago, a local non-profit helping victims of wage theft file lawsuits, told CBS, Sadly, its people who have the least political power. If you're poor, you might have to work three jobs and you dont have time to do anything else, basically, besides work and try and take care of your family the best you can. If you dont speak the language, you might be afraid to go and talk to the government.

In the US legal system, wage theft is rarely seen as a crime equivalent to stealing money from a cash register, or a wallet or purse from someone walking down the street. Owners are not usually prosecuted for theft and can use bankruptcy laws to avoid making payment to their victims.

Jose Urine, another employee at Arise Chicago, told CBS, 'When were talking about wage theft, this is largely considered a statutory violation. And for whatever reason, it does receive completely different treatment than if, say, you accosted someone on the street and took their wallet. And the truth is that in almost all aspects, its the exact same. The primary difference is that its more insidious, right? Because here you have an employer-employee relationship, you have an imbalance of power.

Though laws in the state of Illinois, for instance, can charge employers with a misdemeanor or a low-level felony for repeat offenders, CBS only uncovered one prosecution since 2010.

The failure of state DOLs to protect workers and ensure full recovery for lost wages is yet another example of legal institutions under capitalism serving the wealthy. For owners, the theft of workers wages is simply part of doing business. Most owners violating the law will face little to no consequences.

The DOL, whether on the federal or state level, is no more on the side of workers than other agencies ostensibly created to protect workers from dangerous conditions at work, such as OSHA. As a recent example, last year two brothers were killed after an explosion at a BP facility in Ohio. OSHA fined the multibillion-dollar transnational corporation a mere $156,250 for safety violations that led to the mens deaths.
Tens of thousands of excess deaths were recorded in the UK last year, 32,441 people in England and Wales between May and December 2022 according to the Organisation for National Statistics.

This figure excludes those with COVID listed on the death certificate. The excess deaths were calculated as those above a five-year average from 2016-19 and 2021, excluding 2020 when the number of deaths spiked due to COVID fatalities.

Accident and Emergency unit in Poole Hospital, Dorset [Photo: WSWS]

Overall, there have been over 220,000 lives lost to COVID in Britain as a result of the governments deliberate policy of mass infection. The toll was disproportionately heavy among older people, made worse by such murderous policies as the governments emptying hospital geriatric wards into care homes without proper testing or isolation procedures.

As Professor David Coleman, Emeritus Professor of Demography at Oxford University, told the Mirror, this deepens the mystery of persistent excess deaths. With a large number of elderly people killed by the virus, the remaining population should be healthier, there should be a period afterwards where deaths are lower than usual but that hasnt happened.

Even when taking into consideration a growing elderly population between 2016 and 2022, there are still a significant number of excess deaths. The Age-Related Standardised Mortality Rate (ARSMR) for December 22 was 5.8 percent above the five-year average.

Full scientific explanations of these facts are still being worked out. National mortality and excess death statistics are the product of a large number of complex factors affecting a huge and varied population. The evidence suggests, however, that this is not a temporary phenomenon, but the result of a general worsening of the health of the population, such that the UK now has the largest number of people out of work due to ill health on recordmore than 2.5 million, or one in 14 working-age adults.

A major factor is doubtless the crisis in the health service, exposed and exacerbated by the pandemic. The National Health Service (NHS) has suffered deep funding cuts and privatisation, left with outdated buildings and equipment and record staff shortages. COVID-19 and the governments policy of mass infection intensified staffing problems, leading to the deaths of many health workers and pushing thousands to leave the health profession due to either burnout or ill-health associated with COVID.

Before the pandemic, there were 4.43 million patients on the NHS waiting list. The figure for March 2023 is 7.33 million. This means that over 11 percent of the entire UK population of 66 million is waiting for treatment. Of these, 3.3 million have waited over 18 weeks and 360,000 for over a year.

The number of people seen by a specialist consultant within two weeks of an urgent referral by a General Practitioner (GP) was 83.9 percent for March 2023the government target of 93 percent has not been met since May 2020. For many, getting a GP appointment in the first place is a nightmare, with too many patients to each doctor. Sometimes GPs are unable to make referrals for hospital care because slots are unavailable, which means the care falls back on the GP, increasing pressure on overstretched primary care.

Delays can mean chronic conditions become acute, putting lives in danger and further pressure on the NHS. Only 54 percent of cancer patients received treatment within two months, according to statistics from this January, as GP referrals increased 12 percent versus January 2022. By June last year, the number of patients waiting more than the maximum 18 weeks for cardiac treatment had trebled since February 2020 to nearly 100,000. According to Diabetes UK, there has been a 13 percent increase in diabetes associated deaths compared to pre-pandemic figures.

In December-January last winter, potentially thousands of excess deaths were attributed to worst-ever wait times for ambulances and in Accident and Emergency departments.

Right-wing commentators are doing their best to attribute this crisis to the lockdowns implemented in the first two years of the pandemic. This is totally bogus. The main blow dealt to the NHS was by the repeated rampant spread of COVID-19 promoted by the let it rip policy, overflowing hospitals with desperately ill people.

Lockdowns were reluctantly implemented by the government under duress, fearing social anger at the consequences of its policies. As far as they impeded access to healthcare and other services, this was due to their totally improvised, unplanned-for character, with no provision made for managing COVID upon reopening, let alone looking after the broader health of the population.

Writing in the Guardian against the weaponization of excess death statistics to attack lockdowns last September, Chair of Global Public Health at the University of Edinburgh Professor Devi Sridhar pointed to a mix of the new burden of Covid-19 and an overloaded health service. She noted, Covid is making us sicker and more vulnerable to other diseases (research suggests it may contribute to delayed heart attacks, strokes, and dementia).

This is the great unmentionable in most of the media because it refutes the ruling elites narrative that the pandemic is over, in order that nothing get in the way of profit-making and pursuing war against Russia.

Prompted by the Democratic Party administration in the US, which has permitted its COVID-19 public health emergency to expire, the World Health Organisation declared that COVID is no longer a public health emergency of international concern. This despite a further million dying from the virus globally the past three months, and the emergence of new variants. The Conservative government, with full backing from Labour and trade unions, lifted its remaining COVID restrictions in England in February 2022 under a living with COVID plan.

As the World Socialist Web Site noted in relation to the Biden governments move, COVID -19 is to remain permanently embedded in society, continuing to infect, disable and kill masses of people for the foreseeable future.

It is likely that most of the worlds population have been infected at least once, and there is a mountain of growing evidence as to the long-term sequelae of infection. According to the Lancet, Almost 90 percent of COVID-19 survivors have developed sequelae, including not only general symptoms such as fatigue but also severe neurological, cardiac, renal or respiratory manifestations.

The COVID-19 pandemic is the most advanced expression of a broader reversal of public health standards driven by the pursuit of profit over human needs. According to the Public Health Foundation, the grant dedicated to preventive medicine has been cut by 26 percent in real terms per person since 2015/16.

Worsening social inequality and poverty are also major contributors to poor health in the population, including obesity and mental health problems. Coleman noted that some people have been forecasting separately from Covid that death rates would continue to get worse because the country is so unhealthy.

Sridhar listed as other probable causes of the UKs excess deaths an extremely hot summer, linked to climate change, and the cost of living crisis and concerns about fuel poverty. Both of which point to capitalisms complete failure to secure a healthy environment for the population.

The health and lives of this and future generations cannot be left in the hands of a profit-crazed ruling class or their lackeys in the trade union bureaucracy whose betrayal of workers strugglesabove all in the health servicehave allowed such a staggering reversal in the living standards of the working class.

NHS FightBack is leading the struggle against the health union bureaucracies sabotage of the NHS strike wave, on behalf of health workers and the entire working class which relies on their services.

The Socialist Equality Parties have organised a Global Workers Inquest into the COVID-19 Pandemic to raise the level of scientific awareness and as a critical component of the fight to rebuild a socialist culture in the working class. The events of the last three years have confirmed that this is the only basis for the defence and improvement of public health.
On Monday, May 15, an 18-year-old high school student in Farmington, New Mexico, Beau Wilson, opened fired on neighbors and strangers, killing three and injuring six more, before he was shot and killed by police. Within 10 minutes, police claim Wilson fired over 150 rounds, leaving bullet holes in bodies, cars, windows and homes along a quarter mile stretch of mostly residential homes.

Investigators work along a residential street following a deadly shooting Monday, May 15, 2023, in Farmington, New Mexico. [AP Photo/Susan Montoya Bryan]

The deceased include Shirley Voita, 79, Melody Ivie, 73, and Ivies mother Gwendolyn Schofield, 98. Six more people were injured in the shooting, mostly from broken glass windows that lacerated victims after being shot out. One police officer was injured via gunshot and is recovering at a hospital.



According to police, a doorbell camera recorded Wilson walking down the middle of the street firing a weapon at 10:56 a.m. Less than a minute later, police said they received hundreds of calls for emergency services from people reporting a mass shooting. Farmington Deputy Police Chief Baric Crum said that the crime scene was over a quarter mile long.



Police report they first arrived on the scene at 11:02 a.m. at which point they observed Wilson firing at civilians. At 11:07 a.m. police exchanged gunfire with Wilson, at which point an officer was injured, and Wilson was killed.



Due to the volume of shots, early reports indicated there might have been multiple shooters. When the incident started, police put local schools on lockdown, forcing students to stay indoors for an extra two hours.



Police have confirmed that Wilson was living at an address in the area, although they have also said that he had multiple addresses where he was staying at.



While police have not revealed a suspected motive at this time, Farmington Deputy Police Chief Kyle Dowdy told reporters that Wilson had legally purchased the assault-style rifle used in the shooting in November 2022, one month after he turned 18. Dowdy said that Wilson used two other guns in the attack which appeared to have been owned by his family members, although it is unclear if they were aware he was in possession of their weapons.



In a press conference on Tuesday, Farmington Mayor Nate Duckett offered empty platitudes and heaped praise on the Farmington police. The Republican mayor said the police response saved countless lives.



In the same conference, police said they had not uncovered a motive in the shooting and claimed that it appeared to be a purely random act.



Weve discovered nothing that leads us to believe that this suspect knew any of the people, Deputy Police Chief Dowdy told reporters. Dowdy said that in an interview with family members of Wilson, they said he was suffering from mental health issues but that there was nothing documented that would have prevented him from legally purchasing a gun. He also acknowledged that Wilson had had previous interactions with police, but he described those as minor infractions.



Dowdy characterized the shooting as pretty random ... the shooting was arbitrary and up and down the street.



While it does not appear as of this writing that Wilson deliberately targeted his victims, there is nothing purely random about the unending and growing scourge of anti-social gun violence in the land of inequality and never-ending imperialist war.



Located in rural northwest New Mexico, the population of Farmington has stagnated after oil and gas industries moved out of the city, leaving behind one coal-fired power plant, which provides 1,500 jobs in a city of roughly 46,000. About 20 percent of the population live under the poverty line.



Following the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic, Mayor Duckett defied mitigation measures enacted by Democratic Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham in April 2020, saying in a radio interview that closing businesses to stop the spread was an example of the creep of the left and socialist mind-set. In the 2020 election, Trump won the county by a nearly 2-1 margin.



As of March 2023, over 867 people in San Juan County, where Farmington is located, have died due to COVID-19 per the New York Times, no doubt a severe undercount.



Mondays mass shooting is at least the 225th this year in the United States, according to the Gun Violence Archive (GVA). The GVA categorizes any shooting in which four or more people, not including the shooter, are injured or killed as a mass shooting.



So far in 2023, over 15,800 people have been killed by guns in the US, while just under 12,800 have been injured. Within the last 72 hours, the GVA has tabulated at least 92 gun deaths.



One of those deaths was the slaying of 32-year-old father and restaurant worker Matthew Davis on May 14 in Keene, Texas. According to police and eyewitness, Davis went to the parking lot to confront two unruly customers, 20-year-old Angel Gomez and an unidentified 12-year old for allegedly urinating outside.

Matthew Davis with his mom and his son. [Photo: Leigh Anne]

The dispute escalated into a fight between Davis and Gomez at which point the 12-year-old returned to the vehicle armed with an AR-style rifle and shot six rounds at Davis, killing him, according to police.



After fleeing the scene, Gomez returned and was arrested. The 12-year-old was also arrested a short time later at a separate house that police reported also had firearms in it. Both Gomez and the pre-teen are residents of Fort Worth, Texas, and both are facing murder charges.



In another mass shooting in the Southwest US, on Saturday two people were killed and at least five injured in Yuma, Arizona. In a Monday press conference, Yuma Police Chief Thomas Garrity confirmed that 20-year-old Ande Blackthunder and 19-year-old Danny Garcia were the deceased.



Garrity said that more than 30 shots were fired during a house party that got out of hand and that several weapons were recovered from the scene.
On Tuesday, the stage-managed discussions between the White House and Congress on the debt limit and budget reached a new stage, with each side emerging from a meeting between Biden and top congressional leaders of both parties to praise progress toward a deal that will brutally slash social spending.

In the guise of averting what Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen again on Tuesday called the catastrophe of a default on US debt obligations as soon as June 1, the two big business parties are conspiring to impose a multi-year cap on non-discretionary social spending that will deprive millions of people of health coverage, food assistance, rent support and other necessities. Also under discussion are new or heightened work requirements for Medicaid and food stamps that will condemn low-wage and unemployed workers to homelessness and hunger.

The crisis over the debt limit has a thoroughly contrived character, with the participation of both political parties and the media. According to the unchallenged narrative, the world will come to an end and everything will be lost if the two capitalist parties arent able to come to agreement to slash social spending within the next several weeks.

No one in the media cares to mention the origins of the massive levels of debt accumulated by the American government, which have been built up primarily as a result of trillions of dollars in military expenditures combined with the bailout of the banks and tax cuts for the rich.

In 2022 alone, Congress approved $113 billion in aid to Ukraine, part of more than $1 trillion in overall military spending. Only a few months ago, the Biden administration, with the support of both parties, organized the rapid bailout of a whole series of banks, guaranteeing the deposits of the wealthy.

Incoming House Speaker Kevin McCarthy of California receives the gavel from House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York on the House floor at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, early Saturday, January 7, 2023. [AP Photo/Andrew Harnik]

While the media is whipping up a crisis atmosphere, Wall Street is unperturbed. This is because the financial aristocracy is confident an agreement will ultimately be reached. The consensus in the market, a CNBC reporter commented, is a deal will get done.

The Socialist Equality Party calls on workers to oppose the bipartisan conspiracy and develop a powerful industrial and political offensive against the assault on their rights. When it comes to attacking social programs upon which millions of people depend, the mantra of the state is: Never let a good crisis go to waste.

As in the first White House meeting on the debt ceiling, held Tuesday, May 9, yesterdays meeting was attended by President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, Democratic House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer.

McCarthy emerged from the White House after an hour of closed-door discussions and told the press the two sides were still very far apart. He reiterated his central demands: rolling back the federal budget to 2022 levels and imposing a one percent cap on non-discretionary spending for the next decade, clawing back unspent COVID pandemic funds, and imposing new work requirements on Medicaid and food stamp recipients.

At the same time, McCarthy praised a change in the negotiating process proposed by Biden, which would narrow down the talks to several representatives for the White House and a team chosen by McCarthy. Both he and Senate Minority Leader McConnell gave assurances there would not be a default and said a deal could be reached by next week.

On the issue of new work requirements, McCarthy noted, as have other Republicans and as Biden himself did over the weekend, the current president, then a senator, voted for such provisions as part of the 1996 Clinton administration bill that abolished the federal welfare entitlement.

Democrats Schumer and Jeffries were even more effusive in their remarks to the press after the White House meeting. Schumer described the talks as cordial and respectful. He added that everyone agreed that it had to be bipartisan, stressing that both sides agreed to push for bipartisan budget/debt limit bills in both houses of Congress.

Jeffries described the meeting as positive, open, honest and very cordial. He predicted that a deal would be reached within the next week or two.

The bipartisan assault on US workers social rights follows the precedent set by the Obama administration, which responded to the 2008 subprime mortgage financial collapse by organizing a multi-trillion-dollar bailout of Wall Street and the corporate elite. That was followed by the bankruptcy restructuring of the US auto industry based on the imposition of tiers, pay cuts and attacks on pensions and health benefits. In 2011, the Obama-Biden administration established the precedent for the current debt-ceiling operation, agreeing to cap federal discretionary spending for five years by imposing massive social cuts. Biden led the negotiations with the Republicans.

This turn to austerity was bound up with the turn toward war with Russia and China. Obama oversaw the 2014 Maidan coup, which initiated the events that culminated in the escalating US-NATO war against Russia.

The Democrats opposition to Trump and the Republicans was from the beginning focused on differences in imperialist foreign policy, above all the prosecution of the offensive, and preparations for war, against Russia. That remains the case today.

The Democrats have no problem joining to impose social cuts with McCarthywho was among the 139 Republican House members who voted against certifying Bidens election victory in the hours after Trumps attack on Congress on January 6, 2021and outright fascists in the House who were part of the coup conspiracy. Members of the House Freedom Caucus such as Matt Gaetz, Andy Biggs, Paul Gosar, Lauren Boebert, Scott Perry and Bob Good led the opposition to McCarthys campaign for House speaker last January, delaying his election until the fifteenth ballot, giving them an effective veto over the House Republicans policies.

A critical part in this ruling class conspiracy is played by pseudo-left organizations of the upper-middle class, which support the Democratic Party and the imperialist proxy war against Russia in Ukraine. Democratic Socialists of America member Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a member of the House Democratic caucus, viciously attacks socialists who oppose Biden and the Democrats and fight for the independent political mobilization of the working class against capitalism. But all she can say in response to Bidens preparations to impose social attacks on the working class is to call them profoundly destructive and warn Biden that he should expect push-back.

The turn to brutal austerity, and to dictatorial and police-state methods to enforce it against the growing resistance of the working class, is an international phenomenon.

In France, President Macron has declared the end of the peace dividend and imposed a pension cut without a vote in the National Assembly. He has responded to months of mass strikes and protests by French workers by carrying out savage police attacks on demonstrators. In the UK, the Tory government is relying on the trade union bureaucracies to suppress strikes and impose historic attacks on social and democratic rights.

Whatever comes out of the debt ceiling talks will be only an initial step in the escalating and brutal assault by the entire corporate and financial elite on the jobs and living conditions of the working class.
More and more auto parts workers at Dana Incorporated have written in to the World Socialist Web Site to describe the corrupt relations they have witnessed between the United Auto Workers union and their employer.

We have a lot of concerns about our health and safety, and almost everybody [at my work site] is trying to get a grip on what is happening here, said a worker from Danas facility in Pottstown, Pennsylvania.

The Dana Pottstown facility, located a half-hour drive northwest of Philadelphia, is the companys oldest in the United States. The location manufactures driveshaft components for light vehicles. In 2019, the facility celebrated its hundredth anniversary in use.

The whole facility [in Pottstown] is a safety hazard, the worker said. The amount of CO in this facility isnt healthy, and their ventilation system does not appear to be working. The pipes in this facility are so old that they are corroding from the inside.

A recent series of fires at the Dana plant in Warren, Michigan, underscore the dangers that exist. We had a furnace fire twice in one day last month, claimed another worker.

With this in mind, it was only a matter of time before an industrial accident occurred there similar to the explosion at the R.M. Palmer chocolate factory in nearby Reading in March, the first worker said.

That explosion, which killed seven and injured 20 more, was likely caused by a gas leak, according to a report last month by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). Workers had reported the smell of gas fumes to management, but they were not allowed to leave.

At Dana, the workers can see a fog hovering inside the building when its machines are running. They believe it is due to coolant that is leaking. The Schuylkill River, a major waterway, flows less than a mile from the plant, and the area is criss-crossed with tributaries.

Picture showing fog from coolant leak hanging in the air at Pottstown Dana plant [Photo: Submitted by a worker inside the plant]

Another worker added that they had done some checking around, and the local industry standard for their job description was $23 an hour, almost $5 more than the current roughly $18 an hour wage on offer to second shift workers at Dana. This is very discouraging, they said, adding that on top of this they had to pay union dues.

The worker complained about the corrupt relationship between management and the United Auto Workers representatives at Local 644. This is not a trade union, the worker stated emphatically. As far as having their interests represented, the workers are paying for a service we are not receiving.

Picture showing fog from coolant leak hanging in the air at Pottstown Dana plant [Photo: Submitted by a worker inside the plant]

The corruption has developed to grotesque levels, with workers attesting that they have seen union representatives driving brand new vehicles shortly after being elected to nominally represent them. These are brand new $75,000 trucks, a worker explained. We cannot even afford to pay our bills with the pay Dana gives us, they said. These [UAW representatives] are rubbing our noses in [their corruption], the worker said.

UAW Local 644 is the home of the unions current Region 9 Director Daniel Vicente. Vicente, who is a member of new president Shawn Fains Members United slate, has done nothing for the workers at his old local since taking office in March. Like the majority of UAW members, few workers at the Pottstown facility were even made aware of the unions national election in which they were entitled to vote. No ones saying anything, theres just more and more posters up, but no one has anything to say about the election, a worker had told the WSWS.

Despite this union-enforced information blackout, rank-and-file candidate Will Lehman, who ran on an openly socialist platform and demanded the abolition of the UAW bureaucracy and its privileges, won 11 percent of the vote at the local in the first round last year.

The conditions in Dana are pervasive throughout the auto parts industry. Currently, 500 car battery manufacturing workers are on strike in Holland, Ohio, where the UAW is refusing to share information about their strike with their fellow members.

Rather than serving the interests of workers, the bureaucracy acts as a prop for management, helping them to exploit the workers.

Nowhere is this more apparent than at Dana Inc., which workers call a slave ship. In August 2021, Dana workers voted by 97 percent to reject a contract which allowed for 80+-hour work weeks and poverty pay. Despite a near-unanimous support for strike action, as well as the extremely favorable conditions for a strike, the UAW and the United Steel Workers kept their members on the job, where they faced management abuse. Eventually, in late 2021, with threats and manipulation from the UAW-USW, the unions forced a second contract offer to be adopted.

During this time, the Dana Workers Rank-and-File Committee was formed to give a genuine voice to the workers facing this struggle and to unite workers within the industry. The Dana Workers Rank-and-File Committee has remained active and has waged a continuous struggle to resist the companys and unions abuses. A recent statement declares their determination to share our personal stories with the working class and to speak for those who are too intimidated to speak up in fear of losing their jobs and livelihoods.

Since 2021, working conditions have only deteriorated at Dana. In Pottstown, workers have been denied profit sharing from the company, even though their facility has produced above expectations for four years in a row.

A worker explained to the WSWS that non-unionized plants had even allowed their workers to receive profit-sharing when Dana makes profit globally. The UAW-enforced contract is less generous, only allowing them to receive profit share if Dana makes profit in the U.S., not globally.
Indias ruling, Hindu supremacist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was defeated in last weeks state assembly election in the southern Indian state of Karnataka, after mounting a vile communalist campaign fronted by its national leader and the countrys prime minister, the would-be autocrat Narendra Modi.

In 2019, some 14 months after the previous state election, the BJP wrested power in Karnataka from a Congress Party-backed minority government led by the Janata Dal (Secular), after organizing pelf-and-power-induced defections from its rivals.

When votes were tabulated last Saturday, the BJP saw its seat tally slashed from 118 to just 66. The Congress, which last led Karnatakas government from 2013 to 2018, took 136 seats. This was a 56-seat increase from the 2018 elections, and more than enough to form a comfortable majority in the 224-seat state assembly.

The Congress saw its share in the popular vote swell by almost 5 percentage points from 2018, rising from 38 percent to 42.9 percent. The share of the vote garnered by the Janata Dal (Secular), which captured 18 seats as compared to 37 in 2018, fell by an almost identical 5.1 percentage point drop, to 13.3 percent. This was principally because Muslims, who constitute 13 percent of Karnatakas 65 million-plus population, rallied behind the Congress in the hopes of ousting a BJP government that had mounted one communal provocation after another.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi addresses a gathering in 2020. [AP Photo/Aftab Alam Siddiqui]

The BJP, which in 2018 won two-dozen more seats than Congress despite winning 750,000 fewer votes, saw its share of the popular vote dented in the 2023 state election. It fell 0.25 percentage points to 35.97 percent.

The BJP poured enormous resources into retaining power in Karnataka, Indias eighth-largest state and the only state in southern India in which it has ever formed a government. Karnatakas capital and major urban agglomeration, Bengaluru (Bangalore), is home to Indias globally significant IT sector.

The loss of Karnataka is a significant blow to the BJP in a vote that was widely viewed as among the two or three most important state election dress-rehearsals before the India-wide general election to be held in AprilMay 2024. The Karnataka state election results are also a desperately-needed shot in the arm for the Congress Party, which has been on life-support since the 2019 national election and currently leads the government in just four of Indias 28 statesChhattisgarh, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan and now Karnataka.

Modi and his chief henchman, Home Minister Amit Shah, campaigned aggressively in Karnataka. As in other recent elections, they combined promises of developmentby which they mean the infrastructure projects demanded by wealthy investorswith fatuous boasts about Indias world-leading growth rate and growing global power, and rank communalist appeals.

But this demagogy, which is amplified by much of the corporate media, cannot drown out reality. Conditions of life for the vast majority have continued to deteriorate, with BJP governments at both the national and state level ruthlessly attacking the social and democratic rights of Indias workers and toilers, so as to make them bear the full burden of the global capitalist breakdown, which has been greatly intensified by the COVID-19 pandemic and the US-NATO war on Russia.

Much of the Congress campaign focused on the manifest corruption of the BJP government. On April 12, a 40-year-old building contractor, Santosh Patil, was found dead in his hotel room, shortly after publicly alleging that K.S. Eshwarappa, a senior BJP leader and Karnatakas rural development minister, had harassed him for 40 percent commissions, i.e., kickbacks, on government projects.

However, the Congress Party did make a calibrated appeal to growing anger over mass joblessness and skyrocketing prices for basic food items and other essentials like cooking gas petrol and diesel, for which subsidies have been slashed. The Congress Partys Karnataka state unit chief, D.K. Shivakumar, urged voters to cast their votes after looking at their gas cylindersa pointed reference to the fact that the price of a non-subsidised cooking gas cylinder has risen to 1,100 rupees, a 70 percent increase since 2018.

As polling day approached, the BJP, sensing the mounting anger over the social crisis and rampant corruption, sought to double down on its promotion of Hindu chauvinism and anti-Muslim bigotry with the aim of polarizing the electorate on communal lines. It accused the Congress of disregarding Hindu values and appeasing minorities, particularly Muslims.

In March, the BJP state government issued a decree unilaterally scrapping a 4 percent affirmative action-style reservation of government jobs and university education places for impoverished Muslims, and redistributed the quota to two Hindu groups, Lingayat and Vokkaliga, whose elite have traditionally played an outsized role in the states politics. In its election manifesto, the BJP pledged to implement the National Register of Citizens (NRC), a BJP scheme to harass and stigmatize Muslims in the name of identifying and expelling illegal immigrants, and introduce a Uniform Civil Code, another long-term demand of the Hindu right.

Earlier in its mandate, the BJP had whipped up communal animosity by banning devout young Muslim women who wear the hijab from attending public pre-university schools and strengthened existing prohibitions on cow slaughter. It also turned a blind eye, when not openly conniving in, vigilante attacks by the Bajrang Dal and other Hindu supremacist groups.

Modi was front and centre in the BJPs communalist election campaign. This included praising at one of his mass rallies a Hindu-right propaganda film, The Kerala Story, which claims large numbers of Hindu women in India are being enticed and coerced into converting to Islam and joining the Islamist terrorist/militia group ISIS.

In the Karnataka elections, the Congress Party was the underserved beneficiary of popular opposition to the BJPs pro-investor economic policies and Hindu supremacist agenda.

It made promises of electricity subsidies, rations to poor families and financial help to unemployed graduatespromises that it will quickly scale back or outright abandon once it takes up the reins of government, citing the deepening economic crisis. The Congress, like the rest of the anti-BJP opposition across India, has no real disagreement with the BJPs pro-investor policies. It initiated and long spearheaded the post-1991 drive to make India a cheap-labour haven for global capital and its transformation into a front-line state in the US military-strategic offensive against China. It made no issue of Indias and Karnatakas ruinous profits-before-lives response to the COVID-19 pandemic, because it fully agreed with it.

The Congress defence of secularism is as fraudulent as its claims to be pro-people. For decades it has connived with the Hindu right, and is currently closely allied with the fascistic Maharashtra-based Shiv Sena, which lionizes the premier Hindutva ideologue of the 20th century, V.D. Savarkar.

In the Karnataka elections, the Congress denounced some of the BJPs communal outrages, while making its own more guarded appeals to Hindu chauvinism, as in its promise to launch specials schemes in the name of Lord Hanuman, and welcomed a cabal of BJP defectors as Congress candidates.

The Karnataka elections have exposed the sham character of the BJPs claims of electoral invincibility and Modis supposed unique bond with the Indian people, the so-called Modi magic.

If until now the BJP has had a run of electoral successes, it is entirely bound up with the character of its bourgeois opponentsa vast array of corrupt right-wing parties, running the gamut from the Gandhi family-controlled Congress Party to various regionally-based ethno-chauvinist and caste-ist partiesand the political suppression of the working class at the hands of the trade unions and the Stalinist parliamentary parties, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) or CPM and its older, smaller ally, the Communist Party of India (CPI).

The Modi government is itself well aware that the Indian economy is wracked by crisis and that it sits atop a social volcano, hence its ever more frenzied promotion of communalism, with the aim of splitting the working class, and its attempts to squeeze out its bourgeois opponents and centralize power in its own hands, including through trumped-up criminal cases against its opponents. Through one such case, Rahul Gandhi, the Congress Partys principal spokesperson and presumptive prime ministerial candidate in 2024, has been stripped of his seat in parliament and is threatened with jail.

Predictably, the CPM Polit Bureau has welcomed the Congress Party victory in Karnataka and will seek to use it to justify intensifying its efforts to consolidate a right-wing, Congress Party-led anti-BJP alliance for the 2023 elections. In the name of fighting the BJP, the Stalinist CPM and CPI have for more than three decades tied the working class to its big business political opponents. As a result, the bourgeoisie has been able to push through its socially incendiary agenda and pursue its great-power ambitions by assisting Washington in its anti-China war drive, and the far-right BJP and its Hindu supremacist allies have become an ever more menacing threat.

The only way for the working class to prevail against the Modi government and defeat the savage assault on its social and democratic rights being mounted by all the various state governments across India, including those led by the Congress, is by mobilizing its independent political strength and rallying the rural poor behind it in the fight for a workers government committed to socialist policies. This can only develop as part of a broader struggle waged by a united movement of the international working class for socialism in South Asia and around the world.
Sen. Daniel McCay, R-Riverton, sponsor of SB31, poses with the new Utah state flag at the Capitol in Salt Lake City on March 2. State officials said Thursday that an attempt to send the bill to a referendum did not get enough signatures to move forward. | Kristin Murphy, Deseret News

A bill that creates a new Utah state flag won't go to a future election.

The Utah Lieutenant Governor's Office confirmed to KSL.com on Thursday that a referendum measure on SB31 received 21,030 validated signatures and 28,449 more signatures to be reviewed by 5 p.m. Wednesday, well shy of the 134,298 signatures from registered voters needed to send any bill to a future ballot. Another 2,117 signatures were rejected.

While Wednesday was the deadline for signatures, county clerks had until noon Thursday to report all signatures they had received. Had the measure received enough signatures, there would be a three-week process to authenticate the numbers of registered voters and other requirements were met, such as a certain percentage of voters from different counties.

A group of residents called Referendum to Save Utah's Flag filed the paperwork to hold a referendum on SB31 in March, days after the Utah Legislature narrowly passed the bill. If it was successful, voters would have decided the fate of SB31, which designates a new state flag and designates the current flag as the state's "historical flag."

The update comes about a week after a Deseret News/Hinckley Institute of Politics poll found that about 48% of Utahns said they either strongly supported or somewhat supported the new flag design, compared to 35% who strongly or somewhat opposed it.

Sen. Dan McCay, R-Riverton, who sponsored SB31 and championed the effort for a new state flag, told Deseret News he was thrilled with those polling numbers.

"Flags are important, and people don't realize how important they are when their flag isn't one that they wear on a T-shirt or fly at their home," he said last week. "I'm seeing it as I drive down the road. There are already stores popping up with people selling things that have the new state emblem on it."

Despite the referendum failing, some changes to SB31 are still expected before the bill goes into effect on March 9, 2024.

While the group continued to collect signatures on the referendum, Cox formally signed the bill and issued an executive order calling for the historic flag to be flown at the state Capitol at all times and at all state buildings during all state holidays and any "special occasions."

He also called on the Utah Legislature to amend state law so that the historic flag flies over the new design in times when both flags are flying on the same pole. That change is expected to be made before the flag flies for the first time.

The flag design was only tweaked once during the legislative session after it was first selected by Utah leaders in November. McCay introduced a design that turned the eight-sided star into a five-sided one before it was approved by the Utah Senate in January.

The design was selected after the Utah State Flag Task Force narrowed the field of 5,703 submissions collected in 2022. Utah leaders honored 70 people earlier this year who helped inspire the design.
A runoff will take place in the Turkish presidential elections on May 28, as preliminary results from the Supreme Election Board show incumbent President Recep Tayyip Erdogan received 49.5 percent of the vote, while Kemal Klcdaroglu came in second with 44.88 percent.

The NATO-Russia war played a central role in the election. Klcdaroglu promised to be a better ally to NATO than Erdogan. He enjoys the support of Western capitals, while the Kremlin sees it as critical that Erdogan remains in power as he seeks to maneuver between NATO and Russia in the war in Ukraine.

Sinan Ogan, the far-right Ata Alliance candidate who received a surprise 5.2 percent of the vote in the first round, is expected to play a key role in the second.

Sinan Ogan, presidential candidate from ATA (Ataturk) alliance, formed of nationalist political parties, is surrounded by supporters in Ankara, Turkey, Thursday, May 4, 2023. [AP Photo/Burhan Ozbilici]

Before the first round, he stated that he would demand a ministry as a conditions for supporting a candidate in the second round. However, in interviews after the May 14 election, he made clear his conditions for supporting Erdogan, or Klcdaroglu. Erdogan is the candidate of the People Alliance led by the Islamist Justice and Development Party (AKP) and the fascist Nationalist Movement Party (MHP). Klcdaroglu is running for the Nation Alliance led by the Republican Peoples Party (CHP) and the Good Party, an MHP split-off.

Speaking to BBC Turkish on Monday, Ogan said he would complete consultations within one or two days and announce who he will support in the second round. He said, We have certain conditions such as fighting terrorism, distancing ourselves from political parties supported by terrorist organizations and sending back refugees.

Ogan reiterated these two conditions in a later interview with CNN International. Asked about forceful deportation of refugees in Turkey, he proposed to take a cue from Washingtons brutal anti-immigrant policies, stating: We will do what the American police do when they catch a Turkish illegal immigrant. What the American police do is as democratic as ours.

Ogan added, As the United States did with Mexicans to send them back, we will do with Syrians, Afghans, Pakistanis and others. There will be no volunteering, they must be sent back for sure.

Ogan stated that he will not support any of the candidates in the second round if they do not commit to these issues.

In an interview last night with TV100, Ogan said their first demand was an uninterrupted fight against Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), [Kurdish Islamist] Hezbollah and all kinds of terrorist organizations. He also demanded a timetable for the deportation of refugees and declared that no ministry should be given to the Kurdish nationalist Peoples Democratic Party (HDP), which backs Klcdaroglu, or the Kurdish-Islamist Huda Par, which supports Erdogan.

Turkish nationalist parties from both the People Alliance and the Nation Alliance accuse the HDP of being a political extension of the PKK. The Huda Par, which entered parliament on AKP lists in Sundays elections, was founded by supporters of the Kurdish Islamist paramilitary group Hezbollah, which the Turkish state has declared a terrorist organization.

Ogan has long-standing ties with both the People Alliance and the Nation Alliance. Elected as an MHP deputy in 2011, Ogan announced in 2015 that he would run for the chairmanship against party leader Devlet Bahceli. He was later expelled from the party. During the 2017 constitutional referendum, he campaigned for a No vote along with Meral Aksener within the MHP, which supported Erdogan in a Yes campaign. Aksener later founded the Good party, forming an alliance with Klcdaroglu.

Both Erdogan and Klcdaroglu want to win the election in the second round with Ogans support.

In an interview after the election, Erdogan's spokesperson Ibrahim Kaln said: When you look at the political tradition Mr. Sinan comes from, I know his position is closer to the People's Alliance... He had a good campaign. He expressed his own theses. Like the fight against terrorism and refugees... I think he clearly showed who we should be against when it comes to Turkey's national interests.

The Erdogan government is deporting Syrian refugees fleeing NATOs war for regime change back to Syria, as part of a plan to prevent the emergence of a Kurdish state in northern Syria led by the US-backed Peoples Protection Units (YPG). Ankara has been building housing in areas of Syria illegally occupied by the Turkish army and its Islamist proxies, planning to resettle Syrian Arabs to outnumber the Kurds. At the same time, it is trying to re-improve relations with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Shortly before the election, Erdogan said: We have built over 100,000 houses in northern Syria and voluntary returns to these areas have begun. It is not in line with our humanitarian, conscientious and civilizational values to force people who seek refuge with us to the door. But we will of course take the necessary action against those who misbehave.

Last year, Erdogan announced plans to return 1 million Syrians and signaled a new military operation against the YPG. The plan was shelved after failing to get the green light from the United States or Russia.

Klcdaroglu, backed by the HDP and the pseudo-left parties such as the Stalinist Workers Party of Turkey (TIP) as a progressive alternative to Erdogan, has been criticizing Erdogan from the right for years, demanding the deportation of refugees. If elected, Klcdaroglu pledged to reach an agreement with the European Union to send the refugees back within two years. His Kurdish nationalist or pseudo-left allies ignored this reactionary campaign.

Engin Ozkoc, a CHP leader, said Klcdaroglu had a phone call with Sinan Ogan on the night of the election. The call was very positive. Our leader congratulated [Ogan], he said.

Ozkoc expressed how close his right-wing party was to making an agreement with a xenophobic fascist with these words: I dont think there is a difference in our thoughts about the expectations of our nation. And I dont think we have a difference in our national stance.

This dirty bargaining based on ignoring the right of nearly five million people who voted for the HDP-backed Green Left Party in Sundays elections and forcibly deporting millions of refugees reveals that the Nation Alliance, the HDP and the pseudo-left forces behind it are completely incapable of defending basic democratic rights.

No matter which candidate Ogan backs, the NATO-Russia war and the right-wing parties ties with imperialism are at the center of the presidential election.

The US and European media did not hide their disappointment at Klcdaroglus failure to win against Erdogan. The Guardian editorial bluntly wrote: For Europe and the US, which had hoped an opposition victory would see Turkey turn more towards the west, five more years of Mr Erdogan would be a highly unwelcome developmentparticularly ahead of a decisive period in Ukraine.

A commentary in the pro-Kremlin newspaper Vzglyad explained why Erdogan, maneuvering between NATO and Russia, was preferred by Moscow: In terms of personalities, most Russian experts were rooting for Erdogan there were serious reasons to suppose that in case Kilicdaroglu wins, Turkey will join Western policy of blockading Russia.

It continued: That is, simply put, it would abandon Erdogans both ours and yours line, after which it would rigidly enforce anti-Russian sanctions, supply more weapons to Ukraine and foment the Russian periphery.

Far from opposing both the interventions of NATO and Russia in Ukraine, the HDP and the TIP have become part of the war. They refused to oppose Finlands NATO membership in the Turkish parliamentary vote, even though Finlands joining NATO represented a significant escalation in the war against Russia.

The way to oppose imperialist war and defend basic democratic rights, is to build a movement in the working class politically independent from all the forces backing either of the right-wing, pro-imperialist candidates in the Turkish presidential elections. This is the perspective for which the Sosyalist Esitlik Grubu, the Turkish section of the International Committee of the Fourth International, fights.
Writer-director Chie Hayakawas Plan 75her first featureis a subtle and unsettling film about an imagined Japanese government euthanasia plan for people over the age of 75. The 113-minute movie was Japans entry in this years Academy Awards Best International Feature Film category and has since been released in the United States and Britain.

Chieko Baisho as Michi in Plan 75. [Photo: @PLAN75movie]

Plan 75 begins with a somewhat murky portrayal of mass killing at a Japanese retirement home, followed by a brief news item reporting the tragedy and then a government announcement about a new voluntary euthanasia program. The movie then focuses on the life of Michi (Chieko Baisho), a 78-year-old working class woman, who, despite some initial scepticism decides to join the assisted death program.

Michis decision is the outcome of an inescapable social process, the product of a society that offers no comfort to elderly. She loses her job, her friends, her home, and other socially meaningful activities. There appears no other alternative than to accept the glowing inducements in the Plan 75s glossy and comforting brochures.

The inducements can include cash payments for relatives and a final two-day stay in a luxury spa or, for those who have no money, a dignified funeral. The whole plan is sanitised with glib official assurances that the elderly participants can always back out if they change their mind but if they decide to go ahead it will be a meaningful contribution to society.

But the truth is revealed in a group meeting attended by the young Plan 75 customer service agent Yuko (Kawai Yuumi) where attendees are warned that they must warmly encourage the applicants not to back out of the arrangements once they have agreed to participate.

Despite having an unauthorised human connection with Michi, a conflicted Yuko obediently quotes from the prepared text in her last phone conversation with the lonely Michi, who obviously needs a friendly confidante, not a guidepost to euthanasia.

Apart from the opening scene in the retirement home, the tenor of Hayakawas film is nuanced and matter of fact, which only serves to make it more effective and chilling.

Hayakawa recently told the Guardian that: Its too real to be sci-fi. I specifically made this film to avoid a programme like this becoming a reality A state-sanctioned solution like Plan 75 is far from impossible in a country that is becoming ever more intolerant to socially weak people: the elderly, the disabled and the people who have no money.

Referring to the misanthropic sentiments promoted by the government and media towards the elderly and the weak she said: They create shame among those who need welfare, meaning those who need it dont apply for itwhich makes their lives even more desperate. But it also infects the younger generations, building up a huge resentment towards all older people

I raise a question about the society that can be so inhuman to offer death, instead of a way to help vulnerable people feel less isolated or afraid. To give them a reason to live instead of a way to die.

The films approach underlines the poignant details of Michis life in a tiny apartment and the sterility and bureaucratic impersonality of the welfare offices where she unsuccessfully attempted to find help.

At one point, trying to support herself financially after being fired from her job as a hotel maid, she is seen directing traffic on a busy road at night. The camera hovers on her hi-vis coat, blinking with red lights, as she tries to grab a few moments rest.

The scene then cuts to the Plan 75 euthanasia and cremation centre, where Maria (Stefanie Arianne Akashi), a young low-paid Filipino aged care worker, has been forced to take a job because she desperately needs to send more money back to her family in the Philippines.

In Michis life, but also more briefly in that of lonely-retired worker Yukio (Takao Taka), whose young nephew Hiromu (Hayato Isomura) is another Plan 75 customer service agent, the film subtly portrays modern societys isolation and depersonalisation of the elderly, depicting them as a burden because they can no longer work.

Yukio (Takao Taka) and his young nephew Hiromu (Hayato Isomura) in Plan 75>. [Photo: @PLAN75movie]

Director Hayakawa deftly demonstrates that the so-called generation gap is not immutable and can be easily bridged. As Michi leaves her apartment for the last time, a little girl who is skipping stops and waves to her, and Michi waves back, filled with love of life.

In one unsettling scene Maria is set to work stripping the personal effects from the bodies of the elderly people who have been euthanised and are ready for cremation.

That she finds this job horrible, after she has left the more poorly paid one where she painstakingly cared for elderly people in a residential facility, is clear when she sees a male fellow worker stealing a pair of glasses from the pile of belongings taken from the corpses.

Trying to compromise Maria, he offers her a watch, but she refuses it. Dead people, useless anymore, youre useful, no trash. Remember the dead, he says to persuade her. Is he talking about the things or about the elderly? Maria gives in and pockets the watch.

Meanwhile, Hiromu drives his uncle to his appointment with death but later turns his car around and, with Marias help, retrieves his uncles body to try and give him a decent cremation. Hiromu, who has not questioned the workings of Plan 75 until now, has discovered that the bodies of those elderly without family will be treated as industrial waste.

Maria, Hiromu and Yukoyoung employees of the voluntary euthanasia conveyor beltare disturbed by different aspects of their work. But above all, it is 78-year-old Michi, who represents the life force in the story and the antidote to the misanthropic scheme with all its false facade.

The government-sponsored euthanasia program portrayed in Hayakawas film has been welcomed by some right-wing commentators in Japan, which has the worlds highest proportion of elderly people as a sector of its population in the world. This reaction, however, is not a Japanese phenomenon.

Given the global ruling elites official acceptance of social murder of the elderly and immune-comprised in response to COVID 19, the application of a cold-blooded eugenic experiment such as Plan 75 is not farfetched nor is it science fiction.

Capitalist governments have for years decried the increase in life expectancy, bemoaning what they termed the intergenerational budgetary problem of social welfare spending on pensions and the access of the elderly to subsidised medical care in the later decades of their lives. From their standpoint, the pandemic, which they now insist is over, had a positive benefit, getting rid of non-productive sections of society, and thereby reducing outlay on pensions and subsidised medicine.

Governments all adopted the policy of let it rip, not only removing lockdowns and quarantines, but basic preventative measures such as test-and-tracing, mask mandates and provision of air filters, leaving the most vulnerable to fend for themselves. These policies have been accompanied by the revival of eugenic and Social Darwinist conceptions previously championed by Hitlers Nazi regime.

It is no accident that the sinister Ezekiel Emanuel, former Obama administration official and Biden task force advisor, a leading advocate for reducing life expectancy and slashing medical expenditure on the elderly and chronically ill, has been given prominence. Emanuel was widely promoted in the mainstream media during the upsurge of Omicron.

Emanuel is part of an ever more right-wing intellectual climate promoted by the government and the media. In 2020, the then leading Tory government advisor Dominic Cummings reputedly proclaimed the pandemic required herd immunity, protect the economy, and if that means some pensioners die, too bad.

Writer-director Chie Hayakawa. [Photo: @PLAN75movie]

Hayakawas film opposes this reactionary trend. As she stated in an interview last month with Cinema Daily: Our capitalist society, which values rationality and productivity, creates the distinction between worthy lives and worthless lives, and critical views on socially weak people get stronger by the day. My anger and anxiety toward such intolerance of society motivated me to make this film.

Plan 75 is a timely reminder that such plans have grim ideological foundations and may serve as a warning about the type of society that can spawn them. It is an artistic achievement that Hayakawa has made a film that is so realistic and yet so poignant.
FILE - Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk speaks at the SATELLITE Conference and Exhibition, March 9, 2020, in Washington. Musk on Tuesday, May 16, 2023, dismissed speculation that he might step down as Tesla's CEO and told the companyas annual shareholders meeting that the the electric car and solar panel company would start doing a small amount of advertising. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File) - AP Photo/Susan Walsh

Elon Musk has claimed working-from-home is morally wrong and accused the laptop classes of living in la la land.

The Tesla chief executive said home working was unfair on those who cannot decide whether they commute  such as builders, mechanics or delivery drivers  and revealed that he works seven days a week, taking only two or three days off each year.

Mr Musk said: "I am a big believer that people are more productive when they are in person. There are some exceptions, but I kind of think that the whole notion of work from home is like the fake Marie Antoinette quote: 'Let them eat cake'.

Really? You're going to work from home and make everyone who made your car come to the factory?

Does that seem morally right? That's messed up.

The billionaire told CNBC workers should get off the goddamn moral high horse with their work-from-home bull****, because theyre asking everyone else not to work from home while they do.

The world's second richest man has ordered all Twitter staff to come into the office for at least 40 hours per week, while staff at his other companies  Tesla and SpaceX  are also expected on site.

Mr Musk said he was happy for people to take vacations. He added: I work seven days per week, but I am not expecting others to do that.

The Twitter owner has been known to routinely sleep at work or on his private jet. He said he typically gets six hours of sleep each night, and anything less gives him "brain pain".

Earlier this week Musk joked that he had slept in the car before a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron, hours after the billionaire was seen partying in Mexico and Los Angeles.

The Tesla chief, who usually dresses in jeans and t-shirt, donned a suit for the 45-minute meeting with the French President but was unshaven.

During the interview, Mr Musk was challenged over his recent remarks which cast doubt on claims that a mass shooter in Allen, Texas, was a white supremacist.

The billionaire described claims that killer Mauricio Martinez Garcia had white supremecist beliefs as bullshit and alleged the investigative website that uncovered the links was "a company that does pysops".

Eliot Higgins, founder of online investigation group Bellingcat, speaks to the media on College Green in London on October 9, 2018 after making a presentation in parliament on their investigation into the suspects of the Sergei Skripal poisoning. - Investigative group Bellingcat on October 9, 2018 identified the second suspect in the poisoning of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal as a doctor employed by Moscow's GRU military intelligence service. "We have now identified 'Alexander Petrov' to be in fact Dr. Alexander Yevgenyevich Mishkin, a trained military doctor in the employ of the GRU," the British-based group said in a report published on its website. Bellingcat worked with the Russian investigative team at The Insider to name the first of the two Skripal suspects 'Ruslan Boshirov' as GRU agent Anatoly Chepiga last month. The Kremlin has rejected past charges about its involvement in the case as fabrications aimed at discrediting Russia. (Photo by Tolga AKMEN / AFP) (Photo credit should read TOLGA AKMEN/AFP via Getty Images) - TOLGA AKMEN/AFP via Getty Images

Psychological operations, or pysops, are military operations which use information or propaganda to sway public opinion, often via newspapers or other media, without the need for combat.

Police in Texas have confirmed the mass shooter had Swastika tattoos and neo-Nazi ideation.

Eliot Higgins, founder of the website Bellingcat, which first revealed the claims, said: If Elon Musk thinks Bellingcat is a psyop then that is a reflection of the absolute garbage he consumes.

Bellingcat has been credited with uncovering Russian war crimes in Ukraine and first reporting the identities of two Kremlin agents who poisoned the exiled Sergei Skripal in Salisbury.

The Tesla chief said he was willing to risk advertisers walking away from Twitter following his inflammatory remarks.

The interview came as Mr Musk defended comments he made about the billionaire financier George Soros that saw him accused by Jewish organisations of fuelling anti-semitism.

Mr Musk compared Mr Soros, who is Jewish, to a supervillain who hates humanity.

Jonathan Greenblatt, chief executive of the Anti-Defamation League, said: Soros is often held up by the far-right, using anti-semitic tropes, as the source of the world's problems.

Mr Musk said: I'll say what I want, and if the consequence of that is losing money, so be it.

Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month, then enjoy 1 year for just $9 with our US-exclusive offer.
Elon Musk reverses course and says Tesla will advertise its cars

By Hyunjoo Jin and Sheila Dang

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Tesla Inc boss Elon Musk, who has never used traditional advertising to sell cars, said on Tuesday that the automaker would try it and see whether it produced results.

Musk said it was "ironic" that as CEO of Tesla, he now owns Twitter. The social media platform is highly dependent on ads and will soon be led by advertising veteran Linda Yaccarino, who he hired last week.

"So I guess I should say advertising is awesome, and everyone should do it," Musk said at Tesla's annual shareholder meeting in Austin, Texas. "We'll try out a little advertising and see how it goes."

It underscores his efforts to shore up investor confidence in the car maker's prospects at a time when rising competition and a slow economy has forced Tesla to slash prices.

Since Musk acquired Twitter in October, advertisers have fled the social media platform, worried that their ads could appear next to inappropriate content after the company lost nearly 80% of its staff.

Musk has for years resisted the idea of advertising, tweeting in 2019 that he "hates advertising" and "We use that money to make the product great".

But on Tuesday, he said many people did not know about the affordability of Tesla cars and their "amazing" features and functionality.

(Reporting by Hyunjoo Jin in San Francisco and Sheila Dang in New York; Editing by Sayantani Ghosh and Jamie Freed)
Elon Musk Takes Credit for OpenAI: 'It Wouldn't Exist Without Me'

"I am the reason OpenAI exists," Tesla and Twitter CEO Elon Musk said Tuesday in an interview with CNBC.

When asked by interviewer David Faber how much he invested in the creator of ChatGPT, Musk replied, "I'm not sure the exact number, but it's some number on the order of $50 million."

"It wouldn't exist without me," he added.

Elon Musk co-founded OpenAI with Sam Altman, Greg Brockman, Ilya Sutskever, John Schulman, and Wojciech Zaremba in December 2015.

"I was instrumental in recruiting the key scientists and engineers, most notably Ilya Sutskever," Musk said. "Ilya joining was the linchpin for OpenAI being ultimately a success."

Nearly seven years later, in November 2022, OpenAI launched the first iteration of its ChatGPT chatbot, the successors of which have taken the world by storm.

The name OpenAI, Musk said, refers to open-source software. Open-source ideals call for making the source code of a program or platform freely available and may be redistributed and modified.

Musk said the idea was to create the opposite of Google, which Musk called a closed-source for-profit company.

"That profit motivation can be potentially dangerous," he said.

Musk said he and Google co-founder Larry Page would have long conversations discussing artificial intelligence.

"I would be constantly urging him to be careful about the danger of A.I.," Musk said. "He was really not concerned about the nature of AI and was quite cavalier about it."

In 2014, Google acquired a UK-based artificial intelligence research laboratory, DeepMind Technologies, for $500 million.

But while the idea of taking on Google may have been appealing, Musk says he initially thought it was a hopeless endeavor.

"How could we possibly compete withhow could OpenAI possibly compete withGoogle DeepMind?" he said. "This seemed like an ant against an elephant not a contest."

Musk voiced concerns about what he sees as OpenAI's shift to a closed-source for-profit model like Google.

"It does seem weird that something can be a nonprofit, open-source, and somehow transform itself into a for-profit, closed source," he said, likening it to an environmental organization created to save the Amazon rainforest that transforms into a lumber company.

"I also think it's important to understand, when push comes to shovelet's say they do create some digital super intelligence, almost godlike intelligence, who's in control?"

Musk also noted his concern regarding the relationship between OpenAI and software giant Microsoft, which has invested $13 billion in the company since 2019.

"I do worry that Microsoft actually may be more in control than, say the leadership team at OpenAI realizes," he said, adding that Microsoft has rights to all of the software and everything necessary to run the inference system, which gives them a great deal of control over OpenAI.

Calling artificial intelligence a double-edged sword, Musk said the technology is likely to make life much better, creating an age of abundance.

There's some chance that it goes wrong and destroys humanity, he said, adding that chance is small, but it's not zero.

In March, Musk and several high-profile tech community members, including Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, signed an open letter calling for a six-month moratorium on AI development after the launch of OpenAIs GPT-4.

A friend of mine, Max Tegmark, a physicist at MIT, wanted me to sign onto the letter, he said. I knew it'd be futile. I just wanted to call it like it's one of those things for the record, I recommended that we pause, he said. Did I think we would? Of course, absolutely not.
Fastest Internet in the Northeast United States is coming to Endicott and Endwell

PRATTSBURGH, N.Y., May 17, 2023--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Empire Access, a Northeast fiber optic service provider, is continuing its strategic expansion with service to Endicott and Endwell, New York. Broadband-backed Internet from Empire Access will provide residents and businesses with Internet, TV, phone, and security solutions.

Empire Access provides fiber optic-backed Internet services to smaller-in-size communities in upstate New York and Northern Pennsylvania. Headquartered in Prattsburgh, New York, Empire Access primarily operates in underserved communities which often lack reliable Internet access. The fiber optic service provider was ranked the fastest Internet in the Northeast by PCMag and will be available to residents and businesses alike in Endicott and Endwell during the Summer of 2023.

"Firstly, I want to welcome Endicott and Endwell to the Empire Access family!" said Jim Baase, CEO at Empire Access. "When we chose to expand into these two communities, we did so understanding what high-speed Internet can provide for hard-working families and business owners. We pride ourselves in the fact that we hire locally and maintain those support and customer service teams to ensure we have that local connection. We differentiate ourselves from our competitors with that mindset, and our customers will never see sudden price increases or promotion-ended hikes. We look forward to joining your communities!"

Empire Access pairs its high-speed fiber optic Internet with a complete array of telecommunication and security services:

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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 updates when fiber optic service is available by clicking here!

Check Empire Access availability in your area by visiting: www.empireaccess.com/service-area, calling (800) 338-3300, or emailing info@empireaccess.com.

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/20230517005069/en/

Contacts

Jake Curtachio

iMiller Public Relations

Tel: 1.914.315.6424

Email: empireaccess@imillerpr.com
Key Insights

Sin Heng Heavy Machinery's estimated fair value is S$0.42 based on Dividend Discount Model

Sin Heng Heavy Machinery's S$0.41 share price indicates it is trading at similar levels as its fair value estimate

The average premium for Sin Heng Heavy Machinery's competitorsis currently 24%

How far off is Sin Heng Heavy Machinery Limited (SGX:BKA) from its intrinsic value? Using the most recent financial data, we'll take a look at whether the stock is fairly priced by taking the expected future cash flows and discounting them to today's value. The Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) model is the tool we will apply to do this. Believe it or not, it's not too difficult to follow, as you'll see from our example!

Companies can be valued in a lot of ways, so we would point out that a DCF is not perfect for every situation. For those who are keen learners of equity analysis, the Simply Wall St analysis model here may be something of interest to you.

View our latest analysis for Sin Heng Heavy Machinery

The Method

We have to calculate the value of Sin Heng Heavy Machinery slightly differently to other stocks because it is a trade distributors company. In this approach dividends per share (DPS) are used, as free cash flow is difficult to estimate and often not reported by analysts. Unless a company pays out the majority of its FCF as a dividend, this method will typically underestimate the value of the stock. We use the Gordon Growth Model, which assumes dividend will grow into perpetuity at a rate that can be sustained. The dividend is expected to grow at an annual growth rate equal to the 5-year average of the 10-year government bond yield of 2.0%. We then discount this figure to today's value at a cost of equity of 10%. Compared to the current share price of S$0.4, the company appears about fair value at a 4.0% 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.

Value Per Share = Expected Dividend Per Share / (Discount Rate - Perpetual Growth Rate)

= S$0.04 / (10%  2.0%)

= S$0.4

dcf

The Assumptions

The calculation above is very dependent on two assumptions. The first is the discount rate and the other is the cash flows. 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 Sin Heng Heavy Machinery 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 10%, which is based on a levered beta of 1.373. Beta is a measure of a stock's volatility, compared to the market as a whole. We get our beta from the industry average beta of globally comparable companies, with an imposed limit between 0.8 and 2.0, which is a reasonable range for a stable business.

SWOT Analysis for Sin Heng Heavy Machinery

Strength

Debt is well covered by earnings.

Dividend is in the top 25% of dividend payers in the market.

Weakness

Earnings declined over the past year.

Opportunity

Current share price is below our estimate of fair value.

Lack of analyst coverage makes it difficult to determine BKA's earnings prospects.

Threat

Debt is not well covered by operating cash flow.

Paying a dividend but company has no free cash flows.

Moving On:

Whilst important, the DCF calculation ideally won't be the sole piece of analysis you scrutinize for a company. DCF models are not the be-all and end-all of investment valuation. Rather it should be seen as a guide to "what assumptions need to be true for this stock to be under/overvalued?" For instance, if the terminal value growth rate is adjusted slightly, it can dramatically alter the overall result. For Sin Heng Heavy Machinery, we've put together three pertinent factors you should explore:

Risks: For instance, we've identified 3 warning signs for Sin Heng Heavy Machinery that you should be aware of. Other Solid Businesses: Low debt, high returns on equity and good past performance are fundamental to a strong business. Why not explore our interactive list of stocks with solid business fundamentals to see if there are other companies you may not have considered! Other Top Analyst Picks: Interested to see what the analysts are thinking? Take a look at our interactive list of analysts' top stock picks to find out what they feel might have an attractive future outlook!

PS. Simply Wall St updates its DCF calculation for every Singaporean stock every day, so if you want to find the intrinsic value of any other stock just search here.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.



This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.

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Home and Away spoilers follow for UK viewers.

Next week on Home and Away, there's a nasty surprise for Cash in the fallout from Felicity's wedding.

Elsewhere, Xander is rocked by tragedy  and the consequences take a toll on Rose's relationship with Mali.

Here's a full collection of nine big moments coming up.

1. Eden's prank on Cash backfires

Channel 5

On the morning after Tane and Felicity's wedding, Cash wakes up hungover and is alarmed to see an engagement ring on Eden's finger. It's the ring that Cash previously bought for Jasmine, but he has no idea how it got there.

When Eden realises that Cash doesn't remember the night before, she pranks him by pretending that he proposed to her.

Cash plays along and pretends to remember, but he is visibly uncomfortable over the situation. Eden eventually sets the record straight, but when Cash fails to see the funny side, she bluntly questions why being engaged to her would be such a bad thing.

2. Cash and Eden try to move forward

Channel 5

Eden explains why her feelings are hurt, expressing her belief that there are two types of women  those who men marry, and those who men don't. She now thinks that Cash views her as the second option.

Cash is keen to prove how much he cares for Eden, so he sells his old engagement ring and uses the money to buy her a beautiful charm bracelet.

3. Xander is rocked by a tragic death

Channel 5

Xander and his paramedic partner Jamie are working a shift when they're ambushed by thugs, who attack them and steal drugs from the ambulance.

Later at the hospital, an injured Xander receives the sad news that Jamie died at the scene. Rose wants justice for Xander and Jamie, so she vows to use her position in the police to catch the culprits.

4. Bree gets injured at the hospital

Channel 5

Bree returns to work after her abortion and faces a stressful shift as Xander is brought in for treatment. She refuses to leave until her friend and housemate gets the all-clear.

Story continues

When Xander regains consciousness after emergency surgery, he becomes disorientated and confused and lashes out by accidentally kicking Bree in the stomach. Remi rushes in to support Bree, worried that this could affect her recovery.

5. Mali questions Rose's priorities

Channel 5

Rose is intrigued when she discovers that a woman has been brought into hospital following a suspected drug overdose. She suspects this could be linked to the drugs that were stolen by Xander and Jamie's attackers.

Rose sneaks in to interview the patient, then heads off on a police mission to catch the culprits. Mali sits by Xander's bedside in ICU, but he's flabbergasted that Rose isn't doing the same thing.

6. Rose is shocked as Mali dumps her

Channel 5

Rose's police mission is a success as she uses the overdose victim's phone to draw out the drug dealer in a sting. When the criminal appears, Rose chases after him and brings him into police custody.

Rose's relief over the positive outcome turns to horror when Mali breaks up with her, claiming that he needs to be with someone who shares his priorities. Mali says that he'd always put family before work, but Rose is flabbergasted that she's seemingly being dumped for being a good cop.

7. Marilyn hopes for some fast cash

Channel 5

John and Marilyn receive the happy news that their former foster son Jett is now engaged. John offers to pay for the wedding, but Marilyn vows to contribute her fair share too even though she can't afford it.

Marilyn searches for get-rich-quick schemes and signs up to become a brand ambassador for Stunning Organics, a skincare range. Roo is sceptical over the company, but Marilyn won't hear a word said against it and recruits Kirby to help her with marketing.

8. Tane and Felicity return

Channel 5

Tane and Felicity return from their honeymoon, but Felicity is disappointed that the holiday has to end. Reality hits as they transition back to everyday activities, but Felicity can't help feeling that life as a newlywed should be better.

Felicity complains that life after marriage is full of expectations, but Tane assures her that they can make it work on their own terms.

9. Ava leaves after Justin's bad news

Channel 5

Justin's lawyer informs him that he's highly likely to face a prison sentence for his attack on Conor, as the prosecution are determined to make an example out of him.

Justin tells Ava that it's time for her to leave and live with her mum again. Ava initially refuses, but she soon comes to the mature realisation that Justin needs to focus on his legal case without her around.

Ava's departure hits Justin hard, as he realises this could be his last time seeing his daughter before going to jail.

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.

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 member of the Passaic Police Department, who allegedly shot a suspect accused of training his gun on another officer, will be investigated by the Passaic County Prosecutor's Office at the direction of the Attorney General's Office of Public Integrity and Accountability.

Meanwhile, the injured suspect faces a slew of charges, including aggravated assault, receiving stolen property and multiple weapons offenses after surviving his wounds, prosecutors stated Tuesday.

While announcing the probe, the prosecutor's office named the suspect  Jason Urban, 42, of Passaic  but not the officer who shot him.

Nor did the prosecutor's office detail how many times Urban, who was said to have been firing gunshots into the air near the city's train station on May 10, was struck by the officer's gunfire, only stating the unnamed cop fired eight rounds in Urban's direction.

The OPIA appointed the office of Passaic Prosecutor Camelia Valdes, which works with the Passaic Police Department on cases, to act as an "independent investigator" into the officer's use of force.

Independent investigations into any use-of-force by a law enforcement officer that results in death, serious bodily injury or if the force could be considered deadly  whether or not it proves fatal  are required by a December 2019 directive from the AG's Office.

Police are said to have responded to Passaic Avenue and Lackawanna Place at approximately 6:30 p.m. to find Urban allegedly firing a .44 caliber handgun, which prosecutors claim was reported stolen out of Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania.

Authorities claim Urban had been firing the gun aimlessly into the evening sky, but once police arrived at the scene and ordered him to put down the weapon, he allegedly pointed the gun at one of the officers, leading to his shooting at the hands of a second policeman among the responding squad.

Urban was transported to St. Joseph's University Medical Center and later remanded to Passaic County Jail, where prosecutor's have requested he remain pending his trial, by way of a motion submitted to the court.

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That motion will be considered by Judge Irme Karaszegi on Friday.

Editor's Note: This story has been updated to reflect that the investigation is being handled by the Passaic County Prosecutor.

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: AG taps Passaic prosecutor to investigate shooting of suspect by cops
The post Billy McFarland Says Hes Secured Funding for Fyre Fest 2.0 and Broadway Musical appeared first on Consequence.

Disgraced Fyre Fest founder Billy McFarland says he has secured funding to stage to a 2.0 version of the festival, as well as a companion Broadway musical.

McFarland made the announcement via his TikTok, as well as in an interview with NYC street journalist Adam Glyn (see below). In the latter clip, he spoke while standing outside of a bar with venture capitalist John Cerasani, who appears to be backing McFarlands ventures.

The musical, which will apparently preempt the festival, is dubbed Fyre Fest 1.5 As McFarland explained, Instead of like traditional Broadway actors, its going to be current music artists, combined with the Broadway format of the play  making fun of me, but also I think sharing some of the good sides as well.

Thats going to lead to the Island, McFarland continued, where he will attempt to stage a second version of Fyre Fest.

He said his financial backers have agreed to pay off existing debts from the first Fyre Fest, including anyone who is owed money in the Bahamas.Theyre getting paid back and getting paid back, like right now, he claimed.

While he declined to go into specifics, McFarland said Fyre Fest 2.0 would take place on an island, but not in the Bahamas. He also claimed that several artists have expressed interest in playing the event.The reaction for getting artists has been so extreme, McFarland said. Really, like half of them are like, fuck off, how dare you can call us. And theyre half  like, literally after I tweeted that Fyre Fest 2.0 is happening, theyve been texting, emailing, saying, Hey, like what can we do to come.'

In 2018, McFarland pleaded guilty to multiple counts of wire fraud in connection to Fyre Fest 1.0, admitting that he defrauded investors over the festivals financial status and provided falsified documents to secure funding. He ended up serving four years in prison and has been ordered to pay restitution of $26 million to the defrauded investors.

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Billy McFarland Says Hes Secured Funding for Fyre Fest 2.0 and Broadway Musical

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Brie Larson, Johnny Depp. Shutterstock (2)

Come again? Brie Larson appeared to be flustered and surprised when she was asked to weigh in on Johnny Depps presence at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival.

"Youre asking me that? Larson, 33, said during a Tuesday, May 16, press conference in the South of France when asked how she feels about Depps project, Jeanne Du Barry, opening the festival.

The actress, who is also a Cannes juror, added: Im sorry, I dont understand the correlation or why me specifically."

Zack Whitford/BFA.com/Shutterstock

The reporter then clarified that since the Captain Marvel star was part of the Times Up advisory council, he was curious if she had any thoughts on Depp, 59, being allowed kick off Cannes after his alleged past violence toward ex-wife Amber Heard. (Depp sued Heard, 37, in 2019 for defamation after she called herself a victim of domestic violence in an op-ed for The Washington Post. A jury ruled in his favor in June 2022.)

Larson was still visibly uncomfortable with being questioned about the Pirates of Caribbean actor. (The Room actress has been vocal amid the #MeToo movement, which champions victims of sexual assault to come forward against Hollywood figureheads as well as in other groups worldwide.)

Youll see, I guess, if I see it, she responded when pressed about whether shell watch the film. And I dont know how Ill feel if I do.

The Edward Scissorhands actors Cannes appearance comes four years after he initially filed his defamation lawsuit against Heard following her Washington Post op-ed. While the Texas native didnt name Depp in the piece, in which she described acts of alleged domestic violence, he argued that readers could read between the lines.

Depp then lost his libel case in the U.K. in 2020 pegged to Heards allegations of abuse in the same article. However, he came out victorious in the 2022 defamation case in the U.S.

A jury ruled in June of that year that the Aquaman actress, who was married to the Kentucky native from 2015 to 2017, owed him $10 million in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive damages. Heard, meanwhile, was awarded $2 million in compensatory damages.

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Both parties objected the ruling for different reasons, but the case was settled in December 2022. I defended my truth and in doing so my life as I knew it was destroyed, the Zombieland actress wrote via an Instagram statement at the time. This is not an act of concession. There are no restrictions or gags with respect to my voice moving forward.

Depp, for his part, has seemingly began to make a comeback in Hollywood despite his controversial actions and legal woes. Earlier this month, Us Weekly confirmed that the Whats Eating Gilbert Grape star inked a new deal with Dior.

The lucrative contract with the luxury label is worth $20 million, Variety reported on Friday, May 12.

Sign up for Us Weekly's free, daily newsletter and never miss breaking news or exclusive stories about your favorite celebrities, TV shows and more!

The Nightmare on Elm Street actor proceeded to make a splash at Cannes, which marked his first red carpet appearance since his and Heards trial. After the Tuesday screening of Jeanne Du Barry, in which Depp portrays King Louis XV, he and the rest of the cast received a seven-minute standing ovation.
Rep. Robert Garcia

California Rep. Robert Garcia announced on Tuesday that he would force a vote on a resolution to expel New York Rep. George Santos from Congress.

By making a privileged motion, the first out gay immigrant elected to Congress will force the full House to vote on the resolution, which could lead to the expulsion of Santos, the first out gay Republican elected to Congress while publicly out. The vote could happen within two days.

\u201cGarcia: I rise to give notice of my intent to raise a question of the privileges of the house. The form of the resolution is as follows.. that pursuant to article 1, section 5, clause 2 of the constitution, Rep. George Santos be expelled\u2026\u201d  Acyn (@Acyn) 1684261650

I rise to give notice of my intent to raise a question of the privileges of the House, Garcia said from the chambers floor. The form of the resolution is as follows: House Resolution 114 resolved that pursuant to Article One, section five, clause two of the Constitution of the United States Representative George Santos, be and hereby is expelled from the House of Representatives. Thank you.

During the introduction of his effort on the House floor, Garcia was joined by Illinois Rep. Eric Sorensen and Vermonts Rep. Becca Balint, two other first-year LGBTQ+ lawmakers. Sorensen and Balint were both original co-sponsors of the resolution. Garcia originally authored the bill.

George Santos is a fraud and a liar, and he needs to be expelled by the House. News that federal prosecutors are filing 13 criminal charges against George Santos should have been the final straw for Kevin McCarthy, but he refuses to act. Republicans now have a chance to demonstrate to Americans that an admitted criminal should not serve in the House of Representatives, Garcia said in a statement to The Advocate.

\u201cIt\u2019s time to expel George Santos from the House of Representatives.\u201d  Robert Garcia (@Robert Garcia) 1684262717

Balint joined Garcias sentiment, adding, Democracies dont die overnight; they erode slowly as we degrade our ethical standards and turn away from our values. The Republican partys defense of this proven liar whos been indicted on 13 criminal charges is a sign of the deteriorating health of our government. Americans want to have faith in our democracy, but with trust in government at an all-time low, its critical we take action to restore that trust. Today, were calling on Members of conscience to stand up for truth and finally expel George Santos.

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According to Sorensen, the basic principle of politics is to trust that ones representatives are working for the benefit of their constituents.

Our neighbors should expect that they can trust their elected representatives to serve them and not their personal interests, he said. Anyone who has failed to maintain that level of trust is a stain on the Houses credibility. To protect this institution, it is important we act.

Garcia tweeted about his call for Santoss expulsion.

Im starting the process of forcing a floor vote on our resolution to expel George Santos from the U.S. House of Representatives, he wrote. Republicans will now have a chance to demonstrate to the American people that an admitted liar and criminal should not serve in Congress.

\u201cI'm starting the process of forcing a floor vote on our resolution to expel George Santos from the U.S. House of Representatives. Republicans will now have a chance to demonstrate to the American people that an admitted liar and criminal should not serve in Congress.\u201d  Congressman Robert Garcia (@Congressman Robert Garcia) 1684261178

Santos was charged earlier this month with 13 federal charges, including seven counts of wire fraud, three counts of money laundering, one charge of theft of public funds, and two counts of making materially false statements to the House of Representatives.

Additionally, in an agreement with Brazilian authorities, Santos admitted to using a fake name and stolen checkbook to purchase goods in Brazil in 2008. This month, he was ordered to pay nearly $5,000 in restitution.

According to Santos, he fabricated details about his past and lied about his education and employment history.

He also falsely claimed to have lost four employees in the 2016 Pulse Nightclub shooting and his mother in the 9/11 attack. In addition to lying about his familys involvement in the Holocaust, the embattled lawmaker also falsely claimed to be Jewish.

The Advocate did not immediately hear back from a spokesperson for Santos.

Expelling Santos would require a two-thirds majority in the House.
For the most part, the opening ceremony of the 76th Cannes Film Festival was a tightly scripted affair. The show, which was broadcast live across the country from the Lumiere theater on the public television channel France 2, included an honorary Palme dOr for Michael Douglas, who stumbled through a speech from a teleprompter at the back of the room and bungled a few words of gratitude in French. Catherine Deneuve came out and read a poem about Ukraine. Host Chiara Mastroianni offered the usual platitudes. The cinema has never abandoned us, she said. We, in turn, must commit ourselves to it for the next 10 days.

Yet when jury president and Swedish director Ruben Ostlund took the stage after a generous montage of his acclaimed satiric work, he appeared to improvise a speech about the value of watching movies together. Back in the day, we were gathering in front of the TV, he said, but the only content that we watch together in Sweden now in front of the TV is the Eurovision Song Contest.

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The audience laughed along. All other content we are scrolling on small individual screens alone in our rooms, Ostlund said. My point is that when we are watching things like this alone, we are processing images in a completely different way. It doesnt demand us to think. The algorithm that is curating the content basically only wants us to keep on watching. By watching movies with a crowd, he added, just the fact that someone is sitting next to you and might turn to ask you what you thought means you have to take a standpoint.  I think its important that we are in one of those rooms where we are processing the content we are watching.

It was an intriguing observation to kick off a festival entrenched in its traditions, from the European filmmaking that dominates the program to the formalities of the screenings themselves. Watching movies at Cannes isnt just about whatever projects onscreen; the environment becomes part of the show.

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The opening ceremony was followed by Jeanne du Barry, French director Maiwenns engaging, airy portrait of Louis XVs favorite lover, played with an air of playful rebellion by the provocative filmmaker herself. The role of the king falls to Johnny Depp, a controversial figure in the U.S. but one who was welcomed with plenty of cheers when he arrived at the theater. As the lights went down, one tux-clad audience member couldnt help but shout, We love you, Johnny!

The movie wont do much to alter Depps complicated reputation in the wake of his court case with Amber Heard, but as a fairly minimal presence in the movie, its potential doesnt solely rest on his appeal. While U.S. buyers at the screening ranging from Sony Pictures Classics to MUBI seemed intrigued, Netflix is also a player in the conversation since it helped finance the project. However, the movie recalls another era of arthouse cinema: Jeanne du Barry drifts through the romance at its center with the old-school likability of a commercial French movie that would have played like gangbusters at the Lincoln Plaza a few decades ago.

Now, its prospect in that kind of market were less clear. SPC co-president Michael Barker told IndieWire after the screening that he liked the movie, but said I havent had a chance to think about it yet when asked if he might consider taking it on.

Time will tell, but the main Cannes crowd was ready to move on. Depp skipped the official festival dinner in favor of the films own afterparty, but over 600 people  largely press and industry  crammed into a dining hall at the Carlton Hotel for the opening dinner after the movie. Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences CEO Bill Kramer sat with Berlinale chief Carlo Chatrian as they discussed the future of exhibition in the streaming era.

While the Academy is expected to reassess its theatrical requirements for Best Picture in the coming months, the Cannes policy about theatrical releases remains unequivocal: Films in competition for the Palme dOr must receive a theatrical release in France. Chatrian said that Berlins policy was more fluid, merely requiring that films at the festival must receive a release in some fashion around the world  not necessarily in Germany. I think streaming and theatrical will become more and more distinct, he said.

The vapor from Deneuves e-cigarette wafted past them from a few seats down. She sat with her ex-husband, former Cannes president Pierre Lescure, who stepped down from his role last year with the election of new festival leader Iris Knobloch, the first woman to hold the role. Knobloch, a former WarnerMedia executive, is known more for her business acumen than cinephile bonafides.

Addressing the Cannes crowd for the first time, Knobloch singled out Ostlund. You have that incredible talent to immortalize everyday events and the moments that turn sour, she said. Standing up here I cant stop thinking of Rubens film The Square. That Palme dOr-winning takedown of the fine art world includes a memorable performance art sequence in which affluent dinner guests are thrust into the center of disturbing, confrontational performance art as the celebratory air gives way to fear.

At the Cannes dinner, no such chaos unfurled, though there was a lingering uncertainty about how the next two weeks would go. Seated across from Deneuve was John C. Reilly  the head of the Un Certain Regard jury  alongside his wife and producing partner Alison Dickey, who remarked that American movies produced in the low-seven-figure range were impossible to get made now. Nearby, sales agent Vincent Maraval (whose longtime Wild Bunch factory has been rebranded Goodfellas this year) peered around the room, hunting for buyers. Jury member Damian Szifron, whose Wild Tales was a Cannes hit back in 2014, said he was plotting a sequel. His fellow juror Paul Dano looked pleased to be playing a different kind of role for the next 10 days. I dont think Ive ever watched three movies a day like this before, he said. Ive got to get some sleep.

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(Bloomberg) -- A key element of the European Unions Green Deal package has been delayed after France, the blocs biggest supporter of nuclear power, said it wont back a law to scale up renewable energy.

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Member-state officials had been due to endorse the Renewable Energy Directive at a meeting Wednesday, paving the way for a formal vote in the coming weeks. Yet French concerns over the role of nuclear in climate goals for industry, plus opposition from some central and east European countries worried about green-transition costs, saw the law struck from the agenda.

The wrangling is a further blow for the EUs Green Deal, with various elements thrown into doubt by countries domestic political concerns. France, which relies on nuclear for the bulk of its electricity supply, has been pushing to allow a greater role for the technology in the energy transition.

We start to see a pattern here, and not by coincidence. As Europes climate policy gathers pace, impacts will start to be felt more and more also in core countries like Germany and France  and not only in the East as it used to be, said Simone Tagliapietra, analyst at Bruegel think tank based in Brussels. If not addressed properly, this might become a dangerous spiral slowing down Europes green transition.

The RED was taken off Wednesdays agenda following objections from France and other countries, people with knowledge of the matter said. Paris may be looking for additional assurances from the European Commission on the role of nuclear in exchange for dropping its opposition, they said.

France is objecting to the small role nuclear could play in meeting 2030 targets for green hydrogen in industry amid concerns about the cost of converting ammonia plants from gas to electricity. It has previously signaled that it would also like to see nuclear included in a list of strategic clean energy technologies that the EU wants to produce domestically.

The delay echoes a last-minute hiccup that hampered EU legislation on car emissions earlier this year as Germany pushed to include so-called e-fuels in the regulation. After weeks of heated talks, the country dropped its opposition after securing assurances of a carve-out for the fuels, while the law itself was left unchanged.

Read More: EU Takes Key Step Toward Ending Era of Combustion-Engine Cars

Such hitches are unusual in EU lawmaking, but France is now following Germanys playbook: protesting once EU negotiators have already reached a framework deal. Back in March, member states and parliament agreed to raise the 2030 renewable target to 42.5% of total energy consumption, while providing a small role for nuclear.

Under EU rules, the text of the deal cant be changed by member states alone; it would require reopening negotiations. The French prime ministers office, Energy Transition Ministry and the countrys permanent representative to the EU didnt immediately respond to requests for comment. The European Commission declined to comment.

Nuclear Trade-Off

A further date to address the renewables directive has not yet been set by Sweden  which holds the EUs rotating presidency  according to people familiar with the situation.

The March accord on the RED allowed countries to reduce their green-hydrogen targets for industry if they mainly used nuclear power  rather than fossil fuels  to produce the rest of their hydrogen and kept renewable goals on track.

But France, Slovakia, Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic, Bulgaria and Romania all signaled they wouldnt support that agreement, according to a person with knowledge of the matter. And Markus Pieper, the center-right European Parliament lawmaker responsible for negotiating the deal, has admitted only Sweden would be able to benefit from the carve-out.

Another segment of the Green Deal  the ReFuelEU Aviation initiative, which is aimed at increasing the use of sustainable fuel in air travel  was also pulled from Wednesdays agenda, the people said.

--With assistance from Petra Sorge, Francois de Beaupuy and Ania Nussbaum.

(Updates with quote in fourth paragraph.)

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Ebla Mari has a confession. Before she was approached for the lead role in Ken Loachs latest (and quite possibly, last) film The Old Oak, she says she was ashamed to say she didnt know who the director was.

Not that the 25-year-old really had any reason to.

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As a Syrian theater teacher in the village of Majdal Shams, part of the Golan Heights that has been under Israeli military occupation since the six-day war of 1967, and with no previous screen experience, its understandable if Loachs body of work  largely focussed on the troubles within U.K. society  may have passed her by. But Mari soon caught up.

In The Old Oak, she plays Yara, a Syrian refugee and recent U.K. arrival shipped off with her family to a former mining town in the northeast of England and into the center of a community torn apart by decades of neglect and where dirt-cheap housing is sold online to faceless overseas companies. Its also a community that often views its foreign arrivals not with solidarity as fellow victims, but as part of the problem. Yara becomes the key bridge after she befriends TJ, the manager of the villages last remaining pub, which becomes something of a battleground.

It was actually Palestinian director Annemarie Jacir that first connected Mari with the film. She was helping Ken to look for a Syrian actress, both in Syria and the Golan Heights, and knew an actor in my village, who talked to her about me, she says. A 15-minute Zoom with Loach and his casting director Kahleen Crawford followed by an online audition later, and in the summer of 2022 Mari was in Newcastle, near where The Old Oak was being shot.

While she may not be a Syrian refugee like Yara, Mari notes that the decade-long civil war is only over the border from her hometown. Its not so distant, she says. We can see it and have heard the bombs, and we have family there. So I know whats happening.

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But to relate the story to that of Yara, she researched the city of Homs, where the character is from, learned the precise accent, watched documentaries and spoke to friends. And while in the U.K., in the two weeks before the shoot began, she visited Syrian refugees who themselves had been sent by authorities to live in these old mining towns, going into their homes and hearing their stories.

It was very, very hard to hear it up so close, and very emotional, she says. On one hand, it is obviously good that theyre not in a tent in a refugee camp. But on the other hand, its an ongoing trauma. Their families are separated and they feel like theyre alone.

Like many of Loachs stars over the years, after her debut film and first experience of the Cannes film festival, Mari returns to her normal job, and has two productions coming with her students in the 3rd and 7th grade next month (students who only know that their teacher is in a movie).

But this is for now  my dream is to do more acting and also to study filmmaking, she says.

And having experienced the work of Loach in quite possibly the most in-person way possible, what does Mari think of the director?

I feel so lucky, because this kind of art is the art I believe in, and the approach to the story was very humane to whats happening  I thought it was very important, she says. Im not sure if its his last  he still has a lot of passion and drive to do things. I hope its not the last.

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Todd Haynes will be spending the better part of his May in France. Between a career retrospective at Paris Centre Pompidou and the premiere of his latest film, May December, in competition at the Cannes Film Festival, the Oscar nominee will be jetting all over the country. The back-to-back events have meant Haynes has been working on his latest release while reliving the entirety of his film career, which has included Far From Heaven, Carol and Wonderstruck. Says Haynes of the retrospective, which will include a screening of May December, Itll be a trip.

His latest film stars Natalie Portman as a Hollywood actress who travels to Georgia to research the life of Gracie (Julianne Moore, teaming with Haynes for the fourth time), who became tabloid fodder after she started a May-December relationship with Joe (Charles Melton), a man 23 years her junior. While preparing for the film about the couples past, Elizabeth observes Gracie and Joes marriage 20 years after their relationship was national news, a time when they are about to become empty nesters. The film, which will premiere May 20 and is being sold in the U.S. by CAA Media Finance and UTA Independent Film Group, was written by Samy Burch, with a producing team that includes Killer Films Christine Vachon.

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Ahead of touching down for his long stay in France, Haynes talked to THR about the origins of May December, why he (again) reteamed with Moore, and why the film had to premiere in Cannes.

I know it was on the Black List, but how did you first find out about the May December screenplay?

It came from Natalie and her producing team. She sent it to me during COVID, and a lot of things were circulating during that sort of shutdown time with a lot of speculation of what people would be doing next and when things would open up and all that. Weve been in touch on other projects in the past, Natalie and I, but it never worked out. But this script of Samy Burchs was pretty special; it was something I earmarked right away and wanted to start talking to Natalie about. We didnt really know when it could happen, but it was just written with such a gripping restraint and intelligence and perceptiveness about the place and people. It kept you in a state of constant anticipation and moral uncertainty in ways that I just found to be so exciting. This story is about two women, and the second character was just an unbelievably complex, juicy and ambiguous character who was scripted as someone who was about 60 years old. I immediately had an idea about who that might be. (Laughs.)

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I am assuming you are talking about Julianne Moore?

Yes, not to be coy. Rarely do you get scripts that feature such compelling female characters at their center and two characters at such different ages. I just said to Natalie one day, What do you think about the idea of Julie? And she was like, Do you think she would do it?! (Laughs.) I said, I have a feeling she might be compelled by this, yeah. And she was. She was so enthusiastic when she first read that script. There are real-life examples of the type of tabloid relationship seen in the movie.

Julianne Moore and Natalie Portman in Todd Haynes May December

Heading into filming, were you using these for research?

I really found myself honoring the distinction in Samys script from some of the famous examples of these tabloid stories like Mary Kay Letourneau. I was really looking more for sort of cinematic correlatives because the nature of the script is that youre left in a state of uncertainty about what to think about these people. The reliability you attribute initially to Elizabeth, the character Natalie Portman plays, begins to become destabilized as the film unfolds. Youre in a constant state of reevaluation. So, I was more curious about how do we tell this story and let all of those ways of reading the film be made pleasurable and allow the audience to feel like it was going to be a fun film to be navigating.

What were the films you were looking to for inspiration?

Its hard to not think of films like Persona, which is about the pairing and twinning of these two central female characters, one of whom is an actress. And then beautiful films about complicated relationships like Sunday Bloody Sunday. And then you cant help but ricochet into all of the foundational films about older women, younger men, from Sunset Boulevard to The Graduate, where we almost forget that [relationship] is at the core of the conflict of the story. The Graduate has its elegant minimalism in the way its shot and the way shots are held, which in my opinion is so much how the comedy of that film works, in its sustained and restrained camera. When there is a cut, it really means something. That kind of simplicity lent itself to the storytelling of this movie.

Having these two powerhouse women on set, how did you go about finding your male lead?

I worked with Laura Rosenthal, my casting director Ive worked with since we did Velvet Goldmine in 1998 together. We had a specific task: a challenging role to find. Joe is a Korean American character, so one would think that that would narrow the field somewhat in trying to cast that character, but we found really interesting ideas for Joe. Charles completely took us by surprise. He was more intensely good-looking than I had imagined Joe in this script, but my God, some stuff he did in auditioning for the role had this simplicity and innate understanding of who this guy was that made me utterly believe him in the predicament that you find him in the film. There are points in this story that just make you uncomfortable, and you kind of postpone fully engaging with them until you need to. Charles just really helped me see how this relationship could have come into being and understand it  romantically, sexually, and in every aspect of it. Charles put on 35 pounds for the role because I wanted him to just look a little more like a normal suburban 36-year-old husband. He was so excited to do so; he has a little bit of a tummy in it. Its so wonderful.

What did production look like?

We shot the movie in 23 days. We had about six weeks of prep for it. Now, this is a basically contemporary film  we set it back in 2015, and we really leaned into Savannah, Georgia. It was originally set elsewhere, and for a variety of reasons [we changed it]. It really provided this sort of strange and very specific setting for the world that we were telling. We sort of placed Gracies house in Tybee Island, which is about 20 minutes outside of downtown Savannah, and then Elizabeths inn where she stays is in the historic district of Savannah. [Savannah] served all of these elements in the film  its climate, its color palette, its strange, marshy, humid language. Also, Savannah has increasingly become this party town and no longer a pristine, historic museum. Of course, its still as beautiful as its ever been, but its invaded by hordes of open container-bearing tourists year-round. We really utilized these interesting contradictions in the place itself that I think serves the film in interesting ways.

With limited preproduction and a very relationship-heavy movie, how did you work with your actors to build onscreen chemistry?

In a film like this, it was particularly critical. It was very important for Natalie and Julie to spend time together because Julies character had to establish a sort of physical type that Natalies character has to start to imitate throughout the course of the film. That put a tremendous extra burden on Julianne to come up with who Gracie was very quickly. We really did do our very best to [have] just time spent socially with Julianne and Charles and the two main kids who were in the film. All of that time just hanging out and talking helped. We didnt really have a lot of time literally in the room working through scenes or going through the script as much as we would have liked.

Why was Cannes the right place to premiere the movie?

Look, I love the Venice Film Festival, and Ive had great premieres and history at Venice, but Cannes is Cannes. And Ill be in France with my retrospective, which is a complete career retrospective, everything Ive ever made will be shown. Then we get to show May December, and this would only be true if it got into Cannes.

Interview edited for length and clarity.

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Martha Stewart has the whole world crushing

Nina Westervelt/Variety via Getty

Martha Stewart is everyone's new favorite heartthrob.

After landing the cover of the highly anticipated Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue, Stewart, 81, has had everyone buzzing.

Once the photo shoot  which saw the culinary icon posing in the Dominican Republic in a variety of swimsuits  went live on Monday, the comments started. And they still haven't stopped. Celebrities and fans alike are gushing over Stewart's glamour and modeling skills.

Ellen Pompeo left a comment on Stewart's Instagram, writing, "Congratulations Queen @marthastewart You continue to school us all in what it means and what it takes to be extraordinary ." Jennifer Garner added, "@marthastewart48 !!! You are amazing! ."

Drew Barrymore made her love for Stewart known as well, writing, "@marthastewart see! I always say YOUR HOT," and Kerry Washington simply wrote, "Iconic."

Ruven Afanador/ SPORTS ILLUSTRATED

Related:Martha Stewart Threw 'Modesty Out the Window' for Sultry 'Sports Illustrated Swimsuit' Cover (Exclusive)

Models Ashley Graham and Lily Aldridge commented, "Marthaaaaaa!!!!!!!!!!" and "" respectively, and SI Swimsuit alum Maye Musk, who is 75, left two notes: "Fabulous!  Good choice @mj_day " and "."

The first transgender cover star of the magazine, Leyna Bloom, welcomed Stewart into the club with a comment, "Powerful congratulations @marthastewart welcome to the family ."

Lupita Nyong'o took the cover as personal inspiration, writing in her comment, "Martha taught me how to flower arranging! Doing as she says and as she does.  Congratulations @marthastewart48 ."

Tyra Banks even posted the cover to her own Instagram with the caption, "This!!! 81 years of WOW! I'm beyond obsessed with this @si_swimsuit cover, @marthastewart48!"

Even companies voiced their love for the viral moment. Etsy's social media page wrote, "Icon is an understatement Honored to have you as our Collections Curator of the Year!" on a post. Mercedes-Benz simply called her an "Icon," and QVC shared its love for Stewart, writing, "YOU LOOK AMAZING MARTHA! Proving that you can be fabulous and stunning at any age!! ."

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In her exclusive interview for the magazine launch, Stewart told PEOPLE that this moment is "important" to her. "It's important to stand up to challenges, whether they're beauty challenges or intellectual challenges, even philanthropic challenges," she shared. "To be able to stand up and do it  to me  is so fun! And this is accomplishing something that not everybody would accomplish."

"Our goal with the 2023 issue is to continue to evoke captivating and thought-provoking conversations," shared MJ Day, SI Swimsuit editor-in-chief, adding that Stewart is a "legend."

"While the industry wavers on its arbitrary notion of beauty, our issue has stayed the course, showcasing the women of today, the women shaping the future. This year, we're featuring an extremely diverse group of women, starting with our cover models, who are collectively the most unapologetic women from different walks of life who continue to forge their own paths on their own terms."

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The post Conan OBrien Must Go Trailer Looks Like a Pretty Sick Vacation: Watch appeared first on Consequence.

Free from the confines of a nightly talk show schedule, Conan OBrien finally has the time to get a little bit more worldly. HBO Max  or, as it will soon be known, just Max  has unveiled the trailer for Conan OBrien Must Go, an upcoming international travel series featuring the comedy icon.

The four-episode Conan OBrien Must Go will see its host cross international borders all around the globe to catch up with new friends he made through his podcast Conan OBrien Needs a Fan. Whether hes donning viking garb in snowy Bergen, Norway or purchasing phallic souvenirs in Bangkok, Thailand, this most certainly isnt your grandmas travel show.

The inspiration behind the show? My fans around the globe never asked me to visit them, so I did, OBrien writes in a statement.

Max has yet to announce a premiere date, but production is currently underway. Stay tuned here for more information on Conan OBrien Must Go as it rolls out, and watch the trailer below.

OBriens final episode of Conan aired in June 2021, and made him one of the longest-tenured late night hosts in history. Last fall, he headlined New York Comedy Festival, and hes also set to appear alongside Saturday Night Live comedy trio Please Dont Destroy in a forthcoming movie produced by Judd Apatow.

Conan OBrien Must Go Trailer Looks Like a Pretty Sick Vacation: Watch

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Construction on Buc-ee's along I-44 and Beaver Road, formerly North Mulroy Road, on Tuesday, May 16, 2023.

It's likely to be at least six months before Springfield can enjoy their own beaver-themed mega gas station and tourist attraction.

The Texas-based Buc-ee's is currently constructing a 53,000-square-foot travel center with more than 100 gas pumps on the northeast outskirts of Springfield off the I-44 interstate. They broke ground last August and a spokesperson confirmed that a grand opening of the store might not happen until early next year.

"I checked with the team and they are currently projecting a late 2023 or early 2024 opening," the spokesperson told the News-Leader as the project nears a year of construction.

Founded in 1982, Buc-ees operates 43 stores across Texas and the South. Since beginning a multi-state expansion in 2019, Buc-ees has opened travel centers in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, South Carolina, and Tennessee.

More: City agrees to stop Hotel of Terror eminent domain, negotiations to sell continue

Buc-ee's founder Arch "Beaver" Aplin speaks during a groundbreaking ceremony for the first Buc-ee's travel center in Missouri at 3284 N. Mulroy Road on Tuesday, Aug. 23, 2022.

During the August 2022 groundbreaking of the project, Buc-ee's founder and CEO Arch Beaver Aplin III said he hoped to return in a year for the store's opening. Those projections appear to be slightly delayed based on the chain's current estimate.

"Just a few years ago, building in Missouri was not on my radar. It's a long ways from Texas. But we're excited about being here" he said at the time. "My two favorite things to do  one is a groundbreaking and then the second is a ribbon cutting and store opening. So we'll be back here in a year."

Two rounds of reimbursement were approved by Springfield's City Council for Buc-ee's public infrastructure improvements.

Construction on Buc-ee's along I-44 and Beaver Road, formerly North Mulroy Road, on Tuesday, May 16, 2023.

The chain will be reimbursed a total of $9.2 million over a 20-year period from the two packages, but city leaders have argued the reimbursements are an attempt to pay Buc-ee's back only for the public improvements they make to I-44 and other public infrastructure. The reimbursements also only come from funds generated by the new and improved public infrastructure or a special sales tax on purchases within the store.

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"It's going to have all the products, we know it's going to employ the people. It's going to have really good prices. It's going to help us economically help our community and it's going to open up this property to other development," said City Manager Jason Gage at last year's groundbreaking.

Aplin also said Buc-ee's targeted Springfield because of its business-friendly climate.

"It means so much to come to a community that is so business friendly, that wants business in their community. It just makes all the difference in the world. Its one of the unofficial things  just kind of a box that I mentally check when we look at locations. We have not built in great locations because, quite honestly, it just wasn't a business friendly community and it's not that much fun to swim upstream and fight your way all the way. And so we very much appreciate the fact that y'all want us in your community," he said.

The emergence of the superstore has not been without critics. A group called Dam Up Buc-ee's protested against the chain because of an alleged negative environmental impact and use of taxpayer funds. It is unclear if the group is still active since holding a 50-person protest outside City Hall last year.

This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: When will Springfield's Buc-ee's open? Construction is ongoing
STEUBENVILLE, Ohio - When they installed the new surveillance system, local officials promised it would help tamp down a gang war menacing this forgotten steel town. But residents of Steubenville public housing soon learned the cameras were pointed at them.

One man was filmed spitting in a hallway. A woman was recorded removing a cart from a communal laundry room. Footage in both cases was presented to a judge to help evict the residents in court.

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After the cameras caught her lending her key fob to an unauthorized guest, Melanie Otis, 52, also was threatened with eviction. Otis, who has vision loss, was allowed to stay after she explained the visitor was a friend bringing her groceries.

In public housing facilities across America, local officials are installing a new generation of powerful and pervasive surveillance systems, imposing an outsize level of scrutiny on some of the nation's poorest citizens. Housing agencies have been purchasing the tools - some equipped with facial recognition and other artificial intelligence capabilities - with no guidance or limits on their use, though the risks are poorly understood and little evidence exists that they make communities safer.

In rural Scott County, Va., cameras equipped with facial recognition scan everyone who walks past them, looking for people barred from public housing. In New Bedford, Mass., software is used to search hours of recordings to find any movement near the doorways of residents suspected of violating overnight guest rules. And in tiny Rolette, N.D., public housing officials have installed 107 cameras to watch up to 100 residents - a number of cameras per capita approaching that found in New York's Rikers Island jail complex.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has helped facilitate the purchase of cameras through federal crime-fighting grants. Those grants are meant to keep residents safer, and housing agencies say they do. But the cameras are also being used to generate evidence to punish and evict public housing residents, sometimes for minor violations of housing rules, according to interviews with residents and legal aid attorneys, a review of court records, and interviews and correspondence with administrators at more than 60 public housing agencies that received the grants in 27 states.

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No data is available on how often the cameras are used for this purpose. But the previously unreported practice highlights how efforts to make public housing safer are subjecting many of the 1.6 million Americans who live there - overwhelmingly people of color - to round-the-clock surveillance. If evicted, former tenants can face difficulties finding housing and employment for the rest of their lives.

In an email, HUD spokeswoman Christina Wilkes said the agency never intended its safety and security grants to be used to punish residents for lease violations. But she added that such usage "is not a violation of the grant terms."

Melody McClurg, executive director of the Jefferson Metropolitan Housing Authority in Steubenville, said tenants are responsible for upholding the terms of their lease. The cameras, which are installed only in public places, are just one way of enforcing the rules, she said, adding that other factors contributed to the JMHA's concerns about Otis, the man who spit in the hallway and the woman who removed a laundry cart.

"People choose to get evicted by their actions," McClurg said.

As cameras have gotten smarter, their use in public housing is becoming a flash point in the national debate over facial recognition. States including Alabama, Colorado and Virginia have passed laws limiting the use of facial recognition by law enforcement, recognizing that these tools have been shown to produce false matches - particularly when scanning women and people of color.

Last month, after The Washington Post presented HUD with evidence of the growing use of sophisticated surveillance tools by local housing authorities, the agency said it would no longer permit future recipients to spend security grants on facial recognition. These tools "are not foolproof," and their mistakes can adversely impact public housing residents, Dominique Blom, HUD general deputy assistant secretary of public and Indian housing, said in an interview.

"This sends a signal to the housing community that this is the type of technology that the department is cautioning against," Blom said.

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Public housing authorities say cameras help solve crimes and make communities safer, though few of the agencies contacted by The Post could provide data showing these results. Officials in Richmond said their new cameras helped solve 10 of the 14 homicides in public housing last year.

In Steubenville, John Stasiulewicz, a former police detective who goes by the nickname "Stosh," is in charge of security for the public housing authority. He said the agency's cameras have become essential to local police, who rely on him to capture footage of drug busts that have led to the arrest and eviction of dealers and users.

"I am one of the arms of the police department," Stasiulewicz, 62, said. "I give them information and they act on it."

Steubenville police have installed about 100 surveillance cameras across the rest of the town, a city official said, while Stasiulewicz said he monitors 161 cameras in public housing. This means public housing residents - who are nearly three times more likely to be Black than other Steubenville residents, census records show - are about 25 times more likely to have their daily lives observed by government-controlled cameras.

Stasiulewicz said he routinely uses the cameras to enforce housing rules, such as to investigate tenants who may be letting in unauthorized guests.

In Steubenville and elsewhere, public housing residents interviewed by The Post said they do worry about the safety of their neighborhoods. Some said they are happy to see more cameras outside their doors. However, many also complain that the surveillance systems "don't work," because they see scant evidence the devices help stop or solve crimes.

And some say cameras are being used to punish residents who pose no danger.

Tania Acabou was served an eviction notice in 2021 after the housing authority in New Bedford, Mass., used cameras to investigate her over several months. A single mother of two, Acabou had relied on her ex-husband to help take care of their kids while she worked days as a bus driver and attended night school to train for a career as a lab technician. The housing authority believed her ex was living at the house without contributing rent, court records show, violating a policy that restricts overnight visitors to 21 nights a year.

The housing authority used software to place a digital marker next to Acabou's front door and told the system to retrieve every moment when motion was detected near the marker, documents and interviews show. When her property manager suspected that Acabou's ex was leaving through the back door, she set up a portable camera in the backyard pointed directly at that door, according to housing authority officials and a review of the surveillance video obtained and verified by The Post.

"It got to the point where it was like harassment," Acabou, 33, said. "They really made my life hell."

Sam Ackah, security director for the New Bedford Housing Authority, said the agency tries to avoid evictions by working out agreements with residents to pay their rent or come into compliance with housing rules. He said the NBHA tried to work out an accommodation with Acabou, but she refused to acknowledge that her ex was living at the apartment. Acabou said she presented evidence to the agency showing he was living elsewhere.

Ackah said his team typically conducts video investigations into 10 to 15 people at any time, working to improve life for residents who follow housing rules by policing their neighbors who don't. The cameras - which were not purchased through a grant but through the agency's normal annual budget - help catch people living in public housing without paying rent and help identify unregistered guests, who have not been vetted for past offenses, he said.

Unlike the doorbell cameras voluntarily installed by residents of more affluent communities, surveillance cameras typically are installed in public housing without the consent or control of the residents. In Washington, D.C., one woman and her son were arrested in 2018 after trying to stop housing officials from entering her apartment to install a camera power box in her bedroom. In a lawsuit filed against the city, the woman claims a security officer who arrested her said she "did not have any rights as a public housing resident and that she could not stop the worker from installing the cameras."

Rachel Molly Joseph, chief operating officer for the DC Housing Authority, declined to comment on the lawsuit, which is pending, but said none of the cameras face the interior of residents' homes.

In Charlottesville, housing officials met with residents before installing a new surveillance system and learned they didn't like the idea of officials "just sitting there watching the cameras to see if tenants are breaking their lease," John Sales, the agency's executive director, said in an interview. Unlike many housing authorities contacted by The Post, officials in Charlottesville pledged not to use the cameras to enforce lease agreements.

Nationally, evictions from public housing have surged since late 2021, when the federal government lifted an eviction moratorium put in place to protect renters during the pandemic, according to Peter Hepburn, associate director of Princeton University's Eviction Lab. In the 10 states and 34 cities his group tracks, there were at least 5,576 evictions by public housing authorities in 2022, about twice as many as the previous year. Public housing evictions grew at a faster rate in that period than evictions overall, Hepburn said.

There is no way to measure how much of the increase may be due to more sophisticated surveillance. But attorneys who defend tenants in eviction cases said that in some communities with newer cameras, they have seen an uptick in cases referencing video footage as evidence for kicking people out.

Gavin Bates, a legal aid attorney in New Bedford, said the local housing authority's surveillance system now "regularly appears" in cases where his clients are being evicted. The authority uses this system "to great effect in moving people out," he added.

"Quite often when there is camera footage of an event, the event does show a rules violation of some kind," Bates said. "But there are also a lot of unrepresented folks who just believe that there is camera footage when they are told, the footage is never produced, and they do not know their rights and often make bad decisions as a result."

Ackah said the New Bedford Housing Authority provides video evidence to the court in cases where it exists. "If we do not have the evidence to prove a lease violation, then we would not be able to evict," he said.

- - -

Camera manufacturers claim that artificial intelligence has made their devices capable of doing much more on their own, from identifying faces and license plates to spotting people loitering. As a result, residents in a growing number of cities are being watched by computer algorithms programmed to help authorities make split-second decisions about who and what is suspicious.

Of 41 housing authorities that told The Post they had bought new cameras using a HUD grant in recent years, 11 said their systems were equipped with facial recognition tools. Six said they planned to use this capability, either to assist police in criminal investigations, to control tenant access to buildings or to actively search for people banned from their properties.

Housing officials in Scott County, Va., said they use cameras to spot former tenants and guests with some previous violation involving drugs or violence. After getting a $250,000 HUD grant and installing 80 cameras - about 1 for every 2 public housing residents - officials in Scott County uploaded photos of all the people they had barred from entering public housing. (Such ban lists, which are widely used in public housing, are controversial because authorities often target people who have never been convicted of a crime.)

Since the cameras began to actively look for banned individuals, they have made only one match, according to Sue Smith, executive director for the Scott County Redevelopment & Housing Authority. It correctly identified a man banned from the property because of a past domestic violence incident involving a resident, an incident that did not result in criminal charges, Smith said. As soon as the match was made, the software sent an alert to housing staff, who asked the man to leave and alerted the county sheriff.

Trusting computer algorithms to determine who or what is suspicious is likely to put marginalized groups at greater risk of wrongful arrest, said Patrick Clark, managing counsel of the legal department at the Office of the Ohio Public Defender. A 2019 study of facial recognition systems found that Asian and African American people were up to 100 times more likely to be misidentified than White men.

"If the information getting spit out by the algorithm is not accurate or not fully accurate, but you have law enforcement or agents of the government acting on a real time basis, it puts people at risk of loss of liberty or worse," said Clark, who was part of a state task force that recommended restrictions on the use of facial recognition by law enforcement.

The cameras in Steubenville and Scott County were made by Verkada, a Silicon Valley start-up whose entry-level package - starting at less than $1,200 for a single camera and a one-year software subscription - comes preloaded with facial recognition.

Earlier this year, surveillance industry researcher IPVM tested a Verkada camera's ability to scan a group of people and identify any matches with a database of faces. About 15 percent of the matches were wrong. When the people were wearing masks or viewed at an angle, Verkada got up to 85 percent of matches wrong.

Brandon Davito, vice president of product at Verkada, said the company's own testing found that its facial recognition system accurately matched more than 99 percent of faces. He said IPVM's test failed to use the most precise setting of its software.

Smith said she believes that if the Scott County system falsely identifies an innocent person, her staff and the police would be able to sort it out before any harm was done.

A 2022 law prohibits police in Virginia from using facial recognition to track "the movements of an identified individual in a public space in real time." But the law only applies to state, local and campus police, so the Scott County housing authority probably is not in violation, said state Sen. Scott A. Surovell (D), who wrote the statute.

Last year, Verkada disabled facial recognition capabilities in its cameras in Illinois and Texas, where companies have recently been charged with violating state laws prohibiting the collection of biometric data without user consent. Davito said that when new customers turn on a Verkada camera, they have to check a box confirming that they are using facial recognition in accordance with local laws before the feature is activated.

In an April 21 public notice, HUD announced a ban on "automated surveillance and facial recognition technology" - terms that the agency did not define. The restriction applies only to future recipients of its security grants and does not limit use of surveillance tools by authorities that have already purchased them, said Blom, the HUD official. The agency is still assessing the need for a broader ban.

The action came four years after a group of Democratic lawmakers led by Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon urged HUD to become more proactive in setting limits on surveillance. "There is very little evidence at this point to make a judgment that these systems are making people safer," Wyden said in an interview last month.

In response to the lawmakers, a HUD official said in 2020 that the agency would evaluate how facial recognition was being used in public housing. But Wilkes, the HUD spokeswoman, said the agency has yet to do research on the topic.

- - -

The HUD security grants were funded by Congress in 2009 as part of an omnibus appropriations bill. They were intended in part to offset the loss of the agency's Drug Elimination Program, an expansive federal initiative launched in 1989 at the height of the crack cocaine epidemic. The program ended in 2002.

The Drug Elimination Program provided more than $100 million a year for a wide range of social services, such as drug rehabilitation, in addition to security improvements. The current security grants, by contrast, provide just $10 million a year primarily for equipment such as cameras, doors, lighting and smoke and carbon monoxide detectors. HUD also permits housing authorities to allocate some of their annual capital funds for these items.

This shift in federal policy and reduction in funding forced some housing authorities to stop helping residents struggling with addictions and mental health problems, said David Weber, a senior policy analyst at the Public Housing Authorities Directors Association, a Washington-based trade group.

"How do you address a drug and crime problem when you are having trouble keeping the heat on and the elevators working?" Weber asked.

In some places, public housing officials say cameras have become one of their best tools for addressing the crime and drug problems plaguing their communities.

When the Jefferson Metropolitan Housing Authority applied for its federal security grant in 2019, it said it was desperate to restore order to the chaotic lives of its tenants. Across Steubenville, a former manufacturing hub 40 miles west of Pittsburgh, methamphetamine overdoses were on the rise, two rival gangs were shooting up apartments in turf disputes, and a 15-year-old boy had been killed.

Michael Thomas, a community advocate in Steubenville, said the town's drug and gang activity stems from a lack of investment in local schools, arts, commerce and the kinds of recreational activities that would help young people improve their lives. Because the city offers so little support for people dealing with addiction and mental health issues, many of them end up on the street, he said.

McClurg, a 49-year-old former health-care administrator who fills her office with inspirational quotes from Mother Teresa, said she would like to do more to help tenants, but she doesn't have the funds for new services. It pains her to evict tenants, she said, but she can't let them bring drugs into the community and pose a danger to other residents.

"Number one, we are a landlord," McClurg said.

At the news conference announcing the $250,000 HUD grant that financed the new surveillance system, county prosecutor Jane Hanlin told the Daily Herald newspaper that it would help improve public safety in the area.

"It will work as a crime deterrent and a crime solver," she said, "so there's no down side."

Some public housing residents have seen the downside of living under surveillance. Acabou, the single mother in New Bedford, Mass., said her landlord used cameras to systematically scrutinize her life and pressure her to leave.

In 2021, the housing authority gave her lawyer a thumb drive filled with hours of surveillance video - scenes of her ex-husband providing parenting and support to their two kids. She struck a deal with the housing authority to voluntarily leave public housing to avoid having a formal eviction on her record.

Her new apartment is smaller and more expensive.

For others, the consequences of increased surveillance have been more severe.

Deborah Seekins was evicted from her high-rise apartment in New Bedford in 2021, after the housing authority said its cameras repeatedly caught her smoking cigarettes too close to the building and getting into altercations with other tenants, court records show.

Seekins, 68, now sleeps in her sister's basement. She is trying to find a place of her own and recently had an application for a new apartment accepted. But then the landlord called public housing for a reference check, and Seekins was told the offer had been rescinded.

"I don't know what's going to happen now," she said.

- - -

The Washington Post's Jonathan Baran, Monika Mathur and Magda Jean-Louis contributed to this report.

- - -

About this story

The Post contacted more than 85 public housing authorities that had accepted a HUD Emergency Safety and Security Grant in fiscal years 2021 and 2022 and had indicated they planned to spend those funds on cameras. Agencies were asked to identify the make and model of the cameras they purchased, whether those tools were equipped with facial recognition and whether they planned to use facial recognition or any other video analytics tools.

Of the 60 agencies that responded, 40 confirmed that they had already purchased cameras. Of those, 10 said they had facial recognition and five said they planned to use it. One additional agency awarded a HUD grant in 2019, Jefferson Metropolitan Housing Authority, also confirmed that it purchased facial recognition tools and planned to use them.

Additionally, The Post asked some housing authorities for their total numbers of residents and cameras and divided those numbers to see how many residents are typically watched by each camera. Of the 27 agencies that shared these figures, the average ratio was 1 camera to every 14 residents.

Chart data does not take into account the size of spaces under surveillance, which usually factors into the number of cameras necessary, security experts said.



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A delivery man carries pizzas for migrants waiting to be processed at the U.S.-Mexico border on May 10, 2023. Credit - Guillermo AriasAFP/Getty Images

Hundreds of people have arrived at the southern U.S. border in the hopes of seeking asylum following the end of Title 42. Images of migrants using their limited funds to have food delivered through a fence have circulated online, as many stand in line for days in the hopes that their case will be heard.

Title 42, a pandemic-era health policy that allowed authorities to turn away asylum seekers at the border to prevent the contagion of COVID-19, ended on May 11. For these migrants, a new day marks another struggle to decide how to best use their limited funds and resources.

The asylum seekers, who have arrived from various countries including Guatemala, Colombia, and Honduras, are under border patrol custody and rely on U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents for basic needswhich nonprofit leaders serving the area say arent being met.

We were told [border] patrol was only giving them one granola bar and one water bottle per day, Fiona King, Director of Development at Interfaith Community Services, a local nonprofit based out of Escondido in San Diego County, tells TIME. She emphasized that our government let them down by not caring for them.

Read More: Migrants Struggle to Make Asylum Appointments Through U.S. Government App

In a report by Rest of World, at least 10 delivery drivers were seen handing off food along the border wall for services including UberEats. Those who do not have credit cards are relying on the cash they have. One migrant allegedly spent $100 on a whole chicken because their delivery driver had no change.

Were in need of everything, one migrant told Rest of World. Food, water, something to protect us from the heat and from the cold. Its all stuff we want to buy, but we cant afford for someone to be bringing us all that.

Un repartidor de UBER trae pollos a los inmigrantes que esperan en el MURO de lado de Estados Unidos pic.twitter.com/ht4oU2lBMw  Yolanda Morales (@moralesyo) May 10, 2023

Civil rights leaders such as Shane Harris, the President and Founder of The Peoples Association of Justice Advocates, call that the situation at the border a disaster and a humanitarian crisis.

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If migrants are in the United States border patrols custody, then there is a dignity and a care that needs to happen, Harris tells TIME. Instead, nonprofit organizations are stepping up to provide diapers, blankets, clothing, medicine, sleeping bags and more to those that are in the area.

Both leaders tell TIME that while migrants remain hopeful about their future, their current circumstances reflect a need for more care and attention from authorities. King, who recently visited the border, says that the migrants seemed exhausted as many of them had been traveling for days and were essentially living outside as they waited.

Interfaith Community Services, in partnership with other local organizations, has also stepped up by offering sandwiches to migrants through the six-inch crevices in the walls and setting up phone-charging stations for migrants.

Read More: Immigrants Are Key to Fighting Off Authoritarianism

New policies by the federal government require all asylum seekers to use CBP One, a U.S. Customs and Border Protection phone app, to apply for appointments for their case to be heard. The app has been riddled with problems, including limited language services, insufficient appointment slots, and a flawed facial recognition technology that struggles to identify Black migrants. It also creates an overwhelming reliance on Internet services, which can prove to be costly for migrants.

The only thing [migrants] have are the clothes on their back and their phones. And the phones are critical because its the only way they can be in touch with [family] and as weve been told, applying for an appointment for asylum through a phone application, King says.

Immigrants stuck in a makeshift camp between the U.S. and Mexico look through the border wall as volunteers offer assistance on the other side on May 13, 2023 in San Diego, California. Mario TamaGetty Images

Many of the migrants have families and sponsors in the U.S. and are waiting for appointment slots to open up so they can access the life waiting for them on the other side, according to King. Diego, a 34-year-old Venezuelan who has been living in Mexico for three months hoping to be granted asylum, told TIME he feels stuck because issues with the CBP One app are preventing him from moving forward.

I just feel terrible all the time, like Im being held hostage in Mexico, Diego says. Im even more frustrated because Im someone who likes to work, and I cant work here.

With reporting by Vera Bergengruen
The post Fast X Seems Exhausted by Trying to Top Itself: Review appeared first on Consequence.

The Pitch: When last we left la familia, the sprawling multiracial ensemble that bops in and out of the Fast and the Furious franchise, things were relatively calm, with most of them on good terms with the law (despite their occasional extra-legal operations) and wealthy (thanks to said extra-legal operations). Dom (Vin Diesel) and Letty (Michelle Rodriguez) are even talking about the possibility of a potential younger sibling for their son Little B (Leo Abelo Perry). Then, of course, a bloody Cipher (Charlize Theron) shows up on their doorstep with a warning: Someone arguably even more evil than her is coming for them.

That someone is Dante (Jason Momoa), the flamboyantly-dressed son of Hernan Reyes, who Fast scholars will recall was the drug lord from whom the gang stole that big-ass safe in Fast Five. Dantes out not just for blood, but for the complete ruination of the entire family, setting up the team as terrorists in the worlds eye and threatening everyone they love. Split up around the world and on the run, itll take a pack of unexpected allies to help them survive Dantes plan, though even that might not be enough

Take Your Fast Car and Keep on Driving: At this point, every new installment of the Fast saga feels less like an actual film and more like an episode of a TV show  a TV show with at least eight series regulars, and countless recurring stars as well. And as sprawling as that cast already is, the film adds even more newcomers to the mix, like Daniela Melchior as a young street racer from Brazil and Brie Larson as the daughter of the long-missing Mr. Nobody (Kurt Russell).

While Dantes revenge quest at least keeps everyone on the same page narratively, the team is split up across multiple storylines, with Dom largely on his own as he jets around the world trying to stop Dante, and the films focus taking a slapdash approach to checking in on him as well as other big and small players from the franchises history.

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This devotion to franchise continuity might be fan-pleasing, but it also means that Fast X never really coalesces as a stand-alone film, even before ending on an epic cliffhanger. Director Louis Leterrier steps in here for Justin Lin, who abruptly left the production last year after two weeks of filming, and does a commendable job of mimicking whats come before. He does such a good job, in fact, that it ends up feeling like just more of the same, even while trying to top the spectacle of the previous films. Its all competently done, but fails to feel fresh.

The Gangs All Here: So Jason Momoa has never been accused of giving a subtle performance, but hes perhaps his most unhinged yet here, literally twirling and jetee-ing through the carnage he causes around the world. Some might argue that genderqueer Bugs Bunny is redundant, but its a combination of words that got stuck in my head during his time on screen, aided and abetted by his gleeful sartorial choices and delicious scene-chewing. Its honestly just nice to see someone having fun in these movies, which are otherwise a masterclass in deadpan asides and grumbling monologues.

Fast X Review Vin Diesel

Fast X (Universal)

Meanwhile, Diesel rarely gives the sort of performance that leads to full-on praise  however, to his credit, there are a few moments of real acting to be found here. In fact, theres a whole essay to be written about how as hypermasculine as the character might be painted, Diesel brings a shocking amount of vulnerability into it, letting genuine fear show on his face during key moments of peril.

As for the rest of the ensemble, the new girls on the block once again showcase the franchises ever-improving gender diversity  neither Larson or Melchior get much to work with, but theyre having a good time, and Larson in particular seems to be enjoying the trappings of playing a super-spy. Tyrese Gibson, the unexpected comic relief of the franchise, gets some solid moments as he grapples with leadership of a team, while everyone else feels like theyre well, supporting players on a TV procedural, contributing to the story without having any real story of their own.

Painfully underused, meanwhile, is Rita Moreno making her debut as Doms abulita  let her drive, already!

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Ghosts of the Past: Fast X may prove to be the breaking point for many when it comes to the sad case of Brians existence within the franchise: After Paul Walkers passing around midway through the filming of Furious 7, the character has continued to be referenced as alive and well, despite always being off-screen. (In F9, he literally stays behind to babysit the kids while wife Mia, played by Jordana Brewster, gets to participate in the international spy-jinks.)

The characters off-screen existence persists here, making it all the more clear that at this point, these movies are either delaying the inevitable death of the character, or are fully committed to leaving Brian forever in off-screen limbo. Either way, its awkward, and arguably unfair to a fandom that already had to grieve Walkers passing once, and may have to do so again in the future.

But Brian still being alive is just a part of the magic of the Fast franchise, where people never really stay dead, no matter how much they might explode. Its a universe with its own magical guiding principles and physics, one in which Dom is always gonna be able to save the day and drink a Corona.

The Verdict: As teased in multiple trailers, an early set-piece in Fast X involves a giant metal sphere (tiny spoiler alert  its also a bomb) bouncing through the streets of Rome, causing massive destruction as it does. Afterwards, Dante literally calls this out as an homage to Dom and Brians own rampage through the streets of Rio de Janeiro, during which they dragged the Reyes family safe behind their cars.

Its a meta moment that also speaks to the current state of the franchise, which hasnt quite yet run out of ways to combine cars, guns, planes, and explosions but perhaps its good that there are maybe only two films left until the franchise officially ends. Fast X, when it comes to the stunts and cars, delivers to some degree, but definitely seems to be feeling the strain of striving for the next jaw-dropping moment, to the point where it all just blends together. Only thanks to Momoa does it feel at all memorable.

Where to Watch: Fast X revs its way into theaters on May 19th.

Trailer:

Fast X Seems Exhausted by Trying to Top Itself: Review

Liz Shannon Miller

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The U.S. Department of Justice has reached an agreement with the Liberty County Sheriff's Office in Georgia to settle a racial discrimination complaint related to deputies stopping a bus of mostly Black athletes from Delaware State University last year.

Under the agreement, the sheriff's office will "review its bias-free policing policies, make necessary updates to its policies on traffic enforcement and searches, and develop and implement data collection procedures, among other provisions," according to a DOJ release.

Delaware State University lodged the complaint after deputies stopped the bus carrying the women's lacrosse team. They had been motoring along Interstate 95 on April 20, 2022, a day after playing at Stetson University in Florida, when deputies pulled over the bus for traveling improperly in the left lane.

They subsequently searched luggage stored in the compartment under the bus after a K9 officer "alerted" on the bus, but found no contraband.

More: Liberty County sheriff disputes claims of racial profiling after deputies pulled over lacrosse team

Also: Body camera footage contradicts sheriff's account of how deputies acted on Delaware State lacrosse bus

DSU alleged that the stop, questioning and search was unlawful racial discrimination under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, which prevents organizations that receive federal funding from discriminating on the basis of race. The sheriff's office receives federal funds from DOJ.

Liberty County, Georgia, deputies search the Delaware State women's lacrosse team's luggage in a photo taken by a player from the bus.

The students and staff at Delaware State University deserve policing that is racially equitable and bias-free," Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Departments Civil Rights Division said in the release. "The agreement that we have secured with the Liberty County Sheriffs Office will help ensure that its policing practices are free from racial bias and discrimination going forward."

At the time of the stop, Liberty County Sheriff William Bowman, who is the first Black sheriff of the county, defended the deputies while acknowledging things could have been done better.

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FILE - Liberty County Sheriff William Bowman speaks at a news conference on Tuesday, May 10, 2022, regarding an incident where deputies pulled over the Delaware State lacrosse team charter bus.

"Delaware State University continues to stand in solidarity with our players," Carlos Holmes, director of news services for DSU, told the Savannah Morning News on Monday. "... We hope that the U.S. Department of Justice will closely monitor and evaluate the Liberty County Sheriff's Office compliance with the terms of the agreement and if necessary re-open its investigation if the Liberty County Sheriff's Office fails to meet its obligations."

The Savannah Morning News and USA TODAY Network subsequently reported on the mixed histories of the deputies involved the stop and some of the prior complaints brought against the department.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY NETWORK: Liberty County Sheriff, DOJ settle racism case in DSU players bus stop
(Bloomberg) -- Five Washington insiders  a few trusted aides, a Cabinet-level officer and a Republican congressman  are now tasked with cutting a deal to avert a US debt default that otherwise could come as soon as June 1.

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All five have serious deal-making chops. None come from the extremes of their party. And most are well acquainted. Republican negotiator Garret Graves and White House representative Shalanda Young even share a personal Louisiana connection: he represents her hometown.

They got to work Tuesday evening, hours after President Joe Biden and Speaker Kevin McCarthy deputized them. The speaker offered a vote of confidence: We have the right people in the room.

Heres what you need to know about the negotiators:

Steve Ricchetti

Few in the White House are as close to Biden as adviser Steve Ricchetti, the chairman of Bidens 2020 presidential campaign and chief of staff to Biden when he was vice president. He brings decades of experience in sensitive negotiations: He also was a deputy chief of staff to former President Bill Clinton and once was Clintons top liaison to the Senate.

Ricchetti was a key player in brokering Bidens signature infrastructure bill, crafting a critical outline for a deal with a cluster of Senate Republicans and Democrats that became the spine for a package that unleashed $550 billion in new spending on roads, bridges and other public works. But when it came to the ambitious economic package Biden hoped would follow, efforts by Ricchetti and other top White House officials couldnt bring along moderate holdout Joe Manchin. It fell to Democratic leader Chuck Schumer to negotiate a scaled-back measure with the West Virginia senator.

Ricchetti has strained relations with some liberal Democrats including House Progressive Caucus Chair Pramila Jayapal, who consider him too focused on Democrats moderate wing. That poses a challenge if a debt deal needs broad Democratic support to clear either the House or Senate.

Shalanda Young

White House Budget Director Shalanda Young has a long track record forging deals on federal spending in her current job and previously as a long-time staffer for the House Appropriations Committee, which handles funding the government. Her deep knowledge of the arcane details of appropriations is a critical advantage in talks centered on cutting government spending.

Young, 45, knows the real-world consequences of spending cuts and where the fault lines lie among congressional Democrats. Her former boss, Representative Nita Lowey of New York, calls her a realist. And she has won the trust of many Republicans: Despite Washingtons partisan warfare, her confirmation won 61 votes in Senate.

Young is particularly proud of the catch-all spending package that passed Congress in December, raising baseline appropriations by $130 billion, a significant victory for Biden. She has a track record of creative solutions, such as shifting spending into new accounts to smooth over compromises.

Louisa Terrell

A former aide to Biden when he served in the US Senate, Louisa Terrell now leads the team of White House lobbyists who serve as Bidens eyes and ears on Capitol Hill. Terrell helped steer Bidens bipartisan winning streak on Capitol Hill in 2022, which included the infrastructure legislation, a major financial boost for the domestic semiconductor chip industry, a broad gun-safety measure and a same-sex marriage bill.

Terrell, 53, has been working since last year with Ricchetti and Young to lay the groundwork for legislation to speed up energy permitting. That could become a cornerstone of any debt deal since its also a top GOP priority. Her work has included making the case to wary progressives, whose support on a compromise could be critical.

Garret Graves

Louisiana Congressman Garret Graves emerged from McCarthys epic January battle for the speakership as one of the Republican leaders most trusted lieutenants. He helped broker the agreements that put McCarthy over the top. And he was the key architect of the House debt-limit plan that pulled together the partys warring factions behind a single package of spending cuts.

Graves, 51, describes himself as a pragmatist. The debt-limit plan he helped produce won over moderate Republicans unwilling to cut Social Security and Medicare. At the same time, he secured the backing of hard-liners who started out demanding $16 trillion in cuts to balance the budget in ten years. That would have required politically explosive cuts to benefits for the elderly.

Graves has a deep sense of Congress, having worked earlier in his career as an aide to several centrist Louisiana lawmakers. Prior to his election, he honed his negotiating skills working on Governor Bobby Jindals staff, handling talks with BP over compensation for the Deepwater Horizon oil spill

In the current talks, Graves has put a priority on energy permitting changes, which would benefit fossil fuel companies in his state.

Dan Meyer

Dan Meyer was there for the Revolution  the so-called Republican Revolution when Newt Gingrich led the GOP back into control of the House in the 1994 election after decades in the minority. He is the only person to ever serve as chief of staff to two House speakers: Gingrich in the mid-1990s and now McCarthy. In between, Meyer was the top congressional liaison for President George W. Bush during the battles over financial crisis legislation in 2008. Later, he worked Congress for major insurers and drug companies as president of the powerhouse Washington lobbying firm Duberstein Group.

Working for Gingrich, Meyer was there at the Capitol when Republicans persuaded President Bill Clinton to add tougher work requirements to traditional welfare programs. Its no accident that McCarthy and Meyer are pushing to expand work requirements for welfare, food stamps and Medicaid in the current talks. Meyer announced he is retiring from his congressional job in June, so the debt talks will be the capstone of a storied Washington career.

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U.S.-WASHINGTON, D.C.-GEORGE SANTOS-CRIMINAL CHARGES

U.S. Rep. George Santos on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 25, 2023 Credit - Aaron SchwartzXinhua via Getty Images

Even before House Democrats introduced a resolution on Tuesday to expel him from Congress, U.S. Rep. George Santos political future seemed tenuous. Reporters began discovering in December that the New York Republican had lied about topics as varied as his purported Jewish identity, his work history, and his campaign finances. He quickly became the target of numerous investigations. Then, in May, he was charged by the Justice Department on several counts of wire fraud and money laundering. He was also charged on theft of public funds and making false statements to the House of Representatives. Santos has pleaded not guilty to the charges.

As his political career appears to be going up in flames, challengers are circling like moths. Already, five candidates have launched bids to replace him, whether that opportunity comes when hes due to be on the ballot again next November, or sooner. More candidates are likely to announce for the seat as the situation unfolds.

For now, Santos is staying put. Despite even some of his fellow Republicans calling on him to resign, Santos has yet to lose the support of House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, who needs every vote he can get in the closely divided House. If Santos were to leave Congress in the coming months, New York Governor Kathy Hochul could call a special election and party leaders would have the power to choose their preferred candidates. Democrats handily won the district in 2020, and they are optimistic about their odds of doing so again, pointing to Bidens success there and the enthusiastic anti-Santos protests that have dogged the congressman during his first term.

Heres who has jumped into the race so far.

George Santos

Despite numerous scandals and criticism even from within his own party, Santos announced in April that he is indeed running for reelection.

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I was elected to fulfill the campaign promises of securing our border, lowering the high cost of living, solving the disastrous SALT issue in our tax code, and fighting the Hochul crime crisis of policies empowering criminals to terrorize the people of New York, Santos wrote in a statement he posted to Twitter. Ive been in office for 100 days, and through legislation and my votes, Ive already made significant efforts to honor those promises.

Efforts to reach Santos campaign were unsuccessful. In a statement to TIME, a spokesperson with his congressional office wrote, Congressional offices do not comment on campaign-related matters.

Read more: The Charges Against George Santos Were A Long Time Coming

Kellen Curry

The only other Republican officially in the race so far is Kellen Curry, an Afghanistan veteran who previously worked at J.P. Morgan. Curry tells TIME he started thinking about returning to public service during the 2021 withdrawal from Afghanistan, but it wasnt until he read about Santos lies that he decided to take the plunge.

Somebody could not go to this extent to defraud the American people, he recalls thinking when he first read some of the damning stories about Santos. But, you know, it is what it is. Now, when I go around the district, a lot of people dont even want to talk about it.

Curry says that he is emphasizing constituent services as he campaigns, as well as youth mental health, water infrastructure, remedies for noise pollution, and federal resources for the Merchant Marine Academy. We have the most ineffective member of Congress right now and he just cant get any traction on some of the issues that are important to residents of this district, Curry says.

He calls himself a kitchen-table-issues Republican, and says he has been a Republican for most of his adult life because he supports limited government, low taxes, strong national defense, and the free market. How does he think Santos will affect the Republican brand in the district? I think Santos is an aberration. I think hes one bad apple, Curry says. I think the national party is in a tough spot with needing as many votes as they can get in a very slim majority in the House. But I also think there is a sentiment of wanting to move beyond the distraction.  Were going to have that opportunity here in the Third District pretty soon.

He adds that he looks forward to a potential special election or getting the chance to defeat Santos in a GOP primary next year if it comes down to it. I think this whole Santos reelection thing is going to go absolutely nowhere, Curry says. My sense is that hes doing this to create leverage with with DOJ.

Zak Malamed

Zak Malamed, who co-founded the group Next 50 to raise millions for battleground Democratic candidates under 50 years old, is the latest candidate to enter the race in NY-03.

Im Zak Malamad and everything Im about to tell you is true, the 29-year-old Democrat said in his announcement video published on May 15.

In an interview with TIME, Malamad describes Santos scandals as too big to ignore. Santos is not just a local embarrassment, a statewide embarrassment, a national embarrassment; hes an international embarrassment, he says. When I was in Israel and the UAE over the past couple of months, I had people coming up to me asking me if I knew anything about George Santos, not knowing that he was my representative in Congress.

Malamad says his bid brings fresh energy to the race, which is needed to defeat MAGA Republican extremists, and stands apart from current and potential candidates, some of whom have track records of losing in the district. He also says hell be focused on winning by growing the districts Democratic base, especially in the part that reaches into Queens.

Malamed says he identifies with the New Democrats, a moderate congressional caucus focused on fiscal responsibility. Asked about what issues matter most to him, Malamed talks about expanding health care access and lowering the cost of living in the district, which he says can be prohibitive for younger Americans like himself. Having lost a friend to gun violence in 2020, Malamed says he also intends to prioritize gun safety, an issue hes been working on for more than a decade.

He says the first 24 hours of his campaign have been marked by enthusiasm from across the ideological spectrum, including a shoutout on Twitter from U.S. Rep. Ro Khanna, a California progressive, who praised Malamed as part of the next generation of passionate and willing public servants.

Will Murphy

A real person focused on other real people, reads the tagline on Democrat Will Murphys campaign website. The attorney and professor, who is making his first bid for office, says hes the only candidate in the race who represents ordinary people.

When the Santos news broke, I looked to the people stepping up to restore an average person, an everyday person, a real persons faith in government, he says. And I just saw more of the same. They might not be as bad as Santos. But theyre a bunch of self-interested career politicians.

Murphy says his campaign is focused on restoring trust in government. He has committed to serving no more than six years in office. Other top issues include restoring the SALT deduction and implementing common sense gun safety reforms. We have a Second Amendment for a reason, he says. But voting to make the AR-15 our national weapon, it doesnt protect people, and it doesnt protect our Second Amendment rights.

As a father to a two-week old and a two-year old, he says he feels a personal stake in advancing gun safety in schools and working on education issues.

Not every family involves wedding rings and babies, he says. But at the end of the day, family matters in this district. And Im the only candidate that can say, Im raising my family in this district.

While Murphy is preparing for a crowded Democratic primary, he says he doesnt think a special election is likely. If Kevin McCarthy wasnt such a spineless coward, desperately clinging to power in the House, he would do the right thing, be a real leader, expel George Santos, and there would be a special election, he says. But I think its been made pretty clear Kevin McCarthy is a spineless coward.

Josh Lafazan

Six years ago, Josh Lafazan was elected to the Nassau County Legislature at the age of 23, its youngest member ever. Before that, he had become the states youngest elected official when he joined his local school board at 18. Now Lafazan has joined the race for Santos seat.

On his campaign website, Lafazan states that he is a professor and an adviser to healthcare provider Northwell Health, and calls fighting the heroin and opioid epidemic his top legislative priority. The site also emphasizes his support for veterans and people with disabilities, as well as fighting bullying in schools.

This is not Lafazans first run in NY-03, Last year, he was among the candidates across the country who received support from disgraced businessman Sam Bankman-Fried. He ended up placing third in the Democratic primary.

Anna Kaplan

Former Democratic State Senator Anna Kaplan, who lost her re-election bid last year, is also in the race. Her launch video features news coverage of Santos lies and scandals while accusing him of wanting to restrict reproductive rights and slamming him for backing a bill celebrating AR-15s.

Additionally, the video tells her story of growing up Jewish in Iran, moving to New York, and officiating some of the states first same-sex weddings. It also emphasizes her support for abortion rights and gun safety, and the fact that she flipped a Republican State Senate seat in 2018, delivering control of the chamber to Democrats.

She previously ran in NY-03 in 2016, losing in the Democratic primary. Earlier in her career, she was elected Councilwoman for the Town of North Hempstead.

Other Possible Candidates

Many potential candidates who could become heavy-hitters have yet to declare whether or not they will enter the race. Among them is former U.S. Rep. Tom Suozzi, a Democrat who previously represented the district and lost the gubernatorial primary to Hochul last year. Suozzi is said to be among the partys favorites for retaking the seat.

Another Democrat who could launch a bid is Robert Zimmerman, a DNC member and businessman who was the Democratic nominee for the seat in 2022, losing to Santos by 8 points. Zimmerman has faced some criticism for not doing more to expose Santos falsehoods before the election. Asked by the Washington Post early this year whether hed run again, he deflected the question.

Across the aisle, another candidate has piqued Republicans interest: New York State Senator Jack Martins.

Ive been calling on George Santos to resign since he took office and yesterdays spectacle only highlights why he needs to step down. Martins tweeted on May 11 after the Congressman was indicted. We deserve better.
Nadiem Makarim, Indonesias minister of education, culture, research and technology, is set to launch an annual $13 million film grant at the Cannes Film Festival.

This is the first government-funded film grant from Indonesia. It is sourced from the countrys National Cultural Endowment Fund. The 1:1 matching grant scheme from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research and Technology is designed to promote international cooperations between filmmakers and is open for international co-production projects with Indonesia and for story development and research, production, post-production or internal promotion and distribution incentives.

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We expect this endowment fund to keep hopefully doubling every year, so weve allocated around close to $13 million. The interest from that [endowment fund] on an annual basis is about $13 million. So we plan to exponentially increase this over time. And its basically designed for grants in the cultural space, Makarim told Variety.

And within this amount, we have decided to focus really on creating co-production, opportunities for Indonesian filmmakers, script writers and production teams. We have this hypothesis that if we can encourage co-production with international teams, it will exponentially accelerate the skill building aspect of the film industry in Indonesia. And thats really what we need, Makarim added. Right now we are laser focused on increasing competencies and capabilities and exposure to world class cinema for our Indonesian filmmakers and producers and script writers. Thats really the goal. And why we decided to launch this matching fund was to really let the world know that Indonesia is now open to these productions, and the government is proactively accelerating that with a matching fund. Thats really the the rationale behind it.

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There is no cap on the grant and the amounts will be decided on a case-to-case basis, Makarim said. Indonesia is currently in the process of improving all of the regulatory and incentive structures for the grant, together with other ministries, like the Ministry of Tourism, as a matter of priority.

We do realize that there have been challenges in the past, but we are working to improve that. We want to be, we should theoretically be the destination in Southeast Asia for film productions, because we have probably the largest variety of locations and sets, Makarim said.

Makarim, an MBA from Harvard, is a technocrat. Prior to joining the Indonesian government, he founded Gojek, the on-demand multi-service platform and digital payment technology group currently valued at some $10 billion.

Indonesia has an education endowment fund of $8 billion and a chunk of this is used to provide scholarships for degree and non degree programs in the film space around the world, and also to enhance the film education infrastructure locally.

Were really focusing on the human resource and skill building part. This we believe thats the crux. This is part of our cultural diplomacy campaign. We are one of the most culturally rich, diverse countries in the world and yet so few people in the world know about us. We would really like to export some of our culture and we think film is one of the fastest and best ways of achieving that, Makarim said.

At Cannes, South Koreas Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival (BiFan) is signing a memorandum of understanding with Jakarta Film Week designed to support the participation of Indonesian filmmakers in BiFans Asian Talent Exchange program. In addition, the Far East Film Festival in Udine, Italy, is signing an agreement with Indonesian producers association APROFI to support selected Indonesian projects in the Focus Asia project market.

Indonesian films now routinely win awards at A-list festivals, including at Venice, Locarno and Busan and the minister is ensuring that these films get both domestic and international distribution. Makarim said that he is personally talking to the culture ministers of several countries to develop treaties and agreements on how to increase the number of co-funding projects and to secure and facilitate distribution rights globally.

Part of me coming to Cannes is actually to announce to the world that we are now open for business and we are ready to really internationalize our film industry, Makarim said.

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Lori Vallow was indicted by a grand jury in Maricopa County for conspiracy to commit the murder of Brandon Boudreaux more than a year ago, Justin Lum of Fox 10 Phoenix reports.

Vallow was charged on 24 February 2022 under the late Allister Adel, who was the county attorney at the time, he reports.

Per to the indictment, Vallow and her late brother Alex Cox agreed that at least one of them or another would engage in conduct constituting the offence of first-degree premeditated murder on 2 October 2019.

Police in Gilbert, Arizona, say Cox shot at Mr Boudreaux outside his home from the back of a jeep after he returned home from the gym that morning.

This is the third time that Cox is named as a co-conspirator in a grand jury indictment of Vallow.

First in the murder charges for which she was convicted in Idaho; second on the murder conspiracy charge in the death of Charles Vallow in Chandler, Arizona; and now third in the attempted murder of Mr Boudreaux.

On Friday, the Maricopa County Attorneys Office in Arizona announced that in addition to pursuing charges against Vallow over the murder of her fourth husband Charles Vallow, they also plan to prosecute her in the attempted murder of Mr Boudreaux. It was not known that she had been indicted by a grand jury at that point.

The Attorneys Office made the announcement after Vallow was found guilty on all six charges at her trial for the murder of her children Tylee Ryan and JJ Vallow, and for her role in the conspiracy to murder her current husbands late wife Tammy Daybell.

Per to the indictment, Vallow & her late brother Alex Cox agreed that at least one of them or another would engage in conduct constituting the offense of first degree premeditated murder on 10/2/19. Gilbert PD says Cox shot at Boudreaux outside his home from the back of a jeep. pic.twitter.com/2jXh6NpYAq  Justin Lum |  (@jlumfox10) May 16, 2023

In July 2019, two months before the murders of the children, Charles Vallow was shot dead by Cox at the family home. He claimed he shot his brother-in-law in self-defence.

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The preponderance of evidence at Vallows trial in Boise, Idaho, suggests that his death was the first step in a wider plot by Vallow and her current husband Chad Daybell to rid their lives of obstacles as they termed their spouses and her children, as the court heard in text messages entered into evidence.

Mr Boudreaux was married to Vallows niece Melani Pawlowski (she remarried in November 2019 to Ian Pawlowski, who testified at Vallows trial). Melani was very close to Vallow and believed in many of the same bizarre doomsday prophecies espoused by her and Mr Daybell.

This ultimately ended her marriage to Mr Boudreaux with whom she shared custody of their five children. From evidence heard at Vallows trial, it is apparent that he too was considered an obstacle and  in their beliefs  a dark spirit had possessed him.

Google location data showed Alex Cox travelling to and from Gilbert, Arizona, from Idaho in early October 2019. On 2 October an attempt was made on the life of Mr Boudreaux when he was shot at after returning home from the gym. He had earlier taken his older children to school and dropped the youngest off at Ms Pawlowskis home.

The shots were fired from the back window of a grey Jeep Wrangler that had had its back spare tyre removed. Video footage from a storage facility in Idaho showed Mr Cox and Vallow placing the spare tyre in a storage facility the day before he drove south to Maricopa County and then taking it back out a few days later.

Mr Boudreaux gave heartbreaking testimony at Vallows trial about the end of his marriage to Ms Pawlowski and broke down as he recalled having to be the person who identified JJ Vallows remains.

Questions linger over Ms Pawlowskis involvement in the attempt on her former husbands life. She was present in court in Boise for Vallows trial as her husband testified, but did not take the stand herself much to the surprise of those closely watching the case.

Other women  Zulena Pastenes and Melanie Gibb  who were close to Vallow and involved in the strange rituals she conducted as part of their shared beliefs about the second coming did testify.

Mr Cox died suddenly in December 2019, after telling Ms Pastenes  whom he had married shortly before  that he feared he would be the fall guy for Mr Daybell and his sister.
A Venezuelan migrant browses the CBP One mobile app searching for an appointment to enter the United States outside the temporary stay of the National Migration Institute (INM) in Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua state, Mexico, on May 5, 2023.

A Venezuelan migrant browses the CBP One mobile app searching for an appointment to enter the United States outside the temporary stay of the National Migration Institute (INM) in Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua state, Mexico, on May 5, 2023. Credit - Herika MartinezAFP/Getty Images

From a shelter on the Southern bank of the Rio Grande in Mexico, Diego tries and fails repeatedly to secure an asylum appointment in the U.S. through a government smartphone app. Diego, 34, has been in Mexico for more than three months after traveling north from Venezuela, but hes heard of new arrivals suddenly receiving an appointment. With the new system, I had hoped that those of us who have been here three, four months would be able to get appointments first, that there would be some kind of order, he says. But its luck, its like a lottery.

Federal officials have directed migrants seeking asylum in the U.S. to use the CBP One smartphone app to enter lawfully. Under the Biden Administrations new asylum rules put in place after the expiration of Title 42, if a person did not seek asylum in the country they moved through to get to the U.S. or didnt use the CBP One app, any asylum claim they make in the U.S. will likely be rejected. But only 1,000 slots are available through the app every day; there arent enough appointments to meet the demand. CBP said in a May 5 statement that it will prioritize appointments for those who had been waiting the longest by giving a percentage of appointments each day to the people who registered earliest with the app. (Diegos legal advocates asked TIME to withhold his last name over concerns that his comments could impact his asylum case.)

U.S. Border Patrol agents transport migrants from a makeshift camp between fences on the US-Mexico border in San Diego, Calif., on May 12, 2023. Eric ThayerBloomberg/Getty Images

Beyond the limited availability of appointments, migrants and immigration advocates have reported issues with how the app works. Among the complaints: error messages keep popping upoften in English. Some migrants may be illiterate or not speak English, Spanish, or Haitian Creolelanguages the app uses. Some dont have an email address. Some nonprofits that work with migrants previously alleged that the app can fail to register those with darker skin tones. The internet connection may not be strong enough for facial capture software. Thats especially true for migrants who live in refugee camps by the river, says Pastor Abraham Barberi, an independent missionary who lives in Brownsville, Texas and frequents Matamaros, Mexico across the border. Migrants may not have a smartphone or if they do, they may not have the technological savvy or enough memory to use the app. Some migrants lost their phones or had them stolen on difficult journeys to the border.

All this means the fate of migrantsmany of whom are fleeing extreme poverty and violencehinges largely on a smartphone lottery system. The assumption that migrants fleeing danger will have ready access to a smartphone is misguided, immigration advocates say. Imagine if your whole life was based upon whether or not your family had enough money to get an expensive phone. People are literally choosing a phone over food, says Priscilla Orta, supervising attorney at Project Corazon, a program by Lawyers for Good Government, a human rights advocacy organization that runs pro bono legal service programs.

In theory, an individual fleeing persecution just needs to present themselves to immigration officials and explain they have a fear of being returned to their country of origin for a shot at asylum, says Chelsea Sachau, an attorney at the Arizona-based Florence Immigrant and Refugee Rights Project. But in practice, Sachau says when her clients have approached immigration officials to explain that they cant read or speak Spanish or that they dont have a smartphone, they have been turned away and told they need to get one and figure it out. The CBP One app is a really dangerous threat because it does violate the whole concept that people can access the process in a fair way and an equitable way, she says.

A local police officer scans the CBP One app QR code for an asylum seeker on the Mexican side of the San Ysidro port of entry on the US-Mexico border, as seen from Tijuana, Baja California state, Mexico, on May 11, 2023. Guillermo AriasAFP/Getty Images

Following criticism of the app, which was officially rolled out in Oct. 2020 but has been more widely used since Jan. 2023, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) announced some changes earlier this month, including a scheduling system that will allow users to request an appointment for 23 hours each day, instead of at a short designated time. The agency said this was aimed at reducing time pressure. Before this change, navigating the app was chaos, some immigration attorneys say. It essentially was like if Taylor Swift concert tickets for last fall happened every single morning. But instead of for concert tickets, it was your ticket to safety, Sachau says.

CBP did not respond to a request for comment about ongoing criticism of the app.

Despite the changes, migrants and their advocates are still calling for providing additional tools to access asylum. Among them: the ability to walk up to the bridge and request to legally go through the asylum process, even if you havent gone through the app. The administration likes to paint (the app) as an orderly way of handling things. But what is so un-orderly about a line at the bridge that does not require a phone? Orta says. Were all for providing various tools of access; this could be one of many tools but not the sole tool. Orta has also pushed DHS to release a web version of the appointment system that can be accessed through a computer, which could make it easier for migrant aid groups to help. A paper form to submit a request could be useful, too, she says.

In the meantime, the app is not always accessible for those in the most perilous situations.

Twenty-four hours after the end of Title 42, a popular migrant crossing along the U.S.-Mexico border is empty in Somerton, Ariz. on May 12, 2023. Gary CoronadoLos Angeles Times/Getty Images

Among those waiting in Mexico is 51-year-old Marco, who is HIV-positive and has run out of medications. His wife Noelia, 39, has recently undergone surgery for breast cancer and also has run out of medications. Speaking to TIME on WhatsApp, he said they are desperate. My family is suffering from hunger, were running out of moneythe app hasnt worked, it hasnt worked for anyone, we dont know what else to do, he said. As the father of the family I am responsible for them all. We are human beings, please help us.

Marco and Noeliathe same legal advocates aiding Diego also requested withholding their last namesarent alone. Maribel Hernandez Rivera, a deputy national political director at the ACLU, was part of a recent delegation organized by the Haitian Bridge Alliance that visited migrant shelters along the border. She recalls meeting a woman from Honduras inside a migrant camp. Her six-year-old daughter had a fever. She said her phone was stolen and she doesnt have the money to buy a new one.

-With additional reporting by Vera Bergengruen
Ludacris and Eudoxie Bridges have been married since 2014

Paras Griffin/Getty

A shared passion for philanthropy brought Ludacris and Eudoxie Bridges (nee Mbouguiengue) together.

After meeting at the rapper's LudaDay charity event in 2008, Ludacris (born Christopher Bridges) and Eudoxie quickly began dating. The couple got engaged in 2014 after several years together, and just hours later, they got married.

Since tying the knot, Ludacris and Eudoxie have welcomed two daughters: Cadence Gaelle, born in 2015, and Chance Oyali, born in 2021. Eudoxie is also a stepmom to Ludacris' daughters from previous relationships, Karma and Cai.

In June 2021, Ludacris told PEOPLE that his wife "checked all the boxes."

"I loved how passionate she was about her goals. And, obviously, she's beautiful," he said, adding of their surprise wedding: "I felt like I sowed all of my royal oats. I was mature enough to become a husband, so the timing was perfect. We are stronger together."

Over the years, the pair have shared plenty of sweet moments on social media as well as glimpses into their relationship and family life.

"Is it the way I look at her, the way she looks at me, or the way we look at YOU? Whatever it is I can guarantee you it's 100% GENUINE," the Fast and Furious star captioned a photo of the two on their 8th anniversary. "Happy 8 Year Anniversary Mrs. Bridges You make life worth GIVING. PURE LOVE."

So, who is Ludacris' wife? Here's everything to know about Eudoxie Bridges.

She was born in West Africa

Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic

Eudoxie was born and raised in the West African nation of Gabon.

According to her 2016 book, Unspoken Angel: My Story Through Her Eyes, Eudoxie moved to the U.S. as a teen, only knowing three English words. However, she adapted to her new country and learned the language. Eudoxie often shares photos and videos from her visits to her "beautiful Gabon" and is clearly very proud to be Gabonese.

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In 2020, Ludacris became an official citizen of Gabon, posting a video on Instagram with his passport and revealing that his children are also dual citizens.

"Starting My New Year off with Dual Citizenship!  AFRICA IM OFFICIAL," Ludacris captioned the clip. "Best Gift of the Decade Award goes to @eudoxie  #thebridges."

She comes from a large family

ATLANTA, Ga September 5: Eudoxie Bridges and Ludacris Attend the LudaDay Weekend all white party Finale at Compound on September 5, 2016 in Atlanta, Georgia.

Eudoxie has many siblings who still live in Gabon. Although the couple live far away from her family, the two make a point of staying connected.

"At the current moment, we're packing up stuff to send back to [Eudoxie's] family at home  like boxes of clothes and baby stuff," Ludacris told Distractify amidst the COVID-19 pandemic in August 2021.

He continued, "She has like eight brothers and sisters. And we're sending stuff in a container over the water and shipping it to Africa. I think that our love for giving back and our love for charity and our love for a growing family and continuing to raise strong children is what's so strong about the unit."

She met Ludacris in 2008

Prince Williams/FilmMagic

Eudoxie and Ludacris first met in Atlanta at the 2008 LudaDay fundraising event.

Ludacris has hosted the annual weekend-long event since 2005; the fundraising event aims to bring the Atlanta community together in dedication to social service and responsibility with the proceeds raised going to the Ludacris Foundation and other local charities that benefit children.

In 2018, Eudoxie honored the 10-year anniversary of their first meeting by sharing a black-and-white photo of the two kissing on Instagram.

"Today marks 10 years we've known each other," Eudoxie captioned the post. "We met August 30th Ludaday weekend 2008 but don't get it twisted he didn't get to kiss these lips until 2009.  I'm glad we made it work for us because there's no one I'd rather go through this life with. 10 years later and we are better friends, lovers, parents, and partners."

She and Ludacris got engaged and married on the same day

Ludacris Instagram

On Dec. 26, 2014, Ludacris revealed on Instagram that he and Eudoxie were engaged. The End of the Road actor popped the question while aboard a private plane, and Eudoxie enthusiastically accepted.

"She didn't say yes. She said HELL YES! #milehighproposal," he wrote alongside snaps of Eudoxie and his sky-high proposal.

The couple married in a surprise ceremony Ludacris planned at their home just hours after they got engaged.

"We can confirm they got married privately over the holidays," Ludacris' rep told PEOPLE, with another source adding that "Eudoxie wanted a simple ceremony, and it was exactly what she dreamed."

In January 2015, Ludacris posted a photo of him and Eudoxie from their wedding night.

"Why wait? Did the thing before 2015. #mrandmrsbridges," he captioned the image.

Eudoxie also expressed her excitement on Instagram, sharing a photo collage of herself wearing an ivory halter gown and clutching her bouquet as Ludacris posed next to her.

She wrote in the caption: "Great way to go into the new year!"

She and Ludacris have a blended family

Eudoxie Mbouguiengue/Instagram

Ludacris and Eudoxie welcomed their first child together, daughter Cadence Gaelle, on June 4, 2015. They welcomed their second daughter, Chance Oyali, on July 28, 2021. The rapper also has two daughters from previous relationships, Karma and Cai.

Eudoxie frequently posts photos of all four girls on Instagram as well as family photos of the entire clan.

Ludacris is equally as passionate about parenthood and loves being a girl dad.

"The best part of being a girl dad is that every day is something different, and each daughter has unique needs, so I am learning and adjusting every day just as much as they are," he told PEOPLE in June 2021.

The multi-hyphenate released the Netflix animated series Karma's World in 2021 and the children's book Daddy and Me and the Rhyme to Be in 2022, both of which are inspired by his eldest daughter, Karma, a student at Spelman College studying filmmaking.

The father-daughter duo later expanded their Karma's World empire, launching a sleep collection featuring satin bonnets and pillowcases in 2023.

When discussing the picture book with PEOPLE in June 2022, Ludacris said, "I have absolutely loved being the father to four incredible girls [...] They have taught me so much and changed me for the better. It's my daughters who inspired me to create this show for kids to spread a message of confidence, creativity and empowerment."

She and Ludacris are raising her youngest sister

Eudoxie Bridges Instagram

In addition to their four girls, Ludacris and Eudoxie are helping raise her youngest sister Christella.

In a February 2018 Instagram post, Eudoxie wrote about how she and her husband are raising Christella to be confident in her own skin.

"My husband and I are raising my beautiful youngest sister @christella_mimi in a house full of light skin. Everyday I remind her of how beautiful, strong and smart she is," she wrote alongside a picture of an Essence magazine cover featuring actresses from Marvel's Black Panther.

Christella is often featured on Eudoxie's Instagram and appears in several of the Bridges family photos. She also gave Eudoxie a shout-out in her Instagram post on Mother's Day in 2020.

She started a nonprofit

Prince Williams/WireImage

The philanthropist  who got her master's degree in global management from Nova Southeastern University  founded the nonprofit organization Unspoken Angels in 2013 with the mission of inspiring and helping young women who have experienced abuse, including those in her village in Gabon.

According to a March 2016 interview with the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Eudoxie experienced abuse as a young girl and teenager, which later inspired her to start the organization and give a voice to the voiceless.

Ludacris has been a huge source of support for his wife in both opening up about her past and starting the foundation. He has also been by her side at several Unspoken Angels fundraising events.

"My husband is my best friend and confidant," she told the AJC. "He is very supportive of my dreams, aspirations and goals. When I shared my story with him, he encouraged me to share my story and made me understand how many women and young girls would benefit from it."

She supports Ludacris' career

John Shearer/Getty

Eudoxie has also returned the favor, supporting her husband's various professional and educational pursuits.

Ludacris attended Georgia State University in 1996, majoring in music management, as reported by Billboard. However, he left after two years when he got a record deal with Def Jam Recordings. In May 2022, the rapper received an honorary bachelor's degree from the university and gave a commencement speech.

"Though I left school, I was never gone because this institution had become a part of me," he said during his speech, per Georgia State University's website. "It was a part of my fabric and DNA. My heart never strayed far from its steps, and my commitment to someday return and finish was ever-present."

Eudoxie and their children were there at his graduation to cheer him on from the sidelines. "Congratulations @ludacris! We are all so proud of you," she captioned a video of Ludacris walking across the stage.

She has also plugged his work on Instagram, including sharing an adorable clip of his daughters Cai and Cadence dancing and singing in honor of season 4 of Karma's World.

She's opened up about suffering a miscarriage

Eudoxie Mbouguiengue Instagram

On her birthday on May 15, 2018, Eudoxie revealed on Instagram that she suffered a miscarriage earlier that year.

"This year didn't necessarily start off right for us," she captioned a photo of her and Ludacris. "I had a miscarriage and needed to have surgery. It was very easy to complain and self-pity but I refused to let the enemy win. I stayed faithful and prayed up."

Eudoxie concluded her post by encouraging her Instagram followers to stay positive, even when facing difficult situations.

She continued, "I'm sharing this with you all to remind you to live in gratitude. When the enemy tries to knock you down, get even closer to your faith. My faith has been tested many times throughout my life but I'm only getting stronger. Life will not always go as planned and keeping a positive and grateful attitude will only bring more and bigger blessings."

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Read the original article on People.
Mackinac Island is not just getting an Irish pub but also celebrating the legacy of one of its oldest families.

Andrew Doud, who named the pub after his great uncle, will host a grand opening of Patrick Doud's Irish Pub on Main Street at 4 p.m. Wednesday. Initially, the site will serve dinner with plans to expand into lunch soon. The pub holds just 80 people.

It proudly has no blender but does serve more than 21 Irish whiskeys and Patrick Doud's Ale, created by Les Cheneaux Distillers in nearby Cedarville, Michigan.

"The space is very small. If youve been to Ireland, it's very Irish pub-ish with a tight feel and nice woodwork," Doud told the Detroit Free Press on Wednesday. "You'll love our oysters. The recipe is from O'Dowd's restaurant in Galway, Ireland, where we're from." And, yes, the name is spelled differently but it's owned by distant relatives.

Passersby stop to look into the window of Patrick Doud's Irish Pub on Wednesday, May 17, 2023 on Mackinac Island. Co-owned by Andrew Doud, the pub is named after his great uncle and opened this season.

The O'Dowd family had its spelling changed when coming through the immigration process in 1854, he noted.

"The idea for the pub was inspired by Patrick Doud, who actually built the building that houses the pub along with the governor's mansion and the Inn at Stonecliffe," said Andrew Doud, 48, who co-owns the pub with business partner Dave Pantano, 50. The pub is located at 7304 Main St., next to Horn's Gaslight Bar and Restaurant.

The site was formerly Huron Street Pub and Grill.

Doud and Pantano, friends from Michigan State University, worked together at The Riv in East Lansing back in the day. Doud was assistant manager and Pantano was general manager. Both men live on Mackinac Island now.

They bought the pub site in March 2022, took possession in November and have been working on the pub since then. Andrew Doud and his wife, Nicole, also own Doud's Market on the island, founded by his great-grandfather in 1884. Nicole Doud also owns Little Luxuries gift shop and the two run Sip 'n' Sail cruises.

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"Our vision was to just create an Irish pub that has a lot of character," Doud said. "Mackinac has wonderful restaurants. We wanted to be different. I think Irish food has a great history and is delicious."

A view looking out at Main Street from Patrick Doud's Irish Pub on Mackinac Island Wednesday, May 17, 2023.

The pub has bar seating with classic leather bar stools, red booths and high top tables. Each seating area has art dedicated to buildings that Patrick Doud built. Patrick Doud's Irish Pub had a soft opening Tuesday with a trial run for the cook, bartenders and servers. Now, the pub will open seven days a week, closing at 2 a.m.

"This place screams Mackinac Island," said Tim Hygh, executive director of the Mackinac Island Tourism Bureau. "It won't take long for Patrick Doud's to turn into an island classic."

Patrick Doud's Irish Pub opened in the 2023 summer season on Mackinac Island. This is the logo of the new business, co-owned by Andrew Doud of Doud's Market, also on Main Street.

Family ties run deep on the island, which is located between Michigans Upper and Lower peninsulas, surrounded by Lake Huron. Andrew Doud is a cousin of Margaret Doud, who runs the Windermere Hotel and has been mayor of Mackinac Island since 1975. She praised the new project.

"I think it's great, depicting our Irish heritage," Mayor Doud told the Free Press.

Looking back, she said of Patrick Doud, "He would live at the Windermere with us during the summer. He was a very fine gentleman, a world traveler and a great bridge player."

Mackinac Island, which bans cars and depends only on bicycles and horse and buggy cabs, is known as an international travel destination. Business saw revenue records in 2021.

More: Historic Mackinac Island hotel undergoing massive $28M property renovation

More: Mackinac Island bars, restaurants, shipping have been transformed by women

More: Shepler's Ferry on Mackinac Island sells to billionaire after 77 years

Content in this story was edited after publishing. Contact Phoebe Wall Howard: 313-618-1034 or phoward@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @phoebesaid.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Mackinac Island family opens Patrick Doud's Irish Pub
Spains The Mediapro Studio is teaming with writer-director Marcel Barrena (Mediterraneo: The Law of the Sea, 100 Meters) and Spanish star Eduard Fernandez on real-life inspired social film The 47.

Scheduled to shoot in Catalan and Spanish June-July in Barcelona, The 47 is based on the true story of Manolo Vital, a bus driver who, during the citys expansion in the 1970s, help shape the Barcelona of today.

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Produced by Jaume Roures and executive produced by Laura Fernandez Espeso, Javier Mendez and Eva Garrido, the film is one of the projects The Mediapro Studio Distribution is presenting for international sales at the current Cannes Marche du Film.

Award-winning screenwriter-producer Alberto Marini (Retribution, Sleep Tight) co-wrote the script alongside Barrena.

Winner of three Goya Awards and a San Sebastian Silver Shell, Fernandez (Smoke & Mirrors, Everybody Knows) plays the central character in the film.

The cast also takes in Clara Segura (The Sea Inside), Zoe Bonafonte (Escandalo, relato de una obsesion), Salva Reina (Con quien viajas), Aimar Vega (Prison 77), Carlos Cuevas (Merli: Sapere Aude) and Vicente Romero (Intemperie), with a special appearance of Goya winner David Verdaguer (Summer 1993).

The 47 tells the story of an act of peaceful dissent and the grassroots movement that in 1978 transformed Barcelona and changed the image of its suburbs forever. It is a local tale about a universal story, of a mobilization that proved a catalyst for change, of people taking pride in their roots, of a neighborhood struggle and of the working class as a builder and driving force in cities, The Mediapro Studio said Wednesday in a statement.

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The 47 is the story of how an ordinary man was able to change the course of a whole neighborhood with one apparently simple act  proving that a bus could reach Torre Baro. Marcel Barrena tells the story of Manolo Vital with the same simplicity, noted producer and Mediapro Group co-founder Jaume Roures.

This is the story that has moved me the most out of all those I have followed and heard about in my life. It is the one I felt most compelled to tell, added Barrena, a filmmaker with a knack for retelling true stories on the big screen in both documentary and biographical films, whose life-changing journey drama Mediterraneo: The Law of the Sea, won several international prizes, including the Audience Award at the 2021 Rome Film Festival.

In the 1960s and 1970s, much of Barcelonas outer-radius hound and was built by immigrants from the Spanish regions of Extremadura and Andalusia, who were not considered part of the city. Their shanty towns didnt even have running water or electricity.

Fed up with the City Council saying public transport couldnt service such areas because the streets were too narrow and unsafe, Vital, a bus driver in Barcelonas main public transport operator, sets out to show, at the wheel of the route 47 bus, that the authorities were wrong.

The film is being made in association with Catalan public broadcaster Televisio de Catalunya and the support of Catalan culture industry agency Icec.

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Japans most prolific and successful contemporary filmmaker, Hirokazu Kore-Eda, is back in a favorite place, Cannes, for the unveiling of his latest effort, a return to his Japanese storytelling roots and a good one at that. For his seventh film in the main Cannes competition and his ninth overall (counting two that appeared in Un Certain Regard), Monster represents the first movie since his 1995 debut feature Maborosi that the director has not had a screenplay credit on  this film being written by Sakamoto Yuji  but clearly with its humanist family-centered themes is right in this master craftsmans wheelhouse.

After last years lighter Cannes entry Broker, which was his first Korean film, Monster is more in line with his touching 2013 Jury Prize winner Like Father, Like Son and his 2018 Palme dOr winner Shoplifters, which also earned him a foreign-language Oscar nomination. In fact, he is teaming here again with a star of the latter, the wonderful Ando Sakura who plays Saori, a take-no-prisoners widowed mother now bringing up her son Minato (Kurokawa Soya) who as the films first act demonstrates is going through some tough times in his elementary school.

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Minato seems to be in a deep funk, behaving quite oddly, not wanting to get out of bed, jumping from a moving car, and other strange behaviors that are puzzling to Saori until he says he was hit by his teacher who said he had a pigs brain and insulted him in other ways. Saori storms into the principals office demanding an explanation but instead gets a profound apology from that teacher, Hori (Nagayama Eita), as well as other officials including the distant principal Fushimi (Tanaka Yuko), but believes there is much more to this than just that. She gets in their face demanding answers about what has happened to her son in this school, but Fushimi, having recently returned from experiencing a family tragedy, and Hori are not forthcoming.

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As the story proceeds, Kore-Eda employs a Rashomon-style to flesh out details with sequences devoted not just to Saoris version of events but also from the POV of Hori, as well as both Minato and his good friend Yori (Hiiragi Hinata), in a film that wraps itself in secrets and lies, the truth landing in gray areas depending on who has the focus at any given moment. Family, as it often does in Kore-Edas films, plays a big part here as well as the lasting effects of grief and the divisions and walls we build for ourselves. From Saori to Minato to Yori to Fushimi to Hori, all these characters are developed with even more dimension than usual in Kore-Edas films, which are often designed more as informal snapshots. Here instead he and his screenwriter are keenly interested in uncovering layers of truth, a more plot-driven approach leading us down separate paths but no less human than the filmmakers best work set in his home country.

RELATED: Read All Of Deadlines Cannes Reviews

With superb casting Kore-Eda gets excellent work again from Sakura, as well as Eita, the latter as a teacher thrust into a personal crisis that has him teetering on the edge all due to a childs lie. Veteran actress Tanaka Yuko also delivers with subtle work as the principal whose own secret and suffering slowly comes to a boil. Both the primary child actors here are superb, their relationship in some ways similar to last years Cannes Grand Prix winner Closer in terms of complex examination of vulnerable kids experiencing their own levels of trauma in their young lives.

Monster also benefits from a first association for Kore-Eda with the late great Oscar-winning composer Ryuichi Sakamoto, bringing a moving final musical score that turns out to be pitch perfect here.

Title: Monster

Festival: Cannes (In Competition)

Director: Hirokazu Kore-Eda

Screenplay: Sakamoto Yuji

Cast: Ando Sakura, Nagayama Eita, Kurokawa Soya, Hiiragi Hinata, Tanaka Yuko

Running time: 2 hr 6 min

Sales agent: Goodfellas

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TALLAHASSEE, Fla.  A free speech organization and the largest publisher in the nation are trying to block book bans in a Florida Panhandle county.

PEN America and publisher Penguin Random House  joined by parents and authors  filed suit in federal court Wednesday morning, alleging the book bans in Escambia County public schools are unconstitutional.

Books have the capacity to change lives for the better, and students in particular deserve equitable access to a wide range of perspectives, said Nihar Malaviya, CEO of Penguin Random House, in a statement. "Censorship, in the form of book bans like those enacted by Escambia County, are a direct threat to democracy and our Constitutional rights."

Banned book database: Escambia County book ban list: Every book being challenged in schools

Book challenge process halted: Escambia School Board bans last two books but pauses challenges indefinitely. Here's why.

Book bans have dramatically risen in recent years, and the lawsuit says Florida has become an epicenter for the trend, with Escambia County being the "heart of that effort" in a state led by Gov. Ron DeSantis, who is on the precipice of announcing a presidential campaign.

Escambia School District Communication Coordinator Cody Strother said over email that he's "unable to make comment on potential pending litigation."

When called Wednesday morning, Board Chairman Paul Fetsko said he had "no idea" about the lawsuit and referred the USA TODAY NETWORK - Florida to county legal counsel.

The suit alleges that the bans are in violation of the First Amendment as well as the Constitution's equal protection clause, since the targeted books are disproportionately by people of color and LGBTQ people and discuss topics related to both communities.

The targets of the lawsuit are the Escambia County School District and the Escambia County School Board.

"Books are being ordered removed from libraries, or subject to restricted access within those libraries, based on an ideologically driven campaign to push certain ideas out of schools," write the plaintiffs in the suit, which was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida.

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Those plaintiffs, who are being represented by national law firm Ballard Spahr LLP and the nonprofit Protect Democracy Project, also include county elementary school parents Lindsay Durtschi and Ann Novakowski.

The complaint says the parents, whose children want to check out books that are now unavailable, want them to have access for exposure to "different viewpoints and experiences so that they will be better prepared to engage with a wide range of people."

Also suing are authors Sarah Brannen, George M. Johnson, David Levithan, Kyle Lukoff and Ashley Hope Perez, all of whom have books who have either been removed from libraries or are restricted pending a reviewal process.

That process may take a while, as the Escambia County District School Board paused it last month, waiting for more guidance from the state on how to move forward. In the meantime, there's well over a hundred books that have received complaints but no reviews that can only be accessed with written parental approval.

Most of the complaints have come from a single person within the county: Northview High School language arts teacher Vicki Baggett.

By the time the county had enacted the pause, it had banned nine books from all its schools and limited access to even more.

Books that receive complaints are reviewed by the county's District Materials Review Committee. If the person who filed the complaint disagrees with their decision, they can appeal to the school board.

The banned books include "And Tango Makes Three," a story about two male penguins who forge a family together.

The fascination is still on that its two male penguins raising a chick, said board member David Williams, according to The Daily Beast. So, Ill be voting to remove the book from our libraries.

Also banned: "All Boys Arent Blue," a memoir and manifesto by George M. Johnson, who reflects on growing up Black and queer.

Complaint leads to removal in Wakulla: Wakulla pulls book about desegregation from elementary schools after complaint over racist slur

DeSantis' law leads to confusion, bans: Which books are allowed? Varied interpretations of Florida law lead to confusion at schools

Books being pulled from shelves across Florida

It's not just Escambia County. Titles have been purged across Florida since DeSantis signed the Curriculum Transparency Act last year, which requires districts to catalog every book on their shelves and put a formal review process in place for complaints.

The Wakulla County School District just pulled children's graphic novel Little Rock Nine (Turning Points) from elementary school shelves after a parent complained about racial slurs in the text. And, recently, in Indian River County, a graphic adaptation of "The Diary of Anne Frank" was removed after conservative advocacy group Moms for Liberty complained.

The book banning has generated nationwide attention and controversy, even as DeSantis insists it's a "hoax" propagated by left-leaning media outlets, unions and activists.

Exposing the book ban hoax is important because it reveals that some are attempting to use our schools for indoctrination, DeSantis said in a statement. In Florida, pornographic and inappropriate materials that have been snuck into our classrooms and libraries to sexualize our students violate our state education standards."

While neither Florida Department of Education nor the governor's office have called for any bans on books, the complaints have some districts preemptively pulling books off of shelves, even during the review process, to err on the side caution.

A new bill passed during this year's legislative session, however, would require districts to pull texts within five days of the complaint and keep them off shelves during the review process. The bill has not yet been signed into law.

Others laws have enflamed fears of censorship, too. There's the "Stop WOKE Act," which restricts how race is discussed, and the Parental Rights in Education Act. Dubbed "Don't Say Gay" by critics, it restricts classroom instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity in grades K-3. The state Board of Education expanded that through the 12th grade last month.

Accused of running afoul of the policy, a fifth-grade teacher in Hernando County is being investigated after showing her students Disney's 2022 movie "Strange World." It's the first Disney movie with an out, gay character.

Lawsuits, lawsuits, lawsuits

Wednesday's legal challenge is not the first prompted by Florida book bans.

The state has agreed to pay a law firm up to $250,000 to defend it in a lawsuit filed by Florida's largest teachers association, the Florida Education Association, which says the Department of Education took the Curriculum Transparency Act farther than the law intended.

The DeSantis administration and its controversial policies have been a lightning rod for litigation, including over the "Don't Say Gay" law and the "Stop WOKE Act," and bills that passed the recently-ended legislative session are certain to usher in a new slew of suits.

As recently as last week, the Florida Education Association and other groups sued the state after DeSantis signed into law restrictions for typically Democrat-allied unions, including those for teachers and healthcare workers.

But, as soon as DeSantis signs the budget, he'll be fortified with an unprecedented almost $16 million for litigation costs to defend his policies.

USA Today Network-Florida government accountability reporter Douglas Soule is based in Tallahassee, Fla. He can be reached at DSoule@gannett.com. Twitter: @DouglasSoule. The Tallahassee Democrat's Ana Goni-Lessan and the Pensacola News Journal's Brittany Misencik contributed to this story.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY NETWORK: Largest US publisher files lawsuit against Florida county book ban
North Carolinas Republican-controlled Legislature overrode the governors veto of legislation banning most abortions after 12 weeks, further restricting abortion in the state.

The override vote was completed in back-to-back sessions Tuesday night by the state House and Senate  marking a victory for the new supermajority Republican Legislature. The state now bans abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy, but the new law bans abortions after 12 weeks with exceptions for rape, incest, fetal anomalies and cases in which the life of the pregnant person is at risk.

The ban is set to take effect July 1.

Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper, an abortion rights supporter, vetoed the measure over the weekend during a rally in front of hundreds of abortion rights activists and voters in Raleigh. Cooper had spent the past week traveling around the state to persuade Republicans to uphold his veto.

The new law, known as Senate Bill 20, severely limits abortion access for people across the South, where a number of states have banned or restricted the care since the overruling of Roe v. Wade last year.

Nationally, bans on abortion throughout pregnancy are in effect in 14 states.

ABORTION CLINIC VIOLENCE: Violence against abortion clinics escalated since overturning of Roe v. Wade, report finds

Abortions banned, restricted across much of South

The Carolinas, Florida and Virginia have been abortion destination states amid bans or severe restrictions in neighboring states.

Abortion is banned throughout pregnancy in Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas and West Virginia. In Georgia, it is banned after six weeks of pregnancy.

But new anti-abortion proposals in the Carolinas and Florida could further erode abortion rights.

Florida law bans abortions 15 weeks after pregnancy but under a recent law, it would be reduced to six weeks. In another bill up for vote Tuesday in the South Carolina House, abortions would be almost entirely banned after about six weeks of pregnancy. Last month, South Carolina and Nebraska failed to advance abortion bans.

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If both the bans in the Carolinas become law, combined with Florida's ban, "it would be just devastating for abortion access in the South," Jamie Lockhart, executive director of Planned Parenthood Advocates of Virginia, told The Associated Press on Tuesday.

'THERE'S MORE WORK TO BE DONE': Abortion clinics regroup, rebuild after violent attacks

Protesters, supporters gather ahead of vote

Anti-abortion protesters and supporters of the North Carolina ban rallied hours before the vote in the Senate gallery.

Senate lawmakers debated the bill as Republican leaders claiming Cooper ignored the proposed spending of at least $160 million for contraceptive services, child care access and maternal health care.

"North Carolinians watching this debate, you are bearing witness to exaggerated and extremist objections from some Democrats," Republican Sen. Vickie Sawyer of Iredell County said. "Their anger is that this bill is mainstream and a common-sense approach to a very difficult topic."

Democrats argued the ban would place dangerous barriers between pregnant people and their doctors. Democratic Sen. Natasha Marcus of Mecklenburg County said the 12-week cutoff could leave pregnant people with only a couple of weeks to decide on an abortion and would cause unwanted pregnancies.

"This bill is a slap in the face. It is a muzzle over our mouths, and it is a straitjacket on our bodies," Marcus said.

After the Senate vote, loud chants of "Shame!" could be heard outside the chamber doors.

ABORTION PILLS: With eyes on Texas mifepristone case, 2 other abortion pill lawsuits 'flying under the radar'

Contributing: The Associated Press

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: North Carolina 12-week abortion: Lawmakers override governor's veto
Key Insights

Significant control over Flughafen Zurich by individual investors implies that the general public has more power to influence management and governance-related decisions

The top 6 shareholders own 51% of the company

33% of Flughafen Zurich is held by Institutions

To get a sense of who is truly in control of Flughafen Zurich AG (VTX:FHZN), it is important to understand the ownership structure of the business. We can see that individual investors own the lion's share in the company with 34% ownership. In other words, the group stands to gain the most (or lose the most) from their investment into the company.

Meanwhile, state or government make up 33% of the companys shareholders.

In the chart below, we zoom in on the different ownership groups of Flughafen Zurich.

Check out our latest analysis for Flughafen Zurich

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Flughafen Zurich?

Many institutions measure their performance against an index that approximates the local market. So they usually pay more attention to companies that are included in major indices.

We can see that Flughafen Zurich does have institutional investors; and they hold a good portion of the company's stock. This can indicate that the company has a certain degree of credibility in the investment community. However, it is best to be wary of relying on the supposed validation that comes with institutional investors. They too, get it wrong sometimes. If multiple institutions change their view on a stock at the same time, you could see the share price drop fast. It's therefore worth looking at Flughafen Zurich's earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.

Flughafen Zurich is not owned by hedge funds. Canton of Zurich is currently the company's largest shareholder with 33% of shares outstanding. The second and third largest shareholders are Lazard Asset Management LLC and City of Zurich Pension Fund, with an equal amount of shares to their name at 5.0%.

We did some more digging and found that 6 of the top shareholders account for roughly 51% of the register, implying that along with larger shareholders, there are a few smaller shareholders, thereby balancing out each others interests somewhat.

While studying institutional ownership for a company can add value to your research, it is also a good practice to research analyst recommendations to get a deeper understand of a stock's expected performance. 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 Flughafen Zurich

While the precise definition of an insider can be subjective, almost everyone considers board members to be insiders. Company management run the business, but the CEO will answer to the board, even if he or she is a member of it.

Insider ownership is positive when it signals leadership are thinking like the true owners of the company. However, high insider ownership can also give immense power to a small group within the company. This can be negative in some circumstances.

Our information suggests that Flughafen Zurich AG insiders own under 1% of the company. It is a pretty big company, so it would be possible for board members to own a meaningful interest in the company, without owning much of a proportional interest. In this case, they own around CHF9.3m worth of shares (at current prices). Arguably, recent buying and selling is just as important to consider. You can click here to see if insiders have been buying or selling.

General Public Ownership

With a 34% ownership, the general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, have some degree of sway over Flughafen Zurich. While this size of ownership may not be enough to sway a policy decision in their favour, they can still make a collective impact on company policies.

Next Steps:

It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand Flughafen Zurich better, we need to consider many other factors.

I always like to check for a history of revenue growth. You can too, by accessing this free chart of historic revenue and earnings in this detailed graph.

If you are like me, you may want to think about whether this company will grow or shrink. Luckily, you can check this free report showing analyst forecasts for its future.

NB: Figures in this article are calculated using data from the last twelve months, which refer to the 12-month period ending on the last date of the month the financial statement is dated. This may not be consistent with full year annual report figures.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.



This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.

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Departing flights at the Salt Lake City International Airport are listed on July 13, 2022. | Laura Seitz, Deseret News

As the voice of business in Utah, the Salt Lake Chamber aims to promote and expand economic opportunity and prosperity. One of our primary functions is to help businesses in the state achieve their full potential. Together, the private and public sectors have worked cooperatively to make Utah one of the best states in the country for business. In order to continue the upward trajectory, Utahns need increased access to our nations capital.

Direct air travel between Utah and Washington, D.C., is severely limited due to an outdated regulation known as the perimeter rule, a 1960s-era Federal Aviation Administration policy that restricts the number of flights that can land at or take off from Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA) beyond a 1,250-mile perimeter. Utah is one of 11 states that sits entirely outside of this decades-old artificial boundary.

Utah is a state on the move, economically and demographically, thanks to our massive population growth. This fact alone demands action now to meet the growing need for our business, government and community leaders to travel to Washington, D.C. Many decisions impacting Utahs future are made in the halls of government, where powerful institutions and individuals responsible for regulating and guiding business confer. One example is the annual trip of Utah business leaders, organized by the Salt Lake Chamber, to Washington, D.C., to meet with Utahs congressional delegation and other federal officials to share legislative priorities

Utahns current access to Washington, D.C., is already insufficient, especially for one of the countrys premier economies and fastest-growing populations. Unfortunately, the current perimeter rule means there is only one daily direct flight between Salt Lake City International Airport and DCA, often making the trip inconvenient and expensive for Utah businesses.

Related

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A recent study by Boston Consulting Group found the perimeter rule is no longer necessary to support its original objectives, and that it is harmful to metropolitan communities and consumers. Additionally, DCA is currently underutilized and can handle thousands more passengers per day; however, those seeking to travel to Washington, D.C., face some of the most expensive ticket prices in the nation due to a lack of direct flight options.

Congress should take the logical next steps to address the lack of access Utah and other Western states have to our nations capital when they take up the FAA Reauthorization bill later this year. Authorizing additional in- and beyond-perimeter flights at DCA will provide increased access to legislators for Utahns, more affordable ticket prices spurring travel, and the added convenience when flying. Thankfully, some Utah legislators are already on board, including U.S. Reps. Blake Moore and John Curtis. Removing this outdated and unnecessary regulation is something our entire delegation and leaders across the Western states should unite around.

Utah is home to world-class companies across many industries with a growing innovation hub that could benefit from direct linkages to our capital city. We ask Utahs Congressional Delegation to work with their colleagues on this issue to increase access to our nations capital. Doing so will help better serve Utahs business community and residents across the state who are counting on more affordable, convenient access to Washington, D.C. As Utah and so many other Western states continue to grow, lets ensure the perimeter rule is growing with us!

Derek Miller is the president and CEO of the Salt Lake Chamber.
Roberto Sneider, whose credits include Youre Killing Me Susana and Dos Crimenes, has been tapped to direct multi-generational family drama Blood Knot, which stars Cameron Douglas and Michael Douglas. Emmy and Tony nominated actor David Morse (The Green Mile, Disturbia), Michael Stahl-David (Cloverfield, Narcos) and Walker Scobell (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, The Adam Project) have joined the cast.

Screen Media will be presenting the project to buyers at the Cannes Film Festival.

More from Variety

The film is based on Bob Richs novel Looking Through Water and is adapted for the screen by Rowdy Herrington (Road House). It follows a father who, in an attempt to reconnect with his estranged son, invites him to Belize to compete in a father-son fishing competition.

Sneider replaces Howard Deutch, who was originally announced as director, but had to drop out due to a scheduling conflict.

The film is produced by Stan Spry (Creepshow, Day of the Dead, Monsters of California) of Cartel. Eric Woods (Spread, Incarcerated, Crushed) and Robert Mitas (Ratched) also serve as producers. Screen Medias David Fannon and Seth Needle will serve as executive producers along with Foresight Unlimiteds David Nagelberg.

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A Moscow court has ordered the arrest of Oscar-nominated film producer Alexander Rodnyansky and theater director Ivan Vyrypaev, accusing the two of spreading false information about Russias war in Ukraine.

According to the Associated Press, both men  who each reside outside Russia  will be placed in custody once they are either detained by Russian authorities or extradited from abroad.

More from Variety

A source close to Rodnyansky said the producer is currently in Cannes, but he could not immediately be reached for comment.

Rodnyansky currently splits his time between Ukraine, Europe and L.A., where his production shingle AR Content is based. The Kyiv-born producer, who spent nearly three decades living and working in Russia, fled the country just days after its invasion of Ukraine, after receiving a tip that his outspoken criticism of the war had landed him in the Kremlins crosshairs.

In Oct. 2022, Russias Ministry of Justice declared him a foreign agent.

The Kremlin has relentlessly sought to stifle opposition to its unprovoked war since the first tanks rolled into Ukraine on Feb. 24 last year. More than 15,000 Russians were arrested at anti-war protests in the early days after the invasion, as the government swiftly cracked down on dissent.

Though he safely fled the country, many of Rodnyanskys friends and associates were detained and questioned over offenses as trivial as a social media post opposing the war. Artists, actors, filmmakers and celebrities have been especially singled out by the government and pro-Kremlin media.

After launching a prolific media career in Kyiv that saw him directing documentaries and founding Ukraines first independent TV network, Rodnyansky went on to become one of the most influential producers in Russia. His collaborations with filmmaker Andrey Zvyagintsev landed him Academy Award nominations in the foreign-language category for Leviathan and Loveless.

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In Moscow, Rodnyansky left behind an estimated 15 series in development and production. I cut off my business ties with Russia, the producer told Variety last year. I left behind everything. The company, the house, everything. Everything that I had. However, his L.A.-based company, which has a first-look deal with Apple to produce multilingual international shows for Apple+ TV, has not been impacted by the wars fallout.

Vyrypaev, a well-known playwright, director and actor living and working in Warsaw, has also been a vocal critic of the war.

Speaking to Variety last year, Rodnyansky said that a return to Russia could be possible when the war is over, [and] when Putin is over. But right now, I dont think its possible, he added. I do believe Russia should be punished in many ways. Its deserved.

After the Moscow court ruling, a return in the near future seems even less likely.

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A Singapore-based Russian national Lev Panfilov is now on trial in the city on four charges of molesting, sexually assaulting and raping a woman.



The man is an actor and online personality known to the public from the WahBanana YouTube channel, where he appeared between 2020 and May 2021. He is currently employed in the job recruitment industry.



More from Variety

The incident is alleged to have occurred in January 2021 after Panfilov and the woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, met in person for the first time.



Singapore media report that Panfilov has requested that the case move to trial. Proceedings that began on Tuesday included testimony from a police officer who took Panfilovs underwear and bedding as samples.



If found guilty of molesting, he faces two years of jail, caning or a fine or any combination of those penalties. If he is found guilty of penetrative sexual assault or rape the penalty rises to up to 20 years in jail, caning, a fine or a combination of those punishments.



The prosecution argues that the pair met on the Tinder dating app, that Panfilov offered to help the woman with her screenplay and, after a meeting at a restaurant, went together to his shared apartment. There they watched comedy sketches, before the alleged non-consensual incident took place. He later booked her a hire car home.



Some days after the alleged incident the woman complained of abdominal pain, reported events to the police and attended a womens hospital.



Singapore media reports that the prosecution intends to call 14 witnesses.



The trial continues.

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Opa! Six Senses is finally heading to Greece.

The luxury hospitality brand, which now has 22 five-star outposts across the globe, has just announced it will open a luxurious new resort on the island of Megalonisos in four years time.

More from Robb Report

A short boat ride from the port of Rafina, Megalonisos is one of the 10 Petalioi islands and islets that make up the Greek Maldives. This dreamy locale has some of the finest undiscovered beaches in the country.

Located on a southerly white-sand cove, the simply named Six Senses Megalonisos will include 75 guest villas that will blend effortlessly into the contours of the bay, according to Six Senses. It will also offer up 20 branded residences for those looking for a more permanent seachange. Six Senses is opening the resort with Grivalia Hospitality, one of the biggest investors in the high-end hospitality sector in Greece.

The resort will be located on a white-sand cove.

The brand will once again make wellness and sustainability a focus of the new location. In fact, the entire development will be powered by its own solar-electric farm. Then, theres the nearly 20,000-square-foot spa: It will be outfitted with multiple treatment rooms, including four double sensory suites, a Watsu for a range of hydro therapies, and a hammam for a warm herbal steam and body scrub. Youll be able to enjoy locally inspired spa treatments, as well as the brands trademark experiences (Sleep, Eat, and Grow With Six Senses, for instance).

Travelers will be able to indulge further at the resorts all-day restaurant, the beach bar and grill, the sunset bar, or the pastry cafe. There will also be a boutique stocked with beachy garb if you fancy a shopping spree.

In terms of activities, youll dive in the clear turquoise waters or take a hike across the verdant unscathed terrain. You can also take day trips to Athens to explore the historic sites (the Acropolis, Ancient Agora, and Parthenon, to name but a few) or feast on the local delicacies.

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Six Senses Megalonisos offers a unique opportunity to step foot on a Greek island that even the Gods left undiscovered, Neil Jacobs, CEO of Six Senses, said in a statement. We look forward to welcoming our guests with emotional hospitality that encompasses pioneering wellness, sustainability, and meaningful experiences.

Six Senses Megalonisos can be accessed by private boat from the ports of Rafina, Marmari, or Karystos. Alternatively, its a roughly 30-minute drive from Athens International Airport. The resort is expected to open at the end of 2027.

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Click here to read the full article.
Slowthai | Photo by Sergione Infuso/Corbis via Getty Images

Note: This article describes allegations of sexual assault

British rapper Slowthai has been charged with two counts of rape. The rapper  real name Tyron Frampton  appeared in court on Tuesday (16th May) charged with oral and vaginal penetration of a woman without her consent, which is alleged to have taken place in Oxford in September 2021.

Slowthai: I Categorically Deny the Charges

Slowthai performing in 2021 | Photo by Matthew Baker/Getty Images

As The Guardian reports, Frampton appeared before Oxfordshire Magistrates Court via video link to confirm his name, date of birth, and an address in Northampton. Persecution lawyer Adam Yar Khan told the magistrates that the charge of rape was an indictable-only offence and that, as such, the case must be heard at crown court. Frampton received bail, and will appear before Oxford Crown Court next month.

In a statement shared on social media, Frampton said he categorically den[ies] the allegations made against him. I am innocent and I am confident my name will be cleared, he wrote.

Until then I will apply my energy to ensure this is concluded swiftly and justly. I ask that my supporters dont comment about this situation and respect the process and privacy of my family during this time.

Slowthai is scheduled to perform in Australia in July as part of this years Splendour in the Grass, along with headline shows in Perth, Sydney, Adelaide and Melbourne. Neither Splendour organisers nor Handsome Tours  who are presenting the rappers headline shows  have publicly commented on the charges.

Frampton began releasing music as Slowthai in 2016, releasing debut album Nothing Great About Britain in 2019. The album went on to receive both a Grammy nomination and Mercury Prize nomination. 2021 follow-up Tyron featuring collaborations with the likes of Skepta and A$AP Rocky, and debuted at number one on the UK Albums chart. Slowthais most recent album, Ugly, was released in March of this year.

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If you need assistance, 1800 RESPECT  the National Sexual Assault, Domestic and Family Violence Counselling Service  can be reached on 1800 737 732.

Further Reading

The Complete and Updated List of Splendour in the Grass 2023 Sideshows

Splendour in the Grass 2023: Lizzo, Flume, Mumford & Sons and More

Ed Sheeran Talks Thinking Out Loud Lawsuit on US TV: I Have Not Done Something Wrong

The post Slowthai Appears in Court Charged with Rape appeared first on Music Feeds.
Now widely regarded as a masterpiece, Terry Gilliams 1985 dystopic dark comedy Brazil was very nearly shelved by Universal. But one of its stars  Robert De Niro  played a hand in rescuing it from oblivion.

The studio did not like the movie at all, says Gilliam on The Hollywood Reporters It Happened in Hollywood podcast. The director recalls standing at the back of a room filled with knotted backs of necks as Brazil screened for Universal execs for the first time.

More from The Hollywood Reporter

Then-Universal chief Sid Sheinberg told Gilliam he hated the film and insisted he radically change it. When Gilliam refused, Sheinberg refused to release it.

Gilliam recalls strategizing at the time: We cant fight them with lawyers. Lets go about it a different way. And so the director took out a full-page ad in Variety, reading, Dear Sid Sheinberg: When are you going to release my film, Brazil? Terry Gilliam.

Thats when the shit hit the fan, Gilliam recalls. They literally did everything to stop [the release].

Refusing to give up, Gilliam put out a call to honest, decent journalists who wanted to see the film: He would bus them to Mexico, where the film was in theaters, to see it for themselves.

The film was released in Europe already and received really good results, but in America they werent going to do it. This fight went on and on, he says.

Sheinberg and Gilliam refused to communicate directly after their first disagreement. But they did lob messages to each other through a middle man.

I had the good luck of meeting a guy named Jack Mathews, a reporter for the LA Times arts section, and he saw the film and he really liked it. He started making noise about it, Gilliam recalls. He maintained a conversation between me and Sid Sheinberg.

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Then De Niro, notoriously press shy, hatched a plot to get the film some free publicity.

Maria Shriver was running that show Good Morning America. They had wanted to interview De Niro for a very long time. Bobby never did publicity for films. Thats why hes a hero to me. But he said, OK, they want to talk to me. Well go on the show  you and me,' Gilliam says.

At one point, Shriver turned to Gilliam, seated next to De Niro, and said, Terry, I understand youre having a problem with the studio.

I said, Im not having a problem with the studio. Im having a problem with one man. His name is Sid Sheinberg and he looks like this,' recalls Gilliam. And I pulled out an 810 glossy and shared Sid with the world. This was me just having fun and being outrageous and getting more and more publicity.

After that, a series of at-home screenings around Beverly Hills started to build word of mouth for the fantasy film. Then the [Los Angeles Film Critics Association] had seen it, he continues. They discovered in their bylaws a film didnt have to be released to qualify for awards.

In the end, the LA Film Critics Association voted Brazil best picture, best screenplay, and Gilliam best director of 1985, a massive upset that shocked Sheinberg and the rest of the Universal brass, who were expecting their awards darling Out of Africa to sweep everything.

That finally convinced Sheinberg to grant Brazil a U.S. release.

The film went on to be nominated for two Academy Awards  best screenplay and best art direction  and is now widely considered one of the greatest science fiction films ever made.

Listen to Gilliams entire retelling of the making of Brazil below and be sure to subscribe to It Happened in Hollywood for more gripping tales of movie-making mayhem!

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Click here to read the full article.
A Russian MiG-31 fighter jet carries the Kinzhal missile. AP Photo/ Russian Defense Ministry Press Service, File

Ukraine's Patriots aren't hard to find, and Russia appears to be using one of its best weapons to hunt them.

It's not going very well, though. Russia has lost as many as seven of its Kinzhals this month.

The Patriot's best chance of taking out a Kinzhal is when it is the target, an expert said.

Russia is hunting the newest addition to Ukraine's air defenses with its advanced Kinzhal missiles, a weapon until recently hailed as unbeatable, in a major test of the US-made system.

Though they are considered to be among the most advanced in the world, the American-made Patriot batteries defending Ukraine's cities are not that difficult to find. Their radars emit telltale frequencies that Russia can detect, and Russia is targeting these batteries with one of its best and harder-to-kill missiles.

The good news for Ukraine, a missile-defense expert said, is the Patriot is very capable and has the best chance of killing the Kinzhal when it's the missile's target, but there are still limits to what it can do. So far, though, the Patriot is holding its own against the Kinzhal, which, while good, hasn't quite lived up to the hype.

The US and Ukrainian militaries recently said that earlier this month, in a first, a MIM-104 "Patriot" Air Defense Battery took out a KH-47M2 Kinzhal, an advanced maneuverable air-launched ballistic missile that Russia had touted as an unstoppable hypersonic weapon.

CNN, citing US officials, reported the deadly missile was targeting the Patriot, noting that officials suspected the Russians detected signals emissions that allowed them to target the system. It apparently backfired, though, and instead resulted in the loss of the missile.

Russia has denied losing one of its prized "superweapons."

On Tuesday, there was another air battle, though much larger and more intense than the last. The details of the fight are still somewhat disputed and unverified, but it is clear it was a rough night in Kyiv as a salvo of Russian missiles screamed toward their targets.

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A missile exploding over Kyiv, Ukraine, during Russia's attack on Tuesday. Gleb Garanich/Reuters

Russia has claimed it destroyed a US Patriot system near Kyiv with a Kinzhal, indicating in an online update that the battery was the intended target. The defense ministry said "all assigned targets have been hit," adding that "a high-precision strike by a hypersonic missile system Kinzhal in the city of Kyiv hit a US-made Patriot anti-aircraft missile system."

Russia's claims it took out a Patriot with a Kinzhal were undercut by a Ukrainian announcement saying that all six of the Kinzhal missiles launched were shot down, along with at least a dozen other missiles.

Russia denies this, but a US official told The New York Times six Kinzhals were downed.

A CNN report citing a US official said that a Patriot battery was most likely damaged but not, as the Russians claimed, destroyed. Reuters reported the damage seemed minimal, and an official told the Times it remained operational against threats.

The reported kills during the overnight air battle would put Russia's total Kinzhal losses in less than a month at seven and, like the reported damage to a Patriot system, are a reminder nothing is truly invincible.

Neither the US Department of Defense nor Ukraine's Ministry of Defense responded to a request for clarification or details on the attack on Kyiv.

But the British defense ministry said in a Wednesday update that the vulnerabilities of the Kinzhal were most likely "a surprise and an embarrassment for Russia."

The update said Russia was prioritizing "attempting to neutralize Ukraine's improved air defense capabilities, but in the process has likely lost several more" Kinzhals.

A Patriot missile-defense system at Schwesing military airport in Germany on March 17, 2022. Photo by Axel Heimken/picture alliance via Getty Images

Ukraine presently has just two Patriot air-defense batteries in its arsenal, one from the US and another provided by European partners. These systems, which first arrived in April, fill a critical capability gap, targeting threats Kyiv's forces were previously unable to defend against, but the limited number means Ukraine can't really afford to lose one.

Yet, "it's always going to be at risk," Ian Williams, the deputy director of the Missile Defense Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told Insider. "There's always a chance that the Patriot will get hit."

Missile defense is never flawless, and though it's difficult to take out an entire battery, all it takes is a successful strike to the phased-array radar to potentially render the system useless.

And in the electronic-warfare space, the Patriot radar emits a signature that stands out among the noise. It can also be detected and tracked visibly via other surveillance, such as satellites or overhead drones.

Patriots are 'pretty easy to spot'

Russia has said the Patriot is a fair target, and, in general, "if a radar is radiating," as it does when it's on and tracking targets, "no matter what radar it is, it typically is pretty easy to spot if you have the right equipment," Williams said.

For the May 4 engagement, US officials said that Russian signals intelligence could have tracked the Patriot to its position outside Kyiv.

The Patriot also presents a decent-size target on the battlefield, as each battery consists of several launchers, command and control components, and a power station, among other things, as well as up to several dozen personnel. And it's not anywhere near as mobile as some of Ukraine's smaller shoot-and-scoot systems.

An attempt could be made to move it, but "evading an attack is really about tactics," like relying on effective early-warning systems and radiating only when needed, Williams says, noting these options "minimize opportunities for Russian aircraft equipped with anti-radiation missiles to get in there and start taking shots at them, which they are always trying to do" to knock out Ukraine's air defenses keeping Russian missiles and planes at bay.

Another potential solution is the use of decoys. Ukraine has successfully used decoys, such as wooden units, to trick attackers in the visible spectrum and protect its US-made High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems.

"That's the kind of simple, low-tech thing that has been surprisingly effective in this war," Williams said. The Ukrainians may need a higher-end solution, though, to best the Russians hunting for the Patriot's electronic signature.

Throughout the war, Russian forces have sought to suppress and eliminate Ukrainian air defenses holding Russian aircraft at risk and threatening their ability to conduct air operations.

Ukraine's defenders have done well at protecting systems from threats like Russia's Kh-31 anti-radiation missiles designed to target radar systems, and overall system losses, Williams noted, have been lower than expected. But Russia is now gunning for its newly added systems with a missile that's, at least on paper, tough to kill.

A mobile defense surface-to-air missile system in Gnoien, Germany, on January 23. REUTERS/Annegret Hilse

Putin said the Kinzhal could "overcome all existing and, I think, prospective antiaircraft and anti-missile defense systems." Ukraine is proving that wrong, but it's still a formidable threat.

The Kinzhal  the Russian word for "Dagger"  is known as the Killjoy missile among NATO forces. It's an advanced Russian system that shares design features with the Iskander short-range ballistic missile. It was adapted to be launched from the MiG-31, a high-speed Russian combat aircraft, at speed and altitude, and the missile's erratic flight path and hypersonic speeds complicate interception.

'Probably the best time' to take the shot

The Patriot  components of which are manufactured by the US defense giants Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, and Boeing  has been significantly improved and upgraded since the controversies when it was first put to the test in combat decades ago, but, again, missile defense is not perfect and no system is batting a thousand.

Tom Karako, the director of the Missile Defense Project at CSIS, recently told Insider that the Patriot's ability to bring a missile down and the degree of difficulty in doing so depended on several factors, specifically "what the heck the missile was doing at that exact couple-second window when the interceptor was in the basket."

A MiG-31BM supersonic interceptor equipped with a Kh-47M2 Kinzhal hypersonic cruise missile. Russian Ministry of Defense/YouTube

When Patriot is the target, some of the features of the Kinzhal that make it particularly difficult for defenders, such as its ability to maneuver in flight, potentially become less of a problem.

In an intercept situation, "the closer you are to the target, the more kinematic flexibility you have to make that engagement," Williams told Insider, explaining that the missile eventually had to "stop maneuvering and bear down, and you have sort of maximum flexibility" if you were close to the target or were the target.

"The further you are away" from the intended target, he said, "then the physics get a little more challenging."

Talking about the reported May 4 intercept, Williams said that "if it was going for the Patriot itself, that is probably the best time to take that shot." That would be the optimal engagement scenario, he said, although intercepts become significantly more challenging in a barrage situation like the most recent engagement.

Russia can't afford to throw Kinzhals away

In the first intercept of a Kinzhal missile, the Patriot was said to have fired off multiple interceptors to bring it down. There aren't a lot of details on the second engagement of Kinzhals, but photos and videos from that battle showed several surface-to-air missiles in flight.

Though this is standard shot doctrine and Ukraine seems to be using its Patriots sparingly, really only using them for high-end threats, Kyiv's forces have a limited supply of surface-to-air missiles, including Patriot interceptors, and it looks as if Russia is trying to overwhelm their defenses and strained arsenal.

Airpower and air-defense experts have emphasized the need to keep Ukraine supplied with Western SAMs, arguing this is critical to preventing the Russian air force from overrunning Ukrainian forces.

Service members patrolling in front of the Patriot air-defense system during Polish military training on the missile systems at the airport in Warsaw on February 7. REUTERS/Kacper Pempel

A diminished Ukrainian air-defense capability would not only leave "Ukraine at greater risk from Russian missile attack but raise the prospects of the Russian Air Force resuming penetrating sorties into Ukrainian airspace," Williams wrote in a recent CSIS analysis.

He made the case that "to the extent possible, replenishing Ukraine's air defense capacity should remain a priority for Western military aid for the foreseeable future."

That said, Russia is estimated to have only a limited supply of Kinzhals and probably can't produce them in any significant quantity, a problem possibly exacerbated by industry constraints, consequences, in part, of Russia's aggressive invasion of its neighbor last year. Russia has faced significant shortages in its stockpiles of precision-guided munitions that have forced it to turn to cheaper yet less effective alternatives like Iranian-made exploding drones.

Ukraine's Patriot capacity, Williams suspects, "is actually bigger and deeper than these kinds of ballistic missiles." If that's the case, Russia can't really afford to throw them away gunning for Ukrainian Patriots, especially half a dozen of the missiles at a time.

Read the original article on Business Insider
King Charles's next holiday to be bittersweet for new monarch

King Charles III's next holiday is set to bring mixed emotions for the monarch, as he prepares to travel to Transylvania on a poignant royal anniversary.

King Charles III is set to travel to Transylvania next month, marking his first trip abroad since being crowned at his royal coronation on May 6.

His Majesty's visit to the stunning Romanian city, which has taken place annually since 1998, coincides with an emotional royal anniversary for the new monarch.

In other royal news, Meghan Markle reflects on her 'funny' afterschool 'ritual' as a young girl.



King Charles III is set to travel to Transylvania next month, as part of an annual holiday tradition he's observed every spring since 1998.

His Majesty reportedly confirmed at his coronation that he will visit the Romanian city, which is most famous for its associations with Dracula, on June 2. It remains unknown how long the King will stay in the Eastern European country, but it's understood that he will be welcomed by the nation's leader, President Klaud Iohannis, at his Bucharest residence.

It is unclear where Charles will stay in Transylvania, but with a real estate portfolio of 10 properties in the region, it's unlikely he'll have trouble securing accommodation. It has also been reported that the 74-year-old will fly to Romania without the Queen Consort, who famously suffers from a severe fear of air travel.

Charles visiting Romania

While the logistics of Charles's trip are fairly straightforward, the emotional side of it is likely to be a lot more complex.

The King will land in Romania on Friday, June 2, which just so happens to be the same date as the first day of Queen Elizabeth II's Platinum Jubilee 2022 celebrations.

Platinum Jubilee

Exactly one year prior, the late monarch was marking her Trooping the Color birthday parade at Buckingham Palace in front of thousands of well-wishers. Just three months later, Her Majesty passed away aged 96 after a 70-year-long reign.

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It remains to be seen if the King will pay tribute to his late mother during his trip to Transylvania, but he'll no doubt be thinking of her legacy on the visit. Charles's guest house in Romania even includes a touching nod to the Queen, who has gone down in history as Britain's longest-serving monarch.

In a statement shared by the Palace on September 8 after the Queen's death had been confirmed, he said, "The death of my beloved Mother, Her Majesty The Queen, is a moment of the greatest sadness for me and all members of my family. We mourn profoundly the passing of a cherished Sovereign and a much-loved Mother."

Charles again paid tribute to his 'darling mama' during his first Christmas speech as King, commending Queen Elizabeth II's enduring "faith in God" and "her faith in people" throughout her life.
NEW YORK  While Texas has borne the brunt of thousands of migrants who have crossed into the U.S. from Mexico, the epicenter of partisan rancor over the border is actually thousands of miles away in New York.

There, Democrats and Republicans from Congress down to local county officials have been squabbling over how to handle an influx of migrants into New York City and its suburbs. The results could have major implications for control of the House and the presidents reelection campaign next year.

Each side has sought to frame the crisis on its own terms. But Democrats, whose path to retake the House runs through the Empire State, are caught in an intraparty conflict that could gift their opponents a powerful talking point.

This national problem is being laid in the lap of New Yorkers, New York City Mayor Eric Adams, a moderate Democrat, said during an interview Tuesday on a local Fox affiliate. This is an unsustainable crisis that's been forced on New Yorkers and is going to continue to grow if there's not a real response at our border.

Since last year, more than 65,000 migrants have traveled to New York City  the only major metropolitan area in the country with a legal requirement to provide them with a place to sleep. And with the citys shelter system at capacity, Adams began booking hotel rooms. So many, in fact, that half of all suitable hotel rooms in New York City are currently reserved by the administration, which expects to spend $4.3 billion on migrant care through the end of next summer.

This month, though, Adams said the city had reached its limit of hotels willing to take in migrants. So he began considering new shelter locations like warehouses, tents and a decommissioned prison in addition to bussing asylum-seekers to suburban hotels.

Thats when the political fever in New York really began building, complete with rhetoric that mirrors national political fault lines on immigration.

You've just said you might get 100,000 over the next couple of months, and that's probably accurate as they stream across the complete open border that we have, because of the complete failure of this president to do anything to secure [it], said Steve McLaughlin a Republican official from outside Albany said last week during a tense call between New York county leaders and Adams. We are all going to be overrun. And I feel for you, Eric, the problem is, I'm not a sanctuary county. I never advertised that we have any sanctuary cities.

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Protests and lawsuits have followed, with two counties obtaining restraining orders barring the city from sending migrants to their inns. Some of the most vocal resistance has come from areas rich with swing voters, who in 2022 helped the GOP flip several congressional seats and take control of the House.

McLaughlins home turf of Rensselaer County, for example, went for Biden in 2020 but veered to the right in a special election last year to support a Republican congressional candidate who narrowly lost. And voters in Rockland County, one of the municipalities that has sued New York City for moving migrants to its jurisdiction, helped oust the head of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee last year, a particularly stinging rebuke for the party.

The migrant issue has fueled partisan fighting from the outset. Last year, the New York City mayor first accused Texas Gov. Greg Abbott of bussing migrants to the five boroughs against their will  an argument Democrats have used to portray the GOP as callous. And while Adams has said he is doing things differently when he buses the newcomers out of the city  by paying for services and coordinating with other municipalities  his New York counterparts have a different take.

It is in essence doing the exact same thing, Putnam County Executive Kevin Byrne, a Republican, said during last weeks call.

As the debate has grown more pitched, Democrats have done themselves few favors.

Adams has repeatedly criticized President Joe Biden over the White Houses failure to get funding to New York City, to coordinate a resettlement strategy at the border and to expedite work authorization for asylum-seekers.

Where the heck is the president of the United States? Rosanna Scotto, a local Fox affiliate host, asked the mayor during his Tuesday interview.

That is a good question, Adams responded, one of his more tame assessments of the administration. I think we all should be asking: why is this happening to a city that was turning itself around, and will continue to do so?

The criticism of Biden over a volatile campaign issue heading into an election year has not been well received. Last week, Adams was no longer included in a list of surrogates for Bidens reelection.

Friends disagree on many occasions, the mayor said during a separate interview Tuesday morning, in response to an Axios story detailing the tension. I am a supporter of the president and Im going to do everything possible in his reelection campaign. But I am a person who believes my ultimate responsibility is to New York City.

The issue is creating rifts locally as well.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul has resisted the role of coordinating the flow of asylum-seekers from New York City to hamlets and villages, including in areas where she is electorally vulnerable. And while she recently asked the White House to authorize a former military base in New York City as an asylum-seeker hub, fellow Democrats have pointed out her inaction.

The Gov has finally begun to provide some leadership. Still very much missing is Statewide coordination that should come from, wellthe state, Jumaane Williams, New York Citys progressive public advocate, tweeted Monday.

Hochuls hesitation, especially compared to the full-contact battles Adams has engaged in, suggests just how potent an electoral issue migrants could be.

Last year, Hochul was thought to be a shoo-in for her race in a deep-blue state that hadnt elected a Republican as governor since George Patakis third-term win in 2002. Her Republican opponent Lee Zeldin, however, rode a tide of outrage over bail laws, stoked by wall-to-wall news coverage on crime, to within 6 points of clinching the general election.

U.S. Rep. Adriano Espaillat (D-N.Y.) said it is still too early to know whether migrants will play a similar role in next years elections. While he and other members of the New York Congressional Delegation wrote a letter asking the Federal Emergency Management Agency to expedite funds to New York, he also said that programs rolled out by Biden and Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas  such as expanding opportunities for people in Latin America to reunite with family members in the United States  have relieved some pressure.

I think the transparent way they handled it accounts for the lower numbers that are showing up at the border, when everybody else expected a surge, Espaillat said in an interview.

Some Democrats, however, dont seem to be taking chances and are staking out strong positions.

During the midterms, U.S. Rep. Pat Ryan received messaging advice from the New York City mayor, who won out over more progressive mayoral contenders with his position on public safety. But last week, the freshman lawmaker, who narrowly beat his Republican opponent in 2022, had harsh words for Adams in response to a New York Post report that 20 homeless veterans had been displaced from a Hudson Valley hotel to make way for asylum-seekers from the city.

This is bullshit. 20 veterans lost their housing tonight because of incompetence by New York City government, he tweeted May 12. I am doing everything I can to ensure these service members have a bed to sleep in tonight.

Let me be clear, he added, in words that may turn out to be prophetic. This will not be tolerated.
Photo Illustration by Thomas Levinson/The Daily Beast/Reuters/Getty

Former employees at Parler, the alternative social media platform used to help organize the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol building, are privately fuming that their site was sold and are brainstorming ways to re-launch the controversial platform.

In message logs obtained and reviewed by The Daily Beast, select Parler allies and ex-employees have been sharing their personal gripes in a Discord server called Parler Life Raft in recent months as the free speech site has taken a tumble.

Despite the site recently being sold and temporarily shutting down, some former staffers believe a Parler-inspired site can be re-launched and have taken aim at senior management for the companys downfall.

Parler management are straight up f*ggots, Dennis Harrison, whose LinkedIn identifies him as a lead engineer at the company, wrote in a private Discord server this past Sunday. They ruined something good.

They finally revoked my VPN access so I can no longer run bootleg Parler from the Parler laptop they gave me, Harrison complained in another message. Ill take forever to send back.

In a subsequent post, Harrison wrote that the new version of the spin-off site would be mostly based on Parler. We can probably commit to sending out [a] link next week, as long as everyone knows its beta, he wrote on Discord. Probably 65% Parler. Totally wild west for the next month.

Parler has been temporarily shut down by new owner Starboard. Oliver Douliery/Getty Images

Harrison was far from alone when it came to expressing frustration at what Parler had turned into.

They dont have any social media experience, Luke Francke, a Germany-based Parler superfan and beta tester, said about Parlers new owner Starboard, which announced last week it had purchased the site for an undisclosed sum. They cant do an account handle change without keeping the old one for backup.

Followers gone. Friends gone. People are angry now, he added.

But it didnt stop there, with Parler loyalists, including its co-founder and former CEO, turning on the company they spent time building. John Matze, who helped launch the site in 2018, took aim at what the newly sold platform had become.

Many of the original founders and employees cant even say the name anymore, he wrote. But I understand wanting to hold onto the good memories of what we all had. I miss the community.

Matze continued by floating the idea of torching old Parler merchandise.

Maybe burn it. Lets find something new, he wrote. I trashed everything Parler from my house a long time ago.

In October, Kanye West announced plans to buy Parler just days after Instagram and Twitter restricted his accounts due to antisemitic comments. However, the deal collapsed just weeks later.

I tell ya what, as soon as I was told about the Ye thing, I knew the platform was doomed, another user in the highly selective Discord chat wrote with the username Ootsie. My son could tell by the look on my face too.

Kanye West announced in October that he was buying Parler before the deal collapsed just weeks later. Dado Ruvic/Reuters

Even before then, Parler has had a rough run.

The social media site was founded with the financial backing of the conservative mega-donors Robert and Rebekah Mercer, and throughout 2020 experienced profound growth until the limited-moderation site found their users utilizing their platform to organize the Capitol riot. That ultimately prompted third-party services such as Amazon and Apple to boot them from their platforms, citing Parlers inability to moderate right-wing extremists on their site.

As Mediaite reported in early January 2021, pro-Trump lawyer Lin Wood wrote a series of unhinged messages on the site about killing then-Vice President Mike Pence over a perceived lack of loyalty to Donald Trump. Get the firing squads ready. Pence goes FIRST, he said after the Jan. 6 attack.

More recently, after Elon Musk purchased Twitter, right-leaning social media platforms have become far less in-demand, especially with the Tesla CEO rolling back previously issued bans on far-right extremists. As a result, Parlers audience shrunk as users flocked back to Twitter.

While many Parler hardcore believers and ex-employees grow increasingly upset, Harrison has begun plotting to bring a Parler-like platform back onto the internet.

Were getting an entity setup so we can take donations/money whatever to help with some of the costs, the former Parler engineer wrote on the Discord channel. Currently about $300 a month just for the dev stuff.

Once we start making it public, that will go up to $500 a month, I bet, he continued.

Reached for comment by The Daily Beast, Harrison said they dont plan to restart Parler. Were just doing something better, he said.

While many online seemed excited about the prospects of re-launching a version of Parler, Amy Piekoff, who was the sites chief policy officer, told The Daily Beast she isnt part of a re-attempt. No, Im not, she said.

An account with the username jlowry, whom The Daily Beast identified as a Houston-area health-care IT professional named Jason Lowry, responded to the news of a new site with a YAAAAAASSSSSS meme. Others likewise applauded the decision for a re-launch.

While a rowdy band of Parler castaways eye a new site that remains nameless, they have started musing on what they could call the equivalent of a retweet.

#ParlerPoll If you could name a share action on a social media, what would you call it, a user that goes by the alias RadianceLux, who in real life is a Texas-based Army major named Brett Humphreys. (He is also a former Parler employee.)

RePost is probably the most basic, Lowry responded. Maybe ShoutOut? Other Parler-loving Discord server users shared their thoughts, including that reshout sounds too loud.

Starboard CEO Ryan Coyne, the executive whose firm recently purchased Parler, told The Daily Beast: Ill pray for them.

Humphreys didnt return The Daily Beasts request for comment on this story.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

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Monique Davaul, a mom of six from Virginia, is settling intolife as a mom of triplets, just a few years after she became a mom of twins.

Davaul, of Newport News, gave birth to fraternal triplets, two girls and a boy, on April 12.

She is also the mom of 6-year-old twin sons, as well as an 8-year-old son.

"I was like, 'It's easy,'" Davaul told "Good Morning America" of raising twins. "So I guess maybe God said, 'You kept saying it was easy. I got something for you. Let's see what you can do with three.'"

PHOTO: Monique Davaul, of Newport News, Virginia, gave birth to triplets on April 12, 2023. (Riverside Regional Medical Center)

Davaul, 30, said that because she had a multiple pregnancy previously, when she was pregnant with the triplets, she thought she could be having another multiple pregnancy given how sick she felt.

"I was very sick, so I said, 'It's either a girl, or I'm pregnant with multiples,'" she recalled, adding that while multiples do not run in her family, the babies' paternal grandfather is a twin.

In the United States, only around 3,000 births in 2021 were triplet births, while around 114,000 births that year were twin births, according to data from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

MORE: Mississippi mom to celebrate 1st Mother's Day with quintuplets

Making Davaul's repeat multiple pregnancies even rarer is that she became pregnant both times without the help of fertility drugs.

The hospital where she delivered the triplets, Virginia's Riverside Regional Medical Center, told "GMA" in a statement, "This phenomenon happening naturally is so rare that there are no statistics on the occurrence."

PHOTO: Monique Davaul, of Newport News, Virginia, gave birth to triplets on April 12, 2023. (Riverside Regional Medical Center)

Davaul said she delivered at 33 weeks. The babies, named Mielle, Jihad and Noelle, spent a few weeks each in the neo-natal intensive care unit, but all three were home with Davaul in time for Mother's Day on Sunday.

Davaul said that -- despite doubling the number of offspring she has with one delivery -- she is adjusting well to life as a mom of six thanks to a great support system.

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MORE: Dad with triplets comes up with genius hack to clean all those bottles

Her support system is one that includes her three older sons, particularly her twin boys, Nasir and Sincere.

PHOTO: Monique Davaul's three older children, 8-year-old Messiah, and 6-year-old twins Nasir and Sincere, are pictured here. (Courtesy Monique Davaul)

"They are so excited and they try to help out," she said of the 6-year-olds. "Nasir tries to sleep in the room with us, and they say, 'My baby brother, my baby sisters.'"

Mom of twins gives birth to triplets originally appeared on goodmorningamerica.com
CHILLICOTHE  Shes in the business to help.

I was raised by my wonderful parents, Charlie and Kathy Sims, declared Ann Holmes. They provided an amazing childhood for me and my sisters. We traveled a lot and played sports. I dreamed of being a child psychologist or English teacher. Being a continuing education program coordinator never entered my mind.

Ann Holmes, Administrative Specialist Deans Office & Continuing Education, sits outside of Bennett Hall on the Ohio university Chillicothe campus on May 4, 2023, Chillicothe, Ohio.

Today, Holmes is an administrative specialist in the deans office and continuing education at Ohio University in Chillicothe.

I organize community workshops for continuing education, she explained. I organize Kids in College, assign all rooms for our academic schedule, I submit expense reports for staff/faculty, and step in anywhere Im needed!

Holmes was born and raised in Chillicothe, went to Southeastern High School for two years and graduated from Chillicothe High School in 1997. She later earned a Bachelor of Specialized Studies from OUC and a diversity certificate from Athens in spring 2020.

I applied to OUC and was hired in 2009 as an administrative assistant, she said. At the time, I worked with class scheduling, payroll, etc. It wasnt until 2017 I moved into continuing education after the previous coordinator retired.

I had always worked in an office setting, she continued. Since I wasnt sure what I wanted to do, I did what I was good at, and that was data entry, etc.

Its the etc. that caught Tara Gillums attention. Gillum is the owner/operator of Steiners Speakeasy.

Ann and I met during a college event my bar was hosting, recalled Gillum. Shes the kind of person that as soon as you meet her you feel her positive energy. That didnt stop once we started working together on the mixology classes at OUC. I was nervous, I didnt want to look silly or let her or the university down. She was right there with me with words of encouragement.

Calling her a leader feels underwhelming, Gillum added, because what she does for the community isnt coming from a place of leadership, its more genuine than that. She really does care and take pride in not just what we do as instructors, but what the participants gain from attending.

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Ive met so many wonderful people in the community, Holmes responded. I love seeing people complete a project with their own hands and see the pride on their faces!

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: Holmes' positive energy is on display at OUC
Obama's Former Washington DC Townhouse

A three-story townhouse  that served as President Barack Obama's residence during his time as US senator  is on the market for $1.279 million.

Situated on the eastern edge of Stanton Park (a short walk from the United States Capitol), the 1970s brick dwelling was an apt choice for Barack, who began his United States Senate career in January 2005. He lived in the home, alongside his wife Michelle, until 2008, when he departed to launch his presidential campaign trail.

Despite its somewhat humble characteristics, this home's generous size, contemporary interiors, and enviable zipcode make it one of the most exciting listings in DC.

Barack Obama

Naturally, Hawaii-born politician Barack Obama is most famously associated with his time at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue  but his property portfolio stretches far beyond the White House  spanning from a mansion in Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts  to his current home, not too far from this one, in elegant Kalorama, Washington DC.

Obama's Former Washington DC Townhouse

The quintessential brick facade is a sign of the laid-back yet chic interiors that lay behind its red front door.

Inside, the on-trend gray-green walls are perhaps the most striking part of the open-plan living space. This subtle hue, described as the new neutral, is the new alternative to stark gray  pairing seamlessly with light wood, neutral soft furnishings, and house plants  just as demonstrated in Obama's former home.

Obama's Former Washington DC Townhouse

Alongside its fashionable paint palette, the east-facing living and dining space boasts hardwood floors and a wood-burning fireplace with a modern marble front. The living room has access to French doors  leading to the rear iron deck with views of the shared yard  and the prestigious redbricks around Stanton Park.

Obama's Former Washington DC Townhouse

The open-plan space leads to a white kitchen  complete with sleek wooden cabinets and a timeless tile backsplash. The kitchen also features a breakfast nook, offering views across the neighborhood to accompany your morning coffee.

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Obama's Former Washington DC Townhouse

Upstairs, the third floor comprises two bedrooms, one of which has views of the aforementioned park  and both of which boast ample built-in closet space. They sit alongside a large bathroom with a soaking tub and a separate laundry room that is equipped with utility essentials.

Obama's Former Washington DC Townhouse

Linda Pettie and Michael Tubbs of Coldwell Banker Realty currently hold this historic listing. And, while we can't all make this house our home, we can learn more about Barack Obama's life (including the time spent in this house) via the book below.

A Promised Land | $19.35 on Amazon

This New York Times Bestseller is described as a riveting, deeply personal account of history in the making  from Barack Obama himself. View Deal
U.S. Marshals Service

The suspect in the murder of a Toledo-area woman is a teenager who had been living in a foster home in the Canton area, authorities say.

Sylvania Township police continue to investigate the death of Nicole D. Jones, 53, the mother of 33-year-old Jonathan Jones, a fugitive found in Mexico with 17-year-old Kaitlyn L. Coones after a national manhunt earlier this month. Coones faces multiple charges in Lucas and Stark counties.

Jonathan Jones was awaiting sentencing in another criminal case when he disappeared, according to investigators. He reportedly was still in custody of Mexican authorities, police said Tuesday.

Here is what we know about the pair and crimes stretching across multiple law enforcement agencies.

How did hunt Jonathan Jones and Kaitlyn Coones start?

The U.S. Marshals Service and the Northern Ohio Violent Fugitive Task Force on May 6 announced a nationwide manhunt for Jonathan Jones and Coones, last seen in his mother's car in Arizona near the Mexican border.

Coones has been reported missing April 18 to the Canton police.

Jonathan Jones had pleaded guilty in March to pandering obscene material and child endangerment, charges tied to a 2022 court case in the Toledo area. He was to be sentenced May 4 but he skipped his court appearance, according to investigators. A warrant was issued.

Two days later, federal agents said the search was over after he and Coones were found in Ahumada, Chihuahua, Mexico. It's still unclear how Jonathan Jones and Coones got together.

Nicole Jones goes missing

Sylvania Township police on May 11 confirmed a missing report had been filed on May 5 for Nicole Jones after a welfare check. She could not be located.

Sylvania Township is a suburb of Toledo, about 13 miles west of the city.

The checkup was requested by Canton police following information they received that Nicole Jones might've been hurt or killed. On May 12, police said Nicole Jones was dead.

At that time, Deputy Chief Jim Rettig of Sylvania Township confirmed the homicide and said an arrest warrant charging one individual in Lucas County Juvenile Court had been filed.

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"It is anticipated that additional charges will be filed against other suspect (or suspects) at a later date," he said. "The investigation remains ongoing."

Authorities have not said why or how Nicole Jones was killed. But they have said her body has not been found.

Charges against Kaitlyn Coones

The case took an unexpected turn on May 13 when Rettig said charges of aggravated murder and tampering with evidence in the death of Nicole Jones had been filed against a juvenile.

Later, the juvenile was identified as Coones by Patty Wardrop, assistant prosecutor in Lucas County. She told WTVG in Toledo that the girl was staying with Jonathan Jones at his mother's house in Sylvania Township.

Wardrop said Coones has confessed to her role in the crime.

Canton police accuse Kaitlyn Coones of misleading investigators

After returning from Mexico, Coones was booked on May 13 into the Multi-County Juvenile Attention Center in Canton Township, where she remains, on a juvenile count of felony obstruction. She was arraigned on the charge Monday.

A complaint filed in Stark County Family Court accuses Coones of "purposely and with forethought flee(ing) the city of Canton to Mexico with a known wanted felony," and trying to mislead investigators in subsequent social media posts.

The complaint also alleges Coones ran away from foster homes, including those in Cleveland and Akron, regularly.

"Kaitlyn's running away resulted in a massive law enforcement response involving the FBI, USMS, U.S. Border Patrol and multiple other local jurisdiction along with Mexican government resources to locate and bring her back to the United States," the complaint says.

Police in Sylvania Township have said they anticipate additional charges to be filed.

Reach Benjamin Duer at 330-580-8567 or ben.duer@cantonrep.com. On Twitter: @bduerREP

This article originally appeared on The Repository: What to know about the search for Kaitlyn Coones & Jonathan Jones
Since the Black Belt Community Foundation first partnered with the Alabama State Council on the Arts in 2005, the pair have distributed over $1.7 million in arts funding throughout the Black Belt.

That includes the grants worth up to $3,000 each that are up for grabs this cycle.

Past funding has supported an after-school program in Wilcox County where at-risk kids are encouraged to keep learning outside of the classroom, a nonprofit that preserves the rich tradition of quilting in Gees Bend, the annual Selma Jubilee and theater programs throughout the state.

These past recipients demonstrate the way art and history are directly linked in the Black Belt  a poor stretch of counties in the state named for their unique soil that have been home to world-changing events and heroes alike.

Still, finding monetary backing for the arts in rural Alabama every year can be difficult for groups trying to get their programs off the ground, as well as those that are well-established.

We know that there is a gap. When I think about it, it seems like the funding has been cut for so long that I dont know that its the first thing to get cut anymore. Its just not been there, BBCF President Felecia Lucky said. We try to make sure we're good storytellers of where investments are made in the arts for our region and what happens because those investments are made.

The BBCF and the Alabama State Council on the Arts work to be the solution, or at least provide a little bit of help. They annually distribute grants in varying amounts to programs that provide arts-related programming in their communities.

Previous winners of Black Belt Community Foundation Arts Grants.

Do you qualify for a BBCF grant?

All organizations that will receive arts grants must be based in one of the 12 Black Belt counties where the foundation focuses: Bullock, Choctaw, Dallas, Greene, Hale, Lowndes, Macon, Marengo, Perry, Pickens, Sumter and Wilcox.

The grant can go toward in-school, after-school, community-based and summer arts education programs, or it can be used to present or produce arts programming and to attend professional development conferences related to the arts.

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The BBCF is not strict on what they consider the arts. The foundation has funded everything from trips to the Legacy Museum in Montgomery to Birmingham, to Selma and beyond.

A lot of people will say, Well, it's not really the arts if you're doing exposure, but it is because for a lot of our children, they may not have had an opportunity to visit a museum, Lucky said. That is an investment that is worthwhile because you've then provided exposure to the arts that some demographics of folks never had before.

If your group fits these qualifications, you must apply before 5 p.m. Central Daylight Time on April 28 to be considered.

Felecia Lucky, Black Belt Community Foundation president, poses for a photo at the BBCF Head Start school on Thursday, Dec. 8, 2022.

How to apply for a BBCF grant

The process to apply takes a little more effort than just submitting an online form. All applicants must also attend at least one BBCF Virtual Grant Seeking Workshop, held via Zoom.

There, BBCF employees walk applicants through what they need to do, giving them their best shot at receiving funding.

If you're spending all of your time writing the grant, then you're not doing the work, Lucky said. All you've got to do is just know the work that you want to do, know who you want to impact, and that helps us.

Here are the remaining scheduled workshops:

Registration is required. The link to register is also available on the BBCF website and Facebook page.

After attending one of the Zoom workshops, you may apply for a grant online. If you have questions or concerns, the BBCF invites you to contact Jennifer McCohnell at jmccohnell@blackbeltfound.org for more information.

Hadley Hitson covers the rural South for the Montgomery Advertiser and Report for America. She can be reached at hhitson@gannett.com. To support her work, subscribe to the Advertiser or donate to Report for America.

This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: Black Belt Community Foundation offers thousands in arts grant funding
Saad Salman, who runs The Royal Watcher blog, revealed that the royal accessory isnt part of the attire.

Kevin Hagen / Getty Images

The Jordanian royal family has already had a busy year of celebrating, with Queen Rania and King Abdullah IIs oldest daughter, Princess Iman, marrying Jameel Thermiotis on March 12, 2023. Now, the group is preparing for another royal wedding: Crown Prince Husseins nuptials to Rajwa Al-Saif, which is expected to take place on June 1, 2023. In the latest update on May 15, 2023, The Royal Watcher blogger Saad Salman revealed the expected wedding dress code, and it appears to ditch one key accessory that epitomizes royalty. When a fan asked about the attire for the affair via Twitter, Salman responded, More like black tie, long dress but no tiaras. The royal blogger never clarified whether the no tiara rule applies to the bride, however.

Handout / Getty Images

The Twitter thread began with Salman confirming that Queen Azizah of Malaysia and her husband, King Abdullah, will attend the crown princes wedding. Many other royals around the world will also make an appearance. According to Hello!, the guest list will include Princess Hisakoa and Princess Tsuguko of Japan, Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary of Denmark, Crown Princess Victoria and Prince Daniel of Sweden, and Crown Prince Haakon of Norway.

Related:Crown Prince Hussein of Jordan Set the Date for His 2023 Wedding to Rajwa Al Saif

On May 14, 2023, the Royal Hashemite Court revealed the official logo for Husseins big day, which is an Arabic symbol topped with a crown. As the date of the wedding of HRH Crown Prince Al Hussein and Miss Rajwa Khalid Alseif nears, we are pleased to share the official logo to mark the occasion, which is Arabic for we rejoice, the court tweeted, along with a clip of the graphic. The post even mentioned a hashtag for the special day, which is #CelebratingAlHussein.

The Royal Hashemite Court first announced the crown princes wedding date back in December of 2022, but the entity has kept many of the other details a secret. "The Royal Hashemite Court is pleased to announce that the wedding of His Royal Highness Crown Prince Al Hussein bin Abdullah II and Miss Rajwa Khalid Al Saif will take place on June 1, 2023, the court released in a statement. The Royal Hashemite Court extends its sincere congratulations to Their Majesties King Abdullah II and Queen Rania Al Abdullah on this occasion and wishes His Royal Highness Crown Prince Al Hussein bun Abdullah II and Miss Raja Khalid Al Said a lifetime of happiness #Jordan.

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To share the news, the royal court shared a photo of the couple posing together, with the bride-to-be in a white dress with puff sleeves and the future groom in a dark suit. The day is a special one for the future newlyweds because Husseins parents, Queen Rania and King Abdullah II, will celebrate their 30th wedding anniversary a little over a week later, on June 10, 2023, Tatler reports.

The couple first announced their engagement on August 18, 2022. We pray that God grants us His blessings, Hussein wrote on his Instagram account. Grateful to my dear Jordanian family for their heartfelt support and kind wishes. The future king of Jordan also uploaded a snap of himself and his soon-to-be wife, and her diamond ring is on full display in the photo. According to Tatler, Hussein popped the question at Rajwas fathers home, and his parents were also present to witness the proposal. Queen Rania commented on the Instagram post, I didnt think it was possible to hold so much joy in my heart! Congratulations to my eldest Prince Hussein and his beautiful bride-to-be, Rajwa.

Up Next:Queen Ranias Mother-of-the-Bride Outfit Included a Special Tribute to Princess Iman
David Surette with mandolin

KITTERY, Maine  Renowned Seacoast musician David Surette would be gratified to know the music festival he began more than two decades ago to celebrate the joy of the mandolin will continue. The 20th annual Mandolin Festival, renamed the David Surette Mandolin Festival, will kick off with a Seacoast concert 7:30 p.m. on Friday, May 5 at the Dance Hall in Kittery, followed by workshops and a Saturday concert in Concord, N.H. May 6 and May 7.

The festival, named after the beloved South Berwick musician who died in 2021, is being organized by his wife and musical partner, Susie Burke, and their daughters, Julianna and Isa, in conjunction with the Concord NH Community Music School.

Surette was a beloved teacher and mentor at the music school, in his local studio and across the country for over 30 years. "David really loved sharing his enthusiasm for the mandolin and for music-making in general. He was an inspiring musician and teacher, and I was lucky to live, work and perform with him for 35 years. I am so pleased that our daughters Isa and Julianna are part of the festival and will be performing at both concerts with me as well", Burke said. Carrying this event forward is such a meaningful way to honor their dad.

Mandolin instructors clockwise from top left: Keith Murphy, Skip Gorman, Steve Roy and Marla Fibish

Over the years, teacher/performers have come from all across the US and as far away as Italy to be part of the festival. The concerts will showcase the diversity of the mandolin and 2023s performers, as they play bluegrass, Celtic, French-Canadian, old-time music and more. Californian Marla Fibish, known for her fluid mandolin and mandola playing, will perform original and traditional Irish tunes. Skip Gorman, one of the countrys leading players of Bill Monroe-style bluegrass mandolin, is also a fiddler whose pieces have been featured in several Ken Burns documentaries. Newfoundland native Keith Murphy offers music of Eastern Canada, as well as original tunes played in a lyrical, rhythmic style. Finally, Steve Roy will offer a variety of styles on mandolin, with improvisation and drive being hallmarks of his playing.

Surette started the festival more than 20 years ago as a Saturday of workshops. After just a couple of years, it grew into a two-day event, with four teachers offering workshops, jam sessions, a popular Q & A roundtable, and two concerts.

Tickets for the Friday night show in Kittery are available at https://www.thedancehallkittery.org/events/david-surette-mandolin-festival-kickoff-concert. Information on the workshops and Saturday's concert can be found at https://www.ccmusicschool.org/david-surette-mandolin-festival/.

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: David Surette Mandolin Festival returns
Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas and five other city council candidates crushed their opponents in the recent city primary by garnering anywhere from 61% to 85% of the votes cast in their races.

But because the city charter says that the top two vote-getters move on to the general election, the landslide victories by Lucas and the other five were meaningless. To win office, they must again square off against their first runner-up at the general election in June.

The same, in others words, as candidates who placed first and second but did not get a majority of the votes in five contests where three or more people were running.

Lucas thinks thats ridiculous and wants the rules changed for future elections so that winning more than half of the votes in the primary would be enough to skip the general election. Of the 25 candidates for mayor or council who got a majority in the primary vote over the last three election cycles, all went on to win the general election.

Thats one of several changes in the electoral process and city governance that the mayor has asked the newly appointed charter review commission to study in the coming months.

The commission will take up his proposals and some of their own when the 10-member panel that Lucas appointed begins work Tuesday. The group got a preview at its organizational meeting last week.

Kansas City mayors are required to form charter review commissions at least once every 10 years so that city government can see if reforms are in order.

When the charter was last reviewed, in 2013, that commission suggested the mayor be given the right to hire and fire the city manager without council approval. It also recommended voters elect all 12 regular council members by district, rather than half of them citywide, to improve racial and ethic diversity.

But a council majority rejected both proposals and refused to put them on the ballot. However, the council did sign off on a charter commission proposal to adjust the election dates by a couple of months, which voters approved. That change has new city councils starting work on Aug. 1 every four years.

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Lucas is once again proposing to change the dates of city elections, to August for the primary and November for the general elections, which are the months when county, state and federal elections are held in even-numbered years.

Voter turnout for city elections is abysmal. The Kansas City Election Board said just under 14% of registered voters cast ballots in this months election.

Kansas saw its turnout increase for municipal and school board elections by switching them from the spring to the August-November schedule in odd-numbered years. Still, fewer than one in four voters participate.

Lucas believes turnout would be even better if Kansas City held its election in even-numbered years, citing voter fatigue from being called upon to cast ballots in multiple elections, were city elections held in odd-numbered years.

Higher participation in elections would also make the threshold higher for putting initiative petitions on the ballot or mounting recall campaigns against council members, as ballot access is tied to turnout.

Recall petitions in Kansas City require signatures equal to 20% of the votes cast in the previous mayoral election. Referendum petitions require signatures equal to 10% of the mayoral vote.

Recall petitions were filed against Lucas and six other council members in 2020 and 2021 but the number of signatures fell short.

Transitioning to elections in even-numbered years might mean lengthening the terms by more than a year for those who will be elected in June to the council.

In addition to election reforms, Lucas is also proposing ways to streamline government. One suggestion would strip the parks and recreation board of what little autonomy it now has to manage that department and hire the director.

Instead, the parks board would be an advisory body like other city boards appointed by the mayor and the parks director would report to the city manager rather than the parks board.

A similar proposal was studied and rejected two decades ago. Former parks board chairwoman Anita Gorman said she is opposed to any change that would undermine the boards powers.
Got something to say? Send us a letter by emailing your submission (up to 300 words) to afontones@gannett.com, or letters@poconorecord.com. Letters including inflammatory language or hate speech are not accepted. Approved submissions receive a headline from editorial staff.

Note: Some letters get filtered automatically to our newsroom's spam folder. If you do not hear back on your letter submission within 48 hours, please email our editor at afontones@gannett.com.

Read on for the most recent letter submissions from regional Tri-County Independent and Pocono Record readers.

More local letters Monroe County DA's race, school scholarships at PV: What local readers care about

Don Leeth has real solutions to restore Monroe DA's office

I have been a licensed attorney in Pennsylvania for 27 years, and I have come to know several District Attorneys and Assistant District Attorneys throughout my legal career.

I am supporting and voting for Donald Leeth for Monroe County District Attorney in the Primary election on May 16th because I trust and believe In him.

Don Leeth has over 13 years of experience as an Assistant District Attorney in Monroe County, served our community in the Countys Public Defenders office, and has maintained a private criminal defense practice for over 10 years.

Donald Leeth witnesses the shortcomings and weaknesses of the current DAs office and our broken criminal justice system on a daily basis and he has real solutions to bring about reform to effect and restore equality of justice, transparency, integrity, and accountability to the Monroe County District Attorneys office.

Don represents my Democratic values.

He is the only candidate who will fight for the change that we so desperately need. Vote for Donald Leeth on May 16th!

Shelli Whitmer, East Stroudsburg

Don Leeth is the only true Democrat running in the primary

Im happy to support Don Leeth for Monroe County District Attorney in the Democratic primary on May 16. Monroe County deserves a real Democrat working for all our citizens as District Attorney, and Don Leeth is that candidate. As our county continues to grow, we need an experienced legal expert like Don, who has worked as both a prosecutor and defense attorney. He knows all sides of the issues and understands that all people should be treated equally under the law, and that everyone deserves dignity and respect.

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Don supports juvenile criminal justice reform; incentivizing treatment over incarceration for mental health and substance abuse issues; and equality of justice for the poor and disenfranchised. These incentives and more will ease the burden on our law enforcement officers, and also save taxpayers money by cutting down on court costs and incarceration rates.

As I have gotten to know Don, I have seen firsthand his strong character, family values, and moral compass. He enthusiastically volunteered for Democratic candidates before last years election, and attended rallies supporting equality and a womans right to choose. Don is the only true Democrat running in this primary, and I urge all Democrats in Monroe County to vote for him on May 16.

Teresa Daly, Brodheadsville

Reader takes issue with Republican disunity on abortion

The Pocono Record article: "Abortion bans raise fears in GOP" (April 17) is more than a regional fear, the GOP's worriment concerning abortion bans is coast to coast. After Roe v. Wade was reversed last Summer, the Republican Party was supposed to achieve House and Senate majorities after the midterms last Fall. That didn't happen. Former President Donald Trump blamed the disappointing midterm results on strict pro-life laws enacted in red states before the midterms. Trump is so influential to the GOP that he has put this alarm into Republican lawmakers. Some Republican lawmakers are in a panic because they think the independent voters will vote Democratic if Republicans are "too pro-life."

The problem with the abortion issue is, among Republican Party politicians and constituents, there is a disunity on where to draw the line on abortion permissiveness. This should not be happening among pro-life people. After conception and during pregnancy, human life is either connatural to the human race or is alien to the human race. There is no crossover point during pregnancy where human life (planned or unplanned) becomes a member of the human race. It's at conception, period.

In my mind, any abortion is bad behavior. And to compromise with bad behavior is the beginning of unending compromises. Hidden in compromise is confusion. I learned early in life never to bargain with bad behavior. Republican lawmakers should establish the firmest foundation of resistance to abortion, thereby providing the example for future generations.

Ron Pryor, Belvedere, NJ

Eastburg Education Association opts not to endorse candidates of color

Editor's note: This letter submitted to the East Stroudsburg Education Association was also submitted to news outlets, including the Pocono Record.

This letter is written on behalf of the Monroe County Democratic Latino American Business Forum and Monroe County Democratic Black Caucus. We would like to express our disappointment in the ESASD teacher's union's decision not to endorse the only Black (Steven Lurry) and Latina (Dr. Damary Bonilla-Rodriguez) candidates for school board. This decision is particularly troubling given the fact that the East Stroudsburg Area School District is made up of a diverse student population, and your endorsed slate will not be representative of the students.

We understand that your endorsements are based on a variety of factors, including the candidates' positions on issues that are important to our members, their experience and qualifications, and their commitment to public education. We strongly believe that Mr. Lurry and Dr. Bonilla-Rodriguez both unequivocally possess the experience, qualification, and commitment to ensuring that all students receive a quality public education.

The school board is responsible for making decisions that affect all students, and it is important that the board includes members who can speak to the experiences of all students.

We strongly urge you to reconsider your decision to support and endorse these candidates.

Monroe County Democratic Latino American Business Forum Monroe County Democratic Black Caucus

This article originally appeared on Pocono Record: Letters: Pocono readers sound off on abortion, Monroe elections
Melbourne officials are investigating a religious discrimination complaint from a Melbourne firefighter who said department leaders failed to act after a supervisor was photographed on duty giving the Nazi salute.

Firefighter Aaron Starkey filed the complaint dated April 12 with the Florida Commission on Human Relations and the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, alleging the department failed to address his "valid concerns of antisemitism" and allowed the colleague who was photographed to confront him over the complaints.

Starkey said in the complaint the photo of Battalion Chief Jody Kahler giving the salute in a fake "Hitler-style mustache" and wearing what appears to be a metal bowl on his head, which Starkey called a "German combat helmet," was taken while Kahler was on-duty and in his Melbourne Fire Department uniform.

"I am Jewish and I found Kahler's gesture extremely offensive," Starkey wrote.

Another firefighter scandal: White Brevard County firefighter fired after Halloween party blackface incident

Inappropriate: Off-duty firefighter's 'Blackface' at Halloween party doesn't represent agency, Brevard fire chief says

From 2021: Brevard County Fire Rescue investigating third case of alleged inappropriate behavior

An interview request to Kahler sent through a city spokesperson was denied by Melbourne Fire Chief Mike Bogle, who cited the city's active investigation.

According to the complaint, Kahler confronted Starkey on April 8 "in order to dissuade me from raising any further complaints" after he'd brought the photo to the attention of the Melbourne firefighters union, Starkey wrote. "Kahler admitted that (he) posed as a Nazi but tried to downplay and trivialize his actions, and didn't apologize for his actions," he wrote.

It was not clear from the complaint when the photo was taken. Orlando attorney Daniel Perez, who is representing Starkey, said the picture had been taken by one of Starkey's co-workers and had circulated among officers in the department "as kind of a joke."

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"Can't imagine anything funny about it," he added.

A photo of Melbourne Fire Department Battalion Chief Jody Kahler wearing a fake "Hitler-style mustache" and giving a Nazi salute led to a religious discrimination complaint from a Jewish colleague.

Starkey accused union officials of failing to file a grievance on his behalf and of passing word of his complaint to Kahler, which he said led to the confrontation. He has charged the department with failing to act on the photo and for allowing the follow-up incident, which he characterized as "retaliation."

Starkey referred questions to Perez. Messages sent to the Melbourne Professional Firefighters Local 1951 union were not immediately returned Monday.

City of Melbourne spokeswoman Cheryl Mall said in a statement that the city learned of the allegations through Starkey's complaint, which it only received from the state late Friday afternoon.

"The City of Melbourne takes allegations of any kind of discrimination, harassment and retaliation very seriously," Mall wrote in the statement. "We will be conducting a thorough investigation in accordance with city policy."

"When conducting formal investigations there is established due process that must be followed in order to ensure the legal rights of all those involved," the statement said. "Upon completion of the investigation, any employees found to be in violation of the Citys policies will be subject to disciplinary action up to and including dismissal."

Previous complaints against Melbourne Fire Department

Perez said the episode was only the latest in a list of complaints his client has filed against the department. Starkey also alleged he had been denied federally protected family medical leave in 2018, and said the department had failed to reimburse him for required training in 2020.

As a result of the complaints, Starkey said the department retaliated by transferring him multiple times and denying him a promotion.

The photo incident was just the "straw that broke the camel's back," Perez said.

"Imagine if you're African American and you find out that your boss is doing blackface at work. That's how I would conceptualize this," Perez said. "There's just no place for that in 2023 in the workplace."

A white Brevard County Fire Rescue firefighter was fired in February last year after photos of him wearing blackface during a previous off-duty Halloween party circulated on social media.

Eric Rogers is a watchdog reporter at FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Rogers at 321-242-3717 or esrogers@floridatoday.com.

This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Melbourne, Florida firefighter seen giving Nazi salute in photo
(Bloomberg) -- The investment arm of Goldman Sachs Group Inc. dramatically reduced its exposure to the Adani Group in its ESG portfolios in the weeks following allegations of fraud against the conglomerate by short-seller Hindenburg Research.

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Goldman funds registered as promoting environmental, social and governance goals under European Union rules sold about 11.7 million shares in Adani companies in February, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Following the retreat, Goldman Sachs Asset Managements actively managed ESG fund exposure to Adani was limited to a stake of roughly 400,000 shares in Ambuja Cements Ltd., the data show.

Other asset managers cutting Adani from ESG funds include Northern Trust Corp. and Storebrand ASA, according to Bloomberg data, which doesnt include exchange-traded funds and is based on an analysis of the latest available filings. In all, 13 actively managed ESG funds scaled back their holdings in the conglomerate, selling a total of 12 million Adani Group shares, with Goldman accounting for the largest sales in the Bloomberg data.

A spokesperson for Goldman Sachs declined to comment. Spokespeople for Northern Trust and Storebrand didnt immediately respond to requests for comment.

Meanwhile, Adani companies are trying to tap markets in what would mark an important milestone for the group after Hindenburg Research published its Jan. 24 report alleging the conglomerate was guilty of market manipulation and fraud. Adani, which saw the market value of its empire shrink by more than $100 billion after the Hindenburg report was published, has repeatedly refuted the claims made by the short seller and is now trying to rebuild relations with financial markets.

Adani Enterprises Ltd. and Adani Transmission Ltd. will seek to raise as much as $2.6 billion in total, according to separate filings on May 13. The companies still need shareholder approval for the transaction.

Goldman Sachs cutting Adani group stakes from ESG funds and Adani Group companies now seeking to raise capital are two entirely separate events, a spokesperson for Adani said by email. The former is related to the market sale of equity shares in the secondary market, where the group or group companies have no role to play. On the other hand, the latter is related to enabling provisions for the primary issue for capital raising by the two group entities, Adani Enterprises Ltd. and Adani Transmission Ltd. We do not foresee any change or impact of the former on our fund-raising plans, as the two events are completely unrelated.

Overall, the number of ESG funds, including ETFs, with direct holdings in Adani companies dropped to 59 from 90 at the beginning of February, according to Bloomberg data. Including indirect holdings, the number of ESG funds exposed to Adani is broadly unchanged at just over 500.

In March, Adani won a vote of confidence from a major investor after GQG Partners bought shares worth a total of $1.9 billion in four of the groups companies. And even some ESG-registered funds  Bloomberg data identified eight in total  have added exposure to Adani since Hindenburg published its report.

Since the allegations of fraud were published in late January, Adani companies have been ejected from a number of key indexes and rankings. Adani Transmission, which has seen its share price plunge almost 70% this year, will be dropped from MSCI Incs India index at the end of this month. The company also will be removed from a local tally of firms designated for so-called additional surveillance measures, along with Adani Green and Adani Total Gas Ltd., according to a list updated on the websites of the countrys two largest exchanges earlier this month.

And a United Nations-backed organization created to help companies establish credible net zero targets, the Science Based Targets initiative, has removed three Adani companies from a list monitored by green investors. The decision means that Adani Green, Adani Transmission and Adani Ports & Special Economic Zone Ltd. are no longer listed as companies taking action to reduce their emissions in line with the goals of the Paris climate accord.

Adani Enterprises has lost roughly half its market value this year, as has Adani Green. Ambuja is down by about a fifth over the same period.

Indias top court asked the countrys markets regulator to close its investigation into Hindenburgs allegations against the Adani Group by Aug. 14, allowing it about three more months after the watchdog failed to meet the two-month deadline set in early March.

--With assistance from Carlo Maccioni and Amine Haddaoui.

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You will not be able to find a Georgia peach in grocery stores this year.

Christina Gessler/Getty Images

Things are not looking good for Georgia peaches this season.

Farmers in Georgia are describing alarmingly slim pickings of the beloved state fruit following a triple-whammy of unseasonable weather in February and March.

Specialty Crop Industry reports that growers are seeing considerably less peaches due to a combination of unusually warm temperatures in winterwhich caused the trees to bloom earlier than usualand two devastating frosts in mid-March, when temperatures sunk into the 20s in some parts of the state.

Christina Gessler/Getty Images

Robert Dickey, a producer in Musella, told the magazine that the variable weather has not been kind to the states peach crop.

The peaches, unfortunately, are not looking well. The last bad freeze that we had really decimated the crop in the whole Southeast, especially Georgia, Dickey said to Specialty Crop Industry. Its going to be a very, very short [season]. Its just one of those freak weather events. Well have some, but itll mainly be in June and July.

Lawton Pearson, who owns Pearson Farms in Fort Valley and sits on the Georgia Peach Council, told 11Alive that Central Georgia peach-growers saw about a 90 percent loss this yearworse than initially predicted. His wife Lanier called the situation worse than anything I've ever seen.

It's kind of like a triple-whammyone of those events we could have sustained and had a loss, but not this significant, she told the local news station. You will not be able to find a Georgia peach in grocery stores this year.

Speaking with The Takeout, Dickey said that consumers should be prepared to pay more to enjoy a delicious Georgia peach this year, estimating that they will cost between 20-50 percent more. That's if you can get your hands on them at all.

Sorry, yall!

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Read the original article on Southern Living.
Tonight, the Noguchi Museum in Queens, New York, was the site of the sixth annual Loewe Foundation Craft Prize announcement. The work of the 30 finalists, who utilize items as diverse as pearls, bark, paper, and recycled bags, along with other classic materials including ceramics, glass, bronze, and wood, was displayed inside the former studio of the influential sculptor Isamu Noguchi, the first time a public exhibition has taken place in his space.

Noguchi wanted to bring tradition into the 20th century, explained Matthew Kirsch, the Curator of Research at the museum during a tour of the grounds earlier in the morning. He hated what he called the false horizon of the pedestal, and wanted to bring sculpture into everyday life. In that sense, the Noguchi Museum was indeed an ideal setting to bring to life Loewe creative director Jonathan Andersons vision, which aims to not only celebrate the art of craft, but show the myriad ways that it can, and should be, a part of the modern cultural conversation, just like contemporary art.

Walking through the space, the senses were overwhelmed with not just beauty, but also the ineffable qualities of the human imagination. A giant egg-shaped structure made from China grass cloth by Wanbing Huang, from the Peoples Republic of China, greeted guests, and standing in between its cracked-open shells, staring into the layers of concentric circles that supported the structure, there was a sense of being surrounded by infinity. A piece by Nathalie Doyen, a ceramic artist, resembled a ball of knitted patch-worked pieces, until at closer inspection, a series of acorns was revealed on one side, while the rest was covered in a pattern that resembled sea urchin shells, which the artist revealed she created by pricking the stoneware surface hundreds of times with a thin pin. I like the process [because] its like nature, little things growing one after one, she explained. So I can improve because I work really slowly.

The Japanese artist Shinji Nakaba, who started his career in fashion design, presented a tiny sculpture of a rose branch constructed from slivers of pearls and tipped with stainless steel fang-thorns. It was delicate, beautiful, brutal, and grotesque all at the same time, and it could fit in the palm of your hand like a secret treasure. Elsewhere, a loose net punctuated with what looked like tiny red petals was actually made from thin strands of paper knotted together by the Spanish artist Luz Moreno Pinart, using a technique she learned during a residency in Villa Kujoyama in Japan. It has a life of itself. Since they put it up, all the [petals] have been moving because of the humidity, so it will all be 3D by the end. The work, as it turns out, had begun its life much flatter.

Anderson and an expert panel that included Anatxu Zabalbeascoa, the architecture and design correspondent at El Pais, Wang Shu, an architect and winner of the Pritzker Prize, and Mary Savig, the Curator of Craft at the Smithsonian American Art Museum Renwick Gallery, along with some of the Craft Prizes previous winners and honorable mentions, were tasked with the figuring out who would take top honors. Each year it gets better and better, hence why it becomes harder and harder [to pick a winner], Anderson said, sitting inside the museum shop with a small group of journalists.

Honorable mentions were given to two finalists. One went to Dominique Zinkpes The Watchers, a door-like assemblage made of small pieces of carved wood which, according to the Craft Prizes catalog, evoked the Yoruba traditional belief connected to twinship, which sees families create dolls after the death of a twin in infancy in order to ensure its soul is still cared for on earth. Anderson added, its this idea of the found object, of religion, and its something weve never had at the Craft Prize, and I think it opens up a different door into what craft and contemporary art can mean, as well as being something with an incredible sense of storytelling, which is something very central to craft.

Contrasting Zinkpes monumental assemblage, was Moe Watanabes open box made from Walnut bark. Sublime in its simplicity and in the way it mixed the natural world with a man-made intervention, it was held together by staples also made from the wood bark.

Its something that I really believe in, this idea that craft can tell us something about ourselves, Anderson said at tonights event, before introducing the New York writer and cultural icon Fran Lebowitz to announce the winner. She began, I did ask [Jonathan] why this is called craft instead of art, because in my opinion the difference really is between useful and uselessness and most of these things are useless, which makes them art. She continued: Numerous times in my lifetime, there have been announcementsnot by meabout the death of painting, the death of the novel, the death of this, and the death of that. None of these things are true, but the people who said them, they are dead, and thats what it is.

Finally, she announced the winner, the Japanese ceramicist Eriko Inazaki, adding the jury commented on her exceptional take on ornamentation in ceramics, such as that has never been seen before. At the exhibition, Inazakis vessel defied immediate references, bringing to mind sea creatures, laser explosions, and snow, caught mid-fall. What I love about that work is you have no idea what its made of, said Anderson, who is an avid ceramics collector. It has an incredible sense of anxiety, which I quite like; and at the same time there is a depth of field, which is very unusual. You feel that you could get lost in it.

Surprised by the announcement, Inazaki took the stage and gave a short speech delivered in Japanese with the help of a translator. Im not clear about naming my works, whether its art, craft, or something else, she said. The more you think you know, the more you stop, but Ive been working all this time with the belief that what is good goes beyond the boundaries of categories.

Photo: N Kubota, Courtesy of Loewe

The Loewe Craft International Prize finalists will be on view at The Noguchi Museum from May 17th to June 18th.

Originally Appeared on Vogue
An empty cavern at Mammoth Cave

Louisville Orchestra Music Director Teddy Abrams admits he isn't 100% certain what the acoustics will be like when the orchestra performs with special guest Yo-Yo Ma deep underground at Mammoth Cave on April 29.

Abrams told the Courier Journal he's visited the cave several times over the past year  immersing himself in the caves geology and human history to gain inspiration from the sights and sounds of the park  but there is no way to know for sure what a packed house will experience until the day of the event.

"I have been down in the space many many times," Abrams said. "I've taken musical instruments into the cave. I have been there in solitude. I have tried playing instruments from behind rocks and I've been accompanied by the park guides and we've shouted to each other across the cave, but the truth is, we are guessing what the acoustics will be like when you have hundreds of people down there. It changes things dramatically."

The musical performances will take place at 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. CST, inside Mammoth Cave in a large open room known as Rafinesque Hall. The concerts will feature world-renowned cellist Yo-Yo Ma, members of the Louisville Orchestra, and the Louisville Chamber Choir.

Formations you'll see at Mammoth Cave National Park.

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If you are lucky enough to have snagged a ticket, you better wear your walking shoes as this music event will not be like your normal concert performance. Music will begin as the audience descends the staircase into the cave and attendees will be asked to participate and move around the performance space at various points during the piece.

"There is a sense that this is a once-in-a-lifetime experience and we are inventing something that has no particular design or pattern or guidelines," Abrams told the Courier Journal. "We're also creating this as a singular experience that will happen only once. It's important that it feels very organic and natural, but still accounting for all the things that can happen down in the cave and it's a hard thing to do."

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The music performed during this special event is being created especially by Abrams, who said Mammoth Cave is truly the star of this unique performance. The world's longest known cave located about 85 miles south of Louisville, Kentucky is many millions of years old and is still forming today as water moves downward through large and small passages to reach the water table.

Louisville Orchestra Music Director Teddy Abrams.

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"We are honoring the cave with this performance," he said. "It's very different than a typical performance in a concert hall. Those halls are designed to facilitate the performers but in this case, we are facilitating people's experience with nature and giving them a sense of the power of this place."

Abrams composed his work for the Mammoth Cave concert with featured performer Yo-Yo Ma in mind. The superstar cellist has been performing "pop-up" concerts in the National Park System as part of a multi-year project dubbed "Our Common Nature." Ma's initiative, with the goal of building communities and connecting with nature while making music, has taken him to the Grand Canyon and Acadia National Park, the Great Smoky Mountains, Hawaii, New River Gorge National Park in West Virginia, and now, Kentucky's Mammoth Cave National Park.

"He is the most generous spirit and has been the most wonderful collaborator on this project," Abrams said. "When you send a piece of music you wrote to Yo-Yo Ma and you get his feedback, I don't know that there is a better feeling for a composer."

For those who were unable to get tickets, there is good news. The performance and the build-up to the concert are being documented. Ultimately Abrams hopes telling the story of the Mammoth Cave concert will introduce the national park to a worldwide audience while highlighting Kentucky's natural wonder.

"Outside of Kentucky, not everyone understands how important Mammoth Cave is," Abrams said. "It has been my goal to keep lifting up this state and to tell our state's story because I believe we have some of the most incredible assets and Mammoth Cave is one of the most amazing places in the whole world. People should be flocking there."

You may like Waterfront Wednesday is back! Here's the lineup for the 2023 free Louisville concert series

Here's what else to know about the upcoming sold-out concerts:

When are the Louisville Orchestra and Yo-Yo Ma concerts at Mammoth Cave?

Guide at Mammoth Cave

There will only be two concerts inside Mammoth Cave. They will be held on April 29 at 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. CST.

The performances will take place in Rafinesque Hall, a large open area inside Mammoth Cave, which also hosts the park's annual Cave Sing in December. The park service says audience members will be encouraged to move around the space during the interactive performance.

What can you expect when you attend the Mammoth Cave concert?

Louisville Orchestra Teddy Abrams conducts the LO on Saturday, March 11, 2023. Abrams and the orchestra were performing an original piece by composer Joel Thompson, "To Awaken The Sleeper" a piece that combines the Louisville Orchestra with the spoken words of James Baldwin delivered by Metro Councilman Jecorey Arthur.

The standing surface in Rafinesque Hall is smooth but uneven. The cave is a natural environment, with low lighting and a temperature of around 54 degrees. There are no seating options, and the performance time is estimated 45 minutes to one hour.

Audience members must walk three-fourths of a mile, round trip, to reach the performance area. The trail includes a steep outdoor hillside to and from the caves natural entrance and a total of 130 stairs. Inside the cave, the trail travels along broad walkways in some of the largest rooms inside Mammoth Cave. The trail is mostly level, but some hilly and uneven areas exist.

Can you get tickets for the April 29 concert at Mammoth Cave?

Event tickets were distributed via a lottery system through Recreation.gov to provide an equitable opportunity for interested visitors to attend this limited, yet high-demand event. It is sold out and there will be no tickets available at the park on the day of the event.

You may like: Listen to Jack Harlow's 'Mockingbird Valley,' with plenty of Louisville references

Where will you park for the performance?

Parking for the event will be located at the Mammoth Cave National Park Visitor Center. Ticket holders must present their tickets to access the parking lot. Due to the limited availability of parking spaces, all ticket holders are encouraged to arrive early and carpool to the park on the day of the event.

What items are prohibited during the performance at Rafinesque Hall?

Cell phones, cameras, video recording equipment, flashlights, and headlamps are prohibited during the cave performances. Lights from these devices detract from the ambiance of the natural dark cave environment and may cause distractions to the performers and other audience members.

No containers of any kind, including bags, backpacks or purses will be allowed inside the cave during the performance. Please leave them at home or locked in the trunk of your vehicle. A limited number of lockers are available for rent near the visitor center.

Reach Features Reporter Kirby Adams at kadams@courier-journal.com.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: What to know: Louisville Orchestra, Yo-Yo Ma concert at Mammoth Cave
RJ Sangosti/MediaNews Group/The Denver Post via Getty Images

Colorado Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) has filed to divorce her husband of two decades, according to court records obtained Tuesday by The Daily Beast.

The April 25 filing seeks to dissolve her marriage to Jayson Boebert, with whom she shares four sons. An affidavit of service, also obtained by The Daily Beast, indicate that Jayson Boebert appeared to be caught off guard by the court proceedings. He chased away a process server with an expletive-laden tirade and let his dogs loose when he was served with the divorce papers, the affidavit said.

Once he learned that he was being served with Dissolution of Marriage papers he was extremely angry, the process server wrote. I tried to hand him the documents but [he] did not take them. He started yelling and using profanities, and told me that I was trespassing, and that he was calling the Sheriffs Office. I told him I was leaving the documents on the chair outside of the door, he closed the door then let the dogs out.

The document noted that Jayson was cleaning a gun and drinking a tall glass of beer when he was served.

Boebert, who has repeatedly spoken of the importance of family values in her short political career, told The Daily Beast in a statement Tuesday that the divorce was due to irreconcilable differences.

It is with a heavy weight on my heart that I have filed for divorce from my husband, the statement said. I am grateful for our years of marriage together and for our beautiful children, all of whom deserve privacy and love as we work through this process. Ive always been faithful in my marriage, and I believe strongly in marriage, which makes this announcement that much more difficult. This is truly about irreconcilable differences.

Boebert previously said she met Jayson when she was 16 and working at Burger King. The couple had their first kid, Tyler, when she was 18, and they recently shared that theyre about to become grandparents.

Speaking to The Daily Beast via text, Jayson said he was upset, but denied saying anything bad to the process server and that his dogs were no threat.

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I did not know what I was being served for or if it was some crazy left wing person coming to my house again, Jayson continued.

I was not drinking and I was not cleaning any gun. The divorce is sad, I did not expect this, I love her with every bit of my heart, she has been my soul mate and she is the mother of my Children.

We have been through a lot together and I just want her to be happy, Jayson said, ending with: So its what ever she wants.

Boeberts office did not answer when asked if she intends to keep her married surname.

I do not intend to discuss this matter any further in public out of respect for our children and will continue to work hard to represent the people of Colorados 3rd Congressional District, her statement said.

Jayson and Boebert had their fair share of brushes with law enforcement during their time together. Jayson was arrested in 2004 for exposing his penis to two women at a bowling alleya crime he pleaded guilty to. Boebert, who was then 17-year-old Lauren Opal Roberts, was at the bowling alley, too, but she reportedly stayed with Jason.

That same year, Jayson and Boebert were arrested for separate incidents in which they reportedly abused each other. Jayson was arrested on a domestic violence charge that February, while Boebert was slapped with charges of third-degree assault, criminal mischief and underage drinking in May.

Boebert landed herself in hot water again in 2010with a neighbor accusing her two pitbulls of attacking a pup. Boebert pleaded guilty to a dog at large charge and paid a $75 fine.

Boebert was arrested again in 2015 for disorderly conduct at a country music festival, and was charged with careless driving a year later after she rolled her truck into a ditch.

More recently, neighbors of the couple called 911 in August and accused Jayson of running over their mailbox and threatening them. In 911 calls obtained by The Denver Post, a neighbor is heard yelling to a dispatcher, Its Lauren Boeberts jackass husband, Jayson. Hes running over my mailbox right now... Stop you jackass. Get the fuck out of here.

No arrests were made and the local sheriffs office remained tight-lipped about the incident.

Jimmy Kimmel Mocks Lauren Boeberts Dumbest D.C Moment

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olive oil squeeze bottle on countertop

We all know that the right packaging is sometimes what pushes us to purchase a given product, especially when were faced with an excess of options. And in the case of olive oil, its hard not to get somewhat paralyzed by all the available choices when youre not exactly sure which one to get. One particular brand, Graza, figured out that by diverging from the typical olive oil container, it might be able to highlight the virtues of its product. Given its rising profile, it looks like its succeeding.

Olive oil in a squeeze bottle > olive oil in a glass bottle

Most of the leading olive oil brands at the grocery store opt to sell their product in some sort of dark-tinted, thick-walled glass bottle with a pouring spout; the dark color prevents excess light from shining into the bottle and deteriorating the quality of the olive oil. However, in designing its own packaging, Graza figured out that a plain old opaque plastic squeeze bottle would accomplish the same thing.

Read more

Its cap is similar to the screw cap on a bottle of Huy Fong srirachathat is to say its permanently affixed, but the nozzle opens and closes with a twist. Im a huge fan of this design, since Im able to properly squeeze out a tightly controlled amount of olive oil rather than tipping it out of a traditional bottle in messy glugs, which can easily spell disaster if Im not paying attention.

It seems so improbable that this design hasnt become more common at the grocery store, or among the direct-to-consumer olive oil brands. (Thoughts vary among professionals about whether storing olive oil in PET plastic bottles is a bad idea, but using it up fast makes this less of a concern.) When I was a restaurant cook, it was a no-brainer to transfer olive oil to squeeze bottles like this, as it made our lives much easier. In fact, I find myself gravitating toward Graza for the ease of the bottle as much as the flavor of the product (and all that can be prepared with it).

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Expect to see olive oil in squeeze bottles more often

This convenience is not without its controversy, however. If a plastic squeeze bottle can turn an up-and-coming brand into a gold mine, you can bet it will start popping up in more places, catering to consumer demand. Enter the competition: Brightland, a purveyor of fancy olive oil, recently began selling a new product called Pizza Oil in a similar container to Grazas, which caught the ire of Graza co-founder Andrew Benin.



Benin took to LinkedIn last month to call out the founder of Brightland, Aishwarya Iyer, among other competitors, who Benin believed were merely imitating the form factor of Grazas bottles.

#copycat culture is an incessant part of our entrepreneurial landscape, he wrote. Brightland and Aishwarya Iyer, while friendly competition was always welcome, I do view this as a blatant disrespect and am choosing to voice my discontent.

Commenters were quick to point out that not only was Graza not the first company to invent a squeeze bottle as an olive oil dispenser, but also that Brightland predates Graza by three years, and for Benin to call out this company and its founder was highly unfairafter all, many LinkedIn users noted that Graza did not invent the squeeze bottle. As one user so astutely put it, Im not sure it is reasonable to be upset at a competitor for using the same bottles for their chili oil.

Theres room for everyone to be successful, another wrote.

To his credit, Benin later updated his post with a contrite follow-up, which read in part:

I want to apologize for letting my emotions get the best of me. I was heated, and reacted poorly, and have learned from the variety of comments that everyone has left today. Thank you to everyone for your candor, and for showing me that there was clearly a better way to address all of this.



Aishwarya Iyer, I am sorry for directly referencing you. As you can empathize with, Im insanely passionate about protecting what our team has worked so hard to build.

Who knew that a squeeze bottle could bring a business to such heights and such lows alike? What a powerful vessel. That being said, if you havent tried playing around with a squeeze bottle full of olive oil in your kitchen, you havent lived. Not only are they great for home cooking, but apparently, theyre also a really great vehicle for marketing (and courting controversy).

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When the question of using election drop boxes for South Dakota early voting was raised in a House State Affairs committee hearing in Pierre in early February, the discussion took on an ominous tone, mirroring national rhetoric over the integrity of American elections.

Its simply too easy for bad actors to abuse these drop-off sites to dump unauthorized ballots illegally, said Republican Rep. Kirk Chaffee of Whitewood. He was the prime sponsor of House Bill 1165, which modified absentee voting rules and banned the use of unmonitored drop boxes in South Dakota.

More: South Dakota's election system updates could cost millions, Secretary of State says

T.J. Nelson, a lobbyist for Opportunity Solutions Project, a conservative advocacy group that has pushed for restrictions to absentee voting in state legislatures, also issued warnings while working with legislators and county auditors to make it easier to vote but harder to cheat, a mantra used by supporters of early-voting reforms.

Other states have a lot of issues with people just going out and pre-filling these absentee request forms, doing the work for the voter except signing their name, and then dumping ballots, Nelson testified. We need to make sure someone isnt taking a hundred ballots and stuffing them into a ballot box.

These arguments proved persuasive.

Pictured is an official ballot drop box in Minnehaha County.

HB 1165 passed both houses and Republican Gov. Kristi Noem signed it on March 21, one of 10 election-related bills that House Majority Leader Will Mortenson said would keep South Dakota the model for election integrity and voter access.

But the premise used to outlaw the use of drop boxes  that they are vulnerable to fraud and used to rig electoral outcomes  is false, according to a South Dakota News Watch survey of every county auditor in the state.

Furthermore, most auditors said they oppose the ban because it will make it harder, not easier, for voters to participate in the democratic process.

South Dakota did not record a single case of voter fraud or other election-related crimes tied to the use of ballot drop boxes in 2020 or 2022, according to the survey that drew responses from 58 of 66 counties, including 29 of the top 30 by population.

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Of the 58 respondents, 33 (57%) reported using drop boxes as receptacles for absentee ballots in 2020 or 2022 or both, a practice that became more common during the COVID-19 pandemic. Most of the boxes were connected to county buildings and were available to voters during non-business hours, which would not be allowed under the new law.

I think were trying to correct a problem that doesnt exist, said Harding County Auditor Kathy Glines, who took office in 1991 and was part of a group of auditors who testified in Pierre.

More: South Dakota county auditors say election process is safe and accurate

The legislators we worked with were very open and receptive to input we had. But there was also outlying pressure to correct issues that we havent had problems with.

That pressure has been felt by election officials across the country, spurred by former President Donald Trumps refusal to concede the 2020 election despite no evidence of widespread electoral fraud as well as concerns raised by some Republicans about the broadening of absentee or early voting during the pandemic.

Drop boxes, used in nearly 40 states in 2020, became a target for election reformers after more than 40% of voters used the boxes to return ballots in that presidential election year, compared with about 15% in 2016, according to the Stanford-MIT Healthy Elections Project.

A movie praised by Trump, 2000 Mules, purported to show a pattern of Democrat-aligned ballot mules paid to illegally collect and drop off ballots in swing states such as Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. Election experts criticized the projects flawed cellphone tracking analysis, while Trumps efforts to establish ballot fraud through the court system proved unsuccessful due to lack of evidence.

The thing thats really troubling is that people are being played in this moment, which results in people donating millions and millions of dollars to lost causes that are based on lies and misinformation, said Tammy Patrick, CEO of programs for the Election Center, a Texas-based nonprofit that trains and certifies election administrators throughout the country.

Tammy Patrick

She points out that drop boxes were used without controversy in Western states such as Washington, Utah, Oregon and Arizona for decades before they became a partisan issue following the 2020 election. In South Dakota, where 50% of registered voters are Republican, GOP voters comprised 53% of the early vote in 2022 and 48% in 2020.

What is particularly problematic is that many of these efforts are based on the fallacy that (early or absentee voting) is rampant with fraud, which it is not. And its also based on the fallacy that this will somehow benefit one party over another, which it will not, Patrick said.

An Associated Press survey of election officials in each state revealed no cases of fraud, vandalism or theft involving drop boxes that could have affected the results of the 2020 election.

Absentee ballots are verified by signature and tracked closely, Patrick said, often with an option for voters to see where their ballot is at any given time, a process that safeguards against votes being illegally cast.

Still, the criticism of drop boxes continues in South Dakota, to the highest levels of state government.

More: Incoming Secretary of State looks to hand-count ballots, audit each election

When Lincoln County Commissioner Joel Arends boasted on Twitter in April 2022 that the county would not use drop boxes that year and its time to make sure we dont have these in any other counties in South Dakota, Noem tweeted I agree! from her personal account.

Secretary of State Monae Johnson, who has refused to publicly acknowledge that President Joe Biden legitimately won the 2020 election, prevailed in last years GOP primary over incumbent Steve Barnett by accusing him of not being vigilant enough on election security.

Johnson, who declined an interview request from News Watch, didnt bring any bills during the 2023 session. But she has supported stricter voter ID laws and hand-counting of ballots in some cases while vowing to keep South Dakota one of just eight states that doesnt offer online registration.

Leah Anderson

Patrick, who has testified before the U.S. Senate and U.S. House of Representatives on voting systems and security, has a South Dakota background. Her parents grew up northeast of Brookings in White and shes concerned by what she sees in the Mount Rushmore State.

As election officials, legislators and auditors, we should be looking at how we can better serve our voters and accommodating them in their modern way of life, she said.

This (drop box ban) is going to negatively impact voters who live in remote areas, where they have to go all the way into the country seat rather than drop their ballot off in a location closer to them. We also know that some of these rural locations have challenges with postal delivery. This is going to affect farmers and ranchers and really anyone who works non-traditional hours because if its only internal to the building, thats going to severely limit access.

South Dakotans are the heart of this country, she added. Theyre hard-working, generous people, theyre practical and theyre honest. So it pains me to see individuals being used so nefariously in this way, to push this narrative that the 2020 election was illegitimate. That is deeply problematic beyond the surface of what candidate won or lost because when voters and the general population start to question the legitimacy of their election systems, democracy starts to die.

 This article was produced by South Dakota News Watch, a non-profit journalism organization located online at sdnewswatch.org.

This article originally appeared on Sioux Falls Argus Leader: Most South Dakota county auditors disagree with election drop box ban
Its not exactly forest bathing, but Muji IS will soon reveal an arbor-inspired installation in New York City.

As of Thursday, shoppers and passers-by in Hudson Yards can walk through To the Forest of Verbs with MUJI IS, an exhibition that was inspired by the brands book of the same name. This will be the first time the immersive experience is Stateside and the unveiling coincides with NYCxDesign, a citywide weeklong celebration of the various disciplines of design that kicks off Thursday and will wrap up May 25. The experience was previously staged in Japan, Singapore and most recently in Malaysia.

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The idea is that visitors will leave with a glimpse of Mujis design ethos and highlights of a selection of products from the last 40-plus years. Strategically placed paper cylinders are set up for what is supposed to be a forest-like effect on the fourth floor of The Shops & Restaurants at Hudson Yards. On view through June 4, the installation rests on prime real estate in the shopping center near the entrance to its leading tourist attraction  The Edge, the highest outdoor sky deck in the Western Hemisphere towering 100 floors above Manhattans far West Side.

Organized by Muji USA Ltd, the exhibition was planned in conjunction with Muji Laboratory for Living. Torafu Architects handled the layout for its design. Akiko Karachi was in charge of the graphic design with Tokyo Studio taking care of the exhibition production. The idea is that visitors will peer into paper cylinder tubes that are each illuminated with a different Muji product, including garments and books.

Considering that Muji dates back to 1980 and is rooted in manufacturing that produces simple, affordable and good quality products, there was a plethora of options. Currently, there are more than 1,000 Muji stores around the world, carrying 7,000-plus items. That assortment features clothing, accessories, books, household goods to food and even houses. As was the case in other countries, the installation in the U.S. will be displayed based on the motives behind each products development. That will be categorized by 15 key verbs, that are displayed with appropriate Japanese verbs like totonoeru (to organize or to put in order) and ikasu (to utilize or to make the best use of.)

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The traveling exhibition is meant to introduce people to the heritage and experimental practices of Muji, according to Junko Suzuki, MUJI IS exhibition curator, who hopes visitors who walk through the MUJI IS forest will feel as though it is unlike anything theyve ever seen before.

The venue is not solely designed to be informational though. Hudson Yards shoppers will find a Muji pop-up shop alongside the Muji IS exhibition, featuring a curated selection of products that were created through the design processes and verbs found in the exhibit. Consumers will find include items like the brands popular Aroma Diffuser, stationery and other home goods.

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MUNCIE, Ind.  A Muncie man already facing a drug-related felony charge in Delaware County now stands accused of burglarizing a storage unit in Anderson.

Jeffrey Allen Batio, 52, is charged in Madison Circuit Court 4 with burglary, a Level 5 felony carrying up to six years in prison, and theft, a Level 6 felony with a maximum 30-month sentence.

According to court documents, Batio on Jan. 28 used bolt cutters to remove a lock from a unit at a storage facility at 67th Street and Columbus Avenue in Anderson.

He allegedly stole boxes containing jewelry and porcelain dolls, among other things, with a total value estimated at $3,000. Surveillance video reportedly shows both Batio and his vehicle at the scene.

An Anderson police officer reported he made an appointment to interview Batio on March 14, but the Muncie eman failed to show up.

Madison County Prosecutor Rodney Cummings' office also filed documents aimed at having Bation declared a habitual offender. The Muncie man's criminal record includes felony convictions for battery, burglary, strangulation, possession of meth and theft.

Batio is being held in the Delaware County jail under a $35,000 bond.

On April 12  five days before the burglary case was filed in Madison County  Batio was charged, in Delaware Circuit Court 5, with possession of a narcotic drug, a Level 6 felony, and driving while suspended, a misdemeanor.

Muncie police said after a Dec. 27 traffic stop, they determined Batio was carrying what was believed to be heroin, in the battery compartment of a flashlight.

An initial hearing in the Delaware County case is set for Aug. 17.

Douglas Walker is a news reporter for The Star Press. Contact him at 765-213-5851 or at dwalker@muncie.gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Muncie Star Press: Muncie man's legal woes grow with burglary case in Anderson
Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel's office issued charges against a demolition contractor accused of fraudulently billing the city of Detroit for backfill dirt.

Howell resident David MacDonald, 50, who was employed by Warren-based Den-Man in 2017, is facing criminal enterprise and 11 false pretense charges for billing Detroit more than $1 million for dirt obtained at no cost from environmentally contaminated sources and then used at demolished properties, according to Nessel's office.

MacDonald was employed by Den-Man Contractors to lead the demolition program. His duty was to find backfill dirt for demolition sites that the city paid Den-Man to handle. The contract required Den-Man to find dirt from approved sources and the company was entitled to bill the city for the price of the dirt, according to Nessel's office.

MacDonald lied about the source of the dirt and billed the Detroit Land Bank Authority for incorrect fees, according to a news release. Den-Man received $1,148,513.61 for reimbursement for backfill material without incurring those costs.

More: Detroit Land Bank agrees to pay $1.5M to settle federal investigation

Den-Man Contractors did not respond to a request for comment but said in an email that MacDonald has not been employed at the company since 2018. Efforts to reach MacDonald on Tuesday were unsuccessful.

These crimes, a scam against the people of Detroit and abuse of public funds, amount to public harm for private greed, Nessel said in a statement. We have a responsibility to protect public funds from abuse, and to protect already vulnerable neighborhoods from environmental attacks."

The Office of the Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program (SIGTARP) conducted the investigation. The federal agency is tasked with preventing and detecting fraud, waste and abuse in the federal funds appropriated by Congress through the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act and the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2016.

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This investigation stems from the reviews of the Detroit (Hardest Hit Fund), to ensure that backfill dirt used by contractors complies with the program requirements, said Melissa Bruce, principal deputy inspector general for SIGTARP, in a statement. The requirements by contractors to use safe and approved backfill materials and substantiate backfill costs are critical to ensuring TARP funds are properly spent for the publics safety and program requirements in Detroit.

The sites will need to undergo testing for environmental quality, according to a news release.

In June 2022, the city ordered Den-Man to replace the fill material it used at seven residential demolition sites after testing revealed it did not meet the citys contractual requirements or the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy Generic Residential Cleanup Criteria for direct contact. The city also required the company to test or replace material on an additional 127 sites of demolition it conducted as part of the citys demolition program.

Additionally, the Detroit Land Bank sent its own corrective action letter to Den-Man ordering immediate testing or replacement of backfill at 57 demolitions it conducted for the Land Bank. Samples were taken from eight sites, which complied with EGLE Generic Residential Cleanup Criteria requirements but did not meet the quality requirements under its contracts with the Land Bank.

Dana Afana is the Detroit city hall reporter for the Free Press. Contact Dana: dafana@freepress.com or 313-635-3491. Follow her on Twitter: @DanaAfana

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Dana Nessel charges contractor in $1M fraudulent bill to Detroit
Amsterdam in springtime is a magical, flower-filled place. But tulip season also brings major crowds, lines, and trafficespecially when you head south to Lisse and the Bollenstreek, where the famous Keukenhof gardens and tulip fields are located. And this year, with the sold-out Rijksmuseum Vermeer exhibition on view through June 4, 2023 (this is the first time that this many of the 15th-century Dutch artists works have been on display in one place), the city is approaching pre-pandemic tourist levels.

So where do Amsterdammers go to escape? Why just across the bay north of the Amsterdam-Centrum called the Ijsselmeeror as the locals call it, the IJ. Here lies the small rural region of Landelijk Noord, on the eastern side of the borough Amsterdam-Noord.

Landelijk Noord is a collection of former fishing villagesDurgerdam, Holysloot, t Nopeind, Ransdorp, Schellingwoude, and Zunderdorpall of which used to rely on fishing the inland sea, the Zuiderzee. But that sea disappeared when dams and dikes were put up to stop flooding in the region in the early 20th century, thus creating the IJ as a reservoir. But the IJ is a freshwater lake, and the local fish, who needed the salty Zuiderzee to survive, moved out. As a result, the local fishermen lost their livelihoods, and the area went into an economic depression.

Recently, however, Amsterdammers have been heading to the area for a day trip or weekend getaway in natureits just a 15-minute car ride or 30-minute bike ride from the center of Amsterdam, making it perhaps the closest country escape from one of Europes most bustling capital cities. Here is our guide for what to do in Landelijk Noord.

All listings featured on Conde Nast Traveler are independently selected by our editors. If you book something through our links, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Chantal Arnts/De Durgerdam

Chantal Arnts/De Durgerdam

Getting to and around Landelijk Noord

Of all the villages in Landelijk Noord, the closest village to Amsterdam-Centrum is Durgerdam, built atop a dike facing the IJ and the skyline of the city. Its a short cab, ferry, or bike ride from Amsterdam-Centrum and Schipol Airport. Once there, a bike is your best bet to explore the surrounding villages.

Where to stay in Landelijk Noord

Once in Durgerdam, head to the only hotel in the tiny town: the newly-opened De Durgerdam. It is an exceptionally beautiful and charming base from which to explore the region, and the first hotel directly managed by the Dutch hospitality company Aedes, who also had a hand in Soho House Amsterdam, the Hoxton Amsterdam, and the forthcoming Rosewood Amsterdam.

This lakeside hideaway has 14 guest rooms spread across two buildings: the first, a carefully restored 17th-century heritage building which was once a humble inn for fishermen; and the second, a newer building behind it. In designing De Durgerdam, the Amsterdam-based design studio Buro Belen was inspired by the regions fishing history and industry to create details like a net-like chandelier by artist Ingo Maurer in the lobby restaurant and the tiny little fish on a wall that catch the light just so.

If youre comfortable with climbing old crooked stairs and going through small trapezoid-shaped doors, request a room in the original building. There, youll find original wooden beams, cozy window seats, shimmering velvet throws, curvy wooden headboards, and oddly-shaped bathrooms clad in bespoke tiles from the oldest ceramics company in the Netherlands, Royal Tichelaar Makkum. In each suite (there are three), youll find two custom raincoats by Dutch fashion house KASSL Editions, which very well may come in handy in a place where it rains about 180 days a year.

Sit in the plush reading chair and pour yourself a nip of the homemade liqueur from the faceted crystal decanter as you nibble on the homemade butter cookies in a tin by the mini bar. Later, have a drink and a snack of house-smoked beef sausage at the bar of the restaurant De Mark, or go one more level down to the cave-like wine cellar and cozy reading room with a glowing fireplace. This is true gezelligheidthe Dutch word for a sense of livelihood and enjoyment.

Rijksmuseum

What to do

To situate yourself and explore the surrounding villages, grab one of the e-bikes parked outside De Durgerdam. Its easy enough to ride around on your own, but if you want to learn something about the areas history and uncover a few hidden gems, ask the hotel for a guided tour with Roos Stallinga, author of the book Ride With Me Amsterdam.

Shell likely take you along the cobblestone streets of Durgerdam overlooking the water, before heading inland to cycle through the village of Ransdorp, where you can see its famous spireless stumpy church, which dates back to the Middle Ages. Ask to stop at the local farmstand, Melktap en Boerderij Winkel, and pick up some fresh produce, eggs, and freshly produced milk from the cows youll spot grazing. Then cycle alongside canals to the village of Holysloot, which is home to a charming cafe inside an old school house. When you get back to Durgerdam, go for a dip in the cool IJ (yes, its clean); De Durgerdam has its own dock, right next to the Durgerdam Harbor, where you might spot some fancy boats.

To learn more about the region, hire a car and go 30-or-so minutes north to the Zuiderzee Museum, a fascinating look at what life was like for the fishermen and their families of earlier times. Youll take a ferry to get to the museum, which is a fully recreated fishing village, complete with original homes that were moved to the museum. Some were deconstructed and rebuilt on site, and others were transported whole, on boats and trucks. In the homes, you may even come upon a museum worker cooking some of the food they ate (sauerkraut and boiled potatoes) for you to taste. Try your hand at twisting your own rope before stopping by the windmill and fish smokehouse to sample some smoked herring. Then make your way to an original 17th-century apothecary and a recreated school house.

Courtesy Vuurtoreneiland

Best restaurants in Landelijk Noord

There arent too many dining options in this sleepy area, but with the arrival of De Durgerdam came the hotels restaurant De Mark, which was conceived in collaboration with Richard van Oostenbrugge and Thomas Groot of Amsterdams two-Michelin-star Restaurant 212, instantly making De Mark a destination for city dwellers. The dinner menu serves modern comfort dishes made with locally-sourced ingredients. In spring, theres a delicate tomato tartare made with slowly dried tomatoes that recalls a beef tartare, white asparagus with tiny Dutch shrimps, and a dover sole stuffed with morels. Cocktails include a rhubarb mule and the bars North Sea Spritz; all-day bar snacks satiate the appetite with a ricotta mushroom dip served with chicory and cheese from local farms.

In Holysloot, the adorable Schoolhuis Cafe is a popular refueling stop for cyclists from the city and elsewhere. It serves tea and coffee and excellent homemade cakes and piesbe sure to ask for the towering apple pie (Dutch people take their apple cakes and pies extremely seriously!). They also offer a lunch menu with sandwiches, salads, and toasts, plus cheese and charcuterie boards.

For a real adventure, book a table at Vuurtoreneiland, a restaurant on a tiny island just off Durgerdam, with a lighthouse from 1893 (the only one in Amsterdam), a greenhouse, and a handful of storage sheds. Make your way out to the island via boat from the city center, where youll be served pre-dinner drinks and snacks. By the time you arrive on the island, youll be ready for the full meal, which is served inside the greenhouse, perched next to the water. If youre staying at De Durgerdam, you can likely arrange a private boat transfer to the hotel instead of taking the main boat back to the city center with the other dinner guests.

Originally Appeared on Conde Nast Traveler
Will hot dog fans flock to 'The Frankmobile?'

Courtesy of Oscar Mayer

In 1936, Carl Mayer, the nephew of hot dog impresario Oscar Mayer, suggested that the company could promote its German-style Wieners by designing and developing a vehicle that was shaped like one of those now-iconic sausages. The more-famous Mayer agreed, and the first 13-foot, all-metal Wienermobile debuted in Chicago later that year.

The Wienermobile hit the streets of Chicago as a sales tool to fairs, festivals, and parades, sparking smiles, Ed Roland, the Wienermobiles senior manager of brand communications, told Dieline last year. "The Wienermobile is in line with the essence of Oscar Mayer. When the Wienermobile program started, it was a tough time during the Great Depression. People needed something to bring a little joy to their lives. And that's sort of what Carl thought; this was something that could make people smile and brighten their day in some tough times. And we've been around ever since.

Courtesy of Oscar Mayer

The vehicle has gone through a number of changes, upgrades, and adaptations over the past 87 years (including a WienerCycle and WienerDrone), but one thing has remained constant. Ever since the giant drivable dog had a name, its been referred to as The Wienermobile... until now.

Oscar Mayer announced today that it is changing the vehicles name for the first time ever, re-christening it as The Frankmobile in honor of its new-recipe all-beef franks. The company is deploying a fleet of six renamed Frankmobiles this week, and theyre now being piloted by Frankfurters instead of Hotdoggers.

Related:King Charles Drives a Luxury Vintage Car That Runs on Leftover Wine and Cheese

Dont worry, though: the motorized meat still looks almost the same, save for the name Frankmobile between its headlights and a decal on its, er, buns that reads The All-Beef Frank Frankmobile and Please do not lick the All-Beef Beef Frankmobile. (And the Frankmobile still wears the same customized license plates as its predecessor, including IWSHIWR, a reference to Oscar Mayers classic earworm of a jingle.)

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The Wienermobile is a beloved American icon that has been sparking smiles and driving craveability for our iconic delicious wieners for nearly 100 years, Stephanie Vance, Associate Brand Manager, Oscar Mayer, said in a statement. This summer, its time to highlight another fan-favorite: our delicious 100% Beef Franks. When Oscar Mayer makes anything, we prioritize taste over everything, so no matter what kind of hot dog you enjoy this summer, if its Oscar Mayer, you know it will be 100% tasty, and 100% make you smile.

You can track the Frankmobile fleets movements on Oscar Mayers Frankmobile website. On Thursday, the just-renamed Franks will be making appearances in Chatham, Illinois; in Stockbridge, Georgia; and in Markham, Illinois. The Frankfurters will be handing out those covetable Frank Whistles, and if your name is Frank, then you can get a coupon for a free package of Oscar Mayers 100% Beef Franks.

What remains to be seen is whether this name chance, like so many stunts these days, will stick. Either way dont forget to give that Weenie/Frank Whistle a quick toot in honor of Carl Mayer. Without him, we might not have this Frankmobile at all.

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Read the original article on Food & Wine.
The members of the Petoskey High School DECA team pose at a conference.

PETOSKEY  The Petoskey High School DECA team is preparing to head to Florida for the 2023 International Competition, with nearly 60 percent of the team qualifying for the event.

Members of the team are heading to Orlando, Florida for the 2023 DECA International Career Development Conference, being held from April 22-25. Each year for the conference, more than 20,000 high school students, advisers, business professionals and alumni come together for the competition and conference.

The Petoskey chapter got its ticket to attend the Orlando conference after finishing at the state conference with 19 state champions and six state finalists in March.

More: Petoskey High School finds success with new PBIS initiatives

DECA is an international business-oriented organization at different high schools and colleges. While participating in DECA, students can grow their skills and knowledge in the business sector, ranging from trial job interviews to researching how to grow a new business.

Petoskey High School DECA adviser Casie Parker was first introduced to DECA when someone visited from downstate to help explain the program to her. She ended up starting a program in Boyne City before moving to Petoskey, where she has run the club for the last 10 years. The Petoskey chapter existed prior to her taking over, she said.

Parker said the team started finding more success about 5-6 years ago, and as they did better, more people were interested in being part of the chapter.

Two Petoskey DECA students pose for a photo at a conference.

Parker said having access to an organization like DECA  that provides students with resources and practice in a job setting  can be beneficial to the students as they move on after graduation.

It's hard to go out there and get jobs and any advantage they have is definitely going to help them, she said.

The DECA competition is split by category, written and role-playing. For the written portion, students can write a 1520-page paper on anything in business, with some of the high schoolers submissions for this year ranging from improving data security, how to start a new business and how to grow an existing one, Parker said.

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The projects and presentations are put together both in class and as an extracurricular.

Parker said seeing the kids during the competition is exciting because of how hard the kids work on the papers and presentations themselves. She said she does not let Petoskey students go into the presentation with any notecards, meaning they are completely memorizing 10-minute-long speeches, which she partially attributes the teams successes to.

"They work really hard to prepare for these competitions, and so they're excited, she said. "Especially when they come out of competition and they're like, Mrs. Parker, I nailed it! It's really cool to see their faces when they're either on stage, or they come out of the competition, and they know they did well.

For Petoskey High School senior and DECA president Lila Bolden, business was always an area of interest, and being a part of DECA really solidified that for her, she said.

Bolden joined the club her junior year after being introduced to it during a marketing class. Running it now, she said she is involved with a lot of the students' projects. Last year her project was a startup business plan, and this year she did finance operations research on Wells Fargo.

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Heading to the competition, Bolden said seeing the success of the team is an unexplainable feeling.

You're spending so many tireless hours reading a paper practicing for what you're competing in, and I was actually in tears seeing the success of all the people in the chapter, Bolden said. "It's just amazing to see all the hard work that they've put in for months  starting all the way back in, you know, September, October, and just all the way up to March  seeing how much work they've put in, how much they've grown, and how much passion they have just for the program.

The Petoskey High School DECA team poses at a conference.

Bolden said DECA has opened opportunities for her and given her the chance to meet many helpful people while networking. She said DECA is an incredible program, and she intends to join collegiate DECA while pursuing a marketing degree at Northwood University.

We're super proud of everybody, especially all the hard work that they put in, she said. I think it really shows what a great group of students that we have and that they're dedicated  or DECA-cated as we like to say  to really reaching their potential and being as responsible as they can be, it's really growing them into the adults that we hope to see next up in the generation.

 Contact education reporter Karly Graham at kgraham@petoskeynews.com. Follow her on Twitter at @KarlyGrahamJRN.

This article originally appeared on The Petoskey News-Review: Petoskey High School DECA prepares for internationals conference
The father of the 15-year-old boy accused in the killing last month of another student at an Arlington high school had a revolver, pistol and rifle that were illegal for the father to possess because of a felony conviction, law enforcement authorities allege.

The boys father was arrested three days after the March 20 homicide at Arlington Lamar High School. The U.S. Attorneys Office charged the man in U.S. District Court in Fort Worth with felon in possession of a firearm.

Police seized a 12-gauge shotgun at the high school shooting scene. The shotgun had a fired, 12-gauge cartridge in the chamber that appeared to be the same as a fired 12-gauge cartridge recovered from the scene, wrote Bryan Cline, an Arlington police detective assigned to a Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives task force, in a criminal complaint in the fathers case.

A record trace showed a relative of the father bought the shotgun, Cline wrote. The criminal complaint does not use the relatives name or describe the relationship.

Law enforcement officers executed a search warrant at the apartment where the father and son lived and said they seized from the fathers bedroom three firearms and ammunition.

The father was in 1996 convicted in Louisiana of first-degree robbery and sexual battery, Cline wrote in the criminal complaint.

The teen accused in the homicide is detained a juvenile facility. He was arrested in the minutes that followed the shooting. At a hearing last week in Tarrant County juvenile court, Judge Alex Kim ordered that the teen continue to be detained.

Jashawn Poirier, 16, died at a hospital after he was shot outside the school. Another student, a girl who was sitting on a bench, suffered a graze injury to her face.

Police have not publicly described a motive for the shooting.

The Fort Worth Star-Telegram does not publish the names of youths accused as juveniles of offenses or the names of adults in circumstances in which publication could identify the juvenile.

The U.S. Attorneys Office and a lawyer who represents the homicide suspects father suggested in a joint motion seeking a continuance that they may reach a plea agreement by May 26.
JACKSONPORT - The newest resident of Open Door Bird Sanctuary is a bit of a rare bird in Wisconsin. It not only has a new home but now a new name, and it's making its public debut this weekend.

It's a snowy owl that was brought in February from Minnesota to the Door County sanctuary for birds of prey that can't be released back into the wild after rehabilitation.

As for its name, the sanctuary held a naming contest for the owl that generated more than 200 entries. The chosen name is Oslo, suggested by Kristin Miller in honor of the Peninsula's Scandinavian heritage and appropriate for the bird's northern habitats.

Open Door Bird Sanctuary's new, and first, snowy owl will make his first public appearance April 22 during Open Door's program at the "Every Day is Earth Day" festival at the Kress Center in Egg Harbor. He was given the name Oslo, selected from a naming contest that drew more than 200 entries.

Oslo will make his first appearance as an Open Door representative from 2 to 3 p.m. Saturday when the sanctuary gives a program at the Kress Center in Egg Harbor as part of the center's annual "Every Day is Earth Day" festival. He also should be able to be seen when Open Door opens for public visits on Saturdays during the summer.

He's one of 17 birds of prey now making the sanctuary their permanent home. Nine are owls but Oslo is the only snowy owl, which executive director Rob Hults said makes him an attraction right off the bat with his trademark white feathers and large, eerie yellow eyes, as well as his size (snowy owls are the heaviest owls, typically three to six pounds) and huge, feathered feet.

"He'll be quite the star," Hults said. "Everybody's already asking about him. Snowy owls are so iconic looking; there's no other bird that looks like that."

That, and it's generally rare to see a snowy owl in this area. Although a northern bird, they tend to nest above the Arctic Circle with some heading south into southern Canada and the far northern U.S. in winters, according to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.

The DNR also reported that for the winter of 2022-23, fewer than 40 snowy owls were spotted in Wisconsin as of February, the lowest number in more than a decade. Even in a winter where relatively large numbers are seen in the state, called an "irruption," that number is generally a bit more than 200.

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"They don't come here very often," Hults said. "We don't have a whole lot in the continental U.S."

It's believed Oslo was hurt when he was struck by a vehicle, which Hults said broke a radius bone in his right wing and gave him a concussion. A Minnesota DNR game warden found him by the side of a road and got him to Wild and Free Wildlife Rehabilitation in Garrison, Minnesota.

Hults said Oslo's wing is healed, but the concussion left the snowy with the pupil in his left eye unable to dilate as well as the pupil in the right eye, meaning the left one is more open than the right. That meant Oslo would struggle to survive  to hunt for food successfully and protect itself from predators  if released back into the wild.

"That affects the depth perception so necessary for hunting," Hults said, "being able to see a white rodent in the snow, watching out for predators."

With Oslo unable to return to the wild, Open Door was selected to become his new permanent home at least in part because the sanctuary can provide a climate-controlled environment. Hults said Oslo has adjusted quite well to his new life at the sanctuary and is taking very well to the training to become one of its winged educational ambassadors.

"Snowy owls can tolerate temperature changes, but high humidity is not so good for them," Hults said. "There's not a lot of places that have adequate year-round housing for them. I feel very fortunate that we were selected as the forever home for him."

Open Door Bird Sanctuary is at 4114 County I, about a mile west of State 57, Jacksonport. It is open to public seasonally, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturdays, and some holiday weekend Sundays, from June 17 through the Labor Day weekend, but it also holds private tours by appointment and gives off-site programs with their birds year-round. For more information, call 920-493-2473 or visit opendoorbirdsanctuary.org or facebook.com/OpenDoorBirdSanctuary.

Contact Christopher Clough at 920-562-8900 or cclough@doorcountyadvocate.com.

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FOR MORE DOOR COUNTY NEWS: Check out our website

This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Door County bird sanctuary's new snowy owl to make first appearance
The sale is running until May 20.

rikkyal/Getty Images

Travel app Hopper is putting summer travel on sale with discounts of up to $100 off flights and up to 50 percent off hotels around the world.

The sale, which is valid through 3 a.m. ET on May 20, has big savings on travel to 50 popular domestic and international destinations from London and Rome to the Maldives and Vietnam, the company shared with Travel + Leisure. And a deal comes in especially handy now as airfare to both Europe and Asia costs as much as it has in five years and international prices overall are up nearly 40 percent compared to last summer.

"This summer travel season is expected to be [a] busy and expensive one, particularly for international travelers, Hayley Berg, the lead economist at Hopper, told T+L. The clock is ticking in order to get a good deal for summer travel, as prices will increase as we get closer to peak summer dates.

Travelers looking to relax this summer can head to Santorini, Greece, where they can save $100 off flights and 25 percent off hotels, or head to the Maldives where they can snag the same savings. Those looking for a more city-focused trip should consider London where flights are currently $50 off and hotels are 25 percent off, or consider Lisbon where they can save $75 off flights and 20 percent off hotels.

And travelers who want to head to Asia can save $60 off flights and 20 percent off hotel stays for Tokyo, which just dropped all COVID-19-related border restrictions.

The sale comes ahead of the Memorial Day holiday weekend, during which nearly 3.4 million travelers are expected to fly, representing an 11 percent increase compared to last year and a 5.4 percent increase compared to pre-pandemic in 2019.

Currently, an average round trip ticket to Europe costs $1,167 for summer, according to Hopper, significantly more than the $850 it averaged last year. And an average round trip ticket to Asia is currently coming in at $1,817 during the summer.

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Travelers who book their hotel stay on Hopper may be able to save even more with the companys Price Freeze option, which allows them to freeze the price for up to 60 days by putting down a deposit. If the price goes up, Hopper will cover the increase up to $300.

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Read the original article on Travel & Leisure.
Police in Wisconsin are being hailed as heroes after pulling an 84-year-old man to safety when the minivan he drove burst into flames this week.

According to the Kenosha Police Department, the rescue took place just after 9 p.m. on Tuesday along Sheridan Road, a major north-south street leading from Diversey Parkway in Chicago north to the Illinois-Wisconsin border.

Police dash cam video released by the department shows a minivan driving with a flat tire with sparks coming from the wheel.

Officers saw the bright sparks coming from the van and tried to stop the vehicle, police said, but the driver kept going and the minivan soon erupted in flames.

Footage shows the van coming to a stop as it is engulfed in flames.

Officers are then seen running toward the vehicle and pulling the man to safety.

No one else was in the vehicle.

"The minivan stopped and with selfless public service KPD officers ran towards the flames and pulled the driver to safety," the department wrote on Facebook.

Florida jet ski rescue: Bodycam shows 13-year-old girl and father rescued after jet ski sinks in FL lake

Police rescue elderly man from burning car

No one was seriously injured, Police Lieutenant Joseph Nosalik told USA TODAY Thursday.

"The man sustained some minor burns that did not require hospitalization," Nosalik said, adding some of the responding officers had some singed hair and suffered "very minor burns."

Leaking gasoline

The sparks ignited what police believe to be gasoline leaking from the van, Nosalik said.

"This could have been so much worse," Nosalik said, adding the van could have exploded with the victim inside.

"The man was not intoxicated, nor did he exhibit any overt signs of diminished mental capacity; however, his decisions are questionable and we did refer him to the (Wisconsin) Department of Motor Vehicles for a re-evaluation on his driving abilities," Nosalik said. "He just wanted to make it home."

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Video of near tragic crash: Container truck barely misses cars when it overturns while making a turn in China

'You ARE heroes'

The officers reaction drew praise from members of the community.

"Thank you officers for saving this man's life," Facebook user Dawn Lee posted. "You ARE heroes."

Sherry Jay, another user wrote, "Commendations to the officer! Oh, and it's not just old people that get in to these situations!"

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: Video: Kenosha police pull man to safety after van bursts into flames
Cell

The St. Louis Circuit Attorneys Office is seeking to overturn the conviction of a Black man, whos believed to be innocent.

According to CNN, Christopher Dunn, 52, has been incarcerated since 1991 after being sentenced to life without parole. He has spent over 30 years in prison for the murder of Ricco Rogers, 15, who was killed on May 18, 1990.

On Monday (May 15), the circuits attorneys office issued a statement regarding Dunn. For the last 33 years, Mr. Dunn has been incarcerated for a crime in which there is clear and convincing evidence he did not commit, the release read. We have an ethical duty to work to correct this injustice.

At the time of the shooting, Dunn was 19, his attorneys reported. The eyewitness testimonies of a 15-year-old and a 12-year-old spearheaded his conviction. Since then, both have recanted their statements under oath and admitted they lied, the outlet shared. A court document filed in the 22nd Judicial Circuit of Missouri stated no physical evidence tied Dunn to the murder.

In 2020, Texas County Circuit Court Judge William Hickle reviewed Dunns case. After reviewing the evidence, he said, This court does not believe that any jury would now convict Christopher Dunn under these facts. However, a Missouri law says a judge cant overturn a conviction unless the death penalty is involved. Until the legislature changes the law, only a prosecutor can petition a court to free an innocent defendant sentenced to anything less than death, Dunns lawyers said in a news release.

The 52-year-olds mother and sister testified Dunn was at home when the murder of Rogers occurred. We are hopeful his wrongful conviction is set aside for the sake of Mr. Dunn, his family, and the people of the city of St. Louis, prosecutors noted.

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Whether Pedro Almodovar is expressing regret over turning down Brokeback Mountain all those years ago, continuing to dip his toes in English-language projects after The Human Voice or reclaiming the place of gay cowboys in Americas Old West, I am here for it and most definitely wont be alone.

Premiering in a Special Screening slot in Cannes, Strange Way of Life (Extrana forma de vida) runs a skimpy half-hour but packs that fleet running time with greater depth of feeling and evocative atmosphere than most directors manage in a full feature. Stir in smoldering turns from Ethan Hawke and Pedro Pascal and you get a flavorful bite to be savored.

More from The Hollywood Reporter

How Sony Classics will maximize the commercial theatrical potential of a film running the length of a TV episode remains a curious question. But the potent combination of two gifted lead actors and a director whos among the worlds best will make this a must-see curio for many. It wont hurt, either, that the soulful, sexy short closes with heartfelt words from Pascals gunslinger Silva that echo the haunting spell of the queer love story that was one of the most memorable bottle episodes of The Last of Us.

The story, written by Almodovar, is bare bones but satisfying, even if it leaves you craving an expanded treatment. To the ravishingly plaintive sound of Caetano Veloso singing the fado that gives the film its title, strummed on guitar and lip-synced by rising Spanish heartthrob Manu Rios, Silva rides across the desert that separates him from the town of Bitter Creek to reunite, for the first time in 25 years, with Sheriff Jake. Back in the wild days of their youth as gunmen for hire, the two shared an idyllic two months of carefree romance and unbridled lust in Mexico.

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Silva claims to be in town for a long-overdue catch-up with Jake and to see a doctor about his bad back, but he makes no effort to hide the rekindled embers of his desire. The sheriff wants to keep all that in the past. But after they dine on Jakes homemade stew and drink too much to hold back, they tumble into bed. The sex is mostly elided but nonetheless quietly sizzling (and with characteristic sly humor, Almodovar uses a cheeky prelude shot and a day-after wake-up position to leave no doubt as to whos the top).

The heated interplay between Hawke, doing his best gravel-voiced Clint growl and stern resistance, and Pascal, intensely direct, bristling with unashamedly romantic yearning, is delicious. Thats mirrored in the raw physicality of their earlier years, conjured in separate fireside memories, with Jason Fernandez as the young Jake and Jose Condessa as Silva in a Mexican brothel, shooting holes in a wine sack and guzzling the resulting fountain of vino tinto before devouring each other with equal thirst.

The ulterior motive for Silvas return is revealed next morning when hes still basking in afterglow and Jake is once again all business. (I laughed at the latters churlish post-coital accusation: You dont have a bad back!) The sheriff is anxious to make an arrest for the murder three days earlier of his late brothers widow, whose tempestuous relationship with Silvas dissolute son Joe (George Steane) makes him the prime suspect. Silva has come to intervene on Joes behalf, but his loyalties are tested when Jakes vehemence about staying on the right side of the law leads to a volatile three-way showdown.

The aftermath is Almodovar at his most fervent, with Alberto Iglesias score striking a different tone to his usual work for the director, building masterfully into suspense before soaring into gloriously florid melodrama. The balance of tension and tenderness in the closing scene is exquisite. The final lines, about what two men living on a ranch together could do for each other, are a moving affirmation of queer love flourishing in the least likely places.

As always with Almodovar, the film is balm for the senses, gracefully shot by DP Jose Luis Alcaine in the dusty Almeria town built for Sergio Leones Dollar Trilogy. Even production designer Antxon Gmezs rustic, early 1900s decor makes room for distinctive design elements, while the costumes courtesy of presenting production banner Saint Laurent by Anthony Vaccarello inject electrifying splashes of color  Silvas mint-green jacket over a red- and mustard-checked shirt is a killer look  into the prevailing earth tones of the setting.

Aside from one of the melancholy plot strands in the superlative Pain and Glory, its been years since Almodovar made a straight-up gay male love story, a defiant statement of passion that will not be contained. Not to mention a movie of such ripe sensuality  even Jakes deputy is a dreamboat desk jockey. For that reason alone, queer audiences especially  but not exclusively  should celebrate this precious gift from one of the undisputed greats.

Best of The Hollywood Reporter

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Campari and Aperol's paler cousin makes for a fantastic spritz.

Matt Taylor-Gross / Food Styling by Lucy Simon

Whenever I see a bottle of Suze, I cant help but smile. For some, the smell of a burger being grilled outside or the first bite of a funnel cake at a fair might bring back memories of summer, but for me, its Suze. My best friends from college get together every summer for a weekend filled with lots of games, massive meals (spaghetti and meatballs for 15 is easy, I promise), and very good drinks. One summer, a friend brought a bottle of Suze. He grabbed it from the liquor store on one of our many hard seltzer runs because he said he liked the label. As a certified food and beverage geek, I knew exactly what this saffron-hued liqueur was and how to use it, but was a bit concerned it wouldnt be to the liking of my just-out-of-college buddies. To my surprise, it was the first bottle to go empty. Everyone immediately fell in love with the herbaceous, bittersweet flavor of Suze. Some mixed it with gin and soda, vodka and lemonade, and even good old White Claw  no matter the combination, the verdict was clear: everyone loved Suze, and we havent had a summer reunion without a bottle of it since.

This French liqueur has a distinctive flavor, aroma and appearance that plays well with others in cocktails but is also delicious when sipped on its own. With a history that dates back well over 100 years, theres a lot to know and love about Suze.

What is Suze?



The story of Suze dates back to late 19th century France. Distiller Fernand Moureaux sought out to create a new aperitif that was flavored with gentian, the root of a purple flower that has a slightly bitter and herbaceous flavor and was often used for its medicinal properties. Suze grew in popularity in France after being exhibited at the Worlds Fair in Paris in 1889, and later caught on across bars and restaurants around Paris.

The aperitif has a gorgeous, golden yellow hue with a strong herbaceous aroma and bittersweet notes of tangerine and lemon, with just enough sweetness to create a rich mouthfeel and balance.

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How is Suze made?

Chances are that youve already tried other aperitifs that use gentian root. This ingredient gives liqueurs like Aperol and Campari their necessary savory notes, and also flavors more vegetal aperitifs like Salers, or as well as more nouveau aperitifs like Lo-Fis Gentian Amaro. Gentian root grows deep and knotted in the ground, and can impart earthy, bitter notes as well as flavors like anise, tangerine, tarragon, and an unexpected minty freshness. To make Suze, gentian root is macerated in neutral alcohol for a year to fully impart its flavor. The infused spirit is distilled then blended with a variety of aromatic ingredients to create Suzes complex flavor profile.

What does Suze taste like?



Suze is aromatic, complex, and versatile, with a bitter, earthy, and slightly floral flavor profile, says Keith Larry, who helms the bar at Little Rascal, a cutting-edge cocktail bar in Brooklyns Greenpoint neighborhood. Suze has a gentle warming sweetness and a soft finish. It clocks in between 15-20% alcohol by volume, much like Aperol and Campari.

How to drink Suze

Indulge in some Suze during lapero dinatoire, the ultra-chic, ultra-French meal that melds cocktail hour and dinner into one liqueur-laden, snack-heavy celebration. Its one of writer Rebekah Pepplers favorite ways to entertain and the menu of crudites, charcuterie, and very good bread lends itself to being paired with bittersweet aperitifs like Suze. Peppler suggests adding a bit of tonic or soda water to cut through Suzes natural bitterness or do as the French do and enjoy it over ice with a wedge of lemon. A simple highball is also a tried and true way to enjoy Suze.

Best Suze cocktails

Given Suzes aromatic complexity it's no surprise that it is a favorite ingredient for many professional bartenders. One of my favorite ways to use Suze is in a White Negroni, says Larry. Though more pale yellow than truly white, the White Negroni is a riff on the classic Negroni, and substitutes Suze for bright red Campari plus floral Lillet Blanc for sweet vermouth. The result is a lighter and more herbal drink. Suzes inherent bitterness adds complexity and depth to the cocktail while ensuring it remains true to the Negronis character, he says.

While Suzes herbal flavor profile lends itself to pairing with juniper-laden gin, it plays well with a variety of flavors and ingredients. Suze is a natural fit for spritzes, low-ABV cocktails and higher-proof drinks alike. It pairs well with vegetable juices like carrot or even red pepper, the bitterness balances out some of the vegetal sweetness, adds Larry.

Whether you enjoy Suze in a classic White Negroni, in an aperitif glass, or poolside mixed into a can of orange hard seltzer, Suze deserves a spot on your bar cart and will quickly find its way into many of your cocktails.



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Former President Donald Trump is going after Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis after the governors two endorsed candidates lost in Tuesdays GOP primary.

[Daniel Cameron] had my Complete and Total Endorsement. The DeSanctimonious backed candidate came in a DISTANT third. Rons magic is GONE! He also lost, shockingly, in Jacksonville last night (Mayor), Trump said in a Truth Social post Wednesday.

Cameron, who earned Trumps endorsement early on, won the Republican nomination for Kentucky governor Tuesday night. DeSantis endorsed Kelly Craft, who looked likely to finish third in the GOP primary.

The Trump culture of winning is alive and well in Kentucky, Cameron said at the top of his victory speech.



The attacks against DeSantis come as the Florida governor is readying a possible bid for the GOP presidential nomination against Trump. In a recent Morning Consult poll, 61 percent of surveyed potential GOP primary voters said they'd back Trump in 2024, with 18 percent for DeSantis.

DeSantis pick for Jacksonville mayor also lost Tuesday night when Democrat Donna Deegan defeated Republican Daniel Davis.

Wow! In a big upset, the DeSanctimonious backed Republican candidate for Mayor of Jacksonville, Florida, LOST. This is a shocker, Trump said in a Truth Social post Wednesday. If they would have asked me to Endorse, he would have won, easily. Too proud to do so. Fools! This is a BIG LOSS for the Republican Party. Remember, 'Rob' only won because of me!!!
(Bloomberg) -- Facing a second day of grilling from US lawmakers, the once top executives at recently failed banks coalesced around a culprit for their firms spectacular collapses: social media.

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Michael Roffler, whose First Republic Bank was acquired earlier this month by JPMorgan Chase & Co. in a government brokered deal after its collapse, told House Financial Services Committee subcommittees that his firms demise was a result of contagion. Roffler said that concern about other regional lenders spread on social media bled into First Republic.

The panic was very real, Roffler said before the panel on Wednesday. When pressed, Roffler refused to take the blame for the firms collapse.

US lawmakers, regulators and bank executives have been lamenting for weeks the extraordinary velocity of bank runs at Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank. Both lenders were taken over by the government in March after rapid deposit withdrawals.

During Wednesdays hearing, former Signature chairman Scott Shay said panic was flooding through social media before his bank was seized. Meanwhile, ex-SVB Chief Executive Officer Greg Becker said the role social media plays in the financial system is something that needs to be looked into.

Both Becker and Shay also testified Tuesday before the Senate Banking Committee; Roffler didnt appear.

Although lawmakers have expressed similar concerns over the role social media played in recent bank failures, many seemed unmoved by the executives raising the concerns on Wednesday. Lawmakers and regulators digging into the collapses have widely blamed the executives for mismanaging risks.

The bank failed on your watch  period, said Ayanna Pressley, a Democrat who represents a district in Massachusetts. You blame social media, you say similar banks experienced the same thing so it was not your fault for what happened ultimately.

--With assistance from Katanga Johnson.

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Proust can have his madeleines, I'll take a Schlitz.

Thats the response from my friend Anna McGormanVP of culinary and operations at Milk Bar and veritable dive bar connoisseurwhen I ask her what makes a dive bar memorable. Throughout the majority of our twenties (and, if Im being honest, now into our thirties) we have frequently found ourselves together at 2 a.m. smoking cigarettes and swigging cheap beer at a slew of roadside dives across the country, usually after making the misguided decision to hop in an Uber for one last drink before heading back to our Airbnb. If theres food available, the likelihood is that were ordering it, whether it be a pile of Rhode Island stuffies at the salt-soaked Ocean Mist off of Matunuck Beach Road (tag line: Just a Beach Bar) or a bag of chips ripped open at one of the low tables of New Orleans's Snake & Jake's Christmas Club.

Dive bar food gets a bad wrap, but to me, it can be a core tenet of an establishments personalityeven if that personality is embodied by a basket of cheese puffs tossed across the bar. The food is cheap, unfussy, and usually delivered without much fanfare, much like the shots of well whiskey and cans of Pabst Blue Ribbon that have actually drawn you there in the first place. Ive had some of the worst meals of my life at a dive bar, and Ive also had some of the best, though Id be hard pressed to tell you what many of them were. Food is rarely the main attraction at a dive, even when its a glowing orb of sanctuary along a dark and empty highwayand thats the whole point. As Knoefel Longest wrote in a 2014 piece for Eater, the dive is one of the very few businesses not really making an effort to get your attention. Adding: Respect, yes. Admiration, no.

Andrea Behrends/Dino's Bar & Grill

All that said, a good dive knows how to strike a balance for its patronsno element needs to stand alone, but the Flavortown Algorithm, as Guy Fieri likes to call it, means the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.

Menu factors in. Beer temps are taken into consideration. Overall vibe matters. You gotta plug it all in and see how the whole thing comes out, Fieri tells me over email while filming the next season of Diners, Drive-ins and Dives. After hosting 419 episodes of his food show, Fieri knows better than anyone that while no two dive bars are made the same, all of them share one essential commonality: charisma. Some joints are a little more food forward. Some maybe hit on the bar side a little harder. Could be just the perfect location. It all matters and however all of those elements come together and present you with the best time at the right time, thats what makes a place special.

For Anthony Head, a writer living in Texas and the co-author of Texas Dives: Enduring Neighborhood Bars of the Lone Star State, judging a dive bar by its menu misses the point of its raison detre, which is to simply be open for its customers to assemble. He notes that navigating the practical and health-related red tape required to serve food is simply not worth a lot of bars time, and if they do serve it, then its a very limited menu to act as a stomach liner halfway through the night. No one flips through the Michelin Guide looking for stars awarded to anything with bar & grill in its name.

These types of places are the fabric of America. They represent the mom-and-pops, the young entrepreneurs, the timeless classics, the college stories, the good old days, the newest, the latest, and the greatest.  Guy Fieri

Yet during the pandemic, many dives were forced to transform themselves into makeshift outdoor restaurants in order to stay open. Suddenly, that means-to-an-end comfort food became a manner of survival. As I reported in the summer of 2020, Joe Josts in Long Beach, California, adhered to the states reopening laws by setting up folding tables and chairs in the parking lot to serve beers and foodsomething that was only possible due to its curiously iconic and near century-old menu of hot dogs and pickled eggs. Dinos in Nashville, meanwhile, grilled and delivered its burgers during lockdown like its life depended on it (which it did). And no wonder it worked: Residents, visitors, and road trippers zipping down the citys Gallatin Avenue, where the bar lies, have been eating its cheeseburgers and fries since the 1970s; Bourdain scarfed one down in an episode of Parts Unknown, and I have a hazy memory of inhaling one just before closing time, oblivious to the patty juice trickling down my arm.

These types of places are the fabric of America, says Fieri, whose Restaurant Relief Fund raised $25 million to assist unemployed restaurant workers during the pandemic. They represent the mom-and-pops, the young entrepreneurs, the timeless classics, the college stories, the good old days, the newest, the latest, and the greatest. When I hit the road for DDD back in 2007, I knew that there was a lot to discover out there but I had no idea just how vast and exciting our roadside (or otherwise) food culture was.

As for Headwhose favorite Texas dives includes Casino El Camino, just off Austins Monarch Highway, which serves a mean burger with roasted serrano chiles, and San Marcoss Showdown, home to southwestern delicacy the Frito piehe believes the beauty of these dive bars lies in their histories, some of which clock in at around 150 years old. The Shooting Star Saloon in Huntsville, Utah (population 585), for example, serves Burgers, Beers, Soda and Chips. NO Fries!! and has been in operation since 1879.

Why the longevity? Dives are affordable, accessible places that generations have enjoyed, many of which Head notes are family businesses that have been handed down through the years. They possess a humble atmosphere, one that's not striving to be a life-altering experience but one that meets you exactly as you are, says McGorman. And perhaps most importantly, they are spaces that satisfy regulars and travelers alike, crossing age demographics and tax brackets, thanks to an increasingly rare quality: a disregard for keeping up with the trends. A dive bar just is what it is.

Dive bars are essentially continuing conversations which began long before you arrived, and will continue after you leave, says Head. Hopefully, over the same single patty with cheese that has never been taken off the menu.

Originally Appeared on Conde Nast Traveler
Airbnb released the company's 2023 summer travel trends earlier this month, as guests have already planned stays in over 72,000 cities and towns for the upcoming season. And with the popularity of whiskey seemingly still at an all-time high, it should come as little surprise that the top trending domestic city is none other than the bourbon destination of Louisville, KY.

Downtown Louisville is home to several spots on Kentucky's famous Bourbon Trail, such as Michter's, Evan Williams, Old Forester, and Rabbit Hole; and nearby bourbon giants Maker's Mark, Heaven Hill, and Four Roses are also within a manageable drive. There's also Louisville's Urban Bourbon Trail, which features dozens of local bars and restaurants designed to complement distillery tours, including the trail's five founding bars: Bar at Blu, Bourbons Bistro, Brown Hotel Lobby Bar, the Old Sellback Bar, and Proof on Main.

But besides whiskey, there's also plenty to do in Louisville. The city is also home to the Louisville Slugger Museum and Factory, Churchill Downs and the Kentucky Derby Museum, and the Muhammad Ali Center. Not to mention, Louisville boats a robust restaurant scene, world-class museums, and outdoor activities galore.

Interestingly enough, the nearby city (and Louisville's biggest rival) of Lexington, Kentucky falls third on Airbnb's list, which is less than an hour and a half drivemaking it a fantastic companion destination for the ultimate bourbon excursion. While smaller and slower-paced than Louisville, Lexington also boasts its own impressive booze and dining scene. And for horse racing fans, it's also arguably the bigger draw of the two. Keeneland Race Course is located just outside of the downtown area.

Related: 10 Most Popular Summer Travel Destinations for 2023

The rest of Airbnb's top 10 list is a bit of cross-country mixed bag, with Laconia, New Hampshire; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; and Milwaukee, Wisconsin evidently as popular as beach towns in New Jersey and North Carolina. You can view the complete list below.
New Air Force F-16 Aggressor Squadron Stands Up photo

The U.S. Air Force recently converted a reserve squadron into a new aggressor unit equipped with F-16C Viper fighter jets. The redesignated 706th Aggressor Squadron will focus on replicating threats posed by older fourth-generation fighters. However, its creation reflects a broader ongoing surge in demand for "red air" adversaries to support training and test and evaluation activities, especially those capable of replicating newer fifth-generation threats like China's J-20 stealth fighters.

The Air Force Reserve's 926th Wing at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada held a ceremony to mark the transition of the 706th from a fighter squadron to an aggressor squadron on May 5, with the change officially taking effect on May 14. Nellis is already home to the active-duty 64th and 65th Aggressor Squadrons. The Air Force has a fourth fighter jet-equipped aggressor squadron, the active-duty 18th Aggressor Squadron, at Eielson Air Force Base in Alaska.

A pair of the 65th Aggressor Squadron's F-35A Joint Strike Fighters. USAF

"As Nellis third aggressor squadron, the 706ths mission focuses on continuing to know, teach, and replicate fourth-generation aggressor air adversaries," according to an Air Force release about the squadron's conversion earlier this year.

Prior to this, the 706th's primary mission had been to oversee Air Force Reserve pilots assigned to the United States Air Force Warfare Center (USAFWC) at Nellis. In this role, the unit notably had no aircraft of its own. As part of its conversion to the 706th Aggressor Squadron, it is now set to receive a fleet of F-16C Viper fighters by the end of this year.

"The shift in mission set [for the 706th] allows the 64th and 65th AGRS [Aggressor Squadrons] to pursue the next generation of air defense and Nellis endeavor towards becoming the 5th Generation Center of Excellence," according to the Air Force's recent release.

It's worth noting here that while the 65th flies stealthy fifth-generation F-35A Joint Strike Fighters, the 64th is equipped with F-16Cs. This might raise a question of whether the 64th may now be in line to transition to the F-35A and transfer its Vipers to the 706th in the process. However, this seems unlikely given the demand elsewhere for F-35As and the Air Force has stated the 706th is set to receive Block 30 F-16Cs, rather than the newer Block 42 Vipers the 64th has been receiving already.

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F-16C Vipers assigned to the 64th Aggressor Squadron at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada. USAF

An F-16C assigned to the 64th Aggressor Squadron, but with "926 OG" written on the tail, was used as the backdrop for the 706th Aggressor Squadron redesignation ceremony. 926 OG stands for 926th Operations Group, to which the 706th is assigned. That being said, this aircraft, which has the serial number 86-0251, has been marked in this way since 2019. This was done as part of an effort to highlight the so-called "associate" relationships between Air Force Reserve units assigned to the 926th Wing and active-duty elements at Nellis.

F-16C serial number 86-0251 at the redesignation ceremony for the 706th Aggressor Squadron. USAF

The War Zone has reached out to the Air Force for more information about its aggressor plans at Nellis.

Regardless, the conversion of the 706th to an F-16-equipped aggressor unit comes amid a spike in demand for red air adversary support across the U.S. Air Force, as well as the rest of the U.S. military, in recent years. This, in turn, reflects a broader shift in focus across the U.S. armed forces to preparing for higher-end conflicts rather than counter-terrorism and similar lower-intensity operations. For American military aviators, supporting the latter kinds of missions over the past two and a half decades or so has involved flying in permissive or very near permissive airspace.

"I would say we are more valid now than ever before. With the Secretary of the Air Force and Secretary of Defense saying their focus is China, China, China, thats what we are here for, Air Force Lt. Col. Christopher Von Finkenstadt, head of the 64th Aggressor Squadron, told The War Zone in an exclusive interview just earlier this year. "We are here to embody and replicate our enemies to the best of our ability."

The need for aggressors has gone absolutely through the roof, so we are here to provide the absolutely top-notch replication for our blue forces to make them the best that they can be should we have to go to war, Finkenstadt added. We focus and we study what we are seeing out of our enemies, and that way we can replicate it to the best of our abilities. Our focus is to provide the most deadly case of action, not a likely case of action, and provide the most capable adversaries for our blue forces to face.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5rFiwc6AK8M

Of course, the need for more red air aggressors has been growing steadily for years. The Air Force had been increasingly turning to private contractors to provide their support.

It has been clear for some time that the pre-fourth-generation aircraft those companies have long relied on have become increasingly less and less capable of replicating more advanced fourth-generation threats let alone stealthy fifth-generation ones. Similarly, the Air Force's requirements for those lower-end capabilities have changed. This was underscored last year when Air Force authorities at Nellis decided not to renew a long-standing contract to supply red air services using pre-fourth-generation aircraft with private red air firm Draken. That decision also pointed to a greater desire on the part of the service to reconstitute more advanced aggressor capabilities in-house after years of things trending in the opposite direction.

Regardless, even before the Air Force decided to stand up the 706th Aggressor Squadron, there had been a notable increase in interest in even older F-16s to more reasonably stand in for fourth-generation adversary jets within both the U.S. military and among private red air contractors.

Last year, another private red air company, Top Aces, became the first to fly Vipers. Top Aces' jets are heavily modified ex-Israeli F-16A/B variants, as you can read more about here. The company has since received Air Force contracts for aggressor work at multiple bases using these aircraft.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yK0DDM-Ip4s

Unsurprisingly, Draken has also since moved to acquire its own fleet of F-16s.

Within the U.S. military, the Navy has been acquiring ex-Air Force F-16C/Ds to replace a portion of its fleet of aging Cold War-era F-5N Tiger II aggressor aircraft for the same general reasons. Vipers have been supplanting the last Legacy F/A-18 Hornets at the Naval Aviation Warfighting Development Center (NAWDC), too.

Altogether, the supply of readily available second-hand F-16s worldwide is dwindling due to these kinds of training demands, as well as operational requirements and just as sources of spare parts. When it comes to new-production Vipers, Lockheed Martin has seen a resurgence of interest in advanced variants and has years' worth of orders booked.

The conversion of dozens of retired Vipers into full-scale QF-16 target drones for the U.S. Air Force has contributed to all of this, too. That program may now be winding down in part due to the shrinking availability of suitable airframes, as you can find more about here.

A QF-16 target drone, in this case with a pilot at the controls. USAF

Separately, the growing demand for aggressors to replicate fifth-generation threats also prompted the Air Force to stand up its own F-35-equipped 65th Aggressor Squadron just last year.

It is critical that we as an aggressor force are postured to provide the best and most realistic replication to the combat forces," Air Force Lt. Col. Brandon Napalm Nauta, the commander of the 65th Aggressor Squadron, told The War Zone in an interview last year. "As other countries grow in their capabilities, so too must we. The F-35 is the logical and natural next step in that evolution.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XqSRCeQW6CA

Though Nauta stressed at the time that his unit would "look to replicate any advanced fighter regardless of country," it is no secret that the 65th has been focused on replicating the threats posed by increasingly advanced Chinese fighters, especially the stealthy J-20 and the newer J-35. The U.S. military, as a whole, currently treats the People's Liberation Army (PLA) as its so-called "pacing threat" ostensibly for planning purposes. There are growing concerns about the potential for a high-end conflict between the two countries before the end of the decade, possibly over the island of Taiwan.

J-20 stealth fighters of the People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF). PLAAF

Preparing for a major fight like that demands realistic large-force exercises, which in turn require a large volume of appropriate assets to play the roles of a range of different threats.

We are slated to only have 11 jets thus limiting our overall numbers for a given training mission. However, as we have seen in recent training exercises, even a couple of F-35s as red air makes a huge difference," Lt. Col. Nauta said last year.

This underscores the importance of freeing up the 64th and 65th Aggressor Squadrons to focus on replicating higher-end threats. and could further point to the possibility of the 64th converting to F-35As.

That being said, as The War Zone has long pointed out, crewed aggressor aircraft of any kind are unlikely to provide the full volume required to realistically recreate the full gamut of threats in major future large-scale training exercises. Fifth-generation fighters like the F-35A continue to be very expensive to operate and maintain, making it cost-prohibitive to use them exclusively to represent fifth-generation adversaries.

Air Force F-35As undergoing maintenance. USAF

The Air Force is well aware of this and is already looking toward a mix of other assets to provide the required mass of higher-end red air support going forward. This is set to include stealthy drones and advanced expendable aerial targets, as well as the integration of 'virtual assets' into real-life training through augmented reality and other means.

Crewed aggressors, including those intended to represent lower-end threats within the larger mix, will still be required to add greater fidelity in training exercises. There is still a need to replicate more modern fourth-generation combat jets, too. The 706th provides an important organic capability to the Air Force just in this regard, especially given the increasing obsolescence of pre-fourth-generation contractor-operated jets as aggressors.

All this being said, a mix of piloted aggressor aircraft of various types, along with other platforms, will remain in demand for various training and other purposes, including test and evaluation efforts, for years to come.

The new 706th Aggressor Squadron looks set to be an important additional part of the Air Force's still-evolving red air adversary landscape.

Contact the author: joe@thedrive.com
Ussuri brown bear on rock

Police in Hokkaido, Japan, are searching for any sign of a missing angler who they believe may have been eaten by a bear after a human head was found near the lake where he was fishing.

According to Japanese news agency Kyodo News, 54-year-old Toshihiro Nishikawa, was last seen setting out on a fishing expedition on Lake Shumarinai, an artificial lake in Shumarinai Prefectural Natural Park on Sunday. He was unaccompanied when a local boat operator dropped him off.

One of the operator's employees raised the alarm later that day after spotting a bear with a pair of waders dangling from his mouth. The employee tried to call Nishikawa, but the angler didn't answer.

Local police began hunting for the bear, and according to a town official one animal was killed on Monday. However, the team also discovered a human head during their search. Work is currently underway to determine whether it belongs to Nishikawa.

Bears in Hokkaido

Hokkaido is home to the Ussuri brown bear, which is a slightly smaller cousin to the grizzly found in North America, but much larger than the Japanese black bear found on the mainland.

They are usually wary of humans, but Hokkaido police say sightings are on the rise, with 339 reports so far this year  40 more than the same period in 2022.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on Capitol Hill in Washington, March 22, 2023. (Haiyun Jiang/The New York Times)

One of the biggest developments out of Tuesdays debt ceiling meeting was President Joe Bidens selection of two officials to negotiate directly with aides to Speaker Kevin McCarthy: Shalanda Young, the director of the Office of Management and Budget, and Steve Ricchetti, a White House senior adviser.

That decision appeared to mollify McCarthy, who noted after the meeting that we finally have a formula that has proven to work in the past.

Young and Ricchetti bring years of experience working with lawmakers on both sides of the aisle to forge deals on critical pieces of legislation. But they will still face a difficult task in trying to reach an agreement to raise the debt ceiling before a potential default as soon as June 1. They are expected to work closely with Louisa Terrell, the director of the White House Office of Legislative Affairs.

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Heres a look at the two key players who will represent Biden as policymakers work to avoid what many say would be an economically devastating default.

Shalanda Young

Young, a former senior aide on Capitol Hill, was confirmed by the Senate last year with a vote of 61-36 to oversee the Office of Management and Budget after serving as deputy budget director and acting director of the office. The agency oversees the federal budget and helps shape executive regulations.

Before joining the Biden administration, Young worked at the House Appropriations Committee for more than a decade, gaining credibility among members of both political parties.

Since joining the committee in 2007, she held various positions and eventually became the first Black woman to serve as its majority staff director in 2017. Young played a crucial role in shepherding trillions of dollars worth of pandemic relief packages and disaster aid into law, in addition to the annual negotiations over how to keep the government funded. In 2019, she helped negotiate an end to a spending fight that had led to the longest government shutdown in U.S. history.

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My work on the Appropriations Committee taught me that both sides can compromise without compromising their values  even when that means no one gets everything they want, Young told lawmakers in 2021.

Her work has earned her bipartisan praise in both the House and Senate. Former Sen. Richard Shelby of Alabama, who served as the top Republican on the Appropriations Committee, endorsed Young to lead the budget office.

She knows how to bring things together, and thats what we as appropriators try to do, Shelby said at the time.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., has also praised her work on Capitol Hill. Everybody that deals with you on our side has nothing but good things to say, Graham said in 2021.

Young previously worked at the National Institutes of Health and grew up in Clinton, Louisiana, earning degrees from Loyola University New Orleans and Tulane University.

Steve Ricchetti

Ricchetti, a former lobbyist who joined Bidens vice presidential staff in 2012, is one of Bidens most trusted advisers and a longtime confidant. He has often acted as a conduit among Biden, congressional lawmakers and donors.

After serving as a counselor to the vice president, he later rose to become chief of staff. One of his early jobs in Washington was as a legislative aide for President Bill Clinton.

As a counselor to Biden now, Ricchetti has helped broker deals on legislative packages that have become major tenets of the presidents domestic policy agenda. Ricchetti was a key player in negotiations over the $1.2 trillion infrastructure law, which Congress passed in 2021 after Biden and a bipartisan group of centrist senators struck a deal.

Ricchetti also communicated with senators to help the Biden administration pass a climate, health and tax package last year, maintaining an open channel with Sen. Joe Manchin, the conservative West Virginia Democrat.

He helped set up the initial structure of Bidens 2020 campaign, later serving as chair. In that role, Ricchetti maintained deep relationships across Capitol Hill and in the donor community.

Ricchetti showed an aptitude for fundraising in his career in Washington, previously lobbying for the pharmaceutical industry. He ran a lucrative firm before joining Bidens staff, compiling a client list that included General Motors, Experian, the American Hospital Association, AT&T, Eli Lilly, Nextel, Novartis, Pfizer and Fannie Mae. Soon after Biden took office, Ricchettis brother drew scrutiny for his work as a lobbyist.

In addition to advising on Bidens political decisions, Ricchetti has reportedly overseen many of the presidents personal and financial decisions. He served as Bidens business manager and negotiated his seven-figure book deal.

A Cleveland-area native, he earned a law degree from George Mason University.

c.2023 The New York Times Company
Chatham County District Attorney Shalena Cook Jones talks about the criminal justice system during a forum sponsored by the League of Women Voters on Tuesday at the Coastal Georgia Center.

The following is from the May 16 dition of the weekly "Savannah Town Square" opinion newsletter. The newsletter pushes to email inboxes every Tuesday morning. To sign up for this free newsletter, go to SavannahNow.com/Newsletters.

As public awareness of controversial legislation goes, a bill to create a Georgia Prosecuting Attorneys Oversight Commission largely escaped notice in Savannah.

Much of the public discussion around the measure centered on Atlanta and Athens, where district attorneys with progressive ideologies have faced heavy criticism. Fulton Countys Fani Willis is a lightning rod due to her investigation of former President Donald Trump's failed attempts to overturn the 2020 presidential election, while Clarke Countys Deborah Gonzalez is unpopular due to her refusal to prosecute politically charged crimes, such as marijuana possession.

Largely left out of the conversation was Chatham County District Attorney Shalena Cook-Jones, herself a proponent of progressive criminal justice reform. That changed May 5 when Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp chose to sign the Georgia Prosecuting Attorneys Oversight Commission bill into law here in Savannah, not in Atlanta or Athens.

More: Chatham County District Attorney staff shortage puts defendants, victims, prosecutors in jeopardy

Gov. Brian Kemp signs S.B. 92, which establishes a Prosecuting Attorneys Oversight Commission, at the Chatham County Detention Center on Friday.

Cook-Jones could prove to be a target of the commission, which will hear complaints against prosecutors and will have the authority to issue sanctions, including removal from elected office. Outcry over her performance is growing, and not just from Georgia House Rep. Jesse Petrea, a Republican who represents part of Chatham County and has been a Cook-Jones detractor since she launched her campaign for office in 2019.

As a recent Savannah Morning News investigation revealed, Cook-Jones office has a soberingly low murder conviction rate of 32% as prosecutors seek plea agreements instead of going to trial.

In another deep-dive look at the DAs office published this week, reporter Drew Favakeh chronicled the high rate of turnover among assistant district attorneys. These are the prosecutors who try the cases, and since Cook-Jones assumed the post in January 2021, the felony trial staff has shrunk from 26 prosecutors to 12. The average active caseload by ADA is 396 cases - and that doesn't include cases still pending grand jury review.

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A former Chatham ADA, Jillian Gibson, recently offered an unsettling assessment of the Cook-Jones administration, saying I don't think she was putting people who were capable or qualified in positions to try murder cases when I was there. That obviously presents problems when those cases go to trial and, you know, aren't successful.

Gibson left Cook-Jones staff last September after more than two-and-a-half years and now works for a prosecutors office in Statesboro.

Cook-Jones already faces a threat to her post - her term ends in 2024 and several candidates are lining up to challenge her should she decide to run for re-election. Expect the new state oversight commission to play a role in that bid as complaints about Cook-Jones performance are sure to come.

This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Chatham District Attorney could targeted by state prosecutor oversight
Tuesday saw a number of key races in Kentucky, Pennsylvania and Florida, which underscored former President Trumps grip on the Republican base and Democrats relative strength in suburban areas, among other storylines.

In one of the nights marquee races, Trumps endorsed candidate in the Kentucky GOP gubernatorial primary, Daniel Cameron, prevailed against Florida Gov. Ron DeSantiss pick, former U.N. Ambassador Kelly Craft. The Florida governors choice in the Jacksonville, Fla., mayoral race also lost, in one of the biggest upsets of the night.

Meanwhile, Democrats scored a key victory in the Philadelphia suburbs in a race that largely hinged on abortion.

Here are five takeaways from Tuesday nights elections.

Trump notches a win over DeSantis in Kentucky

Trump scored a win over his chief rival in Kentucky on Tuesday night, when his endorsed candidate won the GOP gubernatorial primary.

Cameron, who was favored by the former president, won the Republican primary to take on Gov. Andy Beshear (D) this November. Craft, who received a last-minute endorsement from DeSantis on election day, placed third in the primary.

DeSantiss decision to back Craft comes against the backdrop of a burgeoning 2024 Republican presidential primary field. The Florida governor is expected to formally launch his presidential bid in the coming weeks and is seen as Trumps fiercest opponent.

DeSantis wasnt the only high-profile Republican to back Craft  declared 2024 candidate and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) also endorsed her.

Cameron, a rising star in the GOP, touted the former presidents endorsement, even after Trump was held liable for sexual battery and defamation against the writer E. Jean Carroll.

A good night for Dems

Democrats had a lot to celebrate Tuesday night.

In one of the most closely watched races of the year, Democratic candidate Heather Boyd beat Republican Katie Ford in the special election for a Pennsylvania state House seat outside Philadelphia, allowing the Democrats to keep control of the states lower chamber.

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The race was seen as particularly critical because Democrats feared the GOP would use a potential majority to push through restrictive measures relating to abortion and LGBTQ issues.

Meanwhile, in Jacksonville, Fla., Democrats scored an upset with Donna Deegan (D) winning the mayoral race against Republican Daniel Davis, who was backed by DeSantis. The election offered Democrats some relief given Duval Countys red leanings, suggesting that Democrats may still be able to compete in the state, even as Florida has trended Republican in recent years.

Meanwhile, in Colorado Springs, independent candidate Yemi Mobolade won the mayoral race against Republican Wayne Williams, a former Colorado secretary of state. The result was a blow to Republicans; Trump won El Paso County, which includes Colorado Springs, by 11 points in 2020.

Progressives big-city winning streak suffers a blow

Not all Democrats were celebrating the primary results, though, as progressives suffered a blow in the Philadelphia mayoral race. Their favored candidate, Helen Gym, finished third.

Gym, who received endorsements from high-profile progressives such as Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), lost the race to become Philadelphias next top executive to former City Council member Cherelle Parker. Former City Controller Rebecca Rhynhart placed second.

Parker is almost certain to prevail in the heavily blue citys November election against Republican David Oh.

Crime has been one of the driving issues in the race, and Parker, who is Black, has notably vocalized support for the use of the controversial stop-and-frisk policing strategy. Her safety and policing platform on her website also calls for hiring 300 more police officers who would be designated to a neighborhood beat.

A surprise upset in Florida

Deegans win in the Jacksonville mayoral race was perhaps the biggest surprise of the night, flipping an office thats been helmed by Republican Mayor Lenny Curry since 2015.

The race also further dented DeSantis, given that he endorsed Davis in March.

Surveys ahead of election day indicated a tight race. Polling from the Public Opinion Research Lab at the University of North Florida (UNF) last month found 48 percent of respondents backing Deegan while Davis received 47 percent support, falling well within the polls margin of error at plus or minus 3.8 percentage points.

That polling also found that the highest percentage of respondents believed crime to be the most important issue facing the city.

Daviss loss is a blow to Republicans in a county that has become friendlier to the GOP in recent years. DeSantis won Duval County, where Jacksonville is situated, by 12 points during the November midterms. But in 2018, Democrat Andrew Gillum won the county over DeSantis by 4 points.

Voter turnout was mixed

Voter turnout in some of the biggest elections turned out to be a mixed bag.

Kentucky Secretary of State Michael Adams (R) had previously warned that turnout for the GOP gubernatorial primary might end up around 10 percent, and data from the secretary of states website as of Tuesday night showed turnout around 14 percent.

Turnout also appeared relatively light in Pennsylvania, with one election official saying early on that the levels were historically low, according to WKBN-TV.

But in Duval County, where Jacksonville, Fla., is situated, turnout was at 33 percent as of Tuesday night. Broken down by voter party affiliation, close to 99,000 Republicans voted, while about 92,000 Democrats and roughly 25,000 voters with no party affiliation turned out. More than 2,600 votes came from voters identified as other.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a new bill into law Wednesday that restricts gender-affirming care for transgender adults and children.

Critics of the bill, SB 254, refer to it as the Florida abduction bill because they claim it allows children to be legally kidnapped by disagreeing parents  even if the opposing parent lives across state lines  if the child is subject to or threatened with sex-reassignment prescriptions or procedures.

Senator Clay Yarborough, who introduced the bill, said the bill is meant to protect children from drastic life-altering gender dysphoria therapies and surgeries that he said are being prescribed for children. He argued that both parents should have a say in whether their child receives gender-affirming care.

Florida's anti-LGBTQ bills: A rundown of Florida bills causing 'massive panic' in transgender, LGBTQ communities

SB 254 lands on DeSantis' desk: Restrictions on transgender health care pass Florida Legislature, head to DeSantis

The Tallahassee Democrat reported that while the legislation was not as wide-reaching as House members wanted it to be, it will still restrict care for both transgender children and adults. Along with the ban for new youth patients, the bill requires that a physician administer gender affirming care to adult patients in person, barring the use of telehealth and other health care workers, like nurse practitioners and physicians' assistants, to begin care. Doctors who violate those sections could face a first-degree misdemeanor.

Gender-affirming care for youth has support from nearly every mainstream medical organization, including the American Academy of Pediatrics, the World Health Organization, the Endocrine Society and the American Psychiatric Association. Politifact has determined that while the state cannot kidnap children, the law can affect custody disputes.

LGBTQ advocacy groups said last week they plan to ask a judge to block the law as part of an ongoing lawsuit against the Board of Medicine ban.

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Heres a breakdown of whats in the bill:

Florida courts can receive temporary emergency jurisdiction

The bill would grant Florida courts temporary emergency jurisdiction if a child present in the state has been abandoned; its deemed necessary if the child, a sibling or the parent of a child is subjected to or threatened with mistreatment or abuse; or if the child is subjected to or threatened with sex-reassignment prescriptions or procedures.

About 250 people gathered at Eau Gallie Square Friday evening to celebrate International Transgender Day of Visibility. The Friday event was organized by Spektrum, a nonprofit LGBTQ healthcare provider with clinics in Orlando and Melbourne.

Parents can apply for a warrant to receive physical custody of a child

Section 2 of the bill allows parents to file a petition seeking enforcement of a child custody determination. If a parent believes that their child is likely to imminently suffer serious physical harm or removal of the state, they can file a verified issuance of a warrant to take physical custody of the child.

The section explicitly states that serious physical harm includes, but is not limited to, being subjected to sex-reassignment prescriptions and procedures.

Florida diversity, pronoun bills: Florida bills targeting diversity programs and pronouns in schools heads to DeSantis

Censoring drag shows, Pride events: In one day, three bills targeting transgender Floridians pass House

State funds are prohibited from being used for gender-affirming care

Another section of the bill prohibits any governmental entity from expending state funds for sex-reassignment prescriptions or procedures.

State is erasing trans options: What can I do if I'm a transgender person living in Florida?

People under 18 can no longer receive gender-affirming care unless they qualify for an exception

Section 5 of the bill prohibits sex-reassignment prescriptions and procedures for patients younger than 18 years old. The Board of Medicine and the Board of Osteopathic Medicine will have 60 days to adopt emergency rules pertaining to standards of practice where a minor could continue to be treated with a prescription consistent with those defined in Florida Statute 456.001.

That transition-related medical care includes puberty blockers, hormones and surgery. Despite claims by DeSantis that medical care amounts to child mutilation, gender-affirmation surgery is generally only recommended for adults. For children, care doesn't begin until the onset of puberty.

Physicians must be in the room with adults receiving gender-affirming care, barring the use of telehealth services

The same section also requires that physicians prescribing, administering a pharmaceutical product or performing a procedure must be, at minimum, physically present in the same room as the patient.

Further restrictions require that only physicians can administer and perform these procedures, barring other health care workers, like nurse practitioners and physicians' assistants, to begin care.

The Tallahassee Democrat reported that at least one Florida clinic that provides gender-affirming care is staffed only by nurse practitioners, leaving care for those patients uncertain under the bill. SPEKTRUM Health serves patients in Central Florida with locations in Orlando and Melbourne.

"Absolutely gutted," CEO Joey Knoll told the Democrat on Thursday. "I've spent the last year trying to raise awareness, get help, and avoid a catastrophe ... that is now imminent."

This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: SB 254: Why transgender advocates call new law Florida 'abduction' bill
Glendale Councilmember Jamie Aldama announces his bid for mayor on Tuesday, May 16, 2023, in downtown Glendale. He is the third politician to enter the race and will run against current Mayor Jerry Weiers and former state Sen. Paul Boyer.

Glendale Councilmember Jamie Aldama is the third politician to announce plans to run for mayor of Glendale in 2024.

He is running against incumbent Jerry Weiers, who has been as mayor for 10 years now, and Paul Boyer, who served the Republican party in the Arizona Legislature as house representative and senator from 2013 to 2023.

When announcing his run on Tuesday at Murphy Park in downtown Glendale, Aldama said his main priorities will be unifying the city as well as creating consensus on the City Council.

"When elected, my top priority will be to improve the image of the office of mayor, strengthening our economy by continuing to encourage businesses to move into Glendale and improve our relationships with the Glendale Chamber of Commerce," he said.

Glendale rentals: New ordinance could ban landlords from housing voucher discrimination

Aldama is a current member of the Glendale Chamber of Commerce, the Hispanic Elected Local Officials, the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials and the Arizona Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.

The council member, who represents the Ocotillo district, was first elected in 2014 and has served multiple city commissions and committees, including the Glendale Planning and Zoning Commission. He is also a former Glendale Elementary School District board member.

Glendale Councilmember Jamie Aldama announces his bid for mayor on Tuesday, May 16, 2023, in downtown Glendale. He is the third politician to enter the race and will run against current Mayor Jerry Weiers and former state Sen. Paul Boyer.

Finding consensus, unifying the city

Aldama said he believes his 32-year experience working in the public sector, including at the Maricopa County Community College District, will set him apart from his opponents.

"I know the system, I know how employees want to be treated, I know the procurement process, I know the public process ... It's something that brings value to the council and helps me vote on the issues they bring forth," he said.

When asked how he thought his relationship with Weiers would work until the election next year, he said he doesn't think "it's going to be good, but that won't be on my part."

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Aldama then pointed out that in 2018, when he ran for reelection, Weiers endorsed his opponent, Emmanuel Allen.

"It was a very tumultuous (time) and that's where the division comes in. I guess I could say I'm used to it, I'll continue to get used to it but I hope that type of behavior ends," the council member said. "I just want to lead, I just want to help our city grow."

Aldama also said he plans on holding one of the largest meetings with Glendale constituents if elected and asking them for input, adding he doesn't feel like the city is currently in the hands of the residents.

"When I get into office, we're going to start the healing and we're going to bring respect back to the dais and we're going to start to unite the community and put the local government, the municipality, back in their hands," he said.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Paul Boyer, Jerry Weiers, Jamie Aldama run for Glendale mayor in 2024
Bryan Kohberger, the suspect in the murder of four University of Idaho students late last year, has been indicted by a grand jury.

The indictment includes four counts of first-degree murder and one count of burglary, according to the documents filed in Latah County District Court.

He will appear for his arraignment in Moscow, Idaho, on Monday and enter a plea, according to multiple sources.

Kohberger, a 28-year-old Ph.D. student at Washington State University's department of criminal justice and criminology, was arrested on first-degree murder and burglary charges in December after a six-week search. He has not entered a plea.

MORE: Idaho college murders: The complete timeline of events

Kohberger was arrested at his parents' home in Pennsylvania and he was extradited to Idaho in January.

Roommates Xana Kernodle, 20; Kaylee Goncalves, 21; and Madison Mogen, 21; as well as Kernodle's boyfriend, Ethan Chapin, 20, were stabbed to death at the girls' off-campus house in the middle of the night.

PHOTO: Bryan Kohberger, right, appears at a hearing in Latah County District Court, Jan. 5, 2023, in Moscow, Idaho. (Pool via Getty Images, FILE)

"We are just grateful another step in the process has been completed and we believe this was the best option for the circumstances," Steve Goncalves, the father of Kaylee, said in a statement to ABC News Wednesday.

Two other roommates survived the stabbing, one of whom saw a masked figure in the house. Neither are considered suspects in the stabbing.

The four students were probably asleep when attacked and some had defensive wounds, police said.

MORE: University of Idaho murder victim's family ready to face suspect in court, vows to 'make sure he doesn't get away with it'

Police believe the murders unfolded between 4 a.m. and 4:25 a.m. on Nov. 13, according to court documents.

A 911 call was made from one of the roommate's phones the morning of Nov. 13 when the surviving roommates found one of the victims. The call requested help for an unconscious person who was not responding.

PHOTO: Attendees embrace at a vigil in Moscow, Idaho, honoring the lives of four slain University of Idaho students, March 15, 2023. (Idaho Statesman via Getty Images, FILE)

When officers arrived on the scene, they discovered the four victims.

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Authorities said DNA from the suspect was recovered on a knife sheath left on a victim's bed, according to the documents. On Dec. 27, police recovered trash from Kohberger's parents' house in Pennsylvania, and a lab determined the DNA from the trash was the father of the person who left DNA on the knife sheath, the affidavit said.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

Grand jury indicts Bryan Kohberger in connection with murder of 4 University of Idaho students originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
Media companies are trying to rein in their spending on content to make their streaming services profitable. An ongoing Hollywood writers' strike may lead them to cut back even more.

Disney (DIS) CFO Christine McCarthy said at MoffettNathanson's Inaugural Technology, Media and Telecom conference on Wednesday that the entertainment giant's content spending will hit around $30 billion this year, but she warned the strike could impact spending for the remainder of the fiscal year: "We'll update that if it's appropriate," she said.

The comments come as Disney aims to cut $5.5 billion in costs, $3 billion of which stems from savings on content.

Meanwhile, Netflix's (NFLX) content spending was already down in the first quarter of this year from the year-earlier period. While the company expects total spending for the year to come in flat at $17 billion, the writers' strike adds further risks as some of the streamer's top-performing shows, including "Stranger Things" and "Cobra Kai," have paused production in the face of the shutdown.

Earlier this month, Hollywood writers began a strike in protest of higher wages and other demands amid the streaming boom. That set off a production shutdown across the entire industry.

While Moody's has warned that some media companies could see credit ratings suffer as a result of the strike, others point out that cutting content costs is a good thing for the industry as investors increasingly focus on profitability.

"A production work stoppage or even a slowdown that simply utilizes scripts on-hand could lead to far less content being delivered to subscription streaming services in 2H 2023," Rich Greenfield, analyst at Lightshed Partners, wrote in a note last month. "If content is not delivered to a streaming service, the expense is not borne by the streamer. In turn, multi-billion dollar operating losses could come in significantly better than expected with free cash flow also ending up being far greater than expected (remember how Netflix free cash flow came in far better than expected during the pandemic)."

Netflix's reduction in spending in the first quarter  $2.5 billion this year, down from $3.6 billion a year ago helped improve overall free cash flow, which hit $2.1 billion in Q1 compared to just $802 million in the year-ago period. The company also raised its full-year free cash flow projection to "at least $3.5 billion," up from the previous $3 billion.

Strike poses other risks

Fran Drescher, left, president of SAG-AFTRA, and Meredith Stiehm, president of Writers Guild of America West, pose together during a rally by striking writers outside Paramount Pictures studio, Monday, May 8, 2023, in Los Angeles. The ongoing writers' strike could impact content spend, as well as revenue and subscriber upticks, at big companies like Netflix and Disney. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

That doesn't mean the strike is necessarily good for media companies.

Paramount (PARA) CEO Bob Bakish said on the company's latest earnings call that the impact of the strike depends on how long it goes on.

"In terms of financial impact, it really ultimately depends on duration of strike," he said at the time. "But at this point, we think it's probably slightly dilutive to revenue, flat on [operating income before appreciation and amortization] and accretive [to cash spend.]"

JPMorgan analyst Doug Anmuth wrote in a note on Tuesday that Netflix could be weighing a delay of its password sharing crackdown in the US amid the strike  a decision that will likely impact revenue, subscribers, and the growth of its ad-supported tier.

"Paid sharing is effectively a price increase, w/paid members sharing their password receiving less value for the same price, or potentially paying more to add an extra member. And for borrowers who currently do not pay, paid sharing means either activating their own subscription or being added as an extra member, or losing access to NFLX," Anmuth said.

As a result, he argued, "Its possible that NFLX may not like the optics of implementing paid sharing while 11,500 WGA writers are on strike, w/production suspended or writing paused across at least a handful of NFLX titles including Stranger Things S5 & Emily in Paris S4, among others."

Netflix, which did not immediately respond to Yahoo Finance's request for comment on the impending rollout, previously said 100 million users have shared accounts. Anmuth estimated at least 30 million within that bucket could be converted to paying users whether as add-on members or new subscribers.

Therefore, an ongoing strike "could further postpone revenue & subscriber acceleration."

Anmuth also warned of a ripple effect to Netflix's recently launched ad-supported tier, writing: "Ultimately, advertising is closely tied to paid sharing, w/borrowers likely viewing a $6.99 Standard w/Ads plan as a compelling low-priced option. Therefore, ramp of the ad tier is also delayed if paid sharing is delayed."

Advertising, already under pressure amid macroeconomic headwinds, has been further complicated by the ongoing strike.

As Anmuth pointed out, Netflix's first-ever Upfront presentation shifted from an in-person event to a virtual one. The analyst surmised the shift was "tied to the risk of heavy picketing & protesting at an in-person event, as well as less availability of star talent." Disney, Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) and NBCUniversal (CMCSA) also dealt with more subdued Upfront presentations amid a lack of acting and writing talent.

Alexandra Canal is a Senior Reporter at Yahoo Finance. Follow her on Twitter @allie_canal, LinkedIn, and email her at alexandra.canal@yahoofinance.com

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Prince Harry and Meghan Markle attend the Ms. Foundation Women of Vision Awards on May 16, 2023, in New York City. Kevin Mazur/Getty Images Ms. Foundation for Women

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry appeared on the red carpet for the first time in five months.

On Tuesday, the royal couple attended Ms. Foundation's Women of Vision Awards in NYC.

They were joined by Doria Ragland for the ceremony, where Meghan received a prestigious award.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle made their first joint red-carpet appearance in five months at the Ms. Foundation Women of Vision Awards in New York on Tuesday.

The couple was joined by Meghan's mother, Doria Ragland, at the event hosted at the Ziegfeld Ballroom in New York City. Both Harry and Ragland were there to support Meghan, who was an honoree at the award ceremony.

While accepting the award, which was presented to her by Ms. Foundation co-founder and feminist icon Gloria Steinem, Meghan spoke of how the organization continues to inspire her, the Associated Press reported.

"It allowed me to recognize that part of my greater value and purpose in life was to advocate for those who felt unheard, to stand up to injustice, and to not be afraid of saying what is true and what is just and what is right," Meghan said.

Meghan Markle onstage with Gloria Steinem and Teresa Younger during the Ms. Foundation Women of Vision Awards on May 16, 2023, in New York City. Kevin Mazur/Getty Images Ms. Foundation for Women

"It's never too late to start," Meghan said. "You can be the visionary of your own life... There is still so much work to be done."

For the event, the Duchess of Sussex wore a strapless gold Johanna Ortiz midi dress constructed with metallic jacquard fabric. The sleek gown features a bustier-style bodice and a diamond-shaped cutout. Ortiz reshared images of Meghan wearing the dress on her Instagram, detailing that it comes from her FW Libertad collection.

It's currently sold out on Saks Fifth Avenue, but originally retailed at $1,850.

Meanwhile, Harry joined her in a navy-blue suit, a white shirt, and a light-blue printed tie.

Their NYC outing marked the first time the couple has been photographed together at a significant event since the Ripple of Hope Awards in December 2022, given that Meghan did not attend the coronation of King Charles on May 6.

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Doria Ragland, Prince Harry, and Meghan Markle at the Ms. Foundation Women of Vision Awards on May 16, 2023, in New York City. Kevin Mazur/Getty Images Ms. Foundation for Women

The Duchess of Sussex received her Women of Vision award alongside the Black Voters Matter movement co-founder LaTosha Brown, who also said she acknowledged a need for more to be done in her own acceptance speech.

"Even pain has a purpose," Brown told the audience. "What's happening in this country right now, this isn't just a matter about what the Republicans or the Democrats are going to do. It really is a question about what is it that we're going to do collectively to lean into this moment of discomfort and recognize it as an opportunity to get it right because we haven't gotten it right."

Representatives for Johanna Ortiz and the Duke and Duchess of Sussex did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.

Read the original article on Insider
Bilawal Bhatti and Maqbool Ahmed

Nearly 25 million people are trapped in modern-day slavery across Asian and the Pacific regions.

Families in Pakistan can be forced into bonded labor, working in grueling conditions at brick kilns.

Here are organizations that provide resources for these families.

Vasanti Megwhar and her family spend their days making bricks under the sun of the Thar Desert in southeast Pakistan, where temperatures can climb as high as 122 degrees.

The Megwhars are one of millions of families across South Asia who work in punishing conditions at brick kilns to pay off an unknown amount of debt to wealthy landowners. Lawyers told Insider that these kilns are part of a system of "modern-day slavery."

Insider recently went to the brick kiln in the Thar Desert to document the conditions families such as the Megwhars are forced to work under.

Although Pakistan abolished forced labor in 1992, the law is not well enforced and experts told Insider that kiln owners often have government ties which make it easier to escape enforcement.

Now, organizations such as Green Bricks Foundations are working to raise money and provide other resources such as access to schools to support families stuck in forced labor.

Here's a list of groups you can donate to:

Green Bricks Foundation

Green Bricks Foundation is spearheaded by the Society for the Protection of the Rights of the Child (SPARC), a Pakistan-based non-governmental organization founded in 1992. According to the organization, SPARC has helped free over 17,000 workers by taking their cases to court, Zahid Thebo, a SPARC program manager, told Insider.

Green Bricks Foundation created a new donation page after seeing the interest from viewers who wanted to help the family featured in Insider's documentary. Thebo said that donations from this page will go toward first paying off the Meghwar's loans and moving them into a safe shelter. The NGO will use additional funds to build a school in Azad Nagar, the city where they house freed families.

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So far, Thebo said the NGO has raised about $700 and is working on rescuing the Meghwar's. But he emphasized that his work doesn't stop here and there are still thousands of families in Pakistan's Sindh province alone who need help.

Bonded Labour Liberation Front Pakistan

The Bonded Labour Liberation Front Pakistan (BLLF) plainly states that its mission is "total eradication of "bonded labor and child labor from South Asia." The group's work consists of educating people on how to exercise their rights and advocating for a government response to bonded labor issues, according to its website.

"We cannot rely on judicial activism alone," Syeda Ghulam Fatima, BLLF's secretary told The News on Sunday. "We need strong laws passed by the parliament to completely eradicate the practice of bonded labor. Many of the laws are weak or not enforced in their true spirit."

In 2015, a photo campaign by Humans of New York chronicling the lives of those trapped in bonded labor resulted in an outpouring of support for Fatima's work. The group raised over $2 million to help end the illegal practice.

Anti-Slavery International

Anti-Slavery International (ASI) is a UK-based NGO that partners with organizations, businesses, and governments to end slavery around the world. Founded in 1839, Anti-Slavery International is one of the oldest international human rights organizations, according to its website.

In its 2022 impact report, ASI said that it helped end state-imposed forced labor in Uzbekistan after a 15-year pressure campaign on the government and raised about $4.3 million, among other achievements.

Global Fund to End Modern Slavery

The Global Fund to End Modern Slavery (GFEMS) is an international fund with over 40 projects implemented across India, Bangladesh, Vietnam, and a host of other countries, leading a coordinated global effort to address trafficking and forced labor. In 2018, the US government provided GFEMS with a $21 million dollar grant to help the group expand its efforts.

In 2021, the fund aided 1,300 survivors by providing basic needs, education, or other support services.

Freedom Fund

The Freedom Fund is another global fund working to end modern slavery in countries where the issue is prevalent or, as the nonprofit calls it, "hotspots." Areas include Brazil, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Kenya, India, and Thailand, among other countries. Part of its efforts includes providing resources for grassroots organizations working on the frontlines of the issue.

According to the organization, Freedom Fund supported nearly 1.5 million people across hotspot areas in 2021 and 2022. About $70.6 million were invested into the Freedom Fund's hotspot programs.

Read the original article on Insider
Nine people have pleaded guilty for their involvement in the 2021 kidnapping and brutal killing of Georgia woman Rossana Delgado, according to state officials.

Delgado, a mother of two from Venezuela, was kidnapped at a shopping mall and then transported between various locations until she was brought to a remote rural cabin rented under a stolen identity in Gilmer County, Georgia, where she was tortured and dismembered, and authorities later found her burned body.

Police say the 37-year-old was lured to the mall in Dekalb County in April 2021 under the false pretences of a shopping trip.

This matter not only spanned across numerous local and state jurisdictions, but also involved the assistance of the federal government in extraditing defendants from Mexico, Appalachian Judicial Circuit District Attorney B Alison Sosebee said in a statement to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

It is my hope, even though this matter remains open, that the resolutions and sentences entered at this time will assist the family and loved ones of Rossana Delgado in beginning to obtain closure, she added.

In February of 2022, a grand jury indicted 14 people for their involvement in the kidnapping.

Three of those wanted in connection with the killing are still at large, according to the paper.

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation, which lead the investigation into the abduction, has not specified how all those wanted in connection with the crime are related.

Some of those who pleaded guilty were arrested at various locations in Mexico and extradited back to the US, according to prosecutors.

Delgado, a rideshare driver, told family members she was going on one last trip before heading home the day of her disappearance.

Her husband became concerned when she didnt return home that night and retraced her steps using her cell phones location tracking features.

At one of the locations where she had been, he found a bloody face mask, prompting him to call the police.

Investigators eventually found Delgados body at a cabin 120 miles from her last location.

In addition to individual charges, the nine all pleaded guilty to violating the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, which is used to prosecute organized and gang crime.
REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov

The head of a U.S.-based nonprofit that fights against Russian repression, the Free Russia Foundation, says she was possibly poisoned by some nerve agent while on a recent trip to Europe, in a possible sign that Russia's poison team is targeting critics again.

There is a suspicion that during my recent trip to Europe I was poisoned, possibly by some nerve agent, investigated by one Western intelligence agency, I still have neuropathy symptoms, but overall I feel much better, Natalia Arno, who has lived in the U.S. for a decade, said in a social media post.

Arnos symptoms set in while she was on a trip to the Czech Republic early this month, according to independent Russian news outlet Agentsvo, which described the founder as a U.S. citizen. Arno did not respond to a comment request from The Daily Beast by the time of publication.

She doesn't appear to be alone. At least two other Kremlin critics have reportedly been targeted in suspected poisoning attacks since 2020, including former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine John Herbst, according to Agentsvo.

Herbst fell ill in April 2021 and came down with symptoms that could be consistent with poisoning, but testing was inconclusive, according to a statement from the Atlantic Council, where Herbst works now.

In April 2021 he grew ill and experienced symptoms that could have been consistent with poisoning, including elevated levels of toxins in his blood. Medical professionals treated Ambassador Herbst effectively at the time but could not definitively conclude there was poisoning involved, the statement says. The Atlantic Council worked with federal law enforcement on this matter, who later also took a blood sample from Ambassador Herbst, and the lab results failed to detect toxic compounds.

Herbst declined to share more details with The Daily Beast about how he came down with symptoms.

Litvinenko: The Harrowing Story of the Russian Defector Who Says He Was Poisoned by Putin

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In Arno's case, she said that she returned to an open hotel room door on the day of the suspected attack. She checked the room for bugs or listening devices and did not find any. But she did notice her room was filled with a strange smell similar to the aroma of cheap perfumes, she said.

In the second city, after a busy day of discussions and meetings, I returned to my hotel in the evening and found the door to my room slightly open. First thoughtis Comrade Major really waiting inside? Arno said, adding that she later woke up at 5am in acute pain with strange symptoms.

Then she flew to the United States to contact the authorities and to seek medical attention while suffering from what she described as vivid numbness. Emergency room tests showed no traces of anythingnot even alcoholshe said, which seemed bizarre given that she had just come from what she described as one of the beer capitals of the world.

A Russian journalist reportedly informed the Agentsvo that she developed likely poisoning symptoms as well.

Other suspicious intimidation tactics have reportedly cropped up in recent months. Christo Grozev, an executive of Bellingcat, which has previously investigated Russian poisoning schemes, was the target of a hotel room break-in, according to Agentsvo.

Four of his acquaintances told the outlet that his hotel room in Montenegro was broken into just two months after the war in Ukraine began. Grozev did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Daily Beast.

Russia has long conducted poisoning operations targeting its critics. The USSR created Lab X, a department aimed at poisoning enemies of the Soviet Union, in 1921, but experts say it still exists in some form today.

In 2018, Russian operatives in the U.K. targeted Sergei Skripal, a former Russian intelligence agent, with the nerve agent Novichok. Skripal and his daughter, Yulia Skripal, nearly died after the exposure, which killed a bystander. World leaders from the United States, France, Germany, and the U.K. said Russia was behind the attack.

In 2020, the FSB likely used Novichok to poison Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny, according to the State Department. Alexander Litvinenko, a former KGB and FSB officer, was killed in 2006 after drinking a radioactive cup of tea in London. Viktor Yushchenko, an anti-Russian Ukrainian presidential candidate, was poisoned with dioxin chemicals in 2004.

Russian critics need to be on alert that they might be targeted for intimidation and repression operations, including via threats and poisonings, Arno warned.

Moral: Russians who had to leave Putin's Russia, but who abroad continue to fight firmly and decisively against the war, against Putin's regime and for a free and democratic Russia, need to understand that the enemy has long legs, there is the possibility to expose us to danger outside Russia, so we must always be vigilant, Arno said.

It's terrible to think that you can be poisoned at any moment, but everything that Putin's regime does is horrible, abnormal and criminal: from bombs dropping on peaceful cities of neighboring countries to such cases of transnational repression, Arno said. The enemy is dangerous, aggressive and criminal, we know it very well.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

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Stop fertilizing lawns as of June 1 to help Indian River Lagoon

Please accept this reminder that fertilizer restrictions will go into effect on June 1.

We are coming into our rainy season when more nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorous (as well as herbicides, pet waste, etc,) are likely to be washed from our lawns, driveways and roads into the stormwater system and, ultimately, into our already impaired Indian River Lagoon.

The fertilizer ordinances passed by our communities prohibit the use of lawn fertilizer between June 1 and Sept. 30. No fertilizer containing phosphorous is to be used at any time. All fertilizers must contain at least 50% slow-release nitrogen. Finally, no fertilizer is to be applied within 10 feet of any water body, a wetland, or from the top of a seawall.

If you use a lawn care provider, please discuss these regulations with the company and ask its employees not to blow grass clippings onto the road or into storm drains. This vegetation contains the nutrients from fertilizer that only adds to the pollution of our waterways. For details regarding the ordinance and fertilizing tips, please see Indian River Countys video at ircgov.com/publicworks/stormwater/fertilizer.htm or email Alexis Peralta, the countys stormwater educator and fertilizer enforcement officer, at aperalta@ircgov.com.

For your health and the health of our waterways, complying with the fertilizer ordinance is more important than ever as excess nutrients encourage the growth of harmful and possibly toxic algal blooms. These blooms are already being reported in other parts of our state. Please do your part to improve water quality by obeying the fertilizer ordinance.

Jean Catchpole, Vero Beach, serves on the Water & Lagoon Committee of the Indian River Neighborhood Association.

What'd it say? I asked ChatGPT where it'd put Brightline stop on Treasure Coast; here's what AI bot said

Fried brings passion for hope, change in Florida

Nikki Fried, Florida Democratic Party chair, recently spoke at an event in Martin County. I was one of more than 200 people at the Martin Downs Country Club at a unity event sponsored by the Martin County Democrats. I was impressed by Frieds energy and her hope for change in Florida.

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Fried began her talk to great applause by saying: I guarantee that Ron DeSantis will not be president of the United States!

She said a majority of Florida voters oppose abortion bans, yet DeSantis pushed this through the Florida Legislature. She went on to say that because of the bills signed by DeSantis, people are leaving Florida. Teachers, members of the LGBTQ community, students and professors are leaving. Professors do not want to come to Florida because there is no academic freedom.

Fried asked Democrats to get active now in reaching out to their neighbors to urge them to vote, saying: We need to elect Democratic legislators!

Organizations represented at the event included the NAACP, Planned Parenthood, Connected Martin, PFLAG Palm Beach, unions, LGBTQ organizations and womens organizations.

Fried concluded that the people of Florida need to unite in common purpose to protect freedom and democracy. She urged the crowd to, be that force of energy to swing the pendulum back in Florida to the Democratic Party.

Louise Cunha, Stuart

'Perceived deprivation': Shame on us for being 'played' by political extremes

In Americans are being scared stupid by the political class, columnist Cameron Smith claims outrage makes us less intelligent.

He explains that, because weve been warned (falsely) of our looming demise  for all kinds of questionable reasons  were treating relatively remote political possibilities (we dont like) as a present reality. Political psychologists call this behavior perceived deprivation.

Because perceived deprivation can raise our stress levels, some of us have become impatient and politically short-tempered. Many Americans live with the fear their preferred way of life is threatened by cultural changes, a fear politicians shamelessly exploit via exaggerated culture war and other hot button issues. Smith argues: When we dont immediately see the political relief from those potential hazards  often inflated by political nonsense  we become frustrated and angry.

Our prefrontal cortex is responsible for our highest-order cognitive abilities; however, this region of our brains is sensitive to the detrimental effects of stress. Thus, when we allow ourselves to be stirred to anger by external influences, were often pressed into fight-or-flight mode. When we react like this, were less capable of rational thought devoid of negative emotions.

Clever political operatives have been scheming diligently for decades to drive Americans toward partisan polarities far right or far left. Their successful efforts have destroyed the political middle ground, where reasonable compromises are possible.

(For me, this divide-and-conquer strategy began in earnest in 1980, when a niche issue  abortion  propelled by one of Americas first potent political action committees was weaponized to target and defeat four moderate Democratic senators. Once a hole was bored through our political center, both sides started slipping toward more extreme positions.)

Weve been played shamelessly. But its our fault for giving in to intense political manipulation.

Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me.

Cray Little, Vero Beach

Stuart perfect location for Brightline stop

Since the Brightline train will need to slow down substantially near the bridge in Stuart, it makes sense Stuart should have a train terminal.

Slowing down is major part of stopping. Why waste the deceleration?

Bob Gazdowicz, Stuart

Put Brightline stop in Treasure Coast's biggest city

Port St Lucie is ready to have a train station, with a ticket booth. The city proposed it and got denied. I spoke to the woman that worked on the proposal.

It has a full parking lot. Benches. Everything ready to go. All set. We have the most people in all of the Treasure Coast, including the most in need of affordable transportation.

Not Vero Beach. They are rich. We are poor. We have more than five times the amount of people, and are growing with corporations coming here.

So I ask you, why Vero Beach?

Tova Hornung, Port St. Lucie

Brightline: Why do leaders accept bad things for Martin County?

In response to the news Brightline will shut down Stuart's Confusion Corner more than a week on top of closing the St. Lucie River railroad bridge for three weeks:

Railroad barons seem to do whatever they please without any discussion. It was all decided a long time ago.

I write letters, picket, march and talk at meetings against things that are not good for our lives in Martin County. It seems to do no good at all.

Follow the money. That is the only answer that makes sense.

I try hard not to be cynical, but the longer I observe the political and governmental scene here, it is difficult.

Karl Thonnes, Stuart

Put Brightline stop in-between Treasure Coast cities

My view on where to place a Brightline station would be to avoid crowded downtown areas.

Put it halfway between two cities, where it's still close, but has ample room for parking and expansion. Feed it with local buses if need be. That way it serves two populations well and not just one.

Halfway between Stuart and Fort Pierce is my pick.

The downtown areas in Stuart and Jensen Beach near where I live are already overdeveloped and most citizens in the area do not desire more growth. Sure, it would be nice to place a train station in a crowded area as it would boost property values nearby and make ice cream shops, etc., more profitable, but that's not what I or many folks want.

Jim Knape, Jensen Beach

Will Moms for Liberty, anyone else help Save the Americans?

I expect to take heat for this, but here goes:

I am addressing the elephant in the room, assault weapons. I'm not looking to ban your rifle for hunting or your handgun to defend your home or self. I would like to see the sale of assault weapons banned temporarily, if not forever, to see if the killing stops or slows down.

Thoughts, prayers, the whys or the hows of the incidents are irrelevant. Americans are dying. Our government officials are ineffective. Is there one of them that will stand up and address this problem?

Animals in the woods seemingly have a better chance of not getting shot than Americans at the mall, in schools and churches these days. Maybe Moms for Liberty and other such organizations could use their political clout to Save the Americans.

Mildred Bernier, Vero Beach

Recent mass shootings show issues with assailants, not guns

The gun grabbers will use the shooting at the Texas mall as a reason to call for confiscation of all guns.

Well, they need to fix the system. This is a failure of the system. The shooter was discharged from the Army, related to mental health issues. He was being treated and his family knew he had mental health issues. Why was he able to purchase guns, ammo and body armor? He should have been in the database preventing him from purchasing anything related to guns.

We have to change the HIPAA law to require mental health professionals to report patients and their prognoses to the FBI. The Army should be required to report anyone discharged for mental issues. This is the same issue that applies to the transgender grammar school shooter.

When are we going to realize it's not the weapon, but the shooter?

Bob Heckman, Vero Beach

Migrants and asylum seekers from Peru wait for Border Patrol agents to pick them up after crossing the U.S.-Mexico border in San Luis, Ariz., on May 12, 2023.

Ongoing border mess shows nation has lost sovereignty

Anyone who crosses our border without full and complete authorization is in violation of our countrys sovereignty, which states a country that does not have absolute rule over its own domain is not considered an independent national power.

Obviously, our government does not care. Any given day, people cross our southern border in staggering numbers, recently more than 2,000 a day, with absolutely no authorization. We have thousands of unauthorized people in our country with more on the way.

The security of our people and the country concerns me, especially with all the serious crimes that we are experiencing. Our world is in great turmoil. I believe that our country has a long way to go before we can claim sovereignty of our border.

It has been more than a decade since our government threw our border law under the bus. This was the only law that carried a criminal charge. Now that it is not illegal to cross without authorization, there is no reason not to cross the border. If this is not illegal, then it must be legal.

We cannot adopt so many people from the southern hemisphere without doing our own selves in. With our present economy, most of those people crossing are not going to be self sufficient. Obviously, our government has surrendered our sovereignty.

Frank Reynolds, Vero Beach

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on April 21, and former President Donald Trump on March 4.

Trump, DeSantis epitomize, 'What's in it for me?'

Gov. Ron DeSantis exposes his insecurity by seeking to hold his office as he campaigns for president on our tax dollars.

He and Donald Trump are conjoined at the cerebrum via "What is in it for me?"

The state of our state is defined by the one GOP vote against the DeSantis Disney bill by Sen. Joe Gruters. The constitutional checks and balances are of no use in Florida. The demigod of Florida removes from office seemingly anyone who opposes his Draconian rule and appoints "yes-governor" stooges. He presides over a legislative bunch of drones who give him dictatorial authority.

I remind you of his appointment of the yes-doctor who approved his demand for no COVID mask protection as millions of kids, parents and grandparents were dying for his way of promoting Florida the Free State. Is residual COVID a reason young adults go on killing sprees?

Perhaps the almighty behind the curtain will take away our guns, or will dissenters start falling from 10th-floor windows?

DeSantis smells of his authority at Guantanamo Bay, as in giddy with power. The disagreeing of a newspaper should be a headline expose, not an editorial on the Opinion page.

Lowell Sasser, Fort Pierce

Who is behind riots? What impact do drugs have?

It may be way past time to ask, and find out, how many of these shooters and troublemakers are on drugs. All we hear about is guns, but it isnt always the guns.

The chokehold has been taught and used to restrain bad guys forever. However, today's drugs havent been around and used so permissively forever. Its a different world today, unfortunately.

So before condemning the marine who took action on the subway, and even the policeman in the Floyd case, check for the use of drugs first before going on a rampage. Taking down a drug user is a whole different ballgame.

We hear about inciting a riot in the Jan. 6 case: How about the often-paid hoodlums inciting the street riots weve been watching?

Whos putting up the money, who are the leaders of these riots, and of course, whos using the drugs?

Joan Hall, Vero Beach

This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Trump, DeSantis, Moms for Liberty; Florida Dems; Brightline | Letters
This is a breaking news story. Check back to idahostatesman.com for updates.

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The University of Idaho plans to acquire the University of Phoenix for $550 million via a not-for-profit entity it has created.

The proposal is up for approval by the Idaho State Board of Education at a special meeting Thursday at 1 p.m. Mountain time. According to a news release from the State Board on Wednesday, the University of Phoenix would move from a for-profit to a not-for-profit institution after receiving various regulatory approvals.

The request from U of I comes less than a month after the University of Arkansas System board of trustees voted to reject a similar measure to acquire the University of Phoenix, Inside Higher Ed reported in April.

The University of Phoenix is a predominantly online school with about 85,000 students, according to a page about the acquisition on U of Is website. The university, started in 1976, once had many physical locations across the country, but they have mostly shuttered, including one that used to be in Meridian.

In the early 2000s, University of Phoenix experienced massive growth, with over 450,000 students, but has since seen sharp declines in enrollment. On U of Is website, it notes that the school has been criticized, and sued, for business decisions leading to millions of dollars in fines and punitive actions by regulators.

The school had a lawsuit settlement over deceptive advertising that totaled $191 million in 2019.

U of I said the primary reason it wants to affiliate with the University of Phoenix is to give students more opportunities to be successful. Both institutions serve a large number of first-generation students, the school said, and it believes U of I would benefit from the acquisition.

The university also said the move would allow it to diversify its revenue streams and improve access to higher education with expanded online technologies.

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As we face a national enrollment cliff in traditional students and increased demand from adult learners, this brings together two institutions that complement each other and share a vision for student success, U of I said on its website.

To acquire the University of Phoenix, the Moscow school formed a not-for-profit corporation to purchase all Phoenix assets. That includes the universitys digital education platform and a few remaining leases for physical locations. According to U of Is website, a few of the schools campuses remain open for now but are expected to transition to completely online.

U of I said it plans to keep the University of Phoenixs leadership and staff. The universitys Phoenix campus, which houses administrative offices, would not close.

The deal is expected to be finalized by early 2024 if the State Board gives the OK.

The purchase price is $550 million, but the seller would provide $200 million in cash that would transfer to the not-for-profit entity once the transaction is complete, according to U of I.

U of I said it would finance the deal through both nontaxable and taxable bonds, which would be separate from the money used to fund the universitys budgets. Idaho taxpayers would not be involved in paying for the acquisition, but the university has agreed to fork over $10 million a year should the not-for-profit entity running University of Phoenix miss payments on debt related to the transaction.

The University of Phoenix currently generates about $100 million in annual cash flow, according to U of I.

In addition to approval from the Idaho State Board of Education, the acquisition would need the green light from U of Is accreditor, the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities, and University of Phoenixs accreditor, the Higher Learning Commission.

Idaho college students will see tuition hikes for first time in years. What to expect

Bryan Kohberger indicted by grand jury in Moscow killings. June hearing canceled

Who won Meridian Library seats in Tuesdays election? Did West Ada levy pass? Results here
White nationalism is racism.

Dont take it from me. Thats the dictionary definition.

The belief, theory, or doctrine that white people are inherently superior to people from all other racial and ethnic groups, and that in order to preserve their white, European, and Christian cultural identities, they need or deserve a segregated geographical area, preferential treatment, and special legal protections, says dictionary.com.

And the definition of a white nationalist?

One of a group of militant white people who espouse white supremacy and advocate enforced racial segregation, says Merriam-Webster.

Its tragically easy to find examples of these thugs spilling blood over the pages of Alabama history. White nationalism has strangled democracy and public education in our state and ruined millions of lives.

So when Alabamas senior senator treats this lethal, authoritarian concept as just another shade of opinion, you better be outraged.

U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Alabama

Last Monday, WBHM published an interview with U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville about his holds on military promotions. Tuberville is blocking the promotions because of a Pentagon policy on abortion, a move that even Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell thinks a bit much.

In the middle of a rambling answer to a question about what message his stand sends to foreign adversaries, Tuberville brought up white nationalism.

The Democrats are attacking our military, saying we need to get out the white extremists, the white nationalists, people that dont believe in our agenda, as Joe Bidens agenda, he said. Theyre destroying it. This year, we will not reach any recruiting goals in the military. So, if we want to talk about  looking weak  thats where were going to look weak.

If you read this as Tuberville saying that kicking racists out of the military is a sign of weakness, youre not alone.

When interviewer Richard Banks asked Tuberville if he believes white nationalists should be allowed to enlist, Tuberville said They call them that. I call them Americans.

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Later in the interview, the senator said this country is for all of us, but not after suggesting Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, who is Black, expelled white nationalists because he opposed people that dont believe how we believe.

Let me be clear: I am 100% in favor of expelling racists from the military. I am even more in favor of keeping violent racists as far from the nations largest cache of automatic weapons as existentially possible.

Tubervilles office didnt respond to questions I sent on Wednesday. In a statement to al.com, a spokesperson said the comments showed Tuberville was skeptical of the notion that there are white nationalists in the military, not that he believes they should be in the military. (A few days after this statement, the Washington Post reported Jack Teixeira, accused of leaking classified information as a member of the Air National Guard, had used slurs in posted videos and appeared to be preparing for a race war.)

When NBC News reporter Julie Tsirkin explained to Tuberville what a white nationalist is, Tuberville said I look at a white nationalist as a Trump Republican. Thats what were called all the time.

Given multiple chances to condemn white nationalism as a cancer on our nation; given plenty of opportunities to say racism is a threat to our national defense, Tuberville did what Alabama leaders always do: retreat into whiny, self-pitying victimhood.

Its true that Tuberville is a fan of former President Donald Trump. He owes his place in the Senate to straight-ticket Republican voting for Trump that allowed Tuberville to overcome a significant financial disadvantage against then-U.S. Sen. Doug Jones in 2020. (Jones happens to share my stance on violent racists.)

As Trump spewed lies about his loss that year, Tuberville voted to overturn the results of democratic elections in Arizona and Pennsylvania, even as an authoritarian mob put his life and the lives of other duly-elected officials in danger.

When a New York jury last week found Trump civilly liable for sexually abusing and defaming the writer E. Jean Carroll in a civil case, Tuberville said the verdict makes me want to vote for him twice.

And at a campaign rally in Nevada for Trump last October, Tuberville accused Democrats of being pro-crime, and then went even further.

They want crime, because they want to take over what you got, he said. They want to control what you have. They want reparations because they think the people that do the crime are owed that.

Reparations are proposals to financially compensate Black Americans for the generation-spanning damage that slavery and segregation did to their physical, psychological and economic well-being. Tuberville equated Black Americans to people that do the crime.

Will Tuberville pay any kind of political price for this? Probably not. After all, the senators not doing anything to upset Republican activists, like fighting to expand health care coverage or trying to save Alabamians from the gun violence killing our state.

As long as Tuberville can get through a GOP primary every six years and keep that R next to his name, hell have job security.

And if he has to repeatedly abase himself before Trump to do so, all the better. GOP primary voters want one and only one thing from federal officeholders: total submission to the former president. If they could elect a parrot trained to push voting buttons the way Trump wants, your social media would be flooded with officials posing with MAGA-branded cuttlebones.

But you should still be outraged.

A senator from a state where at least 359 men and women were lynched between 1877 and 1950 should condemn the poison of white supremacy in forceful and unmistakable terms.

A man who values the conspiracy theories of a habitual liar over the sworn testimony of a woman should not be in a position of power.

And a state that put that man in the Senate should be ashamed.

Brian Lyman is the editor of the Alabama Reflector.

Brian Lyman is the editor of Alabama Reflector. He has covered Alabama politics since 2006, and worked at the Montgomery Advertiser, the Press-Register and The Anniston Star. His work has won awards from the Associated Press Managing Editors, the Alabama Press Association and Robert F. Kennedy Center for Human Rights. He lives in Auburn with his wife, Julie, and their three children.

Alabama Reflector is part of States Newsroom, an independent nonprofit website covering politics and policy in state capitals around the nation.

This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: White nationalism is racism
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!
Hope and Sesame  Barista Blend Sesamemilk is gaining popularity with influential cafes and consumers, launching on more menus across the US and Canada

Hope and Sesame showcased its full line up of shelf-stable Sesamemilk in six innovative hot and iced beverages at the 2023 Specialty Coffee Association Expo in Portland, Oregon, April 20-23 2023

CHICAGO, IL and VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / May 17, 2023 / The Planting Hope Company Inc. (TSXV:MYLK)(OTCQB:MYLKF)(FRA:J94) ("Planting Hope" or the "Company"), a plant-based food and beverage company focused on producing the world's most nutritious and planet-friendly products, is proud to announce that Hope and Sesame continues to expand distribution of its Barista Blend Sesamemilk to influential distribution partners and leading fifth wave cafes across the US and Canada, including:

The Roasters Pack, Toronto ON (leading coffee distributor operating Canada's largest coffee subscription business)

The Green Line Cafe coffee chain (all locations), Philadelphia, PA

JinJin Matcha's Matcha + Tea Room, Tacoma, WA

Two Sparrows Cupcakes & Coffee Bar, Nainamo, BC

Hideout Coffee, Boise, IA

10 Dean Cafe, Toronto, ON

"We're thrilled with the excitement around Sesamemilk as it's embraced as the new it' milk by leading influential cafes and distribution partners," said Julia Stamberger, CEO and Co-Founder, Planting Hope. "Customers are citing a number of reasons why they're thrilled by Sesamemilk, from taste, to fantastic performance in barista applications, to sustainability. In the ongoing evolution of the cafe industry, now entering its fifth wave of development, plant milk is quickly gaining traction in cafes, and Sesamemilk is entering this market at the right time and right place to become the next leading subcategory next to oat milk on the menu."

The Plant Milk Revolution is Being Led by Gen Z - in Coffee Houses and Cafes

Multiple research reports suggest that Generation Z ("Gen Z"), the demographic cohort born between the mid-to-late 1990s and early 2010s, is turning against dairy milk: Pan-European dairy co-op Arla found that 49% of Gen Z felt ashamed to order dairy products in public in front of their peers, and 57% plan to give up dairy milk completely. Who is buying alternative milks? More than 40% are aged 35 or younger. According to the New York Times, Gen Z and young Millennials are stepping away from traditional dairy milk and consuming more plant-milk options, for both health and environmental reasons, purchasing 20% less dairy milk last year than the national average.

Gen Z is a generation of coffee house consumers; one third buy five or more foodservice beverages every week. Per the Project Cafe USA 2020 industry report published by Allegra Group's World Coffee Portal, the coffee shop market in the US currently exceeds $45.8 billion and is anticipated to scale to more than $60 billion by the end of 2027.

Gen Z Values Sustainability - And Is Willing to Pay More For More Sustainable Products

Sustainability and climate awareness are top priorities for Gen Z and Millennials. More than 75% of Generation Z shoppers prefer to buy sustainable brands, and most are willing to spend 10% more on sustainable products, stating that sustainability is more important to them than brand names.

"We're exceptionally excited to distribute Hope and Sesame to our cafe clients," said Suneal Pabari, Co-Founder & CEO of The Roasters Pack. "It's an incredibly innovative product that is pushing forward on environmental sustainability - which is exactly the direction that specialty coffee should be heading. Not to mention the fact that it steams great, is healthy and of course, tastes so dang good." The Roasters Pack Wholesale is a specialty coffee distribution subdivision of The Roasters Pack, the largest coffee subscription in Canada. The wholesale division distributes essential supplies to more than 50 cafes in Toronto, the Greater Toronto Area, and Southern Ontario.

Leading Influential Cafes are Sesamemilk's Early Adopters

The Green Line Cafe, a five-door coffee chain in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, whose primary client base is Gen Z and Millennial consumers, has also added Hope and Sesame Barista Blend Sesamemilk to its everyday selection of alt milks after sampling Barista Blend at New York Coffee Fest in March 2023.

The Green Line Cafe noted on its Instagram page that "In addition to pairing really well with espresso to make super tasty lattes, sesame milk is an incredibly sustainable and planet-friendly plant-based milk. Sesame is a hearty drought-tolerant, self-pollinating, naturally pest-resistant crop, AND Hope and Sesame uses upcycled seeds already used in sesame oil production to make their milks extra low waste!"

The Green Line Cafe Instagram launch post and sidewalk sign featured in The Philadelphia Inquirer, displays Hope and Sesame Barista Blend Sesame Milk in April 2023.

Cafe Culture - and Sesamemilk Applications - Extend Far Beyond Coffee

Hope and Sesame Barista Blend is also showing early signs of success with non-coffee based beverage cafes, such as JinJin Matcha, a new Matcha and Tea room located in Tacoma, Washington. Discovering that Sesamemilk and Matcha were the perfect pairing, JinJin Matcha added Hope and Sesame Barista Blend to their permanent menu and noted that they've "been loving [the] milk!" As beverage innovation becomes more important to consumers and cafes alike, Hope and Sesame is leading the charge by bringing forward new sesamemilk-based recipes developed by barista influencers and Planting Hope Michelin-Starred Chef Henry Hill.

Planting Hope Showcases Six Innovative Cafe Beverages at the 2023 Specialty Coffee Association Expo

Hope and Sesame exhibited its full range of Sesamemilk flavors at the Specialty Coffee Association's Specialty Coffee Expo in Portland, Oregon, April 20-23. As the cafe industry's largest national trade show, the exhibition is a leading source of innovation and ideas for the cafe industry, from independents to major chains.

In addition to a hot espresso Sesamemilk latte, at this year's Expo, Hope and Sesame sampled six innovative beverages featuring Hope and Sesame Barista Sesamemilk, including several non-coffee-based beverages. The full menu was well-received by Expo's audience of roasters, distributors, cafe chains, and independent cafes, who often stopped to sample one beverage and ended up staying to try them all:

Toasted Black Sesame Chilled Nitro Latte (featuring Torani  Puremade new Toasted Black Sesame Syrup, which won the award for 2023 Best Specialty Coffee Additive at SCA Expo)

Matcha Cereal Milk' Chilled Nitro Latte

Nagano Soba Cha Latte

Blueberry Chai Refresher

Toasted Sesame Limoncello Refresher

Honeydew, Black Lime, & Basil Oil Refresher

"The response we received at the Specialty Coffee Expo was outstanding," said Julia Stamberger, Co-Founder and CEO of The Planting Hope Company. "We were excited to showcase Sesamemilk in a wide variety of beverages, from matcha to refreshers, understanding that some of the fastest-growing segments of the cafe beverage industry are iced beverages and non-coffee beverages."

Hope and Sesame Barista Blend Black Sesame Nitro Latte being poured at the 2023 Specialty Coffee Expo

Hope and Sesame Team Members discussing Barista Blend Sesamemilk with prospective customers at the 2023 Specialty Coffee Association Expo

To find Hope and Sesame Barista Blend at a location near you, check out the Planting Hope Cafe and Store locator.

Conversion of Convertible Debenture

The Company has issued 90,909 Units (as defined herein) and proposes to issue 5,961 subordinate voting shares (each, a "Share)" upon conversion of a convertible debenture with a face value of $56,000 issued by the Company under its private placement completed on October 20, 2022 (see the Company's news release dated October 21, 2022). The principal amount of the convertible debenture of $50,000 was converted into 90,909 units ("Units") at a price of $0.55 per Unit. Each Unit is comprised of one Share and one non-transferable share purchase warrant (a "Warrant"). Each Warrant is exercisable by the holder thereof to purchase one Share at an exercise price of $0.80 at any time prior to October 20, 2025. Subject to the approval of the TSX Venture Exchange ("TSXV"), prepaid and accrued interest under the convertible debenture totaling $2,235.62 will be converted into 5,961 Shares at a price of $0.375 per Share in accordance with the terms of the convertible debenture.

In addition, the Company proposes to convert accrued and unpaid interest due up to and including December 31, 2022 on certain outstanding convertible debentures in the amount of $43,158 into 115,088 Shares at a price of $0.375 per Share in accordance with the terms of such convertible debenture. The proposed conversion of interest and issuance of Shares thereunder remains subject to the approval of the TSXV.

About the Specialty Coffee Association Expo

The Specialty Coffee Expo, held annually by the Specialty Coffee Association ("SCA"), was designed to be the coffee professional's one stop shop for everything they need to succeed in the coffee industry. The Specialty Coffee Expo has everything for everyone in the coffee world. Roasters and retailers can attend and have the opportunity to exhibit their products on the show floor, network with the industry's decision makers, and further their professional careers by participating in the SCA's numerous lectures, and hands-on learning opportunities. Food and Beverage professionals can view the industry's most innovative and cutting edge coffee products, learn about integrating specialty coffee into their existing business plan, and easily make purchasing decisions face to face on the show floor. Coffee Enthusiasts of all professional backgrounds can participate in or watch the coffee competitions, mingle with like-minded attendees at receptions and lunches, or learn more about the art of cupping, brewing or roasting in our educational programs.

The SCA works all year to create an event that will be all-inclusive for every aspect of the coffee industry and benefit all coffee professionals and markets. If coffee is your business, your career path or your passion, the Specialty Coffee Expo is the only show you need to attend to reach your goals in the industry. Learn more about the Specialty Coffee Expo here.

About The Planting Hope Company Inc.

Planting Hope develops, launches, and scales uniquely innovative plant-based and planet-friendly food and beverage brands. Planting Hope's award-winning and cutting-edge products fill key unmet needs in the skyrocketing plant-based food and beverage space. The Planting Hope brand family includes Hope and Sesame Sesamemilk, Barista Blend Sesamemilk, and Sesamilk creamers, RightRice Veggie Rice, Mozaics Real Veggie Chips, and Veggicopia Veggie Snacks. Planting Hope products are currently found in more than 15,000 retail doors and 70,000 total distribution points across North America. Founded by experienced food industry entrepreneurs, Planting Hope is a women-managed and women-led company focused on nutrition, sustainability, and representation.

For more information about Planting Hope please visit plantinghopecompany.com, sign up for Planting Hope news emails HERE and follow on LinkedIn.



An informational webinar on The Planting Hope Company from CEO and Co-Founder Julia Stamberger recorded in January 2023 is available HERE.



To follow the brands on Instagram and Facebook, please visit: @hopeandsesameco, @rightrice, @mozaicschips, @veggicopia.



To find Planting Hope products at a store near you in the United States or Canada, please visit the store locator. Planting Hope products are also available at plantinghopebrands.com and ecommerce retailers including Amazon.com and Amazon.ca.

Contacts

Company Contact:

Julia Stamberger

CEO and Co-Founder

(773) 492-2243

julia@plantinghopecompany.com

Investor Relations Contact:

Glen Akselrod, Bristol Capital

(905) 326-1888 ext. 1

glen@bristolir.com

Media Contact:

Alex Jessup, Jessup PR

(323) 529-3541

alex.jessup@jessuppr.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.

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain disclosure in this release, including the potential issuance of Shares upon conversion of prepaid interest and accrued and unpaid interest (the "Interest Conversion"), constitutes forward-looking statements that are subject to numerous risks, uncertainties and other factors outside of the Company's control that may cause future results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in such forward-looking statements. In preparing the forward-looking statements in this news release, the Company has applied several material assumptions, including, but not limited to, the assumption that all conditions precedent (including TSXV approval) to the Interest Conversion will be satisfied in a timely manner; that general economic and business conditions will not change in a materially adverse manner; and that the Company will be able to raise additional funds on reasonable terms. Although the management of the Company believes that the assumptions made and the expectations represented by such statements are reasonable, there can be no assurance that any forward-looking statement herein will prove to be accurate. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. 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.

This news release contains "forward-looking statements" or "forward-looking information" (collectively referred to hereafter as "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. All statements that address activities, events, or developments that the Company expects or anticipates will, or may, occur in the future, including statements about the Company's ability to execute on its goals, the timing pertaining to these goals the potential demand for the Company's products, the timing and success of anticipated product launches and distribution of the Company's products, and the Company's business prospects, future trends, plans and strategies. In some cases, forward looking statements are preceded by, followed by, or include words such as "may", "will," "would", "could", "should", "believes", "estimates", "projects", "potential", "expects", "plans", "anticipates", "continues", or the negative of those words or other similar or comparable words. In preparing the forward looking statements in this news release, the Company has applied several material assumptions, including, but not limited to, the assumption that demand for the Company's product will be sustained or increase in accordance with management's projections, that the Company's internal research and analysis is indicative of broader market trends and the Company's anticipated future demand for its products, that changes in consumer preferences in the plant-based food industry will continue in accordance with the Company's expectations, that the Company's current business objectives can be achieved and that its other corporate activities will proceed as expected, and that general business and economic conditions will not change in a materially adverse manner. Although the management of the Company believes that the assumptions made and the expectations represented by such statements are reasonable, there can be no assurance that any forward-looking statement herein will prove to be accurate. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance, or achievements of the Company to be materially different from any future results, performance, or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Although management of the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated, or intended. Risks and uncertainties applicable to the Company, as well as trends identified by the Company affecting its industry can be found in the Company's annual information form and the Company's continuous disclosure record available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. Such cautionary statements qualify all forward-looking statements made in this news release. The Company undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise, except as required by applicable law.

SOURCE: The Planting Hope Company Inc.





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Yakima County Government, Lower Valley Reporter

Hi, Im Phil Ferolito, longtime reporter with the Yakima Herald-Republic, where I have gained an array of experience from covering small city governments and school districts to big-picture issues concerning county government, crime and the Yakama Nation, a federally recognized tribe with important historical and cultural ties to the land. I began with the Herald-Republic in Oct. 2000 as a copy editor, designing pages, writing headlines and proof-reading stories. Over the years I have covered four Lower Valley municipalities, Granger, Toppenish, Wapato and Harrah, and the Yakama Nation. My goal always has been to shine a light in dark places and bring readers closer to concerning issues, important people, and other events in our community.
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Chancellor Jeremy Hunt says regulators need to focus on encouraging investment - TOLGA AKMEN/Shutterstock

Jeremy Hunt has told competition chiefs that they must understand their wider responsibilities after the regulator was attacked by Microsoft for blocking a gaming mega-merger.

The Chancellor insisted that he did not want to undermine the independence of the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), but said regulators also needed to focus on encouraging investment.

Microsoft and Activision have accused the UK of discouraging investment after the CMA blocked Microsofts $69bn (55bn) takeover of Activision, the video games giant behind Call of Duty.

Speaking at the British Chambers of Commerce annual conference on Wednesday, Mr Hunt said: When it comes to Microsoft, there was a merger between two American companies that the US regulator is seeking to block, and the UK regulator took the same view.

I think one of the reasons that companies like Microsoft and Google want to invest in the UK is because we have independent regulators that are not controlled by politicians and therefore they can be confident there will be a level playing field.

I would not want to undermine that at all, but I do think its important all our regulators understand their wider responsibilities for economic growth.

But for our tech sector, it isnt just about being able to get through big deals, competition really matters.

The comments are the first Mr Hunt has made on the blocked takeover bid.

Last week the Government published a strategic steer document encouraging the CMA to take into account the impact that [enforcement] has on economic growth.

The CMAs decision to block the deal was brought into focus earlier this week when EU regulators approved the takeover.

Microsofts Brad Smith has suggested that the CMAs ruling means the EU is a more welcoming environment than Britain for technology companies.

When the deal was blocked, Activision said the decision meant the UK was clearly closed for business and said it would reconsider its investments in Britain.

The CMAs leaders defended their decision on Tuesday, telling MPs that they had not created a hostile environment for tech businesses.

Sarah Cardell, the regulators chief executive, said that the decision to block Microsofts takeover of Activision was taken by an independent panel.

Microsoft is set to appeal the decision in the coming days.

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WASHINGTON, May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Through its innovation laboratory, IDB Lab, the Inter-American Development Bank Group will hold the second edition of IDB Lab Forum in Bogota, Colombia, on June 13 and 14. The event themes are financing and the promotion of entrepreneurial ecosystems.

Speakers include: Sean O'Sullivan, founder of the global venture capital fund specializing in deep tech SOSV; Brigitte Baptiste, expert in environmental issues and biodiversity and EAN University rector in Colombia; Carolina Ochoa, Partner of Brazilian impact accelerator Quintessa; Gerd Weissbach, General Director for LAC of German Sparkassenstiftung for International Cooperation, and Madeleine Clavijo, Kushki co-Founder, a "unicorn" startup of Ecuadorian origin dedicated to digital payments.

This high-level international meeting seeks to improve the quality of life Latin America and the Caribbean citizens through innovation and technology. Entrepreneurs, investors, corporations, accelerators, and other actors in the innovation ecosystem will meet to take advantage of business opportunities, discover trends, identify talent, and launch new initiatives.

The event's agenda highlights the importance of financing early-stage innovation and the development of entrepreneurial ecosystems to foster new solutions for the region's major economic and social issues, incorporating gender, diversity, climate, and biodiversity concerns throughout the discussion.

The forum will include the participation of the IDB President, Ilan Goldfajn; the Minister of Commerce, Industry, and Tourism of Colombia, German Umana; Ramiro Lopez Ghio, the IDB Group's representative in Colombia, and includes more than 80 prominent speakers and panelists.

This year, the event is part of the 30th-anniversary celebration of IDB Lab, "which is in full evolution to become the first innovation hub for development in the region," according to Irene Arias, CEO of IDB Lab. "IDB Lab Forum is a space that highlights this new role; in it, we offer a unique platform to connect and generate exchanges between entrepreneurs, investors, corporations, accelerators and public entities, among other innovation actors," she concludes.

IDB Lab Forum will include WeXchange, a pioneer in promoting female entrepreneurship in Latin America and the Caribbean in STEM. The event will feature fifteen innovative entrepreneurs from the region selected from over 300 applicants to present their companies to potential investors for funding opportunities.

To register and access more information about IDB Lab Forum, visit www.idblabforum.org.

About IDB Lab

IDB Lab is the innovation laboratory of the IDB Group, the leading source of development finance and know-how for improving lives in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC). The purpose of IDB Lab is to drive innovation for inclusion in the region by mobilizing financing, knowledge, and connections to test early-stage solutions with the potential to transform the lives of vulnerable populations affected by economic, social, and/or environmental factors. Since 1993 IDB Lab has approved more than US$ 2 billion in projects deployed across 26 LAC countries. www.idblab.org

CONTACT: Gador Manzano GADORM@iadb.org

IDB Lab

Cision

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SOURCE IDB Lab
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Carine aduce in playlisturi 911

Dupa Call Me When Youre High, Carine, una dintre vocile fresh ale momentului, aduce vara aceasta in playlisturi 911. Compus si produs de catre Marius Dia alaturi de Carine si Calin Grajdan, 911 este o poveste muzicala ce ascunde mai multe nuante si dezvaluie o poveste in care o sa se regaseasca fiecare ascultator. Dupa succesul [citeste mai departe]
FILE PHOTO: Employees work on their laptops at the Start-up Village in Kinfra High Tech Park in Kochi

By Munsif Vengattil

NEW DELHI (Reuters) -India on Wednesday unveiled an expanded incentive scheme to attract big-ticket investments in IT hardware manufacturing, doubling the amount to $2 billion as it aims to spur domestic production of laptops and tablets.

The programme, which also covers personal computers and servers, is expected to benefit global and Indian companies such as Dell, Wistron Corp, Dixon, and Foxconn.

The scheme is key to India's ambitions to become a powerhouse in the global electronics supply chain, with the country targeting an annual output worth $300 billion by 2026.

"It will create additional incentives for companies to set up their manufacturing base in India," India's deputy IT minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar said.

The revised plan will be for a period of six years, with the country offering cash-backs for manufacturers on sales of locally made goods that exceed an annual target.

These companies are expected to produce nearly $41 billion of IT products and create more than 75,000 jobs, the government said.

The original incentive plan was announced in February 2021 with a $1 billion outlay.

MAIT, a key industry body that represent manufacturers such as Apple, Dell, and Samsung, welcomed the move and said it will help to meet the domestic demand for IT products as well as boost exports.

"We believe this scheme will help IT hardware sector to achieve the same level of success India had with smartphone manufacturing," said Ali Akhtar Jafri, Director General at MAIT.

(Reporting by Munsif Vengattil in New Delhi; Editing by Andrew Heavens and Jane Merriman)
Stiri pe aceeasi tema

- President Iohannis: I expect negotiations within the coalition to end next week.President Klaus Iohannis said on Wednesday that he expects the negotiations within the government coalition regarding the division of ministries to be completed by next week, told Agerpres. CITESTE SI EnergyMin Popescu:

- PM Ciuca: Education - national priority in new Government's programme.Education will be a national priority in the government programme that will be approved next week within the coalition and with which the new Government will come into operation, Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuca announced on Wednesday.

- Minister Budai: Romania could eliminate ceiling of 9.4 of GDP for pensions after reform.Romania could eliminate the ceiling of 9.4pct of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for pensions, "following a correct reform of pensions," the Minister of Labour and Social Protection, Marius Budai, told AGERPRES

- President Iohannis has bilateral meetings with counterparts from Czech Republic, Austria, Slovenia.President Klaus Iohannis had bilateral meetings with counterparts from the Czech Republic - Petr Pavel, Austria - Alexander Van der Bellen, and Slovenia - Natasa Pirc Musar, on the sidelines of his

- PM Ciuca: We have agreed with EC approval for projects worth 10 billion euros from 2021-2027 Framework.Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuca announced, on Wednesday, that Romania has "already" agreed with the European Commission to approve investment projects worth 10 billion euros from the 2021-2027 Financial

- PM Ciuca: We are approving memorandum ensuring consolidation of interconnection with Rep. Moldova on gas, electricity networks.The Government is going to approve a memorandum on the implementation of projects necessary for the interconnection of natural gas networks and electricity grids in Romania

- Trade balance deficit down 5.6pct in Q1.Romania's trade deficit in the first quarter of this year was 6.082 billion euros, down 399.7 million euros (-5.6%) compared to the same period last year, according to data the National Institute of Statistics (INS) published Wednesday. CITESTE SI Independence

- Au fost depuse astazi 8 oferte si pentru construirea Sectiunii 1 a Autostrazii A8 (Targu Mures- Miercurea Nirajului)! Pentru proiectarea si executia celor 24,4 km ai acestei sectiuni au depus oferte constructori din Romania, Turcia, Austria, Italia si Ungaria, a scris Sorin Grindeanu, joi pe Facebook.
The European Union will lose out "if it sees China as its rival" because China has gained an advantage in many areas in recent years, so cooperation is required, Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said in Ningbo.

The designation of China as Hungarys strategic partner is not simply a matter of communication, Szijjarto said at the opening of a China-central Europe trade exhibition.



The Hungarian government takes this seriously, too, the foreign ministry quoted him as saying. Szijjarto noted that Chinas GDP is now higher than that of the EU. While in 2010 China accounted for 9% of global GDP and the EU 22%, Chinas share has increased to 18% and the EUs has fallen to 17, he said.



This also shows that if the EU sees China a rival, it will lose out  In recent years it has become obvious that China has a competitive advantage in a number of areas of the economy, he said.



If the EU wants to profit from Chinese ties, mutual trust, respect and cooperation based on mutual benefits must be highlighted rather than rivalry, he added.



Hungary does not see China as a risk or threat but as a state that brings much profit though cooperation, he said. Szijjarto added that China was now Hungarys largest trading partner outside Europe.
Access to European Union funding and a quick end to rule-of-law issues is a matter of life or death for Budapest, Mayor Gergely Karacsony said after meeting a delegation of the European Parliament Committee on Budgetary Control.

The city has the potential to develop without using EU resources, but the majority of its revenues have gone to state coffers in recent years, and Budapest has needed EU funding to progress for years, he told a press conference. 



So it is a matter of life or death that  the issues on the rule of law are solved as quickly as possible and Budapest can access the funds it is entitled to, he said.



He said he hoped that the delegations visit would speed up the process, and Hungary will be able to adapt its own approach to the rule of law so it can access EU funds as soon as possible.



That process must come with the EU handling the situation  rather than turning a blind eye to rule-of-law issues, he added.



At the same time, the mayor noted that EU resources for the city had shrunk from some 340 billion forints (EUR 919.5m) between 2014 and 2020 to around 200 billion in the 2021-2027 financial cycle, according to the municipalitys calculations.



He briefed the delegation on discriminatory decisions, extremely detrimental for the municipality, insisting that the government used national resources and EU funds to discriminate against opposition municipalities.



Karacsony proposed that the delegation look into measures to counter such government plans.



The EUs principle of partnership is gravely harmed in Hungary when it comes to planning and withdrawing EU funding, Karacsony said.



One startling example is that of the post-pandemic recovery plan in Hungary, he said. In addition, the use of EU funds has been connected with growing centralisation, he said.



Karacsony proposed that the delegation should work to find a solution on an interim agreement on the withheld EU funding, and on bolstering direct funding for the city.



Further, he proposed that the EC should require more rigorous adherence to the principle of partnership, and that rule-of-law reports should be expanded to include the issues related to local authorities.



Karacsony said the delegation probed the Budapest municipalitys own methods to strengthen transparency and the rule of law within its own institutions, as well as its plans on using the recovery funds.
(Bloomberg) -- India is unveiling a 170 billion-rupee ($2.1 billion) financial incentive plan to draw makers of laptops, tablets and other hardware to the South Asian nation as companies look to diversify supply chains beyond China.

Most Read from Bloomberg

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is capitalizing on the early success of Apple Inc.s local assembly operations  which have helped the US company produce about 7% of its global iPhone output  to pitch the country as a viable global manufacturing hub. New Delhi wants to bring more tech production to India after Chinas trade war with the US and its strict Covid policies prompted companies to weigh other options.

Apple has yet to begin making iPads or MacBook laptops in India, but fresh incentives could push the Cupertino, California-based company to consider such moves. Other manufacturers who could take advantage of the new measures include Dell Technologies Inc., HP Inc. and Asustek Computer Inc.

India has crossed a huge landmark in mobile phones with exports of $11 billion in the past year, Indias technology minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said at a news conference Wednesday. We want to take this momentum forward.

The plan proposes a cashback of 5% to companies on factory gate prices of finished products. Local sourcing of components will help manufacturers win more financial benefits.

In 2021, India launched a program worth 73.5 billion rupees to ramp up local manufacturing and build exports of IT products such as laptops, tablets and personal computers, but that effort failed to attract companies due to perceptions the incentives were too small.

Chinese manufacturers such as Lenovo Group Ltd. could find it difficult to win incentives amid a frosty relationship with India since a Himalayan border clash in 2020.

(Updates with ministers comment in fourth paragraph)

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

2023 Bloomberg L.P.
Lawmakers of the ruling Fidesz-Christian Democrat alliance said a delegation of the European Parliaments Budgetary Control Committee voiced unworthy attacks against and misconceptions in connection with Hungary and its government at their talks.

Erik Banki, the Fidesz head of parliaments economic committee, told a press conference after the meeting that representatives of the economic, justice and European affairs committees had given the CONT delegation a detailed briefing, but the questions asked by the members of the delegation had made it clear that they formed their opinions based on media reports.



Members of the delegation, he said, had demonstrated fundamental misconceptions at the meeting about the governments economic policy, special taxes, the transparency of public procurements and utility costs, among other things.



He said members of the delegation had talked about a mass exodus of multinational firms from Hungary because of the governments discriminatory economic policy and special taxes. But in reality, he said, more than 70% of German and more than 89% of American business leaders say they would repeat their past investments in Hungary because of the predictable legal and good taxation environment.



Concerning the transparency of public procurements, Banki said he had recommended to the head of the delegation that she seek information from the Public Procurement Authority and the Competition Office, which are independent of the government.



Meanwhile, Banki said the delegation had voiced the misconception regarding utility bills that Hungary was implementing measures that restrict the free market. He said Hungary insisted on keeping caps on utility bills in place up to average consumption despite the difficult circumstances.



Concerning the utilisation of EU funds, Banki said he had briefed the delegation on how Hungary had used up 85.5% of the funds at its disposal in the previous funding cycle compared with the EU average of 78%.



He added that Hungary will use its own resources to pre-finance programmes whose EU funding had been suspended for political reasons.



Banki expressed hope that talks on Hungarys EU funds would be concluded and the EP and the European Commission would make professional rather than political decisions.



Imre Vejkey, the Christian Democrat head of the justice committee, said the Hungarian lawmakers had proven to the EP delegation that Hungary was a modern democratic country governed by the rule of law with independent institutions.



The delegation, however, delivered extremely unworthy attacks against the prime minister and the MPs themselves, which Vejkey said they firmly rejected.



He said the delegation had also attacked the lawmakers in connection with the types of questions the press can ask MEPs and questioned whether parliament had operated in the recent period or if laws were passed through government decrees instead.



Hajnalka Juhasz, a Christian Democrat member of the European affairs committee, said that the critical tone struck by the CONT delegation called into question its neutrality. She said the delegation had expressed only criticisms during the talks, adding that most of their questions had been politically motivated.



Cooperation between the Hungarian government and the European Commission is very good, she said, adding that they did not want this constructive dialogue to be broken by any ideological and political pressure applied by the European Parliament.
Hungary and China have concluded a new agreement on air transport, which could double the number of flights between the two countries to 42 a week, Peter Szijjarto, the minister of foreign affairs and trade, said in Ningbo, in eastern China.

Szijjarto, who is visiting the China-Central and Eastern European Countries (CEEC) Expo, welcomed the agreement, noting that it will boost both passenger and cargo traffic.



As economic and trade cooperation between Hungary and China reach record highs, we need to speed up the transport of goods. Hungary is already the entry point of Chinese goods into Europe, he said.



The number of cargo flights will grow substantially as a result of the agreement. Also, Chinese authorities will allow airlines to establish flights, including direct ones, between Budapest and two cities, in addition to the four already in the network, he said.



The new destinations will be discussed during the expo, he said.



The talks also touched on the development of the Budapest-Belgrade railway line, and the importance of keeping to the 2025 deadline.



The investment will contribute to Chinese goods being transported from Greek ports to western and northern Europe through Hungary, he said.





MTI Photo: Zoltan Balogh
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Saturday was an important day for the city of York, as it marked the grand opening of the largest, all-inclusive playground in the state of Nebraska: Peyton Parker Lane Playground. The playground is named in memory of three children who touched the lives of many: Peyton and Parker Hoffman and Lane McDaniel.

Families came from near and far to witness the ribbon cutting and children of all abilities left with smiles and giggles that could be heard from miles away. It was a day that many wont forget.

Mayor Berry Redfern opened the ribbon cutting ceremony by expressing his appreciation of the collaborative efforts of the Peyton Parker Lane committee volunteers and community members who made this possible for people with all abilities.

One of the great things about being involved with city government is to see an idea turn into a reality and there it is, said Redfern. To these passionate people that had raised this money, had this idea, and made this thing happen... to all of the people and businesses in this community that supported in this effort to make this happen, I thank you all. This is a great addition to York. Its something that kids and people will enjoy for so long. I am just thrilled to live in York, Nebraska.

Crouch Recreations Eric Crouch, who oversaw the construction of Peyton Parker Lane, also spoke to the crowd of people, eagerly waiting for the fun that was ahead. Crouch thanked the committee for allowing him to oversee the project.

Crouch said, Ive really enjoyed working with the community, working with Julie on the design of the playground. Its a beautiful park. I think youre going to love it. I want to thank her and the committee. You have put in so much time and effort and raised a ton of money. This is something that is truly extraordinary. Its going to be an amazing addition to this community. I think youre going to see a lot of people from a lot of parts of the state and out of state, who are going to be using this facility.

Natalie Mackay, founder of Unlimited Play said Peyton Parker Lane Playground is the 84th playground they have opened. Unlimited Play also contributed to planning, designing, and development of the playground. According to unlimitedplay.org, Unlimited Play has collected information from children, parents of children with disabilities, veterans, therapists, and experts to help design playgrounds that will impact communities for generations to come.

Mackay, When Eric said extraordinary, oh my goodness. You are a town of 9,000 people who raised $1.3 million. I have the opportunity to speak all over the nation, and I use your project as an example of what can be done, and I also say please dont think its possible in each and every place. It takes a committee like yours.

Paul Jaekel, who spoke on behalf of the Peyton Parker Lane committee said, This playground does not have to be the end of it. This does not have to be the end of the inclusion. This is just the beginning for York, Nebraska and the surrounding areas for inclusion. Lets continue to love our neighbors this way, people.

The mother of Lane McDaniel, April McDaniel said, they call this project healing by helping.

This is how we heal when we are dealing with adversity and when we are dealing with loss and I want you to think about that, said McDaniel. When you think about something that knocks you down and maybe shakes you up a little bit, you have a choice. You have a choice to do something great with it or you have a choice to sit back in your pity and be sad about it and do nothing. This is an example of people that came together that have fought through some adversity and loss. Let it be an example to you of what you can do through healing by helping.

Julie Hoffman, mother of Peyton and Parker, said, When April and I stood at York Generals donation of $100,000, I looked at her and said Were not driving this bus anymore, Gods driving this bus. I thank him every day for growing up with two little sisters who had intellectual disabilities who taught me how to be the best mom I could be to Peyton and Parker. They were incredible individuals and they are missed dearly, but because of their lives and how they lived, this playground is here. I poured my heart and soul into this playground and I hope it shows and I hope it creates relationships with all kids of all abilities when they come here.

The ribbon was cut and York Parks and Recreation Director Cheree Foltz shouted Open the gate and go play!

Kids poured into the golden gate from left and right. Those who were in wheelchairs were finally swinging, playing with musical instruments and various playground equipment just as the other children. This was no longer a once in a lifetime moment, but a moment they will get to experience over and over again for years to come.
VideoBig conference in Guangdong informs overseas Chinese

The 2023 Overseas Chinese Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Conference kicked off in Jiangmen, a Pearl River Delta city in Guangdong province, on Wednesday, creating a platform for overseas Chinese to better understand the economic construction and development of the country and the GBA.

More than 700 people from around the world attend the three-day event which also included parallel forums and special seminars.

Organizers are expecting the large number of overseas Chinese working and living around the world to play a role in accelerating the construction of the GBA and help it attract more foreign talent, capital and technology in the months to come.

Organized by the Overseas Chinese Affairs Office of the State Council and the Guangdong provincial government, the event is expected to serve as a bridge to help people understand the region.

Sub-conferences are being staged in a dozen of countries and regions around the world. Located in the western part of the prosperous Pearl River Delta, Jiangmen is a major connection for Chinese people overseas, with more than 5.3 million natives in more than 180 nations and regions. It is estimated that more than 20 million Chinese people are scattered around the world.



 








New Delhi: Manish Chopra, who oversaw Facebook parent Meta's partnerships operations in India, has chosen to leave the business after working there for four and a half years. This most recent change represents Meta India's fourth sizable defection in the previous twelve months.

Ajit Mohan, the former head of India, and Rajiv Aggarwal, the former head of public policy, both left their positions in November 2022. The CEO of WhatsApp India, Abhijit Bose, left the organisation around the same time.

After they left, Mohan and Aggarwal joined Snap and Samsung, respectively, while Bose declared his desire to establish a new business.

Manish Chopra took over as interim boss after Ajit Mohan left, serving in that capacity for only two months, up to January 1, 2023, when Sandhya Devanathan was appointed Meta's India director.

Chopra announced his leaving on LinkedIn and added that he will be helping with the transition over the coming weeks.

Manish Chopra had a distinguished career before joining Meta. He was the co-founder and CEO of the app-only deals platform Little, which was finally purchased by Paytm in 2017.

Chopra not only had business success, but he also co-founded the online clothing retailer Zovi. In addition, he obtained significant knowledge during his two years at Oracle and his nearly nine years in various capacities at Microsoft.

Manish Chopra joined Meta India in 2019 as Director and Head of Partnerships (formerly known as Facebook India). In this significant position, he made a significant contribution to Meta's varied portfolio of services, which includes well-known social media sites like Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, by encouraging growth and improving user engagement.

Chopra's decision to leave Meta is important because it coincides with the company's global layoff of 21,000 workers as part of cost-cutting initiatives.
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(Above mentioned article is a consumer connect initiative, This article is a paid publication and does not have journalistic/editorial involvement of IDPL, and IDPL claims no responsibility whatsoever.)
Mumbai: The Shiv Sena (UBT) will hold its first executive meeting since the split in the original Shiv Sena in Mumbai on June 18, a party source said on Wednesday. Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray will speak at the meeting which will be held in the Worli area, he said. The decision was taken at a meeting of district chiefs of the party here.

Office-bearers from the taluka level upwards from across Maharashtra will participate in the meeting where the political path ahead and organizational strengthening will be discussed, the source said. Thackeray will also address a gathering on June 19, the original Shiv Senas foundation day, at the Shanmukhanand Hall here.

The party will also be organizing the `Chavdi Andolan throughout the state in the next month where its workers will apprise people of how the Supreme Courts recent judgment was in favor of the Thackeray-led group.

The SC, dealing with petitions regarding the split in the Sena in June 2022, held that the then government should not have asked Thackeray to prove his majority in the Assembly, but also said that the Thackeray government could not be reinstated as he resigned as chief minister before the floor test.
New Delhi: As the suspense over the next Karnataka Chief Minister continued on Wednesday, state Congress chief DK Shivakumar said that he has left the decision to the High command, who will take the final decision. "I'm going for rest," a tired Shivakumar said while arriving at Congress General Secretary KC Venugopal's residence. On being asked about his meeting with Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge, Shivakumar had earlier said, "Nothing, no discussion. Just pranaam..."

It has been four days after Congress registered an emphatic victory in Karnataka assembly polls by pushing BJP out of the only southern state it had, but the party is still mulling over the choice of the next Chief Minister. Congress general secretary KC Venugopal and party in charge for Karnataka, Randeep Surjewala and party leader MB Patil came to the party's national president Mallikarjun Kharge's residence on Wednesday evening.

#WATCH | Delhi: Karnataka Congress chief DK Shivakumar arrives at the residence of general secretary KC Venugopal.



He says, "There is nothing to tell...we have left it to the high command...High command will take the call. I'm going for rest."#KarnatakaCMRace pic.twitter.com/JK0dSdhUnn May 17, 2023

Earlier this evening, Karnataka Congress chief DK Shivakumar met Surjewala at the latter's residence. DK also held a discussion with leaders of the party and his supporters at his brother-party MP DK Suresh's residence here. Amid the suspense over the probable names, Siddaramaiah and DK Shivakumar also met former MP Rahul Gandhi in Delhi.

Also Read: Two Ex-Ministers Blame Siddaramaiah For Collapse Of JD(S)-Congress Government In Karnataka In 2019

The official media handle of Congress shared pictures of Rahul Gandhi with both the leaders

Calling Gandhi a "jannayak" - leader of the people - the Congress tweeted, "Rahul Gandhi ji met DK Shivakumar ji and Siddaramaiah ji after the landslide victory in Karnataka."

Next Karnataka CM To Be Announced Today Or Tomorrow: Surjewala

Earlier Congress' Karnataka-in-charge Randeep Surjewala said that a decision on the next Karnataka chief minister will be announced today or tomorrow and a new cabinet will be in place within 72 hours. Surjewala also dismissed speculative reports that Siddaramaiah was likely to be named the chief minister once again.

"Delibrations are currently underway by party president Mallikarjun Kharge. Whenever Congress makes a decision we will inform you. In the next 48-72 hours, we will have a new cabinet in Karnataka," he told reporters.
Temple jewellery is a stunning and intricate style of handcrafted jewellery that has a rich history dating back to the 9th century A.D. in South India. Although traditionally used to adorn temple deities or worn by royalty, it has now become a popular choice for brides and for special occasions. The process of creating traditional temple jewellery requires skill, precision, and an understanding of the symbolism behind each design.

The creation of temple jewellery involves several stages, starting with designing the jewellery. The designs are often inspired by ancient Hindu scriptures and each piece is imbued with meaning and significance. The next step is embossing, where a thin sheet of gold is placed on a melted wax base and the design is embossed onto the gold sheet using special tools. The jewellery is then embellished with precious and semi-precious stones and polished to achieve a flawless finish.

In conclusion, the making of traditional temple jewellery in gold is a time-honoured craft that requires a great deal of skill and dedication. The end result is a stunning work of art that serves as a symbol of India's rich heritage and craftsmanship.

However, there have been unfounded rumors questioning the process and materials used in creating temple jewellery, which undermine the reputation of the skilled craftsmen who make these pieces and cast doubt on the credibility of the entire industry. Such narratives do a disservice to the artistry and cultural significance of temple jewellery. In response to these concerns, Kalyan Jewellers, a renowned jewellery brand in India, has introduced its 4-Level Assurance Certificate, a customer-centric initiative that guarantees the best value, quality, and service for its patrons.

Kalyan Jewellers follows fair and transparent business practices, as evidenced by the 4-Level Assurance plan's product information section. The brand only charges customers gold rate on the total value of the gold used after deducting the weight of other materials such as lac, gemstones, glass, wood, enamel, etc., from the total weight of the product. The plan also promises great value on the exchange and resale of jewellery, ensuring that customers get the best deal possible.

The 4-Level Assurance plan includes a certificate that promises payment on the value of purity mentioned in the invoice during exchange or resale. Kalyan Jewellers also provides free lifetime maintenance of ornaments purchased at any of its showrooms in India, giving its patrons peace of mind knowing that their jewellery is well taken care of.

In the realm of temple jewellery, Kalyan Jewellers' commitment to quality, craftsmanship, and customer satisfaction is evident in every piece. Their wide array of traditional and contemporary jewellery designs in gold, diamonds, and gemstones caters to the distinct needs of every customer. With the 4-Level Assurance plan, Kalyan Jewellers promises to provide the best value, quality, and service, ensuring that their customers can enjoy their temple jewellery for years to come.

Graphics Box:

Process in Detail

Designing the Jewellery: The first step in creating temple jewellery is designing the jewellery. The designs are usually inspired by ancient Hindu scriptures, and each piece of jewellery is imbued with a particular meaning and symbolism. The designs are first drawn on paper.

Embossing: A thin sheet of gold is placed on a melted wax base, and the paper design placed on top. Using special tools, the design is then embossed onto the gold sheet, smoothed and shaped to create a seamless finish.

Embellishment: Once the basic shape of the jewelry is created, precious and semi-precious stones are carefully set into the gold using small prongs or claws. These stones are selected for their color, clarity, and size, and are often arranged in intricate patterns to create a stunning effect.

Polishing: The final step in the process is polishing, which involves smoothing and buffing the jewelry to achieve a high shine. This requires a great deal of skill and attention to detail and it is through this process that any remaining imperfections are removed to ensure a smooth and flawless finish.

(Above mentioned article is a consumer connect initiative, This article does not have journalistic/editorial involvement of IDPL, and IDPL claims no responsibility whatsoever.)
New Delhi: Former Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah and state Congress chief DK Shivakumar will meet Rahul Gandhi amid the prevailing deadlock over the next chief minister of the southern state, four days after the party's resounding victory in the keenly contested assembly elections. Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge already met the two top contenders last evening amid ongoing efforts towards an agreement. Siddaramaiah (75) and Shivakumar, 61, have been told to stay in Delhi for now, said Congress sources.

Meanwhile, the Congress central leadership will hold another round of deliberations to choose the new Karnataka Chief Minister with both Siddaramaiah and DK Shivakumar persisting with their claims for the top post and their supporters lobbying hard for them. The next round of meetings is slated to take place in the afternoon after which a final decision is likely to be made.

Party sources said UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi is likely to reach Delhi today from Himachal Pradesh and is expected to meet some leaders who are part of the decision-making process in Karnataka. The sources said DK Shivakumar, who is Karnataka Congress chief, is likely to agree to suggestions made by Sonia Gandhi to help the party solve the leadership issue in the state.

New Claimants For Karnataka CM's Chair

Dr G Parameshwara, former Karnataka Deputy CM, has also shown his keenness for the top job in the state, stating that if he is assigned the responsibility, he will fulfil it. "If the Congress high command gives me the responsibility of the CM post, I will definitely fulfil it. They know everything about me and my work. I don't want to lobby," he said.

Congress general secretary (Organisation) KC Venugopal, however, said a good decision" will come. "Decision will come, wait. Good decisions will come. It will come as soon as possible," Venugopal said as he left Kharge's residence.

The results of assembly polls were declared on Saturday and the newly-elected Congress MLAs on Sunday authorised Kharge to take a decision.

Siddaramaiah, Shivakumar Camping In Delhi



With the action shifting to Delhi, both Siddaramaiah, a former Chief Minister of Karnataka, and Shivakumar reached Delhi. Congress leadership is keen on an early decision on the choice of Chief Minister and also wants to ensure that there are no fissures either in the running of the government or the party in Karnataka so that the party can focus on its preparations for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

The Congress is already battling factionalism in Rajasthan and the differences in Chhattisgarh on the issue of leadership have not entirely ended. The party suffered in Madhya Pradesh due to the exit of Jyotiraditya Scindia. Congress leadership is looking at a formula where Karnataka may have Deputy Chief Ministers along with the Chief Minister to meet the aspirations of various communities.

The central observers appointed by the party in Karnataka spoke to MLAs and gave their report to the party leadership. Sources said Kharge will take the final decision after consulting Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi. "No final decision has been made on the Karnataka CM post yet. Congress president has met all the stakeholders. Now the final decision will be taken by him in consultation with Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi. The announcement can be delayed and the announcement can be made in Bengaluru itself," a source said.

Kharge held meetings with both Shivakumar and Siddaramaiah on Tuesday. Siddaramaiah came to Kharge's residence along with his son Yatindra and MLAs Zameer Ahmad, Bhyrati Suresh, and senior leader KJ George.

Won't Blackmail Party: Shivakumar



Earlier in the day, Shivakumar, in an exclusive interview with ANI said he would not resort to "backstabbing or blackmail" regardless of the party's decision. "If the party wants they can give me the responsibility....... Ours is a united house, our number is 135. I don't want to divide anyone here. Whether they like me or not, I am a responsible man. I will not backstab and I will not blackmail," he said.

"The party is my god...We have built this party, I am a part of it and I am not alone in this," he said before his departure from Bengaluru. "We have built this party (Congress), we have built this house. I am a part of it...A mother will give everything to her child," he said.

Asked about his expectations as the state party president, Shivakumar said," I don't want to comment on what has happened earlier. How it happened. That is a closed chapter we formed the government we lost the government, we lost a coalition government. Who is responsible for the victory and loss there is no use in talking about it now. Let us not sell this story... let us sell the future." Congress scored an emphatic win in Karnataka, getting 135 seats in the 224-member assembly and reducing BJP to 66 seats.
(Bloomberg) -- A $20 billion international effort to accelerate Indonesias shift away from coal hinges on the availability of low-cost funding  and Jakarta fears there simply isnt enough.

Most Read from Bloomberg

Indonesian President Joko Widodo and his US counterpart Joe Biden made headlines last year with their agreement to kick-start the effort to clean up Southeast Asias largest economy, a deal known as the Just Energy Transition Partnership and considered a potential model for other cash-poor, coal-dependent countries.

An initial investment plan detailing how Indonesia will green its power supply and cut greenhouse emissions is due mid-August. As of now, though, government officials say far more money needs to come in at terms the country can live with.

We dont want our economy to be affected by the JETP, said Luhut Binsar Panjaitan, Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs & Investment and the Jakarta governments point man on the deal.

There is no issue on our side. The point is, if we get the money with good terms, we proceed. If not, we will go ahead with our own plans.

Panjaitan argues partners in the deal must offer sufficient funding at low enough rates, so that the green push does not add to a debt burden that currently stands at just under 43% of its gross domestic product, the fourth-lowest among G-20 nations.

Show your money, Panjaitan said in an interview in his Jakarta office.

Under the deal agreed last November, funds to back the JETP would come from a mix of government and private sources, with concessional loans, grants and more crowding in private finance. The overall cost, in theory, should be manageable as a result.

But Indonesian officials have expressed concern about just how much would be made up of grants, and where cheaper funding would be allocated. So far, Panjaitan said, he is underwhelmed.

Just to remind them we have two and a half months to go. This is your credibility. We dont lose anything if the deal doesnt materialize.

The JETP plan has broad ambitions, ranging from improving the grid to encouraging renewable energy investment and providing a fair transition away from fossil fuels for workers and communities that depend on them. At the heart, though, is a concerted effort to speed up the move away from coal in a country with ample resources  by buying out power plants and restructuring debt so they can be closed early.

The $20 billion promise is only one step. According to BloombergNEF, transition in Indonesia would require $2 trillion of investment into its energy system through 2050. Reaching net zero by 2050 could cost $3.5 trillion.

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

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New Delhi: Ending the days of long suspense over the next Karnataka Chief Minister, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge on Thursday chose Siddaramaiah to lead the southern state, the news agency ANI reported. Karnataka Congress president DK Shivakumar will reportedly be the deputy CM and the oath-taking ceremony is likely to be held in Bengaluru on May 20. The grand old party has also called a Congress Legislative Party (CLP) meeting in Bengaluru on Thursday.

Earlier on Wednesday, DK Shivakumar held several meetings with Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, former party chief Rahul Gandhi, Karnataka unit in-charge Randeep Singh Surjewala and party general secretary KC Venugopal.

Speaking to the media after arriving at Venugopal`s residence, the Kanakapura MLA said, "There is nothing to tell. We have left it to the high command. High command will take the call. I`m going for rest."

Before Shivakumar, Siddaramaiah also met Rahul and Venugopal on Wednesday.

Also Read: Two Ex-Ministers Blame Siddaramaiah For Collapse Of JD(S)-Congress Government In Karnataka In 2019

The Congress, which registered a thumping victory in Karnataka on Saturday, had held a CLP meeting on Sunday in Bengaluru. They had submitted the report of the CLP meeting and voting through a secret ballot to Kharge on Monday afternoon.

The results of assembly polls were declared on Saturday and the newly-elected Congress MLAs on Sunday authorised Kharge to take a decision. With the action shifting to Delhi, both Siddaramaiah, a former Chief Minister of Karnataka, and Shivakumar reached the national capital.

The Congress won 135 seats in the May 10 elections to the 224-member Karnataka assembly.

Meanwhile, Siddaramaiah's supporters gathered near his official residence in Bengaluru and shouted slogans praising their leader. They also poured milk on the life-size cut out of the former CM that has been put up in front of his residence.

Similar scenes were witnessed in his home district of Mysuru and his native village of Siddaramanahundi. His followers and well-wishers set off crackers, danced, distributed sweets, and celebrated by pouring milk on his huge cutouts erected on the roadside.

Meanwhile, preparations were underway at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium in the heart of Bengaluru, for the swearing-in ceremony of the new Chief Minister, with officials inspecting the venue. This, notably, is the very venue where Siddaramaiah took oath as the Chief Minister for the first time in 2013.
New Delhi: A Tamil Nadu woman narrowly escaped from being run over by a car during a chain-snatching incident on Monday. The woman, a resident of the Beelamedu area of Coimbatore, was on her morning walk when the incident -- which was caught on the CCTV -- took place.

In the video, the woman is seen walking on a street in the GV Residency area when a white car approaches her from behind. A person sitting on the front passenger seat is then seen taking his hand out of the window to snatch her necklace. She, however, grips her chain and was dragged for a few metres before falling down. The man then gives up and the car speeds away.

According to the Singhanallur police, the two persons involved in the incident -- Sakthivel and Abhishek -- have been arrested and the car has been confiscated.

"CCTV cameras were of great help in catching the culprits. The car that was caught had no number plate. We, however, traced it based on a sticker affixed to it," the Coimbatore Police Deputy Commissioner told the media.

He also said that one of them broke his hand while fleeing and was taken to the hospital for the treatment. The two were then produced before the Court and were lodged in the Coimbatore Central Jail.

He said that in the last two months, around 800 CCTV cameras have been installed in various areas and have led to the arrest of several criminals.
New Delhi: Expressing concern over the situation in Manipur which was rocked by violence earlier this month, the Congress on Wednesday decided to send observers to ascertain the ground realities in the state. The decision was taken by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge after a delegation of party workers met him on Tuesday evening.

"A delegation of @INCManipur leaders apprised me of the tremendous difficulties which the people of Manipur had to go through during these troubling times. A team of observers are being sent shortly to ascertain the ground realities," Kharge said on Twitter.

The Congress chief said the situation in Manipur remains tense and was deeply distressing. "The Union Government should do everything possible to see normalcy returns to the state. Every community has a stake in ensuring peace. Let us take everyone in confidence," Kharge also said.

The Congress has criticised the role of central and state governments in controlling the situation in Manipur after violence hit the state and has demanded the imposition of President's rule there.

Clashes broke out in Manipur after a 'Tribal Solidarity March' was organised in the 10 hill districts on May 3 to protest against the Meitei community's demand for the Scheduled Tribe (ST) status. The violence was preceded by tension over the eviction of Kuki villagers from reserve forest land, which had led to a series of smaller agitations.

At least 73 people were killed, 231 injured and 1,700 houses, including religious places, were burnt in the ethnic violence that rocked the state, officials said.

Meiteis account for about 53 per cent of Manipur's population and live mostly in the Imphal Valley. Tribals - Nagas and Kukis -- constitute another 40 per cent of the population and reside in the hill districts.
New Delhi: In order to meet all of a customer's banking demands, State Bank of India, the largest public sector lender in India, provides a number of online, SMS, and app-based services.



In order to answer all of your banking questions, SBI has established a number of services, including WhatsApp Banking.

You can activate SBI WhatsApp Banking System via SMS or via online mode. Here is the entire process

- Visit SBI website, https://bank.sbi. The steps for registering on Watsapp Banking have been detailed.

- Simply scan the QR using your mobile and avail the services offered by SBI

- You will be prompted to send Hi from your WhatsApp Number to +919022690226

- Now follow the instructions given by the Chat-Bot

- Alternatively, you can send an SMS in the following format WAREG< >ACCOUNT NUMBER TO 7208933148 from your registered mobile number with SBI.

-- Now follow the below steps:

- If registration is successful then you will get a confirmation message on your Whatsapp linked to your registered mobile number

- Send a Hi from your WhatsApp Number to +919022690226 and follow the instructions given by the Chat-Bot

Check the SMS format and destination mobile number if, for some reason, you are unable to sign up for the Whatsapp Banking service. Additionally, confirm that your bank account number is current on your mobile phone, which will be used to send the SMS. Otherwise, go to your local SBI branch and change your mobile number.
New Delhi: The Uttar Pradesh government has hiked dearness allowance (DA) for its employees and dearness relief to its pensioners by four percent from January 1, 2023.

In a late-night decision on Tuesday, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said it would benefit 16.35 lakh employees and 11 lakh pensioners in the state.

"In the larger interest of 16.35 lakh state staff and 11 lakh pensioners serving in the UP government, the government has decided to increase the rate of dearness allowance and dearness relief by 4 percent from 38 percent to 42 percent from January 1, 2023," he added.

How Much Salary Will Hike?

The increase in DA will benefit state government employees who receive government pensions as well as retirees and family pensioners. An amount calculated as a proportion of the base salary is the dearness allowance. Every pensioner and government employee is given a dearness allowance and a dearness relief.

A state government worker, for instance, receives a base salary of Rs 25,600 each month. His dearness allowance earlier was Rs 9728 at a 38 percent rate. His DA will increase to Rs 10752 as it increases to 42 percent. His pay will therefore increase by Rs 1024.
It might be frightening to talk about and enforce boundaries in a culture where codependency is something we learn from birth. Boundaries affect every part of our lives, including dating, relationships, intimacy, and sexuality, and have a direct impact on our mental health. Any healthy relationship, especially one that begins online, must know when and when to draw the line.

Having a conversation about boundaries with your date can not only help prevent misunderstanding but also promote mutual respect. Dr Sakshi Tickoo, Occupational Therapist and Sexuality Counselor contributed to Tinder Love and Care, a dating wellness guide for women daters in India, to share tips to approach this conversation with confidence.

Identify what affects you the most

A good place to start is by recognising which space affects you the most (e.g. physical, psychological, social, sexual, material, time, and emotional boundaries). Recognising what you need for yourself will allow you to experience this journey mindfully and with lesser emotional exhaustion.

The top three red flags voted by young adults in a survey from Tinder in India were asking for intimate pictures (50 per cent), making fun of their interests/beliefs (47 per cent), and refusing to converse further when they share something emotional with their date (44 per cent), which makes it important to set clear expectations with your match.

Understand that boundaries can be flexible

Boundaries don`t always have to be rigid. Healthy boundaries can fluctuate between being porous or rigid depending on the person and context they are set in. For example, you can set rigid time boundaries about how much time you engage with matches on social media or have porous boundaries when a match is sharing vulnerable information with you.

Despite being two entirely different contexts of boundaries, these influence your effectiveness to date virtually and be present without tiring yourself out.

Be honest and transparent

Sharing your boundaries with others is a great way for them to learn about you. This could be as simple as saying a yes/no to something or be more nuanced by saying you do not feel comfortable discussing something presently. Not being sure of something is also a boundary that needs to be respected and does not mean you are indecisive. About 50 per cent of young Indian adults said that their partner explicitly discussing their boundaries is a waving green flag.

Remember that respect is mutual

If you feel nervous or scared thinking that a conversation about boundaries might affect the dynamics of your match, it is a valid emotion. It is essential to evaluate how they receive and respond to your boundaries now rather than be disappointed later. It is equally important to understand and respect your match`s boundaries and know that it is a two-way street of communication!

Know when it`s time to walk away

Lastly, the onus to take action whenever appropriate to reduce harm to ourselves and potentially others lies with us. Tinder focuses on delivering experiences that encourage healthy interactions and offers industry-leading safety features that give members full control over their experience such as 'Block Profile', in-app reporting, the newly launched long-press reporting, and Does This Bother You? that asks members this question when they receive a potentially offensive message on Tinder.

If you decide to meet your match for the first time, it is a good idea to inform your support system about the place you will be meeting, and what your exit strategy will be if anything feels uncomfortable.

As online dating increases our chances of making a connection, committing to a few dating boundaries can make this journey safer and more pleasurable. To empower young women in India to prioritise their well-being in the world of online dating, Tinder has recently launched Tinder Love and Care (TLC), a dating wellness guide developed in collaboration with That Sassy Thing.

TLC features advice and insights from prominent female experts and queer voices in India, covering a range of topics such as sexual health, intimacy, and fostering honest conversations with dates, all while prioritizing self-care.
Automation with the application of Artificial Intelligence is one of the foundational elements of an organizations journey of digital transformation in 2023. While cloud operations have been the prudent choice for elevating businesses during the past couple of decades, automation and AI have culminated into the holy grail for transforming businesses and outputs. As per Gartner, 70% of organizations will implement structured infrastructure automation to deliver flexibility and efficiency by 2025.

As this technology continues to advance, its implementation and adoption across industries becomes essential for success. However, this rapid pace of innovation calls for robust best practices to harness the true potential of AI and automation, says Suresh Rajasekaran, the Project Management Lead at NVIDIA and a visionary in the field. He refers to these best practices as the holy grail of the digital era.

Benefits of AI & Automation Best Practices

Best practices in AI and automation offer numerous advantages, including improved efficiency, enhanced accuracy, better decision-making, risk mitigation, and greater scalability.

Tesla brought in AI-driven manufacturing processes in 2020, which increased its production efficiency by 30%, contributing to a record-breaking 500,000 vehicles produced.

As another example, Google's DeepMind's AlphaFold achieved a median Global Distance Test (GDT) score of 92.4 out of 100 in th0 2020 Critical Assessment of Structure Prediction (CASP) competition, demonstrating its remarkable accuracy in predicting protein folding. This breakthrough holds the potential to revolutionize drug development and our understanding of diseases.

JPMorgan Chase refined their decision-making processes by implementing AI-driven best practices in the form of trading algorithms that helped the bank save an estimated $1.5 billion in trading costs in 2020. By analyzing vast amounts of data quickly and accurately, AI enables organizations to make more informed decisions.

Key Best Practices

As per Suresh Rajasekaran, an AI expert with 16 years in the field, organizations can maximize the benefits of AI and automation, by adopting a comprehensive set of best practices that address various aspects of implementation, management, and evaluation.

Below, he shares key best practices for those working in AI and Automation:

 Establish clear goals: Define the objectives of AI and automation initiatives, and align them with overall organizational goals.

 Emphasize data quality: AI and automation rely heavily on data. Ensuring the accuracy, consistency, and completeness of data sets is crucial for achieving optimal results.

 Foster collaboration: Break down silos and encourage cross-functional collaboration between data scientists, engineers, and domain experts to drive innovation.

 Prioritize ethics and privacy: Establish ethical guidelines and implement privacy measures to prevent biases, protect sensitive information, and comply with relevant regulations.

 And finally, promote continuous learning: Encourage employees to acquire new skills and stay up to date with the latest AI and automation trends, fostering a culture of continuous learning and adaptation.

Suresh has emerged as a respected AI expert and an advocate for democratizing AI technology. He has over sixteen years of experience in helping enterprises embrace AI technology by breaking down barriers that have previously made it difficult for businesses to adopt AI.

Conclusion

The supporting data and real-life examples underscore the significance of best practices as a 'holy grail' in the times of AI and automation. With time, the organizations that prioritize best practices are most likely to be the ones that would stay ahead of the curve and thrive in the ever-evolving landscape of technological innovation.
New Delhi: Shortly after Joe Biden postponed his trip to Australia due to debt ceiling negotiations in Washington, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Wednesday said a Quad summit would not go ahead in Sydney next week without the US President. Albanese, however, said the leaders of Australia, the United States, India and Japan would instead meet at the G7 in Hiroshima this weekend. India and Australia are not part of the G7 group of seven rich nations - the United Kingdom, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States - but have been invited to attend the summit, which is scheduled to be held between May 19 and May 21.

"The Quad leaders meeting will not be going ahead in Sydney next week. We, though will be having that discussion between Quad leaders in Japan," Anthony Albanese told a news conference.

A bilateral programme in Sydney with Prime Minister Narendra Modi could still go ahead next week, he added.

"We are in discussions with the Quad leaders over today. We'll make further announcements about that, but Prime Minister Modi would certainly be a very welcome guest here next week," the Australian PM said.

In November 2017, India, Japan, the US and Australia gave shape to the long-pending proposal of setting up the 'Quad' to develop a new strategy to keep the critical sea routes in the Indo-Pacific free of any influence amid China's aggressive behaviour in the region.

Joe Biden cancels Australia leg of his Asia trip due US debt ceiling

US President Joe Biden on Wednesday announced that he will postpone the Australia leg of his Asia trip, along with that of Papua New Guinea, given the uncertainty and intense negotiations with the opposition Republican party to ensure that America does not default on its debt for the first time in history.

Biden has been forced to turn his attention to domestic politics, as he works to hash out a deal with Republicans to prevent the US from defaulting on its debts at the end of this month.

"Revitalizing and reinvigorating our alliances and advancing partnerships like the Quad remains a key priority for the President," the White House said in an official statement.

This is vital to our ability to advance our foreign policy goals and better promote global stability and prosperity, the statement said.

"We look forward to finding other ways to engage with Australia, the Quad, Papua New Guinea and the leaders of the Pacific Islands Forum in the coming year," the White House added.

Japan hosted last Quad Leaders' Summit

Earlier on May 24, 2022, Japan's Prime Minister Kishida hosted the fourth Quad Leaders Summit, the second in-person, with PM Modi, Albanese and Biden. At the Summit, they acknowledged the progress the Quad had made on existing commitments, including taking action on climate change, supporting regional partners respond to the global coronavirus pandemic, such as delivering over 790 million safe and effective Covid-19 vaccine doses, addressing cyber security, harnessing critical and emerging technologies, and cooperating on space-related applications and technologies.

They had also announced Quad initiatives on health security, climate change, maritime domain awareness, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, cyber, space and infrastructure.
Delhi High Court seeking directions to the authorities to release the plane leased to the crisis-hit airline. Besides, two more aircraft lessors have moved the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) opposing the airline's insolvency proceedings. Accipiter Invesments Aircraft 2 Ltd has filed a writ petition before the Delhi High Court against the Union government and others, according to a lawyer. It has requested the high court to direct DGCA to deregister its aircraft which is currently on lease with Go First. Besides, Accipiter Invesments Aircraft has moved the NCLAT. Another aircraft lessor Eos Aviation 12 (Ireland) Ltd has also filed a petition before the NCLAT against Go First. Both the petitions are listed before the appellate tribunal for Wednesday.

With moratorium on financial obligations and transfer of assets of Go First in the wake of the insolvency resolution proceedings, lessors are unable to deregister and take back the aircraft leased to the carrier.

A total of six entities have moved the NCLAT in the Go First case and earlier on Tuesday, the appellate tribunal heard the plea of Ireland-based Engine Leasing Finance.

The appellate tribunal said it will pass the order on May 22 along with the other three petitions. "Orders on 22.05.2023. Short written notes may be filed within two days by both parties," it said.

Also read - Indian Airlines To Cut Down Losses With Pricing Discipline, Healthy Passenger Traffic

Three aircraft lessors - SMBC Aviation Capital Ltd, GY Aviation and SFV Aircraft Holdings -- have moved the NCLAT against Go First's insolvency resolution proceedings. These three lessors have leased out around 21 aircraft to Go First.

On May 10, the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) allowed the voluntary insolvency resolution plea by Go First. So far this month, several lessors have approached aviation regulator DGCA for deregistration and repossession of Go First's 45 planes.
New Delhi: Actor Johnny Depp who made a power-packed comeback at Cannes 2023 with the historical drama 'Jeanne Du Barry' received a seven-minute standing ovation for his performance.

According to Variety report, a US-based media house, The actor, who hasn't been seen in public since his long court fight with ex-girlfriend Amber Heard in 2022, received an enthusiastic seven-minute standing ovation on Tuesday night at the Cannes picture Festival's opening night picture Jeanne Du Barry'. Depp held back tears as the audience in the south of France applauded his portrayal as King Louis XV.

Maiwenn, the film's director and star, burst into tears when she briefly took the stage. "I want to share this moment with my lover, producer, and Le Pacte," she explained. "It was a challenging production to fund... and I'd like to share this moment with my entire crew throughout the theatre."

Depp arrived in Cannes to the cheers of thousands of admirers, who held placards outside the Palais and shook as they sought to touch their idol. Many people were able to speak with Depp, who managed the fan queue outside for five minutes before walking the carpet.

Jeanne du Barry' stars Maiwenn as Jeanne Vaubernier, a working-class lady in 18th-century France who rises through the social levels and falls in love with King Louis XV. Her working-class upbringing makes her a social outcast at the king's court. Benjamin Lavernhe, Pierre Richard, Melvil Poupaud, and Pascal Greggory are among the supporting actors.

As per Variety, Maiwenn's latest sparked debate long before it premiered at Cannes. The film is Depp's most high-profile engaging appearance since his divorce from ex-wife Amber Heard was settled in 2022. Despite the fact that the jury ruled in Depp's favour, the actor remains on the fringes of Hollywood due to abuse charges that arose during the trial. Thierry Fremaux, the festival's director, talked to the press ahead of the opening night and addressed Depp's participation in Cannes.

Fremaux said, "I don't know about the image of Johnny Depp in the U.S. To tell you the truth, in my life, I only have one rule: It's the freedom of thinking, and the freedom of speech and acting within a legal framework. If Johnny Depp had been banned from acting in a film, or the film was banned, we wouldn't be here talking about it."

"This [controversy] came up once the film was announced at Cannes because everybody knew Johnny had made a film in France...I don't know why she chose him but it's a question you should ask Maiwenn. As for the rest, I'm the last person to be able to discuss all this. If there's one person in this world who didn't find the least interest in this very publicized trial, it's me. I don't know what it's about. I also care about Johnny Depp as an actor," he added.

The actor was well received by the audience present at the festival. Fans went crazy for getting autographs signed by the 'Pirates of the Caribbean star.

'Jeanne Du Barry' which got its world premiere at the Cannes market is seeking U.S. distribution at the festival.
Innoviz updates 2023 targets due to expanded relationship with a major existing customer along with other progress made year-to-date

TEL AVIV, Israel, May 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Innoviz Technologies Ltd. (NASDAQ: INVZ) (the "Company" or "Innoviz"), a Tier-1 direct supplier of high-performance, automotive grade LiDAR sensors and perception software, today provided commercial and strategic updates on its business, reported its financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2023 and updated 2023 commercial and financial targets.

Innoviz Technologies Logo

Innoviz today announced that a major existing global automotive customer aims to expand its use of the InnovizTwo LiDAR to a new light commercial vehicle program. With a mid-decade SOP target, development of the program is on an accelerated track, pending finalizing of technical requirements and commercial terms. Potential financial contributions from this program are anticipated to begin this year and played an important role in the decision to update previously communicated 2023 commercial and financial targets.

In addition, this collaboration includes an important integration with a major compute platform that we believe could lead to additional expansion opportunities in the future. Innoviz believes that working with the top autonomy platform partners should enable a faster time to market, accelerate the customer evaluation process, allow more seamless integration with other parts of the software stack, and position Innoviz well in its new customer acquisition efforts.

"It was another fast-moving quarter at Innoviz, and today's news marks a critical milestone in validating our strategy and highlighting the value of our technology," said Omer Keilaf, Innoviz Co-Founder and CEO. "An important part of our long-term business plan has been to show that we can gain a foothold with a large customer and earn the right to become their LiDAR vendor for multiple vehicles in their lineup. This expected expansion of business with one of our largest customers could achieve that, while also offering a meaningful financial contribution for 2023 and beyond."

Keilaf further added, "We are extremely excited by the momentum we have seen in our pipeline year-to-date and are encouraged by a noticeable step-up in customer activity that further reinforces our belief that LiDAR deployments are starting to accelerate."

Commercial and Strategic Updates

Additional late-stage discussions with major existing customers  In addition to the significant progress on the new light commercial vehicle program, the Company is in late-stage conversations for two additional program expansions with existing major customers.

Record levels of activity in the Company's pipeline  Innoviz added an additional program to its pipeline, this time bypassing the RFI stage and moving directly to the RFQ stage. The Company also saw multiple programs advance from the RFI to the RFQ stage during the quarter and has a record level of activity in the RFQ stage, with more than five RFQ's currently in process.

Potential displacement of a competitor  The Company believes that part of the reason the Company's new light commercial vehicle program is on an accelerated timeline is because it is potentially displacing a development-stage competitor. Furthermore, two of the Company's advancing RFQs would possibly also displace the same development-stage competitor. Innoviz believes its 905nm solution is structurally advantaged, both in terms of technology and cost compared to 1550nm solutions.

In discussions with NVIDIA for Hyperion platform  Innoviz is in discussions with NVIDIA about integrating into series production programs leveraging the Hyperion platform. The conversations are running in parallel with several of the RFIs and RFQs in the Company's pipeline and have the potential to bring additional programs into the process.

Innoviz is well-positioned towards 2023 Start of Production (SOP)  The Company believes that it is well-positioned for production launches of Innoviz's BMW and shuttle programs, with volumes expected to increase in the second half of 2023.

Innoviz moving up the software stack, quoting new Minimum Risk Maneuver (MRM) system  MRM software and hardware acts as a failsafe to the primary autonomy system within a vehicle. In the event of a complication with the primary system and a failure of the driver to take over steering control during a transition period, the MRM system can assume control of the vehicle and deliver it to safety, typically by exiting the road. Historically, these have been camera-based systems. The Company is quoting both the hardware and the software for the system, offering a higher revenue and profit potential for vehicles that ultimately could include the technology. The Company also believes that the systems could be accretive to gross margins.

Working with 8 of the top 10 global automakers  When combined with Innoviz's existing customer order book, the Company has existing awards or is in an active sourcing process with eight out of the top ten global automakers.

First Quarter 2023 Financial Results

Revenues in Q1 2023 were $1.0 million, down 43% compared to revenues of $1.8 million in Q1 2022. The year-over-year decline in revenues was driven primarily by the progress in the BMW program as it approaches volume production at Magna, the Tier-1 on the program. The transition includes a shift from selling full LiDAR units to selling components to Magna at lower production average sales prices.

The decline of BMW program revenues was partially offset by meaningful growth in the volume of sales of InnovizTwo sample units, which we expect will to continue to grow in the coming quarters.

Operating expenses in Q1 2023 were $33.3 million, an increase of 7% compared to operating expenses of $31.1 million in Q1 2022. Operating expenses for Q1 2023 included $5.3 million of share-based compensation compared to $4.7 million of share-based compensation in Q1 2022. The year-over-year increase in operating expense was driven primarily by higher R&D expense, which increased to $26.1 million in Q1 2023 versus $22.8 million in Q1 2022 and was partially offset by lower Sales and Marketing and General and Administrative costs. The increase in R&D expense was driven primarily by a year-over-year increase in headcount, leading to higher personnel expenses and share-based compensation, with Q1 2023 share-based compensation of $3.5 million compared to $2.7 million in Q1 2022.

Liquidity in Q1 2023 was approximately $156.5 million in cash and cash equivalents, short term deposits, short term restricted cash and marketable securities as of March 31, 2023.

Updating 2023 Targets

The Company is providing the following updated commercial targets for full year 2023:

An additional one to three programs with existing customers, increasing the Company's previously announced expectations of one to two programs.

Two series production awards with new customers.

The new light commercial vehicle program coupled with progress on other automotive programs and new RFQs offers increased visibility into 2023 potential NRE bookings.

The Company is providing the following updated financial outlook for full year 2023:

Total new NRE bookings in the range of $20-40 million.

2023 revenues in the range of $12-15 million.

2023 Cash Collection from Customers of $20-30 million.

Conference Call

Innoviz management will hold a web conference today, May 17, 2023, at 9:00 a.m. Eastern time (6:00 a.m. Pacific time) to discuss commercial and strategic updates, financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2023 and 2023 operational and financial targets. Innoviz CEO Omer Keilaf and CFO Eldar Cegla will host the call, followed by a question-and-answer session.

Investors are invited to attend by registering in advance here. All relevant information will be sent upon registration.

A replay of the webinar will also be available shortly after the call in the Investors section of Innoviz's website for 90 days.

About Innoviz Technologies

Innoviz is a global leader in LiDAR technology, working towards a future with safe autonomous vehicles on the world's roads. Innoviz's LiDAR and perception software "see" better than a human driver and reduce the possibility of error, meeting the automotive industry's strictest expectations for performance and safety. Operating across the U.S., Europe, and Asia, Innoviz has been selected by internationally recognized premium car brands for use in consumer vehicles as well as by other commercial and industrial leaders for a wide range of use cases. For more information, visit www.innoviz-tech.com

Join the discussion: Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, Twitter

Media Contact

Media@innoviz-tech.com

Investor Contact (US)

Rob Moffatt

VP, Corporate Development & IR

Innoviz Technologies

+1 (203) 665-8644

Investors@innoviz-tech.com

Investor Contact (Israel)

Maya Lustig

Director, Investor Relations

Innoviz Technologies

+972 54 677 8100

Investors@innoviz-tech.com

Forward Looking Statements

This announcement contains certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws, including statements regarding the services offered by Innoviz, the anticipated technological capability of Innoviz's products, the markets in which Innoviz operates, Innoviz's projected future operational and financial results, including Cash Collection from Customers, revenue and non-recurring engineering (NRE) bookings. These forward-looking statements generally are identified by the words "believe," "project," "expect," "anticipate," "estimate," "intend," "strategy," "future," "opportunity," "plan," "may," "should," "will," "would," "will be," "will continue," "will likely result," and similar expressions. Forward-looking statements are predictions, projections and other statements about future events that are based on current expectations and assumptions and, as a result, are subject to risks and uncertainties. "Cash Collection from Customers" is cash received by the Company from revenues, advances and NRE bookings as described in the following sentence. "NRE (Non-recurring Engineering) bookings" is booked services that may be ordered from Innoviz usually as part of a series production award or other program and includes, among other things, application engineering, product adaptation services, testing and validation services, standards and qualification work and change requests (usually during the lifetime of a program). The commitment for a certain NRE is usually provided around the initiation of the program and may be paid based on milestones over the development phase of the project which may take a few years.

Many factors could cause actual future events, and, in the case of our forward-looking revenue, Cash Collection from Customers, and NRE bookings, actual orders or actual payments, to differ materially from the forward-looking statements in this announcement including but not limited to, the ability to implement business plans, forecasts, and other expectations, the ability to convert series production awards or other programs into definitive orders and the magnitude of such orders, the possibility that NRE would be set off against liabilities and indemnities, the ability to identify and realize additional opportunities, and potential changes and developments in the highly competitive LiDAR technology and related industries. The foregoing list is not exhaustive. You should carefully consider such risk and the other risks and uncertainties described in Innoviz's annual report on Form 20-F filed with the SEC on March 9, 2023 and other documents filed by Innoviz from time to time with the SEC. These filings identify and address other important risks and uncertainties that could cause actual events and results to differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made. Readers are cautioned not to put undue reliance on forward-looking statements, and Innoviz assumes no obligation and does not intend to update or revise these forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise. Innoviz gives no assurance that it will achieve its expectations.

INNOVIZ TECHNOLOGIES LTD. AND ITS SUBSIDIARIES CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS U.S. dollars in thousands (except share and per share data)





Three Months Ended March 31,



2023

2022



(Unaudited)









Revenues $ 1,010 $ 1,774 Cost of revenues

(4,941)

(2,431)









Gross loss

(3,931)

(657)









Operating expenses:







Research and development

26,102

22,761 Sales and marketing

2,448

2,971 General and administrative

4,735

5,329









Total operating expenses

33,285

31,061









Operating loss

(37,216)

(31,718)









Financial income, net

2,776

1,510









Loss before taxes on income

(34,440)

(30,208) Taxes on income

(360)

(20)









Net loss $ (34,800) $ (30,228)









Basic and diluted net loss per ordinary share $ (0.26) $ (0.23)









Weighted average number of ordinary shares used in

computing basic and diluted net loss per ordinary share

136,358,385

134,224,876











INNOVIZ TECHNOLOGIES LTD. AND ITS SUBSIDIARIES

CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS

U.S. dollars in thousands









March 31,

December 31,





2023

2022

ASSETS

(Unaudited)





CURRENT ASSETS:









Cash and cash equivalents $ 113,381 $ 55,718

Short term restricted cash

53

236

Bank deposits

-

80,684

Marketable securities

35,187

41,681

Trade receivables, net

2,054

1,762

Inventory

4,133

4,236

Prepaid expenses and other current assets

2,976

3,236

Total current assets

157,784

187,553













LONG-TERM ASSETS:









Marketable securities

7,898

7,840

Restricted deposits

2,535

2,543

Property and equipment, net

30,978

30,489

Operating lease right-of-use assets

27,112

26,927

Other long-term assets

83

81

Total long-term assets

68,606

67,880













Total assets $ 226,390 $ 255,433

























LIABILITIES AND SHAREHOLDERS' EQUITY









CURRENT LIABILITIES:









Trade payables $ 6,476 $ 8,367

Advances from customers and deferred revenues

4,241

4,082

Employees and payroll accruals

9,472

8,693

Accrued expenses and other current liabilities

8,574

7,572

Operating lease liabilities

4,744

3,720

Total current liabilities

33,507

32,434













LONG-TERM LIABILITIES:









Advances from customers and deferred revenues

121

61

Operating lease liabilities

29,395

30,201

Warrants liability

712

720

Total long-term liabilities

30,228

30,982













SHAREHOLDERS' EQUITY:









Ordinary Shares of no-par value

-

-

Additional paid-in capital

709,289

703,851

Accumulated deficit

(546,634)

(511,834)

Total shareholders' equity

162,655

192,017













Total liabilities and shareholders' equity $ 226,390 $ 255,433















INNOVIZ TECHNOLOGIES LTD. AND ITS SUBSIDIARIES CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS U.S. dollars in thousands





Three Months Ended March 31,



2023

2022



(Unaudited) Cash flows from operating activities:







Net loss $ (34,800) $ (30,228) Adjustments required to reconcile net loss to net cash used in

operating activities:







Depreciation and amortization

1,407

2,148 Remeasurement of warrants liability

-

(938) Change in accrued interest on bank deposits

1,195

(327) Change in marketable securities

(294)

596 Share-based compensation

5,300

4,708 Foreign exchange gain, net

(89)

(3) Change in prepaid expenses and other assets

424

7 Change in trade receivables, net

(292)

(591) Changes in inventory

103

(360) Change in operating lease assets and liabilities, net

33

222 Change in trade payables

(1,346)

(390) Change in accrued expenses and other liabilities

762

(1,806) Change in employees and payroll accruals

779

170 Change in advances from customers and deferred revenues

219

84 Net cash used in operating activities

(26,599)

(26,708) Cash flows from investing activities:







Purchase of property and equipment

(2,357)

(2,406) Investment in bank deposits

-

(5,000) Withdrawal of bank deposits

79,500

30,000 Increase in restricted deposits

(40)

- Investment in marketable securities

(7,100)

(2,175) Proceeds from sales and maturities of marketable securities

13,830

2,175 Net cash provided by investing activities

83,833

22,594 Cash flows from financing activities:







Proceeds from exercise of options

120

88 Net cash provided by financing activities

120

88 Effect of exchange rate changes on cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash

126

3 Increase (decrease) in cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash

57,480

(4,023) Cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash at the beginning of the period

55,954

24,541 Cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash at the end of the period $ 113,434 $ 20,518

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Cision

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SOURCE Innoviz Technologies
New Delhi: The Supreme Court will on Wednesday hear a batch of Public Interest Litigations (PILs) seeking an investigation into the Adani Group-Hindenberg report issue and the SEBI's plea for an extension of time to submit the report. The apex court on Monday adjourned the hearing on the SEBI plea seeking a six-month extension to conclude the investigation in the Hindenburg Research's report. The bench led by the Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dr Dhananjaya Yeshwant Chadrachud and also comprising Justices P S Narsimha and J B Pardiwala adjourned the matter.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta informed the SC that SEBI is seeking an extension of time for conducting the probe and needs six months to reach any conclusion. SEBI told the SC that the investigation done earlier by SEBI pertains to the issuance of Global Depository Receipts ("GDRs") by 51 Indian listed companies, in respect of which investigation was conducted. SEBI submitted before the Supreme Court that no listed company of Adani Group was part of those 51 companies it was investigating.

"Pursuant to the completion of the investigation, appropriate enforcement actions were taken in this matter. Hence, the allegation that the Securities and Exchange Board of India is investigating Adani since 2016 is factually baseless. I, therefore, say and submit that reliance sought to be placed on the investigation pertaining to GDRs is wholly misplaced," the rejoinder affidavit read.

SEBI submitted before Supreme Court that in the context of an investigation into Minimum Public Shareholding (MPS) norms, SEBI has already approached eleven overseas Regulators under the Multilateral Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO). Various requests for information were made to these Regulators. The first request to overseas Regulators was made as early as on October 6, 2020, the SEBI apprised the court.

SEBI submitted before the Supreme Court that the application for extension of time filed by it is meant to ensure carriage of justice keeping in mind the interest of investors and the securities market since any incorrect or premature conclusion of the case arrived at without full facts material on record would not serve the ends of justice and hence would be legally untenable.

SEBI has informed Supreme Court that in respect of the investigation and examination relating to 12 transactions referred to in the Hindenburg Report, prima facie it is noted that these transactions are highly complex and have many sub-transactions across numerous jurisdictions and a rigorous investigation of these transactions would require collation of data/information from various sources including bank statements from multiple domestic as well as international banks, financial statements of onshore and offshore entities involved in the transactions and contracts and agreements, if any, entered between the entities along with other supporting documents.

On March 2, the apex court directed the capital market regulator SEBI to investigate any securities law violations by the Adani Group in the wake of the Hindenburg report, which led to a massive wipe-out of more than USD 140 billion of the Adani Group's market value.

Supreme Court, on March 2, set up an expert committee on the issue arising from the Hindenburg Research report on Adani Group companies. The committee consist of six members, headed by former apex court judge Justice AM Sapre. The top court had then asked SEBI to file a status report within two months.

The apex court was then hearing petitions pertaining to the Hindenburg report, including on the constitution of a committee relating to regulatory mechanisms to protect investors' interests.

The January 24 Hindenburg report alleged stock manipulation and fraud by the conglomerate. The Adani Group has attacked Hindenburg as "an unethical short seller", stating that the report by the New York-based entity was "nothing but a lie". A short-seller in the securities market books gains from the subsequent reduction in the prices of shares.
New Delhi: The Congress central leadership will hold another round of deliberations to choose the new Karnataka Chief Minister with both Siddaramaiah and DK Shivakumar persisting with their claims for the top post and their supporters lobbying hard for them. The next round of meetings is slated to take place on Wednesday morning after which a final decision is likely to be made. Party sources said UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi is likely to reach Delhi on Wednesday from Himachal Pradesh and is expected to meet some leaders who are part of the decision-making process in Karnataka. The sources said DK Shivakumar, who is Karnataka Congress chief, is likely to agree to suggestions made by Sonia Gandhi to help the party solve the leadership issue in the state.

G Parameshwara Also Eyeing CM's Chair

Dr G Parameshwara, former Karnataka Deputy CM, has also shown his keenness for the top job in the state, stating that if he is assigned the responsibility, he will fulfil it. "If the Congress high command gives me the responsibility of the CM post, I will definitely fulfil it. They know everything about me and my work. I don't want to lobby," he said.

Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge has held talks with all stakeholders in Karnataka. Party leader Rahul Gandhi met Kharge on Tuesday to discuss government formation in the southern state. Congress general secretary (Organisation) KC Venugopal said a good decision" will come. "Decision will come, wait. Good decisions will come. It will come as soon as possible," Venugopal said as he left Kharge's residence.

The sources said that the central observers are likely to meet Kharge on Wednesday morning at 11 am. The results of assembly polls were declared on Saturday and the newly-elected Congress MLAs on Sunday authorised Kharge to take a decision.

Siddaramaiah, Shivakumar Camping In Delhi

With the action shifting to Delhi, both Siddaramaiah, a former Chief Minister of Karnataka, and Shivakumar reached Delhi. Congress leadership is keen on an early decision on the choice of Chief Minister and also wants to ensure that there are no fissures either in the running of the government or the party in Karnataka so that the party can focus on its preparations for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

The Congress is already battling factionalism in Rajasthan and the differences in Chhattisgarh on the issue of leadership have not entirely ended. The party suffered in Madhya Pradesh due to the exit of Jyotiraditya Scindia. Congress leadership is looking at a formula where Karnataka may have Deputy Chief Ministers along with the Chief Minister to meet the aspirations of various communities.

The central observers appointed by the party in Karnataka spoke to MLAs and gave their report to the party leadership. Sources said Kharge will take the final decision after consulting Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi. "No final decision has been made on the Karnataka CM post yet. Congress president has met all the stakeholders. Now the final decision will be taken by him in consultation with Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi. The announcement can be delayed until tomorrow and the announcement can be made in Bengaluru itself," a source said.

Kharge held meetings with both Shivakumar and Siddaramaiah on Tuesday. Siddaramaiah came to Kharge's residence along with his son Yatindra and MLAs Zameer Ahmad, Bhyrati Suresh, and senior leader KJ George.

Won't Blackmail Party: Shivakumar

Earlier in the day, Shivakumar, in an exclusive interview with ANI said he would not resort to "backstabbing or blackmail" regardless of the party's decision. "If the party wants they can give me the responsibility....... Ours is a united house, our number is 135. I don't want to divide anyone here. Whether they like me or not, I am a responsible man. I will not backstab and I will not blackmail," he said.

"The party is my god...We have built this party, I am a part of it and I am not alone in this," he said before his departure from Bengaluru. "We have built this party (Congress), we have built this house. I am a part of it...A mother will give everything to her child," he said.

Asked about his expectations as the state party president, Shivakumar said," I don't want to comment on what has happened earlier. How it happened. That is a closed chapter we formed the government we lost the government, we lost a coalition government. Who is responsible for the victory and loss there is no use of talking about it now. Let us not sell this story... let us sell the future."

Congress scored an emphatic win in Karnataka, getting 135 seats in the 224-member assembly and reducing BJP to 66 seats.
New Delhi: Who will be the next CM of Karnataka? Thats the burning question that has kept everyone on the edge of their seats on Wednesday. The state Congress chief D.K. Shivakumar held a discussion with leaders of the party and his supporters at his brother-party MP DK Suresh's residence here. Earlier on Wednesday, DK Shivakumar met with party leader Rahul Gandhi in the national capital even as the party refrained from making any official announcement yet on who will be the next Karnataka CM. Earlier today Shivakumar met with Congress National President Mallikarjun Kharge's house after a long meeting. The KPCC chief did not answer media questions. He is set to meet with Kharge and Rahul Gandhi later this evening.

Meanwhile, abother top CM contender Siddaramaiah, a former CM and a popular figure, also had a cordial meeting with Gandhi in Delhi on Wednesday.

Delhi | Karnataka Congress president DK Shivakumar holds a discussion with leaders of the party and his supporters at his brother-party MP DK Suresh's residence. pic.twitter.com/oBEEnqCbSB  ANI (@ANI) May 17, 2023

The official media handle of Congress shared pictures of Rahul Gandhi with both the leaders

Calling Gandhi a "jannayak" - leader of the people - the Congress tweeted, "Rahul Gandhi ji met DK Shivakumar ji and Siddaramaiah ji after the landslide victory in Karnataka."

Next Karnataka CM To Be Announced Today Or Tomorrow: Surjewala

Earlier Congress' Karnataka-in-charge Randeep Surjewala said that a decision on the next Karnataka chief minister will be announced today or tomorrow and a new cabinet will be in place within 72 hours. Surjewala also dismissed speculative reports that Siddaramaiah was likely to be named the chief minister once again.

"Delibrations are currently underway by party president Mallikarjun Kharge. Whenever Congress makes a decision we will inform you. In the next 48-72 hours, we will have a new cabinet in Karnataka," he told reporters.

The Congress leader said that consultations are still on and urged media to not report on speculation or heed to fake information. Four days since Congress registered an emphatic victory in the Assembly polls by wresting power from the Bharatiya Janata Party, still, the State is yet to get a Chief Minister. Meanwhile, supporters of Siddaramaiah were seen bursting firecrackers in Bengaluru.

After registering an emphatic win in the Karnataka Assembly elections the Congress legislative party met late evening on Sunday in Bengaluru and passed a one-line resolution empowering Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge to pick the head of the legislative party.

The Congress had emerged as the single largest party in Karnataka after winning the May 10 assembly election. It won 135 seats in the 224-member Karnataka assembly.
Brussels: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has responded strongly after EU Foreign policy chief Josep Borrell called for action against India for buying refined oil products from Russia. The EAM advised him to look at EU Council regulations. "Look at EU Council regulations, Russian crude is substantially transformed in the third country and not treated as Russian anymore. I would urge you to look at Council's Regulation 833/2014," said Jaishankar. This comes after the bloc's chief diplomat earlier said that the EU should crack down on India reselling Russian oil as refined fuels including diesel into Europe as Western nations move to tighten sanctions on Moscow's energy sector.

"India buys Russian oil, it's normal... " said EU's Foreign policy chief Borrell but wants the bloc to act on refined products coming from India-made Russian crude in an interview. While Borrell met with Jaishankar at the trade technology talks in Brussels, he was not present at the press conference that followed.

In his place, EU Executive Vice President on Competition, Margrethe Vestager said that there was "no doubt about the legal basis of the sanctions", and that the EU and India would have the discussion as "friends... with an extended hand and of course, not a pointed finger."

Along with Jaishankar, Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal, and Union Minister of State for Entrepreneurship, Skill Development, Electronics and Technology Rajeev Chandrasekhar was also in the meeting. Jaishankar on Monday arrived in Brussels for the last leg of his three-nation visit covering Bangladesh, Sweden and Belgium.

Earlier also Jaishankar had defended India's imports from Russia while indirectly criticising the West for pressurising New Delhi to minimise its trade with Russia in view of its military action in Ukraine.

He wondered how Europe could make choices to prioritise its own energy needs and at the same time ask India to do something else. "Our trade with Russia is at a very small level- USD 12-13 billion, in comparison to European countries. We've also given the Russians a set of products... I don't think people should read more into it other than the legitimate expectations of any trading country to increase its trade," the EAM said earlier in December while addressing a joint press conference with his German counterpart Annalena Baerbock.

"I would urge you to look at these figures. There is a website called 'Russia Fossil Fuel Tracker' that would give you country-by-country data of who is really importing what and I suspect that might be very helpful," he added.
Ahmedabad: With just a year left for the Lok Sabha elections, the ruling BJP in Gujarat has decided to launch a month-long Maha Jan Sampark Abhiyan or mass contact program from May 30, wherein it will organize gatherings of intellectuals and conventions of different business communities among other things, a party functionary said on Wednesday.

The state Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will launch the mass outreach campaign on May 30 as Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government at the Centre will complete nine years on that day, the party said in a release.

The announcement was made by the BJPs Gujarat state general secretary (organization), Ratnakar, at the partys state executive committee meeting held here on Wednesday in the presence of its state unit president C R Paatil and state Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel.

The state executive meeting was also attended by BJPs elected MLAs, Members of Parliaments (MPs), heads of district units, presidents of BJP-ruled district panchayats, heads of various cells and mayors of BJP-ruled cities, the release said.

Giving details of the partys upcoming events in the state, BJPs state general secretary Pradipsinh Vaghela told reporters that the partys Maha Jan Sampark Abhiyan would be held between May 30 and June 30 and it is aimed at reaching out to each and every person in Gujarat.

During the meeting, the party prepared a plan about the programs to be conducted in each Lok Sabha constituency, at the assembly level and also at the booth level. For that, we are launching a month-long Maha Jan Sampark Abhiyan from May 30. We want to reach out to each and every citizen in Gujarat through various programs which will be held till June 30, he said in a press conference after the meeting.

Under this mass outreach initiative, the party will organize 100 gatherings of intellectual citizens, conventions of different business communities, events by various cells of the state BJP and large rallies in all the 26 Lok Sabha constituencies, Vaghela said. On June 23, the death anniversary of Bharatiya Jana Sangh founder Syama Prasad Mukherjee, the party will organize an event to felicitate senior party leaders in the state, he added.

During this month-long exercise, thousands of our party workers will visit all the polling booths in the state to make people aware of the works done by the BJP government at the Centre in the last nine years. Our aim is to meet each and every citizen in the state during this exercise, he said. In his address to the invited party functionaries at the meeting, Paatil said although the Congress was in power at the Centre for nearly 60 years, the party never presented its report card.

On the contrary, this will be the ninth year when the BJP under the leadership of PM Narendra Modi will go among the people with its yearly report card. Thanks to the PMs visionary approach and decisions, our country is now undergoing a transformation. Service, governance, the welfare of the poor, new approach, and firm decision-making are the five hallmarks of the Modi government, Patil said.

On the occasion, Patel said that BJP workers remain active throughout the year and work for society. He also urged the cadres to work for bringing benefits of various government schemes to those who are sitting on the last line, the party release added.
New Delhi: Congress leader Pawan Khera on Tuesday said his party's questions with regard to Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) continue in spite of its victories in the Assembly elections in Karnataka and Himachal Pradesh. He also said that the concerns of Congress with regard to EVMs include tallying of VVPATs with the results, the allegedly missing machines and the faulty machines and the SOPs not being followed on the faulty machines which recently came to light.

"Just because we won Karnataka and Himachal does not mean that our questions on EVMs do not remain," Pawan Khera told a news conference.

He also spoke on a decision on the appointment of the new Chief Minister of Karnataka and said it will be known in a day or two.

Khera told reporters that the views of the newly-elected Karnataka MLAs have been elicited and the central leadership is seized of the matter. Noting that the post of Leader of Opposition is equally important in every state, he sought to know when the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will appoint the LoP in Karnataka.

"Appointing a Chief Minister is not an easy thing. It cannot be imposed from Delhi... Everybody's view has to be taken into consideration. We have to engage with every stakeholder and then decide who the chief minister will be," he said.

On Congress' manifesto in Karnataka talking about a ban on Bajrang Dal and whether any investigation would be initiated, he said action would be taken if any organisation is found spreading hatred.

Asked if there would be any alliance with ruling Bharat Rashtra Samithi in Telangana for the 2024 Parliamentary elections, he said Telangana is one of the states where the Congress would take on the regional parties 'head on' and defeat them. Similarly, the Congress cannot think of an alliance with AAP in Punjab, he added.

Asked about dissident Congress leader Sachin Pilot's yatra in Rajasthan, Khera said the party would act upon the report of its Rajasthan in-charge who has taken the views of party leaders in that state.

He said there are more than one competent leader in the party in different states, including Rajasthan, and that only one leader becomes the Chief Minister. The other leaders too have hopes and ambitions, he added.

"The party has a mechanism. Every party would have and our party also has. We have our 'prabhari' there. Randhawa saab is our 'prabhari' there. The report that he gives after speaking to all, we will act upon that report," the Congress leader stated.
New Delhi: Congress leader Randeep Surjewala on Wednesday said that a decision on the next Karnataka chief minister will be announced today or tomorrow and a new cabinet will be in place within 72 hours. He also dismissed speculative reports that Siddaramaiah was likely to be named the chief minister once again. "Delibrations are currently underway by party president Mallikarjun Kharge.

Whenever Congress makes a decision we will inform you. In the next 48-72 hours, we will have a new cabinet in Karnataka," he told reporters here. The Congress leader said that consultations are still on and urged the media to not report on speculation or heed to fake information.

Four days since Congress registered an emphatic victory in the Assembly polls by wresting power from the Bharatiya Janata Party, still, the State is yet to get a Chief Minister. Meanwhile, supporters of Siddaramaiah were seen bursting firecrackers in Bengaluru.

Also, police officials were seen inspecting the Sri Kanteerava Outdoor Stadium in Bengaluru where the swearing-in ceremony of the new Karnataka government is likely to be held. Earlier in the day, Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar both met Rahul Gandhi at UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi's residence, in the national capital.

Besides this, Karnataka Congress working president Eshwar Khandare and other MLAs arrived at the party president Mallikarjun Kharge's residence in the national capital for meetings in connection with picking the next chief minister of the State.

Khandare had asserted that the suspense over the decision of the next Chief Minister of the State would likely end by this evening. "I met the party's national president Mallikarjun Kharge and discussed the recent developments in Karnataka...Only high command will decide, we are 100 per cent united. Decision maybe by today evening," Khandare had told reporters here.

On Tuesday, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge held meetings with both potential candidates D K Shivakumar and Siddaramaiah in New Delhi. Siddaramaiah had arrived at Kharge's residence along with his son Yatindra and MLAs Zameer Ahmad, Bhyrati Suresh, and senior leader KJ George.

Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday met party president Mallikarjun Kharge who went through the Congress central observers' report, which was submitted on Monday. Three central observers appointed by the All India Congress Committee (AICC) in Karnataka, arrived in Delhi on Monday to present their report to Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on the appointment of the Karnataka chief minister.

The observers Sushil Kumar Shinde, Deepak Bawaria and Bhanwar Jitendra Singh were tasked with speaking to newly elected Congress MLAs on the election of the Congress Legislative Party (CLP) leader in Karnataka and subsequently to submit their report to the party's high command.

The Congress legislative party had met late evening on Sunday in Bengaluru and passed a one-line resolution empowering Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge to pick the head of the legislative party. The Congress had emerged as the single largest party in Karnataka after winning the May 10 assembly election. It won 135 seats in the 224-member Karnataka assembly. (ANI)
New Delhi: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Wednesday conducted searches at more than 100 locations in six states of Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Madhya Pradesh in a major crackdown on the terror-narcotics smugglers-gangsters nexus. The anti-terror agency in close coordination with state police forces conducted these raids since early Wednesday at the premises and other places linked to suspects. The raids are still going on. The raids are being conducted in connection with three separate cases lodged by the NIA last year - RC 37, 38, 39/2022/NIA/DLI.

The agency on January 25 this year arrested one Deepak Ranga, the main shooter in the RPG attack on Punjab Police Intelligence Headquarters in Mohali in May 2022 in its case RC-37/2022/NIA/DLI, from Uttar Pradesh's Gorakhpur as he was a close associate of Canada based gangster-turned-terrorist Lakhbir Singh Sandhu alias Landa and Pakistan based gangster-turned-terrorist Harvinder Singh Sandhu alias Rinda.

Apart from his involvement in the May RPG attack, Deepak has been involved in a number of other violent terrorist and criminal offences, including violent killings. He has been actively receiving terror funds and logistical support from Rinda and Landa.

The NIA had registered the case suo moto on September 20, 2022, after it emerged that terrorist outfits and terror elements based abroad were operating in tandem with leaders and members of organized criminal gangs operating in northern states of the country to commit targeted killings and violent criminal acts. It had also emerged that the terror-gangster-drug smuggler network was also engaged in smuggling terrorist hardware, such as arms, ammunition explosives, IEDs etc across borders through a widespread inter-state network of gun runners, illegal arms and ammunition manufacturers and suppliers and explosive traffickers.

Since the registration of three criminal cases against the above terror-gangster-drug smuggler network, NIA has already arrested 19 leaders and members of various Organised criminal gangs, two Arms suppliers and one big financier connected with the network under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. Canada-based Arsh Dalla has been designated as an 'individual terrorist' by the Ministry of Home Affairs on January 9, this year.
New Delhi: Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Tuesday slammed self-styled godman Dhirendra Shastri for his 'Bihar will ignite the Hindu Rashtra fire' remark and said that his statement has 'no value'. Shastri, who is popularly known as 'Baba Bageshwar', on the first day of his spiritual discourse in Bihar, had advocated for India as a Hindu nation.

"In Bihar, we ensure that everyone gets their right to worship as the way they want, but no one should interfere in each other's faith. If someone is saying something on their own, it has no value," Nitish Kumar said.

RJD national president Lalu Prasad Yadav also said that self-styled godman Dhirendra Shastri is not a seer.

Asked about Shastri inviting his family for 'Hanumant Katha' in Naubatpur, the veteran leader said, "I refuse to accept that he is a Baba."

Dhirendra Shastri reiterates making India Hindu nation claim

On Day 4 of his 'Hanuman Katha', Dhirendra Shastri on Tuesday reiterated his commitment to make India a Hindu nation. He also claimed that he has come to Bihar by risking his life to wake up the people of the state.

"The population of Bihar is around 13 crore and I want to tell you through this 'Hanuman Katha' that once you return to your respective homes, you should install religious flags of Lord Hanuman. If five crore people of Bihar do that and put 'tilak' on their foreheads before stepping out of their homes, India will head towards becoming a Hindu nation," Shastri, who is on a five-day visit to Bihar, said.

Barely in his 20s, Shastri heads the Bageshwar Dham pilgrimage site in Madhya Pradesh, dedicated to Lord Hanuman, and has acquired a huge fan following, largely on account of a proclaimed ability to read people's minds.

Petition against Dhirendra Shastri for 'hurting' Hindu sentiments

Earlier this month, a petition accusing Dhirendra Shastri of hurting Hindu sentiments, by proclaiming himself to be an incarnation of Lord Hanuman, was filed before a court in Bihar. The petition was filed before the court of Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate (West), Muzaffarpur, by a local advocate Suraj Kumar on May 1.

The petitioner claimed that the godman had, at a congregation in Rajasthan on April 24, claimed to be an 'avatar' of Lord Hanuman, which was an affront to religious beliefs of Hindus. The petitioner sought trial of Shastri under IPC Sections 295A, 298 and 505, all of which pertain to hurt cause to religious feelings.

A votary of making India a 'Hindu Rashtra', Shastri has been named in cases lodged at many places, for allegedly inciting communal passions and promoting superstitions.
Janet Yellen is 'bluffing' about the government running out of money by early June, economist Danielle DiMartino Booth says

U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on October 06, 2021 in Washington, DC. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Danielle DiMartino Booth said Janet Yellen is 'bluffing' about the date by which the US government could run out of money.

"The X-date is not in June," the economist and former advisor at the Dallas Fed said in a tweet.

Yellen has said the Treasury may find itself unable to meet payments as early as June 1 if the debt limit isn't raised.

Janet Yellen was 'bluffing' when she said the US government could be out of money and unable pay its debts by June 1 if Congress doesn't agree to raise the federal borrowing limit, according to economist Danielle DiMartino Booth.

The so-called X-date - when the Treasury will be out of cash - is further away that Yellen suggests, and will likely come only after June, according to the CEO and chief strategist at Quill Intelligence, who was a former advisor at the Dallas Fed.

"The X-date is not in June. Yellen is bluffing (which is her J.O.B)," DiMartino Booth said in a tweet on Tuesday. She was responding to an analysis by another Twitter user, who projected the date to most likely come after June.

Yellen has repeatedly urged lawmakers to act on the borrowing limit - and warned that failing to raise the debt ceiling in time could result in a "catastrophe" for the US economy. She reiterated that concern in a new letter to House Speaker Kevin McCarthy Monday.

"With additional information now available, I am writing to note that we still estimate that Treasury will likely no longer be able to satisfy all of the government's obligations if Congress has not acted to raise or suspend the debt limit by early June, and potentially as early as June 1," Yellen said in the letter.

"The actual date Treasury exhausts extraordinary measures could be a number of days or weeks later than these estimates," the Treasury Secretary said, adding that these estimates are based on data, federal receipts, and outlays that could vary from the debt.

Hours before Yellen renewed her warning to McCarthy, the speaker was nowhere close to confident with the way the negotiations have been progressing. "It doesn't seem to me yet they want a deal, it just seems like they want to look like they are in a meeting but they aren't talking anything serious," McCarthy said.

Last week, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office projected that there is "significant risk" the US could default in the first two weeks of June if the debt ceiling is not raised by then. Meanwhile, Mark Zandi, the chief economist at Moody's Analytics, previously told Insider that his projected X-date falls on June 8, with a best-case scenario of August 8.

Read the original article on Business Insider
New Delhi: Actor Sara Ali Khan is making sure that she unleashes her fashionable avatar at Cannes 2023 in the best way.

After making her Cannes debut in Abu Jani Sandeep Khosla lehenga on Tuesday, the 'Simmba' star stole attention at the opening night party in a black and gold outfit. She looked gorgeous in the black strapless dress with gold embellishment. She accentuated her ensemble with a matching black purse.

At the party, she bumped into model Naomi Campbell. The duo posed for a happy picture at the bash.

While hitting the Cannes red carpet, Sara spoke to shutterbugs where she proudly represented Indian culture.

She said, "It's (outfit) a traditional and modern Indian handmade design by Abu and Sandeep (Khosla). I've always been proud of my Indianness. It embodies who I am, it's fresh, it's modern and also has traditional roots."

The designers through an Instagram post wrote that the Kedarnath actor arrived at the red carpet in an exquisite hand-embroidered multi-panel skirt. "The intricate shadow work embroidery, adorning each unique panel, showcases a mesmerizing calendar of designs from our archives of couture down the years," they added.

Also, she shared stunning pictures in an extraordinary white ensemble on social media and fans are stunned. In the caption, she wrote, "I guess you Cannes do it again"

Cannes Film Festival 2023 started on May 16 and will conclude on May 27. Established in 1946, the festival serves as a platform for filmmakers to showcase their works and compete for prestigious awards, including the Palme d'Or, which is the highest prize awarded at the festival.

Actresses Anushka Sharma, Manushi Chillar and Esha Gupta are also currently in Cannes for the 76th edition of the festival.
New Delhi: Bigg Boss 14 contestant Nikki Tamboli is known for her bold fashion statements and her latest social media post is doing full justice with the tag. Nikki took the internet by storm with her sexy pool look and fans are stunned. She shared her pictures and videos from the Goa vacation and fans are now gasping for breath.

The 26-year-old actress-model shared the sexy video, filming herself in a stunning colorful bikini as she strikes a series of sultry poses in the pool. "Tanning mode: ON," she wrote in the caption. Fans flooded the comment section with heart-eye and fire emojis. One user wrote, 'Hotness' 'Wow, you look so hot!' commented another. 'Always fire " a third one said.

Also, Nikki dropped sizzling pictures from the poolside in a multi-coloured beachwear. In the caption, she wrote, "Take it easy"

Earlier, she took the internet by storm with her sexy saree look where the actress can be seen showing off her hourglass figure while wearing a fitting golden gangra skirt paired with a plunging blouse and a slit dupatta. She took the pictures to Instagram and wrote in the caption, 'Be wild but stay soft..'

The actress often remains in the news for her bold and hot avatar. Before gaining fame from Bigg Boss 14, she primarily worked in the Tamil and Telugu film industries.

Last year, Nikki's name cropped up during a probe into the Rs 200-crore extortion case involving conman Sukesh Chandrasekhar. She was taken to Tihar Jail in Delhi with one more actress to recreate their alleged meeting with conman Sukesh as part of a probe into the extortion case.

As per IANS sources, "Nikki Tamboli of 'Bigg Boss' fame, Chahatt Khanna of 'Bade Acche Lagte Hai' fame, Sophia Singh, and Arusha Patil met Chandrasekhar in the jail premises and he introduced himself as a producer of the southern film industry. Chandrasekhar's close aide Pinky Irani, who was arrested by the Delhi Police`s Economic Offences Wing (EOW) in November last year, had facilitated their meetings with the conman. All these four actresses were given expensive gifts from renowned brands such as Gucci, Versace, and Louis Vuitton," the website reported.
New Delhi: As part of its global accessibility awareness campaign, Apple has unveiled new features for customers with cognitive, vision, and hearing impairments. The following significant iPhone features are on the way: "Assistive Access," "Personal voice," and "Point and Speak in Magnifier." Apple is also releasing curated collections, extra software features, and other things in a few regions.

However, the corporation makes sure that its new tools take advantage of hardware and software advancements, including on-device machine learning to protect user privacy. (Also Read: Fourth Major Exit In 6 Months! Meta India Executive Manish Chopra Steps Down)

The Personal Voice Advance Speech for users who are at risk of losing their capacity to speak, such as those with a recent diagnosis of ALS or other diseases, is possibly the most important function. By using the iPhone, the tool intends to enable user-generated voice communication. (Also Read: Tamil Nadu Announces 4% DA Hike For Govt Employees, Pensioners)

Apple describes how users can build a personal voice in a blog post: "Users can construct a Personal Voice by reading along with a randomly generated set of text prompts to record 15 minutes of audio on iPhone or iPad. In order to protect user privacy and security, this speech accessibility feature leverages on-device machine learning. It also seamlessly interacts with Live Speech so that users may communicate with loved ones using their Personal Voice."

In addition to Personal Voice, Apple is introducing Live Speech on the iPhone, iPad, and Mac to enable those who have speech impairments to communicate. During phone and FaceTime chats, as well as in-person conversations, users can enter what they want to say to have it spoken aloud.

Users with cognitive limitations can use assistive access. By deleting the extra information, the tool gives a personalised app experience and assists users in choosing the most appropriate choice.

As an illustration, Messages offers an emoji-only keyboard and the choice to record a video message to send to loved ones for users who prefer interacting visually. those trusted supporters can also select between a row-based layout for those who like text and a more visually appealing grid-based layout for their Home Screen and apps.

Simply said, the Assistive Access feature for iPhones and iPads delivers a straightforward user interface with high-contrast buttons and large text labels. A new Point and Speak in Magnifier feature will be available for iPhones equipped with LiDAR scanners so that people with disabilities can interact with actual items.

As users run their fingers across the keypad, Point and Speak, according to Apple, reads out the text on each button using data from the camera, the LiDAR scanner, and on-device machine learning.

Along with the new tools, Apple will launch SignTime on May 18 in South Korea, Germany, Italy, and Spain to connect consumers of its Apple Support and Apple Store with on-demand sign language interpreters.

To help consumers learn about accessibility features, a few Apple Store locations across the world offer educational sessions every day of the week.
WASHINGTON: President Joe Biden said Tuesday he's curtailing his upcoming trip to the Indo-Pacific, scrapping what was to be a historic stop in Papua New Guinea as well as a visit to Australia for a gathering with fellow leaders of the so-called Quad partnership so he can focus on debt limit talks in Washington. The scuttling of two of the three legs of the overseas trip is a foreign policy setback for an administration that has made putting a greater focus on the Pacific region central to its global outreach.

Biden said he still plans to depart on Wednesday for Hiroshima, Japan, for a Group of Seven summit with leaders from some of the world's major economies. He will return to the U.S. on Sunday.

"I'm postponing the Australia portion of the trip and my stop in Papua New Guinea in order to be back for the final negotiations with congressional leaders," Biden said at the start of a Jewish

American Heritage Month event at the White House. He added, "The nature of the presidency is addressing many of the critical matters all at once. So I'm confident we're going to continue to make progress toward avoiding the default and fulfilling America's responsibility as a leader on the world stage."

Biden said he spoke to Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese earlier on Tuesday to inform him he was postponing a visit to Australia and invited him to Washington for an official state visit at a yet-to-be determined date. White House staff broke the news to Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape.

White House officials did not offer an immediate response to questions about when Biden might reschedule visits to the two countries.

"Revitalizing and reinvigorating our alliances and advancing partnerships like the Quad remains a key priority for the President," White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said. "This is vital to our ability to advance our foreign policy goals and better promote global stability and prosperity. We look forward to finding other ways to engage with Australia, the Quad, Papua New Guinea and the leaders of the Pacific Islands Forum in the coming year."

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has invited Albanese, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi as well as Pacific Island leaders to come to Hiroshima during the G-7. Albanese in an Australian Broadcasting Corp. interview said that the Quad leaders are now hoping to hold a meeting in Hiroshima.

"We'll also hopefully be able to find a time when the four of us can sit down," Albanese said. "We will have to organize the logistics of the Quad meeting now in Sydney and we'll be discussing with our partners in the U.S., but also Japan and India over the next day or so."

Biden had been scheduled to travel on to Papua New Guinea to meet with Pacific Island leaders and then to Australia for a meeting of the leaders of the Quad partnership, made up of the U.S., Australia, India and Japan. The Papua New Guinea stop would have been the first visit by a sitting U.S. president to the island country of more than 9 million people.

The Quad partnership first formed during the response to the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami that killed some 230,000 people. Since coming into office, Biden has tried to reinvigorate the Quad as part of his broader effort to put greater U.S. focus on the Pacific and counter increasing economic and military assertiveness by China in the region.

Biden announced his decision soon after he wrapped up a meeting on Tuesday afternoon with Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jefferies, D-N.Y., for talks on the debt limit standoff.

Earlier Tuesday, White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby expressed administration officials' frustration that the debt talks are having an impact on the president's dealings on the international stage.

"We wouldn't have to have this conversation. I wouldn't have to answer these questions if Congress just did the right thing," Kirby said.

Some Republican lawmakers questioned Biden's decision to travel overseas considering the consequences of the debt limit talks.

"I think he should not leave and he should focus on the debt limit here at home," Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla.

With the brief stop in Papua New Guinea to meet with Pacific Island leaders, Biden had hoped to demonstrate that the United States is committed to remaining engaged for the long term in the Pacific Islands.

The area has received diminished attention from the U.S. in the aftermath of the Cold War and China has increasingly filled the vacuum  through increased aid, development and security cooperation. Biden has said that he's committed to changing that dynamic.

Last September, Biden hosted leaders from more than a dozen Pacific Island countries at the White House, announcing a new strategy to help to assist the region on climate change and maritime security. His administration also recently opened embassies in the Solomon Islands and Tonga, and has plans to open one in Kiribati.
Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida attends a roundtable interview with members of the foreign media in Tokyo

TOKYO (Reuters) -Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida plans to meet with top executives from global semiconductor companies as early as on Thursday to strengthen multilateral cooperation, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said.

"The resilience of the semiconductor supply chain cannot be achieved by a single country, and it is extremely important to work together with like-minded countries and regions," Matsuno told a regular news conference on Wednesday.

The meeting would occur at a time when the United States is increasingly urging allies to work together to counter China's chips and advanced technology development.

Ahead of Matsuno's comment, two people involved in planning the meeting had told Reuters that Kishida will meet with executives from Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd (TSMC) and six other chip firms to seek active investment in Japan and tighter cooperation with Japanese companies.

Executives from Samsung Electronics Co Ltd, Intel Corp, Micron Technology Inc, Applied Materials Inc, International Business Machines Corp and IMEC will also take part, the people said.

Japan is striving to reinvigorate its chip sector, whose global market share has fallen to about 10% from around 50% in the late 1980s.

TSMC, the world's largest contract chip manufacturer, is building a major factory in western Japan. Samsung is considering setting up a chip packaging test line in the country, five people familiar with the matter said in March.

Also, Intel is looking into opening up a research and development facility in Japan, the Yomiuri Shimbun daily reported on Wednesday.

(Reporting by Yoshifumi Takemoto, Maki Shiraki and Satoshi Sugiyama; Writing by Mariko Katsumura and Kiyoshi Takenaka; Editing by Christopher Cushing and Neil Fullick)
Key Insights

The projected fair value for Lii Hen Industries Bhd is RM0.71 based on Dividend Discount Model

With RM0.84 share price, Lii Hen Industries Bhd appears to be trading close to its estimated fair value

Industry average of 135% suggests Lii Hen Industries Bhd's peers are currently trading at a higher premium to fair value

Today we'll do a simple run through of a valuation method used to estimate the attractiveness of Lii Hen Industries Bhd (KLSE:LIIHEN) as an investment opportunity by taking the expected future cash flows and discounting them to today's value. One way to achieve this is by employing the Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) model. There's really not all that much to it, even though it might appear quite complex.

Companies can be valued in a lot of ways, so we would point out that a DCF is not perfect for every situation. Anyone interested in learning a bit more about intrinsic value should have a read of the Simply Wall St analysis model.

See our latest analysis for Lii Hen Industries Bhd

Crunching The Numbers

As Lii Hen Industries Bhd operates in the consumer durables sector, we need to calculate the intrinsic value slightly differently. Instead of using free cash flows, which are hard to estimate and often not reported by analysts in this industry, dividends per share (DPS) payments are used. Unless a company pays out the majority of its FCF as a dividend, this method will typically underestimate the value of the stock. We use the Gordon Growth Model, which assumes dividend will grow into perpetuity at a rate that can be sustained. For a number of reasons a very conservative growth rate is used that cannot exceed that of a company's Gross Domestic Product (GDP). In this case we used the 5-year average of the 10-year government bond yield (3.6%). The expected dividend per share is then discounted to today's value at a cost of equity of 15%. Compared to the current share price of RM0.8, the company appears around fair value at the time of writing. 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.

Value Per Share = Expected Dividend Per Share / (Discount Rate - Perpetual Growth Rate)

= RM0.08 / (15%  3.6%)

= RM0.7

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. You don't have to agree with these inputs, I recommend redoing the calculations yourself and playing with them. The DCF also does not consider the possible cyclicality of an industry, or a company's future capital requirements, so it does not give a full picture of a company's potential performance. Given that we are looking at Lii Hen Industries Bhd 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 15%, which is based on a levered beta of 1.369. 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:

Whilst important, the DCF calculation is only one of many factors that you need to assess for a company. DCF models are not the be-all and end-all of investment valuation. Rather it should be seen as a guide to "what assumptions need to be true for this stock to be under/overvalued?" For instance, if the terminal value growth rate is adjusted slightly, it can dramatically alter the overall result. For Lii Hen Industries Bhd, we've put together three further aspects you should explore:

Risks: Case in point, we've spotted 2 warning signs for Lii Hen Industries Bhd you should be aware of, and 1 of them is significant. Future Earnings: How does LIIHEN's growth rate compare to its peers and the wider market? Dig deeper into the analyst consensus number for the upcoming years by interacting with our free analyst growth expectation chart. Other Solid Businesses: Low debt, high returns on equity and good past performance are fundamental to a strong business. Why not explore our interactive list of stocks with solid business fundamentals to see if there are other companies you may not have considered!

PS. Simply Wall St updates its DCF calculation for every Malaysian stock every day, so if you want to find the intrinsic value of any other stock just search here.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.



This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.

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TORONTO, May 17, 2023 /CNW/ - Manulife Investment Management announced today two new actively managed Manulife Smart Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) have closed their initial offering of units and will begin trading today on the NEO Exchange. The firm's Multi-Asset Solutions Team will manage the Manulife Smart Global Dividend ETF Portfolio (GDIV) and the Manulife Smart Global Bond ETF (GBND) offering market participants more options for generating income within their investment portfolios.

Manulife Investment Management Logo (CNW Group/Manulife Investment Management)

"We're pleased to expand our ETF suite to provide two additional solutions to investors seeking income opportunities across asset classes," said Yanic Chagnon, Head of Investment Product, Canada, Manulife Investment Management. "Advisors and individual investors alike can use Manulife Smart Global Dividend ETF Portfolio and Manulife Smart Global Bond ETF to identify income-generating opportunities from around the world."

Manulife Smart Global Dividend ETF Portfolio seeks to provide a steady flow of income and long-term capital appreciation by investing primarily in underlying exchange traded funds managed by Manulife Investment Management that provide exposure to a diversified portfolio of global dividend paying securities. Manulife Smart Global Bond ETF seeks to earn the highest level of income consistent with the preservation of capital by investing primarily in a diversified portfolio of fixed income securities issued by government and corporate issuers from around the world.

ETF Name Ticker CISFC Category Manulife Smart Global Dividend ETF Portfolio GDIV Global Equity Manulife Smart Global Bond ETF GBND Global Fixed Income

Members of the Manulife Multi-Asset Solutions Team (MAST) including Jamie Robertson, senior portfolio manager, head of asset allocationCanada, and global head of tactical asset allocation; Alexandre Richard, CFA, portfolio manager, manage the Manulife Smart Global Dividend ETF Portfolio.

Members of the Manulife Systematic Fixed Income Beta Team, a part of MAST, including Nicholas Scipio del Campo, CFA, portfolio manager, head of liability-driven instruments  U.S. and Asia; Jean-Francois Giroux, CFA, FRM, portfolio manager and head of LDI Canada; Sonia Chatigny, CFA, managing director and portfolio manager; and Christina Somers, CFA, portfolio manager, manage the Manulife Smart Global Bond ETF.

With this announcement, Manulife Investment Management's ETFs total 18 funds with $2.53B CAD under management1. They include:

Manulife Smart Short-Term Bond ETF (TERM)

Manulife Smart Core Bond ETF (BSKT)

Manulife Smart Corporate Bond ETF (CBND)

Manulife Smart Dividend ETF (CDIV)

Manulife Smart U.S. Dividend ETF  Unhedged Units (UDIV.B), Hedged Units (UDIV), USD Units (UDIV.U)

Manulife Smart International Dividend ETF  Unhedged Units (IDIV.B)

Manulife Smart Defensive Equity ETF (CDEF)

Manulife Smart U.S. Defensive Equity ETF  Unhedged Units (UDEF.B), Hedged Units (UDEF), USD Units (UDEF.U)

Manulife Smart International Defensive Equity ETF  Unhedged Units (IDEF.B)

Manulife Multifactor Canadian SMID Cap Index ETF (MCSM)

Manulife Multifactor U.S. Large Cap Index ETF  Unhedged Units (MULC.B), Hedged Units (MULC)

Manulife Multifactor U.S. Mid Cap Index ETF  Unhedged Units (MUMC.B), Hedged Units (MUMC)

Manulife Multifactor Canadian Large Cap Index ETF (MCLC)

Manulife Multifactor Developed International Index ETF  Unhedged Units (MINT.B), Hedged Units (MINT)

Manulife Multifactor Emerging Markets Index ETF  Unhedged Units (MEME.B)

Manulife Multifactor U.S. Small Cap Index ETF  Unhedged Units (MUSC.B), Hedged Units (MUSC)

________________________ 1 AUM as of April 25, 2023

Commissions, management fees and expenses all may be associated with exchange traded funds (ETFs). Please read the ETF Facts and prospectus before investing. ETFs are not guaranteed, their values change frequently, and past performance may not be repeated. Manulife ETFs are managed by Manulife Investment Management. Manulife Investment Management is a trade name of Manulife Investment Management Limited.

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.

About Manulife

Manulife Financial Corporation is a leading international financial services provider, helping people make their decisions easier and lives better. With our global headquarters in Toronto, Canada, we provide financial advice and insurance, operating as Manulife across Canada, Asia, and Europe, and primarily as John Hancock in the United States. Through Manulife Investment Management, the global brand for our Global Wealth and Asset Management segment, we serve individuals, institutions, and retirement plan members worldwide. At the end of 2022, we had more than 40,000 employees, over 116,000 agents, and thousands of distribution partners, serving over 34 million customers. We trade as 'MFC' on the Toronto, New York, and the Philippine stock exchanges and under '945' in Hong Kong. Not all offerings are available in all jurisdictions. For additional information, please visit manulife.com.

SOURCE Manulife Investment Management

Cision

View original content to download multimedia: http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/May2023/17/c0565.html
JPMorgan is watching: How the nation's largest bank keeps tabs on its workforce, from their office attendance to emails and Zoom calls

JPMorgan's efforts to keeps tabs on its workforce has some workers up in arms Epics/Getty Images; Rebecca Zisser/Insider

JPMorgan is calling employees back to the office  and keeping tabs on attendance.

This has reignited a conversation about the bank's surveillance of its employees.

Insider breaks down the many ways the largest US bank by assets tracks its workforce.

Editor's note: This story was first published in May 2022. It was updated in May 2023 to reflect the bank's latest return-to-office policies.

JPMorgan's push to get employees back to their desks is reigniting a conversation about employee surveillance.

In April, JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon ordered the bank's highest-ranking executives to return to the office five days a week and be "visible on the floor." The high-profile CEO ordered everyone else to return to the office at least three days a week or "face corrective action," according to a copy of the memo obtained by Insider .

Since then, the bank's ability to monitor its hundreds of thousands of global employees has become a hot topic fueling conversations on Reddit, Facebook, and on Blind, a forum that allows employees to post anonymously about workplace-related matters. Insider has some answers.

Last year, Insider correspondent Reed Alexander unearthed details about JPMorgan's monitoring systems by speaking to roughly a dozen people currently or recently employed by the bank. They explained how the bank tracks everything from office attendance to time spent on Zoom calls and composing emails. He documented what he learned in a series of stories, starting with the bank's tracking of office attendance and culminating in a story about a proprietary system called the "Workforce Activity Data Utility," or WADU for short, that monitors the bank's computer laptops.

Reed's reporting revealed how JPMorgan filters the data it collects into a dashboard that can churn out reports for managers and other senior leaders. It's how the bank kept track of who was meeting their in-office quotas, sources explained to Reed.

Attorneys and experts on workplace data collection told Insider that firms like JPMorgan are legally within their rights to gather information regarding employees' activities on the job. And regulators often require banks and brokerages to keep track of employees' workplace-related communications and record their fingerprints upon hiring.

But experts said companies also need to consider the ethics of employee monitoring and how it might make employees feel.

Many of the JPMorgan employees Reed spoke to said their surveillance made them feel untrusted by their bosses. If ID swipes were being measured, what else was the bank looking to determine productivity and pay?

For some, looking for work elsewhere was the only solution.

"At JPMorgan, nobody trusts you," a London-based technology staffer said at the time. "The higher-ups don't trust you to do your job if they're not constantly watching you in the office."

An official at JPMorgan Chase told Insider in May 2022 that an explanation of WADU is available to all employees via the firm's intranet and includes language to ease concerns about how data is used.

Employees interviewed by Insider said they were unaware of the disclosures and continued to have questions about how the data might be used to assess their performance.

Dimon, meanwhile, is unlikely to soften his stance on in-office work, which is more liberal than Wall Street rival Goldman Sachs . He has argued that remote work harms young people's growth and impedes creativity and teamwork.

"It doesn't work for young kids, it doesn't work for spontaneity, it doesn't really work for management," Dimon told CNBC's Squawkbox last year.

Are you an employee at JPMorgan Chase? Contact these reporters. Reed Alexander can be reached at ralexander@insider.com or via the encrypted app Signal/SMS at (561) 247-5758. Emmalyse Brownstein can be reached at ebrownstein@insider.com or Signal/SMS at (305) 857-5516.

See stories on this topic here:

Leaked screenshots: JPMorgan is tracking office attendance using 'dashboards' and 'reports'  and some employees are threatening to quit

7 JPMorgan employees explain why the bank's return-to-office policies have them running for the exits  and what they want to tell Jamie Dimon about his 'surveillance state'

A top JPMorgan exec rolled back the number of days some teams need to be in the office, citing internal pushback. Read the memo here.

Inside the little-known tool that gives JPMorgan Chase the power to collect data about everything its employees do at work

JPMorgan has become even more secretive about the powerful system it uses to track workers' activities following an Insider report detailing staffers' complaints. Inside the emergency 'fire drill' meeting execs held to cut off access and stem leaks.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Mark Cuban Says This Is the No. 1 Thing To Do To Build Wealth

Featureflash Photo Agency / Shutterstock.com

Mark Cuban is an American businessman known for his work as a shark on Shark Tank and for his ever-growing portfolio of businesses. He is the owner of the NBAs Dallas Mavericks and the founder of Cost Plus Drugs, a pharmaceutical company that provides pharmaceutical drugs at a reduced cost to customers in need.

See Our List: 100 Most Influential Money Experts

Find Out: How To Build Your Savings From Scratch

Chosen by GOBankingRates as a Top Money Expert, Cuban shares his expertise and provides tips on how to build wealth and begin an investment journey.

Want to vote for Mark as your favorite money expert? Click here and go to his expert page.

Whats the No. 1 thing everyone should do to build wealth?

Have appreciable assets. Whether its a home or a mutual fund  something that can appreciate in value over the long term

See: 14 Ways to Invest That Dont Involve the Stock Market

What metrics do you look for/what research do you do to determine if a company is a good investment? Are there also non-quantitative factors you look for?

For private companies, its a lot of things. Is it a great entrepreneur, is it a strong product, is it differentiated? For public companies, I recommend people focus on investing in funds. Investing in individual stocks has gotten harder over the years because there is so much money chasing stocks.

What advice would you give someone wanting to start investing but unsure where to begin?

Learn as much as you can, but be patient. There are no shortcuts.

More From GOBankingRates

Jaime Catmull contributed to the reporting for this article.

This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: Mark Cuban Says This Is the No. 1 Thing To Do To Build Wealth
(Bloomberg) -- Micron Technology Inc. is poised to land about 200 billion ($1.5 billion) in financial incentives from the Japanese government to help it make next-generation memory chips in the country, according to people familiar with the matter, the latest step in Tokyos effort to bolster domestic semiconductor production.

Most Read from Bloomberg

The US company will use the money as part of its plan to install advanced, EUV chipmaking equipment from ASML Holding NV at its facility in Hiroshima to fabricate DRAM chips, said the people, asking not to be identified because the agreement isnt public. Micron on Thursday confirmed it would invest as much as 500 billion in Japan, as Prime Minister Fumio Kishida met with a delegation of chip executives, including Micron Chief Executive Officer Sanjay Mehrotra.

Micron shares rose 2.4% in premarket trading before New York exchanges opened on Thursday. The stock had previously closed at $64.92.

Tokyo Electron Ltd. spearheaded a rally in chipmaking gear suppliers, particularly those that provide gear or technology that support EUV. It rose 5.5% in Tokyo trading, while peers such as Lasertec Corp. and Hoya Corp. rose more than 3%.

The financing is the latest sign of Japans ambitions in developing its own semiconductor industry, a potential backup to Taiwan amid intensifying tensions between the US and China. The government is already spending billions of dollars to encourage Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. to add production capacity in the country, and to finance a domestic chip venture, Rapidus Corp., with aspirations to make 2-nanometer chips by 2027. The Micron deal will bring EUV equipment to Japan for the first time, a step toward cutting-edge manufacturing the government has sought.

Read more: One Man Tries the Impossible in Restoring Japans Chip Industry

The agreement is also a retort to Beijing, which launched a cybersecurity review of the Boise, Idaho-based company after the Biden administration leveled sweeping restrictions on chip-related exports to China. That threatens the last American memory chipmakers ability to sell into China, where it now gets about 11% of its revenue. Kishida will receive leaders from the Group of Seven countries, including US President Joe Biden, in Hiroshima between May 19 and May 21.

Microns Hiroshima factory will play a key role in the G-7s ambition to strengthen semiconductor chip supply chains, said Akira Minamikawa, an analyst with the research firm Omdia. It is the most important location for the US company.

Microns Hiroshima factory, a former production site for the now-defunct Elpida Memory Inc., houses some of the US firms best engineers, Minamikawa said. Japans Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said last year it would provide as much as 46.5 billion to Micron for production at the facility.

The US company has invested more than $13 billion in Japan since 2013, including for a push last year to produce what it calls one-beta DRAM chips. The latest funding will help Micron produce with what it calls one-gamma production, a more advanced technology that Micron plans to launch in late 2024. Suppliers that will benefit from Microns investments include Tokyo Electron, as well as ASML of the Netherlands.

In announcing its Japan investment, Micron didnt specify how much support it would receive from the government. The city of Hiroshima is also expected to support the project.

The last remaining US maker of computer memory survived fierce industry consolidation through a string of acquisitions in prior downturns. While its added scale, something that helps with the brutal cost competition of manufacturing memory, its still much smaller than Samsung Electronics Co., the leader in the industry.

As the memory chip industry hit a supply glut this year, Micron reported a loss of more than $2 billion dollars in the latest quarter, as the selling price of memory fell below the cost of production. Microns management reacted with what they called a historically quick response, cutting pay, jobs and production and calling on its peers to follow suit. The company has said that the second half of 2023 should prove the bottom for the market for DRAM particularly if others also cut production.

The only other US company still involved in the memory chip industry at scale is Western Digital Corp., which doesnt manufacture its own products, instead relying on partner Kioxia Corp.s facilities in Japan to make flash memory. Micron has used its status as the lone US memory maker to push Washington to subsidize the return of domestic manufacturing in the US. Its executives have been leading voices in the lobbying of government.

Unlike rivals Samsung and SK Hynix Inc., Micron didnt move any of its wafer fabrication work to mainland China. Outside of its home country, Micron has plants in Taiwan, Singapore and Japan, holdovers from past acquisitions.

While that makes Micron less vulnerable to any actions by Beijing, its close relationship with Washingtons efforts to bolster chip production domestically may have contributed to Chinas regulatory scrutiny. Like other US chipmakers, Micron is still dependent on the global electronics supply chains that often run through Chinese factories.

(Updates with Microns announcement of 500 billion investment in Japan)

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

2023 Bloomberg L.P.
Military kids often have to make unseen sacrifices. Sheboygan start-up Kids in Combat Boots wants to recognize their stories.

Deanne Herber smiles with her children Jake, Zach, Vanessa and Paige.

SHEBOYGAN  Family was the only consistent thing in Vanessa and Paige Perezs life growing up.

From places like Wisconsin to El Salvador, they moved around a lot because their parents both served in the military and foreign services. Their mom served active duty, in the reserves and then as a military spouse, and their dad served active duty.

Their family grew closer when they learned Vanessa had a 10-pound tumor while living in Venezuela. She was 15 years old.

After being medevacked out of the country and undergoing surgery, Vanessa was hospitalized for chemotherapy treatment in Washington, D.C., where she was often by herself or with her family.

She befriended another teen, who was receiving treatment for a brain tumor. Together, they founded an Honoree Pediatric Society for other teenagers who had terminal illnesses or were receiving treatment at the hospital.

Vanessa helped bring that idea of community to military kids like her.

Vanessa, Paige and their mom Deanne Herber are co-founders of Kids in Combat Boots, a local start-up aimed at recognizing the sacrifices of military kids, creating community among them and sharing their stories with the non-military community.

Recognizing the sacrifices of military kids

Being together during the pandemic granted Deanne, Vanessa and Paige time to tell stories about the past and relearn about each other, Deanne said. As they shared, they realized they had different perceptions of their experiences growing up and were reflecting on difficult moments years later.

Joking around, they talked about starting a reality television show for military and expat families. But then Vanessa suggested doing a podcast.

They began sharing their stories and discovered theres a great desire for more conversations about challenges military kids face, Deanne said.

She said they were surprised to see military parents, not kids, accounted for most of the feedback on their first episode, thanking them for opening a door, and acknowledging a need for more conversations with military kids about their unique circumstances and challenges.

We should be giving them (military kids) an avenue to talk about and work through those issues because they (moments) are not all easy, Deanne said. They're not all fun. Some of them are fantastic. But even sometimes when they're fantastic, they're hard.

Deanne said many moments of military families are captured when they reunite or depart, but little is seen in between.

What happens when you go home? she said. What happens when it's hard to integrate mom and dad back into the family?

We've done that multiple times where I've been the only one at home and then after a year, their dad would come home and we'd have to figure out how to be a family again, she added. Where's that conversation?

Military kids, like Vanessa, may also struggle to find friends and community outside of their family moving so much. She said they probably moved 20 times before she graduated high school.

It can be a culture shock, she said. As soon as you finally get your roots somewhere, you're up again."

Uprooting often can also make it difficult for military kids to enter the next chapter of their life, like getting a letter of recommendation for a college application.

Deanne said Vanessa and Paige faced this challenge.

"They had a hard time quantifying what they've done and talking about it in a way that was understandable," she said. "They didn't have the same resume-building items that a civilian kid would have."

On top of that, the otherwise forgettable, or slightly inconvenient, minutiae of life can take on a different meaning, like breaking a dish while moving.

"We had a whole conversation about a cereal bowl that broke in a move and how sad she (Vanessa) was, Deanne said. I didn't even think (about it). It's those types of things that we really opened the door to and shed some light on.

Headed to state business competition

Kids in Combat Boots is still in the start-up phase, but it could offer subscription-based services for different levels of community engagement, avenues for military kids to share stories, and recommendation and scholarship opportunities to give them tangible recognition.

It is one of 26 finalists in the Wisconsin Governors Business Plan Contest. They will submit a pitch video this week, which will determine if theyll present at the Wisconsin Entrepreneurs' Conference in May.

If Kids in Combat Boots doesnt make it to the next round this year, Deanne said theyll be better equipped next year.

The start-up is also wrapping up its participation in the Sheboygan County Accelerator for Learning Entrepreneurship at a May showcase.

All three co-founders have full-time commitments  Deanne works full-time, Vanessa is a second lieutenant logistics readiness officer at Shaw Air Force Base, and Paige is a student and in Air Force R.O.T.C. at Florida State University  so Kids in Combat Boots' launch timeline is dependent on what happens next.

Kids in Combat Boots can be contacted at kidsincombatboots@gmail.com and followed on Instagram and Facebook at Kids in Combat Boots.

More: Plymouth plans to sell Cheese Counter and Dairy Heritage Center to nonprofit led by local cheesemakers

More: Sheboygan's newest Asian restaurant Nyob Zoo Cafe shares family's favorite cuisine

Contact Alex Garner at 224-374-2332 or agarner@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter at @alexx_garner.

This article originally appeared on Sheboygan Press: Sheboygan start-up Kids in Combat Boots aims to recognize military kids' sacrifices
NEW YORK, May 17, 2023--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Moove IT and December Labs, leading custom software and development providers with 26 years of combined expertise, today announced their merger to become Qubika, a global leader in digital transformation for enterprises.

"This is an important, exciting, and timely strategic move for our two companies," said Ariel Luduena Karhs, CEO of Moove IT. "Our merger comes at a critical moment when customers are increasingly seeking trustworthy and innovative technology partners to drive effective digital transformation. With the experienced teams at Moove IT and December Labs working together, we will be able to provide an even wider range of service offerings to clients globally."

Moove IT and December Labs will transition into a single enterprise effective immediately. Qubika, which will be privately held, will be headquartered in Texas, with service delivery from a network of locations in the United States and Latin America. Each company has regularly received strong ratings for its work quality and culture, evidenced by Moove IT achieving a phenomenal Net Promoter Score (NPS) over 80 and both companies regular recognition in the "Great Place to Work" awards, including December Labs achieving third place and best among software companies in 2023 for Uruguay.

"The team at December Labs has become known for delivering consistent, high-quality services to customers globally," said Martin Palatnik, CEO of December Labs. "By combining with Moove IT, we are thrilled to offer our customers new and innovative solutions. Our best-in-class talent is excited by the opportunity to continue to address some of our clients most significant business problems and opportunities."

RECOGNIZE, a technology services investment platform, orchestrated the merger in close collaboration with the leadership teams of both companies. The companies individually have deep experience serving high growth and enterprise clients including Pluralsight, Unilever, Shopify, ONE, Google, and Nest. In joining the customer bases and expertise of Moove IT and December Labs, Qubika will be equipped to design, develop, and deploy key service lines of custom software engineering, data, analytics, UX/UI research, and cloud services.

"We are increasingly seeing enterprises including nearshore providers in their service mix for mission-critical and high-value digital engineering work," said Charles Phillips, co-founder and managing partner at RECOGNIZE. "Moove IT and December Labs have distinguished themselves as competitive, high-quality service providers with some of the best NPS scores and lowest attrition rates we have seen in the industry. Were excited to bring these teams together to create the leading next-generation provider of digital transformation for enterprises in the United States."

As part of the transaction, Phillips, former CEO of Infor and president of Oracle, will join the Board of Directors, and fellow Recognize Co-Founder and Managing Partner Frank DSouza, former CEO of Cognizant, will join as a Board observer to provide additional support to the business. Alongside them, Gabriel Rozman, former President of Tata Consultancy Iberoamerica, and Andrew Burgert, former Managing Director at Globant and Managing Partner of Alten Capital, will be joining as advisors to help provide strategic guidance and support for the next phase of growth.

About Recognize: Recognize is a technology investment platform exclusively focused on the technology services industry. The firm provides operational expertise, industry insights and strategic capital to innovative companies in this sector. To learn more, visit www.recognize.com.

About Qubika: Qubika is a leading digital engineering provider with deep expertise in design led software development, UI / UX and data services. The business has its headquarters in Texas, with delivery centers across the United States, Uruguay and Colombia. The business serves a range of industries, focused in difficult and consultative opportunities, but has a particular focus in the Healthcare and Fintech segments. A full brand launch, including the website will occur in the next several months. In the meantime, please refer to Moove-it.com and Decemberlabs.com for any inquiries.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230517005355/en/

Contacts

Shawn Pride

Innovate@Recognize.com
The Most Common Real Estate Scams and How To Avoid Them

fizkes / Getty Images/iStockphoto

Purchasing a home is like investing in a piece of your legacy. Unfortunately, this makes real estate a prime target for con artists. According to the FBIs Internet Crime Report 2021, the losses from real estate cybercrime have increased by 64%, from $213.2 million to $350.33 million, between 2020 and 2021.

Discover: 8 Places in California Where Home Prices Have Plummeted

Find: 3 Things You Must Do When Your Savings Reach $50,000

Heres are some of the ways scams pan out, with scammers pretending to be a real estate agent, title agent or lender. They may do the following:

Create fake rental/ sale listings to request a deposit from a prospective tenant or buyer

Use social media to identify home buyers, and then, pretending to be the buyers title company, send phishing emails and texts via dummy phone numbers asking the buyer to wire money to a fake account

Pose as a homeowners mortgage company and convince the homeowner to refinance their mortgage for a fee, and then abscond with the money

The scammers use high-pressure sales tactics to instill a sense of urgency in the victim. Once the victim sends money or personal information, which can be used for identity theft, the scammer vanishes.

Now, you might be wondering what red flags to look for in order to avoid these estate scams.

Adam Levin, the author of Swiped, founder of CyberScout and co-founder of Credit.com, told The Washington Post how you might save yourself. Consumers need to take their time with every incoming email, text, and phone message to make sure the person theyre communicating with is who they claim to be. Are the domain names in email addresses the same as in previous communications?  Any urgent notification about transferring funds or sensitive data should be viewed as suspect.

Adding your real estate agent, title company and lender to your contacts will ensure that texts and calls from them cant be spoofed.

Take Our Poll: Are You Planning To Buy or Sell a House This Year?

Unfortunately, real estate scams happen, but you dont have to fall victim to one. If you suspect youve been a victim of such a scam, visit the FBIs Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) website, located here, to file a complaint.

More From GOBankingRates

This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: The Most Common Real Estate Scams and How To Avoid Them
How Much Do MBA Students Borrow? Heres A Way To Calculate Your Debt

How Much Do MBA Students Borrow? Here's How To Calculate Your Debt

From NerdWallet: Understanding the average business school debt is challenging as fewer graduate schools report student debt statistics. The most recent data from the National Center for Education Statistics shows an average business school debt of $66,300 in 2015-2016.

(See Poets&Quants report on the cost of attending a top business school in the U.S. or Europe.)

A more recent estimate of Master of Business Administration, or MBA, student debt by Poets&Quants, a graduate business education news site, compared 2020 student debt  of the few colleges who reported data  to 2016 and found an increase of 11.3%.

How much an MBA student borrows may be unclear, but what is clear is that the cost of a graduate degree has increased over time.

For example, tuition and fees at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania was $136,420 in 2014, according to Statista, a market and consumer data company. Compare this to Whartons 2022 tuition and fees of $235,136. That is an increase of 72% since 2014.

With the cost of an MBA rising, you may need to borrow more to cover the cost. Below youll find the average student debt for some of the top business schools, a student debt calculator to gain a better understanding of your monthly payments and tips for managing your debt once youre in repayment.

Read more

Rohit Verma selected as new dean of Darla Moore School at South Carolina

Rohit Verma

From Columbia, South Carolina: Rohit Verma has been selected as dean of the Darla Moore School of Business, effective August 1.

Verma joins the Moore School from VinUniversity in Hanoi, Vietnam, where he serves as the founding provost of Vietnams first private, not-for-profit university based on international standards. Verma is also a professor of operations, technology and information management at Cornell Universitys SC Johnson College of Business. Prior to his role at VinUniversity, which was established in strategic collaboration with Cornell and the University of Pennsylvania, Verma served as dean of external affairs at Cornells SC Johnson College of Business.

Vermas leadership experience at Cornell also includes serving as the executive director for the Center for Hospitality Research and as the founding executive director for the Institute for Healthy Futures. While on leave from Cornell since 2019, Verma has served in several concurrent leadership positions at VinUniversity, where he won the Excellent Leader Award in 2021.

Dr. Verma is an award-winning teacher, a successful researcher, and an innovative leader, and we are pleased to welcome him to the Carolina family, USC President Michael Amiridis said. His excellent academic record and his international perspective will be great complements to the leading-edge work of the Darla Moore School of Business.

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How Much Do MBA Students Borrow? Here's How To Calculate Your Debt

Chicago Booth to partner with city group to establish pipeline for first-gen, low-income students

From Chicago: The University of Chicago Booth School of Business today announced a new partnership with Chicago Scholars that will establish a pipeline for students to attend graduate level programs, and create a long-term impact in the Chicagoland area. Chicago Booth is the first graduate program to partner with the 501(c)(3) nonprofit leadership development organization.

Chicago Scholars provides academically ambitious students from low-income or first-generation college-going backgrounds with the tools to overcome systemic barriers and succeed in college and beyond. Simultaneously, Chicago Scholars works to prepare the citys businesses and organizations for the next generation of leaders. The seven-year program offers participants guidance and resources, beginning with the college application process, and continuing throughout their undergraduate careers to ensure they thrive. The program culminates after college graduation once scholars receive their first job offer or graduate school acceptance.

Chicago Booth is honored to be part of this first-ever, graduate level partnership with Chicago Scholars. It is a tremendous opportunity to engage with a local organization that helps prepare the next generation of leaders for college and careers, says Donna Swinford, associate dean for student recruitment and admissions at Chicago Booth. In higher education, we recognize the importance of establishing connections, building relationships, and working with learners as early as possible to nurture their path to college, MBA/graduate school, and beyond. We are honored to be a forerunner in this type of alliance that provides support, access, and a shared mission to help drive the economic future of our local communities.

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Mannheim Business School launches new Female Leadership Accelerator

From Mannheim, Germany: Mannheim Business School has launched a new six-month part-time program designed to help more women fulfill their career aspirations by reaching leadership positions.

The Female Leadership Accelerator also aims to support women re-entering the workforce after a phase of care work, or wanting to gain a foothold in the German labor market.

Individual program elements are tailored to the needs of participants. Four two-day modules provide valuable insight on leadership strategies, digital and sustainable transformation, value-based management, financial strategy, and customer orientation.

The structure of the classroom modules on four Fridays and Saturdays over a period of six months means there are only four working days for the course, which is convenient for managers with busy schedules, and even mothers with small children are not faced with insurmountable childcare challenges, says Professor Dr. Jens Wustemann, president of Mannheim Business School.

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DONT MISS WHOA: CHICAGO BOOTH GETS SECOND-LARGEST GIFT EVER: $100M

The post How Much Do MBA Students Borrow? Heres A Way To Calculate Your Debt appeared first on Poets&Quants.
In 1905, American civil engineers were given a seemingly impossible task. Building a canal connecting the Pacific Ocean with the Caribbean Sea. They surveyed the territory, eradicated yellow fever, flooded the landscape, created two artificial lakes, and successfully drove a passageway through the mountains. They created the largest locks ever built so vessels could rise up, elevator-like, to traverse Panamas mountainous midlands. All this to eliminate the dangerous three-week journey around South America. And somehow, the whole seemingly insane plan worked.

My fascination with the Panama Canal began back when I was a nerdy sixth-grade stamp collector, puzzling over mid-century U.S. stamps imprinted with the words CANAL ZONE. Why were we issuing stamps in a country not our own? I wondered. The question I was too young to ponder was: What gave Americans the right to conquer, flood, build, and own this vital means of international trade?

Photo via HipStamp

The U.S. gained ownership of the Panama Canal through a treaty signed in 1903, but its acquisition raises questions of exploitation. No Panamanian representative was present when the treaty was negotiated, granting the U.S. control over Panama for 99 years. The compensation provided to Panama for the land and control over the canal was insignificant compared to the annual gross. The U.S. paid a mere $10 million to Panama, a fraction of what the canal would generate in annual profits, estimated to be around $100 million.

Related The Treasure of the Adriatic Coast

The history of the Panama Canal is intertwined with Panamas long-standing desire to regain control over its own territory. The U.S. presence in the canal zone was a source of tension between the two countries for much of the 20th century. Panamas push for sovereignty culminated in the TorrijosCarter Treaties of 1977, which outlined the transfer of the canal to Panama and established a timeline for complete Panamanian control. The handover of the canal in 1999 marked a significant milestone in Panamas history, symbolizing the countrys independence and sovereignty.

Photo via Shutterstock

Today, the Panama Canal remains a critical artery of global trade, accommodating a wide range of vessels, including container ships, bulk carriers, and cruise ships. Its expansion project, completed in 2016, allows for the transit of larger New Panamax ships, significantly increasing the canals capacity. This expansion has further solidified Panamas position as a key player in international shipping and has led to a boost in maritime trade and economic growth for the country.

The Panama Canal continues to captivate visitors from around the world, offering not only a marvel of engineering but also a window into the complex history and global significance of this remarkable waterway.

Related Nine Essential Travel Destinations for 2023

Last week, I flew to Panama City and set off on the half-hour drive to the Canals Observation Center, where a commentator at the Miraflores Locks narrated the passage of a series of massive ships, some bearing over 700 containers and the other a thousand Japanese cars. The vessels were completing their ten-hour journey through the Canal. Each had paid more than $600,000. The ships descended, like toy boats in a bathtub, preparing to free themselves of the Canals narrow straits (only about 18 inches separate the ships from the walls) and enter the Caribbean Sea.

Photo via Michael Levin

To experience the Canal region yourself, you can take a speedboat from Gamboa, 45 minutes from Panama City, to Monkey Islandactually a series of small islands alongside the central region of the Canal. Capuchin monkeys jump into the boats to nab peanuts from tourists hands. On a good day, you can also see howler monkeys, bats, iguanas, turtles, vultures, hawks, crocodiles, and capybaras.

If you want to experience old Panama, consider avoiding the modern chain hotels downtown and opt for Casco Viejo, once the neighborhood of the citys wealthiest. The Casco, now a UNESCO-protected site, dates back 500 years and is the earliest European settlement on the Pacific Coast anywhere in the Americas. Its architecture blends French, Spanish, and early American styles.

Panamas elite built a Club Union in the Casco with income derived from the newly opened Canal. They made the Club the center of Panamas social, political, and economic life. Club Union was later taken over by Panamanian strongman Manuel Noriega, who used its premises for parties and military events.

After Noriega was deposed, Panamas government eventually realized the tourist dollars it could attract by rebuilding the Casco into one of the primary visitor destinations in South America. Since the neighborhood is home to the current president of Panama, it is heavily guarded by police. This has led to a resurgence of street life, attractive bars, restaurants, and shops, making Casco the coolest place to dine, stay, or play in the city.

Related Santa Barbara County's Micro-Producers: Creating Unique Wines from Varied Microclimates

Sofitel bought the crumbling frame of the Club Union and turned it into one of its typically luxurious resorts, the Casco Legend, whose oceanfront rooms give visitors the feeling of the view from a cruise ship, with downtown Panama shimmering in the distance. The property has been open just a few months and provides a welcome alternative to bustling Panama City.

A visit to Panama is a captivating journey through history, engineering marvels, and natural splendor. It offers a unique blend of cultural fusion, allowing travelers to explore the rich heritage of Panama. From witnessing the impressive locks and massive ships navigating the waterway to immersing oneself in the lush rainforests and encountering diverse wildlife, the Panama Canal region offers an unforgettable experience. It is a place where the past converges with the present, where the remarkable achievements of human ingenuity meet the awe-inspiring wonders of nature.

The post Navigating the Panama Canal: A Journey through the Historical Heart of International Trade appeared first on Worth.
Nokia Oyj

Press Release

Nokias turnkey 5G-connected drone platform selected by Belgiums Citymesh for worlds first nationwide drone network



The Nokia Drone Networks platform including 70 Drone-in-a-Box units, will provide secure 5G-connected drone services across Belgium

Equipped with video and thermal cameras, drones are on stand-by 24/7 and remotely managed from five centralized operations centers

Real-time, aerial data collection in the critical first minutes supports informed response by emergency services which can receive more than 2 million calls per year

17 May 2023



Espoo, Finland  Nokia today announced a first-of-its-kind contract with Belgian telecom operator Citymesh to supply its Nokia Drone Networks platform with 70 Drone-in-a-Box (DiaB) units. This is enough to blanket Belgium with a 5G automated drone grid that informs and speeds resource mobilization in emergency events.

Branded SENSE by Citymesh, the 70 drones are deployed in 35 emergency zones across the country and will gather information in the critical 15-minute period immediately following a call. This ensures that first responder teams are fully apprised of and equipped to respond to each unique situation.

Belgiums emergency services can receive more than two million calls a year, and typically police and fire brigades are dispatched with incomplete data that can stymie the efficiency of their response. With Nokia Drone Networks, pilots will be able to operate 24/7 and dispatch drones from docking stations strategically located across the country.

Equipped with high definition and AI-enhanced thermal imaging, drones capture real-time aerial footage  such as smoke plumes, fire parameters, and number/location of people  and transfer it to control centers even before emergency teams have had time to leave. These aerial images are essential to identifying a plan of action that can save lives and limit damage to affected assets and natural resources.

Hans Similon, General Manager, Citymesh Safety Drone, said: SENSE is a great example of how technology can save lives. Weve been impressed with Nokia as our partner for reliable wireless connectivity and an outstanding turnkey Drone-in-a-Box solution that we can customize to our specific needs. Together, were making Belgium safer and proving just how innovative we are as a nation.

Thomas Eder, Head of Embedded Wireless Solutions, Nokia, said: We are proud to be selected by Citymesh as the turnkey 5G Drone-in-a-Box platform provider for SENSE. Our 5G-connected drone platform is a logical extension of our leadership in building nationwide wireless networks. Nokia Drone Networks is a game-changer for operational efficiency of first responders and data security. Enabled by Nokia MX Industrial Edge (MXIE), it ensures that collected data is stored locally and stays under the full control of authorities.

Nationwide availability of SENSE follows pilot projects in the Fluvia fire brigade in Kortrijk, Brussels Airport Company, Port of Antwerp-Bruges, and the city of Genk, with the support of the Federal Public Service Economy.

The Nokia Drone Networks solution connects to public and private 4G and 5G networks to enhance situational awareness for first responders and other professionals. It can be operated remotely and complies with aviation regulatory bodies such as EASA in Europe and FAA in the United States.

The platform is equipped with a dual gimbal camera, docking station, and edge data processing, and it is supported by an open API framework that allows integration of third-party applications to expand its capabilities for a wider range of use cases.

The solution will be featured at the Nokia booth J60 during Critical Communications World in Helsinki, 23-25 May 2023.

Resources and additional information

Type: Nokia Drone Networks | Nokia Digital Automation Cloud

Type: World's first: Belgian Citymesh helps save lives with drone shield

About Nokia

At Nokia, we create technology that helps the world act together.

As a B2B technology innovation leader, we are pioneering networks that sense, think and act by leveraging our work across mobile, fixed and cloud networks. In addition, we create value with intellectual property and long-term research, led by the award-winning Nokia Bell Labs.

Service providers, enterprises and partners worldwide trust Nokia to deliver secure, reliable and sustainable networks today  and work with us to create the digital services and applications of the future.

About Citymesh



Citymesh, part of the Cegeka group, is a leading connectivity provider and the newest telecom operator in Belgium. They offer a range of technologies, from private 5G to mobile telephony, including mobile private networks, sim cards, and a people counter to map visitor flows. Citymesh excels at innovative solutions for various markets - events, (smart) cities, industry, education, health and offshore industry.



For more information, please visit www.citymesh.com

Media inquiries

Nokia Communications, Corporate

Email: Press.Services@nokia.com

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LOS ANGELES, CA --News Direct-- Brilla Media

 Bistec: A Dissidents Tale, El Clavito, and Fantastic Fails will be part of historic first productions of Nuestro Studios 

 Nuestro Studios aims to crack the code for Latinos to overcome historic hurdles in Hollywood 

 Nuestro Studios founders previously pioneered Latino social media, influencer and press release wire industries 

Nuestro Stories, the diverse-owned content, influencer, adtech, and production studio devoted to celebrating Latino heritage every day, today announced the launch of Nuestro Studios.

Nuestro Studios marks a bold evolution for Nuestro Stories with storytelling capabilities that now span premium branded content, original films, series, documentaries, and podcasts.

We innovated the Latino social media and influencer marketing industries with Hispanicize, and today we will apply that same tenacity and entrepreneurship to crack the code for Latinos in Hollywood, said Nuestro Stories Co-Founder Manny Ruiz, who will oversee the Nuestro Studios productions team.In collaboration with like-minded filmmakers, actors, producers, and media companies, Nuestro Studios will help unleash the bottled-up dreams and great stories of countless Latino storytellers.

Nuestro Studios first productions

Nuestro Studios first slate of productions feature three original films, and podcasts highlighted by Bistec: A Dissidents Tale. Written by Ruiz, the feature film and original audio series tells the quirky cat-and-mouse story of Cubas most prominent dissident, and the Communist neighborhood snitch whos sworn to stop him. Six-time EMMY-winning conductor Alberto Bade will score Bistec, and Cuban filmmaker, writer, and documentarian Ernesto Fundora of Cuba Suena is joining as associate producer, and head of photography.

Also in production is the short film El Clavito, which tells the dark tale of a young couple who make a strange compromise to buy their dream home for $1. El Clavito was co-written by the late Mel Santiesteban and Ruiz. Fantastic Fails is an entertaining, interview-style podcast devoted to showcasing entrepreneurs biggest business ideas that failed, and the lessons they learned from them.

As part of its commitment to collaborate with other Latino studios and production companies, Nuestro Studios is producing its five-part audio series for Bistec and its serial podcast Fantastic Fails with the award-winning team of Studio Ochenta led by Lory Martinez. The Fantastic Fails podcast is being hosted and co-executive produced by Jesse Martinez, founder of the Latinx Startup Alliance.

As part of the companys expansion, Nuestro Stories also promoted the multi-hyphenated producer, and senior editor, Efrain Gonzalez to partner and vice president of Nuestro Studios productions. Gonzalez talent can already be seen on many of Nuestro Stories premium snackable documentaries.

Amplifying news for Nuestro Studios content

Nuestro Studios approach will initially lean on commercial-friendly content that can be packaged for brand content partnerships that Nuestro Stories has cultivated. Nuestro Stories powerful capability in social media, adtech, influencers, and press release wire through Noticias Newswire, gives it strong leverage to solve for many of WOM and marketing-related hurdles Latino content platforms and producers typically face.

Were already on phase two, which is to ensure maximum amplification and views for the productions were creating or collaborating on, said Gonzalez. Aggressively solving for the distribution of content on streamers, online, and elsewhere is what were addressing for the marketplace and what excites us most.

Latinos under-represented in Hollywood

Based on the Hollywood Diversity Report 2023, the representation of people of color remained insufficient across various industry sectors in 2022, except for streaming film actors. This includes both on-screen and behind-the-scenes roles. Despite Latinos representing 19% of the total U.S. population and being enthusiastic moviegoers, their presence on the big screen remains disproportionately low. In 2022, white actors dominated 78.4% of leading roles in theatrical films, while Latinos were only given 2.3% of these opportunities. Similarly, on streaming platforms, while leads were predominantly white in 66.7% of films, Latinos were represented in only 6.1% of these roles.

About Nuestro Stories

The flagship brand of the diverse-owned Brilla Media Ventures, Nuestro Stories is the content, influencer, adtech, and production studio devoted to celebrating Latino heritage every day. Nuestro Stories produces snackable videos, stories, and social media content daily focused on Latino origins and histories, and through its Nuestro Studios also creates or co-produces branded and original films, documentaries, series and podcasts. Nuestro Stories is led by Angela Sustaita-Ruiz and Manny Ruiz, creators of Hispanicize and co-founders of the Hispanic social media marketing, and influencer industries, the Latino press release wire industry, and the first network of Hispanic print media companies online.

Contact Details

Nuestro Stories / Brilla Media

Rachel Matos

+1 323-501-9613

rachel.matos@brillamedia.com

Company Website

https://www.cincodemayola.com/

View source version on newsdirect.com: https://newsdirect.com/news/nuestro-stories-launches-nuestro-studios-with-slate-of-bold-original-films-and-podcast-productions-490989936
(Bloomberg) -- New Yorks Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the biggest mass-transit provider in the US, lost $690 million last year due to fare evasion, according to a new report.

Most Read from Bloomberg

The operator of New York Citys subways, buses and commuter rail lines as well as seven bridges and two vehicle tunnels is losing revenue as it works to restore ridership and farebox collections to pre-pandemic levels. Weekday subway ridership is about 70% of 2019 usage and the report estimates that 400,000 riders enter the subway system every day without paying.

Fare evasion is at crisis levels across the transit system, and the problem is much bigger than everyone thinks, Rosemonde Pierre-Louis, co-chair of a special panel that authored the report and executive director of the McSilver Institute for Poverty Policy and Research at New York University, told reporters Wednesday at Grand Central Terminal where the MTA released the report. Turning the tide on these sobering numbers is mission critical.

About 13.5% of subway riders failed to pay in the last quarter of 2022, up from 3% to 6% before the pandemic, according to the report.

Of the estimated $690 million annual loss, buses accounted for the largest share with $315 million, subway evasion cost $285 million, about $46 million was due to drivers avoiding tolls and commuter rail evasion totaled $44 million, the report said.

The panels goal is to cut fare and toll evasion losses by half within three years across the MTAs system. Its not just mass-transit, the MTA is focusing on going after vehicles with obscured or fake license plates.

In the last six months, we have impounded dozens and dozens of super-luxury automobiles owned by people who owe New Yorkers in excess of $50,000 or $100,000, Janno Lieber, the MTAs chief executive officer, told reporters. Were not going to stop doing that because that is an outrage to ride around in a Bugatti and a Mercedes and stiff New Yorkers who are just trying to get to school or to work on the transit system.

To combat evasion, the panel said the state-run transit agency should update its subway infrastructure with taller emergency exits and gateways with plexiglass doors that prohibit riders from jumping subway turnstiles.

Enforcement should be a laddering up strategy, according to the panel. First-time offenders would receive a warning while a second evasion would bring a $100 fine where the non-paying rider would get back half that amount in a pre-loaded OMNY card to access transit. Additional offenses would bring higher fines.

To help lower-income families, the panel is urging New York City to expand the FairFares program, which offers qualifying residents a 50% subsidy on subways and buses. Another half a million residents could access the program if the city lifted the eligibility cap to 200% of the federal poverty level from 100%, according to the report. Expanding the program would cost $61.5 million in additional funding.

(Updates story to include cost of FairFares expansion in last paragraph. A previous version of the story corrected the day of announcement in third paragraph.)

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

2023 Bloomberg L.P.
Oil settles up $2 on optimism about US debt ceiling, demand

FILE PHOTO: The sun sets behind a crude oil pump jack on a drill pad in the Permian Basin in Loving County

By Laura Sanicola

(Reuters) -Oil prices settled up about $2 on Wednesday as optimism over oil demand and U.S. debt ceiling negotiations outweighed worries about abundant supply.

Brent crude futures settled up $2.05, or 2.7%, to $76.96 a barrel. West Texas Intermediate U.S. crude settled up $1.97 or 2.8% to $72.83.

"Todays strong oil trade was all about the expectation of a debt ceiling agreement, likely by the end of this week, that appeared to lift a negative burden across most asset classes, including oil," said Jim Ritterbusch, president of Ritterbusch and Asssociates in Galena, Illinois.

President Joe Biden and top U.S. congressional Republican Kevin McCarthy on Wednesday underscored their determination to reach a deal soon to raise the federal government's $31.4 trillion debt ceiling and avoid an economically catastrophic default.

After a months-long standoff, the Democratic president and speaker of the House of Representatives on Tuesday agreed to negotiate directly. An agreement needs to be reached and passed by both chambers of Congress before the federal government runs out of money to pay its bills, as soon as June 1.

The optimism outweighed a crude inventory increase of 5 million barrels in the week ended May 12 reported by the Energy Information Administration. Analysts polled by Reuters had expected a 900,000 barrel drop.

The crude inventory build added to concerns about U.S. growth after data showed retail sales rose 0.4% in April, short of estimates for an increase of 0.8%.

However, gasoline stocks drew down by 1.4 million barrels as the four-week gasoline product supplied - a proxy for demand - rose to its highest level since December 2021.

The International Energy Agency on Tuesday predicted demand would outpace supply by 2 million barrels per day (bpd) in the second half of the year, with China making up 60% of oil demand growth in 2023.

In China, April industrial output and retail sales growth undershot forecasts, suggesting the economy lost momentum at the beginning of the second quarter.

Markets are in a "wait-and-watch mode" over the outcome of the debt ceiling negotiations, said Vandana Hari, founder of oil market analysis provider Vanda Insights.

"A bunch of Chinese macro-economic data for April released on Tuesday confirmed the narrative of a patchy and slow recovery in the country and continue to weigh on oil market sentiment."

(Additional reporting by Katya Golubkova; editing by Deepa Babington, Kirsten Donovan and David Gregorio)
Eugene Police responded to South Eugene High School on Tuesday after a call about a bomb threat was made to dispatch.

Eugene Police said there was no threat found at South Eugene High School Tuesday morning after Central Lane 911 got a call about a bomb threat.

South Eugene performed a precautionary evacuation and moved students to the fields behind the school while police searched the building, which took less than an hour. Classes resumed at 10:45 a.m.

More: South Eugene High evacuated due to threats for second time in a week

Police said the call about a bomb threat came in at 9:43 a.m. The threat was similar to ones received last week and earlier this month, police said. The previous two incidents on May 10 and May 3 had an automated voice call in an alleged bomb in the building. In both incidents there was no bomb found after law enforcement swept the school.

Several other similar bomb threats or individuals with weapons have been made in other Oregon schools, as well as at schools in California and Washington, Eugene Police said. Police said there is an ongoing investigation by multiple agencies into these threats.

"Incidents such as this are unnerving and disruptive to safe school environments and we are extremely grateful for our law enforcement partners who are working with federal agencies to identify the source of the calls," South Eugene principal Carey Killen wrote in an email to parents. "We would like to thank our students and staff for their swift and measured response. Students and staff remained calm and followed our procedures and directions throughout the incident."

Students and parents had previously complained about the disruption of class time as well as the traumatic effect the threats have had for some.

Killen said resources are available for students who need support processing the events.

Miranda Cyr reports on education for The Register-Guard. You can contact her at mcyr@registerguard.com or find her on Twitter @mirandabcyr

This article originally appeared on Register-Guard: Police: South Eugene High evacuating after bomb threat
Key Insights

Using the 2 Stage Free Cash Flow to Equity, REACT Group fair value estimate is UK0.027

REACT Group is estimated to be 49% undervalued based on current share price of UK0.014

REACT Group's peers are currently trading at a premium of 52% on average

How far off is REACT Group PLC (LON:REAT) from its intrinsic value? Using the most recent financial data, we'll take a look at whether the stock is fairly priced by taking the expected future cash flows and discounting them to today's value. One way to achieve this is by employing the Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) model. Before you think you won't be able to understand it, just read on! It's actually much less complex than you'd imagine.

We generally believe that a company's value is the present value of all of the cash it will generate in the future. However, a DCF is just one valuation metric among many, and it is not without flaws. Anyone interested in learning a bit more about intrinsic value should have a read of the Simply Wall St analysis model.

View our latest analysis for REACT Group

The Calculation

We use what is known as a 2-stage model, which simply means we have two different periods of growth rates for the company's cash flows. Generally the first stage is higher growth, and the second stage is a lower growth phase. To begin with, we have to get estimates of the next ten years of cash flows. Where possible we use analyst estimates, but when these aren't available we extrapolate the previous free cash flow (FCF) from the last estimate or reported value. We assume companies with shrinking free cash flow will slow their rate of shrinkage, and that companies with growing free cash flow will see their growth rate slow, over this period. We do this to reflect that growth tends to slow more in the early years than it does in later years.

A DCF is all about the idea that a dollar in the future is less valuable than a dollar today, and so the sum of these future cash flows is then discounted to today's value:

10-year free cash flow (FCF) forecast

2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028 2029 2030 2031 2032 Levered FCF (, Millions) UK1.58m UK1.80m UK1.80m UK1.90m UK1.90m UK1.91m UK1.92m UK1.93m UK1.95m UK1.97m Growth Rate Estimate Source Analyst x2 Analyst x1 Analyst x1 Analyst x1 Analyst x1 Est @ 0.37% Est @ 0.63% Est @ 0.81% Est @ 0.94% Est @ 1.03% Present Value (, Millions) Discounted @ 7.5% UK1.5 UK1.6 UK1.5 UK1.4 UK1.3 UK1.2 UK1.2 UK1.1 UK1.0 UK1.0

("Est" = FCF growth rate estimated by Simply Wall St)

Present Value of 10-year Cash Flow (PVCF) = UK13m

We now need to calculate the Terminal Value, which accounts for all the future cash flows after this ten year period. 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 1.2%. We discount the terminal cash flows to today's value at a cost of equity of 7.5%.

Terminal Value (TV)= FCF 2032  (1 + g)  (r  g) = UK2.0m (1 + 1.2%)  (7.5% 1.2%) = UK32m

Present Value of Terminal Value (PVTV)= TV / (1 + r)10= UK32m ( 1 + 7.5%)10= UK16m

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 UK28m. To get the intrinsic value per share, we divide this by the total number of shares outstanding. Relative to the current share price of UK0.01, the company appears quite undervalued at a 49% discount to where the stock price trades currently. Remember though, that this is just an approximate valuation, and like any complex formula - garbage in, garbage out.

dcf

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. You don't have to agree with these inputs, I recommend redoing the calculations yourself and playing with them. The DCF also does not consider the possible cyclicality of an industry, or a company's future capital requirements, so it does not give a full picture of a company's potential performance. Given that we are looking at REACT Group as potential shareholders, the cost of equity is used as the discount rate, rather than the cost of capital (or weighted average cost of capital, WACC) which accounts for debt. In this calculation we've used 7.5%, which is based on a levered beta of 0.893. Beta is a measure of a stock's volatility, compared to the market as a whole. We get our beta from the industry average beta of globally comparable companies, with an imposed limit between 0.8 and 2.0, which is a reasonable range for a stable business.

SWOT Analysis for REACT Group

Strength

Debt is well covered by .

Weakness

Interest payments on debt are not well covered.

Opportunity

Expected to breakeven next year.

Trading below our estimate of fair value by more than 20%.

Threat

Debt is not well covered by operating cash flow.

Next Steps:

Whilst important, the DCF calculation is only one of many factors that you need to assess for a company. It's not possible to obtain a foolproof valuation with a DCF model. Instead the best use for a DCF model is to test certain assumptions and theories to see if they would lead to the company being undervalued or overvalued. For example, changes in the company's cost of equity or the risk free rate can significantly impact the valuation. Why is the intrinsic value higher than the current share price? For REACT Group, we've put together three additional aspects you should consider:

Risks: We feel that you should assess the 1 warning sign for REACT Group we've flagged before making an investment in the company. Management:Have insiders been ramping up their shares to take advantage of the market's sentiment for REAT's future outlook? Check out our management and board analysis with insights on CEO compensation and governance factors. Other Solid Businesses: Low debt, high returns on equity and good past performance are fundamental to a strong business. Why not explore our interactive list of stocks with solid business fundamentals to see if there are other companies you may not have considered!

PS. Simply Wall St updates its DCF calculation for every British 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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ResultsCX

Celebrates Ongoing Integration of High-Performance English & Multi-Language Support Capabilities

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla., May 17, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- ResultsCX today announced that it has finalized rebranding the former 60K operations in Bulgaria under the ResultsCX name. Now officially known as ResultsCX Bulgaria, these customer support operations in Sofia and Plovdiv will continue to provide the same high-quality support in English and other languages that clients have come to expect and value from ResultsCXs Bulgaria-based employees.



In technical terms, the companys entity name, SixtyK EAD (AKA 60K), was successfully changed to ResultsCX Bulgaria EAD in the Bulgarian Commercial Register on April 3, 2023, and is the culmination of ResultsCXs late September 2022 acquisition of 60K.

I am thrilled that our employees in Bulgaria are now united with us under the ResultsCX brand, states ResultsCX CEO Rajesh Subramaniam. He adds, In the quality of their work these staff members already uphold the mission and performance clients expect from everyone in our organization.

ResultsCX Bulgaria employees and clients now have access to a global team of subject matter experts working across industry verticals and functional sectors. Being part of a larger organization allows ResultsCX Bulgaria to bring more extensive tools and experience to existing and new clients to accelerate their digital transformation and improve results and outcomes for customers.

Existing clients will continue to receive the high-quality support they have come to expect from ResultsCX Bulgaria. Their customers will now benefit from better experiences driven by interaction analytics and digital support tools focused on making every interaction even more effective. Through ResultsCX Bulgaria, prospective clients can now access cost-effective English and multi-lingual CX services in a convenient European Union location that is part of a larger corporate entity with more sophisticated tools, systems, and expertise.

Clients and prospects in the U.K. and worldwide will benefit from the availability of high-quality, cost-advantaged English and multi-language support in Bulgaria, said Sid Parashar, Managing Director, ResultsCX Europe, who also offered, Providing fantastic service within the European Union, just a few hours of travel away, makes Bulgarian support especially attractive for European clients and prospects.

ResultsCX Bulgaria employees have become part of a people-centric global BPO organization focused on their employment journeys, with expanded opportunities for training and career development. ResultsCX is excited about the contributions these employees will make throughout the global organization as part of the companys aggressive expansion plans during the next five years.

Peter Martino, Chief Operations Officer, stated, Our brand transition includes extending the career development and training resources of ResultsCX to our employees in Bulgaria. Praising the work of these new Bulgarian colleagues, he adds, They are already meeting and exceeding client expectations for service qualityimagine what having more resources and access to a larger organization will allow them to accomplish for clients!

About ResultsCX

ResultsCX is a premier customer experience partner to Fortune 100 and 500 companies. We design, build, and deliver digitally influenced customer journeys that achieve the satisfaction and loyalty brands need to thrive and grow, while improving efficiency and reducing costs. ResultsCXs 30+-year track record for reimagining the customer experience to meet consumers evolving expectations has driven growth to more than 20 geographic hubs and approximately 23,500 colleagues worldwide. Our core expertise extends to actionable analytics, social experience management, and our own SupportPredict AI-powered digital experience platform. Our strength lies in exceptional individuals working together in a high-performing, fun culture to deliver next-generation customer experiences on behalf of our clients.

CONTACT: Contact Stephen McClure Director, Marketing ResultsCX stephen.mcclure@results-cx.com (954) 668-3165




Rio Tinto Group (LON:RIO) has had a rough three months with its share price down 19%. However, stock prices are usually driven by a companys financials over the long term, which in this case look pretty respectable. Particularly, we will be paying attention to Rio Tinto Group's ROE today.

Return on equity or ROE is a key measure used to assess how efficiently a company's management is utilizing the company's capital. Simply put, it is used to assess the profitability of a company in relation to its equity capital.

View our latest analysis for Rio Tinto Group

How To Calculate Return On Equity?

Return on equity can be calculated by using the formula:

Return on Equity = Net Profit (from continuing operations)  Shareholders' Equity

So, based on the above formula, the ROE for Rio Tinto Group is:

25% = US$13b  US$52b (Based on the trailing twelve months to December 2022).

The 'return' refers to a company's earnings over the last year. One way to conceptualize this is that for each 1 of shareholders' capital it has, the company made 0.25 in profit.

What Is The Relationship Between ROE And Earnings Growth?

Thus far, we have learned that ROE measures how efficiently a company is generating its profits. We now need to evaluate how much profit the company reinvests or "retains" for future growth which then gives us an idea about the growth potential of the company. Generally speaking, other things being equal, firms with a high return on equity and profit retention, have a higher growth rate than firms that dont share these attributes.

Rio Tinto Group's Earnings Growth And 25% ROE

First thing first, we like that Rio Tinto Group has an impressive ROE. Additionally, the company's ROE is higher compared to the industry average of 13% which is quite remarkable. This probably laid the groundwork for Rio Tinto Group's moderate 13% net income growth seen over the past five years.

We then compared Rio Tinto Group's net income growth with the industry and found that the company's growth figure is lower than the average industry growth rate of 17% in the same period, which is a bit concerning.

Earnings growth is an important metric to consider when valuing a stock. What investors need to determine next is if the expected earnings growth, or the lack of it, is already built into the share price. This then helps them determine if the stock is placed for a bright or bleak future. Is Rio Tinto Group fairly valued compared to other companies? These 3 valuation measures might help you decide.

Is Rio Tinto Group Efficiently Re-investing Its Profits?

While Rio Tinto Group has a three-year median payout ratio of 64% (which means it retains 36% of profits), the company has still seen a fair bit of earnings growth in the past, meaning that its high payout ratio hasn't hampered its ability to grow.

Additionally, Rio Tinto Group has paid dividends over a period of at least ten years which means that the company is pretty serious about sharing its profits with shareholders. Based on the latest analysts' estimates, we found that the company's future payout ratio over the next three years is expected to hold steady at 57%. However, Rio Tinto Group's future ROE is expected to decline to 18% despite there being not much change anticipated in the company's payout ratio.

Conclusion

In total, it does look like Rio Tinto Group has some positive aspects to its business. Its earnings growth is decent, and the high ROE does contribute to that growth. However, investors could have benefitted even more from the high ROE, had the company been reinvesting more of its earnings. That being so, according to the latest industry analyst forecasts, the company's earnings are expected to shrink in the future. To know more about the company's future earnings growth forecasts take a look at this free report on analyst forecasts for the company to find out more.

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 Rolling Stones and David Bowie record label handed over to 33-year-old German media scion

The Rolling Stones

The millennial scion of Germanys biggest media dynasty is to take over as the boss of the record label behind David Bowie and The Rolling Stones.

Thomas Coesfeld will take the reins as chief executive of BMG in July, replacing long-serving boss Hartwig Masuch.

The 33-year-old belongs to the seventh generation of the dynasty that runs European media giant Bertelsmann.

As well as BMG, Bertelsmann owns broadcaster RTL, publishing giant Penguin Random House and services provider Arvato.

Mr Coesfeld is a grandson of Reinhard Mohn, the billionaire businessman who transformed the company  which started in 1835 printing Bibles  into a huge conglomerate with revenues of over 20bn (17.4bn).

Alongside his brother Carsten, Mr Coesfeld has been groomed for senior leadership roles in the empire. Both are seen as candidates for chairmanship of the entire group.

When they were 14 and 11 years old, their grandfather asked them if they could imagine a career in the company, Handelsblatt reported.

Thomas Coesfeld is seen as a future candidate for chairmanship of Bertelsmann group - Bertelsmann

Mr Coesfeld began working at Bertelsmann in 2016 in the groups printing and marketing services division. In April 2021 he took the role of chief financial officer at BMG.

His brother Carsten is currently head of Bertelsmann Investments, the companys venture capital arm.

The change of leadership at BMG, which was previously scheduled for January 2024 before being moved forward, will bring a new generation of the family into the top job.

Mr Coesfeld, who studied in the US before starting work as a management consultant at McKinsey, will also become a member of the influential Bertelsmann Group Management Committee, which advises the executive board.

The record label boss will replace 69-year-old Masuch, who has led BMG since it was founded in 2008 and personally recommended Mr Coesfeld for the job.

Last year the pair were pictured alongside Bertelsmann chief executive Thomas Rabe at a Rolling Stones concert in Berlin.

Mr Masuch, who started out as a musician and producer, was previously slated to depart next year but is said to be keen to begin his retirement, planning time in Greece and Portugal. Bertelsmann previously had a compulsory retirement age of 60.

Under Mr Masuchs leadership, BMG, which represents artists including Rita Ora and Bruno Mars, has become the fastest-growing division of the Bertelsmann empire, generating 866m in revenues last year.

Through its so-called boost strategy, BMG has pumped more than 500m into acquiring music rights catalogues from artists such as Tina Turner and Motley Crue.

Mr Rabe said: I would like to thank Hartwig Masuch and Thomas Coesfeld for the smooth handover at the helm of BMG. Hartwig has written many chapters in BMGs success story, which Thomas will now continue.

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Ron DeSantis Banned CBDCs in FloridaThese States Could Be Next

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed a bill last week to ban central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) in the Sunshine Stateand now others appear to want to follow in his footsteps.

Currently, Louisiana, Alabama, Texas and North Dakota have all drafted bills opposing a digital dollar.

CBDCs are a hot topic right now. Unlike cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin or Ethereum, CBDCs are overseen and operated by a centralized entity.

Only 11 countries have so far launched a CBDC, according to the Atlantic Councils tracker, but many other nations are researching and trialing the technology. Chinas digital yuan is the most advanced.

Americas central bank, the Federal Reserve, has been talking about a CBDC for some time but hasnt given any major details on whether one will actually be released.

In March, Fed Chairman Jerome Powell said that the Fed hadnt decided on whether a CBDC was needed in the States.

And the Feds website currently states that the body has made no decision on issuing a central bank digital currency (CBDC) and would only proceed with the issuance of a CBDC with an authorizing law.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Joins Ron DeSantis in Railing Against CBDCs

But politicians throughout the U.S. are still worriedand a number have expressed concern and called for opposition to a digital dollar through draft bills (none of which have advanced as much as Floridas bill.)

Texas lawmakers this month introduced a draft Expressing opposition to the creation of a central bank digital currency Texas Senate Concurrent Resolution 25 bill, claiming that a digital dollar could lead to unprecedented levels of government surveillance and control over private cash holdings and transactions.

While North Dakota representatives The adoption of a Central Bank Digital Currency in the United States bill says that the adoption of a CBDC by the federal government would hand unprecedented control over the lives, freedoms, choices, and sovereignty of the people of North Dakota to the Federal Reserve.

Florida Bans a Central Bank Digital Currency https://t.co/S8UfWrLZyc  Ron DeSantis (@GovRonDeSantis) May 12, 2023

The Legislature of Louisiana lawmakers said that the technology raises significant concerns over privacy for individuals and businesses in Louisianaand urged U.S. congress to not support CBDC legislation.

Perhaps the closest to Floridas radical law is Alabamas draft bill, debated today, which would prohibit any state or government local agency from accepting CBDC as a form of payment.

Lawmakers opposing CBDCs are overwhelmingly Republicanmaking the topic of a centralized digital currency in the States a very partisan issue: Governor DeSantis has described the idea as woke, while anti-crypto Democrat Elizabeth Warren has called for the U.S. to push ahead with a CBDC.

But until the Federal Reserve actually announces what it is doing with the technology, CBDCs might just be more fodder for a political culture war.
(Bloomberg) -- Russia is finding oil customers in Asia to replace sanctions-blocked European buyers  by clawing away at the market share of its energy allies.

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From West Africa to the Middle East, producers in the OPEC+ alliance are feeling pinched as buyers in India and China  Asias top growth markets  scoop up cheaper Russian crude. The redrawn global oil trade map could be in place for years to come.

There is every reason for the Middle East producers to be worried about losing market share in China and India to Russian barrels, said Vandana Hari, founder of consultant Vanda Insights in Singapore. There appears to be no end in sight to the trade flows shift.

Prices for Russias flagship Urals grade plummeted last year as Europe shunned purchases in the fallout of Moscows war in Ukraine. Asias powerhouses stepped into the void, helping to lift Russias seaborne crude exports to a post-invasion record in recent weeks.

India has historically relied on countries like Iraq, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to supply the bulk of its crude imports. Now those producers are feeling squeezed.

Since January 2022  the month before Russia invaded Ukraine  Indias oil imports from the Middle East have plunged by 35% to about 1.9 million barrels a day in April, data from Vortexa Ltd. show. Shipments from West Africa slumped by the same percentage, to 228,000 barrels a day during the period.

Meanwhile, India imported a record 1.9 million barrels a day of Russian crude in April  compared with just 65,000 on a daily basis in January last year. Russia is now vying with the Middle East as the countrys top supplier.

This is sustainable as long as Russian prices are low, said R. Ramachandran, former director of refineries at Bharat Petroleum Corp. There was little demand for Urals in India pre-Russias war on Ukraine.

The price of Urals delivered to India  including shipping costs  was almost $12 a barrel cheaper than the global Dated Brent benchmark on May 15, according to data from Argus Media Ltd. The discount has narrowed by about $5 over the last two months.

Chinas Shift

China has continued to receive a steady flow of oil from the Middle East, with shipments even rising slightly since January 2022, according to Vortexa data.

However, Asias largest economy has cut its intake of West African crude by more than 40%. Shipments dropped to 730,000 barrels a day in April, from 1.3 million in early 2022. Angola remains by far the regions largest provider.

At the same time, Chinas imports of Russian crude rose by 80% to about 1.5 million barrels a day since early 2022.

Members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and their allies arent the only ones seeing their share of Asias oil market diminish. US flows to India and European shipments to China  which include North Sea grades  have declined.

However, India and China typically rely on the Middle East and West Africa, home to major OPEC+ producers, for the bulk of their crude supply.

Read: How an Aging Armada and Mystery Traders Keep Russian Oil Afloat

A glut of at least 35 million barrels of Nigerian oil due for loading through the end of next month has so far gone unsold, with a lack of Asian buying being a key cause of the buildup, according to traders.

Millions of barrels of West African crude have been stashed in commercial facilities at the Saldanha Bay hub in South Africa this year as Asia buys Russian oil instead, according to the International Energy Agency.

The deliveries into storage appear to be West African barrels struggling to find buyers East of Suez (due to cheaper Russian crude) while Atlantic Basin refiners undergo maintenance, it said this week in its latest Oil Market Report.

--With assistance from Julian Lee, Sherry Su, Bill Lehane and Grant Smith.

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(Bloomberg) -- Russias fuel-oil suppliers are on track for record exports to China this month as smaller refineries in the Asian nation increase the amount they use for blending.

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Russian producers are set to sell over 350,000 barrels of fuel oil  a less valuable part of the barrel than gasoline and diesel  to China in May, according to data from the research firm Kpler.

Fuel oil flows into China surged after February when the price cap on Russian oil products took effect. The purchases have recently skyrocketed as Shandong province, home to most of the nations independent refineries, started conducting quality checks on bitumen mixture, another favorite feedstock.

We anticipate that fuel oil inflows to China will remain high in May and will increase further from June, said Jianan Sun, a London-based analyst with Energy Aspects Ltd.

Chinas teapots were allocated a lower crude import quota in the first two batches of 2023, compared with last year, meaning they need to rely on other feedstocks such as fuel oil for their processing needs.

Russian refiners will likely increase supply of high-sulfur straight-run fuel oil and distillate-rich M100 grades into Asia by as much as 140,000 barrels a day in the coming weeks as they finish maintenance of facilities, Energy Aspects Sun added.

Russia now supplies some 35%-40% of all fuel oil imported by China, according to Viktor Katona, an analyst at Kpler.

Chinas buying binge may not persist as authorities set an annual quota system for non-state plants to import fuel oil.

For 2023, the allocation is steady at 16.2 million tons, of which over half could have already been used up as of end-April, according to Energy Aspects Sun. The government is scheduled to release April oil products imports figures on May 20.

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

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Russia's economic war with the West is entering a dangerous new stage, scholar says

Russian President Vladimir Putin. Mikhail Metzel

Russia's economic war against with the West is entering a dangerous new stage, Alexandra Prokopenko wrote.

The Kremlin previously focused its retaliation on Europe's energy markets, the Russia scholar said.

But Russia recently set up a legal framework to temporarily nationalize foreign assets.

The Kremlin has shifted its tactics against the West, and now looks to take over foreign assets within its borders, according to a Russia analyst.

It's an escalation on Moscow's part, after prior retaliation against Western sanctions was focused on restricting energy supplies for Europe, Alexandra Prokopenko, a nonresident scholar at the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center, wrote in the Financial Times.

"Russia's economic confrontation with the west following the Kremlin's invasion of Ukraine is entering a dangerous new stage," she warned.

After Moscow suffered court defeats that kept Russian assets frozen in Europe, the Kremlin has since established a legal framework to temporarily nationalize foreign assets in Russia, Prokopenko added.

Projects that cost billions of dollars are now at risk, and the Russian government will likely take a "personalized approach" with each stakeholder, as it tries to divide the West, she wrote.

A key piece of Moscow's new retaliation strategy is a decree that President Vladimir Putin signed last month, that Prokopenko said gives the government's property management agency control over Western assets affected by halts to Russia operations and the ability to sell them to Russian buyers.

The decree also requires firms of "unfriendly nations" to pay a donation to Russia's war efforts, equating 5% to 10% the value of a sold asset. Western companies are also required to sell their stakes in projects shared with Russian partners at a 50% deduction.

Since Putin signed the decree, the assets of Finnish and German energy firms have been placed under provisional management.

Between this and Western constraints on selling to Russia, "a growing number of such companies look increasingly likely to lose their investments in Russia entirely," Prokopenko said.

However, she said that these new restrictions will be applied to companies individually, based on their ties with Russia's government.

"So far, neither Russia nor Europe has a comprehensive strategy on how to deal with the stranded assets," she said. "The breakdown of ties will almost certainly exacerbate the conflict as the Kremlin seeks ways to punish Europe for imposing sanctions and supporting Ukraine. The appetite of Putin's cronies to seize western assets in Russia will only add insult to injury."

Read the original article on Business Insider
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission believes Filecoin's FIL token qualifies a security, according to a Wednesday announcement from Grayscale Investments.

The major crypto investment firm launched its Grayscale Filecoin Trust in March 2021, which gives investors indirect exposure to FIL. (Disclosure: Protocol Labs, the company behind Filecoin, is one of Decrypts 22 investors.) As part of the firm's outlined product lifecycle, Grayscale voluntarily filed Form 10 with the SEC to obtain SEC reporting status.

But the SEC told Grayscale in a letter yesterday that FIL "meets the definition of a security under the federal securities laws" and, therefore, the application must be withdrawn, according to the firm.

Grayscale does not believe that FIL is a security under the federal securities laws and intends to respond promptly to the SEC staff with an explanation of the legal basis for Grayscales position, the company said in announcing the SEC's finding.

Filecoin is not a security. Filecoin is an international, decentralized peer-to-peer file storage network with thousands of contributors and community members around the world," a Protocol Labs spokesperson told Decrypt. "We are glad that many U.S. policymakers, including members of U.S. Congress, have publicly stated that Filecoin is not a security. We are also glad that Grayscale has plans to respond to SEC staff to explain that Filecoin is not a security.

FIL, the 33rd biggest digital asset by market cap, dipped on the news: it is currently trading for $4.54, according to CoinGeckodown 1.2% in the past hour.

Judges Scrutinize SEC Over Denial of Grayscale Bitcoin ETF

The SEC is going hard after the digital asset industry. This year, it has hit a number of American crypto companies with fines it claims are selling unregistered securities.

The regulatory body often wont define a single digital asset as a security but points to the Howey testwhich labels an asset an investment contract if investors pledge their money to fund an enterprise with the intention of making profits from its efforts.

Under SEC Chairman Gary Gensler, the SEC has already gone after American crypto exchanges Kraken, Bittrex, and Coinbase for allegedly selling unregistered securities.

Gensler claims that most digital assets are securitiesbut not Bitcoin, the largest cryptocurrency by market cap.

Grayscale is a major digital asset investment firm. Its biggest product is the The Grayscale Bitcoin Trust, which gives investors exposure to the biggest cryptocurrency by market cap by allowing investors to trade shares in trusts holding large pools of Bitcoin.

Editor's Note: This article was updated to include a comment from Protocol Labs.
Senators say they failed to act on social media, won't make same mistake with AI

This article was first featured in Yahoo Finance Tech, a weekly newsletter highlighting our original content on the industry. Get it sent directly to your inbox every Wednesday. Subscribe.

Wednesday, May 17, 2023

Senators want to regulate AI before it gets too big. They're running out of time.

If the senators gathered for the Senate Judiciary Committees hearing on AI on Tuesday seem to agree on one thing, its that they dont want to miss the opportunity to regulate AI like they did social media.

Throughout the hearing, which included testimony by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, IBM (IBM) Chief Privacy and Trust Officer Christina Montgomery, and NYU professor Gary Marcus, senators repeatedly pointed to Congress failure to regulate social media or pass any kind of meaningful data privacy legislation.

The gist of the legislators warnings came down to the potential for AI being used to influence consumers, generate disinformation, or reinforce bias.

We had the same choice when we faced social media. We failed to seize that moment, Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) said. Now we have the obligation to do it on AI before the threats and risks become real.

Fears that AI will be misused

During the hearing, Altman, Montgomery, and Marcus each told the gathered senators that Congress should put at least some kind legislation into place to govern the use of AI. Altman and Marcus in particular called for a new regulatory body that could provide the appropriate licenses for companies to deploy different types of AI.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman speaks before a Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Privacy, Technology and the Law hearing on artificial intelligence, Tuesday, May 16, 2023, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

Without those, the witnesses said, AI could present its own unique set of problems.

Fundamentally, these new systems are going to be destabilizing, Marcus said in his opening testimony. They can and will create persuasive lies at a scale humanity's never seen before. Outsiders will use them to affect our elections. Insiders to manipulate our markets and our political systems. Democracy itself is threatened.

Altman, for his part, said he has his own set of fears about AI. I think if this technology goes wrong, it could go quite wrong, he said. And we want to be vocal about that. We want to work with the government to prevent that from happening.

Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), meanwhile, questioned whether AI could be used to influence public opinion.

Calls for social media regulation but no action

For years members of Congress have called for stricter regulations over social media content.

Politicians have called for companies like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube to be stripped or depleted of their Section 230 protections. Others have pushed for the establishment of comprehensive data privacy legislation to protect users online information.

Theres a handful of reasons social media has avoided regulations, including a lack of consensus on just how to do it. Section 230, which serves as the backbone of the modern internet, is a frequent target of both Democrats and Republicans. But neither side can agree on why.

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella speaks during a keynote address announcing ChatGPT integration for Bing on February 7, 2023. (Photo by Jason Redmond / AFP)

Democrats say they want to hold sites accountable for what their users post, especially when it comes to disinformation, while Republicans say they want to go after sites for over-moderating content.

Privacy regulation, meanwhile, has been in the works for years, but here we are in 2023 and theres no true national data privacy law.

Theres potential

While Congress hasnt been able to pull anything together with regards to social media or privacy, it looks as though there might be hope for AI regulation.

In addition to Altman and Montgomery calling for regulation, senators were largely open to ideas about how to deploy AI responsibly. And unlike hearings about social media when lawmakers have been hostile to witnesses such as Meta (META) CEO Mark Zuckerberg or former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, the senators were generally calm and thoughtful in their comments.

Still, itll likely be some time before any kind of regulation sees the light of day. Blumenthal himself said that Tuesdays hearing was the first of a number to come. But with the pace at which AI is advancing, that could be too long for Congress to wait.

Daniel Howley is the tech editor at Yahoo Finance. Follow him @DanielHowley

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Samsung Bespoke refrigerator deals: Up to $1,200 off at the Samsung sale.

 Recommendations are independently chosen by Reviewed's editors. Purchases made through the links below may earn us and our publishing partners a commission.

The Discover Samsung sale is live through Sunday, May 21, which means we're hunting down the best Samsung deals on devices, TVs and major appliances all week long. We test hundreds of refrigerators and we love the range of Samsung Bespoke refrigerators for how beautiful they are and versatile. You can choose from four-door French-door styles to side-by-side fridges and up to 20 different color customization options to find the perfect fit for your home. During the Samsung sale, we found tons of Reviewed-approved Bespoke refrigerator deals to help you save on your next big purchase.

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One of our favorite Samsung Bespoke refrigerator deals includes up to $1,200 off the beautiful 4-door French Door Refrigerator with Beverage Center that we included in our list of best refrigerators of 2023 after testing it ourselves. The visual elegance of the Bespoke fridge impressed us, with its color swappable panels that can be arranged to match nearly any kitchen design concept. But the quality doesn't stop on the surface.

Our lab found that the Bespoke fridge offered "solid" temperature delivery, keeping an unwavering freezer temperature that won't cause freezer burn, and a good refrigerator temp that keeps food from spoiling. The door-in-door system allows you to get to the beverage center and some door storage without opening the whole refrigerator section and exposing it to heat loss. Our tester model also included a flex temperature drawer that can be set to whatever you need (more freezer room or more fridge space), and even brought up temp levels that would be unsafe in a normal fridge, for specific tasks like putting a little chill on a wine bottle or veggies.

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The Samsung deals don't stop there. The Samsung Bespoke 3-Door French Door Refrigerator with Beverage Center is on sale for $2,099 ($1,200 off), while the new Samsung Bespoke Side-by-Side Refrigerator with Beverage Center is $1,599 right nowsaving you $700 off the usual $2,299 price.

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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: Samsung Bespoke refrigerator deals: Up to $1,200 off at the Samsung sale
(Bloomberg) -- South Korean company SK Ecoplant Co. will invest in and help develop a $4.5 billion green hydrogen project in Canada thats set to be one the largest such plants in the world.

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The renewable energy unit of SK Inc. will buy a 20% stake in the facility in the eastern province of Newfoundland and Labrador for $50 million, it said in a statement. The project will produce green hydrogen and then covert it to ammonia to be exported to Europe from 2026, it said.

The announcement came during Prime Minister Justin Trudeaus visit to South Korea this week. Canada is trying to position itself as a major producer, user and exporter of hydrogen. It signed a green hydrogen supply pact with Germany last year, and also has a separate $6 billion project to produce the fuel in Nova Scotia, another eastern province.

Read More: Why Hydrogen Is the Hottest Thing in Green Energy: QuickTake

Hydrogen is made by electrolysis, a process that sends an electric current through water to split hydrogen atoms from oxygen. To count as green hydrogen, the electricity must come from renewable sources. While its widely tipped to play in a major role in weaning the world off fossil, the technology is in its early stages and still isnt cost competitive with other types of fuel.

The Korean company has also obtained exclusive rights to engineer, procure and build equipment for the Canadian facility that could be worth about $1.5 billion, it said in the statement.

Read More: There Wont Be a Saudi Arabia of Green Hydrogen: David Fickling

SK said it will be partnering with Canadian firm World Energy GH2 Inc., the projects main developer. The first phase will involve building an onshore wind-power plant, an electrolysis system and a facility that can make 360,000 tons of green ammonia per year. The goal is to produce green hydrogen by March 2025, and green ammonia a year later.

(Updated with details of the project from the first paragraph.)

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STANS, Switzerland, May 17, 2023--(BUSINESS WIRE)--SoftwareOne Holding AG, a leading global provider of end-to-end software and cloud technology solutions, today announced that it has agreed to acquire Beniva Consulting Group Inc, a leading provider in ServiceNow, Configuration Management Database (CMDB), IT and Operations Management (ITOM), Cloud Advisory and Application Services. The acquisition adds deep process automation and service management specialization to SoftwareOnes existing market-leading IT Asset Management (ITAM) services.

Founded in 2016 and headquartered in Calgary Canada, Beniva (https://benivagroup.com/) is a leading consultancy of professional and managed services, supporting blue-chip enterprise clients in United States and Canada. As an Elite ServiceNow partner, the company specializes in providing end-to-end professional services to clients seeking to leverage ServiceNow, a provider of workflow solutions and preferred vendor of enterprises moving to the cloud.

Shadi Khoshab, Global Director, ITAM & Software Sourcing Services said, "Were delighted to welcome Beniva and their team to SoftwareOne. They bring a wealth of ServiceNow knowledge, strong ITOM capabilities and theyre a fantastic cultural fit. We are already recognized as a market leader in ITAM and by adding Beniva to our organization, we will supercharge the way we support our clients, helping them achieve their software & cloud portfolio optimization goals."

Leonard Wiens, Founding Partner Beniva, said, "SoftwareOnes all-in-one cloud application strategy represents the most complete end-to-end vision in the market. We couldnt be more excited to bring elite ServiceNow and workflow automation delivery to SoftwareOnes clients across the globe."

With this transaction, Benivas team of more than 75 cloud technology experts and its directors will join SoftwareOne and its rapidly growing software and cloud services practice. By helping its clients leverage the ServiceNow platform Beniva has helped them save millions of dollars. This acquisition strengthens our services portfolio and organizational value proposition. Benivas service offering perfectly complements our own Software Sourcing and Portfolio Management services, building on our capabilities in both IT Service Management (ITSM) and IT Operations Management (ITOM). The acquisition significantly expands SoftwareOnes portfolio of Software & Cloud Services, including application rationalization and portfolio management. This strengthens our high-quality delivery capabilities to serve our enterprise clients globally.

No financial details or transaction terms have been disclosed.

About SoftwareOne

SoftwareOne is a leading global software and cloud solutions provider that is redefining how organizations build, buy and manage everything in the cloud. By helping clients to migrate and modernize their workloads and applications  and in parallel, to navigate and optimize the resulting software and cloud changes  SoftwareOne unlocks the value of technology. The companys ~9,000 employees are driven to deliver a portfolio of 7,500 software brands with sales and delivery capabilities in 90 countries. Headquartered in Switzerland, SoftwareOne is listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange under the ticker symbol SWON. Visit us at www.softwareone.com

SoftwareOne Holding AG, Riedenmatt 4, CH-6370 Stans

CAUTIONARY STATEMENT REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION

This media release may contain certain forward-looking statements relating to the groups future business, development and economic performance. Such statements may be subject to a number of risks, uncertainties and other important factors, such as but not limited to force majeure, competitive pressures, legislative and regulatory developments, global, macroeconomic and political trends, the groups ability to attract and retain the employees that are necessary to generate revenues and to manage its businesses, fluctuations in currency exchange rates and general financial market conditions, changes in accounting standards or policies, delay or inability in obtaining approvals from authorities, technical developments, litigation or adverse publicity and news coverage, each of which could cause actual development and results to differ materially from the statements made in this media release. SoftwareOne assumes no obligation to update or alter forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230517005643/en/

Contacts

Matt Davison | VP, Marketing

matt.davison@softwareone.com

Direct. +1 262 439 7840
Are You Spending $200 a Month on Free Games? Millions of Americans Do  Without Knowing It

gorodenkoff / Getty Images/iStockphoto

Games like Fortnite, the Candy Crush Saga and Counter-Strike are free to play for everyone who downloads these games. But premium subscriptions and other in-app upgrades are tempting some gamers to spend over $200 per month, Money reported.

Discover: Keep an Eye Out for Rare Dime Worth as Much as $2,000  How To Spot It

Learn: How To Build Your Savings From Scratch

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, a first-person shooter available to play for free online, is played by more than 5 million people every month and made an average of $3.2 million per day in March. Money says the popular battle royale-style game Fortnite made over $20 billion in its first four years through cosmetics alone. Candy Crush saw $1 billion in revenue in 2022 from purchasing extra lives and power boosts.

These numbers are impressive, but only a small fraction of players spend money on in-game purchases.

The 2021 study No Such Thing As a Free App by Imam Salehudin, an assistant professor of economics at the University of Indonesia, and his research partner Frank Alpert, an associate professor of marketing at the University of Queensland, shows that only about 5% of users spend money on in-app purchases. About 70% of all freemium app revenue comes from the top 10% of spenders, Salehudin says. But Money noted that those who do spend money, spend a lot of it. The study found that the average Pokemon Go user spent $267 in July of 2016, the month it was released.

Salehudin says that the biggest spenders tend to be the ones who cant control their spending  especially children.

Nara Ward, a mother to two young children in Barbados, told BBC News that keeping track of her kids spending when playing games is a full-time job. When her 12-year-old son started playing Roblox, a game with a largely young fanbase, he spent $200 in Apple credit in a few days.

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And the revenue for these gaming companies is only expected to grow. BBC reported that the global in-game purchase market is expected to increase from $67.94 billion in 2022 to $76.66 billion in 2023.

More From GOBankingRates

This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: Are You Spending $200 a Month on Free Games? Millions of Americans Do  Without Knowing It
Stocks surged on Wednesday as investors remained hopeful that debt-ceiling talks between President Joe Biden and congressional leaders will produce a breakthrough.

The S&P 500 (^GSPC) advanced 1.19%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) gained 1.24%, or more than 400 points. The technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) increased 1.28%.

Wall Street has been kept on its toes as the White House and congressional leaders try to thrash out a deal to avoid a looming US debt default. A smaller group of negotiators is taking over as President Joe Biden travels to Asia, but he has announced plans to cut short his trip this week.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and others have warned of catastrophic impacts on the US economy in the case of a default, seen as potentially coming as early as June.

On Wednesday, JPMorgan Chase & Co. Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon said the US government "probably"will not default on its debt obligations. Dimon joined other top executives of major banks in a meeting with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer to discuss the debt-ceiling standoff.

The yield on the 30-year Treasury bond was little changed. The yield on the 10-year note rose to 3.57%, while the two-year note yield traded up to 4.15%. The dollar index strengthened, while gold prices weakened sinking below $2,000.

While [House Speaker Kevin] McCarthy said a deal is possible by the end of this week, the timeline may be by the end of next week ahead of Memorial Day, JPMorgan's US market intelligence team wrote in a note Wednesday.

President Biden plans to stay in touch with McCarthy over the coming days. Any breakthrough in the talks could potentially impact markets, the team said.

With that in mind, equities may trade in a tight range until an outcome is observed with the biggest downside risk coming if we enter Memorial Day weekend without a solution, given the early June X-date, the JPMorgan team added.

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy of Calif., and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Ky., talk to reporters after meeting with President Joe Biden in the Oval Office of the White House, Tuesday, May 16, 2023, in Washington, about the debt ceiling. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Elsewhere, on the housing front, US housing starts grew 2.2% in April to an annualized 1.4 million units, according to government data released Wednesday. On a yearly basis, that's still a 22.3% drop. Single-family starts increased 1.6% month-over-month to the highest level in 2023.

Building permits issued fell 1.5% to an annualized 1.41 million units in April and registered a 21.1% drop year-over-year as multi-family permits issued tanked 9.7% month-over-month.

Also on the docket were earnings releases from retailers including Target (TGT) and The TJX Companies, Inc. (TJX) before the bell on Wednesday, which gave further insight on the consumer health and a gauge on recession probabilities.

Target (TGT) topped Wall Streets earnings expectations but took a cautious tone on consumers, seen as hesitant on discretionary spending. The retailer guided second-quarter earnings below analyst estimates, dampening its view of the back-to-school shopping season. Shares moved higher over 2% Wednesday following the earnings results.

Meanwhile, The TJX Companies, which owns TJ Maxx, Marshalls, and Home Goods, posted an earnings beat for its first quarter, while also offering disappointing guidance. Shares nudged higher Wednesday after the results.

In single-stock moves, shares of Tesla, Inc. (TSLA) advanced more than 4% after the EV maker held its annual shareholder meeting after the bell on Tuesday. At the event, CEO Elon Musk said he has no plans to step down as CEO and retained his board seat for another term.

Shares of Wix.com Ltd. (WIX) rallied over 1% Wednesday after the cloud services developer posted a net profit in the first quarter, boosted by growth in subscription revenue.

Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (AMD) shares moved higher Wednesday as Bernstein analyst Stacy Rasgon reiterated his Market-Perform ratings in a note on Tuesday and $80 stock forecast for AMD.

Shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (TSM) gained more than 5% after reports swirled that Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida plans to meet with executives at the company and six other chip firms to seek active investment in Japan and tighter cooperation with Japanese companies.

_____

Dani Romero is a reporter for Yahoo Finance. Follow her on Twitter @daniromerotv

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While Suncor Energy Inc. (TSE:SU) shareholders are probably generally happy, the stock hasn't had particularly good run recently, with the share price falling 18% in the last quarter. But we wouldn't complain about the gain over the last three years. After all, the stock has performed better than the market (56%) over that time, over which it gained 58%.

While this past week has detracted from the company's three-year return, let's look at the recent trends of the underlying business and see if the gains have been in alignment.

Check out our latest analysis for Suncor Energy

In his essay The Superinvestors of Graham-and-Doddsville Warren Buffett described how share prices do not always rationally reflect the value of a business. One flawed but reasonable way to assess how sentiment around a company has changed is to compare the earnings per share (EPS) with the share price.

During three years of share price growth, Suncor Energy moved from a loss to profitability. So we would expect a higher share price over the period.

The graphic below depicts how EPS has changed over time (unveil the exact values by clicking on the image).

We like that insiders have been buying shares in the last twelve months. Even so, future earnings will be far more important to whether current shareholders make money. This free interactive report on Suncor Energy's earnings, revenue and cash flow is a great place to start, if you want to investigate the stock further.

What About Dividends?

As well as measuring the share price return, investors should also consider the total shareholder return (TSR). Whereas the share price return only reflects the change in the share price, the TSR includes the value of dividends (assuming they were reinvested) and the benefit of any discounted capital raising or spin-off. So for companies that pay a generous dividend, the TSR is often a lot higher than the share price return. As it happens, Suncor Energy's TSR for the last 3 years was 79%, which exceeds the share price return mentioned earlier. The dividends paid by the company have thusly boosted the total shareholder return.

A Different Perspective

We regret to report that Suncor Energy shareholders are down 19% for the year (even including dividends). Unfortunately, that's worse than the broader market decline of 0.4%. 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 Suncor Energy better, we need to consider many other factors. To that end, you should learn about the 2 warning signs we've spotted with Suncor Energy (including 1 which is concerning) .

Suncor Energy is not the only stock insiders are buying. So take a peek at this free list of growing companies with insider buying.

Please note, the market returns quoted in this article reflect the market weighted average returns of stocks that currently trade on Canadian exchanges.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.



This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.

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am i middle class

Unless youre extremely rich or poor, you probably think of yourself as being part of the middle class. As youre probably aware, middle class is an income level that describes people whose annual income is directly in the middle 50% of all income. If youre middle class, you are not considered to be rich or poor. However, when it comes to middle-class income, how much money is that, exactly? We analyze below but if youre part of the middle class then you could likely benefit from working with a financial advisor in order to maximize your potential wealth growth.

Why Is It Important to Know If You Have a Middle-Class Income?

You could argue that it isnt all that important. Knowing you have a middle-class income wont make you richer or poorer or change anything about your income. It isnt as if it will help you save more money.

That said, understanding that your income is less than a middle-class income could theoretically push you to try and earn more money. Or knowing that your income is above the middle class may make you feel more grateful for what you have. It certainly cant hurt to know where you and your income stand in the country, compared to everyone else.

If youre ready to be matched with local advisors that can help you achieve your financial goals, get started now.

What is Middle-Class Income in the U.S.?

am i middle class

The middle class has been eroding for some time now. According to recent research from the Pew Research Center, a respected nonpartisan American think tank based out of the District of Columbia, in 1971, middle-class Americans made up 61% of the population; in 2021, it was 50%. During that time, both lower-income and upper-income families grew as a group.

So what is considered middle-class income? That can be tricky to define, in part due to the size and location of a family. After all, a household making $100,000 a year is going to feel more squeezed if there are two parents and six children in the family than if there are two adults and two kids. Likewise, your communitys cost of living plays a large role in whether a family feels as if they are middle class. A hundred thousand a year will go a lot farther in a small town than in a big city.

The Pew Research Center describes the middle class as an individual who generates between two-thirds and doubles the median U.S. household income, which was $65,000 in 2021, according to the most recent numbers from the U.S. Census Bureau. Using those numbers, a middle-class income would be any household that makes approximately $43,350 to $130,000.

Put another way, if youre making less than $43,350 in your household, you are probably considered a low-income family. If youre making between $43,350 and $130,000, youre considered middle class. If youre earning $130,000 and above, youre likely considered upper class.

Thats a simplistic way of looking at it, however, since a family making $130,000 might not be living quite like a middle-class family if one adult is the breadwinner and there are many mouths to feed. Still, if it helps visualize how much a middle-class family earns, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, for the third quarter of 2022, the median weekly salary was $1,068.

Middle-Class Income Doesnt Matter as Much as Tax Brackets

If you realize that your income is squarely in the middle class, its interesting information to have, but as noted, that knowledge obviously doesnt directly affect your finances. What does impact your finances are federal tax brackets and there are seven of them.

The lowest tax bracket is 10%. The highest tax bracket is 37%. If youre in the middle class, youre probably in the 22%, 24% or possibly 32% tax brackets. That may sound as if youre paying 22%, 24% or 32% of your income toward taxes, but youre actually not.

The first part of your income will be taxed at 10% and then more money will be taxed at 12% and so on until you reach your tax bracket. As your income goes up, the money within the tax bracket is taxed at the corresponding rate. This type of system of taxing, where you pay more, the more money you earn, is known as a progressive tax system. Some states, meanwhile, tax their residents differently. Some states have a progressive tax system and some have a flat tax rate.

The Bottom Line

am i middle class

Being middle class is almost more of a mindset than anything else as it refers to your annual income. Politicians and the media often talk about middle-class values, but it isnt as if anybody gets a certificate if they enter or exit the middle class. Middle class is really simply a label that describes ones financial situation, rather than a label that changes ones finances and it doesnt make any household better than the other, whether they are part of the lower class, middle class or upper class. Just remember that your net worth, which you can always grow, should never be confused with your self-worth.

Tips for Growing Wealth

One of the best things you can do to stretch your income for retirement is to work with a qualified financial advisor. An advisor can help advise you on your finances and prepare you for retirement. Finding a qualified financial advisor doesnt have to be hard. SmartAssets free tool matches you with up to three vetted 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.

Looking to build wealth? You can check out this guide on how to build wealth which provides a step-by-step process you can consider regardless of the size of your household income.

Photo credit: iStock.com/FatCamera, iStock.com/Lisa5201, iStock.com/fstop123

The post What Is Middle Class Income in the U.S.? appeared first on SmartAsset Blog.
China, Central Asia ready for milestone summit to build closer ties

Xinhua) 08:08, May 17, 2023

XI'AN, May 16 (Xinhua) -- As a milestone summit is about to open, China and five Central Asian countries are set to build a closer community with a shared future and send messages of solidarity, peace and development in a volatile world.

Chinese President Xi Jinping will chair the China-Central Asia Summit, the first in-person summit among heads of state of China and Central Asian countries, scheduled for May 18 and 19 in Xi'an, northwest China's Shaanxi Province. The leaders are expected to draw up new blueprints for China-Central Asia cooperation.

The summit is seen as the latest landmark in the vibrant high-level interactions, economic cooperation and people-to-people exchanges between China and Central Asian countries.

POLITICAL MUTUAL TRUST

In 2013, Xi went to Central Asia for the first time as China's head of state, visiting Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan.

"China and Central Asian countries are friendly neighbors connected by common mountains and rivers. China highly values its friendship and cooperation with these countries and takes them as a foreign policy priority," Xi said during the trip.

China's relations with Central Asian countries were upgraded during the visits. The next year, Xi paid a state visit to Tajikistan, during which important consensus was reached on deepening bilateral ties.

This aerial photo taken on Oct. 27, 2020 shows the construction site of the second phase of the north-south highway in Kyrgyzstan. (China Road &Bridge Corporation/Handout via Xinhua)

In the past decade, Xi visited Central Asia seven times and also hosted multiple Central Asian leaders in China. Xi has had in-depth exchanges with people from different sectors in the region. China's relations with Central Asian countries have become a model for building a new type of international relations.

There were many unforgettable moments. Xi donned traditional Tajik attire, referenced Kyrgyz adages, explored ancient cities in Uzbekistan and a small town in Turkmenistan, and recounted the story of a Kazakh student who donated blood in China. On top of these, Xi engaged closely with the leaders of the five Central Asian countries.

Guided by head-of-state diplomacy, the friendship and political mutual trust between China and Central Asia have been constantly deepened.

China and Central Asian countries have supported each other on issues involving sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity, and firmly supported each other's development paths and governance models. They have joined hands to fight terrorism, separatism and extremism, transnational organized crime and drug trafficking. They have also resolutely opposed external interference or attempts to instigate "color revolutions."

"The key to the successful cooperation between China and the five Central Asian countries over the past three decades lies in our abiding commitment to mutual respect, good-neighborly friendship, solidarity in trying times, and mutual benefit," Xi said when he addressed a virtual summit to commemorate the 30th anniversary of diplomatic relations between China and Central Asian countries in January 2022.

WIN-WIN COOPERATION

Speaking at Nazarbayev University in Kazakhstan on Sept. 7, 2013, Xi for the first time proposed jointly building an "economic belt along the Silk Road."

Over the past decade, Central Asian countries have become pioneers in promoting the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and have built the region into an example of high-quality BRI development. From fully loaded trains to humming production lines and natural gas pipelines, vigorous cooperation has resulted in common development.

A China-Europe freight train loaded with raw materials of liquorice, a Chinese medicinal herb, which departed from Turkmenistan, arrives at Xi'an international port in Xi'an, northwest China's Shaanxi Province, Aug. 31, 2022. (Xinhua/Liu Xiao)

A freight train carrying more than 260 new energy vehicles arrived in Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan, earlier this month. Marking the BRI's 10th anniversary, the train's 12-day journey began in Xi'an, the ancient Silk Road's starting point.

Currently, 17 railway routes connect Xi'an with Central Asian countries and many other Asian and European destinations, with more than 1,100 train trips made in the first quarter of the year.

Roaring trains are the epitome of robust trade between China and Central Asian countries. In 2022, trade volume hit a historic high of 70.2 billion U.S. dollars, up by over 100 times since diplomatic ties were established about three decades ago.

From the China-Central Asia gas pipeline and the Qamchiq railway tunnel in Uzbekistan to the Zhanatas wind power station in Kazakhstan and the north-south highway in Kyrgyzstan, a number of cooperation projects have facilitated industrial upgrades and livelihood improvements.

Officials and experts expect that the summit will open a new chapter in China-Central Asia cooperation.

Shu Jueting, spokesperson for the Ministry of Commerce, said China will take the summit as an opportunity and work with the five Central Asian countries to push economic and trade cooperation to a new level.

The China-Central Asia economic cooperation will be extended to more areas, including e-commerce, digital economy and other new forms of business, said Su Chang, a researcher with the Institute of Russian, Eastern European and Central Asian Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

DIVERSE INTERACTIONS

Today, China and the five Central Asian countries have 62 pairs of sister provinces, regions and cities. Chinese universities are enrolling more students from Central Asia, fostering greater mutual understanding and affinity through youth exchanges.

Flight attendants conduct safety inspections before the first passenger flight of the Xi'an-Urumqi-Ashgabat route takes off in Xi'an, northwest China's Shaanxi Province, May 13, 2023. (Xinhua/Shao Rui)

Ismail Daurov from Kazakhstan spent nine years studying in Xi'an. Calling Shaanxi his second hometown, Daurov volunteered to help with local COVID-19 response in Xi'an during the epidemic. His words -- "I am a foreigner, but I am not an outsider" -- touched many people in China. Xi also cited his words as an example of the friendship between the people of China and Central Asian countries.

Similar to Daurov, an increasing number of Central Asian students have selected China as their preferred destination for studying abroad.

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of Central Asian students studying in China witnessed an annual growth of over 12 percent between 2010 and 2018.

As the world emerges from the pandemic, there is growing anticipation of setting a new record in the number of Chinese and Central Asian students studying in each other's educational institutions.

Replying to a letter from Central Asian students studying at China University of Petroleum, Xi encouraged them to act as envoys of friendship and bridges of cooperation and contribute to building an even closer China-Central Asia community with a shared future.

With the China-Central Asia Summit poised to generate tangible outcomes, new headway is expected to be made in fortifying the bonds between China and the Central Asian countries.

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun)
ThePayStubs

Dubai, United Arab Emirates, May 17, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- ThePayStubs launched a new tool that helps employers file the Form 941 for the federal income tax. This Form 941 generator is designed to make it easier for employers to fill out their quarterly tax information and stay up to date on federal income tax documents required by the federal government. The online 941-form generator is a simple, straightforward, and highly efficient way of managing taxes.

The IRS Form 941 is an employers quarterly federal tax return that is used to report social security tax, income tax, and even Medicare tax. This form is also used to pay an employers portion of the Medicare and social security taxes. ThePayStubs has helped over 56,000 customers create their 941 forms using their generator tool and the tool has received thousands of 5-star reviews from happy customers. The 941-form generator is an excellent tool for employers who are serious about efficiently managing their tax files.

Overview of the Form 941

The Form 941 is meant for employers who are withholding federal income tax from their employees wages. The IRS requires employers to file this form every quarter. Even employers who didnt pay wages to their employees in one quarter will still be legally required to file the Form 941. The information on this form is meant to show the IRS all the wages and tips paid to employees as well as information about social security and Medicare taxes.

The form can also include:

Information about additional Medicare tax that was withheld from employees paystubs. Information about the current quarters adjustments to Medicare tax and social security fractions or adjustments for tips, sick pay, and life insurance Information about small business payroll tax credit

There are only a handful of exceptions for filing the Form 941 and these include:

Employers who only have farm employees Seasonal employers who dont have a tax liability Employers who have received a written notice from the IRS about submitting the form annually instead of quarterly Employers who only have household employees

Employers who need more information about the Form 941 can use the wealth of resources available on ThePayStubs website. There is detailed information about where to file this tax form, when it needs to be filed, and what to do when the business closes. This can be incredibly helpful for employers who want to make sure that they approach this with all the information they need to file this tax form correctly and accurately.

About ThePayStubs

ThePayStubs is an online check stub generator that was designed by a team of professional accountants who wanted to create a tool that can make accounting processes easier to manage for small business owners. ThePayStubs makes it easy for employers to instantly generate paycheck stubs with accurate calculations that are carefully validated by professional accountants. This gives users the ability to easily track their finances and provide proof of income whenever they need to. ThePayStubs has a team of experienced professionals that are available through live chat or telephone to help customers with any inquiries they may have. Customers can also contact ThePayStubs team when they need personalized support.

ThePayStubs generator tool can help employers manage many different types of tax forms including W2 Forms, 1040 Forms, SS4 Forms, and even 4868 Forms, to name a few. If youd like to learn more about what ThePayStubs can do for your business, please visit their website: https://www.thepaystubs.com/

Source: https://thenewsfront.com/thepaystubs-launches-new-tool-for-employers-to-file-the-form-941-federal-income-tax/

CONTACT: ThePayStubs https://www.thepaystubs.com/ pr@thepaystubs.com




'Their only lifeline' for migrants at the U.S. border: smartphones and TikTok

Migrants ask for help to get their phones charged in between the border walls between Tijuana and San Diego. Migrants rely on their mobile phones for directions, communication with family and friends, and sometimes social media. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

At the migrant camp sprawled along the border wall between Tijuana and San Diego, Diana Rodriguez kept hearing chatter about a confusing TikTok video.

It was Thursday and the 30-year-old, who grew up in a mining village in Colombia, had already been camped out along the towering steel bollards for two days when whispers began to spread about the social media post. It claimed that Title 42, a policy the U.S. government used during the COVID-19 pandemic to quickly expel many migrants without allowing them to apply for asylum, wouldnt expire until June.

But Rodriguez had done extensive research before leaving her nation's capital 11 days earlier and knew the policy was supposed to expire that evening. The post, she figured, must be a ploy to scam migrants into paying for legal advice.

Another TikTok video, which has been viewed 17 million times, falsely claimed in big, bold letters that, starting May 11, migrants "cannot be deported." Soon, thousands of people began to leave poignant comments:

My moment has arrived.

Is this true?

I want to come to meet my mom.

In recent days, as migrants from across the globe camped out in border towns, sleeping outside and fighting hunger and nerves as they waited to be processed by border authorities, they have increasingly turned to TikTok, Facebook, YouTube and other social media sites not just for the comfort of family contact but also for updates on the policy change and how it might affect them.

Their frequent searches and scrolling  complicated by often spotty cell service and a need to preserve their dwindling batteries  underscore how social media and technology have made migration into the U.S. more accessible but also, in ways, more perilous. Influencer accounts have increased the speed of information sharing in languages including Spanish, Chinese and Pashto, while also accelerating the spread of disinformation.

Migrants at the U.S. border in Tijuana last week spend the night outside between the two border fences with only space blankets to keep warm. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

For decades, migrants families had to wait for long stretches, sometimes weeks or months, before hearing whether their loved one had made it to the U.S. safely. Now, many migrants travel with external batteries to charge their phones without access to electricity and buy cheap SIM cards so that they can message their families updates on WhatsApp each day. (Rodriguez said she paid roughly $1 for SIM cards at gas stations in El Salvador and Guatemala and about $8 for one in Mexico.)

Before they leave home, migrants often join Facebook groups to research routes and link up with others leaving around the same time, and, at the border, many asylum seekers rely on their phones to secure appointments on CBP One  the notoriously glitchy U.S. Customs and Border Protection mobile app that privacy experts say raises serious concerns about the government's collection of data.

Even the work of smugglers has become increasingly automated, said Guadalupe Correa-Cabrera, a professor of policy and government at George Mason University, who researches smuggling networks.

Criminal organizations that traffic people need fewer smugglers  sometimes called coyotes  to move migrants from point to point now, she said, and instead use WhatsApp, which allows them to remain anonymous, to message migrants instructions on where to catch the next leg of their bus journey or to send them GPS coordinates about where to meet.

Technology and social media, Correa-Cabrera said, have also played a role in expanding transcontinental migration into the U.S. via Mexico  today, with the help of Google Translate, people who speak Arabic, Chinese or most any language can communicate in real time with people along the migration route.

Thats a very important change, she said.

At the border Friday afternoon, hundreds of migrants were still camped out between two layers of border fencing, along a strip of land that, in recent months, Border Patrol agents have used as an open-air holding cell.

Migrants hold out their mobile phones and charging cords in hopes of someone helping them along the border wall. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

Every few minutes, a migrants hand would pop through the slatted fence and dangle a cellphone and coiled charger. A few hundred feet away, Nathan Cervantes, a 41-year-old volunteer from San Diego, had set up a makeshift charging station using upside-down cardboard boxes and a power strip connected to the battery of an idling car.

He and other volunteers labeled migrants' phones with masking tape and took turns plugging them into the 10-outlet power strip. When he returned their charged phones, Cervantes said, some of the migrants he met  people from Afghanistan, Haiti, Jamaica, Russia and Ukraine  pulled up Google Translate and typed in a message, which the phone read back to him in English.

Thank you, they said. God bless you.

Cervantes was getting ready to leave for the day, but he couldnt stop thinking about the look hed seen in so many of their eyes  a fierce hope, he said, a clinging to the American dream that he worried might ultimately disappoint them.

We have our own struggles, he said.

Soon another volunteer arrived with a battery-powered generator, setting up a charging station only a few feet from the wall. Dozens of migrants clustered nearby, pleading for a charge.

This is their only lifeline, one volunteer said.

Others handed out bags of Pringles and small plastic dolls for the children. A woman from Vietnam with dirt caked into the wrinkles by her eyes asked for face wipes, and a man pointed down at an oozing blister on his left ankle. A volunteer handed him a small bag of painkillers.

One every six hours, he said. Feel better.

Inshallah, the man responded. If God wills it.

Nearby, Niamat Ullah Arabzadas three young children chased each other in circles by a makeshift tent fashioned out of pieces of twine and Mylar blankets.

Migrants at the border between San Diego and Tijuana keep warm using Mylar blankets at night. Some have been camped there for days waiting for Border Patrol agents to pick them up and take them to be processed. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

The 26-year-old father, who grew up in Jalalabad, Afghanistan, had deep circles beneath his eyes. His wife, who had recently learned she was pregnant, was resting on a piece of cardboard in the spot where the family had slept for the last two nights, with temperatures dipping into the 50s.

The couple fled Afghanistan after their first child was born five years ago, terrified of the Taliban, which Arabzada said had killed three of his uncles. They moved to Sao Paulo, where he sold clothes at markets and on Instagram, but the money wasnt steady and their neighborhood wasnt safe. His wife was growing increasingly depressed.

They wanted to give their children a more stable life, he said, so in the middle of April, they flew to Costa Rica and then took a series of bus rides and another flight before arriving in Tijuana. They hoped to eventually reunite with his brother in Pennsylvania.

His relatives send him audio messages on WhatsApp every day to check in, and he said he does his best to project a sense of calm. He knows his father, who has a heart condition, would worry too much if he could see the dire situation at the camp.

Im good, he tells his father. I'm OK, the children are OK."

Nearby, his young daughter tripped, scraping her chin against the reddish dirt. She wailed and he ran to her, brushing dust from her face and rubbing her back.

Migrants receive help from volunteers who set up charging stations for their phones along the border wall near San Ysidro, Calif. For most, the phone is a lifeline. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

Back near the makeshift phone charging station, Rodriguez, the migrant from Colombia, was staring into the distance. The only thing she'd had to eat or drink for several hours was a bottle of water and a granola bar.

She scrolled through her Facebook app, where she had recently searched for the phrase, End of Title 42 and the harsh immigration law." One of the results that popped up was a post from an account with a profile picture of a smiling cat  location listed: Timbuktu  with a screed about U.S. and Mexico relations and a link to a YouTube video.

Rodriguez said she tries to seek out reliable sources, scouring for video clips from presidents or other officials, but its hard to do much without draining her battery, which she needs to send audio messages to her 11-year-old son, who is still in Colombia.

In her hometown  a prized location because of the gold in the hills  armed groups charge everyone extortion fees, she said, adding that, last year, a group of men kidnapped her and held her captive for four days. After a community leader helped broker her release, she and her son fled immediately to the capital.

There," she said, "your whole life is at war."

Sometimes, during her recent trek north and, again, several times while waiting at the border, she had opened up TikTok and searched for videos set to the song Ilegal by Grupo Recluta . It's a ballad about a migrant's journey north  about long hours in the desert, hunger pangs and tears, about sending money back home to the ranch where your parents live, about how, even though you're no longer cold or hungry, you now hear loneliness when you call home.

A man and woman who just arrived at the southern U.S. border with Mexico hold their mobile phones as they wait. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

Migrants post TikToks to the song along with a mash-up of videos, often showing them walking in lines along rocky desert trails, in abandoned homes with smugglers and waiting huddled in Mylar blankets and then  in the end  clips of them reunited with family or sending remittances back home.

I want that, Rodriguez thinks, as she watches.

She lets her mind drift to an imaginary future  to the video clips she might record of herself at a job she enjoys or her son studying to become a veterinarian. Maybe one day, she tells herself, she, too, will look back and know this was worth it.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Inside Creative House / Getty Images/iStockphoto

If you or someone you love has entered retirement or is about to soon, its probably safe to bet that your two biggest concerns are health and money. The first one is between you and your doctor. When it comes to navigating the complicated financial landscape of life beyond your earning years, however, you are not alone.

See: 10 States To Avoid If Youre Living on Just a Social Security Check

Read More: 3 Ways To Recession-Proof Your Retirement

The following is a list of resources, tools and organizations designed specifically for older Americans in need of financial guidance. The list includes everything from housing and healthcare to debt and investing  and every single resource was designed with seniors in mind.

If youre a retiree facing financial uncertainty, keep reading.

Start With HUD for Most Housing Issues

The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) plays a role in the lives of millions of retirees, and its Information For Senior Citizens page organizes links to all of the agencys relevant programs.

This is the place to visit if you need help:

Staying in your home: Here, youll find information on reverse mortgages, rural housing loans, federal housing and housing counseling

Finding an apartment: This section offers links to programs for affordable rent, public housing, rural rental help and Housing Choice Vouchers (Section 8)

Staying safe: This category provides information on how HUD can help you fight housing discrimination and avoid reverse mortgage scams

Need Help Paying for Utilities? Try LIHEAP

The Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) is a federally funded initiative that your state administers. Its the first site retirees should visit if theyre having trouble paying for their utilities. The program helps qualifying individuals pay for home heating and cooling costs and some seniors might even qualify for upgrades and improvements to make their homes more energy-efficient.

Take Our Poll: Who Has Given You the Best Money Advice You Have Ever Received?

Need Help Paying for Anything Else? Visit USA.gov

USA.gov is an official website of the United States government, and it maintains a page called Help With Bills, which offers retirees and other seniors a large database of links, contacts and resources.

Visit the site if youre struggling with housing costs, medical bills, health insurance, prescription drugs, or landline telephone or cell phone service.

The SEC Can Help Seniors Answer Their Investing Questions

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) runs Investor.gov, a one-stop shop where seniors can learn about investing, search for industry professionals, find out about scams and access tools like quizzes and calculators. The SEC dedicates an entire section of the site to retirees and the issues that are most likely to affect their finances. That includes tips on avoiding fraud, managing investments in retirement and finding and vetting financial professionals who specialize in assisting seniors.

Youll also find an up-to-date list of bulletins and alerts on all kinds of topics that impact retirees and their investments, including:

Annuities

Fixed-income investments

REITs

Target date retirement funds

Transferring assets

Trusts

Power of attorney

The CFPB Can Take the Anxiety Out of Late-Life Money Choices

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) offers a long list of resources for seniors under the blanket category of financial security later in life. That includes tools for choosing financial advisors, planning for diminished capacity and illness, managing pension payouts, understanding Social Security advanced designation and dealing with debt.

Are You a Surviving Spouse? The CFPB Can Help With That, Too

You should also visit the CFPB if you have questions about managing your finances in the wake of a spouse passing away. The CFPBs Help For Surviving Spouses guide includes a financial checklist and tips on how to handle the crucial first steps. Youll learn about which documents youll need to proceed and where to go to get help. Youll also find worksheets for assets and bills.

Senior Livings Guide to Finance Touches on All Topics

Its hard to imagine that any site has a more complete directory and database for issues related to life as a retiree than Senior Living  and the publication offers a comprehensive resource called the Guide to Finance for Seniors, which touches on just about every important topic.

The guide covers everything from planning for insurance and medical expenses to tax credits and deductions for seniors. If youve asked the question, the answer is probably in the guide.

Visit AARP for State-Specific Benefits

AARP offers a variety of financial resources for retirees and other seniors, including a list of links for state-based financial aid and other programs available to seniors specific to where they live. Each link leads to a PDF download of the Public Benefits Guide for all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

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This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: Top Financial Resources for Retirees
Tori Dunlap Says Everyone Should Open This Type of Bank Account To Easily Start Earning More

Tori Dunlap / Tori Dunlap

Tori Dunlap is a feminist, entrepreneur, career expert and creator of the popular personal finance site Her First $100K. She has helped over 2 million women generate wealth, negotiate their salaries and build savings. Dunlap has been featured on Good Morning America and the Today Show, as well as in The New York Times, Time, People, New York Magazine, Forbes and BuzzFeed.

See Our List: 100 Most Influential Money Experts

Read: How To Build Your Savings From Scratch

Chosen by GOBankingRates as a Top Money Expert, here she shares her expertise on the best type of bank account and the many advantages of credit cards over debit cards.

Want to vote for Tori as your favorite money expert? Click here and go to her expert page.

What are your best tips for increasing your savings?

Automate. Automate. Automate. Even if its just $20 per month or a small percentage of your paycheck, we want this to happen on autopilot [in order to] pay ourselves first. And if this is something youre already doing, increase it by 1%  you wont feel it. You also need that money in a [high-yield savings account]  easiest switch you can make to start earning more.

What advice would you give to someone who is new to investing?

Investing is like climbing a staircase  super easy, just that first step is 20 feet high. I know from research for my book Financial Feminist that the biggest reason women dont invest is fear  fear of getting started, fear of making a mistake, fear of losing money. But truly, the worst choice you can make when it comes to investing is making no choice at all. You just need to get started (I co-created a platform that helps guide you step by step)!

Youve advocated for using credit cards over debit cards  what are some of the advantages of opting for credit cards?

[There are] so many advantages. So many, I did an entire podcast episode about them. [Some advantages are]: cashback/points (Im literally flying business class to Europe using credit card points), easy reporting for fraud or double charges, airport lounge access, free TSA PreCheck and Clear, and dozens of others.

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Jaime Catmull contributed to the reporting for this article.

This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: Tori Dunlap Says Everyone Should Open This Type of Bank Account To Easily Start Earning More
(Bloomberg) -- A faster-than-expected decline in the US Treasurys cash balance is spurring questions around whether the government will be able to make it until mid-June tax payments before it exhausts its headroom under the statutory debt limit.

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Thats the latest take from money-market analysts who track the governments cash position, and market pricing paints a similar picture, with bill yields suggesting investors see elevated risk starting in early June.

The Treasurys cash balance fell to $87 billion on Monday from about $140 billion Friday, partially due to an unexpectedly large volume of state and local-government securities redemptions, according to data published Tuesday. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen reiterated to lawmakers this week that her departments ability to avoid breaching the statutory debt ceiling via special accounting maneuvers could be exhausted around early June. The window for a resolution of the standoff is clearly narrowing, with the Treasury saying last week that it had run through all but about $88 billion of its authorized extraordinary measures as of last Wednesday.

Talks between White House and congressional aides are set to intensify as negotiators seek a framework agreement for Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy to review upon the presidents return from a trip to Asia. The latest round of discussions, launched before Bidens departure Wednesday for a Group-of-Seven gathering in Japan, will feature a narrower group of negotiators in hopes of producing a deal.Biden on Wednesday expressed confidence that negotiators would reach an agreement to avoid a catastrophic default. The president and lawmakers struck a cautiously optimistic tone after a meeting Tuesday, saying that while the two sides remained far apart, they were hopeful the new negotiating teams could find bipartisan middle ground.

There are many in financial markets predicting or hoping that some kind of deal will get done, in part because thats whats always happened, even when things have gone down to the wire. Equity markets seem to expect a deal but ``if the positive tone from Washington is misleading, or if talks break down, then equities could sell off, Brian Gardner, Stifel Financials chief Washington policy strategist, wrote in a May 17 note to clients. He added that investors should remain wary pending further clarity on the progress of negotiations.

From Washington to Wall Street, heres what to watch to gauge how worried observers should be and when they should be concerned.

X-Date Predictions

Underpinning the various moves in debt markets are differing estimates about when the government might exhaust its options to fund itself  commonly referred to as the X-date. While the administration has provided guidance that it might fall short as soon as June, prognosticators across Wall Street have also been running the numbers based on government cash flows and expectations around taxes and spending. Some strategists have pulled forward estimates to align more with forecasts out of Washington. Others, meanwhile, are staying with late-summer projections. Recent cash-flow figures from the Treasury suggest that its even more unclear whether the department will make it until June 15, a key tax-payment day.

The Bills Curve

Investors have historically demanded higher yields on securities that are due to be repaid shortly after the US is seen as running out of borrowing capacity. That puts a lot of focus on the yield curve for bills  the shortest-dated Treasury securities  and any dislocations that show up. Noticeable upward distortions in particular parts of the curve tend to suggest increased concern among investors that thats the time Uncle Sam might be at risk of default. Right now thats most prominent around early June. The Treasury on Wednesday sold $39 billion of 17-week bills at 5.10%. The auction was $3 billion larger than the previous week's.

The Cash Balance

The US governments ability to pay its debts and meet its spending obligations ultimately comes down to whether it has enough cash, so the amount sitting in its checking account is crucial. That figure fluctuates daily depending on spending, tax receipts, debt repayments and the proceeds of new borrowing, and if it gets too close to zero for the Treasurys comfort that could be a problem. The larger-than-anticipated drop in the Treasurys cash balance Monday suggests the prospects for avoiding a June X-date have worsened, according to Wrightson ICAP.

Insuring Against Default

Beyond T-bills, one other key area to watch for insight on debt-ceiling risks is what happens in credit-default swaps for the US government. Those instruments act as insurance for investors in cases of non-payment. The cost to insure US debt is now higher than the bonds of  among others  Greece, Mexico and Brazil, which have defaulted multiple times and have credit ratings many rungs below that of the US.

Related Story: US Default Insurance Cost Eclipses Brazil, Mexico as X-Day Nears

Wrangling in Washington

Ultimately though, any fix will need to come from Washington. There arent that many days this month when both chambers of Congress are available and Biden is also scheduled to be in the US capital, meaning there isnt a lot of time to waste to reach a deal before the X-date.

Related Story: Budget Talks Inch Forward as Debt Deadline and Biden Trip Near

(Adds timing to first paragraph.)

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(Bloomberg) -- A deal allowing Ukraine to export crops from key ports via the Black Sea is set to be extended, with Russia agreeing to stay in the beleaguered pact for now, according to Turkish officials.

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The agreement  brokered by Turkey and the United Nations  would keep open a major trade route amid Russias war in Ukraine, bolstering global food supplies. Moscow had threatened to withdraw from the deal if obstacles to shipments of its own crops and fertilizer werent removed.

An announcement is expected Wednesday, said the officials, who declined to be named as the information is private.

While an extension would be a step toward keeping the agreement alive, dysfunction among the parties involved has blunted its effectiveness. Ukraine has said Moscow is purposefully slowing the pace of exports, and the corridor is now nearly empty, with no inbound ships cleared since early May.

Markets reacted cautiously as traders gauge the pacts future. Wheat futures in Chicago fell 2% by 1:36 p.m. in London, erasing an earlier gain. Corn, the top commodity shipped under the initiative, declined 2.6%.

Grain shipments through the Black Sea have been hamstrung by repeated disruptions in the joint inspections of vessels. The pace of ship examinations going forward will be crucial for Ukraines ability to offload its next harvests, with wheat collected from July.

Restrictions on other export routes via the European Union have added to the hurdles for local farmers. Several eastern EU countries have sought to limit crop trade with Ukraine, claiming the flows are harming their own growers.

Despite Moscows grievances, Russia is expected to ship record volumes of wheat this season, while its exports of fertilizers are climbing back to pre-war levels.

The agreement has enabled the safe shipment of about 30 million tons of crops since it was inked in July 2022. That has helped bring down global food-commodity prices that had spiraled to a record in the aftermath of Russias invasion. China and Spain rank among the top destinations for Ukraine grains.

An extension would come at a crucial time for Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who is seeking re-election in a runoff vote on May 28. As one of the original mediators that helped broker the deal last year, Erdogan used his role in the negotiations to portray himself as a global leader and boost his appeal to the electorate.

Ukraines Deputy Infrastructure Ministry Yuriy Vaskov said via text that it was too early to comment on a possible deal. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on a conference call with reporters earlier that Russia would announce its decision in due course, Tass reported.

A UN spokesperson for the Black Sea Grain Initiative in Istanbul declined to comment.

--With assistance from Volodymyr Verbyany, Torrey Clark, Daryna Krasnolutska, Jasmine Ng and Onur Ant.

(Updates with market reaction in fifth paragraph, context on Turkish election.)

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(Bloomberg) -- A deal allowing Ukraine to export crops from key ports via the Black Sea will be extended by two months, a relatively short time frame that leaves open the question of what happens beyond that period.

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The agreement keeps open a major trade route amid Russias war in Ukraine and bolsters global food supplies. Moscow had threatened to withdraw from the deal if obstacles to shipments of its own crops and fertilizer werent removed.

Wheat futures slumped 4.4% by 4:42 p.m. in London. Corn, the top commodity shipped under the initiative, declined 3.9%.

While an extension keeps the agreement alive for now, dysfunction among the parties has blunted its effectiveness. Ukraine has said Moscow is purposefully slowing the pace of exports, and the shipment corridor through the Black Sea is now nearly empty, with no inbound vessels cleared since early May.

The pact  brokered by Turkey and the United Nations  was initially intended to run for 120-day periods, but Moscow previously only agreed to a 60-day extension in March. A shorter extension period creates more uncertainty for traders and shipowners, who are wary of their vessels getting stuck if the deal expires and the journey is incomplete.

We welcome the extension of the grain initiatives operation but we stress that it must operate effectively, Oleksandr Kubrakov, Ukraines infrastructure minister, said on Facebook. For that, it is necessary to eliminate the problems that Russia has been creating for several consecutive months by sabotaging inspections and a new fleets registration.

Russias foreign ministry confirmed the pacts extension, the Interfax news agency reported. Still, ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said distortions in the implementation of the grain deal and a parallel agreement on removing obstacles for Russias own exports should be removed as quickly as possible, according to Interfax.

Ship Inspections

Transportation of crops through the trade zone has been hamstrung by repeated disruptions in the joint inspections of vessels. The pace of ship examinations going forward will be crucial for Ukraines ability to offload its next harvests, with wheat collected from July.

Restrictions on other export routes via the European Union have added to the hurdles for local farmers. Several eastern EU countries have sought to limit crop trade with Ukraine, claiming the flows are harming their own growers.

Despite Moscows grievances, Russia is expected to ship record volumes of wheat this season, while its exports of fertilizers are climbing back to pre-war levels.

The agreement has enabled the safe shipment of about 30 million tons of crops since it was inked in July 2022. That has helped bring down global food-commodity prices that had spiraled to a record in the aftermath of Russias invasion. China and Spain rank among the top destinations for Ukraine grains.

The extension also comes at a crucial time for Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who is seeking re-election in a runoff vote on May 28. As one of the original mediators that helped broker the deal last year, Erdogan has used his role in the negotiations to portray himself as a global leader and boost his appeal to the electorate.

In addition to the extension, our Russian friends stated that they will not prevent the exit of Turkish ships in Mykolaiv and Olvia ports in Ukraine, Erdogan said in a Twitter post. We are grateful to them for this.

(Updates with comments from Ukraine, Russia officials.)

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(Bloomberg) -- Kyiv and other parts of Ukraine came under another aerial attack early Thursday morning, with explosions heard in the capital as well as other regions further west.

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Vitali Klitschko, the mayor of Kyiv, said on Telegram no injuries had been reported so far. The latest attacks occurred as President Joe Biden and other leaders from Group of Seven nations prepare for a summit in Japan in which Russias war in Ukraine will be at the center of discussions.

An agreement ensuring Ukrainian grain shipments from Black Sea ports will be extended by two months. Wheat prices fell on the deal brokered by Turkey and the United Nations.

China stepped up diplomatic efforts over the war, as President Xi Jinpings envoy met with Ukraines foreign minister in Kyiv at the start of a European tour.

Latest coverage

Chinas Envoy Kicks off Ukraine Mission With Kuleba Meeting

Ukraine Grain Export Deal Extended for Two Months, Erdogan Says

US Says Too Soon to Say If Ukraine Counteroffensive Is Underway

Hungary to Block Further EU Aid to Ukraine, Minister Says

Markets

Coming Up

Fri: Start of Group of Seven meeting in Hiroshima, Japan; Chinas Li Hui expected in Warsaw

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(Bloomberg) -- The US is resorting to purchases of European wheat after a drought upended crop markets, pushing local prices higher.

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At least two cargoes of Polish grain have arrived in Florida this year, with more expected over the next few months, according to people familiar with the matter, who asked not to be identified because the deals are private. Crop handler Andersons Inc. supplied the wheat to Ardent Millss flour factory in Tampa, the people said.

The rare imports are a blow for the US, which has been losing its relevance in the global wheat market to top shipper Russia. Last years drought has hampered shipping through the Mississippi River, making it more expensive to haul crops by rail. The dismal weather also means American farmers are poised to abandon wheat crops at the highest rate in more than a century, making the deals profitable.

Its an unusual trade route, but it makes sense because US wheat is expensive, said Miroslaw Marciniak, a market analyst at InfoGrain in Warsaw. Its cheaper for US processors on the East coast to ship grains from Europe than to haul them from Kansas.

Hard-red winter wheat futures in Chicago fell Thursday after Bloomberg News reported the imports, dropping as much as 4.5%, the biggest decline since early November, to $8.4575 a bushel.

American hard red winter wheat  the variety used in all-purpose bread  has been trading at a wide premium to crops from other major global suppliers. Meanwhile, some eastern European nations are saddled with surpluses, which recently sparked restrictions on imports from war-torn Ukraine.

The wide price gap has allowed for deals to be struck for supplies of wheat from some European countries to be shipped to the US through at least October, one of the people said. The deals also allow for the grain to be delivered to another Ardent Mills facility in Albany, New York, the person said.

Andersons Chief Executive Officer Pat Bowe said imports from Europe make sense given the price difference, but declined to comment on whether the company had done any such deals. Ardent didnt respond to a request for comment.

Trade data from the European Union show Poland has shipped about 79,000 tons of wheat to the US so far in the 2022-23 season. More such cargoes from the Baltic to the US are likely given the price spread, Marciniak said.

US wheat imports are forecast to climb to a six-year high in the 2023-24 season, US Department of Agriculture said last week.

Years of dry conditions in the US Plains have taken their toll on Americas famed wheat fields. Some plants this season were so stunted by a lack of moisture that they wont produce so-called heads of grain, leaving little reason to harvest them.

US farmers may only harvest 67% of their winter wheat planted acres this year, the lowest ratio since 1917, the USDA estimates. The Wheat Quality Councils annual crop tour of Kansas fields wraps up Thursday with final yield and production estimates for the countrys top wheat state. Data collected on the second day of the tour show average yields below the USDA forecast.

--With assistance from Megan Durisin.

(Updates with prices in the fifth paragraph.)

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We all know the problems facing Web3. They were there before Terra collapsed, peeking out before FTXs downfall. These catastrophes proved what critics already knew about Web3: Its promulgated by scammers who want to get richer off the people who can least afford it.

But, contrary to what the critics say, crypto is an opportunity for everyone. Web3, like Web2 before it, opens up global possibilities. Digital creators from Azerbaijan can trade their wares with consumers from Zimbabwe, without intermediaries.

Therefore, its little surprise that everyone in crypto is thinking globally. But by focusing on the global landscape, we miss out on the local pathways to get there. We miss the potential to embed Web3 within the individual, existing communities that can champion and benefit from it. We should borrow from the environmentalism playbook and think global, act local.

Whats the problem?

There are at least three fundamental problems standing in the way of global crypto adoption:

First, its not very diverse. According to data compiled by TripleA, as of 2023, only 37% of cryptocurrency owners are female, 72% are under 34, and 71% have at least an undergraduate degree. Their incomes are also quite a bit higher than the average global citizen. As for the people making the actual Web3 protocols, those numbers skew even further toward well-educated men from high socioeconomic backgrounds.

Second, the industry is particularly vulnerable to fraud. Countries are still figuring out how to regulate it, developers have yet to foolproof smart contracts, and users are still learning how to navigate between protocols that dont have centralized safeguards. All of this leaves the door open for various scams, including hacks, wash trading, insider trading and Ponzi schemes. Though Chainalysis found a drop in crypto scam revenue for 2022 (attributable, in part, to lower asset prices), scams still drained US$5.9 billion from the ecosystem last year.

Third, Web3 has generally poor user experience. Thats perhaps reflected in the outside worlds preoccupation with crypto prices. Can you imagine if we only ever talked about Alphabets share price, ignoring the Google search algorithm? Many future users (and current ones) only see crypto as an investment; they find it too convoluted to actually use.

These problems are all solvable if we shift Web3s focus toward actual users at the local community level.

Local solutions, global impact

By placing more tools in the hands of local communities, we can mitigate many of the industrys problems  from fraud to faulty front-ends.

For starters, local communities  whether in the urban hubs of Western economies or the most rural parts of the Global South  are collectively more diverse than cryptos current demographic. A thriving local community comprises a mix of men and women, whereas cryptos current usage skews overwhelmingly male. A local community also represents all ages as well as different professions, socioeconomic backgrounds and education levels.

Moreover, when neighbors share technology and tools, theyre less likely to scam each other and more likely to assist one another. Just look at the difference between how you might greet your politically opposite neighbor and how you act behind the veil of Twitters platform.

To achieve mass adoption, we need to focus on increasing the adoption of Web3 tools in small towns, cities and local communities worldwide. That doesnt mean getting one or two people to use them; nor does it mean creating local crypto solutions in Silicon Valley and testing them in the real world. Im talking about onboarding whole communities  with an increased focus on local people building out the user experiences they want to see.

What localizing Web3 looks like

Web3 is supposed to denote an internet owned by the people. This peer-to-peer ethos assumes individual agency. However, in practice, things are usually top-down: Hey, weve got a new token. Well show you how to use it.

There are several ways to turn this around.

The first is an increased focus on grants to inspire local entrepreneurs and creators to collaborate on new Web3 ideas. Gitcoin has helped mainstream grants within Ethereum, and cryptos bull cycle led to a proliferation of grant programs encouraging people to build on blockchains ranging from Zilliqa to Solana. I fear these will dry up as projects continue to tighten their belts, which would be a mistake. Theres no better way to onboard users than by asking communities to create the online communities they want to see.

More importantly, we need to link physical and digital communities. Projects like Proof Collective have used NFTs as entryways to membership into massive, global online communities. Why not create NFT-based membership programs for local communities that allow them to access a shared co-working space? A place where they can gather, participate in educational workshops, network, collaborate, and then branch out into the larger world?

Sure, you could use a physical membership card instead. But when people have an NFT, they now have a digital wallet, which opens up other Web3 opportunities they can participate in. Youve provided a new way for them to access something they already want  engagement within their local community  and the tools necessary to navigate beyond their immediate environs.

We can also use grant money to support existing local clubs or interest groups to use specific Web3 solutions that target pain points. These local DAOs neednt look much different than clubs or interest groups with a few Web3 flourishes such as on-chain meeting minutes or a shared treasury. The idea is to expand Web3 from the local community outward rather than trying to break in from the outside.

Its not too early

Many of us who havent been scared off by the frauds or the ensuing crypto winter continue to argue that were so early. Crypto, we say, is where the internet was in the 1990s. Never mind the horrible user experience, the lack of diversity in the industry, and the scams. Its slowly taking shape, gaining adoption among various demographics, and improving user experience, all while expunging bad actors.

And thats true. But we can also get to massive adoption faster  and its not via the clogged expressway weve been sitting on. Time to dust off the roadmap and take local routes.
White House national security spokesman John Kirby on Monday said the tense situation in Sudan is not conducive for large-scale military evacuation of U.S. citizens in the region.

Well, we have military forces still prepositioned nearby in the region  if theyre needed, but quite frankly, the situation is not conducive and not safe to try to conduct some kind of a larger military evacuation of American citizens.  Actually, the violence is increasing is more dangerous today than it was just yesterday, the day before, Kirby said in an appearance on CNN This Morning.

And so the best advice we can give to those Americans who did not abide by our warnings to leave Sudan and not to travel to Sudan is to stay sheltered in place, stay safe and secure and off the streets of Khartoum, Kirby said.

Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan of Sudans armed forces is battling for power with Gen. Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, who leads the paramilitary group Rapid Support Forces. The two generals are former allies who together orchestrated an October 2021 military coup that derailed Sudans transition to democracy.

More than 400 people have been killed and more than 3,500 wounded since fighting began earlier this month in the capital city of Khartoum.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken over the weekend announced the U.S. Embassy in Khartoum was temporarily suspended and that they had safely evacuated all U.S. personnel and their dependents. He also said the State Department will continue assisting Americans in Sudan in planning for their own safety.

The U.S. embassy in Khartoum has about 70 U.S. staff members, and there are an estimated 16,000 private American citizens registered with the embassy as living in Sudan, though there is reportedly no requirement for Americans to register and no obligation to let the embassy know if theyve left.

Kirby on Monday said he doesnt think there was a missed opportunity to get Americans out and stressed we are doing everything we can to help guide them to safe passage if they decide to leave.

I want to push back on this idea that theres 16,000 Americans who want to get out. We dont have firm estimates of the exact number of American citizens who are in Sudan, Kirby said. We think the vast majority of these American citizens in Sudan  are dual nationals. These are people who grew up in Sudan, who have families there, work there, businesses there, who dont want to leave.

Either way, the fighting in Khartoum is not in a situation where we would want people moving about too freely or too aggressively right now, Kirby said, stressing that Americans still in Sudan should stay safe right now.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Momentum seems to be shifting to Ukraine on eastern Europes bloody battlefields. But Russia still has the resources to ride out a long war, despite US-led sanctions meant to starve the marauding nation and its president, Vladimir Putin, of warmaking capability.

After Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, the United States and many allies imposed sanctions on Russia widely touted as some of the toughest ever. Theyve tightened over time and now include limits on Russias ability to bank with the outside world, a ban on many technology imports to Russia, boycotts of Russian energy products, and a price cap on Russian oil meant to starve Russia of its top source of cash.

Yet Russia lumbers on. Russia is not under the kind of pressure that the US economically thought it would be a year ago, Ian Bremmer, president of the Eurasia Group, said at the Milken Institutes annual conference in Los Angeles. Theyre under military pressure, beyond where the US thought. But not economic pressure.

Ukrainian soldiers fire a cannon near Bakhmut, an eastern city where fierce battles against Russian forces have been taking place, in the Donetsk region, Ukraine, Monday, May 15, 2023. (AP Photo/Libkos)

Ukraines economic output plunged by 29% in 2022, as the Russian invasion wreaked havoc. Yet Russias GDP dipped by just 2% last year, as robust oil and natural gas sales, largely to nations not participating in sanctions, offset damage caused by the wests punitive measures.

Have our sanctions meaningfully curtailed Russias ability to wage war? No! Robin Brooks, chief economist at the Institute for International Finance, tweeted recently. Our financial sanctions did not prevent Putin getting all his cash in return for energy exports.

Ukraines allies could do more. But there are risks of blowback and unforeseen consequences. Ukraines allies want to crimp Russias oil revenues, for instance, without actually forcing Russian oil off the market, since that would raise energy costs everywhere and undermine public support for sanctions. The voluntary price cap on Russian oil purchases by several large nations is $60 per barrel. But Russia is still selling tons of oil at a profit to other nations not participating in the price-cap plan, such as China and India. Russias oil exports actually hit a post-invasion high in April, according to the International Energy Agency.

Europe and the United States are also being careful not to target Putin personally, to avoid creating the impression that theyre trying to overthrow him, which could make Putin more reckless. We know of people who are very close members of Putins inner circle who arent being subject to sanctions, former Russian business tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky, founder of the Russian Anti-War Committee, said at the Milken Conference. We know there are banks that are Putins personal money bags that are not being sanctioned. He likened the sanctions regime as trying to empty a basin of water with a teaspoon when a ladle is needed.

Russia has also become adept at evading sanctions, which the US and other nations first imposed after Russia seized Ukraines Crimean peninsula in 2014. An April report by the Center for Strategic and Intl. Studies (CSIS) found that 15 months of sanctions have impeded Russias ability to rapidly reconstitute military gear its losing in Ukraine. But the report also detailed a variety of crafty ways Russia still gets what it needs to keep the war going.

To obtain desperately needed computer chips and other components, Russia is now importing more dual-use products that could have both commercial and military applications than it was before the war. That includes semiconductors that are crucial to many weapon systems. Many of those products have to go through numerous obscure suppliers and multiple land corridors, according to CSIS, but they still make it to Russia.

Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a news conference following the Astana Process summit in Tehran, Iran July 19, 2022. Sputnik/Grigory Sysoev/Pool via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY.

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Iran is a big help. It obtains Western military equipment in Iraq, and commercial equipment in many other places, and ships it across the Caspian Sea to Russian ports. Theres discussion between Moscow and Tehran of building a sanction-busting rail line around the Caspian that would allow Russia to get products from India. Thats in addition to attack drones and other equipment Iran is selling to Russia.

Though China isnt sending Russia weapons, it does provide dual-use technology. Turkey, the Balkan Peninsula and Central Asian states such as Georgia, Armenia, and Kyrgyzstan harbor fruitful smuggling routes. Russia sets up front companies in Europe, Asia, and Africa to obtain banned technology. Russia still possesses a remarkable degree of adaptability to Western sanctions, the CSIS report concludes. The size and scope of this war is forcing Moscow to work on an unprecedented scale.

None of this means Russia is winning in Ukraine. It isnt. But there seems to be little chance that sanctions will debilitate Russia, as Ukraine and its allies hope. When asked on a recent webcast if Russia can keep fighting, Dara Massicot of the Rand Corporation said, Thats where the bad news comes in. They can sustain it.

Russia can lose militarily, of course. But that would probably require even more advanced weaponry than the United States and Ukraines other allies have already provided. Ukraines military has outperformed at virtually every level, and it may retake even more terrain in a counteroffensive many analysts feel is imminent. Yet dislodging hundreds of thousands of enemy troops from an area the size of Pennsylvania is a herculean job that would require technical superiority Ukraine currently lacks.

The United States and other allies have drip-fed Ukraine much of the advanced equipment it has pleaded for, such a tanks and air-defense systems. Ukraine now says it needs fighter jets and longer-range missiles, among other things, which it might eventually get. If anything, Russias ability to survive sanctions adds to the case for amping up military aid to Ukraine.

A long war is in Russias interest, Marie Yovanovitch, the former US ambassador to Ukraine, said at the Milken Conference. That will increase the cost to the United States. Giving Ukraine everything they need now is the way to go.

Rick Newman is a senior columnist for Yahoo Finance. Follow him on Twitter at @rickjnewman

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Bitcoin prices fell on Wednesday morning in Asia but remained above the US$27,000 line. Ether gained but still posted a weekly drop. XRP led gainers among other top 10 non-stablecoin cryptocurrencies on the back of a favorable ruling for Ripple Labs in its lawsuit with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). U.S. equity futures gained as U.S. President Joe Biden and Congress reportedly made progress on raising the debt ceiling.

See related article: EUs MiCA gets unanimous nod from European Council

Ripple gains after positive ruling

Bitcoin fell 0.87% to US$27,036.75 in the 24 hours to 7:35 a.m. in Hong Kong, but lost 2.05% over the last seven days according to CoinMarketCap data.

Ether edged up 0.28% to US$1,825.91, while posting a 1.10% weekly loss.

Other top 10 non-stablecoin cryptocurrencies traded mixed on Wednesday morning. XRP led the gains, adding 2.68% to US$0.4399.

The gain follows positive news for Ripple Labs, a payments firm that depends on XRP technology, as Judge Analisa Torres for the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York denied the SECs motion to seal the controversial Hinman Speech documents from the public.

The document refers to a speech given by former SEC official William Hinman on June 14, 2018. In the speech, Hinman stated that the agency did not view Bitcoin or Ethereum as securities. This statement is a major point of focus in the long-running legal battle between Ripple and the SEC. The regulator accuses Ripple of providing unregistered securities.

Meanwhile, Polygons Matic led losses among the top 10 non-stablecoins. It registered a loss of 2.21% to US$0.8442, with a 3.56% drop over the past seven days.

The total crypto market capitalization fell 0.93% in the past 24 hours to US$1.13 trillion. The total trading volume also lost 7% to US$28.74 billion.

Bitcoin to challenge Ethereums NFT supremacy?

The indexes are proxy measures of the performance of the global NFT market. They are managed by CryptoSlam, a sister company of Forkast.News under the Forkast.Labs umbrella.

In the non-fungible token market, the Forkast 500 NFT index recorded a loss of 0.13% to 3,378.53 points in the 24 hours to 7:30 a.m. in Hong Kong, down 2.32% during the week.

This, said CryptoSlam NFT analyst Yehudah Petscher, can again be attributed to low volume and high transacting fees from crypto trading.

24-hour NFT sales on Ethereum, the leading blockchain for NFTs, rose 2.16% to US$18.6 million. Sales on the Bitcoin blockchain took second place on Cryptoslams blockchain ranking by gaining 32.11% to US$4.6 million.

Bitcoin NFTs are just getting started and in the long run, I expect Bitcoin to compete head-to-head with Ethereums all-time sales. It may actually exceed them too, Yehudah said.

The Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT collection recorded the highest sales volume in the last 24 hours. It rose 8% to US$2.48 million. All 24 highest individual NFT sales in the past day were Bored Ape Yacht Club NFTs according to Cryptoslam. BAYC #466 sold for 98 ETH (US$178,751).

Milady Maker was second in terms of NFT collection rankings by sales volume on Cryptoslam. It recorded a surge of 207.61% over the past 24 hours to US$1.3 million. The collection took the market by storm last week after Twitter and Tesla chief Elon Musk tweeted an image containing the Milady NFT.

Traders can expect a slow week ahead in the NFT market as many in the NFT community attend the VeeCon Web3 conference in Indianapolis on May 18-20.

Those who believe NFTs can function as access passes, art, and collectibles all in one are in for a treat, said Cryptoslams Yehudah. Im expecting markets to be slow while many are off networking, but we also know that degens are going to degen.

U.S. stock futures gain after positive debt ceiling talks

Kevin McCarthy, Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives | Image: Getty Images

U.S. stock futures traded higher as of 9:30 a.m. in Hong Kong, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average futures rose 0.15%. The S&P 500 futures added 0.19%. The Nasdaq Composite futures also gained 0.24% as investors anticipate a solution to the U.S. debt crisis.

U.S. President Joe Biden met with leaders of Congress Tuesday to hash out an agreement that would allow a rise in the debt ceiling..

On May 1, U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned Congress that the country will start to fail to meet debt payment obligations as early as June 1. That would result in a debt default and wider economic repercussions in the U.S. and globally.

After the one-hour talk at the White House Tuesday, Biden told reporters that the discussion was productive. House Representative Kevin McCarthy appeared to agree. He said it is possible to reach an agreement on raising the debt ceiling by the end of this week.

Yellen warned again Tuesday that a debt default would result in an income shock that could lead to a recession. This would destroy jobs and businesses in the country, she said. The Treasury leader called for faster action on raising the debt ceiling. She added that the country is already seeing a heavier debt burden as the stalemate drives borrowing costs higher.

The Dow Jones, S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite each posted losses during regular trading on Tuesday following earnings report releases earlier in the day. Major retailer Home Depots revenue dropped 4.2% year on year in the first quarter. Company executives warned investors it may see its first annual sales decline since 2009.

Investors now await more earnings reports from Tencent Holdings, Cisco Inc., Siemens AG, Target Corp. and more on Wednesday.

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell is expected to share his views on interest hikes Friday ahead of the Feds next interest rate decision on June 14. The rate of between 5 and 5.25% is the highest since 2006. The CME FedWatch Tool predicts a 77.5% chance the Fed will keep rates unchanged in June. However, it also predicts a 22.5% chance for another 25 basis-point rate hike.
A U.S. federal judge has denied a motion filed by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to seal internal documents related to a speech given by the SECs former director William Hinman on whether cryptocurrencies are securities. The decision is seen in favor of Ripple Labs Inc. which was charged by the SEC as selling its XRP token as an unregistered security.

See related article: What is XRP and what is Ripple?

Fast facts

Judge Analisa Torres of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York ruled on Tuesday that sealing documents related to the William Hinman speech would not be related to preserving openness and candor within the agency, nor would such an interest be substantial enough to outweigh the strong presumption of public access.

In December 2020, the SEC filed a lawsuit against Ripple alleging that its sale of XRP was an unregistered securities offering. The SEC also named Ripples executive chairman Chris Larsen and chief executive officer Brad Garlinghouse as co-defendants for allegedly aiding and abetting Ripples violations.

In June 2018, Hinman, a former director of the SECs Division of Corporation Finance, said in a speech that sales of Ether were not securities transactions. The speech has become a major point of argument between the SEC and Ripple as Ripple seeks to bolster its fair notice defense.

The result of the legal battle between Ripple and the SEC could set a precedent for how U.S. authorities classify cryptocurrencies.

XRP gained 8% in the past 24 hours to trade at US$0.4561 at 10:30 a.m. in Hong Kong, according to data from CoinMarketCap.

The latest court decision follows a September 2022 court ruling requiring the SEC to give the Hinman speech documents to Ripple, with the documents remaining confidential.

In response to the Tuesday court ruling, Garlinghouse tweeted on Wednesday that it was another win for transparency and that unredacted Hinman emails would be publicly available soon.

Another win for transparency! Unredacted Hinman emails to be publicly available soon  stay tuned as the lawyers work through the mechanics to make that happen. https://t.co/o6puPypRHd https://t.co/qmaLVeQaP8  Brad Garlinghouse (@bgarlinghouse) May 16, 2023

The judge also ruled on Tuesday that the names and relevant identifying information of the SECs experts and investor declarants can be sealed.

However, the judge denied Ripples motion to seal references related to Ripples revenues with XRP sales and certain financial information linked to the token.

See related article: SEC in no rush to respond to Coinbase calls for regulatory clarity
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A Fredericksburg detective is investigating a local woman suspected of stealing more than $318,000 from a city-based business, court records show.

According to an affidavit for a search warrant filed in Fredericksburg Circuit Court, the owner of the Tagare Corporation on Lafayette Boulevard contacted city police last month after noticing a discrepancy in one of the accounts they manage.

She researched the matter further and discovered that a former employee had written several checks against that account and others. The employee is named in court records, but has not yet been charged.

The affidavit written by Detective Johnny Wright states that the employee was hired sometime in 2020 to keep track of various accounts the company manages. The employee and the owner are the only people who had access to the accounts over the two and a half-year period the thefts are believed to have taken place.

The owner recently sent Wright a box of documents highlighting fraudulent checks and charges against the eight accounts that were managed by the employee. The employee, who had an annual salary of $50,000, is accused of using the accounts to make unauthorized payments to such things as Cox Communications, the Stafford County Treasurers Office, T-Mobile, Kohls, Capital One, a finance company and a credit card company.

Wright wrote that the checks were forged or signed electronically by the employee, and were cashed by multiple other people, including the employees husband and ex-husband.

About 50 checks were cashed by the husband, the affidavit states, for a total of nearly $87,000.

The affidavit states that Wright is in the process of speaking to representatives of the various companies regarding the expenditures attributed to the former employee, who received a suspended sentence in Henrico County after being convicted of felony larceny in 2017.
The Silber Family and venue operator OVG360 recently announced changes at the Fredericksburg Expo & Conference Center, according to a news release. The center's new name is the Fredericksburg Convention Center. There will also be renovations made to the building, including upgrades to flooring and restrooms, new carpeting throughout the ballroom and conference rooms, as well as an exterior facelift. The renovations are expected to be completed by early September, the release states. The Fredericksburg City Council and Fredericksburg Economic Development Authority agreed to provide over the next five years a combined $750,000, which comprises $500,000 from the city and $250,000 in the form of a loan from the EDA to assist the Silber Family and OVG360 to repurpose the venue, according to the release.
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The Stafford County School Board has twice voted narrowly against selecting a potential site in the Embrey Mill neighborhood for the 19th county elementary school.

On April 11 and again on May 9, the board voted 43 to reject the parcel, which is located between Mine Road and Boxelder Drive in the Garrisonville District.

Board Chair Susan Randall, Vice Chair Patricia Healy and board members Alyssa Halstead and Maureen Siegmund  who represents the Garrisonville District  voted both times against selecting the parcel after closed session discussions.

The 23-acre parcel, known as tax map parcel 29-53K, is one of two that were proffered by Embrey Mill developer NASH Stafford, LLC, as possible sites for new county schools.

The other site, located to the south at the intersection of Mine and Embrey Mill roads, is larger but it includes a floodplain and has a water easement running through it, according to Stafford GIS maps, which makes its potential use as a school site more complicated.

The Board of Supervisors in April approved a resolution requesting that the developer dedicate both sites to the county by May 19.

The School Boards unanimously approved capital improvement plan for fiscal years 2024 to 2027 calls for two new elementary schools  Nos. 18 and 19  as well as a new high school to open in August 2026, and supervisors last month approved funding for the three projects as part of its budget and capital improvement plan.

School division staff have estimated that it will take between two and three years to build a new school.

Elementary school No. 18 and high school No. 6 will be co-located on a parcel between U.S. 17 and Truslow Road in the Hartwood District, according to the divisions facilities and maintenance website.

The School Board approved the Hartwood location for the sixth high school in January 2020. The area is one of three that school division staff identified as high-growth areas during a series of town halls held last summer to address the growth crisis.

The other two high-growth areas are along U.S. 1 near the Stafford Courthouse and along Garrisonville Road, where the Embrey Mill parcel is located.

According to the presentation from last summers town halls, the school division needs six new schools in the next 10 years to alleviate overcrowding and meet projected enrollment increases.

As of August 2022, six of the countys 17 elementary schools and three of its five high schools were overcrowded.

According to a presentation given last year by the school divisions Capital Improvement Program Advisory Committee, there is a shortage of appropriate and available locations for new schools.

The division owns a property on Clift Farm Road in the Falmouth District, but according to a 2019 presentation by the site selection committee for high school six, the property is not suitable because it has a single access road and would require a significant investment in water, sewer, communication and electrical utilities.

The division also owns a 6-acre site in the George Washington District, known as the Riverbend site, but it is too small for an elementary school, according to a 2022 report on undeveloped school-owned land and proffered sites.

There is another proffered school site in the Westlake development in the Hartwood District, but unlike the Embrey Mill sites, it has not yet been requested by the Board of Supervisors.

None of the School Board members who voted against selecting the Embrey Mill site explained their opposition except for Alyssa Halstead, who said before the April 11 vote that she was not comfortable with supporting the selection with the information weve been given.

Board members Sarah Chase, Elizabeth Warner and Maya Guy said selecting the Embrey Mill site will enable the division to open the new school in August 2026. which is when all board members agreed that it is needed.

Last month, supervisors and School Board members received an email from Nathan Mowery, an Embrey Mill resident, asking them to look elsewhere for a site for elementary school No. 19.

Although land may be readily available in our neighborhood, Embrey Mill, we are asking the Board to put in the hard work of identifying land for this school where it is truly needed, and not simply where it is convenient, Mowery wrote. By taking the easy route and placing another elementary school in Garrisonville District we understand it may reduce overcrowding, but it will compound the problems we see with school traffic.

The email was accompanied by a petition signed by a group of 90 Embrey Mill neighbors, some of them living at the same address.

In a post on her School Board Facebook page, Siegmund said growth alone isnt the problem the school division is facing.

Poor growth management is our problem, she wrote.

She said three out of four elementary schools in the Garrisonville district have students bused in from other districts, while students who live in the district are attending schools outside the district.

Building elementary school No. 19 in Garrisonville will lead to higher transportation costs for county residents due to more bussing, Siegmund wrote.

I believe that if we build ES 19 on the Northeast side of the County (North of 17, East of Route 1) we can alleviate a lot of issues that our county struggles with by keeping kids at schools closer to their homes, she wrote.
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The Stafford Sheriffs Office is awaiting a medical examiners report before officially determining whether remains found over the weekend are those of a missing county man.

David Hartnett, 57, has been missing since April 20, when he left a group home on Home Street in southern Stafford. Police believe he was seen at the Valero in Fredericksburg just across the Falmouth Bridge on April 23.

He was reported missing shortly after leaving the group home and has been the subject of multiple online posts seeking information about his whereabouts. There have been a number of searches since then, including a massive Sheriffs Office operation late last month that included drones, dogs and all-terrain vehicles.

That search ended unsuccessfully, but Sheriffs Maj. Shawn Kimmitz said a family member of the missing man discovered remains in the area of the Falmouth Bridge on Saturday.

Police sent the remains to the medical examiners officer for positive identification and to determine the cause of death. Kimmitz said foul play is not suspected at this point.
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GLADE SPRING  A first-generation farmer who started out bottle-feeding bull calves when he was a child has forged a new path in farming, creating a cattle empire like no other in the Southwest Virginia area.

Craig Hammond  even his name around his home in Glade Spring is synonymous with cattle  has taken farming to a whole new level, buying and selling as many as 100,000 head of cattle each year to some of the nations largest cattle feedlots.

During the fall when sales are at optimum levels, Hammond can ship anywhere from 50 to 80 tractor-trailer loads of cattle each week to feedlots in Iowa, Illinois, Nebraska, Kansas and Colorado, with a majority of his livestock going to Fredin Brothers, a feeder cattle procurement operation in Springfield, Minnesota.

His success and know-how in the cattle industry are daunting, especially since the livestock dealer and cattle farmer comes from parents who never farmed.

My dad was an education administrator. He was never a farmer, said Hammond. He still sometimes helps me on the farm and hes 82 now. But, I had a few relatives and neighbors who farmed when I was a kid. My grandparents had a small farm with a few cows.

Hammonds wife, Lori, who is an integral part of the business, speaks highly of her husbands success. Im so proud of what he has accomplished. Hardly anyone today starts out without any inherited land. He started out from scratch with nothing, she said.

Now, he eats, breathes, and sleeps cattle, said the wife with a smile.

Hammond grew up in the Plum Creek community of Washington County, just two miles from where he and his wife and three daughters live. Ever since I was a little kid, Ive wanted to be a farmer. I guess I was just born with it.

After Hammond got a taste for raising the first two bottled-fed calves, the next year he bought four calves to fatten.

My whole life, it just seems like I always wanted to double my herd, he said.

By the time he was a senior at Patrick Henry High School in 1989, Hammond was growing four acres of Burley tobacco. Ten years later, that number had increased to more than 100 acres of tobacco.

In the mid 1990s, he focused on renting small farms in the area. More land meant more cattle he could buy and sell.

By 1998, Hammond purchased his first tract of land from the former Allison dairy farm, nearby property that had been split into different tracts and sold individually. His first purchase of 127 acres continued to grow as he eventually was able to buy more tracts and put the original farm back together.

Growing up, I dreamed of owning this farm just down the road from where I was raised, he said. I rode by it on the school bus every day. I rode my bicycle by it. I kept up with what was going on with the dairy farm my whole childhood.

The 550-acre farm that took him 20 years to put back together now serves as the main headquarters for his cattle business, and also where Hammond and his family live today.

Westward bound

The cattle farmer started out making a name for himself by purchasing and grazing weaned stocker calves that weigh 400 to 500 pounds. The next step, he said, was to become a supplier for the feed lots in the western parts of the country which buy the fatten cattle once their weights double.

It was a big jump for the cattle farmer, but one that would pay off in the end.

I had always wanted to ship cattle to feed lots out West, said Hammond, who as a young farmer began traveling thousands of miles every year to the sites to make connections with people who would eventually become his business partners.

Turns out, those connections became the foundation for his business today.

CH Cattle Company was built by Hammond from scratch in 1999, a diversified cattle operation that offers buying, selling, and grazing programs.

The cattleman embarked on a new way of selling livestock in 2010.

In alliance with Fredin Brothers, the cattle company formed a local buying facility at Hammonds Glade Spring farm, allowing cattle producers to bring their cattle directly to Hammonds facility instead of selling them at the livestock market. The cattle are unloaded, sorted, and weighed from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. each Wednesday throughout the year. All calves, yearlings, and slaughter cows and bulls are accepted.

The weigh-up program has been a big success, said Hammond. The program allows local producers to sell their cattle as well as purchase farm-fresh cattle to take home for grazing.

We feel this process is such a great benefit for the producer and for the feeder calves because theres less stress on the cattle. It prevents health issues that can occur during marketing, Hammond said.

You learn it on your own

Hammond credits unwavering perseverance for getting him where he is today.

You gotta love it, he said. Ive always said Harvard doesnt teach what we do. You cant get this education at school. You learn it on your own.

He laughed and added, You cant pay somebody a million dollars to do this kind of work, but for me, I love it. I look forward to getting up and doing this every day. If Im not productive, Im failing. Im always thinking about the next deal. Even when Im on vacation, Im on the phone trading cattle. Thats my job and thats my hobby, too.

Hammond wakes at 6 in the mornings, drinks a cup of coffee, and heads to the farm office where he and his employees make a plan for the day. His wife Lori helps to manage the financial side of the business.

We have a lot of long days and put in a lot of hours on the farm. Its not a 9-to-5 job. My employees and I enjoy it. Its what we like to do, said the cattle farmer.

Ive had some of the same employees for years and years. Were just like family. I wouldnt be where I am today without them.

More land, more cattle

Another of Hammonds hobbies is buying land for the many head of cattle he accumulates.

I guess I have a land-buying addiction, he said with a laugh. I love taking mismanaged land thats grown up and turning it back into something productive. Pretty much, Im restoring land, said Hammond, who owns more than 2,000 acres locally and leases several thousand acres.

Some of his employees serve on a construction crew for the cattle operation, remodeling barns on newly purchased land. Other employees build roads and fences, install water systems, and sow grass over cleared land for cattle to graze.

Theres always something that needs to get done making hay and planting corn for the livestock, said Hammond.

As he surveyed the farm behind his house and the cattle that grazed on the hill, Hammond reflected on what its taken to grow the farm in leaps and bounds throughout the years.

I just turned 51. Im not sure how much more growing I want to do, laughed Hammond.

I guess Ill keep on buying land and keeping cattle until Im dead. Thats about what it will be.
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1 Year Ago (2022)

Three votes. Thats what advanced Carl Pearson to Novembers general election. The incumbent District 7 representative on the Burt County Board of Supervisors won a close 84-81 decision over Greg Brummond in the Republican primary Tuesday to win the partys endorsement. Bernie Maslowsky received 14 votes while Paul Chamberlain netted three votes.

5 Years Ago (2018)

Eadie Gibbs was named Chatt Community Centers Volunteer of the Year recently. Gibbs was chosen by a vote of the centers patrons. The centers board of directors presented her with flowers.

10 Years Ago (2013)

Dr. Chuck McAllister received the University Contributor Award from Southeast Missouri State University. The award is among the highest faculty recognitions and is given for significant contributions toward enhancing the university. The Tekamah native also received the universitys R. Ferrell Ervin Award bestowed for excellence in teaching.

20 Years Ago (2003)

Virtually all of Burt County received a substantial amount of rain, starting with a major downpour April 29, when amounts ranged for 2.5 or 3 inches in some areas to 7 inches around Oakland. Showers, some strong, over the flowing 10 days added at least another inch to most gauges.

30 Years Ago (1993)

Native American Arts is the theme for this summers Arts in the Park program, sponsored by Tekamah Area Arts Council. Local youth interested in taking part in the program should return their registration form to the school by Friday.

40 Years Ago (1983)

Pre-schoolers enrolled in Tekamah-Decatur Head Start were fingerprinted at the Burt County Sheriffs Office last week as part of a nationwide effort now under way to help identify missing children. Sheriff Leonard Canarsky said the visit by the 20 youngsters was just the beginning of a county-wide push for the fingerprinting of children over the age of three. The effort stems from a recent emphasis on such identification by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, he said.

50 Years Ago (1973)

The Cottonwood Health Center here has enrolled 845 patients in its first six months of service to the community, according to John B. Hermann, Creighton Universitys program director. The center served 1,879 office visits during that time. Forty-four required hospitalization. Of these, 25 were hospitalized at memorial Community Hospital in Blair and 18 at Creighton Memorial St. Josephs in Omaha.

60 Years Ago (1963)

Sixty-seven rural eighth grade students in Burt County passed their year-end examinations, according to County Superintendent David Beck. The number is six more than last years total. The three highest scores, belonging to Kathryn Lang, Michael Hogan and Gary Loftis respectively, all came from District 21, the Alder Grove School. Their teacher is Mrs. Iola Nelsen.

70 Years Ago (1953)

Members of Tekamah Fire Department will hold a safety meeting and program Friday evening at the city auditorium. Lt. Harry J. Brt of the State Highway Safety Patrol will speak on safety measures and conduct a discussion forum. The evening also will feature a display of the first aid equipment purchased recently with funds donated by the people of Tekamah and community.

80 Years Ago (1943)

Congressmen whose districts touch on the Missouri River are preparing legislation authorizing Army engineers to survey the stream from Bismarck, North Dakota, to Kansas City, Missouri, Representative Karl Stefan said. In the light of what was learned from the recent disastrous floods, recommendations are to be made to safeguard the river from future overflows.

90 Years Ago (1933)

The Burt-Washington Drainage District, the largest project ever undertaken in this part of Nebraska, has made application to the Reconstruction Finance corporation for a $60,000 loan. It is believed that it will successfully clear the hurdles of government details and requirements in short order. The loan is expected to reduce the mill levy in the 79,000-acre district from 19 mills to 11.

100 Years Ago (1923)

Sunday evening, May 13, a meeting of the Christian, Presbyterian and Methodist churches in Craig held a meeting to discuss the organization of a local Womens Christian Temperance Union chapter. Over two days, a total number of 60 were enrolled and pledged to work. Mrs. C.F. Raver was elected the groups president.
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WASHINGTON  The Environmental Protection Agency is strengthening a rule aimed at controlling and cleaning up toxic waste from coal-fired power plants. A proposal announced Wednesday would for the first time require safe management of so-called coal ash dumped in hundreds of older landfills, "legacy" ponds and other inactive sites that currently are unregulated at the federal level.

EPA Administrator Michael Regan said the plan would hold polluters accountable for controlling and cleaning up coal ash, a byproduct of burning coal that can pollute waterways, groundwater, drinking water and the air. Coal ash contains contaminants such as mercury, chromium and arsenic associated with cancer and other health problems.

"Ensuring the health and safety of all people is EPA's top priority, and this proposed rule represents a crucial step toward safeguarding the air, groundwater, streams and drinking water that communities depend on," Regan said in a statement.

If finalized, the rule would help protect underserved and minority communities overburdened by pollution, reflecting the Biden administration's commitment to environmental justice, Regan said.

"Many of these communities have been disproportionately impacted by pollution for far too long," he said, noting that power plants, chemical plants and other large industrial sites are often located in poor and minority neighborhoods.

The proposed rule follows an EPA proposal last week to impose new limits on greenhouse gas emissions from coal- and gas-fired power plants  the Biden administration's most ambitious effort to roll back planet-warming pollution from the power sector, the nation's second-largest contributor to climate change.

The agency also proposed rules to crack down on polluted wastewater and limit emissions of mercury and other harmful pollutants from coal-burning power plants, updating standards imposed over a decade ago.

The coal ash rule follows a legal settlement between the agency and public interest groups, including the National Association for Advancement of Colored People, Sierra Club and Clean Water Action.

The groups said in a lawsuit that a 2015 EPA rule on coal ash failed to regulate a large portion of such pollution in the United States.

Earthjustice, an environmental group that represented the coalition that sued EPA, called the new proposal a major win for communities near coal-fired power plants. The revised rule extends federal coal ash regulations to most coal ash disposed at power plants and extends federal monitoring, closure and cleanup requirements to hundreds of older landfills, ponds and dump sites that previously were excluded, the group said.

"This is a really big deal, said Lisa Evans, senior counsel for Earthjustice. "The Biden administration is standing up for people near hazardous coal waste sites around the country. For far too long, a large portion of toxic coal ash around the U.S. was left leaching into drinking water supplies without any requirement that it be cleaned up."

The EPA proposal tightens a loophole that allowed many power-plant owners to avoid "cleaning up the toxic mess they created," Evans said. "Power plants will finally lose their hall pass to leave coal ash wherever they dumped it."

Earthjustice identified 566 landfills and ponds at 242 coal plants in 40 states that were excluded from the 2015 federal regulations, Evans said.

EPA estimates it would cost utilities more than $300 million a year to comply with the new rule, which is expected to become final next year.

The power industry complained about an "onslaught" of EPA rules. The agency's actions are "designed specifically to cause the premature closure of coal power plants," said Michelle Bloodworth, president and CEO of America's Power, a lobbying group for industries involved in producing electricity from coal.

She urged EPA to modify its proposals "to avoid premature coal retirements, rather than speed up retirements and jeopardize grid reliability."
Two New York Police Department officers ambushed and killed responding to a 911 call and the rookie cop who took down the gunman are among those who will be honored Wednesday by President Joe Biden with the Medal of Valor, the nations highest honor for bravery by a public safety officer. NYPD officer Wilbert Mora and his police partner Jason Rivera were shot Jan. 21, 2022, while responding to a call about a family dispute in a Harlem apartment. A rookie, Sumit Sulan, shot and killed the gunman, ending the deadly encounter moments after it began. Biden will also honor officers from Colorado, Ohio and Texas and three members of the FDNY.
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An Omaha man learned a hard lesson when his middle finger was severed while trying to remove an obstruction from underneath a lawn mower.

The incident occurred about 9:30 a.m. Friday near 36th and Grant streets. A 56-year-old man told police that he was mowing his lawn when something got stuck in the blade.

He attempted to remove the obstruction while the blade was still moving. The blade sliced off his middle finger, and he yelled for help.

Someone called 911, and an Omaha Fire Department ambulance transported the man and finger to the Nebraska Medical Center. It is not known whether the finger was reattached.

That's a tough lesson to learn, said Joe Kozol, owner of Kozy Lawn Care for 37 years. Kozol said his employees are instructed to think "safety first" when working with mowers.

"People get in a hurry, and that's when things like this happen," Kozol said. "Never try to fix a lawn mower while it is running is something everyone should know and understand."

Kozol said that many years ago, one of his employees lost three fingers in a similar incident. A lawn mower got hung up on a fence, and the employee tried pulling it away by lifting from the bottom while the blade was still moving.

"You have to think safety first," Kozol said. "I'm sure the guy that was hurt the other day wishes he had done that."

Top Journal Star photos for May 2023
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LINCOLN, Neb. (AP)  Conservatives in the Nebraska Legislature got just enough votes Tuesday to fold a proposed 12-week abortion ban into a bill that would ban gender-affirming health for minors.

As expected, the debate over the plan was raucous, with lawmakers opposed to the plan sparring angrily with Republican Lt. Gov. Joe Kelly, who presided over the Legislature, and accusing him of trashing legislative rules to help push through the plan. Multiple motions, calls for points of order and motions to overrule the chair stretched what was supposed to be a two-hour process to six hours.

The plan won the 33 votes it needed in Nebraska's one-chamber, officially nonpartisan legislature to end debate and set up other votes to advance it. It must now survive a final round, which could happen as soon as Thursday, to pass.

Throughout, hundreds of protesters filled the Capitol rotunda just outside the chamber doors, nearly drowning out debate at times with chants, shouts and foot stomping. Several protesters also stood in the balcony inside the chamber chanting, One more vote to save our lives; you can't defeat our human rights! before the balconies were cleared. Lawmakers who voted for the merged bill fled the building immediately after through a back tunnel with state police escorts to avoid facing angry protesters  leading Omaha Sen. Megan Hunt to berate them as cowards.

Shame on you who are devising escape routes out of here, she said on the microphone. If you can't go out there and face the people you are hurting, then you are not worthy of this job.

Sen. Machaela Cavanaugh, who has led an epic effort to filibuster nearly every bill this session to protest the trans health bill, chastised conservative lawmakers for pushing measures that are unpopular with most health care providers, businesses and Nebraska voters.

You are willing to drive this state into the ground. You look ridiculous," Cavanaugh said. Women will die, children are dying, and you are responsible."

"You will have buckets and buckets of blood on your hands, she added angrily, ratcheting up a phrase that saw Montana state Rep. Zooey Zephyr  the first openly transgender female lawmaker to serve in the Montana Legislature  banned from the House floor for the final days of the 2023 session by Republicans who dominate that body.

Conservative lawmakers took a risk proposing the plan to merge two issues. If they had gotten one less vote to end debate, it would have shelved both the abortion and trans health measures for the year.

Conservatives were stung last month when their bill to ban abortion after cardiac activity can be detected  which happens around six weeks of pregnancy, before most women even know they are pregnant  failed to break a filibuster by a single vote.

Normally, the issue would be considered tabled for the remainder of the session. But last week, anti-abortion lawmakers sought to resurrect it by crafting a proposal to ban abortion at 12 weeks and attaching it to the trans bill.

Conservatives see the 12-week ban as a compromise. Opposing lawmakers say it's an unprecedented attempt to take another bite at the apple after they were promised by the Legislatures speaker that an abortion ban would not be revived this year.

Adding to the tumult is the underlying trans health bill, which has been the most contentious of the session. Introduced by freshman Sen. Kathleen Kauth, the bill would ban hormone treatments, puberty blockers and gender reassignment surgery for anyone 18 and younger.

An amended version would make exceptions for minors who were already on hormone treatments before the ban takes effect, but it also would give the states chief medical officer wide-ranging authority to set rules for use of hormone treatments for transgender minors. But the chief medical officer is a political appointee of a Republican governor and has already gone on record supporting a full ban on gender-affirming treatments for minors. Opponents say the amended bill would give him the power to block such treatments, even for those minors grandfathered in.

Both restrictions on abortion and transgender people have been consistent targets amid a national push by conservatives in state legislatures this year.

Gov. Jim Pillen, a Republican elected in November, has said he will sign the amended bill into law if it passes. The bill would include an emergency clause, meaning it will go into effect as soon as the governor signs it.
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Police officers, sheriffs deputies, school officials and other law enforcement officials will get expert insight into mass shooters, how to possibly predict violent incidents and profiling of potential suspects planning attacks during a unique seminar slated for August.

On Tuesday, May 9, the Fremont City Council unanimously approved a request from the Fremont Police Department to enter into a $4,000 contract with the specialized murder, mass shooter and serial killer expert Phil Chalmers.

The police department will utilize $4,000 from a $5,000 grant from the Nebraska Order of the Eastern Star, Chapter 92 Arbor Vitae in Fremont, to bring in Chalmers, who will conduct a large educational seminar on Aug. 9 at Fremont High School on identifying potential school mass shooters as well as preventing such events.

Chalmers is the author of the book, Inside the Mind of a Teen Killer, and a nationally known law enforcement and school educational speaker focused on serial killers and mass shootings. During the past 25 years, he has traveled the nation and conducted training for hundreds of departments, districts and communities  including in Nebraska.

In a January interview, Fremont Police Sgt. John Gieselman, a 26-year veteran of the department and who leads the K-9 office of the department, said it is critical for local and regional law enforcement to work together with schools and other educational institutions to keep an eye on warning signs for possible mass shooting clues and signs suspects could exhibit.

Chalmers owns his own business. He is a criminal profiler by trade and is noted for conducting interviews with hardcore criminals like murderers, Gieselman said in January. Since the 1990s, he has been focusing on school shooters and specifically how to pre-identify potential school shooters. He provides information on how to identify potential school shooters before things actually happen.

Gieselman said the majority of people polled about mass shootings do not think such an event will happen in their community.

As were seeing nationally, it can happen anywhere. A lot of school shooters  after the event has happened  police and investigators find a pattern of behavior that preceded the event, he added.

Chalmers will provide training that is aimed at helping police, sheriffs officials from Fremont and Dodge County, as well as from surrounding communities, better understand what to look for in regard to behaviors that could indicate a person is possibly considering, theorizing or planning a school or mass shooting.

Those indicators can come in a range of areas, Gieselman noted, including from diaries, social interactions with others, postings on social media websites or things like a student having bad grades in school, engaging in confrontations or fights with others and morbid or deathly hobbies and interests.

Mass shootings have continued to plague the United States, with several high-profile incidents in 2023 raising alarms for law enforcement and legislators. A mass shooting is defined by some law enforcement and organizations as when at least four people are shot in one incident. Other definitions include incidents in which four people die from the result of gun shots.

On March 27, a suspect was killed by police in Tennessee after shooting and killing six people  three students and three teachers or administrators  in The Covenant School in Nashville. Responding police killed the suspect inside the school.

On May 6, nine people were killed  including the suspect  and 10 were wounded after a gunman opened fire in an outdoor outlet mall in Allen, Texas. The suspect was shot dead by an off-duty law enforcement officer.

According to the activist group Gun Violence Archives, which classifies mass shootings as four or more people shot, there were more than 600 reported mass shootings in each year for 2020, 2021 and 2022. As of May 16, there have been 225 reported mass shootings across the nation.
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There was a half hour left to the second round of the budget debate on LB 814 when we started discussing the topic of water last week. I brought an amendment in a final attempt to convince the state that District 16 greatly impacts the agriculture industry for all of Nebraska, and even further, the Midwest by hosting one of the largest Cargill Bio Campuses worldwide. Blair was chosen to be the hub for corn processing because it has both people and water.

Approximately 320,000 bushels of corn per day is used to feed stock to the wet corn milling facilities and five other international companies. While I failed to find support from the members of the legislature to help a town of 8,000 as it bears the burden of providing water to such an influential aspect of our states economy, I hope the other senators realize that they will eventually need to address the issue.

The conversation around the education system sparked the interest of the senators as well. The education bill, LB 705, moved through the legislative process and divided up the money available in the Nebraska Education Improvement funds. There were amendments included that directed our dialogue towards a variety of subjects. The teacher shortages inspired recruitment incentives that allow for alternative pathways in obtaining teaching certificates, removes certain basic skill test requirements for entry level teachers and utilizes more apprenticeship models for training.

With new measures set in place, certain public school teachers will be able to apply for grants based on the amount of time they have spent teaching. A grant program was also established for the STEEM Development Act (science, technology, engineering, entrepreneurship and mathematics). This is an investment in our future as expanding Nebraskas workforce in these areas is essential to boosting innovation and productivity.

Further provisions of the bill prohibit suspension of students in pre-k through second grade in Omaha, ensures that option enrollment students are not denied acceptance because of an IEP, and forbids publicly funded colleges or universities from inquiring about criminal history during the application process. Nebraskas Department of Education will also be able to purchase and loan textbooks to certain children enrolled in private schools and require schools to allow certain youth organizations, like Boy Scouts, to meet in their buildings. These groups encourage students towards civic engagement and service to their communities. Another portion of the bill makes it easier for homeschoolers to join in on extracurricular activities offered by the school district they live in.

Finally, it is evident that mental and behavioral health for students is a priority for educators across the state. In our culture today, teachers are attentive to the pressures our youth experience and are alert to behaviors that necessitates more intentional care. Annual training will be a focus and funding for regional specialists, safety features, hotlines, and mental health practitioners will be provided through this legislation.

Next week, I will expound on the details of the amendment for LB 574. My inbox is full of emails from constituents thoughts about abortion and transgender surgeries for children. If you have questions or comments, please contact Carson Clayton or Ellie Stangl in the District 16 office at (402) 471-2728 or email me at bhansen@leg.ne.gov. To follow along with the session, please visit nebraskalegislature.gov or you may watch the live stream when available at nebraskapublicmedia.org.
Colorado's Michael Bennet, along with several other U.S. senators, on Monday introduced legislation to regulate political commercials generated by artificial intelligence, arguing the technological leap has "huge implications for our democracy."

Joining Bennet are Sens. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minnesota., and Cory Booker, D-New Jersey.

Called the "REAL Political Ads Act," the proposal requires a disclaimer on any political ad by a federal campaign that uses content generated by AI. It's among the latest attempts by policymakers to put in place parameters around AI, whose rapid advance has both mesmerized and terrified many.

We are already seeing political advertisements making use of new AI tools, with huge implications for our democracy, Bennet said in a news release. This bill will bring more transparency and accountability to our elections by informing voters when AI is being used in political ads  an important step toward aligning its use with our democratic values.

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In the same statement, Klobuchar said that, for the first time in history, the American public is seeing how artificial intelligence could be used to "generate images and videos in political ads, creating new avenues for misleading content."

"Our laws need to keep up, she said. This common sense legislation would update our disclosure laws to improve transparency and ensure voters are aware when this technology is used in campaign ads.

Booker added that Congress must ensure voters are fully aware about the source and authenticity of political ads that seek to influence their electoral decisions.
The bill to move Colorado forward on its voter-approved requirement to reintroduce the gray wolf won preliminary approval from the Senate on Friday  but with major changes intended to avoid a possible gubernatorial veto.

Senate Bill 256 focuses on the efforts of the Colorado Parks and Wildlife to obtain whats known as a 10(j) rule from the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service.

That rule would allow wolves to be classified as a nonessential, experimental population, with the state taking the lead role on managing the population. USFWS, which is currently in the rule-making process, is expected to finalize the 10(j) rule by mid-December.

Under 10(j)  and with wolves listed as a nonessential, experimental population  the state plan would allow for lethal takes, the killing of wolves attacking livestock, for example, as well as other non-lethal management tools.

As introduced, SB 256 required all legal challenges to 10(j) be completed before wolves can be reintroduced. That could take years, opponents claim. The federal statute of limitations requires all legal challenges to be filed within six years, but opponents noted that someone could file a legal challenge at the end of that six-year period and years of litigation could ensue, further delaying reintroduction.

The bill also required the state to obtain the 10(j) designation before reintroduction.

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But Gov. Jared Polis, who also advocates for the 10(j) rule, opposes the process laid out in SB 256.

On Friday, the Senate Appropriations Committee gutted the sections of the bill opposed by the governor.

Sen. Dylan Roberts, D-Avon, told the appropriations committee the amendments proposed would remove the sections of the bill that have generated the most controversy and opposition from the governor, although he didnt specifically mention the governors stance.

Thats the part of the bill that said the state had to obtain the 10(j) rule before reintroduction, the language around legal challenges and a requirement that reintroduction would not happen without an environmental impact statement from the federal government.

The Senate also approved on Friday a companion bill tied to compensation for ranchers whose livestock are killed by wolves.

Both bills are likely to see final votes in the Senate on Monday and then off to the House for further action.
Yemi Mobolade is on his way to becoming the next mayor of Colorado Springs based on unofficial results from the City Clerk's Office Tuesday night.

"I am speechless. My heart is still pounding. I'm shocked," Mobolade said to a crowd of around 900 people that had gathered at COS Hub to cheer him on at a watch party Tuesday night.

Mobolade, a political newcomer and an immigrant from West Africa, has 57.47% of the 117,534 counted votes. Williams, who has 42.53%, conceded around 7:30 p.m. after the first results were published.

"It's a new day in our beloved city. Do you believe that?" Mobolade asked the watch party Tuesday. "Because I do. ... Colorado Springs will become an inclusive, cultural rich, economically prosperous, safe and vibrant city on a hill that shines brightly."

Mobolade thanked his wife and children, his campaign team and volunteers who helped him knock on close to 40,000 doors; he honored his parents and siblings who traveled to Colorado Springs from Houston to be with him Tuesday.

Williams called Mobolade to congratulate him on his victory. It was not a phone call you'd like to make as a candidate, but it was the right thing to do, Williams said.

Mobolade is expected to take over June 6 for Mayor John Suthers, who is term limited after serving eight years in the position. Mobolade will be the city's first elected Black mayor.

Mobolade promised in a speech Tuesday to get to work on addressing public safety, homelessness, infrastructure, and affordable and attainable housing  promises he's made over the last 18 months on the campaign trail.

"This is public service and it starts with campaigning. Its the longest job interview and you have to prove to the voters why you are the person for the job and thats what we did. How we campaigned is how were going to lead the future of our city," Mobolade said.

Colorado Gov. Jared Polis congratulated Mobolade on the victory. Thank you to every Colorado Springs resident who voted. Congratulations to Mayor-elect Yemi Mobolade on his victory and I look forward to working with the Mayor-elect to help save people money in Colorado Springs, make Colorado one of the ten safest states, and move Colorado Springs forward, Polis wrote in a statement.

"Our city needs to go forward," Williams said at his watch party at the Pinery. "I know a number of members of City Council are or have been here. I urge you to work with their next mayor to continue the progress weve been making."

"It's clear Colorado Springs is less conservative than it used to be. When I was chairman here (of the El Paso county party) we had no Democratic state reps. Now we have three," Williams said. "So there are significant changes that have taken place and I congratulate Yemi on an excellent campaign."

An additional 1,525 votes were counted between the first results and the update at 9 p.m., and results held. The next update from the city clerk is expected around 10 p.m. Gazette.com will provide updates here.

Ballots were still coming in from ballot box locations around 7:30 p.m. and the City Clerk's Office will be counting throughout the evening. Ballots were due by 7 p.m.

Follow @breejentnews and @brooke_nevins on Twitter for the latest.

Yemi Mobolade and Wayne Williams got the most votes in the April 4 municipal election of 12 candidates vying for the Colorado Springs mayorship to succeed Suthers. Whichever candidate wins majority tonight will be sworn in as mayor on June 6.

April 4 results (top 2 qualified for runoff)

Yemi Mobolade - 32,429 / 29.81%

Wayne Williams - 20,908 / 19.20%

Sallie Clark - 19,384 / 17.82%

Darryl Glenn - 9,470 / 8.70%

Longinos Gonzalez Jr. - 8,622 / 7.93%

(5 of the top 12 candidates listed here)
Colorado Gov. Jared Polis has congratulated Yemi Mobolade on his victory in Tuesday's runoff election for mayor of Colorado Springs.

"Congratulations to Mayor-elect Yemi Mobolade on his victory and I look forward to working with the Mayor-elect to help save people money in Colorado Springs, make Colorado one of the ten safest states, and move Colorado Springs forward, Polis wrote in a statement.

Mobolade, a political newcomer who will become the first elected Black mayor of Colorado Springs, has 57.53% of the votes in early unofficial results. His opponent, Wayne Williams, who has 42.47%, conceded after the first results were published.

A total of 114,532 ballots had been counted as of the first results published by the City Clerk's Office shortly after polls closed Tuesday night. Additional ballots are still being counted.

The governor also thanked Colorado Springs citizens for participating in democracy.

Thank you to every Colorado Springs resident who voted," he said.
That sound you heard Tuesday night in Colorado Springs was a seismic shift in the political foundation under Colorado's second-largest city.

Yemi Mobolade, an unaffiliated, first-time candidate, didn't just beat veteran Republican politician Wayne Williams by double digits in the city's mayoral runoff  the Nigerian immigrant upended the board in a once reliably right-leaning city that has been moving toward the center by leaps and bounds in recent elections.

According to preliminary, unofficial results, Mobolade defeated Williams by about 15 percentage points, becoming the city's first elected Black mayor and the first Colorado Springs mayor who isn't a registered Republican in the more than four decades since the city began electing mayors directly in 1979.

"Yemi has tremendous crossover appeal," Republican consultant Daniel Cole told The Gazette on Tuesday night.

Cole, who ran an independent group that supported Williams in the first round but sat out the runoff, said internal polling predicted Mobolade's sweeping win.

"Polling showed him winning all the Democrats, the vast majority of unaffiliateds and a significant chunk of Republicans, too," he said.

Running as a business-friendly moderate in the nominally nonpartisan election, Mobolade appears to have energized voters from across the political spectrum, while Williams battled critics from all sides, including fellow Republicans.

None of that would have mattered, however, without the city electorate's leftward shift.

As recently as a decade ago, Colorado Springs and its surrounding El Paso County were known nationally as Republican strongholds, but as Colorado has turned more solidly blue, the city and county have moved in the same direction, albeit more slowly.

Last November, for instance, Democratic Gov. Jared Polis barely edged Republican nominee Heidi Ganahl within city limits and lost to by just 4 percentage points countywide, a far cry from the 20-point margins Republican statewide candidates used to rack up in the county.

That change in voter sentiment, as Colorado Springs begins to resemble other formerly Republican-leaning Front Range counties like Jefferson and Arapahoe, lay the groundwork for a candidacy like Mobolade's, but the dynamics surrounding Williams and his relationship with a divided local GOP helped seal his fate.

Williams acknowledged as much in his concession speech, delivered just minutes after initial vote totals posted.

"It's clear Colorado Springs is less conservative than it used to be," he told supporters. "When I was chairman here (of the El Paso county GOP) we had no Democratic state reps. Now, we have three. So there are significant changes that have taken place, and I congratulate Yemi on an excellent campaign."

Previous mayoral runoffs in Colorado Springs have pitted a Republican stalwart against an unaffiliated or Democratic finalist, but in those cases  when outgoing Mayor John Suthers defeated challenger Mary Louise Makepeace in 2015, and when Steve Bach defeated City Council veteran Richard Skorman in 2011  Republicans set aside their differences and got behind the more conservative candidate.

Williams should have benefited from the GOP's advantage. A El Paso County GOP chairman and former secretary of state, county commissioner and county clerk, he's held office nearly without interruption for two decades. But divisions within the local Republican Party and lingering rifts after a bitter first round in the mayoral race prevented Williams from enjoying the consolidated Republican vote that propelled Suthers and Bach to easy wins.

The bruising first round left Mobolade largely unscathed as the two leading Republican candidates  Williams and fellow city council member Sallie Clark  battered each other relentlessly, driving up each other's negatives.

During the five-week sprint to the runoff, Williams trained his fire on Mobolade, but his relentless attacks proved ineffective. Countering Williams' claims that his opponent was a dangerous liberal, Mobolade won endorsements from several prominent local Republicans, including Clark, who finished just behind Williams in the first round.

Through it all, Mobolade campaigned on bringing the city together, a message he repeated after declaring victory.

This is our win, Mobalade told a boisterous crowd of supporters. We are Colorado Springs. Its a new day in our beloved city. Do you believe that? Colorado Springs will be become an inclusive, culturally rich, economically prosperous, safe and vibrant city.

Cole said it was evident on the ground and in the data he reviewed that Mobolade had that most elusive of campaign qualities: momentum.

"Yemi had an enormous amount of enthusiasm behind him," he said. "Thats important, because enthusiastic voters make sure their friends vote, too."

While turnout often increased by about 10% between first rounds and runoffs in Colorado Springs municipal elections, Cole said it appears turnout in the runoff jumped by roughly twice that amount, with 20% of the runoff's voters having skipped the initial round.

"I think enthusiasm for Yemi is the reason why," he added.
An expansion adding hundreds of new homes to the Sterling Ranch neighborhood south of Black Forest moved forward with official approval by the El Paso Board of County Commissioners Tuesday.

Commissioners voted 4-0, with Commissioner Longinos Gonzalez absent, to approve a preliminary plan proposing 761 single-family residences on 320 acres east of Vollmer Road and adjacent to the future extension of Briargate Parkway in connection to Stapleton Road. Nearby residents voiced concern that the development is encroaching on farming activities.

"I understand it can be very frustrating in your way of life to have these houses come up, but I do believe the developer has made the appropriate adjustments," Commissioner Holly Williams told residents before approval.

The plan also includes a 35-acre kindergarten through eighth grade school, a 12-acre elementary school  both expected to incorporate into Academy District 20  and 65 acres of parks and open space, project documents show.

Concurrent with the approval of the preliminary plan, commissioners approved two separate rezoning requests that underlie the 761 units. Members voted 4-0 to approve rezoning a 301-acre parcel from five-acre lots to higher-density RS-5000 zoning for single-family detached housing, which will hold 740 homes, said Jennifer Shagin of N.E.S. Inc., representing developer Classic Homes.

Commissioners separately voted 4-0 to approve the rezoning of a 35-acre parcel along the southern boundary of the subdivision from five-acre lots to half-acre lots, with a 50-foot buffer and 100-foot setback, as a density transition with the five-acre lots of Pawnee Rancheros neighborhood to the south.

Roughly 19 of the 35 acres were included in the preliminary plan approved Tuesday, while the remaining acres will be included in a future plan, documents said.

The expansion will be served by the Falcon Area Water and Wastewater Authority "via an (intergovernmental agreement) with the Sterling Ranch Metropolitan District," county Senior Planner Kari Parsons said Tuesday.

The county attorneys office and the state engineer have made a recommendation for water sufficiency for the development, Parsons told the Planning Commission last month.

According to project documents, each home will require an average 0.4 acre-feet of water per year, and, because FAWWA recently acquired roughly 1,025 acre-feet for 300 years from three other districts, it has more than sufficient water supply to meet the needs of Sterling Ranch  on the 300-year basis.

The 761 homes and two schools will generate roughly 11,000 average daily trips to the area, said county Senior Engineer Jeff Rice.

The three-part request was more narrowly approved in April by the El Paso County Planning Commission, an advisory board to the county commission, when several members voted against the half-acre lot rezone and overall preliminary plan due to "unacceptable" density transitions to the farming community south of the subdivision.

Stasia Erickson, a 13-year neighbor who spoke in opposition to the plan in April, requested on Tuesday that the developer change the southern half-acre-lot density transition to 2.5-acre lots and repeated her belief that her quality of life has diminished due to trespassers feeding and touching her livestock and that school traffic and foot traffic on a proposed trail running near her property would increase noise, crime and waste in the area.

"In the last couple of years, many unleashed dogs have broken through my fence, attacking and killing my alpacas and chickens," Erickson said.

"What's going to happen to our wells?" another neighbor, Theresa Johnson, asked. "There's a water shortage; it's a big deal."

Andrea Barlow, also with N.E.S. Inc., told commissioners that the five-acre-lot Pawnee Rancheros neighborhood is already surrounded by other high-density developments, and that the Sterling Ranch expansion would actually be the only adjacent development with any density transition.

"I don't think it needs to be anything more than what's already been approved in the sketch plan," Barlow said.

That sketch plan was first approved in 2008 and was amended last year to cap Sterling Ranch at 4,800 homes on over 1,400 acres.

Barlow also said the water servicing the development will be drawn from different aquifers than those that support the neighbors' domestic wells.

Commissioner Carrie Geitner said the sketch plan details, including the lots and their buffering, were likely discussed with concerned residents before approval 15 years ago.

"To go back and change those discussions now is a little bit concerning to me because we want to have consistency. We want property owners to understand what we're looking for and be consistent with that," Geitner said.
Husband and wife Roberto and Elizabeth Calcagno are selling their two Woodland Park restaurants: The Swiss Chalet, 19263 E. U.S. 24, and Mountainara Cucina Italiana, 727 Gold Hill Place South.

After a family trip to Robertos Italian home the couple decided it was best for the family to return to Italy.

We are selling the restaurants because my mother is struggling significantly with ongoing health issues associated with the climate and elevation here, and as a family we find they need to return to Italy, at sea level, where she can have more time with us and her grandchildren, he said in a Facebook post. This is a VERY HARD decision for us and compassion would be helpful.

Calcagno has a selling agreement with the general manager of Mountainara and the transfer of the property will be complete in a few weeks. As for The Swiss Chalet, Calcagno has the 1.4 acres, which includes the restaurant and a residence, on the market.

Calcagno opened Mountainara Cucina Italiana in August 2022 and The Swiss Chalet in January of this year.
A Colorado Springs couple pleaded guilty on Tuesday to causing the death of a 5-year-old girl.

Matthew Urias and Brianne Escamilla, both 27, were originally charged with first-degree murder in the death of Emily Canales after prosecutors say they abused the young girl, who was Escamilla's daughter.

Canales was living with Escamilla and her boyfriend Urias at the time of her death in January 2022.

The former couple weren't arrested in Canales' death until June, when a report from the coroner indicated homicide was the cause of death.

An affidavit acquired by The Gazette detailed the abuse suffered by Canales, and the significant and obvious decline in her health in the days leading up to her death.

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Urias and Escamilla recognized that Canales was acting strangely and said she was not feeling well in the days leading up to her death, but neither called 911 until she died on Jan. 13, 2022.

Court records show that on Tuesday, Urias and Escamilla both pleaded guilty to child abuse knowingly or recklessly causing death, a Class 2 felony.

Escamilla will return to 4th Judicial District Court for her sentencing hearing on June 20, and Urias will appear for his sentencing hearing on July 11.
The investigation into Letecia Stauch, who was found guilty on May 8 of murdering her 11-year-old stepson Gannon Stauch, was one of the biggest in El Paso County history, 4th Judicial District Attorney Michael Allen said.

After more than three years of actively prosecuting the case against Stauch, Allen spoke with The Gazette and reflected on prosecuting a case of that size, the difficulties that come with a trial lasting nearly two months, and some of the lessons learned from the case.

Allen was one of three attorneys, along with Dave Young and Angelina Gratiano, who prosecuted Stauch.

Allen said it felt weird having finally completed the trial, which he said was "by far" the longest of which he's ever been a part. Allen said that during any trial you tend to "live that trial for the time you're in it," and that after two months it was difficult to remove himself from the case.

"It's hard to believe that it's done, honestly," he said. "It was hard to at the end turn my brain off. So for days afterwards I would still wake up in the middle of the night thinking about things in trial, and then you remember, 'Oh yeah, we're done with trial. I don't have to think about it anymore.'"

Stauch was convicted on all charges  two counts of first-degree murder, one count of tampering with a corpse and one count of tampering with physical evidence  and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Allen said reaching a conclusion on the Stauch case was a "bittersweet" feeling, pointing out that it felt good to finally get a conviction that he and Gannon's family had been seeking for more than three years, but that there was nothing Stauch's conviction could do to ever truly heal the wound Gannon's death left behind for his family.

"It's always positive to give the victim a voice in the courtroom, and that we were able to do that for Gannon in this case was absolutely a positive," Allen said. "It's bittersweet, because you know that no matter what you do in that court process you're not going to be able to bring Gannon back."

Stauch's trial was one of the most highly publicized cases in the county's history, with thousands of people watching the trial online throughout the weeks of evidence and testimony. When asked about his thoughts on Stauch's trial receiving the amount of publicity that it did, Allen said publicity can bring challenges to a prosecution, and it's something that his office needed to be aware of over the past three years.

"I've never had a case garner as much publicity as this case did.  That's because of this particular defendant's own actions," Allen said. "You do have to be aware that if a prosecutor is out there saying things that they shouldn't be saying, that can have a detrimental impact on a case.  You always have to keep those things at the forefront of your mind, because the last thing you want to do as a prosecutor is have a negative impact on a case because you're causing publicity at the front end before anybody's been convicted."

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While the publicity did provide challenges for the prosecution, Allen believed that there also were positives that came with the amount of attention the case received. Allen said the publicity helped highlight what is actually occurring in court cases, and that increasing the transparency and accessibility in court can only be a positive for criminal justice.

"I think that is something that is an outgrowth of this case," Allen said. "I've had people reach out to me from the U.K., Australia and across the state saying that their faith in the criminal justice system was (restored) because of the way that this case was covered, and the way it was handled by our office."

Allen said he would love to see the level of accessibility this case had online expanded to all trials and cases taking place in the county, as not every case in 4th Judicial District Court currently has the same level of online accessibility that the Stauch trial had.

"Letting people see what is actually happening in the criminal justice system is a good thing," Allen said. "I'm all in favor of let's expand even more access to what's happening in our courtrooms because it can show people the truth as opposed to innuendo or rumors."

Allen credited the successful prosecution of Stauch to the "really strong team" of people who worked on the case over the past three years.

"Because the case is so big one person can't have a handle on every single part of the case," Allen said. "We're blessed here, because we do have really strong prosecutors and investigators, and we are able to handle these types of cases and bring justice."

The strong team referred to by Allen will be all the more important as another potentially long trial looms in the case against Anderson Aldrich, who is accused of killing five people and injuring nearly two dozen more in the shooting at Club Q that took place on Nov. 19.

Allen said the strong team at the District Attorney's Office, as well as his office's working relationship with other government entities like the FBI, will be crucial as the prosecution of Aldrich continues.

Aldrich's trial has yet to be scheduled, but the next court hearing in the case is scheduled for May 30.

Stauch, however, has made what will likely be her final appearance in 4th Judicial District Court as she was transferred to Denver Women's Correctional Facility, where she is expected to serve the remainder of her life sentence.
Gov. Jared Polis praised last week's decision of the U.S. Supreme Court that upheld the ability of states to enact laws governing the treatment of livestock.

In National Pork Producers Council v. Ross, the pork industry challenged a California law, enacted by ballot initiative, to require producers of meat and egg products to comply with certain practices, notably requirements to provide more space to egg-laying hens and pigs, in order to sell in the state. The Supreme Court upheld the law as constitutional by 5-4.

"This suit was an economic threat to Colorados ability to advance laws supported by our communities that protect animal welfare, reflect our values, and keep our farmers competitive," Polis said in a statement, adding that the decision would "help protect Colorado consumers and egg producers."

The governor referred to a 2020 law, whose provisions began to take effect earlier this year, requiring operators who produce eggs in large quantities to move toward a cage-free system by 2025, with at least one square foot of space per hen. The egg industry estimated it would cost more than $100 million to comply with the new standards.

Polis' office further stated that he applauds the Supreme Court's recognition of "a states ability to regulate commerce within its own borders."
Photo: OPP

Police are searching for a man who escaped from a minimum-security unit at a federal prison in Kingston, Ont.

The Correctional Service of Canada says staff discovered the 42-year-old inmate, Joshua Kenneth Kohl, was missing during a formal count at the Collins Bay Institution on Tuesday.

The correctional service says Kingston Police were contacted immediately and a warrant has been issued for the man's arrest.

The service says it will investigate and is working with police to locate him "as quickly as possible."

Kohl was serving an indeterminate sentence for second-degree murder at the multi-level federal prison.

The Ontario Provincial Police issued a wanted notice for Kohl, who is described as about six feet tall, 160 pounds, with short brown hair, a receding hairline, blue eyes, a pockmarked face and glasses.
After nearly two weeks of prolonged contract bargaining, Colorado Springs School District 11 administrators and the Colorado Springs Education Association, a union representing about 60% of district teachers, reached a tentative agreement Tuesday.

The agreement starts teacher salary at $50,000; provides a 5% cost of living adjustment to all teachers; and will pay teachers a 6% non-recurring bonus across two paychecks, one in November and one in May; and honors steps and lanes. This contract would apply to all D-11 teachers regardless of their CSEA membership status.

District 11 is sticking a flag in the ground, saying that we want you. We want your collaborative contribution in this district, said Darren Joiner, the D-11 northeast area superintendent.

CSEA will next present the agreement to teachers on Thursday at the Tesla Educational Opportunity Center. CSEA members will then vote on whether they want to ratify and have an answer for the district by next Tuesday on whether it passed or failed. The school board of education will then hold its own ratification vote on behalf of the district.

Although not unheard of, the routine annual bargaining process rarely extends so late.

Thats not how the majority of our sessions go. Its just, this is kind of par for the course when it gets to the money talk because its a contentious topic, but outside of that we really do collaborate and work well as a group, said Adrienne Propsom, CSEA member and math teacher at Coronado. Id like encourage everybody in the room to continue to advocate for your rights, whether thats in the board room, or coming into these sessions, or standing up for your students.

Much of the concern focused on the districts proposed change to teacher salary schedule. The current schedule uses lanes and steps for teacher pay. Lanes consider education credentials, such as degrees and hours of graduate studies completed. Steps consider longevity, or how many years a teacher has been teaching. The proposal added a third, previously unaccounted for factor into salary calculations.

D-11 administration pushed for a pay for collaborative contribution salary model in which teachers would be rewarded with higher compensation for participating in additional duties such as joining a committee or chairing a department. Negotiations determined this model will not take effect for the time being.

A task force composed of at least three CSEA-appointed teachers and three administration-appointed members will begin working in August on an evaluation rubric that will lay out standards for professional engagement and identify how staff can fulfill those requirements, according to a district presentation during the Tuesday bargaining session. No pay will be tied to performance next school year while the task force works out details on how this model could work.

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Concerned teachers drew comparisons between the districts proposal and a pay-for-performance schedule, which had a controversial run at another local district.

Harrison School District 2 was among the first in Colorado to implement a pay-for-performance system in 2010 in an effort to boost student performance.

Many employees initially liked the idea, which replaced the traditional salary increases with a merit system that placed high expectations on teachers, administrators and students, and required frequent testing. Employees who met effectiveness benchmarks were rewarded with higher salaries.

However, by 2019, the system had not been upgraded and D-2s raises and salaries were lagging other districts in the area. The district suspended the compensation model for the 2019-2020 school year to study its effectiveness before eliminating it completely.

D-11 administrators maintained their proposal was not a pay-for-performance model because there is no link between student achievement and salary. CSEA disagreed.

Its emphasized that this is not pay for performance, its not pay for student test score performance. We get that, but it is clearly pay for performance on various other non-teaching tasks, CSEA President Joe Schott said at the May 8 session.

The two parties worked through revised language pertaining to the salary schedule and accompanying task force before reaching an agreement Tuesday.

This is what problem solving should look like, and it was really, really good this year, Schott said. You all didnt see that. Thats too bad because everybody worked really hard, and it produced an excellent result.
Carson Middle School students and staff can meet and relax in a brand new lounge area during the school day, thanks to a donation valued at more than $4,000 from IKEA. The school community got its first look at the space during a ribbon-cutting ceremony Wednesday.

What students described as a pass-through spot on a landing along Mount Everest, the three flights of stairs separating the campus old building from the new one, is now furnished with ample seating, tables, lamps and a projector and speaker system.

The first thing I thought of was, Im gonna skip all my classes today and sleep on this couch, eighth grade student Brayden Manuma said. I just want more. I want the whole entire stairway to be made into a living room.

The space is the first of an anticipated eight lounge areas planned throughout the school, Principal Anthony Greco said. Each lounge will give new purpose to under-utilized spots as funding and donations become available.

The process began less than two months ago, said school social worker Brittany Harris-Eaves, who assisted with the effort. The school reached out to IKEA with a vision for a social-emotional space where students could come together post-pandemic and engage with one another, a space that served as an extension of the welcoming atmosphere Harris-Eaves' office works to create.

Some students might get overwhelmed or they might be having a bad day, but Im hoping when they walk into this space they feel welcome and they feel light, they feel free from all of the burdens they may have been carrying, Harris-Eaves said.

IKEA quickly jumped on board with the idea and became the first sponsor of its size to donate items to the school, Harris-Eaves said.

The furniture company sets aside money each year for life improvement projects with particular initiatives devoted to military and teacher appreciation, IKEA loyalty manager Meagan Chiron said. Carsons proposal at the intersection of children, military, and health and wellness made it a natural fit with the companys partnership mission, she said, with the possibility for future collaborations.

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Were not a one-and-done type of donation. Were looking for longer-term communication, commitment and partnership, Chiron said.

Before the outfitting by IKEA, the space had just a couple of chairs and a foosball table, which has since moved upstairs. It could only accommodate a couple of students at a time, said eighth grade student Joel Tompkins, who sometimes came to the area during lunch and would have to sit on the floor for lack of seating.

The chairs were so small where I felt like Shaquille ONeal, Manuma added.

IKEA worked with school leaders in fleshing out their vision and deployed its team of designers in choosing furniture options that kept true to school colors black and gold. Longtime community partner TDS Telecom joined in the collaboration by donating a projector and speaker system.

A corner by the front entrance is next on the list of spaces to receive a makeover in August, this time courtesy of Walmart, Greco said.

The schools strong military composition means about two or three families come and go each week as parents change stations. For this reason, 48% of students dont finish their time at Carson, Greco said. The next redesign will create a parents lounge where these families can meet with the principal in a comfortable setting and work on laptops to enroll their children with his help.

The biggest thing is it brings us all back together. Everybody was in their bubble during COVID, and now everybody is ready to conjoin again, Harris-Eaves said.
An El Paso County man is in federal custody after authorities say he fled the country to elude felony charges of sexual assault on a child.

Bobby Allen Stark, 52, escaped to the South American country Guyana while out on bond ahead of a jury trial last year. Stark was first arrested in April that year in connection with what the El Paso County Sheriffs Office called a lengthy and complex investigation into alleged sex crimes against a juvenile.

Stark faces two felony charges of sexual assault on a child, one of which specifies a pattern of repeated abuse, for which he bonded out in May 2022 on $25,000  and disappeared. Court records show Stark failed to appear at his jury trial in October 2022.

For months, Starks whereabouts were not known to law enforcement. A $1,000 reward was offered in March for information, and it was a tip that eventually brought the search to Guyana, according to the Sheriffs Office.

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Local Guyana officials arrested Stark Friday, and he was escorted back to the U.S., where he remains in federal custody. The Sheriffs Office said Stark will return to Colorado Springs to face his charges.

Charges related to his escape have not been announced.

The United States Embassy thanks the Government of Guyana, Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions and the Guyana Police Force for their commitment and determination in maintaining the rule of law and ensuring foreign fugitives do not seek or find refuge in Guyana to avoid prosecution, the U.S. Embassy in Guyana wrote in a statement.
A Littleton police officer grinned like a child as President Joe Biden secured a gleaming Public Safety Officer Medal of Valor around his neck. Cpl. Jeff Farmer traveled to Washington D.C. to accept the award  considered the highest decoration for bravery a service officer can receive.

The official ceremony, presented by Biden and U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland, was a polar opposite from the intensity of the event that earned him the recognition. It was Sept. 20, 2021, when Farmer pulled a bleeding colleague from an apartment door stoop and took off like a jet for the hospital.

That evening at around 11 p.m., Farmer and Officer David Snook responded to a 911 call of shots fired from a gold Impala in the area of West Powers Avenue and Bannock Street in northeast Littleton, according to arrest records obtained by The Denver Gazette.

When the two officers questioned a man and woman they saw walking nearby, they realized the male was the suspect they were looking for, according to arrest records.

Thats when suspect Rigoberto Valas-Dominguez fled to his apartment where he and Snook traded gunfire. Snook was shot eight times, including once in the neck, and lay at the base of a stairwell until Farmer pulled him away while trading gunfire with Valas-Dominguez, the arrest record reported.

During the exchange, Farmer lost his radio and could not call for extra help.

Mark Diamond was outside when Valas-Dominguez started firing. He called 911 with a neighbor.

"I heard three, four pretty loud shots, Diamond said. I heard an officer call for help and he said he didn't have a radio, so me and my neighbor called 911 for him. I don't know if he dropped his radio or if he just never had it, but the cops were here fast."

The Medal of Valor panel commended his "courage, poise and uncommon loyalty" as he dragged Snook from the area and transferred him to a waiting police car where he performed lifesaving techniques.

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Doctors said it was Farmers quick decision not to wait for an ambulance that saved Snook from bleeding to death.

Valas-Dominguez escaped and was apprehended several days later in Brighton at a girlfriends house. His trial is scheduled for July 11 and is expected to take four days.

Blanca Arrieta pleaded guilty to one count of accessory to a crime. A second charge was dismissed. A Certified Nurses Aid, Arriets was gifted the gold Impala by a patient, according to the arrest affidavit.

Snook, who survived the incident after several medical operations, declined an interview request. But Littleton Police Public Information Officer Sheera Poelen said: "Hes back to walking and talking.

Snook, who was a 13-year veteran and is the father of three sons, has now retired from active-duty police work and serves as a support services coordinator for Littleton Police.

The White House annually recognizes first responders who demonstrate extraordinary valor above and beyond the call of duty to save another persons life.

Farmer was one of nine service members who received the 2021-2022 Medal of Valor, including two New York Police Department officers who were ambushed and killed responding to a 911 call, a Houston cop who subdued a heavily armed man with his hands, and a Clermont County, Ohio, first responder who jumped into a lake to save a woman who had driven into it.

Farmer flew to Washington D.C. to attend the Public Safety Medal of Valor event with Littleton Police Chief Doug Stephens, who nominated him for the honor.

Since its inception in 2001, more than 100 firefighters, EMS personnel and federal and local officers have received the award.
President Joe Biden has scrapped his trip to Australia and Papua New Guinea after being criticized for heading abroad during a debt ceiling stand-off.

But tinkering with his travel plans does not counter projections the Treasury Department will run out of money to pay the country's bills by June 1. Nor does it address liberal Democrats' concerns Biden may concede too much to Republicans or contend with an emboldened House GOP conference that is seeking as many concessions as possible.

HOW THE SUPREME COURT COULD BE FORCED TO WADE INTO BIDEN DEBT CEILING FIGHT

Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) are hopeful they can broker a debt ceiling deal by the end of the week. But even if they can cobble together an agreement, McCarthy still needs to sell it to the narrow majority that elevated him to the speakership through a historic 15 ballots. McCarthy can also be forced to defend his speakership by only one lawmaker.

There are "definitely" Republicans who will not support "a watered-down" debt ceiling deal in comparison to the House GOP's Limit, Save, Grow Act, "the question is how many," according to one senior Republican aide.

"The looming X date is going to spook some members into voting for whatever's in front of them, but the conservatives who are digging in their heels rightfully believe that Biden has had all year to join these discussions, but he chose to do it mere days from the deadline  and they're not going to compromise on their principles just because Biden's a procrastinator," the source told the Washington Examiner. "The Republican majority in the House has been taking this seriously for months, so Democrats either need to show that they have the votes for their plan  what is their plan?  or they have to meet us where we already are."

"Since the House passed its proposal to lower spending and raise the debt limit and Senate Republicans are standing behind it, if the White House doesn't negotiate the proposal in good faith, that will risk a deal," another Republican aide said.

But Republican strategist Cesar Conda was less pessimistic, saying, "When it comes to the debt ceiling negotiations, it is always darkest before the dawn.

"Biden has put two Republican ideas on the table  a discretionary spending cap and an expanded work requirement for welfare programs," he said. "My sense is a six- or seven-year cap, instead of 10 years, would be acceptable to Republicans. If Biden can agree to permitting reform and maybe restoration of Title 42, there is a deal to be had. But if Biden insists on tax increases, the whole house of cards could tumble."

McCarthy, for his part, has described the inclusion of work requirements and the exclusion of new taxes as "red lines" for a debt ceiling deal. Work requirements are a central demand of Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL), one House Republican who opposed McCarthy becoming speaker.

Biden and McCarthy agreed Tuesday after their third debt ceiling meeting since February and their second in a week to decrease the number of negotiators after complaints too many people were involved in the process. Presidential counselor Steve Ricchetti and White House Office of Management and Budget Director Shalanda Young will represent Biden, while Rep. Garrett Graves (R-LA) will stand in for McCarthy.

"The president emphasized that while more work remains on a range of difficult issues, he's optimistic that there is a path to a responsible, bipartisan budget agreement if both sides negotiate in good faith and recognize that neither side will get everything it wants," the White House wrote in a statement. "The president directed staff to continue to meet daily on outstanding issues. He said that he would like to check in with leaders later this week by phone and meet with them upon his return from overseas."

"What has changed in this meeting is the president changed the scope of who's all negotiating," McCarthy added to reporters after the hourlong sit-down. "The structure of how we negotiate has improved. So, it now gives you a better opportunity."

A debt ceiling deal appears to be taking shape behind capping federal spending for the rest of Biden's term, tapping unspent COVID-19 funding, introducing work requirements for forms of federal aid, and implementing permitting reforms to expedite energy projects. But the president being amenable to work requirements for SNAP, or food stamps, and TANF, cash assistance for needy families, has upset Democrats.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) called food stamp work requirements "despicable," saying she cannot back a debt ceiling deal "that is only about hurting people."

"I sure didn't come to Washington to take vital assistance away from working people," Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) said. "I cannot in good conscience support a debt ceiling proposal that pushes people into poverty."

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER

Biden is poised to depart for Japan on Wednesday for the Group of Seven leaders meeting in Hiroshima before returning to the White House this weekend. He had been scheduled to head to Australia for a Quad summit before becoming the first president to stop in Papua New Guinea on the way home.

"All I know is we got 16 more days to go," McCarthy told reporters earlier Tuesday. "I don't think I would spend eight days somewhere out of the country."

Original Location: Biden cuts short trip abroad but still faces debt ceiling problems at home

Washington Examiner Videos
A California Democratic representative reintroduced legislation to protect personal reproductive health data on Wednesday, the same day a federal appeals court considered whether to strike down federal approval of the abortion drug mifepristone.

Rep. Sara Jacobs (D-CA) reintroduced the My Body, My Data Act of 2022 on the House floor on Wednesday. The bill aims to limit the collection of personal reproductive and sexual health data not protected by HIPAA regulations that are stored on period tracking apps and cellphones, search engines, and other entities.

KAMALA HARRIS TAKES HER PLACE AT THE DEBT LIMIT NEGOTIATING TABLE

In New Orleans, three federal judges are considering an appeal to a Texas judge's April decision to strike down the Food and Drug Administration's approval of mifepristone, one of two drugs used for medical abortions. The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel seemed skeptical of the agency's approval of the drug during the hearing.

Both mifepristone and misoprostol remain available nationwide as the court hearing plays out.

Rep. Sara Jacobs, D-Calif., speaks as members of Congress share recollections of the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the U.S. Capitol on the one year anniversary of the attack Thursday, Jan. 6, 2022. Mandel Ngan/AP

Jacobs introduced the same legislation in 2022 when Democrats held the majority, but it failed to gain traction. Now, as it is being introduced in the Republican-led lower chamber, the bill may face even more obstacles to becoming law.

However, Jacobs said in a statement that it has "never been more urgent to protect our reproductive and sexual health data."

"Like millions of young people, I use a period tracking app  and the information in these apps, along with fertility tracking apps, search history, location data, and so much more, can be collected, shared, and sold without our consent and even used to investigate and prosecute legal cases," Jacobs said, adding that the act puts "power back in people's hands and ensure that we control our own personal data."

"My legislation provides the highest level of protection for reproductive and sexual health data  and I urge my colleagues from both sides of the aisle to support and pass it," Jacobs continued.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER

Republicans have taken steps to prevent similar data privacy protection bills at the state level, most recently in Virginia.

Virginia Republicans, directed by Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R-VA), shelved a bill in February that would have prohibited authorities from using search warrants to seize menstrual data histories stored in tracking apps on electronic devices.

Original Location: California Democrat introduces bill to restrict data sharing on period-tracking apps

Washington Examiner Videos
Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) announced on Tuesday he is sending troops to help Texas "defend the southern border" following the end of Title 42 last week.

DeSantis, who is reportedly preparing to launch a run for the White House in the coming weeks, said he would deploy 101 Florida Highway Patrol troopers, 200 Florida law enforcement officers, and 800 Florida National Guard soldiers, among other resources, to help Texas secure its border as early as Wednesday.

SUPREME COURT COULD WADE INTO DEBT CEILING FIGHT

"The impacts of Biden's border crisis are felt by communities across the nation, and the federal government's abdication of duty undermines the sovereignty of our country and the rule of law," DeSantis said. "At my direction, state agencies including law enforcement and the Florida National Guard are being deployed to Texas, with assets including personnel, boats, and planes. While Biden ignores the crisis he created, Florida stands ready to help Texas respond to this crisis."

The aid to Texas is possible through the Emergency Management Assistance Compact, a partnership that allows states to provide resources to other states in emergencies. Both Texas and Florida are part of the EMAC.

President Joe Biden faced bipartisan criticism as Title 42, the pandemic-era policy that allowed immigrants to be expelled from the southern border, expired last week. But administration officials announced on Monday that illegal border crossings were not as high as predicted. Fewer than 5,000 immigrants have been apprehended illegally crossing the border each day, Blas Nunez-Neto, assistant secretary for border and immigration policy at the Department of Homeland Security, told reporters.

Nonetheless, securing the border is a popular mandate among GOP primary voters, whom DeSantis will be counting on to support him while taking on former President Donald Trump for the GOP's 2024 presidential nomination. At a fundraiser event over the weekend in Sioux Center, Iowa, a crucial early voting state, DeSantis received a standing ovation when he called to shut down the border.

"We have every right to have that border secured and not have this disaster unfolding," said DeSantis at the Feenstra Family Picnic event. "I tell you this ... well, what would you do? It's like, I would shut down the border immediately."

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER

DeSantis, although he has not entered the 2024 race, is widely expected to launch a campaign in June. He remains Trump's closest competitor in the primary race despite declining poll numbers.

The Florida governor previously sent law enforcement aid to Texas in 2021, when Gov. Greg Abbott (R-TX) requested resources to secure the border.

Original Location: DeSantis sends troops to Texas to 'secure the southern border'

Washington Examiner Videos
By Asif Shahzad

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan said on Wednesday that police had surrounded his house and that he expected to be rearrested soon, after the government warned him to hand over supporters who it blamed for attacks on the army.

Khan was arrested by a paramilitary force on May 9 on graft allegations, which he denies, triggering a wave of violence that has deepened political instability in the South Asian nation of 220 million. Pakistan has also been facing its worst ever economic crisis, with a long delay in securing critical IMF funding.

The country's Supreme Court ordered Khan's release on bail last Friday.

But on Wednesday the government accused him of sheltering aides and supporters wanted over the attacks following his arrest, and warned he had 24 hours to hand them over or face a police operation.

Khan, 70, a former captain of Pakistan's cricket team, said his re-arrest was imminent. Hours earlier, Islamabad's High Court had granted him a bail extension until May 31, his lawyer Faisal Chaudhry said.

"Probably my last tweet before my next arrest," Khan tweeted on Wednesday evening, adding that police had surrounded his house in the eastern city of Lahore.

In a live video statement, he said his opponents were out to trigger a fight between him and the army.

"I'm afraid that this will bring a big backlash that will cause huge loss to our country," he said. "... If someone thinks that this strategy can win a ban on my party, it is not going to happen."

He demanded a judicial commission headed by the chief justice to probe the violence.

Punjab province's information minister Amir Mir said intelligence and law enforcement agencies had identified that some 30 to 40 people accused of attacking military installations were hiding at Khan's home.

"We're giving an ultimatum that these terrorists should be turned over to the police, or else there will be action," Mir told a press conference. He said Khan had 24 hours to surrender the suspects, and that a police operation would be launched if he did not comply.

Khan's aide, Iftikhar Durrani, denied the former PM was sheltering people suspected of involvement in the violence.

Khan, who has been rallying his supporters to demand a snap election since he was ousted in a parliamentary vote of confidence in April 2022, called on authorities to come to his house with arrest warrants rather than storming it.

MILITARY COURTS

Following Khan's arrest, thousands of supporters attacked and set on fire scores of government and public buildings, including the army's headquarters. More than 3,000 people are already in custody over the violence.

Federal Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb described the attacks on army installations as "sedition" saying those involved in them would be tried in military courts.

The military had already announced that those who attacked its installations would be tried under army laws, calling the May 9 attacks "pre-planned" and ordered by leaders of Khan's party, which he and his party deny.

The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP), an independent civil rights group, said on Tuesday it opposed the use of military laws to try civilians, saying it risked denying their right to due process.

(This story has been corrected to say that Khan was arrested by the paramilitary force, not the army, in paragraph 2)

(Additional reporting by Gibran Peshimam in Karachi and Mubasher Bukhari in Lahore; Editing by Alex Richardson, Toby Chopra and John Stonestreet)
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S.-made Patriot missile defense system being used by Ukraine likely suffered some damage from a Russian strike, two U.S. officials said on Tuesday, adding that it did not appear to have been destroyed.

The Patriot system is one of an array of sophisticated air defense units supplied by the West to help Ukraine repel a Russian campaign of air strikes that has targeted critical infrastructure, power facilities and other sites.

One U.S. official, speaking on the condition of anonymity and citing initial information, said Washington and Kyiv were already talking about the best way to repair the system and at this point it did not appear the system would have to be removed from Ukraine.

The official added that the United States would have a better understanding in the coming days and information could change over time.

The Patriot is considered to be one of the most advanced U.S. air defense systems, including against aircraft, cruise missiles and ballistic missiles. It typically includes launchers along with radar and other support vehicles.

Russia's defense ministry said on Tuesday that it had destroyed a U.S.-built Patriot surface-to-air missile defense system with a "hypersonic" Kinzhal missile in an overnight strike on Ukraine.

Ukraine said earlier that it had shot down 18 Russian missiles overnight, including an entire volley of six Kinzhals. When asked about the Ukrainian claim, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu dismissed it, the RIA news agency reported.

It was not clear which Western weapon Ukraine used. The Pentagon had no immediate comment.

(Reporting by Idrees Ali, Phil Stewart and Mike Stone; editing by Grant McCool)
A 329-page report published by Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) on Wednesday examines the "political chronology" of the COVID-19 outbreak in China, intending to shine a light on operational problems at the Chinese state-run Wuhan Institute of Virology and the possibility of the coronavirus leaking from the lab.

The hypothesis that COVID-19 came from the state-run Wuhan lab has continued to be explored by federal lawmakers after the Energy Department determined with "low confidence" that a lab leak was the most likely origin of the disease. Rubio's new report cites over 80 English and Chinese sources to trace how China's government handled "biosecurity, biosafety, and public health" matters from 2018 to 2021 and engaged in an alleged "cover-up" of the deadly disease before it rippled across the world.

HOW THE SUPREME COURT COULD BE FORCED TO WADE INTO BIDEN DEBT CEILING FIGHT

"As long as we approach the origin as an inherently scientific question to be answered solely by the methods of science, we empower the CCP to keep hiding the data that would most readily satisfy the evidentiary standards of science," the report, which was obtained by the Washington Examiner, reads. "It is not the limits of science that constrain our understanding of the origin of SARS-CoV-2. It was the political decision to block scientists from accessing the clinical and genomic data that would have allowed them to methodically reconstruct what happened.

"For this reason, we approached the origin question as a political puzzle, first and foremost, with a scientific component that is important, but not decisively so," the report adds. "This report borrowed a legal standard  the preponderance of the evidence  to assess what we know at this juncture, using the admittedly incomplete information we have available. Whatever its limitations, we trust that most readers will judge this report to be a useful contribution to the search for answers and accountability."

Rubio's report comes after the National Institutes of Health came under fire last week from Republican lawmakers when EcoHealth Alliance, a nonprofit group that received hundreds of thousands of dollars in federal grant money between 2014 and 2020, announced that the agency would resume its award. EcoHealth, which previously partnered with the Wuhan lab for coronavirus bat research, was informed by the NIH in 2020 that the grant would be suspended.

The Wuhan lab's parent organization is the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the largest scientific group in China that is also under government control. In his report, Rubio cites the fact that Wuhan lab leaders warned in 2019 of "urgent problems" and "severe consequences that could result from hidden safety dangers" following reports indicating that the lab maintained a variety of biosafety problems.

China's President Xi Jinping speaks during a meeting. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

Out of the 749 senior researchers at the Chinese Academy of Sciences in 2015, 54 worked for China's defense industry or the People's Liberation Army, the country's principal military force, according to the report. The government's vast influence over Chinese operations such as the Wuhan lab is a deep concern outlined in the report, which cites how some lab researchers were trained by PLA-run entities.

"Expressions of concern about biosafety risks at the state-run WIV did not begin with speculation about the origin of SARS-CoV-2 in 2020," the report, citing China's gain-of-function research through the years, reads. "As early as 2015, some scientists had called into question whether the potential benefits to be gained from the WIV's research involving the artificial manipulation and creation of chimeric coronaviruses was worth the considerable risks to public health inherent to this line of research."

The Wuhan lab, however, has periodically been the subject of health concerns following inspections over the years, according to Rubio's report, which cites an April 2021 article by the People's Daily, a CCP-run newspaper, detailing how Chinese President Xi Jinping informed the party's Congress in 2018 to be alert for a "SARS-like virus." Xi's speech does not appear to have ever been published in full, according to the report.

In terms of "early warning signs," Rubio's report highlights how "CCP leaders at the Wuhan CAS" met with personnel from the Wuhan lab in April 2019 and briefed them on an "extremely accurate and detailed report" on the lab's problems after a "political inspection tour." Three months later, in July 2019, the lab's CCP secretary Xiao Gengfu met with WIV leaders and spoke of "current shortcomings and foundational problems that exist in the construction, operational processes, and maintenance processes in the P4 laboratory."

By September 2019, Rubio's report alleges that China's government was engaging in a cover-up in terms of the coronavirus. It cites how the Wuhan lab shut down its online virus database in the middle of the night on Sept. 12, 2019, and six days later, the lab advised the Wuhan airport on "emergency response drill activities" that included one exercise on responding to a "novel coronavirus."

A patient whose name is only known to be "Su" died on Sept. 21, 2019, which some researchers believe to be the first person to get infected with COVID-19, the report notes. The 61-year-old woman notably lived in Wuhan, according to multiple news reports.

This Saturday, Feb. 22, 2020, photo released by Xinhua News Agency, shows medical workers in protective suits at a coronavirus detection lab in Wuhan in central China's Hubei Province. The fresh national figures for the disease that emerged in China in December came as the number of viral infections soared mostly in and around the southeastern city of Daegu, where they were linked to a local church and a hospital. (Cheng Min/Xinhua via AP) Cheng Min/AP

The report also traces what it calls China's "international deception," according to a two-page executive summary reviewed by the Washington Examiner. For instance, it notes that the CCP in 2020 targeted whistleblower doctors, mandated the destruction of virus samples, and began working on a COVID-19 vaccine no later than November 2019  which is roughly two months prior to China's government acknowledging the existence of SARS-CoV-2.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER

As far as alleged lab leak theory clues, the report cites how researchers at the Wuhan lab filed invention patents intended to fix pitfalls with its waste handling, air pressure system, and biocontainment equipment from December 2019 to October 2021. These various control problems may explain how a pathogen could have escaped the Wuhan lab, according to the report.

"These innovations that the WIV sought to patent were technical solutions to specific biosafety problems, including those that WIV authors explicitly described as posing a serious risk for the escape of a highly consequential pathogen into the external environment," the report reads.

Read the full report below:

Original Location: Rubio COVID-19 report traces pandemic origins and Wuhan lab leak hypothesis

Washington Examiner Videos
Photo: The Canadian Press Speaker of the National Assembly Kim Jin-pyo looks on as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks to the National Assembly in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says authoritarianism is gaining ground in an address to South Korean National Assembly Wednesday morning.

The prime minister is in Seoul for his first official visit to South Korea and as Canada vies to strengthen ties between the two countries, and become "the best of friends."

In his address, he says "antagonistic countries" are taking advantage of economic interdependence to their own geopolitical advantage.

Trudeau's visit to South Korea follows on commitments from both countries to strengthen economic and military ties to counterbalance the influence of China.

Trudeau goes on to tell parliamentarians the "world is facing a moment of uncertainty" as countries recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, while economic anxiety and climate change add stress to people's lives.

He argues Canada and South Korea can be partners in addressing climate change, which he says is also a way to safeguard against geopolitical instability and build more resilient economies.
The United States Secret Service is investigating an intruder at the home of national security adviser Jake Sullivan.

The alleged incident occurred in late April, when an unknown man walked into Sullivan's home at approximately 3 a.m., despite a round-the-clock security detail. The agents were allegedly unaware that a man had breached security, unnamed sources told the Washington Post.

HOW BIDEN HAS STRUGGLED TO KEEP DEMOCRATS TOGETHER ON ENVIRONMENTAL PUSH

Sullivan, who instructed the man to leave, was not harmed during the incident, according to Secret Service Chief of Communications Anthony Guglielmi.

"Secret Service is examining a security incident that took place at a protectee site," Guglielmi told the Washington Examiner. "While the protectee was unharmed, we are taking this matter seriously and have opened a comprehensive mission assurance investigation to review all facets of what occurred. Any deviation from our protective protocols is unacceptable, and if discovered, personnel will be held accountable."

He added: "Modifications to the protective posture have also been made to ensure additional security layers are in place as we conduct this comprehensive review."

CLICK HERE FOR MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER

The man appeared intoxicated and did not know exactly where he was, including not knowing that he was in the home of the national security adviser, a source familiar with the incident told the Washington Post.

It is not clear whether any charges have been brought against the intruder.

Original Location: Secret Service investigating intruder at home of national security adviser

Washington Examiner Videos
There are several states issuing payments to eligible residents either currently or within the next few weeks, and the highest amount one can receive from these payments is $1,500.

Some of the payments being issued by these states are part of a tax rebate, and others are being issued as part of a program. The amount of money one receives from these payments will vary based on what state the recipient resides in, if the person is married or single, and how much a recipient's annual income is.

SOCIAL SECURITY UPDATE: COLA IN 2024 COULD BE JUST 3.1%, FORECAST SAYS

Here's a breakdown of what's available to whom in the states.

Georgia

Residents of the Peach State will be receiving money from a surplus tax refund this month that will pay $250 to single taxpayers, $375 to head of household taxpayers, and $500 to married couples filing jointly, according to the Georgia Department of Revenue.

To be eligible for this refund, a recipient must have filed an individual income tax return for tax year 2021 and tax year 2022 by the April 18 deadline, must have had a liability for the 2021 tax year, and must be either a Georgia resident, part-year resident, or nonresident. Taxpayers who successfully filed by the April 18 deadline should wait between six and eight weeks to receive their refund.

Those waiting for their refund can check the status of their payment by clicking here and entering the required information.

Maine

Maine began issuing payments from its Emergency Winter Energy Relief Plan in January. The payments are worth $450 for individual recipients, and married joint filers for the 2021 Maine individual income tax return get $900.

All payments were expected to have been mailed out by March 31. If a person is expecting to receive this payment but continues to face delays, one should send an email to relief.payment@maine.gov.

Additionally, recipients can check the status of their payment here.

New Jersey

New Jersey has issued the majority of its payments from its Affordable New Jersey Communities for Homeowners and Renters program. This program gives homeowners a payment of $1,500 if their annual income is $150,000 or less or $1,000 if their annual income is between $150,001 and $250,000.

Renters receive a fraction of what their homeowner counterparts get, but they get a payment of $450.

As of March 2023, more than 1.7 million New Jersey residents applied for the program, including 1.25 million homeowners and over 514,000 renters. Most of the payments were issued before May 3, according to a statement from Gov. Phil Murphy (D-NJ).

New Mexico

New Mexico residents are set to receive a tax refund in mid-June. The payments will include $500 for single filers and $1,000 for joint filers, according to New Mexico Taxation & Revenue.

"Prices for basic necessities continue to be high across the nation," Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D-NM) said. "Our state today is in a fantastic financial position, and it's important to me that New Mexico's families are sharing in that success."

To be eligible for this rebate, New Mexico residents must have filed a 2021 personal income tax return by May 31, 2024.

Original Location: Stimulus check update: Direct payments worth up to $1,500 could come from these states

Washington Examiner Videos
New York City Mayor Eric Adams announced on Tuesday that immigrants who came into the United States through the southern border after the end of Title 42 will be temporarily housed in school gymnasiums.

All the gyms selected must have stand-alone gyms that are separate from the rest of the campus to separate them from the children and staff at the schools. Up to 20 gyms are being looked at as options.

EVIDENCE SHOWS IMMIGRATION REDUCES WAGES SIGNIFICANTLY

"This is one of the last places we want to look at. None of us are comfortable with having to take these drastic steps," the Democratic mayor told NY1. "Each gym, the 20 gyms that we are looking at, we have not made a final determination on all the gyms, but that we are looking at are separate from the actual school buildings. They are independent from the school buildings."

A lone protester sits outside P.S. 172 as students exit after classes end for the day, Tuesday, May 16, 2023, in New York. New York City Mayor Eric Adam's plan to temporarily house immigrants in the school's gymnasium has frustrated some community members who protested outside the building earlier in the day. (AP Photo/John Minchillo) John Minchillo/AP

At least one of the selected schools reassured parents and community upset over the news that security precautions were in place and the immigrants would not interfere with school functions.

"This should not impact school operations, nor will the families have access to any other part of the school where students and staff are," school officials said in a letter sent to parents obtained by WABC.

Parents and community members chant as they march around P.S. 189 to protest New York City Mayor Eric Adam's plan to temporarily house immigrants in the school's gymnasium, Tuesday, May 16, 2023, in New York. (AP Photo/John Minchillo) John Minchillo/AP

Officials cite as many as 65,000 asylum-seekers have come through the city so far, including 4,200 last week. The city expects as many as 15 buses this weekend, according to Adams.

Suburbs and neighboring counties in New York have received criticism from the Adams administration recently after refusing to take in more immigrants. Officials in Rockland and Orange Counties have gone so far as to implement a restraining order on New York City, prohibiting it from sending immigrants. However, a spokesperson for Adams said it is ultimately up to the federal government to step in and help.

"We need the federal government to step up, but until they do, we need other elected officials around the state and country to do their part," the spokesperson told ABC News. "New York City is out of space and we're only asking Orange County to manage approximately one-fourth of 1% of the asylum seekers who have come to New York City, with New York paying for shelter, food, and services."

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER

With the end of Title 42, a pandemic-era policy that allowed easier expulsion of immigrants who entered the U.S. illegally, Gov. Greg Abbott (R-TX) has resumed sending busloads of immigrants to sanctuary cities to help relieve some of the burdens on border towns.

Abbott first started sending immigrants through buses last year and said it was partly to show city officials the realities of the border crisis.

Original Location: Title 42 ends: New York City announces plans to house immigrants in school gyms

Washington Examiner Videos
By Andrew Chung

(Reuters) -The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday left in place a Democratic-backed ban on assault-style rifles and large capacity magazines enacted in Illinois after a deadly mass shooting in Chicago's Highland Park suburb in 2022, handing a setback to gun rights advocates.

The court denied a request by the National Association for Gun Rights and a firearms retailer for an injunction blocking enforcement of the state law and a similar ban enacted by another Chicago suburb, Naperville, while a legal challenge to the measures proceeds. No justice publicly dissented from the decision.

Democratic Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker in January signed into law the Protect Illinois Communities Act that banned the sale and distribution of many kinds of high-powered semiautomatic "assault weapons," including AK-47 and AR-15 rifles, as well as magazines that take more than 10 rounds for long guns and 15 rounds for handguns.

Pritzker welcomed the Supreme Court's action.

"The gun lobby has insisted on every legal maneuver to block this law, refusing to acknowledge that lives will be saved by this important piece of legislation. Despite these challenges, I remain confident that the assault weapons ban will be upheld and will create a safer Illinois for our residents," Pritzker said.

The law exempts existing owners, giving them a deadline of Jan. 1, 2024, to register their assault weapons with state police.

National Association for Gun Rights President Dudley Brown said the case will eventually return to the Supreme Court to be decided on the merits.

"Commonly owned weapons are protected by the Second Amendment and banning them has to stop," Brown said.

Brown said that lower courts have been ignoring a landmark ruling by the Supreme Court's last June that recognized the right to carry a handgun in public for self-defense.

Brown's group, as well as a Naperville-based firearms store, Law Weapons & Supply and its owner Robert Bevis, challenged the city's ordinance restricting the sale of certain assault rifles and the state's broader ban as a violation of the U.S. Constitution's Second Amendment, which protects the right to "keep and bear" arms.

The case is one of several contesting the state's ban in both federal and state courts.

Illinois passed the ban in response to a massacre at an Independence Day parade in Highland Park in 2022 that left seven people dead and dozens of others wounded.

In signing the law, Pritzker also cited other recent mass shootings - frequent occurrences in the United States - including a 2022 attack that killed 19 children and two teachers at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, and a 2012 killing of 20 children and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut.

A gunman wearing tactical gear and carrying an AR-15-style rifle killed eight people on May 6 at a Texas mall before he was shot by police, prompting President Joe Biden to renew calls for the U.S. Congress to ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, as well as to enact universal background checks and end immunity for gun manufacturers.

A federal assault weapon ban enacted in 1994 lapsed a decade later and has not been renewed by Congress despite Democratic efforts. In the absence of broad action by Congress on gun control, some states have enacted various measures, often drawing legal challenges on Second Amendment grounds.

The Supreme Court, with its conservative majority, has expanded gun rights in key rulings since 2008.

Last June's ruling, which struck down New York state gun limits on carrying concealed firearms, also announced a legal standard that could make it harder for lower courts to sustain new or existing gun regulations, requiring them to be comparable with restrictions traditionally adopted throughout U.S. history.

U.S. District Judge Virginia Kendall in February and the Chicago-based 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in April rejected the challengers' bid for an injunction.

(Reporting by Andrew Chung in New York; Additional reporting by John Kruzel in Washington; Editing by Will Dunham)
By Simon Lewis

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Myanmars military has imported at least $1 billion in arms and other material since it staged a coup in February 2021, a UN expert said on Wednesday in a new report that calls out Russia and China for aiding the junta's deadly campaign to crush its opposition.

Since the military seized power and jailed democratic leaders, some opponents of military rule have taken up arms, in places joining ethnic minority insurgents, and the military has responded with air strikes and heavy weapons, including in civilian areas.

Russian-made Mi-35 helicopter, MiG-29 fighter jets and Yak-130 light aircraft, and Chinese K-8 jets, have been most frequently used to conduct air strikes that have hit schools, medical facilities, homes and other civilian sites, said the report by Tom Andrews, the UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in Myanmar.

In a single attack on a village gathering organized by the military's opponents in Sagaing region on April 11, two bombs dropped from a Yak-130 killed at least 160 people, reportedly including nearly 40 children, the report said.

Myanmars military says it is targeting insurgents and after the Sagaing attack said any civilians killed were probably supporters of opponents it calls "terrorists."

The good news is we now know who is supplying these arms and the jurisdictions in which they operate, Andrews said in a statement, calling for UN members to step up and stop the flow of arms with a complete ban on the arms transfers to Myanmars military, enforcement of existing bans and coordinated sanctions.

The UN expert used trade data to detail transfers of arms and other goods, including raw materials for Myanmars domestic arms production, to the military since the coup worth $406 million from Russia and $267 million from China, including from state-owned entities in both countries.

State-owned entities in India also made a smaller volume of transfers, and companies in Singapore, India and Thailand were also involved in transfers to the military.

Some $227 million of material came from Rosoboronexport, Moscows state-owned arms exporter, which has transferred SU-30 fighter jets, supplies for MiG-29 jets and rocket launch systems to Myanmar, the report said.

Other Russian companies provided a range of tools, equipment and spare parts for Russian-supplied weapons systems, it said.

Weaponry provided by Russian suppliers has been used to commit probable war crimes and crimes against humanity in Myanmar, the report said.

The UN missions of the five countries mentioned in the report as sources of arms and material did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

At a news conference in New York, Andrews said Chinese officials had earlier criticized his reporting, saying he was vilifying legitimate trade in arms and operating outside his mandate by conducting analysis. Russian officials had expressed a similar response, Andrews said.

(Reporting by Simon Lewis; Editing by Daniel Wallis)
A United States convoy in Nigeria was attacked on Monday, resulting in a number of casualties, the White House confirmed.

The people who were injured or killed in the attack were not American citizens, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters.

PRICE TAG FOR BIDEN SIGNATURE CLIMATE LAW BALLOONS TO MULTIPLE OF INITIAL ESTIMATES

"Don't know a whole lot. I just got informed here before coming out to talk to y'all," he said. "It does look like a U.S. convoy was attacked. But I can tell you, no U.S. citizens were involved, therefore, there were no U.S. citizens hurt. But we are aware of some casualties, perhaps even some killed, but I don't want to get too far ahead of where we are right now. It just happened."

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER

Most details surrounding the attack remain unknown at this point, though Kirby noted the State Department is looking into the situation.

"We confirm there was an incident on May 16 in Anambra state," a State Department spokesperson told the Washington Examiner. "Mission Nigeria personnel are working with Nigerian security services to investigate. The security of our personnel is always paramount, and we take extensive precautions when organizing trips to the field. We have no further comment at this time."

Original Location: US convoy attacked in Nigeria with some casualties, but no Americans hurt

Washington Examiner Videos
Congratulations to Mayor-elect Yemi Mobolade, whom voters elected to serve as the citys third strong mayor for at least the next four years.

Mobolade will represent the countrys most desirable and 39th-largest city as a man who exemplifies Colorado Springs  a city in which Olympic athletes, astronauts, service personnel, religious leaders, educators, business entrepreneurs, children, families, health care and more seek high achievement for the benefit of all.

Mobolade did what people so often do at the base of mountain majesty. He achieved what others believed impossible. By winning a highly competitive race for mayor, he defied extraordinary odds.

Mobolade defeated City Councilman Wayne Williams, who has served Colorado and the Springs at high levels in public office. Before running for the City Council, Williams served as the nationally prominent Colorado secretary of state  a Republican praised by the left and right for ensuring safe and secure elections.

We cannot give enough thanks to Williams for the service and accomplishments that have improved our city.

Unlike Williams, Mayor-elect Mobolade has never been part of Colorados political class. Today, he holds a high rank in the political class as the next mayor of the states second-largest city.

A Nigerian immigrant who earned his American citizenship, Mobolade moved to the Springs a decade ago and made it his home. He cultivated friendships, earned trust and leveraged opportunities.

In the citys relatively safe and supportive environment, Mobolade started a family, three small businesses and a church. Though never elected to public office before Tuesday, Mobolade built a high reputation by voluntarily serving the community however he could. Throughout the election, Springs residents relayed stories of Mobolade bringing people together to solve problems.

Winning an office so important is no easy task for someone outside the established political structure. The win, of itself, attests to our next mayors charisma, warmth, sincerity and talent.

By winning high office, Mobolade should inspire others to set their goals high. With the election decided, the real work begins.

Mobolade will lead a city that took on a positive trajectory 12 years ago under the one-term leadership of then-Mayor Steve Bach, who declined to seek a second term.

Mayor John Suthers took the helm after serving as Colorado attorney general, U.S. attorney for Colorado and director of the states corrections division. His stable, competent leadership, on top of Bachs accomplishments, transformed the Springs from a cautionary tale to its stature as the gold standard of municipal excellence.

We are confident Mobolade will build on the work of Suthers to make Colorado Springs the envy of the world. To do so, he should:

 Continue supporting and expanding the citys police force, with a focus on making the Springs the countrys safest city;

 Continue expanding and improving transportation and stormwater infrastructure as the city grows;

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 Attract more airlines to serve the citys airport;

 Make our city the most business-friendly in the country, eliminating needless regulations and tax burdens that discourage production and trade;

 Create a fair playing field, upon which all can compete while playing by the rules;

 Protect and expand the citys water supply;

 Encourage and facilitate smart growth that respects the regions natural beauty;

 Encourage and facilitate private-sector ventures designed to establish more housing;

 Work with school districts to improve education;

 Constantly communicate with corporate and military leaders to ensure the city is meeting their needs;

 Prioritize parks, trails and open space;

 Work as a check on  and partner with  the City Council, County Commission, state Legislature, governor and the states congressional delegation.

Mostly, our new mayor should support the citys half-million residents in constructive endeavors, public and private.

To whom much is given, much is expected. We trust the voters who entrusted Mobolade to lead the citys future. It is a safe bet he will quickly make our great city greater.

Congratulations, Mayor Yemi Mobolade.

The Gazette Editorial Board
Colorado might be pretty moist at the moment following a couple rainy weeks, but the spring wildfire season is in full swing elsewhere on the continent.

According to the National Weather Service, it's likely to get pretty smokey in Colorado over upcoming days. The smoke will be traveling into the state from Canadian provinces of British Columbia and Alberta, where more than one million acres have been burned.

According to NASA, this is 10-times the average acreage burned for this time of the year in this Canadian region, also including wildfires taking place in Saskatchewan. Most of the wildfires are taking place in the province of Alberta, where 87 wildland fires are underway, roughly one-quarter of which are considered to be "out of control."

It's expected that the most noticeable smoke increase will come on Thursday. While most of the smoke will likely be higher, with impacts to long range visibility, a lower concentration of smoke could start to impact air quality tomorrow.
An attraction families are sure to love, Bounce Empire is set to open a 50,000-square-foot indoor inflatable amusement park in Lafayette, Colorado, on May 25. According to Bounce Empire, the attraction will set a world record as the largest indoor inflatable amusement park on the planet.

Not only will the attraction feature more than 50 bouncy attractions for all ages, including one of the world's longest inflatable obstacle courses at 280 feet, the spot will also have multiple bars, inflatable games, a lounge for those 21-plus, a concert space, movie theaters and dining.

The man behind the attraction is Colorado entrepreneur James Hay-Arthur, who estimates that guests will need at least four visits to fully experience the sprawling space.

"Bounce Empire has thrown down the gauntlet," said Hay-Arthur. "Everyone shares something in common when they walk through the door  they can't decide what to do first."

Patrons of Bounce Empire are set to pay $25 per hour, though a 'Grand Opening' promotion is also available, which gives guests two minutes of free amusement park time for every dollar spent on food and drinks at the spot.

More information can be found here.
Members of Colorado's congressional delegation and the mayor of Colorado Springs said on Tuesday that they expect Space Command's permanent location will be decided based on national security considerations, not abortion politics.

It's the latest wrinkle in an argument that has been raging for more than two years, since former President Donald Trump announced in the waning days of his administration that the command's headquarters would move from its temporary home in Colorado Springs to Huntsville, Ala.

At the urging of numerous Colorado officials, President Joe Biden announced plans soon after he took office to review the move. Despite the completion of multiple federal inquiries and near-constant rumors that a decision was imminent, no announcement has been made.

"I appreciate all the politics swirling around this, but I ultimately believe the decision is going to be made on the basis of national defense," Mayor John Suthers said in an interview, adding that he's confident the Biden administration is focusing on what's best for national security and the taxpayer.

Suthers said all indications are that the Biden administration is reviewing which location can reach full operational capacity the fastest, using a term military brass and administration officials have cited recently when they've hinted that the headquarters could remain where it is.

"I think Colorado Springs is going to prevail," Suthers added.

Democratic U.S. Sen. John Hickenlooper and U.S. Rep. Doug Lamborn, R-Colorado Springs, made similar points to The Gazette.

The Colorado officials were pushing back on an NBC News report published late Monday that quoted unnamed sources who suggested the Biden administration was considering reversing the move due to Alabama's restrictive abortion laws, though the White House told the news outlet that access to reproductive health care wasn't a factor in the pending basing decision.

"This is all about abortion politics," an anonymous source identified only as a "U.S. official" told NBC News.

Administration officials told the national outlet that Alabama Republican U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville's ongoing standoff with the administration over the military's abortion policies doesn't have anything to do with the Space Command decision, though one noted the lawmaker's stance is "not helping."

Since February, Tuberville has placed what's known as a "hold" on every Department of Defense nominee that's come before the Senate for confirmation, citing new Pentagon policies that allow servicemembers and their families to travel to other states to access reproductive health care. The move has effectively stalled more than 230 nominations, including general officer promotions.

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The Colorado lawmakers disputed the conclusion that abortion politics were playing a role in the decision.

Space Command should stay in Colorado Springs for the simple reason that its what our national security demands," Hickenlooper said in a statement.

"Putting aside Alabamas extreme abortion law and Senator Tubervilles cruel hold on military promotions, Space Command is nearly at Full Operational Capability," he said.

"Moving it to Alabama will delay us by years at a time when we are under serious threat from Russia and China," Hickenlooper added. "Trump admitted, on multiple occasions, that he was politically interfering with the militarys decision. We cant let that stand.

Lamborn, whose district includes Space Command's temporary headquarters, said the ability for Space Command to be fully operational sooner in Colorado should be enough to halt the move to Alabama.

National security is the only factor that should be taken into consideration when determining the permanent location of U.S. Space Command," Lamborn said in an emailed statement. "Space Command is already almost at full operational capability (FOC) in Building 1 at Peterson SFB, and will reach FOC four to six years faster if it stays where it is. Reaching FOC should be the primary determining factor for this decision given the threats posed by China and Russia. I support efforts to reverse the previous decision based on national security grounds in the best interests of our nation.

Lamborn told the Washington Examiner that he imagines there will be "some disappointed folks" in Alabama if the move is reversed.

"But I just don't see the administration making a decision on purely political grounds, like whether abortion is favored or not favored here or there," he added. "I would hope that they're professional enough to make national security the focus of how they make their decision."

Democrat Michael Bennet, Colorado's senior U.S. senator, has taken a somewhat different approach to arguing that Space Command should stay put, repeatedly taking to the Senate floor in recent months to challenge Tuberville's holds on Pentagon nominations.

As I said on the Senate floor last week, reproductive freedom is important for our military readiness and national security, and it should be a factor in where we base Space Command," Bennet told The Gazette on Monday. "Its time to finish deliberations and keep Space Command where it belongs: in Colorado."
Photo: The Canadian Press

Russia agreed to extend a deal that has allowed Ukraine to ship grain through the Black Sea to parts of the world struggling with hunger, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced Wednesday, a boost to global food security after the more than year-old war drove up prices.

I want to give a good news, Erdogan said. With the efforts of our country, the support of our Russian friends and the contribution of our Ukrainian friends, the Black Sea Grain Initiative has been extended by another two months.

Turkey and the U.N. brokered the breakthrough accord with the warring sides last summer, which came with a separate agreement to facilitate shipments of Russian food and fertilizer that Moscow insists hasn't been applied.

Russia had threatened to bow out if its concerns were not ironed out by Thursday. Such brinkmanship isnt new: With a similar extension in the balance in March, Russia unilaterally decided to renew the deal for a similar 60 days instead of the 120 days outlined in the agreement.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova confirmed the extension and that problems would need to be resolved at the technical level. Neither she nor Erdogan mentioned any concessions Moscow may have received.

"We will continue our efforts to ensure that all the conditions of the agreement are fulfilled so that it continues in the next period, said Erdogan, who announced the highly anticipated decision two days after being forced into a runoff in Turkey's presidential election.

Extending the Black Sea Grain Initiative is a win for countries in Africa, the Middle East and parts of Asia that rely on Ukrainian wheat, barley, vegetable oil and other affordable food products, especially as drought takes a toll. The deal helped lower prices of food commodities like wheat over the last year, but that relief has not reached kitchen tables.

Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Kubrakov wrote on Facebook that the world will continue to receive Ukrainian products thanks to the efforts of Turkey and the U.N.

He blamed Russia for dragging its heels on joint inspections of ships by Russian, Ukrainian, U.N. and Turkish officials and emphasized that it welcomed the continuation of deal but it has to work effectively.

Average daily inspections  meant to ensure vessels carry only food and not weapons that could aid either side  have steadily dropped from a peak of 10.6 in October to 3.2 last month. Shipments of Ukrainian grain also have declined in recent weeks.

Russia had denied slowing the work. No vessels have been cleared to enter Ukraines three open ports since May 6, and Kubrakov says nearly 70 vessels are waiting in Turkish waters to participate.

Russia, meanwhile, is rapidly shipping a bumper harvest of its wheat through other ports. Critics say that suggests Moscow was posturing or trying to wrest concessions in other areas  such as on Western sanctions.

The deal has allowed over 30 million metric tons of Ukrainian grain to be shipped, with more than half that going to developing nations. China, Spain and Turkey are the biggest recipients, and Russia says that shows food isn't going to the poorest countries.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres says Ukrainian corn for animal feed has headed to developed countries, while a majority of grain for people to eat has gone to emerging economies.

Even if a meaningful part of the shipments headed to developed nations, that has a positive impact to all countries because it brings prices down," Guterres told reporters in Nairobi, Kenya, this month. "And when you bring prices down, everybody benefits.

William Osnato, a senior research analyst at agriculture data and analytics firm Gro Intelligence, said there had been bluster from Russia to push for easing some sanctions because it's shipping record amounts of wheat this season, and its fertilizers are flowing well, too.

Trade flows tracked by financial data provider Refinitiv show that Russia exported just over 4 million tons of wheat in April, the highest volume for the month in five years, following record or near-record highs in several previous months.

Exports since last July reached 32.2 million tons, 34% above the same period from last season, according to Refinitiv. It estimates Russia will ship 44 million tons of wheat in 2022-2023.

With Ukraines wheat harvest coming up in June and the need to sell that crop in July, maintaining a Black Sea shipping corridor is key to avoid taking another large chunk of wheat and other grains off the market, Osnato said.

Ukraine also can send its food by land through Europe, but those routes have a lower capacity than sea shipments and have stirred disunity in the European Union.

It comes as places including Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria, Syria and East Africa  big importers of food  are facing drought and economic issues that are likely to keep food prices high.

Shortages of food in the system and lack of affordable fertilizer continues to push up prices, making it difficult for families in countries like Somalia to predict if they will be able to afford a meal the next day, said Shashwat Saraf, emergency director for East Africa at the International Rescue Committee.
In a brief order issued last week, the Colorado Supreme Court granted relief to a father who has only spent two hours of parenting time with his children since November 2020, stemming from the strict terms of his 2018 divorce.

When Jason Strong divorced his wife, Kassandra Webb-Galarza, an Adams County judge created three phases of custody, each giving Strong slightly more time with his children. Whether Strong could advance to the next phase depended upon his adherence to certain terms and conditions.

However, Strong found himself perpetually unable to complete "Phase I" because of his periodic violation of certain base terms, namely the completion of drug testing. Strong labeled such restrictions "self-executing," arguing they automatically and illegitimately take away a parent's visitation rights without the other spouse needing to ask a court to impose restrictions.

Douglas County Magistrate Jacob A. Edson was set to hold a hearing on Strong's request to modify his parenting time in February. But hours beforehand, Edson canceled the hearing and directed Strong and Webb-Galarza to engage in mediation  even though the ex-spouses had attended mediation twice and were unable to resolve their differences.

Strong immediately appealed to the Supreme Court to seek its rare intervention.

"After two years of litigation, several failed mediations, innumerable motions, and two separate trial settings that were vacated, Father still has no parenting time," wrote Strong's attorneys. "Mother has spent years repeatedly insisting that Father is entitled to no parenting time whatsoever based entirely on her perceived violations of technical and outdated orders that have nothing to do with present endangerment to the children."

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The Supreme Court directed Edson and Webb-Galarza to explain why it should not order the hearing Strong had requested. The Colorado Attorney General's Office, representing Edson, argued Strong had the opportunity to appeal through normal channels, without needing to resort to the state's highest court.

Webb-Galarza's attorneys made a similar argument, but noted she had no objection to a hearing, "as she also believes a modification is necessary to serve the children's best interests."

On May 12, the Supreme Court sided with Strong, overruling Edson's decision to sidestep Strong's request for greater custody.

"Given the unusual circumstances of this case," the justices wrote in an unsigned order, "the trial court is ordered, without additional mediation, to hold a hearing on the Motion to Modify Parenting Time within a reasonable timeframe."

The Supreme Court did not address Strong's broader argument: That self-executing restrictions on visitation, which take effect without a judge's finding that children are currently endangered, should be declared void.

Attorneys for Strong and Webb-Galarza did not immediately respond to emails seeking comment.

The case is In Re the Marriage of Webb-Galarza and Strong.
The Colorado Supreme Court announced on Monday that it will consider whether it is unconstitutional for a defendant to serve a sentence of life without parole for murder when he was not the one who caused the victim's death.

The case out of El Paso County implicates Colorado's "felony murder" law, which, until recently, provided the highest level of punishment for people who commit arson, robbery, burglary, kidnapping or sexual assault, and someone happens to die as a result.

At least three of the seven justices must consent to hear a case on appeal.

The Supreme Court also signaled it may intervene in a drunk driving case out of Arapahoe County, where, according to the government, a trial judge is the only one in the state who imposes deadlines for blood alcohol testing  to the prosecution's detriment.

Felony murder

An El Paso County jury convicted Wayne Sellers IV, a former U.S. Army soldier, for the 2018 murder of Kenyatta Horne. Sellers was part of a group that intended to rob drug dealers the night of the shooting, although he maintained he did not want to take part in the scheme. Sellers fired his gun, reportedly in self-defense, but his bullets did not hit Horne. Another member of the group, Tyler Lee Wheeler, fired the bullet that killed Horne.

Sellers received a sentence of life in prison without parole, or LWOP, under Colorado's felony murder law.

Following his conviction, the legislature amended the law. After September 2021, felony murder would no longer merit LWOP and, instead, would be a class 2 felony with a maximum punishment of 48 years.

"We are not saying that there should be no consequences for serious offenses," said Rep. Mike Weissman, D-Aurora, one of the sponsors of the change. "If you present people with the reality  not the possibility, but the reality  that somebody could get sentenced to life without the possibility of parole where it's not proven they killed anybody or even intended to, I think a lot of people would be surprised by that."

Sellers appealed his conviction, arguing a sentence of LWOP for felony murder categorically violates the Eighth Amendment's prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment. Relatedly, he contended a life prison sentence was "grossly disproportionate" to his actions.

Last year, a three-judge panel for the Court of Appeals rejected Sellers' claims. The panel acknowledged the U.S. Supreme Court has held mandatory LWOP unconstitutional for children, even if they commit murder, but has never extended that prohibition to cases involving an adult in a homicide case.

The appellate judges also disagreed that the legislature's abolition of LWOP for felony murder going forward meant the offense was no longer "grave or serious."

"While we recognize that this life sentence is potentially substantially longer than the maximum forty-eight years a defendant in Sellerss shoes could receive under the amended statute," wrote Judge Ted C. Tow III, "those differences do not mean that the sentence is grossly disproportionate."

Sellers appealed to the state Supreme Court, arguing that LWOP for his crime does not accord with "evolving standards of decency," which is the metric the U.S. Supreme Court considers when evaluating cruel and unusual punishment.

"When the General Assembly changed the penalty for felony murder in Colorado, it acknowledged the need for hope, rehabilitation, and fairness in sentencing," wrote defense attorney Krista A. Schelhaas. "It also recognized the draconian roots of LWOP sentences and determined that Coloradans no longer tolerate LWOP for felony murder. That reasoning applies to the people charged after the change in the law and to the one hundred plus people currently serving LWOP for felony murder."

The Colorado Supreme Court has agreed to evaluate whether a lifetime sentence is unconstitutional for felony murder, and whether it is grossly disproportionate given the change in law.

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The case is Sellers v. People.

The judge who sets DUI deadlines

One night last November, Ashleigh Walthour drove off the road and crashed into trees in Aurora. Responding officers believed her to be intoxicated and she agreed to a blood draw.

Nearly three months later, Walthour appeared before Arapahoe County Court Judge J. Jay Williford. She had not yet obtained a lawyer and the prosecution hoped to receive her blood results from the Colorado Bureau of Investigation within two weeks. In response, Willford directed the 18th Judicial District Attorney's Office to provide the test results by Feb. 28.

At her next court appearance on March 7, Walthour, who was still in the process of applying for an attorney, mentioned she had still not gotten the results of her blood draw. She wondered if it was "not something that we will be receiving."

Prosecutor Ben Bongutu responded that the timing was not within his control.

"I do apologize to the Court for it, but it's not a situation where (prosecutors) have failed to obey a court order," he said.

Williford then bemoaned the increased time CBI was taking to process blood tests, noting Walthour's case was now 97 days old.

"I understand the argument from the district attorney's office is, 'Well, judge, there's nothing we can do.' And I disagree," Williford said. "It is frankly something that continues to get worse and worse. And I am frustrated by the delays from the state lab."

As a consequence for violating his deadline to disclose the results, Willford sanctioned the prosecution by blocking the government from using that evidence against her. Walthour's test, which was finished the day after Williford's ruling, showed her blood alcohol content was 0.16  twice the legal limit.

The 18th Judicial District Attorney's Office appealed directly to the Supreme Court, contending Williford's actions were a cause for concern and an outlier among judges.

"Judge Williford is the only judge in the 18th Judicial District who routinely sets deadlines for the completion of DUI blood testing, and  based on input from other District Attorneys Offices  he appears to be the only judge in Colorado who imposes such deadlines," wrote Deputy District Attorney L. Andrew Cooper.

Cooper elaborated that Williford set deadlines for test results in one-third of his drunk driving cases last year, with seemingly no rationale for the due dates. Further, while the CBI is improving its turnaround times for testing, Cooper indicated that judge-imposed deadlines create more problems for the batch testing of blood samples.

"A single judges deadlines might speed up blood test results in that judges courtroom, but  by interrupting CBIs workflow  the deadlines slow down the results in other courtrooms that handle DUIs," he explained.

The Supreme Court has directed Williford and Walthour to explain why the judge's ruling should not be overturned.

The case is People v. Walthour.
Gov. Jared Polis on Tuesday followed through after hinting a veto is coming on the proposal that would have required the state to have a federal ruling in place before reintroducing wolves on the Western Slope, which is slated for the end of the year.

It's the first veto the governor has issued for legislation from the 2023 session.

In his veto letter, Polis said Senate Bill 256 would prevent Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission from authorizing the release of gray wolves until after the effective date of the 10(j) rule. He called the bill unnecessary, that it undermined voters' intent, as well as the commission's work, and suggested it could interfere with the state "successfully receiving experimental population designation."

Polis spokesman Conor Cahill added: "The governor shares the desire for Colorado wolves to receive a 10-J designation to allow for maximum state management flexibility. Unfortunately, the legal analysis of this bill is that it would likely delay or even prevent successful 10-J designation, which is why he is vetoing it.

Polis also sent a letter Tuesday to Department of Natural Resources Executive Director Dan Gibbs, instructing him to continue working with U.S. Fish & Wildlife, the commission and CPW to obtain the 10(j) ruling.

Polis informed sponsors of Senate Bill 256 of the pending veto via a Zoom call on Tuesday morning.

Polis, in a post-session news conference, hinted his veto pen was at the ready for the proposal, telling reporters a week ago, "There shouldn't be a lot of suspense on that one."

He pointed out that DNR's Gibbs testified against the bill.

"It's certainty very clear where our agencies were," Polis said. "I don't think people will be surprised."

Polis claims to support the state's efforts to obtain what's known as a 10(j) ruling from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, but he doesn't support mandating the ruling be in place before reintroduction, which SB 256 sought to do.

The federal agency has been working for nearly a year on the process for granting Colorado the 10(j) ruling, which is a waiver tied to the Endangered Species Act, and has indicated it should be issued no later than mid-December, although that's cutting it pretty close for those who will see wolves reintroduced in their counties.

SB 256 follows what every other state that has reintroduced wolves has done, which is to ensure they had a 10(j) ruling in place before paws went on the ground, according to Sen. Byron Pelton, R-Sterling, and co-sponsor Rep. Matt Soper, R-Delta.

The difference matters.

Under the 10(j) ruling, wolves would be classified as an nonessential experimental population. That would allow them to be managed by Colorado Parks and Wildlife, which worked for two years on the wolf restoration plan.

That plan was approved unanimously by the Parks and Wildlife Commission two weeks ago.

The plan was a collaboration between CPW and several groups, which included ranchers, local government and wildlife experts.

Soper told Colorado Politics that plan was also dictated by Proposition 114, which required the state to take the necessary steps to ensure wolves are reintroduced by December 31. The 10(j) ruling is one of those necessary steps, Soper said.

"It gets you landowner buy-in, and makes sure farmers and ranchers can protect their livestock and pets" and not wind up as felons, he said.

Part of the CPW plan allows for "lethal takes," which would grant a rancher limited permission to kill wolves that are preying on livestock. Without 10(j) rule  and with wolves remaining on the endangered species list in Colorado  killing a wolf, even if it is attacking livestock or pets, is a felony, punishable by up to a year in jail and up to a $50,000 fine.

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And the potential for killing wolves, which is opposed by environmental groups that could sue to prevent 10(j) from being put in place, is also raising questions about whether Polis really supports the 10(j) ruling  or whether he'd rather see wolves released into the five central Western Slope counties under the protections of the Endangered Species Act.

Sen. Dylan Roberts, D-Avon, a Senate co-sponsor of SB 256, said he is "incredibly disappointed" with the news of the governor's veto.

SB 256, he said, was "very narrowly tailored to both ensure ranchers and farmers," as well those who live around wolves, have the tools to manage livestock, and so that wolf reintroduction can be done well over the coming year.

"I don't understand the reasoning behind the veto, and I'm disappointed for my constituents who asked for this flexibility. The process of reintroduction depends on 10(j) being in place," Roberts said.

Roberts added that he believes the governor understands the importance of the 10(j) rule, and noted that testimony from Department of Natural Resources officials said as much.

"The trouble with not signing this bill implies that they will put wolves on the ground with or without a 10(j). If 10(j) was a priority, then signing SB256 would have been an easy call," Roberts said.

"It's a slap in the face to agriculture and ranchers," Pelton said.

SB 256 was a good compromise, he said, adding, "They'll introduce the wolves with or without 10(j), but livestock producers need to protect their livestock."

SB 256 "was insurance," Soper added.

He called vetoing the bill akin to not having auto insurance because motorists don't think they're getting into a wreck on their way home.

Soper was part of the Tuesday Zoom call and learned the veto was coming.

"We are in agreement: CPW, legislators and the people wanted 10(j) in place. To say it usurps the will of the people is wrong," he said.

As to whether Polis really supports the rule, Soper said the governor reiterated his support for 10(j) on the Tuesday morning call.

"And I can only take him at his word. But he could have, at a minimum, allowed the bill to become law without his signature," Soper said.

Four Western Slope lawmakers  two Republicans and two Democrats  sponsored SB 256, which also received support from every rural lawmaker in either caucus and in both chambers.

Colorado Farm Bureau, in a statement Tuesday, expressed its disappointment at the veto.

"This bipartisan piece of legislation was a great example of legislators responding to their constituents and working together to do whats right for Colorados Western Slope ranchers and communities," said Carlyle Currier, Farm Bureau president.

Testimony and input from stakeholder groups overwhelmingly fought for the management tools and support that this bill provided, Currier said, adding, "The governors disregard for those living in western Colorado and his direct rebuke of the legislatures will is not how we protect ranchers and their livestock nor is it how to ensure successful wolf reintroduction.
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An Albany tattoo artist is accused of sexually abusing at least two of his female clients while under the needle.

Albany police officers arrested Daniel Nunez-Rodriguez, 31, on Monday, May 1 after conducting a sexual abuse investigation into Nunez-Rodriguez that began in 2022, an agency news release said.

Nunez-Rodriguez is the owner of Majin Ink LLC. According to Secretary of State records, Nunez-Rodriguez first registered the business in October 2020.

An Albany Police Department news release alleges Nunez-Rodriguez subjected a 19-year-old female client to unwanted sexual contact.

Later on May 12, APD conducted a separate criminal investigation, leading to the second arrest of Nunez-Rodriguez, the news release said. A 24-year-old woman reported Nunez-Rodriguez subjected her to unwanted sexual contact on two separate occasions while she received tattoo services.

Nunez-Rodriguez was booked into the Linn County Jail and later released. Oregon's online court database shows Nunez-Rodriguez was initially charged in Linn County Circuit Court in April on one count of third-degree sexual abuse and one count of harassment alleged to have occurred in August 2022.

On Monday, May 15, prosecutors charged Nunez-Rodriguez with two more counts of third-degree sexual abuse and two more counts of harassment alleged to have occurred in April.

Albany police believe there may be additional victims in the case and are asking anyone who may have been a victim of Nunez-Rodriguez to contact the APD detective unit at 541-917-7688.
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Unofficial results from the Tuesday, May 16 election indicate two new faces are heading for the Corvallis school board.

Chris Hawkins appears to be beating out Steven Castellano for the only contested seat, leading with 10,156 votes to Castellanos 1,994 votes, according to results released from Linn and Benton counties on Wednesday, May 17.

The position is currently held by Tina Baker, who is not seeking reelection.

"I am super excited to serve on the school board," Hawkins said in an interview with Mid-Valley Media on Tuesday night. "I feel I have a lot of passion and energy to serve our kids and serve our community, and so I am really excited and grateful that I get that opportunity."

Current board members Terese Jones and Sarah Finger McDonald have 9,201 and 9,255 votes, respectively. They are both running unopposed.

Also running unopposed is Judah Largent, who is running for current board member Vince Adams seat. Unofficial results showed 9,145 votes for Largent.

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This years race features five candidates running for four school board positions.

Hawkins is a substitute teacher and project consultant for the school district, according to her filing document. She previously served as a student support specialist.

According to his filing document, Castellano identifies as Hispanic and volunteers at the Corvallis Multicultural Literacy Center and Pathfinder Clubhouse.
Photo: The Canadian Press This Thursday, May 11, 2023, image taken in New York, shows the account suspended notice of Jessica Reed on the Twitter page of her younger sister Emily Reed. On Monday, May 8, 2023, Twitter CEO Elon Musk announced the platform would be "purging accounts that have had no activity at all for several years." The news caused outrage among people fearing they could lose tweets that now-inactive accounts, including those belonging to users who have died, left behind on the app. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Emily Reed lost her younger sister Jessica more than 10 years ago. For much of the last decade, shes visited Jessicas Twitter page to help keep her memory alive.

Twitter became one of the places where Emily processed her grief and reconnected with a sister she describes as almost like a twin. But Jessicas account is now gone.

Last week, owner Elon Musk announced Twitter would be purging accounts that have had no activity for several years. That decision has been met by an outcry from those who have lost, or who fear losing the thoughts and words of deceased loved ones linked to now-inactive accounts.

Reed immediately returned to Jessicas page as she had done a day or two earlier after learning of the purge. In place of Jessica's page was an "account suspended message that suggested it may be in violation Twitter rules.

Reed's tweet recounting her shock over the loss of the account has received tens of thousands of responses. Others shared similar experiences of pain upon learning that the account of a deceased loved one had vanished.

Having these digital footprints... is super important to me, Reed, 43, told The Associated Press.

The advent of social media has come with new way in which people mourn, returning to the place where they connected with friends and family in the past. In addition to memories and physical traces left behind, snippets of lives are have are now being captured in the digital space.

It is something that social media platforms have wrestled with for recent years.

Twitter backed off an attempt to purge inactive accounts in 2019, years before Musk arrived, due to a similar backlash.

Other social media sites have found ways to allow people to mourn those they've lost.

Facebook and Instagram allow users to request an account be deactivated, or a memorialization of the account. Memorialized accounts show the word Remembering next to the persons name.

In this modern age, we have these electronic reminders of people  (including) little snippets of a thought they had on a particular day or pictures that they shared, said Shira Gabriel, professor of psychology at University at Buffalo. Looking through a late loved ones social media can be both a healthy way to process grief and gather as a community in remembrance, Gabriel said.

The prospect of that resource disappearing can bring about a sense of mourning again, Gabriel said. There is a real psychological cost of getting rid of this digital thumbprint that was left behind and this ability for community members to gather in one spot.

It is unknown if Musk will backtrack on the decision to purge. The billionaire CEO of Tesla has launched policies that have rattled users and advertisers alike and shown little interest in amending those policies in response.

Musk named a new CEO last week, Linda Yaccarino, a former NBCUniversal advertising executive, who will have her hands full with a platform seemingly now in a perpetual state of chaos.

Deleting inactive accounts can be seen as fulfilling a promise Musk made when he bought the company, particularly winnowing down junk accounts and bots, said Samuel Woolley, an assistant professor at the University of Texas at Austins School of Journalism and Media.

There are good reasons to preserve inactive accounts, and also reasons to delete them, Woolley said, but he is leery of the one-size-fits-all approach.

Advocates of purging accounts cite skewed metrics caused by inactive accounts or bogus on social media platforms. Yet on top of emotional pain for some users mourning late loved ones, deleting inactive accounts could also mean losing tweets that documented historical events, commentary and breaking news on the app over the years.

Twitter operates in many ways like a library of data, Woolley said. Just because someone hasnt been active for 30 days or a few years, doesnt mean their tweets dont still have a great amount of relevance.

Musk did say the reasoning behind removing inactive accounts was to free up unused Twitter handles, or user names, and that those inactive accounts would be archived.

What exactly that means is not known  including what inactive accounts will look like when they're archived, and whether they'll be easily accessible. Other details of the plan are also unclear, such as the number of accounts to be removed and whether the policy will be evenly enforced.

While Reed and others saw the inactive accounts of loved ones disappear last week, the account belonging to the late father of controversial internet personality Andrew Tate still appears to be on the site, for example.

On Twitter, Tate said he was fine with Musk's decision, but asked that his father's account remain active as he still (reads) his account daily.

Picking and choosing accounts for deactivation would create precisely the kind of tiered system that Musk says he wants to avoid," Woolley said.

When contacted by The Associated Press for comment, Twitter responded with an automated email. Twitters trust and safety lead Ella Irwin also did not respond.

According to Twitter policy, the social media platform determines an accounts inactivity through log-ins. Twitter says that users should log in at least every 30 days.

Twitter users are able to download an archive of their own data through the app, but not for accounts they dont possess login credentials. Reed, for example, noted that her family wasnt able to get into Jessicas account over the last 10 years. The only traces they have now are some screenshots that Reeds other sister luckily captured before the purge.

Reed talks about the importance of Jessicas Twitter and Facebook pages during her journey with grief  from following her sister's difficult journey with cystic fibrosis, a progressive genetic disorder that Reed also has, to cherishing tweets that showed the joy and... the vibrancy that came out of her words.

Over time, the image and memories of someone who has passed away can slowly change in your mind  like a fading photograph, Reed said. Having online resources, she added, can help keep a persons memory alive, in a way that just your own personal memory cant.
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The Kirk Apartments demolition is underway in downtown Mason City.

The city of Mason City has canceled emergency abatement on the recently destroyed, 44-unit apartment building, located at 206 N. Federal Ave.

During Tuesday's regular council meeting Deputy City Administrator Brent Hinson explained the building's owner, Ed Kent, was able to reach an agreement with his insurance company to begin the demolition, which was underway by Wednesday afternoon.

The city had scheduled the emergency abatement as structural integrity of the apartment building shell is poor at best. The building was destroyed in a blaze that lasted the better part of a day on April 24.

With the 84th annual North Iowa Band Festival scheduled for downtown Memorial Day weekend, foot traffic will be considerable higher, and safety is paramount for any community event.

"A lot of people are talking on Facebook, and I know I'll get asked this question, so here goes," started Councilmember John Lee. "Will there be any way to save any part of that building? I know some people want there to be something saved from it."

Hinson has been working closely with contractors and Kent while City Administrator Aaron Burnett is on vacation and answered quickly, "Yes, there should be some architectural salvage that goes on with the specialized contractor."

DeCarlo Demolition Company had workers on site as early a 8 a.m. to prepare the area. Zach DeCarlo, demolition foreman, explained the process in more detail. "We're gonna start on the north wall and pull the walls down gently. We'll make our way to the south and by the end of the week. We should have it down to rubble."

"We aren't really in the demolition business, we're in the deconstruction business," he explained. "We'll do everything in our power to do any salvage work that we can while staying on the tight timeline we have."

Hinson expanded on the timeline and plan, telling councilmembers and the public initial demolition for safety should end by next week, before Band Fest begins.

In total the process should take three to four weeks with phased re-opening of the sidewalks as they become safe for pedestrians.

The completed demolition will leave the premises completely empty. Foundations will be taken down to three feet below grade on the site and the building's 10 foot basement will have holes punched through it for drainage. The contractor will fill, topsoil and seed the location, leaving an open space.
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Retired firefighter Tony Kraft has seen both sides of fire tragedies. As a firefighter, he fought to preserve homes and businesses. But in 1999, he left for work and before he knew it was left with only the clothes on his back.

Now he has plans to give back to everyone involved in the Kirk Apartment catastrophe.

From 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Thursday, Kraft and his crew from We 3 Pig BBQ will be slinging pulled pork sandwiches, chips and water for just $5 in the Salvation Army parking lot in Mason City.

Kraft is welcoming firefighters, police officers and generous community members to stop by for the cookout and some appreciation. "I've been in both situations. The firefighters put so much into it, and for the victims, well ..."

Kraft doesn't talk a lot about the electrical fire that destroyed his Hayfield home and possessions. He doesn't elaborate on the loss or the rebuilding, but emotion is written all over his face.

"We just want to say thanks and maybe make a little money to help out. If we serve 400 meals, that's about $2,000, and every bit counts," he says.

The Kirk Apartments burned down April 24. The emergency call came in early that afternoon and by early evening, the fire raged so fiercely downtown was blackened with smoke. Residents huddled in the parking lot and watched helplessly as the fire destroyed their dwellings.

On scene, Tracy Hedegard-Stump, director of social services at the Salvation Army, met with shell-shocked tenants to arrange shelter, food and other immediate necessities. With 44 units affected, Salvation Army assisted victims to find temporary housing with friends and family. For seven residents, there was no one to bunk with, even for a short time.

Funds that Hedegard-Stump says would normally help North Iowans to make security deposits or perhaps pay a month of rent were depleted in the aftermath of the calamity.

So, to replenish those dollars, We 3 Pig BBQ has donated time, food and talent. "It's just about giving back," Kraft says. "It's actually our first time out on our own. I used to work with another guy. I actually got his smoker from him, and now we're ready to give it a shot."

Salvation Army is located at 747 Village Green Drive in Mason City.

Close Mason City firefighters battle a huge blaze at the Kirk Apartments in downtown Mason City on Monday, April 24, 2023. Mason City firefighters battle a huge blaze at the Kirk Apartments in downtown Mason City on Monday. Mason City firefighters battle a huge blaze at the Kirk Apartments in downtown Mason City on Monday, April 24, 2023. Mason City firefighters battle a huge blaze at the Kirk Apartments in downtown Mason City on Monday. Mason City firefighters battle a huge blaze at the Kirk Apartments in downtown Mason City on Monday, April 24, 2023. Mason City firefighters battle a huge blaze at the Kirk Apartments in downtown Mason City on April 24. Mason City firefighters battle a huge blaze at the Kirk Apartments in downtown Mason City on Monday. Firefighters spray water on the shell of the Kirk Apartments building in downtown Mason City on Tuesday. PHOTOS: Kirk Apartments in Mason City destroyed by huge fire Mason City firefighters battle a huge blaze at the Kirk Apartments in downtown Mason City on Monday, April 24, 2023. Mason City firefighters battle a huge blaze at the Kirk Apartments in downtown Mason City on Monday. Mason City firefighters battle a huge blaze at the Kirk Apartments in downtown Mason City on Monday, April 24, 2023. Mason City firefighters battle a huge blaze at the Kirk Apartments in downtown Mason City on Monday. Mason City firefighters battle a huge blaze at the Kirk Apartments in downtown Mason City on Monday, April 24, 2023. Mason City firefighters battle a huge blaze at the Kirk Apartments in downtown Mason City on April 24. Mason City firefighters battle a huge blaze at the Kirk Apartments in downtown Mason City on Monday. Firefighters spray water on the shell of the Kirk Apartments building in downtown Mason City on Tuesday.
Re. Thomas James McLuskys letter Give families money (Castanet, May 15)

Money will not solve these problems.

I was horrified to read this letter stating offering families money instead of searching for the remains of their family members would be a better (read: easier) solution.

I am from Winnipeg, born and raised in Manitoba, and cannot believe the manner in which this was written. When I read that the study was completed, I was relieved. Knowing the police were unwilling to do their jobs, once again, was unconscionable and someone stepped up in their place, once again.

When our loved ones die, we want to know why. Its why autopsies are done when people are unsure of why someone died and there are consequences when the death is someones fault. Money doesnt fix that, nor does it help someone to move on.

These are also not unfortunate women (as described in the letter). These women were brutally targeted and murdered.

A man has been charged with the murder of four Indigenous women. Their deaths were the result of a serial killer who was brought up in a society that does not value Indigenous women, and for this response to be published just 10 days after the National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls is incredibly tone-deaf.

It is not enough to put up a statue or hand these families money. That is essentially saying, Yes, you are grieving, but rather than put in the time and effort we would afford to anyone else, we arent going to bother finding the remains of your loved ones after they were cruelly taken from you and provide you with the answers you have a right to. Instead, heres a statue and a few million dollars and you will spend the rest of your life wondering what happened to these women, but money is always the answer and will be what helps you overcome this tragedy.

We cannot pay off the Indigenous people instead of giving them the basic respect and kindness they deserve. If this was your family member, your mother or sister or daughter, you would raise hell to make sure you had a body to mourn, to bury and an answer to the horrible tragedy that befell them.

This is another way of saying its a waste of time to find Indigenous women and girls when they go missing and/or are murdered and I am tired of it. Maybe if we started spending the time, money, and resources we should be spending on crimes like these, people like this killer wouldnt be so willing to take the lives of women society has brushed off.

M. A. Reeves, Vernon
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The dead don't speak, so it's up to the living to tell their stories.

Students at Charles City Middle School are helping to tell some of the long-forgotten stories of those who are now in their eternal rest at Riverside Cemetery, with "The Untold Stories of Riverside Cemetery," a collaborative project between the eighth grade language arts and social studies classes that saw the students detail a biography on an individual or family interred in the cemetery.

In Melanie Van Soelen's language arts class, students researched and wrote biographies of people born before 1890 who are buried at Riverside. After they researched and wrote the biographies social studies teacher Ryan Rahmiller took students to the Riverside Cemetery to film their person's gravesite.

Once the filming was complete, the students created a video with the clips from the cemetery along with the voiceover of the biography they had written.

The biographies are accessible via a scannable QR code on a metal rod placed next to the grave, scanning it with your smartphone links you to a short YouTube video biography on the deceased. The rods were made by the welding classes at the school.

Over the last decade, QR code technology has been utilized increasingly in cemeteries, allowing a simple memorial to open up a gateway to the past, and tell a story that will honor the life that was lived.

Tyler Heitz researched his ancestor, John Heitz Sr, a prominent local citizen who farmed the early area. Born in 1819 in Germany, he emigrated with his wife Lanze, who delivered their firstborn child on the Atlantic Ocean bound for Ellis Island. They would settle westward; first in Ohio and then Illinois before settling 130 acres of land in Floyd County. Growing it fivefold over his lifetime, he and his children became prominent farmers and bankers in the community.

Heitz's research of his great-great-great-great-grandfather came primarily from the 1882 and 1917 history of Floyd County, but online tools like FindAGrave and Ancestry.com also helped his and others' projects. "Its been amazing to link with my family's past."

Charles City's Riverside Cemetery was established in 1857 on the eastern banks of the Cedar River and now is the home to an estimated 12,231 graves. There are currently 102 videos on the YouTube page 'The Untold Stories of Riverside Cemetery' which can be viewed without the QR link.

"It's the culmination of a lot of work, hunting for these stories [that are] remarkable treasures, said Rahmiller. "Now that we're able to access all that online...it marries these tools with technology, which the kids already know so well."

Van Soelen said this project helps the cemetery essentially work as a walking museum  a place where people can come to learn and honor the past, and those who founded the town.
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The Clear Lake City Council paved the way for a potential $1 million matching grant for the development of a 30-unit townhome subdivision Monday.

The unanimous vote allows for BAM Development LLC to apply to the Iowa Economic Development Authority for a Workforce Housing Tax Credit Program for a $1 million tax credit, because the state requires a local match.

The Emerald Place Townhomes Project would be located just west of an extended 14th Street North on a five-acre tract of land. The townhomes would likely average between $275,000 and $300,000. The total capital investment is estimated to be $7.5 million.

The local match would be in the form of 100% tax abatement for four years (or until the match is met) and the extension of 14th Street.

"It is a very competitive program," City Administrator Scott Flory said. "I've spent quite a bit of time finding what past applications were funded at, and I think our proposal is in line with what those are. So, in order to maximize the opportunity for funding we're proposing a dollar-for-dollar match."

Flory said last year 133 applications requesting $80 million were submitted to the IEDA. A total of 57 projects were funded for a total of $35 million. Proposals are due by June 9 and will be awarded in August.

North Iowa Corridor CEO Chad Schreck agreed that Clear Lake needed to put its best proposal together due to the competitiveness.

"(The IEDA) has a very specific scoring system for this, and every point is going to matter to move this project forward and getting it funded through the state," Schreck said.

He said developing the land owned by Sukup Ag LLC is a great chance to address the city's housing problems. He said a 30-year mortgage on a townhome would be around $1,500 per month, and that it is a "great" development for young professionals such as nurses and teachers.

Schreck cited the idea that spending around 30% of personal income on housing is generally considered a good limit.

"This is a great opportunity for us to put a big dent in that issue," Schreck said. "I was looking at some numbers and as a city, Clear Lake's median income is about $61,000 per year."

The percentage of gross income used for housing in Schreck's scenario would be 29.5%.

"It's just a struggle to get them good, attainable, quality housing in Clear Lake right now, and this is something that will go directly to address that and make a significant dent," Schreck said.

BAM has not announced whether it would go ahead with the project without the Workforce Housing Tax Credit.

North Iowa History: Christmas in the Egloff House party 01.jpg party 02.jpg party 03.jpg party 04.jpg party 05.jpg party 06.jpg
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Danvilles Ballad Brewing has a new owner.

On Monday, Three Roads Brewing Company announced its expansion into Southside Virginia with the acquisition of the River District operation that launched in 2017.

Right now, Three Roads has two taprooms: its original in Farmville and a second location in Lynchburg.

We are committed to being the leading brewery in Southside Virginia, and the addition of Ballad helps us achieve that goal, Chris Sadler, a founder of Three Roads, said in a statement. This is a beautiful part of the country with strong communities.

Adding Ballad Brewing to its operations doubles the brewerys production by nearly 2,000 barrels.

Farmville and Lynchburg are known for being welcoming to everyone, from local families and tourists to beer aficionados and civic organizations looking for a casual meeting space, Sadler said. The Ballad Brewing brand is a big part of Danville and will continue to thrive as a part of the Three Roads Brewing family.

When we set out to open Ballad we wanted it to be a community center for the River District and Danville as a whole, Ballad Brewing co-founder Ross Fickenscher said. The taproom has done just that.

Fickenscher said the acquisition will take Ballad headlong into the next chapter.

Three Roads Brewing said it will keep the Ballad brand, its catalog of beers and its River District taproom.

Both brands will be distributed in Virginia and North Carolina and will be available in the companys taprooms across Southside Virginia, a news release stated.

This town has a ton of history, co-founder Garret Shfflett said. Ballad not only paid tribute to that history, but helped to build on it.

Shfflett credits the hard work and creativity of the team that provided a sense of pride surrounding Ballad.

Three Roads Brewing is based in Farmville. In 2017, it opened its first taproom in a historic warehouse along High Bridge Trail State Park.

Learn more at www.3roadsbrewing.com.
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Monday marks a stepping stone of sorts for Danville.

After nearly five years of chatter surrounding bringing a casino to the River City, a temporary facility will open at 10 a.m. Monday.

With it comes many unknowns  traffic hurdles lead the list  but also high anticipation of a citys rebirth and march toward a tourism destination.

Im hoping we see a lot of lines, Chris Albrecht, general manager of Caesars Virginia, said Friday morning. Everything right now has been speculation.

The 40,000-square-foot facility  officially called Danville Casino  is housed inside a giant white rented tent on the corner of the future home of Caesars Virginia, the permanent casino and resort.

Its all located in an area known as Schoolfield  once a bustling mill village  on a property formerly owned by Dan River Inc., a textile manufacturer that was synonymous with Danville.

Today, three original smokestacks remain on the space and will be incorporated into the new resorts design as a nod to Danvilles past.

The entire resort was originally scheduled to be opened this year, but pandemic-induced supply chain snarls and ensuing delays forced the completion target date to 2024.

Thats one reason Caesars Virginia decided to push forward with a smaller-scale operation while construction continues on the main attraction.

We decided it was a great opportunity to look forward to getting this operation going, starting to generate some revenue, getting team members trained, Albrecht explained after a question posed by the Register & Bee in a Friday media session.

He said the full casino and resort is still on track to open next year.

Monday traffic

Danville steps into uncharted territory Monday by becoming a gathering spot for casino lovers or just those curious about the flashing games.

I think anytime you have a large event or large change like that, theres going to be a feeling out period, Lee Vogler, a member of Danville City Council, said in a phone interview Friday when asked if the community is ready for the influx of traffic.

But Vogler was quick to point out that just a few decades ago the same spot had thousands of people rolling in and out to work at the Schoolfield mill.

That site used to have a whole lot of traffic day in and day out, he said.

To avoid possible traffic woes, Danville Public Schools will shuttle some students at Schoolfield Elementary School  a facility just a few blocks from the casino site  from a nearby church parking lot, at least for this coming week.

Ahead of the casino opening, we have received no indication of increased traffic from Caesars or the city, Lanie Davis, a spokesperson for Danville Public Schools, told the Register & Bee this week. However, a casino opening in the city is something we have not experienced before.

The school has about 150 students who are dropped off and picked up by parents.

We want to ensure that in the event of possible traffic congestion in the Schoolfield area, parents are not experiencing delays, and students are getting to school on time and safely, she explained.

Car-riding students will be dropped off at a nearby church and shuttled via a school bus to Schoolfield Elementary. The reverse will happen in the afternoon as students leave for the day.

This arrival and dismissal change is planned for one week, Davis said. If we find that the casino is not impacting traffic, the school will go back to its normal operations as soon as possible.

Also, additional traffic always brings the possibility of crashes and injuries. With that in mind, Sovah Health-Danville leaders are prepared for whatever comes.

The new casino will undoubtedly be a driving force behind increased tourism to our region and we have been in conversations with both casino leadership and the city of Danville as to how Sovah Health can be a partner, Corey Santoriello, a spokesperson with Sovah Health, told the Register & Bee this week. While we cannot predict what type of impact the casino opening will have on the hospital, we do know that Caesars and the city of Danville have taken many steps to prepare for visitors to our area and Sovah Health is committed to community partnership and caring for all who need us.

As for parking for the Danville Casino  located at 1100 W. Main St.  spaces are available around the facility and the company has leased parking lots from the city of Danville across West Main Street and Bishop Road.

If youve been outside you can see we are are still striping those lots, so I dont have an exact number of spots, Albrecht said Friday, but he felt confident parking wouldnt be an issue.

Facility and capacity

About 400 people are employed by the Danville Casino that can hold close to 3,000 people at a time.

A lot of our team members are from Danville, Albrecht said, but noted others are from across the region and over the state line in North Carolina.

The biggest comment Ive heard is that it looks a lot different on the inside than on the outside, he said while explaining the feel for the casino.

We put a lot of detail into making this experience very strong, he said, even though its a temporary operation.

As a matter of fact, the temporary site is built on a future parking lot for the final facility. When that opens in 2024, the rented tent will come down.

Weekends tend to be the busiest time for casinos, but Albrecht noted Danvilles a new market for the group.

The inside is dominated by more than 700 video-style gaming machines  all with vibrant colors and myriad themes  where a customer takes a seat in front of the towering unit to place a bet.

Beyond those units, there are about 25 live table games like blackjack and roulette and other electronically operated machines.

Obviously our temporary facility here is focused on gaming, Albrecht said, explaining the hospitality aspects will come with the full casino.

Vogler got to be part of two sneak-peak sessions hosted this week.

I was really impressed on how it looks on the inside, the staff and everyone, he said. I thought everyone did a fantastic job from security to the wait staff.

Vogler was there for a couple of hours with his wife for what amounted to fundraising sessions for the House of Hope and Haven, two nonprofit organizations in the Dan River Region.

While he spent most of his time walking and talking, he did try his hand at some of the slots.

The outcome? He said they left with more than we came in with.

Other growth in Danville

Taking a stroll in downtown Danville right now  especially for someone whos never been to the city  isnt the prettiest sight.

Last week, a building in the heart of the River District started coming down leaving rubble in its wake. The area will become green space until a final decision is made for the future use.

Right across the road, construction is beginning on the new riverfront park thats right beside Danvilles iconic White Mill  another former Dan River Inc. facility  thats being transformed into housing units and retail space.

In one sense, it would be best if they were completed, Vogler said when asked about the timing of Mondays visitor influx with ongoing construction.

On the other hand, he said tourists can view it as more progress for the city.

It shows that Danville is moving forward and the best is yet to come, he explained. When they come now they will get an idea of things in motion.

Folks coming to visit the temporary casino will get to watch progress unfold at other areas of the city undergoing a transformation.

Albrecht also looks forward to sharing the casino customers with the city.

The community is very strong, he said Friday. Weve already seen a lot of development underway.

He also noted when players venture to a casino, they arent just selecting the gaming establishment. They also are choosing the community, something tourism officials also are betting on.

On Thursday, Danville and Pittsylvania County leaders unveiled a new tourism brand: Visit SoSi. The new marketing slogan highlights Southside Virginia by playing off the words so and see.

When the full Caesars Virginia casino opens next year, more than 2 million visitors are expected to flood into Danville annually. Mondays opening of the temporary facility will provide the region a taste of whats to come.

Not all positive

Business owners and residents in the Schoolfield area recently expressed reserved thoughts when it comes to Mondays opening of the casino.

Some were worried about traffic, and others were concerned with the aspect of a gambling facility in Danville.

We listen to feedback of all of our citizens, and certainly dont dismiss any of that, Vogler said, noting that voters overwhelmingly approved via referendum to allow a casino to open in Danville.

Another worry often brought up is the potential for crime, but Vogler said the city has thoroughly thought out and vetted this thing.

The crime aspect was one of the first issues city leaders explored a few years ago when a casino became a possibility for Danville.

Vogler said they talked to Danville Police Department Chief Scott Booth who was very supportive of it.

In fact, Booth was standing right behind Vogler when he presented the casino case before the General Assembly in order to allow the measure to go before the voters.

They also went to other localities of similar size in Iowa and New York. Chatting with leaders there, they asked a simple question: if they had to do it over, would they still bring in a casino?

The answer  each time  was an overwhelming yes.

For people not sold on the casino, Vogler asks them to just give it a chance before shutting it out.

I think for us, as we went through this whole process, the pros outweighed any of the cons, when it comes to revenue for the city and jobs for the residents.

We have no desire to be Atlantic City, he quickly added, saying thats not a fair comparison for the vision of Danville.

In the end, he hopes about 10 years from now other leaders from across the nation will look to Danville and say, This is a city that did things right.

Photos: A sneak peak inside the Danville Casino
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Chief Richard Sneed will meet in the next week with tribal officials who run the EBCIs medical cannabis operation to discuss the effects of his veto, including whether the loss of funding will delay the opening of a dispensary on the tribes Qualla Boundary in Western North Carolina, Sneed told The Charlotte Observer Friday night.

I expect it will impact their plans for development, Sneed told the Observer in a Facebook message. I meet with them to discuss further next week.

Sneed said he supports the project, but more diligence must be done before the EBCI commits more funding. I do not support a distribution of $64M at this time.

Officials with Qualla Enterprises LLC, the tribes medical cannabis business, didnt reply to two requests for comment from the Observer since Sneed announced his veto in a Facebook message to tribal members May 5.

The tribe plans to open the dispensary by late summer or early fall on U.S. 19 South near Harrahs Cherokee Casino Resort, officials with Qualla Enterprises told the Observer on an exclusive tour of the cannabis operation in late March.

Sneeds veto, which the Tribal Council backed, has raised questions about whether the tribe can now meet that timeline.

In his May 5 Facebook message to his tribe, Sneed attached a copy of a letter he sent to Tribal Council Chairman Richard French informing him of his veto and his reason. The chiefs role is similar to a state governor in his ability to veto legislation. The Tribal Council chairman is like a mayor in terms of leading council meetings and voting on issues.

The fact that this projects original cost for an outdoor grow, an indoor grow and an indoor dispensary was $50m, and we are now being told it is $95m, demonstrates that there is an immediate need for a full accounting of the money that has been expended to date, Sneed wrote.

Sneed told French he fully supports cannabis, both medical and adult use. He is also encouraged and inspired by tribal workers at the growing operation at Coopers Creek on the Qualla Boundary in Cherokee.

Yet, he said, I am very troubled by the lack of accountability for the managing of the business side of the operation. The current projected cost is almost 100% over budget as compared to the original RFP projected cost. RFP stands for request for proposals.

The tribe has already developed what would be the first two unique strains of marijuana legally sold in North Carolina, named Qualla Bear and Goose Creep.

And more proprietary strains are on the way, Forrest Parker, Qualla Enterprises general manager told the Observer in March.
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Oral arguments regarding summary judgments will be heard July 6 for a wrongful termination lawsuit filed by an oncologist who once worked at St. Peters Health as attorneys for all sides hope to hash out a long list of requests.

A status conference was held Friday at Lewis and County 1st District Court in the case of Dr. Thomas Weiner vs. St. Peters Health. Judge Mike Menahan said a May 25 pretrial conference would have to be rescheduled as he had a jury trial now scheduled for that day and noted the criminal matters take priority over civil cases.

Menahan told attorneys for Weiner, St. Peters and Dr. Randy Sasich, who was named in the suit, that there are many motions pending before the court, some of which are ripe.

He said in the court filings there are 372 documents filed and many are motions. He said there are 500 entries.

One attorney noted that there are 27 motions which he said would likely take at least 13 1/2 hours of argument based on 30 minutes per motion.

Menahan said the parties probably wanted to have oral arguments on the motions for summary judgment and he should take those up before they move on to motions in limine (which prevents certain evidence from being presented at trial) and work toward a pretrial conference.

It just seems to me those issues related to summary judgments need to take priority before we get to other matters, he said.

Menahan said there would be some discussion of setting a pretrial conference at the July 6 hearing.

Menhan said his dilemma was that he has had five jury trials in the past eight weeks. He said he has homicide trial for which he called 370 jurors and is expected to take a month.

That has caused quite a ripple effect throughout my docket, he said, adding he was doing his best to shoehorn in civil trials.

Weiner, who had served as director of St. Peter's cancer treatment center, sued the hospital Dec. 10, claiming wrongful termination.

The hospital terminated Weiner in November 2020 and said he had incorrectly treated a patient for lung cancer for 11 years before it was determined that the person did not have the disease at the time of death.

Weiner, who had been with the hospital for nearly 25 years, sued St. Peters Health, its chief executive officer and several of its physicians for damages, saying suspending his clinical privileges violated due process, was done without good cause and damaged his reputation.

Sasich has been named in the legal action. Weiner has amended his complaint, saying the hospital approached his former patients to get them to file malpractice claims against him.

Sasich was added to the list of defendants, alleging that he told nurses and patients that Weiner was treating healthy people with chemotherapy. He has asked to be dismissed from the lawsuit.

Menahan agreed in July to a change of venue, requested by St. Peter's. He said he will retain jurisdiction in the case and pull jurors from Montanas 4th Judicial District in Missoula County. The trial could be held in either Missoula or Helena, depending largely on the trial schedules in each courthouse, a court official said earlier.
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The creators of "The Cookie Chronicles" series are traveling the country on their Busload of Books Tour and giving away 25,000 copies of their books to Title I schools, schools with high poverty rates, in every state.

East Helena was among the stops.

"The Cookie Chronicles" is a young adult fiction series of five books that follows young Ben Yokoyama and the lessons he learns along the way from cracking open fortune cookies.

Series creators husband and wife Matthew Swanson and Robbi Behr and their four kids spent the 2022-23 school year traveling in a tiny home school bus. Their mission, by giving away books, is to spread awareness of the challenges facing public schools in America, such as budget deficits, the banning of books and more.

The family stopped by Radley Elementary in East Helena last Friday to give away books on their Montana stop.

Swanson and Behr have partnered with Build-A-Bear Foundation and First Book to give away an additional 125,000 free books by other authors on their cross-country tour. To date, the family has raised $156,120 through their GoFundMe page to fund their book giveaway, and 937 people have donated from around the U.S. since the fundraiser went live last June. The couple's goal is to hit $200,000, and every $5 puts a hardcover book in the hands of a student or teacher.

The family is visiting 53 Title I schools across the U.S., but there is over 47,000 Title I schools in the country, according to their GoFundMe page. They plan to keep visiting schools after the tour, giving away books and inspiring creativity and literacy in children.

Swanson and Behr will be working with Washington College on a study of how author/illustrator visits impact elementary students attitudes about literacy and creativity. The family said theyve seen firsthand the difference these visits can make.

A few years ago, we did a free author/illustrator visit and raised funds to buy a hardcover book for each student and teacher. The results were incredible, Swanson said. Kids who had never picked up a book started reading. Kids started writing their own books and working together to make comics. Teachers described a huge boost in excitement and morale. Once we saw how much good had come of the day, we knew we wanted to do it at a larger scale.
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Chair of the Lewis and Clark County Democratic Central Committee and former state House of Representatives candidate Jacob Torgerson announced in a news release Tuesday he would not seek reelection to the committee's leadership role.

"I feel like I have done as much as I can do to better the state of the Lewis and Clark County Democrats up until this point, and I am proud of our accomplishments," Torgerson's news release states.

The committee is expected to select new officers during its May meeting Tuesday evening.

Current Vice Chair Shani Henry said in an email Tuesday she was unaware of Torgerson's decision to not seek another term on the board and declined to comment until after Tuesday evening's officer elections.

During a phone interview Tuesday afternoon, he said he believes the committee "is going to do a great job with their new board."

He said the biggest hurdles facing the hometown Democrats are fundraising and laying the groundwork for Sen. Jon Tester's reelection campaign in the county, in addition to two Montana Supreme Court seats up for grabs.

His news release touted the election results in 2022 as a big win for the Lewis and Clark County Democrats. That was not the case statewide as Republicans elected a supermajority to the Legislature.

"With each of our Helena area legislative candidates winning by a margin of at least 7%, we showed our strengths and proved that we are still an organizational powerhouse in Helena," the news release states.

Torgerson ran for House District 81 in 2022 but lost in the primary to fellow Democrat Melissa Romano, who went on to win the general election.

He said the committee can succeed in 2024's campaigns, but that it is going to take a concerted effort by more of the committee.

"There has only been a core couple of people carrying the load," he said. "(The committee) needs to establish a leadership team who can work together and share the load."

Torgerson, who turns 21 on Wednesday, said he plans to focus on finishing his education and will continue supporting the work of the committee. He said he remains "very committed" to helping Tester win reelection.

And after that, "I'll see where the political realm takes me."
Photo: LinkedIn Victor Masson

A Canadian man was killed in a coastal town in the Mexican state of Oaxaca on Monday.

According to the Prosecutor's Office of Oaxaca, the body of a Canadian man was found inside a vehicle in Puerto Escondido, a small, coastal town popular with surfers and backpackers.

The death is being investigated as a homicide, and the CBC is reporting the man was fatally shot.

The victim has been identified as 27-year-old Victor Masson, according to a family spokesperson. Masson lived in Saguenay, Quebec, and worked as a mortgage advisor according to his LinkedIn profile.

The local municipal police notified the [Oaxaca State Attorney General's Office], so the case was brought to the attention of the Regional Deputy Prosecutor of the Coast, which deployed a multidisciplinary team that processed the crime scene, where they ensured evidence found on the site with the aim of collaborating with the investigations into this homicide, the Prosecutor's Office of Oaxaca stated in a translated statement.

Based on the findings and information obtained, solid lines of investigation were established that allow focusing the efforts of law enforcement in favour of the direct victim and indirect victims.

The homicide comes three days after an Argentinian man was killed in a machete attack about 65 kilometres up the coast from Puerto Escondido.
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Gov. Greg Gianforte this week signed a bill into law establishing mandatory minimums and higher criminal penalties for drug dealers trafficking specifically in fentanyl.

State law enforcement officials who testified in support of House Bill 791 during the legislative session described fentanyl's proliferation since 2019 as "meteoric" and approaching methamphetamine's place as the state's most vexing substance. Rep. Courtenay Sprunger, a freshman Republican from Kalispell, carried the bill.

The law now sets a two-year minimum prison sentence for those convicted of criminal distribution of dangerous drugs involving 100 fentanyl pills or a combined weight greater than 10 grams in a powder, solid or liquid form. Along with fentanyl, the law includes possession of additives or cutting agents in those combined weights.

Previously, such cases would have been charged under the broader criminal distribution of dangerous drugs statute, which had no minimum prison sentence.

The maximum sentence of 25 years for drug distribution is also upped to 40 years for distribution of 100 or more pills of fentanyl, or more than 10 grams.

"Our narcotics agents and troopers are already getting more fentanyl out of our communities than ever before, but this new law will send the message to drug traffickers to stay out of Montana," Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen said in an emailed statement Tuesday. "Im thankful to Gov. Gianforte and Rep. Sprunger for working with me during the legislative session to crack down on the flow of fentanyl and the criminals who are bringing this poison into our state.

Montana has grappled with rounds of mass overdoses sometimes spurred by the same batch of fentanyl ferried into the state. Last year Helena law enforcement reported nine overdoses from fentanyl-laced heroin in a 48-hour span, and the Blackeet tribe declared a state of emergency following 17 fentanyl overdoses and four related deaths in a week's time.

"We absolutely have to step to the plate if we're going to do something to save the Montana that we all love," Sprunger said in a phone interview Monday. "This became clear to me that it was the right approach when I started to look around and realize our law enforcement officers are carrying around Narcan," the brand name of the overdose reversal medication called Naloxone.

Mandatory minimums are generally regarded as regressive, removing judges' discretion to tailor sentences that account for the facts of a person's case and life circumstances. Sprunger and those who supported the bill contended during the legislative process the law would also send a clear message to traffickers.

Frank Garner, a former Kalispell police chief whose legislative seat was taken over by Sprunger when he termed out last year, testified in support of the bill in a committee hearing in January.

"I think most of us would agree, it's not the solution individually or by itself, but it's got to be part of the package in terms of our response to this in our state, along with education, treatment and a chance to punish those" who traffic fentanyl in Montana, Garner testified. "This bill also has the same opt-out that others do. The only thing you have to do to not be subject to this bill is don't deal fentanyl in this state."

The bill passed both chambers with bipartisan support, tallying an 87-11 vote in the House and 31-18 vote in the Senate.

A separate bill to decriminalize fentanyl testing strips, meanwhile, introduced early in the session failed to pass out of its first committee. Another bill, House Bill 437 from Rep. Katie Zolnikov, R-Billings, struck testing strips from the drug paraphernalia statute and passed on the final day of the Legislature. That bill is still awaiting the governor's signature.

State and federal officials in bipartisan fashion have pointed to Mexican drug cartels as the source of fentanyl that's reached Montana. Indeed, Mexican citizens have been arrested and prosecuted in Montana on alleged fentanyl trafficking operations.

Officials with the Montana Attorney General's Office have cited a 10,800% increase in fentanyl dosage seizures since 2019. That's an increase of 1,900 doses seized in 2021, to 206,955 doses seized by area drug task forces in 2022.

In most cases, those cases are taken up by federal law authorities because the conduct crosses state and international boundaries. Still, state analysts found some instances, roughly four cases per year, could still be filed in state court under this new state law.

As a matter of monitoring the effects of the new law, lawmakers included a reporting requirement for the Montana Department of Justice. Beginning in September 2024, the Montana Attorney General's Office will begin reporting the number of times judges have imposed the mandatory minimum to legislative interim committees on an annual basis.

The Governor's Office on Monday announced Gianforte's signing of HB 791 following a recent trip to the U.S.-Mexico border to survey the area as a pandemic-era federal border policy known as Title 42 expired. The policy allowed border officials to turn certain asylum seekers away from the U.S. as a precautionary measure against COVID-19. Despite attempts from Republican-led states like Montana to preserve the policy, it fell away on Thursday with the national public health emergency expiration.

Gianforte criticized the Biden administration for Title 42's sunset, contending it would allow more drug traffickers into the U.S. and Montana.

"As just one consequence of the border crisis, Montana is being overrun by fentanyl trafficked into our state by Mexican drug cartels," Gianforte said in a press release. "Were taking action to crack down on the criminals who profit off these deadly drugs."

Update: This article has been updated to include the status of a second bill on drug testing strips.
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Water is still for fighting in Wyoming.

The state and Bureau of Reclamation announced on Tuesday that a deal had been crafted after weeks of negotiations to keep minimum water flows in the Snake River below Jackson Lake Dam.

This after the Wyoming Game and Fish Department announced in a press release last week that the Bureau planned to cut flows from Jackson Lake to 50 cubic feet per second on the upper river. WGFD said a minimum of 280 cfs is needed to avoid killing fish in the stretch of water that runs through the scenic and much photographed Oxbow Bend section of Grand Teton National Park.

To ensure the fisheries survival, WGFD agreed to use its water allocation in the lake to keep the releases at 280 cfs. Initially, the agency said its 33,000 acre feet of water would run out before the Bureau of Reclamation planned to increase its flows. In the agreement announced Tuesday, WGFD said the Bureau has decided to cover any shortfalls to maintain the minimum flows.

The 4.5-mile stretch of river below the dam is critical habitat for Snake River cutthroat trout, shore birds, wildlife and the bluehead sucker  a species of greatest conservation need, WGFD noted.

This stretch of river is iconic and a national treasure, said Wyoming Game and Fish Director Brian Nesvik in a statement. I appreciate the Bureau of Reclamations efforts to work with us to find solutions to address our concerns. We look forward to working together to examine water operations and ensure water flows are maintained year-long.

Why?

The Bureau of Reclamation wanted outflows from Jackson Lake cut to raise the water level in Jackson Lake while reducing inflows to Palisade Reservoir and other dam impoundments downstream. WGFD called the change in flows drastic and with extremely short notice.

The Snake River below the dam was designated a Wild and Scenic River in 2009. The conservation group American Rivers stepped into the fray, urging the Bureaus leadership to compromise.

I conveyed to the Bureau in no uncertain terms that the Snake River in Grand Teton National Park is a globally significant treasure, and reducing flows out of Jackson Lake Dam to a trickle when it should be at peak flood stage is totally unacceptable due to the profound negative ecological and economic impacts it would have, said Scott Bosse, Northern Rockies Regional Director of American Rivers. While the Bureau is maintaining flows at 280 cubic feet per second and has no immediate plans to reduce flows below that level, normal flood flows on that reach of the Snake River should be at least 10 times that level in order to sustain healthy fish and wildlife habitat. I appreciate that they listened to what I had to say, and they seem to understand the importance of the upper Snake River to Jackson Holes tourism-based economy.

Drought

In the summer of 2021, Jackson Lake hit a historically low water level as the Bureau worked to meet downstream irrigation needs during an extended drought. As of Tuesday, the lake was filled to an elevation of 6,746 feet, about 36% of its total capacity. For much of 2021, the lake was 8 to 9 feet lower and last year hovered around 6,739 feet, or 7 feet lower.

Under the 1949 Snake River Compact, Wyoming only has rights to 4% of the rivers water while Idaho claims the other 96%.

The Bureau gets stuck thinking about their irrigators, not Jackson, Bosse said. I reminded them the public in Jackson Hole is very concerned when they look up at all of the snow in the mountains and the Bureau says they have to cut flows to a bare minimum.

Atypical

A request to Grand Teton National Park for information on the Park Services stance regarding the water fight was referred to headquarters in Washington, D.C. Park Superintendent Chip Jenkins is quoted in WGFDs press release as praising the water deal.

We appreciate the State of Wyoming and the Bureau of Reclamations joint efforts to ensure minimum flows from Jackson Lake Dam to protect these resources and experiences.

According to WGFD, the BOR recommended cuts to flows out of Jackson Lake due to atypical snowpack conditions in the region and an effort to store water and reduce flood risks downstream. The agency said Palisades Reservoir, which is 58% full and the next impoundment downstream from Jackson Lake, is expected to reach flood management maximums soon.

The Snake Rivers flow at Moose, Wyoming, about 20 miles downstream from Jackson Lake, was 4,290 cfs. By the time the river reaches Alpine, Wyoming, just above Palisades Reservoir 70 miles downstream, the river was running at 5,970 cfs, demonstrating the amount of water that comes from sources other than Jackson Lake. Yet just below the lake about 5 miles, near Moran, Wyoming, the river was running at 285 cfs.

Managing water in the West in light of changing hydrology requires adapting to dynamic water conditions, Reclamation Regional Director Jennifer Carrington said in the WGFD press release. We appreciate our partners and remain committed to working with them on collaborative solutions as we attempt to balance the water needs of interests upstream and down.
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DECATUR  Decatur is starting to become a popular destination for music fans.

Now its time for classical music to shine.

Admission is free.

Organized by artistic director and Millikin University instructor Nate Widelitz, the festival will begin its inaugural event in Decatur.

But we are looking to expand, provided this year is the success we expect it to be, he said.

The festival, featuring 17th and 18th century music, will kick off with an organ recital by Stephen Buzard at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Decatur First United Methodist Church.

The following day will feature two concerts, An Afternoon of Chamber Music at 2 p.m. at St. Johns Episcopal Church of Decatur, and performances by the Five Cities Baroque choral and orchestra of J.S. Bach cantata and Jan Dismas Zelenkas Litaniae Omnium Sanctorum at 7:30 p.m. at First United Methodist Church.

Its three concerts in two days, over about a 24-hour period just packed with music, Widelitz said.

If You Go WHAT: Five Cities Baroque Festival WHEN: 7:30 p.m. Friday, May 19; 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Saturday, May 20 WHERE: Friday at the First United Methodist Church, 201 W. North St.; Saturday at St. Johns Episcopal Church of Decatur, 130 W. Eldorado St. TICKETS: Free admission ON THE WEB: www.fivecitiesbaroque.org

The title of the event, Five Cities Baroque Festival, was given with the plans to create a regional concert, incorporating Bloomington, Champaign, Springfield and Peoria talents and venues. Part of our mission statement is to be a regional force in the area, not just local to Decatur, Widelitz said. This involves hosting events in other cities.

As a Millikin instructor, Widelitz is familiar with the talent in Decatur and Central Illinois. Its often overlooked, he said. And we can offer something outside of the major urban centers.

Widelitz chose Decatur to host the festival because of its central location. He selected churches as the venues because of the accessibility to music and its audiences.

The plan is to incorporate high school musicians into future festivals. Im also looking at further educational events, perhaps lecture recitals, Widelitz said. Im hoping it will work its way into the fabric of Decatur.

However, the organizers are concentrating on this years festival. The response that Ive gotten from people around town has been even more positive than I ever could have hoped, Widelitz said. Theres a real appetite and a real desire for this.
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DECATUR  Charges of aggravated battery, aggravated assault and criminal damage have been dismissed against Decatur man Robert L. Moore Jr.

The 44-year-old defendant had pleaded not guilty to all counts and was due to face trial in Macon County Circuit Court. But in an unscheduled court appearance April 28, the office of the states attorney said it was dropping all charges.

Moore, who had been held in the Macon County Jail since his arrest on January 1, was immediately ordered released by Judge Lindsey Shelton.

A sworn affidavit from Decatur police said Moore had verbally threatened and spit at a neighbor in a Decatur public housing complex after she complained about him hammering on a shared apartment wall. Moore was then accused of using his hand to pound a hole in another wall and of spitting in the face of a security officer.

Police said Moore also swore at them and was generally uncooperative when they arrived.

But Macon County States Attorney Scott Rueter said the assistant states attorney who reviewed security camera footage of the alleged crimes decided the evidence was not there to prosecute Moore.

Based on a review of that evidence she (the assistant state's attorney) made a decision that it wasnt a case that would be sufficient to go in front of a jury, Rueter added. And I trust her judgment.

2023 mugshots from the Herald & Review Lourash Hirstein Phillip Gehrken Joseph A. Williams Jetrevius O. Jarrett Edwards King-Woods Wilson Derrickson
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DECATUR  Faith L. Bishop is trying to convince a judge that, despite a police raid that seized more than $111,000 worth of methamphetamine pills from a safe in her bedroom closet, she is not a drug dealer.

The bench trial for the 32-year-old Decatur woman got underway Tuesday in front of Macon County Circuit Court Presiding Judge Thomas Griffith. She denies one count of dealing in meth.

The raid had been carried out May 20, 2022 by members of the Decatur Police Street Crimes Unit which specializes in targeting illegal drugs.

The investigation was led by Macon County Sheriffs Office Detective Jonathan Roseman, who works with the unit. He told the judge some 2 pounds of the drug in the form of brightly colored tablets was found packed in 25 individual bags inside the safe officers had to crack open.

Assistant Macon County States Attorney David Perry played recordings of phone calls made from jail in which Bishop appears to show knowledge of what was contained in the safe. Roseman said a relative can be heard asking why Bishop is being charged with being a drug dealer, and said her reply is because it was all bagged up, referring to the contents of the safe.

Giving further credence and knowledge that the defendant knew exactly what was inside the safe, Roseman said.

Defense attorney Chris Amero has yet to present his case but, in earlier questioning of Decatur Police Officer Jonathan Jones, another detective involved in the investigation, Amero established a confidential source had been used to buy drugs from Bishop on multiple occasions before the home raid occurred.

Amero then focused heavily on the kind of drugs the source was being sent to buy, which were originally thought to be ecstasy pills, not methamphetamine.

Now when you started messing with this confidential source, you had to set up some sort of deal, now I don't want to say deal, but you had to set it up with the confidential source to go to Miss Bishop to buy ecstasy pills, correct?

Jones said that was right, and confirmed the pills later tested positive for methamphetamine. He also said the confidential source, known only as Pat Doe, had been sent back to buy more drugs. And again the confidential source goes to Miss Bishops home, makes a purchase, at which point you state Doe turned over a quantity of suspected ecstasy pills, correct? asked Amero.

Jones said the description of events, taken from police reports, was correct.

Amero later cross-examined expert witness Aaron Roemer, who works for the State Police Crime Laboratory and had tested dozens of the seized pills.

Roemer described them all as clandestine tablets made by someone with access to a pill press. Amero again narrowed his questions to the type of drug in the pills.

There was a time when tablets like this were MDMA or ecstasy, Roemer said. From what I understand, methamphetamine is more affordable now so we do see the majority of these tablets are now methamphetamine whereas at one time it used to be MDMA.

The case ran out of time Tuesday before Amero could show further where he was going with his clients defense. Due to scheduling issues, it was unclear whether the trial will resume this week.

Bishop, who is free after posting a $10,000 bond on bail set at $100,000, has already turned down a plea deal that would have seen her serve nine years at 75%.

Griffith had warned her at the start of the trial that, if convicted, she will be taken into custody immediately and faces a minimum sentence of 15 years.

2023 mugshots from the Herald & Review Lourash Hirstein Phillip Gehrken Joseph A. Williams Jetrevius O. Jarrett Edwards King-Woods Wilson Derrickson
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SPRINGFIELD  As the General Assembly prepares to wrap up its spring legislative session this week, Democratic lawmakers are advancing a bill that would mandate job postings to include a salary range in a move they say would promote equity within the workplace.

Meanwhile, a bipartisan bill designed to make transferring to a public university in Illinois from a community college an easier and more cost-effective path will soon be sent to Gov. J.B. Pritzker for his signature.

Salary transparency

Democrats in the Illinois Senate last week approved a measure that would require employers to list a pay scale and expected benefits for any position listed on a job posting. It would also create a regulatory structure for the Department of Labor to investigate violations of the proposed law.

We know that more and more employers have begun to include these pay ranges in their job postings as it becomes starkly clear that doing so is crucial to attracting talent, bill sponsor Sen. Cristina Pacione-Zayas, D-Chicago, said in debate last week.

Pacione-Zayas said the bill would prompt employers to interrogate potential unjustified disparities between employees pay based on things like race, ethnicity, gender or language.

House Bill 3129 passed with a 35-19 vote. Because it was amended in the Senate, it now goes back to the House for consideration.

The bill would require expected pay disclosures from employers with 15 or more employees in the state and would apply to things such as job board listings, newspaper ads and postings made by a third-party on behalf of an employer.

Sen. Win Stoller, R-East Peoria, called the proposal divorced from reality, noting the bill does not account for the unpredictable hiring process.

As a small business owner myself, weve had situations where we find the right person and well restructure a department, Stoller said. Well rearrange some roles to take into full account, to take full advantage of their skills and abilities.

Business groups opposed the bill when it was introduced, although that opposition has lessened. While amendments have brought powerful groups like the Illinois Manufacturers Association and Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce to neutral positions on the bill, the National Federation of Independent Businesses and the Technology Manufacturers Association opposed the bill in a House committee Tuesday morning.

If the bill becomes law, Illinois would join a growing number of states considering ways to make compensation more transparent in the job application process. New York passed a law last year that requires all job postings include a minimum and maximum salary or wage. Colorado passed a similar law that requires disclosing pay range and a general description of benefits in 2019. Some states, such as California, Nevada, Maryland and Rhode Island, require employers to disclose pay ranges to job applicants on request.

The salary transparency bill follows similar efforts in recent years aimed at making hiring practices more equitable, including a 2019 law that made it illegal for employers to ask about an applicants salary history as part of the interview process.

Community college credit parity

Under a bill soon to be sent to Pritzkers desk, community college students in Illinois would be assured that class credits related to their chosen major in certain fields of study will be transferable to all public colleges and universities in the state.

Senate Bill 2288 passed the House on a unanimous vote last week after receiving the same chamber-wide support in the Senate in March.

Under current state law, four-year colleges and universities in Illinois can decide whether to accept community college course credits as direct equivalents to required classes in a transfer students declared major. If the university deems the community college class as not equivalent to the one it offers, the credits earned would only count toward a students elective hour requirements, and he or she would have to retake a similar class at the university.

Illinois Community College Board Director Brian Durham praised the bills House passage in a statement Monday.

Equalizing the value for certain credits earned at community colleges will also help reduce the stigma that work done at a community college is less valuable than at a four-year college or university, he said.

Under the Illinois Articulation Initiative  a partnership between the Community College Board and the Illinois Board of Higher Education  there are currently 18 majors in which courses taken at a community college may be counted as equivalent classes at a state university.

SB 2288 would grant course parity under all 18 of those majors, which are in areas from computer science to theatre arts. But the bill would also require the IAI to develop an equivalency plan for elementary and secondary education majors; early childhood education is already covered.

Proponents of the bill say the development of the education major equivalency plan will help Illinois address its teacher shortage.

Upon the governors signature, the law would go into effect on Jan. 1.

Photos: Pritzker sworn in for second term
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The first time Decatur attorney Jerry Stocks addressed the Illinois Supreme Court was in 1994.

From what he can recall, it was a technical case on rules related to character and fitness under a supervisory order. It was so unmemorable that he could not even remember the case citation.

On Tuesday, Stocks argued before the states high court for a second time. And its safe to say this is one he will remember.

Stocks, 59, is the lead attorney in a state-level challenge to the states semiautomatic weapons ban. He is representing state Rep. Dan Caulkins, R-Decatur, and more than 2,000 residents, who filed suit in Macon County Circuit Court in January. Weeks later, Judge Rodney Forbes ruled in their favor. Attorney General Kwame Raoul appealed to the state supreme court, which agreed to take the case.

Though only his second rendezvous at the high court, Stocks has often been at the center of political battles in Macon County throughout his life. He served as county GOP party chair from 1998 to 2011 and continues to serve as the partys attorney.

Last year, he displayed his pugnacious side when he filed objections on behalf of the party alleging that a slate of Democrats for countywide office should be tossed from the ballot for not properly notarizing their petitions. The candidates all withdrew before the hearing could be held.

Claiming that the party would have won even if the candidates appeared on the ballot, Stocks said the objections were more an act of mercy for those candidates than it was a transgression against them."

He has also been a candidate for office himself, running unsuccessfully in 1996 for the Illinois House against Democratic state Rep. Julie Curry. He lost by a 64% to 36% margin.

Stocks has also served as campaign manager of a number of local judicial campaigns and as a regional coordinator for Andy McKennas 2004 campaign for U.S. Senate. He also served on the Republican National Committees election legal team during the 2004, 2008 and 2012 campaigns.

Stocks, who was taken to task on a number of points by Chief Justice Mary Jane Theis while arguing his case, declined to speculate or read any tea leaves.

When you argue to an appellate court, it's foolish to speculate on what the incentives or intent may be of the questioning justice, Stocks said. So sometimes they want to challenge an advocate to test the strength by which they hold a certain view. Sometimes they're trying to make points for other justices on the panel. And so you really never know.

Stocks has been with the firm Featherstun, Gaumer, Stocks, Flynn & Eck, LLP since 1989. Hes been a partner since 1993. He received his law degree from Drake University and his bachelors degree from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. His family continues to own and operate a farm in Macon County.
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Trail Days treks back into Damascus, Virginia, this weekend.

The town in Washington County spotlights volunteers, hosts vendors and celebrates its 36th year of the world-famous Appalachian Trail Days Festival on Friday to Sunday.

The town is now gearing up for another busy season of hikers on the Appalachian Trail, which runs through downtown Damascus, said Julie Kroll, the recreation program director or Damascus.

Known as Trail Days by locals and hikers, the event is a celebration of the Appalachian Trail and hiker culture.

Its not the only Trail Days in Virginia. Another is held at Troutville, which also lies along the Appalachian Trail.

Still, Damascus is known among hikers as the Friendliest Town on the Appalachian Trail.

It is home to the new Damascus Trail Center, one of three visitor centers managed by the

Appalachian Trail Conservancy along the entire length of the AT, running more than 2000 miles from Georgia to Maine.

The title sponsor this year is Hyperlite Mountain Gear, a company popular among hikers for its ultralight backpacks, shelters, tarps, and accessories.

Look for lectures, contests and workshops geared towards hiking dogs and hiking gear at places across town, including the town park, Rock School and the Damascus Old Mill.

Learn about rain barrels, the rebirth of the American chestnut tree and how to store food in the wilderness without having a bear break into it.

Fridays highlights include:

7:30 a.m., One Way Ministries: Prayer Gathering.

11 a.m., Appalachian Trail Conservancy booth in the Town Park: ATC raffle drawing.

11:30 a.m.-1 p.m., Rock School Auditorium: ALDHAs

Annual Hiker Feed.

12:30-2:30 p.m., Town Park Gazebo: Live Music by Anthony Childress Experience.

2 p.m., Damascus Trail Center classroom: lecture presentation on Virginias lost path of the Appalachian Trail between Damascus and Roanoke.

5:30-7:30 p.m., Town Park Gazebo: Live Music by Gents & Liars.
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The Republican-led Virginia Department of Elections elected to withdraw from a multi-state election data-sharing partnership over concerns about privacy, costs and the alleged risk of data sharing with outside organizations being leveraged for political purposes.

Democratic lawmakers asserted Monday that the move is an effort to undermine voting access and trust in the electoral process.

The Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC) was created in 2012 with Virginia as one of the seven founding members. Gov. Bob McDonnell, a Republican, promoted it at the time. The partnership allows for states to compare voting data to identify people who have died or moved between states and adjust rolls accordingly  measures that can prevent or catch instances of voter fraud.

ERIC primarily combated the things Republicans claim to care about, said House Minority Leader Don Scott Jr., D-Portsmouth, at a news conference Monday. Why would Republicans want to do away with it? The answer is and has always been clear since Governor (Glenn) Youngkin was elected  because they want to undermine our democracy.

Virginias ERIC pullout follows several other GOP-led states that have withdrawn  Alabama, Florida, Iowa, Louisiana, Missouri, Ohio and West Virginia. Texas has considered a withdrawal that is supported by the Republican Party of Texas, but has not yet left ERIC.

Scott remarked on how the Youngkin administration quietly changed the process for formerly incarcerated people to have their voting rights restored, and also noted the GOP-led push in recent years to walk back the expanded voting access that was implemented when Democrats held the governorship and majorities in the General Assembly.

From quietly changing the restoration of rights progress to this surprising departure from ERIC, everything they do is trying to disrupt our election process, he said Monday. These destructive changes harm voters and undermine faith in our system.

Last week, Department of Elections Commissioner Susan Beals wrote a letter to ERIC, citing reasons for Virginias planned withdrawal. She cited concerns over rising costs to participate following the departure of other states and confidentiality of the data sharing.

The letter noted momentum around the creation of viable alternatives to inter-state data sharing compacts and Virginias ability to replicate favorable ERIC functionality internally and develop true autonomy for all list maintenance and data sharing practices.

To accomplish this, Andrea Gaines, a spokesperson for Beals, said the department will obtain a subscription to the Limited Master Death file from the Social Security Administration and will continue to process records it receives from the Department of Motor Vehicles.

She added that Virginia has been in talks with other states for several months about creating new state-to-state data-sharing relationships for the purpose of identifying double voters.

On the concern over rising costs, Gaines said the fiscal year costs rose from $37,000 to $54,000 from 2022 to 2023. Participating states contribute to the funding for ERIC.

A spokesperson for Youngkin said rising costs were a reason to withdraw, along with concerns over privacy.

Virginia withdrew from ERIC because Virginians data was shared with an ERIC affiliated research organization and, despite its efforts, Virginia was unable to reform ERIC, said Macaulay Porter, a spokesperson for Youngkin.

ERIC has previously shared anonymized data for research purposes with an election organization led by David Becker, ERICs founder. States that participated did so voluntarily, VPM reported.

Democratic lawmakers have accused the Youngkin administration of buying into conspiracy theories. In Mondays news conference, several senators and delegates reflected on the growing national tensions around distrust in elections  spearheaded by former President Donald Trumps false claims that the 2020 election was stolen.

This is wild conspiracy theory stuff, right? said Del. Marcus Simon, D-Fairfax. Its really disturbing that the governor and Susan (Beals) do seem to buy into these debunked conspiracy theories. Theyre willing to believe that kind of information and actually use that kind of conspiracy theory to guide decision making over at the Department of Elections.

Asked if the Youngkin administration had a response to the allegation, Porter did not directly respond, but answered other questions.

During his 2021 campaign, Youngkin initially ducked questions about whether he believed the 2020 election was stolen. After winning the GOP nomination, he said he would have voted to certify the results. Last year, he campaigned for some GOP gubernatorial candidates around the country  like Arizonas Kari Lake  who continued to deny the results of the 2020 election.

As for ERIC, after roughly a decade of operating under the radar as a bipartisan coalition of more than 30 states, it has generated concern from leaders or constituents in the states that have pulled out of it.

In early 2022, it became the subject of far-right blogs framing the partnership as a liberal conspiracy to steal elections. Louisiana became the first state to withdraw from ERIC shortly afterward.

Shane Hamlin, ERICs current executive director, provided a statement to the Richmond Times-Dispatch, stating that the organization will follow its bylaws and membership agreement regarding any members request to resign membership.

That means that, following Beals resignation notice, it will be 91 days before the resignation is effective, according to the bylaws.

We will continue our work on behalf of our remaining member states in improving the accuracy of Americas voter rolls and increasing access to voter registration for all eligible citizens, Hamlin said in the statement.